Accommodation Process Research Articles

Employment Accommodation Experiences Among American Workers with Multiple Sclerosis: A Mixed-Method Analysis

Background In this study we explored the employment accommodation needs and experiences of American workers with multiple sclerosis (MS). Considerable research has examined the factors that people with MS face in maintaining employment. Relatively little has focused on the accommodation experiences and needs of this population. Objective We explored four research questions, concerning (a) the types of vocational accommodations people with MS seek, (b) employer responses to requests, (c) how workers with MS describe their accommodation-related experiences, and (d) what advice participants would offer to other workers with MS. Method The research questions were addressed using a mixed-method cross-sectional survey-based design. The sample included 368 iConquerMS members who were either employed ( n = 267; 72.6%) or had been employed in the past 5 years. Participants completed a web-based survey delivered through the iConquerMS web-based platform. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics and inductive thematic analysis. Results Most (51.3%) working participants were not using accommodations. Most participants who requested an employment accommodation received one. The most frequently used accommodations among employed participants included (a) changes in work schedules (21.72%), (b) working at home full-time (21.35%), and (c) modifications of workstation or work facilities (10.86%). Participants described barriers to accessing and maintaining accommodations. Conclusion This study among a large sample of working, or recently working, people with MS provides information on both the successful negotiation and the barriers faced in the employment accommodation process. The implications for vocational rehabilitation professionals are described.

Age-Related Changes in Lens Elasticity Contribute More to Accommodative Decline Than Shape Change.

To determine whether lens biomechanical or geometric changes contribute to the decline in the accommodative capacity of the human eye, and to examine any differences in zonular function between different age groups. Eighteen finite element whole eye models were developed to simulate the accommodative process. Six models were constructed in each of the two age cohorts, from the fourth and the sixth decades of life using data from ex vivo human lenses. An additional six models combining the material properties of lenses from the fourth decade with the geometry of those from the sixth decade were included. Optical lens models developed based on the results of mechanical simulations were used to calculate the central optical power (COP). The change in COP was significantly greater for both the fourth-decade models and the mixed models compared with the sixth-decade models. The rates of the change in geometric parameters relative to the increment of change in COP in the mixed models were greater than those in the fourth-decade models. The distribution of zonular force was consistent across all three groups. However, the sixth-decade models and mixed models exhibited similar distributions of zonular angles, both of which were greater than those in the fourth-decade models. Both biomechanical and geometric age-related changes contribute to the accommodative decline, with the material property manifesting a more substantial impact. Age-related changes in the lens do not influence the distribution of zonular tension, but do affect the angles that the zonule makes with the lens surface.

Case Study: The Classification of the Rooms in Holiday Homes with Deep Learning

From reservation to the accommodation process, the effects of technology are increasing day by day in the field of tourism. Online booking platforms, virtual support assistants, mobile applications, and artificial intelligence tools can be given as examples. In the focus on artificial intelligence for tourism, different tools can be presented as examples, especially price analysis regression/recommendations, room, house & amenity classifications from images, and occupancy estimations. Our case study consists of two different steps. First, a dataset was created from a German-based tourism reservation company. In the second step, 5 different deep learning models were trained to compare the accuracy and loss with the dataset. We trained ResNet, DenseNet, VGGNet, Inception v3, and NASNet models. The following accuracies were observed based on 20 epochs of training; ResNet 97.4%, DenseNet 98.69%, VGGNet 97.31%, Inception v3 97.33%, and NASNet 97.21%.

Proactive Approaches for a Wheelchair User in Pediatric Residency: A Case Study for Disability Inclusion.

Despite encountering many barriers to inclusion, people with disabilities are entering residency training in increasing numbers. However, the increase in representation among people with physical disabilities remains low and published case studies and accommodations processes for wheelchair users in pediatric residency are absent in the literature. To support the inclusion of residents with physical disabilities in residency, we outline a proactive approach to the accommodations process and inclusion of a resident with a physical disability in pediatric residency. A multidisciplinary team including residency program leadership, disability professionals, the hospital system, and the resident, developed and implemented reasonable accommodations for a resident wheelchair user entering pediatric residency utilizing an iterative and interactive process. A pediatric resident wheelchair user completed residency training and specialty requirements utilizing reasonable accommodations. Early planning and communication regarding necessary accommodations and the presence of an inclusive and supportive learning environment are key components for the successful inclusion of residents with physical disabilities in residency programs.

