Permanent Task Research Articles

Freedom to roam: a Deleuzian overture for the concept of care in nursing

AbstractFrom a position informed by the philosophical legacy of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, this paper examines the idea of ‘care’ in nursing theory and philosophy. Deleuze and Guattari make a distinction between, on the one hand, ‘concepts’, which are the proper domain of philosophy and, on the other, ‘functives’ which are the domain of science and all other empirical matters. At first blush, this distinction and use of the word concept appears rather odd, but Deleuze and Guattari hold it to be important for reasons that go beyond the acknowledged and obvious differences between philosophy and science. In Deleuzian terms, a ‘functive’ is any proposition that makes a verifiable truth‐claim about actual states of affairs, whereas a ‘concept’ is a philosophical tool that, although it is used in statements that make claims and that seek to affect our thinking on states of affairs, is not a representation of them in any verifiable (functive) sense. In this respect, philosophical concepts, and the statements in which they are used, are neither true nor false. I argue that the way in which the word ‘care’ is used in much nursing theory and philosophy conflates concept (neither true nor false) with functive (either true or false) with less than productive results. I seek to persuade that if we can gain more clarity between the use of care as a would‐be functive and its use as a philosophical concept, this would strengthen the purpose of the use of the idea of care in nursing theory. This is to say that I take the view that the role of ‘care’ as a philosophical concept is to be used in statements that ‘think the event’ called nursing; that seek to be ‘worthy of the event’, but without being an actual part of the event. Finally, I show how the concept of care in nursing philosophy has been, and can continue to be, reworked to achieve the permanent task of surveying the ever‐shifting planes of the event and how it is described.

Negative affect predicts performance on an object permanence task

AbstractRecent research has demonstrated a strong connection between an infant’s ability to regulate their affective states and their attentional processes. In particular, negative affect can disrupt attention to the environment. In the object permanence literature, attention has been implicated as a factor in performance on the A‐not‐B task, yet factors that may disrupt attention, such as negative affect, have been largely ignored as a possible factor which predicts correct search. In the present study, we examined the effects of negative affect and attention on correct search performance for a sample of 36 9‐month‐old infants in a two location A‐not‐B task with a 5‐second delay between hiding and search. Infants’ levels of negative affect and attention to the task were coded on the third A trial of the A‐not‐B task. It was predicted that infants who searched incorrectly on the B trial would show high levels of negative affect and low levels of attention whereas infants who searched correctly would show the opposite pattern and furthermore, that negative affect would mediate the association between attention and search performance. The results of the study supported the hypotheses and are taken as indicating the importance of emotion‐cognition interactions in the development of cognitive competence.

High-speed plating for electronic applications

A permanent task of the electronic industry is to find methods in order to reduce production costs which are characterised by higher mass-production output. Besides the choice of less expensive coating materials, high-speed plating is a further possibility. High-speed plating brings about an increase in output or a minimisation of ground space and/or investment. The publication describes the principles, possibilities and limitations of high-speed plating technology in the scope of four different applications. These applications are: the selective coating of contact materials in reel-to-reel continuous plating lines, the continuous copper plating of printed circuit boards, the high-speed plating in product-specific plating tools integrated into an inter-linked production and the electroforming of microstructures.

Resource augmentation in load balancing

We consider load-balancing in the following setting. The on-line algorithm is allowed to use $n$ machines, whereas the optimal off-line algorithm is limited to $m$ machines, for some fixed $m < n$. We show that while the greedy algorithm has a competitive ratio which decays linearly in the inverse of $n/m$, the best on-line algorithm has a ratio which decays exponentially in $n/m$. Specifically, we give an algorithm with competitive ratio of $1+2^{- frac{n{m (1- o (1))$, and a lower bound of $1+ e^{ - frac{n{m (1+ o(1))$ on the competitive ratio of any randomized algorithm. We also consider the preemptive case. We show an on-line algorithm with a competitive ratio of $1+ e^{ - frac{n{m (1+ o(1))$. We show that the algorithm is optimal by proving a matching lower bound. We also consider the non-preemptive model with temporary tasks. We prove that for $n=m+1$, the greedy algorithm is optimal. (It is not optimal for permanent tasks.)

Flexible search behavior in domestic cats (Felis catus): a case study of predator-prey interaction.

Domestic cats (Felis catus) were administered an object permanence task in a novel and a familiar situation to investigate flexibility (i.e., pause behavior and searching by following a path opposite of that taken by the object when it disappeared) in search behavior. Pause and opposite search were assumed to be independent, equiprobable, and randomly exhibited (i.e., random model). The random model predicted that cats would exhibit flexible behavior on 75% of the trials. The results revealed that flexible behavior occurred on 69% of the trials in the novel situation, but only on 52% of the trials in the familiar setting in which pauses were less frequent and shorter than in the novel situation. Thus, the random model provided a good fit of the data in the novel but not in the familiar situation. It is argued that pause and opposite search reflect decision processes when cats are dealing with the behavior of prey that has disappeared while being pursued.

