Has Management Studies Lost Its Way? Ideas for More Imaginative and Innovative Research

OpenAIRE

Alvesson, M.; Sandberg, J.

2012-01-01

Despite the huge increase in the number of management articles published during the three last decades, there is a serious shortage of high-impact research in management studies. We contend that a primary reason behind this paradoxical shortage is the near total dominance of incremental gap-spotting research in management. This domination is even more paradoxical as it is well known that gap-spotting rarely leads to influential theories. We identify three broad and interacting key drivers beh...

FEMININE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A RESEARCH THEME. SOME CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE WAY OF INITIATING A BUSINESS BY THE ENTREPRENEUR WOMEN IN THE WEST OF ROMANIA

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Pop Cohut Ioana

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The present paper aims an incursion in the concern for researches in the field of feminine entrepreneurship – as a research theme, the study directions of the feminine entrepreneurship, on the basis of the special literature in the field. The applicative part of the paper refers to the research taken in the field of feminine entrepreneurship in Romania, through the project AntrES, in the area of the initiation way of business by entrepreneur women investigated and aligns aspects regarding the research methodology, the study of the way of initiating a business, the length with the age of manager women, the occupational situation at the moment of business initiation and their previous experience.

Unveiling Research Agendas: a study of the influences on research problem selection among academic researchers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bianco, M.; Sutz, J.

2016-07-01

Research problem selection is central to the dynamics of scientific knowledge production. Research agendas result from the selection of research problems and the formulation of individual and/or collective academic strategies to address them. But, why researchers study what they study? This paper presents incipient research focused on the way different factors influence the construction of academic research agendas. It takes a researcher-oriented approach relying on opinions and perspectives of a wide range of researchers in all fields of knowledge. The empirical work is carried out in Uruguay, a country in the periphery of mainstream science, whose academic community struggles in search of a balance between the requirements of the world community of scholars and the demands from different national stakeholders. The methodology and research results from this study may be relevant to other countries, at different peripheries. Further, understanding the interplay of influences that shape research agendas is an important tool for policy analysis and planning everywhere. (Author)

How way leads on to way.

Science.gov (United States)

Barash, Isaac

2014-01-01

In this article, I briefly recount the historical events in my native country that led me to become a plant pathologist. I started as a field pathologist specializing in fungal diseases of legumes, moved to biochemical research on virulence factors, and then on to molecular plant-microbe interactions. I describe the impact my graduate studies at the University of California (UC)-Davis had on my career. My life's work and teaching can be said to reflect the development in plant pathology during the past 40 years. I have included a concise review of the development of plant pathology in Israel and the ways it is funded. Dealing with administrative duties while conducting research has contributed to my belief in the importance of multidisciplinary approaches and of preserving the applied approach in the teaching of plant pathology.

Qualitative study about the ways teachers react to feedback from resident evaluations.

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van Roermund, Thea; Schreurs, Marie-Louise; Mokkink, Henk; Bottema, Ben; Scherpbier, Albert; van Weel, Chris

2013-07-16

Currently, one of the main interventions that are widely expected to contribute to teachers' professional development is confronting teachers with feedback from resident evaluations of their teaching performance. Receiving feedback, however, is a double edged sword. Teachers see themselves confronted with information about themselves and are, at the same time, expected to be role models in the way they respond to feedback. Knowledge about the teachers' responses could be not only of benefit for their professional development, but also for supporting their role modeling. Therefore, research about professional development should include the way teachers respond to feedback. We designed a qualitative study with semi-structured individual conversations about feedback reports, gained from resident evaluations. Two researchers carried out a systematic analysis using qualitative research software. The analysis focused on what happened in the conversations and structured the data in three main themes: conversation process, acceptance and coping strategies. The result section describes the conversation patterns and atmosphere. Teachers accepted their results calmly, stating that, although they recognised some points of interest, they could not meet with every standard. Most used coping strategies were explaining the results from their personal beliefs about good teaching and attributing poor results to external factors and good results to themselves. However, some teachers admitted that they had poor results because of the fact that they were not "sharp enough" in their resident group, implying that they did not do their best. Our study not only confirms that the effects of feedback depend first and foremost on the recipient but also enlightens the meaning and role of acceptance and being a role model. We think that the results justify the conclusion that teachers who are responsible for the day release programmes in the three departments tend to respond to the evaluation

The Inclusion of African-American Study Participants in Web-Based Research Studies: Viewpoint

OpenAIRE

Watson, Bekeela; Robinson, Dana H.Z; Harker, Laura; Arriola, Kimberly R. Jacob

2016-01-01

The use of Web-based methods for research recruitment and intervention delivery has greatly increased as Internet usage continues to grow. These Internet-based strategies allow for researchers to quickly reach more people. African-Americans are underrepresented in health research studies. Due to this, African-Americans get less benefit from important research that could address the disproportionate health outcomes they face. Web-based research studies are one promising way to engage more Afri...

Recruiting patients as partners in health research: a qualitative descriptive study.

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Vat, Lidewij Eva; Ryan, Devonne; Etchegary, Holly

2017-01-01

Increasingly, funders and researchers want to partner with patients in health research, but it can be challenging for researchers to find patient partners. More than taking part in research as participants, patient partners help design, carry out and manage research projects. The goal of this study was to describe ways that patient partners have been recruited by researchers and patient engagement leads (individuals within organizations responsible for promoting and supporting patients as research partners). We talked with researchers and patient engagement leads in Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as a patient representative. We found three ways that could help researchers and patients find each other. One way is a case-by-case basis, where patients are often sought with experience of a health condition that is the focus of the research. The other ways involved directories where projects were posted and could be found by patients and researchers, or a third party matched patients with research projects. We found four recruitment strategies:Social marketingCommunity outreachHealth systemPartnering with other organizations (e.g., advocacy groups) There are many influences on finding, selecting and retaining patient partners: patient characteristics, the local setting, the opportunity, work climate, education and support. We hope study results will provide a useful starting point for research teams in recruiting their patient partners. Background Patient engagement in clinical trials and other health research continues to gain momentum. While the benefits of patient engagement in research are emerging, relatively little is known about recruiting patients as research partners. The purpose of this study was to describe recruitment strategies and models of recruiting patients as partners in health research. Methods Qualitative descriptive study. Thirteen patient engagement leads and health researchers from Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as one patient

Different ways to organize the processes of financial administration : a field study of medium-sized Finnish companies

OpenAIRE

Nummela, Maria

2011-01-01

This research concentrates on exploring the ways how financial administration is currently organized in medium-sized companies in Finland. Decentralization, centralization and outsourcing are options that are available to different-sized companies. The study was executed as a field study in seven medium-sized Finnish companies that represent different branches. Furthermore, the research method was qualitative theme interview. As large companies have already established their financial service...

Ocean energy researchers information user study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belew, W.W.; Wood, B.L.; Marle, T.L.; Reinhardt, C.L.

1981-03-01

This report describes the results of a series of telephone interviews with groups of users of information on ocean energy systems. These results, part of a larger study on many different solar technologies, identify types of information each group needed and the best ways to get information to each group. The report is 1 of 10 discussing study results. The overall study provides baseline data about information needs in the solar community. Only high-priority groups were examined. Results from 2 groups of researchers are analyzed in this report: DOE-Funded Researchers and Non-DOE-Funded Researchers. The data will be used as input to the determination of information products and services the Solar Energy Research Institute, the Solar Energy Information Data Bank Network, and the entire information outreach community should be preparing and disseminating.

SOCIAL RESEARCH METHODS IN FEMINIST'S PERSPECTIVE: A NEW WAY IN DOING SOCIOLINGUISTIC QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

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Esther Kuntjara

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Traditional research methods have been dominated by positivism which assumes the importance of objectivity, contextual independency, linear causality and value free research. Feminist researchers found that such methods do not suit their inquisitive needs especially in the study of women. Naturalistic research methods, however, do not only suit them but they are also able to voice women's problems. Two methods, i.e. interviewing and ethnography are discussed as to how they are commonly used by feminist researchers on many social studies on women, including the linguistic studies of gender.

An exploratory study of the ways in which mothers keep their infants occupied

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A. Botha

1992-09-01

Full Text Available The mother child relationship can help or hinder the social, emotional and intellectual development of the infant. Research has shown that the interaction between mother and child can affect the child’s cognitive development. Research has shown that mothers from the lower socio-economic groups do not stimulate their babies optimally and that this may affect the children negatively. In this study 86 underprivileged mothers from two different cultural backgrounds were asked to describe the ways in which they kept their infants occupied during the first year of their infants’ lives. The differences between the two groups are discussed and recommendations are made.

Machine learning in autistic spectrum disorder behavioral research: A review and ways forward.

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Thabtah, Fadi

2018-02-13

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a mental disorder that retards acquisition of linguistic, communication, cognitive, and social skills and abilities. Despite being diagnosed with ASD, some individuals exhibit outstanding scholastic, non-academic, and artistic capabilities, in such cases posing a challenging task for scientists to provide answers. In the last few years, ASD has been investigated by social and computational intelligence scientists utilizing advanced technologies such as machine learning to improve diagnostic timing, precision, and quality. Machine learning is a multidisciplinary research topic that employs intelligent techniques to discover useful concealed patterns, which are utilized in prediction to improve decision making. Machine learning techniques such as support vector machines, decision trees, logistic regressions, and others, have been applied to datasets related to autism in order to construct predictive models. These models claim to enhance the ability of clinicians to provide robust diagnoses and prognoses of ASD. However, studies concerning the use of machine learning in ASD diagnosis and treatment suffer from conceptual, implementation, and data issues such as the way diagnostic codes are used, the type of feature selection employed, the evaluation measures chosen, and class imbalances in data among others. A more serious claim in recent studies is the development of a new method for ASD diagnoses based on machine learning. This article critically analyses these recent investigative studies on autism, not only articulating the aforementioned issues in these studies but also recommending paths forward that enhance machine learning use in ASD with respect to conceptualization, implementation, and data. Future studies concerning machine learning in autism research are greatly benefitted by such proposals.

Teaching and Learning Research Literacies in Graduate Adult Education: Appreciative Inquiry into Practitioners' Ways of Writing.

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Lander, Dorothy A.

2002-01-01

Presents a theoretical framework for teaching and learning research literacies. Describes a classroom demonstration involving graduate student cohorts in appreciative inquiry into practitioners' ways of writing. Addresses the issues of human subjects, informed consent, and the ethics of representation. (Contains 49 references.) (SK)

Research Frontiers and Way Forward

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Bahron, H.

2018-02-01

Researchers and academics do research to address the current and future needs of the nation. They have to be alert and sensitive to demands of their surrounding that can be largely be classed into the community, industry and government to complete the quadruple helix that intertwines the three into the fourth segment i.e. the academia. The current buzzwords that ought to catch the attention of academia are Translational Research, Niche Area, Sustainable Development Growth (SDG), Internet of Things (IoT), 4th Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0), Big Data, Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) and Bottom 40% (B40). UiTM’s niche areas that have been declared to KPT are (a) Sustainable Technology and Economy, and (b) Social Engineering and Creative Media. These are very much in line with 17 Sustainable Development Goals declared by the United Nation in 2012 with the goal of integrating planetary stability with the target of fighting poverty and securing human wellbeing. Internet of Things that swarms the globe brings about the seamless integration of physical objects with information network through internet connectivity. This flourishing development hails the advent of 4th Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) that is inevitable where industrial automation and data exchange in the manufacturing technology rapidly includes cyber-physical system through IoT, cloud computing and cognitive computing. IR 4.0 should catapult productivity into hyper-drive to meet the needs of global consumers. The tremendous growth of cyber activities that encompass all aspects of life presents the inevitable progression into the dimension of Big Data. It is a new data ecosystem that is very large and complex, rendering the traditional data processing software inadequate and obsolete. A new breed of ICT experts are required to handle the enormousness of the task of capturing, storing, analyzing, searching, sharing, transferring, visualizing, updating and most importantly, information privacy. Closer to

Adapting Western research methods to indigenous ways of knowing.

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Simonds, Vanessa W; Christopher, Suzanne

2013-12-01

Indigenous communities have long experienced exploitation by researchers and increasingly require participatory and decolonizing research processes. We present a case study of an intervention research project to exemplify a clash between Western research methodologies and Indigenous methodologies and how we attempted reconciliation. We then provide implications for future research based on lessons learned from Native American community partners who voiced concern over methods of Western deductive qualitative analysis. Decolonizing research requires constant reflective attention and action, and there is an absence of published guidance for this process. Continued exploration is needed for implementing Indigenous methods alone or in conjunction with appropriate Western methods when conducting research in Indigenous communities. Currently, examples of Indigenous methods and theories are not widely available in academic texts or published articles, and are often not perceived as valid.

Research Advances: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Finds New Way to Detect Destructive Enzyme Activity--Hair Dye Relies on Nanotechnology--Ways to Increase Shelf Life of Milk

Science.gov (United States)

King, Angela G.

2007-01-01

Recent advances in various research fields are described. Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have found a new way to detect destructive enzyme activity, scientists in France have found that an ancient hair dye used by ancient people in Greece and Rome relied on nanotechnology and in the U.S. scientists are developing new…

THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH IN NEUROEDUCATION STUDIES

OpenAIRE

Ali Nouri

2016-01-01

The present paper assembles contributions from the areas of education, psychology, cognitive science, and of course, neuroeducation itself to introduce the basic principles of research in the field of neuroeducation studies. It is particularly important, as such it is a useful way to justify researchers about what neuroeducation as a specific domain do that no other field can do as well or cannot do at all. Based on the literature reviewed, neuroeducational research can be understood as an inte...

Recruiting for research studies using online public advertisements: examples from research in affective disorders.

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Wise, Toby; Arnone, Danilo; Marwood, Lindsey; Zahn, Roland; Lythe, Karen E; Young, Allan H

2016-01-01

Successful recruitment is vital for any research study. Difficulties in recruitment are not uncommon and can have important implications. This is particularly relevant to research conducted in affective disorders due to the nature of the conditions and the clinical services that serve these patients. Recently, online public advertisements have become more generally accessible and may provide an effective way to recruit patient populations. However, there is paucity of evidence on their viability as a method of recruiting patients into studies of disease mechanisms in these disorders. Public advertisement methods can be useful when researchers require specific populations, such as those not receiving pharmacological treatment. This work describes our experience in successfully recruiting participants into neuroimaging research studies in affective disorders using online public advertisements. Results suggest that these online public advertisements are an effective method for successfully recruiting participants with affective disorders into research studies, particularly for research focusing on disease mechanisms in specific populations.

Stakeholder Engagement in HIV Cure Research: Lessons Learned from Other HIV Interventions and the Way Forward.

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, Ying-Ru; Chu, Carissa; Ananworanich, Jintanat; Excler, Jean-Louis; Tucker, Joseph D

2015-07-01

Clinical and basic science advances have raised considerable hope for achieving an HIV cure by accelerating research. This research is dominated primarily by issues about the nature and design of current and future clinical trials. Stakeholder engagement for HIV cure remains in its early stages. Our analysis examines timing and mechanisms of historical stakeholder engagement in other HIV research areas for HIV-uninfected individuals [vaccine development and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)], and HIV-infected individuals (treatment as prevention, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and treatment of acute HIV infection) and articulate a plan for HIV cure stakeholder engagement. The experience from HIV vaccine development shows that early engagement of stakeholders helped manage expectations, mitigating the failure of several vaccine trials, while paving the way for subsequent trials. The relatively late engagement of HIV stakeholders in PrEP research may partly explain some of the implementation challenges. The treatment-related stakeholder engagement was strong and community-led from the onset and helped translation from research to implementation. We outline five steps to initiate and sustain stakeholder engagement in HIV cure research and conclude that stakeholder engagement represents a key investment in which stakeholders mutually agree to share knowledge, benefits, and risk of failure. Effective stakeholder engagement prevents misconceptions. As HIV cure research advances from early trials involving subjects with generally favorable prognosis to studies involving greater risk and uncertainty, success may depend on early and deliberate engagement of stakeholders.

Magnetic resonance of seminal vesicles: a noninvasive study of seminal way

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ocantos, J.A.; Rey Valzacchi, G.; Sinclair, M.E.; Loor Guadamud, G.

2010-01-01

The magnetic resonance without endorectal coil is an excellent diagnostic tool for studying the entire route of seminal non-invasive way in a single step diagnosis. We call magnetic resonance of seminal vesicles, but includes both the study of the seminal vesicles as the channels of the seminal way. [es

Lean construction management the Toyota way

CERN Document Server

Gao, Shang

2014-01-01

The book presents a mixed research method adopted to assess and present the Toyota Way practices within construction firms in general and for firms in China specifically. The results of an extensive structured questionnaire survey based on the Toyota Way-styled attributes identified were developed, and data collected from building professionals working in construction firms is presented. The quantitative data presented in the book explains the status quo of the Toyota Way-styled practices implemented in the construction industry, as well as the extent to which these attributes were perceived for lean construction management. The book highlights all the actionable attributes derived from the Toyota Way model appreciated by the building professionals, but alerts the readers that some attributes felled short of implementation. Further findings from in-depth interviews and case studies are also presented in the book to provide to readers an understanding how these Toyota Way practices can be implemented in real-l...

Youth Entrepreneurship as a Way of Boosting Indian Economic Competitiveness: A Study of Orissa

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Manjusmita Dash

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, interest in youth entrepreneurship has been fuelled due to high levels of unemployment amongst young people and as a way to foster employment opportunities or to address social exclusion. Youth entrepreneurship has gained more importance in recent years in many countries, with increased interest in entrepreneurship as a way of boosting economic competitiveness and promoting regional development. Based on survey and interview of the young entrepreneurs through a structured questionnaire in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, the twin cities of Orissa, the researchers have made an attempt to study the factors contributing to the promotion of young entrepreneurs to start up their own enterprise, to find out the constraints that impedes and prospects that motivates the young people in starting and running a business and to assess the performance of the young entrepreneurs in Orissa.

Research Design in the study of the European Neighbourhood Policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Exadaktylos, Theofanis; Lynggaard, Kennet

2017-01-01

This chapter deals with the pitfalls and pathways of research design aimed at the study of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and maps out the literature on questions of knowledge ambition, research ontology and epistemology, and choices of approaches to the research object. We include...... a review of traditional research designs in ENP research, through a systematic meta-analysis of a selection of the most-cited articles on the ENP. Inspired by earlier work on awareness of research design in EU studies, ENP research is categorised according to typical choices of research design in the form...... of dichotomous trade-offs. The chapter then discusses how individual contributions to this volume deal with research design challenges of the past and present innovative ways of studying the revised ENP....

Students' Ways of Experiencing Human-Centered Design

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Zoltowski, Carla B.

2010-01-01

This study investigated the qualitatively different ways which students experienced human-centered design. The findings of this research are important in developing effective design learning experiences and have potential impact across design education. This study provides the basis for being able to assess learning of human-centered design which…

Journal Writing as a Way to Know Culture: Insights from a Travel Study Abroad Program

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Craig, Cheryl J.; Zou, Yali; Poimbeauf, Rita

2015-01-01

In this work, we explore journal writing as a way to come to know culture, particularly cultural phenomenon, vastly different from one's own firmly held and enacted beliefs. In this research, we accept the premise that writing is a way of knowing and adopt journal writing as a tool through which students can explore the knowledge they have…

Nurses' various ways of conceiving their learning process as doctoral students: a phenomenographic study.

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Arvidsson, Barbro; Franke, Anita

2013-01-01

The aim was to describe variations in how doctoral students conceive their learning process to become researchers in the light of their professional background as nurses. Nursing research is an emerging discipline and the number of nurses who acquire a doctor's degree is increasing. The study had a descriptive, qualitative design with a phenomenographic approach and was carried out by means of 20 interviews. Three different description categories emerged: (1) A learning process that provides a synthesis of different parts of the research process aimed at developing preparedness for action within the nursing profession. (2) A learning process where practical problems are integrated with and problematised in relation to scientific theories. (3) A learning process involving the transformation from nurse to researcher. The description categories revealed that the focus was on solving problems that occur in health care and synthesising them by means of research tools. Furthermore, the doctoral students explored different ways of understanding and developing their awareness of the nature of research. Focus was also on the nursing profession and practice and a shift towards the role of a researcher was evident. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The way it was : reclamation research gears up for oilsands expansion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaremko, D.

2005-10-01

Although many new developments in oilsands mining operations are in situ, the continuing reliance on truck and shovel projects will mean more mine-scale disturbance and more tailings. Managing tailings is an integral aspect of mine reclamation. Syncrude and Suncor have reclaimed close to 5000 hectares of land, planting trees and grasses. This article discussed future reclamation strategies, which are targeted to also include constructed and natural wetlands to provide habitat for local waterfowl, vegetation and animals. Details of an ongoing 4 year study of natural and constructed wetlands in the Fort McMurray oil sands region were provided. The study has focused on opportunistic wetlands that form themselves close to man-made structures. Because of their microbial content, wetlands are capable of treating contaminated water. A pilot-scale constructed wetland has started operating at Keyspan Energy's Strachan gas plant. It was noted that the peatlands that have been removed cannot easily be replaced after mine closure, since their development is the result of thousands of years of production and evolution. The goal of the project is to create marshes in order to re-contour the land with a range of different land features. Details of the Oil Sands Tailings Research Facility (OSTRF) were provided, a $2.3 million facility with a focus on finding better ways to manage tailings. One of the main problems in tailings management is the length of time it takes for tailings to settle after being discharged from the extraction plant. A description of the facility was provided, with details of research into tailings-thickening procedures which result in composite or consolidated tailings, as well as a project where tailings flow and settle into deposition modules, which can then be lifted out and taken away for examination. Plans for test pits in the future were also reviewed. It was concluded that reclamation is an increasingly important aspect of oil sands operations

Study on Different Treatment Ways of Slider Joint for Solid-webbed Telescopic Jib

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Xu Gening

2015-01-01

Full Text Available According to greater distortion of local stress calculated in the slider joint for solid-webbed telescopic jib caused by previous simplified way, this paper puts forward to 3×2 kinds of different treatment ways: three kinds of ways dealing with fixed junction surfaces namely the coplanar way, MPC Algorithm and node coupling, two kinds of ways dealing with the corresponding sliding contact surfaces such as linear node coupling and contact nonlinear analysis. Regard the structure of solid-webbed telescopic jib with elliptical cross section as research object; analyze its feasibility and rationality of six kinds of treatment ways comparatively combining results by means of FEA software ANSYS and strength calculation theory in the overlapping and non-overlapping zones on simplification basis of the actual conditions of jib. It is found that the model’s FEA results with the coplanar way in the fixed junction surfaces occur serious distortion phenomenon through the whole analysis and comparison, which the degree of distortion reaches 354.5%, indicating that this treatment way has failed; The FEA results of model which sliding contact surfaces are disposed of contact nonlinear analysis are greater than the results of model which sliding contact surfaces are disposed of linear node coupling, there is no stress concentration phenomenon in this kind of treatment way, the simulation results are safer than before, and it is more consistent with the actual contact condition. Due to the contact analysis is a kind of nonlinear analysis behaviour which needs more computer resource. Therefore, the actual calculation results can be obtained more actually and economically if the node coupling is adapted to the slider joint while computer resource is nervous.

Reconciling Rigour and Impact by Collaborative Research Design: Study of Teacher Agency

Science.gov (United States)

Pantic, Nataša

2017-01-01

This paper illustrates a new way of working collaboratively on the development of a methodology for studying teacher agency for social justice. Increasing emphasis of impact on change as a purpose of social research raises questions about appropriate research designs. Large-scale quantitative research framed within externally set parameters has…

MIMO Four-Way Relaying

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Huaping; Sun, Fan; De Carvalho, Elisabeth

2013-01-01

Two-way relaying in wireless systems has initiated a large research effort during the past few years. Nevertheless, it represents only a specific traffic pattern and it is of interest to investigate other traffic patterns where such a simultaneous processing of information flows can bring...... performance advantage. In this paper we consider a \\emph{four-way relaying} multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) scenario, where each of the two Mobile Stations (MSs) has a two-way connection to the same Base Station (BS), while each connection is through a dedicated Relay Station (RS). The RSs are placed...... the sum-rate of the new scheme for Decode-and-Forward (DF) operational model for the RS. We compare the performance with state-of-the-art reference schemes, based on two-way relaying with DF. The results indicate that the sum-rate of the two-phase four-way relaying scheme largely outperforms the four...

An ongoing collaborative teacher training through action research. A way of changing classroom practices

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Raúl A. Barba-Martín

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The ongoing education training for teachers can be done through different models that could only report or also accompany the process of implementing innovations. The training through reflection processes is presented as essential to make changes in the classroom; also, if it is done collectively with other teachers or between centers, transformations will not only occur in the classroom, but in the whole context. One way leading to a collaborative ongoing education is through action research groups, considering a set of ethical practices whose characteristics allow participants to be trained according to their needs, and through support with other teachers, in order to transform the context. The research we present here is framed in a Teaching Innovation Project, University of Valladolid, through which teachers from three schools that have been trained in inclusive education through action research implementing in their classrooms interactive groups. This collaborative process played by teachers themselves has changed the thinking of teachers, their classroom and their educational contexts in which they work.

INVENTARISASI KEANEKARAGAMAN ANGGREK (Orchidaceae DI HUTAN RESORT WAY KANAN BALAI AMAN NASIONAL WAY KAMBAS SEBAGAI SUMBER INFORMASI DALAM MELESTARIKAN PLASMA NUTFAH

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Dwi Agustin Hening Widowati

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract:  Orchid is one of the plants that have different characteristics in each species and its habitat. Orchids (Orchidaceae or nation is a group that is protected by Government Regulations  Number. 7 Th.1999. It is necessary to look at the type of data collections and save it, and look at the characteristics of tropical forests in the Resort Way Kanan. This research aims to inventory orchid the found in Forest Resort of Way Kanan. This research was conducted in December 2014 until January 2015, using purposive sampling method and using techniques Line transeck, cut the line following the path of the Post traking Right Way to the SRS (Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, in this research using 4 stations between stations within 2km. The results of this study were obtained 23 species of orchids with 9 genera and 14 species include: the genus Dendrobium, Dendrobium creatceum, Dendrobium crumenatum, genus Grammatophyllum, Grammatophyllum scriptum BL, Agrostophyllum genus, the genus Cymbidium, Cymbidium chloranthum, Cymbidium hartinahianum, Calanthe genus, the genus Bulbophyllum, Arachnis sp, Angraecum didieri, Ascocentrum miniatum, Ascocentrum aureum, Coelogyne foerstermanni, golden shower Oncidium, Phalaenopsis amabilis, Spathoglottis sp. Having analyzed the data obtained it has a value equal to 46% of species density and relative density of 88.36% with a diversity index value of 1.3, based on the criteria of the Shannon-Wienner in Fachrul abundant species diversity can be expressed with the criteria being. The results of this study compiled into resources in conserving germplasm in the form of books and banner summary information, because there are some orchids are found in Forest Resort Way Kanan Balai Way Kambas National Park in Government Regulations  Number. 7 Th.1999 is a protected species of orchids. Orchid is a protected plant species, therefore it is necessary for us to maintain and preserve it.

Women scientists' scientific and spiritual ways of knowing

Science.gov (United States)

Buffington, Angela Cunningham

While science education aims for literacy regarding scientific knowledge and the work of scientists, the separation of scientific knowing from other knowing may misrepresent the knowing of scientists. The majority of science educators K-university are women. Many of these women are spiritual and integrate their scientific and spiritual ways of knowing. Understanding spiritual women of science would inform science education and serve to advance the scientific reason and spirituality debate. Using interviews and grounded theory, this study explores scientific and spiritual ways of knowing in six women of science who hold strong spiritual commitments and portray science to non-scientists. From various lived experiences, each woman comes to know through a Passive knowing of exposure and attendance, an Engaged knowing of choice, commitment and action, an Mindful/Inner knowing of prayer and meaning, a Relational knowing with others, and an Integrated lifeworld knowing where scientific knowing, spiritual knowing, and other ways of knowing are integrated. Consequences of separating ways of knowing are discussed, as are connections to current research, implications to science education, and ideas for future research. Understanding women scientists' scientific/ spiritual ways of knowing may aid science educators in linking academic science to the life-worlds of students.

Randomly auditing research labs could be an affordable way to improve research quality: A simulation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnett, Adrian G; Zardo, Pauline; Graves, Nicholas

2018-01-01

The "publish or perish" incentive drives many researchers to increase the quantity of their papers at the cost of quality. Lowering quality increases the number of false positive errors which is a key cause of the reproducibility crisis. We adapted a previously published simulation of the research world where labs that produce many papers are more likely to have "child" labs that inherit their characteristics. This selection creates a competitive spiral that favours quantity over quality. To try to halt the competitive spiral we added random audits that could detect and remove labs with a high proportion of false positives, and also improved the behaviour of "child" and "parent" labs who increased their effort and so lowered their probability of making a false positive error. Without auditing, only 0.2% of simulations did not experience the competitive spiral, defined by a convergence to the highest possible false positive probability. Auditing 1.35% of papers avoided the competitive spiral in 71% of simulations, and auditing 1.94% of papers in 95% of simulations. Audits worked best when they were only applied to established labs with 50 or more papers compared with labs with 25 or more papers. Adding a ±20% random error to the number of false positives to simulate peer reviewer error did not reduce the audits' efficacy. The main benefit of the audits was via the increase in effort in "child" and "parent" labs. Audits improved the literature by reducing the number of false positives from 30.2 per 100 papers to 12.3 per 100 papers. Auditing 1.94% of papers would cost an estimated $15.9 million per year if applied to papers produced by National Institutes of Health funding. Our simulation greatly simplifies the research world and there are many unanswered questions about if and how audits would work that can only be addressed by a trial of an audit.

The Interdisciplinary Business Doctorate for Executives: A Novel Way to Bridge Academic Research and Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Grandon Gill

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The paper presents an over view of a new type of degree program that is rapidly emerging and gaining acceptance in the U.S.: the business doctorate for executives. Roughly a dozen of these programs currently exist at institutions accredited by AACSB International, the nation's premier accrediting agency. Although they are research-focused, like their Ph.D counterparts, they are quite different in a number of ways. Among the most important of these: they target applicants with substantial executive experience, they are part time and assume their participants will continue working while in the program, they are interdisciplinary in focus and their emphasis is generally on applying research methods to practical business problems, as opposed to producing published research articles. As a consequence, they are well-positioned to serve as a bridge that increases partnering between academic research and practice. After summarizing the general nature of these programs, the paper considers the structure and objectives of the new Doctor of Business Administration (DBA program being offered by the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida.

Institutional Repositories in Indian Universities and Research Institutes: A Study

Science.gov (United States)

Krishnamurthy, M.; Kemparaju, T. D.

2011-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on a study of the institutional repositories (IRs) in use in Indian universities and research institutes. Design/methodology/approach: Repositories in various institutions in India were accessed and described in a standardised way. Findings: The 20 repositories studied covered collections of diverse…

Disciplining the children – ways of doing it, standpoints and generational relations

OpenAIRE

Saša Poljak

2010-01-01

Parents use different ways of disciplining the children in the family. The purpose of the research is to study ways, attitudes and intergenerational relations between disciplining the children in the family. One hundred and three parents appraised their ways of children disciplining, their attitudes towards the ways of disciplining, the context of experiencing, modes of implementing discipline and ways of disciplining of their mother and father when they were 10 years old. More than half of t...

Exploring "Whakaaro": A Way of Responsive Thinking in Maori Research

Science.gov (United States)

Mika, Carl; Southey, Kim

2018-01-01

The experience of researching as a Maori student within academia will often raise questions about how and whether the student's research privileges Maori world views and articulates culturally specific epistemologies. This study offers some theorising, from the perspectives of a Maori doctoral student and her Maori supervisor (the authors of this…

Developing Multilingual Pedagogies and Research through Language Study and Reflection

Science.gov (United States)

Catalano, Theresa; Shende, Madhur; Suh, Emily K.

2018-01-01

Globalisation and increased transnational migration underscore the need for educational responses to multilingualism and multilingual discourses. One way to heighten awareness of multilingual pedagogies (while simultaneously providing data for multilingual research) is the use of reflective language study and journaling by language…

Detection technology research on the one-way clutch of automatic brake adjuster

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Wensong; Luo, Zai; Lu, Yi

2013-10-01

In this article, we provide a new testing method to evaluate the acceptable quality of the one-way clutch of automatic brake adjuster. To analysis the suitable adjusting brake moment which keeps the automatic brake adjuster out of failure, we build a mechanical model of one-way clutch according to the structure and the working principle of one-way clutch. The ranges of adjusting brake moment both clockwise and anti-clockwise can be calculated through the mechanical model of one-way clutch. Its critical moment, as well, are picked up as the ideal values of adjusting brake moment to evaluate the acceptable quality of one-way clutch of automatic brake adjuster. we calculate the ideal values of critical moment depending on the different structure of one-way clutch based on its mechanical model before the adjusting brake moment test begin. In addition, an experimental apparatus, which the uncertainty of measurement is ±0.1Nm, is specially designed to test the adjusting brake moment both clockwise and anti-clockwise. Than we can judge the acceptable quality of one-way clutch of automatic brake adjuster by comparing the test results and the ideal values instead of the EXP. In fact, the evaluation standard of adjusting brake moment applied on the project are still using the EXP provided by manufacturer currently in China, but it would be unavailable when the material of one-way clutch changed. Five kinds of automatic brake adjusters are used in the verification experiment to verify the accuracy of the test method. The experimental results show that the experimental values of adjusting brake moment both clockwise and anti-clockwise are within the ranges of theoretical results. The testing method provided by this article vividly meet the requirements of manufacturer's standard.

Web of life and ways of life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caterina Croce

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The notion of bios is a key-concept in Foucault's research. In the studies about the ancient world, bios stands out as an ethic substance relevant to the practice, the control and the transformation of the self. It is worth investigating the analogies and the differences between the notion of bios as it is meant in the last lectures at the Collège de France and that of bios as a creative force, shared and plural, that we find in previous seasons of Foucault research. The issue of 'way of life' allows us to explore the ambivalences of this topic. In its singular/plural declination, bios raises questions about the common living, which results from the coexistence and sharing of different ways of life – bioi – that cut through the ground of the institutionalized relationships.

Innovative ways of studying the effect of migration on obesity and diabetes beyond the common designs: lessons from the RODAM study.

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Agyemang, Charles; Beune, Erik; Meeks, Karlijn; Addo, Juliet; Aikins, Ama de-Graft; Bahendeka, Silver; Danquah, Ina; Mockenhaupt, Frank P; Schulze, Matthias B; Klipstein-Grobusch, Kerstin; Smeeth, Liam; Stronks, Karien

2017-03-01

Type 2 diabetes and obesity are major global public health problems, with migrant populations in high-income countries being particularly affected. Type 2 diabetes and obesity are also major threats in low- and middle-income countries, from which most migrant populations originate. Transitioning of societies and the resulting changes in lifestyles are thought to be major driving forces, but the key specific factors within this broad category still need to be determined. Migrant studies provide a unique opportunity to understand the potential underlying causes of these conditions, but current research is mainly geared toward analyzing the differences between migrants and the host populations in the countries of settlement. For better understanding, there is a need to extend migrant health research across national boundaries. This review discusses innovative ways of studying the effect of migration on type 2 diabetes and obesity beyond the common designs and the relevance of extending migrant health studies across national boundaries in the current era of increasing global migration. Specifically, we describe the burden and different methods for conducting migrant studies. We use the Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM) study as a case study, discussing the methods, some results, and lessons learned, including challenges and an essential recipe for success that may guide future migrant health research. © 2016 New York Academy of Sciences.

[Research on resources chemistry of Chinese medicinal materials and resources recycling utilization ways and goals and tasks].

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Jin-ao; Su, Shu-lan; Guo, Sheng; Jiang, Shu; Liu, Pei; Yan, Hui; Qian, Da-wei; Zhu, Hua-xu; Tang, Yu-ping; Wu, Qi-nan

2015-09-01

The objects of research on the resources chemistry of Chinese medicinal materials (RCCMM) are promotion of efficient production, rational utilization and improving quality of CMM and natural products. The development of TCM cause depends on the efficient utilization and sustainable development of CMM, hinges on the technologies and methods for using and discovering medicinal biological resources, stand or fall on the extension of industy chains, detailed utilizaion of resource chemical components by multi-way, multi-level. All of these may help to the recycling utilization and sound development of RCMM. In this article, five respects were discussed to the RCCMM researches and resources recycling utilization ways and goals and tasks. First, based on the principle of resource scarcity, discovering or replacing CMM resources, protecting the rare or endangered species or resources. Second, based on the multifunctionality of CMM, realizing the value-added and value compensation, and promoting the utilization efficiency through systermatic and detailed exploitation and utilization. Third, based on the resource conservation and environment-friendly, reducing raw material consumption, lowering cost, promoting recycling utilization and elevating utilization efficiency. Fourth, based on the stratege of turning harm into good, using the invasive alien biological resources by multi-ways and enriching the medicial resources. Fifth, based on the method of structure modification of chemical components, exploring and enhancing the utility value of resouces chemical substances. These data should provide references and attention for improving the utilization efficiency, promoting the development of recycling economy, and changing the mode of economic growth of agriculture and industry of CMM fundamentally.

Recruiting for research studies using online public advertisements examples from research in affective disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wise T

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Toby Wise,1 Danilo Arnone,1 Lindsey Marwood,1 Roland Zahn,1–3 Karen E Lythe,2,3 Allan H Young1 1Centre for Affective Disorders, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, 2Neuroscience and Aphasia Research Unit, School of Psychological Sciences, 3Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK Abstract: Successful recruitment is vital for any research study. Difficulties in recruitment are not uncommon and can have important implications. This is particularly relevant to research conducted in affective disorders due to the nature of the conditions and the clinical services that serve these patients. Recently, online public advertisements have become more generally accessible and may provide an effective way to recruit patient populations. However, there is paucity of evidence on their viability as a method of recruiting patients into studies of disease mechanisms in these disorders. Public advertisement methods can be useful when researchers require specific populations, such as those not receiving pharmacological treatment. This work describes our experience in successfully recruiting participants into neuroimaging research studies in affective disorders using online public advertisements. Results suggest that these online public advertisements are an effective method for successfully recruiting participants with affective disorders into research studies, particularly for research focusing on disease mechanisms in specific populations. Keywords: recruitment, affective disorders, advertising, depression, anxiety, bipolar

Climate change, living environment and ways of life

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaervelae, M.; Wilenius, M.

1994-01-01

The research project 'Climate Change, Living Environment and Way of Life' is focused on the social concepts of risks and of proposed policies related to global environmental problems as seen by representatives of various social groups. Drawing on the social-scientific methodology and applying its concept apparatus, the research project focuses on two central problems in the field of contemporary environmental research. Firstly, with the way in which environmental problems influence people's values and attitudes. Secondly, with the question of how people seek to act and to show solidarity towards new generations by means of environmental policies or by protecting nature within the framework of their private ways of life

Disciplining the children – ways of doing it, standpoints and generational relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saša Poljak

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Parents use different ways of disciplining the children in the family. The purpose of the research is to study ways, attitudes and intergenerational relations between disciplining the children in the family. One hundred and three parents appraised their ways of children disciplining, their attitudes towards the ways of disciplining, the context of experiencing, modes of implementing discipline and ways of disciplining of their mother and father when they were 10 years old. More than half of the parents describe the use of at least one of the ways of physical punishment respectively, at least one of the ways of psychical violence as a way of disciplining children in the family. Punishment ways of disciplining are connected with the experience of spousal conflict in the family, ineffectiveness, stress and the impulsive way of a response due to children disciplining. The acceptability of punishment and non-punishment ways of disciplining are positively connected with the frequency of use of this ways of disciplining. The research presented here shows a possibility that the use of a certain way of disciplining children in the family does not necessarily have a connection with a similar disciplining experience in the childhood. Corporal punishment is connected with the experience of other ways of punitive disciplining in the childhood, especially with the ways of disciplining used by mother.

The contribution of case study design to supporting research on Clubhouse psychosocial rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Raeburn, Toby; Schmied, Virginia; Hungerford, Catherine; Cleary, Michelle

2015-10-01

Psychosocial Clubhouses provide recovery-focused psychosocial rehabilitation to people with serious mental illness at over 300 sites in more than 30 countries worldwide. To deliver the services involved, Clubhouses employ a complex mix of theory, programs and relationships, with this complexity presenting a number of challenges to those undertaking Clubhouse research. This paper provides an overview of the usefulness of case study designs for Clubhouse researchers; and suggests ways in which the evaluation of Clubhouse models can be facilitated. The paper begins by providing a brief explanation of the Clubhouse model of psychosocial rehabilitation, and the need for ongoing evaluation of the services delivered. This explanation is followed by an introduction to case study design, with consideration given to the way in which case studies have been used in past Clubhouse research. It is posited that case study design provides a methodological framework that supports the analysis of either quantitative, qualitative or a mixture of both types of data to investigate complex phenomena in their everyday contexts, and thereby support the development of theory. As such, case study approaches to research are well suited to the Clubhouse environment. The paper concludes with recommendations for future Clubhouse researchers who choose to employ a case study design. While the quality of case study research that explores Clubhouses has been variable in the past, if applied in a diligent manner, case study design has a valuable contribution to make in future Clubhouse research.

