Question Answering for Dutch : Simple does it

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoekstra, A.H.; Hiemstra, Djoerd; van der Vet, P.E.; Huibers, Theo W.C.; Schobbens, Pierre-Yves; Vanhoof, Wim; Schwanen, Gabriel

2006-01-01

When people pose questions in natural language to search for information on the web, the role of question answering (QA) systems becomes important. In this paper the QAsystem simpleQA, capable of answering Dutch questions on which the answer is a person or a location, is described. The system's

Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Pablos, Leticia; Doetjes, Jenny; Cheng, Lisa L.-S.

2018-01-01

-paced reading experiments on the processing of in-situ wh-questions in Mandarin Chinese and French. Finally, we review the implications that our findings have for the specific theoretical linguistics questions that we originally aimed to address. We conclude with an overview of the general insights that can be gained from the role of structural hierarchy and grammatical constraints in processing and the existing limitations on the generalization of results. PMID:29375417

Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Pablos, Leticia; Doetjes, Jenny; Cheng, Lisa L-S

2017-01-01

-paced reading experiments on the processing of in-situ wh -questions in Mandarin Chinese and French. Finally, we review the implications that our findings have for the specific theoretical linguistics questions that we originally aimed to address. We conclude with an overview of the general insights that can be gained from the role of structural hierarchy and grammatical constraints in processing and the existing limitations on the generalization of results.

Backward Dependencies and in-Situ wh-Questions as Test Cases on How to Approach Experimental Linguistics Research That Pursues Theoretical Linguistics Questions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leticia Pablos

2018-01-01

four self-paced reading experiments on the processing of in-situ wh-questions in Mandarin Chinese and French. Finally, we review the implications that our findings have for the specific theoretical linguistics questions that we originally aimed to address. We conclude with an overview of the general insights that can be gained from the role of structural hierarchy and grammatical constraints in processing and the existing limitations on the generalization of results.

The influence of role-specific self-concept and sex-role identity on career choices in science

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Dale R.

Despite much effort on the part of educators the number of females who choose science careers remains low. This research focuses on two factors which may be influencing females in their choice of careers. These factors are role-specific self-concept in science and self perception in terms of stereotypical masculine and feminine characteristics. In addition logical ability and mathematics and science courses were also examined as factors in career choice. Females preferring science related careers and females preferring nontraditional careers such as police, military and trades were found to have a positive role-specific self-concept and a masculine perception of themselves. Females preferring traditional careers such as teacher or hairdresser had a poor role-specific self-concept and a more feminine perception of themselves. Males as a group were found to have a more positive role-specific self-concept than females. Logical ability was also related to a science career preference for both males and females. Males expected to take more higher level math courses than females, while females preferring science careers expected to take the most higher level science courses.

Questioning Chemistry: The Role of Level, Familiarity, Language and Taxonomy

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, Susan; Taylor, Neil; Cameron, Margaret; Syme-Smith, Lorraine; Fortuna, Colette

2010-01-01

This paper reports on data collected via an audience response system, where a convenience sample of 300 adults aged 17-50 pressed a button to register their answers for twenty multiple choice questions. The responses were then discussed with the respondents at the time. The original dataset includes physics, biology and chemistry questions. The…

A questions-based investigation of consumer mental-health information

Science.gov (United States)

Kart, Joyce Brothers

2015-01-01

Despite the wealth of mental-health information available online to consumers, research has shown that the mental-health information needs of consumers are not being met. This study contributes to that research by soliciting consumer questions directly, categorizing them, analyzing their form, and assessing the extent to which they can be answered from a trusted and vetted source of online information, namely the website of the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). As an alternative to surveys and analyses of online activity, this study shows how consumer questions provide new insight into what consumers do not know and how they express their information needs. The study crowdsourced 100 consumer questions through Amazon Inc.’s Mechanical Turk. Categorization of the questions shows broad agreement with earlier studies in terms of the content of consumer questions. It also suggests that consumers’ grasp of mental health issues may be low compared to other health topics. The majority of the questions (74%) were simple in form, with the remainder being multi-part, multifaceted or narrative. Even simple-form questions could, however, have complex interpretations. Fifty four questions were submitted to the search box at the NIMH website. For 32 questions, no answer could be found in the top one to three documents returned. Inadequacies in the search and retrieval technology deployed at websites account for some of the failure to find answers. The nature of consumer questions in mental health also plays a role. A question that has a false presupposition is less likely to have an answer in trusted and vetted sources of information. Consumer questions are also expressed with a degree of specificity that makes the retrieval of relevant information difficult. The significance of this study is that it shows what an analysis of consumer mental-health questions can tell us about consumer information needs and it provides new insight into the difficulties facing

The Role of Domain-Specific Practice, Handedness, and Starting Age in Chess

Science.gov (United States)

Gobet, Fernand; Campitelli, Guillermo

2007-01-01

The respective roles of the environment and innate talent have been a recurrent question for research into expertise. The authors investigated markers of talent, environment, and critical period for the acquisition of expert performance in chess. Argentinian chess players (N = 104), ranging from weak amateurs to grandmasters, completed a…

Formative student-authored question bank: perceptions, question quality and association with summative performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Jason L; Harris, Benjamin H L; Denny, Paul; Smith, Phil

2018-02-01

There are few studies on the value of authoring questions as a study method, the quality of the questions produced by students and student perceptions of student-authored question banks. Here we evaluate PeerWise, a widely used and free online resource that allows students to author, answer and discuss multiple-choice questions. We introduced two undergraduate medical student cohorts to PeerWise (n=603). We looked at their patterns of PeerWise usage; identified associations between student engagement and summative exam performance; and used focus groups to assess student perceptions of the value of PeerWise for learning. We undertook item analysis to assess question difficulty and quality. Over two academic years, the two cohorts wrote 4671 questions, answered questions 606 658 times and posted 7735 comments. Question writing frequency correlated most strongly with summative performance (Spearman's rank: 0.24, p=<0.001). Student focus groups found that: (1) students valued curriculum specificity; and (2) students were concerned about student-authored question quality. Only two questions of the 300 'most-answered' questions analysed had an unacceptable discriminatory value (point-biserial correlation <0.2). Item analysis suggested acceptable question quality despite student concerns. Quantitative and qualitative methods indicated that PeerWise is a valuable study tool. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Questioning the Questions

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Tienken, Christopher H.; Goldberg, Stephanie; DiRocco, Dominic

2010-01-01

Historical accounts of questioning used in the education process trace back to Socrates. One of the best examples of his use of questioning is found in Plato's "The Republic." Socrates used a series of strategic questions to help his student Glaucon come to understand the concept of justice. Socrates purposefully posed a series of…

Dependent leaders : Role-specific challenges for middle managers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Voorn, Bart

2018-01-01

Mocked and ridiculed by many, praised by few, middle managers have challenging roles in organizations. It is typified by unique dependencies on different aspects of their work circumstances, including their superiors’ leadership, assigned goals, and tenure. Empirical research exploring specific

On the role of scientists and scientific organizations: A question of leadership

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, B. J.; Driver, S.

2010-12-01

The National Research Council (NRC) series of reports on climate change, published in May, 2010, represent the scientific establishment's response in the wake of Copenhagen. The popular sentiment among students, the environmental movement and the concerned public includes, understandably, a fair amount of confusion and a great deal of disillusionment and disappointment -- not just at the national and international political bodies and individual political leaders -- but with the ambivalence of the scientists and scientific organizations to waging a real fight for substantial and effective change. If the scientific community and the environmental movement learns anything from Copenhagen it is that the existing powers-that-be are incapable of even putting forward, let alone implementing, a sound and rational response to the climate change and environmental crisis. The prevalent (and all too passive) attitude is that the role of scientists and scientific organizations is merely to supply the policy makers, corporations, and governmental entities with the facts, the objective conditions, our best scientific understanding possible, and that's it. The scientific community must reject this attitude and this approach. Leaving the social, political and economic responses, regulation, and implementation in the hands of the politicians -- whom we are advising -- means we accomplish nothing and are accepting the patently false conclusion "there is nothing realistic that can be done". As is true for all political questions, the national and international response to climate change is a question of power and the relative balance of forces between people, governments, and corporations with competing and often directly counter-posed interests. The role scientists and scientific organizations must play is to weigh in on the side of the vast majority of the world's population, side with the countries and peoples of the developing world who are suffering and will continue to suffer

Commonly asked questions: thrombolytic therapy in the management of acute stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Block, H Steven; Biller, José

2013-02-01

Questions about thrombolytic management arise frequently, often with the intent of ascertaining safety and efficacy in specific situations. Thrombolytic therapy is generally safe, even if a nonruptured intracranial aneurysm is present. The risk of cardiac rupture with tamponade is low, except for the first 7 weeks following myocardial infarction. Over this duration, there is an increased risk of intravenous thrombolytic therapy in specific patient groups. Stroke infrequently occurs during cardiac catheterization. Its infrequent occurrence has limited large treatment trials. Basilar artery occlusion management will be reviewed. Thrombolytic therapy is generally safe in the context of pre-existing cerebral microhemorrhages and cervical artery dissections. Additionally, the role of multimodal penumbral imaging in planning stroke therapy will be reviewed.

Pleiotropic role of growth arrest-specific gene 6 in atherosclerosis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tjwa, Marc; Moons, Lieve; Lutgens, Esther

2009-01-01

Growth arrest-specific gene 6 (Gas6) belongs to the family of vitamin K-dependent coagulation proteins, but in contrast to its other members, has only a limited role in hemostasis. Instead, Gas6 plays a prominent role in conditions of injury, inflammation and repair. Gas6 amplifies the activation of

The Question Concerning Thinking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Søren

2008-01-01

Martin Heidegger's thought-provoking essay "The Question Concerning Technology" (1977a) placed technology at the heart of philosophy. Heidegger tried to show that the essence of technology provokes humans to think about the world in a very dangerous way. Yet if we follow Heidegger's analysis...... of technology, what role does that ascribe to philosophy? To be able to understand the programmatic scope of Heidegger's question ‘concerning' technology, we need to see it as inseparable from his famous thesis about the end of philosophy (1977c) and what he considers to be the ideal kind of thinking. However......, by doing so, we will in the end realize two important things. First, that Heidegger's declaration of the end of philosophy in fact also means the end of anything we can meaningfully call thinking. Second, that Heidegger's own thinking is completely different from his own ideal of thinking. Our question...

Examining the Impact of Question Surface Features on Students’ Answers to Constructed-Response Questions on Photosynthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Weston, Michele; Haudek, Kevin C.; Prevost, Luanna; Urban-Lurain, Mark; Merrill, John

2015-01-01

One challenge in science education assessment is that students often focus on surface features of questions rather than the underlying scientific principles. We investigated how student written responses to constructed-response questions about photosynthesis vary based on two surface features of the question: the species of plant and the order of two question prompts. We asked four versions of the question with different combinations of the two plant species and order of prompts in an introductory cell biology course. We found that there was not a significant difference in the content of student responses to versions of the question stem with different species or order of prompts, using both computerized lexical analysis and expert scoring. We conducted 20 face-to-face interviews with students to further probe the effects of question wording on student responses. During the interviews, we found that students thought that the plant species was neither relevant nor confusing when answering the question. Students identified the prompts as both relevant and confusing. However, this confusion was not specific to a single version. PMID:25999312

A Question of Control? Examining the Role of Control Conditions in Experimental Psychopathology using the Example of Cognitive Bias Modification Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Blackwell, Simon E; Woud, Marcella L; MacLeod, Colin

2017-10-26

While control conditions are vitally important in research, selecting the optimal control condition can be challenging. Problems are likely to arise when the choice of control condition is not tightly guided by the specific question that a given study aims to address. Such problems have become increasingly apparent in experimental psychopathology research investigating the experimental modification of cognitive biases, particularly as the focus of this research has shifted from theoretical questions concerning mechanistic aspects of the association between cognitive bias and emotional vulnerability, to questions that instead concern the clinical efficacy of 'cognitive bias modification' (CBM) procedures. We discuss the kinds of control conditions that have typically been employed in CBM research, illustrating how difficulties can arise when changes in the types of research questions asked are not accompanied by changes in the control conditions employed. Crucially, claims made on the basis of comparing active and control conditions within CBM studies should be restricted to those conclusions allowed by the specific control condition employed. CBM studies aiming to establish clinical utility are likely to require quite different control conditions from CBM studies aiming to illuminate mechanisms. Further, conclusions concerning the clinical utility of CBM interventions cannot necessarily be drawn from studies in which the control condition has been chosen to answer questions concerning mechanisms. Appreciating the need to appropriately alter control conditions in the transition from basic mechanisms-focussed investigations to applied clinical research could greatly facilitate the translational process.

The sensitivity and specificity of four questions (HARK to identify intimate partner violence: a diagnostic accuracy study in general practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feder Gene

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Intimate partner violence (IPV including physical, sexual and emotional violence, causes short and long term ill-health. Brief questions that reliably identify women experiencing IPV who present in clinical settings are a pre-requisite for an appropriate response from health services to this substantial public health problem. We estimated the sensitivity and specificity of four questions (HARK developed from the Abuse Assessment screen, compared to a 30-item abuse questionnaire, the Composite Abuse Scale (CAS. Methods We administered the four HARK questions and the CAS to women approached by two researchers in general practice waiting rooms in Newham, east London. Inclusions: women aged more than 17 years waiting to see a doctor or nurse, who had been in an intimate relationship in the last year. Exclusions: women who were accompanied by children over four years of age or another adult, too unwell to complete the questionnaires, unable to understand English or unable to give informed consent. Results Two hundred and thirty two women were recruited. The response rate was 54%. The prevalence of current intimate partner violence, within the last 12 months, using the CAS cut off score of ≥3, was 23% (95% C.I. 17% to 28% with pre-test odds of 0.3 (95% C.I. 0.2 to 0.4. The receiver operator characteristic curve demonstrated that a HARK cut off score of ≥1 maximises the true positives whilst minimising the false positives. The sensitivity of the optimal HARK cut-off score of ≥1 was 81% (95% C.I. 69% to 90%, specificity 95% (95% C.I. 91% to 98%, positive predictive value 83% (95% C.I. 70% to 91%, negative predictive value 94% (95% C.I. 90% to 97%, likelihood ratio 16 (95% C.I. 8 to 31 and post-test odds 5. Conclusion The four HARK questions accurately identify women experiencing IPV in the past year and may help women disclose abuse in general practice. The HARK questions could be incorporated into the electronic medical record

Generating ethnographic research questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friberg, Torbjörn

2015-01-01

? By drawing on the conceptual history of anthropology, the aim of this article is to generate ethnographic-oriented research questions concerned with higher education. The first part of the article provides an ethnographic background, while the second part focuses on Paul Willis's reasoning on ethnographic......As part of recent complex transformations, it seems that higher educational organisations are being forced to reorganise, standardise and streamline in order to survive in the new political and economic context. How are ethnographers in general going to approach these contemporary phenomena...... imagination, as a prerequisite for generating alternative research questions. The third part makes explicit anthropologist Maurice Godelier's theoretical imagination, carving out some specific theoretical parts which may be used in the generating process. The conclusion then suggests a number of questions...

VQABQ: Visual Question Answering by Basic Questions

KAUST Repository

Huang, Jia-Hong

2017-03-19

Taking an image and question as the input of our method, it can output the text-based answer of the query question about the given image, so called Visual Question Answering (VQA). There are two main modules in our algorithm. Given a natural language question about an image, the first module takes the question as input and then outputs the basic questions of the main given question. The second module takes the main question, image and these basic questions as input and then outputs the text-based answer of the main question. We formulate the basic questions generation problem as a LASSO optimization problem, and also propose a criterion about how to exploit these basic questions to help answer main question. Our method is evaluated on the challenging VQA dataset and yields state-of-the-art accuracy, 60.34% in open-ended task.

VQABQ: Visual Question Answering by Basic Questions

KAUST Repository

Huang, Jia-Hong; Alfadly, Modar; Ghanem, Bernard

2017-01-01

Taking an image and question as the input of our method, it can output the text-based answer of the query question about the given image, so called Visual Question Answering (VQA). There are two main modules in our algorithm. Given a natural language question about an image, the first module takes the question as input and then outputs the basic questions of the main given question. The second module takes the main question, image and these basic questions as input and then outputs the text-based answer of the main question. We formulate the basic questions generation problem as a LASSO optimization problem, and also propose a criterion about how to exploit these basic questions to help answer main question. Our method is evaluated on the challenging VQA dataset and yields state-of-the-art accuracy, 60.34% in open-ended task.

The role of Clinical Officers in the Kenyan health system: a question of perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Mbindyo, Patrick; Blaauw, Duane; English, Mike

2013-07-17

Despite the increasing interest in using non-physician clinicians in many low-income countries, little is known about the roles they play in typical health system settings. Prior research has concentrated on evaluating their technical competencies compared to those of doctors. This work explored perceptions of the roles of Kenyan non-physician clinicians (Clinical Officers (COs). Qualitative methods including in-depth interviews (with COs, nurses, doctors, hospital management, and policymakers, among others), participant observation and document analysis were used. A nomothetic-idiographic framework was used to examine tensions between institutions and individuals within them. A comparative approach was used to examine institutional versus individual notions of CO roles, how these roles play out in government and faith-based hospital (FBH) settings as well as differences arising from three specific work settings for COs within hospitals. The main finding was the discrepancy between policy documents that outline a broad role for COs that covers both technical and managerial roles, while respondents articulated a narrow technical role that focused on patient care and management. Respondents described a variety of images of COs, ranging from 'filter' to 'primary healthcare physician', when asked about CO roles. COs argued for a defined role associated with primary healthcare, feeling constrained by their technical role. FBH settings were found to additionally clarify CO roles when compared with public hospitals. Tensions between formal prescriptions of CO roles and actual practice were reported and coalesced around lack of recognition over COs work, role conflict among specialist COs, and role ambiguity. Even though COs are important service providers their role is not clearly understood, which has resulted in role conflict. It is suggested that their role be redefined, moving from that of 'substitute clinician' to professional 'primary care clinician', with this

Do User (Browse and Click) Sessions Relate to Their Questions in a Domain-specific Collection?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steinhauer, Jeremy; Delcambre, Lois M.L.; Lykke, Marianne

2013-01-01

relate to the question that they are answering. The contribution of this paper is the evalua-tion of the suitability of common machine learning metrics (measuring the dis-tance between two sessions) to distinguish sessions of users searching for the answer to same or different questions. We found...... that sessions for people an-swering the same question are significantly different that those answering dif-ferent questions, but results are dependent on the distance metric used. We ex-plain why some distance metrics performed better than others....

Is Case-Specificity Content-Specificity? An Analysis of Data from Extended-Matching Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Dory, Valerie; Gagnon, Robert; Charlin, Bernard

2010-01-01

Case-specificity, i.e., variability of a subject's performance across cases, has been a consistent finding in medical education. It has important implications for assessment validity and reliability. Its root causes remain a matter of discussion. One hypothesis, content-specificity, links variability of performance to variable levels of relevant…

Thyroid-specific questions on work ability showed known-groups validity among Danes with thyroid diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Nexo, Mette Andersen; Watt, Torquil; Bonnema, Steen Joop; Hegedüs, Laszlo; Rasmussen, Åse Krogh; Feldt-Rasmussen, Ulla; Bjorner, Jakob Bue

2015-07-01

We aimed to identify the best approach to work ability assessment in patients with thyroid disease by evaluating the factor structure, measurement equivalence, known-groups validity, and predictive validity of a broad set of work ability items. Based on the literature and interviews with thyroid patients, 24 work ability items were selected from previous questionnaires, revised, or developed anew. Items were tested among 632 patients with thyroid disease (non-toxic goiter, toxic nodular goiter, Graves' disease (with or without orbitopathy), autoimmune hypothyroidism, and other thyroid diseases), 391 of which had participated in a study 5 years previously. Responses to select items were compared to general population data. We used confirmatory factor analyses for categorical data, logistic regression analyses and tests of differential item function, and head-to-head comparisons of relative validity in distinguishing known groups. Although all work ability items loaded on a common factor, the optimal factor solution included five factors: role physical, role emotional, thyroid-specific limitations, work limitations (without disease attribution), and work performance. The scale on thyroid-specific limitations showed the most power in distinguishing clinical groups and time since diagnosis. A global single item proved useful for comparisons with the general population, and a thyroid-specific item predicted labor market exclusion within the next 5 years (OR 5.0, 95 % CI 2.7-9.1). Items on work limitations with attribution to thyroid disease were most effective in detecting impact on work ability and showed good predictive validity. Generic work ability items remain useful for general population comparisons.

Some Big Questions about Design in Educational Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbons, Andrew S.

2016-01-01

This article asks five questions that lead us to the foundations of design practice in educational technology. Design processes structure time, space, place, activity, role, goal, and resource. For educational technology to advance in its understanding of design practice, it must question whether we have clear conceptions of how abstract…

Questioning Questions: Elementary Teachers' Adaptations of Investigation Questions Across the Inquiry Continuum

Science.gov (United States)

Biggers, Mandy

2018-02-01

Questioning is a central practice in science classrooms. However, not every question translates into a "good" science investigation. Questions that drive science investigations can be provided by many sources including the teacher, the curriculum, or the student. The variations in the source of investigation questions were explored in this study. A dataset of 120 elementary science classroom videos and associated lesson plans from 40 elementary teachers (K-5) across 21 elementary school campuses were scored on an instrument measuring the amount of teacher-direction or student-direction of the lessons' investigation questions. Results indicated that the investigation questions were overwhelmingly teacher directed in nature, with no opportunities for students to develop their own questions for investigation. This study has implications for researchers and practitioners alike, calling attention to the teacher-directed nature of investigation questions in existing science curriculum materials, and the need for teacher training in instructional strategies to adapt their existing curriculum materials across the continuum of teacher-directed and student-directed investigation questions. Teachers need strategies for adapting the teacher-directed questions provided in their existing curriculum materials in order to allow students the opportunity to engage in this essential scientific practice.

Transforming classroom questioning using emerging technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahon, Paul; Lyng, Colette; Crotty, Yvonne; Farren, Margaret

2018-04-12

Classroom questioning is a common teaching and learning strategy in postgraduate nurse education. Technologies such as audience response systems (ARS) may offer advantage over traditional approaches to classroom questioning. However, despite being available since the 1960s, ARSs are still considered novel in many postgraduate nurse education classroom settings. This article aims to explicate the attitudes of postgraduate nursing students in an Irish academic teaching hospital towards classroom questioning (CQ) and the use of ARSs as an alternative to traditional CQ techniques. The results of this small-scale study demonstrate that ARSs have a role to play in CQ in the postgraduate setting, being regarded by students as beneficial to learning, psychological safety and classroom interaction.

[General practitioners' commitment to treating excessive alcohol consumption: A question of role security in treating affected patients?].

Science.gov (United States)

Fankhänel, Thomas; Rascher, Anja; Thiel, Carolin; Schulz, Katrin; Klement, Andreas

2016-01-01

Only a few general practitioners (GPs) are committed to screen their patients for alcohol consumption and, in case of excessive alcohol consumption conduct by a brief intervention according to WHO recommendations. Apart from inadequate compensation and work load, another barrier identified by the GPs was their uncertainty about how to deal with affected patients. Most German universities presently spend no more than 90minutes lecture time on addiction medicine teaching. Our research aims to investigate the question whether medical studies and advanced medical education increases the role security of medical students and physicians and their commitment to implementing alcohol screening and brief intervention. Moreover, we will explore whether lack of therapeutic commitment can be related to lack of role security. Questionnaires were administered to pre-clinical and clinical medical students as well as senior house officers. Role security and therapeutic commitment of students and senior house officers were assessed using the Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Questionnaire (SAAPPQ) subscales "Role Security" and "Therapeutic Commitment". Analysis was based on 367 questionnaires. As expected, senior house officers reported more Role Security than clinical medical students who showed a higher level of Role Security than pre-clinical medical students. No differences could be found for Therapeutic Commitment. An association between Role Security and Therapeutic Commitment was only revealed for clinical medical students. Medical studies and advanced medical education can increase students' and senior house officers' Role Security to treat patients with excessive alcohol consumption, but not Therapeutic Commitment. Moreover, no association between Role Security and Therapeutic Commitment could be found for senior house officers. Hence, it may be assumed that educational activities aiming to increase Role Security do not promote the development of motivational aspects such as

The role of normative aspects in questions of justice and equity in radioactive waste governance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kruetli, P.

2005-01-01

Until now the nuclear waste problem has not been solved and the issue is still contentious in most societies. Up to the 1990s research focused mainly on technical aspects. In the meanwhile there is international consensus that an extended multidimensional approach is needed, e. g., based on the concept of sustainability. Radioactive waste is characterised by technical and institutional longevity. The associated risks may have consequences far into the future. With respect to future generations both precautionary and responsibility principles are crucial. There is an asymmetry of benefits and burdens within our generation as well as between our and the following generations. This issue of justice and equity might not be solved in the case of future generations. Along with distributional questions procedural questions are part of the problem. There is a severe lack of concise research activities in this field even though there exist ethical concepts and theories which - in general - are broadly accepted as guidelines or principles. Their concrete application, however, is methodically delicate and demanding. To develop a normative framework including a set of specific and assessable criteria will be the focus of further research activities. (orig.)

Questioning the role of Facebook in maintaining Syrian social capital during the Syrian crisis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramadan, Reem

2017-12-01

The Syrian crisis is considered the 'world's single largest crisis for almost a quarter of a century that has the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation' (UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 2016). The rapid adoption of Facebook among Syrians questions whether it helps in maintaining the social capital of a war-torn nation and a dispersed Syrian population worldwide. Data was collected by means of a Facebook survey from 964 Syrian users. Results indicated that Facebook enhanced social identity and social capital through facilitating communication, collaboration and resource sharing among dispersed Syrians inside and outside the country. However, the offline rift of the nation was extended to Facebook through promoting hate speech among opposed parties. Results of this study may advance the understanding of the role of Facebook on social capital in countries going through similar crisis situations.

Disentangling the Role of Domain-Specific Knowledge in Student Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Ruppert, John; Duncan, Ravit Golan; Chinn, Clark A.

2017-08-01

This study explores the role of domain-specific knowledge in students' modeling practice and how this knowledge interacts with two domain-general modeling strategies: use of evidence and developing a causal mechanism. We analyzed models made by middle school students who had a year of intensive model-based instruction. These models were made to explain a familiar but unstudied biological phenomenon: late onset muscle pain. Students were provided with three pieces of evidence related to this phenomenon and asked to construct a model to account for this evidence. Findings indicate that domain-specific resources play a significant role in the extent to which the models accounted for provided evidence. On the other hand, familiarity with the situation appeared to contribute to the mechanistic character of models. Our results indicate that modeling strategies alone are insufficient for the development of a mechanistic model that accounts for provided evidence and that, while learners can develop a tentative model with a basic familiarity of the situation, scaffolding certain domain-specific knowledge is necessary to assist students with incorporating evidence in modeling tasks.

The role of autolysis loop in determining the specificity of coagulation proteases.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, L; Manithody, C; Rezaie, A R

2007-08-01

We recently demonstrated that the substitution of the autolysis loop (residues 143 to 154 in the chymotrypsin numbering system) of activated protein C (APC) with the corresponding loop of factor Xa (fXa) renders the APC mutant (APC/fX143-154) susceptible to inhibition by antithrombin (AT) in the presence of pentasaccharide. Our recent results further indicated, that in addition to an improvement in the reactivity of APC/fX143-154 with AT, both the amidolytic and anti-factor Va activities of the mutant APC have also been significantly increased. Since the autolysis loop of APC is five residues longer than the autolysis loop of fXa, it could not be ascertained whether this loop in the mutant APC specifically interacts with the activated conformation of AT or if a shorter autolysis loop is responsible for a global improvement in the catalytic activity of the mutant protease. To answer this question, we prepared another APC mutant in which the autolysis loop of the protease was replaced with the corresponding loop of trypsin (APC/Tryp143-154). Unlike an approximately 500-fold improvement in the reactivity of APC/fX143-154 with AT in the presence of pentasaccharide, the reactivity of APC/Tryp143-154 with the serpin was improved approximately 10-fold. These results suggest that both the length and structure of residues of the autolysis loop are critical for the specificity of the coagulation protease interaction with AT. Further factor Va inactivation studies with the APC mutants revealed a similar role for the autolysis loop of APC in the interaction with its natural substrate.

The role of autolysis loop in determining the specificity of coagulation proteases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Yang

2007-08-01

Full Text Available We recently demonstrated that the substitution of the autolysis loop (residues 143 to 154 in the chymotrypsin numbering system of activated protein C (APC with the corresponding loop of factor Xa (fXa renders the APC mutant (APC/fX143-154 susceptible to inhibition by antithrombin (AT in the presence of pentasaccharide. Our recent results further indicated, that in addition to an improvement in the reactivity of APC/fX143-154 with AT, both the amidolytic and anti-factor Va activities of the mutant APC have also been significantly increased. Since the autolysis loop of APC is five residues longer than the autolysis loop of fXa, it could not be ascertained whether this loop in the mutant APC specifically interacts with the activated conformation of AT or if a shorter autolysis loop is responsible for a global improvement in the catalytic activity of the mutant protease. To answer this question, we prepared another APC mutant in which the autolysis loop of the protease was replaced with the corresponding loop of trypsin (APC/Tryp143-154. Unlike an ~500-fold improvement in the reactivity of APC/fX143-154 with AT in the presence of pentasaccharide, the reactivity of APC/Tryp143-154 with the serpin was improved ~10-fold. These results suggest that both the length and structure of residues of the autolysis loop are critical for the specificity of the coagulation protease interaction with AT. Further factor Va inactivation studies with the APC mutants revealed a similar role for the autolysis loop of APC in the interaction with its natural substrate.

Moving after separation : The role of location-specific capital

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mulder, Clara H.; Wagner, Michael

2012-01-01

This paper addresses the role of location-specific capital-the ties that bind people to a place-in which ex-partners of two-sex couples move after separation or divorce. The study uses data from the first and second waves of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (N = 361) to test hypotheses on the

Designing effective questions for classroom response system teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Beatty, Ian D.; Gerace, William J.; Leonard, William J.; Dufresne, Robert J.

2006-01-01

Classroom response systems can be powerful tools for teaching physics. Their efficacy depends strongly on the quality of the questions. Creating effective questions is difficult and differs from creating exam and homework problems. Each classroom response system question should have an explicit pedagogic purpose consisting of a content goal, a process goal, and a metacognitive goal. Questions can be designed to fulfill their purpose through four complementary mechanisms: directing students' attention, stimulating specific cognitive processes, communicating information to the instructor and students via classroom response system-tabulated answer counts, and facilitating the articulation and confrontation of ideas. We identify several tactics that are useful for designing potent questions and present four "makeovers" to show how these tactics can be used to convert traditional physics questions into more powerful questions for a classroom response system.

Questioning the role of Facebook in maintaining Syrian social capital during the Syrian crisis

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Reem Ramadan

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The Syrian crisis is considered the ‘world’s single largest crisis for almost a quarter of a century that has the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation’ (UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 2016. The rapid adoption of Facebook among Syrians questions whether it helps in maintaining the social capital of a war-torn nation and a dispersed Syrian population worldwide. Data was collected by means of a Facebook survey from 964 Syrian users. Results indicated that Facebook enhanced social identity and social capital through facilitating communication, collaboration and resource sharing among dispersed Syrians inside and outside the country. However, the offline rift of the nation was extended to Facebook through promoting hate speech among opposed parties. Results of this study may advance the understanding of the role of Facebook on social capital in countries going through similar crisis situations.

Questioning Questions: Elementary Teachers' Adaptations of Investigation Questions across the Inquiry Continuum

Science.gov (United States)

Biggers, Mandy

2018-01-01

Questioning is a central practice in science classrooms. However, not every question translates into a "good" science investigation. Questions that drive science investigations can be provided by many sources including the teacher, the curriculum, or the student. The variations in the source of investigation questions were explored in…

PENINGKATKAN HASIL BELAJAR PKN KELAS V MELALUI MODEL ACTIVE LEARNING (TIPE ROLE REVERSAL QUESTION SDN 4 DOPLANG KECAMATAN JATI KABUPATEN BLORA

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Ambar Susilo Murti

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Constitution No. 20 of 2003, concerning Citizenship Education (PKN is a compulsory subject for primary education, secondary, and compulsory subjects for higher education. The purpose of this study is to improve learning outcomes Civics using Active Learning Model Type Question Role Reversal in Class V SDN 4 Doplang Jati district of  Blora. This research was a class action (classroom action research. The stages as follows: (1 planning, (2 implementation, (3 observation and (4 reflection. The result of research indicating that students who received grades ≥70 the first cycle increased by 25%  from the initial 44% to 69%. Then students who scored ≥70 on the second cycle increased 28% to 97%. The average value of the first cycle increased by 8.75% from 66.53 into 75.28 early in the first cycle and then the second cycle of the average value increased again by 10.97% to 86.25. Researchers suggest teachers should encourage students to be more daring in expressing opinions, questions and ideas that are not held only in Civics alone but on other subjects. In addition, teachers are expected to use active learning model of the type of role reversal question in improving student learning outcomes in other subjects. As for the school is expected to provide training to teachers on implementing learning activities are innovative and creative. Keywords: active learning, civic education, learning outcomes.

Shift in social order – shift in gender roles? Migration experience and gender roles

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Tetiana Havlin

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Does gender matter in the context of immigration? What significance does it gain through time? Does transition from one gender role to another result in redistribution of family roles? These are the main questions which this paper addresses through scientific discourse and empiric research. In particular the paper deals with the question whether the transition from one gender role to another in the course of immigration triggers the liberalization of gender roles in the families of East-European immigrants (from Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Armenia in Germany. This is investigated through semi-structured biographical interviews with female immigrants to Germany conducted by the author in 2012-2014. The findings illustrate a specific shift of gender roles in the context of migration. On the one hand, willingly or through circumstances, immigrant women are more likely to be involved in the decision-making process, to adapt to a breadwinner role, and to undertake the communication functions with official institutions (often due to better language proficiency. On the other hand, men are more likely to be more engaged in the caregiver roles for offspring, to maintain native language in communication with children (from mother tongue to ‘father tongue’, and to fulfill housekeeping duties. These patterns are rather untypical for post-soviet gender roles, with their increasing tendency to the renaissance of traditional gender roles. The question of whether a shift in gender roles related to migration from one country to another leads towards the greater liberalization of gender roles still remains debatable. But migration experience reinforces the transformation of gender roles which initially are not only distinct but also unequal. Thus, migration can accelerate restructuring of the gender relationship. In turn, a new social order imposes – on immigrants – a demand for greater flexibility of gender roles in the family and for diversity in

An Examination of Music Teacher Job Interview Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Juchniewicz, Jay

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine which interview questions principals consider most important when interviewing prospective music teachers. Additionally, data were examined to determine any differences between school grade level, school setting, or years of experience as a principal in preferences for specific interview questions.…

Question Asking in the Science Classroom: Teacher Attitudes and Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Eshach, Haim; Dor-Ziderman, Yair; Yefroimsky, Yana

2014-02-01

Despite the wide agreement among educators that classroom learning and teaching processes can gain much from student and teacher questions, their potential is not fully utilized. Adopting the view that reporting both teachers' (of varying age groups) views and actual classroom practices is necessary for obtaining a more complete view of the phenomena at hand, the present study closely examines both cognitive and affective domains of: (a) teachers' views (via interviews) concerning: (1) importance and roles of teacher and student questions, (2) teacher responses, and (3) planning and teacher training; and (b) teachers' actual practices (via classroom observations) concerning: (1) number and (2) level of teacher and student questions, as well as (3) teachers' responses to questions. The data were collected from 3 elementary, 3 middle, and 3 high school science teachers and their respective classroom students. The findings lay out a wide view of classroom questioning and teachers' responses, and relate what actually occurs in classes to teachers' stated views. Some of the study's main conclusions are that a gap exists between how science researchers and teachers view the role of teacher questions: the former highlight the cognitive domain, while the latter emphasize the affective domain.

Rhetorical questions or rhetorical uses of questions?

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Špago Džemal

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to explore whether some rhetorical questions contain certain linguistic elements or forms which would differentiate them from answer-eliciting and action-eliciting questions, and thereby hint at their rhetorical nature even outside the context. Namely, despite the fact that the same questions can be rhetorical in one context, and answer-eliciting in another, some of them are more likely to be associated with rhetorical or non-rhetorical use. The analysis is based on extensive data (over 1200 examples of rhetorical questions taken from 30 plays by two British and two American writers, and the results are expected to give an insight into whether we can talk about rhetorical questions or just a rhetorical use of questions.

Cell-type-specific roles for COX-2 in UVB-induced skin cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Herschman, Harvey

2014-01-01

In human tumors, and in mouse models, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) levels are frequently correlated with tumor development/burden. In addition to intrinsic tumor cell expression, COX-2 is often present in fibroblasts, myofibroblasts and endothelial cells of the tumor microenvironment, and in infiltrating immune cells. Intrinsic cancer cell COX-2 expression is postulated as only one of many sources for prostanoids required for tumor promotion/progression. Although both COX-2 inhibition and global Cox-2 gene deletion ameliorate ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced SKH-1 mouse skin tumorigenesis, neither manipulation can elucidate the cell type(s) in which COX-2 expression is required for tumorigenesis; both eliminate COX-2 activity in all cells. To address this question, we created Cox-2 flox/flox mice, in which the Cox-2 gene can be eliminated in a cell-type-specific fashion by targeted Cre recombinase expression. Cox-2 deletion in skin epithelial cells of SKH-1 Cox-2 flox/flox;K14Cre + mice resulted, following UVB irradiation, in reduced skin hyperplasia and increased apoptosis. Targeted epithelial cell Cox-2 deletion also resulted in reduced tumor incidence, frequency, size and proliferation rate, altered tumor cell differentiation and reduced tumor vascularization. Moreover, Cox-2 flox/flox;K14Cre + papillomas did not progress to squamous cell carcinomas. In contrast, Cox-2 deletion in SKH-1 Cox-2 flox/flox; LysMCre + myeloid cells had no effect on UVB tumor induction. We conclude that (i) intrinsic epithelial COX-2 activity plays a major role in UVB-induced skin cancer, (ii) macrophage/myeloid COX-2 plays no role in UVB-induced skin cancer and (iii) either there may be another COX-2-dependent prostanoid source(s) that drives UVB skin tumor induction or there may exist a COX-2-independent pathway(s) to UVB-induced skin cancer. PMID:24469308

Prima facie questions in quantum gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Isham, C. J.

The long history of the study of quantum gravity has thrown up a complex web of ideas and approaches. The aim of this article is to unravel this web a little by analysing some of the {\\em prima facie\\/} questions that can be asked of almost any approach to quantum gravity and whose answers assist in classifying the different schemes. Particular emphasis is placed on (i) the role of background conceptual and technical structure; (ii) the role of spacetime diffeomorphisms; and (iii) the problem of time.

Conducting systematic reviews of intervention questions I: Writing the review protocol, formulating the question and searching the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, A M; Anderson, K M; Goodell, C K; Sargeant, J M

2014-06-01

This article is the fourth of six articles addressing systematic reviews in animal agriculture and veterinary medicine. Previous articles in the series have introduced systematic reviews, discussed study designs and hierarchies of evidence, and provided details on conducting randomized controlled trials, a common design for use in systematic reviews. This article describes development of a review protocol and the first two steps in a systematic review: formulating a review question, and searching the literature for relevant research. The emphasis is on systematic reviews of questions related to interventions. The review protocol is developed prior to conducting the review and specifies the plan for the conduct of the review, identifies the roles and responsibilities of the review team and provides structured definitions related to the review question. For intervention questions, the review question should be defined by the PICO components: population, intervention, comparison and outcome(s). The literature search is designed to identify all potentially relevant original research that may address the question. Search terms related to some or all of the PICO components are entered into literature databases, and searches for unpublished literature also are conducted. All steps of the literature search are documented to provide transparent reporting of the process. © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Managing ocean information in the digital era--events in Canada open questions about the role of marine science libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Peter G

2014-06-15

Information is the foundation of evidence-based policies for effective marine environmental protection and conservation. In Canada, the cutback of marine science libraries introduces key questions about the role of such institutions and the management of ocean information in the digital age. How vital are such libraries in the mission of studying and protecting the oceans? What is the fate and value of the massive grey literature holdings, including archival materials, much of which is not in digital form but which often contains vital data? How important is this literature generally in the marine environmental sciences? Are we likely to forget the history of the marine pollution field if our digital focus eclipses the need for and access to comprehensive collections and skilled information specialists? This paper explores these and other questions against the backdrop of unprecedented changes in the federal libraries, marine environmental science and legislation in Canada. Copyright © 2014 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Site-Specific Infrared Probes of Proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Jianqiang; Pazos, Ileana M.; Zhang, Wenkai; Culik, Robert M.; Gai, Feng

2015-01-01

Infrared spectroscopy has played an instrumental role in studying a wide variety of biological questions. However, in many cases it is impossible or difficult to rely on the intrinsic vibrational modes of biological molecules of interest, such as proteins, to reveal structural and/or environmental information in a site-specific manner. To overcome this limitation, many recent efforts have been dedicated to the development and application of various extrinsic vibrational probes that can be incorporated into biological molecules and used to site-specifically interrogate their structural and/or environmental properties. In this Review, we highlight some recent advancements of this rapidly growing research area. PMID:25580624

The Deep-Level-Reasoning-Question Effect: The Role of Dialogue and Deep-Level-Reasoning Questions during Vicarious Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Craig, Scotty D.; Sullins, Jeremiah; Witherspoon, Amy; Gholson, Barry

2006-01-01

We investigated the impact of dialogue and deep-level-reasoning questions on vicarious learning in 2 studies with undergraduates. In Experiment 1, participants learned material by interacting with AutoTutor or by viewing 1 of 4 vicarious learning conditions: a noninteractive recorded version of the AutoTutor dialogues, a dialogue with a…

Questioning the Universe concepts in physics

CERN Document Server

Sadoff, Ahren

2008-01-01

UNITS AND POWERS OF TEN PHYSICS AND ITS METHODOLOGY  What Is Physics? Methodology The First Scientist Why Do You Believe? Back to the Questions How Do We Answer theQuestions? The Need to BeQuantitative Theories Models AestheticJudgments  MOTION Relating the Variables of Motion Graphs of One-Dimensional Motion Constant Speed Constant Acceleration Two-Dimensional Motion FORCES The Fundamental Forces A Specific Force Law: Newtonian Gravity Weight How Does Force Affect Motion? Newton's SecondLaw Newton, the Apple, and the Moon Combining Two Laws The Mass of the Earth Newton's Firs

Can we share questions? Performance of questions from different question banks in a single medical school.

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Adrian; Nicholls, Anthony; Ricketts, Chris; Coombes, Lee

2010-01-01

To use progress testing, a large bank of questions is required, particularly when planning to deliver tests over a long period of time. The questions need not only to be of good quality but also balanced in subject coverage across the curriculum to allow appropriate sampling. Hence as well as creating its own questions, an institution could share questions. Both methods allow ownership and structuring of the test appropriate to the educational requirements of the institution. Peninsula Medical School (PMS) has developed a mechanism to validate questions written in house. That mechanism can be adapted to utilise questions from an International question bank International Digital Electronic Access Library (IDEAL) and another UK-based question bank Universities Medical Assessment Partnership (UMAP). These questions have been used in our progress tests and analysed for relative performance. Data are presented to show that questions from differing sources can have comparable performance in a progress testing format. There are difficulties in transferring questions from one institution to another. These include problems of curricula and cultural differences. Whilst many of these difficulties exist, our experience suggests that it only requires a relatively small amount of work to adapt questions from external question banks for effective use. The longitudinal aspect of progress testing (albeit summatively) may allow more flexibility in question usage than single high stakes exams.

Flower development: open questions and future directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wellmer, Frank; Bowman, John L; Davies, Brendan; Ferrándiz, Cristina; Fletcher, Jennifer C; Franks, Robert G; Graciet, Emmanuelle; Gregis, Veronica; Ito, Toshiro; Jack, Thomas P; Jiao, Yuling; Kater, Martin M; Ma, Hong; Meyerowitz, Elliot M; Prunet, Nathanaël; Riechmann, José Luis

2014-01-01

Almost three decades of genetic and molecular analyses have resulted in detailed insights into many of the processes that take place during flower development and in the identification of a large number of key regulatory genes that control these processes. Despite this impressive progress, many questions about how flower development is controlled in different angiosperm species remain unanswered. In this chapter, we discuss some of these open questions and the experimental strategies with which they could be addressed. Specifically, we focus on the areas of floral meristem development and patterning, floral organ specification and differentiation, as well as on the molecular mechanisms underlying the evolutionary changes that have led to the astounding variations in flower size and architecture among extant and extinct angiosperms.

Promoting Vicarious Learning of Physics Using Deep Questions with Explanations

Science.gov (United States)

Craig, Scotty D.; Gholson, Barry; Brittingham, Joshua K.; Williams, Joah L.; Shubeck, Keith T.

2012-01-01

Two experiments explored the role of vicarious "self" explanations in facilitating student learning gains during computer-presented instruction. In Exp. 1, college students with low or high knowledge on Newton's laws were tested in four conditions: (a) monologue (M), (b) questions (Q), (c) explanation (E), and (d) question + explanation (Q + E).…

Questions Asked by Primary Student Teachers about Observations of a Science Demonstration

Science.gov (United States)

Ahtee, Maija; Juuti, Kalle; Lavonen, Jari; Suomela, Liisa

2011-01-01

Teacher questioning has a central role in guiding pupils to learn to make scientific observations and inferences. We asked 110 primary student teachers to write down what kind of questions they would ask their pupils about a demonstration. Almost half of the student teachers posed questions that were either inappropriate or presupposed that the…

When is a research question not a research question?

Science.gov (United States)

Mayo, Nancy E; Asano, Miho; Barbic, Skye Pamela

2013-06-01

Research is undertaken to answer important questions yet often the question is poorly expressed and lacks information on the population, the exposure or intervention, the comparison, and the outcome. An optimal research question sets out what the investigator wants to know, not what the investigator might do, nor what the results of the study might ultimately contribute. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the extent to which rehabilitation scientists optimally define their research questions. A cross-sectional survey of the rehabilitation research articles published during 2008. Two raters independently rated each question according to pre-specified criteria; a third rater adjudicated all discrepant ratings. The proportion of the 258 articles with a question formulated as methods or expected contribution and not as what knowledge was being sought was 65%; 30% of questions required reworking. The designs which most often had poorly formulated research questions were randomized trials, cross-sectional and measurement studies. Formulating the research question is not purely a semantic concern. When the question is poorly formulated, the design, analysis, sample size calculations, and presentation of results may not be optimal. The gap between research and clinical practice could be bridged by a clear, complete, and informative research question.

Questioning the Role of Internationalization in the Nationalization of Higher Education: The Impact of the EU TEMPUS Programme on Higher Education in Syria

Science.gov (United States)

Ayoubi, Rami M.; Massoud, Hiba K.

2011-01-01

Given the need for major reform of the higher education programmes in Syria, and answering the voices that question the role of European Union (EU) in assisting the development of the higher education sector, this study presents an analysis of the contribution of (TEMPUS) Programme in modernising higher education in Syria. The study compares the…

QUESTION ANSWERING SYSTEM DAN PENERAPANNYA PADA ALKITAB

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gunawan Gunawan

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Question answering system is a system that allows user to state his or her information need in the form of natural language question, and return short text excerpts or even phrases as an answer. The availability of a wide and various information source and improvements in the techniques of natural language processing, information extraction (wrapper, and information retrieval give a big effect on the development of question answering system, from just answering questions in a specific domain by consulting to structured information source such as database, and like in this research, answering any questions based on information stored in an unstructured text collection. A general architecture of question answering system based on text consists of six processing stages, i.e. question analysis, document collection preprocessing, candidate document selection, candidate document analysis, answer extraction, and response generation. Application of question answering system like AnswerBus, Mulder, and Webclopedia that are developed with its own characteristics has similar processing steps as in the general architecture. Answers returned by a question answering system need to be evaluated for performance measure. This research completed with a simple question answering system application using english Bible in World English Bible (WEB version as the source of information to answer some questions. Because specific domain is selected: Bible, questions that can be posed by user could ask about information in the Bible itself only. Question is also limited to three types of answers that can be supported by the application: person (who, location (where, and date (when. Abstract in Bahasa Indonesia : Question answering system (QA system adalah sistem yang mengijinkan user menyatakan kebutuhan informasinya dalam bentuk natural language question (pertanyaan dalam bahasa alami, dan mengembalikan kutipan teks singkat atau bahkan frase sebagai jawaban. Ketersediaan

Questions and Questioning Techniques: A View of Indonesian Students’ Preferences

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Debora Tri Ragawanti

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigated students’ preference on teacher’s questions and questionings techniques and more importantly on how they could facilitate or impede their learning. The results on teacher’s questioning techniques showed that random nomination was more preferred than pre-arranged format nomination. In addition, techniques of nominating volunteering students and of giving wait-time were disliked by most student-respondents. As for types of question, the yes/no question was favored by most of the respondents. Different from the yes/no question, the number of respondents leaning forward to the analysis question, questions about fact of life, and questions to state opinion did not show a significant difference from the number of those leaning against the same questions.

