Examination Committee Research Articles

Análisis de la relación entre disciplinas a través del uso de tesis doctorales. El caso de Televisión, Radio, Cine y Fotografía en España

El presente trabajo propone un nuevo método de análisis de la interdisciplinariedad a partir de la medición de la participación académica en las tesis doctorales en diferentes disciplinas. Metodología: Para construir las relaciones interdisciplinares se utilizan las tesis doctorales y las relaciones que se producen a partir de las direcciones de tesis y coparticipación en tribunales. Como muestra se utilizan las tesis doctorales defendidas en España en Comunicación Audiovisual (Televisión, Radio, Cine y Fotografía) en el periodo 1976-2007. El Escalamiento Multidimensional nos permite generar una representación bidimensional de las especialidades estudiadas, calcular distancias y cuantificar el grado de error de la representación. Resultados y conclusiones: Los resultados demuestran cómo se producen dos grupos diferenciados, por una parte Televisión y Radio, en segundo lugar, Cine y Fotografía. Televisión es la especialidad más representativa del conjunto. Apenas existen variaciones utilizando los diferentes tipos de participaciones.

Going for a PhD: Joys and Pitfalls

Going for a PhD: Joys and Pitfalls

Low dose-rate brachytherapy for the treatment of cervix cancer is outdated and should be discontinued.

Low dose-rate brachytherapy for the treatment of cervix cancer is outdated and should be discontinued.

Clinical Outcomes After Revision Meniscus Repair

To (1) report outcomes for patients who underwent revision meniscal repair and (2) define both clinical and surgical risk factors for recurrent failure. The records of all patients who underwent revision meniscal repair between 1997 and 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. Surgical technique of primary and revision meniscus repair was detailed, and tears were characterized by type and location. Clinical examination and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) and Tegner scores were used to determine outcomes after revision meniscus repair. Radiographs were reviewed and graded for degenerative changes. Risk factors for failure were analyzed. Thirty-four patients (24 male/10 female) with an average age of 22 ± 6years (range, 14 to 38) were included in this study. Twelve lateral menisci and 22 medial meniscal repairs were revised at mean 25 ± 20months (range, 2 to 76) after primary repair for 11 simple, 9 bucket-handle, and 14 complex tear patterns. Twenty-one tears occurred in the red-red zone and 13 in the red-white zone. At 72 ± 56-month follow-up (range, 2 to 17years), 7 (21%) cases had documented failure of revision repairs and underwent subsequent partial meniscectomy. Mean Tegner score for all patients was 6.2 ± 1.5 (range, 3 to 9) and IKDC score was 84.8 ± 13.1 (range, 51.7 to 100) at final follow-up. Affected side joint space on radiographs remained stable from a baseline of 4.26 ± 0.88mm to a final of 4.01 ± 0.84mm. Multivariable regression identified younger patient age as an independent risk factor for failed revision meniscal repair (P= .01). In this study of select revision meniscus repairs, 79% of patients were pain free, without any mechanical symptoms or additional surgeries at a mean of 6years after revision repair. Younger patients may be at higher risk of failure of the revision meniscus repair. Level IV, therapeutic case series.

Plans for Integrating Health Care Personnel between the Two Koreas

In preparing for the unification of North and South Korea, rather than unilaterally over-writing the Norths human resource training system with the Souths health care human resource development system, it is important to understand the Norths system and its ecology and to achieve a balance by seeking out aspects of each of the systems that could be consolidated with each other. The training period in both the North and Souths health care human resource development systems is specified to be 6 years, but there is no system for internships or residencies in the North. South Korea introduced a 6-year system for pharmacist education in 2009, but North Korea has been using such a system since the 1970s (currently 5.5 years). In North Korea, training of health care personnel is conducted at various levels: at universities, at vocational schools, and at institutes for training health officials. Various types of training (daytime training, online, and ad hoc programs) are carried out. Also of interest is the Norths licensure examination system. Rather than a state examination system as in South Korea, the North favors a graduation exam given by a national graduation examination committee composed of university professors, which awards both graduation certificates and permits, that is, licenses for doctors and pharmacists. In working out a plan for the integration of the two Koreas’ systems based on the study and analysis of the Norths educational and testing system for doctors and pharmacists, this paper does not place exclusive focus on the distinctions between the systems or cling to negative views. Rather than claim that unification/integration is a practical impossibility, the paper focuses on the similarities between the two systems and maximizes them to uncover an approach for arriving at solutions. It is hoped that the practical data offered in this paper can contribute to the design of a forward-minded unification/integration model.

