License Renewal Research Articles

NPP Unit Life Management based on Digital Twin Application

IAEA activities on ageing management started in 1990 are a part of NPP Units life management or License Renewal as specified in national regulatory documents of member countries. Development of digital technologies makes it possible to manage lifetime NPP Unit issues in effective manner by application of Digital Twin.

Practice of River Disaster Education in Teacher License Renewal Course

Practice of River Disaster Education in Teacher License Renewal Course

Closing Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, 2009–2018: Decision-Making on Energy Investments Relevant to Climate Change

Modern economies cannot function without electricity, and production of electric power affects citizens in many ways, including climate change. Production of electricity requires investments that easily reach billions of dollars, and streams of investment capital must be perpetual to procure fuel, build and maintain plants, and transmit electricity to customers. This case study addresses whether a California decision relevant to investments about generating electricity adequately considered competing concerns. In 2009, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E, a private, investor-owned utility) applied to renew the operating licenses of its two nuclear reactors at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant (the “plant”). By 2016, PG&E had decided not to seek license renewal and asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to approve a price increase for its electricity to pay for specified expenses in closing the plant, which generated 24% of PG&E’s electricity. Four environmental groups and two labor organizations supported PG&E, and CPUC approved most elements of PG&E’s plan in 2018. PG&E’s application generated considerable debate during the CPUC process, and multiple organizations argued that PG&E’s plan was flawed. Two of the protests were from environmental groups favoring nuclear power as mitigation for climate change. Nuclear reactors generate electricity with uranium and have low emissions of carbon dioxide, the key source of climate change. This case study summarizes the competing arguments relevant to energy investments and climate change. Was the decision to close the plant in the best interest of the PG&E customers and the residents and taxpayers of California?

EFFECT OF THE CONTROL ROD POSITION ON CRITICALITY (S CURVE) SIMULATIONS USING THE SCALE COMPUTER CODE IN THE KARTINI REACTOR

Abstract The Kartini Reactor has been operated up to 100 kilo watts. There are two types of nuclear fuel used in the Kartini Reactor, type 104 and type 204. Currently the nuclear fuel utilization license granted by BAPETEN allows 77 pieces, consisting of 73 type 104 and four type 204. Based on Kartini Reactor fuel utilization report, there are 71 pieces of nuclear fuel in the reactor core, consist of 69 type 104 and two pieces of type 204. There are four pieces of type 104 in the bulk shielding. The control rod categorizations are divided into regulating rod, shim rod and safety rod. Regarding the operation license renewal of Kartini Reactor, we conducted an assessment of various aspects related to the safety of the reactor. One of the aspects we conducted was regards to the neutronic. On the initial phase of the neutronic aspect study, a simulation was performed using the SCALE computer code. This study will only evaluate the relation between the bank of the control rod position to the effect of criticality in the Kartini Reactor. The results showed that fully up criticality has a value of 1.02173 ± 0.00018, and fully down criticality has value of 0.96026 ±0.00021. The reactor reaches criticality when the position of the control rod is at an altitude of 42.85135 cm.

택시 운전자의 사망 및 위반에 관한 로지스틱 회귀분석

Objective: This research aims to analyze the occupational deaths and violation of the Korean taxi drivers and to find out the effect of factors for recommendations on injury prevention.BRBRBackground: Although there are many studies on traffic accidents, there are few studies on taxis, which are the main means of transportation. Moreover, There is little research on the industrial accidents of taxi drivers.BRBRMethod: The data of 586 taxi drivers approved as industrial accidents compensation of years 2015 and 2016 were analyzed. Significant variables explaining deaths and violation were identified by binary logistic regression.BRBRResults: Drivers aged 65 or older are more likely to die from accidents than those under 65 (OR (odds ratio): 1.85, p =0.048). In addition, violations were more likely to lead to death than no-violation (OR: 1.94, p =0.046). Facial injuries were more likely to lead to death (OR: 2.38, p =0.003) and encephalorrhagia injuries were more likely to lead to death (OR: 3.82, p 0.001).BRBRConclusion: In order to prevent accidents of the elderly drivers, it is necessary to reinforce safety education and to manage the driving license renewal cycles according to the ages. In addition, a system for integrated management of taxi transportation should be established to improve the working environment of older taxi drivers. Systematic approach is necessary to alert taxi drivers to the fatal consequences of traffic violations and to make them to comply with the traffic rules.BRBRApplication: The effects of the significant variables on deaths and violations can be used as a guideline to develop systematic measures for prevention of accidents for the taxi drivers.