A Conversation Analysis-Complex Dynamics Systems Theory (CA-CDST) Approach for Analyzing Longitudinal Development in L2 Pragmatics

The compatibility of Conversation Analysis (CA) and Complex Dynamics Systems Theory Approach (CDST) in analyzing second language (L2) development has long been discussed (e.g., Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008a). Nevertheless, how CA and CDST are compatible and how the method can be applied to data to analyze L2 development has been rarely demonstrated, with a few exceptions (e.g., Siegel & Seedhouse, 2024). This paper builds upon these prior discussions, explaining the compatibility of CA and CDST and a demonstration of the Conversation Analysis-Complex Dynamics Systems Theory (CA-CDST) approach to holistically analyze L2 pragmatic development. The CA-CDST approach is exemplified through the analysis of the use of code-switching in L2 interaction. The analysis demonstrates that unmarked code-switching in L2 interaction is not an omnipresent interactional phenomenon. Rather, it is learned; it is an interactional resource that is co-constructed through the sequential process of multiple encounters, adaptation, and accommodation to both the interlocutor and the interactional setting. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates the adaptable nature of CA and how the CA-CDST can elucidate the non-linear nature of L2 pragmatic development.

A unique kind of distribution band of martensitic laths formed along {332}〈113〉 twin boundary in the Ti[sbnd]42Nb alloy subjected to instable deformation

Multi-scale electron microscopy characterization of the {332}<113 > β twins produced in the necking region near fracture surface of the deformed β-type Ti42Nb (wt%) alloy have been carried out. A unique kind of band-shaped zone with plenty of laths of two α″ martensitic subvariants distributed in about 90° crossing directions has been found to be formed in the {332}<113 > β deformation twin along the twin boundary. This finding clearly reveals that intense local stress concentration and its complex accommodation process associated with the β-to-α″ and α″-to-β structural transitions can occur specially in the twinned region of stress-induced α″ martensite phase along its boundary for the β Ti alloy subjected to instable deformation. It is also clearly indicated that the local stress accommodation due to the α”-to-β structural transition can be unsymmetrical with respect to the twin boundary.

Negotiating ‘a Realm of Public Power and Responsibility’: Labour’s Social Imaginary of Governance at Federation

Labour’s social imaginary in the Federation period 1901–02 was constituted by a symbolic order summoned to represent participation and performance under the terms of the liberal state. Labour’s social imaginary functioned through structures and forms of display that were inherited from existing patterns and imaginings of governance, and which the movement adapted in its own forms and interests. It was expressed in parades and banquets, in the display of union banners; evident in public meetings and deputations, in the formal domains of conference and congress. Labour’s social imaginary was observed in the surveillance of the mainstream daily press and expressed in an increasingly sophisticated labour press. This process was at once an accommodation with the terms of the liberal state and political culture, and a challenge posed to it. The labour movement’s participation in liberal governance in the post-Federation period was a complex process of accommodation and assertion.

Baccalaureate and practical nursing students’ experience with academic accommodation: A qualitative descriptive study

BackgroundBased on the National Educational Association of Disabled Students report, there are numerous gaps in supporting students with disabilities. AimWe examined undergraduate students’ experiences with academic accommodation in the nursing program. Presently, there is minimal research that examines the transition of nursing students with academic accommodation needs in higher educational institutions in the classroom, lab, and clinical environment in Canada. MethodA qualitative descriptive design was used to elicit nursing students' experience with academic accommodation in classroom, lab, and clinical practice within higher education. ResultsNine in-depth semi-structured interviews revealed the challenges and barriers nursing students encountered in their academic journey. Three emergent themes were identified: Students’ experience of their academic accommodation journey, the academic accommodation process through the learning accommodation centre, and recommendations from students’ perspectives. ConclusionThe findings from our study have implications relevant in supporting nursing students, understanding students’ academic accommodation experiences and processes, and informing institutional policies within associated degree nursing programs.

Crack initiation during environment-induced cracking of metals: current status

Abstract Environment-induced cracking (EIC) research spanning the last 80 years for ferrous and non-ferrous metals in aqueous environments at ambient and elevated temperatures has concentrated on crack propagation. Studies clearly reveal EIC involves two differentiable processes, one controlling initiation and the other propagation. Utilization of advanced high-resolution electron microscopy over the last 20 years has enabled more focused studies of crack initiation for stainless steel and nickel-based alloys at elevated temperatures exposed to environments associated with the nuclear industry. More recently, when coupled with advanced in-situ experimental techniques such as time-lapse X-ray computed 3D-tomography, progress has also been made for aluminum alloys suffering EIC at ambient temperatures. Conventional wisdom states that chemical processes are typically rate-controlling during EIC initiation. Additionally, experimental evidence based on primary creep exhaustion ahead of the introduction of an aggressive environment indicates that time-dependent mechanically-driven local microstructural strain accommodation processes (resembling creep-like behavior) often play an important role for many metals, even for temperatures as low as 40 % of their melting points (0.4 Tm). EIC studies reveal initial surface conditions and their associated immediate sub-surface alloy microstructures generated during creation (i.e. disturbed layers) can dictate whether or not EIC initiation occurs under mechanical loading conditions otherwise sufficient to enable initiation and growth. The plethora of quantitative experimental techniques now available to researchers should enable significant advances towards understanding EIC initiation.

