Renewable Portfolio Standards in the States: Balancing Goals and Implementation Strategies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cory, K. S.; Swezey, B. G.

2007-12-01

This paper reports on renewable portfolio standards (RPS) and how the RPS rules vary from state to state. This variation presents important challenges to successful implementation. Key issues are discussed in terms of resource availability, solar-specific provisions, and political and regulatory consistency, and their impacts on the ability to finance new renewable energy projects. This report emphasizes the fact that a successful RPS policy must balance a state's goals for fuel diversity, economic development, price effects, and environmental benefits.

The Necessary Predication between State and Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Nunes Pereira

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This study aims to demonstrate that the central idea of "rule of law" is per se redundant since there is a necessary and reciprocal predication between terms. It is based on the "State-Law" historical and philosophically founded (Westphalia, Bodin and Hobbes, phenomenologically (Schmitt’s Political Theology and normatively (Hans Kelsen’s Legal Positivism based. The rationale on the Sstate leading role suggests that State power must be complete to achieve its goals, which is given by normativity. It is clear that both, State and Law, have the same substance, "Sovereignty", whose implementation coincides with the human agency of cognitive reconfiguration of Politics by religious thought.

Rationales Shaping International Linkages in Higher Education: A Qualitative Case Study of the ASU-ITESM Strategic Alliance

Science.gov (United States)

Camacho Lizarraga, Monica Irene

2011-01-01

This qualitative case study examines the rationales of the relationship between Arizona State University (ASU)--an American public research university--and Tecnologico de Monterrey (ITESM), a Mexican private not for profit research university. The focus of the study is to document the different meanings participants attached to the rationales of…

Placebo versus "standard" hypnosis rationale: attitudes, expectancies, hypnotic responses, and experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Accardi, Michelle; Cleere, Colleen; Lynn, Steven Jay; Kirsch, Irving

2013-10-01

In this study participants were provided with either the standard rationale that accompanies the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility: A (Shor & Orne, 1962) or a rationale that presented hypnosis as a nondeceptive placebo, consistent with Kirsch's (1994) sociocognitive perspective of hypnosis. The effects of the placebo and standard rationales were highly comparable with respect to hypnotic attitudes; prehypnotic expectancies; objective, subjective, and involuntariness measures of hypnotic responding; as well as a variety of subjective experiences during hypnosis, as measured by the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (Pekala, 1982). Differences among correlations were not evident when measures were compared across groups. However, indices of hypnotic responding were correlated with attitudes in the hypnosis but not the placebo condition, and, generally speaking, the link between subjective experiences during hypnosis and measures of hypnotic responding were more reliable in the placebo than the hypnosis group. Researcher findings are neutral with respect to providing support for altered state versus sociocognitive models of hypnosis.

Societal goals, STI policies and socio-technical transitions : the case of the Dutch smart mobility policy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Salas Girones, E.

2017-01-01

This research explores the potential value of incorporating a transition perspective in terms of goal setting, rationales, and instruments used in STI policies using the smart mobility policy in the Netherlands as a case study.

A performance goal-based seismic design philosophy for waste repository facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hossain, Q.A.

1994-02-01

A performance goal-based seismic design philosophy, compatible with DOE's present natural phenomena hazards mitigation and ''graded approach'' philosophy, has been proposed for high level nuclear waste repository facilities. The rationale, evolution, and the desirable features of this method have been described. Why and how the method should and can be applied to the design of a repository facility are also discussed

Reliance on habits at the expense of goal-directed control following dopamine precursor depletion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Wit, S.; Standing, H.R.; DeVito, E.E.; Robinson, O.J.; Ridderinkhof, K.R.; Robbins, T.W.; Sahakian, B.J.

2012-01-01

Rationale Dopamine is well known to play an important role in learning and motivation. Recent animal studies have implicated dopamine in the reinforcement of stimulus-response habits, as well as in flexible, goal-directed action. However, the role of dopamine in human action control is still not

Reliance on habits at the expense of goal-directed control following dopamine precursor depletion

OpenAIRE

de Wit, Sanne; Standing, Holly R.; DeVito, Elise E.; Robinson, Oliver J.; Ridderinkhof, K. Richard; Robbins, Trevor W.; Sahakian, Barbara J.

2011-01-01

Rationale Dopamine is well known to play an important role in learning and motivation. Recent animal studies have implicated dopamine in the reinforcement of stimulus?response habits, as well as in flexible, goal-directed action. However, the role of dopamine in human action control is still not well understood. Objectives We present the first investigation of the effect of reducing dopamine function in healthy volunteers on the balance between habitual and goal-directed action control. Metho...

Rationale for single molecule detection by means of Raman spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaponenko, S.V.; Guzatov, D.V.

2009-01-01

A consistent quantum electrodynamical description is proposed of Raman scattering of light by a molecule in a medium with a modified photon density of states. Enhanced local density of states near a metal nanobody is shown to increase a scattering rate by several orders of magnitude, thus providing a rationale for experimental detection of single molecules by means of Raman spectroscopy. For an ellipsoidal particle 10 14 -fold enhancement of the Raman scattering cross-section is obtained. (authors)

A performance goal-based seismic design philosophy for waste repository facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hossain, Q.A.

1994-01-01

A performance goal-based seismic design philosophy, compatible with DOE's present natural phenomena hazards mitigation and open-quotes graded approachclose quotes philosophy, has been proposed for high level nuclear waste repository facilities. The rationale, evolution, and the desirable features of this method have been described. Why and how the method should and can be applied to the design of a repository facility are also discussed

Risk management for existing energy facilities. A global approach to numerical safety goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pate-Cornell, M.E.

1993-01-01

This paper presents a structured set of numerical safety goals for risk management of existing energy facilities. The rationale behind these safety goals is based on principles of equity and economic efficiency. Some of the issues involved when using probabilistic risk analyses results for safety decisions are discussed. A brief review of existing safety targets and open-quotes floating numbersclose quotes is presented, and a set of safety goals for industrial risk management is proposed. Relaxation of these standards for existing facilities, the relevance of the lifetime of the plant, the treatment of uncertainties, and problems of failure dependencies are discussed briefly. 17 refs., 1 fig

Development of a natural practice to adapt conservation goals to global change.

Science.gov (United States)

Heller, Nicole E; Hobbs, Richard J

2014-06-01

Conservation goals at the start of the 21st century reflect a combination of contrasting ideas. Ideal nature is something that is historically intact but also futuristically flexible. Ideal nature is independent from humans, but also, because of the pervasiveness of human impacts, only able to reach expression through human management. These tensions emerge in current management rationales because scientists and managers are struggling to accommodate old and new scientific and cultural thinking, while also maintaining legal mandates from the past and commitments to preservation of individual species in particular places under the stresses of global change. Common management goals (such as integrity, wilderness, resilience), whether they are forward looking and focused on sustainability and change, or backward looking and focused on the persistence and restoration of historic states, tend to create essentialisms about how ecosystems should be. These essentialisms limit the options of managers to accommodate the dynamic, and often novel, response of ecosystems to global change. Essentialisms emerge because there is a tight conceptual coupling of place and historical species composition as an indicator of naturalness (e.g., normal, healthy, independent from humans). Given that change is increasingly the norm and ecosystems evolve in response, the focus on idealized ecosystem states is increasingly unwise and unattainable. To provide more open-ended goals, we propose greater attention be paid to the characteristics of management intervention. We suggest that the way we interact with other species in management and the extent to which those interactions reflect the interactions among other biotic organisms, and also reflect our conservation virtues (e.g., humility, respect), influences our ability to cultivate naturalness on the landscape. We call this goal a natural practice (NP) and propose it as a framework for prioritizing and formulating how, when, and where to

A Comparison of the Goals of Studio Professors Conducting Critiques and Art Education Goals for Teaching Criticism.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Terry

1988-01-01

Compares stated goals of studio art course professors for teaching of criticism and the goals stated in art education literature of art teacher taught criticism. States that these goals are in conflict, therefore, future art teachers are being guided by goals for criticism that are not in accord with the goals set forth in their study of art…

Effects of Role and Assignment Rationale on Attitudes Formed During Peer Tutoring

Science.gov (United States)

Bierman, Karen Linn; Furman, Wyndol

2012-01-01

This study examined the role of contextual factors, such as assignment rationale, on the attitudinal effects of peer tutoring. Fourth-grade children engaged in brief tutoring experiences as either a tutor or tutee. Subjects received four rationales for being selected as tutor or tutee: (a) a competence rationale, (b) a physical characteristic rationale, (c) a chance rationale, or (d) no rationale. As predicted, tutors had more positive attitudes than tutees when they had been given a competence or physical characteristic rationale but not when the tutors were provided a chance rationale or no rationale. Additionally, the tutors’ and tutees’ attitudes were enhanced when no rationale was provided. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for a role-theory analysis of tutoring and their implications for applied programs. PMID:23946549

Long-Range Goals in International Telecommunications and Information: An Outline for United States Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

This report presents a comprehensive delineation of the principal issues in the field of international telecommunications and information, as well as an overview of United States policy in this area. The first part discusses international trends in protectionism and the politicization of international forums; it also outlines United States goals,…

Using Rationale To Assist Student Cognitive And Intellectual Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janet E. Burge

2010-01-01

Full Text Available One of the questions posed at the National Science Foundation (NSF-sponsored workshop on Creativity and Rationale in Software Design was on the role of rationale in supporting idea generation in the classroom. College students often struggle with problems where more than one possible solution exists. Part of the difficulty lies in the need for students to progress through different levels of development cognitively and intellectually before they can tackle creative problem solving. Argumentation-based rationale provides a natural mechanism for representing problems, candidate solutions, criteria, and arguments relating those criteria to the candidate solutions. Explicitly expressing rationale for their work encourages students to reflect on why they made their choices, and to actively consider multiple alternatives. We report on an experiment performed during a Data Structures course where students captured rationale.

Institutional implications of establishing safety goals for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morris, F.A.; Hooper, R.L.

1983-07-01

The purpose of this project is to anticipate and address institutional problems that may arise from the adoption of NRC's proposed Policy Statement on Safety Goals for Nuclear Power Plants. The report emphasizes one particular category of institutional problems: the possible use of safety goals as a basis for legal challenges to NRC actions, and the resolution of such challenges by the courts. Three types of legal issues are identified and analyzed. These are, first, general legal issues such as access to the legal system, burden of proof, and standard of proof. Second is the particular formulation of goals. Involved here are such questions as sustainable rationale, definitions, avoided issues, vagueness of time and space details, and degree of conservatism. Implementation brings up the third set of issues which include interpretation and application, linkage to probabilistic risk assessment, consequences as compared to events, and the use of results

Understanding the emergence of state goal orientation in organizational work groups: the role of leadership and multilevel climate perceptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Dragoni, Lisa

2005-11-01

This article attends to a broad range of practically significant employee motivations and provides insight into how to enhance individual-level performance by examining individual-level state goal orientation emergence in organizational work groups. Leadership and multilevel climate processes are theorized to parallel each dimension of state goal orientation to cue and ultimately induce the corresponding achievement focus among individual work group members. It is argued that the patterns of leader behavior, which elucidate the leader's achievement priority, shape group members' psychological and work group climate to embody this priority. Resulting multilevel climate perceptions signal and compel group members to adopt the ascribed form of state goal orientation. The quality of the leader-member exchange relationship is viewed as a means to clarify leader messages in the formation of group members' psychological climate and internalize these cues in the emergence of state goal orientation. Considerations for future research and practice are discussed. ((c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).

New Rationales for Women on Boards

OpenAIRE

Choudhury, B.

2014-01-01

Should measures promoting women to corporate boards be solely justified in terms of economic arguments? Traditionally, such measures have tended to rely on utilitarian arguments, despite the fact that the most prominent of these arguments—the relationship between women’s presence on boards and firm financial performance—is equivocal. Conversely, this article argues that rationales for increasing women on boards should be based on both equality and economics grounds. An equality rationale is n...

Rationales for the Lightning Launch Commit Criteria

Science.gov (United States)

Willett, John C. (Editor); Merceret, Francis J. (Editor); Krider, E. Philip; O'Brien, T. Paul; Dye, James E.; Walterscheid, Richard L.; Stolzenburg, Maribeth; Cummins, Kenneth; Christian, Hugh J.; Madura, John T.

2016-01-01

Since natural and triggered lightning are demonstrated hazards to launch vehicles, payloads, and spacecraft, NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) follow the Lightning Launch Commit Criteria (LLCC) for launches from Federal Ranges. The LLCC were developed to prevent future instances of a rocket intercepting natural lightning or triggering a lightning flash during launch from a Federal Range. NASA and DoD utilize the Lightning Advisory Panel (LAP) to establish and develop robust rationale from which the criteria originate. The rationale document also contains appendices that provide additional scientific background, including detailed descriptions of the theory and observations behind the rationales. The LLCC in whole or part are used across the globe due to the rigor of the documented criteria and associated rationale. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) adopted the LLCC in 2006 for commercial space transportation and the criteria were codified in the FAA's Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for Safety of an Expendable Launch Vehicle (Appendix G to 14 CFR Part 417, (G417)) and renamed Lightning Flight Commit Criteria in G417.

Development of California Public Health Goals (PHGs) for chemicals in drinking water.

Science.gov (United States)

Howd, R A; Brown, J P; Morry, D W; Wang, Y Y; Bankowska, J; Budroe, J D; Campbell, M; DiBartolomeis, M J; Faust, J; Jowa, L; Lewis, D; Parker, T; Polakoff, J; Rice, D W; Salmon, A G; Tomar, R S; Fan, A M

2000-01-01

As part of a program for evaluation of environmental contaminants in drinking water, risk assessments are being conducted to develop Public Health Goals (PHGs) for chemicals in drinking water, based solely on public health considerations. California's Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996 mandated the development of PHGs for over 80 chemicals by 31 December 1999. The law allowed these levels to be set higher or lower than federal maximum contaminant levels (MCLs), including a level of zero if data are insufficient to determine a specific level. The estimated safe levels and toxicological rationale for the first 26 of these chemicals are described here. The chemicals include alachlor, antimony, benzo[a]pyrene, chlordane, copper, cyanide, dalapon, 1,2-dichlorobenzene, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, 2,4-D, diethylhexylphthalate, dinoseb, endothall, ethylbenzene, fluoride, glyphosate, lead, nitrate, nitrite, oxamyl, pentachlorophenol, picloram, trichlorofluoromethane, trichlorotrifluoroethane, uranium and xylene(s). These risk assessments are to be considered by the State of California in revising and developing state MCLs for chemicals in drinking water (which must not exceed federal MCLs). The estimates are also notable for incorporation or consideration of newer guidelines and principles for risk assessment extrapolations.

The Status of Genetics Curriculum in Higher Education in the United States: Goals and Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

McElhinny, Teresa L.; Dougherty, Michael J.; Bowling, Bethany V.; Libarkin, Julie C.

2014-01-01

We review the state of genetics instruction in the United States through the lens of backward design, with particular attention to the goals and assessments that inform curricular practice. An analysis of syllabi and leading textbooks indicates that genetics instruction focuses most strongly on foundations of DNA and Mendelian genetics. At the…

Implementing Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up with birth parents: Rationale and case example.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoye, Julie R; Dozier, Mary

2018-05-25

Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) is an intervention designed for vulnerable children and their parents. This intervention enhances parental sensitivity and nurturance with the goal of promoting secure, organized attachments and strong self-regulatory capabilities among children. Here, we provide a brief rationale for the need for such interventions to be delivered to parent-child dyads in the child welfare system. Next, we review specific intervention targets of ABC. We include a case example of two birth parents and their daughter who became involved in Child Protective Services due to domestic violence. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Mapping goal alignment of deployment programs for alternative fuel technologies: An analysis of wide-scope grant programs in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sobin, Nathaniel; Molenaar, Keith; Cahill, Eric

2012-01-01

Governments have attempted to advance alternative fuels (AFs) in the on-road transportation sector with the goal of addressing multiple environmental, energy security, economic growth, and technology transition objectives. However there is little agreement, at all governmental levels, on how to prioritize goals and how to measure progress towards goals. Literature suggests that a consistent, aligned, and prioritized approach will increase the effectiveness of deployment efforts. While literature states that goal alignment and prioritization should occur, there are few studies suggesting how to measure the alignment of deployment programs. This paper presents a methodology for measuring goal alignment by applying the theories of goal ambiguity. It then demonstrates this methodology within the context of fuel- and project-neutral (wide-scope) grant programs directed toward AF deployment. This paper analyzes forty-seven (47) wide-scope federal, state, and regional grant programs in the United States, active between 2006 and 2011. On the whole, governments most use deployment grant programs to address environmental concerns and are highly aligned in doing so between agency levels. In contrast, there is much less consensus (and therefore goal alignment) on whether or how governments should address other priorities such as energy security, economic growth, and technology transition. - Highlights: ► Grants that deploy AFs most often address environmental goals and are highly aligned in doing so. ► Economic growth goals are most often addressed by federal AF deployment grant programs. ► Energy security goals are most often addressed by state and regional AF deployment grant programs. ► Technology transition goals are the least aligned when considering alignment across agencies.

Description and Rationale for the Planning, Monitoring, and Implementation (PMI) Model: Rationale.

Science.gov (United States)

Cort, H. Russell

The rationale for the Planning, Monitoring, and Implementation Model (PMI) is the subject of this paper. The Superintendent of the District of Columbia Public Schools requested a model for systematic evaluation of educational programs to determine their effectiveness. The school system's emphasis on objective-referenced instruction and testing,…

Does Manipulating Stereotype Threat Condition Change Performance Goal State

Science.gov (United States)

Simmons, Cecil Max

2010-01-01

This study tested whether the Stereotype Threat effect is mediated by achievement goals, in particular performance-avoidance goals. Threat level was altered before a difficult math test to observe how the endorsement by females of various achievement goal dimensions was affected. 222 people (96 females) in a pre-calculus class at a Mid-Western…

A goal management intervention for polyarthritis patients: rationale and design of a randomized controlled trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arends, Roos; Bode, Christina; Taal, Erik; van de Laar, Mart A F J

2013-01-01

Background A health promotion intervention was developed for inflammatory arthritis patients, based on goal management. Elevated levels of depression and anxiety symptoms, which indicate maladjustment, are found in such patients. Other indicators of adaptation to chronic disease are positive affect,

An anthology: Rationale for a US ballistic missile defense (1969 - 1984)

Science.gov (United States)

Tircuit, E. C.

1985-04-01

This anthology is a selection and short synopsis of representative articles on the rationale for a US ballistic missile defense (BMD). Unclassified articles and documents were reviewed and analyzed to identify and include nine representative articles in the anthology. The anthology reduces the search for quality material on the subject and documents the fundamental rationale for a BMD. The author concluded that the fundamental rationale for a US BMD is to deter nuclear war. In addition, specific rationale for a US BMD is provided in the anthology. Finally, an extensive bibliography is included in the anthology to enhance further research on the subject.

Cross-cultural generality and specificity in self-regulation: avoidance personal goals and multiple aspects of well-being in the United States and Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Elliot, Andrew J; Sedikides, Constantine; Murayama, Kou; Tanaka, Ayumi; Thrash, Todd M; Mapes, Rachel R

2012-10-01

The authors examined avoidance personal goals as concurrent (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) predictors of multiple aspects of well-being in the United States and Japan. In both studies, participants adopted more avoidance personal goals in Japan relative to the United States. Both studies also demonstrated that avoidance personal goals were significant negative predictors of the most relevant aspects of well-being in each culture. Specifically, avoidance personal goals were negative predictors of intrapersonal and eudaimonic well-being in the United States and were negative predictors of interpersonal and eudaimonic well-being in Japan. The findings clarify and extend puzzling findings from prior empirical work in this area, and raise provocative possibilities about the nature of avoidance goal pursuit.

The contribution of goal specificity to goal achievement in collaborative goal setting for the management of asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Lorraine; Alles, Chehani; Lemay, Kate; Reddel, Helen; Saini, Bandana; Bosnic-Anticevich, Sinthia; Emmerton, Lynne; Stewart, Kay; Burton, Debbie; Krass, Ines; Armour, Carol

2013-01-01

Goal setting was investigated as part of an implementation trial of an asthma management service (PAMS) conducted in 96 Australian community pharmacies. Patients and pharmacists identified asthma-related issues of concern to the patient and collaboratively set goals to address these. Although goal setting is commonly integrated into disease state management interventions, the nature of goals, and their contribution to goal attainment and health outcomes are not well understood. To identify and describe: 1) goals set collaboratively between adult patients with asthma and their pharmacist, 2) goal specificity and goal achievement, and 3) describe the relationships between specificity, achievement, asthma control and asthma-related quality of life. Measures of goal specificity, and goal achievement were developed and applied to patient data records. Goals set were thematically analyzed into goal domains. Proportions of goals set, goals achieved and their specificity were calculated. Correlational and regression analyses were undertaken to determine the relationships between goal specificity, goal achievement, asthma control and asthma-related quality of life. Data were drawn from 498 patient records. Findings showed that patients set a wide range and number of asthma-related goals (N = 1787) and the majority (93%) were either achieved or being working toward by the end of the study. Goal achievement was positively associated with specific and moderately specific goals, but not non-specific goals. However, on closer inspection, an inconsistent pattern of relationships emerged as a function of goal domain. Findings also showed that goal setting was associated with end-of-study asthma control but not to asthma-related quality of life. Pharmacists can help patients to set achievable and specific asthma management goals, and these have the potential to directly impact health outcomes such as asthma control. Goal specificity appears to be an important feature in the

Delaware: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

Oklahoma: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

Arkansas: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

Mississippi: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

Texas: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

Georgia: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

Maryland: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

Louisiana: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

Tennessee: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

Kentucky: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

Alabama: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP, high school graduation rates, and access…

Virginia: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP, high school graduation rates, and access…

Florida: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP, high school graduation rates, and access…

Application of State Analysis and Goal-based Operations to a MER Mission Scenario

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, John Richard; Ingham, Michel D.; Mishkin, Andrew H.; Rasmussen, Robert D.; Starbird, Thomas W.

2006-01-01

State Analysis is a model-based systems engineering methodology employing a rigorous discovery process which articulates operations concepts and operability needs as an integrated part of system design. The process produces requirements on system and software design in the form of explicit models which describe the system behavior in terms of state variables and the relationships among them. By applying State Analysis to an actual MER flight mission scenario, this study addresses the specific real world challenges of complex space operations and explores technologies that can be brought to bear on future missions. The paper first describes the tools currently used on a daily basis for MER operations planning and provides an in-depth description of the planning process, in the context of a Martian day's worth of rover engineering activities, resource modeling, flight rules, science observations, and more. It then describes how State Analysis allows for the specification of a corresponding goal-based sequence that accomplishes the same objectives, with several important additional benefits.

Turning vice into virtue - when low self-control states facilitate goal-oriented behaviours

OpenAIRE

Cheung, T.T.L.

2017-01-01

Despite having good intentions, people often fail to exercise self-control to act in line with their long-term goals. Research shows that even mundane circumstances such as ego-depletion, mental distraction, and hunger could all hamper self-control performance. Considering these circumstances are inevitably part of daily life, the current dissertation aimed to gain a deeper understanding of low self-control states and how they affect performance. Critically, we worked with, rather than agains...

When focusing on a goal interferes with action control: action versus state orientation and over-maintenance of intentions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruigendijk, H.A.H.; Koole, S.L.

2014-01-01

People vary in action versus state orientation, or the ease versus difficulty by which they can form and enact goals under demanding conditions (Kuhl and Beckmann in Volition and personality: action versus state orientation, Hogrefe, Göttingen, 1994). According to the over-maintenance hypothesis,

How states exerted power to create the Millennium Development Goals and how this shaped the global health agenda: Lessons for the sustainable development goals and the future of global health.

Science.gov (United States)

Marten, Robert

2018-04-26

Since 2000, the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provided the framework for global development efforts transforming the field now known as global health. The MDGs both reflected and contributed to shaping a normative global health agenda. In the field of global health, the role of the state is largely considered to have diminished; however, this paper reasserts states as actors in the conceptualisation and institutionalisation of the MDGs, and illustrates how states exerted power and engaged in the MDG process. States not only sanctioned the MDGs through their heads of states endorsing the Millennium Declaration, but also acted more subtly behind the scenes supporting, enabling, and/or leveraging other actors, institutions and processes to conceptualise and legitimize the MDGs. Appreciating the MDGs' role in the conceptualisation of global health is particularly relevant as the world transitions to the MDGs' successor, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs' influence, impact and importance remains to be seen; however, to understand the future of global health and how actors, particularly states, can engage to shape the field, a deeper sense of the MDGs' legacy and how actors engaged in the past is helpful.

Bioethics: A Rationale and a Model

Science.gov (United States)

Barman, Charles R.; Rusch, John J.

1978-01-01

Discusses the rationale for and development of an undergraduate bioethics course. Based on experiences with the course, general suggestions are offered to instructors planning to add bioethics to existing curricula. (MA)

North Carolina: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

West Virginia: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

South Carolina: Taking Stock and Pushing Forward. 2014 State Progress Report on the Challenge to Lead 2020, Goals for Education

Science.gov (United States)

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), 2014

2014-01-01

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

"Socialized Music": Historical Formations of Community Music through Social Rationales

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Yerichuk, Deanna

2014-01-01

This article traces the formation of community music through professional and scholarly articles over the last century in North America, and argues that community music has been discursively formed through social rationales, although the specific rationales have shifted. The author employs an archaeological framework inspired by Michel Foucault to…

When Regional Innovation Policies Meet Policy Rationales and Evidence:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borrás, Susana; Jordana, Jacint

regions, and to understand how rationales and evidence can be translated into policy-making. To this purpose, this paper develops a framework to study the extent to which regional innovation policies have changed during the past few years. Since the mid-2000s there has been an important development......In spite of recent advancements regarding regional innovation policy rationales and evidence, there are few analyses about the actual features of existing regional innovation policies. Nevertheless, a policy analysis perspective is important in order to recognise their distinctive patterns across...... of innovation policy rationales, advocating for more specialisation; likewise, greater data availability at the regional level has allowed more sophisticated assessment of innovation performance. Finally, the crisis since 2008 has had ravaging effects in some regions, with job losses and severe economic...

When Regional Innovation Policies Meet Policy Rationales and Evidence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borrás, Susana; Jordana, Jacint

2016-01-01

regions, and to understand how rationales and evidence can be translated into policy-making. To this purpose, this paper develops a framework to study the extent to which regional innovation policies have changed during the past few years. Since the mid-2000s, there has been an important development......In spite of recent advancements regarding regional innovation policy rationales and evidence, there are few analyses about the actual features of existing regional innovation policies. Nevertheless, a policy analysis perspective is important in order to recognize their distinctive patterns across...... of innovation policy rationales, advocating for more specialization; likewise, greater data availability at the regional level has allowed more sophisticated assessment of innovation performance. Finally, the crisis since 2008 has had ravaging effects in some regions, with job losses and severe economic...

Appendix C: safety design rationale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghose, S.

1985-01-01

A brief discussion of the rationale for safety design of fusion plants is presented in the main text. Further detail safety considerations are presented in this appendix in the form of charts and tables. The author present some of the major safety criteria and other criteria used in blanket selection here

Design of an online health-promoting community: negotiating user community needs with public health goals and service capabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekberg, Joakim; Timpka, Toomas; Angbratt, Marianne; Frank, Linda; Norén, Anna-Maria; Hedin, Lena; Andersen, Emelie; Gursky, Elin A; Gäre, Boel Andersson

2013-07-04

An online health-promoting community (OHPC) has the potential to promote health and advance new means of dialogue between public health representatives and the general public. The aim of this study was to examine what aspects of an OHPC that are critical for satisfying the needs of the user community and public health goals and service capabilities. Community-based participatory research methods were used for data collection and analysis, and participatory design principles to develop a case study OHPC for adolescents. Qualitative data from adolescents on health appraisals and perspectives on health information were collected in a Swedish health service region and classified into categories of user health information exchange needs. A composite design rationale for the OHPC was completed by linking the identified user needs, user-derived requirements, and technical and organizational systems solutions. Conflicts between end-user requirements and organizational goals and resources were identified. The most prominent health information needs were associated to food, exercise, and well-being. The assessment of the design rationale document and prototype in light of the regional public health goals and service capabilities showed that compromises were needed to resolve conflicts involving the management of organizational resources and responsibilities. The users wanted to discuss health issues with health experts having little time to set aside to the OHPC and it was unclear who should set the norms for the online discussions. OHPCs can be designed to satisfy both the needs of user communities and public health goals and service capabilities. Compromises are needed to resolve conflicts between users' needs to discuss health issues with domain experts and the management of resources and responsibilities in public health organizations.

Cultural Sensitiveness of School Goals and Students’ Failure in Turkey

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Ismet Sahin

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Education is the means by which society provides for the transmission or advancement of its culture and it is formally done at schools that are the arena of human interaction aimed at producing learning. But some people in that interaction aimed at producing learning cannot achieve as much as the others due to some social or individual factors especially when the society is not homogeneous in terms of culture, language, etc.All cultures do not require the same kinds of knowledge and all may have distinct goals and expectations in education. This study aims at presenting the consensus and conflict in perspectives of students of different ethnic origins on general goals of education and expectations from schools in East and Southeast Turkey. The results will be used to generate a rationale to assume that the failure of students in East and Southeast Turkey where majority of population is ethnically diverse, may be because of the lack of divergent goals and expectations set for school curriculum or that the failure of students is dependent on some other factors except the unique school curriculum unresponsive to cultural or ethnic diversity. For this purpose, the goals of general education (1973, Law number 1739, Item number 2, and school expectations developed by House (1973 were prepared as questionnaire items, piloted, validated and administered to 9373 secondary school students in east and southeast Turkey. The findings of this study were that the students of different ethnic origins value the goals and expectations set for school curriculum in Turkey in significantly different ways.

Are We Meeting the Goal of Responsible Environmental Behavior: An Examination of Nature and Environmental Education Center Goals.

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Simmons, Deborah A.

1991-01-01

Through two surveys of nature and environmental centers throughout the United States, the author compares the centers' expressed goals with the goals of environmental education. These goals were determined by an accepted behavior model that is considered conducive to environmentally responsible behavior. (17 references) (MCO)

The Importance of Comparative Law in Legal Education: United States Goals and Methods of Legal Comparison

Science.gov (United States)

Ault, Hugh J.; Glendon, Mary Ann

1976-01-01

Discusses the rationale for teaching comparative law and describes techniques and results of experiments with two kinds of courses at Boston College Law School: (1) Comparative Legal Analysis, a perspective course, and (2) integration of comparative law as another dimension into courses in a particular subject matter area. (JT)

Path-Goal Theory of Leadership

Science.gov (United States)

1975-04-01

Leadership and Turnover Among Managers ," Organization Behavior and Human Performance, 10(1973), pp. 184-200; R. J. House, "A Path-Goal Theory of...of Leadership ." 6R. J. House and G. Dessler, "Path-Goal Theory of Leadership " R. M. Stqg- dill. Managers , Employees, Organization (Ohio State...of Control." 23 R. J. House, "Notes on the Path-Goal Theory of Leadership " (University of Toronto, Faculty of Management Studies, May 1974). 24 R

Achieving Both Creativity And Rationale: Reuse In Design With Images And Claims

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D. Scott McCrickard

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Although designers often try to create novel designs, many designs are based on previous work. In this paper we argue for the reuse of rationale, in the form of claims, as a central activity in design, and explore how this can be used to inspire creativity. We present a design activity in which images and claims are reused to create a storyboard and illustrate how creativity and rationale complement each other. Our work serves to demonstrate that an appropriate design activity can be used to leverage creativity with the use of rationale.

Neuroimaging markers of glutamatergic and GABAergic systems in drug addiction: Relationships to resting-state functional connectivity.

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Moeller, Scott J; London, Edythe D; Northoff, Georg

2016-02-01

Drug addiction is characterized by widespread abnormalities in brain function and neurochemistry, including drug-associated effects on concentrations of the excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), respectively. In healthy individuals, these neurotransmitters drive the resting state, a default condition of brain function also disrupted in addiction. Here, our primary goal was to review in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy and positron emission tomography studies that examined markers of glutamate and GABA abnormalities in human drug addiction. Addicted individuals tended to show decreases in these markers compared with healthy controls, but findings also varied by individual characteristics (e.g., abstinence length). Interestingly, select corticolimbic brain regions showing glutamatergic and/or GABAergic abnormalities have been similarly implicated in resting-state functional connectivity deficits in drug addiction. Thus, our secondary goals were to provide a brief review of this resting-state literature, and an initial rationale for the hypothesis that abnormalities in glutamatergic and/or GABAergic neurotransmission may underlie resting-state functional deficits in drug addiction. In doing so, we suggest future research directions and possible treatment implications. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

STATE INTERVENTION IN THE ECONOMY

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Andreea-Elena, BURDUF (MIERLARU

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Starting from the deffinition of protectionism, an economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow, according to proponents fair competition between imports and goods and service produced domestically, I am compelled to find Manoilescu's vision of economy. Was this system of political and economic measures of protection of national products from similar foreign products Manoilescu's vision? In the spirit of clasical protectionist doctrine, Manoilescu thought that the focal point of economy was the national economy, the sum of production assets and a conglomerate of individual traders. Amongst national production assets the foremost is the labour, capital and the others having only secondary importance in direct comparison. After the great depression of 1929, his book, The theory of protectionism and international exchanges , was the basis for justifying protectionism in Brazil while in Romania he had to face hostility from authorities, making it impossible for him, even if for several months in 1931 he was the Governor of the National Bank, to apply his vision to end the economic crisis in Romania. M. Manoilescu analyzed the state's economic role and how this is reflected in modern economic science. He saw the state as having the role of setting certain convergent common goals for the whole society and to set rules that removes free will in economic decisions, thus creating the premises for a regulated economic space, based on the transition from little rationale of firms to big rationale of national economy. He demonstrated the necessity of state intervetionism, he has shared the conviction that through the alignment of the Romanian economic strategy to the one from the developed countries the lagging behind of Romania could be surpassed. M. Manoilescu took the occidental type economic policies of the time

Comparing Three Models of Achievement Goals: Goal Orientations, Goal Standards, and Goal Complexes

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Senko, Corwin; Tropiano, Katie L.

2016-01-01

Achievement goal theory (Dweck, 1986) initially characterized mastery goals and performance goals as opposites in a good-bad dualism of student motivation. A later revision (Harackiewicz, Barron, & Elliot, 1998) contended that both goals can provide benefits and be pursued together. Perhaps both frameworks are correct: Their contrasting views…

Design Rationale Behind the Serious Self-Regulation Game Intervention "Balance It": Overweight Prevention Among Secondary Vocational Education Students in The Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Spook, Jorinde E; Paulussen, Theo; Paulissen, Rosie; Visschedijk, Gillian; Kok, Gerjo; van Empelen, Pepijn

2015-10-01

This article describes the design rationale behind a serious self-regulation game intervention. The aim of the game is to promote healthy dietary intake and physical activity among secondary vocational educational students in The Netherlands (approximately 16-20 years of age). The game "Balance It" was developed according to an intervention mapping (IM) protocol. Following IM, we specified health promotion and usability objectives and linked these objectives to selected behavior change and persuasive methods. Accordingly, these methods were translated into a coherent intervention program. The health behavior change objectives were derived from the determinants of the behavior and from Self-Regulation Theory (e.g., students are asked to set goals, monitor and evaluate their behavior, and create coping plans). Usability objectives were derived from the RE-AIM model (i.e., Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance). Next, behavior change and persuasive techniques were selected (e.g., goal setting and prompting, respectively) that did fit with the targeted change objectives and were translated in the design of a (mobile) serious self-regulation game intervention. Subsequently, three concept and usability tests were performed to improve intervention usability, and an evaluation plan was developed. The aim of this study was to provide a design rationale for game interventions targeting health-related behaviors. We developed a coherent program design in which both health behavior change and usability factors are addressed. The IM protocol can serve as a useful guide for decision making in program development and evaluation.

MOTIVATION: Goals and Goal Setting

Science.gov (United States)

Stratton, Richard K.

2005-01-01

Goal setting has great impact on a team's performance. Goals enable a team to synchronize their efforts to achieve success. In this article, the author talks about goals and goal setting. This articles complements Domain 5--Teaching and Communication (p.14) and discusses one of the benchmarks listed therein: "Teach the goal setting process and…

Ethical implications of co-benefits rationale within climate change mitigation strategy

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Rita Vasconcellos Oliveira

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Climate change mitigation effort is being translated into several actions and discourses that make collateral benefits and their rationale increasingly relevant for sustainability, in such a way that they are now a constant part of the political agenda. Taking a border and consensual perspective, co-benefits are considered here to be emerging advantages of the implementation of measures regarding the lowering of greenhouse gases.Departing from the analysis of policy documents referring to two European urban transportation strategies, the emergent co-benefits are problematized and discussed to better understand their moral aspect. Further ethical reflection is conducted after an analysis of some unintended consequences of co-benefits rationale coming from the mentioned examples. The focus is primarily on the challenges of an integrative moral justification for co-benefits and also for their role in the climate change mitigation effort. We also discuss the limitations of the current normative models that frame co-benefits rationale, from a moral viewpoint and in relation to the overall climate change mitigation strategy.In this article, we propose the concepts of well-being and freedom, as portrayed by Capabilities Approach, as possible guiding notions for the moral and social evaluation of goodness of these emergent benefits and their rationale too. Additionally, some preliminary conclusions are drawn regarding the potential of the presented concepts to favour the climate change mitigation action. Finally, a scenario is drawn where Capabilities Approach is the moral guideline for co-benefits rationale showing this way its potential in terms of enhancing climate change mitigation strategy.

The rationale for energy efficiency policy: Assessing the recognition of the multiple benefits of energy efficiency retrofit policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kerr, Niall; Gouldson, Andy; Barrett, John

2017-01-01

The rationale for energy efficiency policy can be framed in terms of a variety of different benefits. This paper considers how different benefits have been used within the overall rationale for energy efficient retrofit policy in different contexts. We posit that different rationales may be used for the same policy response, and that the form of rationale used may affect the design, delivery or the level of policy support, with different rationales making it easier to account for different results. Considering retrofit policy in the contexts of the UK, Germany, New Zealand and Ireland, we characterise policy rationale in each case, assessing what the key perceived benefits have been, and whether they have changed over time. The analysis identifies some marked differences between cases with the recognition of benefits and the ensuing policy rationale resulting from a complex mix of political, social and economic influences. We find that recognition of multiple benefits may not equate with multiplied policy support, and instead it is more likely that different rationales will have relevance at different times, for different audiences. The findings highlight that, alongside evidence for policy, it is important to also consider how the overall rationale for policy is eventually framed. - Highlights: • Energy efficiency as a policy issue with perceived multiple benefits. • Assessment of the influence of different benefits on rationale for energy efficient retrofit policy. • How does the rationale for retrofit policy differ in different national policy contexts. • To what extent are the perceived multiple benefits of policy recognised. • What influence does eventual rationale for policy have on the policy implemented.

Using design rationale to improve SPL traceability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Galvao, I.; Aksit, Mehmet; van den Broek, P.M.; Hendriks, M.F.H.; Rashid, Awais; Royer, Jean-Claude; Rummler, Andreas

In order to improve SPL traceability by using design rationale, this chapter introduces the traceability analysis framework (TAF), which, when combined with the AMPLE Traceability Framework, provides extra traceability capabilities for variability management. The TAF is a programmable and extensible

Forcing your luck: Goal-striving behavior in chance situations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Becker, D.; van der Pligt, J.

2016-01-01

Previous research suggests that desired end-states (i.e., goals) initiate a set of motivational processes supporting goal-attainment. For example, motivational intensity (e.g., effort investment) increases as distance to the goal decreases. The present studies investigate whether this goal-gradient

The Extrastriate Body Area Computes Desired Goal States during Action Planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmermann, Marius; Verhagen, Lennart; de Lange, Floris P; Toni, Ivan

2016-01-01

How do object perception and action interact at a neural level? Here we test the hypothesis that perceptual features, processed by the ventral visuoperceptual stream, are used as priors by the dorsal visuomotor stream to specify goal-directed grasping actions. We present three main findings, which were obtained by combining time-resolved transcranial magnetic stimulation and kinematic tracking of grasp-and-rotate object manipulations, in a group of healthy human participants (N = 22). First, the extrastriate body area (EBA), in the ventral stream, provides an initial structure to motor plans, based on current and desired states of a grasped object and of the grasping hand. Second, the contributions of EBA are earlier in time than those of a caudal intraparietal region known to specify the action plan. Third, the contributions of EBA are particularly important when desired and current object configurations differ, and multiple courses of actions are possible. These findings specify the temporal and functional characteristics for a mechanism that integrates perceptual processing with motor planning.

Blood irradiation: Rationale and technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, M.C.

1990-01-01

Upon request by the local American Red Cross, the Savannah Regional Center for Cancer Care irradiates whole blood or blood components to prevent post-transfusion graft-versus-host reaction in patients who have severely depressed immune systems. The rationale for blood irradiation, the total absorbed dose, the type of patients who require irradiated blood, and the regulations that apply to irradiated blood are presented. A method of irradiating blood using a linear accelerator is described

Using shared goal setting to improve access and equity: a mixed methods study of the Good Goals intervention in children’s occupational therapy

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Kolehmainen Niina

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Access and equity in children’s therapy services may be improved by directing clinicians’ use of resources toward specific goals that are important to patients. A practice-change intervention (titled ‘Good Goals’ was designed to achieve this. This study investigated uptake, adoption, and possible effects of that intervention in children’s occupational therapy services. Methods Mixed methods case studies (n = 3 services, including 46 therapists and 558 children were conducted. The intervention was delivered over 25 weeks through face-to-face training, team workbooks, and ‘tools for change’. Data were collected before, during, and after the intervention on a range of factors using interviews, a focus group, case note analysis, routine data, document analysis, and researchers’ observations. Results Factors related to uptake and adoptions were: mode of intervention delivery, competing demands on therapists’ time, and leadership by service manager. Service managers and therapists reported that the intervention: helped therapists establish a shared rationale for clinical decisions; increased clarity in service provision; and improved interactions with families and schools. During the study period, therapists’ behaviours changed: identifying goals, odds ratio 2.4 (95% CI 1.5 to 3.8; agreeing goals, 3.5 (2.4 to 5.1; evaluating progress, 2.0 (1.1 to 3.5. Children’s LoT decreased by two months [95% CI −8 to +4 months] across the services. Cost per therapist trained ranged from £1,003 to £1,277, depending upon service size and therapists’ salary bands. Conclusions Good Goals is a promising quality improvement intervention that can be delivered and adopted in practice and may have benefits. Further research is required to evaluate its: (i impact on patient outcomes, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and (ii transferability to other clinical contexts.

Anticipating different grips reduces bimanual end-state comfort: A tradeoff between goal-related and means-related planning processes.

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Christian Seegelke

Full Text Available The present study explored the sensitivity towards bimanual end-state comfort in a task that required anticipating different final grips. Participants simultaneously reached and grasped two objects with either a whole-hand grip (WHG or a precision grip (PG, and placed them at two target locations by transporting them either over or under an obstacle. The transport path was varied such that it could be either congruent (i.e., both objects over or under or incongruent (i.e., one object over and the other object under. In the congruent conditions, participants satisfied bimanual end-state comfort (and identical initial grips on the majority of trials. That is, participants adopted a PG for either hand when the objects were transported over the obstacle and a WHG for either hand when the objects were transported under the obstacle. In contrast, in the incongruent conditions, bimanual end-state comfort was significantly reduced, indicating the presence of intermanual inference. The results indicate that goal-related planning constraints (i.e., bimanual end-state comfort do not strictly take precedence over means-related constraints (i.e., identical initial grips if this requires anticipating different final grips. Thus, bimanual end-state comfort per se does not provide a predominant constraint in action selection, by which sensorimotor interference can be reduced. In line with the proposal that bimanual grip planning relies on a flexible constraint hierarchy, a simple formal model that considers bimanual grip posture planning as a tradeoff between goal-related and means-related planning processes can explain our results reasonably well.