U.S. Re-Licensure Opioid/Pain Management Continuing Education Requirements in Dentistry, Dental Hygiene, and Medicine.

Drug-induced deaths have been accelerating over the last two decades. The aim of this study was to determine if states with high opioid-induced deaths and overall drug-induced deaths were more likely to have continuing education (CE) requirements related to opioid use/pain management than states with fewer opioid-induced deaths. Almost 200 state dental and medical law boards' websites were examined for CE requirements, license renewal periods, and CE requirements for opioid use/pain management in December 2018 and January 2019. Drug-induced death data were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention online database. States were categorized into quartiles of opioid-induced deaths per 100,000 population. A similar categorization was created for all drug-induced deaths. The results showed that states in the second, third, and fourth quartiles of opioid-induced deaths were more likely to have dental boards requiring opioid use/pain management CE than states in the first quartile in dentistry. This pattern was not the case with the medical boards' requirements. Dentists and physicians in states with higher all drug-induced deaths per 100,000 population were as likely to be required to attend opioid use/pain management CE as dentists and physicians in states with lower opioid-induced deaths. Although many licensing boards require opioid use/pain management CE in relation to their opioid-induced death rates, there is a need for policies to increase education in substance use disorders to reduce the number of drug-induced deaths.

The Role and Rise of Interprofessional Continuing Education

ABSTRACT For decades, health leadership organizations have identified interprofessional education and team-based care as a critical component of health care quality and safety. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has issued a series of reports demonstrating the relationship between poor team performance and negative patient outcome and has called on accreditors, licensing and certifying bodies to use their oversight processes as levers for change. Toward that end, three of the national accreditors in medicine, nursing and pharmacy collaborated to create a unified accreditation system, setting standards for interprofessional continuing education (IPCE) and establishing an IPCE credit that designates activities planned by and for health care teams. There is evidence supporting the relationship between engagement in IPCE and improvements in health care professionals' knowledge, attitudes, competence and performance, as well as patient and system outcomes. The accreditors believe that this evidence base is strong enough to justify including IPCE in regulatory requirements. In 2018, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) recognized IPCE credit as an additional means of satisfying CME requirements for medical license renewal. The increasing recognition of IPCE demonstrates the pivotal role of accreditors and regulators in driving the advancement of IPCE and team care now and in the future.

Upgrading the Iranian national laboratory standard to conform to ISO 15189:2012

The Reference Health Laboratory (RHL) of Iran is the national authority responsible for making policies and plans for providing quality laboratory services throughout the country. RHL composed a national laboratory standard in 2007 as the minimum mandatory quality requirements for clinical laboratories. The reference of that standard was ISO 15189:2007, with considerable modifications. It also contained many technical details from other credible references to become applicable for Iranian laboratories. Shortly afterward, complying with the national standard became a condition for renewing laboratory licenses. The success rate of license renewal in 2016 revealed that the majority of laboratories had implemented the main requirements of the standard. Therefore, we decided to upgrade the national standard and make it more compatible with ISO 15189:2012. Nevertheless, we tried to keep it comprehensible and user friendly, and adjusted it to the national regulations. To ensure that the new edition matches the local needs, all laboratory stakeholders were involved in revising the related sections. The second edition of the national laboratory standard is used as a scale for competency assessment. It follows the structure and format of the ISO 15189:2012. The content is also similar, although some explanations, examples and regulatory requirements are added to clarify or adapt it to the local condition. Here, we reviewed the process of upgrading the standard and discussed why and how we elaborated on certain sections of the international standard to make it easily understandable and facilitate its application while preserving the format and structure of the ISO 15189.