Metabolic Syndrome Components Are Associated with Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: The Wakayama Spine Study.

ObjectiveThe objective of the present study was to examine the associations between metabolic syndrome (MS) components, such as overweight (OW), hypertension (HT), dyslipidemia (DL), and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and intervertebral disc degeneration (DD).DesignThe present study included 928 participants (308 men, 620 women) of the 1,011 participants in the Wakayama Spine Study. DD on magnetic resonance imaging was classified according to the Pfirrmann system. OW, HT, DL, and IGT were assessed using the criteria of the Examination Committee of Criteria for MS in Japan.ResultsMultivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that OW was significantly associated with cervical, thoracic, and lumbar DD (cervical: odds ratio [OR], 1.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92–1.78; thoracic: OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.24–2.51; lumbar: OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.06–3.48). HT and IGT were significantly associated with thoracic DD (HT: OR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.09–2.18; IGT: OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.12–2.48). Furthermore, subjects with 1 or more MS components had a higher OR for thoracic DD compared with those without MS components (vs. no component; 1 component: OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.03–2.42; 2 components: OR, 2.60; 95% CI, 1.62–4.20; ≥3 components: OR, 2.62; 95% CI, 1.42–5.00).ConclusionMS components were significantly associated with thoracic DD. Furthermore, accumulation of MS components significantly increased the OR for thoracic DD. These findings support the need for further studies of the effects of metabolic abnormality on DD.

Earnings management, IPO screening and resource allocation efficiency

Employing IPO firms from 2006 to 2012 as the sample and taking the perspective of earnings management, this paper examines the decision efficiency of the Stock Issue Examination and Verification Committee (SIEVC) in China. We find that the rate of passing IPO screening is negatively correlated with firms’ earnings management, but this relationship is only found for the high-level earnings management. Further analyses show that when IPO firms are state-owned enterprises (SOEs) or receive industry support from government, their IPO applications are less likely to be rejected for earnings management. Meanwhile, political connection and business complexity weaken the negative relationship between the rate of passing the IPO screening and firms’ earnings management. Finally, we find that IPO firms with more earnings management have lower stock returns and worse accounting performance after listing.

Research on Public Policy Performance Evaluation Based on Local Fractional Algorithm

