WorldWideScience

Sample records for systems qualitative reasoning

  1. Real-time qualitative reasoning for telerobotic systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pin, Eancois G.

    1993-01-01

    This paper discusses the sensor-based telerobotic driving of a car in a-priori unknown environments using 'human-like' reasoning schemes implemented on custom-designed VLSI fuzzy inferencing boards. These boards use the Fuzzy Set theoretic framework to allow very vast (30 kHz) processing of full sets of information that are expressed in qualitative form using membership functions. The sensor-based and fuzzy inferencing system was incorporated on an outdoor test-bed platform to investigate two control modes for driving a car on the basis of very sparse and imprecise range data. In the first mode, the car navigates fully autonomously to a goal specified by the operator, while in the second mode, the system acts as a telerobotic driver's aid providing the driver with linguistic (fuzzy) commands to turn left or right, speed up, slow down, stop, or back up depending on the obstacles perceived by the sensors. Indoor and outdoor experiments with both modes of control are described in which the system uses only three acoustic range (sonar) sensor channels to perceive the environment. Sample results are presented that illustrate the feasibility of developing autonomous navigation modules and robust, safety-enhancing driver's aids for telerobotic systems using the new fuzzy inferencing VLSI hardware and 'human-like' reasoning schemes.

  2. An approach to combining heuristic and qualitative reasoning in an expert system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Wei-Si; Han, Chia Yung; Tsai, Lian Cheng; Wee, William G.

    1988-01-01

    An approach to combining the heuristic reasoning from shallow knowledge and the qualitative reasoning from deep knowledge is described. The shallow knowledge is represented in production rules and under the direct control of the inference engine. The deep knowledge is represented in frames, which may be put in a relational DataBase Management System. This approach takes advantage of both reasoning schemes and results in improved efficiency as well as expanded problem solving ability.

  3. Generation method of educational materials using qualitative reasoning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshimura, Seiichi; Yamada, Shigeo; Fujisawa, Noriyoshi.

    1992-01-01

    Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry has developed a nuclear power plant educational system in which educational materials for several events are included. The system effectively teaches operators by tailoring the event explanations to their knowledge levels of understanding. The preparation of the educational materials, however, is laborious and this becomes one of the problems in the practical use of the system. Discussed in the present paper is a basic explanation generation method using qualitative reasoning. This has been developed to solve the problem. Qualitative equations describing a recirculation pumps trip were transformed into production rules. These were stored in the knowledge base of an event explanation generation system together with explanation sentences. When an operator selects a certain variable's time-interval in which he wants to know the reasons for a variable change, the inference engine searches for the rule which satisfies both the qualitative value and qualitative differential value concerned with this time-interval. Then the event explanation generation section provides explanations by combining the explanation sentences attached to the rules. This paper demonstrates that it is possible to apply qualitative reasoning to such complex reactor systems, and also that explanations can be generated using the simulation results from a transient analysis code. (author)

  4. Diagnostic reasoning using qualitative causal models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sudduth, A.L.

    1992-01-01

    The application of expert systems to reasoning problems involving real-time data from plant measurements has been a topic of much research, but few practical systems have been deployed. One obstacle to wider use of expert systems in applications involving real-time data is the lack of adequate knowledge representation methodologies for dynamic processes. Knowledge bases composed mainly of rules have disadvantages when applied to dynamic processes and real-time data. This paper describes a methodology for the development of qualitative causal models that can be used as knowledge bases for reasoning about process dynamic behavior. These models provide a systematic method for knowledge base construction, considerably reducing the engineering effort required. They also offer much better opportunities for verification and validation of the knowledge base, thus increasing the possibility of the application of expert systems to reasoning about mission critical systems. Starting with the Signed Directed Graph (SDG) method that has been successfully applied to describe the behavior of diverse dynamic processes, the paper shows how certain non-physical behaviors that result from abstraction may be eliminated by applying causal constraint to the models. The resulting Extended Signed Directed Graph (ESDG) may then be compiled to produce a model for use in process fault diagnosis. This model based reasoning methodology is used in the MOBIAS system being developed by Duke Power Company under EPRI sponsorship. 15 refs., 4 figs

  5. A research on applications of qualitative reasoning techniques in Human Acts Simulation Program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Far, B.H.

    1992-04-01

    Human Acts Simulation Program (HASP) is a ten-year research project of the Computing and Information Systems Center of JAERI. In HASP the goal is developing programs for an advanced intelligent robot to accomplish multiple instructions (for instance, related to surveillance, inspection and maintenance) in nuclear power plants. Some recent artificial intelligence techniques can contribute to this project. This report introduces some original contributions concerning application of Qualitative Reasoning (QR) techniques in HASP. The focus is on the knowledge-intensive tasks, including model-based reasoning, analytic learning, fault diagnosis and functional reasoning. The multi-level extended qualitative modeling for the Skill-Rule-Knowledge (S-R-K) based reasoning, that included the coordination and timing of events, Qualitative Sensitivity analysis (Q S A), Subjective Qualitative Fault Diagnosis (S Q F D) and Qualitative Function Formation (Q F F ) techniques are introduced. (author) 123 refs

  6. Reasons for Whistleblowing: A Qualitative Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali BALTACI

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Whistleblowing has become a commonly encountered concept in recent times. Negative behaviors and actions can be experienced in any organization, and whistleblowing, as a communication process, is a kind of ethical behavior. Whistleblowing is the transmission of an unfavorable situation discovered in the organization to either internal or external authorities. An examination of the reasons for the employee’s whistleblowing is important for a better understanding of this concept; hence, this research focuses on the reasons for whistleblowing. In addition, the reasons for avoiding whistleblowing were also investigated. This research, which is designed as a qualitative study, is based on the phenomenological approach. Interviews were conducted with open-ended, semi-structured interview form in the study. The research was conducted on 20 teachers, 12 administrators, and 7 inspectors. The data were analyzed using the content analysis method. As a result of the research, the individual, organizational and social reasons for whistleblowing have been differentiated. Among the individual reasons for whistleblowing are the considerations of protecting and gaining interests. Organizational reasons include business ethics and the expectation of subsequent promotion. Social reasons encompass social benefits, social justice, and religious belief. Reasons for avoiding whistleblowing vary based on retaliation and worry. This research is considered important because as it is believed to be the first qualitative research to approach the reasons for whistleblowing. The results of this research have revealed gaps in the understanding of this area for future studies.

  7. Qualitative reasoning for biological network inference from systematic perturbation experiments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badaloni, Silvana; Di Camillo, Barbara; Sambo, Francesco

    2012-01-01

    The systematic perturbation of the components of a biological system has been proven among the most informative experimental setups for the identification of causal relations between the components. In this paper, we present Systematic Perturbation-Qualitative Reasoning (SPQR), a novel Qualitative Reasoning approach to automate the interpretation of the results of systematic perturbation experiments. Our method is based on a qualitative abstraction of the experimental data: for each perturbation experiment, measured values of the observed variables are modeled as lower, equal or higher than the measurements in the wild type condition, when no perturbation is applied. The algorithm exploits a set of IF-THEN rules to infer causal relations between the variables, analyzing the patterns of propagation of the perturbation signals through the biological network, and is specifically designed to minimize the rate of false positives among the inferred relations. Tested on both simulated and real perturbation data, SPQR indeed exhibits a significantly higher precision than the state of the art.

  8. The new AP Physics exams: Integrating qualitative and quantitative reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elby, Andrew

    2015-04-01

    When physics instructors and education researchers emphasize the importance of integrating qualitative and quantitative reasoning in problem solving, they usually mean using those types of reasoning serially and separately: first students should analyze the physical situation qualitatively/conceptually to figure out the relevant equations, then they should process those equations quantitatively to generate a solution, and finally they should use qualitative reasoning to check that answer for plausibility (Heller, Keith, & Anderson, 1992). The new AP Physics 1 and 2 exams will, of course, reward this approach to problem solving. But one kind of free response question will demand and reward a further integration of qualitative and quantitative reasoning, namely mathematical modeling and sense-making--inventing new equations to capture a physical situation and focusing on proportionalities, inverse proportionalities, and other functional relations to infer what the equation ``says'' about the physical world. In this talk, I discuss examples of these qualitative-quantitative translation questions, highlighting how they differ from both standard quantitative and standard qualitative questions. I then discuss the kinds of modeling activities that can help AP and college students develop these skills and habits of mind.

  9. Research on SDG-Based Qualitative Reasoning in Conceptual Design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kai Li

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Conceptual design is the initial stage throughout the product life cycle, whose main purposes include function creation, function decomposition, and function and subfunction designs. At this stage, the information about product function and structure has the characteristics of imprecision, incompleteness, being qualitative, and so forth, which will affect the validity of conceptual design. In this paper, the signed directed graph is used to reveal the inherent causal relationship and interactions among the variables and find qualitative interactions between design variables and design purpose with the help of causal sequence analysis and constraint propagation. In the case of incomplete information, qualitative reasoning, which has the function of qualitative behavior prediction, can improve conceptual design level aided by the computer. To some extent, qualitative reasoning plays a supplementary role in evaluating scheme and predicting function. At last, with the problem of planar four-bar mechanism design, a qualitative reasoning flowchart based on the Signed Directed Graph is introduced, and an analysis is made of how to adjust design parameters to make the trajectory of a moving point reach to the predetermined position so as to meet the design requirements and achieve the effect that aided designers expect in conceptual design.

  10. Qualitative Reasoning about Relative Directions : Computational Complexity and Practical Algorithm

    OpenAIRE

    Lee, Jae Hee

    2013-01-01

    Qualitative spatial reasoning (QSR) enables cognitive agents to reason about space using abstract symbols. Among several aspects of space (e.g., topology, direction, distance) directional information is useful for agents navigating in space. Observers typically describe their environment by specifying the relative directions in which they see other objects or other people from their point of view. As such, qualitative reasoning about relative directions, i.e., determining whether a given stat...

  11. Qualitative models for space system engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forbus, Kenneth D.

    1990-01-01

    The objectives of this project were: (1) to investigate the implications of qualitative modeling techniques for problems arising in the monitoring, diagnosis, and design of Space Station subsystems and procedures; (2) to identify the issues involved in using qualitative models to enhance and automate engineering functions. These issues include representing operational criteria, fault models, alternate ontologies, and modeling continuous signals at a functional level of description; and (3) to develop a prototype collection of qualitative models for fluid and thermal systems commonly found in Space Station subsystems. Potential applications of qualitative modeling to space-systems engineering, including the notion of intelligent computer-aided engineering are summarized. Emphasis is given to determining which systems of the proposed Space Station provide the most leverage for study, given the current state of the art. Progress on using qualitative models, including development of the molecular collection ontology for reasoning about fluids, the interaction of qualitative and quantitative knowledge in analyzing thermodynamic cycles, and an experiment on building a natural language interface to qualitative reasoning is reported. Finally, some recommendations are made for future research.

  12. Information Uncertainty to Compare Qualitative Reasoning Security Risk Assessment Results

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chavez, Gregory M [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Key, Brian P [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Zerkle, David K [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Shevitz, Daniel W [Los Alamos National Laboratory

    2009-01-01

    The security risk associated with malevolent acts such as those of terrorism are often void of the historical data required for a traditional PRA. Most information available to conduct security risk assessments for these malevolent acts is obtained from subject matter experts as subjective judgements. Qualitative reasoning approaches such as approximate reasoning and evidential reasoning are useful for modeling the predicted risk from information provided by subject matter experts. Absent from these approaches is a consistent means to compare the security risk assessment results. Associated with each predicted risk reasoning result is a quantifiable amount of information uncertainty which can be measured and used to compare the results. This paper explores using entropy measures to quantify the information uncertainty associated with conflict and non-specificity in the predicted reasoning results. The measured quantities of conflict and non-specificity can ultimately be used to compare qualitative reasoning results which are important in triage studies and ultimately resource allocation. Straight forward extensions of previous entropy measures are presented here to quantify the non-specificity and conflict associated with security risk assessment results obtained from qualitative reasoning models.

  13. Qualitative Spatial Reasoning for Visual Grouping in Sketches

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Forbus, Kenneth D; Tomai, Emmett; Usher, Jeffrey

    2003-01-01

    We believe that qualitative spatial reasoning provides a bridge between perception and cognition, by using visual computations to construct structural descriptions that have functional significance...

  14. Application of qualitative reasoning with functional knowledge represented by Multilevel Flow Modeling to diagnosis of accidental situation in nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshida, Kazuo; Tanabe, Fumiya; Kawase, Katumi.

    1996-01-01

    It has been proposed to use the Multilevel Flow Modeling (MFM) by M. Lind as a framework for functional knowledge representation for qualitative reasoning in a complex process system such as nuclear power plant. To build a knowledge base with MFM framework makes it possible to represent functional characteristics in different levels of abstraction and aggregation. A pilot inference system based on the qualitative reasoning with MFM has been developed to diagnose a cause of abnormal events in a typical PWR power plant. Some single failure events has been diagnosed with this system to verify the proposed method. In the verification study, some investigation has been also performed to clarify the effects of this knowledge representation in efficiency of reasoning and ambiguity of qualitative reasoning. (author)

  15. A qualitative reasoning model of algal bloom in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cioaca, E.; Linnebank, F.E.; Bredeweg, B.; Salles, P.

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents a Qualitative Reasoning model of the algal bloom phenomenon and its effects in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR) in Romania. Qualitative Reasoning models represent processes and their cause-effect relationships in a flexible and conceptually rich manner and as such can be

  16. A method to reduce ambiguities of qualitative reasoning for conceptual design applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    D'Amelio, V.; Chmarra, M.K.; Tomiyama, T.

    2013-01-01

    Qualitative reasoning can generate ambiguous behaviors due to the lack of quantitative information. Despite many different research results focusing on ambiguities reduction, fundamentally it is impossible to totally remove ambiguities with only qualitative methods and to guarantee the consistency

  17. From qualitative reasoning models to Bayesian-based learner modeling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Milošević, U.; Bredeweg, B.; de Kleer, J.; Forbus, K.D.

    2010-01-01

    Assessing the knowledge of a student is a fundamental part of intelligent learning environments. We present a Bayesian network based approach to dealing with uncertainty when estimating a learner’s state of knowledge in the context of Qualitative Reasoning (QR). A proposal for a global architecture

  18. Functional reasoning, explanation and analysis: Part 1: a survey on theories, techniques and applied systems. Part 2: qualitative function formation technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Far, B.H.

    1992-01-01

    Functional Reasoning (FR) enables people to derive the purpose of objects and explain their functions, JAERI's 'Human Acts Simulation Program (HASP)', started from 1987, has the goal of developing programs of the underlying technologies for intelligent robots by imitating the intelligent behavior of humans. FR is considered a useful reasoning method in HASP and applied to understand function of tools and objects in the Toolbox Project. In this report, first, the results of the diverse FR researches within a variety of disciplines are reviewed and the common core and basic problems are identified. Then the qualitative function formation (QFF) technique is introduced. Some novel points are: extending the common qualitative models to include interactions and timing of events by defining temporal and dependency constraints, and binding it with the conventional qualitative simulation. Function concepts are defined as interpretations of either a persistence or an order in the sequence of states, using the trace of the qualitative state vector derived by qualitative simulation on the extended qualitative model. This offers solution to some of the FR problems and leads to a method for generalization and comparison of functions of different objects. (author) 85 refs

  19. Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hohimer, Ryan E; Greitzer, Frank L; Hampton, Shawn D

    2014-03-04

    Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods are described. According to one aspect, an information processing system includes working memory comprising a semantic graph which comprises a plurality of abstractions, wherein the abstractions individually include an individual which is defined according to an ontology and a reasoning system comprising a plurality of reasoning modules which are configured to process different abstractions of the semantic graph, wherein a first of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a first classification type of the ontology and a second of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a second classification type of the ontology, wherein the first and second classification types are different.

  20. Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hohimer, Ryan E.; Greitzer, Frank L.; Hampton, Shawn D.

    2016-08-23

    Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods are described. According to one aspect, an information processing system includes working memory comprising a semantic graph which comprises a plurality of abstractions, wherein the abstractions individually include an individual which is defined according to an ontology and a reasoning system comprising a plurality of reasoning modules which are configured to process different abstractions of the semantic graph, wherein a first of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a first classification type of the ontology and a second of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a second classification type of the ontology, wherein the first and second classification types are different.

  1. Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hohimer, Ryan E.; Greitzer, Frank L.; Hampton, Shawn D.

    2015-08-18

    Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods are described. According to one aspect, an information processing system includes working memory comprising a semantic graph which comprises a plurality of abstractions, wherein the abstractions individually include an individual which is defined according to an ontology and a reasoning system comprising a plurality of reasoning modules which are configured to process different abstractions of the semantic graph, wherein a first of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a first classification type of the ontology and a second of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a second classification type of the ontology, wherein the first and second classification types are different.

  2. Towards a structured approach to building qualitative reasoning models and simulations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bredeweg, B.; Salles, P.; Bouwer, A.; Liem, J.; Nuttle, T.; Cioca, E.; Nakova, E.; Noble, R.; Caldas, A.L.R.; Uzunov, Y.; Varadinova, E.; Zitek, A.

    2008-01-01

    Successful transfer and uptake of qualitative reasoning technology for modelling and simulation in a variety of domains has been hampered by the lack of a structured methodology to support formalisation of ideas. We present a framework that structures and supports the capture of conceptual knowledge

  3. In Their Own Words: A Qualitative Study of the Reasons Australian University Students Plagiarize

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devlin, Marcia; Gray, Kathleen

    2007-01-01

    The ways in which universities and individual academics attempt to deter and respond to student plagiarism may be based on untested assumptions about particular or primary reasons for this behaviour. Using a series of group interviews, this qualitative study gathered the views of 56 Australian university students on the possible reasons for…

  4. Qualitative investigation of the reasons behind opposition to water fluoridation in regional NSW, Australia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthew C Knox

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: To investigate reasons behind strong opposition to water fluoridation in regional New South Wales, Australia, and to make recommendations to improve community engagement. Importance: Few studies have used qualitative methodologies to understand the reasons for strong antifluoridation views. An understanding of these reasons could be useful when designing public campaigns to combat the strong antifluoridation message. Methods: The qualitative study used semistructured interviewing and thematic analysis. Ten participants were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling methods until data saturation was reached. Thematic analysis and graphical representation of themes assisted in analysing the data for logical connections and relationships. Results: Six dominant themes and numerous subthemes were identified. Five of the major themes were reasons for opposition: scepticism, health effects, ethics, environmental impacts and economics. Each of these was inextricably linked to a sixth major theme: alternatives to fluoridation. Conclusions: All participants had strongly held antifluoridation views, and provided a unique insight into their perceptions and reasons for opposing water fluoridation. Concerns about ‘fraudulent research’ and the influence of industry on government bodies were novel themes. The concerns raised could be used to inform future population health campaigns, research, public education and resource-allocation decisions. Open community consultation may be able to address the issues raised in a nonjudgemental and collaborative manner.

  5. Analysis of Water Conflicts across Natural and Societal Boundaries: Integration of Quantitative Modeling and Qualitative Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Y.; Balaram, P.; Islam, S.

    2009-12-01

    Water issues and problems have bewildered humankind for a long time yet a systematic approach for understanding such issues remain elusive. This is partly because many water-related problems are framed from a contested terrain in which many actors (individuals, communities, businesses, NGOs, states, and countries) compete to protect their own and often conflicting interests. We argue that origin of many water problems may be understood as a dynamic consequence of competition, interconnections, and feedback among variables in the Natural and Societal Systems (NSSs). Within the natural system, we recognize that triple constraints on water- water quantity (Q), water quality (P), and ecosystem (E)- and their interdependencies and feedback may lead to conflicts. Such inherent and multifaceted constraints of the natural water system are exacerbated often at the societal boundaries. Within the societal system, interdependencies and feedback among values and norms (V), economy (C), and governance (G) interact in various ways to create intractable contextual differences. The observation that natural and societal systems are linked is not novel. Our argument here, however, is that rigid disciplinary boundaries between these two domains will not produce solutions to the water problems we are facing today. The knowledge needed to address water problems need to go beyond scientific assessment in which societal variables (C, G, and V) are treated as exogenous or largely ignored, and policy research that does not consider the impact of natural variables (E, P, and Q) and that coupling among them. Consequently, traditional quantitative methods alone are not appropriate to address the dynamics of water conflicts, because we cannot quantify the societal variables and the exact mathematical relationships among the variables are not fully known. On the other hand, conventional qualitative study in societal domain has mainly been in the form of individual case studies and therefore

  6. Ecological Applications of Qualitative Reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bredeweg, B.; Salles, P.; Neumann, M.; Recknagel, F.

    2006-01-01

    Representing qualitative ecological knowledge is of great interest for ecological modelling. QR provides means to build conceptual models and to make qualitative knowledge explicit, organized and manageable by means of symbolic computing. This chapter discusses the main characteristics of QR using

  7. A qualitative and quantitative study of the reasons of attrition in an Indian hospital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kasturi Shukla

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: The study attempts to evaluate the reasons of attrition in the organization from the perspective of the existing as well as the leaving employees; compare and identify the gaps, if any between the perspectives of these two employees groups. The study also aims to critically analyze the utility of ′exit interviews′ for analyzing the reasons of attrition. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a 150-bedded hospital in Ahmedabad, India, during May-July 2015. Exit interview data of forty leaving employees were collected and reviewed. One hundred existing employees were interviewed through quantitative and qualitative methods to understand their perceptions about attrition in the organization. Results: Attrition rate of 26% was observed in the study and 57% leaving employees were nurses. 70% leaving employees cite "blanket reasons" such as better opportunity and personal reasons during exit interviews. 72.5% leaving employees believed that exit interview is largely for record purpose and 11% were unsure of its utility. However, when existing employees were probed qualitatively, a variety of responses were received. 65% existing employees quoted salary issues, partiality/poor recognition, improper assignment of tasks, and monotonous work as reasons for attrition in the organization. Conclusion: Exit interviews somewhere fail to probe into the real reasons of attrition. To improve retention, organizations must monitor their existing employee′s intention to continue working in the organization and any sign indicating a poor intention to continue must be addressed immediately to avoid ripple effects. Moreover, to use exit interview as a tool to improve employee retention, leaving employees must be interviewed in-depth to uncover the actual reasons for quitting the job.

  8. Qualitative multi-criteria preference representation and reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Visser, W.M.

    2012-01-01

    The research reported on in this thesis is part of a larger research project that aims to develop a negotiation support system called the Pocket Negotiator. This thesis focuses on the question how such a system can represent and reason about a user’s preferences between the possible outcomes of a

  9. Case-Based FCTF Reasoning System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Lu

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Case-based reasoning uses old information to infer the answer of new problems. In case-based reasoning, a reasoner firstly records the previous cases, then searches the previous case list that is similar to the current one and uses that to solve the new case. Case-based reasoning means adapting old solving solutions to new situations. This paper proposes a reasoning system based on the case-based reasoning method. To begin, we show the theoretical structure and algorithm of from coarse to fine (FCTF reasoning system, and then demonstrate that it is possible to successfully learn and reason new information. Finally, we use our system to predict practical weather conditions based on previous ones and experiments show that the prediction accuracy increases with further learning of the FCTF reasoning system.

  10. The Reasons for the Emergence of Violent Behavior and Attempted Murder from the Perspective of Male Killers: A qualitative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmad Kalateh Sadati

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: Murder is a violent social behavior, which stems from various reasons. The purpose of the present research is to evaluate the reasons for murder from the perspective of killers. Methods: The present research is a qualitative study which involves 23 male killers sampled purposefully from Adel Abad prison in Shiraz. After conducting a semi-structured interview, data was analysed through qualitative content analysis. Results: The results showed that three reasons including Honor (fear of prolongation of trial, recognition of the legitimacy of murder, unintentional (mental stress, consumption of alcohol and psychotropic substances, availability of weapons, and subcultural values (considering crime to be a normal event are the major reasons for emergence of murder among these people. Results of the research indicate that murder occurs based on interpretive structures of actors; which form their values and behaviors and potentially can lead to murder. Conclusion: In order to decline violent behavior especially murder; policies of the judicial system in the country should ensure security for citizens. This security can be achieved through non-prolonged trials, timeliness of law especially in matters of Honor, banning weapons in civil society and ultimately reducing the influence of anti-social and subcultural values in various social contexts.

  11. The use of emotional intelligence capabilities in clinical reasoning and decision-making: A qualitative, exploratory study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchinson, Marie; Hurley, John; Kozlowski, Desirée; Whitehair, Leeann

    2018-02-01

    To explore clinical nurses' experiences of using emotional intelligence capabilities during clinical reasoning and decision-making. There has been little research exploring whether, or how, nurses employ emotional intelligence (EI) in clinical reasoning and decision-making. Qualitative phase of a larger mixed-methods study. Semistructured qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of registered nurses (n = 12) following EI training and coaching. Constructivist thematic analysis was employed to analyse the narrative transcripts. Three themes emerged: the sensibility to engage EI capabilities in clinical contexts, motivation to actively engage with emotions in clinical decision-making and incorporating emotional and technical perspectives in decision-making. Continuing to separate cognition and emotion in research, theorising and scholarship on clinical reasoning is counterproductive. Understanding more about nurses' use of EI has the potential to improve the calibre of decisions, and the safety and quality of care delivered. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Clinical reasoning skills in final-year dental students: A qualitative cross-curricula comparison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nafea, E T; Dennick, R

    2018-05-01

    The aim of this research was to explore the perceptions of undergraduate dental students regarding clinical reasoning skills and also discover the influences of different curriculum designs on the acquisition of these skills by students. Eighteen final-year students from three different dental schools with varied curricula and cultures participated in the current research. The research used qualitative methodology. The study took place in 2013-2014. Interviews captured the participants' own understanding of clinical reasoning and its acquisition plus they "talked through" a clinical problem using a "think-aloud" technique. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the transcripts of the recorded interviews. Results obtained were related to curriculum structure. Unfamiliarity with the term clinical reasoning was common in students. Students from different schools used different strategies to reason when discussing clinical vignettes. Clinical reasoning process was dominated by pattern recognition. Students' behaviours seemed to be influenced by cultural factors. This research contributes to a greater understanding of how students learn, understand and apply dental clinical reasoning which will improve educational practices in the future. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Qualitative Description and Quantitative Optimization of Tactical Reconnaissance Agents System Organization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiong Li

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the problem of qualitative description and quantitative optimization for tactical reconnaissance agents system organization is considered with objective of higher teamwork efficiency and more reasonable task balancing strategies. By analyzing tactical reconnaissance system and its environment, task-(role-entity agent mapping mechanism and agents in system organization, the system framework is qualitatively described. By transforming the system into an interaction task request-service mechanism queuing system, a Markov chain of system state transition is obtained, since its state transition process in interaction is Markov process and accords with real tactical reconnaissance behaviors. By solving the state transition equations, the inherent relationship of tactical reconnaissance agents is found and the optimized system configuration is obtained. The established simulation demonstration system proves that the proposed approach and model are feasible and effective.

  14. Nurses' ethical reasoning in cases of physical restraint in acute elderly care: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goethals, Sabine; Dierckx de Casterlé, Bernadette; Gastmans, Chris

    2013-11-01

    In their practice, nurses make daily decisions that are ethically informed. An ethical decision is the result of a complex reasoning process based on knowledge and experience and driven by ethical values. Especially in acute elderly care and more specifically decisions concerning the use of physical restraint require a thoughtful deliberation of the different values at stake. Qualitative evidence concerning nurses' decision-making in cases of physical restraint provided important insights in the complexity of decision-making as a trajectory. However a nuanced and refined understanding of the reasoning process in terms of ethical values is still lacking. A qualitative interview design, inspired by the Grounded Theory approach, was carried out to explore nurses' reasoning process in terms of ethical values. We interviewed 21 acute geriatric nurses from 12 hospitals in different regions in Flanders, Belgium in the period October 2009-April 2011. The Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven was used to analyse interview data. Nurses' decision-making is characterized as an ethical deliberation process where different values are identified and where the process of balancing these values forms the essence of ethical deliberation. Ethical decision-making in cases of physical restraint implies that nurses have to choose which values receive priority in the process, which entails that not all values can be respected to the same degree. As a result, decision making can be experienced as difficult, even as a dilemma. Driven by the overwhelming goal of protecting physical integrity, nurses took into account the values of dignity and justice more implicitly and less dominantly.

  15. Reasonable Accommodation Information Tracking System

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Reasonable Accommodation Information Tracking System (RAITS) is a case management system that allows the National Reasonable Accommodation Coordinator (NRAC) and...

  16. Qualitative knowledge engineering for nuclear applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jae H.; Kim, Ko R.; Lee, Jae C.

    1996-01-01

    After the TMI nuclear power plant accident, the two topics of plant safety and operational efficiency became more important areas of artificial intelligence, which have difference characteristics. Qualitative deep model is the recently prospective technology of AI, that can overcome several handicaps of the existing expert systems such as lack of common sense reasoning. The application of AI to the large and complex system like nuclear power plants is typically and effectively done through a module-based hierarchical system. As each module has to be built with suitable AI system. Through the experiences of hierarchical system construction, we aimed to develop basic AI application schemes for the power plant safety and operational efficiency as well as basic technologies for autonomous power plants. The goal of the research is to develop qualitative reasoning technologies for nuclear power plants. For this purpose, the development of qualitative modeling technologies and qualitative behaviour prediction technologies of the power plant are accomplished. In addition, the feasibility of application of typical qualitative reasoning technologies to power plants is studied . The goal of the application is to develop intelligent control technologies of power plants, support technologies. For these purposes, we analyzed the operation of power plants according to its operation purpose: power generation operation, shut-down and start-up operation. As a result, qualitative model of basic components were sketched, including pipes, valves, pumps and heat exchangers. Finally, plant behaviour prediction technologies through qualitative plant heat transfer model and design support technologies through 2nd-order differential equation were developed. For the construction of AI system of power plants, we have studied on the mixed module based hierarchical software. As a testbed, we have considered the spent fuel system and the feedwater system. We also studied the integration

  17. A qualitative systematic review of the reasons for parental attendance at the emergency department with children presenting with minor illness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butun, Ahmet; Hemingway, Pippa

    2018-01-01

    Over 5 million children attend the Emergency Department (ED) annually in England with an ever-increasing paediatric emergency caseload echoed globally. Approximately 60% of children present with illness and the majority have non-urgent illness creating burgeoning pressures on children's ED and this crisis resonates globally. To date no qualitative systematic review exists that focuses on the parental reasons for childhood attendance at the ED in this sub-group. To identify parental reasons for attending ED for their children presenting with minor illness. A qualitative systematic review was conducted against inclusion/exclusion criteria. Five electronic databases and key journals were searched in June 2015. 471 studies were identified and following study selection, 4 qualitative studies were included. Nine themes were identified e.g. dissatisfaction with family medical services, perceived advantages of ED and 'child suffering' with novel and insightful sub-themes of 'hereditary anxiety', 'taking it off our hands', ED as a 'magical place'. This novel qualitative systematic review examined parental attendance presenting with childhood minor illness of interest to emergency care reformers and clinicians. ED attendance is complex and multifactorial but parents provide vital insight to ED reformers on parental reasons for ED attendance in this sub-group. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Advancing beyond the system: telemedicine nurses' clinical reasoning using a computerised decision support system for patients with COPD - an ethnographic study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barken, Tina Lien; Thygesen, Elin; Söderhamn, Ulrika

    2017-12-28

    Telemedicine is changing traditional nursing care, and entails nurses performing advanced and complex care within a new clinical environment, and monitoring patients at a distance. Telemedicine practice requires complex disease management, advocating that the nurses' reasoning and decision-making processes are supported. Computerised decision support systems are being used increasingly to assist reasoning and decision-making in different situations. However, little research has focused on the clinical reasoning of nurses using a computerised decision support system in a telemedicine setting. Therefore, the objective of the study is to explore the process of telemedicine nurses' clinical reasoning when using a computerised decision support system for the management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The factors influencing the reasoning and decision-making processes were investigated. In this ethnographic study, a combination of data collection methods, including participatory observations, the think-aloud technique, and a focus group interview was employed. Collected data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. When telemedicine nurses used a computerised decision support system for the management of patients with complex, unstable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, two categories emerged: "the process of telemedicine nurses' reasoning to assess health change" and "the influence of the telemedicine setting on nurses' reasoning and decision-making processes". An overall theme, termed "advancing beyond the system", represented the connection between the reasoning processes and the telemedicine work and setting, where being familiar with the patient functioned as a foundation for the nurses' clinical reasoning process. In the telemedicine setting, when supported by a computerised decision support system, nurses' reasoning was enabled by the continuous flow of digital clinical data, regular video-mediated contact and shared decision

  19. Developing a framework for qualitative engineering: Research in design and analysis of complex structural systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franck, Bruno M.

    1990-01-01

    The research is focused on automating the evaluation of complex structural systems, whether for the design of a new system or the analysis of an existing one, by developing new structural analysis techniques based on qualitative reasoning. The problem is to identify and better understand: (1) the requirements for the automation of design, and (2) the qualitative reasoning associated with the conceptual development of a complex system. The long-term objective is to develop an integrated design-risk assessment environment for the evaluation of complex structural systems. The scope of this short presentation is to describe the design and cognition components of the research. Design has received special attention in cognitive science because it is now identified as a problem solving activity that is different from other information processing tasks (1). Before an attempt can be made to automate design, a thorough understanding of the underlying design theory and methodology is needed, since the design process is, in many cases, multi-disciplinary, complex in size and motivation, and uses various reasoning processes involving different kinds of knowledge in ways which vary from one context to another. The objective is to unify all the various types of knowledge under one framework of cognition. This presentation focuses on the cognitive science framework that we are using to represent the knowledge aspects associated with the human mind's abstraction abilities and how we apply it to the engineering knowledge and engineering reasoning in design.

  20. How to Be Both Rich and Happy: Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Strategic Reasoning about Multi-Player Games

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bulling, Nils; Goranko, Valentin

    2013-01-01

    We propose a logical framework combining a game-theoretic study of abilities of agents to achieve quantitative objectives in multi-player games by optimizing payoffs or preferences on outcomes with a logical analysis of the abilities of players for achieving qualitative objectives of players, i.......e., reaching or maintaining game states with desired properties. We enrich concurrent game models with payoffs for the normal form games associated with the states of the model and propose a quantitative extension of the logic ATL* enabling the combination of quantitative and qualitative reasoning....

  1. Dynamic reasoning in a knowledge-based system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, Anand S.; Foo, Norman Y.

    1988-01-01

    Any space based system, whether it is a robot arm assembling parts in space or an onboard system monitoring the space station, has to react to changes which cannot be foreseen. As a result, apart from having domain-specific knowledge as in current expert systems, a space based AI system should also have general principles of change. This paper presents a modal logic which can not only represent change but also reason with it. Three primitive operations, expansion, contraction and revision are introduced and axioms which specify how the knowledge base should change when the external world changes are also specified. Accordingly the notion of dynamic reasoning is introduced, which unlike the existing forms of reasoning, provide general principles of change. Dynamic reasoning is based on two main principles, namely minimize change and maximize coherence. A possible-world semantics which incorporates the above two principles is also discussed. The paper concludes by discussing how the dynamic reasoning system can be used to specify actions and hence form an integral part of an autonomous reasoning and planning system.

  2. Qualitative Studies in Information Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sarker, Suprateek; Xiao, Xiao; Beaulieu, Tanya

    2013-01-01

    The authors discuss a review of qualitative papers on information systems (IS) published in various journals between 2001 and 2012. They explain trends related to qualitative research in the chosen journals and the key anatomical components of a qualitative research manuscript, including...

  3. Qualitative feature extractions of chaotic systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vicha, T.; Dohnal, M.

    2008-01-01

    The theory of chaos offers useful tools for systems analysis. However, models of complex systems are based on a network of inconsistent, space and uncertain knowledge items. Traditional quantitative methods of chaos analysis are therefore not applicable. The paper by the same authors [Vicha T, Dohnal M. Qualitative identification of chaotic systems behaviours. Chaos, Solitons and Fractals, in press, [Log. No. 601019] ] presents qualitative interpretation of some chaos concepts. There are only three qualitative values positive/increasing, negative/decreasing and zero/constant. It means that any set of qualitative multidimensional descriptions of unsteady state behaviours is discrete and finite. A finite upper limit exists for the total number of qualitatively distinguishable scenarios. A set of 21 published chaotic models is solved qualitatively and 21 sets of all existing qualitative scenarios are presented. The intersection of all 21 scenario sets is empty. There is no such a behaviour which is common for all 21 models. The set of 21 qualitative models (e.g. Lorenz, Roessler) can be used to compare chaotic behaviours of an unknown qualitative model with them to evaluate if its chaotic behaviours is close to e.g. Lorenz chaotic model and how much

  4. Reasons and remedies for under-representation of women in medical leadership roles: a qualitative study from Australia

    OpenAIRE

    Bismark, Marie; Morris, Jennifer; Thomas, Laura; Loh, Erwin; Phelps, Grant; Dickinson, Helen

    2015-01-01

    Objective To elicit medical leaders? views on reasons and remedies for the under-representation of women in medical leadership roles. Design Qualitative study using semistructured interviews with medical practitioners who work in medical leadership roles. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Setting Public hospitals, private healthcare providers, professional colleges and associations and government organisations in Australia. Participant...

  5. Machine Learning-based Intelligent Formal Reasoning and Proving System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Shengqing; Huang, Xiaojian; Fang, Jiaze; Liang, Jia

    2018-03-01

    The reasoning system can be used in many fields. How to improve reasoning efficiency is the core of the design of system. Through the formal description of formal proof and the regular matching algorithm, after introducing the machine learning algorithm, the system of intelligent formal reasoning and verification has high efficiency. The experimental results show that the system can verify the correctness of propositional logic reasoning and reuse the propositional logical reasoning results, so as to obtain the implicit knowledge in the knowledge base and provide the basic reasoning model for the construction of intelligent system.

  6. How to Be Both Rich and Happy: Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Strategic Reasoning about Multi-Player Games (Extended Abstract

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nils Bulling

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available We propose a logical framework combining a game-theoretic study of abilities of agents to achieve quantitative objectives in multi-player games by optimizing payoffs or preferences on outcomes with a logical analysis of the abilities of players for achieving qualitative objectives of players, i.e., reaching or maintaining game states with desired properties. We enrich concurrent game models with payoffs for the normal form games associated with the states of the model and propose a quantitative extension of the logic ATL* enabling the combination of quantitative and qualitative reasoning.

  7. Doing Qualitative Studies, Using Statistical Reasoning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Tore; Gabrielsen, Gorm

    2016-01-01

    Qualitative studies are associated with interviews, focus groups and observations. We introduce experiments as a way of dealing with such studies. In contrast to the common focus on how many respondents choose a particular behaviour we focus on how much a design affect the individual. This is often...

  8. Reflexive reasoning for distributed real-time systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldstein, David

    1994-01-01

    This paper discusses the implementation and use of reflexive reasoning in real-time, distributed knowledge-based applications. Recently there has been a great deal of interest in agent-oriented systems. Implementing such systems implies a mechanism for sharing knowledge, goals and other state information among the agents. Our techniques facilitate an agent examining both state information about other agents and the parameters of the knowledge-based system shell implementing its reasoning algorithms. The shell implementing the reasoning is the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Toolkit, which is a derivative of CLIPS.

  9. Approximate reasoning in physical systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mutihac, R.

    1991-01-01

    The theory of fuzzy sets provides excellent ground to deal with fuzzy observations (uncertain or imprecise signals, wavelengths, temperatures,etc.) fuzzy functions (spectra and depth profiles) and fuzzy logic and approximate reasoning. First, the basic ideas of fuzzy set theory are briefly presented. Secondly, stress is put on application of simple fuzzy set operations for matching candidate reference spectra of a spectral library to an unknown sample spectrum (e.g. IR spectroscopy). Thirdly, approximate reasoning is applied to infer an unknown property from information available in a database (e.g. crystal systems). Finally, multi-dimensional fuzzy reasoning techniques are suggested. (Author)

  10. Exploring family physicians' reasons to continue or discontinue providing intrapartum care: Qualitative descriptive study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dove, Marion; Dogba, Maman Joyce; Rodríguez, Charo

    2017-08-01

    To examine the reasons why family physicians continue or discontinue providing intrapartum care in their clinical practice. Qualitative descriptive study. Two hospitals located in a multicultural area of Montreal, Que, in November 2011 to June 2012. Sixteen family physicians who were current or former providers of obstetric care. Data were collected using semistructured qualitative interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview transcripts. Three overarching themes that help create understanding of why family doctors continue to provide obstetric care were identified: their attraction, often initiated by role models early in their careers, to practising complete continuity of care and accompanying patients in a special moment in their lives; the personal, family, and organizational pressures experienced while pursuing a family medicine career that includes obstetrics; and their ongoing reflection about continuing to practise obstetrics. The practice of obstetrics was very attractive to family physician participants whether they provided intrapartum care or decided to stop. More professional support and incentives might help keep family doctors practising obstetrics. Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

  11. The operator model as a framework of research on errors and temporal, qualitative and analogical reasoning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Decortis, F.; Drozdowicz, B.; Masson, M.

    1990-01-01

    In this paper the needs and requirements for developing a cognitive model of a human operator are discussed and the computer architecture, currently being developed, is described. Given the approach taken, namely the division of the problem into specialised tasks within an area and using the architecture chosen, it is possible to build independently several cognitive and psychological models such as errors and stress models, as well as models of temporal, qualitative and an analogical reasoning. (author)

  12. Scenario development, qualitative causal analysis and system dynamics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael H. Ruge

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this article is to demonstrate that technology assessments can be supported by methods such as scenario modeling and qualitative causal analysis. At Siemens, these techniques are used to develop preliminary purely qualitative models. These or parts of these comprehensive models may be extended to system dynamics models. While it is currently not possible to automatically generate a system dynamics models (or vice versa, obtain a qualitative simulation model from a system dynamics model, the two thechniques scenario development and qualitative causal analysis provide valuable indications on how to proceed towards a system dynamics model. For the qualitative analysis phase, the Siemens – proprietary prototype Computer – Aided Technology Assessment Software (CATS supportes complete cycle and submodel analysis. Keywords: Health care, telecommucations, qualitative model, sensitivity analysis, system dynamics.

  13. Investigating Reasons for CPAP Adherence in Adolescents: A Qualitative Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prashad, Priya S.; Marcus, Carole L.; Maggs, Jill; Stettler, Nicolas; Cornaglia, Mary A.; Costa, Priscilla; Puzino, Kristina; Xanthopoulos, Melissa; Bradford, Ruth; Barg, Frances K.

    2013-01-01

    Study Objectives: Adolescents with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) represent an important but understudied subgroup of long-term continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) users. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify factors related to adherence from the perspective of adolescents and their caregivers. Methods: Individual open-ended, semi-structured interviews were conducted with adolescents (n = 21) and caregivers (n = 20). Objective adherence data from the adolescents' CPAP machines during the previous month was obtained. Adolescents with different adherence levels and their caregivers were asked their views on CPAP. Using a modified grounded theory approach, we identified themes and developed theories that explained the adolescents' adherence patterns. Results: Adolescent participants (n = 21) were aged 12-18 years, predominantly male (n = 15), African American (n = 16), users of CPAP for at least one month. Caregivers were mainly mothers (n = 17). Seven adolescents had high use (mean use 381 ± 80 min per night), 7 had low use (mean use 30 ± 24 min per night), and 7 had no use during the month prior to being interviewed. Degree of structure in the home, social reactions, mode of communication among family members, and perception of benefits were issues that played a role in CPAP adherence. Conclusions: Understanding the adolescent and family experience of using CPAP may be key to increasing adolescent CPAP adherence. As a result of our findings, we speculate that health education, peer support groups, and developmentally appropriate individualized support strategies may be important in promoting adherence. Future studies should examine these theories of CPAP adherence. Citation: Prashad PS; Marcus CL; Maggs J; Stettler N; Cornaglia MA; Costa P; Puzino K; Xanthopoulos M; Bradford R; Barg FK. Investigating reasons for CPAP adherence in adolescents: a qualitative approach. J Clin Sleep Med 2013;9(12):1303-1313. PMID:24340293

  14. Object reasoning for waste remediation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pennock, K.A.; Bohn, S.J.; Franklin, A.L.

    1991-08-01

    A large number of contaminated waste sites across the United States await size remediation efforts. These sites can be physically complex, composed of multiple, possibly interacting, contaminants distributed throughout one or more media. The Remedial Action Assessment System (RAAS) is being designed and developed to support decisions concerning the selection of remediation alternatives. The goal of this system is to broaden the consideration of remediation alternatives, while reducing the time and cost of making these considerations. The Remedial Action Assessment System is a hybrid system, designed and constructed using object-oriented, knowledge- based systems, and structured programming techniques. RAAS uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative reasoning to consider and suggest remediation alternatives. The reasoning process that drives this application is centered around an object-oriented organization of remediation technology information. This paper describes the information structure and organization used to support this reasoning process. In addition, the paper describes the level of detail of the technology related information used in RAAS, discusses required assumptions and procedural implications of these assumptions, and provides rationale for structuring RAAS in this manner. 3 refs., 3 figs

  15. Reasons for family involvement in elective surgical decision-making in Taiwan: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Mei-Ling; Huang, Chuen-Teng; Chen, Ching-Huey

    2017-07-01

    To inquire into the reasons for family involvement in adult patients' surgical decision-making processes from the point of view of the patients' family. Making a patient the centre of medical decision-making is essential for respecting individual's autonomy. However, in a Chinese society, family members are often deeply involved in a patient's medical decision-making. Although family involvement has long been viewed as an aspect of the Chinese culture, empirical evidence of the reasons for family involvement in medical decision-making has been lacking. A qualitative study. In order to record and examine reasons for family involvement in adult patients' surgical decision-making, 12 different family members of 12 elective surgery patients were interviewed for collecting and analysing data. Three major reasons for family involvement emerged from the data analyses: (1) to share responsibility; (2) to ensure the correctness of medical information; and (3) to safeguard the patient's well-being. These findings also reveal that culture is not the only reason for family involvement. Making decision to undergo a surgery is a tough and stressful process for a patient. Family may provide the patient with timely psychological support to assist the patient to communicate with his or her physician(s) and other medical personnel to ensure their rights. It is also found that due to the imbalanced doctor-patient power relationship, a patient may be unable, unwilling to, or even dare not, tell the whole truth about his or her illness or feelings to the medical personnel. Thus, a patient would expect his or her family to undertake such a mission during the informed consent and decision-making processes. The results of this study may provide medical professionals with relevant insights into family involvement in adult patients' surgical decision-making. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Understanding clinical reasoning in osteopathy: a qualitative research approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grace, Sandra; Orrock, Paul; Vaughan, Brett; Blaich, Raymond; Coutts, Rosanne

    2016-01-01

    Clinical reasoning has been described as a process that draws heavily on the knowledge, skills and attributes that are particular to each health profession. However, the clinical reasoning processes of practitioners of different disciplines demonstrate many similarities, including hypothesis generation and reflective practice. The aim of this study was to understand clinical reasoning in osteopathy from the perspective of osteopathic clinical educators and the extent to which it was similar or different from clinical reasoning in other health professions. This study was informed by constructivist grounded theory. Participants were clinical educators in osteopathic teaching institutions in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Focus groups and written critical reflections provided a rich data set. Data were analysed using constant comparison to develop inductive categories. According to participants, clinical reasoning in osteopathy is different from clinical reasoning in other health professions. Osteopaths use a two-phase approach: an initial biomedical screen for serious pathology, followed by use of osteopathic reasoning models that are based on the relationship between structure and function in the human body. Clinical reasoning in osteopathy was also described as occurring in a number of contexts (e.g. patient, practitioner and community) and drawing on a range of metaskills (e.g. hypothesis generation and reflexivity) that have been described in other health professions. The use of diagnostic reasoning models that are based on the relationship between structure and function in the human body differentiated clinical reasoning in osteopathy. These models were not used to name a medical condition but rather to guide the selection of treatment approaches. If confirmed by further research that clinical reasoning in osteopathy is distinct from clinical reasoning in other health professions, then osteopaths may have a unique perspective to bring to multidisciplinary

  17. Patterns of Reasoning about Ecological Systemic Reasoning for Early Elementary Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hokayem, H.

    2016-01-01

    Systems and system models are recognized as a crosscutting concept in the newly released framework for K-12 science education (NRC [National Research Council], 2012). In previous work, I developed a learning progression for systemic reasoning in ecology at the elementary level. The learning progression captured five levels of students' reasoning…

  18. Esophageal cancer prediction based on qualitative features using adaptive fuzzy reasoning method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raed I. Hamed

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Esophageal cancer is one of the most common cancers world-wide and also the most common cause of cancer death. In this paper, we present an adaptive fuzzy reasoning algorithm for rule-based systems using fuzzy Petri nets (FPNs, where the fuzzy production rules are represented by FPN. We developed an adaptive fuzzy Petri net (AFPN reasoning algorithm as a prognostic system to predict the outcome for esophageal cancer based on the serum concentrations of C-reactive protein and albumin as a set of input variables. The system can perform fuzzy reasoning automatically to evaluate the degree of truth of the proposition representing the risk degree value with a weight value to be optimally tuned based on the observed data. In addition, the implementation process for esophageal cancer prediction is fuzzily deducted by the AFPN algorithm. Performance of the composite model is evaluated through a set of experiments. Simulations and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and performance of the proposed algorithms. A comparison of the predictive performance of AFPN models with other methods and the analysis of the curve showed the same results with an intuitive behavior of AFPN models.

  19. A knowledge-based system for prototypical reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lieto, Antonio; Minieri, Andrea; Piana, Alberto; Radicioni, Daniele P.

    2015-04-01

    In this work we present a knowledge-based system equipped with a hybrid, cognitively inspired architecture for the representation of conceptual information. The proposed system aims at extending the classical representational and reasoning capabilities of the ontology-based frameworks towards the realm of the prototype theory. It is based on a hybrid knowledge base, composed of a classical symbolic component (grounded on a formal ontology) with a typicality based one (grounded on the conceptual spaces framework). The resulting system attempts to reconcile the heterogeneous approach to the concepts in Cognitive Science with the dual process theories of reasoning and rationality. The system has been experimentally assessed in a conceptual categorisation task where common sense linguistic descriptions were given in input, and the corresponding target concepts had to be identified. The results show that the proposed solution substantially extends the representational and reasoning 'conceptual' capabilities of standard ontology-based systems.

  20. Qualitative Fault Isolation of Hybrid Systems: A Structural Model Decomposition-Based Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bregon, Anibal; Daigle, Matthew; Roychoudhury, Indranil

    2016-01-01

    Quick and robust fault diagnosis is critical to ensuring safe operation of complex engineering systems. A large number of techniques are available to provide fault diagnosis in systems with continuous dynamics. However, many systems in aerospace and industrial environments are best represented as hybrid systems that consist of discrete behavioral modes, each with its own continuous dynamics. These hybrid dynamics make the on-line fault diagnosis task computationally more complex due to the large number of possible system modes and the existence of autonomous mode transitions. This paper presents a qualitative fault isolation framework for hybrid systems based on structural model decomposition. The fault isolation is performed by analyzing the qualitative information of the residual deviations. However, in hybrid systems this process becomes complex due to possible existence of observation delays, which can cause observed deviations to be inconsistent with the expected deviations for the current mode in the system. The great advantage of structural model decomposition is that (i) it allows to design residuals that respond to only a subset of the faults, and (ii) every time a mode change occurs, only a subset of the residuals will need to be reconfigured, thus reducing the complexity of the reasoning process for isolation purposes. To demonstrate and test the validity of our approach, we use an electric circuit simulation as the case study.

  1. All Roads Lead to Fault Diagnosis : Model-Based Reasoning with LYDIA

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Feldman, A.B.; Pietersma, J.; Van Gemund, A.J.C.

    2006-01-01

    Model-Based Reasoning (MBR) over qualitative models of complex, real-world systems has proven succesful for automated fault diagnosis, control, and repair. Expressing a system under diagnosis in a formal model and infering a diagnosis given observations are both challenging problems. In this paper

  2. Dropout in the treatment of erectile dysfunction with PDE5: a study on predictors and a qualitative analysis of reasons for discontinuation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carvalheira, Ana A; Pereira, Nuno Monteiro; Maroco, João; Forjaz, Vera

    2012-09-01

    Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5) are currently the first line treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED). However, previous research shows that PDE5 treatments have high discontinuation rates. Understanding the reasons for discontinuing PDE5 will be necessary to optimize the response to treatment. The main goals were: (i) to analyze discontinuation rate of PDE5; (ii) to identify the discontinuation predictors; and (iii) to study the reasons for discontinuation using a qualitative methodology. The PDE5 discontinuation rates, predictors, and reasons for discontinuation treatment. A total of 327 men with clinical diagnosis for ED who had been treated with PDE5 were successfully interviewed by telephone, after giving their informed consent by snail mail. Telephone interviews, concerning their ongoing treatment, were carried out using a standardized questionnaire form with quantitative and qualitative items. Participation rate was 71.8%. Of the total sample, 160 men (48.9%) had discontinued PDE5 treatment. The discontinuation rate was higher among men with diabetes (73%) and in iatrogenic group (65%), and lower in venogenic etiology (38.7%). We differentiated three groups of men who discontinued treatment (i) during the first 3 months (55.1%); (ii) between 4 and 12 months (26.9%); and (iii) after a period of 12 months (18%). Qualitative analyses revealed diverse reasons for discontinuation: non-effectiveness of PDE5 (36.8%), psychological factors (e.g., anxiety, negative emotions, fears, concerns, dysfunctional beliefs) (17.5%), erection recovery (14.4%), and concerns about the cardiovascular safety of PDE5 (8.7%) were the most common. Older men and men whose partners were involved in the treatment, were less likely to discontinue treatment. Half the subjects discontinued medication. Mostly, there was a combination of factors that led to discontinuation: non-effectiveness and psychosocial factors appear to be the main reasons. Addressing those factors will allow

  3. Qualitative mechanism models and the rationalization of procedures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farley, Arthur M.

    1989-01-01

    A qualitative, cluster-based approach to the representation of hydraulic systems is described and its potential for generating and explaining procedures is demonstrated. Many ideas are formalized and implemented as part of an interactive, computer-based system. The system allows for designing, displaying, and reasoning about hydraulic systems. The interactive system has an interface consisting of three windows: a design/control window, a cluster window, and a diagnosis/plan window. A qualitative mechanism model for the ORS (Orbital Refueling System) is presented to coordinate with ongoing research on this system being conducted at NASA Ames Research Center.

  4. Research of Uncertainty Reasoning in Pineapple Disease Identification System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Liqun; Fan, Haifeng

    In order to deal with the uncertainty of evidences mostly existing in pineapple disease identification system, a reasoning model based on evidence credibility factor was established. The uncertainty reasoning method is discussed,including: uncertain representation of knowledge, uncertain representation of rules, uncertain representation of multi-evidences and update of reasoning rules. The reasoning can fully reflect the uncertainty in disease identification and reduce the influence of subjective factors on the accuracy of the system.

  5. Reasons for accepting or declining Down syndrome screening in Dutch prospective mothers within the context of national policy and healthcare system characteristics: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crombag, Neeltje M T H; Boeije, Hennie; Iedema-Kuiper, Rita; Schielen, Peter C J I; Visser, Gerard H A; Bensing, Jozien M

    2016-05-26

    Uptake rates for Down syndrome screening in the Netherlands are low compared to other European countries. To investigate the low uptake, we explored women's reasons for participation and possible influences of national healthcare system characteristics. Dutch prenatal care is characterised by an approach aimed at a low degree of medicalisation, with pregnant women initially considered to be at low risk. Prenatal screening for Down syndrome is offered to all women, with a 'right not to know' for women who do not want to be informed on this screening. At the time this study was performed, the test was not reimbursed for women aged 35 and younger. We conducted a qualitative study to explore reasons for participation and possible influences of healthcare system characteristics. Data were collected via ten semi-structured focus groups with women declining or accepting the offer of Down syndrome screening (n = 46). All focus groups were audio- and videotaped, transcribed verbatim, coded and content analysed. Women declining Down syndrome screening did not consider Down syndrome a condition severe enough to justify termination of pregnancy. Young women declining felt supported in their decision by perceived confirmation of their obstetric caregiver and reassured by system characteristics (costs and age restriction). Women accepting Down syndrome screening mainly wanted to be reassured or be prepared to care for a child with Down syndrome. By weighing up the pros and cons of testing, obstetric caregivers supported young women who accepted in the decision-making process. This was helpful, although some felt the need to defend their decision to accept the test offer due to their young age. For some young women accepting testing, costs were considered a disincentive to participate. Presentation of prenatal screening affects how the offer is attended to, perceived and utilised. By offering screening with age restriction and additional costs, declining is considered the

  6. Learning Qualitative and Quantitative Reasoning in a Microworld for Elastic Impacts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ploetzner, Rolf; And Others

    1990-01-01

    Discusses the artificial-intelligence-based microworld DiBi and MULEDS, a multilevel diagnosis system. Developed to adapt tutoring style to the individual learner. Explains that DiBi sets up a learning environment, and simulates elastic impacts as a subtopic of classical mechanics, and supporting reasoning on different levels of mental domain…

  7. Understanding clinical reasoning in osteopathy: a qualitative research approach

    OpenAIRE

    Grace, Sandra; Orrock, Paul; Vaughan, Brett; Blaich, Raymond; Coutts, Rosanne

    2016-01-01

    Background Clinical reasoning has been described as a process that draws heavily on the knowledge, skills and attributes that are particular to each health profession. However, the clinical reasoning processes of practitioners of different disciplines demonstrate many similarities, including hypothesis generation and reflective practice. The aim of this study was to understand clinical reasoning in osteopathy from the perspective of osteopathic clinical educators and the extent to which it wa...

  8. Automated reasoning in man-machine control systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stratton, R.C.; Lusk, E.L.