Public Perception of the Millennium Development Goals on Access to Safe Drinking Water in Cross River State, Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Eni, David D.; Ojong, William M.

2014-01-01

This study evaluated the public perception of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of environmental sustainability with focus on the MDG target which has to do with reducing the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water in Cross River State, Nigeria. The stratified and systematic sampling techniques were adopted for the study,…

Advanced control room evaluation: General approach and rationale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Hara, J.M.; Wachtel, J.

1991-01-01

Advanced control rooms (ACRs) for future nuclear power plants (NPPs) are being designed utilizing computer-based technologies. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviews the human engineering aspects of such control rooms to ensure that they are designed to good human factors engineering principles and that operator performance and reliability are appropriately supported in order to protect public health and safety. This paper describes the rationale and general approach to the development of a human factors review guideline for ACRs. The factors influencing the guideline development are discussed, including the review environment, the types of advanced technologies being addressed, the human factors issues associated with advanced technology, and the current state-of-the-art of human factors guidelines for advanced human-system interfaces (HSIs). The proposed approach to ACR review would track the design and implementation process through the application of review guidelines reflecting four review modules: planning, design process analysis, human factors engineering review, and dynamic performance evaluation. 21 refs

IEP goals for school-age children with speech sound disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Farquharson, Kelly; Tambyraja, Sherine R; Justice, Laura M; Redle, Erin E

2014-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to describe the current state of practice for writing Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals for children with speech sound disorders (SSDs). IEP goals for 146 children receiving services for SSDs within public school systems across two states were coded for their dominant theoretical framework and overall quality. A dichotomous scheme was used for theoretical framework coding: cognitive-linguistic or sensory-motor. Goal quality was determined by examining 7 specific indicators outlined by an empirically tested rating tool. In total, 147 long-term and 490 short-term goals were coded. The results revealed no dominant theoretical framework for long-term goals, whereas short-term goals largely reflected a sensory-motor framework. In terms of quality, the majority of speech production goals were functional and generalizable in nature, but were not able to be easily targeted during common daily tasks or by other members of the IEP team. Short-term goals were consistently rated higher in quality domains when compared to long-term goals. The current state of practice for writing IEP goals for children with SSDs indicates that theoretical framework may be eclectic in nature and likely written to support the individual needs of children with speech sound disorders. Further investigation is warranted to determine the relations between goal quality and child outcomes. (1) Identify two predominant theoretical frameworks and discuss how they apply to IEP goal writing. (2) Discuss quality indicators as they relate to IEP goals for children with speech sound disorders. (3) Discuss the relationship between long-term goals level of quality and related theoretical frameworks. (4) Identify the areas in which business-as-usual IEP goals exhibit strong quality.

A rationale for continuing mass antibiotic distributions for trachoma

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House Jenafir

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The World Health Organization recommends periodic mass antibiotic distributions to reduce the ocular strains of chlamydia that cause trachoma, the world's leading cause of infectious blindness. Their stated goal is to control infection, not to completely eliminate it. A single mass distribution can dramatically reduce the prevalence of infection. However, if infection is not eliminated in every individual in the community, it may gradually return back into the community, so often repeated treatments are necessary. Since public health groups are reluctant to distribute antibiotics indefinitely, we are still in need of a proven long-term rationale. Here we use mathematical models to demonstrate that repeated antibiotic distributions can eliminate infection in a reasonable time period. Methods We fit parameters of a stochastic epidemiological transmission model to data collected before and 6 months after a mass antibiotic distribution in a region of Ethiopia that is one of the most severely affected areas in the world. We validate the model by comparing our predicted results to Ethiopian data which was collected biannually for two years past the initial mass antibiotic distribution. We use the model to simulate the effect of different treatment programs in terms of local elimination of infection. Results Simulations show that the average prevalence of infection across all villages progressively decreases after each treatment, as long as the frequency and coverage of antibiotics are high enough. Infection can be eliminated in more villages with each round of treatment. However, in the communities where infection is not eliminated, it returns to the same average level, forming the same stationary distribution. This phenomenon is also seen in subsequent epidemiological data from Ethiopia. Simulations suggest that a biannual treatment plan implemented for 5 years will lead to elimination in 95% of all villages. Conclusion Local

A rationale for continuing mass antibiotic distributions for trachoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Kathryn J; Porco, Travis C; Hong, Kevin C; Lee, David C; Alemayehu, Wondu; Melese, Muluken; Lakew, Takele; Yi, Elizabeth; House, Jenafir; Chidambaram, Jaya D; Whitcher, John P; Gaynor, Bruce D; Lietman, Thomas M

2007-08-07

The World Health Organization recommends periodic mass antibiotic distributions to reduce the ocular strains of chlamydia that cause trachoma, the world's leading cause of infectious blindness. Their stated goal is to control infection, not to completely eliminate it. A single mass distribution can dramatically reduce the prevalence of infection. However, if infection is not eliminated in every individual in the community, it may gradually return back into the community, so often repeated treatments are necessary. Since public health groups are reluctant to distribute antibiotics indefinitely, we are still in need of a proven long-term rationale. Here we use mathematical models to demonstrate that repeated antibiotic distributions can eliminate infection in a reasonable time period. We fit parameters of a stochastic epidemiological transmission model to data collected before and 6 months after a mass antibiotic distribution in a region of Ethiopia that is one of the most severely affected areas in the world. We validate the model by comparing our predicted results to Ethiopian data which was collected biannually for two years past the initial mass antibiotic distribution. We use the model to simulate the effect of different treatment programs in terms of local elimination of infection. Simulations show that the average prevalence of infection across all villages progressively decreases after each treatment, as long as the frequency and coverage of antibiotics are high enough. Infection can be eliminated in more villages with each round of treatment. However, in the communities where infection is not eliminated, it returns to the same average level, forming the same stationary distribution. This phenomenon is also seen in subsequent epidemiological data from Ethiopia. Simulations suggest that a biannual treatment plan implemented for 5 years will lead to elimination in 95% of all villages. Local elimination from a community is theoretically possible, even in the

Reaching Into the Unknown: Actions, Goal Hierarchies, and Explorative Agency

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Davood G. Gozli

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Action is widely characterized as possessing a teleological dimension. The dominant way of describing goal-directed action and agency is in terms of exploitation, i.e., pursuing pre-specified goals using existing strategies. Recent theoretical developments emphasize the place of exploration, i.e., discovering new goals or acquiring new strategies. The exploitation-exploration distinction poses questions with regard to goals and agency: Should exploration, as some authors have suggested, be regarded as acting without a goal? We argue that recognizing the hierarchical nature of goals is crucial in distinguishing the two kinds of activity, because this recognition prevents the claim that exploration is goal-free, while allowing for a homogeneous account of both exploitative and explorative actions. An action typically causes relatively low-level/proximal (i.e., sensorimotor, immediate and relatively high-level/distal (i.e., in the environment, at a wider timescale outcomes. In exploitation, one relies on existing associations between low- and high-level states, whereas in exploration one does not have the ability or intention to control high-level/distal states. We argue that explorative action entails the capacity to exercise control within the low-level/proximal states, which enables the pursuit of indeterminate goals at the higher levels of a goal hierarchy, and the possibility of acquiring new goals and reorganization of goal hierarchies. We consider how the dominant models of agency might accommodate this capacity for explorative action.

Reactive Goal Decomposition Hierarchies for On-Board Autonomy

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Hartmann, L.

2002-01-01

As our experience grows, space missions and systems are expected to address ever more complex and demanding requirements with fewer resources (e.g., mass, power, budget). One approach to accommodating these higher expectations is to increase the level of autonomy to improve the capabilities and robustness of on- board systems and to simplify operations. The goal decomposition hierarchies described here provide a simple but powerful form of goal-directed behavior that is relatively easy to implement for space systems. A goal corresponds to a state or condition that an operator of the space system would like to bring about. In the system described here goals are decomposed into simpler subgoals until the subgoals are simple enough to execute directly. For each goal there is an activation condition and a set of decompositions. The decompositions correspond to different ways of achieving the higher level goal. Each decomposition contains a gating condition and a set of subgoals to be "executed" sequentially or in parallel. The gating conditions are evaluated in order and for the first one that is true, the corresponding decomposition is executed in order to achieve the higher level goal. The activation condition specifies global conditions (i.e., for all decompositions of the goal) that need to hold in order for the goal to be achieved. In real-time, parameters and state information are passed between goals and subgoals in the decomposition; a termination indication (success, failure, degree) is passed up when a decomposition finishes executing. The lowest level decompositions include servo control loops and finite state machines for generating control signals and sequencing i/o. Semaphores and shared memory are used to synchronize and coordinate decompositions that execute in parallel. The goal decomposition hierarchy is reactive in that the generated behavior is sensitive to the real-time state of the system and the environment. That is, the system is able to react

Assessment of patient knowledge of diabetic goals, self-reported medication adherence, and goal attainment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Whitley HP

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Medication adherence is an integral aspect of disease state management for patients with chronic illnesses, including diabetes mellitus. It has been hypothesized that patients with diabetes who have poor medication adherence may have less knowledge of overall therapeutic goals and may be less likely to attain these goals. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess self-reported medication adherence, knowledge of therapeutic goals (hemoglobin A1C [A1C], low density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C] and blood pressure [BP], and goal attainment in adult patients with diabetes. Methods: A survey was created to assess medication adherence, knowledge of therapeutic goals, and goal attainment for adult patients with diabetes followed at an internal medicine or a family medicine clinic. Surveys were self-administered prior to office visits. Additional data were collected from the electronic medical record. Statistical analysis was performed. Results: A total of 149 patients were enrolled. Knowledge of therapeutic goals was reported by 14%, 34%, and 18% of survived patients for LDL-C, BP, and A1C, respectively. Forty-six percent, 37%, and 40% of patients achieved LDL-C, BP, and A1C goals, respectively. Low prescribing of cholesterol-lowering medications was an interesting secondary finding; 36% of patients not at LDL-C goal had not been prescribed a medication targeted to lower cholesterol. Forty-eight percent of patients were medication non-adherent; most frequently reported reasons for non-adherence were forgot (34% and too expensive (14%. Patients at A1C goal were more adherent than patients not at goal (p=0.025. Conclusion: The majority did not reach goals and were unknowledgeable of goals; however, most were provided prescriptions to treat these parameters. Goal parameters should be revisited often amongst multidisciplinary team members with frequent and open communications. Additionally, it is imperative that practitioners discuss

Goals, Methods, and Progress in Neuroeconomics

OpenAIRE

Colin F. Camerer

2013-01-01

Neuroeconomics shares the main goals of microeconomics: to understand what causes choices, and the welfare properties of choice. The novel goal is linking mathematical constructs and observable behavior to mechanistic details of neural circuitry. Several complementary methods are used. An initial insight from neuroscience is that distinct systems guide choice: Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning (learning) of state-value and response-value associations, overlearned habits, and model- (or ...

Teacher Grading Decisions: Influences, Rationale, and Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Kunnath, Joshua P.

2017-01-01

This mixed-methods study applied a decision-making theoretical framework to an investigation of teacher grading in a large urban school district in California. A sample of 251 high school teachers of core subjects were surveyed, and 15 teachers participated in four focus group interviews in order provide data on the influences, rationale, and…

Appalachia: Goals, Objectives and Development Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Appalachian Regional Commission, Washington, DC.

Goals, objectives, and strategies for development in the 13 states involved in the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) are detailed in this document adopted by ARC in 1977. The regional development plan incorporates earlier evaluation and program design efforts, discussion from an issues report, state comments and development plans, and public…

Learning Rationales and Virtual Reality Technology in Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiou, Guey-Fa

1995-01-01

Defines and describes virtual reality technology and differentiates between virtual learning environment, learning material, and learning tools. Links learning rationales to virtual reality technology to pave conceptual foundations for application of virtual reality technology education. Constructivism, case-based learning, problem-based learning,…

Mineralized Collagen: Rationale, Current Status, and Clinical Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhi-Ye Qiu

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a review of the rationale for the in vitro mineralization process, preparation methods, and clinical applications of mineralized collagen. The rationale for natural mineralized collagen and the related mineralization process has been investigated for decades. Based on the understanding of natural mineralized collagen and its formation process, many attempts have been made to prepare biomimetic materials that resemble natural mineralized collagen in both composition and structure. To date, a number of bone substitute materials have been developed based on the principles of mineralized collagen, and some of them have been commercialized and approved by regulatory agencies. The clinical outcomes of mineralized collagen are of significance to advance the evaluation and improvement of related medical device products. Some representative clinical cases have been reported, and there are more clinical applications and long-term follow-ups that currently being performed by many research groups.

The importance of an integrating framework for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: the example of health and well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Nunes, Ana Raquel; Lee, Kelley; O'Riordan, Tim

2016-01-01

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development came into force in January 2016 as the central United Nations (UN) platform for achieving 'integrated and indivisible' goals and targets across the three characteristic dimensions of sustainable development: the social, environmental and economic. We argue that, despite the UN adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a framework for operationalising them in an integrated fashion is lacking. This article puts forth a framework for integrating health and well-being across the SDGs as both preconditions and outcomes of sustainable development. We present a rationale for this approach, and identify the challenges and opportunities for implementing and monitoring such a framework through a series of examples. We encourage other sectors to develop similar integrating frameworks for supporting a more coordinated approach for operationalising the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Southern Voice State of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs ...

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

The Southern Voice on post-MDG International Development Goals (Southern ... conceived by the Southern Voice network that will generate and disseminate ... this project will help expand ownership of the SDGs in case study countries and ... think tanks as effective interlocutors between national capitals, regional hubs, ...

Capturing microscopic features of bone remodeling into a macroscopic model based on biological rationales of bone adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young Kwan; Kameo, Yoshitaka; Tanaka, Sakae; Adachi, Taiji

2017-10-01

To understand Wolff's law, bone adaptation by remodeling at the cellular and tissue levels has been discussed extensively through experimental and simulation studies. For the clinical application of a bone remodeling simulation, it is significant to establish a macroscopic model that incorporates clarified microscopic mechanisms. In this study, we proposed novel macroscopic models based on the microscopic mechanism of osteocytic mechanosensing, in which the flow of fluid in the lacuno-canalicular porosity generated by fluid pressure gradients plays an important role, and theoretically evaluated the proposed models, taking biological rationales of bone adaptation into account. The proposed models were categorized into two groups according to whether the remodeling equilibrium state was defined globally or locally, i.e., the global or local uniformity models. Each remodeling stimulus in the proposed models was quantitatively evaluated through image-based finite element analyses of a swine cancellous bone, according to two introduced criteria associated with the trabecular volume and orientation at remodeling equilibrium based on biological rationales. The evaluation suggested that nonuniformity of the mean stress gradient in the local uniformity model, one of the proposed stimuli, has high validity. Furthermore, the adaptive potential of each stimulus was discussed based on spatial distribution of a remodeling stimulus on the trabecular surface. The theoretical consideration of a remodeling stimulus based on biological rationales of bone adaptation would contribute to the establishment of a clinically applicable and reliable simulation model of bone remodeling.

The post-millennium development goals agenda: include 'end to all wars' as a public health goal!

Science.gov (United States)

Jayasinghe, Saroj

2014-09-01

The process of identifying global post-millennium development goals (post-MDGs) has begun in earnest. Consensus is emerging in certain areas (e.g. eliminating poverty) and conflicts and violence are recognized as key factors that retard human development. However, current discussions focus on tackling intra-state conflicts and individual-based violence and hardly mention eliminating wars as a goal. Wars create public health catastrophes. They kill, maim, displace and affect millions. Inter-state wars fuel intra-state conflicts and violence. The peace agenda should not be the monopoly of the UN Security Council, and the current consensus-building process setting the post-MDG agenda is a rallying point for the global community. The human rights approach will not suffice to eliminate wars, because few are fought to protect human rights. The development agenda should therefore commit to eliminating all wars by 2030. Targets to reduce tensions and discourage wars should be included. We should act now. © The Author(s) 2014.

Classroom climate and students' goal preferences: A cross-cultural comparison

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vedder, P.H.; Kouwenhoven, C.; Burk, W.J.

2009-01-01

Goal preferences indicate intentions to achieve or avoid particular states. We examined whether Curacaoan and Dutch students differ in goal preferences related to school and whether goal preferences are associated with students' evaluation of the classroom climate. Measurement invariance of the

Invitation to the Birthday Party: Rationale and Description

Science.gov (United States)

Ginsburg, Herbert P.; Pappas, Sandra

2016-01-01

Educators in many countries around the world have a strong interest in improving early childhood mathematics education, one component of which is formative assessment. Unlike summative assessment, this approach can provide teachers with information useful for understanding and teaching individual children. This paper describes the rationale for…

The rationale of scored tablets as dosage form.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rodenhuis, N.; Smet, P.A.G.M. de; Barends, D.M.

2004-01-01

The aim of the study was to get insight into the rationale of scored tablets. This was pursued by studying patient's reasons for subdividing ("breaking") scored and unscored tablets. Patients who picked up their prescriptions in 5 community pharmacies in The Netherlands were questioned. Two-hundred

Practices and rationales of community engagement with wind farms: awareness raising, consultation, empowerment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aitken, Mhairi; Haggett, Claire; Rudolph, David Philipp

2016-01-01

In light of the growing emphasis on community engagement in the literature on renewable energy planning, and given the acknowledgement of the complexity of community engagement as a concept, we conducted an empirical review of practice relating to community engagement with onshore wind farms...... in the UK, exploring what is actually happening in terms of community engagement relating to onshore wind farms, and examining the rationales underpinning approaches to community engagement. We found that a wide range of engagement methods are being used in relation to onshore wind farms across the UK......-hierarchical classification of community engagement approaches: awareness raising; consultation and empowerment. This provides a useful tool for reflecting on practices and rationales of community engagement. By considering the three approaches non-hierarchically, this model allows for an examination of how such rationales...

Canadian nuclear power principles for beyond design basis events - supporting rationale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elliott, M.; Newman, G.; Bhaloo, A.

2014-01-01

The development of the following principles and their rationale began during a special Chief Nuclear Engineers forum held on March 25th, 2013 in Toronto. These principles are intended to provide guidance to the Canadian Nuclear Power Industry in developing responses to the lessons learned from the Fukushima event of March 2011. These principles were accepted and signed off by the Chief Nuclear Officers of each of the three utilities in August 2013 and were presented to the CNSC at a public hearing on August 21, 2013. This document provides the underlying rationale for the principles. (author)

Canadian nuclear power principles for beyond design basis events - supporting rationale

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, M. [OPG Nuclear, Ontario (Canada); Newman, G. [Bruce Power, Ontario (Canada); Bhaloo, A. [New Brunswick Power, New Brunswick (Canada)

2014-09-15

The development of the following principles and their rationale began during a special Chief Nuclear Engineers forum held on March 25th, 2013 in Toronto. These principles are intended to provide guidance to the Canadian Nuclear Power Industry in developing responses to the lessons learned from the Fukushima event of March 2011. These principles were accepted and signed off by the Chief Nuclear Officers of each of the three utilities in August 2013 and were presented to the CNSC at a public hearing on August 21, 2013. This document provides the underlying rationale for the principles. (author)

Canadian nuclear power principles for beyond design basis events - supporting rationale

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, M. [Ontario Power Generation Nuclear, Pickering, ON (Canada); Newman, G. [Bruce Power, Tiverton, ON (Canada); Bhaloo, A. [New Brunswick Power, Fredericton, NB (Canada)

2014-07-01

The development of the following principles and their rationale began during a special Chief Nuclear Engineers forum held on March 25th, 2013 in Toronto. These principles are intended to provide guidance to the Canadian Nuclear Power Industry in developing responses to the lessons learned from the Fukushima event of March 2011. These principles were accepted and signed off by the Chief Nuclear Officers of each of the three utilities in August 2013 and were presented to the CNSC at a public hearing on August 21, 2013. This document provides the underlying rationale for the principles. (author)

Rationale of Early Adopters of Fossil Fuel Divestment

Science.gov (United States)

Beer, Christopher Todd

2016-01-01

Purpose: This research uses the social science perspectives of institutions, ecological modernization and social movements to analyze the rationale used by the early-adopting universities of fossil fuel divestment in the USA. Design/methodology/approach: Through analysis of qualitative data from interviews with key actors at the universities that…

Specialization in i* strategic rationale diagrams

OpenAIRE

López Cuesta, Lidia; Franch Gutiérrez, Javier; Marco Gómez, Jordi

2012-01-01

ER 2012 Best Student Paper Award The specialization relationship is offered by the i* modeling language through the is-a construct defined over actors (a subactor is-a superactor). Although the overall meaning of this construct is highly intuitive, its semantics when it comes to the fine-grained level of strategic rationale (SR) diagrams is not defined, hampering seriously its appropriate use. In this paper we provide a formal definition of the specialization relationship at the lev...

Goal motives and multiple-goal striving in sport and academia: A person-centered investigation of goal motives and inter-goal relations.

Science.gov (United States)

Healy, Laura C; Ntoumanis, Nikos; Duda, Joan L

2016-12-01

This investigation extended the goal striving literature by examining motives for two goals being pursued simultaneously. Grounded in self-determination theory, we examined how student-athletes' motives for their sporting and academic goals were associated with inter-goal facilitation and interference. Cross-sectional survey. UK university student-athletes (n=204) identified their most important sporting and academic goals. They then rated their extrinsic, introjected, identified and intrinsic motives for these goals and completed questionnaires assessing inter-goal facilitation and interference. Using a person-centered approach via latent profile analysis, we identified three distinct profiles of goal motives. Auxiliary analyses showed that the profile with high identified motives for both goals reported greater inter-goal facilitation. Extending the previous literature, the findings demonstrate the benefits of autonomous motives when simultaneously pursing goals in sport and academia. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Oral Health Promotion in Schools: Rationale and Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Kizito, Alex; Caitlin, Meredith; Wang, Yili; Kasangaki, Arabat; Macnab, Andrew J.

2014-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain the rationale and potential for the WHO health promoting schools (HPS) to improve children's oral health, and describe validated quantitative methodologies and qualitative approaches to measure program impact. Design/Methodology/Approach: Critical discussion of the impact of poor oral health and…

Building "Applied Linguistic Historiography": Rationale, Scope, and Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Richard

2016-01-01

In this article I argue for the establishment of "Applied Linguistic Historiography" (ALH), that is, a new domain of enquiry within applied linguistics involving a rigorous, scholarly, and self-reflexive approach to historical research. Considering issues of rationale, scope, and methods in turn, I provide reasons why ALH is needed and…

The importance of an integrating framework for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: the example of health and well-being

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kelley; O'Riordan, Tim

2016-01-01

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development came into force in January 2016 as the central United Nations (UN) platform for achieving ‘integrated and indivisible’ goals and targets across the three characteristic dimensions of sustainable development: the social, environmental and economic. We argue that, despite the UN adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a framework for operationalising them in an integrated fashion is lacking. This article puts forth a framework for integrating health and well-being across the SDGs as both preconditions and outcomes of sustainable development. We present a rationale for this approach, and identify the challenges and opportunities for implementing and monitoring such a framework through a series of examples. We encourage other sectors to develop similar integrating frameworks for supporting a more coordinated approach for operationalising the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. PMID:28588955

34 CFR 361.29 - Statewide assessment; annual estimates; annual State goals and priorities; strategies; and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... service and outcome goals and the time within which these goals may be achieved for individuals in each... section and achieve the goals and priorities identified in paragraph (c) of this section, including— (1... achievement of the goals and priorities; (C) To the extent to which the goals and priorities were not achieved...

Flexible goal attribution in early mindreading.

Science.gov (United States)

Michael, John; Christensen, Wayne

2016-03-01

The 2-systems theory developed by Apperly and Butterfill (2009; Butterfill & Apperly, 2013) is an influential approach to explaining the success of infants and young children on implicit false-belief tasks. There is extensive empirical and theoretical work examining many aspects of this theory, but little attention has been paid to the way in which it characterizes goal attribution. We argue here that this aspect of the theory is inadequate. Butterfill and Apperly's characterization of goal attribution is designed to show how goals could be ascribed by infants without representing them as related to other psychological states, and the minimal mindreading system is supposed to operate without employing flexible semantic-executive cognitive processes. But research on infant goal attribution reveals that infants exhibit a high degree of situational awareness that is strongly suggestive of flexible semantic-executive cognitive processing, and infants appear moreover to be sensitive to interrelations between goals, preferences, and beliefs. Further, close attention to the structure of implicit mindreading tasks--for which the theory was specifically designed--indicates that flexible goal attribution is required to succeed. We conclude by suggesting 2 approaches to resolving these problems. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

"ComPost": A Writing Program Newsletter and Its Rationale.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Dennis R.

1993-01-01

Discusses the development and rationale of "ComPost," a weekly newsletter of the Composition Program at the University of Louisville. Suggests that a vehicle like ComPost can promote the communications that contribute to accomplishing collegiality and genuine program consensus. (RS)

Soft Power as a Policy Rationale for International Education in the UK: A Critical Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Lomer, Sylvie

2017-01-01

This article presents the results of a textual analysis conducted on policy discourses on international students in the UK between 1999 and 2013. A number of rationales for and against increasing their numbers have been made, which have largely remained consistent over changing political administrations. One key rationale is that international…

Gender Differences in Achievement Goals and Performances in English Language and Mathematics of Senior Secondary Schools Students in Borno State, Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Musa, Alice K. J.; Dauda, Bala; Umar, Mohammad A.

2016-01-01

The paper investigated gender difference in achievement goals and performance in English Language and Mathematics of senior secondary schools students in Borno State, Nigeria. The study specifically sought to determine gender differences in students' academic performances in English Language, Mathematics and overall academic performance as well as…

Combining Upper Limb Robotic Rehabilitation with Other Therapeutic Approaches after Stroke: Current Status, Rationale, and Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefano Mazzoleni

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A better understanding of the neural substrates that underlie motor recovery after stroke has led to the development of innovative rehabilitation strategies and tools that incorporate key elements of motor skill relearning, that is, intensive motor training involving goal-oriented repeated movements. Robotic devices for the upper limb are increasingly used in rehabilitation. Studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of these devices in reducing motor impairments, but less so for the improvement of upper limb function. Other studies have begun to investigate the benefits of combined approaches that target muscle function (functional electrical stimulation and botulinum toxin injections, modulate neural activity (noninvasive brain stimulation, and enhance motivation (virtual reality in an attempt to potentialize the benefits of robot-mediated training. The aim of this paper is to overview the current status of such combined treatments and to analyze the rationale behind them.

Achievement Goals and their Underlying Goal Motivation: Does it Matter Why Sport Participants Pursue their Goals?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Gaudreau

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This study examined whether the good or bad outcomes associated with mastery-approach (MAP and performance-approach (PAP goals depend on the extent to which they are motivated by autonomous or controlled motivation. A sample of 515 undergraduate students who participated in sport completed measures of achievement goals, motivation of achievement goals, perceived goal attainment, sport satisfaction, and both positive and negative affect. Results of moderated regression analyses revealed that the positive relations of both MAP and PAP goals with perceived goal attainment were stronger for athletes pursuing these goals with high level of autonomous goal motivation. Also, the positive relations between PAP goals and both sport satisfaction and positive affect were stronger at high levels of autonomous goal motivation and controlled goal motivation. The shape of all these significant interactions was consistent with tenets of Self-Determination Theory as controlled goal motivation was negatively associated with positive affect and sport satisfaction and positively associated with negative affect. Overall, these findings demonstrated the importance of considering goal motivation in order to better understand the conditions under which achievement goals are associated with better experiential and performance outcomes in the lives of sport participants.

Data book: Space station/base food system study. Book 3: Study selection rationale sheets

Science.gov (United States)

1970-01-01

The supporting rationale sheets are presented which were utilized in the selection and support of the concepts considered in the final phase of the study. Each concept, conceived to fulfill a specific function of the food system, was assessed in terms of the eight critical factors depicted on the rationale sheet. When weighted and totaled, the resulting selection factor was used as a guide in making the final decision.

Assessing Goal Intent and Achievement of University Learning Community Students

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeffer-Lachs, Carole F.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the goal intent and achievement of university students, during the Fall 2011 semester, at Blue Wave University, a high research activity public institution in the southeast United States. This study merged theories of motivation to measure goal setting and goal attainment to examine if students who chose to…

A beginner's guide to writing the nursing conceptual model-based theoretical rationale.

Science.gov (United States)

Gigliotti, Eileen; Manister, Nancy N

2012-10-01

Writing the theoretical rationale for a study can be a daunting prospect for novice researchers. Nursing's conceptual models provide excellent frameworks for placement of study variables, but moving from the very abstract concepts of the nursing model to the less abstract concepts of the study variables is difficult. Similar to the five-paragraph essay used by writing teachers to assist beginning writers to construct a logical thesis, the authors of this column present guidelines that beginners can follow to construct their theoretical rationale. This guide can be used with any nursing conceptual model but Neuman's model was chosen here as the exemplar.

Analysis and evaluation of the rationales for single-sex schooling.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigler, Rebecca S; Hayes, Amy Roberson; Liben, Lynn S

2014-01-01

Amendments passed as part of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2006 made some forms of single-sex (SS) public education legal in the United States. Proponents offer a host of arguments in favor of such schooling. This chapter identifies and evaluates five broad rationales for SS schooling. We conclude that empirical evidence fails to support proponents' claims but nonetheless suggests ways in which to improve coeducation. Specifically, we (a) show that the purported benefits of SS schooling arise from factors confounded with, but not causally linked to, single-sex composition; (b) challenge claims that biological sex is an effective marker of differences relevant to instruction; (c) argue that sexism on the part of teachers and peers persists in SS contexts; and (d) critique the notion that gender per se "disappears" in SS contexts. We also address societal implications of the use of sex-segregated education and conclude that factors found to be beneficial for students should be implemented within coeducational schools.

Rationales behind the choice of administration form with fentanyl

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Ramune; Møldrup, Claus; Christrup, Lona

2010-01-01

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The aim of this study was to describe the rationale behind the choice of fentanyl administration forms among Danish general practitioners (GPs). METHODS: Thirty-eight Danish GPs were contacted via an Internet survey system to perform a Delphi survey. In the brainstorming phase...

Get a taste of your goals: promoting motive-goal congruence through affect-focus goal fantasy.

Science.gov (United States)

Job, Veronika; Brandstätter, Veronika

2009-10-01

Studies show that motive-goal congruence is an important predictor of well-being (Baumann, Kaschel, & Kuhl, 2005; Brunstein, Schultheiss, & Grässmann, 1998). However, little is known about the factors that promote congruence between implicit motives and goals. Relying on McClelland's (1985) concept of implicit motives and the theory of fantasy realization (Oettingen, 1999), we postulated that goal fantasies focusing on motive-specific affective incentives promote motive-congruent goal setting. This hypothesis was tested in 3 experimental studies. In Study 1 (n=46) and Study 2 (n=48), participants were asked to select goals in a hypothetical scenario. In Study 3 (n=179), they rated their commitment to personal goals for their actual life situation. The results of all 3 studies supported our hypothesis that participants who focus on motive-specific affective incentives in their goal fantasies set their goals in line with their corresponding implicit motive dispositions.

Goals, tasks and aspects of activity of Ukrainian State Scientific and Technical Center on Nuclear and Radiation Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kovbasenko, Yu.

2001-01-01

The goal of SSTC NRS activities is scientific, technical, analytical and expert support to the Nuclear Regulatory Department as a State Nuclear and Radiation Safety Regulatory Authority.The main tasks are: 1. Development and improvement of normative and legal framework in the field of nuclear power use in Ukraine; 2. Expert support in making regulatory decisions; 3. Research and development work on improvement engineering and operational safety of nuclear power facilities in Ukraine. The organizational structure of SSTC NRS is also given

Five Ways the Sustainable Development Goals Are Better than the Millennium Development Goals and Why Every Educationalist Should Care

Science.gov (United States)

Caprani, Lily

2016-01-01

For 15 years the millennium development goals (MDGs) were a guiding force for many issues affecting the lives of children and young people around the world. Agreed by UN member states in 2001, the eight MDGs were designed as a framework around which states were expected to develop policy priorities and shape their overseas aid spending plans. The…

Investigating goal conflict as a source of mixed emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Berrios, Raul; Totterdell, Peter; Kellett, Stephen

2015-01-01

This research investigated whether (1) the experience of mixed emotions is a consequence of activating conflicting goals and (2) mixed emotions are distinct from emotional conflict. A preliminary experiment (Study 1, N = 35) showed that an elicited goal conflict predicted more mixed emotions than a condition where the same goals were not in conflict. The second experiment was based on naturally occurring goal activation (Study 2, N = 57). This illustrated that mixed emotions were experienced more following conflicting goals compared with a facilitating goals condition-on both a direct self-report measure of mixed emotions and a minimum index measure. The results also showed that mixed emotions were different to emotional conflict. Overall, goal conflict was found to be a source of mixed emotions, and it is feasible that such states have a role in resolving personal dilemmas.

Attention switching during scene perception: how goals influence the time course of eye movements across advertisements.

Science.gov (United States)

Wedel, Michel; Pieters, Rik; Liechty, John

2008-06-01

Eye movements across advertisements express a temporal pattern of bursts of respectively relatively short and long saccades, and this pattern is systematically influenced by activated scene perception goals. This was revealed by a continuous-time hidden Markov model applied to eye movements of 220 participants exposed to 17 ads under a free-viewing condition, and a scene-learning goal (ad memorization), a scene-evaluation goal (ad appreciation), a target-learning goal (product learning), or a target-evaluation goal (product evaluation). The model reflects how attention switches between two states--local and global--expressed in saccades of shorter and longer amplitude on a spatial grid with 48 cells overlaid on the ads. During the 5- to 6-s duration of self-controlled exposure to ads in the magazine context, attention predominantly started in the local state and ended in the global state, and rapidly switched about 5 times between states. The duration of the local attention state was much longer than the duration of the global state. Goals affected the frequency of switching between attention states and the duration of the local, but not of the global, state. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

Selfish goals serve more fundamental social and biological goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, D Vaughn; Kenrick, Douglas T

2014-04-01

Proximate selfish goals reflect the machinations of more fundamental goals such as self-protection and reproduction. Evolutionary life history theory allows us to make predictions about which goals are prioritized over others, which stimuli release which goals, and how the stages of cognitive processing are selectively influenced to better achieve the aims of those goals.

Sustainable development goals and inclusive development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gupta, J.; Vegelin, C.

Achieving sustainable development has been hampered by trade-offs in favour of economic growth over social well-being and ecological viability, which may also affect the sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted by the member states of the United Nations. In contrast, the concept of inclusive

Timber management planning with timber ram and goal programming

Science.gov (United States)

Richard C. Field

1978-01-01

By using goal programming to enhance the linear programming of Timber RAM, multiple decision criteria were incorporated in the timber management planning of a National Forest in the southeastern United States. Combining linear and goal programming capitalizes on the advantages of the two techniques and produces operationally feasible solutions. This enhancement may...

Hermeneutics framework: integration of design rationale and optimizing software modules

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aksit, Mehmet; Malakuti Khah Olun Abadi, Somayeh

To tackle the evolution challenges of adaptive systems, this paper argues on the necessity of hermeneutic approaches that help to avoid too early elimination of design alternatives. This visionary paper proposes the Hermeneutics Framework, which computationally integrates a design rationale

Extent of Implementation of Minimum Standards of Basic Education for the Realisation of the Second Millennium Development Goal in Bayelsa State

Science.gov (United States)

Ogochukwu, Emeka; Gbendu, Olaowei Godiva

2015-01-01

The study was carried out in Salga Education Zone of Bayelsa State specifically to determine the extent of implementation of the minimum standards for basic education in order to ensure the realization of the second millennium development goal. The study adopted the descriptive research design. The population of the study comprised of all the…

Methods and strategies for future reactor safety goals

Science.gov (United States)

Arndt, Steven Andrew

There have been significant discussions over the past few years by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), and others as to the adequacy of the NRC safety goals for use with the next generation of nuclear power reactors to be built in the United States. The NRC, in its safety goals policy statement, has provided general qualitative safety goals and basic quantitative health objectives (QHOs) for nuclear reactors in the United States. Risk metrics such as core damage frequency (CDF) and large early release frequency (LERF) have been used as surrogates for the QHOs. In its review of the new plant licensing policy the ACRS has looked at the safety goals, as has the NRC. A number of issues have been raised including what the Commission had in mind when it drafted the safety goals and QHOs, how risk from multiple reactors at a site should be combined for evaluation, how the combination of a new and old reactor at the same site should be evaluated, what the criteria for evaluating new reactors should be, and whether new reactors should be required to be safer than current generation reactors. As part of the development and application of the NRC safety goal policy statement the Commissioners laid out the expectations for the safety of a nuclear power plant but did not address the risk associated with current multi-unit sites, potential modular reactor sites, and hybrid sites that could contain current generation reactors, new passive reactors, and/or modular reactors. The NRC safety goals and the QHOs refer to a "nuclear power plant," but do not discuss whether a "plant" refers to only a single unit or all of the units on a site. There has been much discussion on this issue recently due to the development of modular reactors. Additionally, the risk of multiple reactor accidents on the same site has been largely ignored in the probabilistic risk assessments (PRAs) done to date, and in most risk

HAMMLAB 1999 experimental control room: design - design rationale - experiences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foerdestroemmen, N. T.; Meyer, B. D.; Saarni, R.

1999-01-01

A presentation of HAMMLAB 1999 experimental control room, and the accumulated experiences gathered in the areas of design and design rationale as well as user experiences. It is concluded that HAMMLAB 1999 experimental control room is a realistic, compact and efficient control room well suited as an Advanced NPP Control Room (ml)

The interaction between dietary and life goals: using goal systems theory to explore healthy diet and life goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner-McGrievy, Gabrielle M; Wright, Julie A; Migneault, Jeffrey P; Quintiliani, Lisa; Friedman, Robert H

2014-01-01

Objective : To examine the types of life and dietary goals individuals report and how these goal domains interact as framed by goal systems theory. Methods : This work is a cross-sectional survey study. Measures included the incidence of common life and dietary goals and how these goals interact with and facilitate each other. Results : The results of a quantitative survey ( n  = 46 participants), which was informed by two focus groups ( n  = 17 participants), showed that participants are trying to achieve several different life (e.g. achieving financial success) and dietary goals (e.g. eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water, and losing weight) and that these two types of goals interact to both facilitate and conflict with each other. Having a life goal of exercising was significantly associated with healthy eating goals when compared with other life goals ( p 's goals may be linked and help to facilitate one another. Being in the maintenance phase with the goal of healthy eating was associated with participants feeling like they were more successful in their other non-diet-related health goals ( p  goals can facilitate success in achieving other goals. Conclusions : Life goals can have an impact on a person's ability to achieve and maintain dietary and other health goals. Health educators may help to facilitate long-term behavior change by examining a person's life goals as well as dietary goals.

Long-term funding and faithfulness to the original goal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sjoegren, G.

1999-02-01

The study describes long-term funding in terms of faithfulness to the original goals of the foundations. After having examined 20 different Swedish foundations three main categories of problems have appeared. The main threats to the original goals of the foundations are juridical problems, economic problems and a changing society. Fraud and embezzlement are covered by the Act (1994:1220) Concerning Foundations, but the law does not prevent unfaithfulness to the original goal of the foundation in terms of permutation. If the foundation is a private-established foundation the board has to apply for a change of the original goal to the Swedish Judicial Board for Public Lands and Funds. If the State, a municipality or a community establishes the foundation the Government can change the goal without permission of any other authority. Economic problems often strike smaller funds established by private persons, but State-established funds can also be hit by economical problems. The economic problems presented in the text are high tax levels, bad investments and problems getting donations. Both small private and large State-established foundations sometimes have to change their original goals as a result of a changing society. The goal of the foundation can be out-of-date, be against the ideology of the government party or the demography might have changed. Examples from each category are given in the text. The study is made to facilitate a description in general terms of the prospects for the Swedish nuclear funds if a final decision can not be made in the time span of 100 or 200 years. Looking back on the changes in the judicial, economical and political arenas during the last 200 years, one realizes the impossibility to foresee the changes that will occur within the next 200 years. The author's conclusion, after examined 20 foundation, is that it is impossible to establish a perfect long-term fund as we can not foresee the long-term future

Long-term funding and faithfulness to the original goal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sjoegren, G

1999-02-01

The study describes long-term funding in terms of faithfulness to the original goals of the foundations. After having examined 20 different Swedish foundations three main categories of problems have appeared. The main threats to the original goals of the foundations are juridical problems, economic problems and a changing society. Fraud and embezzlement are covered by the Act (1994:1220) Concerning Foundations, but the law does not prevent unfaithfulness to the original goal of the foundation in terms of permutation. If the foundation is a private-established foundation the board has to apply for a change of the original goal to the Swedish Judicial Board for Public Lands and Funds. If the State, a municipality or a community establishes the foundation the Government can change the goal without permission of any other authority. Economic problems often strike smaller funds established by private persons, but State-established funds can also be hit by economical problems. The economic problems presented in the text are high tax levels, bad investments and problems getting donations. Both small private and large State-established foundations sometimes have to change their original goals as a result of a changing society. The goal of the foundation can be out-of-date, be against the ideology of the government party or the demography might have changed. Examples from each category are given in the text. The study is made to facilitate a description in general terms of the prospects for the Swedish nuclear funds if a final decision can not be made in the time span of 100 or 200 years. Looking back on the changes in the judicial, economical and political arenas during the last 200 years, one realizes the impossibility to foresee the changes that will occur within the next 200 years. The author`s conclusion, after examined 20 foundation, is that it is impossible to establish a perfect long-term fund as we can not foresee the long-term future

Dynamic goal states: adjusting cognitive control without conflict monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Scherbaum, Stefan; Dshemuchadse, Maja; Ruge, Hannes; Goschke, Thomas

2012-10-15

A central topic in the cognitive sciences is how cognitive control is adjusted flexibly to changing environmental demands at different time scales to produce goal-oriented behavior. According to an influential account, the context-sensitive recruitment of cognitive control is mediated by a specialized conflict monitoring process that registers current conflict and signals the demand for enhanced control in subsequent trials. This view has been immensely successful not least due to supporting evidence from neuroimaging studies suggesting that the conflict monitoring function is localized within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) which, in turn, signals the demand for enhanced control to the prefrontal cortex (PFC). In this article, we propose an alternative model of the adaptive regulation of cognitive control based on multistable goal attractor network dynamics and adjustments of cognitive control within a conflict trial. Without incorporation of an explicit conflict monitoring module, the model mirrors behavior in conflict tasks accounting for effects of response congruency, sequential conflict adaptation, and proportion of incongruent trials. Importantly, the model also mirrors frequency tagged EEG data indicating continuous conflict adaptation and suggests a reinterpretation of the correlation between ACC and the PFC BOLD data reported in previous imaging studies. Together, our simulation data propose an alternative interpretation of both behavioral data as well as imaging data that have previously been interpreted in favor of a specialized conflict monitoring process in the ACC. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Treatment goals in psoriasis routine care.

Science.gov (United States)

Radtke, M A; Reich, K; Spehr, C; Augustin, Matthias

2015-07-01

The treatment goal algorithm for psoriasis, first originated in 2007, has ever since been adopted into treatment guidelines. It remained unclear how many patients have experienced the use of treatment goals in routine care and how these are perceived. The aim of the pilot study was to get first insight in the use and impact of therapeutic goals in a large cohort of patients with psoriasis in routine care. This study is a multicenter, non-interventional, cross-sectional health care study in n = 213 dermatology centers across Germany. A standardized physician and patient questionnaire was used, including demographics, disease and treatment characteristics. To evaluate patient treatment perception and satisfaction, a questionnaire (PsoSat) addressing 8 specific items was designed. Consistency and validity of the questionnaire were controlled by factor analyses and reliability tests. In total n = 1,883 patients were included for analysis (54.2% male). Mean age was 52 years, mean disease duration 19 years. In total 45.5% (n = 856) stated an improvement of psoriatic symptoms in the last 4 weeks. In patients including treatment goals, the course of psoriasis in the last 4 weeks was rated significantly better and predicted significantly higher patient satisfaction. Patients reporting periodic outcomes measurement of psoriasis treatment, also had significantly better course of disease, higher satisfaction and a lower psoriasis severity. A majority of patients experienced the use of treatment goals in practice. The association of using treatment goals with clinical outcomes and treatment satisfaction was markedly positive. These findings indicate that the use of treatment goals and outcome measurements in fact improve psoriasis management.

