Discourse Analysis of Encouragement in Healthcare Manga

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuoka, Rieko; Smith, Ian; Uchimura, Mari

2011-01-01

This article examines how healthcare professionals use encouragement. Focusing on GAMBARU ["to try hard"], forty-one scenes were collected from healthcare manga. Each scene of encouragement was analyzed from three perspectives; the contextual background of the communication, the relationship with the patients and the patients' response…

An instructional intervention to encourage effective deep collaborative learning in undergraduate veterinary students.

Science.gov (United States)

Khosa, Deep K; Volet, Simone E; Bolton, John R

2010-01-01

In recent years, veterinary education has received an increased amount of attention directed at the value and application of collaborative case-based learning. The benefit of instilling deep learning practices in undergraduate veterinary students has also emerged as a powerful tool in encouraging continued professional education. However, research into the design and application of instructional strategies to encourage deep, collaborative case-based learning in veterinary undergraduates has been limited. This study focused on delivering an instructional intervention (via a 20-minute presentation and student handout) to foster productive, collaborative case-based learning in veterinary education. The aim was to instigate and encourage deep learning practices in a collaborative case-based assignment and to assess the impact of the intervention on students' group learning. Two cohorts of veterinary students were involved in the study. One cohort was exposed to an instructional intervention, and the other provided the control for the study. The instructional strategy was grounded in the collaborative learning literature and prior empirical studies with veterinary students. Results showed that the intervention cohort spent proportionally more time on understanding case content material than did the control cohort and rated their face-to-face discussions as more useful in achieving their learning outcomes than did their control counterparts. In addition, the perceived difficulty of the assignment evolved differently for the control and intervention students from start to end of the assignment. This study provides encouraging evidence that veterinary students can change and enhance the way they interact in a group setting to effectively engage in collaborative learning practices.

Use of the Encouragement Process in Adlerian Counseling

Science.gov (United States)

Dinkmeyer, Don C.

1972-01-01

Encouragement in all facets of the counseling interview is a critical ingredient in the counseling process. This article sets forth the theory and specific applications of the encouragement process in counseling, as viewed in the socio-teleological model. (Author)

Talking with TV shows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sandvik, Kjetil; Laursen, Ditte

2014-01-01

User interaction with radio and television programmes is not a new thing. However, with new cross-media production concepts such as X Factor and Voice, this is changing dramatically. The second-screen logic of these productions encourages viewers, along with TV’s traditional one-way communication...... mode, to communicate on interactive (dialogue-enabling) devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets. Using the TV show Voice as our example, this article shows how the technological and situational set-up of the production invites viewers to engage in new ways of interaction and communication...

Encouraging the Disuse of Illicit Drugs Among At-Risk Youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Chau-kiu; Ngai, Steven Sek-yum

2016-05-01

Youth at risk of illicit drug abuse and other delinquent acts are the target of social work services. Preventing or discouraging the use of illicit drugs among at-risk youth is a long-standing practical and research concern. For this reason, the preventive function of courage is a research gap the present study seeks to fill. The study collected data from 169 at-risk youths and their social workers with two-wave panel surveys. Results show that courage in Wave 1 presented a strong negative effect on illicit drug use in Wave 2 in the youth, controlling for illicit drug use in Wave 1 and background characteristics. Moreover, the negative effect was stronger when Wave 1 drug use was more likely. These results imply the helpfulness of encouraging at-risk youth to gather courage to resist the temptation to use illicit drugs. © The Author(s) 2014.

Encouraging the learning of hydraulic engineering subjects in agricultural engineering schools

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez Sinobas, Leonor; Sánchez Calvo, Raúl

2014-09-01

Several methodological approaches to improve the understanding and motivation of students in Hydraulic Engineering courses have been adopted in the Agricultural Engineering School at Technical University of Madrid. During three years student's progress and satisfaction have been assessed by continuous monitoring and the use of 'online' and web tools in two undergraduate courses. Results from their application to encourage learning and communication skills in Hydraulic Engineering subjects are analysed and compared to the initial situation. Student's academic performance has improved since their application, but surveys made among students showed that not all the methodological proposals were perceived as beneficial. Their participation in the 'online', classroom and reading activities was low although they were well assessed.

How "ought" exceeds but implies "can": Description and encouragement in moral judgment.

Science.gov (United States)

Turri, John

2017-11-01

This paper tests a theory about the relationship between two important topics in moral philosophy and psychology. One topic is the function of normative language, specifically claims that one "ought" to do something. Do these claims function to describe moral responsibilities, encourage specific behavior, or both? The other topic is the relationship between saying that one "ought" to do something and one's ability to do it. In what respect, if any, does what one "ought" to do exceed what one "can" do? The theory tested here has two parts: (1) "ought" claims function to both describe responsibilities and encourage people to fulfill them (the dual-function hypothesis); (2) the two functions relate differently to ability, because the encouragement function is limited by the person's ability, but the descriptive function is not (the interaction hypothesis). If this theory is correct, then in one respect "ought implies can" is false because people have responsibilities that exceed their abilities. But in another respect "ought implies can" is legitimate because it is not worthwhile to encourage people to do things that exceed their ability. Results from two behavioral experiments support the theory that "ought" exceeds but implies "can." Results from a third experiment provide further evidence regarding an "ought" claim's primary function and how contextual features can affect the interpretation of its functions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nursing Teaching Strategies by Encouraging Students’ Questioning, Argumentation and Explanation

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Dayse Neri de Souza

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Nursing students need to develop competences in the field of explanation, argumentation and questioning as they are pivotal to foster a relationship with their patients and achieve a greater humanisation of care. The objective of this paper is to analyse the perception of 1st-year nursing students with regard to the humanisation of care provided to patients by encouraging them to discuss real-life episodes. The study is qualitative and content analysis used the students’ questions, explanations and argumentation as core discourses. Among other conclusions, results point towards the importance of promoting activities that encourage the different nursing students’ discourses and the ability to understand the humanisation and dehumanisation patterns arising from the real-life episodes used as case study.

Using Discovery Learning to Encourage Creative Thinking

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Mardia Hi. Rahman

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Creative thinking ability development is needed to be implemented by every educator including lecturers to their students. Therefore, they need to seriously act and design their learning process. One of the ways to develop student’s creative thinking is using discovery learning model. This research is conducted in physics education study program in 2016 with students who took learning and teaching class as research subject. From the research analysis result and discussion, it can be concluded that discovery learning model can encourage students’ creative thinking ability in learning and teaching strategy subject.

Does Daylight Savings Time encourage physical activity?

Science.gov (United States)

Zick, Cathleen D

2014-07-01

Extending Daylight Savings Time (DST) has been identified as a policy intervention that may encourage physical activity. However, there has been little research on the question of if DST encourages adults to be more physically active. Data from residents of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah ages 18-64 who participated in the 2003-2009 American Time Use Survey are used to assess whether DST is associated with increased time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The analysis capitalizes on the natural experiment created because Arizona does not observe DST. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses indicate that shifting 1 hour of daylight from morning to evening does not impact MVPA of Americans living in the southwest. While DST may affect the choices people make about the timing and location of their sports/recreational activities, the potential for DST to serve as a broad-based intervention that encourages greater sports/recreation participation is not supported by this analysis. Whether this null effect would persist in other climate situations is an open question.

Educating for Critical Thinking: Thought-Encouraging Questions in a Community of Inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Golding, Clinton

2011-01-01

This paper presents one method for educating for critical thinking in Higher Education. It elaborates Richard Paul's method of Socratic questioning to show how students can learn to be critical thinkers. This method combines and uses the wider pedagogical and critical thinking literature in a new way: it emphasises a thinking-encouraging approach…

Encouraging Literacy for Personal Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Boody, Robert M.

2003-01-01

Considers that because literature can exert such a powerful hold on the imagination, certain works can be used to invite students to become more literate and to encourage students to take responsibility for their ongoing personal development. Notes that reading and other ways of learning are shown in fictional works of Louis L'Amour to be a rich…

A critical examination of factors that might encourage secrecy

Science.gov (United States)

Tough, Allen

If a signal is detected someday from extraterrestrial intelligence, several factors might encourage complete and immediate secrecy. As a result, all data might be restricted to the receiving facility or nation instead of being shared promptly with SETI scientists around the world. Seven factors seem particularly like to encourage secrecy: (1) the belief that people may panic; (2) the fear of a negative impact on religion, science, and culture; (3) embarrassment; (4) the individual and national competitive urge; (5) avoiding a harmful premature reply; (6) a national trade or military advantage; and (7) the fear of a Trojan Horse. Three steps might alleviate the particularly difficult factors (numbers 4, 5, 6): an international treaty for immediate sharing of possible signals with SETI scientists in several other countries; implementation and frequent use of an actual network of scientists for such sharing; and further study of the possible need for partial restriction of data about the location and channel of a suspected signal.

Science PhD career preferences: levels, changes, and advisor encouragement.

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Henry Sauermann

Full Text Available Even though academic research is often viewed as the preferred career path for PhD trained scientists, most U.S. graduates enter careers in industry, government, or "alternative careers." There has been a growing concern that these career patterns reflect fundamental imbalances between the supply of scientists seeking academic positions and the availability of such positions. However, while government statistics provide insights into realized career transitions, there is little systematic data on scientists' career preferences and thus on the degree to which there is a mismatch between observed career paths and scientists' preferences. Moreover, we lack systematic evidence whether career preferences adjust over the course of the PhD training and to what extent advisors exacerbate imbalances by encouraging their students to pursue academic positions. Based on a national survey of PhD students at tier-one U.S. institutions, we provide insights into the career preferences of junior scientists across the life sciences, physics, and chemistry. We also show that the attractiveness of academic careers decreases significantly over the course of the PhD program, despite the fact that advisors strongly encourage academic careers over non-academic careers. Our data provide an empirical basis for common concerns regarding labor market imbalances. Our results also suggest the need for mechanisms that provide PhD applicants with information that allows them to carefully weigh the costs and benefits of pursuing a PhD, as well as for mechanisms that complement the job market advice advisors give to their current students.

Science PhD career preferences: levels, changes, and advisor encouragement.

Science.gov (United States)

Sauermann, Henry; Roach, Michael

2012-01-01

Even though academic research is often viewed as the preferred career path for PhD trained scientists, most U.S. graduates enter careers in industry, government, or "alternative careers." There has been a growing concern that these career patterns reflect fundamental imbalances between the supply of scientists seeking academic positions and the availability of such positions. However, while government statistics provide insights into realized career transitions, there is little systematic data on scientists' career preferences and thus on the degree to which there is a mismatch between observed career paths and scientists' preferences. Moreover, we lack systematic evidence whether career preferences adjust over the course of the PhD training and to what extent advisors exacerbate imbalances by encouraging their students to pursue academic positions. Based on a national survey of PhD students at tier-one U.S. institutions, we provide insights into the career preferences of junior scientists across the life sciences, physics, and chemistry. We also show that the attractiveness of academic careers decreases significantly over the course of the PhD program, despite the fact that advisors strongly encourage academic careers over non-academic careers. Our data provide an empirical basis for common concerns regarding labor market imbalances. Our results also suggest the need for mechanisms that provide PhD applicants with information that allows them to carefully weigh the costs and benefits of pursuing a PhD, as well as for mechanisms that complement the job market advice advisors give to their current students.

Female Counselor Educators: Encouraging and Discouraging Factors in Academia

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Nicole R.; Leinbaugh, Tracy; Bradley, Carla; Hazler, Richard

2005-01-01

The current study explores the encouraging and discouraging factors influencing female counselor educators. This study asked 115 female counselor educators to rate each of 91 items as to how encouraging or discouraging each item was to them as faculty members. The means and standard deviations were calculated for each of the 91 items of the PMBCE.…

Encouraging environmentally strategic technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heaton, G.R.

1994-01-01

Having moved beyond its initial absorption with controlling new technology, environmental policy today must focus more strongly on promoting the development and adoption of new technologies. World Resource Institute's (WRI) ongoing study of 'environmentally strategic technology' is addressed to this fundamental policy issue. The study proposes criteria for identifying such technology, offers a specific list, suggests the kinds of public policy changes necessary to encourage their development and finally presents a comparison of critical technology lists (from the White House, the European Community, Japan and the US Department of Defense). (TEC)

Do markets encourage risk-seeking behaviour?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mengel, F.; Peeters, R.J.A.P.

2015-01-01

Excessive risk taking in markets can have devastating consequences as recent financial crises have high-lighted. In this paper we ask whether markets as an institution encourage such excessive risk taking. To establish causality, we isolate the effects of market interaction in a laboratory

Influence of Parental Encouragement towards Health Care of Their Wards

Science.gov (United States)

Sophia, R. Grace; Veliappan, A.

2015-01-01

The purpose of the present study is to explore how parents are encouraging towards health care of their wards. A "Survey Method" was used in the present study. A standardized "Agarwal Parental Encouragement Scale (APES)" was used to collect information from the students. The sample consists of thousand and ninety five higher…

Parental encouragement of initiative-taking and adjustment in Chinese children from rural, urban, and urbanized families.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xinyin; Li, Dan

2012-12-01

Due to the requirements of the competitive, market-oriented urban society, parents in urban and urbanized families are more likely than parents in rural families to encourage initiative-taking in child rearing in China. The socialization experiences of children from different types of families may be related to their adjustment. This study examined parental socialization attitudes, social and school adjustment, and their relations in Chinese children from rural, urban, and urbanized families. Participants were elementary school students (N = 1,033; M age = 11 years) and their parents in China. Data were obtained from parental reports, peer evaluations, teacher ratings, and school records. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that parents in urban and urbanized families had higher scores than parents in rural families on encouragement of initiative-taking. Urban children, particularly girls, were more sociable, obtained higher social status, and had fewer school problems than their rural counterparts. Children from urbanized families were different from rural children and similar to urban children in social and school adjustment. Moreover, multigroup invariance tests showed that parental encouragement of initiative-taking was associated more strongly with children's sociable-assertive behavior and social standing in the urban and urbanized groups than in the rural group. The results indicate that particular socialization attitudes may vary in their adaptive value in child development as a function of specific social and cultural requirements in changing societies. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Encouraging Creativity in the Science Lab

Science.gov (United States)

Eyster, Linda

2010-01-01

Although science is a creative endeavor (NRC 1996, p. 46), many students think they are not encouraged--or even allowed--to be creative in the laboratory. When students think there is only one correct way to do a lab, their creativity is inhibited. Park and Seung (2008) argue for the importance of creativity in science classrooms and for the…

Understanding how dogs encourage and motivate walking: cross-sectional findings from RESIDE

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C. Westgarth

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Many people live with dogs but not all walk with them regularly. This study examines the demographic and behavioural factors that contribute towards owners reporting having a strong sense of encouragement and motivation to walk provided by their dogs, which we call ‘the Lassie effect’. Methods Data was collected from 629 dog owners participating in the RESIDE cross-sectional survey in Perth, Western Australia. Multivariable logistic regression analyses of factors associated with two separate outcome survey items ‘Dog encouragement to walk’ (how often dog encouraged me to go walking in last month and ‘Dog motivation to walk’ (Having a dog makes me walk more. Results Owning a larger dog; having an increased level of attachment to dog; knowing dog enjoys going for a walk; believing walking keeps dog healthy; and having high social support from family to go walking, were positively associated with both outcomes ‘dog encouragement to walk’ and ‘dog motivation to walk’. Conversely, reporting the presence of children at home; that the child is the main person who walks with the dog; and perceiving dog-specific barriers to walking with dog daily; were negatively associated with both outcomes. In addition, ‘Dog motivation to walk’ only was positively associated with a belief walking reduces barking, and negatively with owning a dog that is overweight or a dog that is too old/sick. Reporting that the spouse/partner is main person who walks with the dog was also negatively associated with ‘dog motivation to walk’, as was increased perceived access to public open spaces with dog-supportive features. Conclusions There are both dog and owner factors that are associated with an owner’s sense of encouragement, and motivation to walk the dog, which in turn has been found to be associated with dog waking behaviour. These factors may be targeted in future interventions to increase and maintain physical activity

Reasons encouraging adolescents to take up smoking

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Orosova, Olga; Geckova, Andrea Madarasova; Bacikova-Sleskova, Maria; van Dijk, Jitse P.

2008-01-01

Aim: To understand adolescents' smoking behavior by analyzing retrospective self-ratings of the reasons encouraging them to take up smoking. Method: Participating in the study were 883 students (373 boys) of elementary and secondary schools in Kosice, Slovak Republic (74.9% of adolescents in the

Incentives to Encourage Scientific Web Contribution (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Antunes, A. K.

2010-12-01

We suggest improvements to citation standards and creation of remuneration opportunities to encourage career scientist contributions to Web2.0 and social media science channels. At present, agencies want to accomplish better outreach and engagement with no funding, while scientists sacrifice their personal time to contribute to web and social media sites. Securing active participation by scientists requires career recognition of the value scientists provide to web knowledge bases and to the general public. One primary mechanism to encourage participation is citation standards, which let a contributor improve their reputation in a quantifiable way. But such standards must be recognized by their scientific and workplace communities. Using case studies such as the acceptance of web in the workplace and the growth of open access journals, we examine what agencies and individual can do as well as the time scales needed to secure increased active contribution by scientists. We also discuss ways to jumpstart this process.

Stop Think: a simple approach to encourage the self-assessment of learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Guy, Richard; Byrne, Bruce; Dobos, Marian

2017-03-01

A simple "stop think" approach was developed to encourage the self-assessment of learning. A key element was the requirement for students to rate their feeling of difficulty before [FOD (pre) ] and after [FOD (post) ] completing each of three authentic anatomy and physiology concept map exercises. The cohort was divided into low- (group L) and high-performing (group H) groups (based on final subject marks). Both FOD (pre) (group L) and FOD (post) (groups L and H) were significantly negatively correlated with score for some maps. A comparison of FOD (pre) and FOD (post) showed that students changed their mind about difficulty in 58-70% of the completed maps. Students who changed their estimation were asked to provide explanatory comments, and an increase in difficulty was related to problems with map link generation. For students who found the maps easier, 40% of comments indicated that map generation prompted recall of information from memory. Both difficulty estimations and comments supported the contention that students were self-assessing their interaction with the concept maps. Group H was significantly older than group L, had significantly higher levels of deep strategic and deep motivational learning, and had significantly higher marks in two of three concept map exercises. Notwithstanding these differences, the results from the "stop think" approach were similar between groups, indicating that it may be appropriate for students of varying academic ability. It is suggested that "stop think" may be a useful approach to encourage student self-assessment, an important step in assisting self-regulated learning development. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Predictors of healthcare professionals' intention and behaviour to encourage physical activity in patients with cardiovascular risk factors

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Kok Gerjo

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Healthcare professionals can play a crucial role in optimizing the health status of patients with cardiovascular risk factors (abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol, elevated triglycerides and elevated blood glucose. In order to do this, it is imperative that we understand the social-cognitive determinants (including habits that underlie healthcare professionals' intention and the corresponding behavior of actually encouraging patients with cardiovascular risk factors to engage in physical activity. Methods In this longitudinal Professionals' Intention and Behavior (PIB study, healthcare professionals (N = 278, aged 20-61 years with approximately 60% having attained an education level exceeding bachelor's degree, types of healthcare professionals 60% in physiotherapy and 40% in nursing completed online surveys measuring the social-cognitive determinants of healthcare professionals' intention and the corresponding behavior of actually encouraging patients with cardiovascular risk factors to engage in physical activity. Results Social-cognitive determinants accounted for 41% (p We explored the congruence between healthcare professionals' intention to encourage patients and the self-reported behavior of encouraging patients. We found that intention and behavior were congruent in 39.7% of the healthcare professionals. Additionally, the intention to encourage and the corresponding behavior of encouraging was incongruent in 31.7% of the healthcare professionals. Conclusions In the prevention of cardiovascular disease, healthcare professionals' intention to encourage physical activity among patients and subsequent behavior of encouraging patients is important for the improvement of patients' cardiovascular risk profiles. We found that the intentions and self-reported behavior of healthcare professionals working with patients with cardiovascular risk factors can be predicted by social-cognitive determinants thus

Encouraging engagement in enabling programs: The students’ perspective

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Suzi Hellmundt

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Student retention is a key concern in tertiary education enabling programs with research showing that early engagement leads to higher completion rates (Hodges et al., 2013. But how do students new to university education learn how to engage effectively? This article outlines an engagement framework that foregrounds Guidance, Encouragement, Modelling and Structure (GEMS as a holistic approach to facilitating effective student engagement. This framework was developed from qualitative data gleaned from students enrolled in the Preparing for Success Program at Southern Cross University, New South Wales, Australia. The findings from the students indicate that the GEMS framework activates student potential and enables them to use existing knowledge and experience to not only deepen and broaden their learning but also successfully prepare for further study.

Gun Shows and Gun Violence: Fatally Flawed Study Yields Misleading Results

Science.gov (United States)

Hemenway, David; Webster, Daniel; Pierce, Glenn; Braga, Anthony A.

2010-01-01

A widely publicized but unpublished study of the relationship between gun shows and gun violence is being cited in debates about the regulation of gun shows and gun commerce. We believe the study is fatally flawed. A working paper entitled “The Effect of Gun Shows on Gun-Related Deaths: Evidence from California and Texas” outlined this study, which found no association between gun shows and gun-related deaths. We believe the study reflects a limited understanding of gun shows and gun markets and is not statistically powered to detect even an implausibly large effect of gun shows on gun violence. In addition, the research contains serious ascertainment and classification errors, produces results that are sensitive to minor specification changes in key variables and in some cases have no face validity, and is contradicted by 1 of its own authors’ prior research. The study should not be used as evidence in formulating gun policy. PMID:20724672

Encouraging leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) participation in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Encouraging leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) participation in children and youth: The use of strength training programmes to improve health. ... exercises, communities may begin to develop group strength training programmes for all ages.

Teaching statistics in an activity encouraging format

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Knypstra, S.

2009-01-01

In a statistics course for bachelor students in econometrics a new format was adopted in which students were encouraged to study more actively and in which cooperative learning and peer teaching was implemented. Students had to work in groups of two or three students where each group had to perform

Can Homeopathy Bring Additional Benefits to Thalassemic Patients on Hydroxyurea Therapy? Encouraging Results of a Preliminary Study

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Antara Banerjee

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Several homeopathic remedies, namely, Pulsatilla Nigricans (30th potency, Ceanothus Americanus (both mother tincture and 6th potency and Ferrum Metallicum (30th potency selected as per similia principles were administered to 38 thalassemic patients receiving Hydroxyurea (HU therapy for a varying period of time. Levels of serum ferritin (SF, fetal hemoglobin (HbF, hemoglobin (Hb, platelet count (PC, mean corpuscular volume (MCV, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH, white blood cell (WBC count, bilirubin content, alanine amino transferase (ALT, aspartate amino transferase (AST and serum total protein content of patients were determined before and 3 months after administration of the homeopathic remedies in combination with HU to evaluate additional benefits, if any, derived by the homeopathic remedies, by comparing the data with those of 38 subjects receiving only HU therapy. Preliminary results indicated that there was a significant decrease in the SF and increase in HbF levels in the combined, treated subjects. Although the changes in other parameters were not so significant, there was a significant decrease in size of spleen in most patients with spleenomegaly and improvement in general health conditions along with an increased gap between transfusions in most patients receiving the combined homeopathic treatment. The homeopathic remedies being inexpensive and without any known side-effects seem to have great potentials in bringing additional benefits to thalassemic patients; particularly in the developing world where blood transfusions suffer from inadequate screening and fall short of the stringent safety standards followed in the developed countries. Further independent studies are encouraged.

An Approach to Transmetatarsal Amputation to Encourage Immediate Weightbearing in Diabetic Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Canales, Michael B; Heurich, Maureen E; Mandela, Ashley M; Razzante, Mark C

Transmetatarsal amputation remains the standard treatment for the unsalvageable diabetic forefoot; however, this operation is often complicated by wound dehiscence, ulceration, and the need for additional surgery and tendon balancing. The technique described in the present report provides an uncomplicated suturing method for closure of a standard transmetatarsal amputation. A drill hole is created through the first, second, and fourth metatarsals, which facilitates added stability to the plantar flap of the residual metatarsals. The patients are encouraged to begin protected weightbearing as early as the first postoperative day. The security of the flap promotes immediate weightbearing, which could result in fewer postoperative complications of transmetatarsal amputations. Early weightbearing will not only encourage tendon rebalancing, but also could improve angiogenesis through capillary ingrowth. Copyright © 2017 American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using Emoticons to Encourage Students to Recycle

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Matthew D.; Trudel, Remi

2017-01-01

Uncovering inexpensive, simple techniques to encourage students to act in a pro-environmental manner is of critical importance. Through a four-week field study at a large, environmentally focused elementary school, it was found that placing negatively valenced emoticons (i.e., red frowny faces) on trash cans increased the proportion of recycled…

Small Business Taxation: Revamping Incentives to Encourage Growth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duanjie Chen

2011-05-01

Full Text Available This study adopts a new approach in assessing the impact of taxes on small business growth and suggests the need to consider new incentives that would be more effective in encouraging small business growth and would also improve the neutrality of the existing tax system. In recent years, federal and provincial governments have provided various corporate tax incentives to small businesses with the aim of helping them grow. While it is commonly believed that small businesses are responsible for most job creation, unfortunately the only study available has shown that while many small businesses are created, few grow. Yet many governments believe that the incentives are important even though little evidence supports the effectiveness of small business corporate concessions. Some provinces have actually eliminated corporate taxes on small businesses or reduced such taxes to a symbolic level (e.g., one to two percent without there being any empirical support in favour of the effectiveness of such actions. In contradiction to the widely held view that small business tax concessions encourage growth, such small business tax relief could actually be antithetical to growth by creating a “taxation wall.” First, it could result in the breakup of companies into smaller, less efficient-sized units in order to take advantage of tax benefits even if there are economic gains to growing in size. Second, it could encourage individuals to create small corporations in order to reduce their personal tax liabilities rather than grow companies. And third, it could lead to a “threshold effect” that holds back small business from growing beyond the official definition of “smallness,” regardless of the criteria for measuring size (e.g., the size of revenue or assets, or the number of employees. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of both corporate and personal taxes on the growth of small business and we focus in particular on the likely consequences of the

Applying Modern Stage Theory to Mauritania: A Prescription to Encourage Entrepreneurship

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-01

STAGE THEORY TO MAURITANIA: A PRESCRIPTION TO ENCOURAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP by Jennifer M. Warren December 2014 Thesis Advisor: Robert E...PRESCRIPTION TO ENCOURAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6. AUTHOR(S) Jennifer M. Warren 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval...a chapter in which Dr. Looney relates modern stage theory to emerging economies. With an understanding that entrepreneurship is key for sustained

76 FR 32880 - Encouraging New Markets Tax Credit Non-Real Estate Investments

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-07

... Encouraging New Markets Tax Credit Non-Real Estate Investments AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS... markets tax credit. Specifically, this document invites comments from the public on how the new markets tax credit program may be amended to encourage non-real estate investments. The regulations will...

78 FR 13604 - Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Encouragement of Science, Technology...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-28

..., either formal or informal, that encourage the pursuit of education and experience in the science..., programs or initiatives, either formal or informal, which encourage the pursuit of education and experience... Title I schools in order to enhance STEM education and programs; Making personnel available to advise...

Encouraging innovation in business relationships - A research note

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mooi, E.A.; Frambach, R.T.

2012-01-01

How do buyer-supplier relationships affect innovation? This study suggests that the relational exchange norms of flexibility, information sharing, and solidarity (the bright side) encourage buyer innovation. However, negative (dark side) aspects of relationships with suppliers-loss of supplier

Parental Encouragement in Relation to Academic Achievement of Higher Secondary School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, A. S. Arul; Barathi, C.

2016-01-01

Parental Encouragement refers to the general process undertaken by the parents to initiative and directs the behaviour of the children towards high academic achievement. The present study aims to probe the relationship between Parental Encouragement and Academic Achievement of Higher Secondary School Students. Survey method was employed and the…

Encouraging Realistic Expectations in STEM Students: Paradoxical Effects of a Motivational Intervention

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Nathan C. Hall

2016-07-01

Full Text Available College students in STEM disciplines are increasingly faced with highly competitive and demanding degree programs and are at risk of academic overconfidence. Following from theory and research highlighting the psychological and developmental risks of unrealistic expectations, the present exploratory study evaluated the longitudinal effects of a motivational intervention encouraging college students in STEM degree programs (N = 52 to consider the importance of downgrading one’s expectations in response to academic setbacks. Contrary to study hypotheses, the results showed intervention participants to report significantly higher expectations and optimism on post-test measures administered four months later, no significant gains in emotional well-being or achievement goal orientations, and lower GPAs over five subsequent semesters. These paradoxical effects underscore the need for additional larger-scale research on the nature of students’ responses to potentially ego-threatening motivational programs in STEM disciplines so as to minimize achievement deficits at the expense of preserving motivational resources.

Attentional bias modification encourages healthy eating.

Science.gov (United States)

Kakoschke, Naomi; Kemps, Eva; Tiggemann, Marika

2014-01-01

The continual exposure to unhealthy food cues in the environment encourages poor dietary habits, in particular consuming too much fat and sugar, and not enough fruit and vegetables. According to Berridge's (2009) model of food reward, unhealthy eating is a behavioural response to biased attentional processing. The present study used an established attentional bias modification paradigm to discourage the consumption of unhealthy food and instead promote healthy eating. Participants were 146 undergraduate women who were randomly assigned to two groups: one was trained to direct their attention toward pictures of healthy food ('attend healthy' group) and the other toward unhealthy food ('attend unhealthy' group). It was found that participants trained to attend to healthy food cues demonstrated an increased attentional bias for such cues and ate relatively more of the healthy than unhealthy snacks compared to the 'attend unhealthy' group. Theoretically, the results support the postulated link between biased attentional processing and consumption (Berridge, 2009). At a practical level, they offer potential scope for interventions that focus on eating well. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The ENCOURAGE ICT architecture for heterogeneous smart grids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Albano, Michele; Ferreira, Luis; Le Guilly, Thibaut

2013-01-01

The ENCOURAGE project aims at rationalizing energy usage in building by implementing a smart energy grid based on intelligent scheduling of energy consuming appliances, renewable energy production, and inter-building energy trading. This paper presents the reference architecture proposed in the c...

Colleges Use Peer Pressure To Encourage Healthy Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Reisberg, Leo

2000-01-01

Examines "social norms" marketing, an effort by several colleges and universities to encourage healthy student behaviors by countering perceptions of unhealthy "cool" behaviors and stressing the positive behaviors of "most" students. Examples of posters and other marketing strategies are from Virginia Commonwealth University, Gustavus Adolphus…

[Development of the Coparental Regulation Inventory and cross-sectional analysis of mothers' encouragement and criticism].

Science.gov (United States)

Kato, Michiyo; Kurosawa, Tai; Kamiya, Tetsuji

2014-02-01

We developed the Coparental Regulation Inventory to assess the regulatory behavior of the mothers in involving fathers with child rearing. We translated and modified the short form of the Parental Regulation Inventory (PRI) for Japanese couples in different stages of child rearing. An online questionnaire was conducted with mothers (n = 500) and fathers (n = 500) whose youngest child was less than 21-years-old. Exploratory factor analysis identified two factors, which were labeled "encouragement" and "criticism". The resulting Coparental Regulation Inventory (the modified PRI) had high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The construct validity of the scale was supported by its correlation with parenting alliance, marital satisfaction, and the father's involvement. These findings suggest that the scale is an adequate instrument for identifying the behaviors of mothers related to coparenting. In addition, we examined the frequency of encouragement and criticism used by the mother in relation to the child-rearing stage using cross-sectional analysis. In the mothers' reports, mothers with infants and children encouraged fathers more than mothers with early and late adolescents. Mothers with late adolescents criticized fathers less than mothers with infants. In the fathers' reports, mothers gave more encouragement to fathers who had infants than at any other age, whereas the child's age was not related to mothers' criticism perceived by the fathers.

Encouraging alternative transportation behavior among baby boomers via simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-01

Due to disruptions prompted by changing demographic patterns, aging infrastructure, and a : growing green culture New England states have been at the forefront of searching for options : to encourage sustainable transportation alternatives. How...

Talking with Young Children: How Teachers Encourage Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Test, Joan E.; Cunningham, Denise D.; Lee, Amanda C.

2010-01-01

In general, talking with young children encourages development in many areas: (1) spoken language; (2) early literacy; (3) cognitive development; (4) social skills; and (5) emotional maturity. Speaking with children in increasingly complex and responsive ways does this even better. This article explores research findings about the effects of…

Communication for the Purpose of Encouraging Gifted Students

Science.gov (United States)

Tatkovic, Nevenka; Ruzic, Maja; Dujmovic, Mauro

2005-01-01

This work starts with the theoretical definition of the conception of "talent"; then follows the explanation of the possibilities to identify and encourage talented pupils and students. Giftedness is regarded in terms of communication and interactive communication among the subjects of educational process. The attention is paid to the…

“Above all, we must train teachers to encourage their students”:ecouragement in theory and practice

OpenAIRE

Ainesmaa, S. (Susanna)

2015-01-01

Abstract This research is a deductive, theory-oriented, narrative research that studies the topic of encouragement which as a topic was born out of my own experiences of encouraging and discouraging teachers. Encouragement is generally expected of teachers, but during my studies I have not gained much practical knowledge on how to actually implement it. One of the goals was to find how encouragement is defined by different ...

Sharing Ideas: Tough Times Encourage Colleges to Collaborate

Science.gov (United States)

Fain, Paul; Blumenstyk, Goldie; Sander, Libby

2009-01-01

Tough times are encouraging colleges to share resources in a variety of areas, including campus security, research, and degree programs. Despite its veneer of cooperation, higher education is a competitive industry, where resource sharing is eyed warily. But the recession is chipping away at that reluctance, and institutions are pursuing…

Encouraging Reflexivity in Urban Geography Fieldwork: Study Abroad Experiences in Singapore and Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Glass, Michael R.

2014-01-01

Fieldwork in urban geography courses can encourage reflexivity among students regarding the cities they encounter. This article outlines how student reflexivity was encouraged within a new international field research course in Singapore and Malaysia. Drawing on examples from students' field exercises written during an intensive and occasionally…

The Relations of Parental Affect and Encouragement to Children's Moral Emotions and Behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Spinrad, Tracy L.; Losoya, Sandra H.; Eisenburg, Nancy; Fabes, Richard A.; Shepard, Stephanie A.; Cumberland, Amanda; Guthrie, Ivanna K.; Murphy, Bridget C.

1999-01-01

Explores the role of observed parental affect and encouragement in children's empathy-related responding and moral behavior, specifically cheating on a puzzle activity. Finds that (1) parents' affect and encouragement positively related to children's sympathy (not empathy) and (2) boys' cheating on the puzzle correlated to parents' affect and…

76 FR 39341 - Encouraging New Markets Tax Credit Non-Real Estate Investments; Correction

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-06

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Internal Revenue Service 26 CFR Part 1 [REG-114206-11] RIN 1545-BK21 Encouraging New Markets Tax Credit Non-Real Estate Investments; Correction AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service... how the new markets tax credit program may be amended to encourage non-real estate investments. FOR...

Encouraging Reflection and Critical Friendship in Preservice Teacher Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Branko Bognar

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Reflectivity is an important professional competence of contemporary teachers. In order to explore how to encourage students’ reflection, we conducted a two-year action research project impelling them to become mutual critical friends. For critical friendship communication and other project activities, we utilised Moodle – an online learning management system. On the basis of the analysed data that were gathered at the end of each action research cycle, we determined that the students felt comfortable in the role of critical friends and that critical friends’ reflections were particularly pleasant for them. They experienced the comments of their critical friends as friendly, encouraging, useful, specific, interesting, detailed, positive, professional and clear. The majority of students (91% think that the critical friendship discussion should be continued within the course Correlated-integrated systems in Croatian language teaching, and 85% of them suggest introducing this approach in other teachers’ education courses. We determined that the technical mode of reflective thinking prevails in the students’ correspondence. The practical or contextual level could rarely be observed while critical reflection was completely absent in 11 of 14 discussions. Reflective thinking of students (future teachers should be fostered from the beginning of their studies within various courses, particularly in the pedagogical and methodological ones. To encourage their students to be critically reflective, university teachers should embrace reflective thinking by becoming critically-reflective practitioners and conducting action research in their teaching practices.

Remark on receiving encouraging prize; Shoreisho jusho shokan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mizutani, Tomichika [Meji University, Tokyo (Japan)

1999-07-31

The 1998 fiscal year Japan Solar Energy Soc. encouraging prize is received this time, and it is really sure of thank you and this winning prize for future research activity with large encouragement, while research activity in the university becomes in the good commemoration. This study also put environmental problem in visual field oil crisis energy resource worldwide new, and it was noticed in the wave energy which was one of the natural energy, it was started. That the wave energy was noticed, when the research of various natural energy was advanced, Over 10 years, it is the idea which was produced by the process in which the mechanics laboratory studies the vibration problem, and it is regarded as connecting with present winning prize as a summing-up of research result kept since the front. In the keyword of 'new{exclamation_point}' it began to leave Mr.Taichi Matsuoka and cooperation of the science graduate student as a partner of the graduation thesis the research the present it was a start from the nothing as a thing of this type. It is negative to advance this study in which the failure was always given here, when the new work began, of Mr.Matsuoka of the passion for the research. Away from the research of the wave power generation, solar light and wind power generation are noticed a little, and I aim at the hybridization of the wave power generation, and the research is advanced. Therefore, the vibration-proof stage for installing sun and wind energy conversion system on the wave-power device at present has been designed. At the end, the gratitude is shown to the everybody who received the enthusiastic guidance for this study. (translated by NEDO)

Prescolar teacher's encouragement of the children's storytelling

OpenAIRE

Kokovnik, Veronika

2011-01-01

In my graduate thesis titled »Prescolar teacher's encouragement of the children's storytelling« I want to highlight the importance of the professional workers in kindergartens when it comes to the development of the children's way of thinking and their speech. With the adequate planning and practicing of the activities we have a great influence over children's language capacities; among them the children's capacities of the storytelling. In the theoretical part of the thesis I will focus o...

Providing earplugs to young adults at risk encourages protective behaviour in music venues.

Science.gov (United States)

Beach, Elizabeth Francis; Nielsen, Lillian; Gilliver, Megan

2016-06-01

For some young people, nightclubs and other music venues are a major source of noise exposure, arising from a combination of very high noise levels; relatively long attendance duration; and frequent, sustained participation over several years. Responsibility for hearing protection is largely left to individuals, many of whom choose not to wear earplugs. In order to encourage earplug use in these settings, a new approach is needed. The aim of the study was to examine whether presentation of hearing health information would result in increased use of earplugs, or whether provision of earplugs alone would be sufficient to change behaviour. A total of 51 regular patrons of music venues were allocated to either a low-information (lo-info) or high-information (hi-info) group. Both groups completed a survey about their current noise exposure, earplug usage and perceived risk of hearing damage. Both groups were also provided with one-size-fits-all filtered music earplugs. The hi-info group was also provided with audio-visual and written information about the risks of excessive noise exposure. After 4 weeks, and again after an additional 12 weeks, participants were asked about their recent earplug usage, intention to use earplugs in the future, and perceived risk of hearing damage. The results showed that after 4 weeks, the hi-info group's perceived personal risk of hearing damage was significantly higher than that of the lo-info group. After 16 weeks, these differences were no longer evident; however, at both 4 and 16 weeks, both the lo- and hi-info groups were using the earplugs equally often; and both groups intended to use earplugs significantly more often in the future. This suggests that the information was unnecessary to motivate behavioural change. Rather, the simple act of providing access to earplugs appears to have effectively encouraged young at-risk adults to increase their earplug use. © The Author(s) 2015.

Why should modified Atkins diet be encouraged for treating epilepsy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Why should modified Atkins diet be encouraged for treating epilepsy in emerging countries? Amal Satte, Eric Heath Kossoff, Mohamed Belghiti, Abderrahim Zerhouni, Hamid Ouhabi, Hassania Guerinech, Jamal Mounach ...

Maternal Encouragement to Approach Novelty: A Curvilinear Relation to Change in Anxiety for Inhibited Toddlers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiel, Elizabeth J; Premo, Julie E; Buss, Kristin A

2016-04-01

Various parenting behaviors (e.g., protection, intrusiveness, sensitivity) have been shown to impact young children's anxiety development, particularly for temperamentally inhibited children. These behaviors have sometimes predicted both increases and decreases in anxiety in inhibited children, suggesting that linear relations may not adequately model their influence. In the current study, we proposed the dimension of encouragement to approach novelty to characterize parenting behavior ranging from very little encouragement (i.e., protective behavior) to very strong encouragement (i.e., intrusiveness), with gentle encouragement residing in the middle. In a sample of 110 toddlers (48 female, 62 male) and their mothers, the linear and curvilinear effects of this parenting dimension were investigated in relation to change in child separation anxiety and shyness from age 2 to age 3. Inhibited temperament was also investigated as a moderator. Encouragement to approach novelty displayed the hypothesized curvilinear relation to change in separation anxiety, but not shyness, at extreme levels of inhibited temperament. Toddlers increased in separation anxiety when mothers' encouragement resided at either extreme end of the continuum, with lower child anxiety occurring when mothers displayed behavior closer to the middle of the continuum. Implications for the study of parenting outcomes for inhibited toddlers are discussed.

Four simple recommendations to encourage best practices in research software

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jiménez, Rafael C.; Kuzak, Mateusz; Alhamdoosh, Monther

2017-01-01

Scientific research relies on computer software, yet software is not always developed following practices that ensure its quality and sustainability. This manuscript does not aim to propose new software development best practices, but rather to provide simple recommendations that encourage...... the adoption of existing best practices. Software development best practices promote better quality software, and better quality software improves the reproducibility and reusability of research. These recommendations are designed around Open Source values, and provide practical suggestions that contribute...... to making research software and its source code more discoverable, reusable and transparent. This manuscript is aimed at developers, but also at organisations, projects, journals and funders that can increase the quality and sustainability of research software by encouraging the adoption...

Four simple recommendations to encourage best practices in research software.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez, Rafael C; Kuzak, Mateusz; Alhamdoosh, Monther; Barker, Michelle; Batut, Bérénice; Borg, Mikael; Capella-Gutierrez, Salvador; Chue Hong, Neil; Cook, Martin; Corpas, Manuel; Flannery, Madison; Garcia, Leyla; Gelpí, Josep Ll; Gladman, Simon; Goble, Carole; González Ferreiro, Montserrat; Gonzalez-Beltran, Alejandra; Griffin, Philippa C; Grüning, Björn; Hagberg, Jonas; Holub, Petr; Hooft, Rob; Ison, Jon; Katz, Daniel S; Leskošek, Brane; López Gómez, Federico; Oliveira, Luis J; Mellor, David; Mosbergen, Rowland; Mulder, Nicola; Perez-Riverol, Yasset; Pergl, Robert; Pichler, Horst; Pope, Bernard; Sanz, Ferran; Schneider, Maria V; Stodden, Victoria; Suchecki, Radosław; Svobodová Vařeková, Radka; Talvik, Harry-Anton; Todorov, Ilian; Treloar, Andrew; Tyagi, Sonika; van Gompel, Maarten; Vaughan, Daniel; Via, Allegra; Wang, Xiaochuan; Watson-Haigh, Nathan S; Crouch, Steve

2017-01-01

Scientific research relies on computer software, yet software is not always developed following practices that ensure its quality and sustainability. This manuscript does not aim to propose new software development best practices, but rather to provide simple recommendations that encourage the adoption of existing best practices. Software development best practices promote better quality software, and better quality software improves the reproducibility and reusability of research. These recommendations are designed around Open Source values, and provide practical suggestions that contribute to making research software and its source code more discoverable, reusable and transparent. This manuscript is aimed at developers, but also at organisations, projects, journals and funders that can increase the quality and sustainability of research software by encouraging the adoption of these recommendations.

Business Plan Competitions in Tertiary Institutions: Encouraging Entrepreneurship Education

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Roslyn; Atchison, Mary; Brooks, Robert

2008-01-01

The development of entrepreneurial skills and knowledge is a priority for governments that want to encourage an innovative and enterprising society. Furthermore, education institutions are becoming increasingly required by employers to produce graduates that have practical, real-world skills. Business plan competitions, although primarily aimed at…

Encouraging Reflection and Critical Friendship in Preservice Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Bognar, Branko; Krumes, Irena

2017-01-01

Reflectivity is an important professional competence of contemporary teachers. In order to explore how to encourage students' reflection, we conducted a two-year action research project impelling them to become mutual critical friends. For critical friendship communication and other project activities, we utilised Moodle--an online learning…

Partner relations in teaching as a factor encouraging learning and cognitive development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavlović Branka S.

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the role of partner relations established between teacher and student in encouraging learning and cognitive development. Partnership means a relationship where there exists equal mutual respect of partners. Learning is viewed as a construction process not as knowledge transmission and emphasis is placed on the importance of the "zone of subsequent development for asymmetric partner communication in the process of building up knowledge". Attention focuses on two methods of learning in the teaching process: teacher-student cooperative learning and modeling. Several forms of partner communication are analyzed: discussion, conversation in a circle and asking questions on the part of students. The importance of partnership in teaching is illustrated by the results of a host of contemporary investigations in the sphere of teaching and learning. The major implications of those investigations for teaching practice are as follows: creating relaxing and non-hierarchical atmosphere in the process of learning; teacher and student training for communication skills important for partner relations; teacher training for cooperative work with students and application of modeling; developing conditions for the emergence of situational interest in teaching; utilization of techniques for encouraging spontaneous and free students’ questions in teaching.

Educational technologies to encourage (self) care in postpartum women.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbosa, Eryjosy Marculino Guerreiro; Sousa, Albertina Antonielly Sydney de; Vasconcelos, Mardênia Gomes Ferreira; Carvalho, Rhanna Emanuela Fontenele Lima de; Oriá, Mônica Oliveira Batista; Rodrigues, Dafne Paiva

2016-06-01

to evaluate national and international literature regarding the use of educational technologies to encourage self care in postpartum women. an integrative review of the literature. The articles were collected from the CINAHL, SCOPUS, PubMed, SciELO, LILACS and Cochrane databases; the time period for the articles referred to January/2004 to July/2014; the languages used in the articles were Portuguese, English, Spanish and French; the articles were selected from the following descriptors: postpartum care period, educational technology, nursing and self care. Twenty-seven articles were selected for analysis Results: based on the information found, the scales, counseling and home visits were among the most recommended educational technologies. the technologies promote communication, but are sometimes dependent on computer and internet access, which hinder their use by low-income women.

D2.3 - ENCOURAGE platform reference architecture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ferreira, Luis Lino; Pinho, Luis Miguel; Albano, Michele

2012-01-01

documents produced in work package WP2, the framework for the detailed specification activities to be developed in the technical work packages of the project (WP3-WP6). In order to provide the required background for the ENCOURAGE platform reference, the document describes the most relevant standards...... and functionalities of the modules of the architecture logical blocks. Furthermore, the document defines the main interface standards to be used for interoperability. These functionalities and interfaces will then be specified in detail in work packages WP3-WP6. Finally, the document provides the mapping...

ENCOURAGING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, A TRAINING GUIDE FOR LOCAL WORKERS.

Science.gov (United States)

BIDDLE, LOUREIDE J.; BIDDLE, WILLIAM W.

THIS TRAINING GUIDE IS WRITTEN TO MEET THE NEEDS OF UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES TO WHICH THE PEACE CORPS, VISTA, CHURCHES, AND OTHER VOLUNTEER-USING AGENCIES TURN FOR HELP IN TRAINING THE NONPROFESSIONAL OR PREPROFESSIONAL LOCAL WORKER IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. THE LESSONS ARE DIRECTED TO THE "ENCOURAGER" WHO LIVES WITH THE PEOPLE PARTICIPATING IN…

Short-term effects of social encouragement on exercise behavior: insights from China's Wanbu network.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Liuan; Guo, Xitong; Wu, Tianshi; Lv, Lucheng; Zhang, Zhiwei

2017-07-01

The objective is to explore the short-term effects of social encouragement on exercise behavior in China. A longitudinal observational study. We collected longitudinal data on exercise and social interactions through public access to the Wanbu network, a large Chinese social network designed to encourage people to walk more. Our data set consisted of 5010 subjects who participated in the network between March 14, 2014, and September 4, 2015, and had at least one social interaction recorded. The data were analyzed using linear regression models relating the number of steps (NS) walked per day to the number of comments (NC), number of thumbs-up (NT), and number of posts (NP) received on the previous day, while adjusting for day of week, quarter of year, and a fixed or random subject effect, with or without a lag term (NS on the previous day) to account for serial correlation. We found that all three social interactions have positive effects on the next day's exercise level. The estimated effect sizes can be ordered as NT > NC > NP for each of the four models considered. The results also indicate that the participants walked less in the first quarter than in the other three quarters and more on weekdays than on weekends, with Monday being the most active day of a week. Social encouragement has positive short-term effects on exercise behavior. Copyright © 2017 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Why should modified Atkins diet be encouraged for treating epilepsy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Why should modified Atkins diet be encouraged for treating epilepsy in emerging countries? ... advantages, primarily that its efficacy appears in studies to date to be very ... important role in adapting the diet to local eating habits and finding ...

Exploring and encouraging through social interaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Adamsen, Lis; Rasmussen, Julie Midtgaard

2003-01-01

as a social networker and uses her contextual competence by consciously encouraging relationships between fellow patients. Furthermore, the study illustrates that the nurse's involvement with self-help groups for patients with cancer serves as a complementary dimension to the traditional nursing discourse....... It is concluded that when individualized care is supported through social practice and when personal issues are exchanged and negotiated, the nurse facilitates a milieu of togetherness in self-help groups for patients with cancer. The concept of self-help groups is a valuable contribution to new theories...... and service development in psychosocial care and complies with the understanding of the postmodern individual, who viewed as primarily responsible for negotiating, socializing, and making his or her own decisions....

Classroom Debates: Using Speed Rounds to Encourage Greater Participation

Science.gov (United States)

Treme, Julianne

2018-01-01

The primary obstacle that can derail the effectiveness of a debate is one in which few students are involved and all of the energy and learning is limited to a few students. This leaves the majority of students passively absorbing information and does not encourage participation among those students that typically do not talk in class. This quick…

Encouraging Family and Parent Education: Program Development and Evaluation in the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Landhäusser

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Against the background of a European-wide strategy of governance aimed at improving support for parents and families, the following report details the conceptualization and evaluation of a federal state program 4 in Baden-Württemberg (Germany which was launched in 2008 to encourage family and parent education. Two program components, a voucher system for parents with a new-born child and an element that emphasizes educational offers for families with special needs in particular living situations, were started to increase requests for educational courses. The aim was to establish and deepen cooperation between different public and private professional services that are in contact with parents and their children. The results show that main goals of the program were reached.

The software improvement process - tools and rules to encourage quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sigerud, K.; Baggiolini, V.

2012-01-01

The Applications section of the CERN accelerator controls group has decided to apply a systematic approach to quality assurance (QA), the 'Software Improvement Process' - SIP. This process focuses on three areas: the development process itself, suitable QA tools, and how to practically encourage developers to do QA. For each stage of the development process we have agreed on the recommended activities and deliverables, and identified tools to automate and support the task. For example we do more code reviews. As peer reviews are resource intensive, we only do them for complex parts of a product. As a complement, we are using static code checking tools, like FindBugs and Checkstyle. We also encourage unit testing and have agreed on a minimum level of test coverage recommended for all products, measured using Clover. Each of these tools is well integrated with our IDE (Eclipse) and give instant feedback to the developer about the quality of their code. The major challenges of SIP have been to 1) agree on common standards and configurations, for example common code formatting and Javadoc documentation guidelines, and 2) how to encourage the developers to do QA. To address the second point, we have successfully implemented 'SIP days', i.e. one day dedicated to QA work to which the whole group of developers participates, and 'Top/Flop' lists, clearly indicating the best and worst products with regards to SIP guidelines and standards, for example test coverage. This paper presents the SIP initiative in more detail, summarizing our experience since two years and our future plans. (authors)

Optimization programs of radiation protection applied to post-graduation and encouraging research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levy, Denise S.; Sordi, Gian Maria A.A.

2013-01-01

In 2011 we started the automation and integration of radiological protection optimization programs, in order to offer unified programs and inter-related information in Portuguese, providing Brazilian radioactive facilities a complete repository for research, consultation and information. The authors of this project extended it to postgraduate education, in order to encourage postgraduate students researches, expanding methods for enhancing student learning through the use of different combined resources, such as educational technology, information technology and group dynamics. This new methodology was applied in a postgraduate discipline at Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN), Brazil, in the postgraduate discipline entitled Fundamental Elements of Radiological Protection (TNA-5732). Students have six weeks to assimilate a complex content of optimization, considering national and international standards, guidelines and recommendations published by different organizations over the past decades. Unlike traditional classes, in which students receive prompt responses, this new methodology stimulates discussion, encouraging collective thinking processes and promoting ongoing personal reflection and researches. Case-oriented problem-solving permitted students to play different roles, promoting whole-group discussions and cooperative learning, approaching theory and practical applications. Students discussed different papers, published in international conferences, and their implications according to current standards. The automation of optimization programs was essential as a research tool during the course. The results of this experience were evaluated in two consecutive years. We had excellent results compared to the previous 14 years. The methodology has exceeded expectations and will be also applied in 2013 to ionizing radiation monitoring postgraduate classes. (author)

Curiosity Search: Producing Generalists by Encouraging Individuals to Continually Explore and Acquire Skills throughout Their Lifetime.

Science.gov (United States)

Stanton, Christopher; Clune, Jeff

2016-01-01

Natural animals are renowned for their ability to acquire a diverse and general skill set over the course of their lifetime. However, research in artificial intelligence has yet to produce agents that acquire all or even most of the available skills in non-trivial environments. One candidate algorithm for encouraging the production of such individuals is Novelty Search, which pressures organisms to exhibit different behaviors from other individuals. However, we hypothesized that Novelty Search would produce sub-populations of specialists, in which each individual possesses a subset of skills, but no one organism acquires all or most of the skills. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm called Curiosity Search, which is designed to produce individuals that acquire as many skills as possible during their lifetime. We show that in a multiple-skill maze environment, Curiosity Search does produce individuals that explore their entire domain, while a traditional implementation of Novelty Search produces specialists. However, we reveal that when modified to encourage intra-life behavioral diversity, Novelty Search can produce organisms that explore almost as much of their environment as Curiosity Search, although Curiosity Search retains a significant performance edge. Finally, we show that Curiosity Search is a useful helper objective when combined with Novelty Search, producing individuals that acquire significantly more skills than either algorithm alone.

Creating a board game for encouraging emotional intelligence

OpenAIRE

Galič, Kaja

2016-01-01

The main focus of this thesis is on creating a board game for encouraging emotional intelligence of children in early childhood. Game is based on the Four-Branch Model which was proposed by Mayer and Salovey (1997). Board game covers emotional skills, which include the abilities to perceive emotions in oneself and other, to use emotions, to understand emotions and to manage emotions. Game was tested in Kindergarten Ledina Ljubljana and Kindergarten Mavrica Brežice. 57 children, aged five and ...

Encouraging creativity and employability skills in undergraduate microbiologists.

Science.gov (United States)

Verran, Joanna

2010-02-01

Key skills such as communication and critical thinking are essential for today's microbiology graduate. There are many opportunities within the undergraduate curriculum to help students to use, develop and appreciate their own unique set of skills. This article describes personal experiences of research-led teaching at Manchester Metropolitan University (UK) which have been used successfully to encourage creativity and other employability skills in both large and smaller classroom settings, and through individual student project work. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Whistleblowing: Don’t Encourage It, Prevent It

Science.gov (United States)

MacDougall, D. Robert

2016-01-01

In a recent article, Mannion and Davies argue that there are a multitude of ways in which organizations (such as the National Health Service [NHS]) can deal with wrongdoing or ethical problems, including the formation of policies that encourage and protect would-be whistleblowers. However, it is important to distinguish internal reporting about wrongdoing from whistleblowing proper, because the two are morally quite different and should not be dealt with in the same way. This article argues that we should not understand the authors’ conclusions to apply to "whistleblowing" proper, because their recommended approach would be both unfeasible and undesirable for addressing whistleblowing defined in this way. PMID:26927590

Encouraging Students to Consider Music Education as a Future Profession

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, Ann M.; Payne, Phillip D.; Burrack, Frederick W.; Fredrickson, William E.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes, communication, and opportunities provided by music teachers to encourage consideration of the music teaching profession. Survey participants (N = 436) were music educators from the Southeast (235), Midwest (51), and Southwest (149) National Association for Music Education regions of the…

Earthworms, Stamps and Butterfly Wings: Encouraging Children's Interests and Collections.

Science.gov (United States)

McGreevy, Ann

2000-01-01

This article examines the importance of encouraging children's interests and the pursuit of collections and hobbies as strategies for developing talent and abilities. Excerpts are cited from eminent people's lives as examples of early interests/collections and eventual success. Letters from children on their collections are included. (Contains…

Does Encouragement by Others Increase Rape Reporting? Findings from a National Sample of Women

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Lisa A.; Zinzow, Heidi M.; McCauley, Jenna L.; Kilpatrick, Dean G.; Resnick, Heidi S.