In this paper, we prompt public performance evaluation method based on local fractional algorithm. This paper takes the public value as a basic framework to build a system and it combines the execution process of ecological construction policies with the performance evaluation of the ecological effects. Then it extracts index factors from some aspects such as the fairness of the process, respect for the subject of co-production the management effi- ciency of the government departments, the sustainability of ecological effects and so on. The performance evaluation indexes and models of the ecological construction polices based on the public value are of great significance and feasible. Currently, together with the booming of the public man- agement reform in the worldwide and globalization has brought about a lot of changes in the international political and economic environment. Against this background, domestic makers and experts and scholars of science study in many countries have been fully realized that intensifying macro analysis and promoting the reform and innovation in the making and implementation system are of great significance to the destiny of the country and the regime and the sustainable development of the econ- omy. In recent years, countries all over the world, particu- larly the developed countries, have conducted wide range of reform and assessment in system and perform- ance, such as the Reinventing Government Movement in the United States, the Second Nation-Making Movement in the Republic of Korea, and the New Action Examination and Approval Committee in Japan (1). There have been a lot of achievements in relevant studies. Among them, the issue of how to relax government control and how to strengthen per- formance assessment has become very popular for study and government reform. The public performance evaluation is a new field of study, while study on the demands of evaluation is also in its infancy now. Public performance evaluation can be considered as performance-oriented public evaluation, or can be considered as measuring the results of the in a certain area for a certain time, which is with the Overall Performance Evaluation, public sector performance evalua- tion and public project performance evaluation, forming the whole system of government performance evaluation. Study on the demands of evaluation is a key stage of the whole process of evaluation, and decide the concepts, methods and the orientation of the evaluation. Public policy, as an important way of distributing the public resources, has great influence on the society. Essentially saying, the demands of public performance evaluation come out of the bad policy and its consequences. Like unscientific decision- making process; or the preference, which is the result of game of different interest groups; or the values the gov- ernments holing are different with the public's during the process; or the goals of the governments' acting are different with the society's, there are a great many parts of the current public policies are not reasonable. Unreasonable policies brought great waste of resources, attached a negative impact on the public's life, and even caused political crisis, which can be found in histories of many countries in the world. So the public performance evaluation is acting an irreplaceable role in the whole process (2). The motivations, which promote the growing of demands on the public performance evaluation, are related to the changes in the financial system, the rise of the govern- ment accountability, the rise of civil society, and the devel- oping of the public policy, etc. The reasons that the motiva- tions turned up come from both inside and outside of the government. Different goals of evaluation and various de- mands from the public, the demands of evaluation are differ- ent and changing factors of economy, society and politics are essential to realize the demands. In the light of that the demands of evaluation are clearing, and the technology are developing, the system of public performance evalua- tion will definitely be built up in someday, and will play an important role in the democratization and legalization pro- gress of our country.

THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY OF STATE, LAW, POLITICAL AND LEGAL DOCTRINES AND IT’S HEADS (BY THE 230TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT AND ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT)

In January 1661 the Polish King Jan Kazimierz signed a diploma granting Lviv Jesuit College «dignity Academy and the title of the University».Two faculties – the philosophical and theological – were established. University in Lviv stopped activity with the loss of Poland’s independence (XVIII cent.); resumed it in 1784 within 4 faculties other than the previous two – even medical and legal. Then at the faculty of law were established 5 departments, including Department of history of Roman, German and Austrian law. Study at the faculty lasted 4 years. Department at various times headed by prof. K. Liske, prof. F. Zrodlovskyy and others. In the 1887 by decision of the administration and the Senate of the Universitywasestablished also department of Polish law. Its head was well-known at that time professor O. Baltser. He was, moreover, a member of the examination committee judges of Lviv judicial district, a member of the Senate of the University, twice elected dean of faculty,once– Rector of the University, was a member of several European Academies of Sciences. With the restoration of an independent Polish state (1918) chair was renamed the department of history and law Poland. Its then headed by prof. O. Baltser. In 1920 the also was established department of Western European law. It was led by prof. A. Halban. In 1933 both departments were joined in the department of history of order and law. It was led by prof. P. Dombkovskyy– also known in Poland and abroad scholar, author of several books and monographs, academic and several foreign Polish Academy of Sciences, Dean of the Faculty twice. The department consisted of 5 lecturers. During the Second World War the University did not work, briefly resumed activity in October 1939, when the Red Army occupied Galicia. Then began the German-Soviet war. With the expulsion of Nazi troops from Ukraine in August 1944 the University resumed its activity, which even in 1940 was named after Ivan Franko. Formations, among others, the department of general history of state and law (headed by P. Dombkovskyy) and the department of history of state and law of the USSR (it was headed by prof. K. Koranyy). Subject general history of law covered 86 hours lecture and 40 hours seminars, the department also was teach Roman law (80 and 40 hours). In late 1944, both departments joined into a single department of history of law. Soon (in 1950) it is connected also the department of theory of law. After the death of prof. Dombkovskyy (1950) consistently led the department known and respected scientists – professorsP. Nedbaylo, V. Kalynovych, V.Sokurenko. Now the department of history of state, law and political-legal doctrines (the name its received in 2008, after the formation of the department of theory and philosophy of law) is headby prof. B. Tyshchyk. The department has 10 lecturers, 3 technicians, read the 5 basic items and some special courses. At the department operates postgraduate, processed actual scientific theme, organized themed scientific conferences. During 1944–2014 lecturers published about 50 monographs, 120 other books and materials. The department has trained more than 50 candidates, 7 – doctors.

