Clinical relevance of pharmacist intervention in an emergency department.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-Moreno, Maria Antonia; Rodríguez-Camacho, Juan Manuel; Calderón-Hernanz, Beatriz; Comas-Díaz, Bernardino; Tarradas-Torras, Jordi

2017-08-01

To evaluate the clinical relevance of pharmacist intervention on patient care in emergencies, to determine the severity of detected errors. Second, to analyse the most frequent types of interventions and type of drugs involved and to evaluate the clinical pharmacist's activity. A 6-month observational prospective study of pharmacist intervention in the Emergency Department (ED) at a 400-bed hospital in Spain was performed to record interventions carried out by the clinical pharmacists. We determined whether the intervention occurred in the process of medication reconciliation or another activity, and whether the drug involved belonged to the High-Alert Medications Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) list. To evaluate the severity of the errors detected and clinical relevance of the pharmacist intervention, a modified assessment scale of Overhage and Lukes was used. Relationship between clinical relevance of pharmacist intervention and the severity of medication errors was assessed using ORs and Spearman's correlation coefficient. During the observation period, pharmacists reviewed the pharmacotherapy history and medication orders of 2984 patients. A total of 991 interventions were recorded in 557 patients; 67.2% of the errors were detected during medication reconciliation. Medication errors were considered severe in 57.2% of cases and 64.9% of pharmacist intervention were considered relevant. About 10.9% of the drugs involved are in the High-Alert Medications ISMP list. The severity of the medication error and the clinical significance of the pharmacist intervention were correlated (Spearman's ρ=0.728/pclinical pharmacists identified and intervened on a high number of severe medication errors. This suggests that emergency services will benefit from pharmacist-provided drug therapy services. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES): Its Relevance

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-24

any analysis of AAFES’s relevance. This SRP reviews the statutes and regulations governing the organization, its evolution , its strategic missions...Finally, this project will offer recommendations and a concluding assessment of the relevancy of AAFES. Evolution of AAFES AAFES was launched in...well-kept lunch counter supplied with as great a variety of viands as circumstances permit, such as tea, coffee, cocoa , nonalcoholic drinks, soup, fish

Making Earth Science Relevant in the K-8 Classroom. The Development of an Instructional Soils Module for Pre-Service Elementary Teachers Using the Next Generation Science Standards

Science.gov (United States)

Baldwin, K. A.; Hauge, R.; Dechaine, J. M.; Varrella, G.; Egger, A. E.

2013-12-01

The development and adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) raises a challenge in teacher preparation: few current teacher preparation programs prepare students to teach science the way it is presented in the NGSS, which emphasize systems thinking, interdisciplinary science, and deep engagement in the scientific process. In addition, the NGSS include more geoscience concepts and methods than previous standards, yet this is a topic area in which most college students are traditionally underprepared. Although nationwide, programmatic reform is needed, there are a few targets where relatively small, course-level changes can have a large effect. One of these targets is the 'science methods' course for pre-service elementary teachers, a requirement in virtually all teacher preparation programs. Since many elementary schools, both locally and across the country, have adopted a kit based science curriculum, examining kits is often a part of a science methods course. Unfortunately, solely relying on a kit based curriculum may leave gaps in science content curriculum as one prepares teachers to meet the NGSS. Moreover, kits developed at the national level often fall short in connecting geoscientific content to the locally relevant societal issues that engage students. This highlights the need to train pre-service elementary teachers to supplement kit curriculum with inquiry based geoscience investigations that consider relevant societal issues, promote systems thinking and incorporate connections between earth, life, and physical systems. We are developing a module that teaches geoscience concepts in the context of locally relevant societal issues while modeling effective pedagogy for pre-service elementary teachers. Specifically, we focus on soils, an interdisciplinary topic relevant to multiple geoscience-related societal grand challenges (e.g., water, food) that is difficult to engage students in. Module development is funded through InTeGrate, NSF

Climate services: Lessons learned and future prospects

Science.gov (United States)

Brasseur, Guy P.; Gallardo, Laura

2016-03-01

This perspective paper reviews progress made in the last decades to enhance the communication and use of climate information relevant to the political and economic decision process. It focuses, specifically, on the creation and development of climate services, and highlights a number of difficulties that have limited the success of these services. Among them are the insufficient awareness by societal actors of their vulnerability to climate change, the lack of relevant products and services offered by the scientific community, the inappropriate format in which the information is provided, and the inadequate business model adopted by climate services. The authors suggest that, to be effective, centers should host within the same center a diversity of staff including experts in climate science, specialists in impact, adaptation, and vulnerability, representatives of the corporate world, agents of the public service as well as social managers and communication specialists. The role and importance of environmental engineering is emphasized.

Antenatal services for Aboriginal women: the relevance of cultural competence.

Science.gov (United States)

Reibel, Tracy; Walker, Roz

2010-01-01

Due to persistent significantly poorer Aboriginal perinatal outcomes, the Women's and Newborns' Health Network, Western Australian Department of Health, required a comprehensive appraisal of antenatal services available to Aboriginal women as a starting point for future service delivery modelling. A services audit was conducted to ascertain the usage frequency and characteristics of antenatal services used by Aboriginal women in Western Australia (WA). Telephone interviews were undertaken with eligible antenatal services utilising a purpose specific service audit tool comprising questions in five categories: 1) general characteristics; 2) risk assessment; 3) treatment, risk reduction and education; 4) access; and 5) quality of care. Data were analysed according to routine antenatal care (e.g. risk assessment, treatment and risk reduction), service status (Aboriginal specific or non-specific) and application of cultural responsiveness. Significant gaps in appropriate antenatal services for Aboriginal women in metropolitan, rural and remote regions in WA were evident. Approximately 75% of antenatal services used by Aboriginal women have not achieved a model of service delivery consistent with the principles of culturally responsive care, with few services incorporating Aboriginal specific antenatal protocols/programme, maintaining access or employing Aboriginal Health Workers (AHWs). Of 42 audited services, 18 Aboriginal specific and 24 general antenatal services reported utilisation by Aboriginal women. Of these, nine were identified as providing culturally responsive service delivery, incorporating key indicators of cultural security combined with highly consistent delivery of routine antenatal care. One service was located in the metropolitan area and eight in rural or remote locations. The audit of antenatal services in WA represents a significant step towards a detailed understanding of which services are most highly utilised and their defining characteristics

The integration of behavioral health interventions in children's health care: services, science, and suggestions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolko, David J; Perrin, Ellen

2014-01-01

Because the integration of mental or behavioral health services in pediatric primary care is a national priority, a description and evaluation of the interventions applied in the healthcare setting is warranted. This article examines several intervention research studies based on alternative models for delivering behavioral health care in conjunction with comprehensive pediatric care. This review describes the diverse methods applied to different clinical problems, such as brief mental health skills, clinical guidelines, and evidence-based practices, and the empirical outcomes of this research literature. Next, several key treatment considerations are discussed to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of these interventions. Some practical suggestions for overcoming key service barriers are provided to enhance the capacity of the practice to deliver behavioral health care. There is moderate empirical support for the feasibility, acceptability, and clinical utility of these interventions for treating internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Practical strategies to extend this work and address methodological limitations are provided that draw upon recent frameworks designed to simplify the treatment enterprise (e.g., common elements). Pediatric primary care has become an important venue for providing mental health services to children and adolescents due, in part, to its many desirable features (e.g., no stigma, local setting, familiar providers). Further adaptation of existing delivery models may promote the delivery of effective integrated interventions with primary care providers as partners designed to address mental health problems in pediatric healthcare.

Service-learning in higher education relevant to the promotion of physical activity, healthful eating, and prevention of obesity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard R Rosenkranz

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Service-learning is a type of experiential teaching and learning strategy combining classroom instruction and meaningful community service and guided activities for reflection. This educational approach has been used frequently in higher education settings, including an array of disciplines such as medicine, theology, public health, physical education, nutrition, psychology, anthropology, and sociology. The purpose of the present review paper was to provide guidance on the use of service-learning within higher education, relevant to the preventive medicine and public health topics of healthful eating, physical activity, and obesity prevention. In service-learning, coursework is structured to address community needs, and to benefit students through the real-world application of knowledge. The benefits for students include positive impacts on social skills, empathy, awareness, understanding, and concern regarding community issues, plus greater confidence and skills to work with diverse populations, increased awareness of community resources, improved motivation, and enhanced knowledge. Educational institutions may also benefit through improved "town and gown" relations, as strong ties, partnerships, and mutually beneficial activities take place. The present literature review describes several service-learning applications such as nutrition education for kids, dietary improvement for seniors, foodservice recipe modification on a college campus, an intergenerational physical activity program for nursing home residents, motor skill development in kindergarteners, organized elementary school recess physical activities, health education, and obesity prevention in children. From this review, service-learning appears to have great potential as a flexible component of academic coursework in the areas of preventive medicine and public health.

Service-learning in Higher Education Relevant to the Promotion of Physical Activity, Healthful Eating, and Prevention of Obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenkranz, Richard R

2012-10-01

Service-learning is a type of experiential teaching and learning strategy combining classroom instruction and meaningful community service and guided activities for reflection. This educational approach has been used frequently in higher education settings, including an array of disciplines such as medicine, theology, public health, physical education, nutrition, psychology, anthropology, and sociology. The purpose of the present review paper was to provide guidance on the use of service-learning within higher education, relevant to the preventive medicine and public health topics of healthful eating, physical activity, and obesity prevention. In service-learning, coursework is structured to address community needs, and to benefit students through the real-world application of knowledge. The benefits for students include positive impacts on social skills, empathy, awareness, understanding, and concern regarding community issues, plus greater confidence and skills to work with diverse populations, increased awareness of community resources, improved motivation, and enhanced knowledge. Educational institutions may also benefit through improved "town and gown" relations, as strong ties, partnerships, and mutually beneficial activities take place. The present literature review describes several service-learning applications such as nutrition education for kids, dietary improvement for seniors, foodservice recipe modification on a college campus, an intergenerational physical activity program for nursing home residents, motor skill development in kindergarteners, organized elementary school recess physical activities, health education, and obesity prevention in children. From this review, service-learning appears to have great potential as a flexible component of academic coursework in the areas of preventive medicine and public health.

Overview of the SBS 2016 Suggestion Track

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koolen, Marijn; Bogers, Toine; Jaap, Kamps

2016-01-01

The goal of the SBS 2016 Suggestion Track is to evaluate approaches for supporting users in searching collections of books who express their information needs both in a query and through example books. The track investigates the complex nature of relevance in book search and the role of traditional...... and user-generated book metadata in retrieval. We consolidated last year’s investigation into the nature of book suggestions from the LibraryThing forums and how they compare to book relevance judgements. Participants were encouraged to incorporate rich user profiles of both topic creators and other...

Configuring Product Modularity and Service Modularity for Mass Customization Strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bask, Anu; Hsuan, Juliana; Rajahonka, Mervi

, and how such configurations become the foundations for mass customization strategies. As a result we identify critical characteristics that are relevant for both product and services, and suggest a conceptual framework consisting of twelve dynamic mass customization strategies with paired product...

Searching U.S. Patents: Core Collection and Suggestions for Service.

Science.gov (United States)

Harwell, Kevin R.

1993-01-01

Provides fundamental information about patents, describes effective and affordable reference resources, and discusses specific issues in providing patent information services to inventors and other patrons. Basic resources, including CD-ROM products, patent classification and searching resources, and other search tools are described in an…

The Relevance of Information and Communication Technologies in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Relevance of Information and Communication Technologies in Libraries Services ... Technologies in Libraries Services and Librarianship Profession in the 21th Century ... This paper therefore, examines the importance of ICT in librarianship as a ... for Authors · for Policy Makers · about Open Access · Journal Quality.

Service Innovation Methodologies II : How can new product development methodologies be applied to service innovation and new service development? : Report no 2 from the TIPVIS-project

OpenAIRE

Nysveen, Herbjørn; Pedersen, Per E.; Aas, Tor Helge

2007-01-01

This report presents various methodologies used in new product development and product innovation and discusses the relevance of these methodologies for service development and service innovation. The service innovation relevance for all of the methodologies presented is evaluated along several service specific dimensions, like intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity, perishability, information intensity, and co-creation. The methodologies discussed are mainly collect...

CellBase, a comprehensive collection of RESTful web services for retrieving relevant biological information from heterogeneous sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Bleda, Marta; Tarraga, Joaquin; de Maria, Alejandro; Salavert, Francisco; Garcia-Alonso, Luz; Celma, Matilde; Martin, Ainoha; Dopazo, Joaquin; Medina, Ignacio

2012-07-01

During the past years, the advances in high-throughput technologies have produced an unprecedented growth in the number and size of repositories and databases storing relevant biological data. Today, there is more biological information than ever but, unfortunately, the current status of many of these repositories is far from being optimal. Some of the most common problems are that the information is spread out in many small databases; frequently there are different standards among repositories and some databases are no longer supported or they contain too specific and unconnected information. In addition, data size is increasingly becoming an obstacle when accessing or storing biological data. All these issues make very difficult to extract and integrate information from different sources, to analyze experiments or to access and query this information in a programmatic way. CellBase provides a solution to the growing necessity of integration by easing the access to biological data. CellBase implements a set of RESTful web services that query a centralized database containing the most relevant biological data sources. The database is hosted in our servers and is regularly updated. CellBase documentation can be found at http://docs.bioinfo.cipf.es/projects/cellbase.

A Model Assessing Relevant Factors in Building Minority Library Service.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonin, Kenneth Roy

1983-01-01

Presents research design applicable to definition of minority library service needs for any minority language group in Canada, focusing on French-speaking population outside Quebec. Profiles of the target group's population, culture, needs, and library services are highlighted. Five sources are given. (EJS)

Eight myths on motivating social services workers: theory-based perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Latting, J K

1991-01-01

A combination of factors has made formal motivational and reward systems rare in human service organizations generally and virtually non-existent in social service agencies. The author reviews eight of these myths by reference to eight motivational theories which refute them: need theory, expectancy theory, feedback theory, equity theory, reinforcement theory, cognitive evaluation theory, goal setting theory, and social influence theory. Although most of these theories have been developed and applied in the private sector, relevant research has also been conducted in social service agencies. The author concludes with a summary of guidelines suggested by the eight theories for motivating human service workers.

THE RELEVANCE OF THE VISUAL ARTS CURRICULUM IN THE PREPARATION OF PRE-SERVICE VISUAL ARTS TEACHERS IN UGANDA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julius Ssegantebuka

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The research examined the relevance of the visual arts curriculum content with the view of assessing the extent to which it equips pre-service visual arts teachers with the knowledge and skills required for effective teaching. The study adopted a descriptive case study design. Data were collected from three purposively selected National Teacher Colleges (NTCs, six tutors and 90 final year pre-service visual arts teachers participated in this study. The research findings showed that teacher education institutions are inadequately preparing pre-service visual arts teachers because of the gaps in the Visual Arts Curriculum (VAC used in NTCs. Some of these gaps are attributed to the structure of the visual arts curriculum tutors use in NTCs. The visual arts curriculum lacks explicit visual arts assessment strategies; it has wide and combined visual arts content to be covered within a short period of two years and the limited knowledge of the available art materials, tools and equipment. The research recommended the restructuring of the VAC to accommodate more practical; and the introduction of specialized knowledge in the visual arts education (VAE to enable tutors decipher practical knowledge from the theory studied so as to adopt an integrated approach in VAE curriculum.

Advertising Services. A Suggested Curriculum Guide. Marketing and Distributive Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Illinois State Univ., Normal. Dept. of Business Education.

This publication is a curriculum guide designed to assist local educators in planning and implementing instructional programs for Office of Education Code 04.01, Advertising Services, a subcluster within the marketing and distribution cluster. The curricular guide is divided into two major sections. The first section contains information for the…

Web Service

Science.gov (United States)

... topic data in XML format. Using the Web service, software developers can build applications that utilize MedlinePlus health topic information. The service accepts keyword searches as requests and returns relevant ...

Pan-London tuberculosis services: a service evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Belling Ruth

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background London has the largest proportion of tuberculosis (TB cases of any western European capital, with almost half of new cases drug-resistant. Prevalence varies considerably between and within boroughs with research suggesting inadequate control of TB transmission in London. Economic pressures may exacerbate the already considerable challenges for service organisation and delivery within this context. This paper presents selected findings from an evaluation of London’s TB services’ organisation, delivery, professional workforce and skill mix, intended to support development of a strategic framework for a pan-London TB service. These may also interest health service professionals and managers in TB services in the UK, other European cities and countries and in services currently delivered by multiple providers operating independently. Methods Objectives were: 1 To establish how London’s TB services are structured and delivered in relation to leadership, management, organisation and delivery, coordination, staffing and support; 2 To identify tools/models for calculating skill mix as a basis for identifying skill mix requirements in delivering TB services across London; 3 To inform a strategic framework for the delivery of a pan-London TB service, which may be applicable to other European cities. The multi-method service audit evaluation comprised documentary analysis, semi-structured interviews with TB service users (n = 10, lead TB health professionals and managers (n = 13 representing London’s five sectors and focus groups with TB nurses (n = 8 and non-London network professionals (n = 2. Results Findings showed TB services to be mainly hospital-based, with fewer community-based services. Documentary analysis and professionals’ interviews suggested difficulties with early access to services, low suspicion index amongst some GPs and restricted referral routes. Interviews indicated lack of managed

Net Income, Book Value and Cash Flows: The Value Relevance in Jordanian Economic Sectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DHIAA SHAMKI

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the value relevance of financial statements variables namely net income, book value and cash flows simultaneously relative to Jordanian services and industrial firms for the period from 2000 to 2009. The main findings of this paper are three- dimensional. First, net income is value relevant, while book value and cash flows are irrelevant. Second, net income is more value relevant than book value and cash flows in both sectors. Third, this value relevance is greater in services sector than in industrial sector. The study shows that net income assist more in explaining market values in Jordanian services and industrial firms. Since research on the value relevance of these variables has neglected Jordan (and the Middle Eastern region, the study tries to fill this practical gap. The study is the first in Jordan that examines the value relevance of net income, book value and cash flows simultaneously and compares this value relevance according to Amman Stock Exchange sectors in one study in Jordan.

The potentials of ICT application to increased relevance and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The potentials of ICT application to increased relevance and sustainability of University Library Services in Nigeria. ... in Kenneth Dike library, University of Ibadan and University of Lagos Libraries and library search of recent literature on ICT application and marketing of ICT based services in Nigerian University libraries.

An effective suggestion method for keyword search of databases

KAUST Repository

Huang, Hai

2016-09-09

This paper solves the problem of providing high-quality suggestions for user keyword queries over databases. With the assumption that the returned suggestions are independent, existing query suggestion methods over databases score candidate suggestions individually and return the top-k best of them. However, the top-k suggestions have high redundancy with respect to the topics. To provide informative suggestions, the returned k suggestions are expected to be diverse, i.e., maximizing the relevance to the user query and the diversity with respect to topics that the user might be interested in simultaneously. In this paper, an objective function considering both factors is defined for evaluating a suggestion set. We show that maximizing the objective function is a submodular function maximization problem subject to n matroid constraints, which is an NP-hard problem. An greedy approximate algorithm with an approximation ratio O((Formula presented.)) is also proposed. Experimental results show that our suggestion outperforms other methods on providing relevant and diverse suggestions. © 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Empirical Models of Demand for Out-Patient Physician Services and Their Relevance to the Assessment of Patient Payment Policies: A Critical Review of the Literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Skriabikova

2010-06-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the existing empirical micro-level models of demand for out-patient physician services where the size of patient payment is included either directly as an independent variable (when a flat-rate co-payment fee or indirectly as a level of deductibles and/or co-insurance defined by the insurance coverage. The paper also discusses the relevance of these models for the assessment of patient payment policies. For this purpose, a systematic literature review is carried out. In total, 46 relevant publications were identified. These publications are classified into categories based on their general approach to demand modeling, specifications of data collection, data analysis, and main empirical findings. The analysis indicates a rising research interest in the empirical micro-level models of demand for out-patient physician services that incorporate the size of patient payment. Overall, the size of patient payments, consumer socio-economic and demographic features, and quality of services provided emerge as important determinants of demand for out-patient physician services. However, there is a great variety in the modeling approaches and inconsistencies in the findings regarding the impact of price on demand for out-patient physician services. Hitherto, the empirical research fails to offer policy-makers a clear strategy on how to develop a country-specific model of demand for out-patient physician services suitable for the assessment of patient payment policies in their countries. In particular, theoretically important factors, such as provider behavior, consumer attitudes, experience and culture, and informal patient payments, are not considered. Although we recognize that it is difficult to measure these factors and to incorporate them in the demand models, it is apparent that there is a gap in research for the construction of effective patient payment schemes.

Empirical models of demand for out-patient physician services and their relevance to the assessment of patient payment policies: a critical review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Skriabikova, Olga; Pavlova, Milena; Groot, Wim

2010-06-01

This paper reviews the existing empirical micro-level models of demand for out-patient physician services where the size of patient payment is included either directly as an independent variable (when a flat-rate co-payment fee) or indirectly as a level of deductibles and/or co-insurance defined by the insurance coverage. The paper also discusses the relevance of these models for the assessment of patient payment policies. For this purpose, a systematic literature review is carried out. In total, 46 relevant publications were identified. These publications are classified into categories based on their general approach to demand modeling, specifications of data collection, data analysis, and main empirical findings. The analysis indicates a rising research interest in the empirical micro-level models of demand for out-patient physician services that incorporate the size of patient payment. Overall, the size of patient payments, consumer socio-economic and demographic features, and quality of services provided emerge as important determinants of demand for out-patient physician services. However, there is a great variety in the modeling approaches and inconsistencies in the findings regarding the impact of price on demand for out-patient physician services. Hitherto, the empirical research fails to offer policy-makers a clear strategy on how to develop a country-specific model of demand for out-patient physician services suitable for the assessment of patient payment policies in their countries. In particular, theoretically important factors, such as provider behavior, consumer attitudes, experience and culture, and informal patient payments, are not considered. Although we recognize that it is difficult to measure these factors and to incorporate them in the demand models, it is apparent that there is a gap in research for the construction of effective patient payment schemes.

Review of activities relevant to in-service inspection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Imanaka, N.

1980-01-01

Nuclear power plants are requested to provide continuing safety that cannot compare with other industries, as plant safety is a matter of much concern. To provide continuous assurance for plant safety there is increasing tendency to demand much of inspection of components during the lifetime. This inservice inspection of LMFBRs should be investigated from a view point of different systems and characteristics from LWRs. In this paper a review for inservice inspection of LMFBRs is described. To provide a continuous assurance of safety to the LMFBR, it is essential to develop how to construct the components to maintain the integrity throughout the service lifetime. Especially how to design is urged for this object. In-service inspection should be located only to compensate some uncertainty remained at the design stage, as it is too much complex in practice. As for inspection techniques, leak monitoring is assumed to be a best way to assure the plant safety continuously with the minimum plant outage time and minimum radioactive hazard to the inspectors

The National Ecosystem Services Classification System: A Framework for Identifying and Reducing Relevant Uncertainties

Science.gov (United States)

Rhodes, C. R.; Sinha, P.; Amanda, N.

2013-12-01

In recent years the gap between what scientists know and what policymakers should appreciate in environmental decision making has received more attention, as the costs of the disconnect have become more apparent to both groups. Particularly for water-related policies, the EPA's Office of Water has struggled with benefit estimates held low by the inability to quantify ecological and economic effects that theory, modeling, and anecdotal or isolated case evidence suggest may prove to be larger. Better coordination with ecologists and hydrologists is being explored as a solution. The ecosystem services (ES) concept now nearly two decades old links ecosystem functions and processes to the human value system. But there remains no clear mapping of which ecosystem goods and services affect which individual or economic values. The National Ecosystem Services Classification System (NESCS, 'nexus') project brings together ecologists, hydrologists, and social scientists to do this mapping for aquatic and other ecosystem service-generating systems. The objective is to greatly reduce the uncertainty in water-related policy making by mapping and ultimately quantifying the various functions and products of aquatic systems, as well as how changes to aquatic systems impact the human economy and individual levels of non-monetary appreciation for those functions and products. Primary challenges to fostering interaction between scientists, social scientists, and policymakers are lack of a common vocabulary, and the need for a cohesive comprehensive framework that organizes concepts across disciplines and accommodates scientific data from a range of sources. NESCS builds the vocabulary and the framework so both may inform a scalable transdisciplinary policy-making application. This talk presents for discussion the process and progress in developing both this vocabulary and a classifying framework capable of bridging the gap between a newer but existing ecosystem services classification

Supporting deployed operations: are military nurses gaining the relevant experience from MDHUs to be competent in deployed operations?

Science.gov (United States)

Beaumont, Steven P; Allan, Helen T

2014-01-01

To explore how peacetime employment of military nurses in the UK National Health Service Medical Defence Hospital Units prepares them to be competent to practise in their role on deployment. Military secondary care nurses are employed within UK National Health Service Trusts to gain clinical experience that will be relevant to their military nursing role. A two-stage grounded theory study using mixed methods: postal questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews. In stage one a postal questionnaire was distributed to all serving military nurses. Stage two involved 12 semi-structured interviews. The data from both parts of the study were analysed using grounded theory. Four categories and one core category were identified, which suggested that participants did not feel fully prepared for deployment. Their feelings of preparedness increased with deployment experience and decreased when the nature of injuries seen on deployment changed. Respondents argued that even when unprepared, they did not feel incompetent. The findings suggest that the peacetime clinical experience gained in the National Health Service did not always develop the necessary competencies to carry out roles as military nurses on deployment. This study highlights the unique role of military nurses. We discuss these findings in the light of the literature on competency and expertise. The military nurses in this study did not feel fully prepared for deployed operations. We propose a new model for how military nurses could gain relevant experience from their National Health Service placements. National Health Service clinical placements need to be reassessed regularly to ensure that they are meeting military nurses' clinical requirements. Experiences of nurses returning from deployment could be shared and used as a basis for reflection and learning within National Health Service Trusts and also inform decisions regarding the appropriateness of clinical placements for qualified military nurses. © 2012

Modeling for Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Guswa, A. J.; Brauman, K. A.; Ghile, Y.

2012-12-01

Ecosystem services are those values provided to human society by the structure and processes of ecosystems and landscapes. Water-related services include the transformation of precipitation impulses into supplies of water for hydropower, irrigation, and industrial and municipal uses, the retention and removal of applied nutrients and pollutants, flood-damage mitigation, recreation, and the provision of cultural and aesthetic values. Incorporation of changes to the value of these services in land-use planning and decision making requires identification of the relevant services, engagement of stakeholders, knowledge of how land-use changes impact water quality, quantity, and timing, and mechanisms for putting value on the hydrologic and biogeochemical changes. We present three examples that highlight the characteristics, challenges, and opportunities associated with prototypical decisions that incorporate ecosystem services values: scenario analysis, payment for ecosystem services, and optimal spatial planning. Through these examples, we emphasize the challenges of data availability, model resolution and complexity, and attribution of value. We also provide some suggestions for ways forward.

Customer retention: A theoretical perspective of service failure and service recovery in the hotel industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. J. Petzer

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical perspective on customer retention activities associated with service failure management and service recovery as a means to retain customers in the hotel industry - and to improve the competitiveness of a hotel. The research is pursued with the following objectives in mind: To determine the customer retention activities involved in the service failure management needed by hotels to retain customers. To determine the customer retention activities associated with the service recovery that hotels might perform in order to retain customers. Design/methodology/approach: Secondary sources such as textbooks, scientific journals, and previous studies on the subject were used to obtain relevant background information. A literature search of secondary sources was conducted to elucidate questions and areas of enquiry that relate to the research. Findings: The theoretical perspectives on service failure management and service recovery provided in this paper suggest several customer retention activities that might be used by hotels in order to manage service failure and service recovery - and thus become more competitive. Implications: This paper suggests a number of approaches that hotel managers might take to improve service failure management and service recovery. Such activities could assist a hotel in determining where it is lacking and where to improve its performance in these areas. These activities could provide guidance to managers who are dealing with the day-to-day operations of a hotel. They might help to avoid service failures in the first place, and, secondly, to give ideas about service recovery if failures do occur. On a more strategic level, these activities could also assist managers to develop a general customer retention strategy that incorporates service failure management and service recovery. Originality/value: Service failure management and service recovery are viewed as

Retrieving top-k prestige-based relevant spatial web objects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cao, Xin; Cong, Gao; Jensen, Christian S.

2010-01-01

The location-aware keyword query returns ranked objects that are near a query location and that have textual descriptions that match query keywords. This query occurs inherently in many types of mobile and traditional web services and applications, e.g., Yellow Pages and Maps services. Previous...... of prestige-based relevance to capture both the textual relevance of an object to a query and the effects of nearby objects. Based on this, a new type of query, the Location-aware top-k Prestige-based Text retrieval (LkPT) query, is proposed that retrieves the top-k spatial web objects ranked according...... to both prestige-based relevance and location proximity. We propose two algorithms that compute LkPT queries. Empirical studies with real-world spatial data demonstrate that LkPT queries are more effective in retrieving web objects than a previous approach that does not consider the effects of nearby...

Millennials, Technology and Perceived Relevance of Community Service Organizations: Is Social Media Replacing Community Service Activities?

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, August John

2017-01-01

This mixed-methods qualitative study examined the relationship between perceptions of the importance of social media (i.e., Facebook, Twitter) with community service projects and volunteerism. Participants (n = 80) were interviewed and surveyed regarding their experiences in participating in a variety of community service work (CSW) projects…

Adolescents with anxiety and depression: is social recovery relevant?

Science.gov (United States)

Simonds, Laura M; Pons, Rebecca A; Stone, Nicola J; Warren, Fiona; John, Mary

2014-01-01

Social recovery has become a prominent aspect of mental health service design and delivery in the past decade. Much of the literature on social recovery is derived from first-person accounts or primary research with adult service users experiencing severe mental illness. There is a lack of both theoretical and empirical work that could inform consideration of how the concept of social recovery might apply to adolescents experiencing common (non-psychotic) mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. The current study was conducted to understand the process of experiencing anxiety and depression in young people. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine adolescents with anxiety and depression (seven girls and two boys aged 14-16 years) and 12 mothers who were recruited from a specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in the South of England. Thematic analysis indicated that young people do experience a process of 'recovery'; the processes participants described have some congruence with the earlier stages of adult recovery models involving biographical disruption and the development of new meanings, in this case of anxiety or depression, and changes in sense of identity. The accounts diverge with regard to later stages of adult models involving the development of hope and responsibility. The findings suggest that services should attend to social isolation and emphasise support for positive aspirations for future selves whilst also attending to young people's and parents' expectations about change. Methodological challenges face enquiry about 'recovery' given its connotations with cure in everyday language. Theoretical and empirical work on social recovery in young people and families is lacking. Using interviews, this study sought to understand the relevance of social recovery for adolescents with anxiety and depression and their mothers. Findings suggest some congruence with the earlier stages of adult recovery models involving

Service design: a review of methods and techniques inthe point of view of service operations management area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noel Torres Júnior

2013-11-01

Full Text Available As in many developing countries, the service sector in Brazil is responsible for generating income and employment for a significant portion of the population. Due to this economic relevance, service organizations are faced with an increasingly demanding and competitive market. This demand greater innovation and business planning. Despite this, the process of service development remains a relatively unexplored subject in the literature. Several issues regarding the planning and management remain without clear ideas or propositions that guide their appropriate treatment. The result of this situation, the methods and techniques that help design the services are not properly disseminated. These are scattered through the literature of operations management services. Given this framework, the light of a review of the literature and concerning the elements that compose the service project according to the works of Machuca, Zamora-Gonzalez and Aguilar-Escobar (2007 and Edvardsson (1997, the present work points and examine the methods and techniques suggested by many authors and works on the area of Service Operations. It was found that the knowledge about the methods and techniques is diffuse. This knowledge is concentrated on the design process and determining the location of services.

Contributions of cultural services to the ecosystem services agenda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Daniel, T.C.; Muhar, A.; Arnberger, A.; Aznar, O.; Boyd, J.W.; Chan, K.M.A.; Costanza, R.; Elmqvist, T.; Flint, C.G.; Gobster, P.H.; Grêt-Regamey, A.; Lave, R.; Muhar, S.; Penker, M.; Ribe, R.G.; Schauppenlehner, T.; Sikor, T.; Soloviy, I.; Spierenburg, M.J.; Taczanowska, K.; Tam, J.; Dunk, A. von der

2012-01-01

Cultural ecosystem services (ES) are consistently recognized but not yet adequately defined or integrated within the ES framework. A substantial body of models, methods, and data relevant to cultural services has been developed within the social and behavioral sciences before and outside of the ES

Issues in casemix funding for acute inpatient psychiatric services and their relevance to mental health nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Fanker, S

1996-09-01

With increased recognition by government, health administrators, and clinicians of the need to simultaneously contain health expenditure, improve the productivity and efficiency of health services and maintain quality of patient care, applications of casemix funding have been advocated as an alternative means of financing acute hospital care. Currently in Australia, the Commonwealth's casemix development program is encouraging the States and Territories to participate in certain casemix initiatives. Acute psychiatric hospital care and treatment have been excluded from the initial stages of the implementation of casemix in recognition of a number of inherent obstacles or challenges affecting the utility and accuracy of casemix in funding the psychiatric sector. Despite anecdotal claims that the reduced length of stay that often occurs under casemix payment systems may negatively impact upon the quality of care and patient outcomes, to date little empirical research has been directed towards measuring the potential impact of psychiatric casemix on the quality of patient care. Psychiatry cannot afford to ignore the casemix debate on account of its current exclusion from the early phases of implementation. To do so is to run the risk of having casemix imposed at some later stage in the absence of consultation. In the meantime it is vital that mental health professionals, including nurses, participate in the development and implementation of casemix, and contribute to research aimed at increasing or maximizing the relevance of casemix to the funding of psychiatric services.

Service and Emotional Support Animals on Campus: The Relevance and Controversy

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Melinda

2016-01-01

Service and emotional support animals (ESA) have recently been a topic of conversation on college campuses, despite decades of controversy related to the interpretation of federal law. The distinction between an Emotional Support Animal and Service Animals, and the rights of the student regarding accommodations under FHA and ADA have been debated…

Community participation to design rural primary healthcare services.

Science.gov (United States)

Farmer, Jane; Nimegeer, Amy

2014-03-21

This paper explores how community participation can be used in designing rural primary healthcare services by describing a study of Scottish communities. Community participation is extolled in healthcare policy as useful in planning services and is understood as particularly relevant in rural settings, partly due to high social capital. Literature describes many community participation methods, but lacks discussion of outcomes relevant to health system reconfiguration. There is a spectrum of ideas in the literature on how to design services, from top-down standard models to contextual plans arising from population health planning that incorporates community participation. This paper addresses an evidence gap about the outcomes of using community participation in (re)designing rural community health services. Community-based participatory action research was applied in four Scottish case study communities in 2008-10. Data were collected from four workshops held in each community (total 16) and attended by community members. Workshops were intended to produce hypothetical designs for future service provision. Themes, rankings and selections from workshops are presented. Community members identified consistent health priorities, including local practitioners, emergency triage, anticipatory care, wellbeing improvement and health volunteering. Communities designed different service models to address health priorities. One community did not design a service model and another replicated the current model despite initial enthusiasm for innovation. Communities differ in their receptiveness to engaging in innovative service design, but some will create new models that fit in a given budget. Design diversity indicates that context influences local healthcare planning, suggesting community participation impacts on design outcomes, but standard service models maybe useful as part of the evidence in community participation discussions.

The influence of suggestibility on memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicolas, Serge; Collins, Thérèse; Gounden, Yannick; Roediger, Henry L

2011-06-01

We provide a translation of Binet and Henri's pioneering 1894 paper on the influence of suggestibility on memory. Alfred Binet (1857-1911) is famous as the author who created the IQ test that bears his name, but he is almost unknown as the psychological investigator who generated numerous original experiments and fascinating results in the study of memory. His experiments published in 1894 manipulated suggestibility in several ways to determine effects on remembering. Three particular modes of suggestion were employed to induce false recognitions: (1) indirect suggestion by a preconceived idea; (2) direct suggestion; and (3) collective suggestion. In the commentary we suggest that Binet and Henri's (1894) paper written over 115 years ago is still highly relevant even today. In particular, Binet's legacy lives on in modern research on misinformation effects in memory, in studies of conformity, and in experiments on the social contagion of memory. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assimilation and health service utilization of Korean immigrant women.

Science.gov (United States)

Son, Juyeon

2013-11-01

In this case study, I present descriptive findings with regard to immigrant incorporation and health service utilization. Using focus groups and survey of Korean immigrant women in Wisconsin, I examine whether the ways in which they adapt to the U.S. society is relevant to their health services utilization and the alternatives they seek when available health services are less than satisfactory. The findings suggest that adherence to Korean identity appears to be associated with health service utilization. This is evident in the immigrants' evaluation of the U.S. health services as compared to those of Korea, and the consideration given by these immigrants to seeking health services in Korea instead of the United States. Such concerns on the part of these immigrants have important implications for health researchers, as they highlight the significance of immigrants' transnational experiences and their sense of personal agency in the use of health care.

Collaborative Business Services Provision

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Camarinha-Matos, L.M.; Afsarmanesh, H.; Oliveira, A.I.; Ferrada, F.; Hammoudi, S.; Maciaszek, L.A.; Cordeiro, J.; Dietz, J.L.G.

2013-01-01

The association of services to manufactured products, leading to service-enhanced products, is an important mechanism for value creation and differentiation. This is particularly relevant in the case of complex, highly customized and long-life products. Suitable servicing in this context typically

Invertebrates, ecosystem services and climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Prather, Chelse M; Pelini, Shannon L; Laws, Angela; Rivest, Emily; Woltz, Megan; Bloch, Christopher P; Del Toro, Israel; Ho, Chuan-Kai; Kominoski, John; Newbold, T A Scott; Parsons, Sheena; Joern, A

2013-05-01

The sustainability of ecosystem services depends on a firm understanding of both how organisms provide these services to humans and how these organisms will be altered with a changing climate. Unquestionably a dominant feature of most ecosystems, invertebrates affect many ecosystem services and are also highly responsive to climate change. However, there is still a basic lack of understanding of the direct and indirect paths by which invertebrates influence ecosystem services, as well as how climate change will affect those ecosystem services by altering invertebrate populations. This indicates a lack of communication and collaboration among scientists researching ecosystem services and climate change effects on invertebrates, and land managers and researchers from other disciplines, which becomes obvious when systematically reviewing the literature relevant to invertebrates, ecosystem services, and climate change. To address this issue, we review how invertebrates respond to climate change. We then review how invertebrates both positively and negatively influence ecosystem services. Lastly, we provide some critical future directions for research needs, and suggest ways in which managers, scientists and other researchers may collaborate to tackle the complex issue of sustaining invertebrate-mediated services under a changing climate. © 2012 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2012 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Correlates of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale in delinquent adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Muris, Peter; Meesters, Cor; Merckelbach, Harald

2004-02-01

Correlations between scores on the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale and a number of relevant personality characteristics, i.e., intelligence, memory, social inadequacy, social desirability, and fantasy proneness, were examined in a sample of 71 delinquent boys. Analysis showed that intelligence and memory were negatively related to suggestibility scores. That is, lower memory and intelligence were associated with higher suggestibility. No significant correlations were found between suggestibility and other personality characteristics.

A model for reusing service knowledge based on an empirical case

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahmed-Kristensen, Saeema; Vianello, Giovanna

2015-01-01

between the service and design phases. Interviews with engineering designers and service engineers were conducted. Knowledge arising from servicing the drilling equipment that was identified as relevant for service engineers was compared to that relevant for engineering designers. Furthermore......, the mechanisms involved in the transfer of knowledge between service and design were investigated. Knowledge about changes, issues and improvements generated during service was found to be relevant to both groups; however, engineering designers were interested in knowledge of equipment at a component level...

Mental health services for black and minority ethnic elders in the United Kingdom: a systematic review of innovative practice with service provision and policy implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharyya, Sarmishtha; Benbow, Susan Mary

2013-03-01

The proportion of older people from black and minority ethnic (BME) groups in the United Kingdom (UK) is increasing steadily as the population ages. The numbers with dementia, depression, and other mental health problems are predicted to increase. Government policy documents have highlighted gaps in services for BME elders and/or the need to develop culturally appropriate services, in order to prevent people from BME communities from becoming socially excluded and finding services hard to access. This paper reviews published examples of innovative services and key learning points from them. A search was carried out on Pubmed, Medline, and Google Scholar for service developments aimed at BME elders in the UK. Sixteen relevant papers and reports were identified and were analysed to identify learning points and implications for clinical practice and policy. Commissioning issues included were forward planning for continuing funding and mainstreaming versus specialist services. Provider management issues included were employing staff from the communities of interest, partnership, and removing language barriers. Provider service issues included were education for service provider staff on the needs of BME elders, making available information in relevant languages, building on carers' and users' experiences, and addressing the needs of both groups. A model for structuring understanding of the underutilisation of services by BME elders is suggested. The main emphasis in future should be to ensure that learning is shared, disseminated, and applied to the benefit of all communities across the whole of the UK and elsewhere. Person-centred care is beneficial to all service users.

Accounting: Suggested Content for Postsecondary Tax Course

Science.gov (United States)

King, Patricia H.; Morgan, Samuel D.

1978-01-01

Surveys of community college graduates and of certified public accountants were made to determine employment relevance of the accounting curriculum. The article suggests topics from the study data which should be included in taxation courses, e.g., income tax accounting, corporate taxation accounting, and tax law. (MF)

Overview of the SBS 2016 Suggestion Track

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koolen, Marijn; Bogers, Toine; Jaap, Kamps

2016-01-01

and user-generated book metadata in retrieval. We consolidated last year’s investigation into the nature of book suggestions from the LibraryThing forums and how they compare to book relevance judgements. Participants were encouraged to incorporate rich user profiles of both topic creators and other...

Keeping students in by sending them out: Retention and service-learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iris Mae Yob

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This review of recent literature examines the research on the impact of service-learning on student retention.  The theoretical framework of the review draws on both Tinto’s model of student attrition and Knowles’s theory of adult learning, which together suggest that academic and social integration, active participation and engagement in learning, and application and relevancy of the subject-matter under study are key factors in student success. The role of these factors has been confirmed in a growing body of research around learning experiences in general and, as this review shows, particularly in service-learning experiences. Suggestions are made for how future research might expand and critically deepen this evidence and offers some implications for service-learning as a means of improving student retention. DOI: 10.18870/hlrc.v4i2.177

Human Rights and Health Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skitsou, Alexandra; Bekos, Christos; Charalambous, George

2016-01-01

Background: It has been observed that health services provided to certain patients in Cyprus do not fully meet their human rights. Objective: This study was conducted to identify the main shortcomings of the Health System in Cyprus. Methodology: The relevant administrative decisions of the Ombuds......Background: It has been observed that health services provided to certain patients in Cyprus do not fully meet their human rights. Objective: This study was conducted to identify the main shortcomings of the Health System in Cyprus. Methodology: The relevant administrative decisions...... and their families to be essential. Conclusions: The paper concludes that implementing guidelines in accordance with international best practices, the establishment of at-home treatment and nursing facilities, counseling the mentally ill in a way that promotes their social integration and occupational rehabilitation......, ongoing education of health professionals along with relevant education of the community and the broad application of triage in the emergency departments will all contribute to delivering health services more effectively. Keywords: Cyprus, health services, patient rights...

IT Service Management Architectures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tambo, Torben; Filtenborg, Jacob

2018-01-01

IT service providers tend to view their services as quasi-embedded in the client organisations infrastructure. Therefore, IT service providers lack a full picture of being an organisation with its own enterprise archicture. By systematically developing an enterprise architecture using the unifica...... the unification operating model, IT service providers can much more efficient develop relevant service catalogues with connected reporting services related to SLA's and KPI's based on ITIL and newer frameworks like SIAM....

The Service Orientation and Employee’s Customer Orientation in Public Services Organizations

OpenAIRE

Andrada Iacob

2015-01-01

This paper explores the relationships between service orientation and employees’ customer orientation in public services organizations. First, we will review the relevant literature on service orientation and employee’s customer orientation. Based on this theory, the research hypothesis is formulated. The research results will be followed by conclusions, limitations and future directions. At the construct level, we found positive direct relationships between service orientation and employees’...

Elastic wave scattering methods: assessments and suggestions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gubernatis, J.E.