The Research-Teaching Nexus: Using a Construction Teaching Event as a Research Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Casanovas-Rubio, Maria del Mar; Ahearn, Alison; Ramos, Gonzalo; Popo-Ola, Sunday

2016-01-01

In principle, the research-teaching nexus should be seen as a two-way link, showing not only ways in which research supports teaching but also ways in which teaching supports research. In reality, the discussion has been limited almost entirely to the first of these practices. This paper presents a case study in which some student field-trip…

Critical-Cultural Studies in Research and Instruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Switzer, Les; McNamara, John; Ryan, Michael

1999-01-01

Outlines two paradigms in critical-cultural analysis that seek to identify and explain the meaning of phenomena that make a culture, focusing on their relevance to research and teaching in journalism and mass communication. Identifies key issues and implications for mass communication research and teaching. Suggests ways educators can apply…

The Way of No-Way to Pursue Knowledge in Many Ways (Invited Paper

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Jayanta Choudhury

2014-12-01

Full Text Available "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of ten thousand things. Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations. These two spring from the same source but differ in name; this appears as darkness. Darkness within darkness. The gate to all mystery."–Lao Tsu (B.C. 2500 The above is an English translation of the first verse of the book "Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tsu. A working meaning of the word "Tao" is "way". The technical jargon "multidisciplinary research" or "interdisciplinary research" are research in many named established areas (i.e. chemistry, physics, sociology, mathematics, statistics, theology, philosophy, political science etc. by an individual or a group of individuals. This type of research has a mysterious common theme that cannot be isolated but is present in the manifestations in various research disciplines. One example of a common theme can be the goal of a new technological innovation. In this article, the problems and solutions of such endeavors are identified by practical analogies of living and nonliving natural phenomena to the above quoted verse by Lao Tsu.

Traditions and Transitions in Quantitative Societal Culture Research in Organization Studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peterson, Mark, F.; Søndergaard, Mikael

2011-01-01

Quantitative societal culture research (QSCR) in organization studies crystallizes a configuration of social science perspectives and methods that became prominent in the 1970s. We consider the qualities of and boundaries around cultural groups that this tradition emphasizes, and other...... characteristics of cultural groups that it does not emphasize. Current debates surrounding this tradition reflect both recent social science innovations and rediscoveries of early social science perspectives. Our analysis of quantitative cross-cultural societal research in organization studies considers...... this process of crystallization, innovation and rediscovery. We suggest ways to address current controversies and promote conversations with other research approaches....

Reconciling Rigour and Impact by Collaborative Research Design: Study of Teacher Agency

OpenAIRE

Pantic, Natasa

2015-01-01

This paper illustrates a new way of working collaboratively on the development of a methodology for studying teacher agency for social justice. Increasing emphasis of impact on change as a purpose of social research raises questions about appropriate research designs. Large scale quantitative research framed within externally set parameters has often been criticised for its limited potential for capturing the contexts and impacting change, while smaller, locally embedded, mostly qualitative i...

Comparative analysis of the performance of One-Way and Two-Way urban road networks

Science.gov (United States)

Gheorghe, Carmen

2017-10-01

The fact that the number of vehicles is increasing year after year represents a challenge in road traffic management because it is necessary to adjust the road traffic, in order to prevent any incidents, using mostly the same road infrastructure. At this moment one-way road network provides efficient traffic flow for vehicles but it is not ideal for pedestrians. Therefore, a proper solution must be found and applied when and where it is necessary. Replacing one-way road network with two-way road network may be a viable solution especially if in the area is high pedestrian traffic. The paper aims to highlight the influence of both, one-way and two-way urban road networks through an experimental research which was performed by using traffic data collected in the field. Each of the two scenarios analyzed were based on the same traffic data, the same geometrical conditions of the road (lane width, total road segment width, road slopes, total length of the road network) and also the same signaling conditions (signalised intersection or roundabout). The analysis which involves two-way scenario reveals changes in the performance parameters like delay average, stops average, delay stop average and vehicle speed average. Based on the values obtained, it was possible to perform a comparative analysis between the real, one-way, scenario and the theoretical, two-way, scenario.

The Multicultural Science Framework: Research on Innovative Two-Way Immersion Science Classrooms.

Science.gov (United States)

Hadi-Tabassum, Samina

2000-01-01

Reviews the different approaches to multicultural science teaching that have emerged in the past decade, focusing on the Spanish-English two-way immersion classroom, which meets the needs of Spanish speakers learning English and introduces students to the idea of collaboration across languages and cultures. Two urban two-way immersion classrooms…

An Urban Way of Life

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haase, Kirstine

This paper presents how my PhD project “An Urban Way of life – practices, networks and identities in Odense 1100-1500 AD” engages with the overall research perspectives presented in the research and public outreach project “Urban Encounters”. I will explore how urbanism in Medieval Odense can...... of the cultural deposits and sampling for scientific analysis. It resulted in an extensive finds assemblage and well-preserved structures such as booths, houses, byres and stables, latrines, paths, roads, fences, manure heaps and much more with a vast potential for further research. One of the features...... was a large latrine from the 15th century that contained a variety of finds such as coopered beakers, seeds from plants or fruits and ceramics. The latrine does not only tell about people and practices of daily life but studied with a contextual approach and chaine operatoire as point of departure...

Guidelines for Conducting Positivist Case Study Research in Information Systems

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Graeme Shanks

2002-11-01

Full Text Available The case study research approach is widely used in a number of different ways within the information systems community. This paper focuses on positivist, deductive case study research in information systems. It provides clear definitions of important concepts in positivist case study research and illustrates these with an example research study. A critical analysis of the conduct and outcomes of two recently published positivist case studies is reported. One is a multiple case study that validated concepts in a framework for viewpoint development in requirements definition. The other is a single case study that examined the role of social enablers in enterprise resource planning systems implementation. A number of guidelines for successfully undertaking positivist case study research are identified including developing a clear understanding of key concepts and assumptions within the positivist paradigm; providing clear and unambiguous definitions of the units and interactions when using any theory; carefully defining the boundary of the theory used in the case study; using hypotheses rather than propositions in the empirical testing of theory; using fuzzy or probabilistic propositions in recognising that reality can never be perfectly known; selecting case studies carefully, particularly single case studies; and recognising that generalisation from positivist, single case studies is inherently different from generalisation from single experiments. When properly undertaken, positivist, deductive case study research is a valuable research approach for information systems researchers, particularly when used within pluralist research programs that use a number of different research approaches from different paradigms.

Considerations when conducting e-Delphi research: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Toronto, Coleen

2017-06-22

Background E-Delphi is a way to access a geographically dispersed group of experts. It is similar to other Delphi methods but conducted online. E-research methodologies, such as the e-Delphi method, have yet to undergo significant critical discussion. Aim To highlight some of the challenges nurse researchers may wish to consider when using e-Delphi in their research. Discussion This paper provides details about the author's approach to conducting an e-Delphi study in which a group of health literacy nurse experts (n=41) used an online survey platform to identify and prioritise essential health literacy competencies for registered nurses. Conclusion This paper advances methodological discourse about e-Delphi by critically assessing an e-Delphi case study. The online survey platform used in this study was advantageous for the researcher and the experts: the experts could participate at any time and place where the internet was available; the researcher could efficiently access a national group of experts, track responses and analyse data in each round. Implications for practice E-Delphi studies create opportunities for nurse researchers to conduct research nationally and internationally. Before conducting an e-Delphi study, researchers should carefully consider the design and methods for collecting data, to avoid challenges that could potentially compromise the quality of the findings. Researchers are encouraged to publish details about their approaches to e-Delphi studies, to advance the state of the science.

The Milky Way galaxy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woerden, H. van; Allen, R.J.; Burton, W.B.

1985-01-01

IAU Symposium 106, held at the Kapteyn Institute in Groningen, presents an overview of all major aspects of galactic astronomy. The vast subject is covered in 20 authoritative review papers and 22 invited papers, each with discussion, plus 81 shorter contributions. The book opens with 4 reviews by historians of science, outlining the history of galactic research. Part 2 deals with (i) galactic rotation, (ii) the large-scale distributions of matter, of both old and young stellar populations, and of the atomic, molecular and high-energy components of the interstellar medium, (iii) small-scale structure in the gas, (iv) the galactic nucleus, (v) the high-velocity clouds. Part 3 discusses the dynamics of the local group of Galaxies and of the Milky Way-Magellanic clouds system, the dynamical and chemical evolution of the Galaxy and of its disk and halo components and the formation of the Galaxy. The controversial subject of spiral structure and star formation is analyzed in several extensive reviews and lively discussions, featuring both observational and theoretical developments. Results of extragalactic research are blended with studies of our Galaxy throughout the book, and there is a separate comparison between Andromeda and Milky Way Galaxies. The Symposium featured the first maps produced by IRAS, and results from most major telescopes in a variety of wavebands. Many review papers present material not published elsewhere. The book closes with a lecture on life in the Galaxy and with an imaginative symposium summary. (orig.)

Two-Way Interpretation about Climate Change: Preliminary Results from a Study in Select Units of the United States National Park System

Science.gov (United States)

Forist, B. E.; Knapp, D.

2014-12-01

Much interpretation in units of the National Park System, conducted by National Park Service (NPS) rangers and partners today is done in a didactic, lecture style. This "one-way" communication runs counter to research suggesting that long-term impacts of park interpretive experiences must be established through direct connections with the visitor. Previous research in interpretation has suggested that interpretive experiences utilizing a "two-way" dialogue approach are more successful at facilitating long-term memories than "one-way" approaches where visitors have few, if any, opportunities to ask questions, offer opinions, or share interests and experiences. Long-term memories are indicators of connections to places and resources. Global anthropogenic change poses critical threats to NPS sites, resources, and visitor experiences. As climate change plays an ever-expanding role in public, political, social, economic, and environmental discourse it stands to reason that park visitors may also be interested in engaging in this discourse. Indeed, NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis stated in the agency's Climate Change Action Plan 2012 - 2014 that, "We now know through social science conducted in parks that our visitors are looking to NPS staff for honest dialogue about this critical issue." Researchers from Indiana University will present preliminary findings from a multiple park study that assessed basic visitor knowledge and the impact of two-way interpretation related to climate change. Observations from park interpretive program addressing climate change will be presented. Basic visitor knowledge of climate change impacts in the select parks as well as immediate and long-term visitor recollections will be presented. Select units of the National Park System in this research included Cape Cod National Seashore, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Cascades National Park, Shenandoah National Park, and Zion National Park.

THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH IN NEUROEDUCATION STUDIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Nouri

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The present paper assembles contributions from the areas of education, psychology, cognitive science, and of course, neuroeducation itself to introduce the basic principles of research in the field of neuroeducation studies. It is particularly important, as such it is a useful way to justify researchers about what neuroeducation as a specific domain do that no other field can do as well or cannot do at all. Based on the literature reviewed, neuroeducational research can be understood as an interdisciplinary endeavor to develop an insightful understanding and holistic picture of problems related to learning and education. It thus epistemologically is based on an integrated methodological pluralism paradigm. This requires researchers to understand multiple methods and methodologies and employ as they formulate their own research projects. Researchers have a critical role to play in providing systematic evidence and conclusions that are scientifically valid and reliable and educationally relevant and usable. One significant implication of this argument is the need to strengthen the quality of the research component in graduate programs of the field and train interested researchers in the identification and formulation of relevant research questions.

Storytelling as a way for humanizing research methods

OpenAIRE

Grenness, Tor

2016-01-01

This is an Open Access journal. The article is aslo available from www.idrcentre.org This article examines how the use of storytelling can serve as a pedagogical strategy in the teaching of research methods. Research methods and statistics anxiety is fairly widespread among students in higher education. Introducing storytelling has been found to decrease this anxiety. The term “humanizing research methods” implies a focus on students’ needs that goes beyond transferring knowledge of the co...

Disciplinary Identity of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Research- A Study of Postgraduate Researchers’ Experiences

OpenAIRE

Chari, Deepa Nathamuni; Howard, Robert; Bowe, Brian

2012-01-01

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology research although growing at very fast rate, its disciplinary identity remains ‘ill-defined’. It is often viewed as multidisciplinary; and/or interdisciplinary science or even as a unique discipline on its own way. As a consequence, whether this growing research area requires researchers that have studied specialised undergraduate or postgraduate nanoscience and nanotechnology programmes; or traditional science and engineering disciplines is still less understoo...

The use of theory in qualitative approaches to research: application in end-of-life studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Hung-Lan; Volker, Deborah L

2009-12-01

This paper is a report of an analysis of the use of theory in qualitative approaches to research as exemplified in qualitative end-of-life studies. Nurses researchers turn to theory to conceptualize research problems and guide investigations. However, researchers using qualitative approaches do not consistently articulate how theory has been applied, and no clear consensus exists regarding the appropriate application of theory in qualitative studies. A review of qualitative, end-of-life studies is used to illustrate application of theory to study design and findings. A review of theoretical literature was carried out, focusing on definitions and use of theory in qualitative end-of-life studies published in English between 1990 and 2008. The term 'theory' continues to be used in a variety of ways by theorists and researchers. Within the reviewed end-of-life studies, the use of theory included theory creation or provision of a comparative framework for data analysis and interpretation. Implications for nursing. Nurses who conduct qualitative studies should examine the philosophical and theoretical bases of their selected methodological approach, articulate a theoretical framework that fits the phenomenon being studied, and adopt a critical, flexible and creative attitude when applying theory to a study. Theory can be put to several uses in qualitative inquiry and should guide nurse researchers as they develop and implement their studies. Nurse educators who teach qualitative approaches to research should emphasize a variety of ways to incorporate theory in qualitative designs.

Redesigning the Way We Listen

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søndergaard, Morten

2014-01-01

This paper is based on a research project-in-progress investigating curatorial practice as methodology for creating responsive interfaces to sound art practices. Sound art is a transdisciplinary practice. As such, it creates new domains that may be used for redesign-purposes. Not only do experien......This paper is based on a research project-in-progress investigating curatorial practice as methodology for creating responsive interfaces to sound art practices. Sound art is a transdisciplinary practice. As such, it creates new domains that may be used for redesign-purposes. Not only do...... experiences of sound alter; the way we listen to sound is transforming as well. Thus, the paper analyses and discusses two responsive sound interfaces and claim that curating as a transdisciplinary practice may frame what is termed in the paper as a domain-game redesigning the way the audience listens...

A Phenomenographic Investigation of the Ways Engineering Students Experience Innovation

Science.gov (United States)

Fila, Nicholas David

Innovation has become an important phenomenon in engineering and engineering education. By developing novel, feasible, viable, and valued solutions to complex technical and human problems, engineers support the economic competitiveness of organizations, make a difference in the lives of users and other stakeholders, drive societal and scientific progress, and obtain key personal benefits. Innovation is also a complex phenomenon. It occurs across a variety of contexts and domains, encompasses numerous phases and activities, and requires unique competency profiles. Despite this complexity, many studies in engineering education focus on specific aspects (e.g., engineering students' abilities to generate original concepts during idea generation), and we still know little about the variety of ways engineering students approach and understand innovation. This study addresses that gap by asking: 1. What are the qualitatively different ways engineering students experience innovation during their engineering projects? 2. What are the structural relationships between the ways engineering students experience innovation? This study utilized phenomenography, a qualitative research method, to explore the above research questions. Thirty-three engineering students were recruited to ensure thorough coverage along four factors suggested by the literature to support differences related to innovation: engineering project experience, academic major, year in school, and gender. Each participant completed a 1-2 hour, semi-structured interview that focused on experiences with and conceptions of innovation. Whole transcripts were analyzed using an eight-stage, iterative, and comparative approach meant to identify a limited number of categories of description (composite ways of experiencing innovation comprised of the experiences of several participants), and the structural relationships between these categories. Phenomenographic analysis revealed eight categories of description that were

Participation in environmental health research by placenta donation - a perception study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lind, Uffe; Mose, Tina; Knudsen, Lisbeth E

2007-11-22

Much environmental health research depends on human volunteers participating with biological samples. The perception study explores why and how people participate in a placenta perfusion study in Copenhagen. The participation implies donation of the placenta after birth and some background information but no follow up. Nineteen semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with participants in the placenta perfusion study after donation of placenta. Observation studies were made of recruitment sessions. The interviewed participants are generally in favour of medical research. They participated in the placenta perfusion study due to a belief that societal progress follows medical research. They also felt that participating was a way of giving something back to the Danish health care system. The participants have trust in medical science and scientists, but trust is something which needs to be created through "trust-work". Face-to-face interaction, written information material and informed consent forms play important parts in creating trusting relationships in medical research. Medical research ethics do not only amount to specific types of written information material but should also be seen as a number of trust making performances involving researchers as well as research participants.

Program for transfer research and impact studies

Science.gov (United States)

Rusnak, J. J.; Freeman, J. E.; Hartley, J. M.; Kottenstette, J. P.; Staskin, E. R.

1973-01-01

Research activities conducted under the Program for Transfer Research and Impact Studies (TRIS) during 1972 included: (1) preparation of 10,196 TSP requests for TRIS application analysis; (2) interviews with over 500 individuals concerning the technical, economic, and social impacts of NASA-generated technology; (3) preparation of 38 new technology transfer example files and 101 new transfer cases; and (4) maintenance of a technology transfer library containing more than 2,900 titles. Six different modes of technology utilization are used to illustrate the pervasiveness of the transfer and diffusion of aerospace innovations. These modes also provide a basis for distinguishing the unique characteristics of the NASA Technology Utilization Program. An examination is reported of the ways in which NASA-generated technology is contributing to beneficial social change in five major areas of human concern: health, environment, safety, transportation, and communication.

Researcher Positioning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Khawaja, Iram; Mørck, Line Lerche

2009-01-01

involvement by the researcher, which challenges traditional perspectives onresearch and researcher positioning. A key point in this regard is the importance ofconstant awareness of and reflection on the multiple ways in which one's positioningas a researcher influences the research process. Studying the other...

Student Approaches to Learning and Studying. Research Monograph.

Science.gov (United States)

Biggs, John B.

A common thread in contemporary research in student learning refers to the ways in which students go about learning. A theory of learning is presented that accentuates the interaction between the person and the situation. Research evidence implies a form of meta-cognition called meta-learning, the awareness of students of their own learning…

Molecular nutrition research: the modern way of performing nutritional science.

Science.gov (United States)

Norheim, Frode; Gjelstad, Ingrid Merethe Fange; Hjorth, Marit; Vinknes, Kathrine J; Langleite, Torgrim M; Holen, Torgeir; Jensen, Jørgen; Dalen, Knut Tomas; Karlsen, Anette S; Kielland, Anders; Rustan, Arild C; Drevon, Christian A

2012-12-03

In spite of amazing progress in food supply and nutritional science, and a striking increase in life expectancy of approximately 2.5 months per year in many countries during the previous 150 years, modern nutritional research has a great potential of still contributing to improved health for future generations, granted that the revolutions in molecular and systems technologies are applied to nutritional questions. Descriptive and mechanistic studies using state of the art epidemiology, food intake registration, genomics with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, advanced biostatistics, imaging, calorimetry, cell biology, challenge tests (meals, exercise, etc.), and integration of all data by systems biology, will provide insight on a much higher level than today in a field we may name molecular nutrition research. To take advantage of all the new technologies scientists should develop international collaboration and gather data in large open access databases like the suggested Nutritional Phenotype database (dbNP). This collaboration will promote standardization of procedures (SOP), and provide a possibility to use collected data in future research projects. The ultimate goals of future nutritional research are to understand the detailed mechanisms of action for how nutrients/foods interact with the body and thereby enhance health and treat diet-related diseases.

Lessons learned in research: an attempt to study the effects of magnetic therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Szor, Judy K; Holewinski, Paul

2002-02-01

Difficulties related to chronic wound healing research are frequently discussed, but results of less-than-perfect studies commonly are not published. A 16-week, randomized controlled double-blind study attempted to investigate the effect of static magnetic therapy on the healing of diabetic foot ulcers. Of 56 subjects, 37 completed the study. Because of the small sample size, randomization did not control for differences between the two groups, and the data could not be analyzed in any meaningful way. The challenges of performing magnetic therapy research are discussed and considerations for future studies are noted.

Constraints in the preparation of mathematics teachers: the way ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study investigated the constraints in the preparation of Mathematics teachers in the colleges of education and the possible way forward. It used an ex-post facto research design in the colleges of education in Nigeria. 165 final year students of Mathematics and 30 Mathematics lecturers were selected samples from the 6 ...

Revisiting violent videogames research: Game studies perspectives on aggression, violence, immersion, interaction, and textual analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyle Kontour

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Thus far, the bulk of effects research on violent video games demon-strates troubling correlations between playing violent video games and increases in (or primers for aggressive behavior, which suggests that overall, violent video games may be detrimental to society. However, there may be significant weaknesses in this body of research, concerning not only methodological issues such as study design and the ways in which ‘aggression’ or ‘violence’ are conceptualized, but also containing fundamental misunderstandings of games as text, apparatus, or cultural artifact. Because these studies may not have a sophisticated enough un-derstanding of games as objects or gaming as an activity, we must there-fore reconsider the conclusions and implications thus far arrived at in this research and look for new ways forward for assessing violence in/and video games.

Future studies and research in Egypt. Overview, examples, perspectives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goell, Edgar

2012-02-15

During the last decade there have been several distinct activities and efforts with regards to future research in Egypt. Several institutions and capacities have been created. Although these capacities do not always meet high scientific standards, their results and studies offer important and well-grounded elements for future-oriented discussions and political decisions. Not least because of the Egypt revolt which started in January 2011 and the ongoing complex and conflicting societal struggles in Egypt the objective needs as well as the demand for systematic future thinking and future studies will very likely increase further. For that reason this report presents an overview about the context conditions, experiences and forms of future research in Egypt. The major challenges as well as the major issues are described. The main part is the description of the most important institutions, which are conducting future research, their projects and in addition two concrete projects, which try to practice Sustainable Development in different ways. Finally, several (self-)critical assessments and perspectives from selected experts of the future research community in Egypt will be presented.

CASE STUDY: Uzbekistan — Competition research improves services

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

2010-12-22

Dec 22, 2010 ... Small Grants Competition for Distribution Sector Research ... restrictive business practices in international money transfer services and find ways to .... through its own methodology on analyzing the financial services market [.

Ways of understanding the encounter with head and neck cancer patients in the hospital dental team--a phenomenographic study.

Science.gov (United States)

Röing, Marta; Hirsch, J-M; Holmström, Inger

2006-10-01

Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common malignancy in the world. Fifty percent of the patients can be cured by surgery, radiotherapy or a combination approach. Head and neck cancer is life-threatening, and treatment may leave the patient with visible facial disfigurements and impairment of functions such as speech and eating. This affects not only the patient, but may arouse difficult feelings in the treatment staff. Dental personnel are involved in all facets of treatment, yet they have no specific training in cancer care. The aim of this study was to describe the variation in ways dental personnel understand and experience the encounter with head and neck cancer patients, as the way of understanding a certain phenomenon is judged to be fundamental to the way we act and form our beliefs. Twenty members of hospital dental teams were interviewed. The interviews focused on experiences of the encounter with head and neck cancer patients. A qualitative research approach, phenomenography, was used in analysing the interviews. The encounter was perceived in three qualitatively different ways: as an act of caring, as a serious and responsible task and as an overwhelming emotional situation. The results indicate that hospital dental personnel are not able to lean on education and professional training in finding ways of dealing with situations with strong emotional impact. This has implications for the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer, as well as education of dental personnel.

An information-gain approach to detecting three-way epistatic interactions in genetic association studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Ting; Chen, Yuanzhu; Kiralis, Jeff W

2013-01-01

Background Epistasis has been historically used to describe the phenomenon that the effect of a given gene on a phenotype can be dependent on one or more other genes, and is an essential element for understanding the association between genetic and phenotypic variations. Quantifying epistasis......-way epistasis. Methods Such a measure is based on information gain, and is able to separate all lower order effects from pure three-way epistasis. Results Our method was verified on synthetic data and applied to real data from a candidate-gene study of tuberculosis in a West African population....... In the tuberculosis data, we found a statistically significant pure three-way epistatic interaction effect that was stronger than any lower-order associations. Conclusion Our study provides a methodological basis for detecting and characterizing high-order gene-gene interactions in genetic association studies....

Inferential Statistics in "Language Teaching Research": A Review and Ways Forward

Science.gov (United States)

Lindstromberg, Seth

2016-01-01

This article reviews all (quasi)experimental studies appearing in the first 19 volumes (1997-2015) of "Language Teaching Research" (LTR). Specifically, it provides an overview of how statistical analyses were conducted in these studies and of how the analyses were reported. The overall conclusion is that there has been a tight adherence…

Leading the Way for Open Access Research

Science.gov (United States)

Warschauer, Mark

2016-01-01

"Language Learning & Technology" ("LLT") was launched in the mid-1990s out of a collaboration between the University of Hawai'i National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) and the Michigan State University Center for Language Education Research (CLEAR). Like other online journals started in the 1990s, "LLT"…

Data standards can boost metabolomics research, and if there is a will, there is a way.

Science.gov (United States)

Rocca-Serra, Philippe; Salek, Reza M; Arita, Masanori; Correa, Elon; Dayalan, Saravanan; Gonzalez-Beltran, Alejandra; Ebbels, Tim; Goodacre, Royston; Hastings, Janna; Haug, Kenneth; Koulman, Albert; Nikolski, Macha; Oresic, Matej; Sansone, Susanna-Assunta; Schober, Daniel; Smith, James; Steinbeck, Christoph; Viant, Mark R; Neumann, Steffen

2016-01-01

Thousands of articles using metabolomics approaches are published every year. With the increasing amounts of data being produced, mere description of investigations as text in manuscripts is not sufficient to enable re-use anymore: the underlying data needs to be published together with the findings in the literature to maximise the benefit from public and private expenditure and to take advantage of an enormous opportunity to improve scientific reproducibility in metabolomics and cognate disciplines. Reporting recommendations in metabolomics started to emerge about a decade ago and were mostly concerned with inventories of the information that had to be reported in the literature for consistency. In recent years, metabolomics data standards have developed extensively, to include the primary research data, derived results and the experimental description and importantly the metadata in a machine-readable way. This includes vendor independent data standards such as mzML for mass spectrometry and nmrML for NMR raw data that have both enabled the development of advanced data processing algorithms by the scientific community. Standards such as ISA-Tab cover essential metadata, including the experimental design, the applied protocols, association between samples, data files and the experimental factors for further statistical analysis. Altogether, they pave the way for both reproducible research and data reuse, including meta-analyses. Further incentives to prepare standards compliant data sets include new opportunities to publish data sets, but also require a little "arm twisting" in the author guidelines of scientific journals to submit the data sets to public repositories such as the NIH Metabolomics Workbench or MetaboLights at EMBL-EBI. In the present article, we look at standards for data sharing, investigate their impact in metabolomics and give suggestions to improve their adoption.

Current Research Studies

Science.gov (United States)

... Success Home > Explore Research > Current Research Studies Current Research Studies Email Print + Share The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation ... conducted online. Learn more about IBD Partners. Clinical Research Alliance The Clinical Research Alliance is a network ...

Two-way learning | IDRC - International Development Research ...

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

2011-07-08

Jul 8, 2011 ... Government officials have sometimes attended the seminars, which have also given the young scholars a venue to present an early draft of their paper for ... The young researchers are more adept at using the latest econometric techniques and software, so senior scholars also learn from them, Li Shi notes.

Different Ways to Disagree: A Study of Organizational Dissent to Explore Connections between Mixed Methods Research and Engaged Scholarship

Science.gov (United States)

Garner, Johny T.

2015-01-01

Organizational communication processes are complex, but all too often, researchers oversimplify the study of these processes by relying on a single method. Particularly when scholars and practitioners partner together to solve organizational problems, meaningful results require methodological flexibility and diversity. As an exemplar of the fit…

Involving Latina/o parents in patient-centered outcomes research: Contributions to research study design, implementation and outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez Jolles, Mónica; Martinez, Maria; Garcia, San Juanita; Stein, Gabriela L; Thomas, Kathleen C

2017-10-01

Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is supported by policymakers as a way to provide service providers and patients with evidence-based information to make better health-care decisions and ultimately improve services for patients. However, Latina/o patients are rarely involved as study advisors, and there is a lack of documentation on how their voices contribute to the research process when they are included as collaborators. The purpose of this article was to contribute to the literature by presenting concrete contributions of Latina/o parent involvement to study design, implementation and outcomes in the context of a CER study called Padres Efectivos (Parent Activation). Researchers facilitated a collaborative relationship with parents by establishing a mentor parent group. The contributions of parent involvement in the following stages of the research process are described: (i) proposal development, (ii) implementation of protocols, (iii) analysis plan and (iv) dissemination of results. Mentor parents' contributions helped tailor the content of the intervention to their needs during proposal, increased recruitment, validated the main outcome measure and added two important outcome measures, emphasized the importance of controlling for novice treatment status and developed innovative dissemination strategies. Mentor parents' guidance to the researchers has contributed to reaching recruitment goals, strengthened the study protocol, expanded findings, supported broad ownership of study implications and enriched the overall study data collection efforts. These findings can inform future research efforts seeking an active Latino parent collaboration and the timely incorporation of parent voices in each phase of the research process. © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creating Research Impact: The Roles of Research Users in Interactive Research Mobilisation

Science.gov (United States)

Morton, Sarah

2015-01-01

An impact assessment of research into children's concerns about their families and relationships found many ways research had been used in different sectors by different actors. Specific impacts from the research were harder to identify. However, instances where there were clear impacts highlighted the ways research users had adapted research to…

Study of the one-way speed of light anisotropy with particle beams

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wojtsekhowski, Bogdan B. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)

2017-04-01

Concepts of high precision studies of the one-way speed of light anisotropy are discussed. The high energy particle beam allows measurement of a one-way speed of light anisotropy (SOLA) via analysis of the beam momentum variation with sidereal phase without the use of synchronized clocks. High precision beam position monitors could provide accurate monitoring of the beam orbit and determination of the particle beam momentum with relative accuracy on the level of 10^-10, which corresponds to a limit on SOLA of 10^-18 with existing storage rings. A few additional versions of the experiment are also presented.

Two-Way Social Media Messaging in Postoperative Cataract Surgical Patients: Prospective Interventional Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanguansak, Thuss; Morley, Katharine E; Morley, Michael G; Thinkhamrop, Kavin; Thuanman, Jaruwan; Agarwal, Isha

2017-12-19

Social media offers a new way to provide education, reminders, and support for patients with a variety of health conditions. Most of these interventions use one-way, provider-patient communication. Incorporating social media tools to improve postoperative (postop) education and follow-up care has only been used in limited situations. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility and efficacy of two-way social media messaging to deliver reminders and educational information about postop care to cataract patients. A total of 98 patients undergoing their first eye cataract surgery were divided into two groups: a no message group receiving usual pre- and postop care and a message group receiving usual care plus messages in a mobile social media format with standardized content and timing. Each patient in the message group received nine messages about hand and face hygiene, medication and postop visit adherence, and links to patient education videos about postop care. Patients could respond to messages as desired. Main outcome measures included medication adherence, postop visit adherence, clinical outcomes, and patients' subjective assessments of two-way messaging. The number, types, content, and timing of responses by patients to messages were recorded. Medication adherence was better in the message group at postop day 7, with high adherence in 47 patients (96%, 47/49) versus 36 patients (73%, 36/49) in the no message group (P=.004), but no statistically significant differences in medication adherence between the groups were noted at preop and postop day 30. Visit adherence was higher at postop day 30 in the message group (100%, 49/49) versus the no message group (88%, 43/49; P=.03) but was 100% (49/49) in both groups at postop day 1 and 7. Final visual outcomes were similar between groups. A total of 441 standardized messages were sent to the message group. Out of 270 responses generated, 188 (70%) were simple acknowledgments or "thank you," and 82 (30

Is the way young people drive a reflection of the way their parents drive? An econometric study of the relation between parental risk and their children's risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Lahatte, Agénor; Le Pape, Marie-Clémence

2008-06-01

This article aims to investigate parental influence on high-risk behavior by young people. Although research on the topic of perception of risk demonstrates that it is socially constructed, the role of the family in this construction has rarely been studied. Using a French national survey of more than 1,200 young drivers between the ages of 18 and 25, and their parents, we attempt to understand the transmission of risk within families. Our econometric study shows that parents influence both the practices and representations of their children. When parental norms and values are transmitted, they are by no means accepted in a wholly passive way. Indeed, the parental model is in competition with other models that originate from both inside the family (brothers and sisters) and outside it (instructors). Furthermore, parental influence decreases over time as young people become more experienced drivers and construct their own identity with regard to risk.

Social Media as a Tool of Marketing and Creating Brand awareness : Case study research

OpenAIRE

Miyungi Odhiambo, Christine Adhiambo

2012-01-01

Social media is a phenomenon that has become an important aspect in marketing mix and revolutionizing the way companies interact with customers. It is a new research field and a quick literature scan reveals that not many studies exist. Nevertheless, these few existing studies without scientific evidence with industry data, have rushed to conclude that the emergence of social media has led to the demise of the traditional advertising mainstream media. Therefore, using a scientific research me...

Increasing High School Student Interest in Science: An Action Research Study

Science.gov (United States)

Vartuli, Cindy A.

An action research study was conducted to determine how to increase student interest in learning science and pursuing a STEM career. The study began by exploring 10th-grade student and teacher perceptions of student interest in science in order to design an instructional strategy for stimulating student interest in learning and pursuing science. Data for this study included responses from 270 students to an on-line science survey and interviews with 11 students and eight science teachers. The action research intervention included two iterations of the STEM Career Project. The first iteration introduced four chemistry classes to the intervention. The researcher used student reflections and a post-project survey to determine if the intervention had influence on the students' interest in pursuing science. The second iteration was completed by three science teachers who had implemented the intervention with their chemistry classes, using student reflections and post-project surveys, as a way to make further procedural refinements and improvements to the intervention and measures. Findings from the exploratory phase of the study suggested students generally had interest in learning science but increasing that interest required including personally relevant applications and laboratory experiences. The intervention included a student-directed learning module in which students investigated three STEM careers and presented information on one of their chosen careers. The STEM Career Project enabled students to explore career possibilities in order to increase their awareness of STEM careers. Findings from the first iteration of the intervention suggested a positive influence on student interest in learning and pursuing science. The second iteration included modifications to the intervention resulting in support for the findings of the first iteration. Results of the second iteration provided modifications that would allow the project to be used for different academic levels

Four-Way Relaying in Wireless Cellular Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Huaping; Popovski, Petar; De Carvalho, Elisabeth

2013-01-01

Two-way relaying in wireless systems has initiated a large research effort during the past few years. Nevertheless, it represents only a specific traffic pattern and it is of interest to investigate other traffic patterns where such a simultaneous processing of information flows can bring...... performance advantage. In this paper we consider a \\emph{four-way relaying} scenario, where each of the two Mobile Stations (MSs) has a two-way connection to the same Base Station (BS), while each connection is through a dedicated Relay Station (RS). The RSs are placed in such a way that one RS...... of the new scheme for Decode-and-Forward (DF) operational model for the RS. We compare the performance with a state-of-the-art reference scheme, based on two-way relaying with DF. The results indicate that the achievable rate regions are significantly enlarged for the new scheme....

The Way-Finding in Educational Modular Buildings: The Case of the Male Engineering Building at Qatar University

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simona Azzali

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Way-finding is the ability of people to perceive routes, flow patterns, or passageways inside and/or around a building. In other words, it is the capability of a person to know their whereabouts in a space. Modular buildings and complex spatial plan structure, in general, can be very confusing, especially from a way-finding point of view. This research attempts to measure the way-finding performance of a modular building by assessing the users’ experience in finding their way inside the Male Engineering Building at Qatar University. The study involved students, faculty, and staff members that utilize that space daily. The research focused on accessing indoor spaces as well as the walkways and spaces connected to the building. Results show that parameters as the use of colours and numbers can improve capability and swiftness in way-finding. In future research, several types of signage and visual elements will be tested, in order to understand how they can enhance way-finding efficiency and user performance within indoor spaces.

Descriptive Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wigram, Anthony Lewis

2003-01-01

Descriptive research is described by Lathom-Radocy and Radocy (1995) to include Survey research, ex post facto research, case studies and developmental studies. Descriptive research also includes a review of the literature in order to provide both quantitative and qualitative evidence of the effect...... starts will allow effect size calculations to be made in order to evaluate effect over time. Given the difficulties in undertaking controlled experimental studies in the creative arts therapies, descriptive research methods offer a way of quantifying effect through descriptive statistical analysis...

An Action Research Study Designed to Implement Student Negotiation to Improve Speaking Classroom Practice in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Uztosun, Mehmet Sercan; Skinner, Nigel; Cadorath, Jill

2014-01-01

This paper reports the second stage of an action research study designed to improve the effectiveness of speaking classes through negotiating the lesson contents with students. The data were collected through interviews, questionnaires and observations as a way of eliciting students' views. The research, conducted in an English language teaching…

Lay involvement in the analysis of qualitative data in health services research: a descriptive study.

Science.gov (United States)

Garfield, S; Jheeta, S; Husson, F; Jacklin, A; Bischler, A; Norton, C; Franklin, B D

2016-01-01

There is a consensus that patients and the public should be involved in research in a meaningful way. However, to date, lay people have been mostly involved in developing research ideas and commenting on patient information.We previously published a paper describing our experience with lay partners conducting observations in a study of how patients in hospital are involved with their medicines. In a later part of the same study, lay partners were also involved in analysing interviews that a researcher had conducted with patients, carers and healthcare professionals about patient and carer involvement with medicines in hospital. We therefore wanted to build on our previous paper and report on our experiences with lay partners helping to conduct data analysis. We therefore interviewed the lay members and researchers involved in the analysis to find out their views.Both lay members and researchers reported that lay partners added value to the study by bringing their own perspectives and identifying further areas for the researcher to look for in the interviews. In this way researchers and lay partners were able to work together to produce a richer analysis than would have been possible from either alone. Background It is recognised that involving lay people in research in a meaningful rather than tokenistic way is both important and challenging. In this paper, we contribute to this debate by describing our experiences of lay involvement in data analysis. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with the lay partners and researchers involved in qualitative data analysis in a wider study of inpatient involvement in medication safety. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded using open thematic analysis. Results We interviewed three lay partners and the three researchers involved. These interviews demonstrated that the lay members added value to the analysis by bringing their own perspectives; these were systematically integrated into the analysis by the

Investigating the Impact of Possession-Way of a Smartphone on Action Recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zae Myung Kim

2016-06-01

Full Text Available For the past few decades, action recognition has been attracting many researchers due to its wide use in a variety of applications. Especially with the increasing number of smartphone users, many studies have been conducted using sensors within a smartphone. However, a lot of these studies assume that the users carry the device in specific ways such as by hand, in a pocket, in a bag, etc. This paper investigates the impact of providing an action recognition system with the information of the possession-way of a smartphone, and vice versa. The experimental dataset consists of five possession-ways (hand, backpack, upper-pocket, lower-pocket, and shoulder-bag and two actions (walking and running gathered by seven users separately. Various machine learning models including recurrent neural network architectures are employed to explore the relationship between the action recognition and the possession-way recognition. The experimental results show that the assumption of possession-ways of smartphones do affect the performance of action recognition, and vice versa. The results also reveal that a good performance is achieved when both actions and possession-ways are recognized simultaneously.

The Factors Affecting Definition of Research Problems in Educational Technology Researches

Science.gov (United States)

Bahçekapili, Ekrem; Bahçekapili, Tugba; Fis Erümit, Semra; Göktas, Yüksel; Sözbilir, Mustafa

2013-01-01

Research problems in a scientific research are formed after a certain process. This process starts with defining a research topic and transforms into a specific research problem or hypothesis. The aim of this study was to examine the way educational technology researchers identify their research problems. To this end, sources that educational…

Ethnographic research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vermeulen, J.; Koster, M.; Hulst, M. van; Bearfield, D.A.; Dubnick, M.J.