2014-01-01

Our study explores the role of victims' consultation with others about whether or not to report their rape to police. Three groups were observed within this sample of 435 rape victims from a national telephone household probability sample of women: those who did not consult with anyone about reporting (n = 364), those who consulted with someone and were encouraged to report to police (n = 40), and those who consulted with someone and were not encouraged to report (n = 31). Descriptive analyses indicated that the encouraged group was more likely to report to police than either of the other two groups (which did not differ from each other). Because there were no differences between the two consulting groups on demographic or rape-related variables, they were combined in subsequent analyses. Consulting with others about whether to report, peri-traumatic fear of injury or death, assault perpetration by a stranger, and concerns about contracting a sexually transmitted disease were significant predictors of reporting to police after controlling for other significant predictors in a multivariate regression analysis. Implications of these findings are discussed, including the benefits and consequences of formal rape reporting for victims, and the role that disclosure recipients may have in assisting victims post-rape (e.g., encouragement of reporting, emotional support). PMID:25431519

Testing Delays Resulting in Increased Identification Accuracy in Line-Ups and Show-Ups.

Science.gov (United States)

Dekle, Dawn J.

1997-01-01

Investigated time delays (immediate, two-three days, one week) between viewing a staged theft and attempting an eyewitness identification. Compared lineups to one-person showups in a laboratory analogue involving 412 subjects. Results show that across all time delays, participants maintained a higher identification accuracy with the showup…

Sauerbraten, Rotkappchen und Goethe: The Quiz Show as an Introduction to German Studies.

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White, Diane

1980-01-01

Proposes an adaptation of the quiz-show format for classroom use, discussing a set of rules and sample questions designed for beginning and intermediate German students. Presents questions based on German life and culture which are especially selected to encourage participation from students majoring in subjects other than German. (MES)

Electronic voting to encourage interactive lectures: a randomised trial

Science.gov (United States)

2007-01-01

Background Electronic Voting Systems have been used for education in a variety of disciplines. Outcomes from these studies have been mixed. Because results from these studies have been mixed, we examined whether an EVS system could enhance a lecture's effect on educational outcomes. Methods A cohort of 127 Year 5 medical students at the University of Adelaide was stratified by gender, residency status and academic record then randomised into 2 groups of 64 and 63 students. Each group received consecutive 40-minute lectures on two clinical topics. One group received the EVS for both topics. The other group received traditional teaching only. Evaluation was undertaken with two, 15-question multiple-choice questionnaires (MCQ) assessing knowledge and problem solving and undertaken as a written paper immediately before and after the lectures and repeated online 8–12 weeks later. Standardised institutional student questionnaires were completed for each lecture and independent observers assessed student behaviour during the lectures. Lecturer's opinions were assessed by a questionnaire developed for this study. Results Two-thirds of students randomised to EVS and 59% of students randomised to traditional lectures attended. One-half of the students in the EVS group and 41% in the traditional group completed all questionnaires. There was no difference in MCQ scores between EVS and traditional lectures (p = 0.785). The cervical cancer lectures showed higher student ranking in favour of EVS in all parameters. The breast cancer lectures showed higher ranking in favour of traditional lectures in 5 of 7 parameters (p lecturer-students interactions were increased in the EVS lecture for one lecturer and reduced for the other. Both lecturers felt that the EVS lectures were difficult to prepare, that they were able to keep to time in the traditional lectures, that the educational value of both lecture styles was similar, and that they were neutral-to-slightly favourably disposed

How do markets encourage the adoption of sustainable practices? The role of institutional innovation in developing countries.

OpenAIRE

Loconto , Allison Marie; Vicovaro , Marcello; Santacoloma , Pilar; Poisot , Anne Sophie

2016-01-01

How do markets encourage the adoption of sustainable practices? The role of institutional innovation in developing countries.; How do markets encourage the adoption of sustainable practices? The role of institutional innovation in developing countries.

Scholarships for scientific initiation encourage post-graduation degree.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinto, Gabriela S; Nascimento, Gustavo G; Mendes, Matheus S; Ogliari, Fabrício A; Demarco, Flávio F; Correa, Marcos B

2014-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate the factors associated with the decision to attend an academic post-graduation program by dental students. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2012, last-year undergraduate students from Dental Schools of Southern Brazil. A closed questionnaire was applied including questions grouped in three different blocks: pre-graduate, undergraduate period and future perspectives. The outcome was the decision to pursuit an academic post-graduation degree. Associations were tested using chi-squared test and chi-squared test for linear trends when appropriate. Multivariate Poisson regression was also performed. The sample was composed by 671 students (response rate of 69.9%, n=467). In relation to future perspectives, 68% of the interviewed students intended to attend a post-graduation program, but only 17.5% would choose a program with academic and research post-graduation program (Master and PhD programs). In the final model, students from public universities (PR 2.08, 95%CI 1.41-3.08) and students that received scientific initiation scholarship (PR 1.93 95%CI 1.14-3.27) presented a twice greater prevalence to seek academic post-graduate programs. Students with higher family incomes showed a lower prevalence to seek these programs (PR 0.50, 95%IC 0.28-0.90). Scholarships seem to encourage undergraduate students to pursue stricto sensu post-graduation.

Green Team Hosts Plant Swap to Encourage Gardening | Poster

Science.gov (United States)

By Carolynne Keenan, Contributing Writer What started out as a way for Howard Young, Ph.D., to thin out his garden last fall turned into the NCI at Frederick Green Team’s Plant Swap. The group held its Fall Plant Swap on October 24, encouraging all members of the Fort Detrick community to pick up a free plant or swap a plant of theirs for another. “Those who love to garden

77 FR 74625 - Policy To Encourage Trial Disclosure Programs; Information Collection

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-17

... BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION 12 CFR Chapter X [Docket No. CFPB-2012-0046] Policy To Encourage Trial Disclosure Programs; Information Collection AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection... Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) invites the general public and other Federal agencies to...

Towards an Applied Gamification Model for Tracking, Managing, & Encouraging Sustainable Travel Behaviours

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon Wells

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper we introduce a gamification model for encouraging sustainable multi-modal urban travel in modern European cities. Our aim is to provide a mechanism that encourages users to reflect on their current travel behaviours and to engage in more environmentally friendly activities that lead to the formation of sustainable, long-term travel behaviours. To achieve this our users track their own behaviours, set goals, manage their progress towards those goals, and respond to challenges. Our approach uses a point accumulation and level achievement metaphor to abstract from the underlying specifics of individual behaviours and goals to allow an extensible and flexible platform for behaviour management. We present our model within the context of the SUPERHUB project and platform.

Is frequency of family meals associated with parental encouragement of healthy eating among ethnically diverse eighth graders?

Science.gov (United States)

Poulos, Natalie S; Pasch, Keryn E; Springer, Andrew E; Hoelscher, Deanna M; Kelder, Steven H

2014-05-01

The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between family meals and parental encouragement of healthy eating overall and by ethnicity. Family meal frequency was measured with one item asking how many times in the past 7 d all or most of the family ate a meal together, which was then categorized to represent three levels of family meals (≤2 times, 3-6 times and ≥7 times). Parental encouragement of healthy eating assessed how often parents encouraged the student to eat fruits and vegetables, drink water, eat wholegrain bread, eat breakfast and drink low-fat milk (never to always). An overall scale of parental encouragement of healthy eating was created. Mixed-effect regression analyses were run controlling for gender, ethnicity, age and socio-economic status. Moderation by ethnicity was explored. Middle schools. Participants included 2895 US eighth grade students participating in the Central Texas CATCH (Coordinated Approach To Child Health) Middle School Project (mean age 13·9 years; 24·5 % White, 52·7 % Hispanic, 13·0 % African-American, 9·8 % Other; 51·6 % female). Eating more family meals was significantly associated with having parents who encouraged healthy eating behaviours (P for trend eating behaviours (P for trend eat together are more likely to encourage healthy eating in general. Interventions which promote family meals may include tips for parents to increase discussions about healthy eating.

Associations Between Parent-Perceived Neighborhood Safety and Encouragement and Child Outdoor Physical Activity Among Low-Income Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicksic, Nicole E; Salahuddin, Meliha; Butte, Nancy F; Hoelscher, Deanna M

2018-05-01

A growing body of research has examined the relationship between perceived neighborhood safety and parental encouragement for child physical activity (PA), yet these potential predictors have not been studied together to predict child outdoor PA. The purpose of this study is to examine these predictors and parent- and child-reported child outdoor PA. The Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration study collected data from fifth-grade students attending 31 elementary schools across Austin and Houston and their parents (N = 748 parent-child dyads). Mixed-effects linear and logistic regressions stratified by gender and adjusted for sociodemographic covariates assessed associations among parental-perceived neighborhood safety, parental encouragement for child's outdoor PA, and parent- and child-reported child's outdoor PA. Parental-perceived neighborhood safety was significantly associated with encouraging outdoor PA (P = .01) and child-reported child's outdoor PA in boys, but not in girls. Significant associations were found between parental encouragement and child-reported outdoor PA for girls (P < .05) and parent-reported outdoor PA (P < .01) for boys and girls. Parent encouragement of PA and neighborhood safety are potential predictors of child outdoor PA and could be targeted in youth PA interventions.

What do US and Canadian parents do to encourage or discourage physical activity among their 5-12 Year old children?

Science.gov (United States)

Tu, Andrew W; O'Connor, Teresia M; Beauchamp, Mark R; Hughes, Sheryl O; Baranowski, Tom; Mâsse, Louise C

2017-12-01

Parents have the potential to substantively influence their child's physical activity. This study identified the parenting practices of US and Canadian parents to encourage or discourage their 5-12 year-old child's physical activity and to examine differences in parenting practices by country, parental sex, age of child, and income. The sample consisted of 134 US and Canadian parents (54.5% US; 60.4% female) recruited from a web-based panel by a polling firm. The parents answered open-ended questions about what they and other parents do to encourage or discourage their child to be active. Responses were coded using a scheme previously developed to code items used in the published literature. Coded responses were summarized by domain and dimension with differences in responses by country, parental sex, age of child, or household income assessed with a log-linear analysis. The 134 parents provided 649 and 397 responses to ways that parents encourage or discourage their child's physical activity, respectively. Over 70% of responses for practices that encourage physical activity were related to structure of the environment, parental encouragement, and co-participation. The most common response was co-participation in activity with the child. Of the practices that discourage physical activity, 67% were related to structure of the environment, lack of parental control, and modeling poor behaviors. The most common response was allowing screen time. There were no differences in response by country, parental sex, child age, or household income. Parents most often encouraged physical activity through structure and emotional support and discouraged physical activity through lack of structure and control. Understanding how parents influence their child's physical activity may help improve intervention strategies. The current results will inform the development of a physical activity parenting practices instrument.

[The role of the nurse in encouraging compliance in dialysis patients].

Science.gov (United States)

Lethuillier, Valérie

2010-05-01

The impact of starting dialysis on patients with renal failure requires nurses to draw on their educational, pedagogical and interpersonal skills. It is important to monitor the patients in their daily lives to support them and encourage them to comply with their prescribed therapy.

William L. Wolfe, 1989 President of SPIE, encourages scientists from Eastern Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Schmit, Joanna

2012-10-01

In 1990 Professor Wolfe after his SPIE presidency trekked the world, even making it as far as post-communist Poland, to see (in the visible and maybe in infrared - who knows) the work of optical scientists hidden behind the iron curtain. I am not sure if he was ready for how different that world was at this time, but for sure he was very inquisitive and eager to learn about the nuances of Poland right after the fall of communism. He met, visited with and encouraged young and old scientists from Poland, Russia, Hungary and Lithuania to add their expertise to the scientific conversations happening in the West. His mission in Poland was to invite us all, and he was ready to help us achieve our dreams. I was one of those he encouraged. This talk is my personal reflection of Professor Wolfe as an encouraging and sometimes brave SPIE pioneer - a stranger in a strange land - and as an energetic, caring SPIE president, Optical Sciences professor and human being. Disclaimer: Professor Bill Wolfe's contributions to the field of radiometry are well known and very well recognized. This conference is a tribute to him. However, my paper is not on radiometry; rather, I wish to illustrate the adventurous, caring and positive Bill Wolfe that helped me find my way to the American desert Southwest.

Teaching about Designer Babies and Genetically Modified Foods: Encouraging the Teaching of Biotechnology in Secondary Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Leslie, Glenda; Schibecci, Renato

2006-01-01

Biotechnology is a cutting edge science/technology which impacts the community in many ways. For this and other reasons, it is important we encourage teachers to include biotechnology in the science curriculum. First, however, we need to know what hinders and encourages teachers. We surveyed the views of 88 high school science teachers. The …

Encouraging Engagement in Water Conservation: Can Trust from Extension Create Change?

Science.gov (United States)

McKee, Brandon H.; Lamm, Alexa J.; Bunch, J. C.

2017-01-01

Extension educators seek to provide scientific research and perspective to farmers and the public. The connection that Extension educators foster between farmers and consumers can be capitalized upon to build trust and ultimately encourage behavior change through social capital. Agricultural educators have recognized the need for consumers and…

Encouraging Student Reflection and Articulation Using a Learning Companion: A Commentary

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Bradley; Linton, Frank; Gaimari, Robert

2016-01-01

Our 1998 paper "Encouraging Student Reflection and Articulation using a Learning Companion" (Goodman et al. 1998) was a stepping stone in the progression of learning companions for intelligent tutoring systems (ITS). A simulated learning companion, acting as a peer in an intelligent tutoring environment ensures the availability of a…

Just-in-Time Technology to Encourage Incremental, Dietary Behavior Change

OpenAIRE

Intille, Stephen S.; Kukla, Charles; Farzanfar, Ramesh; Bakr, Waseem

2003-01-01

Our multi-disciplinary team is developing mobile computing software that uses “just-in-time” presentation of information to motivate behavior change. Using a participatory design process, preliminary interviews have helped us to establish 10 design goals. We have employed some to create a prototype of a tool that encourages better dietary decision making through incremental, just-in-time motivation at the point of purchase.

Just-in-Time Technology to Encourage Incremental, Dietary Behavior Change

Science.gov (United States)

Intille, Stephen S.; Kukla, Charles; Farzanfar, Ramesh; Bakr, Waseem

2003-01-01

Our multi-disciplinary team is developing mobile computing software that uses “just-in-time” presentation of information to motivate behavior change. Using a participatory design process, preliminary interviews have helped us to establish 10 design goals. We have employed some to create a prototype of a tool that encourages better dietary decision making through incremental, just-in-time motivation at the point of purchase. PMID:14728379

Biocarburants : la Commission propose d’encourager leur utilisation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vermeersch Georges

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Depuis longtemps, la Commission, le Parlement et le Conseil encouragent le développement des sources d’énergie renouvelables, et plus particulièrement des biocarburants. Cela s’est traduit, entre autres, par la publication en novembre 2000 d’un livre vert intitulé « Vers une stratégie européenne de sécurité d’approvisionnement énergétique », qui fixe comme objectif, d’ici 2020, le remplacement de 20% des carburants classiques par des carburants de substitution pour le transport routier. Plus récemment, en juin 2001, au sommet de Göteborg, a été souligné le rôle important des biocarburants dans la lutte contre le changement climatique et le développement des énergies propres. Ces encouragements restaient au niveau de la déclaration d’intention faute de moyens administratifs et fiscaux pour bâtir une véritable stratégie. Depuis le 7 novembre 2001, les choses semblent évoluer : en effet, à cette date, le collège des Commissaires a adopté une communication sur les carburants de substitution pour les transports routiers et une série de mesures visant à promouvoir l’utilisation des biocarburants. De plus - et c’est ce qui est fondamental - cette communication était assortie de deux propositions de directives, l’une visant à promouvoir l’utilisation des biocarburants dans les transports, l’autre concernant la possibilité d’appliquer un taux d’accises réduit sur certaines huiles minérales qui contiennent des biocarburants et sur les biocarburants.

To burn or not to burn: use of computer-enhanced stimuli to encourage application of sunscreens.

Science.gov (United States)

Novick, M

1997-08-01

Skin cancer affects 515,000 Americans every year, causing more than 7,000 deaths. Prior studies attempted, with scant success, to increase general knowledge about protection of the skin and to encourage use of sunscreens. The failure was attributed to the allure of the suntan as a symbol of health and affluence and to the "optimistic bias" (belief in one's own invulnerability) displayed by sunbathers. The study detailed here sought to increase the use by subjects of sunscreen by showing computer-altered images of their own faces, aged and disfigured by lesions. That stimulus was designed to counter false impressions and illusions of sunbathers about the benefits of the sun by demonstrating, immediately and personally, negative effects of sun exposure. Data were collected from thirty adolescents in the form of six weekly logs of sunscreen use and time spent outdoors between 10 AM and 3 PM. Results showed that the computer-altered images motivated increased use of sunscreen in the short term: subjects in the experimental groups used sunscreen almost three times as frequently as those in the control group during the experimental period (P = 0.000). Images of aging and disfiguring by lesions produced a more intense and prolonged modification in behavior than images of aging only.

Patenting and the gender gap: should women be encouraged to patent more?

Science.gov (United States)

de Melo-Martín, Inmaculada

2013-06-01

The commercialization of academic science has come to be understood as economically desirable for institutions, individual researchers, and the public. Not surprisingly, commercial activity, particularly that which results from patenting, appears to be producing changes in the standards used to evaluate scientists' performance and contributions. In this context, concerns about a gender gap in patenting activity have arisen and some have argued for the need to encourage women to seek more patents. They believe that because academic advancement is mainly dependent on productivity (Stuart and Ding in American Journal of Sociology 112:97-144, 2006; Azoulay et al. in Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 63:599-623, 2007), differences in research output have the power to negatively impact women's careers. Moreover, in the case of patenting activity, they claim that the gender gap also has the potential to negatively affect society. This is so because scientific and technological advancement and innovation play a crucial role in contemporary societies. Thus, women's more limited involvement in the commercialization of science and technology can also be detrimental to innovation itself. Nevertheless, calls to encourage women to patent on grounds that such activity is likely to play a significant role in the betterment of both women's careers and society seem to be based on two problematic assumptions: (1) that the methods to determine women's productivity in patenting activities are an appropriate way to measure their research efforts and the impact of their work, and (2) that patenting, particularly in academia, benefits society. The purpose of this paper is to call into question these two assumptions.

Encouraging Lifelong Healthy Habits for a Positive Body Image in Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Christine

This article discusses issues related to body image in adolescents, explaining what school practitioners can do to encourage lifelong healthy habits that enhance body image. Body image is the picture of physical self carried in the mind's eye. This impression can have little resemblance to how a teen actually looks. Body image culturalization is…

The impact of tax reforms designed to encourage healthier grain consumption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordström, Leif Jonas; Thunström, Linda

2009-01-01

In this paper, we simulate the effects of tax reforms aimed at encouraging healthier grain consumption. We use a rich data set on household grain consumption in 2003 from the market research institute GfK Sweden, combined with information on the nutritional content of the consumption.We estimate...... behavioral parameters, which are used to simulate the impact on the average household of tax reforms entailing either a subsidy on commodities particularly rich in fiber or a subsidy of the fiber density in grain products. Our results suggest that to direct the fiber intake towards nutritional...... recommendations, reforms with a substantial impact on consumer prices are required. Regardless of the type of subsidy implemented, the increase in the intake of fiber is accompanied by unwanted increases in nutrients that are often overconsumed: fat, salt and sugar. Funding the subsidies by taxing these nutrients...

The impact of tax reforms designed to encourage healthier grain consumption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordström, Leif Jonas; Thunström, Linda

2009-01-01

In this paper, we simulate the effects of tax reforms aimed at encouraging healthier grain consumption. We use a rich data set on household grain consumption in 2003 from the market research institute GfK Sweden, combined with information on the nutritional content of the consumption. We estimate...... behavioral parameters, which are used to simulate the impact on the average household of tax reforms entailing either a subsidy on commodities particularly rich in fiber or a subsidy of the fiber density in grain products. Our results suggest that to direct the fiber intake towards nutritional...... recommendations, reforms with a substantial impact on consumer prices are required. Regardless of the type of subsidy implemented, the increase in the intake of fiber is accompanied by unwanted increases in nutrients that are often overconsumed: fat, salt and sugar. Funding the subsidies by taxing these nutrients...

Positive expectations encourage generalization from a positive intergroup interaction to outgroup attitudes.

Science.gov (United States)

Deegan, Matthew P; Hehman, Eric; Gaertner, Samuel L; Dovidio, John F

2015-01-01

The current research reveals that while positive expectations about an anticipated intergroup interaction encourage generalization of positive contact to outgroup attitudes, negative expectations restrict the effects of contact on outgroup attitudes. In Study 1, when Blacks and Whites interacted with positive expectations, interaction quality predicted outgroup attitudes to a greater degree than when groups interacted with negative expectations. When expectations (Studies 2 and 3) and the actual interaction quality (Study 4) were manipulated orthogonally, negative expectations about the interaction predicted negative outgroup attitudes, regardless of actual interaction quality. By contrast, participants holding positive expectations who experienced a positive interaction expressed positive outgroup attitudes, whereas when they experienced a negative interaction, they expressed outgroup attitudes as negative as those with negative expectations. Across all four studies, positive expectations encouraged developing outgroup attitudes consistent with interaction quality. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Common Genetic Risk for Melanoma Encourages Preventive Behavior Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lori Diseati

2015-02-01

Full Text Available There is currently great interest in using genetic risk estimates for common disease in personalized healthcare. Here we assess melanoma risk-related preventive behavioral change in the context of the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC. As part of on-going reporting activities within the project, participants received a personalized risk assessment including information related to their own self-reported family history of melanoma and a genetic risk variant showing a moderate effect size (1.7, 3.0 respectively for heterozygous and homozygous individuals. Participants who opted to view their report were sent an optional outcome survey assessing risk perception and behavioral change in the months that followed. Participants that report family history risk, genetic risk, or both risk factors for melanoma were significantly more likely to increase skin cancer preventive behaviors when compared to participants with neither risk factor (ORs = 2.04, 2.79, 4.06 and p-values = 0.02, 2.86 × 10−5, 4.67 × 10−5, respectively, and we found the relationship between risk information and behavior to be partially mediated by anxiety. Genomic risk assessments appear to encourage positive behavioral change in a manner that is complementary to family history risk information and therefore may represent a useful addition to standard of care for melanoma prevention.

Encouraging primary care research: evaluation of a one-year, doctoral clinical epidemiology research course.

Science.gov (United States)

Liira, Helena; Koskela, Tuomas; Thulesius, Hans; Pitkälä, Kaisu

2016-01-01

Research and PhDs are relatively rare in family medicine and primary care. To promote research, regular one-year research courses for primary care professionals with a focus on clinical epidemiology were started. This study explores the academic outcomes of the first four cohorts of research courses and surveys the participants' perspectives on the research course. An electronic survey was sent to the research course participants. All peer-reviewed scientific papers published by these students were retrieved by literature searches in PubMed. Primary care in Finland. A total of 46 research course participants who had finished the research courses between 2007 and 2012. Of the 46 participants 29 were physicians, eight nurses, three dentists, four physiotherapists, and two nutritionists. By the end of 2014, 28 of the 46 participants (61%) had published 79 papers indexed in PubMed and seven students (15%) had completed a PhD. The participants stated that the course taught them critical thinking, and provided basic research knowledge, inspiration, and fruitful networks for research. A one-year, multi-professional, clinical epidemiology based research course appeared to be successful in encouraging primary care research as measured by research publications and networking. Activating teaching methods, encouraging focus on own research planning, and support from peers and tutors helped the participants to embark on research projects that resulted in PhDs for 15% of the participants. Clinical research and PhDs are rare in primary care in Finland, which has consequences for the development of the discipline and for the availability of clinical lecturers at the universities. A clinical epidemiology oriented, one-year research course increased the activity in primary care research. Focus on own research planning and learning the challenges of research with peers appeared to enhance the success of a doctoral research course. A doctoral research course encouraged networking, and

Using Degraded Music Quality to Encourage a Health Improving Walking Pace: BeatClearWalker

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Komninos

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Meeting the target of 8000 steps/day, as recommended by many national governments and health authorities, can provide considerable physical and mental health benefits and is seen as a key target for reducing obesity levels and improving public health. However, to optimize the health benefits, walking should be performed at a “moderate” intensity. While there are numerous mobile fitness applications that monitor distance walked, none directly support walking at this cadence nor has there been any research into live feedback for walking cadence. We present a smartphone fitness application to help users learn how to walk at a moderate cadence and maintain that cadence. We apply real-time audio effects that diminish the audio quality of music when the target walking cadence is not being reached. This provides an immersive and intuitive application that can easily be integrated into everyday life as allows users to walk while listening to their own music and encourages eyes-free interaction. In this paper, we introduce our approach, design, initial lab evaluation and a controlled outdoor study. Results show that using music degradation decreases the number of below-cadence steps, that users felt they worked harder with our player and would use it while exercise walking.

Gravity, God and Ghosts? Parents' Beliefs in Science, Religion, and the Paranormal and the Encouragement of Beliefs in Their Children

Science.gov (United States)

Braswell, Gregory S.; Rosengren, Karl S.; Berenbaum, Howard

2012-01-01

Using a questionnaire, the present study examined parents' beliefs regarding the development of children's beliefs about science, religion, and the paranormal. The study also investigated parental encouragement of children's beliefs, as well as parents' own beliefs within these domains. Results revealed that parents make distinctions between…

CERN encourages girls to "expand their horizons"

CERN Document Server

François Briard

2015-01-01

On 14 November, CERN took part for the fourth time in "Élargis tes horizons" (see here), a conference organised every two years at Geneva University for girls from the local region aged 11 to 14 aiming to encourage them to take up studies and careers in the scientific and technical domains.   Claude Sanz (left), a fellow in the EN Department, explaining to three girls how to build a particle accelerator in a salad bowl. This year, young physicists and engineers from ATLAS and CMS ran three workshops: "Seeing the invisible using a cloud chamber", "Great cold fun and treats with liquid nitrogen" and "Build your own accelerator in a salad bowl!" CERN was also represented at the Forum de Découverte, represented by the Diversity Office and the Medialab team, presenting the "Higgnite" interactive experiment, which illustrates the principle of the Higgs field. More...

New educational tools to encourage high-school students' activity in stem

Science.gov (United States)

Mayorova, Vera; Grishko, Dmitriy; Leonov, Victor

2018-01-01

Many students have to choose their future profession during their last years in the high school and therefore to choose a university where they will get proper education. That choice may define their professional life for many years ahead or probably for the rest of their lives. Bauman Moscow State Technical University conducts various events to introduce future professions to high-school students. Such activity helps them to pick specialization in line with their interests and motivates them to study key scientific subjects. The paper focuses on newly developed educational tools to encourage high school students' interest in STEM disciplines. These tools include laboratory courses developed in the fields of physics, information technologies and mathematics. More than 2000 high school students already participated in these experimental courses. These activities are aimed at increasing the quality of STEM disciplines learning which will result in higher quality of training of future engineers.

The influence of parental encouragement and caring about healthy eating on children's diet quality and body weights.

Science.gov (United States)

Faught, Erin; Vander Ploeg, Kerry; Chu, Yen Li; Storey, Kate; Veugelers, Paul J

2016-04-01

In order to mitigate childhood obesity, evidence on what influences children's health behaviours is needed to inform new health promotion strategies. The present study investigated the association between parental practices and their child's diet and body weight status. Grade 5 students and their parents completed health surveys. Parents were asked how much they 'encourage their child to eat healthy foods' and how much they 'personally care about healthy eating'. Children's diet quality and vegetable and fruit intake were assessed using an FFQ. Children's heights and weights were measured to determine body weight status. Mixed-effects regression models were used to determine the influence of parental responses on the outcomes of interest. Elementary schools across the province of Alberta, Canada. Grade 5 students (aged 10 and 11 years; n 8388) and their parent(s). Most parents reported caring about healthy eating and encouraging their child to eat healthy foods at least quite a lot. Children whose parents who cared or encouraged 'very much' compared with 'quite a lot' were more likely have better diet quality and were less likely to be overweight. Children whose parents both cared and encouraged 'very much' compared with 'quite a lot' scored an average of 2·06 points higher on the diet quality index (β=2·06; 95 % CI 1·45, 2·66). Health promotion strategies that aim for a high level of parental interest and encouragement of their children to eat healthy foods may improve diet quality and prevent overweight among children.

Needing a nudge: the effect of encouragement on submission rates and journal selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Wendling, Andrea; Brocato, Joseph

2014-06-01

Mentorship within academic institutions influences research productivity; no published studies have addressed whether encouragement on a national level would have similar effects. We studied whether contact by a journal's editorial board members would affect submission rates or journal selection by authors. Authors of potentially publishable conference materials presented at national conferences sponsored by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine were randomized to receive an invitation to submit work to Family Medicine or to receive no contact. After 2 years, we surveyed authors regarding whether a manuscript had been attempted and, if completed, where it had been submitted and eventually published. A total of 345 submissions were reviewed, 72 met inclusion criteria, and 41 authors responded to the survey (57%). There were no differences in demographics, scholarly activity in general, or faculty status between study groups. There was no significant difference in whether manuscripts based on targeted projects had been written, completed, submitted, or published. There was a significant difference in where manuscripts were submitted with the inviting journal receiving proportionately more submissions from the group of authors that had been contacted (90% Contacted group, 43% No-Contact). Simple encouragement from editorial board members of a national peer-reviewed journal in the form of a single e-mail invitation did not increase the scholarly production of authors. Encouragement may, however, increase the likelihood that completed works are submitted to the inviting journal, which is a useful finding for journals interested in soliciting scholarly works of interest.

Exploring the use of a gamified intervention for encouraging physical activity in adolescents: a qualitative longitudinal study in Northern Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

Corepal, Rekesh; Best, Paul; O'Neill, Roisin; Tully, Mark A; Edwards, Mark; Jago, Russell; Miller, Sarah J; Kee, Frank; Hunter, Ruth F

2018-04-20

To explore the temporal changes of adolescents' views and experiences of participating in a gamified intervention to encourage physical activity behaviour and associated processes of behaviour change. A qualitative longitudinal design was adopted whereby focus groups were conducted with the same participants in each intervention school (n=3) at four time-points (baseline, end of each of two intervention phases and 1-year follow-up). The framework method was used to thematically analyse the data. Secondary schools (n=3), Belfast (Northern Ireland). A subsample (n=19 at four time-points) of individuals aged 12-14 years who participated in the StepSmart Challenge, a gamified intervention involving a pedometer competition and material rewards to encourage physical activity behaviour change. Three core themes were identified: (1) competition; (2) incentives and (3) influence of friends. Participants indicated that a pedometer competition may help initiate physical activity but suggested that there were a number of barriers such as participants finding it ' boring ', and feeling as though they had a remote chance of ' winning '. 'Incentives' were viewed favourably, although there were participants who found not winning a prize ' annoying '. Friends were a motivator to be more physically active, particularly for girls who felt encouraged to walk more when with a friend. The intervention in general and specific gamified elements were generally viewed positively and deemed acceptable. Results suggest that gamification may have an important role to play in encouraging adolescents to engage in physical activity and in creating interventions that are fun and enjoyable. The longitudinal approach added additional depth to the analysis as themes were refined and tested with participants over time. The findings also suggest that gamified Behaviour Change Techniques align well with core concepts of Self-determination Theory and that various game elements may require tailoring for

The Philippine Regulatory Frameworks, Support Policies, And Initiatives Encouraging Women Entrepreneurship

OpenAIRE

EDRALIN, Divina M.

2007-01-01

This paper examines the Philippine regulatory frameworks, support policies, initiatives, and barriers to encouraging women entrepreneurship. Currently, women entrepreneurship seems to be nurtured with the right environment, including regulatory frameworks, financial resources and support programs for, as well as business practices and social attitudes in the country towards women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in general. However, though many SME-friendly laws and policies exist, their im...

Management and Encouragement of Pupil Participation in Primary Education: A Qualitative Case Study

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Daniel García-Pérez

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Our work focuses on the participation of students of primary education in decision-making. We carried out a qualitative case study of two public Primary schools with the aim of illustrating good models of student participation. On the one hand, our results highlight the opportunities resulting from the creation of specific structures of student participation, such as class and student councils, because they allow students to participate in collective rule-making, conflict management and the planning and evaluation of school and class activities. On the other hand, the results emphasize the contributions derived from the use of teaching methods that enhance student participation in decision making on academic issues by selecting contents, the inclusion of self-assessment processes and the self-organization of work time. Overall, the results obtained point out that it is feasible to organize the activity of a Primary Education center encouraging students to participate in decision making and they add evidence supported in the practice of two schools to progress in the study and promotion of school participation.

Aging, Economic Insecurity, and Employment: Which Measures Would Encourage Older Workers to Stay Longer in the Labour Market?

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Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In the present context of aging populations, the question of how to support older workers who want to stay in employment longer is of particular importance, especially from a social justice perspective with regards to income. The challenges faced by organizations and governments are unprecedented. Interesting conclusions can be drawn from our research with regard to these challenges. First of all, the perception of retirement appears more or less unchanged over the years and remains very positive. Consequently, one of the barriers to the employment of older workers may be the image of retirement itself, since it is still perceived as a gift or a right. Secondly, our results confirm that forcing people to stay longer in the labour market is a largely unpopular measure. Consequently, if public retirement plans offer limited income, governments and organizations should adopt a more voluntary approach to encourage older workers to stay in employment longer for a better income. Our results highlight the importance of the sector and type of job in the measures or incentives that could encourage older workers to stay in employment longer. Consequently, governments and organizations will probably have to adopt a contingent approach; i.e., all incentives do not necessarily fit all jobs or all sectors and social justice would require this be taken into account. We identified three sets of measures that could encourage older workers to stay in employment longer, and thus have access to better economic security: the reduction of working time, the flexibility of working time, and the individualization of retirement options and working time. The progressive reduction of their working time appears most interesting to our respondents. These measures appear to favour social justice in terms of income and right to employment at the end of active careers.  

Aging, Economic Insecurity, and Employment: Which Measures Would Encourage Older Workers to Stay Longer in the Labour Market?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Émilie Genin

2009-12-01

Full Text Available In the present context of aging populations, the question of how to support older workers who want to stay in employment longer is of particular importance, especially from a social justice perspective with regards to income. The challenges faced by organizations and governments are unprecedented. Interesting conclusions can be drawn from our research with regard to these challenges. First of all, the perception of retirement appears more or less unchanged over the years and remains very positive. Consequently, one of the barriers to the employment of older workers may be the image of retirement itself, since it is still perceived as a gift or a right. Secondly, our results confirm that forcing people to stay longer in the labour market is a largely unpopular measure. Consequently, if public retirement plans offer limited income, governments and organizations should adopt a more voluntary approach to encourage older workers to stay in employment longer for a better income. Our results highlight the importance of the sector and type of job in the measures or incentives that could encourage older workers to stay in employment longer. Consequently, governments and organizations will probably have to adopt a contingent approach; i.e., all incentives do not necessarily fit all jobs or all sectors and social justice would require this be taken into account. We identified three sets of measures that could encourage older workers to stay in employment longer, and thus have access to better economic security: the reduction of working time, the flexibility of working time, and the individualization of retirement options and working time. The progressive reduction of their working time appears most interesting to our respondents. These measures appear to favour social justice in terms of income and right to employment at the end of active careers.  

Understanding and encouraging volunteerism and community involvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Stukas, Arthur A; Snyder, Mark; Clary, E Gil

2016-01-01

Volunteerism and community involvement have been demonstrated to offer benefits both to communities and to volunteers themselves. However, not every method to encourage these behaviors is equally effective in producing committed volunteers. Drawing on relevant theoretical and empirical literatures, we identify features of efforts that are likely to produce intrinsically motivated other-oriented volunteers and those that may produce extrinsically motivated self-oriented volunteers. In particular, we explore ways to socialize young people to help and ways to build a sense of community focused on particular issues. We also examine requirements for community service and other approaches that highlight self-oriented benefits that volunteers may obtain. Finally, we return to a focus on the importance of intrinsic motivation for promoting sustained involvement in volunteers, even as we acknowledge that volunteers who come with extrinsic or self-oriented reasons can still offer much to communities and can be satisfied when their activities match their motivations.

Encouraging girl child education in my village

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Delphine Entongwe

2015-03-01

Full Text Available My critical reflection will be drawn from an experience I had just a year after my graduation from the university where I was appointed as one of the X-students to lead a student cultural week in my village with the theme “raising awareness on education”. At the university, I was a member of my association in which students from my tribe generally come together to promote unity and encourage others in education. My role was to present a discourse on girl child education all the entire villagers who were gathered at the village square that evening. A high dropout rate at school and illiteracy are major problems in my region, in which there is still a great deal of gender disparity when it comes to educating children, especially the girl child. This programme is in line with the government’s policy of promoting education in my country, whose priority is for education to reach the grass-roots communities.

SmartTrips Ithaca : encouraging sustainable transportation options through a personalized educational campaign : final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-01

SmartTrips Ithaca is a neighborhood-based personalized educational campaign that encouraged residents : of downtown Ithaca to try out sustainable modes of transportation such as walking, biking, transit, and : carsharing through incentives and commun...

Which electricity market design to encourage the development of demand response?

OpenAIRE

Vincent Rious, Fabien Roques and Yannick Perez

2012-01-01

Demand response is a cornerstone problem in electricity markets under climate change constraint. Most liberalized electricity markets have a poor track record at encouraging the deployment of smart meters and the development of demand response. In Europe, different models are considered for demand response, from a development under a regulated regime to a development under competitive perspectives. In this paper, focusing on demand response and smart metering for mid-size and small consumers,...

Which electricity market design to encourage the development of demand response?

OpenAIRE

Rious , Vincent; Perez , Yannick; Roques , Fabien

2015-01-01

International audience; Demand response is a cornerstone problem in electricity markets under climate change constraints. Most liberalized electricity markets have a poor track record at encouraging the deployment of smart meters and the development of demand response. In Europe, different models are considered for demand response, from a development under a regulated regime to a development under competitive perspectives. In this paper focusing on demand response and smart metering for mid-­...

Carrots, sticks and apples - mechanisms to encourage the use of CPTED

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kruger, T

2005-08-01

Full Text Available attended by representatives from other countries as well, including developing countries such as Chile and South Africa. This paper examines a number of mechanisms available to encourage the use of CPTED and support its effective implementation... was therefore spearheaded by research projects complimented by reports, publications and guideline documents. It did not include practical implementation projects, as was the case for instance in Chile. Although there are examples of interventions made...

Breaking Bad in Mississippi: Do County-Level Alcohol Sale Bans Encourage Crystal Methamphetamine Production and Consumption?

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Granger Maury

2016-12-01

Full Text Available If alcohol has substitutes, changes in its relative price can encourage the production and consumption of other illicit and harmful drugs. This paper considers if county-level bans on the sale of alcohol in the state of Mississippi encourage the production and consumption of crystal methamphetamine. We estimate the parameters of a drug production function in which the inputs are the density of people and firms, underscoring the importance of learning and knowledge spillovers to production and consumption. Poisson and Negative Binomial parameter estimates reveal that county-level bans on hard liquor sales; but not on beer and wine, increase the number of crystal methamphetamine labs. In the absence of such laws, there would be approximately 308 fewer crystal methamphetamine labs in the state of Mississippi. Our findings suggest that in Mississippi, which is the least healthiest state in the nation, county-level bans on hard liquor sales are not welfare improving as they encourage substitution for a drug that is potentially more harmful to individual health than alcohol.

An assessment of schoolyard renovation strategies to encourage children's physical activity

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Greenwood Emily

2011-04-01

compared to LL schoolyards with older construction, as well as un-renovated schoolyards. Results Overall utilization was significantly higher at LL schools than at un-renovated schools for most observation periods. Notably, LL renovation had no impact on girl's utilization on the weekends, although differences were observed for all other periods. There were no differences in rates of activity for any comparison. With the exception of the number of boys observed, there was no statistically significant difference in activity when recently-constructed LL schools are compared to LL schools with older construction dates and there was no difference observed in comparisons of older LL with unrenovated sites. Conclusions While we observed greater utilization and physical activity in schools with LL, the impact of specific features of LL renovation is not clear. However, schoolyard renovation and programs to encourage schoolyard use before and after school may offer a means to encourage greater physical activity among children, and girls in particular. Additional study of schoolyard renovation may shed light on the specific reasons for these findings or suggest effective policies to improve the physical activity resources of poor and minority neighborhoods.

Encouraging an ecological evolution of data infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, M. A.

2015-12-01

Infrastructure is often thought of as a complex physical construct usually designed to transport information or things (e.g. electricity, water, cars, money, sound, data…). The Research Data Alliance (RDA) takes a more holistic view and considers infrastructure as a complex body of relationships between people, machines, and organisations. This paper will describe how this more ecological perspective leads RDA to define and govern an agile virtual organization. We seek to harness the power of the volunteer, through an open problem solving approach that focusses on the problems of our individual members and their organisations. We focus on implementing solutions that make data sharing work better without defining a priori what is necessary. We do not judge the fitness of a solution, per se, but instead assess how broadly the solution is adopted, recognizing that adoption is often the social challenge of technical problem. We seek to encourage a bottoms up approach with light guidance on principles from the top. The goal is to develop community solutions that solve real problems today yet are adaptive to changing technologies and needs.

In response to The role of smartphones in encouraging physical activity in adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mittal A

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Aaina Mittal,1 Shyam Gokani,1 Alexander Zargaran,2 Javier Ash,1 Georgina Kerry,3 Dara Rasasingam1 1Department of Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, 2Department of Medicine, St. George’s, University of London, London, 3Department of Medicine, University of Birmingham Medical School, Birmingham, UK We read with great interest the article by Stuckey et al1 entitled “The role of smartphones in encouraging physical activity in adults” recently published in the International Journal of General Medicine. As the article identifies, “lack of physical activity is a global public health issue”,1 so finding ways of encouraging it is essential to better health outcomes worldwide. Bearing this in mind and recognising the article has set groundwork for prospective exploration in the areas it addresses, scope for future research in this area can be identified.  Authors' replyMelanie I Stuckey,1 Shawn W Carter,2 Emily Knight3 1Research and Academics, Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, Whitby, ON, Canada, 2Eating Disorder Residential Program, Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, Whitby, ON, Canada, 3Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada Thank you for providing the opportunity to respond to the letter written by Mittal et al in response to our paper titled “The role of smartphones in encouraging physical activity in adults.”1 We generally agree with their comments, but add considerations for each of their three suggestions. View the original paper by Stuckey and colleagues. 

Silence is golden: effect of encouragement in motivating the weak link in an online exercise video game.

Science.gov (United States)

Irwin, Brandon C; Feltz, Deborah L; Kerr, Norbert L

2013-06-04

Despite the physical and mental health benefits, few adults meet US Department of Health and Human Services physical activity guidelines for exercise frequency, intensity, and duration. One strategy that may increase physical activity duration is exercising with an Internet partner (ie, someone who is virtually present, as in video chat). Internet partners help people overcome many barriers associated with face-to-face exercise groups (eg, time, coordinating schedules, social physique anxiety). Past research examining individual performance in groups suggests that an increase in effort occurs when performing a task conjunctively, ie, when a participant is (1) less capable than fellow group members, and (2) participants efforts are particularly indispensable for group success (ie, where the group's potential productivity is equal to the productivity of its least capable member). This boost in effort is more commonly known as the Köhler effect, named after the German psychologist who first observed the effect. While encouragement between group members is common practice in face-to-face group exercise, the effect of encouragement between partners exercising conjunctively across the Internet is unknown. To examine the impact of exercising alone, compared to exercising conjunctively with an Internet partner, both with and without encouragement, on exercise persistence (primary outcomes) and secondary psychosocial outcomes (self-efficacy, enjoyment, exercise intention). Participants were recruited online and face-to-face from the campus of Michigan State University. With the assistance of the experimenter, participants (n=115) played an exercise video game in a laboratory, performing a series of five abdominal plank exercises where they were asked to hold the plank for as long as possible (Time 1). They were then randomized to a condition (Individual, Partner-without-encouragement, or Partner-with-encouragement), where they performed the exercises again (Time 2). The

The CSI Academy: Encouraging Diverse Students to Consider Science Careers and Science Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Kaye, Karen; Turner, John F.; Emigh, James

2011-01-01

The CSI academies employed a multi-layered, collaborative approach to encourage diverse students to consider STEM careers, including science teaching. The academies recruited a diverse group of high school students. This was due, in large part, to the creation of a unique selection process that identified students with unrealized potential. The…

New encouraging developments in contact prediction: Assessment of the CASP11 results

KAUST Repository

Monastyrskyy, Bohdan

2015-10-01

© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This article provides a report on the state-of-the-art in the prediction of intra-molecular residue-residue contacts in proteins based on the assessment of the predictions submitted to the CASP11 experiment. The assessment emphasis is placed on the accuracy in predicting long-range contacts. Twenty-nine groups participated in contact prediction in CASP11. At least eight of them used the recently developed evolutionary coupling techniques, with the top group (CONSIP2) reaching precision of 27% on target proteins that could not be modeled by homology. This result indicates a breakthrough in the development of methods based on the correlated mutation approach. Successful prediction of contacts was shown to be practically helpful in modeling three-dimensional structures; in particular target T0806 was modeled exceedingly well with accuracy not yet seen for ab initio targets of this size (>250 residues).

Encouraging Second Language Use in Cooperative Learning Groups

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George M Jacobs

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This article presents, explains and organizes ideas for promoting students’ use of their second language (this term includes foreign language when they work together in cooperative learning groups. The first part of the article reviews arguments as to whether students of second languages should be encouraged to use their second language with classmates when doing group activities. These arguments are discussed with reference to Second Language Acquisition (SLA theory. Practical issues are also explored. Next, the majority of the article presents ideas on how to promote second language use during peer interaction. Twenty-nine of these ideas are explained. The ideas are organized into five categories: a role for the L1; understanding the issue; creating a conducive climate; providing language support; and the task. It is recommended that teachers use ideas from the literature on cooperative learning when they ask students to interact.

Four simple recommendations to encourage best practices in research software [version 1; referees: 2 approved

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Rafael C. Jiménez

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Scientific research relies on computer software, yet software is not always developed following practices that ensure its quality and sustainability. This manuscript does not aim to propose new software development best practices, but rather to provide simple recommendations that encourage the adoption of existing best practices. Software development best practices promote better quality software, and better quality software improves the reproducibility and reusability of research. These recommendations are designed around Open Source values, and provide practical suggestions that contribute to making research software and its source code more discoverable, reusable and transparent. This manuscript is aimed at developers, but also at organisations, projects, journals and funders that can increase the quality and sustainability of research software by encouraging the adoption of these recommendations.

Why do mothers encourage their children to control their weight? A cross-sectional study of possible contributing factors

OpenAIRE

Schreiber, Anja C; Kesztyüs, Dorothea; Wirt, Tamara; Erkelenz, Nanette; Kobel, Susanne; Steinacker, Jürgen M

2014-01-01

Background Mothers encouraging their children to control their weight is problematic as it is associated with children’s body dissatisfaction and weight concerns as well as further weight gain. The aim of this study was to identify factors in children and mothers associated with mothers encouraging their children to control their weight and possible gender differences therein. Methods Cross-sectional questionnaire data was available from 1658 mothers of primary school children (mean age 7.1 ±...

Encouraging Girls into Science and Technology with Feminine Role Model: Does This Work?

Science.gov (United States)

Bamberger, Yael M.

2014-01-01

This study examines the effect of a program that aimed to encourage girls to choose a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career in Israel. The program involved school visits to a high-tech company and meeting with role model female scientists. Sixty ninth-grade female students from a Jewish modern-orthodox single-sex…

Encouraging Women Entrepreneurship to Join the Global Market (Case study on Fashion Industry in West Java

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Heriyanni Mashithoh

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The integration of global market has opened today for the foreign products to entry any countries and has threatened the future of women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs have to compete with foreign businessmen who have superiority in terms of funds, technology, infrastructure, market information and government support. Indonesia is one of developing country who encourages the development of rural areas. Women entrepreneurship in rural areas indicated will increase the local economy, creating employment opportunities, and decreasing the poverty currently. One province in Indonesia that successfully promotes the fashion industries to local and international tourist is West Java. This study aims to analyze the effect of network development strategy toward the women entrepreneurs’ satisfaction. Hypothesis were tested by multivariate statistics- Partial Least Square. The population is owners or managers of SMEs in fashion or garment industries. Stratified random sampling is occupied to get 78 women entrepreneurs in West Java. This study shows that network strategy is significantly influenced the women entrepreneurs’ satisfaction Proactive entrepreneur is proved to positively strengthen the impact of network strategy on the women entrepreneurs’ satisfaction. This result becomes a guide for SMEs, especially in fashion or garment industry to support the tourism of West Java.

Women's intentions of informal and formal help-seeking for mental health problems during the perinatal period: The role of perceived encouragement from the partner.

Science.gov (United States)

Fonseca, Ana; Canavarro, Maria Cristina

2017-07-01

this study aimed to examine the relationship between women's intentions to seek informal help and to seek professional help and to explore the indirect effects of women's perceived encouragement to seek professional help from their male partner. Moreover, this study aimed to examine if these relationships vary as function of the presence of higher levels of perinatal distress. cross-sectional internet survey. participants were recruited through advertisements published in pamphlets and posted on social media websites (e.g., Facebook) and websites and forums that focused on pregnancy and childbirth. 231 women (pregnant/ had a baby during the last 12 months) completed the survey. participants were questioned about sociodemographic and clinical data and were assessed concerning perinatal distress (Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), intentions to seek informal and formal help (General Help-Seeking Questionnaire) and perceived encouragement from the partner to seek professional help. the women reported a significantly higher intention to seek help from their partner than to seek professional help (p help from the male partner (p = .001) and perceived less encouragement from the male partner to seek professional help (p help occurred through the women's perceived encouragement from the male partner to seek professional help. the results of this study highlight the important role of the male partner's encouragement in women's professional help-seeking for mental health problems. awareness campaigns about perinatal distress and about professional treatment benefits may be directed universally to all women in the perinatal period and should include women's significant others, such as their partners. Health professionals should recognize and support the prominent role of the women's partners in the help-seeking process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Designing Effective Programmes for Encouraging the Business Start-up Process: Lessons from UK Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibb, Allan A.

1987-01-01

Outlines programs in the United Kingdom (UK) designed to encourage the starting of small businesses. Successful programs help entrepreneurs obtain financial support, get business training, and develop a business plan. Recommends emphasis on personal competency and motivation training as well as shorter courses. (CH)

Encouraging Connections: Integrating Expressive Art and Drama into Therapeutic Social Skills Training with Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Lenz, A. Stephen; Holman, Rachel L.; Dominguez, Denise L.

2010-01-01

The effective use of social skills has been positively associated with career success, romantic involvement, academic achievement, and mood. In response, counselors often integrate social skills training into counseling interventions with adolescents to encourage authentic and effective interactions with others. We illustrate some therapeutic…

Designing an Assistant System Encouraging Ergonomic Computer Usage

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Hüseyin GÜRÜLER

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Today, people of almost every age group are users of computers and computer aided systems. Technology makes our life easier, but it can also threaten our health. In recent years, one of the main causes of the proliferation of diseases such as lower back pain, neck pain or hernia, Arthritis, visual disturbances and obesity is wrong computer usage. The widespread use of computers also increases these findings. The purpose of this study is to direct computer users to use computers more carefully in terms of ergonomics. The user-interactive system developed for this purpose controls distance of the user to the screen and calculates the look angle and the time spent looking at the screen and provides audio or text format warning when necessary. It is thought that this system will reduce the health problems caused by the frequency of computer usage by encouraging individuals to use computers ergonomically.

Do collaborative practical tests encourage student-centered active learning of gross anatomy?

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Rodney A; Cates, Tanya; White, Lloyd; Farchione, Davide

2016-05-06

Benefits of collaborative testing have been identified in many disciplines. This study sought to determine whether collaborative practical tests encouraged active learning of anatomy. A gross anatomy course included a collaborative component in four practical tests. Two hundred and seven students initially completed the test as individuals and then worked as a team to complete the same test again immediately afterwards. The relationship between mean individual, team, and difference (between team and individual) test scores to overall performance on the final examination (representing overall learning in the course) was examined using regression analysis. The overall mark in the course increased by 9% with a decreased failure rate. There was a strong relationship between individual score and final examination mark (P learning occurring during the collaborative testing and that weaker students gained the benefit from team marks without significant active learning taking place. This negative outcome may be due to insufficient encouragement of the active learning strategies that were expected to occur during the collaborative testing process. An improved understanding of the efficacy of collaborative assessment could be achieved through the inclusion of questionnaire based data to allow a better interpretation of learning outcomes. Anat Sci Educ 9: 231-237. © 2015 American Association of Anatomists. © 2015 American Association of Anatomists.

Cyclists' attitudes toward policies encouraging bicycle travel: findings from the Taupo Bicycle Study in New Zealand.

Science.gov (United States)

Tin Tin, Sandar; Woodward, Alistair; Thornley, Simon; Langley, John; Rodgers, Anthony; Ameratunga, Shanthi

2010-03-01

Utility cycling provides substantial health, environmental and economic benefits. Despite a favourable trend in leisure-time cycling, cycling is infrequently used for everyday travel needs in New Zealand. This study investigated cyclists' attitudes toward environmental and policy measures that would encourage them to cycle more, particularly for a trip to work. A cross-sectional analysis was undertaken using baseline data obtained from the Taupo Bicycle Study, a web-based longitudinal study. The study population comprised 2469 cyclists, aged 16 years or over, who had enrolled in the 2006 Wattyl Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge. The majority (88%) reported the provision of bicycle lanes as an important factor that would encourage them to cycle more often, followed by bicycle paths (76%), better bicycle security (64%), reduced motor vehicle speed (55%) and bike friendly public transport (38%). Of those who reported travelling to work at least once a week (N = 2223), varying proportions reported shower facilities at work (61%), fewer difficult intersections (43%), rising fuel costs (41%), fewer car parks (27%), bike designed to commute (26%) and rising cost of car parking (25%) as important factors that would encourage them to cycle to work more often. There were important differences in these perceived influences defined by the participants' socio-demographic characteristics and current cycling habits.

Neighborhoods and Academic Achievement: Results from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment

OpenAIRE

Lisa Sanbonmatsu; Jeffrey R. Kling; Greg J. Duncan; Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

2006-01-01

Families originally living in public housing were assigned housing vouchers by lottery, encouraging moves to neighborhoods with lower poverty rates. Although we had hypothesized that reading and math test scores would be higher among children in families offered vouchers (with larger effects among younger children), the results show no significant effects on test scores for any age group among over 5000 children ages 6 to 20 in 2002 who were assessed four to seven years after randomization. P...

The Monte Carlo Quiz: Encouraging Punctual Completion and Deep Processing of Assigned Readings

Science.gov (United States)

Fernald, Peter S.

2004-01-01

The Monte Carlo Quiz (MCQ), a single-item quiz, is so named because chance, with the roll of a die, determines (a) whether the quiz is administered; (b) the specific article, chapter, or section of the assigned reading that the quiz covers; and (c) the particular question that makes up the quiz. The MCQ encourages both punctual completion and deep…

The role of singing familiar songs in encouraging conversation among people with middle to late stage Alzheimer's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Dassa, Ayelet; Amir, Dorit

2014-01-01

Language deficits in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) manifest, among other things, in a gradual deterioration of spontaneous speech. People with AD tend to speak less as the disease progresses and their speech becomes confused. However, the ability to sing old tunes sometimes remains intact throughout the disease. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of singing familiar songs in encouraging conversation among people with middle to late stage AD. Six participants attended group music therapy sessions over a one-month period. Using content analysis, we qualitatively examined transcriptions of verbal and sung content during 8 group sessions for the purpose of understanding the relationship between specific songs and conversations that occurred during and following group singing. Content analysis revealed that songs from the participants' past-elicited memories, especially songs related to their social and national identity. Analyses also indicated that conversation related to the singing was extensive and the act of group singing encouraged spontaneous responses. After singing, group members expressed positive feelings, a sense of accomplishment, and belonging. Carefully selecting music from the participants' past can encourage conversation. Considering the failure in spontaneous speech in people with middle to late stage AD, it is important to emphasize that group members' responses to each other occurred spontaneously without the researcher's encouragement. © the American Music Therapy Association 2014. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Encouraging Free Play: Extramural Digital Game-Based Language Learning as a Complex Adaptive System

Science.gov (United States)

Scholz, Kyle

2017-01-01

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games like World of Warcraft are ideally suited to encourage and facilitate second language development (SLD) in the extramural setting, but to what extent do the language learners' actual trajectories of gameplay contribute to SLD? With the current propensity to focus research in digital game-based…

Encouraging tobacco control using national multisectoral ministerial mandate and priorities in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farrukh Qureshi

2018-03-01

In countries having strong tobacco industry influence, tobacco control issue needs to be brought forward within larger policy mandates of non-health sector ministries, using their national priorities. Intergovernmental organizations as well as other partners and organizations working on tobacco control should expand reach out to sectors beyond health, establish and encourage dialogue; and help develop ownership of these sectors on specific policy interventions that directly or indirectly support implementation of key policy measures for tobacco control.

Laser isotope separation using selective inhibition and encouragement of dimer formation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kivel, B.

1979-01-01

Method and apparatus for inhibiting dimer formation of molecules of a selected isotope type in a cooled flow of gas to enhance the effectiveness of mass difference isotope separation techniques are described. Molecules in the flow containing atoms of the selected isotope type are selectively excited by infrared radiation in order to inhibit the formation of dimers and larger clusters of such molecules, while the molecules not containing atoms of the selected, excited type are encouraged to form dimers and higher order aggregates by the cooling of the gaseous flow. The molecules with the excited isotope will predominate in monomers and will constitute the enriched product stream, while the aggregated group comprising molecules having the unexcited isotope will predominate in dimers and larger clusters of molecules, forming the tails stream. The difference in diffusion coefficientts between particles of the excited and unexcited isotopes is enhanced by the greater mass differences resulting from aggregation of unexcited particles into dimers and larger clusters. Prior art separation techniques which exploit differences in isotopic diffusion rates will consequently exhibit enhanced enrichment per stage by the utilization of the present invention

Encouraging French medical students to choose a career in psychiatry: how and why?