1985-01-01

The author was asked by the meeting organizers to review and assess the developments over the past ten or so years in elastic wave scattering methods and to suggest areas of future research opportunities. He highlights the developments, focusing on what he feels were distinct steps forward in our theoretical understanding of how elastic waves interact with flaws. For references and illustrative figures, he decided to use as his principal source the proceedings of the various annual Reviews of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE). These meetings have been the main forum not only for presenting results of theoretical research but also for demonstrating the relevance of the theoretical research for the design and interpretation of experiment. In his opinion a quantitative NDE is possible only if this relevance exists, and his major objective is to discuss and illustrate the degree to which relevance has developed

Ten guiding principles for youth mental health services.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Frank; Hebel, Lisa; Badcock, Paul; Parker, Alexandra G

2018-06-01

Guiding principles are arguably central to the development of any health service. The aim of this article is to report on the outcomes of a youth mental health (YMH) community of practice (CoP), which identified a range of guiding principles that provide a clear point of comparison for the only other set of principles for YMH service delivery proposed to date. A YMH CoP was established in 2010 as part of the Victorian State Government approach to improving YMH care. An initial literature search was undertaken to locate articles on YMH service delivery. A number of common themes were identified, which the YMH community of practice (YMHCoP) members then elaborated upon by drawing from their collective experience of the YMH sector. The resultant themes were then refined through subsequent group discussions to derive a definitive set of guiding principles. These principles were then augmented by a second literature search conducted in July 2015. Fifteen key themes were derived from the initial literature search and YMH CoP discussions. These were refined by the YMH CoP to produce 10 guiding principles for YMH service development. These are discussed through reference to the relevant literature, using the only other article on principles of YMH service delivery as a notable point of comparison. The 10 principles identified may be useful for quality improvement and are likely to have international relevance. We suggest the timely pursuit of an international consensus on guiding principles for service delivery under the auspices of a peak body for YMH. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Benefits and risks of shared services in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Kennewell, Suzanne; Baker, Laura

2016-05-16

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of staff in a large, public health service involved in transitioning support services to a shared services model. It aims to understand their perceptions of the benefits and risks arising from this change. Design/methodology/approach - Thematic analysis of qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with both service provider and customer agency staff was used to identify, analyze and report patterns of benefits and risks within data. Findings - Staff expressed the need for relevant subject-matter-experts to work within customer agencies to facilitate effective communication between the customer agency and shared services provider, reflecting observations found in out-sourcing literature. Research limitations/implications - Results point to significant challenges continuing to occur for shared services in healthcare. Risks identified suggest a more intimate relationship between clinical and support services than previously discussed. Originality/value - Previous discussion of the shared services model has not considered the skills, knowledge and ability required by staff in the customer agency. This research indicates that in the absence of such consideration, the concepts of the shared services model are weakened.

Leadership in Children's Services

Science.gov (United States)

Booker, Roger

2012-01-01

This paper examines the different contexts for leadership in children's services with a particular focus on integrated working. It reviews contemporary theories that appear to offer relevant frameworks for thinking about children's service leadership. It is argued that children's services require leadership at all levels to enable a dynamic,…

Service innovation methodologies I : what can we learn from service innovation and new service development research? : report no 1 from the TIPVIS-project

OpenAIRE

Nysveen, Herbjørn; Pedersen, Per E.

2007-01-01

This report presents a review of service innovation and service development literature. The main purpose of the review is to identify normative implications for service innovation methodologies. Three separate reviews are conducted and reported; an open search review based on specific search terms of relevance to service innovation methodologies, a review of articles in four of the most influential journals on service innovation/service development, and a review focusing contri...

Relevance of counselling to human resource management in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

However, literature has shown that counselling is universal and useful in all fields of human endeavours. This paper therefore brings into focus the relevance of counselling to human resource management in organizations. It defines counselling, resource management and identifies various services that counsellors perform ...

THE IMPACT OF AUDITOR AFFILIATION ON FINANCIAL STATEMENT RELEVANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radu-Daniel LOGHIN

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The role of the audit report is to provide a level of trust to the professional judgment behind the financial statements of a company. The market for audit services is not a homogenous one, and large audit partners known as the Big 4 dominate with their partner networks in both developed and emerging markets. The scientific literature provides a rich background of studies linking auditor affiliation and auditor independence. The current exploratory paper tries to approach the issue of auditor independence and affiliation by drawing on the Ohlson model for a sample of 552 firm-year observations from the Borsa Istanbul, covering the 2014 and 2015 financial periods. The results reveal a strong correlation for the year 2015 between the Big 4 affiliation and the value of the equities, possibly suggesting a correlation between auditor independence and financial statement relevance.

Ecologically relevant levels of multiple, common marine stressors suggest antagonistic effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, Rolanda; Marshall, Dustin

2017-07-24

Stressors associated with global change will be experienced simultaneously and may act synergistically, so attempts to estimate the capacity of marine systems to cope with global change requires a multi-stressor approach. Because recent evidence suggests that stressor effects can be context-dependent, estimates of how stressors are experienced in ecologically realistic settings will be particularly valuable. To enhance our understanding of the interplay between environmental effects and the impact of multiple stressors from both natural and anthropogenic sources, we conducted a field experiment. We explored the impact of multiple, functionally varied stressors from both natural and anthropogenic sources experienced during early life history in a common sessile marine invertebrate, Bugula neritina. Natural spatial environmental variation induced differences in conspecific densities, allowing us to test for density-driven context-dependence of stressor effects. We indeed found density-dependent effects. Under high conspecific density, individual survival increased, which offset part of the negative effects of experiencing stressors. Experiencing multiple stressors early in life history translated to a decreased survival in the field, albeit the effects were not as drastic as we expected: our results are congruent with antagonistic stressor effects. We speculate that when individual stressors are more subtle, stressor synergies become less common.

Translation as secondary communication. The relevance theory ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ernst-August Gutt started one of the greatest translation debates of the past ten years when he suggested that relevance theory holds the key to providing a unified account of translation. The bulk of the debate has been between practitioners of functional equivalence and advocates of a relevance theoretic approach to ...

Social validation of vocabulary selection: ensuring stakeholder relevance.

Science.gov (United States)

Bornman, Juan; Bryen, Diane Nelson

2013-06-01

The vocabulary needs of individuals who are unable to spell their messages continue to be of concern in the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Social validation of vocabulary selection has been suggested as one way to improve the effectiveness and relevance of service delivery in AAC. Despite increased emphasis on stakeholder accountability, social validation is not frequently used in AAC research. This paper describes an investigation of the social validity of a vocabulary set identified in earlier research. A previous study used stakeholder focus groups to identify vocabulary that could be used by South African adults who use AAC to disclose their experiences as victims of crime or abuse. Another study used this vocabulary to create communication boards for use by adults with complex communication needs. In this current project, 12 South African adults with complex communication needs who use AAC systems used a 5-point Likert scale to score the importance of each of the previously identified 57 vocabulary items. This two-step process of first using stakeholder focus groups to identify vocabulary, and then having literate persons who use AAC provide information on social validity of the vocabulary on behalf of their peers who are illiterate, appears to hold promise as a culturally relevant vocabulary selection approach for sensitive topics such as crime and abuse.

78 FR 12422 - Health Services Research and Development Service Scientific Merit Review Board, Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-22

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Health Services Research and Development Service Scientific Merit... nursing research. Applications are reviewed for scientific and technical merit, mission relevance, and the... Program Manager, Scientific Merit Review Board, Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research...

Bridging the gap between legacy services and Web Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bissyandé, Tegawendé; Réveillère, Laurent; Bromberg, Yérom-David

2010-01-01

itself. In this paper, we introduce a generative language based approach for constructing wrappers to facilitate the migration of legacy service functionalities to Web Services. To this end, we have designed the Janus domain-specific language, which provides developers with a high-level way to describe......Web Services is an increasingly used instantiation of Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) that relies on standard Internet protocols to produce services that are highly interoperable. Other types of services, relying on legacy application layer protocols, however, cannot be composed directly....... A promising solution is to implement wrappers to translate between the application layer protocols and the WS protocol. Doing so manually, however, requires a high level of expertise, in the relevant application layer protocols, in low-level network and system programming, and in the Web Service paradigm...

Model-based Impact Assessment of an Integrated Water Management Strategy on Ecosystem Services relevant to Food Security in Namibia

Science.gov (United States)

Luetkemeier, R.; Liehr, S.

2012-04-01

North-central Namibia is characterized by seasonal alterations of drought and heavy rainfall, mostly saline groundwater resources and a lack of perennial rivers. Water scarcity poses a great challenge for freshwater supply, harvest and food security against the background of high population growth and climate change. CuveWaters project aims at poverty reduction and livelihood improvement on a long term basis by introducing a multi-resource-mix as part of an integrated water resources management (IWRM) approach. Herein, creating water buffers by rainwater harvesting (RWH) and subsurface water storage as well as reuse of treated wastewater facilitates micro-scale gardening activities. This link constitutes a major component of a sustainable adaptation strategy by contributing to the conservation and improvement of basic food and freshwater resources in order to reduce drought vulnerability. This paper presents main findings of an impact assessment carried out on the effect of integrated water resources management on ecosystem services (ESS) relevant to food security within the framework of CuveWaters project. North-central Namibia is perceived as a social-ecological system characterized by a strong mutual dependence between natural environment and anthropogenic system. This fundamental reliance on natural resources highlights the key role of ESS in semi-arid environments to sustain human livelihoods. Among other services, food provision was chosen for quantification as one of the most fundamental ESS in north-central Namibia. Different nutritional values were utilized as indicators to adopt a demand-supply approach (Ecosystem Service Profile) to illustrate the ability of the ecosystem to meet people's nutritional requirements. Calculations have been conducted using both Bayesian networks to incorporate uncertainty introduced by the variability of monthly precipitation and the application of plant specific water production functions. Results show that improving the

Relevant closure: a new form of defeasible reasoning for description logics

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Casini, G

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Relevant Closure and Minimal Relevant Closure. As the names suggest, both rely on defining a version of relevance. Our formalisation of relevance in this context is based on the notion of a justification (a minimal subset of sentences implying a given...

Why relevance theory is relevant for lexicography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bothma, Theo; Tarp, Sven

2014-01-01

This article starts by providing a brief summary of relevance theory in information science in relation to the function theory of lexicography, explaining the different types of relevance, viz. objective system relevance and the subjective types of relevance, i.e. topical, cognitive, situational...... that is very important for lexicography as well as for information science, viz. functional relevance. Since all lexicographic work is ultimately aimed at satisfying users’ information needs, the article then discusses why the lexicographer should take note of all these types of relevance when planning a new...... dictionary project, identifying new tasks and responsibilities of the modern lexicographer. The article furthermore discusses how relevance theory impacts on teaching dictionary culture and reference skills. By integrating insights from lexicography and information science, the article contributes to new...

Making the case for a fracture liaison service: a qualitative study of the experiences of clinicians and service managers.

Science.gov (United States)

Drew, Sarah; Gooberman-Hill, Rachael; Farmer, Andrew; Graham, Laura; Javaid, M Kassim; Cooper, Cyrus; Judge, Andrew

2015-10-01

To develop services, healthcare professionals must make business cases to managerial bodies within Hospital Trusts and if approved, to commissioning bodies. Patients with hip fracture are at high risk of subsequent fracture. To prevent this, guidance recommends structuring fracture prevention services around coordinator based models. These are known as Fracture Liaison Services (FLS). 33 semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals with experience of making business cases for FLS. Data was analysed thematically. Challenges in the development of business cases included collecting all the relevant data and negotiating compartmentalised budgets that impeded service development. Participants described communication and cooperation between providers and commissioners as variable. They felt financial considerations were the most important factor in funding decisions, while improved quality of care was less influential. Other factors included national guidelines and political priorities. The personalities of clinicians championing services, and the clinical interests of commissioners were seen to influence the decision-making process, suggesting that participants felt that decisions were not always made on the basis of evidence-based care. Effective strategies included ways of providing support, demonstrating potential cost effectiveness and improved quality of care. Using a range of sources including audit data collected on the successful Glasgow FLS, and improving cooperation between stakeholders was advocated. Participants felt that the work of commissioners and providers should be better integrated and suggested strategies for doing this. This study provides information to healthcare professionals about how best to develop business cases for FLS. We conclude with recommendations on how to develop effective cases. These include using guidance such as toolkits, aligning the aims of FLS with national priorities and benchmarking

System for selecting relevant information for decision support.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalina, Jan; Seidl, Libor; Zvára, Karel; Grünfeldová, Hana; Slovák, Dalibor; Zvárová, Jana

2013-01-01

We implemented a prototype of a decision support system called SIR which has a form of a web-based classification service for diagnostic decision support. The system has the ability to select the most relevant variables and to learn a classification rule, which is guaranteed to be suitable also for high-dimensional measurements. The classification system can be useful for clinicians in primary care to support their decision-making tasks with relevant information extracted from any available clinical study. The implemented prototype was tested on a sample of patients in a cardiological study and performs an information extraction from a high-dimensional set containing both clinical and gene expression data.

[Adoption of new technologies by health services: the challenge of analyzing relevant factors].

Science.gov (United States)

Trindade, Evelinda

2008-05-01

The exponential increase in the incorporation of health technologies has been considered a key factor in increased expenditures by the health sector. Such decisions involve multiple levels and stakeholders. Decentralization has multiplied the decision-making levels, with numerous difficult choices and limited resources. The interrelationship between stakeholders is complex, in creative systems with multiple determinants and confounders. The current review discusses the interaction between the factors influencing the decisions to incorporate technologies by health services, and proposes a structure for their analysis. The application and intensity of these factors in decision-making and the incorporation of products and programs by health services shapes the installed capacity of local and regional networks and modifies the health system. Empirical observation of decision-making and technology incorporation in Brazilian health services poses an important challenge. The structured recognition and measurement of these variables can assist proactive planning of health services.

A Literature Review of Homelessness and Aging: Suggestions for a Policy and Practice-Relevant Research Agenda.

Science.gov (United States)

Grenier, Amanda; Barken, Rachel; Sussman, Tamara; Rothwell, David; Bourgeois-Guérin, Valérie; Lavoie, Jean-Pierre

2016-03-01

Homelessness among older people is a growing concern across Canada and is expected to rise with demographic change (Crane & Warnes, 2010; Culhane, Metraux, Byrne, Stino, & Bainbridge, 2013). Yet current knowledge, policies, and practices on homelessness largely focus on younger populations. Likewise, research and policies on aging typically overlook homelessness. Responses to homelessness among older people must address complex needs related to health, income security, and housing. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this article outlines the existing and needed research with regards to homelessness among older people. We clarify the intersections of aging and homelessness; review the relevant statistics, including estimated prevalence; discuss pathways and variations in experience; and identify gaps in knowledge. We conclude with a call for an inclusive research agenda that will help build policies and practices to reduce and ultimately to eliminate homelessness among older people in Canada.

Patient involvement in rheumatology outpatient service design and delivery: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

de Souza, Savia; Galloway, James; Simpson, Carol; Chura, Radka; Dobson, Joanne; Gullick, Nicola J; Steer, Sophia; Lempp, Heidi

2017-06-01

Patient involvement is increasingly recognized as important within the UK National Health Service to ensure that services delivered are relevant to users' needs. Organizations are encouraged to work with service users to achieve excellence in care. Patient education can improve health outcomes and reduce health-care costs. Mobile technologies could play a vital role in this. Patient-centred development of innovative strategies to improve the experience of rheumatology outpatients. The Group Rheumatology Initiative Involving Patients (GRIIP) project was set up in 2013 as a joint venture between patients, clinicians, academics and management at a London hospital. The project saw (i) the formation of an independent patient group which provided suggestions for service improvement - outcomes included clearer signs in the outpatient waiting area, extended phlebotomy opening hours and better access to podiatry; (ii) a rolling patient educational evening programme initiated in 2014 with topics chosen by patient experts - feedback has been positive and attendance continues to grow; and (iii) a mobile application (app) co-designed with patients launched in 2015 which provides relevant information for outpatient clinic attendees and data capture for clinicians - downloads have steadily increased as users adopt this new technology. Patients can effectively contribute to service improvement provided they are supported, respected as equals, and the organization is willing to undergo a cultural change. © 2016 The Authors. Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

International Service Learning: Analytical Review of Published Research Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, Brett

2015-01-01

International service learning (ISL) is an emerging area of international education. This paper summarizes academic journal articles on ISL programs and organizes the relevant publications by academic disciplines, service learning project areas, and other topics. The basis for this review is relevant literature from full-text scholarly peer…

Survey for service selection approaches in dynamic environments

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Manqele, Lindelweyizizwe S

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The usage of the service selection approaches across different dynamic service provisioning environments has increased the challenges associated with an effective method that can be used to select a relevant service. The use of service selection...

Service framework for Internet of People, Things and Services (IoPTS)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shinde, Gitanjali; Olesen, Henning

2016-01-01

Internet of Things (IoT) is a revolutionary technology, where devices around us will be capable of sensing, reacting, responding and working autonomously to provide services to the users e.g. within smart homes, enterprises, utilities and e-Health. In the IoT paradigm, every device...... will be connected to the Internet to provide services to the user. Bringing this together makes it relevant to talk about the "Internet of People, Things and Services (IoPTS)". However, providing the appropriate services to the users depending on their requirements is a major challenge for IoPTS. After reviewing...

Value Creation in Digital Service Platforms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ghazawneh, Ahmad; Mansour, Osama

2017-01-01

Value creation is increasingly relevant for owners of digital service platforms (DSPs). These owners have two vital goals: increase their service base and sustain their service offerers. A key element in continuously accommodating these goals is value creation. While the literature on DSPs is gro...... of service offerers. As such, our study proposes and contributes a value creation framework for DSPs that identifies 8 value sources and highlights resource combination and exchange in the process of value creation.......Value creation is increasingly relevant for owners of digital service platforms (DSPs). These owners have two vital goals: increase their service base and sustain their service offerers. A key element in continuously accommodating these goals is value creation. While the literature on DSPs...... is growing, there is a paucity of knowledge on the value creation process in these platforms. Drawing on a qualitative study of Uber drivers in Denmark and Sweden, we synthesize Schumpeter’s theory of value creation to develop an understanding of the value creation process in DSPs from the perspective...

Using ChEMBL web services for building applications and data processing workflows relevant to drug discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Nowotka, Michał M; Gaulton, Anna; Mendez, David; Bento, A Patricia; Hersey, Anne; Leach, Andrew

2017-08-01

ChEMBL is a manually curated database of bioactivity data on small drug-like molecules, used by drug discovery scientists. Among many access methods, a REST API provides programmatic access, allowing the remote retrieval of ChEMBL data and its integration into other applications. This approach allows scientists to move from a world where they go to the ChEMBL web site to search for relevant data, to one where ChEMBL data can be simply integrated into their everyday tools and work environment. Areas covered: This review highlights some of the audiences who may benefit from using the ChEMBL API, and the goals they can address, through the description of several use cases. The examples cover a team communication tool (Slack), a data analytics platform (KNIME), batch job management software (Luigi) and Rich Internet Applications. Expert opinion: The advent of web technologies, cloud computing and micro services oriented architectures have made REST APIs an essential ingredient of modern software development models. The widespread availability of tools consuming RESTful resources have made them useful for many groups of users. The ChEMBL API is a valuable resource of drug discovery bioactivity data for professional chemists, chemistry students, data scientists, scientific and web developers.

The service Ouroboros: Designing personas service cycles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gudiksen, Sune Klok; Brandt, Eva

2014-01-01

Many companies investigate new business opportunities in a turn from product to service design. As service offerings expand over time and space, such notions as ‘customer journey’ or ‘service blueprint’ have been suggested to grasp and design the nature of the emergent services. However, we find ...... various customers’´service cycles....

The Relevance of IT Service Management Maturity for IT Alignment and Its Strategy and Organization Size Contingencies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winkler, Till J.; Wulf, Jochen; Brenner, Walter

2014-01-01

to address whether and in which contingent contexts the institutionalization of ITSM frameworks, understood as collections of IT governance mechanisms, may contribute to IT alignment, a widely recognized prerequisite for superior IT performance. This workshop contribution is based on a cross-sectional survey...... with ITSM experts in which we measure levels of maturity of different ITSM planning and execution processes and focus on the organizations’ IS strategy (innovative versus conservative) as well as organization size as contingency factors hypothesized to moderate the effect of ITSM maturity on IT alignment....... Our findings strengthen the view that ITSM frameworks like ITIL incorporate governance mechanisms that can enhance the effect of the established relational antecedents of IT alignment. In addition, our data particularly provide evidence for the relevance of execution-level ITSM processes and suggest...

RECOVERY STRATEGIES FOR SERVICE FAILURES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Budeanu Andreea

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Internationally, services represent the most important sector of the economy both in terms of economic performance and labor utilization. Becoming essential part of today society, they are considered the basis of a healthy economy, fact that has increased the importance of services and the research in the field.T hrough this work we intend to address a number of issues that require clarification and are relevant to this sector. Increased competition and customers higher demands lead to difficulties in service delivery, so managers of service organizations must work hard towards developing appropiate strategies that can lead to improved customers satisfaction and to increased efficiency. Because it is inevitably for service providers to face situations in which service failure occurs and their customers are not satisfied, understanding the nature of service failures and the ways in which an organization can recover after a failure are considered key factors for achieving customer satisfaction. Since the data suggests that over 50% of customers who are facing problems are not satisfied with the way they were resolved, we consider appropriate to approach this topic. We intend to draw attention to service providers to the importance of proper management of service failure. They can find ways to recover from these failures and even to turn them into some very pleasant situations that can contribute to customer loyalty. This paper begins by highlighting the various features specific to services which contribute to the increased chances of failure, it continues by presenting the concepts of service failure and service recovery and then it presents some links that exist between service recovery and other aspects of providing services that are demonstrated in the literature. We hope that this paper will significantly contribute to the knowledge and development of the sector under analysis and will highlight some practices that will lead to improved

Perinatal pathology: practice suggestions for limited-resource settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Drucilla J

2013-06-01

The practice of perinatal pathology in much of the world suffers, as do all subspecialties of anatomic pathology, from inadequate resources (equipment, consumables, and both professional and technical personnel), from lack of education (not only of the pathologist but also of the clinicians responsible for sending the specimens, and the technicians processing the specimens), and from lack of appropriate government sector support. Perinatal pathology has significant public health-related utility and should be championing its service by providing maternal and fetal/infant mortality and morbidity data to governmental health ministries. It is with this pathologic data that informed decisions can be made on health-related courses of action and allocation of resources. These perinatal pathology data are needed to develop appropriate public health initiatives, specifically toward achieving the Millennium Developmental Goals as the best way to effectively decrease infant and maternal deaths and to determine causes of perinatal mortality and morbidity. The following overview will focus on the utility of perinatal pathology specifically as related to its public health function and will suggest methods to improve its service in resource-poor settings. This article is offered not as a critique of the current practice that most pathologists find themselves working in globally, but to provide suggestions for improving perinatal pathology services, which could be implemented with the limited available resources and manpower most pathology departments currently have. In addition, we offer suggestions for graded improvements ("ramping up") over time.

Assessing the performance of mental health service facilities for meeting patient priorities and health service responsiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Bramesfeld, A; Stegbauer, C

2016-10-01

The World Health Organisation has defined health service responsiveness as one of the key-objectives of health systems. Health service responsiveness relates to the ability to respond to service users' legitimate expectations on non-medical issues when coming into contact with the services of a healthcare system. It is defined by the areas showing respect for persons and patient orientation. Health service responsiveness is particularly relevant to mental health services, due to the specific vulnerability of mental health patients but also because it matches what mental health patients consider as good quality of care as well as their priorities when seeking healthcare. As (mental) health service responsiveness applies equally to all concerned services it would be suitable as a universal indicator for the quality of services' performance. However, performance monitoring programs in mental healthcare rarely assess health service performance with respect to meeting patient priorities. This is in part due of patient priorities as an outcome being underrepresented in studies that evaluate service provision. The lack of studies using patient priorities as outcomes transmits into evidence based guidelines and subsequently, into underrepresentation of patient priorities in performance monitoring. Possible ways out of this situation include more intervention studies using patient priorities as outcome, considering evidence from qualitative studies in guideline development and developing performance monitoring programs along the patient pathway and on key-points of relevance for service quality from a patient perspective.

Welfare assessment in porcine biomedical research – Suggestion for an operational tool

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søndergaard, Lene Vammen; Dagnæs-Hansen, Frederik; Herskin, Mette S

2011-01-01

of the extent of welfare assessment in pigs used in biomedical research and to suggest a welfare assessment standard for research facilities based on an exposition of ethological considerations relevant for the welfare of pigs in biomedical research. The tools for porcine welfare assessment presented suggest...

Cloud-based Collaborative Business Services Provision

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Camarinha-Matos, L.M.; Afsarmanesh, H.; Oliveira, A.I.; Ferrada, F.; Hammoudi, S.; Cordeiro, J.; Maciaszek, L.A.; Filipe, J.

2014-01-01

The notion of service-enhanced product, representing the association of services to manufactured products, offers an important mechanism for value creation and product differentiation. This is particularly relevant in the case of complex, highly customized and long-life products. Provision of

[Suggestions to improve dentist-endodontist collaboration].

Science.gov (United States)

Zabalegui, B; Zabalegui, I; Flores, L

1989-01-01

Referrals from the general dentist to the endodontist are in some occasions complicated with lack of proper communication among dentist-patient-specialist, resulting in the loss of confidence or even the patient. Suggestions to improve this communication are discussed, which will provide the patient a higher confidence in the indicated endodontic treatment and a better dental service. It will also enhance the prestige of the general dentists' and specialists' practice.

STUDIES REFERED TO SERVICES IN THE 2005-2010 ENANPADS: A BIBLIOMETRIC SURVEY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Antônio Menezes Varanda

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This bibliometric survey concerns articles published in the Marketing Academic Division of the EnANPADs with the word service(s in the title from 2005 to 2010. The research selected 51 articles with the following characteristics: number of authors per article, their respective institutions of affiliation, the frequency of attendance to the events, the methodological approaches, the means and ends of the researches and the data collection tools used. Data were tabulated and processed with descriptive statistics, and results showed that services are a relevant theme in Marketing research, either with a central or peripheral position. In the conclusions, five alerts were thrown, including the imbalance of research between private and public institutions and the geographic concentration of the participating institutions. Future studies are suggested.

The relevance of political prestudies for implementation studies of cognitive services in community pharmacies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaae, Susanne; Traulsen, Janine Marie; Søndergaard, Birthe

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Studies of cognitive services implementation in the pharmacy sector traditionally focus on individual and/or organizational factors to explain why some pharmacies are successful and others are not. The social and political context of the origins of these services is rarely part...... of the analysis. Researchers and practitioners in the field of pharmacy practice research are increasingly being encouraged to take into account the specific political and societal climate which often plays a defining role in the success or failure of cognitive services implementation in community pharmacies...

Service Quality Management in the ITS Telecommunications Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomas Zelinka

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Guaranteed selected quality of telecommunication service and wide area coverage are typical requirements of the ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems applications. Extensive range of wireless data services with reasonable coverage is provided by public wireless services operators, however, mostly no guaranteed relevant range of quality and security is available. ITS services require cost-effectively solution which can be resolved by combination of the "core" public solution with the other public as well as private services where and when it is needed. Such approach requires implementation of the relevant flexible system architecture supported by the efficient decision processes. ITS specific service security requirements would not underestimated, as well. Special situation is identified in case of the C2I (Car to Infrastructure and C2C (Car to Car communication namely if the vehicle on board unit is interconnected with the vehicle CAN (Controlled Area Network based network. Such configurations significantly increase potential of dangerous intruders´ attacks. Probability of the critical hazards appearances grows if the ITS data are accessible in the wide area networks. That is also the main reason why relevant telecommunications security support is understood as one of the crucial part of the ITS telecommunications solution.

Explaining citizens’ perceptions of international climate-policy relevance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schleich, Joachim; Faure, Corinne

2017-01-01

This paper empirically analyses the antecedents of citizens’ perceptions of the relevance of international climate policy. Its use of representative surveys in the USA, China and Germany controls for different environmental attitudes and socio-economic factors between countries. The findings of the micro-econometric analysis suggest that the perceived relevance of international climate policy is positively affected by its perceived effectiveness, approval of the key topics discussed at international climate conferences, and environmental attitudes, but is not affected by perceived procedural justice. A higher level of perceived trust in international climate policy was positively related to perceived relevance in the USA and in China, but not in Germany. Citizens who felt that they were well informed and that their position was represented at climate summits were more likely to perceive international climate policy as relevant in China in particular. Generally, the results show only weak evidence of socio-demographic effects. - Highlights: • Perceptions of climate-policy relevance increase with perceptions of effectiveness. • In China and the USA, trust increases perceptions of climate-policy relevance. • Environmental attitudes are related to perceptions of climate-policy relevance. • In China, well-informed citizens perceive climate policy as more relevant. • Socio-demographics only weakly affect perceptions of climate-policy relevance.

Min-max optimization and the radial approach to the public service system design with generalized utility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaroslav Janáček

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the min-max public service system design, where the generalized utility is considered. In contrast to the formulations presented in the literature, the generalized utility defined for a public service system assumes that the user’s utility comes generally from more than one located service center and the individual contributions from relevant centers are weighted by reduction coefficients depending on a center order. Given that commercial IP-solvers often fail due to enormous computational times or extreme memory demands when resolving this issue, we suggested and compared several approaches based on a bisection process with the purpose of developing an effective max-min approach to the public service system design with a generalized utility.

Relevance of Programs for Emotionally Disturbed Youth in Other Lands

Science.gov (United States)

David, Henry P.

1970-01-01

A survey of current trends was conducted in more than 40 countries. Focus was on the organization of services and their relevance for evolving practices in the United States. Apparent was a willingness to experiment with administrative and therapeutic roles. Ideological differences are important determinants of the organization, range, and quality…

Persistent Web References – Best Practices and New Suggestions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zierau, Eld; Nyvang, Caroline; Kromann, Thomas Hvid

In this paper, we suggest adjustments to best practices for persistent web referencing; adjustments that aim at preservation and long time accessibility of web referenced resources in general, but with focus on web references in web archives. Web referencing is highly relevant and crucial...... refer to archive URLs which depends on the web archives access implementations. A major part of the suggested adjustments is a new web reference standard for archived web references (called wPID), which is a supplement to the current practices. The purpose of the standard is to support general, global...

The economics of energy service contracts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sorrell, S. [University of Sussex, Brighton (United Kingdom). Sussex Energy Group, SPRU -Science and Technology Policy Research

2007-01-15

Energy service contracting can provide a cost-effective route to overcoming barriers to energy efficiency. Energy service contracts allow the client to reduce operating costs, transfer risk and concentrate attention on core activities. However, the energy services model may only be appropriate for a subset of energy services and energy using organisations. A challenge for both business strategy and public policy is to identify those situations in which energy service contracting is most likely to be appropriate and the conditions under which it is most likely to succeed. Energy service contracting is a form of outsourcing. It will only be chosen where the expected reduction in the production cost of supplying energy services can more than offset the transaction cost of negotiating and managing the relationship with the energy service provider. Production costs will be determined by a combination of the physical characteristics of the energy system and the technical efficiency of the relevant organisational arrangements, including economies of scale and specialisation. Transaction costs, in turn, will be determined by the complexity of the energy service, the 'specificity' of the investments made by the contractor, the competitiveness of the energy services market and the relevant legal, financial and regulatory rules. This paper develops these ideas into a general framework that may be used to assess the feasibility of energy service contracting in different circumstances. The framework leads to a number of hypotheses that are suitable for empirical test. (author)

The economics of energy service contracting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sorrell, Steve [Univ. of Sussex (United Kingdom). SPRU

2005-07-01

Energy service contracting can provide a cost-effective route to overcoming barriers to energy efficiency. Energy service contracts allow the client to reduce operating costs, transfer risk and concentrate attention on core activities. However, the energy services model may only be appropriate for a subset of energy services and energy using organisations. A challenge for both business strategy and public policy is to identify those situations in which energy service contracting is most likely to be appropriate and the conditions under which it is most likely to succeed. Energy service contracting is a form of outsourcing. It will only be chosen where the expected reduction in the production cost of supplying energy services can more than offset the transactions cost of negotiating and managing the relationship with the energy service provider. Production costs will be determined by a combination of the physical characteristics of the energy system and the technical efficiency of the relevant organisational arrangements, including economies of scale and specialisation. Transaction costs, in turn, will be determined by the complexity of the energy service, the 'specificity' of the investments made by the contractor, the 'contestability' of the energy services market and the relevant legal, financial and regulatory rules. This paper develops these ideas into a general framework that may be used to assess the feasibility of energy service contracting in different circumstances. The framework leads to a number of hypotheses that are suitable for empirical test.

The economics of energy service contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sorrell, Steve

2007-01-01

Energy service contracting can provide a cost-effective route to overcoming barriers to energy efficiency. Energy service contracts allow the client to reduce operating costs, transfer risk and concentrate attention on core activities. However, the energy services model may only be appropriate for a subset of energy services and energy using organisations. A challenge for both business strategy and public policy is to identify those situations in which energy service contracting is most likely to be appropriate and the conditions under which it is most likely to succeed. Energy service contracting is a form of outsourcing. It will only be chosen where the expected reduction in the production cost of supplying energy services can more than offset the transaction cost of negotiating and managing the relationship with the energy service provider. Production costs will be determined by a combination of the physical characteristics of the energy system and the technical efficiency of the relevant organisational arrangements, including economies of scale and specialisation. Transaction costs, in turn, will be determined by the complexity of the energy service, the 'specificity' of the investments made by the contractor, the competitiveness of the energy services market and the relevant legal, financial and regulatory rules. This paper develops these ideas into a general framework that may be used to assess the feasibility of energy service contracting in different circumstances. The framework leads to a number of hypotheses that are suitable for empirical test

Foodborne Infectious Diseases Mediated by Inappropriate Infection Control in Food Service Businesses and Relevant Countermeasures in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jong Myong; You, Young-Hyun; Cho, Hyun-Min; Hong, Ji Won; Ghim, Sa-Youl

2017-06-01

The objective of this review is to propose an appropriate course of action for improving the guidelines followed by food handlers for control of infection. For this purpose, previous epidemiological reports related to acute gastroenteritis in food service businesses mediated by food handlers were intensively analyzed. Relevant studies were identified in international databases. We selected eligible papers reporting foodborne infectious disease outbreaks. Among primary literature collection, the abstract of each article was investigated to find cases that absolutely identified a causative factor to be food handlers' inappropriate infection control and the taxon of causative microbial agents by epidemiological methodologies. Information about the sites (type of food business) where the outbreaks occurred was investigated. A wide variety of causative microbial agents has been investigated, using several epidemiological methods. These agents have shown diverse propagation pathways based on their own molecular pathogenesis, physiology, taxonomy, and etiology. Depending on etiology, transmission, propagation, and microbiological traits, we can predict the transmission characteristics of pathogens in food preparation areas. The infected food workers have a somewhat different ecological place in infection epidemiology as compared to the general population. However, the current Korean Food Safety Act cannot propose detailed guidelines. Therefore, different methodologies have to be made available to prevent further infections.

What does the literature suggest about what carers need from mental health services for their own wellbeing? A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Susanti, Herni; Lovell, Karina; Mairs, Hilary

2018-02-01

The aim of this study was to examine prior studies relating to carers' needs from mental health services for their own wellbeing. A systematic approach was adopted for the literature review. The databases searched included MEDLINE, PSycINFO, EMBASE, and CINAHL, involving the use of search terms such as carers, mental health, and needs. The search was conducted in April 2012 and updated in December 2015. In total, 40 published papers were included in the review and were subsequently assessed for quality. For the data synthesis, a thematic analysis approach was employed to integrate the quantitative and qualitative evidence relating to carers' needs. Twenty-five of the reviewed studies were qualitative, 12 were quantitative, and 3 were mixed. Four major carer needs emerged from the synthesis: (1) holistic wellbeing of service users, (2) holistic wellbeing of carers, (3) supportive attitudes of professionals, and (4) carer involvement. All four of these needs, in fact, revolved around the carers' ill relatives. The studies reviewed suggest that while carers of people suffering from mental illness have a range of needs, they generally fail to offer straightforward information about their own needs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of service-learning through a school-based community project.

Science.gov (United States)

Bassi, Sherry

2011-01-01

Service-learning (SL) is an experiential teaching method that combines instruction with community service, with the aim of enriching students' academic learning, interpersonal skills and sense of responsibility while making meaningful contributions to the community. However, measuring outcomes of service-learning projects is difficult. This article reports on the perceptions of 18 third-year undergraduate nursing students who took part in a pilot service-learning project targeting tobacco use in a local elementary school. Faculty members evaluated the program's outcomes by engaging students in structured reflection on the program about its relevance to their future careers as practicing professionals, especially in community-based settings. The students' perceptions were elicited through three sets of reflective assignments following the project. Findings from the reflective assignments suggest that the pilot program was successful in enhancing the students' academic, social, and personal development while building a partnership between the school of nursing and key players in the community, including school-based nurses, teachers, administrators, families, and community leaders. The author suggests that service-learning projects can help nursing students accomplish key developmental tasks of the college years (such as building their competence, autonomy, and integrity), while helping impart the skills and values they will need as they graduate and seek professional nursing roles.

Strategic approach to branding of nations: Relevancy for Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rakita Branko

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Building and managing brands becomes very important marketing tool in nowadays business. Branding is being pulled out from a strictly marketing area and becomes business component of a strategic importance. It is applying to products, services, companies, but also to events, people, ideas, institutions, destinations. Basically, almost everything can be branded. The subject of this paper is strategic approach to branding of nations. The paper contains review of relevant literature for the topic. Specifics of this type of branding have been analyzed. Detailed concept of strategic approach to branding of nations is a vital part of the paper. Relevancy of strategic approach to branding for Serbia is discussed at the end.

Relevance of travel agencies in the digital age

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mari Jansen van Rensburg

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the digital age travellers have more choices and are better informed. This conceptual paper considers the evolution of business models in the travel industry and evaluates the value propositions offered by traditional retail travel agencies. Conclusions suggest that services provided by travel agents are still relevant and valuable. It was also found that the digital age offers various opportunities to agencies to harness the benefits of information communication technologies. However, awareness of its functionality and resources is required to utilize this platform to achieve economies of scale and rationalise costs. Value propositions, offered by travel agencies, also need to be altered to meet the changing customers' buying habits of tourism products. It is recommended that ICT and the Internet should become part of an integrated, customer centric marketing plan which includes online and traditional marketing tools. Travel agencies also need to engage in clear customer segmentation based on established customer needs. Despite the many technological advances, many travellers still find the idea of traveling daunting and the Internet to be intimidating and are willing to pay a premium for human interaction.

Regional IS Knowledge Networks: Elaborating the Theme of Relevance of IS Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mikael Söderström

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the theme of the relevance of IS research. Based on recent experiments and experiences in the borderland between research and practice and politics we suggest some additions to the discussion of the IS research relevance in Fitzgerald (2001. One addition concerns relevance to whom, where we suggest considering a regional relevance through cultivation of regional IS knowledge networks. Such networks comprise regional knowledge production in collaboration between researchers and practitioners, and results are made public and tested in other organizations in addition to the research sites. This is closely related to the view of knowledge and research put forward by American pragmatism. A second addition is to complement Fitzgerald's suggestion to expose researchers to practice with the suggestion to expose practitioners to research. It is just as difficult to learn the 'true nature' of research from reading the executive summary in MIS Quarterly as it is to learn the 'true nature' of practice from a couple of interviews with practitioners. A regional IS knowledge network is an excellent opportunity for such double exposure.

A Study of Novice Science Teachers' Conceptualizations of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Science.gov (United States)

Redman, Elizabeth Horst

This qualitative study examined new science teachers' conceptualization of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP). The study followed six novice science teachers from their preservice teaching placements into their first jobs as instructors of record, observing in their classrooms and interviewing them about their use of CRP. The study sought to understand (1) how the participating teachers conceptualize CRP in science, and (2) what challenges the teachers faced in trying to implement CRP. Findings suggest that the teachers conceptualized CRP in ways that were consistent with Enyedy, Danish and Fields' (2011) interpretations of relevance: relevance of authentic purpose, relevance of content and/or context, and relevance of practices. The teachers, however, translated those interpretations of relevance into their conceptualizations and classroom practice in a variety of ways. While they encountered difficulties in conceptualizing and practicing CRP, they also made productive moves in their practice and evidenced positive elements in their conceptualizations of CRP. In order to address the challenges these teachers faced in implementing CRP, I suggest an approach to teacher preparation in CRP that builds upon the understandings and productive moves the teachers evidenced in this study.

Soil-based ecosystem services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ghaley, Bhim Bahadur; Porter, John Roy; Sandhu, Harpinder S.

2014-01-01

Among the soil-based ecosystem services (ES), nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration have direct influence on the biogeochemical cycles and greenhouse gas emissions affecting provision of other ES that support human existence. We reviewed methods to assess the two key ES by identifying...... their strengths and weaknesses and have made suggestions for using appropriate methods for better understanding of the ecosystem functions for the provision of ES. Relevant papers for the review were chosen on the basis of (i) diversity of studies on the two key ES in different ecosystems, (ii) methodologies...... applied and (iii) detailed descriptions of the trial locations in terms of vegetation, soil type, location and climatic information. We concluded that (i) elemental stoichiometrical ratios could be a potential approach to assess the health of ecosystems in terms of provision of the two ES discussed, (ii...

Opinion versus practice regarding the use of rehabilitation services in home care: an investigation using machine learning algorithms.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Lu; Zhu, Mu; Poss, Jeffrey W; Hirdes, John P; Glenny, Christine; Stolee, Paul

2015-10-09

Resources for home care rehabilitation are limited, and many home care clients who could benefit do not receive rehabilitation therapy. The interRAI Contact Assessment (CA) is a new screening instrument comprised of a subset of interRAI Home Care (HC) items, designed to be used as a preliminary assessment to identify which potential home care clients should be referred for a full assessment, or for services such as rehabilitation. We investigated which client characteristics are most relevant in predicting rehabilitation use in the full interRAI HC assessment. We applied two algorithms from machine learning and data mining - the LASSO and the random forest - to frequency matched interRAI HC and service utilization data for home care clients in Ontario, Canada. Analyses confirmed the importance of functional decline and mobility variables in targeting rehabilitation services, but suggested that other items in use as potential predictors may be less relevant. Six of the most highly ranked items related to ambulation. Diagnosis of cancer was highly associated with decreased rehabilitation use; however, cognitive status was not. Inconsistencies between variables considered important for classifying clients who need rehabilitation and those identified in this study based on use may indicate a discrepancy in the client characteristics considered relevant in theory versus actual practice.

The production and use of evidence in health care service innovation: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasileiou, Konstantina; Barnett, Julie; Young, Terry

2013-03-01

The focus of this article is on a range of concepts of evidence employed by health care innovators in pursuing service innovations and in demonstrating their success. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 key informants in the United Kingdom who had won Health Service Journal awards for successfully implementing 15 service innovations. Four concepts of evidence were identified: (a) evidence of effectiveness-both direct and indirect, (b) evidence of efficiency, (c) evidence of innovation acceptance, and (d) evidence of relevance. The results suggest that the innovators articulated evidential concepts from the main approaches prevailing in the British National Health Service, namely clinical trials and improvement cycles. Most aspired to "better" evidence than they were able to obtain, while the approach to evidence gathering was very pragmatic and was more aligned with the improvement-cycle framework. Developing supporting mechanisms for assisting innovation evaluation is an important challenge if service innovation is to be routinely attempted and achieved in health care.

Clarification of the memory artefact in the assessment of suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Willner, P

2008-04-01

The Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS) assesses suggestibility by asking respondents to recall a short story, followed by exposure to leading questions and pressure to change their responses. Suggestibility, as assessed by the GSS, appears to be elevated in people with intellectual disabilities (ID). This has been shown to reflect to some extent the fact that people with ID have poor recall of the story; however, there are discrepancies in this relationship. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a closer match between memory and suggestibility would be found using a measure of recognition memory rather than free recall. Three modifications to the procedure were presented to users of a learning disabilities day service. In all three experiments, a measure of forced-choice recognition memory was built into the suggestibility test. In experiments 1 and 2, the GSS was presented using either divided presentation (splitting the story into two halves, with memory and suggestibility tests after each half) or multiple presentation (the story was presented three times before presentation of the memory and suggestibility tests). Participants were tested twice, once with the standard version of the test and once with one of the modified versions. In experiment 3, an alternative suggestibility scale (ASS3) was created, based on real events in a learning disabilities day service. The ASS3 was presented to one group of participants who had been present at the events, and a second group who attended a different day service, to whom the events were unfamiliar. As observed previously, suggestibility was not closely related to free recall performance: recall was increased equally by all three manipulations, but they produced, respectively, no effect, a modest effect and a large effect on suggestibility. However, the effects on suggestibility were closely related to performance on the forced-choice recognition memory task: divided presentation of the GSS2 had no

The service of public services performance measurement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lystbæk, Christian Tang

2014-01-01

that performance measurement serves as “rituals of verification” which promotes the interests of political masters and their mistresses rather than public service. Another area of concern is the cost of performance measurement. Hood & Peters (2004:278) note that performance measurement is likely to “distract...... measurement suggests a range of contested and contradictory propositions. Its alleged benefits include public assurance, better functioning of supply markets for public services, and direct improvements of public services. But the literature also demonstrates the existence of significant concern about...... the actual impact, the costs and unintended consequences associated with performance measurement. This paper identifies the main rationales and rationalities in the scholarly discourse on public services performance measurement. It concludes with some suggestions on how to deal with the many rationales...

76 FR 45491 - Creation of a Low Power Radio Service; Amendment of Service and Eligibility Rules for FM...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-29

... Bureau study, the validity of its methodology and its relevance in informing our translator dismissal... preemption by full-service stations. LPFM stations also face potential displacement from full service... processing plan rely heavily on Arbitron market definitions. In this regard we note that the DC Circuit has...