    1983-01-01

    This paper describes a project being undertaken at Argonne National Laboratory to demonstrate the usefulness of automated reasoning techniques in the implementation of a man-machine control system being designed at the EBR-II nuclear power plant. It is shown how automated reasoning influences the choice of optimal roles for both man and machine in the system control process, both for normal and off-normal operation. In addition, the requirements imposed by such a system for a rigorously formal specification of operating states, subsystem states, and transition procedures have a useful impact on the analysis phase. The definitions and rules are discussed for a prototype system which is physically simple yet illustrates some of the complexities inherent in real systems

  9. Understanding reasons for treatment interruption amongst patients on antiretroviral therapy – A qualitative study at the Lighthouse Clinic, Lilongwe, Malawi

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julia Tabatabai

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: In recent years, scaling up of antiretroviral therapy (ART in resource-limited settings moved impressively towards universal access. Along with these achievements, public health HIV programs are facing a number of challenges including the support of patients on lifelong therapy and the prevention of temporary/permanent loss of patients in care. Understanding reasons for treatment interruption (TI can inform strategies for improving drug adherence and retention in care. Objective: To evaluate key characteristics of patients resuming ART after TI at the Lighthouse Clinic in Lilongwe, Malawi, and to identify their reasons for interrupting ART. Design: This study uses a mixed methods design to evaluate patients resuming ART after TI. We analysed an assessment form for patients with TI using pre-defined categories and a comments field to identify frequently stated reasons for TI. Additionally, we conducted 26 in-depth interviews to deepen our understanding of common reasons for TI. In-depth interviews also included the patients’ knowledge about ART and presence of social support systems. Qualitative data analysis was based on a thematic framework approach. Results: A total of 347 patients (58.2% female, average age 35.1±11.3 years with TI were identified. Despite the presence of social support and sufficient knowledge of possible consequences of TI, all patients experienced situations that resulted in TI. Analysis of in-depth interviews led to new and distinct categories for TI. The most common reason for TI was travel (54.5%, n=80/147, which further differentiated into work- or family-related travel. Patients also stated transport costs and health-care-provider-related reasons, which included perceived/enacted discrimination by health care workers. Other drivers of TI were treatment fatigue/forgetfulness, the patients’ health status, adverse drug effects, pregnancy/delivery, religious belief or perceived/enacted stigma. Conclusions

  10. The Qualitative Interview Study of Persistent and Nonpersistent Substance Use in the MTA: Sample Characteristics, Frequent Use, and Reasons for Use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swanson, James M; Wigal, Timothy; Jensen, Peter S; Mitchell, John T; Weisner, Thomas S; Murray, Desiree; Arnold, L Eugene; Hechtman, Lily; Molina, Brooke S G; Owens, Elizabeth B; Hinshaw, Stephen P; Belendiuk, Katherine; Howard, Andrea; Wigal, Sharon B; Sorensen, Page; Stehli, Annamarie

    2017-10-01

    To evaluate participants' perceptions about frequent use and reasons for substance use (SU) in the qualitative interview study, an add-on to the multimodal treatment study of ADHD (MTA). Using the longitudinal MTA database, 39 ADHD cases and 19 peers with Persistent SU, and 86 ADHD cases and 39 peers without Persistent SU were identified and recruited. In adulthood, an open-ended interview was administered, and SU excerpts were indexed and classified to create subtopics (frequent use and reasons for use of alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs). For marijuana, the Persistent compared with Nonpersistent SU group had a significantly higher percentage of participants describing frequent use and giving reasons for use, and the ADHD group compared with the group of peers had a significantly higher percentage giving "stability" as a reason for use. Motivations for persistent marijuana use may differ for adults with and without a history of ADHD.

  11. A semi-quantitative reasoning methodology for filtering and ranking HAZOP results in HAZOPExpert

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vaidhyanathan, Ramesh; Venkatasubramanian, Venkat

    1996-01-01

    Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) analysis is the most widely used and recognized as the preferred Process Hazards Analysis (PHA) approach in the chemical process industry. Recently, a diagraph-model based framework and an expert system called HAZOPExpert was developed for automating this analysis. Upon testing the performance of the system on various industrial case studies. HAZOPExpert was found to successfully mimic the human expert's reasoning and identify the hazards. But, with the increasing complexity of the processes, the HAZOPExpert system generated a large number of consequences compared to those identified by a team of experts. This is mainly due to the strict qualitative reasoning approach implemented in the HAZOPExpert system. In order to filter and rank the consequences generated by the HAZOPExpert system, a semi-quantitative reasoning methodology is proposed using additional quantitative knowledge in the form of design and operating specifications of the process units, and process material property values. This filtering approach combines the qualitative digraph-based HAZOP models and the quantitative knowledge to eliminate the unrealizable consequences. Significant reduction in the number of consequences was obtained using this approach on an ethylene process plant HAZOP case study

  12. Monitoring progression of clinical reasoning skills during health sciences education using the case method - a qualitative observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orban, Kristina; Ekelin, Maria; Edgren, Gudrun; Sandgren, Olof; Hovbrandt, Pia; Persson, Eva K

    2017-09-11

    Outcome- or competency-based education is well established in medical and health sciences education. Curricula are based on courses where students develop their competences and assessment is also usually course-based. Clinical reasoning is an important competence, and the aim of this study was to monitor and describe students' progression in professional clinical reasoning skills during health sciences education using observations of group discussions following the case method. In this qualitative study students from three different health education programmes were observed while discussing clinical cases in a modified Harvard case method session. A rubric with four dimensions - problem-solving process, disciplinary knowledge, character of discussion and communication - was used as an observational tool to identify clinical reasoning. A deductive content analysis was performed. The results revealed the students' transition over time from reasoning based strictly on theoretical knowledge to reasoning ability characterized by clinical considerations and experiences. Students who were approaching the end of their education immediately identified the most important problem and then focused on this in their discussion. Practice knowledge increased over time, which was seen as progression in the use of professional language, concepts, terms and the use of prior clinical experience. The character of the discussion evolved from theoretical considerations early in the education to clinical reasoning in later years. Communication within the groups was supportive and conducted with a professional tone. Our observations revealed progression in several aspects of students' clinical reasoning skills on a group level in their discussions of clinical cases. We suggest that the case method can be a useful tool in assessing quality in health sciences education.

  13. The diverse reasons for using Novel Psychoactive Substances - A qualitative study of the users' own perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soussan, Christophe; Andersson, Martin; Kjellgren, Anette

    2018-02-01

    The increasing number of legally ambiguous and precarious Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) constitutes a challenge for policy makers and public health. Scientific and more in-depth knowledge about the motivations for using NPS is scarce and often consist of predetermined, non-systematic, or poorly described reasons deduced from top-down approaches. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore and characterize the users' self-reported reasons for NPS use inductively and more comprehensively. The self-reported reasons of a self-selected sample of 613 international NPS users were collected via an online survey promoted at the international drug discussion forum bluelight.org and later analyzed qualitatively using inductive thematic analysis. The analysis showed that the participants used NPS because these compounds reportedly: 1) enabled safer and more convenient drug use, 2) satisfied a curiosity and interest about the effects, 3) facilitated a novel and exciting adventure, 4) promoted self-exploration and personal growth, 5) functioned as coping agents, 6) enhanced abilities and performance, 7) fostered social bonding and belonging, and 8) acted as a means for recreation and pleasure. The consumption of NPS was also driven by 9) problematic and unintentional use. The present study contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of the users' own and self-reported reasons for using NPS, which needs to be acknowledged not only in order to minimize drug related harm and drug user alienation but also to improve prevention efforts and reduce the potentially counter-intuitive effects of strictly prohibitive policies. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. The Qualitative Other: An Autoethnography

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Matias Thuen

    2018-01-01

    This autoethnography uses the author’s own experiences and observations as well as selected scholarly sources to reflect on the current state of qualitative research in Asia. It draws on the experiences of doing a qualitative PhD in a primarily quantitative (Asian) environment. The study finds...... that qualitative research in Asia is currently challenged and provides three types of reasons why this is the case: pragmatic and systematic reasons, which show how a strong focus on outcome over process has influenced academic methods in Asia; ontological and epistemological reasons, which show how Asian...... researchers tend to prefer “methodological rule following” over more exploratory approaches; and, finally, reproduction of these ideas is shown to be a reason why significant change to methodological preferences is difficult to achieve. The chapter also reflects on the increasing acceptance and respect...

  15. High-Dose Benzodiazepine Dependence: A Qualitative Study of Patients' Perceptions on Initiation, Reasons for Use, and Obtainment.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Liebrenz

    Full Text Available High-dose benzodiazepine (BZD dependence is associated with a wide variety of negative health consequences. Affected individuals are reported to suffer from severe mental disorders and are often unable to achieve long-term abstinence via recommended discontinuation strategies. Although it is increasingly understood that treatment interventions should take subjective experiences and beliefs into account, the perceptions of this group of individuals remain under-investigated.We conducted an exploratory qualitative study with 41 adult subjects meeting criteria for (high-dose BZD-dependence, as defined by ICD-10. One-on-one in-depth interviews allowed for an exploration of this group's views on the reasons behind their initial and then continued use of BZDs, as well as their procurement strategies. Mayring's qualitative content analysis was used to evaluate our data.In this sample, all participants had developed explanatory models for why they began using BZDs. We identified a multitude of reasons that we grouped into four broad categories, as explaining continued BZD use: (1 to cope with symptoms of psychological distress or mental disorder other than substance use, (2 to manage symptoms of physical or psychological discomfort associated with somatic disorder, (3 to alleviate symptoms of substance-related disorders, and (4 for recreational purposes, that is, sensation-seeking and other social reasons. Subjects often considered BZDs less dangerous than other substances and associated their use more often with harm reduction than as recreational. Specific obtainment strategies varied widely: the majority of participants oscillated between legal and illegal methods, often relying on the black market when faced with treatment termination.Irrespective of comorbidity, participants expressed a clear preference for medically related explanatory models for their BZD use. We therefore suggest that clinicians consider patients' motives for long-term, high

  16. Non-Monotonic Spatial Reasoning with Answer Set Programming Modulo Theories

    OpenAIRE

    Wałęga, Przemysław Andrzej; Schultz, Carl; Bhatt, Mehul

    2016-01-01

    The systematic modelling of dynamic spatial systems is a key requirement in a wide range of application areas such as commonsense cognitive robotics, computer-aided architecture design, and dynamic geographic information systems. We present ASPMT(QS), a novel approach and fully-implemented prototype for non-monotonic spatial reasoning -a crucial requirement within dynamic spatial systems- based on Answer Set Programming Modulo Theories (ASPMT). ASPMT(QS) consists of a (qualitative) spatial re...

  17. Fault diagnosis of air conditioning systems based on qualitative bond graph

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghiaus, C.

    1999-01-01

    The bond graph method represents a unified approach for modeling engineering systems. The main idea is that power transfer bonds the components of a system. The bond graph model is the same for both quantitative representation, in which parameters have numerical values, and qualitative approach, in which they are classified qualitatively. To infer the cause of faults using a qualitative method, a system of qualitative equations must be solved. However, the characteristics of qualitative operators require specific methods for solving systems of equations having qualitative variables. This paper proposes both a method for recursively solving the qualitative system of equations derived from bond graph, and a bond graph model of a direct-expansion, mechanical vapor-compression air conditioning system. Results from diagnosing two faults in a real air conditioning system are presented and discussed. Occasionally, more than one fault candidate is inferred for the same set of qualitative values derived from measurements. In these cases, additional information is required to localize the fault. Fault diagnosis is initiated by a fault detection mechanism which also classifies the quantitative measurements into qualitative values; the fault detection is not presented here. (author)

  18. Probabilistic reasoning in intelligent systems networks of plausible inference

    CERN Document Server

    Pearl, Judea

    1988-01-01

    Probabilistic Reasoning in Intelligent Systems is a complete and accessible account of the theoretical foundations and computational methods that underlie plausible reasoning under uncertainty. The author provides a coherent explication of probability as a language for reasoning with partial belief and offers a unifying perspective on other AI approaches to uncertainty, such as the Dempster-Shafer formalism, truth maintenance systems, and nonmonotonic logic. The author distinguishes syntactic and semantic approaches to uncertainty--and offers techniques, based on belief networks, that provid

  19. Expert reasoning within an object-oriented framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bohn, S.J.; Pennock, K.A.

    1991-10-01

    A large number of contaminated waste sites across the United States await site remediation efforts. These sites can be physically complex, composed of multiple, possibly interacting, contaminants distributed throughout one or more media. The Remedial Action Assessment System (RAAS) is being designed and developed to support decisions concerning the selection of remediation alternatives. The goal of this system is to broaden the consideration of remediation alternatives, while reducing the time and cost of making these considerations. The Remedial Action Assessment System was designed and constructed using object-oriented techniques. It is a hybrid system which uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative reasoning to consider and suggest remediation alternatives. the reasoning process that drives this application is centered around an object-oriented organization of remediation technology information. This paper briefly describes the waste remediation problem and then discusses the information structure and organization RAAS utilizes to address it. 4 refs., 4 figs

  20. A control system verifier using automated reasoning software

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, D.E.; Seeman, S.E.

    1985-08-01

    An on-line, automated reasoning software system for verifying the actions of other software or human control systems has been developed. It was demonstrated by verifying the actions of an automated procedure generation system. The verifier uses an interactive theorem prover as its inference engine with the rules included as logical axioms. Operation of the verifier is generally transparent except when the verifier disagrees with the actions of the monitored software. Testing with an automated procedure generation system demonstrates the successful application of automated reasoning software for verification of logical actions in a diverse, redundant manner. A higher degree of confidence may be placed in the verified actions of the combined system

  1. Reasons for not using ecstasy: a qualitative study of non-users, ex-light users and ex-moderate users

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Although ecstasy is often consumed in the electronic music scene, not everyone with the opportunity to use it chooses to do so. The objective of this study was to understand the reasons for non-use or the cessation of use, which could provide information for public health interventions. Methods A qualitative reference method was used. Our “snowball” sample group consisted of 53 people who were split into three subgroups: non-users (NU, n = 23), ex-light users (EX-L, n = 12) and ex-moderate users (EX-M, n = 18). Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed and subjected to content analysis with the aid of NVivo8. Results Adverse health effects and personal values were given as reasons for non-use in the three groups. Non-users (NU) and ex-light users (EX-L) provided reasons that included fear of possible effects as well as moral, family and religious objections. Ex-moderate users (EX-M) cited reasons related to health complications and concomitant withdrawal from the electronic music scene. However, most of the ex-moderate users did not rule out the possibility of future use. Conclusions Potential effects and undesirable consequences appear to guide the decisions within the different groups. Prevention might target these motivations. Individuals who have used ecstasy indicate that social and environmental factors are the most important factors. PMID:22583984

  2. Generic qualitative research: a design for qualitative research in emergency care?

    OpenAIRE

    Cooper, S; Endacott, R

    2007-01-01

    The frequency of qualitative studies in the Emergency Medicine Journal, while still low, has increased over the last few years. All take a generic approach and rarely conform to established qualitative approaches such as phenomenology, ethnography and grounded theory. This generic approach is no doubt selected for pragmatic reasons but can be weakened by a lack of rigor and understanding of qualitative research. This paper explores qualitative approaches and then focuses on “best practice” fo...

  3. Qualitative and Quantitative Integrated Modeling for Stochastic Simulation and Optimization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuefeng Yan

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The simulation and optimization of an actual physics system are usually constructed based on the stochastic models, which have both qualitative and quantitative characteristics inherently. Most modeling specifications and frameworks find it difficult to describe the qualitative model directly. In order to deal with the expert knowledge, uncertain reasoning, and other qualitative information, a qualitative and quantitative combined modeling specification was proposed based on a hierarchical model structure framework. The new modeling approach is based on a hierarchical model structure which includes the meta-meta model, the meta-model and the high-level model. A description logic system is defined for formal definition and verification of the new modeling specification. A stochastic defense simulation was developed to illustrate how to model the system and optimize the result. The result shows that the proposed method can describe the complex system more comprehensively, and the survival probability of the target is higher by introducing qualitative models into quantitative simulation.

  4. Prospective Middle-School Mathematics Teachers' Quantitative Reasoning and Their Support for Students' Quantitative Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kabael, Tangul; Akin, Ayca

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this research is to examine prospective mathematics teachers' quantitative reasoning, their support for students' quantitative reasoning and the relationship between them, if any. The teaching experiment was used as the research method in this qualitatively designed study. The data of the study were collected through a series of…

  5. Reasons for home delivery and use of traditional birth attendants in rural Zambia: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sialubanje, Cephas; Massar, Karlijn; Hamer, Davidson H; Ruiter, Robert A C

    2015-09-11

    Despite the policy change stopping traditional birth attendants (TBAs) from conducting deliveries at home and encouraging all women to give birth at the clinic under skilled care, many women still give birth at home and TBAs are essential providers of obstetric care in rural Zambia. The main reasons for pregnant women's preference for TBAs are not well understood. This qualitative study aimed to identify reasons motivating women to giving birth at home and seek the help of TBAs. This knowledge is important for the design of public health interventions focusing on promoting facility-based skilled birth attendance in Zambia. We conducted ten focus group discussions (n = 100) with women of reproductive age (15-45 years) in five health centre catchment areas with the lowest institutional delivery rates in the district. In addition, a total of 30 in-depth interviews were conducted comprising 5 TBAs, 4 headmen, 4 husbands, 4 mothers, 4 neighbourhood health committee (NHC) members, 4 community health workers (CHWs) and 5 nurses. Perspectives on TBAs, the decision-making process regarding home delivery and use of TBAs, and reasons for preference of TBAs and their services were explored. Our findings show that women's lack of decision- making autonomy regarding child birth, dependence on the husband and other family members for the final decision, and various physical and socioeconomic barriers including long distances, lack of money for transport and the requirement to bring baby clothes and food while staying at the clinic, prevented them from delivering at a clinic. In addition, socio-cultural norms regarding childbirth, negative attitude towards the quality of services provided at the clinic, made most women deliver at home. Moreover, most women had a positive attitude towards TBAs and perceived them to be respectful, skilled, friendly, trustworthy, and available when they needed them. Our findings suggest a need to empower women with decision-making skills

  6. Reasons of general practitioners for not prescribing lipid-lowering medication to patients with diabetes: a qualitative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    AB Elisabeth

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Lipid-lowering medication remains underused, even in high-risk populations. The objective of this study was to determine factors underlying general practitioners' decisions not to prescribe such drugs to patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews using real cases was conducted to explore reasons for not prescribing lipid-lowering medication after a guideline was distributed that recommended the use of statins in most patients with type 2 diabetes. Seven interviews were conducted with general practitioners (GPs in The Netherlands, and analysed using an analytic inductive approach. Results Reasons for not-prescribing could be divided into patient and physician-attributed factors. According to the GPs, some patients do not follow-up on agreed medication and others object to taking lipid-lowering medication, partly for legitimate reasons such as expected or perceived side effects. Furthermore, the GPs themselves perceived reservations for prescribing lipid-lowering medication in patients with short life expectancy, expected compliance problems or near goal lipid levels. GPs sometimes postponed the start of treatment because of other priorities. Finally, barriers were seen in the GPs' practice organisation, and at the primary-secondary care interface. Conclusion Some of the barriers mentioned by GPs seem to be valid reasons, showing that guideline non-adherence can be quite rational. On the other hand, treatment quality could improve by addressing issues, such as lack of knowledge or motivation of both the patient and the GP. More structured management in general practice may also lead to better treatment.

  7. Substance Abuse and Prison Recidivism: Themes from Qualitative Interviews

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Lindsay A.

    2010-01-01

    This qualitative analysis explores the role of substance abuse in reentry from prison to society. Participants who recidivated (N = 20) in an urban prison system identified substance abuse as their primary reason for recidivism. Treatment implications are discussed.

  8. Turkish Preservice Science Teachers' Informal Reasoning Regarding Socioscientific Issues and the Factors Influencing Their Informal Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Topçu, Mustafa Sami; Yılmaz-Tüzün, Özgül; Sadler, Troy D.

    2011-06-01

    The purpose of the study is to explore Turkish preservice science teachers' informal reasoning regarding socioscientific issues and the factors influencing their informal reasoning. The researchers engaged 39 preservice science teachers in informal reasoning interview and moral decision-making interview protocols. Of the seven socioscientific issues, three issues were related to gene therapy, another three were related to human cloning, and one was related to global warming. The data were analyzed using an interpretive qualitative research approach. The characteristic of informal reasoning was determined as multidimensional, and the patterns of informal reasoning emerged as rationalistic, emotive, and intuitive reasoning. The factors influencing informal reasoning were: personal experiences, social considerations, moral-ethical considerations, and technological concerns.

  9. Semantical Markov Logic Network for Distributed Reasoning in Cyber-Physical Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdul-Wahid Mohammed

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The challenges associated with developing accurate models for cyber-physical systems are attributable to the intrinsic concurrent and heterogeneous computations of these systems. Even though reasoning based on interconnected domain specific ontologies shows promise in enhancing modularity and joint functionality modelling, it has become necessary to build interoperable cyber-physical systems due to the growing pervasiveness of these systems. In this paper, we propose a semantically oriented distributed reasoning architecture for cyber-physical systems. This model accomplishes reasoning through a combination of heterogeneous models of computation. Using the flexibility of semantic agents as a formal representation for heterogeneous computational platforms, we define autonomous and intelligent agent-based reasoning procedure for distributed cyber-physical systems. Sensor networks underpin the semantic capabilities of this architecture, and semantic reasoning based on Markov logic networks is adopted to address uncertainty in modelling. To illustrate feasibility of this approach, we present a Markov logic based semantic event model for cyber-physical systems and discuss a case study of event handling and processing in a smart home.

  10. Fault Tree Analysis with Temporal Gates and Model Checking Technique for Qualitative System Safety Analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koh, Kwang Yong; Seong, Poong Hyun

    2010-01-01

    Fault tree analysis (FTA) has suffered from several drawbacks such that it uses only static gates and hence can not capture dynamic behaviors of the complex system precisely, and it is in lack of rigorous semantics, and reasoning process which is to check whether basic events really cause top events is done manually and hence very labor-intensive and time-consuming for the complex systems while it has been one of the most widely used safety analysis technique in nuclear industry. Although several attempts have been made to overcome this problem, they can not still do absolute or actual time modeling because they adapt relative time concept and can capture only sequential behaviors of the system. In this work, to resolve the problems, FTA and model checking are integrated to provide formal, automated and qualitative assistance to informal and/or quantitative safety analysis. Our approach proposes to build a formal model of the system together with fault trees. We introduce several temporal gates based on timed computational tree logic (TCTL) to capture absolute time behaviors of the system and to give concrete semantics to fault tree gates to reduce errors during the analysis, and use model checking technique to automate the reasoning process of FTA

  11. ASPMT(QS): Non-Monotonic Spatial Reasoning with Answer Set Programming Modulo Theories

    OpenAIRE

    Wałęga, Przemysław Andrzej; Bhatt, Mehul; Schultz, Carl

    2015-01-01

    The systematic modelling of \\emph{dynamic spatial systems} [9] is a key requirement in a wide range of application areas such as comonsense cognitive robotics, computer-aided architecture design, dynamic geographic information systems. We present ASPMT(QS), a novel approach and fully-implemented prototype for non-monotonic spatial reasoning ---a crucial requirement within dynamic spatial systems-- based on Answer Set Programming Modulo Theories (ASPMT). ASPMT(QS) consists of a (qualitative) s...

  12. Application of automated reasoning software: procedure generation system verifier

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, D.E.; Seeman, S.E.

    1984-09-01

    An on-line, automated reasoning software system for verifying the actions of other software or human control systems has been developed. It was demonstrated by verifying the actions of an automated procedure generation system. The verifier uses an interactive theorem prover as its inference engine with the rules included as logic axioms. Operation of the verifier is generally transparent except when the verifier disagrees with the actions of the monitored software. Testing with an automated procedure generation system demonstrates the successful application of automated reasoning software for verification of logical actions in a diverse, redundant manner. A higher degree of confidence may be placed in the verified actions gathered by the combined system

  13. The effect of multiple external representations (MERs) worksheets toward complex system reasoning achievement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sumarno; Ibrahim, M.; Supardi, Z. A. I.

    2018-03-01

    The application of a systems approach to assessing biological systems provides hope for a coherent understanding of cell dynamics patterns and their relationship to plant life. This action required the reasoning about complex systems. In other sides, there were a lot of researchers who provided the proof about the instructional successions. They involved the multiple external representations which improved the biological learning. The researcher conducted an investigation using one shoot case study design which involved 30 students in proving that the MERs worksheets could affect the student's achievement of reasoning about complex system. The data had been collected based on test of reasoning about complex system and student's identification result who worked through MERs. The result showed that only partially students could achieve reasoning about system complex, but their MERs skill could support their reasoning ability of complex system. This study could bring a new hope to develop the MERs worksheet as a tool to facilitate the reasoning about complex system.

  14. Learning about Ecological Systems by Constructing Qualitative Models with DynaLearn

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leiba, Moshe; Zuzovsky, Ruth; Mioduser, David; Benayahu, Yehuda; Nachmias, Rafi

    2012-01-01

    A qualitative model of a system is an abstraction that captures ordinal knowledge and predicts the set of qualitatively possible behaviours of the system, given a qualitative description of its structure and initial state. This paper examines an innovative approach to science education using an interactive learning environment that supports…

  15. Automated Assume-Guarantee Reasoning for Omega-Regular Systems and Specifications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaki, Sagar; Gurfinkel, Arie

    2010-01-01

    We develop a learning-based automated Assume-Guarantee (AG) reasoning framework for verifying omega-regular properties of concurrent systems. We study the applicability of non-circular (AGNC) and circular (AG-C) AG proof rules in the context of systems with infinite behaviors. In particular, we show that AG-NC is incomplete when assumptions are restricted to strictly infinite behaviors, while AG-C remains complete. We present a general formalization, called LAG, of the learning based automated AG paradigm. We show how existing approaches for automated AG reasoning are special instances of LAG.We develop two learning algorithms for a class of systems, called infinite regular systems, that combine finite and infinite behaviors. We show that for infinity-regular systems, both AG-NC and AG-C are sound and complete. Finally, we show how to instantiate LAG to do automated AG reasoning for infinite regular, and omega-regular, systems using both AG-NC and AG-C as proof rules

  16. Registered nurses' clinical reasoning skills and reasoning process: A think-aloud study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, JuHee; Lee, Young Joo; Bae, JuYeon; Seo, Minjeong

    2016-11-01

    As complex chronic diseases are increasing, nurses' prompt and accurate clinical reasoning skills are essential. However, little is known about the reasoning skills of registered nurses. This study aimed to determine how registered nurses use their clinical reasoning skills and to identify how the reasoning process proceeds in the complex clinical situation of hospital setting. A qualitative exploratory design was used with a think-aloud method. A total of 13 registered nurses (mean years of experience=11.4) participated in the study, solving an ill-structured clinical problem based on complex chronic patients cases in a hospital setting. Data were analyzed using deductive content analysis. Findings showed that the registered nurses used a variety of clinical reasoning skills. The most commonly used skill was 'checking accuracy and reliability.' The reasoning process of registered nurses covered assessment, analysis, diagnosis, planning/implementation, and evaluation phase. It is critical that registered nurses apply appropriate clinical reasoning skills in complex clinical practice. The main focus of registered nurses' reasoning in this study was assessing a patient's health problem, and their reasoning process was cyclic, rather than linear. There is a need for educational strategy development to enhance registered nurses' competency in determining appropriate interventions in a timely and accurate fashion. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Dreams and disappointments regarding nursing: Student nurses' reasons for attrition and retention. A qualitative study design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ten Hoeve, Yvonne; Castelein, Stynke; Jansen, Gerard; Roodbol, Petrie

    2017-07-01

    In the Netherlands, hundreds of students register annually for a nursing programme, but not all of these students manage to complete their training. The main aim of this study was to examine which factors affect student nurses' decision to leave or complete their programme. The study used an exploratory descriptive design, employing a qualitative phenomenological approach. Student nurses (n=17) at the beginning of their third year of the four-year Bachelor's programme. Data were collected at four Universities of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, from December 2013 to January 2014. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data, using an interview guide. The main reasons for students to become nurses were the caring aspect, personal experiences with healthcare, role models in their immediate environment, and job opportunities. They had both altruistic and professional perceptions of their profession. Reasons for attrition were strongly related to the training programme and to their clinical placements, in particular the perceived lack of support from mentors and team. Feelings of being welcomed and working in a nice team proved to be more important reasons for completing the programme than the specific clinical field. Student nurses started their studies with many dreams, such as caring for people and having the opportunity to deliver excellent nursing care. When their expectations were not met, their dreams became disappointments which caused them to consider stopping and even to leave (attrition). The role of lecturers and mentors seems invaluable in protecting and guiding students through their programme and placements. Optimal cooperation between lecturers and mentors is of paramount importance to retain student nurses in their training programmes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Information systems outsourcing reasons and risks: a new assessment

    OpenAIRE

    González Ramírez, María Reyes; Gascó Gascó, José Luis; Llopis Taverner, Juan

    2010-01-01

    Outsourcing is currently going through a stage of unstoppable growth. This paper makes a proposal about the main reasons which may lead firms to adopt Outsourcing in Information Systems services. It will equally analyse the potential risks that IS clients are likely to face. An additional objective is to assess these reasons and risks in the case of large Spanish firms, while simultaneously examining their evolution over time. This study of outsourcing reasons and risks has been carried out f...

  19. Reasoning about Control Situations in Power Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Saleem, Arshad; Lind, Morten

    2009-01-01

    Introduction of distributed generation, deregulation and distribution of control has brought new challenges for electric power system operation, control and automation. Traditional power system models used in reasoning tasks such as intelligent control are highly dependent on the task purpose. Thus......, a model for intelligent control must represent system features, so that information from measurements can be related to possible system states and to control actions. These general modeling requirements are well understood, but it is, in general, difficult to translate them into a model because...

  20. A qualitative model of limiting factors for a salmon life cycle in the context of river rehabilitation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Noble, R.A.A.; Bredeweg, B.; Linnebank, F.; Salles, P.; Cowx, I.G.

    2009-01-01

    Qualitative Reasoning modelling has been promoted as a tool for formalising, integrating and exploring conceptual knowledge in ecological systems, such as river rehabilitation, which draw different information from multiple domains. A qualitative model was developed in Garp3 to capture and formalise

  1. The Mathematical Morpho-Logical View on Reasoning about Space

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aiello, Marco; Ottens, Brammert; Veloso, MM

    2007-01-01

    Qualitative reasoning about mereotopological relations has been extensively investigated, while more recently geometrical and spatio-temporal reasoning are gaining increasing attention. We propose to consider mathematical morphology operators as the inspiration for a new language and inference

  2. Real-time context aware reasoning in on-board intelligent traffic systems: An Architecture for Ontology-based Reasoning using Finite State Machines

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stoter, Arjan; Dalmolen, Simon; Drenth, Eduard; Cornelisse, Erik; Mulder, Wico

    2011-01-01

    In-vehicle information management is vital in intelligent traffic systems. In this paper we motivate an architecture for ontology-based context-aware reasoning for in-vehicle information management. An ontology is essential for system standardization and communication, and ontology-based reasoning

  3. Representing Causality and Reasoning about Controllability of Multi-level Flow-Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heussen, Kai; Lind, Morten

    2010-01-01

    Safe operation of complex processes requires that operators maintain situational-awareness even in highly automated environments. Automatic reasoning can support operators as well as the automation system itself to react effectively and appropriately to disturbances. However, knowledge......-based reasoning about control situations remains a challenge due to the entanglement of process and control systems that co-establish the intended causal structure of a process. Due to this entanglement, reasoning about such systems depends on a coherent representation of control and process. This paper explains...... modeling of controlled processes with multilevelflow models and proposes a new framework for modeling causal influence in multilevel flow models on the basis of a flow/potential analogy. The results are illustrated on examples from the domain of electric power systems....

  4. Framework development for providing accessibility to qualitative spatial calculi

    OpenAIRE

    Jan, Sahib

    2011-01-01

    Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies. Qualitative spatial reasoning deals with knowledge about an infinite spatial domain using a finite set of qualitative relations without using numerical computation. Qualitative knowledge is relative knowledge where we obtain the knowledge on the basis of comparison of features with in the object domain rather then using some external scales. Reasoning is an inte...

  5. Model-based reasoning and the control of process plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vaelisuo, Heikki

    1993-02-01

    In addition to feedback control, safe and economic operation of industrial process plants requires discrete-event type logic control like for example automatic control sequences, interlocks, etc. A lot of complex routine reasoning is involved in the design and verification and validation (VandV) of such automatics. Similar reasoning tasks are encountered during plant operation in action planning and fault diagnosis. The low-level part of the required problem solving is so straightforward that it could be accomplished by a computer if only there were plant models which allow versatile mechanised reasoning. Such plant models and corresponding inference algorithms are the main subject of this report. Deep knowledge and qualitative modelling play an essential role in this work. Deep knowledge refers to mechanised reasoning based on the first principles of the phenomena in the problem domain. Qualitative modelling refers to knowledge representation formalism and related reasoning methods which allow solving problems on an abstraction level higher than for example traditional simulation and optimisation. Prolog is a commonly used platform for artificial intelligence (Al) applications. Constraint logic languages like CLP(R) and Prolog-III extend the scope of logic programming to numeric problem solving. In addition they allow a programming style which often reduces the computational complexity significantly. An approach to model-based reasoning implemented in constraint logic programming language CLP(R) is presented. The approach is based on some of the principles of QSIM, an algorithm for qualitative simulation. It is discussed how model-based reasoning can be applied in the design and VandV of plant automatics and in action planning during plant operation. A prototype tool called ISIR is discussed and some initial results obtained during the development of the tool are presented. The results presented originate from preliminary test results of the prototype obtained

  6. Expert system reasoning techniques applicable to the electric power industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Touchton, R.A.

    1987-01-01

    This paper describes the applicability of three problem solving paradigms adopted from the artificial intelligence discipline of computer sciences, which have been used in developing nuclear plant expert systems. Each technique is briefly defined and an example is presented that shows how that technique was used in developing an expert system application prototype. The three paradigms and their associated example systems are: (1) rule-based reasoning: reactor emergency action level monitor (REALM) for the Electric Power Research Institute, (2) object-oriented programming: accident diagnosis and prognosis aid for the US Department of Energy, and (3) model-based reasoning: knowledge-based monitoring and control system for the Electric Power Research Institute

  7. Causal reasoning and models of cognitive tasks for naval nuclear power plant operators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salazar-Ferrer, P.

    1995-06-01

    In complex industrial process control, causal reasoning appears as a major component in operators' cognitive tasks. It is tightly linked to diagnosis, prediction of normal and failure states, and explanation. This work provides a detailed review of literature in causal reasoning. A synthesis is proposed as a model of causal reasoning in process control. This model integrates distinct approaches in Cognitive Science: especially qualitative physics, Bayesian networks, knowledge-based systems, and cognitive psychology. Our model defines a framework for the analysis of causal human errors in simulated naval nuclear power plant fault management. Through the methodological framework of critical incident analysis we define a classification of errors and difficulties linked to causal reasoning. This classification is based on shallow characteristics of causal reasoning. As an origin of these errors, more elementary component activities in causal reasoning are identified. The applications cover the field of functional specification for man-machine interfaces, operators support systems design as well as nuclear safety. In addition of this study, we integrate the model of causal reasoning in a model of cognitive task in process control. (authors). 106 refs., 49 figs., 8 tabs

  8. Perspectives on reasons for non-adherence to medication in persons with schizophrenia in Ethiopia: a qualitative study of patients, caregivers and health workers

    OpenAIRE

    Teferra, Solomon; Hanlon, Charlotte; Beyero, Teferra; Jacobsson, Lars; Shibre, Teshome

    2013-01-01

    Background: Levels of non-adherence to antipsychotic medication in persons with schizophrenia in rural African settings have been shown to be comparable to those found in high-income countries. Improved understanding of the underlying reasons will help to inform intervention strategies relevant to the context. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted among persons with schizophrenia (n = 24), their caregivers (n = 19), research field workers (n = 7) and health workers (n = 1) involved in th...

  9. Vehicle-Level Reasoning Systems: Integrating System-Wide Data to Estimate the Instantaneous Health State

    Science.gov (United States)

    Srivastava, Ashok N.; Mylaraswmay, Dinkar; Mah, Robert W.; Cooper, Eric G.

    2011-01-01

    At the aircraft level, a Vehicle-Level Reasoning System (VLRS) can be developed to provide aircraft with at least two significant capabilities: improvement of aircraft safety due to enhanced monitoring and reasoning about the aircrafts health state, and also potential cost savings by enabling Condition Based Maintenance (CBM). Along with the benefits of CBM, an important challenge facing aviation safety today is safeguarding against system and component failures and malfunctions. Faults can arise in one or more aircraft subsystem their effects in one system may propagate to other subsystems, and faults may interact.

  10. Intelligent tutoring system for clinical reasoning skill acquisition in dental students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suebnukarn, Siriwan

    2009-10-01

    Learning clinical reasoning is an important core activity of the modern dental curriculum. This article describes an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) for clinical reasoning skill acquisition. The system is designed to provide an experience that emulates that of live human-tutored problem-based learning (PBL) sessions as much as possible, while at the same time permitting the students to participate collaboratively from disparate locations. The system uses Bayesian networks to model individual student knowledge and activity, as well as that of the group. Tutoring algorithms use the models to generate tutoring hints. The system incorporates a multimodal interface that integrates text and graphics so as to provide a rich communication channel between the students and the system, as well as among students in the group. Comparison of learning outcomes shows that student clinical reasoning gains from the ITS are similar to those obtained from human-tutored sessions.

  11. Focal role of tolerability and reasonableness in the radiological protection system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, T; Lochard, J; Vaillant, L

    2016-06-01

    The concepts of tolerability and reasonableness are at the core of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) system of radiological protection. Tolerability allows the definition of boundaries for implementing ICRP principles, while reasonableness contributes to decisions regarding adequate levels of protection, taking into account the prevailing circumstances. In the 1970s and 1980s, attempts to find theoretical foundations in risk comparisons for tolerability and cost-benefit analysis for reasonableness failed. In practice, the search for a rational basis for these concepts will never end. Making a wise decision will always remain a matter of judgement and will depend on the circumstances as well as the current knowledge and past experience. This paper discusses the constituents of tolerability and reasonableness at the heart of the radiological protection system. It also emphasises the increasing role of stakeholder engagement in the quest for tolerability and reasonableness since Publication 103. © The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics.

  12. Intelligent control-II: review of fuzzy systems and theory of approximate reasoning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagrial, M.H.

    2004-01-01

    Fuzzy systems are knowledge-based or rule-based systems. The heart of a fuzzy systems knowledge base consisting of the so-called fuzzy IF -THEN rules. This paper reviews various aspects of fuzzy IF-THEN rules. The theory of approximate reasoning, which provides a powerful framework for reasoning the imprecise and uncertain information, , is also reviewed. Additional properties of fuzzy systems are also discussed. (author)

  13. Early emerging system for reasoning about the social nature of food

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liberman, Zoe; Woodward, Amanda L.; Sullivan, Kathleen R.; Kinzler, Katherine D.

    2016-01-01

    Selecting appropriate foods is a complex and evolutionarily ancient problem, yet past studies have revealed little evidence of adaptations present in infancy that support sophisticated reasoning about perceptual properties of food. We propose that humans have an early-emerging system for reasoning about the social nature of food selection. Specifically, infants’ reasoning about food choice is tied to their thinking about agents’ intentions and social relationships. Whereas infants do not expect people to like the same objects, infants view food preferences as meaningfully shared across individuals. Infants’ reasoning about food preferences is fundamentally social: They generalize food preferences across individuals who affiliate, or who speak a common language, but not across individuals who socially disengage or who speak different languages. Importantly, infants’ reasoning about food preferences is flexibly calibrated to their own experiences: Tests of bilingual babies reveal that an infant’s sociolinguistic background influences whether she will constrain her generalization of food preferences to people who speak the same language. Additionally, infants’ systems for reasoning about food is differentially responsive to positive and negative information. Infants generalize information about food disgust across all people, regardless of those people’s social identities. Thus, whereas food preferences are seen as embedded within social groups, disgust is interpreted as socially universal, which could help infants avoid potentially dangerous foods. These studies reveal an early-emerging system for thinking about food that incorporates social reasoning about agents and their relationships, and allows infants to make abstract, flexible, adaptive inferences to interpret others’ food choices. PMID:27503878

  14. Early emerging system for reasoning about the social nature of food.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liberman, Zoe; Woodward, Amanda L; Sullivan, Kathleen R; Kinzler, Katherine D

    2016-08-23

    Selecting appropriate foods is a complex and evolutionarily ancient problem, yet past studies have revealed little evidence of adaptations present in infancy that support sophisticated reasoning about perceptual properties of food. We propose that humans have an early-emerging system for reasoning about the social nature of food selection. Specifically, infants' reasoning about food choice is tied to their thinking about agents' intentions and social relationships. Whereas infants do not expect people to like the same objects, infants view food preferences as meaningfully shared across individuals. Infants' reasoning about food preferences is fundamentally social: They generalize food preferences across individuals who affiliate, or who speak a common language, but not across individuals who socially disengage or who speak different languages. Importantly, infants' reasoning about food preferences is flexibly calibrated to their own experiences: Tests of bilingual babies reveal that an infant's sociolinguistic background influences whether she will constrain her generalization of food preferences to people who speak the same language. Additionally, infants' systems for reasoning about food is differentially responsive to positive and negative information. Infants generalize information about food disgust across all people, regardless of those people's social identities. Thus, whereas food preferences are seen as embedded within social groups, disgust is interpreted as socially universal, which could help infants avoid potentially dangerous foods. These studies reveal an early-emerging system for thinking about food that incorporates social reasoning about agents and their relationships, and allows infants to make abstract, flexible, adaptive inferences to interpret others' food choices.

  15. Cognitive Success: Instrumental Justifications of Normative Systems of Reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerhard eSchurz

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available In the first part of the paper (sec. 1-4, I argue that Elqayam and Evan's (2011 distinction between normative and instrumental conceptions of cognitive rationality corresponds to deontological versus teleological accounts in meta-ethics. I suggest that Elqayam and Evans' distinction be replaced by the distinction between a-priori intuition-based versus a-posteriori success-based accounts of cognitive rationality. The value of cognitive success lies in its instrumental rationality for almost-all practical purposes. In the second part (sec. 5-7, I point out that the Elqayam and Evans's distinction between normative and instrumental rationality is coupled with a second distinction: between logically general versus locally adaptive accounts of rationality. I argue that these are two independent distinctions should be treated as independent dimensions. I also demonstrate that logically general systems of reasoning can be instrumentally justified. However, such systems can only be cognitively successful if they are paired with successful inductive reasoning, which is the area where the program of adaptive (ecological rationality emerged, because there are no generally optimal inductive reasoning methods. I argue that the practical necessity of reasoning under changing environments constitutes a dilemma for ecological rationality, which I attempt to solve a dual account of rationality.

  16. Cognitive success: instrumental justifications of normative systems of reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schurz, Gerhard

    2014-01-01

    In the first part of the paper (sec. 1–4), I argue that Elqayam and Evan's (2011) distinction between normative and instrumental conceptions of cognitive rationality corresponds to deontological vs. teleological accounts in meta-ethics. I suggest that Elqayam and Evans' distinction be replaced by the distinction between a-priori intuition-based vs. a-posteriori success-based accounts of cognitive rationality. The value of cognitive success lies in its instrumental rationality for almost-all practical purposes. In the second part (sec. 5–7), I point out that the Elqayam and Evans's distinction between normative and instrumental rationality is coupled with a second distinction: between logically general vs. locally adaptive accounts of rationality. I argue that these are two independent distinctions that should be treated as independent dimensions. I also demonstrate that logically general systems of reasoning can be instrumentally justified. However, such systems can only be cognitively successful if they are paired with successful inductive reasoning, which is the area where the program of adaptive (ecological) rationality emerged, because there are no generally optimal inductive reasoning methods. I argue that the practical necessity of reasoning under changing environments constitutes a dilemma for ecological rationality, which I attempt to solve within a dual account of rationality. PMID:25071624

  17. Cognitive success: instrumental justifications of normative systems of reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schurz, Gerhard

    2014-01-01

    In the first part of the paper (sec. 1-4), I argue that Elqayam and Evan's (2011) distinction between normative and instrumental conceptions of cognitive rationality corresponds to deontological vs. teleological accounts in meta-ethics. I suggest that Elqayam and Evans' distinction be replaced by the distinction between a-priori intuition-based vs. a-posteriori success-based accounts of cognitive rationality. The value of cognitive success lies in its instrumental rationality for almost-all practical purposes. In the second part (sec. 5-7), I point out that the Elqayam and Evans's distinction between normative and instrumental rationality is coupled with a second distinction: between logically general vs. locally adaptive accounts of rationality. I argue that these are two independent distinctions that should be treated as independent dimensions. I also demonstrate that logically general systems of reasoning can be instrumentally justified. However, such systems can only be cognitively successful if they are paired with successful inductive reasoning, which is the area where the program of adaptive (ecological) rationality emerged, because there are no generally optimal inductive reasoning methods. I argue that the practical necessity of reasoning under changing environments constitutes a dilemma for ecological rationality, which I attempt to solve within a dual account of rationality.

  18. Qualitative Process Theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1984-07-01

    solving common sense reasoning mathematical reasoning naive physics aritificial intelligence * 20. ABSTRACT (Continue o,, reverse side Ift necessary and...AD-A148 987 QUALITATIVE PROCESS THEORY(U) MASSACHUSETTS INST OF 1/2 TEEH CAMBRIDGE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LAB K D FORBUS JUL 84 RI-TR-789 N88814-80...NATIONAL BUREAU Of STAN ARDS IJ% A 4 I .7 Technical Report 789 Q[-----Qualitative• Process M° Theory . Kenneth Dale Forbus MIT Artificial Intelligence

  19. A fuzzy-logic-based approach to qualitative safety modelling for marine systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sii, H.S.; Ruxton, Tom; Wang Jin

    2001-01-01

    Safety assessment based on conventional tools (e.g. probability risk assessment (PRA)) may not be well suited for dealing with systems having a high level of uncertainty, particularly in the feasibility and concept design stages of a maritime or offshore system. By contrast, a safety model using fuzzy logic approach employing fuzzy IF-THEN rules can model the qualitative aspects of human knowledge and reasoning processes without employing precise quantitative analyses. A fuzzy-logic-based approach may be more appropriately used to carry out risk analysis in the initial design stages. This provides a tool for working directly with the linguistic terms commonly used in carrying out safety assessment. This research focuses on the development and representation of linguistic variables to model risk levels subjectively. These variables are then quantified using fuzzy sets. In this paper, the development of a safety model using fuzzy logic approach for modelling various design variables for maritime and offshore safety based decision making in the concept design stage is presented. An example is used to illustrate the proposed approach

  20. Method of asymptotic expansions and qualitative analysis of finite-dimensional models in the nonlinear field theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eleonskij, V.M.; Kulagin, N.E.; Novozhilova, N.S.; Silin, V.P.

    1984-01-01

    The reasons which prevent the existence of periodic in time and self-localised in space solutions of the nonlinear wave equation u=F (u) are determined by the methods of qualitative theory of dynamical systems. The correspondence between the qualitative behaviour of special (separatrix) trajectories in the phase space and asymptotic solutions of the nonlinear wave equation is analysed

  1. Clinical reasoning in neurology: use of the repertory grid technique to investigate the reasoning of an experienced occupational therapist.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuipers, Kathy; Grice, James W

    2009-08-01

    The aim of this paper is to describe the use of a structured interview methodology, the repertory grid technique, for investigating the clinical reasoning of an experienced occupational therapist in the domain of upper limb hypertonia as a result of brain injury. Repertory grid interviews were completed before and after exposure to a protocol designed to guide clinical reasoning and decision-making in relation to upper limb neurological rehabilitation. Data were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Qualitative analysis focussed on clinical reasoning content. Common themes across the pre- and post-exposure interviews were the use of theoretical frameworks and practice models, the significance of clinical expertise, and discrimination of 'broad' and 'specific' aspects, as well as differentiation between 'therapist and client-related' aspects of the clinical situation. Quantitative analysis indicated that for both pre- and post-exposure repertory grids, clinical reasoning was structured in terms of two main concepts. In the pre-exposure grid, these were related to the therapist's role, and to the 'scope' of practice tasks (either broad or specific). In the post-exposure grid the two main concepts were upper limb performance, and client-centred aspects of the therapy process. The repertory grid technique is proposed as an effective tool for exploring occupational therapy clinical reasoning, based on its capacity for accessing personal frames of reference, and elucidating both the meaning and the structure supporting clinical reasoning.

  2. Determining the Reasons of Technostress Experienced by Teachers: A Qualitative Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmet Çoklar

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, especially means of information and communication technologies are intensively tried to be integrated into education period in educational fields. In this period, leadership and teachers who shape the ways to use this technology play an important role. Therefore, teachers are expected to use an intensive amount of technology following the technological investments in education fields required by the ministry in recent years. However, this expectation also brings some negative issues into the agenda. One of them is the stress caused by technology, namely; technostress. Technostress is defined as the price of technology use. The purpose of this study is to determine the reasons leading to technostress experienced by teachers, who are the addressee of an intensive use of technology as a result of an integration process to which they are subjected in this study. For this purpose, qualitative data were collected from 64 teachers, who benefit from technology intensively and themes were prepared using 117 different opinions after the content analysis. According to this, there are five main reasons indicating technostress experienced by teachers: individual problems, technical problems, education oriented problems, health problems and time problem. It was also seen in the study that the distribution of reasons leading to technostress experienced by teachers also differs in terms of gender.Keywords: Technostress, ICT, technology integration.Öğretmenlerin Teknostres Nedenlerinin Belirlenmesi: Nitel Bir AraştırmaÖz Son yıllarda eğitime, bilgi ve iletişim teknolojilerinin yoğun bir şekilde entegrasyonu söz konusudur. Bu süreçte liderlik ve kullanım şekline yön veren öğretmenler önemli rol oynamaktadır. Bakanlık tarafından yapılan teknolojik yatırımlar ve eğitim sistemin işleyişinde yoğun teknoloji kullanımı gerekliliği nedeni ile öğretmenlerden yoğun bir teknoloji kullanımı beklenilmektedir. Ancak bu

  3. Inductive reasoning about causally transmitted properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shafto, Patrick; Kemp, Charles; Bonawitz, Elizabeth Baraff; Coley, John D; Tenenbaum, Joshua B

    2008-11-01

    Different intuitive theories constrain and guide inferences in different contexts. Formalizing simple intuitive theories as probabilistic processes operating over structured representations, we present a new computational model of category-based induction about causally transmitted properties. A first experiment demonstrates undergraduates' context-sensitive use of taxonomic and food web knowledge to guide reasoning about causal transmission and shows good qualitative agreement between model predictions and human inferences. A second experiment demonstrates strong quantitative and qualitative fits to inferences about a more complex artificial food web. A third experiment investigates human reasoning about complex novel food webs where species have known taxonomic relations. Results demonstrate a double-dissociation between the predictions of our causal model and a related taxonomic model [Kemp, C., & Tenenbaum, J. B. (2003). Learning domain structures. In Proceedings of the 25th annual conference of the cognitive science society]: the causal model predicts human inferences about diseases but not genes, while the taxonomic model predicts human inferences about genes but not diseases. We contrast our framework with previous models of category-based induction and previous formal instantiations of intuitive theories, and outline challenges in developing a complete model of context-sensitive reasoning.

  4. Learning Qualitative Differential Equation models: a survey of algorithms and applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pang, Wei; Coghill, George M

    2010-03-01

    Over the last two decades, qualitative reasoning (QR) has become an important domain in Artificial Intelligence. QDE (Qualitative Differential Equation) model learning (QML), as a branch of QR, has also received an increasing amount of attention; many systems have been proposed to solve various significant problems in this field. QML has been applied to a wide range of fields, including physics, biology and medical science. In this paper, we first identify the scope of this review by distinguishing QML from other QML systems, and then review all the noteworthy QML systems within this scope. The applications of QML in several application domains are also introduced briefly. Finally, the future directions of QML are explored from different perspectives.

  5. Reasons for accepting or declining Down syndrome screening in Dutch prospective mothers within the context of national policy and healthcare system characteristics : a qualitative study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Crombag, Neeltje M T H; Boeije, Hennie; Iedema-Kuiper, Rita; Schielen, Peter C J I; Visser, Gerard H A; Bensing, Jozien M

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Uptake rates for Down syndrome screening in the Netherlands are low compared to other European countries. To investigate the low uptake, we explored women's reasons for participation and possible influences of national healthcare system characteristics. Dutch prenatal care is

  6. Speech-driven environmental control systems--a qualitative analysis of users' perceptions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Judge, Simon; Robertson, Zoë; Hawley, Mark; Enderby, Pam

    2009-05-01

    To explore users' experiences and perceptions of speech-driven environmental control systems (SPECS) as part of a larger project aiming to develop a new SPECS. The motivation for this part of the project was to add to the evidence base for the use of SPECS and to determine the key design specifications for a new speech-driven system from a user's perspective. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 users of SPECS from around the United Kingdom. These interviews were transcribed and analysed using a qualitative method based on framework analysis. Reliability is the main influence on the use of SPECS. All the participants gave examples of occasions when their speech-driven system was unreliable; in some instances, this unreliability was reported as not being a problem (e.g., for changing television channels); however, it was perceived as a problem for more safety critical functions (e.g., opening a door). Reliability was cited by participants as the reason for using a switch-operated system as back up. Benefits of speech-driven systems focused on speech operation enabling access when other methods were not possible; quicker operation and better aesthetic considerations. Overall, there was a perception of increased independence from the use of speech-driven environmental control. In general, speech was considered a useful method of operating environmental controls by the participants interviewed; however, their perceptions regarding reliability often influenced their decision to have backup or alternative systems for certain functions.

  7. A Clinical Reasoning Tool for Virtual Patients: Design-Based Research Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hege, Inga; Kononowicz, Andrzej A; Adler, Martin

    2017-11-02

    Clinical reasoning is a fundamental process medical students have to learn during and after medical school. Virtual patients (VP) are a technology-enhanced learning method to teach clinical reasoning. However, VP systems do not exploit their full potential concerning the clinical reasoning process; for example, most systems focus on the outcome and less on the process of clinical reasoning. Keeping our concept grounded in a former qualitative study, we aimed to design and implement a tool to enhance VPs with activities and feedback, which specifically foster the acquisition of clinical reasoning skills. We designed the tool by translating elements of a conceptual clinical reasoning learning framework into software requirements. The resulting clinical reasoning tool enables learners to build their patient's illness script as a concept map when they are working on a VP scenario. The student's map is compared with the experts' reasoning at each stage of the VP, which is technically enabled by using Medical Subject Headings, which is a comprehensive controlled vocabulary published by the US National Library of Medicine. The tool is implemented using Web technologies, has an open architecture that enables its integration into various systems through an open application program interface, and is available under a Massachusetts Institute of Technology license. We conducted usability tests following a think-aloud protocol and a pilot field study with maps created by 64 medical students. The results show that learners interact with the tool but create less nodes and connections in the concept map than an expert. Further research and usability tests are required to analyze the reasons. The presented tool is a versatile, systematically developed software component that specifically supports the clinical reasoning skills acquisition. It can be plugged into VP systems or used as stand-alone software in other teaching scenarios. The modular design allows an extension with new

  8. System Based Practice in Iran: A Qualitative Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fakhrolsadat Hosseini

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Systems-based practice (SBP is one of the six competencies introduced to assess the competency of physicians in America. In this study, we aimed to define the characteristics of SBP for general practitioners in Iran using content analysis in order to gain maximum qualitative data.Methods: A qualitative content analysis was conducted and the units of analysis were ministry documents, interviews with four managers, one expert and five general and family physicians. Inductive analysis process was mainly performed by open coding, abstraction, categorization, and definign themes using the iterative method.Results: 65 codes were placed in 16 sub-categories and 7 categories. Three themes emerged: Effective role playing in inter-professional team, balanced decision between patient needs and system goals, and actingfor system improvement. These themes were accompanied by meaning units that clarified their meaning. Conclusion: The exact definition of these themes in Iran could facilitate SBP training as well as evaluation.Keywords: SYSTEM BASED PRACTICE, ALIGNMENT, HEALTH ADVOCACY

  9. Expert system for failures detection and non-monotonic reasoning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Assis, Abilio de; Schirru, Roberto

    1997-01-01

    This paper presents the development of a shell denominated TIGER that has the purpose to serve as environment to the development of expert systems in diagnosis of faults in industrial complex plants. A model of knowledge representation and an inference engine based on non monotonic reasoning has been developed in order to provide flexibility in the representation of complex plants as well as performance to satisfy restrictions of real time. The TIGER is able to provide both the occurred fault and a hierarchical view of the several reasons that caused the fault to happen. As a validation of the developed shell a monitoring system of the critical safety functions of Angra-1 has been developed. 7 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs

  10. Development of X-ray diffractometers XD-D1 AI qualitative analysis system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arai, Hiroshi; Uota, Atsushi; Ishida, Hidenobu

    1994-01-01

    Qualitative X-ray diffraction is a very important analytical method, however, it is also very difficult to perform and needs some special skills. Also, the analysis accuracy depends on the operators' knowledge of qualitative analysis. In order that even a beginner analyst can obtain accurate results, we have developed the 'XD-D1 AI Qualitative Analysis System'. This system can support analytical operations with the experts' knowledge made available by AI techniques. Systematizing the experts' knowledge, we applied the system to our expert shell 'GENZO-I/PRO'. This system enabled a beginner analyst to get the same results as a specialist would get. In this paper, we will describe the process of system design, system construction and an example analysis. (author)

  11. The School System and New Media – Reasons in Favour of Integration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Marković

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In the education system reform which is currently underway in Serbia and in most countries of the region, considerable attention has been paid to modern media technologies. Although a whole decade has passed since the initiation of the reform there have been no significant developments regarding the school system computerisation, which resulted in raising the issue of integration and seeking valid arguments which indicate the key role of new media in the re-structuring of the school system. In that context, the basic goal of this paper is an analysis of primary research studies which suggest the reasons for the inte-gration of new media into the school system in order to set out the reform guidelines regarding the application of information and communication tech-nologies in formal education. The results of the analysis attest to a large num-ber of compelling reasons for implementing modern media technologies into the system of educational institutions. Among them one should distinguish the general reasons which deal with improving the quality of and bridging the gap between formal and informal education. The selected research studies state objective reasons such as rationality and cost-effectiveness, as well as peda-gogical reasons relating to the learning context innovation, presence of new knowledge sources provided by Internet resources, changes in the process of learning instigated by the development of e-learning and a higher motivation of the participants in the process of education. In the conclusion of this re-search the authors emphasise the necessity of integrating media technologies into the school system for the purposes of creating a modern coherent system founded on networking, communication and exchange.