BCLA CLEAR presbyopia: Management with intraocular lenses

Cataract surgery including intraocular lens (IOL) insertion, has been refined extensively since the first such procedure by Sir Harold Ridley in 1949. The intentional creation of monovision with IOLs using monofocal IOL designs has been reported since 1984. The first reported implantation of multifocal IOLs was published in 1987. Since then, various refractive and or diffractive multifocal IOLs have been commercialised. Most are concentric, but segmented IOLs are also available. The most popular are trifocal designs (overlaying two diffractive patterns to achieve additional focal planes at intermediate and near distances) and extended depth of focus designs which leave the patient largely spectacle independent with the reduced risk of bothersome contrast reduction and glare. As well as mini-monovision, surgical strategies to minimise the impact of presbyopia with IOLs includes mixing and matching lenses between the eyes and using IOLs whose power can be adjusted post-implantation. Various IOL designs to mimic the accommodative process have been tried including hinge optics, dual optics, lateral shifts lenses with cubic-type surfaces, lens refilling and curvature changing approaches, but issues in maintaining the active mechanism with post-surgical fibrosis, without causing ocular inflammation, remain a challenge. With careful patient selection, satisfaction rates with IOLs to manage presbyopia are high and anatomical or physiological complications rates are no higher than with monofocal IOLs.

Identification and Accommodation of ADHD in Family Medicine Residencies: A CERA Study.

An increasing number of medical students applying to residency programs request accommodations for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Early implementation of accommodations for individuals with ADHD during family medicine (FM) residency could help learners and programs, but the number of programs prepared to invite learners to disclose ADHD and to implement accommodations is unclear. The purpose of this study was to describe practices employed by FM residency programs to identify residents who need accommodations for ADHD. We also chose to examine the frequency with which basic categories of ADHD accommodations are used and whether review of technical standards (ie, resident job description) is associated with timing of accommodations. We analyzed responses from the 2022 Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA) national survey of FM residency program directors, which was distributed via email invitation to all US programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. A total of 298 program directors (44.3%) responded. Approximately one in six FM residency programs are proactive in their identification of learners with ADHD, typically recognizing the need for accommodations during the interview process or orientation. Once the need is identified, most programs implement accommodations within 1 month, and many employ multiple types of accommodations. While a small subset of programs has developed processes to identify and accommodate ADHD proactively, results suggested that the majority of programs approach accommodation processes on an ad hoc basis. In turn, ad hoc identification precludes a proactive approach, given use of poor performance to identify the need for supports.

Functional and perceptive differences between conventional and advanced ankle foot orthoses in community ambulators post-limb trauma: the injuries managed with advanced bracing of the lower extremity (IM ABLE) study.

Many military service members and civilians suffer from lower extremity trauma. Despite recent advancements in lower limb bracing technology, it remains unclear whether these newer advanced braces offer improved comfort and functionality compared to conventional options. The IDEO (Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis), a type of "advanced" orthosis was developed to assist in maintaining high functional performance in patients who have experienced high-energy lower extremity trauma and underwent limb salvage surgeries. A cross-sector multi-site initiative was completed to study the efficacy of advanced ankle foot orthoses (AFO) for lower limb trauma and injury compared to a conventional AFO. Following fitting, training, and accommodation, the subjects were assessed in each AFO system for mobility, self-reported function, safety and pain, and preference. They preferred the advanced over the conventional AFO and the mobility and exertion perception improved with the advanced AFO with no difference in pain or overall health status scores. Thus, an advanced AFO is an option for trauma affecting the lower limb. Long-term studies are required to better understand the accommodation and learning process of using an advanced AFO.