Dissociative tendencies and individual differences in high hypnotic suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Terhune, Devin Blair; Cardeña, Etzel; Lindgren, Magnus

2011-03-01

Inconsistencies in the relationship between dissociation and hypnosis may result from heterogeneity among highly suggestible individuals, in particular the existence of distinct highly suggestible subtypes that are of relevance to models of psychopathology and the consequences of trauma. This study contrasted highly suggestible subtypes high or low in dissociation on measures of hypnotic responding, cognitive functioning, and psychopathology. Twenty-one low suggestible (LS), 19 low dissociative highly suggestible (LDHS), and 11 high dissociative highly suggestible (HDHS) participants were administered hypnotic suggestibility scales and completed measures of free recall, working memory capacity, imagery, fantasy-proneness, psychopathology, and exposure to stressful life events. HDHS participants were more responsive to positive and negative hallucination suggestions and experienced greater involuntariness during hypnotic responding. They also exhibited impaired working memory capacity, elevated pathological fantasy and dissociative symptomatology, and a greater incidence of exposure to stressful life events. In contrast, LDHS participants displayed superior object visual imagery. These results provide further evidence for two highly suggestible subtypes: a dissociative subtype characterised by deficits in executive functioning and a predisposition to psychopathology, and a subtype that exhibits superior imagery and no observable deficits in functioning.

Contracting for health services in New Zealand: a transaction cost analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ashton, T

1998-02-01

The splitting of the functions of purchaser and provider in the New Zealand health system in 1993 necessitated the use of explicit contracts between the two parties. This paper examines contracting experiences during the first two years of operation. The study focuses on four services: rest homes, primary care clinics, surgical services, and acute mental health services. The insights of transaction cost economics form the theoretical framework. The objective of this study was to examine whether the transaction costs associated with contracting vary across the four different services, and whether different types of contracts and contractual relationships are emerging as transactors attempt to reduce these costs. Information was collected in a series of 53 interviews with purchasers and providers, together with any relevant documentation. The results suggest that the costs of contracting are indeed greater for some services than for others. Other variables such as the style of negotiations, the type and specificity of contracts and the degree of monitoring also differ across the four services. At this early stage of the reform process, there was little evidence that purchasers and providers were attempting to reduce transaction costs by negotiating more flexible, longer-term, relational contracts. The main benefit from contracting to date has been improved accountability of service providers.

Staff perceptions of a Productive Community Services implementation: A qualitative interview study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, Dominique Kim Frances; Griffin, Murray

2015-06-01

indicate that important aspects of the implementation could have been improved. The innovation and implementation literature already addresses the issues identified, which suggests a gap between theory and practice for implementation teams. A lack of perceived relevance also suggests that similar programmes need to be made more easily adaptable for the varied specialisms found in Community Services. Further research on Productive Community Services implementations and knowledge transfer is required, and publication of studies focusing on the less positive aspects of implementations may accelerate this process. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Deep learning relevance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lioma, Christina; Larsen, Birger; Petersen, Casper

2016-01-01

train a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) on existing relevant information to that query. We then use the RNN to "deep learn" a single, synthetic, and we assume, relevant document for that query. We design a crowdsourcing experiment to assess how relevant the "deep learned" document is, compared...... to existing relevant documents. Users are shown a query and four wordclouds (of three existing relevant documents and our deep learned synthetic document). The synthetic document is ranked on average most relevant of all....

[Personal resources relevant to psychological well-being in nursing].

Science.gov (United States)

Arrogante, O; Pérez-García, A M; Aparicio-Zaldívar, E G

2016-01-01

To determine differences in social support, resilience, coping, and psychological well-being (PWB) among intensive care nursing and nursing staff of other hospital services, as well as to establish a structural model in these professionals where relevant personal resources to PWB were included. Correlational and cross-sectional study. A sample of 208 nursing professionals from University Hospital of Fuenlabrada (Madrid) took part in the study. This sample consisted of nurses (n=133), nursing assistants (n=61), and midwives (n=14), of whom 44 worked in intensive care unit, 50 in other special units, and 114 in wards. Social Support Subscale, 10-Item CD-RISC (resilience), Brief-Cope (coping), Scales of PWB, and sociodemographic variables. No differences were found in any assessed psychological variables as regards hospital service worked in. A structural model was found and showed that social support, resilience, and coping determined PWB of nursing professionals. The most important personal resource was coping strategies, which determined PWB directly (β=0.68). Social support influenced PWB directly (β=0.33), and indirectly (β=0.32), whereas resilience influenced it indirectly (β=0.57). Differences in PWB, coping, social support and resilience are not determined by hospital service. Coping strategies focused on engagement (or adaptive), social support, and resilience, constitute three relevant personal resources that determine the PWB of nursing staff, which can be developed and improved by specific programs. The most important PWB dimensions are self-acceptance and environment mastery. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y SEEIUC. All rights reserved.

The Importance of Perceived Service Value in Retail Banking Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandra Pisnik

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose – In many industries, perceived service value is found to be a significant mediator between perceived service quality and customer satisfaction and loyalty. Therefore, this paper aims to test a conceptual model of perceived service value with its antecedents, such as perceived price and perceived service quality, and consequences, customer satisfaction and loyalty, in the retail banking industry. Design/Methodology/Approach – For the empirical study, a measurement instrument was developed and tested for validity and reliability. Measures were assessed with exploratory factor analysis (EFA, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA and structural equation modeling (SEM. A structural model with five reflective constructs was evaluated to test direct and indirect relationships among constructs. Findings and implications – Results confirm a mediating role of perceived value in relationships between perceived price, perceived service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in the case of retail banking services. Limitations – Because the results are directly relevant only to customers and marketing managers of retail banking services, generalizations of the findings beyond the immediate population observed should be made with caution. Originality – This paper extends existing knowledge with both direct and indirect effects among researched concepts, and shows the importance of perceived service value in achieving satisfied and loyal customers in retail banking services.

Computer- and Suggestion-based Cognitive Rehabilitation following Acquired Brain Injury

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindeløv, Jonas Kristoffer

. That is, training does not cause cognitive transfer and thus does not constitute “brain training” or “brain exercise” of any clinical relevance. A larger study found more promising results for a suggestion-based treatment in a hypnotic procedure. Patients improved to above population average in a matter...... of 4-8 hours, making this by far the most effective treatment compared to computer-based training, physical exercise, phamaceuticals, meditation, and attention process training. The contrast between computer-based methods and the hypnotic suggestion treatment may be reflect a more general discrepancy...

Linking trajectories of land change, land degradation processes and ecosystem services.

Science.gov (United States)

Smiraglia, D; Ceccarelli, T; Bajocco, S; Salvati, L; Perini, L

2016-05-01

Land Degradation (LD) is a complex phenomenon resulting in a progressive reduction in the capacity of providing ecosystem services (ES). Landscape transformations promoting an unsustainable use of land often reveal latent processes of LD. An evaluation carried out in respect to the different ecosystem services is nowadays regarded as the most appropriate approach for assessing the effects of LD. The aim of this study is to develop an evaluation framework for identifying the linkages between land changes, LD processes and ES and suggesting Sustainable Land Management (SLM) options suited to reverse (or mitigate) LD impact. A SWOT analysis was carried out with the aim to identify internal and external factors that are favorable (or unfavorable) to achieve the proposed SLM actions. The study areas are the Fortore valley and the Valpadana, in Italy. The main trajectory identified for the Fortore valley is related to land abandonment due to population aging and the progressive emigration started in the 1950s. The most relevant LD processes are soil erosion and geomorphological instability, affecting regulating services such as natural hazard and erosion control. SLM options should consider interventions to contrast geomorphological instability, the promotion of climate smart agriculture and of typical products, and an efficient water resources management. The main trajectories identified for Valpadana are related to urban expansion and farmland abandonment and, as a consequence, land take due to anthropogenic pressure and woodland expansion as the main LD process. The reduction of food production was identified as the most relevant provisioning service affected. SLM should envisage best practices finalized to water saving and soil consumption reduction: efficient irrigation solutions, climate smart agriculture and zero sealing practices. This study highlights the diagnostic value of the suggested approach where LD processes are elicited from land change trajectories

Collaborative Service Arrangements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

J. May, Peter; Winter, Søren

While much of prior research on collaboration addresses the service delivery network as a whole, we address collaborative relationships between one type of organization—municipal employment services—and a range of governmental and non-governmental partners for employment services in Denmark....... Municipalities differ in the type, degree, and character of collaboration with these partners. As others have found in prior research, we find that organizational benefits, trust, and a variety of contextual factors help shape the extent of collaboration. But, the relevance of these and problem-solving benefits...

Consumer-operated service program members' explanatory models of mental illness and recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoy, Janet M

2014-10-01

Incorporating individuals' understandings and explanations of mental illness into service delivery offers benefits relating to increased service relevance and meaning. Existing research delineates explanatory models of mental illness held by individuals in home, outpatient, and hospital-based contexts; research on models held by those in peer-support contexts is notably absent. In this article, I describe themes identified within and across explanatory models of mental illness and recovery held by mental health consumers (N = 24) at one peer center, referred to as a consumer-operated service center (COSP). Participants held explanatory models inclusive of both developmental stressors and biomedical causes, consistent with a stress-diathesis model (although no participant explicitly referenced such). Explicit incorporation of stress-diathesis constructs into programming at this COSP offers the potential of increasing service meaning and relevance. Identifying and incorporating shared meanings across individuals' understandings of mental illness likewise can increase relevance and meaning for particular subgroups of service users. © The Author(s) 2014.

Application of social media to library service delivery: Perception of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study revealed that few of the social media identified are rarely relevant to library service delivery. Reference services, current awareness services, and library news postings were the types of library services that social media are applied. Results also indicated that there were benefits derived from using social media in ...

Service Mediation and Negotiation Bootstrapping as First Achievements Towards Self-adaptable Cloud Services

Science.gov (United States)

Brandic, Ivona; Music, Dejan; Dustdar, Schahram

Nowadays, novel computing paradigms as for example Cloud Computing are gaining more and more on importance. In case of Cloud Computing users pay for the usage of the computing power provided as a service. Beforehand they can negotiate specific functional and non-functional requirements relevant for the application execution. However, providing computing power as a service bears different research challenges. On one hand dynamic, versatile, and adaptable services are required, which can cope with system failures and environmental changes. On the other hand, human interaction with the system should be minimized. In this chapter we present the first results in establishing adaptable, versatile, and dynamic services considering negotiation bootstrapping and service mediation achieved in context of the Foundations of Self-Governing ICT Infrastructures (FoSII) project. We discuss novel meta-negotiation and SLA mapping solutions for Cloud services bridging the gap between current QoS models and Cloud middleware and representing important prerequisites for the establishment of autonomic Cloud services.

Design of Service Net based Correctness Verification Approach for Multimedia Conferencing Service Orchestration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng Bo

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Multimedia conferencing is increasingly becoming a very important and popular application over Internet. Due to the complexity of asynchronous communications and handle large and dynamically concurrent processes for multimedia conferencing, which confront relevant challenge to achieve sufficient correctness guarantees, and supporting the effective verification methods for multimedia conferencing services orchestration is an extremely difficult and challenging problem. In this paper, we firstly present the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL based conferencing service orchestration, and mainly focus on the service net based correction verification approach for multimedia conferencing services orchestration, which can automatically translated the BPEL based service orchestration into a corresponding Petri net model with the Petri Net Markup Language (PNML, and also present the BPEL service net reduction rules and multimedia conferencing service orchestration correction verification algorithms. We perform the correctness analysis and verification using the service net properties as safeness, reachability and deadlocks, and also provide an automated support tool for the formal analysis and soundness verification for the multimedia conferencing services orchestration scenarios. Finally, we give the comparison and evaluations.

Dosimeter characteristics and service performance requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ambrosi, P.; Bartlett, D.T.

1999-01-01

The requirements for personal dosimeters and dosimetry services given by ICRP 26, ICRP 35, ICRP 60 and ICRP 75 are summarised and compared with the requirements given in relevant international standards. Most standards could be made more relevant to actual workplace conditions. In some standards, the required tests of energy and angular dependence of the response are not sufficient, or requirements on overall uncertainty are lacking. (author)

Evaluation of Customer Satisfaction with Restaurant Services with ACSI Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Derli Luís Angnes

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Brazil has more than a million bars and restaurants, which are responsible for about 40% of the tourism GDP of the country. Restaurants are business organizations in the gastronomy and service sectors that besides providing individual satisfaction and social life are of great importance for people’s health. The main objective of this study was to validate a model for the customer satisfaction related to the service attributes in restaurants. The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI was used as a model and methodology reference, based on a survey with 270 clients. The methodology employed was characterized by a qualitative exploratory study, for the understanding of the relevant attributes of restaurant services, and, a descriptive evaluation, with a qualitative approach based on the ACSI model and methodology. The data analysis involved multivariate statistics with structured equation modeling. The main results from the exploratory step resulted in a list of 27 evaluation attributes for restaurant services and the analyses with a modeling of structural equations used to validate this model suggest that the relationship, the quality and the valued experienced by the customers influence their satisfaction and loyalty towards the evaluated restaurants.

Sea Level Change and Coastal Climate Services: The Way Forward

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gonéri Le Cozannet

2017-10-01

Full Text Available For many climate change impacts such as drought and heat waves, global and national frameworks for climate services are providing ever more critical support to adaptation activities. Coastal zones are especially in need of climate services for adaptation, as they are increasingly threatened by sea level rise and its impacts, such as submergence, flooding, shoreline erosion, salinization and wetland change. In this paper, we examine how annual to multi-decadal sea level projections can be used within coastal climate services (CCS. To this end, we review the current state-of-the art of coastal climate services in the US, Australia and France, and identify lessons learned. More broadly, we also review current barriers in the development of CCS, and identify research and development efforts for overcoming barriers and facilitating their continued growth. The latter includes: (1 research in the field of sea level, coastal and adaptation science and (2 cross-cutting research in the area of user interactions, decision making, propagation of uncertainties and overall service architecture design. We suggest that standard approaches are required to translate relative sea level information into the forms required to inform the wide range of relevant decisions across coastal management, including coastal adaptation.

Linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services for public policy

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Christina P; Jiang, Bo; Kinzig, Ann P; Lee, Kai N; Ouyang, Zhiyun

2015-01-01

Governments worldwide are recognising ecosystem services as an approach to address sustainability challenges. Decision-makers need credible and legitimate measurements of ecosystem services to evaluate decisions for trade-offs to make wise choices. Managers lack these measurements because of a data gap linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services. The dominant method to address the data gap is benefit transfer using ecological data from one location to estimate ecosystem services at other locations with similar land cover. However, benefit transfer is only valid once the data gap is adequately resolved. Disciplinary frames separating ecology from economics and policy have resulted in confusion on concepts and methods preventing progress on the data gap. In this study, we present a 10-step approach to unify concepts, methods and data from the disparate disciplines to offer guidance on overcoming the data gap. We suggest: (1) estimate ecosystem characteristics using biophysical models, (2) identify final ecosystem services using endpoints and (3) connect them using ecological production functions to quantify biophysical trade-offs. The guidance is strategic for public policy because analysts need to be: (1) realistic when setting priorities, (2) attentive to timelines to acquire relevant data, given resources and (3) responsive to the needs of decision-makers. PMID:25394857

Perceived Relevance of an Introductory Information Systems Course to Prospective Business Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irene Govender

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The study is designed to examine students’ perceptions of the introductory Information Systems (IS course. It was an exploratory study in which 67 students participated. A quantitative approach was followed making use of questionnaires for the collection of data. Using the theory of reasoned action as a framework, the study explores the factors that influence non-IS major students’ perceived relevance of the IS introductory course. The analysis of collected data included descriptive and inferential statistics. Using multiple regression analysis, the results suggest that overall, the independent variables, relevance of the content, previous IT knowledge, relevance for professional practice, IT preference in courses and peers’ influence may account for 72% of the explanatory power for the dependent variable, perceived relevance of the IS course. In addition, the results have shown some strong predictors (IT preference and peers’ influence that influence students’ perceived relevance of the IS course. Practical work was found to be a strong mediating variable toward positive perceptions of IS. The results of this study suggest that students do indeed perceive the introductory IS course to be relevant and match their professional needs, but more practical work would enhance their learning. Implications for theory and practice are discussed as a result of the behavioural intention to perceive the IS course to be relevant and eventually to recruit more IS students.

Public Services 2.0: The Impact of Social Computing on Public Services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huijboom, Noor; Broek, Tijs Van Den; Frissen, Valerie; Kool, Linda; Kotterink, Bas; Nielsen, Morten Meyerhoff; Millard, Jeremy

2009-01-01

The report gives an overview of the main trends of Social Computing, in the wider context of an evolving public sector, and in relation to relevant government trends and normative policy visions within and across EU Member States on future public services. It then provides an exhaustive literature

Swedish energy advisers' perceptions regarding and suggestions for fulfilling homeowner expectations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahapatra, Krushna [Ecotechnology, Mid Sweden University, SE-83125 Ostersund (Sweden); Nair, Gireesh [Ecotechnology, Mid Sweden University, SE-83125 Ostersund (Sweden); Gustavsson, Leif [Ecotechnology, Mid Sweden University, SE-83125 Ostersund (Sweden); Linnaeus University, SE-35195 Vaexjoe (Sweden)

2011-07-15

Municipality energy advice services were re-introduced in Sweden in 1998 as a way of advising end-users, mainly owners of detached houses, on energy issues. In this paper, we investigate Swedish energy advisers' perceptions of homeowners' awareness of the energy advice service and their perceived ability to fulfil homeowners' expectations. Our study is based on a mail-in questionnaire survey conducted in 2009 and distributed to municipality energy advisers in all municipalities in Sweden. About 66% of the energy advisers responded. The results show that 43% of the energy advisers thought that fewer than 50% of the homeowners were aware of the service and that mass media advertisements and presentations at different organisations could improve homeowner awareness. Energy adviser attitudes, job satisfaction, and the perception that the advisers possessed up-to-date and good knowledge and sufficient financial resources to execute their duties had a significant influence on their perceived ability to fulfil homeowner expectations. Increased training in technical aspects of energy measures and increased financial support were the two measures most widely suggested as a means to improve energy advisers' performance. - Highlights: > Survey of Swedish energy advisers about their perceptions of energy advice service. > 43% of the respondents thought that fewer than 50% of the homeowners were aware of the service. > About half of the respondents reported that they were able to fulfil homeowners' expectations. > More training and financial support were two widely suggested means to improve advisers' performance.

Swedish energy advisers' perceptions regarding and suggestions for fulfilling homeowner expectations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahapatra, Krushna; Nair, Gireesh; Gustavsson, Leif

2011-01-01

Municipality energy advice services were re-introduced in Sweden in 1998 as a way of advising end-users, mainly owners of detached houses, on energy issues. In this paper, we investigate Swedish energy advisers' perceptions of homeowners' awareness of the energy advice service and their perceived ability to fulfil homeowners' expectations. Our study is based on a mail-in questionnaire survey conducted in 2009 and distributed to municipality energy advisers in all municipalities in Sweden. About 66% of the energy advisers responded. The results show that 43% of the energy advisers thought that fewer than 50% of the homeowners were aware of the service and that mass media advertisements and presentations at different organisations could improve homeowner awareness. Energy adviser attitudes, job satisfaction, and the perception that the advisers possessed up-to-date and good knowledge and sufficient financial resources to execute their duties had a significant influence on their perceived ability to fulfil homeowner expectations. Increased training in technical aspects of energy measures and increased financial support were the two measures most widely suggested as a means to improve energy advisers' performance. - Highlights: → Survey of Swedish energy advisers about their perceptions of energy advice service. → 43% of the respondents thought that fewer than 50% of the homeowners were aware of the service. → About half of the respondents reported that they were able to fulfil homeowners' expectations. → More training and financial support were two widely suggested means to improve advisers' performance.

Managing user queries using cloud services: KAUST library experience

KAUST Repository

Ramli, Rindra M.; Ba-Rayyan, Faten A.

2017-01-01

The provision of reference and information services are one of the major activities for academic libraries. Answering questions and providing relevant and timely answers for library users are just one of such services. Questions come in many format

Attention-driven auditory cortex short-term plasticity helps segregate relevant sounds from noise

OpenAIRE

Ahveninen, Jyrki; Hämäläinen, Matti; Jääskeläinen, Iiro P.; Ahlfors, Seppo P.; Huang, Samantha; Lin, Fa-Hsuan; Raij, Tommi; Sams, Mikko; Vasios, Christos E.; Belliveau, John W.

2011-01-01

How can we concentrate on relevant sounds in noisy environments? A “gain model” suggests that auditory attention simply amplifies relevant and suppresses irrelevant afferent inputs. However, it is unclear whether this suffices when attended and ignored features overlap to stimulate the same neuronal receptive fields. A “tuning model” suggests that, in addition to gain, attention modulates feature selectivity of auditory neurons. We recorded magnetoencephalography, EEG, and functional MRI (fMR...

Depression in African women presenting for psychological services ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Depression in these women was related to poverty, overcrowding, unemployment, high levels of crime, lack of services and sexual abuse. Conclusion: African women return to a social context within which depression is increasingly prevalent. Establishing psychological services relevant to needs as well as means of ...

Testing the idea of privileged awareness of self-relevant information.

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, Timo; Siebold, Alisha; van Zoest, Wieske

2016-03-01

Self-relevant information is prioritized in processing. Some have suggested the mechanism driving this advantage is akin to the automatic prioritization of physically salient stimuli in information processing (Humphreys & Sui, 2015). Here we investigate whether self-relevant information is prioritized for awareness under continuous flash suppression (CFS), as has been found for physical salience. Gabor patches with different orientations were first associated with the labels You or Other. Participants were more accurate in matching the self-relevant association, replicating previous findings of self-prioritization. However, breakthrough into awareness from CFS did not differ between self- and other-associated Gabors. These findings demonstrate that self-relevant information has no privileged access to awareness. Rather than modulating the initial visual processes that precede and lead to awareness, the advantage of self-relevant information may better be characterized as prioritization at later processing stages. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Age differences in emotional reactions: arousal and age-relevance count.

Science.gov (United States)

Streubel, Berit; Kunzmann, Ute

2011-12-01

Recent findings suggest positivity effects in older adults' attention and memory, but few studies have examined such effects on the level of emotional reactivity. In this study, 52 young and 52 older adults rated 172 pictures of the International Affective Picture System, differing in arousal and age-relevance, in terms of valence and discrete emotions. Age differences in the ratio of pleasantness reactions to pleasant pictures vs. unpleasantness reactions to unpleasant pictures as well as age differences in absolute levels of unpleasantness and pleasantness reactions suggest that positivity effects in older adults' subjective emotional reactions are reduced under high arousal. There is also evidence that positivity effects may be restricted to stimuli with low relevance in old age.

Measuring Service Individuality in Third Party

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hsuan, Juliana; Prockl, Günter

2013-01-01

Purpose - 3PL services are more or less individually designed bundles of logistics operations that are provided on the basis of a long term relationship between logistics service providers and their clients mostly in industry and retail. The appropriate degree of the individuality is however...... offerings and how to replicate or (re)design the new services offered. Depending on the level of complexity of the TPL services, firms need also to consider the implications of the replication and/or (re)design on the configuration of the supply chain, especially downstream. Originality/value - The paper...... crosses disciplinary boundaries and combines relevant research streams to provide a sound foundation for the categorization and classification of TPL services and for new service design/development (NSD) and supply chain configuration....

Selection of relevant dietary indicators for health.

Science.gov (United States)

Steingrímsdóttir, L; Ovesen, L; Moreiras, O; Jacob, S

2002-05-01

To define a set of dietary components that are relevant determinants for health in Europe. The selected components are intended to serve as nutrition indicators for health in the European Health Monitoring Programme and, as such, must be limited in number, relevant to health in Europe and practical for all involved countries with respect to data gathering and comparability of data. Major nutrition factors were determined by reviewing relevant epidemiological and clinical literature in nutrition and health as well as referring to reports from international expert groups, including the report from the project Nutrition and Diet for Healthy Lifestyles in Europe. The selection of factors was also based on the relative ease and cost involved for participating countries to obtain comparable and valid data. The selected factors include foods or food groups as well as individual nutrients. Biomarkers are suggested for selected nutrients that pose the greatest difficulty in obtaining valid and comparable data from dietary studies. The following list of diet indicators for health monitoring in Europe was agreed upon by the EFCOSUM group in 2001, in order of priority: vegetables, fruit, bread, fish, saturated fatty acids as percentage of energy (%E), total fat as %E, and ethanol in grams per day. Biomarkers were suggested for the following nutrients: folate, vitamin D, iron, iodine and sodium. Energy has to be assessed in order to calculate %E from total fat and saturated fatty acids.

Determinants of satisfaction with campus transportation services: Implications for service quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felix Charbatzadeh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Background: In a number of countries, buses are a critical element of public transportation, providing the most inclusive and sustainable mode of transportation to all forms of citizenry, including staff and students of universities. Objectives: The study examines the determinants of satisfaction with campus bus transportation. The article is primarily discursive and based on the synthesis of existing service literature supported by data obtained from a survey of 847 respondents. Method: Structural equation modelling is undertaken using AMOS 19, allowing for the examination of compound relationships between service engagement variables. Results: Results show statistically significant differences between perceived service quality and travel routes. The authors argue that managerial attention to service user experiences does not only hold the key to ongoing competitive success in campus transportation services but also that those services can be significantly enriched through greater managerial attention to the interface between risk of financial loss (which increases when the campus bus transportation service provider becomes less able to compete and service quality. Conclusion: The authors argue that if providers of campus bus transportation services are to rise to their service delivery challenges and also maintain or improve upon their market positions, they must conceptualise their services in a manner that takes into consideration the two-way interrelationship between risk of financial loss and service quality. It must also be noted that, although this study may have relevance for firm–firm scenarios, its focus is primarily on service supplier firm–customer service engagements. Keywords: Modelling; Transportation; Service

Achieving HBSE Competencies through Service-learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah E. Twill

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Service-learning pedagogy allows social work educators to create meaningful learning opportunities for students and better prepare them for practicum, while at the same time, meeting a community need. This paper outlines the relevance of incorporating service-learning into the social work curriculum, specifically the human behavior and the social environment (HBSE area. Using Bloom’s taxonomy as a guide, the authors propose how the CSWE competencies and practice behaviors specific to HBSE may be assessed using service-learning pedagogy. An example is reviewed to illustrate how service-learning can assist faculty and students achieve the HBSE competencies and practice behaviors. Finally, implications for service-learning as a pedagogical strategy for social work education are discussed.

Automated Identification and Prioritization of Business Risks in e-service Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ionita, Dan; Wieringa, Roelf J.; Gordijn, Jaap; Borangiu, Theodor; Dragoicea, Monica; Novoa, Henriqueta

2016-01-01

Modern e-service providers rely on service innovation to stay relevant. Once a new service package is designed, implementation-specific aspects such as value (co-)creation and cost/benefit analysis are investigated. However, due to time-to-market or competitive advantage constraints, innovative

An Evaluation of the Relative Efficiency for Various Relevant Labor Markets: An Empirical Approach for Establishing Teacher Salaries

Science.gov (United States)

Young, I. Phillip; Delli, Dane A.; Miller-Smith, Kimberly; Buster, Amy

2004-01-01

Costs associated with teacher salaries are relative in that these costs are referenced to a relevant labor market rather than based on the absolute value of the services provided by teachers. Because the selection of a relevant labor market can substantially influence the costs associated with teacher salaries, a field study was conducted to…

Determining relevant financial statement ratios in Department of Defense service component general fund financial statements

OpenAIRE

Koetter, Nicholas J.; Krause, Daniel J.; Liptak, Carl S.

2014-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited Department of Defense (DOD) service components are dedicating significant financial and human resources toward achieving unqualified opinions on audits of their financial statements. The DOD has endeavored to produce auditable financial statements as mandated in the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990. In December of 2013, the United States Marine Corps became the first service component to achieve an unqualified audit opinion on its ...

Our natural capital: Ecosystem service delivery

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Dziba, L

2012-10-01

Full Text Available new technologies in Earth observation that target relevant ecosystem attributes for monitoring ecosystem service changes, tools for spatial development planning in multifunctional landscapes such as ecological infrastructure mapping for disaster...

Alpha power gates relevant information during working memory updating.

Science.gov (United States)

Manza, Peter; Hau, Chui Luen Vera; Leung, Hoi-Chung

2014-04-23

Human working memory (WM) is inherently limited, so we must filter out irrelevant information in our environment or our mind while retaining limited important relevant contents. Previous work suggests that neural oscillations in the alpha band (8-14 Hz) play an important role in inhibiting incoming distracting information during attention and selective encoding tasks. However, whether alpha power is involved in inhibiting no-longer-relevant content or in representing relevant WM content is still debated. To clarify this issue, we manipulated the amount of relevant/irrelevant information using a task requiring spatial WM updating while measuring neural oscillatory activity via EEG and localized current sources across the scalp using a surface Laplacian transform. An initial memory set of two, four, or six spatial locations was to be memorized over a delay until an updating cue was presented indicating that only one or three locations remained relevant for a subsequent recognition test. Alpha amplitude varied with memory maintenance and updating demands among a cluster of left frontocentral electrodes. Greater postcue alpha power was associated with the high relevant load conditions (six and four dots cued to reduce to three relevant) relative to the lower load conditions (four and two dots reduced to one). Across subjects, this difference in alpha power was correlated with condition differences in performance accuracy. In contrast, no significant effects of irrelevant load were observed. These findings demonstrate that, during WM updating, alpha power reflects maintenance of relevant memory contents rather than suppression of no-longer-relevant memory traces.

Volunteer Service and Service Learning: Opportunities, Partnerships, and United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Dalmida, Safiya George; Amerson, Roxanne; Foster, Jennifer; McWhinney-Dehaney, Leila; Magowe, Mabel; Nicholas, Patrice K; Pehrson, Karen; Leffers, Jeanne

2016-09-01

This article explores approaches to service involvement and provides direction to nurse leaders and others who wish to begin or further develop global (local and international) service or service learning projects. We review types of service involvement, analyze service-related data from a recent survey of nearly 500 chapters of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI), make recommendations to guide collaborative partnerships and to model engagement in global and local service and service learning. This article offers a literature review and describes results of a survey conducted by the STTI International Service Learning Task Force. Results describe the types of service currently conducted by STTI nursing members and chapters, including disaster response, service learning, and service-related responses relative to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The needs of chapter members for information about international service are explored and recommendations for promoting global service and sustainability goals for STTI chapters are examined. Before engaging in service, volunteers should consider the types of service engagement, as well as the design of projects to include collaboration, bidirectionality, sustainability, equitable partnerships, and inclusion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. STTI supports the learning, knowledge, and professional development of nurses worldwide. International service and collaboration are key to the advancement of the nursing profession. Culturally relevant approaches to international service and service learning are essential to our global organization, as it aims to impact the health status of people globally. © 2016 Sigma Theta Tau International.

Cultural Speak: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Experiential Learning in a Public Speaking Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Colvin, Janet; Tobler, Nancy

2013-01-01

This study describes the efficacy of modifications made to a higher education Latina/o public speaking course to enhance student growth and understanding. The changes included the addition of a service-learning component and the incorporation of culturally relevant pedagogy. Selected research, particularly related to college students, on…

Culturally Relevant Teaching: Hip-Hop Pedagogy in Urban Schools. Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education. Volume 396

Science.gov (United States)

Prier, Darius D.

2012-01-01

"Culturally Relevant Teaching" centers hip-hop culture as a culturally relevant form of critical pedagogy in urban pre-service teacher education programs. In this important book, Darius D. Prier explores how hip-hop artists construct a sense of democratic education and pedagogy with transformative possibilities in their schools and communities. In…

Biological Web Service Repositories Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Urdidiales-Nieto, David; Navas-Delgado, Ismael; Aldana-Montes, José F

2017-05-01

Web services play a key role in bioinformatics enabling the integration of database access and analysis of algorithms. However, Web service repositories do not usually publish information on the changes made to their registered Web services. Dynamism is directly related to the changes in the repositories (services registered or unregistered) and at service level (annotation changes). Thus, users, software clients or workflow based approaches lack enough relevant information to decide when they should review or re-execute a Web service or workflow to get updated or improved results. The dynamism of the repository could be a measure for workflow developers to re-check service availability and annotation changes in the services of interest to them. This paper presents a review on the most well-known Web service repositories in the life sciences including an analysis of their dynamism. Freshness is introduced in this paper, and has been used as the measure for the dynamism of these repositories. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

An Instructional Method Suggestion: Conveying Stories through Origami (Storigami)

Science.gov (United States)

Oguz, Aysegul

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to elucidate how to convey stories through origami and suggest its use in education with the help of pre-service elementary teachers' opinions. The participants of the study were 103 elementary teacher candidates from a state university in the 2014-2015 academic year. In this qualitative study, the data were collected…

Multicultural markets and acculturation: Implications for service firms

OpenAIRE

Poulis, Konstantinos; Yamin, Mo; Poulis, Efthimios

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose is to construct an analytical framework that encapsulates implications for the marketing offering of service firms as a result of observed intra-national ethnic diversity in these firms' markets of operation. Design/methodology/approach: This is a conceptual approach which promotes the idea that acculturation matters for service firms operating in multicultural markets and adopts relevant propositions related to service firms' strategy in such markets. Findings: Integrati...

Implementing a Real-Time Suggestion Service in a Library Discovery Layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Pennell

2010-06-01

Full Text Available As part of an effort to improve user interactions with authority data in its online catalog, the UNC Chapel Hill Libraries have developed and implemented a system for providing real-time query suggestions from records found within its catalog. The system takes user input as it is typed to predict likely title, author, or subject matches in a manner functionally similar to the systems found on commercial websites such as google.com or amazon.com. This paper discusses the technologies, decisions and methodologies that went into the implementation of this feature, as well as analysis of its impact on user search behaviors.

Task-relevant information is prioritized in spatiotemporal contextual cueing.

Science.gov (United States)

Higuchi, Yoko; Ueda, Yoshiyuki; Ogawa, Hirokazu; Saiki, Jun

2016-11-01

Implicit learning of visual contexts facilitates search performance-a phenomenon known as contextual cueing; however, little is known about contextual cueing under situations in which multidimensional regularities exist simultaneously. In everyday vision, different information, such as object identity and location, appears simultaneously and interacts with each other. We tested the hypothesis that, in contextual cueing, when multiple regularities are present, the regularities that are most relevant to our behavioral goals would be prioritized. Previous studies of contextual cueing have commonly used the visual search paradigm. However, this paradigm is not suitable for directing participants' attention to a particular regularity. Therefore, we developed a new paradigm, the "spatiotemporal contextual cueing paradigm," and manipulated task-relevant and task-irrelevant regularities. In four experiments, we demonstrated that task-relevant regularities were more responsible for search facilitation than task-irrelevant regularities. This finding suggests our visual behavior is focused on regularities that are relevant to our current goal.

Some aspects of research relevant to environment radiochemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Shi; Ma Mingxie

1997-01-01

The authors suggest some research aspects relevant to environmental radiochemistry from the view point of environmental protection and radiation protection: the migration behavior of radionuclides, their interaction with environment medium and their speciation in environment. The status and prospect of these aspects and the relationship between them are discussed

Financial Services and Emerging Markets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

B. Karreman (Bas)

2011-01-01

textabstractThis study addresses the organization and strategy of firms in emerging markets with an explicit application to financial services. Given the relevance of a well-functioning financial system for economic growth, understanding the organization and strategy of firms contributing to the

Efficiency in health public services provision and market failure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Arturo Meza Carvajalino

2006-07-01

Full Text Available This document studies the theoretical foundations, the different controversies regarding the health service and the conceptions adopted from the hypotheses related to the market efficiency in the provision of a public service and the consequent market failures. The author thinks that when the health public service was delegated to the market in Colombia they originated failures in the competition, externalities, preference goods and services, asymmetry and redistribution, among the most relevant ones.

International Digital Elevation Model Service (IDEMS): A Revived IAG Service

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, K. M.; Hirt, C., , Dr; Kuhn, M.; Barzaghi, R.

2017-12-01

A newly developed International Digital Elevation Model Service (IDEMS) is now available under the umbrella of the International Gravity Field Service of the International Association of Geodesy. Hosted and operated by Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) (http://www.esri.com/), the new IDEMS website is available at: https://idems.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html. IDEMS provides a focus for distribution of data and information about various digital elevation models, including spherical-harmonic models of Earth's global topography and lunar and planetary DEM. Related datasets, such as representation of inland water within DEMs, and relevant software which are available in the public domain are also provided. Currently, IDEMS serves as repository of links to providers of global terrain and bathymetry, terrain related Earth models and datasets such as digital elevation data services managed and maintained by Esri (Terrain and TopoBathy), Bedmap2-Ice thickness and subglacial topographic model of Antarctica and Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation ICESat/GLAS Data, as well as planetary terrain data provided by PDS Geosciences Node at Washington University, St. Louis. These services provide online access to a collection of multi-resolution and multi-source elevation and bathymetry data, including metadata and source information. In addition to IDEMS current holdings of terrestrial and planetary DEMs, some topography related products IDEMS may include in future are: dynamic ocean topography, 3D crustal density models, Earth's dynamic topography, etc. IDEMS may also consider terrain related products such as quality assessments, global terrain corrections, global height anomaly-to-geoid height corrections and other geodesy-relevant studies and products. IDEMS encourages contributions to the site from the geodetic community in any of the product types listed above. Please contact the authors if you would like to contribute or recommend content you think appropriate for

THE RELEVANCY OF ENGLISH IN CONTEXT FOR SMA/MA STUDENT YEAR ONE TEXTBOOK TO THE CURRICULUM USED

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qudwatin Nisak

2013-11-01

Full Text Available To improve the quality of English education in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD, the Department of Education of NAD as policymaker has made some efforts, among others, sending some teachers for overseas training and also conducting in-service training in designing English teaching material. One of the results of the projects done by the Department of Education of NAD is an English textbook entitled “English in Context for SMA/MA student year 1”, was distributed to some senior high schools in Banda Aceh in 2005. Lately, the textbook hasn’t been used effectively. Based on that fact, it is considered necessary to evaluate the textbook in order to know its relevant to curriculum used. The data of this study are the contents of English in Context for SMA/MA students year 1, consist of objectives of the textbook, themes chosen, skills presented, task designed, types of the text, language focus provided, vocabulary, and just for fun sections as well as the physical condition of textbook. After the data were put based on their classifications, they were analyzed qualitatively by finding its relevancy to CBC. The relevant elements of textbook to CBC and the deficient element of the textbook were explained descriptively. The result shows that only small portions of suggested material in CBC are provided in the textbook. The types of listening texts which are relevant to CBC are only recount and report. The genre of the reading texts which are relevant to CBC are recount, report, and news items. Meanwhile, the speaking task types provided in the textbook are dialogue, talks/speeches, plays/role play, discussion, and report. The deficient elements found in the textbook are lack of clarity of the authors’ objective, repetition of the tasks designed, lack of variation in some skill’s presentation and some irrelevant materials to CBC.

Evaluating intersectoral collaboration: a model for assessment by service users

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bengt Ahgren

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Introduction: DELTA was launched as a project in 1997 to improve intersectoral collaboration in the rehabilitation field. In 2005 DELTA was transformed into a local association for financial co-ordination between the institutions involved. Based on a study of the DELTA service users, the purpose of this article is to develop and to validate a model that can be used to assess the integration of welfare services from the perspective of the service users. Theory: The foundation of integration is a well functioning structure of integration. Without such structural conditions, it is difficult to develop a process of integration that combines the resources and competences of the collaborating organisations to create services advantageous for the service users. In this way, both the structure and the process will contribute to the outcome of integration. Method: The study was carried out as a retrospective cross-sectional survey during two weeks, including all the current service users of DELTA. The questionnaire contained 32 questions, which were derived from the theoretical framework and research on service users, capturing perceptions of integration structure, process and outcome. Ordinal scales and open questions where used for the assessment. Results: The survey had a response rate of 82% and no serious biases of the results were detected. The study shows that the users of the rehabilitation services perceived the services as well integrated, relevant and adapted to their needs. The assessment model was tested for reliability and validity and a few modifications were suggested. Some key measurement themes were derived from the study. Conclusion: The model developed in this study is an important step towards an assessment of service integration from the perspective of the service users. It needs to be further refined, however, before it can be used in other evaluations of collaboration in the provision of integrated welfare services.

Linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services for public policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Christina P; Jiang, Bo; Kinzig, Ann P; Lee, Kai N; Ouyang, Zhiyun

2015-01-01

Governments worldwide are recognising ecosystem services as an approach to address sustainability challenges. Decision-makers need credible and legitimate measurements of ecosystem services to evaluate decisions for trade-offs to make wise choices. Managers lack these measurements because of a data gap linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services. The dominant method to address the data gap is benefit transfer using ecological data from one location to estimate ecosystem services at other locations with similar land cover. However, benefit transfer is only valid once the data gap is adequately resolved. Disciplinary frames separating ecology from economics and policy have resulted in confusion on concepts and methods preventing progress on the data gap. In this study, we present a 10-step approach to unify concepts, methods and data from the disparate disciplines to offer guidance on overcoming the data gap. We suggest: (1) estimate ecosystem characteristics using biophysical models, (2) identify final ecosystem services using endpoints and (3) connect them using ecological production functions to quantify biophysical trade-offs. The guidance is strategic for public policy because analysts need to be: (1) realistic when setting priorities, (2) attentive to timelines to acquire relevant data, given resources and (3) responsive to the needs of decision-makers. © 2014 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and CNRS.

Comparing hospital staff and patient perceptions of customer service: a pilot study utilizing survey and focus group data.

Science.gov (United States)

Fottler, Myron D; Dickson, Duncan; Ford, Robert C; Bradley, Kenneth; Johnson, Lee

2006-02-01

The measurement of patient satisfaction is crucial to enhancing customer service and competitive advantage in the health-care industry. While there are numerous approaches to such measurement, this paper provides a case study which compares and contrasts patient and staff perceptions of customer service using both survey and focus group data. Results indicate that there is a high degree of correlation between staff and patient perceptions of customer service based on both survey and focus group data. However, the staff and patient subgroups also provided complementary information regarding patient perceptions of their service experience. Staff members tended to have more negative perceptions of service attributes than did the patients themselves. The focus group results provide complementary information to survey results in terms of greater detail and more managerially relevant information. While these results are derived from a pilot study, they suggest that diversification of data sources beyond patient surveys may enhance the utility of customer service information. If further research can affirm these findings, they create exciting possibilities for gathering valid, reliable and cost-effective customer service information.

Assessment of the Main Indicators' Relationship of Projects of Information and Communication Services' Development

Science.gov (United States)

Chernyavskaya, Yana S.; Kiselev, Sergey V.; Rassolov, Ilya M.; Kurushin, Viktor V.; Chernikova, Lyudmila I.; Faizova, Guzel R.

2016-01-01

The relevance of research: The relevance of the problem studied is caused by the acceleration of transition of the Russian economy on an innovative way of development, which depends on the vector of innovative sphere of services and, to a large extent, information and communication services, as well as it is caused by the poor drafting of…

Suggestibility and suggestive modulation of the Stroop effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirsch, Irving

2011-06-01

Although the induction of a hypnotic state does not seem necessary for suggestive modulation of the Stroop effect, this important phenomenon has seemed to be dependent on the subject's level of hypnotic suggestibility. Raz and Campbell's (2011) study indicates that suggestion can modulate the Stroop effect substantially in very low suggestible subjects, as well as in those who are highly suggestible. This finding casts doubt on the presumed mechanism by which suggestive modulation is brought about. Research aimed at uncovering the means by which low suggestible individuals are able to modulate the Stroop effect would be welcome, as would assessment of this effect in moderately suggestible people. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Financial Services and the Deployment of Agricultural Innovations in ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

As partners of farmers' associations and small agri-businesses, financial cooperatives can play an important role in the adoption of agricultural innovations by providing relevant financial services. This project will test the ability of financial services to support the deployment and large-scale adoption of innovations ...

Ontology-based Semantic Search Engine for Healthcare Services

OpenAIRE

Jotsna Molly Rajan; M. Deepa Lakshmi

2012-01-01

With the development of Web Services, the retrieval of relevant services has become a challenge. The keyword-based discovery mechanism using UDDI and WSDL is insufficient due to the retrievalof a large amount of irrelevant information. Also, keywords are insufficient in expressing semantic concepts since a single concept can be referred using syntactically different terms. Hence, service capabilities need to be manually analyzed, which lead to the development of the Semantic Web for automatic...

Competitive intelligence in services organizations: a systematic literature review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danielle Faust Cruz

2015-02-01

Full Text Available It is growing the importance of services sector in the global economy. Facing a global and dynamic market, characterized by fierce competition, Competitive Intelligence - CI can help services organizations in decision making process and in the conception of competitive advantages against competitors. This paper aims to outline the state of art concerning the use of competitive intelligence in the services sector organizations, through research and analysis of articles found in major databases. This is a theoretical study consisting of a systematic literature review including bibliometric and content analysis. Relevant publications were retrieved in the following data bases related to the subject: Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Ebsco, ScienceDirect, and Engineering Village. The results allow considering the importance of competitive intelligence for survival and competitiveness of services organizations. Finally, it was verified the existence of a gap related to prescriptive studies, focusing on investigations about the subject, being this type of study relevant to the area to reach maturity

Habitat scale mapping of fisheries ecosystem services values in estuaries

Science.gov (United States)

Little is known about the variability of ecosystem service values at spatial scales most relevant to local decision makers. Competing definitions of ecosystem services, the paucity of ecological and economic information and the lack of standardization in methodology are major ob...

Facilitating mobile service provisioning in IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) using service oriented architecture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Radovanovic, I.; Ray, A.; Lukkien, J.J.; Chaudron, M.R.V.; Krämer, B.J.; Lin, K.J.; Narasimhan, P.

