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Different Disciplines (different + discipline)
Selected AbstractsReliability in grid computing systems,CONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 8 2009Christopher Dabrowski Abstract In recent years, grid technology has emerged as an important tool for solving compute-intensive problems within the scientific community and in industry. To further the development and adoption of this technology, researchers and practitioners from different disciplines have collaborated to produce standard specifications for implementing large-scale, interoperable grid systems. The focus of this activity has been the Open Grid Forum, but other standards development organizations have also produced specifications that are used in grid systems. To date, these specifications have provided the basis for a growing number of operational grid systems used in scientific and industrial applications. However, if the growth of grid technology is to continue, it will be important that grid systems also provide high reliability. In particular, it will be critical to ensure that grid systems are reliable as they continue to grow in scale, exhibit greater dynamism, and become more heterogeneous in composition. Ensuring grid system reliability in turn requires that the specifications used to build these systems fully support reliable grid services. This study surveys work on grid reliability that has been done in recent years and reviews progress made toward achieving these goals. The survey identifies important issues and problems that researchers are working to overcome in order to develop reliability methods for large-scale, heterogeneous, dynamic environments. The survey also illuminates reliability issues relating to standard specifications used in grid systems, identifying existing specifications that may need to be evolved and areas where new specifications are needed to better support the reliability. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Towards a framework and a benchmark for testing tools for multi-threaded programsCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 3 2007Yaniv Eytani Abstract Multi-threaded code is becoming very common, both on the server side, and very recently for personal computers as well. Consequently, looking for intermittent bugs is a problem that is receiving more and more attention. As there is no silver bullet, research focuses on a variety of partial solutions. We outline a road map for combining the research within the different disciplines of testing multi-threaded programs and for evaluating the quality of this research. We have three main goals. First, to create a benchmark that can be used to evaluate different solutions. Second, to create a framework with open application programming interfaces that enables the combination of techniques in the multi-threading domain. Third, to create a focus for the research in this area around which a community of people who try to solve similar problems with different techniques can congregate. We have started creating such a benchmark and describe the lessons learned in the process. The framework will enable technology developers, for example, developers of race detection algorithms, to concentrate on their components and use other ready made components (e.g. an instrumentor) to create a testing solution. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Feminism Spoken Here: Epistemologies for Interdisciplinary Development ResearchDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2006Cecile Jackson Development studies is a field characterized by an unusual degree of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research, and therefore is constantly subject both to pressures for the reproduction of disciplines as autonomous and self-sufficient, and to an increasing steer from public funders of research for interdisciplinary work which is valued for its problem-solving character and more apparent relevance, in an era greatly exercised by accountability. At a moment when the need to renew disciplinary interchange has intensified it is therefore instructive to consider the social relations which facilitate interdisciplinarity. This article does this through an argument that feminist cross-disciplinary research shows how important shared values are to motivate and sustain these kinds of learning, and that an explicit focus on social justice as the core of development research can be the basis of such a renewal. If feminist interactions and solidarity provide the motivation, feminist epistemologies provide arguments for why socially engaged research is not ,biased', but stronger than research with narrower ideas of objectivity; why reflexivities and subjectivities are crucial to the conduct of research; and how these, and the convergence of concepts of individuals and persons favoured within different disciplines, might build the common ground required for greater disciplinary interchange. [source] A correlation study on diagnostic endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration of lymph nodes with histological and clinical diagnoses, the UCLA Medical Center experienceDIAGNOSTIC CYTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 7 2008Bita V. Naini M.D. Abstract Endoscopic ultrasound guided (EUS) FNA procedure has two aspects, the endoscopic sampling and the FNA interpretation. The two aspects of the procedure are performed in two different disciplines; gastroenterology (EUS) and pathology (FNA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the concordance, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive (PPV), and negative predictive values (NPV). Sixty-one EUS-FNA procedures of the lymph nodes were analyzed by correlating the FNA results with histological or clinical diagnoses. The lymph nodes were divided in five groups; mediastinal, gastrohepatic, peripancreatic, portal, and perirectal. The study showed a concordance of 92% in mediastinal, 80% in gastrohepatic, 81% in peripancreatic, 95% in portal, and 100% in perirectal lymph nodes with an overall sensitivity of 84%, specificity of 92%, PPV of 88%, and NPV of 89%. In conclusion, EUS-FNA offers an invaluable approach for diagnostic examination of the internal lymph nodes where percutaneous FNA is either difficult or impossible. impossible. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2008;36:460,466. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Variation in Individual Investment Strategies among Social AnimalsETHOLOGY, Issue 8 2006Jan Komdeur Invited Review Abstract Cooperation and conflict are ubiquitous features of life in the vast majority of animals and can occur over a wide range of functional contents and at various levels. In this review I describe known and less well-known proximate aspects of cooperation and conflict over reproductive behaviour in social animals, where individuals other than the genetic parents contribute to the provisioning of care (,alloparental care'). Traditionally the evolution of alloparental care is viewed as a two-step process: the decision to delay dispersal and independent breeding, usually as a consequence of the existence of constraints on independent breeding, and the decision to behave as alloparents by which individuals that have delayed dispersal gain a net fitness benefit. Behavioural ecological theory generally assumes that all individuals are similar in ,make-up' and that life history and behavioural decisions are facultative. However, there is probably more individual variation in the amount and type of social behaviour than originally anticipated. Here, I demonstrate that some of these differences in behaviours are because of environmental factors, which may be associated with ,reaction norms' or the genotype's quantitative phenotypic variation, or which may yield polyethisms. Most evolutionary models of animal cooperation are based on optimality approaches that do not consider individual genetic variation and maternal effects on the variation in the expression of social behaviour. Further research on the genetic basis of cooperations and subordinate,breeder interactions may be crucial for understanding the evolution of social behaviour. If we take individual differences into account our conclusions and explanations of social behaviour may change. Given the conceptual similarities between the various research disciplines addressing different types of cooperation and conflict over investment, the issues described here should lead to more mutual attraction between the different disciplines and stimulate further development in our understanding of cooperation strategies in general. [source] ACE and angiotensinogen gene genotypes and left ventricular mass in athletesEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INVESTIGATION, Issue 10 2001F. Diet Background Genetic factors may be important in modifying heart size due to long-term athletic training. The significance of polymorphisms of genes of the renin,angiotensin system in myocardial mass in a population of athletes participating in different disciplines is not known. Methods The angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism, angiotensinogen gene M235T polymorphism and angiotensin II type 1 receptor gene A1166C polymorphism were determined in 83 male Caucasian endurance athletes and associated with left ventricular mass. Results No association with left ventricular mass was found for the polymorphisms of angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene I/D, angiotensinogen gene M235T and angiotensin II type 1 gene A1166C when studied separately. However, combined analysis of the angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene I/D polymorphism and angiotensinogen gene M235T polymorphism genotypes suggested an association with left ventricular mass (g m,2) (P = 0·023). Athletes with the angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene DD/angiotensinogen gene TT genotype combination had greater left ventricular mass compared with all other genotype combinations (179·8 ± 26·1 g m,2 vs. 145·2 ± 27·3 g m,2, P = 0·003). Conclusions These results suggest an association of combined angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene I/D polymorphism genotypes, and angiotensinogen gene M235T polymorphism genotypes with left ventricular hypertrophy due to long-term athletic training. A synergistic effect of angiotensin I-converting enzyme gene DD genotype and angiotensinogen gene TT genotype on left ventricular mass in endurance athletes appears to occur. [source] An Approach to Interdisciplinary Training in Postgraduate EducationEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 2 2006P Brodin Aims, A primary goal for clinical graduate training is to provide the student with the expertise required for specialist treatment in the actual discipline. At the same time there is an increasing need for a broader perspective on specialist care and the students should be aware of the limitations inherent in own specialty. In order to plan treatment in the best interest of the patient, and to be prepared to take part in treatments involving other specialties, the students should be exposed to interdisciplinary cooperation throughout the training. An approach to joint academic and clinical training with the purpose of providing graduate students with a broader perspective on specialist care is described and discussed. Material and methods, During their first year graduate students in the 7 different disciplines complete a joint Core Curriculum consisting of 8 different courses to stimulate a scientific approach to their profession and understanding of basic biologic mechanisms. To create a learning environment focusing on the development of interdisciplinary competence, a joint clinic has been established. Teams of students from different disciplines have been organized in order to establish ,partnership' for the treatment of patients with complex problems. The students also take part in the sessions held by a faculty Team of experts for assessment and treatment planning of referred patients with complex problems. Furthermore, faculty members conduct courses and seminars for students from other disciplines and students also participate in selected parts of the regular program in other disciplines. Results, Formal evaluation has so far been conducted for the Core Curriculum. Most students respond that they are satisfied with the courses, and the curriculum has also been adjusted based on the comments. The students report that treatment of patients in need of interdisciplinary treatment has been facilitated by having ,partners' in other disciplines. Participation in the Team of expert's sessions has been appreciated, and the attendance at interdisciplinary courses and seminars has been good. Conclusions, Based on the experience over the last 5 years, the interdisciplinary aspects of graduate training should be expanded to stimulate a holistic approach also to specialist treatment. [source] GENEALOGIES OF THE GRID: REVISITING STANISLAWSKI'S SEARCH FOR THE ORIGIN OF THE GRID,PATTERN TOWN,GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Issue 1 2008REDWOOD, REUBEN S. ROSE ABSTRACT. As a spatial form, the grid pattern has influenced a range of human activities, from urban planning, architecture, and modern art to graphic design, archaeology, and cartography. Scholars from different disciplines have generally explored the role of the grid within their respective fields of inquiry. One of the earliest geographical attempts to systematically trace the origin and diffusion of the grid-pattern town was provided by Dan Stanislawski in the mid,twentieth century. In this article I critically examine the limitations of Stanislawski's theory of the grid's origin as a means of challenging the doctrine of diffusionism more generally. I then provide a selective overview of recent approaches to understanding the grid and call for a comparative genealogy of gridded spaces and places. [source] Teaching and Learning Guide for: Memoryscape: How Audio Walks Can Deepen Our Sense of Place by Integrating Art, Oral History and Cultural GeographyGEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2008Toby Butler Author's Introduction This article is concerned with the history and practice of creating sound walks or ,memoryscapes': outdoor trails that use recorded