2015-01-01

This entry outlines three aspects of ethnographic research. First, we describe in what way ethnographic research implies a distinct way of knowing. Second, we discuss the use of qualitative methods in ethnographic research. Third, we take up the role of writing, which is both a way of documenting

Accelerator research studies: Progress report, Task B

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1985-06-01

The main objectives in Task B of the research program are summarized as follows: (1) studies of the collective acceleration of positive ions from a localized plasma source by an intense relativistic electron beam (IREB), (2) studies of ways in which external control may be achieved over the electron beam front in order to achieve higher ion energies - the Beam Front Accelerator (BFA) concept, and (3) study of electron and ion beam generation in a new kind of compact pulsed accelerator in which energy is stored inductively and switched using a plasma focus opening switch. During the past year, substantial progress was made in each of these areas. Our exploratory research on the collective acceleration of laser-produced ions has confirmed the acceleration of C, Al, and Fe ions to peak energies in excess of 10 MeV/amu. In addition, studies of the relation between collective ion acceleration and electron beam propagation in vacuum have shed new light on the experimental processes that lead to energy transfer from electrons to ions. Meanwhile, extensive progress has been made in our attempts to use analytical theory and numerical simulation to model ion acceleration in these systems. Our resultant improved understanding of the processes that limit the peak ion energy has had a profound impact on our plans for further research in this area. Studies of the Compact Pulsed Accelerator have included both ion and electron beam extraction from the device. Its potential to reduce the volume of pulse power sources by an order of magnitude has already been demonstrated, and plans are currently underway to scale the experiment up to voltages in the 1 MV range

Fingerprinting the Milky Way

Science.gov (United States)

2007-03-01

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, an international team of astronomers has shown how to use the chemical composition of stars in clusters to shed light on the formation of our Milky Way. This discovery is a fundamental test for the development of a new chemical tagging technique uncovering the birth and growth of our Galactic cradle. The formation and evolution of galaxies, and in particular of the Milky Way - the 'island universe' in which we live, is one of the major puzzles of astrophysics: indeed, a detailed physical scenario is still missing and its understanding requires the joint effort of observations, theories and complex numerical simulations. ESO astronomer Gayandhi De Silva and her colleagues used the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) on ESO's VLT to find new ways to address this fundamental riddle. ESO PR Photo 15/07 ESO PR Photo 15/07 The Cluster Collinder 261 "We have analysed in great detail the chemical composition of stars in three star-clusters and shown that each cluster presents a high level of homogeneity and a very distinctive chemical signature," says De Silva, who started this research while working at the Mount Stromlo Observatory, Australia. "This paves the way to chemically tagging stars in our Galaxy to common formation sites and thus unravelling the history of the Milky Way," she adds. "Galactic star clusters are witnesses of the formation history of the Galactic disc," says Kenneth Freeman, also from Mount Stromlo and another member of the team. "The analysis of their composition is like studying ancient fossils. We are chasing pieces of galactic DNA!" Open star clusters are among the most important tools for the study of stellar and galactic evolution. They are composed of a few tens up to a few thousands of stars that are gravitationally bound, and they span a wide range of ages. The youngest date from a few million years ago, while the oldest (and more rare) can have ages up to ten billion years. The well

One Way or Return? The Journey from Practitioner to Researcher

Science.gov (United States)

Buoro, Ivano

2015-01-01

The journey from VET practitioner to academic researcher is not an easy one, especially for VET teachers whose educational research training in action and ethnographic research have been inculcated through years of practice. This paper discusses the highlights of the journey from practitioner to practitioner researcher including a discussion of…

A qualitative study on acceptable levels of risk for pregnant women in clinical research.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Zande, Indira S E; van der Graaf, Rieke; Oudijk, Martijn A; van Delden, Johannes J M

2017-05-15

There is ambiguity with regard to what counts as an acceptable level of risk in clinical research in pregnant women and there is no input from stakeholders relative to such research risks. The aim of our paper was to explore what stakeholders who are actively involved in the conduct of clinical research in pregnant women deem an acceptable level of risk for pregnant women in clinical research. Accordingly, we used the APOSTEL VI study, a low-risk obstetrical randomised controlled trial, as a case-study. We conducted a prospective qualitative study using 35 in-depth semi-structured interviews and one focus group. We interviewed healthcare professionals, Research Ethics Committee members (RECs) and regulators who are actively involved in the conduct of clinical research in pregnant women, in addition to pregnant women recruited for the APOSTEL VI case-study in the Netherlands. Three themes characterise the way stakeholders view risks in clinical research in pregnant women in general. Additionally, one theme characterises the way healthcare professionals and pregnant women view risks with respect to the case-study specifically. First, ideas on what constitutes an acceptable level of risk in general ranged from a preference for zero risk for the foetus up to minimal risk. Second, the desirability of clinical research in pregnant women in general was questioned altogether. Third, stakeholders proposed to establish an upper limit of risk in potentially beneficial clinical research in pregnant women in order to protect the foetus and the pregnant woman from harm. Fourth and finally, the case-study illustrates that healthcare professionals' individual perception of risk may influence recruitment. Healthcare professionals, RECs, regulators and pregnant women are all risk adverse in practice, possibly explaining the continuing underrepresentation of pregnant women in clinical research. Determining the acceptable levels of risk on a universal level alone is insufficient

Designing Difference in Difference Studies: Best Practices for Public Health Policy Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Wing, Coady; Simon, Kosali; Bello-Gomez, Ricardo A

2018-04-01

The difference in difference (DID) design is a quasi-experimental research design that researchers often use to study causal relationships in public health settings where randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are infeasible or unethical. However, causal inference poses many challenges in DID designs. In this article, we review key features of DID designs with an emphasis on public health policy research. Contemporary researchers should take an active approach to the design of DID studies, seeking to construct comparison groups, sensitivity analyses, and robustness checks that help validate the method's assumptions. We explain the key assumptions of the design and discuss analytic tactics, supplementary analysis, and approaches to statistical inference that are often important in applied research. The DID design is not a perfect substitute for randomized experiments, but it often represents a feasible way to learn about casual relationships. We conclude by noting that combining elements from multiple quasi-experimental techniques may be important in the next wave of innovations to the DID approach.

Reflective Blogfolios in the Language Classroom: Impact on EFL Tertiary Students’ Argumentative Writing Skills and Ways of Knowing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ammar Abdullah Mahmoud Ismial

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The emerging paradigm shift in educational contexts from walled classroom environments to virtual, hybrid, blended, and lately personal learning environments has brought about vast changes in the foreign language classroom practices.  Numerous calls  for experimenting with new instructional treatments to enhance students' language performance in these new learning environments have been voiced by researchers and language educators in different settings. The current study aimed at investigating the impact of using reflective blogfolios in teaching argumentation to EFL tertiary students on their argumentative essay writing skills and ways of knowing. As well, the study investigated the relationship between student's ways of knowing and their argumentative writing capabilities. The participants of the study were fifty one EFL tertiary students in the Emirati context. Two assessment instruments were used, including a ways-of-knowing scale and a rubric for tapping EFL students' argumentative writing skills. Results of the study indicated that using reflective blogfolios in the foreign language classroom brought about significant changes in EFL tertiary students' argumentative writing skills and their ways of knowing. Results of the study also indicated that connected ways of knowing were better predictors of EFL tertiary students' argumentative writing performance than separate ways of knowing. Details of the instructional intervention, the assessment instruments, results of the study, implications for foreign language instruction in virtual learning environments, and suggestions for further research are discussed. Keywords: Reflective blogfolios, argumentative writing skills, ways of knowing

Assessing Fan Flutter Stability in Presence of Inlet Distortion Using One-Way and Two-Way Coupled Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Herrick, Gregory P.

2014-01-01

Concerns regarding noise, propulsive efficiency, and fuel burn are inspiring aircraft designs wherein the propulsive turbomachines are partially (or fully) embedded within the airframe; such designs present serious concerns with regard to aerodynamic and aeromechanic performance of the compression system in response to inlet distortion. Previously, a preliminary design of a forward-swept high-speed fan exhibited flutter concerns in clean-inlet flows, and the present author then studied this fan further in the presence of off-design distorted in-flows. Continuing this research, a three-dimensional, unsteady, Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamics code is again applied to analyze and corroborate fan performance with clean inlet flow and now with a simplified, sinusoidal distortion of total pressure at the aerodynamic interface plane. This code, already validated in its application to assess aerodynamic damping of vibrating blades at various flow conditions using a one-way coupled energy-exchange approach, is modified to include a two-way coupled timemarching aeroelastic simulation capability. The two coupling methods are compared in their evaluation of flutter stability in the presence of distorted in-flows.

Education Course Syllabus Development, Thai Language Major According to Buddhism Way of Thailand

Science.gov (United States)

Waree, Chaiwat

2016-01-01

This research aims to develop Education Course Syllabus, Thai language major, according to Buddhism way of Thailand by using Taba's Approach and to evaluate the efficiency of Education Course Syllabus, Thai language major, according to Buddhism way of Thailand. This research was conducted according to research and development format and its…

Using Technologies in Nursing Research Education: A Mixed Methods Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Shuhong; Yang, Harrison Hao

2018-02-28

To better prepare nurses for the new and expanding roles required in healthcare, faculty are expected to integrate emerging technology into educational processes. Using a mixed methods research design, this study aimed to examine nursing student reactions and learning based on their participation in an online research course through two technology-enhanced assignments: (1) annotation of the structure of a research article and (2) reflection on the content of a research article. Quantitative analysis examined students' questionnaire responses, and qualitative analysis explored students' reflective learning journals and the instructor's notes. These two separate strands of data were then integrated using a joint display. The discussion was guided by two components of the New World Kirkpatrick model, reaction and learning. Our findings suggest that the use of technology in the design of assignments is a way to engage students in learning and can be used to enhance nursing students' research learning online.

Multi-way Communications: An Information Theoretic Perspective

KAUST Repository

Chaaban, Anas

2015-09-15

Multi-way communication is a means to significantly improve the spectral efficiency of wireless networks. For instance, in a bi-directional (or two-way) communication channel, two users can simultaneously use the transmission medium to exchange information, thus achieving up to twice the rate that would be achieved had each user transmitted separately. Multi-way communications provides an overview on the developments in this research area since it has been initiated by Shannon. The basic two-way communication channel is considered first, followed by the two-way relay channel obtained by the deployment of an additional cooperative relay node to improve the overall communication performance. This basic setup is then extended to multi-user systems. For all these setups, fundamental limits on the achievable rates are reviewed, thereby making use of a linear high-SNR deterministic channel model to provide valuable insights which are helpful when discussing the coding schemes for Gaussian channel models in detail. Several tools and communication strategies are used in the process, including (but not limited to) computation, signal-space alignment, and nested-lattice codes. Finally, extensions of multi-way communication channels to multiple antenna settings are discussed. © 2015 A. Chaaban and A. Sezgin.

Qualitative research with children : the perspectives of elite researchers

OpenAIRE

Smith, Carmel A.

2011-01-01

This quantative study investigates the ways in which leading children’s researchers position themselves in their research relationships with children in qualitative research within psychology and the broader ‘childhood studies’ paradigm. Against the backdrop of the continuing prevalence of a positivist-empiricist approach within psychology, the conceptual focus of the present study is rooted in the multiple challenges to developmental psychology in recent decades, from within and outside the ...

A hermeneutic phenomenological analysis of midwives' ways of knowing during childbirth.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Lauren P

2008-12-01

to explore the ways of knowing used by the midwife while attending women during childbirth through textual analysis of poems written by American midwives. a hermeneutic phenomenology and human science research method inspired by van Manen was used. Midwifery ways of knowing during childbirth were thematically derived from 10 poems written by midwives about attending childbirth or the experience of being a midwife. Textual analysis included examination of the poems as a whole, via verse and metaphor, and via individual lines of prose. 10 American midwives wrote the poems used in this study. The poems were discovered through online searches of many databases using the key words 'poetry, poems, midwifery and childbirth' and through a national call for poetry by the researcher over a period of 4 years (1996-2000), undertaken in order to publish an anthology of poetry written by midwives. three authoritative ways of knowing that guided the care given by the midwife to women during childbirth were discovered. They were self-knowledge from the belief system of the individual midwife, grounded knowledge from the midwife's personal lived experience with childbirth, and informed knowledge from objective and scholarly sources. midwives must continue to develop their own body of knowledge in order to move the profession forward. Multiple ways of knowing including the use of experiential/contextual and intuitive knowledge is legitimate and humane, if provision of care is holistic. Care of women during childbirth can be enhanced with the use of multiple knowers and multiple ways of knowing. This study captured a unique and fresh interpretation of the lived experience of midwifery knowledge. Midwifery educational programmes should offer opportunities for students to explore the artistry as well as the science of midwifery practice.

Community concerns about sex selection: research as a way forward - response to Edgar Dahl's 'The presumption in favour of liberty'.

Science.gov (United States)

McMahon, Catherine A

2004-03-01

This commentary argues that notwithstanding the implicit logic underpinning philosophical and moral arguments regarding individual rights to access sex selection for non-medical reasons, community concerns about the psychosocial impact of the technology cannot be dismissed or ignored. It is true, however, that such concerns are often based on unsupported assumptions about the impact of the technology on individuals, families and communities and about the propensity of scientists, unless restrained, to act in ways that are irresponsible or dangerous. The research conducted to date has dispelled many of the myths and assumptions about IVF children and their families. Further careful research is now needed to test the extent to which fears and assumptions regarding 'designer babies' are justified.

Characterizing Milky Way Tidal Streams and Dark Matter with MilkyWay@home

Science.gov (United States)

Newberg, Heidi Jo; Shelton, Siddhartha; Weiss, Jake

2018-01-01

MilkyWay@home is a 0.5 PetaFLOPS volunteer computing platform that is mapping out the density substructure of the Sagittarius Dwarf Tidal Stream, the so-called bifurcated portion of the Sagittarius Stream, and the Virgo Overdensity, using turnoff stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. It is also using the density of stars along tidal streams such as the Orphan Stream to constrain properties of the dwarf galaxy progenitor of this stream, including the dark matter portion. Both of these programs are enabled by a specially-built optimization package that uses differential evolution or particle swarm methods to find the optimal model parameters to fit a set of data. To fit the density of tidal streams, 20 parameters are simultaneously fit to each 2.5-degree-wide stripe of SDSS data. Five parameters describing the stellar and dark matter profile of the Orphan Stream progenitor and the time that the dwarf galaxy has been evolved through the Galactic potential are used in an n-body simulation that is then fit to observations of the Orphan Stream. New results from MilkyWay@home will be presented. This project was supported by NSF grant AST 16-15688, the NASA/NY Space Grant fellowship, and contributions made by The Marvin Clan, Babette Josephs, Manit Limlamai, and the 2015 Crowd Funding Campaign to Support Milky Way Research.

Researcher-researched relationship in qualitative research: Shifts in positions and researcher vulnerability.

Science.gov (United States)

Råheim, Målfrid; Magnussen, Liv Heide; Sekse, Ragnhild Johanne Tveit; Lunde, Åshild; Jacobsen, Torild; Blystad, Astrid

2016-01-01

The researcher role is highly debated in qualitative research. This article concerns the researcher-researched relationship. A group of health science researchers anchored in various qualitative research traditions gathered in reflective group discussions over a period of two years. Efforts to establish an anti-authoritarian relationship between researcher and researched, negotiation of who actually "rules" the research agenda, and experiences of shifts in "inferior" and "superior" knowledge positions emerged as central and intertwined themes throughout the discussions. The dual role as both insider and outsider, characteristic of qualitative approaches, seemed to lead to power relations and researcher vulnerability which manifested in tangible ways. Shifting positions and vulnerability surfaced in various ways in the projects. They nonetheless indicated a number of similar experiences which can shed light on the researcher-researched relationship. These issues could benefit from further discussion in the qualitative health research literature.

Advanced transportation system study: Manned launch vehicle concepts for two way transportation system payloads to LEO

Science.gov (United States)

Duffy, James B.

1993-01-01

The purpose of the Advanced Transportation System Study (ATSS) task area 1 study effort is to examine manned launch vehicle booster concepts and two-way cargo transfer and return vehicle concepts to determine which of the many proposed concepts best meets NASA's needs for two-way transportation to low earth orbit. The study identified specific configurations of the normally unmanned, expendable launch vehicles (such as the National Launch System family) necessary to fly manned payloads. These launch vehicle configurations were then analyzed to determine the integrated booster/spacecraft performance, operations, reliability, and cost characteristics for the payload delivery and return mission. Design impacts to the expendable launch vehicles which would be required to perform the manned payload delivery mission were also identified. These impacts included the implications of applying NASA's man-rating requirements, as well as any mission or payload unique impacts. The booster concepts evaluated included the National Launch System (NLS) family of expendable vehicles and several variations of the NLS reference configurations to deliver larger manned payload concepts (such as the crew logistics vehicle (CLV) proposed by NASA JSC). Advanced, clean sheet concepts such as an F-1A engine derived liquid rocket booster (LRB), the single stage to orbit rocket, and a NASP-derived aerospace plane were also included in the study effort. Existing expendable launch vehicles such as the Titan 4, Ariane 5, Energia, and Proton were also examined. Although several manned payload concepts were considered in the analyses, the reference manned payload was the NASA Langley Research Center's HL-20 version of the personnel launch system (PLS). A scaled up version of the PLS for combined crew/cargo delivery capability, the HL-42 configuration, was also included in the analyses of cargo transfer and return vehicle (CTRV) booster concepts. In addition to strictly manned payloads, two-way cargo

Unintended consequences of human research ethics committees: au revoir workplace studies?

Science.gov (United States)

Bamber, Greg J; Sappey, Jennifer

2007-07-01

To protect the welfare and rights of participants in research and to facilitate research that will be of benefit, as well as protect them against litigation, universities and research-funding agencies in Australia adopted the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans (NHMRC 1999). In many other countries there are similar statements. However, the ways in which such statements are often implemented by Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECs) are in conflict with an important stream of industrial sociological research. This stream seeks to deconstruct workplaces and de-layer management rhetoric to understand the realities and complexities of the social relations of production. There is a pluralist basis for much industrial sociology that challenges the unitarist view of the workplace as essentially harmonious. While views of workplaces as being conflictual and exploitative have to be tempered with an understanding of the accommodative and cooperative nature of workplace relations, there is nevertheless a general recognition of acts of resistance, as well as those of cooperation. The way in which the National Statement is typically implemented in Australia means that many HRECs require written, informed consent, which in the first instance will usually be that of management. An unintended consequence is a research focus on consensus, which is at best one-sided and at worst seriously misleading. It is unlikely that managerial consent will be granted unless there is a 'good news story' guaranteed. This article explores the ways in which HRECs may influence workplace research. The publication of the revised National Statement provides a valuable opportunity not to be missed by HRECs to implement more effective and efficient practices which would not have the unintended consequences of the earlier version. This would deserve the support of researchers in industrial sociology and other branches of the social sciences.

Detailed Studies of the Sculptor Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy in the Milky Way halo

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tolstoy, Eline

In and around the Milky Way halo there are a number of low mass low luminosity dwarf galaxies. Several of these systems have been studied in great detail. I describe recent photometric and spectroscopic studies of the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy made as part of the DART survey of nearby dwarf

Maximising the value of combining qualitative research and randomised controlled trials in health research: the QUAlitative Research in Trials (QUART) study--a mixed methods study.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Cathain, Alicia; Thomas, Kate J; Drabble, Sarah J; Rudolph, Anne; Goode, Jackie; Hewison, Jenny

2014-06-01

Researchers sometimes undertake qualitative research with randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of health interventions. To systematically explore how qualitative research is being used with trials and identify ways of maximising its value to the trial aim of providing evidence of effectiveness of health interventions. A sequential mixed methods study with four components. (1) Database search of peer-reviewed journals between January 2008 and September 2010 for articles reporting the qualitative research undertaken with specific trials, (2) systematic search of database of registered trials to identify studies combining qualitative research and trials, (3) survey of 200 lead investigators of trials with no apparent qualitative research and (4) semistructured telephone interviews with 18 researchers purposively sampled from the first three methods. Qualitative research was undertaken with at least 12% of trials. A large number of articles reporting qualitative research undertaken with trials (n=296) were published between 2008 and 2010. A total of 28% (82/296) of articles reported qualitative research undertaken at the pre-trial stage and around one-quarter concerned drugs or devices. The articles focused on 22 aspects of the trial within five broad categories. Some focused on more than one aspect of the trial, totalling 356 examples. The qualitative research focused on the intervention being trialled (71%, 254/356), the design and conduct of the trial (15%, 54/356), the outcomes of the trial (1%, 5/356), the measures used in the trial (3%, 10/356), and the health condition in the trial (9%, 33/356). The potential value of the qualitative research to the trial endeavour included improving the external validity of trials and facilitating interpretation of trial findings. This value could be maximised by using qualitative research more at the pre-trial stage and reporting findings with explicit attention to the implications for the trial endeavour. During interviews

ESR technique for noninvasive way to quantify cyclodextrins effect on cell membranes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grammenos, A.; Mouithys-Mickalad, A.; Guelluy, P.H.; Lismont, M.; Piel, G.; Hoebeke, M.

2010-01-01

Research highlights: → ESR: a new tool for cyclodextrins study on living cells. → Cholesterol and phospholipid extraction by Rameb in a dose- and time-dependent way. → Extracted phospholipids and cholesterol form stable aggregates. → ESR spectra show that lipid rafts are damaged by Rameb. → Quantification of the cholesterol extraction on cell membranes in a noninvasive way. -- Abstract: A new way to study the action of cyclodextrin was developed to quantify the damage caused on cell membrane and lipid bilayer. The Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectroscopy was used to study the action of Randomly methylated-beta-cyclodextrin (Rameb) on living cells (HCT-116). The relative anisotropy observed in ESR spectrum of nitroxide spin probe (5-DSA and cholestane) is directly related to the rotational mobility of the probe, which can be further correlated with the microviscosity. The use of ESR probes clearly shows a close correlation between cholesterol contained in cells and cellular membrane microviscosity. This study also demonstrates the Rameb ability to extract cholesterol and phospholipids in time- and dose-dependent ways. In addition, ESR spectra enabled to establish that cholesterol is extracted from lipid rafts to form stable aggregates. The present work supports that ESR is an easy, reproducible and noninvasive technique to study the effect of cyclodextrins on cell membranes.

A New Autonomy-Supportive Way of Teaching That Increases Conceptual Learning: Teaching in Students' Preferred Ways

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Hyungshim; Reeve, Johnmarshall; Halusic, Marc

2016-01-01

We tested the educational utility of "teaching in students' preferred ways" as a new autonomy-supportive way of teaching to enhance students' autonomy and conceptual learning. A pilot test first differentiated preferred versus nonpreferred ways of teaching. In the main study, a hired teacher who was blind to the purpose of the study…

Research

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The mini-clinical-evaluation exercise (mini-CEX) is a way of assessing the clinical ... Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Medical Health. Research ..... mini-CEX assessment and feedback session, the greater the likelihood of.

Practical Ways to Integrate Literature into Spanish for International Business Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, German

2004-01-01

In general, language for business courses do not include the study of literary texts, despite significant research that demonstrates the value of literature as a way to gain competence in a foreign culture. Carefully selected, adapted, and programmed as a culture complement to the main textbook, literary texts can be a valuable resource in the…

Languaged and Non-Languaged Ways of Knowing in Counselling and Psychotherapy

Science.gov (United States)

Panhofer, Heidrun

2011-01-01

Examining the extent to which the lived, embodied experience can be worded, a study integrating artistic research methodologies of narrating and perceptual practices was designed. The combined use of writing and moving showed the importance of non-languaged ways of knowing, building on the idea of an embodied cognition and the embodied mind, as…

Idling is Not the Way to Go

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2013-06-01

Researchers estimate that idling from heavy-duty and light-duty vehicles combined wastes about 6 billion gallons of fuel annually. Many states have put restrictions on idling, especially in metropolitan areas. Clearly, idling is not the way to go.

Prayer Healing: A Case Study Research Protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Kruijthoff, Dirk J; van der Kooi, Cornelis; Glas, Gerrit; Abma, Tineke A

2017-01-01

medical findings and participants' experiences were weighed and interpreted based on a transdisciplinary framework, including biopsychosocial and theological perspectives, with reference to a conceptual framework derived from Ian Barbour's typology of positions in the science-religion debate. Conclusion • A case-based, research study protocol that compares medical and experiential findings and that interprets and structures those findings with reference to Ian Barbour's conceptual model is an innovative way of gaining deeper insight into the nature of remarkable and/or unexplained cures.

Maritime insurance as a way to struggle piracy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ekaterina S. Anyanova

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Objective to research the features of maritime insurance from the viewpoint of fighting piracy at international level and to define the ways to improve the legal norms in this sphere. Methods dialectic method of cognition and private scientific research methods formallegal systemicstructural sociallegal comparativelegal statistical. Results basing on the analysis of normative legal acts regulating the relations in the sphere of maritime insurance as one of the ways to struggle against piracy the insufficiency of unified insurance norms at internationallegal level is revealed features of modern piracy are identified as well as the dependence of the insurance cost on the piratesrsquo activity the state of legal protection of the shipownerrsquos interests in case of piratesrsquo attacks at international routes a conclusion is made that the difficulties with the ldquopiracyrdquo notion do not hinder its fullfledged research in international law the drawbacks of the piracy concept in international law are reflected the insurance legal norms are studied as well as the drawbacks in insufficient unification and stronger protection of shipowners in case of ransom payments especially in RF. Scientific novelty for the first time in the article the internationallegal features of maritime piracy are viewed as one of the measures of struggle against piracy. Practical significance the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used in practical scientific and educational activity when dealing with the issues of maritime insurance of piracy risks.

Autonomous Warplanes: NASA Rovers Lead the Way

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-01

Warplanes NASA Rovers Lead the Way Michael R. Schroer Major, Air National Guard Wright Flyer No. 54 Air University Press Air Force Research Institute...between most airports across the continent proved an excellent further education in aviation. Piloting a business jet on a weeklong, 11- hop trek across...Research con- ducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) offers useful lessons for the development of future military RPAs

From Research Assistant to Professional Research Assistance: Research Consulting as a Form of Research Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dawn E. Pollon

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Research assistantships have long been viewed as an extension of the formal education process, a form of apprenticeship, and a pathway into the professional practice of research in institutional settings. However, there are other contexts in which researchers practice research. This self-study documents the formative role research assistantships played in the authors’ development as professional research consultants. Four professional research consultants who held research assistant positions during their master’s and doctoral studies describe the contributions of their research assistantship experiences to the advancement of their knowledge, skills, and passion for research and subsequently to their career decisions. Professional research consulting is identified as a natural extension of research assistant roles and a potential career path. The article enhances current understandings about the ways research assistantships contribute to the development of researchers, and specifically to the development of professional research consultants. The analysis will be of interest to students contemplating entering into research assistantships, current research assistants, current research assistant supervisors, academic staff looking to improve their research productivity, and department chairs.

Axiomatics of Fermat’s problem, another Way

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amelent A.E.

2017-05-01

Full Text Available the researcher of this article attempts to develop another Way to address the Fermat’s problem based on a different logical space, limited by other axioms, which have been described in the previous article of the author.

Uses of Published Research: An Exploratory Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick J. Fahy

Full Text Available Academic publications are too often ignored by other researchers. There are various reasons: Researchers know that conclusions may eventually be proved wrong; publications are sometimes retracted; effects may decline when studied later; researchers occasionally don’t seem to know about papers they have allegedly authored; there are even accusations of fraud (Cohen, 2011. In this exploratory case study, 10 papers were examined to determine the various ways they were used by others, whether there were cases of reported effects declining, and whether, among those who referenced the papers, there were suggestions that anything in the papers ought to be retracted. Findings showed that all the papers had been referenced by others (337 user publications were found, containing a total of 868 references. Other findings include the following: Single references were far more common than multiple references; applications/replications were the least common type of usage (23 occurrences, followed by contrasts/elaborations (34, and quotations (65; unlike reports regarding publications in the sciences, whether the paper was solo- or co-authored did not affect usage; appearance in a non-prestige journal was actually associated with more usage of some kinds; and well over 80% of uses were in heavily scrutinized sources (journal articles or theses/dissertations. The paper concludes with recommendations to writers about how to avoid producing publications that are ignored.

In search of the quickest way to disseminate health care innovations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schrijvers, G.; Oudendijk, Nico; Vries, Pety de

2003-01-01

Research Question: Innovations in health care are slowly disseminated in The Netherlands and elsewhere. That's why the researchers defined their research question: What is the quickest way of disseminating health care innovations? Research method: The design was a comparative, qualitative case

Energy policy - way out and wrong way

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1989-01-01

The way out, i.e. the right solution of the energy supply problem, is solar energy. The wrong way are high-temperature reactors and nuclear fusion. Arguments are put forward that nuclear fusion, considered an alternative to the harmful nuclear fission even by some nuclear opponents, is in fact equally harmful. (qui)

Scholars Seek Better Ways to Track Impact Online

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Jennifer

2012-01-01

In academe, the game of how to win friends and influence people is serious business. Administrators and grant makers want proof that a researcher's work has life beyond the library or the lab. But the current system of measuring scholarly influence does not reflect the way many researchers work in an environment driven more and more by the social…

A Participatory Action Research Study of Nature Education in Nature: Towards Community-Based Eco-Pedagogy

Science.gov (United States)

Eryaman, Mustafa Yunus; Yalcin-Ozdilek, Sukran; Okur, Emel; Cetinkaya, Zeynep; Uygun, Selcuk

2010-01-01

Contemporary nature education is exploring different ways to develop awareness for change and initiate action. Such educational activities go beyond creating understanding and awareness in order to develop a sense of commitment for individual and collective action. This participatory action research study aimed to improve teachers' sensitiveness…

Qualitative research in travel behavior studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mars Aicart, M.L.; Ruiz Sanchez, T.; Arroyo Lopez, M.R.

2016-07-01

Qualitative methodology is extensively used in a wide range of scientific areas, such as Sociology and Psychology, and it is been used to study individual and household decision making processes. However, in the Transportation Planning and Engineering domain it is still infrequent to find in the travel behavior literature studies using qualitative techniques to explore activity-travel decisions. The aim of this paper is first, to provide an overview of the types of qualitative techniques available and to explore how to correctly implement them. Secondly, to highlight the special characteristics of qualitative methods that make them appropriate to study activity-travel decision processes. Far from been an unempirical or intuitive methodology, using qualitative methods properly implies a strong foundation on theoretical frameworks, a careful design of data collection and a deep data analysis. For such a purpose, a review of the scarce activity-travel behavior literature using qualitative methods, or a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, is presented. The use of qualitative techniques can play a role of being a supplementary way of obtaining information related to activity-travel decisions which otherwise it would be extremely difficult to find. This work ends with some conclusions about how qualitative research could help in making progress on activity-travel behavior studies. (Author)

The Elements Way: Empowering Parents, Educators, and Mentors in the Age of New Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gila Cohen Zilka

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Aim/Purpose: This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of mentor’s work with immigrant children and adolescents at risk, using the Elements Way. Background: The New Media offers our “screen kids” a lot of information, many behavioral models, and a new type of social communication. The Elements Way is an educational method designed to enhance openness, development, breakthroughs, goal achievement, and transformation in the age of media and social networks. Methodology: The Elements Way was developed following research on communication in the diversified media, especially new media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and television reality shows, and the study is an examination of the effectiveness of mentors’ work with immigrant children and adolescents at risk, using the Elements Way. All mentors had been trained in the Elements Way. The study population included 640 mentors working with immigrants’ children in Israel. The work was conducted in 2010-2013. The mixed-methods approach was selected to validate findings. Contribution: Empowering children and enhancing their ability to cope; Creating openness and sharing, making children more attentive to the significant adults in their lives; Supporting children who face the complex reality that characterizes our age. Findings: Significant differences were found in the mentors’ conduct with the children. Work programs were designed and implemented with care and consistency, and mentors succeeded in generating change within the children and achieving desired goals. Of the 640 participating mentors, 62 were not able to promote the child, and interviews with them revealed that their work with the children was not consistent with the Elements Way and began from a different vantage point. Recommendations for Practitioners: Success factors: Self-awareness and awareness of one’s surroundings. Empathy. Willingness to engage in significant interactions. Self-cleansing and self

Researchers and practitioners talk about users and each other: making user and audience studies matter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brenda Dervin

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. We report here on the research phase of a multi-stage dialogue examining convergences and divergences in how three fields (library and information science, human computer interaction and communication and media studies looked at users and each other. Focus was on what researchers and practitioners saw as the big unanswered questions in user studies and what they saw as the convergences and divergences across disciplinary and practice-research divides. Method. Eighty-three international experts in the three fields were interviewed by phone; thirty-one local experts, public and academic librarians serving universities and colleges in central Ohio, were interviewed using self-journals and focus group reports. Analysis. A thematic analysis was completed. Purpose was not to fix substantive differences but to tap ways in which convergences and divergences showed relevance to the communicative aspects of the research enterprise. A theory of dialogue was applied that purposively positioned this analysis as only one of potentially many. Results. All informants showed strong commitment to improving user studies and making them matter more to design, practice and society. At the same time, regardless of field or perspective, they struggled with the incoherencies of avalanches of user research. They decried the general inability to communicate across fields and between research and practice. They decried the ways in which structural conditions seemed to constrain possibilities. Yet, they hoped for making things better. Conclusion. . The traditional modes used for communication in the social science research enterprise are not doing the job for user studies. We need to reclaim some procedures lost in the current emphases on quantity over quality and invent other options. This is the theme of our second paper, in this same issue.

Lexical need as a two-way reality cognition tool

OpenAIRE

Mark Kit; Elena Berg

2014-01-01

Lexical need as a two-way reality cognition tool In this paper a concept of lexical need is introduced and its application in research of cognitive aspects of translation is discussed. Further discussion elaborates mechanisms of development of translator’s lexical space in the course of translation. Authors discuss the importance and special nature of low-frequency lexical units and difficulties encountered when studying their usage and suggest that the lexical need concept help these stu...

Environmental studies for right of way; Levantamento ambiental das faixas de dutos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Savian, Michelle; Oliveira, Robson A. de; Fabri, Camila; Chichorro, Cristiano [Esteio Engenharia e Aerolevantamentos S.A., Curitiba, PR (Brazil)

2003-07-01

Esteio S.A. was hired to accomplish in a pioneering way the Environmental Survey of approximately 5.000 kilometers of right-of-way, all over the country. To execute this work, Esteio collected several information as: Maps basic data (Topographical, Geological and Pedological) and cadastral field data that resulted respectively in a GIS (Geographical Information System) of thematic maps and a database with information of the pipeline corridor and their proximity. The final products will allow the management of the pipeline corridor in an integrated way, besides the elaboration of sensibility maps and environmental vulnerability. In case of accidents with the pipeline, it allows to combat it in an optimized way, applying a more appropriate logistics, reducing the response time with the intention to protect and to preserve in the best way the whole involved environment, minimizing environmental impacts. (author)

Two-way and three-way negativities of three-qubit entangled states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, S. Shelly; Sharma, N. K.

2007-01-01

We propose to quantify three-qubit entanglement using global negativity along with K-way negativities, where K=2 and 3. The principle underlying the definition of K-way negativity for pure and mixed states of N subsystems is a positive partial transpose sufficient condition. However, K-way partial transpose with respect to a subsystem is defined so as to shift the focus to K-way coherences instead of K subsystems of the composite system. A quantum state of a three-qubit system is characterized by the coherences measured by global, two-way, and three-way negativities. For a canonical state of three-qubit system, entanglement measures for genuine tripartite entanglement, W-like entanglement, and bipartite entanglement can be related to two-way and three-way negativities

"The way the country has been carved up by researchers": ethics and power in north-south public health research.

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Aisling; Brugha, Ruairi; Byrne, Elaine

2016-12-12

Despite the recognition of power as being central to health research collaborations between high income countries and low and middle income countries, there has been insufficient detailed analysis of power within these partnerships. The politics of research in the global south is often considered outside of the remit of research ethics. This article reports on an analysis of power in north-south public health research, using Zambia as a case study. Primary data were collected in 2011/2012, through 53 in-depth interviews with: Zambian researchers (n = 20), Zambian national stakeholders (n = 8) and northern researchers who had been involved in public health research collaborations involving Zambia and the global north (n = 25). Thematic analysis, utilising a situated ethics perspective, was undertaken using Nvivo 10. Most interviewees perceived roles and relationships to be inequitable with power remaining with the north. Concepts from Bourdieu's theory of Power and Practice highlight new aspects of research ethics: Northern and southern researchers perceive that different habituses exist, north and south - habituses of domination (northern) and subordination (Zambian) in relation to researcher relationships. Bourdieu's hysteresis effect provides a possible explanation for why power differentials continue to exist. In some cases, new opportunities have arisen for Zambian researchers; however, they may not immediately recognise and grasp them. Bourdieu's concept of Capitals offers an explanation of how diverse resources are used to explain these power imbalances, where northern researchers are often in possession of more economic, symbolic and social capital; while Zambian researchers possess more cultural capital. Inequities and power imbalances need to be recognised and addressed in research partnerships. A situated ethics approach is central in understanding this relationship in north-south public health research.

Research Areas: Prevention

Science.gov (United States)

NCI’s prevention research has a broad focus, from identifying environmental and lifestyle factors that influence cancer risk to studying the biology of how cancer develops and studying ways to disseminate prevention interventions.

Analysis of improvement ways of creative accounting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.A. Yuhimenko-Nazaruk

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The necessity of carrying out the research in the direction of finding out the ways to improve creative accounting is grounded. The existing approaches of researchers to eliminate the negative consequences of creative accounting are analyzed. Four main groups of researchers' approaches to the improvement of creative accounting are singled out and analyzed. The general and distinctive features of the researchers’ proposals on the improvement of creative accounting are examined. The reasons for the impossibility of using the ethical approach to the improvement of creative accounting in Ukraine in modern conditions are grounded. The necessity of procedural aspects perfection of the creative accounting on the basis of the concept of true and fair view is proved. The classification of the approaches to the construction of accounting methodology in the context of the use of creative accounting is developed. The main regulations of the concept of true and fair view are studied, their use provides an adequate reflection of the company's economic reality in financial reporting.

Aristotelian Action Research: Its Value for Studying Character Education in Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Sanderse, Wouter

2016-01-01

This article explores what it means for teachers to engage in and evaluate students' character education, by examining the connections between action research and Aristotelian virtue ethics. These connections are explored in two ways. Firstly, the article examines what perspective action research has on how moral education, understood in an…

Doing Research, Doing Politics: ICT Research as a Form of Activism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliet Webster

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Why do we do research into ICTs and society at all?  Apart from advancing our analytical understanding of technological and social change, for many researchers, social studies of technology provide a way of supplying evidence for social policy, or shaping social practice.  Even if we do not always make it explicit, for many of us, our research is both political and personal.   In this paper, I consider the ways in which social and political values shape research questions and research methods.   Drawing on examples of recent feminist and other research which has investigated the employment relations of technological change, I discuss the academic and political ambitions of the work, the recognition of interests and the involvement of stakeholders, and the relationship between researchers and ‘users’ of the research.  I reflect on the importance of revealing and explicating the politics of ICT research, particularly in the context of imminent economic and social restructuring.

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS FROM FACULTIES OF DENTAL MEDICINE IN BULGARIA REGARDING THEIR MOTIVATION FOR PARTICIPATION IN AND THE WAY THEY ARE FAMILIAR WITH RESEARCH PROJECTS.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svetoslav Garov

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number and value of projects implemented by medical universities in Bulgaria. The involvement of representatives of the student community in the research teams increases their knowledge and skills and in this way they also gain experience in team work and become motivated to further develop their science careers. Aim: The purpose of our study is by analyzing data from our questionnaire to examine the level of students’ willingness to participate in research project activities performed by Bulgarian faculties of Dental Medicine. Material and methods: The written examination technique has been applied as a primary empirical sociological information registration method. For that purpose a 13-question survey (questionnaire has been prepared. The survey is anonymous and it has been completed by 190 students in their 4th and 5th year of studying in medical universities in Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna. Data was collected during the period from January to May 2013. Results: In order for us to achieve the goal of this study we focused on the questions from the questionnaire.Conclusion: The role that research projects play in medical universities and in particular in the faculties of dental medicine in Bulgaria is of key importance for their accreditation. The scientific cooperation between lecturers and students is a prerequisite for developing a competitive environment that defines the future scientific achievements in the relevant research institution.

Study on secondary shutdown systems in Tehran research reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jalali, H.R.; Fadaei, A.H., E-mail: Fadaei_amir@aut.ac.ir; Gharib, M.

