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Analytic
Terms modified by Analytic Selected AbstractsExplicit calculation of smoothed sensitivity coefficients for linear problemsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 2 2003R. A. Bia, ecki Abstract A technique of explicit calculation of sensitivity coefficients based on the approximation of the retrieved function by a linear combination of trial functions of compact support is presented. The method is applicable to steady state and transient linear inverse problems where unknown distributions of boundary fluxes, temperatures, initial conditions or source terms are retrieved. The sensitivity coefficients are obtained by solving a sequence of boundary value problems with boundary conditions and source term being homogeneous except for one term. This inhomogeneous term is taken as subsequent trial functions. Depending on the type of the retrieved function, it may appear on boundary conditions (Dirichlet or Neumann), initial conditions or the source term. Commercial software and analytic techniques can be used to solve this sequence of boundary value problems producing the required sensitivity coefficients. The choice of the approximating functions guarantees a filtration of the high frequency errors. Several numerical examples are included where the sensitivity coefficients are used to retrieve the unknown values of boundary fluxes in transient state and volumetric sources. Analytic, boundary-element and finite-element techniques are employed in the study. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A probabilistic measure of air traffic complexity in 3-D airspaceINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, Issue 10 2010Maria Prandini Abstract In this paper, we propose a new method to evaluate air traffic complexity in 3-D airspace through a probabilistic measure of the airspace occupancy. The key novelty of the approach is that uncertainty in the future aircraft positions is explicitly accounted for when evaluating complexity. Analytic,though approximate,expressions of the complexity measure are derived. Prospective applications for the proposed complexity metric include the timely identification of those multi-aircraft conflict situations that would be difficult to solve because of limited maneuverability space, and the design of trajectories so as to avoid congested regions that would require many tactical maneuvers to pass them through. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the approach. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] An acute care skills evaluation for graduating medical students: a pilot study using clinical simulationMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 9 2002David Murray Purpose, This investigation aimed to explore the measurement properties of scores from a patient simulator exercise. Methods, Analytic and holistic scores were obtained for groups of medical students and residents. Item analysis techniques were used to explore the nature of specific examinee actions. Interrater reliability was calculated. Scores were contrasted for third year medical students, fourth year medical students and emergency department residents. Results, Interrater reliabilities for analytic and holistic scores were 0·92 and 0·81, respectively. Based on item analysis, proper timing and sequencing of actions discriminated between low- and high-ability examinees. In general, examinees with more advanced training obtained higher scores on the simulation exercise. Conclusion, Reliable and valid measures of clinical performance can be obtained from a trauma simulation provided that care is taken in the development and scoring of the scenario. [source] Analytic and Continental Philosophy: Explaining the DifferencesMETAPHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2003Neil Levy Abstract: A number of writers have tackled the task of characterizing the differences between analytic and Continental philosophy. I suggest that these attempts have indeed captured the most important divergences between the two styles but have left the explanation of the differences mysterious. I argue that analytic philosophy is usefully seen as philosophy conducted within a paradigm, in Kuhn's sense of the word, whereas Continental philosophy assumes much less in the way of shared presuppositions, problems, methods and approaches. This important opposition accounts for all those features that have rightly been held to constitute the difference between the two traditions. I finish with some reflections on the relative superiority of each tradition and by highlighting the characteristic deficiencies of each. [source] Analytic and Heuristic Processing Influences on Adolescent Reasoning and Decision-MakingCHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2001Paul A. Klaczynski The normative/descriptive gap is the discrepancy between actual reasoning and traditional standards for reasoning. The relationship between age and the normative/descriptive gap was examined by presenting adolescents with a battery of reasoning and decision-making tasks. Middle adolescents (N= 76) performed closer to normative ideals than early adolescents (N=66), although the normative/descriptive gap was large for both groups. Correlational analyses revealed that (1) normative responses correlated positively with each other, (2) nonnormative