2007-01-01

This paper presents an extension of the IMS software architecture using a service orientation, which provides flexibility of mobile service provisioning. The suggested extension facilitates composition of new mobile services in run-time based on the existing services and enables the end users to

Swedish energy advisers' perceptions regarding and suggestions for fulfilling homeowner expectations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahapatra, Krushna, E-mail: krushna.mahapatra@miun.se [Ecotechnology, Mid Sweden University, SE-83125 Ostersund (Sweden); Nair, Gireesh, E-mail: gireesh.nair@miun.se [Ecotechnology, Mid Sweden University, SE-83125 Ostersund (Sweden); Gustavsson, Leif, E-mail: leif.gustavsson@miun.se [Ecotechnology, Mid Sweden University, SE-83125 Ostersund (Sweden); Linnaeus University, SE-35195 Vaexjoe (Sweden)

2011-07-15

Municipality energy advice services were re-introduced in Sweden in 1998 as a way of advising end-users, mainly owners of detached houses, on energy issues. In this paper, we investigate Swedish energy advisers' perceptions of homeowners' awareness of the energy advice service and their perceived ability to fulfil homeowners' expectations. Our study is based on a mail-in questionnaire survey conducted in 2009 and distributed to municipality energy advisers in all municipalities in Sweden. About 66% of the energy advisers responded. The results show that 43% of the energy advisers thought that fewer than 50% of the homeowners were aware of the service and that mass media advertisements and presentations at different organisations could improve homeowner awareness. Energy adviser attitudes, job satisfaction, and the perception that the advisers possessed up-to-date and good knowledge and sufficient financial resources to execute their duties had a significant influence on their perceived ability to fulfil homeowner expectations. Increased training in technical aspects of energy measures and increased financial support were the two measures most widely suggested as a means to improve energy advisers' performance. - Highlights: > Survey of Swedish energy advisers about their perceptions of energy advice service. > 43% of the respondents thought that fewer than 50% of the homeowners were aware of the service. > About half of the respondents reported that they were able to fulfil homeowners' expectations. > More training and financial support were two widely suggested means to improve advisers' performance.

Suggestions for Compliance with Privacy Rights of Parents and Students (Buckley Amendments).

Science.gov (United States)

Arizona State Dept. of Education, Phoenix.

These suggestions for formulating school district policies governing the confidentiality and release of student records are based on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (the Buckley amendment) and on relevant Arizona state law. A checklist, which covers the major section of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, is designed to…

Directing Improvements in Primary Care Patient Experience through Analysis of Service Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson Smith, Mel; Smith, David

2018-06-03

To examine the influence of dimensions of service quality on patient experience of primary care. Data from the national GP Patient Survey in England 2014/15, with responses from 858,351 patients registered at 7,918 practices. Expert panel and principal component analysis helped identify relevant dimensions of service quality. Regression was then used to examine the relationships between these dimensions and reported patient experience. Aggregated scores for each practice were used, comprising the proportion of positive responses to each element of the study. Of eight service quality dimensions identified, six have statistically significant impacts on patient experience but only two have large effects. Patient experience is highly influenced by practice responsiveness and the interactions with the physician. Other dimensions have small or even slightly negative influence. Service quality provided by nurses has negligible effect on patient experience. To improve patient experience in primary health care, efforts should focus on practice responsiveness and interactions with the physician. Other areas have little influence over patient experience. This suggests a gap in patients' perspectives on health care, which has policy implications for patient education. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Media in guidance and counseling services: a tool and innovation for school counselor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Said Alhadi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Guidance and counseling services is an element of education that aims to support the achievement of the objectives of education. Guidance and counseling can prevent students experience problems and may even alleviate student of his problems. One of the efforts that need to be done to improve the effectiveness of guidance and counseling services is the development of media guidance and counseling. Media guidance and counseling can make different colors of guidance and counseling services so that the interests of students increase when following the guidance and counseling services. Used media must be relevant with the objectives/ competency of the guidance and counseling and relevant with material guidance and counseling services. Media in guidance and counseling services plays an important role in the implementation of guidance and counseling so that student can better understand, understand, and internalize the material guidance and counseling services to the student.

A service brokering and recommendation mechanism for better selecting cloud services.

Science.gov (United States)

Gui, Zhipeng; Yang, Chaowei; Xia, Jizhe; Huang, Qunying; Liu, Kai; Li, Zhenlong; Yu, Manzhu; Sun, Min; Zhou, Nanyin; Jin, Baoxuan

2014-01-01

Cloud computing is becoming the new generation computing infrastructure, and many cloud vendors provide different types of cloud services. How to choose the best cloud services for specific applications is very challenging. Addressing this challenge requires balancing multiple factors, such as business demands, technologies, policies and preferences in addition to the computing requirements. This paper recommends a mechanism for selecting the best public cloud service at the levels of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS). A systematic framework and associated workflow include cloud service filtration, solution generation, evaluation, and selection of public cloud services. Specifically, we propose the following: a hierarchical information model for integrating heterogeneous cloud information from different providers and a corresponding cloud information collecting mechanism; a cloud service classification model for categorizing and filtering cloud services and an application requirement schema for providing rules for creating application-specific configuration solutions; and a preference-aware solution evaluation mode for evaluating and recommending solutions according to the preferences of application providers. To test the proposed framework and methodologies, a cloud service advisory tool prototype was developed after which relevant experiments were conducted. The results show that the proposed system collects/updates/records the cloud information from multiple mainstream public cloud services in real-time, generates feasible cloud configuration solutions according to user specifications and acceptable cost predication, assesses solutions from multiple aspects (e.g., computing capability, potential cost and Service Level Agreement, SLA) and offers rational recommendations based on user preferences and practical cloud provisioning; and visually presents and compares solutions through an interactive web Graphical User Interface (GUI).

A Service Brokering and Recommendation Mechanism for Better Selecting Cloud Services

Science.gov (United States)

Gui, Zhipeng; Yang, Chaowei; Xia, Jizhe; Huang, Qunying; Liu, Kai; Li, Zhenlong; Yu, Manzhu; Sun, Min; Zhou, Nanyin; Jin, Baoxuan

2014-01-01

Cloud computing is becoming the new generation computing infrastructure, and many cloud vendors provide different types of cloud services. How to choose the best cloud services for specific applications is very challenging. Addressing this challenge requires balancing multiple factors, such as business demands, technologies, policies and preferences in addition to the computing requirements. This paper recommends a mechanism for selecting the best public cloud service at the levels of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS). A systematic framework and associated workflow include cloud service filtration, solution generation, evaluation, and selection of public cloud services. Specifically, we propose the following: a hierarchical information model for integrating heterogeneous cloud information from different providers and a corresponding cloud information collecting mechanism; a cloud service classification model for categorizing and filtering cloud services and an application requirement schema for providing rules for creating application-specific configuration solutions; and a preference-aware solution evaluation mode for evaluating and recommending solutions according to the preferences of application providers. To test the proposed framework and methodologies, a cloud service advisory tool prototype was developed after which relevant experiments were conducted. The results show that the proposed system collects/updates/records the cloud information from multiple mainstream public cloud services in real-time, generates feasible cloud configuration solutions according to user specifications and acceptable cost predication, assesses solutions from multiple aspects (e.g., computing capability, potential cost and Service Level Agreement, SLA) and offers rational recommendations based on user preferences and practical cloud provisioning; and visually presents and compares solutions through an interactive web Graphical User Interface (GUI

Transformation of children's mental health services: the role of school mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephan, Sharon Hoover; Weist, Mark; Kataoka, Sheryl; Adelsheim, Steven; Mills, Carrie

2007-10-01

The New Freedom Commission has called for a transformation in the delivery of mental health services in this country. The commission's report and recommendations have highlighted the role of school mental health services in transforming mental health care for children and adolescents. This article examines the intersection of school mental health programs and the commission's recommendations in order to highlight the role of school mental health in the transformation of the child and adolescent mental health system. Schools are uniquely positioned to play a central role in improving access to child mental health services and in supporting mental health and wellness as well as academic functioning of youths. The New Freedom Commission report articulated several goals related to school mental health: reducing stigma, preventing suicide, improving screening and treating co-occurring disorders, and expanding school mental health programs. The authors suggest strategies for change, including demonstrating relevance to schools, developing consensus among stakeholders, enhancing community mental health-school connections, building quality assessment and improvement, and considering the organizational context of schools.

District heating service connections. Technical recommendations. 4. ed. Hausanschluesse an Fernwaermenetze. Technische Richtlinien

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1986-01-01

The fourth edition of the 'Technical regulations - district heating service connections' constitutes a completely revised version answering to the considerable developments and changes the house service sector experienced between 1975 and 1985. Analyses and practical experiences have proved to show that precision thermostats which, depending on the mode of lines and layout of the service system allow to spare central temperature control systems, still have a decisive influence on the design of district heating service stations. The revised chapter on steam line service connections focuses on problems concerning the metering of condensates and the connection of secondary water heating networks to steam lines. The reader finds an updated selection of diagrams as well as a revised appendix listing the AGFW codes of practice and recommendations, relevant DIN standards and relevant VDE/VDI recommendations.

Responses to Deficiencies and Suggestions, AIHA Site Assessment July 12-14, 2016

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bennett, Jack T. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Harding, Ruth N. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2016-08-11

These are the responses to the deficiencies and suggestions found during the American Industrial Hygiene Association external site assessment carried out July 12-14, 2016 in the Analytical Services and Instrumentation Division Analytical Laboratory.

Provision of health services to irregular migrants with a special focus on children.

Science.gov (United States)

Søvig, Karl Harald

2011-01-01

All European countries are now facing a situation where a part of the population consists of migrants without a permit to stay or reside. These persons may have health problems, and the question then rises regarding health services to irregular migrants. Normally, welfare benefits are offered those with a relationship to the country concerned, as citizen, asylum seeker, tourist, etc. Irregular migrants are outside the society, and it could be suggested that they therefore should be denied health services. On the other hand, common European standards of humanity lay obligations on the States, for example, where situations are life-threatening. This contribution gives an overview of relevant legal instruments, both from the UN, Council of Europe and the European Union. Although there are many similarities, the instruments have their differences, and there may even be some tensions regarding the underlying values.

The temporal-relevance temporal-uncertainty model of prospective duration judgment.

Science.gov (United States)

Zakay, Dan

2015-12-15

A model aimed at explaining prospective duration judgments in real life settings (as well as in the laboratory) is presented. The model is based on the assumption that situational meaning is continuously being extracted by humans' perceptual and cognitive information processing systems. Time is one of the important dimensions of situational meaning. Based on the situational meaning, a value for Temporal Relevance is set. Temporal Relevance reflects the importance of temporal aspects for enabling adaptive behavior in a specific moment in time. When Temporal Relevance is above a certain threshold a prospective duration judgment process is evoked automatically. In addition, a search for relevant temporal information is taking place and its outcomes determine the level of Temporal Uncertainty which reflects the degree of knowledge one has regarding temporal aspects of the task to be performed. The levels of Temporal Relevance and Temporal Uncertainty determine the amount of attentional resources allocated for timing by the executive system. The merit of the model is in connecting timing processes with the ongoing general information processing stream. The model rests on findings in various domains which indicate that cognitive-relevance and self-relevance are powerful determinants of resource allocation policy. The feasibility of the model is demonstrated by analyzing various temporal phenomena. Suggestions for further empirical validation of the model are presented. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Teaching for Change: New Teachers' Experiences with and Visions for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Science.gov (United States)

Borrero, Noah; Ziauddin, Asra; Ahn, Alexandra

2018-01-01

This paper presents the voices of thirteen pre- and in-service teachers to showcase their perspectives of culturally relevant pedagogy as a teaching framework. Positionality, critical consciousness, and cultural assets are used as foundations to explore social justice pedagogy. These new teachers discuss the challenges they face in making the…

76 FR 75523 - Vessel Monitoring Systems; Approved Mobile Transmitting Units and Communications Service...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-02

... Monitoring Systems; Approved Mobile Transmitting Units and Communications Service Providers for Use in... relevant features of the enhanced mobile transmitting unit (E-MTU) VMS and communications service providers... with the Orbcomm mobile communications provider service. Skymate can be reached at 866-SKYMATE and...

The neural correlates of implicit self-relevant processing in low self-esteem: an ERP study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Juan; Guan, Lili; Dedovic, Katarina; Qi, Mingming; Zhang, Qinglin

2012-08-30

Previous neuroimaging studies have shown that implicit and explicit processing of self-relevant (schematic) material elicit activity in many of the same brain regions. Electrophysiological studies on the neural processing of explicit self-relevant cues have generally supported the view that P300 is an index of attention to self-relevant stimuli; however, there has been no study to date investigating the temporal course of implicit self-relevant processing. The current study seeks to investigate the time course involved in implicit self-processing by comparing processing of self-relevant with non-self-relevant words while subjects are making a judgment about color of the words in an implicit attention task. Sixteen low self-esteem participants were examined using event-related potentials technology (ERP). We hypothesized that this implicit attention task would involve P2 component rather than the P300 component. Indeed, P2 component has been associated with perceptual analysis and attentional allocation and may be more likely to occur in unconscious conditions such as this task. Results showed that latency of P2 component, which indexes the time required for perceptual analysis, was more prolonged in processing self-relevant words compared to processing non-self-relevant words. Our results suggested that the judgment of the color of the word interfered with automatic processing of self-relevant information and resulted in less efficient processing of self-relevant word. Together with previous ERP studies examining processing of explicit self-relevant cues, these findings suggest that the explicit and the implicit processing of self-relevant information would not elicit the same ERP components. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the improvement suggestion system in a nuclear facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carnaval, Joao Paulo Rodrigues; Moraes, Geice Almeida

2017-01-01

This work evaluated methods for processing improvement suggestions of a nuclear factory, with the intention to verify those which best fits to the company purposes. Two methods for processing improvement suggestions were applied in the studied organization. The first one was guided to the processing suggestions by specific independent sectors of the company and the second one was conducted to the processing of suggestions by a multidisciplinary team. It has been concluded that a multidisciplinary team focused on research and development would be the best option to the implementation of improvement suggestions and technological innovation on this facility, instead of multi sector processing which revealed to be excessive bureaucratic before the expected goals. This study can be used by nuclear facilities to optimize an existing system of improvements analysis or even guide them for the implantation of a new one. It is more significant for the companies certified on ISO and OHSAS standards for the quality management, environmental and safety and occupational health systems which requires that the continuous improvement must exist and to be demonstrated. But it is also relevant for nuclear plants aiming to implement an Integrated Management System certified on ISO Standards. (author)

Evaluation of the improvement suggestion system in a nuclear facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carnaval, Joao Paulo Rodrigues; Moraes, Geice Almeida, E-mail: joaocarnaval@inb.gov.br, E-mail: geice@inb.gov.br [Industrias Nucleares do Brasil S.A (INB), Resende, RJ (Brazil)

2017-11-01

This work evaluated methods for processing improvement suggestions of a nuclear factory, with the intention to verify those which best fits to the company purposes. Two methods for processing improvement suggestions were applied in the studied organization. The first one was guided to the processing suggestions by specific independent sectors of the company and the second one was conducted to the processing of suggestions by a multidisciplinary team. It has been concluded that a multidisciplinary team focused on research and development would be the best option to the implementation of improvement suggestions and technological innovation on this facility, instead of multi sector processing which revealed to be excessive bureaucratic before the expected goals. This study can be used by nuclear facilities to optimize an existing system of improvements analysis or even guide them for the implantation of a new one. It is more significant for the companies certified on ISO and OHSAS standards for the quality management, environmental and safety and occupational health systems which requires that the continuous improvement must exist and to be demonstrated. But it is also relevant for nuclear plants aiming to implement an Integrated Management System certified on ISO Standards. (author)

Comparing to Prepare: Suggesting Ways to Study Social Media Today—and Tomorrow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anders Olof Larsson

2015-04-01

Full Text Available While the two currently most popular social media services – Twitter and Facebook – are different in terms of technical and end-user details, this paper suggests that a series of similarities can also be found regarding different modes of communication offered by both services. These modes are labeled as Broadcasting, Redistributing, Interacting and Acknowledging. The argument is put forward that such synthesis of communication modes across platform could prove useful for longitudinal and comparative research efforts.

Innovation performance in service companies and KIBS vis-à-vis manufacturing: the relevance of absorptive capacity and openness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurora A. C. Teixeira¹ ² ³

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose – The present paper adds to the most recent current of literature that highlights the importance of innovation in services, analyzing a setting – Portugal – which is relatively backward in terms of innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a sample of 4128 companies (including 1489 service companies that answered the Community Innovation Survey 2008, we assessed, by resorting to logistic regressions, the determinants of innovation performance in Portuguese companies. Findings – 1 Workers who have the 1st cycle of higher education have a positive and significant impact on the innovation of service companies whereas PhDs are detrimental to companies’ innovative performance; 2 Companies in the service sector in general, and in KIBS in particular, that effectively invest in external and (continuous internal R&D activities are more innovative; 3 External scientific sources of information for innovation are crucial (and much more than in manufacturing to the innovation performance of service companies, especially of KIBS; 4 Similarly to manufacturing, participation in innovation activities in cooperation with foreign partners appears as a key factor in the innovative performance of service companies. Originality/value – The study demonstrates the influence of companies’ openness and the relative importance attributed to different sources of information for innovation on innovation outcomes of service companies (and KIBS compared to manufacturing industries.

What have we learnt from EUPORIAS climate service prototypes?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlo Buontempo

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The international effort toward climate services, epitomised by the development of the Global Framework for Climate Services and, more recently the launch of Copernicus Climate Change Service has renewed interest in the users and the role they can play in shaping the services they will eventually use. Here we critically analyse the results of the five climate service prototypes that were developed as part of the EU funded project EUPORIAS.Starting from the experience acquired in each of the projects we attempt to distil a few key lessons which, we believe, will be relevant to the wider community of climate service developers.

User perspectives on relevance criteria

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maglaughlin, Kelly L.; Sonnenwald, Diane H.

2002-01-01

, partially relevant, or not relevant to their information need; and explained their decisions in an interview. Analysis revealed 29 criteria, discussed positively and negatively, that were used by the participants when selecting passages that contributed or detracted from a document's relevance......This study investigates the use of criteria to assess relevant, partially relevant, and not-relevant documents. Study participants identified passages within 20 document representations that they used to make relevance judgments; judged each document representation as a whole to be relevant...... matter, thought catalyst), full text (e.g., audience, novelty, type, possible content, utility), journal/publisher (e.g., novelty, main focus, perceived quality), and personal (e.g., competition, time requirements). Results further indicate that multiple criteria are used when making relevant, partially...

Exceptional know how? Possible pitfalls of routinising genetic services.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitz, Dagmar

2010-09-01

Genetic testing practices are increasingly advancing clinical medicine. This process of 'routinisation of genetics' has been conceived as a medical and ethical problem mainly because of the assumption that non-geneticists might lack the necessary skills to provide these services. In particular, the relevant theoretical knowledge in clinical genetics is viewed as insufficient in general practitioners and physicians from other specialities. Empirical findings seem to indicate significant variations not only in theoretical but also in practical knowledge between geneticists and non-geneticists. Several fields of practical knowledge-regarding for example the focus of clinical action, the relevance of therapeutic action or the normative framework-can be identified that are or could be areas of conflict when the routinisation of genetic services proceeds. From an ethical point of view, these variations in know how and background are especially relevant whenever the respective genetic service is concerned with medical information of exceptional normative quality, such as, for example, in prenatal genetic screening and diagnosis of untreatable conditions. Here, the clinically acquired practical knowledge of the non-geneticist could be particularly misleading insofar as there is no relation to therapy and-in a narrow sense-no clinical utility to be assessed. Non-geneticists need a chance to acquire the relevant theoretical and practical knowledge in order to understand and fulfil their own duties in the respective situations in a way that secures the important rights at stake of their patients and clients.

Supply chain dynamics in healthcare services.

Science.gov (United States)

Samuel, Cherian; Gonapa, Kasiviswanadh; Chaudhary, P K; Mishra, Ananya

2010-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to analyse health service supply chain systems. A great deal of literature is available on supply chain management in finished goods inventory situations; however, little research exists on managing service capacity when finished goods inventories are absent. System dynamics models for a typical service-oriented supply chain such as healthcare processes are developed, wherein three service stages are presented sequentially. Just like supply chains with finished goods inventory, healthcare service supply chains also show dynamic behaviour. Comparing options, service reduction, and capacity adjustment delays showed that reducing capacity adjustment and service delays gives better results. The study is confined to health service-oriented supply chains. Further work includes extending the study to service-oriented supply chains with parallel processing, i.e. having more than one stage to perform a similar operation and also to study the behaviour in service-oriented supply chains that have re-entrant orders and applications. Specific case studies can also be developed to reveal factors relevant to particular service-oriented supply chains. The paper explains the bullwhip effect in healthcare service-oriented supply chains. Reducing stages and capacity adjustment are strategic options for service-oriented supply chains. The paper throws light on policy options for managing healthcare service-oriented supply chain dynamics.

The influence of staff training and education on prosthetic and orthotic service quality: A scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Forghany, Saeed; Sadeghi-Demneh, Ebrahim; Trinler, Ursula; Onmanee, Pornsuree; Dillon, Michael P; Baker, Richard

2018-06-01

Education and training in prosthetics and orthotics typically comply with International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics standards based on three categories of prosthetic and orthotic professionals. This scoping study sought to describe the evidence base available to answer the question, How are prosthetic and orthotic services influenced by the training of staff providing them? Scoping review. A structured search of the peer-reviewed literature catalogued in major electronic databases yielded 3039 papers. Following review of title and abstract, 93 articles were considered relevant. Full-text review reduced this number to 25. Only two articles were identified as providing direct evidence of the effects of training and education on service provision. While both suggested that there was an impact, it is difficult to see how the more specific conclusions of either could be generalised. The other 23 articles provide a useful background to a range of issues including the specification of competencies that training programmes should deliver (3 articles), descriptions of a range of training programmes and the effects of training and education on student knowledge and skills. Although it is considered axiomatic, the service quality is dependent on practitioner education and training. There is insufficient evidence to establish whether levels of training and education in prosthetics and orthotics have an effect on the quality of prosthetic and orthotic services. Clinical relevance There is very little evidence about the effects of training and education of prosthetists and orthotists on service quality. While this is a somewhat negative finding, we feel that it is important to bring this to the attention of the prosthetics and orthotics community.

Public Service Motivation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raluca-Marilena Mihalcioiu

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Public Service Motivation concept was developed in North America and focuses on specific motivations of public servants, such as employee satisfaction, organizational commitment, reward preferences, organizational and individual performance. Other types of motivation, as financial consideration, are relevant but have less important influences with regard to this kind of work outcomes. This strengthen the assertion for a diversified motivational strategy, which affect various types of motivation, while not losing sight of the public value that one organization shows and therefore valuing public service motivation as a specific contribution to work outcomes. The concept has been increasingly applied in European public administration. This paper presents Status Quo of international Public Service Motivation research and locates in them empirical evidences from contries that are already working with this concept, like Austria. It also analyses implications for central questions of public management. The main focus of this article is general appropriateness and possible applications for Romanian public management research.

Introducing Matrix Management within a Children's Services Setting--Personal Reflections

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Michael; Kakabadse, Nada K.

2014-01-01

This article reflects on the introduction of "matrix management" arrangements for an Educational Psychology Service (EPS) within a Children's Service Directorate of a Local Authority (LA). It seeks to demonstrate critical self-awareness, consider relevant literature with a view to bringing insights to processes and outcomes, and offers…

Research on Credit Evaluation of Mobile Medical APP Interactive Online Consultation Service-Take Haodaifu APP Online Payment Service as an Example

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Dandan; Zhao, Lei

2017-10-01

Mobile medical industry is developing rapidly, but the relevant credit evaluation system is still in the exploratory stage. Haodaifu in the interactive online consulting services more representatives and has a credit evaluation system, but the system is not perfect. There are many problems in the system, such as credits indicators cannot better reflect the results of user’s evaluation, the lack of user qualification supervision, evaluation index system and assessment channels are not perfect. On the basis of drawing on the advantages of E-commerce evaluation system and combining with the characteristics of mobile medical itself, two suggestions are put forward: Improve the credit evaluation model (Generate physician static credit index, Change the doctor 's dynamic credit index algorithm, Update the dynamic credit index), Improve the basic mechanism of credit evaluation.

WebQuest experience: Pre-Service secondary maths and chemistry teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erdoğan Halat

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to examine the impact of developing WebQuests on the attention, confidence, relevance and satisfaction, or motivation, of pre-service secondary mathematics and chemistry teachers in the instructional technologies and material design course. There were a total of 67 pre-service teachers, 32 pre-service secondary mathematics teachers and 35 pre-service secondary chemistry teachers involved in this study, which took place over seven weeks. The pre-service teachers in both groups designed their WebQuests suitable for the level of high-school students. The researcher used a questionnaire in the collection of the data to find the motivational level of the participants. It was given to the participants by the researcher before and after the instruction during a single class period. The paired-samples t-test, independent samples t-test and ANCOVA were used in the analysis of the quantitative data. The study showed that designing WebQuests had more effect on the attention, confidence and relevance of the pre-service chemistry teachers than of the pre-service mathematics teachers. However, in general, although developing WebQuests had positive effects on the motivational levels of both pre-service secondary maths and chemistry teachers, there were no statistically significant differences found in relation to the motivational levels of both groups.

MANAGING SERVICE QUALITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreea BUDEANU

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Services are today the dominant sector of the economic activity both in terms of economic performance and labor utilization. Becoming an essential part of today’s society, they are considered the basis of a healthy economy, fact that has increased the importance of services and the research in the field. One of the biggest challenges regarding this sector is the evaluation and assurance of quality. There is still a lack of unanimity regarding the definitions, measurement procedures and the aspects that need to be provided and measured. Through this article we intend to treat these subjects and provide a broad perspective on this topic. Thus, we hope to highlight some practices and directions that could be relevant for the organizations in this field.

Building National Infrastructures for Patient-Centred Digital Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorseng, Anne; Jensen, Tina Blegind

2015-01-01

Patient-centred digital services are increasingly gaining impact in the healthcare sector. The premise is that patients will be better equipped for taking care of their own health through instant access to relevant information and by enhanced electronic communication with healthcare providers. One...... infrastructure theory, we highlight the enabling and constraining dynamics when designing and building a national infrastructure for patient-centred digital services. Furthermore, we discuss how such infrastructures can accommodate further development of services. The findings show that the Danish national e...

Social Q&A’s Enlightenment to the Library Virtual Reference Service

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Yukun

2017-10-01

Full Text Available [Purpose/significance] Under the circumstance of Web2.0, the social Q&As, possessing the similar functions of the library virtual reference services, emerge consequently and enjoy tremendous prosperity. Thus, conducting the research of its success could shed light on the sustainable development of the library’s virtual reference services. [Method/process] According to the present-day situation that Social Q&A’s prosperity challenged the library virtual reference service, a literature review of domestic and foreign relevant research was completed. On the base of this review, typical Internet Q&A websites such as Baidu Knows and Yahoo Answers, social network-oriented Q&A websites such as Zhihu and Quora, were selected as the research objects. Then, the paper analyzed the traits of four representative SQA platforms from the perspectives of the Internet interlocution mode, the information organization mode and the user interaction and management mode. In addition, an experiment between SQAs and VRS was conducted as empirical research. [Result/conclusion] Finally, on the base of the research status, the platform investigation and experimental outcomes, the improvement suggestions for library VRS are proposed.

75 FR 45606 - Department of Commerce Measuring and Enhancing Services Trade Data Conference

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-03

... decision-making, policy planning, and is relevant for trade agreements in support of increased US services... business and public policy decision-making. DOC will accept registrations on a first-come-first-served... services, accounting for intangible assets, and accuracy of service price indices. The target audience for...

Experiences of community service environmental health practitioners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anusha Karamchand

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Orientation: The community service initiative, a 1-year placement of health graduates, significantly improved human resource availability in the South African public health sector, even though the process was fraught with challenges. Although experiences in the curative health sector were assessed, the experiences of environmental health practitioners were yet to be studied. Research purpose: This study assessed the experiences of environmental health practitioners during their community service year. Motivation for the study: Anecdotal evidence suggested problems with the process. This study endeavoured to identify the challenges whilst taking cognisance of its effectiveness. Method: A total of n = 40 environmental health graduates from the Durban University of Technology who had concluded community service completed questionnaires in this crosssectional quantitative study. Descriptive statistics, means and standard deviations were used to analyse the data. Main findings: The timing of community service placements was critical as 58% of respondents had to repay study loans. The placement of married respondents (10% outside KwaZuluNatal, however, could have had impacts on family structures. Only 68% felt stimulated by their job functions, and there arose challenges with accommodation and overtime duties. Respondents felt that their tertiary education did equip them and that engagement with senior personnel helped in their professional development. Even though most of the review of the community service year appeared to be positive, a majority of respondents did not intend to continue working or recommending their workplaces. Future career pathing showed that 79% would prefer to be employed outside the public sector. Practical and managerial implications: The process needs to be reviewed to strengthen human resource management and enhance retention in the often overloaded and under-resourced South African public health sector. Contribution

Outsourcing of Corporate Information Services: Implications for Redesigning Corporate Library Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Agada, John

1996-01-01

Examines the trend in outsourcing information services and suggests it threatens the survival of corporate libraries. Topics include changes in the competitive corporate environment; characteristics of outsourceable services; managing change; redesigning the corporate librarian's role; and implications for redesigning corporate information…

Context-sensitive service discovery experimental prototype and evaluation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Balken, Robin; Haukrogh, Jesper; L. Jensen, Jens

2007-01-01

The amount of different networks and services available to users today are increasing. This introduces the need for a way to locate and sort out irrelevant services in the process of discovering available services to a user. This paper describes and evaluates a prototype of an automated discovery...... and selection system, which locates services relevant to a user, based on his/her context and the context of the available services. The prototype includes a multi-level, hierarchical system approach and the introduction of entities called User-nodes, Super-nodes and Root-nodes. These entities separate...... the network in domains that handle the complex distributed service discovery, which is based on dynamically changing context information. In the prototype, a method for performing context-sensitive service discovery has been realised. The service discovery part utilizes UPnP, which has been expanded in order...

Service availability during the annual closure 2014/2015

CERN Multimedia

GS & IT Departments

2014-01-01

Please note that the Service Desk will be closed, however in case of urgent requests, you can call/contact (+41 22 76) 77777. Calls will be redirected to the relevant support groups.   General Services As always, like the security service, the emergency and fire service remain operational 24/7 and reachable via 74444. However, the services provided by the GS department requiring human presence (such as CERN hotel, the car sharing service, the shuttle service, etc.) will not be operational during the annual closure. Services that do not depend on a continuous human presence will remain available offering a reduced level of support during this period. In general, the response time to normal problems will be a half day (no guarantee), but in case of serious failure, the reaction time will depend on the arrangements that have been made with the supported services. Any incidents will be documented on the CERN Service Status Board. For more information, please consult the CERN Services Po...

ANALYSIS OF PERCEIVED QUALITY OF EDUCATION SERVICE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murwatiningsih Murwatiningsih

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This study aims to determine the descriptive overview of the quality of education services consisting. The location of this research was at the Economics Faculty of Semarang State University, and the object of the study was student at semester VII of the Economics Faculty. The population of this study was 620 students in the academic year of 2014/2015. Proportional cluster ranom sampling technique was utilized to get 186 samples. The method of collecting data using questionnaires, whereas method of data analysis using non-parametric statistics (descriptive percentages.The result shows that the quality of education services, which can be seen from the dimensions of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, responsiveness, creativity, productivity, academic abilities, empathy, and appearance, are perceived well by students. However, this result has not optimal yet, especially on the dimensions of relevance, efficiency and effectiveness.

Psychiatric service staff perceptions of implementing a shared decision-making tool: a process evaluation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Schön, Ulla-Karin; Grim, Katarina; Wallin, Lars; Rosenberg, David; Svedberg, Petra

2018-12-01

Shared decision making, SDM, in psychiatric services, supports users to experience a greater sense of involvement in treatment, self-efficacy, autonomy and reduced coercion. Decision tools adapted to the needs of users have the potential to support SDM and restructure how users and staff work together to arrive at shared decisions. The aim of this study was to describe and analyse the implementation process of an SDM intervention for users of psychiatric services in Sweden. The implementation was studied through a process evaluation utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods. In designing the process evaluation for the intervention, three evaluation components were emphasized: contextual factors, implementation issues and mechanisms of impact. The study addresses critical implementation issues related to decision-making authority, the perceived decision-making ability of users and the readiness of the service to increase influence and participation. It also emphasizes the importance of facilitation, as well as suggesting contextual adaptations that may be relevant for the local organizations. The results indicate that staff perceived the decision support tool as user-friendly and useful in supporting participation in decision-making, and suggest that such concrete supports to participation can be a factor in implementation if adequate attention is paid to organizational contexts and structures.

Food Production, Management and Services: Service. Teacher Edition. Second Edition.

Science.gov (United States)

Palan, Earl

This food production, management, and services teacher guide contains nine units: (1) orientation; (2) types of service; (3) table settings; (4) dining room personnel; (5) dining room procedures; (6) side work; (7) guest/employee relationships; (8) sales techniques; and (9) safety and sanitation. Suggestions are included to increase reinforcement…

Predicting the decisions of hospital based child protection teams to report to child protective services, police and community welfare services.

Science.gov (United States)

Benbenishty, Rami; Jedwab, Merav; Chen, Wendy; Glasser, Saralee; Slutzky, Hanna; Siegal, Gil; Lavi-Sahar, Zohar; Lerner-Geva, Liat

2014-01-01

This study examines judgments made by hospital-based child protection teams (CPTs) when determining if there is reasonable suspicion that a child has been maltreated, and whether to report the case to a community welfare agency, to child protective services (CPS) and/or to the police. A prospective multi-center study of all 968 consecutive cases referred to CPTs during 2010-2011 in six medical centers in Israel. Centers were purposefully selected to represent the heterogeneity of medical centers in Israel in terms of size, geographical location and population characteristics. A structured questionnaire was designed to capture relevant information and judgments on each child referred to the team. Bivariate associations and multivariate multinomial logistic regressions were conducted to predict whether the decisions would be (a) to close the case, (b) to refer the case to community welfare services, or (c) to report it to CPS and/or the police. Bivariate and multivariate analyses identified a large number of case characteristics associated with higher probability of reporting to CPS/police or of referral to community welfare services. Case characteristics associated with the decisions include socio-demographic (e.g., ethnicity and financial status), parental functioning (e.g., mental health), previous contacts with authorities and hospital, current referral characteristics (e.g., parental referral vs. child referral), physical findings, and suspicious behaviors of child and parent. Most of the findings suggest that decisions of CPTs are based on indices that have strong support in the professional literature. Existing heterogeneity between cases, practitioners and medical centers had an impact on the overall predictability of the decision to report. Attending to collaboration between hospitals and community agencies is suggested to support learning and quality improvement. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Offshoring of services: A review of the literature and organizing framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pisani, N.; Ricart, J.E.

2016-01-01

Offshoring of services (OS), commonly defined as the international relocation of service activities that companies previously performed in their home country, has emerged as a relevant phenomenon in international business (IB). Over the past two decades, OS has grown rapidly in the global economy

Monitoring Accessibility Services in Digital Television

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Utray

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses methodology and tools applied to the monitoring of accessibility services in digital television at a time when the principles of accessibility and design are being considered in all new audiovisual media communication services. The main objective of this research is to measure the quality and quantity of existing accessibility services offered by digital terrestrial television (DTT. The preliminary results, presented here, offer the development of a prototype for automatic monitoring and a methodology for obtaining quality measurements, along with the conclusions drawn by initial studies carried out in Spain. The recent approval of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities gives special relevance to this research because it provides valuable guidelines to help set the priorities to improve services currently available to users.

Content analysis of publications on product-service systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernanda Hänsch Beuren

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This work is an update of the literature on product-service systems (PSS through a review of the literature from 2006 to 2011. Aiming at changing consumption of products to a more sustainable society, the PSS has been considered a competitive opportunity, which offers the use of the product through the provision of services. In this context, this paper aims to complement the existing literature on PSS through a structured search of relevant journal databases. The identified studies have important information on the PSS and these are presented throughout the text, highlighting major journals, most cited authors and the main article used as reference by the academy. From the identified and interpreted publications, the paper highlights some key factors, which the literature has approached on the subject in recent years. Therefore, by analyzing the publications during the selected study period, a conclusive synthesis is presented at the end of each key-factor. Finally, some suggestions for future research on the subject are presented, highlighting the need for theoretical and empirical research to achieve better understanding about the benefits of a PSS as well as tools and methodologies that facilitate its implementation.

How much should I eat? A comparison of suggested portion sizes in the UK

OpenAIRE

Lewis, Hannah B; Ahern, Amy L; Jebb, Susan A

2012-01-01

Objective To identify and compare suggested food portion sizes in UK schemes. Design The study collated and compared suggested portion sizes from selected UK schemes intended both for general advice and weight-loss advice. Setting Portion size schemes were included if they were relevant to the UK, provided actual portion size information, were intended for adults and were obtainable from the public domain in November 2010. Included schemes were from the food industry, non-governmental organis...

Opportunities and improvisations: a pediatric surgeon's suggestions for successful short-term surgical volunteer work in resource-poor areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Donald

2010-05-01

There is a paucity of trained pediatric surgeons in resource-poor areas, and many children never receive care for debilitating problems that could readily be managed by surgeons with proper training, supplies, and instrumentation. This article, written from the perspective of a surgeon who has been both the recipient of and the provider of volunteer surgical services, is intended to encourage surgeons in technologically advanced locations to volunteer in underserved areas and to assist them in the implementation of such endeavors. Concepts are presented with an emphasis on pediatric surgery, but most are relevant for volunteers in all surgical specialties. Volunteer paradigms include, but are not limited to, the "surgical brigade" model, where a large group of health care professionals take all needed equipment and supplies for the duration of their stint, and the "minimalist" model, where a single volunteer works with local personnel using locally available equipment. For a successful volunteer endeavor the host needs to have a perceived need for the volunteer's services, and the volunteer must be flexible in adapting to meet overwhelming needs with limited resources. It is suggested that appropriate technology, such as the inexpensive anal stimulator presented herein, should be employed whenever possible. With proper planning, realistic expectations, and a cooperative and helpful attitude, volunteer trips can be rewarding experiences for both volunteers and host physicians and lead to lasting relationships that improve children's lives globally.

Relevance of metric-free interactions in flocking phenomena.

Science.gov (United States)

Ginelli, Francesco; Chaté, Hugues

2010-10-15

We show that the collective properties of self-propelled particles aligning with their topological (Voronoi) neighbors are qualitatively different from those of usual models where metric interaction ranges are used. This relevance of metric-free interactions, shown in a minimal setting, indicate that realistic models for the cohesive motion of cells, bird flocks, and fish schools may have to incorporate them, as suggested by recent observations.

Service availability during CERN annual closure 2015/2016

CERN Multimedia

2015-01-01

Please note that the Service Desk will be closed, however in case of urgent requests, you can call/contact (+41 22 76) 77777. Calls will be redirected to the relevant support groups.   General Services As always, like the security service, the emergency and fire service remain operational 24/7 and reachable via 74444. However, the services provided by the GS department requiring human presence (such as CERN hotel, the car sharing service, the shuttle service, etc.) will not be operational during the annual closure. Services that do not depend on a continuous human presence will remain available offering a reduced level of support during this period. In general, the response time to normal problems will be a half day (no guarantee), but in case of serious failure, the reaction time will depend on the arrangements that have been made with the supported services. Any incidents will be documented on the CERN Service Status Board. For more information, please ...

Hypnosis, suggestion, and suggestibility: an integrative model.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynn, Steven Jay; Laurence, Jean-Roch; Kirsch, Irving

2015-01-01

This article elucidates an integrative model of hypnosis that integrates social, cultural, cognitive, and neurophysiological variables at play both in and out of hypnosis and considers their dynamic interaction as determinants of the multifaceted experience of hypnosis. The roles of these variables are examined in the induction and suggestion stages of hypnosis, including how they are related to the experience of involuntariness, one of the hallmarks of hypnosis. It is suggested that studies of the modification of hypnotic suggestibility; cognitive flexibility; response sets and expectancies; the default-mode network; and the search for the neurophysiological correlates of hypnosis, more broadly, in conjunction with research on social psychological variables, hold much promise to further understanding of hypnosis.

Parsimonious relevance models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meij, E.; Weerkamp, W.; Balog, K.; de Rijke, M.; Myang, S.-H.; Oard, D.W.; Sebastiani, F.; Chua, T.-S.; Leong, M.-K.

2008-01-01

We describe a method for applying parsimonious language models to re-estimate the term probabilities assigned by relevance models. We apply our method to six topic sets from test collections in five different genres. Our parsimonious relevance models (i) improve retrieval effectiveness in terms of

Engaging Youth with and without Significant Disabilities in Inclusive Service Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Erik W.; Swedeen, Beth; Moss, Colleen K.

2012-01-01

Service learning is an effective curricular approach to increase instructional relevance and engagement for all students. For students with significant disabilities in transition, meaningful service can be an especially useful avenue for exploring career interests, gaining and practicing important life skills, and connecting to the community in…

Customer service strategy options : a multiple case study in a B2B setting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wouters, J.P.M.

2004-01-01

This study addresses the question whether customer service actually has order winning potential in B2B situations, which customer service strategies are deployed, and what determines customer service relevance. A literature review was followed by a multiple case study, using 12 organizations from

Geospatial Information Relevant to the Flood Protection Available on The Mainstream Web

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kliment Tomáš

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Flood protection is one of several disciplines where geospatial data is very important and is a crucial component. Its management, processing and sharing form the foundation for their efficient use; therefore, special attention is required in the development of effective, precise, standardized, and interoperable models for the discovery and publishing of data on the Web. This paper describes the design of a methodology to discover Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC services on the Web and collect descriptive information, i.e., metadata in a geocatalogue. A pilot implementation of the proposed methodology - Geocatalogue of geospatial information provided by OGC services discovered on Google (hereinafter “Geocatalogue” - was used to search for available resources relevant to the area of flood protection. The result is an analysis of the availability of resources discovered through their metadata collected from the OGC services (WMS, WFS, etc. and the resources they provide (WMS layers, WFS objects, etc. within the domain of flood protection.

Relevance of NET first wall concept for DEMO DN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiltie, J.S.

1987-01-01

Design studies for the Next European Torus (NET) have produced a design concept for the first wall. This concept features poloidal water cooling, double contained in a welded steel structure which is protected by radiatively cooled tiles. In this appendix the relevance of this concept to a DEMO is examined with particular emphasis given to the ability of the cooling tube arrangement to remove the heat. A suggested modification to the arrangement of coolant tubes is suggested so that the design can operate at the higher loadings of a DEMO. (author)

Implementation and outcomes of inquiry-based learning in mathematics content courses for pre-service teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Laursen, Sandra L.; Hassi, Marja-Liisa; Hough, Sarah

2016-02-01

This mixed-methods study describes classroom characteristics and student outcomes from university mathematics courses that are based in mathematics departments, targeted to future pre-tertiary teachers, and taught with inquiry-based learning (IBL) approaches. The study focused on three two-term sequences taught at two research universities, separately targeting elementary and secondary pre-service teachers. Classroom observation established that the courses were taught with student-centred methods that were comparable to those used in IBL courses for students in mathematics-intensive fields at the same institutions. To measure pre-service teachers' gains in mathematical knowledge for teaching, we administered the Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT) instrument developed by Hill, Ball and Schilling for in-service teacher professional development. Results from the LMT show that pre-service teachers made significant score gains from beginning to end of their course, while data from interviews and from surveys of learning gains show that pre-service teachers viewed their gains as relevant to their future teaching work. Measured changes on pre-/post-surveys of attitudes and beliefs were generally supportive of learning mathematics but modest in magnitude. The study is distinctive in applying the LMT to document pre-service teachers' growth in mathematical knowledge for teaching. The study also suggests IBL is an approach well suited to mathematics departments seeking to strengthen their pre-service teacher preparation offerings in ways consistent with research-based recommendations.

Reach and Relevance of Prison Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hilde Tubex

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In this contribution I reflect on the changes in the penal landscape and how they impact on prison research. I do this from my experiences as a prison researcher in a variety of roles, in both Europe and Australia. The growing dominance of managerialism has impacted on both corrective services and universities, in ways that have changed the relationship between current prison practices and academically oriented research. Therefore, academics have to question how their contemporary prison research can bridge the emerging gap: how they can not only produce research that adheres to the roots of criminology and provides a base for a rational penal policy, but also how they can develop strategies to get recognition of and funding for this broader contextual work which, although it might not produce results that are immediately identifiable, can be of relevance in indirect ways and in the longer term.