Resource augmentation in load balancing

We consider load balancing in the following setting. The on-line algorithm is allowed to use n machines, whereas the optimal off-line algorithm is limited to m machines, for some fixed m<n. We show that while the greedy algorithm has a competitive ratio which decays linearly in the inverse of n/m, the best on-line algorithm has a ratio which decays exponentially in n/m. Specifically, we give a deterministic algorithm with competitive ratio of 1+2−n/m(1−o(1)), and a lower bound of 1+e−(n/m)(1+o(1)) on the competitive ratio of any randomized algorithm. We also consider the preemptive case. We show an on-line algorithm with a competitive ratio of 1+e−(n/m)(1+o(1)). We show that the algorithm is optimal by proving a matching lower bound. We also consider the non-preemptive model with temporary tasks. We prove that for n=m+1, the greedy algorithm is optimal. (It is not optimal for permanent tasks.) Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The deformation behavior of Sn62Pb36Ag/sub 2/ and its implications on the design of thermal cycling tests for electronic assemblies

The introduction of new packages as well as the ongoing miniaturization in SMT make the evaluation of the reliability of solder joints a permanent task. Since solder joints fail due to low cycle fatigue caused by cyclic thermomechanical stress passive thermal cycling is an important test to evaluate the lifetime of solder joints. Since a reliability prediction with the thermal cycle encountered in reality would take years to complete the tests, methods to accelerate the test cycle are to be used. However, due to the viscoplastical deformation behavior of tin-lead solder it is mandatory to take the metallurgical behavior of the solder into account when designing accelerated tests. Two different deformation mechanisms occur, depending on the temperatures of the test as well as the temperature gradient: grain boundary sliding (GBS) and dislocation climb (DC) each one having its own influence on the damage occurring in the solder. Therefore, one is not free in choosing the parameters of a test cycle. In this paper the deformation behavior of tin lead solder is explained, A constitutive equation extracted from experiments is presented, describing the deformation behavior of Sn62Pb36Ag2. Results of simulations of the deformation behavior of Sn62Pb36Ag2 on the base of the constitutive equation are shown. Suggestions for the design of accelerated lifetime tests for solder joints are given.

Individual differences in object permanence performance at 8 months: Locomotor experience and brain electrical activity

This work was designed to investigate individual differences in hands-and-knees crawling and frontal brain electrical activity with respect to object permanence performance in 76 eight-month-old infants. Four groups of infants (one prelocomotor and 3 with varying lengths of hands-and-knees crawling experience) were tested on an object permanence scale in a research design similar to that used by Kermoian and Campos (1988). In addition, baseline EEG was recorded and used as an indicator of brain development, as in the Bell and Fox (1992) longitudinal study. Individual differences in frontal and occipital EEG power and in locomotor experience were associated with performance on the object permanence task. Infants successful at A-not-B exhibited greater frontal EEG power and greater occipital EEG power than unsuccessful infants. In contrast to Kermoian and Campos (1988), who noted that long-term crawling experience was associated with higher performance on an object permanence scale, infants in this study with any amount of hands and knees crawling experience performed at a higher level on the object permanence scale than prelocomotor infants. There was no interaction among brain electrical activity, locomotor experience, and object permanence performance. These data highlight the value of electrophysiological research and the need for a brain-behavior model of object permanence performance that incorporates both electrophysiological and behavioral factors.

Metallurgical considerations for accelerated testing of soft solder joints

The development of new packages as well as the ongoing miniaturization in surface mount technology (SMT) make the evaluation of the reliability of solder joints a permanent task. Accelerated testing, especially passive thermal cycling, is a important tool to assess the lifetime of solder joints. However, tin-lead solder behaves viscoplastically even at ambient temperature because of its low melting point and therefore the temperature extremes and the temperature swing of the tests performed as well as the temperature change rate are very important parameters for testing. Different deformation rates cause different deformation mechanisms to occur. Therefore it is crucial to take the metallurgical behavior of tin-lead solder into account when accelerated tests are to be performed. However, many accelerated test designs in industry do not at all care for this fact. (1) Temperature shock chambers are used in order to shorten the test time activating deformation mechanisms that do not occur in reality. (2) Test chambers are overloaded, test specimen with high mass are tested or the specimen are placed with varying orientations to the air stream of the chamber not caring about temperatures and temperature gradients occurring in the solder joints.

Rethinking infant knowledge: Toward an adaptive process account of successes and failures in object permanence tasks.

Rethinking infant knowledge: Toward an adaptive process account of successes and failures in object permanence tasks.