Automatic Generation and Ranking of Questions for Critical Review

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ming; Calvo, Rafael A.; Rus, Vasile

2014-01-01

Critical review skill is one important aspect of academic writing. Generic trigger questions have been widely used to support this activity. When students have a concrete topic in mind, trigger questions are less effective if they are too general. This article presents a learning-to-rank based system which automatically generates specific trigger…

Planetary Ions at Mercury: Unanswered Questions After MESSENGER

Science.gov (United States)

Raines, J. M.

2018-05-01

We will discuss the key open questions relating to planetary ions, including the behavior of recently created photoions, the near absence of Ca+ / K+ in MESSENGER ion measurements, and the role of ion sputtering in the system.

Gender-specific and gonadectomy-specific effects upon swim analgesia: role of steroid replacement therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Romero, M T; Cooper, M L; Komisaruk, B R; Bodnar, R J

1988-01-01

Both gender-specific and gonadectomy-specific effects have been observed for the analgesic responses following continuous and intermittent cold-water swims (CCWS and ICWS respectively): female rats display significantly less analgesia than males, and gonadectomized rats display significantly less analgesia than sham-operated controls. The present study evaluated the effects of steroid replacement therapy with testosterone propionate (TP: 2 mg/kg, SC) upon CCWS and ICWS analgesia on the tail-flick and jump tests and hypothermia in sham-operated or gonadectomized male and female rats. Thirty days following surgery, rats received either no treatment, a sesame oil vehicle or TP for 14 days prior to, and then during testing. Relative to the no treatment condition, repeated vehicle injections in sham-operated rats eliminated the gender-specific, but did not affect the gonadectomy-specific effects upon CCWS and ICWS analgesia. TP reversed the deficits in CCWS and ICWS analgesia observed in both castrated and ovariectomized rats on both pain tests. TP only potentiated CCWS analgesia in sham-operated males on the tail-flick test. TP potentiated CCWS and ICWS hypothermia in gonadectomized rats and in male sham-operated rats. These data indicate that gonadal steroids play a major modulatory role in the etiology of swim analgesia, and that the observed gender effects are sensitive to possible adaptational variables.

Scientific Grand Challenges: Forefront Questions in Nuclear Science and the Role of High Performance Computing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khaleel, Mohammad A.

2009-01-01

This report is an account of the deliberations and conclusions of the workshop on 'Forefront Questions in Nuclear Science and the Role of High Performance Computing' held January 26-28, 2009, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Physics (ONP) and the DOE Office of Advanced Scientific Computing (ASCR). Representatives from the national and international nuclear physics communities, as well as from the high performance computing community, participated. The purpose of this workshop was to (1) identify forefront scientific challenges in nuclear physics and then determine which-if any-of these could be aided by high performance computing at the extreme scale; (2) establish how and why new high performance computing capabilities could address issues at the frontiers of nuclear science; (3) provide nuclear physicists the opportunity to influence the development of high performance computing; and (4) provide the nuclear physics community with plans for development of future high performance computing capability by DOE ASCR.

Scientific Grand Challenges: Forefront Questions in Nuclear Science and the Role of High Performance Computing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khaleel, Mohammad A.

2009-10-01

This report is an account of the deliberations and conclusions of the workshop on "Forefront Questions in Nuclear Science and the Role of High Performance Computing" held January 26-28, 2009, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Physics (ONP) and the DOE Office of Advanced Scientific Computing (ASCR). Representatives from the national and international nuclear physics communities, as well as from the high performance computing community, participated. The purpose of this workshop was to 1) identify forefront scientific challenges in nuclear physics and then determine which-if any-of these could be aided by high performance computing at the extreme scale; 2) establish how and why new high performance computing capabilities could address issues at the frontiers of nuclear science; 3) provide nuclear physicists the opportunity to influence the development of high performance computing; and 4) provide the nuclear physics community with plans for development of future high performance computing capability by DOE ASCR.

The six most essential questions in psychiatric diagnosis: A pluralogue part 2: Issues of conservatism and pragmatism in psychiatric diagnosis

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Phillips James

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract In face of the multiple controversies surrounding the DSM process in general and the development of DSM-5 in particular, we have organized a discussion around what we consider six essential questions in further work on the DSM. The six questions involve: 1 the nature of a mental disorder; 2 the definition of mental disorder; 3 the issue of whether, in the current state of psychiatric science, DSM-5 should assume a cautious, conservative posture or an assertive, transformative posture; 4 the role of pragmatic considerations in the construction of DSM-5; 5 the issue of utility of the DSM – whether DSM-III and IV have been designed more for clinicians or researchers, and how this conflict should be dealt with in the new manual; and 6 the possibility and advisability, given all the problems with DSM-III and IV, of designing a different diagnostic system. Part I of this article took up the first two questions. Part II will take up the second two questions. Question 3 deals with the question as to whether DSM-V should assume a conservative or assertive posture in making changes from DSM-IV. That question in turn breaks down into discussion of diagnoses that depend on, and aim toward, empirical, scientific validation, and diagnoses that are more value-laden and less amenable to scientific validation. Question 4 takes up the role of pragmatic consideration in a psychiatric nosology, whether the purely empirical considerations need to be tempered by considerations of practical consequence. As in Part 1 of this article, the general introduction, as well as the introductions and conclusions for the specific questions, are written by James Phillips, and the responses to commentaries are written by Allen Frances.

The six most essential questions in psychiatric diagnosis: A pluralogue part 2: Issues of conservatism and pragmatism in psychiatric diagnosis

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

In face of the multiple controversies surrounding the DSM process in general and the development of DSM-5 in particular, we have organized a discussion around what we consider six essential questions in further work on the DSM. The six questions involve: 1) the nature of a mental disorder; 2) the definition of mental disorder; 3) the issue of whether, in the current state of psychiatric science, DSM-5 should assume a cautious, conservative posture or an assertive, transformative posture; 4) the role of pragmatic considerations in the construction of DSM-5; 5) the issue of utility of the DSM – whether DSM-III and IV have been designed more for clinicians or researchers, and how this conflict should be dealt with in the new manual; and 6) the possibility and advisability, given all the problems with DSM-III and IV, of designing a different diagnostic system. Part I of this article took up the first two questions. Part II will take up the second two questions. Question 3 deals with the question as to whether DSM-V should assume a conservative or assertive posture in making changes from DSM-IV. That question in turn breaks down into discussion of diagnoses that depend on, and aim toward, empirical, scientific validation, and diagnoses that are more value-laden and less amenable to scientific validation. Question 4 takes up the role of pragmatic consideration in a psychiatric nosology, whether the purely empirical considerations need to be tempered by considerations of practical consequence. As in Part 1 of this article, the general introduction, as well as the introductions and conclusions for the specific questions, are written by James Phillips, and the responses to commentaries are written by Allen Frances. PMID:22512887

What are the specific disability and limitation types underlying responses to the BRFSS disability questions?

Science.gov (United States)

Mann, Joshua; Balte, Pallavi; Clarkson, John; Nitcheva, Daniela; Graham, Catherine Leigh; McDermott, Suzanne

2015-01-01

Researchers rely on resources such as BRFSS data to understand the health status of people with disability. However, the survey data rely on a limited definition of disability resulting in imprecise inferences about the nature of disability. Understanding how health varies among people with different types of disability is vital to tailoring interventions for improving health and eliminating disparities. The purpose of this study was to utilize state added follow-up questions in the 2011 South Carolina BRFSS to describe the specific health conditions and limitations attributed to their disability and to compare health status across different types of disability. Participants reporting a disability were asked to name health condition(s) causing disability and describe their disability-related limitations. Descriptive statistics were calculated using weighted proportions. Logistic regression was used to model the associations of specific health conditions and limitations with the outcomes of self-rated general health and mental health status, controlling for demographic factors. The 5 most commonly reported health condition categories were (weighted percentage): musculoskeletal (68.56%); pulmonary (10.41%); neurologic (8.48%); heart disease (8%) and mental health (7.31%). The 5 most commonly reported limitation categories were: mobility/balance limitations (46.29%); pain (23.22%); breathing problems (12.36%); general weakness/fatigue (9.57%) and limited lifting (8.24%). There was substantial variation in the degree of association between categories of conditions and limitations and the outcomes of self-rated physical and mental health. Researchers and practitioners should consider variability in the nature of disability when designing interventions to improve the health of people with a disability. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Question Answering to Visual Exploration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McColgin, Dave W.; Gregory, Michelle L.; Hetzler, Elizabeth G.; Turner, Alan E.

2006-08-11

Research in Question Answering has focused on the quality of information retrieval or extraction using the metrics of precision and recall to judge success; these metrics drive toward finding the specific best answer(s) and are best supportive of a lookup type of search. These do not address the opportunity that users? natural language questions present for exploratory interactions. In this paper, we present an integrated Question Answering environment that combines a visual analytics tool for unstructured text and a state-of-the-art query expansion tool designed to compliment the cognitive processes associated with an information analysts work flow. Analysts are seldom looking for factoid answers to simple questions; their information needs are much more complex in that they may be interested in patterns of answers over time, conflicting information, and even related non-answer data may be critical to learning about a problem or reaching prudent conclusions. In our visual analytics tool, questions result in a comprehensive answer space that allows users to explore the variety within the answers and spot related information in the rest of the data. The exploratory nature of the dialog between the user and this system requires tailored evaluation methods that better address the evolving user goals and counter cognitive biases inherent to exploratory search tasks.

Formative questioning in computer learning environments: a course for pre-service mathematics teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Akkoç, Hatice

2015-11-01

This paper focuses on a specific aspect of formative assessment, namely questioning. Given that computers have gained widespread use in learning and teaching, specific attention should be made when organizing formative assessment in computer learning environments (CLEs). A course including various workshops was designed to develop knowledge and skills of questioning in CLEs. This study investigates how pre-service mathematics teachers used formative questioning with technological tools such as Geogebra and Graphic Calculus software. Participants are 35 pre-service mathematics teachers. To analyse formative questioning, two types of questions are investigated: mathematical questions and technical questions. Data were collected through lesson plans, teaching notes, interviews and observations. Descriptive statistics of the number of questions in the lesson plans before and after the workshops are presented. Examples of two types of questions are discussed using the theoretical framework. One pre-service teacher was selected and a deeper analysis of the way he used questioning during his three lessons was also investigated. The findings indicated an improvement in using technical questions for formative purposes and that the course provided a guideline in planning and using mathematical and technical questions in CLEs.

Question popularity analysis and prediction in community question answering services.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ting; Zhang, Wei-Nan; Cao, Liujuan; Zhang, Yu

2014-01-01

With the blooming of online social media applications, Community Question Answering (CQA) services have become one of the most important online resources for information and knowledge seekers. A large number of high quality question and answer pairs have been accumulated, which allow users to not only share their knowledge with others, but also interact with each other. Accordingly, volumes of efforts have been taken to explore the questions and answers retrieval in CQA services so as to help users to finding the similar questions or the right answers. However, to our knowledge, less attention has been paid so far to question popularity in CQA. Question popularity can reflect the attention and interest of users. Hence, predicting question popularity can better capture the users' interest so as to improve the users' experience. Meanwhile, it can also promote the development of the community. In this paper, we investigate the problem of predicting question popularity in CQA. We first explore the factors that have impact on question popularity by employing statistical analysis. We then propose a supervised machine learning approach to model these factors for question popularity prediction. The experimental results show that our proposed approach can effectively distinguish the popular questions from unpopular ones in the Yahoo! Answers question and answer repository.

Robustness Analysis of Visual Question Answering Models by Basic Questions

KAUST Repository

Huang, Jia-Hong

2017-11-01

Visual Question Answering (VQA) models should have both high robustness and accuracy. Unfortunately, most of the current VQA research only focuses on accuracy because there is a lack of proper methods to measure the robustness of VQA models. There are two main modules in our algorithm. Given a natural language question about an image, the first module takes the question as input and then outputs the ranked basic questions, with similarity scores, of the main given question. The second module takes the main question, image and these basic questions as input and then outputs the text-based answer of the main question about the given image. We claim that a robust VQA model is one, whose performance is not changed much when related basic questions as also made available to it as input. We formulate the basic questions generation problem as a LASSO optimization, and also propose a large scale Basic Question Dataset (BQD) and Rscore (novel robustness measure), for analyzing the robustness of VQA models. We hope our BQD will be used as a benchmark for to evaluate the robustness of VQA models, so as to help the community build more robust and accurate VQA models.

Robustness Analysis of Visual Question Answering Models by Basic Questions

KAUST Repository

Huang, Jia-Hong

2017-01-01

Visual Question Answering (VQA) models should have both high robustness and accuracy. Unfortunately, most of the current VQA research only focuses on accuracy because there is a lack of proper methods to measure the robustness of VQA models. There are two main modules in our algorithm. Given a natural language question about an image, the first module takes the question as input and then outputs the ranked basic questions, with similarity scores, of the main given question. The second module takes the main question, image and these basic questions as input and then outputs the text-based answer of the main question about the given image. We claim that a robust VQA model is one, whose performance is not changed much when related basic questions as also made available to it as input. We formulate the basic questions generation problem as a LASSO optimization, and also propose a large scale Basic Question Dataset (BQD) and Rscore (novel robustness measure), for analyzing the robustness of VQA models. We hope our BQD will be used as a benchmark for to evaluate the robustness of VQA models, so as to help the community build more robust and accurate VQA models.

Student questions in urban middle school science communities of practice

Science.gov (United States)

Groome, Meghan

This dissertation examines student questions within three Communities of Practice (CoP), all urban middle school science environments. The study analyzed student questions from a sociocultural perspective and used ethnographic research techniques to detail how the CoP's shaped questions in the classroom. In the first study, two case study girls attempted to navigate questioning events that required them to negotiation participation. Their access to participation was blocked by participation frameworks that elevated some students as "gatekeepers" while suppressing the participation of others. The next two studies detail the introduction of written questioning opportunities, one into a public middle school classroom and the other into an informal classroom. In both studies, students responded to the interventions differently, most notable the adoption of the opportunity by female students who do not participate orally. Dissertation-wide findings indicate all students were able to ask questions, but varied in level of cognitive complexity, and the diagnostic interventions were able to identify students who were not known to be "target students", students who asked a high number of questions and were considered "interested in science". Some students' roles were as "gatekeepers" to participation of their peers. Two out of three teachers in the studies reported major shifts in their teaching practice due to the focus on questions and the methods used here have been found to be effective in producing educational research as well as supporting high-need classrooms in prior research. In conclusion, these studies indicate that social factors, including participation frameworks, gender dynamics, and the availability of alternative participation methods, play an important role in how students ask science-related questions. It is recommended that researchers continue to examine social factors that reduce student questions and modify their teaching strategies to facilitate

Two-Year-Old Children Differentiate Test Questions from Genuine Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Grosse, Gerlind; Tomasello, Michael

2012-01-01

Children are frequently confronted with so-called "test questions". While genuine questions are requests for missing information, test questions ask for information obviously already known to the questioner. In this study we explored whether two-year-old children respond differentially to one and the same question used as either a genuine question…

Nuclear questions; Le nucleaire en questions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berg, Eugene

2012-02-15

Civilian and military nuclear questions fill a multitude of publications these days, especially after the Japanese tsunami and the Fukushima disaster. The author analyses some of them and highlights the links between civil and military nuclear industries, the realities of the nuclear cycle and related industrial questions before concluding on the controversial issue of weapons and their proliferation potential

Designing Epigenome Editors: Considerations of Biochemical and Locus Specificities.

Science.gov (United States)

Sen, Dilara; Keung, Albert J

2018-01-01

The advent of locus-specific protein recruitment technologies has enabled a new class of studies in chromatin biology. Epigenome editors enable biochemical modifications of chromatin at almost any specific endogenous locus. Their locus specificity unlocks unique information including the functional roles of distinct modifications at specific genomic loci. Given the growing interest in using these tools for biological and translational studies, there are many specific design considerations depending on the scientific question or clinical need. Here we present and discuss important design considerations and challenges regarding the biochemical and locus specificities of epigenome editors. These include how to account for the complex biochemical diversity of chromatin; control for potential interdependency of epigenome editors and their resultant modifications; avoid sequestration effects; quantify the locus specificity of epigenome editors; and improve locus specificity by considering concentration, affinity, avidity, and sequestration effects.

Religion, Democratic Community, and Education: Two Questions

Science.gov (United States)

D'Souza, Mario Osbert

2012-01-01

This paper examines the mediating role that education plays between religion and democratic community. The paper is situated in the Canadian context and examines this mediation through two questions: First, what is the relationship between religion and education and what is the contribution of this relationship to and within a pluralist society?…

A specific role for the human amygdala in olfactory memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Buchanan, Tony W; Tranel, Daniel; Adolphs, Ralph

2003-01-01

The medial temporal lobe is known to play a role in the processing of olfaction and memory. The specific contribution of the human amygdala to memory for odors has not been addressed, however. The role of this region in memory for odors was assessed in patients with unilateral amygdala damage due to temporal lobectomy (n = 20; 11 left, 9 right), one patient with selective bilateral amygdala damage, and in 20 age-matched normal controls. Fifteen odors were presented, followed 1 h later by an odor-name matching test and an odor-odor recognition test. Signal detection analyses showed that both unilateral groups were impaired in their memory for matching odors with names, these patients were not significantly impaired on odor-odor recognition. Bilateral amygdala damage resulted in severe impairment in both odor-name matching as well as in odor-odor recognition memory. Importantly, none of the patients were impaired on an auditory verbal learning task, suggesting that these findings reflect a specific impairment in olfactory memory, and not merely a more general memory deficit. Taken together, the data provide neuropsychological evidence that the human amygdala is essential for olfactory memory.

Subject-Auxillary Inversion Errors and Wh Question Acquisition: What Children Do Know.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowland, Caroline F.; Pine, Julian M.

2000-01-01

Analyzed correct wh-question production and subject-auxiliary inversion errors in one child's wh-question data. Argues that two current movement rule accounts cannot explain patterning of early wh-questions. Data can be explained by the child's knowledge of particular lexically-specific wh-word+auxiliary combinations, and inversion and universion…

Nuclear engineering questions: power, reprocessing, waste, decontamination, fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walton, R.D. Jr.

1979-01-01

This volume contains papers presented at the chemical engineering symposium on nuclear questions. Specific questions addressed by the speakers included: nuclear power - why and how; commercial reprocessing - permanent death or resurrection; long-term management of commercial high-level wastes; long-term management of defense high-level waste; decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear facilities, engineering aspects of laser fusion I; and engineering aspects of laser fusion II. Individual papers have been input to the Energy Data Base previously

Impact of scaffolding and question structure on the gender gap

Science.gov (United States)

Dawkins, Hillary; Hedgeland, Holly; Jordan, Sally

2017-12-01

We address previous hypotheses about possible factors influencing the gender gap in attainment in physics. Specifically, previous studies claim that scaffolding may preferentially benefit female students, and we present some alternative conclusions surrounding this hypothesis. By taking both student attainment level and the degree of question scaffolding into account, we identify questions that exhibit real bias in favor of male students. We find that both multidimensional context and use of diagrams are common elements of such questions.

Use of Credibility Heuristics in a Social Question-Answering Service

Science.gov (United States)

Matthews, Paul

2015-01-01

Introduction: This study looked at the effect of community peripheral cues (specifically voting score and answerer's reputation) on the user's credibility rating of answers. Method: Students in technology and philosophy were asked to assess the credibility of answers to questions posted on a social question-answering platform. Through the use of a…

Can multiple-choice questions simulate free-response questions?

OpenAIRE

Lin, Shih-Yin; Singh, Chandralekha

2016-01-01

We discuss a study to evaluate the extent to which free-response questions could be approximated by multiple-choice equivalents. Two carefully designed research-based multiple-choice questions were transformed into a free-response format and administered on the final exam in a calculus-based introductory physics course. The original multiple-choice questions were administered in another similar introductory physics course on final exam. Findings suggest that carefully designed multiple-choice...

Smart Questions To Ask Your Insurance Agent.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Abby J.

1997-01-01

Provides advice on insurance coverage for child care centers. Suggests that before purchasing insurance you inquire about the agent's qualifications, company's financial stability, and corporate ratings; and obtain written answers to questions about specific coverage issues such as volunteers, legal defense costs, special events, and…

Relative Expression Levels Rather Than Specific Activity Plays the Major Role in Determining In Vivo AKT Isoform Substrate Specificity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel S. Lee

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The AKT protooncogene mediates many cellular processes involved in normal development and disease states such as cancer. The three structurally similar isoforms: AKT1, AKT2, and AKT3 exhibit both functional redundancy and isoform-specific functions; however the basis for their differential signalling remains unclear. Here we show that in vitro, purified AKT3 is ∼47-fold more active than AKT1 at phosphorylating peptide and protein substrates. Despite these marked variations in specific activity between the individual isoforms, a comprehensive analysis of phosphorylation of validated AKT substrates indicated only subtle differences in signalling via individual isoforms in vivo. Therefore, we hypothesise, at least in this model system, that relative tissue/cellular abundance, rather than specific activity, plays the dominant role in determining AKT substrate specificity in situ.

Impact of scaffolding and question structure on the gender gap

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hillary Dawkins

2017-09-01

Full Text Available We address previous hypotheses about possible factors influencing the gender gap in attainment in physics. Specifically, previous studies claim that scaffolding may preferentially benefit female students, and we present some alternative conclusions surrounding this hypothesis. By taking both student attainment level and the degree of question scaffolding into account, we identify questions that exhibit real bias in favor of male students. We find that both multidimensional context and use of diagrams are common elements of such questions.

Four Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Hark-Weber, Amara G., Ed.

2013-01-01

The author is pleased to introduce a new section in "TAJ," Four Questions. The structure is simple: four questions are asked to teaching artists working in various media and locations. The questions are always the same, but because each teaching artist's approach is unique, their answers will provide an insight into particular methodologies that…

Notochord morphogenesis in mice: Current understanding & open questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Balmer, Sophie; Nowotschin, Sonja; Hadjantonakis, Anna-Katerina

2016-05-01

The notochord is a structure common to all chordates, and the feature that the phylum Chordata has been named after. It is a rod-like mesodermal structure that runs the anterior-posterior length of the embryo, adjacent to the ventral neural tube. The notochord plays a critical role in embryonic tissue patterning, for example the dorsal-ventral patterning of the neural tube. The cells that will come to form the notochord are specified at gastrulation. Axial mesodermal cells arising at the anterior primitive streak migrate anteriorly as the precursors of the notochord and populate the notochordal plate. Yet, even though a lot of interest has centered on investigating the functional and structural roles of the notochord, we still have a very rudimentary understanding of notochord morphogenesis. The events driving the formation of the notochord are rapid, taking place over the period of approximately a day in mice. In this commentary, we provide an overview of our current understanding of mouse notochord morphogenesis, from the initial specification of axial mesendodermal cells at the primitive streak, the emergence of these cells at the midline on the surface of the embryo, to their submergence and organization of the stereotypically positioned notochord. We will also discuss some key open questions. Developmental Dynamics 245:547-557, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Phrasal Paraphrase Based Question Reformulation for Archived Question Retrieval.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Zhang

Full Text Available Lexical gap in cQA search, resulted by the variability of languages, has been recognized as an important and widespread phenomenon. To address the problem, this paper presents a question reformulation scheme to enhance the question retrieval model by fully exploring the intelligence of paraphrase in phrase-level. It compensates for the existing paraphrasing research in a suitable granularity, which either falls into fine-grained lexical-level or coarse-grained sentence-level. Given a question in natural language, our scheme first detects the involved key-phrases by jointly integrating the corpus-dependent knowledge and question-aware cues. Next, it automatically extracts the paraphrases for each identified key-phrase utilizing multiple online translation engines, and then selects the most relevant reformulations from a large group of question rewrites, which is formed by full permutation and combination of the generated paraphrases. Extensive evaluations on a real world data set demonstrate that our model is able to characterize the complex questions and achieves promising performance as compared to the state-of-the-art methods.

Open forum: Question and responses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schulze, R.H.; Krupa, S.; Shen, T.T.

1993-01-01

The question addressed in this section is: With the end of the Cold War and the exchange of information improving between East and West, what roles should government agencies and non-government organizations from developed countries play in assisting less developed countries in developing a stronger environmental protection program? Responses presented here were obtained from Richard H. Schulze (President of Trinity Consultants, Inc.), Sagar Krupa (Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota), and Thomas T. Shen (Ph.D., D.AAEE, Retiree of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation)

A statistical analysis of student questions in a cell biology laboratory.

Science.gov (United States)

Keeling, Elena L; Polacek, Kelly M; Ingram, Ella L

2009-01-01

Asking questions is an essential component of the practice of science, but question-asking skills are often underemphasized in science education. In this study, we examined questions written by students as they prepared for laboratory exercises in a senior-level cell biology class. Our goals were to discover 1) what types of questions students asked about laboratory activities, 2) whether the types or quality of questions changed over time, and 3) whether the quality of questions or degree of improvement was related to academic performance. We found a majority of questions were about laboratory outcomes or seeking additional descriptive information about organisms or processes to be studied. Few questions earned the highest possible ranking, which required demonstration of extended thought, integration of information, and/or hypotheses and future experiments, although a majority of students asked such a question at least once. We found no correlation between types of student questions or improvement in questions and final grades. Only a small improvement in overall question quality was seen despite considerable practice at writing questions about science. Our results suggest that improving students' ability to generate higher-order questions may require specific pedagogical intervention.

QUESTION ANSWERING SYSTEM BERBASIS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MARKUP LANGUAGE SEBAGAI MEDIA INFORMASI

OpenAIRE

Fajrin Azwary; Fatma Indriani; Dodon T. Nugrahadi

2016-01-01

Artificial intelligence technology nowadays, can be processed with a variety of forms, such as chatbot, and the various methods, one of them using Artificial Intelligence Markup Language (AIML). AIML using template matching, by comparing the specific patterns in the database. AIML template design process begins with determining the necessary information, then formed into questions, these questions adapted to AIML pattern. From the results of the study, can be known that the Question-Answering...

Relating Specific Emotions to Intrinsic Motivation: On the Moderating Role of Positive and Negative Emotion Differentiation

OpenAIRE

Vandercammen, Leen; Hofmans, Joeri; Theuns, Peter

2014-01-01

Despite the fact that studies on self-determination theory have traditionally disregarded the explicit role of emotions in the motivation eliciting process, research attention for the affective antecedents of motivation is growing. We add to this emerging research field by testing the moderating role of emotion differentiation -individual differences in the extent to which people can differentiate between specific emotions- on the relationship between twelve specific emotions and intrinsic mo...

If Ethics in Psychiatry is the Answer - What was the Question? Exploring Social Space and the Role of Clinical Chaplaincy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helen Kohlen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Over the last twenty years, ethics has been expanding in health care and chaplains comprise one of the key groups that provide ethics consultation services in the German arena of psychiatry. Like all professional actors in the practical arena, chaplains perform their role. Performance happens in relation to others who occupy positions that allow more or less exercise of power. This architecture of relational positioning and territory constitutes the social space. The question is, whether ethics in psychiatry can overcome the determination of positioning within the social space, and if yes: what is the scope of ethics? This article investigates into the role of chaplaincy as ethical agents (in Germany on the basis of theoretical and empirical studies over the last 10 years. The meaning of social space in the field of psychiatry is explored by taking Pierre Bourdieu’s work into account. For illustration, a case study is given.

Student teachers’ mathematical questioning and courage in metaphorical thinking learning

Science.gov (United States)

Hendriana, H.; Hidayat, W.; Ristiana, M. G.

2018-01-01

This study was designed in the form of experiments with control group design and post-test only which aimed to examine the role of metaphorical thinking learning in the mathematical questioning ability of student teachers based on the level of mathematical courage. The population of this study was student teachers of mathematics education study program in West Java Province, while the sample of this study was 152 student teachers which were set purposively and then randomly to be included in the experimental class and control class. Based on the results and discussion, it was concluded that: (a) the mathematical questioning ability of student teachers who received Metaphorical Thinking learning was better than those who received conventional learning seen from mathematical courage level; (b) learning and mathematical courage level factors affected the achievement of student teachers’ mathematical questioning ability. In addition, there was no interaction effect between learning and mathematical courage level (high, medium, and low) simultaneously in developing student teachers’ mathematical questioning ability; (c) achievement of mastering mathematical questioning ability of student teacher was still not well achieved on indicator of problem posing in the form of non-routine question and open question.

Power dynamics and questioning in elementary science lessons

Science.gov (United States)

Reinsvold, Lori Ann

Discourse interactions between a teacher and students in an inquiry-based fourth-grade science classroom were analyzed to investigate how power dynamics and questioning strategies within elementary science lessons help support students in building their science understanding. Five inquiry-based classroom sessions were observed; verbal interactions were audio- and video-recorded. Research data consisted of observation transcripts, teacher interviews, student work, and instructional materials. Analyses were conducted on the frequencies of utterances, participation roles, power categories, and questioning categories. Results revealed that when students used more frequent power, (a) no significant differences were noted between frequencies of teacher and student talk, (b) the teacher posed more questions than did the students, and (c) students explained what they knew and asked questions to clarify their understanding. When the teacher used more frequent power, she asked questions to provide students opportunities to negotiate investigative processes and explain what they knew and how they knew it. Evidence of student understanding of the science concepts was found in how students used subject matter to discuss what they knew and how they knew it. Pre-service and in-service teachers should be encouraged to consider how their use of power and questioning strategies can engage students to reflect on how they build understanding of science concepts. Teachers can use Professional Learning Communities to reflect on how their practice engages students. Future research should be employed to observe classrooms across an entire school year to determine how power and questioning dynamics flow among students and teachers and change over time. Research can also be used to understand the influence of gender and culture on power and questioning dynamics in classroom settings.

Three distinct roles for notch in Drosophila R7 photoreceptor specification.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Tomlinson

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs and Notch (N proteins are different types of transmembrane receptors that transduce extracellular signals and control cell fate. Here we examine cell fate specification in the Drosophila retina and ask how N acts together with the RTKs Sevenless (Sev and the EGF receptor (DER to specify the R7 photoreceptor. The retina is composed of many hundred ommatidia, each of which grows by recruiting surrounding, undifferentiated cells and directing them to particular fates. The R7 photoreceptor derives from a cohort of three cells that are incorporated together following specification of the R2-R5 and R8 photoreceptors. Two cells of the cohort are specified as the R1/6 photoreceptor type by DER activation. These cells then activate N in the third cell (the R7 precursor. By manipulation of N and RTK signaling in diverse combinations we establish three roles for N in specifying the R7 fate. The first role is to impose a block to photoreceptor differentiation; a block that DER activation cannot overcome. The second role, paradoxically, is to negate the first; Notch activation up-regulates Sev expression, enabling the presumptive R7 cell to receive an RTK signal from R8 that can override the block. The third role is to specify the cell as an R7 rather than an R1/6 once RTK signaling has specified the cells as a photoreceptor. We speculate why N acts both to block and to facilitate photoreceptor differentiation, and provide a model for how N and RTK signaling act combinatorially to specify the R1/6 and R7 photoreceptors as well as the surrounding non-neuronal cone cells.

Interviewer Effects on a Network-Size Filter Question

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josten Michael

2016-06-01

Full Text Available There is evidence that survey interviewers may be tempted to manipulate answers to filter questions in a way that minimizes the number of follow-up questions. This becomes relevant when ego-centered network data are collected. The reported network size has a huge impact on interview duration if multiple questions on each alter are triggered. We analyze interviewer effects on a network-size question in the mixed-mode survey “Panel Study ‘Labour Market and Social Security’” (PASS, where interviewers could skip up to 15 follow-up questions by generating small networks. Applying multilevel models, we find almost no interviewer effects in CATI mode, where interviewers are paid by the hour and frequently supervised. In CAPI, however, where interviewers are paid by case and no close supervision is possible, we find strong interviewer effects on network size. As the area-specific network size is known from telephone mode, where allocation to interviewers is random, interviewer and area effects can be separated. Furthermore, a difference-in-difference analysis reveals the negative effect of introducing the follow-up questions in Wave 3 on CAPI network size. Attempting to explain interviewer effects we neither find significant main effects of experience within a wave, nor significantly different slopes between interviewers.

Children’s questions as a base of teaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavlović Branka S.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The paper considers interrelationships between children’s questions and teaching and learning in the light of experimental studies on the role and aim of children’s questions in Nature and Society teaching in the third grade of primary school. The experiment comprising two parallel groups was carried out on the sample of 150 respondents from two primary schools in Šabac during the second term of the academic year 2002/2003. The present paper involves a portion of the results obtained for the type of questions children asked during teaching process as classified by independent observers; average distribution of some types of questions; qualitative analysis of discussions conducted with children after two classes where identical teaching content was presented in groups E and K; qualitative analysis of two interviews conducted with teachers after those classes in groups E and K; observers’ general impression of classes in groups E and K. The results showed that teaching based on children’s questions encourages children’s proactive attitude towards learning and leads to its higher cognitive efficiency and that children express a high degree of satisfaction by participating in thus organized work during classes and preference of atmosphere present in the classroom during such classes compared to the atmosphere during classes managed in a traditional way. Communication between children and between teacher and children is less formal, more relaxed and dynamic, which all produces motivational effects on children makes them more engaged in learning during teaching whose base is in their questions and not in teaching managed by teacher’s questions.

Energy the security of supply in question. Combating global warming: what role for nuclear power. Warning issued by the International Energy Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Montbrial, T. de; Moore, P.; Cambell, N.

2007-01-01

This issue of Alternatives newsletter put the question of energy supplies security. The unequal distribution of the world's energy resources raises the problem of energy independence and the security of supply. This question is particularly pertinent for Europe which, along with the Far East, possesses only a meager share of the planet's store of fossil fuels. Europe must learn how to live with its energy dependency, knowing that independence is an unrealistic objective in a world built on the interdependence of trade. The world's energy system is vulnerable to disruptions in supply and to geopolitical tensions. Given this context of instability, how can the security of supply and energy independence be increased? The challenge for western countries with few fossil fuel resources is to secure reliable supply while reducing energy dependency. One solution consists in diversifying power generation sources to lower dependency on oil and gas. The nuclear question is analyzed through the different point of views of Greenpeace and Greenspirit Strategies. Greenpeace refuses even the slightest involvement of nuclear power and considers that energy efficiency and renewable technologies are the only solution to both global warming and energy questions. On the other hand, Greenspirit Strategies sees nuclear power, combined with increased efforts to develop renewable energies, playing an essential role in the sustainable production of electricity. A last article devoted to the World Energy Outlook 2006 - the report published by the International Energy Agency - presents the hypotheses advanced by the Agency regarding future energy supply and its recommendations for counteracting a scenario for 2030 that is, to say the least, very alarming

The role of migration-specific and migration-relevant policies in migrant decision-making in transit

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuschminder - de Guerre, Katie; Koser, Khalid

2017-01-01

This paper examines the role of migration-specific and migration-relevant policies in migrant decision-making factors for onwards migration or stay in Greece and Turkey. In this paper we distinguish migration-specific policies from migration-relevant policies in transit and destination countries,

Sensitivity and specificity of a two-question screening tool for depression in a specialist palliative care unit.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Payne, Ann

2012-02-03

OBJECTIVES: The primary objective in this study is to determine the sensitivity and specificity of a two-item screening interview for depression versus the formal psychiatric interview, in the setting of a specialist palliative in-patient unit so that we may identify those individuals suffering from depressive disorder and therefore optimise their management in this often-complex population. METHODS: A prospective sample of consecutive admissions (n = 167) consented to partake in the study, and the screening interview was asked separately to the formal psychiatric interview. RESULTS: The two-item questionnaire, achieved a sensitivity of 90.7% (95% CI 76.9-97.0) but a lower specificity of 67.7% (95% CI 58.7-75.7). The false positive rate was 32.3% (95% CI 24.3-41.3), but the false negative rate was found to be a low 9.3% (95% CI 3.0-23.1). A subgroup analysis of individuals with a past experience of depressive illness, (n = 95), revealed that a significant number screened positive for depression by the screening test, 55.2% (16\\/29) compared to those with no background history of depression, 33.3% (22\\/66) (P = 0.045). CONCLUSION: The high sensitivity and low false negative rate of the two-question screening tool will aid health professionals in identifying depression in the in-patient specialist palliative care unit. Individuals, who admit to a previous experience of depressive illness, are more likely to respond positively to the two-item questionnaire than those who report no prior history of depressive illness (P = 0.045).

The Open role : some remarks on contemporary acting

OpenAIRE

Mažeikienė, Rūta

2006-01-01

Traditionally, actor is considered to be a theater artist, who represents the other during a theater play: it can be a fictional character or a real person, animated or inanimate stage object. However, the practice of contemporary theater questions such definition of actor. In analyzing certain roles, it is difficult to pinpoint what is the task of an actor: should (s)he perform a role of a fictional character, or address the audience by his/her own name, or to perform specific plastic / visu...

The role of Sox6 in zebrafish muscle fiber type specification.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Harriet E; Ono, Yosuke; Wang, Xingang; Elworthy, Stone; Cunliffe, Vincent T; Ingham, Philip W

2015-01-01

The transcription factor Sox6 has been implicated in regulating muscle fiber type-specific gene expression in mammals. In zebrafish, loss of function of the transcription factor Prdm1a results in a slow to fast-twitch fiber type transformation presaged by ectopic expression of sox6 in slow-twitch progenitors. Morpholino-mediated Sox6 knockdown can suppress this transformation but causes ectopic expression of only one of three slow-twitch specific genes assayed. Here, we use gain and loss of function analysis to analyse further the role of Sox6 in zebrafish muscle fiber type specification. The GAL4 binary misexpression system was used to express Sox6 ectopically in zebrafish embryos. Cis-regulatory elements were characterized using transgenic fish. Zinc finger nuclease mediated targeted mutagenesis was used to analyse the effects of loss of Sox6 function in embryonic, larval and adult zebrafish. Zebrafish transgenic for the GCaMP3 Calcium reporter were used to assay Ca2+ transients in wild-type and mutant muscle fibres. Ectopic Sox6 expression is sufficient to downregulate slow-twitch specific gene expression in zebrafish embryos. Cis-regulatory elements upstream of the slow myosin heavy chain 1 (smyhc1) and slow troponin c (tnnc1b) genes contain putative Sox6 binding sites required for repression of the former but not the latter. Embryos homozygous for sox6 null alleles expressed tnnc1b throughout the fast-twitch muscle whereas other slow-specific muscle genes, including smyhc1, were expressed ectopically in only a subset of fast-twitch fibers. Ca2+ transients in sox6 mutant fast-twitch fibers were intermediate in their speed and amplitude between those of wild-type slow- and fast-twitch fibers. sox6 homozygotes survived to adulthood and exhibited continued misexpression of tnnc1b as well as smaller slow-twitch fibers. They also exhibited a striking curvature of the spine. The Sox6 transcription factor is a key regulator of fast-twitch muscle fiber differentiation

An Empirical Study on New Teacher-Student Relationship and Questioning Strategies in ESL Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Zuosheng

2012-01-01

Teacher-student relationship and questioning strategies are extremely crucial elements in English teaching and learning. Questioning strategies can influence learners' emotional changes in classroom and the relationship between teachers & students. The affective factors play a very important role in language teaching & learning.…

Investing Wisely in Information Technology: Asking the Right Questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Breivik, Patricia Senn

1993-01-01

College administrators are offered a series of questions to ask in evaluating the appropriateness of information technology for their campuses. Issues addressed include defining institutional goals and the role of information technology in them, determining the most effective organization of information resources and technology, and allocation of…

Did Darwin really answer Paley's question?

Science.gov (United States)

Brunnander, Björn

2013-09-01

It is commonly thought that natural selection explains the rise of adaptive complexity. Razeto-Barry and Frick (2011) have recently argued in favour of this view, dubbing it the Creative View. I argue that the Creative View is mistaken if it claims that natural selection serves to answer Paley's question. This is shown by a case that brings out the contrastive structure inherent in this demand for explanation. There is, however, a rather trivial sense in which specific environmental conditions are crucial for the rise of specific adaptations, but this is hardly what opponents of the Creative View are denying. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nuclear power: the question of public acceptance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otway, H.J.; Maurer, D.; Thomas, K.

1978-01-01

Technologists have been surprised - in view of the persuasive technical arguments - at the strength of public opposition to nuclear power. But their assumption that information and argument can, by their rational force, change public opinion on sensitive issues, rests on oversimplified theories about attitude formation. When the grounds for opposition to or approval of a controversial programme are investigated - as the authors of this article have done, on the issue of nuclear power - it becomes apparent that attitude formation is not, in the technologists' sense, a 'rational' process. Here the authors describe an attitude model, and present the results of its application to the question of public attitudes to nuclear power - including the discovery of the relatively minor role that technical and environmental questions play in determining those attitudes. (author)

Proposal for a Similar Question Search System on a Q&A Site

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katsutoshi Kanamori

2014-06-01

Full Text Available There is a service to help Internet users obtain answers to specific questions when they visit a Q&A site. A Q&A site is very useful for the Internet user, but posted questions are often not answered immediately. This delay in answering occurs because in most cases another site user is answering the question manually. In this study, we propose a system that can present a question that is similar to a question posted by a user. An advantage of this system is that a user can refer to an answer to a similar question. This research measures the similarity of a candidate question based on word and dependency parsing. In an experiment, we examined the effectiveness of the proposed system for questions actually posted on the Q&A site. The result indicates that the system can show the questioner the answer to a similar question. However, the system still has a number of aspects that should be improved.

The Perceived Importance of Role-Specific Competencies for Health Care Leaders Establishes the Need to Expand Role Theory.

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Babinski, Paul J

2016-01-01

This cross-sectional quantitative study was undertaken to determine the extent to which individuals who have differing health care leadership roles perceived the importance of selected leadership competencies in their specific roles based on their experience. A total of 313 participants responded to the health care questionnaire. Principal component analysis identified factor structure and Cronbach α at .96 supported the reliability of the factor analysis. Multivariate analysis of variance tested the 4 health care leadership roles to determine if an effect was present among the competencies. A subsequent analysis of variance test was conducted on the competencies to confirm an effect was present, and a Games-Howell post hoc test followed. These tests indicated that there was a significant difference in rating the perceived importance of specific leadership competencies by the health care leaders in each competency domain. The participants included in this study consisted of the chief executive officer (CEO), director of nursing (DON), operating room director (ORD), and director of radiology (DOR). Based on the Games-Howell post hoc test, a commonality existed between the leaders. The CEOs and DONs often indicated no significant difference in competency perception to one another in relation to the dependent variables, yet indicated a significant difference in competency perception when compared with the ORDs and DORs. Similarly, the ORD and DOR variables often indicated no significant difference in competency perception to one another in relation to the dependent variables, yet indicated a significant difference in competency perception compared with the CEO and DON variables. This study positively indicated that health care leadership's perception of competencies does differ between the various leadership roles.

Investigating Cognitive Effort and Response Quality of Question Formats in Web Surveys Using Paradata

Science.gov (United States)

Höhne, Jan Karem; Schlosser, Stephan; Krebs, Dagmar

2017-01-01

Measuring attitudes and opinions employing agree/disagree (A/D) questions is a common method in social research because it appears to be possible to measure different constructs with identical response scales. However, theoretical considerations suggest that A/D questions require a considerable cognitive processing. Item-specific (IS) questions,…

Organizational Learning: Some Basic Questions and Answers

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Miran Mihelčič

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The term “organizational learning” raises a broad range of questions, specifically with regard to its contents. Following the thoughts of eminent philosophers, such as Aristotle and Confucius, the contribution of scientists in any research field to the corpus of human knowledge should also be based on the proper governing of the use of language. Therefore it is, first, of serious importance to be aware that organizational learning is just one dimension or element of the learning organization and not vice versa; second, a good comprehension of basic categories related to the organizational side of (formal social units’ functioning is an imperative part of organizational learning process. In writing this paper, the author started from his experiences acquired in his role as a lecturer on the subject “Theory of Organization”, in which the goal of lecturing was explained to students as gaining knowledge about cooperation and competition of people in the entities of rational production of goods. To generalize the presented questions and answers regarding the use of term “organization” in the field of management, certain similarities and comparisons were sought and found in other fields of science and, more generally, in life itself. After more detailed explanations of other relevant categories for the organizational learning process, the process itself is defined by its goals and steps where the overlapping of the learning process with the organizational change process and the process of increasing organizational capital is shown. Finally, it is also emphasized that the idea of improving internal relationships – as the substance of organization – between employees in a formal social unit through organizational learning could and should be exploited in external relationships between formal social units.

Role-Play Game-Enhanced English for a Specific-Purpose Vocabulary-Acquisition Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Fang-Chen; Chang, Ben

2016-01-01

With the advantages of an engaged and authentic role-play game (RPG), this study aims to develop an RPG-enhanced English for specific purposes (ESP) vocabulary-acquisition framework, providing teachers and students a systematic way to incorporate RPG into ESP learning. The framework is composed of five parts: goal, three-level vocabulary sets, RPG…

Automatic question generation to determine roles during a crisis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Teitsma, M.; Maris, M.; Sandberg, J.; Wielinga, B.

2011-01-01

Traditional information systems for crisis response and management are centralized systems with a rigid hierarchical structure. Here we propose a decentralized system, which allows citizens to play a significant role as information source and/or as helpers during the initial stages of a crisis. In

Energy the security of supply in question. Combating global warming: what role for nuclear power. Warning issued by the International Energy Agency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Montbrial, T. de [Areva, Paris (France); Moore, P. [Greenspirit Strategies Ltd, Vancouver (Canada); Cambell, N. [Greenpeace (Canada)

2007-07-01

This issue of Alternatives newsletter put the question of energy supplies security. The unequal distribution of the world's energy resources raises the problem of energy independence and the security of supply. This question is particularly pertinent for Europe which, along with the Far East, possesses only a meager share of the planet's store of fossil fuels. Europe must learn how to live with its energy dependency, knowing that independence is an unrealistic objective in a world built on the interdependence of trade. The world's energy system is vulnerable to disruptions in supply and to geopolitical tensions. Given this context of instability, how can the security of supply and energy independence be increased? The challenge for western countries with few fossil fuel resources is to secure reliable supply while reducing energy dependency. One solution consists in diversifying power generation sources to lower dependency on oil and gas. The nuclear question is analyzed through the different point of views of Greenpeace and Greenspirit Strategies. Greenpeace refuses even the slightest involvement of nuclear power and considers that energy efficiency and renewable technologies are the only solution to both global warming and energy questions. On the other hand, Greenspirit Strategies sees nuclear power, combined with increased efforts to develop renewable energies, playing an essential role in the sustainable production of electricity. A last article devoted to the World Energy Outlook 2006 - the report published by the International Energy Agency - presents the hypotheses advanced by the Agency regarding future energy supply and its recommendations for counteracting a scenario for 2030 that is, to say the least, very alarming.

Questions-answers - Ground-based wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-11-01

After a presentation of some key data on wind energy in France, this publication proposes a set of questions and answers to highlight the reasons of the development of wind energy, to show that wind energy is a reliable one, to discuss various issues related to the presence of wind turbines (regulations, information, impact on biodiversity, on health and on dwelling environment, exploitation and control, end of life), and to determine the role of wind energy in the French economy (economic returns, costs, and so on)

Determining Role of Temperature Chart while Evaluating Specific Expenses of Organic Fuel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. P. Nesenchouk

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper considers designing principles of operational space continuous heating and heat-treating furnaces at mechanical engineering, automotive and tractor enterprises in theRepublicofBelarus. A role of temperature chart on heating metallic charge while evaluating specific expenses of organic fuel in heating and heat-treating furnaces of mechanical engineering, automotive and tractor industries. 

Transforming pathophysiology instruction through narrative pedagogy and Socratic questioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogge, M M

2001-01-01

Pathophysiology, heavily content driven, has typically been taught through the use of traditional behavioral pedagogy and a reliance on the formal lecture. The author describes the limitations of this approach to teaching pathophysiology and describes the use of narrative pedagogy and Socratic questioning as alternative methods of instruction to augment lecture methods. Specific strategies for transforming traditional classroom teaching by using Socratic questions in a pathophysiology course for nurse practitioners are described. Student and faculty reactions to the initial efforts to transform pathophysiology instruction are also described.

What do providers want to know about opioid prescribing? A qualitative analysis of their questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Cushman, Phoebe A; Liebschutz, Jane M; Hodgkin, Joseph G; Shanahan, Christopher W; White, Julie L; Hardesty, Ilana; Alford, Daniel P

2017-01-01

In 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responded to the opioid crisis with a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, requiring manufacturers of extended-release/long-acting opioids to fund continuing medical education based on the "FDA Blueprint for Prescriber Education." Topics in the Blueprint are "Assessing Patients for Treatment," "Initiating Therapy, Modifying Dosing, and Discontinuing Use," "Managing Therapy," "Counseling Patients and Caregivers about Safe Use," "General Drug Information," and "Specific Drug Information." Based on the FDA Blueprint, Boston University School of Medicine's "Safe and Competent Opioid Prescribing Education" (SCOPE of Pain) offers live trainings for physicians and other prescribers. During trainings, participants submit written questions about the curriculum and/or their clinical experiences. The objective was to compare themes that arose from questions asked by SCOPE of Pain participants with content of the FDA Blueprint in order to evaluate how well the Blueprint answers prescribers' concerns. The authors conducted qualitative analyses of all 1309 questions submitted by participants in 29 trainings across 16 states from May 2013 to May 2015, using conventional content analysis to code the questions. Themes that emerged from participants' questions were then compared with the Blueprint. Most themes fell into the topic categories of the Blueprint. Five main themes diverged: Participants sought information on (1) safe alternatives to opioids, (2) overcoming barriers to safe opioid prescribing, (3) government regulations of opioid prescribing, (4) the role of marijuana in opioid prescribing, and (5) maintaining a positive provider-patient relationship while prescribing opioids. In addition to learning the mechanics of safe opioid prescribing, providers want to understand government regulations and effective patient communication skills. Aware of the limitations of opioids in managing chronic pain, providers seek advice

One Hundred Years of The Czech Question: A Historian's Account

OpenAIRE

Urban, Otto

1995-01-01

By focusing on the nation's internal life as well as its position within the Hapsburg monarchy specifically & Central Europe more generally, the actual state of Czech society at the time Tomas G. Masaryk's Ceska otazka (The Czech Question [1895]) was written is described. Masaryk's basic thesis about the relationship between the Czech question & humanity was derived from historical reality, but also represented an attempt to link Czech nationalism with a set of metaphysically conceived values...