2015-09-15

Highlights: • A study was undertaken to summarize the techniques for secondary shutdown systems (SSS). • Neutronic calculation performed for proposed systems as SSS. • Dumping the heavy water stored in the reflector vessel is capable to shut down reactor. • Neutronic and transient calculation was done for validating the selected SSS. • All calculation shown that this system has advantages in safety and neutron economy. - Abstract: One important safety aspect of any research reactor is the ability to shut down the reactor. Usually, research reactors, currently in operation, have a single shutdown system based on the simultaneous insertion of the all control rods into the reactor core through gravity. Nevertheless, the International Atomic Energy Agency currently recommends use of two shutdown systems which are fully independent from each other to guarantee secure shutdown when one of them fails. This work presents an investigative study into secondary shutdown systems, which will be an important safety component in the research reactor and will provide another alternative way to shut down the reactor emergently. As part of this project, a study was undertaken to summarize the techniques that are currently used at world-wide research reactors for recognizing available techniques to consider in research reactors. Removal of the reflector, removal of the fuels, change in critical shape of reactor core and insertion of neutron absorber between the core and reflector are selected as possible techniques in mentioned function. In the next step, a comparison is performed for these methods from neutronic aspects. Then, chosen method is studied from the transient behavior point of view. Tehran research reactor which is a 5 MW open-pool reactor selected as a case study and all calculations are carried out for it. It has 5 control rods which serve the purpose of both reactivity control and shutdown of reactor under abnormal condition. Results indicated that heavy

Openness--A Way Forward: Development Education Research Centre

Science.gov (United States)

Hare-Heremia, Mahora

2014-01-01

Education is a vital aspect in the lives of humankind. It contributes and shapes our future as citizens of the world. To understand it is to discover the many hidden talents the world has in store for all. The Development Education Research Centre (DERC) holds many resources that aid in the development of education at a global level. With the…

Metamethod study of qualitative psychotherapy research on clients' experiences: Review and recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Levitt, Heidi M; Pomerville, Andrew; Surace, Francisco I; Grabowski, Lauren M

2017-11-01

A metamethod study is a qualitative meta-analysis focused upon the methods and procedures used in a given research domain. These studies are rare in psychological research. They permit both the documentation of the informal standards within a field of research and recommendations for future work in that area. This paper presents a metamethod analysis of a substantial body of qualitative research that focused on clients' experiences in psychotherapy (109 studies). This review examined the ways that methodological integrity has been established across qualitative research methods. It identified the numbers of participants recruited and the form of data collection used (e.g., semistructured interviews, diaries). As well, it examined the types of checks employed to increase methodological integrity, such as participant counts, saturation, reflexivity techniques, participant feedback, or consensus and auditing processes. Central findings indicated that the researchers quite flexibly integrated procedures associated with one method into studies using other methods in order to strengthen their rigor. It appeared normative to adjust procedures to advance methodological integrity. These findings encourage manuscript reviewers to assess the function of procedures within a study rather than to require researchers to adhere to the set of procedures associated with a method. In addition, when epistemological approaches were mentioned they were overwhelmingly constructivist in nature, despite the increasing use of procedures traditionally associated with objectivist perspectives. It is recommended that future researchers do more to explicitly describe the functions of their procedures so that they are coherently situated within the epistemological approaches in use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Ways to Improve Strategic Planning within the Tourist Industry (in the Case Study of the Republic of Kazakhstan)

Science.gov (United States)

Shilibekova, Balzhan; Syzdykbayeva, Bakyt; Ayetov, Sayat; Agybetova, Rina; Baimbetova, Assel

2016-01-01

Kazakhstan has a great tourist potential, but it is still partly fulfilled. That is why very important to find the weakness in the state's policy and to develop this industry in the best way. The aim of the research is to formulate a hypothesis with regard to the possible content of measures to improve the strategic planning and marketing…

[Results of the marketing research study "Acceptance of physician's office computer systems"].

Science.gov (United States)

Steinhausen, D; Brinkmann, F; Engelhard, A

1998-01-01

We report on a market research study on the acceptance of computer systems in surgeries. 11,000 returned questionnaires of surgeons--user and nonuser--were analysed. We found out that most of the surgeons used their computers in a limited way, i.e. as a device for accounting. Concerning the level of utilisation there are differentials of Men-Women, West-East and Young-Old. In this study we also analysed the computer using behaviour of gynaecologic surgeons. As a result two third of all nonusers are not intending to utilise a computer in the future.

Moments Based Framework for Performance Analysis of One-Way/Two-Way CSI-Assisted AF Relaying

KAUST Repository

Xia, Minghua

2012-09-01

When analyzing system performance of conventional one-way relaying or advanced two-way relaying, these two techniques are always dealt with separately and, thus, their performance cannot be compared efficiently. Moreover, for ease of mathematical tractability, channels considered in such studies are generally assumed to be subject to Rayleigh fading or to be Nakagami-$m$ channels with integer fading parameters, which is impractical in typical urban environments. In this paper, we propose a unified moments-based framework for general performance analysis of channel-state-information (CSI) assisted amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying systems. The framework is applicable to both one-way and two-way relaying over arbitrary Nakagami-$m$ fading channels, and it includes previously reported results as special cases. Specifically, the mathematical framework is firstly developed under the umbrella of the weighted harmonic mean of two Gamma-distributed variables in conjunction with the theory of Pad\\\\\\'e approximants. Then, general expressions for the received signal-to-noise ratios of the users in one-way/two-way relaying systems and the corresponding moments, moment generation function, and cumulative density function are established. Subsequently, the mathematical framework is applied to analyze, compare, and gain insights into system performance of one-way and two-way relaying techniques, in terms of outage probability, average symbol error probability, and achievable data rate. All analytical results are corroborated by simulation results as well as previously reported results whenever available, and they are shown to be efficient tools to evaluate and compare system performance of one-way and two-way relaying.

Researcher positioning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mørck, Line Lerche; Khawaja, Iram

2009-01-01

abstract  This article focuses on the complex and multi-layered process of researcher positioning, specifically in relation to the politically sensitive study of marginalised and ‘othered' groups such as Muslims living in Denmark. We discuss the impact of different ethnic, religious and racial...... political and personal involvement by the researcher, which challenges traditional perspectives on research and researcher positioning. A key point in this regard is the importance of constant awareness of and reflection on the multiple ways in which one's positioning as a researcher influences the research...

Design Based Research: the Way of Developing and Implementing Educational Innovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tina Štemberger

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The appropriate implementation of innovation is a crucial factor in improving educational practice. In the implementation process, there is, however, often a lack of interaction between designers and practitioners that would enable the latter to become competent enough to implement theoretical knowledge into practice and to have an ongoing support from designers. Design-based research is based on close cooperation between researchers, practitioners and designers which consequently allows greater integration of research and practice in education. In the present paper, the beginnings, development, basic characteristics, advantages, disadvantages and the research process of design-based research are reviewed and an example of design-based research is presented.

Inter-hospital communications and transport: turning one-way funnels into two-way networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Rokos, Ivan C; Sanddal, Nels D; Pancioli, Arthur M; Wolff, Catherine; Gaieski, David F

2010-12-01

The Inter-hospital Communications and Transport workgroup was charged with exploring the current status, barriers, and data necessary to optimize the initial destination and subsequent transfer of patients between and among acute care settings. The subtitle, "Turning Funnels Into Two-way Networks," is descriptive of the approach that the workgroup took by exploring how and when smaller facilities in suburban, rural, and frontier areas can contribute to the daily business of caring for emergency patients across the lower-acuity spectrum-in some instances with consultant support from academic medical centers. It also focused on the need to identify high-acuity patients and expedite triage and transfer of those patients to facilities with specialty resources. Draft research recommendations were developed through an iterative writing process and presented to a breakout session of Academic Emergency Medicine's 2010 consensus conference, "Beyond Regionalization: Integrated Networks of Emergency Care." Priority research areas were determined by informal consensus of the breakout group. A subsequent iterative writing process was undertaken to complete this article. A number of broad research questions are presented. 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

[Ethnography for nursing research, a sensible way to understand human behaviors in their context].

Science.gov (United States)

Bourbonnais, Anne

2015-03-01

Understanding human behaviours is at the heart of the nursing discipline. Knowledge development about behaviours is essential to guide nursing practice in the clinical field, for nursing education or in nursing management. In this context, ethnography is often overlooked as a research method to understand better behaviours in their sociocultural environment This article aims to present the principles guiding this qualitative method and its application to nursing research. First, the ethnographic method and some of its variants will be described. The conduct of an ethnographic study will then be exposed. Finally, examples of ethnographic studies in nursing will be presented. This article provides a foundation for the development of research protocols using ethnography for the advancement of nursing knowledge, as well as better use of ethnographic findings to improve care practices.

Characteristic corporate culture of the Telkom way 135

Science.gov (United States)

Utami, D. A.; Noviyanti

2018-01-01

The corporate globalization brought an attention consequence related to the global perspective balancing against local flexibility. It also made local Organizations to keeps aware to both continuously and fast global changing and development in order to maintain its existences. One of the things need to be strengthened was the strong corporate culture, which is acceptable, understood and applied culture by every single member of the corporate. This study was aimed to describe characteristics of The Telkom Way 135 corporate culture and its implementation in PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk., Regional Division V East Java. It was descriptive research with a qualitative approach and conducted it by observation, documentation, and documentation techniques. Data validity was conducted using credibility, transmittable, dependable and special criteria. Results of the study are as follows; the characteristic of The Telkom Way 135 corporate culture is an integral corporate culture. Also, by combination of this characteristic, corporate culture could classify into the strong and adaptive corporate culture so that it able to supports PT. Telkom to win the external adaptation and reached its internal integration if there is a harmonization between the corporate culture’s characteristics with the managerial practices.

Browsing the fusion data in a Google map way

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Xianming; Pan, W.; Chen, L.; Song, Xiao; Pan, L.; Luo, C.; Zhang, G.

2015-01-01

Full text of publication follows. How to access the ITER data is still an open issue. Concepts from KSTAR(1), W7X(2), EAST(3), and DIIID(4) have been presented. In this paper, a new web application to browse the fusion data in a Google map way is demonstrated on HL-2A database. This dynamic and interactive web application can run in any popular browser(IE, safari, Firefox, Opera), by any hardware (smart phone, PC, ipad, Mac) and operating system (ios, android, windows, linux, Mac OS). No any plug-ins is needed. The details of the framework for this web application are presented. The framework consists of three layers. The front top client layer is developed by Jquery code. The middle layer, which plays a role of a bridge to connect the server and client is developed by PHP code. The behind server layer is developed by Matlab, which responses any command from the front top client, retrieves the data from the HL-2A database, analyses and processes the data, and finally, returns the data to the client in client's favorite way. The way to browse and retrieve the fusion data is well welcomed by many researchers who access fusion data from many other machines. This way may apply to other machines, and present useful idea to the way for accessing ITER data in the future. References: 1) Kim, E.N., Web-based (HTML5) Interactive Graphics for Fusion Research and Collaboration, O4-2, 8. IAEA Technical Meeting on Control, Data Acquisition and Remote Participation for Fusion Research. June 20-24,2011, San Francisco, CA; 2)Davis, W.M., Easy Web Interfaces to IDL Code for NSTX Data Analysis Progress on Standardization and Automation in Software Development on W7X, P2-1. 8. IAEA Technical Meeting on Control, Data Acquisition and Remote Participation for Fusion Research. June 20-24,2011, San Francisco, CA; 3) Yang, F., A Web Based MDSPLUS Data Analysis and Visualization System for EAST, P2-16. 8th IAEA Technical Meeting on Control, Data Acquisition and Remote Participation for

How do researchers influence decision-makers? Case studies of Mexican policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Trostle, J; Bronfman, M; Langer, A

1999-06-01

Though the problems translating or applying research in policy-making are legion, solutions are rare. As developing countries increase their capacities to develop effective local solutions to their health problems, they confront the research/policy dilemma. Yet few descriptive studies of research-policy links can be found from developing countries, and the relevance of European and North American models and data is questionable. We report the results of a descriptive study from Mexico of the relationship between health research and policy in four vertical programmes (AIDS, cholera, family planning, immunization). We interviewed 67 researchers and policy-makers from different institutions and levels of responsibility. We analyzed interviewee responses looking for factors that promoted or impeded exchanges between researchers and policy-makers. These were, in turn, divided into emphases on content, actors, process, and context. Many of the promoting factors resembled findings from studies in industrialized countries. Some important differences across the four programmes, which also distinguish them from industrialized country programmes, included extent of reliance on formal communication channels, role of the mass media in building social consensus or creating discord, levels of social consensus, role of foreign donors, and extent of support for biomedical versus social research. We recommend various ways to increase the impact of research on health policy-making in Mexico. Some of the largest challenges include the fact that researchers are but one of many interest groups, and research but one input among many equally legitimate elements to be considered by policy-makers. Another important challenge in Mexico is the relatively small role played by the public in policy-making. Further democratic changes in Mexico may be the most important incentive to increase the use of research in policy-making.

Film-Induced Tourism in the Way of Saint James

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucrezia Lopez

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This research paper proposes an analytical approach to the study of the phenomenon of the film-induced pilgrimage tourism, along one of the most historical and relevant European cultural route: the Way of St. James or Camino de Santiago.In the present study, and in order to point out the relation between film broadcast and film-induced tourism, we combine the review of the Jacobean cinema with the statistical analysis of the pilgrims arrived to Santiago de Compostela during the last decade. So, our main aim is to analyse the repercussion of the Jacobean Cinema in the attractiveness of the Way of St. James as tourism destination. We take into consideration the role of the film producers and we also ponder on the marketing policies of the Autonomous Community, which are aimed at promoting the pilgrim’s routes, the Cathedral and the city of Santiago de Compostela. The cinema has played a less important role until now, in comparison with the impact of travel guides and the Jacobean literature, but it is increasing its impact in the international tourism markets. Recently, the American film The Way can be considered to be the first promoter of the film-induced tourism, because the arrivals of pilgrims from USA have been increased after the broadcast of this film since 2010.

Doctoral Research Education in Canada: Full-Time and Part-Time Students' Access to Research Assistantships

Science.gov (United States)

Niemczyk, Ewalina Kinga

2016-01-01

Graduate students' development as researchers is a key objective in higher education internationally. Research assistantships (RAships) nurture graduate students as novice researchers as they develop theoretical and methodological knowledge. However, few studies have investigated the ways institutional regulations, informal practices, and…

From Local to EXtreme Environments (FLEXE) Student-Scientist Online Forums: hypothesis-based research examining ways to involve scientists in effective science education

Science.gov (United States)

Goehring, L.; Carlsen, W.; Fisher, C. R.; Kerlin, S.; Trautmann, N.; Petersen, W.

2011-12-01

Science education reform since the mid-1990's has called for a "new way of teaching and learning about science that reflects how science itself is done, emphasizing inquiry as a way of achieving knowledge and understanding about the world" (NRC, 1996). Scientists and engineers, experts in inquiry thinking, have been called to help model these practices for students and demonstrate scientific habits of mind. The question, however, is "how best to involve these experts?" given the very real challenges of limited availability of scientists, varying experience with effective pedagogy, widespread geographic distribution of schools, and the sheer number of students involved. Technology offers partial solutions to enable Student-Scientist Interactions (SSI). The FLEXE Project has developed online FLEXE Forums to support efficient, effective SSIs, making use of web-based and database technology to facilitate communication between students and scientists. More importantly, the FLEXE project has approached this question of "how best to do this?" scientifically, combining program evaluation with hypothesis-based research explicitly testing the effects of such SSIs on student learning and attitudes towards science. FLEXE Forums are designed to showcase scientific practices and habits of mind through facilitated interaction between students and scientists. Through these Forums, students "meet" working scientists and learn about their research and the environments in which they work. Scientists provide students with intriguing "real-life" datasets and challenge students to analyze and interpret the data through guiding questions. Students submit their analyses to the Forum, and scientists provide feedback and connect the instructional activity with real-life practice, showcasing their activities in the field. In the FLEXE project, Forums are embedded within inquiry-based instructional units focused on essential learning concepts, and feature the deep-sea environment in contrast

The Research on Informal Learning Model of College Students Based on SNS and Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Peng; Cong, Xiao; Bi, Fangyan; Zhou, Dongdai

2017-03-01

With the rapid development of network technology, informal learning based on online become the main way for college students to learn a variety of subject knowledge. The favor to the SNS community of students and the characteristics of SNS itself provide a good opportunity for the informal learning of college students. This research first analyzes the related research of the informal learning and SNS, next, discusses the characteristics of informal learning and theoretical basis. Then, it proposed an informal learning model of college students based on SNS according to the support role of SNS to the informal learning of students. Finally, according to the theoretical model and the principles proposed in this study, using the Elgg and related tools which is the open source SNS program to achieve the informal learning community. This research is trying to overcome issues such as the lack of social realism, interactivity, resource transfer mode in the current network informal learning communities, so as to provide a new way of informal learning for college students.

Scientific crowdsourcing in wildlife research and conservation: Tigers (Panthera tigris) as a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Can, Özgün Emre; D'Cruze, Neil; Balaskas, Margaret; Macdonald, David W

2017-03-01

With around 3,200 tigers (Panthera tigris) left in the wild, the governments of 13 tiger range countries recently declared that there is a need for innovation to aid tiger research and conservation. In response to this call, we created the "Think for Tigers" study to explore whether crowdsourcing has the potential to innovate the way researchers and practitioners monitor tigers in the wild. The study demonstrated that the benefits of crowdsourcing are not restricted only to harnessing the time, labor, and funds from the public but can also be used as a tool to harness creative thinking that can contribute to development of new research tools and approaches. Based on our experience, we make practical recommendations for designing a crowdsourcing initiative as a tool for generating ideas.

Scientific crowdsourcing in wildlife research and conservation: Tigers (Panthera tigris as a case study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Özgün Emre Can

2017-03-01

Full Text Available With around 3,200 tigers (Panthera tigris left in the wild, the governments of 13 tiger range countries recently declared that there is a need for innovation to aid tiger research and conservation. In response to this call, we created the "Think for Tigers" study to explore whether crowdsourcing has the potential to innovate the way researchers and practitioners monitor tigers in the wild. The study demonstrated that the benefits of crowdsourcing are not restricted only to harnessing the time, labor, and funds from the public but can also be used as a tool to harness creative thinking that can contribute to development of new research tools and approaches. Based on our experience, we make practical recommendations for designing a crowdsourcing initiative as a tool for generating ideas.

The way you see is what you get. Market research as modes of knowledge production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerrisgaard, Sofie Møller; Kjeldgaard, Dannie

2012-01-01

Overview This chapter addresses the topic of global market research and questions the conventional understanding of market research techniques as managerial devices used to improve marketing decisions. Instead, this chapter considers market research as a cultural practice. This means that market...... upon market research addresses the question of how the type of insights generated about consumers/markets is structured by the choice of market research method. Based upon an ethnographic study of a global market research technique within the context of advertising, this chapter demonstrates how...... divergent practices and orientations of market research frame the kind of knowledge generated about consumers, markets, products and brands in global markets. The implications of such a reconceptualization of market research concern the refl exivity of managers upon their own marketplace embeddedness...

Comparison of methodologic quality and study/report characteristics between quantitative clinical nursing and nursing education research articles.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Barbara St Pierre; Nicholas, Jennifer; Kurrus, Jeffrey E

2013-01-01

To compare the methodologic quality and study/report characteristics between quantitative clinical nursing and nursing education research articles. The methodologic quality of quantitative nursing education research needs to advance to a higher level. Clinical research can provide guidance for nursing education to reach this level. One hundred quantitative clinical research articles from-high impact journals published in 2007 and 37 education research articles from high impact journals published in 2006 to 2007 were chosen for analysis. Clinical articles had significantly higher quality scores than education articles in three domains: number of institutions studied, type of data, and outcomes. The findings indicate three ways in which nursing education researchers can strengthen the methodologic quality of their quantitative research. With this approach, greater funding may be secured for advancing the science of nursing education.

Preparing direct care nurses to function as research coordinators in a heart failure study.

Science.gov (United States)

Trocky, Nina M

2017-09-19

Nurses interviewed heart failure patients admitted to two rural hospitals, to learn what was important to them concerning their disease. Data from this study would inform a subsequent heart failure intervention study. The researchers gained a better appreciation of the role of direct care nurses in research coordination, recruitment and data collection. To describe lessons learned during this research about using direct care nurses as research coordinators. The direct care nurses were highly motivated and engaged in the research, identifying barriers and solutions to enrolling heart failure patients in the hospital. The researchers developed customised educational materials and data management documents to address the nurses' learning needs, ensuring compliance with protocol and the safety of participants. Nurse researchers can establish an effective partnership with direct care nurses when conducting research studies. To accommodate learning needs and workplace demands, securing protected time for nurses to complete training, budgeting for administrative support and monitoring recruitment data weekly, as opposed to monthly, may be considered. Direct care nurses can inform the design and conduct of research conducted in a hospital. ©2012 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers.

Creative and Arts-Based Research Methods in Academic Research. Lessons from a Participatory Research Project in the Netherlands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gwenda van der Vaart

2018-05-01

Full Text Available This article contributes to the discussion on the value of creative and arts-based research methods to researchers interested in community resilience. Based on a participatory research project that used a mix of these methods conducted in a Dutch village, we provide more nuanced, concrete insights into their value. We elaborate on the three project stages: walking interviews, group discussions, and a creative workshop that resulted in an exhibition, and on the challenges encountered during our project. We discuss how each project stage contributed to producing multifaceted knowledge. Researchers can benefit from the discussions about the process and implications of creative and arts-based methods such as ours as, to date, there has been relatively little methodological reflection on these methods. Based on our study, we conclude that despite some challenges, creative and arts-based research methods have much to offer researchers interested in community resilience. We found they can: 1. generate deep insight by going beyond rational-cognitive ways of knowing and providing new ways of understanding people's real lived experiences and views; and 2. offer ways to "give back" and contribute to a community, potentially igniting a spark among community members to engage in further action and contribute to their community's resilience. This aligns with the, currently often articulated, aims of researchers to directly benefit those involved and to share their research findings with a broader non-academic audience.

An action research study of collaborative strategic reading in English with Saudi medical students

OpenAIRE

Al-Roomy, Muhammad

2013-01-01

This is an investigative action research study on ways of improving the reading comprehension skills of Arabic medical school students. The study first analysed the difficulties of teaching and learning English and reading in English in a Saudi university medical college. An intervention was planned and implemented based on Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR –Klingner and Vaughn, 1996). This involved using group work to teach explicitly a set of reading strategies to a class of students who...

Nursing research. Components of a clinical research study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bargagliotti, L A

1988-09-01

Nursing research is the systematic collection and analysis of data about clinically important phenomena. While there are norms for conducting research and rules for using certain research procedures, the reader must always filter the research report against his or her nursing knowledge. The most common questions a reader should ask are "Does it make sense? Can I think of any other reasonable explanation for the findings? Do the findings fit what I have observed?" If the answers are reasonable, research findings from carefully conducted studies can provide a basis for making nursing decisions. One of the earliest accounts of nursing research, which indicates the power of making systematic observations, was Florence Nightingale's study. It compared deaths among soldiers in the Crimean War with deaths of soldiers in the barracks of London. Her research demonstrated that soldiers in the barracks had a much higher death rate than did the soldiers at war. On the basis of the study, sanitary conditions in the barracks were changed substantially.

Lexical need as a two-way reality cognition tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Kit

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Lexical need as a two-way reality cognition tool In this paper a concept of lexical need is introduced and its application in research of cognitive aspects of translation is discussed. Further discussion elaborates mechanisms of development of translator’s lexical space in the course of translation. Authors discuss the importance and special nature of low-frequency lexical units and difficulties encountered when studying their usage and suggest that the lexical need concept help these studies. Lexical need analysis can be also used to learn specifics of translator’s lexical space and then to take measures for selection of translators and improvement of their skills.

[Relations between research and clinical care in co-management studies with mental health care users].

Science.gov (United States)

Palombini, Analice de Lima; Onocko-Campos, Rosana Teresa; Silveira, Marília; Gonçalves, Laura Lamas Martins; Zanchet, Lívia; Xavier, Maria Angélica Zamora; de Castro e Marques, Cecília

2013-10-01

This paper is derived from the experience of conducting research with mental health users (not about them, nor for them), analyzing aspects of a study in which different ways of structuring the relationship between clinical practice and research were put into play, thereby questioning the boundaries and ethical issues involved. The clinical practice and research fields that are dealt with are studied with the input of authors who, on the basis of institutional analysis, propose the idea of interventional research, and in the context of public health, revert to the concept of broadened clinical care. The relationship between these two terms - interventional research and broadened clinical care - is based on the notion of subjectivity that operates within the scope of public health and which culminates in the concept of autonomy. Lastly, co-management is proposed as a strategy based on which the different actors involved in conducting research and exercising clinical care can collectively build working principles that are both therapeutic and ethical.

Food Insecurity in Nigeria: Way Forward | Otaha | African Research ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

African Research Review. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL · Advanced Search · Current Issue · Archives · Journal Home > Vol 7, No 4 (2013) >. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads.

The Use of Cues in Multimedia Instructions in Technology as a Way to Reduce Cognitive Load

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, William

2017-01-01

This study was designed to address cognitive overload issues through the use of visual cueing as a means to enhance learning. While there has been significant research such as use of color for cueing to address many of the cited problems, there are missing elements in this research that could go a long way toward designing more effective solutions…

ASCENDING WAY INFECTION NEWBORNS AND THE FORMATION OF INTESTINAL MICROBIOCENOSIS OF THE NEWBORN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kunovskaya L. M.

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The role and value of the bacterial factor in development pre-natal infection of newborns is studied. It is considered microflora of patrimonial ways of pregnant women, as basic pathogenesis factor of an ascending way infection of newborns. On an example of the spent bacteriological researches correlation communication between microflora of patrimonial ways, placenta and an ascending way infection of newborns is shown. At crops gastric swallowing at newborn children with pre-natal infection of newborns it is ascertained growth aerobic and аanaerobic microflora in the majority (87,7 % supervision in the form of microbes associations gramme-positive coccus Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus and Candida. The inclusion in the treatment of Saccharomyces boulardіi contributes to the restoration of intesti­nal microflora in 90 % of newborns. Found significant growth of the colonies of Bifidobacterium spp. (3.7-4,9 lg CFU/ml and Lactobacillus spp. (7.2 lg CFU/ml.

Do families after early postnatal discharge need new ways to communicate with the hospital? A feasibilility study.

Science.gov (United States)

Danbjørg, Dorthe Boe; Wagner, Lis; Clemensen, Jane

2014-06-01

the length of the postnatal hospital stay in Denmark as well as globally has been radically reduced over the past 10-20 years and this raises the challenge of finding new ways of providing observation and support to families discharged early, that they otherwise would be provided as inpatients. this study is to identify the nursing support needs of new parents and their infants during the first seven days post partum, by drawing on the experiences of all stakeholders' in early postnatal discharge from hospital, and thereby gaining new knowledge to investigate further whether telemedicine is a viable option in providing the required support. this article describes the first phase of a participatory design process. A qualitative approach guided the research process and the data analysis. Data were collected from participant observation, qualitative interviews with the new parents, focus groups interviews and a workshop attended by the new parents and health-care professionals. the total number of participants in this study was 37; nineteen parents and 18 health-care professionals from one hospital and three municipalities in Denmark. the investigation findings highlighted, amongst other aspects, the importance of individualised postnatal follow-up in which families have increased access to the health-care professionals and are provided with timely information tailored to their specific needs. the present study underscored that the families experiencing early discharge were not provided with seamless individualised follow-up support. They requested more availability from the health-care system to respond to their concerns and questions during the postnatal period. They experienced a barrier in attempting to contact health-care professionals following hospital discharge and they asked for new ways to communicate that would eliminate that barrier and meet their needs for more individualised and timely information and guidance. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

Effective ways to communicate research using the poster format

Science.gov (United States)

Numerous academic conferences feature multiple venues for presentation of academic research results. While numerous associations provide conference presenters with potential best practices for the generation and presentation of information, not all presenters follow the suggested guidelines. This st...

Critical Discourse Analysis of Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie Part II”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arbain Arbain

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This study is to analyze songs from Eminem which is related to his life story. In examining the songs, the researchers used the three inter-related processes of analysis tied to three inter-related dimensions of discourse proposed by Faiclough’s model of CDA. This study applied qualitative design with the content analysis approach. The analysis of this research focused on the words used such as African American Vernacular English variety, Informal language and American slang in the lyrics of the song Love The Way You Lie Part II and explain them. The result findings showed that there was a transcultural process or cross cultural in the song lyrics. There was a hiphop culture which was moved, changed and reused to create a new identity of the Eminem. There were 25 words and clauses of AAVE, 3 words of Informal language and 1 word of American slang language in the lyrics of the song of Love The Way You Lie.

Case Study Research Methodology in Nursing Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Cope, Diane G

2015-11-01

Through data collection methods using a holistic approach that focuses on variables in a natural setting, qualitative research methods seek to understand participants' perceptions and interpretations. Common qualitative research methods include ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, and historic research. Another type of methodology that has a similar qualitative approach is case study research, which seeks to understand a phenomenon or case from multiple perspectives within a given real-world context.

Researcher Creations? The Positioning of Policy Texts in Higher Education Research

Science.gov (United States)

Ashwin, Paul; Smith, Karen

2015-01-01

In this article we explore the way in which policy texts are positioned in a selection of higher education journal articles. Previous research has suggested that policy implementation studies have taken an uncritical approach to researching policies. Based on an analysis of articles published in higher education and policy journals in 2011, we…

In search of the quickest way to disseminate health care innovations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guus Schrijvers

2003-10-01

Full Text Available Research Question: Innovations in health care are slowly disseminated in The Netherlands and elsewhere. That's why the researchers defined their research question: What is the quickest way of disseminating health care innovations? Research method: The design was a comparative, qualitative case study. The researchers invited a group of 52 authors to describe their 21 health care innovations. All case descriptions were published in a book of 261 pages [2]. Results: Six types of innovations were distinguished. Most innovations simultaneously improved quality from the patient's point of view (18 out of 21 cases, professional pride (18/21 and speed of introduction (16/21. Clinical outcomes were better or comparable in 13 of the 21 cases. Brainstorm sessions took place with the innovators and the 22 experts on the quickest way to disseminate the innovations more widely in The Netherlands. These sessions looked for the critical success factors for the dissemination of the 21 projects and identified nine. The following factors were identified: 1. A clear distribution of responsibilities between professionals within the innovation (20/21 2. Enough educational programs about the innovations for the professionals (18/21 3. Adequate ICT support for the running of the innovations (15/21 4. Suitable publicity for the innovations (12/21 5. An adequate payment system for innovative care providers (7/21 6. The right size of catchment's area for the innovations (6/21 7. Enough professional freedom to adopt the innovation (5/21 8. Fast managerial and public decision-making about the adoption of the innovation (3/21 9. The embedding of the innovations in quality management assurance policy (1/21. Discussion: The results of the study had some influence on the political health agenda in The Netherlands, leading to greater emphasis on innovations and quality of care.

Motorcycle right-of-way accidents--a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pai, Chih-Wei

2011-05-01

The most typical automobile-motorcycle collision take places when an automobile manoeuvres into the path of an approaching motorcycle by violating the motorcycle's right of way (ROW). The present paper provides a comprehensive review of past research that examined motorcycle ROW accidents. Articles and publications were selected for relevance and research strength through a comprehensive search of major databases such as Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS), Compendex, and Medline. Two major causes of such a crash scenario are the lack of motorcycle conspicuity and motorist's speed/distance judgment error, respectively. A substantial number of studies have manipulated physical characteristics of motorcycles and motorcyclists to enhance conspicuity, along with research addressing motorists' gap-acceptance behaviours and arrival time judgments when confronting motorcycles. Although various conspicuity aids have proven effective, some researchers reported that motorcyclist's/motorcycle's brightness per se may be less important as a determinant of conspicuity than brightness contrast between the motorcyclists and the surroundings. Larger vehicles tended to be judged to arrive sooner than motorcycles. Such a speed/distance judgment error is likely attributable to some psychological effects such that larger automobiles appear more threatening than motorcycles. Older motorists particularly have difficulties in accurately estimating the distance and the speed of an approaching motorcycle. Research examining the effects of conspicuity measures on motorists' speed/distance judgments when confronting motorcycles has been rather inconclusive. Past research offers valuable insight into the underlying motorcycle ROW crash mechanisms. However, with ageing society and a rapid change in traffic composition (e.g., more larger motorcycles) in recent years, prior research findings should be updated. The present study finally provides recommendations for future research

Wrong-way driving.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2006-01-01

Wrong-way driving is a phenomenon that mainly happens on motorways. Although the number of wrong-way crashes is relatively limited, their consequences are much more severe than the consequences of other motorway injury crashes. The groups most often causing wrong-way driving accidents are young,

Resources, challenges and way forward in rare mitochondrial diseases research.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajput, Neeraj Kumar; Singh, Vipin; Bhardwaj, Anshu

2015-01-01

Over 300 million people are affected by about 7000 rare diseases globally. There are tremendous resource limitations and challenges in driving research and drug development for rare diseases. Hence, innovative approaches are needed to identify potential solutions. This review focuses on the resources developed over the past years for analysis of genome data towards understanding disease biology especially in the context of mitochondrial diseases, given that mitochondria are central to major cellular pathways and their dysfunction leads to a broad spectrum of diseases. Platforms for collaboration of research groups, clinicians and patients and the advantages of community collaborative efforts in addressing rare diseases are also discussed. The review also describes crowdsourcing and crowdfunding efforts in rare diseases research and how the upcoming initiatives for understanding disease biology including analyses of large number of genomes are also applicable to rare diseases.

META-ANALYSIS: THE WAY FORWARD IN MEDICAL DISCOVERY

African Journals Online (AJOL)

data, and (6) report the results. Define the Research Question. A meta-analysis begins with a question. Common questions addressed in meta-analyses are whether one. META-ANALYSIS: THE WAY FORWARD IN MEDICAL DISCOVERY. Akinyemi J.O. MSc (Medical Statistics), B Tech (Comp. Sc.) Correspondence:.

Student Teachers' Ways of Thinking and Ways of Understanding Digestion and the Digestive System in Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Çimer, Sabiha Odabasi; Ursavas, Nazihan

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify the ways in which student teachers understand digestion and the digestive system and, subsequently, their ways of thinking, as reflected in their problem solving approaches and the justification schemes that they used to validate their claims. For this purpose, clinical interviews were conducted with 10…

Relay Selection and Resource Allocation in One-Way and Two-Way Cognitive Relay Networks

KAUST Repository

Alsharoa, Ahmad M.

2013-05-08

In this work, the problem of relay selection and resource power allocation in one- way and two-way cognitive relay networks using half duplex channels with different relaying protocols is investigated. Optimization problems for both single and multiple relay selection that maximize the sum rate of the secondary network without degrading the quality of service of the primary network by respecting a tolerated interference threshold were formulated. Single relay selection and optimal power allocation for two-way relaying cognitive radio networks using decode-and-forward and amplify-and-forward protocols were studied. Dual decomposition and subgradient methods were used to find the optimal power allocation. The transmission process to exchange two different messages between two transceivers for two-way relaying technique takes place in two time slots. In the first slot, the transceivers transmit their signals simultaneously to the relay. Then, during the second slot the relay broadcasts its signal to the terminals. Moreover, improvement of both spectral and energy efficiency can be achieved compared with the one-way relaying technique. As an extension, a multiple relay selection for both one-way and two-way relaying under cognitive radio scenario using amplify-and-forward were discussed. A strong optimization tool based on genetic and iterative algorithms was employed to solve the 
formulated optimization problems for both single and multiple relay selection, where discrete relay power levels were considered. Simulation results show that the practical and low-complexity heuristic approaches achieve almost the same performance of the optimal relay selection schemes either with discrete or continuous power distributions while providing a considerable saving in terms of computational complexity.

Thirty ways to temporize on waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marshall, E.

1987-01-01

Congress must decide in the coming weeks whether it should try to revive the civil nuclear waste program or yield to politics and apply an anesthetic for a couple of years. The program is in such poor shape that Congress may have to do something. Thirty proposals have been introduced; most would derail or postpone the present plan for disposing of nuclear waste. About 50 members of Congress would like to call a moratorium on field research at potential waste repository sites. They see this as the best way out of the present impasse-if a moratorium is a way out. But this decision would come as a blow to the nuclear utilities, already hard-pressed on several fronts. The last thing they want is a general review of the waste program. The options available for dispersing of nuclear wastes are discussed

Research activity and capacity in primary healthcare: the REACH study: a survey.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Glynn, Liam G

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Despite increased investment in primary care research and development (R&D), the level of engagement of primary healthcare professionals with research remains poor. The aim of this study is to assess the level of research activity and capacity for research among primary healthcare professionals in a health authority of over one million people in a mixed urban\\/rural setting in the West of Ireland. METHODS: A questionnaire, incorporating the R+D Culture Index, was sent to primary healthcare professionals in the HSE Western Region. Baseline characteristics were analysed with the use of one-way ANOVA and Chi-square test and the dependence of R&D Culture Index score on all sixteen available covariates was examined using multiple regression and regression tree modelling. RESULTS: There was a 54% response rate to the questionnaire. Primary healthcare professionals appeared to have an interest in and awareness of the importance of research in primary care but just 15% were found to be research active in this study. A more positive attitude towards an R&D culture was associated with having had previous research training, being currently involved in research and with not being a general practitioner (GP) (p < 0.001), but much variability in the R&D culture index score remained unexplained. CONCLUSION: Despite awareness of the importance of R&D in primary care and investment therein, primary healthcare professionals remain largely unengaged with the R&D process. This study highlights the issues that need to be addressed in order to encourage a shift towards a culture of R&D in primary care: lack of research training particularly in basic research skills and increased opportunities for research involvement. The use of the R&D Culture Index may enable groups to be identified that may be more research interested and can therefore be targeted in any future R&D strategy.

New ways of organizing innovation work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grex, Sara; Møller, Niels

2006-01-01

There is an intensified focus in innovation and companies ability to create innovation. In many companies these activities are organized by projects, but studies show this innovation is stifled in this structure. In this paper we argue that there is a need for developing alternative ways of organ......There is an intensified focus in innovation and companies ability to create innovation. In many companies these activities are organized by projects, but studies show this innovation is stifled in this structure. In this paper we argue that there is a need for developing alternative ways...... of organizing innovative activities in project-based settings. We propose the Contextual Design method as a way of both studying innovation work processes and an approach to redesign the innovation work organization. We find that the method can contribute to a better understanding of the innovation work...

Building a Bridge Between Genetics and Outcomes Research: Application in Autism (The AutGO Study).

Science.gov (United States)

Talebizadeh, Zohreh; Shah, Ayten

2018-03-05

established partnership (aim 1), the identified barriers, facilitators, and needs (aim 2), as well as the lessons learned and suggested recommendations for the research community (aim 3). Following phase I participants' recommendation, in phase II, we will focus on a specific disease (i.e., autism); this projected plan is briefly outlined to highlight the overarching goal of the project and its potential significance. We also discuss the study limitations, challenges for conducting this type of multidisciplinary work, as well as potential ways to address them. The AutGO project has created a unique collaborative forum to facilitate the much needed dialogue between genetics and outcomes researchers, which may contribute to finding ways to improve the translational aspects of genetics research studies.

Improving Formwork Engineering Using the Toyota Way

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiun-De Kuo

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Construction is a labor-intensive industry with formwork engineering requiring a disproportionate amount of labor and costs. Formwork accounts for approximately one-third of the cost of reinforced concrete construction, partly because traditional formwork processes frequently result in delivery delays and material waste. The purpose of this research is to adapt production concepts pioneered by Toyota (the “Toyota Way” to improve formwork engineering. The Toyota Way of production consists of four tiers of management philosophy, known as the “4Ps” model. This research adopts the 4Ps as steps for formwork improvement. The first step, “establishing long term vision,” emphasizes long term considerations for formwork improvement. Step two, “establishing value streams,” reviews formwork flows and eliminates wastage. The third step, “developing the crew,” forms mold workers as a team. The final step is “developing a culture of continuous improvement” that provides a basis for constant review and provides a basis for continuous progress. The present research used the Toyota Way to improve formwork engineering. The improvements include reductions in resource waste and increases in operational value. In the long run, the proposed model could provide a learning and growth platform for individuals, the business unit, and the company’s extended network of partners. It could also serve to spur innovative thinking in the improvement of formwork engineering.

Design and Statistics in Quantitative Translation (Process) Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Balling, Laura Winther; Hvelplund, Kristian Tangsgaard

2015-01-01

Traditionally, translation research has been qualitative, but quantitative research is becoming increasingly important, especially in translation process research but also in other areas of translation studies. This poses problems to many translation scholars since this way of thinking...... is unfamiliar. In this article, we attempt to mitigate these problems by outlining our approach to good quantitative research, all the way from research questions and study design to data preparation and statistics. We concentrate especially on the nature of the variables involved, both in terms of their scale...... and their role in the design; this has implications for both design and choice of statistics. Although we focus on quantitative research, we also argue that such research should be supplemented with qualitative analyses and considerations of the translation product....

Research priorities in mental health occupational therapy: A study of clinician perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Hitch, Danielle; Lhuede, Kate

2015-10-01

The evidence to support mental health occupational therapy has proliferated in the early years of this century, but this growth has tended to be organic rather than targeted. Previous efforts to identify research priorities in this area of practice are either out dated, or encompass discrete areas of practice. The aim of this study was to identify priority areas for research in mental health occupational therapy from clinician's perspectives. A Policy Delphi method was used to enable occupational therapists to define and differentiate their perspectives on research priorities. Forty-two occupational therapists took part in the first two rounds of this method, with 69% (n = 29) going on to complete the third and final round of data collection. A Likert scale was used to rate the importance of each priority, and descriptive quantitative analysis undertaken to identify those most consistently identified as being highly important. Four research priorities were identified as being highly important in this study: (i) working in an occupationally focussed way; (ii) consumer experience of therapy groups; (iii) identifying factors which increase consumer engagement in occupation; and (iv) engaging patients on the inpatient unit in meaningful and positive occupation. Two of the priority areas are already the subject of substantial evidence bases, but there has been far less research into consumer experiences of groups and occupational engagement in acute settings. Collaboration between research teams and greater consumer inclusion are recommended for the future. This study provides an updated indication of research priorities for mental health occupational therapy in Australia. © 2015 Occupational Therapy Australia.