  12. A Reasoning Algorithm Embedded in a Knowledge Management System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vasile Mazilescu

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The importance of this paper consists of demonstrating the possibility of employing an expert Knowledge Management System (KMS in problems of process control and planning, using imprecise knowledge. It was necessary to continuously adapt known models (e.g. theory of possibilities, discrete event systems to synthesize a control structure based on fuzzy knowledge. We also tried to conceptually develop a multi-agent real control structure, which is a solution to meet a series of demands on the complexity of the process control. Such systems, especially those based on communication between agents by sharing memory, bring up features well suited for real-time applications, such as: integration of heterogeneous agents, interaction between activities of acquisition, reasoning and action on the external environment, fusion of data coming from sensors of different nature and operation, flexibility and efficiency in the integration of new data needed for reasoning, by simply writing them in the common memory.

  13. Qualitative tools and experimental philosophy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andow, James

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Experimental philosophy brings empirical methods to philosophy. These methods are used to probe how people think about philosophically interesting things such as knowledge, morality, and freedom. This paper explores the contribution that qualitative methods have to make in this enterprise. I argue that qualitative methods have the potential to make a much greater contribution than they have so far. Along the way, I acknowledge a few types of resistance that proponents of qualitative methods in experimental philosophy might encounter, and provide reasons to think they are ill-founded. PMID:28392629

  14. Quantifying Novice and Expert Differences in Visual Diagnostic Reasoning in Veterinary Pathology Using Eye-Tracking Technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren, Amy L; Donnon, Tyrone L; Wagg, Catherine R; Priest, Heather; Fernandez, Nicole J

    2018-01-18

    Visual diagnostic reasoning is the cognitive process by which pathologists reach a diagnosis based on visual stimuli (cytologic, histopathologic, or gross imagery). Currently, there is little to no literature examining visual reasoning in veterinary pathology. The objective of the study was to use eye tracking to establish baseline quantitative and qualitative differences between the visual reasoning processes of novice and expert veterinary pathologists viewing cytology specimens. Novice and expert participants were each shown 10 cytology images and asked to formulate a diagnosis while wearing eye-tracking equipment (10 slides) and while concurrently verbalizing their thought processes using the think-aloud protocol (5 slides). Compared to novices, experts demonstrated significantly higher diagnostic accuracy (preasoning and script-inductive knowledge structures with system 2 (analytic) reasoning to verify their diagnosis.

  15. Dual-systems and the development of reasoning: competence-procedural systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Overton, Willis F; Ricco, Robert B

    2011-03-01

    Dual-system, dual-process, accounts of adult cognitive processing are examined in the context of a self-organizing relational developmental systems approaches to cognitive growth. Contemporary adult dual-process accounts describe a linear architecture of mind entailing two split-off, but interacting systems; a domain general, content-free 'analytic' system (system 2) and a domain specific highly contextualized 'heuristic' system (system 1). In the developmental literature on deductive reasoning, a similar distinction has been made between a domain general competence (reflective, algorithmic) system and a domain specific procedural system. In contrast to the linear accounts offered by empiricist, nativist, and/or evolutionary explanations, the dual competence-procedural developmental perspective argues that the mature systems emerge through developmental transformations as differentiations and intercoordinations of an early relatively undifferentiated action matrix. This development, whose microscopic mechanism is action-in-the-world, is characterized as being embodied, nonlinear, and epigenetic. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 231-237 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.120 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  16. Software Safety Analysis of Digital Protection System Requirements Using a Qualitative Formal Method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jang-Soo; Kwon, Kee-Choon; Cha, Sung-Deok

    2004-01-01

    The safety analysis of requirements is a key problem area in the development of software for the digital protection systems of a nuclear power plant. When specifying requirements for software of the digital protection systems and conducting safety analysis, engineers find that requirements are often known only in qualitative terms and that existing fault-tree analysis techniques provide little guidance on formulating and evaluating potential failure modes. A framework for the requirements engineering process is proposed that consists of a qualitative method for requirements specification, called the qualitative formal method (QFM), and a safety analysis method for the requirements based on causality information, called the causal requirements safety analysis (CRSA). CRSA is a technique that qualitatively evaluates causal relationships between software faults and physical hazards. This technique, extending the qualitative formal method process and utilizing information captured in the state trajectory, provides specific guidelines on how to identify failure modes and the relationship among them. The QFM and CRSA processes are described using shutdown system 2 of the Wolsong nuclear power plants as the digital protection system example

  17. Choosing Open Source ERP Systems: What Reasons Are There For Doing So?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johansson, Björn; Sudzina, Frantisek

    Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems attract a high attention and open source software does it as well. The question is then if, and if so, when do open source ERP systems take off. The paper describes the status of open source ERP systems. Based on literature review of ERP system selection criteria based on Web of Science articles, it discusses reported reasons for choosing open source or proprietary ERP systems. Last but not least, the article presents some conclusions that could act as input for future research. The paper aims at building up a foundation for the basic question: What are the reasons for an organization to adopt open source ERP systems.

  18. Fault tree construction of hybrid system requirements using qualitative formal method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Jang-Soo; Cha, Sung-Deok

    2005-01-01

    When specifying requirements for software controlling hybrid systems and conducting safety analysis, engineers experience that requirements are often known only in qualitative terms and that existing fault tree analysis techniques provide little guidance on formulating and evaluating potential failure modes. In this paper, we propose Causal Requirements Safety Analysis (CRSA) as a technique to qualitatively evaluate causal relationship between software faults and physical hazards. This technique, extending qualitative formal method process and utilizing information captured in the state trajectory, provides specific guidelines on how to identify failure modes and relationship among them. Using a simplified electrical power system as an example, we describe step-by-step procedures of conducting CRSA. Our experience of applying CRSA to perform fault tree analysis on requirements for the Wolsong nuclear power plant shutdown system indicates that CRSA is an effective technique in assisting safety engineers

  19. Qualitative identification of chaotic systems behaviours

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vicha, T.; Dohnal, M.

    2008-01-01

    There are only three qualitative values positive, negative and zero. This means that there is a maximal number of qualitatively distinguishable scenarios, prescribed by the number of variables and the highest qualitative derivative taken into consideration. There are several chaos related tasks, which can be solved with great difficulties on the numerical level if multidimensional problems are studied. One of them is the identification of all qualitatively different behaviours. To make sure that all distinctive qualitative scenarios are identified a qualitative interpretation of a classical quantitative phase portrait is used. The highest derivatives are usually the second derivatives as it is not possible to safely identify higher derivatives if tasks related to ecology or economics are studied. Two classical models are discussed - Damped oscillation (non chaotic) and Lorenz model (chaotic). There are 191 scenarios of the Lorenz model if only the second derivatives are considered. If the third derivatives are taken into consideration then the number of scenarios is 2619. Complete qualitative results are given in details

  20. Reasons for withdrawing belief in vivid autobiographical memories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scoboria, Alan; Boucher, Chantal; Mazzoni, Giuliana

    2015-01-01

    Previous studies have shown that many people hold personal memories for events that they no longer believe occurred. This study examines the reasons that people provide for choosing to reduce autobiographical belief in vividly recollected autobiographical memories. A body of non-believed memories provided by 374 individuals was reviewed to develop a qualitatively derived categorisation system. The final scheme consisted of 8 major categories (in descending order of mention): social feedback, event plausibility, alternative attributions, general memory beliefs, internal event features, consistency with external evidence, views of self/others, personal motivation and numerous sub-categories. Independent raters coded the reports and judged the primary reason that each person provided for withdrawing belief. The nature of each category, frequency of category endorsement, category overlap and phenomenological ratings are presented, following which links to related literature and implications are discussed. This study documents that a wide variety of recollective and non-recollective sources of information influence decision-making about the occurrence of autobiographical events.

  1. Depression, financial problems and other reasons for suspending medical studies, and requested support services: findings from a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soh, Nerissa; Ma, Colleen; Lampe, Lisa; Hunt, Glenn; Malhi, Gin; Walter, Garry

    2012-12-01

    This study aimed to qualitatively explore medical students' reasons for suspending, or thinking of suspending, their studies and the types of support services they request. Data were collected through an anonymous online survey. Medical students' responses to open-ended questions were analyzed thematically. Responses were received from 475 students. Financial problems, doubts as to whether medicine was the right vocation, and depression were the most commonly reported themes. Students endorsed a wide range of other pressures and concerns, barriers to obtaining assistance, and also suggested solutions and services to address their concerns. Medical students' financial concerns and potential depressive symptoms should be addressed by university and faculty support services. Government financial support mechanisms for students should also be reviewed. Students' suggestions of the types of services and their location must be borne in mind when allocating resources.

  2. The role and position of passive intervertebral motion assessment within clinical reasoning and decision-making in manual physical therapy: a qualitative interview study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Trijffel, Emiel; Plochg, Thomas; van Hartingsveld, Frank; Lucas, Cees; Oostendorp, Rob A B

    2010-06-01

    Passive intervertebral motion (PIVM) assessment is a characterizing skill of manual physical therapists (MPTs) and is important for judgments about impairments in spinal joint function. It is unknown as to why and how MPTs use this mobility testing of spinal motion segments within their clinical reasoning and decision-making. This qualitative study aimed to explore and understand the role and position of PIVM assessment within the manual diagnostic process. Eight semistructured individual interviews with expert MPTs and three subsequent group interviews using manual physical therapy consultation platforms were conducted. Line-by-line coding was performed on the transcribed data, and final main themes were identified from subcategories. Three researchers were involved in the analysis process. Four themes emerged from the data: contextuality, consistency, impairment orientedness, and subjectivity. These themes were interrelated and linked to concepts of professionalism and clinical reasoning. MPTs used PIVM assessment within a multidimensional, biopsychosocial framework incorporating clinical data relating to mechanical dysfunction as well as to personal factors while applying various clinical reasoning strategies. Interpretation of PIVM assessment and subsequent decisions on manipulative treatment were strongly rooted within practitioners' practical knowledge. This study has identified the specific role and position of PIVM assessment as related to other clinical findings within clinical reasoning and decision-making in manual physical therapy in The Netherlands. We recommend future research in manual diagnostics to account for the multivariable character of physical examination of the spine.

  3. Dual Systems Competence [Image Omitted] Procedural Processing: A Relational Developmental Systems Approach to Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ricco, Robert B.; Overton, Willis F.

    2011-01-01

    Many current psychological models of reasoning minimize the role of deductive processes in human thought. In the present paper, we argue that deduction is an important part of ordinary cognition and we propose that a dual systems Competence [image omitted] Procedural processing model conceptualized within relational developmental systems theory…

  4. Irrelevance Reasoning in Knowledge Based Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levy, A. Y.

    1993-01-01

    This dissertation considers the problem of reasoning about irrelevance of knowledge in a principled and efficient manner. Specifically, it is concerned with two key problems: (1) developing algorithms for automatically deciding what parts of a knowledge base are irrelevant to a query and (2) the utility of relevance reasoning. The dissertation describes a novel tool, the query-tree, for reasoning about irrelevance. Based on the query-tree, we develop several algorithms for deciding what formulas are irrelevant to a query. Our general framework sheds new light on the problem of detecting independence of queries from updates. We present new results that significantly extend previous work in this area. The framework also provides a setting in which to investigate the connection between the notion of irrelevance and the creation of abstractions. We propose a new approach to research on reasoning with abstractions, in which we investigate the properties of an abstraction by considering the irrelevance claims on which it is based. We demonstrate the potential of the approach for the cases of abstraction of predicates and projection of predicate arguments. Finally, we describe an application of relevance reasoning to the domain of modeling physical devices.

  5. College Students' Reasons for Concealing Suicidal Ideation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burton Denmark, Adryon; Hess, Elaine; Becker, Martin Swanbrow

    2012-01-01

    Self-reported reasons for concealing suicidal ideation were explored using data from a national survey of undergraduate and graduate students: 558 students indicated that they seriously considered attempting suicide during the previous year and did not tell anyone about their suicidal thoughts. Content analysis of students' qualitative responses…

  6. Qualitative research methods for medical educators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, Janice L; Balmer, Dorene F; Giardino, Angelo P

    2011-01-01

    This paper provides a primer for qualitative research in medical education. Our aim is to equip readers with a basic understanding of qualitative research and prepare them to judge the goodness of fit between qualitative research and their own research questions. We provide an overview of the reasons for choosing a qualitative research approach and potential benefits of using these methods for systematic investigation. We discuss developing qualitative research questions, grounding research in a philosophical framework, and applying rigorous methods of data collection, sampling, and analysis. We also address methods to establish the trustworthiness of a qualitative study and introduce the reader to ethical concerns that warrant special attention when planning qualitative research. We conclude with a worksheet that readers may use for designing a qualitative study. Medical educators ask many questions that carefully designed qualitative research would address effectively. Careful attention to the design of qualitative studies will help to ensure credible answers that will illuminate many of the issues, challenges, and quandaries that arise while doing the work of medical education. Copyright © 2011 Academic Pediatric Association. All rights reserved.

  7. Prospective Teachers Proportional Reasoning and Presumption of Student Work

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mujiyem Sapti

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to describe the proportional reasoning of prospective teachers and their predictions about students' answers. Subjects were 4 prospective teacher  7th semester Department of Mathematics Education, Muhammadiyah University of Purworejo. Proportional reasoning task used to obtain research data. Subjects were asked to explain their reasoning and write predictions of student completion. Data was taken on October 15th, 2014. Interviews were conducted after the subjects completed the task and recorded with audio media. The research data were subject written work and interview transcripts. Data were analyzed using qualitative analysis techniques. In solving the proportional reasoning task, subjects using the cross product. However, they understand the meaning of the cross product. Subject also could predict students' reasoning on the matter.

  8. A qualitative model construction method of nuclear power plants for effective diagnostic knowledge generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshikawa, Shinji; Endou, Akira; Kitamura, Yoshinobu; Sasajima, Munehiko; Ikeda, Mitsuru; Mizoguchi, Riichiro.

    1994-01-01

    This paper discusses a method to construct a qualitative model of a nuclear power plant, in order to generate effective diagnostic knowledge. The proposed method is to prepare deep knowledge to be provided to a knowledge compiler based upon qualitative reasoning (QR). Necessity of knowledge compilation for nuclear plant diagnosis will be explained first, and conventionally-experienced problems in qualitative reasoning and a proposed method to overcome this problem is shown next, then a sample procedure to build a qualitative nuclear plant model is demonstrated. (author)

  9. CONFIG - Adapting qualitative modeling and discrete event simulation for design of fault management systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malin, Jane T.; Basham, Bryan D.

    1989-01-01

    CONFIG is a modeling and simulation tool prototype for analyzing the normal and faulty qualitative behaviors of engineered systems. Qualitative modeling and discrete-event simulation have been adapted and integrated, to support early development, during system design, of software and procedures for management of failures, especially in diagnostic expert systems. Qualitative component models are defined in terms of normal and faulty modes and processes, which are defined by invocation statements and effect statements with time delays. System models are constructed graphically by using instances of components and relations from object-oriented hierarchical model libraries. Extension and reuse of CONFIG models and analysis capabilities in hybrid rule- and model-based expert fault-management support systems are discussed.

  10. Reflective ability and moral reasoning in final year medical students: a semi-qualitative cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalmers, Patricia; Dunngalvin, Audrey; Shorten, George

    2011-01-01

    Moral reasoning and reflective ability are important concepts in medical education. To date, the association between reflective ability and moral reasoning in medical students has not been measured. This study tested the hypotheses that, amongst final year medical students, (1) moral reasoning and reflective ability improve over time and (2) positive change in reflective ability favourably influences moral reasoning. With Institutional Ethical approval, 56 medical students (of a class of 110) participated fully both at the beginning and end of the final academic year. Reflective ability and moral reasoning were assessed at each time using Sobral's reflection-in-learning scale (RLS), Boenink's overall reflection score and by employing Kohlberg's schema for moral reasoning. The most important findings were that (1) Students' level of reflective ability scores related to medicine decreased significantly over the course of the year, (2) students demonstrated a predominantly conventional level of moral reasoning at both the beginning and end of the year, (3) moral reasoning scores tended to decrease over the course of the year and (4) RLS is a strong predictor of change in moral reasoning over time. This study confirms the usefulness of Sobral's RLS and BOR score for evaluating moral development in the context of medical education. This study further documents regression and levelling in the moral reasoning of final year medical students and a decrease in reflective ability applied in the medical context. Further studies are required to determine factors that would favourably influence reflective ability and moral reasoning among final year medical students.

  11. A qualitative study of the reasons why PTB patients at clinics in the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains the leading infectious cause of adult mortality, despite 60 years of effective chemotherapy. One reason for this is the problem caused by the interruption and failure of treatment, which usually are related to non-adherence. The reasons for non-adherence to TB treatment are ...

  12. Reasons for Preference of Home Delivery with Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in Rural Bangladesh: A Qualitative Exploration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarker, Bidhan Krishna; Rahman, Musfikur; Rahman, Tawhidur; Hossain, Jahangir; Reichenbach, Laura; Mitra, Dipak Kumar

    2016-01-01

    Although Bangladesh has made significant progress in reducing maternal and child mortality in the last decade, childbirth assisted by skilled attendants has not increased as much as expected. An objective of the Bangladesh National Strategy for Maternal Health 2014-2024 is to reduce maternal mortality to 50/100,000 live births. It also aims to increase deliveries with skilled birth attendants to more than 80% which remains a great challenge, especially in rural areas. This study explores the underlying factors for the major reliance on home delivery with Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) in rural areas of Bangladesh. This was a qualitative cross-sectional study. Data were collected between December 2012 and February 2013 in Sunamganj district of Sylhet division and data collection methods included key informant interviews (KII) with stakeholders; formal and informal health service providers and health managers; and in-depth interviews (IDI) with community women to capture a range of information. Key questions were asked of all the study participants to explore the question of why women and their families prefer home delivery by TBA and to identify the factors associated with this practice in the local community. The study shows that home delivery by TBAs remain the first preference for pregnant women. Poverty is the most frequently cited reason for preferring home delivery with a TBA. Other major reasons include; traditional views, religious fallacy, poor road conditions, limited access of women to decision making in the family, lack of transportation to reach the nearest health facility. Apart from these, community people also prefer home delivery due to lack of knowledge and awareness about service delivery points, fear of increased chance of having a caesarean delivery at hospital, and lack of female doctors in the health care facilities. The study findings provide us a better understanding of the reasons for preference for home delivery with TBA among this

  13. Reasons for Preference of Home Delivery with Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs in Rural Bangladesh: A Qualitative Exploration.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bidhan Krishna Sarker

    Full Text Available Although Bangladesh has made significant progress in reducing maternal and child mortality in the last decade, childbirth assisted by skilled attendants has not increased as much as expected. An objective of the Bangladesh National Strategy for Maternal Health 2014-2024 is to reduce maternal mortality to 50/100,000 live births. It also aims to increase deliveries with skilled birth attendants to more than 80% which remains a great challenge, especially in rural areas. This study explores the underlying factors for the major reliance on home delivery with Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA in rural areas of Bangladesh.This was a qualitative cross-sectional study. Data were collected between December 2012 and February 2013 in Sunamganj district of Sylhet division and data collection methods included key informant interviews (KII with stakeholders; formal and informal health service providers and health managers; and in-depth interviews (IDI with community women to capture a range of information. Key questions were asked of all the study participants to explore the question of why women and their families prefer home delivery by TBA and to identify the factors associated with this practice in the local community.The study shows that home delivery by TBAs remain the first preference for pregnant women. Poverty is the most frequently cited reason for preferring home delivery with a TBA. Other major reasons include; traditional views, religious fallacy, poor road conditions, limited access of women to decision making in the family, lack of transportation to reach the nearest health facility. Apart from these, community people also prefer home delivery due to lack of knowledge and awareness about service delivery points, fear of increased chance of having a caesarean delivery at hospital, and lack of female doctors in the health care facilities.The study findings provide us a better understanding of the reasons for preference for home delivery with TBA

  14. Comparing Reasons for Quitting Substance Abuse with the Constructs of Behavioral Models: A Qualitative Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamid Tavakoli Ghouchani

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Background and Objectives: The world population has reached over seven billion people. Of these, 230 million individuals abuse substances. Therefore, substance abuse prevention and treatment programs have received increasing attention during the past two decades. Understanding people’s motivations for quitting drug abuse is essential to the success of treatment. This study hence sought to identify major motivations for quitting and to compare them with the constructs of health education models. Materials and Methods: In the present study, qualitative content analysis was used to determine the main motivations for quitting substance abuse. Overall, 22 patients, physicians, and psychotherapists were selected from several addiction treatment clinics in Bojnord (Iran during 2014. Purposeful sampling method was applied and continued until data saturation was achieved. Data were collected through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews and field notes. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Results: Content analysis revealed 33 sub-categories and nine categories including economic problems, drug-related concerns, individual problems, family and social problems, family expectations, attention to social status, beliefs about drug addiction, and valuing the quitting behavior. Accordingly, four themes, i.e. perceived threat, perceived barriers, attitude toward the behavior, and subjective norms, were extracted. Conclusion: Reasons for quitting substance abuse match the constructs of different behavioral models (e.g. the health belief model and the theory of planned behavior.

  15. A Qualitative Acceleration Model Based on Intervals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ester MARTINEZ-MARTIN

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available On the way to autonomous service robots, spatial reasoning plays a main role since it properly deals with problems involving uncertainty. In particular, we are interested in knowing people's pose to avoid collisions. With that aim, in this paper, we present a qualitative acceleration model for robotic applications including representation, reasoning and a practical application.

  16. "Why should I have come here?"--A qualitative investigation of migration reasons and experiences of health workers from sub-Saharan Africa in Austria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jirovsky, Elena; Hoffmann, Kathryn; Maier, Manfred; Kutalek, Ruth

    2015-02-26

    There are many health professionals from abroad working in the European Union and in Austria. The situation of sub-Saharan health workers in particular has now been studied for the first time. The objective was to explore their reasons for migration to Austria, as well as their personal experiences concerning the living and working situation in Austria. We conducted semi-structured, qualitative interviews with African health workers. They were approached via professional networks and a snowball system. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using atlas.ti. For most of our participants, the decision to migrate was not professional but situation dependent. Austria was not their first choice as a destination country. Several study participants left their countries to improve their overall working situation. The main motivation for migrating to Austria was partnership with an Austrian citizen. Other immigrants were refugees. Most of the immigrants found the accreditation process to work as a health professional to be difficult and hindering. This resulted in some participants not being able to work in their profession, while others were successful in their profession or in related fields. There have been experiences of discrimination, but also positive support. Austria is not an explicit target country for health workers from sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the study participants experienced bad work and study conditions in their home countries, but they are in Austria mostly because of personal connections. The competencies of those who are here are not fully utilised. The major reason is Austria's current resident and work permit regulations concerning African citizens. In addition, the accreditation process and the German language appear to be barriers.

  17. A case study on the investigation of reasoning skills in geometry ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The aim of this study is to evaluate the reasoning skills in geometry-related subjects of six 8th Grade students. The study data were obtained at the end of the 2011-2012 spring period in a public elementary school. The study uses a case study with qualitative research techniques to investigate how students use reasoning ...

  18. Consequence Reasoning in Multilevel Flow Modelling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Xinxin; Lind, Morten; Ravn, Ole

    2013-01-01

    Consequence reasoning is a major element for operation support system to assess the plant situations. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate how Multilevel Flow Models can be used to reason about consequences of disturbances in complex engineering systems. MFM is a modelling methodology...... for representing process knowledge for complex systems. It represents the system by using means-end and part-whole decompositions, and describes not only the purposes and functions of the system but also the causal relations between them. Thus MFM is a tool for causal reasoning. The paper introduces MFM modelling...... syntax and gives detailed reasoning formulas for consequence reasoning. The reasoning formulas offers basis for developing rule-based system to perform consequence reasoning based on MFM, which can be used for alarm design, risk monitoring, and supervision and operation support system design....

  19. Qualitative simulation in formal process modelling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sivertsen, Elin R.

    1999-01-01

    In relation to several different research activities at the OECD Halden Reactor Project, the usefulness of formal process models has been identified. Being represented in some appropriate representation language, the purpose of these models is to model process plants and plant automatics in a unified way to allow verification and computer aided design of control strategies. The present report discusses qualitative simulation and the tool QSIM as one approach to formal process models. In particular, the report aims at investigating how recent improvements of the tool facilitate the use of the approach in areas like process system analysis, procedure verification, and control software safety analysis. An important long term goal is to provide a basis for using qualitative reasoning in combination with other techniques to facilitate the treatment of embedded programmable systems in Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA). This is motivated from the potential of such a combination in safety analysis based on models comprising both software, hardware, and operator. It is anticipated that the research results from this activity will benefit V and V in a wide variety of applications where formal process models can be utilized. Examples are operator procedures, intelligent decision support systems, and common model repositories (author) (ml)

  20. Women's Perceived Reasons for Their Excessive Postpartum Weight Retention: A Qualitative Interview Study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne Christenson

    Full Text Available Obesity in Sweden has doubled to 14% over the last 20 years. New strategies for treatment and prevention are needed. Excessive gestational weight gain has been found to contribute substantially to obesity, and there is a consistent association between postpartum weight retention and obesity later in life. We aimed to explore what factors women perceive as reasons for having substantial postpartum weight retention, to identify areas for new and improved interventions.Qualitative interview study (semi-structured using an emergent design. Fifteen women, with a postpartum weight retention ≥ 10 kg, were interviewed by a trained cognitive therapist. Eight women had pre-pregnancy BMI below 30 kg/m2. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and data analysed using inductive manifest content analysis. Salient text passages were extracted, shortened, coded and clustered into categories.Participants reported no knowledge of current gestational weight gain recommendations or of risks for adverse pregnancy outcomes with excessive weight gain or postpartum weight retention. Excessive eating emerged as a common strategy to provide relief of psychological, emotional and physical discomfort, such as depression and morning sickness. Women perceived medical staff as being unconcerned about weight, and postpartum weight loss support was scarce or absent. Some women reported eating more due to a belief that breastfeeding would automatically lead to weight loss.There is a need to raise awareness about risks with unhealthy gestational weight development and postpartum weight retention in women of childbearing age. The common strategy to cope with psychological, emotional or physical discomfort by eating is an important factor to target with intervention. The postpartum year is a neglected period where additional follow-up on weight and weight loss support is strongly indicated.

  1. Heuristic reasoning and relative incompleteness

    OpenAIRE

    Treur, J.

    1993-01-01

    In this paper an approach is presented in which heuristic reasoning is interpreted as strategic reasoning. This type of reasoning enables one to derive which hypothesis to investigate, and which observable information to acquire next (to be able to verify the chosen hypothesis). A compositional architecture for reasoning systems that perform such heuristic reasoning is introduced, called SIX (for Strategic Interactive eXpert systems). This compositional architecture enables user interaction a...

  2. A Reasoned Action Approach to Participation in Lesson Study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Vries, Siebrichje; Roorda, Gerrit

    2016-01-01

    This exploratory study investigates teachers’ attitude toward Lesson Study (LS), a professional development approach which is relatively unknown in the Netherlands. The paper reports a qualitative study based on the Reasoned Action Approach, which explains how teachers’ beliefs influence their

  3. An integrated real-time diagnostic concept using expert systems, qualitative reasoning and quantitative analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edwards, R.M.; Lee, K.Y.; Kumara, S.; Levine, S.H.

    1989-01-01

    An approach for an integrated real-time diagnostic system is being developed for inclusion as an integral part of a power plant automatic control system. In order to participate in control decisions and automatic closed loop operation, the diagnostic system must operate in real-time. Thus far, an expert system with real-time capabilities has been developed and installed on a subsystem at the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-II) in Idaho, USA. Real-time simulation testing of advanced power plant concepts at the Pennsylvania State University has been developed and was used to support the expert system development and installation at EBR-II. Recently, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) have funded a Penn State research program to further enhance application of real-time diagnostic systems by pursuing implementation in a distributed power plant computer system including microprocessor based controllers. This paper summarizes past, current, planned, and possible future approaches to power plant diagnostic systems research at Penn State. 34 refs., 9 figs

  4. Reasons of Tourists’ Preferences of All-Inclusive System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali YAYLI

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available The study is aimed to identify the reasons of tourists’ preferences of all inclusive system. Scale that has developed by Wong and Kwong (2004 has been used in this study. Population of study has been consisted of tourists that have come to Antalya by purchasing all inclusive system package tours. In the study which carried out by participated 387 tourists, statements of “guaranty of tour”, “price of travel” and “items included in the tour price” that are the most important criteria of tourists while they prefer all inclusive system were ranked among first three. Moreover, according to the results of factor analysis, ten factors were determined and was seen that factors of “innovations”, “price” and “specifications of travel” were ranked among first three.

  5. Reasoning about real-time systems with temporal interval logic constraints on multi-state automata

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gabrielian, Armen

    1991-01-01

    Models of real-time systems using a single paradigm often turn out to be inadequate, whether the paradigm is based on states, rules, event sequences, or logic. A model-based approach to reasoning about real-time systems is presented in which a temporal interval logic called TIL is employed to define constraints on a new type of high level automata. The combination, called hierarchical multi-state (HMS) machines, can be used to model formally a real-time system, a dynamic set of requirements, the environment, heuristic knowledge about planning-related problem solving, and the computational states of the reasoning mechanism. In this framework, mathematical techniques were developed for: (1) proving the correctness of a representation; (2) planning of concurrent tasks to achieve goals; and (3) scheduling of plans to satisfy complex temporal constraints. HMS machines allow reasoning about a real-time system from a model of how truth arises instead of merely depending of what is true in a system.

  6. Mathematical reasoning in Elementary School and Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joana Mata-Pereira

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyzes the reasoning processes in mathematical tasks of two students in the 9th year of elementary school and two students in the second year of college. It also focuses the representation and meaningfulness, given their close relation with the mathematical reasoning. Results presented are based on two qualitative and interpretive studies which resort to several data sources. These results show that mastering of the algebraic language by the students in the 9th year is still insufficient to promptly solve the problems proposed, which does not occur with the college students though. All students use inductive initial strategies. However, one of the students in the 9th year and both college students revealed clearly their capability to reason deductively. The signification levels vary considerably, and several students have shown skills to build or mobilize relevant meanings. The model of analysis presented, articulating reasoning, representations and meaningfulness proved itself a promising tool to study the students’ reasoning processes.

  7. Reasoning methods in medical consultation systems: artificial intelligence approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shortliffe, E H

    1984-01-01

    It has been argued that the problem of medical diagnosis is fundamentally ill-structured, particularly during the early stages when the number of possible explanations for presenting complaints can be immense. This paper discusses the process of clinical hypothesis evocation, contrasts it with the structured decision making approaches used in traditional computer-based diagnostic systems, and briefly surveys the more open-ended reasoning methods that have been used in medical artificial intelligence (AI) programs. The additional complexity introduced when an advice system is designed to suggest management instead of (or in addition to) diagnosis is also emphasized. Example systems are discussed to illustrate the key concepts.

  8. Graphical means for inspecting qualitative models of system behaviour

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bouwer, A.; Bredeweg, B.

    2010-01-01

    This article presents the design and evaluation of a tool for inspecting conceptual models of system behaviour. The basis for this research is the Garp framework for qualitative simulation. This framework includes modelling primitives, such as entities, quantities and causal dependencies, which are

  9. A qualitative diagnosis method for a continuous process monitor system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lucas, B.; Evrard, J.M.; Lorre, J.P.

    1993-01-01

    SEXTANT, an expert system for the analysis of transients, was built initially to study physical transients in nuclear reactors. It combines several knowledge bases concerning measurements, models and qualitative behavior of the plant with a generate-and-test mechanism and a set of numerical models of the physical process. The integration of an improved diagnosis method using a mixed model in SEXTANT in order to take into account the existence and the reliability of only a few number of sensors, the knowledge on failure and the possibility of non anticipated failures, is presented. This diagnosis method is based on two complementary qualitative models of the process and a methodology to build these models from a system description. 8 figs., 17 refs

  10. Cooperative expert system reasoning for waste remediations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bohn, S.J.; Pennock, K.A.; Franklin, A.L.

    1991-12-01

    The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is facing a large task in completing Remedial Investigations and Feasibility Studies (RI/FS) for hazardous waste sites across the nation. One of the primary objectives of an RI/FS is the specification of viable sequences of technology treatment trains which can provide implementable site solutions. We present a methodology which integrates expert system technology within an object-oriented framework to create a cooperative reasoning system designed to provide a comprehensive list of these implementable solutions. The system accomplishes its goal of specifying technology trains by utilizing a ''team'' of expert system objects. The system distributes the problem solving among the individual expert objects, and then coordinates the combination of individual decisions into a joint solution. Each expert object possesses the knowledge of an expert in a particular technology. An expert object can examine the parameters and characteristics of the waste site, seek information and support from other expert objects, and then make decisions concerning its own applicability. This methodology has at least two primary benefits. First, the creation of multiple expert objects provides a more direct mapping from the actual process to a software system, making the system easier to build. Second, the distribution of the inferencing among a number of loosely connected expert objects allows for a more robust and maintainable final product

  11. Natural representation of the deduction; applying to the temporal reasoning for expert systems based on production rules

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baudin, Patrick

    1990-01-01

    The expert systems development within a real time context, requires both to master the necessary reasoning about the time as well as to master the necessary response time for reasoning. Although rigorous temporal logic formalisms exist, strategies for temporal reasoning are either incomplete or else imply unacceptable response times. The first part presents the logic formalism upon which is based the production system. This formalism contains a three-valued logic system with truth-valued matrix, and a deductive system with a formal system. It does a rigorous work for this no standard logic, where the notions of consistency and completeness can be studied. Its development supports itself on the will to formalise the reasoning used at the elaboration time of the strategies to make them more explicit as the natural deduction method. The second part proposes an extension for the source logic formalism to take explicitly the time into account. The approach proposed through 'TANIS', the prototype of such an expert system shell, using a natural reasoning application is proposed. It allows, at the generation time, the implementation within the expert system, of an adapted deduction strategy to the symbolic temporal reasoning which is complete and ease the determination of the response time. (author) [fr

  12. REASONS FOR PATIENT DELAYS & HEALTH SYSTEM DELAYS FOR TUBERCULOSIS IN SOUTH INDIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kapil Goel

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Globally, the burden of Tuberculosis is escalating. Early diagnosis and prompt initiation of tuberculosis treatment is essential for an effective tuberculosis control programme. Objectives: To study the self reported reasons for patient and health system (diagnosis & treatment delays in Tuberculosis patients. Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted among 98 new sputum positive TB cases aged > 15 years registered under RNTCP from Oct 2006 to June 2007 & receiving treatment under DOTS in Udupi taluk by interviewing them. Results: Total 98 patients were recruited and 68% were males. Out of 17 patients with patient delays, 82% felt that their symptoms were not severe, 71% felt that patient delay was due to lack of awareness and 71% did not take it seriously. Out of 86 patients with health system delays, 82.6% of patients mentioned that doctor has not advised for sputum examination, 76.7% of patients told that they first consulted a private doctor, 21% of them mentioned that doctor was unaware to diagnose TB. Conclusion: Symptoms not severe is the main reason for the patient delay and doctor didn’t advise for sputum examination is the main reason for health system delays.

  13. Workarounds to hospital electronic prescribing systems: a qualitative study in English hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cresswell, Kathrin M; Mozaffar, Hajar; Lee, Lisa; Williams, Robin; Sheikh, Aziz

    2017-07-01

    Concerns with the usability of electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) systems can lead to the development of workarounds by users. To investigate the types of workarounds users employed, the underlying reasons offered and implications for care provision and patient safety. We collected a large qualitative data set, comprising interviews, observations and project documents, as part of an evaluation of ePrescribing systems in five English hospitals, which we conceptualised as case studies. Data were collected at up to three different time points throughout implementation and adoption. Thematic analysis involving deductive and inductive approaches was facilitated by NVivo 10. Our data set consisted of 173 interviews, 24 rounds of observation and 17 documents. Participating hospitals were at various stages of implementing a range of systems with differing functionalities. We identified two types of workarounds: informal and formal. The former were informal practices employed by users not approved by management, which were introduced because of perceived changes to professional roles, issues with system usability and performance and challenges relating to the inaccessibility of hardware. The latter were formalised practices that were promoted by management and occurred when systems posed threats to patient safety and organisational functioning. Both types of workarounds involved using paper and other software systems as intermediaries, which often created new risks relating to a lack of efficient transfer of real-time information between different users. Assessing formal and informal workarounds employed by users should be part of routine organisational implementation strategies of major health information technology initiatives. Workarounds can create new risks and present new opportunities for improvement in system design and integration. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  14. Feedback on students' clinical reasoning skills during fieldwork education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Beer, Marianne; Mårtensson, Lena

    2015-08-01

    Feedback on clinical reasoning skills during fieldwork education is regarded as vital in occupational therapy students' professional development. The nature of supervisors' feedback however, could be confirmative and/or corrective and corrective feedback could be with or without suggestions on how to improve. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of supervisors' feedback on final-year occupational therapy students' clinical reasoning skills through comparing the nature of feedback with the students' subsequent clinical reasoning ability. A mixed-method approach with a convergent parallel design was used combining the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. From focus groups and interviews with students, data were collected and analysed qualitatively to determine how the students experienced the feedback they received from their supervisors. By quantitatively comparing the final practical exam grades with the nature of the feedback, their fieldwork End-of-Term grades and average academic performance it became possible to merge the results for comparison and interpretation. Students' clinical reasoning skills seem to be improved through corrective feedback if accompanied by suggestions on how to improve, irrespective of their average academic performance. Supervisors were inclined to underrate high performing students and overrate lower performing students. Students who obtained higher grades in the final practical examinations received more corrective feedback with suggestions on how to improve from their supervisors. Confirmative feedback alone may not be sufficient for improving the clinical reasoning skills of students. © 2015 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal published by Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd on behalf of Occupational Therapy Australia.

  15. A Hierarchal Risk Assessment Model Using the Evidential Reasoning Rule

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoxiao Ji

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to develop a hierarchical risk assessment model using the newly-developed evidential reasoning (ER rule, which constitutes a generic conjunctive probabilistic reasoning process. In this paper, we first provide a brief introduction to the basics of the ER rule and emphasize the strengths for representing and aggregating uncertain information from multiple experts and sources. Further, we discuss the key steps of developing the hierarchical risk assessment framework systematically, including (1 formulation of risk assessment hierarchy; (2 representation of both qualitative and quantitative information; (3 elicitation of attribute weights and information reliabilities; (4 aggregation of assessment information using the ER rule and (5 quantification and ranking of risks using utility-based transformation. The proposed hierarchical risk assessment framework can potentially be implemented to various complex and uncertain systems. A case study on the fire/explosion risk assessment of marine vessels demonstrates the applicability of the proposed risk assessment model.

  16. Risk of Telemedicine Infeasibility: An Evidential Reasoning Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sofienne Mansouri

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The viability of a telemedicine system is the strength of its business continuity. Business continuity can only stand if the telemedicine system remains continuously feasible. This article studies telemedicine risk in terms of its feasibility on all its five components: economical, technical, social, operational, and legal/ethical. Any deficiencies in one or more of the feasibility components will affect the system business continuity risk and can lead to infeasibility and possible dissolution. The telemedicine computing environment is full of uncertainties and ambiguities and it just involves too much background knowledge that Bayesian theory cannot accommodate. Decision theory however offers a basic evidence-based multi-criteria decision mechanism that can tackle those decision problems treating both quantitative and qualitative criteria under various uncertainties including ignorance and randomness. We propose an evidential reasoning model to assess a telemedicine business continuity risk based on infeasibility. This business continuity risk is modelled using Dempster and Shafer Theory as the plausibility of infeasibility of the telemedicine system. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the working of the proposed risk assessment model.

  17. Water system hardware and management rehabilitation: Qualitative evidence from Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klug, Tori; Shields, Katherine F; Cronk, Ryan; Kelly, Emma; Behnke, Nikki; Lee, Kristen; Bartram, Jamie

    2017-05-01

    Sufficient, safe, continuously available drinking water is important for human health and development, yet one in three handpumps in sub-Saharan Africa are non-functional at any given time. Community management, coupled with access to external technical expertise and spare parts, is a widely promoted model for rural water supply management. However, there is limited evidence describing how community management can address common hardware and management failures of rural water systems in sub-Saharan Africa. We identified hardware and management rehabilitation pathways using qualitative data from 267 interviews and 57 focus group discussions in Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia. Study participants were water committee members, community members, and local leaders in 18 communities (six in each study country) with water systems managed by a water committee and supported by World Vision (WV), an international non-governmental organization (NGO). Government, WV or private sector employees engaged in supporting the water systems were also interviewed. Inductive analysis was used to allow for pathways to emerge from the data, based on the perspectives and experiences of study participants. Four hardware rehabilitation pathways were identified, based on the types of support used in rehabilitation. Types of support were differentiated as community or external. External support includes financial and/or technical support from government or WV employees. Community actor understanding of who to contact when a hardware breakdown occurs and easy access to technical experts were consistent reasons for rapid rehabilitation for all hardware rehabilitation pathways. Three management rehabilitation pathways were identified. All require the involvement of community leaders and were best carried out when the action was participatory. The rehabilitation pathways show how available resources can be leveraged to restore hardware breakdowns and management failures for rural water systems in sub

  18. A qualitative evaluation approach for energy system modelling frameworks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wiese, Frauke; Hilpert, Simon; Kaldemeyer, Cord

    2018-01-01

    properties define how useful it is in regard to the existing challenges. For energy system models, evaluation methods exist, but we argue that many decisions upon properties are rather made on the model generator or framework level. Thus, this paper presents a qualitative approach to evaluate frameworks...

  19. Justification and Rationality from the perspective of the Dual System Theory of Reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonatan García-Campos

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available A common assumption in epistemology is that there is an important connection between the notions of justification and rationality. However, this connection is unclear since there is no consensus about what rationality is or what a “correct” notion of justification would be. The purpose of this paper is to explain how the dual system theory of reasoning can build a “bridge” between justification and rationality. We argue that the dual system theory of reasoning supports, to a certainextent, an externalist notion of justification and a consequentialist view of rationality.

  20. Making Sense of Alternative Assessment in a Qualitative Evaluation System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rojas Serrano, Javier

    2017-01-01

    In a Colombian private English institution, a qualitative evaluation system has been incorporated. This type of evaluation poses challenges to students who have never been evaluated through a system that eliminates exams or quizzes and, as a consequence, these students have to start making sense of it. This study explores the way students face the…

  1. Employing a Qualitative Description Approach in Health Care Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradshaw, Carmel; Atkinson, Sandra; Doody, Owen

    2017-01-01

    A qualitative description design is particularly relevant where information is required directly from those experiencing the phenomenon under investigation and where time and resources are limited. Nurses and midwives often have clinical questions suitable to a qualitative approach but little time to develop an exhaustive comprehension of qualitative methodological approaches. Qualitative description research is sometimes considered a less sophisticated approach for epistemological reasons. Another challenge when considering qualitative description design is differentiating qualitative description from other qualitative approaches. This article provides a systematic and robust journey through the philosophical, ontological, and epistemological perspectives, which evidences the purpose of qualitative description research. Methods and rigor issues underpinning qualitative description research are also appraised to provide the researcher with a systematic approach to conduct research utilizing this approach. The key attributes and value of qualitative description research in the health care professions will be highlighted with the aim of extending its usage.

  2. A qualitative numerical study of high dimensional dynamical systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albers, David James

    Since Poincare, the father of modern mathematical dynamical systems, much effort has been exerted to achieve a qualitative understanding of the physical world via a qualitative understanding of the functions we use to model the physical world. In this thesis, we construct a numerical framework suitable for a qualitative, statistical study of dynamical systems using the space of artificial neural networks. We analyze the dynamics along intervals in parameter space, separating the set of neural networks into roughly four regions: the fixed point to the first bifurcation; the route to chaos; the chaotic region; and a transition region between chaos and finite-state neural networks. The study is primarily with respect to high-dimensional dynamical systems. We make the following general conclusions as the dimension of the dynamical system is increased: the probability of the first bifurcation being of type Neimark-Sacker is greater than ninety-percent; the most probable route to chaos is via a cascade of bifurcations of high-period periodic orbits, quasi-periodic orbits, and 2-tori; there exists an interval of parameter space such that hyperbolicity is violated on a countable, Lebesgue measure 0, "increasingly dense" subset; chaos is much more likely to persist with respect to parameter perturbation in the chaotic region of parameter space as the dimension is increased; moreover, as the number of positive Lyapunov exponents is increased, the likelihood that any significant portion of these positive exponents can be perturbed away decreases with increasing dimension. The maximum Kaplan-Yorke dimension and the maximum number of positive Lyapunov exponents increases linearly with dimension. The probability of a dynamical system being chaotic increases exponentially with dimension. The results with respect to the first bifurcation and the route to chaos comment on previous results of Newhouse, Ruelle, Takens, Broer, Chenciner, and Iooss. Moreover, results regarding the high

  3. Decision Performance Using Spatial Decision Support Systems: A Geospatial Reasoning Ability Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erskine, Michael A.

    2013-01-01

    As many consumer and business decision makers are utilizing Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS), a thorough understanding of how such decisions are made is crucial for the information systems domain. This dissertation presents six chapters encompassing a comprehensive analysis of the impact of geospatial reasoning ability on…

  4. System diagnostics using qualitative analysis and component functional classification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reifman, J.; Wei, T.Y.C.

    1993-01-01

    A method for detecting and identifying faulty component candidates during off-normal operations of nuclear power plants involves the qualitative analysis of macroscopic imbalances in the conservation equations of mass, energy and momentum in thermal-hydraulic control volumes associated with one or more plant components and the functional classification of components. The qualitative analysis of mass and energy is performed through the associated equations of state, while imbalances in momentum are obtained by tracking mass flow rates which are incorporated into a first knowledge base. The plant components are functionally classified, according to their type, as sources or sinks of mass, energy and momentum, depending upon which of the three balance equations is most strongly affected by a faulty component which is incorporated into a second knowledge base. Information describing the connections among the components of the system forms a third knowledge base. The method is particularly adapted for use in a diagnostic expert system to detect and identify faulty component candidates in the presence of component failures and is not limited to use in a nuclear power plant, but may be used with virtually any type of thermal-hydraulic operating system. 5 figures

  5. Qualitative behavior of global solutions to inhomogeneous quasilinear hyperbolic systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hsiao, L.

    1994-01-01

    The emphasis is the influence to the qualitative behavior of solutions caused by the lower order term, which is certain dissipation, in quasilinear hyperbolic systems. Both classical solutions and discontinuous weak solutions are discussed. (author). 12 refs

  6. Qualitative safety analysis in accelerator based systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sarkar, P.K.; Chowdhury, Lekha M.

    2006-01-01

    In recent developments connected to high energy and high current accelerators, the accelerator driven systems (ADS) and the Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) facilities come in the forefront of application. For medical and industrial applications high current accelerators often need to be located in populated areas. These facilities pose significant radiological hazard during their operation and accidental situations. We have done a qualitative evaluation of radiological safety analysis using the probabilistic safety analysis (PSA) methods for accelerator-based systems. The major contribution to hazard comes from a target rupture scenario in both ADS and RIB facilities. Other significant contributors to hazard in the facilities are also discussed using fault tree and event tree methodologies. (author)

  7. Assessment of Scientific Reasoning: the Effects of Task Context, Data, and Design on Student Reasoning in Control of Variables.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Shaona; Han, Jing; Koenig, Kathleen; Raplinger, Amy; Pi, Yuan; Li, Dan; Xiao, Hua; Fu, Zhao; Bao, Lei

    2016-03-01

    Scientific reasoning is an important component under the cognitive strand of the 21st century skills and is highly emphasized in the new science education standards. This study focuses on the assessment of student reasoning in control of variables (COV), which is a core sub-skill of scientific reasoning. The main research question is to investigate the extent to which the existence of experimental data in questions impacts student reasoning and performance. This study also explores the effects of task contexts on student reasoning as well as students' abilities to distinguish between testability and causal influences of variables in COV experiments. Data were collected with students from both USA and China. Students received randomly one of two test versions, one with experimental data and one without. The results show that students from both populations (1) perform better when experimental data are not provided, (2) perform better in physics contexts than in real-life contexts, and (3) students have a tendency to equate non-influential variables to non-testable variables. In addition, based on the analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data, a possible progression of developmental levels of student reasoning in control of variables is proposed, which can be used to inform future development of assessment and instruction.

  8. Relationships between Conceptual Knowledge and Reasoning about Systems: Implications for Fostering Systems Thinking in Secondary Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyons, Cheryl

    2014-01-01

    Reasoning about systems is necessary for understanding many modern issues that face society and is important for future scientists and all citizens. Systems thinking may allow students to make connections and identify common themes between seemingly different situations and phenomena, and is relevant to the focus on cross-cutting concepts in…

  9. Benchmarking of industrial control systems via case-based reasoning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hadjiiski, M.; Boshnakov, K.; Georgiev, Z.

    2013-01-01

    Full text: The recent development of information and communication technologies enables the establishment of virtual consultation centers related to the control of specific processes that are widely presented worldwide as the location of the installations does not have influence on the results. The centers can provide consultations regarding the quality of the process control and overall enterprise management as correction factors such as weather conditions, product or service and associated technology, production level, quality of feedstock used and others can be also taken into account. The benchmarking technique is chosen as a tool for analyzing and comparing the quality of the assessed control systems in individual plants. It is a process of gathering, analyzing and comparing data on the characteristics of comparable units to assess and compare these characteristics and improve the performance of the particular process, enterprise or organization. By comparing the different processes and the adoption of the best practices energy efficiency could be improved and hence the competitiveness of the participating organizations will increase. In the presented work algorithm for benchmarking and parametric optimization of a given control system is developed by applying the approaches of Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Expert knowledge and approaches for optimal tuning of control systems are combined. Two of the most common systems for automatic control of different variables in the case of biological wastewater treatment are presented and discussed. Based on analysis of the processes, different cases are defined. By using DEA analysis the relative efficiencies of 10 systems for automatic control of dissolved oxygen are estimated. The designed and implemented in the current work CBR and DEA are applicable for the purposed of virtual consultation centers. Key words: benchmarking technique, energy efficiency, Case-Based Reasoning (CBR

  10. Motivations toward smoking cessation, reasons for relapse, and modes of quitting: results from a qualitative study among former and current smokers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Buczkowski K

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Krzysztof Buczkowski,1 Ludmila Marcinowicz,2 Slawomir Czachowski,1 Elwira Piszczek3 1Department of Family Medicine, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, 2Department of Family Medicine and Community Nursing, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, 3Sociology Institute, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland Background: Smoking cessation plays a crucial role in reducing preventable morbidity and mortality and is a recognized public-health-policy issue in many countries. Two of the most important factors that affect the efficacy of quitting smoking are motivation and the ability to cope with situations causing relapse.Aim: The objective of the study reported here was to investigate former and current smokers’ motivations for smoking cessation, reasons for relapse, and modes of quitting.Methods: We arranged four focus groups with 24 participants (twelve current and twelve former smokers and eleven semi-structured interviews (five current and six former smokers with a view to understanding and categorizing their opinions on motivations and the course and process of smoking cessation. The data were next analyzed using descriptive qualitative methods.Results: Three main themes were identified: (1 motivations to quit smoking, (2 reasons why smokers sometimes relapse, and (3 modes of quitting smoking. Within the first theme, the following six subthemes surfaced: (1 a smoking ban at home and at work due to other people’s wishes and rules, (2 the high cost of cigarettes, (3 the unpleasant smell, (4 health concern, (5 pregnancy and breastfeeding, and (6 a variety of other factors. The second theme encompassed the following subthemes: (1 stress and the need to lessen it by smoking a cigarette, (2 the need to experience the pleasure connected with smoking, and (3 the smoking environment both at home and at work. Participants presented different smoking-cessation modes, but mainly they were unplanned attempts.Conclusion: Two

  11. Metacognition and reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fletcher, Logan; Carruthers, Peter

    2012-01-01

    This article considers the cognitive architecture of human meta-reasoning: that is, metacognition concerning one's own reasoning and decision-making. The view we defend is that meta-reasoning is a cobbled-together skill comprising diverse self-management strategies acquired through individual and cultural learning. These approximate the monitoring-and-control functions of a postulated adaptive system for metacognition by recruiting mechanisms that were designed for quite other purposes. PMID:22492753

  12. Dual-process Accounts of Reasoning in User's Information System Risky Behavior

    OpenAIRE

    Li, Ying; Zhang, Nan

    2016-01-01

    End user of information system (IS) is the weakest point in terms of IS security. A variety of approaches are developed to convince end users to avoid IS risky behaviors. However, they do not always work. We would like to argue that one of the reasons is that previous studies focused on System 2 thinking (analytic, deliberate, rule-governed and effortful process) and overlooked the factors that can influence people who are using System 1 thinking (automatic, effortless, associa...

  13. Supporting conceptual modelling of dynamic systems: A knowledge engineering perspective on qualitative reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Liem, J.

    2013-01-01

    Research has shown that even students educated in science at prestigious universities have misconceptions about the systems underlying climate change, sustainability and government spending. Interactive conceptual modelling and simulation tools, which are based on Artificial Intelligence techniques,

  14. Case-based reasoning

    CERN Document Server

    Kolodner, Janet

    1993-01-01

    Case-based reasoning is one of the fastest growing areas in the field of knowledge-based systems and this book, authored by a leader in the field, is the first comprehensive text on the subject. Case-based reasoning systems are systems that store information about situations in their memory. As new problems arise, similar situations are searched out to help solve these problems. Problems are understood and inferences are made by finding the closest cases in memory, comparing and contrasting the problem with those cases, making inferences based on those comparisons, and asking questions whe

  15. Employing a Qualitative Description Approach in Health Care Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradshaw, Carmel; Atkinson, Sandra; Doody, Owen

    2017-01-01

    A qualitative description design is particularly relevant where information is required directly from those experiencing the phenomenon under investigation and where time and resources are limited. Nurses and midwives often have clinical questions suitable to a qualitative approach but little time to develop an exhaustive comprehension of qualitative methodological approaches. Qualitative description research is sometimes considered a less sophisticated approach for epistemological reasons. Another challenge when considering qualitative description design is differentiating qualitative description from other qualitative approaches. This article provides a systematic and robust journey through the philosophical, ontological, and epistemological perspectives, which evidences the purpose of qualitative description research. Methods and rigor issues underpinning qualitative description research are also appraised to provide the researcher with a systematic approach to conduct research utilizing this approach. The key attributes and value of qualitative description research in the health care professions will be highlighted with the aim of extending its usage. PMID:29204457

  16. ANALOGICAL REASONING USING TRANSFORMATIONS OF RULES

    OpenAIRE

    Haraguchi, Makoto; 原口, 誠

    1986-01-01

    A formalism of analogical reasoning is presented. The analogical reasoning can be considered as a deduction with a function of transforming logical rules. From this viewpoint, the reasoning is defined in terms of deduction, and is therefore realized in a logic programming system. The reasoning system is described as an extension of Prolog interpreter.

  17. Dialogues in Support of Qualitative Reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pilkington, R.

    1998-01-01

    Discussion of the interaction between students and computers focuses on an evaluation of simulation-based learning with medical students in order to develop a framework for a dialog-based support system. It is based on a dialog analysis that employs transactional analysis and logical dialog game theory. (Author/LRW)

  18. Case-based clinical reasoning in feline medicine: 1: Intuitive and analytical systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canfield, Paul J; Whitehead, Martin L; Johnson, Robert; O'Brien, Carolyn R; Malik, Richard

    2016-01-01

    This is Article 1 of a three-part series on clinical reasoning that encourages practitioners to explore and understand how they think and make case-based decisions. It is hoped that, in the process, they will learn to trust their intuition but, at the same time, put in place safeguards to diminish the impact of bias and misguided logic on their diagnostic decision-making. This first article discusses the relative merits and shortcomings of System 1 thinking (immediate and unconscious) and System 2 thinking (effortful and analytical). Articles 2 and 3, to appear in the March and May 2016 issues of JFMS, respectively, will examine managing cognitive error, and use of heuristics (mental short cuts) and illness scripts in diagnostic reasoning. © The Author(s) 2016.

  19. A Coding System for Qualitative Studies of the Information-Seeking Process in Computer Science Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moral, Cristian; de Antonio, Angelica; Ferre, Xavier; Lara, Graciela

    2015-01-01

    Introduction: In this article we propose a qualitative analysis tool--a coding system--that can support the formalisation of the information-seeking process in a specific field: research in computer science. Method: In order to elaborate the coding system, we have conducted a set of qualitative studies, more specifically a focus group and some…

  20. FURAX: assistance tools for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of systems reliability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moureau, R.

    1995-01-01

    FURAX is a set of tools for the qualitative and quantitative safety analysis of systems functioning. It is particularly well adapted to the study of networks (fluids, electrical..), i.e. systems in which importance is functionally given to a flux. The analysis is based on modeling which privileges these fluxes (skeleton representation of the system for a network, functional diagram for a non single-flux system) and on the representation of components support systems. Qualitative analyses are based on the research for possible flux ways and on the technical domain knowledge. The results obtained correspond to a simplified failure mode analysis, to fault-trees relative to the events expected by the user and to minimum sections. The possible calculations on these models are: tree calculations, Markov diagram calculations of the system reliability, and probabilistic calculation of a section viewed as a tree, as a well-ordered sequence of failures, or as the absorbing state of a Markov diagram. (J.S.). 6 refs

  1. Modal Change Logic (MCL) : Specifying the reasoning of knowledge-based systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fensel, D; Groenboom, H.M; Renardel de Lavalette, G.R.

