Experience of Robotic Exoskeleton Use at Four Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Centers

Background and Purpose: Refinement of robotic exoskeletons for overground walking is progressing rapidly. We describe clinicians\u27 experiences, evaluations, and training strategies using robotic exoskeletons in spinal cord injury rehabilitation and wellness settings and describe clinicians\u27 perceptions of exoskeleton benefits and risks and developments that would enhance utility. Methods: We convened focus groups at 4 spinal cord injury model system centers. A court reporter took verbatim notes and provided a transcript. Research staff used a thematic coding approach to summarize discussions. Results: Thirty clinicians participated in focus groups. They reported using exoskeletons primarily in outpatient and wellness settings; 1 center used exoskeletons during inpatient rehabilitation. A typical episode of outpatient exoskeleton therapy comprises 20 to 30 sessions and at least 2 staff members are involved in each session. Treatment focuses on standing, stepping, and gait training; therapists measure progress with standardized assessments. Beyond improved gait, participants attributed physiological, psychological, and social benefits to exoskeleton use. Potential risks included falls, skin irritation, and disappointed expectations. Participants identified enhancements that would be of value including greater durability and adjustability, lighter weight, 1-hand controls, ability to navigate stairs and uneven surfaces, and ability to balance without upper extremity support. Discussion and Conclusions: Each spinal cord injury model system center had shared and distinct practices in terms of how it integrates robotic exoskeletons into physical therapy services. There is currently little evidence to guide integration of exoskeletons into rehabilitation therapy services and a pressing need to generate evidence to guide practice and to inform patients\u27 expectations as more devices enter the market. Background and Purpose: Refinement of robotic exoskeletons for overground walking is progressing rapidly. We describe clinicians\u27 experiences, evaluations, and training strategies using robotic exoskeletons in spinal cord injury rehabilitation and wellness settings and describe clinicians\u27 perceptions of exoskeleton benefits and risks and developments that would enhance utility. Methods: We convened focus groups at 4 spinal cord injury model system centers. A court reporter took verbatim notes and provided a transcript. Research staff used a thematic coding approach to summarize discussions. Results: Thirty clinicians participated in focus groups. They reported using exoskeletons primarily in outpatient and wellness settings; 1 center used exoskeletons during inpatient rehabilitation. A typical episode of outpatient exoskeleton therapy comprises 20 to 30 sessions and at least 2 staff members are involved in each session. Treatment focuses on standing, stepping, and gait training; therapists measure progress with standardized assessments. Beyond improved gait, participants attributed physiological, psychological, and social benefits to exoskeleton use. Potential risks included falls, skin irritation, and disappointed expectations. Participants identified enhancements that would be of value including greater durability and adjustability, lighter weight, 1-hand controls, ability to navigate stairs and uneven surfaces, and ability to balance without upper extremity support. Discussion and Conclusions: Each spinal cord injury model system center had shared and distinct practices in terms of how it integrates robotic exoskeletons into physical therapy services. There is currently little evidence to guide integration of exoskeletons into rehabilitation therapy services and a pressing need to generate evidence to guide practice and to inform patients\u27 expectations as more devices enter the market

ImpaCT2 academic report: part 4 - case study evaluations

This report explored the ways in which the integration of ICT and networked technologies into the curriculum tends to produce changes in the patterns of teaching and learning. ImpaCT2 was a major longitudinal study (1999-2002) involving 60 schools in England, its aims were to: identify the impact of networked technologies on the school and out-of-school environment; determine whether or not this impact affected the educational attainment of pupils aged 8 - 16 years (at Key Stages 2, 3, and 4); and provide information that would assist in the formation of national, local and school policies on the deployment of ICT

Empowerment in the Public Sector: Testing the Influence of Goal Orientation

Empowerment has emerged as an important new issue in the public sector organization setting in the wake of mainstream new public management (NPM). Nevertheless, few studies in this frame have combined structural (managerial) and psychological (individual) approaches in an integrative study of empowerment. There is also a need to examine the moderating variables involved in this relationship, as well as to extend research on work motivation in public management. This study explores the effect of structural empowerment on psychological empowerment, and it also draws on goal orientation (GO) theory to examine the moderating role of employees’ GO in this link. The model is tested on a sample of 521 Spanish local authority employees. The results do not confirm the direct link between structural and psychological empowerment, but show that learning GO has considerable moderating power in this relationship, and its interaction with structural empowerment affects employees’ psychological empowerment levels

Improving School Leadership: The Promise of Cohesive Leadership Systems

Describes Wallace grantees' work to create a cohesive leadership system of coordinated policies between states and districts and across state agencies, states' and districts' efforts to forge cohesive policies, and the impact on instructional leadership