PERSONIFICATION OF WAY OF LIFE TYPES OF YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN – GRADUATES OF THE UNIVERSITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svetlana Tigranovna Dzhaneryan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article presents the results of a study aimed at research of the characteristics of personification as the substantive characteristic of each type of the way of life ideals (matrimonial, bohemian, health, career, community, social, social-protection, gnostic of young men and women – graduates of the university.Research methods: survey (questionnaire for study the way of life ideal, a content analysis of the open questions of the questionnaire, expert evaluation categories, methods of nonparametric statistics.Results. The article presents ideas about the way of life ideals, discloses its components and characteristics. In the article designated types of way of life ideals: matrimonial, bohemian, health, career, community, social-protection, gnostic. Established the features of personification of each type of boys and girl’s ideals (who are graduates of the university. The results show that all kinds of way of life ideals are personified; that there are attractive to young people personality traits of real people (or groups whose way of life influences on the construction of their own ideals of life. It is shown that the differentiation of male and female personification of ideals occurs on different parameters: for the ideals of «matrimonial life» and «career life» appears only in the parameter singularity / community; for the ideal of «social life» – in the parameters singularity / community, the psychological portrait, similarities; for the ideal of «health life» – in the parameters singularity / community, the psychological portrait, a means of implementing, similarities.Application of the results: psychological services in high schools and personnel services in different companies.

The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA): A Cutting-Edge Way for Students and Teachers to Learn about Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Brian; Bindschadler, Robert

2009-01-01

By studying Antarctica via satellite and through ground-truthing research, we can learn where the ice is melting and why. The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA), a new and cutting-edge way for scientists, researchers, educators, students, and the public to look at Antarctica, supports this research and allows for unprecedented views of our…

Climate-Conflict Research: Some Reflections on the Way Forward

Science.gov (United States)

2015-02-18

T. The evolution of environment-conflict research: toward a livelihood framework. Global Envi- ron Polit 2012, 12:78–100. 7. Gemenne F, Barnett J...Levin SA. Trading-off fish biodiversity , food security, and hydropower in theMekong River Basin. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2012, 109:5609–5614. 52. Tol

Data Mining: A Hybrid Methodology for Complex and Dynamic Research

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, Susan; Baehr, Craig

2012-01-01

This article provides an overview of the ways in which data and text mining have potential as research methodologies in composition studies. It introduces data mining in the context of the field of composition studies and discusses ways in which this methodology can complement and extend our existing research practices by blending the best of what…

Learning as way-finding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dau, Susanne

motions of humans and non-human agencies. The findings reveal that learning; formal and informal can be conceptualized by the metaphor of way-finding; embodied, emotionally and/or cognitive both individually and socially. Way-finding, is argued, to be a contemporary concept for learning processes......, knowledge development and identity-shaping, where learning emerges through motions, feeling and thinking within an information rich world in constant change.......Based on empirical case-study findings and the theoretical framework of learning by Illeris coupled with Nonaka & Takeuchis´s perspectives on knowledge creation, it is stressed that learning are conditioned by contextual orientations-processes in spaces near the body (peripersonal spaces) through...

On Dobrushin's way from probability theory to statistical physics

CERN Document Server

Minlos, R A; Suhov, Yu M; Suhov, Yu

2000-01-01

R. Dobrushin worked in several branches of mathematics (probability theory, information theory), but his deepest influence was on mathematical physics. He was one of the founders of the rigorous study of statistical physics. When Dobrushin began working in that direction in the early sixties, only a few people worldwide were thinking along the same lines. Now there is an army of researchers in the field. This collection is devoted to the memory of R. L. Dobrushin. The authors who contributed to this collection knew him quite well and were his colleagues. The title, "On Dobrushin's Way", is mea

Conceptions of learning research: variations amongst French and Swedish nurses. A phenomenographic study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dupin, Cécile Marie; Larsson, Maria; Dariel, Odessa; Debout, Christophe; Rothan-Tondeur, Monique

2015-01-01

The development of nursing research capacity and interactions with cultural and structural issues is at various stages throughout Europe. This process appears to be remarkably similar irrespective of the country. Sweden has developed this capacity since the 1990s, whereas France is experiencing a transition. Nevertheless, knowledge about how nurses conceive their learning about nursing research and transitioning toward being researchers is scarce. The aim of this study was to explore French and Swedish RNs' conceptions of research education and educational passage toward research and to describe how learning research contributes to the understanding of their norms and practices. A phenomenographic approach was used to understand and describe the qualitatively different ways in which French and Swedish RNs conceive research and its apprenticeship. A purposive maximum variation sampling of five French and five Swedish Nurse Researchers with PhDs. Individual in-depth interviews conducted in France and Sweden between November 2012 and March 2013 were analysed using phenomenography. The analysis revealed one main category, "Organisational factors to sustain individual apprenticeship". Three descriptive categories have emerged from the data and its variations amongst French and Swedish nurses: (1) entrance into research--modes of commitment; (2) nurses' engagement--the need for dedicated support; and (3) research as the means to resolve nursing situations. This study demonstrates how registered nurses have integrated nursing and researcher roles following different efficient paths. Education in nursing research is part of the strategy needed for the development of nursing research and is supported by the integration of research and practice. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sociolinguistics for Educational Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Florio-Ruane, Susan

1987-01-01

Article provides a brief overview of sociolinguistics for educational researchers, describes the relevance of sociolinguistics for understanding classroom discourse, and suggests ways to measure the adequacy of sociolinguistic studies. (RB)

Exploring the Relevance of Qualitative Research Synthesis to Higher Education Research and Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Major, Claire; Savin-Baden, Maggi

2010-01-01

This paper proposes the importance of qualitative research synthesis to the field of higher education. It examines seven key texts that undertake synthesis in this field and compares essential features and elements across studies. The authors indicate strengths of the approaches and highlight ways forward for using qualitative research synthesis…

WFIRST: Resolving the Milky Way Galaxy

Science.gov (United States)

Kalirai, Jason; Conroy, Charlie; Dressler, Alan; Geha, Marla; Levesque, Emily; Lu, Jessica; Tumlinson, Jason

2018-01-01

WFIRST will yield a transformative impact in measuring and characterizing resolved stellar populations in the Milky Way. The proximity and level of detail that such populations need to be studied at directly map to all three pillars of WFIRST capabilities - sensitivity from a 2.4 meter space based telescope, resolution from 0.1" pixels, and large 0.3 degree field of view from multiple detectors. In this poster, we describe the activities of the WFIRST Science Investigation Team (SIT), "Resolving the Milky Way with WFIRST". Notional programs guiding our analysis include targeting sightlines to establish the first well-resolved large scale maps of the Galactic bulge aand central region, pockets of star formation in the disk, benchmark star clusters, and halo substructure and ultra faint dwarf satellites. As an output of this study, our team is building optimized strategies and tools to maximize stellar population science with WFIRST. This will include: new grids of IR-optimized stellar evolution and synthetic spectroscopic models; pipelines and algorithms for optimal data reduction at the WFIRST sensitivity and pixel scale; wide field simulations of Milky Way environments including new astrometric studies; and strategies and automated algorithms to find substructure and dwarf galaxies in the Milky Way through the WFIRST High Latitude Survey.

Ways of Viewing Pictorial Plasticity

OpenAIRE

Maarten W. A. Wijntjes

2017-01-01

The plastic effect is historically used to denote various forms of stereopsis. The vivid impression of depth often associated with binocular stereopsis can also be achieved in other ways, for example, using a synopter. Accounts of this go back over a hundred years. These ways of viewing all aim to diminish sensorial evidence that the picture is physically flat. Although various viewing modes have been proposed in the literature, their effects have never been compared. In the current study, we...

After the fire: New ways of working in an academic setting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gorgievski, M; van der Voordt, Theo; van Herpen, SGA; van Akkeren, S

2010-01-01

Purpose – This paper presents the research findings of a Post-Occupancy Evaluation of new ways of working at the Faculty of Architecture of the Delft University of Technology and the lessons that can be learned from this particular case in connection to research findings from similar

On Determinism and Unambiguity of Weighted Two-way Automata

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vincent Carnino

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we first study the conversion of weighted two-way automata to one-way automata. We show that this conversion preserves the unambiguity but does not preserve the determinism. Yet, we prove that the conversion of an unambiguous weighted one-way automaton into a two-way automaton leads to a deterministic two-way automaton. As a consequence, we prove that unambiguous weighted two-way automata are equivalent to deterministic weighted two-way automata in commutative semirings.

Integration of Field Studies and Undergraduate Research into an Interdisciplinary Course: Natural History of Tropical Carbonate Ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Eves, Robert L.; Davis, Larry E.; Brown, D. Gordon; Lamberts, William L.

2007-01-01

According to Carl Sagan (1987), "Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge." Field studies and undergraduate research provide students with the best opportunities for "thinking" about science, while at the same time acquiring a body of knowledge. Natural History of Tropical Carbonate Ecosystems is a…

Mind, brain and body. Healing trauma: the way forward.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Margaret

2017-09-01

The paper explores an interdisciplinary whole person approach to healing from trauma that conserves our rich inheritance from Jung but also takes on board insights from research in the areas of attachment, trauma and the neurobiology of emotion. It is now over 20 years since insights from neurobiology began to be used to inform clinical practice. The paper reviews key insights which have emerged, along with the ways they enable therapists to help mind, brain and body to heal and the ways in which they clarify why, in clinical practice, we do what we do. Traditionally the emphasis has been on words, interpretations, and meaning-making. Currently there is greater appreciation of the affective, relational, embodied aspects of therapeutic work and the way in which these relate to traumatic early interactive experience that is held outside of human awareness. The ways in which knowledge of particular systems of connectivity inform understanding of the whole mind-brain-body relationship are examined. The way forward for clinical practice to become more focused in order to help clients to heal in mind and body is reviewed. © 2017, The Society of Analytical Psychology.

Swarm intelligence. A whole new way to think about business.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonabeau, E; Meyer, C

2001-05-01

What do ants and bees have to do with business? A great deal, it turns out. Individually, social insects are only minimally intelligent, and their work together is largely self-organized and unsupervised. Yet collectively they're capable of finding highly efficient solutions to difficult problems and can adapt automatically to changing environments. Over the past 20 years, the authors and other researchers have developed rigorous mathematical models to describe this phenomenon, which has been dubbed "swarm intelligence," and they are now applying them to business. Their research has already helped several companies develop more efficient ways to schedule factory equipment, divide tasks among workers, organize people, and even plot strategy. Emulating the way ants find the shortest path to a new food supply, for example, has led researchers at Hewlett-Packard to develop software programs that can find the most efficient way to route phone traffic over a telecommunications network. South-west Airlines has used a similar model to efficiently route cargo. To allocate labor, honeybees appear to follow one simple but powerful rule--they seem to specialize in a particular activity unless they perceive an important need to perform another function. Using that model, researchers at Northwestern University have devised a system for painting trucks that can automatically adapt to changing conditions. In the future, the authors speculate, a company might structure its entire business using the principles of swarm intelligence. The result, they believe, would be the ultimate self-organizing enterprise--one that could adapt quickly and instinctively to fast-changing markets.

Strategizing in multiple ways

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Mette Vinther; Madsen, Charlotte Øland; Rasmussen, Jørgen Gulddahl

2013-01-01

Strategy processes are kinds of wayfaring where different actors interpret a formally defined strat-egy differently. In the everyday practice of organizations strategizing takes place in multiple ways through narratives and sensible actions. This forms a meshwork of polyphonic ways to enact one...... and the same strategy. The paper focusses on such processes as they develop in a Danish service company. It is done on the basis of an empirical and longitudinal study of a strategy process in the Service Company where the strategic purpose was to implement value-based management. The theme to be developed...... based on this development paper is whether one can understand these diver-gent strategic wayfaring processes as constructive for organizations....

EURATOM research and training programme: towards a new way of developing-teaching science, closer to the end-users

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Goethem, G.

2015-01-01

important is public information and engagement in energy policy issues, notably in connection with nuclear decision making. In fact, a new way of 'developing - teaching science' is emerging in the EU, closer to the needs of the end-users, i.e.: society and industry. As a result, a strong scientific foundation is being established to support decision making in regulatory and/or industrial organisations, based on confirmed facts and research findings stemming from 'Best Available Science'. The article is followed by the slides of the presentation

Examining Interior Grid Nudging Techniques Using Two-Way Nesting in the WRF Model for Regional Climate Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

This study evaluates interior nudging techniques using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model for regional climate modeling over the conterminous United States (CONUS) using a two-way nested configuration. NCEP–Department of Energy Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Pro...

Research and dissemination: an ethical way to prevention

Science.gov (United States)

Lugeri, Francesca; Farabollini, Piero

2015-04-01

The Italian landscape is well representative of the dualism risk / resource which, along with its contradictions, characterizes the whole country. In fact, it also poses continuous questions to the further parallel duality defense / management, as we think to those cases where the natural environment is a high source of hazard to the population living in the concerned territory, being at the same time a resource thanks to the beauty expressed by the shapes of the landscape. The knowledge of the environment where we live is an essential process, even for the survival itself; the difficult journey towards science and knowledge, has been characterized, in the various ages, from different approaches, conditioned by the availability of tools and resources, as well as by the particular historical social, political phases. Research on the evolution of phenomena in time and space; their description, representation and analysis; the interaction between mankind and the physical environment, are a priority for geologists. More than 50 years after the tragedy of Vajont, the issues of shared knowledge, awareness, perception of risk, are still pending and the prevention practices are still a dramatically distant goal. It is essential to disseminate scientific heritage, by implementing processes of communication, using new codes and strategies, able to make individuals / communities / society aware of the local context, in order to trigger a consistent and shared virtuous behaviour,. The strategies of participatory democracy are based on this indispensable assumption, aiming at involving the public in policy management, as well as in prevention practices, towards the sustainable development of the territory. A shared ethics, for the world of research as well as for the society, must aim at overcoming the usual and sterile actions of a mere repairing of the damage, in order to reach a shared behaviour, based on a conscious knowledge, which is the essential foundation to start

New ways of organizing product introductions.

Science.gov (United States)

Berglund, Martina; Harlin, Ulrika; Gustavsson, Maria; Säfsten, Kristina

2012-01-01

The aim of this paper is to describe and reflect on an interactive research approach used to address the challenges on how to improve product introductions, the part of the product realization process associated with the transfer of a product from product development to serial production. In the interactive research approach, research results as well as improvement of practice are given equal importance. The collaboration between researchers and practitioners therefore addresses both the focus and the process of the change. The approach includes four main iterative steps: 1) mapping/diagnosis, 2) feedback of results, 3) participation in development activities, and 4) follow-up/evaluation. The paper reports findings from interactive research in one company within office product industry and one company group, consisting of three company units within the engine industry. Preliminary findings indicate that the participating companies afterwards work in a more structured way with product introductions and that the employees have gained deeper knowledge about product introductions as well as experienced the advantages of working across functional boundaries. Furthermore, the interactive research approach is suitable to run projects from an ergonomics perspective as it focuses on developing both practice and theory, it is human-centered, and it emphasizes broad participation from practitioners.

Novel participatory methods of involving patients in research: naming and branding a longitudinal cohort study, BRIGHTLIGHT.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Rachel M; Mohain, Jasjeet; Gibson, Faith; Solanki, Anita; Whelan, Jeremy; Fern, Lorna A

2015-03-14

Patient and public involvement (PPI) is central to research and service planning. Identifying effective, meaningful ways of involvement is challenging. The cohort study 'Do specialist services for teenagers and young adults with cancer add value?' follows young people for three years, examining outcomes associated with specialist care. Participant retention in longitudinal research can be problematic potentially jeopardising study completion. Maximising study awareness through high impact branding and publicity may improve study retention. Study names are typically generated by researchers rather than designed with patients. We aimed to involve young people in developing a brand identity and name to 'Do specialist services for teenagers and young adults with cancer add value?'. Nine young people aged 17-26 years diagnosed with cancer when aged 14-25 years participated in a one day workshop with further data collection at a patient conference. Methodology was similar to conventional branding and naming exercises and was divided into six stages. The workshop comprised five stages. Stage 1: 'What's in a brand' allowed young people to enquire why brands/logos are important, Stage 2: 'Brand Transformation' identified what young people needed to know and believe about the study when approached about participation, Stage 3: 'Brand Essence' determined how we wanted the study to be perceived by young people, Stage 4: 'What's in a name' identified potential names for the study. Stage 5: 'Logo creation' assembled the mood and feel of logos. Stage 6 was logo design and an electronic survey of 249 young people attending a patient conference. BRIGHTLIGHT was the final study name and the brand essence (or study personality) was friendly, supportive and inspiring. Four logos were designed and the final logo received 47% (n = 115) of votes. Acceptance and retention to BRIGHTLIGHT is higher than anticipated (80% versus 60%), this may be related to our integral PPI strategy. We

Developing and Conducting a Dissertation Study through the Community-Based Participatory Research Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Nadimpalli, S B; Van Devanter, N; Kavathe, R; Islam, N

2016-06-01

The community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach has been shown to be innovative and effective in conducting research with communities experiencing health disparities. Doctoral nursing students, and other doctoral students in the health sciences, who are interested in this approach can benefit through structured CBPR training experiences in learning how to engage with communities, build community capacity, share resources, implement CBPR study plans, and disseminate results of CBPR-focused studies. The objectives of this case-study are to demonstrate ways in which one doctoral student aligned with academic mentors and a funded CBPR project to build a relationship with the Sikh Asian Indian (AI) community of New York City to develop and implement a CBPR-focused doctoral dissertation study. The purpose of the research was to examine the relationship between the experience of perceived discrimination and health outcomes in this community. CBPR methods utilized in developing the study entailed the author partaking in formal and informal CBPR learning experiences, building relationships with community and academic partners early on through volunteering, developing a research plan in collaboration with members of the community and academic partners, identifying an appropriate setting and methods for recruitment and data collection, increasing capacity and resources for all partners (the author, community, and academic), and presenting dissertation study findings to the community. In conclusion, CBPR-focused doctoral experiences are novel pedagogical and professional approaches for nursing and health science students which can lead to mutual benefits for all involved, and ultimately successful and effective community-based health research.

Free Student Breakfasts: Surest Way to Raise Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Chmelynski, Carol

2007-01-01

According to James Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), breakfast is not the solution to the problems in America's schools, but it is the fastest, easiest, cheapest way of boosting school performance. According to FRAC, the federal breakfast program run by the Agricultural Department reached a record 7.7 million…

Research on teaching methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Oermann, M H

1990-01-01

Research on teaching methods in nursing education was categorized into studies on media, CAI, and other nontraditional instructional strategies. While the research differed, some generalizations may be made from the findings. Multimedia, whether it is used for individual or group instruction, is at least as effective as traditional instruction (lecture and lecture-discussion) in promoting cognitive learning, retention of knowledge, and performance. Further study is needed to identify variables that may influence learning and retention. While learner attitudes toward mediated instruction tended to be positive, investigators failed to control for the effect of novelty. Control over intervening variables was lacking in the majority of studies as well. Research indicated that CAI is as effective as other teaching methods in terms of knowledge gain and retention. Attitudes toward CAI tended to be favorable, with similar problems in measurement as those evidenced in studies of media. Chang (1986) also recommends that future research examine the impact of computer-video interactive instruction on students, faculty, and settings. Research is needed on experimental teaching methods, strategies for teaching problem solving and clinical judgment, and ways of improving the traditional lecture and discussion. Limited research in these areas makes generalizations impossible. There is a particular need for research on how to teach students the diagnostic reasoning process and encourage critical thinking, both in terms of appropriate teaching methods and the way in which those strategies should be used. It is interesting that few researchers studied lecture and lecture-discussion except as comparable teaching methods for research on other strategies. Additional research questions may be generated on lecture and discussion in relation to promoting concept learning, an understanding of nursing and other theories, transfer of knowledge, and development of cognitive skills. Few

The Social Psychology of Citizenship: Engagement With Citizenship Studies and Future Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clifford Stevenson

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In this article we review the argument outlined in the opening article in this special thematic section: that the current social psychology of citizenship can be understood as the development of longstanding conceptualisations of the concept within the discipline. These conceptualisations have contributed to the current social psychological study of the constructive, active and collective (but often exclusive understandings of citizenship in people’s everyday lives, as evidenced by contributions to this thematic section. We consider how this emerging body of work might fit with current citizenship studies and in particular how it may contribute to the current trend towards conceiving citizenship as an active practice embedded in everyday social life. Specifically, we highlight three areas of future research that we think are particularly promising: citizenship and recognition; displays and enactments of citizenship in public space; citizenship and lived coexistence. Although this is far from an exhaustive list of possibilities, we propose that research in these areas could enable the way for social psychology to articulate a distinct, recognisable and valuable contribution to citizenship studies.

Sculpting- an experiential way of learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Helle Elisabeth; Larsen, Kirsten Vendelbo

2014-01-01

of students in sculpting can be very emotionally intense. Methods: An evaluation tool was designed as an open-ended questionnaire. During autumn 2012 and spring 2013, 114 undergraduate nursing students were enrolled in the study. Findings: Sculpting seems to be a good way to learn about complex family...... dynamics in palliative care. Nursing students find that sculpting is:•An eye-opener (89%)•Of great value in their future nursing profession (96%)•Not too emotionally intense (91 %)•A great tool that fosters good reflections•A good way to challenge underlying assumptions •An interesting way to link theory......Title: Sculpting- an experiential way of learning Authors & affiliations: Helle Elisabeth Andersen & Kirsten Vendelbo Larsen, Senior Lecturers. Department of Nursing, Odense, University College Lillebaelt, Denmark. Mail:hean@ucl.dk Abstract: Aim:To explore undergraduate nursing students...

Blogging as a viable research methodology for young people with arthritis: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Prescott, Julie; Gray, Nicola J; Smith, Felicity J; McDonagh, Janet E

2015-03-05

The development of services that are responsive to the needs of users is a health policy priority. Finding ways of engaging young people in research to gain insights into their particular experiences, perspectives, and needs is vital but challenging. These data are critical to improving services in ways that meet the needs of young people. Our aim was to evaluate Web-based blogging as a viable method for understanding the daily experiences and condition management strategies of young people with juvenile arthritis. To meet the objectives of the study, a qualitative approach was required to gather information on the experiences and perspectives of young people regarding the management of their condition and its daily impact. In collaboration with a group of young people with arthritis, a custom website was developed. This website provided the opportunity for young people (aged 11-19) with arthritis from a United Kingdom pediatric hospital to contribute blogs. It was designed so that young people were free to write about whatever was important to them, but the site also included some structure and prompts to facilitate the writing of blogs. Qualitative analytical procedures were employed, supported by NVivo software. Engagement in the study by young people was variable in terms of their participation rates, frequency of website visits, and the length of their blogs. Young people used the site in different ways, some responding to the website categories and prompts that the team created, while others used it as a diary to record their experiences and thoughts. In line with principles of qualitative inquiry, the data collection was participant-led. Young people were in control of what, how much, and how often they wrote. However, some young people expressed difficulty regarding knowing what they should blog about. For a number of reasons, discussed here, the blogs may also not be fully reflective of experiences and perspectives of the participants. However, the data

Communicating Qualitative Research Study Designs to Research Ethics Review Boards

Science.gov (United States)

Ells, Carolyn

2011-01-01

Researchers using qualitative methodologies appear to be particularly prone to having their study designs called into question by research ethics or funding agency review committees. In this paper, the author considers the issue of communicating qualitative research study designs in the context of institutional research ethics review and offers…

Not the last word: dissemination strategies for patient-centred research in nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hagan, Teresa L; Schmidt, Karen; Ackison, Guyanna R; Murphy, Megan; Jones, Jennifer R

2017-08-01

Research results hold value for many stakeholders including researchers, patient populations, advocacy organizations, and community groups. The aim of this study is to describe our research team's systematic process to designing a dissemination strategy for a completed research study. We organized a dissemination event to feed the results of our study to participants and stakeholders and collect feedback regarding our study. We applied the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's dissemination framework to guide the development of the event and collected participant feedback during the event. We describe our dissemination strategy along with attendees' feedback and suggestions for our research as an example of a way to design a patient- and community-focused dissemination. We explain the details of our dissemination strategy including (a) our process of reporting a large research study into a stakeholder event, (b) stakeholder feedback collected at the event, and (c) the translation of feedback into our research team's research. We also describe challenges encountered during the dissemination process and ways to handle issues such as logistics, funding, and staff. This analysis provides key insights and practical advice for researchers looking for innovative ways to disseminate their findings within the lay and scientific communities.

Restitution of the research data in ethnographic health research: issues for debate based on field research conducted in Brazil and France.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Jaqueline

2015-09-01

This study examines relevant aspects about the way anthropological research data restitution has been applied in the area of health, based on data obtained from ethnographic field research conducted in Brazil and France. These experiences show that data restitution has been part of the area of research, in different forms and time frames, making it possible to extend periods spent in the field and to interact with individual respondents. This also made it possible to interact with research interlocutors and compare different points of view, adding new information and thereby enriching the research. These aspects raise important questions that require reflection, from an ethical and epistemological standpoint. One is related to the demands made on health anthropologists when they begin their field research and how they deal with these questions: how will researchers use the data they collect without worrying that this may be wrongly interpreted or used in some way to reinforce normative patterns? So, how should an anthropological debate be "translated"? Conscientious researchers will seek to validate their analysis, to discover new points of view and provoke new lines of questioning. Thus, such data should provoke reflexivity about new avenues of research and interpretations.

Adapting an evidence-based model to retain adolescent study participants in longitudinal research.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Erin; Demby, Hilary; Jenner, Lynne Woodward; Gregory, Alethia; Broussard, Marsha

2016-02-01

Maintaining contact with and collecting outcome data from adolescent study participants can present a significant challenge for researchers conducting longitudinal studies. Establishing an organized and effective protocol for participant follow-up is crucial to reduce attrition and maintain high retention rates. This paper describes our methods in using and adapting the evidence-based Engagement, Verification, Maintenance, and Confirmation (EVMC) model to follow up with adolescents 6 and 12 months after implementation of a health program. It extends previous research by focusing on two key modifications to the model: (1) the central role of cell phones and texting to maintain contact with study participants throughout the EVMC process and, (2) use of responsive two-way communication between staff and participants and flexible administration modes and methods in the confirmation phase to ensure that busy teens not only respond to contacts, but also complete data collection. These strategies have resulted in high overall retention rates (87-91%) with adolescent study participants at each follow-up data collection point without the utilization of other, more involved tracking measures. The methods and findings presented may be valuable for other researchers with limited resources planning for or engaged in collecting follow-up outcome data from adolescents enrolled in longitudinal studies. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Our Changing Climate: A Brand New Way to Study Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Brey, J. A.; Kauffman, C.; Geer, I.; Nugnes, K. A.; Mills, E. W.

2014-12-01

Earth's climate is inherently variable, but is currently changing at rates unprecedented in recent Earth history. Human activity plays a major role in this change and is projected to do so well into the future. This is the stance taken in Our Changing Climate, the brand new climate science ebook from the American Meteorological Society (AMS). Our Changing Climate investigates Earth's climate system, explores humans' impact on it, and identifies actions needed in response to climate change. Released in August 2014, Our Changing Climate is the result of a year's worth of intensive research and writing, incorporating the latest scientific understandings of Earth's climate system from reports such as IPCC AR5 and the Third National Climate Assessment. To encourage additional exploration of climate science information, scientific literature, from which chapter content was derived, is cited at the conclusion of each chapter. In addition, Topic In Depth sections appear throughout each chapter and lead to more extensive information related to various topics. For example, a Topic In Depth in Chapter 11 describes the effect of climate extremes on ranching enterprises in Nebraska. Climate science is multi-disciplinary and therefore Our Changing Climate covers a breadth of topics. From understanding basic statistics and geospatial tools used to investigate Earth's climate system to examining the psychological and financial reasons behind climate change denial, the AMS believes that a multi-disciplinary approach is the most effective way to increase climate literacy. Our Changing Climate is part of the AMS Climate Studies course which is intended for undergraduate-level students. Other course materials include an eInvestigations Manual and access to the RealTime Climate Portal, both of which provide weekly activities corresponding to that week's chapter content. The RealTime Climate Portal also has links to climate data as well as societal interactions and climate policy

An Empirical Study on Ways of Coping with Job-related Stress among National College and University Librarian in Taiwan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Su-may Sheih

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Stress is not a naturedly bad thing - it may be stimulating, motivating and provide excitement to individuals. However, when it exceeds individuals’ ability to cope it becomes harmful both to library and staff. Adequate coping strategies keep the librarians in a state of good health and high job performance. The purpose of this study is trying to explore librarians’ ways of coping with job-related stress in the library settings of national colleges and universities in Taiwan. The study indicates that librarians’ ways of coping are both problem-focused and emotion-focused. And as the stress getting greater, librarians are inclined to cope with emotion-focused ways.[Article content in Chinese

‘"Education-based Research"

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Degn Johansson, Troels

This paper lays out a concept of education-based research-the production of research knowledge within the framework of tertiary design education-as an integration of problem-based learning and research-based education. This leads to a critique of reflective practice as the primary way to facilitate...... learning at this level, a discussion of the nature of design problems in the instrumentalist tradition, and some suggestions as to how design studies curricula may facilitate education-based research....

Improving Formwork Engineering Using the Toyota Way

OpenAIRE

Jiun-De Kuo; Wei-Chieh Wang; Chien-Ho Ko

2011-01-01

Construction is a labor-intensive industry with formwork engineering requiring a disproportionate amount of labor and costs. Formwork accounts for approximately one-third of the cost of reinforced concrete construction, partly because traditional formwork processes frequently result in delivery delays and material waste. The purpose of this research is to adapt production concepts pioneered by Toyota (the “Toyota Way”) to improve formwork engineering. The Toyota Way of production consists of ...

Transformative science education through action research and self-study practices

Science.gov (United States)

Calderon, Olga

The research studies human emotions through diverse methods and theoretical lenses. My intention in using this approach is to provide alternative ways of perceiving and interpreting emotions being experienced in the moment of arousal. Emotions are fundamental in human interactions because they are essential in the development of effective relationships of any kind and they can also mediate hostility towards others. I begin by presenting an impressionist auto-ethnography, which narrates a personal account of how science and scientific inquiry has been entrenched in me since childhood. I describe how emotions are an important part of how I perceive and respond to the world around me. I describe science in my life in terms of natural environments, which were the initial source of scientific wonder and bafflement for me. In this auto-ethnography, I recount how social interactions shaped my perceptions about people, the world, and my education trajectory. Furthermore, I illustrate how sociocultural structures are used in different contexts to mediate several life decisions that enable me to pursue a career in science and science education. I also reflect on how some of those sociocultural aspects mediated my emotional wellness. I reveal how my life and science are interconnected and I present my story as a segue to the remainder of the dissertation. In chapters 2 and 3, I address a methodology and associated methods for research on facial expression of emotion. I use a facial action coding system developed by Paul Ekman in the 1970s (Ekman, 2002) to study facial representation of emotions. In chapters 4 and 5, I review the history of oximetry and ways in which an oximeter can be used to obtain information on the physiological expression of emotions. I examine oximetry data in relation to emotional physiology in three different aspects; pulse rate, oxygenation of the blood, and plethysmography (i.e., strength of pulse). In chapters 3 and 5, I include data and

Reflexivity in qualitative research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Evans, Adam Brian; Nistrup, Anne; Henderson, Hannah

2018-01-01

There has been something of a “reflexive shift” in sociological research. Sociological researchers are increasingly encouraged to be “present” within their work, and to recognize their own role in structuring the entire research process. One way to achieve this is through engagement in reflexive...... practice, that is, to reflect on our own values, beliefs, and biographies. It can be difficult to know exactly how a researcher should engage in these practices, however. Here, we discuss our reflexive practice in two case studies, both which utilized the same figurational theoretical framework...... Kingdom. Reflexive practice in both studies was affected by researcher biographies and by study design. In Study 1, both researchers were reasonably detached from the study context, the theoretical framework was in place from the very beginning, and reflexive practice was embedded in the study design...

Academic Librarians and Research: A Study of Canadian Library Administrator Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Berg, Selinda Adelle; Jacobs, Heidi L. M.; Cornwall, Dayna

2013-01-01

Within the literature exploring the role of research in academic librarianship, very little attention has been paid to the perspectives of upper library administrators. This perspective is critical because library administrators play a key role in hiring, evaluating, supporting, promoting, and tenuring professional librarians. As a way of bringing…

Accelerator research studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

This progress report for the Accelerator Research Studies program at the University of Maryland covers the second year (June 1, 1989 to May 31, 1990) of the current three-year contract period from June 1, 1988 to May 31, 1991, funded by the Department of Energy under Contract No. AC05-85ER40216. The research program is divided into three separate tasks, as follows: the study of Transport and Longitudinal Compression of Intense, High-Brightness Beams; the study of Collective Ion Acceleration by Intense Electron Beams and Pulse-Powered Plasma Focus; the study of Microwave Sources and Parameter Scaling for High-Frequency Linacs. This report consists of three sections in which the progress for each task is documented separately. An introduction and synopsis is presented at the beginning of the progress report for each task

Overview of qualitative research.

Science.gov (United States)

Grossoehme, Daniel H

2014-01-01

Qualitative research methods are a robust tool for chaplaincy research questions. Similar to much of chaplaincy clinical care, qualitative research generally works with written texts, often transcriptions of individual interviews or focus group conversations and seeks to understand the meaning of experience in a study sample. This article describes three common methodologies: ethnography, grounded theory, and phenomenology. Issues to consider relating to the study sample, design, and analysis are discussed. Enhancing the validity of the data, as well reliability and ethical issues in qualitative research are described. Qualitative research is an accessible way for chaplains to contribute new knowledge about the sacred dimension of people's lived experience.

Peer-reviewed articles on inclusive research: Do co-researchers with intellectual disabilities have a voice?

Science.gov (United States)

Strnadová, Iva; Walmsley, Jan

2018-01-01

Inclusive research is increasingly common in intellectual disabilities research, but ways in which voice of co-researchers with intellectual disabilities is presented remain underexplored in the literature. The authors conducted a literature review and analysis of peer-reviewed journal articles reporting on inclusive research. The aim was to explore the ways the voices of co-researchers with intellectual disabilities are represented in published peer-reviewed journal articles. The findings indicate that there are a wide range of ways in which inclusive research projects are reported in peer-reviewed journals. However, the experiences, views and opinions of co-researchers are often either absent or very selectively reported. The article concludes that although inclusive research has proliferated in the 21st century, more attention needs to be paid to the ways in which the voices of co-researchers with intellectual disabilities are heard in formal academic contexts. Guidelines for future practice are offered. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Nursing homes: Development of elderly care management in the Buddhist way

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Warakorn Poolswat

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This research aims to study the historical background and current situation of care management in nursing homes for the elderly in Western Thailand and develop care management according to Buddhist principles. This qualitative research analyzes three nursing homes using interview, observation, focus group discussion and workshop as data collection tools. The researchers used a snowball sampling method to identify 109 respondents, made up of 35 key informants, 34 casual informants and 40 general informants. The researchers verified data with a triangulation method and analyzed information descriptively. Results found that the most eminent problems in care management of elderly nursing homes are the image of experts, environment and activity management. Nursing homes do not respond to spiritual requests because of a lack of social and spiritual development. It is necessary to find a new way to emphasize responsibility and respond to spiritual requests by Buddhist means. In this paper, the researchers propose a set of guidelines for the care management of nursing homes in Western Thailand.

Capability of Public Organizationstructure After Regional Extention in Way Kanan Regency (a Study on Basic Service Organization)

OpenAIRE

Lustiadi, Yadi

2016-01-01

A primary issue in this study is that Way Kanan, a 13-year-old district, since it was formed from the expansion of the North Lampung Regency, is not strong enough to show the ability to carry out effective public services, even it is still categorized as a remote area.The public organization structure of Way Kanandistrict that is essential element of organizational capability, has not effectively supported the management of existing resources towards the achievement of the main objectives of ...

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2018-02-24

Feb 24, 2018 ... The method used ... measure of performance (MacDuffie, 1995). ... This study affects the selected financial institution in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur. .... questionnaires was developed accurately by the researcher's in a way that ...

Offshoring research directions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Velthuijsen, Hugo

2012-01-01

Outsourcing and offshoring provide companies with ways to achieve their business objectives better or more cost effectively or despite a shortage of specific resources. From a research point of view, outsourcing and offshoring have mostly been studied as something that large companies do, not small

MODERN MUNICIPAL POLICIES FOR YOUTH IN RUSSIA: RESULTS OF OUR RESEARCH; THE WAY FORWARD; THE MEANS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Knyazkova

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this work is to present the data provided from the research that was devoted to the study about the main conclusions and subsidiary findings of the Municipal Youth Policy, and the development of proposals for action based on its principles.The positive results from the research were as follows:1       There is a theoretical discussion in terms of how to realize the aims of the Municipal Youth Policy.2       It is demonstrated that the State Youth Policy can be made more effective by working with young people in a more target-oriented way, being considerate towards the needs and interests of young people in their local societies.3       The Municipal Youth Policy is studied as a part of the State Youth Policy for the Russian Federation. The MYP has its priorities connected with the place of residence and customs of the local area.4       It is noted that the MYP has not yet been fully implemented, despite the constitutional, legislative and basic legal backing of the local administrations;5       A case is made to increase the political cultural awareness amongst young people who participate in the development of political resources based on the Municipal Youth Policy;6       On the basis of the recognized discrepancies and tendencies of the Municipal Youth Policy, the proposals have been elaborated in regards to the formation of the effective model of the Municipal Youth PolicyThe methodology of the studies conducted uses a wide range of scientific methods. At different stages of the study, a wide range of fact-collecting methods was used, and the processing, analyzing and interpreting of it was flexible.The results of the study may be expressed as follows:1       On the one hand, the Municipal Youth Policy is determined by the State Youth Policy, and its priorities in relation to the young generation; and on the other hand, it is a fundamentally new concept for the Russian Federation.2�

The Effects of the Peer Tutoring Program: An Action Research Study of the Effectiveness of the Peer Tutoring Program at One Suburban Middle School

Science.gov (United States)

Grubbs, Natalie

2009-01-01

The results of a study that examined the peer tutoring program at a middle school are discussed in this article. In an effort to determine ways to improve the peer tutoring program an action research (AR) mixed design study was developed. AR is practitioner based research. Its purpose is to examine the work of practitioners for effectiveness and…

Research notes about the ways of appropriation of films by educators in young and adults education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evelyn Fernandes Azevedo Faheina

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the presence of film useage in young and adults education. It shows results of a survey that aimed to know the ways of appropriation of film at school by the educators of adult education. To understand that question, it was analyzed the content of the speech of teachers and observed some teaching practice in which film was used. From the analysis of collected data, it was concluded that educators have appropriated and used film like illus - tration of the curriculum contents and of the subjects studied, cha - racterizing the use of film as an additional and secondary resource in activities of school.

HYBRID WAYS OF DOING: A MODEL FOR TEACHING PUBLIC SPACE

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Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses an exploratory practice undertaken by the authors in a co-taught class to hybridize theory, research and practice. This experiment in critical transdisciplinary design education took the form of a “critical studio + practice-based seminar on public space”, two interlinked classes co-taught by landscape architect Elliott Maltby and environmental psychologist Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani at the Parsons, The New School for Design. This design process was grounded in the political and social context of the contested East River waterfront of New York City and valued both intensive study (using a range of social science and design methods and a partnership with a local community organization, engaging with the politics, issues and human needs of a complex site. The paper considers how we encouraged interdisciplinary collaboration and dialogue between teachers as well as between liberal arts and design students and developed strategies to overcome preconceived notions of traditional “studio” and “seminar” work. By exploring the challenges and adjustments made during the semester and the process of teaching this class, this paper addresses how we moved from a model of intertwining theory, research and practice, to a hybrid model of multiple ways of doing, a model particularly apt for teaching public space. Through examples developed for and during our course, the paper suggests practical ways of supporting this transdisciplinary hybrid model.