    We investigate the formal specification of the reasoning process of knowledge-based systems in this paper. We analyze the corresponding parts of the KADS specification languages KARL and (ML)(2) and deduce some general requirements. The essence of these languages is that they integrate a declarative

  2. Uncertainty management, spatial and temporal reasoning, and validation of intelligent environmental decision support systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sànchez-Marrè, Miquel; Gilbert, Karina; Sojda, Rick S.; Steyer, Jean Philippe; Struss, Peter; Rodríguez-Roda, Ignasi; Voinov, A.A.; Jakeman, A.J.; Rizzoli, A.E.

    2006-01-01

    There are inherent open problems arising when developing and running Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems (IEDSS). During daily operation of IEDSS several open challenge problems appear. The uncertainty of data being processed is intrinsic to the environmental system, which is being monitored by several on-line sensors and off-line data. Thus, anomalous data values at data gathering level or even uncertain reasoning process at later levels such as in diagnosis or decision support or planning can lead the environmental process to unsafe critical operation states. At diagnosis level or even at decision support level or planning level, spatial reasoning or temporal reasoning or both aspects can influence the reasoning processes undertaken by the IEDSS. Most of Environmental systems must take into account the spatial relationships between the environmental goal area and the nearby environmental areas and the temporal relationships between the current state and the past states of the environmental system to state accurate and reliable assertions to be used within the diagnosis process or decision support process or planning process. Finally, a related issue is a crucial point: are really reliable and safe the decisions proposed by the IEDSS? Are we sure about the goodness and performance of proposed solutions? How can we ensure a correct evaluation of the IEDSS? Main goal of this paper is to analyse these four issues, review some possible approaches and techniques to cope with them, and study new trends for future research within the IEDSS field.

  3. Male Iranian adolescent's reasons for having an other-gender friend.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bahrami, Nasim; Simbar, Masoumeh; Vedadhir, AbouAli; Bukowski, William M; Panarello, Bianca

    2016-01-21

    The aim of this study was to identify the primary reasons why male Iranian adolescents enter into other-gender friendships. A qualitative study was conducted with a sample of 21 male adolescents recruited in public places in Tehran, Iran. Information about each boy's experiences with other-gender friends was collected via semi-structured interviews whose contents were analyzed with a conventional qualitative content analysis approach. Five reasons were identified for engaging in other-gender friendships: (a) for the purpose of entertainment, (b) financial benefits, (c) increased popularity with peers, (d) sensation seeking and (e) sexual experiences. This study revealed that adolescent males do not follow appropriate goals for communicating with the other-gender. In many cases, these goals could endanger their own health and the health of their other-gender friends. Future researchers must focus on identifying and understanding the factors that influence an adolescent to enter into an other-gender friendship.

  4. Overall system design for the Spill Modelling Artificial Reasoning Technology system (SMART)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang, S.

    1992-07-01

    A project was initiated to develop an intelligent computer system to assist spill emergency personnel and spill specialists in predicting and analyzing spills as well as their environmental impacts. The system, called SMART, is described, including system objectives, functionality, operational modes, system components and the functionality of each, and data communications between components. SMART is intended to provide the following five general functions: a user-friendly interface, comprehensive inference capability, analytical capability including the ability to predict concentrations and distances of a spill occurrence, knowledge management, convenient input, and multi-form output. The types of knowledge managed in SMART include the heuristic rules needed in the reasoning of spill prediction and impacts on the environment, as well as factual knowledge contained in existing external databases accessed through a database loader. More specifically, the heuristic knowledge comprises such topics as substance behavior, environmental interactions of substances, and the container or transportation vessel. The external databases include a chemical database on fundamental substance characteristics, an environmental database, and a spatial database managed in a geographic information system. 9 refs., 82 figs

  5. Religiosity and value system of young lecturers: qualitative research data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pavenkov Oleg Vladimirovich

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This article analyses the Orthodox religion as a factor of formation of spiritual and value system of young teachers. Young lecturers belong to the socio-demographic group of 20 to 35 years involved mainly in teaching and research activities. The article presents the results of a qualitative study of value system of 23 informants. The study showed that the system of values of informants is characterized by syncretism. Almost all the informants are religious, but religiosity is differently ranked in their value system. Religiosity is often in a latent form.

  6. Qualitative versus quantitative methods in psychiatric research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razafsha, Mahdi; Behforuzi, Hura; Azari, Hassan; Zhang, Zhiqun; Wang, Kevin K; Kobeissy, Firas H; Gold, Mark S

    2012-01-01

    Qualitative studies are gaining their credibility after a period of being misinterpreted as "not being quantitative." Qualitative method is a broad umbrella term for research methodologies that describe and explain individuals' experiences, behaviors, interactions, and social contexts. In-depth interview, focus groups, and participant observation are among the qualitative methods of inquiry commonly used in psychiatry. Researchers measure the frequency of occurring events using quantitative methods; however, qualitative methods provide a broader understanding and a more thorough reasoning behind the event. Hence, it is considered to be of special importance in psychiatry. Besides hypothesis generation in earlier phases of the research, qualitative methods can be employed in questionnaire design, diagnostic criteria establishment, feasibility studies, as well as studies of attitude and beliefs. Animal models are another area that qualitative methods can be employed, especially when naturalistic observation of animal behavior is important. However, since qualitative results can be researcher's own view, they need to be statistically confirmed, quantitative methods. The tendency to combine both qualitative and quantitative methods as complementary methods has emerged over recent years. By applying both methods of research, scientists can take advantage of interpretative characteristics of qualitative methods as well as experimental dimensions of quantitative methods.

  7. Structuring students’ analogical reasoning in solving algebra problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lailiyah, S.; Nusantara, T.; Sa'dijah, C.; Irawan, E. B.; Kusaeri; Asyhar, A. H.

    2018-01-01

    The average achievement of Indonesian students’ mathematics skills according to Benchmark International Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is ranked at the 38th out of 42 countries and according to the survey result in Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is ranked at the 64th out of 65 countries. The low mathematics skill of Indonesian student has become an important reason to research more deeply about reasoning and algebra in mathematics. Analogical reasoning is a very important component in mathematics because it is the key to creativity and it can make the learning process in the classroom become effective. The major part of the analogical reasoning is about structuring including the processes of inferencing and decision-making happens. Those processes involve base domain and target domain. Methodologically, the subjects of this research were 42 students from class XII. The sources of data were derived from the results of thinks aloud, the transcribed interviews, and the videos taken while the subject working on the instruments and interviews. The collected data were analyzed using qualitative techniques. The result of this study described the structuring characteristics of students’ analogical reasoning in solving algebra problems from all the research subjects.

  8. Rough case-based reasoning system for continues casting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Wenbin; Lei, Zhufeng

    2018-04-01

    The continuous casting occupies a pivotal position in the iron and steel industry. The rough set theory and the CBR (case based reasoning, CBR) were combined in the research and implementation for the quality assurance of continuous casting billet to improve the efficiency and accuracy in determining the processing parameters. According to the continuous casting case, the object-oriented method was applied to express the continuous casting cases. The weights of the attributes were calculated by the algorithm which was based on the rough set theory and the retrieval mechanism for the continuous casting cases was designed. Some cases were adopted to test the retrieval mechanism, by analyzing the results, the law of the influence of the retrieval attributes on determining the processing parameters was revealed. A comprehensive evaluation model was established by using the attribute recognition theory. According to the features of the defects, different methods were adopted to describe the quality condition of the continuous casting billet. By using the system, the knowledge was not only inherited but also applied to adjust the processing parameters through the case based reasoning method as to assure the quality of the continuous casting and improve the intelligent level of the continuous casting.

  9. Analysis of algebraic reasoning ability of cognitive style perspectives on field dependent field independent and gender

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosita, N. T.

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of this study is to analyse algebraic reasoning ability using the SOLO model as a theoretical framework to assess students’ algebraic reasoning abilities of Field Dependent cognitive (FD), Field Independent (FI) and Gender perspectives. The method of this study is a qualitative research. The instrument of this study is the researcher himself assisted with algebraic reasoning tests, the problems have been designed based on NCTM indicators and algebraic reasoning according to SOLO model. While the cognitive style of students is determined using Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT), as well as interviews on the subject as triangulation. The subjects are 15 female and 15 males of the sixth semester students of mathematics education, STKIP Sebelas April. The results of the qualitative data analysis is that most subjects are at the level of unistructural and multi-structural, subjects at the relational level have difficulty in forming a new linear pattern. While the subjects at the extended abstract level are able to meet all the indicators of algebraic reasoning ability even though some of the answers are not perfect yet. Subjects of FI tend to have higher algebraic reasoning abilities than of the subject of FD.

  10. Model-Based Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ifenthaler, Dirk; Seel, Norbert M.

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, there will be a particular focus on mental models and their application to inductive reasoning within the realm of instruction. A basic assumption of this study is the observation that the construction of mental models and related reasoning is a slowly developing capability of cognitive systems that emerges effectively with proper…

  11. Qualitative methods for the study of policy diffusion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Starke, Peter

    2013-01-01

    This article deals with the question whether and how processes of policy diffusion can be examined with qualitative methods. More specifically, how can qualitative methods address the “twin challenge of interdependence,” namely the challenge to identify diffusion, on the one hand, and the challen...... closes with some suggestions for further methodological development in the study of policy diffusion, including the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods.......This article deals with the question whether and how processes of policy diffusion can be examined with qualitative methods. More specifically, how can qualitative methods address the “twin challenge of interdependence,” namely the challenge to identify diffusion, on the one hand, and the challenge...... to discriminate between mechanisms of diffusion, on the other? I argue, first, that there are three distinct qualitative techniques that can be used, namely cross-case analysis (often based on systematic case selection), within-case process tracing, and counterfactual reasoning. I demonstrate how these techniques...

  12. Analysis of BF Hearth Reasonable Cooling System Based on the Water Dynamic Characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuo, Haibin; Jiao, Kexin; Zhang, Jianliang; Li, Qian; Wang, Cui

    A rational cooling water system is the assurance for long campaign life of blast furnace. In the paper, the heat transfer of different furnace period and different furnace condition based on the water quality characteristics were analysed, and the reason of the heat flux over the normal from the hydrodynamics was analysed. The results showed that, the vapour-film and scale existence significantly influenced the hearth heat transfer, which accelerated the brick lining erosion. The water dynamic characteristics of the parallel inner pipe or among the pipes were the main reason for the abnormal heat flux and film boiling. As to the reasonable cooling water flow, the gas film and the scale should be controlled and the energy saving should be considered.

  13. Integrating qualitative research methods into care improvement efforts within a learning health system: addressing antibiotic overuse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munoz-Plaza, Corrine E; Parry, Carla; Hahn, Erin E; Tang, Tania; Nguyen, Huong Q; Gould, Michael K; Kanter, Michael H; Sharp, Adam L

    2016-08-15

    Despite reports advocating for integration of research into healthcare delivery, scant literature exists describing how this can be accomplished. Examples highlighting application of qualitative research methods embedded into a healthcare system are particularly needed. This article describes the process and value of embedding qualitative research as the second phase of an explanatory, sequential, mixed methods study to improve antibiotic stewardship for acute sinusitis. Purposive sampling of providers for in-depth interviews improved understanding of unwarranted antibiotic prescribing and elicited stakeholder recommendations for improvement. Qualitative data collection, transcription and constant comparative analyses occurred iteratively. Emerging themes and sub-themes identified primary drivers of unwarranted antibiotic prescribing patterns and recommendations for improving practice. These findings informed the design of a health system intervention to improve antibiotic stewardship for acute sinusitis. Core components of the intervention are also described. Qualitative research can be effectively applied in learning healthcare systems to elucidate quantitative results and inform improvement efforts.

  14. Biometric Systems Private by Design: Reasoning about privacy properties of biometric system architectures

    OpenAIRE

    Bringer, Julien; Chabanne, Herve; Metayer, Daniel Le; Lescuyer, Roch

    2017-01-01

    This work aims to show the applicability, and how, of privacy by design approach to biometric systems and the benefit of using formal methods to this end. Starting from a general framework that has been introduced at STM in 2014, that enables to define privacy architectures and to formally reason about their properties, we explain how it can be adapted to biometrics. The choice of particular techniques and the role of the components (central server, secure module, biometric terminal, smart ca...

  15. Nonmonotonic Reasoning as a Temporal Activity

    OpenAIRE

    Schwartz, Daniel G.

    2014-01-01

    A {\\it dynamic reasoning system} (DRS) is an adaptation of a conventional formal logical system that explicitly portrays reasoning as a temporal activity, with each extralogical input to the system and each inference rule application being viewed as occurring at a distinct time step. Every DRS incorporates some well-defined logic together with a controller that serves to guide the reasoning process in response to user inputs. Logics are generic, whereas controllers are application-specific. E...

  16. An Ontology-Based Reasoning Framework for Querying Satellite Images for Disaster Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alirezaie, Marjan; Kiselev, Andrey; Längkvist, Martin; Klügl, Franziska; Loutfi, Amy

    2017-11-05

    This paper presents a framework in which satellite images are classified and augmented with additional semantic information to enable queries about what can be found on the map at a particular location, but also about paths that can be taken. This is achieved by a reasoning framework based on qualitative spatial reasoning that is able to find answers to high level queries that may vary on the current situation. This framework called SemCityMap, provides the full pipeline from enriching the raw image data with rudimentary labels to the integration of a knowledge representation and reasoning methods to user interfaces for high level querying. To illustrate the utility of SemCityMap in a disaster scenario, we use an urban environment-central Stockholm-in combination with a flood simulation. We show that the system provides useful answers to high-level queries also with respect to the current flood status. Examples of such queries concern path planning for vehicles or retrieval of safe regions such as "find all regions close to schools and far from the flooded area". The particular advantage of our approach lies in the fact that ontological information and reasoning is explicitly integrated so that queries can be formulated in a natural way using concepts on appropriate level of abstraction, including additional constraints.

  17. An Ontology-Based Reasoning Framework for Querying Satellite Images for Disaster Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marjan Alirezaie

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a framework in which satellite images are classified and augmented with additional semantic information to enable queries about what can be found on the map at a particular location, but also about paths that can be taken. This is achieved by a reasoning framework based on qualitative spatial reasoning that is able to find answers to high level queries that may vary on the current situation. This framework called SemCityMap, provides the full pipeline from enriching the raw image data with rudimentary labels to the integration of a knowledge representation and reasoning methods to user interfaces for high level querying. To illustrate the utility of SemCityMap in a disaster scenario, we use an urban environment—central Stockholm—in combination with a flood simulation. We show that the system provides useful answers to high-level queries also with respect to the current flood status. Examples of such queries concern path planning for vehicles or retrieval of safe regions such as “find all regions close to schools and far from the flooded area”. The particular advantage of our approach lies in the fact that ontological information and reasoning is explicitly integrated so that queries can be formulated in a natural way using concepts on appropriate level of abstraction, including additional constraints.

  18. Knowledge-based reasoning in the Paladin tactical decision generation system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chappell, Alan R.

    1993-01-01

    A real-time tactical decision generation system for air combat engagements, Paladin, has been developed. A pilot's job in air combat includes tasks that are largely symbolic. These symbolic tasks are generally performed through the application of experience and training (i.e. knowledge) gathered over years of flying a fighter aircraft. Two such tasks, situation assessment and throttle control, are identified and broken out in Paladin to be handled by specialized knowledge based systems. Knowledge pertaining to these tasks is encoded into rule-bases to provide the foundation for decisions. Paladin uses a custom built inference engine and a partitioned rule-base structure to give these symbolic results in real-time. This paper provides an overview of knowledge-based reasoning systems as a subset of rule-based systems. The knowledge used by Paladin in generating results as well as the system design for real-time execution is discussed.

  19. Teachers' Explanations of a Key Developmental Understanding of Multiplicative Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhee, Katherine L.

    2012-01-01

    This qualitative research study explores teachers' understandings of multiplicative reasoning as a key developmental understanding (KDU). A KDU entails knowingly applying the same mathematical concepts within different contexts. A KDU supports an individual to build a connected understanding of mathematics as opposed to only understanding…

  20. Qualitative Phenomenological Study of Data Management Information System Deployments: Financial Services Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerns, Dannie J.

    2014-01-01

    The qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of financial services industry change managers to understand the genesis of low data management information system project adoption rates. The goal of the study was to find methods to improve data management information system adoption rates. The participant pool consisted of 19…

  1. Patterns of informal reasoning in the context of socioscientific decision making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadler, Troy D.; Zeidler, Dana L.

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to contribute to a theoretical knowledge base through research by examining factors salient to science education reform and practice in the context of socioscientific issues. The study explores how individuals negotiate and resolve genetic engineering dilemmas. A qualitative approach was used to examine patterns of informal reasoning and the role of morality in these processes. Thirty college students participated individually in two semistructured interviews designed to explore their informal reasoning in response to six genetic engineering scenarios. Students demonstrated evidence of rationalistic, emotive, and intuitive forms of informal reasoning. Rationalistic informal reasoning described reason-based considerations; emotive informal reasoning described care-based considerations; and intuitive reasoning described considerations based on immediate reactions to the context of a scenario. Participants frequently relied on combinations of these reasoning patterns as they worked to resolve individual socioscientific scenarios. Most of the participants appreciated at least some of the moral implications of their decisions, and these considerations were typically interwoven within an overall pattern of informal reasoning. These results highlight the need to ensure that science classrooms are environments in which intuition and emotion in addition to reason are valued. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

  2. Qualitative dosimetric system for radiation processing. Technology for pilot scale preparation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moraru, R.

    1998-01-01

    Good manufacturing practice for radiation processing requires a very strictly tracking of the processed products. A method of labelling and identification of the irradiated and nonirradiated products is required. The qualitative dosimetric system provides a fast method for monitoring the product flow. Such dosimeters are attached on each product box, usually as labels, and offer a YES/NO information about the passing of products through the radiation field. Usually, this information consists in a change of colour. The qualitative dosimetric system that we realised is based on the degradation of polyvinylchloride (PVC) under radiation field. An amount of hydrochloric acid is released in this reaction. A pH indicator, included in the system, changes its colour at different absorbed dose. The changes of colour happened in a certain pH interval called turning range. We used as pH indicator the RED CONGO colorant with turning range of pH = 3 to 5 (from blue to red). A schematic view of the qualitative dosimeter is given. The initial colour is red and it continuously changes to brown, at 1 kGy absorbed dose, and to blue-green, for 5-100 kGy. The main features of this qualitative dosimetric system are: - Quick and easy to read information about product passing through radiation field; - Absorbed dose range, 1-300 kGy; - Independence of absorbed dose rate in the interval 5-100 kGy/h; - Stability, 3 year in the dark and 1 year in sun light; - Good reproducibility. The preparation technology consists in the following steps: 1. Preparation of the solutions: a) PVC in cyclohexanone solution b) RED CONGO in water solution; 2. Preparation of the system support consisting in dropping the PVC solution on adhesive labels; 3. Sample preparation consists in dropping the colorant solution on the system support; 4. Batch trial tests. The trial test was performed at IETI 10000 irradiation plant belonging to IFIN-HH and the reference absorbed dose was determined by Fricke dosimetry. The

  3. Pisa Question and Reasoning Skill

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ersoy Esen

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the study is to determine the level of the reasoning skills of the secondary school students. This research has been conducted during the academic year of 2015-2016 with the participation of 51 students in total, from a province in the Black Sea region of Turkey by using random sampling method. Case study method has been used in this study, since it explains an existing situation. In this study, content analysis from the qualitative research methods was carried out. In order to ensure the validity of the scope, agreement percentage formula was used and expert opinions were sought.The problem named Holiday from the Chapter 1 of the normal units in Problem Solving Questions from PISA (Program for International Student Assessments [35] are used as the data collection tool for the study. The problem named Holiday consists of two questions. Applied problems were evaluated according to the mathematical reasoning stages of TIMSS (2003. The findings suggest that the students use proportional reasoning while solving the problems and use the geometric shapes to facilitate the solution of the problem. When they come across problems related to each other, it is observed that they create connections between the problems based on the results of the previous problem. In conclusion, the students perform crosscheck to ensure that their solutions to the problems are accurate.

  4. Criteria for quantitative and qualitative data integration: mixed-methods research methodology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Seonah; Smith, Carrol A M

    2012-05-01

    Many studies have emphasized the need and importance of a mixed-methods approach for evaluation of clinical information systems. However, those studies had no criteria to guide integration of multiple data sets. Integrating different data sets serves to actualize the paradigm that a mixed-methods approach argues; thus, we require criteria that provide the right direction to integrate quantitative and qualitative data. The first author used a set of criteria organized from a literature search for integration of multiple data sets from mixed-methods research. The purpose of this article was to reorganize the identified criteria. Through critical appraisal of the reasons for designing mixed-methods research, three criteria resulted: validation, complementarity, and discrepancy. In applying the criteria to empirical data of a previous mixed methods study, integration of quantitative and qualitative data was achieved in a systematic manner. It helped us obtain a better organized understanding of the results. The criteria of this article offer the potential to produce insightful analyses of mixed-methods evaluations of health information systems.

  5. Race, Reason and Reasonableness: Toward an "Unreasonable" Pedagogy

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Lissovoy, Noah

    2016-01-01

    Starting from the contemporary critical-theoretical notion of an "objective violence" that organizes social reality in capitalism, including processes of systemic racism, as well as from phenomenological inquiries into processes of race and identity, this article explores the relationship between racism and reasonableness in education…

  6. How can we cope with the complexity of the environment? A "Learning by modelling" approach using qualitative reasoning for developing causal models and simulations with focus on Sustainable River Catchment Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poppe, Michaela; Zitek, Andreas; Salles, Paulo; Bredeweg, Bert; Muhar, Susanne

    2010-05-01

    The education system needs strategies to attract future scientists and practitioners. There is an alarming decline in the number of students choosing science subjects. Reasons for this include the perceived complexity and the lack of effective cognitive tools that enable learners to acquire the expertise in a way that fits its qualitative nature. The DynaLearn project utilises a "Learning by modelling" approach to deliver an individualised and engaging cognitive tool for acquiring conceptual knowledge. The modelling approach is based on qualitative reasoning, a research area within artificial intelligence, and allows for capturing and simulating qualitative systems knowledge. Educational activities within the DynaLearn software address topics at different levels of complexity, depending on the educational goals and settings. DynaLearn uses virtual characters in the learning environment as agents for engaging and motivating the students during their modelling exercise. The DynaLearn software represents an interactive learning environment in which learners are in control of their learning activities. The software is able to coach them individually based on their current progress, their knowledge needs and learning goals. Within the project 70 expert models on different environmental issues covering seven core topics (Earth Systems and Resources, The Living World, Human population, Land and Water Use, Energy Resources and Consumption, Pollution, and Global Changes) will be delivered. In the context of the core topic "Land and Water Use" the Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management has developed a model on Sustainable River Catchment Management. River systems with their catchments have been tremendously altered due to human pressures with serious consequences for the ecological integrity of riverine landscapes. The operation of hydropower plants, the implementation of flood protection measures, the regulation of flow and sediment regime and intensive

  7. The Argumentative Quality of the Qualitative Research Report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adri Smaling

    2002-09-01

    Full Text Available The author argues that, to be convincing, the claims of a qualitative research report must be logically and clearly supported. Eight rules for good argumentative dialogue are presented. The author then presents the process of analogical reasoning to support cross-case generalization.

  8. University Students' Knowledge Structures and Informal Reasoning on the Use of Genetically Modified Foods: Multidimensional Analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Ying-Tien

    2013-01-01

    This study aims to provide insights into the role of learners' knowledge structures about a socio-scientific issue (SSI) in their informal reasoning on the issue. A total of 42 non-science major university students' knowledge structures and informal reasoning were assessed with multidimensional analyses. With both qualitative and…

  9. Integrated software health management for aerospace guidance, navigation, and control systems: A probabilistic reasoning approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mbaya, Timmy

    Embedded Aerospace Systems have to perform safety and mission critical operations in a real-time environment where timing and functional correctness are extremely important. Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) systems substantially rely on complex software interfacing with hardware in real-time; any faults in software or hardware, or their interaction could result in fatal consequences. Integrated Software Health Management (ISWHM) provides an approach for detection and diagnosis of software failures while the software is in operation. The ISWHM approach is based on probabilistic modeling of software and hardware sensors using a Bayesian network. To meet memory and timing constraints of real-time embedded execution, the Bayesian network is compiled into an Arithmetic Circuit, which is used for on-line monitoring. This type of system monitoring, using an ISWHM, provides automated reasoning capabilities that compute diagnoses in a timely manner when failures occur. This reasoning capability enables time-critical mitigating decisions and relieves the human agent from the time-consuming and arduous task of foraging through a multitude of isolated---and often contradictory---diagnosis data. For the purpose of demonstrating the relevance of ISWHM, modeling and reasoning is performed on a simple simulated aerospace system running on a real-time operating system emulator, the OSEK/Trampoline platform. Models for a small satellite and an F-16 fighter jet GN&C (Guidance, Navigation, and Control) system have been implemented. Analysis of the ISWHM is then performed by injecting faults and analyzing the ISWHM's diagnoses.

  10. Modeling with Young Students--Quantitative and Qualitative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bliss, Joan; Ogborn, Jon; Boohan, Richard; Brosnan, Tim; Mellar, Harvey; Sakonidis, Babis

    1999-01-01

    A project created tasks and tools to investigate quality and nature of 11- to 14-year-old pupils' reasoning with quantitative and qualitative computer-based modeling tools. Tasks and tools were used in two innovative modes of learning: expressive, where pupils created their own models, and exploratory, where pupils investigated an expert's model.…

  11. How Exemplary Inpatient Teaching Physicians Foster Clinical Reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houchens, Nathan; Harrod, Molly; Fowler, Karen E; Moody, Stephanie; Saint, Sanjay

    2017-09-01

    Clinical reasoning is a crucial component of training in health professions. These cognitive skills are necessary to provide quality care and avoid diagnostic error. Much previous literature has focused on teaching clinical reasoning in nonclinical environments and does not include learner reflections. The authors sought to explore, through multiple perspectives including learners, techniques used by exemplary inpatient clinician-educators for explicitly cultivating clinical reasoning. The authors conducted (2014-2015) a multisite, exploratory qualitative study examining how excellent clinician-educators foster clinical reasoning during general medicine rounds. This was accomplished through interviews of educators, focus group discussions with learners, and direct observations of clinical teaching. The authors reviewed field notes and transcripts using techniques of thematic analysis. Twelve clinician-educators, 57 current learners, and 26 former learners participated in observations and interviews. The techniques and behaviors of educators were categorized into 4 themes, including 1) emphasizing organization and prioritization, 2) accessing prior knowledge, 3) thinking aloud, and 4) analyzing the literature. The findings of this comprehensive study both confirm strategies found in previous literature and provide novel approaches. This is the first study to incorporate the perspectives of learners. Educators' techniques and behaviors, identified through direct observation and supported by reflections from the entire team, can inform best practices for the teaching of clinical reasoning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Qualitative Evaluation of the Java Intelligent Tutoring System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edward Sykes

    2005-10-01

    Full Text Available In an effort to support the growing trend of the Java programming language and to promote web-based personalized education, the Java Intelligent Tutoring System (JITS was designed and developed. This tutoring system is unique in a number of ways. Most Intelligent Tutoring Systems require the teacher to author problems with corresponding solutions. JITS, on the other hand, requires the teacher to only supply the problem and problem specification. JITS is designed to "intelligently" examine the student's submitted code and determines appropriate feedback based on a number of factors such as JITS' cognitive model of the student, the student's skill level, and problem details. JITS is intended to be used by beginner programming students in their first year of College or University. This paper discusses the important aspects of the design and development of JITS, the qualitative methods and procedures, and findings. Research was conducted at the Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Ontario, Canada.

  13. Causal reasoning and models of cognitive tasks for naval nuclear power plant operators; Raisonnement causal et modelisation de l`activite cognitive d`operateurs de chaufferie nucleaire navale

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Salazar-Ferrer, P

    1995-06-01

    In complex industrial process control, causal reasoning appears as a major component in operators` cognitive tasks. It is tightly linked to diagnosis, prediction of normal and failure states, and explanation. This work provides a detailed review of literature in causal reasoning. A synthesis is proposed as a model of causal reasoning in process control. This model integrates distinct approaches in Cognitive Science: especially qualitative physics, Bayesian networks, knowledge-based systems, and cognitive psychology. Our model defines a framework for the analysis of causal human errors in simulated naval nuclear power plant fault management. Through the methodological framework of critical incident analysis we define a classification of errors and difficulties linked to causal reasoning. This classification is based on shallow characteristics of causal reasoning. As an origin of these errors, more elementary component activities in causal reasoning are identified. The applications cover the field of functional specification for man-machine interfaces, operators support systems design as well as nuclear safety. In addition of this study, we integrate the model of causal reasoning in a model of cognitive task in process control. (authors). 106 refs., 49 figs., 8 tabs.

  14. Ontology-based concept map learning path reasoning system using SWRL rules

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chu, K.-K.; Lee, C.-I. [National Univ. of Tainan, Taiwan (China). Dept. of Computer Science and Information Learning Technology

    2010-08-13

    Concept maps are graphical representations of knowledge. Concept mapping may reduce students' cognitive load and extend simple memory function. The purpose of this study was on the diagnosis of students' concept map learning abilities and the provision of personally constructive advice dependant on their learning path and progress. Ontology is a useful method with which to represent and store concept map information. Semantic web rule language (SWRL) rules are easy to understand and to use as specific reasoning services. This paper discussed the selection of grade 7 lakes and rivers curriculum for which to devise a concept map learning path reasoning service. The paper defined a concept map e-learning ontology and two SWRL semantic rules, and collected users' concept map learning path data to infer implicit knowledge and to recommend the next learning path for users. It was concluded that the designs devised in this study were feasible and advanced and the ontology kept the domain knowledge preserved. SWRL rules identified an abstraction model for inferred properties. Since they were separate systems, they did not interfere with each other, while ontology or SWRL rules were maintained, ensuring persistent system extensibility and robustness. 15 refs., 1 tab., 8 figs.

  15. INTERSECTION DETECTION BASED ON QUALITATIVE SPATIAL REASONING ON STOPPING POINT CLUSTERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Zourlidou

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to propose and test a method for detecting intersections by analysing collectively acquired trajectories of moving vehicles. Instead of solely relying on the geometric features of the trajectories, such as heading changes, which may indicate turning points and consequently intersections, we extract semantic features of the trajectories in form of sequences of stops and moves. Under this spatiotemporal prism, the extracted semantic information which indicates where vehicles stop can reveal important locations, such as junctions. The advantage of the proposed approach in comparison with existing turning-points oriented approaches is that it can detect intersections even when not all the crossing road segments are sampled and therefore no turning points are observed in the trajectories. The challenge with this approach is that first of all, not all vehicles stop at the same location – thus, the stop-location is blurred along the direction of the road; this, secondly, leads to the effect that nearby junctions can induce similar stop-locations. As a first step, a density-based clustering is applied on the layer of stop observations and clusters of stop events are found. Representative points of the clusters are determined (one per cluster and in a last step the existence of an intersection is clarified based on spatial relational cluster reasoning, with which less informative geospatial clusters, in terms of whether a junction exists and where its centre lies, are transformed in more informative ones. Relational reasoning criteria, based on the relative orientation of the clusters with their adjacent ones are discussed for making sense of the relation that connects them, and finally for forming groups of stop events that belong to the same junction.

  16. Evidence that logical reasoning depends on conscious processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeWall, C Nathan; Baumeister, Roy F; Masicampo, E J

    2008-09-01

    Humans, unlike other animals, are equipped with a powerful brain that permits conscious awareness and reflection. A growing trend in psychological science has questioned the benefits of consciousness, however. Testing a hypothesis advanced by [Lieberman, M. D., Gaunt, R., Gilbert, D. T., & Trope, Y. (2002). Reflection and reflexion: A social cognitive neuroscience approach to attributional inference. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 199-249], four studies suggested that the conscious, reflective processing system is vital for logical reasoning. Substantial decrements in logical reasoning were found when a cognitive load manipulation preoccupied conscious processing, while hampering the nonconscious system with consciously suppressed thoughts failed to impair reasoning (Experiment 1). Nonconscious activation (priming) of the idea of logical reasoning increased the activation of logic-relevant concepts, but failed to improve logical reasoning performance (Experiments 2a-2c) unless the logical conclusions were largely intuitive and thus not reliant on logical reasoning (Experiment 3). Meanwhile, stimulating the conscious goal of reasoning well led to improvements in reasoning performance (Experiment 4). These findings offer evidence that logical reasoning is aided by the conscious, reflective processing system.

  17. A GUI Prototype for the Framework of Criminal Judicial Reasoning System

    OpenAIRE

    Thammaboosadee, Sotarat; Silparcha, Udom

    2009-01-01

    This paper proposed a developed graphical user interface (GUI) prototype, whichis supported by the framework of data mining techniques-based criminal judicial reasoning system.The GUI sequences of the prototype are satisfied with criminal judicial procedure in civil lawsystem. Initially, user must build the model by input the existing incident and specifying the detail ofobjects, elements of crime, charge and judgment. After enough training, the prototype will be readyto determine judgments f...

  18. Logical Reasoning and Decision Making

    OpenAIRE

    Ong, D; Khaddaj, Souheil; Bashroush, Rabih

    2011-01-01

    Most intelligent systems have some form of \\ud decision making mechanisms built into their \\ud organisations. These normally include a logical \\ud reasoning element into their design. This paper reviews \\ud and compares the different logical reasoning strategies, \\ud and tries to address the accuracy and precision of \\ud decision making by formulating a tolerance to \\ud imprecision view which can be used in conjunction with \\ud the various reasoning strategies.

  19. Student Analogy Reasons When Solving Area Concepts in Pyramids and Prisms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mashuri, A.; Sudjadi, I.; Pramudya, I.; Gembong, S.

    2017-09-01

    The purpose of this study is to describe the reasoning of students’ analogies in solving the broad concept problem in pyramids and prisms. This research method using descriptive qualitative. Data collection uses analogous reasoning tests and interviews. After that tested to 32 students of Junior High School. Based on the results of the analysis can be concluded that (1) 16% of students solve the problem of source and target problem correctly. (2) 29% of students correctly solve source problems and target problems incorrectly. (3) 55% solve source problems and target problems wrong. This is because students tend to memorize formulas not using analogy reasoning to solve new problems. Finally, the students have difficulties in solving new problems, because students are not accustomed to using the experience they have gained to solve new problems.

  20. Information Overload in the New World of Work: Qualitative Study into the Reasons and Countermeasures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    ter Heerdt, Jeroen; Bondarouk, Tatiana; Ruel, Hubertus Johannes Maria; Guiderdoni-Jourdain, Karine; Oiry, Ewan

    2009-01-01

    In this chapter the authors present a revision of the information overload concept elaborated by Eppler and Mengis (2004). The main elements of our approach are literature synopsis and analysis, qualitative semi-structured interviews, and discussion. Their review of the information overload concept

  1. The Process of Clinical Reasoning among Medical Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Djon Machado Lopes

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Introduction: Research in the field of medical reasoning has shed light on the reasoning process used by medical students. The strategies in this process are related to the analytical [hypothetical-deductive (HD] and nonanalytic [scheme-inductive (SI] systems, and pattern recognition (PR]. Objective: To explore the clinical reasoning process of students from the fifth year of medical school at the end of the clinical cycle of medical internship, and to identify the strategies used in preparing diagnostic hypotheses, knowledge organization and content. Method: Qualitative research conducted in 2014 at a Brazilian public university with medical interns. Following Stamm's method, a case in internal medicine (IM was built based on the theory of prototypes (Group 1 = 47 interns, in which the interns listed, according to their own perceptions, the signs, symptoms, syndromes, and diseases typical of internal medicine. This case was used for evaluating the clinical reasoning process of Group 2 (30 students = simple random sample obtained with the "think aloud" process. The verbalizations were transcribed and evaluated by Bardin's thematic analysis. The content analysis were approved by two experts at the beginning and at the end of the analysis process. Results: The interns developed 164 primary and secondary hypotheses when solving the case. The SI strategy prevailed with 48.8%, followed by PR (35.4%, HD (12.2%, and mixed (1.8 % each: SI + HD and HD + PR. The students built 146 distinct semantic axes, resulting in an average of 4.8/ participant. During the analysis, 438 interpretation processes were executed (average of 14.6/participant, and 124 combination processes (average of 4.1/participant. Conclusions: The nonanalytic strategies prevailed with the PR being the most used in the development of primary hypotheses (46.8% and the SI in secondary hypotheses (93%. The interns showed a strong semantic network and did three and a half times more

  2. Designing Intelligent Tutoring Systems: A Personalization Strategy using Case-Based Reasoning and Multi-Agent Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosalía LAZA

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs are educational systems that use artificial intelligence techniques for representing the knowledge. ITSs design is often criticized for being a complex and challenging process. In this article, we propose a framework for the ITSs design using Case Based Reasoning (CBR and Multiagent systems (MAS. The major advantage of using CBR is to allow the intelligent system to propose smart and quick solutions to problems, even in complex domains, avoiding the time necessary to derive those solutions from scratch. The use of intelligent agents and MAS architectures supports the retrieval of similar students models and the adaptation of teaching strategies according to the student profile. We describe deeply how the combination of both technologies helps to simplify the design of new ITSs and personalize the e-learning process for each student

  3. Concerns of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and adherence to therapy – a qualitative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farinha F

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Filipa Farinha,1 Francisco Freitas,2 Ana Águeda,1 Inês Cunha,1 Anabela Barcelos1 1Rheumatology Department, Centro Hospitalar do Baixo Vouga EPE, Aveiro, Portugal; 2Centre for Social Studies, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Purpose: The objectives of this study were 1 to identify the impact of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE on patients’ lives and their reactions to this, as well as their main concerns and expectations regarding their disease and treatments; and 2 to assess the relationship between these concerns and the adherence to treatments, medical visits, and diagnostic tests.Patients and methods: Qualitative study, using a convenient sample of SLE patients attending an outpatient rheumatology clinic. Semistructured interviews were conducted and audiotaped. The full transcripts were analyzed by two different coders using content analysis methodology.Results: Fifteen participants were included. SLE had a major impact on these patients’ lives. Their main concerns were fear of disease worsening and becoming dependent on other people, fear of not being able to take care of their children or provide for the family, and the possibility of transmitting SLE to their offspring. The main reasons for adherence to therapy were the wish to avoid manifestations of SLE and trust in the rheumatologist and routine. Nonadherence was more common in the beginning of the treatment because of the difficulty in accepting a chronic disease that requires lifelong therapy.Conclusion: Our data underlined the important interplay between adherence to medication and the possibility to gather accurate information and proper support during the treatment process. Good communication and efficient patient education strategies, focused on improving their knowledge about the disease and its treatments, may be important to improve adherence to therapy in SLE. Keywords: illness perception, adherence, communication, patients’ perspectives, qualitative

  4. Adversarial reasoning: challenges and approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kott, Alexander; Ownby, Michael

    2005-05-01

    This paper defines adversarial reasoning as computational approaches to inferring and anticipating an enemy's perceptions, intents and actions. It argues that adversarial reasoning transcends the boundaries of game theory and must also leverage such disciplines as cognitive modeling, control theory, AI planning and others. To illustrate the challenges of applying adversarial reasoning to real-world problems, the paper explores the lessons learned in the CADET -- a battle planning system that focuses on brigade-level ground operations and involves adversarial reasoning. From this example of current capabilities, the paper proceeds to describe RAID -- a DARPA program that aims to build capabilities in adversarial reasoning, and how such capabilities would address practical requirements in Defense and other application areas.

  5. Knowledge-based systems and interactive graphics for reactor control using the Automated Reasoning Tool(ART) system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ragheb, M.; Clayton, B.; Davies, P.

    1987-01-01

    The use of Knowledge-Based systems and advanced graphic concepts are described using the Automated Reasoning Tool (ART) for a model nuclear plant system. Through the sue of asynchronous graphic input/output, the user is allowed to communicate through a graphical display to a Production-Rule Analysis System modelling the plant while its rules are actively being fired. The user changes the status of system components by pointing at them on the system configuration display with a mouse cursor and clicking one of the buttons on the mouse. The Production-Rule Analysis System accepts the new input and immediately displays its diagnosis of the system state and any associated recommendations as to the appropriate course of action. This approach offers a distinct advantage over typing the components statuses in response to queries by a conventional Production-Rule Analysis system. Moreover, two effective ways of communication between man and machine are combined

  6. Reasons for Stopping Exclusive Breastfeeding Between Three and Six Months: A Qualitative Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alianmoghaddam, Narges; Phibbs, Suzanne; Benn, Cheryl

    Scant published qualitative literature exists focusing on why exclusive breastfeeding rates decline between three and six months. This study aims to develop an understanding of why exclusive breastfeeding tails off so dramatically between three and six months after birth in New Zealand. A generic qualitative methodology was employed in this study and social constructionism selected as the main epistemological framework underpinning the research. This study was carried out between September 2013 and July 2014, involving face-to-face interviews with 30 women who were characterised as highly motivated to complete six months exclusive breastfeeding prior to the birth of their child. In order to gain an in-depth understanding of the research material, thematic analysis of the interview transcripts was completed using manual coding techniques. After thematic analysis of the data four key themes were identified: 1) The good employee/good mother dilemma. 2) Breastfeeding is lovely, but six months exclusively is demanding. 3) Exclusive breastfeeding recommendations should be individualised. 4) Introducing solids early as a cultural practice. Most studies have linked barriers to six months exclusive breastfeeding to difficulties within the mother-infant dyad, as well as negative maternal socioeconomic and socio-demographic characteristics. However, this study has shown that the maintenance of six months exclusive breastfeeding is also challenging for this group of mothers who were socially advantaged, well-educated and highly motivated to breastfeed their babies exclusively for six months. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Political rationality: Young Danish and Norwegian immigrant citizens and their political reasoning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Solhaug, Trond; Kristensen, Niels Nørgaard

    2012-01-01

    combining identities, emotions, and information is suggested and examined empirically. In a qualitative study the reflectivity of the students and their willingness to act as rational and responsible citizens is evaluated. Based on a selection of young Danish and Norwegian immigrant students, the dynamics......This article aims to uncover the dynamics of political reasoning among young immigrants. How do they people reason about the larger social and political world around them and what rationalities are in play? A dynamic approach is used to analyze cognitive functioning. A model of political reasoning...... between the elements of the model are explored. In the analysis, some identities play a decisive role, while emotions seem fairly often to be the trigger and the mechanism of political action....

  8. A conceptual framework to model long-run qualitative change in the energy system

    OpenAIRE

    Ebersberger, Bernd

    2004-01-01

    A conceptual framework to model long-run qualitative change in the energy system / A. Pyka, B. Ebersberger, H. Hanusch. - In: Evolution and economic complexity / ed. J. Stanley Metcalfe ... - Cheltenham [u.a.] : Elgar, 2004. - S. 191-213

  9. No observable relationship between the 12 genes of nervous system and reasoning skill in a young Chinese Han population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Pingyuan; Zhang, Fuchang; Lei, Xu; Wu, Xiaodong; Chen, Dongmei; Zhang, Wenjiang; Zhang, Kejin; Zheng, Anyun; Gao, Xiaocai

    2011-05-01

    Reasoning skill is an advanced cognitive ability which is needed for drawing inferences from given information. It is well known that the ability depends on the neural network of the frontal and parietal brain regions. In this study, we hypothesized that some genes involved in neurotransmitter systems were related to reasoning skill. To confirm this hypothesis, we examined the effects of 13 genes (BDNF, NRSF, COMT, DBH, DRD(2), DRD(3), DAT(1), MAOA, GRM(1), GRIN2B, TPH(2), 5-HT(2A), and 5-HT(6)) in neurotransmitter systems on the non-verbal reasoning and verbal reasoning skills. The results indicated there were on significant effects of the 17 functional variants of these genes on the performance of non-verbal reasoning and verbal analogical reasoning skills (χ(2) > 3.84, df = 1, P > 0.05). This study suggests that some of the functional variations in BDNF, COMT, DBH, DRD(2), DRD(3), MAOA, 5-HT(2A), 5-HT(6), GRM(1), and GRIN2B have no observable effects on the certain reasoning skills in a young healthy Chinese Han population.

  10. Context based support for Clinical Reasoning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vilstrup Pedersen, Klaus

    2004-01-01

    In many areas of the medical domain, the decision process i.e. reasoning, involving health care professionals is distributed, cooperative and complex. Computer based decision support systems has usually been focusing on the outcome of the decision making and treated it as a single task....... In this paper a framework for a Clinical Reasoning Knowledge Warehouse (CRKW) is presented, intended to support the reasoning process, by providing the decision participants with an analysis platform that captures and enhances information and knowledge. The CRKW mixes theories and models from Artificial...... Intelligence, Knowledge Management Systems and Business Intelligence to make context sensitive, patient case specific analysis and knowledge management. The knowledge base consists of patient health records, reasoning process information and clinical guidelines. Patient specific information and knowledge...

  11. Comparison of Ontology Reasoners: Racer, Pellet, Fact++

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, T.; Li, W.; Yang, C.

    2008-12-01

    In this paper, we examine some key aspects of three of the most popular and effective Semantic reasoning engines that have been developed: Pellet, RACER, and Fact++. While these reasonably advanced reasoners share some notable similarities, it is ultimately the creativity and unique nature of these reasoning engines that have resulted in the successes of each of these reasoners. Of the numerous dissimilarities, the most obvious example might be that while Pellet is written in Java, RACER employs the Lisp programming language and Fact++ was developed using C++. From this and many other distinctions in the system architecture, we can understand the benefits of each reasoner and potentially discover certain properties that may contribute to development of an optimal reasoner in the future. The objective of this paper is to establish a solid comparison of the reasoning engines based on their system architectures, features, and overall performances in real world application. In the end, we expect to produce a valid conclusion about the advantages and problems in each reasoner. While there may not be a decisive first place among the three reasoners, the evaluation will also provide some answers as to which of these current reasoning tools will be most effective in common, practical situations.

  12. Qualitative analysis in reliability and safety studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Worrell, R.B.; Burdick, G.R.

    1976-01-01

    The qualitative evaluation of system logic models is described as it pertains to assessing the reliability and safety characteristics of nuclear systems. Qualitative analysis of system logic models, i.e., models couched in an event (Boolean) algebra, is defined, and the advantages inherent in qualitative analysis are explained. Certain qualitative procedures that were developed as a part of fault-tree analysis are presented for illustration. Five fault-tree analysis computer-programs that contain a qualitative procedure for determining minimal cut sets are surveyed. For each program the minimal cut-set algorithm and limitations on its use are described. The recently developed common-cause analysis for studying the effect of common-causes of failure on system behavior is explained. This qualitative procedure does not require altering the fault tree, but does use minimal cut sets from the fault tree as part of its input. The method is applied using two different computer programs. 25 refs

  13. Success Factors of European Syndromic Surveillance Systems: A Worked Example of Applying Qualitative Comparative Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziemann, Alexandra; Fouillet, Anne; Brand, Helmut; Krafft, Thomas

    2016-01-01

    Syndromic surveillance aims at augmenting traditional public health surveillance with timely information. To gain a head start, it mainly analyses existing data such as from web searches or patient records. Despite the setup of many syndromic surveillance systems, there is still much doubt about the benefit of the approach. There are diverse interactions between performance indicators such as timeliness and various system characteristics. This makes the performance assessment of syndromic surveillance systems a complex endeavour. We assessed if the comparison of several syndromic surveillance systems through Qualitative Comparative Analysis helps to evaluate performance and identify key success factors. We compiled case-based, mixed data on performance and characteristics of 19 syndromic surveillance systems in Europe from scientific and grey literature and from site visits. We identified success factors by applying crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. We focused on two main areas of syndromic surveillance application: seasonal influenza surveillance and situational awareness during different types of potentially health threatening events. We found that syndromic surveillance systems might detect the onset or peak of seasonal influenza earlier if they analyse non-clinical data sources. Timely situational awareness during different types of events is supported by an automated syndromic surveillance system capable of analysing multiple syndromes. To our surprise, the analysis of multiple data sources was no key success factor for situational awareness. We suggest to consider these key success factors when designing or further developing syndromic surveillance systems. Qualitative Comparative Analysis helped interpreting complex, mixed data on small-N cases and resulted in concrete and practically relevant findings.

  14. Qualitative Knowledge Representations for Intelligent Nuclear Power Plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cha, Kyoungho; Huh, Young H.

    1993-01-01

    Qualitative Physics(QP) has systematically been approached to qualitative modeling of physical systems for recent two decades. Designing intelligent systems for NPP requires an efficient representation of qualitative knowledge about the behavior and structure of NPP or its components. A novel representation of qualitative knowledge also enables intelligent systems to derive meaningful conclusions from incomplete or uncertain knowledge of a plant behavior. We look mainly into representative QP works on nuclear applications and the representation of qualitative knowledge for the diagnostic model, the qualitative simulation of a mental model of NPP operator, and the qualitative interpretation of the measured raw data from NPP. We present the challenging areas for QP applications in nuclear industry. QP technology will make NPP more intelligent

  15. Qualitative review of usability problems in health information systems for radiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dias, Camila Rodrigues; Pereira, Marluce Rodrigues; Freire, André Pimenta

    2017-12-01

    Radiology processes are commonly supported by Radiology Information System (RIS), Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) and other software for radiology. However, these information technologies can present usability problems that affect the performance of radiologists and physicians, especially considering the complexity of the tasks involved. The purpose of this study was to extract, classify and analyze qualitatively the usability problems in PACS, RIS and other software for radiology. A systematic review was performed to extract usability problems reported in empirical usability studies in the literature. The usability problems were categorized as violations of Nielsen and Molich's usability heuristics. The qualitative analysis indicated the causes and the effects of the identified usability problems. From the 431 papers initially identified, 10 met the study criteria. The analysis of the papers identified 90 instances of usability problems, classified into categories corresponding to established usability heuristics. The five heuristics with the highest number of instances of usability problems were "Flexibility and efficiency of use", "Consistency and standards", "Match between system and the real world", "Recognition rather than recall" and "Help and documentation", respectively. These problems can make the interaction time consuming, causing delays in tasks, dissatisfaction, frustration, preventing users from enjoying all the benefits and functionalities of the system, as well as leading to more errors and difficulties in carrying out clinical analyses. Furthermore, the present paper showed a lack of studies performed on systems for radiology, especially usability evaluations using formal methods of evaluation involving the final users. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Expert system shell to reason on large amounts of data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giuffrida, Gionanni

    1994-01-01

    The current data base management systems (DBMS's) do not provide a sophisticated environment to develop rule based expert systems applications. Some of the new DBMS's come with some sort of rule mechanism; these are active and deductive database systems. However, both of these are not featured enough to support full implementation based on rules. On the other hand, current expert system shells do not provide any link with external databases. That is, all the data are kept in the system working memory. Such working memory is maintained in main memory. For some applications the reduced size of the available working memory could represent a constraint for the development. Typically these are applications which require reasoning on huge amounts of data. All these data do not fit into the computer main memory. Moreover, in some cases these data can be already available in some database systems and continuously updated while the expert system is running. This paper proposes an architecture which employs knowledge discovering techniques to reduce the amount of data to be stored in the main memory; in this architecture a standard DBMS is coupled with a rule-based language. The data are stored into the DBMS. An interface between the two systems is responsible for inducing knowledge from the set of relations. Such induced knowledge is then transferred to the rule-based language working memory.

  17. Simple explanations and reasoning: From philosophy of science to expert systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rochowiak, Daniel

    1988-01-01

    A preliminary prototype of a simple explanation system was constructed. Although the system, based on the idea of storytelling, did not incorporate all of the principles of simple explanation, it did demonstrate the potential of the approach. The system incorporated a hypertext system, an inference engine, and facilities for constructing contrast type explanations. The continued development of such a system should prove to be valuable. By extending the resources of the expert system paradigm, the knowledge engineer is not forced to learn a new set of skills, and the domain knowledge already acquired by him is not lost. Further, both the beginning user and the more advanced user can be accommodated. For the beginning user, corrective explanations and ES explanations provide facilities for more clearly understanding the way in which the system is functioning. For the more advanced user, the instance and state explanations allow him to focus on the issues at hand. The simple model of explanation attempts to exploit and show how the why and how facilities of the expert system paradigm can be extended by attending to the pragmatics of explanation and adding texture to the ordinary pattern of reasoning in a rule based system.

  18. Sociotechnical factors influencing unsafe use of hospital information systems: A qualitative study in Malaysian government hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salahuddin, Lizawati; Ismail, Zuraini; Hashim, Ummi Rabaah; Raja Ikram, Raja Rina; Ismail, Nor Haslinda; Naim Mohayat, Mohd Hariz

    2018-03-01

    The objective of this study is to identify factors influencing unsafe use of hospital information systems in Malaysian government hospitals. Semi-structured interviews with 31 medical doctors in three Malaysian government hospitals implementing total hospital information systems were conducted between March and May 2015. A thematic qualitative analysis was performed on the resultant data to deduce the relevant themes. A total of five themes emerged as the factors influencing unsafe use of a hospital information system: (1) knowledge, (2) system quality, (3) task stressor, (4) organization resources, and (5) teamwork. These qualitative findings highlight that factors influencing unsafe use of a hospital information system originate from multidimensional sociotechnical aspects. Unsafe use of a hospital information system could possibly lead to the incidence of errors and thus raises safety risks to the patients. Hence, multiple interventions (e.g. technology systems and teamwork) are required in shaping high-quality hospital information system use.

  19. Autonomous e-coaching in the wild: Empirical validation of a model-based reasoning system

    OpenAIRE

    Kamphorst, B.A.; Klein, M.C.A.; van Wissen, A.

    2014-01-01

    Autonomous e-coaching systems have the potential to improve people's health behaviors on a large scale. The intelligent behavior change support system eMate exploits a model of the human agent to support individuals in adopting a healthy lifestyle. The system attempts to identify the causes of a person's non-adherence by reasoning over a computational model (COMBI) that is based on established psychological theories of behavior change. The present work presents an extensive, monthlong empiric...

  20. Qualitative "trial-sibling" studies and "unrelated" qualitative studies contributed to complex intervention reviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noyes, Jane; Hendry, Margaret; Lewin, Simon; Glenton, Claire; Chandler, Jackie; Rashidian, Arash

    2016-06-01

    To compare the contribution of "trial-sibling" and "unrelated" qualitative studies in complex intervention reviews. Researchers are using qualitative "trial-sibling" studies undertaken alongside trials to provide explanations to understand complex interventions. In the absence of qualitative "trial-sibling" studies, it is not known if qualitative studies "unrelated" to trials are helpful. Trials, "trial-sibling," and "unrelated" qualitative studies looking at three health system interventions were identified. We looked for similarities and differences between the two types of qualitative studies, such as participants, intervention delivery, context, study quality and reporting, and contribution to understanding trial results. Reporting was generally poor in both qualitative study types. We detected no substantial differences in participant characteristics. Interventions in qualitative "trial-sibling" studies were delivered using standardized protocols, whereas interventions in "unrelated" qualitative studies were delivered in routine care. Qualitative "trial-sibling" studies alone provided insufficient data to develop meaningful transferrable explanations beyond the trial context, and their limited focus on immediate implementation did not address all phenomena of interest. Together, "trial-sibling" and "unrelated" qualitative studies provided larger, richer data sets across contexts to better understand the phenomena of interest. Findings support inclusion of "trial-sibling" and "unrelated" qualitative studies to explore complexity in complex intervention reviews. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Qualitative research and its place in health research in Nepal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Teijlingen, E; Simkhada, B; Porter, M; Simkhada, P; Pitchforth, E; Bhatta, P

    2011-01-01

    There has been a steady growth in recent decades in Nepal in health and health services research, much of it based on quantitative research methods. Over the same period international medical journals such as The Lancet, the British Medical Journal (BMJ), The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care and many more have published methods papers outlining and promoting qualitative methods. This paper argues in favour of more high-quality qualitative research in Nepal, either on its own or as part of a mixed-methods approach, to help strengthen the country's research capacity. After outlining the reasons for using qualitative methods, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the three main approaches: (a) observation; (b) in-depth interviews; and (c) focus groups. We also discuss issues around sampling, analysis, presentation of findings, reflexivity of the qualitative researcher and theory building, and highlight some misconceptions about qualitative research and mistakes commonly made.

  2. The Design and Implementation of a Remote Fault Reasoning Diagnosis System for Meteorological Satellites Data Acquisition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhu Jie

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Under the background of the trouble shooting requirements of FENGYUN-3 (FY-3 meteorological satellites data acquisition in domestic and oversea ground stations, a remote fault reasoning diagnosis system is developed by Java 1.6 in eclipse 3.6 platform. The general framework is analyzed, the workflow is introduced. Based on the system, it can realize the remote and centralized monitoring of equipment running status in ground stations,triggering automatic fault diagnosis and rule based fault reasoning by parsing the equipment quality logs, generating trouble tickets and importing expert experience database, providing text and graphics query methods. Through the practical verification, the system can assist knowledge engineers in remote precise and rapid fault location with friendly graphical user interface, boost the fault diagnosis efficiency, enhance the remote monitoring ability of integrity operating control system. The system has a certain practical significance to improve reliability of FY-3 meteorological satellites data acquisition.

  3. 'We are looked down upon and rejected socially': a qualitative study on the experiences of trafficking survivors in Nepal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahal, Pranab; Joshi, Sunil Kumar; Swahnberg, Katarina

    2015-01-01

    The successful reintegration of sexual trafficking survivors into Nepalese society is challenging. This paper aims to explore the trafficking process, abuses faced during sexual slavery,and the challenges faced by women and girl survivors for successful reintegration. This exploratory study used qualitative methods to identify that poverty, illiteracy, lack of opportunities, and varied social stigma initiate the victimization process, and continuity of this vicious circle increases the risk for (re)entrapment. The reasons for sexual trafficking have also become the reasons for restricting survivors from opportunities for growth and mainstreaming. Non-existent support systems, detachment from familial ties, being outcast by society, and an uncertain livelihood make reintegration difficult for survivors.