The American College of Veterinary Surgeons The Second 25 Years

The American College of Veterinary Surgeons The Second 25 Years

Is fatty liver indicative of a risk of metabolic syndrome among non-obese subjects?

Metabolic syndrome (MetS), a complex of interrelated risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), includes elevated fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels, elevated blood pressure (BP), elevated triglyceride (TG) levels, reduced highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, and obesity [1]. Obesity seems to be a central metabolic risk factor (MetRF) because insulin resistance, which is generally related to obesity, is a potential pathophysiologic link among MetRF. In this context, obesity, as measured by abdominal adiposity and increased waist circumference, is included as an essential factor for diagnosis of MetS by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the Japanese Examination Committee for Criteria of Metabolic Syndrome [2, 3]. However MetRF were frequently clustered, even among non-obese subjects. Subjects with clustering of MetRF are often insulin-resistant compared with subjects without clustering of MetRF, even though they were not obese. Thus, non-obese subjects with a clustering of MetRF are at increased risk of CVD, as are obese subjects with a clustering of MetRF, or subjects with MetS. Thus, evaluation of MetRF seems to be important for finding such individuals. Recently, Hiraoka et al. reported an association of fatty liver with MetRF and such insulin-resistance indices as HOMA-R among non-obese subjects with normal waist circumference none of whom met the MetS criteria [4]. Blood pressure, serum triglyceride, and HOMA-R levels were significantly elevated among non-obese subjects with normal waist circumference and fatty liver compared to those without (males: 122/78 vs. 120/76 mmHg, 161.5 vs. 105.5 mg/dl, 1.9 vs. 1.3, respectively; females: 120/73 vs. 116/71 mmHg, 115.2 vs. 82.0 mg/dl, 1.7 vs. 1.3, respectively). This result indicated that those with fatty liver were at risk of clustering of MetRF and, thus, of developing MetS, even though they were not obese or did not meet the MetS criteria. Therefore, evaluation of fatty liver, which can be detected easily by ultrasonography in ordinary clinical settings, seems to be important for non-obese and obese individuals. Furthermore, because the authors excluded those who regularly drank 20 g or more alcohol per day from their study population, the fatty liver described in the report seems to be non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) [4]. Studies of MetS have revealed a J-shaped relationship between alcohol intake and the risk of MetS [5–7]. Indeed, light alcohol consumption was actually associated with a lower risk of MetS [6–8] whereas very heavy alcohol consumption was associated with a substantial increase in the risk of MetS [9]. However, the different relationships between alcohol intake and the risk of clustering of MetRF might be related to the different obesity of the subjects, i.e. non-obese versus obese. We recently reported that alcohol intake by non-obese males with a clustering of MetRF was significantly higher than by those without, but such differnce was not observed in obese males [10]. Furthermore, analysis of non-obese males stratified into the four groups on the basis of alcohol consumption (none, light (1–139 g/ week), heavy (140–279 g/week), and very heavy (]280 g/ week)) revealed a positive linear association between amount of alcohol intake and clustering of MetRF [10], i.e., increasing alcohol intake seemed to increase the risk of clustering of MetRF among non-obese Japanese males whereas non-obese individuals with no or light alcohol & Makoto Daimon mdaimon@hirosaki-u.ac.jp

Fuzzy temporal logic, flexible methods for interaction analysis

On July 17 2014 in Karlsruhe Germany, Joris IJsselmuiden successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled Interaction analysis in smart work environments through fuzzy temporal logic [1]. The examination committee consisted of Rainer Stiefelhagen, Jurgen Beyerer, Michael Beigl, Dorothea Wagner, Oliver Hummel, and Peter H. Schmitt (Fig. 1). The main publications associated with this PhD thesis are [2-9].