responses were positively interrelated, and (3) normative and nonnormative responses were largely independent. Factor analyses suggested that performance was based on two processing systems. The "analytic" system operates on "decontextualized" task representations and underlies conscious, computational reasoning. The "heuristic" system operates on "contextualized," content-laden representations and produces "cognitively cheap" responses that sometimes conflict with traditional norms. Analytic processing was more clearly linked to age and to intelligence than heuristic processing. Implications for cognitive development, the competence/performance issue, and rationality are discussed. [source] Taking Stock of Corporate Governance Research While Looking to the FutureCORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2009Igor Filatotchev ABSTRACT Manuscript Type: Editorial Research Question/Issue: This essay identifies some key issues for the analysis of corporate governance based on the articles within this special review issue coupled with our own perspectives. Our aim in this issue is to distil some research streams in the field and identify opportunities for future research. Research Findings/Results: We summarize the eight papers included in this special issue and briefly highlight their main contributions to the literature which collectively deal with the role and impact of corporate boards, codes of corporate governance, and the globalization of corporate governance systems. In addition to the new insights offered by these reviews, we attempt to offer our own ideas on where future research needs to be targeted. Theoretical Implications: We highlight a number of research themes where future governance research may prove fruitful. This includes taking a more holistic approach to corporate governance issues and developing an inter-disciplinary perspective by building on agency theory while considering the rich new insights offered by complementary theories, such as behavioral theory, institutional theory and the resource-based views of the firm. In particular, future corporate governance research needs to be conducted in multiple countries, particularly in emerging economies, if we want to move closer to the journal's aim of producing a global theory of corporate governance. Practical Implications: Our analysis suggests that analytic and regulatory approaches to corporate governance issues should move from a "one-size-fits-all" template to taking into account organizational, institutional and national contexts. [source] Mutant Ecologies: Radioactive Life in Post,Cold War New MexicoCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 4 2004Joseph Masco A political ecology of the nuclear age developed through a theorization of "mutation" interrogates the contemporary terms of radioactive nature in New Mexico. As an analytic, the value of "mutation" is its emphasis on multigenerational effects, enabling an assessment of biosocial transformations as, alternatively, injury, improvement, or noise. Cold War radiation experiments, the post,Cold War transformation of nuclear production sites into "wildlife reserves," and the expanding role that biological beings play as "environmental sentinels" in New Mexico are all sites where concerns about "species" integrity may be articulated in relation to radioactive nature. [source] Blood,brain barrier damage and brain penetration of antiepileptic drugs: Role of serum proteins and brain edemaEPILEPSIA, Issue 4 2009Nicola Marchi Summary Purpose:, Increased blood,brain barrier (BBB) permeability is radiologically detectable in regions affected by drug-resistant epileptogenic lesions. Brain penetration of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) may be affected by BBB damage. We studied the effects of BBB damage on brain distribution of hydrophilic [deoxy-glucose (DOG) and sucrose] and lipophilic (phenytoin and diazepam) molecules. We tested the hypothesis that lipophilic and hydrophilic drug distribution is differentially affected by BBB damage. Methods:, In vivo BBB disruption (BBBD) was performed in rats by intracarotid injection of hyperosmotic mannitol. Drugs (H3-sucrose, 3H-deoxy-glucose, 14C-phenytoin, and C14-diazepam) or unlabeled phenytoin was measured and correlated to brain water content and protein extravasation. In vitro hippocampal slices were exposed to different osmolarities; drug penetration and water content were assessed by analytic and densitometric methods, respectively. Results:, BBBD resulted in extravasation of serum protein and radiolabeled drugs, but was associated with no significant change in brain water. Large shifts in water content in brain slices in vitro caused a small effect on drug penetration. In both cases, total drug permeability increase was greater for lipophilic than hydrophilic compounds. BBBD reduced the amount of free phenytoin in the brain. Discussion:, After BBBD, drug binding to protein is the main controller of total brain drug accumulation. Osmotic BBBD increased serum protein extravasation and reduced free phenytoin brain levels. These results underlie the importance of brain environment and BBB integrity in determining drug distribution to the brain. If confirmed in drug-resistant models, these mechanisms could contribute to drug brain distribution in refractory epilepsies. [source] Pathways to discovery