sound and spoken memory played on a personal stereo or mobile media to experience places in new ways. It is now possible to cheaply and easily create this and other kinds of located media experience. The development of multi-sensory-located media (,locedia') presents some exciting opportunities for those concerned with place, local history, cultural geography and oral history. This article uses work from several different disciplines (music, sound art, oral history and cultural geography) as a starting point to exploring some early and recent examples of locedia practice. It also suggests how it might give us a more sophisticated, real, embodied and nuanced experience of places that the written word just can not deliver. Yet, there are considerable challenges in producing and experiencing such work. Academics used to writing must learn to work in sound and view or image; they must navigate difficult issues of privacy, consider the power relations of the outsider's ,gaze' and make decisions about the representation of places in work that local people may try and have strong feelings about. Creating such work is an active, multi-sensory and profoundly challenging experience that can offer students the chance to master multi-media skills as well as apply theoretical understandings of the histories and geographies of place. Author Recommends 1.,Perks, R., and Thomson, A. (2006). The oral history reader, 2nd ed. London: Routledge. This is a wonderful collection of significant writing concerned with oral history. Part IV, Making Histories features much of interest, including a thought-provoking paper on the challenges of authoring in sound rather than print by Charles Hardy III, and a moving interview with Graeme Miller, the artist who created the Linked walk mentioned in the memoryscape article. These only feature in the second edition. 2.,Cresswell, T. (2004). Place: a short introduction. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. A refreshingly clear and well-written guide to the different theoretical takes on what makes places , a good starting point for further reading. 3.,Carlyle, A. (ed.). (2008). Autumn leaves: sound and the environment in artistic practice. Paris, France: Double Entendre. This is a collection of short essays and examples of located sonic media art; it includes interviews with practitioners and includes Hildegard Westekamp's Soundwalking, a practical guide to leading students on a mute walk. Lots of thought provoking, applied reading material for students here. 4.,Blunt, A., et al. (eds) (2003). Cultural geography in practice. London: Arnold. A great book for undergraduate and postgraduate students , concepts explained and lots of examples of actually doing cultural geography. The chapter on mapping worlds by David Pinder is particularly useful in this context. 5.,Pinder, D. (2001). Ghostly footsteps: voices, memories and walks in the city. Ecumene 8 (1), pp. 1,19. This article is a thoughtful analysis of a Janet Cardiff sound walk in Whitechapel, East London. Online Materials http://www.memoryscape.org.uk This is my project website, which features two online trails, Dockers which explores Greenwich and the memories of the London Docks that are archived in the Museum of London, and Drifting which is a rather strange experiment-combining physical geography and oral history along the Thames at Hampton Court, but still makes for an interesting trail. Audio, maps and trails can be downloaded for free, so students with phones or iPods can try the trails if you are within reach of Surrey or London. The site features an online version, with sound-accompanying photographs of the location. http://www.portsofcall.org.uk This website has three more trails here, this time of the communities surrounding the Royal Docks in East London. The scenery here is very dramatic and anyone interested in the regeneration of East London and its impact on local communities will find these trails interesting. Like Dockers, the walks feature a lot of rare archive interviews. This project involved a great deal of community interaction and participation as I experimented with trying to get people involved with the trail-making process. The site uses Google maps for online delivery. http://www.soundwalk.com This New York-based firm creates exceptionally high-quality soundwalks, and they are well worth the money. They started by producing trails for different districts of New York (I recommend the Bronx Graffiti trail) and have recently made trails for other cities, like Paris and Varanassi in India. http://www.mscapers.com This website is run by Hewlett Packard, which has a long history of research and development in located media applications. They currently give free licence to use their mscape software which is a relatively easy to learn way of creating global positioning system-triggered content. The big problem is that you have to have a pricey phone or personal digital assistant to run the software, which makes group work prohibitively expensive. But equipment prices are coming down and with the new generations of mobile phones developers believe that the time when the player technology is ubiquitous might be near. And if you ask nicely HP will lend out sets of equipment for teaching or events , fantastic if you are working within reach of Bristol. See also http://www.createascape.org.uk/ which has advice and examples of how mscape software has been used for teaching children. Sample Syllabus public geography: making memoryscapes This course unit could be adapted to different disciplines, or offered as a multidisciplinary unit to students from different disciplines. It gives students a grounding in several multi-media techniques and may require support/tuition from technical staff. 1.,Introduction What is a located mediascape, now and in the future? Use examples from resources above. 2.,Cultural geographies of site-specific art and sound Theories of place; experiments in mapping and site-specific performance. 3.,Walk activity: Westergard Hildekamp , sound walk, or one of the trails mentioned above The best way , and perhaps the only way , to really appreciate located media is to try one in the location they have been designed to be experienced. I would strongly advise any teaching in this field to include outdoor, on-site experiences. Even if you are out of reach of a mediascape experience, taking students on a sound walk can happen anywhere. See Autumn Leaves reference above. 4.,Researching local history An introduction to discovering historical information about places could be held at a local archive and a talk given by the archivist. 5.,Creating located multimedia using Google maps/Google earth A practical exercise-based session going through the basics of navigating Google maps, creating points and routes, and how to link pictures and sound files. 