New women willing to be concubines? Extramarital cohabitation, family politics, and state in modern China

ABSTRACT By examining extramarital cohabitation in early twentieth-century China against intellectual, social, and legal contexts, this article shows the process by which the educated class, mass media, and state strived to understand and locate this new union against inherited traditions and emerging modern agendas. It especially focuses on the controversy and confusion between the new women involved in these unions and concubines whose presence caused social anxiety in newly emerged gender relations and modern state governance. This article argues that the very actively negotiating process among the historical actors thickened rather than clarified the ambiguous controversy over extramarital cohabitation and the men and women involved in these unions. To a larger extent, by unfolding the process of awkward accommodation and incompatibility of foreign ideas of sex, love, and marriage into existing social and institutional milieu for significance, this article also reveals the tensions between family and state and between idea and reality during the transformation of modern China. The society deeply infiltrated by previously established social, moral, and legal structures had to respond to and accommodate external ideas, practices, lifestyles, and values. Failure accompanied success, and uncoupling did recoupling. It was within the dynamics of all these processes that Chinese society transformed.

Characterization of the Innovation Management of the Hotel Portoviejo

Purpose: The purpose of the research is aimed at characterizing the innovative behavior of a city hotel in Portoviejo based on the low level of technological innovation. Theoretical Framework: Innovation transcends all organizations, the traditional interpretation of the concept related to patents and inventions has gone down in history. Today in the business world of high competitiveness and high uncertainty the maxim is: innovate or perish. What this work proposes is related to the management of innovation, but not in manufacturing, but in services, where the technological level also increases dramatically, and high qualifications and careful customer service are required. The applied model is based on the functions of Technology and Innovation Management (GTI), these are: technology inventory, technology enrichment, technology optimization, technological evaluation, and technology protection. Method: The research is qualitative and quantitative with an exploratory and descriptive study with a non-experimental design and the Technology and Innovation management model is supported by the MINGI SOFWARE, which is based on the functions of the GTI and presents tools that characterize and evaluate the process. innovative. In this study, the analysis of business perspectives, the determination of the business model (Traditional or innovative), and the innovative culture of the Hotel are determined as innovative tools. Results and Conclusion: As a result, an innovative characterization of the accommodation, restoration and recreation processes is obtained; concluding that the hotel follows traditional management practices, its business perspective is aimed at sales and not the market and its innovative culture is low, hence to achieve a sustainable service process it must establish an action plan that allows the breaking of the gaps to reach a higher stage with good innovation management practices. Implications of the Research: The main contribution is in the application of the GTI characterizing tools in Ecuador and the projection necessary to increase the innovative intensity in the hotel activity. Originality/Value: The work presents originality, since the model has not been applied in South America and can contribute to good socio-environmental management practices in the hotel business.

Grain size gradient effect on grain boundary mediated deformation of nano-grained metals

The extraordinary mechanical performance of gradient nano-grained (GNG) structures is characterized by the heterogeneity of dislocation-based and grain boundary (GB)-based plasticity, where the grain size gradient effect on these deformation mechanisms even fracture process still remains unclear. Herein, molecular dynamics simulation is conducted on the GNG α-Fe structures to investigate the grain size gradient effect on the GB-mediated hetero-deformation mechanisms. The plastic deformation mechanism changes from GB motion (grain coarsening and merging) to GB-dislocation interaction when the grain size distribution extends from the Hall-Petch softening region to the strengthening region. With increasing grain size gradient, the ultimate tensile stress and flow stress increase in the GB motion-controlled samples, and strain partitioning between hard and soft zones is found to increase in the dislocation-GB interaction- controlled samples from an atomistic perspective. The increased strain partitioning and its accommodation process further contribute to the fracture resistance enhancement, which is demonstrated by the uniform hetero-deformation between coarse and fine grains of the GNG structure, and further avoids localized plastic deformation.

Actitudes lingüísticas de guanacastecos hacia la variedad lingüística del español del Valle Central

In this research paper, a study based on linguistic behaviors present in Guanacaste speakers has been performed. The study addresses the linguistic varieties of Spanish in the Central Valle of a student sample from the National University of Costa Rica.The main objective is to analyze the linguistic behaviors of a group of Guanacaste speakers towards the linguistic varieties of Spanish within Central Valle. To accomplish this objective, a five-level Likert scale questionnaire is being proposed as the instrument to collect data on linguistic behaviors from Spanish from Central Valle. Moreover, in the same questionnaire, there have been included three open questions. This qualitative approach is being used to collect valuable information to complement the statistical data. Subsequently, the information obtained from the questionnaires is analyzed using statistical tools such as comparative charts and graphs. The objective would be to determine the linguistic behaviors of Guanacaste students from Chorotega and Omar Dengo’s National University sites. Regarding the results, the majority of the students interviewed (migrated and non-migrated) are aware of the linguistic differences between Guanacaste and Vallecentraleños speakers, linguistic prejudices still persist in the popular belief of some Costa Rican speakers; and finally, related with the linguistic variety under study, the Spanish from the Central Valley, there co-occur accommodation processes or linguistic adaptations, linguistic insecurity, linguistic change (manifested with the phenomenon of migration), attitudes of loyalty and linguistic identity reinforced with attitudes of greater awareness and acceptance of the linguistic and cultural diversity of Costa Rica. It may be concluded that in regard to the perception of the interviewed speakers, the historical division between the varieties of Spanish from Guanacaste and the Central Valley has been kept. However, the study of such linguistic varieties shows a leveling and progressive approach of both linguistic varieties, it is especially notable in those students who have lived abroad. The present study has five sections: the introduction; the theoretical frame; the methodological framework; the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the linguistic behaviors within the areas of the present study (Guanacaste and Central Valley) and finally, conclusions.