Genomewide Association Studies: History, Rationale, and Prospects for Psychiatric Disorders

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cichon, S.; Craddock, N.; Daly, M.J.; Faraone, S.V.; Gejman, P.V.; Kelsoe, J.; Lehner, T.; Levinson, D.F.; Moran, A.P.; Sklar, P.; Sullivan, P.F.; Boomsma, D.I.; de Geus, E.J.C.; Posthuma, D.; Willemsen, G.

2009-01-01

Objective: The authors conducted a review of the history and empirical basis of genomewide association studies (GWAS), the rationale for GWAS of psychiatric disorders, results to date, limitations, and plans for GWAS meta-analyses. Method: A literature review was carried out, power and other issues

Genomewide association studies: history, rationale, and prospects for psychiatric disorders.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Franke, B.; Buitelaar, J.K.; Cichon, S.; Craddock, N.; Daly, M.; Faraone, S.V.; Gejman, P.V.; Kelsoe, J.; Lehner, T.; Levinson, D.F.; Moran, A.; Sklar, P.; Sullivan, P.F.

2009-01-01

OBJECTIVE: The authors conducted a review of the history and empirical basis of genomewide association studies (GWAS), the rationale for GWAS of psychiatric disorders, results to date, limitations, and plans for GWAS meta-analyses. METHOD: A literature review was carried out, power and other issues

When you have to climb downhill to reach the top: the effect of action versus state orientation on solvinga goal-subgoal conflict in the Tower of Hanoi task.

Science.gov (United States)

Jostmann, Nils B; Gieselmann, Annika

2014-01-01

Complex problems often include a response conflict between a subgoal and a final goal. The present experiment investigated the roles of situational demands and individual differences in self-regulation on solving goal-subgoal conflicts in a computerized Tower of Hanoi task. Action-oriented versus state-oriented individuals were randomly assigned to a demanding condition in which they deliberated about a personal decision problem, or to a nondemanding control condition. In line with expectations state-oriented individuals had greater difficulties to solve goal-subgoal conflicts in the demanding compared to the nondemanding condition. Action-oriented individuals performed well in both conditions. In line with Personality Systems Interactions theory (Kuhl, 2000) the findings show that complex problem solving depends on how well people are able to deal with situational demands.

Physics rationale for the engineering specifications for ZTH

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dimarco, J.N.

1987-01-01

This report presents the physics rationale that established the engineering design of ZTH. The physics criteria are given and the implications regarding the engineering design are presented. Experimental and theoretical background evidence is given in support of the criteria but the justification is left to other reports and peer reviews. The physics criteria discussed here are limited to the ones deemed to be of highest engineering priority. 32 refs., 9 figs

Goal difficulty and openness to interpersonal goal support.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Righetti, F.; Kumashiro, M.; Campbell, S.

2014-01-01

When people pursue important goals, they are often surrounded by close others who could provide help and support for the achievement of these goals. The present work investigated whether people are more likely to be open to such interpersonal goal support from a romantic partner when they perceive

Karl Popper and Jean Piaget: A Rationale for Constructivism

Science.gov (United States)

Harlow, Steve; Cummings, Rhoda; Aberasturi, Suzanne M.

2006-01-01

The current faddish use of the term constructivism has taken on as many different definitions as the number of people attempting to define it. This essay clarifies the meaning of constructivism through an examination of Karl Popper's and Jean Piaget's theories. The authors provide a rationale for the use of Popper's paradigm of "Three Worlds" and…

Active Learning with Rationales for Identifying Operationally Significant Anomalies in Aviation

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Manali; Das, Kamalika; Bilgic, Mustafa; Matthews, Bryan; Nielsen, David Lynn; Oza, Nikunj C.

2016-01-01

A major focus of the commercial aviation community is discovery of unknown safety events in flight operations data. Data-driven unsupervised anomaly detection methods are better at capturing unknown safety events compared to rule-based methods which only look for known violations. However, not all statistical anomalies that are discovered by these unsupervised anomaly detection methods are operationally significant (e.g., represent a safety concern). Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) have to spend significant time reviewing these statistical anomalies individually to identify a few operationally significant ones. In this paper we propose an active learning algorithm that incorporates SME feedback in the form of rationales to build a classifier that can distinguish between uninteresting and operationally significant anomalies. Experimental evaluation on real aviation data shows that our approach improves detection of operationally significant events by as much as 75% compared to the state-of-the-art. The learnt classifier also generalizes well to additional validation data sets.

Predicting Subsequent Task Performance From Goal Motivation and Goal Failure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Catherine Healy

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Recent research has demonstrated that the cognitive processes associated with goal pursuit can continue to interfere with unrelated tasks when a goal is unfulfilled. Drawing from the self-regulation and goal-striving literatures, the present study explored the impact of goal failure on subsequent cognitive and physical task performance. Furthermore, we examined if the autonomous or controlled motivation underpinning goal striving moderates the responses to goal failure. Athletes (75 male, 59 female, Mage = 19.90 years, SDage = 3.50 completed a cycling trial with the goal of covering a given distance in 8 minutes. Prior to the trial, their motivation was primed using a video. During the trial they were provided with manipulated performance feedback, thus creating conditions of goal success or failure. No differences emerged in the responses to goal failure between the primed motivation or performance feedback conditions. We make recommendations for future research into how individuals can deal with failure in goal striving.

Constructing a Theory- and Evidence-Based Treatment Rationale for Complex eHealth Interventions: Development of an Online Alcohol Intervention Using an Intervention Mapping Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Brendryen, Håvar; Johansen, Ayna; Nesvåg, Sverre; Kok, Gerjo; Duckert, Fanny

2013-01-23

Due to limited reporting of intervention rationale, little is known about what distinguishes a good intervention from a poor one. To support improved design, there is a need for comprehensive reports on novel and complex theory-based interventions. Specifically, the emerging trend of just-in-time tailoring of content in response to change in target behavior or emotional state is promising. The objective of this study was to give a systematic and comprehensive description of the treatment rationale of an online alcohol intervention called Balance. We used the intervention mapping protocol to describe the treatment rationale of Balance. The intervention targets at-risk drinking, and it is delivered by email, mobile phone text messaging, and tailored interactive webpages combining text, pictures, and prerecorded audio. The rationale of the current treatment was derived from a self-regulation perspective, and the overarching idea was to support continued self-regulation throughout the behavior change process. Maintaining the change efforts over time and coping adaptively during critical moments (eg, immediately before and after a lapse) are key factors to successful behavior change. Important elements of the treatment rationale to achieving these elements were: (1) emotion regulation as an inoculation strategy against self-regulation failure, (2) avoiding lapses by adaptive coping, and (3) avoiding relapse by resuming the change efforts after a lapse. Two distinct and complementary delivery strategies were used, including a day-to-day tunnel approach in combination with just-in-time therapy. The tunnel strategy was in accordance with the need for continuous self-regulation and it functions as a platform from which just-in-time therapy was launched. Just-in-time therapy was used to support coping during critical moments, and started when the client reports either low self-efficacy or that they were drinking above target levels. The descriptions of the treatment

Pro-Social Goals in Achievement Situations: Amity Goal Orientation Enhances the Positive Effects of Mastery Goal Orientation.

Science.gov (United States)

Levontin, Liat; Bardi, Anat

2018-04-01

Research has neglected the utility of pro-social goals within achievement situations. In this article, four studies demonstrate that amity goal orientation, promoting mutual success of oneself together with others, enhances the utility of mastery goal orientation. We demonstrate this in longitudinally predicting performance (Studies 1 and 2) and in maintaining motivation after a disappointing performance (Studies 3 and 4). The studies demonstrate the same interaction effect in academic and in work achievement contexts. Specifically, whereas amity goal orientation did not predict achievement on its own, it enhanced the positive effect of mastery goal orientation. Together, these studies establish the importance of amity goal orientation while also advancing our understanding of the effects of other achievement goal orientations. We suggest future directions in examining the utility of amity goals in other contexts.

What are patient goals after an anterior colporrhaphy operation?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kousgaard, Sabrina J; Bjørk, Jonna; Glavind, Karin

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe patient-reported goals after an anterior colporrhaphy operation for anterior vaginal wall prolapse, the fulfilment of goals, and the correlation with subjective patient-reported outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective study involving 100 women....... Preoperatively, patients completed three modified questions from the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire - Vaginal Symptoms (ICIQ-VS) named ICIQ-VS short form (ICIQ-VS SF) and stated three goals for the operation. A telephone interview was performed 3 months postoperatively. RESULTS......: A Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score from one to 10 estimated the extent to which goals were achieved. Goals were divided into eight groups: 1: mechanical symptoms (bulging), 2: voiding symptoms, 3: quality of life (physical), 4: quality of life (emotional), 5: avoidance of urinary tract infection, 6: cure...

Supporting awareness in creative group work by exposing design rationale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Umer Farooq

2011-01-01

Full Text Available When creativity is taken as a long-term, complex, and collaborative activity, support for awareness is required for group members to monitor the development of ideas, track how these ideas became narrowed, and understand how alternatives are being implemented and integrated by colleagues. In this paper, we investigate the effects of exposing design rationale to convey awareness, specifically activity awareness, in group creativity. Through evaluating a prototype, we investigate status updates that convey design rationale, and to what consequences, in small groups in fully distributed collaboration. We found that status updates are used for a variety of purposes and that participants’ comments on their collaborators’ status updates provided feedback. Overall, results suggest that participants’ awareness about their collaborators’ future plans increased over time. Majority of participants found the status updates useful, particularly those with higher metacognitive knowledge. Based on our results, two design strategies for activity awareness are proposed.

Rationale for statistical characteristics of road safety parameters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dormidontova Tatiana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available When making engineering decisions at the stage of designing auto-roads and man-made structures it is necessary to take into account the statistical variability of physical and mechanical characteristics of the used materials as well as the different effects on the structures. Thus the rationale for the statistical characteristics of the parameters that determine the reliability of roads and man-made engineering facilities is of particular importance.There are many factors to be considered while designing roads, such as natural climatic factors, the accidental effects of the operating loads, the strength and deformation characteristics of the materials, the geometric parameters of the structure, etc. which affect the strength characteristics of roads and man-made structures. The rationale for statistical characteristics of the parameters can help an engineer assess the reliability of the decision and the economic risk, as well as avoid making mistakes in the design of roads and man-made structures.However, some statistical characteristics of the parameters that define the reliability of a road and man-made structures play a key role in the design. These are the visibility distance in daytime for the peak curve, variation coefficient of radial acceleration, the reliability of visibility distance and other parameters.

Promoting implementation of sustainable development goals in rural ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Promoting implementation of sustainable development goals in rural Nigeria: II food security issues and their determinants among cassava-based farming households in Akpabuyo Local Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria.

Goal conflicts, attainment of new goals, and well-being among managers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kehr, Hugo M

2003-07-01

Researchers widely understand that conflicts among goals inhibit the attainment of these goals. However, this notion comes close to tautological reasoning. To avert this problem, this study examined whether preexisting goal conflict also inhibits success in newly set goals. Using the context of management training, in which managers collectively set new goals, the study variables were assessed at 3 testing periods covering 5 months. Results indicate that goal conflicts that persevere over time were associated with inhibited attainment of new goals but not with decreased subjective well-being (SWB). Goal attainment, however, was positively related to SWB. Interactions of residual changes in goal conflict and goal attainment were associated with positive affect.

The rationales of resilience in English and Dutch flood risk policies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wiering, M.A.; Green, C.; Rijswick, M. van; Priest, S.J.; Keessen, A.M.

2015-01-01

We compared the governance of flood risk in England and the Netherlands, focusing on the general policies, instruments used and underlying principles. Both physical and political environments are important in explaining how countries evolved towards very different rationales of

Teachers' Perceptions of the Efficacy of Standards-Based IEP Goals

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Traci Nicole

2013-01-01

Although standards-based IEP goals have been mandated in many states for almost a decade, their effectiveness is unknown. Standards-based IEP goals were first created to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind and Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, which increased accountability for all students as well as those with…

Youth tobacco use in the United States--problem, progress, goals, and potential solutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Glynn, T J; Greenwald, P; Mills, S M; Manley, M W

1993-07-01

Efforts to control tobacco use and tobacco-related morbidity and mortality in the United States continue to be generally successful. In the quarter century since the publication of the first Surgeon General's Report on Tobacco and Health, adult smoking rates in the United States have been reduced by nearly 34%. Controlling tobacco use among our nation's youth, however, has not been as successful. Although there was considerable success in reducing adolescent tobacco use in the late 1970s and early 1980s, tobacco use among youth has remained essentially stable for the past decade. The health and economic burden of tobacco use, current knowledge about youth tobacco use, and youth-related national tobacco reduction goals for the Year 2000 are reviewed. Analysis of the research of the past two decades clearly indicates that there is no "magic bullet" in existence or in sight for the reduction of tobacco use, either among youth or among adults. This does not mean that opportunities for significant advances through, for example, pharmacological therapies or the broad application of media or policy strategies should not continue to be explored, but that for the moment no single approach appears to work best. Rather, a comprehensive approach that applies multiple prevention and cessation strategies simultaneously appears to be most effective in tobacco use control. Among youth, the combination of tobacco control strategies that may work best includes those that involve the family, primary care physicians, and other health professionals such as nurses and dentists; programs that are carried out in schools and/or through the media; and societal approaches such as access and advertising restrictions and increased taxes.

New knowledge network evaluation method for design rationale management

Science.gov (United States)

Jing, Shikai; Zhan, Hongfei; Liu, Jihong; Wang, Kuan; Jiang, Hao; Zhou, Jingtao

2015-01-01

Current design rationale (DR) systems have not demonstrated the value of the approach in practice since little attention is put to the evaluation method of DR knowledge. To systematize knowledge management process for future computer-aided DR applications, a prerequisite is to provide the measure for the DR knowledge. In this paper, a new knowledge network evaluation method for DR management is presented. The method characterizes the DR knowledge value from four perspectives, namely, the design rationale structure scale, association knowledge and reasoning ability, degree of design justification support and degree of knowledge representation conciseness. The DR knowledge comprehensive value is also measured by the proposed method. To validate the proposed method, different style of DR knowledge network and the performance of the proposed measure are discussed. The evaluation method has been applied in two realistic design cases and compared with the structural measures. The research proposes the DR knowledge evaluation method which can provide object metric and selection basis for the DR knowledge reuse during the product design process. In addition, the method is proved to be more effective guidance and support for the application and management of DR knowledge.

Teachers' goal orientations: Effects on classroom goal structures and emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hui; Hall, Nathan C; Goetz, Thomas; Frenzel, Anne C

2017-03-01

Prior research has shown teachers' goal orientations to influence classroom goal structures (Retelsdorf et al., 2010, Learning and Instruction, 20, 30) and to also impact their emotions (Schutz et al., 2007, Emotion in education, Academic Press, Amsterdam, the Netherlands). However, empirical research evaluating possible causal ordering and mediation effects involving these variables in teachers is presently lacking. The present 6-month longitudinal study investigated the relations between varied motivational, behavioural, and emotional variables in practising teachers. More specifically, this study examined the reciprocal, longitudinal relations between teachers' achievement goals, classroom goal structures, and teaching-related emotions, as well as cumulative mediational models in which observed causal relations were evaluated. Participants were 495 practising teachers from Canada (86% female, M = 42 years). Teachers completed a web-based questionnaire at two time points assessing their instructional goals, perceived classroom goal structures, achievement emotions, and demographic items. Results from cross-lagged analyses and structural equation modelling showed teachers' achievement goals to predict their perceived classroom goal structures that, in turn, predicted their teaching-related emotions. The present results inform both Butler's (2012, Journal of Educational Psychology, 104, 726) theory on teachers' achievement goals and Frenzel's (2014, International handbook of emotions in education, Routledge, New York, NY) model of teachers' emotions in showing teachers' instructional goals to both directly predict their teaching-related emotions, as well as indirectly through the mediating effects of classroom goal structures. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

State absolutism and the future of man: A historico-existential ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The wellbeing of man has been the rationale behind the original call for the erection of a state structure. Therefore, it calls to reason that any state whose existence hampers the well-being of man is but a sham, irrespective of the motive of the contractors. The quest and zest of the Anglo-Saxon contractarians for a state was ...

Rationale for the Cultural Construction of School Mental Health Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Arora, Prerna G.; Nastasi, Bonnie K.; Leff, Stephen S.

2017-01-01

The implementation of evidence-based psychological programming to meet the needs of a global population has been impeded by the translation of theories and research findings across populations and settings without due consideration of cultural factors. The purpose of this article is to discuss the rationale for use of partnership-based methods in…

Achievement goals, social goals, and motivational regulations in physical education settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Cecchini Estrada, José A; González González-Mesa, Carmen; Méndez-Giménez, Antonio; Fernández-Río, Javier

2011-02-01

This study examined the relationship between achievement and social goals, and explored how both goals affect students' level of informed self-determination in Physical Education. Participants were 395 high school students. Three scales were used to assess achievement, social goals, and motivation. Several hierarchical regression analyses revealed that mastery-approach goals were the greatest contributors to the individuals' levels of self-determination. Achievement and social goals were found to be separate predictors of students' levels of self-determination, and this highlights the importance of separating mastery and performance goals into avoidance and approach profiles. Girls reported significantly higher values than boys on responsibility, relationship, and mastery-avoidance goals, whereas boys scored higher on performance-approach goals. Researchers could use achievement and social goals to study students' motivation and achievement in Physical Education settings.

Relations between Classroom Goal Structures and Students' Goal Orientations in Mathematics Classes: When Is a Mastery Goal Structure Adaptive?

Science.gov (United States)

Skaalvik, Einar M.; Federici, Roger A.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test possible interactions between mastery and performance goal structures in mathematics classrooms when predicting students' goal orientations. More specifically, we tested if the degree of performance goal structure moderated the associations between mastery goal structure and students' goal orientations.…

Informational Element of Power: The Role of Public Diplomacy in United States-Cuba Policy Implementation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Andujar, Roberto C

2005-01-01

THESIS: The United States should reassess its Public Diplomacy strategy toward Cuba and the key role that Public Diplomacy plays in preparing the Cuban people to transition to a free and democratic state. RATIONALE...

Meeting a Moral Imperative: A Rationale for Teaching the Holocaust

Science.gov (United States)

Lindquist, David H.

2011-01-01

A primary rationale for studying the Holocaust (Shoah) involves the opportunity to consider the moral implications that can be drawn from examining the event. Studying the Shoah forces students to consider what it means to be human and humane by examining the full continuum of individual behavior, from "ultimate evil" to "ultimate good". This…

The ‘grey’ assessment practice of IA screening: Prevalence, influence and applied rationale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bidstrup, Morten

2017-01-01

Research focusing on the practices surrounding screening in Impact Assessment (IA) is limited. Yet, it has been found that development proposals sometimes are adjusted through an informal dialog with IA practitioners prior to or during screening. Such practice is often referred to as ‘grey IA’ in Denmark. This article explores the prevalence, influence and applied rationale of grey IA. Through a questionnaire, data was collected from 121 IA practitioners working within the fields of environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment. It was found that grey IA is a common practice, which influences the outcomes of formal screening procedures through consideration of impacts on neighbours and spatial zones of protection. Grey IA is to some extent motivated by the opportunity to save the resources required for full-scale IA, but an additional ‘green’ rationale also exists. Grey IA may influence the effectiveness of IA systems, but further research is needed before any conclusions can be made. - Highlights: • Screening procedures may function as an informal, ‘grey’ assessment. • Grey assessment is common and influences formal screening outcomes. • Grey assessment is motivated by an opportunity to cut IA costs. • Yet, an environmental, ‘green’ rationale for grey assessment also exists.

The ‘grey’ assessment practice of IA screening: Prevalence, influence and applied rationale

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bidstrup, Morten, E-mail: Bidstrup@plan.aau.dk

2017-01-15

Research focusing on the practices surrounding screening in Impact Assessment (IA) is limited. Yet, it has been found that development proposals sometimes are adjusted through an informal dialog with IA practitioners prior to or during screening. Such practice is often referred to as ‘grey IA’ in Denmark. This article explores the prevalence, influence and applied rationale of grey IA. Through a questionnaire, data was collected from 121 IA practitioners working within the fields of environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment. It was found that grey IA is a common practice, which influences the outcomes of formal screening procedures through consideration of impacts on neighbours and spatial zones of protection. Grey IA is to some extent motivated by the opportunity to save the resources required for full-scale IA, but an additional ‘green’ rationale also exists. Grey IA may influence the effectiveness of IA systems, but further research is needed before any conclusions can be made. - Highlights: • Screening procedures may function as an informal, ‘grey’ assessment. • Grey assessment is common and influences formal screening outcomes. • Grey assessment is motivated by an opportunity to cut IA costs. • Yet, an environmental, ‘green’ rationale for grey assessment also exists.

The value and limitation of quantitative safety goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunster, H.J.

1982-01-01

Some of the philosophical and practical complexities of quantitative safety goals are reviewed with examples of how the problems have been dealt with in current safety objectives in Britain and by the International Commisson on Radiological Protection. Where possible, quantitative comparisons are shown. It is concluded that progress towards quantitative safety goals should be deliberate rather than rapid and that attention should be paid to the possible implications for industries other than the nuclear power industry and countries other than the United States of America

[Perceptions of classroom goal structures, personal achievement goal orientations, and learning strategies].

Science.gov (United States)

Miki, Kaori; Yamauchi, Hirotsugu

2005-08-01

We examined the relations among students' perceptions of classroom goal structures (mastery and performance goal structures), students' achievement goal orientations (mastery, performance, and work-avoidance goals), and learning strategies (deep processing, surface processing and self-handicapping strategies). Participants were 323 5th and 6th grade students in elementary schools. The results from structural equation modeling indicated that perceptions of classroom mastery goal structures were associated with students' mastery goal orientations, which were in turn related positively to the deep processing strategies and academic achievement. Perceptions of classroom performance goal stractures proved associated with work avoidance-goal orientations, which were positively related to the surface processing and self-handicapping strategies. Two types of goal structures had a positive relation with students' performance goal orientations, which had significant positive effects on academic achievement. The results of this study suggest that elementary school students' perceptions of mastery goal structures are related to adaptive patterns of learning more than perceptions of performance goal structures are. The role of perceptions of classroom goal structure in promoting students' goal orientations and learning strategies is discussed.

Critique of rationale for transmutation of nuclear waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, C.F.; Cohen, J.J.

1980-07-01

It has been suggested that nuclear transmutation could be used in the elimination or reduction of hazards from radioactive wastes. The rationale for this suggestion is the subject of this paper. The objectives of partitioning-transmutation are described. The benefits are evaluated. The author concludes that transmutation would appear at best to offer the opportunity of reducing an already low risk. This would not seem to be justifiable considering the cost. If non-radiological risks are considered, there is a negative total benefit

Working together for global health goals: The United States Agency for International Development and faith-based organizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clydette L Powell

2014-01-01

Full Text Available For many years, and before the term “FBO” was used for faith-based organizations, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID has supported the work of FBOs in global health and development. The Agency has long recognized the impact of FBOs within that development space, because these organizations are often well positioned to reach the hard-to-reach and to go the last mile because of their strong ties to the community. Moreover, FBOs deliver a substantial percentage of the health services in some developing countries. Faith partners, whether Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, or other, have an important role to play as implementers in global health and to support global efforts towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs in health. In addition, partnerships at national and international levels are key to the success of US Presidential Initiatives in the developing world, such as President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR and President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI. FBOs also have an important voice in policy and strategy formulation. Among other international donors, USAID support has been of great importance to the work of FBOs, thereby helping host nations to achieve goals in ending preventable child and maternal deaths, improving communicable disease control and prevention, and by supporting the construction and renovation of hospitals and health facilities where service delivery is most needed. The development literature is replete with examples of the work of FBOs made possible through access to resources. This paper focuses on some of the work supported by USAID in global health initiatives in order to reach complementary goals and achieve significant public health advances. Given the vastness of the topic, not all the global health initiatives involving FBOs supported by USAID are included here; the reader is encouraged to access the USAID website and USAID implementing partners for

United States Army physical readiness training: rationale and evaluation of the physical training doctrine.

Science.gov (United States)

Knapik, Joseph J; Rieger, William; Palkoska, Frank; Van Camp, Steven; Darakjy, Salima

2009-07-01

This paper reviews the rationale and evaluations of Physical Readiness Training (PRT), the new U.S. Army physical training doctrine designed to improve soldiers' physical capability for military operations. The purposes of PRT are to improve physical fitness, prevent injuries, progressively train soldiers, and develop soldiers' self-confidence and discipline. The PRT follows the principles of progressive overload, regularity, specificity, precision, variety, and balance. Specificity was achieved by examining the standard list of military (warrior) tasks and determining 1) the physical requirements, 2) the fitness components involved, and 3) the training activities that most likely could improve the military tasks. Injury-prevention features include reduced running mileage, exercise variety (cross-training), and gradual, progressive training. In 3 military field studies, the overall adjusted risk of injury was 1.5-1.8 times higher in groups of soldiers performing traditional military physical training programs when compared with groups using a PRT program. Scores on the Army Physical Fitness Test were similar or higher in groups using PRT programs. In an 8-week laboratory study comparing PRT with a weightlifting/running program, both programs resulted in major improvements in militarily relevant tasks (e.g., 3.2-km walk/run with 32-kg load, 400-m run with 18-kg load, 5- to 30-second rushes to and from prone position, 80-kg casualty drag, obstacle course). When compared with traditional military physical training programs, PRT consistently resulted in fewer injuries and in equal or greater improvements in fitness and military task performance.

Stakeholder involvement in establishing a milk quality sub-index in dairy cow breeding goals: a Delphi approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Henchion, M; McCarthy, M; Resconi, V C; Berry, D P; McParland, S

2016-05-01

The relative weighting on traits within breeding goals are generally determined by bio-economic models or profit functions. While such methods have generally delivered profitability gains to producers, and are being expanded to consider non-market values, current approaches generally do not consider the numerous and diverse stakeholders that affect, or are affected, by such tools. Based on principles of respondent anonymity, iteration, controlled feedback and statistical aggregation of feedback, a Delphi study was undertaken to gauge stakeholder opinion of the importance of detailed milk quality traits within an overall dairy breeding goal for profit, with the aim of assessing its suitability as a complementary, participatory approach to defining breeding goals. The questionnaires used over two survey rounds asked stakeholders: (a) their opinion on incorporating an explicit sub-index for milk quality into a national breeding goal; (b) the importance they would assign to a pre-determined list of milk quality traits and (c) the (relative) weighting they would give such a milk quality sub-index. Results from the survey highlighted a good degree of consensus among stakeholders on the issues raised. Similarly, revelation of the underlying assumptions and knowledge used by stakeholders to make their judgements illustrated their ability to consider a range of perspectives when evaluating traits, and to reconsider their answers based on the responses and rationales given by others, which demonstrated social learning. Finally, while the relative importance assigned by stakeholders in the Delphi survey (4% to 10%) and the results of calculations based on selection index theory of the relative emphasis that should be placed on milk quality to halt any deterioration (16%) are broadly in line, the difference indicates the benefit of considering more than one approach to determining breeding goals. This study thus illustrates the role of the Delphi technique, as a complementary

Classroom climate and students' goal preferences: a cross-cultural comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Vedder, Paul; Kouwenhoven, Coen; Burk, William J

2009-04-01

Goal preferences indicate intentions to achieve or avoid particular states. We examined whether Curacaoan and Dutch students differ in goal preferences related to school and whether goal preferences are associated with students' evaluation of the classroom climate. Measurement invariance of the instruments was also tested between samples. Participants attended vocational high schools in Curacao (N = 276) or in the Netherlands (N = 283). Both the classroom climate and goal preferences differed between the samples. In the Netherlands the preference for individuality, belongingness, and recognition was stronger, whereas in Curacao mastery, satisfaction, self-determination, and material gain were more frequently endorsed. The two variables were modestly correlated. Schools do have a globalizing effect on students' school experiences and hardly adapt to goal preferences. The latter seem to be affected by non-school related cultural factors.

Comparative study of goal contents and goal characteristics between medical and business students.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Soowon; Kim, Ji Eun; Lee, Jun-Young; Shin, Jongho

2016-03-01

Medical and business are one of the most popular majors among students, and both fields require intensive training to reach certain level of expertise. During the development of professionalism, goal can become a crucial role in psychological impetus. The purpose of this study is to compare goal contents, goal characteristics, and effect of goal characteristics on student's major satisfaction between medical and business. A total of 193 undergraduate students (97 medical students, 96 business students) answered survey questions including goal contents, goal characteristics (goal autonomy, goal attainability, social value of goal) and satisfaction on their majors. Qualitative analysis of goal contents and quantitative analysis of goal characteristics, and their effects on student major satisfaction were performed. Goal content analysis showed percentage of social concern goal was higher in medical students (25.8%) than business students (6.3%), whereas percentage of wealth goal was higher business students (24.0%) than medical students (3.1%). Among goal characteristics, goal attainability and social value of goal were higher in medical students than business students. In both groups, social value of goal was significantly predict major satisfaction. Goal contents and goal characteristics are different between medical and business students. Curriculum and educational interventions that concerning students' goal and developing programs to enhance students' social value of goal is necessary.

Reregulation of the Swedish pharmacy sector-A qualitative content analysis of the political rationale.

Science.gov (United States)

Wisell, Kristin; Winblad, Ulrika; Sporrong, Sofia Kälvemark

2015-05-01

In 2009, a reregulation of the Swedish pharmacy sector took place, and a fundamental change in ownership and structure followed. The reregulation provides an opportunity to reveal the politicians' views on pharmacies. The aim of this study was to explore and analyze the political arguments for the reregulation of the Swedish pharmacy sector in 2009. The method used was a qualitative content analysis of written political documents regarding the reregulation. The primary rationales for the reregulation were better availability, efficiency, price pressure, and safe usage of medicines. During the preparatory work, the rationales of diversity on the market and entrepreneurship were added, while the original rationales of efficiency, price pressure, and better usage of medicines were abandoned. The reform can be seen as a typical New Public Management reform influenced by the notion that private actors are better equipped to perform public activities. The results point to that the reform was done almost solely in order to introduce private ownership in the pharmacy sector, and was not initiated in order to solve any general problems, or to enhance patient outcomes of medicine use. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The neural basis of monitoring goal progress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yael eBenn

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The neural basis of progress monitoring has received relatively little attention compared to other sub-processes that are involved in goal directed behavior such as motor control and response inhibition. Studies of error-monitoring have identified the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC as a structure that is sensitive to conflict detection, and triggers corrective action. However, monitoring goal progress involves monitoring correct as well as erroneous events over a period of time. In the present research, 20 healthy participants underwent fMRI while playing a game that involved monitoring progress towards either a numerical or a visuo-spatial target. The findings confirmed the role of the dACC in detecting situations in which the current state may conflict with the desired state, but also revealed activations in the frontal and parietal regions, pointing to the involvement of processes such as attention and working memory in monitoring progress over time. In addition, activation of the cuneus was associated with monitoring progress towards a specific target presented in the visual modality. This is the first time that activation in this region has been linked to higher-order processing of goal-relevant information, rather than low-level anticipation of visual stimuli. Taken together, these findings identify the neural substrates involved in monitoring progress over time, and how these extend beyond activations observed in conflict and error monitoring.

A method for extracting design rationale knowledge based on Text Mining

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Jihong

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Capture design rationale (DR knowledge and presenting it to designers by good form, which have great significance for design reuse and design innovation. Since the 1970s design rationality began to develop, many teams have developed their own design rational system. However, the DR acquisition system is not intelligent enough, and it still requires designers to do a lot of operations. In addition, the existing design documents contain a large number of DR knowledge, but it has not been well excavated. Therefore, a method and system are needed to better extract DR knowledge in design documents. We have proposed a DRKH (design rationale knowledge hierarchy model for DR representation. The DRKH model has three layers, respectively as design intent layer, design decision layer and design basis layer. In this paper, we use text mining method to extract DR from design documents and construct DR model. Finally, the welding robot design specification is taken as an example to demonstrate the system interface.

Pay Now or Pay Later: An Economic Rationale for State-Funded Helping Services to Assist Women Leaving an Abusive Relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

DeRiviere, Linda

2015-01-01

There has been an increase in costing analysis of intimate partner violence in recent decades, including the monetary impact to government, society, and the individual. Using data collected in a Canadian longitudinal study, the empirical analysis in this article provides an economic rationale for mobilizing public resources that improve the well-being of women leaving an abusive relationship. I estimated six variants of a selection model and used a costing exercise to build an economic case for preventive and other helping services to support women over their healing journey. The removal of financial constraints suffered by abused women, in support of their training needs, as well as reduced barriers to preventive health care services, may potentially lead to fiscal resource savings in the long run.

Millennium development goals: Examining Kenya constraints in achieving the eight goals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wambua Leonard Munyao

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines Kenya’s performance in achieving the famous millennium development goals. The paper provides the government and other stakeholders with proper understanding of the constraints of achieving the millennium development goals as well as reflecting the phase and the passion of the country in achieving this important development goal. The paper further seeks to stress the importance of this goal in reducing poverty in the country. The paper has cited some key factors undermining achieving of the millennium development goals in Kenya. Major recommendations that can contribute towards achieving of the millennium development goals have also been made.

Goal Setting to Increase Student Academic Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Dotson, Ronnie

2016-01-01

Over the past two years, the teachers and students in Carter County, Kentucky have been utilizing goal setting. As a result, the district has shown tremendous growth on not only state assessments, but also on local assessments. Additionally, the number of students meeting benchmarks for college and career readiness has increased significantly. The…

Five Big, Big Five Issues : Rationale, Content, Structure, Status, and Crosscultural Assessment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Raad, Boele

1998-01-01

This article discusses the rationale, content, structure, status, and crosscultural assessment of the Big Five trait factors, focusing on topics of dispute and misunderstanding. Taxonomic restrictions of the original Big Five forerunner, the "Norman Five," are discussed, and criticisms regarding the

Self-regulation of unattainable goals in suicide attempters: the relationship between goal disengagement, goal reengagement and suicidal ideation.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

O'Connor, Rory C

2009-02-01

There is growing interest in models of adaptive self-regulation. Recent research suggests that goal disengagement and goal reengagement (i.e., goal adjustment) are implicated in the self-regulation of emotion. This study extends the self-regulation research to investigate the utility of goal adjustment in understanding suicidal risk. To this end, two hundred adults hospitalised following a suicidal episode completed a range of clinical and psychological measures in hospital and were followed up approximately 2.5 months after discharge (Time 2). Hierarchical regression analyses showed that goal reengagement predicted suicidal ideation at Time 2. In addition, the lack of goal reengagement was especially pernicious when reported concomitantly with high disengagement. These predictive effects were independent of baseline mood, attempt status and suicidal intent. The theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Protection goals in environmental risk assessment: a practical approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Alonso, Monica; Raybould, Alan

2014-12-01

Policy protection goals are set up in most countries to minimise harm to the environment, humans and animals caused by human activities. Decisions on whether to approve new agricultural products, like pesticides or genetically modified (GM) crops, take into account these policy protection goals. To support decision-making, applications for approval of commercial uses of GM crops usually comprise an environmental risk assessment (ERA). These risk assessments are analytical tools, based on science, that follow a conceptual model that includes a problem formulation step where policy protection goals are considered. However, in most countries, risk assessors face major problems in that policy protection goals set in the legislation are stated in very broad terms and are too ambiguous to be directly applicable in ERAs. This means that risk assessors often have to interpret policy protection goals without clear guidance on what effects would be considered harmful. In this paper we propose a practical approach that may help risk assessors to translate policy protection goals into unambiguous (i.e., operational) protection goals and to establish relevant assessment endpoints and risk hypotheses that can be used in ERAs. Examples are provided to show how this approach can be applied to two areas of environmental concern relevant to the ERAs of GM crops.

Rationale of a quick adjustment method for crystal orientation in oscillation photography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suh, I.H.; Suh, J.M.; Ko, T.S.

1988-01-01

The rationale for a convenient crystal orientation method for oscillation photography is presented. The method involves the measurement of the deviations of reflection spots from the equator. These deviations are added or subtracted to give the horizontal and vertical arc corrections. (orig.)

Career Goals in Young Adults: Personal Resources, Goal Appraisals, Attitudes, and Goal Management Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Haratsis, Jessica M.; Hood, Michelle; Creed, Peter A.

2015-01-01

We tested a model based on the dual-process framework that assessed the relationships among personal resources, career goal appraisals, career attitudes, and career goal management, which have not been previously assessed together. The model (tested on a sample of 486 young adults: 74% female, M[subscript]age = 22 years) proposed that personal…

Can motto-goals outperform learning and performance goals? Influence of goal setting on performance and affect in a complex problem solving task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miriam S. Rohe

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we bring together research on complex problem solving with that on motivational psychology about goal setting. Complex problems require motivational effort because of their inherent difficulties. Goal Setting Theory has shown with simple tasks that high, specific performance goals lead to better performance outcome than do-your-best goals. However, in complex tasks, learning goals have proven more effective than performance goals. Based on the Zurich Resource Model (Storch & Krause, 2014, so-called motto-goals (e.g., "I breathe happiness" should activate a person’s resources through positive affect. It was found that motto-goals are effective with unpleasant duties. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that motto-goals outperform learning and performance goals in the case of complex problems. A total of N = 123 subjects participated in the experiment. In dependence of their goal condition, subjects developed a personal motto, learning, or performance goal. This goal was adapted for the computer-simulated complex scenario Tailorshop, where subjects worked as managers in a small fictional company. Other than expected, there was no main effect of goal condition for the management performance. As hypothesized, motto goals led to higher positive and lower negative affect than the other two goal types. Even though positive affect decreased and negative affect increased in all three groups during Tailorshop completion, participants with motto goals reported the lowest rates of negative affect over time. Exploratory analyses investigated the role of affect in complex problem solving via mediational analyses and the influence of goal type on perceived goal attainment.

Developing a Distributed Computing Architecture at Arizona State University.

Science.gov (United States)

Armann, Neil; And Others

1994-01-01

Development of Arizona State University's computing architecture, designed to ensure that all new distributed computing pieces will work together, is described. Aspects discussed include the business rationale, the general architectural approach, characteristics and objectives of the architecture, specific services, and impact on the university…

Goal-Directed and Goal-Less Imitation in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, Kelly S.; Poliakoff, Ellen; Jerrison, Andrew; Gowen, Emma

2012-01-01

To investigate how people with Autism are affected by the presence of goals during imitation, we conducted a study to measure movement kinematics and eye movements during the imitation of goal-directed and goal-less hand movements. Our results showed that a control group imitated changes in movement kinematics and increased the level that they…

Academic goals in surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Bleier, Joshua I S; Kann, Brian

2013-12-01

The development of an academic surgical career can be an overwhelming prospect, and one that is not intuitive. Establishing a structured plan and support structure is critical to success. Starting a successful academic surgical career begins with defining one's academic goals within several broad categories: personal goals, academic goals, research goals, educational goals, and financial goals. Learning the art of self-promotion is the means by which many of these goals are achieved. It is important to realize that achieving these goals requires a delicate personal balance between work and home life, and the key ways in which to achieve success require establishment of well thought-out goals, a reliable support structure, realistic and clear expectations, and frequent re-evaluation.

Solar farms grow out of town renewable energy goals | State, Local, and

Science.gov (United States)

Tribal Governments | NREL Solar farms grow out of town renewable energy goals Solar farms grow ) - With enough solar energy generated within its borders to power 3,250[1] homes, Dartmouth leads the . Dartmouth's solar leadership began with the pursuit of wind energy. In 2009, seeking to fulfill their Master

A meta-analytic examination of the goal orientation nomological net.

Science.gov (United States)

Payne, Stephanie C; Youngcourt, Satoris S; Beaubien, J Matthew

2007-01-01

The authors present an empirical review of the literature concerning trait and state goal orientation (GO). Three dimensions of GO were examined: learning, prove performance, and avoid performance along with presumed antecedents and proximal and distal consequences of these dimensions. Antecedent variables included cognitive ability, implicit theory of intelligence, need for achievement, self-esteem, general self-efficacy, and the Big Five personality characteristics. Proximal consequences included state GO, task-specific self-efficacy, self-set goal level, learning strategies, feedback seeking, and state anxiety. Distal consequences included learning, academic performance, task performance, and job performance. Generally speaking, learning GO was positively correlated, avoid performance GO was negatively correlated, and prove performance GO was uncorrelated with these variables. Consistent with theory, state GO tended to have stronger relationships with the distal consequences than did trait GO. Finally, using a meta-correlation matrix, the authors found that trait GO predicted job performance above and beyond cognitive ability and personality. These results demonstrate the value of GO to organizational researchers. 2007 APA, all rights reserved

Conclusions with regard to the inspection goals of a system of material balance areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gladitz, J.

1989-01-01

Starting from IAEA inspection goals in the control of individual material balance area, procedures of computation and estimation of inspection goals are derived for a system of material balance areas allowing for an optimal diversion strategy. By it the prerequisites were also developed to an evaluation of these goals for a State as a whole. (author)

Goal Definition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørn, Anders; Laurent, Alexis; Owsianiak, Mikołaj

2018-01-01

The goal definition is the first phase of an LCA and determines the purpose of a study in detail. This chapter teaches how to perform the six aspects of a goal definition: (1) Intended applications of the results, (2) Limitations due to methodological choices, (3) Decision context and reasons...... for carrying out the study, (4) Target audience , (5) Comparative studies to be disclosed to the public and (6) Commissioner of the study and other influential actors. The instructions address both the conduct and reporting of a goal definition and are largely based on the ILCD guidance document (EC...

Policy for setting and assessing regulatory safety goals. Peer discussions on regulatory practices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-10-01

This publication pertains to future planning for enhancement of good practices and it describes the experience to date in developing and implementing the policy for setting and assessing regulatory safety goals for nuclear facilities in 22 Member States. Senior regulators from these 22 Member States participated in four Peer Group discussions in 1993/94 which considered the policy used for setting and assessing regulatory safety goals. This publication presents the consensus views reached by the majority of these senior regulators.

Policy for setting and assessing regulatory safety goals. Peer discussions on regulatory practices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-10-01

This publication pertains to future planning for enhancement of good practices and it describes the experience to date in developing and implementing the policy for setting and assessing regulatory safety goals for nuclear facilities in 22 Member States. Senior regulators from these 22 Member States participated in four Peer Group discussions in 1993/94 which considered the policy used for setting and assessing regulatory safety goals. This publication presents the consensus views reached by the majority of these senior regulators

Motivational Goal Bracketing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nafziger, Julia; Koch, Alexander

It is a puzzle why people often evaluate consequences of choices separately (narrow bracketing) rather than jointly (broad bracketing). We study the hypothesis that a present-biased individual, who faces two tasks, may bracket his goals narrowly for motivational reasons. Goals motivate because th...... of the tasks. Narrow goals have a stronger motivational force and thus can be optimal. In particular, if one task outcome becomes known before working on the second task, narrow bracketing is always optimal.......It is a puzzle why people often evaluate consequences of choices separately (narrow bracketing) rather than jointly (broad bracketing). We study the hypothesis that a present-biased individual, who faces two tasks, may bracket his goals narrowly for motivational reasons. Goals motivate because...