Improving Service Quality in Technical Education: Use of Interpretive Structural Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Debnath, Roma Mitra; Shankar, Ravi

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the relevant enablers and barriers related to technical education. It seeks to critically analyze the relationship amongst them so that policy makers can focus on relevant parameters to improve the service quality of technical education. Design/methodology/approach: The present study employs the…

The Ambivalence of Strengths and Weaknesses of E-Learning Educational Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Venera Mihaela Cojocariu

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This paper represents a thorough phase in the effort to identify and assort the strengths and weaknesses of e-learning educational services. This paper reviews a synthesis of the assessments on the e-learning educational services through a survey of the specialized literature from 2000 to 2012 in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of e-learning educational services which were reported during the past decade. The steps of our approach are the following: 1. The identification of a large number of specialized studies that analyze the above mentioned issue; 2. A basic theoretical review of the research from the perspective of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the e-learning educational services and some of their implications on the intellectual development of the beneficiaries; 3. A descriptive statistical data analysis which is carried out in order to extract information about strengths and weaknesses relevant to the literature taken into consideration; 4. Results classification and interpretation; 5. Formulating practical suggestions for the notion of e-learning educational services considering the development of studies on the impact of their use on the intellectual development of the beneficiaries. The study results highlighted that strengths and weaknesses are not 'pure', but ambivalent, simultaneously incorporating meanings and limits with different weights. A predictive model of future e-learning educational services can be designed on the basis of the results obtained in the research. This predictive model is based on a pedagogical concept that takes into account the ambivalence of the higher indices which have been identified.

Temporal scales, ecosystem dynamics, stakeholders and the valuation of ecosystems services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hein, Lars; Koppen, van C.S.A.K.; Ierland, van Ekko C.; Leidekker, Jakob

2016-01-01

Temporal dimensions are highly relevant to the analysis of ecosystem services and their economic value. In this paper, we provide a framework that can be used for analyzing temporal dimensions of ecosystem services, we present a case study including an analysis of the supply of three ecosystem

TQM Training; The Library Service Challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Loney, Tim; Bellefontaine, Arnie

1993-01-01

Addresses training in the context of organizing and implementing a Total Quality Management (TQM) initiative. The customer service implications and relevant training or skill implications for the following phases are described: (1) exploration and commitment; (2) organizing for quality; (3) start up; and (4) expansion and integration. (Contains 18…

DISTRIBUTION OF BANKING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BULGAREA CATALIN NICOLAE

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Starting with the 90s, retails banks have faced several challenges. One of them is how to efficiently deliver their products and services to the customers. In fact, the most important challenge of a bank is how to efficiently reach the customer, with the right product or service, at the right time. Today, they can choose between branches, contact centers, ATMs, online channels, portals and web banks. Multichannel banking is, therefore, more relevant than ever. Multichannel banking is more than just offering multiple channels, but offering integrated channels, with the optimal balance of services, prices and offer across channels. Banks should have the ability to deliver the right service at the right time in the right channel. The bank should define exactly how they are going to use each channels, which services and products in which channels, how to mix and integrate the channels and how to support the channels

Planning and Implementing Policies for Special Education and Rehabilitation Services in Sub-Saharan Africa: Problems and Suggestions

Science.gov (United States)

Malakpa, Sakui W. G.

2009-01-01

Despite genuine efforts, countries in sub-Saharan Africa significantly lag behind sister nations of the world in providing basic education and more so in providing special education and rehabilitation services for students with disabilities. This work gives an overview of the magnitude of this problem and outlines some of its causes. In addition,…

Relevant Skills for Criminal Accounting Expertise: The Perception of Federal Police Experts and Delegates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Roberto dos Santos Filho

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This research aimed to identify which skills are considered most relevant to the practice of criminal accounting expertise in Brazil. As in international research, the skills perceived as most relevant were written communication, deductive analysis and critical thinking. Among the less relevant skills were the interview and the solution and negotiation of conflicts. In the second part, while experts and delegates jointly consider written communication to be the most present skills, delegates diverge from experts in terms of critical thinking and serenity. In addition, the respondents indicated skills that had not been investigated, and the most cited skills were proactivity, objectivity and updating. In the light of forensic accounting, the research method used was the survey, using a predefined questionnaire with open and closed questions, which 144 respondents answered. The study was divided into three parts: the first about the perceived relevance of the skills, the second about the perceived practical application of skills and the third part allowed the respondents to contribute with suggestions of skills that were considered relevant but did not figure among the skills investigated. The study contributes to the establishment of curricular guidelines for undergraduate and postgraduate courses related to the training of skills considered relevant for the training of future professionals and for the improvement of criminal accounting experts. Finally, we observe that the skills investigated and suggested can contribute to all areas of accounting expertise.

Analyzing the spatial patterns and drivers of ecosystem services in rapidly urbanizing Taihu Lake Basin of China

Science.gov (United States)

Ai, Junyong; Sun, Xiang; Feng, Lan; Li, Yangfan; Zhu, Xiaodong

2015-09-01

Quantifying and mapping the distribution patterns of ecosystem services can help to ascertain which services should be protected and where investments should be directed to improve synergies and reduce tradeoffs. Moreover, the indicators of urbanization that affect the provision of ecosystem services must be identified to determine which approach to adopt in formulating policies related to these services. This paper presents a case study that maps the distribution of multiple ecosystem services and analyzes the ways in which they interact. The relationship between the supply of ecosystem services and the socio-economic development in the Taihu Lake Basin of eastern China is also revealed. Results show a significant negative relationship between crop production and tourism income ( p<0.005) and a positive relationship between crop production, nutrient retention, and carbon sequestration ( p<0.005). The negative effects of the urbanization process on providing and regulating services are also identified through a comparison of the ecosystem services in large and small cities. Regression analysis was used to compare and elucidate the relative significance of the selected urbanization factors to ecosystem services. The results indicate that urbanization level is the most substantial factor inversely correlated with crop production ( R 2 = 0.414) and nutrient retention services ( R 2 = 0.572). Population density is the most important factor that negatively affects carbon sequestration ( R 2 = 0.447). The findings of this study suggest the potential relevance of ecosystem service dynamics to urbanization management and decision making.

Developing a long-term condition's information service in collaboration with third sector organisations.

Science.gov (United States)

McShane, Lesley; Greenwell, Kate; Corbett, Sally; Walker, Richard

2014-06-01

People with long-term conditions need to be signposted to high quality information and advice to understand and manage their condition. Information seeking tools combined with third sector information could help address their information needs. To describe the development and implementation of an information service for people living with long-term conditions at one NHS acute trust in the Northeast of England. An information service was trialled using bespoke information models for three long-term conditions in collaboration with third sector organisations. These guided people to relevant, timely and reliable information. Both clinician and service user questionnaires were used to evaluate satisfaction with the service. Appropriately designed information models can be used interchangeably across all services. Between 75% and 91% of users agreed that they were satisfied with various aspects of the service. Generally, users received relevant, understandable and high quality information at the right time. Nearly all health professionals (94-100%) felt the service was accessible, provided high quality information and did not significantly impact on their consultation time. The developed information service was well received by service users and health professionals. Specifically, the use of information prescriptions and menus facilitated access to information for people with long-term conditions. © 2014 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2014 Health Libraries Group.

Cross-curricular goals and raising the relevance of science education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Belova, Nadja; Dittmar, Johanna; Hansson, Lena

2016-01-01

education go beyond single contents and concepts; many challenges are tied to cross-curricular goals. Specifically, when it comes to the societal and vocational relevance of science education, many demands can only be met when we develop corresponding skills across disciplines and grade levels. This chapter...... focuses on a set of such cross-curricular goals from a chemistry education perspective, namely education for sustainability, critical media literacy, innovation competence, vocational orientation, and employability. It relates them to the idea of relevant chemistry and science education. Directions...... for research and curriculum development will be suggested that emerge from taking into account cross-curricular goals on the science curriculum more thoroughly....

In Need of Creative Mobile Service Ideas? Forget Adults and Ask Young Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilona Kuzmickaja

2015-08-01

Full Text Available It is well acknowledged that innovation is a key success factor in the mobile service domain. Having creative ideas is the first critical step in the innovation process. Many studies suggest that customers are a valuable source of creative ideas. However, the literature also shows that adults may be constrained by existing technology frames, which are known to hinder creativity. Instead young children (aged 7-12 are considered digital natives yet are free from existing technology frames. This led us to study them as a potential source for creative mobile service ideas. A set of 41,000 mobile ideas obtained from a research project in 2006 granted us a unique opportunity to study the mobile service ideas from young children. We randomly selected two samples of ideas (N = 400 each; one contained the ideas from young children, the other from adults (aged 17-50. These ideas were evaluated by several evaluators using an existing creativity framework. The results show that the mobile service ideas from the young children are significantly more original, transformational, implementable, and relevant than those from the adults. Therefore, this study shows that young children are better sources of novel and quality ideas than adults in the mobile services domain. This study bears significant contributions to the creativity and innovation research. It also indicates a new and valuable source for the companies that seek creative ideas for innovative products and services.

Age Differences in Attention toward Decision-Relevant Information: Education Matters

Science.gov (United States)

Xing, Cai; Isaacowitz, Derek

2011-01-01

Previous studies suggested that older adults are more likely to engage in heuristic decision-making than young adults. This study used eye tracking technique to examine young adults' and highly educated older adults' attention toward two types of decision-relevant information: heuristic cue vs. factual cues. Surprisingly, highly educated older…

Meaning and barriers to quality care service provision in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Qualitative study of stakeholder perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Svirydzenka, Nadzeya; Ronzoni, Pablo; Dogra, Nisha

2017-02-20

Defining quality in health presents many challenges. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defined quality clinical care as care that is equitable, timely, safe, efficient, effective and patient centred. However, it is not clear how different stakeholders within a child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) understand and/or apply this framework. This project aims to identify key stakeholders" understanding of the meaning of quality in the context of CAMHS. The study sample comprised of three groups: (i) patients and carers, (ii) CAMHS clinical staff, and (iii) commissioners (Total N = 24). Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and thematic analysis was applied to explore participant's views on the meaning and measurement of quality and how these might reflect the IOM indicators and their relevance in CAMHS. An initial barrier to implementing quality care in CAMHS was the difficulty and limited agreement in defining the meaning of quality care, its measurement and implementation for all participants. Clinical staff defined quality as personal values, a set of practical rules, or clinical discharge rates; while patients suggested being more involved in the decision-making process. Commissioners, while supportive of adequate safeguarding and patient satisfaction procedures, did not explicitly link their view on quality to commissioning guidelines. Identifying practical barriers to implementing quality care was easier for all interviewees and common themes included: lack of meaningful measures, recourses, accountability, and training. All interviewees considered the IOM six markers as comprehensive and relevant to CAMHS. No respondent individually or within one stakeholder group identified more than a few of the indicators or barriers of a quality CAMHS service. However, the composite responses of the respondents enable us to develop a more complete picture of how to improve quality care in practice and guide future research in the area.

Functional dyspepsia: Are psychosocial factors of relevance?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Sandra Barry; Timothy G Dinan

2006-01-01

The pathogenesis of Functional Dyspepsia (FD) remains unclear, appears diverse and is thus inadequately understood. Akin to other functional gastrointestinal disorders, research has demonstrated an association between this common diagnosis and psychosocial factors and psychiatric morbidity. Conceptualising the relevance of these factors within the syndrome of FD requires application of the biopsychosocial model of disease.Using this paradigm, dysregulation of the reciprocal communication between the brain and the gut is central to symptom generation, interpretation and exacerbation.Appreciation and understanding of the neurobiological correlates of various psychological states is also relevant.The view that psychosocial factors exert their influence in FD predominantly through motivation of health care seeking also persists. This appears too one-dimensional an assertion in light of the evidence available supporting a more intrinsic aetiological link. Evolving understanding of pathogenic mechanisms and the heterogeneous nature of the syndrome will facilitate effective management.Co-morbid psychiatric illness warrants treatment with conventional therapies. Acknowledging the relevance of psychosocial variables in FD, the degree of which is subject to variation, has implications for assessment and management. Available evidence suggests psychological therapies may benefit FD patients particularly those with chronic symptoms. The rationale for use of psychotropic medications in FD is apparent but the evidence base to support the use of antidepressant pharmacotherapy is to date limited.

Types of suggestibility: Relationships among compliance, indirect, and direct suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Polczyk, Romuald; Pasek, Tomasz

2006-10-01

It is commonly believed that direct suggestibility, referring to overt influence, and indirect suggestibility, in which the intention to influence is hidden, correlate poorly. This study demonstrates that they are substantially related, provided that they tap similar areas of influence. Test results from 103 students, 55 women and 48 men, were entered into regression analyses. Indirect suggestibility, as measured by the Sensory Suggestibility Scale for Groups, and compliance, measured by the Gudjonsson Compliance Scale, were predictors of direct suggestibility, assessed with the Barber Suggestibility Scale. Spectral analyses showed that indirect suggestibility is more related to difficult tasks on the BSS, but compliance is more related to easy tasks on this scale.

On-Site Field Services

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriguez Aycart, M.; Bobo, E.; Pascual, L.; Merino, A.; Martinez Gozalo, I.; Ruiz, J. T.; Soto, M.; Vilanova, S.

2013-01-01

The Spanish nuclear industry has extensive experience in the development of services for nuclear power plants. The moratorium on new projects in the decade of the 1980s led these nuclear industry companies to find and enter new markets. The quality of their services, along with the long experience gained in the support of the Spanish plants, has enabled a significant number of companies to win relevant contracts in competition with leading corporation around the world. European countries are an important market. The first experiments to support the operation in Central and Eastern Europe are being extended with work in neighboring countries. Meanwhile, Latin America is a nearby market for reasons of language and historical proximity, which is also present in the industry. It emphasizes the participation of Spanish companies in projects in countries of the Asia-Pacific region. This article describes the experiences of four Spanish-owned companies and of the services division of Westinghouse in spain. (Author)

DECISION USEFULNESS: TRADE-OFF ANTARA RELIABILITY DAN RELEVANCE

OpenAIRE

AGUS INDRA TENAYA

2007-01-01

The purpose of this article is to search for trade-off solution betweenreliability and relevance. Approach that can be used to have more reliable andrelevant financial statement is decision usefulness. This approach suggests thatfinancial statement must be useful to become a base of investors’ decision making.The change function of financial statement from just a tool of responsibility tobecome a tool of decision making has caused historical cost-based financialstatement could not be used to ...

Does emotion help or hinder reasoning? The moderating role of relevance.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanchette, Isabelle; Gavigan, Sarah; Johnston, Kathryn

2014-06-01

Some prior research has shown that emotion impairs logicality in deductive reasoning tasks, while other research suggests improved performance with emotional contents. We suggest that relevance, whether the affective state is associated with the semantic contents of the reasoning task, may be crucial in explaining these apparently inconsistent findings. This hypothesis is based on a framework distinguishing between integral emotions, where affective responses are evoked by the semantic contents of the target task, and incidental emotions, where affective responses are not related to the task. In 4 experiments we examined the effect of emotion on conditional reasoning when affective responses were relevant and irrelevant. We used images presented simultaneously with the reasoning stimuli (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) or videos presented prior to the reasoning stimuli (Experiment 4) that were either emotional or neutral and semantically related or not to the conditional statements. Results showed that emotion decreased the proportion of normatively correct responses only in the irrelevant condition. In the relevant condition, emotion did not produce reliable deleterious effects. We used reaction time and skin conductance measures to investigate the physiological and cognitive correlates of these effects. Results are discussed in terms of the distinction between incidental and integral emotions. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Status Configurations, Military Service and Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lin; Elder, Glen H., Jr.; Spence, Naomi J.

2012-01-01

The U.S. Armed Forces offer educational and training benefits as incentives for service. This study investigates the influence of status configurations on military enlistment and their link to greater educational opportunity. Three statuses (socioeconomic status of origin, cognitive ability and academic performance) have particular relevance for…

Community liberalisation of the electric power market and public service obligations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cristoforetti, Brice

2008-06-01

After an overview of original economic and social objectives at the basis of the creation of the European common market, the author examines whether the Community liberalisation of the European domestic electricity market has been an opportunity to acknowledge public service obligations in the European law, and more particularly examines the existence or relevance of the notion of electric power public service. This discussion addresses a period extending from the beginning of the 1960's to the Lisbon Treaty prepared in 2007. The author analyses rules of the European law, and the modalities and consequences of their adoption in the French law, as he considers that the evolution of French administrative legal evolution is the most relevant framework for this study on public service and electric power market. Thus, he first shows that the sector liberalisation, through the conflict between competition and defence of the general interest, actually allowed the existence of public service obligations for State members to be consecrated by the Community law. However, through the study of the electric power public service, the author shows that ambitions which had been initially put forward, are hardly compatible with some modalities of opening to competition

STUDENTS SATISFACTION WITH A SERVICES: THE COVENANT ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

eturned and used for analysis, this represented 94.6% response rate. The that the students uses ... Libraries are service oriented organizations established for the provision of relevant information ... Technology and automation have also changed the way people perceive libraries. .... prognostications for the future. If a library ...

Towards Increased Relevance: Context-Adapted Models of the Learning Organization

Science.gov (United States)

Örtenblad, Anders

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purposes of this paper are to take a closer look at the relevance of the idea of the learning organization for organizations in different generalized organizational contexts; to open up for the existence of multiple, context-adapted models of the learning organization; and to suggest a number of such models.…

Practical solutions for bottlenecks in ecosystem services mapping

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Palomo, I.; Willemen, L.; Drakou, E.G.; Burkhard, B.; Crossman, Neville D.; Bellamy, Chloe; Burkhard, Kremena; Campagne, Sylvie; Dangol, Anuja; Franke, Jonas; Kulczyk, Sylwia; Le Clec'h, Solen; Malak, Dania Abdul; Munoz, Lorena; Naruševičius, Vytautas; Ottoy, Sam; Roelens, Jennifer; Sing, Louise; Thomas, Amy; Van Meerbeek, Koenraad; Verweij, Peter

2018-01-01

Ecosystem services (ES) mapping is becoming mainstream in many sustainability assessments, but its impact on real world decision-making is still limited. Robustness, end user relevance and transparency have been identified as key attributes needed for effective ES mapping. However, these

From European Standard to User Service

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobi, Ole Illum; Lind, Morten

1997-01-01

Today’s public administration and planning need access to proper spatial information. The tremendous growth in the area of maps and other geographically referenced databases increases the needs of the user as well as the supplier of information for an overview of the jungle of spatial data....... The answer to this need is a metadata service that gives relevant and up-to-date, at-your-fingertips information on available geographical datasets.As a result of the work in the standardization organizations, we are now, luckily, able to take the first steps towards an implementation of metadata services...... in the design of the next generation of metadata services.On the basis of recent Danish experiences with implementation of the CEN/TC 287 standard into a WWW Geographical Information metadata service, we will present and discuss some general issues: The conceptual strategy, the implementation of dataset...

76 FR 19189 - Clinical Science Research and Development Service Cooperative Studies Scientific Evaluation...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-06

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Clinical Science Research and Development Service Cooperative... through the Director of the Clinical Science Research and Development Service on the relevance and... notice under Public Law 92-463 (Federal Advisory Committee Act) that a meeting of the Clinical Science...

76 FR 65781 - Clinical Science Research and Development Service Cooperative Studies Scientific Evaluation...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-24

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Clinical Science Research and Development Service Cooperative... Clinical Science Research and Development Service on the relevance and feasibility of proposed projects and... notice under Public Law 92-463 (Federal Advisory Committee Act) that a meeting of the Clinical Science...

75 FR 28686 - Clinical Science Research and Development Service; Cooperative Studies Scientific Evaluation...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-21

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Clinical Science Research and Development Service; Cooperative... through the Director of the Clinical Science Research and Development Service on the relevance and... notice under Public Law 92-463 (Federal Advisory Committee Act) that a meeting of the Clinical Science...

A systematic review of suggestive seizure induction for the diagnosis of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.

Science.gov (United States)

Popkirov, Stoyan; Grönheit, Wenke; Wellmer, Jörg

2015-09-01

Suggestive seizure induction is a widely used method for diagnosing psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES). Despite seven decades of multidisciplinary research, however, there is still no unified protocol, no definitive agreement on the ethical framework and no consensus on diagnostic utility. This systematic review surveys the evidence at hand and addresses clinically relevant aspects of suggestive seizure induction. In addition to its use for facilitating the diagnostic process, its mechanism of action and utility in elucidating the psychopathology of PNES will be discussed. Copyright © 2015 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Critical Success Factors for Limited Service Hotels in Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Wong, Chee Keng

2015-01-01

Critical success factors were used originally in Information technology areas when it was first introduced but has since been applied generically in other industries. This study explores the critical success factors for limited service hotels in Malaysia from both customer and hotel operator/ business owners’ perspective. The literature presents information from tourism in general and in Malaysia, definition of limited service hotels and its relevance to the hospitality industry in Malaysia, ...

Egypt : Operational Framework for Integrated Rural Sanitation Service Delivery

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2005-01-01

The Framework presented in this report links - for the first time in the Egyptian context - access to investment in rural sanitation services to quantifiable water quality (and health) improvements, in a given hydrologic basin. The Framework provides an integrated, institutional structure of relevant Government agencies and of serviced communities, which is built on integrated water resources management (IWRM) principles: treating water as a holistic resource, management at the lowest appropr...

Relative thinking in consumer choice between differentiated goods and services and its implications for business strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ofer H. Azar

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The article shows that when people consider differentiated goods or services that differ in price and quality, they exhibit a decision-making bias of ``relative thinking'': relative price differences affect them even when economic theory suggests that only absolute price differences matter. This result is obtained in four different consumption categories. Sometimes subjects are affected only by relative price differences (``full relative thinking'' and sometimes also by absolute price differences (``partial relative thinking''. This behavior has implications for various disciplines, and it is particularly relevant in models dealing with horizontal or vertical differentiation, optimal pricing, competitive strategy, or advertising.

THE RELEVANCE OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING FOR THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Briciu Sorin

2012-07-01

Full Text Available In the contemporary period the tourism and hospitality industry has experienced dynamic growth despite the challenges facing not only the global crisis, but also market changes, consumer behavior and technological trends. Accounting, the language of business is required to keep up with changes made to each particular area of activity so that they can provide timely relevant information to be managed by an efficient information system. Our article focuses on presenting the importance of management accounting and cost information system in the hospitality industry, then consider identifying features of this sector and their impact on accounting. The methodology of our research falls within the economic research, being theoretical, aiming primarily to knowledge objectives and the relevance of management accounting for economic entities, and then we have the characteristics of hospitality industry and possible organizational management accounting in this sector. In our perspective cost calculation for services, packages or travel benefits must take into account the development of the accounts from Class 9, so we propose a possible method to customize them according to the Direct Costing and CVP analysis. Our research will also be explanatory descriptive, trying to answer the questions How? and Why?

Impact of ecosystem services on a sustainable business strategy in urban conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Balashova Elena

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the relevance and state of the theory of ecosystem services. A solution for achieving sustainable development goals through the use of ecosystem services in industrialization is proposed. Cases of enterprises British American tobacco, Nestlé Waters, Watershed Agricultural Council, Bain & Company, McKinsey & Company, The Starbucks on the application of ecosystem services are considered. A link has been established between public-private partnerships in the provision of ecosystem services. Tendencies of development of ecosystem services in Russia and abroad are defined. Recommendations for companies that have started creating ecosystem services are presented.

The BCube Crawler: Web Scale Data and Service Discovery for EarthCube.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, L. A.; Khalsa, S. J. S.; Duerr, R.; Tayachow, A.; Mingo, E.

2014-12-01

Web-crawling, a core component of the NSF-funded BCube project, is researching and applying the use of big data technologies to find and characterize different types of web services, catalog interfaces, and data feeds such as the ESIP OpenSearch, OGC W*S, THREDDS, and OAI-PMH that describe or provide access to scientific datasets. Given the scale of the Internet, which challenges even large search providers such as Google, the BCube plan for discovering these web accessible services is to subdivide the problem into three smaller, more tractable issues. The first, to be able to discover likely sites where relevant data and data services might be found, the second, to be able to deeply crawl the sites discovered to find any data and services which might be present. Lastly, to leverage the use of semantic technologies to characterize the services and data found, and to filter out everything but those relevant to the geosciences. To address the first two challenges BCube uses an adapted version of Apache Nutch (which originated Hadoop), a web scale crawler, and Amazon's ElasticMapReduce service for flexibility and cost effectiveness. For characterization of the services found, BCube is examining existing web service ontologies for their applicability to our needs and will re-use and/or extend these in order to query for services with specific well-defined characteristics in scientific datasets such as the use of geospatial namespaces. The original proposal for the crawler won a grant from Amazon's academic program, which allowed us to become operational; we successfully tested the Bcube Crawler at web scale obtaining a significant corpus, sizeable enough to enable work on characterization of the services and data found. There is still plenty of work to be done, doing "smart crawls" by managing the frontier, developing and enhancing our scoring algorithms and fully implementing the semantic characterization technologies. We describe the current status of the project

Institutional and programmatic suggestions for satisfying public policy responsibilities in a retail competitive electric industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tonn, B.E.; Schweitzer, M. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)

1997-01-01

The emergence of retail competition in the US electric power industry places at risk various environmental and social programmes such as demand side management, low income programmes and renewable energy. This paper presents institutional and programmatic suggestions for satisfying these kinds of public policy responsibilities in a disintegrated industry. Suggestions include customer owned electricity franchises, electricity facility siting marketplaces, electric industry foresight councils, model systems programmes, integrated social services programmes, collaborative electric service programmes, ISO standards and portfolio standards. These recommendations would be funded by a national transmission charge, a state level distribution charge and franchise level sales taxes, to be paid by transmission organizations, distribution organizations and electricity consumers, respectively. (author)

75 FR 79446 - Clinical Science Research and Development Service; Cooperative Studies Scientific Evaluation...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-20

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Clinical Science Research and Development Service; Cooperative... Officer through the Director of the Clinical Science Research and Development Service on the relevance and... notice under Public Law 92-463 (Federal Advisory Committee Act) that a meeting of the Clinical Science...

77 FR 72438 - Clinical Science Research and Development Service Cooperative Studies Scientific Evaluation...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-05

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Clinical Science Research and Development Service Cooperative... under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. 2, that the Clinical Science Research and... through the Director of the Clinical Science Research and Development Service on the relevance and...

78 FR 53015 - Clinical Science Research and Development Service Cooperative Studies Scientific Evaluation...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-27

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Clinical Science Research and Development Service Cooperative... under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. 2, that the Clinical Science Research and... Clinical Science Research and Development Service on the relevance and feasibility of proposed projects and...

76 FR 73781 - Clinical Science Research and Development Service; Cooperative Studies Scientific Evaluation...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-29

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Clinical Science Research and Development Service; Cooperative... Officer through the Director of the Clinical Science Research and Development Service on the relevance and... notice under Public Law 92-463 (Federal Advisory Committee Act) that a meeting of the Clinical Science...

AI, automation and the Flight Telerobotic Servicer

Science.gov (United States)

Goforth, Andre; Dominy, Robert

1988-01-01

A NASA study for the preliminary definition of a teleoperated robotic device has been recently completed. The Fligt Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) will be used to assist astronauts in many of the on-board tasks of assembly, maintenance, servicing, and inspection of the Space Station. The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in furthering the FTS automation capabilities and, hence, extending its capacity for growth and evolution is discussed. Relevant system engineering issues are identified, and an approach for insertion of AI technology is presented in terms of the NASA/NBS Standard Reference Model control architecture NASREM.

Shock-ignition relevant experiments with planar targets on OMEGA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hohenberger, M.; Hu, S. X.; Anderson, K. S.; Boehly, T. R.; Sangster, T. C.; Seka, W.; Stoeckl, C.; Yaakobi, B. [Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, 250 East River Road, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States); Theobald, W.; Lafon, M.; Nora, R. [Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, 250 East River Road, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States); Fusion Science Center, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States); Betti, R.; Meyerhofer, D. D. [Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, 250 East River Road, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States); Fusion Science Center, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623 (United States); Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Physics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 (United States); Casner, A. [CEA, DAM, DIF, Arpajon (France); Fratanduono, D. E. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94550 (United States); Ribeyre, X.; Schurtz, G. [Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, CELIA, Université Bordeaux 1-CEA-CNRS, Talence (France)

2014-02-15

We report on laser-driven, strong-shock generation and hot-electron production in planar targets in the presence of a pre-plasma at shock-ignition (SI) relevant laser and pre-plasma conditions. 2-D simulations reproduce the shock dynamics well, indicating ablator shocks of up to 75 Mbar have been generated. We observe hot-electron temperatures of ∼70 keV at intensities of 1.4 × 10{sup 15} W/cm{sup 2} with multiple overlapping beams driving the two-plasmon decay instability. When extrapolated to SI-relevant intensities of ∼10{sup 16} W/cm{sup 2}, the hot electron temperature will likely exceed 100 keV, suggesting that tightly focused beams without overlap are better suited for launching the ignitor shock.

Time-driven activity-based costing in an outpatient clinic environment: development, relevance and managerial impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Demeere, Nathalie; Stouthuysen, Kristof; Roodhooft, Filip

2009-10-01

Healthcare managers are continuously urged to provide better patient services at a lower cost. To cope with these cost pressures, healthcare management needs to improve its understanding of the relevant cost drivers. Through a case study, we show how to perform a time-driven activity-based costing of five outpatient clinic's departments and provide evidence of the benefits of such an analysis.

The Financial Service as an Economic Category

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matsuk Zoriana A.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at: systematization of the existing provisions of research on financial service; allocation of the primary, the secondary, and the auxiliary financial services; analysis of the material basis of financial service and its consideration as the sum total of the high and the low material shares; exploration of the issue of cost of financial services. A definition of financial service as the possibility for implementation of a financial interest of market participant has been suggested. In the composition of financial service, the article allocates the primary service (operation on trade in financial assets, the secondary (service for the benefit of a third party and at his expense, and the auxiliary (service in the sphere of trade in financial assets. The material basis for financial service has been explored, a systematization of financial services by the level of their separation from the material basis has been suggested. Prospect for further research will be consideration of the institutional and infrastructural ensuring the development of financial services in the context of the national economy.

Typology of Uncertainties in the Development Process of Product-Service Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ramirez Hernandez, Tabea; Kreye, Melanie; Pigosso, Daniela Cristina Antelmi

This paper investigates uncertainty in the development of Product-Service Systems (PSS) – a complex combination of product and services. This research is important because practitioners struggle with managing the high uncertainties arising from the complexity of parallel product and service...... development in compound clusters of stakeholders. Yet, scholars have not analyzed these challenges extensively. Based on a combination of innovation management and servitization literature a conceptual framework is offered, detailing five uncertainty types relevant for PSS-development: environmental...

75 FR 78939 - Senior Community Service Employment Program; Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Additional Indicator...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-17

... Community Service Employment Program; Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Additional Indicator on Volunteer Work... Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), Additional Indicator on Volunteer Work that was... number of exiting participants who enter volunteer work. The relevant Office of Management and Budget...

Relevance of randomised controlled trials in oncology.

Science.gov (United States)

Tannock, Ian F; Amir, Eitan; Booth, Christopher M; Niraula, Saroj; Ocana, Alberto; Seruga, Bostjan; Templeton, Arnoud J; Vera-Badillo, Francisco

2016-12-01

Well-designed randomised controlled trials (RCTs) can prevent bias in the comparison of treatments and provide a sound basis for changes in clinical practice. However, the design and reporting of many RCTs can render their results of little relevance to clinical practice. In this Personal View, we discuss the limitations of RCT data and suggest some ways to improve the clinical relevance of RCTs in the everyday management of patients with cancer. RCTs should ask questions of clinical rather than commercial interest, avoid non-validated surrogate endpoints in registration trials, and have entry criteria that allow inclusion of all patients who are fit to receive treatment. Furthermore, RCTs should be reported with complete accounting of frequency and management of toxicities, and with strict guidelines to ensure freedom from bias. Premature reporting of results should be avoided. The bar for clinical benefit should be raised for drug registration, which should require publication and review of mature data from RCTs, post-marketing health outcome studies, and value-based pricing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The structure of service quality perceptions for multiple-encounter services.

Science.gov (United States)

Andaleeb, Syed Saad; Kara, Ali

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine a complex service environment-hospitals-to suggest how service quality could be reframed and measured for multiple-encounter service situations more effectively. In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 371 patients completed the survey instrument. Service quality measures were guided by the literature but allowed to flow from the respondents at the preliminary stage. Confirmatory factor analysis, along with structural equation modeling, was used to test the hypothesized relationships among key actors' performance metrics (KAPMs). Patient satisfaction is significantly influenced by perceived service quality based on KAPMs. For multiple-encounter services, service quality dimensions and measures ought to be tied to KAPMs. Primary actors-ie, doctors-need knowledge and skills about patient psychology, negotiation, handling difficult patients, and, importantly, "putting the customer first." Sensitivity training on such matters should be provided. The secondary actors are the nurses who have more frequent contact with the patients. Nurses need to be perceived as "patient advocates." Effective advocacy begins with prompt and caring services to build trust. The tertiary actors in their support role also ought to be integrated into becoming vital part of the service provided.

The Integrin Receptor in Biologically Relevant Bilayers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kalli, Antreas C.; Róg, Tomasz; Vattulainen, Ilpo

2017-01-01

/talin complex was inserted in biologically relevant bilayers that resemble the cell plasma membrane containing zwitterionic and charged phospholipids, cholesterol and sphingolipids to study the dynamics of the integrin receptor and its effect on bilayer structure and dynamics. The results of this study...... demonstrate the dynamic nature of the integrin receptor and suggest that the presence of the integrin receptor alters the lipid organization between the two leaflets of the bilayer. In particular, our results suggest elevated density of cholesterol and of phosphatidylserine lipids around the integrin....../talin complex and a slowing down of lipids in an annulus of ~30 Å around the protein due to interactions between the lipids and the integrin/talin F2–F3 complex. This may in part regulate the interactions of integrins with other related proteins or integrin clustering thus facilitating signal transduction...

Science youth action research: Promoting critical science literacy through relevance and agency

Science.gov (United States)

Coleman, Elizabeth R.

This three-article dissertation presents complementary perspectives on Science Youth Action Research (Sci-YAR), a K-12 curriculum designed to emphasize relevance and agency to promote youth's science learning. In Sci-YAR, youth conduct action research projects to better understand science-related issues in their lives, schools, or communities, while they simultaneously document, analyze, and reflect upon their own practices as researchers. The first article defines Sci-YAR and argues for its potential to enhance youth's participation as citizens in a democratic society. The second article details findings from a case study of youth engaged in Sci-YAR, describing how the curriculum enabled and constrained youth's identity work in service of critical science agency. The third article provides guidance to science teachers in implementing student-driven curriculum and instruction by emphasizing Sci-YAR's key features as a way to promote student agency and relevance in school science.

Suggested Guidelines for Transparency and Participation in Nuclear Waste Management Programmes. Deliverable 22

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jonsson, Josefin Paeivioe; Andersson, Kjell; Bolado, Ricardo; Drottz Sjoeberg, Britt-Marie; Elam, Mark; Sundqvist, Goeran; Kojo, Matti; Meskens, Gaston; Pritrsky, Jozef; Richardson, Phil; Soneryd, Linda; Steinerova, Lucie; Szerszynski, Bronislaw; Wene, Clas-Otto; Vojtechova, Hana

2010-02-01

The ARGONA project intended to demonstrate how participation and transparency link to the political and legal systems and how new approaches can be implemented in nuclear waste management programmes. Thereby, studies have been done of the institutional and cultural context within which processes of participation and transparency take place in order to understand how the processes can be applied. The project also included studies of theory in order to build participation and transparency on a firm ground, a number of case studies in Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden and UK, as well as implementation in Czech Republic to make a difference, learn and demonstrate. These proposed guidelines are thus the result of observations and conclusions made in these efforts, and should not be regarded as an attempt to give a comprehensive set of guidelines for nuclear waste management or even for the implementation of transparency and participation therein. However, it is the hope among the ARGONA participants that they can give relevant thoughts and stimulation to those involved in the nuclear waste management area, especially organizations that have, or may become, responsible for the implementation of processes of transparency and participation, such as implementing organizations, government agencies, regulators as well as regional and local communities. It should be recognized that some of the proposed guidelines may be more relevant for a certain type of bodies (such as an implementer) than for another type (such as local community) and vice versa. Some of the proposed guidelines are also relevant at broader societal level and for the European Union bodies. It will be up to the respective reader to judge the relevance for her or his organization. The suggested guidelines are followed by more detailed recommendations on how to combine the two basic forms of mediation that have been identified in ARGONA, namely mediation by demonstration and mediation by dialogue in Annex 1

Philosophy of Education in the Public Sphere: The Case of "Relevance"

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Christopher

2011-01-01

Universities are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the economic and social relevance of the research they produce. In the UK, for example, recent developments in the UK under the Research Excellence Framework (REF) suggest that future funding schemes will grant "significant additional recognition... where researchers build on excellent…

Establishing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Services in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Survey of Suggestions Made by Health Care Workers in Cross River State, Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Queeneth Ndukwe Kalu

2018-05-01

CONCLUSION: Healthcare workers perceive an urgent need for the establishment of CPR services in our health facilities and communities. There is need to address the triad of awareness, infrastructure and capacity building for the establishment of CPR services peculiar to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Strengthening rehabilitation services in Indonesia: A brief situation analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nugraha, Boya; Setyono, Garry Rahardian; Defi, Irma Ruslina; Gutenbrunner, Christoph

2018-04-18

People with disability (PWD) in Indonesia are often neglected by society. Improving their life situation towards full participation in society is crucial. As a health strategy, rehabilitation can improve func-tioning, quality of life and participation in society. However, rehabilitation services in Indonesia need improvement. Making a situation analysis of rehabilitation services and their provision in the country is a pre-requisite to taking any action towards improvement. This paper compiles available data related to disability and rehabilitation services in Indonesia, using the Rehabilitation Services Assessment Tool (RSAT) as a framework. Gaps in provision were analysed, resulting in the compilation of a list of generic recommendations to improve rehabilitation services in the country. Indonesia faces many challenges in rehabilitation services, including the health workforce and the provision of services. This situation analysis and list of generic recommendations may be used in further discussions with relevant stakeholders in the country to develop a national strategy to strengthen rehabilitation services.

Factors influencing the adoption of mobile gaming services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kleijnen, M.; Ruyter, de J.C.; Wetzels, M.G.M.; Mennecke, B.E.; Strader, T.J.

2002-01-01

The current chapter focuses the adoption process of mobile gaming. After providing a brief introduction to the topic of m-commerece and m-services, several relevant adaption factors are highlighted. These factors have been researched emperically, via conjoint study conducted in the Netherlands. The

[Is merging organizations the solution to service integration?].

Science.gov (United States)

Demers, Louis; Dupuis, Alain; Poirier, Mario

2002-01-01

Organizational models inherited from the time when institutionalizing patients was common practice are now obsolete. Service coordination, undergone earlier within a same institution, is now governed by professionnals linked to various organizations and different settings. One of the difficulties of integration of these services is that contributing organizations often continue to operate individually, consequently going against the pursued goal. The solution most often proposed to counter this compartimentalization consists in reinforcing integration of organizations, which will in time favor integration of various services. One of the ways to realize this organizational integration is to reduce the number of existing organizations, by merging for example, a certain number of them. It is this path of hierarchical organization that the Québec health care system has taken during the 1990. Other paths that of networking have also been experienced during the same period. To judge of the relevance of these options, the authors propose a reversal of the dominating perspective according to which service integration necessarily pass through installing mecanisms of organizational integration. Withought minimizing the importance of such mecanisms, the authors put forth that integration of services commands first and foremost collaboration between professional health workers. Through this angle, the relevance of an organizational integration model depends on the impact it will have on the capacity and willingness of health workers to work in a concerted way. The authors submit that the fact of giving to a sole authority the govern of existing organizations is not the panacea some would like to believe.

Individual health services.

Science.gov (United States)

Schnell-Inderst, Petra; Hunger, Theresa; Hintringer, Katharina; Schwarzer, Ruth; Seifert-Klauss, Vanadin Regina; Gothe, Holger; Wasem, Jürgen; Siebert, Uwe

2011-01-01

The German statutory health insurance (GKV) reimburses all health care services that are deemed sufficient, appropriate, and efficient. According to the German Medical Association (BÄK), individual health services (IGeL) are services that are not under liability of the GKV, medically necessary or recommendable or at least justifiable. They have to be explicitly requested by the patient and have to be paid out of pocket. The following questions regarding IGeL in the outpatient health care of GKV insurants are addressed in the present report: What is the empirical evidence regarding offers, utilization, practice, acceptance, and the relation between physician and patient, as well as the economic relevance of IGeL?What ethical, social, and legal aspects are related to IGeL? FOR TWO OF THE MOST COMMON IGEL, THE SCREENING FOR GLAUCOMA AND THE SCREENING FOR OVARIAN AND ENDOMETRIAL CANCER BY VAGINAL ULTRASOUND (VUS), THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ARE ADDRESSED: What is the evidence for the clinical effectiveness?Are there sub-populations for whom screening might be beneficial? The evaluation is divided into two parts. For the first part a systematic literature review of primary studies and publications concerning ethical, social and legal aspects is performed. In the second part, rapid assessments of the clinical effectiveness for the two examples, glaucoma and VUS screening, are prepared. Therefore, in a first step, HTA-reports and systematic reviews are searched, followed by a search for original studies published after the end of the research period of the most recent HTA-report included. 29 studies were included for the first question. Between 19 and 53% of GKV members receive IGeL offers, of which three-quarters are realised. 16 to 19% of the insurants ask actively for IGeL. Intraocular tension measurement is the most common single IGeL service, accounting for up to 40% of the offers. It is followed by ultrasound assessments with up to 25% of the offers. Cancer screening

Provision of a Medicines Information Service to Consumers on Facebook: An Australian Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Benetoli, Arcelio; Chen, Timothy F; Spagnardi, Sarah; Beer, Troy; Aslani, Parisa

2015-11-23

Social networking sites (SNSs) have changed the way people communicate. They may also change the way people seek health advice. This study describes the provision of a medicines information service on Facebook to individual consumers. It aimed to discuss the pros and cons, and inform health and pharmacy stakeholders and researchers about the opportunities and challenges of providing such a service. We adopted an exploratory approach using a case study method. NPS MedicineWise, an independent, not-for-profit Australian organization, runs a public question-and-answer service on Facebook, dubbed Pharmacist Hour. Consumers following the organization's Facebook page are invited to post medication-related questions often with a suggested health topic. A wide range of questions and comments are posted related to medication usage. The pharmacist answers the queries, providing evidence-based medicines information and using consumer-friendly language, during the specific 1-hour period. The most popular questions in the past 12 months were related to adverse effects, treatment options for conditions, and drug interactions. The service had a mean number of engagements (defined as a like or share of the Pharmacy Hour post) of 38 (SD 19) people and a mean 5 (SD 3) questions per session. The Pharmacist Hour Facebook service addresses the medicines information needs of consumers and indirectly promotes other appropriate and relevant NPS MedicineWise products and services to further assist consumers. The service offers a new medium for a quality use of medicines organization committed to promoting awareness about the correct and safe use of medicines in Australia.

Identifying models of delivery, care domains and quality indicators relevant to palliative day services: a scoping review protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Seán R; Dempster, Martin; McCorry, Noleen K

2017-05-16

With an ageing population and increasing numbers of people with life-limiting illness, there is a growing demand for palliative day services. There is a need to measure and demonstrate the quality of these services, but there is currently little agreement on which aspects of care should be used to do this. The aim of the scoping review will be to map the extent, range and nature of the evidence around models of delivery, care domains and existing quality indicators used to evaluate palliative day services. Electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) will be searched for evidence using consensus development methods; randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials; mixed methods; and prospective, longitudinal or retrospective case-control studies to develop or test quality indicators for evaluating palliative care within non-residential settings, including day hospices and community or primary care settings. At least two researchers will independently conduct all searches, study selection and data abstraction procedures. Meta-analyses and statistical methods of synthesis are not planned as part of the review. Results will be reported using numerical counts, including number of indicators in each care domain and by using qualitative approach to describe important indicator characteristics. A conceptual model will also be developed to summarise the impact of different aspects of quality in a palliative day service context. Methodological quality relating to indicator development will be assessed using the Appraisal of Indicators through Research and Evaluation (AIRE) tool. Overall strength of evidence will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system. Final decisions on quality assessment will be made via consensus between review authors. Identifying, developing and implementing evidence-based quality indicators is critical to the evaluation and

Methodologic quality and relevance of references in pharmaceutical advertisements in a Canadian medical journal.

Science.gov (United States)

Lexchin, J; Holbrook, A

1994-07-01

To evaluate the methodologic quality and relevance of references in pharmaceutical advertisements in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). Analytic study. All 114 references cited in the first 22 distinct pharmaceutical advertisements in volume 146 of CMAJ. Mean methodologic quality score (modified from the 6-point scale used to assess articles in the American College of Physicians' Journal Club) and mean relevance score (based on a new 5-point scale) for all references in each advertisement. Twenty of the 22 companies responded, sending 78 (90%) of the 87 references requested. The mean methodologic quality score was 58% (95% confidence limits [CL] 51% and 65%) and the mean relevance score 76% (95% CL 72% and 80%). The two mean scores were statistically lower than the acceptable score of 80% (p e., other than reports of clinical trials). Half of the advertisements had a methodologic quality score of less than 65%, but only five had a relevance score of less than 65%. Although the relevance of most of the references was within minimal acceptable limits, the methodologic quality was often unacceptable. Because advertisements are an important part of pharmaceutical marketing and education, we suggest that companies develop written standards for their advertisements and monitor their advertisements for adherence to these standards. We also suggest that the Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board develop more stringent guidelines for advertising and that it enforce these guidelines in a consistent, rigorous fashion.