6.,Recording sound and oral history interviews A practical introduction to the techniques of qualitative interviewing and sound recording. There are lots of useful online guides to oral history recording, for example, an online oral history primer http://www.nebraskahistory.org/lib-arch/research/audiovis/oral_history/index.htm; a more in depth guide to various aspects of oral history http://www.baylor.edu/oral%5fhistory/index.php?id=23566 or this simple oral history toolkit, with useful links to project in the North of England http://www.oralhistorynortheast.info/toolkit/chapter1.htm 7.,Sound editing skills Practical editing techniques including working with clips, editing sound and creating multi-track recordings. The freeware software Audacity is simple to use and there are a lot of online tutorials that cover the basics, for example, http://www.wikieducator.org/user:brentsimpson/collections/audacity_workshop 8.,Web page design and Google maps How to create a basic web page (placing pictures, text, hyperlinks, buttons) using design software (e.g. Dreamweaver). How to embed a Google map and add information points and routes. There is a great deal of online tutorials for web design, specific to the software you wish to use and Google maps can be used and embedded on websites free for non-profit use. http://maps.google.com/ 9,and 10. Individual or group project work (staff available for technical support) 11.,Presentations/reflection on practice Focus Questions 1What can sound tell us about the geographies of places? 2When you walk through a landscape, what traces of the past can be sensed? Now think about which elements of the past have been obliterated? Whose past has been silenced? Why? How could it be put back? 3Think of a personal or family story that is significant to you. In your imagination, locate the memory at a specific place. Tell a fellow student that story, and describe that place. Does it matter where it happened? How has thinking about that place made you feel? 4What happens when you present a memory of the past or a located vision of the future in a present landscape? How is this different to, say, writing about it in a book? 5Consider the area of this campus, or the streets immediately surrounding this building. Imagine this place in one of the following periods (each group picks one): ,,10,000 years ago ,,500 years ago ,,100 years ago ,,40 years ago ,,last Thursday ,,50 years time What sounds, voices, stories or images could help convey your interpretation of this place at that time? What would the visitor hear or see today at different points on a trail? Sketch out an outline map of a located media trail, and annotate with what you hear/see/sense at different places. Project Idea small group project: creating a located mediascape Each small group must create a located media experience, reflecting an aspect of the history/geography/culture of an area of their choosing, using the knowledge that they have acquired over the course of the semester. The experience may be as creative and imaginative as you wish, and may explore the past, present or future , or elements of each. Each group must: ,,identify an area of interest ,,research an aspect of the area of the groups choosing; this may involve visiting local archives, libraries, discussing the idea with local people, physically exploring the area ,,take photographs, video or decide on imagery (if necessary) ,,record sound, conduct interviews or script and record narration ,,design a route or matrix of media points The final project must be presented on a website, may embed Google maps, and a presentation created to allow the class to experience the mediascape (either in the classroom or on location, if convenient). The website should include a brief theoretical and methodological explanation of the basis of their interpretation. If the group cannot be supported with tuition and support in basic website design or using Google mapping with sound and imagery, a paper map with locations and a CD containing sound files/images might be submitted instead. For examples of web projects created by masters degree students of cultural geography at Royal Holloway (not all sound based) see http://www.gg.rhul.ac.uk/MA/web-projects.html [source] Gatekeepers in sickness insurance: a systematic review of the literature on practices of social insurance officersHEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 3 2005Elsy Söderberg Abstract Decisions concerning entitlement to sickness benefits have a substantial impact on the lives of individuals and on society. In most countries, such decisions are made by staff of private or public insurance organisations. The work performed by these professionals is debated, hence more knowledge is needed on this subject. The aim of the present study was to review scientific studies of the practices of social insurance officers (SIOs) published in English, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Studies were searched for in literature databases, in reference lists, and through personal contacts. Analyses were made of type of study, areas investigated, research questions, theories used, and the results. Sixteen studies were included. SIOs and several other actors are responsible for applying measures to minimise sick-leave and promote return to work (RTW). The studies focusing on coordination of such measures revealed that SIOs felt unsure about how to handle their contacts with clients and other actors. One study indicated that the SIOs, partly due to lack of time, accepted the recommendations of physicians instead of making their own judgments about granting sickness benefits. While all SIOs must make decisions concerning entitlement to sickness benefits on a daily basis, few of the reviewed studies scrutinised the actual granting of sickness compensation. The studies were also deficient in that they investigated the decision latitude of the SIOs from a very limited perspective, mainly on an individual level and often primarily in relation to colleagues and/or clients rather than to the laws and regulations of the sickness insurance. The concepts and framework in this area of research need to be developed to facilitate elucidation of the interaction between different actors in local spheres, professionals in different disciplines, and between welfare staff and individual citizens. [source] Beyond Cultural Imperialism: Cultural Theory, Christian Missions, and Global ModernityHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 3 2002Ryan Dunch "Cultural imperialism" has been an influential concept in the representation of the modern Christian missionary movement. This essay calls its usefulness into question and draws on recent work on the cultural dynamics of globalization to propose alternative ways of looking at the role of missions in modern history. The first section of the essay surveys the ways in which the term "cultural imperialism" has been employed in different disciplines, and some of the criticisms made of the term within those disciplines. The second section discusses the application of the cultural imperialism framework to the missionary enterprise, and the related term "colonization of consciousness" used by Jean and John Comaroff in their influential work on British missionaries and the Tswana of southern Africa. The third section looks at the historiography of missions in modern China, showing how deeply the teleological narratives of nationalism and development have marked that historiography. The concluding section argues that the missionary