Assessment of diagnostic technology in health care: rationale, methods, problems, and directions

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Sox, Harold C

1989-01-01

... Rationale, Methods, Problems, and Directions Harold Sox, Susan Stern, Douglas Owens, and Herbert L. Abrams Institute of Medicine NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS WASHINGTON, D.C. 1989 Copyrightthe cannot be not from book, paper however, version for formatting, original authoritative the typesetting-specific the as from created publication files XML from...

Goals and everyday problem solving: manipulating goal preferences in young and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoppmann, Christiane A; Blanchard-Fields, Fredda

2010-11-01

In the present study, we examined the link between goal and problem-solving strategy preferences in 130 young and older adults using hypothetical family problem vignettes. At baseline, young adults preferred autonomy goals, whereas older adults preferred generative goals. Imagining an expanded future time perspective led older adults to show preferences for autonomy goals similar to those observed in young adults but did not eliminate age differences in generative goals. Autonomy goals were associated with more self-focused instrumental problem solving, whereas generative goals were related to more other-focused instrumental problem solving in the no-instruction and instruction conditions. Older adults were better at matching their strategies to their goals than young adults were. This suggests that older adults may become better at selecting their strategies in accordance with their goals. Our findings speak to a contextual approach to everyday problem solving by showing that goals are associated with the selection of problem-solving strategies.

Heuristic Search for Planning with Different Forced Goal-Ordering Constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiangfeng Luo

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Planning with forced goal-ordering (FGO constraints has been proposed many times over the years, but there are still major difficulties in realizing these FGOs in plan generation. In certain planning domains, all the FGOs exist in the initial state. No matter which approach is adopted to achieve a subgoal, all the subgoals should be achieved in a given sequence from the initial state. Otherwise, the planning may arrive at a deadlock. For some other planning domains, there is no FGO in the initial state. However, FGO may occur during the planning process if certain subgoal is achieved by an inappropriate approach. This paper contributes to illustrate that it is the excludable constraints among the goal achievement operations (GAO of different subgoals that introduce the FGOs into the planning problem, and planning with FGO is still a challenge for the heuristic search based planners. Then, a novel multistep forward search algorithm is proposed which can solve the planning problem with different FGOs efficiently.

Psychological "gel" to bind individuals' goal pursuit: gratitude facilitates goal contagion.

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Lile; Tong, Eddie M W; Lee, Li Neng

2014-08-01

Past research demonstrates that gratitude affects individuals' self-regulation of behavior primarily through engendering a prosocial tendency. Based on theories proposing that gratitude plays an unique role in fostering communal relationship (e.g., Algoe, 2012), we propose that gratitude can have an incidental effect in facilitating goal contagion: automatically inferring and adopting the goal implied by a social other's behavior. This hypothesis is supported in 3 studies. In Study 1, after being exposed to the behaviors of a social target that implied either a cooperative or a competitive goal, individuals adopted the respective goal and behaved accordingly in a Resource Dilemma Task. This occurred, however, only when they were feeling gratitude and not when they were feeling joy or a neutral mood. In Study 2, after being exposed to a social target's behavior that implied the goal to make money, people feeling gratitude, as compared to those feeling pride or a neutral mood, strove for a future opportunity to earn money. Study 3 further demonstrated that individuals' goal striving behavior was mediated by a heightened level of goal activation. Finally, it was found that gratitude facilitated goal contagion only when the social target was a member of participants' own social group. Through this mechanism, gratitude, thus, seems to bind one's self-regulation with those of social others. Theoretical and practical implications of this new perspective are discussed.

Achievement goals, self-handicapping, and performance: a 2 x 2 achievement goal perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Ntoumanis, Nikos; Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie; Smith, Alison L

2009-11-01

Elliot and colleagues (2006) examined the effects of experimentally induced achievement goals, proposed by the trichotomous model, on self-handicapping and performance in physical education. Our study replicated and extended the work of Elliot et al. by experimentally promoting all four goals proposed by the 2 x 2 model (Elliot & McGregor, 2001), measuring the participants' own situational achievement goals, using a relatively novel task, and testing the participants in a group setting. We used a randomized experimental design with four conditions that aimed to induce one of the four goals advanced by the 2 x 2 model. The participants (n = 138) were undergraduates who engaged in a dart-throwing task. The results pertaining to self-handicapping partly replicated Elliot and colleagues' findings by showing that experimentally promoted performance-avoidance goals resulted in less practice. In contrast, the promotion of mastery-avoidance goals did not result in less practice compared with either of the approach goals. Dart-throwing performance did not differ among the four goal conditions. Personal achievement goals did not moderate the effects of experimentally induced goals on self-handicapping and performance. The extent to which mastery-avoidance goals are maladaptive is discussed, as well as the interplay between personal and experimentally induced goals.

Goals and Psychological Accounting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch, Alexander Karl; Nafziger, Julia

We model how people formulate and evaluate goals to overcome self-control problems. People often attempt to regulate their behavior by evaluating goal-related outcomes separately (in narrow psychological accounts) rather than jointly (in a broad account). To explain this evidence, our theory...... of endogenous narrow or broad psychological accounts combines insights from the literatures on goals and mental accounting with models of expectations-based reference-dependent preferences. By formulating goals the individual creates expectations that induce reference points for task outcomes. These goal......-induced reference points make substandard performance psychologically painful and motivate the individual to stick to his goals. How strong the commitment to goals is depends on the type of psychological account. We provide conditions when it is optimal to evaluate goals in narrow accounts. The key intuition...

Requirements as Goals and Commitments Too

Science.gov (United States)

Chopra, Amit K.; Mylopoulos, John; Dalpiaz, Fabiano; Giorgini, Paolo; Singh, Munindar P.

In traditional software engineering research and practice, requirements are classified either as functional or non-functional. Functional requirements consist of all functions the system-to-be ought to support, and have been modeled in terms of box-and-arrow diagrams in the spirit of SADT. Non-functional requirements include desired software qualities for the system-to-be and have been described either in natural language or in terms of metrics. This orthodoxy was challenged in the mid-90 s by a host of proposals that had a common theme: all requirements are initially stakeholder goals and ought to be elicited, modeled and analyzed as such. Through systematic processes, these goals can be refined into specifications of functions the system-to-be needs to deliver, while actions assigned to external actors need to be executed. This view is dominating Requirements Engineering (RE) research and is beginning to have an impact on RE practice. We propose a next step along this line of research, by adopting the concept of conditional commitment as companion concept to that of goal. Goals are intentional entities that capture the needs and wants of stakeholders. Commitments, on the other hand, are social concepts that define the willingness and capability of an actor A to fulfill a predicate ϕ for the benefit of actor B, provided B (in return) fulfills predicate ψ for the benefit of actor A. In our conceptualization, goals are mapped to collections of commitments rather than functions, qualities, or actor assignments. We motivate the importance of the concept of commitment for RE through examples and discussion. We also contrast our proposal with state-of-the-art requirements modeling and analysis frameworks, such as KAOS, MAP, i * and Tropos.

Goal Orientations of General Chemistry Students via the Achievement Goal Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Scott E.

2018-01-01

The Achievement Goal Framework describes students' goal orientations as: task-based, focusing on the successful completion of the task; self-based, evaluating performance relative to one's own past performance; or other-based, evaluating performance relative to the performance of others. Goal orientations have been used to explain student success…

Goal Setting in Principal Evaluation: Goal Quality and Predictors of Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Sinnema, Claire E. L.; Robinson, Viviane M. J.

2012-01-01

This article draws on goal-setting theory to investigate the goals set by experienced principals during their performance evaluations. While most goals were about teaching and learning, they tended to be vaguely expressed and only partially achieved. Five predictors (commitment, challenge, learning, effort, and support) explained a significant…

The diverging trajectories of cannabis and tobacco policies in the United States: reasons and possible implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Wayne; Kozlowski, Lynn T

2018-04-01

To examine briefly the (i) rationales for two policy proposals in the United States to make it mandatory for cigarettes to contain very low levels of nicotine and to legalize cannabis for recreational use by adults; and (ii) possible lessons that participants in each policy debate may learn from each other. We briefly describe the diverging policies towards cannabis and tobacco in the United States, explain and critically analyse their rationales and discuss possible policy lessons. Advocates of cannabis legalization have argued that prohibition has been an ineffective and expensive policy that penalizes ethnic minority users unjustly of a drug that is far less harmful than alcohol. The prohibition of traditional tobacco cigarettes has been advocated as a way to eliminate cigarette smoking. These proposals embody very different attitudes towards the harms of recreational adult drug use. Advocates of nicotine prohibition demand that alternative methods of nicotine delivery must be shown to be completely safe before adults are allowed to use them. Advocates of tobacco prohibition ignore evidence that smokers may not use these products and the likelihood of expanding the illicit tobacco market. Advocates of legalizing and regulating recreational cannabis ignore the need to tax and regulate sales in order to minimize the harms of heavy use. It is not clear that the prohibition of adult use has a useful role to play in the regulation of either cannabis or tobacco. If both products remain legal, the goals of regulating tobacco and cannabis products should be to restrict youth access, promote the use of the least harmful products, provide users with evidence-based information on both absolute and differential product risks of use and use differential taxes and marketing controls to promote ways of using these products that cause the least harm to their users. © 2017 Society for the Study of Addiction.

California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Projections: 2017-2025 - Future Infrastructure Needs for Reaching the State's Zero Emission-Vehicle Deployment Goals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood, Eric W [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Rames, Clement L [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bedir, Abdulkadir [California Energy Commission; Crisostomo, Noel [California Energy Commission; Allen, Jennifer [California Energy Commission

2018-03-27

This report analyzes plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) infrastructure needs in California from 2017 to 2025 in a scenario where the State's zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) deployment goals are achieved by household vehicles. The statewide infrastructure needs are evaluated by using the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Projection tool, which incorporates representative statewide travel data from the 2012 California Household Travel Survey. The infrastructure solution presented in this assessment addresses two primary objectives: (1) enabling travel for battery electric vehicles and (2) maximizing the electric vehicle-miles traveled for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The analysis is performed at the county-level for each year between 2017 and 2025 while considering potential technology improvements. The results from this study present an infrastructure solution that can facilitate market growth for PEVs to reach the State's ZEV goals by 2025. The overall results show a need for 99k-130k destination chargers, including workplaces and public locations, and 9k-25k fast chargers. The results also show a need for dedicated or shared residential charging solutions at multi-family dwellings, which are expected to host about 120k PEVs by 2025. An improvement to the scientific literature, this analysis presents the significance of infrastructure reliability and accessibility on the quantification of charger demand.

The role of Amazonian anthropogenic soils in shifting cultivation: learning from farmers’ rationales

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Braga Junqueira, A.; Almekinders, C.J.M.; Stomph, T.J.; Clement, C.R.; Struik, P.C.

2016-01-01

We evaluated farmers’ rationales to understand their decision making in relation to the use of fertile anthropogenic soils, i.e., Amazonian dark earths (ADE), and for dealing with changes in shifting cultivation in Central Amazonia. We analyzed qualitative information from 196 interviews with

Performance-approach and performance-avoidance classroom goals and the adoption of personal achievement goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwinger, Malte; Stiensmeier-Pelster, Joachim

2011-12-01

Students' perceptions of classroom goals influence their adoption of personal goals. To assess different forms of classroom goals, recent studies have favoured an overall measure of performance classroom goals, compared to a two-dimensional assessment of performance-approach and performance-avoidance classroom goals (PAVCG). This paper considered the relationship between students' perceptions of classroom goals and their endorsement of personal achievement goals. We proposed that three (instead of only two) classroom goals need to be distinguished. We aimed to provide evidence for this hypothesis by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and also by divergent associations between the respective classroom goal and students' personal goal endorsement. A total of 871 (474 female) 10th grade students from several German high schools participated in this study. Students responded to items assessing their perception of mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals in the classroom. Additionally, the students reported how much they personally pursue mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. All items referred to German as a specific school subject. RESULTS.A CFA yielded empirical support for the proposed distinction of three (instead of only two) different kinds of classroom goals. Moreover, in hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) analyses all three classroom goals showed unique associations with students' personal goal adoption. The findings emphasized the need to distinguish performance-approach and PAVCG. Furthermore, our results suggest that multiple classroom goals have interactive effects on students' personal achievement strivings. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

Citizen Goals Online

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catalin Vrabie

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to give to public institution Web designers a better understanding of the citizens’ objectives when accessing a Web page. Understanding citizen online goals is critical because it gets to the heart of what the public institution website should or could “do.” Approach: The challenge for e-marketers is that for most agencies/institutions, there are likely to be multiple goals that represent the “reason why” citizens could come to the website. For example, a national theatre website might be very effective for people who have already been there, they know effectively what place is the best, who are the actors, etc. Research limitations: The nature of a public institution activity almost dictates the different types of goals that consumers have when visiting the site. It is clear that a citizen has a different goal when accessing a theatre Web page or when he’s accessing a municipality Web page. This is the biggest impediment for drawing a good conceptual model for a public institution Web page. Practical implications: there are likely to be many other goals that could lead people to visit the site, like receiving customer service or leaving a remark. Value: Since citizen online goals represent the starting point for Web design efforts (for public institutions, this article has attempted to highlight the nature and types of goals that e-marketers might consider when planning what their website should do in order to create. Findings: The goal a site visitor has when arriving at a website tends to be very action oriented. If the visitor has never visited the site before, the goal may simply be to evaluate the website and figure out what the site is and if it will help him. On the other hand, if the visitor has reached the site as the result of a directed search or is a repeat visitor, the user goal is likely to be specific and functional. If important citizen goals are not supported by the website, the public

Citizen Goals Online

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catalin Vrabie

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to give to public institution Web designers a better understanding of the citizens’ objectives when accessing a Web page. Understanding citizen online goals is critical because it gets to the heart of what the public institution website should or could “do.”Approach: The challenge for e-marketers is that for most agencies/institutions, there are likely to be multiple goals that represent the “reason why” citizens could come to the website. For example, a national theatre website might be very effective for people who have already been there, they know effectively what place is the best, who are the actors, etc.Research limitations: The nature of a public institution activity almost dictates the different types of goals that consumers have when visiting the site. It is clear that a citizen has a different goal when accessing a theatre Web page or when he’s accessing a municipality Web page. This is the biggest impediment for drawing a good conceptual model for a public institution Web page.Practical implications: there are likely to be many other goals that could lead people to visit the site, like receiving customer service or leaving a remark.Value: Since citizen online goals represent the starting point for Web design efforts (for public institutions, this article has attempted to highlight the nature and types of goals that e-marketers might consider when planning what their website should do in order to create.Findings: The goal a site visitor has when arriving at a website tends to be very action oriented. If the visitor has never visited the site before, the goal may simply be to evaluate the website and figure out what the site is and if it will help him. On the other hand, if the visitor has reached the site as the result of a directed search or is a repeat visitor, the user goal is likely to be specific and functional. If important citizen goals are not supported by the website, the public

Radiosensitizers: rationale and potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, J.M.

1981-01-01

This paper briefly reviews agents that are capable of sensitizing hypoxic cells to radiation and chemotherapeutic agents. The first part is a synopsis of the development of hypoxic radiosensitizers, which concludes that misonidazole can be effective against human tumors. Unfortunately, neurotoxicity limits its effectiveness in humans because the dose that can be given in conjunction with daily fractionated radiation is five to ten times lower than is required for full radiosensitization of the hypoxic cells. The second part covers our recent efforts to develop a drug that does not produce such limiting neurotoxicity. The primary rationale of our program was to synthesize a drug with a short plasma half-life that was too hydrophilic to cross the blood-brain barrier but was able to penetrate tumors and radiosensitize hypoxic cells. From this program, a new drug, SR-2508, has been found that is as efficient as misonidazole in its radiosensitizing ability, but is four to ten times less toxic. Finally, the potential of radiosensitizers not only as agents that can sensitize tumor cells to radiation, but also as agents that can specifically sensitize tumors to chemotherapeutic agents, is discussed. In addition, these drugs may be potential cytotoxic agents that produce toxicity only in solid tumors

Goal-Oriented Ethics: Framing the Goal-Setting Concretely

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mathew Illathuparampil

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Joseph Selling, professor emeritus from KU Leuven, Belgium, recently made a significant contribution towards ethical methodology. It is in fact a continuation of the in-house conversations that have been in vogue about methods in moral reasoning since Vatican II in the discipline called theological ethics. What is specific about Selling’s attempt is that he re-orients or reframes the evaluation of the moral event to consider human intentionality or motivation before considering human behavior or human acts. He convincingly establishes his method by a meticulous reading of Thomas Aquinas. This paper is a response to the goal-oriented ethics that he has posited. As illustrated below, this paper evaluates the goal-oriented approach as solid and sufficient. While fully endorsing this approach, this paper argues that the process of ethical goal-setting is to be framed concretely. In a concrete historical context, so that a goal-oriented approach fully serves its purpose, this paper proposes that it is to be reinforced by four supportive pillars, which are in fact assumed by Selling in his work. They are openness to human sciences, conversation among various narratives, positing a theological frame for ethical reasoning, and recourse to non-discursive reasoning.

Goal conflict and goal facilitation as predictors of daily accelerometer-assessed physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Presseau, Justin; Tait, Richard I; Johnston, Derek W; Francis, Jill J; Sniehotta, Falko F

2013-12-01

To test whether perceptions of conflicting and facilitating personal goals, and actual daily time spent in their pursuit, predict accelerometer-assessed physical activity (PA). A prospective multilevel design with a daily accelerometer-based assessment of PA over 1 week was used (N = 106). Participants' personal goals were elicited using personal projects analysis. Participants then rated their personal goals in terms of how they were perceived to facilitate and conflict with their regular PA. Items assessing PA-specific intention and perceived behavioral control (PBC) were also embedded within the baseline measures. For the subsequent 7 consecutive days, participants completed a daily diary based on the day reconstruction method, indicating the time spent in daily episodes involving each of their personal goals, and wore an RT3 tri-axial accelerometer. The main outcome was accelerometer-assessed daily time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Random intercept multilevel models indicated that perceived goal facilitation, but not perceived goal conflict, predicted MVPA over and above intention and PBC. Daily time pursuing conflicting goals negatively predicted MVPA when subsequently added to the model and in so doing, attenuated the association between perceived goal facilitation and MVPA. Perceived goal facilitation predicts objectively measured PA over and above intention and PBC, but daily time spent in pursuit of conflicting personal goals provides a better account of how alternative goals relate to engaging in regular PA.

Legitimizing Technical Communication in English Departments: Carolyn Miller's "Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing"

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Patrick

2006-01-01

Carolyn Miller's oft-cited "Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing," published in 1979, tries to give technical communication faculty more cultural capital in English departments controlled by literature professors. Miller replaces a positivistic emphasis in technical communication pedagogy with rhetoric. She shows how technical knowledge is…

(Goal Number 8) in achieving the Millennium Development Goals

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In 2000, the United Nations (UN) made a Millennium Declaration that commits governments across the globe to develop the lives of the people by 2015. This declaration is known as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper will examine the role that every government has to play in achieving the goals by focusing ...

Plato's Cosmic Theology: A Rationale for a Polytheistic Astrology?

Science.gov (United States)

Henriques, André

2015-05-01

Plato's cosmology influenced classical astronomy and religion, but was in turn influenced by the polytheistic context of its time. Throughout his texts, including the cosmological treatise Timaeus, and the discussions on the soul in the Phaedrus, Plato (c.428-c.348 BC) established what can be generalised as Platonic cosmological thought. An understanding of the philosophical and mythical levels of Platonic thought can provide a rationale for polytheistic and astrological worldviews, pointing to some cosmological continuity, alongside major shifts, from ancient Greek religion to the astrological thought of ancient astronomers such as Claudius Ptolemy.

Dynamics of multiple-goal pursuit.

Science.gov (United States)

Louro, Maria J; Pieters, Rik; Zeelenberg, Marcel

2007-08-01

The authors propose and test a model of multiple-goal pursuit that specifies how individuals allocate effort among multiple goals over time. The model predicts that whether individuals decide to step up effort, coast, abandon the current goal, or switch to pursue another goal is determined jointly by the emotions that flow from prior goal progress and the proximity to future goal attainment, and proximally determined by changes in expectancies about goal attainment. Results from a longitudinal diary study and 2 experiments show that positive and negative goal-related emotions can have diametrically opposing effects on goal-directed behavior, depending on the individual's proximity to goal attainment. The findings resolve contrasting predictions about the influence of positive and negative emotions in volitional behavior, critically amend the goal gradient hypothesis, and provide new insights into the dynamics and determinants of multiple-goal pursuit.

Nature of Science Progression in School Year 1-9: a Case Study of Teachers' Suggestions and Rationales

Science.gov (United States)

Leden, Lotta; Hansson, Lena

2017-07-01

The inclusion of nature of science (NOS) in science education has for a long time been regarded as crucial. There is, however, a lack of research on appropriate NOS aspects for different educational levels. An even more neglected area of research is that focusing on teachers' perspectives on NOS teaching at different levels. The aim of this article is to examine NOS progression in the light of teachers' suggestions and rationales. In order to obtain teachers' informed perspectives, we chose to involve six teachers (teaching grades 1-9) in a 3-year research project. They took part in focus group discussions about NOS and NOS teaching as well as implemented jointly planned NOS teaching sessions. Data that this article builds on was collected at the end of the project. The teachers' suggestions for NOS progression often relied on adding more NOS issues at every stage, thereby creating the foundations of a broader but not necessarily deeper understanding of NOS. Five rationales, for if/when specific NOS issues are appropriate to introduce, emerged from the analysis of the teacher discussions. Some of these rationales, including practice makes perfect and increasing levels of depth can potentially accommodate room for many NOS issues in the science classroom, while maturity and experience instead has a restricting effect on NOS teaching. Also, choice of context and teaching approaches play an important role in teachers' rationales for whether specific NOS issues should be included or not at different stages. The article discusses the implications for teacher education and professional development.

Achievement goals and interpersonal behaviour: How mastery and performance goals shape information exchange

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poortvliet, P.M.; Janssen, O.; Van Yperen, N.W.; Van de Vliert, E.

2007-01-01

The present research examines the impact of achievement goals on task-related information exchange. Studies 1 and 2 reveal that relative to those with mastery goals or no goal, individuals pursuing performance goals were less open in their information giving to exchange partners. Study 2 further

Commercially-driven human interplanetary propulsion systems: Rationale, concept, technology, and performance requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, C.H.; Borowski, S.K.

1996-01-01

Previous studies of human interplanetary missions are largely characterized by long trip times, limited performance capabilities, and enormous costs. Until these missions become dramatically more open-quote open-quote commercial-friendly close-quote close-quote, their funding source and rationale will be restricted to national governments and their political/scientific interests respectively. A rationale is discussed for human interplanetary space exploration predicated on the private sector. Space propulsion system requirements are identified for interplanetary transfer times of no more than a few weeks/months to and between the major outer planets. Nuclear fusion is identified as the minimum requisite space propulsion technology. A conceptual design is described and evolutionary catalyzed-DD to DHe 3 fuel cycles are proposed. Magnetic nozzles for direct thrust generation and quantifying the operational aspects of the energy exchange mechanisms between high energy reaction products and neutral propellants are identified as two of the many key supporting technologies essential to satisfying system performance requirements. Government support of focused, breakthrough technologies is recommended at funding levels appropriate to other ongoing federal research. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

Rationale for geological isolation of high-level radioactive waste, and assessment of the suitability of crystalline rocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smedes, H.W.

1980-01-01

This report summarizes the disposal objective to be met and the requisite geotechnical criteria to meet that objective; evaluates our present ability to determine whether certain criteria can be met and to predict whether they will continue to be met; discusses the consequences of failure to meet certain criteria; assesses what is known about how crystalline rocks meet those criteria; lists important gaps in our knowledge that presently preclude final assessment of suitability; and suggests priority research to fill those gaps. The report presents an elaboration of the above-stated behavior and suitability of crystalline rocks, and a rationale of site-selection in support of the recommended prompt and intensive study of granite and other crystalline rocks as potentially highly suitable candidate media for radioactive waste disposal. An overview is presented on what the rocks are, where they are, and what the critical attributes are of various crystalline-rock terranes in the conterminous United States. This is intended to provide a basis to aid in selecting, first regions, and then sites within those regions, as candidate repository sites

Turning vice into virtue - when low self-control states facilitate goal-oriented behaviours

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cheung, T.T.L.

2017-01-01

Despite having good intentions, people often fail to exercise self-control to act in line with their long-term goals. Research shows that even mundane circumstances such as ego-depletion, mental distraction, and hunger could all hamper self-control performance. Considering these circumstances are

Goals for Sustainable Development: Focusing on Children and Youth. Social Policy Report Brief. Volume 30, Issue 3

Science.gov (United States)

Bridgman, Anne

2017-01-01

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, ratified by all 193 member states of the U.N. General Assembly in 2015, outline 17 goals considered central to sustainable development in all countries. Building on and broadening the Millennium Development Goals adopted in 2005, the new goals offer a more holistic vision of child and youth…

Schedule goals for civilian radioactive waste management - Can we have confidence?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartlett, John W.

1992-01-01

The schedule goals for the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program are to begin spent fuel receipt from reactors in 1998 and to begin waste disposal in 2010. Although there are various reasons for these goals, the most important is to set demanding goals and be responsible for achieving them. Meeting these goals requires taking into account an array of facilitators and potential inhibitors that affect schedule confidence. Facilitators include actions to prioritize the program, and make its operations efficient. These include actions to baseline activities, emphasize communications with constituencies, use help from others, and facilitate the licensing process. Inhibitors include problems in monitored storage facilities negotiations, obstruction by the State of Nevada, funding deficiencies, and technical uncertainties at Yucca Mountain. At the present time, the program can, in principle meet its schedule goals. In the near-term, the linchpin of schedule confidence is Congressional action to match the Administration's commitment to progress. (author)

Goal-Directed Visual Attention Drives Health Goal Priming: An Eye-Tracking Experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Laan, van der Laura N.; Hooge, I.T.C.; Smeets, P.A.M.

2017-01-01

Objective: Several lab and field experiments have shown that goal priming interventions can be highly effective in promoting healthy food choices. Less is known, however, about the mechanisms by which goal priming affects food choice. This experiment tested the hypothesis that goal priming affects

Probabilistic safety goals. Phase 2 - Status report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holmberg, J.-E.; Bjoerkman, K.; Rossi, J.; Knochenhauer, M.; Xuhong He; Persson, A.; Gustavsson, H.

2008-07-01

The second phase of the project, the outcome of which is described in this project report has mainly dealt with four issues: 1) Consistency in the usage of safety goals 2) Criteria for assessment of results from PSA level 2 3) Overview of international safety goals and experiences from their use 4) Safety goals related to other man-made risks in society. Consistency in judgement over time has been perceived to be one of the main problems in the usage of safety goals. Safety goals defined in the 80ies were met in the beginning with PSA:s performed to the standards of that time, i.e., by PSA:s that were quite limited in scope and level of detail compared to today's state of the art. This issue was investigated by performing a comparative review was performed of three generations of the same PSA, focusing on the impact from changes over time in component failure data, IE frequency, and modelling of the plant, including plant changes and changes in success criteria. It proved to be very time-consuming and in some cases next to impossible to correctly identify the basic causes for changes in PSA results. A multitude of different sub-causes turned out to combined and difficult to differentiate. Thus, rigorous book-keeping is needed in order to keep track of how and why PSA results change. This is especially important in order to differentiate 'real' differences due to plant changes and updated component and IE data from differences that are due to general PSA development (scope, level of detail, modelling issues). (au)

Probabilistic safety goals. Phase 2 - Status report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holmberg, J.-E.; Bjoerkman, K. Rossi, J. (VTT (Finland)); Knochenhauer, M.; Xuhong He; Persson, A.; Gustavsson, H. (Relcon Scandpower AB, Sundbyberg (Sweden))

2008-07-15

The second phase of the project, the outcome of which is described in this project report has mainly dealt with four issues: 1) Consistency in the usage of safety goals 2) Criteria for assessment of results from PSA level 2 3) Overview of international safety goals and experiences from their use 4) Safety goals related to other man-made risks in society. Consistency in judgement over time has been perceived to be one of the main problems in the usage of safety goals. Safety goals defined in the 80ies were met in the beginning with PSA:s performed to the standards of that time, i.e., by PSA:s that were quite limited in scope and level of detail compared to today's state of the art. This issue was investigated by performing a comparative review was performed of three generations of the same PSA, focusing on the impact from changes over time in component failure data, IE frequency, and modelling of the plant, including plant changes and changes in success criteria. It proved to be very time-consuming and in some cases next to impossible to correctly identify the basic causes for changes in PSA results. A multitude of different sub-causes turned out to combined and difficult to differentiate. Thus, rigorous book-keeping is needed in order to keep track of how and why PSA results change. This is especially important in order to differentiate 'real' differences due to plant changes and updated component and IE data from differences that are due to general PSA development (scope, level of detail, modelling issues). (au)

Goals are not selfish.

Science.gov (United States)

von Hippel, William; von Hippel, Frank A

2014-04-01

The metaphor of selfish goals is misguided. Organisms can be considered vessels that further the interests of their genes, but not vessels that further the interests of their goals. Although goals can act at cross-purposes to each other and to longevity, such trade-offs are predicted by evolutionary theory. The metaphor of selfish goals provides no purchase on this problem.

Glucocorticoid augmentation of prolonged exposure therapy: rationale and case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Pratchett

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Rationale: Prolonged exposure (PE therapy has been found to reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; however, it is difficult for many patients to engage fully in the obligatory retelling of their traumatic experiences. This problem is compounded by the fact that habituation and cognitive restructuring – the main mechanisms through which PE is hypothesized to work – are not instantaneous processes, and often require several weeks before the distress associated with imaginal exposure abates. Case reports: Two cases are described that respectively illustrate the use of hydrocortisone and placebo, in combination with PE, for the treatment of combat-related PTSD. Based on known effects of glucocorticoids on learning and memory performance, we hypothesized that augmentation with hydrocortisone would improve the therapeutic effects of PE by hastening “new” learning and facilitating decreases in the emotional impact of fear memories during the course of treatment. The veteran receiving hydrocortisone augmentation of PE displayed an accelerated and ultimately greater decline in PTSD symptoms than the veteran receiving placebo. Conclusions: While no general conclusion can be derived from comparison of two patients, the findings are consistent with the rationale for augmentation. These case reports support the potential for an appropriately designed and powered clinical trial to examine the efficacy of glucocorticoids in augmenting the effects of psychotherapy for PTSD.

Goal-setting in clinical medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, E H; Bogardus, S T; Tinetti, M E; Inouye, S K

1999-07-01

The process of setting goals for medical care in the context of chronic disease has received little attention in the medical literature, despite the importance of goal-setting in the achievement of desired outcomes. Using qualitative research methods, this paper develops a theory of goal-setting in the care of patients with dementia. The theory posits several propositions. First, goals are generated from embedded values but are distinct from values. Goals vary based on specific circumstances and alternatives whereas values are person-specific and relatively stable in the face of changing circumstances. Second, goals are hierarchical in nature, with complex mappings between general and specific goals. Third, there are a number of factors that modify the goal-setting process, by affecting the generation of goals from values or the translation of general goals to specific goals. Modifying factors related to individuals include their degree of risk-taking, perceived self-efficacy, and acceptance of the disease. Disease factors that modify the goal-setting process include the urgency and irreversibility of the medical condition. Pertinent characteristics of the patient-family-clinician interaction include the level of participation, control, and trust among patients, family members, and clinicians. The research suggests that the goal-setting process in clinical medicine is complex, and the potential for disagreements regarding goals substantial. The nature of the goal-setting process suggests that explicit discussion of goals for care may be necessary to promote effective patient-family-clinician communication and adequate care planning.

Motivational Goal Bracketing: An Experiment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch, Alexander; Nafziger, Julia

We study in an online, real-effort experiment how the bracketing of non-binding goals affects performance in a work-leisure self-control problem. We externally induce the goal bracket - daily goals or a weekly goal - and within that bracket let subjects set goals for how much they want to work over...... a one-week period. Our theoretical model predicts (i) that weekly goals create incentives to compensate for a lower than desired performance today with the promise to work harder tomorrow, whereas daily goals exclude such excuses; (ii) that subjects with daily goals set higher goals in aggregate...... and work harder than those with weekly goals. Our data support these predictions. Surprisingly, however, when goals are combined with an externally enforced commitment that requires subjects to spend less than a minute each day on the task to get started working, performance deteriorates because of high...

The Importance of Rationales for Internationalization at a Local Level--University and Individual

Science.gov (United States)

Willis, Ian; Taylor, John

2014-01-01

This study examines rationales for internationalization at a research intensive university in the UK. Internationalization is often described at a macro level without reaching down to explore the individual motivations that may support or constrain internationalization at a particular institution. The article argues that it is important to…

The Danish Alzheimer Intervention Study: Rationale, Study Design and Baseline Characteristics of the Cohort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Waldemar, G.; Waldorff, F.B.; Buss, D.V.

2011-01-01

There is a lack of appropriately designed trials investigating the efficacy of psychosocial interventions for patients with mild dementia and their family caregivers. This paper reports the rationale and design of the Danish Alzheimer Disease Intervention Study and baseline characteristics...

Rationale for energy research and development programme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1976-04-01

This paper describes the rationale for the expenditure of government money on energy research and development. The Committee, organized in 1974, established the following order of project priorities: projects to determine current and future energy demand; projects concerned with the conservation and more efficient use of energy; projects concerned with the assessment of indigenous energy resources; projects concerned with the assessment of the human, financial, and organizational resources for energy production and use; and projects concerned with economic, technological, social, and environmental aspects of energy use and production over the next 15 years and beyond the next 15 years. Significant factors affecting the national energy economy, the strategy for energy research and development, and the results of committee activities are summarized. An energy scenario research is laid out. (MCW)

Proposed energy conservation contingency plan: emergency restrictions on advertising lighting. Authorities, need, rationale, and operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1977-04-01

The emergency restrictions on advertising lighting proposed in Energy Conservation Contingency Plan No. 5 of 1977 are presented. A statement is given on the need for rationale and operation of the Contingency Plan.

The rationale for early intervention in schizophrenia and related disorders

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordentoft, Merete; Jeppesen, Pia; Petersen, Lone

2009-01-01

, adherence to treatment, comorbid drug abuse, relapse and readmission. Some benefits persist after cessation of the intervention. Conclusions: Early intervention in schizophrenia is justified to reduce the negative personal and social impact of prolonged periods of untreated symptoms. Furthermore, phase......Abstract Aim: To examine the rationale and evidence supporting an early intervention approach in schizophrenia. Methods: A selective literature review was conducted. Results: During the onset of schizophrenia, there is often a significant delay between the emergence of psychotic symptoms...

Defining safety goals. 2. Basic Consideration on Defining Safety Goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakata, T.

2001-01-01

The purpose of this study is to develop basic safety goals that are rational and consistent for all nuclear facilities, including nuclear power plants and fuel cycle facilities. Basic safety goals (risk limits) by an index of radiation dose are discussed, which are based on health effects of detriment and fatality and risk levels presumably accepted by society. The contents of this paper are the personal opinions of the author. The desirable structure of safety goals is assumed to be 'basic safety goals plus specific safety goals (or supplemental safety goals) for each sort of facility, which reflects their characteristics'. The requisites of the basic safety goals must include (a) rational bases (scientific and social), (b) comprehensiveness (common to all sorts of nuclear facilities covering from normal to accidental conditions), and (c) applicability. To meet the requirements, the basic safety goals might have to be a risk profile expression by an index of radiation dose. The societal rationality is consideration of absolute risk levels (10 -6 or 10 -7 /yr) and/or relative risk factors (such as 0.1% of U.S. safety goals) that the general public accepts as tolerable. The following quantitative objectives are adopted in this study for protection of average individuals in the vicinity of a nuclear facility: 1. The additive annual radiation dose during normal operation must be -4 /yr (health detriment), 2x10 -6 /yr (latent cancer and severe hereditary effects), and 10 -7 /yr (acute fatality) from the statistics in Japan. The radiation effects on human beings are determined by recommendations of UNSCEAR (Ref. 1) and ICRP. The health effects considered are non-severe stochastic health detriment, i.e., detectable opacities of lens of eye (threshold 5 0.5 to 2 Sv), depression of hematopoiesis of bone marrow (0.5 Sv), and depression of reproductive capability (temporary sterility of testes ) (0.15 Sv). The LD 50/60 of acute fatality is ∼4 Sv, and fatalities by latent

Self-regulation of health behavior: social psychological approaches to goal setting and goal striving.

Science.gov (United States)

Mann, Traci; de Ridder, Denise; Fujita, Kentaro

2013-05-01

The goal of this article is to review and highlight the relevance of social psychological research on self-regulation for health-related theory and practice. We first review research on goal setting, or determining which goals to pursue and the criteria to determine whether one has succeeded. We discuss when and why people adopt goals, what properties of goals increase the likelihood of their attainment, and why people abandon goals. We then review research on goal striving, which includes the planning and execution of actions that lead to goal attainment, and the processes that people use to shield their goals from being disrupted by other competing goals, temptations, or distractions. We describe four types of strategies that people use when pursuing goals. We find that self-regulation entails the operation of a number of psychological mechanisms, and that there is no single solution that will help all people in all situations. We recommend a number of strategies that can help people to more effectively set and attain health-related goals. We conclude that enhancing health behavior requires a nuanced understanding and sensitivity to the varied, dynamic psychological processes involved in self-regulation, and that health is a prototypical and central domain in which to examine the relevance of these theoretical models for real behavior. We discuss the implications of this research for theory and practice in health-related domains. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Goal Conflict and Goal Commitment among Campus Parking Administrators in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

McKinney, David R.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which campus parking administrators in public higher education perceive they are experiencing goal conflict and the degree to which they differ in commitment to goals related to generating revenue and goals related to academics and service. The study also sought to determine the relationship…

Goal conflict and goal facilitation in community-based cardiac rehabilitation: a theory-based interview study.

Science.gov (United States)

Presseau, Justin; Boyd, Emily; Francis, Jill J; Sniehotta, Falko F

2015-01-01

Theories often consider behaviors in isolation of conflicting and facilitating personal goals. We conducted interviews with 13 people in cardiac rehabilitation, investigating whether eliciting physical activity (PA) control beliefs sufficiently captures goal conflict and goal facilitation. We assessed PA, intention, and control beliefs using standard elicitation methods and then assessed goal conflict and goal facilitation. Twelve participants described conflicting, and all described facilitating, personal goals. Most goal facilitation (94%) and conflict (82%) beliefs were identified beyond the control belief elicitation. Goal facilitation and conflict are not captured in a standard control belief elicitation and may supplement single-behavior models to understand PA.

Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Harkin, Benjamin; Webb, Thomas L; Chang, Betty P I; Prestwich, Andrew; Conner, Mark; Kellar, Ian; Benn, Yael; Sheeran, Paschal

2016-02-01

Control theory and other frameworks for understanding self-regulation suggest that monitoring goal progress is a crucial process that intervenes between setting and attaining a goal, and helps to ensure that goals are translated into action. However, the impact of progress monitoring interventions on rates of behavioral performance and goal attainment has yet to be quantified. A systematic literature search identified 138 studies (N = 19,951) that randomly allocated participants to an intervention designed to promote monitoring of goal progress versus a control condition. All studies reported the effects of the treatment on (a) the frequency of progress monitoring and (b) subsequent goal attainment. A random effects model revealed that, on average, interventions were successful at increasing the frequency of monitoring goal progress (d+ = 1.98, 95% CI [1.71, 2.24]) and promoted goal attainment (d+ = 0.40, 95% CI [0.32, 0.48]). Furthermore, changes in the frequency of progress monitoring mediated the effect of the interventions on goal attainment. Moderation tests revealed that progress monitoring had larger effects on goal attainment when the outcomes were reported or made public, and when the information was physically recorded. Taken together, the findings suggest that monitoring goal progress is an effective self-regulation strategy, and that interventions that increase the frequency of progress monitoring are likely to promote behavior change. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

An ecological dynamics rationale to explain home advantage in professional football

Science.gov (United States)

Gama, José; Dias, Gonçalo; Couceiro, Micael; Passos, Pedro; Davids, Keith; Ribeiro, João

2016-03-01

Despite clear findings, research on home advantage in team sports lacks a comprehensive theoretical rationale for understanding why this phenomenon is so compelling. The aim of this study was to provide an explanatory theoretical rationale in ecological dynamics for the influence of home advantage observed in research on professional football. We recorded 30 competitive matches and analyzed 13958 passes, from one highly successful team in the Portuguese Premier League, during season 2010/2011. Performance data were analyzed using the Match Analysis Software—Amisco® (version 3.3.7.25), allowing us to characterize team activity profiles. Results were interpreted from an ecological dynamics perspective, explaining how task and environmental constraints of a competitive football setting required performers to continuously co-adapt to teammate behaviors. Despite slight differences in percentage of ball possession when playing home or away, the number of passes achieved by the team, while in possession of the ball, was quite different between home or away venues. When playing at home, the number of passes performed by the team was considerably higher than when playing away. The explanation proposed in this study for a home advantage effect can be understood from studying interpersonal coordination tendencies of team sports players as agents in a complex adaptive system.

Goal setting in practice : the effects of personality and perceptions of the goal-setting process on job satisfaction and goal commitment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bipp, T.; Kleingeld, P.A.M.

2011-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to investigate how individual perceptions by employees of a goal-setting program and personality traits influence job satisfaction and goal commitment. Design/methodology/approach – Using the German version of Locke and Latham’s goal-setting questionnaire, 97

Of Private, Common, and Public Property and the Rationale for Total Privatization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans-Hermann Hoppe

2011-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, first, I want to clarify the nature and function of private property. Second, I want to clarify the distinction between “common” goods and property and “public” goods and property, and explain the construction error inherent in the institution of public goods and property. Third, I want to explain the rationale and principle of privatization.

Motor planning is facilitated by adopting an action's goal posture: An fMRI study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zimmermann, M.; Meulenbroek, R.G.J.; Lange, F.P. de

2012-01-01

Abstract: Motor planning is a hierarchical process that is typically organized around an action's goal (e.g., drinking from a cup). However, the motor plan depends not only on the goal but also on the current body state. Here, we investigated how one's own body posture interacts with planning of

Which cue to ‘want’? Opioid stimulation of central amygdala makes goal-trackers show stronger goal-tracking, just as sign-trackers show stronger sign-tracking

Science.gov (United States)

DiFeliceantonio, Alexandra G.; Berridge, Kent C.

2012-01-01

Pavlovian cues that have been paired with reward can gain incentive salience. Drug addicts find drug cues motivationally attractive and binge eaters are attracted by food cues. But the level of incentive salience elicited by a cue re-encounter still varies across time and brain states. In an animal model, cues become attractive and ‘wanted’ in an ‘autoshaping’ paradigm, where different targets of incentive salience emerge for different individuals. Some individuals (sign-trackers) find a predictive discrete cue attractive while others find a reward contiguous and goal cue more attractive (location where reward arrives: goal-trackers). Here we assessed whether central amygdala mu opioid receptor stimulation enhances the phasic incentive salience of the goal-cue for goal-trackers during moments of predictive cue presence (expressed in both approach and consummatory behaviors to goal cue), just as it enhances the attractiveness of the predictive cue target for sign-trackers. Using detailed video analysis we measured the approaches, nibbles, sniffs, and bites directed at their preferred target for both sign-trackers and goal-trackers. We report that DAMGO microinjections in central amygdala made goal-trackers, like sign-trackers, show phasic increases in appetitive nibbles and sniffs directed at the goal-cue expressed selectively whenever the predictive cue was present. This indicates enhancement of incentive salience attributed by both goal trackers and sign-trackers, but attributed in different directions: each to their own target cue. For both phenotypes, amygdala opioid stimulation makes the individual’s prepotent cue into a stronger motivational magnet at phasic moments triggered by a CS that predicts the reward UCS. PMID:22391118

Before Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): why Nigeria failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Science.gov (United States)

Oleribe, Obinna Ositadimma; Taylor-Robinson, Simon David

2016-01-01

World leaders adopted the UN Millennium Declaration in 2000, which committed the nations of the world to a new global partnership, aimed at reducing extreme poverty and other time-bound targets, with a stated deadline of 2015. Fifteen years later, although significant progress has been made worldwide, Nigeria is lagging behind for a variety of reasons, including bureaucracy, poor resource management in the healthcare system, sequential healthcare worker industrial action, Boko Haram insurgency in the north of Nigeria and kidnappings in the south of Nigeria. The country needs to tackle these problems to be able to significantly advance with the new sustainable development goals (SDGs) by the 2030 target date.