Closing the (service) gap: exploring partnerships between Aboriginal and mainstream health services.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Kate P; Thompson, Sandra C

2011-08-01

Although effective partnerships between Aboriginal and mainstream health services are critical to improve Aboriginal health outcomes, many factors can cause these partnerships to be tenuous and unproductive. Understanding the elements of best practice for successful partnerships is essential. A literature review was conducted in 2009 using keyword searches of electronic databases. Sourced literature was assessed for relevance regarding the benefits, challenges, lessons learnt and factors contributing to successful Aboriginal and mainstream partnerships. Key themes were collated. Although there is much literature regarding general partnerships generally, few specifically examine Aboriginal and mainstream health service partnerships. Twenty-four sources were reviewed in detail. Benefits include broadening service capacity and improving the cultural security of healthcare. Challenges include the legacy of Australia's colonial history, different approaches to servicing clients and resource limitations. Recommendations for success include workshopping tensions early, building trust and leadership. Although successful partnerships are crucial to optimise Aboriginal health outcomes, failed collaborations risk inflaming sensitive Aboriginal-non-Aboriginal relationships. Factors supporting successful partnerships remind us to develop genuine, trusting relationships that are tangibly linked to the Aboriginal community. Failure to invest in this relational process and push forward with 'business as usual' can ultimately have negative ramifications on client outcomes.

Upgrading elastomer seals for nuclear service

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wittich, K C; Wensel, R; LaRose, R; Kuran, S

1995-06-01

Pumps, valves and instruments in nuclear plants have historically contained whatever elastomer each equipment supplier traditionally used for corresponding non-nuclear service. The proliferation of elastomer compounds, and their sometimes uncertain reliability, is now being reduced by upgrading and standardizing on a handful of compounds that have each been verified to be high performers for their class of service conditions. The objective is to make cost-effective improvements in the reliability and integrity of equipment in Canadian-designed nuclear plants. The effort focuses on elastomer seals and includes: understanding sealing fundamentals, developing relevant data for superior compounds for each service, and improving quality assurance methods, including handling and inspection guidelines. In practice, discussions with plant personnel and review of plant records are the first step. Two severe-service examples are given where these needs have been met by the following progression of activities: inspecting and laboratory testing of seals removed from service, preliminary and qualification testing of improvements, introduction into service, and monitoring the upgraded seals during phase-in periods. Large gains in reliability and integrity have been demonstrated for simulated normal and accident service conditions of heat, radiation and other deteriorative influences. Significant savings in maintenance costs are also projected. (author). 2 refs., 6 figs.

Upgrading elastomer seals for nuclear service

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wittich, K.C.; Wensel, R.; LaRose, R.; Kuran, S.

1995-06-01

Pumps, valves and instruments in nuclear plants have historically contained whatever elastomer each equipment supplier traditionally used for corresponding non-nuclear service. The proliferation of elastomer compounds, and their sometimes uncertain reliability, is now being reduced by upgrading and standardizing on a handful of compounds that have each been verified to be high performers for their class of service conditions. The objective is to make cost-effective improvements in the reliability and integrity of equipment in Canadian-designed nuclear plants. The effort focuses on elastomer seals and includes: understanding sealing fundamentals, developing relevant data for superior compounds for each service, and improving quality assurance methods, including handling and inspection guidelines. In practice, discussions with plant personnel and review of plant records are the first step. Two severe-service examples are given where these needs have been met by the following progression of activities: inspecting and laboratory testing of seals removed from service, preliminary and qualification testing of improvements, introduction into service, and monitoring the upgraded seals during phase-in periods. Large gains in reliability and integrity have been demonstrated for simulated normal and accident service conditions of heat, radiation and other deteriorative influences. Significant savings in maintenance costs are also projected. (author). 2 refs., 6 figs

Upgrading elastomer seals for nuclear service

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wittich, K.C.; Wensel, R.; Larose, R.; Kuran, S.

1998-01-01

Pumps, valves and instruments in nuclear plants have historically contained whatever elastomer each equipment supplier traditionally used for corresponding non-nuclear service. The proliferation of elastomer compounds, and their sometimes uncertain reliability, is now being reduced by upgrading and standardizing on a handful of compounds that have each been verified to be high performers for their class of service conditions. The objective is to make cost-effective improvements in the reliability and integrity of equipment in Canadian-designed nuclear plants. The effort focuses on elastomer seals and includes: understanding sealing fundamentals, developing relevant data for superior compounds for each service, and improving quality assurance methods, including handling and inspection guidelines. In practice, discussion with plant personnel and review of plant records are the first step. Two severe-service examples are given where these needs have been met by the following progression of activities: inspecting and laboratory testing of seals removed from service, preliminary and qualification testing of improvements, introduction into service, and monitoring the upgraded seals during phase-in periods. Large gains in reliability and integrity have been demonstrated for simulated normal and accident service conditions of heat, radiation and other deteriorative influences. Significant savings in maintenance costs are also projected. (author)

Protocol: A grounded theory of 'recovery'-perspectives of adolescent users of mental health services.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmquist, Lucianne; Patterson, Sue; O'Donovan, Analise; Bradley, Graham

2017-07-20

Policies internationally endorse the recovery paradigm as the appropriate foundation for youth mental health services. However, given that this paradigm is grounded in the views of adults with severe mental illness, applicability to youth services and relevance to young people is uncertain, particularly as little is known about young people's views. A comprehensive understanding of the experiences and expectations of young people is critical to developing youth mental health services that are acceptable, accessible, effective and relevant. To inform development of policy and youth services, the study described in this protocol aims to develop a comprehensive account of the experiences and expectations of 12-17 year olds as they encounter mental disorders and transition through specialist mental health services. Data will be analysed to model recovery from the adolescents' perspective. This grounded theory study will use quantitative and qualitative data collected in interviews with 12-17 year olds engaged with specialist Child/Youth Mental Health Service in Queensland, Australia. Interviews will explore adolescents' expectations and experiences of mental disorder, and of services, as they transition through specialist mental health services, including the meaning of their experiences and ideas of 'recovery' and how their experiences and expectations are shaped. Data collection and analysis will use grounded theory methods. Adolescents' experiences will be presented as a mid-range theory. The research will provide tangible recommendations for youth-focused mental health policy and practice. Findings will be disseminated within academic literature and beyond to participants, health professionals, mental health advocacy groups and policy and decision makers via publications, research summaries, conferences and workshops targeting different audiences. Ethical and research governance approvals have been obtained from relevant Human Research Ethics committees and all

Telemedicine Services for the Arctic: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Walderhaug, Ståle; Hartvigsen, Gunnar

2017-01-01

Background Telemedicine services have been successfully used in areas where there are adequate infrastructures such as reliable power and communication lines. However, despite the increasing number of merchants and seafarers, maritime and Arctic telemedicine have had limited success. This might be linked with various factors such as lack of good infrastructure, lack of trained onboard personnel, lack of Arctic-enhanced telemedicine equipment, extreme weather conditions, remoteness, and other geographical challenges. Objective The purpose of this review was to assess and analyze the current status of telemedicine services in the context of maritime conditions, extreme weather (ie, Arctic weather), and remote accidents and emergencies. Moreover, the paper aimed to identify successfully implemented telemedicine services in the Arctic region and in maritime settings and remote emergency situations and present state of the art systems for these areas. Finally, we identified the status quo of telemedicine services in the context of search and rescue (SAR) scenarios in these extreme conditions. Methods A rigorous literature search was conducted between September 7 and October 28, 2015, through various online databases. Peer reviewed journals and articles were considered. Relevant articles were first identified by reviewing the title, keywords, and abstract for a preliminary filter with our selection criteria, and then we reviewed full-text articles that seemed relevant. Information from the selected literature was extracted based on some predefined categories, which were defined based on previous research and further elaborated upon via iterative brainstorming. Results The initial hits were vetted using the title, abstract, and keywords, and we retrieved a total of 471 papers. After removing duplicates from the list, 422 records remained. Then, we did an independent assessment of the articles and screening based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, which eliminated

Making Deferred Taxes Relevant

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouwer, Arjan; Naarding, Ewout

2018-01-01

We analyse the conceptual problems in current accounting for deferred taxes and provide solutions derived from the literature in order to make International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) deferred tax numbers value-relevant. In our view, the empirical results concerning the value relevance of

Social relevance enhances memory for impressions in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassidy, Brittany S; Gutchess, Angela H

2012-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that older adults have difficulty retrieving contextual material over items alone. Recent research suggests this deficit can be reduced by adding emotional context, allowing for the possibility that memory for social impressions may show less age-related decline than memory for other types of contextual information. Two studies investigated how orienting to social or self-relevant aspects of information contributed to the learning and retrieval of impressions in young and older adults. Participants encoded impressions of others in conditions varying in the use of self-reference (Experiment 1) and interpersonal meaningfulness (Experiment 2), and completed memory tasks requiring the retrieval of specific traits. For both experiments, age groups remembered similar numbers of impressions. In Experiment 1 using more self-relevant encoding contexts increased memory for impressions over orienting to stimuli in a non-social way, regardless of age. In Experiment 2 older adults had enhanced memory for impressions presented in an interpersonally meaningful relative to a personally irrelevant way, whereas young adults were unaffected by this manipulation. The results provide evidence that increasing social relevance ameliorates age differences in memory for impressions, and enhances older adults' ability to successfully retrieve contextual information.

What patients think about choice in healthcare? A study on primary care services in Finland.

Science.gov (United States)

Aalto, Anna-Mari; Elovainio, Marko; Tynkkynen, Liina-Kaisa; Reissell, Eeva; Vehko, Tuulikki; Chydenius, Miisa; Sinervo, Timo

2017-09-01

The ongoing Finnish health and social service reform will expand choice by opening the market for competition between public and private service providers. This study examined the attitudes of primary care patients towards choice and which patient-related factors are associated with these attitudes. A sample of attenders during one week in health centres of 12 big cities and municipal consortiums (including seven outsourced local units) and in primary care units of one private company providing outsourced services for municipalities (aged 18-95, n=8128) was used. The questionnaire included questions on choice-related attitudes, sociodemographic factors, health status, use of health services and patient satisfaction. Of the responders, 77% regarded choice to be important, 49% perceived genuine opportunities to make choices and 35% were satisfied with the choice-relevant information. Higher age, low education, having a chronic illness, frequent use of services, having a personal physician and being satisfied with the physician and with waiting times were related to assigning more importance on choice. Younger patients, those with higher education as well as those with chronic illness regarded their opportunities of choosing the service provider and availability of choice-relevant information poorer. The Finnish primary care patients value choice, but they are critical of the availability of choice-relevant information. Choices of patients with complex health care needs should be supported by developing integrated care alternatives and by increasing the availability of information on existing care alternatives to meet their needs.

Enhancement of Ecosystem Services through Active Management of a Eutrophic Area of the Florida Everglades

Science.gov (United States)

Ecosystem services of wetlands are relevant when considering management decisions and assessing restoration success. However, many services (e.g., biochemistry, wildlife habitat) are difficult to quantify and value (e.g., monetize), requiring non-use valuations (e.g., indicators)...

The influence of self-relevant materials on working memory in dysphoric undergraduates.

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Qin; Rahman, Shaoon; Lau, Becky; Sook Kim, Hyang; Deldin, Patricia

2015-10-30

Difficulties in updating working memory (WM) may underlie problems with regulating emotions that contribute to depression. To examine the ability of updating affective materials in WM, 33 dysphoric and 34 non-dysphoric participants were asked to evaluate the self-descriptiveness of emotional adjectives and provide answers to self-relevant questions. Within 3-7 days, they completed a two-back task with a series of self-irrelevant or self-relevant emotional words (they had generated previously) and four conditions (match-set, break-set, perseveration-set, and no-set). After the WM task, an unexpected recall task was administered; controls recalled more positive self-relevant words and intrusions while dysphoric participants recalled more negative self-relevant words and intrusions. In break-set trials of the two-back task, dysphoric individuals showed slower response to self-relevant words regardless of valence. In the match-set and perseveration-set trials, dysphoric participants showed delayed response to self-related negative words. Moreover, longer reaction times for self-relevant negative words were correlated with higher rumination and worse depression. The results suggest that dysphoric undergraduates are interfered more by and have a better memory of self-relevant negative stimuli in WM, which is closely correlated with rumination. This study is among the first to confirm the potential mechanism that could underwrite the involvement of self-schema in effectively regulating negative affect. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrating complementary and alternative medicine into mainstream healthcare services: the perspectives of health service managers.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Judy; Adams, Jon

2014-05-22

within a health promotion model and focus on the relevance of diet and lifestyle factors as central to a CAM approach. From the perspectives of the health service managers, these findings contribute to our understanding around the rationale to include CAM within mainstream health services that deal with psychological trauma and chronic disease. The broader implications of this study can help assist in the development of health service policy on CAM integration in mainstream healthcare services.

Anesthetic equipment, facilities and services available for pediatric ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Facilities and equipment are known to contribute to improved patient care and outcome. Hospitals for sub‑specialized pediatric anesthetic service are routinely available worldwide. In Nigeria, such hospitals now exist. It is therefore relevant to study the facilities and equipment available for pediatric anesthetic ...

Standards, documents of relevance and directives in individual monitoring: is European individual monitoring in compliance with standards?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fantuzzi, E.

2005-01-01

Full text: Individual monitoring services in Europe do not comply with the same legal or approval requirements. Anyway, a degree of harmonization existing in individual monitoring practices in Europe has been achieved mainly thank to documents as standards or international recommendations, which with a different weight, represent invaluable vehicles of condensed information transfer. However, implementation of standards is not straightforward and harmonization is not directly a consequence. Somehow, 'harmony' is needed also in standards: IEC and ISO standards on performance requirements for dosemeters sometimes have different approaches (i.e. performance criteria). If used for approval, passing one will not necessarily mean passing all. Moreover, standards do not all refer to reliability, and therefore being in compliance with standards does not itself assure that dose results are reliable. This might apply only to ISO/IEC17025 'quality' standard, which represents the best available tool for the quality of laboratory work and somehow include all technical and management requirements. When accredited according to ISO/IEC17025, an Individual Monitoring Service (IMS) fulfils standards. Standards are not the only reference documents for an IMS. EURADOS working group on 'Harmonization of Individual Monitoring in Europe', who has been active in the years 2001-2004, suggested a classification of publication on individual monitoring, distinguishing between standards and documents of relevance, which can be both national and international. A standard, unlike a textbook or technical publication, does not cover the experience and opinion of one or few individuals only, but the consensus of the entire scientific and technical community concerned. Most of the standards applicable to individual monitoring are published by IEC or ISO, or both together. However, it has to be kept in mind that ISO and IEC standards, for example, are meant for manufactures and industry, which do not

Advances of air pollution science: from forest decline to multiple-stress effects on forest ecosystem services.

Science.gov (United States)

Paoletti, E; Schaub, M; Matyssek, R; Wieser, G; Augustaitis, A; Bastrup-Birk, A M; Bytnerowicz, A; Günthardt-Goerg, M S; Müller-Starck, G; Serengil, Y

2010-06-01

Over the past 20 years, the focus of forest science on air pollution has moved from forest decline to a holistic framework of forest health, and from the effects on forest production to the ecosystem services provided by forest ecosystems. Hence, future research should focus on the interacting factorial impacts and resulting antagonistic and synergistic responses of forest trees and ecosystems. The synergistic effects of air pollution and climatic changes, in particular elevated ozone, altered nitrogen, carbon and water availability, must be key issues for research. Present evidence suggests air pollution will become increasingly harmful to forests under climate change, which requires integration amongst various stressors (abiotic and biotic factors, including competition, parasites and fire), effects on forest services (production, biodiversity protection, soil protection, sustained water balance, socio-economical relevance) and assessment approaches (research, monitoring, modeling) to be fostered. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Toward Principles for Enhancing the Resilience of Ecosystem Services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Biggs, R.; Schlüter, M.; Biggs, D.; Bohensky, E.L.; BurnSilver, S.; Cundill, G.; Dakos, V.; Daw, T.M.; Evans, L.S.; Kotschy, K.; Leitch, A.M.; Meek, C.; Quinlan, A.; Raudsepp-Hearne, C.; Robards, M.D.; Schoon, M.L.; Schultz, L.; West, P.C.

2012-01-01

Enhancing the resilience of ecosystem services (ES) that underpin human well-being is critical for meeting current and future societal needs, and requires specific governance and management policies. Using the literature, we identify seven generic policy-relevant principles for enhancing the

MAPPING AND ASSESSING MULTIPLE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN AN ALPINE REGION: A STUDY IN TRENTINO, ITALY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Ferrari

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This research aims to identify ecosystem services relevant for Trentino (a region in the Italian Alps, and to assess them through spatial indicators. 51 experts were involved in the identification of relevant ecosystem services and appropriate indicators to represent them. Indicators were computed using the database available at administrative level. Indicators represent the actual or the potential supply of ecosystem services, expressed in terms of either stock or flow. Moreover, indicators may refer to biophysical, economic or socio-cultural values. In total, the experts selected 25 ecosystem services and 57 assessment indicators. Accordingly, the selected indicators were mapped over different spatial units of ecosystem services representation, including land use and forest types. This research was the first attempt to assess a multiple set of ecosystem services for Trentino. The results provide new information that can be used to achieve the objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy by 2014. The proposed approach can be reasonably extended to other Alpine areas with similar morphology, land cover and land use.

Age differences in attention toward decision-relevant information: education matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Xing, Cai; Isaacowitz, Derek

2011-01-01

Previous studies suggested that older adults are more likely to engage in heuristic decision-making than young adults. This study used eye tracking technique to examine young adults' and highly educated older adults' attention toward two types of decision-relevant information: heuristic cue vs. factual cues. Surprisingly, highly educated older adults showed the reversed age pattern-they looked more toward factual cues than did young adults. This age difference disappeared after controlling for educational level. Additionally, education correlated with attentional pattern to decision-relevant information. We interpret this finding as an indication of the power of education: education may modify what are thought to be "typical" age differences in decision-making, and education may influence young and older people's decision-making via different paths.

Innovative maintenance concept 0f Siemens Energy Service. Turbine documentation in an online catalogue; Innovatives Instandhaltungskonzept bei Siemens Energy Service. Turbinendokumentation als Onlinekatalog

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bitzer, Gerd [Wessendorf Software and Consulting, Berlin (Germany); Stass, Georg [Tema Technologie Marketing AG, Berlin (Germany)

2010-10-04

For optimization of its maintenance services, Siemens Energy Services has drawn up an online catalogue as a standardized solution for turbine documentation for customers and service technicians. The new catalogue offers power plant operators internet access to the current documentation of service-relevant replacement parts for machinery. The catalogues are based on SAP data using the Linkone software; each of them has up to 3,000 material items and 1,000 illustrations of replacement parts depending on the type of turbine. The project partner was the Berlin consulting service Wessendorf Software + Consulting (WSC) who have vast experience in the implementation of international catalogue and documentation projects with SAP software. After a project period of 15 months, the innovative solution was implemented in April 2010 and then launched in the market. (orig.)

TASK RELEVANCE IN THE DESIGN OF ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS OF ELLs: A Q Methodology Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linda J. COLLINS

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Online professional development (oPD for teachers should focus on designing web-based learning opportunities that help practicing educators solve the tough problems of practice when working in their schools. Technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge can be integrated in the design of online professional development modules to enhance task relevance for maximum learning and transformation. The purpose of this study was to learn which tasks in an online professional development module were ranked by in-service educators as relevant to their work with English language learners (ELLs. Using Q methodology, the researcher asked participants to rank the relevancy of 36 online tasks from an online professional development module designed and developed at an American university. Participants used a -5 to 5 forced distribution to rank online activities from “Least relevant to my work with ELLs” to “Most relevant to my work with ELLs” followed by a semi-structured interview to explain their decisions. After data analysis, two factors emerged, indicating that participants’ perceptions on task relevance differed by professional roles and educational settings. The participants also favored didactic online tasks over interactive tasks. The findings from the oPD participants’ responses have the potential to serve as the basis for future online professional development design and for planning other relevant activities to be applied to the e-learning environment.

Attention improves encoding of task-relevant features in the human visual cortex

Science.gov (United States)

Jehee, Janneke F.M.; Brady, Devin K.; Tong, Frank

2011-01-01

When spatial attention is directed towards a particular stimulus, increased activity is commonly observed in corresponding locations of the visual cortex. Does this attentional increase in activity indicate improved processing of all features contained within the attended stimulus, or might spatial attention selectively enhance the features relevant to the observer’s task? We used fMRI decoding methods to measure the strength of orientation-selective activity patterns in the human visual cortex while subjects performed either an orientation or contrast discrimination task, involving one of two laterally presented gratings. Greater overall BOLD activation with spatial attention was observed in areas V1-V4 for both tasks. However, multivariate pattern analysis revealed that orientation-selective responses were enhanced by attention only when orientation was the task-relevant feature, and not when the grating’s contrast had to be attended. In a second experiment, observers discriminated the orientation or color of a specific lateral grating. Here, orientation-selective responses were enhanced in both tasks but color-selective responses were enhanced only when color was task-relevant. In both experiments, task-specific enhancement of feature-selective activity was not confined to the attended stimulus location, but instead spread to other locations in the visual field, suggesting the concurrent involvement of a global feature-based attentional mechanism. These results suggest that attention can be remarkably selective in its ability to enhance particular task-relevant features, and further reveal that increases in overall BOLD amplitude are not necessarily accompanied by improved processing of stimulus information. PMID:21632942

ERP investigation of attentional disengagement from suicide-relevant information in patients with major depressive disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Baik, Seung Yeon; Jeong, Minkyung; Kim, Hyang Sook; Lee, Seung-Hwan

2018-01-01

Previous studies suggest the presence of attentional bias towards suicide-relevant information in suicidal individuals. However, the findings are limited by their reliance on behavioral measures. This study investigates the role of difficulty in disengaging attention from suicide-relevant stimuli using the P300 component of event-related potentials (ERPs). Forty-four adults with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) were administered the spatial cueing task using suicide-relevant and negatively-valenced words as cue stimuli. Disengagement difficulty was measured using reaction time and P300 during invalid trials. P300 amplitudes at Pz were higher in suicide-relevant compared to negatively-valenced word condition on invalid trials for participants with low rates of suicidal behavior. However, no such difference was found among participants with high rates of suicidal behavior. P300 amplitudes for suicide-relevant word condition were negatively correlated with "lifetime suicide ideation and attempt" at Pz. No significant results were found for the reaction time data, indicating that the ERP may be more sensitive in capturing the attentional disengagement effect. The groups were divided according to Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R) total score. Neutral stimulus was not included as cue stimuli. Most participants were under medication during the experiment. Our results indicate that patients with MDD and low rates of suicidal behavior show difficulty in disengaging attention from suicide-relevant stimuli. We suggest that suicide-specific disengagement difficulties may be related to recentness of suicide attempt and that acquired capability for suicide may contribute to reduced disengagement difficulties. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Privacy and internet services

OpenAIRE

Samec, Marek

2010-01-01

This thesis is focused on internet services user privacy. Goal of this thesis is to determine level of user awareness of how is their privacy approached while using internet services. Then suggest procedure to improve this awareness, or that will lead to better control of individual privacy. In theoretical part I analyze general and legislative approach to privacy, followed by analysis of behaviour of internet service users and providers. Part of this analysis deals with usage of web cookies ...

Does Peacetime Military Service Affect Crime?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Albæk, Karsten; Leth-Petersen, Søren; le Maire, Christian Daniel

Draft lottery data combined with Danish longitudinal administrative records show that military service can reduce criminal activity for youth offenders who enter service at ages 19-22. For this group property crime is reduced for up to five years from the beginning of service, and the effect...... is therefore not only a result of incapacitation while enrolled. We find no effect of service on violent crimes. We also find no effect of military service on educational attainment and unemployment, but we find negative effects of service on earnings. These results suggest that military service does...

Does Peacetime Military Service Affect Crime

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Albæk, Karsten; Leth-Petersen, Søren; le Maire, Daniel

Draft lottery data combined with Danish longitudinal administrative records show that military service can reduce criminal activity for youth offenders who enter service at ages 19-22. For this group property crime is reduced for up to five years from the beginning of service, and the effect...... is therefore not only a result of incapacitation while enrolled. We find no effect of service on violent crimes. We also find no effect of military service on educational attainment and unemployment, but we find negative effects of service on earnings. These results suggest that military service does...

Open to Suggestion.

Science.gov (United States)

Journal of Reading, 1987

1987-01-01

Offers (1) suggestions for improving college students' study skills; (2) a system for keeping track of parent, teacher, and community contacts; (3) suggestions for motivating students using tic tac toe; (4) suggestions for using etymology to improve word retention; (5) a word search grid; and (6) suggestions for using postcards in remedial reading…

Web Services for Telegeriatric and Independent Living of the Elderly ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

pc

2018-03-05

Mar 5, 2018 ... “Smart Home” technologies can help foster a safe and independent living ..... with care services and other relevant organizational bodies). To support ..... National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web–based injury ...

Al, Automation And The Flight Telerobotic Servicer

Science.gov (United States)

Goforth, Andre; Dominy, Robert

1988-10-01

NASA has recently completed a study for the preliminary definition of a teleoperated robotic device. The Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) will be used to assist astronauts in many of the on-board tasks of assembly, maintenance, servicing and inspection of the Space Station. This paper makes an assessment of the role that Artificial Intelligence (AI) may have in furthering the automation capabilities of the FTS and, hence, extending the FTS capacity for growth and evolution. Relevant system engineering issues are identified, and an approach for insertion of AI technology is presented in terms of the NASA/NBS Standard Reference Model (NASREM) control architecture.

Innovation in mental health services: what are the key components of success?

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Helen; Pilgrim, David; Rogers, Anne

2011-10-26

Service development innovation in health technology and practice is viewed as a pressing need within the field of mental health yet is relatively poorly understood. Macro-level theories have been criticised for their limited explanatory power and they may not be appropriate for understanding local and fine-grained uncertainties of services and barriers to the sustainability of change. This study aimed to identify contextual influences inhibiting or promoting the acceptance and integration of innovations in mental health services in both National Health Service (NHS) and community settings. A comparative study using qualitative and case study data collection methods, including semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and follow-up telephone interviews over a one-year period. The analysis was informed by learning organisation theory. Drawn from 11 mental health innovation projects within community, voluntary and NHS settings, 65 participants were recruited including service users, commissioners, health and non-health professionals, managers, and caregivers. The methods deployed in this evaluation focused on process-outcome links within and between the 11 projects. Key barriers to innovation included resistance from corporate departments and middle management, complexity of the innovation, and the availability and access to resources on a prospective basis within the host organisation. The results informed the construction of a proposed model of innovation implementation within mental health services. The main components of which are context, process, and outcomes. The study produced a model of conducive and impeding factors drawn from the composite picture of 11 innovative mental health projects, and this is discussed in light of relevant literature. The model provides a rich agenda to consider for services wanting to innovate or adopt innovations from elsewhere. The evaluation suggested the importance of studying innovation with a focus on context, process

Barriers and facilitators to cultural competence in rehabilitation services: a scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Grandpierre, Viviane; Milloy, Victoria; Sikora, Lindsey; Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth; Thomas, Roanne; Potter, Beth

2018-01-15

There is an important need to evaluate whether rehabilitation services effectively address the needs of minority culture populations with North America's increasingly diverse population. The objective of this paper was therefore to review and assess the state of knowledge of barriers and facilitators to cultural competence in rehabilitation services. Our scoping review focused on cultural competence in rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation services included in this review were: audiology, speech-language pathology, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy. A search strategy was developed to identify relevant articles published from inception of databases until April 2015. Titles and abstracts were screened by two independent reviewers according to specific eligibility criteria with the use of a liberal-accelerated approach. Full-text articles meeting inclusion criteria were then screened. Key study characteristics were abstracted by the first reviewer, and findings were verified by the second reviewer. After duplicates were removed, 4303 citations were screened. Included articles suggest that studies on cultural competence occur most frequently in occupational therapy (n = 17), followed by speech language pathology (n = 11), physiotherapy (n = 6), and finally audiology (n = 1). Primary barriers in rehabilitation services include language barriers, limited resources, and cultural barriers. Primary facilitators include cultural awareness amongst practitioners, cultural awareness in services, and explanations of health care systems. To our knowledge, this review is the first to summarize barriers and facilitators to cultural competence in rehabilitation fields. Insufficient studies were found to draw any conclusions with regards to audiological services. Minimal perspectives based on patient/caregiver experiences in all rehabilitation fields underscore a research gap. Future studies should aim to explore both patient/caregiver and practitioner

Bootstrapping agency: How control-relevant information affects motivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Karsh, Noam; Eitam, Baruch; Mark, Ilya; Higgins, E Tory

2016-10-01

How does information about one's control over the environment (e.g., having an own-action effect) influence motivation? The control-based response selection framework was proposed to predict and explain such findings. Its key tenant is that control relevant information modulates both the frequency and speed of responses by determining whether a perceptual event is an outcome of one's actions or not. To test this framework empirically, the current study examines whether and how temporal and spatial contiguity/predictability-previously established as being important for one's sense of agency-modulate motivation from control. In 5 experiments, participants responded to a cue, potentially triggering a perceptual effect. Temporal (Experiments 1a-c) and spatial (Experiments 2a and b) contiguity/predictability between actions and their potential effects were experimentally manipulated. The influence of these control-relevant factors was measured, both indirectly (through their effect on explicit judgments of agency) and directly on response time and response frequency. The pattern of results was highly consistent with the control-based response selection framework in suggesting that control relevant information reliably modulates the impact of "having an effect" on different levels of action selection. We discuss the implications of this study for the notion of motivation from control and for the empirical work on the sense of agency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Assessment report for Hanford analytical services quality assurance plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, L.H.

1994-11-01

This report documents the assessment results of DOE/RL-94-55, Hanford Analytical Services Quality Assurance Plan. The assessment was conducted using the Requirement and Self-Assessment Database (RSAD), which contains mandatory and nonmandatory DOE Order statements for the relevant DOE orders

Estimating the relevance of world disturbances to explain savings, interference and long-term motor adaptation effects.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Max Berniker

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Recent studies suggest that motor adaptation is the result of multiple, perhaps linear processes each with distinct time scales. While these models are consistent with some motor phenomena, they can neither explain the relatively fast re-adaptation after a long washout period, nor savings on a subsequent day. Here we examined if these effects can be explained if we assume that the CNS stores and retrieves movement parameters based on their possible relevance. We formalize this idea with a model that infers not only the sources of potential motor errors, but also their relevance to the current motor circumstances. In our model adaptation is the process of re-estimating parameters that represent the body and the world. The likelihood of a world parameter being relevant is then based on the mismatch between an observed movement and that predicted when not compensating for the estimated world disturbance. As such, adapting to large motor errors in a laboratory setting should alert subjects that disturbances are being imposed on them, even after motor performance has returned to baseline. Estimates of this external disturbance should be relevant both now and in future laboratory settings. Estimated properties of our bodies on the other hand should always be relevant. Our model demonstrates savings, interference, spontaneous rebound and differences between adaptation to sudden and gradual disturbances. We suggest that many issues concerning savings and interference can be understood when adaptation is conditioned on the relevance of parameters.

Suggestibility and compliance among alleged false confessors and resisters in criminal trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Gudjonsson, G H

1991-04-01

This paper describes a study which compares the interrogative suggestibility and compliance scores of 20 alleged false confessors and 20 subjects who had persistently denied their involvement in the crime they were charged with in spite of forensic evidence against them (labelled 'resisters'). The two groups were 'matched' for age, sex, intelligence, memory recall capacity, and the seriousness of the offence. It was hypothesized that the resisters would score significantly lower on tests of suggestibility and compliance than the alleged false confessors. The findings were confirmed at a high level of significance. A separate analysis of 14 resisters and 72 alleged false confessors, where IQ and memory were used as covariates rather than 'matching' the two groups on the relevant variables, gave almost identical results. The clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Unmet needs for comprehensive services in outpatient addiction treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Pringle, Janice L; Emptage, Nicholas P; Hubbard, Robert L

2006-04-01

Many addiction treatment patients suffer from health and psychosocial problems in addition to substance misuse at the time of their treatment entry. Outpatient treatment programs have attempted to address these problems by providing or facilitating access to comprehensive health and social services. Nevertheless, previous research have suggested high levels of unmet needs for these services in the addiction treatment population. Using data from a large study on community-based outpatient addiction treatment, this article provides additional information on levels of unmet service needs and the relationship between need and receipt of services during treatment. Our results suggest extremely high levels of unmet needs for a wide variety of health and psychosocial services. Specifically, the data suggest that unmet service needs may be far more prevalent than previous estimates and that addiction treatment populations in rural areas may be particularly disadvantaged.

Global Sourcing of Services Versus Manufacturing Activities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ørberg Jensen, Peter D.; Petersen, Bent

2012-01-01

International sourcing strategies and operations are usually described distinctively for manufacturing and services. In this paper, the theoretical and strategic relevance of this distinction is questioned. As an alternative, an activity-based theoretical framework for exploring the linkages betw...... strategy, activity and organization is a key determinant of the success of the sourcing process and outcome....

In-route skyline querying for location-based services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xuegang, Huang; Jensen, Kristian S.

2005-01-01

With the emergence of an infrastructure for location-aware mobile services, the processing of advanced, location-based queries that are expected to underlie such services is gaining in relevance, While much work has assumed that users move in Euclidean space, this paper assumes that movement...... their efficient computation. The queries take into account several spatial preferences. and they intuitively return a set of most interesting results for each result returned by the corresponding non-skyline queries. The paper also covers a performance study of the proposed techniques based on real point...

The Relevance of Hegel's Logic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John W Burbidge

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Hegel defines his Logic as the science that thinks about thinking.nbsp; But when we interpret that work as outlining what happens when we reason we are vulnerable to Fregersquo;s charge of psychologism.nbsp; I use Hegelrsquo;s tripartite distinction among understanding, dialectical and speculative reason as operations of pure thought to suggest how thinking can work with objective concepts.nbsp; In the last analysis, however, our ability to move from the subjective contingency of representations and ideas to the pure concepts we think develops from mechanical memory, which separates sign from sense so hat we can focus simply on the latter.nbsp; By becoming aware of the connections that underlie our thinking processes we may be able to both move beyond the abstractions of symbolic logic and clarify what informal logicians call relevance.

The relevance of "non-relevant metabolites" from plant protection products (PPPs) for drinking water: the German view.

Science.gov (United States)

Dieter, Hermann H

2010-03-01

"Non-relevant metabolites" are those degradation products of plant protection products (PPPs), which are devoid of the targeted toxicities of the PPP and devoid of genotoxicity. Most often, "non-relevant metabolites" have a high affinity to the aquatic environment, are very mobile within this environment, and, usually, are also persistent. Therefore, from the point of drinking water hygiene, they must be characterized as "relevant for drinking water" like many other hydrophilic/polar environmental contaminants of different origins. "Non-relevant metabolites" may therefore penetrate to water sources used for abstraction of drinking water and may thus ultimately be present in drinking water. The presence of "non-relevant metabolites" and similar trace compounds in the water cycle may endanger drinking water quality on a long-term scale. During oxidative drinking water treatment, "non-relevant metabolites" may also serve as the starting material for toxicologically relevant transformation products similar to processes observed by drinking water disinfection with chlorine. This hypothesis was recently confirmed by the detection of the formation of N-nitroso-dimethylamine from ozone and dimethylsulfamide, a "non-relevant metabolite" of the fungicide tolylfluanide. In order to keep drinking water preferably free of "non-relevant metabolites", the German drinking water advisory board of the Federal Ministry of Health supports limiting their penetration into raw and drinking water to the functionally (agriculturally) unavoidable extent. On this background, the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) recently has recommended two health related indication values (HRIV) to assess "non-relevant metabolites" from the view of drinking water hygiene. Considering the sometimes incomplete toxicological data base for some "non-relevant metabolites", HRIV also have the role of health related precautionary values. Depending on the completeness and quality of the toxicological

Factor structure of suggestibility revisited: new evidence for direct and indirect suggestibility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Romuald Polczyk

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background Yielding to suggestions can be viewed as a relatively stable individual trait, called suggestibility. It has been long proposed that there are two kinds of suggestible influence, and two kinds of suggestibility corresponding to them: direct and indirect. Direct suggestion involves overt unhidden influence, while indirect suggestion concerns influence that is hidden, and the participant does not know that the suggestibility is being measured. So far however, empirical evidence for the existence of the two factors has been scarce. In the present study, more sophisticated and reliable tools for measuring suggestibility were applied than in the previous research, in the hope that better measurement would reveal the factor structure of suggestibility. Two tests of direct suggestibility were used: the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A, measuring hypnotic susceptibility, and the Barber Suggestibility Scale, measuring non-hypnotic direct imaginative suggestibility. Three tests served to measure indirect suggestibility: the Sensory Suggestibility Scale, measuring indirect suggestibility relating to perception; the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale, measuring the tendency to yield to suggestive questions and changing answers after negative feedback; and the Emotional Dialogs Tests, measuring the tendency to perceive nonexistent aggression. Participants and procedure In sum, 115 participants were tested, 69 women, 49 men, mean age 22.20 years, SD = 2.20. Participants were tested in two sessions, lasting for a total of four hours. Results Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the existence of two uncorrelated factors of suggestibility: direct and indirect. Conclusions Suggestibility may indeed involve two factors, direct and indirect, and failure to discover them in previous research may be due to methodological problems.

A comprehensive estimation of the economic effects of meteorological services based on the input-output method.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xianhua; Wei, Guo; Yang, Lingjuan; Guo, Ji; Lu, Huaguo; Chen, Yunfeng; Sun, Jian

2014-01-01

Concentrating on consuming coefficient, partition coefficient, and Leontief inverse matrix, relevant concepts and algorithms are developed for estimating the impact of meteorological services including the associated (indirect, complete) economic effect. Subsequently, quantitative estimations are particularly obtained for the meteorological services in Jiangxi province by utilizing the input-output method. It is found that the economic effects are noticeably rescued by the preventive strategies developed from both the meteorological information and internal relevance (interdependency) in the industrial economic system. Another finding is that the ratio range of input in the complete economic effect on meteorological services is about 1 : 108.27-1 : 183.06, remarkably different from a previous estimation based on the Delphi method (1 : 30-1 : 51). Particularly, economic effects of meteorological services are higher for nontraditional users of manufacturing, wholesale and retail trades, services sector, tourism and culture, and art and lower for traditional users of agriculture, forestry, livestock, fishery, and construction industries.

A Comprehensive Estimation of the Economic Effects of Meteorological Services Based on the Input-Output Method

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xianhua; Yang, Lingjuan; Guo, Ji; Lu, Huaguo; Chen, Yunfeng; Sun, Jian

2014-01-01

Concentrating on consuming coefficient, partition coefficient, and Leontief inverse matrix, relevant concepts and algorithms are developed for estimating the impact of meteorological services including the associated (indirect, complete) economic effect. Subsequently, quantitative estimations are particularly obtained for the meteorological services in Jiangxi province by utilizing the input-output method. It is found that the economic effects are noticeably rescued by the preventive strategies developed from both the meteorological information and internal relevance (interdependency) in the industrial economic system. Another finding is that the ratio range of input in the complete economic effect on meteorological services is about 1 : 108.27–1 : 183.06, remarkably different from a previous estimation based on the Delphi method (1 : 30–1 : 51). Particularly, economic effects of meteorological services are higher for nontraditional users of manufacturing, wholesale and retail trades, services sector, tourism and culture, and art and lower for traditional users of agriculture, forestry, livestock, fishery, and construction industries. PMID:24578666

Epilepsy and Pregnancy: For healthy pregnancies and happy outcomes. Suggestions for service improvements from the Multispecialty UK Epilepsy Mortality Group.

Science.gov (United States)

Leach, J P; Smith, P E; Craig, J; Bagary, M; Cavanagh, D; Duncan, S; Kelso, A R C; Marson, A G; McCorry, D; Nashef, L; Nelson-Piercy, C; Northridge, R; Sieradzan, K; Thangaratinam, S; Walker, M; Winterbottom, J; Reuber, M

2017-08-01

Between 2009 and 2012 there were 26 epilepsy-related deaths in the UK of women who were pregnant or in the first post-partum year. The number of pregnancy-related deaths in women with epilepsy (WWE) has been increasing. Expert assessment suggests that most epilepsy-related deaths in pregnancy were preventable and attributable to poor seizure control. While prevention of seizures during pregnancy is important, a balance must be struck between seizure control and the teratogenic potential of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). A range of professional guidance on the management of epilepsy in pregnancy has previously been issued, but little attention has been paid to how optimal care can be delivered to WWE by a range of healthcare professionals. We summarise the findings of a multidisciplinary meeting with representation from a wide group of professional bodies. This focussed on the implementation of optimal pregnancy epilepsy care aiming to reduce mortality of epilepsy in mothers and reduce morbidity in babies exposed to AEDs in utero. We identify in particular -What stage to intervene - Golden Moments of opportunities for improving outcomes -Which Key Groups have a role in making change -When - 2020 vision of what these improvements aim to achieve. -How to monitor the success in this field We believe that the service improvement ideas developed for the UK may provide a template for similar initiatives in other countries. Copyright © 2017 British Epilepsy Association. All rights reserved.

Planning Community-Based Youth Services in Cork, Ireland: The Relevance of the Concepts "Youth" and "Community."

Science.gov (United States)

Gaetz, Stephen

1992-01-01

A weakness in the approach to community-based youth services in Cork (Ireland) involves viewing the terms "youth" and "community" as though they represented homogeneous categories. Ethnographic data highlight the difficulties of monolithic classification by describing the experiences of three distinct categories of young…

The Limits to Relevance

Science.gov (United States)

Averill, M.; Briggle, A.

2006-12-01

Science policy and knowledge production lately have taken a pragmatic turn. Funding agencies increasingly are requiring scientists to explain the relevance of their work to society. This stems in part from mounting critiques of the "linear model" of knowledge production in which scientists operating according to their own interests or disciplinary standards are presumed to automatically produce knowledge that is of relevance outside of their narrow communities. Many contend that funded scientific research should be linked more directly to societal goals, which implies a shift in the kind of research that will be funded. While both authors support the concept of useful science, we question the exact meaning of "relevance" and the wisdom of allowing it to control research agendas. We hope to contribute to the conversation by thinking more critically about the meaning and limits of the term "relevance" and the trade-offs implicit in a narrow utilitarian approach. The paper will consider which interests tend to be privileged by an emphasis on relevance and address issues such as whose goals ought to be pursued and why, and who gets to decide. We will consider how relevance, narrowly construed, may actually limit the ultimate utility of scientific research. The paper also will reflect on the worthiness of research goals themselves and their relationship to a broader view of what it means to be human and to live in society. Just as there is more to being human than the pragmatic demands of daily life, there is more at issue with knowledge production than finding the most efficient ways to satisfy consumer preferences or fix near-term policy problems. We will conclude by calling for a balanced approach to funding research that addresses society's most pressing needs but also supports innovative research with less immediately apparent application.

Segmenting, positioning and market targeting in service companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kancir Rade

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Effective marketing management system in every company, including service companies, assumes existence of adequate information infrastructure which enables production of information relevant for making of different types of marketing decisions. Information based decisions are necessary in every phase of the management process, both on strategic and operative level.

Optimizing the Information Presentation on Mining Potential by using Web Services Technology with Restful Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Abdillah, T.; Dai, R.; Setiawan, E.

2018-02-01

This study aims to develop the application of Web Services technology with RestFul Protocol to optimize the information presentation on mining potential. This study used User Interface Design approach for the information accuracy and relevance as well as the Web Service for the reliability in presenting the information. The results show that: the information accuracy and relevance regarding mining potential can be seen from the achievement of User Interface implementation in the application that is based on the following rules: The consideration of the appropriate colours and objects, the easiness of using the navigation, and users’ interaction with the applications that employs symbols and languages understood by the users; the information accuracy and relevance related to mining potential can be observed by the information presented by using charts and Tool Tip Text to help the users understand the provided chart/figure; the reliability of the information presentation is evident by the results of Web Services testing in Figure 4.5.6. This study finds out that User Interface Design and Web Services approaches (for the access of different Platform apps) are able to optimize the presentation. The results of this study can be used as a reference for software developers and Provincial Government of Gorontalo.

Uncovering ecosystem service bundles through social preferences.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Berta Martín-López

Full Text Available Ecosystem service assessments have increasingly been used to support environmental management policies, mainly based on biophysical and economic indicators. However, few studies have coped with the social-cultural dimension of ecosystem services, despite being considered a research priority. We examined how ecosystem service bundles and trade-offs emerge from diverging social preferences toward ecosystem services delivered by various types of ecosystems in Spain. We conducted 3,379 direct face-to-face questionnaires in eight different case study sites from 2007 to 2011. Overall, 90.5% of the sampled population recognized the ecosystem's capacity to deliver services. Formal studies, environmental behavior, and gender variables influenced the probability of people recognizing the ecosystem's capacity to provide services. The ecosystem services most frequently perceived by people were regulating services; of those, air purification held the greatest importance. However, statistical analysis showed that socio-cultural factors and the conservation management strategy of ecosystems (i.e., National Park, Natural Park, or a non-protected area have an effect on social preferences toward ecosystem services. Ecosystem service trade-offs and bundles were identified by analyzing social preferences through multivariate analysis (redundancy analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis. We found a clear trade-off among provisioning services (and recreational hunting versus regulating services and almost all cultural services. We identified three ecosystem service bundles associated with the conservation management strategy and the rural-urban gradient. We conclude that socio-cultural preferences toward ecosystem services can serve as a tool to identify relevant services for people, the factors underlying these social preferences, and emerging ecosystem service bundles and trade-offs.

