Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Used Strategies (used + strategy)
Selected AbstractsMagnet Recognition and Practice Development: Two journeys towards practice improvement in health careINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING PRACTICE, Issue 6 2009Zoe Jordan BA MA (Communications Studies) Health service providers continue to struggle with recruitment, retention, evidence-based practice and practice improvement in order to provide high-quality care for the communities they serve. In doing so, they are often required to implement strategies, which require considerable change at both organizational and ward/unit levels. The question remains, how do health service providers instigate processes that will result in positive and sustainable changes to practice and better outcomes for staff and patients? This paper outlines two increasingly used strategies for practice improvement (namely Magnet Recognition and Practice Development), their points of convergence and divergence and makes some broad recommendations for those seeking effective strategies for change that are cognizant of context and culture. [source] Employees' choices in learning how to use information and communication technology systems at work: strategies and approachesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2010Eija Korpelainen The purpose of this paper is to promote the understanding of how employees learn to use information and communication technology (ICT) systems at work. The elements of a learning activity in the context of ICT use are identified from the literature. In particular, approaches to learning, learning strategies and problem-solving strategies are reviewed. The empirical part of the study examines how employees choose to start learning how to use ICT systems, and how they choose to learn while solving problems related to system use. The data were collected using qualitative semi-structured interviews with 39 employees in three organizations. The interviewees usually preferred to learn how to use ICT quickly and without investing too much effort. The interviewees preferred informal learning and problem-solving strategies. The most commonly used strategies were to try things out alone or together with peers, or to ask for help from peers. The main conclusions of the study are that the users' learning intentions affect the kind of learning support they need and that ICT learning is best approached as a learning activity strongly rooted in collaboration and the social context. [source] Accuracy of scale conceptions in science: Mental maneuverings across many orders of spatial magnitudeJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 10 2006Thomas R. Tretter The use of unifying themes that span the various branches of science is recommended to enhance curricular coherence in science instruction. Conceptions of spatial scale are one such unifying theme. This research explored the accuracy of spatial scale conceptions of science phenomena across a spectrum of 215 participants: fifth grade, seventh grade, ninth grade, twelfth grade, and doctoral students in science. Conceptions spanning sizes from one nanometer to one billion meters were investigated through use of written assessments and individual interviews. Results showed that accuracy of conceptions at small scale were not symmetrical with respect to conceptions at large scale. Large scale accuracy tended to decline in a smooth, uniform fashion as the scale increased, whereas small scale accuracy displayed a discontinuity at the microscopic level. To conceptually interact with scales far removed from human scale, experts used strategies of mentally jumping to a new scale-world. Experts tended not to transition smoothly between the differently scaled worlds but rather to make a discontinuous leap, maintaining abstract linkages between the worlds via mathematics. Implications of these findings for curriculum development and classroom instruction are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 1061,1085, 2006 [source] Anti-bullying practices in American schools: Perspectives of school psychologistsPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 3 2010Yiping C. Sherer A random sample of 213 school psychologists working in a school setting completed a survey on their schools' current anti-bullying practices. Talking with bullies following bullying incidents, disciplinary consequences for bullies, and increasing adult supervision were the three most frequently used strategies. Peer juries/court, an anti-bullying committee, and peer counselors were least frequently used, according to respondents. School-wide positive behavior support, modifying space and schedule, and immediate responses to bullying incidents were perceived as most effective, whereas avoiding contact between bullies and victims, a zero-tolerance policy with bullies, and a written anti-bullying policy were least effective. Results and implications are discussed within the context of empirically supported practices. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Emotion regulation: Affective, cognitive, and social consequencesPSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2002James J. Gross One of life's great challenges is successfully regulating emotions. Do some emotion regulation strategies have more to recommend them than others? According to Gross's (1998, Review of General Psychology, 2, 271,299) process model of emotion regulation, strategies that act early in the emotion-generative process should have a different profile of consequences than strategies that act later on. This review focuses on two commonly used strategies for down-regulating emotion. The first, reappraisal, comes early in the emotion-generative process. It consists of changing the way a situation is construed so as to decrease its emotional impact. The second, suppression, comes later in the emotion-generative process. It consists of inhibiting the outward signs of inner feelings. Experimental and individual-difference studies find reappraisal is often more effective than suppression. Reappraisal decreases emotion experience and behavioral expression, and has no impact on memory. By contrast, suppression decreases behavioral expression, but fails to decrease emotion experience, and actually impairs memory. Suppression also increases physiological responding for suppressors and their social partners. This review concludes with a consideration of five important directions for future research on emotion regulation processes. [source] Challenges and Strategies Related to Hearing Loss Among Dairy FarmersTHE JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2005Louise Hass-Slavin MSc ABSTRACT: Context: Farming is often imagined to be a serene and idyllic business based on historical images of a man, a horse, and a plow. However, machinery and equipment on farms, such as older tractors, grain dryers, and vacuum pumps, can have noise levels, which may be dangerous to hearing with prolonged, unprotected exposure. Purpose: This qualitative study in Ontario, Canada, explored the challenges and coping strategies experienced by dairy farmers with self-reported hearing loss and communication difficulties. Through in-depth interviews, 13 farmers who experience significant hearing loss were questioned about the challenges they face as a result of hearing loss and the strategies they use to overcome or compensate for problems. Findings: The 2 major challenges encountered by dairy farmers with a hearing loss were: (1) obtaining information from individuals, within groups, and through electronic media; and (2) working with animals, machinery, and noise. To cope with these challenges, participants used strategies identified as problem and emotion focused. Conclusions: Four themes arose from analysis of the challenges encountered and strategies used: 1Hearing loss is experienced as a "familiar," but "private," problem for dairy farmers. 