Physiology, regulation and multifunctional activity of the gut wall: a rationale for multicompartmental modelling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bannink, A.; Dijkstra, J.; Koopmans, S.J.; Mroz, Z.

2006-01-01

A rationale is given for a modelling approach to identify the mechanisms involved in the functioning and metabolic activity of tissues in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. Maintenance and productive functions are discussed and related to the distinct compartments of the gastrointestinal tract

Punishment goals of crime victims.

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, Uli

2003-04-01

Research on subjective punishment goals has focused on the perspective of third-party observers of criminal offenses and neglected the perspective of victims. This study investigates punishment goals among 174 adult crime victims (rape and nonsexual assault) for each participant's real criminal case. Scales measuring support for punishment goals are constructed by factor analysis of an 18-item list. Results show that 5 highly supported goals can be distinguished: retaliation, recognition of victim status, confirmation of societal values, victim security, and societal security. Analysis of relations between punishment goal scales and personal variables, situational variables, and demanded punishment severity corroborates the view that the punishment goals revealed can be classified according to the two independent dichotomies of moral versus instrumental goals, and micro versus macro goals.

Understanding and benchmarking health service achievement of policy goals for chronic disease

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Key challenges in benchmarking health service achievement of policy goals in areas such as chronic disease are: 1) developing indicators and understanding how policy goals might work as indicators of service performance; 2) developing methods for economically collecting and reporting stakeholder perceptions; 3) combining and sharing data about the performance of organizations; 4) interpreting outcome measures; 5) obtaining actionable benchmarking information. This study aimed to explore how a new Boolean-based small-N method from the social sciences—Qualitative Comparative Analysis or QCA—could contribute to meeting these internationally shared challenges. Methods A ‘multi-value QCA’ (MVQCA) analysis was conducted of data from 24 senior staff at 17 randomly selected services for chronic disease, who provided perceptions of 1) whether government health services were improving their achievement of a set of statewide policy goals for chronic disease and 2) the efficacy of state health office actions in influencing this improvement. The analysis produced summaries of configurations of perceived service improvements. Results Most respondents observed improvements in most areas but uniformly good improvements across services were not perceived as happening (regardless of whether respondents identified a state health office contribution to that improvement). The sentinel policy goal of using evidence to develop service practice was not achieved at all in four services and appears to be reliant on other kinds of service improvements happening. Conclusions The QCA method suggested theoretically plausible findings and an approach that with further development could help meet the five benchmarking challenges. In particular, it suggests that achievement of one policy goal may be reliant on achievement of another goal in complex ways that the literature has not yet fully accommodated but which could help prioritize policy goals. The weaknesses of QCA can be

The portfolio of renewable energy sources for achieving the three E policy goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen, Yung-Chi; Chou, Chiyang James; Lin, Grace T.R.

2011-01-01

Renewable energy is considered by many policy-makers to contribute to achieving at least three major policy goals: the energy goal, the environmental goal, and the economic goal (3E goals). As an innovation-oriented island country with scarce natural resources, Taiwan announced the Sustainable Energy Policy Principles in 2008 that stated that Taiwan's renewable energy policy should accomplish the 3E goals. Several studies point out that specific renewable energy policy goals lead to specific renewable energy sources and technologies because each type of renewable energy has different features. In order to achieve the renewable energy policy goals, this research aims to examine how different policy goals lead to corresponding renewable energy sources. The relative importance of each goal is evaluated by using analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The weight of each policy goal is adjusted separately to construct policy scenarios by the sensitivity analysis. According to the results, non-pumped storage hydropower, wind energy, and solar energy are three sources that could meet the three policy goals at the same time. -- Highlights: →This study aims to propose a portfolio of renewable energy sources to achieve energy, environmental, and economic policy goals for Taiwan. →Non-pumped storage hydropower performs best to achieve energy and environmental goals. →Wind energy performs well to accomplish environmental goal. →Solar energy is the most preferred alternative to achieve economic goal. →The portfolio of non-pumped storage hydropower, wind energy, and solar energy can accomplish the three E policy goals at the same time.

Stability and Change in Social Goals as Related to Goal Structures and Engagement in School

Science.gov (United States)

Madjar, Nir

2017-01-01

The current studies explored (a) the extended external validity of social-goal-orientation framework; (b) the mediating role of social goals between classroom goal structures and students' engagement; and (c) whether changes in social goals can be explained by classroom goal structures and engagement. Study 1 was cross-sectional (N = 317), and…

Shopping the way to my goals: an analysis of purchase impact on perceived goal progress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuela Albornoz Gonçalves

Full Text Available Abstract This article examines the impact of goal related purchases on goal progress perception, and whether this perception depends on the strength of association between product and goal. To test how consumers perceive the act of purchasing goal-related products, three experiments were conducted in an online setting. Participants exposed to purchasing situations perceived greater goal progress than participants exposed to usage situation or a control group. In addition, studies show that this effect is a result of strength of association between product and goal, since participants exposed to more instrumental products perceived greater goal progress than participants exposed to less instrumental products. Therefore, these studies demonstrate how consumers interpret goal related purchases, and the mechanism that influences this interpretation.

The declining demand for hospital care as a rationale for duty hour reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Jena, Anupam B; DePasse, Jacqueline W; Prasad, Vinay

2014-10-01

The regulation of duty hours of physicians in training remains among the most hotly debated subjects in medical education. Although recent duty hour reforms have been chiefly motivated by concerns about resident well-being and medical errors attributable to resident fatigue, the debate surrounding duty hour reform has infrequently involved discussion of one of the most important secular changes in hospital care that has affected nearly all developed countries over the last 3 decades: the declining demand for hospital care. For example, in 1980, we show that resident physicians in US teaching hospitals provided, on average, 1,302 inpatient days of care per resident physician compared to 593 inpatient days in 2011, a decline of 54%. This decline in the demand for hospital care by residents provides an under-recognized economic rationale for reducing residency duty hours, a rationale based solely on supply and demand considerations. Work hour reductions and growing requirements for outpatient training can be seen as an appropriate response to the shrinking demand for hospital care across the health-care sector.

The importance of advancing technology to America's energy goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greene, D.L.; Boudreaux, P.R.; Dean, D.J.; Fulkerson, W.; Gaddis, A.L.; Graham, R.L.; Graves, R.L.; Hopson, J.L.; Hughes, P.; Lapsa, M.V.; Mason, T.E.; Standaert, R.F.; Wilbanks, T.J.; Zucker, A.

2010-01-01

A wide range of energy technologies appears to be needed for the United States to meet its energy goals. A method is developed that relates the uncertainty of technological progress in eleven technology areas to the achievement of CO 2 mitigation and reduced oil dependence. We conclude that to be confident of meeting both energy goals, each technology area must have a much better than 50/50 probability of success, that carbon capture and sequestration, biomass, battery electric or fuel cell vehicles, advanced fossil liquids, and energy efficiency technologies for buildings appear to be almost essential, and that the success of each one of the 11 technologies is important. These inferences are robust to moderate variations in assumptions.

Exploration in Ways and Rationales of Designing A Desirable Webquest

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

覃靓

2017-01-01

WebQuest is an advanced tool which could provide the significant scaffolding to support instructors through incorpo-rating learning objects within systematic designs of learning activities. The focus of this article is to explore how a Webquest is designed reasonably and what rationales are implied in such a design through a case study of Webquest design for a group of ESL/EFL learners in Grade 12. The result indicates that a Webquest which is guided by the principles of constructivist problem solving, social interaction and scaffolding learning can be regarded as a desirable Webquest.

Goal setting in psychotherapy: the relevance of approach and avoidance goals for treatment outcome.

Science.gov (United States)

Wollburg, Eileen; Braukhaus, Christoph

2010-07-01

The present study is the first aimed at investigating the influence of goal definition on treatment outcome in a sample of depressed patients. Data from 657 inpatients admitted to a psychosomatic clinic in Germany being treated in a cognitive-behavioral therapy program were analyzed. Treatment goals were identified as either approach or avoidance, and the sample was classified accordingly. Patients who identified approach goals only were placed in the approach group, and those who identified at least one avoidance goal were placed in the avoidance group. Results showed that framing goals using avoidance terms was associated with less symptomatic improvement but did not affect goal attainment. Findings from this research should be utilized in practice not only for process management such as individual treatment planning but also to control outcome quality. Furthermore, goal definition should be considered as a control variable in research on depression.

International Disease Surveillance: United States Government Goals and Paths Forward

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-01

legal framework for improving global public health—were revised to require states parties to build and maintain the capacity to detect and respond to...threats. In 2005, the International Health Regulations (IHRs)—a legal framework for improving global public health—were revised to require that...mil $68.3 mil $55.0 mil $186.3 mil DoD Total $234.7 mil $201.6 mil $239.7 mil $676.0 mil State/ USAID Biosecurity Engagement Program ( BEP )5 $27.0

Spontaneous Facial Mimicry Is Enhanced by the Goal of Inferring Emotional States: Evidence for Moderation of "Automatic" Mimicry by Higher Cognitive Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Murata, Aiko; Saito, Hisamichi; Schug, Joanna; Ogawa, Kenji; Kameda, Tatsuya

2016-01-01

A number of studies have shown that individuals often spontaneously mimic the facial expressions of others, a tendency known as facial mimicry. This tendency has generally been considered a reflex-like "automatic" response, but several recent studies have shown that the degree of mimicry may be moderated by contextual information. However, the cognitive and motivational factors underlying the contextual moderation of facial mimicry require further empirical investigation. In this study, we present evidence that the degree to which participants spontaneously mimic a target's facial expressions depends on whether participants are motivated to infer the target's emotional state. In the first study we show that facial mimicry, assessed by facial electromyography, occurs more frequently when participants are specifically instructed to infer a target's emotional state than when given no instruction. In the second study, we replicate this effect using the Facial Action Coding System to show that participants are more likely to mimic facial expressions of emotion when they are asked to infer the target's emotional state, rather than make inferences about a physical trait unrelated to emotion. These results provide convergent evidence that the explicit goal of understanding a target's emotional state affects the degree of facial mimicry shown by the perceiver, suggesting moderation of reflex-like motor activities by higher cognitive processes.

Achievement goals affect metacognitive judgments

Science.gov (United States)

Ikeda, Kenji; Yue, Carole L.; Murayama, Kou; Castel, Alan D.

2017-01-01

The present study examined the effect of achievement goals on metacognitive judgments, such as judgments of learning (JOLs) and metacomprehension judgments, and actual recall performance. We conducted five experiments manipulating the instruction of achievement goals. In each experiment, participants were instructed to adopt mastery-approach goals (i.e., develop their own mental ability through a memory task) or performance-approach goals (i.e., demonstrate their strong memory ability through getting a high score on a memory task). The results of Experiments 1 and 2 showed that JOLs of word pairs in the performance-approach goal condition tended to be higher than those in the mastery-approach goal condition. In contrast, cued recall performance did not differ between the two goal conditions. Experiment 3 also demonstrated that metacomprehension judgments of text passages were higher in the performance-approach goal condition than in the mastery-approach goals condition, whereas test performance did not differ between conditions. These findings suggest that achievement motivation affects metacognitive judgments during learning, even when achievement motivation does not influence actual performance. PMID:28983496

From goal motivation to goal progress: the mediating role of coping in the Self-Concordance Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaudreau, Patrick; Carraro, Natasha; Miranda, Dave

2012-01-01

The present studies examined the mediating role of self-regulatory mechanisms in the relationship between goal motivation and goal progress in the Self-Concordance Model. First, a systematic review, using meta-analytical path analysis, supported the mediating role of effort and action planning in the positive association between autonomous goal motivation and goal progress. Second, results from two additional empirical studies, using structural equation modeling, lent credence to the mediating role of coping in the relationship between goal motivation and goal progress of university students. Autonomous goal motivation was positively associated with task-oriented coping, which predicted greater goal progress during midterm exams (Study 1, N=702) and at the end of the semester in a different sample (Study 2, N=167). Controlled goal motivation was associated with greater disengagement-oriented coping (Study 1 and Study 2) and lesser use of task-oriented coping (Study 2), which reduced goal progress. These results held up after controlling for perceived stress (Study 2). Our findings highlight the importance of coping in the "inception-to-attainment" goal process because autonomous goal motivation indirectly rather than directly predicts goal progress of university students through their usage of task-oriented coping.

Curricular Goals and Personal Goals in Master's Thesis Projects: Dutch Student-Supervisor Dyads

Science.gov (United States)

de Kleijn, Renske A. M.; Meijer, Paulien C.; Brekelmans, Mieke; Pilot, Albert

2013-01-01

To be effective, feedback should be goal-related. In order to better understand goal-related feedback in Master's thesis projects, the present study explores the goals of supervisors and students in supervision dyads and similarities and differences within and between these dyads. Twelve supervisors and students were interviewed, and their goals…

Effects of the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentives Grant (SPF SIG) on state prevention infrastructure in 26 states.

Science.gov (United States)

Orwin, Robert G; Stein-Seroussi, Alan; Edwards, Jessica M; Landy, Ann L; Flewelling, Robert L

2014-06-01

The Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) program is a national public health initiative sponsored by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention to prevent substance abuse and its consequences. State grantees used a data-driven planning model to allocate resources to 450 communities, which in turn launched over 2,200 intervention strategies to target prevention priorities in their respective populations. An additional goal was to build prevention capacity and infrastructure at the state and community levels. This paper addresses whether the state infrastructure goal was achieved, and what contextual and implementation factors were associated with success. The findings are consistent with claims that, overall, the SPF SIG program met its goal of increasing prevention capacity and infrastructure across multiple infrastructure domains, though the mediating effects of implementation were evident only in the evaluation/monitoring domain. The results also show that an initiative like the SPF SIG, which could easily have been compartmentalized within the states, has the potential to permeate more broadly throughout state prevention systems.

Goal pursuit, goal adjustment, and affective well-being following lower limb amputation.

Science.gov (United States)

Coffey, Laura; Gallagher, Pamela; Desmond, Deirdre; Ryall, Nicola

2014-05-01

This study examined the relationships between tenacious goal pursuit (TGP), flexible goal adjustment (FGA), and affective well-being in a sample of individuals with lower limb amputations. Cross-sectional, quantitative. Ninety-eight patients recently admitted to a primary prosthetic rehabilitation programme completed measures of TGP, FGA, positive affect, and negative affect. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that TGP and FGA accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in both positive and negative affect, controlling for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. TGP was significantly positively associated with positive affect, while FGA was significantly negatively associated with negative affect. Moderated regression analyses indicated that the beneficial effect of FGA on negative affect was strongest at high levels of amputation-related pain intensity and low levels of TGP. TGP and FGA appear to influence subjective well-being in different ways, with TGP promoting the experience of positive affect and FGA buffering against negative affect. TGP and FGA may prove useful in identifying individuals at risk of poor affective outcomes following lower limb amputation and represent important targets for intervention in this patient group. What is already known on this subject? The loss of a limb has a significant impact on several important life domains. Although some individuals experience emotional distress following amputation, the majority adjust well to their limb loss, with some achieving positive change or growth as a result of their experiences. Theories of self-regulation propose that disruptions in goal attainment have negative affective consequences. The physical, social, and psychological upheaval caused by limb loss is likely to threaten the attainment of valued goals, which may leave individuals vulnerable to negative psychosocial outcomes if they do not regulate their goals in response to these challenges. According to the dual

Social knowledge in children with language impairments: examination of strategies, predicted consequences, and goals in peer conflict situations.

Science.gov (United States)

Timler, Geralyn R

2008-09-01

This study investigated social knowledge in school-age children, aged 8-12 years, with and without language impairment (LI and TD groups). A hypothetical peer conflict task was administered to examine the relationship among prosocial responses and parent/teacher ratings of children's social behaviours. Stimuli included 12 hypothetical peer conflict vignettes presented in an open-ended and forced choice condition. The LI group generated (open-ended) and selected (forced choice) fewer prosocial strategies. When asked to predict a friend's reaction to a selected conflict resolution strategy, the LI group predicted fewer positive consequences; however, the proportion of prosocial strategies followed by prediction of a positive peer consequence was similar across groups. Both groups identified more self-interest than relationship goals as the rationale for selected strategies. In the LI group, teacher ratings of children's social skills and problems in peer provocation situations were associated with selection of prosocial strategies. Implications for clinical service providers are discussed.

Self-regulation through Goal Setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch, Alexander; Nafziger, Julia

2011-01-01

Goals are an important motivator. But little is known about why and how people set them. We address this issue in a model based on two stylized facts. i) Goals serve as reference points for performance. ii) Present-biased preferences create self-control problems. We show the power and limits...... of self-regulation through goals. Goals increase an individual's motivation - but only up to a certain point. And they are painful self-disciplining devices. Greater self-control problems may result in tougher goals; but for a severe present bias goals either lack motivating force, or are too painful...

Predicting race performance in triathlon: the role of perfectionism, achievement goals, and personal goal setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Stoeber, Joachim; Uphill, Mark A; Hotham, Sarah

2009-04-01

The question of how perfectionism affects performance is highly debated. Because empirical studies examining perfectionism and competitive sport performance are missing, the present research investigated how perfectionism affected race performance and what role athletes' goals played in this relationship in two prospective studies with competitive triathletes (Study 1: N = 112; Study 2: N = 321). Regression analyses showed that perfectionistic personal standards, high performance-approach goals, low performance-avoidance goals, and high personal goals predicted race performance beyond athletes' performance level. Moreover, the contrast between performance-avoidance and performance-approach goals mediated the relationship between perfectionistic personal standards and performance, whereas personal goal setting mediated the relationship between performance-approach goals and performance. The findings indicate that perfectionistic personal standards do not undermine competitive performance, but are associated with goals that help athletes achieve their best possible performance.

The Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Treatment Study II: rationale, design and methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

March John S

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract This paper presents the rationale, design, and methods of the Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Treatment Study II (POTS II, which investigates two different cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT augmentation approaches in children and adolescents who have experienced a partial response to pharmacotherapy with a serotonin reuptake inhibitor for OCD. The two CBT approaches test a "single doctor" versus "dual doctor" model of service delivery. A specific goal was to develop and test an easily disseminated protocol whereby child psychiatrists would provide instructions in core CBT procedures recommended for pediatric OCD (e.g., hierarchy development, in vivo exposure homework during routine medical management of OCD (I-CBT. The conventional "dual doctor" CBT protocol consists of 14 visits over 12 weeks involving: (1 psychoeducation, (2, cognitive training, (3 mapping OCD, and (4 exposure with response prevention (EX/RP. I-CBT is a 7-session version of CBT that does not include imaginal exposure or therapist-assisted EX/RP. In this study, we compared 12 weeks of medication management (MM provided by a study psychiatrist (MM only with two types of CBT augmentation: (1 the dual doctor model (MM+CBT; and (2 the single doctor model (MM+I-CBT. The design balanced elements of an efficacy study (e.g., random assignment, independent ratings with effectiveness research aims (e.g., differences in specific SRI medications, dosages, treatment providers. The study is wrapping up recruitment of 140 youth ages 7–17 with a primary diagnosis of OCD. Independent evaluators (IEs rated participants at weeks 0,4,8, and 12 during acute treatment and at 3,6, and 12 month follow-up visits. Trial registration NCT00074815

Perception in the service of goal pursuit : Motivation to attain goals enhances the perceived size of goal instrumental objects.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veltkamp, M.; Aarts, H.; Custers, R.

2008-01-01

Two experiments tested the functional perception hypothesis (Bruner, 1957) according to which objects that are instrumental in attaining ones' goals are perceived to be bigger if one is motivated to attain these goals. Study 1 demonstrated that participants perceived a glass of water to be bigger

Seismic analysis - what goal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tagart, S.W.

1978-01-01

The seismic analysis of nuclear components is characterized today by extensive engineering computer calculations in order to satisfy both the component standard codes such as ASME III as well as federal regulations and guides. The current nuclear siesmic design procedure has envolved in a fragmented fashion and continues to change its elements as improved technology leads to changing standards and guides. The dominant trend is a monotonic increase in the overall conservation with time causing a similar trend in costs of nuclear power plants. Ironically the improvements in the state of art are feeding a process which is eroding the very incentives that attracted us to nuclear power in the first place. This paper examines the cause of this process and suggests that what is needed is a realistic goal which appropriately addresses the overall uncertainty of the seismic design process. (Auth.)

A review of the benefits and rationale of viewing liver window settings for abdominal computed tomography scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dang, Tan; Mandarano, Giovanni

2006-01-01

There have been many different opinions over the efficacy of routinely incorporating liver-window settings in abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans. As a result, different clinical centres have varying protocols for incorporating liver-windows for abdominal CT scans. This investigation aims to explore and determine whether various clinical centres throughout Victoria use liver-window settings selectively or routinely and their justification for doing so. An additional purpose is also to assess the benefits and rationale of liver-window settings in supplementing routine soft-tissue-windows for abdominal CT examinations by reviewing evidenced-based studies. Surveys were sent out to CT supervisors at various clinical centres, including private and public institutions. This achieved an overall response rate of 74 per cent. Results indicate that the majority of clinical centres throughout Victoria routinely incorporate liver-window settings for all abdominal CT examinations. Forty four per cent (11/25) of respondents stated that they utilise liver-window settings selectively for abdominal CT examinations. Most of these respondents (7/11 = 63 per cent) believed that soft-tissue-window settings alone are adequate to demonstrate hepatic lesions; particularly if intravenous contrast media is used and the liver is captured in the arterial, venous and/or delayed phases. The benefits and rationale of incorporating liver-window settings for all abdominal computed tomography scans has been questioned by two well noted studies in the United States. These evidence-based studies suggest that such additional settings do not offer further advantages in detecting hepatic disease, when compared to soft-tissue-windows alone. Review of the available literature provides additional evidence suggesting that the routine use of liver-window settings in conjunction with soft-tissue-windows offers no further advantages in the detection of hepatic diseases. This investigation found, however

How Computer Technology Expands Educational Options: A Rationale, Recommendations, and a Pamphlet for Administrators.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelch, Panette Evers; Karr-Kidwell, PJ

The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical rationale on how computer technology, particularly the Internet, expands educational options for administrators and teachers. A review of the literature includes a brief history of computer technology and its growing use, and a discussion of computer technology for distance learning, for…

Goal striving, goal attainment, and well-being: adapting and testing the self-concordance model in sport.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Alison; Ntoumanis, Nikos; Duda, Joan

2007-12-01

Grounded in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and the self-concordance model (Sheldon & Elliot, 1999), this study examined the motivational processes underlying goal striving in sport as well as the role of perceived coach autonomy support in the goal process. Structural equation modeling with a sample of 210 British athletes showed that autonomous goal motives positively predicted effort, which, in turn, predicted goal attainment. Goal attainment was positively linked to need satisfaction, which, in turn, predicted psychological well-being. Effort and need satisfaction were found to mediate the associations between autonomous motives and goal attainment and between attainment and well-being, respectively. Controlled motives negatively predicted well-being, and coach autonomy support positively predicted both autonomous motives and need satisfaction. Associations of autonomous motives with effort were not reducible to goal difficulty, goal specificity, or goal efficacy. These findings support the self-concordance model as a framework for further research on goal setting in sport.

For a NATO defensive deterrent

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smoke, R.

1988-01-01

This paper proposes that NATO should adopt, in a gradual and orderly fashion, a grand strategy and accompanying posture distinctly different from its present one. The strategy the author recommends has variously been termed non-provocative defence, defence-only defence, or defensive deterrence, employs the latter term here. By it the author means a militarily sound strategy relying solely on conventional weapons so long as the enemy uses only conventional weapons, and a posture that is unambiguously capable only of defence. Secure, second-strike nuclear forces would be retained for deterrence of any nuclear use by the opponent. This goal is consistent with the goal stated in Frank Barnaby's companion paper in this volume; here however the author lays the emphasis on political and politico-military rationales for a defensive deterrent. The paper begins with two brief arguments why a shift in NATO strategy is needed, advances some distinctions among the possible alternatives, and then presents some seven rationales for its recommended policy

Can children identify and achieve goals for intervention? A randomized trial comparing two goal-setting approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Vroland-Nordstrand, Kristina; Eliasson, Ann-Christin; Jacobsson, Helén; Johansson, Ulla; Krumlinde-Sundholm, Lena

2016-06-01

The efficacy of two different goal-setting approaches (children's self-identified goals and goals identified by parents) were compared on a goal-directed, task-oriented intervention. In this assessor-blinded parallel randomized trial, 34 children with disabilities (13 males, 21 females; mean age 9y, SD 1y 4mo) were randomized using concealed allocation to one of two 8-week, goal-directed, task-oriented intervention groups with different goal-setting approaches: (1) children's self-identified goals (n=18) using the Perceived Efficacy and Goal-Setting System, or (2) goals identified by parents (n=16) using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). Participants were recruited through eight paediatric rehabilitation centres and randomized between October 2011 and May 2013. The primary outcome measure was the Goal Attainment Scaling and the secondary measure, the COPM performance scale (COPM-P). Data were collected pre- and post-intervention and at the 5-month follow-up. There was no evidence of a difference in mean characteristics at baseline between groups. There was evidence of an increase in mean goal attainment (mean T score) in both groups after intervention (child-goal group: estimated mean difference [EMD] 27.84, 95% CI 22.93-32.76; parent-goal group: EMD 21.42, 95% CI 16.16-26.67). There was no evidence of a difference in the mean T scores post-intervention between the two groups (EMD 6.42, 95% CI -0.80 to 13.65). These results were sustained at the 5-month follow-up. Children's self-identified goals are achievable to the same extent as parent-identified goals and remain stable over time. Thus children can be trusted to identify their own goals for intervention, thereby influencing their involvement in their intervention programmes. © 2015 Mac Keith Press.

Alcohol myopia and goal commitment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Timur Sevincer

2014-03-01

Full Text Available According to alcohol-myopia theory, acute alcohol consumption leads people to disproportionally focus on the salient rather than the peripheral aspects of a situation. We summarize various studies exploring how myopic processes resulting from acute alcohol intake affect goal commitment. After consuming alcohol student participants felt strongly committed to an important personal goal even though they had low expectations of successfully attaining the goal. However, once intoxicated participants were sober again (i.e., not myopic anymore they failed to act on their goal commitment. In line with alcohol-myopia theory, strong goal commitment as a result of alcohol intake was mediated by intoxicated (vs. sober participants disproportionally focusing on the desirability rather than the feasibility of their goal. Further supporting alcohol-myopia theory, when the low feasibility of attaining a particular goal was experimentally made salient (either explicitly or implicitly by subliminal priming, intoxicated participants felt less committed than those who consumed a placebo. We discuss these effects of acute alcohol intake in the context of research on the effects of chronic alcohol consumption on goal commitment.

Astigmatism treatment during phacoemulsification: a review of current surgical strategies and their rationale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuliano de Oliveira Freitas

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Preexisting corneal astigmatism, present at the time of cataract surgery, is reviewed in detail throughout this article on its most important aspects such as occurrence rates, clinical relevance and current treatment options. Special emphasis is given to the latter aspect. Each method's rationale, advantage and limitation ishigh lightened. Comparisons between treatment options, whenever possible, are also provided.

Telework rationale and implementation for people with disabilities: considerations for employer policymaking.

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Nathan W; Linden, Maureen A; Bricout, John C; Baker, Paul M A

2014-01-01

Telework has been promoted as a viable workplace accommodation for people with disabilities since the 1990s, when information and communication technologies (ICT) had developed sufficiently to facilitate its widespread adoption. This initial research and accompanying policy recommendations were prescriptive in nature and frequently aimed at employers. This article adds to existing policy models for facilitating successful telework outcomes for people with disabilities. Drawing upon two studies by the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Workplace Accommodations, we expound on employee-side considerations in the implementation of telework. Our policy model utilizes established typologies for policy evaluation to develop a process model that considers rationales and implementation factors for telework among people with physical disabilities. Telework may be used as an accommodation for disability, but employee rationales for telework are more complex, involving work-life balance, strategies for pain and fatigue not formally recognized as disability, and expediency in travel and transportation. Implementation of telework as a component of workplace operations is similarly multifaceted, involving non-technology accommodations to realize job restructuring left incomplete by telework. Our model grounds new empirical research in this area. We also renew our call for additional research on effective telework practices for people with disabilities.

Using self-regulation theory to examine patient goals, barriers, and facilitators for taking medication.

Science.gov (United States)

Kucukarslan, Suzan N; Thomas, Sheena; Bazzi, Abraham; Virant-Young, Deborah

2009-12-01

: Self-regulation theory predicts that patient behavior is determined by the patient's assessment of his/her condition (illness presentation) and related health goals. Patients will adapt their behavior to achieve those goals. However, there are multiple levels of goals. In such cases, those lower-level goals (health goals) that are strongly correlated with higher-level goals (i.e. quality of life [QOL]) are more likely to drive patient behavior. Medication non-compliance is a health behavior that challenges healthcare practitioners. Thus, the primary aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between the lower-level goals for taking medication with higher-level goals. This paper also identifies patient-perceived barriers and facilitators toward achieving goals as they may relate to patients' illness representation. : To identify lower- and higher-level goals associated with medication use for chronic conditions. To determine if there is a relationship between higher-level (global) goals and lower-level (health-related) goals. To identify patient-perceived facilitators and barriers to achieving those goals. : This was a prospective, observational study using a mailed survey. The setting was a US Midwestern state-wide survey. Participants were patients living in the community with hypertension, heart disease, diabetes mellitus, or arthritis, and taking prescription medication for any one of those conditions. The main outcome measures were lower- and higher-level goals related to medication use. The survey asked the participants if they had achieved their goals and to identify factors that may pose as barriers or facilitators to achieving them. Pearson correlation was used to test the relationship between the lower- and higher-level goals at p goals existed (p = 0.03). Preventing future health problems was the most important lower-level goal for almost half of the respondents. Approximately 43% of the respondents said 'improving or maintaining quality of

The politics of technology and site location: impact of state interventionism on an Indian public sector firm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dilip Subramanian

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Can an industrial organisation simultaneously fulfil economic and social functions, that is to say successfully reconcile its own priorities of optimal resource utilisation and productive efficiency with the larger objectives of social justice defined for it by public authorities? This is the central question this paper whose compass is restricted to the 1980s asks, and seeks to answer on the basis of a study of locational and technology choices at a big public sector manufacturing firm, Indian Telephone Industries. It will show how decisions pertaining both to the implantation of new state-owned factories and the sourcing of technology were shaped not by an economic rationale but a political one where employment generation took precedence over all other considerations. This was a consequence, on the one hand, of the paradigm of state-initiated industrial development embraced by India after Independence in 1947 and which held out the promise of future prosperity for the population at large; on the other, of the mode of governance prevailing in public enterprises where state interventionism rhymed with the complete loss of autonomy for managements. The paper concludes by pointing out that however justified the redistributive goals allocated to public enterprises from the standpoint of improving living standards, they proved highly detrimental to their efficient working as well as onerous for the exchequer.

Malleability in communal goals and beliefs influences attraction to stem careers: evidence for a goal congruity perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Diekman, Amanda B; Clark, Emily K; Johnston, Amanda M; Brown, Elizabeth R; Steinberg, Mia

2011-11-01

The goal congruity perspective posits that 2 distinct social cognitions predict attraction to science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields. First, individuals may particularly value communal goals (e.g., working with or helping others), due to either chronic individual differences or the salience of these goals in particular contexts. Second, individuals hold beliefs about the activities that facilitate or impede these goals, or goal affordance stereotypes. Women's tendency to endorse communal goals more highly than do men, along with consensual stereotypes that STEM careers impede communal goals, intersect to produce disinterest in STEM careers. We provide evidence for the foundational predictions that gender differences emerge primarily on communal rather than agentic goals (Studies 1a and 3) and that goal affordance stereotypes reflect beliefs that STEM careers are relatively dissociated from communal goals (Studies 1b and 1c). Most critically, we provide causal evidence that activated communal goals decrease interest in STEM fields (Study 2) and that the potential for a STEM career to afford communal goals elicits greater positivity (Study 3). These studies thus provide a novel demonstration that understanding communal goals and goal affordance stereotypes can lend insight into attitudes toward STEM pursuits.

Some evidence for the usefulness of an optimal foraging theory perspective on goal conflict and goal facilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomasik, Martin J; Knecht, Michaela; Freund, Alexandra M

2017-12-01

Based on optimal foraging theory, we propose a metric that allows evaluating the goodness of goal systems, that is, systems comprising multiple goals with facilitative and conflicting interrelations. This optimal foraging theory takes into account expectancy and value, as well as opportunity costs, of foraging. Applying this approach to goal systems provides a single index of goodness of a goal system for goal striving. Three quasi-experimental studies (N = 277, N = 145, and N = 210) provide evidence for the usefulness of this approach for goal systems comprising between 3 to 10 goals. Results indicate that persons with a more optimized goal-system are more conscientious and open to new experience, are more likely to represent their goals in terms of means (i.e., adopt a process focus), and are more satisfied and engaged with their goals. Persons with a suboptimal goal system tend to switch their goals more often and thereby optimize their goal system. We discuss limitations as well as possible future directions of this approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

State of the art: two-phase flow calibration techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stanley, M.L.

1977-01-01

The nuclear community faces a particularly difficult problem relating to the calibration of instrumentation in a two-phase flow steam/water environment. The rationale of the approach to water reactor safety questions in the United States demands that accurate measurements of mass flows in a decompressing two-phase flow be made. An accurate measurement dictates an accurate calibration. This paper addresses three questions relating to the state of the art in two-phase calibration: (1) What do we mean by calibration. (2) What is done now. (3) What should be done

Goal Setting as Teacher Development Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Camp, Heather

2017-01-01

This article explores goal setting as a teacher development practice in higher education. It reports on a study of college teacher goal setting informed by goal setting theory. Analysis of study participants' goal setting practices and their experiences with goal pursuit offers a framework for thinking about the kinds of goals teachers might set…

Wildlife preservation and recreational use: Conflicting goals of wildland management

Science.gov (United States)

David N. Cole; Richard L. Knight

1991-01-01

Large tracts of wildland in North America have been set aside as wilderness areas and national parks. More than 200 million acres (88 million ha) of such lands have been formally designated in Canada and the United States (Eidsvik 1989). The primary goal of these designations is the preservation of undisturbed natural conditions and processes.

Representation of cognitive reappraisal goals in frontal gamma oscillations.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Jae-Hwan; Jeong, Ji Woon; Kim, Hyun Taek; Kim, Sang Hee; Kim, Sung-Phil

2014-01-01

Recently, numerous efforts have been made to understand the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive regulation of emotion, such as cognitive reappraisal. Many studies have reported that cognitive control of emotion induces increases in neural activity of the control system, including the prefrontal cortex and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and increases or decreases (depending upon the regulation goal) in neural activity of the appraisal system, including the amygdala and the insula. It has been hypothesized that information about regulation goals needs to be processed through interactions between the control and appraisal systems in order to support cognitive reappraisal. However, how this information is represented in the dynamics of cortical activity remains largely unknown. To address this, we investigated temporal changes in gamma band activity (35-55 Hz) in human electroencephalograms during a cognitive reappraisal task that was comprised of three reappraisal goals: to decease, maintain, or increase emotional responses modulated by affect-laden pictures. We examined how the characteristics of gamma oscillations, such as spectral power and large-scale phase synchronization, represented cognitive reappraisal goals. We found that left frontal gamma power decreased, was sustained, or increased when the participants suppressed, maintained, or amplified their emotions, respectively. This change in left frontal gamma power appeared during an interval of 1926 to 2453 ms after stimulus onset. We also found that the number of phase-synchronized pairs of gamma oscillations over the entire brain increased when participants regulated their emotions compared to when they maintained their emotions. These results suggest that left frontal gamma power may reflect cortical representation of emotional states modulated by cognitive reappraisal goals and gamma phase synchronization across whole brain regions may reflect emotional regulatory efforts to achieve these goals

Improving metabolic parameters of antipsychotic child treatment (IMPACT) study: rationale, design, and methods

OpenAIRE

Reeves, Gloria M; Keeton, Courtney; Correll, Christoph U; Johnson, Jacqueline L; Hamer, Robert M; Sikich, Linmarie; Hazzard, Lindsey; Alderman, Cheryl; Scheer, Abigail; Mabe, Micah; Kapoor, Sandeep; Sheridan, Eva; Borner, Irmgard; Bussell, Kristin; Pirmohamed, Sara

2013-01-01

Background Youth with serious mental illness may experience improved psychiatric stability with second generation antipsychotic (SGA) medication treatment, but unfortunately may also experience unhealthy weight gain adverse events. Research on weight loss strategies for youth who require ongoing antipsychotic treatment is quite limited. The purpose of this paper is to present the design, methods, and rationale of the Improving Metabolic Parameters in Antipsychotic Child Treatment (IMPACT) stu...

A fuzzy logic expert system for evaluating policy progress towards sustainability goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Cisneros-Montemayor, Andrés M; Singh, Gerald G; Cheung, William W L

2017-12-16

Evaluating progress towards environmental sustainability goals can be difficult due to a lack of measurable benchmarks and insufficient or uncertain data. Marine settings are particularly challenging, as stakeholders and objectives tend to be less well defined and ecosystem components have high natural variability and are difficult to observe directly. Fuzzy logic expert systems are useful analytical frameworks to evaluate such systems, and we develop such a model here to formally evaluate progress towards sustainability targets based on diverse sets of indicators. Evaluation criteria include recent (since policy enactment) and historical (from earliest known state) change, type of indicators (state, benefit, pressure, response), time span and spatial scope, and the suitability of an indicator in reflecting progress toward a specific objective. A key aspect of the framework is that all assumptions are transparent and modifiable to fit different social and ecological contexts. We test the method by evaluating progress towards four Aichi Biodiversity Targets in Canadian oceans, including quantitative progress scores, information gaps, and the sensitivity of results to model and data assumptions. For Canadian marine systems, national protection plans and biodiversity awareness show good progress, but species and ecosystem states overall do not show strong improvement. Well-defined goals are vital for successful policy implementation, as ambiguity allows for conflicting potential indicators, which in natural systems increases uncertainty in progress evaluations. Importantly, our framework can be easily adapted to assess progress towards policy goals with different themes, globally or in specific regions.

Efficacy, safety and tolerability of simvastatin in children with familial hypercholesterolaemia - Rationale, design and baseline characteristics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jongh, S.; Stalenhoef, A. F. H.; Tuohy, M. B.; Mercuri, M.; Bakker, H. D.; Kastelein, J. J. P.

2002-01-01

Objective: To describe the rationale, design and baseline data of a study conducted to determine the efficacy, safety and tolerability of simvastatin in children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (heFH). Methods: Patients were recruited from nine lipid clinics

The goal(s of corporate rescue in company law: A comparative analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony O. Nwafor

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The concept of corporate rescue lays emphasis on corporate sustainability than liquidation. This trend in corporate legislation which featured in the United Kingdom Insolvency Act of 1986, Australian Corporations Act 2001, Indian Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions Act of 1985 (as replaced by Companies Act, 2013 and supplanted by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 has been adopted in the South African Companies Act of 2008. The goal(s of corporate rescue in some of these jurisdictions are not clearly defined. The paper examines, through a comparative analysis, the relevant statutory provisions in the United Kingdom, India, Australia and South Africa and the attendant judicial interpretations of those provisions with a view to discovering the goal(s of corporate rescue in those jurisdictions. It is argued that while under the United Kingdom and Australian statutory provisions, the administrator could pursue alternative goals of either rescuing the company or achieving better results for the creditors; the South African and Indian statutory provisions do not provide such alternatives. The seeming ancillary purpose of crafting a fair deal for the stakeholders under the South African Companies Act’s provision is not sustainable if the company as an entity cannot be rescued

2023 Goals of Rectors in Universities Established After 2006

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Süleyman DOĞAN

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the study was to determine the goals of the rectors of the universities established after 2006 and to identify what they can do in line with these goals. We also aimed to uncover the entrepreneurial qualities of the rectors having an administrative duty in the university climate and to determine the status of scientists who will guide the future of Turkey. The study was conducted between October 2014 and October 2016 through interviews with 37 rectors, 29 of which belonged to a state university and 8 of which belonged to a foundation university, among the total of 70 rectors from nationwide universities founded in every region of Turkey since 2006. The results of the study indicated that the various goals and visions of rectors included becoming a world university that is innovative and entrepreneurial, constructing the institutional identity of the university, being visionary and open to change and motivating the employees and students. It is considered that new universities will have an important catalyst role in local, regional and national development with the right development strategies. This research is important since there is no other study on university rectors’ 2023 visions and goals and also due to the contributions of the strategies to be developed in line with the findings of this study for the entrepreneurial and innovative university indexes.

A computational neural model of goal-directed utterance selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Michael; Kamp, Hans; Palm, Guenther; Doya, Kenji

2010-06-01

It is generally agreed that much of human communication is motivated by extra-linguistic goals: we often make utterances in order to get others to do something, or to make them support our cause, or adopt our point of view, etc. However, thus far a computational foundation for this view on language use has been lacking. In this paper we propose such a foundation using Markov Decision Processes. We borrow computational components from the field of action selection and motor control, where a neurobiological basis of these components has been established. In particular, we make use of internal models (i.e., next-state transition functions defined on current state action pairs). The internal model is coupled with reinforcement learning of a value function that is used to assess the desirability of any state that utterances (as well as certain non-verbal actions) can bring about. This cognitive architecture is tested in a number of multi-agent game simulations. In these computational experiments an agent learns to predict the context-dependent effects of utterances by interacting with other agents that are already competent speakers. We show that the cognitive architecture can account for acquiring the capability of deciding when to speak in order to achieve a certain goal (instead of performing a non-verbal action or simply doing nothing), whom to address and what to say. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of Mindfulness on Diabetes Mellitus: Rationale and Overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Medina, Wilson L; Wilson, David; de Salvo, Vera; Vannucchi, Bruna; de Souza, Érika Leonardo; Lucena, Leandro; Sarto, Héctor Morillo; Modrego-Alarcón, Marta; Garcia-Campayo, Javier; Demarzo, Marcelo

2017-01-01

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an emerging global healthcare problem and its prevalence is increasing at an alarming rate. Despite improvements in both medical and pharmacological therapies, a complex medical condition may demand a diversified approach, such as: drug therapy, healthy diet and exercises, diabetes education programs, adherence to medical treatment and active participation of the patients in their lifestyle changes, such as stress management. The concept of mindfulness is here defined as the awareness that unfolds from the intention to attentively observe the current experience in a non-judgmental and non-evaluative way. This state of awareness can be enhanced through the use of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), which have been associated to many physical and psychological health indicators. The aim of this overview is to offer the rationale and potential benefits of mindfulness in the control of DM and its complications. a narrative review of the current and updated literature available on online database and which came up using the terms "mindfulness" and "diabetes mellitus". Mindfulness-based Interventions (MBIs) can be seen as preventive and complementary interventions in DM, particularly for the relief of symptoms related to depression and anxiety in diabetic patients and also in the management of other factors, including mindful eating, physical exercises and treatment adherence. Although many studies only present research protocols, mindfulness seems to have beneficial effects on all aspects of diabetes, including incidence, control and complications. Furthermore, longer term and more carefully controlled trials are necessary in order to draw consistent conclusions on the beneficial role of MBIs on DM. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Integrating the Beliefs of Dewey, Lewin, and Rogers into a Rationale for Effective Group Leadership.

Science.gov (United States)

Grove, Richard W.