in epilepsy research: Rethinking the quest for curesEPILEPSIA, Issue 1 2008Daniel H. Lowenstein Summary This paper, based on the 4th Annual Hoyer Lecture presented at the 2006 annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, first provides a general view of the current limitations in therapies aimed at achieving the goal of "no seizures, no side effects" for patients living with epilepsy. Some of the seminal discoveries in epilepsy research over the past 100 years are then reviewed, with an emphasis on the pivotal role of basic and clinical/translational science in leading the way to new and effective means for diagnosing and treating for epilepsy. The paper concludes with a view of the future course of epilepsy research. Scientific advances will increasingly rely on the collaboration of multidisciplinary teams of reseachers using the analytic and storage capabilities of machines, and linked together by communication tools such as the Internet and related technologies. [source] Malagasy and Western Conceptions of Memory: Implications for Postcolonial Politics and the Study of MemoryETHOS, Issue 2 2006Jennifer Cole In this article, I analyze the social dynamics of memory during two electoral crises that took place in Madagascar in 1993 and 2002, respectively. These crises were accompanied by intense surges of memory. For some participants, the surge of remembering was simultaneously discursive, emotional, and embodied; for others it remained primarily discursive, with important consequences for how people related to the political changes taking place. Rather than turn to Western social theories of memory, which tend to separate the discursive, embodied, and emotional dimensions of memory, I suggest that the Malagasy practice of memory,mahatsiaro,offers a better analytic, one that combines the different aspects of memory together. The highly contingent ways in which the political, emotional, and embodied dimensions of memory converge to motivate political action suggests the need to integrate attention to personal experience with wider sociopolitical events and structures of power in particular historical settings. [Madagascar, discursive memory, emotion, embodiment, politics] [source] Researching Quality in Emergency MedicineACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 11 2002Kenneth E. Bizovi MD Research aimed at promoting quality of medical care must be quality research. This paper addresses issues of study design that can affect the validity of such research. The authors draw on previous research about medical errors,recognizing that issues of study design pertaining to medical errors apply to other research on quality of care and, indeed, to clinical research in general. The November 2000 Special Issue of Academic Emergency Medicine addressed medical errors in emergency medicine. In that issue, Kyriacou and Coben described three categories of research on medical errors: 1) research aimed at describing the magnitude of the problem; 2) research identifying causal factors for medical errors; and 3) research evaluating interventions aimed at improving quality of care. These three categories correspond to research methodologies that are, respectively, 1) descriptive; 2) qualitative; and 3) analytic. This article discusses challenges to the validity of each type of research and suggests some possible solutions to these problems. In addition, the article reviews projects that illustrate important issues in research quality. Three research projects are discussed: 1) a published project evaluating an intervention aimed at improving quality; 2) a quality improvement project that is transformed into a research project; and 3) a quality monitoring research project that exemplifies how a statistical technique borrowed from industry can offer a unique solution to quality challenges in medicine. Each of these projects demonstrates some of the challenges in researching quality and their solutions. [source] The diffusion of regulatory impact analysis , Best practice or lesson-drawing?EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 5 2004CLAUDIO M. RADAELLI Its main theoretical thrust is to explore the limitations of the conventional analysis of RIA in terms of de-contextualised best practice and provide an alternative framework based on the lesson-drawing literature. After having discussed how demand and supply of best practice emerge in the OECD and the European Union, some analytic (as opposed to normative) lessons are presented. The main lessons revolve around the politics of problem definition, the nesting of RIA into wider reform programmes, the political malleability of RIA, the trade-off between precision and administrative assimilation, the roles of networks and watchdogs, and institutional learning. The conclusions discuss the implications of the findings for future research. [source] Time asymmetric quantum theory , I. Modifying an axiom of quantum physicsFORTSCHRITTE DER PHYSIK/PROGRESS OF PHYSICS, Issue 6 2003A.R. Bohm A slight modification of one axiom of quantum theory changes a reversible theory into a time asymmetric theory. Whereas the standard Hilbert space axiom does not distinguish mathematically between the space of states (in-states of scattering theory) and the space of observables (out-"states" of scattering theory) the new axiom associates states and observables to two