63 Development and application of a veterinary survey to assess food animal veterinarian shortages: A collaboration between the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service and the Arkansas Veterinary Board

Abstract Veterinarians are in demand due to regulatory changes that require more veterinary oversight in food animal production. The USDA identifies thirteen counties in Arkansas as having food animal veterinarian deficiencies. In response to the report, the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service collaborated with the Arkansas Veterinary Board to devise a strategy for alleviating the shortages. Upon permission by the veterinary board, Arkansas Extension developed a survey to assess the status and needs of Arkansas veterinarians. The questionnaire was included in the veterinarian license renewal packet, asking - How many doctors are in your practice? What species are you willing to treat? Do any of your doctors do farm calls? For which counties do you provide farm calls? Are you aware of changes to the FDA Veterinary Feed Directive? Would you be interested in learning honey bee medicine? Would you be interested in joining the Arkansas Animal Emergency Response Team? Would you be willing to be a mentor for the 4-H Vet Science Program? Would you like your email included on notifications from the Arkansas VMA? Are there any continuing education (CE) topics that you feel need attention? Of the 965 actively licensed Arkansas veterinarians, 537 returned their responses to the survey. Data was entered into an Excel spreadsheet and shared with the Arkansas Veterinary Board, the Arkansas VMA, and the Arkansas State Veterinarian Office. Using the data, Extension created a comprehensive food animal veterinarian directory that was distributed at various producer meetings and made available electronically on the Extension website. CE suggestions were used to develop the Food Animal Medicine Workshop Series, which was awarded funding by the USDA NIFA Veterinary Services Grant Program. The goal of the CE series is to re-train existing mixed animal veterinarians to improve food animal veterinary coverage for Arkansas producers

Teachers’ Learning Motivation for Subject Instructions, Strategies, and Their Perception of Teaching Skills in Teacher’s License Renewal Seminar

Teachers’ Learning Motivation for Subject Instructions, Strategies, and Their Perception of Teaching Skills in Teacher’s License Renewal Seminar

Towards Improving the Quality of Basic Education in Ghana, Teacher Licensure and Matters Arising, Challenges, and the Way Forward

The National Teaching Council of Ghana has been mandated to ensure that aside possessing the requisite academic and professional certificate to practice as a teacher, one needs to be successful in a licensure examination before he or she could have his or her documents processed for a teaching appointment. This study specifically sought to establish what teachers' perceptions were regarding teacher licensure examination as a means to achieving teacher quality and improved student performance. The study found that teacher licensure examination was a good idea by government, as it would in no small measure contribute to the recognition of the teaching profession. However, the entire process required re-structuring. The restructuring process must begin with a wider stakeholder consultation and engagement. Also, there was the urgent need to develop pragmatic policies as guidelines to the entire licensing process, right from registration, content of the examinations, administration of the examinations, scoring, publication of results, issuance of the license, and renewal of license among others. Yet still, there was the firm belief that when the licensure examinations were incorporated into the initial teacher education curriculum, there would not be so much agitation, and potential teachers would write without any apprehension.

English

Continuing professional development (CPD) is a key aspect of any profession and fundamental to the development of a nation. The Mandatory Continuing Professional Development Program (MCPDP) as it is known in the nursing profession in Nigeria is aimed at sustaining capabilities and introducing new skills for modern day practice needs. It also offers the prospect for nurses to improve and broaden their knowledge, expertise and develop the personal and professional qualities. This study analysed the experiences of nurses, both participants and facilitators of MCPDP during the 34th session of the MCPDP in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. A sequential explanatory mixed method design was adopted for the study. All the eighty nurses in attendance participated in the study. A self-developed semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data. Qualitatively, eight participants and two facilitators were selected for in-depth interviews. The findings revealed that 18.9% of the respondents attended the MCPDP for license renewal, 18.9% attended to update their knowledge on current practices, while 59.5% attended for both purposes. The challenges in attending MCPDP were lack of time 24.6%, lack of relief staff 23.3%, and high cost of MCPDP registration 20.9%. Organizational challenges included lack of finance due to low turnout of participants. Majority of the participants expressed willingness to participate in MCPDP in the future, while the few retired ones expressed having no need for MCPDP afterwards. The study disclosed that the existing approach for the program may require some form of adjustment so as to meet participants' and facilitators' needs. It was therefore recommended that the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria should review the program structure and organisation.   Key words: Mandatory professional development program, nurses, experiences. &nbsp