1992-01-01

Presents a rationale for effective group leadership grounded in John Withall's articulation of selected beliefs of John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and Carl Rogers. Teachers and administrators need more and better preparation in collaborative inquiry. Knowledge and skills in collaborative inquiry should undergird the successful functioning of groups of…

Connecting Goals and Actions during Reading: The Role of Illustrations

Science.gov (United States)

Orrantia, Josetxu; Múñez, David; Tarín, Julio

2014-01-01

The ability to integrate information that is separated within a text, such as connecting a character's action to a goal stated earlier in the text, is a critical factor in narrative comprehension. In the present study, we analyze the ability of 9- and 11-year olds to integrate such information. In addition, we examined the effect of…

The Predictiveness of Achievement Goals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huy P. Phan

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Using the Revised Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ-R (Elliot & Murayama, 2008, we explored first-year university students’ achievement goal orientations on the premise of the 2 × 2 model. Similar to recent studies (Elliot & Murayama, 2008; Elliot & Thrash, 2010, we conceptualized a model that included both antecedent (i.e., enactive learning experience and consequence (i.e., intrinsic motivation and academic achievement of achievement goals. Two hundred seventy-seven university students (151 women, 126 men participated in the study. Structural equation modeling procedures yielded evidence that showed the predictive effects of enactive learning experience and mastery goals on intrinsic motivation. Academic achievement was influenced intrinsic motivation, performance-approach goals, and enactive learning experience. Enactive learning experience also served as an antecedent of the four achievement goal types. On the whole, evidence obtained supports the AGQ-R and contributes, theoretically, to 2 × 2 model.

The Impact of a Course on Nature of Science Pedagogical Views and Rationales. Comparing Preservice Teachers in Their First Versus Second Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Kruse, Jerrid W.; Easter, Jaclyn M.; Edgerly, Hallie S.; Seebach, Colin; Patel, Neal

2017-08-01

This study explored changes in preservice teachers' (PSTs) nature of science pedagogical (NOSP) views and nature of science (NOS) rationales using pre- and post-course written responses as well as interview data. Through systematic analysis, themes were generated and compared to the NOS literature. Comparisons between pre- and post-course data demonstrate improved and deepened NOS views, NOSP views that are more aligned with NOS literature, and a greater number of rationales for including NOS. All participants were enrolled in the "Inquiry and Natures of Science, Technology, and Engineering" (INSTE) course. However, six participants were enrolled in INSTE as their first course in which NOS and NOSP were addressed. The other six participants were enrolled in INSTE as their second course in which NOS and NOSP were addressed, with science methods as their first course in which NOS and NOSP were addressed. By comparing participants enrolled in INSTE as their first course to those enrolled in INSTE as their second course, we observed that NOS understanding seemed to develop in a first experience alongside some NOS rationales, but NOSP views lagged for participants in INSTE as their first course. Participants enrolled in INSTE as their second course developed more robust and literature-aligned NOSP views and more multifaceted NOS rationales. Therefore, this study bolsters arguments that teachers need to receive extended NOS and NOSP instruction.

Teachers' Understanding of Learning Goals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krog Skott, Charlotte; Slot, Marie Falkesgaard; Carlsen, Dorthe

will be presented. We expect to deepen our understanding of the relations between the various parameters in the teachers' practice in relation to learning goals and goal-oriented teaching. There is conducted research on the effects of goal-oriented teaching on students' learning both internationally...

Nigeria and the United States: An Analysis of National Goals

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

McCarthy, John M

2008-01-01

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the continent of Africa has regained its importance to the United States and other developed nations, primarily due to its vast amounts of untapped resources...

ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS--A SYSTEMS APPROACH.

Science.gov (United States)

OHM, ROBERT E.

CONTEMPORARY SYSTEMS THEORISTS HAVE PROVIDED A HELPFUL VIEW OF THE WAY GOAL-STRUCTURE MAY SHAPE ADMINISTRATIVE BEHAVIOR IN EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS. THE "TRADITIONALIST" VIEW ASSIGNED ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS THE FUNCTIONS OF FORECASTING AND PLANNING. THE "EMERGING MODEL" VIEWED GOALS AS UNDEFINED ELEMENTS REQUIRING LITTLE SYSTEMATIC TREATMENT IN A…

Theoretical rationale for music selection in oncology intervention research: an integrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, Debra S

2012-01-01

Music-based interventions have helped patients with cancer improve their quality of life, decrease treatment related distress, and manage pain. However, quantitative findings from music intervention studies are inconsistent. The purpose of this review was to explore the theoretical underpinnings for the selection of the music stimuli used to influence targeted outcomes. It was hypothesized that disparate findings were due in part to the atheoretical nature of music selection and the resulting diversity in music stimuli between and within studies. A systematic research synthesis including a comprehensive database and reference list search resulted in 22 studies. Included studies were compiled into two tables cataloging intervention theory, intervention content, and outcomes. A majority of studies did not provide a rationale or intervention theory for the delivery of music or choice of outcomes. Recorded music was the most common delivery method, but the specific music was rarely included within the report. Only two studies that included a theoretical framework reported null results on at least some of the outcomes. Null results are partially explained by an incomplete or mismatch in intervention theory and music selection and delivery. While the inclusion of an intervention theory does not guarantee positive results, including a theoretical rationale for the use of music, particular therapeutic processes or mechanisms, and the specifics of how music is selected and delivered increases scientific rigor and the probability of clinical translation.

The impact of goal setting and goal orientation on performance during a clerkship surgical skills training program.

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, Aimee K; Diesen, Diana L; Hogg, Deborah; Huerta, Sergio

2016-02-01

The purpose of this study was to integrate relevant goal-setting theory and to identify if trainees' goal orientations have an impact on the assigned goals-performance relationship. Trainees attended 1 of the 3 goal-training activities (do your best, performance, or learning goals) for knot tying (KT) and camera navigation (CN) during the 3rd-year clerkship rotation. Questionnaires and pretests and/or post-tests were completed. One twenty-seven 3rd-year medical students (age: 25 ± 2.6; 54% women) participated in the training program. Pretraining to post-training performance changes were significant for all groups on both tasks (P goals group (do your best: KTΔ = 2.14, CNΔ = 1.69; performance: KTΔ = 2.49, CNΔ = 2.24; learning: KTΔ = 3.04 CNΔ = 2.76). Correlations between goal orientations and improvement were examined, revealing a unique role of goal orientation for performance improvement. These data indicate that consideration of goal type and trainee goal orientation must be considered during curriculum development to maximize educational value. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Resident Self-Assessment and Learning Goal Development: Evaluation of Resident-Reported Competence and Future Goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Su-Ting T; Paterniti, Debora A; Tancredi, Daniel J; Burke, Ann E; Trimm, R Franklin; Guillot, Ann; Guralnick, Susan; Mahan, John D

2015-01-01

To determine incidence of learning goals by competency area and to assess which goals fall into competency areas with lower self-assessment scores. Cross-sectional analysis of existing deidentified American Academy of Pediatrics' PediaLink individualized learning plan data for the academic year 2009-2010. Residents self-assessed competencies in the 6 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competency areas and wrote learning goals. Textual responses for goals were mapped to 6 ACGME competency areas, future practice, or personal attributes. Adjusted mean differences and associations were estimated using multiple linear and logistic regression. A total of 2254 residents reported 6078 goals. Residents self-assessed their systems-based practice (51.8) and medical knowledge (53.0) competencies lowest and professionalism (68.9) and interpersonal and communication skills (62.2) highest. Residents were most likely to identify goals involving medical knowledge (70.5%) and patient care (50.5%) and least likely to write goals on systems-based practice (11.0%) and professionalism (6.9%). In logistic regression analysis adjusting for postgraduate year (PGY), gender, and degree type (MD/DO), resident-reported goal area showed no association with the learner's relative self-assessment score for that competency area. In the conditional logistic regression analysis, with each learner serving as his or her own control, senior residents (PGY2/3+s) who rated themselves relatively lower in a competency area were more likely to write a learning goal in that area than were PGY1s. Senior residents appear to develop better skills and/or motivation to explicitly turn self-assessed learning gaps into learning goals, suggesting that individualized learning plans may help improve self-regulated learning during residency. Copyright © 2015 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Operationalizing "trance". I: Rationale and research using a psychophenomenological approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Pekala, R J; Kumar, V K

2000-10-01

Despite the popularity of the term "trance" among clinicians to describe the subjective effects associated with being hypnotized, heretofore there has been no means to operationalize that definition. The authors present a rationale and psychophenomenological method to operationalize the term "trance" in terms of (a) hypnotic depth, a quantitative measure of subjective trance assessed via a pHGS (predicted Harvard Group Scale) score, derived from regression analysis, and (b) "trance typology profiles," a qualitative differentiation of empirically derived (via cluster and discriminant analyses) categories of subjective trance experiences. The authors then discuss theoretical and clinical implications of this psychophenomenological approach for developing an operational definition of the concept of trance.

Rationale of physical rehabilitation of patients with violation coronary circulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anvar Morad Pour Heidari Roudberi

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study is to examine the risk factors that lead to the violation of the coronary circulation. Rationale for the use of physical rehabilitation to restore optimal hemodynamics in the myocardium. Considered views on the causes of the high mortality rate of the population of Ukraine of cardiovascular disease. It is shown that the main cause of death is coronary heart disease. Suggested that the major risk factors for coronary heart disease is high cholesterol, hypertension and obesity. Proposed to use exercise therapy, dosage walking, psychotherapy, autogenic training and diet therapy in rehabilitation program patients with impaired coronary circulation.

Detrimental Effects of “Stretch” Goals in Specialty Substance Use Disorder Treatment Organizations

Science.gov (United States)

Lemoine, G. James; Blum, Terry C.; Roman, Paul M.

2016-01-01

Background “Stretch” goals, a rarely examined concept that represents seemingly impossible, highly ambitious organizational goals ostensibly established to fill performance gaps and motivate employees, are examined within a sample of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment centers in the United States in terms of their prevalence and effects on organizational behavior. Stretch goals are defined as “seemingly impossible” goals intended to motivate employees to achieve high performance. In light of the high level of environmental change and unpredictability faced by SUD treatment centers in recent decades, we theorize that stretch goals would be both common and often detrimental (in terms of capacity utilization rate and efficiency) in these settings. Methods In a longitudinal analysis of data from leaders of a representative U. S. national sample of 219 SUD treatment centers characterized by entrepreneurial management structures, we examined the prevalence of stretch goals and their impact on key outcome variables of capacity utilization rate and efficiency. Results Widespread adoption of stretch goals was found, with 43% of our sample falling within the stretch category. Stretch goals had a negative main effect on capacity utilization rate as compared to less ambitious challenging goals. Stretch and prior performance interacted to further predict capacity utilization rate, whereas stretch and slack resource availability interacted to predict center efficiency. Discussion Although stretch goals are frequently used in the SUD treatment industry, we find them mostly detrimental to performance. Stretch goals may enhance the efficiency of treatment centers with prior limited resource availability, but they are negatively associated with capacity utilization, especially in centers with a record of already strong performance. Despite the high prevalence of such goals and positive values centered on aspirational behavior, these results strongly suggest caution in

Different way, same goal

CERN Multimedia

Antonella Del Rosso & Fabio Capello

2012-01-01

Radio-oncologists and radiotherapists represented a large proportion of the doctors and clinicians who attended the ICTR-PHE 2012 conference. With them were also biologists and doctors of nuclear medicine. They presented the state of the art of their research that touches on the genetics and biology of tumours as well as on futuristic drugs that selectively target malignant cells. The future of cancer treatment seems to lie in the personalised approach.   When the members of the life sciences community took over from the physicists, the focus remained basically the same. Just another sign of the fact that the different communities are leading the same battle and have the same goal. However, the methodologies and issues can be very different. The example of hadrontherapy illustrates the situation well: while for physicists this is a relatively well-established concept, medical doctors consider that the amount of patient data available is still very small. Several clinical trials are in progress ...

Growth goals, maturity, and well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Jack J; McAdams, Dan P

2004-01-01

In 2 studies (125 college students and 51 adults), 2 forms of growth goals (exploratory and intrinsic) were compared with 2 forms of personality development (social-cognitive maturity and social-emotional well-being). Participants whose narratives of major life goals emphasized conceptual exploration were especially likely to have high levels of maturity (measured as ego development; J. Loevinger, 1976), whereas those whose goals emphasized intrinsic interests (K. M. Sheldon & T. Kasser, 1995) were especially likely to have high levels of well-being. Participants who had coherent hierarchies of growth goals on the levels of major life goals and everyday goals were especially likely to have high levels of personality development. Finally, growth goals accounted for some relationships between age and personality development. Growth goals are discussed in terms of intentional self-development and specific developmental paths. (c) 2003 APA

The Influence of Chronic Ego Depletion on Goal Adherence: An Experience Sampling Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ligang; Tao, Ting; Fan, Chunlei; Gao, Wenbin; Wei, Chuguang

2015-01-01

Although ego depletion effects have been widely observed in experiments in which participants perform consecutive self-control tasks, the process of ego depletion remains poorly understood. Using the strength model of self-control, we hypothesized that chronic ego depletion adversely affects goal adherence and that mental effort and motivation are involved in the process of ego depletion. In this study, 203 students reported their daily performance, mental effort, and motivation with respect to goal directed behavior across a 3-week time period. People with high levels of chronic ego depletion were less successful in goal adherence than those with less chronic ego depletion. Although daily effort devoted to goal adherence increased with chronic ego depletion, motivation to adhere to goals was not affected. Participants with high levels of chronic ego depletion showed a stronger positive association between mental effort and performance, but chronic ego depletion did not play a regulatory role in the effect of motivation on performance. Chronic ego depletion increased the likelihood of behavior regulation failure, suggesting that it is difficult for people in an ego-depletion state to adhere to goals. We integrate our results with the findings of previous studies and discuss possible theoretical implications.

Engendering healthy masculinities to prevent sexual violence: Rationale for and design of the Manhood 2.0 trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Abebe, Kaleab Z; Jones, Kelley A; Culyba, Alison J; Feliz, Nayck B; Anderson, Heather; Torres, Irving; Zelazny, Sarah; Bamwine, Patricia; Boateng, Adwoa; Cirba, Benjamin; Detchon, Autumn; Devine, Danielle; Feinstein, Zoe; Macak, Justin; Massof, Michael; Miller-Walfish, Summer; Morrow, Sarah Elizabeth; Mulbah, Paul; Mulwa, Zabi; Paglisotti, Taylor; Ripper, Lisa; Ports, Katie A; Matjasko, Jennifer L; Garg, Aapta; Kato-Wallace, Jane; Pulerwitz, Julie; Miller, Elizabeth

2018-05-23

Violence against women and girls is an important global health concern. Numerous health organizations highlight engaging men and boys in preventing violence against women as a potentially impactful public health prevention strategy. Adapted from an international setting for use in the US, "Manhood 2.0" is a "gender transformative" program that involves challenging harmful gender and sexuality norms that foster violence against women while promoting bystander intervention (i.e., giving boys skills to interrupt abusive behaviors they witness among peers) to reduce the perpetration of sexual violence (SV) and adolescent relationship abuse (ARA). Manhood 2.0 is being rigorously evaluated in a community-based cluster-randomized trial in 21 lower resource Pittsburgh neighborhoods with 866 adolescent males ages 13-19. The comparison intervention is a job readiness training program which focuses on the skills needed to prepare youth for entering the workforce, including goal setting, accountability, resume building, and interview preparation. This study will provide urgently needed information about the effectiveness of a gender transformative program, which combines healthy sexuality education, gender norms change, and bystander skills to interrupt peers' disrespectful and harmful behaviors to reduce SV/ARA perpetration among adolescent males. In this manuscript, we outline the rationale for and evaluation design of Manhood 2.0. Clinical Trials #: NCT02427061. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Goals and everyday problem solving: examining the link between age-related goals and problem-solving strategy use.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoppmann, Christiane A; Coats, Abby Heckman; Blanchard-Fields, Fredda

2008-07-01

Qualitative interviews on family and financial problems from 332 adolescents, young, middle-aged, and older adults, demonstrated that developmentally relevant goals predicted problem-solving strategy use over and above problem domain. Four focal goals concerned autonomy, generativity, maintaining good relationships with others, and changing another person. We examined both self- and other-focused problem-solving strategies. Autonomy goals were associated with self-focused instrumental problem solving and generative goals were related to other-focused instrumental problem solving in family and financial problems. Goals of changing another person were related to other-focused instrumental problem solving in the family domain only. The match between goals and strategies, an indicator of problem-solving adaptiveness, showed that young individuals displayed the greatest match between autonomy goals and self-focused problem solving, whereas older adults showed a greater match between generative goals and other-focused problem solving. Findings speak to the importance of considering goals in investigations of age-related differences in everyday problem solving.

Rationale for Students Preparation and Entrepreneurship Education in the Face of Global Economic Crisis in Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Onuma, Nwite

2016-01-01

The rationale for students preparation in job creation through entrepreneurship education was examined. Problems of unemployment among Nigerian university graduates and challenges to entrepreneurship in the face of global economic crisis were also highlighted. The persistent problem of unemployment among University graduates and its attendant…

Pengaruh Goal Setting terhadap Performance : Tinjauan Teoritis

OpenAIRE

Ginting, Surya Dharma; Ariani, D. Wahyu

2004-01-01

This article is the conceptual view of goal setting theory and effects of goal setting on individual performance. Goal setting is recognized, and is a major theory of work motivation. Difficult goals have consistently been shown to lead to higher levels of performance than easy goals. If there is no commitment, a goal can have no motivational effect. Goals are central to current treatments of work motivation, and goal commitment is a necessary condition for difficult goals to result in higher...

The Selfish Goal: autonomously operating motivational structures as the proximate cause of human judgment and behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Julie Y; Bargh, John A

2014-04-01

We propose the Selfish Goal model, which holds that a person's behavior is driven by psychological processes called goals that guide his or her behavior, at times in contradictory directions. Goals can operate both consciously and unconsciously, and when activated they can trigger downstream effects on a person's information processing and behavioral possibilities that promote only the attainment of goal end-states (and not necessarily the overall interests of the individual). Hence, goals influence a person as if the goals themselves were selfish and interested only in their own completion. We argue that there is an evolutionary basis to believe that conscious goals evolved from unconscious and selfish forms of pursuit. This theoretical framework predicts the existence of unconscious goal processes capable of guiding behavior in the absence of conscious awareness and control (the automaticity principle), the ability of the most motivating or active goal to constrain a person's information processing and behavior toward successful completion of that goal (the reconfiguration principle), structural similarities between conscious and unconscious goal pursuit (the similarity principle), and goal influences that produce apparent inconsistencies or counterintuitive behaviors in a person's behavior extended over time (the inconsistency principle). Thus, we argue that a person's behaviors are indirectly selected at the goal level but expressed (and comprehended) at the individual level.

Intensity and direction of competitive anxiety as a function of goal attainment expectation and competition goal generation.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, M; Hanton, S; Mellalieu, S D

2005-12-01

Jones's control model was adopted to investigate differences in the labelling of symptoms associated with pre-competition anxiety and self-confidence as a function of goal attainment expectation and competition goal generation. Team sport performers (N = 96) were divided into outcome, performance and process goal groups. Anxiety intensity and direction, and self-confidence were then examined as a function of goal expectancy (positive or negative) and perceived input into goal production (input or no input). MANOVA and follow-up ANOVA supported the study predictions. Specifically, participants who reported positive expectations of goal achievement and indicated some input into the goal generation process experienced the most facilitative interpretations of cognitive symptoms and greater self-confidence. The results highlight the need to consider how goals are generated when attempting to foster a sense of control and help athletes cope with the psychological demands of competition.

8th International Conference on Multi-Objective and Goal Programming

CERN Document Server

Tamiz, Mehrdad; Ries, Jana

2010-01-01

This volume shows the state-of-the-art in both theoretical development and application of multiple objective and goal programming. Applications from the fields of supply chain management, financial portfolio selection, financial risk management, insurance, medical imaging, sustainability, nurse scheduling, project management, water resource management, and the interface with data envelopment analysis give a good reflection of current usage. A pleasing variety of techniques are used including models with fuzzy, group-decision, stochastic, interactive, and binary aspects. Additionally, two papers from the upcoming area of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms are included. The book is based on the papers of the 8th International Conference on Multi-Objective and Goal Programming (MOPGP08) which was held in Portsmouth, UK, in September 2008.

Financial Planning with Fractional Goals

OpenAIRE

Goedhart, Marc; Spronk, Jaap

1995-01-01

textabstractWhen solving financial planning problems with multiple goals by means of multiple objective programming, the presence of fractional goals leads to technical difficulties. In this paper we present a straightforward interactive approach for solving such linear fractional programs with multiple goal variables. The approach is illustrated by means of an example in financial planning.

Rationale and Design of the Echocardiographic Study of Hispanics/Latinos (ECHO-SOL).

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Carlos J; Dharod, Ajay; Allison, Matthew A; Shah, Sanjiv J; Hurwitz, Barry; Bangdiwala, Shrikant I; Gonzalez, Franklyn; Kitzman, Dalane; Gillam, Linda; Spevack, Daniel; Dadhania, Rupal; Langdon, Sarah; Kaplan, Robert

2015-01-01

Information regarding the prevalence and determinants of cardiac structure and function (systolic and diastolic) among the various Hispanic background groups in the United States is limited. The Echocardiographic Study of Latinos (ECHO-SOL) ancillary study recruited 1,824 participants through a stratified-sampling process representative of the population-based Hispanic Communities Health Study - Study of Latinos (HCHS-SOL) across four sites (Bronx, NY; Chicago, Ill; San Diego, Calif; Miami, Fla). The HCHS-SOL baseline cohort did not include an echo exam. ECHO-SOL added the echocardiographic assessment of cardiac structure and function to an array of existing HCHS-SOL baseline clinical, psychosocial, and socioeconomic data and provides sufficient statistical power for comparisons among the Hispanic subgroups. Standard two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography protocol, including M-mode, spectral, color and tissue Doppler study was performed. The main objectives were to: 1) characterize cardiac structure and function and its determinants among Hispanics and Hispanic subgroups; and 2) determine the contributions of specific psychosocial factors (acculturation and familismo) to cardiac structure and function among Hispanics. We describe the design, methods and rationale of currently the largest and most comprehensive study of cardiac structure and function exclusively among US Hispanics. ECHO-SOL aims to enhance our understanding of Hispanic cardiovascular health as well as help untangle the relative importance of Hispanic subgroup heterogeneity and sociocultural factors on cardiac structure and function.

Different Goals for Different Folks: A Cross-Cultural Study of Achievement Goals across Nine Cultures

Science.gov (United States)

King, Ronnel B.; McInerney, Dennis M.; Nasser, Ramzi

2017-01-01

Goals are important predictors of key educational outcomes. However, most of the research on goal theory has been conducted in Western societies. In this study we examine how different types of goals (mastery, performance, social, and extrinsic) derived from personal investment theory are associated with key learning outcomes across nine cultural…

Self-regulation through Goal Setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch, Alexander; Nafziger, Julia

self-control problems. We show how goals permit self-regulation, but also that they are painful self-disciplining devices. Greater self-control problems therefore lead to stronger self-regulation through goals only up to a certain point. For severely present-biased preferences, the required goal...... for self-regulation is too painful and the individual rather gives up....

Goal-oriëntation, goal-setting and goal-driven behavior in (minimalist) user instructions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Meij, Hans

2007-01-01

This paper opens with a summary of minimalist design strategies that aim to optimize user instructions. Next, it discusses three recent research efforts to further improve these strategies. The common focus in these efforts is the attention to people’s goal-related management and control of

Materialistic Values and Goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Kasser, Tim

2016-01-01

Materialism comprises a set of values and goals focused on wealth, possessions, image, and status. These aims are a fundamental aspect of the human value/goal system, standing in relative conflict with aims concerning the well-being of others, as well as one's own personal and spiritual growth. Substantial evidence shows that people who place a relatively high priority on materialistic values/goals consume more products and incur more debt, have lower-quality interpersonal relationships, act in more ecologically destructive ways, have adverse work and educational motivation, and report lower personal and physical well-being. Experimentally activating materialistic aims causes similar outcomes. Given these ills, researchers have investigated means of decreasing people's materialism. Successful interventions encourage intrinsic/self-transcendent values/goals, increase felt personal security, and/or block materialistic messages from the environment. These interventions would likely be more effective if policies were also adopted that diminished contemporary culture's focus on consumption, profit, and economic growth.

An empirical examination of negotiated goals and performance-to-goal following the introduction of an incentive bonus plan with participative goal setting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anderson, S.W.; Dekker, H.C.; Sedatole, K.L.

2010-01-01

Prior research documents performance improvements following the implementation of pay-for-performance (PFP) bonus plans. However, bonus plans typically pay for performance relative to a goal, and the manager whose performance is to be evaluated often participates in setting the goal. In these

Tacit and transitionary: an exploration of patients' and primary care health professionals' goals in relation to asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Brian; Steven, Karen; Sullivan, Frank M

2011-04-01

Goal setting is recommended in UK health policy to make health care more patient-centred, to enhance the likelihood of behaviour change and to improve health outcomes. Patient-centred care is thought to be particularly important in the management of long term conditions such as asthma. We therefore explored and compared the asthma goals of both health professionals and people with asthma within the primary care clinical consultation, and identified the potential barriers to achieving shared goals and more patient-centred care provision. We conducted a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with 15 people with asthma, 7 general practitioners and 6 primary care asthma nurses from Tayside, UK. The data were analysed using the 'Framework' methodology. Four potential barriers to the identification of goals were located. The first stemmed from the status and nature of patients' goals, while the remaining three related to the beliefs and practices of health professionals. These findings are discussed in relation to relevant sociological literature around the potential tensions between lay and professional knowledge, and also tensions in the relationship between knowledge and values. We conclude that barriers need to be recognised and addressed where possible before the achievement of shared asthma goals can become common practice. In particular, health professionals may require training in how to elicit goals with patients and how to differentiate between end states and goals that are in fact assumed to mediate the achievement of such desired end states. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fusion-fission hybrids: environmental aspects and their role in hybrid rationale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holdren, J.P.

1981-01-01

The rationale for developing hybrids depends on real or perceived liabilities of relying on pure fission to do the same job. Quite possibly the main constraint on expanded use of fission will be neither lack of fuel nor high costs, but perceived environmental liabilities - radioactive wastes, reactor safety, and links to nuclear weaponry. The environmental characteristics of hybrid systems and pure-fisson systems are compared here in detail. The findings are that significant environmental advantages for hybrids cannot now be demonstrated and may not exist. Therefore, if environmental drawbacks constrain the application of pure fission, hybrids probably also will be thus constrained

Shared goals and development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blomberg, Olle

2015-01-01

undemanding for children to engage in, and therefore has the potential to play a part in fostering their understanding of other minds. Part of the functional role of shared goals is to enable agents to choose means that are appropriate to realising a goal with others rather than individually. By offering...

The Influence of Money on Goal Pursuit and Decision-Making: Understanding Money's Unique Impact on Goal Pursuit

OpenAIRE

Moran, Nora

2015-01-01

Previous research suggests that activating concepts of money and wealth can increase motivation to achieve personal goals. In this dissertation, I investigate how money affects pursuit of important personal goals, and how this motivation may be affected by goal attainability. In eight studies, I show that priming concepts of money and wealth leads individuals to pursue important personal goals to a greater degree than control groups, but only when a goal is more attainable. In contrast, when...

Collaborative Behavioral Management for Drug-Involved Parolees: Rationale and Design of the Step'n Out Study

Science.gov (United States)

Friedmann, Peter D.; Katz, Elizabeth C.; Rhodes, Anne G.; Taxman, Faye S.; O'Connell, Daniel J.; Frisman, Linda K.; Burdon, William M.; Fletcher, Bennett W.; Litt, Mark D.; Clarke, Jennifer; Martin, Steven S.

2008-01-01

This article describes the rationale, study design, and implementation for the Step'n Out study of the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies. Step'n Out tests the relative effectiveness of collaborative behavioral management of drug-involved parolees. Collaborative behavioral management integrates the roles of parole officers and treatment…

Executive control of stimulus-driven and goal-directed attention in visual working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Yanmei; Allen, Richard J; Baddeley, Alan D; Hitch, Graham J

2016-10-01

We examined the role of executive control in stimulus-driven and goal-directed attention in visual working memory using probed recall of a series of objects, a task that allows study of the dynamics of storage through analysis of serial position data. Experiment 1 examined whether executive control underlies goal-directed prioritization of certain items within the sequence. Instructing participants to prioritize either the first or final item resulted in improved recall for these items, and an increase in concurrent task difficulty reduced or abolished these gains, consistent with their dependence on executive control. Experiment 2 examined whether executive control is also involved in the disruption caused by a post-series visual distractor (suffix). A demanding concurrent task disrupted memory for all items except the most recent, whereas a suffix disrupted only the most recent items. There was no interaction when concurrent load and suffix were combined, suggesting that deploying selective attention to ignore the distractor did not draw upon executive resources. A final experiment replicated the independent interfering effects of suffix and concurrent load while ruling out possible artifacts. We discuss the results in terms of a domain-general episodic buffer in which information is retained in a transient, limited capacity privileged state, influenced by both stimulus-driven and goal-directed processes. The privileged state contains the most recent environmental input together with goal-relevant representations being actively maintained using executive resources.

Tracing the Rationale Behind UML Model Change Through Argumentation

Science.gov (United States)

Jureta, Ivan J.; Faulkner, Stéphane

Neglecting traceability—i.e., the ability to describe and follow the life of a requirement—is known to entail misunderstanding and miscommunication, leading to the engineering of poor quality systems. Following the simple principles that (a) changes to UML model instances ought be justified to the stakeholders, (b) justification should proceed in a structured manner to ensure rigor in discussions, critique, and revisions of model instances, and (c) the concept of argument instantiated in a justification process ought to be well defined and understood, the present paper introduces the UML Traceability through Argumentation Method (UML-TAM) to enable the traceability of design rationale in UML while allowing the appropriateness of model changes to be checked by analysis of the structure of the arguments provided to justify such changes.

Multiple goals, motivation and academic learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Valle, Antonio; Cabanach, Ramón G; Núnez, José C; González-Pienda, Julio; Rodríguez, Susana; Piñeiro, Isabel

2003-03-01

The type of academic goals pursued by students is one of the most important variables in motivational research in educational contexts. Although motivational theory and research have emphasised the somewhat exclusive nature of two types of goal orientation (learning goals versus performance goals), some studies (Meece, 1994; Seifert, 1995, 1996) have shown that the two kinds of goals are relatively complementary and that it is possible for students to have multiple goals simultaneously, which guarantees some flexibility to adapt more efficaciously to various contexts and learning situations. The principal aim of this study is to determine the academic goals pursued by university students and to analyse the differences in several very significant variables related to motivation and academic learning. Participants were 609 university students (74% women and 26% men) who filled in several questionnaires about the variables under study. We used cluster analysis ('quick cluster analysis' method) to establish the different groups or clusters of individuals as a function of the three types of goals (learning goals, performance goals, and social reinforcement goals). By means of MANOVA, we determined whether the groups or clusters identified were significantly different in the variables that are relevant to motivation and academic learning. Lastly, we performed ANOVA on the variables that revealed significant effects in the previous analysis. Using cluster analysis, three groups of students with different motivational orientations were identified: a group with predominance of performance goals (Group PG: n = 230), a group with predominance of multiple goals (Group MG: n = 238), and a group with predominance of learning goals (Group LG: n = 141). Groups MG and LG attributed their success more to ability, they had higher perceived ability, they took task characteristics into account when planning which strategies to use in the learning process, they showed higher persistence

Goal pursuit, goal adjustment, and affective well-being following lower limb amputation

OpenAIRE

Coffey, Laura; Gallagher, Pamela; Desmond, Deirdre; Ryall, Nicola

2014-01-01

Objectives. This study examined the relationships between tenacious goal pursuit (TGP), flexible goal adjustment (FGA), and affective well-being in a sample of individuals with lower limb amputations. Design. Cross-sectional, quantitative. Methods. Ninety-eight patients recently admitted to a primary prosthetic rehabilitation programme completed measures of TGP, FGA, positive affect, and negative affect. Results. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that TGP and FGA accounted fo...

Making things happen through challenging goals: leader proactivity, trust, and business-unit performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Crossley, Craig D; Cooper, Cecily D; Wernsing, Tara S

2013-05-01

Building on decades of research on the proactivity of individual performers, this study integrates research on goal setting and trust in leadership to examine manager proactivity and business unit sales performance in one of the largest sales organizations in the United States. Results of a moderated-mediation model suggest that proactive senior managers establish more challenging goals for their business units (N = 50), which in turn are associated with higher sales performance. We further found that employees' trust in the manager is a critical contingency variable that facilitates the relationship between challenging sales goals and subsequent sales performance. This research contributes to growing literatures on trust in leadership and proactivity by studying their joint effects at a district-unit level of analysis while identifying district managers' tendency to set challenging goals as a process variable that helps translate their proactivity into the collective performance of their units. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

A covenant of halflings? developing a roadmap for the european urban transport goal

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gudmundsson, Henrik; Schippl, Jens; Anderton, Karen

2015-01-01

; and to phase them out by 2050; and “To achieve ‘essentially CO2- free city logistics’ in major urban centres by 2030.” This paper describes how the EU FP7 project TRANSFORUM conducted a stakeholder-driven process to produce a roadmap for the urban transport goal. A main conclusion was that the implementation......In the 2011 Transport Policy White Paper, the European Commission introduced ten goals for a more competitive and resource efficient transport system. One of the goal concerns urban transport, with the dual targets: “To halve the use of ‘conventionally-fuelled’ cars in urban transport by 2030...... of a roadmap for urban transport needs to adopt a broad and open approach, given the diversity among member states and cities across Europe. Also it was found that replacing conventional vehicles and fuels is an important but not sufficient strategy to reach the goal. A roadmap to reach towards the ‘halving...

Renal Denervation for Chronic Heart Failure: Background and Pathophysiological Rationale.

Science.gov (United States)

Böhm, Michael; Ewen, Sebastian; Mahfoud, Felix

2017-01-01

The activation of the sympathetic nervous system is associated with cardiovascular hospitalizations and death in heart failure. Renal denervation has been shown to effectively reduce sympathetic overdrive in certain patients with uncontrolled hypertension. Pilot trials investigating renal denervation as a potential treatment approach for heart failure were initiated. Heart failure comorbidities like obstructive sleep apnea, metabolic syndrome and arrhythmias could also be targets for renal denervation, because these occurrences are also mediated by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Therefore, renal denervation in heart failure is worthy of further investigation, although its effectiveness still has to be proven. Herein, we describe the pathophysiological rationale and the effect of renal denervation on surrogates of the heart failure syndrome.

Setting goals in psychotherapy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Emiliussen, Jakob; Wagoner, Brady

2013-01-01

The present study is concerned with the ethical dilemmas of setting goals in therapy. The main questions that it aims to answer are: who is to set the goals for therapy and who is to decide when they have been reached? The study is based on four semi-­‐structured, phenomenological interviews...

Program Aplikasi Optimalisasi Perencanaan Produksi Dengan Metode Goal Programming (Kasus Cv. G

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahedi Zahedi

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Indonesia today is still a State agrarian. Thus agriculture in Indonesia always get more attention by the government. Many government programs are rolled out to support the agricultural development of Indonesia, and one of them is the fertilizer subsidy to farmers Indonesia. Fertilizer itself is very useful to nourish the soil and provide vitamins to the plants, thus increasing the amount of production generated. Therefore it is necessary fertilizer for agriculture in Indonesia. CV. G company is one of the companies that produce fertilizer. Fertilizer produced by this company is an organic fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer. Problems faced by these companies are in planning the production of fertilizer produced. Companies want to optimize the amount of production of each fertilizer, maximize revenues, minimize production costs, and simultaneously optimize the working hours of employees. To meet these objectives, this research created program package using goal programming methods. Goal programming method can provide an effective solution / equilibrium toward the goals set, and the calculation will be assisted by using the Simplex method that has been modified. This method is an extension of linear programming, linear programming which can only solve problems with a single goal while the goal programming to solve problems with multiple objectives.

Achievement goals and perfectionism of high school students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milojević Milica

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This research has been investigating one of the most contemporary approaches of achievement motivation - Achievement Goal Theory, which uses the construct of achievement goals. The construct of achievement goals involves three types of achievement goals: mastery goals, performance approach goals and performance avoidance goals. The main goal of the research was to examine correlation between perfectionism and its aspects with particular types of achievement goals. Also, the goal was to investigate the difference concerning gender regarding the achievement goals. The sample consisted of 200 senior year high school participants. The following instruments were used: Multi-dimensional scale of perfectionism (MSP and Test of achievement goals (TCP. The research results indicate that there is significant positive correlation between: perfectionism with performance approach goals and performance avoidance goals, concern over mistakes and parental expectations with performance approach goals and performance avoidance goals, personal standards and organization with mastery goals and performance approach goals, parental criticism and doubts about action with performance avoidance goals. Significant negative correlation was found between parental criticism and mastery goals. The results concerning the second goal indicates the female subjects have higher average scores in mastery goals.

Goals for United States Higher Education: From Democracy to Globalisation

Science.gov (United States)

Hutcheson, Philo

2011-01-01

Although globalisation has been an increasingly important characteristic of United States higher education for over two decades, there has been little historical analysis of the process or its origins. This article argues that beginning in the early 1970s, institutional, national, and international events established a powerful context for the…

GOAL-to-HAL translation study

Science.gov (United States)

Flanders, J. H.; Helmers, C. T.; Stanten, S. F.

1973-01-01

This report deals with the feasibility, problems, solutions, and mapping of a GOAL language to HAL language translator. Ground Operations Aerospace Language, or GOAL, is a test-oriented higher order language developed by the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be used in checkout and launch of the space shuttle. HAL is a structured higher order language developed by the Johnson Space Center to be used in writing the flight software for the onboard shuttle computers. Since the onboard computers will extensively support ground checkout of the space shuttle, and since these computers and the software development facilities on the ground use the HAL language as baseline, the translation of GOAL to HAL becomes significant. The issue of feasibility was examined and it was found that a GOAL to HAL translator is feasible. Special problems are identified and solutions proposed. Finally, examples of translation are provided for each category of complete GOAL statement.

Safety goals for nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischhoff, B.

1984-02-01

The key policy question in managing hazardous technologies is often some variant of How safe is safe enough. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recently broached this topic by adopting safety goals defining acceptable risk levels for nuclear power plants. These goals are analyzed here with a general theory of standard setting (Fischhoff, 1983) which asks: (1) Are standards an appropriate policy tool in this case. (2) Can the Commission's safety philosophy be defended. (3) Do the operational goals capture that philosophy. The anlaysis shows the safety goals proposal to be sophisticated in some respects, incomplete in others. More generally, it points to difficulties with the concept of acceptable risk and any attempt to build policy instruments around it. Although focused on the NRC's safety goals, the present analysis is a prototype of what can be learned by similarly detailed consideration of other standards, not only for nuclear power but also for other hazardous technologies, as well as for issues unrelated to safety

Systemic consultation and goal setting

OpenAIRE

Carr, Alan

1993-01-01

Over two decades of empirical research conducted within a positivist framework has shown that goal setting is a particularly useful method for influencing task performance in occupational and industrial contexts. The conditions under which goal setting is maximally effective are now clearly established. These include situations where there is a high level of acceptance and commitment, where goals are specific and challenging, where the task is relatively simple rather than ...

Alcohol myopia and goal commitment

OpenAIRE

Sevincer, A. Timur; Oettingen, Gabriele

2014-01-01

According to alcohol myopia theory, acute alcohol consumption leads people to disproportionally focus on the salient rather than the peripheral aspects of a situation. We summarize various studies exploring how myopic processes resulting from acute alcohol intake affect goal commitment. After consuming alcohol student participants felt strongly committed to an important personal goal even though they had low expectations of successfully attaining the goal. However, once intoxicated participan...

State Financial Aid: Applying Redesign Principles through State Engagement. Special Report

Science.gov (United States)

Pingel, Sarah

2016-01-01

College is increasingly expensive for students, but states have an important policy tool to help defray the costs: state financial aid programs. However, many states' programs are misaligned with articulated strategic postsecondary education policy goals. Over the past two years, Education Commission of the States has supported a variety of…

APPLICATION OF GOAL SETTING THEORY

OpenAIRE

Yurtkoru, E. Serra; Bozkurt, Tulay; Bekta, Fatos; Ahmed, Mahir Jibril; Kola, Vehap

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to test the goal theorymodel originally developed by Locke and Latham in organizational setting inTurkey, and explain its influence on job satisfaction and affective commitment.Also mediating role of task specific strategy and moderating role ofselfefficacy are examined. Locke and Latham’s goal setting measure is adaptedto Turkish. Survey method is employed to collect data from 222 respondents fromautomotive industry. Goal setting dimensions predicted affective co...

The goal of ape pointing.

Science.gov (United States)

Halina, Marta; Liebal, Katja; Tomasello, Michael

2018-01-01

Captive great apes regularly use pointing gestures in their interactions with humans. However, the precise function of this gesture is unknown. One possibility is that apes use pointing primarily to direct attention (as in "please look at that"); another is that they point mainly as an action request (such as "can you give that to me?"). We investigated these two possibilities here by examining how the looking behavior of recipients affects pointing in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus). Upon pointing to food, subjects were faced with a recipient who either looked at the indicated object (successful-look) or failed to look at the indicated object (failed-look). We predicted that, if apes point primarily to direct attention, subjects would spend more time pointing in the failed-look condition because the goal of their gesture had not been met. Alternatively, we expected that, if apes point primarily to request an object, subjects would not differ in their pointing behavior between the successful-look and failed-look conditions because these conditions differed only in the looking behavior of the recipient. We found that subjects did differ in their pointing behavior across the successful-look and failed-look conditions, but contrary to our prediction subjects spent more time pointing in the successful-look condition. These results suggest that apes are sensitive to the attentional states of gestural recipients, but their adjustments are aimed at multiple goals. We also found a greater number of individuals with a strong right-hand than left-hand preference for pointing.

A Multi-Criteria Goal Programming Model to Analyze the Sustainable Goals of India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Srikant Gupta

2018-03-01

Full Text Available There is an ever-growing demand for sustainable development (SD plans, in order to foster a country’s economic growth by implementing suitable policies and initiative programs for the development of the primary, the secondary and the tertiary sectors. We present a multi-criteria modeling approach using the linear programming problem (LPP framework for a simultaneous optimization of these three sectors. Furthermore, we develop a fuzzy goal programming (FGP model that provides an optimal allocation of resources by achieving future goals on the gross domestic product (GDP, the electricity consumption (EC and the greenhouse gas (GHG emissions. Furthermore, a weighted model of FGP is presented to obtain varying solutions according to the priorities set by the decision-maker for achieving future goals of GDP growth, EC and GHG emissions. The presented models provide useful insight for decision-makers when implementing strategies across different sectors. As a model country, we chose India by the year 2030. A study of economic policies and sustainable development goals (SDGs for India is finally carried out.

Aiming at a Moving Target: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations in the Study of Intraindividual Goal Conflict between Personal Goals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia Gorges

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Multiple-goal pursuit and conflict between personal life-defining goals can be considered part of everyday business in most individuals' lives. Given the potentially detrimental effects of goal conflict—for example, impaired well-being or poor performance—the literature on goal conflict is surprisingly scattered due to heterogeneous methodological approaches and technical terms. Little empirical research has addressed the conceptualization of goal conflict against the background of differing understandings from a structure-like and a process-like perspective. In the present article, we outline theoretical foundations of goal conflict from two perspectives: a structure- and a process-like perspective. Based on a comparative analysis and integration of these two perspectives, we systematically review empirical studies on goal conflict over 30 years of research. In doing so, we identify and discuss important conceptual dimensions of goal conflict, namely, goal conflict as a cognitive construct and an experiential instance, a focus on goal interrelations or on specific goal properties, and resource vs. inherent conflict, and the potential of these distinctions to further research on goal conflict. Finally, we present major challenges and pose questions that need to be addressed by future research.