Development of Piagetian object permanence in a grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus).

The authors evaluated the ontogenetic performance of a grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) on object permanence tasks designed for human infants. Testing began when the bird was 8 weeks old, prior to fledging and weaning. Because adult grey parrots understand complex invisible displacements (I. M. Pepperberg & F. A. Kozak, 1986), the authors continued weekly testing until the current subject completed all of I. C. Uzgiris and J. Hunt's (1975) Scale 1 tasks. Stage 6 object permanence with respect to these tasks emerged at 22 weeks, after the bird had fledged but before it was completely weaned. Although the parrot progressed more rapidly overall than other species that have been tested ontogenetically, the subject similarly exhibited a behavioral plateau part way through the study. Additional tests, administered at 8 and 12 months as well as to an adult grey parrot, demonstrated, respectively, that these birds have some representation of a hidden object and understand advanced invisible displacements.

Using pharmacists' documentation of clinical activities to reclaim employees and reposition the department.

The use of documentation on pharmacist clinical activities to encourage greater hospital investment in a department is described. From 1983 through 1988, the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions in the pharmacy department at a 468-bed medical center was reduced from 63 to 39.4. To cope with the challenge of a sharply reduced staff, the department established a permanent pharmacy-nursing task force, developed a pharmacy strategic plan, used total quality management, recruited the best staff possible when openings appeared, and held staff retreats. In addition, measures were taken to begin documenting all pharmacist clinical activities online. As data were accumulated, it became clear that more pharmacist involvement in patient care areas was needed and that more resources would be necessary to achieve that. Presentations were made to hospital administration to demonstrate the existing and potential contributions of the department; the presentations drew heavily on the clinical documentation. Formal reports were also submitted. As a result, the department received approval for a pharmacist career ladder, an increase of 1.6 pharmacist FTEs for the evening shift, a large salary-range adjustment for staff pharmacists, and an increase of 1 pharmacist FTE to focus on antimicrobial use. A pharmacy department successfully used documentation of its clinical activities to make a case to administration for reclaiming some of the pharmacist FTEs lost through downsizing.

Strategy and Tactics of the Reform

Abstract In the interests of defining the basic directions of the nation's economic development in the medium term, the Russian Federation government deemed it expedient to draft the program "Reform and Development of the Russian Economy in 1995-97." V. Chernomyrdin, the prime minister, in his order signed June 6, 1994, directed the Permanent Task Force headed by E.G. Iasin, the Ministry of Economy, as well as the Russian Federation government's Center for Informational and Social Technologies and Center on Market Conditions, to organize work on the program. The deadline for submitting the program was also set: November 1, 1994.

KADIS: model-aided education in type I diabetes

Education and training in self-management of blood glucose control has become a permanent task for all people involved in the care of diabetic patients. Since this may be facilitated by applying state-of-the-art information technology, we have developed the decision support system KADIS (Karlsburg Diabetes Management System). It comprises computer-aided tools for (1) the evaluation (selection, aggregation, storage, statistics, graphics) of therapeutic data, e.g. from patients' logbooks, and (2) the simulation of daily profiles of glycaemia and insulinaemia on the basis of a mathematical model of the glucose-insulin regulatory system, parameters of which can be adapted to the characteristics of individual patients. The latter tool allows the patient to predict his response to any modification in the therapeutic regime and to learn how variations in timing, formulation and doses of insulin, in carbohydrate equivalents and absorption characteristics of meals, and in exercise may influence the daily pattern in glycaemia. This procedure has been well accepted as an educational tool by those patients who were ‘self-managing’ their metabolic control.

Search behavior of dogs (Canis familiaris) in invisible displacement problems

Gagnon and Doré (1992) showed that domestic dogs are able to solve a Piagetian object permanence task called the invisible displacement problem. A toy is hidden in a container which is moved behind a screen where the toy is removed and left. Dogs make more errors in these problems than they do in visible displacement tests, in which the object is hidden directly behind the target screen. In Experiment 1, we examined components of the standard procedure of invisible displacements that may make encoding or retention of the hiding location more difficult than it is in visible displacements. In Experiment 2, we compared dogs’ performances in visible and invisible displacement problems when delays of 0, 10, and 20 sec were introduced between the object’s final disappearance and the subject’s release. The results revealed that dogs’ poorer performance in invisible displacement tests is related to the complex sequence of events that have to be encoded or remembered as well as to a difficulty in representing the position change that is signaled, but not directly perceived.