Emotional support and well-being of midlife women: role-specific mastery as a mediational mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Martire, L M; Stephens, M A; Townsend, A L

1998-09-01

This study examined the relationships among emotional support, mastery, and well-being for 258 women who simultaneously occupied the roles of wife, mother, parent care provider, and employee. Its primary aim was to determine if a greater sense of mastery in each of these 4 roles could explain the relationship between emotional support from the partner or partners in the same role (the husband, children, impaired parent, or work supervisor) and better psychological well-being (less depressive symptomatology and more life satisfaction). Findings revealed that more emotional support from each of the 4 role partners was related to a greater sense of mastery in that same role. Furthermore, for each of the roles of wife, mother, and employee, role-specific mastery was a mediating mechanism in the relationship between support from the role partner or partners and better well-being.

Cell-type-specific role for nucleus accumbens neuroligin-2 in depression and stress susceptibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Heshmati, Mitra; Aleyasin, Hossein; Menard, Caroline; Christoffel, Daniel J; Flanigan, Meghan E; Pfau, Madeline L; Hodes, Georgia E; Lepack, Ashley E; Bicks, Lucy K; Takahashi, Aki; Chandra, Ramesh; Turecki, Gustavo; Lobo, Mary Kay; Maze, Ian; Golden, Sam A; Russo, Scott J

2018-01-30

Behavioral coping strategies are critical for active resilience to stress and depression; here we describe a role for neuroligin-2 (NLGN-2) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Neuroligins (NLGN) are a family of neuronal postsynaptic cell adhesion proteins that are constituents of the excitatory and inhibitory synapse. Importantly, NLGN-3 and NLGN-4 mutations are strongly implicated as candidates underlying the development of neuropsychiatric disorders with social disturbances such as autism, but the role of NLGN-2 in neuropsychiatric disease states is unclear. Here we show a reduction in NLGN-2 gene expression in the NAc of patients with major depressive disorder. Chronic social defeat stress in mice also decreases NLGN-2 selectively in dopamine D1-positive cells, but not dopamine D2-positive cells, within the NAc of stress-susceptible mice. Functional NLGN-2 knockdown produces bidirectional, cell-type-specific effects: knockdown in dopamine D1-positive cells promotes subordination and stress susceptibility, whereas knockdown in dopamine D2-positive cells mediates active defensive behavior. These findings establish a behavioral role for NAc NLGN-2 in stress and depression; provide a basis for targeted, cell-type specific therapy; and highlight the role of active behavioral coping mechanisms in stress susceptibility.

Good Questions: Great Ways to Differentiate Mathematics Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Small, Marian

2009-01-01

Using differentiated instruction in the classroom can be a challenge, especially when teaching mathematics. This book cuts through the difficulties with two powerful and universal strategies that teachers can use across all math content: Open Questions and Parallel Tasks. Specific strategies and examples for grades Kindergarten - 8 are organized…

Socratic Questioning-Guided Discovery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Hakan Türkçapar

2012-04-01

Full Text Available “Socratic Method” is a way of teaching philosophical thinking and knowledge by asking questions which was used by antique period greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates was teaching knowledge to his followers by asking questions and the conversation between them was named “Socratic Dialogues”. In this meaning, no novel knowledge is taught to the individual but only what is formerly known is reminded and rediscovered. The form of socratic questioning which is used during the process of cognitive behavioral therapy is known as Guided Discovery. In this method it is aimed to make the client notice the piece of knowledge which he could notice but is not aware with a series of questions. Socratic method or guided discovery consists of several steps which are: Identifying the problem by listening to the client and making reflections, finding alternatives by examining and evaluating, reidentification by using the newly found information and questioning the old distorted belief and reaching to a conclusion and applying it. Question types used during these procedures are, questions for gaining information, questions revealing the meanings, questions revealing the beliefs, questions about behaviours during the similar past experiences, analyse questions and analytic synthesis questions. In order to make the patient feel understood it is important to be empathetic and summarising the problem during the interview. In this text, steps of Socratic Questioning-Guided Discovery will be reviewed with sample dialogues after eachstep. [JCBPR 2012; 1(1.000: 15-20

How Pollination Ecology research can help answer important questions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carvalheiro, Luisa G.

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Pollination Ecology is a dynamic field of scientific research constantly adopting novel methods and making progress in understanding the interactions between plants and their pollinators. A recent paper listed the main scientific questions in this field focussing on the ecological and biological system itself. Here, we follow up on that paper and present some ideas on how to broaden our perspective and explore the role that pollination research can play in answering both ecological and societal questions relevant to a range of different stakeholders. We hope this paper may be useful to researchers aiming at improving both the scientific and societal impact of their research.

Questions/answers on onshore wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-11-01

After a presentation of some key data on wind energy in France over the last 15 years, this publication proposes a set of questions and answers to highlight the reasons of the development of wind energy, to show that wind energy is a reliable one, to discuss various issues related to the presence of wind turbines (regulations, information, impact on biodiversity, on health and on dwelling environment, exploitation and control, end of life), and to determine the role of wind energy in the French economy (economic returns, costs, and so on)

Creating robust vocabulary frequently asked questions and extended examples

CERN Document Server

Beck, Isabel L

2008-01-01

Bringing Words to Life has enlivened the classrooms of hundreds of thousands of teachers. Responding to readers' success stories, practical questions, and requests for extended examples, this ideal volume builds on the groundbreaking work of Bringing Words to Life. The authors present additional tools, tips, and detailed explanations of such questions as which words to teach, when and how to teach them, and how to adapt instruction for English language learners. They provide specific instructional sequences, including assessments, for grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12, as well as interactive less

Planning of questions for various level of reading of textbooks for early grade students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edita Haxhijaha

2015-07-01

Full Text Available During the entire history of education, questioning has been one of the usual techniques of teaching. Despite all the changes in the education theory and technology, this technique continues to be usual, because it is an efficient tool to increase learning. Questioning is an interactive relation, which enlivens the conversation, by giving continuity to the finding of final result. Questioning should be assessed as a technique, which gives high results, when it is managed successfully and with attention towards the teacher, playing meanwhile an important role during the learning of students. Through various planed activities, I tried to influence teachers in order to plan as many questions as possible, for the development of student’s critical thinking. Taking into account the development of further activities I focused in the results extracted from the data gained from the observation of teachers, target group, consultations with teachers, and took into consideration various literature which considered this issue. This research included five teachers that teach in classes 1-5, in the ELSS “Emin Duraku” in Prizren/Kosovo. Observation consisted of two periods. Results of the first period of observation showed that while preparing the teaching work, specifically planning of questions I noticed that a big number were direct questions with a low level of thinking. The research continued by maintaining the target group focused where important discussions were held about the importance of planning the questions of different levels that helped students to understand what they read and also contributed to the increasing of their interest for reading-understanding of various school texts. Then the second period of observation was conducted. Results showed that there were differences in the planning of questions by teachers, compared to the results of the first period of observation. Conclusions of this operational research showed that students can

Beginning EFL Teachers' Beliefs about Quality Questions and Their Questioning Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Pham, Ly Ngoc Khanh; Hamid, M. Obaidul

2013-01-01

Motivated by the scarcity of research that examines the impact of teacher beliefs on their actual practices in Vietnam, this study investigated the relationship between teachers' beliefs about quality questions and their questioning behaviours in terms of questioning purposes, content focus, students' cognitive level, wording and syntax. Thirteen…

Teacher Quality and School Improvement: What Is the Role of Research?

Science.gov (United States)

Mincu, Monica Elena

2015-01-01

In a rapidly changing world, students' success depends upon the schools' capacity to deal with their specific instructional needs. Thus, effective teaching plays the role of a unique protective factor that may reduce and even close the achievement gap. Two broad questions structure this study: What is the research contribution to teacher quality…

Do cortical gamma oscillations promote or suppress perception? An under-asked question with an over-assumed answer

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William eSedley

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Cortical gamma oscillations occur alongside perceptual processes, and in proportion to perceptual salience. They have a number of properties that make them ideal candidates to explain perception, including incorporating synchronised discharges of neural assemblies, and their emergence over a fast timescale consistent with that of perception. These observations have led to widespread assumptions that gamma oscillations’ role is to cause or facilitate conscious perception (i.e. a ‘positive’ role. While the majority of the human literature on gamma oscillations is consistent with this interpretation, many or most of these studies could equally be interpreted as showing a suppressive or inhibitory (i.e. ‘negative’ role. For example, presenting a stimulus and recording a response of increased gamma oscillations would only suggest a role for gamma oscillations in the representation of that stimulus, and would not specify what that role were. For instance, if gamma oscillations were inhibitory, then they would become selectively activated in response to the stimulus they acted to inhibit.In this review, we consider two classes of gamma oscillations: broadband and narrowband, which have very different properties (and likely roles. We first discuss studies on gamma oscillations that are non-discriminatory, with respect to the role of gamma oscillations, followed by studies that specifically support specifically a positive or negative role. These include work on perception in healthy individuals, and in the pathological contexts of phantom perception and epilepsy. Reference is based as much as possible on magnetoencephalography (MEG and electroencephalography (EEG studies, but we also consider evidence from invasive recordings in humans and other animals. Attempts are made to reconcile findings within a common framework. We conclude with a summary of the pertinent questions that remain unanswered, and suggest how future studies might address

Repetitive Questioning II

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. C. Hamdy MD

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Repetitive questioning is a major problem for caregivers, particularly taxing if they are unable to recognize and understand the reasons why their loved one keeps asking the same question over and over again. Caregivers may be tempted to believe that the patient does not even try to remember the answer given or is just getting obnoxious. This is incorrect. Repetitive questioning is due to the underlying disease: The patient’s short term memory is impaired and he is unable to register, encode, retain and retrieve the answer. If he is concerned about a particular topic, he will keep asking the same question over and over again. To the patient each time she asks the question, it is as if she asked it for the first time. Just answering repetitive questioning by providing repeatedly the same answer is not sufficient. Caregivers should try to identify the underlying cause for this repetitive questioning. In an earlier case study, the patient was concerned about her and her family’s safety and kept asking whether the doors are locked. In this present case study, the patient does not know how to handle the awkward situation he finds himself in. He just does not know what to do. He is not able to adjust to the new unexpected situation. So he repeatedly wants to reassure himself that he is not intruding by asking the same question over and over again. We discuss how the patient’s son-in-law could have avoided this situation and averted the catastrophic ending.

Twenty-five questions for string theorists

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Binetruy, Pierre; /Orsay, LPT; Kane, G.L.; /Michigan U., MCTP; Lykken, Joseph D.; /Fermilab; Nelson, Brent D.; /Pennsylvania U.

2005-09-01

In an effort to promote communication between the formal and phenomenological branches of the high-energy theory community, we provide a description of some important issues in supersymmetric and string phenomenology. We describe each within the context of string constructions, illustrating them with specific examples where applicable. Each topic culminates in a set of questions that we believe are amenable to direct consideration by string theorists, and whose answers we think could help connect string theory and phenomenology.

On the Development of Episodic Memory: Two Basic Questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dahl, Jonna Jelsbak; Sonne, Trine; Kingo, Osman Skjold

2013-01-01

In this focused review we present and discuss two basic questions related to the early development of episodic memory in children: (1) “What is an episode?”, and (2) “How do preverbal children recall a specific episode of a recurring event?” First, a brief introduction to episodic memory...... is outlined. We argue in favor of employing a definition of episodic memory allowing us to investigate the development of episodic memory by purely behavioral measures. Second, research related to each of the two questions are presented and discussed, at first separately, and subsequently together. We argue...... and attempt to demonstrate, that pursuing answers to both questions is of crucial importance – both conceptually and methodologically - if we are ever to understand the early development of episodic memory. ...

Aging and vestibular system: specific tests and role of melatonin in cognitive involvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Alpini, D; Cesarani, A; Fraschini, F; Kohen-Raz, R; Capobianco, S; Cornelio, F

2004-01-01

Balance disorders are frequent with aging. They are particularly important because they decrease social autonomy of the aged subjects and they often provoke falls. The cause is always multifactorial. There is evidence that aging affects multiple sensory inputs, as well as the muscoloskeletal system and central nervous system ability to perform sensorimotor integration. For the evaluation of decreased balance skills in elderly, a specific questionnaire has been prepared, in order to identify high risk of falling called falling risk inventory (FRI) questionnaire, and a complex psycho-sensory-motor test has been studied by means of posturography, in order to detect specific vestibular impairment. Regarding ethiopathogenesis of balance disorders in aged subjects, because the decline of behavioral and cognitive performances are due also to decline of biological rhythm control, the role of melatonin (the hormone regulating circadian rhythms, being strictly connected with cerebellar function, and it is well known that cerebellum acts in elderly both at motor and cognitive regulation. The goals of the present paper are: (i) To present a self-administered FRI questionnaire aimed at identifying possible causes of falls and quantifying falling risk in aged. (ii) To validate posturography as a specific test to investigate vestibular involvement in elderly in correlation with FRI. (iii) To present a complex behavioral test (NT) aimed at evaluating both spatial orientation and spatial memory in elderly, factors involved into the genesis of complex dizziness and unsteadiness. (iv) To evaluate the role of melatonin in cognitive involvement in dizzy, old subjects due to the functional correlations between circadian rhythms, cerebellum balance disturbances and cognitive disorders. General conclusions are: FRI correlates with falling risk. Posturography identifies specific vestibular impairments correlated to balance disorders and elderly falls. Spatial orientation is altered in

Comparison between Two Assessment Methods; Modified Essay Questions and Multiple Choice Questions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Assadi S.N.* MD

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Aims Using the best assessment methods is an important factor in educational development of health students. Modified essay questions and multiple choice questions are two prevalent methods of assessing the students. The aim of this study was to compare two methods of modified essay questions and multiple choice questions in occupational health engineering and work laws courses. Materials & Methods This semi-experimental study was performed during 2013 to 2014 on occupational health students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. The class of occupational health and work laws course in 2013 was considered as group A and the class of 2014 as group B. Each group had 50 students.The group A students were assessed by modified essay questions method and the group B by multiple choice questions method.Data were analyzed in SPSS 16 software by paired T test and odd’s ratio. Findings The mean grade of occupational health and work laws course was 18.68±0.91 in group A (modified essay questions and was 18.78±0.86 in group B (multiple choice questions which was not significantly different (t=-0.41; p=0.684. The mean grade of chemical chapter (p<0.001 in occupational health engineering and harmful work law (p<0.001 and other (p=0.015 chapters in work laws were significantly different between two groups. Conclusion Modified essay questions and multiple choice questions methods have nearly the same student assessing value for the occupational health engineering and work laws course.

Nuclear questions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berg, Eugene

2012-01-01

Civilian and military nuclear questions fill a multitude of publications these days, especially after the Japanese tsunami and the Fukushima disaster. The author analyses some of them and highlights the links between civil and military nuclear industries, the realities of the nuclear cycle and related industrial questions before concluding on the controversial issue of weapons and their proliferation potential

Approaches to Exploring Category Information for Question Retrieval in Community Question-Answer Archives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cao, Xin; Cong, Gao; Cui, Bin

2012-01-01

, and it applies these approaches to existing question retrieval models, including a state-of-the-art question retrieval model. Experiments conducted on real CQA data demonstrate that the proposed techniques are effective and efficient and are capable of outperforming a variety of baseline methods significantly......Community Question Answering (CQA) is a popular type of service where users ask questions and where answers are obtained from other users or from historical question-answer pairs. CQA archives contain large volumes of questions organized into a hierarchy of categories. As an essential function...

Questioning ORACLE: An Assessment of ORACLE's Analysis of Teachers' Questions and [A Comment on "Questioning ORACLE"].

Science.gov (United States)

Scarth, John; And Others

1986-01-01

Analysis of teachers' questions, part of the ORACLE (Observation Research and Classroom Learning Evaluation) project research, is examined in detail. Scarth and Hammersley argue that the rules ORACLE uses for identifying different types of questions involve levels of ambiguity and inference that threaten reliability and validity of the study's…

Questions of Ethics and Loyalty: An Assistant Principal's Tale

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, Melissa A.

2014-01-01

Inspired by real-life events, this case describes the dilemma of a novice assistant principal who must balance her role as an administrator at her high school campus where a cousin's son, Eddie, recently enrolled and is proving to be disruptive the first month of school. Troubled by questions of ethics and loyalty, the issue is complicated after…

A child's question in school as an expression of active attitude towards the environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavlović Branka S.

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the importance and role of a child's question in school and developing of children and adolescents' active attitude towards social environment. Emphasis is placed on the importance of a child's question for developing civic participation in social community. Considerations start from 'humanocentric' strategy of social development, oriented primarily to local community and man as a focal point of development, his potentials being in the focus of all development interests. Potentially, school as a part of local and broader social community has very large but in reality a modest role in developing civic conscious and participation. The paper points to some causes for such state-of-the-arts but also to some possibilities of improving school's role, without in-depth reforms, by introducing changes in methods of work and attitudes towards child's spontaneous questions and curiosity as a development phenomenon. Let us remind you of the improperly used classes of a class head teacher or students' class community. As a part of a school system development strategy, it is also necessary to stimulate more active attitude of school towards social reality. One of the ways of integrating school into social community is to nurture culture of asking questions in school as an educational institution and then through all institutions of social life.

Provocative questions in parochial sex education classes: higher incidence in younger students.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno, Megan; Breuner, Cora C; Lozano, Paula

2008-10-01

Recent data show US adolescents are engaging in sexual activity at earlier ages; however, little is known about young teens' sexual attitudes and behaviors. Examining teens' questions in sex education classes may provide insight into these attitudes and behaviors. Quasi cohort study Parochial middle school sex education classes 5(th) through 8(th) graders Students' anonymous written questions submitted at the outset of sex education classes between 2003 and 2005. Questions were classified into topic categories. Three additional variables were then coded for each question. Ethics/guidance questions included requests for advice or value judgments. Prohibited questions included the topics homosexuality, abortion, masturbation, and contraception. "Red flag" questions were those that suggested consideration of or engagement in sexual behavior. Among 473 questions submitted by 410 students, the most popular topics for 5(th)/6(th) graders were pregnancy and puberty, and for 7(th)/8(th) graders puberty and menstruation. 41 questions (8.6%) were prohibited. 29 questions (6.2%) asked about ethics/guidance. 18 questions (3.81%) were coded as red flag questions. A chi-square analysis showed that 5(th)/6(th) graders asked more questions in the ethics/guidance (8.3% versus 3.64%) and red flag question categories (5.53% versus 1.82%) (P < 0.05) than 7(th)/8(th) graders. Although provocative questions represent a minority of these middle students' queries, these requests suggest the urgency of providing appropriate guidance to young teens, given the risks of early sexual activity. The role of school education programs, physicians and parents in addressing questions of this sort should be considered.

IMPROVISATION OF SEEKER SATISFACTION IN YAHOO! COMMUNITY QUESTION ANSWERING PORTAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Latha

2011-01-01

Full Text Available One popular Community question answering (CQA site, Yahoo! Answers, had attracted 120 million users worldwide, and had 400 million answers to questions available. A typical characteristic of such sites is that they allow anyone to post or answer any questions on any subject. Question Answering Community has emerged as popular, and often effective, means of information seeking on the web. By posting questions, for other participants to answer, information seekers can obtain specific answers to their questions. However, CQA is not always effective: in some cases, a user may obtain a perfect answer within minutes, and in others it may require hours and sometimes days until a satisfactory answer is contributed. We investigate the problem of predicting information seeker satisfaction in yahoo collaborative question answering communities, where we attempt to predict whether a question author will be satisfied with the answers submitted by the community participants. Our experimental results, obtained from a large scale evaluation over thousands of real questions and user ratings, demonstrate the feasibility of modeling and predicting asker satisfaction. We complement our results with a thorough investigation of the interactions and information seeking patterns in question answering communities that correlate with information seeker satisfaction. We also explore automatic ranking, creating abstract from retrieved answers, and history updation, which aims to provide users with what they want or need without explicitly ask them for user satisfaction. Our system could be useful for a variety of applications, such as answer selection, user feedback analysis, and ranking.

The role of women in sustainable energy development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cecelski, E.

2000-07-13

This paper explores the question of how sustainable energy development--specifically, decentralized renewable energy technologies--can complement and benefit from the goal of increasing women's role in development. It is based on a paper that was originally presented at the World Renewable Energy Congress-V held in Florence, Italy, in September 1998, as a contribution to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's program on gender and energy.

Some Ideas and Questions about Meteorological Libraries' Roles at the Internet Age

Science.gov (United States)

Javelle, J.-P.; Cenac, N.

2009-09-01

The roles of specialized libraries have been deeply transformed during the last decade, because of the digital revolution and the changes it has induced on the expectations of library customers. The modernization of the information system of the Météo-France, libraries is in progress. Recent steps include the creation of an on-line photo library and of an institutional open-access repository for all Météo-France scientific publications (http://hal-meteofrance.archives-ouvertes.fr/). The central library has also been involved in the production of the new on-line version of the journal La Météorologie. The new information system will include the Météo-France bibliographic data base, the catalog of libraries and a full-text digital library. This modernization is also the opportunity to respond to growing interest in historical weather data and in the history of meteorology. Météo-France central library was created in 1878 and its collections hold even older documents coming from the Observatoire de Paris and from the Société météorologique de France. A program of digitalization of ancient publications has started with a double perspective : climate data rescue and contribution to history of meteorology. The new information portal will also display a catalog of ancient meteorological instruments. In this modernization process, cooperation with other institutions has been encouraged, for example with CNRS (French National Research Agency) for the HAL institutional repository and the production of one-line version of La Météorologie. The importance of sharing information and expertise with other libraries from libraries networks and professional organisations is worth noting. But several important questions remain to be answered, notably concerning the indexation, the evaluation and the long-term preservation of digital resources. For example, how to make digital collections and services available over time? What is the value of documents or resources

Transcriptional control by G-quadruplexes: In vivo roles and perspectives for specific intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Armas, Pablo; David, Aldana; Calcaterra, Nora B

2017-01-01

G-quadruplexes are non-canonical DNA secondary structures involved in several genomic and molecular processes. Here, we summarize the main G-quadruplex features and evidences proving the in vivo role on the transcriptional regulation of genes required for zebrafish embryonic development. We also discuss alternative strategies for specifically interfering G-quadruplex in vivo.

Curiosity Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Nelsen, Jane; DeLorenzo, Chip

2010-01-01

Have you ever found yourself lecturing a child, with the best of intentions, in an attempt to help him or her learn a lesson or process a situation in a manner that you feel will be productive? Curiosity questions, which the authors also call What and How questions, help children process an experience, event, or natural consequence so that they…

The nuclear question: rethinking species importance in multi-species animal groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Srinivasan, Umesh; Raza, Rashid Hasnain; Quader, Suhel

2010-09-01

1. Animals group for various benefits, and may form either simple single-species groups, or more complex multi-species associations. Multi-species groups are thought to provide anti-predator and foraging benefits to participant individuals. 2. Despite detailed studies on multi-species animal groups, the importance of species in group initiation and maintenance is still rated qualitatively as 'nuclear' (maintaining groups) or 'attendant' (species following nuclear species) based on species-specific traits. This overly simplifies and limits understanding of inherently complex associations, and is biologically unrealistic, because species roles in multi-species groups are: (i) likely to be context-specific and not simply a fixed species property, and (ii) much more variable than this dichotomy indicates. 3. We propose a new view of species importance (measured as number of inter-species associations), along a continuum from 'most nuclear' to 'least nuclear'. Using mixed-species bird flocks from a tropical rainforest in India as an example, we derive inter-species association measures from randomizations on bird species abundance data (which takes into account species 'availability') and data on 86 mixed-species flocks from two different flock types. Our results show that the number and average strength of inter-species associations covary positively, and we argue that species with many, strong associations are the most nuclear. 4. From our data, group size and foraging method are ecological and behavioural traits of species that best explain nuclearity in mixed-species bird flocks. Parallels have been observed in multi-species fish shoals, in which group size and foraging method, as well as diet, have been shown to correlate with nuclearity. Further, the context in which multi-species groups occur, in conjunction with species-specific traits, influences the role played by a species in a multi-species group, and this highlights the importance of extrinsic factors in

The democratic question in Florestan Fernandes

OpenAIRE

Tótora, Silvana

1999-01-01

O papel da questão democrática na análise da revolução burguesa na obra de Florestan Fernandes é reconstruído a partir da ênfase no caráter radical que ela assume numa obra que se recusa a separar o problema substantivo da democracia do problema da revolução social.The role played by the democratic question in the analysis of the bourgeois revolution in Brazil by Florestan Fernandes is reconstructed on the basis of the emphasis on the radical character it takes in a work in which no distincti...

Do Persian Native Speakers Prosodically Mark Wh-in-situ Questions?

Science.gov (United States)

Shiamizadeh, Zohreh; Caspers, Johanneke; Schiller, Niels O

2018-02-01

It has been shown that prosody contributes to the contrast between declarativity and interrogativity, notably in interrogative utterances lacking lexico-syntactic features of interrogativity. Accordingly, it may be proposed that prosody plays a role in marking wh-in-situ questions in which the interrogativity feature (the wh-phrase) does not move to sentence-initial position, as, for example, in Persian. This paper examines whether prosody distinguishes Persian wh-in-situ questions from declaratives in the absence of the interrogativity feature in the sentence-initial position. To answer this question, a production experiment was designed in which wh-questions and declaratives were elicited from Persian native speakers. On the basis of the results of previous studies, we hypothesize that prosodic features mark wh-in-situ questions as opposed to declaratives at both the local (pre- and post-wh part) and global level (complete sentence). The results of the current study confirm our hypothesis that prosodic correlates mark the pre-wh part as well as the complete sentence in wh-in-situ questions. The results support theoretical concepts such as the frequency code, the universal dichotomous association between relaxation and declarativity on the one hand and tension and interrogativity on the other, the relation between prosody and pragmatics, and the relation between prosody and encoding and decoding of sentence type.

The Role of Trauma-Specific Irrational Beliefs and Sociodemographic Risk Factors in Posttraumatic Stress Responses

OpenAIRE

Hyland, Philip; Shevlin, Mark; Adamson, Gary; Boduszek, Daniel

2013-01-01

Posttraumatic stress responses have been linked to a range of social-cognitive and sociodemographic factors. Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy suggests that responding to a traumatic life event with a set of irrational beliefs should play a crucial role in predicting the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD: Ellis, 2001). The current study assessed the role of trauma-specific irrational beliefs in the prediction of clinically relevant posttraumatic stress responses, while contr...

F4/80: the macrophage-specific adhesion-GPCR and its role in immunoregulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Hsi-Hsien; Stacey, Martin; Stein-Streilein, Joan; Gordon, Siamon

2010-01-01

As a macrophage-restricted reagent, the generation and application of the F4/80 mAb has greatly benefited the phenotypic characterization of mouse tissue macrophages for three decades. Following the molecular identification of the F4/80 antigen as an EGF-TM7 member of the adhesion-GPCR family, great interest was ignited to understand its cell type-specific expression pattern as well as its functional role in macrophage biology. Recent studies have shown that the F4/80 gene is regulated by a novel set of transcription factors that recognized a unique promoter sequence. Gene targeting experiments have produced two F4/80 knock out animal models and showed that F4/80 is not required for normal macrophage development. Nevertheless, the F4/80 receptor was found to be necessary for the induction of efferent CD8+ regulatory T cells responsible for peripheral immune tolerance. The identification of cellular ligands for F4/80 and delineation of its signaling pathway remain elusive but are critical to understand the in vivo role of this macrophage-specific adhesion-GPCR.

THE EXPLICIT COMPREHENSION-STRATEGY INSTRUCTION: QUESTION-ANSWER RELATIONSHIP VS SELF-QUESTIONING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lalu Thohir

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed at examining and comparing the effectiveness of the Question-Answer Relationship (QAR and Self-Questioning (SQ strategies in improving the reading ability of the undergraduate students. This study was a quasi-experimental study in which two out of three classes of the third semester students at English department of Mataram University were selected randomly to receive either QAR strategy or SQ strategy instructions for ten weekly meetings. The findings of pre- and posttest with multiple-choice questions revealed that both comprehension strategies were effective in improving the undergraduate students‘ reading ability. The findings from the posttest with multiple-choice questions indicated the students who received SQ strategy instruction scored significantly higher than those students who received QAR strategy instruction. On the other hand, the students who received QAR strategy instruction scored slightly higher than those students who received SQ strategy instruction in the posttest with open-ended questions.

Relating specific emotions to intrinsic motivation: on the moderating role of positive and negative emotion differentiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Vandercammen, Leen; Hofmans, Joeri; Theuns, Peter

2014-01-01

Despite the fact that studies on self-determination theory have traditionally disregarded the explicit role of emotions in the motivation eliciting process, research attention for the affective antecedents of motivation is growing. We add to this emerging research field by testing the moderating role of emotion differentiation -individual differences in the extent to which people can differentiate between specific emotions- on the relationship between twelve specific emotions and intrinsic motivation. To this end, we conducted a daily diary study (N = 72) and an experience sampling study (N = 34). Results showed that the relationship between enthusiasm, cheerfulness, optimism, contentedness, gloominess, miserableness, uneasiness (in both studies 1 and 2), calmness, relaxation, tenseness, depression, worry (only in Study 1) on one hand and intrinsic motivation on the other hand was moderated by positive emotion differentiation for the positive emotions and by negative emotion differentiation for the negative emotions. Altogether, these findings suggest that for people who are unable to distinguish between different specific positive emotions the relationship between those specific positive emotions and intrinsic motivation is stronger, whereas the relationship between specific negative emotions and intrinsic motivation is weaker for people who are able to distinguish between the different specific negative emotions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Relating Specific Emotions to Intrinsic Motivation: On the Moderating Role of Positive and Negative Emotion Differentiation

Science.gov (United States)

Vandercammen, Leen; Hofmans, Joeri; Theuns, Peter

2014-01-01

Despite the fact that studies on self-determination theory have traditionally disregarded the explicit role of emotions in the motivation eliciting process, research attention for the affective antecedents of motivation is growing. We add to this emerging research field by testing the moderating role of emotion differentiation –individual differences in the extent to which people can differentiate between specific emotions– on the relationship between twelve specific emotions and intrinsic motivation. To this end, we conducted a daily diary study (N = 72) and an experience sampling study (N = 34). Results showed that the relationship between enthusiasm, cheerfulness, optimism, contentedness, gloominess, miserableness, uneasiness (in both studies 1 and 2), calmness, relaxation, tenseness, depression, worry (only in Study 1) on one hand and intrinsic motivation on the other hand was moderated by positive emotion differentiation for the positive emotions and by negative emotion differentiation for the negative emotions. Altogether, these findings suggest that for people who are unable to distinguish between different specific positive emotions the relationship between those specific positive emotions and intrinsic motivation is stronger, whereas the relationship between specific negative emotions and intrinsic motivation is weaker for people who are able to distinguish between the different specific negative emotions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. PMID:25517984

Relating specific emotions to intrinsic motivation: on the moderating role of positive and negative emotion differentiation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leen Vandercammen

Full Text Available Despite the fact that studies on self-determination theory have traditionally disregarded the explicit role of emotions in the motivation eliciting process, research attention for the affective antecedents of motivation is growing. We add to this emerging research field by testing the moderating role of emotion differentiation -individual differences in the extent to which people can differentiate between specific emotions- on the relationship between twelve specific emotions and intrinsic motivation. To this end, we conducted a daily diary study (N = 72 and an experience sampling study (N = 34. Results showed that the relationship between enthusiasm, cheerfulness, optimism, contentedness, gloominess, miserableness, uneasiness (in both studies 1 and 2, calmness, relaxation, tenseness, depression, worry (only in Study 1 on one hand and intrinsic motivation on the other hand was moderated by positive emotion differentiation for the positive emotions and by negative emotion differentiation for the negative emotions. Altogether, these findings suggest that for people who are unable to distinguish between different specific positive emotions the relationship between those specific positive emotions and intrinsic motivation is stronger, whereas the relationship between specific negative emotions and intrinsic motivation is weaker for people who are able to distinguish between the different specific negative emotions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

A question of emphasis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Almarsdóttir, Anna Birna; Morgall, Janine Marie; Björnsdóttir, I

2000-01-01

of pharmaceuticals? Seven focus group discussions were conducted with pharmacy customers in different locations in May, August and October 1997. Widespread ignorance about the legislation was observed. Pharmacy customers preferred to discuss the role of physicians in 'irrational drug use' to discussing community...... pharmacies. A definite split was observed between urban and rural pharmacy customers; whereas definite changes were reported in the urban setting (lower prices and increased access), the rural population's perception is that it is being left out. Although the study design is not generalisable, it is clear......The reported results are part of the overall evaluation of the new drug distribution legislation that went into effect in March 1996, liberalising ownership of community pharmacies in Iceland. We addressed the following question: What impact did the legislation have on users' access to and costs...

The Refugee Crisis and Religion: Secularism, Security and Hospitality in Question

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wilson, Erin; Mavelli, Luca

2016-01-01

The current refugee crisis sweeping Europe, and much of the world, closely intersects with largely neglected questions of religion. Moving beyond discussions of religious differences, what can we learn about the interaction between religion and migration? Do faith-based organisations play a role

Does Question Structure Affect Exam Performance in the Geosciences?

Science.gov (United States)

Day, E. A.; D'Arcy, M. K.; Craig, L.; Streule, M. J.; Passmore, E.; Irving, J. C. E.

2015-12-01

The jump to university level exams can be challenging for some students, often resulting in poor marks, which may be detrimental to their confidence and ultimately affect their overall degree class. Previous studies have found that question structure can have a strong impact on the performance of students in college level exams (see Gibson et al., 2015, for a discussion of its impact on physics undergraduates). Here, we investigate the effect of question structure on the exam results of geology and geophysics undergraduate students. Specifically, we analyse the performance of students in questions that have a 'scaffolded' framework and compare them to their performance in open-ended questions and coursework. We also investigate if observed differences in exam performance are correlated with the educational background and gender of students, amongst other factors. It is important for all students to be able to access their degree courses, no matter what their backgrounds may be. Broadening participation in the geosciences relies on removing systematic barriers to achievement. Therefore we recommend that exams are either structured with scaffolding in questions at lower levels, or students are explicitly prepared for this transition. We also recommend that longitudinal studies of exam performance are conducted within individual departments, and this work outlines one approach to analysing performance data.

The six most essential questions in psychiatric diagnosis: a pluralogue part 3: issues of utility and alternative approaches in psychiatric diagnosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Phillips James

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract In face of the multiple controversies surrounding the DSM process in general and the development of DSM-5 in particular, we have organized a discussion around what we consider six essential questions in further work on the DSM. The six questions involve: 1 the nature of a mental disorder; 2 the definition of mental disorder; 3 the issue of whether, in the current state of psychiatric science, DSM-5 should assume a cautious, conservative posture or an assertive, transformative posture; 4 the role of pragmatic considerations in the construction of DSM-5; 5 the issue of utility of the DSM – whether DSM-III and IV have been designed more for clinicians or researchers, and how this conflict should be dealt with in the new manual; and 6 the possibility and advisability, given all the problems with DSM-III and IV, of designing a different diagnostic system. Part 1 of this article took up the first two questions. Part 2 took up the second two questions. Part 3 now deals with Questions 5 & 6. Question 5 confronts the issue of utility, whether the manual design of DSM-III and IV favors clinicians or researchers, and what that means for DSM-5. Our final question, Question 6, takes up a concluding issue, whether the acknowledged problems with the earlier DSMs warrants a significant overhaul of DSM-5 and future manuals. As in Parts 1 & 2 of this article, the general introduction, as well as the introductions and conclusions for the specific questions, are written by James Phillips, and the responses to commentaries are written by Allen Frances.

The six most essential questions in psychiatric diagnosis: a pluralogue part 3: issues of utility and alternative approaches in psychiatric diagnosis

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

In face of the multiple controversies surrounding the DSM process in general and the development of DSM-5 in particular, we have organized a discussion around what we consider six essential questions in further work on the DSM. The six questions involve: 1) the nature of a mental disorder; 2) the definition of mental disorder; 3) the issue of whether, in the current state of psychiatric science, DSM-5 should assume a cautious, conservative posture or an assertive, transformative posture; 4) the role of pragmatic considerations in the construction of DSM-5; 5) the issue of utility of the DSM – whether DSM-III and IV have been designed more for clinicians or researchers, and how this conflict should be dealt with in the new manual; and 6) the possibility and advisability, given all the problems with DSM-III and IV, of designing a different diagnostic system. Part 1 of this article took up the first two questions. Part 2 took up the second two questions. Part 3 now deals with Questions 5 & 6. Question 5 confronts the issue of utility, whether the manual design of DSM-III and IV favors clinicians or researchers, and what that means for DSM-5. Our final question, Question 6, takes up a concluding issue, whether the acknowledged problems with the earlier DSMs warrants a significant overhaul of DSM-5 and future manuals. As in Parts 1 & 2 of this article, the general introduction, as well as the introductions and conclusions for the specific questions, are written by James Phillips, and the responses to commentaries are written by Allen Frances. PMID:22621419

The role of stimulus-specific adaptation in songbird syntax generation

Science.gov (United States)

Wittenbach, Jason D.

Sequential behaviors are an important part of the behavioral repertoire of many animals and understanding how neural circuits encode and generate such sequences is a long-standing question in neuroscience. The Bengalese finch is a useful model system for studying variable action sequences. The songs of these birds consist of well-defined vocal elements (syllables) that are strung together to form sequences. The ordering of the syllables within the sequence is variable but not random - it shows complex statistical patterns (syntax). While often thought to be first-order, the syntax of the Bengalese finch song shows a distinct form of history dependence where the probability of repeating a syllable decreases as a function of the number of repetitions that have already occurred. Current models of the Bengalese finch song control circuitry offer no explanation for this repetition adaptation. The Bengalese finch also uses real-time auditory feedback to control the song syntax. Considering these facts, we hypothesize that repetition adaptation in the Bengalese finch syntax may be caused by stimulus-specific adaptation - a wide-spread phenomenon where neural responses to a specific stimulus become weaker with repeated presentations of the same stimulus. We begin by proposing a computational model for the song-control circuit where an auditory feedback signal that undergoes stimulus-specific adaptation helps drive repeated syllables. We show that this model does indeed capture the repetition adaptation observed in Bengalese finch syntax; along the way, we derive a new probabilistic model for repetition adaptation. Key predictions of our model are analyzed in light of experiments performed by collaborators. Next we extend the model in order to predict how the syntax will change as a function of brain temperature. These predictions are compared to experimental results from collaborators where portions of the Bengalese finch song circuit are cooled in awake and behaving birds

Who Justifies Questionable Reporting Practices? Answers from a Representative Survey of Journalists in Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philip Baugut

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Based on a secondary analysis of representative survey data of journalists in Germany (n= 1536, this paper draws attention to two variables that are important when it comes to explain whether journalists accept questionable reporting practices, such as paying people to obtain information or using confidential government documents without permission. First, perceived role achievement is important, as journalists who do not feel able to achieve an active role tend to accept questionable reporting practices more often. Second, however, this relationship is only true for journalists having a moderate tendency to the political left. Findings are explained by means of the theory of cognitive dissonance.

THE VACCINATION AGAINST VARICELLA. THE ANSWERS TO THE PEDIATRISTS QUESTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.К. Tatochenko

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Varicella is a disease which can be stopped by methods of specific prophylaxis. At the same time, there are no official recommendations on vaccinal prophylaxis of varicella in Russia nowadays. The article presents the answers to the most frequently asked questions of pediatrists concerning vaccination techniques, its effectiveness and safety, and vaccination in epidemic nidus. Special attention was given to the questions of vaccinal prophylaxis of varicella in immunocompromised patients.Key words: varicella, prophylaxis, vaccination.(Voprosy sovremennoi pediatrii — Current Pediatrics. 2009;8(3:114-119

Entrepreneurship Education and the Role of Universities in Entrepreneurship: Introduction to the Special Issue

Science.gov (United States)

Davey, Todd; Hannon, Paul; Penaluna, Andy

2016-01-01

Despite the considerable political and academic interest in concepts such as the triple helix of government, business and higher education as well as entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial universities, relatively little has been written about the role of the university in developing entrepreneurship. More specifically, the questions of how the…

The roles of specific xanthophylls in light utilization.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalituho, Ljudmila; Rech, Jennifer; Jahns, Peter

2007-01-01

To evaluate the role of specific xanthophylls in light utilization, wild-type and xanthophyll mutant plants (npq1, npq2, lut2, lut2npq1 and lut2npq2) from Arabidopsis thaliana were grown under three different light regimes: 30 (low light, LL), 150 (medium light, ML) and 450 (high light, HL) mumol photons m(-2) s(-1). We studied the pigment content, growth rate, xanthophyll cycle activity, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and the response to photoinhibition. All genotypes differed strongly in the growth rates and the resistance against photoinhibition. In particular, replacement of lutein (Lut) by violaxanthin (Vx) in the lut2npq1 mutant did not affect the growth at non-saturating light intensities (LL and ML), but led to a pronounced reduction of growth under HL conditions, indicating an important photoprotective role of Lut. This was further supported by a much higher sensitivity of all Lut-deficient plants to photoinhibition in comparison with the wild type. In contrast, replacement of Lut by zeaxanthin (Zx) in lut2npq2 led to a pronounced reduction of growth under all light regimes, most likely related to the permanent non-photochemical dissipation of excitation energy by Zx at Vx-binding sites and the destabilization of antenna proteins by binding of Zx to Lut-binding sites. The high susceptibility of lut2npq2 to photoinhibition in comparison with npq2 further indicated that the photoprotective function of Zx is abolished in the absence of Lut. Thus, it can be concluded from our work that neither Vx nor Zx is able to fulfil the essential photoprotective function at Lut-binding sites under in vivo conditions.

Reincarnation Revisited: Question format and the distribution of belief in reincarnation in survey research

OpenAIRE

Siegers, Pascal

2013-01-01

Comparing frequency of belief in reincarnation from different international survey projects (RAMP, EVS, ISSP) reveals differences of about 15 to 20 percent depending on the specific question format. If single binary questions are used, then belief in reincarnation is more often reported than if a forced-choice question is used which offers respondents alternatives to belief in reincarnation (e.g. resurrection). One possible explanation for this result is that respondents confuse reincarnation...

Group members' questions shape participation in health counselling and health education.

Science.gov (United States)

Logren, Aija; Ruusuvuori, Johanna; Laitinen, Jaana

2017-10-01

This study examines how group members' questions shape member participation in health counselling and health education groups. The study applies conversation analytic principles as a method. The data consist of video-recorded health education lessons in secondary school and health counselling sessions for adults with a high risk of Type 2 diabetes. Group members' questions accomplish a temporary change in participatory roles. They are used to 1) request counselling, 2) do counselling or 3) challenge previous talk. They are usually treated as relevant and legitimate actions by the participants, but are occasionally interpreted as transitions outside the current action or topic. Group members' questions result in a shift from leader-driven to member-driven discussion. Thus they constitute a pivot point for detecting changes in participation in group interventions. Observing the occurrence of group members' questions helps group leaders to adjust their own actions accordingly and thus facilitate or guide group participation. Comparison of the type and frequency of members' questions is a way to detect different trajectories for delivering group interventions and can thus be used to develop methods for process evaluation of interventions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Asking Questions in Academia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Annette Skovsted

2014-01-01

Motivation for the activity In academia the most important skill is to ask academically relevant and sound questions. This is not easy and students need to practice asking questions orally and in writing before they write research papers.......Motivation for the activity In academia the most important skill is to ask academically relevant and sound questions. This is not easy and students need to practice asking questions orally and in writing before they write research papers....

Exploring undergraduates' understanding of photosynthesis using diagnostic question clusters.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Joyce M; Anderson, Charles W; Heidemann, Merle; Merrill, John; Merritt, Brett; Richmond, Gail; Urban-Lurain, Mark

2012-01-01

We present a diagnostic question cluster (DQC) that assesses undergraduates' thinking about photosynthesis. This assessment tool is not designed to identify individual misconceptions. Rather, it is focused on students' abilities to apply basic concepts about photosynthesis by reasoning with a coordinated set of practices based on a few scientific principles: conservation of matter, conservation of energy, and the hierarchical nature of biological systems. Data on students' responses to the cluster items and uses of some of the questions in multiple-choice, multiple-true/false, and essay formats are compared. A cross-over study indicates that the multiple-true/false format shows promise as a machine-gradable format that identifies students who have a mixture of accurate and inaccurate ideas. In addition, interviews with students about their choices on three multiple-choice questions reveal the fragility of students' understanding. Collectively, the data show that many undergraduates lack both a basic understanding of the role of photosynthesis in plant metabolism and the ability to reason with scientific principles when learning new content. Implications for instruction are discussed.

Improving Student Question Classification

Science.gov (United States)

Heiner, Cecily; Zachary, Joseph L.

2009-01-01

Students in introductory programming classes often articulate their questions and information needs incompletely. Consequently, the automatic classification of student questions to provide automated tutorial responses is a challenging problem. This paper analyzes 411 questions from an introductory Java programming course by reducing the natural…

The DNA electronic specific heat at low temperature: The role of aperiodicity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sarmento, R.G. [Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970, Natal, RN (Brazil); Mendes, G.A. [Departamento de Biofísica e Farmacologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970, Natal, RN (Brazil); Albuquerque, E.L., E-mail: eudenilson@gmail.com [Departamento de Biofísica e Farmacologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970, Natal, RN (Brazil); Fulco, U.L. [Departamento de Biofísica e Farmacologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970, Natal, RN (Brazil); Vasconcelos, M.S. [Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970, Natal, RN (Brazil); Ujsághy, O. [Department of Theoretical Physics and Condensed Matter Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budafoki út 8, H-1521 Budapest (Hungary); Freire, V.N. [Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60455-760, Fortaleza, CE (Brazil); Caetano, E.W.S. [Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Ceará, 60040-531, Fortaleza, CE (Brazil)

2012-07-16

The electronic specific heat spectra at constant volume (C{sub V}) of a long-range correlated extended ladder model, mimicking a DNA molecule, is theoretically analyzed for a stacked array of a double-stranded structure made up from the nucleotides guanine G, adenine A, cytosine C and thymine T. The role of the aperiodicity on C{sub V} is discussed, considering two different nucleotide arrangements with increasing disorder, namely the Fibonacci and the Rudin–Shapiro quasiperiodic structures. Comparisons are made for different values of the band fillings, considering also a finite segment of natural DNA, as part of the human chromosome Ch22. -- Highlights: ► Quasiperiodic sequence to mimic the DNA nucleotides arrangement. ► Electronic tight-binding Hamiltonian model. ► Electronic density of states. ► Electronic specific heat spectra.

Guided Discovery with Socratic Questioning

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M. Hakan Türkçapar

2015-04-01

Full Text Available “The Socratic method” is a way of teaching philosophical thinking and knowledge by asking questions. It was first used by in ancient times by the Greek philosopher Socrates who taught his followers by asking questions; these conversations between them are known as “Socratic dialogues”. In this methodology, no new knowledge is taught to the individual; rather, the individual is guided to remember and rediscover what was formerly known through this process. The main method used in cognitive therapy is guided discovery. There are various methods of guided discovery in cognitive therapy. The form of verbal exchange between the therapist and client which is used during the process of cognitive behavioral therapy is known as “socratic questioning”. In this method the goal is to make the client rediscover, with a series of questions, a piece of knowledge which he could otherwise know but is not presently conscious of. The Socratic Questioning consists of several steps, including: identifying the problem by listening to the client and making reflections, finding alternatives by examining and evaluating, reidentification by using the newly rediscovered information and questioning the old distorted belief, and reaching a new conclusion and applying it. Question types used during these procedures are: questions for collecting information, questions revealing meanings, questions revealing beliefs, questions about behaviours during similar past experiences, analytic questions and analytic synthesis questions. In order to make the patient feel understood, it is important to be empathetic and summarize the problem during the interview. In this text, steps of Socratic Questioning-Guided Discovery will be reviewed with sample dialogues provided for each step. [JCBPR 2015; 4(1.000: 47-53

Major questions about derivation of variance-covariance information for nuclear data evaluations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peelle, R.W.

1982-01-01

The uncertainties in and correlations among some evaluated nuclear data are now evaluated to permit estimation of data-related uncertainties in the outputs of neutronic calculations and to focus data improvement efforts. Questions are discussed that arise in trying to obtain adequate numerical files of variance-covariance uncertainty information. These involve (1) discrepant data, (2) experimental data with incompletely reported uncertainties, (3) uncertainties in nuclear model results, (4) uncertainty data for the resonance regions and for angle and energy distributions, and (5) the role of integral data in nuclear data evaluation. The question also arises whether files of uncertainty data designed for technological applications can suffice to represent past knowledge in an evaluation that includes new data. Directions are indicated toward resolving these questions

Epistemology: 5 Questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Epistemology: 5 Questions is a collection of short interviews based on 5 questions presented to some of the most influential and prominent scholars in epistemology. We hear their views on epistemology with particular emphasis on the intersection between mainstream and formal approaches to the field...