Science.gov (United States)

Andlauer, Olivier; Van Effenterre, Aude; Haffen, Emmanuel; Sechter, Daniel; Farooq, Kitty; Lydall, Gregory; Malik, Amit; Bhugra, Dinesh

2013-08-01

There is an increasing demand for psychiatrists in France. This paper reviews the reasons for French medical students choosing psychiatry and the rationale and mechanisms for encouraging them towards this medical speciality. The main factors associated with choosing psychiatry as a career are the quantity and quality of undergraduate training and placements in psychiatry, better attitudes towards psychiatry and more emphasis on a positive life/work balance. The quality of postgraduate training can also influence students' decisions. Medical students should be encouraged to choose psychiatry first to counterbalance the existing stigma towards mental illness within the society, but also towards psychiatry within the medical profession, and second because of the current decline in French medical demography. Ways to improve recruitment are a selection process that favours a large number of psychiatric trainees, and an increase in the quality and quantity of training. Providing medical students with relevant information about training in psychiatry, notably through a national trainees' association, will not only improve the quality of care by increasing recruitment in psychiatry, but also ensure that all future doctors are familiar with and develop positive attitudes towards mental health issues.

Encouraging resilience within SMEs: the Cabinet Office's proposed approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Sterling, Stuart

2011-06-01

This paper introduces the Cabinet Office's Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS). It explains how the National Risk Assessment, produced within the CCS, is created and used. As part of the recent Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Government made a commitment to improve the business continuity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).This paper describes the CCS's approach to achieving this, and explains why the resilience of SMEs is important to both local communities, at a time of disruption or crisis, and the essential services sectors, such as energy, food and transport. It provides an outline of a strategic approach that will seek to simplify business continuity by making it accessible, achievable and affordable, and, in partnership with the organisations that SMEs turn to for advice, promotes the benefits of business continuity and encourages its use.

Nature and Young Children: Encouraging Creative Play and Learning in Natural Environments. Second Edition

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Ruth

2012-01-01

Now in its second edition, "Nature and Young Children" promotes the holistic development of children by connecting them with nature. It offers advice and guidance on how to set up indoor and outdoor nature play spaces as well as encouraging environmentally responsible attitudes, values and behaviour in your early childhood setting. Covering topics…

A research project to encourage system-compatible design of end-use appliances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dorr, D.; Key, T.; Sitzlar, G.

1995-01-01

Cooperative system compatibility research sponsored by the Canadian Electrical Association (CEA) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for improving appliance performance deficiencies was described. Power producer and end-user compatibility concerns was addressed through the development of a System Compatibility Research Project. A list of project tasks was provided. The CEA and EPRI initiated a project to establish flicker response of various lighting systems, which included physical tests. Results of this project were presented and discussed. The incentives for developing switch mode power supplies with enhanced immunity to voltage fluctuations and short interruptions was discussed. It was concluded that power quality studies currently underway will provide designers with a profile of the expected utility environment for their products. System compatibility research will identify areas that should be addressed by standards bodies so that designers can apply applicable criteria objectives early in the appliance design process. These efforts were expected to encourage appropriate manufacturer criteria for compatibility by convincing buyers and sellers that there is a real pay back for this investment. 13 refs., 6 figs., 4 tabs

Do U.S. family planning clinics encourage parent-child communication? Findings from an exploratory survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Rachel K

2006-09-01

Clinics that receive Title X funding have a mandate to encourage parent-child communication for minors seeking family planning services. Little is known about the programs and practices that clinics have adopted to achieve this goal, or whether clinics not receiving Title X funds encourage family participation. As part of a larger project examining parental engagement among adolescents using family planning clinics, 81 clinics that served 200 or more adolescent contraceptive clients in 2001 completed a questionnaire containing closed- and open-ended items. Topic areas included clinic counseling and policies regarding clients younger than 18, activities to improve parent-child communication and community relations. Frequency distributions were calculated for the prevalence of activities, and cross-tabulations were used to compare prevalence by clinic characteristics. Every clinic engaged in at least one activity to promote parent-child communication, and nine in 10 offered multiple activities. Most of the clinics used counseling sessions to talk to adolescent clients about the importance of discussing sexual health issues with parents (73-94%, depending on the reason for the visit). More than eight in 10 clinics (84%) distributed pamphlets on how to talk about these issues. A substantial minority (43%) offered or referred interested individuals to educational programs designed to improve communication. Some of these exploratory findings reflect the prevalence of activities among all U.S. family planning clinics that serve adolescent clients. Evaluation and expansion of clinic efforts to promote voluntary communication about sexual health issues between parents and children could help encourage family participation.

Impact of Mediated Intimate Interaction on Education: A Huggable Communication Medium that Encourages Listening

Science.gov (United States)

Nakanishi, Junya; Sumioka, Hidenobu; Ishiguro, Hiroshi

2016-01-01

In this paper, we propose the introduction of human-like communication media as a proxy for teachers to support the listening of children in school education. Three case studies are presented on storytime fieldwork for children using our huggable communication medium called Hugvie, through which children are encouraged to concentrate on listening by intimate interaction between children and storytellers. We investigate the effect of Hugvie on children's listening and how they and their teachers react to it through observations and interviews. Our results suggest that Hugvie increased the number of children who concentrated on listening to a story and was welcomed by almost all the children and educators. We also discuss improvement and research issues to introduce huggable communication media into classrooms, potential applications, and their contributions to other education situations through improved listening. PMID:27148119

Encouraging Girls into Science and Technology with Feminine Role Model: Does This Work?

Science.gov (United States)

Bamberger, Yael M.

2014-08-01

This study examines the effect of a program that aimed to encourage girls to choose a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career in Israel. The program involved school visits to a high-tech company and meeting with role model female scientists. Sixty ninth-grade female students from a Jewish modern-orthodox single-sex secondary school in the same city as the company participated in the study. The control group contained 30 girls from the same classes who did not participate in the program. Data were collected through pre-post questionnaires, observations, and focus group interviews. It was analyzed for three main themes: perceptions of scientists and engineers, capability of dealing with STEM, and future career choice. Findings indicated respect toward the women scientists as being smart and creative, but significant negative change on the perceptions of women scientists/engineers, the capability of dealing with STEM, and the STEM career choices. Possible causes for these results are discussed, as well as implications for education.

Radon awareness in Ireland: a assessment of the effectiveness of radon road shows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Synnott, H.

2006-01-01

Full text: In late 2004 the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (R.P.I.I.) initiated a series of radon road shows in areas designated as High Radon Areas 1 in the R.P.I.I. s national radon survey of homes. The main objective of these road shows was to provide information to a local audience on the risks of exposure to radon. These road shows target both employers and householders. Each road show has the same general format. A presentation and/or meeting with a major employer representative group within the area. The purpose is to make employers aware of the risks associated with exposure to radon in the workplace and to highlight their obligations under current Irish health and safety legislation regarding radon in the workplace. An information stand on radon manned by R.P.I.I. staff members in a local shopping centre or other similar area. This provides those concerned about radon with accessible information on radon exposure risks, how to measure radon and the steps a home owner could take to reduce radon concentrations where necessary. Where possible R.P.I.I. staff members visit one or more schools in the general area. A short presentation on radon was given to students and students were given an opportunity to asks questions Maximizing media exposure to publicize our visits is vital to the success of these visits. Each visit is preceded by a Press Release whose main aim is to brief local and national media on the radon issue so as to achieve maximum publicity mainly through radio and television coverage. In general the media are very interested in the whole radon area and R.P.I.I. staff members have given 57 radio and 10 television interviews to date since the commencement of this initiative. The four road shows carried out to date have been successful in encouraging householders to carry out radon measurements. Since the start of the road shows to the present, the R.P.I.I. has seen a 44% increase in the number of householders requesting radon

Tutoring Online Tutors: Using Digital Badges to Encourage the Development of Online Tutoring Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Hrastinski, Stefan; Cleveland-Innes, Martha; Stenbom, Stefan

2018-01-01

Online tutors play a critical role in e-learning and need to have an appropriate set of skills in addition to subject matter expertise. This paper explores how digital badges can be used to encourage the development of online tutoring skills. Based on previous research, we defined three digital badges, which are examples of essential tutoring…

Proactive Encouragement of Interdisciplinary Research Teams in a Business School Environment: Strategy and Results

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Susan M.; Carter, Nathan C.; Hadlock, Charles R.; Haughton, Dominique M.; Sirbu, George

2008-01-01

This case study describes efforts to promote collaborative research across traditional boundaries in a business-oriented university as part of an institutional transformation. We model this activity within the framework of social network analysis and use quantitative tools from that field to characterize resulting impacts. (Contains 4 tables and 2…

Encouraging results for controlling an Agricultural pest on St. Eustatius

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Debrot, A.O.; Reid, A.; Leslie, T.W.; Madden, H.; Stapel, J.; Dalm, Friso; Uphoff, Lara; Zwet, van der Leonie

2016-01-01

In 2013, the invasive Giant African Land Snail, Achatina fulica was found in a small part of urban St. Eustatius. In collaboration with local government agencies and Dutch universities, IMARES* conducted field and laboratory pilot trials of control methods from October 2015 to June 2016.

Smartphone app uses loyalty point incentives and push notifications to encourage influenza vaccine uptake.

Science.gov (United States)

Dale, Leila Pfaeffli; White, Lauren; Mitchell, Marc; Faulkner, Guy

2018-04-23

Carrot Rewards is a free, incentive-based, smartphone health app available in participating provinces in Canada. One feature of Carrot was designed to incentivize influenza vaccine education messages and encourage vaccine uptake for users in the province of British Columbia. This study aimed to evaluate the uptake of the Carrot Flu Campaign educational quiz and to determine if mobile "push" notifications, plus loyalty point incentives, resulted in users visiting a sponsored pharmacy to discuss and receive the influenza vaccine. The Carrot Flu Campaign delivered an in-app quiz, educating users on the importance of the influenza vaccine. Push notifications were then sent to users when they came within 200 m of a sponsored pharmacy. Those who visited the pharmacy collected bonus points and completed a follow up quiz tracking influenza vaccine behaviour. A sub-sample of users completed the Flu Campaign between their baseline and follow up Health Risk Assessment (HRA), a survey which asked about influenza vaccine uptake behaviour. Descriptive statistics were summarized. A total of 38.1% (30,538/80,228) registered Carrot users completed the Flu Campaign quiz. Of those in participating cities (n = 21,469), 41% clicked on the map to show the nearest sponsored pharmacy and 78% enabled their smartphone's "locations" feature, allowing them to receive the push notifications. A small number of users spoke to a pharmacist (n = 96) and less than half reported receiving the influenza vaccine (38/96; 39.6%). From the HRA sub-sample (n = 3693), approximately 5% more users reported receiving the influenza vaccine during the 2017 influenza season compared to the previous year. Carrot Rewards used a novel delivery method to educate the general population and showed geolocation could be used to facilitate influenza vaccine uptake. Future iterations could tailor content to target those most at risk and should consider more robust evaluation methods to determine the app

Encouraging Teachers to Build Collaborations with Researchers; Examples From the Classroom (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, M.

2013-12-01

Bringing experts into our schools allows for highly engaging lessons, encourages career thinking, adds authenticity to the topic, and allows student's questions to be answered by experts. Researchers can physically visit classrooms or appear through presentation technologies, such as Skype, or Google Hangouts. Virtual visits allow students to see laboratories and field sites. Collaborating with scientists builds the connective tissue that helps all educators and our students learn more deeply. When K-12 teachers collaborate with scientists and graduate students, teachers learn more science, and scientists learn more teaching. This growth of background knowledge is a win-win situation and helps us meet the expectations of the Common Core State Standards. Teachers need to feel encouraged to contact their local or regional scientists for support. Reaching out into the universities to make contact with polar scientists or graduate students is a good place to start. Building professional networks allows PI's to address the 'broader impact' requirement on many grant applications, and helps spread the university's work in the polar regions out to the general public. These collaborations also give teachers expert insights and current data to build authentic lessons, and excite their students to seek careers in the sciences. This presentation will focus on three completed interactive opportunities I have built with researchers in my classroom. Students adding daily sediment to their sediment core, after communications from the field with scientist Heidi Roop in Alaska.

Administration of Taxation to Promulgate Tax Reduction Policies to Encourage Trans-national Merger and Acquisition of SOE

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2008-01-01

<正>Wang Shengwen,Commercial Counsellor of Department of Foreign Economic Cooperation of Ministry of Commerce,expressed the expec- tation of encouraging enterprises to innovate cooperation methods and vigorously cultivating

How and Why We Should Encourage Undergraduate Geography Students to Participate in the Erasmus Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Deakin, Hannah

2013-01-01

Studying or working abroad during the course of an undergraduate degree has been associated with many positive outcomes and benefits. Despite this, there is scant literature on the role higher education institution (HEIs) play in encouraging outgoing student mobility. There is subsequently limited practical guidance for individuals within HEIs…

Interventions for encouraging sexual behaviours intended to prevent cervical cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Shepherd, Jonathan P; Frampton, Geoff K; Harris, Petra

2014-01-01

Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the key risk factor for cervical cancer. Continuing high rates of HPV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in young people demonstrate the need for effective behavioural interventions. Objectives To assess the effectiveness of behavioural interventions for young women to encourage safer sexual behaviours to prevent transmission of STIs (including HPV) and cervical cancer. Search methods Systematic literature searches were performed on the following databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL Issue 4, 2009) Cochrane Gynaecological Cancer Review Group (CGCRG) Specialised Register, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Social Science Citation Index and Trials Register of Promoting Health Interventions (TRoPHI) up to the end of 2009. All references were screened for inclusion against selection criteria. Selection criteria Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of behavioural interventions for young women up to the age of 25 years that included, amongst other things, information provision about the transmission and prevention of STIs. Trials had to measure behavioural outcomes (e.g. condom use) and/or biological outcomes (e.g. incidence of STIs, cervical cancer). Data collection and analysis A narrative synthesis was conducted. Meta-analysis was not considered appropriate due to heterogeneity between the interventions and trial populations. Main results A total of 5271 references were screened and of these 23 RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Most were conducted in the USA and in health-care clinics (e.g. family planning). The majority of interventions provided information about STIs and taught safer sex skills (e.g. communication), occasionally supplemented with provision of resources (e.g. free sexual health services). They were heterogeneous in duration, contact time, provider, behavioural aims and outcomes. A variety of STIs were addressed including HIV and chlamydia. None of the trials explicitly

Using Audience Response Systems to Encourage Student Engagement and Reflection on Ethical Orientation and Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Micheletto, Melinda J.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to use an audience response system (ARS) to engage students in classroom discussions concerning sensitive and controversial topics (e.g., business ethics), assess student's ethical orientation and conduct in unethical behaviors, and encourage reflection on their personal level of ethicality. Students used ARS devices…

The Russian Nuclear Society, engineers and researchers to encourage innovation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2015-01-01

The Russian Nuclear Society (NSR) was born in 1989 just after the Chernobyl accident in order to help the public to overcome its fear and worries about nuclear power. Now NSR's purposes are manifold from communication about nuclear issues to the development and sharing of knowledge. The president is elected for 2 years with a rotating presidency for representing in turn nuclear sciences, industry and energy. Hundreds of events like conferences, international meetings, workshops, exhibitions have been organized so far. These events took place at Moscow and in the regional NSR centers. One of today's NSR objectives is to encourage the youth to embrace jobs and careers in nuclear industry. On the 5. may 2016 NSR and French SFEN renewed their cooperation agreement concerning the closure of the fuel cycle among other things. (A.C.)

Encouraging Sustainable Transport Choices in American Households: Results from an Empirically Grounded Agent-Based Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

�ubica Kozáková

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This study was concerned with solidification/stabilisation (S/S process of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI fly-ashes produced in the plant located in Ko�ice (Slovakia by cementation with a special interest in binding leachable heavy metals. Waste incineration is a commonly used technique for waste processing and disposal connected to production of MSWI fly-ash. Fly-ash is classified as hazardous waste due to high heavy metals content, and very fine particles. Two types of MSWI fly-ashes, collected from the cyclones (assigned as C and from the filters (assigned as F of the flue gas cleaning plant, were studied. By the S/S process using Portland cement both the fly-ashes were stabilised and the highest fly-ash:cement ratio to prepare firm stabilised samples were found to be 1:1.45 and 6:1 for the fly-ashes F and C, respectively. These differences were caused by different composition of the fly-ashes that significantly influence the S/S process, especially low chlorides content, and presence of sulphates and quartzin the fly-ash C and highchlorides and sulphides and low quartz content, absence of sulphates, and higher contents of lead and zinc in the fly-ash F. Special interest was paid on Ni, Cr, Cd, Cu, Zn, and Pb leaching from both the non-stabilised and the stabilised MSWI fly-ashes. Ni showed the highest and Zn the lowest leaching ratios for both the non-stabilised MSWI fly-ashes. All the monitored heavy metals leached from both the stabilised MSWI fly-ashes in concentrations below 0.03 mg.l-1. The leachates of both the solidified MSWI fly-ashes showed a significant immobilisation of the heavy metals in the stabilised product with a decrease of the leaching ability by more than 99 %. The stabilised MSWI fly-ashes can bedeposited in landfills for inert waste.

Facilitating small groups: how to encourage student learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Kitchen, Mark

2012-02-01

Many clinicians are involved in medical education, with small group teaching (SGT) forming a significant part of their work. Most facilitate these sessions by experience and common sense: less than one-third of them have received formal training in SGT. Evidence suggests small group productivity depends on good facilitation rather than on topic knowledge. Applying the fundamental concepts of SGT will lead to improvements in the quality of clinicians' teaching and in student learning. Good SGT creates the perfect environment for learning and discussion, without the need for didactic teaching. SGT emphasises the role of students in sharing and discussing their ideas in a safe learning environment, without domination by the tutor. This article provides clinicians with basic requirements for effective session design and planning, explains how to encourage student participation, how to manage students as a group, how to manage student learning, and how to recognise and deal with problems. Active facilitation and group management is the key to success in SGT, and consequently better learning outcomes. Improving the facilitation skills of clinical teachers makes teaching more effective, stimulating, and enjoyable for both tutors and students. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

[Policies encouraging price competition in the generic drug market: Lessons from the European experience].

Science.gov (United States)

Puig-Junoy, Jaume

2010-01-01

To describe alternative policies aimed at encouraging price competition in generic drug markets in countries with strict price regulation, and to present some case studies drawn from the European experience. Systematic literature review of articles and technical reports published after 1999. The shortcomings in consumer price competition observed in some European generic markets, including Spain, may be reduced through three types of public reimbursement or financing reforms: policies aimed at improving the design of current maximum reimbursement level policies; policies aimed at monitoring competitive prices in order to reimburse real acquisition cost to pharmacies; and, more radical and market-oriented policies such as competitive tendering of public drug purchases. The experience of recent reforms adopted in Germany, Belgium, Holland, Norway, and Sweden offers a useful guide for highly price-regulated European countries, such as Spain, currently characterized by limited consumer price competition and the high discounts offered to pharmacy purchases. Direct price regulation and/or the generic reference pricing systems used to reduce generic drug prices in many European countries can be successfully reformed by adopting measures more closely aimed at encouraging consumer price competition in generic drug markets. Copyright 2009 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Search Results | Page 43 | IDRC - International Development ...

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

Results 421 - 430 of 1131 ... Post-Harvest Management Technologies for Reducing Aflatoxin Contamination in Maize ... System in Guatemala to Encourage Healthier Beverage Choices ... Managing food security among the rural poor in uganda: ...

Minority Students of Color and the Psychology Graduate Pipeline: Disquieting and Encouraging Trends, 1989-2003

Science.gov (United States)

Maton, Kenneth I.; Kohout, Jessica L.; Wicherski, Marlene; Leary, George E.; Vinokurov, Andrey

2006-01-01

Trends since 1989 in the minority graduate pipeline in psychology are examined, with special focus on trends in recent years. Encouraging trends generally outweigh troubling ones at lower levels of the pipeline. However, in recent years disquieting trends dominate at the higher pipeline levels. Promising trends include a rise in the percentage (to…

An Exploration of Parental Encouragement as an Intervening Variable in Occupational Educational Learning of Children

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobsen, R. Brooke

1971-01-01

Based upon data from a random sample of families a typology of Parental Encouragement (PE) techniques was tested and two predominant types were found. A three way" analysis using comparable data from both parents and the ninth grade son reveals considerably less than one to one" correspondence on reported PE attempts. (Author)

Digital Game-Based Learning to Encourage Secondary Students to Purse STEM Related Careers Using Arecibo Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz-Correa, Z. M.; Lautenbach, J.; Franco-Diaz, E.; Raizada, S.; Ghosh, T.; Rivera-Valentín, E.; Ortiz, A.

2017-12-01

This project was developed to encourage secondary students to pursue STEM related careers through exposure to the interdisciplinary nature of the Arecibo Observatory (AO) in Puerto Rico. The idea for this project was initiated due to the NSF-funded Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Summer Program. The AO RET summer program allows teaching faculty from public schools to collaborate with scientist on their ongoing research or instrument development projects at the AO for five weeks. Subsequently, the research is disseminated among secondary students through several workshops and hands-on activities. Through the workshops and hands-on activities underrepresented secondary students will learn about the research conducted at the AO to study Earth's upper atmosphere, asteroids and other Solar System bodies, as well as stars and galaxies beyond. Afterwards, students will develop virtual worlds simulating the different AO facilities (Lidar Laboratory, Radio Telescope, Planetary Radar System, HF Facility, Visitor Center, among others) and showing their functions using digital game-based learning.

Dogs do not show pro-social preferences towards humans.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mylène Quervel-Chaumette

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Pro-social behaviors are defined as voluntary actions that benefit others. Comparative studies have mostly focused on investigating the presence of pro-sociality across species in an intraspecific context. Taken together, results on both primates and non-primate species indicate that reliance on cooperation may be at work in the selection and maintenance of pro-social sentiments. Dogs appear to be the ideal model when investigating a species’ propensity for pro-sociality in an interspecific context since it has been suggested that as a consequence of domestication, they evolved an underlying temperament encouraging greater propensity to cooperate with human partners. In a recent study, using a food delivery paradigm, dogs were shown to preferentially express pro-social choices towards familiar compared to unfamiliar conspecifics. Using the same set-up and methods in the current study, we investigated dogs’ pro-social preferences towards familiar and unfamiliar human partners. We found that dogs’ pro-social tendencies did not extend to humans and the identity of the human partners did not influence the rate of food delivery. Interestingly, dogs tested with their human partners spent more time gazing at humans, and did so for longer after food consumption had ended than dogs tested with conspecific partners in the initial study. To allow comparability between results from dogs tested with a conspecific and a human partner, the latter were asked not to communicate with dogs in any way. However, this lack of communication from the human may have been aversive to dogs, leading them to cease performing the task earlier compared to the dogs paired with familiar conspecifics in the prior study. This is in line with previous findings suggesting that human communication in such contexts highly affects dogs’ responses. Consequently, we encourage further studies to examine dogs’ pro-social behavior towards humans taking into consideration their

The intrinsic features of Environmental Management Systems that facilitate adoption and encourage innovation in primary industries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carruthers, Genevieve; Vanclay, Frank

2012-01-01

This paper examines the theoretical underpinnings of the adoption of innovations, and applies this knowledge to the uptake of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) amongst Australian farmers. We examine the specific features of the EMS process that might encourage or inhibit EMS adoption. We also

Game-Based Methods to Encourage EFL Learners to Transition to Autonomous Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janine Berger

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a work in progress in which we aim to encourage EFL students to take their learning beyond the classroom in order to experience English in different ways. Inspired by what is being done at the Quest to Learn middle and high school in New York City and ChicagoQuest (Institute of Play, 2014b our idea involves conducting an action research project in order to find out if game-like learning techniques, modified and adapted to the needs of university-aged EFL learners in Ecuador will help to increase motivation and independent learning for our students.

Teaching Note--Using TED Talks in the Social Work Classroom: Encouraging Student Engagement and Discourse

Science.gov (United States)

Loya, Melody Aye; Klemm, Terri

2016-01-01

Focusing on TED Talks (online videos) as a resource for social work educators, this teaching note shares our ideas regarding the use of the online videos as an avenue for reaching students and encouraging discussions in the social work classroom. The article first explores the TED platform and then discusses using TED as a teaching tool. Finally,…

What Hispanic parents do to encourage and discourage 3-5 year old children to be active: a qualitative study using nominal group technique.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Teresia M; Cerin, Ester; Hughes, Sheryl O; Robles, Jessica; Thompson, Deborah; Baranowski, Tom; Lee, Rebecca E; Nicklas, Theresa; Shewchuk, Richard M

2013-08-06

Hispanic preschoolers are less active than their non-Hispanic peers. As part of a feasibility study to assess environmental and parenting influences on preschooler physical activity (PA) (Niños Activos), the aim of this study was to identify what parents do to encourage or discourage PA among Hispanic 3-5 year old children to inform the development of a new PA parenting practice instrument and future interventions to increase PA among Hispanic youth. Nominal Group Technique (NGT), a structured multi-step group procedure, was used to elicit and prioritize responses from 10 groups of Hispanic parents regarding what parents do to encourage (5 groups) or discourage (5 groups) preschool aged children to be active. Five groups consisted of parents with low education (less than high school) and 5 with high education (high school or greater) distributed between the two NGT questions. Ten NGT groups (n = 74, range 4-11/group) generated 20-46 and 42-69 responses/group for practices that encourage or discourage PA respectively. Eight to 18 responses/group were elected as the most likely to encourage or discourage PA. Parental engagement in child activities, modeling PA, and feeding the child well were identified as parenting practices that encourage child PA. Allowing TV and videogame use, psychological control, physical or emotional abuse, and lack of parental engagement emerged as parenting practices that discourage children from being active. There were few differences in the pattern of responses by education level. Parents identified ways they encourage and discourage 3-5 year-olds from PA, suggesting both are important targets for interventions. These will inform the development of a new PA parenting practice scale to be further evaluated. Further research should explore the role parents play in discouraging child PA, especially in using psychological control or submitting children to abuse, which were new findings in this study.

How do brochures encourage walking in natural environments in the UK? A content analysis.

OpenAIRE

Elliott, LR; White, MP; Taylor, AH; Abraham, C

2016-01-01

Although walking for leisure can support health, there has been little systematic attempt to consider how recreational walking is best promoted. In the UK, local authorities create promotional materials for walking networks, but little is known about whether they effectively encourage walking through persuasive messaging. Many of these materials pertain to walks in natural environments which evidence suggests are generally visited less frequently by physically inactive individuals. Consequent...

The advantages and disadvantages of encouraging consumerist notions of health care at two minor injury units.

Science.gov (United States)

Sturgeon, David

2018-03-22

Over the past four decades, UK governments have moved towards an increasingly pro-market model of healthcare provision. Under this system, patients are not only encouraged, but expected, to take increasing responsibility for healthcare decision-making and the risks that it might entail. This article investigate how and why patients make choices about their health care and how service providers help facilitate this. Between October 2014 and May 2015, the researcher was embedded as an emergency nurse practitioner at two minor injury units in order to undertake direct and participant observation. During this time, 40 patients, 17 service providers and 1 senior manager also consented to semi-structured interview. The findings suggest that patients should continue to be encouraged to make decisions about their health care, but only if they feel confident to do so. The challenge for service providers is to recognise when this is or is not appropriate and tailor interaction accordingly.

Search Results | Page 804 | IDRC - International Development ...

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

Results 8031 - 8040 of 9602 ... Increasing gender equality among small millet farmers in South Asia ... protein and micronutrients, leading to high rates of stunting in children ... Canada, China collaborate to encourage “brain flow” between the ...

Tax policy as a lifeline: encouraging blood and organ donation through tax credits.

Science.gov (United States)

Clamon, Joseph B

2008-01-01

This article, the second concerning the organ donation crisis, proposes the use of tax policy to encourage blood and organ donation. After critiquing the ethical and logistical problems posed by other commercial and non-commercial solutions, the author demonstrates how tax credits can be used as an effective and ethical solution to address the shortage of donors. The author also offers two model statutes that provide guidance as to how a nonrefundable tax credit for blood and organ donation might operate in the tax code.

Implications of the Goal Theory on air show programs planning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dewald Venter

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Events have long played an important role in human society (Shone & Parry, 2010: 3. The toils and efforts of daily lives have often been broken up by events of all kinds as humans seek an escape from the harsh reality of existence and events provide the outlet. Events are classified into four categories according to Shone and Parry (2010: 5 namely leisure (sport, recreation, personal (weddings, birthdays, cultural (art, folklore and organizational (politics, commercial. Successful events either match or exceed visitor motives and goals. It is critical that data be collected from visitors to determine their motives and goals in order to satisfy them and thereby encouraging repeat visits. One such event is the annual air show held at the Zwartkop Air Force Base (AFB in Pretoria, South Africa. Zwartkop AFB is also home to the South African Air Force (SAAF museum that also the hosts of the air show. Much of the museum‟s funds are generated through hosting the air show and sponsor contributions. Visitor goal satisfaction should therefore be of critically importance to the program planners. Military hardware has long held a fascination for those who used them and inspired the imagination of young and old. Such hardware often serves as a remembrance of times passed and as a testament to those who perished. For many visiting museums and air shows, curiosity plays a big role. The particular focus of this article will be on how the goal theory of leisure travel can be utilized by the air show organizers to enhance visitor experience to an air show.

Developing Critical Understanding in HRM Students: Using Innovative Teaching Methods to Encourage Deep Approaches to Study

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Michael J. R.; Reddy, Peter

2010-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to focus on developing critical understanding in human resource management (HRM) students in Aston Business School, UK. The paper reveals that innovative teaching methods encourage deep approaches to study, an indicator of students reaching their own understanding of material and ideas. This improves student employability…

Structures and Technology Encouraging Discussion in Human Sexuality Courses: Strategies to Engage a Range of Students

Science.gov (United States)

Angera, Jeffrey J.; Latty, Christopher R.

2015-01-01

Human sexuality courses are common across many college/university campuses. The methods of instruction typically encourage discussion to increase knowledge and critical thinking about self, relationships, and professional pathways. However, often the pedagogical practices do not include methods to draw out students with a range of personalities,…

Encouraging top-down attention in visual search:A developmental perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Lookadoo, Regan; Yang, Yingying; Merrill, Edward C

2017-10-01

Four experiments are reported in which 60 younger children (7-8 years old), 60 older children (10-11 years old), and 60 young adults (18-25 years old) performed a conjunctive visual search task (15 per group in each experiment). The number of distractors of each feature type was unbalanced across displays to evaluate participants' ability to restrict search to the smaller subset of features. The use of top-down attention processes to restrict search was encouraged by providing external aids for identifying and maintaining attention on the smaller set. In Experiment 1, no external assistance was provided. In Experiment 2, precues and instructions were provided to focus attention on that subset. In Experiment 3, trials in which the smaller subset was represented by the same feature were presented in alternating blocks to eliminate the need to switch attention between features from trial to trial. In Experiment 4, consecutive blocks of the same subset features were presented in the first or second half of the experiment, providing additional consistency. All groups benefited from external support of top-down attention, although the pattern of improvement varied across experiments. The younger children benefited most from precues and instruction, using the subset search strategy when instructed. Furthermore, younger children benefited from blocking trials only when blocks of the same features did not alternate. Older participants benefited from the blocking of trials in both Experiments 3 and 4, but not from precues and instructions. Hence, our results revealed both malleability and limits of children's top-down control of attention.

Encouragers and discouragers affecting medical graduates' choice of regional and rural practice locations.

Science.gov (United States)

McKillop, Ann; Webster, Craig; Bennett, Win; O'Connor, Barbara; Bagg, Warwick

2017-12-01

Access to health care as near to where people live as possible is desirable. However, not enough medical graduates choose to work in rural and regional areas, especially in general practice. The career decisions of recent medical graduates are known to be affected by a variety of professional, societal and personal factors. Internationally, medical programmes have exposed students to regional and rural experiences partly to encourage them to seek employment in these areas after graduation. As such, the Pūkawakawa Programme is a year-long regional and rural experience for selected Year 5 students from the University of Auckland‘s Medical Programme in New Zealand in partnership with the Northland District Health Board and two Primary Health Organisations. A lack of clarity about the drivers of rural and regional career decisions underpinned this study, which aimed to explore the barriers and encouragers for students of the programme to return as resident medical officers to the regional hospital where they had gained clinical experience. A mixed-method, descriptive design was used, including a short survey, followed by participation in a focus-group discussion or a one-on-one interview. Survey data were summarised in tabular form and inductive, thematic analysis was applied to transcripts of focus groups and interviews. Nineteen doctors in their first or second year following graduation participated: 15 who had returned to the hospital where they had clinical experience in the programme and four who were employed elsewhere. 'A match of personal goals and intended career intentions' was the reason most frequently selected for junior doctors’ choice of early career employment. Other frequently selected reasons were lifestyle, friends and family close by, and the reputation and experience of the Pūkawakawa Programme. Qualitative data revealed that the learning experience, the unique design of the curriculum and associated support from clinicians were identified as

Encouraging data citation and discovery with the Data Citation Index.

Science.gov (United States)

Force, Megan M; Robinson, Nigel J

2014-10-01

An overview of the Data Citation Index is provided. Thomson Reuters developed this resource in response to a stated desire among members of the research community for increased attribution of non-traditional scholarly output. Launched in October of 2012 on the Web of science research platform, its aims include linking published research articles to their underlying data sets and tracking the citation of the data, as well as encouraging bibliographic citation of data. Cross-disciplinary search capabilities in the Index enable new possibilities for data discovery and synthesis. Data repositories are evaluated with respect to various selection criteria, with particular attention to their relevance to scientific and scholarly research. Index content reflects current data deposition practices. As data citation standards and practices continue to move toward widespread formalization and adoption, the initiative seeks to address issues of data citation, reuse, and author credit in a developing climate.

Exposure to teasing on popular television shows and associations with adolescent body satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenberg, Marla E; Ward, Ellen; Linde, Jennifer A; Gollust, Sarah E; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

2017-12-01

This study uses a novel mixed methods design to examine the relationship between incidents of teasing in popular television shows and body satisfaction of adolescent viewers. Survey data were used to identify 25 favorite television shows in a large population-based sample of Minnesota adolescents (N=2793, age=14.4years). Data from content analysis of teasing incidents in popular shows were linked to adolescent survey data. Linear regression models examined associations between exposure to on-screen teasing in adolescents' own favorite shows and their body satisfaction. Effect modification by adolescent weight status was tested using interaction terms. Teasing on TV was common, with 3.3 incidents per episode; over one-quarter of teasing was weight/shape-related. Exposure to weight/shape-related teasing (β=-0.43, p=0.008) and teasing with overweight targets (β=-0.03, p=0.02) was inversely associated with girls' body satisfaction; no associations were found for boys. Findings were similar regardless of the adolescent viewer's weight status. Families, health care providers, media literacy programs and the entertainment industry are encouraged to consider the negative effects exposure to weight stigmatization can have on adolescent girls. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Word By Word: A Mobile Game To Encourage Collaborative Storytelling Within The Museum

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ingimundardottir, Elin; Stanciauskaite, Greta; Sachse, Kristoffer Kjul

2018-01-01

design, our research provides insights into which mobile interface design factors could inhibit or enhance a collaborative storytelling experience, and how a mobile game could be used to support a meaningful social museum experience by encouraging visitors to construct their own personal interpretations......This paper presents Word by Word—a mobile game that allows visitors to personalize and share their experience by allowing them to construct and continue each other's stories based on the objects that they observe within the museum. The objective of the game’s concept and development...

An examination of measures designed to encourage energy conservation from the perspective of motivation theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1975-10-01

This report addresses itself to the insights offered by the psychology of motivation to those wishing to encourage the conservation of energy. After an extensive review of the relevant literature, it was found that the bulk of the psychological literature offers little that can be adapted for immediate practical application to a large scale motivational campaign. There are, nevertheless, some well-supported conclusions that can be drawn from the theory and experimentation of psychology that are of direct relevance to the efficient and effective planning and execution of a campaign to encourage conservation of energy. This report addresses itself to these conclusions. The contents of the report include comments on the efficacy of various types of programs, the conditions under which those programs are most likely to succeed, and the critical elements which should be included in those programs if they are to exert their maximum effect. These types of programs include intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, i.e. creating new behavior patterns with internally or externally generated rewards, fear inducement (threats of energy shortages), and cogenitive dissonance, involving images of oneself and one's cultural environment. 66 refs.

An examination of measures designed to encourage energy conservation from the perspective of motivation theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1975-10-01

This report addresses itself to the insights offered by the psychology of motivation to those wishing to encourage the conservation of energy. After an extensive review of the relevant literature, it was found that the bulk of the psychological literature offers little that can be adapted for immediate practical application to a large scale motivational campaign. There are, nevertheless, some well-supported conclusions that can be drawn from the theory and experimentation of psychology that are of direct relevance to the efficient and effective planning and execution of a campaign to encourage conservation of energy. This report addresses itself to these conclusions. The contents of the report include comments on the efficacy of various types of programs, the conditions under which those programs are most likely to succeed, and the critical elements which should be included in those programs if they are to exert their maximum effect. These types of programs include intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, i.e. creating new behavior patterns with internally or externally generated rewards, fear inducement (threats of energy shortages), and cogenitive dissonance, involving images of oneself and one's cultural environment. 66 refs.

Nutrition interventions at point-of-sale to encourage healthier food purchasing: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Liberato, Selma C; Bailie, Ross; Brimblecombe, Julie

2014-09-05

Point-of-sale is a potentially important opportunity to promote healthy eating through nutrition education and environment modification. The aim of this review was to describe and review the evidence of effectiveness of various types of interventions that have been used at point-of-sale to encourage purchase and/or eating of healthier food and to improve health outcomes, and the extent to which effectiveness was related to intensity, duration and intervention setting. Records from searches in databases were screened and assessed against inclusion criteria. Included studies had risk of bias assessed. Intervention effectiveness was assessed for two outcomes: i) purchase and/or intake of healthier food options and/or nutrient intake; and ii) mediating factors that might effect the primary outcome. The search identified 5635 references. Thirty-two papers met the inclusion criteria. Twelve studies had low risk of bias and were classified as strong, nine were moderate and 11 were weak. Six intervention types and a range of different outcome measures were described in these papers: i) nutrition education and promotion alone through supermarkets/stores; ii) nutrition education plus enhanced availability of healthy food; iii) monetary incentive alone; iv) nutrition education plus monetary incentives; v) nutrition intervention through vending machines; and vi) nutrition intervention through shopping online. The evidence of this review indicates that monetary incentives offered to customers for a short-term look promising in increasing purchase of healthier food options when the intervention is applied by itself in stores or supermarkets. There was a lack of good quality studies addressing all other types of relevant point-of-sale interventions examining change in purchase and/or intake of healthier food options. There were few studies that examined mediating factors that might mediate the effect on the primary outcomes of relevant interventions. A range of intervention types

Strategies to encourage physical activity in patients with hemophilia to improve quality of life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goto M

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Miwa Goto,1 Hideyuki Takedani,2 Kazuhiko Yokota,1 Nobuhiko Haga3 1Rehabilitation Center, The University of Tokyo Hospital, 2Department of Joint Surgery, Research Hospital of the Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, 3Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan Abstract: Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder caused by a congenital abnormality of blood coagulation. Until the mid-1970s, patients with hemophilia (PWH were advised to refrain from physical activity (PA because of a perceived increased risk of bleeding. Since then, PA, which is recognized as being essential for health maintenance, is now recommended by the World Federation of Hemophilia. Moreover, a number of studies reported that PA can improve treatment efficacy and prevent bleeding in PWH. Physical assessment and intervention in PA are currently used in clinical practice. However, the necessity of PA is not emphasized, and many PWH generally have low- to- no PA. Therefore, a behavior change approach to encourage patient motivation is becoming ever more important. In this article, we review articles addressing PA in PWH and discuss strategies to encourage PA through a behavior change approach by focusing on factors relevant to hemophilia, such as benefits and bleeding risk of PA, risk management of bleeding, PA characteristics, and difficulty with exercise adherence. The trust relationship between clinicians and patients, a transtheoretical model of behavior change, and motivation theory as approaches to promote PA are introduced. Finally, we review a case report of the clinical success of a behavior change approach to promote PA. Many PWH find it difficult to continue PA because of aging, fear of bleeding, insufficient recognition of PA benefits, and psychological problems. Therefore, it is essential and important to perform prophylaxis with PWH and to heighten their understanding of the benefits and risks of

Educational Encouragement, Parenting Styles, Gender and Ethnicity as Predictors of Academic Achievement among Special Education Students

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Aqeel; Ahmad, Roslee; Hamdan, Abdul Rahim; Mustaffa, Mohamed Sharif

2014-01-01

Current study examines the predictors of academic achievement: role of parenting styles, educational encouragement, gender and ethnicity among special education students. Participants of this study consisted 200 special education students (N = 105 boys and N = 95 girls) age varies 14 to 19 years from one school located at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.…

Encouraging a 'Barrier-free Built Environment' in a Malaysian University

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hazreena Hussein

2005-12-01

Full Text Available A good pedestrian network around the campus should be accessible and friendly for all users including disabled persons. The environment should offer some activity nodes to ensure that the learning and working in campus is more pleasant. The paper will clarify the importance of collaborative development among various professionals and organisations in order to achieve a 'barrier-free built environment', focusing on the University of Malaya as a case study. It will share experience on the education of inclusive design for students who will become professionals and responsible in implementing the legislation relating to safety, accessibility and usability of the built environment. As the objective is the issue of educating relevant professionals, it will introduce methods in teaching professionals as a strategy to advocate a 'barrier-free built environment'. The paper will also illustrate the efforts done in encouraging the agenda which have been implemented around the case study.

Factors that encourage and discourage policy-making to prevent childhood obesity: Experience in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Rutkow, Lainie; Jones-Smith, Jesse; Walters, Hannah J; O'Hara, Marguerite; Bleich, Sara N

2016-12-01

Policy-makers throughout the world seek to address childhood obesity prevention, yet little is known about factors that influence policy-makers' decisions on this topic. From September 2014 to April 2015, we conducted 43 semi-structured interviews about factors that encourage and discourage policy-makers' support for childhood obesity prevention policies. We interviewed policy-makers (n = 12) and two other groups engaged with childhood obesity prevention policies: representatives of non-governmental organizations (n = 24) and academics (n = 7). Factors that encourage policy-makers' support for childhood obesity prevention policies included: positive impact on government finances, an existing evidence base, partnerships with community-based collaborators, and consistency with policy-makers' priorities. Factors that discourage policy-makers' support included the following: perceptions about government's role, food and beverage industry opposition, and policy-makers' beliefs about personal responsibility. As public health practitioners, advocates, and others seek to advance childhood obesity prevention in the U.S. and elsewhere, the factors we identified offer insights into ways to frame proposed policies and strategies to influence policy-makers.

Reading and Love: Encouraging Love of Reading at Home and School: Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Reading (6th, Mangilao, Guam, January 18, 1986).

Science.gov (United States)

Cotton, Eileen G., Ed.

Representing the expertise of university education professors and public school teachers, the articles in these proceedings focus on encouraging reading and fostering lifelong reading habits. Titles of the papers and their authors are as follows: (1) "Television and Books: Friends or Foes" (Jeannetta H. Caplan); (2) "Encouraging the…

The impact of endocrine therapy on sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women with early stage breast cancer: encouraging results from a prospective study.

Science.gov (United States)

Frechette, Dominique; Paquet, Lise; Verma, Shailendra; Clemons, Mark; Wheatley-Price, Paul; Gertler, Stan Z; Song, Xinni; Graham, Nadine; Dent, Susan

2013-08-01

The goal of this project was to investigate the contentious issue of a possible effect of endocrine therapy (ET) on sexual dysfunction (SD) in postmenopausal early stage breast cancer survivors. To date, few studies have assessed sexual functioning prior to initiating ET and none have taken sexual distress into account when reporting the prevalence of ET-induced SD. We report the findings of a study on the change in SD (defined as experiencing sexual problems causing distress) during the first 6 months of ET usage. Between January 2009 and May 2011, 118 patients entered the study and 66 completed questionnaires prior to initiation of ET and after 6 months of use. Sexual functioning (SF) was evaluated with the female sexual function index while sexual distress was assessed with the female sexual distress scale (FSDS-R). Gynecological symptoms were measured with the FACT-B ES subscale. Over time, the level of gynecological symptoms increased (p problem (85 %) and the percentage who were sexually distressed (30 %) remained the same across time. Importantly, the change in the prevalence of SD between baseline (24 %) and 6 months (29 %) was not statistically significant. Women experiencing SD at baseline were more likely to experience SD after 6 months of ET usage (OR = 7.4, 95 % CI = 1.5-36.9) than women who had no SD prior to initiating ET. The observation that SF remained stable across time is encouraging news. However, longer follow-up and the inclusion of women who were premenopausal at diagnosis are needed to determine the potential influence of extended duration of ET (e.g., at least 5 years) on SD. Further studies, including assessing the impact of early identification of patients at risk of developing SD and timely intervention, are warranted.

Reasoning with Children about Violent Television Shows and Related Toys.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Ni

2000-01-01

Examines three prevalent parental recommendations for reducing children's exposure to violence, noting that if delivered in an authoritarian manner, anticipated outcomes may not occur. Argues that child involvement in setting up family rules encourages self-awareness for children to monitor their own behaviors. Includes five examples of suggested…

Report on Results 2000

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-07-01

This report discusses work being carried out in Norway to promote energy efficiency and the production of new renewable energy. An overall review of the quantifiable results of last year's activities at national level is available. It will serve to initiate an annual reporting tradition. The report represents a step towards an ongoing process for improved targeting and management of national efforts. During the course of the year 2000, NVE has evaluated and adjusted its activities and established a system involving indicators and reporting procedures. It is also important to take notice of the long-term work being undertaken to influence people's attitudes, even though this work is difficult to assess. NVE is investing in i.a. measures aimed at children and young people. Apart from directly influencing future energy users, this investment is also having an effect due to the children's encouragement of their parents to engage in more energy and environment-friendly behaviour. Published in 2000, the IEA report ''Trends in Norwegian Stationary Energy Use'' shows that total Norwegian energy consumption per GDP is not much higher than in other IEA countries, when adjusted for cold climate and industrial structure. However, Norwegians do stand out as intensive users of electricity. The IEA report shows a reduction of 10 TWh in energy usage when compared to the projected post 1990 figures. Energy efficiency activities have contributed towards this reduction. However, the potential for a more rational use of energy in Norway is still substantial and well documented. Based on experience most enterprises could save around 10% of energy used just by making changes to their operations, i.e. without major investments. Furthermore, the potential is growing because of massive technological developments in respect of energy usage, production and distribution. With this in mind, it is necessary to take full advantage of the extensive knowledge

Encouraging prediction during production facilitates subsequent comprehension: Evidence from interleaved object naming in sentence context and sentence reading

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hintz, F.; Meyer, A.S.; Hüttig, F.

2016-01-01

Many studies have shown that a supportive context facilitates language comprehension. A currently influential view is that language production may support prediction in language comprehension. Experimental evidence for this, however, is relatively sparse. Here we explored whether encouraging

Heart disease risk information, encouragement, and physical activity among Mexican-origin couples: Self- or spouse-driven change?

Science.gov (United States)

Skapinsky, Kaley F; Persky, Susan; Lewis, Megan; Goergen, Andrea; Ashida, Sato; de Heer, Hendrik D; Hadley, Donald; Wilkinson, Anna V; Koehly, Laura M

2018-01-29

Family health history is an accessible, clinically-recommended genomic tool that improves health risk evaluation. It captures both genetic and modifiable risk factors that cluster within families. Thus, families represent a salient context for family health history-based interventions that motivate engagement in risk-reducing behaviors. While previous research has explored how individuals respond to their personal risk information, we extend this inquiry to consider how individuals respond to their spouse's risk information among a sample of Mexican-Americans. One hundred and sixty spouse-dyads within Mexican-heritage households received a pedigree or a pedigree and personalized risk assessments, with or without behavioral recommendations. Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVAs) were conducted to assess the relationship between risk feedback, both personal and spouse, and self-reported physical activity levels at 3-month and 10-month assessments, controlling for baseline levels. The effect of being identified as an encourager of spouse's healthy weight was also evaluated. Personal feedback had no effect on participants' physical activity at either 3- or 10-month assessments. However, husbands' risk information was associated with wives' physical activity levels at 3-month assessment, with women whose husbands received both increased risk feedback and behavioral recommendations engaging in significantly higher physical activity levels than all other women. At 10-month follow-up, physical activity levels for both husbands and wives differed depending on whether they encouraged their spouse's healthy weight. Spousal risk information may be a stronger source of motivation to improve physical activity patterns than personal risk information, particularly for women. Interventions that activate interpersonal encouragement among spouses may more successfully extend intervention effects. © Society of Behavioral Medicine 2018.

Nudging and social marketing techniques encourage employees to make healthier food choices: a randomized controlled trial in 30 worksite cafeterias in The Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Velema, Elizabeth; Vyth, Ellis L; Hoekstra, Trynke; Steenhuis, Ingrid H M

2018-02-01

Currently, many studies focus on how the environment can be changed to encourage healthier eating behavior, referred to as choice architecture or "nudging." However, to date, these strategies are not often investigated in real-life settings, such as worksite cafeterias, or are only done so on a short-term basis. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of a healthy worksite cafeteria ["worksite cafeteria 2.0" (WC 2.0)] intervention on Dutch employees' purchase behavior over a 12-wk period. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in 30 worksite cafeterias. Worksite cafeterias were randomized to either the intervention or control group. The intervention aimed to encourage employees to make healthier food choices during their daily worksite cafeteria visits. The intervention consisted of 14 simultaneously executed strategies based on nudging and social marketing theories, involving product, price, placement, and promotion. Adjusted multilevel models showed significant positive effects of the intervention on purchases for 3 of the 7 studied product groups: healthier sandwiches, healthier cheese as a sandwich filling, and the inclusion of fruit. The increased sales of these healthier meal options were constant throughout the 12-wk intervention period. This study shows that the way worksite cafeterias offer products affects purchase behavior. Situated nudging and social marketing-based strategies are effective in promoting healthier choices and aim to remain effective over time. Some product groups only indicated an upward trend in purchases. Such an intervention could ultimately help prevent and reduce obesity in the Dutch working population. This trial was registered at the Dutch Trial Register (http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=5372) as NTR5372.

Actively Encouraging Learning and Degree Persistence in Advanced Astrophysics Courses

Science.gov (United States)

McIntosh, Daniel H.

2018-01-01

The need to grow and diversify the STEM workforce remains a critical national challenge. Less than 40% of college students interested in STEM achieve a bachelor's degree. These numbers are even more dire for women and URMs, underscoring a serious concern about the country's ability to remain competitive in science and tech. A major factor is persistent performance gaps in rigorous 'gateway' and advanced STEM courses for majors from diverse backgrounds leading to discouragement, a sense of exclusion, and high dropout rates. Education research has clearly demonstrated that interactive-engagement (`active learning') strategies increase performance, boost confidence, and help build positive 'identity' in STEM. Likewise, the evidence shows that traditional science education practices do not help most students gain a genuine understanding of concepts nor the necessary skill set to succeed in their disciplines. Yet, lecture-heavy courses continue to dominate the higher-ed curriculum, thus, reinforcing the tired notion that only a small percentage of 'special' students have the inherent ability to achieve a STEM degree. In short, very capable students with less experience and confidence in science, who belong to groups that traditionally are less identified with STEM careers, are effectively and efficiently 'weeded out' by traditional education practices. I will share specific examples for how I successfully incorporate active learning in advanced astrophysics courses to encourage students from all backgrounds to synthesize complex ideas, build bedrock conceptual frameworks, gain technical communication skills, and achieve mastery learning outcomes all necessary to successfully complete rigorous degrees like astrophysics. By creating an inclusive and active learning experience in junior-level extragalactic and stellar interiors/atmospheres courses, I am helping students gain fluency in their chosen major and the ability to 'think like a scientist', both critical to

Encouraging ethical considerations - One important task for a national co-ordinator for nuclear waste disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soederberg, O.

1999-01-01

The paper is a brief description of the role and tasks of the Swedish National Co-ordinator for Nuclear Waste Disposal with special regard to one of his activities encouraging ethical considerations in the nuclear waste management issue. Examples are given of ethical considerations which have emerged during discussions among representatives of municipalities which are affected by the current search for a site for a deep geological repository in Sweden for spent nuclear fuel

Search Results | Page 836 | IDRC - International Development ...

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

Results 8351 - 8360 of 8491 ... Qualitative Research for Tobacco Control: A How-to Introductory Manual for Researchers and Development Practitioners. This manual is designed to encourage users from around the world to engage in tobacco control research using qualitative methods and tools. The objective is to expand the ...

Encouraging Student Participation While Designing Writing Exercises

Science.gov (United States)

Narayanan, M.

2017-12-01

Encouraging student participation while designing writing exercises requires a certain pragmatic approach. Wilbert James McKeachie is the author of a widely read textbook on college teaching. McKeachie was a longtime faculty member at the University of Michigan. He served as president of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Foundation and the American Association of Higher Education. In his famous book Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom, McKeachie provides an introduction and notes the role of research in identifying new goals for higher education. He also offers a conceptual framework based on a student mediation model and a focuses on the processs-product relationships between faculty teacher behavior and student learning outcomes. McKeachie' s Teaching Tips provides helpful strategies for dealing with both the everyday problems of university teaching and those that arise in trying to maximize learning for every student. The book does not suggest a set of recipes to be followed mechanically; it gives instructors the tools they need to deal with the ever-changing dynamics of teaching and learning. First, it is extremely important to define the target skill areas and means of implementation. Next, the professor can then proceed to focus on the techniques that could be employed to ensure student participation. This includes selection of an appropriate topic that is relevant to the field of study as well as classroom learning experiences. By pragmatically combining these objectives, the teacher can expect both enthusiasm and effective learning among the student population. McKeachie, Wilbert James. (1980) Learning, Cognition and College Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey - Bass McKeachie, Wilbert James. (1980) Teaching Tips: A Guidebook for the Beginning College Teacher Lexington, MASS. : Heath. 1986. ISBN: 0669067520 McKeachie, Wilbert James., et. al. (2001) Teaching Tips (Eleventh Edition): Strategies, Research, and Theory for

Do we have a car for you? Encouraging the uptake of electric vehicles at point of sale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthews, Lindsay; Lynes, Jennifer; Riemer, Manuel; Del Matto, Tania; Cloet, Nicholas

2017-01-01

This study investigates shopping experiences at dealerships selling electric vehicles (EVs) in Ontario, Canada. In 2014, twenty mystery shoppers were trained and sent into 24 EV-certified dealerships (with a total of 95 shopping experiences) to observe the sales approach towards EVs. Results show that a common barrier for shoppers is the unavailability of EVs at the dealership – including a lack of EV models on site to view or test-drive as well as a three- to four-month waiting period to receive the vehicle once ordered. A multiple regression model was developed to explore which factors influence the likelihood of deciding to purchase an EV. Findings suggest that, controlling for brand, the key success factors are a salesperson's positive attitude and the availability of an EV on site. It is important for future policy makers to acknowledge the influential role of market intermediaries, such as dealerships, in the adoption of EVs. The research findings demonstrate a potential for government agencies to work with dealerships and/or salespeople to improve EV uptake by encouraging the presence of floor models and vehicles for test-driving on site, and by increasing the accuracy of information being provided to customers. - Highlights: • Mystery shopping was used to observe EV sales interactions at dealerships in Ontario. • A common barrier for customers is the lack of availability of vehicles on site. • Salespeople were enthusiastic about EVs but sometimes relayed inaccurate information. • Government EV policy needs to acknowledge the importance of market intermediaries.

Processes and Instructions Encouraging Thai Students Consistently Pass the First Round of The National Physics Academics Olympiads

Science.gov (United States)

Teevasuthornsakul, Chalongchai; Manosuttirit, Artnarong; Suwanno, Chirasak; Sutsaguan, Lanchakorn

2010-07-01

This research focused on the processes and physics instruction of 25 schools located in Bangkok and up-country in Thailand in order to explain why many of their students have passed the first round of the National Physics Academic Olympiads consistently. The high schools in Thailand can apply and support their students and develop their potential in physics. The development of physics professional is the cornerstone of a developing country and increase physics quality base on sciences development in the future in Thailand. The duration of collecting all data was from May 2007 to May 2009. The methodology for this research was the qualitative research method. The researchers interviewed managers, teachers and students at each school location or used semi-structured interview forms. The researchers used the Investigator Triangulation approach to check the qualitative data and the Cause and Effect Analysis approach to analyze situation factors. The results showed that in processes were include 1) enhanced the students with the Academic Olympiads to develop the capacities of students; 2) motivated the students with processes such as good instruction in physics and special privilege in continuing studies in university; and 3) tutorial systems and drill and practice systems support students into subsequent rounds. 4) Admiration activities accommodated the students continually and suitably. Most of the teaching styles used in their lectures, in both basic contents and practice, encouraged students to analyze entrance examination papers, little laboratory. While students say that" They just know that a physics laboratory is very important to study physics after they passed Olympic camp."