Uncovering Ecosystem Service Bundles through Social Preferences

Science.gov (United States)

Martín-López, Berta; Iniesta-Arandia, Irene; García-Llorente, Marina; Palomo, Ignacio; Casado-Arzuaga, Izaskun; Amo, David García Del; Gómez-Baggethun, Erik; Oteros-Rozas, Elisa; Palacios-Agundez, Igone; Willaarts, Bárbara; González, José A.; Santos-Martín, Fernando; Onaindia, Miren; López-Santiago, Cesar; Montes, Carlos

2012-01-01

Ecosystem service assessments have increasingly been used to support environmental management policies, mainly based on biophysical and economic indicators. However, few studies have coped with the social-cultural dimension of ecosystem services, despite being considered a research priority. We examined how ecosystem service bundles and trade-offs emerge from diverging social preferences toward ecosystem services delivered by various types of ecosystems in Spain. We conducted 3,379 direct face-to-face questionnaires in eight different case study sites from 2007 to 2011. Overall, 90.5% of the sampled population recognized the ecosystem’s capacity to deliver services. Formal studies, environmental behavior, and gender variables influenced the probability of people recognizing the ecosystem’s capacity to provide services. The ecosystem services most frequently perceived by people were regulating services; of those, air purification held the greatest importance. However, statistical analysis showed that socio-cultural factors and the conservation management strategy of ecosystems (i.e., National Park, Natural Park, or a non-protected area) have an effect on social preferences toward ecosystem services. Ecosystem service trade-offs and bundles were identified by analyzing social preferences through multivariate analysis (redundancy analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis). We found a clear trade-off among provisioning services (and recreational hunting) versus regulating services and almost all cultural services. We identified three ecosystem service bundles associated with the conservation management strategy and the rural-urban gradient. We conclude that socio-cultural preferences toward ecosystem services can serve as a tool to identify relevant services for people, the factors underlying these social preferences, and emerging ecosystem service bundles and trade-offs. PMID:22720006

Essential requirements of a CT colonography service

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansmann, Anika; Burling, David

2013-01-01

There are many potential challenges to developing a high quality, efficient CT colonography service. Some are clear and predictable, for example creating CT capacity and securing financial resources, but some are less obvious, such as harnessing local support or changing referral practice amongst clinical colleagues. Notwithstanding, such barriers will need to be overcome to deliver a well-resourced, successful CT colonography programme. This article utilises the authors’ experience of developing their own CT colonography service from scratch (now examining >1200 patients per annum) and relevant published articles on ‘Standards’ of practice and training to recommend how others might provide CT colonography in their own patient communities. We offer a practical guide and will emphasise the need for a multi-disciplinary approach with locally agreed protocols and service objectives

Factor structure of suggestibility revisited: new evidence for direct and indirect suggestibility

OpenAIRE

Romuald Polczyk

2016-01-01

Background Yielding to suggestions can be viewed as a relatively stable individual trait, called suggestibility. It has been long proposed that there are two kinds of suggestible influence, and two kinds of suggestibility corresponding to them: direct and indirect. Direct suggestion involves overt unhidden influence, while indirect suggestion concerns influence that is hidden, and the participant does not know that the suggestibility is being measured. So far however, empirical evidence ...

Capacity building of skilled birth attendants: A review of pre-service education curricula.

OpenAIRE

Adegoke, Adetoro; Mani, Safiyanu; Abubakar, Aisha; Van Den Broek, Nynke

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: to assess the level, type and content of pre-service education curricula of health workers providing maternity services against the ICM global standards for Midwifery Education and Essential competencies for midwifery practice. We reviewed the quality and relevance of pre-service education curricula of four cadres of health-care providers of maternity care in Northern Nigeria.\\ud DESIGN AND SETTING: we adapted and used the ICM global standards for Midwifery Education and Essential ...

Differences between paid and unpaid social services for beneficiaries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Metz, Judith; Roza, Lonneke; Meijs, Lucas; van Baren, Eva; Hoogervorst, Niek

2017-01-01

In many Western welfare states, social work services that have traditionally been provided by paid employees are being replaced by family support, community support, informal networks and volunteering. For the field of social work, it is relevant to know what it matters to beneficiaries whether

Blocking Avoidance and Escape Responses: Relations With Clinically Relevant Behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana Maria Bubna Popovitz

Full Text Available Abstract: The current study aims to evaluate the possible effects of interrupting problematic clinically relevant behaviors on the percentage of these responses and of clinical improvement-related responses. Two clients were treated with Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP, alternating two conditions (ABAB. On condition A, procedures to the therapist consisted of responding to the clinical improvement responses, and to description of outside of therapeutic setting behaviors, but therapists were advised to ignore problem behaviors emitted in session. During condition B, therapists followed the same procedures, but they were oriented to block (interrupt problematic responses emitted in session. Results suggest increase in the percentage of problem behaviors during condition B. Results are discussed, highlighting the viability of planning the contingent response the therapist emits to clinically relevant behaviors.

Optimal Service Distribution in WSN Service System Subject to Data Security Constraints

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Zhao; Xiong, Naixue; Huang, Yannong; Gu, Qiong

2014-01-01

Services composition technology provides a flexible approach to building Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) Service Applications (WSA) in a service oriented tasking system for WSN. Maintaining the data security of WSA is one of the most important goals in sensor network research. In this paper, we consider a WSN service oriented tasking system in which the WSN Services Broker (WSB), as the resource management center, can map the service request from user into a set of atom-services (AS) and send them to some independent sensor nodes (SN) for parallel execution. The distribution of ASs among these SNs affects the data security as well as the reliability and performance of WSA because these SNs can be of different and independent specifications. By the optimal service partition into the ASs and their distribution among SNs, the WSB can provide the maximum possible service reliability and/or expected performance subject to data security constraints. This paper proposes an algorithm of optimal service partition and distribution based on the universal generating function (UGF) and the genetic algorithm (GA) approach. The experimental analysis is presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the suggested algorithm. PMID:25093346

Extracting the relevant delays in time series modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Goutte, Cyril

1997-01-01

selection, and more precisely stepwise forward selection. The method is compared to other forward selection schemes, as well as to a nonparametric tests aimed at estimating the embedding dimension of time series. The final application extends these results to the efficient estimation of FIR filters on some......In this contribution, we suggest a convenient way to use generalisation error to extract the relevant delays from a time-varying process, i.e. the delays that lead to the best prediction performance. We design a generalisation-based algorithm that takes its inspiration from traditional variable...

Nostalgia's place among self-relevant emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

van Tilburg, Wijnand A P; Wildschut, Tim; Sedikides, Constantine

2017-07-24

How is nostalgia positioned among self-relevant emotions? We tested, in six studies, which self-relevant emotions are perceived as most similar versus least similar to nostalgia, and what underlies these similarities/differences. We used multidimensional scaling to chart the perceived similarities/differences among self-relevant emotions, resulting in two-dimensional models. The results were revealing. Nostalgia is positioned among self-relevant emotions characterised by positive valence, an approach orientation, and low arousal. Nostalgia most resembles pride and self-compassion, and least resembles embarrassment and shame. Our research pioneered the integration of nostalgia among self-relevant emotions.

Dynamic Effects of Self-Relevance and Task on the Neural Processing of Emotional Words in Context.

Science.gov (United States)

Fields, Eric C; Kuperberg, Gina R

2015-01-01

We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine the interactions between task, emotion, and contextual self-relevance on processing words in social vignettes. Participants read scenarios that were in either third person (other-relevant) or second person (self-relevant) and we recorded ERPs to a neutral, pleasant, or unpleasant critical word. In a previously reported study (Fields and Kuperberg, 2012) with these stimuli, participants were tasked with producing a third sentence continuing the scenario. We observed a larger LPC to emotional words than neutral words in both the self-relevant and other-relevant scenarios, but this effect was smaller in the self-relevant scenarios because the LPC was larger on the neutral words (i.e., a larger LPC to self-relevant than other-relevant neutral words). In the present work, participants simply answered comprehension questions that did not refer to the emotional aspects of the scenario. Here we observed quite a different pattern of interaction between self-relevance and emotion: the LPC was larger to emotional vs. neutral words in the self-relevant scenarios only, and there was no effect of self-relevance on neutral words. Taken together, these findings suggest that the LPC reflects a dynamic interaction between specific task demands, the emotional properties of a stimulus, and contextual self-relevance. We conclude by discussing implications and future directions for a functional theory of the emotional LPC.

Dynamic effects of self-relevance and task on the neural processing of emotional words in context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric C. Fields

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We used event-related potentials (ERPs to examine the interactions between task, emotion, and contextual self-relevance on processing words in social vignettes. Participants read scenarios that were in either third person (other-relevant or second person (self-relevant and we recorded ERPs to a neutral, pleasant, or unpleasant critical word. In a previously reported study (Fields & Kuperberg, 2012 with these stimuli, participants were tasked with producing a third sentence continuing the scenario. We observed a larger LPC to emotional words than neutral words in both the self-relevant and other-relevant scenarios, but this effect was smaller in the self-relevant scenarios because the LPC was larger on the neutral words (i.e., a larger LPC to self-relevant than other-relevant neutral words. In the present work, participants simply answered comprehension questions that did not refer to the emotional aspects of the scenario. Here we observed quite a different pattern of interaction between self-relevance and emotion: the LPC was larger to emotional versus neutral words in the self-relevant scenarios only, and there was no effect of self-relevance on neutral words. Taken together, these findings suggest that the LPC reflects a dynamic interaction between specific task demands, the emotional properties of a stimulus, and contextual self-relevance. We conclude by discussing implications and future directions for a functional theory of the emotional LPC.

Individual health services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schnell-Inderst, Petra

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The German statutory health insurance (GKV reimburses all health care services that are deemed sufficient, appropriate, and efficient. According to the German Medical Association (BÄK, individual health services (IGeL are services that are not under liability of the GKV, medically necessary or recommendable or at least justifiable. They have to be explicitly requested by the patient and have to be paid out of pocket. Research questions: The following questions regarding IGeL in the outpatient health care of GKV insurants are addressed in the present report: What is the empirical evidence regarding offers, utilization, practice, acceptance, and the relation between physician and patient, as well as the economic relevance of IGeL? What ethical, social, and legal aspects are related to IGeL? For two of the most common IGeL, the screening for glaucoma and the screening for ovarian and endometrial cancer by vaginal ultrasound (VUS, the following questions are addressed: What is the evidence for the clinical effectiveness? Are there sub-populations for whom screening might be beneficial? Methods: The evaluation is divided into two parts. For the first part a systematic literature review of primary studies and publications concerning ethical, social and legal aspects is performed. In the second part, rapid assessments of the clinical effectiveness for the two examples, glaucoma and VUS screening, are prepared. Therefore, in a first step, HTA-reports and systematic reviews are searched, followed by a search for original studies published after the end of the research period of the most recent HTA-report included. Results: 29 studies were included for the first question. Between 19 and 53% of GKV members receive IGeL offers, of which three-quarters are realised. 16 to 19% of the insurants ask actively for IGeL. Intraocular tension measurement is the most common single IGeL service, accounting for up to 40% of the offers. It is followed by

Adopting and adapting a commercial view of web services for the Navy

Science.gov (United States)

Warner, Elizabeth; Ladner, Roy; Katikaneni, Uday; Petry, Fred

2005-05-01

Web Services are being adopted as the enabling technology to provide net-centric capabilities for many Department of Defense operations. The Navy Enterprise Portal, for example, is Web Services-based, and the Department of the Navy is promulgating guidance for developing Web Services. Web Services, however, only constitute a baseline specification that provides the foundation on which users, under current approaches, write specialized applications in order to retrieve data over the Internet. Application development may increase dramatically as the number of different available Web Services increases. Reasons for specialized application development include XML schema versioning differences, adoption/use of diverse business rules, security access issues, and time/parameter naming constraints, among others. We are currently developing for the US Navy a system which will improve delivery of timely and relevant meteorological and oceanographic (MetOc) data to the warfighter. Our objective is to develop an Advanced MetOc Broker (AMB) that leverages Web Services technology to identify, retrieve and integrate relevant MetOc data in an automated manner. The AMB will utilize a Mediator, which will be developed by applying ontological research and schema matching techniques to MetOc forms of data. The AMB, using the Mediator, will support a new, advanced approach to the use of Web Services; namely, the automated identification, retrieval and integration of MetOc data. Systems based on this approach will then not require extensive end-user application development for each Web Service from which data can be retrieved. Users anywhere on the globe will be able to receive timely environmental data that fits their particular needs.

Training of Classroom Relevant Behaviors with the "Staats Box." Technical Report #9.

Science.gov (United States)

Sueoka, Sarah; And Others

This case study of a kindergarten boy in the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) suggests that specific operant training in school-relevant behaviors can facilitate classroom adjustment if the training is coordinated with the regular classroom teacher. The subject, considered unmanageable, hyperactive, and aggressive by the staff at his…

Sommelier Suggestions: The Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting Inspires a Content Collection Worth Tasting.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, Timothy J; Brand, Jefferson C; Provencher, Matthew T; Rossi, Michael J; Lubowitz, James H

2017-05-01

The 2017 Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting Program inspires a Content Collection of Arthroscopy journal articles worthy of review. A foundation of a credible podium presentation is the published medical literature. Your Editors thus suggest recent publications that seem particularly relevant in the context of the 2017 annual meeting. Consider these articles as one would a suggestion for a good glass of wine to complement a delicious meal. Copyright © 2017 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessment of Electronic Banking Service's Impact on the Economic Parameters of the Bank Activity

Science.gov (United States)

Kiselev, Sergey V.; Chernyavskaya, Yana S.; Bardasova, Eleonora V.; Galeeva, Gulnaz M.; Fazlieva, Elena P.; Krokhina, Julia A.

2016-01-01

The relevance of the study: The relevance of the research problem is conditioned by the intensification of innovative processes in modern economy and in the banking sector, in particular, as one of the most sensitive areas for innovation and innovative types of services and information and communication innovations today is one of the major…

Suggestion for improvement of PET quality control tests in Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferreira, Fernanda C.L.; Magalhaes, Cinthia M.S.; Souza, Divanizia N.

2009-01-01

Nowadays nuclear medicine has a considerable importance among the other medical specialties. This medical specialty utilizes high-tech equipment for imaging in the diagnosis, obtaining information on the clinical functionality of organs and systems of the human body through the use of radioisotopes . In view of the importance of guaranteeing the image quality in SPECT and PET systems, enabling patients not repeat exams due to lack of quality control of equipment used in nuclear medicine, this paper aims to present a possible suggestion to update the quality control tests needed for quality assurance of nuclear medicine services. They were considered the requirements of the National Commission of Nuclear Energy (CNEN) and the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) in Brazil. The minimum requirements to be defined for inclusion of quality control tests on PET in the standard CNEN are extremely important because they will guide the evaluation of PET systems, determining the quality control tests to be performed. And those tests for PET will be a regulatory requirement by the CNEN and ANVISA. As the National Health Surveillance Agency has already publication of RDC 38 with recommendations for services of nuclear medicine. This study will continue with evaluation of PET systems and presenting the tests of quality control with additional objects and simulators to ensure safety in PET systems have not standardized in nuclear medicine services in Brazil. (author)

Mathematical Analysis of Queue with Phase Service: An Overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richa Sharma

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We discuss various aspects of phase service queueing models. A large number of models have been developed in the area of queueing theory incorporating the concept of phase service. These phase service queueing models have been investigated for resolving the congestion problems of many day-to-day as well as industrial scenarios. In this survey paper, an attempt has been made to review the work done by the prominent researchers on the phase service queues and their applications in several realistic queueing situations. The methodology used by several researchers for solving various phase service queueing models has also been described. We have classified the related literature based on modeling and methodological concepts. The main objective of present paper is to provide relevant information to the system analysts, managers, and industry people who are interested in using queueing theory to model congestion problems wherein the phase type services are prevalent.

Relevance theory: pragmatics and cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Wearing, Catherine J

2015-01-01

Relevance Theory is a cognitively oriented theory of pragmatics, i.e., a theory of language use. It builds on the seminal work of H.P. Grice(1) to develop a pragmatic theory which is at once philosophically sensitive and empirically plausible (in both psychological and evolutionary terms). This entry reviews the central commitments and chief contributions of Relevance Theory, including its Gricean commitment to the centrality of intention-reading and inference in communication; the cognitively grounded notion of relevance which provides the mechanism for explaining pragmatic interpretation as an intention-driven, inferential process; and several key applications of the theory (lexical pragmatics, metaphor and irony, procedural meaning). Relevance Theory is an important contribution to our understanding of the pragmatics of communication. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Relevant Subspace Clustering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Müller, Emmanuel; Assent, Ira; Günnemann, Stephan

2009-01-01

Subspace clustering aims at detecting clusters in any subspace projection of a high dimensional space. As the number of possible subspace projections is exponential in the number of dimensions, the result is often tremendously large. Recent approaches fail to reduce results to relevant subspace...... clusters. Their results are typically highly redundant, i.e. many clusters are detected multiple times in several projections. In this work, we propose a novel model for relevant subspace clustering (RESCU). We present a global optimization which detects the most interesting non-redundant subspace clusters...... achieves top clustering quality while competing approaches show greatly varying performance....

Pattern and correlates of obesity among public service workers in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Isaac Aladeniyi

Relevant demographic and lifestyle measures were obtained using the World Health Organization ... activity patterns, leading to energy imbalance and, consequently, obesity.10. Public service workers constitute the greater percentage of a nation's workforce and ... could affect their cardiometabolic health negatively, reduce.

WHEN RELEVANCE DECENTERS CRITICALITY: THE CASE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL CRIME, VIOLENCE AND INJURY LEAD PROGRAMME

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed Seedat

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Following the formal demise of political apartheid in SouthAfrica in 1994, critical and community-centred psychologistshave tended to obtain relevance through alignment with thetenets of social justice and the larger democratic project. Thisarticle draws on the experiences of the Crime, Violence andInjury Lead Programme (CVI to illustrate how particularformulations of scientific and social relevance function tomarginalize criticality and critical scholarship. The authorsuggests that relevance without criticality produces forms ofintellectual activity that privilege empiricist traditions, perpetrate a binary between research and research translation, andreproduce the myth that intervention work is atheoretical.The review of the CVI serves as a reminder of the challengesinherent in enactments of critical psychology. Among themany issues that critical psychology oriented initiatives likeCVI have to contend with is the task of developing theoreticaland other resources to move between co-operation and critiquein the service of democratic development.

User-oriented innovation in the food sector: Relevant streams of research and an agenda for future work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grunert, Klaus; Jensen, Birger Boutrup; Sonne, Anne-Mette

2008-01-01

The aim of this paper was to give an overview of relevant streams of research that can form a basis for research on user-oriented innovation in the food sector. We define user-oriented innovation as a process towards the development of a new product or service in which an integrated analysis...... and understanding of the users' wants, needs and preference formation play a key role. We distinguish three relevant streams of research that may provide a basis for research on user-oriented innovation in the food sector: research on the formation of user preferences, research on innovation management......, and research on interactive innovation. We show that the relevance of these three streams of research for the food sector depends on which type of innovation we are dealing with, and we propose a distinction of three types of food innovations depending on which actors in the food chain are involved...

Service line structure and decision-maker attention in three health systems: Implications for patient-centered care.

Science.gov (United States)

Louis, Christopher J; Clark, Jonathan R; Gray, Barbara; Brannon, Diane; Parker, Victoria

2017-06-15

Scholars have noted a disconnect between the level at which structure is typically examined (the organization) and the level at which the relevant coordination takes place (service delivery). Accordingly, our understanding of the role structure plays in care coordination is limited. In this article, we explore service line structure, with an aim of advancing our understanding of the role service line structure plays in producing coordinated, patient-centered care. We do so by giving special attention to the cognitive roots of patient-centeredness. Our exploratory study relied on comparative case studies of the breast cancer service lines in three health systems. Nonprobability discriminative snowball sampling was used to identify the final sample of key informants. We employed a grounded approach to analyzing and interpreting the data. We found substantial variation across the three service lines in terms of their structure. We also found corresponding variation across the three case sites in terms of where informant attention was primarily focused in the process of coordinating care. Drawing on the attention-based view of the firm, our results draw a clear connection between structural characteristics and the dominant focus of attention (operational tactics, provider roles and relationships, or patient needs and engagement) in health care service lines. Our exploratory results suggest that service line structures influence attention in two ways: (a) by regulating the type and intensity of the problems facing service line participants and (b) by encouraging (or discouraging) a shared purpose around patient needs. Patient-centered attention-a precursor to coordinated, patient-centered care-depends on the internal choices organizations make around service line structure. Moreover, a key task for organizational and service line leaders is to structure service lines to create a context that minimizes distractions and enables care providers to focus their attention on

Hierarchthis: An Interactive Interface for Identifying Mission-Relevant Components of the Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System

Science.gov (United States)

Litomisky, Krystof

2012-01-01

Even though NASA's space missions are many and varied, there are some tasks that are common to all of them. For example, all spacecraft need to communicate with other entities, and all spacecraft need to know where they are. These tasks use tools and services that can be inherited and reused between missions, reducing systems engineering effort and therefore reducing cost.The Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System, or AMMOS, is a collection of multimission tools and services, whose development and maintenance are funded by NASA. I created HierarchThis, a plugin designed to provide an interactive interface to help customers identify mission-relevant tools and services. HierarchThis automatically creates diagrams of the AMMOS database, and then allows users to show/hide specific details through a graphical interface. Once customers identify tools and services they want for a specific mission, HierarchThis can automatically generate a contract between the Multimission Ground Systems and Services Office, which manages AMMOS, and the customer. The document contains the selected AMMOS components, along with their capabilities and satisfied requirements. HierarchThis reduces the time needed for the process from service selections to having a mission-specific contract from the order of days to the order of minutes.

A Clearinghouse Concept for Distribution-Level Flexibility Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heussen, Kai; Bondy, Daniel Esteban Morales; Hu, Junjie

2013-01-01

Flexibility resources on the demand side are anticipated to become a valuable asset for balancing renewable energy fluctuation as well as for reducing investment needs in distribution grids. To harvest this flexibility for distribution grids, flexibility services need to be defined that can...... be integrated with distribution grid operation and that provide a benefit that can be traded off against other grid investments. Two key challenges are here that the identification of useful services is still ongoing and that the transaction cost for the individually small contributions from the demand side...... could be prohibitive. This paper introduces a flexibility clearinghouse (FLECH) concept and isolates FLECH key functionality: to facilitate flexibility services in distribution grids by streamlining the relevant business interactions while keeping technical specifications open....

The Spirit of Public Service

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hassall Thomsen, Line Hassall; Willig, Ida

on cultural production and news work. Through fieldwork and interviews with Danish and British reporters/editors from DR 1, TV 2, BBC 1 and ITV we identify three components of a strong public service spirit present in the journalist’s understanding of the self: mass audience orientation, democratic...... responsibility and unbiased reporting. These three components can be found in both British and Danish newsrooms suggesting a trans-national, institutional spirit of public service. At the same time, the three components are interpreted differently from newsroom to newsroom suggesting different practices...

Authenticated Location-Aware Publish/Subscribe Services in Untrusted Outsourced Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Han Yan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Location-aware publish/subscribe is an important location-based service based on server-initiated model. Often times, the owner of massive spatio-textual messages and subscriptions outsources its location-aware publish/subscribe services to a third-party service provider, for example, cloud service provider, who is responsible for delivering messages to their relevant subscribers. The issue arising here is that the messages delivered by the service provider might be tailored for profit purposes, intentionally or not. Therefore, it is essential to develop mechanisms which allow subscribers to verify the correctness of the messages delivered by the service provider. In this paper, we study the problem of authenticating messages in outsourced location-aware publish/subscribe services. We propose an authenticated framework which not only can deliver the messages efficiently but also can make the subscribers’ authentication available with low cost. Extensive experiments on a real-world dataset demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed authenticated framework.

Integrated inspection of services for people with learning disabilities in Scotland: the way forward?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Campbell

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The article summarises the process and the results of the first, integrated inspection of managed care services for people with learning disabilities in Scotland. The multi-agency model used was developed to be congruent with the existing performance inspection models, used by single agency inspection. The inspection activities and main outcomes are described, and suggestions are made for improvements. Context of case: In 2006 an inspection model was devised to assess the quality of health, social services and education services for people with learning disabilities in one geographical area of Scotland, as a precursor to a programme of inspections nationally. The first joint, integrated inspection of all services for people with learning disabilities in Scotland took place in June 2006, and the report was published in March 2007. This was the first multi-agency inspection of its kind in the UK, and the first to involve carers and people with learning disabilities on the inspection team. Data sources: A number of data sources were used to check existing practice against agreed Quality Outcome indicators. Primary sources of data were social work records, health records, education records, staff surveys, carer surveys, interviews with staff, family carers and people with learning disabilities, and self evaluations completed by the services being inspected. Eleven different domains, each with sub-indicators were investigated. Case description: This paper summarises the process of an integrated, multi-agency inspection, how the inspection activities were conducted and the main findings of this inspection. Practical improvements to the process are suggested, and these may be of use to other services and inspectorates. Conclusions and discussion: The integrated inspection was a qualified success. Most major objectives were achieved. The sharing of data amongst inspection agencies, establishing the level of commitment to integrated inspection

Profiles of Dialogue for Relevance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Douglas Walton

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper uses argument diagrams, argumentation schemes, and some tools from formal argumentation systems developed in artificial intelligence to build a graph-theoretic model of relevance shown to be applicable (with some extensions as a practical method for helping a third party judge issues of relevance or irrelevance of an argument in real examples. Examples used to illustrate how the method works are drawn from disputes about relevance in natural language discourse, including a criminal trial and a parliamentary debate.

Contemporary women's secure psychiatric services in the United Kingdom: A qualitative analysis of staff views.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, T; Edge, D; Shaw, J; Wilson, H; McNair, L; Mitchell, H; Gutridge, K; Senior, J; Sutton, M; Meacock, R; Abel, K

2017-11-01

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Three pilot UK-only Women's Enhanced Medium Secure Services (WEMSS) was opened in 2007 to support women's movement from high secure care and provide a bespoke, women-only service. Evidence suggests that women's secure services are particularly challenging environments to work in and staffing issues (e.g., high turnover) can cause difficulties in establishing a therapeutic environment. Research in this area has focused on the experiences of service users. Studies which have examined staff views have focused on their feelings towards women in their care and the emotional burden of working in women's secure services. No papers have made a direct comparison between staff working in different services. WHAT DOES THIS STUDY ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: This is the first study to explore the views and experiences of staff in the three UK WEMSS pilot services and contrast them with staff from women's medium secure services. Drawing upon data from eighteen semi-structured interviews (nine WEMSS, nine non-WEMSS), key themes cover staff perceptions of factors important for women's recovery and their views on operational aspects of services. This study extends our understanding of the experiences of staff working with women in secure care and bears relevance for staff working internationally, as well as in UK services. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: The study reveals the importance of induction and training for bank and agency staff working in women's secure services. Further, regular clinical supervision should be mandatory for all staff so they are adequately supported. Introduction Women's Enhanced Medium Secure Services (WEMSS) is bespoke, gender-sensitive services which opened in the UK in 2007 at three pilot sites. This study is the first of its kind to explore the experiences of WEMSS staff, directly comparing them to staff in a standard medium secure service for women. The literature to date has focused on the experiences of

Age differences in default and reward networks during processing of personally relevant information.

Science.gov (United States)

Grady, Cheryl L; Grigg, Omer; Ng, Charisa

2012-06-01

We recently found activity in default mode and reward-related regions during self-relevant tasks in young adults. Here we examine the effect of aging on engagement of the default network (DN) and reward network (RN) during these tasks. Previous studies have shown reduced engagement of the DN and reward areas in older adults, but the influence of age on these circuits during self-relevant tasks has not been examined. The tasks involved judging personality traits about one's self or a well known other person. There were no age differences in reaction time on the tasks but older adults had more positive Self and Other judgments, whereas younger adults had more negative judgments. Both groups had increased DN and RN activity during the self-relevant tasks, relative to non-self tasks, but this increase was reduced in older compared to young adults. Functional connectivity of both networks during the tasks was weaker in the older relative to younger adults. Intrinsic functional connectivity, measured at rest, also was weaker in the older adults in the DN, but not in the RN. These results suggest that, in younger adults, the processing of personally relevant information involves robust activation of and functional connectivity within these two networks, in line with current models that emphasize strong links between the self and reward. The finding that older adults had more positive judgments, but weaker engagement and less consistent functional connectivity in these networks, suggests potential brain mechanisms for the "positivity bias" with aging. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social Service has moved

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

The offices of the Social Service are now on the 1st floor of Building 33 (Reception), exactly one floor above the old location. We remind you that the team, consisting of two social workers, a psychologist (external consultant, 1 day/week) and an administrative assistant, is at the disposal of all members of the personnel, whatever their status, as well as to their family members. Advice and support in the following areas are offered : · information on integration in the local area; · assistance in dealing with the relevant authorities/services; · consultations with a view to resolving problems of a personal, family or professional nature, such as problems of dependency (alcohol, drugs) relationship or behavioral problems (stress, depression, eating disorders), etc.; · support in facing new situations (maternity, divorce, bereavement, job change, separation from family/familiar surroundings); · assistance with decision making relating to family, personal or profes...

Protocol: A grounded theory of ‘recovery’—perspectives of adolescent users of mental health services

Science.gov (United States)

Palmquist, Lucianne; Patterson, Sue; O'Donovan, Analise; Bradley, Graham

2017-01-01

Introduction Policies internationally endorse the recovery paradigm as the appropriate foundation for youth mental health services. However, given that this paradigm is grounded in the views of adults with severe mental illness, applicability to youth services and relevance to young people is uncertain, particularly as little is known about young people’s views. A comprehensive understanding of the experiences and expectations of young people is critical to developing youth mental health services that are acceptable, accessible, effective and relevant. Aim To inform development of policy and youth services, the study described in this protocol aims to develop a comprehensive account of the experiences and expectations of 12–17 year olds as they encounter mental disorders and transition through specialist mental health services. Data will be analysed to model recovery from the adolescents’ perspective. Method and analysis This grounded theory study will use quantitative and qualitative data collected in interviews with 12–17 year olds engaged with specialist Child/Youth Mental Health Service in Queensland, Australia. Interviews will explore adolescents’ expectations and experiences of mental disorder, and of services, as they transition through specialist mental health services, including the meaning of their experiences and ideas of ‘recovery’ and how their experiences and expectations are shaped. Data collection and analysis will use grounded theory methods. Ethics and dissemination Adolescents’ experiences will be presented as a mid-range theory. The research will provide tangible recommendations for youth-focused mental health policy and practice. Findings will be disseminated within academic literature and beyond to participants, health professionals, mental health advocacy groups and policy and decision makers via publications, research summaries, conferences and workshops targeting different audiences. Ethical and research governance approvals

The Embeddedness of White Fragility within White Pre-Service Principals' Reflections on White Privilege

Science.gov (United States)

Hines, Mack T., III

2016-01-01

This study analyzes the prevalence of white fragility within the six white, pre-service principals' online responses to readings about white privilege. Six white, pre-service principals were asked to provide commentary to class readings on the relevance of white privilege to their preparation for future positions as principals. The findings showed…

Science and the struggle for relevance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hessels, L.K.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/304832863

2010-01-01

This thesis deals with struggles for relevance of university researchers, their efforts to make their work correspond with ruling standards of relevance and to influence these standards. Its general research question is: How to understand changes in the struggle for relevance of Dutch academic

Evaluating clinical librarian services: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Brettle, Alison; Maden-Jenkins, Michelle; Anderson, Lucy; McNally, Rosalind; Pratchett, Tracey; Tancock, Jenny; Thornton, Debra; Webb, Anne

2011-03-01

  Previous systematic reviews have indicated limited evidence and poor quality evaluations of clinical librarian (CL) services. Rigorous evaluations should demonstrate the value of CL services, but guidance is needed before this can be achieved.   To undertake a systematic review which examines models of CL services, quality, methods and perspectives of clinical librarian service evaluations.   Systematic review methodology and synthesis of evidence, undertaken collaboratively by a group of 8 librarians to develop research and critical appraisal skills.   There are four clear models of clinical library service provision. Clinical librarians are effective in saving health professionals time, providing relevant, useful information and high quality services. Clinical librarians have a positive effect on clinical decision making by contributing to better informed decisions, diagnosis and choice of drug or therapy. The quality of CL studies is improving, but more work is needed on reducing bias and providing evidence of specific impacts on patient care. The Critical Incident Technique as part of a mixed method approach appears to offer a useful approach to demonstrating impact.   This systematic review provides practical guidance regarding the evaluation of CL services. It also provides updated evidence regarding the effectiveness and impact of CL services. The approach used was successful in developing research and critical appraisal skills in a group of librarians. © 2010 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2010 Health Libraries Group.

The Effects of Goal Relevance and Perceptual Features on Emotional Items and Associative Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Wei B; An, Shu; Yang, Xiao F

2017-01-01

Showing an emotional item in a neutral background scene often leads to enhanced memory for the emotional item and impaired associative memory for background details. Meanwhile, both top-down goal relevance and bottom-up perceptual features played important roles in memory binding. We conducted two experiments and aimed to further examine the effects of goal relevance and perceptual features on emotional items and associative memory. By manipulating goal relevance (asking participants to categorize only each item image as living or non-living or to categorize each whole composite picture consisted of item image and background scene as natural scene or manufactured scene) and perceptual features (controlling visual contrast and visual familiarity) in two experiments, we found that both high goal relevance and salient perceptual features (high salience of items vs. high familiarity of items) could promote emotional item memory, but they had different effects on associative memory for emotional items and neutral backgrounds. Specifically, high goal relevance and high perceptual-salience of items could jointly impair the associative memory for emotional items and neutral backgrounds, while the effect of item familiarity on associative memory for emotional items would be modulated by goal relevance. High familiarity of items could increase associative memory for negative items and neutral backgrounds only in the low goal relevance condition. These findings suggest the effect of emotion on associative memory is not only related to attentional capture elicited by emotion, but also can be affected by goal relevance and perceptual features of stimulus.

The Auroral Planetary Imaging and Spectroscopy (APIS) service

Science.gov (United States)

Lamy, L.; Prangé, R.; Henry, F.; Le Sidaner, P.

2015-06-01

The Auroral Planetary Imaging and Spectroscopy (APIS) service, accessible online, provides an open and interactive access to processed auroral observations of the outer planets and their satellites. Such observations are of interest for a wide community at the interface between planetology, magnetospheric and heliospheric physics. APIS consists of (i) a high level database, built from planetary auroral observations acquired by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) since 1997 with its mostly used Far-Ultraviolet spectro-imagers, (ii) a dedicated search interface aimed at browsing efficiently this database through relevant conditional search criteria and (iii) the ability to interactively work with the data online through plotting tools developed by the Virtual Observatory (VO) community, such as Aladin and Specview. This service is VO compliant and can therefore also been queried by external search tools of the VO community. The diversity of available data and the capability to sort them out by relevant physical criteria shall in particular facilitate statistical studies, on long-term scales and/or multi-instrumental multi-spectral combined analysis.

Discovering relevance knowledge in data: a growing cell structures approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Azuaje, F; Dubitzky, W; Black, N; Adamson, K

2000-01-01

Both information retrieval and case-based reasoning systems rely on effective and efficient selection of relevant data. Typically, relevance in such systems is approximated by similarity or indexing models. However, the definition of what makes data items similar or how they should be indexed is often nontrivial and time-consuming. Based on growing cell structure artificial neural networks, this paper presents a method that automatically constructs a case retrieval model from existing data. Within the case-based reasoning (CBR) framework, the method is evaluated for two medical prognosis tasks, namely, colorectal cancer survival and coronary heart disease risk prognosis. The results of the experiments suggest that the proposed method is effective and robust. To gain a deeper insight and understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the proposed model, a detailed empirical analysis of the models structural and behavioral properties is also provided.

Nutrition in Medicine: Medical Students׳ Satisfaction, Perceived Relevance and Preparedness for Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor Mogre

2018-03-01

Discussion: Students were dissatisfied with their current education in nutrition, felt inadequately prepared to provide nutrition care and considered nutrition education to be highly relevant to their future practice. The findings of this study provide additional evidence that suggests changes in the current format and content of nutrition education in medical education.

Flood warnings in coastal areas: how do social and behavioural patterns influence alert services?

Science.gov (United States)

Pescaroli, G.; Magni, M.

2015-01-01

Many studies discuss the economic and technical aspects of flood warnings. Less attention has been given to the social and psychological patterns that affect alert services. In particular, the literature focuses on warnings activated in river basins or marine environments without providing clear evidence of relevance to Mediterranean coastal areas, even though these are subjected to growing flood risk related to climate change. This paper is a first attempt to bridge this gap. Our research develops an in- depth analysis of the village of Cesenatico on the Adriatic Sea coast. Here the municipality adopted two complementary warning systems: a siren and an alert via Short Message Service (SMS). The analysis focuses on a survey conducted in 2011 and 2012 with 228 participants. The relationships between social and behavioural variables and warning services are investigated, and so are flood preparedness and information dissemination. Qualitative evidence from informal interviews is used to support the understanding of key responses. The conclusions show how different social and behavioural patterns can influence the effectiveness and use of warning systems, regardless of the technology adopted and the structural mitigation measures implemented. Education, training and accountability are seen to be critical elements for improvement. Finally, the statistical output is used to suggest new questions and new directions for research.

Patient safety challenges in a case study hospital--of relevance for transfusion processes?

Science.gov (United States)

Aase, Karina; Høyland, Sindre; Olsen, Espen; Wiig, Siri; Nilsen, Stein Tore

2008-10-01

The paper reports results from a research project with the objective of studying patient safety, and relates the finding to safety issues within transfusion medicine. The background is an increased focus on undesired events related to diagnosis, medication, and patient treatment in general in the healthcare sector. The study is designed as a case study within a regional Norwegian hospital conducting specialised health care services. The study includes multiple methods such as interviews, document analysis, analysis of error reports, and a questionnaire survey. Results show that the challenges for improved patient safety, based on employees' perceptions, are hospital management support, reporting of accidents/incidents, and collaboration across hospital units. Several of these generic safety challenges are also found to be of relevance for a hospital's transfusion service. Positive patient safety factors are identified as teamwork within hospital units, a non-punitive response to errors, and unit manager's actions promoting safety.

Culturally Relevant Cyberbullying Prevention

OpenAIRE

Phillips, Gregory John

2017-01-01

In this action research study, I, along with a student intervention committee of 14 members, developed a cyberbullying intervention for a large urban high school on the west coast. This high school contained a predominantly African American student population. I aimed to discover culturally relevant cyberbullying prevention strategies for African American students. The intervention committee selected video safety messages featuring African American actors as the most culturally relevant cyber...

Coping with the knowledge sharing barriers in Product Service Systems design

OpenAIRE

Bertoni, Marco; Larsson, Andreas

2010-01-01

This paper analyzes the knowledge sharing process that characterizes Product Service Systems (PSS) design, drawing on data from an in-depth study in the Swedish manufacturing industry. It categorizes and describes the most relevant knowledge sharing barriers affecting early PSS development phases, discussing them in terms of capabilities to be included in a knowledge engineering system to fulfil the increasing need for knowledge in product-service design. To cope with these barriers, the auth...

Task relevance modulates successful retrieval effects during explicit and implicit memory tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Elman, Jeremy A; Shimamura, Arthur P

2011-05-01

The successful retrieval effect refers to greater activation for items identified as old compared to those identified as new. This effect is particularly apparent in the ventral posterior parietal cortex (vPPC), though its functional properties remain unclear. In two experiments, we assessed the activation for old and new items during explicit and implicit tests of memory. In Experiment 1, significant effects were observed during explicit recognition performance and during an implicit lexical decision task. In both tasks, determining mnemonic status provides relevant information to task goals. Experiment 2 included a second implicit task in which determining mnemonic status was not relevant (color discrimination task). In this case, vPPC activation did not distinguish between old and new items. These findings suggest that automatic or implicit processes can drive retrieval-related activation in the vPPC, though such processes are gated by stimulus relevancy and task goals. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Climate Services to Improve Public Health

Science.gov (United States)

Jancloes, Michel; Thomson, Madeleine; Costa, María Máñez; Hewitt, Chris; Corvalan, Carlos; Dinku, Tufa; Lowe, Rachel; Hayden, Mary

2014-01-01

A high level expert panel discussed how climate and health services could best collaborate to improve public health. This was on the agenda of the recent Third International Climate Services Conference, held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, 4–6 December 2013. Issues and challenges concerning a demand led approach to serve the health sector needs, were identified and analysed. Important recommendations emerged to ensure that innovative collaboration between climate and health services assist decision-making processes and the management of climate-sensitive health risk. Key recommendations included: a move from risk assessment towards risk management; the engagement of the public health community with both the climate sector and development sectors, whose decisions impact on health, particularly the most vulnerable; to increase operational research on the use of policy-relevant climate information to manage climate- sensitive health risks; and to develop in-country capacities to improve local knowledge (including collection of epidemiological, climate and socio-economic data), along with institutional interaction with policy makers. PMID:24776719

Using Service-Learning in Urban Areas in Semarang Regency to Address Local Knowledge System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rully Adi Nugroho

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Service-learning has gained substantial recognition as an effective type of pedagogy and has enhanced civic education across the disciplines, however remains a lack of understanding of this type of learning in Indonesia. The goals of the study were (1 to explore the forms of local knowledge systems practiced in Semarang Regency and how they are used in resources conservation using service-learning method, (2 to foster student engagement with the community, and (3 to promote student awareness of community resources that are directly relevant to local knowledge system issues. The success of the service-learning projects in meeting these goals was assessed via qualitative analysis of student reflective papers and classroom presentations. The results indicated there were local knowledges that were still successfully in use, but often only very locally. Furthermore, the results also indicated that the service-learning projects promoted students’ valuable academic skills, including communication, team-building, and critical thinking, built their self-esteem, their awareness of community needs and resources, and demonstrated the relevance of course content to real life.

Development of response inhibition in the context of relevant versus irrelevant emotions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margot A Schel

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The present study examined the influence of relevant and irrelevant emotions on response inhibition from childhood to early adulthood. Ninety-four participants between 6 and 25 years of age performed two go/nogo tasks with emotional faces (neutral, happy, and fearful as stimuli. In one go/nogo task emotion formed a relevant dimension of the task and in the other go/nogo task emotion was irrelevant and participants had to respond to the color of the faces instead. A special feature of the latter task, in which emotion was irrelevant, was the inclusion of free choice trials, in which participants could freely decide between acting and inhibiting. Results showed a linear increase in response inhibition performance with increasing age both in relevant and irrelevant affective contexts. Relevant emotions had a pronounced influence on performance across age, whereas irrelevant emotions did not. Overall, participants made more false alarms on trials with fearful faces than happy faces, and happy faces were associated with better performance on go trials (higher percentage correct and faster RTs than fearful faces. The latter effect was stronger for young children in terms of accuracy. Finally, during the free choice trials participants did not base their decisions on affective context, confirming that irrelevant emotions do not have a strong impact on inhibition. Together, these findings suggest that across development relevant affective context has a larger influence on response inhibition than irrelevant affective context. When emotions are relevant, a context of positive emotions is associated with better performance compared to a context with negative emotions, especially in young children.

IAEA-RCA training course on in-service inspection of research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has acquired a wide range of experience for over four decades in design, construction, operation and maintenance of research reactors. The two-week training course on In-Service Inspection of Research Reactors (ISI) has greatly increased the awareness in the field of ISI of Research Reactors. The training course has been formulated so as to cover most of the topics relevant to ISI of research reactors. Important topics such as rationale for in-service inspection, material degradation mechanisms, non-destructive examination techniques, design evaluation of flaws and radiological, codal and regulatory aspects of ISI for research reactors were covered. Lectures on ISI of elastomeric materials and concrete structures, which are generally used in the construction of reactors have also been included in the course. Papers relevant to INIS are indexed separately

Detecting clinically relevant new information in clinical notes across specialties and settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Rui; Pakhomov, Serguei V S; Arsoniadis, Elliot G; Lee, Janet T; Wang, Yan; Melton, Genevieve B

2017-07-05

Automated methods for identifying clinically relevant new versus redundant information in electronic health record (EHR) clinical notes is useful for clinicians and researchers involved in patient care and clinical research, respectively. We evaluated methods to automatically identify clinically relevant new information in clinical notes, and compared the quantity of redundant information across specialties and clinical settings. Statistical language models augmented with semantic similarity measures were evaluated as a means to detect and quantify clinically relevant new and redundant information over longitudinal clinical notes for a given patient. A corpus of 591 progress notes over 40 inpatient admissions was annotated for new information longitudinally by physicians to generate a reference standard. Note redundancy between various specialties was evaluated on 71,021 outpatient notes and 64,695 inpatient notes from 500 solid organ transplant patients (April 2015 through August 2015). Our best method achieved at best performance of 0.87 recall, 0.62 precision, and 0.72 F-measure. Addition of semantic similarity metrics compared to baseline improved recall but otherwise resulted in similar performance. While outpatient and inpatient notes had relatively similar levels of high redundancy (61% and 68%, respectively), redundancy differed by author specialty with mean redundancy of 75%, 66%, 57%, and 55% observed in pediatric, internal medicine, psychiatry and surgical notes, respectively. Automated techniques with statistical language models for detecting redundant versus clinically relevant new information in clinical notes do not improve with the addition of semantic similarity measures. While levels of redundancy seem relatively similar in the inpatient and ambulatory settings in the Fairview Health Services, clinical note redundancy appears to vary significantly with different medical specialties.