No more prostitutes, pimps, & pushers: deploying Hispanic panethnicity in media advocacy

ABSTRACTThis article explores the media advocacy strategies utilized by Hispanics in the 1980s through an examination of the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s (NHMC’s) campaign against KCBS-TV, Los Angeles. Relying on archival materials and interviews, it argues that through their deployment of Hispanic panethnicity, embodiment of respectability politics, management of the aesthetics of media activism, and reliance on post-civil rights laws, the NHMC utilized the threat of a petition to deny a license renewal as a means to enter into minority agreements with broadcasters and improve the employment of Hispanics in the media at the national level. The NHMC would be the first media organization to speak nationally and pan-ethnically for all Hispanics in media-related litigation issues and use this rhetoric as a way to push stations to comply with Equal Employment Opportunity requirements.

Assessing Change in Physician Practice Organization Profile in South Carolina: A Longitudinal Study.

Physician practice organization is shifting away from solo, independent practices toward direct employment, but trends for rural-urban differences are often analyzed by dichotomizing rurality. The purpose of this analysis was to examine trends in practice organization across 3 levels of rurality over a 21-year period in South Carolina. Physician license renewal forms were used to ascertain type of practice organization where physicians worked in South Carolina between 1995 and 2015. Physicians were divided into 4 categories: physicians in independent solo practices, physicians in independent group practices, employed physicians, and other. Historical trends in type of practice organization were evaluated for each level of rurality (metropolitan, micropolitan, and small adjacent/remote rural) using the National Cancer Institute's Joinpoint regression models. There was a continual increase in physician renewals indicating employment, with an average annual increase of 5.9%. Micropolitan rural counties demonstrated the greatest average increase in license renewals for employed physicians (average annual increase = 7.4%; P < .05). The ratio of license renewals per 100,000 population for physicians in independent solo practices declined significantly over time. Micropolitan and small adjacent/remote rural counties saw an increase in the annual decline for this type of practice organization in 2007. A shift toward physician employment was observed at all levels of rurality. Rural counties exhibited a more pronounced transition between the types of practice organization compared to metropolitan counties. Research is needed to address the implications of these changes for rural providers and patients.

Factors and challenges of driving reduction and cessation: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies on self-regulation

Introduction: Older adults are at a greater risk of injury and death in a motor-vehicle accident. While the ability to drive safely can be challenging with aging, the concept of self-regulation and associated support system have attracted more attention in recent years, especially in developed countries. This review describes the mechanism and summarizes the potential factors that influenced self-regulation of driving amongst older adults to provide new insights into a broader framework for transportation and safe mobility. Methods: We systematically searched 12 online databases for qualitative studies exploring the experiences of older adults aged 60 years and above on their decision to self-regulate their driving. Thematic synthesis was performed to identify elements influencing driving reduction and cessation. The confidence profile of each findings from the meta-synthesis was appraised using the Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research (CERQual) tool. Results: A total of 17 studies representing views of 712 older adults from four countries were included. Three major themes were identified with each representing a transition phase that can either facilitate or hinder older drivers from ceasing completely or reducing their driving, when transitioning from pre-decision phase to post-cessation phase. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that there is a mismatch between the current traffic collation prevention measures, such as age-specific mandatory license renewal system and travel needs of older adults. As such, it is time for the authorities, researchers, and public from various fields and perspectives to collaborate, sustain, and improve safety and mobility in older adults. Practical applications: Adequate regulations and guidelines from the medical community and legal authorities are warranted to assist older adults and caregivers. Social support (e.g., feedback, assurance, or transportation support) from family members, friends, and healthcare professionals are crucial for a smooth transition. Provision of alternative transportations in rural areas are needed and future interventions should focus on engaging and educating older adults to consider alternative transportation modes for mobility. Age-specific mandatory license renewal procedure can be useful in screening for at-risk groups.