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions

How to do well in the OSPHE: examiner comments about candidate performances in the Faculty membership examination Part B (OSPHE).

During Part B examinations, a number of observations and learning points are made by the examiners, who, after many years in that role, are in a position as highly experienced public health specialists to observe trends both in competencies and in examination preparation. We have prepared a briefing, based on these observations which we hope is valuable for exam candidates, for informing the examination committee about refinements, improvements and quality control of the exam, and to assist the Education Committee and Training Programme Directors in their ongoing monitoring of educational standards. We encourage all examination candidates and their trainers to look at the ‘top tips’ below which are all issues that we continue to see running through each examination, year on year.

Case Mix of Nonmalignant Hematology in Inpatient Hematology/Oncology Consultation: Review of a 14 Month Experience from a Single University/Community Hybrid Hospital

Most graduates of Hematology/Oncology fellowship programs will enter community based practice, which is largely outpatient and predominantly solid tumor oncology. An understanding of the spectrum of disorders encountered in practice is helpful in the development of clinically relevant curricula. Little has been reported about the case mix encountered in community-based inpatient Hematology/Oncology consultation. In 2009, University of Kentucky (UK) Healthcare assumed ownership of an adjacent community hospital. It was managed as a University and community physician staffed hybrid, with a level of acuity and case mix intended to be comparable to community hospitals. Inpatient services were comprised of general internal medicine, family medicine, psychiatry, general surgery, and orthopedics. Transplant patients, those requiring other surgical specialties or advanced intensive care unit management, and patients actively treated with chemotherapy were admitted to UK Chandler Medical Center. With the exception of Infectious Diseases and Nephrology, all other specialty consultation was by University services. From January 2010 to March 2011, Hematology/Oncology consultations were provided by a single faculty physician as his sole inpatient responsibility. During that period, 164 consultation requests were received, reflecting 108 individual patients and leading to 464 encounters. Consultations were received from both University and community physician practices. (Fewer than 10 encounters were seen by other physicians covering weekends/holidays and are not included in the analysis). Solid tumor oncology patients were the single largest category of patients (27.8%) but were not a majority of cases. Malignant hematology patients were 5.5% of the total patients. Nonmalignant hematology patients represented the majority of patients (64%). Three patients (2.7%) were found to have no hematologic or malignant disorder. Of the nonmalignant hematology patients, the largest single category was coagulation disorders other than thrombocytopenia (13.9% of total patients). Half of these were related to thromboembolic events. The next largest category was sickle cell patients (12% of total patients), followed by cytopenias associated with liver disease/hypersplenism (9.3%), isolated thrombocytopenia and isolated anemia (7.4% each) and combined cytopenias (6.5%). The majority of isolated anemia cases reflected anemia of chronic disease, with the remainder due to iron deficiency/blood loss and/or B12 deficiency. Although sickle cell patients represented only 12% of total patients, they represented 35.9% of consultation requests (p<0.05, Fisher exact text), reflecting frequent readmissions. Conclusion: In a hospital with a level of acuity and patient mix believed comparable to a community hospital, the majority of inpatient hematology/oncology consultations represented a spectrum of nonmalignant hematologic disorders. The training of individuals anticipating careers in community practice should include broad exposure to nonmalignant hematology. Disclosures Means: American Board of Internal Medicine: Member, Hematology Examination Committee Other.