How we Ensured Rigor from a Multi-site, Multi-discipline, Multi-researcher Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Ken Crawford

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Qualitative research has often been criticised for its lack of rigour. In order to overcome this, measures of trustworthiness, dependability and reliability have been suggested. A study of how pastoralists learn to incorporate sustainable farming systems in the tropical savannas of Australia employed multiple-researchers, working in three States and from a variety of disciplines. To ensure rigour a framework for the study was developed by the researchers prior to commencing interviews. This was followed by regular teleconferences to ensure that the framework was valid and to adjust for any problems encountered along the way. Every interview was analysed independently by all researchers before a workshop was conducted to bring the ideas together. Categories and ideas within the data were synthesised to create an overall understanding of the learning process within the confines of "landcare" in the Tropical Savannas. These processes were undertaken in consultation with the pastoralists and the process has been explicitly documented to enable readers to follow the research process easily. The rigour in this project is shown in the clear documentation of the research process carried out by individual researchers and by the team when it met. The understanding of pastoralists' learning processes is our interpretation; it is up to the reader to decide whether s/he agrees with that interpretation, but from the description of the process it is easy for the reader to see where and why her/his interpretation differs. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0001125

The Impact of Ethics Review on a Research-Led University Curriculum: Results of a Qualitative Study in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Wynn, L L

2016-04-01

In the human sciences, a student research-centered pedagogy is constrained by institutional ethics review, yet there is little research on the impact of ethics review on research-led teaching. This article documents a range of ways that Australian universities are responding to ethics review of undergraduate human research. Forty teachers and administrators were interviewed at 14 universities using purposive sampling to document the range of ways teachers are avoiding ethics review or incorporating it into their curriculum. Some reported halting undergraduate research or evading ethics review, regarding it as meaningless bureaucracy divorced from actual ethical thinking. Those who incorporated ethics review into student research did so by collaborating with administrators. Institutions can facilitate research-led teaching by designing dedicated forms and decentralized review procedures for student research. © The Author(s) 2016.

An Empirical Study Regarding Radical Innovation, Research and Development Management, and Leadership

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isada Fumihiko

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research is to empirically compare the management that is most suitable for radical innovation with that needed for incremental innovation. The relationship between the results of research and development and management styles was surveyed using a questionnaire. Respondents included research and development leaders in Japanese manufacturing, with special attention given to the differences between radical innovation and incremental innovation. Results verified, in an integrated way, the management and leadership factors, taking into consideration the differences arising from the object under analysis and the environmental factors.

Life in the colonies: learning the alien ways of colonial organisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Winston, Judith E

2010-12-01

Who needs to go to outer space to study alien beings when the oceans of our own planet abound with bizarre and unknown creatures? Many of them belong to sessile clonal and colonial groups, including sponges, hydroids, corals, octocorals, ascidians, bryozoans, and some polychaetes. Their life histories, in many ways unlike our own, are a challenge for biologists. Studying their ecology, behavior, and taxonomy means trying to “think like a colony” to understand the factors important in their lives. Until the 1980s, most marine ecologists ignored these difficult modular organisms. Plant ecologists showed them ways to deal with the two levels of asexually produced modules and genetic individuals, leading to a surge in research on the ecology of clonal and colonial marine invertebrates. Bryozoans make excellent model colonial animals. Their life histories range from ephemeral to perennial. Aspects of their lives such as growth, reproduction, partial mortality due to predation or fouling, and the behavior of both autozooids and polymorphs can be studied at the level of the colony, as well as that of the individual module, in living colonies and over time.

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2018-05-16

May 16, 2018 ... The purpose for this study was planned to survey the relationship between e ... Consumer's satisfaction can likewise .... This method was effective ways to be use in this research because data ... Journal of Services Marketing.

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2017-02-15

Feb 15, 2017 ... Research Article. Special Issue ... In myriad studies implemented, the quality of life has been defined in different ways among which the .... service and trading users in living area. ... market, bakery, barber shop, restaurant, etc.

Design science research as research approach in doctoral studies

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kotzé, P

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Since the use of design science research (DSR) gained momentum as a research approach in information systems (IS), the adoption of a DSR approach in postgraduate studies became more acceptable. This paper reflects on a study to investigate how a...

An ethnographic study: Becoming a physics expert in a biophysics research group

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Idaykis

Expertise in physics has been traditionally studied in cognitive science, where physics expertise is understood through the difference between novice and expert problem solving skills. The cognitive perspective of physics experts only create a partial model of physics expertise and does not take into account the development of physics experts in the natural context of research. This dissertation takes a social and cultural perspective of learning through apprenticeship to model the development of physics expertise of physics graduate students in a research group. I use a qualitative methodological approach of an ethnographic case study to observe and video record the common practices of graduate students in their biophysics weekly research group meetings. I recorded notes on observations and conduct interviews with all participants of the biophysics research group for a period of eight months. I apply the theoretical framework of Communities of Practice to distinguish the cultural norms of the group that cultivate physics expert practices. Results indicate that physics expertise is specific to a topic or subfield and it is established through effectively publishing research in the larger biophysics research community. The participant biophysics research group follows a learning trajectory for its students to contribute to research and learn to communicate their research in the larger biophysics community. In this learning trajectory students develop expert member competencies to learn to communicate their research and to learn the standards and trends of research in the larger research community. Findings from this dissertation expand the model of physics expertise beyond the cognitive realm and add the social and cultural nature of physics expertise development. This research also addresses ways to increase physics graduate student success towards their PhD. and decrease the 48% attrition rate of physics graduate students. Cultivating effective research

Case Study Research Methodology

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Mark Widdowson

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Commenting on the lack of case studies published in modern psychotherapy publications, the author reviews the strengths of case study methodology and responds to common criticisms, before providing a summary of types of case studies including clinical, experimental and naturalistic. Suggestions are included for developing systematic case studies and brief descriptions are given of a range of research resources relating to outcome and process measures. Examples of a pragmatic case study design and a hermeneutic single-case efficacy design are given and the paper concludes with some ethical considerations and an exhortation to the TA community to engage more widely in case study research.

Disease Advocacy Organizations Catalyze Translational Research

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Sharon Fontaine Terry

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Disease advocacy organizations have long played an important role in the continuum from basic science to therapy development in rare disease research. PXE International has sometimes led the field in innovative ways, venturing into specific activities that have traditionally been conducted by scientists. As lay founders, we have engaged in gene discovery, gene patenting, diagnostic development, epidemiological studies, clinical trials and therapy research and development. This article will describe the steps that we took, and the ways in which we have scaled these efforts for the larger community.

Case Study Observational Research: A Framework for Conducting Case Study Research Where Observation Data Are the Focus.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Sonya J; Pullon, Susan R H; Macdonald, Lindsay M; McKinlay, Eileen M; Gray, Ben V

2017-06-01

Case study research is a comprehensive method that incorporates multiple sources of data to provide detailed accounts of complex research phenomena in real-life contexts. However, current models of case study research do not particularly distinguish the unique contribution observation data can make. Observation methods have the potential to reach beyond other methods that rely largely or solely on self-report. This article describes the distinctive characteristics of case study observational research, a modified form of Yin's 2014 model of case study research the authors used in a study exploring interprofessional collaboration in primary care. In this approach, observation data are positioned as the central component of the research design. Case study observational research offers a promising approach for researchers in a wide range of health care settings seeking more complete understandings of complex topics, where contextual influences are of primary concern. Future research is needed to refine and evaluate the approach.

Study on stress characteristics of Francis hydraulic turbine runner based on two-way FSI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, W R; Xiao, R F; Yang, W; Wang, F J; Liu, J

2012-01-01

In recent years, cracking phenomenon occurs in many large-sized turbines both nationally and internationally, which has threatened the stable operation of hydraulic turbines. Consequently, Stress characteristics calculation and analysis of a Francis hydraulic turbine runner by application of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) technology become significantly important. In order to introduce two-way coupling technology to hydraulic machinery, two-way FSI technology is applied in this article to calculate and analyze stress characteristics. Through coordinate system transformation, the continuity equations and Navier-Stokes equations in the Cartesian coordinates system are firstly transformed to ALE coordinates system. The fluid field control equations are then constructed and discrete equations can be obtained by using flow-condition-based interpolation (FBIC-C). The structure static mechanics equations used are established in rotation coordinate system, and modeled with the finite method. Two-way coupling is computed by using iteration method. The fluid equations and structure equations are iterated until coupling coefficients converge. According to structure result, the maximum stress, displacement as well as its location can be found. As a result, the most easily wear position can be discovered which provides valuable basis for optimized design and stable operation of Francis hydraulic turbines. After comparing the results with that of one-way coupling, it is discovered that displacements is the key factors which affects the results of one-way and two-way coupling.

Action Research Empowers School Librarians

Science.gov (United States)

Robins, Jennifer

2015-01-01

Successful school library programs occur through careful planning and reflection. This reflective process is improved when it is applied in a systematic way through action research. The action research described in this paper enabled school librarians to reflect based on evidence, using data they had collected. This study presents examples of the…

Developing A-level physics students' mathematical skills - a way forward?

Science.gov (United States)

Raw, A. J.

1999-09-01

This article outlines research that details the mathematical difficulties of physics students and it also discusses various projects to overcome these difficulties. The successes of these projects are very encouraging and show a way forward for A-level physics teaching.

Empirical Scientific Research and Legal Studies Research--A Missing Link

Science.gov (United States)

Landry, Robert J., III

2016-01-01

This article begins with an overview of what is meant by empirical scientific research in the context of legal studies. With that backdrop, the argument is presented that without engaging in normative, theoretical, and doctrinal research in tandem with empirical scientific research, the role of legal studies scholarship in making meaningful…

Introduction of hydrogen in the Norwegian energy system. NorWays - Regional model analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosenberg, Eva; Fidje, Audun; Espegren, Kari Aamodt

2008-12-15

The overall aim of the NorWays project has been to provide decision support for the introduction of hydrogen as an energy carrier in the Norwegian energy system. The NorWays project is a research project funded by the Research Council of Norway. An important task has been to develop alternative scenarios and identifying market segments and regions of the Norwegian energy system where hydrogen may play a significant role. The main scenarios in the project have been: Reference: Based on the assumptions of World Energy Outlook with no new transport technologies; HyWays: Basic assumptions with technology costs (H{sub 2}) based on results from the HyWays project; No tax: No taxes on transport energy ('revenue neutral'); CO{sub 2} reduction: Reduced CO{sub 2} emissions by 75% in 2050. Three regional models have been developed and used to analyse the introduction of hydrogen as energy carrier in competition with other alternatives such as natural gas, electricity, district heating and bio fuels.The focus of the analysis has been on the transportation sector. (Author)

Exploring the use of storytelling in quantitative research fields using a multiple case study method

Science.gov (United States)

Matthews, Lori N. Hamlet

The purpose of this study was to explore the emerging use of storytelling in quantitative research fields. The focus was not on examining storytelling in research, but rather how stories are used in various ways within the social context of quantitative research environments. In-depth interviews were conducted with seven professionals who had experience using storytelling in their work and my personal experience with the subject matter was also used as a source of data according to the notion of researcher-as-instrument. This study is qualitative in nature and is guided by two supporting theoretical frameworks, the sociological perspective and narrative inquiry. A multiple case study methodology was used to gain insight about why participants decided to use stories or storytelling in a quantitative research environment that may not be traditionally open to such methods. This study also attempted to identify how storytelling can strengthen or supplement existing research, as well as what value stories can provide to the practice of research in general. Five thematic findings emerged from the data and were grouped under two headings, "Experiencing Research" and "Story Work." The themes were found to be consistent with four main theoretical functions of storytelling identified in existing scholarly literature: (a) sense-making; (b) meaning-making; (c) culture; and (d) communal function. The five thematic themes that emerged from this study and were consistent with the existing literature include: (a) social context; (b) quantitative versus qualitative; (c) we think and learn in terms of stories; (d) stories tie experiences together; and (e) making sense and meaning. Recommendations are offered in the form of implications for various social contexts and topics for further research are presented as well.

Poster presentations at medical conferences: an effective way of disseminating research?

Science.gov (United States)

Goodhand, J R; Giles, C L; Wahed, M; Irving, P M; Langmead, L; Rampton, D S

2011-04-01

This study aimed to ascertain the value of posters at medical meetings to presenters and delegates. The usefulness of posters to presenters at national and international meetings was evaluated by assessing the numbers of delegates visiting them and the reasons why they visited. Memorability of selected posters was assessed and factors influencing their appeal to expert delegates identified. At both the national and international meetings, very few delegates (posters. Only a minority read them and fewer asked useful questions. Recall of content was so poor that it prevented identification of factors improving their memorability. Factors increasing posters' visual appeal included their scientific content, pictures/graphs and limited use of words. Few delegates visit posters and those doing so recall little of their content. To engage their audience, researchers should design visually appealing posters by presenting high quality data in pictures or graphs without an excess of words.

Ethics of Research into Learning and Teaching with Web 2.0: Reflections on Eight Case Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Rosemary L.; Gray, Kathleen

2013-01-01

The unique features and educational affordances of Web 2.0 technologies pose new challenges for conducting learning and teaching research in ways that adequately address ethical issues of informed consent, beneficence, respect, justice, research merit and integrity. This paper reviews these conceptual bases of human research ethics and gives…

Scientific research in the natural sciences in South Africa: A scientometric study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radhamany Sooryamoorthy

2013-07-01

Full Text Available As a leading producer of scientific publications on the African continent, South Africa has made remarkable progress. However, attempts are yet to be made to comprehend the empirical reality of scientific production in South Africa. One way to do this is to analyse specific science disciplines (such as the natural sciences, publication outputs and their features. A bibliometric study was undertaken of the publication trends and patterns of South African researchers in the natural sciences from 1975 to 2005 (choosing selected sample years, using the Thomson Reuters� Web of Knowledge database of selected indexed natural science journals. Characteristics of natural science publications, such as the trends over the years, were revealed as well as the collaborative dimensions involved in the production of scientific papers in these disciplines in South Africa. The connection between collaboration and publication, as well as between collaboration and sectors of authors was evident. The key findings of this study were that authors were based mostly in universities and were collaborative in their research endeavours. In addition, the participation of international collaborators has increased.

An Essay on Marketing Performance Assessment: Opportunities in the Context of Research Studies in Marketing in Brazil

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Leandro Angotti Guissoni

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Assessing marketing performance is important in order to minimize the subjectivism in the decision making process. Assessing marketing performance is an alternative so marketing will no longer be considered as a tactical area but rather strategically. In this context, research in marketing should investigate the effects of marketing activities by applying metrics. Despite marketing’s growing importance in journals and developed markets, there are few research studies in Brazil, so we organized a theoretical essay. This essay intends to contribute to the marketing literature in two ways: i by presenting a detailed overview of the marketing performance literature from the 1960’s until the year 2012, which allows us to complement previous studies, from a new perspective on the evolution of the central ideas in marketing; ii identifying research opportunities related to this topic that may stimulate debates and future research. 

Beyond post-marketing research and MedWatch: Long-term studies of drug risks.

Science.gov (United States)

Resnik, David B

2007-10-01

Critics of the drug safety system have discussed many different potential reforms, ranging from mandatory registration of clinical trials to increasing the power of regulatory agencies, but few have discussed one of the most important ways of enhancing safety: increasing the number of long-term studies of medications. Long-term studies of the risks and benefits of drugs can provide useful information for regulators, healthcare professionals, and patients. Government funding agencies should lead the effort to conduct long-term studies of drugs, but private companies should also be required to lend financial support. Because cost-effectiveness is likely to be an important consideration in conducting this research, funding agencies should focus, at first, on drugs that are used to treat common, chronic conditions.

Business Intelligence: The Smart Way to Track Academic Collections

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Debra

2005-01-01

University collections are a vital source of knowledge for researchers and often a source of pride for universities. Without an effective way to manage and query them, however, collections often go underutilized. Parts of a collection can remain untapped for years, and the larger it grows, the more difficult management becomes. Unfortunately,…

Two-way shape memory effect induced by repetitive compressive loading cycles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyun-Chul; Yoo, Young-Ik; Lee, Jung-Ju

2009-01-01

The NiTi alloy can be trained by repetitive loading or heating cycles. As a result of the training, a two-way shape memory effect (TWSME) can be induced. Considerable research has been reported regarding the TWSME trained by tensile loading. However, the TWSME trained by compressive loading has not been investigated nearly as much. In this paper, the TWSME is induced by compressive loading cycles and the two-way shape memory strain is evaluated by using two types of specimen: a solid cylinder type and a tube type. The TWSME trained by compressive loading is different from that trained by tensile loading owing to the severe tension/compression asymmetry as described in previous research. After repetitive compressive loading cycles, strain variation upon cooling is observed, and this result proves that the TWSME is induced by compressive loading cycles. By performing compressive loading cycles, plastic deformation in NiTi alloy occurs more than for tensile loading cycles, which brings about the appearance of TWSME. It can be said that the TWSME is induced by compressive loading cycles more easily. The two-way shape memory strain increases linearly as the maximum strain of compressive loading cycles increases, regardless of the shape and the size of the NiTi alloy; this two-way shape memory strain then shows a tendency towards saturation after some repeated cycles

Wayfinding Research in Library and Information Studies: State of the Field

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lauren H. Mandel

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objective – Often people enter libraries focused on their primary information needs and haven't considered their need for spatial information to find their way to what they need. This presents unique wayfinding information challenges for libraries. Papers on library wayfinding often include some discussion of the lack of wayfinding research in libraries, but apparently there has been no comprehensive review of the LIS literature on wayfinding. Methods – This paper is a comprehensive review of library wayfinding literature, using the Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text (via EBSCOhost database to collect the dataset. Results – Findings indicate a small collection of library wayfinding research, primarily focused on academic libraries. Conclusion – Empirical research in this area is limited. Suggestions for future research on library wayfinding, including potential foci for that research, are presented.

The Muscle Sensor for on-site neuroscience lectures to pave the way for a better understanding of brain-machine-interface research.

Science.gov (United States)

Koizumi, Amane; Nagata, Osamu; Togawa, Morio; Sazi, Toshiyuki

2014-01-01

Neuroscience is an expanding field of science to investigate enigmas of brain and human body function. However, the majority of the public have never had the chance to learn the basics of neuroscience and new knowledge from advanced neuroscience research through hands-on experience. Here, we report that we produced the Muscle Sensor, a simplified electromyography, to promote educational understanding in neuroscience. The Muscle Sensor can detect myoelectric potentials which are filtered and processed as 3-V pulse signals to shine a light bulb and emit beep sounds. With this educational tool, we delivered "On-Site Neuroscience Lectures" in Japanese junior-high schools to facilitate hands-on experience of neuroscientific electrophysiology and to connect their text-book knowledge to advanced neuroscience researches. On-site neuroscience lectures with the Muscle Sensor pave the way for a better understanding of the basics of neuroscience and the latest topics such as how brain-machine-interface technology could help patients with disabilities such as spinal cord injuries. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Fotonovela as a Research Tool in Image-Based Participatory Research with Immigrant Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Kirova PhD

2008-06-01

Full Text Available In this article the authors explore the effect of word-image relationships on the collection of data and the reporting of research results for a study involving the development of a series of fotonovelas with immigrant children in an inner-city school. The central question explored in this article is Can experiences such as producing visual narratives in the form of fotonovelas stimulate multiple expressions of voice and position and bring awareness of embodied ways of communicating in a culture-rich school context? The processes involved in collaboratively developing the photographic narrative format of the fotonovela combine visual elements and structures and embodied, reflective performance together with written text. As a research method fotonovela does not merely translate verbal into visual representations but constructs a hybrid photo-image-text that opens new spaces for dialogue, resistance, and representation of a new way of knowing that changes the way of seeing and has the potential to change the author's and the reader's self-understanding.

Art experience in research with children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Anne Maj

In art and drawing children can visually articulate pre-reflexive phenomena such as feelings, emotions, experiences, intentions and engagement. Research can include children’s art and drawings to study such phenomena and how they can be articulated and thematized in non-verbal/visual articulation...... and discuss how the construct ‘aesthetic object’ may offer researchers an approach to non-verbal/visual articulation that can explicitly include the researcher’s sensory and aesthetic experiences as knowledge. Examples from studies including children’s art and drawings are part of the presentation. The paper....... The researcher’s pre-reflexive sensory and aesthetic experiences often contribute to the immediate interpretations of such data. It is a challenge to make the ways in which art and drawings in specific ways contribute to interpretation and knowledge transparent in research. The aim of this paper is to describe...

Editorial -Research! Research! Research! What are Thou?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashok Shyam

2013-04-01

care to their patients. The third form is where Modern Research tools are used and studies are designed to answer clinical questions. A subset of this is Evidence based Medicine. This is currently the most favored kind of research as it apparently allows a proper organization of data and generation of high quality knowledge (although this quality may not have anything to do with impact on patient treatment or clinical decision making. Now we are talking in a very limited terms looking at a very small part of research namely ‘Clinical Research’. Which of the three forms is more accurate or more vital when decisions are made in terms of treating individual patients? Probably all three are equally important but what varies is subjective importance that each of us put on these concepts. Creating a hierarchy of these does not seem to be a very smart move rather than an amalgamation of all these complimentary form of ‘researchre’ should be the aim. Finding a way to scientifically stich together all these forms of research is a challenging task but will be very valuable. Although a variety of faces of research exist from Personal, subjective and objective statistical, I believe the clinical decision making lies somewhere in the middle of this spectrum and a proper analysis of this framework is needed to make use of positives aspect of both the ends of the spectrum.

Leveraging the Methodological Affordances of Facebook: Social Networking Strategies in Longitudinal Writing Research

Science.gov (United States)

Sheffield, Jenna Pack; Kimme Hea, Amy C.

2016-01-01

While composition studies researchers have examined the ways social media are impacting our lives inside and outside of the classroom, less attention has been given to the ways in which social media--specifically Social Network Sites (SNSs)--may enhance our own research methods and methodologies by helping to combat research participant attrition…

How researchers perceive research misconduct in biomedicine and how they would prevent it: A qualitative study in a small scientific community.

Science.gov (United States)

Buljan, Ivan; Barać, Lana; Marušić, Ana

2018-01-01

The aim of our study has been to use a qualitative approach to explore the potential motivations and drivers for unethical behaviors in biomedicine and determine the role of institutions regarding those issues in a small scientific community setting. Three focus groups were held---two with doctoral students and one with active senior researchers. Purposive sampling was used to reach participants at different stages of their scientific careers. Participants in all three focus groups were asked the same questions regarding the characteristics and behaviors of ethical/unethical scientists, ethical climate, role, and responsibility of institutions; they were also asked to suggest ways to improve research integrity. The data analysis included coding of the transcripts, categorization of the initial codes, and identification of themes and patterns. Three main topics were derived from the focus groups discussions. The first included different forms of unethical behaviors including increasing research "waste," non-publication of negative results, authorship manipulation, data manipulation, and repression of collaborators. The second addressed the factors influencing unethical behavior, both external and internal, to the researchers. Two different definitions of ethics in science emerged; one from the categorical perspective and the other from the dimensional perspective. The third topic involved possible routes for improvement, one from within the institution through the research integrity education, research integrity bodies, and quality control, and the other from outside the institution through external supervision of institutions. Based on the results of our study, research misconduct in a small scientific community is perceived to be the consequence of the interaction of several social and psychological factors, both general and specific, for small research communities. Possible improvements should be systematic, aiming both for improvements in work environment and

Perspectives on Psychological Science: Right Way/Wrong Way Symposium.

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Gunnar, Megan R

2017-07-01

In unpredictable times, it is perhaps even more important to contemplate the direction different fields of science are headed. In this article, I contemplate two directions of psychological science: the increasing integration of the study of psychology with other sciences and the concern of many sciences, including ours, with improving the reproducibility of our findings. Both of these are argued to be "right ways," but these directions also have challenges that, unless carefully addressed, could detract from our ability to move the science of psychology forward. I detail these challenges along with a consideration of how to chart our science through the unpredictable waters we face at this point in history.

Social Constructionist Family Systems Research: Conceptual Considerations

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Puig, Ana; Koro-Ljungberg, Mirka; Echevarria-Doan, Silvia

2008-01-01

The purpose of this article is to illustrate how theory and particularly the theoretical perspective of social constructionism can influence the ways in which scholars conduct qualitative research studies in the area of family systems. The authors argue for the importance of theory in qualitative research projects and promote researchers' clear…

FVCOM one-way and two-way nesting using ESMF: Development and validation

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Jianhua; Chen, Changsheng; Beardsley, Robert C.

2018-04-01

Built on the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF), the one-way and two-way nesting methods were implemented into the unstructured-grid Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM). These methods help utilize the unstructured-grid multi-domain nesting of FVCOM with an aim at resolving the multi-scale physical and ecosystem processes. A detail of procedures on implementing FVCOM into ESMF was described. The experiments were made to validate and evaluate the performance of the nested-grid FVCOM system. The first was made for a wave-current interaction case with a two-domain nesting with an emphasis on qualifying a critical need of nesting to resolve a high-resolution feature near the coast and harbor with little loss in computational efficiency. The second was conducted for the pseudo river plume cases to examine the differences in the model-simulated salinity between one-way and two-way nesting approaches and evaluate the performance of mass conservative two-way nesting method. The third was carried out for the river plume case in the realistic geometric domain in Mass Bay, supporting the importance for having the two-way nesting for coastal-estuarine integrated modeling. The nesting method described in this paper has been used in the Northeast Coastal Ocean Forecast System (NECOFS)-a global-regional-coastal nesting FVCOM system that has been placed into the end-to-end forecast and hindcast operations since 2007.

Six ways of experiencing information literacy in nursing: the findings of a phenomenographic study.

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Forster, Marc

2015-01-01

Information literacy plays a vital role in evidence-based practice in nursing. However there is currently little evidence to show how being information literate is actually experienced by nurses and therefore information literacy educational interventions are not genuinely evidence-based. Are they promoting the appropriate knowledge and skills to help nurses find and use the research evidence they need? To investigate how being information literate is experienced by nurses. To use the insights obtained to develop a description of the parameters of information literacy in nursing, including those of its role and value in evidence-based practice. Phenomenography. 41 UK nurses of varying experience, specialism and background. Open-ended interviews. 7 contexts in which information literacy is experienced, were mapped out and 6 representative ways of being an information literate nurse, in increasing levels of depth and sophistication, were described. These findings may form the basis of future evidence-based information literacy education programmes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Review of research grant allocation to psychosocial studies in diabetes research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jones, A; Vallis, Michael; Cooke, Debbie

2016-01-01

AIMS: To estimate and discuss the allocation of diabetes research funds to studies with a psychosocial focus. METHODS: Annual reports and funded-research databases from approximately the last 5 years (if available) were reviewed from the following representative funding organizations, the American...... Diabetes Association, the Canadian Diabetes Association, Diabetes Australia, Diabetes UK, the Dutch Diabetes Research Foundation and the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes, in order to estimate the overall proportion of studies allocated research funding that had a psychosocial focus. RESULTS......: An estimated mean of 8% of funded studies from our sample were found to have a psychosocial focus. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of funded studies with a psychosocial focus was small, with an estimated mean ratio of 17:1 observed between funded biomedical and psychosocial studies in diabetes research. While...

GIS-based landscape design research: Stourhead landscape garden as a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steffen Nijhuis

2017-11-01

analysed, such as the visible form and the shape of the walk, and serves as the basis for the landscape architectonic analysis in which GIS is used as the primary analytical tool.  GIS-based design research has the possibility to cultivate spatial intelligence in landscape architecture through three fields of operation: • GIS-based modelling: description of existing and future landscape architectonic compositions in digital form; • GIS-based analysis: exploration, analysis and synthesis of landscape architectonic compositions in order to reveal latent architectonic relationships and principles, while utilizing the processing capacities and possibilities of computers for ex-ante and ex-post simulation and evaluation; • GIS-based visual representation: representation of (virtual landscape architectonic compositions in space and time, in order to retrieve and communicate information and knowledge of the landscape design.  Though there are limitations, this study exemplifies that GIS is a powerful instrument to acquire knowledge from landscape architectonic compositions. The study points out that the application of GIS in landscape design research can be seen as an extension of the fundamental cycle of observation, visual representation, analysis and interpretation in the process of knowledge acquisition, with alternative visualisations and digital landscape models as important means for this process. Using the calculating power of computers, combined with inventive modelling, analysis and visualisation concepts in an interactive process, opened up possibilities to reveal new information and knowledge about the basic, spatial, symbolic and programmatic form of Stourhead. GIS extended the design researchers’ perception via measurement, simulation and experimentation, and at the same time offered alternative ways of understanding the landscape architectonic composition. This gave rise to the possibility of exploring new elements in the framework of landscape design

Public involvement in research within care homes: benefits and challenges in the APPROACH study.

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Froggatt, Katherine; Goodman, Claire; Morbey, Hazel; Davies, Sue L; Masey, Helen; Dickinson, Angela; Martin, Wendy; Victor, Christina

2016-12-01

Public involvement in research (PIR) can improve research design and recruitment. Less is known about how PIR enhances the experience of participation and enriches the data collection process. In a study to evaluate how UK care homes and primary health-care services achieve integrated working to promote older people's health, PIR was integrated throughout the research processes. This paper aims to present one way in which PIR has been integrated into the design and delivery of a multisite research study based in care homes. A prospective case study design, with an embedded qualitative evaluation of PIR activity. Data collection was undertaken in six care homes in three sites in England. Six PIR members participated: all had prior personal or work experience in care homes. Qualitative data collection involved discussion groups, and site-specific meetings to review experiences of participation, benefits and challenges, and completion of structured fieldwork notes after each care home visit. PIR members supported recruitment, resident and staff interviews and participated in data interpretation. Benefits of PIR work were resident engagement that minimized distress and made best use of limited research resources. Challenges concerned communication and scheduling. Researcher support for PIR involvement was resource intensive. Clearly defined roles with identified training and support facilitated involvement in different aspects of the data collection process. This can also ensure that vulnerable older people who participate in research have a positive experience that reinforces the value of their views. © 2015 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Moving Away from Social Work and Half Way Back Again: New Research on Skills in Probation

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Raynor, Peter; Vanstone, Maurice

2016-01-01

Research on social work in the criminal justice system was well represented in the social work literature until the 1990s. Since then, changes in the organisation, training and research base of probation practice, particularly in England and Wales, have all contributed to a separation between probation research and the mainstream social work research literature. However, recent probation research, by focusing on individual practice skills and on the quality of relationships, is producing findings which resonate with traditional social work concerns. The study presented here, based on analysis of videotaped interviews between probation staff and the people they are supervising, shows what skills are used and the effects of skilled supervision. People supervised by more skilled staff were significantly less likely to be reconvicted over a two-year follow-up, and the most effective supervisors combined good relationship skills with a range of ‘structuring’ or change-promoting skills. In effect, this can be regarded as a test of the impact of social work skills used by probation staff and suggests that a closer relationship between mainstream social work research and probation research could be productive for both. PMID:27559218

Energy research shows the way to sustainable energy policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glatthard, T.

2000-01-01

This article takes a look at the work of the Swiss research programme on energy economics basics that aims to provide advice for policy makers. The programme investigates not only the technological but also the social and economic factors to be taken into consideration. In particular, the article reviews the programme's work on promotion strategies for sustainability in the energy area in connection with a proposed levy on energy. Examples are given of possible implementation strategies concerning new and existing buildings. The responsibilities of the parties to be involved in the implementation of promotional measures such as cantonal authorities, professional associations and agencies are discussed

Strategically Reviewing the Research Literature in Qualitative Research

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Chenail, Ronald J.; Cooper, Robin; Desir, Charlene

2010-01-01

Reviewing literature in qualitative research can be challenging in terms of why, when, where, and how we should access third-party sources in our work, especially for novice qualitative researchers. As a pragmatic solution, we suggest qualitative researchers utilize research literature in four functional ways: (a) define the phenomenon in…

New ways of insulin delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinemann, L

2010-02-01

, especially on clinical studies. However, it is fascinating to see that the imagination about improvements in existing ways to deliver insulin (e.g. insulin pens) and also about novel ways to improve insulin absorption (e.g. local heating of the injection site) is still there. At the same time the above-mentioned considerations (coming more from the viewpoint of pharmaceutical companies and more market oriented) appear not to be the focus of many scientists in pharmacological research institutes. Otherwise it is difficult to understand why every year a number of new oral insulin formulations are published in pharmacological journals, reporting impressive data from animal studies (mainly performed on rats), but only a very limited number of these are transferred to the clinical development process. It is well known that most drugs fail during the clinical development process and the resources of pharmaceutical companies that are willing to invest in, for example, oral insulin are very limited. Small companies tend to make a lot of smoke out of a little fire to gain access to these resources. Unfortunately, the limited financial resources also hamper the design and performance of pre-clinical experiments and clinical studies. The consequence is that many of the study results presented are inconclusive (to phrase it carefully). One good study that proves that a given approach works - or shows convincingly that it does not work - would be much better than a number of small studies. Sometimes one has the impression that this is done on purpose to show some activity and keep the company alive. Without a more stringent approach there is a high risk that many of the current developments will never make it into an available clinical product. These comments are not intended to be destructive but to strengthen a thorough scientific approach and to induce a more realistic view of the prospects: most probably an oral insulin pill will not be on the market next year! Nevertheless, this is

Australia's bio-regulatory framework: leading the way for stem cell research.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Helen

2004-01-01

Biotechnology in Australia has flourished over the past five years. During this time the number of companies has doubled to over 370, and over 40 companies are now publicly listed. The total market capitalization of the biotechnology companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in 2003 was US$1.5 billion. Total market capitalization of the health and biotech companies on the ASX was US$13 billion. The size of the total Australian pharmaceutical market in 2003 was US$9 billion. This article highlights the role of Australia in advancing stem cell research and its contribution to biotechnology research, development and commercialization.

Book review: OF OTHER THOUGHTS: NON-TRADITIONAL WAYS TO THE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johan Verbeke

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Research paradigms in the fields of architecture and arts have been developing and changing during the last decade. Part of this development is a shift to include design work and artistic work into the knowledge processes of doctoral work. This work evidently also needs supervision. At the same time doctoral degrees have been developing in relation to indigenous ways of thinking. The book Other Thoughts: Non-Traditional Ways to the Doctorate discusses the challenges one is facing, either as a PhD student or as a supervisor, when doing or supervising a PhD in a less established field.

A participatory study of teenagers and young adults views on access and participation in cancer research.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Rachel M; Solanki, Anita; Aslam, Natasha; Whelan, Jeremy S; Fern, Lorna A

2016-02-01

The purpose of this study was to elicit young people's views on access and participation in cancer research. Eight young people aged 18-25 years with a previous cancer diagnosis aged 15-24 participated in a one day workshop utilising participatory methodology. The workshop consisted of four exercises: role play/scene setting; focus group examining thoughts and opinions of research access and participation; individual reflection on access to different types of research; and creative interpretation of the workshop. Further consultation with 222 young people with cancer was conducted using an electronic survey. Three themes emerged: • Patient choice: Young people thought it was their right to know all options about available research. Without knowledge of all available studies they would be unable to make an informed choice about participation. • Role of healthcare professionals as facilitators/barriers: Young people suggested non-clinical healthcare professionals such as social workers and youth support coordinators may be more suited to approaching young people about participation in psychosocial and health services research. • Value of the research: The what, when and how information was delivered was key in relaying the value of the study and assisting young people in their decision to participate. Further consultation showed approximately 70% wanted to find out about all available research. However, one third trusted healthcare professionals to decide which research studies to inform them of. Effective ways to support healthcare professionals approaching vulnerable populations about research are needed to ensure young people are empowered to make informed choices about research participation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ways of improving safety for future PWRs in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gros, G.; Jalouneix, J.; Manesse, D.; Mattei, J.M.

1994-01-01

For the design of a new generation of nuclear power plants which could be ordered in France at the end of the nineties, there is a broad consensus on the choice of the evolutionary way, in view of the significant progress in the field of safety which appears possible with this approach, due to feedback of operating experience from a large number of reactors, results of extended safety research and development projects, general technical progress and findings from detailed probabilistic safety studies performed. This paper presents results of thinkings and studies, conducted within the Institute for Nuclear Safety and Protection (IPSN) in the various fields mentioned, in view of the definition of safety objectives and principles for future PWRs. These results contributed to the preparation of a common safety approach for future plants in France and Germany. (authors). 1 tab., 3 refs

Improving case study research in medical education: a systematised review.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheek, Colleen; Hays, Richard; Smith, Janie; Allen, Penny

2018-05-01

Case study research (CSR) is a research approach that guides holistic investigation of a real phenomenon. This approach may be useful in medical education to provide critical analyses of teaching and learning, and to reveal the underlying elements of leadership and innovation. There are variations in the definition, design and choice of methods, which may diminish the value of CSR as a form of inquiry. This paper reports an analysis of CSR papers in the medical education literature. The review aims to describe how CSR has been used and how more consistency might be achieved to promote understanding and value. A systematised review was undertaken to quantify the number of CSR articles published in scholarly medical education journals over the last 10 years. A typology of CSR proposed by Thomas and Myers to integrate the various ways in which CSR is constructed was applied. Of the 362 full-text articles assessed, 290 were excluded as they did not meet the eligibility criteria; 76 of these were titled 'case study'. Of the 72 included articles, 50 used single-case and 22 multi-case design; 46 connected with theory and 26 were atheoretical. In some articles it was unclear what the subject was or how the subject was being analysed. In this study, more articles titled 'case study' failed than succeeded in meeting the eligibility criteria. Well-structured, clearly written CSR in medical education has the potential to increase understanding of more complex situations, but this review shows there is considerable variation in how it is conducted, which potentially limits its utility and translation into education practice. Case study research might be of more value in medical education if researchers were to follow more consistently principles of design, and harness rich observation with connection of ideas and knowledge to engage the reader in what is most interesting. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency national network of research centers: A case study in socio-political influences on research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morehouse, K. [Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (United States)

1995-12-01

During the 15 years that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has supported university-based research centers, there have been many changes in mission, operating style, funding level, eligibility, and selection process. Even the definition of the term {open_quotes}research center{close_quotes} is open to debate. Shifting national priorities, political realities, and funding uncertainties have powered the evolution of research centers in EPA, although the agency`s basic philosophy on the purpose and value of this approach to research remains essentially unchanged. Today, EPA manages 28 centers, through the Office of Exploratory Research. These centers are administered under three distinct programs. Each program has its own mission and goals which guide the way individual centers are selected and operated. This paper will describe: (1) EPA`s philosophy of reserach centers, (2) the complicated history of EPA research centers, (3) coordination and interaction among EPA centers and others, (4) opportunities for collaboration, and (5) plans for the future.

Social Network Analysis as an Analytic Tool for Task Group Research: A Case Study of an Interdisciplinary Community of Practice

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Lockhart, Naorah C.

2017-01-01

Group counselors commonly collaborate in interdisciplinary settings in health care, substance abuse, and juvenile justice. Social network analysis is a methodology rarely used in counseling research yet has potential to examine task group dynamics in new ways. This case study explores the scholarly relationships among 36 members of an…

Is there a third way? A response to Giddens's the Third Way.

Science.gov (United States)

Navarro, V

1999-01-01

Since the early 1990s, there has been in the United Kingdom and the United States a new political position referred to as the Third Way that claims to be intermediate between neoliberalism and social democracy, transcending both. This new position represented by the Clinton administration in the United States and the Blair Government in the United Kingdom, assumes that both social democracy and neoliberalism are obsolete and calls instead for a new set of public policies that are defined as the Third Way. This article analyzes the most detailed account of the Third Way in the English-speaking world, written by Professor Giddens. It shows that Giddens stereotypes both the neoliberal and the social democratic positions to an unrecognizable degree, failing to portray the varieties of social democratic policies in existence today in developed capitalist countries. The author shows how the Third Way is merely a recycling of liberal positions in some social policy areas and Christian democratic positions in others. Where the Third Way intends to be innovative--as in the U.K. New Deal program--the programs are pale copies of successful labor market policies carried out by northern European social democratic parties. The author concludes that the Third Way, with its questioning of the universalistic welfare state and its preference for assistential and means-tested programs, signifies a break with the social democratic tradition, transforming it into a hybrid between Christian democracy and neoliberalism.

Purists need not apply: the case for pragmatism in mixed methods research.

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Florczak, Kristine L

2014-10-01

The purpose of this column is to describe several different ways of conducting mixed method research. The paradigms that underpin both qualitative and quantitative research are also considered along with a cursory review of classical pragmatism as it relates conducting mixed methods studies. Finally, the idea of loosely coupled systems as a means to support mixed methods studies is proposed along with several caveats to researchers who desire to use this new way of obtaining knowledge. © The Author(s) 2014.

Design, Research, and Design Research: Synergies and Contradictions

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Wayne A.

2013-01-01

Notions of design, research, and design research in the field of educational technology are quite different from conceptualizations held by other design fields. Examining the ways that research is conducted and used in educational technology in comparison to other design fields can provide novel insights into how research and design practice can…

Reggio Emilia: New Ways To Think About Schooling.

Science.gov (United States)

New, Rebecca S.

2003-01-01

The Reggio Emilia approach to education reveals new ways for promoting children's academic learning; offers documentation as a tool for studying, sharing, and planning children's education experiences; and provokes a new way to think about the role of the teacher. (Contains 17 references.) (MLF)

Comparative study between EDXRF and ASTM E572 methods using two-way ANOVA

Science.gov (United States)

Krummenauer, A.; Veit, H. M.; Zoppas-Ferreira, J.