Behavioural Economic Nudge Policy, Organ-Donation and Heart Transplant Conversion Rates in Alberta, Canada. A Ten-Year Retrospective Analysis

Purpose The Canadian Province of Alberta has no presumed consent for organ- donation, and has had chronically low deceased-donation rates. To address this, the government sponsored a public organ-donation registry, which was launched in 2013. Registration was encouraged by using a behavioural economic “nudge”, of prompted choice to enrol at driver's license renewal. We determined the effect of this nudge policy on heart donation rates, and the relative production efficiency of heart transplants (HTx) in Alberta over 10 years, spanning this policy change. Methods Retrospective analysis of administrative and medical transplant databases was conducted from 01/2007 to 12/2016, using interrupted time-series measures of quarterly recipient listings, heart organ offers and transplants. The baseline period 2007-2013 served to reconstruct the counterfactual after the policy rollout. Heart offers were designated by source of origin. Time-related changes were assessed using linear regression, and HTx efficiency was plotted quarterly, using a simple production-frontier model. Results 451 unique individuals were listed for HTx, while 2661 donor heart offers were made from all sources, including 439 (16.5%) from within Alberta. HTx occurred following 306 offers, a conversion rate of 11.5%. Simultaneously, 68 listed patients (15.4%) died while awaiting HTx. A time related 41% increase in donor heart offers from 59.2 to 83.7 per quarter (p Conclusion Nudge policies to increase organ donation did not result in an early increase in the population adjusted heart organ donation rate within Alberta. Improved efficiency in the use of organs offered, rather than increased donor organ numbers may be present the greatest opportunity to improve HTx completion in Alberta.

Cambodia\u2019s health professionals and the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangements: registration, education and mobility

BackgroundFrom 2006, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been developing Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) across key professions, including medicine, dentistry and nursing, that would facilitate the development of an ASEAN Economic Community, with shared regional standards and easier mobility of the workforce. This paper examines the interface between those agreements and the registration, professional education and mobility of health personnel in Cambodia.MethodsThis qualitative health policy analysis combined documentary and policy review with key informant interviews with 16 representatives of agencies relevant to the development and implementation of the MRAs in health. Thematic analysis identified three themes: registration, education and mobility.ResultsCambodia is an active participant in the ASEAN MRA processes for doctors, dentists and nurses reporting progress annually. Education of health professionals has been increasingly formalised in the past 25 years, with nursing moving towards a 4-year bachelor degree. The private university sector has substantially increased, with English increasingly used as a language of instruction. Recent legislation provides for enforcement through fines and/or imprisonment to ensure all practising health professionals hold initial registration as a health professional and a renewable licence to practise as a health practitioner. Continuing Professional Development is a mandatory requirement for licence renewal. This is consistent with the MRA guidelines, though the capacity for enforcement appears limited. The Medical Council of Cambodia (MCC), and more recently, the Dental and Nursing Councils, have introduced continuing professional development initiatives, using them strategically as a positive reinforcer of registration. Midwifery education and registration in Cambodia does not conform with ASEAN guidelines. In education, course durations in medicine and dentistry are longer than regional counterparts, though anxiety around maintaining clinical standards has resulted in the introduction of a National Exit Examination and reluctance to abbreviate courses. The introduction of reforms appears to reference regional standards, though parity is still some way off. Mobility at present is infrequent and more likely to result from informal mechanisms than through the MRA mechanisms.ConclusionThe Royal Government of Cambodia is committed to the ASEAN MRA process. Developments in registration appear to use regional standards as benchmarks, as do reforms in the education of health professionals, though domestic factors appear to more directly impact on developments. Informal mechanisms facilitate the limited mobility currently occurring, with little formal application of the MRA provisions evident at this point.