movement must be seen as one element in a globalizing modernity that has altered Western societies as well as non,Western ones in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and that a comparative global approach to the missionary movement can help to illuminate the process of modern cultural globalization. [source] The acceptance of systemic thinking in various fields of technology and consequences on the respective safety philosophiesHUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS IN MANUFACTURING & SERVICE INDUSTRIES, Issue 3 2003Willy Geysen Systemic thinking aims to develop a common language that makes it possible for scientists of different disciplines and technologies to communicate with one another. The specific methodology of systemic thinking is a means of tackling complex, interrelated problems by applying a holistic approach that focuses on the interrelation of individual aspects. In this article, an attempt is made to show the impact of systemic thinking in different areas of science and technology. In particular, the authors argue that a multidisciplinary, systemic approach can play an important role in developing a general theory of safety science. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 13: 231,242, 2003. [source] A qualitative exploration of communication within the community mental health teamINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 5 2009Jenny Donnison ABSTRACT:, This qualitative study sought to explore conceptual models employed by community mental health team (CMHT) staff in the care of their clients and how CMHT clinicians communicated with one another, particularly in relation to complex clinical work. The qualitative method of interpretive phenomenological analysis was used, and semistructured in-depth interviews with seven UK CMHT clinicians were conducted and analyzed. Four themes were evident in the data and showed that clinicians face complex and competing demands and draw on a range of therapeutic models in their work. It was also clear that much discussion centred primarily on pragmatic issues and lacked conceptual depth. The results underline the complex and challenging nature of CMHT work and suggest that a more systematic approach to interdisciplinary training within teams could be beneficial in increasing clinicians' knowledge, skills, and their understanding of the conceptual models used across different disciplines. [source] Evidence-Based Practice in Healthcare: An Exploratory Cross-Discipline Comparison of Enhancers and BarriersJOURNAL FOR HEALTHCARE QUALITY, Issue 3 2010Joanna Asadoorian Abstract: In order to improve health outcomes, healthcare providers need to base practice on current evidence. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and compare the understanding and experiences with evidence-based practice (EBP) in three different disciplines. Researchers conducted individual interviews with psychiatrists, nurses, and dental hygienists. The majority of study participants demonstrated an understanding of EBP and were able to identify enhancers and barriers to implementing EBP. Using a grounded theory approach, several major themes acting as enhancers and barriers to EBP emerged and revealed both differences and similarities within and across the three health disciplines. While saturation was not attempted, this exploratory research is important in contributing to understanding the cultural practice milieu in relation to individual characteristics in implementing evidence into practice with the overall aim of improving healthcare delivery and outcomes. [source] Developing a theory-based taxonomy of methods for implementing change in practiceJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 2 2007Jennifer Leeman Abstract Title. Developing a theory-based taxonomy of methods for implementing change in practice Aim., In this paper we present a theory-based taxonomy of the methods used to implement change in practice. Background., Implementation research is characterized by inconsistent terminology for the methods employed and inattention to differences in the relevance of methods across different disciplines. Studies of the effectiveness of implementation have yielded mixed results. Positive effects shown have been small. The limited success of many efforts to implement change in practice may be due, in part, to the absence of a framework to guide the use of implementation methods. Method., A provisional taxonomy of implementation methods, derived from theory and existing taxonomies, was used to content analyse a convenience sample of 43 reports of empirical studies of the implementation of one or more research-based practice changes involving nurses that had been published between 1995 and 2005. This taxonomy was revised throughout the course of analysis to capture more completely the information in each report. Findings., Following the analysis, nine of the 11 methods in the provisional taxonomy were retained, two were removed and five new methods were identified. The final taxonomy includes 14 implementation methods organized into five categories: (a) increasing coordination; (b) raising awareness; (c) persuasion via interpersonal channels; (d) persuasion via reinforcing belief that behaviour will lead to desirable results and (e) increasing behavioural control. Conclusions., The taxonomy presented here differs from prior taxonomies by focusing on nursing and by providing a clear and mutually exclusive guide to implementation methods. By deriving the initial coding strategy from theory, the taxonomy links the methods to theoretical constructs that may inform the selection of methods across different practice changes and settings. [source] Economic determinants of biodiversity change over a 400-year period in the Scottish uplandsJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2008Nick Hanley Summary 1Economic forces are recognized as an important driving factor behind current biodiversity losses. This study investigates whether such factors have been important in determining one measure of biodiversity change over the ,long run', in our case, 400 years , for upland sites in Scotland. 2A combination of palaeoecological, historical and economic methods is used to construct and then analyse a database of factors contributing to changes in plant diversity over time for 11 upland sites. 3Using an instrumental variables panel model, we find livestock prices, our proxy for grazing pressure, to be a statistically significant determinant of diversity change, with higher grazing pressures resulting in lower diversity values on average, although site abandonment is also found to result in a fall in plant diversity. Technological change, such as the introduction of new animal breeds, was not found to be a statistically significant determinant. 4Using later period data (post 1860) on livestock numbers at the parish (local) level, we were able to confirm the main result noted above (3) in terms of the effects of higher grazing pressures on plant diversity. 