different Hardy subspaces which are dense in the same Hilbert space and analytic in the lower and upper complex energy plane, respectively. As a consequence of this new axiom the dynamical equations (Schrödinger or Heisenberg) integrate to a semigroup evolution. Extending this new Hardy space axiom to a relativistic theory provides a relativistic theory of resonance scattering and decay with Born probablilities that fulfill Einstein causality and the exponential decay law. [source] To whom, and for whom, must I respond?GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2002Negotiating responsibility during the last years of East German state socialism This paper reconsiders the practice of responsibility during the last years of East German state socialism. It treats the matter of responsibility as a kind of dialogue, attending to the various ways in which people were called upon to respond to and account for their actions and those of others across a range of circumstances and predicaments. It addresses several basic questions, among them: What did the ordinary practice of responsibility look like in the East? How did this requirement to respond to and for others affect the arrangements of ordinary living? More specifically, how did the practice of responsibility work out geographically? The approach taken here is both practical and analytic. It attends to the practical and constitutive aspects of dilemmas of responsibility across a range of situations. It is also historical and ethnographic, based on the city and district of Rostock, and drawing upon a range of primary source materials, from security reports to interviews to sermons delivered during the 1980s. The paper shows some of the ways in which the practice of responsibility played itself out in relation to place. For example, residents themselves invoked a rhetoric of responsibility, criticizing local officials for being unresponsive or indifferent to their concerns. Others found ways to generate ambiguity about how the rules of the state were to be applied in particular circumstances. Finally, some residents simply refused to socialize and otherwise assume responsibility for certain others both at work and at home. [source] The International Quotidian Hemodialysis Registry: Rationale and methodsHEMODIALYSIS INTERNATIONAL, Issue 4 2004Gihad E Nesrallah Abstract The HEMO study has provided evidence that a higher dialysis dose per session does not improve survival in conventional three times a week hemodialysis (HD). Attention has therefore shifted to HD schedules that vary in frequency and/or duration of dialysis. Although observational data favoring the use of frequent dialysis are steadily accumulating, compelling evidence supporting its superiority is still lacking. Several advances have recently been made with a view to put this form of therapy on much more solid footing. Upcoming research initiatives including clinical trials of frequent HD and the quotidian HD registry will provide a wealth of analytic and descriptive data that will help define the role for frequent HD regimens as a therapy for end-stage renal disease. [source] Some Afterthoughts on Culture and Explanation in Historical InquiryHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 3 2000Chris Lorenz I argue here that the articles in this forum contain basic agreements. All three reject naturalism, reductionism, and monism while retaining causality as an explanatory category, and all three emphasize the role of time and argue for a view in which culture is regarded as both structured and contingent. The differences among the explanatory proposals of Hall, Biernacki, and Kane are as important as the similarities: while Hall favors a Weberian approach, Biernacki argues for a primarily pragmatic explanation of culture, and Kane for a primarily semiotic explanation. I argue that all three positions face immanent problems in elucidating the exact nature of cultural explanation. While Hall leaves the problem of "extrinsic" ideal-typical explanation unsolved, Biernacki simply presupposes the superiority of pragmatic over other types of cultural explanation, and Kane does the same for semiotic explanation. Hints at cultural explanation in the form of narrative remain underargued and are built on old ideas of an opposition between "analysis" and "narrative." This is also the case with the latest plea for "analytic narratves." I conclude that a renewed reflection on this opposition is called for in order to come to grips with cultural explanation and to get beyond the old stereotypes regarding the relationship between historical and social-scientific approaches to the past. [source] Antecedents and outcomes of workplace incivility: Implications for human resource development research and practiceHUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2009Thomas G. Reio Jr. This cross-sectional, correlational study (N = 402) examined the relationships among select demographics, workplace adaptation, employee affect, and incivility and physical health and job satisfaction. The paper-and-pencil survey battery consisted of nine scales. The hypotheses were tested through correlational, factor analytic, and hierarchical regression analytic procedures. Younger males engaged more frequently in uncivil behavior. After statistically controlling for the demographic variables, high negative affect and low