High Time Demands Research Articles

Being a Parent and not a Teacher: the Case of Specific Learning Disabilities

Living with a child with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) can be highly demanding or frustrating at times. In this paper we focus on the everyday reality and demands on the parents, their relationship with their children, and their reflection on these experiences. Through semi-structured focus-group interviews, we collected data from 15 parents (13 mothers and two fathers) in groups of 4-6 individuals. The two major questions around which the interviews were structured were 1) How did the child’s Specific Learning Disabilities impact on the everyday life of the family and especially of the parents? 2) What would they need and what would they do differently, if they could go back in time, to support their child? Based on the analyses of the interviews, three major issues were revealed: the high time-demands and therefore, lack of leisure-personal time, the lack of knowledge regarding SLD, and the retrospective regret and guilt of the parents. All parents appeared to struggle to balance between two, conflicting roles: the parent and the teacher roles. Lookingback, they strongly regrettedthepressure they had asserted on their children, often leading to verbal and even physical abuse.

Are current machine learning applications comparable to radiologist classification of degenerate and herniated discs and Modic change? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Low back pain is the leading contributor to disability burden globally. It is commonly due to degeneration of the lumbar intervertebral discs (LDD). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the current best tool to visualize and diagnose LDD, but places high time demands on clinical radiologists. Automated reading of spine MRIs could improve speed, accuracy, reliability and cost effectiveness in radiology departments. The aim of this review and meta-analysis was to determine if current machine learning algorithms perform well identifying disc degeneration, herniation, bulge and Modic change compared to radiologists. A PRISMA systematic review protocol was developed and four electronic databases and reference lists were searched. Strict inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined. A PROBAST risk of bias and applicability analysis was performed. 1350 articles were extracted. Duplicates were removed and title and abstract searching identified original research articles that used machine learning (ML) algorithms to identify disc degeneration, herniation, bulge and Modic change from MRIs. 27 studies were included in the review; 25 and 14 studies were included multi-variate and bivariate meta-analysis, respectively. Studies used machine learning algorithms to assess LDD, disc herniation, bulge and Modic change. Models using deep learning, support vector machine, k-nearest neighbors, random forest and naïve Bayes algorithms were included. Meta-analyses found no differences in algorithm or classification performance. When algorithms were tested in replication or external validation studies, they did not perform as well as when assessed in developmental studies. Data augmentation improved algorithm performance when compared to models used with smaller datasets, there were no performance differences between augmented data and large datasets. This review highlights several shortcomings of current approaches, including few validation attempts or use of large sample sizes. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first systematic review to explore this topic. We suggest the utilization of deep learning coupled with semi- or unsupervised learning approaches. Use of all information contained in MRI data will improve accuracy. Clear and complete reporting of study design, statistics and results will improve the reliability and quality of published literature.

Estimation of the respiratory rate from ballistocardiograms using the Hilbert transform

BackgroundMeasuring the respiratory rate is usually associated with discomfort for the patient due to contact sensors or a high time demand for healthcare personnel manually counting it.MethodsIn this paper, two methods for the continuous extraction of the respiratory rate from unobtrusive ballistocardiography signals are introduced. The Hilbert transform is used to generate an amplitude-invariant phase signal in-line with the respiratory rate. The respiratory rate can then be estimated, first, by using a simple peak detection, and second, by differentiation.ResultsBy analysis of a sleep laboratory data set consisting of nine records of healthy individuals lasting more than 63 h and including more than 59,000 breaths, a mean absolute error of as low as 0.7 BPM for both methods was achieved.ConclusionThe results encourage further assessment for hospitalised patients and for home-care applications especially with patients suffering from diseases of the respiratory system like COPD or sleep apnoea.

Paper-based open microfluidic platform for protein electrophoresis and immunoprobing.