Aiming at a Moving Target: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations in the Study of Intraindividual Goal Conflict between Personal Goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorges, Julia; Grund, Axel

2017-01-01

Multiple-goal pursuit and conflict between personal life-defining goals can be considered part of everyday business in most individuals' lives. Given the potentially detrimental effects of goal conflict-for example, impaired well-being or poor performance-the literature on goal conflict is surprisingly scattered due to heterogeneous methodological approaches and technical terms. Little empirical research has addressed the conceptualization of goal conflict against the background of differing understandings from a structure-like and a process-like perspective. In the present article, we outline theoretical foundations of goal conflict from two perspectives: a structure- and a process-like perspective. Based on a comparative analysis and integration of these two perspectives, we systematically review empirical studies on goal conflict over 30 years of research. In doing so, we identify and discuss important conceptual dimensions of goal conflict, namely, goal conflict as a cognitive construct and an experiential instance, a focus on goal interrelations or on specific goal properties, and resource vs. inherent conflict, and the potential of these distinctions to further research on goal conflict. Finally, we present major challenges and pose questions that need to be addressed by future research.

The Influence of Money on Goal Pursuit and Decision-Making: Understanding Money's Unique Impact on Goal Pursuit

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, Nora

Previous research suggests that activating concepts of money and wealth can increase motivation to achieve personal goals. In this dissertation, I investigate how money affects pursuit of important personal goals, and how this motivation may be affected by goal attainability. In eight studies, I show that priming concepts of money and wealth leads individuals to pursue important personal goals to a greater degree than control groups, but only when a goal is more attainable. In contrast, when a goal is less attainable, those primed with money will be less likely to work towards goals relative to control groups. Furthermore, I examine why money may have a detrimental effect on motivation when individuals are faced with less attainable but important goals, and argue those primed with money become more concerned with maintaining a sense of efficacy, and thus disengage from pursuit when success is less certain. Thus, this research identifies the needs made salient by activating money--validating one's abilities. Finally, I show the relevance of these findings for consumer behavior, and discuss the additional implications of this work, as well as future research directions.

Key Questions for Achieving EU Emission Reductions without Abandoning Other Energy Goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stang, G.

2014-01-01

What considerations must be addressed to ensure that efforts to achieve the EU's new 2030 emissions and renewables targets are compatible with the other energy goals of the EU and its member states: energy security, and energy affordability? How should these other energy goals be addressed when pursuing energy efficiency improvements, upgrading electricity systems to handle different renewable energy sources, and developing policies to reduce overall CO2 emissions? Markets have been defined as being central to achieving all of Europe's energy goals - both the creation of an EU internal energy market and the use of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) to allow a market for managing a portion of the continent's greenhouse gas emissions. But once these markets are in place and operational, there will still be great variances among the goals, instruments, and level of market integration available for the different countries and regions of Europe. Choosing the most cost effective mechanisms for pursuing the new goals will require effective use of the flexibility that is available - an improved ETS, tradable national targets for non-ETS emissions, and a rapidly widening array of cost-effective renewable energy options. Sufficient use of this flexibility should facilitate the flow of energy investments toward energy system improvements where there is low-hanging fruit - anywhere in the continent - without requiring that local or continental energy security goals be sacrificed. (author).

Patient-relevant treatment goals in psoriasis.

Science.gov (United States)

Blome, Christine; Gosau, Ramona; Radtke, Marc A; Reich, Kristian; Rustenbach, Stephan J; Spehr, Christina; Thaçi, Diamant; Augustin, Matthias

2016-03-01

Patient-oriented care requires therapeutic decisions to agree with the patients' treatment needs and goals. This study addressed the following questions: What is important to psoriasis patients starting systemic treatment? How stable are these preferences within the first year of treatment? Are treatment goals associated with age, gender, or treatment success? The importance of treatment goals was assessed for patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis in the German Psoriasis Registry (PsoBest) at baseline (onset of a systemic treatment; n = 3066) and at a 1-year follow-up (n = 1444) using the Patient Benefit Index (PBI). Treatment success was measured with PBI global score and Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI). Patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis pursued a wide range of different goals. The most general treatment goals were rated most relevant, including skin healing and quick skin improvement (94.8/94.5 % "quite" or "very" important), confidence in the therapy (93.0 %), control over the disease (92.3 %), and a clear diagnosis and therapy (89.6 %). Further important goals related to not being in fear of the disease getting worse (84.8 %), reduction in itching (83.9 %), burning (70.6 %), and pain (60.6 %) as well as attaining a normal everyday life (78.4 %) and low treatment burden (64.2-77.9 %). Goals were mostly not associated with sex and gender. Goal importance slightly increased with treatment success. In a substantial proportion of patients (30.3-54.7 %) goal importance changed within 1 year after onset of systemic treatment. We conclude that treatment goal importance should be assessed in clinical practice on a regular basis.

Tougher containment design goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Farrelly, C.

1978-01-01

Present day LWR containment design goals are reviewed, together with their potential failure modes. Rasmussen's estimates of failure probabilities are discussed and the concept of ''delayed failure'' is seen to be a valuable safety goal for hypothetical accidents. The paper investigates the inherent coremelt resistance capability of various containment designs and suggests improvements, with special emphasis on increasing the failure delay times. (author)

Psilocybin biases facial recognition, goal-directed behavior, and mood state toward positive relative to negative emotions through different serotonergic subreceptors.

Science.gov (United States)

Kometer, Michael; Schmidt, André; Bachmann, Rosilla; Studerus, Erich; Seifritz, Erich; Vollenweider, Franz X

2012-12-01

Serotonin (5-HT) 1A and 2A receptors have been associated with dysfunctional emotional processing biases in mood disorders. These receptors further predominantly mediate the subjective and behavioral effects of psilocybin and might be important for its recently suggested antidepressive effects. However, the effect of psilocybin on emotional processing biases and the specific contribution of 5-HT2A receptors across different emotional domains is unknown. In a randomized, double-blind study, 17 healthy human subjects received on 4 separate days placebo, psilocybin (215 μg/kg), the preferential 5-HT2A antagonist ketanserin (50 mg), or psilocybin plus ketanserin. Mood states were assessed by self-report ratings, and behavioral and event-related potential measurements were used to quantify facial emotional recognition and goal-directed behavior toward emotional cues. Psilocybin enhanced positive mood and attenuated recognition of negative facial expression. Furthermore, psilocybin increased goal-directed behavior toward positive compared with negative cues, facilitated positive but inhibited negative sequential emotional effects, and valence-dependently attenuated the P300 component. Ketanserin alone had no effects but blocked the psilocybin-induced mood enhancement and decreased recognition of negative facial expression. This study shows that psilocybin shifts the emotional bias across various psychological domains and that activation of 5-HT2A receptors is central in mood regulation and emotional face recognition in healthy subjects. These findings may not only have implications for the pathophysiology of dysfunctional emotional biases but may also provide a framework to delineate the mechanisms underlying psylocybin's putative antidepressant effects. Copyright © 2012 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A doctor in the house: rationale for providing on-site urological consultation to geriatric patients in nursing health care facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Richard A; Suchak, Nihirika; Steel, Knight

2010-08-01

To establish a rationale for providing on-site urological care on a regular basis in the nursing health care center setting and to share "lessons learned," which we have garnered in providing that care over a 5-year experience. We have reviewed and assessed our experiences in providing urological outreach to nursing health care center patients. Our outreach program has been well received both by patients and by health care center personnel. Over this time, we have capitalized on many advantages that this initiative offers, and we have gained, through this experience, several "lessons learned," not only regarding what to do, but also what to avoid. Advantages to on-site urological care include: (1) timely, targeted clinical intervention; (2) significant disease prevention; (3) expedition of treatment; (4) health care provider education; and (5) rich opportunities for clinical investigation. In addition, the on-site urologist can provide the health care center with helpful advice and validation in meeting federal and state health care requirements. Unfortunately, to date, remuneration for such programs has been discouraging. Federal and state regulations continue to impede innovative change. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Relation Between Goals and Autobiographical Memory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johannessen, Kim Berg; Rasmussen, Anne Scharling; Berntsen, Dorthe

facilitate recall of goal congruent autobiographical memories which supports the idea of autobiographical memory facilitating goal attainment. Further, no differences between involuntary and voluntary memories with regard to frequency or characteristics of goal related content were found. Yet memories...... related to goals were rated as more central to the person's identity, life story and expectations for the future than non-goal related memories, irrespective of mode of recall. Interestingly, depression and PTSD symptoms correlated positively with the proportion of goal related memories, thereby......The present study examines involuntary (spontaneously retrieved) versus voluntary (deliberately retrieved) autobiographical memories in relation to earlier registered goals measured by the Personal Concern Inventory (Cox & Klinger, 2000). We found that the important and not yet planned goals...

Examining the Impact of a Highly Targeted State Administered Merit Aid Program on Brain Drain: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Analysis of Missouri's Bright Flight Program

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, James R.; Muñoz, José; Curs, Bradley R.; Ehlert, Mark

2016-01-01

The adoption of state-funded merit-based aid programs has become increasingly popular among policy-makers, particularly in the southeastern part of the United States. One of the primary rationales of state-funded merit-based aid is to provide scholarships to the best and brightest students as a means to retain high quality human capital in the…

[Transition from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals from the perspective of the social determinants of health and health equity].

Science.gov (United States)

Urbina-Fuentes, Manue; Jasso-Gutiérrez, Luis; Schiavon-Ermani, Raffaela; Lozano, Rafael; Finkelman, Jacobo

2017-01-01

The United Nations Declaration of 2000 agreed on eight millennium development goals (MDGs) to be met in 2015. The results show that poverty continues through population growth and advances in both rich and poor countries are threatened by economic crises and inequities in geographic areas and population groups within countries. In a globalized world with great social and economic inequalities, from the perspective of the social determinants of health (SDH), the relevance of the new 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) is greater. Faced with the health challenges in our country to achieve SDGs, the symposium "The transition from MDGs to SDGs from the perspective of SDH and health equity" was presented at the XLIV Congress of the National Academy of Medicine. The presentations dealt with five important aspects of the transition in Mexico: background and context; the current state of the MDGs in childhood; the impact on gender equity and adolescent fertility; the health system and the theme of environmental health and were presented by Dr. Raffaela Schiavon, Jacobo Finkelman, Luis Jasso and Rafael Lozano.

Pleural manometry-historical background, rationale for use and methods of measurement.

Science.gov (United States)

Zielinska-Krawczyk, Monika; Krenke, Rafal; Grabczak, Elzbieta M; Light, Richard W

2018-03-01

Subatmospheric pleural pressure (Ppl), which is approximately -3 to -5 cmH 2 O at functional residual capacity (FRC) makes pleura a unique organ in the human body. The negative Ppl is critical for maintaining the lungs in a properly inflated state and for proper blood circulation within the thorax. Significant and sudden pleural pressure changes associated with major pleural pathologies, as well as therapeutic interventions may be associated with life-threatening complications. The pleural pressure may show two different values depending on the measurement method applied. These are called pleural liquid pressure and pleural surface pressure. It should also be realized that there are significant differences in pleural pressure distribution in pneumothorax and pleural effusion. In pneumothorax, the pressure is the same throughout the pleural space, while in pleural effusion there is a vertical gradient of approximately 1 cm H 2 O/cm in the pleural pressure associated with the hydrostatic pressure of the fluid column. Currently, two main methods of pleural pressure measurement are used: simple water manometers and electronic systems. The water manometers are conceptually simple, cheap and user-friendly but they only allow the estimation of the mean values of pleural pressure. The electronic systems for pleural pressure measurement are based on pressure transducers. Their major advantages include precise measurements of instantaneous pleural pressure and the ability to display and to store a large amount of data. The paper presents principles and details of pleural pressure measurement as well as the rationale for its use. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The goal(s) of corporate rescue in company law: A comparative analysis

OpenAIRE

Anthony O. Nwafor

2017-01-01

The concept of corporate rescue lays emphasis on corporate sustainability than liquidation. This trend in corporate legislation which featured in the United Kingdom Insolvency Act of 1986, Australian Corporations Act 2001, Indian Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act of 1985 (as replaced by Companies Act, 2013 and supplanted by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016) has been adopted in the South African Companies Act of 2008. The goal(s) of corporate rescue in some of these ju...

Renal Denervation for Chronic Heart Failure: Background and Pathophysiological Rationale

Science.gov (United States)

Ewen, Sebastian; Mahfoud, Felix

2017-01-01

The activation of the sympathetic nervous system is associated with cardiovascular hospitalizations and death in heart failure. Renal denervation has been shown to effectively reduce sympathetic overdrive in certain patients with uncontrolled hypertension. Pilot trials investigating renal denervation as a potential treatment approach for heart failure were initiated. Heart failure comorbidities like obstructive sleep apnea, metabolic syndrome and arrhythmias could also be targets for renal denervation, because these occurrences are also mediated by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Therefore, renal denervation in heart failure is worthy of further investigation, although its effectiveness still has to be proven. Herein, we describe the pathophysiological rationale and the effect of renal denervation on surrogates of the heart failure syndrome. PMID:28154583

The impact of meeting donor management goals on the number of organs transplanted per donor: results from the United Network for Organ Sharing Region 5 prospective donor management goals study.

Science.gov (United States)

Malinoski, Darren J; Patel, Madhukar S; Daly, Michael C; Oley-Graybill, Chrystal; Salim, Ali

2012-10-01

Many organ procurement organizations have implemented critical care end points as donor management goals in efforts to increase organs transplanted per donor after neurologic determination of death. Although retrospective studies have demonstrated an association between meeting donor management goals and organ yield, prospective studies are lacking. In June 2008, nine donor management goals were prospectively implemented as a checklist and every donor after neurologic determination of death was managed to meet them. The donor management goals represented normal cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal, and endocrine end points. Data were collected for 7 months. Donor management goals "met" was defined a priori as achieving any seven of the nine donor management goals, and this was recorded at the time of consent, 12-18 hrs later, and prior to organ recovery. The primary outcome measure was ≥4 organs transplanted per donor, and binary logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors of this outcome with a porgan procurement organizations in the five Southwestern United States (United Network for Organ Sharing Region 5). All standard criteria donors after neurologic determination of deaths. Prospective implementation of a donor management goal checklist. There were 380 standard criteria donors with 3.6±1.7 organs transplanted per donor. Fifteen percent had donor management goals met at the time of consent, 33% at 12-18 hrs, and 38% prior to organ recovery. Forty-eight percent had ≥4 organs transplanted per donor. Donors with ≥4 organs transplanted per donor had significantly more individual donor management goals met at all three time points. Independent predictors of ≥4 organs transplanted per donor were age (odds ratio=0.95 per year), final creatinine (odds ratio=0.75 per 1-unit increase), donor management goals "met" at consent (odds ratio=2.03), donor management goals "met" prior to organ recovery (odds ratio=2.34), and a change in the number of

N reactor individual risk comparison to quantitative nuclear safety goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, O.S.; Rainey, T.E.; Zentner, M.D.

1990-01-01

A full-scope level III probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) has been completed for N reactor, a US Department of Energy (DOE) production reactor located on the Hanford Reservation in the state of Washington. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) provided the technical leadership for this work, using the state-of-the-art NUREG-1150 methodology developed for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The main objectives of this effort were to assess the risks to the public and to the on-site workers posed by the operation of N reactor, to identify changes to the plant that could reduce the overall risk, and to compare those risks to the proposed NRC and DOE quantitative safety goals. This paper presents the methodology adopted by Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) and SNL for individual health risk evaluation, its results, and a comparison to the NRC safety objectives and the DOE nuclear safety guidelines. The N reactor results, are also compared with the five NUREG-1150 nuclear plants. Only internal events are compared here because external events are not yet reported in the current draft NUREG-1150. This is the first full-scope level III PRA study with a detailed quantitative safety goal comparison performed for DOE production reactors

Peace Education in Israel: An Educational Goal in the Test of Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Vered, Soli

2015-01-01

Peace education is considered a necessary element in establishing the social conditions required for promoting peace-making between rival parties. As such, it constitutes one of Israel's state education goals, and would therefore be expected to have a significant place in Israel's educational policy in general and in response to peace moves that…

Application of probabilistic safety goals to regulation of nuclear power plants in Canada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rzentkowski, G.; Akl, Y.; Yalaoui, S. [Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)

2013-07-01

In the Canadian nuclear regulatory framework, Safety Goals are formulated in addition to the deterministic design requirements and the dose acceptance criteria so that risk to the public that originates from accidents outside the design basis is considered. In principle, application of the Safety Goals ensures that the likelihood of accidents with serious radiological consequences is extremely low, and the potential radiological consequences from severe accidents are limited as far as practicable. Effectively, the Safety Goals extend the plant design envelope to include not only the capabilities of the plant to successfully cope with various plant states, but also practical measures to halt the progression of severe accidents. This paper describes the general approach to the development of the Safety Goals and their application to the existing nuclear power plants in Canada. This general approach is consistent with the currently accepted international practice and Canadian regulatory experience. The results of probabilistic safety assessments indicate that the Safety Goals meet or exceed international safety objectives due to effective implementation of the defence-in-depth principle in the reactor design and plant operation. At the same time, the application of the Safety Goals reveal that practicable measures exist to further enhance the overall level of reactor safety by focusing on severe accident prevention and mitigation. These measures are being currently implemented through refurbishment projects and feedback on operating experience. (author)

Does Context, Practice or Competition Affect Female Athletes’ Achievement Goal Dominance, Goal Pursuit, Burnout and Motivation?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernández-Rio Javier

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The goal of this study was to assess the effects of two different achievement sport contexts, practice and competition, on the motivational profile of professional/semi-professional athletes. Forty-eight Spanish national/international-level female athletes (basketball = 18; handball = 12; soccer = 11; volleyball = 7, mean age 25.14 ± 3.43 years, agreed to participate in the study. They completed a questionnaire, prior and after training and competition, to assess achievement goals, achievement goal dominance, goal pursuit, motivational climate, motivation, burnout and perceived recovery-exertion. Data analyses revealed that, both in practice and competition, these team-sport athletes overwhelmingly showed a strong mastery-approach achievement goal in dominance as well as in pursuit. A significant finding was that this group of national/international-level, professional/semi-professional athletes not only adopted a mastery-approach achievement goal, but they also actively pursued it. It is also remarkable that this profile remained stable at post-tests, even after a painful defeat in competition, which produced a significant negative effect on the athletes’ burnout (emotional and physical exhaustion and devaluation of sport participation and self-determined motivation. As expected, the difference between total recovery and perceived exertion significantly increased after practice and competition. National/international-level team-sport professional/semi-professional female athletes held and pursue stable mastery-approach goal dominance.

Being in two minds: the neural basis of experiencing action crises in personal long-term goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrmann, Marcel; Baur, Volker; Brandstätter, Veronika; Hänggi, Jürgen; Jäncke, Lutz

2014-01-01

Although the successful pursuit of long-term goals constitutes an essential prerequisite to personal development, health, and well-being, little research has been devoted to the understanding of its underlying neural processes. A critical phase in the pursuit of long-term goals is defined as an action crisis, conceptualized as the intra-psychic conflict between further goal pursuit and disengagement from the goal. In the present research, we applied an interdisciplinary (cognitive and neural) approach to the analysis of processes underlying the experience of an action crisis. In Study 1, a longitudinal field study, action crises in personal goals gave rise to an increased and unbiased (re)evaluation of the costs and benefits (i.e., rewards) of the goal. Study 2 was a magnetic resonance imaging study examining resting-state functional connectivity. The extent of experienced action crises was associated with enhanced fronto-accumbal connectivity signifying increased reward-related impact on prefrontal action control. Action crises, furthermore, mediated the relationship between a dispositional measure of effective goal pursuit (action orientation) and fronto-accumbal connectivity. The converging and complementary results from two methodologically different approaches advance the understanding of the neurobiology of personal long-term goals, especially with respect to the role of rewards in the context of goal-related conflicts.

Cookery demonstrations in GOAL supported clinics

African Journals Online (AJOL)

stunting are high, and various micronutrient deficiencies, including those of ... the household are the underlying causes seen in GOAL- assisted areas. ... feeding. Thus, the nutrition cookery demonstration activity has come to play an important role in mother and child health activities in GOAL-supported clinics and GOAL's.

GOAL Agents Instantiate Intention Logic

OpenAIRE

Hindriks, Koen; van der Hoek, Wiebe

2008-01-01

It is commonly believed there is a big gap between agent logics and computational agent frameworks. In this paper, we show that this gap is not as big as believed by showing that GOAL agents instantiate Intention Logic of Cohen and Levesque. That is, we show that GOAL agent programs can be formally related to Intention Logic.We do so by proving that the GOAL Verification Logic can be embedded into Intention Logic. It follows that (a fragment of) Intention Logic can be used t...

Neuronal activity in primate prefrontal cortex related to goal-directed behavior during auditory working memory tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Ying; Brosch, Michael

2016-06-01

Prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been documented to play critical roles in goal-directed behaviors, like representing goal-relevant events and working memory (WM). However, neurophysiological evidence for such roles of PFC has been obtained mainly with visual tasks but rarely with auditory tasks. In the present study, we tested roles of PFC in auditory goal-directed behaviors by recording local field potentials in the auditory region of left ventrolateral PFC while a monkey performed auditory WM tasks. The tasks consisted of multiple events and required the monkey to change its mental states to achieve the reward. The events were auditory and visual stimuli, as well as specific actions. Mental states were engaging in the tasks and holding task-relevant information in auditory WM. We found that, although based on recordings from one hemisphere in one monkey only, PFC represented multiple events that were important for achieving reward, including auditory and visual stimuli like turning on and off an LED, as well as bar touch. The responses to auditory events depended on the tasks and on the context of the tasks. This provides support for the idea that neuronal representations in PFC are flexible and can be related to the behavioral meaning of stimuli. We also found that engaging in the tasks and holding information in auditory WM were associated with persistent changes of slow potentials, both of which are essential for auditory goal-directed behaviors. Our study, on a single hemisphere in a single monkey, reveals roles of PFC in auditory goal-directed behaviors similar to those in visual goal-directed behaviors, suggesting that functions of PFC in goal-directed behaviors are probably common across the auditory and visual modality. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Auditory working memory. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Identity, Intimacy, Status and Sex Dating Goals as Correlates of Goal-Consistent Behavior and Satisfaction in Australian Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Marguerite; Zimmer-Gembeck, Melanie J.; Boislard-P., Marie-Aude

2012-01-01

The most common dating goals of adolescents are identity, intimacy, status and sex. In this study of Australian youth (16-30 years, N = 208), dating goals were expected to explain goal-consistent behavior in each domain. Also, goals coupled with consistent behavior were expected to be associated with greater satisfaction in each domain. Age,…

Integrated learning through student goal development.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Deborah; Tschannen, Dana; Caylor, Shandra

2013-09-01

New strategies are emerging to promote structure and increase learning in the clinical setting. Nursing faculty designed a mechanism by which integrative learning and situated coaching could occur more readily in the clinical setting. The Clinical Goals Initiative was implemented for sophomore-, junior-, and senior-level students in their clinical practicums. Students developed weekly goals reflecting three domains of professional nursing practice. Goals were shared with faculty and staff nurse mentors at the beginning of the clinical day to help guide students and mentors with planning for learning experiences. After 6 weeks, faculty and students were surveyed to evaluate project effectiveness. Faculty indicated that goal development facilitated clinical learning by providing more student engagement, direction, and focus. Students reported that goal development allowed them to optimize clinical learning opportunities and track their growth and progress. Faculty and students indicated the goals promoted student self-learning, autonomy, and student communication with nurse mentors and faculty. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

Ready for goal setting? Process evaluation of a patient-specific goal-setting method in physiotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Anita; Köke, Albère; van der Weijden, Trudy; Beurskens, Anna

2017-08-31

Patient participation and goal setting appear to be difficult in daily physiotherapy practice, and practical methods are lacking. An existing patient-specific instrument, Patient-Specific Complaints (PSC), was therefore optimized into a new Patient Specific Goal-setting method (PSG). The aims of this study were to examine the feasibility of the PSG in daily physiotherapy practice, and to explore the potential impact of the new method. We conducted a process evaluation within a non-controlled intervention study. Community-based physiotherapists were instructed on how to work with the PSG in three group training sessions. The PSG is a six-step method embedded across the physiotherapy process, in which patients are stimulated to participate in the goal-setting process by: identifying problematic activities, prioritizing them, scoring their abilities, setting goals, planning and evaluating. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected among patients and physiotherapists by recording consultations and assessing patient files, questionnaires and written reflection reports. Data were collected from 51 physiotherapists and 218 patients, and 38 recordings and 219 patient files were analysed. The PSG steps were performed as intended, but the 'setting goals' and 'planning treatment' steps were not performed in detail. The patients and physiotherapists were positive about the method, and the physiotherapists perceived increased patient participation. They became aware of the importance of engaging patients in a dialogue, instead of focusing on gathering information. The lack of integration in the electronic patient system was a major barrier for optimal use in practice. Although the self-reported actual use of the PSG, i.e. informing and involving patients, and client-centred competences had improved, this was not completely confirmed by the objectively observed behaviour. The PSG is a feasible method and tends to have impact on increasing patient participation in the goal

Safety goals for commercial nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roe, J.W.

1988-01-01

In its official policy statement on safety goals for the operation of nuclear power plants, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) set two qualitative goals, supported by two quantitative objectives. These goals are that (1) individual members of the public should be provided a level of protection from the consequences of nuclear power plant operation such that individuals bear no significant additional risk to life and health; and (2) societal risks to life and health from nuclear power plant operation should be comparable to or less than the risks of generating electricity by viable competing technologies and should not be a significant addition to other societal risks. As an alternative, this study proposes four quantitative safety goals for nuclear power plants. It begins with an analysis of the NRC's safety-goal development process, a key portion of which was devoted to delineating criteria for evaluating goal-development methods. Based on this analysis, recommendations for revision of the NRC's basic benchmarks for goal development are proposed. Using the revised criteria, NRC safety goals are evaluated, and the alternative safety goals are proposed. To further support these recommendations, both the NRC's goals and the proposed goals are compared with the results of three major probabilistic risk assessment studies. Finally, the potential impact of these recommendations on nuclear safety is described

Illegitimacy Improves Goal Pursuit in Powerless Individuals

OpenAIRE

Willis , Guillermo B.; Guinote , Ana; Rodríguez-Bailón , Rosa

2009-01-01

Abstract The effects of power legitimacy on self-regulation during goal pursuit were examined. Study 1 focused on goal-setting and goal-striving. Specifically, it examined how much time legitimate and illegitimate powerless individuals needed to set goals, and how many means they generated to pursue these goals. Study 2 examined persistence in the face of difficulties. Consistently across these studies illegitimacy improved self-regulation in powerless individuals. Illegitimate pow...

The analysis and rationale behind the upgrading of existing standard definition thermal imagers to high definition

Science.gov (United States)

Goss, Tristan M.

2016-05-01

With 640x512 pixel format IR detector arrays having been on the market for the past decade, Standard Definition (SD) thermal imaging sensors have been developed and deployed across the world. Now with 1280x1024 pixel format IR detector arrays becoming readily available designers of thermal imager systems face new challenges as pixel sizes reduce and the demand and applications for High Definition (HD) thermal imaging sensors increases. In many instances the upgrading of existing under-sampled SD thermal imaging sensors into more optimally sampled or oversampled HD thermal imaging sensors provides a more cost effective and reduced time to market option than to design and develop a completely new sensor. This paper presents the analysis and rationale behind the selection of the best suited HD pixel format MWIR detector for the upgrade of an existing SD thermal imaging sensor to a higher performing HD thermal imaging sensor. Several commercially available and "soon to be" commercially available HD small pixel IR detector options are included as part of the analysis and are considered for this upgrade. The impact the proposed detectors have on the sensor's overall sensitivity, noise and resolution is analyzed, and the improved range performance is predicted. Furthermore with reduced dark currents due to the smaller pixel sizes, the candidate HD MWIR detectors are operated at higher temperatures when compared to their SD predecessors. Therefore, as an additional constraint and as a design goal, the feasibility of achieving upgraded performance without any increase in the size, weight and power consumption of the thermal imager is discussed herein.

PET/CT-guided interventional procedures: rationale, justification, initial study, and research plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wong, K.; Rahill, J.; Cleary, K. [Computer Aided Interventions and Medical Robotics (CAIMR), Imaging Science and Information Systems (ISIS) Center, Georgetown Univ. Medical Center, Washington, DC (United States); Petrillo, S.; Earl-Graef, D. [Dept. of Radiology, Georgetown Univ. Hospital, MedStar Health, Washington, DC (United States); Banovac, F.; Levy, E. [Computer Aided Interventions and Medical Robotics (CAIMR), Imaging Science and Information Systems (ISIS) Center, Georgetown Univ. Medical Center, Washington, DC (United States); Dept. of Radiology, Georgetown Univ. Hospital, MedStar Health, Washington, DC (United States); Shekhar, R. [Dept. of Radiology, Univ. of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD (United States)

2007-06-15

Positron-emission tomography (PET) and PET/CT (computed tomography) are becoming increasingly important for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Clinically relevant changes can sometimes be seen on PET that are not seen on other imaging modalities. However, PET is not suitable for guiding biopsy as the images are not obtained in real-time. Therefore, our research group has begun developing a concept for PET/CT-guided interventional procedures. This paper presents the rationale for this concept, outlines our research plan, and includes an initial study to evaluate the relative sensitivity of CT and PET/CT in detecting suspicious lesions. (orig.)

Goal-Function Tree Modeling for Systems Engineering and Fault Management

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Stephen B.; Breckenridge, Jonathan T.

2013-01-01

The draft NASA Fault Management (FM) Handbook (2012) states that Fault Management (FM) is a "part of systems engineering", and that it "demands a system-level perspective" (NASAHDBK- 1002, 7). What, exactly, is the relationship between systems engineering and FM? To NASA, systems engineering (SE) is "the art and science of developing an operable system capable of meeting requirements within often opposed constraints" (NASA/SP-2007-6105, 3). Systems engineering starts with the elucidation and development of requirements, which set the goals that the system is to achieve. To achieve these goals, the systems engineer typically defines functions, and the functions in turn are the basis for design trades to determine the best means to perform the functions. System Health Management (SHM), by contrast, defines "the capabilities of a system that preserve the system's ability to function as intended" (Johnson et al., 2011, 3). Fault Management, in turn, is the operational subset of SHM, which detects current or future failures, and takes operational measures to prevent or respond to these failures. Failure, in turn, is the "unacceptable performance of intended function." (Johnson 2011, 605) Thus the relationship of SE to FM is that SE defines the functions and the design to perform those functions to meet system goals and requirements, while FM detects the inability to perform those functions and takes action. SHM and FM are in essence "the dark side" of SE. For every function to be performed (SE), there is the possibility that it is not successfully performed (SHM); FM defines the means to operationally detect and respond to this lack of success. We can also describe this in terms of goals: for every goal to be achieved, there is the possibility that it is not achieved; FM defines the means to operationally detect and respond to this inability to achieve the goal. This brief description of relationships between SE, SHM, and FM provide hints to a modeling approach to

Shaped Goals: Teaching Undergraduates the Effects of Social Stratification on the Formulation of Goals

Science.gov (United States)

Touzard, Giselle

2009-01-01

This article describes an in-class activity that helps undergraduate students to understand the effects of their socio-economic position on the formulation, pursuit, and achievement of goals. Social stratification and inequality have an initial impact on the formulation of goals. Through this exercise students will perceive the effects of having a…

Danish pain specialists' rationales behind the choice of fentanyl transdermal patches and oral transmucosal systems-A Delphi study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Ramune; Møldrup, Claus; Christrup, Lona

2009-01-01

survey. Response rates were 45% in the brainstorming and 88% in the rating phases, respectively. Statistical analysis with SPSS for Windows 15.00 included descriptive statistics and factor analysis. Results. The most important rationale to choose fentanyl patches was that patients' clinical condition did...

10 CFR 420.13 - Annual State applications and amendments to State plans.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Annual State applications and amendments to State plans. 420.13 Section 420.13 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION STATE ENERGY PROGRAM Formula..., renewable energy, and alternative transportation fuel goals to be achieved, including wherever practicable...

Motivational Function of Plans and Goals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabina Alispahić

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The academic literature shows that by helping tune out distractions, goals can get individuals' to try harder, work longer, and achieve more. Goals that people set for themselves and that are devoted to attaining mastery are usually healthy. But goals imposed by others—sales targets, quarterly returns, standardized test scores—can sometimes have dangerous side effects (Pink, 2009. Because understanding action demands understanding intention, the idea of motivation is natural and readily expressed in everyday language. Cognitive mental events like goals and expectancies can function as a “spring to action”, a moving force that energizes and directs action in purposive ways (Reeve, 2005. Cognitive studies of motivation are dealing with relationship between cognition and action. Literature is indicating a few cognitive elements that can have motivational significance. The article presents the overview of theory and research about the motivational function of plans and goals, according to Goal setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990 and Self-determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000. Suggestions for additional research are also indicated.

Predicting Academic Self-Handicapping in Different Age Groups: The Role of Personal Achievement Goals and Social Goals

Science.gov (United States)

Leondari, Angeliki; Gonida, Eleftheria

2007-01-01

Background: Academic self-handicapping refers to the use of impediments to successful performance on academic tasks. Previous studies have shown that it is related to personal achievement goals. A performance goal orientation is a positive predictor of self-handicapping, whereas a task goal orientation is unrelated to self-handicapping. Aims: The…

Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors combined with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors in the management of type 2 diabetes: a review of current clinical evidence and rationale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yassin SA

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Sayf A Yassin,1 Vanita R Aroda2 1MedStar Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, 2MedStar Health Research Institute, Hyattsville, MD, USA Abstract: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM is a progressive and multifactorial cardiometabolic disorder. Almost half of adults with diabetes fail to achieve their recommended glucose control target. This has prompted some clinicians to advocate the use of more intensive initial therapy, including the use of combination therapy to target multiple physiologic defects in diabetes with the goal of achieving and sustaining glucose control. Numerous options exist for combining the various classes of glucose-lowering agents in the treatment of T2DM. This report reviews the mechanism, rationale, and evidence from clinical trials for combining two of the newer drug classes, namely, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, and considers the possible role of such dual therapy in the management of T2DM. Keywords: sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, type 2 diabetes mellitus, combination therapy

The Relationship between Future Goals and Achievement Goal Orientations: An Intrinsic-Extrinsic Motivation Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jie Qi; McInerney, Dennis M.; Liem, Gregory Arief D.; Ortiga, Yasmin P.

2010-01-01

This research aimed to study the relationships between students' future goals (FGs) and their immediate achievement goal orientations (AGOs) among 5733 Singaporean secondary school students (M age = 14.18, SD = 1.26; 53% boys). To this end, we hypothesized that the relationships between like valenced FGs and AGOs (both intrinsic or both extrinsic)…

Why people stereotype affects how they stereotype: the differential influence of comprehension goals and self-enhancement goals on stereotyping.

Science.gov (United States)

van den Bos, Arne; Stapel, Diederik A

2009-01-01

In four studies, the authors examined the hypothesis that the way people stereotype is determined by the motives that instigate it. Study 1 measured and demonstrated the effectiveness of a commonly used priming technique to manipulate comprehension and self-enhancement goals. Study 2 demonstrated that why people stereotype determines how they stereotype: When a comprehension goal was salient, positive as well as negative stereotypes were applied, whereas a salient self-enhancement goal led to the application of negative but not positive stereotypes. Study 3 replicated these effects with different stereotypes. Study 4 replicated these effects and gave more insight in the consequences of goal fulfillment on stereotyping. Results indicated the fulfillment of a salient self-enhancement or comprehension goal led to the reduction of stereotyping. These effects were goal specific: Fulfillment of a self-enhancement goal decreased enhancement-driven but not comprehension-driven stereotyping; fulfillment of a comprehension goal decreased comprehension-driven but not enhancement-driven stereotyping.

Multiple daily fractionation in radiotherapy: biological rationale and preliminary clinical experiences

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arcangeli, G [Instituto Medico Scientifico, Rome (Italy). Dept. of Oncology; Mauro, F; Morelli, D; Nervi, C

1979-09-01

The biological bases of radiation dose fractionation are reviewed and discussed with special emphasis on reassortment. Experimental data on animal model systems are presented to clarify that reassortment has to be added to sublethal damage repair and reoxygenation in the rationale for an optimized radiotherapy course according to tumor cell kinetics. Clinical results on several human tumors treated with twice or thrice daily fractions are described. These results show that some clinically radioresistant tumors (especially if not characterized by a relatively long clinical doubling line) can be satisfactorily dealt with using multiple daily fractionation. Clinical observations indicate that a relatively high cumulative daily dose (200 + 150 + 150 rad) can be safely administered.

How the IAEA contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaspar, Miklos; Jawerth, Nicole

2016-01-01

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a range of objectives agreed on by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. They aim at stimulating action over the next 15 years in areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet. They balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental. The IAEA makes peaceful nuclear technology available to its Member States in many fields including energy, human health, food production, water management and environmental protection — all important areas recognized under the SDGs

Goals and Personality in Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Sanz de Acedo Lizarraga, M. L.; Ugarte, M. D.; Lumbreras, M. Victoria; Sanz de Acedo Baquedano, M. T.

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of personality factors in the value allotted by adolescents to various groups of goals. For this purpose, the "Cuestionario de Personalidad Situacional, CPS" (Situational Personality Questionnaire) and the "Cuestionario de Metas para Adolescentes, CMA" (Goals for…

Safety goals for future nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Todreas, Neil E.

2001-01-01

This talk presents technology goals developed for Generation IV nuclear energy systems that can be made available to the market by 2030 or earlier. These goals are defined in the broad areas of sustainability, safety and reliability, and economics. Sustainability goals focus on fuel utilization, waste management, and proliferation resistance. Safety and reliability goals focus on safe and reliable operation, investment protection, and essentially eliminating the need for emergency response. Economics goals focus on competitive life cycle and energy production costs and financial risk. Future reactors fall in three categories - those which are: Certified or derivatives; Designed to a reasonable extent and based on available technology; In conceptual form only with potential to most fully satisfy the GENIV goals

New Goals of Sustainable Future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arkady Ursul

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This article investigates the process of transition from the Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs. The authors have set an objective to demonstrate that SD as a future form of development of civilization from the very beginning had a “target orientation” and from the beginning and anticipated realization and staging of the whole hierarchy of objectives needed for the establishment of an effective global governance. In the future, global development in its “anthropogenic” aspect will be to implement the goals and principles of SD, which will be updated with each new stage of the implementation of this kind of socio-natural evolution. The paper argues the position that the concept of SD should be radically transformed into a “global dimension.” Attention is drawn to the fact that Russia recognized another distant, but very important in the conceptual and theoretical perspective, global goal of “sustainable transition” — formation of the noosphere.

Evaluating web-based cognitive-affective remediation in recent trauma survivors: study rationale and protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Fine, Naomi B; Achituv, Michal; Etkin, Amit; Merin, Ofer; Shalev, Arieh Y

2018-01-01

Background : The immediate aftermath of traumatic events is a period of enhanced neural plasticity, following which some survivors remain with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) whereas others recover. Evidence points to impairments in emotional reactivity, emotion regulation, and broader executive functions as critically contributing to PTSD. Emerging evidence further suggests that the neural mechanisms underlying these functions remain plastic in adulthood and that targeted retraining of these systems may enhance their efficiency and could reduce the likelihood of developing PTSD. Administering targeted neurocognitive training shortly after trauma exposure is a daunting challenge. This work describes a study design addressing that challenge. The study evaluated the direct effects of cognitive remediation training on neurocognitive mechanisms that hypothetically underlay PTSD, and the indirect effect of this intervention on emerging PTSD symptoms. Method : We describe a study rationale, design, and methodological choices involving: (a) participants' enrolment; (b) implementation and management of a daily self-administered, web-based intervention; (c) reliable, timely screening and assessment of treatment of eligible survivors; and (d) defining control conditions and outcome measures. We outline the rationale of choices made regarding study sample, timing of intervention, measurements, monitoring participants' adherence, and ways to harmonize and retain interviewers' fidelity and mitigate eventual burnout by repeated contacts with recently traumatized survivors. Conclusion : Early web-based interventions targeting causative mechanisms of PTSD can be informed by the model presented in this paper.

Preferences of personal and social goals in the high school pupils in Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuzmanović Bora

2009-01-01

Full Text Available On the sample 246 high school pupils from various regions, cities and schools in Serbia, authors took survey of the degree of acceptance (graded from 1 to 5 of 18 personal and 18 social goals, as well as preferences, i.e. choice of most valuable of these goals on both lists. Among personal goals most widely accepted and preferred are friendly support, love and personal independence, while social power, subordination to authorities, social engagement and achievement are on the bottom of the preference scale. As for the social goals, full employment, social rights, standard of living, fight against criminal and corruption, and ecology are most preferred, while further process of privatization in economy, dominant role of one party, but also democracy and strong market economy. Demand of fulfillment of the conditions needed to enter European Union, have caused polarized reactions of young people. This have for its consequence that this aim according to the significance finds itself almost on the bottom of the preference list. Also, for the share of those who prefer enter in the EU, this aim is most important in the above part of the list. In the factor analysis four factors are extracted on the every list. In the realm of personal goals these factors were named comfortable living (that includes many other goals, notably these with high grades, social success, decent life and will toward self affirmation. In the realm of social goals as main factors were identified: normal state (including number of special goals, transition, orientation toward tradition and patriotism, while fourth factor (that includes assessment of good international relations, fight against criminal and corruption, market orientation was left without name. Authors are also dealing with analysis of established incoherency and with issue of stability of value system of young people. .

Relationship among achievement goal orientations and multidimensional situational motivation in physical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Standage, Martyn; Treasure, Darren C

2002-03-01

Contemporary research suggests that task and ego achievement goal orientations affect students' intrinsic motivation in physical education. This research has assessed intrinsic motivation as a unidimensional contruct, however, which is inconsistent with the more contemporary postulates of self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1991) which states that intrinsic motivation is only one type of motivation. To date, research has not addressed whether different types of motivation at the situational level are influenced by the proneness to adopt task or ego involvement. To examine the relationship between achievement goal orientations and multidimensional situational motivation in PE. Middle school children (182 male, 136 female; M age = 13.2 years). Responded to questionnaires assessing their dispositional goal orientation (POSQ; Roberts, Treasure, & Balague, 1998) and situational motivation (SIMS; Guay, Vallerand, & Blanchard, 2000) in PE. Task orientation was found to be positively associated with more self-determined types of situational motivation. Ego orientation was weakly related to less self-determined motivation. An extreme group split was conducted to create four goal groups and goal profile analyses conducted. A significant MANOVA was followed by univariate analyses, post hoc comparisons, and calculated effect sizes, which revealed that groups high in task orientation reported more motivationally adaptive responses than groups low in task orientation. The results suggest that a high level of task orientation singularly or in combination with ego orientation fosters self-determined situational motivation in the context of PE.