  4. Model-based reasoning technology for the power industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Touchton, R.A.; Subramanyan, N.S.; Naser, J.A.

    1991-01-01

    This paper reports on model-based reasoning which refers to an expert system implementation methodology that uses a model of the system which is being reasoned about. Model-based representation and reasoning techniques offer many advantages and are highly suitable for domains where the individual components, their interconnection, and their behavior is well-known. Technology Applications, Inc. (TAI), under contract to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), investigated the use of model-based reasoning in the power industry including the nuclear power industry. During this project, a model-based monitoring and diagnostic tool, called ProSys, was developed. Also, an alarm prioritization system was developed as a demonstration prototype

  5. Reasons Internalism and the function of normative reasons

    OpenAIRE

    Sinclair, Neil

    2017-01-01

    What is the connection between reasons and motives? According to Reasons Internalism there is a non-trivial conceptual connection between normative reasons and the possibility of rationally accessing relevant motivation. Reasons Internalism is attractive insofar as it captures the thought that reasons are for reasoning with and repulsive insofar as it fails to generate sufficient critical distance between reasons and motives. Rather than directly adjudicate this dispute, I extract from it two...

  6. A comprehensive test of clinical reasoning for medical students: An olympiad experience in Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monajemi, Alireza; Arabshahi, Kamran Soltani; Soltani, Akbar; Arbabi, Farshid; Akbari, Roghieh; Custers, Eugene; Hadadgar, Arash; Hadizadeh, Fatemeh; Changiz, Tahereh; Adibi, Peyman

    2012-01-01

    Although some tests for clinical reasoning assessment are now available, the theories of medical expertise have not played a major role in this filed. In this paper, illness script theory was chose as a theoretical framework and contemporary clinical reasoning tests were put together based on this theoretical model. This paper is a qualitative study performed with an action research approach. This style of research is performed in a context where authorities focus on promoting their organizations' performance and is carried out in the form of teamwork called participatory research. Results are presented in four parts as basic concepts, clinical reasoning assessment, test framework, and scoring. we concluded that no single test could thoroughly assess clinical reasoning competency, and therefore a battery of clinical reasoning tests is needed. This battery should cover all three parts of clinical reasoning process: script activation, selection and verification. In addition, not only both analytical and non-analytical reasoning, but also both diagnostic and management reasoning should evenly take into consideration in this battery. This paper explains the process of designing and implementing the battery of clinical reasoning in the Olympiad for medical sciences students through an action research.

  7. Two kinds of reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rips, L J

    2001-03-01

    According to one view of reasoning, people can evaluate arguments in at least two qualitatively different ways: in terms of their deductive correctness and in terms of their inductive strength. According to a second view, assessments of both correctness and strength are a function of an argument's position on a single psychological continuum (e.g., subjective conditional probability). A deductively correct argument is one with the maximum value on this continuum; a strong argument is one with a high value. The present experiment tested these theories by asking participants to evaluate the same set of arguments for correctness and strength. The results produced an interaction between type of argument and instructions: In some conditions, participants judged one argument deductively correct more often than a second, but judged the second argument inductively strong more often than the first. This finding supports the view that people have distinct ways to evaluate arguments.

  8. Handling Imprecision in Qualitative Data Warehouse: Urban Building Sites Annoyance Analysis Use Case

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amanzougarene, F.; Chachoua, M.; Zeitouni, K.

    2013-05-01

    Data warehouse means a decision support database allowing integration, organization, historisation, and management of data from heterogeneous sources, with the aim of exploiting them for decision-making. Data warehouses are essentially based on multidimensional model. This model organizes data into facts (subjects of analysis) and dimensions (axes of analysis). In classical data warehouses, facts are composed of numerical measures and dimensions which characterize it. Dimensions are organized into hierarchical levels of detail. Based on the navigation and aggregation mechanisms offered by OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) tools, facts can be analyzed according to the desired level of detail. In real world applications, facts are not always numerical, and can be of qualitative nature. In addition, sometimes a human expert or learned model such as a decision tree provides a qualitative evaluation of phenomenon based on its different parameters i.e. dimensions. Conventional data warehouses are thus not adapted to qualitative reasoning and have not the ability to deal with qualitative data. In previous work, we have proposed an original approach of qualitative data warehouse modeling, which permits integrating qualitative measures. Based on computing with words methodology, we have extended classical multidimensional data model to allow the aggregation and analysis of qualitative data in OLAP environment. We have implemented this model in a Spatial Decision Support System to help managers of public spaces to reduce annoyances and improve the quality of life of the citizens. In this paper, we will focus our study on the representation and management of imprecision in annoyance analysis process. The main objective of this process consists in determining the least harmful scenario of urban building sites, particularly in dense urban environments.

  9. Reasons and remedies for under-representation of women in medical leadership roles: a qualitative study from Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bismark, Marie; Morris, Jennifer; Thomas, Laura; Loh, Erwin; Phelps, Grant; Dickinson, Helen

    2015-11-16

    To elicit medical leaders' views on reasons and remedies for the under-representation of women in medical leadership roles. Qualitative study using semistructured interviews with medical practitioners who work in medical leadership roles. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Public hospitals, private healthcare providers, professional colleges and associations and government organisations in Australia. 30 medical practitioners who hold formal medical leadership roles. Despite dramatic increases in the entry of women into medicine in Australia, there remains a gross under-representation of women in formal, high-level medical leadership positions. The male-dominated nature of medical leadership in Australia was widely recognised by interviewees. A small number of interviewees viewed gender disparities in leadership roles as a 'natural' result of women's childrearing responsibilities. However, most interviewees believed that preventable gender-related barriers were impeding women's ability to achieve and thrive in medical leadership roles. Interviewees identified a range of potential barriers across three broad domains-perceptions of capability, capacity and credibility. As a counter to these, interviewees pointed to a range of benefits of women adopting these roles, and proposed a range of interventions that would support more women entering formal medical leadership roles. While women make up more than half of medical graduates in Australia today, significant barriers restrict their entry into formal medical leadership roles. These constraints have internalised, interpersonal and structural elements that can be addressed through a range of strategies for advancing the role of women in medical leadership. These findings have implications for individual medical practitioners and health services, as well as professional colleges and associations. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use

  10. A Web-Based Rice Plant Expert System Using Rule-Based Reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anton Setiawan Honggowibowo

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Rice plants can be attacked by various kinds of diseases which are possible to be determined from their symptoms. However, it is to recognize that to find out the exact type of disease, an agricultural expert’s opinion is needed, meanwhile the numbers of agricultural experts are limited and there are too many problems to be solved at the same time. This makes a system with a capability as an expert is required. This system must contain the knowledge of the diseases and symptom of rice plants as an agricultural expert has to have. This research designs a web-based expert system using rule-based reasoning. The rule are modified from the method of forward chaining inference and backward chaining in order to to help farmers in the rice plant disease diagnosis. The web-based rice plants disease diagnosis expert system has the advantages to access and use easily. With web-based features inside, it is expected that the farmer can accesse the expert system everywhere to overcome the problem to diagnose rice diseases.

  11. Reasons of the problems that academicians experience in management of teaching and learning process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Süleyman Göksoy

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The present research aims to examine the problems that academicians experience in management of teaching-learning process, to reveal the reasons of the problems and to develop solution suggestions. Case study design of qualitative research methods was used in this research and it includes 41 volunteer academicians. Structured interview form was used in data collection and the data were analyzed with content analysis. It was found that most of the problems academicians experience in management of teaching-learning process were related to students. They also had problems with classroom/course management. In management of teaching-learning processes of the academicians, problems were related to students, physical infrastructure, educational system and society/environment. It can be asserted that most of the problems can be solved if their reasons are determined and handled. Also it is suggested that incoming academicians who are new to academic life need to follow the regulations that includes student discipline regulations and the students need to be informed about the negative behaviors and their consequences at the beginning of the term.

  12. Ambulatory oxygen: why do COPD patients not use their portable systems as prescribed? A qualitative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fenwick Angela

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Patients with COPD on long term oxygen therapy frequently do not adhere to their prescription, and they frequently do not use their ambulatory oxygen systems as intended. Reasons for this lack of adherence are not known. The aim of this study was to obtain in-depth information about perceptions and use of prescribed ambulatory oxygen systems from patients with COPD to inform ambulatory oxygen design, prescription and management. Methods A qualitative design was used, involving semi-structured face-to-face interviews informed by a grounded theory approach. Twenty-seven UK community-dwelling COPD patients using NHS prescribed ambulatory systems were recruited. Ambulatory oxygen systems comprised cylinders weighing 3.4 kg, a shoulder bag and nasal cannulae. Results Participants reported that they: received no instruction on how to use ambulatory oxygen; were uncertain of the benefits; were afraid the system would run out while they were using it (due to lack of confidence in the cylinder gauge; were embarrassed at being seen with the system in public; and were unable to carry the system because of the cylinder weight. The essential role of carers was also highlighted, as participants with no immediate carers did not use ambulatory oxygen outside the house. Conclusions These participants highlighted previously unreported problems that prevented them from using ambulatory oxygen as prescribed. Our novel findings point to: concerns with the lack of specific information provision; the perceived unreliability of the oxygen system; important carer issues surrounding managing and using ambulatory oxygen equipment. All of these issues, as well as previously reported problems with system weight and patient embarrassment, should be addressed to improve adherence to ambulatory oxygen prescription and enhance the physical and social benefits of maintaining mobility in this patient group. Increased user involvement in both system development

  13. Epimenides: Interoperability Reasoning for Digital Preservation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kargakis, Yannis; Tzitzikas, Yannis; van Horik, M.P.M.

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents Epimenides, a system that implements a novel interoperability dependency reasoning approach for assisting digital preservation activities. A distinctive feature is that it can model also converters and emulators, and the adopted modelling approach enables the automatic reasoning

  14. Fuzzy Reasoning as a Base for Collision Avoidance Decision Support System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    tanja brcko

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Despite the generally high qualifications of seafarers, many maritime accidents are caused by human error; such accidents include capsizing, collision, and fire, and often result in pollution. Enough concern has been generated that researchers around the world have developed the study of the human factor into an independent scientific discipline. A great deal of progress has been made, particularly in the area of artificial intelligence. But since total autonomy is not yet expedient, the decision support systems based on soft computing are proposed to support human navigators and VTS operators in times of crisis as well as during the execution of everyday tasks as a means of reducing risk levels.This paper considers a decision support system based on fuzzy logic integrated into an existing bridge collision avoidance system. The main goal is to determine the appropriate course of avoidance, using fuzzy reasoning.

  15. Observable phenomena that reveal medical students' clinical reasoning ability during expert assessment of their history taking: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haring, Catharina M; Cools, Bernadette M; van Gurp, Petra J M; van der Meer, Jos W M; Postma, Cornelis T

    2017-08-29

    During their clerkships, medical students are meant to expand their clinical reasoning skills during their patient encounters. Observation of these encounters could reveal important information on the students' clinical reasoning abilities, especially during history taking. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze what expert physicians apply as indicators in their assessment of medical students' diagnostic reasoning abilities during history taking. Twelve randomly selected clinical encounter recordings of students at the end of the internal medicine clerkships were observed by six expert assessors, who were prompted to formulate their assessment criteria in a think-aloud procedure. These formulations were then analyzed to identify the common denominators and leading principles. The main indicators of clinical reasoning ability were abstracted from students' observable acts during history taking in the encounter. These were: taking control, recognizing and responding to relevant information, specifying symptoms, asking specific questions that point to pathophysiological thinking, placing questions in a logical order, checking agreement with patients, summarizing and body language. In addition, patients' acts and the course, result and efficiency of the conversation were identified as indicators of clinical reasoning, whereas context, using self as a reference, and emotion/feelings were identified by the clinicians as variables in their assessment of clinical reasoning. In observing and assessing clinical reasoning during history taking by medical students, general and specific phenomena to be used as indicators for this process could be identified. These phenomena can be traced back to theories on the development and the process of clinical reasoning.

  16. Health systems research training enhances workplace research skills: a qualitative evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Jolene; Schaffer, Angela; Lewin, Simon; Zwarenstein, Merrick; van der Walt, Hester

    2003-01-01

    In-service education is a widely used means of enhancing the skills of health service providers, for example, in undertaking research. However, the transfer of skills acquired during an education course to the workplace is seldom evaluated. The objectives of this study were to assess learner, teacher, and health service manager perceptions of the usefulness, in the work setting, of skills taught on a health systems research education course in South Africa and to assess the extent to which the course stimulated awareness and development of health systems research in the work setting. The education course was evaluated using a qualitative approach. Respondents were selected for interview using purposive sampling. Interviews were conducted with 39 respondents, including all of the major stakeholders. The interviews lasted between 20 and 60 minutes and were conducted either face to face or over the telephone. Thematic analysis was applied to the data, and key themes were identified. The course demystified health systems research and stimulated interest in reading and applying research findings. The course also changed participants' attitudes to routine data collection and was reported to have facilitated the application of informal research or problem-solving methods to everyday work situations. However, inadequate support within the workplace was a significant obstacle to applying the skills learned. A 2-week intensive, experiential course in health systems research methods can provide a mechanism for introducing basic research skills to a wide range of learners. Qualitative evaluation is a useful approach for assessing the impacts of education courses.

  17. Formulating qualitative features using interactive visualization for analysis of multivariate spatiotemporal data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porter, M.; Hill, M. C.; Pierce, S. A.; Gil, Y.; Pennington, D. D.

    2017-12-01

    DiscoverWater is a web-based visualization tool developed to enable the visual representation of data, and thus, aid scientific and societal understanding of hydrologic systems. Open data sources are coalesced to, for example, illustrate the impacts on streamflow of irrigation withdrawals. Scientists and stakeholders are informed through synchronized time-series data plots that correlate multiple spatiotemporal datasets and an interactive time-evolving map that provides a spatial analytical context. Together, these components elucidate trends so that the user can try to envision the relations between groundwater-surface water interactions, the impacts of pumping on these interactions, and the interplay of climate. Aligning data in this manner has the capacity for interdisciplinary knowledge discovery and motivates dialogue about system processes that we seek to enhance through qualitative features informed through quantitative models. DiscoverWater and its connection is demonstrated using two field cases. First, it is used to visualize data sets from the High Plains aquifer, where reservoir- and groundwater-supported irrigation has affected the Arkansas River in western Kansas. Second, data and model results from Barton Springs segment of the Edwards aquifer in Texas reveal the effects of regional pumping on this important urbanizing aquifer system. Identifying what is interesting about the data and the modeled system in the two different case studies is a step towards moving typically static visualization capabilities to an adaptive framework. Additionally, the dashboard interface incorporates both quantitative and qualitative information about distinctive case studies in a machine-readable form, such that a catalog of qualitative models can capture subject matter expertise alongside associated datasets. As the catalog is expanded to include other case studies, the collection has potential to establish a standard framework able to inform intelligent system

  18. The AORTA Reasoning Framework - Adding Organizational Reasoning to Agents

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Andreas Schmidt

    Intelligent agents are entities defined by, among other things, autonomy. In systems of many agents, the agents’ individual autonomy can lead to uncertainty since their behavior cannot always be predicted. Usually, this kind of uncertainty is accommodated by imposing an organization upon the system...... previously been successfully integrated into agent programming languages. However, the operationalization of an organization is usually tailored to a specific language. This makes it hard to apply the same approach to other languages and platforms. The AORTA reasoning framework distinguishes itself by being...

  19. Reasoning process characteristics in the diagnostic skills of beginner, competent, and expert dentists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crespo, Kathleen E; Torres, José E; Recio, María E

    2004-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate qualitative differences in the diagnostic reasoning process at different developmental stages of expertise. A qualitative design was used to study cognitive processes that characterize the diagnosis of oral disease at the stages of beginner (five junior students who had passed the NBDE I), competent (five GPR first-year residents), and expert dentists (five general dentists with ten or more years of experience). Individually, each participant was asked to determine the diagnosis of an oral condition based on a written clinical case, using the think aloud technique and retrospective reports. A subsequent interview was conducted to obtain the participants' diagnostic process model and pathophysiology of the case. The analysis of the verbal protocols indicated that experts referred to the patient's sociomedical context more frequently, demonstrated better organization of ideas, could determine key clinical findings, and had an ability to plan for the search of pertinent information. Fewer diagnostic hypotheses were formulated by participants who used forward reasoning, independent of the stage of development. Beginners requested additional diagnostic aids (radiographs, laboratory tests) more frequently than the competent/expert dentists. Experts recalled typical experiences with patients, while competent/beginner dentists recalled information from didactic courses. Experts evidenced cognitive diagnostic schemas that integrate pathophysiology of disease, while competent and beginner participants had not achieved this integration. We conclude that expert performance is a combination of a knowledge base, reasoning skills, and an accumulation of experiences with patients that is qualitatively different from that of competent and beginner dentists. It is important for dental education to emphasize the teaching of cognitive processes and to incorporate a wide variety of clinical experiences in addition to the teaching of

  20. Using Blogging to Promote Clinical Reasoning and Metacognition in Undergraduate Physiotherapy Fieldwork Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Shuyan Melissa; Ladyshewsky, Richard K.; Gardner, Peter

    2010-01-01

    This qualitative study investigated the impact of using blogs on the clinical reasoning and meta-cognitive skills of undergraduate physiotherapy students in a fieldwork education program. A blog is a web based document that enables individuals to enter comments and read each others' comments in a dynamic and interactive manner. In this study,…

  1. Précis of bayesian rationality: The probabilistic approach to human reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oaksford, Mike; Chater, Nick

    2009-02-01

    According to Aristotle, humans are the rational animal. The borderline between rationality and irrationality is fundamental to many aspects of human life including the law, mental health, and language interpretation. But what is it to be rational? One answer, deeply embedded in the Western intellectual tradition since ancient Greece, is that rationality concerns reasoning according to the rules of logic--the formal theory that specifies the inferential connections that hold with certainty between propositions. Piaget viewed logical reasoning as defining the end-point of cognitive development; and contemporary psychology of reasoning has focussed on comparing human reasoning against logical standards. Bayesian Rationality argues that rationality is defined instead by the ability to reason about uncertainty. Although people are typically poor at numerical reasoning about probability, human thought is sensitive to subtle patterns of qualitative Bayesian, probabilistic reasoning. In Chapters 1-4 of Bayesian Rationality (Oaksford & Chater 2007), the case is made that cognition in general, and human everyday reasoning in particular, is best viewed as solving probabilistic, rather than logical, inference problems. In Chapters 5-7 the psychology of "deductive" reasoning is tackled head-on: It is argued that purportedly "logical" reasoning problems, revealing apparently irrational behaviour, are better understood from a probabilistic point of view. Data from conditional reasoning, Wason's selection task, and syllogistic inference are captured by recasting these problems probabilistically. The probabilistic approach makes a variety of novel predictions which have been experimentally confirmed. The book considers the implications of this work, and the wider "probabilistic turn" in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, for understanding human rationality.

  2. In their own words: the reasons why people will (not) sign an organ donor card.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgan, Susan E; Harrison, Tyler R; Afifi, Walid A; Long, Shawn D; Stephenson, Michael T

    2008-01-01

    This multisite, qualitative study of 78 family-pair dyads provides rich data on the reasons people cite for (not) wanting to sign an organ donor card in the context of family conversations. In this study, dyads were videotaped as they discussed 8 questions pertaining to their views on organ donation, beginning with the most general opinions and progressing to more detailed questions. Analysis of the transcribed data revealed that the most common reasons for wanting to donate organs were based on religion or a desire to help other people in need. The most common reasons cited for not wanting to donate organs were mistrust (of doctors, hospitals, and the organ allocation system), a belief in a black market for organs in the United States, and deservingness issues (that one's organs would go to someone who brought on his or her own illness, or who could be a "bad person"). One of the most surprising findings is that religion is offered far more often as a rationale for wanting to help sick people through organ donation than it was for not wanting to donate organs. These findings both support and contradict past studies based on quantitative survey data. Implications for the construction of more effective future organ donor campaigns are discussed.

  3. Application of plausible reasoning to AI-based control systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berenji, Hamid; Lum, Henry, Jr.

    1987-01-01

    Some current approaches to plausible reasoning in artificial intelligence are reviewed and discussed. Some of the most significant recent advances in plausible and approximate reasoning are examined. A synergism among the techniques of uncertainty management is advocated, and brief discussions on the certainty factor approach, probabilistic approach, Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence, possibility theory, linguistic variables, and fuzzy control are presented. Some extensions to these methods are described, and the applications of the methods are considered.

  4. Scaling Qualitative Probability

    OpenAIRE

    Burgin, Mark

    2017-01-01

    There are different approaches to qualitative probability, which includes subjective probability. We developed a representation of qualitative probability based on relational systems, which allows modeling uncertainty by probability structures and is more coherent than existing approaches. This setting makes it possible proving that any comparative probability is induced by some probability structure (Theorem 2.1), that classical probability is a probability structure (Theorem 2.2) and that i...

  5. Women's Reasons for Leaving the Engineering Field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fouad, Nadya A; Chang, Wen-Hsin; Wan, Min; Singh, Romila

    2017-01-01

    Among the different Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields, engineering continues to have one of the highest rates of attrition (Hewlett et al., 2008). The turnover rate for women engineers from engineering fields is even higher than for men (Frehill, 2010). Despite increased efforts from researchers, there are still large gaps in our understanding of the reasons that women leave engineering. This study aims to address this gap by examining the reasons why women leave engineering. Specifically, we analyze the reasons for departure given by national sample of 1,464 women engineers who left the profession after having worked in the engineering field. We applied a person-environment fit theoretical lens, in particular, the Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA) (Dawis and Lofquist, 1984) to understand and categorize the reasons for leaving the engineering field. According to the TWA, occupations have different "reinforcer patterns," reflected in six occupational values, and a mismatch between the reinforcers provided by the work environment and individuals' needs may trigger departure from the environment. Given the paucity of literature in this area, we posed research questions to explore the reinforcer pattern of values implicated in women's decisions to leave the engineering field. We used qualitative analyses to understand, categorize, and code the 1,863 statements that offered a glimpse into the myriad reasons that women offered in describing their decisions to leave the engineering profession. Our results revealed the top three sets of reasons underlying women's decision to leave the jobs and engineering field were related to: first, poor and/or inequitable compensation, poor working conditions, inflexible and demanding work environment that made work-family balance difficult; second, unmet achievement needs that reflected a dissatisfaction with effective utilization of their math and science skills, and third, unmet needs with regard to lack of recognition

  6. In two minds: dual-process accounts of reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Jonathan St B T

    2003-10-01

    Researchers in thinking and reasoning have proposed recently that there are two distinct cognitive systems underlying reasoning. System 1 is old in evolutionary terms and shared with other animals: it comprises a set of autonomous subsystems that include both innate input modules and domain-specific knowledge acquired by a domain-general learning mechanism. System 2 is evolutionarily recent and distinctively human: it permits abstract reasoning and hypothetical thinking, but is constrained by working memory capacity and correlated with measures of general intelligence. These theories essentially posit two minds in one brain with a range of experimental psychological evidence showing that the two systems compete for control of our inferences and actions.

  7. Integrated decision-making about housing, energy and wellbeing: a qualitative system dynamics model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macmillan, Alexandra; Davies, Michael; Shrubsole, Clive; Luxford, Naomi; May, Neil; Chiu, Lai Fong; Trutnevyte, Evelina; Bobrova, Yekatherina; Chalabi, Zaid

    2016-03-08

    The UK government has an ambitious goal to reduce carbon emissions from the housing stock through energy efficiency improvements. This single policy goal is a strong driver for change in the housing system, but comes with positive and negative "unintended consequences" across a broad range of outcomes for health, equity and environmental sustainability. The resulting policies are also already experiencing under-performance through a failure to consider housing as a complex system. This research aimed to move from considering disparate objectives of housing policies in isolation to mapping the links between environmental, economic, social and health outcomes as a complex system. We aimed to support a broad range of housing policy stakeholders to improve their understanding of housing as a complex system through a collaborative learning process. We used participatory system dynamics modelling to develop a qualitative causal theory linking housing, energy and wellbeing. Qualitative interviews were followed by two interactive workshops to develop the model, involving representatives from national and local government, housing industries, non-government organisations, communities and academia. More than 50 stakeholders from 37 organisations participated. The process resulted in a shared understanding of wellbeing as it relates to housing; an agreed set of criteria against which to assess to future policy options; and a comprehensive set of causal loop diagrams describing the housing, energy and wellbeing system. The causal loop diagrams cover seven interconnected themes: community connection and quality of neighbourhoods; energy efficiency and climate change; fuel poverty and indoor temperature; household crowding; housing affordability; land ownership, value and development patterns; and ventilation and indoor air pollution. The collaborative learning process and the model have been useful for shifting the thinking of a wide range of housing stakeholders towards a more

  8. Controller Synthesis using Qualitative Models and Constraints

    OpenAIRE

    Ramamoorthy, Subramanian; Kuipers, Benjamin J

    2004-01-01

    Many engineering systems require the synthesis of global behaviors in nonlinear dynamical systems. Multiple model approaches to control design make it possible to synthesize robust and optimal versions of such global behaviors. We propose a methodology called Qualitative Heterogeneous Control that enables this type of control design. This methodology is based on a separation of concerns between qualitative correctness and quantitative optimization. Qualitative sufficient conditions are derive...

  9. Moral reasoning about great apes in research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okamoto, Carol Midori

    2006-04-01

    This study explored how individuals (biomedical scientists, Great Ape Project activists, lay adults, undergraduate biology and environmental studies students, and Grade 12 and 9 biology students) morally judge and reason about using great apes in biomedical and language research. How these groups perceived great apes' mental capacities (e.g., pain, logical thinking) and how these perceptions related to their judgments were investigated through two scenarios. In addition, the kinds of informational statements (e.g., biology, economics) that may affect individuals' scenario judgments were investigated. A negative correlation was found between mental attributions and scenario judgments while no clear pattern occurred for the informational statements. For the biomedical scenario, all groups significantly differed in mean judgment ratings except for the biomedical scientists, GAP activists and Grade 9 students. For the language scenario, all groups differed except for the GAP activists, and undergraduate environmental studies and Grade 9 students. An in-depth qualitative analysis showed that although the biomedical scientists, GAP activists and Grade 9 students had similar judgments, they produced different mean percentages of justifications under four moral frameworks (virtue, utilitarianism, deontology, and welfare). The GAP activists used more virtue reasoning while the biomedical scientists and Grade 9 students used more utilitarian and welfare reasoning, respectively. The results are discussed in terms of developing environmental/humane education curricula.

  10. A tool to enhance occupational therapy reasoning from ICF perspective: The Hasselt Occupational Performance Profile (H-OPP).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghysels, R; Vanroye, E; Westhovens, M; Spooren, A

    2017-03-01

    In order to enhance occupational therapy reasoning in clinical practice, different elements such as client-centred approach, evidence-based care and interdisciplinary work should be taken into account, but is a challenge. To describe the development of the digital Hasselt Occupational Performance Profile (H-OPP © ) that enhances occupational therapy reasoning from ICF perspective. A participative qualitative design was used to create the H-OPP © in an iterative way in which occupational therapy lectures, ICF experts, students and occupational therapists in the field were involved. After linking occupational therapy terminology to the ICF, different stages of the H-OPP were identified and elaborated with main features: generating an occupational performance profile based on inventarization of problems and possibilities, formulating an occupational performance diagnosis and enabling to create an intervention plan. In all stages, both the perspectives of the client and the occupational therapist were taken into account. To increase practical use, the tool was further elaborated and digitalized. The H-OPP © is a digital coach that guides and facilitates professional reasoning in (novice) occupational therapists. It augments involvement of the client system. Furthermore, it enhances interdisciplinary communication and evidence-based care.

  11. Nonlinearities Lead to Qualitative Differences in Population Dynamics of Predator-Prey Systems

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Ameixa, Olga; Messelink, G. J.; Kindlmann, Pavel

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 8, č. 4 (2013), e62530-e62530 E-ISSN 1932-6203 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) ED1.1.00/02.0073; GA ČR(CZ) GEVOL/11/E036 Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : nonlinear system * population density * population dynamics * predator * predator prey interaction * qualitative analysis Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 3.534, year: 2013

  12. Reasoning in believers in the paranormal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawrence, Emma; Peters, Emmanuelle

    2004-11-01

    Reasoning biases have been identified in deluded patients, delusion-prone individuals, and believers in the paranormal. This study examined content-specific reasoning and delusional ideation in believers in the paranormal. A total of 174 members of the Society for Psychical Research completed a delusional ideation questionnaire and a deductive reasoning task. The reasoning statements were manipulated for congruency with paranormal beliefs. As predicted, individuals who reported a strong belief in the paranormal made more errors and displayed more delusional ideation than skeptical individuals. However, no differences were found with statements that were congruent with their belief system, confirming the domain-specificity of reasoning. This reasoning bias was limited to people who reported a belief in, rather than experience of, paranormal phenomena. These results suggest that reasoning abnormalities may have a causal role in the formation of unusual beliefs. The dissociation between experiences and beliefs implies that such abnormalities operate at the evaluative, rather than the perceptual, stage of processing.

  13. A qualitative evaluation of medication management services in six Minnesota health systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sorensen, Todd D; Pestka, Deborah; Sorge, Lindsay A; Wallace, Margaret L; Schommer, Jon

    2016-03-01

    The initiation, establishment, and sustainability of medication management programs in six Minnesota health systems are described. Six Minnesota health systems with well-established medication management programs were invited to participate in this study: Essentia Health, Fairview Health Services, HealthPartners, Hennepin County Medical Center, Mayo Clinic, and Park Nicollet Health Services. Qualitative methods were employed by conducting group interviews with key staff from each institution who were influential in the development of medication management services within their organization. Kotter's theory of eight steps for leading organizational change served as the framework for the question guide. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for recurring and emergent themes. A total of 13 distinct themes were associated with the successful integration of medication management services across the six healthcare systems. Identified themes clustered within three stages of Kotter's model for leading organizational change: creating a climate for change, engaging and enabling the whole organization, and implementing and sustaining change. The 13 themes included (1) external influences, (2) pharmacists as an untapped resource, (3) principles and professionalism, (4) organizational culture, (5) momentum champions, (6) collaborative relationships, (7) service promotion, (8) team-based care, (9) implementation strategies, (10) overcoming challenges, (11) supportive care model process, (12) measuring and reporting results, and (13) sustainability strategies. A qualitative survey of six health systems that successfully implemented medication management services in ambulatory care clinics revealed that a supportive culture and team-based collaborative care are among the themes identified as necessary for service sustainability. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. [Digital learning object for diagnostic reasoning in nursing applied to the integumentary system].

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Costa, Cecília Passos Vaz; Luz, Maria Helena Barros Araújo

    2015-12-01

    To describe the creation of a digital learning object for diagnostic reasoning in nursing applied to the integumentary system at a public university of Piaui. A methodological study applied to technological production based on the pedagogical framework of problem-based learning. The methodology for creating the learning object observed the stages of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation recommended for contextualized instructional design. The revised taxonomy of Bloom was used to list the educational goals. The four modules of the developed learning object were inserted into the educational platform Moodle. The theoretical assumptions allowed the design of an important online resource that promotes effective learning in the scope of nursing education. This study should add value to nursing teaching practices through the use of digital learning objects for teaching diagnostic reasoning applied to skin and skin appendages.

  15. Argumentation, rationality, and psychology of reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Godden

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper explicates an account of argumentative rationality by articulating the common, basic idea of its nature, and then identifying a collection of assumptions inherent in it. Argumentative rationality is then contrasted with dual-process theories of reasoning and rationality prevalent in the psychology of reasoning. It is argued that argumentative rationality properly corresponds only with system-2 reasoning in dual-process theories. This result challenges the prescriptive force of argumentative norms derives if they derive at all from their descriptive accuracy of our cognitive capacities. In response, I propose an activity-based account of reasoning which retains the assumptions of argumentative rationality while recontextualizing the relationship between reasoning as a justificatory activity and the psychological states and processes underlying that activity.

  16. Model Based Reasoning by Introductory Students When Analyzing Earth Systems and Societal Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holder, L. N.; Herbert, B. E.

    2014-12-01

    Understanding how students use their conceptual models to reason about societal challenges involving societal issues such as natural hazard risk assessment, environmental policy and management, and energy resources can improve instructional activity design that directly impacts student motivation and literacy. To address this question, we created four laboratory exercises for an introductory physical geology course at Texas A&M University that engages students in authentic scientific practices by using real world problems and issues that affect societies based on the theory of situated cognition. Our case-study design allows us to investigate the various ways that students utilize model based reasoning to identify and propose solutions to societally relevant issues. In each of the four interventions, approximately 60 students in three sections of introductory physical geology were expected to represent and evaluate scientific data, make evidence-based claims about the data trends, use those claims to express conceptual models, and use their models to analyze societal challenges. Throughout each step of the laboratory exercise students were asked to justify their claims, models, and data representations using evidence and through the use of argumentation with peers. Cognitive apprenticeship was the foundation for instruction used to scaffold students so that in the first exercise they are given a partially completed model and in the last exercise students are asked to generate a conceptual model on their own. Student artifacts, including representation of earth systems, representation of scientific data, verbal and written explanations of models and scientific arguments, and written solutions to specific societal issues or environmental problems surrounding earth systems, were analyzed through the use of a rubric that modeled authentic expertise and students were sorted into three categories. Written artifacts were examined to identify student argumentation and

  17. Perspectives on reasons for non-adherence to medication in persons with schizophrenia in Ethiopia: a qualitative study of patients, caregivers and health workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teferra, Solomon; Hanlon, Charlotte; Beyero, Teferra; Jacobsson, Lars; Shibre, Teshome

    2013-06-17

    Levels of non-adherence to antipsychotic medication in persons with schizophrenia in rural African settings have been shown to be comparable to those found in high-income countries. Improved understanding of the underlying reasons will help to inform intervention strategies relevant to the context. A qualitative study was conducted among persons with schizophrenia (n = 24), their caregivers (n = 19), research field workers (n = 7) and health workers (n = 1) involved in the ongoing population-based cohort study, 'The Butajira Study on Course and Outcome of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder', based in rural Ethiopia. Six focus group discussions and 9 in-depth interviews were conducted to elicit perspectives on non-adherence to antipsychotic medication. Thematic analysis was used to identify prominent perspectives. Predominant reasons for non-adherence specific to a low-income country setting included inadequate availability of food to counter appetite stimulation and the perceived strength of antipsychotic medications. The vital role of the family or other social support in the absence of a statutory social safety net was emphasised. Expectations of cure, rather than need for continuing care, were reported to contribute to non-adherence in the longer-term. Many of the factors associated with non-adherence in high-income countries were also considered important in Ethiopia, including lack of insight, failure to improve with treatment, medication side effects, substance abuse, stigma and dissatisfaction with the attitude of the care provider. This study identifies additional barriers to medication adherence faced by persons with schizophrenia in Ethiopia compared to those in high-income countries. In this era of scaling up of mental health care, greater attention to provision of social and financial assistance will potentially improve adherence and thereby enable patients to benefit more fully from medication.

  18. Extent, Awareness and Perception of Dissemination Bias in Qualitative Research: An Explorative Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toews, Ingrid; Glenton, Claire; Lewin, Simon; Berg, Rigmor C.; Noyes, Jane; Booth, Andrew; Marusic, Ana; Malicki, Mario; Munthe-Kaas, Heather M.; Meerpohl, Joerg J.

    2016-01-01

    Background Qualitative research findings are increasingly used to inform decision-making. Research has indicated that not all quantitative research on the effects of interventions is disseminated or published. The extent to which qualitative researchers also systematically underreport or fail to publish certain types of research findings, and the impact this may have, has received little attention. Methods A survey was delivered online to gather data regarding non-dissemination and dissemination bias in qualitative research. We invited relevant stakeholders through our professional networks, authors of qualitative research identified through a systematic literature search, and further via snowball sampling. Results 1032 people took part in the survey of whom 859 participants identified as researchers, 133 as editors and 682 as peer reviewers. 68.1% of the researchers said that they had conducted at least one qualitative study that they had not published in a peer-reviewed journal. The main reasons for non-dissemination were that a publication was still intended (35.7%), resource constraints (35.4%), and that the authors gave up after the paper was rejected by one or more journals (32.5%). A majority of the editors and peer reviewers “(strongly) agreed” that the main reasons for rejecting a manuscript of a qualitative study were inadequate study quality (59.5%; 68.5%) and inadequate reporting quality (59.1%; 57.5%). Of 800 respondents, 83.1% “(strongly) agreed” that non-dissemination and possible resulting dissemination bias might undermine the willingness of funders to support qualitative research. 72.6% and 71.2%, respectively, “(strongly) agreed” that non-dissemination might lead to inappropriate health policy and health care. Conclusions The proportion of non-dissemination in qualitative research is substantial. Researchers, editors and peer reviewers play an important role in this. Non-dissemination and resulting dissemination bias may impact on

  19. Extent, Awareness and Perception of Dissemination Bias in Qualitative Research: An Explorative Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toews, Ingrid; Glenton, Claire; Lewin, Simon; Berg, Rigmor C; Noyes, Jane; Booth, Andrew; Marusic, Ana; Malicki, Mario; Munthe-Kaas, Heather M; Meerpohl, Joerg J

    2016-01-01

    Qualitative research findings are increasingly used to inform decision-making. Research has indicated that not all quantitative research on the effects of interventions is disseminated or published. The extent to which qualitative researchers also systematically underreport or fail to publish certain types of research findings, and the impact this may have, has received little attention. A survey was delivered online to gather data regarding non-dissemination and dissemination bias in qualitative research. We invited relevant stakeholders through our professional networks, authors of qualitative research identified through a systematic literature search, and further via snowball sampling. 1032 people took part in the survey of whom 859 participants identified as researchers, 133 as editors and 682 as peer reviewers. 68.1% of the researchers said that they had conducted at least one qualitative study that they had not published in a peer-reviewed journal. The main reasons for non-dissemination were that a publication was still intended (35.7%), resource constraints (35.4%), and that the authors gave up after the paper was rejected by one or more journals (32.5%). A majority of the editors and peer reviewers "(strongly) agreed" that the main reasons for rejecting a manuscript of a qualitative study were inadequate study quality (59.5%; 68.5%) and inadequate reporting quality (59.1%; 57.5%). Of 800 respondents, 83.1% "(strongly) agreed" that non-dissemination and possible resulting dissemination bias might undermine the willingness of funders to support qualitative research. 72.6% and 71.2%, respectively, "(strongly) agreed" that non-dissemination might lead to inappropriate health policy and health care. The proportion of non-dissemination in qualitative research is substantial. Researchers, editors and peer reviewers play an important role in this. Non-dissemination and resulting dissemination bias may impact on health care research, practice and policy. More

  20. Extent, Awareness and Perception of Dissemination Bias in Qualitative Research: An Explorative Survey.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ingrid Toews

    Full Text Available Qualitative research findings are increasingly used to inform decision-making. Research has indicated that not all quantitative research on the effects of interventions is disseminated or published. The extent to which qualitative researchers also systematically underreport or fail to publish certain types of research findings, and the impact this may have, has received little attention.A survey was delivered online to gather data regarding non-dissemination and dissemination bias in qualitative research. We invited relevant stakeholders through our professional networks, authors of qualitative research identified through a systematic literature search, and further via snowball sampling.1032 people took part in the survey of whom 859 participants identified as researchers, 133 as editors and 682 as peer reviewers. 68.1% of the researchers said that they had conducted at least one qualitative study that they had not published in a peer-reviewed journal. The main reasons for non-dissemination were that a publication was still intended (35.7%, resource constraints (35.4%, and that the authors gave up after the paper was rejected by one or more journals (32.5%. A majority of the editors and peer reviewers "(strongly agreed" that the main reasons for rejecting a manuscript of a qualitative study were inadequate study quality (59.5%; 68.5% and inadequate reporting quality (59.1%; 57.5%. Of 800 respondents, 83.1% "(strongly agreed" that non-dissemination and possible resulting dissemination bias might undermine the willingness of funders to support qualitative research. 72.6% and 71.2%, respectively, "(strongly agreed" that non-dissemination might lead to inappropriate health policy and health care.The proportion of non-dissemination in qualitative research is substantial. Researchers, editors and peer reviewers play an important role in this. Non-dissemination and resulting dissemination bias may impact on health care research, practice and policy

  1. The Affinity between Qualitative Methods and Community Psychology

    OpenAIRE

    Jarg Bergold

    2000-01-01

    Basically community psychology is not associated with a certain methodology but there are good reasons why qualitative methods are chosen in many investigations in community psychology. Characteristic features of the community psychology approach are nearness to everyday life, multiperspectivity, partiality, and process orientation. These characteristics become relevant if complex psycho-social processes like empowerment, social networks etc. are investigated. In this contribution I will disc...

  2. Model Based Temporal Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rabin, Marla J.; Spinrad, Paul R.; Fall, Thomas C.

    1988-03-01

    Systems that assess the real world must cope with evidence that is uncertain, ambiguous, and spread over time. Typically, the most important function of an assessment system is to identify when activities are occurring that are unusual or unanticipated. Model based temporal reasoning addresses both of these requirements. The differences among temporal reasoning schemes lies in the methods used to avoid computational intractability. If we had n pieces of data and we wanted to examine how they were related, the worst case would be where we had to examine every subset of these points to see if that subset satisfied the relations. This would be 2n, which is intractable. Models compress this; if several data points are all compatible with a model, then that model represents all those data points. Data points are then considered related if they lie within the same model or if they lie in models that are related. Models thus address the intractability problem. They also address the problem of determining unusual activities if the data do not agree with models that are indicated by earlier data then something out of the norm is taking place. The models can summarize what we know up to that time, so when they are not predicting correctly, either something unusual is happening or we need to revise our models. The model based reasoner developed at Advanced Decision Systems is thus both intuitive and powerful. It is currently being used on one operational system and several prototype systems. It has enough power to be used in domains spanning the spectrum from manufacturing engineering and project management to low-intensity conflict and strategic assessment.

  3. Process fault diagnosis using knowledge-based systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sudduth, A.L.

    1991-01-01

    Advancing technology in process plants has led to increased need for computer based process diagnostic systems to assist the operator. One approach to this problem is to use an embedded knowledge based system to interpret measurement signals. Knowledge based systems using only symptom based rules are inadequate for real time diagnosis of dynamic systems; therefore a model based approach is necessary. Though several forms of model based reasoning have been proposed, the use of qualitative causal models incorporating first principles knowledge of process behavior structure, and function appear to have the most promise as a robust modeling methodology. In this paper the structure of a diagnostic system is described which uses model based reasoning and conventional numerical methods to perform process diagnosis. This system is being applied to emergency diesel generator system in nuclear stations

  4. CONFLICTING REASONS

    OpenAIRE

    Parfit, Derek

    2016-01-01

    Sidgwick believed that, when impartial reasons conflict with self-interested reasons, there are no truths about their relative strength. There are such truths, I claim, but these truths are imprecise. Many self-interested reasons are decisively outweighed by conflicting impar-tial moral reasons. But we often have sufficient self-interested reasons to do what would make things go worse, and we sometimes have sufficient self-interested reasons to act wrongly. If we reject Act Consequentialism, ...

  5. Speed of reasoning and its relation to reasoning ability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goldhammer, F.; Klein Entink, R.H.

    2011-01-01

    The study investigates empirical properties of reasoning speed which is conceived as the fluency of solving reasoning problems. Responses and response times in reasoning tasks are modeled jointly to clarify the covariance structure of reasoning speed and reasoning ability. To determine underlying

  6. Combining qualitative with quantitative approaches to study contraceptive pill use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oakley, D; Yu, M Y; Zhang, Y M; Zhu, X L; Chen, W H; Yao, L

    1999-03-01

    According to large-scale studies, oral contraceptive users become pregnant at rates that exceed ideal use failure rates. It is thought that a major cause is missed pills, but current research on consistent contraceptive pill taking is characterized by inadequate measures and a failure to investigate women's thinking about their own patterns of use. The purpose of this study was to gain some understanding about women's interpretations of consistency in their own pill taking through combining qualitative with quantitative data. The study was conducted in China, where contraception is free and widely available. Five urban and five rural oral contraceptive users were followed for up to three pill-taking cycles during 1996 for a total of 759 person-days. Consistency of pill taking was measured with electronic data obtained from a new blister package made by Anderson Clinical Technologies (Elmhurst, IL). Data from these devices were reviewed and interpreted by the study participants during in-depth private interviews. The users' reasons for missing pills included disruptions in their daily routines, their husband's absence, spotting, and trouble implementing the family planning program's instructions to take one pill per day for 22 days and start the next cycle on the fifth day of menses. One user gave these reasons for two cycles but denied missing numerous pills in her third cycle. Data from a series of four questionnaires showed that most demographic, psychosocial, and service system characteristics were not related to missed pills. However, results suggested that the daily routines of rural living may make consistent use more likely and that instructions for taking the pill may be associated with prolonged pill-free intervals and skipping pills during episodes of spotting. Three of the 10 women were at increased risk of pregnancy during the study period because of their pill-taking pattern. We concluded that the combination of qualitative with quantitative data

  7. Evaluating Barriers to Adherence to Dietary Recommendations in Iranian Adults with Metabolic Syndrome: A Qualitative Study Using the Theory of Reasoned Action.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esmaeili, Naseh; Alizadeh, Mohammad; Tarighat Esfanjani, Ali; Kheirouri, Sorayya

    2016-07-01

    Metabolic syndrome (MS) is defined as a pattern of metabolic disorders including central obesity, insulin resistance or hyperglycemia, high blood pressure, and dyslipidemia. Many studies show a clear relationship between diet and components of MS. The aim of the current study was to identify barriers to adherence to dietary recommendations among Iranian MS patients. The theory of reasoned action (TRA) served as the framework for this qualitative study. Data collection was conducted through six semi-structured focus group discussions, from Apr to Jun 2013. Subjects included 36 married men and women with different levels of education between the ages of 20-50 with MS diagnosed based on IDF's (International Diabetes federation) criteria. All focus group discussions were audio recorded and transcribed. The thematic content analysis method was used to analyze the study data. This study identified the most important barriers to adherence to dietary recommendations. MS patients have problems in their attitude toward MS components and their relationship to nutrition. They also had wrong attitudes toward fats and oils, salt, dairy products, cereals, and sugary drinks and sweets. Subjective norms that affects patient eating identifies too. We identified barriers to adherence to dietary recommendations in MS patients that could be used to prevent MS consequences and provide patients with nutrition education.

  8. Diagnostic causal reasoning with verbal information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meder, Björn; Mayrhofer, Ralf

    2017-08-01

    In diagnostic causal reasoning, the goal is to infer the probability of causes from one or multiple observed effects. Typically, studies investigating such tasks provide subjects with precise quantitative information regarding the strength of the relations between causes and effects or sample data from which the relevant quantities can be learned. By contrast, we sought to examine people's inferences when causal information is communicated through qualitative, rather vague verbal expressions (e.g., "X occasionally causes A"). We conducted three experiments using a sequential diagnostic inference task, where multiple pieces of evidence were obtained one after the other. Quantitative predictions of different probabilistic models were derived using the numerical equivalents of the verbal terms, taken from an unrelated study with different subjects. We present a novel Bayesian model that allows for incorporating the temporal weighting of information in sequential diagnostic reasoning, which can be used to model both primacy and recency effects. On the basis of 19,848 judgments from 292 subjects, we found a remarkably close correspondence between the diagnostic inferences made by subjects who received only verbal information and those of a matched control group to whom information was presented numerically. Whether information was conveyed through verbal terms or numerical estimates, diagnostic judgments closely resembled the posterior probabilities entailed by the causes' prior probabilities and the effects' likelihoods. We observed interindividual differences regarding the temporal weighting of evidence in sequential diagnostic reasoning. Our work provides pathways for investigating judgment and decision making with verbal information within a computational modeling framework. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Using linguistic descriptions with multi-criteria decision aid approaches in urban energy systems

    OpenAIRE

    Afsordegan, Arayeh; Sánchez Soler, Monica; Agell Jané, Núria; Gamboa Jimenez, Gonzalo; Cremades Oliver, Lázaro Vicente

    2015-01-01

    Multi-Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA) methods include various collections of mathematical techniques related to decision support systems in non-deterministic environments to support such applications as facility management, disaster management and urban planning. This paper applies MCDA approaches based on qualitative reasoning techniques with linguistic labels assessment. The aim of this method is ranking multi-attribute alternatives in group decision-making with qualitative labels. Finally ...

  10. The characteristics of mechanical engineering systems

    CERN Document Server

    Holmes, R

    1977-01-01

    The Characteristics of Mechanical Engineering Systems focuses on the characteristics that must be considered when designing a mechanical engineering system. Mechanical systems are presented on the basis of component input-output relationships, paying particular attention to lumped-parameter problems and the interrelationships between lumped components or """"black-boxes"""" in an engineering system. Electric motors and generators are treated in an elementary manner, and the principles involved are explained as far as possible from physical and qualitative reasoning. This book is comprised of

  11. ‘We are looked down upon and rejected socially’: a qualitative study on the experiences of trafficking survivors in Nepal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahal, Pranab; Joshi, Sunil Kumar; Swahnberg, Katarina

    2015-01-01

    Background The successful reintegration of sexual trafficking survivors into Nepalese society is challenging. This paper aims to explore the trafficking process, abuses faced during sexual slavery,and the challenges faced by women and girl survivors for successful reintegration. Method This exploratory study used qualitative methods to identify that poverty, illiteracy, lack of opportunities, and varied social stigma initiate the victimization process, and continuity of this vicious circle increases the risk for (re)entrapment. Result The reasons for sexual trafficking have also become the reasons for restricting survivors from opportunities for growth and mainstreaming. Conclusion Non-existent support systems, detachment from familial ties, being outcast by society, and an uncertain livelihood make reintegration difficult for survivors. PMID:26584683

  12. ‘We are looked down upon and rejected socially’: a qualitative study on the experiences of trafficking survivors in Nepal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pranab Dahal

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Background: The successful reintegration of sexual trafficking survivors into Nepalese society is challenging. This paper aims to explore the trafficking process, abuses faced during sexual slavery,and the challenges faced by women and girl survivors for successful reintegration. Method: This exploratory study used qualitative methods to identify that poverty, illiteracy, lack of opportunities, and varied social stigma initiate the victimization process, and continuity of this vicious circle increases the risk for (reentrapment. Result: The reasons for sexual trafficking have also become the reasons for restricting survivors from opportunities for growth and mainstreaming. Conclusion: Non-existent support systems, detachment from familial ties, being outcast by society, and an uncertain livelihood make reintegration difficult for survivors.

  13. Digital learning object for diagnostic reasoning in nursing applied to the integumentary system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecília Passos Vaz da Costa

    Full Text Available Objective: To describe the creation of a digital learning object for diagnostic reasoning in nursing applied to the integumentary system at a public university of Piaui. Method: A methodological study applied to technological production based on the pedagogical framework of problem-based learning. The methodology for creating the learning object observed the stages of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation recommended for contextualized instructional design. The revised taxonomy of Bloom was used to list the educational goals. Results: The four modules of the developed learning object were inserted into the educational platform Moodle. The theoretical assumptions allowed the design of an important online resource that promotes effective learning in the scope of nursing education. Conclusion: This study should add value to nursing teaching practices through the use of digital learning objects for teaching diagnostic reasoning applied to skin and skin appendages.

  14. Concept for a Satellite-Based Advanced Air Traffic Management System : Volume 4. Operational Description and Qualitative Assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1974-02-01

    The volume presents a description of how the Satellite-Based Advanced Air Traffic Management System (SAATMS) operates and a qualitative assessment of the system. The operational description includes the services, functions, and tasks performed by the...

  15. Understanding coping with cancer: how can qualitative research help?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chittem, Mahati

    2014-01-01

    Research in psycho-oncology investigates the psycho-social and emotional aspects of cancer and how this is related to health, well-being and overall patient care. Coping with cancer is a prime focus for researchers owing to its impact on patients' psychological processing and life in general. Research so far has focused mainly on quantitative study designs such as questionnaires to examine the coping strategies used by cancer patients. However, in order to gain a rich and deep understanding of the reasons, processes and types of strategies that patients use to deal with cancer, qualitative study designs are necessary. Few studies have used qualitative designs such as semi-structured interviews to explore coping with cancer. The current paper aims to review the suitability and benefits of using qualitative research designs to understand coping with cancer with the help of some key literature in psycho-oncology research.

  16. Theory of mind broad and narrow: reasoning about social exchange engages ToM areas, precautionary reasoning does not.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ermer, Elsa; Guerin, Scott A; Cosmides, Leda; Tooby, John; Miller, Michael B

    2006-01-01

    Baron-Cohen (1995) proposed that the theory of mind (ToM) inference system evolved to promote strategic social interaction. Social exchange--a form of co-operation for mutual benefit--involves strategic social interaction and requires ToM inferences about the contents of other individuals' mental states, especially their desires, goals, and intentions. There are behavioral and neuropsychological dissociations between reasoning about social exchange and reasoning about equivalent problems tapping other, more general content domains. It has therefore been proposed that social exchange behavior is regulated by social contract algorithms: a domain-specific inference system that is functionally specialized for reasoning about social exchange. We report an fMRI study using the Wason selection task that provides further support for this hypothesis. Precautionary rules share so many properties with social exchange rules--they are conditional, deontic, and involve subjective utilities--that most reasoning theories claim they are processed by the same neurocomputational machinery. Nevertheless, neuroimaging shows that reasoning about social exchange activates brain areas not activated by reasoning about precautionary rules, and vice versa. As predicted, neural correlates of ToM (anterior and posterior temporal cortex) were activated when subjects interpreted social exchange rules, but not precautionary rules (where ToM inferences are unnecessary). We argue that the interaction between ToM and social contract algorithms can be reciprocal: social contract algorithms requires ToM inferences, but their functional logic also allows ToM inferences to be made. By considering interactions between ToM in the narrower sense (belief-desire reasoning) and all the social inference systems that create the logic of human social interaction--ones that enable as well as use inferences about the content of mental states--a broader conception of ToM may emerge: a computational model embodying

  17. Families in vulnerable territory and reasons for not using drugs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alan Henrique de Lazari

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to understand the reasons for the non-use of drugs by members of families exposed to risk factors for use, for living in a territory with high drug circulation. This is a descriptive, qualitative study, using the Hidden Population reference to access the vulnerable and inaccessible populationand the Respondent Driven Sampling to reach the "hidden" population. The reference chain consisted of 90 families and we processed their responses by thematic content analysis, resulting in three themes: family interaction, religiosity and intrinsic factors and reasons for non-use of drugs; networks of support and interaction influencing the non-use of drugs; and occupational and educational factors and the distance from the daily life of drugs. Even in a neighborhood permeated by trafficking and violence, we identified protective factors and families whose members had never used drugs.

  18. Relations between Inductive Reasoning and Deductive Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heit, Evan; Rotello, Caren M.

    2010-01-01

    One of the most important open questions in reasoning research is how inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning are related. In an effort to address this question, we applied methods and concepts from memory research. We used 2 experiments to examine the effects of logical validity and premise-conclusion similarity on evaluation of arguments.…

  19. Tactical Diagrammatic Reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sven Linker

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Although automated reasoning with diagrams has been possible for some years, tools for diagrammatic reasoning are generally much less sophisticated than their sentential cousins. The tasks of exploring levels of automation and abstraction in the construction of proofs and of providing explanations of solutions expressed in the proofs remain to be addressed. In this paper we take an interactive proof assistant for Euler diagrams, Speedith, and add tactics to its reasoning engine, providing a level of automation in the construction of proofs. By adding tactics to Speedith's repertoire of inferences, we ease the interaction between the user and the system and capture a higher level explanation of the essence of the proof. We analysed the design options for tactics by using metrics which relate to human readability, such as the number of inferences and the amount of clutter present in diagrams. Thus, in contrast to the normal case with sentential tactics, our tactics are designed to not only prove the theorem, but also to support explanation.

  20. Observable phenomena that reveal medical students' clinical reasoning ability during expert assessment of their history taking: a qualitative study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haring, C.M.; Cools, B.M.; Gurp, P.J.M. van; Meer, J.W.M. van der; Postma, C.T.

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND: During their clerkships, medical students are meant to expand their clinical reasoning skills during their patient encounters. Observation of these encounters could reveal important information on the students' clinical reasoning abilities, especially during history taking. METHODS: A

  1. Advancing clinical reasoning in virtual patients - development and application of a conceptual framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hege, Inga; Kononowicz, Andrzej A; Berman, Norman B; Lenzer, Benedikt; Kiesewetter, Jan

    2018-01-01

    Background: Clinical reasoning is a complex skill students have to acquire during their education. For educators it is difficult to explain their reasoning to students, because it is partly an automatic and unconscious process. Virtual Patients (VPs) are used to support the acquisition of clinical reasoning skills in healthcare education. However, until now it remains unclear which features or settings of VPs optimally foster clinical reasoning. Therefore, our aims were to identify key concepts of the clinical reasoning process in a qualitative approach and draw conclusions on how each concept can be enhanced to advance the learning of clinical reasoning with virtual patients. Methods: We chose a grounded theory approach to identify key categories and concepts of learning clinical reasoning and develop a framework. Throughout this process, the emerging codes were discussed with a panel of interdisciplinary experts. In a second step we applied the framework to virtual patients. Results: Based on the data we identified the core category as the "multifactorial nature of learning clinical reasoning". This category is reflected in the following five main categories: Psychological Theories, Patient-centeredness, Context, Learner-centeredness, and Teaching/Assessment. Each category encompasses between four and six related concepts. Conclusions: With our approach we were able to elaborate how key categories and concepts of clinical reasoning can be applied to virtual patients. This includes aspects such as allowing learners to access a large number of VPs with adaptable levels of complexity and feedback or emphasizing dual processing, errors, and uncertainty.