Protein electrophoresis and immunoblotting are indispensable analytical tools for the characterization of proteins and posttranslational modifications in complex sample matrices. Owing to the lack of automation, commonly employed slab-gel systems suffer from high time demand, significant sample/antibody consumption, and limited reproducibility. To overcome these limitations, we developed a paper-based open microfluidic platform for electrophoretic protein separation and subsequent transfer to protein-binding membranes for immunoprobing. Electrophoresis microstructures were digitally printed into cellulose acetate membranes that provide mechanical stability while maintaining full accessibility of the microstructures for consecutive immunological analysis. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate separation of fluorescently labeled marker proteins in a wide molecular weight range (15-120kDa) within only 15min, reducing the time demand for the entire workflow (from sample preparation to immunoassay) to approximately one hour. Sample consumption was reduced 10- to 150-fold compared to slab-gel systems, owing to system miniaturization. Moreover, we successfully applied the paper-based approach to complex samples such as crude bacterial cell extracts. We envisage that this platform will find its use in protein analysis workflows for scarce and precious samples, providing a unique opportunity to extract profound immunological information from limited sample amounts in a fast fashion with minimal hands-on time.

Ensemble learning prediction of transmittance at different wavenumbers in natural hydroxyapatite

Material engineering-based research has often relied so much on tedious human experiments for generating specific engineering properties with a major draw-back of high time demand that can span between an hour and days. Hence to deviate from the usual paradigm, we provide an alternative approach which employs artificial intelligence (AI) based ensemble learning methods for predicting the degree of transmittance for a range of wavenumbers of infrared radiation through hydroxyapatite (HAp) samples. The effective samples (transmittance and wavenumber) were passed as input to the predictive systems. For this, we trained two ensemble learning methods: Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and Random Forest on variants of HAp (density and time variations), while considering a fixed amount of 10,000 base estimators. The results show that Random Forest marginally outperforms the XGBoost in the testing phase but requires a much longer computing time. However, XGBoost is much faster than the Random Forest. Furthermore, the examined ensemble learning models yielded a coefficient of determination (R2 > 0.997): which are in close agreement with experimental data, depicting an excellent generalization capacity. Additionally, the examined ensemble learning models showed a significant ≥ 99.83% decrease in computational complexity relative to the time spent when generating the experimental data. Overall, the use of ensemble learning models is very important for validating material engineering properties.

Feasibility and acceptability of a volunteer peer fidelity assessment model in early psychosis intervention programmes in Ontario: Results from a pilot study.

Fidelity monitoring can support high-quality service delivery but is resource-intensive to implement. A fidelity assessment model utilizing volunteer assessors was trialled as a low-cost strategy for conducting fidelity assessments. This article reports on the acceptability and feasibility of this model. Twenty volunteer assessors were trained to conduct fidelity assessments in nine Early Psychosis Intervention programmes across Ontario, Canada. Assessments were conducted using the First-Episode Psychosis Services Fidelity Scale based on a 2-day site visit, during which assessors interviewed staff, clients and families; reviewed charts; observed a team meeting and reviewed programme materials. The model was evaluated based on assessor focus groups, programme interviews, consensus meeting data and time-tracking logs. General inductive analysis was used to code and synthesize qualitative data. Quantitative data were aggregated and summarized. Participant feedback was positive and indicated that use of peer assessors and the in-person site visit added value to the process. The model was perceived to provide valuable information to support internal quality improvement efforts. Assessors reported direct benefits from participating, including networking and learning opportunities. Key challenges were the high time demand on assessors and turnover in the assessor team. The volunteer peer fidelity model was perceived to be a valuable improvement process by participants, but the high cost and reliance on ongoing volunteerism makes its sustainability uncertain. Next steps may include exploring remote assessment strategies or direct payments, although these strategies risk reducing the acceptability, and therefore uptake, of the assessment.

Sickness Presenteeism among the Self-employed and Employed in Northwestern Europe-The Importance of Time Demands.