The trust-commitment challenge in service quality-loyalty relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreira, Antonio Carrizo; Silva, Pedro Miguel

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a model to examine service quality, satisfaction, trust and commitment as loyalty antecedents in a private healthcare service. The approach was tested using structural equation modelling, involving 175 patients from a private Portuguese healthcare unit, using a revised Service Quality Assessment Scale (SQAS) scale for service quality evaluation. The scale used to evaluate service quality is valid and meaningful. Service quality proved to be a multidimensional construct and relevant to build satisfaction. The path satisfaction→trust→loyalty was validated, whereas the path satisfaction→commitment→loyalty was not statistically supported. The revised SQAS scale showed good internal consistency in healthcare context. Further trust-commitment antecedents must be examined in a private healthcare landscape to generalise the findings. Healthcare quality managers must explore the service quality dimensions to generate satisfaction among their patients. Developing trust generates positive patient attitudes and loyalty. This study explores using the SQAS scale in a private healthcare context. The authors provide further evidence that service quality is an antecedent and different from satisfaction. All the measures used proved to be valid and reliable. Trust and commitment play different roles in their relationship with loyalty.

A Comprehensive Estimation of the Economic Effects of Meteorological Services Based on the Input-Output Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xianhua Wu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Concentrating on consuming coefficient, partition coefficient, and Leontief inverse matrix, relevant concepts and algorithms are developed for estimating the impact of meteorological services including the associated (indirect, complete economic effect. Subsequently, quantitative estimations are particularly obtained for the meteorological services in Jiangxi province by utilizing the input-output method. It is found that the economic effects are noticeably rescued by the preventive strategies developed from both the meteorological information and internal relevance (interdependency in the industrial economic system. Another finding is that the ratio range of input in the complete economic effect on meteorological services is about 1 : 108.27–1 : 183.06, remarkably different from a previous estimation based on the Delphi method (1 : 30–1 : 51. Particularly, economic effects of meteorological services are higher for nontraditional users of manufacturing, wholesale and retail trades, services sector, tourism and culture, and art and lower for traditional users of agriculture, forestry, livestock, fishery, and construction industries.

Agent paradigm and services technology for distributed Information Sources

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Hakima Mellah

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The complexity of information is issued from interacting information sources (IS, and could be better exploited with respect to relevance of information. In distributed IS system, relevant information has a content that is in connection with other contents in information network, and is used for a certain purpose. The highlighting point of the proposed model is to contribute to information system agility according to a three-dimensional view involving the content, the use and the structure. This reflects the relevance of information complexity and effective methodologies through self organized principle to manage the complexity. This contribution is primarily focused on presenting some factors that lead and trigger for self organization in a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA and how it can be possible to integrate self organization mechanism in the same.

Evolutionary relevance facilitates visual information processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Russell E; Calvillo, Dusti P

2013-11-03

Visual search of the environment is a fundamental human behavior that perceptual load affects powerfully. Previously investigated means for overcoming the inhibitions of high perceptual load, however, generalize poorly to real-world human behavior. We hypothesized that humans would process evolutionarily relevant stimuli more efficiently than evolutionarily novel stimuli, and evolutionary relevance would mitigate the repercussions of high perceptual load during visual search. Animacy is a significant component to evolutionary relevance of visual stimuli because perceiving animate entities is time-sensitive in ways that pose significant evolutionary consequences. Participants completing a visual search task located evolutionarily relevant and animate objects fastest and with the least impact of high perceptual load. Evolutionarily novel and inanimate objects were located slowest and with the highest impact of perceptual load. Evolutionary relevance may importantly affect everyday visual information processing.

Intertwining personal and reward relevance: evidence from the drift-diffusion model.

Science.gov (United States)

Yankouskaya, A; Bührle, R; Lugt, E; Stolte, M; Sui, J

2018-01-24

In their seminal paper 'Is our self nothing but reward', Northoff and Hayes (Biol Psychiatry 69(11):1019-1025, Northoff, Hayes, Biological Psychiatry 69(11):1019-1025, 2011) proposed three models of the relationship between self and reward and opened a continuing debate about how these different fields can be linked. To date, none of the proposed models received strong empirical support. The present study tested common and distinct effects of personal relevance and reward values by de-componenting different stages of perceptual decision making using a drift-diffusion approach. We employed a recently developed associative matching paradigm where participants (N = 40) formed mental associations between five geometric shapes and five labels referring personal relevance in the personal task, or five shape-label pairings with different reward values in the reward task and then performed a matching task by indicating whether a displayed shape-label pairing was correct or incorrect. We found that common effects of personal relevance and monetary reward were manifested in the facilitation of behavioural performance for high personal relevance and high reward value as socially important signals. The differential effects between personal and monetary relevance reflected non-decisional time in a perceptual decision process, and task-specific prioritization of stimuli. Our findings support the parallel processing model (Northoff & Hayes, Biol Psychiatry 69(11):1019-1025, Northoff, Hayes, Biological Psychiatry 69(11):1019-1025, 2011) and suggest that self-specific processing occurs in parallel with high reward processing. Limitations and further directions are discussed.

Personalization of Rule-based Web Services.

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Choi, Okkyung; Han, Sang Yong

2008-04-04

Nowadays Web users have clearly expressed their wishes to receive personalized services directly. Personalization is the way to tailor services directly to the immediate requirements of the user. However, the current Web Services System does not provide any features supporting this such as consideration of personalization of services and intelligent matchmaking. In this research a flexible, personalized Rule-based Web Services System to address these problems and to enable efficient search, discovery and construction across general Web documents and Semantic Web documents in a Web Services System is proposed. This system utilizes matchmaking among service requesters', service providers' and users' preferences using a Rule-based Search Method, and subsequently ranks search results. A prototype of efficient Web Services search and construction for the suggested system is developed based on the current work.

Agreement among readers on what is relevant in self-help psychology books.

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Forest, James J; Del Ben, Kevin; Toews, Stuart B

2003-12-01

It was hypothesized that text marking in self-help psychology books would indicate that readers agree on which pages and lines contain relevant information. Previously owned copies of two self-help book titles (n=48, n=38), all with marked text, were collected from second-hand book stores and scored for line and page marking. Chi-squares for goodness-of-fit yielded significant differences between observed and chance agreement in marking behavior. Intraclass and KR-20 correlations were significantly different from zero, suggesting that readers agreed on what information was relevant and irrelevant. Actual users of self-help books may have similar standards because of cultural values, social group relations, or common problem experiences.

The task-relevant attribute representation can mediate the Simon effect.

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Dandan Tang

Full Text Available Researchers have previously suggested a working memory (WM account of spatial codes, and based on this suggestion, the present study carries out three experiments to investigate how the task-relevant attribute representation (verbal or visual in the typical Simon task affects the Simon effect. Experiment 1 compared the Simon effect between the between- and within-category color conditions, which required subjects to discriminate between red and blue stimuli (presumed to be represented by verbal WM codes because it was easy and fast to name the colors verbally and to discriminate between two similar green stimuli (presumed to be represented by visual WM codes because it was hard and time-consuming to name the colors verbally, respectively. The results revealed a reliable Simon effect that only occurs in the between-category condition. Experiment 2 assessed the Simon effect by requiring subjects to discriminate between two different isosceles trapezoids (within-category shapes and to discriminate isosceles trapezoid from rectangle (between-category shapes, and the results replicated and expanded the findings of Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, subjects were required to perform both tasks from Experiment 1. Wherein, in Experiment 3A, the between-category task preceded the within-category task; in Experiment 3B, the task order was opposite. The results showed the reliable Simon effect when subjects represented the task-relevant stimulus attributes by verbal WM encoding. In addition, the response times (RTs distribution analysis for both the between- and within-category conditions of Experiments 3A and 3B showed decreased Simon effect with the RTs lengthened. Altogether, although the present results are consistent with the temporal coding account, we put forth that the Simon effect also depends on the verbal WM representation of task-relevant stimulus attribute.

Service user engagement: A co-created interview schedule exploring mental health recovery in young adults.

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McCauley, Claire-Odile; McKenna, Hugh; Keeney, Sinead; McLaughlin, Derek

2017-10-01

The aim of this study was to co-create of an interview schedule exploring mental health recovery in collaboration with young adult service users. Service user involvement in research has been increasingly recognized as providing a vital authentic insight into mental health recovery. Engagement and collaboration with service users have facilitated the exploration of inaccessible or under-investigated aspects of the lived experience of mental health recovery, not only directing the trajectory of research, but making it relevant to their own contextual experience. A qualitative content analysis framework was employed in the co-creation of a semi-structured interview schedule through an engagement process with service users. Two separate engagement groups took place at the premises of the service user organizations, between January - February 2014. Miles and Huberman's analysis framework was chosen for this phase as it enabled the visual presentation of factors, concepts or variables and the established relationship between them. The lived experience of mental ill health in young adulthood and how this was understood by others was a particularly relevant theme for participants. Further themes were identified between the impact of painful experiences at this developmental life stage leading to a deeper understanding of others through finding meaning in their own mental health recovery journey. Our findings identified that suffering painful experiences is an integral aspect in the process of mental health recovery. This understanding has particular relevance to mental health nursing practice, ensuring the care delivered is cognizant of the suffering or painful experiences that young adults are encountering. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Organizational change for services integration in public human service organizations: experiences in seven counties.

Science.gov (United States)

Packard, Thomas; Patti, Rino; Daly, Donna; Tucker-Tatlow, Jennifer

2012-01-01

This is a study of organizational change strategies employed in seven county human service agencies to improve the coordination of services through the structural integration of previously free standing organizations or the development of voluntary interagency collaborative service delivery systems. The central question involves the identification of organizational change tactics which contributed to the success of the organizational change initiatives. The literature on organizational change is reviewed, with particular attention to a framework developed by Fernandez and Rainey based on their extensive review and synthesis of the research on successful change strategies in the public and business sectors. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered from over 250 individuals and from agency documents. Findings are compared with the success factors identified by Fernandez and Rainey, and refinements to their propositions are suggested. More precise methods for measuring successful and unsuccessful change initiatives are suggested. Implications for practice and research are presented.

An Exploration of Human Well-Being Bundles as Identifiers of Ecosystem Service Use Patterns.

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Hamann, Maike; Biggs, Reinette; Reyers, Belinda

2016-01-01

We take a social-ecological systems perspective to investigate the linkages between ecosystem services and human well-being in South Africa. A recent paper identified different types of social-ecological systems in the country, based on distinct bundles of ecosystem service use. These system types were found to represent increasingly weak direct feedbacks between nature and people, from rural "green-loop" communities to urban "red-loop" societies. Here we construct human well-being bundles and explore whether the well-being bundles can be used to identify the same social-ecological system types that were identified using bundles of ecosystem service use. Based on national census data, we found three distinct well-being bundle types that are mainly characterized by differences in income, unemployment and property ownership. The distribution of these well-being bundles approximates the distribution of ecosystem service use bundles to a substantial degree: High levels of income and education generally coincided with areas characterised by low levels of direct ecosystem service use (or red-loop systems), while the majority of low well-being areas coincided with medium and high levels of direct ecosystem service use (or transition and green-loop systems). However, our results indicate that transformations from green-loop to red-loop systems do not always entail an immediate improvement in well-being, which we suggest may be due to a time lag between changes in the different system components. Using human well-being bundles as an indicator of social-ecological dynamics may be useful in other contexts since it is based on socio-economic data commonly collected by governments, and provides important insights into the connections between ecosystem services and human well-being at policy-relevant sub-national scales.

An Exploration of Human Well-Being Bundles as Identifiers of Ecosystem Service Use Patterns.

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Maike Hamann

Full Text Available We take a social-ecological systems perspective to investigate the linkages between ecosystem services and human well-being in South Africa. A recent paper identified different types of social-ecological systems in the country, based on distinct bundles of ecosystem service use. These system types were found to represent increasingly weak direct feedbacks between nature and people, from rural "green-loop" communities to urban "red-loop" societies. Here we construct human well-being bundles and explore whether the well-being bundles can be used to identify the same social-ecological system types that were identified using bundles of ecosystem service use. Based on national census data, we found three distinct well-being bundle types that are mainly characterized by differences in income, unemployment and property ownership. The distribution of these well-being bundles approximates the distribution of ecosystem service use bundles to a substantial degree: High levels of income and education generally coincided with areas characterised by low levels of direct ecosystem service use (or red-loop systems, while the majority of low well-being areas coincided with medium and high levels of direct ecosystem service use (or transition and green-loop systems. However, our results indicate that transformations from green-loop to red-loop systems do not always entail an immediate improvement in well-being, which we suggest may be due to a time lag between changes in the different system components. Using human well-being bundles as an indicator of social-ecological dynamics may be useful in other contexts since it is based on socio-economic data commonly collected by governments, and provides important insights into the connections between ecosystem services and human well-being at policy-relevant sub-national scales.

ACB Service Final Closure

CERN Multimedia

IT Department

2004-01-01

As previously announced in CERN weekly Bulletin 18/2004 of 26 April 2004, and following a discussion at the Desktop Forum on 28 October, the Automatic Call Back (ACB) service will be definitely closed on Friday 10 December 2004. If the ACB phone number is dialed after that date over plain telephone or ISDN, the call will remain unanswered. Therefore, the remaining ACB users are encouraged to switch as soon as possible to ISPs (Internet Service Providers) which provide equivalent or better service. Some suggestions on how to make alternative arrangements have been made available on the Remote Access web site. IT Department

An u-Service Model Based on a Smart Phone for Urban Computing Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Yongyun; Yoe, Hyun

In urban computing environments, all of services should be based on the interaction between humans and environments around them, which frequently and ordinarily in home and office. This paper propose an u-service model based on a smart phone for urban computing environments. The suggested service model includes a context-aware and personalized service scenario development environment that can instantly describe user's u-service demand or situation information with smart devices. To do this, the architecture of the suggested service model consists of a graphical service editing environment for smart devices, an u-service platform, and an infrastructure with sensors and WSN/USN. The graphic editor expresses contexts as execution conditions of a new service through a context model based on ontology. The service platform deals with the service scenario according to contexts. With the suggested service model, an user in urban computing environments can quickly and easily make u-service or new service using smart devices.

How To Stretch Your Food Service Dollars

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, B. Robert

1973-01-01

The implications of any program as large as food service suggests that the administrator be conversant with the total field of food service distribution and the extras'' available as part of a burgeoning industry. An administrator has the right to expect competitive prices, excellent quality, good delivery, and superior peripheral services.…

Public Service Motivation and Paternalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm Pedersen, Lene; Qvistgaard, Lars

holds a potential to improve public service provision (Belle, 2013, Andersen et al., 2014), it also has dark sides (Van Loon et al., 2015, forthcoming). The aim of this paper is to analyze and discuss how one type of public service motivated individuals (paternalistic knights) and constitute a problem...... of democratic accountability. The setting of this discussion is unusual for the PSM literature, and takes PSM into the analysis and discussion of motivation and paternalism in trade unions. This setting is relevant and interesting as the election of representatives is based on elections, and hence trade unions...... variables are two dimensions of the PSM construct; namely self-sacrifice and commitment to the public interest, whereas the central independent variable is paternalistic orientation. All three variables are measured with survey constructs in a cross sectional survey design. The survey is made among...

Service Redesign Using Factor Analysis, TRIZ, and Service Blueprint (Case study on Garuda Indonesia’s sales and service office at Senayan City

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Suzianti Amalia

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Indonesia is a country that has potential to be the one of the biggest airline industry. This potential leads the competition in airline industrymore aggressive. Garuda Indonesia as the leading airline must maintains its position as a leader in Indonesian airline industry. To maintain its position, Garuda Indonesia has repaired all of its aspects, one of them is service. The most important service area that give the most complete facilities to customers and contributions to Garuda Indonesia, is sales and service office (SSO. This research is trying to suggest recommendations of service redesign on Garuda Indonesia’s SSO in order to create better customer satisfaction. This research uses factor analysis to analyze the factors that contribute to the customer preferences. The result shows the duration of service delivery, facilities in waiting area and frontliner’s competencies are the major factors that contribute to the failure points in sales and service office. In the next stage, the TRIZ contradiction analysis is used resulting twelve inventive principles. Furthermore, new service design of Indonesia airline’s sales and service office is proposed following the principles generated in TRIZ through service blueprint.

Care Services in Periurban Ghana

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Paa Kobina Turkson

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The study used logistic regression modelling to determine predictors of satisfaction with delivery of animal health care services for 889 clients (livestock and poultry keepers in periurban Ghana. Of the 15 indicators tested as predictors of satisfaction in this study, 8 were included in the best fit model. These were accessibility, availability of services, service charge, effectiveness, efficiency, quality of services, meeting client needs, and getting help. Efficiency and effectiveness were perceived by the respondents to be synonymous, as were service quality and effectiveness, as suggested by ORs>10 when cross tabulated. Therefore, one or the other could be used in future studies but not both to avoid collinearity. The identified predictors could be targeted for improvement in quality of service delivery to livestock and poultry keepers in Ghana.

Chapter 1: Assessing pollinator habitat services to optimize conservation programs

Science.gov (United States)

Iovanna, Richard; Ando , Amy W.; Swinton, Scott; Hellerstein, Daniel; Kagan, Jimmy; Mushet, David M.; Otto, Clint R.; Rewa, Charles A.

2017-01-01

Pollination services have received increased attention over the past several years, and protecting foraging area is beginning to be reflected in conservation policy. This case study considers the prospects for doing so in a more analytically rigorous manner, by quantifying the pollination services for sites being considered for ecological restoration. The specific policy context is the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which offers financial and technical assistance to landowners seeking to convert sensitive cropland back to some semblance of the prairie (or, to a lesser extent, forest or wetland) ecosystem that preceded it. Depending on the mix of grasses and wildflowers that are established, CRP enrollments can provide pollinator habitat. Further, depending on their location, they will generate related services, such as biological control of crop pests, recreation, and aesthetics. While offers to enroll in CRP compete based on cost and some anticipated benefits, the eligibility and ranking criteria do not reflect these services to a meaningful degree. Therefore, we develop a conceptual value diagram to identify the sequence of steps and associated models and data necessary to quantify the full range of services, and find that critical data gaps, some of which are artifacts of policy, preclude the application of benefit-relevant indicators (BRIs) or monetization. However, we also find that there is considerable research activity underway to fill these gaps. In addition, a modeling framework has been developed that can estimate field-level effects on services as a function of landscape context. The approach is inherently scalable and not limited in geographic scope, which is essential for a program with a national footprint. The parameters in this framework are sufficiently straightforward that expert judgment could be applied as a stopgap approach until empirically derived estimates are available. While monetization of benefit-relevant indicators of yield

Evolutionary Relevance Facilitates Visual Information Processing

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Russell E. Jackson

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Visual search of the environment is a fundamental human behavior that perceptual load affects powerfully. Previously investigated means for overcoming the inhibitions of high perceptual load, however, generalize poorly to real-world human behavior. We hypothesized that humans would process evolutionarily relevant stimuli more efficiently than evolutionarily novel stimuli, and evolutionary relevance would mitigate the repercussions of high perceptual load during visual search. Animacy is a significant component to evolutionary relevance of visual stimuli because perceiving animate entities is time-sensitive in ways that pose significant evolutionary consequences. Participants completing a visual search task located evolutionarily relevant and animate objects fastest and with the least impact of high perceptual load. Evolutionarily novel and inanimate objects were located slowest and with the highest impact of perceptual load. Evolutionary relevance may importantly affect everyday visual information processing.

Women's Suggestions for Improving Midwifery Care in The Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Baas, Carien I; Erwich, Jan Jaap H M; Wiegers, Therese A; de Cock, T Paul; Hutton, Eileen K

2015-12-01

The experience of the care a woman receives during pregnancy and childbirth has an immediate and long-lasting effect on her well being. The involvement of patients and clients in health care has increased over the last decades. The Dutch maternity care system offers an excellent opportunity to explore and involve women's suggestions for the improvement of midwifery care in the current maternity care model. This qualitative study is part of the "DELIVER" study. Clients were recruited from 20 midwifery practices. Purposive sampling was used to select the practices. The clients received up to three questionnaires, in which they could respond to the question; "Do you have any suggestions on how your midwife could improve his/her provision of care?" The answers were analyzed with a qualitative thematic content analysis, using the software program MAXQDA. Altogether, 3,499 answers were provided. One overarching concept emerged: clients' desire for individualized care. Within this concept, suggestions could be clustered around 1) provider characteristics: interpersonal skills, communication, and competence, and 2) service characteristics: content and quantity of care, guidance and support, continuity of care provider, continuity of care, information, and coordination of care. Informed by the suggestions of women, care to women and their families could be improved by the following: 1) more continuity of the care provider during the prenatal, natal, and postnatal periods, 2) more information and information specifically tailored for the person, 3) client-centered communication, and 4) a personal approach with 5) enough time spent per client. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Cultural Immersion Field Experience: Examining Pre-Service Music Teachers' Beliefs about Cultural Differences

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VanDeusen, Andrea J.

2017-01-01

With the intent of informing music teacher education practices and developing more culturally responsive and relevant teachers, the purpose of this research was to explore pre-service music teachers' understandings of culture and diversity, and to examine the impact of a short-term cultural immersion field experience on pre-service music teachers'…

The Effects of Goal Relevance and Perceptual Features on Emotional Items and Associative Memory

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Wei B. Mao

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Showing an emotional item in a neutral background scene often leads to enhanced memory for the emotional item and impaired associative memory for background details. Meanwhile, both top–down goal relevance and bottom–up perceptual features played important roles in memory binding. We conducted two experiments and aimed to further examine the effects of goal relevance and perceptual features on emotional items and associative memory. By manipulating goal relevance (asking participants to categorize only each item image as living or non-living or to categorize each whole composite picture consisted of item image and background scene as natural scene or manufactured scene and perceptual features (controlling visual contrast and visual familiarity in two experiments, we found that both high goal relevance and salient perceptual features (high salience of items vs. high familiarity of items could promote emotional item memory, but they had different effects on associative memory for emotional items and neutral backgrounds. Specifically, high goal relevance and high perceptual-salience of items could jointly impair the associative memory for emotional items and neutral backgrounds, while the effect of item familiarity on associative memory for emotional items would be modulated by goal relevance. High familiarity of items could increase associative memory for negative items and neutral backgrounds only in the low goal relevance condition. These findings suggest the effect of emotion on associative memory is not only related to attentional capture elicited by emotion, but also can be affected by goal relevance and perceptual features of stimulus.

Domestic water service delivery indicators and frameworks for monitoring, evaluation, policy and planning: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kayser, Georgia L; Moriarty, Patrick; Fonseca, Catarina; Bartram, Jamie

2013-10-11

Monitoring of water services informs policy and planning for national governments and the international community. Currently, the international monitoring system measures the type of drinking water source that households use. There have been calls for improved monitoring systems over several decades, some advocating use of multiple indicators. We review the literature on water service indicators and frameworks with a view to informing debate on their relevance to national and international monitoring. We describe the evidence concerning the relevance of each identified indicator to public health, economic development and human rights. We analyze the benefits and challenges of using these indicators separately and combined in an index as tools for planning, monitoring, and evaluating water services. We find substantial evidence on the importance of each commonly recommended indicator--service type, safety, quantity, accessibility, reliability or continuity of service, equity, and affordability. Several frameworks have been proposed that give structure to the relationships among individual indicators and some combine multiple indicator scores into a single index but few have been rigorously tested. More research is needed to understand if employing a composite metric of indicators is advantageous and how each indicator might be scored and scaled.

Domestic Water Service Delivery Indicators and Frameworks for Monitoring, Evaluation, Policy and Planning: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamie Bartram

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Monitoring of water services informs policy and planning for national governments and the international community. Currently, the international monitoring system measures the type of drinking water source that households use. There have been calls for improved monitoring systems over several decades, some advocating use of multiple indicators. We review the literature on water service indicators and frameworks with a view to informing debate on their relevance to national and international monitoring. We describe the evidence concerning the relevance of each identified indicator to public health, economic development and human rights. We analyze the benefits and challenges of using these indicators separately and combined in an index as tools for planning, monitoring, and evaluating water services. We find substantial evidence on the importance of each commonly recommended indicator—service type, safety, quantity, accessibility, reliability or continuity of service, equity, and affordability. Several frameworks have been proposed that give structure to the relationships among individual indicators and some combine multiple indicator scores into a single index but few have been rigorously tested. More research is needed to understand if employing a composite metric of indicators is advantageous and how each indicator might be scored and scaled.

Cleared risks? Proactive strategies as service in Cloud Computing contexts

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Manuela Moro-Cabero

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The increasing use of Cloud Computing services at organizations is an undeniable reality nowadays. Record managers must then adopt a proactive and compromised position, giving advice to users. However, as a consequence of lack of knowledge in the function and regulation of the field, the implementation of those services faces no little confrontation. This descriptive essay, supported by a relevant number of heterogeneous resources, systematizes the menaces of managing and storing information with these services. At the same time, the study establishes a set of action-strategies for both reaching and hiring agreements. The objective of the paper is, therefore, to make the professional aware of the potential of these services as assessing and controlling tools, as well as ensuring the digital continuity and the record resources preservation in the Cloud.

Individual Differences in the Rubber Hand Illusion Are Related to Sensory Suggestibility.

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Angela Marotta

Full Text Available In the rubber hand illusion (RHI, watching a rubber hand being stroked in synchrony with one's own hidden hand may induce a sense of ownership over the rubber hand. The illusion relies on bottom-up multisensory integration of visual, tactile, and proprioceptive information, and on top-down processes through which the rubber hand is incorporated into pre-existing representations of the body. Although the degree of illusory experience varies largely across individuals, the factors influencing individual differences are unknown. We investigated whether sensory suggestibility might modulate susceptibility to the RHI. Sensory suggestibility is a personality trait related to how individuals react to sensory information. Because of its sensory nature, this trait could be relevant for studies using the RHI paradigm. Seventy healthy volunteers were classified by Sensory Suggestibility Scale (SSS scores as having high or low suggestibility and assigned to either a high- (High-SSS or a low-suggestibility (Low-SSS group. Two components of the RHI were evaluated in synchronous and asynchronous stroking conditions: subjective experience of sense of ownership over the rubber hand via a 9-statement questionnaire, and proprioceptive drift as measured with a ruler. The High-SSS group was generally more susceptible to the subjective component; in the synchronous condition, they rated the statement assessing the sense of ownership higher than the Low-SSS group. The scores for this statement significantly correlated with the total SSS score, indicating that the higher the sensory suggestibility, the stronger the sense of ownership. No effect of sensory suggestibility on proprioceptive drift was observed, suggesting that the effect is specific for the subjective feeling of ownership. This study demonstrates that sensory suggestibility may contribute to participants' experience of the illusion and should be considered when using the RHI paradigm.

Individual Differences in the Rubber Hand Illusion Are Related to Sensory Suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Marotta, Angela; Tinazzi, Michele; Cavedini, Clelia; Zampini, Massimiliano; Fiorio, Mirta

2016-01-01

In the rubber hand illusion (RHI), watching a rubber hand being stroked in synchrony with one's own hidden hand may induce a sense of ownership over the rubber hand. The illusion relies on bottom-up multisensory integration of visual, tactile, and proprioceptive information, and on top-down processes through which the rubber hand is incorporated into pre-existing representations of the body. Although the degree of illusory experience varies largely across individuals, the factors influencing individual differences are unknown. We investigated whether sensory suggestibility might modulate susceptibility to the RHI. Sensory suggestibility is a personality trait related to how individuals react to sensory information. Because of its sensory nature, this trait could be relevant for studies using the RHI paradigm. Seventy healthy volunteers were classified by Sensory Suggestibility Scale (SSS) scores as having high or low suggestibility and assigned to either a high- (High-SSS) or a low-suggestibility (Low-SSS) group. Two components of the RHI were evaluated in synchronous and asynchronous stroking conditions: subjective experience of sense of ownership over the rubber hand via a 9-statement questionnaire, and proprioceptive drift as measured with a ruler. The High-SSS group was generally more susceptible to the subjective component; in the synchronous condition, they rated the statement assessing the sense of ownership higher than the Low-SSS group. The scores for this statement significantly correlated with the total SSS score, indicating that the higher the sensory suggestibility, the stronger the sense of ownership. No effect of sensory suggestibility on proprioceptive drift was observed, suggesting that the effect is specific for the subjective feeling of ownership. This study demonstrates that sensory suggestibility may contribute to participants' experience of the illusion and should be considered when using the RHI paradigm.

Responding to hypnotic and nonhypnotic suggestions: performance standards, imaginative suggestibility, and response expectancies.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Eric C; Lynn, Steven Jay

2011-07-01

This study examined the relative impact of hypnotic inductions and several other variables on hypnotic and nonhypnotic responsiveness to imaginative suggestions. The authors examined how imaginative suggestibility, response expectancies, motivation to respond to suggestions, and hypnotist-induced performance standards affected participants' responses to both hypnotic and nonhypnotic suggestions and their suggestion-related experiences. Suggestions were administered to 5 groups of participants using a test-retest design: (a) stringent performance standards; (b) lenient performance standards; (c) hypnosis test-retest; (d) no-hypnosis test-retest; and (e) no-hypnosis/hypnosis control. The authors found no support for the influence of a hypnotic induction or performance standards on responding to suggestions but found considerable support for the role of imaginative suggestibility and response expectancies in predicting responses to both hypnotic and nonhypnotic suggestions.

Relevancy of Serum Calcium in Predicting Blood Product Transfusion in Trauma

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-10

collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services , Directorate for...to arrive from the blood bank . In the military setting, where fresh whole blood may be available as a “walking blood bank ,” appropriate donors need

Increasing Student Motivation and the Perception of Chemistry's Relevance in the Classroom by Learning about Tattooing from a Chemical and Societal View

Science.gov (United States)

Stuckey, Marc; Eilks, Ingo

2014-01-01

This paper presents a study on tattooing as a topic for chemistry education. The selection of the topic was inspired by a newly suggested framework, which focuses on the question of relevance of science education. The aim of this case was to get evidence on how topics selected based on the suggested model of relevance of science education affect…

Suicidality and interrogative suggestibility.

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Pritchard-Boone, Lea; Range, Lillian M

2005-01-01

All people are subject to memory suggestibility, but suicidal individuals may be especially so. The link between suicidality and suggestibility is unclear given mixed findings and methodological weaknesses of past research. To test the link between suicidality and interrogative suggestibility, 149 undergraduates answered questions about suicidal thoughts and reasons for living, and participated in a direct suggestibility procedure. As expected, suggestibility correlated with suicidality but accounted for little overall variance (4%). Mental health professionals might be able to take advantage of client suggestibility by directly telling suicidal persons to refrain from suicidal thoughts or actions.

Algorithmic and Editorial Diversity in Public Service Media: The Design Challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Jannick Kirk; Schmidt, Jan-Hinrik

2018-01-01

With the growing influence of personalized algorithmic recommender systems on the exposure of media content to users, the relevance of discussing the diversity of recommendations increases, particularly as far as public service media (PSM) is concerned. An imagined implementation of a diversity...

Continuity of care as experienced by mental health service users - a qualitative study

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Eva Biringer

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background People who struggle with mental health problems can provide valuable insight into understanding and improving the coordination of mental health and welfare services. The aims of the study were to explore service users’ experiences and perceptions of continuity of care within and across services relevant to personal recovery, to elicit which dimensions of continuity of care are most essential to service users, and to generate ideas for improving service users’ experiences of continuity of care. Methods In the context of a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach, ten service users at a community mental health centre were interviewed about their experiences of continuity of care in and across services. Eight of these were re-interviewed two years later. A collaborative research approach was adopted. Data were analysed by means of a data-driven stepwise approach in line with thematic analysis. Results Following the analysis five themes representing experiences of continuity of care were developed. Each theme ranged from poor to good experiences of continuity of care: Relationship – from experiencing frequent setbacks and anxiety due to breaks in relationships, to feeling safe in an ongoing personal relationship; Timeliness – from experiencing frustrating waiting times with worsening of problems, to getting help when needed; Mutuality – from having a one-sided struggle, to a situation in which both professionals and service users take initiatives; Choice – from not having the opportunity to make practical arrangements within the context of one’s everyday life, to having an array of support options to choose from; Knowledge – from feeling confused and insecure because one does not know what is happening, to feeling safe because one is informed about what is going to happen. Participants provided a range of suggestions for improving experiences of continuity of care. Conclusions A discrepancy between aspects of

Simulation as a tool for developing knowledge mobilisation strategies: Innovative knowledge transfer in youth services

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Michael Ungar

2015-09-01

Full Text Available While there are excellent models of knowledge mobilisation (KMb that address the opportunity for co-production and sharing of best practice knowledge among human service professionals, it remains unclear whether these models will work in less formal settings like community-based non-government organisations (NGOs where there are fewer resources for KMb. For three days, 65 policy-makers, senior staff of NGOs, mental health professionals, KMb specialists and youth participated in a set of simulation exercises to problem solve how to mobilise knowledge in less formal settings that provide services to children and youth in challenging contexts (CYCC. Based on simulation exercises used in other settings (such as the deployment of international aid workers, participants were first provided with reports synthesising best practice knowledge relevant to their workplaces. They then engaged in an appreciative inquiry process, and were finally tasked with developing innovative strategies for KMb. Observation notes and exit interviews were used to evaluate the process and assess impact. Findings related to the process of the simulation exercises show the technique of simulation to be useful but that it requires effort to keep participants focused on the task of KMb rather than the content of best practices within a focal population. With regard to developing innovative KMb strategies, findings suggest that service providers in less formal community-based services prefer KMb activities that promote one-to-one relationships, including the participation of youth themselves, who can speak to the effectiveness of the interventions they have experienced. Unexpectedly, the use of electronic communication, including social media, was not viewed very positively by participants. These results suggest that the use of simulation to search for innovative KMb strategies and to problem solve around barriers to KMb has the potential to inform new ways of co-producing and

Modulation of the mirror system by social relevance.

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Kilner, James M; Marchant, Jennifer L; Frith, Chris D

2006-09-01

When we observe the actions of others, certain areas of the brain are activated in a similar manner as to when we perform the same actions ourselves. This 'mirror system' includes areas in the ventral premotor cortex and the inferior parietal lobule. Experimental studies suggest that action observation automatically elicits activity in the observer, which precisely mirrors the activity observed. In this case we would expect this activity to be independent of observer's viewpoint. Here we use whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) to record cortical activity of human subjects whilst they watched a series of videos of an actor making a movement recorded from different viewpoints. We show that one cortical response to action observation (oscillatory activity in the 7-12 Hz frequency range) is modulated by the relationship between the observer and the actor. We suggest that this modulation reflects a mechanism that filters information into the 'mirror system', allowing only socially relevant information to pass.

Training and deployment of lay refugee/internally displaced persons to provide basic health services in camps: a systematic review.

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Ehiri, John E; Gunn, Jayleen K L; Center, Katherine E; Li, Ying; Rouhani, Mae; Ezeanolue, Echezona E

2014-01-01

Training of lay refugees/internally displaced persons (IDPs) and deploying them to provide basic health services to other women, children, and families in camps is perceived to be associated with public health benefits. However, there is limited evidence to support this hypothesis. To assess the effects of interventions to train and deploy lay refugees and/or IDPs for the provision of basic health service to other women, children, and families in camps. PubMed, Science and Social Science Citation Indices, PsycINFO, EMBASE, POPLINE, CINAHL, and reference lists of relevant articles were searched (from inception to June 30, 2014) with the aim of identifying studies that reported the effects of interventions that trained and deployed lay refugees and/or IDPs for the provision of basic health service to other women, children, and families in camps. Two investigators independently reviewed all titles and abstracts to identify potentially relevant articles. Discrepancies were resolved by repeated review, discussion, and consensus. Study quality assessment was undertaken using standard protocols. Ten studies (five cross-sectional, four pre-post, and one post-test only) conducted in Africa (Guinea and Tanzania), Central America (Belize), and Asia (Myanmar) were included. The studies demonstrated some positive impact on population health associated with training and deployment of trained lay refugees/IDPs as health workers in camps. Reported effects included increased service coverage, increased knowledge about disease symptoms and prevention, increased adoption of improved treatment seeking and protective behaviors, increased uptake of services, and improved access to reproductive health information. One study, which assessed the effect of peer refugee health education on sexual and reproductive health, did not demonstrate a marked reduction in unintended pregnancies among refugee/IDP women. Although available evidence suggests a positive impact of training and deployment

Work ability among hospital food service professionals: multiple associated variables require comprehensive intervention.

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Fischer, Frida Marina; Martinez, Maria Carmen

2012-01-01

The work of hospital food service is characterized by demands that can be associated with work ability--WA. The aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with WA among hospital food service professionals and recommend intervention measures. This is a cross sectional study carried out in 2009, conducted in a hospital of São Paulo, Brazil. Participants were 76 (96.2%) of the eligible. They filled out a questionnaire including socio-demographic data, life styles, working conditions and WA. Multivariate linear regression analyses were performed. Factors associated with WA were age (p = 0.051), over commitment (p = 0.011), effort-reward ratio (p = 0.002) and work injuries (p work injuries is consistent with the theoretical model that demonstrated that health status is the basis to maintain the WA. The association of effort-reward imbalance shows that issues related with work organization are relevant for these workers. The association of overcommittment suggests that workers recognize their responsibility with the therapeutic processes of patients. Results showed a number of features of different nature that should be taken into account when implementing measures to improve the WA, to be applied at different levels: individual, task and institutional.

The handbook of service innovation

CERN Document Server

Selen, Willem; Roos, Göran; Green, Roy

2015-01-01

Bringing together some of the world’s leading thinkers, academics and professionals to provide practitioners, students and academicians with comprehensive insights into implementing effective service innovation. This book presents service innovation holistically and systemically across various service areas, including health, education, tourism, hospitality, telecommunications, and retail. It addresses contemporary issues through conceptual and applied contributions across industry, academia, and government, providing insights for improved practice and policy making. Featuring cutting-edge research contributions, practical examples, implementations and a select number of case studies across several growth service industries, this book also includes examples of failed service innovation attempts in order to demonstrate a balanced view of the topic and to make clear the pitfalls to be avoided. Culminating in a suggested step-by-step guide to enable service organization’s managers to understand and implemen...

The Ties that Bind: Creating Great Customer Service.

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Lisker, Peter

2000-01-01

Offers suggestions for libraries on how to develop a customer service plan to provide excellent service, create a positive environment for staff members, foster new and continued positive relationships with patrons, and evaluate customer service goals and objectives. Also discusses policies and building appearance. (Author/LRW)

A toolkit for incorporating genetics into mainstream medical services: Learning from service development pilots in England.

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Bennett, Catherine L; Burke, Sarah E; Burton, Hilary; Farndon, Peter A

2010-05-14

As advances in genetics are becoming increasingly relevant to mainstream healthcare, a major challenge is to ensure that these are integrated appropriately into mainstream medical services. In 2003, the Department of Health for England announced the availability of start-up funding for ten 'Mainstreaming Genetics' pilot services to develop models to achieve this. Multiple methods were used to explore the pilots' experiences of incorporating genetics which might inform the development of new services in the future. A workshop with project staff, an email questionnaire, interviews and a thematic analysis of pilot final reports were carried out. Seven themes relating to the integration of genetics into mainstream medical services were identified: planning services to incorporate genetics; the involvement of genetics departments; the establishment of roles incorporating genetic activities; identifying and involving stakeholders; the challenges of working across specialty boundaries; working with multiple healthcare organisations; and the importance of cultural awareness of genetic conditions. Pilots found that the planning phase often included the need to raise awareness of genetic conditions and services and that early consideration of organisational issues such as clinic location was essential. The formal involvement of genetics departments was crucial to success; benefits included provision of clinical and educational support for staff in new roles. Recruitment and retention for new roles outside usual career pathways sometimes proved difficult. Differences in specialties' working practices and working with multiple healthcare organisations also brought challenges such as the 'genetic approach' of working with families, incompatible record systems and different approaches to health professionals' autonomous practice. 'Practice points' have been collated into a Toolkit which includes resources from the pilots, including job descriptions and clinical tools. These can

Education in the clinical context: establishing a strategic framework to ensure relevance.

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Henderson, Amanda; Fox, Robyn; Armit, Lyn

2008-01-01

Quality contemporary practice relies on nurses to provide health care within an embedded nexus of clinical, professional and organisational learning that leads them through a career trajectory that encourages lifelong development. Within complex health service environments this is fraught with difficulties. Enhancing practice is multifaceted requiring not just education for the acquisition of skills and abilities but time and space for reflection on experience within the clinical context. This ultimately leads to professional knowledge development. Queensland Health has developed a Nursing and Midwifery Staff Development Framework to assist nurses in structuring their experiences in the practice setting to enable their professional goals. Learning is guided within this framework through its collective modus operandi, that is, the development of teams that overlap to identify and progress the educational agenda; resources to develop consistent relevant learning material that incorporates evidence obtained through practices and the literature; and educator and clinician networks across health services throughout the state, and furthermore, links with the tertiary sector to assist in marketing, applicability and synergy with further education.

Insider Trading B-side: relevance, timeliness and position influence

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Luiz Felipe de A. Pontes Girão

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Objective – Our main objective is to analyze the impacto f insider trading on stock investments’ decision. Design/methodology/approach – We used an online survey, obtaining 271 valid answers. To analyze our data, we used some parametric (t and F Anova, and non-parametric techniques (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis. Findings – We find that insider tradings are relevant to investment decisions, and the timeliness also exert an influence to this kind of decision, especially abnormal trades. Practical implications – In practical terms, our results suggests that the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM must update the Brazilian insider trading regulation to achieve the objective to protect investors. In the investors point of view, this possible update could improve investors’ ability to control insiders and follow his activities as well as to mimic his trades. Originality/value – The originality of our paper is an analysis of relevance, timeliness and influence of position in a firm as “determinants” of investment decisions. We use these three specific characteristics to criticize the Brazilian insider trading regulation.

ERIC User Services Manual. Revised Edition.

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Wagner, Judith O., Comp.

This manual explains how the user services functions, usually performed by a User Services Coordinator, can be conducted in the 16 ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) Clearinghouses and the various adjunct ERIC Clearinghouses. It provides guidelines, suggestions, and examples of how ERIC components currently perform the user services…

International standards for tuberculosis care: Relevance and implications for laboratory professionals

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Pai M

2007-01-01

Full Text Available On World Tuberculosis (TB Day 2006, the International Standards for Tuberculosis Care (ISTC was officially released and widely endorsed by several agencies and organizations. The ISTC release was the culmination of a year long global effort to develop and set internationally acceptable, evidence-based standards for tuberculosis care. The ISTC describes a widely endorsed level of care that all practitioners, public and private, should seek to achieve in managing individuals who have or are suspected of having, TB and is intended to facilitate the effective engagement of all healthcare providers in delivering high quality care for patients of all ages, including those with smear-positive, smear-negative and extra-pulmonary TB, TB caused by drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis and TB/HIV coinfection. In this article, we present the ISTC, with a special focus on the diagnostic standards and describe their implications and relevance for laboratory professionals in India and worldwide. Laboratory professionals play a critical role in ensuring that all the standards are actually met by providing high quality laboratory services for smear microscopy, culture and drug susceptibility testing and other services such as testing for HIV infection. In fact, if the ISTC is widely followed, it can be expected that there will be a greater need and demand for quality assured laboratory services and this will have obvious implications for all laboratories in terms of work load, requirement for resources and trained personnel and organization of quality assurance systems.

Neoliberalism and human services: threat and innovation.

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Swenson, S

2008-07-01

The turn to neoliberalism in welfare policy suggests that human services need to be based on a market approach. The problem with this suggestion is that it presupposes marketing information such that service providers can market their services for identified client needs. In the field of intellectual disability (ID) services this type of information is not available. The method is a reflective analysis of the key presupposition of a market-orientated approach to disability services, namely that service providers know who needs what. Using insights from marketing theory the paper engages in a reflective thought experiment to lay out the intricacies of this presupposition. The analysis results in an argument regarding the validation of a market-based approach to disability services. First, this approach has its limits in view of the question of whether the specific and atypical needs of people with ID, as well as their financial position as potential consumers constitute a market. Second, the approach has limited validity both in view of the ability of people with ID to act as consumers, and of the restrictions imposed upon them by the eligibility criteria for welfare and support programmes. A market-based approach to disability services and supports can be helpful to spur innovation and further political and philosophical inquiry in human services, but the neoliberal optimism about the market as the only successful mechanism for service distribution is misplaced.

ACB Service Final Closure

CERN Multimedia

IT Department

2004-01-01

As previously announced in CERN weekly Bulletin 18/2004 of 26th April 2004, and following a discussion at the Desktop Forum on 28th October, the Automatic Call Back (ACB) service will be definitely closed on Friday 10th December 2004. If the ACB phone number is dialed after that date over plain telephone or ISDN, the call will remain unanswered. Therefore, the remaining ACB users are encouraged to switch as soon as possible to ISPs (Internet Service Providers) which provide equivalent or better service. Some suggestions on how to make alternative arrangements have been made available on the Remote Access web site: http://www.cern.ch/ras IT Department

Moving Into Communities: Developing Cultural Competence with Pre-service Educators through Community Service-Learning Experiences