5Synthesis and applications. This study shows how data from very different disciplines can be combined to address questions relevant to contemporary conservation and understanding. This novel, interdisciplinary approach provides new insights into the role of economic factors as a driver of biodiversity loss in the uplands. Biodiversity levels have varied considerably over 400 years, partly as a function of land management, suggesting that establishing baselines or ,natural' target levels for biodiversity is likely to be problematic. Changes in livestock grazing pressures brought about by changes in prices had statistically significant effects on estimated plant diversity, as did land abandonment. This suggests that long-term management of upland areas for the conservation of diversity should focus on grazing pressures as a key policy attribute. Another policy implication is that drastic cuts in grazing pressures , such as might occur under current reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy , can have adverse biodiversity consequences. [source] Using technology in Higher Education: an Activity Theory perspectiveJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 1 2002K. Isssroff Abstract This paper describes the application of Activity Theory to considerations of enhancing learning through the use of technology in Higher Education. The theory is reviewed and its extended version which uses the idea of an activity system to help analyse the use of technology in context described. Two case studies of teaching and learning in Higher Education are described: one exploring the use of ICT in a postgraduate study of science communication and the other a history course using the web to provide a range of resources and communication facilities for students. These two case studies represent different uses of technology in different disciplines and lead to a consideration of how the use of Activity Theory informs understanding of these learning experiences. [source] Prediction of five-year survival for patients admitted to a department of internal medicineJOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 5 2001B. O. Eriksen Abstract.,Eriksen BO, Kristiansen IS, Pape JFr (University Hospital of Tromsø and University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway). Prediction of five-year survival for patients admitted to a department of internal medicine. J Intern Med 2001; 250: 435,440. Objective.,The effect of many common forms of therapy, as medication for mild hypertension or hypercholesterolaemia, only reaches clinical significance after years of treatment. The meaningful application of such therapy presupposes that physicians can, at least to some extent, predict the remaining lifetime of patients. We investigated whether clinicians from different disciplines were able to predict the 5-year survival of patients admitted to a department of internal medicine. Design.,The members of two groups, each consisting of an internist, a surgeon and a general practitioner, made individual predictions of the expected remaining lifetime of discharged patients from written summaries of clinical information. Each patient was randomized to be assessed by the members of either of the two groups. The predictions were compared with actual 5-year survival. Setting.,Department of internal medicine at a university hospital. Subjects.,Patients admitted consecutively during a 6-week period. Main outcome measures.,Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for predictions of 5-y ear survival for each of the six experts. Results.,A total of 402 patients were included. Five-year survival was 0.63. The sensitivity of the predictions ranged from 0.81 to 0.95, the specificity from 0.61 to 0.77, the positive predictive value from 0.78 to 0.87 and the negative predictive value from 0.68 to 0.87. The areas under the ROC curves ranged from 0.84 to 0.91. Conclusion.,The quality of predictions of 5-year survival made by experienced clinicians should permit the rational use of treatments with long-term effects. [source] Corporate political action in China and America: a comparative perspectiveJOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, Issue 2 2006Yongqiang Gao Corporate political action (CPA) is always an interesting topic for management scholars since 1980s. There are a large plenty of literatures from different disciplines focus on this topic. But till now, studies on this topic are almost conducted under the Western culture and taking the Western countries as objective, very few studies are conducted in non-Western countries, and specifically, the CPA in China is nearly untouched. Due to the differences of culture and political economy between China and the West, CPA in China may be very different from the West's. This article discusses the similarities and differences of CPA in China and America. The result shows that due to the differences in culture and political economical system between China and America, CPA in China is very different from America. This study will help to understand the CPA in China for outsiders, especially for Americans. It also helps multinational enterprises (MNEs) in China to take suitable political actions to support their interests. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry for 13C isotopic analysis in life science researchMASS SPECTROMETRY REVIEWS, Issue 6 2007Jean-Philippe Godin Abstract Among the different disciplines covered by mass spectrometry, measurement of 13C/12C isotopic ratio crosses a large section of disciplines from a tool revealing the origin of compounds to more recent approaches such as metabolomics and proteomics. Isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) and molecular mass spectrometry (MS) are the two most mature techniques for 13C isotopic analysis of compounds, respectively, for high and low-isotopic precision. For the sample introduction, the coupling of gas chromatography (GC) to either IRMS or MS is state of the art technique for targeted isotopic analysis of volatile analytes. However, liquid chromatography (LC) also needs to be considered as a tool for the sample introduction into IRMS or MS for 13C isotopic analyses of non-volatile analytes at natural abundance as well as for 13C-labeled compounds. This review presents the past and the current processes used to perform 13C isotopic analysis in combination with LC. It gives particular attention to the combination of LC with IRMS which started in the 1990's with the moving wire transport, then subsequently moved to the chemical reaction interface (CRI) and was made commercially available in 2004 with the wet chemical oxidation interface (LC-IRMS). The LC-IRMS method development is also discussed in this review, including the possible approaches for increasing selectivity and efficiency, for example, using a 100% aqueous mobile phase for the LC separation. In addition, applications for measuring 13C isotopic enrichments using atmospheric pressure LC-MS instruments with a quadrupole, a time-of-flight, and an ion trap analyzer are also discussed as well as a LC-ICPMS using a prototype instrument with two quadrupoles. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Mass Spec Rev 26:751,774, 2007 [source] Reliability and validity of the direct observation clinical encounter examination (DOCEE)MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2003Hossam Hamdy Context, The College of Medicine and Medical Sciences at the Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain, replaced the traditional long case/short case clinical examination on the final MD examination with a direct observation clinical encounter examination (DOCEE). Each student encountered four real patients. Two pairs of examiners from different disciplines observed the students taking history and conducting physical examinations and jointly assessed their clinical competence. Objectives, To determine the reliability and validity of the DOCEE by investigating whether examiners agree when scoring, ranking and classifying students; to determine the number of cases and examiners necessary to produce a reliable examination, and to establish whether the examination has content and concurrent validity. Subjects, Fifty-six final year medical students and 22 examiners (in pairs) participated in the DOCEE in 2001. Methods, Generalisability theory, intraclass correlation, Pearson correlation and kappa were used to study reliability and agreement between the examiners. Case content and Pearson correlation between DOCEE and other examination components were used to study validity. Results, Cronbach's alpha for DOCEE was 0·85. The intraclass and Pearson correlation of scores given by specialists and non-specialists ranged from 0·82 to 0·93. Kappa scores ranged from 0·56 to 1·00. The overall intraclass correlation of students' scores was 0·86. The generalisability coefficient with four cases and two raters was 0·84. Decision studies showed that increasing the cases from one to four improved reliability to above 0·8. However, increasing the number of raters had little impact on reliability. The use of a pre-examination blueprint for selecting the cases improved the content validity. The disattenuated Pearson correlations between DOCEE and other performance measures as a measure of concurrent validity ranged from 0·67 to 0·79. Conclusions, The DOCEE was shown to have good reliability and interrater agreement between two independent specialist and non-specialist examiners on the scoring, ranking and pass/fail classification of student performance. It has adequate content and concurrent validity and provides unique information about students' clinical competence. [source] Three sisters in the same dress: cryptic speciation in African odonatesMOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 18 2010A. CORDERO-RIVERA The discovery of cryptic species (i.e. two or more distinct but morphologically undistinguishable species) has grown exponentially in the last two decades, due mainly to the increasing availability of DNA sequences. This suggests that hidden in the known species, many of which have been described based solely on morphological information, there might be a high number of species waiting to be discovered. In this issue Damm et al. (2010) use a combination of genetic, morphological and ecological evidence to identify the first cryptic species complex found within dragonflies (insect order Odonata). Their findings add more evidence for the importance of combining information from different disciplines to new species' discovery (DeSalle et al. 2005). [source] Azathioprine metabolite measurements: Its use in current clinical practicePEDIATRIC TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 6 2004Carolina Rumbo Abstract:, Azathioprine (AZA) is one of the oldest immunosuppressive agents available today. It is used as an immunomodulator in different disciplines such as hematology, dermatology, rheumatology, gastroenterology, and transplant. The present article presents a summary of AZA metabolism and the role of AZA metabolite measurements in the current clinical practice. [source] A framework for cross-disciplinary team learning and performancePERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2008Scott P. Schaffer The construct of teamwork has been of considerable interest to researchers and practitioners across domains. The literature on teams includes many studies related to team composition, processes, and roles, but it pays much less attention to how teams learn and innovate. Studies examining how cross-disciplinary teams interact during projects are even less common. The study examined here was conceived to fill the need for a theoretical framework to describe how individuals from different disciplines evolve into a team that creates new forms of knowledge and innovative solutions or products. The framework, which was validated in a university service-learning program with over 25 teams, is a comprehensive theory merging two existing team models within a sociocultural system framework emphasizing the mediating aspects of the collective team and context. The theoretical foundations, the definitions, and dimensions of the framework are presented in this article. [source] Origin of Fueguian-Patagonians: An approach to population history and structure using R matrix and matrix permutation methodsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2002Rolando González José A complicated history of isolation between Fueguian and Patagonian groups (originated by the appearance of the Straits of Magellan) as much as differences in population structure and life strategies constitute important factors in the clustering pattern of those groups. The aim of this work was to test several hypotheses about population structure and history of Fueguian-Patagonians to propose a model that incorporates predictions for future studies. R matrix methods and matrix permutation analyses were performed upon a data matrix of craniofacial measurements of 441 skulls divided into nine samples pertaining to six Patagonian and three Fueguian populations. Association of biological distances with three matrices representing several settlement patterns was tested using matrix permutation tests. Results of R matrix study show that the minimum genetic distance obtained confirms separation between Fueguians and Patagonians. Moreover, an analysis of residual variances from the expected regression line confirms admixture between Andean and Pampean populations and Araucanian groups, consistent with ethnohistorical observations. A model representing a long history of isolation between Fueguian and Patagonians, rather than a model emphasizing differences in life-strategies, presented the best correlation with the biological distance matrix. Because similar results were already obtained in archaeological, molecular, and morphological studies, a model for the settlement of Tierra del Fuego is proposed. It is summarized by four main hypotheses that can be tested independently by different disciplines in the future. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 14:308,320, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] A guide to knowledge translation theoryTHE JOURNAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, Issue 1 2006Carole A. Estabrooks RN Abstract Despite calls over several decades for theory development, there remains no overarching knowledge-translation theory. However, a range of models and theoretical perspectives focused on narrower and related areas have been available for some time. We provide an overview of selected perspectives that we believe are particularly useful for developing testable and useful knowledge-translation interventions. In addition, we discuss adjuvant theories necessary to complement these perspectives. We draw from organizational innovation, health, and social sciences literature to illustrate the similarities and differences of various theoretical perspectives related to the knowledge-translation field. A variety of theoretical perspectives useful to knowledge translation exist. They are often spread across disciplinary boundaries, making them difficult to locate and use. Poor definitional clarity, discipline-specific terminology, and implicit assumptions often hinder the use of complementary perspectives. Health care environments are complex, and assessing the setting prior to selecting a theory should be the first step in knowledge-translation initiatives. Finding a fit between setting (context) and theory is important for knowledge-translation initiatives to succeed. Because one theory will not fit all contexts, it is helpful to understand and use several different theories. Although there are often barriers associated with combining theories from different disciplines, such obstacles can be overcome, and to do so will increase the likelihood that knowledge-translation initiatives will succeed. [source] Developing strategies for detection of gene dopingTHE JOURNAL OF GENE MEDICINE, Issue 1 2008Anna Baoutina Abstract It is feared that the use of gene transfer technology to enhance athletic performance, the practice that has received the term ,gene doping', may soon become a real threat to the world of sport. As recognised by the anti-doping community, gene doping, like doping in any form, undermines principles of fair play in sport and most importantly, involves major health risks to athletes who partake in gene doping. One attraction of gene doping for such athletes and their entourage lies in the apparent difficulty of detecting its use. Since the realisation of the threat of gene doping to sport in 2001, the anti-doping community and scientists from different disciplines concerned with potential misuse of gene therapy technologies for performance enhancement have focused extensive efforts on developing robust methods for gene doping detection which could be used by the World Anti-Doping Agency to monitor athletes and would meet the requirements of a legally defensible test. Here we review the approaches and technologies which are being evaluated for the detection of gene doping, as well as for monitoring the efficacy of legitimate gene therapy, in relation to the detection target, the type of sample required for analysis and detection methods. We examine the accumulated knowledge on responses of the body, at both cellular and systemic levels, to gene transfer and evaluate strategies for gene doping detection based on current knowledge of gene technology, immunology, transcriptomics, proteomics, biochemistry and physiology. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] New Insights in Vascular Development: Vasculogenesis and Endothelial Progenitor CellsANATOMIA, HISTOLOGIA, EMBRYOLOGIA, Issue 1 2009S. Käßmeyer Summary In the course of new blood vessel formation, two different processes , vasculogenesis and angiogenesis , have to be distinguished. The term vasculogenesis describes the de novo emergence of a vascular network by endothelial progenitors, whereas angiogenesis corresponds to the generation of vessels by sprouting from pre-existing capillaries. Until recently, it was thought that vasculogenesis is restricted to the prenatal period. During the last decade, one of the most fascinating innovations in the field of vascular biology was the discovery of endothelial progenitor cells and vasculogenesis in the adult. This review aims at introducing the concept of adult vasculogenesis and discusses the efforts to identify and characterize adult endothelial progenitors. The different sources of adult endothelial progenitors like haematopoietic stem cells, myeloid cells, multipotent progenitors of the bone marrow, side population cells and tissue-residing pluripotent stem cells are considered. Moreover, a survey of cellular and molecular control mechanisms of vasculogenesis is presented. Recent advances in research on endothelial progenitors exert a strong impact on many different disciplines and provide the knowledge for functional concepts in basic fields like anatomy, histology as well as embryology. [source] Doing interdisciplinarity: motivation and collaboration in research for sustainable agriculture in the UKAREA, Issue 4 2009Frances Harris This paper studies knowledge production in complex, collaborative research projects that brought together academics from different disciplines, research users and agricultural businesses. It takes a comparative approach, studying the interactions within interdisciplinary research teams from ten case studies, considering the process of collaboration from initial idea through to publication. The research developed a typology of participants in these projects, and identified the motivations and challenges of each. Our results analyse the process of research teams coming together and the relationships that are built up during the research. A particular challenge identified was the building of cooperation and trust. This issue is explored alongside issues of communication, methodology, data analysis and the process of drawing and publicising conclusions. [source] Biochemistry of the envenomation response,A generator theme for interdisciplinary integrationBIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 2 2010Erik Montagna Abstract The understanding of complex physiological processes requires information from many different areas of knowledge. To meet this interdisciplinary scenario, the ability of integrating and articulating information is demanded. The difficulty of such approach arises because, more often than not, information is fragmented through under graduation education in Health Sciences. Shifting from a fragmentary and deep view of many topics to joining them horizontally in a global view is not a trivial task for teachers to implement. To attain that objective we proposed a course herein described,Biochemistry of the envenomation response,aimed at integrating previous contents of Health Sciences courses, following international recommendations of interdisciplinary model. The contents were organized by modules with increasing topic complexity. The full understanding of the envenoming pathophysiology of each module would be attained by the integration of knowledge from different disciplines. Active-learning strategy was employed focusing concept map drawing. Evaluation was obtained by a 30-item Likert-type survey answered by ninety students; 84% of the students considered that the number of relations that they were able to establish as seen by concept maps increased throughout the course. Similarly, 98% considered that both the theme and the strategy adopted in the course contributed to develop an interdisciplinary view. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||