The Cathedral and the Bazaar of E-Repository Development: Encouraging Community Engagement with Moving Pictures and Sound

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Denis; Shephard, Kerry L.; Phillips, Peter

2008-01-01

This paper offers an insight into the development, use and governance of e-repositories for learning and teaching, illustrated by Eric Raymond's bazaar and cathedral analogies and by a comparison of collection strategies that focus on content coverage or on the needs of users. It addresses in particular the processes that encourage and achieve…

Ecosante: Using Daily Prompts and Photo Capturing to Encourage Multiple Behavior Change in a Sustainable Lifestyle Intervention

Science.gov (United States)

Kuo, Pei-Yi

2017-01-01

The United States has a weight problem. It's not just about food intake but also about energy consumption [97, 153]. This dissertation asks: "How can we encourage people to act in ways that are mutually beneficial for themselves and the environment?" To date, there is no single behavior intervention in the literature targets behavioral…

Radiolabelling of RC-160: preliminary results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verdera, E.S.; Balter Binsky, H.S.; Robles, A.M.; Rodriguez, G.; Souto, B.; Laiz, J.; Oliver, P.; Leon, E.

1998-01-01

Vapreotide (RC-160) was labelled with 125 I using Chloramine-T and Iodogen methods and with 99m Tc by a direct method with sodium ditionite as reducing agent in the presence of ascorbic acid. Several methods of purification and quality control were evaluated. Yields of the reactions and of purification steps were calculated. The results obtained for the radioiodination reactions showed higher yields when limiting Chloramine-T method was used. Labelling of RC-160 with 99m Tc indicated better yields when high radioactivity concentration of the radionuclide was used. Stability of the products obtained was assessed at different post-labelling times by selected quality control methods: Sep-Pak cartridge as purification method and chromatography by RP-HPLC and ITLC-SG using saline solution as solvent. It was demonstrated that I-125-RC-160 and Tc-99m-RC-160 were stable during five weeks (at -20 deg. C) and 6 hours (at room temperature) respectively. Preliminary biodistribution of Tc-99m-RC-160 in normal rats and mice were done showing different biological behaviour compared with control animals injected with pertechnetate. In conclusion, RC-160 was successfully labelled with both radionuclides, with radiochemical purity higher than 95%. These results encourage further research work in animal models as well as to investigate the biochemical behaviour of radiolabelled peptide. (author)

How Leaders Cultivate Spirituality in the Workplace: What the Research Shows.

Science.gov (United States)

Groen, Janet

2001-01-01

A study of five adult educators identified internal and external leadership qualities that support a spirituality-infused workplace, including a sense of vocation, a culture that encourages creativity and risk and balances work and home life, and leaders' willingness to express and implement an organization's values. (SK)

A multilevel analysis of the effects of a reproductive health programme that encouraged informed choice of contraceptive method rather than use of officially preferred methods, China 2003-2005.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, James J; Bohua, Li; Padmadas, Sabu S

2010-07-01

Historically, the Chinese government's family planning (FP) policy has emphasized post-partum IUD use after first birth and sterilization after subsequent births. Was the influence of this policy-driven programme on women's contraceptive choices weakened by a reproductive health intervention programme based on the idea of enabling and encouraging clients to make an informed choice? Multilevel analyses of cross-sectional data from baseline (2003) and endline (2005) surveys conducted as part of the evaluation of a large-scale UNFPA RH/FP programme show significant reductions in the uptake of methods emphasized by official policy between the two surveys. But county-level effects are highly significant, suggesting the continuation of a strong exogenous influence on women's choices. The results suggest that, while the intervention had the effect of weakening the top-down approach towards promoting methods, family planning workers continued to be influential in promoting sterilization for women at higher parities.

Microbial Community Structure of an Alluvial Aquifer Treated to Encourage Microbial Induced Calcite Precipitation

Science.gov (United States)

Ohan, J.; Saneiyan, S.; Lee, J.; Ntarlagiannis, D.; Burns, S.; Colwell, F. S.

2017-12-01

An oligotrophic aquifer in the Colorado River floodplain (Rifle, CO) was treated with molasses and urea to encourage microbial induced calcite precipitation (MICP). This would stabilize the soil mass by reducing porosity and strengthening the mineral fabric. Over the course of a 15-day treatment period, microbial biomass was collected from monitoring well groundwater for DNA extraction and sequencing. Bromide, a conservative tracer, was co-injected and subsequently detected in downgradient wells, confirming effective nutrient delivery. Conductivity increased during the injection regime and an overall decrease in pH was observed. Groundwater chemistry showed a marked increase in ammonia, suggesting urea hydrolysis - a process catalyzed by the enzyme urease - the primary enzyme implicated in MICP. Additionally, soluble iron was detected, suggesting a general increase in microbial activity; possibly as iron-reducing bacteria changed insoluble ferric oxide to soluble ferrous hydroxide in the anoxic aquifer. DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene confirmed the presence of iron reducing bacteria, including Shewanella and Desulfuromonadales. Generally, a decrease in microbial community diversity was observed when pre-injection community taxa were compared with post-injection community taxa. Phyla indicative of anoxic aquifers were represented in accordance with previous literature at the Rifle site. Linear discriminant analysis showed significant differences in representative phyla over the course of the injection series. Geophysical monitoring of the site further suggested changes that could be due to MICP. Induced polarization increased the phase shift in the primary treated area, in agreement with laboratory experiments. Cross-hole seismic testing confirmed that the shear wave velocities increased in the treated soil mass, implying the soil matrix became more stable. Future investigations will help elucidate the viability and efficacy of MICP treatment in changing

Encourage student learning of hydraulic matters by the use of Arduino platform

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez Sinobas, Leonor; Granja García, Javier; Sánchez Calvo, Raúl

2014-05-01

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for several purposes to anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. The hydraulic matters teach at the Agricultural Engineering School at the Technical University of Madrid deal with practical issues regarding the measurement of variables such as pressure, discharge, temperature and soil water content. Most of the data loggers available in the market for these variables at expensive and not always affordable. On the other hand, current students are eager to manage new technological devices thus, their skills could be oriented not only to the application of an electronic platform as Arduino to build low cost data loggers for different purposes, but to encourage their learning in the hydraulic matters improving their self esteem

A multifaceted program to encourage medical students' research.

Science.gov (United States)

Zier, K; Stagnaro-Green, A

2001-07-01

Clinician-scientists are important members of a research community that has more opportunities than ever before to solve problems important to patients. Nevertheless, the number of physicians applying for and receiving grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has dropped. Introducing medical students to research and relevant support mechanisms early in their education may help to reverse this trend. In 1995, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine created its Office of Student Research Opportunities (OSRO) to stimulate students to engage in research. It also appointed a new dean to direct the OSRO; the person who filled this new position was a senior faculty member involved in patient-oriented research. The OSRO advises students, identifies faculty who want to mentor students, sponsors the Distinction in Research program, organizes an annual research day, helps fund summer and full-time research, and has created an endowment to support student travel to national meetings. Between 1997 and 2000 the number of students who participated in the research day increased from 18 to 74, and the number of publications by the graduating classes increased from 34 to 58 between 1997 and 1999. Participants have presented both basic and clinical projects. The authors' experience has shown that medical students can be motivated to carry out research with appropriate encouragement from the administration and the faculty, something that may help to reverse a troubling national trend. Based upon these early successes, Mount Sinai is developing a novel five-year program to provide medical students with research training.

Encouraging intrinsic motivation in the clinical setting: teachers' perspectives from the self-determination theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Orsini, C; Evans, P; Binnie, V; Ledezma, P; Fuentes, F

2016-05-01

Self-determination theory postulates that the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness have to be satisfied for students to achieve intrinsic motivation and internalisation of autonomous self-regulation towards academic activities. Consequently, the influence of the clinical teaching environment becomes crucial when satisfying these needs, particularly when promoting or diminishing students' intrinsic motivation. The aim of this study was to describe and understand how clinical teachers encourage intrinsic motivation in undergraduate dental students based on the three basic psychological needs described by the self-determination theory. A qualitative case study approach was adopted, and data were collected through semistructured interviews with nine experienced undergraduate clinical teachers of one dental school in Santiago, Chile. Interview transcripts were analysed by two independent reviewers using a general inductive approach. Several themes emerged outlining teaching strategies and behaviours. These themes included the control of external motivators; gradual transference of responsibility; identification and encouragement of personal interests; timely and constructive feedback; delivery of a vicarious learning experience; teamwork, team discussion, and presence of a safe environment, amongst others. Overall, teachers stressed the relevance of empowering, supporting and building a horizontal relationship with students. Our findings regarding dental education expand on the research outcomes from other health professions about how teachers may support students to internalise behaviours. An autonomy-supportive environment may lead students to value and engage in academic activities and eventually foster the use of an autonomy-supportive style to motivate their patients. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Testing Behavior Change Techniques to Encourage Primary Care Physicians to Access Cancer Screening Audit and Feedback Reports: Protocol for a Factorial Randomized Experiment of Email Content

Science.gov (United States)

Witteman, Holly O; Bouck, Zachary; Bravo, Caroline A; Desveaux, Laura; Llovet, Diego; Presseau, Justin; Saragosa, Marianne; Taljaard, Monica; Umar, Shama; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Tinmouth, Jill; Ivers, Noah M

2018-01-01

Background Cancer Care Ontario’s Screening Activity Report (SAR) is an online audit and feedback tool designed to help primary care physicians in Ontario, Canada, identify patients who are overdue for cancer screening or have abnormal results requiring follow-up. Use of the SAR is associated with increased screening rates. To encourage SAR use, Cancer Care Ontario sends monthly emails to registered primary care physicians announcing that updated data are available. However, analytics reveal that 50% of email recipients do not open the email and less than 7% click the embedded link to log in to their report. Objective The goal of the study is to determine whether rewritten emails result in increased log-ins. This manuscript describes how different user- and theory-informed messages intended to improve the impact of the monthly emails will be experimentally tested and how a process evaluation will explore why and how any effects observed were (or were not) achieved. Methods A user-centered approach was used to rewrite the content of the monthly email, including messages operationalizing 3 behavior change techniques: anticipated regret, material incentive (behavior), and problem solving. A pragmatic, 2x2x2 factorial experiment within a multiphase optimization strategy will test the redesigned emails with an embedded qualitative process evaluation to understand how and why the emails may or may not have worked. Trial outcomes will be ascertained using routinely collected administrative data. Physicians will be recruited for semistructured interviews using convenience and snowball sampling. Results As of April 2017, 5576 primary care physicians across the province of Ontario, Canada, had voluntarily registered for the SAR, and in so doing, signed up to receive the monthly email updates. From May to August 2017 participants received the redesigned monthly emails with content specific to their allocated experimental condition prompting use of the SAR. We have not yet

Role of the provincial government of Saskatchewan in encouraging growth in the oil and gas sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lautermilch, E.

1997-01-01

The year 1996 was one of the most successful years for the oil and gas industry in Saskatchewan. In the view of the author this may be said to be due, at least in part, to the provincial government's efforts to establish and implement policies that stimulate economic activity. Government regulation is essential to ensure safe and sensible development, a level playing field for all participants, and to ensure that residents of the province receive a fair share of the benefits of resource development. Some of the positive government actions taken in 1996 include: revisions to the royalty rate structure, simplification of the natural gas administration system, a program to encourage exploration in less-explored areas, re-balancing electrical rates, and a review of all regulations with the goal of streamlining or eliminating them. New technologies such as horizontal drilling were also encouraged. Issues presently before the government include postage stamp tolls, global warming, greenhouse gas emissions and environmental concerns from farmers. On the whole, the oil and gas industry received high marks for taking a responsible approach to self-regulation, but continued public support will depend on how well the industry addresses environmental concerns and demonstrates the benefits of oil and development to the people

Encouraging the Heart: A Leader's Guide to Rewarding and Recognizing Others. The Jossey-Bass Business & Management Series.

Science.gov (United States)

Kouzes, James M.; Posner, Barry Z.

This book is written to assist people to lead others in getting extraordinary things done. The basic message is that the best leaders care. This is not about being soft or a cheerleader. In chapter 1, the research to support this point of view is examined. In chapter 2, a classic case study to illustrate the seven essentials of encouraging the…

Effect of COSMOS technologies in detoxifying municipal solid waste incineration fly ash, preliminary results

Science.gov (United States)

Piccinelli, Elsa; Lasagni, Marina; Collina, Elena; Bonaiti, Stefania; Bontempi, Elza

2017-05-01

This study investigates the effect of technologies for heavy metal stabilization on the concentration of PolyChlorinatedDibenzo-p-Dioxins (PCDD) and PolyChlorinatedDibenzoFurans (PCDF), abbreviated PCDD/F, in Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) fly ash. We determined the variation of the Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and PCDD/F concentration between raw and stabilized material. The technologies, that already proved to be very promising for heavy metal entrapment, showed encouraging results also for PCDD/F detoxification. This result could be very impacting on the management of MSWI fly ash: at the best of our knowledge, there are no methods, in literature, that can provide good results in stabilization of heavy metals, and abatement of chlorinated organic pollutants contained in the same matrix.

Results of nonlinear and nonstationary image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pizer, S.M.; Correla, J.A.; Chesler, D.A.; Metz, C.E.

1973-01-01

A nonstationary method, multiple z-divided filtering, and a nonlinear method, biased smearing have been applied to scintigrams. Biased smearing does not appear to hold much promise. Multiple z-divided filtering, on the other hand, appears to be justified, and initial results at minimum encourage further research into the possibility that this technique may become a method of choice

Tumor necrosis factor alpha converting enzyme: an encouraging target for various inflammatory disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahia, Malkeet S; Silakari, Om

2010-05-01

Tumor necrosis factor alpha is one of the most common pro-inflammatory cytokines responsible for various inflammatory disorders. It plays an important role in the origin and progression of rheumatoid arthritis and also in other autoimmune disease conditions. Some anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha antibodies like Enbrel, Humira and Remicade have been successfully used in these disease conditions as antagonists of tumor necrosis factor alpha. Inhibition of generation of active form of tumor necrosis factor alpha is a promising therapy for various inflammatory disorders. Therefore, the inhibition of an enzyme (tumor necrosis factor alpha converting enzyme), which is responsible for processing inactive form of tumor necrosis factor alpha into its active soluble form, is an encouraging target. Many tumor necrosis factor alpha converting enzyme inhibitors have been the candidates of clinical trials but none of them have reached in to the market because of their broad spectrum inhibitory activity for other matrix metalloproteases. Selectivity of tumor necrosis factor alpha converting enzyme inhibition over matrix metalloproteases is of utmost importance. If selectivity is achieved successfully, side-effects can be over-ruled and this approach may become a novel therapy for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory disorders. This cytokine not only plays a pivotal role in inflammatory conditions but also in some cancerous conditions. Thus, successful targeting of tumor necrosis factor alpha converting enzyme may result in multifunctional therapy.

Encouraging formative assessments of leadership for foundation doctors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hadley, Lindsay; Black, David; Welch, Jan; Reynolds, Peter; Penlington, Clare

2015-08-01

Clinical leadership is considered essential for maintaining and improving patient care and safety in the UK, and is incorporated in the curriculum for all trainee doctors. Despite the growing focus on the importance of leadership, and the introduction of the Medical Leadership Competency Framework (MLCF) in the UK, leadership education for doctors in training is still in its infancy. Assessment is focused on clinical skills, and trainee doctors receive very little formal feedback on their leadership competencies. In this article we describe the approach taken by Health Education Kent, Sussex and Surrey (HEKSS) to raise the profile of leadership amongst doctors in training in the South Thames Foundation School (STFS). An annual structured formative assessment in leadership for each trainee has been introduced, supported by leadership education for both trainees and their supervisors in HEKSS trusts. We analysed over 500 of these assessments from the academic year 2012/13 for foundation doctors in HEKSS trusts, in order to assess the quality of the feedback. From the analysis, potential indicators of more effective formative assessments were identified. These may be helpful in improving the leadership education programme for future years. There is a wealth of evidence to highlight the importance and value of formative assessments; however, particularly for foundation doctors, these have typically been focused on assessing clinical capabilities. This HEKSS initiative encourages doctors to recognise leadership opportunities at the beginning of their careers, seeks to help them understand the importance of acquiring leadership skills and provides structured feedback to help them improve. Leadership education for doctors in training is still in its infancy. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Encouraging Sustainable Transport Choices in American Households: Results from an Empirically Grounded Agent-Based Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davide Natalini

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The transport sector needs to go through an extended process of decarbonisation to counter the threat of climate change. Unfortunately, the International Energy Agency forecasts an enormous growth in the number of cars and greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Two issues can thus be identified: (1 the need for a new methodology that could evaluate the policy performances ex-ante and (2 the need for more effective policies. To help address these issues, we developed an Agent-Based Model called Mobility USA aimed at: (1 testing whether this could be an effective approach in analysing ex-ante policy implementation in the transport sector; and (2 evaluating the effects of alternative policy scenarios on commuting behaviours in the USA. Particularly, we tested the effects of two sets of policies, namely market-based and preference-change ones. The model results suggest that this type of agent-based approach will provide a useful tool for testing policy interventions and their effectiveness.

Online Debating to Encourage Student Participation in Online Learning Environments: A Qualitative Case Study at a South African University

Science.gov (United States)

Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl; Mostert, Markus

2005-01-01

The use of computer-mediated communication in higher education presents opportunities for students to be part of an online learning community irrespective of their geographical location. However, students do not always avail themselves of this opportunity and pedagogic strategies for encouraging participation are therefore constantly being…

The use of law to encourage smaller families in Singapore.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, T W

1980-01-01

To pursue its goal of rapid economic development, Singapore provides family planning services and has vigorously encouraged its citizens to limit family size. The government has legislated disincentives for families to have more than 2 children. This discussion reviews the history of these legal measures and their usefulness as a tool to promote social change and development. Singapore has used the law as a means to encourage family planning in order to supplement the overall thrust for economic development in the late 1960s. Freed from obligations to the Malaysian Federation and lacking the support of the British military as of 1969, Lee Kuan Yew led his people's economic development along a Western model. Reduction of population growth is an essential component of that model. Lee stressed family planning by providing clinics, by advertising, by promoting housing and lifestyles conducive to nuclear families, and by gradually adopting a set of laws favoring small families. These laws were introduced in different sectors of the economy at different times and were revised as social conditions changed. Typically, they set a minor monetary or priority penalty for parents of 3 or more children. The laws discourage additional births rather than prohibit them, guiding rather than forcing family planning decisions. To what extent the laws were the cause of decreasing family size in Singapore is uncertain, but they contributed to some extent to the country's phenomenal progress in income and lifestyle. The Abortion Act of 1969 legalized abortion on nonmedical grounds with the Singapore Family Planning and Population Board (SFPPB) approval. The Act was amended twice in 1974 to make abortions available "on demand." The charging of progressive delivery (accouchement) fees in government hospitals for mothers with 2 or more children might be considered as the focal point of the total disincentives system. The fees placed financial pressure directly on those who violated the

Factors that encourage females to pursue physical science careers: Testing five common hypotheses

Science.gov (United States)

Hazari, Zahra; Potvin, Geoff; Lock, Robynne M.; Lung, Florin; Sadler, Philip M.; Sonnert, Gerhard

2012-03-01

There are many hypotheses regarding factors that may encourage female students to pursue careers in the physical sciences. Using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) on national data (n=7505) drawn from the Persistence Research in Science and Engineering (PRiSE) project, we test five commonly held beliefs including having a single-sex physics class, having a female physics teacher, having female scientist guest speakers in physics class, discussing the work of women scientists in physics class, and discussing the under-representation of women in physics class. The effect of these experiences is compared for female students who are matched on several factors, including parental education, prior science/math interests, and academic background, thereby controlling for the effect of many confounding variables.

Stem cells show promising results for lymphoedema treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toyserkani, Navid Mohamadpour; Quaade, Marlene Louise; Sheikh, Søren Paludan

2015-01-01

Abstract Lymphoedema is a debilitating condition, manifesting in excess lymphatic fluid and swelling of subcutaneous tissues. Lymphoedema is as of yet still an incurable condition and current treatment modalities are not satisfactory. The capacity of mesenchymal stem cells to promote angiogenesis......, secrete growth factors, regulate the inflammatory process, and differentiate into multiple cell types make them a potential ideal therapy for lymphoedema. Adipose tissue is the richest and most accessible source of mesenchymal stem cells and they can be harvested, isolated, and used for therapy...... in a single stage procedure as an autologous treatment. The aim of this paper was to review all studies using mesenchymal stem cells for lymphoedema treatment with a special focus on the potential use of adipose-derived stem cells. A systematic search was performed and five preclinical and two clinical...

Choice Architecture as a Way to Encourage a Whole Systems Design Perspective for More Sustainable Infrastructure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nora Harris

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Across fields, more sustainable and resilient outcomes are being realized through a whole systems design perspective, which guides decision-makers to consider the entire system affected including interdependent physical and social networks. Although infrastructure is extremely interdependent, consisting of diverse stakeholders and networks, the infrastructure design and construction process is often fragmented. This fragmentation can result in unnecessary tradeoffs, leading to poor outcomes for certain stakeholders and the surrounding environment. A whole systems design perspective would help connect this fragmented industry and lead to more sustainable outcomes. For example, a whole systems design approach to relieve traffic on a highway might see beyond the obvious, but often ineffective, response of adding a new vehicle lane to encourage a solution such as repurposing existing road lanes from automobiles to above-ground “subway” systems. This paper discusses influences to whole systems design and how intentional choice architecture, meaning the way decisions are posed, can nudge decision-makers to employ whole systems design and result in more sustainable infrastructure. By uncovering these influences and organizing them by the social, organizational, and individual levels of the infrastructure design process, this paper provides the needed foundation for interdisciplinary research to help harness these influences through choice architecture and whole systems design for the infrastructure industry.

Writing Became a Chore Like the Laundry: The Realities of Using Journals To Encourage a Reflective Approach to Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewison, Mitzi

This action research study investigated a model of professional development designed to encourage elementary language arts teachers to adopt a more reflective approach to literacy instruction. The model consisted of monthly negotiated-topic study group sessions, theoretically-based reading, and dialogue journal writing. This paper focuses on the…

Experimental results showing the internal three-component velocity field and outlet temperature contours for a model gas turbine combustor

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meyers, BC

2011-09-01

Full Text Available by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc. All rights reserved ISABE-2011-1129 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS SHOWING THE INTERNAL THREE-COMPONENT VELOCITY FIELD AND OUTLET TEMPERATURE CONTOURS FOR A MODEL GAS TURBINE COMBUSTOR BC Meyers*, GC... identifier c Position identifier F Fuel i Index L (Combustor) Liner OP Orifice plate Introduction There are often inconsistencies when comparing experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations for gas turbine combustors [1...

Large Portions Encourage the Selection of Palatable Rather Than Filling Foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Brunstrom, Jeffrey M; Jarvstad, Andreas; Griggs, Rebecca L; Potter, Christina; Evans, Natalie R; Martin, Ashley A; Brooks, Jon Cw; Rogers, Peter J

2016-10-01

Portion size is an important driver of larger meals. However, effects on food choice remain unclear. Our aim was to identify how portion size influences the effect of palatability and expected satiety on choice. In Study 1, adult participants (n = 24, 87.5% women) evaluated the palatability and expected satiety of 5 lunchtime meals and ranked them in order of preference. Separate ranks were elicited for equicaloric portions from 100 to 800 kcal (100-kcal steps). In Study 2, adult participants (n = 24, 75% women) evaluated 9 meals and ranked 100-600 kcal portions in 3 contexts (scenarios), believing that 1) the next meal would be at 1900, 2) they would receive only a bite of one food, and 3) a favorite dish would be offered immediately afterwards. Regression analysis was used to quantify predictors of choice. In Study 1, the extent to which expected satiety and palatability predicted choice was highly dependent on portion size (P palatability (100-kcal portions: expected satiety, β: 0.42; palatability, β: 0.46). With larger portions, palatability was a strong predictor (600-kcal portions: β: 0.53), and expected satiety was a poor or negative predictor (600-kcal portions: β: -0.42). In Study 2, this pattern was moderated by context (P = 0.024). Results from scenario 1 replicated Study 1. However, expected satiety was a poor predictor in both scenario 2 (expected satiety was irrelevant) and scenario 3 (satiety was guaranteed), and palatability was the primary driver of choice across all portions. In adults, expected satiety influences food choice, but only when small equicaloric portions are compared. Larger portions not only promote the consumption of larger meals, but they encourage the adoption of food choice strategies motivated solely by palatability. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

Influencing Factors for Developing Managerial Behaviours That Encourage a Work-Family Culture in the University Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Dolores Álvarez-Pérez

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This article develops and tests a theoretical model to find out which factors influence the behaviour of supervisors in terms of promoting a work-family culture. This model explains to what extent the factors studied are relevant to encourage deans to promote this type of culture at Spanish universities. The hypotheses were tested using linear regression analysis. Data were obtained through a questionnaire to deans. The results yield five key factors: (1 the personal work-family conflict of managers; (2 the transformational leadership style of managers; (3 the identification with subordinates in need of work-family cares; (4 the perceived institutional support; and (5 the perceived support from other supervisors in the centre. The findings have practical implications for human resources management (HRM practices. Human resources management practices such as (a providing deans and other supervisors with training about the importance of work-family programs; (b promoting deans’ training in order to develop transformational leadership skills; or (c increasing institutional support can be useful when implementing a work-family culture in Spanish universities.

The effect of PBL and film showing, frequent quizzes and lecture-based method on short-term performance of dentistry students

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Sadr Lahijani M.S

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Advocates have proposed that frequent testing increases the effectiveness of instruction by encouraging learners to study and review more often. It has also been argued that in this way, student errors can be identified and corrected earlier and good performance can be recognized, leading to more positive attitudes toward learning process. In problem-based learning (PBL, medical students reportedly take a more active role in learning and have better recall than students in a conventional learning environment. The hypothetical benefits of a PBL and studentbased environment and use of films in the class are the development of self-learning and problem-solving skills and enhancement of knowledge and motivation. Purpose: To examine the effect of combination of PBL method and film showing on the short-term performance of dentistry students and to compare it with lecture-based method and frequent quizzes. Methods: All students of 3 years (from 2000 till 2002 that had theoretical endodontic course (part 1 participated in this descriptive-analytic study. The scores of final examinations of this course were obtained from their files. Data were analyzed by SPSS software & ANOVA. Results: The results showed that by changing the way of learning (PBL and film showing in 2001, there was a statistical difference between scores of the students of 2000 and 2001. Also there was a statistical difference with the students’ scores in 2002- the group with frequent quizzes. Conclusion: The variables such as changing the way of learning, using different methods in teaching, showing scientific films in class or, as a whole, active learning have significant effects on the results of final examination. Key Words: PBL, lecture based method, education, frequent quizzes

Fostering creativity: how the Duke Graduate Medical Education Quasi-Endowment encourages innovation in GME.

Science.gov (United States)

Andolsek, Kathryn M; Murphy, Gwendolyn; Nagler, Alisa; Moore, Peggy R; Schlueter, Joanne; Weinerth, John L; Cuffe, Michael S; Dzau, Victor J

2013-02-01

The Duke Medicine Graduate Medical Education Quasi-Endowment, established in 2006, provides infrastructure support and encourages educational innovation. The authors describe Duke's experience with the "grassroots innovation" part of the fund, the Duke Innovation Fund, and discuss the Innovation Fund's processes for application, review, and implementation, and also outcomes, impact, and intended and unintended consequences.In the five years of the Innovation Fund described (2007-2011), 105 projects have been submitted, and 78 have been funded. Thirty-seven projects have been completed. Approved funding ranged from $2,363 to $348,750, with an average award of $66,391. This represents 42% of funding originally requested. Funding could be requested for a period of 6 months to 3 years. The average duration of projects was 27 months, with a range from 6 months to 36 months. Eighty percent of projects were completed on time. Two projects were closed because of lack of progress and failure to adhere to reporting requirements. Thirty-nine are ongoing.Program directors report great success in meeting project outcomes and concrete impacts on resident and faculty attitudes and performance. Ninety-two percent report that their projects would have never been accomplished without this funding. Projects have resulted in at least 68 posters, abstracts, and peer-reviewed presentations. At least 12 peer-reviewed manuscripts were published.There has been tremendous diversity of projects; all 13 clinical departments have been represented. Interdepartmental and intradepartmental program cooperation has increased. This modest seed money has resulted in demonstrable sustainable impacts on teaching and learning, and increased morale and scholarly recognition.

Acceptability of financial incentives and penalties for encouraging uptake of healthy behaviours: focus groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Giles, Emma L; Sniehotta, Falko F; McColl, Elaine; Adams, Jean

2015-01-31

There is evidence that financial incentive interventions, which include both financial rewards and also penalties, are effective in encouraging healthy behaviours. However, concerns about the acceptability of such interventions remain. We report on focus groups with a cross-section of adults from North East England exploring their acceptance of financial incentive interventions for encouraging healthy behaviours amongst adults. Such information should help guide the design and development of acceptable, and effective, financial incentive interventions. Eight focus groups with a total of 74 adults were conducted between November 2013 and January 2014 in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Focus groups lasted approximately 60 minutes and explored factors that made financial incentives acceptable and unacceptable to participants, together with discussions on preferred formats for financial incentives. Verbatim transcripts were thematically coded and analysed in Nvivo 10. Participants largely distrusted health promoting financial incentives, with a concern that individuals may abuse such schemes. There was, however, evidence that health promoting financial incentives may be more acceptable if they are fair to all recipients and members of the public; if they are closely monitored and evaluated; if they are shown to be effective and cost-effective; and if clear health education is provided alongside health promoting financial incentives. There was also a preference for positive rewards rather than negative penalties, and for shopping vouchers rather than cash incentives. This qualitative empirical research has highlighted clear suggestions on how to design health promoting financial incentives to maximise acceptability to the general public. It will also be important to determine the acceptability of health promoting financial incentives in a range of stakeholders, and in particular, those who fund such schemes, and policy-makers who are likely to be involved with the design

Exploring the motivations and emotions underlying rewarding self-gift giving and how they encourage achievement oriented goals.

OpenAIRE

Karayiannis, Georgios

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to explore consumers’ descriptions of rewarding self-gift behaviour during the entire consumption process, including the motivations and emotions involved and how these encourage towards the achievement of personal oriented goals. The study specifically focuses on luxury self-gifts and attempts to incorporate desires and the cycle of desire with self-gift giving. In doing so, the study adopts an interpretive approach, consistent with the author’s philosophical ass...

‘YOUTH AMPLIFIED’: USING CRITICAL PEDAGOGY TO STIMULATE LEARNING THROUGH DIALOGUE AT A YOUTH RADIO SHOW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Cooper

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper I describe and analyse how critical pedagogy, an approach to teaching and learning that encourages students to reflect on their socio-political contexts, may stimulate critical consciousness and dialogue at a youth radio show. The participants, who attended four diverse Cape Town high schools and predominantly lived in poor townships, named the show Youth Amplified. Youth Amplified dialogues were catalysed by a range of materials, including documentary films, newspapers and academic articles, which participants engaged with prior to the show. Participants then generated questions, which contributed to the dialogues that took place live on air. Two central themes emerged from the radio shows. First, the values and discourses of elite schools were transported to Youth Amplified and presented as incontestable truths that often denigrated marginalised learners. Second, participants used ‘race’ as a marker of social difference to make sense of peers and South African society. I argue that critical pedagogy interventions also need to work with educators to reflect on inequalities and socio-political contexts, if such interventions are to be successful. The show illuminated that young South Africans want to speak about racialised and class-based forms of historical oppression, but that these kinds of discussions require skilled facilitation.

Comb-push ultrasound shear elastography of breast masses: initial results show promise.

Science.gov (United States)

Denis, Max; Mehrmohammadi, Mohammad; Song, Pengfei; Meixner, Duane D; Fazzio, Robert T; Pruthi, Sandhya; Whaley, Dana H; Chen, Shigao; Fatemi, Mostafa; Alizad, Azra

2015-01-01

To evaluate the performance of Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE) for classification of breast masses. CUSE is an ultrasound-based quantitative two-dimensional shear wave elasticity imaging technique, which utilizes multiple laterally distributed acoustic radiation force (ARF) beams to simultaneously excite the tissue and induce shear waves. Female patients who were categorized as having suspicious breast masses underwent CUSE evaluations prior to biopsy. An elasticity estimate within the breast mass was obtained from the CUSE shear wave speed map. Elasticity estimates of various types of benign and malignant masses were compared with biopsy results. Fifty-four female patients with suspicious breast masses from our ongoing study are presented. Our cohort included 31 malignant and 23 benign breast masses. Our results indicate that the mean shear wave speed was significantly higher in malignant masses (6 ± 1.58 m/s) in comparison to benign masses (3.65 ± 1.36 m/s). Therefore, the stiffness of the mass quantified by the Young's modulus is significantly higher in malignant masses. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), the optimal cut-off value of 83 kPa yields 87.10% sensitivity, 82.61% specificity, and 0.88 for the area under the curve (AUC). CUSE has the potential for clinical utility as a quantitative diagnostic imaging tool adjunct to B-mode ultrasound for differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses.

Ancient Israelite and African proverbs as advice, reproach, warning, encouragement and explanation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David T. Adamo

2015-11-01

Full Text Available With few exceptions, the majority of biblical scholars (Euroamericans and Africans concentrate on comparing ancient Israelite proverbs with the so-called ancient Near Eastern proverbs. Despite the importance of proverbs in Sub-Saharan Africa it is doubly unfortunate that the majority of African biblical scholars did not think it wise to compare proverbs from ancient Israel with Sub-Saharan African proverbs. It is also a double tragedy that young people in Sub-Saharan Africa are ignorant of proverbs because they have refused to learn them because they think them archaic. Proverbs in both ancient Israel and in Africa are similar in function and classification. Thus, they serve as advice, reproach, warning, encouragement and further explanation of some facts. They have great value and importance, such as giving a sense of identity, community, culture, respect for authority and elders, sacredness of everything under the sun and a sense of hospitality and others.

SuDS and human behaviour: Co-developing solutions to encourage sustainable behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Everett Glyn

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS are today widely considered to be a more progressive and environmentally sensitive approach to Flood Risk Management (FRM. However, this paper argues that the sustainability of SuDS should not be so simply presumed. Devices will depend upon correct behaviour from those local to them in order to function properly over time, and for Green Infrastructure SuDS to flourish and deliver their promised multiple benefits. This paper looks to the potential value in using Social Practice Theory as a lens for understanding current behaviours around SuDS devices, and for assessing possible strategies for encouraging positive behaviour amongst affected communities. It concludes in arguing that involving local people as much as possible in the co-design of systems and then working to maintain involvement and awareness will be the most cost-effective means by which SuDS might be made to live up to the sustainability they are celebrated for.

The Role of Counselling and Parental Encouragement on Re-Entry of Adolescents into Secondary Schools in Abia State, Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Alika, Henrietta Ijeoma; Ohanaka, Blessing Ijeoma

2013-01-01

This paper examined the role of counselling, and parental encouragement on re-entry of adolescents into secondary school in Abia State, Nigeria. A total of 353 adolescents who re-entered school were selected from six secondary schools in the State through a simple random sampling technique. A validated questionnaire was used for data analysis.…

On low fertility from the aspect of the economic activity of female population: Possibilities and restrictions in encouragement of childbearing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šobot Ankica

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Below replacement fertility was the outcome of changes in the education and socio-professional structure of women, as well as modifications in values and life aspirations. On the other hand, economic strengthening of women and encourage-ment of jobs which require greater dedication and more of their time are important aspects of achieving gender equality. These two circumstances gave rise to contemplations on the connection between economic activities of female population and the level of births in postindustrial societies. The aim of this article is to point out to the positive influence of female employment on the fertility level, as a capacity for encouraging births in Serbia. When observing the most developed European countries, it can be noticed that greater birth rates are noted in those countries in which there are greater economic activity and employment rates of female population. Furthermore, a series of researches and comparative analyses confirm the positive relation between female employment and fertility. The differences regarding of birth rates among European welfare states are seen as a result of the possibilities of female employment, reconciliation between work and parenthood and the division of gender roles within the family. The influence of economic activity on fertility levels is determined by an institutional framework of family support and gender equality (Engelhardt and Prskawetz, 2004, Neyer, 2006; Andersson and Scott, 2007; Rovny, A.E. 2011; Seeleib-Kaise and Toivonen, 2011. During the first decade of the 21st century, the birth rates in Serbia were by about 30% lower than in the countries which had the highest fertility within European frameworks. The traditional labor division in the household and parenthood produces conflicts between families and employment, recognized in the practices of everyday life (Blagojević, 1997; Blagojević-Hjuson, 2013 and standpoints on the relation between parenthood and employment

Comb-push ultrasound shear elastography of breast masses: initial results show promise.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Max Denis

Full Text Available To evaluate the performance of Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE for classification of breast masses.CUSE is an ultrasound-based quantitative two-dimensional shear wave elasticity imaging technique, which utilizes multiple laterally distributed acoustic radiation force (ARF beams to simultaneously excite the tissue and induce shear waves. Female patients who were categorized as having suspicious breast masses underwent CUSE evaluations prior to biopsy. An elasticity estimate within the breast mass was obtained from the CUSE shear wave speed map. Elasticity estimates of various types of benign and malignant masses were compared with biopsy results.Fifty-four female patients with suspicious breast masses from our ongoing study are presented. Our cohort included 31 malignant and 23 benign breast masses. Our results indicate that the mean shear wave speed was significantly higher in malignant masses (6 ± 1.58 m/s in comparison to benign masses (3.65 ± 1.36 m/s. Therefore, the stiffness of the mass quantified by the Young's modulus is significantly higher in malignant masses. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC, the optimal cut-off value of 83 kPa yields 87.10% sensitivity, 82.61% specificity, and 0.88 for the area under the curve (AUC.CUSE has the potential for clinical utility as a quantitative diagnostic imaging tool adjunct to B-mode ultrasound for differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses.

Encouraging Early Clinical Outcomes With Helical Tomotherapy–Based Image-Guided Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for Residual, Recurrent, and/or Progressive Benign/Low-Grade Intracranial Tumors: A Comprehensive Evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, Tejpal; Wadasadawala, Tabassum; Master, Zubin; Phurailatpam, Reena; Pai-Shetty, Rajershi; Jalali, Rakesh

2012-01-01

Purpose: To report early clinical outcomes of helical tomotherapy (HT)-based image-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in brain tumors of varying shape, size, and location. Materials and Methods: Patients with residual, recurrent, and/or progressive low-grade intracranial and skull-base tumors were treated on a prospective protocol of HT-based IMRT and followed clinicoradiologically. Standardized metrics were used for plan evaluation and outcome analysis. Results: Twenty-seven patients with 30 lesions were treated to a median radiotherapy dose of 54 Gy in 30 fractions. All HT plans resulted in excellent target volume coverage with steep dose-gradients. The mean (standard deviation) dose homogeneity index and conformity index was 0.07 (0.05) and 0.71 (0.08) respectively. At first response assessment, 20 of 30 lesions were stable, whereas 9 showed partial regression. One patient with a recurrent clival chordoma though neurologically stable showed imaging-defined progression, whereas another patient with stable disease on serial imaging had sustained neurologic worsening. With a median follow-up of 19 months (interquartile range, 11–26 months), the 2-year clinicoradiological progression-free survival and overall survival was 93.3% and 100% respectively. Conclusions: Careful selection of radiotherapy technique is warranted for benign/low-grade brain tumors to achieve durable local control with minimum long-term morbidity. Large or complex-shaped tumors benefit most from IMRT. Our early clinical experience of HT-based IMRT for brain tumors has been encouraging.

Encouraging Early Clinical Outcomes With Helical Tomotherapy-Based Image-Guided Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for Residual, Recurrent, and/or Progressive Benign/Low-Grade Intracranial Tumors: A Comprehensive Evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, Tejpal [Department of Radiation Oncology, ACTREC/TMH, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai (India); Wadasadawala, Tabassum; Master, Zubin; Phurailatpam, Reena; Pai-Shetty, Rajershi; Jalali, Rakesh [Department of Radiation Oncology, ACTREC/TMH, Tata Memorial Centre, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai (India)

2012-02-01

Purpose: To report early clinical outcomes of helical tomotherapy (HT)-based image-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in brain tumors of varying shape, size, and location. Materials and Methods: Patients with residual, recurrent, and/or progressive low-grade intracranial and skull-base tumors were treated on a prospective protocol of HT-based IMRT and followed clinicoradiologically. Standardized metrics were used for plan evaluation and outcome analysis. Results: Twenty-seven patients with 30 lesions were treated to a median radiotherapy dose of 54 Gy in 30 fractions. All HT plans resulted in excellent target volume coverage with steep dose-gradients. The mean (standard deviation) dose homogeneity index and conformity index was 0.07 (0.05) and 0.71 (0.08) respectively. At first response assessment, 20 of 30 lesions were stable, whereas 9 showed partial regression. One patient with a recurrent clival chordoma though neurologically stable showed imaging-defined progression, whereas another patient with stable disease on serial imaging had sustained neurologic worsening. With a median follow-up of 19 months (interquartile range, 11-26 months), the 2-year clinicoradiological progression-free survival and overall survival was 93.3% and 100% respectively. Conclusions: Careful selection of radiotherapy technique is warranted for benign/low-grade brain tumors to achieve durable local control with minimum long-term morbidity. Large or complex-shaped tumors benefit most from IMRT. Our early clinical experience of HT-based IMRT for brain tumors has been encouraging.

A strategy to encourage housing associations to invest in energy conservation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Egmond, C.; Jonkers, R.; Kok, G.

2005-01-01

To meet the Dutch Government goal of reducing CO 2 emission, target groups must intensify their efforts to conserve energy. Novem, in commission of the Dutch Ministry of Environmental Affairs, developed a strategy to effectively change the behaviour of target groups. This paper answers the questions: what are the influencing determinants of energy-relevant behaviour of housing associations; and which policy instruments are most suitable for an intervention strategy? From a survey of housing associations we determined the factors making up the determinants of behaviour. The four main types of policy instruments-judicial, economical and communicative instruments and physical provisions-were analysed for their active ingredients. An intervention strategy was then based on matching the factors making up the target-group determinants and the active ingredients of the policy instruments. The factors: attitude, feedback of peer organizations and feedback from authorities strongly influence the energy-relevant behaviour of housing associations and the most effective policy instruments have a facilitating and encouraging character and include covenants with local authorities. We conclude that this method forms a solid basis for formulating an intervention strategy to change the behaviour of housing associations

Evaluating user-generated content in social media: an effective approach to encourage greater pro-environmental behavior in tourism?

OpenAIRE

Han, Wei; McCabe, Scott; Wang, Yi; Chong, Alain Yee Loong

2017-01-01

Appealing to tourists’ intrinsic interest for high-quality tourism environments, and thus encouraging them to act with a greater sense of personal responsibility toward the environment, could be critical to promoting sustainable tourism. Proliferating media channels makes the choice, style and delivery of pro-environmental messages a key issue for tourism marketers and management. Social media has become a recognized important channel for tourism information, with user-generated content (UGC)...

Control of soil-transmitted helminthiasis in Myanmar: results of 7 years of deworming.

Science.gov (United States)

Tun, Aung; Myat, Su Mon; Gabrielli, Albis Francesco; Montresor, Antonio

2013-08-01

After a baseline survey in 2003 which showed an overall parasitological prevalence of soil-transmitted helminths of 69.7% in school children (prevalence of ascariasis 48.5%, prevalence of trichuriasis 57.5% and prevalence of hookworm infection 6.5), a national deworming programme was established. After 7 years of implementation, it had resulted in a significant reduction of STH prevalence (prevalence of any STH 21%, prevalence of ascariasis 5.8%, prevalence of trichuriasis 18.6% and prevalence of hookworm infection 0.3%) as well as a reduction of the infections of moderate-heavy intensity from 18.5% at baseline to less than 7%. The results are encouraging and a reduction of the frequency of deworming can be envisaged in two of four ecological areas of Myanmar. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Angola show the StctVMNT haplotype in the pfcrt gene

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background Effective treatment remains a mainstay of malaria control, but it is unfortunately strongly compromised by drug resistance, particularly in Plasmodium falciparum, the most important human malaria parasite. Although P. falciparum chemoresistance is well recognized all over the world, limited data are available on the distribution and prevalence of pfcrt and pfmdr1 haplotypes that mediate resistance to commonly used drugs and that show distinct geographic differences. Methods Plasmodium falciparum-infected blood samples collected in 2007 at four municipalities of Luanda, Angola, were genotyped using PCR and direct DNA sequencing. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the P. falciparum pfcrt and pfmdr1 genes were assessed and haplotype prevalences were determined. Results and Discussion The most prevalent pfcrt haplotype was StctVMNT (representing amino acids at codons 72-76). This result was unexpected, since the StctVMNT haplotype has previously been seen mainly in parasites from South America and India. The CVIET, CVMNT and CVINT drug-resistance haplotypes were also found, and one previously undescribed haplotype (CVMDT) was detected. Regarding pfmdr1, the most prevalent haplotype was YEYSNVD (representing amino acids at codons 86, 130, 184, 1034, 1042, 1109 and 1246). Wild haplotypes for pfcrt and pfmdr1 were uncommon; 3% of field isolates harbored wild type pfcrt (CVMNK), whereas 21% had wild type pfmdr1 (NEYSNVD). The observed predominance of the StctVMNT haplotype in Angola could be a result of frequent travel between Brazil and Angola citizens in the context of selective pressure of heavy CQ use. Conclusions The high prevalence of the pfcrt SVMNT haplotype and the pfmdr1 86Y mutation confirm high-level chloroquine resistance and might suggest reduced efficacy of amodiaquine in Angola. Further studies must be encouraged to examine the in vitro sensitivity of pfcrt SVMNT parasites to artesunate and amodiaquine for better conclusive data. PMID:20565881

Should MD-PhD programs encourage graduate training in disciplines beyond conventional biomedical or clinical sciences?

Science.gov (United States)

O'Mara, Ryan J; Hsu, Stephen I; Wilson, Daniel R

2015-02-01

The goal of MD-PhD training programs is to produce physician-scientists with unique capacities to lead the future biomedical research workforce. The current dearth of physician-scientists with expertise outside conventional biomedical or clinical sciences raises the question of whether MD-PhD training programs should allow or even encourage scholars to pursue doctoral studies in disciplines that are deemed nontraditional, yet are intrinsically germane to major influences on health. This question is especially relevant because the central value and ultimate goal of the academic medicine community is to help attain the highest level of health and health equity for all people. Advances in medical science and practice, along with improvements in health care access and delivery, are steps toward health equity, but alone they will not come close to eliminating health inequalities. Addressing the complex health issues in our communities and society as a whole requires a biomedical research workforce with knowledge, practice, and research skills well beyond conventional biomedical or clinical sciences. To make real progress in advancing health equity, educational pathways must prepare physician-scientists to treat both micro and macro determinants of health. The authors argue that MD-PhD programs should allow and encourage their scholars to cross boundaries into less traditional disciplines such as epidemiology, statistics, anthropology, sociology, ethics, public policy, management, economics, education, social work, informatics, communications, and marketing. To fulfill current and coming health care needs, nontraditional MD-PhD students should be welcomed and supported as valuable members of our biomedical research workforce.

Encouraging initiative, cooperation and creativity in teaching Serbian language and literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stevanović Jelena

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Instruction in Serbian language and literature serves to prepare and in a certain way enable the students to follow other school subjects, which points to its special relevance for total education. Unfortunately, research results indicate that students’ knowledge in this field is not entirely satisfactory. One of the reasons maybe the fact that this knowledge is not sufficiently used in practice, which can have an unfavourable impact on students’ response to more and more complex demands set by the education system of the 21st century. Additionally, the problem can also be related to the fact that dogmatic-reproductive and reproductive-explicative methodical approaches are still used in the classes of Serbian language and literature, while less attention is paid to creative work, cooperative learning and students’ initiative, the competences that should be developed first and foremost during the initial education. This paper aims at pointing to the methods and procedures that contribute to the encouragement of initiative, cooperation and creativity in primary school students in the instruction in Serbian language and literature. Among other tings, we point out to the innovation of the drama method as an integral approach to teaching contents, which serves to adopt more quality knowledge via focused role-playing activities and drama techniques, primarily in the field of literature, and enables the durability and quality of the aesthetic perception and the reception of literature. It is also pointed to the fact that instruction that includes creative work, initiative and cooperative relations enhances student competences not only in knowledge and skills in Serbian language and literature, but also at the level of emotional and social relations between students. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47008: Unapređivanje kvaliteta i dostupnosti obrazovanja u procesima modernizacije Srbije i br. 179034: Od podsticanja inicijative

Biomarkers for AAA: Encouraging steps but clinical relevance still to be delivered.

Science.gov (United States)

Htun, Nay Min; Peter, Karlheinz

2014-10-01

Potential biomarkers have been investigated using proteomic studies in a variety of diseases. Some biomarkers have central roles in both diagnosis and monitoring of various disorders in clinical medicine, such as troponins, brain natriuretic peptide, and C-reactive protein. Although several biomarkers have been suggested in human abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), reliable markers have been lacking. In this issue, Moxon et al. [Proteomics Clin Appl. 2014, 8, 762-772] undertook a broad and systematic proteomic approach toward identification of biomarkers in a commonly used AAA mouse model (AAA created by angiotensin-II infusion). In this mouse model, apolipoprotein C1 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 were identified as novel biomarkers of stable AAA. This finding represents an important step forward, toward a clinically relevant role of biomarkers in AAA. This also encourages for further studies toward the identification of biomarkers (or their combinations) that can predict AAA progression and rupture, which would represent a major progress in AAA management and would establish an AAA biomarker as a much anticipated clinical tool. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Show-Bix &

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2014-01-01

The anti-reenactment 'Show-Bix &' consists of 5 dias projectors, a dial phone, quintophonic sound, and interactive elements. A responsive interface will enable the Dias projectors to show copies of original dias slides from the Show-Bix piece ”March på Stedet”, 265 images in total. The copies are...

How one-year-old children become capable of singing songs and speaking due to encouragement from others

OpenAIRE

諸冨, 満希子

2018-01-01

This is a report of continuous observations on how children become capable of singing songs due to encouragement from others (usually the mother). In infants, many aspects of “speaking” and “singing” are difficult to distinguish, so I also recorded all acts of “speaking,” limiting the definition of the act of “singing” to the narrow sense of “singing an established song.” The targeted infants were fraternal twin girls, and observations regarding their “speaking” and “singing” were made in the...

Harsh parenting and encouragement from parents during childhood: Long-term effects on well-being, mental health, and major illness

OpenAIRE

Alkhalaf, Ahmed

2011-01-01

This thesis examines long-term, negative consequences of various behaviours characteristic of negative parenting styles, specifically verbal maltreatment (insulting children), physical maltreatment (beating or hitting children), and lack of encouragement. Psychological scales were employed to explore the relationship of each of these factors to mental and physical health in adults. As a part of this research, a new questionnaire, the Arabic Parenting Style Questionnaire (APSQ), was developed...

The Particular Aspects of Science Museum Exhibits That Encourage Students' Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Shaby, Neta; Assaraf, Orit Ben-Zvi; Tal, Tali

2017-06-01

This research explores learning in science museums through the most common activity in a science museum—interaction with exhibits. The goal of this study was to characterize the learning behaviors exhibited by students as they engage with interactive exhibits in order to draw insight regarding the design of the exhibits. In order to do so, we used a qualitative method of observation as well as the Visitor Engagement Framework (VEF) model, a visitor-based framework for assessing visitors' learning experiences with exhibits in a science center setting. The combined method produced a framework of nine learning behaviors exhibited during the visitors' interaction with the exhibits, grouped into three categories that reflect increasing levels of engagement and depth of the learning experience. Our research participants consisted of a total 1800 students aged 10-12 (4th, 5th, and 6th graders) who came to the museum with their class for a day visit. We observed nine exhibits, each visited by 200 students. Our observations revealed several design elements that contribute to engagement with exhibits in science museums. For example, exhibits that have familiar activation encourage visitors' interaction, exhibits that facilitate social interaction are more likely to increase engagement, and the highest levels of engagement can be found in exhibits that support large groups.

Encouragement to Increase the Use of Psychosocial Skills in the Diagnosis and Therapy of Patients With Functional Dysphonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kollbrunner, Jürg; Seifert, Eberhard

2017-01-01

Clinicians believe that psychosocial factors play a causal role in the etiology of many forms of functional dysphonia (FD). But for decades, all attempts to confirm such causation have failed. This paper aims to show the logic of this failure, to discuss the possibilities of employing psychology in therapy nonetheless, and to encourage clinicians to use their psychosocial knowledge and skills. The failure to confirm psychic and social factors as causal in the etiology of FD is basically a consequence of a principal shortcoming of evidence-based medicine (EBM). As the gold standard for validity, reliability, and objectivity in medical research, EBM is based on calculability and hence the processing of quantitative data. But life paths and life situations are best or sometimes only expressible in qualitative, experiential, and idiographic terms. Thus EBM-guided evaluation undervalues most psychosocial studies. This report of an experienced multidisciplinary voice team proposes alternative pathways for integrating psychosocial knowledge into the diagnosis and the treatment of FD. The difference between the fields of activity of psychotherapists and speech-language pathologists is discussed, and the latter group is shown the potential benefits of using more of their psychosocial knowledge and skills. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A qualitative analysis exploring preferred methods of peer support to encourage adherence to a Mediterranean diet in a Northern European population at high risk of cardiovascular disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Erwin, Christina M; McEvoy, Claire T; Moore, Sarah E; Prior, Lindsay; Lawton, Julia; Kee, Frank; Cupples, Margaret E; Young, Ian S; Appleton, Katherine; McKinley, Michelle C; Woodside, Jayne V

2018-02-05

Epidemiological and randomised controlled trial evidence demonstrates that adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MD) can reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. However, methods used to support dietary change have been intensive and expensive. Peer support has been suggested as a possible cost-effective method to encourage adherence to a MD in at risk populations, although development of such a programme has not been explored. The purpose of this study was to use mixed-methods to determine the preferred peer support approach to encourage adherence to a MD. Qualitative (focus groups) and quantitative methods (questionnaire and preference scoring sheet) were used to determine preferred methods of peer support. Sixty-seven high CVD risk participants took part in 12 focus groups (60% female, mean age 64 years) and completed a questionnaire and preference scoring sheet. Focus group data were transcribed and thematically analysed. The mean preference score (1 being most preferred and 5 being least preferred) for group support was 1.5, compared to 3.4 for peer mentorship, 4.0 for telephone peer support and 4.0 for internet peer support. Three key themes were identified from the transcripts: 1. Components of an effective peer support group: discussions around group peer support were predominantly positive. It was suggested that an effective group develops from people who consider themselves similar to each other meeting face-to-face, leading to the development of a group identity that embraces trust and honesty. 2. Catalysing Motivation: participants discussed that a group peer support model could facilitate interpersonal motivations including encouragement, competitiveness and accountability. 3. Stepping Stones of Change: participants conceptualised change as a process, and discussed that, throughout the process, different models of peer support might be more or less useful. A group-based approach was the preferred method of peer support to encourage a population at high

Effects of eHealth physical activity encouragement in adolescents with complex congenital heart disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klausen, Susanne Hwiid; Andersen, Lars L; Søndergaard, Lars

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To assess benefit and harms of adding an eHealth intervention to health education and individual counseling in adolescents with congenital heart disease. DESIGN: Randomized clinical trial. SETTING: Denmark. PATIENTS: A total of 158 adolescents aged 13-16years with no physical activity...... restrictions after repaired complex congenital heart disease. INTERVENTIONS: PReVaiL consisted of individually tailored eHealth encouragement physical activity for 52weeks. All patients received 45min of group-based health education and 15min of individual counseling involving patients' parents. OUTCOMES......·kg(-1)·min(-1) (95% CI -2.66 to 1.36). Between-group differences at 1year in physical activity, generic health-related quality of life, and disease-specific quality of life were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Adding a tailored eHealth intervention to health education and individual...

A Gamification Model to Encourage Positive Healthcare Behaviours in Young People with Long Term Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew S. Wilson

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Young people living with long term conditions will eventually have to transfer their care to the adult setting. Failure to plan and coordinate this has been associated with poorer health outcomes and disruption to their care. Transition planning encourages both health literacy and health promoting behaviours in an age and developmentally appropriate way. In order to gauge the attainment of these skills the Birmingham Children’s Hospital Adolescent Rheumatology Team (UK have developed a series of transitional care checklists. This paper focuses on discussing how the application of gamification (using game mechanics in non-game contexts to these checklists could improve the engagement of young people in managing their self-care and provide a mechanism for doctors to quantifying the acquisition of these skills.

Individual skills based volunteerism and life satisfaction among healthcare volunteers in Malaysia: role of employer encouragement, self-esteem and job performance, a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Veerasamy, Chanthiran; Sambasivan, Murali; Kumar, Naresh

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to analyze two important outcomes of individual skills-based volunteerism (ISB-V) among healthcare volunteers in Malaysia. The outcomes are: job performance and life satisfaction. This study has empirically tested the impact of individual dimensions of ISB-V along with their inter-relationships in explaining the life satisfaction and job performance. Besides, the effects of employer encouragement to the volunteers, demographic characteristics of volunteers, and self-esteem of volunteers on job performance and life satisfaction have been studied. The data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to 1000 volunteers of St. John Ambulance in Malaysia. Three hundred and sixty six volunteers responded by giving their feedback. The model was tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The main results of this study are: (1) Volunteer duration and nature of contact affects life satisfaction, (2) volunteer frequency has impact on volunteer duration, (3) self-esteem of volunteers has significant relationships with volunteer frequency, job performance and life satisfaction, (4) job performance of volunteers affect their life satisfaction and (5) current employment level has significant relationships with duration of volunteering, self esteem, employer encouragement and job performance of volunteers. The model in this study has been able to explain 39% of the variance in life satisfaction and 45% of the variance in job performance. The current study adds significantly to the body of knowledge on healthcare volunteerism.