The auxiliary substrate concept — an approach for overcoming limits of microbial performances

AbstractIn biotechnological processes, fundamental performances of microorganisms are used. The economy of these processes is essentially determined by the efficiency, velocity (productivity) and quality of the products. Therefore it is a permanent task and challenge for basic and biotechnological research to seek out measures for improving the actually attained parameters. The auxiliary substrate concept supplics an approach. It is based on the fact that chemo‐organo‐heterotrophic substrates differ in the carbon: energy ratio, thus, growth yield is limited in energy and/or reducing power. It says that, by simultaneous utilization of physiologically similar substrates (mixed substrates), the growth yield increases. The substrates are to combine in such a way that with their simultaneous utilization a minimum of carbon is dissimilated merely for the purpose of the generation of biologically useful energy and/or reducing power. Since all chemo‐organo‐heterotrophic substrates are more or less energy‐deficient, an increase in growth efficiency can be expected if the individual substrates of the mixture are assimilated more efficiently than the respective substrates alone. This may result, for instance, from an immediate assimilation of a substrate (according to the “manner of finished part construction”).An increased growth rate is rather the rule than the exception in mixed substrate utilization.In product syntheses the substrates are, depending on the concrete product and metabolic pathway, either energy‐excess or energy‐excess or energy‐deficient. or, in other words, the processes are energy‐generating or energy‐consuming, respectively. If this is responsible for discrepancies between the possible yields determined by the carbon metabolism and the experimentally obtained yields, the discrepancies should be able to be decreased and the yields increased by mixing substrates. The substrates are to choose and combine so that, due to simultaneous utilization, the product formation process becomes energy neutral.As a rule, the enhanced efficiency is accompanied by an increased velocity. This does not only apply to syntheses, but also to degradation (and detoxification) reactions. Even supposedly inert compounds or persistent substances can be activated by simultaneous (co‐)metabolization of another (an auxiliary substrate, victim substrate or co‐substrate) and converted at a considerable rate. It is of interest for syntheses of products but in particular for degradation and decontamination of harmful and waste products in the environment that the residual concentrations of the substrates are smaller than those achieved if the compounds of a mixture are metabolized separately.The auxiliary substrate concept has proven to be fruitful, both for theoretical and practical questions. It was practically already being used before it was formulated (mixed substrate utilization, cometabolism). However, an abundance of regulatory and energetic aspects are waiting to be investigated in more detail.

Gestural development and its relation to cognition during the transition to language

Four Parisian-French infants, two male and two female, were observed bi-weekly at home with their parents or caretakers from 9 or 10 months until approximately 14 months. Their entire repertoire of communicative gestures was coded from videorecordings. Comment gestures, particularly pointing in a book and showing an object, increased after 11 months, and Request gestures involving the adult as an agent increased after 13 months. The appearance of these specific gestures followed the ability to perform object permanence tasks with visible displacements and means-ends tasks involving obtaining an object by pulling a string horizontally. More primitive Reach-request and Emotive gestures declined after 11 months. These findings are compared to those obtained from English-Canadian infants followed over the same age period.

Object permanence in cats (Felis catus): an ecological approach to the study of invisible displacements.

A single invisible displacement object permanence task was administered to 19 cats (Felis catus). In this task, cats watched a target object from behind a transparent panel. However, cats had to walk around an opaque panel to reach the object. While cats were behind the opaque panel, the object was hidden behind one of two screens. As cats did not perceive the disappearance of the object behind the target screen, the object was invisibly hidden. Results showed that cats solved this task with great flexibility, which markedly contrasts with what has been observed in previous research. The discussion emphasizes the difference between the typical Piagetian task in which the information necessary to succeed must be dealt with in retrospective way, whereas in our task cats had to anticipate a new position of the object. The ecological relevance of this new task is also discussed.

Effects of subependymal and mild intraventricular lesions on visual attention and memory in premature infants.

This study evaluated 10-month-old infants to determine if supependymal or mild intraventricular hemorrhage (S/IVH) affects visual attention, visual memory, or memory for location. Thirty premature infants with normal ultrasound scans, 30 premature infants with S/IVH, and 30 full-term infants were evaluated on a habituation/novelty preference task, the AB object permanence task, and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development

Do linguistic differences lead to cognitive differences? A cross-linguistic study of semantic and cognitive development

Semantic and cognitive development were studied in eight Korean and French-speaking children, and these results were compared with results for 12 English-speakers. The children received object- permanence, means-ends and categorization tasks and their develop ment of related linguistic forms, disappearance and success/failure words and a naming spurt, was recorded. There were close and specific relations between these semantic and cognitive developments. However, non-English-speakers used very different forms from English-speakers to encode disappearance, success and failure; in particular, Korean-speakers used verbs. This suggests that children may have been motivated to acquire these words because of their cognitive significance. Moreover, both categorization and naming developed later in the Korean-speakers than in English-speakers and French-speakers. This may be due to the fact that verbs are more perceptually salient in Korean than nouns. This difference between the language groups also suggests that linguistic development may influence and motivate cognitive development. Thus, there appears to be a thorough-going two-way interaction between language and cognition in this period.