Pork Managers' Perception of Labor Management Practices and Their Risks

Although managing labor has become important for farm operations success, training and education for farm managers focuses on agricultural production management and few studies provide an empirical basis on how agricultural labor management differs from labor management in other industries. With the exception of Hurley et al., little is known about labor management practices in pork production, specifically. This study used the focus group discussion method with four focus group meetings in Michigan and two in Kansas in 2006. The average group size was four participants. All group discussions were tape-recorded and transcribed. The ATLAS-TI software was used to support the data analysis. Labor management topics discussed were as follows (order based on the amount of discussion dedicated to each topic): (1) performance management, (2) compensation, (3) recruitment, (4) training, (5) working conditions and organizational structure of farms, (6) selection, (7) hiring immigrant employees, (8) discipline, (9) performance evaluation, (10) social environment, and (11) labor law. Labor management practices, labor attributes, and work characteristics were analyzed within each category and characterized as risk reducing or risk increasing, according to managers perceptions. An educational pilot workshop was developed based on the focus group discussions and delivered in both Michigan and Kansas. Topics covered in the workshops included recruitment and selection, training, employee evaluation, compensation, conflict management, discipline and termination, communication, and motivation. Workshops were evaluated both immediately afterwards, through written anonymous workshop evaluations and through phone interviews. While most participants were able to point to specific content learned and had started to implement changes, hoping to increase productivity and/or reduce costs, few were able to quantify the monetary value of those changes.Labor and Human Capital, Livestock Production/Industries,

ImpaCT2: learning at home and school: case studies

Strand 3 explored the nature of teaching and learning involving ICT in various settings, with a focus on the views of pupils, teachers, and parents. Working in 15 of the 60 schools selected for Strands 1 and 2, this project focused on: learning and teaching environments; learning and teaching styles; and the impact of networked technologies on the perceptions of teachers, managers, pupils and parents. ImpaCT2 was a major longitudinal study (1999-2002) involving 60 schools in England, its aims were to: identify the impact of networked technologies on the school and out-of-school environment; determine whether or not this impact affected the educational attainment of pupils aged 8 - 16 years (at Key Stages 2, 3, and 4); and provide information that would assist in the formation of national, local and school policies on the deployment of ICT

Bracing Competition through Innovative HRM in Indian Firms: Lessons for MNEs

HRM plays a critical role and constructive role. How important is the involvement of HRM in strategy development and implementation under hyper-competitive environment? HRM occurs at all levels of organizations and increasingly, outside organizations as organizations manage relationships with external stakeholders. This article shows how innovative HRM practices are being adopted by Indian firms to brace competition in the post liberalization scenario. The article discusses the need for new skills, new policies and innovative HRM practices.HRM; Innovation; India

Motivation and Satisfaction of Software Engineers

Context: The proper management of people can help software organisations to achieve higher levels of success. However, the limited attention paid to the appropriate use of theories to underpin the research in this area leaves it unclear how to deal with human aspects of software engineers, such as motivation and satisfaction. Objectives: This article aims to expose what drives the motivation and satisfaction of software engineers at work. Methods: A multiple case study was conducted at four software organisations in Brazil. For 11 months, data was collected using semi-structured interviews, diary studies, and document analyses. Results: The Theory of Motivation and Satisfaction of Software Engineers (TMS-SE), presented in this article, combines elements from well established theories with new findings, and translates them into the software engineering context. Conclusion: The TMS-SE advances the understanding of people management in the software engineering field and presents a strong conceptual framework for future investigations in this area

Upgrading Packaged Software: An Exploratory Study of Decisions, Impacts, and Coping Strategies from the Perspectives of Stakeholders

Packaged software is widely adopted and has become an integral part of most organizations’ IT portfolios. Once packaged software is adopted, upgrades to subsequent versions appear to be inevitable. To date, research on packaged software upgrade has not received the attention that it warrants, as academic research continues to focus on initial technology adoption. To explore this understudied yet important area, three research questions were proposed: (1) What influences the decision to upgrade packaged software? (2) How do stakeholders cope with software upgrade? (3) How does a packaged software upgrade affect stakeholders? A qualitative research method was used to study the research questions. Two cases were conducted at a Fortune 500 company located in the Southeastern region of United States. The first case studied Windows 2000 upgrades and the second case studied SAP 4.6C upgrade. A theoretical model with six components was induced from the study; the components are decision, motivating forces, contingency forces, planned strategies, corrective actions, and impacts. Upgrade decisions are the outcome of interaction between motivating forces that can originate from internal and external environments, and contingency forces. A decision to upgrade will lead to both positive and negative impacts as experienced by users and IT groups. However, stakeholders’ experiences differ according to the types of software and also their roles in the company. Two types of strategies were observed in the study: planned strategies and corrective actions. Planned strategies were used to tackle anticipated issues, and corrective actions were adopted to solve ad hoc problems when negative impacts arose. Both strategies can affect the final outcome of impacts. Finally, in the event a corrective action was used, there is a chance that it will become a permanent planned strategy