2Communication difficulties can negatively affect the quality of relationships on the farm. 3Safety and risk management are issues when farming with a hearing loss. 4The management or control of excessive noise is a complex problem, because there are no completely reliable yet practical solutions. [source] Quantum chemical study of leaving group activation in T. vivax nucleoside hydrolaseINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, Issue 3 2006Stefan Loverix Abstract General acid catalysis is a powerful and widely used strategy in enzymatic nucleophilic displacement reactions. However, in the nucleoside hydrolase of the parasite Trypanosoma vivax, crystallographic and mutagenesis studies failed to identify a general acid. The only groups in the vicinity of the leaving group that contribute to catalysis are (i) the indole side chain of Trp260, and (ii) the 5,-group of the substrate's ribose moiety. The x-ray structure of the slow Asp10Ala mutant of nucleoside hydrolase with the substrate inosine bound in the active site displays a face-to-face aromatic stacking interaction between Trp260 and the purine base of the substrate, as well as a peculiar C4,-endo ribose pucker that allows the 5,-OH group to accept an intramolecular hydrogen bond from the C8 of the purine. The first interaction (aromatic stacking) has been shown to raise the pKa of the leaving purine. Here, we present a DFT study showing that the 5,-OH group of ribose fulfills a similar role, rather than stabilizing the oxocarbenium-like transition state. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006 [source] Reevaluating suitable habitat for reintroductions: lessons learnt from the eastern barred bandicoot recovery programANIMAL CONSERVATION, Issue 2 2010C. N. Cook Abstract Reintroduction and translocation programs are widely used conservation tools but their success rates are low. Poor success rates for reintroduction programs are commonly attributed to insufficient knowledge of species' habitat requirements, especially if they are critically endangered. Yet conservation managers are frequently required to make decisions about suitable reintroduction sites when information is incomplete or uncertain. A widely used strategy to assist the selection of reintroduction sites , habitat suitability models , may rely on assumptions and simplifications to fill gaps in existing data. It is essential that these models are then evaluated and refined as new evidence becomes available. In this study, we examine the effectiveness of a reintroduction program based on habitat suitability modelling: that for the critically endangered eastern barred bandicoot Perameles gunnii in Australia. After collecting a variety of data from the reintroduction sites, we found that habitat preferences for this species could be accurately predicted using a simple logistic regression model within two predictor variables rather than the five previously used to select reintroduction sites. This made it possible to better focus limited resources on the most suitable reintroduction sites. We believe that building such a process of review into a reintroduction program can contribute to improving its success, while ensuring that scarce conservation resources are used more effectively. [source] The role of extreme phenotype selection studies in the identification of clinically relevant genotypes in cancer research,CANCER, Issue 7 2002Jose Luis Perez-Gracia M.D. Abstract The investigation of genetic alterations that may be related to the prognosis of patients with malignant disease has become a frequently used strategy in recent years. Although some conclusions have been reached in certain studies, the complexity and the multifactorial nature of most neoplastic diseases makes it difficult to identify clinically relevant information, and the results of some studies have been of borderline significance or have been conflicting. In contrast, the identification and the study of patients or families with very characteristic phenotypes have yielded outstanding results in the identification of the genetic characteristics underlying such phenotypes. Although, in most cases, the individuals who are selected for these types of studies are characterized by a negative phenotype (i.e., individuals who are at increased risk for developing a specific disease), a few studies have been directed toward individuals with phenotypes that imply an unusually good prognosis (i.e., individuals who present with a decreased risk for developing specific diseases despite an important exposure to well-known risk factors). Therefore, it seems logical to develop this strategy further as a valid methodology for the study of other diseases, such as cancer. The study of individuals with phenotypes that imply an extremely good prognosis, such as long-term survivors of theoretically incurable malignancies or individuals who seem to be protected against a certain neoplastic disorder despite having a markedly increased risk for its development, may unveil genetic alterations that explain such characteristic phenotypes and may provide potentially useful therapeutic targets against these diseases. Cancer 2002;95:1605,10. © 2002 American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.10877 [source] Synthesis of Conformationally Constrained Glutamic Acid Homologues and Investigation of Their Pharmacological ProfilesCHEMMEDCHEM, Issue 11 2007Paola Conti Prof. Abstract Homologation of the glutamic acid chain together with conformational constraint is a commonly used strategy to achieve selectivity towards different types of glutamate receptors. We investigated the effects of a further increase in the distance between the amino acid moiety and the distal carboxylate group of model compounds (±)- 1 and (±)- 2 on their activity/selectivity profiles. We therefore synthesized new derivatives (±)- 3,(±)- 6, which are homologues of glutamic acid containing three additional carbon units. Moreover, because the potency of NMDA antagonists can be markedly increased by replacing the distal carboxylate with the bioisosteric phosphonate group, we also prepared the corresponding phosphonate derivatives (±)- 7,(±)- 10. All new compounds were submitted to binding assays with iGluRs, and derivatives (±)- 3,(±)- 6 were also tested in second messenger assays at representative mGluR subtypes. All the applied structural modifications were detrimental to the interaction with NMDA receptors. Conversely, structural variation of the nonselective mGluR ligand (±)- 2 led to derivative (±)- 5, which behaved as a selective group,I metabotropic receptor antagonist. Notably, upon i.c.v. administration in DBA/2 mice, amino acid (±)- 5 produced a significant protection against audiogenic seizures, whereas it was inactive after i.p. administration. [source] | |||||||||||||