BackgroundEuropean policymakers encourage individuals to become self-employed because it is a way to promote innovation and job creation. It can be assumed that health and well-being among the self-employed and managers in small-scale enterprises are particularly crucial in this enterprise group because the smallness of the enterprise makes its members vulnerable. Earlier studies have indicated that the self-employed have a high working pace and work for long and irregular hours, indicating that it can be difficult to stay at home because of sickness. The purpose of this study is to investigate the occurrence of sickness presenteeism among the self-employed in relation to the organizationally employed and to analyze whether any differences can be explained by higher work demands among the self-employed.MethodsThe study is based on the fifth European survey on working conditions (2010) and includes the northwestern European countries in the survey. The questions cover a wide range of topics designed to meet the European Union's political needs. The main variables in this study are sickness presenteeism and several indicators of time demands.ResultsThe results show that the self-employed report a higher level of sickness presenteeism than the employed: 52.4 versus 43.6%. All indicators of time demands are significantly related to the risk for sickness presenteeism, also when controlling for background characteristics.ConclusionThe results confirm that the level of sickness presenteeism is higher among the self-employed and that high time demands are a major explanation to this.

Percepções de estudantes de enfermagem referente à qualidade de vida na trajetória acadêmica

Objetivo: compreender as percepções dos estudantes de enfermagem relacionada à Qualidade de Vida (QV) durante a trajetória acadêmica em uma Universidade Pública Federal. Método: estudo exploratório, qualitativo, realizado com 14 estudantes de uma Universidade Pública Federal, entre agosto e outubro de 2012. Os instrumentos de coleta de dados foram a entrevista semiestruturada e o diário de campo, com posterior análise de conteúdo. Resultados: Emergiram duas categorias: “A universidade... Entre promotora e não promotora da qualidade de vida” e “Estágio Supervisionado e Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso como causa dos problemas de saúde”.As dimensões promotoras da QV foram: atividades em grupo, interação entre comunidade científica-comunidade e, conhecimentos transformados na universidade. Quanto às não promotoras da QV percebe-se:alimentação inadequada; exigência dos docentes; extensa carga horária e demanda de tempo elevada; e atividades práticas das disciplinas. Conclusão: Infere-se a necessidade de adaptações na trajetória acadêmica para assegurar uma melhoria na QV.

Application of a utility analysis to evaluate a novel assessment tool for clinically oriented physiology and pharmacology.

Multiple-choice questions are a gold-standard tool in medical school for assessment of knowledge and are the mainstay of licensing examinations. However, multiple-choice questions items can be criticized for lacking the ability to test higher-order learning or integrative thinking across multiple disciplines. Our objective was to develop a novel assessment that would address understanding of pathophysiology and pharmacology, evaluate learning at the levels of application, evaluation and synthesis, and allow students to demonstrate clinical reasoning. The rubric assesses student writeups of clinical case problems. The method is based on the physician's traditional postencounter Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan note. Students were required to correctly identify subjective and objective findings in authentic clinical case problems, to ascribe pathophysiological as well as pharmacological mechanisms to these findings, and to justify a list of differential diagnoses. A utility analysis was undertaken to evaluate the new assessment tool by appraising its reliability, validity, feasibility, cost effectiveness, acceptability, and educational impact using a mixed-method approach. The Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan assessment tool scored highly in terms of validity and educational impact and had acceptable levels of statistical reliability but was limited in terms of acceptance, feasibility, and cost effectiveness due to high time demands on expert graders and workload concerns from students. We conclude by making suggestions for improving the tool and recommend deployment of the instrument for low-stakes summative assessment or formative assessment.

Berufskarrieren von ehemaligen NLA-Eishockey­spielern in der Schweiz – Zum Einfluss der Sportkarriere auf die Berufskarriere

A career in elite sports requires a significant investment of time. Professional sportsmen, such as Swiss ice hockey players, are intensively involved in the system of high-performance sports. From junior years through to the end of a professional career, a high investment of time is necessary to develop the appropriate sporting achievements. Building an ice hockey career occurs at the same time as the school phase of vocational training. The high time-demand of sport training can affect the choices and occupational opportunities offered at this time. After the end of the professional career and hockey players are forced to enter ’normal’ working life. How do the careers of professional ice hockey players develop and what influence does their high-performance sports career have on their following working life. This question is investigated examining the hockey and professional careers of 76 former players of the National League A (NLA) who have ended their careers between 1990 and 2005. As part of a quantitative-oriented cohort analysis, the former NLA players were surveyed about their careers and the possible influence of high performance sport. In comparison to the total population of Switzerland, the former NLA players, despite the time commitment to hockey, often reach the first level of secondary school and often achieve higher qualifications. Their training certificates, however, are in part below average, which may be related to the burden of professional hockey. However, this is often compensated by institutional support measures, which have also been expanded in recent decades. The former NLA players stand out in comparison to the total population, and especially to their brothers, with above-average professional positions. They tend to use their prominence and related networks to develop opportunities to work in the professional hockey field, and along with their financial situation, have positive influences on their professional career.