The current state of software license renewals in the I.T. industry

Abstract Context The software industry has changed significantly in the 21st century; no longer is it dominated by organizations seeking to sell products directly to customers, instead most multinational organizations nowadays provide services via licensing agreements. These licenses are for a fixed-duration; and hence, the question of their renewal becomes of paramount importance for the selling organization’s revenue. Objective Despite its financial impact, the topic of license renewal strategies, processes, tools, and support receives very limited attention in the research literature. Hence, it is believed that an interesting research question is: What is the state of current industrial practice in this essential field? Method To initially explore the topic of license renewals, this paper implements the Grounded theory method. To implement the method, semi-structured, cross-sectional, anonymous, selfreported interviews are carried out with 20 professionals from multiple organizations, later the Constant Comparative Method is used to analyse the collected data. Results This paper presents a synthesized picture of the current industrial practice of the end-to-end software license renewal process. Alongside, it also identifies a set of challenges and risk factors that impact on renewal decisions of customers, hence on the overall revenue of seller organizations. Finally, using structured brainstorming techniques, this paper identifies 11 future research directions, that can help organizations with the mitigation of the risks in the license renewal process. Conclusion It is concluded that lack of effective communication among stakeholders, the absence of customer trust, and scarcity of value generated from purchased licenses are among the primary drivers that influence renewal decisions. Also, there is a need to invest in intelligent automation along with artificial intelligence enabled analytics in order to enhance customer satisfaction.

Renewal of driving license in India and glaucoma: A study of prevalent practice and its lacunae.

Purpose:Glaucoma affects different aspects of vision including visual field. This prospective observational study aims to collect details of driving license (DL) renewal procedure (in an urban metro in India) among patients with diagnosed glaucoma and the method of reporting of vision-related requirements during renewal.Methods:One-hundred patients with diagnosed glaucoma above 40 years, having valid DL (with at least one renewal cycle), were included. Patients with other ocular comorbidities were excluded. Driving Habits Questionnaire and a questionnaire about license renewal were administered. Driving eligibility was compared to international guidelines.Results:Study population included patients with 69% early, 29% moderate, and 2% advanced glaucoma. Sixteen percent of patients had stopped driving. Legal license renewal procedure was bypassed by 45%. Form-1 was not submitted by 43% and 49% did not submit Form-1A at the time of renewal. Only 7.01% mentioned about glaucoma in the self-declaration form. None were asked about their visual field during renewal. Among 61 patients who submitted a medical certificate, the undersigning doctor was an ophthalmologist in only six patients. Thirty percent patients with valid Indian DL would not have satisfied International College of Ophthalmologists guidelines. Driving difficulties were experienced by 44%, more so in advanced glaucoma (F (1, 82) = 22.12, P < 0.001).Conclusion:Vision-related testing at the time of renewal of DL is inadequate in India. Chronic eye diseases such as glaucoma are commonly not self-declared or detected at pre-renewal testing. Clear-cut guidelines about visual requirements and implementation are required to prevent road traffic events because of vision-related errors.

Obstacles and Problems Facing the Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises in KSA

The current study dealt with the obstacles and problems facing SMEs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study followed the descriptive analytical approach and found that there are multiple problems facing these institutions, the most important of which are the lack of funding, availability and capacity of employees, weak demand, government regulations and regulations in addition to some obstacles represented in fees. Labor and workers system recruitment, Competition, employment of Saudis, issuance or renewal of licenses, bureaucracy, and government measures. One of the most important findings of this study is the possibility of developing this sector in the presence of the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, which relied on the division of institutions into three types (micro, small and medium) according to labor standards and revenue size. Through these results, the study recommends that the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia) should have an encouraging policy for financing SMEs with a unified definition and a specific percentage of financing ceilings to be financed, with a legal and legislative basis and a mechanism for the development of SMEs. And to consider the establishment of banks specialized in the financing of these institutions to play their role in accordance with the Kingdom's vision 2030.