  2. Understanding whistleblowing: qualitative insights from nurse whistleblowers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Debra; Peters, Kath; Andrew, Sharon; Edenborough, Michel; Halcomb, Elizabeth; Luck, Lauretta; Salamonson, Yenna; Wilkes, Lesley

    2010-10-01

    This paper is a report of a study conducted to explore the reasons behind the decision to blow the whistle and provide insights into nurses' experiences of being whistleblowers. Whistleblowing is a stigmatized and hidden activity that carries considerable ramifications to all concerned. In the health sector, when episodes of poor practice or service provision are identified, it is frequently nurses who are the whistleblowers. Despite this, there is remarkably limited literature that explores nurses' experiences of whistleblowing. Qualitative narrative inquiry design. Data were collected in 2008 from 11 nurse whistleblowers using in-depth semi-structured interviews. Participants were drawn from a range of general and specialty clinical areas and experienced whistleblowing as highly stressful. The findings were clustered into three main themes, namely: (i) Reasons for whistleblowing: I just couldn't advocate, (ii) Feeling silenced: Nobody speaks out, and (iii) Climate of fear: You are just not safe. The whistleblowing nurses believed they were acting in accordance with a duty of care. There is a need for greater clarity about the role nurses have as patient advocates. Furthermore, there is need to develop clear guidelines that create opportunities for nurses to voice concerns and to ensure that healthcare systems respond in a timely and appropriate manner, and a need to foster a safe environment in which to raise issues of concern. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  3. Qualitative Knowledge Construction for Engineering Systems: Extending the Design Structure Matrix Methodology in Scope and Procedure

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Bartolomei, Jason E

    2007-01-01

    ...), by providing a dynamic, end-to-end representation of an engineering system. In support of this contribution, a new research methodology is presented called Qualitative Knowledge Construction (QKC...

  4. Moral Judgment, Sensitivity To Reasons, and the Multi-system View

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Orsi

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper I attempt a critical examination of the multi-system or dual-process view of moral judgment. This view aims to provide a psychological explanation of moral sensitivity, and in particular an explanation of conflicting moral sensitivities in dilemma cases such as the crying baby scenario. I argue that proponents of the multi-system view owe us a satisfactory account of the mechanisms underlying “consequentialist” responses to such scenarios. For one thing, the “cognitive” processes involved in consequentialist reasoning only seem to play a subserving role with respect to the final judgment (providing non-moral inputs to judgment, or exerting additional strength to override the immediate “deontological” response. In this sense, Greene and colleagues fail to identify a peculiar system of moral judgment specularly opposed to the affective “deontological” one. For another, Greene and colleagues’ work on the emotion-cognition dichotomy and the distinction between alarm-bell and currency emotions, though promising, still falls short of providing an adequate and consistent picture of the psychological mechanisms underlying “cognitive” evaluations and verdicts in dilemma scenarios. It is suggested that alongside further experimental work, proponents of this view should pay more attention to the conceptual underpinnings of their distinctions.

  5. A global qualitative view of bifurcations and dynamics in the Roessler system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Genesio, R.; Innocenti, G.; Gualdani, F.

    2008-01-01

    The aim of the Letter is a global study of the well-known Roessler system to point out the main complex dynamics that it can exhibit. The structural analysis is based on the periodic solutions of the system investigated by a harmonic balance technique. Simplified expressions of such limit cycles are first derived and characterized, then their local bifurcations are denoted, also giving indications to predict possible homoclinic orbits with the same unifying approach. These analytical results give a general picture of the system behaviours in the parameter space and numerical analysis and simulations confirm the qualitative accuracy of the whole. Such predictions have also an important role in applying efficiently the above numerical procedures

  6. Reasons of general practitioners for not prescribing lipid-lowering medication to patients with diabetes : a qualitative study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ab, Elisabeth; Denig, Petra; van Vliet, Ton; Dekker, Janny H.

    2009-01-01

    Background: Lipid-lowering medication remains underused, even in high-risk populations. The objective of this study was to determine factors underlying general practitioners' decisions not to prescribe such drugs to patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: A qualitative study with semi-structured

  7. Using qualitative problem-solving strategies to highlight the role of conceptual knowledge in solving problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leonard, William J.; Dufresne, Robert J.; Mestre, Jose P.

    1996-12-01

    We report on the use of qualitative problem-solving strategies in teaching an introductory, calculus-based physics course as a means of highlighting the role played by conceptual knowledge in solving problems. We found that presenting strategies during lectures and in homework solutions provides an excellent opportunity to model for students the type of concept-based, qualitative reasoning that is valued in our profession, and that student-generated strategies serve a diagnostic function by providing instructors with insights on students' conceptual understanding and reasoning. Finally, we found strategies to be effective pedagogical tools for helping students both to identify principles that could be applied to solve specific problems, as well as to recall the major principles covered in the course months after it was over.

  8. Young adult e-cigarette users' reasons for liking and not liking e-cigarettes: A qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pokhrel, Pallav; Herzog, Thaddeus A; Muranaka, Nicholas; Fagan, Pebbles

    2015-01-01

    To gain an in-depth understanding of what young adult electronic- or e-cigarette users like or dislike about e-cigarettes. We aimed to determine the reasons that may encourage young adults to use e-cigarettes or discourage them from using e-cigarettes. Twelve focus group discussions were conducted with 62 current daily e-cigarette users (63% men) of mean age = 25.1 years (standard deviation = 5.5). Data were analysed following principles of inductive content analysis. Results indicated 12 categories of reasons for liking e-cigarettes (e.g., recreation, smoking cessation) and 6 categories of reasons for not liking e-cigarettes (e.g. poor product quality, poor smoking experience). Young adults' motives for using or not using e-cigarettes appear to be varied and their relative importance in terms of predicting e-cigarette use initiation, dependence, and cigarette/e-cigarette dual use needs to be carefully studied in population-based, empirical studies. The current findings suggest that e-cigarettes may serve social, recreational, and sensory expectancies that are unique relative to cigarettes and not dependent on nicotine. Further, successful use of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation will likely need higher standards of product quality control, better nicotine delivery efficiency and a counselling component that would teach smokers how to manage e-cigarette devices while trying to quit smoking cigarettes.

  9. Young adult e-cigarette users’ reasons for liking and not liking e-cigarettes: A qualitative study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herzog, Thaddeus A.; Muranaka, Nicholas; Fagan, Pebbles

    2015-01-01

    Objective To gain an in-depth understanding of what young adult electronic- or e-cigarette users like or dislike about e-cigarettes. We aimed to determine the reasons that may encourage young adults to use e-cigarettes or discourage them from using e-cigarettes. Design Twelve focus group discussions were conducted with 62 current daily e-cigarette users (63% men) of mean age = 25.1 years (Standard Deviation = 5.5). Data were analyzed following principles of inductive content analysis. Results Results indicated 12 categories of reasons for liking e-cigarettes (e.g., recreation, smoking cessation) and 6 categories of reasons for not liking e-cigarettes (e.g., poor product quality, poor smoking experience). Conclusions Young adults’ motives for using or not using e-cigarettes appear to be varied and their relative importance in terms of predicting e-cigarette use initiation, dependence, and cigarette/e-cigarette dual use needs to be carefully studied in population-based, empirical studies. The current findings suggest that e-cigarettes may serve social, recreational, and sensory expectancies that are unique relative to cigarettes and not dependent on nicotine. Further, successful use of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation will likely need higher standards of product quality control, better nicotine delivery efficiency and a counseling component that would teach smokers how to manage e-cigarette devices while trying to quit smoking cigarettes. PMID:26074148

  10. An Heuristic Framework for Non-Conscious Reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felipe Lara-Rosano

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Human non-conscious reasoning is one of the most successful procedures evolved for the purposes of solving everyday problems in an efficient way. This is why the field of artificial intelligence should analyze, formalize and emulate the multiple ways of non-conscious reasoning with the purpose of applying them in human problem solving tasks, like medical diagnostics and treatments, educational diagnostics and intervention, organizational and political decision making, artificial intelligence knowledge based systems and neurocomputers, automatic control systems and similar devices for aiding people in the problem-solving process. In this paper, a heuristic framework for those non-conscious ways of reasoning is presented based on neurocognitive representations, heuristics, and fuzzy sets.

  11. Frequent users of emergency services: associated factors and reasons for seeking care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aline Marques Acosta

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Aim: to identify the profile of frequent users of emergency services, to verify the associated factors and to analyze the reasons for the frequent use of the services. METHOD: An explanatory sequential type mixed method was adopted. Quantitative data were collected from the electronic medical records, with a sample of 385 users attended four or more times in an emergency service, during the year 2011. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 18 users, intentionally selected from the results of the quantitative stage. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and qualitative data using thematic analysis. RESULTS: It was found that 42.9% were elderly, 84.9% had chronic diseases, 63.5% were classified as urgent, 42.1% stayed for more than 24 hours in the service and 46.5% were discharged. Scheduled follow-up appointment, risk classification, length of stay and outcome were factors associated with frequent use. The reasons for seeking the services were mainly related to the exacerbation of chronic diseases, to easier access and concentration of technology, to the bond, and to the scheduled appointments. CONCLUSIONS: The results contribute to comprehending the repeated use of emergency services and provide additional data to plan alternatives to reduce frequent use.

  12. Qualitative data analysis for health services research: developing taxonomy, themes, and theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradley, Elizabeth H; Curry, Leslie A; Devers, Kelly J

    2007-08-01

    To provide practical strategies for conducting and evaluating analyses of qualitative data applicable for health services researchers. DATA SOURCES AND DESIGN: We draw on extant qualitative methodological literature to describe practical approaches to qualitative data analysis. Approaches to data analysis vary by discipline and analytic tradition; however, we focus on qualitative data analysis that has as a goal the generation of taxonomy, themes, and theory germane to health services research. We describe an approach to qualitative data analysis that applies the principles of inductive reasoning while also employing predetermined code types to guide data analysis and interpretation. These code types (conceptual, relationship, perspective, participant characteristics, and setting codes) define a structure that is appropriate for generation of taxonomy, themes, and theory. Conceptual codes and subcodes facilitate the development of taxonomies. Relationship and perspective codes facilitate the development of themes and theory. Intersectional analyses with data coded for participant characteristics and setting codes can facilitate comparative analyses. Qualitative inquiry can improve the description and explanation of complex, real-world phenomena pertinent to health services research. Greater understanding of the processes of qualitative data analysis can be helpful for health services researchers as they use these methods themselves or collaborate with qualitative researchers from a wide range of disciplines.

  13. Women’s Reasons for Leaving the Engineering Field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadya A. Fouad

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Among the different Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields, engineering continues to have one of the highest rates of attrition (Hewlett et al., 2008. The turnover rate for women engineers from engineering fields is even higher than for men (Frehill, 2010. Despite increased efforts from researchers, there are still large gaps in our understanding of the reasons that women leave engineering. This study aims to address this gap by examining the reasons why women leave engineering. Specifically, we analyze the reasons for departure given by national sample of 1,464 women engineers who left the profession after having worked in the engineering field. We applied a person-environment fit theoretical lens, in particular, the Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA (Dawis and Lofquist, 1984 to understand and categorize the reasons for leaving the engineering field. According to the TWA, occupations have different “reinforcer patterns,” reflected in six occupational values, and a mismatch between the reinforcers provided by the work environment and individuals’ needs may trigger departure from the environment. Given the paucity of literature in this area, we posed research questions to explore the reinforcer pattern of values implicated in women’s decisions to leave the engineering field. We used qualitative analyses to understand, categorize, and code the 1,863 statements that offered a glimpse into the myriad reasons that women offered in describing their decisions to leave the engineering profession. Our results revealed the top three sets of reasons underlying women’s decision to leave the jobs and engineering field were related to: first, poor and/or inequitable compensation, poor working conditions, inflexible and demanding work environment that made work-family balance difficult; second, unmet achievement needs that reflected a dissatisfaction with effective utilization of their math and science skills, and third, unmet needs with

  14. Women’s Reasons for Leaving the Engineering Field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fouad, Nadya A.; Chang, Wen-Hsin; Wan, Min; Singh, Romila

    2017-01-01

    Among the different Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields, engineering continues to have one of the highest rates of attrition (Hewlett et al., 2008). The turnover rate for women engineers from engineering fields is even higher than for men (Frehill, 2010). Despite increased efforts from researchers, there are still large gaps in our understanding of the reasons that women leave engineering. This study aims to address this gap by examining the reasons why women leave engineering. Specifically, we analyze the reasons for departure given by national sample of 1,464 women engineers who left the profession after having worked in the engineering field. We applied a person-environment fit theoretical lens, in particular, the Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA) (Dawis and Lofquist, 1984) to understand and categorize the reasons for leaving the engineering field. According to the TWA, occupations have different “reinforcer patterns,” reflected in six occupational values, and a mismatch between the reinforcers provided by the work environment and individuals’ needs may trigger departure from the environment. Given the paucity of literature in this area, we posed research questions to explore the reinforcer pattern of values implicated in women’s decisions to leave the engineering field. We used qualitative analyses to understand, categorize, and code the 1,863 statements that offered a glimpse into the myriad reasons that women offered in describing their decisions to leave the engineering profession. Our results revealed the top three sets of reasons underlying women’s decision to leave the jobs and engineering field were related to: first, poor and/or inequitable compensation, poor working conditions, inflexible and demanding work environment that made work-family balance difficult; second, unmet achievement needs that reflected a dissatisfaction with effective utilization of their math and science skills, and third, unmet needs with regard to lack of

  15. Reason with me : 'Confabulation' and interpersonal moral reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nyholm, S.R.

    2015-01-01

    According to Haidt’s ‘social intuitionist model’, empirical moral psychology supports the following conclusion: intuition comes first, strategic reasoning second. Critics have responded by arguing that intuitions can depend on non-conscious reasons, that not being able to articulate one’s reasons

  16. DaRT: A CALL System to Help Students Practice and Develop Reasoning Skills in Choosing English Articles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshii, Rika; Milne, Alastair

    1998-01-01

    Describes DaRT, a computer assisted language-learning system for helping English-as-a-Second-Language students master English articles. DaRT uses a diagrammatic reasoning tool to present communicative contexts for exercises in choosing appropriate articles. This paper describes the development of DaRT and DaRT's system components and concludes…

  17. Relations between inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heit, Evan; Rotello, Caren M

    2010-05-01

    One of the most important open questions in reasoning research is how inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning are related. In an effort to address this question, we applied methods and concepts from memory research. We used 2 experiments to examine the effects of logical validity and premise-conclusion similarity on evaluation of arguments. Experiment 1 showed 2 dissociations: For a common set of arguments, deduction judgments were more affected by validity, and induction judgments were more affected by similarity. Moreover, Experiment 2 showed that fast deduction judgments were like induction judgments-in terms of being more influenced by similarity and less influenced by validity, compared with slow deduction judgments. These novel results pose challenges for a 1-process account of reasoning and are interpreted in terms of a 2-process account of reasoning, which was implemented as a multidimensional signal detection model and applied to receiver operating characteristic data. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

  18. A knowledge-based approach to identification and adaptation in dynamical systems control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glass, B. J.; Wong, C. M.

    1988-01-01

    Artificial intelligence techniques are applied to the problems of model form and parameter identification of large-scale dynamic systems. The object-oriented knowledge representation is discussed in the context of causal modeling and qualitative reasoning. Structured sets of rules are used for implementing qualitative component simulations, for catching qualitative discrepancies and quantitative bound violations, and for making reconfiguration and control decisions that affect the physical system. These decisions are executed by backward-chaining through a knowledge base of control action tasks. This approach was implemented for two examples: a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer and a two-phase thermal testbed. Results of tests with both of these systems demonstrate that the software replicates some or most of the functionality of a human operator, thereby reducing the need for a human-in-the-loop in the lower levels of control of these complex systems.

  19. To Reason or Not to Reason: Is Autobiographical Reasoning Always Beneficial?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLean, Kate C.; Mansfield, Cade D.

    2011-01-01

    Autobiographical reasoning has been found to be a critical process in identity development; however, the authors suggest that existing research shows that such reasoning may not always be critical to another important outcome: well-being. The authors describe characteristics of people such as personality and age, contexts such as conversations,…

  20. Synthesis Reasoning and Its Application in Chinese Calligraphy Generation

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    XUSong-Hua; PANYun-He; ZHUANGYue-Ting; FRANCISC.M.Lau

    2005-01-01

    In this paper, we address the demanding task of developing intelligent systems equipped with machine creativity that can perform design tasks automatically. The main challenge is how to model human beings' creativity mathematically and mimic such creativity computationally. We propose a “synthesis reasoning model” as the underlying mechanism to simulate human beings’ creative thinking when they are handling design tasks. We present the theory of the synthesis reasoning model, and the detailed procedure of designing an intelligent system based on the model.We offer a case study of an intelligent Chinese calligraphy generation system which we have developed.Based on implementation experiences of the calligraphy generation system as well as a few other systems for solving real-world problems, we suggest a generic methodology for constructing intelligent systems using the synthesis reasoning model.

  1. Why did I become a nurse? Personality traits and reasons for entering nursing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eley, Diann; Eley, Rob; Bertello, Marisa; Rogers-Clark, Cath

    2012-07-01

    This article is a report of a mixed method study of the association between personality traits of nurses and their reasons for entering nursing. Background.  The worldwide nursing shortage prompts research into better understanding of why individuals enter nursing and may assist in exploring ways to increase their recruitment and long term retention. A mixed method sequential explanatory design employed semi-structured interviews and a validated personality inventory measuring temperament and character traits. Registered Nurses (n = 12) and nursing students (n = 11) working and studying in a regional area of Queensland Australia were purposively sampled for the interviews in 2010 from their participation in the survey in 2009 investigating their personality traits. Qualitative data collection stopped at saturation. A thematic content analysis of the qualitative data using the framework approach was interpreted alongside their personality trait profiles. Two dominant themes were identified from the participant interviews about reasons for entering nursing; 'opportunity for caring' and 'my vocation in life'. These themes were congruent with key temperament and character traits measured in the participants. All nurses and students were very high in traits that exude empathy and altruistic ideals regardless of other characteristics which included highly pragmatic and self-serving principles. Qualitative and quantitative findings suggest that a caring nature is a principal quality of the nursing personality. Recruitment and retention strategies whilst promoting multiple benefits for the profession should not forget that the prime impetus for entering nursing is the opportunity to care for others. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  2. Ethical issues for radiographers: General observations and a pilot qualitative study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gruppetta, E.

    2009-01-01

    This paper is based on general observation arising from many years experience in managing and delivering radiography services in the health service. In addition, it presents the results of a pilot qualitative study based on unstructured interviews. The interviews were undertaken with a view to identifying the reasons for radiography that may not be well justified. The study was undertaken in the public and private sectors and many of the reasons are shared by both. The reasons for poor justification include: inadequate radiation protection education for referrers; avoidance of medical litigation; defensive medicine attitude by referrers and, in the private sector, pursuit of profit. The study provides a starting point for further more quantitative investigations that are clearly required in the area. (authors)

  3. A self-adaptive case-based reasoning system for dose planning in prostate cancer radiotherapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mishra, Nishikant; Petrovic, Sanja; Sundar, Santhanam [Automated Scheduling, Optimisation and Planning Research Group, School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG8 1BB (United Kingdom); Department of Oncology, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham NG5 1PB (United Kingdom)

    2011-12-15

    Purpose: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in the male population. Radiotherapy is often used in the treatment for prostate cancer. In radiotherapy treatment, the oncologist makes a trade-off between the risk and benefit of the radiation, i.e., the task is to deliver a high dose to the prostate cancer cells and minimize side effects of the treatment. The aim of our research is to develop a software system that will assist the oncologist in planning new treatments. Methods: A nonlinear case-based reasoning system is developed to capture the expertise and experience of oncologists in treating previous patients. Importance (weights) of different clinical parameters in the dose planning is determined by the oncologist based on their past experience, and is highly subjective. The weights are usually fixed in the system. In this research, the weights are updated automatically each time after generating a treatment plan for a new patient using a group based simulated annealing approach. Results: The developed approach is analyzed on the real data set collected from the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, City Hospital Campus, UK. Extensive experiments show that the dose plan suggested by the proposed method is coherent with the dose plan prescribed by an experienced oncologist or even better. Conclusions: The developed case-based reasoning system enables the use of knowledge and experience gained by the oncologist in treating new patients. This system may play a vital role to assist the oncologist in making a better decision in less computational time; it utilizes the success rate of the previously treated patients and it can also be used in teaching and training processes.

  4. A self-adaptive case-based reasoning system for dose planning in prostate cancer radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mishra, Nishikant; Petrovic, Sanja; Sundar, Santhanam

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in the male population. Radiotherapy is often used in the treatment for prostate cancer. In radiotherapy treatment, the oncologist makes a trade-off between the risk and benefit of the radiation, i.e., the task is to deliver a high dose to the prostate cancer cells and minimize side effects of the treatment. The aim of our research is to develop a software system that will assist the oncologist in planning new treatments. Methods: A nonlinear case-based reasoning system is developed to capture the expertise and experience of oncologists in treating previous patients. Importance (weights) of different clinical parameters in the dose planning is determined by the oncologist based on their past experience, and is highly subjective. The weights are usually fixed in the system. In this research, the weights are updated automatically each time after generating a treatment plan for a new patient using a group based simulated annealing approach. Results: The developed approach is analyzed on the real data set collected from the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, City Hospital Campus, UK. Extensive experiments show that the dose plan suggested by the proposed method is coherent with the dose plan prescribed by an experienced oncologist or even better. Conclusions: The developed case-based reasoning system enables the use of knowledge and experience gained by the oncologist in treating new patients. This system may play a vital role to assist the oncologist in making a better decision in less computational time; it utilizes the success rate of the previously treated patients and it can also be used in teaching and training processes.

  5. A statistical view of uncertainty in expert systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spiegelhalter, D.J.

    1986-01-01

    The constructors of expert systems interpret ''uncertainty'' in a wide sense and have suggested a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques for handling the concept, such as the theory of ''endorsements,'' fuzzy reasoning, and belief functions. After a brief selective review of procedures that do not adhere to the laws of probability, it is argued that a subjectivist Bayesian view of uncertainty, if flexibly applied, can provide many of the features demanded by expert systems. This claim is illustrated with a number of examples of probabilistic reasoning, and a connection drawn with statistical work on the graphical representation of multivariate distributions. Possible areas of future research are outlined

  6. An Efficient Expert System Generator for Qualitative Feed-Back Loop Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manoj Kumar Jain

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Quite often the variables used in system analysis are qualitative in nature. They cannot be defined precisely, whereas software development for system analysis needs a mathematical framework with precise computations. It is not trivial to capture the uncertainty in the system.
    Fuzzy sets provide us the facility to capture the uncertainty in the system. In normal crisp set where the membership of an element is always certain in a sense that it would be member or not of the given set. In contrast to this a membership functions or possibility (ranging from 0 to 1, including both values is assigned with each member. System analysis is done through system dynamics which is not very efficient. We present an efficient technique to generate expert system using fuzzy set. In our proposed approach five linguistic qualifiers are used for each variable, namely, Very Low (VL, Low (L, Medium (M, High (H, and Very High
    (VH. We capture the influence or feedback in the system with the help of if then else rules and matrices are generated for them which are used for analysis. Complete methodology and its applicability are presented here.

  7. Intelligent Tutoring System for Teaching Battlefield Command Reasoning Skills

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Domeshek, Eric

    2002-01-01

    .... Achieving expert levels of proficiency in high-level command reasoning skills-whether for battlefield commanders or for executives in industry-requires extensive practice, coaching, and feedback...

  8. Preservice Science Teachers' Epistemological Beliefs and Informal Reasoning Regarding Socioscientific Issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozturk, Nilay; Yilmaz-Tuzun, Ozgul

    2017-12-01

    This study investigated preservice elementary science teachers' (PSTs) informal reasoning regarding socioscientific issues (SSI), their epistemological beliefs, and the relationship between informal reasoning and epistemological beliefs. From several SSIs, nuclear power usage was selected for this study. A total of 647 Turkish PSTs enrolled in three large universities in Turkey completed the open-ended questionnaire, which assessed the participants' informal reasoning about the target SSI, and Schommer's (1990) Epistemological Questionnaire. The participants' epistemological beliefs were assessed quantitatively and their informal reasoning was assessed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings revealed that PSTs preferred to generate evidence-based arguments rather than intuitive-based arguments; however, they failed to generate quality evidence and present different types of evidence to support their claims. Furthermore, among the reasoning quality indicators, PSTs mostly generated supportive argument construction. Regarding the use of reasoning modes, types of risk arguments and political-oriented arguments emerged as the new reasoning modes. The study demonstrated that the PSTs had different epistemological beliefs in terms of innate ability, omniscient authority, certain knowledge, and quick learning. Correlational analyses revealed that there was a strong negative correlation between the PSTs' certain knowledge and counterargument construction, and there were negative correlations between the PSTs' innate ability, certain knowledge, and quick learning dimensions of epistemological beliefs and their total argument construction. This study has implications for both science teacher education and the practice of science education. For example, PST teacher education programs should give sufficient importance to training teachers that are skillful and knowledgeable regarding SSIs. To achieve this, specific SSI-related courses should form part of science

  9. A public health decision support system model using reasoning methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mera, Maritza; González, Carolina; Blobel, Bernd

    2015-01-01

    Public health programs must be based on the real health needs of the population. However, the design of efficient and effective public health programs is subject to availability of information that can allow users to identify, at the right time, the health issues that require special attention. The objective of this paper is to propose a case-based reasoning model for the support of decision-making in public health. The model integrates a decision-making process and case-based reasoning, reusing past experiences for promptly identifying new population health priorities. A prototype implementation of the model was performed, deploying the case-based reasoning framework jColibri. The proposed model contributes to solve problems found today when designing public health programs in Colombia. Current programs are developed under uncertain environments, as the underlying analyses are carried out on the basis of outdated and unreliable data.

  10. Opening up the black box: an introduction to qualitative research methods in anaesthesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shelton, C L; Smith, A F; Mort, M

    2014-03-01

    Qualitative research methods are a group of techniques designed to allow the researcher to understand phenomena in their natural setting. A wide range is used, including focus groups, interviews, observation, and discourse analysis techniques, which may be used within research approaches such as grounded theory or ethnography. Qualitative studies in the anaesthetic setting have been used to define excellence in anaesthesia, explore the reasons behind drug errors, investigate the acquisition of expertise and examine incentives for hand-hygiene in the operating theatre. Understanding how and why people act the way they do is essential for the advancement of anaesthetic practice, and rigorous, well-designed qualitative research can generate useful data and important insights. Meticulous social scientific methods, transparency, reproducibility and reflexivity are markers of quality in qualitative research. Tools such as the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research checklist and the critical appraisal skills programme are available to help authors, reviewers and readers unfamiliar with qualitative research assess its merits. © 2013 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

  11. "I did not want to take that medicine": African-Americans' reasons for diabetes medication nonadherence and perceived solutions for enhancing adherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiyanbola, Olayinka O; Brown, Carolyn M; Ward, Earlise C

    2018-01-01

    Diabetes is disproportionally burdensome among African-Americans (AAs) and medication adherence is important for optimal outcomes. Limited studies have qualitatively examined reasons for nonadherence among AAs with type 2 diabetes, though AAs are less adherent to prescribed medications compared to whites. This study explored the reasons for medication nonadherence and adherence among AAs with type 2 diabetes and examined AAs' perceived solutions for enhancing adherence. Forty AAs, age 45-60 years with type 2 diabetes for at least 1 year prior, taking at least one prescribed diabetes medication, participated in six semistructured 90-minute focus groups. Using a phenomenology qualitative approach, reasons for nonadherence and adherence, as well as participants' perceived solutions for increasing adherence were explored. Qualitative content analysis was conducted. AAs' reasons for intentional nonadherence were associated with 1) their perception of medicines including concerns about medication side effects, as well as fear and frustration associated with taking medicines; 2) their perception of illness (disbelief of diabetes diagnosis); and 3) access to medicines and information resources. Participants reported taking their medicines because they valued being alive to perform their social and family roles, and their belief in the doctor's recommendation and medication helpfulness. Participants provided solutions for enhancing adherence by focusing on the roles of health care providers, patients, and the church. AAs wanted provider counseling on the necessity of taking medicines and the consequences of not taking them, indicating the need for the AA community to support and teach self-advocacy in diabetes self-management, and the church to act as an advocate in ensuring medication use. Intentional reasons of AAs with type 2 diabetes for not taking their medicines were related to their perception of medicines and illness. Solutions for enhancing diabetes medication

  12. The effect of requesting a reason for non-adherence to a guideline in a long running automated reminder system for PONV prophylaxis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kooij, Fabian O; Klok, Toni; Preckel, Benedikt; Hollmann, Markus W; Kal, Jasper E

    2017-03-29

    Automated reminders are employed frequently to improve guideline adherence, but limitations of automated reminders are becoming more apparent. We studied the reasons for non-adherence in the setting of automated reminders to test the hypothesis that a separate request for a reason in itself may further improve guideline adherence. In a previously implemented automated reminder system on prophylaxis for postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), we included additional automated reminders requesting a reason for non-adherence. We recorded these reasons in the pre-operative screening clinic, the OR and the PACU. We compared adherence to our PONV guideline in two study groups with a historical control group. Guideline adherence on prescribing and administering PONV prophylaxis (dexamethasone and granisetron) all improved compared to the historical control group (89 vs. 82% (preason for not prescribing PONV prophylaxis was disagreement with the risk estimate by the decision support system. In the OR/PACU, the main reasons for not administering PONV prophylaxis were: 'unintended non-adherence' and 'failure to document'. In this study requesting a reason for non-adherence is associated with improved guideline adherence. The effect seems to depend on the underlying reason for non-adherence. It also illustrates the importance of human factors principles in the design of decision support. Some reasons for non-adherence may not be influenced by automated reminders.

  13. Using Relational Reasoning Strategies to Help Improve Clinical Reasoning Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dumas, Denis; Torre, Dario M; Durning, Steven J

    2018-05-01

    Clinical reasoning-the steps up to and including establishing a diagnosis and/or therapy-is a fundamentally important mental process for physicians. Unfortunately, mounting evidence suggests that errors in clinical reasoning lead to substantial problems for medical professionals and patients alike, including suboptimal care, malpractice claims, and rising health care costs. For this reason, cognitive strategies by which clinical reasoning may be improved-and that many expert clinicians are already using-are highly relevant for all medical professionals, educators, and learners.In this Perspective, the authors introduce one group of cognitive strategies-termed relational reasoning strategies-that have been empirically shown, through limited educational and psychological research, to improve the accuracy of learners' reasoning both within and outside of the medical disciplines. The authors contend that relational reasoning strategies may help clinicians to be metacognitive about their own clinical reasoning; such strategies may also be particularly well suited for explicitly organizing clinical reasoning instruction for learners. Because the particular curricular efforts that may improve the relational reasoning of medical students are not known at this point, the authors describe the nature of previous research on relational reasoning strategies to encourage the future design, implementation, and evaluation of instructional interventions for relational reasoning within the medical education literature. The authors also call for continued research on using relational reasoning strategies and their role in clinical practice and medical education, with the long-term goal of improving diagnostic accuracy.

  14. Reasons for Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS data security breaches: Intentional versus non-intentional breaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tintswalo B. Mahlaola

    2016-10-01

    Objective: The purpose of this article is to explore the nature of and reasons for confidentiality breaches by PACS users in a South African context. Methods: A closed-ended questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 115 health professionals employed in a private hospital setting, including its radiology department and a second independent radiology department. The questionnaire sought to explore the attitudes of participants towards confidentiality breeches and reasons for suchbehaviour. Results: Breach incidences were expressed as percentage compliance and classified according to the nature and reasons provided by Sarkar's breach classification. Cross tabulations indicated a statistical significance (p < 0.00 between the expected and observed confidentiality practices of participants and also the adequacy of training, system knowledge and policy awareness. Conclusion: Our study supports previous findings that, in the absence of guidelines, most security breaches were non-intentional acts committed due to ignorance. Of concern are incidents in which sensitive information was intentionally shared via social media.

  15. Evolutions in clinical reasoning assessment: The Evolving Script Concordance Test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooke, Suzette; Lemay, Jean-François; Beran, Tanya

    2017-08-01

    Script concordance testing (SCT) is a method of assessment of clinical reasoning. We developed a new type of SCT case design, the evolving SCT (E-SCT), whereby the patient's clinical story is "evolving" and with thoughtful integration of new information at each stage, decisions related to clinical decision-making become increasingly clear. We aimed to: (1) determine whether an E-SCT could differentiate clinical reasoning ability among junior residents (JR), senior residents (SR), and pediatricians, (2) evaluate the reliability of an E-SCT, and (3) obtain qualitative feedback from participants to help inform the potential acceptability of the E-SCT. A 12-case E-SCT, embedded within a 24-case pediatric SCT (PaedSCT), was administered to 91 pediatric residents (JR: n = 50; SR: n = 41). A total of 21 pediatricians served on the panel of experts (POE). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted across the levels of experience. Participants' feedback on the E-SCT was obtained with a post-test survey and analyzed using two methods: percentage preference and thematic analysis. Statistical differences existed across levels of training: F = 19.31 (df = 2); p decision-making process. The E-SCT demonstrated very good reliability and was effective in distinguishing clinical reasoning ability across three levels of experience. Participants found the E-SCT engaging and representative of real-life clinical reasoning and decision-making processes. We suggest that further refinement and utilization of the evolving style case will enhance SCT as a robust, engaging, and relevant method for the assessment of clinical reasoning.

  16. Building qualitative study design using nursing's disciplinary epistemology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thorne, Sally; Stephens, Jennifer; Truant, Tracy

    2016-02-01

    To discuss the implications of drawing on core nursing knowledge as theoretical scaffolding for qualitative nursing enquiry. Although nurse scholars have been using qualitative methods for decades, much of their methodological direction derives from conventional approaches developed for answering questions in the social sciences. The quality of available knowledge to inform practice can be enhanced through the selection of study design options informed by an appreciation for the nature of nursing knowledge. Discussion paper. Drawing on the body of extant literature dealing with nursing's theoretical and qualitative research traditions, we consider contextual factors that have shaped the application of qualitative research approaches in nursing, including prior attempts to align method with the structure and form of disciplinary knowledge. On this basis, we critically reflect on design considerations that would follow logically from core features associated with a nursing epistemology. The substantive knowledge used by nurses to inform their practice includes both aspects developed at the level of the general and also that which pertains to application in the unique context of the particular. It must be contextually relevant to a fluid and dynamic healthcare environment and adaptable to distinctive patient conditions. Finally, it must align with nursing's moral mandate and action imperative. Qualitative research design components informed by nursing's disciplinary epistemology will help ensure a logical line of reasoning in our enquiries that remains true to the nature and structure of practice knowledge. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  17. The use of qualitative methodologies in health services/systems research in low and middle income settings: a narrative literature review.

    OpenAIRE

    Green, Judith Maureen; Pereyaslov, Dmitriy; Ahmedov, Mohir; Balabanoa, Dina

    2010-01-01

    SUMMARYAimsThe aims of this review are to:i) Use a case study of published literature on quality of care in the Former Soviet Union to identify current issues in the use if qualitative methods in health services/systems (HSR) research;ii) Summarise what is known from the wider literature about the challenges and possibilities of transferring qualitative methodologies for (HSR) to low and middle-income countries;iii) Identify the implications for the design of cross-national qualitative HSR st...

  18. Challenges in Evaluating Clinical Governance Systems in Iran: A Qualitative Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hooshmand, Elaheh; Tourani, Sogand; Ravaghi, Hamid; Ebrahimipour, Hossein

    2014-01-01

    Background: In spite of the pivotal role of clinical governance in enhancing quality of services provided by hospitals across the country, a scientific framework with specific criteria for evaluating hospitals has not been developed so far. Objectives: This study was conducted with the aim to identify the challenges involved in evaluating systems of clinical governance in Iran. Materials and Methods: For the purposes of this qualitative study, 15 semi-structured interviews with experts in the field were conducted in 2011 and the data were analyzed using framework analysis method. Results: Five major challenges in evaluating clinical governance include managing human resources, improving clinical quality, managing development, organizing clinical governance, and providing patient-oriented healthcare system. Conclusions: Healthcare system in Iran requires a clinical governance program which has a patient-oriented approach in philosophy, operation, and effectiveness in order to meet the challenges ahead. PMID:24910799

  19. Diagnostic reasoning in action

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Jens

    1993-01-01

    of system failures; and in medicine, diagnosis is the basis for any patient treatment. The paper presents a discussion of the basic nature of causal reasoning as applied for diagnosis and the mental strategies applied when diagnosis is viewed as an integrated part of ''natural decision making...

  20. Autism: a transdiagnostic, dimensional, construct of reasoning?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aggernaes, Bodil

    2018-03-01

    The concept of autism has changed across time, from the Bleulerian concept, which defined it as one of several symptoms of dementia praecox, to the present-day concept representing a pervasive development disorder. The present theoretical contribution to this special issue of EJN on autism introduces new theoretical ideas and discusses them in light of selected prior theories, clinical examples, and recent empirical evidence. The overall aim is to identify some present challenges of diagnostic practice and autism research and to suggest new pathways that may help direct future research. Future research must agree on the definitions of core concepts such as autism and psychosis. A possible redefinition of the concept of autism may be a condition in which the rationale of an individual's behaviour differs qualitatively from that of the social environment due to characteristic cognitive impairments affecting reasoning. A broad concept of psychosis could focus on deviances in the experience of reality resulting from impairments of reasoning. In this light and consistent with recent empirical evidence, it may be appropriate to redefine dementia praecox as a developmental disorder of reasoning. A future challenge of autism research may be to develop theoretical models that can account for the impact of complex processes acting at the social level in addition to complex neurobiological and psychological processes. Such models could profit from a distinction among processes related to (i) basic susceptibility, (ii) adaptive processes and (iii) decompensating factors involved in the development of manifest illness. © 2017 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Advances in Reasoning-Based Image Processing Intelligent Systems Conventional and Intelligent Paradigms

    CERN Document Server

    Nakamatsu, Kazumi

    2012-01-01

    The book puts special stress on the contemporary techniques for reasoning-based image processing and analysis: learning based image representation and advanced video coding; intelligent image processing and analysis in medical vision systems; similarity learning models for image reconstruction; visual perception for mobile robot motion control, simulation of human brain activity in the analysis of video sequences; shape-based invariant features extraction; essential of paraconsistent neural networks, creativity and intelligent representation in computational systems. The book comprises 14 chapters. Each chapter is a small monograph, representing resent investigations of authors in the area. The topics of the chapters cover wide scientific and application areas and complement each-other very well. The chapters’ content is based on fundamental theoretical presentations, followed by experimental results and comparison with similar techniques. The size of the chapters is well-ballanced which permits a thorough ...

  2. Distributed tactical reasoning framework for intelligent vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sukthankar, Rahul; Pomerleau, Dean A.; Thorpe, Chuck E.

    1998-01-01

    In independent vehicle concepts for the Automated Highway System (AHS), the ability to make competent tactical-level decisions in real-time is crucial. Traditional approaches to tactical reasoning typically involve the implementation of large monolithic systems, such as decision trees or finite state machines. However, as the complexity of the environment grows, the unforeseen interactions between components can make modifications to such systems very challenging. For example, changing an overtaking behavior may require several, non-local changes to car-following, lane changing and gap acceptance rules. This paper presents a distributed solution to the problem. PolySAPIENT consists of a collection of autonomous modules, each specializing in a particular aspect of the driving task - classified by traffic entities rather than tactical behavior. Thus, the influence of the vehicle ahead on the available actions is managed by one reasoning object, while the implications of an approaching exit are managed by another. The independent recommendations form these reasoning objects are expressed in the form of votes and vetos over a 'tactical action space', and are resolved by a voting arbiter. This local independence enables PolySAPIENT reasoning objects to be developed independently, using a heterogenous implementation. PolySAPIENT vehicles are implemented in the SHIVA tactical highway simulator, whose vehicles are based on the Carnegie Mellon Navlab robots.

  3. Connecting mathematics learning through spatial reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulligan, Joanne; Woolcott, Geoffrey; Mitchelmore, Michael; Davis, Brent

    2018-03-01

    Spatial reasoning, an emerging transdisciplinary area of interest to mathematics education research, is proving integral to all human learning. It is particularly critical to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This project will create an innovative knowledge framework based on spatial reasoning that identifies new pathways for mathematics learning, pedagogy and curriculum. Novel analytical tools will map the unknown complex systems linking spatial and mathematical concepts. It will involve the design, implementation and evaluation of a Spatial Reasoning Mathematics Program (SRMP) in Grades 3 to 5. Benefits will be seen through development of critical spatial skills for students, increased teacher capability and informed policy and curriculum across STEM education.

  4. The acquisition of basic quantitative reasoning skills during adolescence: Learning or development?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawson, Anton E.; Bealer, Jonathan M.

    Five items requiring use of proportional, probabilistic, and correlational reasoning were administered to students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12. Proportions are taught in the school district in grades 7 and 8, probability in grade 10, and correlations are not taught. Based on the hypothesis that successful performance is due to classroom instruction, improvements on the proportions item were predicted between grades 6 and 10 and improvements on the probability items were predicted between grades 10 and 12. Actual gradewise improvements did not correspond well with predictions. Yet performance did correlate significantly with enrollment in classes such as chemistry, physics, and trigonometry. It is argued that successful qualitative reasoning arises as a consequence of the process of equilibration, and influences one's selection of course work. Specific instruction may initiate the equilibration process.

  5. Contribution of qualitative analysis and fuzzy sets to industrial process fault diagnosis: application to the Diapason project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Montmain, J.; Leyval, L.

    1994-01-01

    The construction of fault indicators is the foundation of model-based fault diagnosis. The development of precise mathematical models for complex facilities is generally difficult and expensive; new and less constraining techniques, notably seeking to account for behaviour, open new perspectives for fault detection and diagnosis. The authors propose a combined approach based on quantitative processing with qualitative assessment of the results. A veritable numerical-symbolic interface then ensures a more satisfactory balance between the two levels of knowledge - analytic and heuristic -necessary to optimize the performance of a diagnostic procedure. Our supervision support system DIAPASON provides operators of industrial continuous processes with an aid to watch and diagnosis. The reasoning is based on a causal graph and on a knowledge base. After an overview of qualitative simulation, defect diagnosis and fault diagnosis, the way in which these three cooperate in DIAPASON is amplified. (authors). 21 refs., 5 figs

  6. Contribution of qualitative analysis and fuzzy sets to industrial process fault diagnosis: Application to the DIAPASON project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Montmain, J.; Leyval, L.

    1994-01-01

    The construction of fault indicators is the foundation of model-based fault diagnosis. The development of precise mathematical models for complex facilities is generally difficult and expensive; new and less constraining techniques, notably seeking to account for behaviour, open new perspectives for fault detection and diagnosis. The authors propose a combined approach based on quantitative processing with qualitative assessment of the results. A veritable numerical-symbolic interface then ensure a more satisfactory balance between the two levels of knowledge - analytic and heuristic - necessary to optimize the performance of a diagnostic procedure. Our supervision support system DIAPASON provides operators of industrial continuous processes with an aid to watch and diagnosis. The reasoning is based on a casual graph and on a knowledge base. After an overview of qualitative simulation, defect diagnosis and fault diagnosis, the way in which these three cooperate in DIAPASON is amplified. (author). 21 refs, 5 figs

  7. A Linguistic Truth-Valued Temporal Reasoning Formalism and Its Implementation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Zhirui; Liu, Jun; Augusto, Juan C.; Wang, Hui

    Temporality and uncertainty are important features of many real world systems. Solving problems in such systems requires the use of formal mechanism such as logic systems, statistical methods or other reasoning and decision-making methods. In this paper, we propose a linguistic truth-valued temporal reasoning formalism to enable the management of both features concurrently using a linguistic truth valued logic and a temporal logic. We also provide a backward reasoning algorithm which allows the answering of user queries. A simple but realistic scenario in a smart home application is used to illustrate our work.

  8. Strategies to Improve Teacher Retention in American Overseas Schools in the Near East South Asia Region: A Qualitative Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mancuso, Steven V.; Roberts, Laura; White, George P.; Yoshida, Roland K.; Weston, David

    2011-01-01

    Using a qualitative analysis and drawing from sociological theory, this study examined reasons for teacher turnover and retention from a representative sample of 248 teachers in American overseas schools in the Near East South Asia region. Results suggested that the most important reasons to stay or move pertained to supportive leadership,…

  9. MTK: An AI tool for model-based reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erickson, William K.; Schwartz, Mary R.

    1987-01-01

    A 1988 goal for the Systems Autonomy Demonstration Project Office of the NASA Ames Research Center is to apply model-based representation and reasoning techniques in a knowledge-based system that will provide monitoring, fault diagnosis, control and trend analysis of the space station Thermal Management System (TMS). A number of issues raised during the development of the first prototype system inspired the design and construction of a model-based reasoning tool called MTK, which was used in the building of the second prototype. These issues are outlined, along with examples from the thermal system to highlight the motivating factors behind them. An overview of the capabilities of MTK is given.

  10.   Information and acceptance of prenatal examinations - a qualitative study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fleron, Stina Lou; Dahl, Katja; Risør, Mette Bech

    by the health care system offering it. By prenatal examinations the pregnant women want to be giving the choice of future management should there be something wrong with their child. Conclusions:Participation in prenatal examinations is not based on a thorough knowledge of pros and contra of the screening tests......  Background:In 2004 The Danish National Board of Health issued new guidelines on prenatal examinations. The importance of informed decision making is strongly emphasised and any acceptance of the screenings tests offered should be based on thorough and adequate information. Objective...... and hypothesis:To explore the influence of information in the decision-making process of prenatal screenings tests offered, the relation between information, knowledge and up-take rates and reasons for accepting or declining the screenings tests offered.  Methods:The study is based on a qualitative approach...

  11. A Qualitative Exploration of College Student Retention: Personal Experiences of Millennial Freshmen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barker, Kristen

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this qualitative investigation was to discover personal reasons Millennial college freshmen, between the ages of 18-20, stated as obstacles to college retention. Fourteen students from a private college in the Midwest were selected to participate in an interview process. These students were asked a series of open-ended questions…

  12. The Effect of Problem-Solving Video Games on the Science Reasoning Skills of College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fanetti, Tina M.

    As the world continues to rapidly change, students are faced with the need to develop flexible skills, such as science reasoning that will help them thrive in the new knowledge economy. Prensky (2001), Gee (2003), and Van Eck (2007) have all suggested that the way to engage learners and teach them the necessary skills is through digital games, but empirical studies focusing on popular games are scant. One way digital games, especially video games, could potentially be useful if there were a flexible and inexpensive method a student could use at their convenience to improve selected science reasoning skills. Problem-solving video games, which require the use of reasoning and problem solving to answer a variety of cognitive challenges could be a promising method to improve selected science reasoning skills. Using think-aloud protocols and interviews, a qualitative study was carried out with a small sample of college students to examine what impact two popular video games, Professor Layton and the Curious Village and Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, had on specific science reasoning skills. The subject classified as an expert in both gaming and reasoning tended to use more higher order thinking and reasoning skills than the novice reasoners. Based on the assessments, the science reasoning of college students did not improve during the course of game play. Similar to earlier studies, students tended to use trial and error as their primary method of solving the various puzzles in the game and additionally did not recognize when to use the appropriate reasoning skill to solve a puzzle, such as proportional reasoning.

  13. Advancing clinical reasoning in virtual patients – development and application of a conceptual framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hege, Inga; Kononowicz, Andrzej A.; Berman, Norman B.; Lenzer, Benedikt; Kiesewetter, Jan

    2018-01-01

    Background: Clinical reasoning is a complex skill students have to acquire during their education. For educators it is difficult to explain their reasoning to students, because it is partly an automatic and unconscious process. Virtual Patients (VPs) are used to support the acquisition of clinical reasoning skills in healthcare education. However, until now it remains unclear which features or settings of VPs optimally foster clinical reasoning. Therefore, our aims were to identify key concepts of the clinical reasoning process in a qualitative approach and draw conclusions on how each concept can be enhanced to advance the learning of clinical reasoning with virtual patients. Methods: We chose a grounded theory approach to identify key categories and concepts of learning clinical reasoning and develop a framework. Throughout this process, the emerging codes were discussed with a panel of interdisciplinary experts. In a second step we applied the framework to virtual patients. Results: Based on the data we identified the core category as the "multifactorial nature of learning clinical reasoning". This category is reflected in the following five main categories: Psychological Theories, Patient-centeredness, Context, Learner-centeredness, and Teaching/Assessment. Each category encompasses between four and six related concepts. Conclusions: With our approach we were able to elaborate how key categories and concepts of clinical reasoning can be applied to virtual patients. This includes aspects such as allowing learners to access a large number of VPs with adaptable levels of complexity and feedback or emphasizing dual processing, errors, and uncertainty. PMID:29497697

  14. A neurocomputational system for relational reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knowlton, Barbara J; Morrison, Robert G; Hummel, John E; Holyoak, Keith J

    2012-07-01

    The representation and manipulation of structured relations is central to human reasoning. Recent work in computational modeling and neuroscience has set the stage for developing more detailed neurocomputational models of these abilities. Several key neural findings appear to dovetail with computational constraints derived from a model of analogical processing, 'Learning and Inference with Schemas and Analogies' (LISA). These include evidence that (i) coherent oscillatory activity in the gamma and theta bands enables long-distance communication between the prefrontal cortex and posterior brain regions where information is stored; (ii) neurons in prefrontal cortex can rapidly learn to represent abstract concepts; (iii) a rostral-caudal abstraction gradient exists in the PFC; and (iv) the inferior frontal gyrus exerts inhibitory control over task-irrelevant information. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  15. What are the reasons for clinical network success? A qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McInnes, Elizabeth; Haines, Mary; Dominello, Amanda; Kalucy, Deanna; Jammali-Blasi, Asmara; Middleton, Sandy; Klineberg, Emily

    2015-11-05

    Clinical networks have been established to improve patient outcomes and processes of care by implementing a range of innovations and undertaking projects based on the needs of local health services. Given the significant investment in clinical networks internationally, it is important to assess their effectiveness and sustainability. This qualitative study investigated the views of stakeholders on the factors they thought were influential in terms of overall network success. Ten participants were interviewed using face-to-face, audio-recorded semi-structured interviews about critical factors for networks' successes over the study period 2006-2008. Respondents were purposively selected from two stakeholder groups: i) chairs of networks during the study period of 2006-2008 from high- moderate- and low-impact networks (as previously determined by an independent review panel) and ii) experts in the clinical field of the network who had a connection to the network but who were not network members. Participants were blind to the performance of the network they were interviewed about. Transcribed data were coded and analysed to generate themes relating to the study aims. Themes relating to influential factors critical to network success were: network model principles; leadership; formal organisational structures and processes; nature of network projects; external relationships; profile and credibility of the network. This study provides clinical networks with guidance on essential factors for maximising optimal network outcomes and that may assist networks to move from being a 'low-impact' to 'high-impact' network. Important ingredients for successful clinical networks were visionary and strategic leadership with strong links to external stakeholders; and having formal infrastructure and processes to enable the development and management of work plans aligned with health priorities.

  16. Intelligent Tutoring System for Teaching Battlefield Command Reasoning Skills

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Domeshek, Eric

    2002-01-01

    ... (ITS) for high-level battlefield command reasoning skills. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop new ITS techniques and technology for teaching skills that cannot he taught as simple methods and procedures to he followed...

  17. Practical Application of the MFM Suite on a PWR System: Modelling and Reasoning on Causes and Consequences of Process Anomalies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Xinxin; Thunem, Harald P - J; Lind, Morten

    2014-01-01

    and linking the MFM model to its process components. The purpose of this report is to make a comprehensive demonstration of how to use the MFM Suite to develop MFM models and run causal reasoning for abnormal situations. This report will explain the capability of representing process and operational knowledge...... by using the MFM methodolog y, and demonstrate how the model combined with the MFM reasoning can be used to evaluate the plant state, identify the current situation and support operational decisions. The report will provide a detailed explanation of MFM concepts by modelling the prim ary side system...... systems. Two of the modelling examples can be found in HWR - 990 and HWR - 1059. The inherent causal reasoning capability enabled the developed MFM models to be used for diagnostic and prognostic analysis. These MFM models h ave been used to develop the basis for implementing operator support tools...

  18. Variability Bugs in Highly Configurable Systems: A Qualitative Analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Abal, Iago; Melo, Jean; Stanciulescu, Stefan

    2018-01-01

    Variability-sensitive verification pursues effective analysis of the exponentially many variants in number of features of a program family. Several variability-aware techniques have been proposed, but researchers still lack examples of concrete bugs induced by variability, occurring in real large......-scale systems. A collection of real world bugs is needed to evaluate tool implementations of variability-sensitive analyses by testing them on real bugs. We present a qualitative study of 98 diverse variability bugs collected from bug-fixing commits in the Apache, BusyBox, Linux kernel and Marlin repositories....... We analyze each of the bugs, and record the results in a database. For each bug, we create a self-contained simplified C99 version and a simplified patch, in order to help researchers who are not experts on these subject studies to understand them, so that they can use it for evaluation...

  19. Why patients self-refer to the Emergency Department: A qualitative interview study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraaijvanger, Nicole; Rijpsma, Douwe; Willink, Lisa; Lucassen, Peter; van Leeuwen, Henk; Edwards, Michael

    2017-06-01

    There have been multiple studies investigating reasons for patients to self-refer to the Emergency Department (ED). The majority made use of questionnaires and excluded patients with urgent conditions. The goal of this qualitative study is to explore what motives patients have to self-refer to an ED, also including patients in urgent triage categories. In a large teaching hospital in the Netherlands, a qualitative interview study focusing on reasons for self-referring to the ED was performed. Self-referred patients were included until no new reasons for attending the ED were found. Exclusion criteria were as follows: not mentally able to be interviewed or not speaking Dutch. Patients who were in need of urgent care were treated first, before being asked to participate. Interviews followed a predefined topic guide. Practicing cyclic analysis, the interview topic guide was modified during the inclusion period. Interviews were recorded on an audio recorder, transcribed verbatim, and anonymized. Two investigators independently coded the information and combined the codes into meaningful clusters. Subsequently, these were categorized into themes to build a framework of reasons for self-referral to the ED. Characteristic quotes were used to illustrate the acquired theoretical framework. Thirty self-referred patients were interviewed. Most of the participants were male (63%), with a mean age of 46 years. Two main themes emerged from the interviews that are pertinent to the patients' decisions to attend the ED: (1) health concerns and (2) practical issues. This study found that there are 2 clearly distinctive reasons for self-referral to the ED: health concerns or practical motives. Self-referral because of practical motives is probably most suitable for strategies that aim to reduce inappropriate ED visits. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  20. ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM - QUALITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION AT TRADE ENTITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CARAIMAN ADRIAN-COSMIN

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Financial and accounting information systems, today, no longer are the traditional ones, they are subject to the normalisation and harmonisation, in the idea of globalization, and as a natural consequence of this situation, the users of accounting information require more and more diverse information from these systems. The economic entities in general, and those in the trade, in particular, performance management, management of the current situation, with multiple phenomena of crisis, require substantiation of decisions on the basis of a system of real information, pertinent, relevant and provided in a timely manner (Radu, 2011 [7]. Apart from users and goals of information provided by entities of the accounting information system of trade entities, they must have certain qualitative characteristics that facilitate the process of interpretation and use of accounting information. At the same time they are needed because their accounting information through its better goal, to represent the support base for the elaboration of certain decisions by those interested. In this article I propose to introduce qualitative characteristics of accounting information provided by IASB (International Accounting Standards Board, which, incidentally, have been taken up initially by the Romanian accounting regulations, with their subsequent amendments and additions, so far, because, in the end, as a conclusion, I consider that I should be noted that these qualities cannot be effective unlessin turn, the users themselves have the quality to have the knowledge required to understand the information that is intended for them.

  1. Ethical Decision-Making in Academic Administration: A Qualitative Study of College Deans' Ethical Frameworks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Catacutan, Maria Rosario G.; de Guzman, Allan B.

    2015-01-01

    Ethical decision-making in school administration has received considerable attention in educational leadership literature. However, most research has focused on principals working in secondary school settings while studies that explore ethical reasoning processes of academic deans have been significantly few. This qualitative study aims to…

  2. Junior High School Physics: Using a Qualitative Strategy for Successful Problem Solving

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mualem, Roni; Eylon, Bat Sheva

    2010-01-01

    Students at the junior high school (JHS) level often cannot use their knowledge of physics for explaining and predicting phenomena. We claim that this difficulty stems from the fact that explanations are multi-step reasoning tasks, and students often lack the qualitative problem-solving strategies needed to guide them. This article describes a new…

  3. Qualitative phase space reconstruction analysis of supply-chain inventor time series

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinliang Wu

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available The economy systems are usually too complex to be analysed, but some advanced methods have been developed in order to do so, such as system dynamics modelling, multi-agent modelling, complex adaptive system modelling and qualitative modelling. In this paper, we considered a supply-chain (SC system including several kinds of products. Using historic suppliers’ demand data, we firstly applied the phase space analysis method and then used qualitative analysis to improve the complex system’s performance. Quantitative methods can forecast the quantitative SC demands, but they cannot indicate the qualitative aspects of SC, so when we apply quantitative methods to a SC system we get only numerous data of demand. By contrast, qualitative methods can show the qualitative change and trend of the SC demand. We therefore used qualitative methods to improve the quantitative forecasting results. Comparing the quantitative only method and the combined method used in this paper, we found that the combined method is far more accurate. Not only is the inventory cost lower, but the forecasting accuracy is also better.