2018-03-01

Comparison with reference method is one of the necessary requirements for the validation of non-standard methods. This comparison was made using the experiment planning technique with two-way ANOVA. In ANOVA, the results obtained using the EDXRF method, to be validated, were compared with the results obtained using the ASTM E572-13 standard test method. Fisher's tests (F-test) were used to comparative study between of the elements: molybdenum, niobium, copper, nickel, manganese, chromium and vanadium. All F-tests of the elements indicate that the null hypothesis (Ho) has not been rejected. As a result, there is no significant difference between the methods compared. Therefore, according to this study, it is concluded that the EDXRF method was approved in this method comparison requirement.

Getting added value from using qualitative research with randomized controlled trials: a qualitative interview study

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Qualitative research is undertaken with randomized controlled trials of health interventions. Our aim was to explore the perceptions of researchers with experience of this endeavour to understand the added value of qualitative research to the trial in practice. Methods A telephone semi-structured interview study with 18 researchers with experience of undertaking the trial and/or the qualitative research. Results Interviewees described the added value of qualitative research for the trial, explaining how it solved problems at the pretrial stage, explained findings, and helped to increase the utility of the evidence generated by the trial. From the interviews, we identified three models of relationship of the qualitative research to the trial. In ‘the peripheral’ model, the trial was an opportunity to undertake qualitative research, with no intention that it would add value to the trial. In ‘the add-on’ model, the qualitative researcher understood the potential value of the qualitative research but it was viewed as a separate and complementary endeavour by the trial lead investigator and wider team. Interviewees described how this could limit the value of the qualitative research to the trial. Finally ‘the integral’ model played out in two ways. In ‘integral-in-theory’ studies, the lead investigator viewed the qualitative research as essential to the trial. However, in practice the qualitative research was under-resourced relative to the trial, potentially limiting its ability to add value to the trial. In ‘integral-in-practice’ studies, interviewees described how the qualitative research was planned from the beginning of the study, senior qualitative expertise was on the team from beginning to end, and staff and time were dedicated to the qualitative research. In these studies interviewees described the qualitative research adding value to the trial although this value was not necessarily visible beyond the original research team due

Getting added value from using qualitative research with randomized controlled trials: a qualitative interview study.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Cathain, Alicia; Goode, Jackie; Drabble, Sarah J; Thomas, Kate J; Rudolph, Anne; Hewison, Jenny

2014-06-09

Qualitative research is undertaken with randomized controlled trials of health interventions. Our aim was to explore the perceptions of researchers with experience of this endeavour to understand the added value of qualitative research to the trial in practice. A telephone semi-structured interview study with 18 researchers with experience of undertaking the trial and/or the qualitative research. Interviewees described the added value of qualitative research for the trial, explaining how it solved problems at the pretrial stage, explained findings, and helped to increase the utility of the evidence generated by the trial. From the interviews, we identified three models of relationship of the qualitative research to the trial. In 'the peripheral' model, the trial was an opportunity to undertake qualitative research, with no intention that it would add value to the trial. In 'the add-on' model, the qualitative researcher understood the potential value of the qualitative research but it was viewed as a separate and complementary endeavour by the trial lead investigator and wider team. Interviewees described how this could limit the value of the qualitative research to the trial. Finally 'the integral' model played out in two ways. In 'integral-in-theory' studies, the lead investigator viewed the qualitative research as essential to the trial. However, in practice the qualitative research was under-resourced relative to the trial, potentially limiting its ability to add value to the trial. In 'integral-in-practice' studies, interviewees described how the qualitative research was planned from the beginning of the study, senior qualitative expertise was on the team from beginning to end, and staff and time were dedicated to the qualitative research. In these studies interviewees described the qualitative research adding value to the trial although this value was not necessarily visible beyond the original research team due to the challenges of publishing this research

WASP: Is open access publishing the way forward? A review of the different ways in which research papers can be published.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuschieri, Sarah

2018-06-01

Academics have a duty towards peers and scholars alike to engage in research work and to publish their findings. This also assists in establishing personal academic success as well as the attainment of research grants. In the past, authors used to publish their research articles for free but access to these articles was restricted to subscription users only. Recently, open access publishing has gained momentum, whereby such articles are made freely accessible online. However open access publishing comes with a price tag for the author through article processing charges. Open access may also question a journal's credibility within the academic world if improperly implemented. This is particularly so following the unsolicited bombardment of researchers' email accounts with invitations for submissions to predatory open access journals. For these reasons, authors needs to rigorously weigh the pros and cons of whether to choose a subscription based or an open access journal for publication. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Handling ethical, legal and social issues in birth cohort studies involving genetic research: responses from studies in six countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LeGrandeur Jane

2010-03-01

handling of sensitive information and return of results. In all studies, signs of child abuse require reports to authorities, but this disclosure duty is not always stated in consent materials. Studies vary in whether they will return to participants results of routine tests/measures, but none inform participants about findings with unknown clinical significance. Conclusions Analysis of how cohort studies in various jurisdictions handle key ELS issues provides informative data for comparison and contrast. Consideration of these and other examples and further scholarly exploration of ELS issues provides insight on how best to address these aspects in ways that respect the well-being of participants, especially children who become research subjects at the start of their lives.

Study of neutral red interaction with DNA by resolution of rank deficient multi-way fluorescence data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moghaddam, Fatemeh Ghasemi; Kompany Zare, Mohsen; Gholami, Somayeh

2012-01-01

The interaction of neutral red (NR) as an efficient anticancer drug with DNA was studied under physiological pH condition. Three-way data array were recorded by measuring excitation-emission fluorescence during the titration of neutral red with DNA at constant pH. The acid-base equilibrium constant...

Societal output and use of research performed by health research groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

van Ark Gerrit

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract The last decade has seen the evaluation of health research pay more and more attention to societal use and benefits of research in addition to scientific quality, both in qualitative and quantitative ways. This paper elaborates primarily on a quantitative approach to assess societal output and use of research performed by health research groups (societal quality of research. For this reason, one of the Dutch university medical centres (i.e. the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC was chosen as the subject of a pilot study, because of its mission to integrate top patient care with medical, biomedical and healthcare research and education. All research departments were used as units of evaluation within this university medical centre. The method consisted of a four-step process to reach a societal quality score per department, based on its (research outreach to relevant societal stakeholders (the general public, healthcare professionals and the private sector. For each of these three types of stakeholders, indicators within four modes of communication were defined (knowledge production, knowledge exchange, knowledge use and earning capacity. These indicators were measured by a bottom-up approach in a qualitative way (i.e. all departments of the LUMC were asked to list all activities they would consider to be of societal relevance, after which they were converted into quantitative scores. These quantitative scores could then be compared to standardised scientific quality scores that are based on scientific publications and citations of peer-reviewed articles. Based on the LUMC pilot study, only a weak correlation was found between societal and scientific quality. This suggests that societal quality needs additional activities to be performed by health research groups and is not simply the consequence of high scientific quality. Therefore we conclude that scientific and societal evaluation should be considered to be synergistic in terms

Reflections on Ways Forward for Addressing Ethical Concerns in Mobile Learning Research

Science.gov (United States)

Wishart, Jocelyn

2016-01-01

This paper reflects on a decade of discussions about the range of ethical issues arising in mobile learning research. Research into the educational potential of mobile, handheld technologies to enhance teaching and learning has been regularly frustrated by lecturers' and teachers' concerns about how their students might use such devices. At other…

Deterministic one-way simulation of two-way, real-time cellular automata and its related problems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Umeo, H; Morita, K; Sugata, K

1982-06-13

The authors show that for any deterministic two-way, real-time cellular automaton, m, there exists a deterministic one-way cellular automation which can simulate m in twice real-time. Moreover the authors present a new type of deterministic one-way cellular automata, called circular cellular automata, which are computationally equivalent to deterministic two-way cellular automata. 7 references.

Health and medical research funding agencies' promotion of public engagement within research: a qualitative interview study exploring the United Kingdom context.

Science.gov (United States)

van Bekkum, Jennifer E; Fergie, Gillian M; Hilton, Shona

2016-03-24

Public engagement (PE) has become a common feature of many liberal governmental agendas worldwide. Since the turn of this century there has been a succession of United Kingdom policy initiatives to encourage research funding agencies, universities and researchers to reconsider how they engage with citizens and communities. Although most funding agencies now explicitly promote PE within research, little empirical work has been carried out in this area. In this study, we explored why and how health and medical research funding agencies in the United Kingdom have interpreted and implemented their role to promote PE within research. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 30 key informants from 10 agencies that fund health or medical research. Data were also gathered from agencies' websites and documentation. The analysis was based on the constant comparative method. Across agencies, we found that PE was being interpreted and operationalised in various different ways. The terminology used within funding agencies to describe PE seems to be flexibly applied. Disciplinary differences were evident both in the terminology used to describe PE and the drivers for PE highlighted by participants - with applied health science funders more aligned with participatory models of PE. Within the grant funding process PE was rarely systematically treated as a key component of research. In particular, PE was not routinely incorporated into the planning of funding calls. PE was more likely to be considered in the application and assessment phases, where it was largely appraised as a tool for enhancing science. Concerns were expressed regarding how to monitor and evaluate PE within research. This study suggests funding agencies working within specific areas of health and medicine can promote particular definitions of PE and aligned practices which determine the boundaries in which researchers working in these areas understand and practice PE. Our study also highlights how the

Study of II Galactic quadrant of Milky Way Galaxy using open clusters

Science.gov (United States)

Bisht, Devendra; Ganesh, Shashikiran; Baliyan, Kiran Singh; Yadav, Ramakant Singh; Durgapal, Alok

2018-04-01

We have made UBV I CCD observations for the open clusters Teutsch 1, Riddle 4 and Czernik 6 using 1.04-m Sampurnanand telescope located at the ARIES observatory (Manora peak, Nainital, India). We have used 2MASS JHKS data for the clusters Teutsch 126, Teutsch 54 and Czernik 3. For the estimation of fundamental parameters, we have plotted radial density profiles, colour-magnitude and colour-colour diagrams. Using these inputs, we have studied the structure of Milky Way Galaxy in the second Galactic quadrant. We have considered the open clusters that are younger than 1 Gyrs and lay in the longitude range from 90 to 180 deg. Our study shows that up to 3.5 Kpc, the Galactic disc bends towards the southern hemisphere while after 3.5 Kpc it bends towards the northern hemisphere. The distribution of reddening with longitude and age shows a decreasing trend with the longitude and age of the clusters. Our study also indicates that younger clusters have more reddening than older ones.

A phenomenographic study of the ways of understanding conditional and repetition structures in computer programming languages

Science.gov (United States)

Bucks, Gregory Warren

Computers have become an integral part of how engineers complete their work, allowing them to collect and analyze data, model potential solutions and aiding in production through automation and robotics. In addition, computers are essential elements of the products themselves, from tennis shoes to construction materials. An understanding of how computers function, both at the hardware and software level, is essential for the next generation of engineers. Despite the need for engineers to develop a strong background in computing, little opportunity is given for engineering students to develop these skills. Learning to program is widely seen as a difficult task, requiring students to develop not only an understanding of specific concepts, but also a way of thinking. In addition, students are forced to learn a new tool, in the form of the programming environment employed, along with these concepts and thought processes. Because of this, many students will not develop a sufficient proficiency in programming, even after progressing through the traditional introductory programming sequence. This is a significant problem, especially in the engineering disciplines, where very few students receive more than one or two semesters' worth of instruction in an already crowded engineering curriculum. To address these issues, new pedagogical techniques must be investigated in an effort to enhance the ability of engineering students to develop strong computing skills. However, these efforts are hindered by the lack of published assessment instruments available for probing an individual's understanding of programming concepts across programming languages. Traditionally, programming knowledge has been assessed by producing written code in a specific language. This can be an effective method, but does not lend itself well to comparing the pedagogical impact of different programming environments, languages or paradigms. This dissertation presents a phenomenographic research study

Access, entry and researcher-participant position

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Louw, Arnt Vestergaard

2015-01-01

This article reports on methodological experiences obtained in an anthropologically inspired qualitative study among students of carpentry in Denmark. On the one hand the article deals with methodological issues of doing anthropological research among students of carpentry, while on the other...... it deals with the research findings that such a research design produced. As well as the methodological issues of researcher access, entry and participant position in the field, this article reports on the following questions: What kinds of implicit expectations of the students are embedded in the way...... the school introduces and initiates the programme? What kinds of effects does this have on the motivation of the students? How do the terms and professional language of the profession work on the individual students in including and excluding ways? These specific descriptions of classroom pedagogy, inspired...

The demand-control model for job strain: a commentary on different ways to operationalize the exposure variable

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Márcia Guimarães de Mello Alves

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Demand-control has been the most widely used model to study job strain in various countries. However, researchers have used the model differently, thus hindering the comparison of results. Such heterogeneity appears in both the study instrument used and in the definition of the main exposure variable - high strain. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess differences between various ways of operationalizing job strain through association with prevalent hypertension in a cohort of workers (Pro-Health Study. No difference in the association between high job strain and hypertension was found according to the different ways of operationalizing exposure, even though prevalence varied widely, according to the adopted form, from 19.6% for quadrants to 42% for subtraction tertile. The authors recommend further studies to define the cutoff for exposure variables using combined subjective and objective data.

[The relationship between Ridit analysis and rank sum test for one-way ordinal contingency table in medical research].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ling; Xia, Jie-lai; Yu, Li-li; Li, Chan-juan; Wang, Su-zhen

2008-06-01

To explore several numerical methods of ordinal variable in one-way ordinal contingency table and their interrelationship, and to compare corresponding statistical analysis methods such as Ridit analysis and rank sum test. Formula deduction was based on five simplified grading approaches including rank_r(i), ridit_r(i), ridit_r(ci), ridit_r(mi), and table scores. Practical data set was verified by SAS8.2 in clinical practice (to test the effect of Shiwei solution in treatment for chronic tracheitis). Because of the linear relationship of rank_r(i) = N ridit_r(i) + 1/2 = N ridit_r(ci) = (N + 1) ridit_r(mi), the exact chi2 values in Ridit analysis based on ridit_r(i), ridit_r(ci), and ridit_r(mi), were completely the same, and they were equivalent to the Kruskal-Wallis H test. Traditional Ridit analysis was based on ridit_r(i), and its corresponding chi2 value calculated with an approximate variance (1/12) was conservative. The exact chi2 test of Ridit analysis should be used when comparing multiple groups in the clinical researches because of its special merits such as distribution of mean ridit value on (0,1) and clear graph expression. The exact chi2 test of Ridit analysis can be output directly by proc freq of SAS8.2 with ridit and modridit option (SCORES =). The exact chi2 test of Ridit analysis is equivalent to the Kruskal-Wallis H test, and should be used when comparing multiple groups in the clinical researches.

Research in universities and its evaluation A comparative study among Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mabel Dávila

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper poses a comparative study among Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay on the research policies adopted in universities and their evaluation. A documentary analysis on current regulations, impact assessments and interviews to key persons enabled to reconstruct the principal aspects of the processes of research development in each country, especially in universities and their evaluation systems. The comparison identifies as a shared feature the difficulties for developing a quality evaluation process which considers the diversity of the systems found in higher education, a heterogeneous characteristic in the three countries.  However, there are differences related to the origin and consolidation of the systems of evaluation of university quality and science and technology, the policies developed in different stages and the influence of the political and economic contexts. These aspects exert a great influence in the different ways to evaluate the function of research, in the national cases as well as their inner ones. 

Exploring ethical conflicts in emergency trauma research: the COMBAT (Control of Major Bleeding after Trauma) study experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Theresa L; Moore, Ernest E; Coors, Marilyn E; Chandler, James G; Ghasabyan, Arsen; Harr, Jeffrey N; Stringham, John R; Ramos, Christopher R; Ammons, Sarah; Banerjee, Anirban; Sauaia, Angela

2015-01-01

Up to 25% of severely injured patients develop trauma-induced coagulopathy. To study interventions for this vulnerable population for whom consent cannot be obtained easily, the Food and Drug Administration issued regulations for emergency research with an exception from informed consent (ER-EIC). We describe the community consultation and public disclosure (CC/PD) process in preparation for an ER-EIC study, namely the Control Of Major Bleeding After Trauma (COMBAT) study. The CC/PD was guided by the four bioethical principles. We used a multimedia approach, including one-way communications (newspaper ads, brochures, television, radio, and web) and two-way communications (interactive in-person presentations at community meetings, printed and online feedback forms) to reach the trials catchment area (Denver County's population: 643,000 and the Denver larger metro area where commuters reside: 2.9 million). Particular attention was given to special-interests groups (eg, Jehovah Witnesses, homeless) and to Spanish-speaking communities (brochures and presentations in Spanish). Opt-out materials were available during on-site presentations or via the COMBAT study website. A total of 227 community organizations were contacted. Brochures were distributed to 11 medical clinics and 3 homeless shelters. The multimedia campaign had the potential to reach an estimated audience of 1.5 million individuals in large metro Denver area, the majority via one-way communication and 1900 in two-way communications. This resource intensive process cost more than $84,000. The CC/PD process is resource-intensive, costly, and complex. Although the multimedia CC/PD reached a large audience, the effectiveness of this process remains elusive. The templates can be helpful to similar ER-EIC studies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The virtual supermarket: an innovative research tool to study consumer food purchasing behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Waterlander, Wilma E; Scarpa, Michael; Lentz, Daisy; Steenhuis, Ingrid H M

2011-07-25

and is freely available for academic use. The unique features of the tool include the fact that it enables researchers to easily modify research conditions and in this way study different types of interventions in a retail environment without a complex implementation process. Finally, it also maintains researcher independence and avoids conflicts of interest that may arise from industry collaboration.

The virtual supermarket: An innovative research tool to study consumer food purchasing behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steenhuis Ingrid HM

2011-07-01

purchasing behaviour. The application can be obtained via an URL and is freely available for academic use. The unique features of the tool include the fact that it enables researchers to easily modify research conditions and in this way study different types of interventions in a retail environment without a complex implementation process. Finally, it also maintains researcher independence and avoids conflicts of interest that may arise from industry collaboration.

The virtual supermarket: An innovative research tool to study consumer food purchasing behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

application can be obtained via an URL and is freely available for academic use. The unique features of the tool include the fact that it enables researchers to easily modify research conditions and in this way study different types of interventions in a retail environment without a complex implementation process. Finally, it also maintains researcher independence and avoids conflicts of interest that may arise from industry collaboration. PMID:21787391

Balance of power--do patients use researchers to survive hospital?

Science.gov (United States)

Haigh, Carol; Neild, Angela; Duncan, Fiona

2005-01-01

This paper focuses on the way research study participants interpret their contact with researchers. Much has been made of the unequal power relationship between researcher and researched, but the case study presented here suggests that patient participants may be 'using' researchers to further their own agenda and to attempt to manipulate or control aspects of their care within the hospital setting.

Beyond binaries : a way forward for comparativeeducation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marianne Larsen

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Binary discourses shape and produce the stories we construct about the field of comparative education. In the first part of this article, I review a set of binary discourses that have characterized social science research since the Enlightenment, including: quantitative-qualitative, nomotheticidiographic, inductive-deductive, and practice-theory. We can think of each of these binaries at opposite ends of a set of spectrums. In the second section of the paper, I show some of the ways in which these binaries have influenced the ways that we write and talk about research within the field of comparative education. I refer to the notion of binary discourses and the productive capacity of these discourses to shape our field. I then outline some critiques of these binaries to demonstrate the inherent limitations of binary discourses, and why we need to move beyond binaries in our research, and in the histories about our field. Finally, I present some tentative conclusions on ways to get ourselves out of the trap of binary thinking.Los discursos binarios moldean y producen los argumentos que construimos sobre la disciplina de la Educación Comparada. En la primera parte de este artículo, analizo un conjunto de discursos binarios que han caracterizado la investigación en Ciencias Sociales desde la Ilustración, incluyendo la cuantitativa-cualitativa, nomotética-idiográfica, inductivadeductiva, y la práctica-teoría. Podemos pensar sobre cada uno de estos discursos binarios como argumentos en los polos de un conjunto de posibilidades. En la segunda sección del artículo, revelo algunos modos en los que estos discursos binarios han influenciado las formas a través de las cuales escribimos y analizamos la investigación en el ámbito de la Educación Comparada. Analizo la noción de discursos binarios y la capacidad productiva de estos discursos de impactar nuestra ciencia. Seguidamente expongo algunas críticas de estos discursos binarios con el

Report of special study meeting on 'Atomic energy research aiming at consistent nuclear fuel cycle', fiscal year 1992

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishina, Kojiro; Nishihara, Hideaki; Mishima, Kaichiro

1994-12-01

This meeting was held on March 4, 1993. Since the first power generation with the JPDR and the initial criticality of the KUR, 30 years, and since the initial criticality of the KUCA, 20 years have elapsed. The researchers in universities have contributed greatly to the research and education of atomic energy, but the perspective of leading the world hereafter in this field is very uncertain. This study meeting was held to seek the way to make the proper contribution. In the meeting, lectures were given on Japanese policy on nuclear fuel cycle, the present state of the upstream research and the downstream research in Japan, the experimental plan in NUCEF, the present state of the researches on TRU decay heat data and TRU nucleus data, the present state of the experimental researches at KUCA and at FCA, the present state of the research on the heat removal from high conversion LWRs and the KUR, the present state of the research on radioactive waste treatment, and the present state of TRU chemical research. The record of the holding of this study meeting is added. (K.I.)

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...

Music and Visual Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Julie Borup

2017-01-01

, ethnographic video observation was chosen as a way of handling complex data and analysing complex interaction. Preliminary analyses of the findings indicates the ability of music to both contain and express experiential, sensory, emotional and cognitive complexity in ways that allow for differences......The paper explores the potential of video ethnography concerning educational research on music as contributing to an inclusive learning environment in elementary school (research objective). In music education research, the use of visual data provided by video seems to be a relevant choice...... of method, because music as a school subject encompasses multiple ways for the pupils to participate and interact in the learning environment, and music itself provides a whole set of complex linguistic rules that will escape traditional observation and interview methods in ethnographic research. Therefore...

Public health services and systems research: current state of finance research.

Science.gov (United States)

Ingram, Richard C; Bernet, Patrick M; Costich, Julia F

2012-11-01

There is a growing recognition that the US public health system should strive for efficiency-that it should determine the optimal ways to utilize limited resources to improve and protect public health. The field of public health finance research is a critical part of efforts to understand the most efficient ways to use resources. This article discusses the current state of public health finance research through a review of public health finance literature, chronicles important lessons learned from public health finance research to date, discusses the challenges faced by those seeking to conduct financial research on the public health system, and discusses the role of public health finance research in relation to the broader endeavor of Public Health Services and Systems Research.

Schematic representation of case study research designs.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, John P; Yates, Patsy M

2007-11-01

The paper is a report of a study to demonstrate how the use of schematics can provide procedural clarity and promote rigour in the conduct of case study research. Case study research is a methodologically flexible approach to research design that focuses on a particular case - whether an individual, a collective or a phenomenon of interest. It is known as the 'study of the particular' for its thorough investigation of particular, real-life situations and is gaining increased attention in nursing and social research. However, the methodological flexibility it offers can leave the novice researcher uncertain of suitable procedural steps required to ensure methodological rigour. This article provides a real example of a case study research design that utilizes schematic representation drawn from a doctoral study of the integration of health promotion principles and practices into a palliative care organization. The issues discussed are: (1) the definition and application of case study research design; (2) the application of schematics in research; (3) the procedural steps and their contribution to the maintenance of rigour; and (4) the benefits and risks of schematics in case study research. The inclusion of visual representations of design with accompanying explanatory text is recommended in reporting case study research methods.

Rigour in qualitative case-study research.

Science.gov (United States)

Houghton, Catherine; Casey, Dympna; Shaw, David; Murphy, Kathy

2013-03-01

To provide examples of a qualitative multiple case study to illustrate the specific strategies that can be used to ensure the credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability of a study. There is increasing recognition of the valuable contribution qualitative research can make to nursing knowledge. However, it is important that the research is conducted in a rigorous manner and that this is demonstrated in the final research report. A multiple case study that explored the role of the clinical skills laboratory in preparing students for the real world of practice. Multiple sources of evidence were collected: semi-structured interviews (n=58), non-participant observations at five sites and documentary sources. Strategies to ensure the rigour of this research were prolonged engagement and persistent observation, triangulation, peer debriefing, member checking, audit trail, reflexivity, and thick descriptions. Practical examples of how these strategies can be implemented are provided to guide researchers interested in conducting rigorous case study research. While the flexible nature of qualitative research should be embraced, strategies to ensure rigour must be in place.

Clinical Impact Research - how to choose experimental or observational intervention study?

Science.gov (United States)

Malmivaara, Antti

2016-11-01

Interventions directed to individuals by health and social care systems should increase health and welfare of patients and customers. This paper aims to present and define a new concept Clinical Impact Research (CIR) and suggest which study design, either randomized controlled trial (RCT) (experimental) or benchmarking controlled trial (BCT) (observational) is recommendable and to consider the feasibility, validity, and generalizability issues in CIR. The new concept is based on a narrative review of the literature and on author's idea that in intervention studies, there is a need to cover comprehensively all the main impact categories and their respective outcomes. The considerations on how to choose the most appropriate study design (RCT or BCT) were based on previous methodological studies on RCTs and BCTs and on author's previous work on the concepts benchmarking controlled trial and system impact research (SIR). The CIR covers all studies aiming to assess the impact for health and welfare of any health (and integrated social) care or public health intervention directed to an individual. The impact categories are accessibility, quality, equality, effectiveness, safety, and efficiency. Impact is the main concept, and within each impact category, both generic- and context-specific outcome measures are needed. CIR uses RCTs and BCTs. CIR should be given a high priority in medical, health care, and health economic research. Clinicians and leaders at all levels of health care can exploit the evidence from CIR. Key messages The new concept of Clinical Impact Research (CIR) is defined as a research field aiming to assess what are the impacts of healthcare and public health interventions targeted to patients or individuals. The term impact refers to all effects caused by the interventions, with particular emphasis on accessibility, quality, equality, effectiveness, safety, and efficiency. CIR uses two study designs: randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (experimental

panMetaDocs and DataSync - providing a convenient way to share and publish research data

Science.gov (United States)

Ulbricht, D.; Klump, J. F.

2013-12-01

In recent years research institutions, geological surveys and funding organizations started to build infrastructures to facilitate the re-use of research data from previous work. At present, several intermeshed activities are coordinated to make data systems of the earth sciences interoperable and recorded data discoverable. Driven by governmental authorities, ISO19115/19139 emerged as metadata standards for discovery of data and services. Established metadata transport protocols like OAI-PMH and OGC-CSW are used to disseminate metadata to data portals. With the persistent identifiers like DOI and IGSN research data and corresponding physical samples can be given unambiguous names and thus become citable. In summary, these activities focus primarily on 'ready to give away'-data, already stored in an institutional repository and described with appropriate metadata. Many datasets are not 'born' in this state but are produced in small and federated research projects. To make access and reuse of these 'small data' easier, these data should be centrally stored and version controlled from the very beginning of activities. We developed DataSync [1] as supplemental application to the panMetaDocs [2] data exchange platform as a data management tool for small science projects. DataSync is a JAVA-application that runs on a local computer and synchronizes directory trees into an eSciDoc-repository [3] by creating eSciDoc-objects via eSciDocs' REST API. DataSync can be installed on multiple computers and is in this way able to synchronize files of a research team over the internet. XML Metadata can be added as separate files that are managed together with data files as versioned eSciDoc-objects. A project-customized instance of panMetaDocs is provided to show a web-based overview of the previously uploaded file collection and to allow further annotation with metadata inside the eSciDoc-repository. PanMetaDocs is a PHP based web application to assist the creation of metadata in

Harassment among school children and new ways of violence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norman D. Pautasso

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This article is intended to collect some results of the several studies that have been made concerning Bullying and Harassment among boys and girls who attend basic education institutions in the central part of Santa Cruz province, in Argentina. It encloses theoretical framework about the problem of bullying and violence among children at school. It presents information about the region, some common aggressive behaviors as well as different ways and places in which those violent habits might be produced, according to children. Describes school populations suffering from such practices and analyzes some differences from school years, gender and zonal characteristics. It also shows samples of Victimization Rate and General Aggression Rate got in the area. Open to further discussion, this work provides certain description about some bullying phenomenon in the area, such as the case of the “Round-up Effect”, produced by the lack of anonymity in barely populated places. This article presents new emerging issues in the research field, like the appearance of new ways of violence, related to digital communication technologies such as instant messaging, e-mail, chat, blog, photoblog and social networks. To conclude, it offers some ideas about the construction of Early Warning Devices and Early Intervention Devices.

PAR as a way of organising a social workers labour union in Greenland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, John; Arnfjord, Steven

Abstract, ALARA2015012:PAR as a way of organising a social workers labour union in Greenland for consideration and inclusion in the programme for the ALARA 9th Action Learning Action Research and 13th Participatory Action Research World Congress to be held at St. George Hotel and Conference Centre...

ERC Vision & Research

Science.gov (United States)

SRC Engineering Research Center for Environmentally Benign Semiconductor Manufacturing (ERC ) ** Bringing Sustainability to Semiconductor Manufacturing ** A multi-university research center leading the way to environmentally friendly semiconductor manufacturing, sponsored by the Semiconductor Research

A Glimpse of the Young Milky Way

Science.gov (United States)

2002-10-01

VLT UVES Observes Most Metal-Deficient Star Known [1] Summary A faint star in the southern Milky Way, designated HE 0107-5240 , has been found to consist virtually only of hydrogen and helium . It has the lowest abundance of heavier elements ever observed , only 1/200,000 of that of the Sun - 20 times less than the previous record-holding star. This is the result of a major ongoing research project by an international team of astronomers [2]. It is based on a decade-long survey of the southern sky, with detailed follow-up observations by means of the powerful UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) on the 8.2-m VLT KUEYEN telescope at the ESO Paranal Observatory in Chile. This significant discovery now opens a new window towards the early times when the Milky Way galaxy was young, possibly still in the stage of formation. It proves that, contrary to most current theories, comparatively light stars like HE 0107-5240 (with 80% of the mass of the Sun) may form in environments (nearly) devoid of heavier elements. Since some years, astronomers have been desperately searching for stars of the very first stellar generation in the Milky Way, consisting only of hydrogen and helium from the Big Bang. None have been detected so far and doubts have arisen that they exist at all. The present discovery provides new hope that it will ultimately be possible to find such stellar relics from the young Universe and thereby to study "unpolluted" Big Bang material. PR Photo 25a/02 : The sky region around the very metal-deficient star HE 0107-5240 . PR Photo 25b/02 : Comparison of UVES spectra of stars with different metal abundances. Stellar generations in the Milky Way galaxy The Milky Way galaxy in which we live formed from a gigantic cloud of gas, when the Universe was still young, soon after the initial Big Bang. At the beginning, this gas was presumably composed almost exclusively of hydrogen and helium atoms produced during the Big Bang. However, once the first stars formed by

Medical researchers unite for study on cancer intervention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Editorial Office

2016-08-01

the understanding of all stages of multi-step carcinogenesis in the mouse, in particular the relationships between germ line predisposition and somatic genetic changes in tumors.” explained Dr. Mao in a news feature released by Berkeley Lab. “The identification of human homologues of these predisposition genes and the discovery of their roles in carcinogenesis will ultimately be important for the development of methods for the prediction of risk, diagnosis, prevention, and therapy for human cancers,” he further added. “Although targeted therapy has given hope to patients, drug resistance usually takes place within short time. We need to figure out a way to combine multiple  targeted therapies to treat patient s and somehow circumvent drug resistance to cure cancer.”Both scientists confessed to having a deep interest in the biology of cancer, which motivates them to focus their efforts in developing therapeutics as cancer intervention. However, they are sometimes subdued by numerous challenges in their research works, namely the heterogeneity and complexity of the tumors, which make it difficult to successfully treat patients. In addition, they highlighted a common challenge in their field, which also happens to be one of the main concerns for a majority of cancer researchers all over the world – lack of funding for research. “It remains challenging to obtain sufficient funds to do the research we believe is important,” they said.When asked for their opinion of targeted therapy, which is a growing part of many cancer treatment regimens, both scientists claimed, “Although targeted therapy has given hope to patients, drug resistance usually takes place within a short time. We need to figure out a way to combine multiple targeted therapies to treat patients and somehow circumvent drug resistance to cure cancer.” For researchers who are studying the biology of cancer, Dr. Snijders and Dr. Mao believe that they should ideally take into account

Study of Xenon-poisoning effect on the research reactor power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khamis, I.; Khattab, K.

2000-01-01

The uranium 235 is often used as a fuel to produce the energy in nuclear reactors. Uranium nuclei are fissioned with thermal neutrons and produce energy plus a number of neutrons. A fraction of such fission neutrons is involved in other fission with new nuclei to sustain the fission reactions. The remain fraction of the neutrons is lost from the reactor in two ways: escaped from the reactor, or absorbed with other nuclei that exist in the reactor before or produced from fission. Fission nuclei which absorb neutrons heavily are called p oison , such as Xe 135. Because Xe 135 absorbs neutrons heavily, it reduces the number of neutrons in the reactor. Hence, Xe 135 is studied explicitly in the MNSR reactor, and calculation of its negative reactivity is presented in this research during the operation, equilibrium, and after the shutting down of the reactor. (author)

Carving the world for language: how neuroscientific research can enrich the study of first and second language learning.

Science.gov (United States)

George, Nathan R; Göksun, Tilbe; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick

2014-01-01

Linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience all have rich histories in language research. Crosstalk among these disciplines, as realized in studies of phonology, is pivotal for understanding a fundamental challenge for first and second language learners (SLLs): learning verbs. Linguistic and behavioral research with monolinguals suggests that infants attend to foundational event components (e.g., path, manner). Language then heightens or dampens attention to these components as children map word to world in language-specific ways. Cross-linguistic differences in semantic organization also reveal sources of struggles for SLLs. We discuss how better integrating neuroscience into this literature can unlock additional mysteries of verb learning.

Case Study Research: Foundations and Methodological Orientations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Harrison

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Over the last forty years, case study research has undergone substantial methodological development. This evolution has resulted in a pragmatic, flexible research approach, capable of providing comprehensive in-depth understanding of a diverse range of issues across a number of disciplines. Change and progress have stemmed from parallel influences of historical transformations in approaches to research and individual researcher's preferences, perspectives, and interpretations of this design. Researchers who have contributed to the development of case study research come from diverse disciplines with different philosophical perspectives, resulting in a variety of definitions and approaches. For the researcher new to using case study, such variety can create a confusing platform for its application. In this article, we explore the evolution of case study research, discuss methodological variations, and summarize key elements with the aim of providing guidance on the available options for researchers wanting to use case study in their work. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1701195

One-way versus two-way text messaging on improving medication adherence: meta-analysis of randomized trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Wald, David S; Butt, Shahena; Bestwick, Jonathan P

2015-10-01

Mobile telephone text messaging is a simple potential solution to the failure to take medications as directed. There is uncertainty over the effectiveness of 1-way text messaging (sending text message reminders only) compared with 2-way text messaging (sending reminders and receiving replies confirming whether medication has been taken) as a means of improving medication adherence. A meta-analysis of 8 randomized trials (1994 patients) that tested the effectiveness of text messaging on medication adherence was performed. The trials were divided into 2 groups: trials using 1-way text messaging versus no text messaging and trials using 2-way text messaging versus no text messaging. The summary estimates of the effect of the 2 methods of text messaging (1-way or 2-way) were compared. The summary relative risk estimate was 1.04 (95% confidence interval, 0.97-1.11) for 1-way text messaging and 1.23 (95% confidence interval, 1.13-1.35) for 2-way text messaging. The difference in effect between the 2 methods was statistically significant (P = .007). Two-way text messaging is associated with substantially improved medication adherence compared with 1-way text messaging. This has important implications in the provision of mobile-based messaging in the management of patients taking medication for the prevention of chronic disease. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Establishment of research-oriented hospital: an important way for translational medicine development in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MEINA LI

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Globally, one of the major trends is the development of translational medicine. The traditional hospital structure could not meet the demands of translational medicine development any longer and to explore a novel hospital structure is imperative. Following the times, China proposed and implemented a development strategy for a first-class modern research-oriented hospital. To establish a research-oriented hospital has become an important strategy to guide the scientific development of high-quality medical institutions and to advance translational medicine development. To facilitate translational medicine by developing research-oriented hospital, the Chinese Research Hospital Association (CRHA has been established, which provides service of medicine, talents cultivation, scientific research and clinical teaching and covers areas of theoretical research, academic exchange, translational medicine, talents training and practice guiding. On the whole, research-oriented hospital facilitated translational medicine by developing interdisciplinary platform, training core competencies in clinical and translational research, providing financial support of translational research, and hosting journals on translational medicine, etc.

Analog of the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-11-01

A hunt for merging dwarf galaxies has yielded an intriguing result: 180 million light-years away, a galaxy very similar to the Milky Way with two dwarf-galaxy satellites just like our own Magellanic clouds.Unusual SatellitesThe Large and Small Magellanic clouds, as observed from Earth. [ESO/S. Brunier]The Large and Small Magellanic clouds (LMC and SMC), the only bright and star-forming satellite galaxies around the Milky Way, have proven unusual in the universe: satellite pairs of LMCSMC mass are neither common in observation nor typically produced in numerical simulations of galaxy formation and evolution.Since the probability of having such an interacting pair of satellites in a massive halo is so low, this raises questions about how our system came about. Did the Magellanic clouds form independently around the Milky Way and then interact? Were they more recently captured as an already-merging pair of dwarf galaxies? Or is there some other explanation?If we could find other systems that look like the LMCSMCMilky-Way system, we might be able to learn more about pairs of dwarf galaxies and how they interact near the halos of large galaxies like the Milky Way. Conveniently, two researchers from Yonsei University in South Korea, Sanjaya Paudel and Chandreyee Sengupta, have now identified exactly such a system.The UGC 4703 pair of dwarf galaxies show a stellar bridge connecting them a sign of their past interaction, when tidal forces stripped material from them as they passed each other. [Adapted from Paudel Sengupta 2017]An Interacting PairHunting for merging dwarf galaxies in various environments, Paudel and Sengupta found UGC 4703, an interacting pair of dwarf galaxies that are located near the isolated spiral galaxy NGC 2718. This pair of satellites around the massive spiral bear a striking resemblance to the LMCSMC system around the Milky-Way.The authors performed a multi-wavelength study of the system using archival images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, The

Perception of research and predictors of research career: a study ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Introduction: Acquisition of research experience by medical students is associated with good research pathway at the postgraduate level and also in the pursuit of a research career. Also, it assists the physician to make evidence based decisions in clinical practice. Objectives: Aim of study was to determine the perception of ...

Service Integration to Enhance Research Data Management: RSpace Electronic Laboratory Notebook Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stuart Macdonald

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Research Data Management (RDM provides a framework that supports researchers and their data throughout the course of their research and is increasingly regarded as one of the essential areas of responsible conduct of research. New tools and infrastructures make possible the generation of large volumes of digital research data in a myriad of formats. This facilitates new ways to analyse, share and reuse these outputs, with libraries, IT services and other service units within academic institutions working together with the research community to develop RDM infrastructures to curate and preserve this type of research output and make them re-usable for future generations. Working on the principle that a rationalised and continuous flow of data between systems and across institutional boundaries is one of the core goals of information management, this paper will highlight service integration via Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELN, which streamline research data workflows, result in efficiency gains for researchers, research administrators and other stakeholders, and ultimately enhance the RDM process.

On the function and importance of research design in existential-phenomenological qualitative research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Feilberg, Casper

inquiry. This is very different from the research traditions within the social sciences, which traditionally emphasizes the importance of research design and a controlled inquiry, even with respect to qualitative research. Social research is traditionally divided into three phases: planning, execution...... in a convincing way. This principle of controlled inquiry manifests itself in different ways within qualitative and quantitative traditions of social science research. But still, is this principle also applicable and relevant with respect to qualitative human science research? I think so. I hence make...... the argument that there would be a fruitful contribution to much phenomenological research from a greater emphasis on research design and controlled inquiry. But is it possible to combine these social science research principles with a phenomenological and hermeneutical approach to qualitative research...

The Research Portfolio: Educating Teacher Researchers in Data Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Bates, Alisa J.; Bryant, Jill D.

2013-01-01

This paper describes research on a course assignment, the research portfolio, designed for a two-course teacher research experience in a Masters of Arts in Teaching program. The focus of the assignment is the process of data collection and analysis that is critical to the success of teacher research. We sought a way to help our teacher candidates…

Study and implementation of the CADIS methodology to research reactor shielding design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza, Gregorio S.; Shorto, Julian M.B.; Santos, Adimir dos

2013-01-01

The Consistent Adjoint Driven Importance Sampling (CADIS) is a methodology that basically uses source biasing and a mesh-based importance map. Therefore, to make the best use of an importance map, the map must be consistent with the source biasing. To achieve this consistency, a Sn calculation could be made to improve the importance map and the computational performance. The MAVRIC (Monaco with Automated Variance Reduction using Importance Calculations) code does that and this work intends to study the code options to generate the importance map. A pool type 10 MW research reactor was designed in a simple way just to study the prompt gamma rays penetration in the concrete and therefore study the CADIS methodology applied to point detectors and mesh tallies. By keeping constant the simulation time and the CPU (Central Processing Unit) power a significant improvement was achieved in the relative errors for the point detectors and for the mesh tally. (author)

Policy research institutions and the health SDGs: Open data ...