Are Quantum Theory Questions Epistemic?

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Viviana Yaccuzzi Polisena

2013-12-01

Full Text Available How to displace-move quantum theory [Ǭ] questions-problems to philosophy? Seeing the collapse of our society’s cultural-intellectual-morals, the philosophy of the 21st century has to contribute to the formation of new principles-formalisms: the big task of the contemporary philosophy ©] is to innovate, to transform the building of the knowledge! Which is the role of the contemporary philosopher? (Noam Chomsky. Building science so that it is more human, out of the scientific mercantilism so that it does not continue transgressing that which is most precious: the thought-life. The ideas that I propose demand a deep cultural-epistemiologicscientific-philosophical-ethical rethinking that goes from quantum entities up to life in society. The starting idea is «the quantum [Ǭ], the paradigm of the contemporary science ©]» (Bernard D’Espagnat. I propose to displace-move questions of the quantum theory [Ǭ]: spin, measure, layering to the field of philosophy (φ to build generic symbols. Can the contemporary episteme model the collapse of the ? For a philosopher, can understanding the importance and the behaviour of the spin bring something new to philosophy ? Can information of the states of the spin be used to observe in a holographic way the pattern energy-information contained in the quantum entities? Is quantum [Ǭ] physics mechanical?

The effect of A teacher questioning strategy training program on teaching behavior, student achievement, and retention

Science.gov (United States)

Otto, Paul B.; Schuck, Robert F.

The use of questions in the classroom has been employed throughout the recorded history of teaching. One still hears the term Socratic method during discussions of questioning procedures. The use of teacher questions is presently viewed as a viable procedure for effective instruction. This study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of training teachers in the use of a questioning technique and the resultant effect upon student learning. The Post-Test Only Control Group Design was used in randomly assigning teachers and students to experimental and control groups. A group of teachers was trained in the use of a specific questioning technique. Follow-up periodic observations were made of questioning technique behavior while teaching science units to groups of students. Post-unit achievement tests were administered to the student groups to obtain evidence of a relationship between the implementation of specific types of teacher questions and student achievement and retention. Analysis of observation data indicated a higher use of managerial and rhetorical questions by the control group than the experimental group. The experimental group employed a greater number of recall and data gathering questions as well as higher order data processing and data verification type questions. The student posttest achievement scores for both units of instruction were greater for the experimental groups than for the control groups. The retention scores for both units were Beater for the experimental groups than for the control groups.

Big questions cloud Iraq's future role in world oil market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tippee, B.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that Iraq raises questions for the world oil market beyond those frequently asked about when and under what circumstances it will resume exports. Two wars since 1981 have obscured encouraging results from a 20 year exploration program that were only beginning to come to light when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. Those results indicate the country might someday be able to produce much more than the 3.2 million b/d it was flowing before a United Nations embargo blocked exports. If exploratory potential is anywhere near what officials asserted in the late 1980s, and if Iraq eventually turns hospitable to international capital, the country could become a world class opportunity for oil companies as well as an exporter with productive capacity approaching that of Saudi Arabia. But political conditions can change quickly. Under a new, secular regime, Iraq might welcome non-Iraqi oil companies and capital as essential to economic recovery. It's a prospect that warrants a new industry look at what the country has revealed about its geology and exploration history

Relationship between Future Time Orientation and Item Nonresponse on Subjective Probability Questions: A Cross-Cultural Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sunghee; Liu, Mingnan; Hu, Mengyao

2017-06-01

Time orientation is an unconscious yet fundamental cognitive process that provides a framework for organizing personal experiences in temporal categories of past, present and future, reflecting the relative emphasis given to these categories. Culture lies central to individuals' time orientation, leading to cultural variations in time orientation. For example, people from future-oriented cultures tend to emphasize the future and store information relevant for the future more than those from present- or past-oriented cultures. For survey questions that ask respondents to report expected probabilities of future events, this may translate into culture-specific question difficulties, manifested through systematically varying "I don't know" item nonresponse rates. This study drew on the time orientation theory and examined culture-specific nonresponse patterns on subjective probability questions using methodologically comparable population-based surveys from multiple countries. The results supported our hypothesis. Item nonresponse rates on these questions varied significantly in the way that future-orientation at the group as well as individual level was associated with lower nonresponse rates. This pattern did not apply to non-probability questions. Our study also suggested potential nonresponse bias. Examining culture-specific constructs, such as time orientation, as a framework for measurement mechanisms may contribute to improving cross-cultural research.

Teacher's Questions in Reading Classes

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Zuliati Rohmah

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract: The present paper discusses an English teacher's questions in Reading classes at MAN Malang III. Types of questions, functions of teacher's questions, question levels and the strategies applied by the teacher were put as the research problems. Non-participant observa­tion was applied to collect the data with the researcher as the main in­strument aided by field-notes and a tape recorder. It was found that the distribution of the questions did not allow the students to talk longer and to think more analytically. Meanwhile, the strategies applied by the teacher helped the students to respond to the questions previously unanswered. The teacher is suggested to produce more open and refer­ential question as well as inference and evaluation questions as to give more chances for the students to think aloud more.

The Priority of the Question: Focus Questions for Sustained Reasoning in Science

Science.gov (United States)

Lustick, David

2010-08-01

Science education standards place a high priority on promoting the skills and dispositions associated with inquiry at all levels of learning. Yet, the questions teachers employ to foster sustained reasoning are most likely borrowed from a textbook, lab manual, or worksheet. Such generic questions generated for a mass audience, lack authenticity and contextual cues that allow learners to immediately appreciate a question’s relevance. Teacher queries intended to motivate, guide, and foster learning through inquiry are known as focus questions. This theoretical article draws upon science education research to present a typology and conceptual framework intended to support science teacher educators as they identify, develop, and evaluate focus questions with their students.

Probe specificity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laget, J.M.

1986-11-01

Specificity and complementarity of hadron and electron probes must be systematically developed to answer three questions currently asked in intermediate energy nuclear physics: what is nucleus structure at short distances, what is nature of short range correlations, what is three body force nature [fr

The Role of Teacher Questions and the Socratic Method in EFL Classrooms in Kuwait

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Darwish, Salwa

2012-01-01

The present study sheds light on teaching English through two ways of questioning (Socratic & Traditional) methods in Kuwaiti elementary public schools. Data were collected through a qualitative observational method. The study engaged 15 female participants, seven of whom were newly graduate English language teachers with experience in how…

Assessing self-reported use of new psychoactive substances: The impact of gate questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Palamar, Joseph J; Acosta, Patricia; Calderón, Fermín Fernández; Sherman, Scott; Cleland, Charles M

2017-09-01

New psychoactive substances (NPS) continue to emerge; however, few surveys of substance use ask about NPS use. Research is needed to determine how to most effectively query use of NPS and other uncommon drugs. To determine whether prevalence of self-reported lifetime and past-year use differs depending on whether or not queries about NPS use are preceded by "gate questions." Gate questions utilize skip-logic, such that only a "yes" response to the use of specific drug class is followed by more extensive queries of drug use in that drug class. We surveyed 1,048 nightclub and dance festival attendees (42.6% female) entering randomly selected venues in New York City in 2016. Participants were randomized to gate vs. no gate question before each drug category. Analyses focus on eight categories classifying 145 compounds: NBOMe, 2C, DOx, "bath salts" (synthetic cathinones), other stimulants, tryptamines, dissociatives, and non-phenethylamine psychedelics. Participants, however, were asked about specific "bath salts" regardless of their response to the gate question to test reliability. We examined whether prevalence of use of each category differed by gate condition and whether gate effects were moderated by participant demographics. Prevalence of use of DOx, other stimulants, and non-phenethylamine psychedelics was higher without a gate question. Gate effects for other stimulants and non-phenethylamine psychedelics were larger among white participants and those attending parties less frequently. Almost one in ten (9.3%) participants reporting no "bath salt" use via the gate question later reported use of a "bath salt" such as mephedrone, methedrone, or methylone. Omitting gate questions may improve accuracy of data collected via self-report.

When Socratic Dialogue Is Flagging: Questions and Strategies for Engaging Students

Science.gov (United States)

Gose, Michael

2009-01-01

The author studied the pedagogy of Socrates looking for teaching techniques that help maintain students' interest in an ongoing discussion. Socrates' use of such strategies as asking probing questions, expanding the discussion into its relationship to other ideas, assuming the role of the devil's advocate, and spending time on group maintenance…

A Novel Multiple Choice Question Generation Strategy: Alternative Uses for Controlled Vocabulary Thesauri in Biomedical-Sciences Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopetegui, Marcelo A; Lara, Barbara A; Yen, Po-Yin; Çatalyürek, Ümit V; Payne, Philip R O

2015-01-01

Multiple choice questions play an important role in training and evaluating biomedical science students. However, the resource intensive nature of question generation limits their open availability, reducing their contribution to evaluation purposes mainly. Although applied-knowledge questions require a complex formulation process, the creation of concrete-knowledge questions (i.e., definitions, associations) could be assisted by the use of informatics methods. We envisioned a novel and simple algorithm that exploits validated knowledge repositories and generates concrete-knowledge questions by leveraging concepts' relationships. In this manuscript we present the development and validation of a prototype which successfully produced meaningful concrete-knowledge questions, opening new applications for existing knowledge repositories, potentially benefiting students of all biomedical sciences disciplines.

Questions as a tool for bridging science and everyday language games

Science.gov (United States)

Lundin, Mattias

2007-01-01

Research has shown how students can shift between different ways of communicating about natural phenomena. The point of departure in this text is that school science comprises science ways to communicate as well as everyday ways to communicate. In school science activities transitions, from for example everyday ways to explain to science ways to explain, occur and the purpose of this paper is to show what role questions play in these transitions. Data consists of video observations of a group of 24 students, 15 years of age, doing their ordinary school science work without my interference in their planning. Relevant conversations including questions were transcribed. The analysis was made by examining the establishment of relations between utterances in the transcribed conversations. Relations that bridge science and everyday language games are described in the results. Questions that were formulated in an everyday language game illustrate the difficulties of making transitions to a science language game. Without teacher guidance, students' questions are potential promoters for making the topic drift and to develop into something totally different from the topic as planned by the teacher. However, questions promote transitions to an everyday language game. These can be used by teachers for example to adjust an everyday explanation and guide students in making science knowledge useful in daily life.

Seventy-one important questions for the conservation of marine biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, E C M; Favaro, Brett; Aguirre, A Alonso; Bauer, Amy L; Blight, Louise K; Cigliano, John A; Coleman, Melinda A; Côté, Isabelle M; Draheim, Megan; Fletcher, Stephen; Foley, Melissa M; Jefferson, Rebecca; Jones, Miranda C; Kelaher, Brendan P; Lundquist, Carolyn J; McCarthy, Julie-Beth; Nelson, Anne; Patterson, Katheryn; Walsh, Leslie; Wright, Andrew J; Sutherland, William J

2014-10-01

The ocean provides food, economic activity, and cultural value for a large proportion of humanity. Our knowledge of marine ecosystems lags behind that of terrestrial ecosystems, limiting effective protection of marine resources. We describe the outcome of 2 workshops in 2011 and 2012 to establish a list of important questions, which, if answered, would substantially improve our ability to conserve and manage the world's marine resources. Participants included individuals from academia, government, and nongovernment organizations with broad experience across disciplines, marine ecosystems, and countries that vary in levels of development. Contributors from the fields of science, conservation, industry, and government submitted questions to our workshops, which we distilled into a list of priority research questions. Through this process, we identified 71 key questions. We grouped these into 8 subject categories, each pertaining to a broad component of marine conservation: fisheries, climate change, other anthropogenic threats, ecosystems, marine citizenship, policy, societal and cultural considerations, and scientific enterprise. Our questions address many issues that are specific to marine conservation, and will serve as a road map to funders and researchers to develop programs that can greatly benefit marine conservation. © 2014 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Society for the Study of Evolution.

The use of impression management tactics in structured interviews: a function of question type?

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Aleksander P J; West, Bradley J; Ryan, Ann Marie; DeShon, Richard P

2002-12-01

This study investigated impression management tactic use during structured interviews containing both experience-based and situational questions. Specifically, the authors examined whether applicants' use of impression management tactics depended on question type. Results from 119 structured interviews indicated that almost all of the applicants used some form of impression management. Significantly more assertive than defensive impression management tactics were used, and among assertive tactics, applicants tended to use self-promotion rather than ingratiation. However, different question types prompted the use of different impression management tactics. Ingratiation tactics were used significantly more when applicants answered situational questions, whereas self-promotion tactics were used significantly more when applicants answered experience-based questions. Furthermore, the use of self-promotion and ingratiation tactics was positively related to interviewer evaluations.

THREE TYPES OF ETHNO-SPECIFICITY IN PHRASEOLOGY: ETHNO-LINGUISTIC, ETHNO-CULTURAL, AND ETHNO-COGNITIVE SPECIFICITY

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Marina Gutovskaya

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The ethno-specific phraseology – the phraseology which manifests interlanguage differences – is contemplated in the paper considering the phraseology corpora of the Russian and English languages. The popular opinion that ethno-specificity in phraseology is predetermined solely by unique features of the national culture is questioned. The three types of phraseological ethno-specificity are differentiated: ethno-linguistic (ensured by distinctive features of the national language, ethno-cultural (connected with the originality of the national culture, and ethno-cognitive (ordained by the uniqueness of the national worldview. The characteristics of the phraseological units that belong to each of the three types of ethno-specificity are enumerated, and the circles of questions on the ethno-specific phraseology to be studied within traditional linguistics, cultural linguistics, and cognitive linguistics are outlined. The possibility of coexistence of several types of ethno-specificity in one phraseological unit is shown. It is noted that in order to comprehend ethno-specific phraseological units of the three types a different degree of immersion in the foreign linguistic-cultural-cognitive space is required.

Asking a Great Question: A Librarian Teaches Questioning Skills to First-Year Medical Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Nancy E

2015-01-01

In a single one-hour session, first-year medical students were taught a framework for differentiating between lower-order questions that lead to knowledge of facts and higher-order questions that lead to integration of concepts and deeper learning, thereby preparing them for problem-based learning (PBL). Students generated lists of questions in response to an assertion prompt and categorized them according to Bloom's Taxonomy. These data were analyzed in addition to data from the course exam, which asked them to formulate a higher-level question in response to a prompt. Categorizing questions according to Bloom's Taxonomy was a more difficult task for students than was formulating higher-order questions. Students reported that the skills that they learned were used in subsequent PBL sessions to formulate higher-order learning objectives that integrated new and previously-learned concepts.

Molyneux's Question: A Window on Crossmodal Interplay in Blindness

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Valeria Occelli

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In 1688, the Irish scientist William Molyneux sent a letter to the philosopher John Locke in which he asked whether a man who had been born blind and whose experience of the world was based on senses other than vision, would be able to distinguish and name a globe and a cube by sight alone, once he had been enabled to see. This issue immediately raised considerable interest amongst philosophers, who, for centuries, have continued to speculate about how this issue might be resolved. More recently, the possibility of corrective surgery for people born with congenital cataracts, has offered a valuable opportunity to explore this topic experimentally. A discussion of how Molyneux’s question has been addressed over the centuries, allows us to investigate a number of intellectual challenges, involving a variety of fields, ranging from philosophy, psychology and the cognitive sciences, to neuroscience. For instance, Molyenux’s question raises the question of whether sensory experience is specific to each sensory modality, or rather supramodal, and if a transfer of knowledge across modalities can be established. Molyneux’s question is also relevant to the discussion of whether, how and to what extent a concept of space can be developed by blind people. More generally, it concerns the idea of how conceptual knowledge is acquired and processed when vision is lacking. The present paper aims to provide an overview of all the issues raised by Molyenux’s question.

The role of human resource management in open innovation: exploring the relation between HR practices and OI

OpenAIRE

Paul, Svenja

2013-01-01

How do human resource practices strengthen open innovation activities? This inductive study of six cases led to propositions exploring that question. I thereby investigated the role of human resource management in open innovation, specifically the relation between HR practices and an employee's willingness to embrace open innovation.

Bullying in schools − The educator’s role

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Elza Venter

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Worldwide there is a problem with violent incidents occurring amongst learners in schools. Bullying is one mode of violence that often occurs at school level. Bullying means repeatedly attacking a person psychologically, physically and/or emotionally in order to inflict harm. Bullying behaviour cannot be ignored, because the victims often report physical and mental health problems caused by the abuse they suffered. The future of the bully is also at stake, because such a person can turn into an abuser in his or her adult years. This research focused on the challenges for teachers in the school system to handle bullying behaviour. The specific aims of the study were to research the role of school policies and ethos, as well as the teacher’s role, in dealing with bullying. The researchers investigated the problem by using social identity theory as theoretical framework and Christianity as worldview. The researchers mainly used a qualitative research design. Data for this study were collected by means of a literature study and questionnaires with closed questions as well as open-ended questions about teachers’ experiences regarding bullying. The main emphasis was on the feedback on the open-ended questions. It became clear from the research that schools should adopt an anti-bullying policy. Teachers should give more attention to classroom rules and they should become skilled in dealing with bullying. Recommendations were made concerning the role of teachers as well as the place of school ethos and policies when the above-mentioned behavioural problem needs to be managed.

Efficient question answering with question decomposition and multiple answer streams

OpenAIRE

Hartrumpf, Sven; Glöckner, Ingo; Leveling, Johannes

2009-01-01

The German question answering (QA) system IRSAW (formerly: InSicht) participated in QA@CLEF for the fth time. IRSAW was introduced in 2007 by integrating the deep answer producer InSicht, several shallow answer producers, and a logical validator. InSicht builds on a deep QA approach: it transforms documents to semantic representations using a parser, draws inferences on semantic representations with rules, and matches semantic representations derived from questions and documents. InS...

CAT questions and answers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-02-01

This document, prepared in February 1993, addresses the most common questions asked by APS Collaborative Access Teams (CATs). The answers represent the best judgment on the part of the APS at this time. In some cases, details are provided in separate documents to be supplied by the APS. Some of the answers are brief because details are not yet available. The questions are separated into five categories representing different aspects of CAT interactions with the APS: (1) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), (2) CAT Beamline Review and Construction, (3) CAT Beamline Safety, (4) CAT Beamline Operations, and (5) Miscellaneous. The APS plans to generate similar documents as needed to both address new questions and clarify answers to present questions

Banks’ liquidity buffers and the role of liquidity regulation

OpenAIRE

Zymek, Robert; van Lelyveld, Iman; Bonner, Clemens

2015-01-01

We assess the determinants of banks' liquidity holdings using balance sheet data for nearly 7000 banks from 30 OECD countries over a ten-year period. We highlight the role of several bank-specific, institutional and policy variables in shaping banks' liquidity risk management. Our main question is whether the presence of liquidity regulation substitutes or complements banks' incentives to hold liquid assets. Our results reveal that in the absence of liquidity regulation, the determinants of b...

Toward Question-Asking Machines: The Logic of Questions and the Inquiry Calculus

Science.gov (United States)

Knuth,Kevin H.

2005-01-01

For over a century, the study of logic has focused on the algebra of logical statements. This work, first performed by George Boole, has led to the development of modern computers, and was shown by Richard T. Cox to be the foundation of Bayesian inference. Meanwhile the logic of questions has been much neglected. For our computing machines to be truly intelligent, they need to be able to ask relevant questions. In this paper I will show how the Boolean lattice of logical statements gives rise to the free distributive lattice of questions thus defining their algebra. Furthermore, there exists a quantity analogous to probability, called relevance, which quantifies the degree to which one question answers another. I will show that relevance is not only a natural generalization of information theory, but also forms its foundation.

Les questions de migrations internationales

Science.gov (United States)

Samman, Mouna Liliane

1993-03-01

International migrations have growing implications for both countries of origin and countries of destination. In the latter, the presence of foreigners and of members of their families today creates problems of integration, causes argument and brings mounting xenophobia. Paralleling political, economic and social measures taken by public authorities to respond to these difficulties, education needs to assist in defusing the resulting social tensions by preparing the minds of learners and helping to develop new attitudes. In particular, when educational programmes address questions of international migration, these should be treated in the framework of historical evolution so that their real significance and their true temporal and spatial dimensions become apparent. It is also important that the growing interdependence between countries should be made plain, that national history should be placed in its international context, and that the true consequences of these developments should be made clear. In this context, learners need to be acquainted with Human Rights, thereby stressing universal moral values and the role of the individual. Lastly, questions relating to international migration are usually presented in the media in a selective and partial manner, and the young people who take in this information often accept the hasty judgments which are made of situations as proven facts. This is why all teaching about international migration needs to be considered or reconsidered in the light of the complementary or competing actions of the media.

Attitudes towards assisted dying are influenced by question wording and order: a survey experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Magelssen, Morten; Supphellen, Magne; Nortvedt, Per; Materstvedt, Lars Johan

2016-04-27

Surveys on attitudes towards assisted dying play an important role in informing public debate, policy and legislation. Unfortunately, surveys are often designed with insufficient attention to framing effects; that is, effects on the respondents' stated attitudes caused by question wording and context. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate and measure such framing effects. Survey experiment in which an eight-question survey on attitudes towards assisted dying was distributed to Norwegian citizens through a web-based panel. Two variations of question wording as well as two variations of question order were employed. Respondents were randomized to receive one of four questionnaire versions. Three thousand and fifty responses were received. There were moderate to large question wording and question order effects. A majority of Norwegian citizens favour the legalization of assisted dying for patients with terminal or chronic disease. Stakeholders in the assisted dying debate need to acknowledge potential framing effects, and accordingly should interpret survey results with caution. The same holds for researchers who conduct attitude surveys in the field of bioethics.

The Ecumenical Movement and Development: The role of personhood

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klaasen, John

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article is part of several contributions that was presented at the 2015 Southern African Missiological Society (SAMS. The conference theme was undergirded by the theme of the World Council of Churches (WCC assembly in Busan, South Korea and the recent Encyclical of Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church; Together towards life. The specific contribution of this article lies with the role of personhood in development. The question that I seek to address is to what extent the influential models of development proposed by Korten and more importantly, the ecumenical movement, can do justice to the category of personhood. A secondary question is the complex process through which people come to accept responsibility for addressing their situations.

Understanding adult neurogenesis beyond its role in learning and memory formation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ab Latif Wani

2017-04-01

Full Text Available There has been a shift in the understanding of brain, neurons, and their functional role over the last two decades. Earlier it was believed that the brain was a static organ and was not subject to any change throughout life. An understanding was developed later that brain reorganizes its structure by a specific property called neuroplasticity. Recent research shows that the brain generates new neurons even in the adult stage, and this process is called adult neurogenesis. Although researchers still not have all the answers about the newborn neurons, and why and how they are generated, and what is their role, some have highlighted the importance of these in learning and memory formation, and even in memories of fear and spatial navigation. A wide range of environmental experience influences the generation of newborn neurons and their functional variability. There are questions about how different environmental experiences cause the differences in the generation of new neurons. Recently the field of optogenetics attempted to answer the questions on adult neurogenesis. However there are still questions about adult neurogenesis which needs a more naturalistic approach, for their better understanding.

Negotiating Dominant Masculinity Ideology: Strategies Used by Gay, Bisexual and Questioning Male Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Bianca D. M.; Harper, Gary W.; Hidalgo, Marco A.; Jamil, Omar B.; Torres, Rodrigo Sebastián; Fernandez, M. Isabel

2010-01-01

In the context of a U.S. dominant masculinity ideology, which devalues men who are not heterosexually identified, many gay, bisexual and questioning (GBQ) adolescent males must develop their own affirming and health-promoting sense of masculinity. In order to promote the well-being of GBQ young men, exploration of their reactions and responses to dominant images of masculinity is needed. We qualitatively analyzed interviews with 39 GBQ African American, Latino, and European American male adolescents (15–23 years old). Participants reported a range of responses to traditional masculinity ideologies, most of which centered on balancing presentations of masculine and feminine characteristics. Negotiation strategies served a variety of functions, including avoiding anti-gay violence, living up to expected images of masculinity, and creating unique images of personhood free of gender role expectations. These data suggest a complex picture of GBQ male adolescents’ management of masculinity expectations and serve as a basis for culturally and developmentally specific HIV prevention programs. PMID:20082238

Ten-year assessment of the 100 priority questions for global biodiversity conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jucker, Tommaso; Wintle, Bonnie; Shackelford, Gorm; Bocquillon, Pierre; Geffert, Jan Laurens; Kasoar, Tim; Kovacs, Eszter; Mumby, Hannah S; Orland, Chloé; Schleicher, Judith; Tew, Eleanor R; Zabala, Aiora; Amano, Tatsuya; Bell, Alexandra; Bongalov, Boris; Chambers, Josephine M; Corrigan, Colleen; Durán, América P; Duvic-Paoli, Leslie-Anne; Emilson, Caroline; da Silva, Jéssica Fonseca; Garnett, Emma E; Green, Elizabeth J; Guth, Miriam K; Hacket-Pain, Andrew; Hinsley, Amy; Igea, Javier; Kunz, Martina; Luke, Sarah H; Lynam, William; Martin, Philip A; Nunes, Matheus H; Ockendon, Nancy; Pavitt, Aly; Payne, Charlotte L R; Plutshack, Victoria; Rademacher, Tim T; Robertson, Rebecca J; Rose, David C; Serban, Anca; Simmons, Benno I; Emilson, Erik J S; Tayleur, Catherine; Wordley, Claire F R; Mukherjee, Nibedita

2018-06-20

In 2008, a group of conservation scientists compiled a list of 100 priority questions for the conservation of the world's biodiversity [Sutherland et al. (2009) Conservation Biology, 23, 557-567]. However, now almost a decade later, no one has yet published a study gauging how much progress has been made in addressing these 100 high-priority questions in the peer-reviewed literature. Here we take a first step toward re-examining the 100 questions and identify key knowledge gaps that still remain. Through a combination of a questionnaire and a literature review, we evaluated each of the 100 questions on the basis of two criteria: relevance and effort. We defined highly-relevant questions as those which - if answered - would have the greatest impact on global biodiversity conservation, while effort was quantified based on the number of review publications addressing a particular question, which we used as a proxy for research effort. Using this approach we identified a set of questions that, despite being perceived as highly relevant, have been the focus of relatively few review publications over the past ten years. These questions covered a broad range of topics but predominantly tackled three major themes: the conservation and management of freshwater ecosystems, the role of societal structures in shaping interactions between people and the environment, and the impacts of conservation interventions. We see these questions as important knowledge gaps that have so far received insufficient attention and may need to be prioritised in future research. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Semantic annotation of consumer health questions.

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Kilicoglu, Halil; Ben Abacha, Asma; Mrabet, Yassine; Shooshan, Sonya E; Rodriguez, Laritza; Masterton, Kate; Demner-Fushman, Dina

2018-02-06

Consumers increasingly use online resources for their health information needs. While current search engines can address these needs to some extent, they generally do not take into account that most health information needs are complex and can only fully be expressed in natural language. Consumer health question answering (QA) systems aim to fill this gap. A major challenge in developing consumer health QA systems is extracting relevant semantic content from the natural language questions (question understanding). To develop effective question understanding tools, question corpora semantically annotated for relevant question elements are needed. In this paper, we present a two-part consumer health question corpus annotated with several semantic categories: named entities, question triggers/types, question frames, and question topic. The first part (CHQA-email) consists of relatively long email requests received by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) customer service, while the second part (CHQA-web) consists of shorter questions posed to MedlinePlus search engine as queries. Each question has been annotated by two annotators. The annotation methodology is largely the same between the two parts of the corpus; however, we also explain and justify the differences between them. Additionally, we provide information about corpus characteristics, inter-annotator agreement, and our attempts to measure annotation confidence in the absence of adjudication of annotations. The resulting corpus consists of 2614 questions (CHQA-email: 1740, CHQA-web: 874). Problems are the most frequent named entities, while treatment and general information questions are the most common question types. Inter-annotator agreement was generally modest: question types and topics yielded highest agreement, while the agreement for more complex frame annotations was lower. Agreement in CHQA-web was consistently higher than that in CHQA-email. Pairwise inter-annotator agreement proved most

Infection cycles of large DNA viruses: emerging themes and underlying questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mutsafi, Yael; Fridmann-Sirkis, Yael; Milrot, Elad; Hevroni, Liron; Minsky, Abraham

2014-10-01

The discovery of giant DNA viruses and the recent realization that such viruses are diverse and abundant blurred the distinction between viruses and cells. These findings elicited lively debates on the nature and origin of viruses as well as on their potential roles in the evolution of cells. The following essay is, however, concerned with new insights into fundamental structural and physical aspects of viral replication that were derived from studies conducted on large DNA viruses. Specifically, the entirely cytoplasmic replication cycles of Mimivirus and Vaccinia are discussed in light of the highly limited trafficking of large macromolecules in the crowded cytoplasm of cells. The extensive spatiotemporal order revealed by cytoplasmic viral factories is described and contended to play an important role in promoting the efficiency of these 'nuclear-like' organelles. Generation of single-layered internal membrane sheets in Mimivirus and Vaccinia, which proceeds through a novel membrane biogenesis mechanism that enables continuous supply of lipids, is highlighted as an intriguing case study of self-assembly. Mimivirus genome encapsidation was shown to occur through a portal different from the 'stargate' portal that is used for genome release. Such a 'division of labor' is proposed to enhance the efficacy of translocation processes of very large viral genomes. Finally, open questions concerning the infection cycles of giant viruses to which future studies are likely to provide novel and exciting answers are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Autoantibodies in systemic sclerosis: Unanswered questions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CRISTIANE eKAYSER

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Systemic sclerosis (SSc is an autoimmune disease characterized by vascular abnormalities, and cutaneous and visceral fibrosis. Serum autoantibodies directed to multiple intracellular antigens are present in more than 95% of patients and are considered a hallmark of SSc. They are helpful biomarkers for the early diagnosis of SSc and are associated with distinctive clinical manifestations. With the advent of more sensitive, multiplexed immunoassays, new and old questions about the relevance of autoantibodies in SSc are emerging. In this review we discuss the clinical relevance of autoantibodies in SSc emphasizing the more recently published data. Moreover, we will summarize recent advances regarding the stability of SSc autoantibodies over the course of disease, whether they are mutually exclusive and their potential roles in the disease pathogenesis.

The role of the resid solvent in coprocessing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Curtis, C.W. [Auburn Univ., AL (United States)

1995-12-31

The objective of this project is to determine the role of petroleum resid in coprocessing of coal and resid. The question being asked is whether the resid is a reactant in the system or whether the resid is a merely a diluent that is being simultaneously upgraded? To fulfill the objective the hydrogen transfer from model compounds, naphthenes that represent petroleum resids to model acceptors is being determined. The specificity of different catalytic systems for promoting the hydrogen transfer from naphthenes to model acceptors and to coal is also being determined. In addition the efficacy of hydrogen transfer from and solvancy of whole and specific resid fractions under coprocessing conditions is being determined.

Live your questions now

OpenAIRE

Brownrigg, Jenny

2016-01-01

'Live Your Questions Now' is a case study for Cubitt Education's publication 'Aging in Public: creative practice in ageing and the public realm from across the UK', edited by Daniel Baker and published by Cubitt Gallery, Studios and Education, London in 2016. The publication was linked to Cubitt's programme 'Public Wisdom' (2011-2015). My case study is about 'Live your questions now', a group exhibition I curated in 2011 for Mackintosh Museum, The Glasgow School of Art. 'Live your questions n...

Let us talk about shale gas in 30 questions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bauquis, Pierre-Rene

2014-01-01

The author addresses and gives an overview of the issue of shale gas extraction and production by answering 30 questions. These questions concern the origins of hydrocarbons, the definition of shale gas and oil, how gases and oils are produced from source rocks, the principle of hydraulic fracturing, where and how to perform this fracturing, the issue of water wastage, the risks of water pollution, seismic risks, nuisances for the neighbourhood, alternatives to hydraulic fracturing, production technical and economic characteristics, the issue of production profitability, economic benefits in the USA, impacts on the world refining industry, the possibility of creation of a new bubble, the role played by US authorities, the US shale oil and gas production, the technical potential outside the USA, the French resources, the stakes for the French economy, the macro-economic and geo-strategic impacts, the consequences for climate change, impacts on the world energy production

The Role of Condition-Specific Preference-Based Measures in Health Technology Assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowen, Donna; Brazier, John; Ara, Roberta; Azzabi Zouraq, Ismail

2017-12-01

A condition-specific preference-based measure (CSPBM) is a measure of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) that is specific to a certain condition or disease and that can be used to obtain the quality adjustment weight of the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) for use in economic models. This article provides an overview of the role and the development of CSPBMs, and presents a description of existing CSPBMs in the literature. The article also provides an overview of the psychometric properties of CSPBMs in comparison with generic preference-based measures (generic PBMs), and considers the advantages and disadvantages of CSPBMs in comparison with generic PBMs. CSPBMs typically include dimensions that are important for that condition but may not be important across all patient groups. There are a large number of CSPBMs across a wide range of conditions, and these vary from covering a wide range of dimensions to more symptomatic or uni-dimensional measures. Psychometric evidence is limited but suggests that CSPBMs offer an advantage in more accurate measurement of milder health states. The mean change and standard deviation can differ for CSPBMs and generic PBMs, and this may impact on incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. CSPBMs have a useful role in HTA where a generic PBM is not appropriate, sensitive or responsive. However, due to issues of comparability across different patient groups and interventions, their usage in health technology assessment is often limited to conditions where it is inappropriate to use a generic PBM or sensitivity analyses.

Practical Usage of Multiple-Choice Questions as Part of Learning and Self-Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula Kangasniemi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The poster describes how the multiple-choice questions could be a part of learning, not only assessing. We often think of the role of questions only in order to test the student's skills. We have tested how questions could be a part of learning in our web-based course of information retrieval in Lapland University. In web-based learning there is a need for high-quality mediators. Mediators are learning promoters which trigger, support, and amplify learning. Mediators can be human mediators or tool mediators. The tool mediators are for example; tests, tutorials, guides and diaries. The multiple-choice questions can also be learning promoters which select, interpret and amplify objects for learning. What do you have to take into account when you are preparing multiple-choice questions as mediators? First you have to prioritize teaching objectives: what must be known and what should be known. According to our experience with contact learning, you can assess what the things are that students have problems with and need more guidance on. The most important addition to the questions is feedback during practice. The questions’ answers (wrong or right are not important. The feedback on the answers are important to guide students on how to search. The questions promote students’ self-regulation and self-evaluation. Feedback can be verbal, a screenshot or a video. We have added a verbal feedback for every question and also some screenshots and eight videos in our web-based course.

Language and Variation: A Study of English and Persian Wh-questions

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Laya Heidari Darani

2015-05-01

Full Text Available It was claimed by variationists that languages experience variation at all levels, which is supposed to be patterned. The present study aimed at exploring how variation occurred in English and Persian wh-questions. More specifically, it investigated whether such a variation was systematic and patterned. To this end, a modified version of the Edinburgh Map Task was used in data collection. The population of this study was 60 Canadian and Persian native speakers who performed the task through the construction of wh-question variants. The results indicated that both languages experienced variation in the construction of wh-questions. However, Persian proved to be more variable than English because it allowed more wh-question variants to be produced. Moreover, this variation was patterned in English and Persian individually, yet a systematic variation could not be observed between these two languages. It followed that the different mind-sets of the Canadian and Iranian participants which were affected by social and cultural factors might account for such a variation.

Non-Destructive Testing: Sample Questions for Conduct of Examinations at Levels 1 and 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supports industrial applications of radiation technology which include non-destructive testing (NDT) under its various programmes such as individual country Technical Co-operation (TC) projects, Regional Projects and Coordinated Research Projects (CRPs). NDT technology is essentially needed for the improvement of the quality of industrial products, equipment and plants all over the world, especially in developing Member States. Trained and certified personnel is one of the essential requirements for applying this technology in industry. With this in view, the IAEA first played an important role in cooperation with the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) for the development of a standard for training and certification of NDT personnel, namely ISO 9712, 'Non-Destructive Testing: Qualification and Certification of Personnel'. Subsequently the syllabi and needed training materials were identified and developed for the creation of, in each of the Member States, a core group of personnel who are trained and qualified to establish the training and certification process in their respective countries. One of the important requirements for such a process is to have the examination questions for conducting the certification examinations. A need had been felt to compile the appropriate questions firstly for conducting these examinations at the national and regional levels and secondly to provide these to the certification bodies of the Member States so that they could initiate their own level 1 and 2 certification examinations. For this purpose, Experts' Task Force Meetings were convened first in Accra, Ghana and then in Vienna, Austria under the AFRA regional projects on NDT. The experts examined and discussed in detail the ISO 9712 (1999 and 2005 versions) requirements for general, specific and practical examinations for level 1 and 2 personnel. After that a set of questions has been established which are

A Technique Socratic Questioning-Guided Discovery

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M. Hakan Türkçapar

2012-03-01

Full Text Available “Socratic Method” is a way of teaching philosophical thinking and knowledge by asking questions which was used by antique period greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates was teaching knowledge to his followers by asking questions and the conversation between them was named “Socratic Dialogues”. In this meaning, no novel knowledge is taught to the individual but only what is formerly known is reminded and rediscovered. The form of socratic questioning which is used during the process of cognitive behavioral therapy is known as Guided Discovery. In this method it is aimed to make the client notice the piece of knowledge which he could notice but is not aware with a series of questions. Socratic method or guided discovery consists of several steps which are: Identifying the problem by listening to the client and making reflections, finding alternatives by examining and evaluating, reidentification by using the newly found information and questioning the old distorted belief and reaching to a conclusion and applying it. Question types used during these procedures are, questions for gaining information, questions revealing the meanings, questions revealing the beliefs, questions about behaviours during the similar past experiences, analyse questions and analytic synthesis questions. In order to make the patient feel understood it is important to be empathetic and summarising the problem during the interview. In this text, steps of Socratic Questioning-Guided Discovery will be reviewed with sample dialogues after each step

Guiding students towards sensemaking: teacher questions focused on integrating scientific practices with science content

Science.gov (United States)

Benedict-Chambers, Amanda; Kademian, Sylvie M.; Davis, Elizabeth A.; Palincsar, Annemarie Sullivan

2017-10-01

Science education reforms articulate a vision of ambitious science teaching where teachers engage students in sensemaking discussions and emphasise the integration of scientific practices with science content. Learning to teach in this way is complex, and there are few examples of sensemaking discussions in schools where textbook lessons and teacher-directed discussions are the norm. The purpose of this study was to characterise the questioning practices of an experienced teacher who taught a curricular unit enhanced with educative features that emphasised students' engagement in scientific practices integrated with science content. Analyses indicated the teacher asked four types of questions: explication questions, explanation questions, science concept questions, and scientific practice questions, and she used three questioning patterns including: (1) focusing students on scientific practices, which involved a sequence of questions to turn students back to the scientific practice; (2) supporting students in naming observed phenomena, which involved a sequence of questions to help students use scientific language; and (3) guiding students in sensemaking, which involved a sequence of questions to help students learn about scientific practices, describe evidence, and develop explanations. Although many of the discussions in this study were not yet student-centred, they provide an image of a teacher asking specific questions that move students towards reform-oriented instruction. Implications for classroom practice are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided.

Frequent Questions on Recycling

Science.gov (United States)

This is a list of frequent questions on recycling, broken down into five categories. These are answers to common questions that EPA has received from press and web inquiries. This list is located on the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle website.

Tissue Specific Roles of Dynein Light Chain 1 in Regulating Germ Cell Apoptosis in Ceanorhabditis elegans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Morthorst, Tine Hørning

2015-01-01

in the etiology of many diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases. Several of the first genes found to regulate apoptosis were discovered in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. In this project, two different and tissue specific roles of C. elegans dynein light chain 1...

Cardiac-Specific Overexpression of Catalase Attenuates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Myocardial Contractile Dysfunction: Role of Autophagy

OpenAIRE

Turdi, Subat; Han, Xuefeng; Huff, Anna F.; Roe, Nathan D.; Hu, Nan; Gao, Feng; Ren, Jun

2012-01-01

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Gram-negative bacteria is a major initiator of sepsis, leading to cardiovascular collapse. Accumulating evidence has indicated a role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cardiovascular complication in sepsis. This study was designed to examine the effect of cardiac-specific overexpression of catalase in LPS-induced cardiac contractile dysfunction and the underlying mechanism(s) with a focus on autophagy. Catalase transgenic and wild-type FVB mice were challenged ...

The Impact of Similarity-Based Interference in Processing Wh-Questions in Aphasia

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Shannon Mackenzie

2014-04-01

Full Text Available We describe two experiments investigating the comprehension of different types of Wh-questions in neurotypical adults (Experiment 1 and adults with Broca’s aphasia (Experiment 2. Consider as examples: Two mailmen and a fireman got into a fight yesterday afternoon. 1a. Who pushed the fireman yesterday afternoon? – Subject-extracted Who 1b. Who did the fireman push ___ yesterday afternoon? – Object-extracted Who 2a. Which mailman pushed the fireman yesterday afternoon? – Subject-extracted Which 2b. Which mailman did the fireman push ___ yesterday afternoon? – Object-extracted Which There is evidence from the linguistic and psycholinguistic literatures that suggest Which-questions are more difficult to understand than Who/What-questions and within those, that object-extracted are more difficult than subject-extracted. We used a unique eye tracking-while listening method where listeners were presented with sentences like (1 and (2 above while gazing at a three-figure picture (e.g., a picture of a mailman pushing a fireman who is pushing another mailman; we measured gazes to the referents in the pictures across the time-course of the sentences, and also collected accuracy and response time data to answer the questions (by button press. We examined four specific hypotheses: Discourse, Memory Retrieval, Word Order, and Intervener. The Discourse hypothesis suggests that Which-questions should be more difficult to process than Who-questions because the former is required to refer to an individual taken from a set of entities previously mentioned in the discourse (Donkers & Stowe, 2006; Shapiro, 2000. The Memory Retrieval hypothesis makes the opposite claim; Which-questions, unlike Who-questions, contain specific information in the Wh-phrase that should speed memory retrieval (Hofmeister, 2007. The Word Order hypothesis suggests that, regardless of question type (Which or Who, object-extracted questions should be more difficult to understand

Science and Glyphosate: Questioning Orders. An Investigation in the Press in the Argentine Context

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María Paula Blois

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In April 2009, the embryologist Andrés Carrasco made public in the newspaper Página 12 a research conducted in his laboratory on the damage caused by glyphosate, a key input for GMOs based agriculture. Released in the press before being subjected to peer review, research caused approvals and disproofs. Focusing on the actions of this embryologist and some events that took place following the publication in the newspaper, this work research the place of scientist that produced scientific knowledge while questioning his own role and his science. Pointing out that the study on glyphosate, the publication in the press and the question of the meaning of science that this scientist arises with insistence are part of the questioning of an order of things, concludes with a series of reflections about the possibility and type of questioning and possible changes.

Biology Question Generation from a Semantic Network

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lishan

Science instructors need questions for use in exams, homework assignments, class discussions, reviews, and other instructional activities. Textbooks never have enough questions, so instructors must find them from other sources or generate their own questions. In order to supply instructors with biology questions, a semantic network approach was developed for generating open response biology questions. The generated questions were compared to professional authorized questions. To boost students' learning experience, adaptive selection was built on the generated questions. Bayesian Knowledge Tracing was used as embedded assessment of the student's current competence so that a suitable question could be selected based on the student's previous performance. A between-subjects experiment with 42 participants was performed, where half of the participants studied with adaptive selected questions and the rest studied with mal-adaptive order of questions. Both groups significantly improved their test scores, and the participants in adaptive group registered larger learning gains than participants in the control group. To explore the possibility of generating rich instructional feedback for machine-generated questions, a question-paragraph mapping task was identified. Given a set of questions and a list of paragraphs for a textbook, the goal of the task was to map the related paragraphs to each question. An algorithm was developed whose performance was comparable to human annotators. A multiple-choice question with high quality distractors (incorrect answers) can be pedagogically valuable as well as being much easier to grade than open-response questions. Thus, an algorithm was developed to generate good distractors for multiple-choice questions. The machine-generated multiple-choice questions were compared to human-generated questions in terms of three measures: question difficulty, question discrimination and distractor usefulness. By recruiting 200 participants from

Prevalence of problem drinking and characteristics of a single-question screen.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Scott H; Borg, Keith T; Miller, Peter M

2010-09-01

Hazardous drinking and alcohol use disorders (i.e, abuse and dependence) are common in Emergency Departments (EDs). This study examined 1) the prevalence of these conditions among ED patients and 2) characteristics of a single screening question (having consumed at least five drinks for males or four for females during a single day). Data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions were analyzed. Logistic regression for clustered data was used to estimate the relative risk for past-year ED use associated with hazardous drinking, abuse, and dependence. Contingency tables were analyzed to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of the single-question screen for detecting these conditions. Hazardous drinking was not associated with ED utilization. Alcohol abuse was associated with a relative risk of 1.3 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-1.5) and alcohol dependence with a relative risk of 1.9 (95% CI 1.6-2.2). For current drinkers, the single question screen was 0.96, 0.85, and 0.90 sensitive for hazardous drinking, alcohol abuse, and alcohol dependence, respectively. Individuals with a positive screen in the past year were considered at least hazardous drinkers, and specificity was 0.80, 0.64, and 0.65 for hazardous drinking, abuse, and dependence, respectively. Specificity was modestly increased in women. Most problem drinkers were hazardous drinkers, but only severe alcohol use disorders were particularly prevalent in the ED. The single heavy-drinking-day item appears sensitive for problem drinking. Positive tests must be followed by additional assessment to differentiate hazardous drinking from alcohol use disorders. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Discussion of David Thissen's Bad Questions: An Essay Involving Item Response Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Wainer, Howard

2016-01-01

The usual role of a discussant is to clarify and correct the paper being discussed, but in this case, the author, Howard Wainer, generally agrees with everything David Thissen says in his essay, "Bad Questions: An Essay Involving Item Response Theory." This essay expands on David Thissen's statement that there are typically two principal…

The Role of Neutrophils in the Induction of Specific Th1 and Th17 during Vaccination against Tuberculosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Trentini, Monalisa M; de Oliveira, Fábio M; Kipnis, André; Junqueira-Kipnis, Ana P

2016-01-01

Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes tuberculosis (TB), a disease that killed more than 1.5 million people worldwide in 2014, and the Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccine is the only currently available vaccine against TB. However, it does not protect adults. Th1 and Th17 cells are crucial for TB control, as well as the neutrophils that are directly involved in DC trafficking to the draining lymph nodes and the activation of T lymphocytes during infection. Although several studies have shown the importance of neutrophils during M. tuberculosis infection, none have shown its role in the development of a specific response to a vaccine. The vaccine mc(2)-CMX was shown to protect mice against M. tuberculosis challenge, mainly due to specific Th1 and Th17 cells. This study evaluated the importance of neutrophils in the generation of the Th1- and Th17-specific responses elicited by this vaccine. The vaccine injection induced a neutrophil rich lesion with a necrotic central area. The IL-17 KO mice did not generate vaccine-specific Th1 cells. The vaccinated IL-22 KO mice exhibited Th1- and Th17-specific responses. Neutrophil depletion during vaccination abrogated the induction of Th1-specific responses and prohibited the bacterial load reduction observed in the vaccinated animals. The results show, for the first time, the role of neutrophils in the generation of specific Th1 and Th17 cells in response to a tuberculosis vaccine.

Minors and social networks: legal questions

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Francisca Ramón Fernández

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The participation in a company increasingly technological does that numerous questions appear on the protection of the most vulnerable subjects, between them the minors. The influence of the social networks like instrument of communication is not exempt from risks for the quantity of information that is facilitated and is shared. The lack of a specific regulation that he contemplates from the point of view of the Law which is the protection that a minor must have, does that there take place situations of abandonment of the rights of the same ones.The opportunity of regulation has been left to escape in the future law of protection of the infancy, nowadays in phase of preliminary design, since it does not refer to the social networks since it had been desirable. The current procedure as for minors, as well as those of protection of information, between others, do not turn out to be sufficient to contemplate all the situations of risk that can be given in the above mentioned area. In the present work we propose to think on minors and social networks raising some legal questions, and trying to contribute some response to the problematics that appears in the juridical area.

Impunity for International Terrorists? Key Legal Questions and Practical Considerations

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Christophe Paulussen

2012-04-01

Full Text Available This Research Paper discusses several of the key questions related to the subject of impunity of international terrorists, taking both a fundamental and a more practical approach within the context of international law. First, it reflects on a number of core definitional and theoretical questions which have been pushed into the background of day‐to‐day reality, by the actual fight against terrorism. For instance: what does the concept of impunity entail exactly and which kinds of standards could be used in measuring impunity? Is it clear what falls under the header of international terrorism and can it in fact be argued that international terrorists enjoy impunity? In practical terms, the paper explores a number of questions related to the actual prosecution of terrorism. What are the obstacles that national prosecutors face every day when prosecuting suspects of international terrorism? To what extent does a rule that prima facie seems ideal to fight terrorism (aut dedere aut judicare: either extradite or prosecute apply to terrorist offences? And what is the role of international criminal law – and the international criminal tribunals – in fighting terrorism? The Paper concludes with a series of recommendations.