Optimizing Yield and Nutrients Content in Tomato by Vermicompost Application under Greenhouse Conditions

Optimizing yield and nutrients content in crop production is the high time demand of arable farming. Vermicompost furnishes one of the most promising alternatives to costly chemical fertilizer. Therefore, a greenhouse experiment was conducted at NARC, Islamabad, to investigate the effect of different levels of vermicompost [having C/N=15/1 and 14 Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR)] on growth, yield and nutrients content in hybrid tomato (National Tunnel Tomato-04-08) under greenhouse conditions during Rabi 2015. The data revealed that different rates (0.5 t·ha-1, 1 t·ha-1, 1.5 t·ha-1 and 2 t·ha-1) of vermicompost produced varied and significant (P < 0.05) effect on the vegetative growth parameters (shoot length, root length, dry shoot weight and dry root weight), yield parameters (number of fruits per treatment and total yield) recorded at physiological maturity. Tomato fruit yield was the maximum (4.383 t·ha-1) at the application of 2.0 t vermicompost ha-1 followed by 3.226 t·ha-1 where vermicompost was applied @ 1.5 t·ha-1. N, P and K content in tomato fruit and plant increased significantly with the application of increasing levels of vermicompost. The highest content of N (3.7%), P (0.67%), K (5.17%) in tomato fruit and N (3.4%), P (0.32%), K (3.2%) in tomato plant respectively were registered with soil application of vermicompost @ 2.0 t·ha-1. This study confirms that the vermicompost has a tremendous potential of plant nutrients supply for sustainable crop production.

Electrostatic Ion Thrusters ‐ Towards Predictive Modeling

AbstractThe development of electrostatic ion thrusters so far has mainly been based on empirical and qualitative knowhow, and on evolutionary iteration steps. This resulted in considerable effort regarding prototype design, construction and testing and therefore in significant development and qualification costs and high time demands. For future developments it is anticipated to implement simulation tools which allow for quantitative prediction of ion thruster performance, long‐term behavior and space craft interaction prior to hardware design and construction. Based on integrated numerical models combining self‐consistent kinetic plasma models with plasmawall interaction modules a new quality in the description of electrostatic thrusters can be reached. These open the perspective for predictive modeling in this field. This paper reviews the application of a set of predictive numerical modeling tools on an ion thruster model of the HEMP‐T (High Efficiency Multi‐stage Plasma Thruster) type patented by Thales Electron Devices GmbH. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &amp; Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Recovery experiences as moderators between psychosocial work characteristics and occupational well-being

This study examined the direct and moderator roles of recovery experiences (psychological detachment from work, relaxation, mastery, and control) in the relationship between psychosocial work characteristics (i.e. time demands, job control, and justice of the supervisor) and occupational well-being (need for recovery, job exhaustion, and work engagement). The study was conducted among 527 Finnish employees from several occupational sectors who were employed in a variety of different jobs. Of the employees, 53% were women and the average age was 42.4 years. The moderated hierarchical regression analyses showed that psychological detachment and mastery were protective mechanisms against increased need for recovery in a situation of lack of job control. Also, relaxation protected against increased job exhaustion under high time demands. In addition, recovery experiences – psychological detachment and mastery in particular – had direct links to occupational well-being. Altogether, the study findings suggest that recovery experiences play a significant role in maintaining well-being at work.