The University of Minnesota Morris - N.S.F. REU Program: Twenty years of encouraging women to participate in the Geological Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Cotter, J. F.

2009-12-01

The goal of the UMM - REU program is to nurture the development of women in the geological sciences. Women are historically under-represented in the geological sciences. This program introduces undergraduate women to research project design and independent data collection and analysis designed to increase student’s scientific skills, introduce them to new fields of study, and to develop academic/professional confidence. In so doing, the program tries to encourage students to continue their education at the graduate level and/or to pursue a career in the Geosciences. The program was first proposed in 1988 and was run during the summers of 1989, '90, '91, '94, '95, '97, ’99, 2000, 05, 07, and 09 (in 1996 and 1998 a similar program was run at Gustavus Adolphus College). The focus of the program is field and laboratory research to determine the origin and history of glacial deposits in west-central Minnesota and the late Paleozoic Glacial deposits of the Parana Basin, Brazil. Much of the success of the program can be attributed to developing student “ownership” of their individual projects, their particular REU group, and the UMM-REU program overall. Research projects are selected and designed by the participants. Frequently considered are: research subject, location of field area and geologic techniques employed. Both project ownership and team building is encouraged by participant led weekly visits to field areas and frequent group discussions of research problems, successes and major gaffes. Additional team building activities include: 1) living in the same on-campus apartments and Brazilian B&B, 2) organized social activities, 3) international travel and working with Brazilian (women) students, 4) readings and discussions on "women in geology”, 5) shared strategies and concerns for career choices and; 6) participation in the "Friends of UMM-REU" conference (an "informal" presentation of results). Finally, an emphasis is placed on the utilization of the

Current status of a hepatitis C vaccine: encouraging results but significant challenges ahead

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Marianne; Bukh, Jens

2007-01-01

Persistent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects 170 million people worldwide. Acute HCV infection is often asymptomatic, but many infected individuals develop persistent infections that may lead to development of end-stage liver diseases, including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma...

Virginia Demonstration Project Encouraging Middle School Students in Pursuing STEM Careers

Science.gov (United States)

Bachman, Jane T.; Kota, Dena H.; Kota, Aaron J.

2011-01-01

Encouraging students at all grade levels to consider pursuing a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields i s a national focus. In 2005, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), a Department of Defense laboratory located in Da hlgren, Virginia, began work on the Virginia Demonstration Project (VDP) with the goal of increasing more student interest in STEM educatio n and pursuing STEM careers. This goal continues as the program enters its sixth year. This project has been successful through the partici pation of NSWCDD's scientists and engineers who are trained as mentor s to work in local middle school classrooms throughout the school year, As an extension of the in-class activities, several STEM summer aca demies have been conducted at NSWCDD, These academies are supported by the Navy through the VDP and the STEM Learning Module Project. These projects are part of more extensive outreach efforts offered by the National Defense Education Program (NDEP), sponsored by the Director, Defense Research and Engineering. The focus of this paper is on the types of activities conducted at the summer academy, an overview of the academy planning process, and recommendations to help support a nati onal plan of integrating modeling and simulation-based engineering and science into all grade levels. based upon the lessons learned

Understanding the conditions that encourage the persistence of women in science, mathematics, and engineering career pathways

Science.gov (United States)

Kondrick, Linda C.

The purpose of this study was to determine which factors encourage the persistence of women in the pursuit of Science, Math, and Engineering (SME) careers. Surveys with 36 parallel pairs of theory and history questions regarding the importance and the aptness of variables identified in the literature were completed by 205 SME career women. The variables covered three educational levels: High School, Undergraduate and Graduate. Results reveal which variables fit the experiences of these women and were also believed by them to be important to women in the pursuit of an SME career goal. False Negatives, women who according to the SME literature should not have persisted but did, were identified. Their existence, together with the false positives identified in the SME literature, is evidence, according to Confirmation/Disconfirmation Theory, that important variables in SME persistence are yet to be discovered. Follow-up telephone interviews with nineteen respondents identified important affective variables. Love of math or science was in itself a powerful motivator. Respondents made suggestions for intervention programs that may help to develop that abiding interest. Mentors, role models, and social support networks were identified as important in building the confidence and sustaining the focus needed to cope with the rigorous curriculum and negative sex-bias encountered in SME programs. The qualitative and quantitative results were synthesized in a Causal Event Flow Network, a cognitive map of the longitudinal effects of both positive and negative push/pull vectors operating on women in pursuit of an SME career goal.

Research to Encourage Exercise for Fibromyalgia (REEF): use of motivational interviewing design and method.

Science.gov (United States)

Ang, Dennis C; Kaleth, Anthony S; Bigatti, Silvia; Mazzuca, Steve; Saha, Chandan; Hilligoss, Janna; Lengerich, Mimi; Bandy, Robert

2011-01-01

Fibromyalgia (FM), defined as the presence of both chronic widespread pain and the finding of 11/18 tender points on examination, is an illness associated with major personal and societal burden. Supervised aerobic exercise is an important treatment modality to improve patient symptoms. Unfortunately, adherence to an exercise regimen after a structured supervised program is disappointingly low. Since FM is a chronic illness, studies are needed to test strategies that would enhance exercise adherence in these individuals. Individuals who are able to adhere to exercise almost always maintain the symptomatic benefits of exercise. The objective of this paper was to describe the protocol of the Research to Encourage Exercise for Fibromyalgia (REEF). REEF is a randomized attention-controlled trial that seeks to test the efficacy of 6 sessions of telephone delivered motivational interviewing (MI) that targets exercise adherence to improve FM-relevant clinical outcomes (i.e., physical function and pain severity). The trial has recently completed enrolling 216 subjects, and randomization has resulted in well-balanced groups. Details on the study design, MI program, and treatment fidelity are provided in the paper. Outcome assessments at week 12, week 24 and week 36 will test the immediate, intermediate and long-term effects of exercise-based MI on adherence (as measured by the Community Health Activities Model Program for Seniors/CHAMPS and accelerometer) and clinical outcomes. When completed, REEF will determine whether exercise-based MI could be utilized as a management strategy to sustain the clinical benefits of exercise for FM. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Herbal hepatotoxicity in traditional and modern medicine: actual key issues and new encouraging steps.

Science.gov (United States)

Teschke, Rolf; Eickhoff, Axel

2015-01-01

Plants are natural producers of chemical substances, providing potential treatment of human ailments since ancient times. Some herbal chemicals in medicinal plants of traditional and modern medicine carry the risk of herb induced liver injury (HILI) with a severe or potentially lethal clinical course, and the requirement of a liver transplant. Discontinuation of herbal use is mandatory in time when HILI is first suspected as diagnosis. Although, herbal hepatotoxicity is of utmost clinical and regulatory importance, lack of a stringent causality assessment remains a major issue for patients with suspected HILI, while this problem is best overcome by the use of the hepatotoxicity specific CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences) scale and the evaluation of unintentional reexposure test results. Sixty five different commonly used herbs, herbal drugs, and herbal supplements and 111 different herbs or herbal mixtures of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are reported causative for liver disease, with levels of causality proof that appear rarely conclusive. Encouraging steps in the field of herbal hepatotoxicity focus on introducing analytical methods that identify cases of intrinsic hepatotoxicity caused by pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and on omics technologies, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and assessing circulating micro-RNA in the serum of some patients with intrinsic hepatotoxicity. It remains to be established whether these new technologies can identify idiosyncratic HILI cases. To enhance its globalization, herbal medicine should universally be marketed as herbal drugs under strict regulatory surveillance in analogy to regulatory approved chemical drugs, proving a positive risk/benefit profile by enforcing evidence based clinical trials and excellent herbal drug quality.

Herbal hepatotoxicity in traditional and modern medicine: actual key issues and new encouraging steps

Science.gov (United States)

Teschke, Rolf; Eickhoff, Axel

2015-01-01

Plants are natural producers of chemical substances, providing potential treatment of human ailments since ancient times. Some herbal chemicals in medicinal plants of traditional and modern medicine carry the risk of herb induced liver injury (HILI) with a severe or potentially lethal clinical course, and the requirement of a liver transplant. Discontinuation of herbal use is mandatory in time when HILI is first suspected as diagnosis. Although, herbal hepatotoxicity is of utmost clinical and regulatory importance, lack of a stringent causality assessment remains a major issue for patients with suspected HILI, while this problem is best overcome by the use of the hepatotoxicity specific CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences) scale and the evaluation of unintentional reexposure test results. Sixty five different commonly used herbs, herbal drugs, and herbal supplements and 111 different herbs or herbal mixtures of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are reported causative for liver disease, with levels of causality proof that appear rarely conclusive. Encouraging steps in the field of herbal hepatotoxicity focus on introducing analytical methods that identify cases of intrinsic hepatotoxicity caused by pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and on omics technologies, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and assessing circulating micro-RNA in the serum of some patients with intrinsic hepatotoxicity. It remains to be established whether these new technologies can identify idiosyncratic HILI cases. To enhance its globalization, herbal medicine should universally be marketed as herbal drugs under strict regulatory surveillance in analogy to regulatory approved chemical drugs, proving a positive risk/benefit profile by enforcing evidence based clinical trials and excellent herbal drug quality. PMID:25954198

Herbal hepatotoxicity in traditional and modern medicine: Actual key issues and new encouraging steps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rolf eTeschke

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Plants are natural producers of chemical substances, providing potential treatment of human ailments since ancient times. Some herbal chemicals in medicinal plants of traditional and modern medicine carry the risk of herb induced liver injury (HILI with a severe or potentially lethal clinical course, and the requirement of a liver transplant. Discontinuation of herbal use is mandatory in time when HILI is first suspected as diagnosis. Although herbal hepatotoxicity is of utmost clinical and regulatory importance, lack of a stringent causality assessment remains a major issue for patients with suspected HILI, while this problem is best overcome by the use of the hepatotoxicity specific CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences scale and the evaluation of unintentional reexposure test results. Sixty five different commonly used herbs, herbal drugs, and herbal supplements and 111 different herbs or herbal mixtures of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM are reported causative for liver disease, with levels of causality proof that appear rarely conclusive. Encouraging steps in the field of herbal hepatotoxicity focus on introducing analytical methods that identify cases of intrinsic hepatotoxicity caused by pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and on omics technologies, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and assessing circulating micro-RNA in the serum of some patients with intrinsic hepatotoxicity. It remains to be established whether these new technologies can identify idiosyncratic HILI cases. To enhance its globalization, herbal medicine should universally be marketed as herbal drugs under strict regulatory surveillance in analogy to regulatory approved chemical drugs, proving a positive risk/benefit profile by enforcing evidence based clinical trials and excellent herbal drug quality.

A campaign encouraging dental attendance among adolescents in Scotland: the barriers to behaviour change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Craven, R C; Blinkhorn, A S; Schou, L

1994-01-01

Qualitative consumer research was used to develop a health promotion campaign for school pupils aged 15-17 years to encourage them to attend a dentist for examination. The campaign used a combination of conventional health education about the benefits of dental care together with incentives...... for attending. The emphasis throughout was to establish an association with young style and group norms of social attractiveness. This study was part of the evaluation of the campaign. The aim was to identify the characteristics of those who responded positively to the campaign and to identify barriers...... to behaviour change. Those who responded were mainly female, intended to stay on at school beyond the age of 16 years and were more likely to be frequent attenders. Apathy and a lack of felt need were the main barriers to responding. Easier access to care and targeting a younger age group might enhance...

Comparison of the results of the RESUME-95 exercise

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hovgaard, J. [Beredskabsstyrelsen, Birkeroed (Denmark); Scott, M. [Univ. of Glasgow, Dept. of Statistics, Glasgow, Scotland (United Kingdom)

1997-12-31

Within the framework of the Nordic Nuclear Safety Research program (NKS), RESUME-95 (Rapid Environmental Surveying using Mobile equipment) took place in Finland in August 1995. Amongst the purposes of the exercise were: to test the ability of existing airborne, car-borne and in-situ instruments to map contaminated areas (in this case from Chernobyl) and; to establish the comparability of results obtained with different systems. Preliminary analysis has shown that major features of the spatial distribution of the contaminants were identified by all teams, but that significant variations in absolute figures were observed. In this paper, we describe some of the quantitative analysis undertaken to assess the comparability of the results and to explore any difference in them. We discuss future actions within a European framework of off-site emergency management to ensure comparability of results and to encourage development of standardisation techniques. Each participating team has already produced reports of their own results, and preliminary analysis has shown that major features of the spatial distribution of the contaminants were identified by all teams, but that variations in absolute figures were observed (some possible explanations for this include the calibrating procedures used and the assumptions concerning the vertical source distribution). In this paper, we describe some of the quantitative analysis undertaken to assess the comparability of the results and to explore any differences in them. In addition, from the experience gained from RESUME-95, we discuss future actions within a European framework of off-site emergency management to ensure comparability of results and to encourage standardisation techniques to be developed. (au).

Comparison of the results of the RESUME-95 exercise

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hovgaard, J [Beredskabsstyrelsen, Birkeroed (Denmark); Scott, M [Univ. of Glasgow, Dept. of Statistics, Glasgow, Scotland (United Kingdom)

1998-12-31

Within the framework of the Nordic Nuclear Safety Research program (NKS), RESUME-95 (Rapid Environmental Surveying using Mobile equipment) took place in Finland in August 1995. Amongst the purposes of the exercise were: to test the ability of existing airborne, car-borne and in-situ instruments to map contaminated areas (in this case from Chernobyl) and; to establish the comparability of results obtained with different systems. Preliminary analysis has shown that major features of the spatial distribution of the contaminants were identified by all teams, but that significant variations in absolute figures were observed. In this paper, we describe some of the quantitative analysis undertaken to assess the comparability of the results and to explore any difference in them. We discuss future actions within a European framework of off-site emergency management to ensure comparability of results and to encourage development of standardisation techniques. Each participating team has already produced reports of their own results, and preliminary analysis has shown that major features of the spatial distribution of the contaminants were identified by all teams, but that variations in absolute figures were observed (some possible explanations for this include the calibrating procedures used and the assumptions concerning the vertical source distribution). In this paper, we describe some of the quantitative analysis undertaken to assess the comparability of the results and to explore any differences in them. In addition, from the experience gained from RESUME-95, we discuss future actions within a European framework of off-site emergency management to ensure comparability of results and to encourage standardisation techniques to be developed. (au).

Survey Result for the Safety Culture Attitude of HANARO in 2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Jong Sup; An, Seok Hwa

2009-01-01

One of the important aims of a nuclear management system is to foster a strong safety culture. The safety culture activities for HANARO have been implemented and the importance of safety management in nuclear activities has also been emphasized since its first operation. HANARO developed its own safety culture indicators by referring to the IAEA's documents for the purpose of the evaluation of the safety culture attitude. In June 2008 a survey on the safety culture was conducted based on the new safety culture indicators. The result of the survey shows that the safety culture activities contribute positively to its safe operation. But it is necessary to encourage some activities like training, resources and organizational culture. The survey was helpful to understand the general trends of the safety attitudes and to set the safety culture activities necessary for the improvement of its safe operation

Optimization programs of radiation protection applied to post-graduation and encouraging research; Programas de otimizacao da protecao radiologica aplicados a pos-graduacao e o incentivo a pesquisa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levy, Denise S., E-mail: denise@omiccron.com.br [Omiccron Programacao Grafica, Sao Paulo, Atibaia, SP (Brazil); Sordi, Gian Maria A.A., E-mail: adelia@atomo.com.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2013-07-01

In 2011 we started the automation and integration of radiological protection optimization programs, in order to offer unified programs and inter-related information in Portuguese, providing Brazilian radioactive facilities a complete repository for research, consultation and information. The authors of this project extended it to postgraduate education, in order to encourage postgraduate students researches, expanding methods for enhancing student learning through the use of different combined resources, such as educational technology, information technology and group dynamics. This new methodology was applied in a postgraduate discipline at Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN), Brazil, in the postgraduate discipline entitled Fundamental Elements of Radiological Protection (TNA-5732). Students have six weeks to assimilate a complex content of optimization, considering national and international standards, guidelines and recommendations published by different organizations over the past decades. Unlike traditional classes, in which students receive prompt responses, this new methodology stimulates discussion, encouraging collective thinking processes and promoting ongoing personal reflection and researches. Case-oriented problem-solving permitted students to play different roles, promoting whole-group discussions and cooperative learning, approaching theory and practical applications. Students discussed different papers, published in international conferences, and their implications according to current standards. The automation of optimization programs was essential as a research tool during the course. The results of this experience were evaluated in two consecutive years. We had excellent results compared to the previous 14 years. The methodology has exceeded expectations and will be also applied in 2013 to ionizing radiation monitoring postgraduate classes. (author)

β-Phase poly(vinylidene fluoride) films encouraged more homogeneous cell distribution and more significant deposition of fibronectin towards the cell–material interface compared to α-phase poly(vinylidene fluoride) films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Low, Y.K.A.; Zou, X. [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, N4.1 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Fang, Y.M. [School of Computer Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, N4 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Wang, J.L. [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, N4.1 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Lin, W.S. [School of Computer Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, N4 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Boey, F.Y.C. [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, N4.1 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Ng, K.W., E-mail: kwng@ntu.edu.sg [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, N4.1 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 (Singapore)

2014-01-01

The piezoelectric response from β-phase poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) can potentially be exploited for biomedical application. We hypothesized that α and β-phase PVDF exert direct but different influence on cellular behavior. α- and β-phase PVDF films were synthesized through solution casting and characterized with FT-IR, XRD, AFM and PFM to ensure successful fabrication of α and β-phase PVDF films. Cellular evaluation with L929 mouse fibroblasts over one-week was conducted with AlamarBlue® metabolic assay and PicoGreen® proliferation assay. Immunostaining of fibronectin investigated the extent and distribution of extracellular matrix deposition. Image saliency analysis quantified differences in cellular distribution on the PVDF films. Our results showed that β-phase PVDF films with the largest area expressing piezoelectric effect elicited highest cell metabolic activity at day 3 of culture. Increased fibronectin adsorption towards the cell–material interface was shown on β-phase PVDF films. Image saliency analysis showed that fibroblasts on β-phase PVDF films were more homogeneously distributed than on α-phase PVDF films. Taken collectively, the different molecular packing of α and β-phase PVDF resulted in differing physical properties of films, which in turn induced differences in cellular behaviors. Further analysis of how α and β-phase PVDF may evoke specific cellular behavior to suit particular application will be intriguing. - Highlights: • β-Phase PVDF exhibited strongest piezoelectric effects compared to α-phase PVDF. • β-Phase PVDF induced more homogeneous cell distribution than α-phase PVDF. • β-Phase PVDF encouraged more fibronectin deposition at the cell–material interface.

Individual Skills Based Volunteerism and Life Satisfaction among Healthcare Volunteers in Malaysia: Role of Employer Encouragement, Self-Esteem and Job Performance, A Cross-Sectional Study

Science.gov (United States)

Veerasamy, Chanthiran; Sambasivan, Murali; Kumar, Naresh

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to analyze two important outcomes of individual skills-based volunteerism (ISB-V) among healthcare volunteers in Malaysia. The outcomes are: job performance and life satisfaction. This study has empirically tested the impact of individual dimensions of ISB-V along with their inter-relationships in explaining the life satisfaction and job performance. Besides, the effects of employer encouragement to the volunteers, demographic characteristics of volunteers, and self-esteem of volunteers on job performance and life satisfaction have been studied. The data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to 1000 volunteers of St. John Ambulance in Malaysia. Three hundred and sixty six volunteers responded by giving their feedback. The model was tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The main results of this study are: (1) Volunteer duration and nature of contact affects life satisfaction, (2) volunteer frequency has impact on volunteer duration, (3) self-esteem of volunteers has significant relationships with volunteer frequency, job performance and life satisfaction, (4) job performance of volunteers affect their life satisfaction and (5) current employment level has significant relationships with duration of volunteering, self esteem, employer encouragement and job performance of volunteers. The model in this study has been able to explain 39% of the variance in life satisfaction and 45% of the variance in job performance. The current study adds significantly to the body of knowledge on healthcare volunteerism. PMID:24194894

Individual skills based volunteerism and life satisfaction among healthcare volunteers in Malaysia: role of employer encouragement, self-esteem and job performance, a cross-sectional study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chanthiran Veerasamy

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to analyze two important outcomes of individual skills-based volunteerism (ISB-V among healthcare volunteers in Malaysia. The outcomes are: job performance and life satisfaction. This study has empirically tested the impact of individual dimensions of ISB-V along with their inter-relationships in explaining the life satisfaction and job performance. Besides, the effects of employer encouragement to the volunteers, demographic characteristics of volunteers, and self-esteem of volunteers on job performance and life satisfaction have been studied. The data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to 1000 volunteers of St. John Ambulance in Malaysia. Three hundred and sixty six volunteers responded by giving their feedback. The model was tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM. The main results of this study are: (1 Volunteer duration and nature of contact affects life satisfaction, (2 volunteer frequency has impact on volunteer duration, (3 self-esteem of volunteers has significant relationships with volunteer frequency, job performance and life satisfaction, (4 job performance of volunteers affect their life satisfaction and (5 current employment level has significant relationships with duration of volunteering, self esteem, employer encouragement and job performance of volunteers. The model in this study has been able to explain 39% of the variance in life satisfaction and 45% of the variance in job performance. The current study adds significantly to the body of knowledge on healthcare volunteerism.

Electronic voting to encourage interactive lectures: a randomised trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Palmer Edward

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Electronic Voting Systems have been used for education in a variety of disciplines. Outcomes from these studies have been mixed. Because results from these studies have been mixed, we examined whether an EVS system could enhance a lecture's effect on educational outcomes. Methods A cohort of 127 Year 5 medical students at the University of Adelaide was stratified by gender, residency status and academic record then randomised into 2 groups of 64 and 63 students. Each group received consecutive 40-minute lectures on two clinical topics. One group received the EVS for both topics. The other group received traditional teaching only. Evaluation was undertaken with two, 15-question multiple-choice questionnaires (MCQ assessing knowledge and problem solving and undertaken as a written paper immediately before and after the lectures and repeated online 8–12 weeks later. Standardised institutional student questionnaires were completed for each lecture and independent observers assessed student behaviour during the lectures. Lecturer's opinions were assessed by a questionnaire developed for this study. Results Two-thirds of students randomised to EVS and 59% of students randomised to traditional lectures attended. One-half of the students in the EVS group and 41% in the traditional group completed all questionnaires. There was no difference in MCQ scores between EVS and traditional lectures (p = 0.785. The cervical cancer lectures showed higher student ranking in favour of EVS in all parameters. The breast cancer lectures showed higher ranking in favour of traditional lectures in 5 of 7 parameters (p Conclusion In this setting, EVS technology used in large group lectures did not offer significant advantages over the more traditional lecture format.

Small Cash Incentives Can Encourage Primary Care Visits By Low-Income People With New Health Care Coverage.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, Cathy J; Neumark, David

2017-08-01

In a randomized controlled trial, we studied low-income adults newly covered by a primary care program to determine whether a cash incentive could encourage them to make an initial visit to a primary care provider. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four groups: three groups whose members received $10 to complete a baseline survey during an interview and who were randomized to incentives of $50, $25, or $0 to visit their assigned primary care provider within six months after enrolling in the study; and a nonincentivized control group not contacted by the research team. Subjects in the $50 and $25 incentive groups were more likely to see a primary care provider (77 percent and 74 percent, respectively), compared to subjects in the $0 incentive group (68 percent). The effects of the intervention were about twice as large when we compared the proportions of subjects in the $50 and $25 incentive groups who visited their providers and the proportion in the nonincentivized group (61 percent). Cash incentive programs may steer newly covered low-income patients toward primary care, which could result in improved health outcomes and lower costs. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Electronic collection of solved physics problems to encourage students’ active approach (not only to self study)

Science.gov (United States)

Koupilová, Zdeňka; Mandíková, Dana; Snětinová, Marie

2017-09-01

Ten years ago we started to develop a Collection of Fully Solved Problems aimed at introductory undergraduate and high school level students. The collection is specially designed to encourage students in an active approach to problem solving, e.g. to solve at least some parts of a problem on their own. Nowadays the Collection contains about 800 fully solved problems in physics in Czech and nearly 180 problems in English. It has several hundreds of unique visitors per school day. Based on user feedback, the collection is used by students mainly for their home study and by teachers as a supplementary material. The creation of the structured solution of the physics problems has proved to be a beneficial activity for prospective physics teachers (students of our department).

Stakeholder views on returning research results.

Science.gov (United States)

Haga, Susanne B; Zhao, Jennifer Q

2013-01-01

While the disclosure of research findings is relevant to all types of biomedical research, it has garnered particular attention with respect to genetics and genomics research due to some of the unique aspects of the data and the high public profile of the field. In this chapter, we review the attitudes of stakeholders (research participants, policymakers, and researchers) to define areas of consensus regarding the issue of returning research results across and within groups. In addition to stakeholder attitudes about obligations and interest in research results, other major related issues related to returning research results, such as informed consent, communication of research results, and cost, are discussed. Given the consensus between stakeholders to return summary reports of a study's outcomes and individual research results of clinical significance, we conclude that the time has come to encourage, if not require, researchers to consider these issues in the developmental planning stages of a project and to plan and budget accordingly. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Role of the Internet in Political Communication and Encouraging Political Civic Engagement in Croatia: The 2007 Election Campaign on the Internet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domagoj Bebić

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Undertaking a content analysis and analyzing the literature corresponding both to the role of the Internet in modern election campaigns (cyber campaigning, as well as that which assesses the crisis of public communication and the democratic potential of the Internet, this article explores: a how and to what extent did Croatian political parties utilize the marketing potential of the Internet during the 2007 parliamentary elections; and b how and to what extent did they use the Internet to encourage citizens(on or offline to participate in the political sphere. The results indicate that during the 2007 Croatian Parliamentary elections, political parties only partially utilized the potential advantages of Internet marketing. An analysis of the elements of interactivity revealed that campaigning parties generally did not use the Internet as a means to engage voters. The results in this study, however, confirm a number of trends found in other countries. The use of the Internet as an instrument to engage citizens online and increase political participation has not confirmed the optimistic predictions surrounding this issue.

Testing Behavior Change Techniques to Encourage Primary Care Physicians to Access Cancer Screening Audit and Feedback Reports: Protocol for a Factorial Randomized Experiment of Email Content.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaisson, Gratianne; Witteman, Holly O; Bouck, Zachary; Bravo, Caroline A; Desveaux, Laura; Llovet, Diego; Presseau, Justin; Saragosa, Marianne; Taljaard, Monica; Umar, Shama; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Tinmouth, Jill; Ivers, Noah M

2018-02-16

Cancer Care Ontario's Screening Activity Report (SAR) is an online audit and feedback tool designed to help primary care physicians in Ontario, Canada, identify patients who are overdue for cancer screening or have abnormal results requiring follow-up. Use of the SAR is associated with increased screening rates. To encourage SAR use, Cancer Care Ontario sends monthly emails to registered primary care physicians announcing that updated data are available. However, analytics reveal that 50% of email recipients do not open the email and less than 7% click the embedded link to log in to their report. The goal of the study is to determine whether rewritten emails result in increased log-ins. This manuscript describes how different user- and theory-informed messages intended to improve the impact of the monthly emails will be experimentally tested and how a process evaluation will explore why and how any effects observed were (or were not) achieved. A user-centered approach was used to rewrite the content of the monthly email, including messages operationalizing 3 behavior change techniques: anticipated regret, material incentive (behavior), and problem solving. A pragmatic, 2x2x2 factorial experiment within a multiphase optimization strategy will test the redesigned emails with an embedded qualitative process evaluation to understand how and why the emails may or may not have worked. Trial outcomes will be ascertained using routinely collected administrative data. Physicians will be recruited for semistructured interviews using convenience and snowball sampling. As of April 2017, 5576 primary care physicians across the province of Ontario, Canada, had voluntarily registered for the SAR, and in so doing, signed up to receive the monthly email updates. From May to August 2017 participants received the redesigned monthly emails with content specific to their allocated experimental condition prompting use of the SAR. We have not yet begun analyses. This study will inform

Behavioral economics holds potential to deliver better results for patients, insurers, and employers.

Science.gov (United States)

Loewenstein, George; Asch, David A; Volpp, Kevin G

2013-07-01

Many programs being implemented by US employers, insurers, and health care providers use incentives to encourage patients to take better care of themselves. We critically review a range of these efforts and show that many programs, although well-meaning, are unlikely to have much impact because they require information, expertise, and self-control that few patients possess. As a result, benefits are likely to accrue disproportionately to patients who already are taking adequate care of their health. We show how these programs could be made more effective through the use of insights from behavioral economics. For example, incentive programs that offer patients small and frequent payments for behavior that would benefit the patients, such as medication adherence, can be more effective than programs with incentives that are far less visible because they are folded into a paycheck or used to reduce a monthly premium. Deploying more-nuanced insights from behavioral economics can lead to policies with the potential to increase patient engagement and deliver dividends for patients and favorable cost-effectiveness ratios for insurers, employers, and other relevant commercial entities.

Communicating program outcomes to encourage policymaker support for evidence-based state tobacco control.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Allison M; Ranney, Leah M; Goldstein, Adam O

2014-12-04

Tobacco use, the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., can be reduced through state-level tobacco prevention and cessation programs. In the absence of research about how to communicate the need for these programs to policymakers, this qualitative study aimed to understand the motivations and priorities of policymakers in North Carolina, a state that enacted a strong tobacco control program from 2003-2011, but drastically reduced funding in recent years. Six former legislators (three Democrats, three Republicans) and three lobbyists for health organizations were interviewed about their attitudes towards tobacco use, support of state-funded programs, and reactions to two policy briefs. Five themes emerged: (1) high awareness of tobacco-related health concerns but limited awareness of program impacts and funding, (2) the primacy of economic concerns in making policy decisions, (3) ideological differences in views of the state's role in tobacco control, (4) the impact of lobbyist and constituent in-person appeals, and (5) the utility of concise, contextualized data. These findings suggest that building relationships with policymakers to communicate ongoing program outcomes, emphasizing economic data, and developing a constituent advocacy group would be valuable to encourage continued support of state tobacco control programs.

Using Minecraft as a Geodesign Tool for Encouraging Public Participation in Urban Planning . GI_Forum|GI_Forum 2017, Volume 1 |

OpenAIRE

2017-01-01

Simulation of reality in computer games has recently been adopted for urban planning purposes. Minecraft™ is a computer game in which players use 1m³ blocks of various materials to construct buildings in an imaginary world. It has become popular recently as a geodesign tool for encouraging public participation in urban planning. As part of this research, a prototype model was developed based on the enhanced transformation of actual spatial datasets into a Minecraft virtual world. A Minecraft-...

Electronic collection of solved physics problems to encourage students’ active approach (not only to self study)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koupilová, Zdeňka; Mandíková, Dana; Snětinová, Marie

2017-01-01

Ten years ago we started to develop a Collection of Fully Solved Problems aimed at introductory undergraduate and high school level students. The collection is specially designed to encourage students in an active approach to problem solving, e.g. to solve at least some parts of a problem on their own. Nowadays the Collection contains about 800 fully solved problems in physics in Czech and nearly 180 problems in English. It has several hundreds of unique visitors per school day. Based on user feedback, the collection is used by students mainly for their home study and by teachers as a supplementary material. The creation of the structured solution of the physics problems has proved to be a beneficial activity for prospective physics teachers (students of our department). (paper)

Examining the feasibility of implementing behavioural economics strategies that encourage home dinner vegetable intake among low-income children.

Science.gov (United States)

Leak, Tashara M; Swenson, Alison; Rendahl, Aaron; Vickers, Zata; Mykerezi, Elton; Redden, Joseph P; Mann, Traci; Reicks, Marla

2017-06-01

To examine the feasibility of implementing nine behavioural economics-informed strategies, or 'nudges', that aimed to encourage home dinner vegetable intake among low-income children. Caregivers were assigned six of nine strategies and implemented one new strategy per week (i.e. 6 weeks) during three dinner meals. Caregivers recorded child dinner vegetable intake on the nights of strategy implementation and rated the level of difficulty for assigned strategies. Baseline data on home vegetable availability and child vegetable liking were collected to assess overall strategy feasibility. Participants' homes in a large Midwestern metropolitan area, USA. Low-income caregiver/child (aged 9-12 years) dyads (n 39). Pairwise comparisons showed that child dinner vegetable intake for the strategy 'Serve at least two vegetables with dinner meals' was greater than intake for each of two other strategies: 'Pair vegetables with other foods the child likes' and 'Eat dinner together with an adult(s) modelling vegetable consumption'. Overall, caregivers' mean rating of difficulty for implementing strategies was 2·6 (1='not difficult', 10='very difficult'). Households had a mean of ten different types of vegetables available. Children reported a rating ≥5 for seventeen types of vegetable on a labelled hedonic scale (1='hate it', 5-6='it's okay', 10='like it a lot'). Behavioural economics-informed strategies are feasible to implement during dinner meals, with some strategies differing by how much they influence vegetable intake among low-income children in the home.

Ink dating part II: Interpretation of results in a legal perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Koenig, Agnès; Weyermann, Céline

2018-01-01

The development of an ink dating method requires an important investment of resources in order to step from the monitoring of ink ageing on paper to the determination of the actual age of a questioned ink entry. This article aimed at developing and evaluating the potential of three interpretation models to date ink entries in a legal perspective: (1) the threshold model comparing analytical results to tabulated values in order to determine the maximal possible age of an ink entry, (2) the trend tests that focusing on the "ageing status" of an ink entry, and (3) the likelihood ratio calculation comparing the probabilities to observe the results under at least two alternative hypotheses. This is the first report showing ink dating interpretation results on a ballpoint be ink reference population. In the first part of this paper three ageing parameters were selected as promising from the population of 25 ink entries aged during 4 to 304days: the quantity of phenoxyethanol (PE), the difference between the PE quantities contained in a naturally aged sample and an artificially aged sample (R NORM ) and the solvent loss ratio (R%). In the current part, each model was tested using the three selected ageing parameters. Results showed that threshold definition remains a simple model easily applicable in practice, but that the risk of false positive cannot be completely avoided without reducing significantly the feasibility of the ink dating approaches. The trend tests from the literature showed unreliable results and an alternative had to be developed yielding encouraging results. The likelihood ratio calculation introduced a degree of certainty to the ink dating conclusion in comparison to the threshold approach. The proposed model remains quite simple to apply in practice, but should be further developed in order to yield reliable results in practice. Copyright © 2017 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Confidence crisis of results in biomechanics research.

Science.gov (United States)

Knudson, Duane

2017-11-01

Many biomechanics studies have small sample sizes and incorrect statistical analyses, so reporting of inaccurate inferences and inflated magnitude of effects are common in the field. This review examines these issues in biomechanics research and summarises potential solutions from research in other fields to increase the confidence in the experimental effects reported in biomechanics. Authors, reviewers and editors of biomechanics research reports are encouraged to improve sample sizes and the resulting statistical power, improve reporting transparency, improve the rigour of statistical analyses used, and increase the acceptance of replication studies to improve the validity of inferences from data in biomechanics research. The application of sports biomechanics research results would also improve if a larger percentage of unbiased effects and their uncertainty were reported in the literature.

Retail competition in electricity supply—Survey results in North Carolina

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDaniel, Tanga M.; Groothuis, Peter A.

2012-01-01

Residential retail competition in electricity supply was introduced in many countries and some US states as part of electricity industry deregulation. Following problems in the electricity market in California in 2000/2001 many US states, including North Carolina, suspended their deregulation agenda. Recent technological advances have made competition more viable, so we ask if NC should reconsider deregulation and retail competition. The welfare benefits will depend on consumers’ willingness to switch suppliers and the potential for value added innovations. In electricity and industries such as pay-tv and telecommunications consumers are ‘sticky’, remaining with their current supplier even though rivals offer savings. Moreover, some analysts question the likelihood of significant welfare improvements from retail competition. We survey residents in two NC counties focusing on: (i) households’ knowledge of and interest in retail competition, (ii) factors that would encourage them to switch suppliers and (iii) the required savings to encourage switching. About 50–65% of respondents would favor retail competition in NC. Demographic variables and experience switching in other industries affect opinions and the savings required to incent switching. We conclude the estimated rate reduction to encourage competitive switching will be hard to achieve in NC as long as rates remain below the national average. - Highlights: ► NC survey results suggest residents are interested in utility supply competition. ► Socio-demographic variables affect opinions. ► A lower bound on required savings to incent switching is about 1.4¢/kWh. ► NC residential rates are below the national average, so such a savings is unlikely.

The reflection of INAA results to the environmental administration in Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wee Boon Siong; Abdul Khalik Hj. Wood

2007-01-01

The use of INAA in environmental studies in Malaysia has been very encouraging with many projects funded by the government agencies. Thus, the INAA technique could provide useful results and eventually appeal to the environmental administration in Malaysia. The aim of this report is to provide information regarding the environmental administration in Malaysia and to discuss the prospect of INAA in environmental research. (author)

Prohibit, constrain, encourage, or purchase: how should we engage with the private health-care sector?

Science.gov (United States)

Montagu, Dominic; Goodman, Catherine

2016-08-06

The private for-profit sector's prominence in health-care delivery, and concern about its failures to deliver social benefit, has driven a search for interventions to improve the sector's functioning. We review evidence for the effectiveness and limitations of such private sector interventions in low-income and middle-income countries. Few robust assessments are available, but some conclusions are possible. Prohibiting the private sector is very unlikely to succeed, and regulatory approaches face persistent challenges in many low-income and middle-income countries. Attention is therefore turning to interventions that encourage private providers to improve quality and coverage (while advancing their financial interests) such as social marketing, social franchising, vouchers, and contracting. However, evidence about the effect on clinical quality, coverage, equity, and cost-effectiveness is inadequate. Other challenges concern scalability and scope, indicating the limitations of such interventions as a basis for universal health coverage, though interventions can address focused problems on a restricted scale. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Smart Mobility – Encouraging sustainable mobility behaviour by designing and implementing policies with citizen involvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edith Maier

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the theoretical concepts, design considerations and preliminary findings from Smart Mobility, a research project currently being undertaken with the City of St. Gallen. The project aims at designing measures to encourage the increased use of public and non-motorised transport by integrating behavioural economic principles into public policy. The extensive involvement of citizens and their participation in the design of the measures are to support their democratic legitimization and later acceptance. The paper describes the energy policies behind the project and outlines the theoretical framework for integrating behavioural insights into public policy. The strategies envisaged include participatory instruments and methods, especially the use of existing social media channels, capitalizing on social processes and norms to increase the motivation of individuals to use public transport, creating an open innovation space by means of crowdsourcing as well as the proper framing of political communication to achieve changes in mobility patterns.

Impact of parenting practices on adolescent achievement: authoritative parenting, school involvement, and encouragement to succeed.

Science.gov (United States)

Steinberg, L; Lamborn, S D; Dornbusch, S M; Darling, N

1992-10-01

This article examines the impact of authoritative parenting, parental involvement in schooling, and parental encouragement to succeed on adolescent school achievement in an ethnically and socio-economically heterogeneous sample of approximately 6,400 American 14-18-year-olds. Adolescents reported in 1987 on their parents' general child-rearing practices and on their parents' achievement-specific socialization behaviors. In 1987, and again in 1988, data were collected on several aspects of the adolescents' school performance and school engagement. Authoritative parenting (high acceptance, supervision, and psychological autonomy granting) leads to better adolescent school performance and stronger school engagement. The positive impact of authoritative parenting on adolescent achievement, however, is mediated by the positive effect of authoritativeness on parental involvement in schooling. In addition, nonauthoritativeness attenuates the beneficial impact of parental involvement in schooling on adolescents achievement. Parental involvement is much more likely to promote adolescent school success when it occurs in the context of an authoritative home environment.

Test Results of a Ten Cell Bipolar Nickel-hydrogen Battery

Science.gov (United States)

Cataldo, R. L.

1984-01-01

A study was initiated to design and evaluate a new design concept for nickel-hydrogen cells. This concept involved constructing a battery in a bipolar stack with cells consisting of a one plate for each nickel and hydrogen electrode. Preliminary designs at the system level of this concept promised improvements in both volumetric and gravimetric energy densities, thermal management, life extension, costs, and peak power capability over more conventional designs. Test results were most encouraging. This preprototype battery, built with less than ideal components and hardware, exceeded expectations. A total of 2000 LEO cycles at 80 percent depth of discharge were accrued. A cycle life goal of 30,000 cycles appears achievable with minor design changes. These improvements include advanced technology nickel electrodes, insulated bipolar plates and specifically designed frames to minimize shunt currents. The discharge rate capability of this design exceeds 25C. At the 10C discharge rate, 80% of the battery capacity can be withdrawn in six minutes. This data shows that the bipolar design is well suited for those applications requiring high peak power pulses.

Comparisons of numerical simulations with ASTRID code against experimental results in rod bundle geometry for boiling flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larrauri, D.; Briere, E.

1997-12-01

After different validation simulations of flows through cylindrical and annular channels, a subcooled boiling flow through a rod bundle has been simulated with ASTRID Steam-Water of software. The experiment simulated is called Poseidon. It is a vertical rectangular channel with three heating rods inside. The thermohydraulic conditions of the simulated flow were close to the DNB conditions. The simulation results were analysed and compared against the available measurements of liquid and wall temperatures. ASTRID Steam-Water produced satisfactory results. The wall and the liquid temperatures were well predicted in the different parts of the flow. The void fraction reached 40 % in the vicinity of the heating rods. The distribution of the different calculated variables showed that a three-dimensional simulation gives essential information for the analysis of the physical phenomena involved in this kind of flow. The good results obtained in Poseidon geometry will encourage future rod bundle flow simulations and analyses with ASTRID Steam-Water code. (author)

Communicating Program Outcomes to Encourage Policymaker Support for Evidence-Based State Tobacco Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allison M. Schmidt

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Tobacco use, the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., can be reduced through state-level tobacco prevention and cessation programs. In the absence of research about how to communicate the need for these programs to policymakers, this qualitative study aimed to understand the motivations and priorities of policymakers in North Carolina, a state that enacted a strong tobacco control program from 2003–2011, but drastically reduced funding in recent years. Six former legislators (three Democrats, three Republicans and three lobbyists for health organizations were interviewed about their attitudes towards tobacco use, support of state-funded programs, and reactions to two policy briefs. Five themes emerged: (1 high awareness of tobacco-related health concerns but limited awareness of program impacts and funding, (2 the primacy of economic concerns in making policy decisions, (3 ideological differences in views of the state’s role in tobacco control, (4 the impact of lobbyist and constituent in-person appeals, and (5 the utility of concise, contextualized data. These findings suggest that building relationships with policymakers to communicate ongoing program outcomes, emphasizing economic data, and developing a constituent advocacy group would be valuable to encourage continued support of state tobacco control programs.

Investigation of a reflective pedagogy to encourage pre-service physics teachers to explore argumentation as an aid to conceptual understanding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lancaster, G.; Cooper, R.

2015-01-01

An emerging focus of recent science education research advocates the benefits of using argumentation as an approach in which teachers can better engage students in a more authentic experience of the epistemic work of scientists (Bricker and Bell, 2008). Logical argument and critical thinking are considered essential skills for an effective and successful undertaking of scientific inquiry and analysis. Early research suggests the practise of encouraging students to engage in scientific discourse in the classroom (Kuhn, 2010) can provide rich experiences for students and teachers to hone their cognitive abilities. This paper explores the use of critical ‘discussion problems’ purposefully designed for pre-service physics teachers to investigate their own alternative conceptual understandings of key physics ideas. It also discusses how these problems are then used to generate classroom discourse which focuses on the importance of developing effective pedagogical content knowledge (See Shulman, 1986 for a detailed explanation of pedagogical content knowledge) rather than just mastery of scientific content and its mathematical applications. Further, the paper will detail a preliminary study in which pre-service physics teachers were introduced to a number of discussion problems via an online learning environment and asked to first consider the problem and post a solution in isolation from their peers. A considerable challenge was persuading the pre-service teachers to resist the common practice of “Googling the answer” via the internet before posting their solution attempt. Although most students initially appeared to believe that posting “the correct” answer was the main task objective, the vast majority eventually came to realise that discussing the range of un researched solutions was much more beneficial for their conceptual understanding and professional practice. Over time, this approach generally encouraged students to post original ideas and to be

Investigation of a reflective pedagogy to encourage pre-service physics teachers to explore argumentation as an aid to conceptual understanding

Science.gov (United States)

Lancaster, Greg; Cooper, Rebecca

2016-05-01

An emerging focus of recent science education research advocates the benefits of using argumentation as an approach in which teachers can better engage students in a more authentic experience of the epistemic work of scientists (Bricker and Bell, 2008). Logical argument and critical thinking are considered essential skills for an effective and successful undertaking of scientific inquiry and analysis. Early research suggests the practise of encouraging students to engage in scientific discourse in the classroom (Kuhn, 2010) can provide rich experiences for students and teachers to hone their cognitive abilities. This paper explores the use of critical `discussion problems' purposefully designed for pre-service physics teachers to investigate their own alternative conceptual understandings of key physics ideas. It also discusses how these problems are then used to generate classroom discourse which focuses on the importance of developing effective pedagogical content knowledge (See Shulman, 1986 for a detailed explanation of pedagogical content knowledge) rather than just mastery of scientific content and its mathematical applications. Further, the paper will detail a preliminary study in which pre-service physics teachers were introduced to a number of discussion problems via an online learning environment and asked to first consider the problem and post a solution in isolation from their peers. A considerable challenge was persuading the pre-service teachers to resist the common practice of "Googling the answer" via the internet before posting their solution attempt. Although most students initially appeared to believe that posting "the correct" answer was the main task objective, the vast majority eventually came to realise that discussing the range of unresearched solutions was much more beneficial for their conceptual understanding and professional practice. Over time, this approach generally encouraged students to post original ideas and to be less influenced

How to encourage intrinsic motivation in the clinical teaching environment?: a systematic review from the self-determination theory

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

Purpose: Internalization of students’ motivation towards an intrinsic form is associated with increased interest, commitment, learning, and satisfaction with education. Self-Determination theory postulates that intrinsic motivation and autonomous forms of self-regulation are the desired type of motivation; as they have been associated with deep learning, better performance and well-being. It claims three basic psychological needs have to be satisfied in order to achieve intrinsic motivation. These are the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. This study aims to provide a review on how these basic psychological needs are encouraged in undergraduate students so they can be transferred to the clinical teaching environment. Methods: Electronic searches were performed across four databases (Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and ERIC), relevant journals, and retrieved bibliography of selected articles. In total, searches produced 4,869 references, from which 16 studies met the inclusion criteria. Results: Main themes were coded in three categories: The support of autonomy, competence and relatedness. The research-based evidence appears to be of reasonable quality, and indicates that teachers should work to satisfy students’ basic psychological needs to foster internalization of self-regulation. Our findings suggest that teachers should interact with students in a more ‘human centred’ teaching style, as these actions predict motivational internalization. Several themes emerged from different contexts and further investigation should expand them. Conclusion: This review identified actions that clinical teachers could implement in their daily work to support students’ self-determination. Autonomy supportive teaching in health professions educations would benefit students and may actually result in more effective health care delivery. PMID:25855386

How to encourage intrinsic motivation in the clinical teaching environment?: a systematic review from the self-determination theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cesar Orsini

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Internalization of students’ motivation towards an intrinsic form is associated with increased interest, commitment, learning, and satisfaction with education. Self-Determination theory postulates that intrinsic motivation and autonomous forms of self-regulation are the desired type of motivation; as they have been associated with deep learning, better performance and well-being. It claims three basic psychological needs have to be satisfied in order to achieve intrinsic motivation. These are the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. This study aims to provide a review on how these basic psychological needs are encouraged in undergraduate students so they can be transferred to the clinical teaching environment. Methods: Electronic searches were performed across four databases (Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and ERIC, relevant journals, and retrieved bibliography of selected articles. In total, searches produced 4,869 references, from which 16 studies met the inclusion criteria. Results: Main themes were coded in three categories: The support of autonomy, competence and relatedness. The research-based evidence appears to be of reasonable quality, and indicates that teachers should work to satisfy students’ basic psychological needs to foster internalization of self-regulation. Our findings suggest that teachers should interact with students in a more ‘human centred’ teaching style, as these actions predict motivational internalization. Several themes emerged from different contexts and further investigation should expand them. Conclusion: This review identified actions that clinical teachers could implement in their daily work to support students’ self-determination. Autonomy supportive teaching in health professions educations would benefit students and may actually result in more effective health care delivery.

Does Social Labelling Encourage Child Schooling and Discourage Child Labour in Nepal?

Science.gov (United States)

Chakrabarty, Sayan; Grote, Ulrike; Luchters, Guido

2011-01-01

This paper explores the determinants of child labour vis-a-vis child schooling. It further examines the influence of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which are engaged in social labelling, on the incidence of child labour and schooling trade-off. The empirical results show that the probability of child schooling increases as well as child…

He-Ne Laser Irradiation Encourages reparative Processes After cartilage loss in New Zealand rabbits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, I.K.

2008-01-01

Many therapeutic methods used to encourage reparative processes of cartilage and accelerate their healing such as drugs, magneto-laser and so on.Twenty four adult New Zealand rabbits used in this study.They were divided in to two groups; control and treaded with He-Ne laser.A square skin flap done on the medial aspect of both auricles followed by pealing a square piece of cartilage from the auricle then the flaps sutured.The site of the operation in the rabbits of the treatedgroup were irradiated with He-Ne laser 5mw power for seven days began after the operation directly.3 rabbits from each group used for collection of specimens for histopathological examination at the 1, 2, 4 & 6 weeks post the operation.Significantly well developed cartilage growth, chondroblasts and chondrocytes invade the area of the operation.High increase in the thickness of connective tissue in the same area contain mainly collagen fibers and lesser amount of elastic fibers.He-Ne laser irradiation raised the mitotic activity of the cartilage cells, activated the reproduction processes in addition to the intra and extra regenerative repair

Recent results from the Large Hadron Collider

CERN Document Server

Alcaraz Maestre, J

2013-01-01

We present an overview of the physics results obtained by experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2009–2010, for an integrated luminosity of L ≈ 40 pb$^{−1}$ , collected mostly at a centre-of-mass energy of √ s = 7 TeV. After an introduction to the physics environment at the LHC and the current performance of the accelerator and detectors, we will discuss quantum chro- modynamics and B-physics analyses, W and Z production, the first results in the top sector, and searches for new physics, with particular emphasis on su- persymmetry and Higgs studies. While most of the presented results are in remarkable agreement with Standard Model predictions, the excellent perfor- mance of the LHC machine and experiments, the prompt analysis of all data within just a few months after the end of data taking, and the high quality of the results obtained constitute an encouraging step towards unique measurements and exciting discoveries in the 2011–2012 period and beyond.

Communication practices that encourage and constrain shared decision making in health-care encounters: Systematic review of conversation analytic research.

Science.gov (United States)

Land, Victoria; Parry, Ruth; Seymour, Jane

2017-12-01

Shared decision making (SDM) is generally treated as good practice in health-care interactions. Conversation analytic research has yielded detailed findings about decision making in health-care encounters. To map decision making communication practices relevant to health-care outcomes in face-to-face interactions yielded by prior conversation analyses, and to examine their function in relation to SDM. We searched nine electronic databases (last search November 2016) and our own and other academics' collections. Published conversation analyses (no restriction on publication dates) using recordings of health-care encounters in English where the patient (and/or companion) was present and where the data and analysis focused on health/illness-related decision making. We extracted study characteristics, aims, findings relating to communication practices, how these functioned in relation to SDM, and internal/external validity issues. We synthesised findings aggregatively. Twenty-eight publications met the inclusion criteria. We sorted findings into 13 types of communication practices and organized these in relation to four elements of decision-making sequences: (i) broaching decision making; (ii) putting forward a course of action; (iii) committing or not (to the action put forward); and (iv) HCPs' responses to patients' resistance or withholding of commitment. Patients have limited opportunities to influence decision making. HCPs' practices may constrain or encourage this participation. Patients, companions and HCPs together treat and undertake decision making as shared, though to varying degrees. Even for non-negotiable treatment trajectories, the spirit of SDM can be invoked through practices that encourage participation (eg by bringing the patient towards shared understanding of the decision's rationale). © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effectiveness of strategies to encourage general practitioners to accept an offer of free access to online evidence-based information: a randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Buchan, Heather; Lourey, Emma; D'Este, Catherine; Sanson-Fisher, Rob

2009-10-20

This study examined the effectiveness of seven different interventions designed to increase the proportion of general practitioners (GPs) accepting an offer of free access to an online evidence-based resource. Australian GPs (n = 14,000) were randomly selected and assigned to seven intervention groups, with each receiving a different letter. Seven different strategies were used to encourage GPs to accept an offer of two years free access to an online evidence-based resource (BMJ Clinical Evidence). The first group received a standard letter of offer with no experimental demands. Groups two to seven received a standard letter of offer outlining the requirements of the study. They were asked to complete an initial online questionnaire, agree to complete a 12-month follow-up questionnaire, and agree to having data about their usage of the online evidence-based resource provided to researchers. Groups three to seven also had additional interventions included in the letter of offer: access to an online tutorial in use of the resource (group three); provision of a pamphlet with statements from influential opinion leaders endorsing the resource (group four); offer of eligibility to receive professional development points (group five); offer of eligibility for a prize of $500 for registration at a medical conference of their choice (group six); and a combination of some of the above interventions (group seven). In the group with no research demands, 27% accepted the offer. Average acceptance across all other groups was 10%. There was no advantage in using additional strategies such as financial incentives, opinion leader support, offer of professional development points, or an educational aid over a standard letter of offer to increase acceptance rates. This study showed low acceptance rates of the offer of access to the online resource when there was an associated requirement of response to a short online questionnaire and non-obtrusive monitoring of GP behaviour in terms

Airline Overbooking Problem with Uncertain No-Shows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunxiao Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper considers an airline overbooking problem of a new single-leg flight with discount fare. Due to the absence of historical data of no-shows for a new flight, and various uncertain human behaviors or unexpected events which causes that a few passengers cannot board their aircraft on time, we fail to obtain the probability distribution of no-shows. In this case, the airlines have to invite some domain experts to provide belief degree of no-shows to estimate its distribution. However, human beings often overestimate unlikely events, which makes the variance of belief degree much greater than that of the frequency. If we still regard the belief degree as a subjective probability, the derived results will exceed our expectations. In order to deal with this uncertainty, the number of no-shows of new flight is assumed to be an uncertain variable in this paper. Given the chance constraint of social reputation, an overbooking model with discount fares is developed to maximize the profit rate based on uncertain programming theory. Finally, the analytic expression of the optimal booking limit is obtained through a numerical example, and the results of sensitivity analysis indicate that the optimal booking limit is affected by flight capacity, discount, confidence level, and parameters of the uncertainty distribution significantly.

Intraoperative radiotherapy of malignant pancreatic tumors - first results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thurnher, S.; Glaser, K.; Url, M.; Frommhold, H.; Bodner, E.

1987-02-01

Thirteen patients suffering from adenocarcinomas of the pancreas were submitted to an intraoperative fast electron 'boost' therapy with or without percutaneous photon irradiation. A duodeno-cephalo-pancreatectomy with subsequent irradiation of the tumor bed could be performed in three patients. Ten patients were inoperable because of advanced tumors and formation of metastases. The average survival is 6.5 months, at present six patients are alive without major troubles. An analgetic effect was obtained in ten patients. The first results are encouraging with respect to local control, the little acute and chronic morbidity, and palliation achieved in advances stages.

Intraoperative radiotherapy of malignant pancreatic tumors - first results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thurnher, S.; Glaser, K.; Url, M.; Frommhold, H.; Bodner, E.; Innsbruck Univ.

1987-01-01

Thirteen patients suffering from adenocarcinomas of the pancreas were submitted to an intraoperative fast electron 'boost' therapy with or without percutaneous photon irradiation. A duodeno-cephalo-pancreatectomy with subsequent irradiation of the tumor bed could be performed in three patients. Ten patients were inoperable because of advanced tumors and formation of metastases. The average survival is 6.5 months, at present six patients are alive without major troubles. An analgetic effect was obtained in ten patients. The first results are encouraging with respect to local control, the little acute and chronic morbidity, and palliation achieved in advances stages. (orig.) [de

Potential Transferability of Economic Evaluations of Programs Encouraging Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents across Different Countries—A Systematic Review of the Literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katharina Korber

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Physical inactivity is an increasing problem. Owing to limited financial resources, one method of getting information on the cost-effectiveness of different types of prevention programs is to examine existing programs and their results. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the transferability of cost-effectiveness results of physical activity programs for children and adolescents to other contexts. Based on a systematic review of the literature, the transferability of the studies found was assessed using a sub-checklist of the European Network of Health Economic Evaluation Databases (EURONHEED. Thirteen studies of different physical activity interventions were found and analyzed. The results for transferability ranged from “low” to “very high”. A number of different factors influence a program’s cost-effectiveness (i.e., discount rate, time horizon, etc.. Therefore, transparency with regard to these factors is one fundamental element in the transferability of the results. A major point of criticism is that transferability is often limited because of lack of transparency. This paper is the first to provide both an overview and an assessment of transferability of economic evaluations of existing programs encouraging physical activity in children and adolescents. This allows decision makers to gain an impression on whether the findings are transferable to their decision contexts, which may lead to time and cost savings.