European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy - Establishing the key unanswered research questions within gastrointestinal endoscopy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rees, Colin J; Ngu, Wee Sing; Regula, Jaroslaw

2016-01-01

Background and study aim: Gastrointestinal endoscopy is a rapidly evolving research field. The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) plays a key role in shaping opinion and endoscopy activity throughout Europe and further afield. Establishing key unanswered questions within the fi...

The role of glycogen synthase in the development of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes - 'To store or not to store glucose, that's the question'

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beck-Nielsen, Henning

2012-01-01

This review deals with the role of glycogen storage in skeletal muscle for the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Specifically, the role of the enzyme glycogen synthase, which seems to be locked in its hyperphosphorylated and inactivated state, is discussed. This defect seems ...... to be secondary to ectopic lipid disposition in the muscle cells. These molecular defects are discussed in the context of the overall pathophysiology of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetic subjects. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd....

Questions for Music Education Research

Science.gov (United States)

Jorgensen, Estelle R.

2008-01-01

In addressing the question-set "What questions do music education researchers need to address?", an illustrative list of juxtaposed descriptive and normative questions is sketched as follows: What are and should be the dimensions of music education? What are and should be the institutional agencies of music education? What are and should be the…

Dynamic Question Ordering in Online Surveys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Early Kirstin

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Online surveys have the potential to support adaptive questions, where later questions depend on earlier responses. Past work has taken a rule-based approach, uniformly across all respondents. We envision a richer interpretation of adaptive questions, which we call Dynamic Question Ordering (DQO, where question order is personalized. Such an approach could increase engagement, and therefore response rate, as well as imputation quality. We present a DQO framework to improve survey completion and imputation. In the general survey-taking setting, we want to maximize survey completion, and so we focus on ordering questions to engage the respondent and collect hopefully all information, or at least the information that most characterizes the respondent, for accurate imputations. In another scenario, our goal is to provide a personalized prediction. Since it is possible to give reasonable predictions with only a subset of questions, we are not concerned with motivating users to answer all questions. Instead, we want to order questions to get information that reduces prediction uncertainty, while not being too burdensome. We illustrate this framework with two case studies, for the prediction and survey-taking settings. We also discuss DQO for national surveys and consider connections between our statistics-based question-ordering approach and cognitive survey methodology.

Validation of Screening Questions for Hyperacusis in Chronic Tinnitus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Schecklmann

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background. We investigated the validity of the two hyperacusis items of the TSCHQ (Tinnitus Sample Case History Questionnaire from the TRI (Tinnitus Research Initiative database by comparing them with the German hyperacusis questionnaire GÜF. Methods. We investigated the association of the GÜF with the TSCHQ screening questions for both the sum score and the single items with correlation, contrast, principal component, and discriminant analysis in a sample of 161 patients with chronic tinnitus. Results. TSCHQ items and the GÜF total score were significantly associated with a special focus on fear and pain related hyperacusis. Factor analysis of the GÜF revealed the three factors “fear and pain related hyperacusis,” “hearing related problems,” and “problems in quality of life.” A discriminant analysis showed a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 71% of the TSCHQ items for the establishment of tinnitus patient subgroups with and without hyperacusis. Discussion. Both hyperacusis TSCHQ items can serve as screening questions with respect to self-reported hyperacusis in chronic tinnitus with a specific focus on fear and pain related hyperacusis. However, the multiple dimensions of hyperacusis should be considered for diagnosis and treatment in both scientific and clinical contexts.

Repetitive Questioning Exasperates Caregivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. C. Hamdy MD

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Repetitive questioning is due to an impaired episodic memory and is a frequent, often presenting, problem in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (amnestic type. It is due to the patients’ difficulties learning new information, retaining it, and recalling it, and is often aggravated by a poor attention span and easy distractibility. A number of factors may trigger and maintain repetitive questioning. Caregivers should try to identify and address these triggers. In the case discussion presented, it is due to the patient’s concerns about her and her family’s safety triggered by watching a particularly violent movie aired on TV. What went wrong in the patient/caregiver interaction and how it could have been avoided or averted are explored. Also reviewed are the impact of repetitive questioning, the challenges it raises for caregivers, and some effective intervention strategies that may be useful to diffuse the angst that caregivers experience with repetitive questioning.

Student-generated questions during chemistry lectures: Patterns, self-appraisals, and relations with motivational beliefs and achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Bergey, Bradley W.

Self-generated questions are a central mechanism for learning, yet students' questions are often infrequent during classroom instruction. As a result, little is known about the nature of student questioning during typical instructional contexts such as listening to a lecture, including the extent and nature of student-generated questions, how students evaluate their questions, and the relations among questions, motivations, and achievement. This study examined the questions undergraduate students (N = 103) generated during 8 lectures in an introductory chemistry course. Students recorded and appraised their question in daily question logs and reported lecture-specific self-efficacy beliefs. Self-efficacy, personal interest, goal orientations, and other motivational self-beliefs were measured before and after the unit. Primary analyses included testing path models, multiple regressions, and latent class analyses. Overall, results indicated that several characteristics of student questioning during lectures were significantly related to various motivations and achievement. Higher end-of-class self-efficacy was associated with fewer procedural questions and more questions that reflected smaller knowledge deficits. Lower exam scores were associated with questions reflecting broader knowledge deficits and students' appraisals that their questions had less value for others than for themselves. Individual goal orientations collectively and positively predicted question appraisals. The questions students generated and their relations with motivational variables and achievement are discussed in light of the learning task and academic context.

Movement dynamics reflect a functional role for weak coupling and role structure in dyadic problem solving.

Science.gov (United States)

Abney, Drew H; Paxton, Alexandra; Dale, Rick; Kello, Christopher T

2015-11-01

Successful interaction requires complex coordination of body movements. Previous research has suggested a functional role for coordination and especially synchronization (i.e., time-locked movement across individuals) in different types of human interaction contexts. Although such coordination has been shown to be nearly ubiquitous in human interaction, less is known about its function. One proposal is that synchrony supports and facilitates communication (Topics Cogn Sci 1:305-319, 2009). However, questions still remain about what the properties of coordination for optimizing communication might look like. In the present study, dyads worked together to construct towers from uncooked spaghetti and marshmallows. Using cross-recurrence quantification analysis, we found that dyads with loosely coupled gross body movements performed better, supporting recent work suggesting that simple synchrony may not be the key to effective performance (Riley et al. 2011). We also found evidence that leader-follower dynamics-when sensitive to the specific role structure of the interaction-impact task performance. We discuss our results with respect to the functional role of coordination in human interaction.

Lysyl oxidase: properties, specificity, and biological roles inside and outside of the cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Kagan, Herbert M; Li, Wande

2003-03-01

Lysyl oxidase (LO) plays a critical role in the formation and repair of the extracellular matrix (ECM) by oxidizing lysine residues in elastin and collagen, thereby initiating the formation of covalent crosslinkages which stabilize these fibrous proteins. Its catalytic activity depends upon both its copper cofactor and a unique carbonyl cofactor and has been shown to extend to a variety of basic globular proteins, including histone H1. Although the three-dimensional structure of LO has yet to be determined, the present treatise offers hypotheses based upon its primary sequence, which may underlie the prominent electrostatic component of its unusual substrate specificity as well as the catalysis-suppressing function of the propeptide domain of prolysyl oxidase. Recent studies have demonstrated that LO appears to function within the cell in a manner, which strongly modifies cellular activity. Newly discovered LO-like proteins also likely play unique roles in biology. Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

QUESTION ANSWERING SYSTEM BERBASIS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MARKUP LANGUAGE SEBAGAI MEDIA INFORMASI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fajrin Azwary

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Artificial intelligence technology nowadays, can be processed with a variety of forms, such as chatbot, and the various methods, one of them using Artificial Intelligence Markup Language (AIML. AIML using template matching, by comparing the specific patterns in the database. AIML template design process begins with determining the necessary information, then formed into questions, these questions adapted to AIML pattern. From the results of the study, can be known that the Question-Answering System in the chatbot using Artificial Intelligence Markup Language are able to communicate and deliver information. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Template Matching, Artificial Intelligence Markup Language, AIML Teknologi kecerdasan buatan saat ini dapat diolah dengan berbagai macam bentuk, seperti ChatBot, dan berbagai macam metode, salah satunya menggunakan Artificial Intelligence Markup Language (AIML. AIML menggunakan metode template matching yaitu dengan membandingkan pola-pola tertentu pada database. Proses perancangan template AIML diawali dengan menentukan informasi yang diperlukan, kemudian dibentuk menjadi pertanyaan, pertanyaan tersebut disesuaikan dengan bentuk pattern AIML. Hasil penelitian dapat diperoleh bahwa Question-Answering System dalam bentuk ChatBot menggunakan Artificial Intelligence Markup Language dapat berkomunikasi dan menyampaikan informasi. Kata kunci : Kecerdasan Buatan, Pencocokan Pola, Artificial Intelligence Markup Language, AIML

Towards natural language question generation for the validation of ontologies and mappings.

Science.gov (United States)

Ben Abacha, Asma; Dos Reis, Julio Cesar; Mrabet, Yassine; Pruski, Cédric; Da Silveira, Marcos

2016-08-08

The increasing number of open-access ontologies and their key role in several applications such as decision-support systems highlight the importance of their validation. Human expertise is crucial for the validation of ontologies from a domain point-of-view. However, the growing number of ontologies and their fast evolution over time make manual validation challenging. We propose a novel semi-automatic approach based on the generation of natural language (NL) questions to support the validation of ontologies and their evolution. The proposed approach includes the automatic generation, factorization and ordering of NL questions from medical ontologies. The final validation and correction is performed by submitting these questions to domain experts and automatically analyzing their feedback. We also propose a second approach for the validation of mappings impacted by ontology changes. The method exploits the context of the changes to propose correction alternatives presented as Multiple Choice Questions. This research provides a question optimization strategy to maximize the validation of ontology entities with a reduced number of questions. We evaluate our approach for the validation of three medical ontologies. We also evaluate the feasibility and efficiency of our mappings validation approach in the context of ontology evolution. These experiments are performed with different versions of SNOMED-CT and ICD9. The obtained experimental results suggest the feasibility and adequacy of our approach to support the validation of interconnected and evolving ontologies. Results also suggest that taking into account RDFS and OWL entailment helps reducing the number of questions and validation time. The application of our approach to validate mapping evolution also shows the difficulty of adapting mapping evolution over time and highlights the importance of semi-automatic validation.

In-service teacher education: asking questions for higher order thinking in visual literacy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Visvaganthie Moodley

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The kinds of questions teachers ask may thwart or promote learner high-order thinking; teachers themselves must have expertise in questioning skills to promote higher order cognition among learners. Drawing on experiential knowledge of assessment, and as an English-teaching professional development programme (PDP facilitator, I demonstrate that within the framework of a carefully structured subject-specific PDP, teachers can be taught how to enhance thinking skills in the English visual literacy (VL learning classroom. Guided by an earlier taxonomy of cognition, and using qualitative methodology, the paper analyses data obtained from: (i observation notes and examination equivalents of 40 teachers from various public schools in Gauteng who were engaged in the Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE, English specialization programme; and (ii a case study of three teachers by means of semi-structured interviews, and a study of their lesson plans and worksheets.The paper examines, specifically, teachers' choice of texts and questions asked, for English second-language learners for the teaching of VL. It concludes by suggesting that if teachers themselves are first engaged in the cognitive processes they wish learners to acquire, they are better positioned to promote higher order among their learners.

The European Union, the ESDP, and the question of Turkey /

OpenAIRE

Taylor, Alistair

2005-01-01

This paper analyses the potential contribution in terms of crude capabilities that Turkey could bring to the European Union’s ESDP security framework. The history of the European Union’s security aspirations and the security policy preferences of the major actors in European security will also be examined as a way of framing the question of Turkey's potential role within the emerging European security and defense framework. The second chapter will look at how European security has evolved fro...

Le cauchemar de Lockwood : sur la question de la Cruauté en Litérature (Lockwoods’ Nightmare: On the Question of Cruelty in Literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josef Fulka

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study is to analyze the phenomenon of dream in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, especially the nightmare of Lockwood, one of the principal narrators. The author attempts to show that the dream in question plays an important role in the structure of the novel, and interprets the given passages against the background of the distinction between convertible and inconvertible violence, recently proposed – in a different context – by Étienne Balibar.

The Question Complexity Rubric: Development and Application for a National Archive of Astro 101 Multiple-Choice Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Cormier, Sebastien; Prather, E. E.; Brissenden, G.; Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars CATS

2011-01-01

For the last two years we have been developing an online national archive of multiple-choice questions for use in the Astro 101 classroom. These questions are intended to either supplement an instructor's implementation of Think-Pair-Share or be used for assessment purposes (i.e. exams and homework). In this talk we will describe the development, testing and implementation of the Question Complexity Rubric (QCR), which is designed to guide the ranking of questions in this archive based on their conceptual complexity. Using the QCR, a score is assigned to differentiate each question based on the cognitive steps necessary to comprehensively explain the reasoning pathway to the correct answer. The lowest QCR score is given to questions with a reasoning pathway requiring only declarative knowledge whereas the highest QCR score is given to questions that require multiple pathways of multi-step reasoning. When completed, the online question archive will provide users with the utility to 1) search for and download questions based on subject and average QCR score, 2) use the QCR to score questions, and 3) add their own questions to the archive. We will also discuss other potential applications of the QCR, such as how it informs our work in developing and testing of survey instruments by allowing us to calibrate the range of question complexity. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

The Value Question in Metaphysics

Science.gov (United States)

Kahane, Guy

2012-01-01

Much seems to be at stake in metaphysical questions about, for example, God, free will or morality. One thing that could be at stake is the value of the universe we inhabit—how good or bad it is. We can think of competing philosophical positions as describing possibilities, ways the world might turn out to be, and to which value can be assigned. When, for example, people hope that God exists, or fear that we do not possess free will, they express attitudes towards these possibilities, attitudes that presuppose answers to questions about their comparative value. My aim in this paper is to distinguish these evaluative questions from related questions with which they can be confused, to identify structural constraints on their proper pursuit, and to address objections to their very coherence. Answers to such evaluative questions offer one measure of the importance of philosophical disputes. PMID:23024399

The Value Question in Metaphysics.

Science.gov (United States)

Kahane, Guy

2012-07-01

Much seems to be at stake in metaphysical questions about, for example, God, free will or morality. One thing that could be at stake is the value of the universe we inhabit-how good or bad it is. We can think of competing philosophical positions as describing possibilities, ways the world might turn out to be, and to which value can be assigned. When, for example, people hope that God exists, or fear that we do not possess free will, they express attitudes towards these possibilities, attitudes that presuppose answers to questions about their comparative value. My aim in this paper is to distinguish these evaluative questions from related questions with which they can be confused, to identify structural constraints on their proper pursuit, and to address objections to their very coherence. Answers to such evaluative questions offer one measure of the importance of philosophical disputes.

Insulin: its role in the central control of reproduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Sliwowska, Joanna H; Fergani, Chrysanthi; Gawałek, Monika; Skowronska, Bogda; Fichna, Piotr; Lehman, Michael N

2014-06-22

Insulin has long been recognized as a key regulator of energy homeostasis via its actions at the level of the brain, but in addition, plays a role in regulating neural control of reproduction. In this review, we consider and compare evidence from animal models demonstrating a role for insulin for physiological control of reproduction by effects on GnRH/LH secretion. We also review the role that insulin plays in prenatal programming of adult reproduction, and consider specific candidate neurons in the adult hypothalamus by which insulin may act to regulate reproductive function. Finally, we review clinical evidence of the role that insulin may play in adult human fertility and reproductive disorders. Overall, while insulin appears to have a significant impact on reproductive neuroendocrine function, there are many unanswered questions regarding its precise sites and mechanisms of action, and their impact on developing and adult reproductive neuroendocrine function. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An examination of the association between interviewer question type and story-grammar detail in child witness interviews about abuse.

Science.gov (United States)

Feltis, Brooke B; Powell, Martine B; Snow, Pamela C; Hughes-Scholes, Carolyn H

2010-06-01

This study compared the effects of open-ended versus specific questions, and various types of open-ended questions, in eliciting story-grammar detail in child abuse interviews. The sample included 34 police interviews with child witnesses aged 5-15 years (M age=9 years, 9 months). The interviewers' questions and their relative sub-types were classified according to definitions reported in the child interview training literature. The children's responses were classified according to the proportion of story grammar and the prevalence of individual story grammar elements as defined by Stein and Glenn (1979). Open-ended questions were more effective at eliciting story grammar than specific questions. This finding was revealed across three age groups, two interview phases and irrespective of how question effectiveness was measured. However, not all types of open-ended questions were equally effective. Open-ended questions that encouraged a broad response, or asked the child to elaborate on a part of their account, elicited more story-grammar detail compared to open-ended questions that requested clarification of concepts or descriptions of the next (or another) activity or detail within a sequence. This study demonstrates that children's ability to provide story-grammar detail is maximised when there is minimal prompting from the interviewer. Given the association between story grammar production and victim credibility, greater guidance is warranted in interviewer training programs in relation to the effects and administration of different types of open-ended questions. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Legal Philosophy - Five Questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

This collection gathers together a host of the most eminent contemporary legal philosophers, who writes about their take on legal philosophy, its fundamental questions and potential.......This collection gathers together a host of the most eminent contemporary legal philosophers, who writes about their take on legal philosophy, its fundamental questions and potential....

A Tempest in A Ladle: The Debate about the Roles of General and Specific Abilities in Predicting Important Outcomes

OpenAIRE

Wendy Johnson

2018-01-01

The debate about the roles of general and specific abilities in predicting important outcomes is a tempest in a ladle because we cannot measure abilities without also measuring skills. Skills always develop through exposure, are specific rather than general, and are executed using different strategies by different people, thus tapping into varied specific abilities. Relative predictive validities of measurement formats depend on the purpose: the more general and long-term the purpose, the bet...

Positive, negative, and bipolar questions: The effect of question polarity on ratings of text readability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naomi Kamoen

2013-12-01

Full Text Available For decades, survey researchers have known that respondents give different answers to attitude questions worded positively (X is good. Agree-Disagree, negatively (X is bad. Agree-Disagree or on a bipolar scale (X is bad-good. This makes survey answers hard to interpret, especially since findings on exactly how the answers are affected are conflicting. In the current paper, we present twelve studies in which the effect of question polarity was measured for a set of thirteen contrastive adjectives. In each study, the same adjectives were used so the generalizability of wording effects across studies could be examined for each word pair. Results show that for five of the word pairs an effect of question wording can be generalized. The direction of these effects are largely consistent: respondents generally give the same answers to positive and bipolar questions, but they are more likely to disagree with negative questions than to agree with positive questions or to choose the positive side of the bipolar scale. In other words, respondents express their opinions more positively when the question is worded negatively. Even though answers to the three wording alternatives sometimes differ, results also show that reliable answers can be obtained with all three wording alternatives. So, for survey practice, these results suggest that all three wording alternatives may be used for attitude measurement.

Thousand Questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2012-01-01

(perhaps as an expanded Turing test) on its listeners. These questions are extracted in real-time from Twitter with the keyword search of the ‘?’ symbol to create a spatio-temporal experience. The computerized voice the audience hears is a collective one, an entanglement of humans and non-humans......In this work the network asks “If I wrote you a love letter would you write back?” Like the love letters which appeared mysteriously on the noticeboards of Manchester University’s Computer Department in the 1950s, thousands of texts circulate as computational processes perform the questions......, that circulates across networks. If I wrote you a love letter would you write back? (and thousands of other questions’ ) (封不回的情書？千言萬語無人回 was commissioned by the Microwave International New Media Festival 2012....

From Cultural Imperialists to Takeover Victims? Questions on Hollywood's Buyouts from the Critical Tradition.

Science.gov (United States)

McAnany, Emile G.; Wilkinson, Kenton T.

1992-01-01

Examines the history of the cultural imperialism debate. Reviews international questions raised concerning the role and influence of the still-popular Hollywood products. Examines changing ownership patterns in Hollywood (buyouts by major foreign interests). Notes important trends, and suggests areas for critical research. (SR)

Validity, Reliability, and the Questionable Role of Psychometrics in Plastic Surgery

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Summary: This report examines the meaning of validity and reliability and the role of psychometrics in plastic surgery. Study titles increasingly include the word “valid” to support the authors’ claims. Studies by other investigators may be labeled “not validated.” Validity simply refers to the ability of a device to measure what it intends to measure. Validity is not an intrinsic test property. It is a relative term most credibly assigned by the independent user. Similarly, the word “reliable” is subject to interpretation. In psychometrics, its meaning is synonymous with “reproducible.” The definitions of valid and reliable are analogous to accuracy and precision. Reliability (both the reliability of the data and the consistency of measurements) is a prerequisite for validity. Outcome measures in plastic surgery are intended to be surveys, not tests. The role of psychometric modeling in plastic surgery is unclear, and this discipline introduces difficult jargon that can discourage investigators. Standard statistical tests suffice. The unambiguous term “reproducible” is preferred when discussing data consistency. Study design and methodology are essential considerations when assessing a study’s validity. PMID:25289354

Validity, Reliability, and the Questionable Role of Psychometrics in Plastic Surgery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Swanson, MD

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Summary: This report examines the meaning of validity and reliability and the role of psychometrics in plastic surgery. Study titles increasingly include the word “valid” to support the authors’ claims. Studies by other investigators may be labeled “not validated.” Validity simply refers to the ability of a device to measure what it intends to measure. Validity is not an intrinsic test property. It is a relative term most credibly assigned by the independent user. Similarly, the word “reliable” is subject to interpretation. In psychometrics, its meaning is synonymous with “reproducible.” The definitions of valid and reliable are analogous to accuracy and precision. Reliability (both the reliability of the data and the consistency of measurements is a prerequisite for validity. Outcome measures in plastic surgery are intended to be surveys, not tests. The role of psychometric modeling in plastic surgery is unclear, and this discipline introduces difficult jargon that can discourage investigators. Standard statistical tests suffice. The unambiguous term “reproducible” is preferred when discussing data consistency. Study design and methodology are essential considerations when assessing a study’s validity.

Managing multiple roles: development of the Work-Family Conciliation Strategies Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Matias, Marisa; Fontaine, Anne Marie

2014-07-17

Juggling the demands of work and family is becoming increasingly difficult in today's world. As dual-earners are now a majority and men and women's roles in both the workplace and at home have changed, questions have been raised regarding how individuals and couples can balance family and work. Nevertheless, research addressing work-family conciliation strategies is limited to a conflict-driven approach and context-specific instruments are scarce. This study develops an instrument for assessing how dual-earners manage their multiple roles detaching from a conflict point of view highlighting the work-family conciliation strategies put forward by these couples. Through qualitative and quantitative procedures the Work-Family Conciliation Strategies Scales was developed and is composed by 5 factors: Couple Coping; Positive Attitude Towards Multiple Roles, Planning and Management Skills, Professional Adjustments and Institutional Support; with good adjustment [χ2/df = 1.22; CFI = .90, RMSEA = .04, SRMR = .08.] and good reliability coefficients [from .67 to .87]. The developed scale contributes to research because of its specificity to the work-family framework and its focus on the proactive nature of balancing work and family roles. The results support further use of this instrument.

Legacy question

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Healy, J.W.

1977-01-01

The legacy question discussed refers to the definition of appropriate actions in this generation to provide a world that will allow future generations to use the earth without excessive limitations caused by our use and disposal of potentially hazardous materials

An Online National Archive of Multiple-Choice Questions for Astro 101 and the Development of the Question Complexity Rubric

Science.gov (United States)

Cormier, S.; Prather, E.; Brissenden, G.

2011-09-01

We are developing a national archive of multiple-choice questions for use in the Astronomy 101 classroom. These questions are intended to supplement an instructor's implementation of Think-Pair-Share or for their assessment purposes (i.e., exams and homework). We are also developing the Question Complexity Rubric (QCR) to guide members of the Astro 101 teaching and learning community in assisting us with hierarchically ranking questions in this archive based on their conceptual complexity. Using the QCR, a score is assigned to differentiate each question based on the cognitive steps necessary to comprehensively explain the reasoning pathway to the correct answer. The lowest QCR score is given to questions with a reasoning pathway requiring only declarative knowledge. The highest QCR score is given to questions with a reasoning pathway that requires multiple connected cognitive steps. When completed, the online question archive will provide users with the utility to 1) use the QCR to score questions 2) search for and download questions based on topic and/or QCR score, and 3) add their own questions to the archive. Stop by our poster to test your skills at determining question complexity by trying out the QCR with our sample questions.

The six most essential questions in psychiatric diagnosis: a pluralogue part 1: conceptual and definitional issues in psychiatric diagnosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Phillips James

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract In face of the multiple controversies surrounding the DSM process in general and the development of DSM-5 in particular, we have organized a discussion around what we consider six essential questions in further work on the DSM. The six questions involve: 1 the nature of a mental disorder; 2 the definition of mental disorder; 3 the issue of whether, in the current state of psychiatric science, DSM-5 should assume a cautious, conservative posture or an assertive, transformative posture; 4 the role of pragmatic considerations in the construction of DSM-5; 5 the issue of utility of the DSM - whether DSM-III and IV have been designed more for clinicians or researchers, and how this conflict should be dealt with in the new manual; and 6 the possibility and advisability, given all the problems with DSM-III and IV, of designing a different diagnostic system. Part I of this article will take up the first two questions. With the first question, invited commentators express a range of opinion regarding the nature of psychiatric disorders, loosely divided into a realist position that the diagnostic categories represent real diseases that we can accurately name and know with our perceptual abilities, a middle, nominalist position that psychiatric disorders do exist in the real world but that our diagnostic categories are constructs that may or may not accurately represent the disorders out there, and finally a purely constructivist position that the diagnostic categories are simply constructs with no evidence of psychiatric disorders in the real world. The second question again offers a range of opinion as to how we should define a mental or psychiatric disorder, including the possibility that we should not try to formulate a definition. The general introduction, as well as the introductions and conclusions for the specific questions, are written by James Phillips, and the responses to commentaries are written by Allen Frances.

Key-feature questions for assessment of clinical reasoning: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hrynchak, Patricia; Takahashi, Susan Glover; Nayer, Marla

2014-09-01

Key-feature questions (KFQs) have been developed to assess clinical reasoning skills. The purpose of this paper is to review the published evidence on the reliability and validity of KFQs to assess clinical reasoning. A literature review was conducted by searching MEDLINE (1946-2012) and EMBASE (1980-2012) via OVID and ERIC. The following search terms were used: key feature; question or test or tests or testing or tested or exam; assess or evaluation, and case-based or case-specific. Articles not in English were eliminated. The literature search resulted in 560 articles. Duplicates were eliminated, as were articles that were not relevant; nine articles that contained reliability or validity data remained. A review of the references and of citations of these articles resulted in an additional 12 articles to give a total of 21 for this review. Format, language and scoring of KFQ examinations have been studied and modified to maximise reliability. Internal consistency reliability has been reported as being between 0.49 and 0.95. Face and content validity have been shown to be moderate to high. Construct validity has been shown to be good using vector thinking processes and novice versus expert paradigms, and to discriminate between teaching methods. The very modest correlations between KFQ examinations and more general knowledge-based examinations point to differing roles for each. Importantly, the results of KFQ examinations have been shown to successfully predict future physician performance, including patient outcomes. Although it is inaccurate to conclude that any testing format is universally reliable or valid, published research supports the use of examinations using KFQs to assess clinical reasoning. The review identifies areas of further study, including all categories of evidence. Investigation into how examinations using KFQs integrate with other methods in a system of assessment is needed. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Entropy - Some Cosmological Questions Answered by Model of Expansive Nondecelerative Universe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miroslav Sukenik

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract: The paper summarizes the background of Expansive Nondecelerative Universe model and its potential to offer answers to some open cosmological questions related to entropy. Three problems are faced in more detail, namely that of Hawkings phenomenon of black holes evaporation, maximum entropy of the Universe during its evolution, and time evolution of specific entropy.

Interior Design's Role in Educational Specifications.

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, Mary Ann

1986-01-01

An experienced interior designer, equipped with a well-written educational specification, will specify the best materials and coordinate colors, materials, and furnishings in line with the district's budget. (MLF)

Site-Specific Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reeh, Henrik; Hemmersam, Peter

2015-01-01

Currently, cities across the Northern European region are actively redeveloping their former industrial harbours. Indeed, harbours areas are essential in the long-term transition from industrial to information and experience societies; harbours are becoming sites for new businesses and residences...... question is how innovation may contribute to urban life and site-specific qualities....

Let's talk nuclear energy in 30 questions; Parlons nucleaire en 30 questions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reuss, Paul

2012-01-11

The Fukushima catastrophe of March 11, 2011 has called into question the share of nuclear energy in France and in foreign countries. Its replacement by renewable energy sources and the safety of nuclear power plants are in the center of today's debates. But what is the reality behind the mass of contradictory information that exists on this complex topic? This book moves the question out of the media noise and supplies objective and factual information with reliable figures about the nuclear industry by answering 30 key-questions. (J.S.)

Question, answer, compare: a cross-category comparison of answers on question and answer websites

Science.gov (United States)

Ocepek, Melissa G.; Westbrook, Lynn

2015-10-01

Online information seekers make heavy use of websites that accept their natural language questions. This study compared the three types of such websites: social question and answer (Q&A), digital reference services, and ask-an-expert services. Questions reflecting daily life, research, and crisis situations were posed to high use websites of all three types. The resulting answers' characteristics were analyzed in terms of speed, transparency, formality, and intimacy. The results indicate that social Q&A websites excel in speed, ask-an-expert websites in intimacy, and digital reference services in transparency and formality.

Cell type-specific roles of Jak3 in IL-2-induced proliferative signal transduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujii, Hodaka

2007-01-01

Binding of interleukin-2 (IL-2) to its specific receptor induces activation of two members of Jak family protein tyrosine kinases, Jak1 and Jak3. An IL-2 receptor (IL-2R)-reconstituted NIH 3T3 fibroblast cell line proliferates in response to IL-2 only when hematopoietic lineage-specific Jak3 is ectopically expressed. However, the mechanism of Jak3-dependent proliferation in the fibroblast cell line is not known. Here, I showed that Jak3 expression is dispensable for IL-2-induced activation of Jak1 and Stat proteins and expression of nuclear proto-oncogenes in the IL-2R-reconstituted fibroblast cell line. Jak3 expression markedly enhanced these IL-2-induced signaling events. In contrast, Jak3 expression was essential for induction of cyclin genes involved in the G1-S transition. These data suggest a critical role of Jak3 in IL-2 signaling in the fibroblast cell line and may provide further insight into the cell type-specific mechanism of cytokine signaling

Cell type-specific roles of Jak3 in IL-2-induced proliferative signal transduction

Science.gov (United States)

Fujii, Hodaka

2007-01-01

Binding of IL-2 to its specific receptor induces activation of two members of Jak family protein tyrosine kinases, Jak1 and Jak3. An IL-2R-reconstituted NIH 3T3 fibroblast cell line proliferates in response to IL-2 only when hematopoietic lineage-specific Jak3 is ectopically expressed. However, the mechanism of Jak3-dependent proliferation in the fibroblast cell line is not known. Here, I showed that Jak3 expression is dispensable for IL-2-induced activation of Jak1 and Stat proteins and expression of nuclear proto-oncogenes in the IL-2R-reconstituted fibroblast cell line. However, Jak3 expression markedly enhanced these IL-2-induced signaling events. In contrast, Jak3 expression was essential for induction of cyclin genes involved in the G1-S transition. These data suggest a critical role of Jak3 in IL-2 signaling in the fibroblast cell line and may provide further insight into the cell type-specific mechanism of cytokine signaling. PMID:17266928

A Content Analysis of the Roles Portrayed by Women in Commercials: 1973 - 2008

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Rosa Acevedo

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The principal objective of this paper was to examine female roles portrayed in advertising. More specifically, the question that stimulated this research project was: What message has been signaled to society through advertisements about women? Have these portrayals altered throughout the past decades? The study consisted of a systematic content analysis of Brazilian commercials between 1973 and 2008. A probabilistic sample procedure was adopted. 95 pieces of material were selected. Our results have revealed that certain specific images have changed over the years; however, they continue to be stereotyped and idealized. DOI: 10.5585/remark.v9i3.2201

To Be Specific or Not: The Critical Relationship Between Hox And TALE Proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Merabet, Samir; Mann, Richard S

2016-06-01

Hox proteins are key regulatory transcription factors that act in different tissues of the embryo to provide specific spatial and temporal coordinates to each cell. These patterning functions often depend on the presence of the TALE-homeodomain class cofactors, which form cooperative DNA-binding complexes with all Hox proteins. How this family of cofactors contributes to the highly diverse and specific functions of Hox proteins in vivo remains an important unsolved question. We review here the most recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying Hox-TALE function. In particular, we discuss the role of DNA shape, DNA-binding affinity, and protein-protein interaction flexibility in dictating Hox-TALE specificity. We propose several models to explain how these mechanisms are integrated with each other in the context of the many distinct functions that Hox and TALE factors carry out in vivo. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Examining the Impact of Question Surface Features on Students' Answers to Constructed-Response Questions on Photosynthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Weston, Michele; Haudek, Kevin C.; Prevost, Luanna; Urban-Lurain, Mark; Merrill, John

2015-01-01

One challenge in science education assessment is that students often focus on surface features of questions rather than the underlying scientific principles. We investigated how student written responses to constructed-response questions about photosynthesis vary based on two surface features of the question: the species of plant and the order of…

Generic Drugs: Questions and Answers

Science.gov (United States)

... Vaccines, Blood & Biologics Animal & Veterinary Cosmetics Tobacco Products Drugs Home Drugs Resources for You Information for Consumers (Drugs) Questions & Answers Generic Drugs: Questions & Answers Share Tweet Linkedin Pin it More ...

DOE role in nuclear policies and programs: official transcript of public briefing, December 13, 1977

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-02-01

The record for the first of the public briefings in the Consumer Information Series scheduled by the Department of Energy is presented. The series presents, for public information and discussion, those DOE policies and programs of specific interest to consumers and public interest groups. In the first meeting DOE officials responded to questions from the public on the DOE role in nuclear policies and programs

Comparison of Performance on Multiple-Choice Questions and Open-Ended Questions in an Introductory Astronomy Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Wooten, Michelle M.; Cool, Adrienne M.; Prather, Edward E.; Tanner, Kimberly D.

2014-01-01

When considering the variety of questions that can be used to measure students' learning, instructors may choose to use multiple-choice questions, which are easier to score than responses to open-ended questions. However, by design, analyses of multiple-choice responses cannot describe all of students' understanding. One method that can…

Primary care validation of a single-question alcohol screening test.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Peter C; Schmidt, Susan M; Allensworth-Davies, Donald; Saitz, Richard

2009-07-01

Unhealthy alcohol use is prevalent but under-diagnosed in primary care settings. To validate, in primary care, a single-item screening test for unhealthy alcohol use recommended by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Cross-sectional study. Adult English-speaking patients recruited from primary care waiting rooms. Participants were asked the single screening question, “How many times in the past year have you had X or more drinks in a day?”, where X is 5 for men and 4 for women, and a response of 1 or greater [corrected] is considered positive. Unhealthy alcohol use was defined as the presence of an alcohol use disorder, as determined by a standardized diagnostic interview, or risky consumption, as determined using a validated 30-day calendar method. Of 394 eligible primary care patients, 286 (73%) completed the interview. The single-question screen was 81.8% sensitive (95% confidence interval (CI) 72.5% to 88.5%) and 79.3% specific (95% CI 73.1% to 84.4%) for the detection of unhealthy alcohol use. It was slightly more sensitive (87.9%, 95% CI 72.7% to 95.2%) but was less specific (66.8%, 95% CI 60.8% to 72.3%) for the detection of a current alcohol use disorder. Test characteristics were similar to that of a commonly used three-item screen, and were affected very little by subject demographic characteristics. The single screening question recommended by the NIAAA accurately identified unhealthy alcohol use in this sample of primary care patients. These findings support the use of this brief screen in primary care.

Questioning context: a set of interdisciplinary questions for investigating contextual factors affecting health decision making

Science.gov (United States)

Charise, Andrea; Witteman, Holly; Whyte, Sarah; Sutton, Erica J.; Bender, Jacqueline L.; Massimi, Michael; Stephens, Lindsay; Evans, Joshua; Logie, Carmen; Mirza, Raza M.; Elf, Marie

2011-01-01

Abstract Objective  To combine insights from multiple disciplines into a set of questions that can be used to investigate contextual factors affecting health decision making. Background  Decision‐making processes and outcomes may be shaped by a range of non‐medical or ‘contextual’ factors particular to an individual including social, economic, political, geographical and institutional conditions. Research concerning contextual factors occurs across many disciplines and theoretical domains, but few conceptual tools have attempted to integrate and translate this wide‐ranging research for health decision‐making purposes. Methods  To formulate this tool we employed an iterative, collaborative process of scenario development and question generation. Five hypothetical health decision‐making scenarios (preventative, screening, curative, supportive and palliative) were developed and used to generate a set of exploratory questions that aim to highlight potential contextual factors across a range of health decisions. Findings  We present an exploratory tool consisting of questions organized into four thematic domains – Bodies, Technologies, Place and Work (BTPW) – articulating wide‐ranging contextual factors relevant to health decision making. The BTPW tool encompasses health‐related scholarship and research from a range of disciplines pertinent to health decision making, and identifies concrete points of intersection between its four thematic domains. Examples of the practical application of the questions are also provided. Conclusions  These exploratory questions provide an interdisciplinary toolkit for identifying the complex contextual factors affecting decision making. The set of questions comprised by the BTPW tool may be applied wholly or partially in the context of clinical practice, policy development and health‐related research. PMID:21029277

Determining the Response Behaviors of Middle School Students for Open-Ended Questions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neslihan Tuğçe ŞİMŞEK

2017-04-01

Full Text Available When the literature for measurement and evaluation in education is reviewed, research related to student achievement are mainly outcome-oriented rather than process-oriented. Researchers pay attention to the responses that a student constructs or chooses, and ignore the cognitive processes that forces students to construct or choose that specific response. Recognizing the cognitive processes a student uses in responding to a question affects the item construction process and psychometric audit on items. Response behavior is a result of a cognitive process used to respond to a question and is accepted as an indicator of student cognitive competence. This study aims to determine the students’ response behaviors for open-ended questions. The study group consisted of 70 students from the 5th grade studying during the 2015-2016 education year spring term in the Cankaya and Mamak districts of Ankara province, Turkey. An authentic achievement test which consisted of eight open-ended questions is used as the data collection tool. Students are asked to write in detail how they construct their response in their mind in the blank space set aside after each question. Data is analyzed via grouping students’ response behaviors and expert opinions. Research findings revealed that students perform 14 different response behaviors for open-ended questions. These behaviors are themed as responses constructed directly from the text, responses constructed by interpreting the text, and responses constructed by linking real life and the text.

Perspectives on Europeanization of national judiciaries: old and new questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mayoral, Juan A.; Jaremba, Urszula

The aim of this article is to bring together different legal, political science and sociological perspectives addressing the problem of Europeanization of national judiciaries. In that sense, this article provides an overview of several old aspects regarding the way and extent national courts/jud...... concerning, for instance, courts compliance with EU law, the relevance of national judges’ individual profiles (knowledge, attitudes and values) but also the role of institutions (networks) and legal systems in the process of Europeanization of judges......./judges adapted to their role of European judges. Next to that, it is looked into the manner of and reasons behind judges’ involvement in the process of EU legal integration, whereby a new research agenda is offered. For that purpose, new questions are raised and different empirical aspects are discussed...

The Evolution of Massive Stars: a Selection of Facts and Questions

Science.gov (United States)

Vanbeveren, D.

In the present paper we discuss a selection of facts and questions related to observations and evolutionary calculations of massive single stars and massive stars in interacting binaries. We focus on the surface chemical abundances, the role of stellar winds, the early Be-stars, the high mass X-ray binaries and the effects of rotation on stellar evolution. Finally, we present an unconventionally formed object scenario (UFO-scenario) of WR binaries in dense stellar environments.

The Gordon Gekko Effect: The Role of Culture in the Financial Industry

OpenAIRE

Andrew W. Lo

2015-01-01

Culture is a potent force in shaping individual and group behavior, yet it has received scant attention in the context of financial risk management and the recent financial crisis. I present a brief overview of the role of culture according to psychologists, sociologists, and economists, and then present a specific framework for analyzing culture in the context of financial practices and institutions in which three questions are answered: (1) What is culture?; (2) Does it matter?; and (3) Can...

The Interdisciplinarity in the Students' Questions in Science Classes of the Elementary School: Contributions of Discursive Textual Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maurivan Güntzel Ramos

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article presents the analysis of 342 questions on the theme "Water", proposed by 114 students from three elementary schools in the South region of Brazil, in order to identify interdisciplinary articulations associated with complex thinking present in these questions. The research sought to answer the following question: What revelations can emerge from the analysis of student's questions about a specific topic of study, such as "Water", in relation to interdisciplinarity and complex thinking? From the discursive textual analysis of the questions, two categories emerged: disciplinary questions; and interdisciplinary questions. The examination of the content of the categories enabled the writing of metatexts that reveal that in the text of most of the students' questions, is present a complex mode of thinking and interdisciplinary relationships, since 77.8% of the questions belong to second category. This can be an indication to teachers of how to initiate pedagogical actions, whose focus is interdisciplinarity.

Specific attraction of fig-pollinating wasps: role of volatile compounds released by tropical figs.

Science.gov (United States)

Grison-Pigé, Laure; Bessière, Jean-Marie; Hossaert-McKey, Martine

2002-02-01

Floral scents often act as pollinator attractants. In the case of obligate and specific plant-pollinator relationships, the role of floral signals may be crucial in allowing the encounter of the partners. About 750 Ficus species (Moraceae) are involved in such interactions, each with a distinct species of pollinating wasp (Chalcidoidea, Agaonidae). Several species have been shown to release volatile compounds, but their role in pollinator attraction has rarely been simultaneously tested. We investigated the floral scents of four tropical fig species and combined chemical analysis with biological tests of stimulation of insects. Pollinators of three species were stimulated by the odor of their associated fig species and generally not by the odor of another species. The fourth actually comprised two distinct varieties. The main compound was often a different one in each species. Floral blends of different species always shared compounds, but ratios of these compounds varied among species.

Processing language in face-to-face conversation: Questions with gestures get faster responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Holler, Judith; Kendrick, Kobin H; Levinson, Stephen C

2017-09-08

The home of human language use is face-to-face interaction, a context in which communicative exchanges are characterised not only by bodily signals accompanying what is being said but also by a pattern of alternating turns at talk. This transition between turns is astonishingly fast-typically a mere 200-ms elapse between a current and a next speaker's contribution-meaning that comprehending, producing, and coordinating conversational contributions in time is a significant challenge. This begs the question of whether the additional information carried by bodily signals facilitates or hinders language processing in this time-pressured environment. We present analyses of multimodal conversations revealing that bodily signals appear to profoundly influence language processing in interaction: Questions accompanied by gestures lead to shorter turn transition times-that is, to faster responses-than questions without gestures, and responses come earlier when gestures end before compared to after the question turn has ended. These findings hold even after taking into account prosodic patterns and other visual signals, such as gaze. The empirical findings presented here provide a first glimpse of the role of the body in the psycholinguistic processes underpinning human communication.

Kant's answer to the question 'what is man?' and its implications for anthropology.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Alix A

2008-12-01

This paper examines Kant's anthropological project and its relationship to his conception of 'man' in order to show that Kant's answer to the question 'what is man?' entails a decisive re-evaluation of traditional conceptions of human nature. I argue that Kant redirects the question 'what is man?' away from defining man in terms of what he is, and towards defining him in terms of what he does, in particular through the distinction between three levels of what I will call 'man's praxis': the levels of technicality, prudence, and morality. As soon as man is understood in terms of what he makes of himself rather than in terms of what he is, two crucial issues arise: what is the purpose of his making? And how can he reach this destination? My claim is that whilst the first question is answered by ethics and a doctrine of prudence, the second question is answered by anthropology. In this sense, anthropology plays the crucial role of identifying the worldly helps and hindrances to the realisation of man's purposes--and this is the reason why it should be understood as a 'pragmatic' discipline.

The moderating role of avoidance behavior on anxiety over time: Is there a difference between social anxiety disorder and specific phobia?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rudaz, M.; Ledermann, T.; Margraf, J.; Becker, E.S.; Craske, M.G.

2017-01-01

Theories of anxiety disorders and phobias have ascribed a critical role to avoidance behavior in explaining the persistence of fear and anxiety, but knowledge about the role of avoidance behavior in the maintenance of anxiety in social anxiety disorder relative to specific phobia is lacking. This

Current questions in HIV-associated lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Shcherba, Marina; Shuter, Jonathan; Haigentz, Missak

2013-09-01

In this review, we explore current questions regarding risk factors contributing to frequent and early onset of lung cancer among populations with HIV infection, treatment, and outcomes of lung cancer in HIV-infected patients as well as challenges in a newly evolving era of lung cancer screening. Lung cancer, seen in three-fold excess in HIV-infected populations, has become the most common non-AIDS defining malignancy in the highly active antiretroviral therapy era. HIV-associated lung cancer appears to be associated with young age at diagnosis, cigarette smoking, advanced stage at presentation, and a more aggressive clinical course. There is no unified explanation for these observations, and aside from traditional risk factors, HIV-related immunosuppression and biological differences might play a role. In addition to smoking cessation interventions, screening and early cancer detection in HIV-infected populations are of high clinical importance, although evidence supporting lung cancer screening in this particularly high-risk subset is currently lacking, as are prospective studies of lung cancer therapy. There is an urgent need for prospective clinical trials in HIV-associated lung cancer to improve understanding of lung cancer pathogenesis and to optimize patient care. Several clinical trials are in progress to address questions in cancer biology, screening, and treatment for this significant cause of mortality in persons with HIV infection.

Nuclear medicine technology. Review questions for the board examinations. 4. ed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramer, Karen [Ochotnicky Partners s.r.o., Marianka (Slovakia); Mantel, Eleanor [Pennsylvania Univ., Hammonton, NJ (United States). Nuclear Medicine/Molecular Imaging; Reddin, Janet S.; Alavi, Abass [Pennsylvania Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States). Radiology/Nuclear Medicine; Cheng, Gang [Philadelphia VA Medical Center, PA (United States). Radiology

2013-07-01

The only comprehensive exam preparation guide on the market. Includes a mock registry exam. Provides expanded coverage of positron emission tomography and other new procedures and practices. This book prepares students and technologists for registry examinations in nuclear medicine technology by providing practice questions and answers with detailed explanations, as well as a mock registry exam. The questions are designed to test the basic knowledge required of nuclear medicine technologists, as well as the practical application of that knowledge. The topics covered closely follow the content specifications and the components of preparedness as published by the certification boards. This 4th edition includes expanded coverage of positron emission tomography and other new procedures and practices in the field of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging.

Identifying harmful drinking using a single screening question in a psychiatric consultation-liaison population.

Science.gov (United States)

Massey, Suena H; Norris, Lorenzo; Lausin, Melissa; Nwaneri, Chinyere; Lieberman, Daniel Z

2011-01-01

Harmful drinking is common in medical inpatients, yet commonly missed due in part to time pressures. A screening question about past year heavy drinking recommended by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has been validated in primary care and emergency room settings. We tested the psychometric properties of a modified single screening question (SSQ) in hospitalized patients referred to a consultation-liaison service. A psychiatry attending (n = 40), a psychiatry resident (n = 30) and a medical student (n = 30) administered the SSQ, followed by a self-report 10-item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to a sample of 100 consultation-liaison patients who were able to give informed consent for participation. Using the AUDIT as a reference, the sensitivity and specificity of the SSQ to detect harmful drinking in this sample were .96 and .82, respectively. Gender differences in specificity were not found. The single question also had a strong correlation with dependence (r(b) = .457, p past year heavy drinking can rapidly identify harmful drinking in alert nonpsychotic consultation-liaison patients. Copyright © 2011 The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Instance-Based Question Answering

Science.gov (United States)

2006-12-01

cluster-based query expan- sion, learning answering strategies, machine learning in NLP To my wife Monica Abstract During recent years, question...process is typically tedious and involves expertise in crafting and implement- ing these models (e.g. rule-based), utilizing NLP resources, and...questions. For languages that use capitalization (e.g. not Chinese or Arabic ) for named entities, IBQA can make use of NE classing (e.g. “Bob Marley

Closing the gap in travel medicine: reframing research questions for a new era.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Lin H; Leder, Karin; Wilson, Mary E

2017-07-01

Travel medicine needs are changing. New patterns of travel, including greater travel by individuals from emerging economies with different values in costs, risks and benefits, must be considered. This review aims to (1) highlight selected studies that have been published that address previously identified gaps in knowledge; (2) propose possible ways to consider questions regarding travel medicine practice for travelers from emerging economies, underscoring priorities for research focusing on these important populations; (3) highlight potential deficiencies in relevance of current international guidelines as they pertain to travelers from emerging economies; (4) frame research questions for travelers from emerging economies and (5) consider roles for ISTM in closing the gap. We reviewed past travel medicine research priorities published in 2010 to identify publications that responded to some research questions posed. We also reviewed CDC and WHO recommendations and assessed their applicability to travelers from emerging economies. Recent publications have responded to some research questions, but gaps remain and new questions have emerged. Re-framing of several key research questions is needed for travelers from emerging economies. A new challenge looms for traditional travel medicine fields to identify and attend to knowledge and guideline gaps, particularly to rethink questions regarding travel medicine to make them relevant for travelers from emerging economies. The International Society of Travel Medicine is well positioned to assist emerging economies assess their resources and needs, formulate research priorities and tailor the development of travel medicine into a framework aligned to their requirements. © International Society of Travel Medicine, 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Conceptual Mobility and Entrenchment in Introductory Geoscience Courses: New Questions Regarding Physics' and Chemistry's Role in Learning Earth Science Concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Steven W.; Libarkin, Julie C.