A watershed-scale goals approach to assessing and funding wastewater infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahm, Brian G; Vedachalam, Sridhar; Shen, Jerry; Woodbury, Peter B; Riha, Susan J

2013-11-15

Capital needs during the next twenty years for public wastewater treatment, piping, combined sewer overflow correction, and storm-water management are estimated to be approximately $300 billion for the USA. Financing these needs is a significant challenge, as Federal funding for the Clean Water Act has been reduced by 70% during the last twenty years. There is an urgent need for new approaches to assist states and other decision makers to prioritize wastewater maintenance and improvements. We present a methodology for performing an integrated quantitative watershed-scale goals assessment for sustaining wastewater infrastructure. We applied this methodology to ten watersheds of the Hudson-Mohawk basin in New York State, USA that together are home to more than 2.7 million people, cover 3.5 million hectares, and contain more than 36,000 km of streams. We assembled data on 183 POTWs treating approximately 1.5 million m(3) of wastewater per day. For each watershed, we analyzed eight metrics: Growth Capacity, Capacity Density, Soil Suitability, Violations, Tributary Length Impacted, Tributary Capital Cost, Volume Capital Cost, and Population Capital Cost. These metrics were integrated into three goals for watershed-scale management: Tributary Protection, Urban Development, and Urban-Rural Integration. Our results demonstrate that the methodology can be implemented using widely available data, although some verification of data is required. Furthermore, we demonstrate substantial differences in character, need, and the appropriateness of different management strategies among the ten watersheds. These results suggest that it is feasible to perform watershed-scale goals assessment to augment existing approaches to wastewater infrastructure analysis and planning. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Healthy Families America state systems development: an emerging practice to ensure program growth and sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, Lori; Schreiber, Lisa

2007-01-01

In an era of fiscal constraints and increased accountability for social service programs, having a centralized and efficient infrastructure is critical. A well-functioning infrastructure helps a state reduce duplication of services, creates economies of scale, coordinates resources, supports high-quality site development and promotes the self-sufficiency and growth of community-based programs. Throughout the Healthy Families America home visitation network, both program growth and contraction have been managed by in-state collaborations, referred to as "state systems." This article explores the research base that supports the rationale for implementing state systems, describes the evolution of state systems for Healthy Families America, and discusses the benefits, challenges and lessons learned of utilizing a systems approach.

Academic Self-Handicapping and Achievement Goals: A Further Examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Midgley, Carol; Urdan, Tim

2001-01-01

This study extends previous research on the relations among students' personal achievement goals, perceptions of the classroom goal structure, and reports of the use of self-handicapping strategies. Surveys, specific to the math domain, were given to 484 7th-grade students in nine middle schools. Personal performance-avoid goals positively predicted handicapping, whereas personal performance-approach goals did not. Personal task goals negatively predicted handicapping. Perceptions of a performance goal structure positively predicted handicapping, and perceptions of a task goal structure negatively predicted handicapping, independent of personal goals. Median splits used to examine multiple goal profiles revealed that students high in performance-avoid goals used handicapping more than did those low in performance-avoid goals regardless of the level of task goals. Students low in performance-avoid goals and high in task goals handicapped less than those low in both goals. Level of performance-approach goals had little effect on the relation between task goals and handicapping. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Ecosystem Management and Land Conservation Can Substantially Contribute to California's Climate Mitigation Goals

Science.gov (United States)

Marvin, D.; Cameron, D. R.; Passero, M. C.; Remucal, J. M.

2017-12-01

California has been a global leader in climate change policy through its early adoption of ambitious GHG reduction goals, committing to steep reductions through 2030 and beyond. Modeling efforts focused on future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from energy and other sectors in California have shown varying capacity to meet the emissions reductions targets established by the state. These efforts have not included potential reductions from changes in ecosystem management, restoration, and conservation. This study simulates the future GHG reduction potential of these land-based activities (e.g., changes to forest management, avoided conversion of grasslands to agriculture) when applied to California lands at three plausible rates of policy implementation relative to current efforts. We then compare the reduction potential of the activities against "business-as-usual" (BAU) emissions projections for the California to highlight the contribution of the biosphere toward reaching the state's GHG 2030 and 2050 reduction targets. By 2030, an Ambitious land-based activity implementation scenario could contribute as much as 146.7 MMTCO2e or 17.4% of the cumulative reductions needed to meet the state's 2030 goal, greater than the individual contributions of four other economic sectors, including those from the Industrial and Agriculture sectors. On an annual basis, the Ambitious scenario could result in reductions as high as 17.93 MMTCO2e yr-1 or 13.4% of the state's 2030 reduction goal. Most reductions come from changes in forest management, such as extending rotation times for harvest and reducing stocking density, thereby promoting accelerated growth. Such changes comprise 59.8% to 67.4% of annual projected emissions reductions in 2050 for the Ambitious and Limited scenarios, respectively. Implementation of a range of land-based emissions reduction activities can materially contribute to one of the most ambitious mitigation targets globally. This study provides a flexible

State-federal interactions in nuclear regulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pasternak, A.D.; Budnitz, R.J.

1987-12-01

The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 established, and later Congressional amendments have confirmed, that except in areas which have been explicitly granted to the states, the federal government possesses preemptive authority to regulate radiation hazards associated with the development and use of atomic energy. Since the passage of the original Act, numerous decisions by the courts have reaffirmed the legitimacy of federal preemption, and have defined and redefined its scope. In this study, the aim is to explore the underlying issues involved in federal preemption of radiation-hazard regulation, and to recommend actions that the Department of Energy and other agencies and groups should consider undertaking in the near term to protect the preemption principle. Appropriate roles of the states are discussed, as well as recent state-level activities and their rationale, and several current arenas in which state-federal conflicts about regulation of hazards are being played out. The emphasis here is on four particular arenas that are now important arenas of conflict, but the issues discussed are far broader in scope. These four arenas are: state-level moratorium activity; emergency planning for reactors; conflicts arising from state financial regulation; and inroads in federal preemption through litigation under state law.

State-federal interactions in nuclear regulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pasternak, A.D.; Budnitz, R.J.

1987-12-01

The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 established, and later Congressional amendments have confirmed, that except in areas which have been explicitly granted to the states, the federal government possesses preemptive authority to regulate radiation hazards associated with the development and use of atomic energy. Since the passage of the original Act, numerous decisions by the courts have reaffirmed the legitimacy of federal preemption, and have defined and redefined its scope. In this study, the aim is to explore the underlying issues involved in federal preemption of radiation-hazard regulation, and to recommend actions that the Department of Energy and other agencies and groups should consider undertaking in the near term to protect the preemption principle. Appropriate roles of the states are discussed, as well as recent state-level activities and their rationale, and several current arenas in which state-federal conflicts about regulation of hazards are being played out. The emphasis here is on four particular arenas that are now important arenas of conflict, but the issues discussed are far broader in scope. These four arenas are: state-level moratorium activity; emergency planning for reactors; conflicts arising from state financial regulation; and inroads in federal preemption through litigation under state law

Work Engagement: Antecedents, the Mediating Role of Learning Goal Orientation and Job Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Chughtai, Aamir Ali; Buckley, Finian

2011-01-01

Purpose: The present paper aims to explore the effects of state (trust in supervisor) and trait (trust propensity) trust on employees' work engagement. Furthermore, it seeks to investigate the mediating role of learning goal orientation in the relationship between work engagement and two forms of performance: in-role job performance and innovative…

Goal conflict, goal facilitation, and health professionals' provision of physical activity advice in primary care: an exploratory prospective study.

Science.gov (United States)

Presseau, Justin; Francis, Jill J; Campbell, Neil C; Sniehotta, Falko F

2011-07-15

The theory of planned behaviour has well-evidenced utility in predicting health professional behaviour, but focuses on a single behaviour isolated from the numerous potentially conflicting and facilitating goal-directed behaviours performed alongside. Goal conflict and goal facilitation may influence whether health professionals engage in guideline-recommended behaviours, and may supplement the predictive power of the theory of planned behaviour. We hypothesised that goal facilitation and goal conflict contribute to predicting primary care health professionals' provision of physical activity advice to patients with hypertension, over and above predictors of behaviour from the theory of planned behaviour. Using a prospective predictive design, at baseline we invited a random sample of 606 primary care health professionals from all primary care practices in NHS Grampian and NHS Tayside (Scotland) to complete postal questionnaires. Goal facilitation and goal conflict were measured alongside theory of planned behaviour constructs at baseline. At follow-up six months later, participants self-reported the number of patients, out of those seen in the preceding two weeks, to whom they provided physical activity advice. Forty-four primary care physicians and nurses completed measures at both time points (7.3% response rate). Goal facilitation and goal conflict improved the prediction of behaviour, accounting for substantial additional variance (5.8% and 8.4%, respectively) in behaviour over and above intention and perceived behavioural control. Health professionals' provision of physical activity advice in primary care can be predicted by perceptions about how their conflicting and facilitating goal-directed behaviours help and hinder giving advice, over and above theory of planned behaviour constructs. Incorporating features of multiple goal pursuit into the theory of planned behaviour may help to better understand health professional behaviour.

On the nature of motivational orientations: implications of assessed goals and gender differences for motivational goal theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Alonso-Tapia, Jesús; Huertas, Juan A; Ruiz, Miguel A

2010-05-01

In a historical revision of the achievement goal construct, Elliot (2005) recognized that there is little consensus on whether the term "goal" in "achievement goal orientations" (GO) is best represented as an "aim", as an overarching orientation encompassing several "aims", or as a combination of aims and other processes -self-regulation, etc.-. Elliot pointed also that goal theory research provides evidence for different models of GO. As there were no consensus on these issues, we decided to get evidence about the nature and structure of GO, about the role of gender differences in the configuration of such structure, and about relations between GO, expectancies, volitional processes and achievement. A total of 382 university students from different faculties of two public universities of Madrid (Spain) that voluntarily accepted to fill in a questionnaire that assessed different goals, expectancies and self-regulatory processes participated in the study. Scales reliability, confirmatory factor analyses, multiple-group analyses, and correlation and regression analyses were carried out. Results support the trichotomous model of GO, the consideration of GO as a combination of aims and other psychological processes, showed some gender differences and favour the adoption of a multiple goal perspective for explaining students' motivation.

Criteria for achieving actinide reduction goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liljenzin, J.O.

1996-01-01

In order to discuss various criteria for achieving actinide reduction goals, the goals for actinide reduction must be defined themselves. In this context the term actinides is interpreted to mean plutonium and the so called ''minor actinides'' neptunium, americium and curium, but also protactinium. Some possible goals and the reasons behind these will be presented. On the basis of the suggested goals it is possible to analyze various types of devices for production of nuclear energy from uranium or thorium, such as thermal or fast reactors and accelerator driven system, with their associated fuel cycles with regard to their ability to reach the actinide reduction goals. The relation between necessary single cycle burn-up values, fuel cycle processing losses and losses to waste will be defined and discussed. Finally, an attempt is made to arrange the possible systems on order of performance with regard to their potential to reduce the actinide inventory and the actinide losses to wastes. (author). 3 refs, 3 figs, 2 tabs

Parental goals and talk with toddlers

OpenAIRE

Rowe, Meredith Lee; Casillas, Allison

2010-01-01

Myriad studies support a relation between parental beliefs and behaviours. This study adds to the literature by focusing on the specific relationship between parental goals and their communication with toddlers. Do parents with different goals talk about different topics with their children? Parents’ goals for their 30-month olds were gathered using semi-structured interviews with 47 primary caregivers, whereas the topics of conversations that took place during interactio...

Educational Rationale Metadata for Learning Objects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tom Carey

2002-10-01

Full Text Available Instructors searching for learning objects in online repositories will be guided in their choices by the content of the object, the characteristics of the learners addressed, and the learning process embodied in the object. We report here on a feasibility study for metadata to record process-oriented information about instructional approaches for learning objects, though a set of Educational Rationale [ER] tags which would allow authors to describe the critical elements in their design intent. The prototype ER tags describe activities which have been demonstrated to be of value in learning, and authors select the activities whose support was critical in their design decisions. The prototype ER tag set consists descriptors of the instructional approach used in the design, plus optional sub-elements for Comments, Importance and Features which implement the design intent. The tag set was tested by creators of four learning object modules, three intended for post-secondary learners and one for K-12 students and their families. In each case the creators reported that the ER tag set allowed them to express succinctly the key instructional approaches embedded in their designs. These results confirmed the overall feasibility of the ER tag approach as a means of capturing design intent from creators of learning objects. Much work remains to be done before a usable ER tag set could be specified, including evaluating the impact of ER tags during design to improve instructional quality of learning objects.

Enhancing measurement in science education research through Rasch analysis: Rationale and properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jørgen Sjaastad

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This article presents the basic rationale of Rasch theory and seven core properties of Rasch modeling; analyses of test targeting, person separation, person fit, item fit, differential item functioning, functioning of response categories and tests of unidimensionality. Illustrative examples are provided consecutively, drawing on Rasch analysis of data from a survey where students in the 9th grade responded to questions regarding their mathematics competence. The relationship between Rasch theory and classical test theory is commented on. Rasch theory provides science and mathematics education researchers with valuable tools to evaluate the psychometric quality of tests and questionnaires and support the development of these.

Setting Goals for Achievement in Physical Education Settings

Science.gov (United States)

Baghurst, Timothy; Tapps, Tyler; Kensinger, Weston

2015-01-01

Goal setting has been shown to improve student performance, motivation, and task completion in academic settings. Although goal setting is utilized by many education professionals to help students set realistic and proper goals, physical educators may not be using goal setting effectively. Without incorporating all three types of goals and…

'Doing with …' rather than 'doing for …' older adults: rationale and content of the 'Stay Active at Home' programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Metzelthin, Silke F; Zijlstra, Gertrud Ar; van Rossum, Erik; de Man-van Ginkel, Janneke M; Resnick, Barbara; Lewin, Gill; Parsons, Matthew; Kempen, Gertrudis Ijm

2017-11-01

Owing to increasing age, accidents or periods of illness, home care services are provided to community-dwelling older adults. Traditionally, these services focus on doing things for older adults rather than with them; though from a rehabilitative perspective, it is important to assist older adults to attain and maintain their highest level of functioning. Consequently, a re-orientation of home care services is required away from treating disease and creating dependency towards focusing on capabilities and opportunities and maximising independence. To achieve this behavioural change in home care professionals, the 'Stay Active at Home' programme was developed. The aim of this article is to give a detailed description of the rationale and content of the 'Stay Active at Home' programme by making use of the TIDieR (Template for Intervention Description and Replication) Checklist. 'Stay Active at Home' is a comprehensive training programme that aims to equip home care professionals (i.e. community nurses and domestic support workers) with the necessary knowledge, attitude, skills and social and organisational support to deliver day-to-day services at home from a more rehabilitative perspective. More specifically, home care professionals are expected to deliver goal-oriented, holistic and person-centred services focusing on supporting older adults to maintain, gain or restore their competences to engage in physical and daily activities so that they can manage their everyday life as independently as possible.

Adolescents' goal orientations for science in single-gender Israeli religious schools

Science.gov (United States)

Fortus, David; Daphna, Limor

2017-01-01

Israeli students and their families can choose between state-funded secular, religious, orthodox, and other alternative schools (e.g., Waldorf, Montessori, democratic). Earlier studies showed that the motivation to engage with science differs greatly between Israeli students in secular schools and democratic schools, with these differences being attributed to differences in school culture rather than home influence (Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2011, 2012). In this study we extend earlier studies by looking at religious state-funded schools that serve 18% of Israel's Jewish population. These schools provide a unique research environment since from grade 6 they are gender-separated. We examined the science-related mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoid goal orientations, perceptions of the science teachers, parents, schools, and peers' goal emphases in relation to science of the students in these schools. We compared between students in religious schools (newly collected data) and secular schools (data reported in prior studies), and found that there is a distinct difference between these two populations that is associated with differing attitudes toward gender and science at these schools. This study provides additional evidence for the influence of culture on students' motivation to engage with science, suggests mechanisms by which this influence may occur.

Goals? What goals? Europeans to hear more about the world's millennium development goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bianchi, S.

2005-01-01

The European Union (EU) is quickly becoming the front-runner of development aid to regions in Africa and other developing countries. However, over three-quarters of EU citizens are unaware of development efforts being made on the part of the Union to Third World countries, according to a public opinion poll released by Eurobarometer. In light of the low awareness of the EU's development agenda and the United Nations's Millennium Development Goals, the EU Humanitarian Aid and Development Commission has employed a campaign to raise the level of awareness among the EU's 460 million citizens

Predictors of Academic Self-Handicapping and Achievement: Examining Achievement Goals, Classroom Goal Structures, and Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Urdan, Tim

2004-01-01

The purposes of this study were to examine the predictors and achievement consequences of academic self-handicapping and to explore cultural variations in the pursuit and effects of performance goals and perceived classroom performance goal structures. Data were collected in 2 consecutive academic years from a diverse sample of high school…

Goal Theory and Individual Productivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Frost, Peter J.

The paper provides a review of goal theory as articulated by Edwin Locke. The theory is evaluated in terms of laboratory and field research and its practical usefulnes is explored as a means to improving individual productivity in "real world" organizations Research findings provide support for some goal theory propositions but suggest also the…

Robust set-point regulation for ecological models with multiple management goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Guiver, Chris; Mueller, Markus; Hodgson, Dave; Townley, Stuart

2016-05-01

Population managers will often have to deal with problems of meeting multiple goals, for example, keeping at specific levels both the total population and population abundances in given stage-classes of a stratified population. In control engineering, such set-point regulation problems are commonly tackled using multi-input, multi-output proportional and integral (PI) feedback controllers. Building on our recent results for population management with single goals, we develop a PI control approach in a context of multi-objective population management. We show that robust set-point regulation is achieved by using a modified PI controller with saturation and anti-windup elements, both described in the paper, and illustrate the theory with examples. Our results apply more generally to linear control systems with positive state variables, including a class of infinite-dimensional systems, and thus have broader appeal.

Buffering against Performance Classroom Goal Structures: The Importance of Autonomy Support and Classroom Community

Science.gov (United States)

Ciani, Keith D.; Middleton, Michael J.; Summers, Jessica J.; Sheldon, Kennon M.

2010-01-01

The culture of schooling in the United States has become increasingly focused on outwardly proving student competence. Some achievement goal theorists suggest that a major casualty of performance-oriented classroom environments may be student motivation for developing and improving competence. The present study extends across theoretical…

Goal conflict, goal facilitation, and health professionals' provision of physical activity advice in primary care: An exploratory prospective study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Campbell Neil C

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The theory of planned behaviour has well-evidenced utility in predicting health professional behaviour, but focuses on a single behaviour isolated from the numerous potentially conflicting and facilitating goal-directed behaviours performed alongside. Goal conflict and goal facilitation may influence whether health professionals engage in guideline-recommended behaviours, and may supplement the predictive power of the theory of planned behaviour. We hypothesised that goal facilitation and goal conflict contribute to predicting primary care health professionals' provision of physical activity advice to patients with hypertension, over and above predictors of behaviour from the theory of planned behaviour. Methods Using a prospective predictive design, at baseline we invited a random sample of 606 primary care health professionals from all primary care practices in NHS Grampian and NHS Tayside (Scotland to complete postal questionnaires. Goal facilitation and goal conflict were measured alongside theory of planned behaviour constructs at baseline. At follow-up six months later, participants self-reported the number of patients, out of those seen in the preceding two weeks, to whom they provided physical activity advice. Results Forty-four primary care physicians and nurses completed measures at both time points (7.3% response rate. Goal facilitation and goal conflict improved the prediction of behaviour, accounting for substantial additional variance (5.8% and 8.4%, respectively in behaviour over and above intention and perceived behavioural control. Conclusions Health professionals' provision of physical activity advice in primary care can be predicted by perceptions about how their conflicting and facilitating goal-directed behaviours help and hinder giving advice, over and above theory of planned behaviour constructs. Incorporating features of multiple goal pursuit into the theory of planned behaviour may help to better

California State U. Campuses Struggle to Comply with Gender-Equity Goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Selingo, Jeffrey

1997-01-01

Almost three years after the California State University System settled a sex-discrimination lawsuit by acceding to the strictest gender-equity standards in college sports, only 2 of the 19 institutions sponsoring athletic programs have met the agreement's terms. Some feel the agreement, based on proportionality of participation and funding for…

The pharmacological rationale for combining muscarinic receptor antagonists and beta-adrenoceptor agonists in the treatment of airway and bladder disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dale, Philippa R.; Cernecka, Hana; Schmidt, Martina; Dowling, Mark R.; Charlton, Steven J.; Pieper, Michael P.; Michel, Martin C.

Muscarinic receptor antagonists and beta-adrenoceptor agonists are used in the treatment of obstructive airway disease and overactive bladder syndrome. Here we review the pharmacological rationale for their combination. Muscarinic receptors and beta-adrenoceptors are physiological antagonists for

Writing Performance Goals: Strategy and Prototypes. A Manual for Vocational and Technical Educators.

Science.gov (United States)

McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, NY. Gregg Div.

The result of a cooperative project of the Center for Vocational and Technical Education at the Ohio State University and the McGraw-Hill Book Company, this manual was prepared to develop prototypes of performance goals for use by curriculum specialists and developers of instructional materials in vocational and technical education and to provide…

A History of Critical Thinking as an Educational Goal in Graduate Theological Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Florence, D. Christopher

2014-01-01

The development of critical thinking skills among learners is a common educational goal across graduate theological schools. The purpose of this article is to provide a survey of some of the primary historical influences of the critical thinking movement in higher education in the United States and the movement's impact on graduate…

Quantitative HTGR safety and forced outage goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Houghton, W.J.; Parme, L.L.; Silady, F.A.

1985-05-01

A key step in the successful implementation of the integrated approach is the definition of the overall plant-level goals. To be effective, the goals should provide clear statements of what is to be achieved by the plant. This can be contrasted to the current practice of providing design-prescriptive criteria which implicitly address some higher-level objective but restrict the designer's flexibility. Furthermore, the goals should be quantifiable in such a way that satisfaction of the goal can be measured. In the discussion presented, two such plant-level goals adopted for the HTGR and addressing the impact of unscheduled occurrences are described. 1 fig

Conflicting rationales: leader's experienced ethical challenges in community health care for older people.

Science.gov (United States)

Slettebø, Åshild; Skaar, Ragnhild; Brodtkorb, Kari; Skisland, Anne

2017-08-22

Ethical challenges arise in all types of care, and leaders need to be aware of how to resolve these challenges. Healthcare systems tend to be organised around medical conditions, and the patient is often faced with a series of uncoordinated visits to multiple specialties. Ideally, care should be organised around the patient's needs. The purpose of this article was to highlight some ethical challenges perceived by leaders with responsibility for management and service distribution, finance and ensuring quality of community health services for older people. This study had a qualitative design with a qualitative content analysis of one focus group with six leaders that met four times in total. Leaders from the community healthcare sector in one Norwegian municipality were included, representing both nursing homes and home-based health care. The study followed the intentions of the Declaration of Helsinki and standard ethical principles. The Norwegian Social Science Data Services approved the study. All participants voluntarily gave written informed consent. The main theme that emerged from this study was the ethical challenge leaders felt in the form of an inherent conflict between a caring rationale versus economic or technological rationales. Four categories emerged: (i) Management: quality versus economy; (ii) Prioritisation: fair distribution of healthcare services; (iii) Responsibility: considering individuals' needs versus the needs of the whole community; and (iv) Welfare technology: possibilities and challenges. Leaders' responsibilities in community health care for older people need to strike a balance between ethical principles in the management of limited resources. © 2017 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Safety Goal, Multi-unit Risk and PSA Uncertainty

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Joon-Eon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

The safety goal is an answer of each country to the question 'How safe is safe enough?'. Table 1 shows some examples of the safety goal. However, many countries including Korea do not have the official safety goal for NPPs up to now since the establishment of safety goal is not just a technical issue but a very complex socio-technical issue. In establishing the safety goal for nuclear facilities, we have to consider various factors including not only technical aspects but also social, cultural ones. Recently, Korea is trying to establish the official safety goal. In this paper, we will review the relationship between the safety goal and Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). We will also address some important technical issues to be considered in establishing the safety goal for NPPs from PSA point of view, i.e. a multi-unit risk issue and the uncertainty of PSA. In this paper, we reviewed some issues related to the safety goal and PSA. We believe that the safety goal is to be established in Korea considering the multi-unit risk. In addition, the relationship between the safety goal and PSA should be also defined clearly since PSA is the only way to answer to the question 'How safe is safe enough?'.

Practical goal programming

CERN Document Server

Jones, Dylan

2010-01-01

This book and its treatment of goal programming will help organizations meet targets and objectives. The book includes many worked-out examples and tutorial exercises, and is designed to demostrate and teach its readers good modeling practice.

CEDAW in the Eyes of the United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Al Shraideh Saleh

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Despite the large number of reservations registered by Member countries, making it one of the, if not the, most heavily reserved human rights treaties; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW has managed to achieve a very high rate of states’ membership [1]. Currently, 187 countries out of the 193 United Nations Members are parties to CEDAW [2]. What is strange to digest, however, is the fact that the United States is one of the seven countries that are yet to ratify the Convention [3]. This article provides an insight into the position of the United States from the ratification of CEDAW. It examines the merits of arguments made for and against the ratification and their rationale to provide a better understanding that explains what is considered by many as a buzzling stand of the United States from the Convention.

A meta-analysis of the impact of situationally induced achievement goals on task performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Yperen, Nico W.; Blaga, Monica; Postmes, Thomas

2015-01-01

The purpose of this research was to meta-analyze studies which experimentally induced an achieve- ment goal state to examine its causal effect on the individual’s performance at the task at hand, and to investigate the moderator effects of feedback anticipation and time pressure. The data set

Proposed goals for radioactive waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bishop, W.P.; Hoos, I.R.; McGrath, P.E.; Metlay, D.S.; Stoneman, W.C.

1978-05-01

A special, seven member, interdisciplinary task group of consultants was established in January 1976 to propose goals for the national waste management program. This is the report of that group. The proposed goals are intended as a basis for the NRC to establish a policy by which to guide and coordinate the activities of government, business, and academic organizations whose responsibility it will be to manage radioactive wastes. The report is based on findings, interpretations and analysis by the authors who examined selected primary literature and interviewed many individuals concerned with waste management. The authors extended the scope of their inquiry and proposed goals to cover 'all technical and societal aspects necessary to an operating waste management system, rather than dealing with the regulatory process alone.' The waste management goals as developed are simple statements of principles which appear to the authors to be important conditions to insure the proper establishment and operation of a system to manage radioactive wastes.' In brief, the goals are designed to protect people and things of value in an equitable manner

Threat and defense as goal regulation: from implicit goal conflict to anxious uncertainty, reactive approach motivation, and ideological extremism.

Science.gov (United States)

Nash, Kyle; McGregor, Ian; Prentice, Mike

2011-12-01

Four studies investigated a goal regulation view of anxious uncertainty threat (Gray & McNaughton, 2000) and ideological defense. Participants (N = 444) were randomly assigned to have achievement or relationship goals implicitly primed. The implicit goal primes were followed by randomly assigned achievement or relationship threats that have reliably caused generalized, reactive approach motivation and ideological defense in past research. The threats caused anxious uncertainty (Study 1), reactive approach motivation (Studies 2 and 3), and reactive ideological conviction (Study 4) only when threat-relevant goals had first been primed, but not when threat-irrelevant goals had first been primed. Reactive ideological conviction (Study 4) was eliminated if participants were given an opportunity to attribute their anxiety to a mundane source. Results support a goal regulation view of anxious uncertainty, threat, and defense with potential for integrating theories of defensive compensation.

Children, Youth and Developmental Science in the 2015-2030 Global Sustainable Development Goals. Social Policy Report. Volume 30, Number 3

Science.gov (United States)

Raikes, Abbie; Yoshikawa, Hirokazu; Britto, Pia Rebello; Iruka, Iheoma

2017-01-01

In September 2016, the member states of the United Nations completed the process of adopting and defining indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; United Nations, 2015). Developed through a three-year, worldwide participatory process, these 17 goals and 169 targets represent a global consensus on the part of U.N. member nations…

Probabilistic safety assessment goals in Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snell, V.G.

1986-01-01

CANDU safety philosphy, both in design and in licensing, has always had a strong bias towards quantitative probabilistically-based goals derived from comparative safety. Formal probabilistic safety assessment began in Canada as a design tool. The influence of this carried over later on into the definition of the deterministic safety guidelines used in CANDU licensing. Design goals were further developed which extended the consequence/frequency spectrum of 'acceptable' events, from the two points defined by the deterministic single/dual failure analysis, to a line passing through lower and higher frequencies. Since these were design tools, a complete risk summation was not necessary, allowing a cutoff at low event frequencies while preserving the identification of the most significant safety-related events. These goals gave a logical framework for making decisions on implementing design changes proposed as a result of the Probabilistic Safety Analysis. Performing this analysis became a regulatory requirement, and the design goals remained the framework under which this was submitted. Recently, there have been initiatives to incorporate more detailed probabilistic safety goals into the regulatory process in Canada. These range from far-reaching safety optimization across society, to initiatives aimed at the nuclear industry only. The effectiveness of the latter is minor at very low and very high event frequencies; at medium frequencies, a justification against expenditures per life saved in other industries should be part of the goal setting

Infants Show Stability of Goal-Directed Imitation

Science.gov (United States)

Sakkalou, Elena; Ellis-Davies, Kate; Fowler, Nia C.; Hilbrink, Elma E.; Gattis, Merideth

2013-01-01

Previous studies have reported that infants selectively reproduce observed actions and have argued that this selectivity reflects understanding of intentions and goals, or goal-directed imitation. We reasoned that if selective imitation of goal-directed actions reflects understanding of intentions, infants should demonstrate stability across…

An evaluation of flora from coastal sand dunes of India: Rationale for conservation and management

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Rodrigues, R.S.; Mascarenhas, A.; Jagtap, T.G.

stream_size 37100 stream_content_type text/plain stream_name Ocean_Coast_Manage_54_181a.pdf.txt stream_source_info Ocean_Coast_Manage_54_181a.pdf.txt Content-Encoding UTF-8 Content-Type text/plain; charset=UTF-8 1... Author version: Ocean & Coastal Management, vol.54(2); 2011; 181-188 An evaluation of flora from coastal sand dunes of India: Rationale for conservation and management Rouchelle S. Rodrigues, Antonio Mascarenhas, Tanaji G. Jagtap * National...

USE OF REMICADE® IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC TOPHACEOUS GOUT: THEORETICAL RATIONALE AND ASSESSMENT OFOWN EXPERIENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M S Eliseyev

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the clinical experience in using Remicade®, a tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-а inhibitor, in patients with chronic tophaceous gout resistant to therapy with glucocorticoids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The agent is noted to have a good long-acting clinical effect in reducing the number of tender and swollen joints, as confirmed by the theoretical rationale for the use of anticytokine agents, TNF- а inhibitors in particular, in gouty patients.

The relationship between competitive anxiety, achievement goals, and motivational climates.

Science.gov (United States)

Ntoumanis, N; Biddle, S

1998-06-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of achievement goal orientations and perceived motivational climate to perceptions of the intensity and direction of competitive state anxiety in a sample of university athletes representing various team sports. Although some studies have demonstrated that task orientation and mastery climate are associated with adaptive emotional patterns and ego orientation and performance climate are linked to less adaptive emotions, others have not verified these findings. In the present study, structural equation modeling was used to test these links. The results showed that perceptions of a performance climate were associated with ego orientation, whereas perceptions of a mastery climate were linked to task orientation. Furthermore, no significant links were found between task orientation and direction of competitive anxiety, while it was shown that the impact of ego orientation on the intensity and direction of cognitive and somatic anxiety was exerted through self-confidence. No significant direct links were found between motivational climates and competitive anxiety, thus implying that motivational climates may have an indirect impact on affective responses through the different goal orientations. The findings of the present study are discussed along with suggestions for examining situational and individual difference variables that may explain the relationships between intensity and direction of competitive anxiety and achievement goals and motivational climates.

Achieving CO2 Emissions Reduction Goals with Energy Infrastructure Projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eberlinc, M.; Medved, K.; Simic, J.

2013-01-01

The EU has set its short-term goals in the Europe 2020 Strategy (20% of CO 2 emissions reduction, 20% increase in energy efficiency, 20% share of renewables in final energy). The analyses show that the EU Member States in general are on the right track of achieving these goals; they are even ahead (including Slovenia). But setting long-term goals by 2050 is a tougher challenge. Achieving CO 2 emissions reduction goes hand in hand with increasing the share of renewables and strategically planning the projects, which include exploiting the potential of renewable sources of energy (e.g. hydropower). In Slovenia, the expected share of hydropower in electricity production from large HPPs in the share of renewables by 2030 is 1/3. The paper includes a presentation of a hydro power plants project on the middle Sava river in Slovenia and its specifics (influenced by the expansion of the Natura 2000 protected sites and on the other hand by the changes in the Environment Protection Law, which implements the EU Industrial Emissions Directive and the ETS Directive). Studies show the importance of the HPPs in terms of CO 2 emissions reduction. The main conclusion of the paper shows the importance of energy infrastructure projects, which contribute to on the one hand the CO 2 emissions reduction and on the other the increase of renewables.(author)

77 FR 39949 - Effective Date for the Water Quality Standards for the State of Florida's Lakes and Flowing Waters

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-06

... statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be... Florida waters covered by this rule, or who rely on, depend upon, influence, or contribute to the water..., which are a critical part of the State's economy. III. Revised Effective Date A. Rationale for Extending...

Hope and self-regulatory goals applied to an advertising context : promoting prevention stimulates goal-directed behavior.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poels, K.; Dewitte, S.

2008-01-01

This article proposes the existence of two types of hope which differ in terms of self-regulatory goals: prevention hope and promotion hope. Consistent with the functional emotion approach and regulatory focus theory, we show that prevention hope generates more goal-directed behavior compared to

Hope and self regulatory goals applied to an advertising context : promoting prevention stimulates goal-directed behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poels, K.; Dewitte, S.; Astregaard, S.; Dwight, M.

2007-01-01

This article proposes the existence of two types of hope which differ in terms of self-regulatory goals: prevention hope and promotion hope. Consistent with the functional emotion approach and regulatory focus theory, we show that prevention hope generates more goal-directed behavior compared to

Merging Educational Finance Reform and Desegregation Goals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deborah M. Kazal-Thresher

1993-06-01

Full Text Available Educational finance reforms and desegregation have both sought to address inequities in educational opportunities for minorities and low income families. The recent methods of addressing desegregation issues have tended to focus on attaining racial balance rather than educational quality, however. This paper explores how desegregation goals can be merged with educational finance reform to more systematically address educational quality in schools serving low income and minority populations. By moving toward centralized control over school financing, the inequity of school outcomes that are based on unequal school resources can be reduced. In addition, state determined expenditures when combined with desegregation monies, would meet the original intention of desegregation funds by clearly providing add-on monies for additional services for minority children, while at the same time, creating a better monitoring mechanism.

External incentives and internal states guide goal-directed behavior via the differential recruitment of the nucleus accumbens and the medial prefrontal cortex.

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Moscarello, J M; Ben-Shahar, O; Ettenberg, A

2010-10-13

Goal-directed behavior is governed by internal physiological states and external incentives present in the environment (e.g. hunger and food). While the role of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) system in behavior guided by environmental incentives has been well studied, the effect of relevant physiological states on the function of this system is less understood. The current study examined the role of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) in the kind of food-reinforced behaviors known to be sensitive to the internal state produced by food deprivation conditions. Operant lever-press reinforced on fixed ratio 1 (FR1) and progressive ratio (PR) schedules was tested after temporary inactivation of, or DA receptor blockade in, the prelimbic mPFC or NAcc core of rats with differing levels of food deprivation (0, 12 and 36-h). Food deprivation increased PR breakpoints, as well as the number of lever-presses emitted on the FR1 schedule. Both temporary inactivation and DA blockade of NAcc reduced breakpoints across deprivation conditions, while temporary inactivation and DA blockade of mPFC reduced breakpoints only in food-deprived rats. Neither manipulation of mPFC and NAcc had any effect on behavior reinforced on the FR1 schedule. Thus, mPFC and NAcc were differentially relevant to the behaviors tested-NAcc was recruited when the behavioral cost per reinforcer was rising or high regardless of food deprivation conditions, while mPFC was recruited when food-deprived animals behaved through periods of sparse reinforcement density in order to maximize available gain. Copyright 2010 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of Goal Relations on Self-Regulated Learning in Multiple Goal Pursuits: Performance, the Self-Regulatory Process, and Task Enjoyment

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Lee, Hyunjoo

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of goal relations on self-regulation in the pursuit of multiple goals, focusing on self-regulated performance, the self-regulatory process, and task enjoyment. The effect of multiple goal relations on self-regulation was explored in a set of three studies. Goal relations were divided into…

The Power of the Picture: How Narrative Film Captures Attention and Disrupts Goal Pursuit.

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Cohen, Anna-Lisa; Shavalian, Elliot; Rube, Moshe

2015-01-01

Narrative transportation is described as a state of detachment that arises when one becomes immersed in the narrative of a story. Participants viewed either an intact version of an engaging 20 min film, "Bang You're Dead!," (1961) by Alfred Hitchcock (contiguous condition), or a version of the same film with scenes presented out of order (noncontiguous condition). In this latter condition, the individual scenes were intact but were presented out of chronological order. Participants were told a cover story that we were interested in the amount of gun violence depicted in films. Both groups were given the goal to remember to lift their hand every time they heard the word "gun" spoken during the film. Results revealed that participants were significantly less likely to remember to execute their goal in the contiguous condition, presumably because this narrative transported viewers' attention and thereby "hijacked" processing resources away from internal goals.

Development and application of nuclear safety goals in Japan. Lessons learnt from the case of 2003 draft safety goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugawara, Shin-etsu; Inamura, Tomoaki

2016-01-01

The Nuclear Safety Commission in Japan offered a detailed draft of nuclear safety goals to the public in 2003, though its position was ambiguous in nuclear safety regulation. This report shows the circumstances behind the development and application of 2003 draft safety goals based on our interviews with the experts who had been involved in making the draft. According to our interviews, they had intention to utilize safety goals for improving risk management of regulatory authority and nuclear energy industry, such as ameliorating deterministic regulations, accumulating experience of risk assessment and management, promoting related research, and communicating risks with general public. In practice, however, safety goals had functioned as a tool for emphasizing an assertion that 'nuclear power plants had already been safe enough'. We identified the following four major impediments to utilizing safety goals; 1) lack of sharing overall recognition of the importance of establishing safety goals among nuclear community, 2) excessive emphasis of internal event risks which leads to an inferior priority to tackle with the issue of external events risks, 3) adverse effect of 'tunnel-visioned incrementalism', that is, nuclear energy industrial entities are attracted their foci too much on what they have been told to do by regulators or local governments, and, 4) negative attitude to disclose the outcomes of risk assessment for fear of societal reactions. To encourage upcoming safety goals and risk management, this report provides the following points for overcoming these problems; 1) sharing insights on the reasons why nuclear community set up safety goals, 2) introducing the concept of adaptive risk management for maintaining questioning attitude, 3) conducting a periodic review of goal attainment level and also safety goals themselves from the eyes of a detached observer, and, 4) rebuilding relationship with society beginning with arguments with local stakeholders over

Goals and organisational structure of the movement for global mental health.

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Minas, Harry; Wright, Alexandra; Kakuma, Ritsuko

2014-01-01

The Movement for Global Mental Health (MGMH), established in 2008, is in a period of transition, as is the field of global mental health. The transfer of Secretariat functions from the Centre for International Mental Health to the Public Health Foundation of India was a suitable time to reflect on the goals of MGMH and on the form of organisational structure that would best serve the organisation in its efforts to achieve its goals. An online survey was sent to the 4,000 registered members of MGMH seeking the views of the membership on both the goals of MGMH and on the preferred form of organisational structure. There was near unanimous (95%) agreement with the MGMH goals as stated at the time of the survey. The current form of organisation of MGMH, a loose network of individuals and organisations registered through the MGMH website, was the least preferred (29.9%) form of organisation for the future of MGMH. More than two thirds (70.1%) of respondents would prefer a formal legal structure, with 60% of this group favouring a Charitable Organisation structure and 40% preferring an international Association structure. The response rate (7%) was too small and too skewed (predominantly academics and health professionals from high income countries) to allow any clear conclusions to be drawn from the survey. However, both the fact that responses were too few and skewed and the preferences expressed by respondents raise issues for careful consideration by the current MGMH Secretariat. The global mental health field and MGMH are in a time of transition. The move to the new secretariat is an opportunity for systematic consideration of the organisational structure and governance arrangements that will best serve the goals of MGMH.

Shifting closeness: interpersonal effects of personal goal progress.

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Fitzsimons, Gráinne M; Fishbach, Ayelet

2010-04-01

In this article, we examine how the shifting motivational priority of personal goals affects relationship closeness. We hypothesize that people will draw closer to significant others who are instrumental (vs. noninstrumental) for a goal that has not been progressing well-a goal that is thus high in motivational priority. Once the goal has progressed successfully, we predict that people will cease to draw closer to instrumental others. Five studies support these predictions by showing that the impact of goal progress on reduced preference for instrumental others (Experiment 1) depends on the framing of progress as partial attainment (vs. greater commitment, Experiment 2) and the intention to balance across goals (vs. focus on one goal; Experiments 3-4). We find that moving away from instrumental others post progress is functional, in that it allows for drawing closer to those who are instrumental for alternative goals (Experiment 5).

From Desires, Obligations and Norms to Goals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dignum, F.P.M.; Kinny, D.; Sonenberg, L.

2002-01-01

Traditional models of agents based on Beliefs, Desires and Intentions usually only include either desires or goals. Therefore the process whereby goals arise from desires is given scant attention. In this paper we argue that the inclusion of both desires and goals in the same model can be

Differentiating Performance Approach Goals and Their Unique Effects

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Edwards, Ordene V.

2014-01-01

The study differentiates between two types of performance approach goals (competence demonstration performance approach goal and normative performance approach goal) by examining their unique effects on self-efficacy, interest, and fear of failure. Seventy-nine students completed questionnaires that measure performance approach goals,…

An Optimistic Analysis of the Means of Implementation for Sustainable Development Goals: Thinking about Goals as Means

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Mark Elder

2016-09-01

Full Text Available A key but contentious aspect of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs is the means of implementation (MOI. Many developing countries emphasize the importance of international assistance while developed countries focus more on domestic financing and the private sector. The text of the SDGs includes a broad range of MOI. However, a discussion has arisen about whether countries should prioritize some goals over others due partly to concerns that MOI may be insufficient. In contrast, this article argues for a more optimistic outlook concerning MOI and the feasibility of achieving the SDGs. First, most SDGs and targets are themselves means—or intermediate goals—contributing to the achievement of other goals. The structure of the SDGs blurs the fact that different goals have different functions, such as providing resources or enabling environments. Greater focus on the interlinkages and synergies among goals could enhance the effectiveness of implementation and reduce costs. Second, integrated planning and implementation, needed for leveraging synergies among goals, will require enhanced capacity, particularly for governance and coordination. We argue that the strengthening of such capacity is a central MOI that requires more attention since it is a precondition for the effective mobilization and deployment of other MOI. Third, although upfront investments may seem high in absolute terms, financial feasibility is realistic when considering existing global financial stocks and flows and the expected benefits.

Engineering performance indicators in support of corporate goals and objectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prawlocki, F.C.; Holland, M.B.

1992-01-01

In the late 1980s, a new factor was introduced into the equation of rate making: competition. Prior to this time, most utilities only had to prove to the state public service commission (PSC) that a rate increase was justified. Even this had become more difficult in recent years as PSCs implemented prudency audits as a means of determining the efficiency of utility management. Recently, however, the need for performance improvement has been initiated internally by utility management because of the advent of competition in the utility environment and state PSC inquiries. In 1991, TVA began to realign its traditional program of performance indicators to agree with industry standards and provide more extensive indicators of positive and negative trends in performance. The INPO Guideline 88-016, Guidelines for the Conduct of Design Engineering, was used as the basis for most indicators. In addition, indicators were added to highlight specific corporate objectives, problems, or regulatory commitments. The indicators are being initiated in three phases as efficient sources of performance data are identified. Once the current baseline was established, a review was made of the best utilities in the country based on the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's systematic assessment of licensee's performance and INPO performance indicators to establish performance goals. As total quality management and cycle time reduction programs are implemented, all of the organization's annual goals and objectives are expected to more closely reflect the best of the industry

National Education Goals: Can We Afford Them?

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Guthrie, James W.

Financial estimates for achieving the six national education goals proposed at the Charlottesville Education Summit are provided in this paper. Specific objectives under each goal, as outlined by the National Goals Panel, are assessed. A conclusion is that although the cost estimates have involved huge assumptions and sometimes wide variations,…

Goal Expectations as Predictors of Retirement Intentions