  4. TQ-bifurcations in discrete dynamical systems: Analysis of qualitative rearrangements of the oscillation mode

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Makarenko, A. V., E-mail: avm.science@mail.ru [Constructive Cybernetics Research Group (Russian Federation)

    2016-10-15

    A new class of bifurcations is defined in discrete dynamical systems, and methods for their diagnostics and the analysis of their properties are presented. The TQ-bifurcations considered are implemented in discrete mappings and are related to the qualitative rearrangement of the shape of trajectories in an extended space of states. Within the demonstration of the main capabilities of the toolkit, an analysis is carried out of a logistic mapping in a domain to the right of the period-doubling limit point. Five critical values of the parameter are found for which the geometric structure of the trajectories of the mapping experiences a qualitative rearrangement. In addition, an analysis is carried out of the so-called “trace map,” which arises in the problems of quantum-mechanical description of various properties of discrete crystalline and quasicrystalline lattices.

  5. Models of Human Information Requirements: "When Reasonable Aiding Systems Disagree"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corker, Kevin; Pisanich, Gregory; Shafto, Michael (Technical Monitor)

    1994-01-01

    Aircraft flight management and Air Traffic Control (ATC) automation are under development to maximize the economy of flight and to increase the capacity of the terminal area airspace while maintaining levels of flight safety equal to or better than current system performance. These goals are being realized by the introduction of flight management automation aiding and operations support systems on the flight deck and by new developments of ATC aiding systems that seek to optimize scheduling of aircraft while potentially reducing required separation and accounting for weather and wake vortex turbulence. Aiding systems on both the flight deck and the ground operate through algorithmic functions on models of the aircraft and of the airspace. These models may differ from each other as a result of variations in their models of the immediate environment. The resultant flight operations or ATC commands may differ in their response requirements (e.g. different preferred descent speeds or descent initiation points). The human operators in the system must then interact with the automation to reconcile differences and resolve conflicts. We have developed a model of human performance including cognitive functions (decision-making, rule-based reasoning, procedural interruption recovery and forgetting) that supports analysis of the information requirements for resolution of flight aiding and ATC conflicts. The model represents multiple individuals in the flight crew and in ATC. The model is supported in simulation on a Silicon Graphics' workstation using Allegro Lisp. Design guidelines for aviation automation aiding systems have been developed using the model's specification of information and team procedural requirements. Empirical data on flight deck operations from full-mission flight simulation are provided to support the model's predictions. The paper describes the model, its development and implementation, the simulation test of the model predictions, and the empirical

  6. Qualitative research in rehabilitation science: opportunities, challenges, and future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    VanderKaay, Sandra; Moll, Sandra E; Gewurtz, Rebecca E; Jindal, Pranay; Loyola-Sanchez, Adalberto; Packham, Tara L; Lim, Chun Y

    2018-03-01

    Qualitative research has had a significant impact within rehabilitation science over time. During the past 20 years the number of qualitative studies published per year in Disability and Rehabilitation has markedly increased (from 1 to 54). In addition, during this period there have been significant changes in how qualitative research is conceptualized, conducted, and utilized to advance the field of rehabilitation. The purpose of this article is to reflect upon the progress of qualitative research within rehabilitation to date, to explicate current opportunities and challenges, and to suggest future directions to continue to strengthen the contribution of qualitative research in this field. Relevant literature searches were conducted in electronic data bases and reference lists. Pertinent literature was examined to identify current opportunities and challenges for qualitative research use in rehabilitation and to identify future directions. Six key areas of opportunity and challenge were identified: (a) paradigm shifts, (b) advancements in methodology, (c) emerging technology, (d) advances in quality evaluation, (e) increasing popularity of mixed methods approaches, and (f) evolving approaches to knowledge translation. Two important future directions for rehabilitation are posited: (1) advanced training in qualitative methods and (2) engaging qualitative communities of research. Qualitative research is well established in rehabilitation and has an important place in the continued growth of this field. Ongoing development of qualitative researchers and methods are essential. Implications for Rehabilitation Qualitative research has the potential to improve rehabilitation practice by addressing some of the most pervasive concerns in the field such as practitioner-client interaction, the subjective and lived experience of disability, and clinical reasoning and decision making. This will serve to better inform those providing rehabilitation services thereby benefiting

  7. REASON for Europa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moussessian, A.; Blankenship, D. D.; Plaut, J. J.; Patterson, G. W.; Gim, Y.; Schroeder, D. M.; Soderlund, K. M.; Grima, C.; Young, D. A.; Chapin, E.

    2015-12-01

    The science goal of the Europa multiple flyby mission is to "explore Europa to investigate its habitability". One of the primary instruments selected for the scientific payload is a multi-frequency, multi-channel ice penetrating radar system. This "Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON)" would revolutionize our understanding of Europa's ice shell by providing the first direct measurements of its surface character and subsurface structure. REASON addresses key questions regarding Europa's habitability, including the existence of any liquid water, through the innovative use of radar sounding, altimetry, reflectometry, and plasma/particles analyses. These investigations require a dual-frequency radar (HF and VHF frequencies) instrument with concurrent shallow and deep sounding that is designed for performance robustness in the challenging environment of Europa. The flyby-centric mission configuration is an opportunity to collect and transmit minimally processed data back to Earth and exploit advanced processing approaches developed for terrestrial airborne data sets. The observation and characterization of subsurface features beneath Europa's chaotic surface require discriminating abundant surface clutter from a relatively weak subsurface signal. Finally, the mission plan also includes using REASON as a nadir altimeter capable of measuring tides to test ice shell and ocean hypotheses as well as characterizing roughness across the surface statistically to identify potential follow-on landing sites. We will present a variety of measurement concepts for addressing these challenges.

  8. Evidential reasoning research on intrusion detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xianpei; Xu, Hua; Zheng, Sheng; Cheng, Anyu

    2003-09-01

    In this paper, we mainly aim at D-S theory of evidence and the network intrusion detection these two fields. It discusses the method how to apply this probable reasoning as an AI technology to the Intrusion Detection System (IDS). This paper establishes the application model, describes the new mechanism of reasoning and decision-making and analyses how to implement the model based on the synscan activities detection on the network. The results suggest that if only rational probability values were assigned at the beginning, the engine can, according to the rules of evidence combination and hierarchical reasoning, compute the values of belief and finally inform the administrators of the qualities of the traced activities -- intrusions, normal activities or abnormal activities.

  9. Covariation of learning and "reasoning" abilities in mice: evolutionary conservation of the operations of intelligence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wass, Christopher; Denman-Brice, Alexander; Rios, Chris; Light, Kenneth R; Kolata, Stefan; Smith, Andrew M; Matzel, Louis D

    2012-04-01

    Contemporary descriptions of human intelligence hold that this trait influences a broad range of cognitive abilities, including learning, attention, and reasoning. Like humans, individual genetically heterogeneous mice express a "general" cognitive trait that influences performance across a diverse array of learning and attentional tasks, and it has been suggested that this trait is qualitatively and structurally analogous to general intelligence in humans. However, the hallmark of human intelligence is the ability to use various forms of "reasoning" to support solutions to novel problems. Here, we find that genetically heterogeneous mice are capable of solving problems that are nominally indicative of inductive and deductive forms of reasoning, and that individuals' capacity for reasoning covaries with more general learning abilities. Mice were characterized for their general learning ability as determined by their aggregate performance (derived from principal component analysis) across a battery of five diverse learning tasks. These animals were then assessed on prototypic tests indicative of deductive reasoning (inferring the meaning of a novel item by exclusion, i.e., "fast mapping") and inductive reasoning (execution of an efficient search strategy in a binary decision tree). The animals exhibited systematic abilities on each of these nominal reasoning tasks that were predicted by their aggregate performance on the battery of learning tasks. These results suggest that the coregulation of reasoning and general learning performance in genetically heterogeneous mice form a core cognitive trait that is analogous to human intelligence. (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

  10. When the helper humiliates the patient: a qualitative study about unintended intimidations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Malterud, Kirsti; Thesen, Janecke

    2008-01-01

    AIMS: To explore experiences of intimidating patients/clients from the perspective of the professional. METHODS: This was a qualitative study based on memory work, a procedure whereby memories are converted into written stories. The setting was a workshop about oppression and empowerment...... for the act. RESULTS: The participants were able to recall episodes where they later realized that they had been involved in events perceived as intimidations by the patient/client. The memory stories described events that were not isolated events, but represented issues that might occur now and then...... -- issues that facilitate the occurrence of intimidation of patients/clients. Yet, the professional remains responsible for his or her moral conduct. High moral awareness and systems with a better balance between reason and emotion are needed to stop vulnerable people being subjected to disempowering...

  11. Quantitative and qualitative assessment of the bovine abortion surveillance system in France.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bronner, Anne; Gay, Emilie; Fortané, Nicolas; Palussière, Mathilde; Hendrikx, Pascal; Hénaux, Viviane; Calavas, Didier

    2015-06-01

    Bovine abortion is the main clinical sign of bovine brucellosis, a disease of which France has been declared officially free since 2005. To ensure the early detection of any brucellosis outbreak, event-driven surveillance relies on the mandatory notification of bovine abortions and the brucellosis testing of aborting cows. However, the under-reporting of abortions appears frequent. Our objectives were to assess the aptitude of the bovine abortion surveillance system to detect each and every bovine abortion and to identify factors influencing the system's effectiveness. We evaluated five attributes defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control with a method suited to each attribute: (1) data quality was studied quantitatively and qualitatively, as this factor considerably influences data analysis and results; (2) sensitivity and representativeness were estimated using a unilist capture-recapture approach to quantify the surveillance system's effectiveness; (3) acceptability and simplicity were studied through qualitative interviews of actors in the field, given that the surveillance system relies heavily on abortion notifications by farmers and veterinarians. Our analysis showed that (1) data quality was generally satisfactory even though some errors might be due to actors' lack of awareness of the need to collect accurate data; (2) from 2006 to 2011, the mean annual sensitivity - i.e. the proportion of farmers who reported at least one abortion out of all those who detected such events - was around 34%, but was significantly higher in dairy than beef cattle herds (highlighting a lack of representativeness); (3) overall, the system's low sensitivity was related to its low acceptability and lack of simplicity. This study showed that, in contrast to policy-makers, most farmers and veterinarians perceived the risk of a brucellosis outbreak as negligible. They did not consider sporadic abortions as a suspected case of brucellosis and usually reported abortions only to

  12. An Exploratory Study on the Reasons and Preferences of Six Malaysian Students on the Video Games Played

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leng, Eow Yee; Baki, Roselan

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore the reasons why six Malaysian students from upper secondary school are playing video games, types of games and the features preferred. A qualitative method was being used in the study. Purposive sampling was conducted in selecting the students. The findings indicated that students played video games for a…

  13. Expert system strategies for the diagnostic in a particle physics experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    D'Antone, I.; Mandrioli, G.; Matteuzzi, P.

    1990-01-01

    The maintenance of a particle detector functionality requires the knowledge of more experts: physicists and engineers for the detector and the electronic system. The integration of different knowledges and experiences can be easily done using an Expert System. A real-time Expert System allows us to diagnose the detector and data acquisition system anomalies; it makes an on-line diagnosis and, if an abnormal condition is identified, takes the appropriate action to reduce the unavailability of the apparatus. A method based on structural and behavioral reasoning is considered. Reasoning on the structure and on the functionality of the apparatus all the possible failures that can explain the sensor readings are searched. The behaviour of the apparatus components are described in qualitative terms to write the rules for the expert system

  14. Reasoning Using Particulate Nature of Matter: An Example of a Sociochemical Norm in a University-Level Physical Chemistry Class

    Science.gov (United States)

    Becker, Nicole; Rasmussen, Chris; Sweeney, George; Wawro, Megan; Towns, Marcy; Cole, Renee

    2013-01-01

    In college level chemistry courses, reasoning using molecular and particulate descriptions of matter becomes central to understanding physical and chemical properties. In this study, we used a qualitative approach to analyzing classroom discourse derived from Toulmin's model of argumentation in order to describe the ways in which students develop…

  15. Noninitiation and Noncompletion of HPV Vaccine Among English- and Spanish-Speaking Parents of Adolescent Girls: A Qualitative Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albright, Karen; Barnard, Juliana; O'Leary, Sean T; Lockhart, Steven; Jimenez-Zambrano, Andrea; Stokley, Shannon; Dempsey, Amanda; Kempe, Allison

    The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends routine human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for female adolescents aged 11 to 12 years, yet vaccination rates remain low. We conducted a qualitative study to understand English- and Spanish-speaking parents' reasons for noninitiation or noncompletion of the HPV vaccine series for their daughters. Parents of female adolescents aged 12 to 15 years who had not initiated or not completed the HPV vaccine series were identified through administrative data in 2 large urban safety net health care systems in Colorado. Focus groups and in-depth interviews were conducted with English-speaking parents and in-depth interviews were conducted with Spanish-speaking parents. All data were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for thematic content by experienced analysts using established qualitative content analysis techniques. Forty-one parents participated in the study. Thirty parents participated in individual interviews and 11 parents participated in 1 of 2 focus groups. The most common reasons for noninitiation and noncompletion among English-speaking parents included a low perceived risk of HPV infection, vaccine safety concerns, and distrust of government and/or medicine. In contrast, Spanish-speaking parents most often reported that providers had either not encouraged initiation of the HPV vaccine series or had not explained the necessity of completing the series. Some noninitiating parents, particularly Spanish-speaking ones, also cited concerns that vaccination would encourage sexual activity. The reasons for noninitiation and noncompletion of the HPV vaccine series differed substantially between English- and Spanish-speaking parents. To maximize uptake of HPV vaccine, varying approaches might be needed to effectively target specific populations. Copyright © 2017 Academic Pediatric Association. All rights reserved.

  16. Moral Coppélia - Combining ratio with affect in ethical reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pontier, M.A.; Widdershoven, G.A.M.; Hoorn, J.F.

    2012-01-01

    We present an integration of rational moral reasoning with emotional intelligence. The moral reasoning system alone could not simulate the different human reactions to the Trolley dilemma and the Footbridge dilemma. However, the combined system can simulate these human moral decision making

  17. Expert Causal Reasoning and Explanation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuipers, Benjamin

    The relationship between cognitive psychologists and researchers in artificial intelligence carries substantial benefits for both. An ongoing investigation in causal reasoning in medical problem solving systems illustrates this interaction. This paper traces a dialectic of sorts in which three different types of causal resaoning for medical…

  18. A logic for inductive probabilistic reasoning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jaeger, Manfred

    2005-01-01

    Inductive probabilistic reasoning is understood as the application of inference patterns that use statistical background information to assign (subjective) probabilities to single events. The simplest such inference pattern is direct inference: from '70% of As are Bs" and "a is an A" infer...... that a is a B with probability 0.7. Direct inference is generalized by Jeffrey's rule and the principle of cross-entropy minimization. To adequately formalize inductive probabilistic reasoning is an interesting topic for artificial intelligence, as an autonomous system acting in a complex environment may have...... to base its actions on a probabilistic model of its environment, and the probabilities needed to form this model can often be obtained by combining statistical background information with particular observations made, i.e., by inductive probabilistic reasoning. In this paper a formal framework...

  19. Integrated Case Based and Rule Based Reasoning for Decision Support

    OpenAIRE

    Eshete, Azeb Bekele

    2009-01-01

    This project is a continuation of my specialization project which was focused on studying theoretical concepts related to case based reasoning method, rule based reasoning method and integration of them. The integration of rule-based and case-based reasoning methods has shown a substantial improvement with regards to performance over the individual methods. Verdande Technology As wants to try integrating the rule based reasoning method with an existing case based system. This project focu...

  20. A qualitative meta-summary using Sandelowski and Barroso's method for integrating qualitative research to explore barriers and facilitators to self-care in heart failure patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herber, Oliver Rudolf; Bücker, Bettina; Metzendorf, Maria-Inti; Barroso, Julie

    2017-12-01

    Individual qualitative studies provide varied reasons for why heart failure patients do not engage in self-care, yet articles that aggregated primary studies on the subject have methodological weaknesses that justified the execution of a qualitative meta-summary. The aim of this study is to integrate the findings of qualitative studies pertaining to barriers and facilitators to self-care using meta-summary techniques. Qualitative meta-summary techniques by Sandelowski and Barroso were used to combine the findings of qualitative studies. Meta-summary techniques include: (1) extraction of relevant statements of findings from each report; (2) reduction of these statements into abstracted findings and (3) calculation of effect sizes. Databases were searched systematically for qualitative studies published between January 2010 and July 2015. Out of 2264 papers identified, 31 reports based on the accounts of 814 patients were included in the meta-summary. A total of 37 statements of findings provided a comprehensive inventory of findings across all reports. Out of these statements of findings, 21 were classified as barriers, 13 as facilitators and three were classed as both barriers and facilitators. The main themes relating to barriers and facilitators to self-care were: beliefs, benefits of self-care, comorbidities, financial constraints, symptom recognition, ethnic background, inconsistent self-care, insufficient information, positive and negative emotions, organizational context, past experiences, physical environment, self-initiative, self-care adverse effects, social context and personal preferences. Based on the meta-findings identified in this study, future intervention development could address these barriers and facilitators in order to further enhance self-care abilities in heart failure patients.

  1. Emotional reasoning and parent-based reasoning in normal children.

    OpenAIRE

    Morren, M.; Muris, P.; Kindt, M.

    2004-01-01

    A previous study by Muris, Merckelbach, and Van Spauwen demonstrated that children display emotional reasoning irrepective of their anxiety levels. That is when estimating whether a situation is dangerous, childen not only rely on objective danger information but also on their own anciety-response. The present study further examined emotional reasoning in childeren aged 7-13 years (N=508). In addition, it was investigated whether children also show parent-based reasoning, which can be defined...

  2. “I did not want to take that medicine”: African-Americans’ reasons for diabetes medication nonadherence and perceived solutions for enhancing adherence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shiyanbola OO

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Olayinka O Shiyanbola,1 Carolyn M Brown,2 Earlise C Ward3 1Division of Social and Administrative Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA; 2Division of Health Outcomes and Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; 3School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA Background: Diabetes is disproportionally burdensome among African-Americans (AAs and medication adherence is important for optimal outcomes. Limited studies have qualitatively examined reasons for nonadherence among AAs with type 2 diabetes, though AAs are less adherent to prescribed medications compared to whites. This study explored the reasons for medication nonadherence and adherence among AAs with type 2 diabetes and examined AAs’ perceived solutions for enhancing adherence. Methods: Forty AAs, age 45–60 years with type 2 diabetes for at least 1 year prior, taking at least one prescribed diabetes medication, participated in six semistructured 90-minute focus groups. Using a phenomenology qualitative approach, reasons for nonadherence and adherence, as well as participants’ perceived solutions for increasing adherence were explored. Qualitative content analysis was conducted. Results: AAs’ reasons for intentional nonadherence were associated with 1 their perception of medicines including concerns about medication side effects, as well as fear and frustration associated with taking medicines; 2 their perception of illness (disbelief of diabetes diagnosis; and 3 access to medicines and information resources. Participants reported taking their medicines because they valued being alive to perform their social and family roles, and their belief in the doctor’s recommendation and medication helpfulness. Participants provided solutions for enhancing adherence by focusing on the roles of health care providers, patients, and the church. AAs wanted provider counseling on the

  3. Emerging medical informatics with case-based reasoning for aiding clinical decision in multi-agent system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Ying; Colloc, Joël; Jacquet-Andrieu, Armelle; Lei, Kai

    2015-08-01

    This research aims to depict the methodological steps and tools about the combined operation of case-based reasoning (CBR) and multi-agent system (MAS) to expose the ontological application in the field of clinical decision support. The multi-agent architecture works for the consideration of the whole cycle of clinical decision-making adaptable to many medical aspects such as the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, therapeutic monitoring of gastric cancer. In the multi-agent architecture, the ontological agent type employs the domain knowledge to ease the extraction of similar clinical cases and provide treatment suggestions to patients and physicians. Ontological agent is used for the extension of domain hierarchy and the interpretation of input requests. Case-based reasoning memorizes and restores experience data for solving similar problems, with the help of matching approach and defined interfaces of ontologies. A typical case is developed to illustrate the implementation of the knowledge acquisition and restitution of medical experts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Understanding Rejection between First-and-Second-Grade Elementary Students through Reasons Expressed by Rejecters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García Bacete, Francisco J; Carrero Planes, Virginia E; Marande Perrin, Ghislaine; Musitu Ochoa, Gonzalo

    2017-01-01

    Objective: The aim of this research was to obtain the views of young children regarding their reasons for rejecting a peer. Method: To achieve this goal, we conducted a qualitative study in the context of theory building research using an analysis methodology based on Grounded Theory. The collected information was extracted through semi-structured individual interviews from a sample of 853 children aged 6 from 13 urban public schools in Spain. Results: The children provided 3,009 rejection nominations and 2,934 reasons for disliking the rejected peers. Seven reason categories emerged from the analysis. Four categories refer to behaviors of the rejected children that have a cost for individual peers or peer group such as: direct aggression, disturbance of wellbeing, problematic social and school behaviors and dominance behaviors. A further two categories refer to the identities arising from the preferences and choices of rejected and rejecter children and their peers: personal identity expressed through preferences and disliking, and social identity expressed through outgroup prejudices. The "no-behavior or no-choice" reasons were covered by one category, unfamiliarity. In addition, three context categories were found indicating the participants (interpersonal-group), the impact (low-high), and the subjectivity (subjective-objective) of the reason. Conclusion: This study provides researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive taxonomy of reasons for rejection that contributes to enrich the theoretical knowledge and improve interventions for preventing and reducing peer rejection.

  5. Drug Use and Sex Work Among At-risk Women: A Qualitative Study of Initial Factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roshanfekr, Payam; Noori, Roya; Dejman, Masoumeh; Fathi Geshnigani, Zahra; Rafiey, Hassan

    2015-06-01

    In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in performing research on drug use and sex work among at-risk women. Although there is a well-documented literature of the initial reasons associated with drug use and sex work among women, there is, however, a paucity of information in this area in Iran. This study aimed to explore the initial reasons associated with drug use and sex work in a group of female treatment seekers, who presented health-related risk behaviors, in Tehran, Iran. This qualitative study enrolled a total of 65 at-risk women, from five women-specific drug clinics, who participated in the study in 2011. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted. Focus group interviews were conducted with 10 key informants. All interviews were audio-taped and thematically written. The recorded data were analyzed using ATLASti qualitative research software version 10. The median age of the sample was 34 years. In addition, 44.6% of subjects were opiate users, and 55.4% were users of opiates and methamphetamine. Sex work was the main source of income for almost half of the sample. The most frequently reported reasons, associated with initial drug use, were extrinsic motivations, including the drug-using family, friends or social networks. Intrinsic motivations, including curiosity and individual willingness to use drugs, were other initial reasons. The most frequently reported reasons, associated with initial sex work, included the need to purchase drugs and financial problems. The study findings demonstrated a number of reasons associated with initial drug use and sex work. The role of sex work in providing drugs necessitates education and prevention. Special treatment programs should be implemented to prevent sex work among at-risk women in Iran.

  6. A scoring system for appraising mixed methods research, and concomitantly appraising qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods primary studies in Mixed Studies Reviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pluye, Pierre; Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Griffiths, Frances; Johnson-Lafleur, Janique

    2009-04-01

    A new form of literature review has emerged, Mixed Studies Review (MSR). These reviews include qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies. In the present paper, we examine MSRs in health sciences, and provide guidance on processes that should be included and reported. However, there are no valid and usable criteria for concomitantly appraising the methodological quality of the qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies. To propose criteria for concomitantly appraising the methodological quality of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies or study components. A three-step critical review was conducted. 2322 references were identified in MEDLINE, and their titles and abstracts were screened; 149 potentially relevant references were selected and the full-text papers were examined; 59 MSRs were retained and scrutinized using a deductive-inductive qualitative thematic data analysis. This revealed three types of MSR: convenience, reproducible, and systematic. Guided by a proposal, we conducted a qualitative thematic data analysis of the quality appraisal procedures used in the 17 systematic MSRs (SMSRs). Of 17 SMSRs, 12 showed clear quality appraisal procedures with explicit criteria but no SMSR used valid checklists to concomitantly appraise qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies. In two SMSRs, criteria were developed following a specific procedure. Checklists usually contained more criteria than needed. In four SMSRs, a reliability assessment was described or mentioned. While criteria for quality appraisal were usually based on descriptors that require specific methodological expertise (e.g., appropriateness), no SMSR described the fit between reviewers' expertise and appraised studies. Quality appraisal usually resulted in studies being ranked by methodological quality. A scoring system is proposed for concomitantly appraising the methodological quality of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods studies for SMSRs. This

  7. The Analysis of Geometrical Reasoning Ability Viewed from Self-Efficacy on Connected Mathematic Project (CMP Learning Etnomathematics-Based

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Desi Dwi Damaryanti

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to know the geometrical reasoning ability of the students viewed from the self-efficacy through the learning of  Connected Mathematic Project (CMP ethnomathematic-based. The type of this research was qualitative which was descriptive. To obtained the validity of the qualitative data, the checking technique used in this research was sources triangulation, which had been done by comparing the suitability of the obtained data from the results of the interview and the test. Population of this research was the students of grade VIII at SMP Negeri 1 Sidoharjo and the sample was the students from VIII A Class. At the final, 12 research subjects were chosen to represent the group of level 1 self-efficacy, level 2 self-efficacy, level 3 self-efficacy, level 4 self efficacy, level 5 self-efficacy, and level 6 self-efficacy. In this research, there was a finding which shows us that the students with high self-efficacy had low ability to finish the geometrical reasoning ability test, while the students with low self-efficacy had the ability to finish the geometrical reasoning ability test. The factors which affected the finding were the motivations and the interest of learning mathematics which was affecting the attitude of the students in the classroom.

  8. Qualitative and quantitative estimations of the effect of geomagnetic field variations on human brain functional state

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Belisheva, N.K.; Popov, A.N.; Petukhova, N.V.; Pavlova, L.P.; Osipov, K.S.; Tkachenko, S.Eh.; Baranova, T.I.

    1995-01-01

    The comparison of functional dynamics of human brain with reference to qualitative and quantitative characteristics of local geomagnetic field (GMF) variations was conducted. Steady and unsteady states of human brain can be determined: by geomagnetic disturbances before the observation period; by structure and doses of GMF variations; by different combinations of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of GMF variations. Decrease of optimal GMF activity level and the appearance of aperiodic disturbances of GMF can be a reason of unsteady brain's state. 18 refs.; 3 figs

  9. Why Do the Very Old Self-Harm? A Qualitative Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wand, Anne P F; Peisah, Carmelle; Draper, Brian; Brodaty, Henry

    2018-03-15

    To examine the perspectives of people aged 80 years or older who self-harmed regarding their reasons for self-harm and its consequences, and their perceptions of care. A qualitative study using in-depth interviews. Participants were recruited from two teaching hospitals and associated community services. People aged 80 years or older who had self-harmed within the previous month. Structured psychiatric assessment including cognitive testing, DSM-5 diagnosis, and an in-depth qualitative interview focusing upon the reasons for and consequences of self-harm. Narrative enquiry was used to guide the discussion. All interviews were undertaken by a geriatric psychiatrist, audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and subjected to thematic analysis using N-VIVO. Themes that emerged for the reasons for self-harm included "enough is enough"; "loneliness"; "disintegration of self"; "being a burden"; "cumulative adversity"; "hopelessness and endless suffering"; "helplessness with rejection"; and "the untenable situation". Themes for the consequences of self-harm were "becoming engaged with or distanced from family"; "the problem was solved"; "gaining control"; "I"m worse off now"; "rejection by health professionals"; and "tension in the role of the inpatient clinical environment". Self-harm may communicate a need that cannot otherwise be expressed. An individualized person-centered approach is required to respond to self-harm, including a combination of practical, medical, and psychological approaches as indicated. Involvement of families in the process of understanding the meaning of and responding to self-harm through education and family therapy, as well as education of healthcare professionals beyond risk factor notation may be indicated. Copyright © 2018 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. All rights reserved.

  10. Systemic barriers accessing HIV treatment among people who inject drugs in Russia: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarang, Anya; Rhodes, Tim; Sheon, Nicolas

    2013-10-01

    Achieving 'universal access' to antiretroviral HIV treatment (ART) in lower income and transitional settings is a global target. Yet, access to ART is shaped by local social condition and is by no means universal. Qualitative studies are ideally suited to describing how access to ART is socially situated. We explored systemic barriers to accessing ART among people who inject drugs (PWID) in a Russian city (Ekaterinburg) with a large burden of HIV treatment demand. We undertook 42 in-depth qualitative interviews with people living with HIV with current or recent experience of injecting drug use. Accounts were analysed thematically, and supplemented here with an illustrative case study. Three core themes were identified: 'labyrinthine bureaucracy' governing access to ART; a 'system Catch 22' created by an expectation that access to ART was conditional upon treated drug use in a setting of limited drug treatment opportunity; and 'system verticalization', where a lack of integration across HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and drug treatment compromised access to ART. Taken together, we find that systemic factors play a key role in shaping access to ART with the potential adverse effects of reproducing treatment initiation delay and disengagement from treatment. We argue that meso-level systemic factors affecting access to ART for PWID interact with wider macro-level structural forces, including those related to drug treatment policy and the social marginalization of PWID. We note the urgent need for systemic and structural changes to improve access to ART for PWID in this setting, including to simplify bureaucratic procedures, foster integrated HIV, TB and drug treatment services, and advocate for drug treatment policy reform.

  11. Case-based Reasoning in Conflict Negotiation in Concurrent Engineering

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    1999-01-01

    Case-based reasoning (CBR) is a kind of analogous reasoning that is widely used in artificial intelligence. Conflicts are pervasive in Concurrent Engineering design environment. Conflict negotiation is necessary when conflicts occur. It is difficult to resolve conflicts due to several reasons. An approach to resolving conflicts by case-based reasoning is proposed in this paper. The knowledge representation of conflict negotiation cases, the judgment of case similarity, the retrieval model of cases, the management of case bases, and the process of case-based conflict negotiation are studied. The implementation structure of the Case-based Conflict Solving System (CCSS) is also given.

  12. Determination of Reasons of Obstruction in the Condensate Stabilizer System of Namconson Gas Treatment Terminal by Radioisotope Techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bui Quang Tri; Nguyen Huu Quang; Dang Nguyen The Duy; Tran Tri Hai; Tran Thanh Minh

    2008-01-01

    The Condensate Stabilizer System of Namconson Gas Treatment Terminal was designed with operational flow rate of 60 m 3 /h but for unknown reason it ran efficiently below 20 m 3 /h. The Radiotracer in combination with Gamma Scan was used to investigate in understanding the reasons. The results showed the build up at the bottom of Trap out Tray which caused obstruction of condensate flow in the outlet of Trap out Tray. As a results the feed flow rate to Reboiler from Trap out Tray lowered into 1/3 and the remaining 2/3 by passing the Reboiler by overflow to the Sump. (author)

  13. Pertinent reasoning

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Britz, K

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper the authors venture beyond one of the fundamental assumptions in the non-monotonic reasoning community, namely that non-monotonic entailment is supra-classical. They investigate reasoning which uses an infra-classical entailment...

  14. Hospital information system utilization in Iran: a qualitative study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Ali Abbasi Moghadam

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Hospital information system (HIS should ideally allow different forms of data to be stored and used for decision making by clinicians and managers alike. This system has been developed since the early 1980's, and many hospitals gradually converted from an unrelated system into an integrated one. In successful implementation of HIS plans, the role of human factors, either individually or as a group, is expected to be very important and decisive. In this phenomenological qualitative research, in-depth personal interviews were conducted with the hospital's senior managers, and discussions were conducted in six to eight member focus groups. To include participants for interviews, purposive sampling was used in an Iranian hospital among doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers who had experience in using HIS. Data collection continued until saturation stage. The meetings took about 90 to 120 minutes, in which the participants were asked about discovering needs as well as facilitating and inhibiting factors regarding HIS application. Two members of the research team independently analyzed the interview transcripts.  As a result, problems in HIS isolation were reported to be related to the following: software, hardware, manpower, management and training. About the last point, it was stated that adequate continuing professional development programs did not exist for proper use of computers in the hospital. To achieve the ultimate goal of HISs (e.g. increasing patient satisfaction and decreasing hospital costs, it is necessary to create basic changes in the training system, and to get feedback from hospital personnel. Other steps include addressing software and hardware shortcomings as well as moving towards reinforcing the facilitating factors and refraining from inhibiting ones discovered in this study.

  15. The Spatial-Temporal Reasoning States of Children Who Play a Musical Instrument, Regarding the Mathematics Lesson: Teachers' Views

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tezer, Murat; Cumhur, Meryem; Hürsen, Emine

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study is to try to investigate the spatial-temporal reasoning states of primary school children between the ages 8 and 11 who play an instrument, regarding mathematics lessons from the teachers' views. This current study is both qualitative and quantitative in nature. In other words, the mixed research method was used in the study.…

  16. Meta-Reasoning: Monitoring and Control of Thinking and Reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ackerman, Rakefet; Thompson, Valerie A

    2017-08-01

    Meta-Reasoning refers to the processes that monitor the progress of our reasoning and problem-solving activities and regulate the time and effort devoted to them. Monitoring processes are usually experienced as feelings of certainty or uncertainty about how well a process has, or will, unfold. These feelings are based on heuristic cues, which are not necessarily reliable. Nevertheless, we rely on these feelings of (un)certainty to regulate our mental effort. Most metacognitive research has focused on memorization and knowledge retrieval, with little attention paid to more complex processes, such as reasoning and problem solving. In that context, we recently developed a Meta-Reasoning framework, used here to review existing findings, consider their consequences, and frame questions for future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Clinical Reasoning in Medicine: A Concept Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahram Yazdani

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Clinical reasoning plays an important role in the ability of physicians to make diagnoses and decisions. It is considered the physician’s most critical competence, but it is an ambiguous conceptin medicine that needs a clear analysis and definition. Our aim was to clarify the concept of clinical reasoning in medicine by identifying its components and to differentiate it from other similar concepts.It is necessary to have an operational definition of clinical reasoning, and its components must be precisely defined in order to design successful interventions and use it easily in future research.Methods: McKenna’s nine-step model was applied to facilitate the clarification of the concept of clinical reasoning. The literature for this concept analysis was retrieved from several databases, including Scopus, Elsevier, PubMed, ISI, ISC, Medline, and Google Scholar, for the years 1995– 2016 (until September 2016. An extensive search of the literature was conducted using the electronic database. Accordingly, 17 articles and one book were selected for the review. We applied McKenna’s method of concept analysis in studying clinical reasoning, so that definitional attributes, antecedents, and consequences of this concept were extracted.Results: Clinical reasoning has nine major attributes in medicine. These attributes include: (1 clinical reasoning as a cognitive process; (2 knowledge acquisition and application of different types of knowledge; (3 thinking as a part of the clinical reasoning process; (4 patient inputs; (5 contextdependent and domain-specific processes; (6 iterative and complex processes; (7 multi-modal cognitive processes; (8 professional principles; and (9 health system mandates. These attributes are influenced by the antecedents of workplace context, practice frames of reference, practice models of the practitioner, and clinical skills. The consequences of clinical reasoning are the metacognitive improvement of

  18. Public Reason Renaturalized

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tønder, Lars

    2014-01-01

    . The article develops this argument via a sensorial orientation to politics that not only re-frames existing critiques of neo-Kantianism but also includes an alternative, renaturalized conception of public reason, one that allows us to overcome the disconnect between the account we give of reason and the way......This article takes up recent discussions of nature and the sensorium in order to rethink public reason in deeply divided societies. The aim is not to reject the role of reason-giving but rather to infuse it with new meaning, bringing the reasonable back to its sensorially inflected circumstances...... it is mobilized in a world of deep pluralism. The article concludes with a discussion of how a renaturalized conception of public reason might change the positioning of contemporary democratic theory vis-a-vis the struggle for empowerment and pluralization in an age of neo-liberalism and state-surveillance....

  19. Learning clinical reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinnock, Ralph; Welch, Paul

    2014-04-01

    Errors in clinical reasoning continue to account for significant morbidity and mortality, despite evidence-based guidelines and improved technology. Experts in clinical reasoning often use unconscious cognitive processes that they are not aware of unless they explain how they are thinking. Understanding the intuitive and analytical thinking processes provides a guide for instruction. How knowledge is stored is critical to expertise in clinical reasoning. Curricula should be designed so that trainees store knowledge in a way that is clinically relevant. Competence in clinical reasoning is acquired by supervised practice with effective feedback. Clinicians must recognise the common errors in clinical reasoning and how to avoid them. Trainees can learn clinical reasoning effectively in everyday practice if teachers provide guidance on the cognitive processes involved in making diagnostic decisions. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

  20. Defeasibility in Legal Reasoning

    OpenAIRE

    SARTOR, Giovanni

    2009-01-01

    I shall first introduce the idea of reasoning, and of defeasible reasoning in particular. I shall then argue that cognitive agents need to engage in defeasible reasoning for coping with a complex and changing environment. Consequently, defeasibility is needed in practical reasoning, and in particular in legal reasoning

  1. Phronesis: practical wisdom the role of professional practice knowledge in the clinical reasoning of Bobath instructors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaughan-Graham, Julie; Cott, Cheryl

    2017-10-01

    Clinical reasoning is an essential aspect of clinical practice, however is largely ignored in the current rehabilitation sciences evidence base. Literature related to clinical reasoning and clinical expertise has evolved concurrently although rehabilitation reasoning frameworks remain relatively generic. The purpose of this study was to explicate the clinical reasoning process of Bobath instructors of a widely used neuro-rehabilitation approach, the Bobath concept. A qualitative interpretive description approach consisting of stimulated recall using video-recorded treatment sessions and in-depth interviews. Purposive sampling was used to recruit members of the International Bobath Instructors Training Association (IBITA). Interview transcripts were transcribed verbatim providing the raw data. Data analysis was progressive, iterative, and inductive. Twenty-two IBITA instructors from 7 different countries participated. Ranging in clinical experience from 12 to 40 years, and instructor experience from 1 to 35 years. Three themes were developed, (a) a Bobath clinical framework, (b) person-centered, and (c) a Bobath reasoning approach, highlighting the role of practical wisdom, phronesis in the clinical reasoning process. In particular the role of visuospatial-kinesthetic perception, an element of technical expertise, was illuminated as an integral aspect of clinical reasoning in this expert group. This study provides an interpretive understanding of the clinical reasoning process used by IBITA instructors illustrating an inactive embodied view of clinical reasoning, specifically the role of phronesis, requiring further investigation in nonexpert Bobath therapists, as well as in novice and experienced therapists in other specialty areas. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  2. Evaluation for reasonableness of power conversion system concepts in the gas turbine high temperature reactor (GTHTR300)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Minatsuki, I.; Mizokami, Y.

    2007-01-01

    The conceptual design study for the Gas Turbine High Temperature Reactor (GTHTR300) was completed in 2004. In GTHTR300, SECO (Simple, Economical Competitiveness and Originality) is advocated as design philosophy in order to minimize technical and economical requirement. Furthermore the design of the GTHTR300 was developed with reflecting various view points from utilities, manufacturers and research organizations. In GTHTR300, the horizontal turbo machine rotor, the turbo machine in a separated vessel, the turbo machine with single rotor, the generator inside the power conversion vessel, and the power conversion system without inter-coolers were selected as major power conversion system concepts. This paper describes the investigation and analysis about the major concepts of GTHTR300 power conversion system in order to evaluate reasonableness of GTHTR300 design approach and acceptability with using experience and engineering knowledge of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., which were accumulated through the activities of HTGR-GT and HTTR (High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor) designing, manufacturing, fabricating and testing. From the result of the evaluation, it was concluded that the selection of each concept in GTHTR300 was reasonable as based on the original design philosophy SECO. As a conclusion, we expect the GTHTR300 to become one of the most promising concepts for commercialization in near future. (authors)

  3. Intelligent support of X-ray qualitative analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arai, Hiroshi; Uota, Atsushi; Ishida, Hidenobu

    1995-01-01

    'X-ray Diffraction AI Qualitative Analysis System' which can support analytical operation was developed. The purpose of this development is that even a beginner analyst can obtain the accurate results as well as specialists. This system has three new functions. The first one is to determine the suitable measuring conditions automatically for samples or analytical aim. The second is to guide the method of peak search. And, the third is to determine searching conditions same as measuring conditions. These were realized by applying experts' knowledge with 'AI techniques' and were added to our qualitative analysis systems. A beginner analyses through dialogue with this system, and can get the same results as a specialist would get. (author)

  4. Diagnostic reasoning: where we've been, where we're going.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monteiro, Sandra M; Norman, Geoffrey

    2013-01-01

    Recently, clinical diagnostic reasoning has been characterized by "dual processing" models, which postulate a fast, unconscious (System 1) component and a slow, logical, analytical (System 2) component. However, there are a number of variants of this basic model, which may lead to conflicting claims. This paper critically reviews current theories and evidence about the nature of clinical diagnostic reasoning. We begin by briefly discussing the history of research in clinical reasoning. We then focus more specifically on the evidence to support dual-processing models. We conclude by identifying knowledge gaps about clinical reasoning and provide suggestions for future research. In contrast to work on analytical and nonanalytical knowledge as a basis for reasoning, these theories focus on the thinking process, not the nature of the knowledge retrieved. Ironically, this appears to be a revival of an outdated concept. Rather than defining diagnostic performance by problem-solving skills, it is now being defined by processing strategy. The version of dual processing that has received most attention in the literature in medical diagnosis might be labeled a "default/interventionist" model,(17) which suggests that a default system of cognitive processes (System 1) is responsible for cognitive biases that lead to diagnostic errors and that System 2 intervenes to correct these errors. Consequently, from this model, the best strategy for reducing errors is to make students aware of the biases and to encourage them to rely more on System 2. However, an accumulation of evidence suggests that (a) strategies directed at increasing analytical (System 2) processing, by slowing down, reducing distractions, paying conscious attention, and (b) strategies directed at making students aware of the effect of cognitive biases, have no impact on error rates. Conversely, strategies based on increasing application of relevant knowledge appear to have some success and are consistent with basic

  5. IMS IN SMES - REASONS, ADVANTAGES AND BARRIERS ON IMPLEMENTATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragan Rajković

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available Appearance of a number of management systems with various and sometimes divergent demands, demands for revise of optimal strategy on implementation of these standards in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs and the attempt on their integration into integrated management system are suggested even more. Firstly question on choice and reasons for implementation of standards is raised. Management and employees expect benefits on the implementation and they pass and minimize the implementation barriers. Basic concept on integrated management system (IMS into SMEs and analyse on reasons, advantages and barriers at IMS implementation are presented in this paper.

  6. [Teacher sick leave: Prevalence, duration, reasons and covariates].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vercambre-Jacquot, M-N; Gilbert, F; Billaudeau, N

    2018-02-01

    Absences from work have considerable social and economic impact. In the education sector, the phenomenon is particularly worrying since teacher sick leave has an impact on the overall performance of the education system. Yet, available data are scarce. In April-June 2013, 2653 teachers responded to a population-based postal survey on their quality of life (enquête Qualité de vie des enseignants, MGEN Foundation/Ministry of education, response rate 53 %). Besides questions on work environment and health, teachers were asked to describe their eventual sick leave(s) since the beginning of the school year: duration, type and medical reasons. Self-reported information was reinforced by administrative data from ministerial databases and weighted to be extrapolated to all French teachers. Tobit models adjusted for individual factors of a private nature were used to investigate different occupational risk factors of teacher sick leave, taking into account both the estimated effect on the probability of sick leave and the length of it. More than one in three teachers (36 %) reported having had at least one day of sick leave since the beginning of the school year. Respiratory/ENT diseases were the leading reason for sick leave (37 %). However, and because sick leave duration depended on the underlying health problem, such diseases came in third place among justifications of sick leave days (14 %), far behind musculoskeletal problems (27 %) and neurological and psychological disorders (25 %). Tobit models suggested that some occupational factors significantly associated with the risk of sick leave may represent promising preventive targets, including high psychological demand, workplace violence and unfavorable socio-environmental context. Our study provides objective evidence about the issue of sick leave among French teachers, highlighting the usefulness of implementing actions to minimize its weight. To this end, the study findings point-out the importance of

  7. The Effectiveness of Case-Based Reasoning: An Application in Sales Promotions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    N.A.P. Althuizen (Niek); B. Wierenga (Berend)

    2003-01-01

    textabstractThis paper deals with Case-based Reasoning (CBR) as a support technology for sales promotion (SP) decisions. CBR-systems try to mimic analogical reasoning, a form of human reasoning that is likely to occur in weakly-structured problem solving, such as the design of sales promotions. In

  8. Reasons and motivations for the option of an engineering career in Portugal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dias, Diana

    2011-08-01

    Towards the end of their secondary education, students face significant pressures in their decision about their career plan. These pressures are internal and external, personal and social, individual and from the reference group. This paper aims at understanding the reasons driving engineering students' choices, their perceived needs and aspirations. Moreover, it discusses how, in that process, students are constrained by family and friends and are conditioned by factors such as their socioeconomic and cultural background, employability prospects and gender. The construction of a career map/plan and the reasons and motivations for the option of an engineering career are reviewed, based on the qualitative analysis of students' discourses. The data indicate the relevance of several criteria such as social status, intelligence, gender, competences, values and interests in the construction of career aspirations. All these levels are highly influenced by self-esteem, which is closely related to the social value of training options and career paths.

  9. Qualitative analysis of the man-organization system in accident conditions for nuclear installations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farcasiu, Mita; Prisecaru, Ilie

    2010-01-01

    In this paper a model of the human performance investigation of accident conditions in the operation of the nuclear installation is developed. A framework for analyses of the human action in the man-organization system context is achieved. The goal of this model is to identify the possible roots causing human errors which could occur during the evolution of the accident by the qualitative analysis of the interfaces in man-organization system. These interfaces represent the main elements which characterize the implication of the organization in human performance. The results of this paper are the interfaces of the man-organization and their circumstances in which human performance could fail. Also, another result is a pre-designed framework which could help in the investigation of an accident. (authors)

  10. Safety early warning research for highway construction based on case-based reasoning and variable fuzzy sets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yan; Yi, Ting-Hua; Xu, Zhen-Jun

    2013-01-01

    As a high-risk subindustry involved in construction projects, highway construction safety has experienced major developments in the past 20 years, mainly due to the lack of safe early warnings in Chinese construction projects. By combining the current state of early warning technology with the requirements of the State Administration of Work Safety and using case-based reasoning (CBR), this paper expounds on the concept and flow of highway construction safety early warnings based on CBR. The present study provides solutions to three key issues, index selection, accident cause association analysis, and warning degree forecasting implementation, through the use of association rule mining, support vector machine classifiers, and variable fuzzy qualitative and quantitative change criterion modes, which fully cover the needs of safe early warning systems. Using a detailed description of the principles and advantages of each method and by proving the methods' effectiveness and ability to act together in safe early warning applications, effective means and intelligent technology for a safe highway construction early warning system are established.

  11. Safety Early Warning Research for Highway Construction Based on Case-Based Reasoning and Variable Fuzzy Sets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yan Liu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available As a high-risk subindustry involved in construction projects, highway construction safety has experienced major developments in the past 20 years, mainly due to the lack of safe early warnings in Chinese construction projects. By combining the current state of early warning technology with the requirements of the State Administration of Work Safety and using case-based reasoning (CBR, this paper expounds on the concept and flow of highway construction safety early warnings based on CBR. The present study provides solutions to three key issues, index selection, accident cause association analysis, and warning degree forecasting implementation, through the use of association rule mining, support vector machine classifiers, and variable fuzzy qualitative and quantitative change criterion modes, which fully cover the needs of safe early warning systems. Using a detailed description of the principles and advantages of each method and by proving the methods’ effectiveness and ability to act together in safe early warning applications, effective means and intelligent technology for a safe highway construction early warning system are established.

  12. Evaluating Secondary Students' Scientific Reasoning in Genetics Using a Two-Tier Diagnostic Instrument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsui, Chi-Yan; Treagust, David

    2010-05-01

    While genetics has remained as one key topic in school science, it continues to be conceptually and linguistically difficult for students with the concomitant debates as to what should be taught in the age of biotechnology. This article documents the development and implementation of a two-tier multiple-choice instrument for diagnosing grades 10 and 12 students' understanding of genetics in terms of reasoning. The pretest and posttest forms of the diagnostic instrument were used alongside other methods in evaluating students' understanding of genetics in a case-based qualitative study on teaching and learning with multiple representations in three Western Australian secondary schools. Previous studies have shown that a two-tier diagnostic instrument is useful in probing students' understanding or misunderstanding of scientific concepts and ideas. The diagnostic instrument in this study was designed and then progressively refined, improved, and implemented to evaluate student understanding of genetics in three case schools. The final version of the instrument had Cronbach's alpha reliability of 0.75 and 0.64, respectively, for its pretest and the posttest forms when it was administered to a group of grade 12 students (n = 17). This two-tier diagnostic instrument complemented other qualitative data collection methods in this research in generating a more holistic picture of student conceptual learning of genetics in terms of scientific reasoning. Implications of the findings of this study using the diagnostic instrument are discussed.

  13. Automated Reasoning Across Tactical Stories to Derive Lessons Learned

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Wesley Regian

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available The Military Analogical Reasoning System (MARS is a performance support system and decision aid for commanders in Tactical Operations Centers. MARS enhances and supports the innate human ability for using stories to reason about tactical goals, plans, situations, and outcomes. The system operates by comparing many instances of stored tactical stories, determining which have analogous situations and lessons learned, and then returning a description of the lessons learned. The description of the lessons learned is at a level of abstraction that can be generalized to an appropriate range of tactical situations. The machine-understandable story representation is based on a military operations data model and associated tactical situation ontology. Thus each story can be thought of, and reasoned about, as an instance of an unfolding tactical situation. The analogical reasoning algorithm is based on Gentner's Structure Mapping Theory. Consider the following two stories. In the first, a U.S. platoon in Viet Nam diverts around a minefield and subsequently comes under ambush from a large hill overlooking their new position. In the second, a U.S. task force in Iraq diverts around a biochemical hazard and subsequently comes under ambush from the roof of an abandoned building. MARS recognizes these stories as analogical, and derives the following abstraction: When enemy-placed obstacles force us into an unplanned route, beware of ambush from elevation or concealment. In this paper we describe the MARS interface, military operations data model, tactical situation ontology, and analogical reasoning algorithm.

  14. Exploration of Scholars’ Attributions of Instructional Barriers in the Context of Pedagogical-Epistemological Belief Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yılmaz SOYSAL

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available In this study, two academics’ who have been employed in a private university teaching barriers and accompanied attributional reasoning were examined in the context of their belief systems with regards to learning, teaching and knowledge. This study was conducted with a basic qualitative perspective. By means of qualitative data gathering and analysis, it was aimed at estimating how the relation between teaching barriers and attributional reasoning was influenced by pedagogical-epistemological belief systems of scholars. Qualitative data was collected through two different semi-structured interview protocols and gathered data was analyzed with an inductive and interpretivist manner. The scholars’ beliefs systems’ divergences (teacher-centered vs. learner-centered allowed to explore the presumable relation of barrier-attribution in the context of pedagogical-epistemological belief systems. It was found out that the scholar who has adopted the more learner-centered modes of teaching favors more internally-oriented, controllable and non-stable attributional styles in illustrating her barrier-attribution relation. In contrast, it was also detected that the scholar who has held more teacher-centered teaching beliefs is liable to make attributions to overly external, non-controllable and stable factors in illuminating her barrier-attribution relation. Major outcomes of the study are evaluated by means of psychological (i.e., attribution theory and instructional (pedagogical-epistemological beliefs lenses and suggestions are offered in the context of higher education.

  15. Approaches, techniques, and information technology systems in the restaurants and foodservice industry: a qualitative study in sales forecasting.

    OpenAIRE

    Green, Yvette N. J.; Weaver, Pamela A.

    2008-01-01

    This is a study of the approaches, techniques, and information technology systems utilized for restaurant sales forecasting in the full-service restaurant segment. Companies were examined using a qualitative research methods design and long interviews to gather information on approaches, techniques, and technology systems utilized in the sales forecasting process. The results of the interviews were presented along with ensuing discussion.

  16. Reasons for delaying or engaging in early sexual initiation among adolescents in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ankomah A

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Augustine Ankomah1, Fatima Mamman-Daura2, Godpower Omoregie1, Jennifer Anyanti11Society for Family Health, Abuja; 2Pathfinder International/Nigeria, Kaduna Field Office, Kaduna, NigeriaBackground: Annually, over 1 million births in Nigeria are to teenage mothers. Many of these pregnancies are unwanted and these mothers are also exposed to the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV infection. Sexual abstinence is a critical preventative health strategy. Several quantitative studies in Nigeria have identified the correlates and determinants of early sex, yet few have explored in depth the underlying reasons for early sex. This paper explores both the key factors that motivate some unmarried young people to engage in early sex and reasons why some delay.Methods: This qualitative study was based on data from 30 focus group discussions held with unmarried 14- to 19-year-olds in four geographically and culturally dispersed Nigerian states. Focus groups were stratified by sexual experience to capture variations among different subgroups.Results: Several reasons for early premarital sex were identified. The “push” factors included situations where parents exposed young female adolescents to street trading. “Pull” factors, particularly for males, included the pervasive viewing of locally produced movies, peer pressure and, for females, transactional sex (where adolescent girls exchange sex for gifts, cash, or other favors. Also noted were overtly coercive factors, including rape. There were also myths and misconceptions that “justified” early sexual initiation. Reasons cited for delay included religious injunction against premarital sex; disease prevention (especially HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; fear of pregnancy, and linked to this, the fear of dropping out of school; and, for females, the fear of bringing shame to the family, which could lead to their inability to get a "good" husband in the future.Conclusion: The differences

  17. Reasoning about plans

    CERN Document Server

    Allen, James; Pelavin, Richard; Tenenberg, Josh

    1991-01-01

    This book presents four contributions to planning research within an integrated framework. James Allen offers a survey of his research in the field of temporal reasoning, and then describes a planning system formalized and implemented directly as an inference process in the temporal logic. Starting from the same logic, Henry Kautz develops the first formal specification of the plan recognition process and develops a powerful family of algorithms for plan recognition in complex situations. Richard Pelavin then extends the temporal logic with model operators that allow the representation to

  18. Altruistic reasoning in adolescent-parent dyads considering participation in a hypothetical sexual health clinical trial for adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chávez, Noé Rubén; Williams, Camille Y; Ipp, Lisa S; Catallozzi, Marina; Rosenthal, Susan L; Breitkopf, Carmen Radecki

    2016-04-01

    Altruism is a well-established reason underlying research participation. Less is known about altruism in adolescent-parent decision-making about clinical trials enrolling healthy adolescents. This qualitative investigation focused on identifying spontaneous statements of altruism within adolescent-parent (dyadic) discussions of participation in a hypothetical phase I clinical trial related to adolescent sexual health. Content analysis revealed several response patterns to each other's altruistic reasoning. Across 70 adolescent-parent dyads in which adolescents were 14-17 years of age and 91% of their parents were mothers, a majority (61%) of dyadic discussions included a statement reflecting altruism. Parents responded to adolescents' statements of altruism more frequently than adolescents responded to parents' statements. Responses included: expresses concern, reiterates altruistic reasoning, agrees with altruistic reasoning, and adds to/expands altruistic reasoning. Since an altruistic perspective was often balanced with concerns about risk or study procedures, researchers cannot assume that altruism will directly lead to study participation. Optimizing the informed consent process for early phase clinical trials involving healthy adolescents may include supporting parents to have conversations with their adolescents which will enhance their capacity to consider all aspects of trial participation.

  19. Using Discourse Analysis to Understand Variation in Students' Reasoning from Accepted Ways of Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruver, John

    2017-01-01

    In this study, I use a systemic functional linguistics approach to examine mathematics classroom discourse with the aim of providing a plausible explanation of how students could actively participate in productive classroom discussions without adopting ways of reasoning that were accepted in the classroom community. In this way, I work in the…

  20. EUROCONTROL-Systemic Occurrence Analysis Methodology (SOAM)-A 'Reason'-based organisational methodology for analysing incidents and accidents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Licu, Tony; Cioran, Florin; Hayward, Brent; Lowe, Andrew

    2007-01-01

    The Safety Occurrence Analysis Methodology (SOAM) developed for EUROCONTROL is an accident investigation methodology based on the Reason Model of organisational accidents. The purpose of a SOAM is to broaden the focus of an investigation from human involvement issues, also known as 'active failures of operational personnel' under Reason's original model, to include analysis of the latent conditions deeper within the organisation that set the context for the event. Such an approach is consistent with the tenets of Just Culture in which people are encouraged to provide full and open information about how incidents occurred, and are not penalised for errors. A truly systemic approach is not simply a means of transferring responsibility for a safety occurrence from front-line employees to senior managers. A consistent philosophy must be applied, where the investigation process seeks to correct deficiencies wherever they may be found, without attempting to apportion blame or liability

  1. Developing Students' Critical Reasoning About Online Health Information: A Capabilities Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiblom, Jonna; Rundgren, Carl-Johan; Andrée, Maria

    2017-11-01

    The internet has become a main source for health-related information retrieval. In addition to information published by medical experts, individuals share their personal experiences and narratives on blogs and social media platforms. Our increasing need to confront and make meaning of various sources and conflicting health information has challenged the way critical reasoning has become relevant in science education. This study addresses how the opportunities for students to develop and practice their capabilities to critically approach online health information can be created in science education. Together with two upper secondary biology teachers, we carried out a design-based study. The participating students were given an online retrieval task that included a search and evaluation of health-related online sources. After a few lessons, the students were introduced to an evaluation tool designed to support critical evaluation of health information online. Using qualitative content analysis, four themes could be discerned in the audio and video recordings of student interactions when engaging with the task. Each theme illustrates the different ways in which critical reasoning became practiced in the student groups. Without using the evaluation tool, the students struggled to overview the vast amount of information and negotiate trustworthiness. Guided by the evaluation tool, critical reasoning was practiced to handle source subjectivity and to sift out scientific information only. Rather than a generic skill and transferable across contexts, students' critical reasoning became conditioned by the multi-dimensional nature of health issues, the blend of various contexts and the shift of purpose constituted by the students.