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions

Hinged External Fixation in the Treatment of Knee Dislocations

Our hypothesis was that patients treated with hinged external fixators as an adjunct to multiple-ligament reconstruction would have fewer reconstruction failures than patients treated without external fixation. In this prospective randomized study, patients with a knee dislocation either underwent ligament reconstruction with placement of an external hinged knee brace following surgery (Group A) or underwent ligament reconstruction with placement of a hinged external fixator (Compass Knee Hinge) for six weeks instead of the brace (Group B). The patients were followed clinically and were evaluated with physical examination, Lysholm and International Knee Documentation Committee knee scores, visual analog scale pain scores, and status regarding return to work and activities. One hundred patients with 103 knee dislocations were enrolled. Seventy-seven patients with seventy-nine dislocations (thirty-two in Group A and forty-seven in Group B), with a minimum follow-up interval of twelve months, were available for evaluation. The mean duration of follow-up was thirty-nine months (range, twelve to eighty-six months). Nine patients (29%) in Group A had failed reconstructions compared with seven (15%) in Group B (p = 0.15). Group-A patients had twenty-two (21%) of 105 reconstructed individual ligaments fail compared with eleven (7%) of 157 reconstructed ligaments in Group B. The difference in ligament failure was significant (p < 0.001; power > 0.8), with more favorable results for the patients managed with the external fixation. Hinged external fixation as a supplement to reconstruction following knee dislocation was associated with fewer failed ligament reconstructions compared with external bracing. Patients presenting with highly unstable knee dislocations should be considered for hinged external fixation to supplement initial reconstructive procedures.

Designing games in the classroom: Learning benefits

Designing games in the classroom: Learning benefits

A Trustable Software Agent Framework for the Examination Paper Preparation and Moderation Process (EPMP)

his paper develops a trustable software agent framework to simulate the possible situations of trust between agents and propose novel solutions that could be provided by software agent technology. The technology is applied to the security and trust process to overcome the serious issues that could be faced by using software agent technology. This study demonstrates the use of autonomous software agents to secure the Examination Paper Preparation and Moderation Process (EPMP) domain and apply security and trust mechanisms on the agents that access and perform various domain tasks. Three levels of trust are designed, which correspond to the EPMP domain's groups of people who are the Examination Committee, Moderator, and Lecturer. Each level has its own trust requirements that should be fulfilled by the agent in order to access the level, otherwise the agent is blocked and access to the level is denied. This work implements the proposed framework for the domain and observes the results of the security and trust mechanisms. It then compares the performance before and after the implementation to see the effectiveness of the framework.

Incremental Development of an Integrated Assessment Method for the Professional Curriculum

To incrementally create and embed biannual integrated knowledge and skills examinations into final examinations of the pharmacy practice courses offered in the first 3 years of the pharmacy curriculum that would account for 10% of each course's final course grade. An ad hoc integrated examination committee was formed and tasked with addressing 4 key questions. Integrated examination committees for the first, second, and third years of the curriculum were established and tasked with identifying the most pertinent skills and knowledge-based content from each required course in the curriculum, developing measurable objectives addressing the pertinent content, and creating or revising multiple-choice and performance-based questions derived from integrated examination objectives. An Integrated Examination Review Committee evaluated all test questions, objectives, and student performance on each question, and revised the objectives and questions as needed for the following year's iteration. Eight performance objectives for the examinations were measured. All 8 performance objectives were achieved. Sixty-four percent of the college's faculty members participated in the integrated examination process, improving the quality of the examination. The incremental development and implementation of the examinations over a 3-year period minimized the burden on faculty time while engaging them in the process. Student understanding of expectations for knowledge and skill retention in the curriculum also improved. Development of biannual integrated examinations in the first 3 years of the classroom curriculum enhanced the college's culture of assessment and addressed accreditation guidelines for formative and summative assessment of students' knowledge and skills. The course will continue to be refined each year.