Introduction of European priority review vouchers to encourage development of new medicines for neglected diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Ridley, David B; Sánchez, Alfonso Calles

2010-09-11

Every year 1 billion people worldwide are affected by traditionally neglected diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, leishmaniasis, and lymphatic filariasis, which impose tremendous public health burdens. Governments, foundations, and drug manufacturers have, however, started to support development of new treatments. European Union Member States have been leaders in implementing so-called push mechanisms (payment for drug development) and pull funding (reward for output), such as the advance market commitment, which creates a market for vaccines by guaranteeing prices. We propose an additional step that could be taken to encourage development of medicines for neglected diseases. A priority review voucher scheme, as is already in place in the USA, would reward a manufacturer that developed a new medicine for neglected diseases with a voucher that could be redeemed for priority review of a future medicine, probably a potential blockbuster drug. Unlike the US system a European voucher would also accelerate pricing and reimbursement decisions. This scheme would be likely to provide substantial benefits to voucher holders, society, and public health organisations. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Encouraging energy conservation in multifamily housing: RUBS and other methods of allocating energy costs to residents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McClelland, L

1980-10-01

Methods of encouraging energy conservation in multifamily housing by allocating energy costs to residents are discussed; specifically, methods appropriate for use in master metered buildings without equipment to monitor energy consumption in individual apartments are examined. Several devices available for monitoring individual energy consumption are also discussed plus methods of comparing the energy savings and cost effectiveness of monitoring devices with those of other means of promoting conservation. Specific information in Volume I includes a comparison study on energy use in master and individually metered buildings; types of appropriate conservation programs for master metered buildings; a description of the Resident Utility Billing System (RUBS); energy savings associated with RUBS; Resident reactions to RUBS; cost effectiveness of RUBS for property owners; potential abuses, factors limiting widespread use, and legal status of RUBS. Part I of Volume II contains a cost allocation decision guide and Part II in Volume II presents the RUBS Operations Manual. Pertinent appendices to some chapters are attached. (MCW)

Encouraging choice, serendipity and experimentation: experiences from Griffith University library (G11) extension and Gumurrii Centre.

Science.gov (United States)

Legerton, Graham

2013-09-01

The refurbishment and extension of existing university buildings is a critical consideration for many universities. This article details an architect's perspective of an innovative and collaborative design approach to transforming an existing library into a futuristic and student-centric interactive learning environment. The design is responsive to people, place, the community and the environment, due, in part, to the enhanced physical permeability of the building. Associated user-group forums comprised the end user client, the university's facilities body, the builder, lead architectural consultants, the Centre for Indigenous Students (Gumurrii Centre) and architectural sub-consultants. This article discusses five key design moves--"triangulate", "unique geometries and spaces", "learning aviary", "sky lounge" and "understanding flexibility". It goes on to discuss these elements in relation to designing spaces to enhance interprofessional education and collaboration. In summary, this article identifies how it is possible to maximise the value and characteristics of an existing library whilst creating a series of innovative spaces that offer choice, encourage serendipity and embrace experimentation.

A quality assurance in a Nuclear Medicine Department: Implementation, results and implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komninos, C.; Roach, P.J.

1998-01-01

Full text: An increasing emphasis is being placed on quality assurance programs in all areas of health care delivery. We describe our experience with such a program in the Nuclear Medicine Department of a large teaching hospital. We obtained completed patient questionnaires from 92 outpatients referred to the Nuclear Medicine Department. Questions related to areas such as provision of information about the test; patient''s impressions of staff involved with the procedure (doctors, technologists, nurses, secretaries); waiting times and delays; the appearance of the department; and the patients'' general level of satisfaction with their attendance in our department. Suggestions for improvement were specifically encouraged. The results indicated that while there was a high level of satisfaction with the people performing the studies, comments and criticisms were made by a significant number of people in some areas. These included provision of more information about the study prior to and during the test; all staff introducing themselves by name during the procedure; better communication about any delays; and an upgrading in the appearance of the department. Based on the results of this questionnaire, we have been able to implement various changes within the department. Although the results of our survey will apply specifically to this department, we encourage other departments and practices to implement similar patient surveys, thereby potentially improving the quality of service and patient satisfaction

A quality assurance in a Nuclear Medicine Department: Implementation, results and implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Komninos, C.; Roach, P.J. [Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW (Australia)

1998-03-01

Full text: An increasing emphasis is being placed on quality assurance programs in all areas of health care delivery. We describe our experience with such a program in the Nuclear Medicine Department of a large teaching hospital. We obtained completed patient questionnaires from 92 outpatients referred to the Nuclear Medicine Department. Questions related to areas such as provision of information about the test; patient``s impressions of staff involved with the procedure (doctors, technologists, nurses, secretaries); waiting times and delays; the appearance of the department; and the patients`` general level of satisfaction with their attendance in our department. Suggestions for improvement were specifically encouraged. The results indicated that while there was a high level of satisfaction with the people performing the studies, comments and criticisms were made by a significant number of people in some areas. These included provision of more information about the study prior to and during the test; all staff introducing themselves by name during the procedure; better communication about any delays; and an upgrading in the appearance of the department. Based on the results of this questionnaire, we have been able to implement various changes within the department. Although the results of our survey will apply specifically to this department, we encourage other departments and practices to implement similar patient surveys, thereby potentially improving the quality of service and patient satisfaction.

Encouraging translation and assessing impact of the Centre for Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement: rationale and protocol for a research impact assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramanathan, Shanthi; Reeves, Penny; Deeming, Simon; Bailie, Ross Stewart; Bailie, Jodie; Bainbridge, Roxanne; Cunningham, Frances; Doran, Christopher; McPhail Bell, Karen; Searles, Andrew

2017-12-04

There is growing recognition among health researchers and funders that the wider benefits of research such as economic, social and health impacts ought to be assessed and valued alongside academic outputs such as peer-reviewed papers. Research translation needs to increase and the pathways to impact ought to be more transparent. These processes are particularly pertinent to the Indigenous health sector given continued concerns that Indigenous communities are over-researched with little corresponding improvement in health outcomes. This paper describes the research protocol of a mixed methods study to apply FAIT (Framework to Assess the Impact from Translational health research) to the Centre for Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement (CRE-IQI). FAIT will be applied to five selected CRE-IQI Flagship projects to encourage research translation and assess the wider impact of that research. Phase I will develop a modified programme logic model for each Flagship project including identifying process, output and impact metrics so progress can be monitored. A scoping review will inform potential benefits. In phase II, programme logic models will be updated to account for changes in the research pathways over time. Audit and feedback will be used to encourage research translation and collect evidence of achievement of any process, output and interim impacts. In phase III, three proven methodologies for measuring research impact-Payback, economic assessment and narratives-will be applied. Data on the application of FAIT will be collected and analysed to inform and improve FAIT's performance. This study is funded by a nationally competitive grant (ID 1078927) from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Ethics approval was obtained from the University of Newcastle's Human Research Ethics Committee (ID: H-2017-0026). The results from the study will be presented in several peer-reviewed publications, through conference presentations and via

Encouraging translation and assessing impact of the Centre for Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement: rationale and protocol for a research impact assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Ramanathan, Shanthi; Reeves, Penny; Deeming, Simon; Bailie, Ross Stewart; Bailie, Jodie; Bainbridge, Roxanne; Cunningham, Frances; Doran, Christopher; McPhail Bell, Karen; Searles, Andrew

2017-01-01

Introduction There is growing recognition among health researchers and funders that the wider benefits of research such as economic, social and health impacts ought to be assessed and valued alongside academic outputs such as peer-reviewed papers. Research translation needs to increase and the pathways to impact ought to be more transparent. These processes are particularly pertinent to the Indigenous health sector given continued concerns that Indigenous communities are over-researched with little corresponding improvement in health outcomes. This paper describes the research protocol of a mixed methods study to apply FAIT (Framework to Assess the Impact from Translational health research) to the Centre for Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement (CRE-IQI). FAIT will be applied to five selected CRE-IQI Flagship projects to encourage research translation and assess the wider impact of that research. Methods and analysis Phase I will develop a modified programme logic model for each Flagship project including identifying process, output and impact metrics so progress can be monitored. A scoping review will inform potential benefits. In phase II, programme logic models will be updated to account for changes in the research pathways over time. Audit and feedback will be used to encourage research translation and collect evidence of achievement of any process, output and interim impacts. In phase III, three proven methodologies for measuring research impact—Payback, economic assessment and narratives—will be applied. Data on the application of FAIT will be collected and analysed to inform and improve FAIT’s performance. Ethics and dissemination This study is funded by a nationally competitive grant (ID 1078927) from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Ethics approval was obtained from the University of Newcastle’s Human Research Ethics Committee (ID: H-2017–0026). The results from the study will be presented in several

Lateral Erosion Encourages Vertical Incision in a Bimodal Alluvial River

Science.gov (United States)

Gran, K. B.

2015-12-01

Sand can have a strong impact on gravel transport, increasing gravel transport rates by orders of magnitude as sand content increases. Recent experimental work by others indicates that adding sand to an armored bed can even cause armor to break-up and mobilize. These two elements together help explain observations from a bimodal sand and gravel-bedded river, where lateral migration into sand-rich alluvium breaks up the armor layer, encouraging further incision into the bed. Detailed bedload measurements were coupled with surface and subsurface grain size analyses and cross-sectional surveys in a seasonally-incised channel carved into the upper alluvial fan of the Pasig-Potrero River at Mount Pinatubo, Philippines. Pinatubo erupted in 1991, filling valleys draining the flanks of the volcano with primarily sand-sized pyroclastic flow debris. Twenty years after the eruption, sand-rich sediment inputs are strongly seasonal, with most sediment input to the channel during the rainy season. During the dry season, flow condenses from a wide braided planform to a single-thread channel in most of the upper basin, extending several km onto the alluvial fan. This change in planform creates similar unit discharge ranges in summer and winter. Lower sediment loads in the dry season drive vertical incision until the bed is sufficiently armored. Incision proceeds downstream in a wave, with increasing sediment transport rates and decreasing grain size with distance downstream, eventually reaching a gravel-sand transition and return to a braided planform. Incision depths in the gravel-bedded section exceeded 3 meters in parts of a 4 km-long study reach, a depth too great to be explained by predictions from simple winnowing during incision. Instead, lateral migration into sand-rich alluvium provides sufficient fine sediment to break up the armor surface, allowing incision to start anew and increasing the total depth of the seasonally-incised valley. Lateral migration is recorded in a

Encouraging Entrepreneurship

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Michelle

2010-01-01

In this article, the author features the Opportunity Funding Corporation's (OFC) Venture Challenge, a business competition that allows HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities) students to develop and foster sustainable business ventures. The OFC Venture Challenge was established to help HBCUs develop a comprehensive entrepreneurship…

Encouraging Advice.

OpenAIRE

Clay, Allyson

1990-01-01

Allyson Clay’s "Traces of a City in the Spaces Between Some People" is a series of twenty diptychs contrasting fabricated faux finishing with expressionist painting and text. The fabricated paint applications evoke city surfaces like concrete and granite; they also evoke modernist painting.  Unlike modernist painting, however, the faux surfaces are decorative and mechanically painted. The choice to have the surfaces fabricated serves to disrupt the egoism of modern abstraction and the im...

Encouraging Cases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koss Rasmussen, Rasmus

In CMS, debates on methodology have typically taken second stage to those on epistemology and ontology as the field embraced a plurality of methods. Recent work pushing for CMS to engage more strongly with mainstream theory, however, raises the need for a discussion on how to use methods...

Mobilization for energy renovation. Preliminary results of a survey on rational and heuristic thinking of the dwellers.

OpenAIRE

Taranu, Victoria; Verbeeck, Griet

2016-01-01

Mobilization for energy renovation. The commonly used policies to encourage the uptake of energy efficient measures in renovations are mostly based on monetary incentives and information provision. Both these approaches have the underlying assumption that dwellers act exclusively as rational homo economicus, who has unlimited intellectual capabilities to calculate long term ROI. However, recent findings show evidence that people have bounded rationality and bounded willpower. A survey was...

Enforcement Alert: U.S. EPA Encourages Iron and Steel Minimills to Self Audits to Address Noncompliance with Environmental Requirements; Nucor Corp. agrees to Control Practices; Provides Model for Industry

Science.gov (United States)

This is the enforcement alert for U.S. EPA Encourages Iron and Steel Minimills to Self Audits to Address Noncompliance with Environmental Requirements; Nucor Corp. agrees to Control Practices; Provides Model for Industry

Packaging of pharmaceuticals: still too many dangers but several encouraging initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

2007-06-01

, discrepancies between different sections, and out-of-date information. More and more French leaflets now include insets offering "Health Advice". There are better and worse examples, but there is no guarantee that they have been properly reviewed by the regulatory agency. (9) Increasingly drug boxes include pictograms, even though several studies have shown they are often difficult to interpret. And most boxes of generics also now include standard dosing schedules that are not always appropriate and may create a risk of dosing errors with potentially serious consequences. (10) 67 multidose bottles examined in 2006 had no childproof safety cap. Some contained psychotropics, which can have life-threatening effects if accidentally consumed in large amounts. (11) Some manufacturers have adopted realistic solutions to these problems. In particular, generics manufacturers again improved product labelling in 2006 (emphasis on the INN), appropriate use of colours for dose differentiation, and, encouragingly, far more Braille labels. (12) In 2006, the French regulatory agency introduced several measures aimed at improving the labelling of ampoules containing some injectable drugs. The impact of these measures was visible on several products marketed in 2006, including plastic vials of solutions for nebulization. (13) Several other examples of well-designed packaging were seen: safety devices on prefilled syringes; a childproof safety device; a tamperproof ring; unit-dose blister packs; clearly written patient leaflets; and the use of clear and appropriate symbols and pictograms. (14) In practice, in view of the large number of incidents recorded in 2006, and the plethora of packaging designs, caregivers should take time to analyse and discuss drug packaging. In this way, they will be in a position to distinguish between good and bad drug packaging, and to anticipate the risks associated with poorly designed packaging. (15) There are many ways in which drug regulatory authorities can

Effect of Educational Program to Encourage Safe Sexual Behaviors Among Addicted Men Refered to Substance Abuse Treatment Centers in Hamadan, Western Iran: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Babak Moeini

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Unsafe sexual behaviors as important risky behaviors can expose individuals and society to dangerous infectious disease such as AIDS and viral hepatitis. Considering the high prevalence of unsafe sexual behaviors, this study aimed to determine the effect of educational programs to encourage safe sexual behaviors among substance abusers referred to substance abuse treatment centers in Hamadan, Western Iran by applying the theory of planned behavior. Materials & Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 104 men substance abusers (52 participants in each of the control and intervention groups referred to substance abuse treatment centers in Hamadan. Data collection tool was a questionnaire containing demographic information and the theory of planned behavior constructs. Before the educational program, questionnaires were completed by both groups. After the pretest in both groups, participants in the intervention group participated in four educational sessions designed based on the theory of planned behavior. Two months after the end of program, posttest was performed. Data was analyzed using independent T-test, chi-square, fisher exact test, McNemar’s test and multiple linear regressions using SPSS-16. Results: After educational intervention, the mean scores of the theory constructs (attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, behavioral control, behavioral intention and behaviors, in the intervention group increased significantly (P<0.05, despite the fact, changes were not significant in the control group. Conclusion: Implementation of educational courses to encourage safe sexual behaviors based on the theory of planned behavior can be beneficial for substance abusers referred to substance abuse treatment centers.

Encouraging planetary sciences students at the Master level with observations using small telescopes that lead to their publication

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Lavega, A.; Ordoñez-Etxeberria, I.; del Rio Gaztelurrutia, T.; Illarramendi, M. A.; Perez-Hoyos, S.; Hueso, R.; Rojas, J. F.

2017-12-01

We present a set of practical experiments carried out with the students of the Master in Space Science and Technology of the University of the Basque Country (A. Sanchez-Lavega et al., Eur. J. of Eng. Education. 2014) using small telescopes that have been published in refereed journals. The telescopes (from 15 to 50 cm in aperture) and instruments pertain to the Aula EspaZio Gela Observatory (http://www.ehu.eus/aula-espazio/presentacion.html). The students have participated in some cases as co-authors of the publications or in presentations at meetings which encourages them to continue their scientific career towards PhD studies. Dedicated observations with these small telescopes with the participation of the planetary amateur community have also been employed in scientific research and publications. A series of examples are presented.

Tokyo Motor Show 2003; Tokyo Motor Show 2003

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joly, E.

2004-01-01

The text which follows present the different techniques exposed during the 37. Tokyo Motor Show. The report points out the great tendencies of developments of the Japanese automobile industry. The hybrid electric-powered vehicles or those equipped with fuel cells have been highlighted by the Japanese manufacturers which allow considerable budgets in the research of less polluting vehicles. The exposed models, although being all different according to the manufacturer, use always a hybrid system: fuel cell/battery. The manufacturers have stressed too on the intelligent systems for navigation and safety as well as on the design and comfort. (O.M.)

Online Italian fandoms of American TV shows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eleonora Benecchi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The Internet has changed media fandom in two main ways: it helps fans connect with each other despite physical distance, leading to the formation of international fan communities; and it helps fans connect with the creators of the TV show, deepening the relationship between TV producers and international fandoms. To assess whether Italian fan communities active online are indeed part of transnational online communities and whether the Internet has actually altered their relationship with the creators of the original text they are devoted to, qualitative analysis and narrative interviews of 26 Italian fans of American TV shows were conducted to explore the fan-producer relationship. Results indicated that the online Italian fans surveyed preferred to stay local, rather than using geography-leveling online tools. Further, the sampled Italian fans' relationships with the show runners were mediated or even absent.

Encouraging Students to Enhance Their Listening Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hernandez-Ocampo Sonia Patricia

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Spanish-speaking students constantly complain about the difficulty they have comprehending spoken English. It seems teachers do not often provide them with strategies to alleviate that. This article reports on a pedagogical experience carried out at a Colombian university to help pre-service teachers at an intermediate level of English to improve their aural comprehension. The students were given the task of designing listening activities to be worked on as micro-teaching sessions and were asked to describe their experience by answering a survey. The results showed that students developed the ability to think critically since they needed to make the best decisions regarding the audio level and the design of the activities. They also appeared to have become more autonomous as they realized they could be responsible for their improvement in listening. Additionally, there were evident changes in the teachers’ roles.Es común que los hablantes de español se quejen de su comprensión oral en inglés. Parece que los profesores no siempre dan a sus estudiantes estrategias para mejorar al respecto. En este artículo se describe la experiencia pedagógica desarrollada en una universidad colombiana con el propósito de ayudar a los estudiantes de inglés intermedio de una licenciatura a mejorar su comprensión auditiva. Se pidió a los estudiantes desarrollar actividades de escucha para ser trabajadas en sesiones de microenseñanza y describir su experiencia, contestando una encuesta. Los resultados evidenciaron que los estudiantes desarrollaron su pensamiento crítico en la medida que necesitaban tomar decisiones con respecto al nivel de dificultad del audio y al diseño de las actividades mismas. También se mostraron más autónomos por cuanto se hicieron conscientes de su responsabilidad en el mejoramiento de su comprensión oral. Adicionalmente, se dieron cambios en los papeles del profesor.

Encouraging emergence of cross-business strategic initiatives

OpenAIRE

Canales, J. Ignacio; Caldart, Adrián

2017-01-01

We explore how strategic initiatives emerge at the business unit level in the context of multi-business firms. Findings show that such initiatives create cross-business synergies in the absence of any direct intervention from the headquarters. Four factors appeared to foster the development of autonomous cross-business collaboration: a sense of urgency at the level of the firm, the existence of a few broad but strong corporate strategic guidelines, the existence of a set of cross-business int...

Implementation of an HPV vaccination program in Eldoret, Kenya: results from a qualitative assessment by key stakeholders

OpenAIRE

Vermandere, Heleen; Naanyu, Violet; Degomme, Olivier; Michielsen, Kristien

2015-01-01

Background: Cervical cancer strikes hard in low-resource regions yet primary prevention is still rare. Pilot projects have however showed that Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programs can attain high uptake. Nevertheless, a study accompanying a vaccination demonstration project in Eldoret, Kenya, revealed less encouraging outcomes: uptake during an initial phase targeting ten schools (i.e., 4000 eligible girls), was low and more schools had to be included to reach the proposed number o...

Davedan Show Di Amphi Theatre Nusa Dua Bali

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ni Made Ruastiti

2018-05-01

Bali karena berimplikasi positif pada ekonomi para pihak terkait, pengayaan bagi seni pertunjukan daerah setempat, dan identitas bagi kawasan wisata Nusa Dua, Bali. This article was compiled from the research results that aimed to understand the Davedan Show at Amphi Theater Nusa Dua, Bali. This research was conducted due to the imbalance between the assumption and the reality in real life. Generally, tourists visiting Bali are more excited and enthusiastic to watch the tourism performing arts that are based on local traditional art and culture. However, the reality is different. The questions are: how is the form of the Davedan show?; why do the tourists enjoy watching the show ?; what are the implications for the performer, the society, and the tourism industry in Nusa Dua, Bali?. This research applied qualitative research methods, especially the participative implementation that prioritized cooperation between the researchers and the related informants. The data sources of the research were the Davedan show, management, dancers, audiences, and similar research results produced by previous researchers. All data that had been collected by observation, interview, FGD, and literature study were then analyzed with aesthetic postmodern theory, theory of practice, and theory of power relationship. The results showed that: (1 Davedan Show was presented with the concept of a new presentation in the tourism performing arts in Bali. It could be seen from the material, the form, the way of presentation, and the management of the show. Davedan Show, presenting the theme of Treasure of the Archipelago and opening the new adventure gate, was accompanied by ethnic music recordings of the archipelago in a medley then continued with the performance structures of: Balinese, Sumatran, Sundanese, Solo, Borneo and Papuan art and culture; (2 Davedan Show attracted many foreign tourists because the show was based on the existence of market, aesthetic, and cultural ideologies of the

Development of a Twitter-based intervention for smoking cessation that encourages high-quality social media interactions via automessages.

Science.gov (United States)

Pechmann, Cornelia; Pan, Li; Delucchi, Kevin; Lakon, Cynthia M; Prochaska, Judith J

2015-02-23

The medical field seeks to use social media to deliver health interventions, for example, to provide low-cost, self-directed, online self-help groups. However, engagement in online groups is often low and the informational content may be poor. The specific study aims were to explore if sending automessages to online self-help groups encouraged engagement and to see if overall or specific types of engagement related to abstinence. We conducted a Stage I Early Therapy Development Trial of a novel social media intervention for smoking cessation called Tweet2Quit that was delivered online over closed, 20-person quit-smoking groups on Twitter in 100 days. Social media such as Twitter traditionally involves non-directed peer-to-peer exchanges, but our hybrid social media intervention sought to increase and direct such exchanges by sending out two types of autocommunications daily: (1) an "automessage" that encouraged group discussion on an evidence-based cessation-related or community-building topic, and (2) individualized "autofeedback" to each participant on their past 24-hour tweeting. The intervention was purposefully designed without an expert group facilitator and with full automation to ensure low cost, easy implementation, and broad scalability. This purely Web-based trial examined two online quit-smoking groups with 20 members each. Participants were adult smokers who were interested in quitting and were recruited using Google AdWords. Participants' tweets were counted and content coded, distinguishing between responses to the intervention's automessages and spontaneous tweets. In addition, smoking abstinence was assessed at 7 days, 30 days, and 60 days post quit date. Statistical models assessed how tweeting related to abstinence. Combining the two groups, 78% (31/40) of the members sent at least one tweet; and on average, each member sent 72 tweets during the 100-day period. The automessage-suggested discussion topics and participants' responses to those daily

The influence of primary health care professionals in encouraging exercise and physical activity uptake among White and South Asian older adults: experiences of young older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Horne, Maria; Skelton, Dawn; Speed, Shaun; Todd, Chris

2010-01-01

To explore the influence of primary health care professionals in increasing exercise and physical activity among 60-70-year-old White and South Asian community dwellers. Fifteen focus groups and 40 in-depth interviews with community dwelling White and South Asian 60-70-year olds. The sample was selected to include people with very different experiences of participation and non-participation in exercise and physical activity. Data were analysed using framework analysis. Primary health care professionals' advice and support was found to be a motivator to the initiation of exercise and physical activity. However, this was usually in relation to advice on weight reduction, cardiac conditions and mobility issues, but not generally to improve or increase activity levels. An underlying attitude of genuine interest and empathy was valued and shaped decisions about initiating and/or increasing activity levels. Primary health care professionals should be encouraged to show interest and empathy with older people about the positive benefits of exercise and physical activity to them individually. This advice needs to be tailored to the older adult's symptoms. Primary health care professionals need to be able to provide specific advice as to the quantity (frequency, duration, intensity and type) of exercise or physical activity to undertake. Practitioners need to listen to their patients' needs, show empathy and avoid ageism during consultations.

Getting to 2014 (and beyond): The Choices and Challenges Ahead. A Collection of Essays to Encourage Constructive Dialogue among Policymakers, Educators, and Practitioners Engaged in School Reform

Science.gov (United States)

Balfanz, Robert; Boer, Benjamin; Carey, Kevin; Cohen, Michael; Hassel, Bryan C.; Hassel, Emily Ayscue; Hyslop, Anne; Levin, Douglas A.; Fletcher, Geoffrey; Odden, Allan; Tucker, Bill; Vargas, Joel

2012-01-01

Education Sector commissioned an earlier version of this collection of essays in conjunction with a March 2012 event "Getting to 2014: The Choices and Challenges Ahead." This updated version includes new essays and a revised introduction. The aim of these essays is to present ideas, elicit feedback, and encourage productive dialogue…

Encouraging Interaction by Applying Cooperative Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

González Sonia Helena

2001-08-01

Full Text Available A project was conducted in order to improve oral interaction in English by applying cooperative learning to students of seventh grade. These students have lower levels of oral production and attend Marco Fidel Suárez public school. So, I decided to choose topics related to real life and to plan a series of activities of sensitization to create stable work groups and to increase oral interaction. According to the analysis and results, I can say that cooperative work and the oral activities help the students increase oral production, express better and use a foreign language with more security. In spite of the results, I consider that cooperative learning needs more time so that it can be successful. Students must have the will to cooperate. Only when students have that good will and can work together is the potential of acquisition of knowledge maximized.

Designing Courses that Encourage Post-College Scientific Literacy in General Education Students

Science.gov (United States)

Horodyskyj, L.

2010-12-01

In a time when domestic and foreign policy is becoming increasingly dependent on a robust understanding of scientific concepts (especially in regards to climate science), it is of vital importance that non-specialist students taking geoscience courses gain an understanding not only of Earth system processes, but also of how to discern scientific information from "spin". An experimental introductory level environmental geology course was developed at the Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona, in the fall of 2010 that sought to integrate collaborative learning, online resources, and science in the media. The goal of this course was for students to end the semester with not just an understanding of basic Earth systems concepts, but also with a set of tools for evaluating information presented by the media. This was accomplished by integrating several online sites that interface scientific data with popular web tools (ie, Google Maps) and collaborative exercises that required students to generate ideas based on their observations followed by evaluation and refinement of these ideas through interactions with peers and the instructor. The capstone activity included a series of homework assignments that required students to make note of science-related news stories in the media early in the semester, and then gradually begin critically evaluating these news sources, which will become their primary source of post-college geoscience information. This combination of activities will benefit students long after the semester has ended by giving them access to primary sources of scientific information, encouraging them to discuss and evaluate their ideas with their peers, and, most importantly, to critically evaluate the information they receive from the media and their peers so that they can become more scientifically literate citizens.

Results from a survey of the South African GISc community show ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Serena Coetzee

the GISc community fulfil roles of data analysis and interpretation, together with data ... The remainder of the article is structured as follows: related work is briefly ...... 2. Analysis design. 3. Project definition. Geospatial information systems,.

The treatment of disc herniation-induced sciatica with infliximab - Results of a randomized, controlled, 3-month follow-up study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Korhonen, T; Karppinen, J; Paimela, L; Malmivaara, A; Lindgren, KA; Jarvinen, S; Niinimaki, J; Veeger, N; Seitsalo, S; Hurri, H

2005-01-01

Study Design. A randomized controlled trial. Objectives. To evaluate the efficacy of infliximab, a monoclonal antibody against tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in a randomized controlled setting. Summary of Background Data. Recently, we obtained encouraging results in an open-label study of

Tomato Fruits Show Wide Phenomic Diversity but Fruit Developmental Genes Show Low Genomic Diversity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vijee Mohan

Full Text Available Domestication of tomato has resulted in large diversity in fruit phenotypes. An intensive phenotyping of 127 tomato accessions from 20 countries revealed extensive morphological diversity in fruit traits. The diversity in fruit traits clustered the accessions into nine classes and identified certain promising lines having desirable traits pertaining to total soluble salts (TSS, carotenoids, ripening index, weight and shape. Factor analysis of the morphometric data from Tomato Analyzer showed that the fruit shape is a complex trait shared by several factors. The 100% variance between round and flat fruit shapes was explained by one discriminant function having a canonical correlation of 0.874 by stepwise discriminant analysis. A set of 10 genes (ACS2, COP1, CYC-B, RIN, MSH2, NAC-NOR, PHOT1, PHYA, PHYB and PSY1 involved in various plant developmental processes were screened for SNP polymorphism by EcoTILLING. The genetic diversity in these genes revealed a total of 36 non-synonymous and 18 synonymous changes leading to the identification of 28 haplotypes. The average frequency of polymorphism across the genes was 0.038/Kb. Significant negative Tajima'D statistic in two of the genes, ACS2 and PHOT1 indicated the presence of rare alleles in low frequency. Our study indicates that while there is low polymorphic diversity in the genes regulating plant development, the population shows wider phenotype diversity. Nonetheless, morphological and genetic diversity of the present collection can be further exploited as potential resources in future.

Encouraging smokers to quit: the cost effectiveness of reimbursing the costs of smoking cessation treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaper, Janneke; Wagena, Edwin J; van Schayck, Constant P; Severens, Johan L

2006-01-01

Smoking cessation should be encouraged in order to increase life expectancy and reduce smoking-related healthcare costs. Results of a randomised trial suggested that reimbursing the costs of smoking cessation treatment (SCT) may lead to an increased use of SCT and an increased number of quitters versus no reimbursement. To assess whether reimbursement for SCT is a cost-effective intervention (from the Dutch societal perspective), we calculated the incremental costs per quitter and extrapolated this outcome to incremental costs per QALY saved versus no reimbursement. In the reimbursement trial, 1266 Dutch smokers were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group using a randomised double consent design. Reimbursement for SCT was offered to the intervention group for a period of 6 months. No reimbursement was offered to the control group. Prolonged abstinence from smoking was determined 6 months after the end of the reimbursement period. The QALYs gained from quitting were calculated until 80 years of age using data from the US. Costs (year 2002 values) were determined from the societal perspective during the reimbursement period (May-November 2002). Benefits were discounted at 4% per annum. The uncertainty of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios was estimated using non-parametric bootstrapping. Eighteen participants in the control group (2.8%) and 35 participants in the intervention group (5.5%) successfully quit smoking. The costs per participant were 291 euro and 322 euro, respectively. If society is willing to pay 1000 euro or 10,000 euro for an additional 12-month quitter, the probability that reimbursement for SCT would be cost effective was 50% or 95%, respectively. If society is willing to pay 18,000 euro for a QALY, the probability that reimbursement for SCT would be cost effective was 95%. However, the external validity of the extrapolation from quitters to QALYs is uncertain and several assumptions had to be made. Reimbursement for SCT may

Inertial fusion results from Nova and implication for the future of ICF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kilkenny, J.D.; Cable, M.D.; Campbell, E.M.

1988-10-01

A key objective of the US Inertial Confinement Fusion Program is to obtain high yield (100-1000 MJ) implosions in a laboratory environment. This requires high grain from an inertial fusion target from a driver capable of delivering about 10 MJ. Recent results have been sufficiently encouraging that the US Department of Energy is planning for such a capability called the Laboratory Microfusion Facility (LMF). In the past two years, we have conducted implosion-related experiments with approximately 20 kJ of 0.35-μm laser light in 1-ns temporally flat-topped pulses. These experiments were done with the Nova laser, the primary US facility devoted to radiatively driven inertial confinement fusion. Our results show that we can accurately model a significant fraction of the phenomena required to obtain the fuel conditions needed for high gain. Both the x-ray conversion efficiency and the growth of Rayleigh-Taylor hydrodynamic instabilities are shown to be at acceptable levels. Targets designed so that the shape of the stagnated fuel can be imaged show that the x-ray drive in our hohlraums can be made isotropic to better than 3%. With this optimized drive and temporally unshaped laser pulses many critical implosion parameters are measured on targets designed for higher density. Good agreement is obtained with one-dimensional simulations. Maximum compressions of between 20--30 in radius are measured with a variety of diagnostics. Improvements in the driver technology are demonstrated; we anticipate operation of Nova at the 50-kJ level at 3ω. 18 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

Encouraging Maternal Sacrifice: How Regulations Governing the Consumption of Pharmaceuticals During Pregnancy Prioritize Fetal Safety over Maternal Health and Autonomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Donley, Greer

Pregnant women are routinely faced with the stressful decision of whether to consume needed medications during their pregnancies. Because the risks associated with pharmaceutical drug consumption during pregnancy are largely unknown, pregnant women both inadvertently consume dangerous medications and avoid needed drugs. Both outcomes are harmful to pregnant women and their fetuses. This unparalleled lack of drug safety information is a result of ill-conceived, paternalistic regulations in two areas of the law: regulations governing ethical research in human subjects and regulations that dictate the required labels on drugs. The former categorizes pregnant women as "vulnerable" and thus precludes them from most medical research. The result is that ninety-one percent of drugs lack any reliable safety information for pregnant consumers. The latter currently requires all drug labels to encourage drug avoidance during pregnancy, despite ample evidence that avoiding needed medications can harm pregnant women. On June 30, 2015, new pregnancy labeling regulations took effect. Though these regulations make important improvements, they continue to treat pregnant women unlike any population, including other unique subpopulations, such as children. As a result, the new regulations do not fix the problem of over-warning pregnant women about the risks of drug consumption. This article questions the legitimacy of both regulations and suggests three reforms for how to improve access to vital safety information: (1) amend the regulations governing ethical research in human subjects to reclassify pregnant women as non-vulnerable adults; (2) create incentives to generate safety data in pregnant women by granting a period of market exclusivity for drug companies that invest in this research; and (3) make the FDA pregnancy labeling regulations consistent with the routine FDA practice of requiring the display of balanced, human data on risk.

PubRunner: A light-weight framework for updating text mining results.

Science.gov (United States)

Anekalla, Kishore R; Courneya, J P; Fiorini, Nicolas; Lever, Jake; Muchow, Michael; Busby, Ben

2017-01-01

Biomedical text mining promises to assist biologists in quickly navigating the combined knowledge in their domain. This would allow improved understanding of the complex interactions within biological systems and faster hypothesis generation. New biomedical research articles are published daily and text mining tools are only as good as the corpus from which they work. Many text mining tools are underused because their results are static and do not reflect the constantly expanding knowledge in the field. In order for biomedical text mining to become an indispensable tool used by researchers, this problem must be addressed. To this end, we present PubRunner, a framework for regularly running text mining tools on the latest publications. PubRunner is lightweight, simple to use, and can be integrated with an existing text mining tool. The workflow involves downloading the latest abstracts from PubMed, executing a user-defined tool, pushing the resulting data to a public FTP or Zenodo dataset, and publicizing the location of these results on the public PubRunner website. We illustrate the use of this tool by re-running the commonly used word2vec tool on the latest PubMed abstracts to generate up-to-date word vector representations for the biomedical domain. This shows a proof of concept that we hope will encourage text mining developers to build tools that truly will aid biologists in exploring the latest publications.

Reception of Talent Shows in Denmark: First Results from a Trans-National Audience Study of a Global Format Genre

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Pia Majbritt

This paper will discuss the methodology and present the preliminary findings of the Danish part of a trans-national, comparative audience study of the musical talent show genre undertaken in Denmark, Finland, Germany and Great Britain in Spring 2013. Within the international business model...... of format adaptation, the musical talent show genre has been particularly successful in crossing cultural borders. Formats such as Idols, X Factor and Voice have sold to a large variety of countries, covering all continents. Such global reach inevitably raises the question of the genre’s audience appeal......; to what degree its reach has to do with a universal appeal inherent in the genre and/or the innovative character of individual formats, and to what degree its global success is due to local broadcasters’ ability to successfully adapt the formats to local audience tastes. A consensus has developed...

Show Horse Welfare: Horse Show Competitors' Understanding, Awareness, and Perceptions of Equine Welfare.

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, Melissa A; Hiney, Kristina; Richardson, Jennifer C; Waite, Karen; Borron, Abigail; Brady, Colleen M

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of stock-type horse show competitors' understanding of welfare and level of concern for stock-type show horses' welfare. Data were collected through an online questionnaire that included questions relating to (a) interest and general understanding of horse welfare, (b) welfare concerns of the horse show industry and specifically the stock-type horse show industry, (c) decision-making influences, and (d) level of empathic characteristics. The majority of respondents indicated they agree or strongly agree that physical metrics should be a factor when assessing horse welfare, while fewer agreed that behavioral and mental metrics should be a factor. Respondent empathy levels were moderate to high and were positively correlated with the belief that mental and behavioral metrics should be a factor in assessing horse welfare. Respondents indicated the inhumane practices that most often occur at stock-type shows include excessive jerking on reins, excessive spurring, and induced excessive unnatural movement. Additionally, respondents indicated association rules, hired trainers, and hired riding instructors are the most influential regarding the decisions they make related to their horses' care and treatment.

Encouraging Combined Heat and Power in California Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stadler, Michael [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Groissbock, Markus [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Cardoso, Goncalo [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Muller, Andreas [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lai, Judy [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2013-02-01

2030 it will be only 2.5 GW due to the anticipated grid decarbonization. The 2030 result requires a 60% electric efficiency and 20 year life time for fuel cells, a payback period of 10 years, and a CO₂ minimization strategy of building owners. Finally, the possible CHP potential in 2030 shows a significant variance between 0.2 GW and 2.5 GW, demonstrating the complex interactions between technologies, policies, and customer objectives.

Showing Value (Editorial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise Koufogiannakis

2009-06-01

librarians on student achievement. Todd notes, “If we do not show value, we will not have a future. Evidence-based practice is not about the survival of school librarians, it’s about the survival of our students” (40. In this issue we feature school libraries and their connection to evidence based practice. Former Editor-in-Chief, Lindsay Glynn, began putting the wheels in motion for this feature almost a year ago. She invited Carol Gordon and Ross Todd to act as guest editors of the section, drawing upon their contacts and previous work in this field. The result is an issue with five feature articles exploring different aspects of the connection between school libraries and evidence based practice, from the theoretical to the practical. In addition, there is a thought-provoking Commentary by David Loertscher, asking whether we need the evolutionary model of evidence based practice, or something more revolutionary!In addition to the Feature section, we have a well-rounded issue with articles on the topics of library human resources, and the development of a scholars’ portal. As well, there are a record 10 evidence summaries and our educational EBL101 column. I hope there is something for everyone in this issue of EBLIP – enjoy, and see you soon in Stockholm!

How to encourage intrinsic motivation in the clinical teaching environment?: a systematic review from the self-determination theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Orsini, Cesar; Evans, Phillip; Jerez, Oscar

2015-01-01

Internalization of students' motivation towards an intrinsic form is associated with increased interest, commitment, learning, and satisfaction with education. Self-Determination theory postulates that intrinsic motivation and autonomous forms of self-regulation are the desired type of motivation; as they have been associated with deep learning, better performance and well-being. It claims three basic psychological needs have to be satisfied in order to achieve intrinsic motivation. These are the needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. This study aims to provide a review on how these basic psychological needs are encouraged in undergraduate students so they can be transferred to the clinical teaching environment. Electronic searches were performed across four databases (Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and ERIC), relevant journals, and retrieved bibliography of selected articles. In total, searches produced 4,869 references, from which 16 studies met the inclusion criteria. Main themes were coded in three categories: The support of autonomy, competence and relatedness. The research-based evidence appears to be of reasonable quality, and indicates that teachers should work to satisfy students' basic psychological needs to foster internalization of self-regulation. Our findings suggest that teachers should interact with students in a more 'human centred' teaching style, as these actions predict motivational internalization. Several themes emerged from different contexts and further investigation should expand them. This review identified actions that clinical teachers could implement in their daily work to support students' self-determination. Autonomy supportive teaching in health professions educations would benefit students and may actually result in more effective health care delivery.

Participant evaluation results for two indoor air quality studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawthorne, A.R.; Dudney, C.S.; Cohen, M.A.; Spengler, J.D.

1987-01-01

After two surveys for indoor air pollutants (radon and other chemicals) the homeowners were surveyed for their reactions. The results of these participant evaluation surveys, assuming that the participants that responded to the survey were representative, indicate that homeowners will accept a significant level of monitoring activity as part of an indoor air quality field study. Those participants completing surveys overwhelmingly enjoyed being in the studies and would do it again. We believe that the emphasis placed on positive homeowner interactions and efforts made to inform participants throughout our studies were positive factors in this result. There was no substantial differences noted in the responses between the 70-house study, which included a homeowner compensation payment of $100, and the 300-house study, which did not include a compensation payment. These results provide encouragement to conduct future complex, multipollutant indoor air quality studies when they are scientifically sound and cost effective

A Modern Twist on the Beaumont and St. Martin Case: Encouraging Analysis and Discussion in the Bioethics Classroom with Reflective Writing and Concept Mapping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos C. Goller

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Historical ethical dilemmas are a valuable tool in bioethics courses. However, garnering student interest in reading and discussing the assigned cases in the classroom can be challenging. In an effort to actively engage undergraduate and graduate students in an Ethical Issues in Biotechnology course, an activity was developed to encourage reflection on a classical ethical dilemma between a patient, St. Martin, and his employer/caretaker, Beaumont. Two different texts were used to analyze the ethical ramifications of this relationship: a chapter in a popular press book and a short perspective in a medical journal. Participants read the book chapter for homework and discussed it in class. This easy read highlights the fundamental ethical issues in the relationship between two men. Students were then provided with a second text focusing on the scientific accomplishments achieved through Beaumont's experimentation on St. Martin. A structured worksheet prompted participants to reflect on their feelings after reading each text and create a concept map depicting the dilemma. Student-generated concept maps and written reflections indicate participants were able to list the ethical issues, analyze the situation, and evaluate the information provided. This activity not only encouraged higher-level thinking and reflection, it also mirrored the course's structured approach of using concept mapping and reflection to dissect ethical dilemmas.

AREVA: Operating performance shows distinct improvement; Results heavily impacted by the cost of remedial measures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

The 2015 results illustrate the progress AREVA made in 2015 and open up favorable prospects for 2016 and the following years in view of its fundamentals. The group's competitiveness plan had a very positive impact on its costs and cash, despite the heavy net loss situation which continues and in a market environment that remained difficult in 2015. Half of this loss of 2 billion Euro is due to additional provisions for OL3 and half to provisions for restructuring and impairment related to market conditions. Concerning the group's liquidity, 2016 is funded and the capital increase which will be launched in the coming months will enable AREVA to gradually regain the group's positive profile. A new phase awaits the Group in 2016 with clarity and confidence in the implementation of the restructuring announced in 2015 and in particular the autonomy of AREVA NP and the creation of New AREVA

Utilizing Technology to Encourage Healthy Lifestyles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cynthia Shuster

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In our fast paced world, using technology allows us to connect with people and assist them in developing healthier lifestyles within their time limits due to families, work, and other responsibilities. The goal of our project was the development of online, technology-based, nutrition, health, and fitness education challenges using social media as a means of helping consumers develop healthy lifestyle changes. Participants completed preassessments and postassessments to determine overall program impact and to self-report perceptions of knowledge gained and practice/behavior change. Results from the challenges indicated participants gained knowledge on nutrition, health and fitness topics while making strides towards lifestyle changes and adoption of healthy habits. Results revealed healthier eating habits were developed and physical activity was increased with many participants losing weight. Ease of participating was the most reported reason for participating in the challenges. To determine “best practice,” varying lengths of time for the challenges from four, seven, and thirteen weeks allowed the educators to derive implications for future programming, including branding, length of the challenge, frequency, and participant behavior change. To remain relevant and reach a greater diversity of populations, educators need to continue to explore and utilize various social media tools.

Psychosocial, behavioural, pedagogical, and nutritional proposals about how to encourage eating a healthy breakfast

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Even if more and more evidences have highlighted the importance of breakfast in the growth and development of children, from 10 to 30% of US and European children and adolescents regularly skip breakfast. Thus, there is still a lot to be done before breakfast becomes a daily habit. The aim of this paper is to try and understand how it is possible to overcome the real or imaginary difficulties associated with skipping breakfast by psychosocial, behavioural, pedagogical and nutritional proposals. Discussion Schools are the best context where perform healthy interventions because it is here that children learn about the importance of good health at an age when the school still plays a major role in their education. Some school interventions, based on solid theories as the Self Determination Theory and the Behaviour Analysis, have been implemented in the last years to promote health behaviour such as intake of fruit and vegetables and physical activities. Cognitive behaviour therapy is the most closely monitored type of treatment/cure for obesity in randomised controlled trials. Moreover some associations such as the National Association of Food Science Specialists have drawn an own method to encourage food education at school and promote the importance of prevention. These projects could be used as starting point to perform interventions focus on breakfast. Summary Increase the consumption of breakfast between children is very important. Efforts should be done to drawn new school projects based on scientific-evidences. PMID:25125024

Long-term results of treatment of patients with metronidazole and protracted radiotherapy: a base for comparative randomized studies with hypoxic radiosensitizers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karim, A.B.M.F.; Njo, K.H.

1982-01-01

From 1974 to 1978, a pilot study was undertaken in the Academic Hospital of the Free University of Amsterdam to evaluate the use of hypoxic radiosensitizer metronidazole given with conventional protracted radiotherapy. All patients had advanced malignancies, 70 head and neck cancers being available for long-term evaluation. Only four showed evidence of (reversible) neuropathy, including one patient with two attacks of reversible psychosis. With a minimum follow-up period of 30 months, the local control rates of some of these tumors appear to be encouraging and higher (54%) than usually obtained, without evidence of any long-term enhanced late effect of radiation or carcinogenesis. Clinical benefit has been persistently reported from metronidazole from a number of centers. Reports on other hypoxic radiosensitizers are not always clearly encouraging to date. In view of these facts, three-armed studies appear desirable and are being pursued

Elements for Designing Stakeholders’ Programmes of Encouraging Young People to Engage in Entrepreneurship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jasmina Omerbegović-Bijelović

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a way to help in solving the high levels of unemployment amongst the young (in Serbia – by designing and realising stakeholders’ programmes which would allow inclusion of the young in the entrepreneurial world (through either self-employment or employment of others. The idea is to identify and recommend to stakeholders the competencies and motives that drive the nowadays young entrepreneurs – as models for enabling and motivating unemployed youth to engage into the entrepreneurial world. On the basis of facts obtained by research – which pinpoint the competencies - both practical and theoretical, on the basis of the motives of the young entrepreneurs in Serbia, as well as on the basis of their beliefs/attitudes about the same aspects of starting and undertaking entrepreneurial projects, some recommendations for stakeholders have been generated for designing a programme to encourage those young people to join the ranks of entrepreneurs. What remains is for the relevant authorities - in the legal and even family settings, i.e., all those who can recognise some self-interest, is to get started and dedicate themselves to the young and their entry into the world of entrepreneurship. The contribution of this paper is in the suggestions for the different types of stakeholders which would help them design programmes to bring the young generations into the entrepreneurial sphere. We also consider even the very fact of pointing out the different roles of the varied social subjects/stakeholders to be useful in bringing the younger generations into the world of entrepreneurship, as a form of care for the young generations.

Scientific Results of Yoga for Health and Well-Being

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Full Text Available ... It is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your primary health care provider. We encourage ... Practice of Yoga This page last modified September 24, ...

Time dependent patient no-show predictive modelling development.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yu-Li; Hanauer, David A

2016-05-09

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop evident-based predictive no-show models considering patients' each past appointment status, a time-dependent component, as an independent predictor to improve predictability. Design/methodology/approach - A ten-year retrospective data set was extracted from a pediatric clinic. It consisted of 7,291 distinct patients who had at least two visits along with their appointment characteristics, patient demographics, and insurance information. Logistic regression was adopted to develop no-show models using two-thirds of the data for training and the remaining data for validation. The no-show threshold was then determined based on minimizing the misclassification of show/no-show assignments. There were a total of 26 predictive model developed based on the number of available past appointments. Simulation was employed to test the effective of each model on costs of patient wait time, physician idle time, and overtime. Findings - The results demonstrated the misclassification rate and the area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic gradually improved as more appointment history was included until around the 20th predictive model. The overbooking method with no-show predictive models suggested incorporating up to the 16th model and outperformed other overbooking methods by as much as 9.4 per cent in the cost per patient while allowing two additional patients in a clinic day. Research limitations/implications - The challenge now is to actually implement the no-show predictive model systematically to further demonstrate its robustness and simplicity in various scheduling systems. Originality/value - This paper provides examples of how to build the no-show predictive models with time-dependent components to improve the overbooking policy. Accurately identifying scheduled patients' show/no-show status allows clinics to proactively schedule patients to reduce the negative impact of patient no-shows.

Individual Skills Based Volunteerism and Life Satisfaction among Healthcare Volunteers in Malaysia: Role of Employer Encouragement, Self-Esteem and Job Performance, A Cross-Sectional Study

OpenAIRE

Veerasamy, Chanthiran; Sambasivan, Murali; Kumar, Naresh

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to analyze two important outcomes of individual skills-based volunteerism (ISB-V) among healthcare volunteers in Malaysia. The outcomes are: job performance and life satisfaction. This study has empirically tested the impact of individual dimensions of ISB-V along with their inter-relationships in explaining the life satisfaction and job performance. Besides, the effects of employer encouragement to the volunteers, demographic characteristics of volunteers, and se...

Results of the 2009 Paternity Testing Workshop of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friis, Susanne Lunøe; Hallenberg, Charlotte; Simonsen, Bo Thisted

2009-01-01

Here we present the results of the 2009 Paternity Testing Workshop of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics. The exercise included paternity testing of blood samples from a mother, a child and two alleged fathers. The laboratories were encouraged...

Auditory temporal-order thresholds show no gender differences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kesteren, Marlieke T. R.; Wierslnca-Post, J. Esther C.

2007-01-01

Purpose: Several studies on auditory temporal-order processing showed gender differences. Women needed longer inter-stimulus intervals than men when indicating the temporal order of two clicks presented to the left and right ear. In this study, we examined whether we could reproduce these results in

Auditory temporal-order thresholds show no gender differences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kesteren, Marlieke T R; Wiersinga-Post, J Esther C

2007-01-01

PURPOSE: Several studies on auditory temporal-order processing showed gender differences. Women needed longer inter-stimulus intervals than men when indicating the temporal order of two clicks presented to the left and right ear. In this study, we examined whether we could reproduce these results in

The "Som la Pera" intervention: sustainability capacity evaluation of a peer-led social-marketing intervention to encourage healthy lifestyles among adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Llauradó, Elisabet; Aceves-Martins, Magaly; Tarro, Lucia; Papell-Garcia, Ignasi; Puiggròs, Francesc; Prades-Tena, Jordi; Kettner, Helle; Arola, Lluis; Giralt, Montse; Solà, Rosa

2018-02-10

Sustainability capacity, always considered a challenge, is the ability to maintain effective long-term intervention in a community. The aim of the study was to improve the sustainability capacity of effective "Som la Pera," a school-based, peer-led, social-marketing intervention that encourages healthy diet and physical activity, in low socioeconomic adolescents from Spain. The sustainability capacity was analyzed by a "programme sustainability assessment tool (PSAT)" comprising eight domains: political support, funding stability, partnerships, organizational capacity, programme evaluation, programme adaptation, communications, and strategic planning. Each domain was evaluated from 1 (no or to a small extent) to 7 points (to a great extent). The final score for sustainability capacity was the mean of the eight domain scores. The PSAT was assessed by nine professionals (researchers, staff members, and stakeholders) at two periods during intervention implementation: end of the first year (January 2015) and end of the second year (September 2015). At the end of the first year, strategic planning (4.43 ± 1.98) and funding stability (4.38 ± 1) were considered deficient domains, and at the end of the second year, these domains had improved by 1.67 points (p =.043) and 0.59 points (p = .159), respectively. The funding stability increase was not significant because only one of the five specific items, "policies implemented to ensure sustained funding," improved by 1.08 points (p = .036). The sustainability capacity final score was 5.93 ± 1.13. The sustainability capacity assessment during the intervention allows its improvement before the programme expires, ensuring the long-term implementation of the "Som la Pera" intervention programme to encourage healthy lifestyles in adolescents. © Society of Behavioral Medicine 2018. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

In vitro results of conjugation of arabinagalactan and pegulated avidin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lichtenstein, L.; Salehi, N.; Doukarellis, C.

1998-01-01

Full text: The principles of avidin - biotin tumor targeting system were described at the Society of Nuclear Medicine in 1995. The preparation and use of the pegulated avidin to prolong circulation of avidin and therefore its uptake into tumour was reported in 1997. The biodistribution of radioactivity, tumour to blood, liver and bone T: B1 = 6.3, T: Li - 0.32 and T: B - 10.9 showed that the pegulation ( PEG) of avidin increased its circulation time which resulted in the high activity in the blood circulation and that the Dextran - Biotin conjugate was used to aggregate the PEG - Avidin, failed to facilitate its desired clearance out of the blood pool. Aim: We attempted to couple the 9 KDa fragment of 37 KDa polysaccharide arabinogalactan ( AG 37 KDa) with pegulated avidin to facilitate its hepatic clearance and thus increase the uptake of radiolabelled Tc - 99m - DTPA - Biocytinamide in all tissues including tumour. Method: AG (9 KDa) fragment was isolated from AG (37 KDa) by autoclaving at 121deg C and separated using a 10 KDa centricon ultrafiltration membrane. The average molecular weight was determined by HPLC at UV absorbance 280 nm. The AG 9kDa sample was oxidised by adding NaIO4, 30 minutes after incubation the solution was purified and coupled to Biotin - Hydrazide at (1:1) molar ratio, 2hrs after incubation, the coupled agent was radiolabelled with Tc-99m. The instant thin - layer chromatography (ITLC strips), with M.E.K and N.S. as eluants showed a LE = 91 %. The radiolabelled product was coupled to pegulated avidin at (1:1) for 1 hr at RT. The conjugated agent was separated by using 50 KDa ultrafiltration membrane. Results: > 95 % of AG - Biotin - Tc -99m- pegulated avidin remained unfiltered hence conjugated Conclusion: The results obtained from in vitro conjugation is encouraging and will be experimented for in vivo studies

[Living conditions: stumbling block or path to successful ageing? Results of the Augsburg regional conference "Living environment, age and health"].

Science.gov (United States)

Strobl, R; Maier, W; Mielck, A; Fuchs, J; Richter-Kornweitz, A; Gostomzyk, J; Grill, E

2014-09-01

In addition to good medical care, living environment is of central importance in encouraging social participation among older people. Therefore, municipalities should prioritise the age-appropriate design of living environments. Results of the KORA Age study were presented at the regional conference "Living environment, age and health" in the Augsburg town hall on October 1, 2013. The results on participation and living environment were discussed with local policy makers and senior citizens' representatives from Augsburg and two surrounding regions. The study examined the impact of living environment on participation using two different approaches: qualitative findings from focus group discussions and quantitative findings based on telephone interviews and the use of a geographic information system. The results were complemented by contributions from a regional and national perspective. It was stressed in the closing discussion that a senior-friendly living environment can only be created by using a broad range of different measures. On the one hand physical barriers need to be removed, while at the same time the sense of community, neighborhood cohesion and solidarity should be encouraged further.

Results of the 2007 Paternity Testing Workshop of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hallenberg, C.; Langkjær, Rikke B.; Jensen, Peter Bjødstrup

2008-01-01

We present the results of the 2007 Paternity Testing Workshop of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics. The exercise included paternity testing of blood samples from a mother, a child and an alleged father. The laboratories were encouraged to answer...

Talk Show Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Mitzi Ruth

1992-01-01

Proposes having students perform skits in which they play the roles of the science concepts they are trying to understand. Provides the dialog for a skit in which hot and cold gas molecules are interviewed on a talk show to study how these properties affect wind, rain, and other weather phenomena. (MDH)

Scientific Results of Yoga for Health and Well-Being

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Full Text Available ... expertise and advice of your primary health care provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with your health care provider. The mention of any product, service, or therapy ...

Obesity in show cats.