  2. Retrieval with Clustering in a Case-Based Reasoning System for Radiotherapy Treatment Planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khussainova, Gulmira; Petrovic, Sanja; Jagannathan, Rupa

    2015-05-01

    Radiotherapy treatment planning aims to deliver a sufficient radiation dose to cancerous tumour cells while sparing healthy organs in the tumour surrounding area. This is a trial and error process highly dependent on the medical staff's experience and knowledge. Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) is an artificial intelligence tool that uses past experiences to solve new problems. A CBR system has been developed to facilitate radiotherapy treatment planning for brain cancer. Given a new patient case the existing CBR system retrieves a similar case from an archive of successfully treated patient cases with the suggested treatment plan. The next step requires adaptation of the retrieved treatment plan to meet the specific demands of the new case. The CBR system was tested by medical physicists for the new patient cases. It was discovered that some of the retrieved cases were not suitable and could not be adapted for the new cases. This motivated us to revise the retrieval mechanism of the existing CBR system by adding a clustering stage that clusters cases based on their tumour positions. A number of well-known clustering methods were investigated and employed in the retrieval mechanism. Results using real world brain cancer patient cases have shown that the success rate of the new CBR retrieval is higher than that of the original system.

  3. Retrieval with Clustering in a Case-Based Reasoning System for Radiotherapy Treatment Planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khussainova, Gulmira; Petrovic, Sanja; Jagannathan, Rupa

    2015-01-01

    Radiotherapy treatment planning aims to deliver a sufficient radiation dose to cancerous tumour cells while sparing healthy organs in the tumour surrounding area. This is a trial and error process highly dependent on the medical staff's experience and knowledge. Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) is an artificial intelligence tool that uses past experiences to solve new problems. A CBR system has been developed to facilitate radiotherapy treatment planning for brain cancer. Given a new patient case the existing CBR system retrieves a similar case from an archive of successfully treated patient cases with the suggested treatment plan. The next step requires adaptation of the retrieved treatment plan to meet the specific demands of the new case. The CBR system was tested by medical physicists for the new patient cases. It was discovered that some of the retrieved cases were not suitable and could not be adapted for the new cases. This motivated us to revise the retrieval mechanism of the existing CBR system by adding a clustering stage that clusters cases based on their tumour positions. A number of well-known clustering methods were investigated and employed in the retrieval mechanism. Results using real world brain cancer patient cases have shown that the success rate of the new CBR retrieval is higher than that of the original system. (paper)

  4. University Students' Knowledge Structures and Informal Reasoning on the Use of Genetically Modified Foods: Multidimensional Analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Ying-Tien

    2013-10-01

    This study aims to provide insights into the role of learners' knowledge structures about a socio-scientific issue (SSI) in their informal reasoning on the issue. A total of 42 non-science major university students' knowledge structures and informal reasoning were assessed with multidimensional analyses. With both qualitative and quantitative analyses, this study revealed that those students with more extended and better-organized knowledge structures, as well as those who more frequently used higher-order information processing modes, were more oriented towards achieving a higher-level informal reasoning quality. The regression analyses further showed that the "richness" of the students' knowledge structures explained 25 % of the variation in their rebuttal construction, an important indicator of reasoning quality, indicating the significance of the role of students' sophisticated knowledge structure in SSI reasoning. Besides, this study also provides some initial evidence for the significant role of the "core" concept within one's knowledge structure in one's SSI reasoning. The findings in this study suggest that, in SSI-based instruction, science instructors should try to identify students' core concepts within their prior knowledge regarding the SSI, and then they should try to guide students to construct and structure relevant concepts or ideas regarding the SSI based on their core concepts. Thus, students could obtain extended and well-organized knowledge structures, which would then help them achieve better learning transfer in dealing with SSIs.

  5. Stereotypical Reasoning: Logical Properties

    OpenAIRE

    Lehmann, Daniel

    2002-01-01

    Stereotypical reasoning assumes that the situation at hand is one of a kind and that it enjoys the properties generally associated with that kind of situation. It is one of the most basic forms of nonmonotonic reasoning. A formal model for stereotypical reasoning is proposed and the logical properties of this form of reasoning are studied. Stereotypical reasoning is shown to be cumulative under weak assumptions.

  6. Analysis of students’ mathematical reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sukirwan; Darhim; Herman, T.

    2018-01-01

    The reasoning is one of the mathematical abilities that have very complex implications. This complexity causes reasoning including abilities that are not easily attainable by students. Similarly, studies dealing with reason are quite diverse, primarily concerned with the quality of mathematical reasoning. The objective of this study was to determine the quality of mathematical reasoning based perspective Lithner. Lithner looked at how the environment affects the mathematical reasoning. In this regard, Lithner made two perspectives, namely imitative reasoning and creative reasoning. Imitative reasoning can be memorized and algorithmic reasoning. The Result study shows that although the students generally still have problems in reasoning. Students tend to be on imitative reasoning which means that students tend to use a routine procedure when dealing with reasoning. It is also shown that the traditional approach still dominates on the situation of students’ daily learning.

  7. Underdeveloped Themes in Qualitative Research: Relationship With Interviews and Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connelly, Lynne M; Peltzer, Jill N

    2016-01-01

    In this methodological article, the authors address the problem of underdeveloped themes in qualitative studies they have reviewed. Various possible reasons for underdeveloped themes are examined, and suggestions offered. Each problem area is explored, and literature support is provided. The suggestions that are offered are supported by the literature as well. The problem with underdeveloped themes in certain articles is related to 3 interconnected issues: (a) lack of clear relationship to the underlying research method, (b) an apparent lack of depth in interviewing techniques, and (c) lack of depth in the analysis. Underdeveloped themes in a qualitative study can lead to a lack of substantive findings that have meaningful implications for practice, research, and the nursing profession, as well as the rejection of articles for publication. Fully developed themes require knowledge about the paradigm of qualitative research, the methodology that is proposed, the effective techniques of interviewing that can produce rich data with examples and experiences, and analysis that goes beyond superficial reporting of what the participants have said. Analytic problem areas include premature closure, anxiety about how to analyze, and confusion about categories and themes. Effective qualitative research takes time and effort and is not as easy as is sometimes presumed. The usefulness of findings depends on researchers improving their research skills and practices. Increasingly researchers are using qualitative research to explore clinically important issues. As consumers of research or members of a research team, clinical nurse specialists need to understand the nature of this research that can provide in-depth insight and meaning.

  8. Educational Accountability: A Qualitatively Driven Mixed-Methods Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Jori N.; Ryan, Katherine E.

    2011-01-01

    This article discusses the importance of mixed-methods research, in particular the value of qualitatively driven mixed-methods research for quantitatively driven domains like educational accountability. The article demonstrates the merits of qualitative thinking by describing a mixed-methods study that focuses on a middle school's system of…

  9. A defeasible reasoning approach for description logic ontologies

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Moodley, K

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Classical reasoning for logic-based KR (Knowledge Representation) systems is in general, monotonic. That is, there is an assumption in these systems that there is complete information about a domain. This means that they generally cannot deal...

  10. Analytic and heuristic processing influences on adolescent reasoning and decision-making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klaczynski, P A

    2001-01-01

    The normative/descriptive gap is the discrepancy between actual reasoning and traditional standards for reasoning. The relationship between age and the normative/descriptive gap was examined by presenting adolescents with a battery of reasoning and decision-making tasks. Middle adolescents (N = 76) performed closer to normative ideals than early adolescents (N = 66), although the normative/descriptive gap was large for both groups. Correlational analyses revealed that (1) normative responses correlated positively with each other, (2) nonnormative responses were positively interrelated, and (3) normative and nonnormative responses were largely independent. Factor analyses suggested that performance was based on two processing systems. The "analytic" system operates on "decontextualized" task representations and underlies conscious, computational reasoning. The "heuristic" system operates on "contextualized," content-laden representations and produces "cognitively cheap" responses that sometimes conflict with traditional norms. Analytic processing was more clearly linked to age and to intelligence than heuristic processing. Implications for cognitive development, the competence/performance issue, and rationality are discussed.

  11. Exploring the effectiveness of obstetrics and gynecology information systems in hospitals of a developing country: A qualitative content analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hassan Babamohamadi

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Obstetrics and gynecology information systems are designed to replace paper charts, interact with other clinical wards of hospital, and to better care for patients. This qualitative study was performed to explore the perception of midwives about the effectiveness of information systems. In this qualitative study, data were collected through semistructured and in-depth interviews and analyzed by content analysis and constant comparison method. Participants were 15 midwives from obstetrics and gynecology units of affiliated hospitals of Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Purposeful sampling method was used and continued until data saturation. The several themes that emerged from the interviews were divided into strength and weak points. Strength points included the facilitating the recording of information, reduction of costs and time, and the weakness points were repetition of tasks, low computer literacy of the staff, system restrictions on recording and editing, the unavailability of system and reduced the role of midwives in patient care. Midwives were faced with challenges in the use of information systems indicating the lack of quality of the information system. It seems that reinforcing strength points and resolving hardware and software problems can increase obstetrics and gynecology staff’s acceptance of this information system and reduce their cultural resistance toward it.

  12. Qualitative methods in nuclear reactor dynamics. Issue 23

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goryachenko, V.D.

    1983-01-01

    Applicability of qualitative methods of the theory of nonlinear oscillations including the bifurcation theory to the problems of nuclear reactor nonlinear dynamics is investigated. Basic statements of the dynamic system qualitative theory on a phase plane and the bifurcation theory of multidimensional dynamic systems are briefly outlined. The model of reactor dynamics with two reactivity temperature coefficients neglecting delayed neutrons, the model of slow process dynamics in a reactor with two reactivity temperature coefficients, the simplified model of reactor dynamics as an object with delay and the model of a reactor with linear feedback are considered. A conclusion is drawn that the usage of the above models allows one to reveal qualitative peculiarities of reactor dynamics creating conditions for more purposeful utilization of more complicated models

  13. Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings-paper 2: how to make an overall CERQual assessment of confidence and create a Summary of Qualitative Findings table.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewin, Simon; Bohren, Meghan; Rashidian, Arash; Munthe-Kaas, Heather; Glenton, Claire; Colvin, Christopher J; Garside, Ruth; Noyes, Jane; Booth, Andrew; Tunçalp, Özge; Wainwright, Megan; Flottorp, Signe; Tucker, Joseph D; Carlsen, Benedicte

    2018-01-25

    The GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach has been developed by the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) Working Group. The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision making, including guideline development and policy formulation. CERQual includes four components for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from reviews of qualitative research (also referred to as qualitative evidence syntheses): (1) methodological limitations, (2) coherence, (3) adequacy of data and (4) relevance. This paper is part of a series providing guidance on how to apply CERQual and focuses on making an overall assessment of confidence in a review finding and creating a CERQual Evidence Profile and a CERQual Summary of Qualitative Findings table. We developed this guidance by examining the methods used by other GRADE approaches, gathering feedback from relevant research communities and developing consensus through project group meetings. We then piloted the guidance on several qualitative evidence syntheses before agreeing on the approach. Confidence in the evidence is an assessment of the extent to which a review finding is a reasonable representation of the phenomenon of interest. Creating a summary of each review finding and deciding whether or not CERQual should be used are important steps prior to assessing confidence. Confidence should be assessed for each review finding individually, based on the judgements made for each of the four CERQual components. Four levels are used to describe the overall assessment of confidence: high, moderate, low or very low. The overall CERQual assessment for each review finding should be explained in a CERQual Evidence Profile and Summary of Qualitative Findings table. Structuring and summarising review findings, assessing confidence in those findings using CERQual and creating a CERQual Evidence

  14. Reasoning in Design: Idea Generation Condition Effects on Reasoning Processes and Evaluation of Ideas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cramer-Petersen, Claus Lundgaard; Ahmed-Kristensen, Saeema

    2015-01-01

    to investigate idea generation sessions of two industry cases. Reasoning was found to appear in sequences of alternating reasoning types where the initiating reasoning type was decisive. The study found that abductive reasoning led to more radical ideas, whereas deductive reasoning led to ideas being for project...... requirements, but having a higher proportion being rejected as not valuable. The study sheds light on the conditions that promote these reasoning types. The study is one of the first of its kind and advances an understanding of reasoning in design by empirical means and suggests a relationship between......Reasoning is at the core of design activity and thinking. Thus, understanding and explaining reasoning in design is fundamental to understand and support design practice. This paper investigates reasoning in design and its relationship to varying foci at the stage of idea generation and subsequent...

  15. Facilitating problem-based learning among undergraduate nursing students: A qualitative systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wosinski, Jacqueline; Belcher, Anne E; Dürrenberger, Yvan; Allin, Anne-Claude; Stormacq, Coraline; Gerson, Linda

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify and synthesize the best available evidence on the perspective of undergraduate nursing students on facilitating elements that contribute to their success with PBL. a qualitative systematic review of the literature according to meta-aggregative methodology using the JBI SUMARI system was conducted. Data was collected across CINAHL, Medline, Embase, Eric, Teacher Reference Center and reference lists. Out of 378 articles, 101 were retrieved for examination and eight were retained after methodological analysis. 51 findings, matched with a verbatim, were extracted and aggregated in five categories: 1) in PBL, the nursing tutor models clinical reasoning and leadership skills; 2) the quality of group interactions is critical to the success of nursing students with PBL; 3) nursing students go through the process of learning with PBL; 4) through PBL, nursing students acquire skills that foster clinical reasoning; and 5) when the PBL method is used as intended, nursing students understand its purpose and process. These categories were aggregated in two syntheses worded as recommendation for practice. The synthesized recommendations are: 1) tutors should be trained to effectively guide the team work of undergraduate nursing students along the PBL process in order for them to achieve its goal; and 2) nursing students should be securely introduced to PBL and experience the development of their clinical reasoning through PBL. Future research should focus on the strategies undergraduate nursing students use to succeed with PBL and the effectiveness of PBL in enhancing critical thinking and collaboration skills. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  16. Multimodal hybrid reasoning methodology for personalized wellbeing services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Rahman; Afzal, Muhammad; Hussain, Maqbool; Ali, Maqbool; Siddiqi, Muhammad Hameed; Lee, Sungyoung; Ho Kang, Byeong

    2016-02-01

    A wellness system provides wellbeing recommendations to support experts in promoting a healthier lifestyle and inducing individuals to adopt healthy habits. Adopting physical activity effectively promotes a healthier lifestyle. A physical activity recommendation system assists users to adopt daily routines to form a best practice of life by involving themselves in healthy physical activities. Traditional physical activity recommendation systems focus on general recommendations applicable to a community of users rather than specific individuals. These recommendations are general in nature and are fit for the community at a certain level, but they are not relevant to every individual based on specific requirements and personal interests. To cover this aspect, we propose a multimodal hybrid reasoning methodology (HRM) that generates personalized physical activity recommendations according to the user׳s specific needs and personal interests. The methodology integrates the rule-based reasoning (RBR), case-based reasoning (CBR), and preference-based reasoning (PBR) approaches in a linear combination that enables personalization of recommendations. RBR uses explicit knowledge rules from physical activity guidelines, CBR uses implicit knowledge from experts׳ past experiences, and PBR uses users׳ personal interests and preferences. To validate the methodology, a weight management scenario is considered and experimented with. The RBR part of the methodology generates goal, weight status, and plan recommendations, the CBR part suggests the top three relevant physical activities for executing the recommended plan, and the PBR part filters out irrelevant recommendations from the suggested ones using the user׳s personal preferences and interests. To evaluate the methodology, a baseline-RBR system is developed, which is improved first using ranged rules and ultimately using a hybrid-CBR. A comparison of the results of these systems shows that hybrid-CBR outperforms the

  17. A qualitative study of clinical reasoning in physiotherapy with preterm infants and their parents: Action and interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Håkstad, Ragnhild B; Obstfelder, Aud; Øberg, Gunn Kristin

    2018-09-01

    Physiotherapists (PTs) in primary health care provide services to preterm infants and their parents after hospital discharge. The service should be collaborative and individualized to meet the family's needs. In this study, we analyze pediatric PTs' collaborative work in the clinical setting and investigate the PTs' emerging clinical reasoning (CR) in interaction with the infant and parent(s). The study is based on observations of 20 physical therapy sessions and 20 interviews with PTs. We performed a systematic content analysis informed by enactive theory regarding the interactions and co-creation of meaning. CR emerged in reciprocity with the PTs' interaction with the infant and parent(s). Based on the sensitivity to the infant's motor abilities and signs of engagement as well as the parents' need of support and education, the PTs individualized and reasoned about their therapeutic approach. This interactional CR was vulnerable: infant disengagement, parent expectations, and PT preoccupations could obfuscate interactions and hamper CR. Through mutuality and engagement with the infant and parent(s), the PTs allow the autonomy of interaction to emerge and shape the translation of CR into successful therapeutic actions and learning together with the infant and parent(s).

  18. Neural bases of motivated reasoning: an FMRI study of emotional constraints on partisan political judgment in the 2004 U.S. Presidential election.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westen, Drew; Blagov, Pavel S; Harenski, Keith; Kilts, Clint; Hamann, Stephan

    2006-11-01

    Research on political judgment and decision-making has converged with decades of research in clinical and social psychology suggesting the ubiquity of emotion-biased motivated reasoning. Motivated reasoning is a form of implicit emotion regulation in which the brain converges on judgments that minimize negative and maximize positive affect states associated with threat to or attainment of motives. To what extent motivated reasoning engages neural circuits involved in "cold" reasoning and conscious emotion regulation (e.g., suppression) is, however, unknown. We used functional neuroimaging to study the neural responses of 30 committed partisans during the U.S. Presidential election of 2004. We presented subjects with reasoning tasks involving judgments about information threatening to their own candidate, the opposing candidate, or neutral control targets. Motivated reasoning was associated with activations of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, insular cortex, and lateral orbital cortex. As predicted, motivated reasoning was not associated with neural activity in regions previously linked to cold reasoning tasks and conscious (explicit) emotion regulation. The findings provide the first neuroimaging evidence for phenomena variously described as motivated reasoning, implicit emotion regulation, and psychological defense. They suggest that motivated reasoning is qualitatively distinct from reasoning when people do not have a strong emotional stake in the conclusions reached.

  19. A Qualitative Simulation Framework in Smalltalk Based on Fuzzy Arithmetic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richard L. Olson; Daniel L. Schmoldt; David L. Peterson

    1996-01-01

    For many systems, it is not practical to collect and correlate empirical data necessary to formulate a mathematical model. However, it is often sufficient to predict qualitative dynamics effects (as opposed to system quantities), especially for research purposes. In this effort, an object-oriented application framework (AF) was developed for the qualitative modeling of...

  20. Оbjects of qualitative approach in accounting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T.F. Plahtiy

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The construction necessity of a hierarchy of objects of qualitative approach in accounting have been grounded. Twelve main researcher’s approaches regarding selection of objects of qualitative approach in accounting have been allocated. The main problem of further use of qualitative approach in accounting have been allocated. Nature and causes of «accounting and analytical information» as the highlighted term have been grounded. The features of understanding of the essence of accounting quality as a system and process have been determined. The approaches of scientists to understanding the quality of accounting product and accounting information resource have been analyzed. The author’s interpretation of the concept of «quality of financial statements» have been suggested. The features of understanding the quality of earnings in the writings of scholars of Anglo-American and Western European accounting schools have been researched. The features of determining the quality of assets in the banking institutions have been disclosed. The existence of the multiobject phenomenon of qualitative approach in accounting, which affects the process of construction of system for evaluating the quality of accounting information have been grounded.

  1. Applying GRADE-CERQual to qualitative evidence synthesis findings: introduction to the series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewin, Simon; Booth, Andrew; Glenton, Claire; Munthe-Kaas, Heather; Rashidian, Arash; Wainwright, Megan; Bohren, Meghan A; Tunçalp, Özge; Colvin, Christopher J; Garside, Ruth; Carlsen, Benedicte; Langlois, Etienne V; Noyes, Jane

    2018-01-25

    The GRADE-CERQual ('Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research') approach provides guidance for assessing how much confidence to place in findings from systematic reviews of qualitative research (or qualitative evidence syntheses). The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision-making, including guideline development and policy formulation. Confidence in the evidence from qualitative evidence syntheses is an assessment of the extent to which a review finding is a reasonable representation of the phenomenon of interest. CERQual provides a systematic and transparent framework for assessing confidence in individual review findings, based on consideration of four components: (1) methodological limitations, (2) coherence, (3) adequacy of data, and (4) relevance. A fifth component, dissemination (or publication) bias, may also be important and is being explored. As with the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) approach for effectiveness evidence, CERQual suggests summarising evidence in succinct, transparent, and informative Summary of Qualitative Findings tables. These tables are designed to communicate the review findings and the CERQual assessment of confidence in each finding. This article is the first of a seven-part series providing guidance on how to apply the CERQual approach. In this paper, we describe the rationale and conceptual basis for CERQual, the aims of the approach, how the approach was developed, and its main components. We also outline the purpose and structure of this series and discuss the growing role for qualitative evidence in decision-making. Papers 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 in this series discuss each CERQual component, including the rationale for including the component in the approach, how the component is conceptualised, and how it should be assessed. Paper 2 discusses how to make an overall assessment of confidence in a review

  2. Physicians' perceptions of medical representative visits in Yemen: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Areefi, Mahmoud Abdullah; Hassali, Mohamed Azmi; Ibrahim, Mohamed Izham b Mohamed

    2013-08-20

    The pharmaceutical industry invests heavily in promotion, and it uses a variety of promotional strategies to influence physicians' prescribing decisions. Within this context, medical representatives (MRs) are the key personnel employed in promoting their products. One significant consequence of the interactions between physicians and medical representatives is a conflict of interests which may contribute to the over prescribing of medications and thus negative effects on patients' health and economics. There is limited detailed information published on the reasons why physicians interact with pharmaceutical representatives. This study aims to qualitatively explore physicians' attitudes about interactions with medical representatives and their reasons for accepting the medical representatives' visits. In-depth interviews were used to gain a better understanding of physicians' perceptions of medical representative visits. A total of 32 physicians from both private and public hospitals were interviewed. The recordings of the interviews were transcribed verbatim and subject to thematic analysis using a framework analysis approach. The present qualitative study found that the majority of the physicians had positive interactions with medical representatives. The physicians' main reasons stated for allowing medical representatives' visits are the social contacts and mutual benefits they will gain from these representatives. They also emphasized that the meeting with representatives provides educational and scientific benefits. A few physicians stated that the main reasons behind refusing the meeting with medical representatives were lack of conviction about the product and obligation to prescribe medicine from the representative company. Most of the physicians believed that they were under marketing pressure to prescribe certain medicines. Although physicians are aware that the medical representatives could influence their prescribing decision, they welcome

  3. An integrated model of clinical reasoning: dual-process theory of cognition and metacognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marcum, James A

    2012-10-01

    Clinical reasoning is an important component for providing quality medical care. The aim of the present paper is to develop a model of clinical reasoning that integrates both the non-analytic and analytic processes of cognition, along with metacognition. The dual-process theory of cognition (system 1 non-analytic and system 2 analytic processes) and the metacognition theory are used to develop an integrated model of clinical reasoning. In the proposed model, clinical reasoning begins with system 1 processes in which the clinician assesses a patient's presenting symptoms, as well as other clinical evidence, to arrive at a differential diagnosis. Additional clinical evidence, if necessary, is acquired and analysed utilizing system 2 processes to assess the differential diagnosis, until a clinical decision is made diagnosing the patient's illness and then how best to proceed therapeutically. Importantly, the outcome of these processes feeds back, in terms of metacognition's monitoring function, either to reinforce or to alter cognitive processes, which, in turn, enhances synergistically the clinician's ability to reason quickly and accurately in future consultations. The proposed integrated model has distinct advantages over other models proposed in the literature for explicating clinical reasoning. Moreover, it has important implications for addressing the paradoxical relationship between experience and expertise, as well as for designing a curriculum to teach clinical reasoning skills. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  4. Concept Mapping zur Unterstützung der differentialdiagnostischen Hypothesenbildung im fallbasierten Online-Lernsystem CASUS: Qualitative Verbesserung der Diagnosefindung durch ICD-10 Kodierung [Concept mapping for supporting the differential diagnostic generation of hypotheses in the case-based online learning system CASUS: Qualitative improvement of dagnostic performance through ICD-10 coding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kernt, Marcus

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available [english] Introduction: Concept mapping tools have long been established in medical education as an aid for visualizing learning processes in computer-based programs. The case-based learning system CASUS with its mapping tool for visualizing the differential diagnostic reasoning process is an example. It was shown that such tools are well accepted by users and lead to an increased number of diagnostic hypotheses being visualized as maps. However, there is scarce evidence on the quality of user-generated diagnostic hypotheses. This study examines the quality of diagnostic hypotheses obtained with CASUS and whether the quality can be improved through ICD-10 coding as compared with an expert’s solution. Methods: We randomized 192 third-year medical students at the University of Munich into two groups. The students worked in groups of two on one computer. Group A was asked to code their diagnostic hypotheses with an ICD-10 coding browser before entering them into the mapping tool. Group B generated their hypotheses without prior ICD-10 coding. The differential diagnostic reasoning visualizations were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. An expert solution was used as reference. Results: Eighty-seven differential diagnoses were evaluated. Group A, using ICD-10 coding, made the correct and precise diagnosis of malaria tropica significantly more often than Group B (p < 0.05. For additional alternative diagnostic hypotheses, no quantitative or qualitative differences were detected. Conclusions: ICD-10 coding in connection with a mapping tool supporting the diagnostic reasoning process improved the accuracy of diagnostic performance in third-year medical students in the case of malaria tropica. [german] Einleitung: Der Einsatz von Concept-Mapping-Tools in computergestützten Lernprogrammen ist in der medizinischen Ausbildung etabliert: Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass diese Werkzeuge zur Visualisierung von Differentialdiagnosen vom Anwender

  5. Clinical Reasoning: Survey of Teaching Methods, Integration, and Assessment in Entry-Level Physical Therapist Academic Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christensen, Nicole; Black, Lisa; Furze, Jennifer; Huhn, Karen; Vendrely, Ann; Wainwright, Susan

    2017-02-01

    Although clinical reasoning abilities are important learning outcomes of physical therapist entry-level education, best practice standards have not been established to guide clinical reasoning curricular design and learning assessment. This research explored how clinical reasoning is currently defined, taught, and assessed in physical therapist entry-level education programs. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was administered to physical therapist program representatives. An electronic 24-question survey was distributed to the directors of 207 programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. Descriptive statistical analysis and qualitative content analysis were performed. Post hoc demographic and wave analyses revealed no evidence of nonresponse bias. A response rate of 46.4% (n=96) was achieved. All respondents reported that their programs incorporated clinical reasoning into their curricula. Only 25% of respondents reported a common definition of clinical reasoning in their programs. Most respondents (90.6%) reported that clinical reasoning was explicit in their curricula, and 94.8% indicated that multiple methods of curricular integration were used. Instructor-designed materials were most commonly used to teach clinical reasoning (83.3%). Assessment of clinical reasoning included practical examinations (99%), clinical coursework (94.8%), written examinations (87.5%), and written assignments (83.3%). Curricular integration of clinical reasoning-related self-reflection skills was reported by 91%. A large number of incomplete surveys affected the response rate, and the program directors to whom the survey was sent may not have consulted the faculty members who were most knowledgeable about clinical reasoning in their curricula. The survey construction limited some responses and application of the results. Although clinical reasoning was explicitly integrated into program curricula, it was not consistently defined, taught, or

  6. Historical reasoning: towards a framework for analyzing students' reasoning about the past

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Drie, J.; van Boxtel, C.

    2008-01-01

    This article explores historical reasoning, an important activity in history learning. Based upon an extensive review of empirical literature on students’ thinking and reasoning about history, a theoretical framework of historical reasoning is proposed. The framework consists of six components:

  7. Qualitative spatial logic descriptors from 3D indoor scenes to generate explanations in natural language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falomir, Zoe; Kluth, Thomas

    2018-05-01

    The challenge of describing 3D real scenes is tackled in this paper using qualitative spatial descriptors. A key point to study is which qualitative descriptors to use and how these qualitative descriptors must be organized to produce a suitable cognitive explanation. In order to find answers, a survey test was carried out with human participants which openly described a scene containing some pieces of furniture. The data obtained in this survey are analysed, and taking this into account, the QSn3D computational approach was developed which uses a XBox 360 Kinect to obtain 3D data from a real indoor scene. Object features are computed on these 3D data to identify objects in indoor scenes. The object orientation is computed, and qualitative spatial relations between the objects are extracted. These qualitative spatial relations are the input to a grammar which applies saliency rules obtained from the survey study and generates cognitive natural language descriptions of scenes. Moreover, these qualitative descriptors can be expressed as first-order logical facts in Prolog for further reasoning. Finally, a validation study is carried out to test whether the descriptions provided by QSn3D approach are human readable. The obtained results show that their acceptability is higher than 82%.

  8. Approximate reasoning in decision analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gupta, M M; Sanchez, E

    1982-01-01

    The volume aims to incorporate the recent advances in both theory and applications. It contains 44 articles by 74 contributors from 17 different countries. The topics considered include: membership functions; composite fuzzy relations; fuzzy logic and inference; classifications and similarity measures; expert systems and medical diagnosis; psychological measurements and human behaviour; approximate reasoning and decision analysis; and fuzzy clustering algorithms.

  9. Macroeconomic Reasons of Debts in Polish Health Service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamila Szymańska

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the problem of debts in polish health service. Author analyzes the macroeconomic reasons of this situation. As a main reasons are indicated: a specificity of the health service market, which leads to a inefficient allocation of health services, lack of reliable data on health care system, too low level of public expenditure on a health care, inappropriate allocation of public capital and a monopolistic position of the payer.

  10. Paraconsistency, Pluralistic Models and Reasoning in Climate Science

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bryson Brown

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Scientific inquiry is typically focused on particular questions about particular objects and properties.  This leads to a multiplicity of models which, even when they draw on a single, consistent body of concepts and principles, often employ different methods and assumptions to model different systems.  Pluralists have remarked on how scientists draw on different assumptions to model different systems, different aspects of systems and systems under different conditions and defended the value of distinct, incompatible models within science at any given time. (Cartwright, 1999; Chang, 2012 Paraconsistentists have proposed logical strategies to avoid trivialization when inconsistencies arise by a variety of means.(Batens, 2001; Brown, 1990; Brown, 2002  Here we examine how chunk and permeate, a simple approach to paraconsistent reasoning which avoids heterodox logic by confining commitments to separate contexts in which reasoning with them is taken to be reliable while allowing ‘permeation’ of some conclusions into other contexts, can help to systematize pluralistic reasoning across the boundaries of plural contexts, using regional climate models as an example.(Benham et al., 2014; Brown & Priest 2004, 2015  The result is a kind of unity for science—but a unity achieved by the constrained exchange of specified information between different contexts, rather than the closure of all commitments under some paraconsistent consequence relation. 

  11. Icon arrays help younger children's proportional reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruggeri, Azzurra; Vagharchakian, Laurianne; Xu, Fei

    2018-06-01

    We investigated the effects of two context variables, presentation format (icon arrays or numerical frequencies) and time limitation (limited or unlimited time), on the proportional reasoning abilities of children aged 7 and 10 years, as well as adults. Participants had to select, between two sets of tokens, the one that offered the highest likelihood of drawing a gold token, that is, the set of elements with the greater proportion of gold tokens. Results show that participants performed better in the unlimited time condition. Moreover, besides a general developmental improvement in accuracy, our results show that younger children performed better when proportions were presented as icon arrays, whereas older children and adults were similarly accurate in the two presentation format conditions. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? There is a developmental improvement in proportional reasoning accuracy. Icon arrays facilitate reasoning in adults with low numeracy. What does this study add? Participants were more accurate when they were given more time to make the proportional judgement. Younger children's proportional reasoning was more accurate when they were presented with icon arrays. Proportional reasoning abilities correlate with working memory, approximate number system, and subitizing skills. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

  12. A Symbolic Approach to Permission Accounting for Concurrent Reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huisman, Marieke; Mostowski, Wojciech

    2015-01-01

    Permission accounting is fundamental to modular, thread-local reasoning about concurrent programs. This paper presents a new, symbolic system for permission accounting. In existing systems, permissions are numeric value-based and refer to the current thread only. Our system is based on symbolic

  13. Probabilistic representation in syllogistic reasoning: A theory to integrate mental models and heuristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hattori, Masasi

    2016-12-01

    This paper presents a new theory of syllogistic reasoning. The proposed model assumes there are probabilistic representations of given signature situations. Instead of conducting an exhaustive search, the model constructs an individual-based "logical" mental representation that expresses the most probable state of affairs, and derives a necessary conclusion that is not inconsistent with the model using heuristics based on informativeness. The model is a unification of previous influential models. Its descriptive validity has been evaluated against existing empirical data and two new experiments, and by qualitative analyses based on previous empirical findings, all of which supported the theory. The model's behavior is also consistent with findings in other areas, including working memory capacity. The results indicate that people assume the probabilities of all target events mentioned in a syllogism to be almost equal, which suggests links between syllogistic reasoning and other areas of cognition. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Development of the Quantitative Reasoning Items on the National Survey of Student Engagement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amber D. Dumford

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available As society’s needs for quantitative skills become more prevalent, college graduates require quantitative skills regardless of their career choices. Therefore, it is important that institutions assess students’ engagement in quantitative activities during college. This study chronicles the process taken by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE to develop items that measure students’ participation in quantitative reasoning (QR activities. On the whole, findings across the quantitative and qualitative analyses suggest good overall properties for the developed QR items. The items show great promise to explore and evaluate the frequency with which college students participate in QR-related activities. Each year, hundreds of institutions across the United States and Canada participate in NSSE, and, with the addition of these new items on the core survey, every participating institution will have information on this topic. Our hope is that these items will spur conversations on campuses about students’ use of quantitative reasoning activities.

  15. Centrifugal compressor fault diagnosis based on qualitative simulation and thermal parameters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Yunsong; Wang, Fuli; Jia, Mingxing; Qi, Yuanchen

    2016-12-01

    This paper concerns fault diagnosis of centrifugal compressor based on thermal parameters. An improved qualitative simulation (QSIM) based fault diagnosis method is proposed to diagnose the faults of centrifugal compressor in a gas-steam combined-cycle power plant (CCPP). The qualitative models under normal and two faulty conditions have been built through the analysis of the principle of centrifugal compressor. To solve the problem of qualitative description of the observations of system variables, a qualitative trend extraction algorithm is applied to extract the trends of the observations. For qualitative states matching, a sliding window based matching strategy which consists of variables operating ranges constraints and qualitative constraints is proposed. The matching results are used to determine which QSIM model is more consistent with the running state of system. The correct diagnosis of two typical faults: seal leakage and valve stuck in the centrifugal compressor has validated the targeted performance of the proposed method, showing the advantages of fault roots containing in thermal parameters.

  16. Reasoning About Higher-Order Relational Specifications

    OpenAIRE

    Wang , Yuting; Chaudhuri , Kaustuv; Gacek , Andrew; Nadathur , Gopalan

    2013-01-01

    International audience; The logic of hereditary Harrop formulas (HH) has proven useful for specifying a wide range of formal systems. This logic includes a form of hypothetical judgment that leads to dynamically changing sets of assumptions and that is key to encoding side conditions and contexts that occur frequently in structural operational semantics (SOS) style presentations. Specifications are often useful in reasoning about the systems they describe. The Abella theorem prover supports s...

  17. CONSIDERATIONS ON THE TREATMENT OF QUALITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL AND IN VARIOUS NATIONAL ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ionela Cristina Breahna Pravat

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The qualitative characteristics of accounting information presented by financial-accounting reports represent a concept which was subsequently introduced in the national legal accounting framework and, as a rule, the national conceptual frameworks represent the documents by means of which these quality criteria are established. At a worldwide level, there are more international or national organisms that have an important role in the elaboration of accounting standards in general and more specifically in the formulation of qualitative characteristics of financial reporting. We find two important ones among them, and these are: International Accounting Standards Board, which creates and promotes International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS, and Financial Accounting Standards Board, which elaborates Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP. However, at the level of each country a standardizing authority decides the rules for producing the financial reports and the qualitative characteristics that must be respected by the information contained in these documents. In this context, this paper aims to present a few general considerations concerning the treatment of the qualitative characteristics of the financial-accounting information in different accounting systems, such as the American one, or the British, French, German, Romanian ones, with insistence on the international approach to qualitative characteristics.

  18. Spatial reasoning with augmented points: Extending cardinal directions with local distances

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reinhard Moratz

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available We present an approach for supplying existing qualitative direction calculi with a distance component to support fully fledged positional reasoning. The general underlying idea of augmenting points with local reference properties has already been applied in the OPRAm calculus. In this existing calculus, point objects are attached with a local reference direction to obtain oriented points and able to express relative direction using binary relations. We show how this approach can be extended to attach a granular distance concept to direction calculi such as the cardinal direction calculus or adjustable granularity calculi such as OPRAm or the Star calculus. We focus on the cardinal direction calculus and extend it to a multi-granular positional calculus called EPRAm. We provide a formal specification of EPRAm including a composition table for EPRA2 automatically determined using real algebraic geometry. We also report on an experimental performance analysis of EPRA2 in the context of a topological map-learning task proposed for benchmarking qualitative calculi. Our results confirm that our approach of adding a relative distance component to existing calculi improves the performance in realistic tasks when using algebraic closure for consistency checking.

  19. Logical reasoning versus information processing in the dual-strategy model of reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markovits, Henry; Brisson, Janie; de Chantal, Pier-Luc

    2017-01-01

    One of the major debates concerning the nature of inferential reasoning is between counterexample-based strategies such as mental model theory and statistical strategies underlying probabilistic models. The dual-strategy model, proposed by Verschueren, Schaeken, & d'Ydewalle (2005a, 2005b), which suggests that people might have access to both kinds of strategy has been supported by several recent studies. These have shown that statistical reasoners make inferences based on using information about premises in order to generate a likelihood estimate of conclusion probability. However, while results concerning counterexample reasoners are consistent with a counterexample detection model, these results could equally be interpreted as indicating a greater sensitivity to logical form. In order to distinguish these 2 interpretations, in Studies 1 and 2, we presented reasoners with Modus ponens (MP) inferences with statistical information about premise strength and in Studies 3 and 4, naturalistic MP inferences with premises having many disabling conditions. Statistical reasoners accepted the MP inference more often than counterexample reasoners in Studies 1 and 2, while the opposite pattern was observed in Studies 3 and 4. Results show that these strategies must be defined in terms of information processing, with no clear relations to "logical" reasoning. These results have additional implications for the underlying debate about the nature of human reasoning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  20. Learning to navigate the healthcare system in a new country: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Straiton, Melanie L; Myhre, Sonja

    2017-12-01

    Learning to navigate a healthcare system in a new country is a barrier to health care. Understanding more about the specific navigation challenges immigrants experience may be the first step towards improving health information and thus access to care. This study considers the challenges that Thai and Filipino immigrant women encounter when learning to navigate the Norwegian primary healthcare system and the strategies they use. A qualitative interview study using thematic analysis. Norway. Fifteen Thai and 15 Filipino immigrant women over the age of 18 who had been living in Norway at least one year. The women took time to understand the role of the general practitioner and some were unaware of their right to an interpreter during consultations. In addition to reliance on family members and friends in their social networks, voluntary and cultural organisations provided valuable tips and advice on how to navigate the Norwegian health system. While some women actively engaged in learning more about the system, they noted a lack of information available in multiple languages. Informal sources play an important role in learning about the health care system. Formal information should be available in different languages in order to better empower immigrant women.

  1. 'Reasonable' regulation of low doses in the Netherlands?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zuur, Ciska

    2002-01-01

    As long as it is not clear exactly what the risks of low doses are, exposures should be regulated to be 'as low as reasonably achievable' (ALARA). In radiation protection, for normal situations, this means that a projected dose reduction can only be obligatory when the efforts needed to achieve the reduction are 'reasonable' in comparison with it, economical and social aspects being taken into account. In the recent Dutch regulations, 'reasonable' values have been established for the relevant parameters used in the ALARA concept and the paper discusses the values required to calculate the doses for the critical group due to a source. In some cases, the effort expended in making the ALARA dose assessments might not be reasonable in comparison with the dose reduction to be expected. The system which has been developed in the Netherlands to avoid these 'unreasonable' dose calculations, measurements and assessments is explained. (author)

  2. Automated reasoning applications to design validation and sneak function analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stratton, R.C.

    1984-01-01

    Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is actively involved in the LMFBR Man-Machine Integration (MMI) Safety Program. The objective of this program is to enhance the operational safety and reliability of fast-breeder reactors by optimum integration of men and machines through the application of human factors principles and control engineering to the design, operation, and the control environment. ANL is developing methods to apply automated reasoning and computerization in the validation and sneak function analysis process. This project provides the element definitions and relations necessary for an automated reasoner (AR) to reason about design validation and sneak function analysis. This project also provides a demonstration of this AR application on an Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) system, the Argonne Cooling System

  3. [Description of the mental processes occurring during clinical reasoning].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pottier, P; Planchon, B

    2011-06-01

    Clinical reasoning is a highly complex system with multiple inter-dependent mental activities. Gaining a better understanding of those cognitive processes has two practical implications: for physicians, being able to analyse their own reasoning method may prove to be helpful in diagnostic dead end; for medical teachers, identifying problem-solving strategies used by medical students may foster an appropriate individual feed-back aiming at improving their clinical reasoning skills. On the basis of a detailed literature review, the main diagnostic strategies and their related pattern of mental processes are described and illustrated with a concrete example, going from the patient's complaint to the chosen solution. Inductive, abductive and deductive diagnostic approaches are detailed. Different strategies for collecting data (exhaustive or oriented) and for problem-building are described. The place of problem solving strategies such as pattern-recognition, scheme inductive process, using of clinical script, syndrome grouping and mental hypotheses test is considered. This work aims at breaking up mental activities in process within clinical reasoning reminding that expert reasoning is characterised by the ability to use and structure the whole of these activities in a coherent system, using combined strategies in order to guarantee a better accuracy of their diagnosis. Copyright © 2010 Société nationale française de médecine interne (SNFMI). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

  4. Use Your Freedom Of Choice: Reasons For Choosing Homeschool In Australia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca ENGLISH

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available In Australia, the decision to home educate is becoming increasingly popular (cf. Harding & Farrell, 2003; Townsend, 2012. In spite of its increasing popularity, the reasons home education is chosen by Australian families is under-researched (cf. Jackson & Allan, 2010. This paper reports on a case study that set out to explore the links between families that unschool and the parenting philosophies they follow. In- depth, qualitative interviews were conducted with a group of home education families in one of Australias most populated cities. Data were analysed using Critical Discourse Analysis. The analysis revealed that there were links between the parents beliefs about home education and their adherence to Attachment Parenting.

  5. A Pure Logic-Based Approach to Natural Reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Abzianidze, Lasha

    2015-01-01

    The paper presents a model for natural reasoning that combines theorem proving techniques with natural logic. The model is a tableau system for a higher-order logic the formulas of which resemble linguistic expressions. A textual entailment system LangPro, an implementation of the model, represents

  6. Reasons why patients referred to diabetes education programmes choose not to attend: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horigan, G; Davies, M; Findlay-White, F; Chaney, D; Coates, V

    2017-01-01

    To identify the reasons why those offered a place on diabetes education programmes declined the opportunity. It is well established that diabetes education is critical to optimum diabetes care; it improves metabolic control, prevents complications, improves quality of life and empowers people to make informed choices to manage their condition. Despite the significant clinical and personal rewards offered by diabetes education, programmes are underused, with a significant proportion of patients choosing not to attend. A systematic search of the following databases was conducted for the period from 2005-2015: Medline; EMBASE; Scopus; CINAHL; and PsycINFO. Studies that met the inclusion criteria focusing on patient-reported reasons for non-attendance at structured diabetes education were selected. A total of 12 studies spanning quantitative and qualitative methodologies were included. The selected studies were published in Europe, USA, Pakistan, Canada and India, with a total sample size of 2260 people. Two broad categories of non-attender were identified: 1) those who could not attend for logistical, medical or financial reasons (e.g. timing, costs or existing comorbidities) and 2) those who would not attend because they perceived no benefit from doing so, felt they had sufficient knowledge already or had emotional and cultural reasons (e.g. no perceived problem, denial or negative feelings towards education). Diabetes education was declined for many reasons, and the range of expressed reasons was more diverse and complex than anticipated. New and innovative methods of delivering diabetes education are required which address the needs of people with diabetes whilst maintaining quality and efficiency. © 2016 Diabetes UK.

  7. What people close to death say about euthanasia and assisted suicide: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chapple, A; Ziebland, S; McPherson, A; Herxheimer, A

    2006-12-01

    To explore the experiences of people with a "terminal illness", focusing on the patients' perspective of euthanasia and assisted suicide. A qualitative study using narrative interviews was conducted throughout the UK. The views of the 18 people who discussed euthanasia and assisted suicide were explored. These were drawn from a maximum variation sample, who said that they had a "terminal" illness, malignant or non-malignant. That UK law should be changed to allow assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia was felt strongly by most people. Those who had seen others die were particularly convinced that this should be a right. Some had multiple reasons, including pain and anticipated pain, fear of indignity, loss of control and cognitive impairment. Those who did not want to be a burden also had other reasons for wanting euthanasia. Suicide was contemplated by a few, who would have preferred a change in the law to allow them to end their lives with medical help and in the company of family or friends. The few who opposed a change in UK law, or who felt ambivalent, focused on involuntary euthanasia, cited religious reasons or worried that new legislation might be open to abuse. Qualitative research conducted on people who know they are nearing death is an important addition to the international debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide. Those who had seen others die were particularly convinced that the law should be changed to allow assisted death.

  8. What people close to death say about euthanasia and assisted suicide: a qualitative study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chapple, A; Ziebland, S; McPherson, A; Herxheimer, A

    2006-01-01

    Objective To explore the experiences of people with a “terminal illness”, focusing on the patients' perspective of euthanasia and assisted suicide. Method A qualitative study using narrative interviews was conducted throughout the UK. The views of the 18 people who discussed euthanasia and assisted suicide were explored. These were drawn from a maximum variation sample, who said that they had a “terminal” illness, malignant or non‐malignant. Results That UK law should be changed to allow assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia was felt strongly by most people. Those who had seen others die were particularly convinced that this should be a right. Some had multiple reasons, including pain and anticipated pain, fear of indignity, loss of control and cognitive impairment. Those who did not want to be a burden also had other reasons for wanting euthanasia. Suicide was contemplated by a few, who would have preferred a change in the law to allow them to end their lives with medical help and in the company of family or friends. The few who opposed a change in UK law, or who felt ambivalent, focused on involuntary euthanasia, cited religious reasons or worried that new legislation might be open to abuse. Conclusion Qualitative research conducted on people who know they are nearing death is an important addition to the international debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide. Those who had seen others die were particularly convinced that the law should be changed to allow assisted death. PMID:17145910

  9. Controlled Owicki-Gries Concurrency: Reasoning about the Preemptible eChronos Embedded Operating System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    June Andronick

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available We introduce a controlled concurrency framework, derived from the Owicki-Gries method, for describing a hardware interface in detail sufficient to support the modelling and verification of small, embedded operating systems (OS's whose run-time responsiveness is paramount. Such real-time systems run with interrupts mostly enabled, including during scheduling. That differs from many other successfully modelled and verified OS's that typically reduce the complexity of concurrency by running on uniprocessor platforms and by switching interrupts off as much as possible. Our framework builds on the traditional Owicki-Gries method, for its fine-grained concurrency is needed for high-performance system code. We adapt it to support explicit concurrency control, by providing a simple, faithful representation of the hardware interface that allows software to control the degree of interleaving between user code, OS code, interrupt handlers and a scheduler that controls context switching. We then apply this framework to model the interleaving behavior of the eChronos OS, a preemptible real-time OS for embedded micro-controllers. We discuss the accuracy and usability of our approach when instantiated to model the eChronos OS. Both our framework and the eChronos model are formalised in the Isabelle/HOL theorem prover, taking advantage of the high level of automation in modern reasoning tools.

  10. Using Qualitative Metasummary to Synthesize Qualitative and Quantitative Descriptive Findings

    OpenAIRE

    Sandelowski, Margarete; Barroso, Julie; Voils, Corrine I.

    2007-01-01

    The new imperative in the health disciplines to be more methodologically inclusive has generated a growing interest in mixed research synthesis, or the integration of qualitative and quantitative research findings. Qualitative metasummary is a quantitatively oriented aggregation of qualitative findings originally developed to accommodate the distinctive features of qualitative surveys. Yet these findings are similar in form and mode of production to the descriptive findings researchers often ...

  11. Evaluation of high-level waste pretreatment processes with an approximate reasoning model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bott, T.F.; Eisenhawer, S.W.; Agnew, S.F.

    1999-01-01

    The development of an approximate-reasoning (AR)-based model to analyze pretreatment options for high-level waste is presented. AR methods are used to emulate the processes used by experts in arriving at a judgment. In this paper, the authors first consider two specific issues in applying AR to the analysis of pretreatment options. They examine how to combine quantitative and qualitative evidence to infer the acceptability of a process result using the example of cesium content in low-level waste. They then demonstrate the use of simple physical models to structure expert elicitation and to produce inferences consistent with a problem involving waste particle size effects

  12. Literature Review on Reasons and Countermeasures on Large-scale Off-grid of Wind Turbine Generator System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhu Jun

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper reviews the present situation of the application of wind turbines generator system(WTGS at home and abroad, describes the strategic significance and the value of sustainable development of the wind power in the country, illustrates the problems, a variety of reasons and responses on large-scale off-grid of WTGS, compares the advantages and disadvantages of various methods, gives full consideration to the actual demand for WTGS works and characteristics and points out the further research.

  13. Qualitative research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gelling, Leslie

    2015-03-25

    Qualitative research has an important role in helping nurses and other healthcare professionals understand patient experiences of health and illness. Qualitative researchers have a large number of methodological options and therefore should take care in planning and conducting their research. This article offers a brief overview of some of the key issues qualitative researchers should consider.

  14. Qualitative investigation of students' views about experimental physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Dehui; Zwickl, Benjamin M.; Wilcox, Bethany R.; Lewandowski, H. J.

    2017-12-01

    This study examines students' reasoning surrounding seemingly contradictory Likert-scale responses within five items in the Colorado Learning Attitudes About Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS). We administered the E-CLASS with embedded open-ended prompts, which asked students to provide explanations after making a Likert-scale selection. The quantitative scores on those items showed that our sample of the 216 students enrolled in first year and beyond first year physics courses demonstrated the same trends as previous national data. A qualitative analysis of students' open-ended responses was used to examine common reasoning patterns related to particular Likert-scale responses. When explaining responses to items regarding the role of experiments in confirming known results and also contributing to the growth of scientific knowledge, a common reasoning pattern suggested that confirming known results in a classroom experiment can help with understanding concepts. Thus, physics experiments contribute to students' personal scientific knowledge growth, while also confirming widely known results. Many students agreed that having correct formatting and making well-reasoned conclusions are the main goal for communicating experimental results. Students who focused on sections and formatting emphasized how it enables clear and efficient communication. However, very few students discussed the link between well-reasoned conclusions and effective scientific communication. Lastly, many students argued it was possible to complete experiments without understanding equations and physics concepts. The most common justification was that they could simply follow instructions to finish the lab without understanding. The findings suggest several implications for teaching physics laboratory courses, for example, incorporating some lab activities with outcomes that are unknown to the students might have a significant impact on students' understanding of experiments as an

  15. High School Students' Reasons for Their Science Dispositions: Community-Based Innovative Technology-Embedded Environmental Research Projects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebenezer, Jazlin; Kaya, Osman Nafiz; Kasab, Dimma

    2018-05-01

    The purpose of this investigation was to qualitatively describe high school students' reasons for their science dispositions (attitude, perception, and self-confidence) based on their long-term experience with innovative technology-embedded environmental research projects. Students in small groups conducted research projects in and out of school with the help of their teachers and community experts (scientists and engineers). During the 3-year period of this nationally funded project, a total of 135 students from five schools in a mid-west State participated in research activities. Of the 135 students, 53 students were individually interviewed to explore reasons for their science dispositions. Students' reasons for each disposition were grouped into categories, and corresponding frequency was converted to a percentage. The categories of reasons were not only attributed to the use of innovative technologies in environmental research but also the contexts and events that surrounded it. The reasons that influenced students' science dispositions positively were because engaging in environmental research projects with technology contributed to easing fear and difficulty, building a research team, disseminating findings, communicating with the community, researching with scientists, training by teachers, and acknowledging teachers' knowledge. These results advanced how and why students develop science dispositions in the positive direction, which are as follows: building science teacher capacity, developing a community of inquirers, and committing to improve pedagogical practices.

  16. Qualitative GIS and the Visualization of Narrative Activity Space Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mennis, Jeremy; Mason, Michael J; Cao, Yinghui

    Qualitative activity space data, i.e. qualitative data associated with the routine locations and activities of individuals, are recognized as increasingly useful by researchers in the social and health sciences for investigating the influence of environment on human behavior. However, there has been little research on techniques for exploring qualitative activity space data. This research illustrates the theoretical principles of combining qualitative and quantitative data and methodologies within the context of GIS, using visualization as the means of inquiry. Through the use of a prototype implementation of a visualization system for qualitative activity space data, and its application in a case study of urban youth, we show how these theoretical methodological principles are realized in applied research. The visualization system uses a variety of visual variables to simultaneously depict multiple qualitative and quantitative attributes of individuals' activity spaces. The visualization is applied to explore the activity spaces of a sample of urban youth participating in a study on the geographic and social contexts of adolescent substance use. Examples demonstrate how the visualization may be used to explore individual activity spaces to generate hypotheses, investigate statistical outliers, and explore activity space patterns among subject subgroups.

  17. Qualitative research, tourism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ren, Carina Bregnholm

    2016-01-01

    of qualitative research has meant a need to question and redefine criteria and research standards otherwise used in tourism research, as qualitative approach does not (seek to) conform to ideals such as truth, objectivity, and validity retrieved in the positivist sciences. In order to develop new ways by which......, the understanding of qualitative research as unable (or rather unwilling) to deliver the types of outcome which “explain and predict” tourism, has impacted upon its ability to gain general acceptance. Only slowly has tourism research made room for the changes in social and cultural sciences, which since the 1960s......Qualitative research, tourism Qualitative research refers to research applying a range of qualitative methods in order to inductively explore, interpret, and understand a given field or object under study. Qualitative research in tourism takes its inspiration primarily from the cultural and social...

  18. Qualitative Computing and Qualitative Research: Addressing the Challenges of Technology and Globalization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    César A. Cisneros Puebla

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Qualitative computing has been part of our lives for thirty years. Today, we urgently call for an evaluation of its international impact on qualitative research. Evaluating the international impact of qualitative research and qualitative computing requires a consideration of the vast amount of qualitative research over the last decades, as well as thoughtfulness about the uneven and unequal way in which qualitative research and qualitative computing are present in different fields of study and geographical regions. To understand the international impact of qualitative computing requires evaluation of the digital divide and the huge differences between center and peripheries. The international impact of qualitative research, and, in particular qualitative computing, is the question at the heart of this array of selected papers from the "Qualitative Computing: Diverse Worlds and Research Practices Conference." In this article, we introduce the reader to the goals, motivation, and atmosphere at the conference, taking place in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2011. The dialogue generated there is still in the air, and this introduction is a call to spread that voice. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1202285

  19. 8th International Workshop on Non-Monotonic Reasoning

    CERN Document Server

    Truszczynski, Mirek

    2000-01-01

    The papers gathered in this collection were presented at the 8th International Workshop on Nonmonotonic Reasoning, NMR2000. The series was started by John McCarthy in 1978. The first international NMR workshop was held at Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, New York in June, 1984, and was organized by Ray Reiter and Bonnie Webber. In the last 10 years the area of nonmonotonic reasoning has seen a number of important developments. Significant theoretical advances were made in the understanding of general abstract principles underlying nonmonotonicity. Key results on the expressibility and computational complexity of nonmonotonic logics were established. The role of nonmonotonic reasoning in belief revision, abduction, reasoning about action, planing and uncertainty was further clarified. Several successful NMR systems were built and used in applications such as planning, scheduling, logic programming and constraint satisfaction. The papers in the proceedings reflect these recent advances in the field. They are g...

  20. Meta-analysis: how does posterior parietal cortex contribute to reasoning?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wendelken, Carter

    2015-01-01

    Reasoning depends on the contribution of posterior parietal cortex (PPC). But PPC is involved in many basic operations—including spatial attention, mathematical cognition, working memory, long-term memory, and language—and the nature of its contribution to reasoning is unclear. Psychological theories of the processes underlying reasoning make divergent claims about the neural systems that are likely to be involved, and better understanding the specific contribution of PPC can help to inform these theories. We set out to address several competing hypotheses, concerning the role of PPC in reasoning: (1) reasoning involves application of formal logic and is dependent on language, with PPC activation for reasoning mainly reflective of linguistic processing; (2) reasoning involves probabilistic computation and is thus dependent on numerical processing mechanisms in PPC; and (3) reasoning is built upon the representation and processing of spatial relations, and PPC activation associated with reasoning reflects spatial processing. We conducted two separate meta-analyses. First, we pooled data from our own studies of reasoning in adults, and examined activation in PPC regions of interest (ROI). Second, we conducted an automated meta-analysis using Neurosynth, in which we examined overlap between activation maps associated with reasoning and maps associated with other key functions of PPC. In both analyses, we observed reasoning-related activation concentrated in the left Inferior Parietal Lobe (IPL). Reasoning maps demonstrated the greatest overlap with mathematical cognition. Maintenance, visuospatial, and phonological processing also demonstrated some overlap with reasoning, but a large portion of the reasoning map did not overlap with the map for any other function. This evidence suggests that the PPC’s contribution to reasoning may be most closely related to its role in mathematical cognition, but that a core component of this contribution may be specific to