2016-01-01

Nationwide pre- and posttesting of introductory courses with the Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI) shows little gain for many of its questions. Analysis of more than 3,500 tests shows that 22 of the 73 GCI questions had gains of <0.03, and nearly half of these focused on basic physics and chemistry. We also discovered through an assessment of…

Protein Electrochemistry: Questions and Answers.

Science.gov (United States)

Fourmond, V; Léger, C

This chapter presents the fundamentals of electrochemistry in the context of protein electrochemistry. We discuss redox proteins and enzymes that are not photoactive. Of course, the principles described herein also apply to photobioelectrochemistry, as discussed in later chapters of this book. Depending on which experiment is considered, electron transfer between proteins and electrodes can be either direct or mediated, and achieved in a variety of configurations: with the protein and/or the mediator free to diffuse in solution, immobilized in a thick, hydrated film, or adsorbed as a sub-monolayer on the electrode. The experiments can be performed with the goal to study the protein or to use it. Here emphasis is on mechanistic studies, which are easier in the configuration where the protein is adsorbed and electron transfer is direct, but we also explain the interpretation of signals obtained when diffusion processes affect the response.This chapter is organized as a series of responses to questions. Questions 1-5 are related to the basics of electrochemistry: what does "potential" or "current" mean, what does an electrochemical set-up look like? Questions 6-9 are related to the distinction between adsorbed and diffusive redox species. The answers to questions 10-13 explain the interpretation of slow and fast scan voltammetry with redox proteins. Questions 14-19 deal with catalytic electrochemistry, when the protein studied is actually an enzyme. Questions 20, 21 and 22 are general.

Gender-oriented Commonalities among Canadian and Iranian Englishes: An Analysis of Yes/No Question Variants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laya Heidari Darani

2010-05-01

Full Text Available This study investigatesvariability in English yes/no questions as well as the commonalities among yes/no question variants produced by members of two different varieties of English: Canadian English native speakers and Iranian EFL learners.Further, it probes the role of gender in theEnglish yes/no question variants produced by Canadian English native speakers and those produced by Iranian EFL learners. A modified version of the Edinburgh Map Task was used in data collection. 60 Canadians and Iranians performed the task and made English yes/no question variants considering the informal context. Based on the results, the same types of yes/no question variants were produced by both groups. However, with respect to quantity, Canadians made more variants while the context of use was similar. Another difference noticed was the most frequent variant: Iranians’ frequent variant coincided with the informal context, yet the Canadians’ frequent variant did not. Regarding gender, Iranians did not produce any gender-based variant; while Canadians showed that their production of yes/no question variants was gender-oriented. These findings revealed that both Canadians and Iranians from two different varieties of English syntactically behaved similarly, but their sociolinguistic behavior was not the same.

CURBSIDE CONSULTATION OF THE ACL: 49 CLINICAL QUESTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernard R. Bach

2008-09-01

Full Text Available DESCRIPTION A unique reference that offers opinions, preferences and expert advice associated with management of ACL injuries in the questions and answers format which enhanced by images, diagrams and references. PURPOSE "Curbside Consultation of the ACL" aims to provide some knowledge more than the basic information in the evaluation and the management of ACL injuries. This information is based on the opinion or the advice of an expert. Quick access of audience to these pearl and pit-falls and evidence-based expert advice for complicated cases in ACL reconstruction in the form of brief answers including current concepts is targeted by the authors. FEATURES 49 Clinical questions are outlined in 5 sections. In the first section is about preoperative questions including indications, diagnostic measures, combined ligament injuries, graft choice, preparation before surgery, avulsion of the eminence, examination in posterolateral corner injury. In the second section is preoperative questions are subjected including dropping the graft to the floor, posterior wall blowout, knees without hamstring tendon, graft amputation by interference screw, to avoid vertical tunnel in tibia, fixation methods of graft, femoral and tibial tunnel positioning. Third section is about postoperative questions including postoperative management, differences in postoperative rehabilitation protocols in different type of grafts, postoperative man-agement of meniscal repair, management in difficulties in gaining extension, infection, patellar pain, timing of reop-eration in motion problems, criteria returning to sports, outcome measures, outcome in using different grafts, role of bracing. The fourth section is about failed ACL recon-struction including causes, indications for revision, ex-panded tunnels, graft choice in revision surgery, contro-lateral patellar tendon graft for revision, rehab protocol after revision surgery, hardware removal, early degenera-tive joint disease

The Roles of Feature-Specific Task Set and Bottom-Up Salience in Attentional Capture: An ERP Study

Science.gov (United States)

Eimer, Martin; Kiss, Monika; Press, Clare; Sauter, Disa

2009-01-01

We investigated the roles of top-down task set and bottom-up stimulus salience for feature-specific attentional capture. Spatially nonpredictive cues preceded search arrays that included a color-defined target. For target-color singleton cues, behavioral spatial cueing effects were accompanied by cue-induced N2pc components, indicative of…

The cluster panacea?: Questioning the role of cooperative shrimp aquaculture in Vietnam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tran Thi Thu Ha, Ha; Bush, S.R.; Dijk, van H.

2013-01-01

This paper analyses the role of ‘clustering’ as a form of cooperative production to improve the environmental performance of shrimp farmers and facilitating them to upgrade their position in the global value chain. Comparing intensive and extensive shrimp farmer clusters in Ca Mau province, Vietnam,

Effect of two types of control questions and two question formats on the outcomes of polygraph examinations.

Science.gov (United States)

Horvath, Frank; Palmatier, John J

2008-07-01

Two major variations of polygraph "Control Question" testing, the Zone Comparison (ZoC) and the Modified General Question Test (MGQT) were evaluated. Within each, the type of control question, Exclusive or "time bar" (e.g., "Before you were 21, did you ever...") and Nonexclusive or "no time bar" (e.g., "Did you ever....?") was manipulated in a mock theft scenario, with 80 male and 40 female subjects randomly assigned to be either innocent or guilty. Polygraphic data collected by experienced field examiners were numerically scored by an evaluator blind to all aspects of the study. Decision accuracy was not related to the type of procedure (ZoC/MGQT) used or the subject's sex. Accuracy was significantly related to the type of control question [chi(2) (2) = 11.46, p = 0.003; tau c = 0.29]. Nonexclusive control questions produced greater accuracy than Exclusive control questions on both innocent and guilty subjects. These results and subjects' self-reports support the general "theory" on which control question (CQ) testing is based. The need for better empirical support of accepted dogma and current field practices is strongly indicated by these findings.

Questioning As a Pedagogical Tool for Eliciting Student Generated Questions During the Teaching of Acid-base Equilibria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayoade Ejiwale Okanlawon

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Traditionally, teachers simply taught problem-solving by explaining the worked-out examples taken from textbooks and students were expected to listen quietly, copy the solution to the problem, and then work independently at their desks. But a large body of research notes that guiding students to develop a solution pathway with questioning is more effective than simply explaining the sequence of steps to solve the problem. Students involved in question- and-answer sessions are more attentive than those who listen passively to teacher explanations and they are more likely to generate questions. The questions students ask during a lesson perform a number of important functions, including providing the teacher with valuable information about students’ understanding and misunderstanding, fostering self-regulation, inviting classroom discussions and aiding comprehension of contents presented. The skill of posing questions during classroom instruction is often under-valued and under taught in today’s classrooms. To encourage students to ask quality and thought provoking questions related to the contents taught, explicit instruction is required. This paper, therefore, qualitatively reports factors that foster student generated questions during the problem-solving instruction involving acid-base titration problem.

Pollination ecology in the 21st Century: Key questions for future research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jane C. Stout

2011-03-01

Full Text Available To inspire new ideas in research on pollination ecology, we list the most important unanswered questions in the field. This list was drawn up by contacting 170 scientists from different areas of pollination ecology and asking them to contribute their opinion on the greatest knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. Almost 40% of them took part in our email poll and we received more than 650 questions and comments, which we classified into different categories representing various aspects of pollination research. The original questions were merged and synthesised, and a final vote and ranking led to the resultant list. The categories cover plant sexual reproduction, pollen and stigma biology, abiotic pollination, evolution of animal-mediated pollination, interactions of pollinators and floral antagonists, pollinator behaviour, taxonomy, plant-pollinator assemblages, geographical trends in diversity, drivers of pollinator loss, ecosystem services, management of pollination, and conservation issues such as the implementation of pollinator conservation. We focused on questions that were of a broad scope rather than case-specific; thus, addressing some questions may not be feasible within single research projects but constitute a general guide for future directions. With this compilation we hope to raise awareness of pollination-related topics not only among researchers but also among non-specialists including policy makers, funding agencies and the public at large.

Interpretation of Genomic Data Questions and Answers

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, Richard

2008-01-01

Using a question and answer format we describe important aspects of using genomic technologies in cancer research. The main challenges are not managing the mass of data, but rather the design, analysis and accurate reporting of studies that result in increased biological knowledge and medical utility. Many analysis issues address the use of expression microarrays but are also applicable to other whole genome assays. Microarray based clinical investigations have generated both unrealistic hyperbole and excessive skepticism. Genomic technologies are tremendously powerful and will play instrumental roles in elucidating the mechanisms of oncogenesis and in devlopingan era of predictive medicine in which treatments are tailored to individual tumors. Achieving these goals involves challenges in re-thinking many paradigms for the conduct of basic and clinical cancer research and for the organization of interdisciplinary collaboration. PMID:18582627

The nursing educator's role in e-learning: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, Lee F

2014-11-01

e-Learning is becoming more commonplace in nursing and healthcare professional education. Research has shown that e-learning can be just as effective at helping students achieve cognitive learning objectives as traditional face-to-face courses, provided that certain quality criteria are met. However, the decentralized, asynchronous nature of e-learning precludes spontaneous, personal interaction between the instructor and the learner. In addition to this, learning objectives in nursing and other healthcare professions are not only within the cognitive, but also within the affective and psychomotor domains. This article seeks to answer the following question: How does e-learning transform the role of nurse educators? Narrative literature review. A comprehensive database search was conducted using the English and German key words "teacher," "educator," "role," "e-learning," and "nursing" to identify literature that examined the role of (nurse) educators in e-learning. The search strategy resulted in the inclusion of 40 sources. The majority of the literature is expert opinion and examines the educator's role in e-learning from a theoretical point of view (n=30). There is a paucity of empirical research pertaining directly to the educator's role (n=10). Only four sources deal specifically with the nurse educator's role. The literature agrees on the need for a new role definition in light of e-learning. This role is more complex than the educator's traditional role. The literature does not provide any indication of how the educator's role can be adapted to the specific needs of online nurse education. There is a need for more empirical research on this subject. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of traditional health practitioners in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: generic or mode specific?

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Zuma, Thembelihle; Wight, Daniel; Rochat, Tamsen; Moshabela, Mosa

2016-08-22

Traditional health practitioners (THPs) play a vital role in the health care of the majority of the South African population and elsewhere on the African continent. However, many studies have challenged the role of THPs in health care. Concerns raised in the literature include the rationale, safety and effectiveness of traditional health practices and methods, as well as what informs them. This paper explores the processes followed in becoming a traditional healer and how these processes are related to THP roles. A qualitative research design was adopted, using four repeat group discussions with nine THPs, as part of a larger qualitative study conducted within the HIV Treatment as Prevention trial in rural South Africa. THPs were sampled through the local THP association and snowballing techniques. Data collection approaches included photo-voice and community walks. The role identity theory and content analysis were used to explore the data following transcription and translation. In the context of rural Northern KwaZulu-Natal, three types of THPs were identified: 1) Isangoma (diviner); 2) Inyanga (one who focuses on traditional medical remedies) and 3) Umthandazi (faith healer). Findings revealed that THPs are called by ancestors to become healers and/or go through an intensive process of learning about traditional medicines including plant, animal or mineral substances to provide health care. Some THPs identified themselves primarily as one type of healer, while most occupied multiple healing categories, that is, they practiced across different healing types. Our study also demonstrates that THPs fulfil roles that are not specific to the type of healer they are, these include services that go beyond the uses of herbs for physical illnesses or divination. THPs serve roles which include, but are not limited to, being custodians of traditional African religion and customs, educators about culture, counsellors, mediators and spiritual protectors. THPs' mode specific

A two-question method for assessing gender categories in the social and medical sciences.

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Tate, Charlotte Chuck; Ledbetter, Jay N; Youssef, Cris P

2013-01-01

Three studies (N = 990) assessed the statistical reliability of two methods of determining gender identity that can capture transgender spectrum identities (i.e., current gender identities different from birth-assigned gender categories). Study 1 evaluated a single question with four response options (female, male, transgender, other) on university students. The missing data rate was higher than the valid response rates for transgender and other options using this method. Study 2 evaluated a method of asking two separate questions (i.e., one for current identity and another for birth-assigned category), with response options specific to each. Results showed no missing data and two times the transgender spectrum response rate compared to Study 1. Study 3 showed that the two-question method also worked in community samples, producing near-zero missing data. The two-question method also identified cisgender identities (same birth-assigned and current gender identity), making it a dynamic and desirable measurement tool for the social and medical sciences.

Collaborative Chat Reference Service Effectiveness Varies by Question Type for Public Library Patrons. A review of: Kwon, Nahyun. ʺPublic Library Patronsʹ Use of Collaborative Chat Reference Service: The Effectiveness of Question Answering by Question Type.ʺ Library & Information Science Research 29.1 (Mar. 2007: 70‐91.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie Hall

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Objective – To assess the effectiveness of a collaborative chat reference service in answering different types of question. Specifically, the study compares the degree of answer completion and the level of user satisfaction for simple factual questions vs. more in‐depth subject‐based reference questions, and for ‘local’ (pertaining to a particular library and non‐local questions.Design – Content analysis of 415 transcripts of reference transactions, which were also compared to corresponding user satisfaction survey results.Setting – An online collaborative reference service offered by a large public library system (33 branch and regional locations. This service is part of the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System: a virtual reference consortium of U.S. libraries (public, academic, special, and corporate that provides 24/7 service.Subjects – Reference librarians from around the U.S. (49 different libraries, and users logging into the service via the public library system’s portal (primarily patrons of the 49 libraries. Method – Content analysis was used to evaluate virtual reference transcripts recorded between January and June, 2004. Reliability was enhanced through triangulation, with researchers comparing the content analysis of each transcript against the results of a voluntary exit survey. Of 1,387 transactions that occurred during the period of study, 420 users completed the survey and these formed the basis of the study, apart from 5 transactions that were omitted because the questions were incomprehensible. Questions were examined and assigned to five categories: “simple, factual questions; subject‐based research questions; resource access questions; circulation‐related questions; and local library information inquiries” (80‐81. Answers were classed as either “completely answered, partially answered or unanswered, referred, and problematic endings” (82. Lastly, user satisfaction was surveyed on three

The moderating role of avoidance behavior on anxiety over time: Is there a difference between social anxiety disorder and specific phobia?

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Myriam Rudaz

Full Text Available Theories of anxiety disorders and phobias have ascribed a critical role to avoidance behavior in explaining the persistence of fear and anxiety, but knowledge about the role of avoidance behavior in the maintenance of anxiety in social anxiety disorder relative to specific phobia is lacking. This study examined the extent to which avoidance behavior moderates the relationship between general anxiety at baseline and 18 months later in women with a diagnosed social anxiety disorder (n = 91 and women with a diagnosed specific phobia (n = 130 at baseline. Circumscribed avoidance of social and specific situations were clinician-rated using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Lifetime (ADIS-IV-L, and general anxiety was measured using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI. Moderated regression analyses revealed that (a general anxiety at baseline predicted general anxiety at follow-up in both women with a specific phobia and women with a social anxiety disorder and (b avoidance behavior moderated this relationship in women with a specific phobia but not in women with a social anxiety disorder. Specifically, high avoidance behavior was found to amplify the effect between general anxiety at baseline and follow-up in specific phobia. Reasons for the absence of a similar moderating effect of avoidance behavior within social anxiety disorder are discussed.

The moderating role of avoidance behavior on anxiety over time: Is there a difference between social anxiety disorder and specific phobia?

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Rudaz, Myriam; Ledermann, Thomas; Margraf, Jürgen; Becker, Eni S.; Craske, Michelle G.

2017-01-01

Theories of anxiety disorders and phobias have ascribed a critical role to avoidance behavior in explaining the persistence of fear and anxiety, but knowledge about the role of avoidance behavior in the maintenance of anxiety in social anxiety disorder relative to specific phobia is lacking. This study examined the extent to which avoidance behavior moderates the relationship between general anxiety at baseline and 18 months later in women with a diagnosed social anxiety disorder (n = 91) and women with a diagnosed specific phobia (n = 130) at baseline. Circumscribed avoidance of social and specific situations were clinician-rated using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Lifetime (ADIS-IV-L), and general anxiety was measured using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Moderated regression analyses revealed that (a) general anxiety at baseline predicted general anxiety at follow-up in both women with a specific phobia and women with a social anxiety disorder and (b) avoidance behavior moderated this relationship in women with a specific phobia but not in women with a social anxiety disorder. Specifically, high avoidance behavior was found to amplify the effect between general anxiety at baseline and follow-up in specific phobia. Reasons for the absence of a similar moderating effect of avoidance behavior within social anxiety disorder are discussed. PMID:28671977

The moderating role of avoidance behavior on anxiety over time: Is there a difference between social anxiety disorder and specific phobia?

Science.gov (United States)

Rudaz, Myriam; Ledermann, Thomas; Margraf, Jürgen; Becker, Eni S; Craske, Michelle G

2017-01-01

Theories of anxiety disorders and phobias have ascribed a critical role to avoidance behavior in explaining the persistence of fear and anxiety, but knowledge about the role of avoidance behavior in the maintenance of anxiety in social anxiety disorder relative to specific phobia is lacking. This study examined the extent to which avoidance behavior moderates the relationship between general anxiety at baseline and 18 months later in women with a diagnosed social anxiety disorder (n = 91) and women with a diagnosed specific phobia (n = 130) at baseline. Circumscribed avoidance of social and specific situations were clinician-rated using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Lifetime (ADIS-IV-L), and general anxiety was measured using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Moderated regression analyses revealed that (a) general anxiety at baseline predicted general anxiety at follow-up in both women with a specific phobia and women with a social anxiety disorder and (b) avoidance behavior moderated this relationship in women with a specific phobia but not in women with a social anxiety disorder. Specifically, high avoidance behavior was found to amplify the effect between general anxiety at baseline and follow-up in specific phobia. Reasons for the absence of a similar moderating effect of avoidance behavior within social anxiety disorder are discussed.

Environment based innovation: policy questions

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Mario Rui Silva

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Natural resources and physical cultural resources, referred to in this paper as “Environmental Resources”, can be important assets for regional competitiveness and innovation. In recent years, these types of assets have been increasingly taken into consideration in the design and implementation of regional development strategies, as a consequence of their potential role as a source of differentiation and of new competitive advantages. However, in contrast to environmental policies, which usually focus on the protection of the environment, innovation policies and their instruments are largely shaped by, and geared towards, knowledge-based innovation.In this paper, we discuss the role played by environmental resources in the context of regional innovation policies. We begin by discussing the relationship between environmental resources and regional development, and by emphasizing some contrasting views with regard to the function of environmental resources in regional development. Then, we address the relationship between regional competitive advantages and innovation strategies. The specific issues and problems that arise whenever the aim is to attain competitive advantages through the valorisation of environmental resources constitute the core of section III. In that section, we highlight the specific characteristics of environmental resources and we discuss the applicability of the “natural resource curse” argument to the dynamics based on the valorisation of environmental resources. The reasons that justify public interventionas well as the difficulties concerning the adequate level of intervention (local / regional / national are also examined. The paper ends with some conclusions and policy implications.

Role of SUMO-specific protease 2 in reprogramming cellular glucose metabolism.

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Shuang Tang

Full Text Available Most cancer cells exhibit a shift in glucose metabolic strategy, displaying increased glycolysis even with adequate oxygen supply. SUMO-specific proteases (SENPs de-SUMOylate substrates including HIF1α and p53,two key regulators in cancer glucose metabolism, to regulate their activity, stability and subcellular localization. However, the role of SENPs in tumor glucose metabolism remains unclear. Here we report that SUMO-specific protease 2 (SENP2 negatively regulates aerobic glycolysis in MCF7 and MEF cells. Over-expression of SENP2 reduces the glucose uptake and lactate production, increasing the cellular ATP levels in MCF7 cells, while SENP2 knockout MEF cells show increased glucose uptake and lactate production along with the decreased ATP levels. Consistently, the MCF7 cells over-expressing SENP2 exhibit decreased expression levels of key glycolytic enzymes and an increased rate of glucose oxidation compared with control MCF7 cells, indicating inhibited glycolysis but enhanced oxidative mitochondrial respiration. Moreover, SENP2 over-expressing MCF7 cells demonstrated a reduced amount of phosphorylated AKT, whereas SENP2 knockout MEFs exhibit increased levels of phosphorylated AKT. Furthermore, inhibiting AKT phosphorylation by LY294002 rescued the phenotype induced by SENP2 deficiency in MEFs. In conclusion, SENP2 represses glycolysis and shifts glucose metabolic strategy, in part through inhibition of AKT phosphorylation. Our study reveals a novel function of SENP2 in regulating glucose metabolism.

Effects of HD-tDCS on memory and metamemory for general knowledge questions that vary by difficulty

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Chua, Elizabeth F.; Ahmed, Rifat; Garcia, Sandry

2016-01-01

Background The ability to monitor one’s own memory is an important feature of normal memory and is an aspect of ‘metamemory’. Lesion studies have shown dissociations between memory and metamemory, but only single dissociations have been shown using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). One potential reason that only single dissociations have been shown is that tDCS effects may be moderated by task difficulty. Objective/Hypothesis We used high definition (HD) tDCS to test for dissociable roles of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior temporal lobe (ATL) in semantic long-term memory and metamemory tasks. We also tested whether general knowledge question difficulty moderated the effects of HD-tDCS. Methods Across 3 sessions, participants received active HD-tDCS over the left DLPFC or left ATL, or sham HD-tDCS during general knowledge recall and recognition tests, and a ‘feeling-of-knowing’ metamemory task. General knowledge questions were blocked by difficulty. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to examine the effects of HD-tDCS on memory and metamemory tasks by memory question difficulty. Results HD-tDCS over the ATL led to improved recall compared to DLPFC and sham HD-tDCS, and this occurred only for medium difficulty questions. In contrast, for non-recalled questions, HD-tDCS over the DLPFC led to improved recognition accuracy and improved feeling-of-knowing accuracy compared to ATL and sham HD-tDCS, and this was not moderated by memory question difficulty. Conclusion(s) HD-tDCS can be used to dissociate the roles of the ATL and DLPFC in different memory and ‘metamemory’ tasks. The effects of HD-tDCS on task may be moderated by task difficulty, depending on the nature of the task and site of stimulation. PMID:27876306

Going beyond Input Quantity: "Wh"-Questions Matter for Toddlers' Language and Cognitive Development

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Rowe, Meredith L.; Leech, Kathryn A.; Cabrera, Natasha

2017-01-01

There are clear associations between the overall quantity of input children are exposed to and their vocabulary acquisition. However, by uncovering specific features of the input that matter, we can better understand the mechanisms involved in vocabulary learning. We examine whether exposure to "wh"-questions, a challenging quality of…

Questions Parents Ask about Schools = Preguntas que hacen los padres sobre las escuelas. Revised.

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Department of Education, Washington, DC. Office of Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs.

Noting that parents play an important role in the school success of their elementary- and middle-school-aged children, this booklet offers research-based tips to provide both practical guidance and information about a range of education-related topics. Presented in a question-answer format in both English and Spanish versions, the booklet provides…

Promotion of cooperation induced by a self-questioning update rule in the spatial traveler's dilemma game

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Miao, Qing; Wang, Juan; Hu, Meng-long; Zhang, Fan; Zhang, Qiu-shi; Xia, Cheng-yi

2014-01-01

In sociology and economics, evolutionary game theory has provided a powerful framework to illustrate the social dilemma's problems, and many evolutionary game models are presented, such as prisoner's dilemma game, snowdrift game, public goods game, and so on. In this paper, however, we focus on another typical pair-wise game model: Traveler's Dilemma Game (TDG), which has been deeply investigated in economics, but less attention has been paid to this topic within the physics community. We mainly discuss the influence of strategy update rules on the evolution of cooperation in the spatial TDG, and in detail explore the role of a novel self-questioning or self-learning update mechanism in the evolution of cooperation of the TDG model on the square lattice. In our self-questioning rule, each player does not imitate the strategy state of his or her nearest neighbors and simply plays the traveler's dilemma games twice with nearest neighbors: one is to calculate the actual payoff in the current game round; the other is to perform a virtual game which is used to obtain an intangible payoff if he or she adopts another random strategy. Then, the focal player decides to keep the current strategy or to change into that virtual strategy according to the Fermi-like dynamics. A great number of Monte Carlo simulations indicate that our self-questioning rule is a low information game decision-making mechanism which can greatly promote the evolution of cooperation for some specific conditions in the spatial TDG model. Furthermore, this novel rule can also be applied into the prisoner's dilemma game, and likewise the behavior of cooperation can be largely enhanced. Our results are of high importance to analyze and understand the emergence of cooperation within many real social and economical systems.

Comparison of performance on multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions in an introductory astronomy laboratory

OpenAIRE

Michelle M. Wooten; Adrienne M. Cool; Edward E. Prather; Kimberly D. Tanner

2014-01-01

When considering the variety of questions that can be used to measure students’ learning, instructors may choose to use multiple-choice questions, which are easier to score than responses to open-ended questions. However, by design, analyses of multiple-choice responses cannot describe all of students’ understanding. One method that can be used to learn more about students’ learning is the analysis of the open-ended responses students’ provide when explaining their multiple-choice response. I...

The Domain-Specificity of Creativity: Insights from New Phenomenology

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Julmi, Christian; Scherm, Ewald

2015-01-01

The question of the domain-specificity of creativity represents one of the key questions in creativity research. This article contributes to the discussion by applying insights from "new phenomenology," which is a phenomenological movement from Germany initiated by philosopher Hermann Schmitz. The findings of new phenomenology suggest…

A two-question tool to assess the risk of repeated falls in the elderly.

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Alejandro Rodríguez-Molinero

Full Text Available Older adults' perception of their own risk of fall has never been included into screening tools. The goal of this study was to evaluate the predictive validity of questions on subjects' self-perception of their own risk of fall.This prospective study was conducted on a probabilistic sample of 772 Spanish community-dwelling older adults, who were followed-up for a one year period. At a baseline visit, subjects were asked about their recent history of falls (question 1: "Have you fallen in the last 6 months?", as well as on their perception of their own risk of fall by using two questions (question 2: "Do you think you may fall in the next few months?" possible answers: yes/no; question 3: "What is the probability that you fall in the next few months?" possible answers: low/intermediate/high. The follow-up consisted of quarterly telephone calls, where the number of falls occurred in that period was recorded.A short questionnaire built with questions 1 and 3 showed 70% sensitivity (95% CI: 56%-84%, 72% specificity (95% CI: 68%-76% and 0.74 area under the ROC curve (95% CI: 0.66-0.82 for prediction of repeated falls in the subsequent year.The estimation of one's own risk of fall has predictive validity for the occurrence of repeated falls in older adults. A short questionnaire including a question on perception of one's own risk of fall and a question on the recent history of falls had good predictive validity.

A two-question tool to assess the risk of repeated falls in the elderly.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Molinero, Alejandro; Gálvez-Barrón, César; Narvaiza, Leire; Miñarro, Antonio; Ruiz, Jorge; Valldosera, Esther; Gonzalo, Natalia; Ng, Thalia; Sanguino, María Jesús; Yuste, Antonio

2017-01-01

Older adults' perception of their own risk of fall has never been included into screening tools. The goal of this study was to evaluate the predictive validity of questions on subjects' self-perception of their own risk of fall. This prospective study was conducted on a probabilistic sample of 772 Spanish community-dwelling older adults, who were followed-up for a one year period. At a baseline visit, subjects were asked about their recent history of falls (question 1: "Have you fallen in the last 6 months?"), as well as on their perception of their own risk of fall by using two questions (question 2: "Do you think you may fall in the next few months?" possible answers: yes/no; question 3: "What is the probability that you fall in the next few months?" possible answers: low/intermediate/high). The follow-up consisted of quarterly telephone calls, where the number of falls occurred in that period was recorded. A short questionnaire built with questions 1 and 3 showed 70% sensitivity (95% CI: 56%-84%), 72% specificity (95% CI: 68%-76%) and 0.74 area under the ROC curve (95% CI: 0.66-0.82) for prediction of repeated falls in the subsequent year. The estimation of one's own risk of fall has predictive validity for the occurrence of repeated falls in older adults. A short questionnaire including a question on perception of one's own risk of fall and a question on the recent history of falls had good predictive validity.

The Role of System-Specific Molecular Chaperones in the Maturation of Molybdoenzymes in Bacteria

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Meina Neumann

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Biogenesis of prokaryotic molybdoenzymes is a complex process with the final step representing the insertion of a matured molybdenum cofactor (Moco into a folded apoenzyme. Usually, specific chaperones of the XdhC family are required for the maturation of molybdoenzymes of the xanthine oxidase family in bacteria. Enzymes of the xanthine oxidase family are characterized to contain an equatorial sulfur ligand at the molybdenum center of Moco. This sulfur ligand is inserted into Moco while bound to the XdhC-like protein and before its insertion into the target enzyme. In addition, enzymes of the xanthine oxidase family bind either the molybdopterin (Mo-MPT form of Moco or the modified molybdopterin cytosine dinucleotide cofactor (MCD. In both cases, only the matured cofactor is inserted by a proofreading process of XdhC. The roles of these specific XdhC-like chaperones during the biogenesis of enzymes of the xanthine oxidase family in bacteria are described.

Extracellular and Intracellular Cyclophilin A, Native and Post-Translationally Modified, Show Diverse and Specific Pathological Roles in Diseases.

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Xue, Chao; Sowden, Mark P; Berk, Bradford C

2018-05-01

CypA (cyclophilin A) is a ubiquitous and highly conserved protein with peptidyl prolyl isomerase activity. Because of its highly abundant level in the cytoplasm, most studies have focused on the roles of CypA as an intracellular protein. However, emerging evidence suggests an important role for extracellular CypA in the pathogenesis of several diseases through receptor (CD147 or other)-mediated autocrine and paracrine signaling pathways. In this review, we will discuss the shared and unique pathological roles of extracellular and intracellular CypA in human cardiovascular diseases. In addition, the evolving role of post-translational modifications of CypA in the pathogenesis of disease is discussed. Finally, recent studies with drugs specific for extracellular CypA show its importance in disease pathogenesis in several animal models and make extracellular CypA a new therapeutic target. © 2018 American Heart Association, Inc.

The role of nitric oxide in the physiology and pathophysiology of the exocrine pancreas.

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Hegyi, Péter; Rakonczay, Zoltán

2011-11-15

Nitric oxide (NO), a ubiquitous gaseous signaling molecule, contributes to both pancreatic physiology and pathophysiology. The present review provides a general overview of NO synthesis, signaling, and function. Further, it specifically discusses NO metabolism and its effects in the exocrine pancreas and focuses on the role of NO in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis and pancreatic ischemia/reperfusion injury. Unfortunately, the role of NO in pancreatic physiology and pathophysiology remains controversial in numerous areas. Many questions regarding the messenger molecule still remain unanswered. Probably the least is known about the downstream targets of NO, which need to be identified, especially at the molecular level.

Questioning the Patient, Questioning Hippocrates: Rufus of Ephesus and the Pursuit of Knowledge.

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Letts, Melinda

2016-01-01

Rufus of Ephesus' short treatise, Quaestiones Medicinales, the only ancient medical work that takes as its topic the dialogue between doctor and patient, has usually been seen as a procedural practical handbook serving an essentially operational purpose. In this paper I argue that the treatise, with its insistent message that doctors cannot properly understand and treat illnesses unless they supplement their own knowledge by questioning patients, and its remarkable appreciation of the singularity of each patient's experience, shows itself to be no mere handbook but a work addressing the place of questioning in the clinical encounter. I illustrate some of the differences between Rufus' conceptualisation of the relevance and use of questioning and that which can be seen in the theoretical and descriptive writings of Galen and in the Hippocratic corpus, and show how apparent resonances with some of the preoccupations of modern Western healthcare can be used judiciously to elucidate the significance of those differences.

Conditioned reinforcement can be mediated by either outcome-specific or general affective representations

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Kathryn A Burke

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Conditioned reinforcers are Pavlovian cues that support the acquisition and maintenance of new instrumental responses. Responding on the basis of conditioned rather than primary reinforcers is a pervasive part of modern life, yet we have a remarkably limited understanding of what underlying associative information is triggered by these cues to guide responding. Specifically, it is not certain whether conditioned reinforcers are effective because they evoke representations of specific outcomes or because they trigger general affective states that are independent of any specific outcome. This question has important implications for how different brain circuits might be involved in conditioned reinforcement. Here, we use specialized Pavlovian training procedures, reinforcer devaluation and transreinforcer blocking, to create cues that were biased to preferentially evoke either devaluation-insensitive, general affect representations or, devaluationsensitive, outcome-specific representations. Subsequently, these cues, along with normally conditioned control cues, were presented contingent on lever pressing.We found that intact rats learned to lever press for either the outcome or the affect cues to the same extent as for a normally conditioned cue. These results demonstrate that conditioned reinforcers can guide responding through either type of associative information. Interestingly, conditioned reinforcement was abolished in rats with basolateral amygdala lesions. Consistent with the extant literature, this result suggests a general role for basolateral amygdala in conditioned reinforcement. The implications of these data, combined with recent reports from our laboratory of a more specialized role of orbitofrontal cortex in conditioned reinforcement, will be discussed.

Questioning Student Learning: An Exploration of Student's Views on Learning to Become Independent Nurse Prescribers

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Banning, Maggi; Cortazzi, Martin

2004-01-01

This illuminative evaluation study gives insights into attitudes to learning, interaction and the perceived roles of theory, evidence, reading and previous experience. These insights lead us to question some aspects of the course as currently presented. Students indicated that they found the course material stimulating but prior guidance on the…

Specifics of nursing care for a patient with nutritional stoma.

OpenAIRE

MUSILOVÁ, Klára

2017-01-01

Main goal of the thesis was to map out the specifics of nursing care for a patient with a nutritious stoma. Three research questions have been identified in connection to this goal. First research question was focused on mapping out the nursing care for a patient prior applying the nutritious stoma. Second research question was focusing on nursing care for a patient while the nutritious stoma is being applied, and the last third question researches the nursing care for a patient after applyin...

The role of emotional inhibitory control in specific internet addiction - an fMRI study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dieter, Julia; Hoffmann, Sabine; Mier, Daniela; Reinhard, Iris; Beutel, Martin; Vollstädt-Klein, Sabine; Kiefer, Falk; Mann, Karl; Leménager, Tagrid

2017-05-01

Addicts to specific internet applications involving communication features showed increased social anxiety, emotional competence deficits and impaired prefrontal-related inhibitory control. The dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC) likely plays an important role in cognitive control and negative affect (such as social exclusion, pain or anxiety). To assess (social) anxiety-related inhibitory control in specific internet addiction (addicted use of games and social networks) and its relation to altered dACC activation. N=44 controls and n=51 specific internet addicts completed an anxious words-based Affective Go/No-Go task (AGN). A subsample of n=23 healthy controls and n=25 specific internet addicts underwent functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) while completing an Emotional Stroop Task (EST) with socially anxious, positive, negative and neutral words. Subgroups of internet gaming and social network addicts were exploratively assessed. Psychometric measures of social anxiety, emotional competence and impulsivity were additionally explored. Specific internet addicts showed higher impulsivity, social anxiety and reduced emotional competence. Between-group differences in AGN and EST behavioral measures were not detected. No group differences were found in the dACC, but explorative analyses revealed decreased left middle and superior temporal gyrus activation during interference of socially anxious words in internet gaming and relative to social network addicts. Given the function of the left middle temporal gyrus in the retrieval of words or expressions during communication, our findings give a first hint that social words might be less retrievable in the semantic storage of internet gaming addicts, possibly indicating deficiencies in handling speech in social situations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Possible roles of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein in the specificity of proviral DNA synthesis and in its variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Lapadat-Tapolsky, M; Gabus, C; Rau, M; Darlix, J L

1997-05-02

Retroviral nucleocapsid (NC) protein is an integral part of the virion nucleocapsid where it coats the dimeric RNA genome. Due to its nucleic acid binding and annealing activities, NC protein directs the annealing of the tRNA primer to the primer binding site and greatly facilitates minus strand DNA elongation and transfer while protecting the nucleic acids against nuclease degradation. To understand the role of NCp7 in viral DNA synthesis, we examined the influence of NCp7 on self-primed versus primer-specific reverse transcription. The results show that HIV-1 NCp7 can extensively inhibit self-primed reverse transcription of viral and cellular RNAs while promoting primer-specific synthesis of proviral DNA. The role of NCp7 vis-a-vis the presence of mutations in the viral DNA during minus strand elongation was examined. NCp7 maximized the annealing between a cDNA(-) primer containing one to five consecutive errors and an RNA representing the 3' end of the genome. The ability of reverse transcriptase (RT) in the presence of NCp7 to subsequently extend the mutated primers depended upon the position of the mismatch within the primer:template complex. When the mutations were at the polymerisation site, primer extension by RT in the presence of NCp7 was very high, about 40% for one mismatch and 3% for five consecutive mismatches. Mutations within the DNA primer or at its 5' end had little effect on the extension of viral DNA by RT. Taken together these results indicate that NCp7 plays major roles in proviral DNA synthesis within the virion core due to its ability to promote prime-specific proviral DNA synthesis while concurrently inhibiting non-specific reverse transcription of viral and cellular RNAs. Moreover, the observation that NCp7 enhances the incorporation of mutations during minus strand DNA elongation favours the notion that NCp7 is a factor contributing to the high mutation rate of HIV-1.

Structured Attentions for Visual Question Answering

OpenAIRE

Zhu, Chen; Zhao, Yanpeng; Huang, Shuaiyi; Tu, Kewei; Ma, Yi

2017-01-01

Visual attention, which assigns weights to image regions according to their relevance to a question, is considered as an indispensable part by most Visual Question Answering models. Although the questions may involve complex relations among multiple regions, few attention models can effectively encode such cross-region relations. In this paper, we demonstrate the importance of encoding such relations by showing the limited effective receptive field of ResNet on two datasets, and propose to mo...

A Technique Socratic Questioning-Guided Discovery

OpenAIRE

M. Hakan Türkçapar; A. Emre Sargýn

2012-01-01

“Socratic Method” is a way of teaching philosophical thinking and knowledge by asking questions which was used by antique period greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates was teaching knowledge to his followers by asking questions and the conversation between them was named “Socratic Dialogues”. In this meaning, no novel knowledge is taught to the individual but only what is formerly known is reminded and rediscovered. The form of socratic questioning which is used during t...

Infection cycles of large DNA viruses: Emerging themes and underlying questions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mutsafi, Yael; Fridmann-Sirkis, Yael; Milrot, Elad; Hevroni, Liron; Minsky, Abraham

2014-01-01

The discovery of giant DNA viruses and the recent realization that such viruses are diverse and abundant blurred the distinction between viruses and cells. These findings elicited lively debates on the nature and origin of viruses as well as on their potential roles in the evolution of cells. The following essay is, however, concerned with new insights into fundamental structural and physical aspects of viral replication that were derived from studies conducted on large DNA viruses. Specifically, the entirely cytoplasmic replication cycles of Mimivirus and Vaccinia are discussed in light of the highly limited trafficking of large macromolecules in the crowded cytoplasm of cells. The extensive spatiotemporal order revealed by cytoplasmic viral factories is described and contended to play an important role in promoting the efficiency of these ‘nuclear-like’ organelles. Generation of single-layered internal membrane sheets in Mimivirus and Vaccinia, which proceeds through a novel membrane biogenesis mechanism that enables continuous supply of lipids, is highlighted as an intriguing case study of self-assembly. Mimivirus genome encapsidation was shown to occur through a portal different from the ‘stargate’ portal that is used for genome release. Such a ‘division of labor’ is proposed to enhance the efficacy of translocation processes of very large viral genomes. Finally, open questions concerning the infection cycles of giant viruses to which future studies are likely to provide novel and exciting answers are discussed. - Highlights: • The discovery of giant DNA viruses blurs the distinction between viruses and cells. • Mimivirus and Vaccinia replicate exclusively in their host cytoplasm. • Mimivirus genome is delivered through a unique portal coined the Stargate. • Generation of Mimivirus internal membrane proceeds through a novel pathway

Infection cycles of large DNA viruses: Emerging themes and underlying questions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mutsafi, Yael, E-mail: yael.mutsafi@weizmann.ac.il; Fridmann-Sirkis, Yael; Milrot, Elad; Hevroni, Liron; Minsky, Abraham, E-mail: avi.minsky@weizmann.ac.il

2014-10-15

The discovery of giant DNA viruses and the recent realization that such viruses are diverse and abundant blurred the distinction between viruses and cells. These findings elicited lively debates on the nature and origin of viruses as well as on their potential roles in the evolution of cells. The following essay is, however, concerned with new insights into fundamental structural and physical aspects of viral replication that were derived from studies conducted on large DNA viruses. Specifically, the entirely cytoplasmic replication cycles of Mimivirus and Vaccinia are discussed in light of the highly limited trafficking of large macromolecules in the crowded cytoplasm of cells. The extensive spatiotemporal order revealed by cytoplasmic viral factories is described and contended to play an important role in promoting the efficiency of these ‘nuclear-like’ organelles. Generation of single-layered internal membrane sheets in Mimivirus and Vaccinia, which proceeds through a novel membrane biogenesis mechanism that enables continuous supply of lipids, is highlighted as an intriguing case study of self-assembly. Mimivirus genome encapsidation was shown to occur through a portal different from the ‘stargate’ portal that is used for genome release. Such a ‘division of labor’ is proposed to enhance the efficacy of translocation processes of very large viral genomes. Finally, open questions concerning the infection cycles of giant viruses to which future studies are likely to provide novel and exciting answers are discussed. - Highlights: • The discovery of giant DNA viruses blurs the distinction between viruses and cells. • Mimivirus and Vaccinia replicate exclusively in their host cytoplasm. • Mimivirus genome is delivered through a unique portal coined the Stargate. • Generation of Mimivirus internal membrane proceeds through a novel pathway.

Traveling questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoeyer, Klaus

2016-01-01

In this paper, I argue that uncertainty and nonknowledge, and not just research results, can be important vehicles of translation through which genetic research participation comes to affect the lives of research participants. Based on interviews with participants in a genetic research project, I....... Research questions, and not just results, may serve as a generative form of knowledge that can travel as fast as any answer....

Role of Working Memory in Explaining the Performance of Individuals with Specific Reading Comprehension Difficulties: A Meta-Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Carretti, Barbara; Borella, Erika; Cornoldi, Cesare; De Beni, Rossana

2009-01-01

It is well established that working memory is related to reading comprehension ability. However, its role in explaining specific reading comprehension difficulties is still under debate: the issue mainly concerns whether the contribution of working memory is dependent on task modality (verbal tasks being more predictive than visuo-spatial tasks)…

Protein Stabilization and Enzyme Activation in Ionic Liquids: Specific Ion Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Hua

2015-01-01

There are still debates on whether the hydration of ions perturbs the water structure, and what is the degree of such disturbance; therefore, the origin of Hofmeister effect on protein stabilization continues being questioned. For this reason, it is suggested to use the ‘specific ion effect’ instead of other misleading terms such as Hofmeister effect, Hofmeister series, lyotropic effect, and lyotropic series. In this review, we firstly discuss the controversial aspect of inorganic ion effects on water structures, and several possible contributors to the specific ion effect of protein stability. Due to recent overwhelming attraction of ionic liquids (ILs) as benign solvents in many enzymatic reactions, we further evaluate the structural properties and molecular-level interactions in neat ILs and their aqueous solutions. Next, we systematically compare the specific ion effects of ILs on enzyme stability and activity, and conclude that (a) the specificity of many enzymatic systems in diluted aqueous IL solutions is roughly in line with the traditional Hofmeister series albeit some exceptions; (b) however, the specificity follows a different track in concentrated or neat ILs because other factors (such as hydrogen-bond basicity, nucelophilicity, and hydrophobicity, etc) are playing leading roles. In addition, we demonstrate some examples of biocatalytic reactions in IL systems that are guided by the empirical specificity rule. PMID:26949281

Chinese Medical Question Answer Matching Using End-to-End Character-Level Multi-Scale CNNs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheng Zhang

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses mainly on the problem of Chinese medical question answer matching, which is arguably more challenging than open-domain question answer matching in English due to the combination of its domain-restricted nature and the language-specific features of Chinese. We present an end-to-end character-level multi-scale convolutional neural framework in which character embeddings instead of word embeddings are used to avoid Chinese word segmentation in text preprocessing, and multi-scale convolutional neural networks (CNNs are then introduced to extract contextual information from either question or answer sentences over different scales. The proposed framework can be trained with minimal human supervision and does not require any handcrafted features, rule-based patterns, or external resources. To validate our framework, we create a new text corpus, named cMedQA, by harvesting questions and answers from an online Chinese health and wellness community. The experimental results on the cMedQA dataset show that our framework significantly outperforms several strong baselines, and achieves an improvement of top-1 accuracy by up to 19%.

Use of a single alcohol screening question to identify other drug use.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Peter C; Cheng, Debbie M; Allensworth-Davies, Donald; Winter, Michael R; Saitz, Richard

2014-06-01

People who consume unhealthy amounts of alcohol are more likely to use illicit drugs. We tested the ability of a screening test for unhealthy alcohol use to simultaneously detect drug use. Adult English speaking patients (n=286) were enrolled from a primary care waiting room. They were asked the screening question for unhealthy alcohol use "How many times in the past year have you had X or more drinks in a day?", where X is 5 for men and 4 for women, and a response of one or more is considered positive. A standard diagnostic interview was used to determine current (past year) drug use or a drug use disorder (abuse or dependence). Oral fluid testing was also used to detect recent use of common drugs of abuse. The single screening question for unhealthy alcohol use was 67.6% sensitive (95% confidence interval [CI], 50.2-82.0%) and 64.7% specific (95% CI, 58.4-70.6%) for the detection of a drug use disorder. It was similarly insensitive for drug use detected by oral fluid testing and/or self-report. Although a patient with a drug use disorder has twice the odds of screening positive for unhealthy alcohol use compared to one without a drug use disorder, suggesting patients who screen positive for alcohol should be asked about drug use, a single screening question for unhealthy alcohol use was not sensitive or specific for the detection of other drug use or drug use disorders in a sample of primary care patients. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cosmetic Procedure Questions

Science.gov (United States)

... for Every Season How to Choose the Best Skin Care Products In This Section Dermatologic Surgery What is dermatologic ... for Every Season How to Choose the Best Skin Care Products Cosmetic Procedure Questions Want to look younger? Start ...

Current roles of specific bacteria in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease

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Lucy McMullen

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The relevance of alterations in gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD remains unclear. Currently there is conflicting evidence with regards to the roles of specific bacterial species. Escherichia coli (particularly the adherent invasive strain are more prevalent in those with IBD and are associated with higher risk of IBD. However, the organisms are also present in healthy individuals and colonisation does not correlate with the degree of inflammation in IBD. Campylobacter concisus is more prevalent in those with IBD and higher levels of C. concisus specific IgG antibodies are found in the serum of those with IBD compared to healthy controls. Further, C. concisus has immunogenic properties that stimulate an antibody response suggesting the bacteria might trigger or exacerbate disease. Conversely most mycobacteria are unlikely to be causative as they are not presentin microbial stool cultures early in disease. In various studies,Mycobacterium aviumparatuberculosishas been detected both more frequently and not at all in individuals with Crohn's disease. Similar conflict exists with respect to Yersinia enterocolitica,Bacteroidesvulgatus and Helicobacter hepaticus, which are also more prevalent in IBD. However, these organisms appear more likely to contribute to disease persistence than initial disease development. This review aims to summarise the current understanding of key bacterial species implicated in the pathogenesis of IBD.

Circulation in the Mediterranean Sea: evidences, debates and unanswered questions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claude Millot

2005-06-01

Full Text Available The overall counterclockwise alongslope circulation of Atlantic Water (AW in the western basin of the Mediterranean Sea is now generally accepted. As the eastern basin displays similar general features, why is it generally assumed to function in a different way, and why is AW now said to circulate across the interior of the eastern basin? Relatively huge mesoscale anticyclonic eddies induced by the instability of the AW circulation in the south of the western basin have lifetimes up to several years. It is possible that they extend down to the sea bottom and play a major role in the distribution of all water masses. Why have apparently similar eddies generated in the eastern basin never received specific attention? Once formed, Mediterranean Waters (MWs must spread and circulate before outflowing. Why have simple dynamical arguments for understanding the circulation of AW, such as the Coriolis effect, rarely been considered for the circulation of MWs? In this paper we address these major aspects of water circulation in the Mediterranean Sea. In order to be as objective and convincing as possible, and to write a paper that can be understood by as broad a readership as possible, we have chosen to present only raw data sets that can be easily interpreted by the reader without any help from the author. Based on the evidence provided by these data sets, we specify the current debates and list what we think are the main unanswered questions.