Science.gov (United States)

Corbee, R J

2014-12-01

Obesity is an important disease with a high prevalence in cats. Because obesity is related to several other diseases, it is important to identify the population at risk. Several risk factors for obesity have been described in the literature. A higher incidence of obesity in certain cat breeds has been suggested. The aim of this study was to determine whether obesity occurs more often in certain breeds. The second aim was to relate the increased prevalence of obesity in certain breeds to the official standards of that breed. To this end, 268 cats of 22 different breeds investigated by determining their body condition score (BCS) on a nine-point scale by inspection and palpation, at two different cat shows. Overall, 45.5% of the show cats had a BCS > 5, and 4.5% of the show cats had a BCS > 7. There were significant differences between breeds, which could be related to the breed standards. Most overweight and obese cats were in the neutered group. It warrants firm discussions with breeders and cat show judges to come to different interpretations of the standards in order to prevent overweight conditions in certain breeds from being the standard of beauty. Neutering predisposes for obesity and requires early nutritional intervention to prevent obese conditions. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Encouraging Factors for Invest in Higher Education in the Private Sector in Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahram Yazdani

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Higher education which has the main role in the training of skilled human resource can also be considered as the foundation of wealth creation in the country. The quantitative and qualitative expansion of higher education is inevitable. The facilities and the government budget are not responsive for the need, due to the increasing demand of young people for entering higher education in Iran. Therefore, developing and equipping universities and unpublicized and private higher education institutions have received considerable attention and have grown substantially. We aimed to evaluate educational experts regarding encouraging factors of the private sections for more participating in financing of higher education centers and institutions in Iran. Qualitative content analysis method has been used.The participants were selected using purposive sampling. The professors were in positions of policymaking and managing and had opinions on the challenges of universities financing. Data collection was conducted with semi-structured interview in 2016 and all ethical considerations associated with qualitative research were respected. The main concepts obtained from the interview were reported in the three main themes and their sub-classes. We have found that with the authorities given to universitiesby law, and preparing the transition from the based solely on government resources to the private section is provided by taking the appropriate decisions of managers to attract investors Universities can benefit from promoting different mechanisms to attract private financing in the higher education section. Solutions also were presented in this way. The idea of educational investment not only can promote the community investments towards higher education, but also has been the promotion of knowledge-based business in the community and promotes entrepreneurship and knowledge-based economy.Keywords: HIGHER EDUCATION, EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENT, KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY

Scientific Results of Yoga for Health and Well-Being

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Full Text Available ... series entitled The Science of Mind and Body Therapies . The first video, Tai Chi and Qi Gong ... We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with your health care provider. The ...

Scientific Results of Yoga for Health and Well-Being

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Full Text Available ... Health? Safety Information Know the Science For Health Care Professionals Clinical Practice Guidelines Literature Reviews All Health ... medical expertise and advice of your primary health care provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions ...

Upholding Tuberculosis Services during the 2014 Ebola Storm: An Encouraging Experience from Conakry, Guinea.

Science.gov (United States)

Ortuno-Gutierrez, Nimer; Zachariah, Rony; Woldeyohannes, Desalegn; Bangoura, Adama; Chérif, Gba-Foromo; Loua, Francis; Hermans, Veerle; Tayler-Smith, Katie; Sikhondze, Welile; Camara, Lansana-Mady

2016-01-01

Ten targeted health facilities supported by Damien Foundation (a Belgian Non Governmental Organization) and the National Tuberculosis (TB) Program in Conakry, Guinea. To uphold TB program performance during the Ebola outbreak in the presence of a package of pre-emptive additional measures geared at reinforcing the routine TB program, and ensuring Ebola infection control, health-workers safety and motivation. A retrospective comparative cohort study of a TB program assessing the performance before (2013) and during the (2014) Ebola outbreak. During the Ebola outbreak, all health facilities were maintained opened, there were no reported health-worker Ebola infections, drug stockouts or health staff absences. Of 2,475 presumptive pulmonary TB cases, 13% were diagnosed with TB in both periods (160/1203 in 2013 and 163/1272 in 2014). For new TB, treatment success improved from 84% before to 87% during the Ebola outbreak (P = 0.03). Adjusted Hazard-ratios (AHR) for an unfavorable outcome was alwo lower during the Ebola outbreak, AHR = 0.8, 95% CI:0.7-0.9, P = 0.04). Treatment success improved for HIV co-infected patients (72% to 80%, P<0.01). For retreatment patients, the proportion achieving treatment success was maintained (68% to 72%, P = 0.05). Uptake of HIV-testing and Cotrimoxazole Preventive Treatment was maintained over 85%, and Anti-Retroviral Therapy uptake increased from 77% in 2013 to 86% in 2014 (P<0.01). Contingency planning and health system and worker support during the 2014 Ebola outbreak was associated with encouraging and sustained TB program performance. This is of relevance to future outbreaks.

Upholding Tuberculosis Services during the 2014 Ebola Storm: An Encouraging Experience from Conakry, Guinea.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nimer Ortuno-Gutierrez

Full Text Available Ten targeted health facilities supported by Damien Foundation (a Belgian Non Governmental Organization and the National Tuberculosis (TB Program in Conakry, Guinea.To uphold TB program performance during the Ebola outbreak in the presence of a package of pre-emptive additional measures geared at reinforcing the routine TB program, and ensuring Ebola infection control, health-workers safety and motivation.A retrospective comparative cohort study of a TB program assessing the performance before (2013 and during the (2014 Ebola outbreak.During the Ebola outbreak, all health facilities were maintained opened, there were no reported health-worker Ebola infections, drug stockouts or health staff absences. Of 2,475 presumptive pulmonary TB cases, 13% were diagnosed with TB in both periods (160/1203 in 2013 and 163/1272 in 2014. For new TB, treatment success improved from 84% before to 87% during the Ebola outbreak (P = 0.03. Adjusted Hazard-ratios (AHR for an unfavorable outcome was alwo lower during the Ebola outbreak, AHR = 0.8, 95% CI:0.7-0.9, P = 0.04. Treatment success improved for HIV co-infected patients (72% to 80%, P<0.01. For retreatment patients, the proportion achieving treatment success was maintained (68% to 72%, P = 0.05. Uptake of HIV-testing and Cotrimoxazole Preventive Treatment was maintained over 85%, and Anti-Retroviral Therapy uptake increased from 77% in 2013 to 86% in 2014 (P<0.01.Contingency planning and health system and worker support during the 2014 Ebola outbreak was associated with encouraging and sustained TB program performance. This is of relevance to future outbreaks.

Dolphin shows and interaction programs: benefits for conservation education?

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, L J; Zeigler-Hill, V; Mellen, J; Koeppel, J; Greer, T; Kuczaj, S

2013-01-01

Dolphin shows and dolphin interaction programs are two types of education programs within zoological institutions used to educate visitors about dolphins and the marine environment. The current study examined the short- and long-term effects of these programs on visitors' conservation-related knowledge, attitude, and behavior. Participants of both dolphin shows and interaction programs demonstrated a significant short-term increase in knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Three months following the experience, participants of both dolphin shows and interaction programs retained the knowledge learned during their experience and reported engaging in more conservation-related behaviors. Additionally, the number of dolphin shows attended in the past was a significant predictor of recent conservation-related behavior suggesting that repetition of these types of experiences may be important in inspiring people to conservation action. These results suggest that both dolphin shows and dolphin interaction programs can be an important part of a conservation education program for visitors of zoological facilities. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

marker development for two novel rice genes showing differential ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2014-08-19

Aug 19, 2014 ... School of Crop Improvement, College of PostGraduate Studies, Central Agricultural University, ... from the root transcriptome data for tolerance to low P. .... Values show a representative result of three independent experiments ...

Employees' Perceptions of Social Norms as a Result of Implementing the Participatory Approach at Supervisor Level : Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ketelaar, S M; Schaafsma, F G; Geldof, M F; Boot, C R L; Kraaijeveld, R A; Shaw, W S; Bültmann, U; Twisk, J; Anema, J R

Purpose A multifaceted implementation strategy was targeted at supervisors to encourage them to apply a participatory approach (PA) in dealing with employees' work functioning problems due to health concerns. This paper assesses the effect on employees' perceived social norms regarding the use of

Early socialization of prosocial behavior: Patterns in parents’ encouragement of toddlers’ helping in an everyday household task

Science.gov (United States)

Waugh, Whitney; Brownell, Celia; Pollock, Brianna

2015-01-01

Patterns in parents’ socialization of prosocial behavior in 18- and 24-month-olds (n=46) were investigated during an everyday household chore that parents were asked to complete with their toddlers. Two socialization approaches were distinguished, one focused on specific requests for concrete actions needed to complete an immediate, concrete goal (“action-oriented”), and a second focused on the more abstract needs and emotions of the parent and the child's role as a helper (“need-oriented’). Parents were equally active at both ages in trying to elicit children's help but used different strategies with younger and older toddlers. With 18-month-olds they used more action-oriented approaches, whereas with 24-month-olds they increased their use of needoriented approaches. They also regulated the attention of younger toddlers more, and more often socially approved older toddlers’ helping. Thus, how parents prompt, support, and encourage prosocial behavior changes over the second year from utilizing primarily concrete, goal-directed requests in the service of the immediate task, to increasingly emphasizing more abstract needs and emotions of the recipient and the child's role as a helper. PMID:25682218

The cathedral and the bazaar of e-repository development: encouraging community engagement with moving pictures and sound

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denis Wong

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This paper offers an insight into the development, use and governance of e-repositories for learning and teaching, illustrated by Eric Raymond's bazaar and cathedral analogies and by a comparison of collection strategies that focus on content coverage or on the needs of users. It addresses in particular the processes that encourage and achieve community engagement. This insight is illustrated by one particular e-repository, the Education Media On-Line (EMOL service. This paper draws analogies between the bazaar approach for open source software development and its possibilities for developing e-repositories for learning and teaching. It suggests in particular that the development, use and evaluation of online moving pictures and sound objects for learning and teaching can benefit greatly from the community engagement lessons provided by the development, use and evaluation of open source software. Such lessons can be underpinned by experience in the area of learning resource collections, where repositories have been classified as ‘collections-based' or ‘user-based'. Lessons from the open source movement may inform the development of e-repositories such as EMOL in the future.

The mutual encouragement of the fear of crime and the security industry: The example of film narratives and electronic home security systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimira Ilić

2016-02-01

Full Text Available In a culture of fear, everyday life is experienced through the feeling of safety, part of which can be secured through certain electronic home security systems. Three films – Unlawful Entry (1992, Panic Room (2002 and When a Stranger Calls (2006 – will be used as examples in the attempt to consider the relationship between the fear of criminal activity – in this case break ins – and electronic home security systems. The basic premise of the research is that the culturally manufactured fear encourages the electronic home security system industry, the presence of which can, in turn, exasperate one’s fear of the risk of falling victim to violent crime.

Measuring performance at trade shows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kåre

2004-01-01

Trade shows is an increasingly important marketing activity to many companies, but current measures of trade show performance do not adequately capture dimensions important to exhibitors. Based on the marketing literature's outcome and behavior-based control system taxonomy, a model is built...... that captures a outcome-based sales dimension and four behavior-based dimensions (i.e. information-gathering, relationship building, image building, and motivation activities). A 16-item instrument is developed for assessing exhibitors perceptions of their trade show performance. The paper presents evidence...

Recent results and prospects on superheated superconducting granules detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez-Mestres, L.; Perret-Gallix, D.

1987-11-01

The basic properties of superheated superconducting granules (SSG) detectors are reviewed. Recent results are presented and discussed. Granule samples of different sizes (10 μm -8 Ω.cm -6 Ω.cm) exhibit encouraging sensitivity to low energy β and γ sources (down to 55 Fe 6 KeV γ'S). All tests were performed with real-time read-out electronics, detecting single granule flips under the action of individual particles. Sensitivity is shown to depend on normal state resistivity. Irradiation of very large tin granules (45 μm ≤ Φ ≤ 400 μm) with α particles ( 241 Am, E ≅ 5.5 MeV) shows evidence for local heating, where the observed energy threshold is far below the one predicted by equilibrium thermodynamical calculations. Tests made at lower temperatures (T ≥ 450 mK) show the absence of avalanche effect (seen by other authors in different conditions) for several samples of tin granules. A theoretical discussion of the avalanche effect is presented. The understanding of the role of heat exchanges in the composite medium leads to the concept of 'localized micro-avalanche' and opens the way to drastic improvements of SSG performance for particle detection. Such a phenomenon should be obtained by a better thermal matching between dielectric and granules, working at temperatures where the released latent heat is slightly positive. Estimates of the behavior of the detector at very low T are also given, where a thin layer of normal electrons near the surface is shown to contribute to the heat capacity of a superheated granule. We discuss the main points to be studied in the near future, and give a brief evaluation of the present status of feasibility investigation for several proposed experiments (solar neutrinos, monopoles, dark matter, double β,...). An updated working program for SSG development is proposed

Development of instructional manual encouraging student active learning for high school teaching on fluid mechanics through Torricelli's tank experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Apiwan, Suttinee; Puttharugsa, Chokchai; Khemmani, Supitch

2018-01-01

The purposes of this research were to help students to perform Physics laboratory by themselves and to provide guidelines for high school teacher to develop active learning on fluid mechanics by using Torricelli's tank experiment. The research was conducted as follows: 1) constructed an appropriate Torricelli's tank experiment for high school teaching and investigated the condition for maximum water falling distance. As a consequence, it was found that the distance of the falling water measured from the experiment was shorter than that obtained from the theory of ideal fluid because of the energy loss during a flow, 2) developed instructional manual for high school teaching that encourages active learning by using problem based learning (PBL) approach, which is consistent with the trend of teaching and learning in 21st century. The content validity of our instructional manual using Index of Item-objective Congruence (IOC) as evaluated by three experts was over 0.67. The manual developed was therefore qualified for classroom practice.

The energy show

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

The Energy Show is a new look at the problems of world energy, where our supplies come from, now and in the future. The programme looks at how we need energy to maintain our standards of living. Energy supply is shown as the complicated set of problems it is - that Fossil Fuels are both raw materials and energy sources, that some 'alternatives' so readily suggested as practical options are in reality a long way from being effective. (author)

Transgene silencing of the Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome mutation results in a reversible bone phenotype, whereas resveratrol treatment does not show overall beneficial effects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strandgren, Charlotte; Nasser, Hasina Abdul; McKenna, Tomás

2015-01-01

model to study the possibility of recovering from HGPS bone disease upon silencing of the HGPS mutation, and the potential benefits from treatment with resveratrol. We show that complete silencing of the transgenic expression of progerin normalized bone morphology and mineralization already after 7...... weeks. The improvements included lower frequencies of rib fractures and callus formation, an increased number of osteocytes in remodeled bone, and normalized dentinogenesis. The beneficial effects from resveratrol treatment were less significant and to a large extent similar to mice treated with sucrose...... alone. However, the reversal of the dental phenotype of overgrown and laterally displaced lower incisors in HGPS mice could be attributed to resveratrol. Our results indicate that the HGPS bone defects were reversible upon suppressed transgenic expression and suggest that treatments targeting aberrant...

Nissan Showcases the Results of an Energy-Wise Corporate Culture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2010-06-11

The corporate leadership at Nissan cultivates a culture of energy efficiency, encouraging employees to practice good energy management at work and in every part of their lives. Read about Nissan's energy-conscience culture.

[Conservative anal fistula treatment with collagenic plug and human fibrin sealant. Preliminary results].

Science.gov (United States)

Gubitosi, A; Moccia, G; Malinconico, F A; Docimo, G; Ruggiero, R; Iside, G; Avenia, N; Docimo, L; Foroni, F; Gilio, F; Sparavigna, L; Agresti, M

2009-01-01

The authors, on the basis of a long clinical experience with human fibrin glue in general surgery, compared two different extracellular matrix (collagen), Surgisis and TissueDura, with human fibrin glue, applied during the operation, and sometimes in postoperative, to obtain the healing of perianal fistulas. The collagenic extracellular matrix provides, according to the rationale suggested, an optimal three-dimensional structure for the fibroblastic implant and neoangiogenesis, hence for the fistula "fibrotizzation" and closure. The encouraging results for transphincteric fistulas and a simple and easy technique push to researchers on samples statistically significant.

Risk Aversion in Game Shows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Steffen; Harrison, Glenn W.; Lau, Morten I.

2008-01-01

We review the use of behavior from television game shows to infer risk attitudes. These shows provide evidence when contestants are making decisions over very large stakes, and in a replicated, structured way. Inferences are generally confounded by the subjective assessment of skill in some games......, and the dynamic nature of the task in most games. We consider the game shows Card Sharks, Jeopardy!, Lingo, and finally Deal Or No Deal. We provide a detailed case study of the analyses of Deal Or No Deal, since it is suitable for inference about risk attitudes and has attracted considerable attention....

[Morita Therapy to Treat Depression: When and How to Encourage Patients to Join Activities].

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, Kei

2015-01-01

The author discusses how Morita therapy is used to treat depression, illustrated with a clinical case, and makes comparisons between Morita therapy and behavioral activation (BA). The author further examines the issue of when and how to encourage patients to join activities in clinical practice in Japan. Both Morita therapy and BA share at least a common view that it is effective to activate patients' constructive behavior at a certain point in depression treatment. However, BA therapists, compared to Morita therapists, seem to pay less attention to the necessity of resting and the appropriate timing for introducing behavioral activation. There may be some contextual differences between depressive patients in Japan and those in North America. In the case of Japanese patients, exhaustion from overwork is often considered a factor triggering the development of depression. At the same time, the Morita-based pathogenic model of depression seems different from BA's model of the same disorder. BA's approach to understanding depression may be considered a psychological (behavioristic) model. In this model, the cause of depression lies in: (a) a lack of positive reinforcement, and (b) negative reinforcement resulting from avoidance of the experience of discomfort. Therefore, the basic strategy of BA is to release depressive patients from an avoidant lifestyle, which serves as a basis for negative reinforcement, and to redirect the patients toward activities which offer the experience of positive reinforcement BA is primarily practiced by clinical psychologists in the U. S. while psychiatrists prescribe medication as a medical service. On the other hand, the clinical practice of treating depression in Japan is based primarily on medical models of depression. This is also true of Morita therapy, but in a broad sense. While those who follow medical models in a narrow sense try to identify the cause of illness and then remove it, Morita therapists pay more attention to the

Comportamento agressivo em shows musicais: analisando notícias de jornal impresso

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Eduardo Pimentel

2011-08-01

Full Text Available This paper reports a content analysis of the newspaper articles dealing with aggressive behavior in music shows. This analysis permits an understanding of the characteristics of these situations, the aggressive behaviors in shows, and the way in which the print media treat the subject. Despite of the newspapers’ influence on public opinion formation, that is, the transmission of attitudes and behavior repertoires, this kind of analysis is rarely reported in Brazilian social psychological literature. Some 31 newspaper articles were content analyzed as to aggressive behavior during music shows. Results indicate that aggressive behaviors occur in shows of most varied musical styles. Results are discussed on the basis of social cognitive theory.

激励措施在团队管理中的应用%Application of Encouragement Method in Team Management

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

骆大祥

2012-01-01

文章以南宁高速公路运营有限公司团队管理为例,介绍了高速公路运营管理团队的构成特点及存在的问题,提出了基于考评激励、人才培养激励、目标激励、竞赛激励、尊重与关怀激励的团队管理措施,并阐述了激励措施在团队建设中的实践效果。%Taking the team management of Nanning Highway Operation Company as an example,the article introduces the composition and problems exist.It also proposes a management method based on the encouragement of evaluation,talent training,target,competition,respecting and care,and discusses its performance in real practice.

The Analogy as a Cognitive Strategy that Encourages Reading Comprehension in Expository Texts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Viveros-Márquez

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This research arises from the current state of reading in Mexico, because the contextual situation to local and national level has become critical on this issue. Results on standardized tests such as ENLACE (National Assessment of Academic Achievement in Schools and PISA (Program for International Student Assessment have shown that Mexican basic level students have text comprehension problems. Given this reality, this is a qualitative descriptive study on the use of analogies in reading as a strategy for reading comprehension, through application of an ethnographic survey, a questionnaire and the application of a pedagogical model for the use of analogies in reading. The study incorporates the theoretical tenets of Constructivism, referring to Piaget (1969, Vygotsky (1997 and Ausubel (2002. The results show that the use of analogies promotes reading comprehension in 4th grade students, from an expository text that compares the evolution of man and the metamorphosis of a butterfly.

One Size Does Not Fit All: Contextualising Family Physical Activity Using a Write, Draw, Show and Tell Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Noonan, Robert J; Fairclough, Stuart J; Knowles, Zoe R; Boddy, Lynne M

2017-07-14

Understanding family physical activity (PA) behaviour is essential for designing effective family-based PA interventions. However, effective approaches to capture the perceptions and "lived experiences" of families are not yet well established. The aims of the study were to: (1) demonstrate how a "write, draw, show and tell" (WDST) methodological approach can be appropriate to family-based PA research, and (2) present two distinct family case studies to provide insights into the habitual PA behaviour and experiences of a nuclear and single-parent family. Six participants (including two "target" children aged 9-11 years, two mothers and two siblings aged 6-8 years) from two families were purposefully selected to take part in the study, based on their family structure. Participants completed a paper-based PA diary and wore an ActiGraph GT9X accelerometer on their left wrist for up to 10 weekdays and 16 weekend days. A range of WDST tasks were then undertaken by each family to offer contextual insight into their family-based PA. The selected families participated in different levels and modes of PA, and reported contrasting leisure opportunities and experiences. These novel findings encourage researchers to tailor family-based PA intervention programmes to the characteristics of the family.

Genoa Boat Show – Good Example of Event Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dunja Demirović

2012-07-01

Full Text Available International Boat Show, a business and tourist event, has been held annually in Italian city of Genoa since 1962. The fair is one of the oldest, largest and best known in the field of boating industry worldwide, primarily due to good management of the event and it can serve as case study for domestic fair organizers to improve the quality of their business and services. Since Belgrade is the city of fairs, but compared to Genoa still underdeveloped in terms of trade shows, the following tasks imposed naturally in this study: to determine the relationship of the organizers of Genoa Boat Show in the sector of preparation and fair offer, in the sector of selection and communication with specific target groups (especially visitors, services during the fair and functioning of the city during the fair. During the research the authors have mostly used historical method, comparison, synthesis and the interview method. The results of theoretical research, in addition, may help not only managers of fair shows and of exhibitions, but also to organizers of other events in our country

Nonphysician Care Providers Can Help to Increase Detection of Cognitive Impairment and Encourage Diagnostic Evaluation for Dementia in Community and Residential Care Settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Maslow, Katie; Fortinsky, Richard H

2018-01-18

In the United States, at least half of older adults living with dementia do not have a diagnosis. Their cognitive impairment may not have been detected, and some older adults whose physician recommends that they obtain a diagnostic evaluation do not follow through on the recommendation. Initiatives to increase detection of cognitive impairment and diagnosis of dementia have focused primarily on physician practices and public information programs to raise awareness about the importance of detection and diagnosis. Nonphysician care providers who work with older adults in community and residential care settings, such as aging network agencies, public health agencies, senior housing, assisted living, and nursing homes, interact frequently with older adults who have cognitive impairment but have not had a diagnostic evaluation. These care providers may be aware of signs of cognitive impairment and older adults' concerns about their cognition that have not been expressed to their physician. Within their scope of practice and training, nonphysician care providers can help to increase detection of cognitive impairment and encourage older adults with cognitive impairment to obtain a diagnostic evaluation to determine the cause of the condition. This article provides seven practice recommendations intended to increase involvement of nonphysician care providers in detecting cognitive impairment and encouraging older adults to obtain a diagnostic evaluation. The Kickstart-Assess-Evaluate-Refer (KAER) framework for physician practice in detection and diagnosis of dementia is used to identify ways to coordinate physician and nonphysician efforts and thereby increase the proportion of older adults living with dementia who have a diagnosis. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

20 CFR 220.27 - What is needed to show an impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What is needed to show an impairment. 220.27... is needed to show an impairment. A physical or mental impairment must result from anatomical... diagnostic techniques. A physical or mental impairment must be established by medical evidence consisting of...

The beneficial applications of nuclear technology: an educational project to disseminate knowledge and encourage research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levy, Denise S., E-mail: denise@radioatividades.com.br [Omiccron Programacao Grafica Ltda (Omiccron P.G.), Atibaia, SP (Brazil)

2013-07-01

Nuclear technology is part of our everyday life and helps to improve the quality of our lifestyle in more ways than people realize. Nevertheless, the issue divides public opinion in Brazil and worldwide. There is still great misinformation about nuclear technology and peaceful uses of radiation. Most often, the media and social networks associate radiation to nuclear weapons or major accidents. Parents and teachers are often unaware of the matter. Any construction depends on a solid foundation and education is the foundation of every society. This project aims the dissemination of nuclear technology contents for teachers and students of Elementary and Secondary Education throughout Brazil. Whereas Internet access has increased strongly in Brazilian schools, this project provides various web-based short courses about nuclear technology and its beneficial applications in several areas, such as medicine, agriculture, industry and energy. The design, created according to modern concepts, presents different thematic roles which please children and youth. Since this project aims the dissemination of information, all courses are offered to the public at absolutely no cost. Still, the Project will provide a restricted area for teachers, with related material to develop in class. This educational project uses the combination of multiple technologies and last generation internet resources. All content can be accessed from any traditional internet connection, either for computers or mobile technologies. Our goal is to promote the benefits of nuclear technology for new generations, combating misinformation, omission of the media and knowledge fragmentation. Education transforms old prejudices and inspires new thoughts, stimulating development and encouraging scientific and technological research. (author)

The beneficial applications of nuclear technology: an educational project to disseminate knowledge and encourage research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levy, Denise S.

2013-01-01

Nuclear technology is part of our everyday life and helps to improve the quality of our lifestyle in more ways than people realize. Nevertheless, the issue divides public opinion in Brazil and worldwide. There is still great misinformation about nuclear technology and peaceful uses of radiation. Most often, the media and social networks associate radiation to nuclear weapons or major accidents. Parents and teachers are often unaware of the matter. Any construction depends on a solid foundation and education is the foundation of every society. This project aims the dissemination of nuclear technology contents for teachers and students of Elementary and Secondary Education throughout Brazil. Whereas Internet access has increased strongly in Brazilian schools, this project provides various web-based short courses about nuclear technology and its beneficial applications in several areas, such as medicine, agriculture, industry and energy. The design, created according to modern concepts, presents different thematic roles which please children and youth. Since this project aims the dissemination of information, all courses are offered to the public at absolutely no cost. Still, the Project will provide a restricted area for teachers, with related material to develop in class. This educational project uses the combination of multiple technologies and last generation internet resources. All content can be accessed from any traditional internet connection, either for computers or mobile technologies. Our goal is to promote the benefits of nuclear technology for new generations, combating misinformation, omission of the media and knowledge fragmentation. Education transforms old prejudices and inspires new thoughts, stimulating development and encouraging scientific and technological research. (author)

Fat stigmatization in television shows and movies: a content analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Himes, Susan M; Thompson, J Kevin

2007-03-01

To examine the phenomenon of fat stigmatization messages presented in television shows and movies, a content analysis was used to quantify and categorize fat-specific commentary and humor. Fat stigmatization vignettes were identified using a targeted sampling procedure, and 135 scenes were excised from movies and television shows. The material was coded by trained raters. Reliability indices were uniformly high for the seven categories (percentage agreement ranged from 0.90 to 0.98; kappas ranged from 0.66 to 0.94). Results indicated that fat stigmatization commentary and fat humor were often verbal, directed toward another person, and often presented directly in the presence of the overweight target. Results also indicated that male characters were three times more likely to engage in fat stigmatization commentary or fat humor than female characters. To our knowledge, these findings provide the first information regarding the specific gender, age, and types of fat stigmatization that occur frequently in movies and television shows. The stimuli should prove useful in future research examining the role of individual difference factors (e.g., BMI) in the reaction to viewing such vignettes.

Using Interdisciplinary and Active Research to Encourage Higher Resolution Research and Prototyping in Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adream Blair-Early

2014-10-01

Full Text Available University art and design programs are branching out and creating interdisciplinary programs and research centers that connect design students and faculty across various disciplines such as business, engineering, architecture, information studies, health sciences and education. A human-centered, problem-based approach to design research looks to position industry and academic leaders to work alongside students, community leaders, artists and non-profits to develop creative and innovative solutions to the challenges facing contemporary society. But product design benefits even more from practices that engage users throughout the entire design process, often called participatory design. Participatory design process utilizes user feedback throughout the design process to spur innovation and improve design quality. It is possible in the classroom to engage in participatory design and participatory prototyping through the use of inexpensive 3D printers and laser cutters as well as traditional hand tools, requiring only mastery of a few simple techniques and technology readily available on laptop computers. The class research being presented was conceived as part of a new interdisciplinary classroom research space call the Digital Craft Research Lab (DCRL housed within the department of Art and Design. Courses taught within the DCRL offer students, researchers and faculty continual access to both low resolution and high-resolution prototyping machinery and materials. This paper looks at the role of action and participatory research in a design course that created printed hand innovations in collaboration with a nine-year-old female user. Students were asked to work on modeling new designs as well as capturing the progress in a final open source book and models. This paper asks the question can the use of classroom collaboration, action research and work spaces encourage creativity, innovation, and critical thinking in student and professional

Is it possible to encourage hope in non-advanced cancer patients? We must try.

Science.gov (United States)

Ripamonti, C I; Miccinesi, G; Pessi, M A; Di Pede, P; Ferrari, M

2016-03-01

Data are lacking on the relationship between hope and other variables in non-advanced cancer patients. The study explored the relationship between hope, symptoms, needs, and spirituality/religiosity in patients treated in a supportive care unit (SCU). From September 2013 to March 2014, the consecutive patients who accepted to complete: (i) Needs Evaluation Questionnaire (NEQ), (ii) the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS), (iii) Hope Herth Index (HHI), and (iv) the System of Belief Inventory (SBI) were enrolled. Moreover, clinical/demographic data were collected and the findings were analyzed. A total of 276 patients who completed the HHI questionnaire (participation rate 276/300 = 92%) were included; 131 reported HHI total score >37 (median value). The majority of patients had a Karnofsky performance status >80; 71% were on cancer therapies, and only 29 patients had metastases or relapse. Patients with higher HHI scores were less educated (P = 0.012), reported lower ESAS total score (15.4 versus 22.6, P better dialogue (β = -2.1), and more reassurance from the clinicians (β = -2.5); better attention (β = -4.4) and respect for intimacy (β = -3.3) from nurses; to speak with people who have the same illness experience (β = -2.5), to be more reassured by relatives (β = -3.3) and to feel less abandoned (β = -4.3). Higher SBI scores were independently associated with higher HHI scores (β = 1.7 for 10 points increase). In cancer patients, hope can be encouraged by clinicians through dialogue, sincerity, and reassurance, as well as assessing and considering the patients' needs (above all the psycho-emotional), symptoms, psychological frailty, and their spiritual/religious resources. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Employee and employer support for workplace-based smoking cessation: results from an international survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Halpern, Michael T; Taylor, Humphrey

2010-01-01

Workplace smoking cessation programs can increase smoking cessation rates, improve employee health, reduce exposure to second-hand smoke, and decrease costs. To assist with the development of such programs, we conducted a Global Workplace Smoking Survey to collect information on workplace attitudes towards smoking cessation programs. Data were collected from 1,403 employers (smoking and non-smoking) and 3,525 smoking employees participating in surveys in 14 countries in Asia, Europe, and South America in 2007. Results were weighted to ensure that they were representative of smokers and employers at companies with the specified number of employees. More than two-thirds of employers (69%) but less than half of employees (48%) indicated that their company should help employees with smoking cessation. Approximately two-thirds of employees and 81% of employers overall felt that smoke-free policies encourage cessation, but fewer individuals from Europe (vs. from Asia or South America) agreed with this. In companies with a smoke-free policy, 76% of employees and 80% of employers felt that their policy had been somewhat, very, or extremely effective in motivating employees to quit or reduce smoking. Employers and employees differed substantially regarding appropriate methods for encouraging cessation, with more employees favouring financial incentives and more employers favouring education. Both employees and employers value smoke-free workplace programs and workplace cessation support activities, although many would like their companies to offer more support. These results will be useful for organizations exploring means of facilitating smoking cessation amongst employees.

Whistleblowing: Don't Encourage It, Prevent It Comment on "Cultures of Silence and Cultures of Voice: The Role of Whistleblowing in Healthcare Organisations".

Science.gov (United States)

MacDougall, D Robert

2015-10-17

In a recent article, Mannion and Davies argue that there are a multitude of ways in which organizations (such as the National Health Service [NHS]) can deal with wrongdoing or ethical problems, including the formation of policies that encourage and protect would-be whistleblowers. However, it is important to distinguish internal reporting about wrongdoing from whistleblowing proper, because the two are morally quite different and should not be dealt with in the same way. This article argues that we should not understand the authors' conclusions to apply to "whistleblowing" proper, because their recommended approach would be both unfeasible and undesirable for addressing whistleblowing defined in this way. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

OHS Encourages People to Hike Despite the Heat | Poster

Science.gov (United States)

Even the blazing heat could not stop people from enjoying the Occupational Health Services’ (OHS) most recent Take a Hike event, which promoted healthy living. The red, white, and blue–themed, 1.3-mile walk was the fifth such event since 2014 for NCI at Frederick. People got out of their offices to exercise, show off their patriotism, and win prizes.

Immediate and intermediate-term results of optical coherence tomography guided atherectomy in the treatment of peripheral arterial disease: Initial results from the VISION trial

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cawich, Ian; Paixao, Andre R.M.; Marmagkiolis, Konstantinos; Lendel, Vasili; Rodriguez-Araujo, Gerardo; Rollefson, William A.; Mego, David M.; Cilingiroglu, Mehmet

2016-01-01

Background: Long-term patency rates for percutaneous peripheral arterial interventions are suboptimal. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) guided atherectomy may yield superior patency by optimizing plaque removal while preserving the tunica media and adventitia. Methods: The VISION study is a multicenter prospective study of patients with peripheral arterial disease undergoing OCT guided atherectomy with the Pantheris™ device. In 11 patients enrolled in a single center, we report procedural and clinical outcomes, at 30 days and 6 months. Results: The mean age was 63 ± 11 years and 73% (n = 8) were men. The target lesion was in the superficial femoral artery in 82% (n = 9) of the patients. Mean stenosis severity was 87% ± 10% and mean lesion length was 39 ± 31 mm. Procedural success was observed in all patients with no device related complications. Mean post-atherectomy stenosis was 18% ± 15%. Almost all excised tissue consisted of intimal plaque (94%). At 30 days, significant improvements in Rutherford class, VascuQoL scores and ABI were observed, 0.9 ± 0.8 vs. 3.1 ± 0.7 (p = 0.01), 4.9 ± 1.9 vs. 3.6 ± 1.5 (p = 0.03) and 1.04 ± 0.19 vs. 0.80 ± 0.19 (p < 0.01) respectively. At 6 months, there were significant improvements in Rutherford class (1.0 ± 1.0 vs. 3.1 ± 0.7, p = 0.01) and ABI (0.93 ± 0.19 versus 0.80 ± 0.19, p = 0.02) but not in VascuQoL scores (3.7 ± 1.4 versus 3.6 ± 1.5, p = 0.48). Target lesion revascularization occurred in 18% (n = 2) of the patients. Conclusion: OCT guided atherectomy resulted in high procedural success, no device related complications and encouraging results up to 6 months. Histological analysis suggested little injury to the media and adventitia. Larger studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of this approach. - Highlights: • OCT- guided atherectomy may yield superior patency by optimizing plaque removal and preserving the tunica media and adventitia. • OCT guided atherectomy resulted in high procedural

Immediate and intermediate-term results of optical coherence tomography guided atherectomy in the treatment of peripheral arterial disease: Initial results from the VISION trial

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cawich, Ian; Paixao, Andre R.M. [Arkansas Heart Hospital, Peripheral Vascular Institute, Little Rock, AR (United States); Marmagkiolis, Konstantinos [Citizens Memorial Heart and Vascular Institute, Bolivar, MO (United States); University of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States); Lendel, Vasili; Rodriguez-Araujo, Gerardo; Rollefson, William A.; Mego, David M. [Arkansas Heart Hospital, Peripheral Vascular Institute, Little Rock, AR (United States); Cilingiroglu, Mehmet, E-mail: Cilingiroglumehmet@gmail.com [Arkansas Heart Hospital, Peripheral Vascular Institute, Little Rock, AR (United States); Koc University, School of Medicine, Istanbul (Turkey)

2016-10-15

Background: Long-term patency rates for percutaneous peripheral arterial interventions are suboptimal. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) guided atherectomy may yield superior patency by optimizing plaque removal while preserving the tunica media and adventitia. Methods: The VISION study is a multicenter prospective study of patients with peripheral arterial disease undergoing OCT guided atherectomy with the Pantheris™ device. In 11 patients enrolled in a single center, we report procedural and clinical outcomes, at 30 days and 6 months. Results: The mean age was 63 ± 11 years and 73% (n = 8) were men. The target lesion was in the superficial femoral artery in 82% (n = 9) of the patients. Mean stenosis severity was 87% ± 10% and mean lesion length was 39 ± 31 mm. Procedural success was observed in all patients with no device related complications. Mean post-atherectomy stenosis was 18% ± 15%. Almost all excised tissue consisted of intimal plaque (94%). At 30 days, significant improvements in Rutherford class, VascuQoL scores and ABI were observed, 0.9 ± 0.8 vs. 3.1 ± 0.7 (p = 0.01), 4.9 ± 1.9 vs. 3.6 ± 1.5 (p = 0.03) and 1.04 ± 0.19 vs. 0.80 ± 0.19 (p < 0.01) respectively. At 6 months, there were significant improvements in Rutherford class (1.0 ± 1.0 vs. 3.1 ± 0.7, p = 0.01) and ABI (0.93 ± 0.19 versus 0.80 ± 0.19, p = 0.02) but not in VascuQoL scores (3.7 ± 1.4 versus 3.6 ± 1.5, p = 0.48). Target lesion revascularization occurred in 18% (n = 2) of the patients. Conclusion: OCT guided atherectomy resulted in high procedural success, no device related complications and encouraging results up to 6 months. Histological analysis suggested little injury to the media and adventitia. Larger studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of this approach. - Highlights: • OCT- guided atherectomy may yield superior patency by optimizing plaque removal and preserving the tunica media and adventitia. • OCT guided atherectomy resulted in high procedural

The Best Project: bioethanol for sustainable transport and public policies to encourage the use of ethanol; O Projeto Best: bioetanol para o transporte sustentavel e as politicas publicas de incentivo ao uso do etanol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Velazquez Gonzalez, Silvia Maria Stortini; Santos, Sandra Maria Apolinario; Moreira, Jose Roberto; Melo, Euler Hoffmann [Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Centro Nacional de Referencia em Biomassa (CENBIO), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2010-07-01

The usage of ethanol in buses is a reality in cities from Sweden, such as Stockholm. The technology of diesel bus adapted to operate with ethanol has been used in that country since 1985, with great success, mainly in the environmental point of view. With the intent of encouraging ethanol usage in urban public transportation aiming, among other goals, at the reduction of atmospheric pollution in the big urban centers, the BEST Project - BioEthanol for Sustainable Transport was created. Besides Sao Paulo (pioneer in the Americas), this project, encouraged by the European Union, counts with eight other cities located in Europe and Asia. In Brazil, the project was developed and coordinated by CENBIO - Brazilian Reference Center on Biomass, from the Electrotechnics and Energy Institute of USP. With the partnership of other institutions, the project is developed since 2007 and currently counts on two diesel buses adapted to operate with ethanol. The buses circulate in operatives from EMTU - Sao Paulo Metropolitan Company for Urban Transports, in the Jabaquara - Sao Mateus line, and in operative from SPTrans - Sao Paulo Transportations, in the Lapa - Vila Mariana corridor. This paper has as its purpose to present the BEST Project in Brazil, its partners and, mainly, the results from the demonstration tests performed in field, as well as the proposals of public policies that were elaborated and are being implemented. It is worth remembering that the technology of the buses pays attention to the EURO 5 strict emission Standards, a norm that was recently invigorated in Europe. (author)

Whistleblowing: Don’t Encourage It, Prevent It; Comment on “Cultures of Silence And Cultures of Voice: The Role Of Whistleblowing in Healthcare Organisations”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Robert MacDougall

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In a recent article, Mannion and Davies argue that there are a multitude of ways in which organizations (such as the National Health Service [NHS] can deal with wrongdoing or ethical problems, including the formation of policies that encourage and protect would-be whistleblowers. However, it is important to distinguish internal reporting about wrongdoing from whistleblowing proper, because the two are morally quite different and should not be dealt with in the same way. This article argues that we should not understand the authors’ conclusions to apply to “whistleblowing” proper, because their recommended approach would be both unfeasible and undesirable for addressing whistleblowing defined in this way.

Using Discovery Learning to Encourage Creative Thinking

OpenAIRE

Mardia Hi. Rahman

2017-01-01

Creative thinking ability development is needed to be implemented by every educator including lecturers to their students. Therefore, they need to seriously act and design their learning process. One of the ways to develop student’s creative thinking is using discovery learning model. This research is conducted in physics education study program in 2016 with students who took learning and teaching class as research subject. From the research analysis result and discussion, it can be concluded...

Phytoceramide Shows Neuroprotection and Ameliorates Scopolamine-Induced Memory Impairment

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Seikwan Oh

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The function and the role phytoceramide (PCER and phytosphingosine (PSO in the central nervous system has not been well studied. This study was aimed at investigating the possible roles of PCER and PSO in glutamate-induced neurotoxicity in cultured neuronal cells and memory function in mice. Phytoceramide showed neuro-protective activity in the glutamate-induced toxicity in cultured cortical neuronal cells. Neither phytosphingosine nor tetraacetylphytosphingosine (TAPS showed neuroproective effects in neuronal cells. PCER (50 mg/kg, p.o. recovered the scopolamine-induced reduction in step-through latency in the passive avoidance test; however, PSO did not modulate memory function on this task. The ameliorating effects of PCER on spatial memory were confirmed by the Morris water maze test. In conclusion, through behavioral and neurochemical experimental results, it was demonstrated that central administration of PCER produces amelioration of memory impairment. These results suggest that PCER plays an important role in neuroprotection and memory enhancement and PCER could be a potential new therapeutic agent for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Migraine patients consistently show abnormal vestibular bedside tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eliana Teixeira Maranhão

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Migraine and vertigo are common disorders, with lifetime prevalences of 16% and 7% respectively, and co-morbidity around 3.2%. Vestibular syndromes and dizziness occur more frequently in migraine patients. We investigated bedside clinical signs indicative of vestibular dysfunction in migraineurs.Objective To test the hypothesis that vestibulo-ocular reflex, vestibulo-spinal reflex and fall risk (FR responses as measured by 14 bedside tests are abnormal in migraineurs without vertigo, as compared with controls.Method Cross-sectional study including sixty individuals – thirty migraineurs, 25 women, 19-60 y-o; and 30 gender/age healthy paired controls.Results Migraineurs showed a tendency to perform worse in almost all tests, albeit only the Romberg tandem test was statistically different from controls. A combination of four abnormal tests better discriminated the two groups (93.3% specificity.Conclusion Migraine patients consistently showed abnormal vestibular bedside tests when compared with controls.

Germany: no, phasing out nuclear does not encourage the use of coal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-05-01

In this article, the authors show that many critics which stated that the German energy transition policy resulted in an increase of coal consumption in power plants were wrong. They first comment the evolution of greenhouse gas emissions in Germany since 1990, the evolution of electric power production by the different power plants (coal, nuclear), and by renewable energies since 2000. Thus, they outline that renewable energies compensate the loss of nuclear-based electricity production. The coal-based electricity production is also analysed and the authors notice that this production has been mainly used for power exports. They also outline that the current boom on coal in the World cannot be noticed in Germany. Thus, a progressive phasing out of coal could promote energy transition. The authors state that the momentary boom of coal is due to a relatively low rate of development and implementation of energy transition

Long-Term Surveys Show Invasive Overbite Clams (Potamocorbula amurensis are Spatially Limited in Suisun Marsh, California

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason Baumsteiger

2017-07-01

Full Text Available https://doi.org/10.15447/sfews.2017v15iss2art6The overbite clam (Potamocorbula amurensis is a major invasive species in the San Francisco Estuary, California, and has been implicated in the decline of pelagic productivity and native fish species. Little is known of its impact on Suisun Marsh, a large brackish tidal region of the estuary. We looked at the abundance and spatial distribution of clams in the marsh, including examining the influence of water quality, using long-term (1988–2015 otter trawl surveys. Temporal trends indicated that overbite clam abundance has been increasing, but adult clams were spatially restricted to a single large slough (Suisun. Clams were absent from most interior channels, limiting their overall effect on the marsh aquatic ecosystem. Abiotic variables, particularly salinity, proved important predictors of overbite clam abundance, although the variables examined alone could not explain overbite clam distributions. We propose that connectivity, detritus loads, and/or predation pressure may work in conjunction with abiotic variables to cause poor survival rates for recruits in interior marsh sites, keeping the distribution limited. Overall results are encouraging for restoration projects in brackish tidal marshes that need to deal with overbite clams.

Bonobos (Pan paniscus) show an attentional bias toward conspecifics' emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kret, Mariska E; Jaasma, Linda; Bionda, Thomas; Wijnen, Jasper G

2016-04-05

In social animals, the fast detection of group members' emotional expressions promotes swift and adequate responses, which is crucial for the maintenance of social bonds and ultimately for group survival. The dot-probe task is a well-established paradigm in psychology, measuring emotional attention through reaction times. Humans tend to be biased toward emotional images, especially when the emotion is of a threatening nature. Bonobos have rich, social emotional lives and are known for their soft and friendly character. In the present study, we investigated (i) whether bonobos, similar to humans, have an attentional bias toward emotional scenes compared with conspecifics showing a neutral expression, and (ii) which emotional behaviors attract their attention the most. As predicted, results consistently showed that bonobos' attention was biased toward the location of the emotional versus neutral scene. Interestingly, their attention was grabbed most by images showing conspecifics such as sexual behavior, yawning, or grooming, and not as much-as is often observed in humans-by signs of distress or aggression. The results suggest that protective and affiliative behaviors are pivotal in bonobo society and therefore attract immediate attention in this species.

Radon in Austrian tourist mines and show caves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ringer, W.; Graeser, J.

2009-01-01

The radon situation in tourist mines and show caves is barely investigated in Austria. This paper investigates the influence of its determining factors, such as climate, structure and geology. For this purpose, long-term time-resolved measurements over 6 to 12 months in 4 tourist mines and 2 show caves - with 5 to 9 measuring points each - have been carried out to obtain the course of radon concentration throughout the year. In addition, temperature and air-pressure were measured and compared to the data outside where available. Results suggest that the dominating factors of the average radon concentration are structure and location (geology) of the tunnel-system, whereas the diurnal and annual variation is mainly caused by the changing airflow, which is driven by the difference in temperature inside and outside. Downcast air is connected with very low radon concentrations, upcast air with high concentrations. In some locations the maximum values appear when the airflow ceases. But airflow can be different in different parts of mines and caves. Systems close to the surface show generally lower radon levels than the ones located deeper underground. Due to variation of structure, geology and local climate, the radon situation in mines and caves can only be described by simultaneous measurements at several measuring points. (orig.)

Two cases of Tolosa-Hunt syndrome showing interesting CT findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abe, Masahiro; Hara, Yuzo; Ito, Noritaka; Nishimura, Mieko; Onishi, Yoshitaka; Hasuo, Kanehiro

1982-01-01

CT showed the lesion at the orbital apex in both of the 2 cases of Tolosa-Hunt syndrome. Steroid therapy resulted in improvement of clinical symptoms and regression of the lesion which was confirmed by CT. (Chiba, N.)

Honored Teacher Shows Commitment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ratte, Kathy

1987-01-01

Part of the acceptance speech of the 1985 National Council for the Social Studies Teacher of the Year, this article describes the censorship experience of this honored social studies teacher. The incident involved the showing of a videotape version of the feature film entitled "The Seduction of Joe Tynan." (JDH)

Prospects of an alternative treatment against Trypanosoma cruzi based on abietic acid derivatives show promising results in Balb/c mouse model.

Science.gov (United States)

Olmo, F; Guardia, J J; Marin, C; Messouri, I; Rosales, M J; Urbanová, K; Chayboun, I; Chahboun, R; Alvarez-Manzaneda, E J; Sánchez-Moreno, M

2015-01-07

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoa parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is an example of extended parasitaemia with unmet medical needs. Current treatments based on old-featured benznidazole (Bz) and nifurtimox are expensive and do not fulfil the criteria of effectiveness, and a lack of toxicity devoid to modern drugs. In this work, a group of abietic acid derivatives that are chemically stable and well characterised were introduced as candidates for the treatment of Chagas disease. In vitro and in vivo assays were performed in order to test the effectiveness of these compounds. Finally, those which showed the best activity underwent additional studies in order to elucidate the possible mechanism of action. In vitro results indicated that some compounds have low toxicity (i.e. >150 μM, against Vero cell) combined with high efficacy (i.e. <20 μM) against some forms of T. cruzi. Further in vivo studies on mice models confirmed the expectations of improvements in infected mice. In vivo tests on the acute phase gave parasitaemia inhibition values higher those of Bz, and a remarkable decrease in the reactivation of parasitaemia was found in the chronic phase after immunosuppression of the mice treated with one of the compounds. The morphological alterations found in treated parasites with our derivatives confirmed extensive damage; energetic metabolism disturbances were also registered by (1)H NMR. The demonstrated in vivo activity and low toxicity, together with the use of affordable starting products and the lack of synthetic complexity, put these abietic acid derivatives in a remarkable position toward the development of an anti-Chagasic agent. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Best in show but not best shape: a photographic assessment of show dog body condition.

Science.gov (United States)

Such, Z R; German, A J

2015-08-01

Previous studies suggest that owners often wrongly perceive overweight dogs to be in normal condition. The body shape of dogs attending shows might influence owners' perceptions, with online images of overweight show winners having a negative effect. This was an observational in silico study of canine body condition. 14 obese-prone breeds and 14 matched non-obese-probe breeds were first selected, and one operator then used an online search engine to identify 40 images, per breed, of dogs that had appeared at a major national UK show (Crufts). After images were anonymised and coded, a second observer subjectively assessed body condition, in a single sitting, using a previously validated method. Of 1120 photographs initially identified, 960 were suitable for assessing body condition, with all unsuitable images being from longhaired breeds. None of the dogs (0 per cent) were underweight, 708 (74 per cent) were in ideal condition and 252 (26 per cent) were overweight. Pugs, basset hounds and Labrador retrievers were most likely to be overweight, while standard poodles, Rhodesian ridgebacks, Hungarian vizslas and Dobermanns were least likely to be overweight. Given the proportion of show dogs from some breeds that are overweight, breed standards should be redefined to be consistent with a dog in optimal body condition. British Veterinary Association.

Museum signage as distributed mediation to encourage family learning

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Kyungyoun

Many prior studies conducted in museums have focused primarily on exhibits as the main objects for learning. Less progress has been made in studying signage as another meaning-making tool in museums. The present study was designed to understand the role of signage in family learning by answering the following research questions, "How does signage about exhibit content or interaction strategies affect parents' and children's learning and their engagement?" and "What is the role of parent prior knowledge on parents' and children's learning and their engagement?" To address these questions, 45 parent-child dyads with children aged six to seven years were recruited to engage with two exhibits about cars. Fifteen parent-child dyads were assigned to each of three conditions, created by two different types of signage: (1) Content and interaction signage condition, (2) Content signage condition, and (3) No signage condition. In each condition, eight parents with low knowledge in the car domain and seven parents with high knowledge were recruited. Findings showed that parents and children learned and engaged differently across the three signage conditions. Both children and parents in the conditions with signage learned more than children and parents in the no signage condition. By using information from signage, parents in the two signage conditions were able to identify the content of the exhibit more quickly and to shape appropriate educational messages in their conversations with children. Findings also showed that parents with high knowledge were more likely to have the exhibit-focused engagement, which was often oriented to their own interpretation and not always beneficial for children's learning. However, by showing that parent-child dyads in the content and interaction signage condition were most likely to operate and observe the exhibit appropriately and most likely to describe evidence and make appropriate inferences, this study suggested that the interaction

The Interplay between Scientific Overlap and Cooperation and the Resulting Gain in Co-Authorship Interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayrose, Itay; Freilich, Shiri

2015-01-01

Considering the importance of scientific interactions, understanding the principles that govern fruitful scientific research is crucial to policy makers and scientists alike. The outcome of an interaction is to a large extent dependent on the balancing of contradicting motivations accompanying the establishment of collaborations. Here, we assembled a dataset of nearly 20,000 publications authored by researchers affiliated with ten top universities. Based on this data collection, we estimated the extent of different interaction types between pairwise combinations of researchers. We explored the interplay between the overlap in scientific interests and the tendency to collaborate, and associated these estimates with measures of scientific quality and social accessibility aiming at studying the typical resulting gain of different interaction patterns. Our results show that scientists tend to collaborate more often with colleagues with whom they share moderate to high levels of mutual interests and knowledge while cooperative tendency declines at higher levels of research-interest overlap, suggesting fierce competition, and at the lower levels, suggesting communication gaps. Whereas the relative number of alliances dramatically differs across a gradient of research overlap, the scientific impact of the resulting articles remains similar. When considering social accessibility, we find that though collaborations between remote researchers are relatively rare, their quality is significantly higher than studies produced by close-circle scientists. Since current collaboration patterns do not necessarily overlap with gaining optimal scientific quality, these findings should encourage scientists to reconsider current collaboration strategies.

The Interplay between Scientific Overlap and Cooperation and the Resulting Gain in Co-Authorship Interactions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Itay Mayrose

Full Text Available Considering the importance of scientific interactions, understanding the principles that govern fruitful scientific research is crucial to policy makers and scientists alike. The outcome of an interaction is to a large extent dependent on the balancing of contradicting motivations accompanying the establishment of collaborations. Here, we assembled a dataset of nearly 20,000 publications authored by researchers affiliated with ten top universities. Based on this data collection, we estimated the extent of different interaction types between pairwise combinations of researchers. We explored the interplay between the overlap in scientific interests and the tendency to collaborate, and associated these estimates with measures of scientific quality and social accessibility aiming at studying the typical resulting gain of different interaction patterns. Our results show that scientists tend to collaborate more often with colleagues with whom they share moderate to high levels of mutual interests and knowledge while cooperative tendency declines at higher levels of research-interest overlap, suggesting fierce competition, and at the lower levels, suggesting communication gaps. Whereas the relative number of alliances dramatically differs across a gradient of research overlap, the scientific impact of the resulting articles remains similar. When considering social accessibility, we find that though collaborations between remote researchers are relatively rare, their quality is significantly higher than studies produced by close-circle scientists. Since current collaboration patterns do not necessarily overlap with gaining optimal scientific quality, these findings should encourage scientists to reconsider current collaboration strategies.

Female Emotional Eaters Show Abnormalities in Consummatory and Anticipatory Food Reward

Science.gov (United States)

Bohon, Cara; Stice, Eric; Spoor, Sonja

2009-01-01

Objective To test the hypothesis that emotional eaters show greater neural activation in response to food intake and anticipated food intake than nonemotional eaters and whether these differences are amplified during a negative versus neutral mood state. Method Female emotional eaters and nonemotional eaters (N = 21) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during receipt and anticipated receipt of chocolate milkshake and a tasteless control solution while in a negative and neutral mood. Results Emotional eaters showed greater activation in the parahippocampal gyrus and anterior cingulate (ACC) in response to anticipated receipt of milkshake and greater activation in the pallidum, thalamus, and ACC in response to receipt of milkshake during a negative relative to a neutral mood. In contrast, nonemotional eaters showed decreased activation in reward regions during a negative versus a neutral mood. Discussion Results suggest that emotional eating is related to increased anticipatory and consummatory food reward, but only during negative mood. PMID:19040270

Advanced stellar compass deep space navigation, ground testing results

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Betto, Maurizio; Jørgensen, John Leif; Jørgensen, Peter Siegbjørn

2006-01-01

Deep space exploration is in the agenda of the major space agencies worldwide and at least the European Space Agency (SMART & Aurora Programs) and the American NASA (New Millennium Program) have set up programs to allow the development and the demonstration of technologies that can reduce the risks...... and the costs of the deep space missions. Navigation is the Achilles' heel of deep space. Being performed on ground, it imposes considerable constraints on the system and the operations, it is very expensive to execute, especially when the mission lasts several years and, above all, it is not failure tolerant...... to determine the orbit of a spacecraft autonomously, on-board and without any a priori knowledge of any kind. The solution is robust, elegant and fast. This paper presents the preliminary performances obtained during the ground tests. The results are very positive and encouraging....