Why don't they want a male-dominated job? An investigation of young women who changed their occupational aspirations

We examined 2 hypotheses regarding why some young women do not maintain their espoused occupational aspirations in male-dominated fields from late adolescence through young adulthood. The first hypothesis concerns attitudes towards math and science; the second concerns the desire for job flexibility. The sample of young women (N = 104) was taken from a larger longitudinal investigation of approximately 1,000 young women from a midwestern metropolitan area in Michigan, USA, who were followed from age 18 (in 1990) to age 25 (1997). Findings suggest that desire for a flexible job, high time demands of an occupation, and low intrinsic value of physical science were the best predictors of women changing their occupational aspirations out of male-dominated fields. These results suggest that despite the women's movement and more efforts in society to open occupational doors to traditional male-jobs for women, concerns about balancing career and family, together with lower value for science-related domains, continue to steer young women away from occupations in traditionally male-dominated fields, where their abilities and ambitions may lie.

Boredom, Stress and Social Control in the Daily Activities of Adolescents

Introduction Research on adolescent leisure has for the most part utilized an individual psychological perspective. Thus attention has been given to meanings and experiential aspects of leisure (Csikszentmihayli & Larson, 1984; Kleiber, Caldwell, & Shaw, 1993; Mobily, 1989), as well as to individual choice, participation, boredom, and constraints (Ellis & Rademacher, 1987; Garton & Pratt, 1987; Hultsman, 1993; Iso-Ahola & Weissinger, 1987). Another focus has been on the personal benefits derived from leisure participation, such as identity development (Kleiber & Rickards, 1985; Kleiber, 1991) and improved physical and mental health (Caldwell, Smith, & Weissinger, 1992; Winefield, Tiggemann, & Winefield, 1992). Relatively little attention has been paid to societal factors or to structural aspects of free time such as social control. Largely separate from the leisure literature, research in the area of criminology and delinquency has included discussions of adolescent free time use from a social control perspective. Specifically, one long-standing belief is that participation in organized recreation activities by adolescents has positive benefits for society since it reduces the amount of time available for delinquent or anti-social acts (Hirschi, 1969). Recent interest in at-risk youth has led to research which has further investigated this relationship between leisure participation and delinquent behavior (Robertson, 1993). Researchers have also suggested that involvement in paid work activities means not only reduced free time for adolescents, but also participation in a conventional activity (Tanner & Krahn, 1991). Thus paid work, as well as organized recreation, is thought to be beneficial in terms of controlling and reducing adolescent delinquent behaviors. Traditional social control theory tends to ignore the issue of leisure itself and how free time (or other) activities are actually experienced by adolescents. An off-shoot of control theory is the idea that delinquency is related to the general exclusion of adolescents from the adult world (Greenberg 1977). This line of thinking suggests that adolescent time use is structured by the dominant adult culture and that adolescent experiences and behaviors can be seen as a response to, reaction to, or in some cases alienation from, these adult structures. Thus, this perspective allows for the incorporation of experiential information about how free time activities are actually perceived by individuals within a broader sociological perspective including ideas related to social structure and social control. This paper examines perceptions of time stress, boredom and lack of control or lack of choice over daily life activities, with particular reference to free time activities. The purpose of focusing on these aspects of adolescent free time is to provide some insights into the ways in which adolescent daily lives are structured by the dominant adult culture, and to determine the extent to which adolescent activity might be seen as a response to, or a reaction to, such structuring. Adolescent stress has been a concern to researchers because it has been shown to have a number of negative consequences, such as poor school performance and low self esteem (Young, Rathge, Mullis, & Mullis, 1990). The relationship between stress and free time activities is most clearly evident with respect to perceived time stress (or the feeling of having too many things to do and not enough time to do them all) because this situation clearly reduces opportunities for leisure. The feeling of being rushed or busy may be due to high time demands on a day to day basis, or it may be a response to high, but intermittent and occasional time demands, or it may be associated with a lack of control over what activities are required. Given that time stress and work stress seem to be increasing in adult society, especially for women (Schor, 1991; Shaw, 1990; Zuzanek & Smale, 1994), and that stress-related diseases are also on the increase, time stress among adolescents may reflect these dominant cultural patterns. …