Complex systems dynamics in aging: new evidence, continuing questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Alan A

2016-02-01

There have long been suggestions that aging is tightly linked to the complex dynamics of the physiological systems that maintain homeostasis, and in particular to dysregulation of regulatory networks of molecules. This review synthesizes recent work that is starting to provide evidence for the importance of such complex systems dynamics in aging. There is now clear evidence that physiological dysregulation--the gradual breakdown in the capacity of complex regulatory networks to maintain homeostasis--is an emergent property of these regulatory networks, and that it plays an important role in aging. It can be measured simply using small numbers of biomarkers. Additionally, there are indications of the importance during aging of emergent physiological processes, functional processes that cannot be easily understood through clear metabolic pathways, but can nonetheless be precisely quantified and studied. The overall role of such complex systems dynamics in aging remains an important open question, and to understand it future studies will need to distinguish and integrate related aspects of aging research, including multi-factorial theories of aging, systems biology, bioinformatics, network approaches, robustness, and loss of complexity.

Why does asking questions change health behaviours? The mediating role of attitude accessibility

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Chantelle; Conner, Mark; Sandberg, Tracy; Godin, Gaston; Sheeran, Paschal

2013-01-01

Objective The question-behaviour effect (QBE) refers to the finding that measuring behavioural intentions increases performance of the relevant behaviour. This effect has been used to change health behaviours. The present research asks why the QBE occurs and evaluates one possible mediator – attitude accessibility. Design University staff and students (N = 151) were randomly assigned to an intention measurement condition where they reported their intentions to eat healthy foods, or to one of two control conditions. Main outcome measures Participants completed a response latency measure of attitude accessibility, before healthy eating behaviour was assessed unobtrusively using an objective measure of snacking. Results Intention measurement participants exhibited more accessible attitudes towards healthy foods, and were more likely to choose a healthy snack, relative to control participants. Furthermore, attitude accessibility mediated the relationship between intention measurement and behaviour. Conclusion This research demonstrates that increased attitude accessibility may explain the QBE, extending the findings of previous research to the domain of health behaviour. PMID:24245778

The impact of two multiple-choice question formats on the problem-solving strategies used by novices and experts.

Science.gov (United States)

Coderre, Sylvain P; Harasym, Peter; Mandin, Henry; Fick, Gordon

2004-11-05

Pencil-and-paper examination formats, and specifically the standard, five-option multiple-choice question, have often been questioned as a means for assessing higher-order clinical reasoning or problem solving. This study firstly investigated whether two paper formats with differing number of alternatives (standard five-option and extended-matching questions) can test problem-solving abilities. Secondly, the impact of the alternatives number on psychometrics and problem-solving strategies was examined. Think-aloud protocols were collected to determine the problem-solving strategy used by experts and non-experts in answering Gastroenterology questions, across the two pencil-and-paper formats. The two formats demonstrated equal ability in testing problem-solving abilities, while the number of alternatives did not significantly impact psychometrics or problem-solving strategies utilized. These results support the notion that well-constructed multiple-choice questions can in fact test higher order clinical reasoning. Furthermore, it can be concluded that in testing clinical reasoning, the question stem, or content, remains more important than the number of alternatives.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bunion Surgery

Science.gov (United States)

... A | Print | Share Frequently Asked Questions About Bunion Surgery Here are some frequently asked questions (FAQs) and ... best for you. 5. How can I avoid surgery? Sometimes observation of the bunion is all that ...

Mapping the emotional landscape: The role of specific emotions in conceptual categorization.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Nan; Cai, Yong-hua; Sun, Fa-wei; Yang-yang, Yi-fan

2015-07-01

Although researchers generally subscribe to the opinion that emotions play a critical role in cognition, very few (see Niedenthal, Halberstadt, & Innes-Ker, 1999) have examined the specific interaction between the emotional state of the perceiver and the emotional meaning of stimuli in conceptual categorization - an important aspect of "higher-level" cognition. Niedenthal et al. (1999) advanced a fine-grained theory of emotional response categorization, arguing that emotional states increase the tendency to categorize concepts into a predictable set of emotional response categories characterized by the common, distinct emotional responses elicited by the concepts. Based on the pioneering work of Niedenthal et al., we further argued that (1) the specific emotion experienced by the individual should selectively facilitate the categorization of concepts associated with the same emotion, (2) both in terms of category inclusion and category exclusion, and (3) this facilitation effect should not be contingent on the awareness of the emotional state. In three experiments, participants were induced to experience different emotional states through movies or a facial-feedback manipulation. They judged whether or not a target concept belonged to the same category as the two comparison concepts. Some of the concept triads shared emotional associations, while others didn't. Results showed that emotive participants had a greater tendency than those in a neutral mood to group concepts according to their emotional associations, and to distinguish concepts with different emotional associations. They were also more efficient in categorizing concepts that had specific emotional meaning corresponding to their own emotional state than to other emotional concepts. Furthermore, participants posing a disgust expression without their knowledge showed higher tendency to categorize concepts according to their relevance to disgust. Implications and potential applications of the findings were

Cell-type specific roles for PTEN in establishing a functional retinal architecture.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Cantrup

Full Text Available The retina has a unique three-dimensional architecture, the precise organization of which allows for complete sampling of the visual field. Along the radial or apicobasal axis, retinal neurons and their dendritic and axonal arbors are segregated into layers, while perpendicular to this axis, in the tangential plane, four of the six neuronal types form patterned cellular arrays, or mosaics. Currently, the molecular cues that control retinal cell positioning are not well-understood, especially those that operate in the tangential plane. Here we investigated the role of the PTEN phosphatase in establishing a functional retinal architecture.In the developing retina, PTEN was localized preferentially to ganglion, amacrine and horizontal cells, whose somata are distributed in mosaic patterns in the tangential plane. Generation of a retina-specific Pten knock-out resulted in retinal ganglion, amacrine and horizontal cell hypertrophy, and expansion of the inner plexiform layer. The spacing of Pten mutant mosaic populations was also aberrant, as were the arborization and fasciculation patterns of their processes, displaying cell type-specific defects in the radial and tangential dimensions. Irregular oscillatory potentials were also observed in Pten mutant electroretinograms, indicative of asynchronous amacrine cell firing. Furthermore, while Pten mutant RGC axons targeted appropriate brain regions, optokinetic spatial acuity was reduced in Pten mutant animals. Finally, while some features of the Pten mutant retina appeared similar to those reported in Dscam-mutant mice, PTEN expression and activity were normal in the absence of Dscam.We conclude that Pten regulates somal positioning and neurite arborization patterns of a subset of retinal cells that form mosaics, likely functioning independently of Dscam, at least during the embryonic period. Our findings thus reveal an unexpected level of cellular specificity for the multi-purpose phosphatase, and

A cross-cultural survey of residents' perceived barriers in questioning/challenging authority.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, H; Pian-Smith, M; Sato, M; Sawa, R; Takeshita, T; Raemer, D

2006-08-01

To identify perceived barriers to residents' questioning or challenging their seniors, to determine how these barriers affect decisions, and to assess how these barriers differ across cultures. A written questionnaire was administered to residents in teaching hospitals in the US and Japan to assess factors affecting residents' willingness to question or challenge their superiors. The responses were analyzed for statistical significance of differences between the two cultures and to determine the importance of issues affecting decisions. Questionnaires were completed by 175 US and 65 Japanese residents, with an overall response rate of 71%. Trainees from both countries believe that questioning and challenging contribute to safety. The perceived importance of specific beliefs about the workplace differed across cultures in seven out of 22 questions. Residents' decisions to make a challenge were related to the relationships and perceived response of the superiors. There was no statistical difference between the US and Japanese residents in terms of the threshold for challenging their seniors. We have identified attributes of residents' beliefs of communication, including several cross-cultural differences in the importance of values and issues affecting one's decision to question or challenge. In contrast, there was no difference in the threshold for challenging seniors by the Japanese and US residents studied. Changes in organizational and professional culture may be as important, if not more so, than national culture to encourage "speaking up". Residents should be encouraged to overcome barriers to challenging, and training programs should foster improved relationships and communication between trainers and trainees.

Finding Question-Answer Pairs from Online Forums

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cong, Gao; Wang, Long; Lin, Chin-Yew

2008-01-01

Online forums contain a huge amount of valuable user generated content. In this paper we address the problem of extracting question-answer pairs from forums. Question-answer pairs extracted from forums can be used to help Question Answering services (e.g. Yahoo! Answers) among other applications...

How to…write a good research question

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mattick, Karen; Johnston, Jenny; de la Croix, Anne

This paper, on writing research questions, is the first in a series that aims to support novice researchers within clinical education, particularly those undertaking their first qualitative study. Put simply, a research question is a question that a research project sets out to answer. Most research

The Socratic Method and Levels of Questioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Karilee

1980-01-01

Determines if instruction in the Socratic method would increase higher level questioning during peer teaching experiences in teacher education programs. Raters, using the higher order questioning strategy, evaluated 14 students. A significant increase in higher level questions being asked suggests the Socratic Method may be useful. (Author)

Literature-based condition-specific miRNA-mRNA target prediction.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minsik Oh

Full Text Available miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by binding to the 3'-UTR of genes. Many recent studies have reported that miRNAs play important biological roles by regulating specific mRNAs or genes. Many sequence-based target prediction algorithms have been developed to predict miRNA targets. However, these methods are not designed for condition-specific target predictions and produce many false positives; thus, expression-based target prediction algorithms have been developed for condition-specific target predictions. A typical strategy to utilize expression data is to leverage the negative control roles of miRNAs on genes. To control false positives, a stringent cutoff value is typically set, but in this case, these methods tend to reject many true target relationships, i.e., false negatives. To overcome these limitations, additional information should be utilized. The literature is probably the best resource that we can utilize. Recent literature mining systems compile millions of articles with experiments designed for specific biological questions, and the systems provide a function to search for specific information. To utilize the literature information, we used a literature mining system, BEST, that automatically extracts information from the literature in PubMed and that allows the user to perform searches of the literature with any English words. By integrating omics data analysis methods and BEST, we developed Context-MMIA, a miRNA-mRNA target prediction method that combines expression data analysis results and the literature information extracted based on the user-specified context. In the pathway enrichment analysis using genes included in the top 200 miRNA-targets, Context-MMIA outperformed the four existing target prediction methods that we tested. In another test on whether prediction methods can re-produce experimentally validated target relationships, Context-MMIA outperformed the four existing target prediction

Open questions in surface topography measurement: a roadmap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leach, Richard; Evans, Christopher; He, Liangyu; Davies, Angela; Duparré, Angela; Henning, Andrew; Jones, Christopher W; O’Connor, Daniel

2015-01-01

Control of surface topography has always been of vital importance for manufacturing and many other engineering and scientific disciplines. However, despite over one hundred years of quantitative surface topography measurement, there are still many open questions. At the top of the list of questions is ‘Are we getting the right answer?’ This begs the obvious question ‘How would we know?’ There are many other questions relating to applications, the appropriateness of a technique for a given scenario, or the relationship between a particular analysis and the function of the surface. In this first ‘open questions’ article we have gathered together some experts in surface topography measurement and asked them to address timely, unresolved questions about the subject. We hope that their responses will go some way to answer these questions, address areas where further research is required, and look at the future of the subject. The first section ‘Spatial content characterization for precision surfaces’ addresses the need to characterise the spatial content of precision surfaces. Whilst we have been manufacturing optics for centuries, there still isn’t a consensus on how to specify the surface for manufacture. The most common three methods for spatial characterisation are reviewed and compared, and the need for further work on quantifying measurement uncertainties is highlighted. The article is focussed on optical surfaces, but the ideas are more pervasive. Different communities refer to ‘figure, mid-spatial frequencies, and finish’ and ‘form, waviness, and roughness’, but the mathematics are identical. The second section ‘Light scattering methods’ is focussed on light scattering techniques; an important topic with in-line metrology becoming essential in many manufacturing scenarios. The potential of scattering methods has long been recognized; in the ‘smooth surface limit’ functionally significant relationships can be derived from first

Using questions sent to an Ask-A-Scientist site to identify children's interests in science

Science.gov (United States)

Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet; Sethi, Ricky J.; Bry, Lynn; Yarden, Anat

2006-11-01

Interest is a powerful motivator; nonetheless, science educators often lack the necessary information to make use of the power of student-specific interests in the reform process of science curricula. This study suggests a novel methodology, which might be helpful in identifying such interests - using children's self-generated questions as an indication of their scientific interests. In this research, children's interests were measured by analyzing 1555 science-related questions submitted to an international Ask-A-Scientist Internet site. The analysis indicated that the popularity of certain topics varies with age and gender. Significant differences were found between children's spontaneous (intrinsically motivated) and school-related (extrinsically motivated) interests. Surprisingly, girls contributed most of the questions to the sample; however, the number of American girls dropped upon entering senior high school. We also found significant differences between girls' and boys' interests, with girls generally preferring biological topics. The two genders kept to their stereotypic fields of interest, in both their school-related and spontaneous questions. Children's science interests, as inferred from questions to Web sites, could ultimately inform classroom science teaching. This methodology extends the context in which children's interests can be investigated.

The role of normative aspects in questions of justice and equity in radioactive waste governance; Die Rolle von normativen Aspekten bei Gerechtigkeitsfragen im Umgang mit radioaktiven Abfaellen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kruetli, P. [Inst. fuer Mensch-Umwelt-Systeme, ETH Zuerich (Switzerland)

2005-07-01

Until now the nuclear waste problem has not been solved and the issue is still contentious in most societies. Up to the 1990s research focused mainly on technical aspects. In the meanwhile there is international consensus that an extended multidimensional approach is needed, e. g., based on the concept of sustainability. Radioactive waste is characterised by technical and institutional longevity. The associated risks may have consequences far into the future. With respect to future generations both precautionary and responsibility principles are crucial. There is an asymmetry of benefits and burdens within our generation as well as between our and the following generations. This issue of justice and equity might not be solved in the case of future generations. Along with distributional questions procedural questions are part of the problem. There is a severe lack of concise research activities in this field even though there exist ethical concepts and theories which - in general - are broadly accepted as guidelines or principles. Their concrete application, however, is methodically delicate and demanding. To develop a normative framework including a set of specific and assessable criteria will be the focus of further research activities. (orig.)

The Specificity of Creativity: Figurative and Scientific

Science.gov (United States)

Bernal, Ana; Esparza, Javier; Ruiz, María-José; Ferrando, Mercedes; Sainz, Marta

2017-01-01

Introduction: This work tackles the question about the nature of creativity as a general vs. domain-specific ability. First we deal with the concept of creativity and then, the main approaches to the debate of generality vs. specificity are exposed. Method: A total of 133 students attending 3rd grade of secondary education in Murcia Region took…

Assessing the functional diversity of herbivorous reef fishes using a compound-specific stable isotope approach

KAUST Repository

Tietbohl, Matthew

2016-12-01

Herbivorous coral reef fishes play an important role in helping to structure their environment directly by consuming algae and indirectly by promoting coral health and growth. These fishes are generally separated into three broad groups: browsers, grazers, and excavators/scrapers, with these groupings often thought to have a fixed general function and all fishes within a group thought to have similar ecological roles. This categorization assumes a high level of functional redundancy within herbivorous fishes. However, recent evidence questions the use of this broad classification scheme, and posits that there may actually be more resource partitioning within these functional groupings. Here, I use a compound-specific stable isotope approach (CSIA) to show there appears to be a greater diversity of functional roles than previously assumed within broad functional groups. The δ13C signatures from essential amino acids of reef end-members (coral, macroalgae, detritus, and phytoplankton) and fish muscle were analyzed to investigate differences in resource use between fishes. Most end-members displayed clear isotopic differences, and most fishes within functional groups were dissimilar in their isotopic signature, implying differences in the resources they target. No grazers closely resembled each other isotopically, implying a much lower level of functional redundancy within this group; scraping parrotfish were also distinct from excavating parrotfish and to a lesser degree distinct between scrapers. This study highlights the potential of CSIA to help distinguish fine-scale ecological differences within other groups of reef organisms as well. These results question the utility of lumping nominally herbivorous fishes into broad groups with assumed similar roles. Given the apparent functional differences between nominally herbivorous reef fishes, it is important for managers to incorporate the diversity of functional roles these fish play.

Assessing the functional diversity of herbivorous reef fishes using a compound-specific stable isotope approach

KAUST Repository

Tietbohl, Matthew

2016-01-01

Herbivorous coral reef fishes play an important role in helping to structure their environment directly by consuming algae and indirectly by promoting coral health and growth. These fishes are generally separated into three broad groups: browsers, grazers, and excavators/scrapers, with these groupings often thought to have a fixed general function and all fishes within a group thought to have similar ecological roles. This categorization assumes a high level of functional redundancy within herbivorous fishes. However, recent evidence questions the use of this broad classification scheme, and posits that there may actually be more resource partitioning within these functional groupings. Here, I use a compound-specific stable isotope approach (CSIA) to show there appears to be a greater diversity of functional roles than previously assumed within broad functional groups. The δ13C signatures from essential amino acids of reef end-members (coral, macroalgae, detritus, and phytoplankton) and fish muscle were analyzed to investigate differences in resource use between fishes. Most end-members displayed clear isotopic differences, and most fishes within functional groups were dissimilar in their isotopic signature, implying differences in the resources they target. No grazers closely resembled each other isotopically, implying a much lower level of functional redundancy within this group; scraping parrotfish were also distinct from excavating parrotfish and to a lesser degree distinct between scrapers. This study highlights the potential of CSIA to help distinguish fine-scale ecological differences within other groups of reef organisms as well. These results question the utility of lumping nominally herbivorous fishes into broad groups with assumed similar roles. Given the apparent functional differences between nominally herbivorous reef fishes, it is important for managers to incorporate the diversity of functional roles these fish play.

Hepatitis B virus-specific miRNAs and Argonaute2 play a role in the viral life cycle.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C Nelson Hayes

Full Text Available UNLABELLED: Disease-specific serum miRNA profiles may serve as biomarkers and might reveal potential new avenues for therapy. An HBV-specific serum miRNA profile associated with HBV surface antigen (HBsAg particles has recently been reported, and AGO2 and miRNAs have been shown to be stably associated with HBsAg in serum. We identified HBV-associated serum miRNAs using the Toray 3D array system in 10 healthy controls and 10 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV infection. 19 selected miRNAs were then measured by quantitative RT-PCR in 248 chronic HBV patients and 22 healthy controls. MiRNA expression in serum versus liver tissue was also compared using biopsy samples. To examine the role of AGO2 during the HBV life cycle, we analyzed intracellular co-localization of AGO2 and HBV core (HBcAg and surface (HBsAg antigens using immunocytochemistry and proximity ligation assays in stably transfected HepG2 cells. The effect of AGO2 ablation on viral replication was assessed using siRNA. Several miRNAs, including miR-122, miR-22, and miR-99a, were up-regulated at least 1.5 fold (P<2E-08 in serum of HBV-infected patients. AGO2 and HBcAg were found to physically interact and co-localize in the ER and other subcellular compartments. HBs was also found to co-localize with AGO2 and was detected in multiple subcellular compartments. Conversely, HBx localized non-specifically in the nucleus and cytoplasm, and no interaction between AGO2 and HBx was detected. SiRNA ablation of AGO2 suppressed production of HBV DNA and HBs antigen in the supernatant. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that AGO2 and HBV-specific miRNAs might play a role in the HBV life cycle.

Recognitional specificity and evolution in the tomato-Cladosporium fulvum pathosystem.

Science.gov (United States)

Wulff, B B H; Chakrabarti, A; Jones, D A

2009-10-01

The interactions between plants and many biotrophic or hemibiotrophic pathogens are controlled by receptor proteins in the host and effector proteins delivered by the pathogen. Pathogen effectors facilitate pathogen growth through the suppression of host defenses and the manipulation of host metabolism, but recognition of a pathogen-effector protein by a host receptor enables the host to activate a suite of defense mechanisms that limit pathogen growth. In the tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum syn. Solanum lycopersicum)-Cladosporium fulvum (leaf mold fungus syn. Passalora fulva) pathosystem, the host receptors are plasma membrane-anchored, leucine-rich repeat, receptor-like proteins encoded by an array of Cf genes conferring resistance to C. fulvum. The pathogen effectors are mostly small, secreted, cysteine-rich, but otherwise largely dissimilar, extracellular proteins encoded by an array of avirulence (Avr) genes, so called because of their ability to trigger resistance and limit pathogen growth when the corresponding Cf gene is present in tomato. A number of Cf and Avr genes have been isolated, and details of the complex molecular interplay between tomato Cf proteins and C. fulvum effector proteins are beginning to emerge. Each effector appears to have a different role; probably most bind or modify different host proteins, but at least one has a passive role masking the pathogen. It is, therefore, not surprising that each effector is probably detected in a distinct and specific manner, some by direct binding, others as complexes with host proteins, and others via their modification of host proteins. The two papers accompanying this review contribute further to our understanding of the molecular specificity underlying effector perception by Cf proteins. This review, therefore, focuses on our current understanding of recognitional specificity in the tomato-C. fulvum pathosystem and highlights some of the critical questions that remain to be addressed. It also

"I didn't write the questions!" - Negotiating telephone-survey questions on birth timing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marian May

2008-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines interviewer-respondent interaction in the collection of demographic data. Conversation analysis (CA makes transparent the interaction between an interviewer and 25 respondents on a question about pregnancy and birth timing in an Australian telephone survey, Negotiating the Life Course. The analysis focuses on the troubles that occur and the work interviewers do to fit respondents' answers to the survey researcher's categories. Interviewers are shown to act as mediators in difficult interaction, with responses often distorted by question format, the imperative of achieving an allowed response, and the need to keep the respondent in the survey.

NMDA Receptors in Glial Cells: Pending Questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Dzamba, David; Honsa, Pavel; Anderova, Miroslava

2013-05-01

Glutamate receptors of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type are involved in many cognitive processes, including behavior, learning and synaptic plasticity. For a long time NMDA receptors were thought to be the privileged domain of neurons; however, discoveries of the last 25 years have demonstrated their active role in glial cells as well. Despite the large number of studies in the field, there are many unresolved questions connected with NMDA receptors in glia that are still a matter of debate. The main objective of this review is to shed light on these controversies by summarizing results from all relevant works concerning astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and polydendrocytes (also known as NG2 glial cells) in experimental animals, further extended by studies performed on human glia. The results are divided according to the study approach to enable a better comparison of how findings obtained at the mRNA level correspond with protein expression or functionality. Furthermore, special attention is focused on the NMDA receptor subunits present in the particular glial cell types, which give them special characteristics different from those of neurons - for example, the absence of Mg(2+) block and decreased Ca(2+) permeability. Since glial cells are implicated in important physiological and pathophysiological roles in the central nervous system (CNS), the last part of this review provides an overview of glial NMDA receptors with respect to ischemic brain injury.

The prime questions in authentic patient's consultations: a call for additional research on current and new paradigms.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Hanh Thi

2013-01-01

Although the 3 prime questions ("What did your doctor tell you the medication is for?" "How did your doctor tell you to take the medication?," and "What did your doctor tell you to expect?") have been recommended as a way to implement an interactive approach to patient's counseling in pharmacy, research examining how these questions are actually used in practice is relatively sparse. Qualitative approaches might assist to inform pertinent questions that might challenge prevailing paradigms. This commentary calls for a close look at how novice pharmacists in training manage these questions in real-life patient's consultations. These examples are aimed to provide preliminary observations about (1) how the prime questions in their original and modified forms are treated by pharmacists in training and patients, and (2) the interactional functions that the prime questions and similar questions may serve. Preliminary observations based on a conversation analysis of these examples show that the open-ended nature of the original prime questions sometimes leads to interactional problems such as delays in patients' responses and pharmacists' revision of the questions. Modified question formats that involve the use of specific knowledge expected to be possessed by a pharmacist, such as declarative questions and Q-word questions with concrete information, may lead to smoother interaction. Finally, questions about the purpose of the therapy may also be used to create opportunities to express empathy toward the patient or to shift the zone of expertise to the doctor. These initial findings suggest a more context sensitive and adaptive approach to communication in pharmacy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How does questioning influence nursing students' clinical reasoning in problem-based learning? A scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Merisier, Sophia; Larue, Caroline; Boyer, Louise

2018-06-01

Problem-based learning is an educational method promoting clinical reasoning that has been implemented in many fields of health education. Questioning is a learning strategy often employed in problem-based learning sessions. To explore what is known about the influence of questioning on the promotion of clinical reasoning of students in health care education, specifically in the field of nursing and using the educational method of problem-based learning. A scoping review following Arksey and O'Malley's five stages was conducted. The CINAHL, EMBASE, ERIC, Medline, and PubMed databases were searched for articles published between the years of 2000 and 2017. Each article was summarized and analyzed using a data extraction sheet in relation to its purpose, population group, setting, methods, and results. A descriptive explication of the studies based on an inductive analysis of their findings to address the aim of the review was made. Nineteen studies were included in the analysis. The studies explored the influence of questioning on critical thinking rather than on clinical reasoning. The nature of the questions asked and the effect of higher-order questions on critical thinking were the most commonly occurring themes. Few studies addressed the use of questioning in problem-based learning. More empirical evidence is needed to gain a better understanding of the benefit of questioning in problem-based learning to promote students' clinical reasoning. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Student-generated reading questions: diagnosing student thinking with diverse formative assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Offerdahl, Erika G; Montplaisir, Lisa

2014-01-01

Formative assessment has long been identified as a critical element to teaching for conceptual development in science. It is therefore important for university instructors to have an arsenal of formative assessment tools at their disposal which enable them to effectively uncover and diagnose all students' thinking, not just the most vocal or assertive. We illustrate the utility of one type of formative assessment prompt (reading question assignment) in producing high-quality evidence of student thinking (student-generated reading questions). Specifically, we characterized student assessment data using three distinct analytic frames to exemplify their effectiveness in diagnosing student learning in relationship to three sample learning outcomes. Our data will be useful for university faculty, particularly those engaged in teaching upper-level biochemistry courses and their prerequisites, as they provide an alternative mechanism for uncovering and diagnosing student understanding. © 2013 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Evaluation of a single-item screening question to detect limited health literacy in peritoneal dialysis patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Deepika; Sheth, Heena; Bender, Filitsa H; Weisbord, Steven D; Green, Jamie A

2014-01-01

Studies have shown that a single-item question might be useful in identifying patients with limited health literacy. However, the utility of the approach has not been studied in patients receiving maintenance peritoneal dialysis (PD). We assessed health literacy in a cohort of 31 PD patients by administering the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) and a single-item health literacy (SHL) screening question "How confident are you filling out medical forms by yourself?" (Extremely, Quite a bit, Somewhat, A little bit, or Not at all). To determine the accuracy of the single-item question for detecting limited health literacy, we performed sensitivity and specificity analyses of the SHL and plotted the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve using the REALM as a reference standard. Using a cut-off of "Somewhat" or less confident, the sensitivity of the SHL for detecting limited health literacy was 80%, and the specificity was 88%. The positive likelihood ratio was 6.9. The SHL had an AUROC of 0.79 (95% confidence interval: 0.52 to 1.00). Our results show that the SHL could be effective in detecting limited health literacy in PD patients.

30 CFR 250.1200 - Question index table.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Question index table. 250.1200 Section 250.1200 Mineral Resources MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR... Security § 250.1200 Question index table. The table in this section lists questions concerning Oil and Gas...

Questions and dependency in intuitionistic logic

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ciardelli, Ivano; Iemhoff, Rosalie; Yang, Fan

2017-01-01

In recent years, the logic of questions and dependencies has been investigated in the closely related frameworks of inquisitive logic and dependence logic. These investigations have assumed classical logic as the background logic of statements, and added formulas expressing questions and

Questions and Answers About Nuclear Power Plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC.

This pamphlet is designed to answer many of the questions that have arisen about nuclear power plants and the environment. It is organized into a question and answer format, with the questions taken from those most often asked by the public. Topics include regulation of nuclear power sources, potential dangers to people's health, whether nuclear…

Evaluation of vision-specific quality-of-life in albinism.

Science.gov (United States)

Kutzbach, Beth R; Merrill, Kimberly S; Hogue, Kathy M; Downes, Sara J; Holleschau, Ann M; MacDonald, John T; Summers, C Gail

2009-04-01

Human albinism is a genetic condition associated with visual impairment that affects many aspects of daily life. Office measurements of visual acuity do not necessarily reflect daily visual function and health status. This study used the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) to determine the effect of albinism-associated ophthalmopathy on quality of life (QOL). We administered the NEI-VFQ, which consists of 25 questions about QOL (VFQ-25) and 14 questions about well-being (VFQ-39), to 44 consenting participants with albinism older than the age of 18 years. Nineteen male and 25 female subjects completed the study. Median age was 30.5 years (range, 18-79 years). Mean best-corrected visual acuity was 20/83 (range, 20/20 to 20/320). Forty-eight percent reported that they were currently able to drive with their condition. Participants perceived midscale problems with their general vision (median subscale score 60.0). Visual acuity correlated moderately with overall NEI-VFQ composite scores (r(s) = 0.40, p = 0.01 for VFQ-25 and r(s) = 0.36, p = 0.02 for VFQ-39). Most notable impairment was recorded for distance acuity, vision-specific mental health, and vision-specific role difficulties (VFQ-39 median subscale scores 66.7, 70.0, and 75.0, respectively). Differences by sex were insignificant. Greater ceiling effects were noted for the VFQ-25 than for the VFQ-39. The NEI-VFQ-39 is a method to evaluate self-reported effects of vision-related QOL in albinism and may be used as a baseline for evaluating outcomes in interventional studies in these patients.

Category Specificity in Normal Episodic Learning: Applications to Object Recognition and Category-Specific Agnosia

Science.gov (United States)

Bukach, Cindy M.; Bub, Daniel N.; Masson, Michael E. J.; Lindsay, D. Stephen

2004-01-01

Studies of patients with category-specific agnosia (CSA) have given rise to multiple theories of object recognition, most of which assume the existence of a stable, abstract semantic memory system. We applied an episodic view of memory to questions raised by CSA in a series of studies examining normal observers' recall of newly learned attributes…

How do 5-year-olds understand questions?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sauerland, Uli; Grohmann, Kleanthes; Teresa Guasti, Maria

2016-01-01

developing children across 19 European countries, 18 different languages, and 7 language (sub-)families. The study investigated the effects of two factors on question formation: (a) whether the question contains a simple interrogative word like ‘who’ or a complex one like ‘which princess’, and (b) whether......The comprehension of constituent questions is an important topic for language acquisition research and for applications in the diagnosis of language impairment. This article presents the results of a study investigating the comprehension of different types of questions by 5-year-old, typically...... the question word was related to the sentential subject or object position of the verb. The findings show that there is considerable variation among languages, but the two factors mentioned consistently affect children’s performance. The cross-linguistic variation shows that three linguistic factors facilitate...

'No man is an island'. Testing the specific role of social isolation in formal thought disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

de Sousa, Paulo; Spray, Amy; Sellwood, William; Bentall, Richard P

2015-12-15

Recent work has focused on the role of the environment in psychosis with emerging evidence that specific psychotic experiences are associated with specific types of adversity. One risk factor that has been often associated with psychosis is social isolation, with studies identifying isolation as an important feature of prodromal psychosis and others reporting that social networks of psychotic patients are smaller and less dense than those of healthy individuals. In the present study, we tested a prediction that social isolation would be specifically associated with formal thought disorder. 80 patients diagnosed with psychosis-spectrum disorder and 30 healthy participants were assessed for formal thought disorder with speech samples acquired during an interview that promoted personal disclosure and an interview targeting everyday topics. Social isolation was significantly associated with formal thought disorder in the neutral interview and in the salient interview, even when controlling for comorbid hallucinations, delusions and suspiciousness. Hallucinations, delusions and suspiciousness were not associated with social isolation when formal thought disorder was controlled for. Formal thought disorder is robustly and specifically associated with social isolation. Social cognitive mechanisms and processes are discussed which may explain this relationship as well as implications for clinical practice and future research. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental Ethics: Questions for Adult Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Jenneth

1993-01-01

Presents a series of questions through which adult educators can explore controversial questions of environmental values and moral behavior in their programs. The subjects include geography, local history, natural history, economics, politics, business, labor education, world affairs, literature, women's studies, psychology, and courses for the…

A review of question prompt lists used in the oncology setting with comparison to the Patient Concerns Inventory.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, N; Rogers, S N

2018-01-01

A question prompt list (QPL) is a simple and inexpensive communication tool used to facilitate patient participation in medical consultations. The QPL is composed of a structured list of questions and has been shown to be an effective way of helping ensure patients' individual information needs are appropriately met. This intervention has been investigated in a variety of settings but not specifically head and neck cancer (HNC). The aim of this paper was to perform a narrative review of literature reporting the use of a QPL for oncology patients and to draw comparison to the Patient Concerns Inventory (PCI-HN). The databases Scopus, PubMed and MEDLINE were searched using the key terms 'question prompt list', 'question prompt sheet', 'cancer' and 'oncology'. Of 98 articles hand searched, 30 of which were found to meet all inclusion criteria, and described in a tabulated summary. The studies concluded that the QPL was an effective intervention, enabling active patient participation in medical consultations. The PCI-HN is specific for HNC and differs from many QPLs, which are more general cancer tools. The QPL approach should prove to be a useful intervention for HNC sufferers, however further research into the clinical utility is required. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Social question and social work: contemporary challenges facing the profession in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodrigo José Teixeira

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article offers an analysis of the intrinsic relationship between the social question and Social Work. The analysis of the social question starts from the meticulous and rigorous reading of the labor theory of value and the Critique of Political Economy written by Karl Marx. It is from this analysis that we try to justify the genesis of the profession linked to the role of the state and the bourgeoisie in the consolidation of monopoly capitalism. It starts from the analysis of Social Work as a profession inserted in the social and technical division of labor that by its own action, in the contradictory movement of the capitalist reality, defends the interests of capital and labor. In addition, the article presents, in a succinct way, the trajectory of Social Work in Brazil and its ethical and political project in relation to the working class challenges to guarantee this direction in times of dismantling social policies and financial capitalism. 

'Any questions?'--Clinicians' usage of invitations to ask questions (IAQs) in outpatient plastic surgery consultations.

Science.gov (United States)

Bristowe, Katherine; Patrick, Peter L

2014-12-01

To explore use of 'Invitations to Ask Questions' (IAQs) by plastic surgeons in outpatient consultations, and consider how type of IAQ impacts on patients' responses to, and recollection of, IAQs. Descriptive study: 63 patients were audio recorded in consultation with 5 plastic surgeons, and completed a brief questionnaire immediately after the consultation. Consultation transcripts were analyzed using inductive qualitative methods of Discourse Analysis and compared with questionnaire findings. A taxonomy of IAQs was developed, including three types of IAQ (Overt, Covert, and Borderline). Overt IAQs were rarely identified, and almost all IAQs occurred in the closing stages of the consultation. However, when an overt IAQ was used, patients always recollected being asked if they had any questions after the consultation. Patients are rarely explicitly offered the opportunity to ask questions. When this does occur, it is often in the closing stages of the consultation. Clinicians should openly encourage patients to ask questions frequently throughout the consultation, and be mindful that subtle differences in construction of these utterances may impact upon interpretation. Clear communication, of message and intention, is essential in clinical encounters to minimize misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or missed opportunities for patients to raise concerns. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Probability of climatic change. Identification of key questions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fransen, W.

1995-01-01

Addressing the question what the probability is of an anthropogenically induced change in the climate, leads to a number of other, underlying questions. These questions, which deal with the characteristics of climate, of climatic change, and of probabilistic statements on climatic change, should be addressed first. The long-term objective of the underlying study, i.e. a quantitative assessment of the risks and opportunities of the predicted climatic change, sets the context against which of those questions should be answered. In addition, this context induces extra questions, i.e. about the characteristics of risk

Question-answer sequences in survey interviews

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, W.; Ongena, Y.P.

2006-01-01

Interaction analysis was used to analyze a total of 14,265 question-answer sequences of (Q-A Sequences) 80 questions that originated from two face-to-face and three telephone surveys. The analysis was directed towards the causes and effects of particular interactional problems. Our results showed

Is There a Role for Homeopathy in Cancer Care? Questions and Challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Frenkel, Moshe

2015-09-01

Patients with cancer commonly use complementary and integrative medicine, including homeopathy. Homeopathy has grown in popularity with the public but is viewed with skepticism by medical academia and is still excluded from conventionally prescribed treatments. In recent years, homeopathy has been used in cancer care in Europe and other countries worldwide. This use raised the question if there is any benefit in utilizing this type of care with cancer patients. The purpose of this manuscript is to explore the evidence related to the benefit of homeopathy in cancer care. Limited research has suggested that homeopathic remedies appear to cause cellular changes in some cancer cells. In animal models, several homeopathic remedies have had an inhibitory effect on certain tumor development. Some clinical studies of homeopathic remedies combined with conventional care have shown that homeopathic remedies improve quality of life, reduce symptom burden, and possibly improve survival in patients with cancer. The findings from several lab and clinical studies suggest that homeopathy might have some beneficial effect in cancer care; however, further large, comprehensive clinical studies are needed to determine these beneficial effects. Although additional studies are needed to confirm these findings, given the low cost, minimal risks, and the potential magnitude of homeopathy's effects, this use might be considered in certain situations as an additional tool to integrate into cancer care.

A question of fit: reflections on boundaries, organizations and social-ecological systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Sternlieb, Faith; Bixler, R Patrick; Huber-Stearns, Heidi; Huayhuaca, Ch'aska

2013-11-30

Although there is acknowledgment that the complexity of social-ecological systems governance demands representation from diverse perspectives, there is little agreement in the literature on how to cross both fiat (human-demarcated) and bona fide (physical) boundaries to address such complexities. As a cohort of interdisciplinary scholars, we navigate the boundary between science and practice to address the question of fit regarding the role of organizations in transcending boundaries. We found there is a need to rectify discrepancies between theories about boundaries and theories about organizations. To this end, we propose a conceptual framework to analyze transboundary organizations, an umbrella term to group the literature on boundary organizations, intermediaries and bridging organizations; we introduce this term to illustrate they are not mutually exclusive and to facilitate interdisciplinary research. We first examine social-ecological systems (SES), a framework intended to improve understandings of boundaries and governance. We then continue to unpack the complexity of boundaries and organizations, specifically through important transboundary concepts such as scale and organizational learning. This helps frame our examination of the literature on: 1) boundary organizations; 2) bridging organizations (third-party entities); and 3) intermediaries (distinguished by their position between other actors). Our review identifies a number of discrepancies that pertain to the types of boundaries discussed and the roles assigned to organizations governing SES. Important characteristics have emerged from our review of transboundary organizations including legitimacy, saliency, urgency, and credibility. In developing a conceptual framework, we argue that transboundary organizations: 1) expand upon the boundary spectrum, 2) incorporate transboundary concepts, and 3) hybridize characteristics of boundary, bridging, and intermediary organizations. We conclude with a number

Question Word in the Mandarin Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Yunyu

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In an interrogative sentence in Mandarin language, a question word can be placed in the beginning, middle or end of a sentence. Because of the different nation and culture, when a foreign student learns Mandarin, they find it difficult to understand the question words and the position of the question words in that language. Because of that, the writer proposes to explain such problems. This research aims to find out what are the types of question words in Mandarin, and also to explain the function and usage of question words in the Mandarin interrogative sentence. An interrogative sentence is a very important sentence. In Mandarin, the following question words: 谁(shuí “Who”，在哪里(zài nǎli “where”, 在哪儿(zài nǎ’er “where”，为什么(wèi shénme “why”, 怎么(zěnme “why”，多少（duō shǎo） “how many”，多久(duō jiǔ “how long”，什么时候 (shénme shíhòu “when”，什么(shénme “what”，做什么(zuò shénme “why”，干 什么(gàn shénme “why”，干嘛(gànma “why” and so on are used to ask “who”, “where”, “what”, “how much”, “when”, “what time”, and “why”. Those words have different functions and usage. Each sentence has a certain structure and word order. A question word can be placed in the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence. When the place is changed, there is a possibility of miscommunication.   DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.2013.160106

Examining the role of MEDLINE as a patient care information resource: an analysis of data from the Value of Libraries study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, Kathel; Marshall, Joanne Gard; Wells, Amber L; Backus, Joyce E B

2017-10-01

This study analyzed data from a study on the value of libraries to understand the specific role that the MEDLINE database plays in relation to other information resources that are available to health care providers and its role in positively impacting patient care. A previous study on the use of health information resources for patient care obtained 16,122 responses from health care providers in 56 hospitals about how providers make decisions affecting patient care and the role of information resources in that process. Respondents indicated resources used in answering a specific clinical question from a list of 19 possible resources, including MEDLINE. Study data were examined using descriptive statistics and regression analysis to determine the number of information resources used and how they were used in combination with one another. Health care professionals used 3.5 resources, on average, to aid in patient care. The 2 most frequently used resources were journals (print and online) and the MEDLINE database. Using a higher number of information resources was significantly associated with a higher probability of making changes to patient care and avoiding adverse events. MEDLINE was the most likely to be among consulted resources compared to any other information resource other than journals. MEDLINE is a critical clinical care tool that health care professionals use to avoid adverse events, make changes to patient care, and answer clinical questions.

Academic Oversight: Asking Questions, Building Bridges

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, E. B.

2011-01-01

The best way for trustees to fully understand and fulfill their responsibility to ensure that their institution is providing quality education and meeting academic goals is by asking appropriate questions. Collaboration among trustees, faculty members, and administrators is essential to framing questions from a strategic perspective. Just the act…

37 CFR 354.2 - Novel questions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... of law, referral to the Register of Copyrights by the Copyright Royalty Judges is mandatory. A “novel... discretionary referral of material questions of copyright law to the Register of Copyrights by the Copyright... Copyrights in resolving material questions of substantive law is binding upon the Copyright Royalty Judges...

[To what extent do reviewers of multiple-choice questions need to be trained? A comparison between handing out information sheets and brief workshop sessions].

Science.gov (United States)

Öchsner, Wolfgang; Böckers, Anja

2016-01-01

A competent review process is crucial to ensure the quality of multiple-choice (MC) questions. However, the acquisition of reviewing skills should not cause any unnecessary additional burden for a medical staff that is already facing heavy workloads. 100 MC questions, for which an expert review existed, were presented to 12 novices. In advance, six participants received a specific information sheet covering critical information for high-calibre review; the other six participants attended a 2.5-hour workshop covering the same information. The review results of both groups were analysed with a licensed version of the IBM software SPSS 19.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). The results of the workshop group were distinctly closer to the experts' results (gold standard) than those of the information sheet group. For the quantitatively important category of medium quality MC questions, the results of the workshop group did not significantly differ from the experts' results. In the information sheet group the results were significantly poorer than the experts', regardless of the quality of the questions. Distributing specific information sheets to MC question reviewers is not sufficient for ensuring the quality of the review so that - regardless of the increased effort involved - a recommendation to conduct specific workshops must be made. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

A ROADMAP FOR A COMPUTATIONAL THEORY OF THE VALUE OF INFORMATION IN ORIGIN OF LIFE QUESTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soumya Banerjee

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Information plays a critical role in complex biological systems. Complex systems like immune systems and ant colonies co-ordinate heterogeneous components in a decentralized fashion. How do these distributed decentralized systems function? One key component is how these complex systems efficiently process information. These complex systems have an architecture for integrating and processing information coming in from various sources and points to the value of information in the functioning of different complex biological systems. This article proposes a role for information processing in questions around the origin of life and suggests how computational simulations may yield insights into questions related to the origin of life. Such a computational model of the origin of life would unify thermodynamics with information processing and we would gain an appreciation of why proteins and nucleotides evolved as the substrate of computation and information processing in living systems that we see on Earth. Answers to questions like these may give us insights into non-carbon based forms of life that we could search for outside Earth. We hypothesize that carbon-based life forms are only one amongst a continuum of life-like systems in the universe. Investigations into the role of computational substrates that allow information processing is important and could yield insights into: 1 novel non-carbon based computational substrates that may have “life-like” properties, and 2 how life may have actually originated from non-life on Earth. Life may exist as a continuum between non-life and life and we may have to revise our notion of life and how common it is in the universe. Looking at life or life-like phenomenon through the lens of information theory may yield a broader view of life.

Robustness Analysis of Visual QA Models by Basic Questions

KAUST Repository

Huang, Jia-Hong

2017-09-14

Visual Question Answering (VQA) models should have both high robustness and accuracy. Unfortunately, most of the current VQA research only focuses on accuracy because there is a lack of proper methods to measure the robustness of VQA models. There are two main modules in our algorithm. Given a natural language question about an image, the first module takes the question as input and then outputs the ranked basic questions, with similarity scores, of the main given question. The second module takes the main question, image and these basic questions as input and then outputs the text-based answer of the main question about the given image. We claim that a robust VQA model is one, whose performance is not changed much when related basic questions as also made available to it as input. We formulate the basic questions generation problem as a LASSO optimization, and also propose a large scale Basic Question Dataset (BQD) and Rscore (novel robustness measure), for analyzing the robustness of VQA models. We hope our BQD will be used as a benchmark for to evaluate the robustness of VQA models, so as to help the community build more robust and accurate VQA models.

Robustness Analysis of Visual QA Models by Basic Questions

KAUST Repository

Huang, Jia-Hong; Alfadly, Modar; Ghanem, Bernard

2017-01-01

Visual Question Answering (VQA) models should have both high robustness and accuracy. Unfortunately, most of the current VQA research only focuses on accuracy because there is a lack of proper methods to measure the robustness of VQA models. There are two main modules in our algorithm. Given a natural language question about an image, the first module takes the question as input and then outputs the ranked basic questions, with similarity scores, of the main given question. The second module takes the main question, image and these basic questions as input and then outputs the text-based answer of the main question about the given image. We claim that a robust VQA model is one, whose performance is not changed much when related basic questions as also made available to it as input. We formulate the basic questions generation problem as a LASSO optimization, and also propose a large scale Basic Question Dataset (BQD) and Rscore (novel robustness measure), for analyzing the robustness of VQA models. We hope our BQD will be used as a benchmark for to evaluate the robustness of VQA models, so as to help the community build more robust and accurate VQA models.

"Wh"-Questions in the English Language

Science.gov (United States)

Mowarin, Macaulay

2011-01-01

This paper analyzes "wh"-questions in the English Language based mainly on Chomsky's Minimalist Programme of transformational grammar as the theoretical model. The four main objectives of this paper are as follows: first, it undertakes a cross linguistic typological analysis of "wh"-questions and it then discusses the derivation of…

The effects of question-generation training on metacognitive knowledge, self regulation and learning approaches in science.

Science.gov (United States)

Cano García, Francisco; García, Ángela; Berbén, A B G; Pichardo, M C; Justicia, Fernando

2014-01-01

Although much research has examined the impact of question generation on students' reading comprehension and learning from lectures, far less research has analysed its influence on how students learn and study science. The present study aims to bridge this knowledge gap. Using a quasi-experimental design, three complete ninth-grade science classes, with a total of 72 students, were randomly assigned to three conditions (groups): (G1) questioning-training by providing prompts; (G2) question-generation without any explicit instruction; and (G3) no question control. Participants' pre-test and post-test self-reported measures of metacognitive knowledge, self-regulation and learning approaches were collected and data analysed with multivariate and univariate analyses of covariance. (a) MANCOVA revealed a significant effect for group; (b) ANCOVAs showed the highest average gains for G1 and statistically significant between-group differences in the two components of metacognition: metacognitive knowledge and self-regulation; and (c) the direction of these differences seemed to vary in each of these components. Question-generation training influenced how students learned and studied, specifically their metacognition, and it had a medium to large effect size, which was somewhat related to the prompts used.

The role of specification in public procurement of innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rolfstam, Max

A taken for granted assertion in the literature discussing how public procurement can be used as a way of stimulating innovation is that functional specification should be applied. Unlike technical specification, where the exact details of the item to be procured is defined, it is assumed that......, by specifying only the function or envisaged performance of the item to be procured, this would allow the submission of bids involving innovative technology and solutions previously unknown to the procurer. The starting point for the article is the perception that these views are commonly held assertions which...... have received limited systematic scholarly attention. The article therefore analyzes specification in relation to buying situations, as knowledge conversion, in terms of resource requirements in relation to different specification levels. The generic conclusion the paper arrives...

Roles of s3 site residues of nattokinase on its activity and substrate specificity.

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Wu, Shuming; Feng, Chi; Zhong, Jin; Huan, Liandong

2007-09-01

Nattokinase (Subtilisin NAT, NK) is a bacterial serine protease with high fibrinolytic activity. To probe their roles on protease activity and substrate specificity, three residues of S3 site (Gly(100), Ser(101) and Leu(126)) were mutated by site-directed mutagenesis. Kinetics parameters of 20 mutants were measured using tetrapeptides as substrates, and their fibrinolytic activities were determined by fibrin plate method. Results of mutation analysis showed that Gly(100) and Ser(101) had reverse steric and electrostatic effects. Residues with bulky or positively charged side chains at position 100 decreased the substrate binding and catalytic activity drastically, while residues with the same characters at position 101 could obviously enhance protease and fibrinolytic activity of NK. Mutation of Leu(126) might impair the structure of the active cleft and drastically decreased the activity of NK. Kinetics studies of the mutants showed that S3 residues were crucial to keep protease activity while they moderately affected substrate specificity of NK. The present study provided some original insight into the P3-S3 interaction in NK and other subtilisins, as well as showed successful protein engineering cases to improve NK as a potential therapeutic agent.