Schematic narrative templates in national remembering

James V. Wertsch coined the concept of schematic narrative template in his Voices of Collective Remembering, which has become a classic work in memory studies. The central argument of this article is that the analytical power of the concept of schematic narrative template can be increased, and its methodological implications clarified, by making a distinction between plot structures, narrative schemata, and the practices of narrative production, dissemination, and consumption. The article demonstrates that these entities and their associated mechanisms and processes are different in kind and should therefore be studied by using different types of methods. Furthermore, the article elaborates on the cognitive aspects of Wertsch’s notion of schematic narrative template by distinguishing between the pattern completion and pattern matching functions of narrative schemata as well as between the cognitive processes of assimilation and accommodation of narrative schemata.

Developing a Work Accommodation Operating Model for Workplaces and Work Ability Support Services

Abstract Purpose Workplace accommodation can help employees with disabilities remain employed or access employment rather than leave the labor force. However, the workplace accommodation process is still poorly understood and documented. Aim The aim of this study was to develop a national operating model to make workplace accommodation interactive and procedural for workplaces and work ability support services and lower the threshold to making accommodations. Methods The collaborative development process was carried out by a multiprofessional expert team with eleven workplaces in the private and public sectors in Finland. The design of this study was conceptual and developmental. The development process of the operating model consisted of four phases: the orientation phase, the joint planning phase, the implementation advancement phase, and the instilling phase. Results The operating model has six stages: 1) identifying needs, 2) gathering knowledge, 3) exploring alternatives, 4) selecting solutions, 5) implementing solutions, and 6) monitoring and evaluating. The model defines the actions, roles, and responsibilities for each phase. To help implement the model, we published an information package, a guide, a planning formula, and a video animation in Finnish and Swedish. Conclusion The operating model is a tool that workplaces and work ability support services can use to help working-aged people remain employed or access employment. Future studies should determine the workplace-specific functionality of this model using implementation research.

Sharia Yes, Sharia State No: Negosiasi dan Akomodasi Syari’ah di Indonesia

Syafiq Hasyim. 2023. Shariatization of Indonesia, the Politics of the Council of Indonesian Ulama (Majelis Ulama Indonesia, MUI). Leiden: Brill. Wael Hallaq. 2013. The Impossible State, Islam, Politics, and Modernity's Moral Predicament. New York: Columbia University Press. The two works discussed in this book review examine how Sharia norms are negotiated and accommodated in modern nation-states. This process is inevitable as Muslims are confronted with the persistence of the nation-state and the theological obligation to apply Sharia norms in their lives. Although Hallaq's work is very pessimistic in saying that paradigmatically the two systems are impossible to reconcile, his work can serve as an important background for understanding Hasyim's work which discusses in detail how Sharia is accommodated in the legal order and public life in Indonesia, highlighting the role of the MUI as the main institution of this accommodation process. Hasyim's work tries to answer three important questions: how and in what way MUI plays a role in the process of sharization; what its implications in law and public life in Indonesia are and how the process came about; and how the state and society respond to this sharization.

The Effect of Lens Shape, Zonular Insertion and Finite Element Model on Simulated Shape Change of the Eye Lens

The process of lens shape change in the eye to alter focussing (accommodation) is still not fully understood. Modelling approaches have been used to complement experimental findings in order to determine how constituents in the accommodative process influence the shape change of the lens. An unexplored factor in modelling is the role of the modelling software on the results of simulated shape change. Finite element models were constructed in both Abaqus and Ansys software using biological parameters from measurements of shape and refractive index of two 35-year-old lenses. The effect of zonular insertion on simulated shape change was tested on both 35-year-old lens models and with both types of software. Comparative analysis of shape change, optical power, and stress distributions showed that lens shape and zonular insertion positions affect the results of simulated shape change and that Abaqus and Ansys show differences in their respective models. The effect of the software package used needs to be taken into account when constructing finite element models and deriving conclusions.