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

Policy research institutions and the health SDGs: Open data platforms for ... This exercise will provide the opportunity to raise awareness of the SGDs and the ... IDRC is supporting research that studies the most effective ways to empower ...

Place-based pedagogy in the era of accountability: An action research study

Science.gov (United States)

Saracino, Peter C.

Today's most common method of teaching biology---driven by calls for standardization and high-stakes testing---relies on a standards-based, de-contextualized approach to education. This results in "one size fits all" curriculums that ignore local contexts relevant to students' lives, discourage student engagement and ultimately work against a deep and lasting understanding of content. In contrast, place-based education---a pedagogical paradigm grounded in situated cognition and the progressive education tradition of John Dewey---utilizes the community as an integrating context for learning. It encourages the growth of school-community partnerships with an eye towards raising student achievement while also drawing students into the economic, political, social and ecological life of their communities. Such an approach seeks to provide students with learning experiences that are both academically significant and valuable to their communities. This study explores how high school science teachers can capitalize on the rich affordances offered by a place-based approach despite the constraints imposed by a state-mandated curriculum and high-stakes testing. Using action research, I designed, implemented, evaluated and refined an intervention that grounded a portion of a Living Environment high school course I teach in a place-based experience. This experience served as a unique anchoring event to contextualize students' learning of other required core topics. The overarching question framing this study is: How can science teachers capitalize on the rich affordances offered by a place-based approach despite the constraints imposed by a state-mandated curriculum and high-stakes testing? The following more specific questions were explored within the context of the intervention: (1) Which elements of the place-based paradigm could I effectively integrate into a Living Environment course? (2) In what ways would this integration impact students' interest? (3) In what ways would

A Wimba Way, A Wimba Way

OpenAIRE

Beck, Charlotte; Miller, Katherine; Taylor, Sally

2010-01-01

Wimba Classroom, like other online teaching tools, gives us a way to connect to our learners at a distance. This software can be used to share desktops, PowerPoint presentations, polls and more. Come and see a demonstration of the software and hear how we’re using Wimba Classroom to teach health care practitioners in a distance education program, undergraduate students in a first-year biology course and participants in an online RefWorks workshop. We’ll also talk about our “Train the Trainer”...

The Multiwavelength Milky Way Project

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, B. A.; Leisawitz, D.; Boyd, P. T.; Digel, S. W.; Friedlander, J.; Kessel, R. L.; Smale, A. P.

2000-12-01

We describe an ongoing effort to communicate what is known about the Milky Way, and how our understanding of the Galaxy has advanced in recent decades with observations across the electromagnetic spectrum. Our aim is to help students, educators, and the general public understand the structure of the Milky Way, and our location within it. Inspired by the warm reception to our Multiwavelength Milky Way poster (26,000 copies distributed; requested by people in over 50 countries) we created several related products and a new version of the poster. The updated poster contains ten Galactic plane maps and a legend that points out prominent features and objects. The Multiwavelength Milky Way web site at http://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/mw provides an image browsing capability, links to data files and journal articles, lesson plans and suggested activities for teachers, and a poster order form. We created a slide set comprised of multiwavelength all-sky maps and a ``Multiwavelength Milky Way'' image corresponding to the poster. The Galactic plane maps featured on the poster raise questions in the minds of many non-astronomers: ``Where are we in this picture?'' and ``How do we know what we know?'' To help answer these questions we developed a realistic three-dimensional model of the Milky Way and used state-of-the-art animation techniques to create a 28-minute video called The Milky Way's Invisible Light. The viewer is taken on a tour of the Galaxy that ends at the Sun's location, from which the 3-D model is shown to resemble the Galactic plane surveys depicted on the Multiwavelength Milky Way poster. The video can be ordered on the web at http://space.gsfc.nasa.gov/astro/education/mw_film or from the ASP catalog. The Multiwavelength Milky Way project is sponsored by the Astrophysics Data Facility at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

European research priorities for intracerebral haemorrhage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steiner, Thorsten; Petersson, Jesper; Al-Shahi Salman, Rustam

2011-01-01

and disability. The European Research Network on Intracerebral Haemorrhage EURONICH is a multidisciplinary academic research collaboration that has been established to define current research priorities and to conduct large clinical studies on all aspects of ICH........ No standardised diagnostic workup for the detection of the various underlying causes of ICH currently exists, and the evidence for medical or surgical therapeutic interventions remains limited. A dedicated European research programme for ICH is needed to identify ways to reduce the burden of ICH-related death...

The Continuing Search to Find a More Effective and Less Intimidating Way to Teach Research Methods in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Robin

2016-01-01

Existing literature examining the teaching of research methods highlights difficulties students face when developing research competencies. Studies of student-centred teaching approaches have found increased student performance and improved confidence in undertaking research projects. To develop a student-centred approach, it could be beneficial…

Study of Relationship between Hypernatremia in Neonates and Way of Maternal Breast Feeding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H Boskabadi

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The extreme reduction in breast milk intake during the first days of life leads to weight loss, kidney failure and hypernatremia. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between hypernatremia in neonates and way of maternal breastfeeding in hospitalized infants in Ghaem Hospital of Mashhad.   Materials and Methods: After obtaining parental consent, 687 infants referred to the neonatal ward and clinic of Ghaem hospital of Mashhad participated in this cross-sectional study. First, complete history of the mother and baby regarding pregnancy and delivery problems, way of breastfeeding, and the first time of lactation beginning were obtained. Then neonates were divided into two groups of normal and hypernatremia (sodium≥150 mg/dl according to the amount of blood sodium level. Data was analyzed using correlation tests, chi-square, t test and Mann-Whitney tests with SPSS software (version 11.5.   Results: According to the findings of this study, the average age (P=0.911, Apgar scores (P=0.192, time of the first lactation (P=0.081 and breast feeding duration (P=o.108 showed no statistically significant difference between normal and hypernatremia groups. But the admission weight (P=0.011, times of lactation (P=0.108, breast-feeding status (P=0.001, let down reflex in mother’s breast (0.001, kind of nutrition (P=o.oo1, breast filling after childbirth and lactation (P=0.000, and breast softening after breast-feeding (P=0.000, urination frequency (P=0.000, defecation frequency (P=0.000 and duration of maternal hospitalization (P=0.007 showed statistically significant difference between the groups.   Conclusion: Neonatal weight control, times of lactation, lactation status, breast changes during breast feeding and frequency of urination and defecation may be effective in the early detection of the reduced breast milk intake and the control of the related complications.   Key Words: Breast Feedinf, Breast Milk

Learning How to Be a Research-Minded Teacher: Four Instrumental Music Education Students Investigate Good Music Teaching through Case Study Methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Sindberg, Laura K.

2016-01-01

Increasing evidence, both in general education and music education, points to the significance of inquiry as a part of teacher preparation. The purpose of this case study was to investigate the ways in which an introductory research project would help preservice music educators understand good "music teaching" and to discover the extent…

The Role of Psychometrics in Individual Differences Research in Cognition: A Case Study of the AX-CPT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shelly R. Cooper

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Investigating individual differences in cognition requires addressing questions not often thought about in standard experimental designs, especially regarding the psychometric properties of the task. Using the AX-CPT cognitive control task as a case study example, we address four concerns that one may encounter when researching the topic of individual differences in cognition. First, we demonstrate the importance of variability in task scores, which in turn directly impacts reliability, particularly when comparing correlations in different populations. Second, we demonstrate the importance of variability and reliability for evaluating potential failures to replicate predicted correlations, even within the same population. Third, we demonstrate how researchers can turn to evaluating psychometric properties as a way of evaluating the feasibility of utilizing the task in new settings (e.g., online administration. Lastly, we show how the examination of psychometric properties can help researchers make informed decisions when designing a study, such as determining the appropriate number of trials for a task.

The Role of Psychometrics in Individual Differences Research in Cognition: A Case Study of the AX-CPT

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Shelly R.; Gonthier, Corentin; Barch, Deanna M.; Braver, Todd S.

2017-01-01

Investigating individual differences in cognition requires addressing questions not often thought about in standard experimental designs, especially regarding the psychometric properties of the task. Using the AX-CPT cognitive control task as a case study example, we address four concerns that one may encounter when researching the topic of individual differences in cognition. First, we demonstrate the importance of variability in task scores, which in turn directly impacts reliability, particularly when comparing correlations in different populations. Second, we demonstrate the importance of variability and reliability for evaluating potential failures to replicate predicted correlations, even within the same population. Third, we demonstrate how researchers can turn to evaluating psychometric properties as a way of evaluating the feasibility of utilizing the task in new settings (e.g., online administration). Lastly, we show how the examination of psychometric properties can help researchers make informed decisions when designing a study, such as determining the appropriate number of trials for a task. PMID:28928690

Exploring the nature of science through courage and purpose: a case study of Charles Darwin's way of knowing.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Joel I

2016-01-01

In 1836, Charles Darwin returned to England with finches classified and seemingly showing little resemblance. However, subsequent examination by John Gould revealed 13 closely related species endemic to the Galápagos Islands. Despite initial confusion, and Darwin's overlooking to label these birds by island, some 100 years later they had become evolution's icon. The same could be said of Darwin's education and scientific pursuits, beginning in a rough, trial and error manner, lacking direction, but eventually benefitting from an unexpected opportunity that would lead to his theory of natural selection. This case study examines Darwin's way of learning and the reserve of courage and perseverance that he would need to see his treatise on evolution and natural selection published. To do this, themes from studying the "Nature of Science" are used to examine how Darwin's "way of knowing" advanced before and after his voyage upon HMS Beagle. Five themes from the "Nature of Science" were selected to illustrate Darwin's struggles and triumph: creating scientific knowledge is a human endeavor, such knowledge can explain an order and consistency in natural systems, knowledge comes from a scientist's way of knowing, is open to revision, and based on empirical evidence. The "Nature of Science" as applied to Charles Darwin is explored through the three above mentioned themes identified by the Next Generation Science Standards. Together, the themes help explain Darwin's way of knowing, from boyhood to manhood. This explanation helps humanize Darwin, allows students to see how he arrived at his theories, how the time taken to do so wore on his health and safety, and the risk Darwin had to weigh from their eventual publication. Each theme ends with a summary and related extension questions to draw students into the case, and facilitate inquiry. They relate Darwin's way of learning from the 1800s and his commitment to see his work published, to the learning environment of

Accelerator research studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

The Accelerator Research Studies program at the University of Maryland, sponsored by the Department of Energy under grant number DE-FG05-91ER40642, is currently in the first year of a three-year funding cycle. The program consists of the following three tasks: TASK A, Study of Transport and Longitudinal Compression of Intense, High-Brightness Beams, TASK B, Study of Collective Ion Acceleration by Intense Electron Beams and Pseudospark Produced High Brightness Electron Beams; TASK C, Study of a Gyroklystron High-power Microwave Source for Linear Colliders. In this report we document the progress that has been made during the past year for each of the three tasks

Using Role-Play and Case Study to Promote Student Research on Environmental Science

Science.gov (United States)

Deaton, Cynthia C. M.; Cook, Michelle

2012-01-01

Reform efforts encourage teachers to engage students in critical thinking skills and research. They also encourage teachers to meet the needs of their diverse student population and support students in developing communication skills. One way to step outside of traditional teaching approaches and engage middle school students in critical thinking,…

Visualization technology in neuropsychological research: A case study on corporal imaginary

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heidi Figueroa Sarriera

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Psychology, as a discipline, adopts a dualistic imaginary of the body: as a porous yet closed boundary. Therefore, accessing the "truth" of the subject requires all sorts of techniques and tools. The psychological discourse often considers these devices in exteriority of the subject. As a counterpoint, I propose that the artifacts are a constituent part of the corporal imaginary. The argument compares the Skinner Air Crib and Gesell’s Laboratory, two inventions of the mid-twentieth century, and a XXI century neuropsychological research about the location of the self. In the first two cases, the body is constructed as a porous barrier that participates within hygienic parameters, both operating and optimizing individual performance and military metaphors that has shaped social policy practices. The discussion of the neuropsychological research, as a case study, does not intend to question the results of the research from the neuropsychological field. It points towards those understandings and assumptions that reveal the connection of the neuropsychological discourse with its cultural context. Special attention is paid to gender construction, ways of mediating scientific knowledge, the hybridity between the neuropsychological reductionism of the scientific framing and the entertainment industry; as well as to the new forms of identity formation and the complementarity of the visuals and performance in the contemporary scene. 

Meta-analysis, complexity, and heterogeneity: a qualitative interview study of researchers' methodological values and practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenc, Theo; Felix, Lambert; Petticrew, Mark; Melendez-Torres, G J; Thomas, James; Thomas, Sian; O'Mara-Eves, Alison; Richardson, Michelle

2016-11-16

Complex or heterogeneous data pose challenges for systematic review and meta-analysis. In recent years, a number of new methods have been developed to meet these challenges. This qualitative interview study aimed to understand researchers' understanding of complexity and heterogeneity and the factors which may influence the choices researchers make in synthesising complex data. We conducted interviews with a purposive sample of researchers (N = 19) working in systematic review or meta-analysis across a range of disciplines. We analysed data thematically using a framework approach. Participants reported using a broader range of methods and data types in complex reviews than in traditional reviews. A range of techniques are used to explore heterogeneity, but there is some debate about their validity, particularly when applied post hoc. Technical considerations of how to synthesise complex evidence cannot be isolated from questions of the goals and contexts of research. However, decisions about how to analyse data appear to be made in a largely informal way, drawing on tacit expertise, and their relation to these broader questions remains unclear.

Researching illegal logging and deforestation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boekhout van Solinge, T.

2014-01-01

Tropical deforestation such as in the Amazon can be studied well from a green criminological perspective. Ethnographic research methods form a useful way to get insight into the dynamics and complexity of tropical deforestation, which often is illegal. This article gives an account of various

The European Multicentre Bronchiectasis Audit and Research Collaboration (EMBARC: experiences from a successful ERS Clinical Research Collaboration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James D. Chalmers

2017-09-01

To understand the role of Clinical Research Collaborations as the major way in which the European Respiratory Society can stimulate clinical research in different disease areas To understand some of the key features of successful disease registries To review key epidemiological, clinical and translational studies of bronchiectasis contributed by the European Multicentre Bronchiectasis Audit and Research Collaboration (EMBARC project in the past 5 years To understand the key research priorities identified by EMBARC for the next 5 years

Ways of the Jam

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brinck, Lars

In the PhD-dissertation Ways of the Jam I investigate jamming and learning as profoundly collective and improvisational matters. Bridging a theory of funk jamming with situated learning theoretical analyses of New Orleans second line, everyday leadership, and of a studio recording session...... demonstrate how looking at human activity from a jamming perspective enhances our understanding of learning as a complex collective and improvisational process. Ways of the Jam demonstrates how learning is a matter of changing improvisational participation in changing practice in analytically inseparable ways......’ of practice, on the collectivity of changing practice, on the improvisational aspects of participation, and on these analytic perspectives’ complex hegemony and subordination....

Exit-strategies - smart ways to release phospholipid vesicle cargo

OpenAIRE

Mellal Denia; Zumbuehl Andreas

2014-01-01

This highlight describes recent trends in fundamental phospholipid research towards possible future drug delivery technology. In particular it focuses on synthetic phospholipids and their vesicular constructs and describes selected “smart” ways to release cargo from liposomes. Various chemical and physical release triggers are discussed such as temperature changes, application of ultrasound, enzyme degradation, changes in pH, redox reactions, photochemical reactions, as well as the effects of...

Organisational learning by way of organisational development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elkjær, Bente

In the paper, the idea is explored of organisational learning as the opening andclosure of organisational space for inquiry or reflective thinking, as a way toconstruct organisational learning as an object for research. This is done by asking thequestion of whether an organisational development...... project contributes toorganisational learning. The point of departure is a municipality in Denmark workingtoward digitalising its administration. The conclusion is that the success of such aprocess very much depends on an organisation's ability to encompass severalunderstandings of organisational...... development and digital administration and tosustain them in a productive form of tension instead of pursuing only one of them....

More about "Research in Ambiguous, Conflictual, and Changing Contexts": Studying Ethnic Populations in China, Xi'an to Urumqi

Science.gov (United States)

Dorsten, Linda; Li, Yuhui

2011-01-01

A recent article in this journal discusses ways to manage uncertainty when the research field abruptly and significantly changes on researchers working inside their own society (Kacen & Chaitin, 2006). Our essay extends this discussion by asking: How do researchers manage ambiguous, conflictual, and rapidly changing events when they engage in…

A Framework to Support Research on Informal Inferential Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Zieffler, Andrew; Garfield, Joan; delMas, Robert; Reading, Chris

2008-01-01

Informal inferential reasoning is a relatively recent concept in the research literature. Several research studies have defined this type of cognitive process in slightly different ways. In this paper, a working definition of informal inferential reasoning based on an analysis of the key aspects of statistical inference, and on research from…

Facilitating the recruitment of minority ethnic people into research: qualitative case study of South Asians and asthma.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aziz Sheikh

2009-10-01

view the broadening of participation in research as important and are reasonably optimistic about the feasibility of recruiting South Asians into asthma studies provided that the barriers can be overcome. Suggested strategies for improving recruitment in the UK included a considerably improved support structure to provide academics with essential contextual information (e.g., languages of particular importance and contact with local gatekeepers, and the need to ensure that care is taken to engage with the minority ethnic communities in ways that are both culturally appropriate and sustainable; ensuring reciprocal benefits was seen as one key way of avoiding gatekeeper fatigue. Although voluntary measures to encourage researchers may have some impact, greater impact might be achieved if UK funding bodies followed the lead of the US National Institutes of Health requiring recruitment of ethnic minorities. Such a move is, however, likely in the short- to medium-term, to prove unpopular with many UK academics because of the added "hassle" factor in engaging with more diverse populations than many have hitherto been accustomed to.

Case Study Methodology and Homelessness Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jill Pable

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the potential suitability of case study methodology for inquiry with the homeless population. It references a research study that uses case study research method to build theory. This study's topic is the lived experience of destitute individuals who reside in homeless shelters, and explores the homeless shelter built environment's potential influence on resident satisfaction and recovery. Case study methodology may be appropriate because it explores real-life contextual issues that characterize homelessness and can also accommodate the wide range of homeless person demographics that make this group difficult to study in a generalized fashion. Further, case study method accommodates the need within research in this area to understand individualized treatments as a potential solution for homelessness.

Medical Research Participation as "Ethical Intercorporeality": Caring for Bio-Social Bodies in a Mexican Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wentzell, Emily

2017-03-01

While medical research ethics guidelines frame participants as individual and autonomous, anthropologists emphasize the relational nature of health research participation. I analyze interviews with Mexican male HPV study participants and their wives to examine how research participants themselves focus on relationships when imagining research-related benefits. I argue that couples incorporated the local trope of the Mexican citizenry as a biologically homogeneous national body, which individual members help or harm through their gendered health behavior to understand these benefits. I use the concept of "ethical intercorporeality" to discuss spouses' understandings of themselves as parts of bio-social wholes-the couple, family, and society-that they believed men's research participation could aid both physically and socially. This finding extends the insight that focusing on relationships rather than individuals is necessary for understanding the consequences of medical research by showing how participants themselves might apply this perspective in context-specific ways. © 2016 by the American Anthropological Association.

The Analysis of Two-Way Functional Data Using Two-Way Regularized Singular Value Decompositions

KAUST Repository

Huang, Jianhua Z.

2009-12-01

Two-way functional data consist of a data matrix whose row and column domains are both structured, for example, temporally or spatially, as when the data are time series collected at different locations in space. We extend one-way functional principal component analysis (PCA) to two-way functional data by introducing regularization of both left and right singular vectors in the singular value decomposition (SVD) of the data matrix. We focus on a penalization approach and solve the nontrivial problem of constructing proper two-way penalties from oneway regression penalties. We introduce conditional cross-validated smoothing parameter selection whereby left-singular vectors are cross- validated conditional on right-singular vectors, and vice versa. The concept can be realized as part of an alternating optimization algorithm. In addition to the penalization approach, we briefly consider two-way regularization with basis expansion. The proposed methods are illustrated with one simulated and two real data examples. Supplemental materials available online show that several "natural" approaches to penalized SVDs are flawed and explain why so. © 2009 American Statistical Association.

The role of theory in qualitative health research.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Moira

2010-06-01

The role of theory in qualitative research is often underplayed but it is relevant to the quality of such research in three main ways. Theory influences research design, including decisions about what to research and the development of research questions. Theory underpins methodology and has implications for how data are analyzed and interpreted. Finally, theory about a particular health issue may be developed, contributing to what is already known about the topic that is the focus of the study. This paper will critically consider the role of theory in qualitative primary care research in relation to these three areas. Different approaches to qualitative research will be drawn upon in order to illustrate the ways in which theory might variably inform qualitative research, namely generic qualitative research, grounded theory and discourse analysis. The aim is to describe and discuss key issues and provide practical guidance so that researchers are more aware of the role theory has to play and the importance of being explicit about how theory affects design, analysis and the quality of qualitative research.

One-Way Functions and Composition of Conjugacy and Discrete Logarithm Problems in the Small Cancellation Groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. V. Bezverkhniy

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The paper considers the possibility for building a one-way function in the small cancellation group. Thus, it uses the algorithm to solve the problem for a cyclic subgroup, also known as a discrete logarithm problem, and the algorithm to solve the word problem in this class of groups.Research is conducted using geometric methods of combinatorial group theory (the method of diagrams in groups.In public channel exchange of information are used one-way functions, direct calculation of which should be much less complicated than the calculation of the inverse function. The paper considers the combination of two problems: discrete logarithms and conjugacy. This leads to the problem of conjugate membership for a cyclic subgroup. The work proposes an algorithm based on this problem, which can be used as a basis in investigation of the appropriate one-way function for its fitness to build a public key distribution scheme.The study used doughnut charts of word conjugacy, and for one special class of such charts has been proven a property of the layer-based periodicity. The presence of such properties is obviously leads to a solution of the power conjugacy of words in the considered class of groups. Unfortunately, this study failed to show any periodicity of a doughnut chart, but for one of two possible classes this periodicity has been proven.The building process of one-way function considered in the paper was studied in terms of possibility to calculate both direct and inverse mappings. The computational complexity was not considered. Thus, the following two tasks were yet unresolved: determining the quality of one-way function in the above protocol of the public key distribution and completing the study of the periodicity of doughnut charts of word conjugacy, leading to a positive solution of the power conjugacy of words in the class groups under consideration.

Clinical Research Informatics: Supporting the Research Study Lifecycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, S B

2017-08-01

Objectives: The primary goal of this review is to summarize significant developments in the field of Clinical Research Informatics (CRI) over the years 2015-2016. The secondary goal is to contribute to a deeper understanding of CRI as a field, through the development of a strategy for searching and classifying CRI publications. Methods: A search strategy was developed to query the PubMed database, using medical subject headings to both select and exclude articles, and filtering publications by date and other characteristics. A manual review classified publications using stages in the "research study lifecycle", with key stages that include study definition, participant enrollment, data management, data analysis, and results dissemination. Results: The search strategy generated 510 publications. The manual classification identified 125 publications as relevant to CRI, which were classified into seven different stages of the research lifecycle, and one additional class that pertained to multiple stages, referring to general infrastructure or standards. Important cross-cutting themes included new applications of electronic media (Internet, social media, mobile devices), standardization of data and procedures, and increased automation through the use of data mining and big data methods. Conclusions: The review revealed increased interest and support for CRI in large-scale projects across institutions, regionally, nationally, and internationally. A search strategy based on medical subject headings can find many relevant papers, but a large number of non-relevant papers need to be detected using text words which pertain to closely related fields such as computational statistics and clinical informatics. The research lifecycle was useful as a classification scheme by highlighting the relevance to the users of clinical research informatics solutions. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart.

The impact of inquiry-based instructional professional development upon instructional practice: An action research study

Science.gov (United States)

Broom, Frances A.

This mixed method case study employs action research, conducted over a three month period with 11 elementary math and science practitioners. Inquiry as an instructional practice is a vital component of math and science instruction and STEM teaching. Teachers examined their beliefs and teaching practices with regard to those instructional factors that influence inquiry instruction. Video-taped lessons were compared to a rubric and pre and post questionnaires along with two interviews which informed the study. The results showed that while most beliefs were maintained, teachers implemented inquiry at a more advanced level after examining their teaching and reflecting on ways to increase inquiry practices. Because instructional practices provide only one component of inquiry-based instruction, other components need to be examined in a future study.

SEARCH THE ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF SUPPORTING IN ECONOMIC STABILITY OF AIR COMPANY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Oleshko

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The main ways of supporting in economic stability of aircompany and the minimize of the risks are discribed in this article. All these questions depend on the oil prices. The changes in fuel efficiency of planes are researched.

Revisiting Single Case Studies in International Business Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Worm, Verner; Jakobsen, Michael

strategies when navigating a multinational organization? To answer this question we employ a phenomenological approach as a way of exploring the relationship between organizational changes and employers’ response towards them. We argue that single case studies provides us with the capability of providing...

The Vulnerability of Study Participants in the Context of Transnational Biomedical Research: From Conceptual Considerations to Practical Implications.

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Orth, Helen Grete; Schicktanz, Silke

2017-08-01

Outsourcing clinical trials sponsored by pharmaceutical companies from industrialized countries to low- (middle)-income countries - summarized as transnational biomedical research (TBR) - has lead to many concerns about ethical standards. Whether study participants are particularly vulnerable is one of those concerns. However, the concept of vulnerability is still vague and varies in its definition. Despite the fact that important international ethical guidelines such as the Declaration of Helsinki by the World Medical Association or the Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects by the Council of International Organizations of Medical Sciences refer to vulnerability as ethical principle, each of their approaches are different. To overcome these shortcomings, we analyze and unite different approaches of vulnerability and develop practical criteria in order to operationalize the concept especially for the context of TBR. These criteria refer to the context of a study as well as the characteristics and the current living situation of study participants. Based on a case study of an HIV-vaccine-trial conducted in India we demonstrate how those criteria can be applied in a retrospective way to identify potential ethical conflicts. The criteria can also indicate a prospective function for ethical pre-assessment. For this, we provide an outlook for three major topics: 1. Vulnerability as a normative concept: Different ways of protection; 2. The relevance of transparency and 3. Vulnerability as an instrument to increase decision participation of human subjects. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The problem of appraising qualitative research

OpenAIRE

Dixon-Woods, M; Shaw, R; Agarwal, S; Smith, J

2004-01-01



 Qualitative research can make a valuable contribution to the study of quality and safety in health care. Sound ways of appraising qualitative research are needed, but currently there are many different proposals with few signs of an emerging consensus. One problem has been the tendency to treat qualitative research as a unified field. We distinguish universal features of quality from those specific to methodology and offer a set of minimally prescriptive prompts to assist with the assessme...

International Research Study of Public Procurement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Telgen, Jan; Harland, C.; Callender, G.; Harland, C.; Nassimbeni, G.; Schneller, E.

2012-01-01

In this chapter we examine the specific issue of public procurement, its importance to local, regional, national, and international economies as evidenced in a unique international comparative research study – the International Research Study of Public Procurement (IRSPP). First the public

DSM-5 diagnosis of Internet Gaming Disorder: Some ways forward in overcoming issues and concerns in the gaming studies field

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Kuss, Daria J.; Griffiths, Mark D.; Pontes, Halley M.

2017-01-01

Background and aims The current DSM-5 diagnosis of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) has led to a number of issues and concerns that we highlighted in our recent paper (Kuss, Griffiths, & Pontes, 2017). Experts in the field responded to our evaluation of these issues resulting in six commentaries. Methods In this paper, we offer responses to the six commentaries to move the scientific field forward. All of the responses to our original paper highlighted many conceptual, theoretical, and/or methodological problems with the proposed IGD diagnosis as outlined in the DSM-5. We outline some ways forward in overcoming issues and concerns in the gaming studies field. Results We argue that rather than stigmatizing gaming per se, the role of scientists and practitioners is to establish a clear-cut distinction between someone who may use games excessively but non-problematically and someone who is experiencing significant impairment in their daily lives as a consequence of their excessive gaming. This responsibility needs to be shared by popular media who are often quick to build a moral panic around gaming behaviors, often based on cherry-picking specific case studies and pieces of research which support their headlines. Conclusion Researchers, practitioners, gaming developers, and the media need to work together and collaboratively to build a realistic and comprehensive understanding of gaming as a normal, enjoyable, and often beneficial sociocultural practice, which for a small minority of excessive users may be associated with the experience of addiction-related symptoms that may require professional support. PMID:28662619

DSM-5 diagnosis of Internet Gaming Disorder: Some ways forward in overcoming issues and concerns in the gaming studies field.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuss, Daria J; Griffiths, Mark D; Pontes, Halley M

2017-06-01

Background and aims The current DSM-5 diagnosis of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) has led to a number of issues and concerns that we highlighted in our recent paper (Kuss, Griffiths, & Pontes, 2017). Experts in the field responded to our evaluation of these issues resulting in six commentaries. Methods In this paper, we offer responses to the six commentaries to move the scientific field forward. All of the responses to our original paper highlighted many conceptual, theoretical, and/or methodological problems with the proposed IGD diagnosis as outlined in the DSM-5. We outline some ways forward in overcoming issues and concerns in the gaming studies field. Results We argue that rather than stigmatizing gaming per se, the role of scientists and practitioners is to establish a clear-cut distinction between someone who may use games excessively but non-problematically and someone who is experiencing significant impairment in their daily lives as a consequence of their excessive gaming. This responsibility needs to be shared by popular media who are often quick to build a moral panic around gaming behaviors, often based on cherry-picking specific case studies and pieces of research which support their headlines. Conclusion Researchers, practitioners, gaming developers, and the media need to work together and collaboratively to build a realistic and comprehensive understanding of gaming as a normal, enjoyable, and often beneficial sociocultural practice, which for a small minority of excessive users may be associated with the experience of addiction-related symptoms that may require professional support.

Relay Selection and Resource Allocation in One-Way and Two-Way Cognitive Relay Networks

KAUST Repository

Alsharoa, Ahmad M.

2013-01-01

In this work, the problem of relay selection and resource power allocation in one- way and two-way cognitive relay networks using half duplex channels with different relaying protocols is investigated. Optimization problems for both single

Conceptions of Conflict in Organizational Conflict Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Elisabeth Naima; Clegg, Stewart

2017-01-01

. In doing so, we first apply a genealogical approach to study conceptions of conflict, and we find that three distinct and essentially contested conceptions frame studies of conflict at work. Second, we employ two empirical examples of conflict to illustrate how organizational conflict research can benefit......Diverse and often unacknowledged assumptions underlie organizational conflict research. In this essay, we identify distinct ways of conceptualizing conflict in the theoretical domain of organizational conflict with the aim of setting a new critical agenda for reflexivity in conflict research...

Clinical Impact Research – how to choose experimental or observational intervention study?

Science.gov (United States)

Malmivaara, Antti

2016-01-01

Abstract Background: Interventions directed to individuals by health and social care systems should increase health and welfare of patients and customers. Aims: This paper aims to present and define a new concept Clinical Impact Research (CIR) and suggest which study design, either randomized controlled trial (RCT) (experimental) or benchmarking controlled trial (BCT) (observational) is recommendable and to consider the feasibility, validity, and generalizability issues in CIR. Methods: The new concept is based on a narrative review of the literature and on author’s idea that in intervention studies, there is a need to cover comprehensively all the main impact categories and their respective outcomes. The considerations on how to choose the most appropriate study design (RCT or BCT) were based on previous methodological studies on RCTs and BCTs and on author’s previous work on the concepts benchmarking controlled trial and system impact research (SIR). Results: The CIR covers all studies aiming to assess the impact for health and welfare of any health (and integrated social) care or public health intervention directed to an individual. The impact categories are accessibility, quality, equality, effectiveness, safety, and efficiency. Impact is the main concept, and within each impact category, both generic- and context-specific outcome measures are needed. CIR uses RCTs and BCTs. Conclusions: CIR should be given a high priority in medical, health care, and health economic research. Clinicians and leaders at all levels of health care can exploit the evidence from CIR. Key messagesThe new concept of Clinical Impact Research (CIR) is defined as a research field aiming to assess what are the impacts of healthcare and public health interventions targeted to patients or individuals.The term impact refers to all effects caused by the interventions, with particular emphasis on accessibility, quality, equality, effectiveness, safety, and efficiency. CIR uses two study

Promoting transparent and accurate reporting of research studies in rheumatology: endorsement of reporting guidelines in rheumatology journals.

Science.gov (United States)

Marušić, Ana; Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Kitas, George D

2013-10-01

To adequately translate research into practice, research results should be reported in a way that is useful to practicing clinicians and policymakers. Based on evidence from systematic reviews, the implementation of reporting guidelines, such as CONSORT for randomized controlled trials, may improve the quality of research reporting. We assessed the endorsement of reporting guidelines in rheumatology journals. We analyzed guidelines for authors of all (n = 28) journals indexed in the "Rheumatology" Subject Category of the Journal Citation Reports published in 2012. Journal websites were reviewed for information relevant to reporting guidelines. Out of 28 indexed journals, only about a third (n = 10) endorsed 1 or more reporting guidelines, most commonly CONSORT. General editorial policies, such as those from the International Committee of Medical Journal editors (ICMJE), were endorsed by 19 journals (all 10 journals with and 9 out of 18 without reporting guidelines). Two rheumatology journals introduced specific reporting guidelines about economic studies and genetic association studies. The endorsement of reporting guidelines is low in rheumatology journals. To continue to serve their research community, rheumatology journals should provide the platform for the discussion on most relevant reporting guidelines and adopt them as a group, especially those specific for rheumatology research. Coordinated action of journals and other stakeholders in rheumatology research in the promotion of accurate and transparent reporting of health research studies would be an important part of knowledge translation into practice and well-being of rheumatology patients. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Suitability of customer relationship management systems for the management of study participants in biomedical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwanke, J; Rienhoff, O; Schulze, T G; Nussbeck, S Y

2013-01-01

Longitudinal biomedical research projects study patients or participants over a course of time. No IT solution is known that can manage study participants, enhance quality of data, support re-contacting of participants, plan study visits, and keep track of informed consent procedures and recruitments that may be subject to change over time. In business settings management of personal is one of the major aspects of customer relationship management systems (CRMS). To evaluate whether CRMS are suitable IT solutions for study participant management in biomedical research. Three boards of experts in the field of biomedical research were consulted to get an insight into recent IT developments regarding study participant management systems (SPMS). Subsequently, a requirements analysis was performed with stakeholders of a major biomedical research project. The successive suitability evaluation was based on the comparison of the identified requirements with the features of six CRMS. Independently of each other, the interviewed expert boards confirmed that there is no generic IT solution for the management of participants. Sixty-four requirements were identified and prioritized in a requirements analysis. The best CRMS was able to fulfill forty-two of these requirements. The non-fulfilled requirements demand an adaption of the CRMS, consuming time and resources, reducing the update compatibility, the system's suitability, and the security of the CRMS. A specific solution for the SPMS is favored instead of a generic and commercially-oriented CRMS. Therefore, the development of a small and specific SPMS solution was commenced and is currently on the way to completion.

Women finding the way: American Indian women leading intervention research in Native communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Brave Heart, Maria Yellow Horse; Chase, Josephine; Elkins, Jennifer; Martin, Jennifer; Nanez, Jennifer; Mootz, Jennifer

2016-01-01

Although there is literature concentrating on cross-cultural approaches to academic and community partnerships with Native communities, few address the process and experiences of American Indian women leading federally funded and culturally grounded behavioral health intervention research in Native communities. This paper summarizes relevant literature on community-engaged research with Native communities, examines traditional roles and modern challenges for American Indian women, describes the culturally grounded collaborative process for the authors' behavioral health intervention development with Native communities, and considers emergent themes from our own research experiences navigating competing demands from mainstream and Native communities. It concludes with recommendations for supporting and enhancing resilience.

Mediterranean Way of Competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Art Kovacic

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The Mediterranean area have a special concept of competitiveness topic. Normally is that region not so industrial and knowledge based oriented as a North Europe.That countries can't reach the same development level as the north one. Lisbon's and Goethenburg's strategies create the main framework of development programme. Mediterranean programme is such a case. European internal market has forced the EU countries to increase competitiveness. The economic prosperity of countries is associated with their ability to generate or attract economic activities which are able to increase income by performing well on themarket. Financial crisis in the EU has changed the look on the competitiveness research. Economy in the main countries has to find way of recovery. Former giants of the financial world have found themselves suddenly facing bankruptcy.Inevitably, the crisis is also having an effect on households and businesses - economic growth has slowed sharply and in some EU countries unemployment has begun to increase for the first time in several years. Form that perspective we have to find the right solution of European competitiveness.

[Nurturing clinician investigators is the best way to promote innovative drug development from academia].

Science.gov (United States)

Fukuhara, Shunichi; Sakushima, Ken; Nishimura, Masaharu

2012-03-01

Clinical research in Japan is still lacking in quality and quantity, and that situation is worsening. One important cause of those problems is the dearth of clinician-investigators. A recent change in the system for post-graduate clinical training affected the career paths of medical residents and reduced the number of young doctors who enter graduate school. Even those who are interested in clinical research now have incentives to avoid graduate school. In Japan, 19th-century biological absolutism is still the dominant paradigm in the medical-research community. Science for public health in the 21st century will benefit from a probabilistic paradigm, which can help to restore an appropriate balance between basic sciences and clinical research. Research done by clinician-investigators should be based on clinical questions that arise in medical practice. That research includes investigation of disease and practice, exploration of associations between causes and outcomes, evaluation of diagnostic tests, and studies of the efficacy of treatments and prevention strategies. We emphasize the importance of nurturing clinician-investigators for the development of clinical research in Japan. This may not be the fastest way to promote innovative drug development from academia, but it is certainly the best.

MODERN PROBLEMS AND WAYS OF DEVELOPMENT OF COOPERATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mishchenko Tatyana Leonidovna

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the importance of cooperation on the current economic stage as one of the forms of cooperation in the arena of the market of small, medium and large businesses. The aim of this work is the study of contemporary problems of agricultural co-operation and development of effective ways of functioning of the cooperative sector, which is a sustainable development factor of socio-economic systems, contributes to the protection of the interests of its participants, increasing of competitiveness at the industry and national markets. In compliance of the objectives outlined the following objectives of its decision: - to justify the relevance of research in modern Economics; - to analyze the economic interdependence of market subjects and their effectiveness in key financial indicators; - identify the causes, constraining the effective development of the cooperative forms of management. The scientific novelty of the results of the study consists of the following: - it is proved that the basic idea of the cooperative movement is a transition from small businesses to large-scale activity, which today has a real embodiment in life; - it is proved that co-operation is a key element of sustainable development of rural areas and market institutions and is based on a solid social base of farms, individual farms; - as a result of the carried out estimation of parameters of functioning of the agrarian market subjects, proposed an alternative way of economic interaction of participants of the cooperative company. As a conclusion it should be noted that the development of the cooperative sector in economic realities increases significantly in the conditions of Russia's accession to the WTO, ensuring competitiveness of the domestic products and first of all the country's food security.

MODERN PROBLEMS AND WAYS OF DEVELOPMENT OF COOPERATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Татьяна Леонидовна Мищенко

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the importance of cooperation on the current economic stage as one of the forms of cooperation in the arena of the market of small, medium and large businesses. The aim of this work is the study of contemporary problems of agricultural co-operation and development of effective ways of functioning of the cooperative sector, which is a sustainable development factor of socio-economic systems, contributes to the protection of the interests of its participants, increasing of competitiveness at the industry and national markets. In compliance of the objectives outlined the following objectives of its decision:- to justify the relevance of research in modern Economics;- to analyze the economic interdependence of market subjects and their effectiveness in key financial indicators;- identify the causes, constraining the effective development of the cooperative forms of management.The scientific novelty of the results of the study consists of the following:- it is proved that the basic idea of the cooperative movement is a transition from small businesses to large-scale activity, which today has a real embodiment in life;- it is proved that co-operation is a key element of sustainable development of rural areas and market institutions and is based on a solid social base of farms, individual farms;- as a result of the carried out estimation of parameters of functioning of the agrarian market subjects, proposed an alternative way of economic interaction of participants of the cooperative company. As a conclusion it should be noted that the development of the cooperative sector in economic realities increases significantly in the conditions of Russia's accession to the WTO, ensuring competitiveness of the domestic products and first of all the country's food security.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-1-28

Participants' Reactions to and Suggestions for Conducting Intimate Partner Violence Research: A Study of Rural Young Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Katie M; Greaney, Kayleigh; Palmer, Kelly M

2016-01-01