Factors influencing a nurse's decision to question medication administration in a neonatal clinical care unit.

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Aydon, Laurene; Hauck, Yvonne; Zimmer, Margo; Murdoch, Jamee

2016-09-01

The aim of this study was to identify factors that influence nurse's decisions to question concerning aspects of medication administration within the context of a neonatal clinical care unit. Medication error in the neonatal setting can be high with this particularly vulnerable population. As the care giver responsible for medication administration, nurses are deemed accountable for most errors. However, they are recognised as the forefront of prevention. Minimal evidence is available around reasoning, decision making and questioning around medication administration. Therefore, this study focuses upon addressing the gap in knowledge around what nurses believe influences their decision to question. A critical incident design was employed where nurses were asked to describe clinical incidents around their decision to question a medication issue. Nurses were recruited from a neonatal clinical care unit and participated in an individual digitally recorded interview. One hundred and three nurses participated between December 2013-August 2014. Use of the constant comparative method revealed commonalities within transcripts. Thirty-six categories were grouped into three major themes: 'Working environment', 'Doing the right thing' and 'Knowledge about medications'. Findings highlight factors that influence nurses' decision to question issues around medication administration. Nurses feel it is their responsibility to do the right thing and speak up for their vulnerable patients to enhance patient safety. Negative dimensions within the themes will inform planning of educational strategies to improve patient safety, whereas positive dimensions must be reinforced within the multidisciplinary team. The working environment must support nurses to question and ultimately provide safe patient care. Clear and up to date policies, formal and informal education, role modelling by senior nurses, effective use of communication skills and a team approach can facilitate nurses to

What Makes a Scientific Research Question Worth Investigating? Students' Epistemic Criteria and Considerations of Contribution

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Berson, Eric Bruckner

2012-01-01

This dissertation introduces the construct of "worthwhileness" as an important aspect of students' "practical" epistemologies of science (Sandoval, 2005). Specifically, it examines how students conceptualize what makes a scientific research question worthwhile, through a close analysis of the criteria they use for…

Anticipating and addressing event-specific alcohol consumption among adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Pettigrew, Simone; Biagioni, Nicole; Jongenelis, Michelle I

2016-07-29

Various specific events and celebrations are associated with excessive alcohol consumption and related harms. End-of-school celebrations such as Schoolies in Australia are of particular concern given high levels of documented harm among underage and young drinkers. The present study investigated high school students' expectations of their Schoolies celebrations to inform future interventions to reduce adverse outcomes among members of this vulnerable group and other young people involved in similar rites of passage. A link to an online survey was distributed via high schools and Schoolies-related websites. The survey included qualitative questions that invited respondents to discuss (i) aspects of Schoolies they were looking forward to most and least and (ii) their perceptions of the likely consequences if they refrained from consuming alcohol during the event. In total, 435 students provided responses. Respondents discussed the role of Schoolies in marking their transition to adulthood. Their comments revealed a cross-temporal focus indicating that Schoolies is simultaneously symbolic of the past, present, and future. Through its ability to enhance social interaction, alcohol was perceived to have a vital role in realising the potential of this event to signify and facilitate this temporal progression. Results suggest interventions that treat Schoolies as an isolated event that occurs in specific locations may fail to appreciate the extent to which these events transcend time for those involved. Instead, harm reduction is likely to involve a reconceptualisation of the event among both participants and authority figures to facilitate the provision of alternative pastimes to drinking during Schoolies that yield similar social benefits.

The moderating role of avoidance behavior on anxiety over time: Is there a difference between social anxiety disorder and specific phobia?

OpenAIRE

Rudaz, Myriam; Ledermann, Thomas; Margraf, J?rgen; Becker, Eni S.; Craske, Michelle G.

2017-01-01

Theories of anxiety disorders and phobias have ascribed a critical role to avoidance behavior in explaining the persistence of fear and anxiety, but knowledge about the role of avoidance behavior in the maintenance of anxiety in social anxiety disorder relative to specific phobia is lacking. This study examined the extent to which avoidance behavior moderates the relationship between general anxiety at baseline and 18 months later in women with a diagnosed social anxiety disorder (n = 91) and...

The Moderating Role of Avoidance Behavior on Anxiety Over Time: Is There a Difference Between Social Anxiety Disorder and Specific Phobia?

OpenAIRE

Rudaz, Myriam; Ledermann, Thomas; Margraf, Jürgen; Becker, Eni S.; Craske, Michelle G.

2017-01-01

Theories of anxiety disorders and phobias have ascribed a critical role to avoidance behavior in explaining the persistence of fear and anxiety, but knowledge about the role of avoidance behavior in the maintenance of anxiety in social anxiety disorder relative to specific phobia is lacking. This study examined the extent to which avoidance behavior moderates the relationship between general anxiety at baseline and 18 months later in women with a diagnosed social anxiety disorder (n = 91) and...

Three Key Questions on Measuring Learning

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McTighe, Jay

2018-01-01

The author examines three essential questions on educational assessment: What really matters in a contemporary education? How should we assess those things that matter? How might our assessments enhance learning that matters, not just measure it? In answering these question, he argues that schools need a broader collection of measures, with a…

La Question de L'impunité des Auteurs de Violations des Droits de L'homme

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Maria dos Remédios Fontes Silva

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Ce travail pretend faire reflechir à propos de la question de l'impunite des autorites de L'Etat face aux violations des droits de l'homme. On abordera cet egard: a le role de I'amnistie ble complicite des autoritesadministratives c la lenteur des procedures judicieuse.     L'analyse de cette question montre qui L'impunite des responsables des violations des droits de l'homme fait peser une menace sur I'ensemble du systeme de protection universelle des droits de l'homme.          On peut on conduire qu 'aucune societe que aspire à la democratie et ala justice ne peut se construire sur I'amoralite des crimes impunis et I'amnesie officielle.

The acquisition of wh-questions in Russian

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Nina Rojina

2005-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, I study the acquisition of wh-questions in Russian by one Russian-speaking child from an early stage of syntactic development. For my analysis, I follow Plunkett (1992:73 in adopting a weak version of the Continuity Hypothesis where all the principles of UG are available from the outset of the acquisition process, but the structure of the functional template must be built up before parameter setting can begin. I adopt this hypothesis due to its compatibility with my finding that in the acquisition of Russian wh-questions, the functional projection CP appears at a later stage of syntactic development than other functional projections. Following Plunkett, I assume that in the beginning, the landing site for the wh-word is [Spec,TP] and later, for the valuation of other features (such as finiteness, the child is forced to acquire another functional projection (CP in order to create a landing site for the wh-word. The analysis shows that the first wh-questions acquired by the child are wh-complement questions. The child starts to produce subject wh-questions when the CP projection is acquired, and by the age of 2;4.14, the child’s structure of wh-questions is close to that of adult speech.

Semi-automated categorization of open-ended questions

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Matthias Schonlau

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Text data from open-ended questions in surveys are difficult to analyze and are frequently ignored. Yet open-ended questions are important because they do not constrain respondents’ answer choices. Where open-ended questions are necessary, sometimes multiple human coders hand-code answers into one of several categories. At the same time, computer scientists have made impressive advances in text mining that may allow automation of such coding. Automated algorithms do not achieve an overall accuracy high enough to entirely replace humans. We categorize open-ended questions soliciting narrative responses using text mining for easy-to-categorize answers and humans for the remainder using expected accuracies to guide the choice of the threshold delineating between “easy” and “hard”. Employing multinomial boosting avoids the common practice of converting machine learning “confidence scores” into pseudo-probabilities. This approach is illustrated with examples from open-ended questions related to respondents’ advice to a patient in a hypothetical dilemma, a follow-up probe related to respondents’ perception of disclosure/privacy risk, and from a question on reasons for quitting smoking from a follow-up survey from the Ontario Smoker’s Helpline. Targeting 80% combined accuracy, we found that 54%-80% of the data could be categorized automatically in research surveys.

Can Emergency Medicine Residents Reliably Use the Internet to Answer Clinical Questions?

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June Abbas

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The study objective was to determine the accuracy of answers to clinical questions by emergency medicine (EM residents conducting Internet searches by using Google. Emergency physicians commonly turn to outside resources to answer clinical questions that arise in the emergency department (ED. Internet access in the ED has supplanted textbooks for references because it is perceived as being more up to date. Although Google is the most widely used general Internet search engine, it is not medically oriented and merely provides links to other sources. Users must judge the reliability of the information obtained on the links. We frequently observed EM faculty and residents using Google rather than medicine-specific databases to seek answers to clinical questions. Methods: Two EM faculties developed a clinically oriented test for residents to take without the use of any outside aid. They were instructed to answer each question only if they were confident enough of their answer to implement it in a patient-care situation. Questions marked as unsure or answered incorrectly were used to construct a second test for each subject. On the second test, they were instructed to use Google as a resource to find links that contained answers. Results: Thirty-three residents participated. The means for the initial test were 32% correct, 28% incorrect, and 40% unsure. On the Google test, the mean for correct answers was 59%; 33% of answers were incorrect and 8% were unsure. Conclusion: EM residents’ ability to answer clinical questions correctly by using Web sites from Google searches was poor. More concerning was that unsure answers decreased, whereas incorrect answers increased. The Internet appears to have given the residents a false sense of security in their answers. Innovations, such as Internet access in the ED, should be studied carefully before being accepted as reliable tools for teaching clinical decision making. [West J Emerg Med. 2011

Region-specific role for Pten in maintenance of epithelial phenotype and integrity

Science.gov (United States)

Flodby, Per; Sunohara, Mitsuhiro; Castillo, Dan R.; McConnell, Alicia M.; Krishnaveni, Manda S.; Banfalvi, Agnes; Li, Min; Stripp, Barry; Zhou, Beiyun; Crandall, Edward D.; Minoo, Parviz

2017-01-01

Previous studies have demonstrated resistance to naphthalene-induced injury in proximal airways of mice with lung epithelial-specific deletion of the tumor-suppressor gene Pten, attributed to increased proliferation of airway progenitors. We tested effects of Pten loss following bleomycin injury, a model typically used to study distal lung epithelial injury, in conditional PtenSFTPC-cre knockout mice. Pten-deficient airway epithelium exhibited marked hyperplasia, particularly in small bronchioles and at bronchoalveolar duct junctions, with reduced E-cadherin and β-catenin expression between cells toward the luminal aspect of the hyperplastic epithelium. Bronchiolar epithelial and alveolar epithelial type II (AT2) cells in PtenSFTPC-cre mice showed decreased expression of epithelial markers and increased expression of mesenchymal markers, suggesting at least partial epithelial-mesenchymal transition at baseline. Surprisingly, and in contrast to previous studies, mutant mice were exquisitely sensitive to bleomycin, manifesting rapid weight loss, respiratory distress, increased early mortality (by day 5), and reduced dynamic lung compliance. This was accompanied by sloughing of the hyperplastic airway epithelium with occlusion of small bronchioles by cellular debris, without evidence of increased parenchymal lung injury. Increased airway epithelial cell apoptosis due to loss of antioxidant defenses, reflected by decreased expression of superoxide dismutase 3, in combination with deficient intercellular adhesion, likely predisposed to airway sloughing in knockout mice. These findings demonstrate an important role for Pten in maintenance of airway epithelial phenotype integrity and indicate that responses to Pten deletion in respiratory epithelium following acute lung injury are highly context-dependent and region-specific. PMID:27864284

A single-question screening test for drug use in primary care.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Peter C; Schmidt, Susan M; Allensworth-Davies, Donald; Saitz, Richard

2010-07-12

Drug use (illicit drug use and nonmedical use of prescription drugs) is common but underrecognized in primary care settings. We validated a single-question screening test for drug use and drug use disorders in primary care. Adult patients recruited from primary care waiting rooms were asked the single screening question, "How many times in the past year have you used an illegal drug or used a prescription medication for nonmedical reasons?" A response of at least 1 time was considered positive for drug use. They were also asked the 10-item Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10). The reference standard was the presence or absence of current (past year) drug use or a drug use disorder (abuse or dependence) as determined by a standardized diagnostic interview. Drug use was also determined by oral fluid testing for common drugs of abuse. Of 394 eligible primary care patients, 286 (73%) completed the interview. The single screening question was 100% sensitive (95% confidence interval [CI], 90.6%-100%) and 73.5% specific (95% CI, 67.7%-78.6%) for the detection of a drug use disorder. It was less sensitive for the detection of self-reported current drug use (92.9%; 95% CI, 86.1%-96.5%) and drug use detected by oral fluid testing or self-report (81.8%; 95% CI, 72.5%-88.5%). Test characteristics were similar to those of the DAST-10 and were affected very little by participant demographic characteristics. The single screening question accurately identified drug use in this sample of primary care patients, supporting the usefulness of this brief screen in primary care.

Psychological effects of dog ownership: role strain, role enhancement, and depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Cline, Krista Marie Clark

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the link between multiple roles and depression and to attempt to provide a clearer answer to the question of what effect, if any, the role of dog ownership plays. Role strain and role enhancement theories are drawn upon to study this relationship. Ordinary least squares regression is used to examine a national sample of 201 adults in the United States. Findings revealed sex and marital status differences in the relationship between dog ownership and well-being, with women and single adults more likely to benefit from dog ownership. The findings presented here suggest that inattention to variations in marital status and sex may have been one factor in the inconsistency in the literature on pets and well-being.

Two questions about surrogacy and exploitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wertheimer, Alan

1992-01-01

In this article I will consider two related questions about surrogacy and exploitation: (1) Is surrogacy exploitative? (2) If surrogacy is exploitative, what is the moral force of this exploitation? Briefly stated, I shall argue that whether surrogacy is exploitative depends on whether exploitation must be harmful to the exploited party or whether (as I think) there can be mutually advantageous exploitation. It also depends on some facts about surrogacy about which we have little reliable evidence and on our philosophical view on what counts as a harm to the surrogate. Our answer to the second question will turn in part on the account of exploitation we invoke in answering the first question and in part on the way in which we resolve some other questions about the justification of state interference. I shall suggest, however, that if surrogacy is a form of voluntary and mutually advantageous exploitation, then there is a strong presumption that surrogacy contracts should be permitted and even enforceable, although that presumption may be overridden on other grounds.

KEMAMPUAN MAHASISWA DALAM MEMBUAT COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

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Pudiyono Pudiyono

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The aims of the research were to find out (a the level of the students’ ability in making comprehension questions, (b the students’ map of problems in making comprehension questions. The population of the research was all students joining Reading 4 academic year 2016, totaling to 30 students, while the sample was taken from all students. The result of data analysis showed that the average ability of the students, with score more than 70 reached 66.66%. In details, only 4 of the samples (13.33% got no wrong answers or an A. Those who got good achievement (B, considered as majority, amounted to 16 students (53.33%. The participants achieving enough grades (C reached 7 students or 23.33%. The last level achieved in this research was D with the number reaching 3 (10%. The map of problems laid on their inability in identifying between yes/no and WH questions, inverted sentence, choosing the right auxiliary and verbs and their spelling ability. Keyword: comprehension, questions, inversion, problem map, ability

How commercial and ``violent'' video games can promote culturally sensitive science learning: some questions and challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Kwah, Helen

2012-12-01

In their paper, Muñoz and El-Hani propose to bring video games into science classrooms to promote culturally sensitive ethics and citizenship education. Instead of bringing "educational" games, Muñoz and El-Hani take a more creative route and include games such as Fallout 3® precisely because they are popular and they reproduce ideological and violent representations of gender, race, class, nationality, science and technology. However, there are many questions that arise in bringing these commercial video games into science classrooms, including the questions of how students' capacities for critical reflection can be facilitated, whether traditional science teachers can take on the role of using such games in their classrooms, and which video games would be most appropriate to use. In this response, I raise these questions and consider some of the challenges in order to further the possibility of implementing Muñoz and El-Hani's creative proposal for generating culturally sensitive science classrooms.

Site-specific distribution of claudin-based paracellular channels with roles in biological fluid flow and metabolism.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Hiroo; Tamura, Atsushi; Suzuki, Koya; Tsukita, Sachiko

2017-10-01

The claudins are a family of membrane proteins with at least 27 members in humans and mice. The extracellular regions of claudin proteins play essential roles in cell-cell adhesion and the paracellular barrier functions of tight junctions (TJs) in epithelial cell sheets. Furthermore, the extracellular regions of some claudins function as paracellular channels in the paracellular barrier that allow the selective passage of water, ions, and/or small organic solutes across the TJ in the extracellular space. Structural analyses have revealed a common framework of transmembrane, cytoplasmic, and extracellular regions among the claudin-based paracellular barriers and paracellular channels; however, differences in the claudins' extracellular regions, such as their charges and conformations, determine their properties. Among the biological systems that involve fluid flow and metabolism, it is noted that hepatic bile flow, renal Na + reabsorption, and intestinal nutrient absorption are dynamically regulated via site-specific distributions of paracellular channel-forming claudins in tissue. Here, we focus on how site-specific distributions of claudin-2- and claudin-15-based paracellular channels drive their organ-specific functions in the liver, kidney, and intestine. © 2017 New York Academy of Sciences.

Comparison of integrated testlet and constructed-response question formats

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Aaron D. Slepkov

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Constructed-response (CR questions are a mainstay of introductory physics textbooks and exams. However, because of the time, cost, and scoring reliability constraints associated with this format, CR questions are being increasingly replaced by multiple-choice (MC questions in formal exams. The integrated testlet (IT is a recently developed question structure designed to provide a proxy of the pedagogical advantages of CR questions while procedurally functioning as set of MC questions. ITs utilize an answer-until-correct response format that provides immediate confirmatory or corrective feedback, and they thus allow not only for the granting of partial credit in cases of initially incorrect reasoning, but, furthermore, the ability to build cumulative question structures. Here, we report on a study that directly compares the functionality of ITs and CR questions in introductory physics exams. To do this, CR questions were converted to concept-equivalent ITs, and both sets of questions were deployed in midterm and final exams. We find that both question types provide adequate discrimination between stronger and weaker students, with CR questions discriminating slightly better than the ITs. There is some indication that any difference in discriminatory power may result from the baseline score for guessing that is inherent in MC testing. Meanwhile, an analysis of interrater scoring of the CR questions raises serious concerns about the reliability of the granting of partial credit when this traditional assessment technique is used in a realistic (but nonoptimized setting. Furthermore, we show evidence that partial credit is granted in a valid manner in the ITs. Thus, together with consideration of the vastly reduced costs of administering IT-based examinations compared to CR-based examinations, our findings indicate that ITs are viable replacements for CR questions in formal examinations where it is desirable both to assess concept integration and to

Interviewers' question rewording: not always a bad thing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haan, Marieke; Ongena, Yfke; Huiskes, Mike

2013-01-01

Although correct question reading is a fundamental assumption of standardized interviewing, in surveys, interviewers will not always read all questions exactly as worded. In this study the deviations in question reading by interviewers were analyzed. In addition, we studied if these deviations were

Within-Case and Cross-Case Analyses of Questions Posed by Fifth-Grade Students Working in Small Groups to Investigate Pendulum Motion

Science.gov (United States)

Tisel, James Michael

The focus of this basic qualitative research is student questions in an unstructured inquiry setting. Case and cross-case analyses were conducted (Miles and Huberman, 1984) of the questions posed by fifth grade students working in laboratory groups of size three to five students as they investigated pendulum motion. To establish the conceptual framework for the study, literature was reviewed in the areas of cognitive theory (constructivism, conceptual change, and other theories), approaches to science, and the importance of student questions in the learning process. A review of group work, related studies of student questions and activities and relevant methods of qualitative research was also undertaken. The current study occupies the relatively unique position of being about the questions students posed to each other (not the teacher) at the outset of and throughout an unstructured inquiry activity with a minimum of teacher initiation or intervention. The focus is on finding out what questions students ask, when they ask them, what categories the questions fall into in relation to possible models of the scientific method, student motivation, and what role the questions play as the students take part in an inquiry activity. Students were video and/or audio-recorded as they did the investigation. They wrote down their questions during one-minute pauses that occurred at roughly eight-minute intervals. The groups were interviewed the next day about their experience. The recordings, question sheets, and interview accounts and recordings were analyzed by the researcher. Accounts of the experience of each group were prepared, and reiterated attempts were made to classify the questions as the main themes and categories emerged. It was found that students posed their key research question (most typically related to pendulum damping effects) midway through the first half of their activity, after having first met some competence and other needs in relation to measurement

Poor Government Oversight of Anham and Its Subcontracting Procedures Allowed Questionable Costs To Go Undetected

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-30

contractor purchasing system review of Anham. Management Comments and Audit Response The Defense Contract Mangement Agency and the U.S. Central... Introduction 1  Background 1  Government Agency Roles and Oversight Responsibilities 4  Objectives 7  Weak Government Oversight Resulted in Significant...Subcontracting Procedures Allowed Questionable Costs To Go Undetected SIGIR 11-022 July 30, 2011 Introduction Since 2003, the United States Government

Introspection of subjective feelings is sensitive and specific.

Science.gov (United States)

Questienne, Laurence; van Dijck, Jean-Philippe; Gevers, Wim

2018-02-01

Conversely to behaviorist ideas, recent studies suggest that introspection can be accurate and reliable. However, an unresolved question is whether people are able to report specific aspects of their phenomenal experience, or whether they report more general nonspecific experiences. To address this question, we investigated the sensitivity and validity of our introspection for different types of conflict. Taking advantage of the congruency sequence effect, we dissociated response conflict while keeping visual conflict unchanged in a Stroop and in a priming task. Participants were subsequently asked to report on either their experience of urge to err or on their feeling of visual conflict. Depending on the focus of the introspection, subjective reports specifically followed either the response conflict or the visual conflict. These results demonstrate that our introspective reports can be sensitive and that we are able to dissociate specific aspects of our phenomenal experiences in a valid manner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Probability and Statistics: 5 Questions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Probability and Statistics: 5 Questions is a collection of short interviews based on 5 questions presented to some of the most influential and prominent scholars in probability and statistics. We hear their views on the fields, aims, scopes, the future direction of research and how their work fits...... in these respects. Interviews with Nick Bingham, Luc Bovens, Terrence L. Fine, Haim Gaifman, Donald Gillies, James Hawthorne, Carl Hoefer, James M. Joyce, Joseph B. Kadane Isaac Levi, D.H. Mellor, Patrick Suppes, Jan von Plato, Carl Wagner, Sandy Zabell...

What are the questions that patients with early-stage prostate cancer want to ask before decision making?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heyda, A.; Gawkowska-Suwinska, M.; Feldman-Stewart, D.; Brennenstuhl, S.

2008-01-01

The aim of the study was to determine what information is most needed by patients with early-stage prostate cancer during the time between diagnosis and treatment decision making. This study is a part of a multicentered international study conducted in Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Spain, Turkey and England. The questionnaire was completed by 55 Polish patients, 3 to 24 months after they had completed their treatment. Patients used a 4-pt Likert scale (essential, desired, no opinion, avoid) to rate how important it was to obtain answers to each of the 93 questions, between diagnosis and treatment decision. Participants also indicated the reason for which they wanted each essential and desired question answered: to help them understand their situations, to decide on treatment, to plan their future or other. The patients also indicated who they remember participating in making the decision and who they would like to participate if the decision was to be made today. 23 questions were described as essential by 49% or more of the patients. We observed an immense variability of results. Each question was rated as essential or desired by at least a few patients. Twelve questions were identified as questions which should be avoided by 9 to 20% of participants: Of the 23 questions rated essential by at least 49% of patients, on average 44% wanted the information to help them understand their situations and 23% to help them decide on treatment. Patients had made their decision: with their family and doctor (31%), with their doctor (29%), alone (11%), with their family (9%), no answer - 11%. In 9% of cases the decision had been made without the active participation of the patient. If the patients were to make their decision now, they would have liked to make it with their doctor and family (47%), with their doctor (29%), alone (9%), with their family (4%), no answer- 9%. Eighty percent of patients recalled taking an active role in their treatment decisions and that

Psychometrics of Multiple Choice Questions with Non-Functioning Distracters: Implications to Medical Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Deepak, Kishore K; Al-Umran, Khalid Umran; AI-Sheikh, Mona H; Dkoli, B V; Al-Rubaish, Abdullah

2015-01-01

The functionality of distracters in a multiple choice question plays a very important role. We examined the frequency and impact of functioning and non-functioning distracters on psychometric properties of 5-option items in clinical disciplines. We analyzed item statistics of 1115 multiple choice questions from 15 summative assessments of undergraduate medical students and classified the items into five groups by their number of non-functioning distracters. We analyzed the effect of varying degree of non-functionality ranging from 0 to 4, on test reliability, difficulty index, discrimination index and point biserial correlation. The non-functionality of distracters inversely affected the test reliability and quality of items in a predictable manner. The non-functioning distracters made the items easier and lowered the discrimination index significantly. Three non-functional distracters in a 5-option MCQ significantly affected all psychometric properties (p psychometrically as effective as 5-option items. Our study reveals that a multiple choice question with 3 functional options provides lower most limit of item format that has adequate psychometric property. The test containing items with less number of functioning options have significantly lower reliability. The distracter function analysis and revision of nonfunctioning distracters can serve as important methods to improve the psychometrics and reliability of assessment.

Does everyone use probabilities? The role of cognitive skills

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Binswanger, J.S.; Salm, Martin

What is the role of cognitive skills in decision making under uncertainty? We address this question by examining the relationship between responses to survey questions about subjective probabilities of stock market returns and stock holding decisions. Based on data from the Health and Retirement

The role of Michael Pupin in solving of Serbian national question

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Grčić Mirko D.

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Michael I. Pupin was a professor at the University of Columbia, member and the president of Academy of Science in New York; one of the esteemed members of USA National Academy of Science; member and president of many experts and scientific institutions and societies in the USA; member of State Council for Scientific Research by president of the USA during the World War I. Of the great importance for political geography and geopolitics was his activity in Paris during the Peace Conference after the World War I in 1919 also as his great contribution to establishment of state borders of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians (later Yugoslavia, which helped those nations to establish their national borders at maximum level. Pupin claimed that he was Yugoslav patriot and American citizen. Role of M. Pupin in battle for national interests and Yugoslav borders after the World War I is shown in this article.

Hexose kinases and their role in sugar-sensing and plant development

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David eGranot

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Hexose sugars, such as glucose and fructose produced in plants, are ubiquitous in most organisms and are the origin of most of the organic matter found in nature. To be utilized, hexose sugars must first be phosphorylated. The central role of hexose-phosphorylating enzymes has attracted the attention of many researchers, leading to novel discoveries. Only two families of enzymes capable of phosphorylating glucose and fructose have been identified in plants; hexokinases (HXKs and fructokinases (FRKs. Intensive investigations of these two families in numerous plant species have yielded a wealth of knowledge regarding the genes number, enzymatic characterization, intracellular localization and developmental and physiological roles of several HXKs and FRKs. The emerging picture indicates that HXK and FRK enzymes found at specific intracellular locations play distinct roles in plant metabolism and development. Individual HXKs were shown for the first time to be dual-function enzymes - sensing sugar levels independent of their catalytic activity and also controlling gene expression and major developmental pathways, as well as hormonal interactions. FRK, on the other hand, seems to play a central metabolic role in vascular tissues, controlling the amounts of sugars allocated for vascular development. While a clearer picture of the roles of these two types of enzymes is emerging, many questions remain unsolved, such as the specific tissues and types of cells in which these enzymes function, the roles of individual HXK and FRK genes, and how these enzymes interact with hormones in the regulation of developmental processes. It is anticipated that ongoing efforts will broaden our knowledge of these important plant enzymes and their potential uses in the modification of plant traits.

Children's Question Asking and Curiosity: A Training Study

Science.gov (United States)

Jirout, Jamie; Klahr, David

2011-01-01

A primary instructional objective of most early science programs is to foster children's scientific curiosity and question-asking skills (Jirout & Klahr, 2011). However, little is known about the relationship between curiosity, question-asking behavior, and general inquiry skills. While curiosity and question asking are invariably mentioned in…

D-linking or set-restriction? Processing Which-questions in Dutch

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Donkers, Jantien; Hoeks, John C. J.; Stowe, Laurie A.

2013-01-01

Research on Wh-questions suggests that Which questions are harder to process than Who questions (e.g., Who/Which athlete won the competition?). According to the Discourse (D)-linking Hypothesis, Which-questions differ from Who-questions in that Which questions need a link to a preceding discourse,

Child-Specific Exposure Scenarios Examples (Final Report)

Science.gov (United States)

EPA announced the availability of the final report, Child-Specific Exposure Scenarios Examples. This report is intended to be a companion document to the Exposure Factors Handbook (U.S. EPA 2011). The example scenarios were compiled from questions and inquiries r...

Questioning care at the end of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruopp, Patricia; Good, Mary-Jo Delvecchio; Lakoma, Matthew; Gadmer, Nina M; Arnold, Robert M; Block, Susan D

2005-06-01

The goal of the larger study was to explore physicians' emotional responses to the death of their patients; this study analyzed a subset of physician transcripts to elucidate the construct of questioning care, which emerged from the larger study. To analyzes how physicians question care-expressing concern, unease, or uncertainty about treatment decisions and practices, errors, or adverse events-as they attend dying patients. Retrospective interview study of physicians caring for randomly selected deaths on the medical service of a major academic teaching hospital, using qualitative and quantitative measures. SETTING, SUBJECTS: 188 attendings, residents, and interns on the internal medical services of two academic medical centers were part of the larger study. A subsample of 75 physician narratives was selected for qualitative data analysis for this study. Qualitative measures included open-ended questions eliciting physicians' stories of the most recent and a most emotionally powerful patient death they have experienced. Grounded theory was used to analyze physician narratives. Quantitative instruments measured physician attitudes toward end-of-life care and responses to the most recent and most emotional patient death. Physicians question care more frequently in most emotional deaths (42%) than in most recent deaths (34%). Physicians question communication with patients and families and within medical teams, medical judgment and technique, standards of practice, and high-risk treatments, often assigning responsibility for medical management they perceive as inappropriate, futile, overly aggressive, or mistakes in judgment and technique. Responsibility ranges from the distal (the culture of medicine) to the proximal (personal). Frustration, guilt, and anger are more frequently expressed in these narratives when care is questioned. A typology of questioning care emerged from these physicians' narratives that parallels and reflects recent and classic research on

On authenticity: the question of truth in construction and autobiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Sara

2011-12-01

Freud was occupied with the question of truth and its verification throughout his work. He looked to archaeology for an evidence model to support his ideas on reconstruction. He also referred to literature regarding truth in reconstruction, where he saw shifts between historical fact and invention, and detected such swings in his own case histories. In his late work Freud pondered over the impossibility of truth in reconstruction by juxtaposing truth with 'probability'. Developments on the role of fantasy and myth in reconstruction and contemporary debates over objectivity have increasingly highlighted the question of 'truth' in psychoanalysis. I will argue that 'authenticity' is a helpful concept in furthering the discussion over truth in reconstruction. Authenticity denotes that which is genuine, trustworthy and emotionally accurate in a reconstruction, as observed within the immediacy of the analyst/patient interaction. As authenticity signifies genuineness in a contemporary context its origins are verifiable through the analyst's own observations of the analytic process itself. Therefore, authenticity is about the likelihood and approximation of historical truth rather than its certainty. In that respect it links with Freud's musings over 'probability'. Developments on writing 'truths' in autobiography mirror those in reconstruction, and lend corroborative support from another source. Copyright © 2011 Institute of Psychoanalysis.

Questioning short-term memory and its measurement: Why digit span measures long-term associative learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Gary; Macken, Bill

2015-11-01

Traditional accounts of verbal short-term memory explain differences in performance for different types of verbal material by reference to inherent characteristics of the verbal items making up memory sequences. The role of previous experience with sequences of different types is ostensibly controlled for either by deliberate exclusion or by presenting multiple trials constructed from different random permutations. We cast doubt on this general approach in a detailed analysis of the basis for the robust finding that short-term memory for digit sequences is superior to that for other sequences of verbal material. Specifically, we show across four experiments that this advantage is not due to inherent characteristics of digits as verbal items, nor are individual digits within sequences better remembered than other types of individual verbal items. Rather, the advantage for digit sequences stems from the increased frequency, compared to other verbal material, with which digits appear in random sequences in natural language, and furthermore, relatively frequent digit sequences support better short-term serial recall than less frequent ones. We also provide corpus-based computational support for the argument that performance in a short-term memory setting is a function of basic associative learning processes operating on the linguistic experience of the rememberer. The experimental and computational results raise questions not only about the role played by measurement of digit span in cognition generally, but also about the way in which long-term memory processes impact on short-term memory functioning. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Question-asking behavior as a form of cognitive activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elvira A. Baranova

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Children’s questions are an indicator of active cognitive perception of reality. Questions but not answers are relevant in revealing a child’s mental life, consciousness and thinking. The lack of question-asking skills can hinder learning, searching and exploration in children. To determine in 7- and 8-year-old school children the common and variable peculiarities of designing a search process for necessary information concerning an unknown object by volitionally formulated questions, as well as the dynamics of the questioning process throughout a school year. The study was based on an experimental methodology, codenamed Guess what there is in the box, and was conducted in four schools in Cheboksary. The sample comprised 158 primary school first-graders who took part in a confirmatory experiment twice, once in September and once in May. The research showed that 96.3% of the questions asked were search questions. Only 30% of the first-graders initiated their searching activities of their own will without having to resort to the given search algorithm, while 70% did not begin asking questions without outside stimulation. The analysis of the dynamics of children’s question-asking behavior exhibited a tendency to decrease in a number of questions asked over the course of the school year. Primary school children need psychological and pedagogical scaffolding aimed at developing a question-asking behavior as a form of cognitive activity to achieve a possible age potential in development.

OAI, Google scholar and wikepedia are the answers, but what is the question?

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2005-01-01

Some of the questions raised are: 1. what types of presenting knowledge matter these days - and why? 2. for what type of communities (learning communities, communities focused on innovation) do they matter? What can be learned from the way science works within the rich spectrum of disciplines with respect to providing information: is the scientific method more debate-related or more focused on reproduction of experiments and how could OAI (dataproviders / services) play a role in these different approaches? 3. What is to be expected from different online collaborative – supposedly free - services and what general remarks can be made about their interoperability and functionality? 4. What are the quality assuring mechanisms in different communities and how can we translate these principles to further research or mere fruitful information exchange? I believe these are questions that should be raised to see also more clearly the impact of OAI. Within the Dutch context we have some experience with OAI via the D...

Augmented and virtual reality in the media: Questioning the concept of 'immersive' journalism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krstić Aleksandra

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article questions and analyzes the concept of 'immersive' journalism, which has emerged from advanced technologies of augmented and virtual reality and which has already been changing the role of the media, journalism and audiences' experiences. Developed and applied in media and tech companies in the Western countries, this form of journalism represents one of the growing business models used by companies oriented towards improving and developing social networks, mobile platforms and multimedia online portals. Immersion of the audience into journalistic stories, which are upgraded by AR and VR technologies, represents the key change of our understanding, analyzing and representing the reality, and at the same time brings into question ethical and professional journalistic standards. Built on the growing body of academic scholarship and contemporary research in the field, this article critically examines the concept 'immersive' journalism and looks into relevant aspects of its theoretical foundations and practical implementation in the media industry and the university education of journalists.

Histone deacetylases play a major role in the transcriptional regulation of the Plasmodium falciparum life cycle.

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Balbir K Chaal

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The apparent paucity of molecular factors of transcriptional control in the genomes of Plasmodium parasites raises many questions about the mechanisms of life cycle regulation in these malaria parasites. Epigenetic regulation has been suggested to play a major role in the stage specific gene expression during the Plasmodium life cycle. To address some of these questions, we analyzed global transcriptional responses of Plasmodium falciparum to a potent inhibitor of histone deacetylase activities (HDAC. The inhibitor apicidin induced profound transcriptional changes in multiple stages of the P. falciparum intraerythrocytic developmental cycle (IDC that were characterized by rapid activation and repression of a large percentage of the genome. A major component of this response was induction of genes that are otherwise suppressed during that particular stage of the IDC or specific for the exo-erythrocytic stages. In the schizont stage, apicidin induced hyperacetylation of histone lysine residues H3K9, H4K8 and the tetra-acetyl H4 (H4Ac4 and demethylation of H3K4me3. Interestingly, we observed overlapping patterns of chromosomal distributions between H4K8Ac and H3K4me3 and between H3K9Ac and H4Ac4. There was a significant but partial association between the apicidin-induced gene expression and histone modifications, which included a number of stage specific transcription factors. Taken together, inhibition of HDAC activities leads to dramatic de-regulation of the IDC transcriptional cascade, which is a result of both disruption of histone modifications and up-regulation of stage specific transcription factors. These findings suggest an important role of histone modification and chromatin remodeling in transcriptional regulation of the Plasmodium life cycle. This also emphasizes the potential of P. falciparum HDACs as drug targets for malaria chemotherapy.

Histone deacetylases play a major role in the transcriptional regulation of the Plasmodium falciparum life cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaal, Balbir K; Gupta, Archna P; Wastuwidyaningtyas, Brigitta D; Luah, Yen-Hoon; Bozdech, Zbynek

2010-01-22

The apparent paucity of molecular factors of transcriptional control in the genomes of Plasmodium parasites raises many questions about the mechanisms of life cycle regulation in these malaria parasites. Epigenetic regulation has been suggested to play a major role in the stage specific gene expression during the Plasmodium life cycle. To address some of these questions, we analyzed global transcriptional responses of Plasmodium falciparum to a potent inhibitor of histone deacetylase activities (HDAC). The inhibitor apicidin induced profound transcriptional changes in multiple stages of the P. falciparum intraerythrocytic developmental cycle (IDC) that were characterized by rapid activation and repression of a large percentage of the genome. A major component of this response was induction of genes that are otherwise suppressed during that particular stage of the IDC or specific for the exo-erythrocytic stages. In the schizont stage, apicidin induced hyperacetylation of histone lysine residues H3K9, H4K8 and the tetra-acetyl H4 (H4Ac4) and demethylation of H3K4me3. Interestingly, we observed overlapping patterns of chromosomal distributions between H4K8Ac and H3K4me3 and between H3K9Ac and H4Ac4. There was a significant but partial association between the apicidin-induced gene expression and histone modifications, which included a number of stage specific transcription factors. Taken together, inhibition of HDAC activities leads to dramatic de-regulation of the IDC transcriptional cascade, which is a result of both disruption of histone modifications and up-regulation of stage specific transcription factors. These findings suggest an important role of histone modification and chromatin remodeling in transcriptional regulation of the Plasmodium life cycle. This also emphasizes the potential of P. falciparum HDACs as drug targets for malaria chemotherapy.

Answering the ultimate question "what is the proximal cause of aging?".

Science.gov (United States)

Blagosklonny, Mikhail V

2012-12-01

Recent discoveries suggest that aging is neither driven by accumulation of molecular damage of any cause, nor by random damage of any kind. Some predictions of a new theory, quasi-programmed hyperfunction, have already been confirmed and a clinically-available drug slows aging and delays diseases in animals. The relationship between diseases and aging becomes easily apparent. Yet, the essence of aging turns out to be so startling that the theory cannot be instantly accepted and any possible arguments are raised for its disposal. I discuss that these arguments actually support a new theory. Are any questions remaining? And might accumulation of molecular damage still play a peculiar role in aging?

Feasibility of using of a simplified question in assessing diet quality of adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, Paulo Rogério Melo; Gonçalves-Silva, Regina Maria Veras; Ferreira, Márcia Gonçalves; Pereira, Rosangela Alves

2017-05-01

This study aims to analyze the applicability of a simplified question in assessing diet quality of adolescents in a cross-sectional school-based study carried out in a sample of high school students. Diet quality self-perception was obtained when the participant was inquired about own diet considering "excellent", "good", "fair" or "poor" responses. We evaluated meals habits and food intake through food frequency questionnaire. The revised version of the Brazilian Healthy Eating Index (BHEI-R) was estimated and we identified three dietary patterns using factor analysis. "Good" self-perceived diet quality was reported by 56% of adolescents and was associated with regular consumption of fruits and vegetables, meal profile and high healthy eating index scores. However, consumption of foods harmful to health was not perceived as characteristic that affects diet quality. The evaluated question showed sensitivity of 28% to detect good quality diets and specificity of 79% to identify low nutritional value diets. The use of a simplified question to assess dietary habits of adolescents is limited, since the consumption of high-fat, high-sugar and high-sodium food was not recognized as an indicator of low quality diet.

Combining Open-domain and Biomedical Knowledge for Topic Recognition in Consumer Health Questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mrabet, Yassine; Kilicoglu, Halil; Roberts, Kirk; Demner-Fushman, Dina

2016-01-01

Determining the main topics in consumer health questions is a crucial step in their processing as it allows narrowing the search space to a specific semantic context. In this paper we propose a topic recognition approach based on biomedical and open-domain knowledge bases. In the first step of our method, we recognize named entities in consumer health questions using an unsupervised method that relies on a biomedical knowledge base, UMLS, and an open-domain knowledge base, DBpedia. In the next step, we cast topic recognition as a binary classification problem of deciding whether a named entity is the question topic or not. We evaluated our approach on a dataset from the National Library of Medicine (NLM), introduced in this paper, and another from the Genetic and Rare Disease Information Center (GARD). The combination of knowledge bases outperformed the results obtained by individual knowledge bases by up to 16.5% F1 and achieved state-of-the-art performance. Our results demonstrate that combining open-domain knowledge bases with biomedical knowledge bases can lead to a substantial improvement in understanding user-generated health content.

Undressing of Waddlia chondrophila to enrich its outer membrane proteins to develop a new species-specific ELISA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Lienard

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Waddlia chondrophila, an obligate intracellular bacterium of the Chlamydiales order, is considered as an agent of bovine abortion and a likely cause of miscarriage in humans. Its role in respiratory diseases was questioned after the detection of its DNA in clinical samples taken from patients suffering from pneumonia or bronchiolitis. To better define the role of Waddlia in both miscarriage and pneumonia, a tool allowing large-scale serological investigations of Waddlia seropositivity is needed. Therefore, enriched outer membrane proteins of W. chondrophila were used as antigens to develop a specific ELISA. After thorough analytical optimization, the ELISA was validated by comparison with micro-immunofluorescence and it showed a sensitivity above 85% with 100% specificity. The ELISA was subsequently applied to human sera to specify the role of W. chondrophila in pneumonia. Overall, 3.6% of children showed antibody reactivity against W. chondrophila but no significant difference was observed between children with and without pneumonia. Proteomic analyses were then performed using mass spectrometry, highlighting members of the outer membrane protein family as the dominant proteins. The major Waddlia putative immunogenic proteins were identified by immunoblot using positive and negative human sera. The new ELISA represents an efficient tool with high throughput applications. Although no association with pneumonia and Waddlia seropositivity was observed, this ELISA could be used to specify the role of W. chondrophila in miscarriage and in other diseases.

Processing load imposed by line breaks in English temporal wh-questions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masako Hirotani

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Prosody plays an important role in online sentence processing both explicitly and implicitly. It has been shown that prosodically packaging together parts of a sentence that are interpreted together facilitates processing of the sentence. This applies not only to explicit prosody but also implicit prosody. The present work hypothesizes that a line break in a written text induces an implicit prosodic break, which, in turn, should result in a processing bias for interpreting English wh-questions. Two experiments – one self-paced reading study and one questionnaire study – are reported. Both supported the line break hypothesis mentioned above. The results of the self-paced reading experiment showed that unambiguous wh-questions were read faster when the location of line breaks (or frame breaks matched the scope of a wh-phrase (main or embedded clause than when they did not. The questionnaire tested sentences with an ambiguous wh-phrase, one that could attach either to the main or the embedded clause. These sentences were interpreted as attaching to the main clause more often than to the embedded clause when a line break appeared after the main verb, but not when it appeared after the embedded verb.

QUESTION FORMATION OF BAHASA INDONESIA AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

zulfa Sakhiyya

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract: This article aims to implement Processability Theory (PT to Bahasa Indonesia or Indonesian language and to identify developmental stages for question formation in the setting of Bahasa Indonesia as a second language (ISL. PT provides a theoretical framework in making predictions about the course of language development, in this case the question formation acquisition. This study proposes developmental stages of question formation in ISL setting by contrasting the lexical functional grammar of Indonesian question as compared to ESL question formation. Four stages of ISL question formation were proposed. The proposed stages serve as the basis for data analysis and to show its plausibility.

On the placement of practice questions during study.

Science.gov (United States)

Weinstein, Yana; Nunes, Ludmila D; Karpicke, Jeffrey D

2016-03-01

Retrieval practice improves retention of information on later tests. A question remains: When should retrieval occur during learning-interspersed throughout study or at the end of each study period? In a lab experiment, an online experiment, and a classroom study, we aimed to determine the ideal placement (interspersed vs. at-the-end) of retrieval practice questions. In the lab experiment, 64 subjects viewed slides about APA style and answered short-answer practice questions about the content or restudied the slides (restudy condition). The practice questions either appeared 1 every 1-2 slides (interspersed condition), or all at the end of the presentation (at-the-end condition). One week later, subjects returned and answered the same questions on a final test. In the online experiment, 175 subjects completed the same procedure. In the classroom study, 62 undergraduate students took quizzes as part of class lectures. Short-answer practice questions appeared either throughout the lectures (interspersed condition) or at the end of the lectures (at-the-end condition). Nineteen days after the last quiz, students were given a surprise final test. Results from the 3 experiments converge in demonstrating an advantage for interspersing practice questions on the initial tests, but an absence of this advantage on the final test. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Radiation protection in questions and answers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ewen, K.; Hoppe, G.

1976-01-01

An easily surveyable catalogue of questions is presented which is to make it easier for medical personnel to get acquainted with the basic knowledge according to the X-ray Ordinance and to acquire the expert knowledge in radiation protection. The catalogue is arranged according to different subjects. There are several alternative answers to every question. The right answer is given in the solution index (annex). (HP) [de

The implications of nonauthentic questions in Galatians | Verster ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A new classification of non-authentic questions is helpful in understanding the way in which Paul uses persuasion in Galatians. Paul uses many non-authentic questions, and the implications thereof are evident in the type of question used. The way in which he violates the maxims identified by Grice also entails certain ...

Emerging paradigms and questions on pro-angiogenic bone marrow-derived myelomonocytic cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Laurent, Julien; Touvrey, Cédric; Botta, Francesca; Kuonen, François; Ruegg, Curzio

2011-01-01

Cancer-related inflammation has emerged in recent years as a major event contributing to tumor angiogenesis, tumor progression and metastasis formation. Bone marrow-derived and inflammatory cells promote tumor angiogenesis by providing endothelial progenitor cells that differentiate into mature endothelial cells, and by secreting pro-angiogenic factors and remodeling the extracellular matrix to stimulate angiogenesis though paracrine mechanisms. Several bone marrow-derived myelonomocytic cells, including monocytes and macrophages, have been identified and characterized by several laboratories in recent years. While the central role of these cells in promoting tumor angiogenesis, tumor progression and metastasis is nowadays well established, many questions remain open and new ones are emerging. These include the relationship between their phenotype and function, the mechanisms of pro-angiogenic programming, their contribution to resistance to anti-angiogenic treatments and to metastasis and their potential clinical use as biomarkers of angiogenesis and anti-angiogenic therapies. Here, we will review phenotypical and functional aspects of bone marrow-derived myelonomocytic cells and discuss some of the current outstanding questions.

Questions about elastic waves

CERN Document Server

Engelbrecht, Jüri

2015-01-01

This book addresses the modelling of mechanical waves by asking the right questions about them and trying to find suitable answers. The questions follow the analytical sequence from elementary understandings to complicated cases, following a step-by-step path towards increased knowledge. The focus is on waves in elastic solids, although some examples also concern non-conservative cases for the sake of completeness. Special attention is paid to the understanding of the influence of microstructure, nonlinearity and internal variables in continua. With the help of many mathematical models for describing waves, physical phenomena concerning wave dispersion, nonlinear effects, emergence of solitary waves, scales and hierarchies of waves as well as the governing physical parameters are analysed. Also, the energy balance in waves and non-conservative models with energy influx are discussed. Finally, all answers are interwoven into the canvas of complexity.

Role modelling in medical education: the importance of teaching skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Burgess, Annette; Oates, Kim; Goulston, Kerry

2016-04-01

By observation of role models, and participation in activities, students develop their attitudes, values and professional competencies. Literature suggests that clinical skills and knowledge, personality, and teaching skills are three main areas that students consider central to the identification of positive role models. The aim of this study was to explore junior medical students' opinions of the ideal attributes of a good role model in clinical tutors. The study was conducted with one cohort (n = 301) of students who had completed year 1 of the medical programme in 2013. All students were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding the ideal attributes of a good role model in a clinical tutor. The questionnaire consisted of seven closed items and one open-ended question. The response rate to the questionnaire was 265/301 (88%). Although students found all three key areas important in a good role model, students emphasised the importance of excellence in teaching skills. Specifically, students see good role models as being able to provide a constructive learning environment, a good understanding of the curriculum and an ability to cater to the learning needs of all students. Students see good role models as being able to provide a constructive learning environment While acknowledging the importance of a patient-centred approach, as well as clinical knowledge and skills, our findings reinforce the importance of the actual teaching abilities of role models within medical education. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.