Ideas, actors and institutions: lessons from South Australian Health in All Policies on what encourages other sectors’ involvement

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Fran Baum

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This paper examines the extent to which actors from sectors other than health engaged with the South Australian Health in All Policies (HiAP initiative, determines why they were prepared to do so and explains the mechanisms by which successful engagement happened. This examination applies theories of policy development and implementation. Methods The paper draws on a five year study of the implementation of HiAP comprising document analysis, a log of key events, detailed interviews with 64 policy actors and two surveys of public servants. Results The findings are analysed within an institutional policy analysis framework and examine the extent to which ideas, institutional factors and actor agency influenced the willingness of actors from other sectors to work with Health sector staff under the HiAP initiative. In terms of ideas, there was wide acceptance of the role of social determinants in shaping health and the importance of action to promote health in all government agencies. The institutional environment was initially supportive, but support waned over the course of the study when the economy in South Australia became less buoyant and a health minister less supportive of health promotion took office. The existence of a HiAP Unit was very helpful for gaining support from other sectors. A new Public Health Act offered some promise of institutionalising the HiAP approach and ideas. The analysis concludes that a key factor was the operation of a supportive network of public servants who promoted HiAP, including some who were senior and influential. Conclusions The South Australian case study demonstrates that despite institutional constraints and shifting political support within the health sector, HiAP gained traction in other sectors. The key factors that encouraged the commitment of others sectors to HiAP were the existence of a supportive, knowledgeable policy network, political support, institutionalisation of the

Encouraging Teenagers to Improve Speaking Skills through Games in a Colombian Public School

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William Urrutia León

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Our project was implemented with tenth grade students of a public school located in the Usme Zone in Bogotá. We decided to develop this action research project because we were concerned about our students' difficulties when attempting to speak English. They felt inhibited with activities that involved oral interaction mainly because they were afraid of criticism and jokes about what they said. To develop our project we used video recordings, the teacher's journal and questionnaires answered by the students. The results showed that students felt better, free and confident when they participated in oral tasks, particularly during games. We saw collaboration, solidarity and interaction among them. In addition, they were relaxed and happy at the time they had to perform in small groups.

eHealth Literacy: Patient Engagement in Identifying Strategies to Encourage Use of Patient Portals Among Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Price-Haywood, Eboni G; Harden-Barrios, Jewel; Ulep, Robin; Luo, Qingyang

2017-12-01

Innovations in chronic disease management are growing rapidly as advancements in technology broaden the scope of tools. Older adults are less likely to be willing or able to use patient portals or smartphone apps for health-related tasks. The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey of older adults (ages ≥50) with hypertension or diabetes to examine relationships between portal usage, interest in health-tracking tools, and eHealth literacy, and to solicit practical solutions to encourage technology adoption. Among 247 patients surveyed in a large integrated delivery health system between August 2015 and January 2016, eHealth literacy was positively associated with portal usage (OR [95% CI]: 1.3 [1.2-1.5]) and interest in health-tracking tools (1.2 [1.1-1.3]). Portal users compared to nonusers (N = 137 vs.110) had higher rates of interest in using websites/smartphone apps to track blood pressure (55% vs. 36%), weight (53% vs. 35%), exercise (53% vs. 32%), or medication (46% vs 33%, all P marketing initiatives that capture patient stories demonstrating real-life applications of what patients can do with digital technology, how to use it, and why it may be useful. Health systems also must screen for eHealth literacy, provide training, promote proxy users, and institute quality assurance that ensures patients' experiences will not vary across the system.

Ultrasonography-guided core needle biopsy for the thyroid nodule: does the procedure hold any benefit for the diagnosis when fine-needle aspiration cytology analysis shows inconclusive results?

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, S Y; Han, B-K; Ko, E Y; Ko, E S

2013-01-01

Objective: We evaluated the diagnostic role of ultrasonography-guided core needle biopsy (CNB) according to ultrasonography features of thyroid nodules that had inconclusive ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) results. Methods: A total of 88 thyroid nodules in 88 patients who underwent ultrasonography-guided CNB because of previous inconclusive FNA results were evaluated. The patients were classified into three groups based on ultrasonography findings: Group A, which was suspicious for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC); Group B, which was suspicious for follicular (Hurthle cell) neoplasm; and Group C, which was suspicious for lymphoma. The final diagnoses of the thyroid nodules were determined by surgical confirmation or follow-up after ultrasonography-guided CNB. Results: Of the 88 nodules, the malignant rate was 49.1% in Group A, 12.0% in Group B and 90.0% in Group C. The rates of conclusive ultrasonography-guided CNB results after previous incomplete ultrasonography-guided FNA results were 96.2% in Group A, 64.0% in Group B and 90.0% in Group C (p=0.001). 12 cases with inconclusive ultrasonography-guided CNB results were finally diagnosed as 8 benign lesions, 3 PTCs and 1 lymphoma. The number of previous ultrasonography-guided FNA biopsies was not significantly different between the conclusive and the inconclusive result groups of ultrasonography-guided CNB (p=0.205). Conclusion: Ultrasonography-guided CNB has benefit for the diagnosis of thyroid nodules with inconclusive ultrasonography-guided FNA results. However, it is still not helpful for the differential diagnosis in 36% of nodules that are suspicious for follicular neoplasm seen on ultrasonography. Advances in knowledge: This study shows the diagnostic contribution of ultrasonography-guided CNB as an alternative to repeat ultrasonography-guided FNA or surgery. PMID:23564885

Preliminary results on application of the multiple-scattering technique to electron--molecule scattering and molecular photoionization: the PI/sub g/ resonance in e-N2 scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dehmer, J.L.; Dill, D.

1974-01-01

A prototype calculation of the well-known 2.5-eV shape resonance in e-N 2 scattering was performed to test the usefulness of the multiple-scattering method for electronic continuum molecular wavefunctions. The results of this demanding test are very encouraging. (U.S.)

Spatial Heterodyne Observation of Water (SHOW) from a high altitude aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Bourassa, A. E.; Langille, J.; Solheim, B.; Degenstein, D. A.; Letros, D.; Lloyd, N. D.; Loewen, P.

2017-12-01

The Spatial Heterodyne Observations of Water instrument (SHOW) is limb-sounding satellite prototype that is being developed in collaboration between the University of Saskatchewan, York University, the Canadian Space Agency and ABB. The SHOW instrument combines a field-widened SHS with an imaging system to observe limb-scattered sunlight in a vibrational band of water (1363 nm - 1366 nm). Currently, the instrument has been optimized for deployment on NASA's ER-2 aircraft. Flying at an altitude of 70, 000 ft the ER-2 configuration and SHOW viewing geometry provides high spatial resolution (limb-measurements of water vapor in the Upper troposphere and lower stratosphere region. During an observation campaign from July 15 - July 22, the SHOW instrument performed 10 hours of observations from the ER-2. This paper describes the SHOW measurement technique and presents the preliminary analysis and results from these flights. These observations are used to validate the SHOW measurement technique and demonstrate the sampling capabilities of the instrument.

Ancient bacteria show evidence of DNA repair

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johnson, Sarah Stewart; Hebsgaard, Martin B; Christensen, Torben R

2007-01-01

-term survival of bacteria sealed in frozen conditions for up to one million years. Our results show evidence of bacterial survival in samples up to half a million years in age, making this the oldest independently authenticated DNA to date obtained from viable cells. Additionally, we find strong evidence...... geological timescales. There has been no direct evidence in ancient microbes for the most likely mechanism, active DNA repair, or for the metabolic activity necessary to sustain it. In this paper, we couple PCR and enzymatic treatment of DNA with direct respiration measurements to investigate long...... that this long-term survival is closely tied to cellular metabolic activity and DNA repair that over time proves to be superior to dormancy as a mechanism in sustaining bacteria viability....

Bilateral femoral neck fractures resulting from pregnancy-associated osteoporosis showed bone marrow edema on magnetic resonance imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Kasahara, Kyoko; Kita, Nobuyuki; Kawasaki, Taku; Morisaki, Shinsuke; Yomo, Hiroko; Murakami, Takashi

2017-06-01

Femoral neck fractures resulting from pregnancy-associated osteoporosis is a rare condition. Herein, we report an undoubted case of pregnancy-associated osteoporosis in a 38-year-old primiparous patient with pre-existing anorexia nervosa who suffered bilateral femoral neck fractures in the third trimester and early post-partum period. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed femoral neck fractures as well as diffuse marrow edema involving both femoral heads, which are considered under ordinary circumstances as characteristic imaging findings of transient osteoporosis of the hip. Based on our experience, we propose that pregnancy-associated osteoporosis might be present in femoral neck fractures attributed to transient osteoporosis of the hip in pregnancy. Conversely, bone status should be carefully and accurately estimated in cases of potential transient osteoporosis of the hip in pregnancy to reduce future fracture risk. © 2017 The Authors Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Pharmacy Instruction in Medical Oncology: Results of a National Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Cersosimo, Robert J.

1989-01-01

A survey concerning oncology instruction in pharmacy schools found it taught primarily as part of a course in medicinal chemistry/pharmacology or therapeutics. Twenty-one schools offer an oncology course, with others planning them. Oncology clerkships are currently available in 42 schools. Increased emphasis on oncology instruction is encouraged.…

Results-Based Financing in Mozambique's Central Medical Store: A Review After 1 Year.

Science.gov (United States)

Spisak, Cary; Morgan, Lindsay; Eichler, Rena; Rosen, James; Serumaga, Brian; Wang, Angela

2016-03-01

Public health commodity supply chains are typically weak in low-income countries, partly because they have many disparate yet interdependent functions and components. Approaches to strengthening supply chains in such settings have often fallen short-they address technical weaknesses, but not the incentives that motivate staff to perform better. We reviewed the first year of a results-based financing (RBF) program in Mozambique, which began in January 2013. The program aimed to improve the performance of the central medical store-Central de Medicamentos e Artigos Medicos (CMAM)-by realigning incentives. We completed in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 33 key informants, including representatives from CMAM and donor agencies, and collected quantitative data on performance measures and use of funds. The RBF agreement linked CMAM performance payments to quarterly results on 5 performance indicators related to supply planning, distribution planning, and warehouse management. RBF is predicated on the theory that a combination of carrot and stick-i.e., shared financial incentives, plus increased accountability for results-will spur changes in behavior. Important design elements: (1) indicators were measured against quarterly targets, and payments were made only for indicators that met those targets; (2) targets were set based on documented performance, at levels that could be reasonably attained, yet pushed for improvement; (3) payment was shared with and dependent on all staff, encouraging teamwork and collaboration; (4) results were validated by verifiable data sources; and (5) CMAM had discretion over how to use the funds. We found that CMAM's performance continually improved over baseline and that CMAM achieved many of its performance targets, for example, timely submission of quarterly supply and distribution planning reports. Warehouse indicators, such as inventory management and order fulfillment, proved more challenging but were nonetheless

Reality show: um paradoxo nietzschiano

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilana Feldman

2011-01-01

Full Text Available

O fenômeno dos reality shows - e a subseqüente relação entre imagem e verdade - assenta-se sobre uma série de paradoxos. Tais paradoxos podem ser compreendidos à luz do pensamento do filósofo alemão Friedrich Nietzsche, que, através dos usos de formulações paradoxais, concebia a realidade como um mundo de pura aparência e a verdade como um acréscimo ficcional, como um efeito. A ficção é então tomada, na filosofia de Nietzsche, não em seu aspecto falsificante e desrealizador - como sempre pleiteou nossa tradição metafísica -, mas como condição necessária para que certa espécie de invenção possa operar como verdade. Sendo assim, a própria expressão reality show, através de sua formulação paradoxal, engendra explicitamente um mundo de pura aparência, em que a verdade, a parte reality da proposição, é da ordem do suplemento, daquilo que se acrescenta ficcionalmente - como um adjetivo - a show. O ornamento, nesse caso, passa a ocupar o lugar central, apontando para o efeito produzido: o efeito-de-verdade. Seguindo, então, o pensamento nietzschiano e sua atualização na contemporaneidade, investigaremos de que forma os televisivos “shows de realidade” operam paradoxalmente, em consonância com nossas paradoxais práticas culturais.

Myopes show increased susceptibility to nearwork aftereffects.

Science.gov (United States)

Ciuffreda, K J; Wallis, D M

1998-09-01

Some aspects of accommodation may be slightly abnormal (or different) in myopes, compared with accommodation in emmetropes and hyperopes. For example, the initial magnitude of accommodative adaptation in the dark after nearwork is greatest in myopes. However, the critical test is to assess this initial accommodative aftereffect and its subsequent decay in the light under more natural viewing conditions with blur-related visual feedback present, if a possible link between this phenomenon and clinical myopia is to be considered. Subjects consisted of adult late- (n = 11) and early-onset (n = 13) myopes, emmetropes (n = 11), and hyperopes (n = 9). The distance-refractive state was assessed objectively using an autorefractor immediately before and after a 10-minute binocular near task at 20 cm (5 diopters [D]). Group results showed that myopes were most susceptible to the nearwork aftereffect. It averaged 0.35 D in initial magnitude, with considerably faster posttask decay to baseline in the early-onset (35 seconds) versus late-onset (63 seconds) myopes. There was no myopic aftereffect in the remaining two refractive groups. The myopes showed particularly striking accommodatively related nearwork aftereffect susceptibility. As has been speculated and found by many others, transient pseudomyopia may cause or be a precursor to permanent myopia or myopic progression. Time-integrated increased retinal defocus causing axial elongation is proposed as a possible mechanism.

Target salt 2025: a global overview of national programs to encourage the food industry to reduce salt in foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Webster, Jacqui; Trieu, Kathy; Dunford, Elizabeth; Hawkes, Corinna

2014-08-21

Reducing population salt intake has been identified as a priority intervention to reduce non-communicable diseases. Member States of the World Health Organization have agreed to a global target of a 30% reduction in salt intake by 2025. In countries where most salt consumed is from processed foods, programs to engage the food industry to reduce salt in products are being developed. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of national initiatives to encourage the food industry to reduce salt. A systematic review of the literature was supplemented by key informant questionnaires to inform categorization of the initiatives. Fifty nine food industry salt reduction programs were identified. Thirty eight countries had targets for salt levels in foods and nine countries had introduced legislation for some products. South Africa and Argentina have both introduced legislation limiting salt levels across a broad range of foods. Seventeen countries reported reductions in salt levels in foods-the majority in bread. While these trends represent progress, many countries have yet to initiate work in this area, others are at early stages of implementation and further monitoring is required to assess progress towards achieving the global target.

TANDEM - French-German cooperation for local energy transition. 2014-2017 results, 2017-2019 prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turfin, Anne; Maurer, Christiane; Schilken, Peter; Mouchard, Claire; Coquio, Rozenn; Kynast, Helmi

2016-11-01

The simultaneous implementation of the 'Transition energetique' process in France and of the 'Energiewende' process in Germany has resulted in the signature of a number of cooperation agreements between the two States. Since both these energy transition processes are largely based on decentralising energy supplies, close local authority cooperation looks promising. The TANDEM project is jointly led by two local authority networks, Energy Cities and Klima-Buendnis, with co-funding from ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) and UBA (German Federal Environment Agency). The TANDEM project provides French and German local authorities with a unique opportunity to share information and cooperate on climate protection issues in order to: provide improved mutual understanding of the situation, challenges and framework of climate and energy policies; encourage exchanges on the obstacles and leverages impeding or fostering the attainment of ambitious energy and climate objectives and encourage knowledge transfer; boost close cooperation between local authorities from both countries, involving local stakeholders and citizens; implement the first stages of cooperation projects during the lifetime of the TANDEM project and lay solid foundations for long-term cooperation; relay local authorities' claims and concerns at both national and European levels, aimed at providing them with greater latitude and freedom of action. Approaches specific to each country have been developed to promote energy transition at the local level. A comparative analysis of existing practices, tools and experiences involving research work and interviews will be conducted and made available to the participating authorities as well as to national organisations. This analysis will be used by national organisations to develop and enhance their action and by local authorities to improve mutual understanding during their discussions. Cooperation projects aimed at implementing energy

Non-declarative sequence learning does not show savings in relearning.

Science.gov (United States)

Keisler, Aysha; Willingham, Daniel T

2007-04-01

Researchers have utilized the savings in relearning paradigm in a variety of settings since Ebbinghaus developed the tool over a century ago. In spite of its widespread use, we do not yet understand what type(s) of memory are measurable by savings. Specifically, can savings measure both declarative and non-declarative memories? The lack of conscious recollection of the encoded material in some studies indicates that non-declarative memories may show savings effects, but as all studies to date have used declarative tasks, we cannot be certain. Here, we administer a non-declarative task and then measure savings in relearning the material declaratively. Our results show that while material outside of awareness may show savings effects, non-declarative sequence memory does not. These data highlight the important distinction between memory without awareness and non-declarative memory.

Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty of Dysplastic Stenoses of the Renal Artery: Results on 70 Adults

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fraissinette, Bruno de; Garcier, Jean Marc; Dieu, Valerie; Mofid, Reza; Ravel, Anne; Boire, Jean Yves; Boyer, Louis

2003-01-01

Purpose: Retrospective analysis of the dilatation (PTRA) of renal arterial dysplastic stenosis (RADS). Methods: Seventy patients suffering from hypertension (87RADS) were treated at our institution for medial (83%) or non-classified fibrodysplasias (17%). Four patients suffered from renal insufficiency. Two endoprostheses were implanted. We evaluated blood pressure with the USCSRH criteria and renal insufficiency with the Martin criteria. Results: Ninety-five percent technical success and 87.9% clinical success for blood pressure were obtained, with worse results for patients older than 57 years or with a history of hypertension greater than 9 years. Results were better when the RADS was responsible for an ipsilateral renal atrophy or for poorly controlled hypertension. No renal insufficiency worsened during the follow-up. Conclusion: PTRA is a first-line treatment for renovascular hypertension caused by RADS. The results were encouraging despite a high average age of the subjects and frequent associated extrarenal vascular lesions

Alternative Fuels Data Center: City of Chicago Program Encourages Petroleum

Science.gov (United States)

lacked the funds to support such a project, but officials worked with the Chicago Area Clean Cities (CACC networking opportunities. This photo shows a parked compressed natural gas van the City of Chicago's fleet Infrastructure: 11 private E85 fueling stations Related Links Ethanol Natural Gas Chicago Area Clean Cities

Rationale and study protocol of the EASY Minds (Encouraging Activity to Stimulate Young Minds) program: cluster randomized controlled trial of a primary school-based physical activity integration program for mathematics

OpenAIRE

Riley, Nicholas; Lubans, David R; Holmes, Kathryn; Morgan, Philip J

2014-01-01

Background Novel strategies are required to increase school-based physical activity levels of children. Integrating physical activity in mathematics lessons may lead to improvements in students’ physical activity levels as well as enjoyment, engagement and learning. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of a curriculum-based physical activity integration program known as EASY Minds (Encouraging Activity to Stimulate Young Minds) on children’s daily school time physical activ...

Encouraging Students to Engage with Native Speakers during Study Abroad

Science.gov (United States)

Cadd, Marc

2012-01-01

Students, their parents, and educators trust that a study-abroad experience is the best way to increase linguistic proficiency. The professional literature, however, shows a much more complex picture. Gains in linguistic proficiency appear to depend on variables such as whether the students experience a homestay or dormitory, the length of time…

Effects of eHealth physical activity encouragement in adolescents with complex congenital heart disease: The PReVaiL randomized clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Klausen, Susanne Hwiid; Andersen, Lars L; Søndergaard, Lars; Jakobsen, Janus Christian; Zoffmann, Vibeke; Dideriksen, Kasper; Kruse, Anne; Mikkelsen, Ulla Ramer; Wetterslev, Jørn

2016-10-15

To assess benefit and harms of adding an eHealth intervention to health education and individual counseling in adolescents with congenital heart disease. Randomized clinical trial. Denmark. A total of 158 adolescents aged 13-16years with no physical activity restrictions after repaired complex congenital heart disease. PReVaiL consisted of individually tailored eHealth encouragement physical activity for 52weeks. All patients received 45min of group-based health education and 15min of individual counseling involving patients' parents. The primary outcome was maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 peak) at 52weeks after randomization. The secondary outcome was physical activity. Exploratory outcomes were generic and disease-specific questionnaires. In the intervention group, 58 patients (72%) completed the final test, but of those, only 46 (57%) fulfilled the compliance criteria of using the eHealth application for at least 2 consecutive weeks. In the control group, 61 patients (79%) completed both exercise tests. Adjusted for baseline values, the difference between the intervention group and the control group in mean VO2 peak at 1year was -0.65ml·kg(-1)·min(-1) (95% CI -2.66 to 1.36). Between-group differences at 1year in physical activity, generic health-related quality of life, and disease-specific quality of life were not statistically significant. Adding a tailored eHealth intervention to health education and individual counseling did not affect outcomes among adolescents with congenital heart disease. Our results do not support the use of this eHealth intervention in adolescents with complex congenital heart disease. Clinical trials.gov identifier: NCT01189981. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adopting customers' empowerment and social networks to encourage participations in e-health services.

Science.gov (United States)

Anshari, Muhammad; Almunawar, Mohammad Nabil; Low, Patrick Kim Cheng; Wint, Zaw; Younis, Mustafa Z

2013-01-01

The aim of this article is to present an e-health model that embeds empowerment and social network intervention that may extend the role of customers in health care settings. A 25-item Likert-type survey instrument was specifically developed for this study and administered to a sample of 108 participants in Indonesia from October to November 2012. The data were analyzed to provide ideas on how to move forward with the e-health initiative as a means to improve e-health services. The survey revealed that there is a high demand for customers' empowerment and involvement in social networks to improve their health literacy and customer satisfaction. Regardless of the limitations of the study, the participants have responded with great support for the abilities of the prototype systems drawn from the survey. The survey results were used as requirements to develop a system prototype that incorporates the expectations of the people. The prototype (namely Clinic 2.0) was derived from the model and confirmed from the survey. Participants were selected to use the system for three months, after which we measured its impact towards their health literacy and customer satisfaction. The results show that the system intervention through Clinic 2.0 leads to a high level of customer satisfaction and health literacy.

Interventions to encourage smoke-free homes in remote indigenous Australian communities: a study protocol to evaluate the effects of a community-inspired awareness-raising and motivational enhancement strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Clough, Alan R; Grant, Kristy; Robertson, Jan; Wrigley, Matthew; Nichols, Nina; Fitzgibbon, Tracey

2018-01-01

Introduction Rates of secondhand smoke exposure are currently significantly higher among remote indigenous communities in the top end of Australia. By implementing a ‘smoke-free home’ rule, secondhand smoke exposure can be reduced. Smoke-free homes encourage quit attempts and improve the health of children. The prevalence of indigenous smoking rates in remote, discrete communities in Australia is elevated compared with their non-indigenous counterparts. The primary aim of this project is to examine the feasibility of conducting a health-driven intervention to encourage community members to make their homes a smoke-free zone. Methods and analysis This study uses mixed-methods exploratory evaluation design to obtain data from key informants and community householders to assess their willingness to implement a ‘smoke-free’ rule in their homes. Initial focus groups will provide guidance on intervention content and deliver evaluation procedures and community requirements. A rapid survey will be conducted to ascertain interest from community members in having the project team visit to discuss study objectives further and to have a particle meter (with consent) placed in the house. Focus groups recordings will be transcribed and analysed thematically. Rapid surveys will be analysed using frequency distributions and tabulations of responses. Ethics and dissemination The National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines on ethical research approaches to indigenous studies will be adhered to. The James Cook University Human Research Ethics Committee has provided ethics approval. PMID:29500205

Mars Methane at Gale Crater Shows Strong Seasonal Cycle: Updated Results from TLS-SAM on Curiosity

Science.gov (United States)

Webster, C. R.; Mahaffy, P. R.; Atreya, S. K.; Flesch, G.; Malespin, C.; McKay, C.; Martinez, G.; Moores, J.; Smith, C. L.; Martin-Torres, F. J.; Gomez-Elvira, J.; Zorzano, M. P.; Wong, M. H.; Trainer, M. G.; Eigenbrode, J. L.; Glavin, D. P.; Steele, A.; Archer, D., Jr.; Sutter, B.; Coll, P. J.; Freissinet, C.; Meslin, P. Y.; Pavlov, A.; Keymeulen, D.; Christensen, L. E.; Gough, R. V.; Schwenzer, S. P.; Navarro-Gonzalez, R.; Pla-García, J.; Rafkin, S. C.; Vicente-Retortillo, Á.; Kahanpää, H.; Viudez-Moreiras, D.; Smith, M. D.; Harri, A. M.; Genzer, M.; Hassler, D.; Lemmon, M. T.; Crisp, J. A.; Zurek, R. W.; Vasavada, A. R.

2017-12-01

In situ measurements of atmospheric methane have been made over a 5-year period at Gale Crater on Mars using the Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS) instrument in the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite on the Curiosity rover. We report two important observations: (i) a background level of mean value of 0.41 ±0.11 (2sem) that is about 5 times lower than some model predictions based on generation from UV degradation of micro-meteorites or interplanetary dust delivered to the martian surface; (ii) "spikes" of elevated levels of 7 ppbv attributed to episodic releases from small local sources, probably to the north of Gale crater1. Reports of plumes, patches or episodic releases of methane in the Martian atmosphere have to date eluded explanation in part because of their lack of repeatability in time or location. Our in situ measurements of the background methane levels exhibit a strong, repeatable seasonal variability. The amplitude of the observed seasonal cycle is 3 times greater than both that expected from the annual sublimation and freezing of polar carbon dioxide and that expected from methane production from ultraviolet (UV) degradation of exogenously-delivered surface material. The observed large seasonal variation in the background, and sporadic observations of higher pulses of 7 ppbv appear consistent with localized small sources of methane release from Martian surface reservoirs that may be occurring throughout the planet. We will present our updated data set, correlations of Mars methane with various other measurements from SAM, REMS, RAD and ChemCam instruments on Curiosity, as well as empirical models of UV surface insolation, and provide preliminary interpretation of results. 1 "Mars Methane Detection and Variability at Gale Crater", C. R. Webster et al., Science, 347, 415-417 (2015) and references therein. The research described here was carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the

Children show limited movement repertoire when learning a novel motor skill.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Mei-Hua; Farshchiansadegh, Ali; Ranganathan, Rajiv

2017-09-27

Examining age differences in motor learning using real-world tasks is often problematic due to task novelty and biomechanical confounds. Here, we investigated how children and adults acquire a novel motor skill in a virtual environment. Participants of three different age groups (9-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and adults) learned to use their upper body movements to control a cursor on a computer screen. Results showed that 9-year-old and 12-year-old children showed poorer ability to control the cursor at the end of practice. Critically, when we investigated the movement coordination, we found that the lower task performance of children was associated with limited exploration of their movement repertoire. These results reveal the critical role of motor exploration in understanding developmental differences in motor learning. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Encouraging Creativity in Mathematics and Science through Photography

Science.gov (United States)

Munakata, Mika; Vaidya, Ashwin

2012-01-01

Based on the results of a survey of the science and mathematics students at our university, we observed that students do not consider mathematics and science to be creative endeavors, though the traditional artistic disciplines rank high in this regard. To address this problem in perception, the authors used photography as a means to encourage…

Perceptions about Forest Schools: Encouraging and Promoting Archimedes Forest Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Nawaz, Haq; Blackwell, Sarah

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to find out parents' and children's perception of outdoor learning programmes with specific reference to Archimedes Forest Schools, known as Forest Schools. A review of existing research showed that there had been no rigorous evaluation of perception of forest schools. The study was conducted in the UK and mixed method…

The Role of Healthcare Professionals in Encouraging Parents to See and Hold Their Stillborn Baby: A Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Kingdon, Carol; O’Donnell, Emer; Givens, Jennifer; Turner, Mark

2015-01-01

Background Globally, during 2013 there were three million recorded stillbirths. Where clinical guidelines exist some recommend that professionals do not encourage parental contact. The guidance is based on quantitative evidence that seeing and holding the baby is not beneficial for everyone, but has been challenged by bereaved parents' organisations. We aim to inform future guideline development through a synthesis of qualitative studies reporting data relevant to the research question; how does the approach of healthcare professionals to seeing and holding the baby following stillbirth impact parents views and experiences? Methods/Findings Using a predetermined search strategy of PubMed and PsychINFO we identified robust qualitative studies reporting bereaved parental views and/or experiences relating to seeing and holding their stillborn baby (final search 24 February, 2014). Eligible studies were English language, reporting parental views, with gestational loss >20weeks. Quality was independently assessed by three authors using a validated tool. We used meta-ethnographic techniques to identify key themes and a line of argument synthesis. We included 12 papers, representing the views of 333 parents (156 mothers, 150 fathers, and 27 couples) from six countries. The final themes were: "[Still]birth: Nature of care is paramount", "Real babies: Perfect beauties, monsters and spectres", and "Opportunity of a lifetime lost." Our line-of-argument synthesis highlights the contrast between all parents need to know their baby, with the time around birth being the only time memories can be made, and the variable ability that parents have to articulate their preferences at that time. Thus, we hypothesised that how health professionals approach contact between parents and their stillborn baby demands a degree of active management. An important limitation of this paper is all included studies originated from high income, westernised countries raising questions about the

Harmonisation of seven common enzyme results through EQA.

Science.gov (United States)

Weykamp, Cas; Franck, Paul; Gunnewiek, Jacqueline Klein; de Jonge, Robert; Kuypers, Aldy; van Loon, Douwe; Steigstra, Herman; Cobbaert, Christa

2014-11-01

Equivalent results between different laboratories enable optimal patient care and can be achieved with harmonisation. We report on EQA-initiated national harmonisation of seven enzymes using commutable samples. EQA samples were prepared from human serum spiked with human recombinant enzymes. Target values were assigned with the IFCC Reference Measurement Procedures. The same samples were included at four occasions in the EQA programmes of 2012 and 2013. Laboratories were encouraged to report IFCC traceable results. A parallel study was done to confirm commutability of the samples. Of the 223 participating laboratories, 95% reported IFCC traceable results, ranging from 98% (ASAT) to 87% (amylase). Users of Roche and Siemens (97%) more frequently reported in IFCC traceable results than users of Abbott (91%), Beckman (90%), and Olympus (87%). The success of harmonisation, expressed as the recovery of assigned values and the inter-laboratory CV was: ALAT (recovery 100%; inter-lab CV 4%), ASAT (102%; 4%), LD (98%; 3%), CK (101%; 5%), GGT (98%; 4%), AP (96%; 6%), amylase (99%; 4%). There were no significant differences between the manufacturers. Commutability was demonstrated in the parallel study. Equal results in the same sample in the 2012 and 2013 EQA programmes demonstrated stability of the samples. The EQA-initiated national harmonisation of seven enzymes, using stable, commutable human serum samples, spiked with human recombinant enzymes, and targeted with the IFCC Reference Measurement Procedures, was successful in terms of implementation of IFCC traceable results (95%), recovery of the target (99%), and inter-laboratory CV (4%).

Early results from the Whisper instrument on Cluster: An overview

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Decreau, P.M.E.; Fergeau, P.; Krasnoselskikh, V.

2001-01-01

The Whisper instrument yields two data sets: (i) the electron density determined via the relaxation sounder, and (ii) the spectrum of natural plasma emissions in the frequency band 2-80 kHz. Both data sets allow for the three-dimensional exploration of the magnetosphere by the Cluster mission...... the drift velocity of density structures. Wave observations are also of crucial interest for studying small-scale structures, as demonstrated in an example in the fore-shock region. Early results from the Whisper instrument are very encouraging, and demonstrate that the four-point Cluster measurements...... largely overcomes the limited telemetry allocation. The natural emissions are usually related to the plasma frequency, as identified by the sounder, and the combination of an active sounding operation and a passive survey operation provides a time resolution for the total density determination of 2.2 s...

Encouraging private sector investment in climatefriendly technologies in developing countries. An assessment of policy options for the Dutch government

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Rooijen, S.N.M.; Van Wees, M.T.

2006-10-01

This study aims to explore new or reformed policies to be adopted by the Dutch government to encourage private sector investments in climate-friendly technologies in developing countries. A literature review of barriers to climate-friendly investments and of directions for solutions has been complemented with a number of in-depth interviews with stakeholders representing the major actors involved in investment projects (project sponsors, financing institutions, institutional investors and government). The barrier analysis has resulted in the following list of key obstacles to climate-friendly investments: (1) Lack of a sound, transparent and stable enabling environment for investing in developing countries; (2) Shortage of experienced and creditworthy sponsors; (3) High specific project risks; (4) Overestimation investment risks related to (sustainable) investments in developing countries in general (risk perspective); (5) Additional costs of climate-friendly technologies; (6) Shortage of risk capital; (7) Insufficient guarantee mechanisms; (8) Lack of know-how on public-private partnership structures and on financial design; and (9) Lack of insight how corporate social responsibility can be operationalised. Four main gaps have been identified on the basis of an assessment of current Dutch policies and instruments: (1) Shortage of instruments to directly promote investments; (2) Underdeveloped guarantee instruments; (3) Too restrictive cap on project size in financial schemes; (4) Lack of support in operationalising the concept of corporate social responsibility. Four areas for new or intensified policies have been identified based on the barrier and gap analysis: (1) Direct promotion of (potentially large scale) investments, including: (a) Supporting (the establishment of) sponsor companies developing sustainable energy projects in developing countries; (b) Making risk capital available; (c) Creating investment credit facilities; (d) Making development capital in

Teach them to Fly: Strategies for Encouraging Active Online Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen HARDIN

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Teach them to Fly: Strategies for Encouraging Active Online Learning Karen HARDIN Cameron University Lawton, OK, USA PROBLEM One of the hot topics in education in the past 10 years has been the shift of the role of the educator. Whereas, he has traditionally been the owner and deliverer of the knowledge (Sage on the stage, now his role is shifting to a guide and facilitator (guide by the side. The purpose is to give the students ownership in their own learning process. As technology becomes more sophisticated, automation is replacing students’ problem solving skills, critical thinking and sometimes patience. On one of my evaluations in a 1999 online course, a student criticized that, “she’s not doing the teaching, I’m doing the learning.” Of course in my desire to encourage active learning, I took the response as a compliment, but the student meant it as a criticism. I began pondering the reluctance of students to take control of the learning process. I’ve noticed this lack of problem solving, critical thinking and patience with young adults in the workplace. For example, I often visit Sam’s, a warehouse store owned by Wal-Mart. When I check out, I pay with a check. The computerized register will print the check for me, so I allow the cashier to do that. I often ask him or her to add $15 to the total to give me cash back. It’s amazing how long it takes these young adults to add $15 to the total because of their reliance on computers. In another situation, when I was in an outlet shoe store in Texas, I purchased a pair of sandals. After I checked out, I noticed a sign that promoted, “buy one, get a second for one cent.” Of course, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, so I told the cashier that I wanted to find another pair of shoes. She replied, “It’s too late, your transaction is complete. I wouldn’t know what to do.” I said, “It’s simple, I owe you one cent.” She said, “I don’t know how to make the computer fix it

Early and medium term results of the sleeve valve-sparing procedure for aortic root ectasia.

Science.gov (United States)

Gamba, Amando; Tasca, Giordano; Giannico, Floriana; Lobiati, Elisabetta; Skouse, Douglas; Galanti, Andrea; Martino, Antonello Stefano; Triggiani, Michele

2015-04-01

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate our experience of using a simplified aortic valve sleeve procedure to treat aortic root ectasia and aneurysms with or without aortic regurgitation. In experienced hands, 2 aortic valve-sparing procedures, ie, Yacoub and David, have yielded excellent long-term results in the treatment of aortic root aneurysms, with or without aortic regurgitation. However, these techniques are demanding and not widely used. Recently, a new and simplified valve-sparing technique, named "sleeve procedure," has been proposed, and has yielded encouraging early results. Ninety consecutive patients with aortic root aneurysms underwent sleeve procedures from October 2006 to October 2012. Follow-up data (clinical 100% complete and echocardiographic 93% complete) were acquired from our outpatient clinic or from the referring cardiologist. The mean age of the patients was 61.5 ± 12.5 years, 79% were male, 16 (18%) had a bicuspid valve, 3 had Marfan syndrome, and 2 had aortic dissection. Over a mean clinical follow-up of 34 ± 19 months, 2 patients died from noncardiac causes and 1 was reoperated on for the recurrence of aortic regurgitation. On follow-up echocardiography after a mean of 18 ± 9 months, aortic regurgitation was absent/negligible, mild or moderate in 62%, 37%, and 1% of patients, respectively, and the diameters of the annulus, Valsalva sinuses, and sinotubular junction were 27.3 + 2.2, 37.0 + 3.4, and 30.6 + 3.1 mm, respectively. Our encouraging early and medium term results suggest that the sleeve procedure is a safe and effective aortic valve-sparing technique for the treatment of aortic root ectasia and aneurysm. However, longer follow-up is needed in order to draw definitive conclusions. Copyright © 2015 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Implementation of the cross-border healthcare directive in Poland: How not to encourage patients to seek care abroad?

Science.gov (United States)

Kowalska-Bobko, Iwona; Mokrzycka, Anna; Sagan, Anna; Włodarczyk, W Cezary; Zabdyr-Jamróz, Michał

2016-11-01

In October 2014, after over 12 months of delay, Poland finally implemented directive 2011/24/EU on the application of patients' rights in cross-border healthcare. The implementing legislation in the area of cost reimbursement and prior authorization is very restrictive. The goal is to either defer the public payer's expenses into the future or to discourage patients from seeking care abroad or from seeking care altogether. The Polish government and the Ministry of Health, the key stakeholders in the implementation process, seemed to overlook the potential monetary benefits that the implementation of the directive could bring, for example, by promoting Poland as a destination for health tourism. Other stakeholders, such as patients and healthcare providers, had no real influence on the policy process. So far, the number of applications for planned treatment abroad has been very low and the majority of them were actually turned down as they did not meet the formal requirements. This number is likely to remain low in the future as accessing such care is cumbersome and not affordable for many patients. Overall, while the directive does not aim to encourage patients to seek cross-border healthcare, the current national regulations in Poland do not seem to facilitate access to cross-border healthcare, which is the main goal of the directive. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

[Cognitive rehabilitation in multiple sclerosis: preliminary results and presentation of a new program, PROCOG-SEP].

Science.gov (United States)

Brissart, H; Leroy, M; Debouverie, M

2010-04-01

Although cognitive disorders are well-known in multiple sclerosis (MS), even in earlier stages of the disease, their management may be overlooked. Our objective was to elaborate and evaluate the efficiency of a remedial program (PROCOG-SEP) designed for MS patients. The evidence-based program proposes exercises to both stimulate preserved functions and develop new abilities compensating for cognitive disabilities. Twenty-four patients with MS participated in 10/2-hour PROCOG-SEP sessions over a 6-month period. A neuropsychologist recorded BCcog-SEP performances before and after the PROCOG-SEP program. In addition, the same neuropsychologist conducted psychoclinical interviews to complete the before and after cognitive evaluations. The statistical analysis used the t-test performed with Excel. Compared with the initial levels, subtests of BCcog-SEP showing improvement after PROCOG-SEP were: verbal memory (SRT), visuospatial memory (10/36), verbal fluency (animal categories) and response to conflicting orders. Also, individual psychological interviews tended to be in favor of a general improvement in quality of life (more social interactions for instance). To our knowledge, the management program we have elaborated is the first designed to improve cognitive deficits in MS. These encouraging results suggest possibilities for improving cognition and thus quality-of-life in MS patients. 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Practical approach to a procedure for judging the results of analytical verification measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beyrich, W.; Spannagel, G.

1979-01-01

For practical safeguards a particularly transparent procedure is described to judge analytical differences between declared and verified values based on experimental data relevant to the actual status of the measurement technique concerned. Essentially it consists of two parts: Derivation of distribution curves for the occurrence of interlaboratory differences from the results of analytical intercomparison programmes; and judging of observed differences using criteria established on the basis of these probability curves. By courtesy of the Euratom Safeguards Directorate, Luxembourg, the applicability of this judging procedure has been checked in practical data verification for safeguarding; the experience gained was encouraging and implementation of the method is intended. Its reliability might be improved further by evaluation of additional experimental data. (author)

Write, draw, show, and tell: a child-centred dual methodology to explore perceptions of out-of-school physical activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert J. Noonan

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Research to increase children’s physical activity and inform intervention design has, to date, largely underrepresented children’s voices. Further, research has been limited to singular qualitative methods that overlook children’s varied linguistic ability and interaction preference. The aim of this study was to use a novel combination of qualitative techniques to explore children’s current views, experiences and perceptions of out-of-school physical activity as well as offering formative opinion about future intervention design. Methods Write, draw, show and tell (WDST groups were conducted with 35 children aged 10–11 years from 7 primary schools. Data were analysed through a deductive and inductive process, firstly using the Youth Physical Activity Promotion Model as a thematic framework, and then inductively to enable emergent themes to be further explored. Pen profiles were constructed representing key emergent themes. Results The WDST combination of qualitative techniques generated complimentary interconnected data which both confirmed and uncovered new insights into factors relevant to children’s out-of-school physical activity. Physical activity was most frequently associated with organised sports. Fun, enjoyment, competence, and physical activity provision were all important predictors of children’s out-of-school physical activity. Paradoxically, parents served as both significant enablers (i.e. encouragement and barriers (i.e. restricting participation to physical activity participation. Some of these key findings would have otherwise remained hidden when compared to more traditional singular methods based approaches. Conclusions Parents are in a unique position to promote health promoting behaviours serving as role models, physical activity gatekeepers and choice architects. Given the strong socialising effect parents have on children’s physical activity, family-based physical activity intervention

Selective Cerebro-Myocardial Perfusion in Complex Neonatal Aortic Arch Pathology: Midterm Results.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoxha, Stiljan; Abbasciano, Riccardo Giuseppe; Sandrini, Camilla; Rossetti, Lucia; Menon, Tiziano; Barozzi, Luca; Linardi, Daniele; Rungatscher, Alessio; Faggian, Giuseppe; Luciani, Giovanni Battista

2018-04-01

Aortic arch repair in newborns and infants has traditionally been accomplished using a period of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. To reduce neurologic and cardiac dysfunction related to circulatory arrest and myocardial ischemia during complex aortic arch surgery, an alternative and novel strategy for cerebro-myocardial protection was recently developed, where regional low-flow perfusion is combined with controlled and independent coronary perfusion. The aim of the present retrospective study was to assess short-term and mid-term results of selective and independent cerebro-myocardial perfusion in neonatal aortic arch surgery. From April 2008 to August 2015, 28 consecutive neonates underwent aortic arch surgery under cerebro-myocardial perfusion. There were 17 male and 11 female, with median age of 15 days (3-30 days) and median body weight of 3 kg (1.6-4.2 kg), 9 (32%) of whom with low body weight (cerebro-myocardial perfusion was 30 ± 11 min (15-69 min). Renal dysfunction, requiring a period of peritoneal dialysis was observed in 10 (36%) patients, while liver dysfunction was noted only in 3 (11%). There were three (11%) early and two late deaths during a median follow-up of 2.9 years (range 6 months-7.7 years), with an actuarial survival of 82% at 7 years. At latest follow-up, no patient showed signs of cardiac or neurologic dysfunction. The present experience shows that a strategy of selective and independent cerebro-myocardial perfusion is safe, versatile, and feasible in high-risk neonates with complex congenital arch pathology. Encouraging outcomes were noted in terms of cardiac and neurological function, with limited end-organ morbidity. © 2018 International Center for Artificial Organs and Transplantation and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Extramarital Sex Among Vietnamese Married Men: Results of a Survey in Urban and Rural Areas of Northern and Southern Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Huong; Shiu, Cheng-Shi; Hardesty, Melissa

2016-01-01

Research on extramarital sex (EMS) is commonly conducted from a perspective that implicitly understands this behavior as a violation of the marital relationship. In contrast, Vietnamese cultural norms have, at some points in history, condoned if not outright encouraged EMS in the name of preserving family lineage. Yet little is known about the prevalence of EMS among contemporary Vietnamese men and its association with marriage quality. This is a notable gap, given the enormous sociocultural and ideological shifts the country has experienced over the past several decades. Drawing upon a sample of 126 married men (Mean age = 45.56; SD = 10.52) surveyed in urban (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) and rural areas (Ha Tay and Can Tho) in Vietnam, we examined the relationship between EMS and geographic region, demographic characteristics, sexual values, quality of marriage, and sexual satisfaction within marriage. Our results show that geographic location had a strong impact on EMS, while most marital relationship quality variables did not impact the odds of EMS for married men in Vietnam.

SuperFormLab: showing SuperFormLab

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2013-01-01

bachelor program, followed by two years of master studies. The courses are offered equally to students from other design disciplines, e.g. industrial design. Teaching is mainly in English as the program is attended by a relatively large group of non-Danish students, who seek exactly this combination......3D-printing in clay and ceramic objects shaped by your own sounds and movements! Digital form transferred via CNC-milling to ornamental ceramic wall-cladding. Brave New World… Students and their teacher at SuperFormLab, the new ceramic workshop of the School of Design at the Royal Danish Academy...... of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, will be showing results of their investigations into the potential of combining digital technologies with ceramic materials. It is now possible to shape the most complex mathematical, virtual 3D objects through the use of advanced software-programs. And more than that – you can...

Description of a plutonium incident in the Hot Laboratory on May 24, 1983, and the resulting consequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hausmann, W.; Francioni, W.; Ingold, F.; Ledergerber, G.

1985-08-01

At 16.15 on 24 May 1983 a rapid chemical reaction occured in an apparatus in which a routine waste sludge evaporation process was under way. The waste was produced during fuel fabrication. The resulting pressure wave ruptured a number of parts at the glove box in which the equipment was situated leading to an alpha contamination of that and neighboring laboratories. The alarm system activated by the fire alarm, the activity detectors and manualy by the operators functioned correctly. No one was physicaly injured and thanks to immediate protecture measures (e.g. gas masks) the amount of alpha-dust incorporated could be limited in degree and extent. Very time-consuming and costly cleaning and decontamination procedures were found to be necessary but these led to the encouraging result that the greater part of the contaminated equipment (particularly electrical and electronic apparatus) could be released for further unrestricted use in open labs. Detailed tests with the original waste solutions showed that at a certain ammonium nitrate content and at 235 C an exothermic chemical reaction can occur in the sludge. This temperature can only be reached due to a defective apparatus (e.g. a broken glass vessel) allowing the sludge to contact the heating element directly. The external expert agrees that this is the most likely cause of the incident. (author)

Face and body recognition show similar improvement during childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Bank, Samantha; Rhodes, Gillian; Read, Ainsley; Jeffery, Linda

2015-09-01

Adults are proficient in extracting identity cues from faces. This proficiency develops slowly during childhood, with performance not reaching adult levels until adolescence. Bodies are similar to faces in that they convey identity cues and rely on specialized perceptual mechanisms. However, it is currently unclear whether body recognition mirrors the slow development of face recognition during childhood. Recent evidence suggests that body recognition develops faster than face recognition. Here we measured body and face recognition in 6- and 10-year-old children and adults to determine whether these two skills show different amounts of improvement during childhood. We found no evidence that they do. Face and body recognition showed similar improvement with age, and children, like adults, were better at recognizing faces than bodies. These results suggest that the mechanisms of face and body memory mature at a similar rate or that improvement of more general cognitive and perceptual skills underlies improvement of both face and body recognition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using Persuasive Technology to Increase Physical Activity in People With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease by Encouraging Regular Walking: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Opinions and Preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartlett, Yvonne Kiera; Webb, Thomas L; Hawley, Mark S

2017-04-20

People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (PwCOPD) often experience breathlessness and fatigue, making physical activity challenging. Although many persuasive technologies (such as mobile phone apps) have been designed to support physical activity among members of the general population, current technologies aimed at PwCOPD are underdeveloped and only use a limited range of persuasive technology design principles. The aim of this study was to explore how acceptable different persuasive technology design principles were considered to be in supporting and encouraging physical activity among PwCOPD. Three prototypes for mobile apps using different persuasive technology design principles as defined by the persuasive systems design (PSD) model-namely, dialogue support, primary task support, and social support-were developed. Opinions of these prototypes were explored through 28 interviews with PwCOPD, carers, and the health care professionals (HCPs) involved in their care and questionnaires completed by 87 PwCOPD. Participants also ranked how likely individual techniques (eg, competition) would be to convince them to use a technology designed to support physical activity. Data were analyzed using framework analysis, Friedman tests, and Wilcoxon signed rank tests and a convergent mixed methods design was used to integrate findings. The prototypes for mobile apps were received positively by participants. The prototype that used a dialogue support approach was identified as the most likely to be used or recommended by those interviewed, and was perceived as more persuasive than both of the other prototypes (Z=-3.06, P=.002; Z=-5.50, Ppersuasive by PwCOPD, carers, and HCPs. In the future, these approaches should be considered when designing apps to encourage physical activity by PwCOPD. ©Yvonne Kiera Bartlett, Thomas L Webb, Mark S Hawley. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 20.04.2017.

Comprehensive monitoring system - essential tool to show the results of the energy audit and voluntary agreement programmes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2007-07-01

Without visible results political support to an energy efficiency programme will dissolve in a few years. Therefore high-quality monitoring and reporting systems are essential to maintain a long-term commitment. Both in Finnish Energy Audit Programme (EAP), began in 1992, and in Voluntary Agreement Scheme (VA), began in 1997, bottom-up monitoring systems have been in place almost since the beginning. These policy measures and their monitoring systems are integrated. For the EAP monitoring system data is collected in three phases: subsidies granted; the energy auditing volumes in different sectors submitted EA reports; proposed measures and saving potentials. VA annual reporting; status of implementation of the proposed measures in EA reports and implementing rate for saving potentials. In VA scheme the companies and communities report annually on their energy consumption and on energy efficiency measures they have implemented or have decided to implement. Information on energy savings in energy units and energy costs as well as the required investment is reported in connection to the presented measures. The collected data is based on engineering calculations by the energy auditors. Since the companies have no incentives to submit exaggerated savings, the reported savings are equal to those figures the companies have used as criteria when deciding on the implementation of the measures. By 2005 these two policy measures have generated about 7 TWh annual savings, representing over 2 % of Finland's total energy end-use. In relation to the magnitude of savings brought in daylight, the investment on monitoring has really paid back.

How to encourage road noise abatement in Nordic municipalities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Claus Hedegaard

2008-01-01

Road noise nuisance is a huge problem in the Nordic countries, and it seems diffi cult for Nordic countries to meet national targets for its reduction. One reason for this is the lack of municipal activities in the fi eld. Th us the research question that this article seeks to answer in relation...... to already existing residential areas and roads is: which conditions in the municipal organisation and its institutional environment contribute to making municipalities provide and implement noise abatement measures? Th e assumption is that three factors infl uence how the municipalities prioritize among...... political issues: the municipal organisation itself, the local institutional environment (citizens, business and NGOs), and the state and trans-municipal networks. A study of the anatomy of municipal road noise abatement policy shows that conditions for implementing road noise abatement in existing...

Encouraging Competence in Basic Mathematics in Hydrology using The Math You Need

Science.gov (United States)

Fredrick, K. C.

2011-12-01

tool in higher-level courses. For our Hydrology course, we employ a strategy to integrate TMYN assessments throughout the course, to continually encourage students to practice math skills and introduce others that might be unfamiliar. The course begins with a pass/fail pre-assessment to gauge math competencies across the class, to prepare students for the rigors of the course, and to make sure they are technically able to access the website. Beginning the first week, and continuing through the first twelve weeks of the semester, additional assessments are assigned and graded on a pass/fail basis. The assessments include a guided module, followed by a brief quiz. The modules are aligned with the course materials as much as possible. At the end of the course, a post-assessment is assigned to measure student improvement. Most of the students will continue on to courses within Geology or Meteorology, depending on major, for which Hydrology is a pre-requisite. For the students, TMYN will serve to lay the groundwork for improved math competencies throughout their college career. For the faculty, this model allows for more class time to concentrate on science content, lab activities, and data analysis.

Measuring political polarization: Twitter shows the two sides of Venezuela

Science.gov (United States)

Morales, A. J.; Borondo, J.; Losada, J. C.; Benito, R. M.

2015-03-01

We say that a population is perfectly polarized when divided in two groups of the same size and opposite opinions. In this paper, we propose a methodology to study and measure the emergence of polarization from social interactions. We begin by proposing a model to estimate opinions in which a minority of influential individuals propagate their opinions through a social network. The result of the model is an opinion probability density function. Next, we propose an index to quantify the extent to which the resulting distribution is polarized. Finally, we apply the proposed methodology to a Twitter conversation about the late Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, finding a good agreement between our results and offline data. Hence, we show that our methodology can detect different degrees of polarization, depending on the structure of the network.

Clinical results of the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Auh Whan; Sim, Jae In; Ryeom, Hun Kyu; Kim, Yong Joo [Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu (Korea, Republic of)

1994-04-15

To evaluate the clinical results of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt(TIPS) for the control of variceal bleeding. TIPS creation was attempted in 23 patients with endoscopically confirmed variceal bleeding. Most patients had multiple episodes of bleeding in the past and have been treated with multiple endoscopic sclerotherapies. Pre-and post-procedural hepatic and portal vein pressures were measured. After creation of TIPS patients were followed up at regular intervals. TIPS has been successfully accomplished in 22 of 23 patients using Wallstent(n = 21) and Strecker stent(n = 1). Immediate bleeding control was achieved in all patients with shunt creation. No procedure-related complication was noted. Portal vein pressure was reduced from 30.7 {+-} 5.8 mmHg to 20.8 {+-} 4.7 mmHg. The mean pressure gradient of portosystemic shunt dropped from 22.8 {+-} 6.0 prior to TIPS to 12.2 {+-} 4.1 immediately after. During the follow-up period (6-556 days, mean; 10 months), seven patients died; progressive hepatic failure (n 4), variceal rebleeding (n = 2), and respiratory failure(n = 1). Hepatic encephalopathy after TIPS was noted in 7 patients(31.8%). Variceal rebleeding occurred in 3 patients(13.6%). The remaining 15 patients have survived an average of 11 months. This results suggest that TIPS is a safe and effective method for lowering portal pressure and controlling variceal bleeding. Furthermore if these initial results are encouraged by further long-term observation, TIPS could replace endoscopic and risky surgical intervention.

Nuclear Power Safety Reporting System. Final evaluation results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finlayson, F.C.; Newton, R.D.

1986-02-01

This document presents the results of a study conducted by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission of an unobtrusive, voluntary, anonymous third-party managed, nonpunitive human factors data gathering system (the Nuclear power Safety Reporting System - NPSRS) for the nuclear electric power production industry. The data to be gathered by the NPSRS are intended for use in identifying and quantifying the factors that contribute to the occurrence of significant safety incidents involving humans in nuclear power plants. The NPSRS has been designed to encourage participation in the System through guarantees of reporter anonymity provided by a third-party organization that would be responsible for NPSRS management. As additional motivation to reporters for contributing data to the NPSRS, conditional waivers of NRC disciplinary action would be provided to individuals. These conditional waivers of immunity would apply to potential violations of NRC regulations that might be disclosed through reports submitted to the System about inadvertent, noncriminal incidents in nuclear plants. This document summarizes the overall results of the study of the NPSRS concept. In it, a functional description of the NPSRS is presented together with a review and assessment of potential problem areas that might be met if the System were implemented. Conclusions and recommendations resulting from the study are also presented. A companion volume (NUREG/CR-4133, Nuclear Power Safety Reporting System: Implementation and Operational Specifications'') presented in detail the elements, requirements, forms, and procedures for implementing and operating the System. 13 refs

Using television shows to teach communication skills in internal medicine residency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ma Irene

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To address evidence-based effective communication skills in the formal academic half day curriculum of our core internal medicine residency program, we designed and delivered an interactive session using excerpts taken from medically-themed television shows. Methods We selected two excerpts from the television show House, and one from Gray's Anatomy and featured them in conjunction with a brief didactic presentation of the Kalamazoo consensus statement on doctor-patient communication. To assess the efficacy of this approach a set of standardized questions were given to our residents once at the beginning and once at the completion of the session. Results Our residents indicated that their understanding of an evidence-based model of effective communication such as the Kalamazoo model, and their comfort levels in applying such model in clinical practice increased significantly. Furthermore, residents' understanding levels of the seven essential competencies listed in the Kalamazoo model also improved significantly. Finally, the residents reported that their comfort levels in three challenging clinical scenarios presented to them improved significantly. Conclusion We used popular television shows to teach residents in our core internal medicine residency program about effective communication skills with a focus on the Kalamazoo's model. The results of the subjective assessment of this approach indicated that it was successful in accomplishing our objectives.

Low-cost synthesis of pure ZnO nanowalls showing three-fold symmetry

Science.gov (United States)

Scuderi, Mario; Strano, Vincenzina; Spinella, Corrado; Nicotra, Giuseppe; Mirabella, Salvo

2018-04-01

ZnO nanowalls (NWLs) represent a non-toxic, Earth abundant, high surface-to-volume ratio, semiconducting nanostructure which has already showed potential applications in biosensing, environmental monitoring and energy. Low-cost synthesis of these nanostructures is extremely appealing for large scale upgrading of laboratory results, and its implementation has to be tested at the nanoscale, at least in terms of chemical purity and crystallographic orientation. Here, we have produced pure and texturized ZnO NWLs by using chemical bath deposition (CBD) synthesis followed by a thermal treatment at 300 °C. We examined the NWL formation process and the new obtained structure at the nanoscale, by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy in combination with x-ray diffraction and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. We have shown that only after annealing at 300 °C in nitrogen does the as-grown material, composed of a mixture of Zn compounds NWLs, show its peculiar crystal arrangement. The resulting ZnO sheets are in fact made by ZnO wurtzite domains (4-5 nm) that show a particular kind of texturization; indeed, they are aligned with their own c-axis always perpendicular to the sheets forming the wall and rotated (around the c-axis) by multiples of 20° from each other. The presented data show that low-cost CBD, followed by an annealing process, gives pure ZnO with a peculiarly ordered nanostructure that shows three-fold symmetry. Such evidence at the nanoscale will have significant implications for realizing sensing or catalyst devices based on ZnO NWLs.

The Impact of Destination Exposure in Reality Shows on Destination Image, Familiarity, and Travel Intention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stacia Reviany Mege

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The increasing popularity of reality shows renders them as potential media for tourism promotion. However, there is limited research regarding the impact of destination exposure in reality shows. This study aimed to investigate the impact of destination exposure in television reality shows on destination image, familiarity, and travel intention. To test the hypotheses, a within subject experiment was conducted. A worldwide popular reality show, The Amazing Race, was used as a stimulus for the participants. The results revealed that, in general, both cognitive and affective destination im- ages were rated higher after watching the reality show. Furthermore, familiarity with the destination and travel intention to the destination increased after watching the destination in the reality show. The result of this study will be useful for destination marketing organization and the government to explore alternative promotional media and aid the promotion of tourism destination.