degree of establishing relationships with coworkers and supervisors (adaptation) predicted more incivility. For the physical health model, establishing relationships with coworkers and positive affect positively contributed to perceived physical health, while organizational incivility negatively contributed to the dependent variable. As for the job satisfaction model, establishing relationships with coworkers and supervisors and positive affect positively predicted satisfaction, whereas negative affect and incivility made negative contributions to the regression equation. In all cases, the magnitude of effect ranged from medium to large, supporting the theoretical, empirical, and practical relevance of understanding the detrimental effects of uncivil behaviors on organizational outcomes. HRD researchers and professionals are highlighted as possible means for reducing uncivil workplace behaviors and improving organizational performance. [source] Processing of facial and non-facial visual stimuli in 2,5-year-old childrenINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2002Gudrun SchwarzerArticle first published online: 3 MAY 200 Abstract The present experiments examined the degree to which analytic and holistic modes of processing play a role in the way 2,5-year-old children process facial and non-facial visual stimuli. Children between 2 and 5 years of age were instructed to categorize faces (in Experiment 1) and non-facial visual stimuli, such as birds and planes (in Experiment 2), into two categories. The categories were so constructed as to allow the children to categorize the facial and non-facial stimuli either analytically (by focusing on a single attribute) or holistically (in terms of overall similarity). The results demonstrated that the previous conclusions concerning older children's (from 6 years onwards) holistic mode of facial processing could not be generalized to younger children because most of the 2,5-year olds processed the faces by taking single facial attributes into account. A similar pattern of results emerged for the processing of objects, showing that the majority of the children focused on single attributes. Thus, for both visual domains, holistic processing was the exception rather than the rule. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] An integral-collocation-based fictitious-domain technique for solving elliptic problemsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 11 2008N. Mai-Duy Abstract This paper presents a new fictitious-domain technique for numerically solving elliptic second-order partial differential equations (PDEs) in complex geometries. The proposed technique is based on the use of integral-collocation schemes and Chebyshev polynomials. The boundary conditions on the actual boundary are implemented by means of integration constants. The method works for both Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. Several test problems are considered to verify the technique. Numerical results show that the present method yields spectral accuracy for smooth (analytic) problems. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Analysis and implementation issues for the numerical approximation of parabolic equations with random coefficientsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 6-7 2009F. Nobile Abstract We consider the problem of numerically approximating statistical moments of the solution of a time-dependent linear parabolic partial differential equation (PDE), whose coefficients and/or forcing terms are spatially correlated random fields. The stochastic coefficients of the PDE are approximated by truncated Karhunen,Loève expansions driven by a finite number of uncorrelated random variables. After approximating the stochastic coefficients, the original stochastic PDE turns into a new deterministic parametric PDE of the same type, the dimension of the parameter set being equal to the number of random variables introduced. After proving that the solution of the parametric PDE problem is analytic with respect to the parameters, we consider global polynomial approximations based on tensor product, total degree or sparse polynomial spaces and constructed by either a Stochastic Galerkin or a Stochastic Collocation approach. We derive convergence rates for the different cases and present numerical results that show how these approaches are a valid alternative to the more traditional Monte Carlo Method for this class of problems. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Computing non-Newtonian fluid flow with radial basis function networksINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 12 2005N. Mai-Duy Abstract This paper is concerned with the application of radial basis function networks (RBFNs) for solving non-Newtonian fluid flow problems. Indirect RBFNs, which are based on an integration process, are employed to represent the solution variables; the governing differential equations are discretized by means of point collocation. To enhance numerical stability, stress-splitting techniques are utilized. The proposed method is verified through the computation of the rectilinear and non-rectilinear flows in a straight duct and the axisymmetric flow in an undulating tube using Newtonian, power-law, Criminale,Ericksen,Filbey (CEF) and Oldroyd-B models. The obtained results are in good agreement with the analytic and benchmark solutions. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Comments on Jeff R. Crump's ,The end of public housing as we know it: public housing policy, labor regulation and the US city'INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2003Alex SchwartzArticle first published online: 13 MAY 200 Jeff Crump's discussion of housing policy in the United States is highly polemic but not very analytic or informative. Crump argues that federal housing policy is attempting to move people out of public housing and into the private housing market and the lowwage labor force. However, he fails to support his argument with credible evidence. My comments point out the most egregious of Crump's claims. I start with Crump's most extreme contentions that housing policy is coercing public housing residents into the low-wage labor force. I then question his dismissive attitude toward the problems confronted by residents of distressed public housing and policies designed to help low-income families move out of impoverished neighborhoods. I subsequently show how Crump exaggerates the extent to which federal housing policy is clearing central cities of subsidized low-income housing. I conclude with a few words on the serious issues that a more informed critique of US housing policy could have raised. L'exposé de Jeff Crump sur la politique du logement aux Etats-Unis relève principalement de la polémique, plus que de l'analyse ou de l'information. Selon lui, la politique fédérale tente de déplacer la population des logements sociaux vers les marchés de l'habitat privé et de la main-d',uvre à bas salaires. Toutefois, il n'apporte aucune preuve crédible à son propos. Ma réaction porte sur ses arguments les plus insignes, en commençant par ses allégations extrémistes selon lesquelles la politique du logement contraint les habitants des logements publics à des emplois peu rémunérés. Je remets ensuite en cause son dédain à l'égard des difficultés que rencontrent les résidents des logements sociaux insalubres, sans oublier les politiques prévues pour aider les familles à faibles revenus à quitter les quartiers pauvres. En conséquence, à mon avis, Crump exagère la mesure dans laquelle la politique fédérale élimine des centres-villes les habitats à loyer modéré subventionnés. En quelques mots, ma conclusion porte sur les questions graves qu'aurait pu soulever un commentateur mieux documenté sur la politique du logement aux Etats-Unis. [source] Hierarchical multiobjective routing in Multiprotocol Label Switching networks with two service classes: a heuristic solutionINTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2009Rita Girão-Silva Abstract Modern multiservice network routing functionalities have to deal with multiple, heterogeneous and multifaceted Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. A heuristic approach devised to find "good" solutions to a hierarchical multiobjective alternative routing optimization problem in Multiprotocol Label Switching networks with two service classes (and different types of traffic flows in each class), namely QoS and Best Effort services, formulated within a hierarchical network-wide optimization framework, is presented. This heuristic solution is based on a bi-objective constrained shortest path model and is applied to a test network used in a benchmarking case study. An experimental study based on analytic and discrete event simulation results is presented, allowing for an assessment of the quality of results obtained with this new heuristic solution for various traffic matrices. A dynamic version of the routing method is formulated and its performance with the same case study network is analysed. [source] Testing of a measurement model for baccalaureate nursing students' self-evaluation of core competenciesJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 11 2009Li-Ling Hsu Abstract Title.,Testing of a measurement model for baccalaureate nursing students' self-evaluation of core competencies. Aim. This paper is a report of a study to test the psychometric properties of the Self-Evaluated Core Competencies Scale for baccalaureate nursing students. Background. Baccalaureate nursing students receive basic nursing education and continue to build competency in practice settings after graduation. Nursing students today face great challenges. Society demands analytic, critical, reflective and transformative attitudes from graduates. It also demands that institutions of higher education take the responsibility to encourage students, through academic work, to acquire knowledge and skills that meet the needs of the modern workplace, which favours highly skilled and qualified workers. Methods. A survey of 802 senior nursing students in their last semester at college or university was conducted in Taiwan in 2007 using the Self-Evaluated Core Competencies Scale. Half of the participants were randomly assigned either to principal components analysis with varimax rotation or confirmatory factor analysis. Results. Principal components analysis revealed two components of core competencies that were named as humanity/responsibility and cognitive/performance. The initial model of confirmatory factor analysis was then converged to an acceptable solution but did not show a good fit; however, the final model of confirmatory factor analysis was converged to an acceptable solution with acceptable fit. The final model has two components, namely humanity/responsibility and cognitive/performance. Both components have four indicators. In addition, six indicators have their correlated measurement errors. Conclusion. Self-Evaluated Core Competencies Scale could be used to assess the core competencies of undergraduate nursing students. In addition, it should be used as a teaching guide to increase students' competencies to ensure quality patient care in hospitals. [source] Exploring the rabbit hole of possibilities by myself or with my group: The benefits and liabilities of activating counterfactual mind-sets for information sharing and group coordination,JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING, Issue 4 2004Katie A. Liljenquist Abstract The current experiment explored the effect of activating a counterfactual mind-set on the discussion of unique information and group judgment accuracy. Evidence suggests that a counterfactual mind-set is characterized by a focused, analytic mental state and, when activated at the group level, improves group judgment accuracy in the murder mystery paradigm (a hidden profile task). We hypothesized that the beneficial effect of the counterfactual mind-set would only help group problem-solving tasks if the mind-set had been activated at the group level, allowing the analytical mind-set to play out in an atmosphere of synergistic coordination. In contrast, if this highly focused mental state is activated at the individual level, it could impair group judgment quality because inwardly focused analytical individuals may fail to coordinate their behavior with other group members. Consistent with our hypothesis, activating a counterfactual mind-set at the individual level had a debilitating effect on the group judgment task, whereas activating a counterfactual mind-set at the group level had a facilitative effect, increasing information sharing, synergistic coordination and judgment accuracy. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Novel computer program for fast exact calculation of accessible and molecular surface areas and average surface curvatureJOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY, Issue 6 2002Oleg V. Tsodikov Abstract New computer programs, SurfRace and FastSurf, perform fast calculations of the solvent accessible and molecular (solvent excluded) surface areas of macromolecules. Program SurfRace also calculates the areas of cavities inaccessible from the outside. We introduce the definition of average curvature of molecular surface and calculate average molecular surface curvatures for each atom in a structure. All surface area and curvature calculations are analytic and therefore yield exact values of these quantities. High calculation speed of this software is achieved primarily by avoiding computationally expensive mathematical procedures wherever possible and by efficient handling of surface data structures. The programs are written initially in the language C for PCs running Windows 2000/98/NT, but their code is portable to other platforms with only minor changes in input-output procedures. The algorithm is robust and does not ignore either multiplicity or degeneracy of atomic overlaps. Fast, memory-efficient and robust execution make this software attractive for applications both in computationally expensive energy minimization algorithms, such as docking or molecular dynamics simulations, and in stand-alone surface area and curvature calculations. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 23: 600,609, 2002 [source] The Dimensionality of DSM-IV Alcohol Use Disorders Among Adolescent and Adult Drinkers and Symptom Patterns by Age, Gender, and Race/EthnicityALCOHOLISM, Issue 5 2009Thomas C. Harford Background:, There is limited information on the validity of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) alcohol use disorders (AUD) symptom criteria among adolescents in the general population. The purpose of this study is to assess the DSM-IV AUD symptom criteria as reported by adolescent and adult drinkers in a single representative sample of the U.S. population aged 12 years and older. This design avoids potential confounding due to differences in survey methodology when comparing adolescents and adults from different surveys. Methods:, A total of 133,231 current drinkers (had at least 1 drink in the past year) aged 12 years and older were drawn from respondents to the 2002 to 2005 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. DSM-IV AUD criteria were assessed by questions related to specific symptoms occurring during the past 12 months. Factor analytic and item response theory models were applied to the 11 AUD symptom criteria to assess the probabilities of symptom item endorsements across different values of the underlying trait. Results:, A 1-factor model provided an adequate and parsimonious interpretation for the 11 AUD criteria for the total sample and for each of the gender,age groups. The MIMIC model exhibited significant indication for item bias among some criteria by gender, age, and race/ethnicity. Symptom criteria for "tolerance,""time spent," and "hazardous use" had lower item thresholds (i.e., lower severity) and low item discrimination, and they were well separated from the other symptoms, especially in the 2 younger age groups (12 to 17 and 18 to 25). "Larger amounts,""cut down,""withdrawal," and "legal problems" had higher item thresholds but generally lower item discrimination, and they tend to exhibit greater dispersion at higher AUD severity, particularly in the youngest age group (12 to 17). Conclusions:, Findings from the present study do not provide support for the 2 separate DSM-IV diagnoses of alcohol abuse and dependence among either adolescents or adults. Variations in criteria severity for both abuse and dependence offer support for a dimensional approach to diagnosis which should be considered in the ongoing development of DSM-V. [source] How middle managers integrate knowledge within projectsKNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 3 2004Sergio Janczak This qualitative study explores the interwoven strategic and tactical processes that middle management uses to integrate knowledge in multidivisional organizations. I add to the management literature by not only examining the new roles of middle managers but also by explaining the dynamics of these middle managers' roles when pursuing projects. In summary, my research contributes to the process literature by focusing on middle management. These findings indicate that middle managers used three processes (analytic, intuitive and pragmatic) to create and integrate dispersed knowledge into organizational knowledge delivered to their clients. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Integrating Formal and Functional Approaches to Language Teaching in French Immersion: An Experimental StudyLANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 2001Elaine M. Day This experimental study was designed to evaluate the effect on French language proficiency of an integrated formal, analytic and functional, communicative approach (experiential) to second-language teaching in the immersion classroom. The impetus for the study arises from previous research indicating that immersion children show persistent weaknesses in their grammatical skills despite the fluent, functional proficiency they achieve in their second language. The experimental materials, which were custom-designed for our study, highlight form-function relations, promote noticing, encourage metalin-guistic awareness, and provide opportunities for language practice and thus relate to some of the theoretical issues that Rod Ellis (this volume) has indicated are important in SLA in the 90s. This classroom-based study on the conditional is one of a series of studies undertaken in Canadian French immersion to investigate the effectiveness of form-focused instruction in classrooms (see Swain, 2000). The results of our study, which was conducted in grade 7 early immersion, showed that the Experimental group performed significantly higher in writing than the Control group, in both the post- and the follow-up testing. Although this was not found for speaking, an examination of the individual class data revealed greater and more consistent growth in speaking for the Experimental than for the Control classes, suggesting that they benefited somewhat from the experi- mental treatment in this domain as well. Although Ellis (this volume) notes that research on form-focused instruc- tion in the 90s has tended to split pedagogy from theory, the immersion research in this area does not seem t o reflect this shift. In a recent article, Swain (2000) reviews the French Immersion (FI) studies and summarizes their re- sults as follows: "Overall, the set of experiments conducted in FI classes suggest that there is value in focusing on language form through the use of pre-planned curriculum materials in the context of content-based language learn- ing" (Swain, 2000, p. 205). Her reference to curriculum materials and to the specific context of content-based lan- guage learning should signal to the reader the orientation t o pedagogical considerations that characterize this research. As Ellis notes, hybrid research using both experimental and qualitative methods is becoming more common in SLA. Recently, the experimental materials in our study were implemented in a grade 8 immersion classroom, and the children's collaborative language activity was observed by a researcher working from a sociocultural theoretical per- spective (Spielman-Davidson, 2000). The uptake of our research by a researcher working in another paradigm introduces another kind of hybridity that we hope will also shed further light on questions in form-focused instruction and lead to appropriate changes in pedagogy and in the design of immersion curricula. [source] A transmission problem with imperfect contact for an unbounded multiply connected domainMATHEMATICAL METHODS IN THE APPLIED SCIENCES, Issue 4 2010L. P. Castro Abstract An analysis of the flux of certain unbounded doubly periodic multiply connected domains with circle disjoint components is performed. This is done under generalized non-ideal contact conditions on the boundary between domain components, which include analytic given data. A formula for the flux that depends on the conductivity of components, their radii, centers, the conductivity of the matrix, and also certain values of special Eisenstein functions is derived. Existence and uniqueness of solution to the problem are obtained by using a transmission problem with imperfect contact for analytic functions in corresponding Hardy spaces. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||