SISO Space Reference FOM - Tools and Testing

The Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) Space Reference Federation Object Model (SpaceFOM) version 1.0 is nearing completion. Earlier papers have described the use of the High Level Architecture (HLA) in Space simulation as well as technical aspects of the SpaceFOM. This paper takes a look at different SpaceFOM tools and how they were used during the development and testing of the standard.The first organizations to develop SpaceFOM-compliant federates for SpaceFOM development and testing were NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), the University of Calabria (UNICAL), and Pitch Technologies.JSC is one of NASA's lead centers for human space flight. Much of the core distributed simulation technology development, specifically associated with the SpaceFOM, is done by the NASA Exploration Systems Simulations (NExSyS) team. One of NASA's principal simulation development tools is the Trick Simulation Environment. NASA's NExSyS team has been modifying and using Trick and TrickHLA to help develop and test the SpaceFOM.The System Modeling And Simulation Hub Laboratory (SMASH-Lab) at UNICAL has developed the Simulation Exploration Experience (SEE) HLA Starter kit, that has been used by most SEE teams involved in the distributed simulation of a Moon base. It is particularly useful for the development of federates that are compatible with the SpaceFOM. The HLA Starter Kit is a Java based tool that provides a well-structured framework to simplify the formulation, generation, and execution of SpaceFOM-compliant federates.Pitch Technologies, a company specializing in distributed simulation, is utilizing a number of their existing HLA tools to support development and testing of the SpaceFOM. In addition to the existing tools, Pitch has developed a few SpaceFOM specific federates: Space Master for managing the initialization, execution and pacing of any SpaceFOM federation; EarthEnvironment, a simple Root Reference Publisher; and Space Monitor, a graphical tool for monitoring reference frames and physical entities.Early testing of the SpaceFOM was carried out in the SEE university outreach program, initiated in SISO. Students were given a subset of the FOM, that was later extended. Sample federates were developed and frameworks were developed or adapted to the early FOM versions.As drafts of the standard matured, testing was performed using federates from government, industry, and academia. By mixing federates developed by different teams the standard could be tested with respect to functional correctness, robustness and clarity.These frameworks and federates have been useful when testing and verifying the design of the standard. In addition to this, they have since formed a starting point for developing SpaceFOM-compliant federations in several projects, for example for NASA, ESA as well as SEE

Perceptions of recent wits physiotherapy graduates regarding the Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapy (OMT) undergraduate curriculum content

Faculty of Health Sciences School of Physiotherapy 9303432y [email protected] manipulative therapy (OMT) like other areas of physiotherapy, is a rapidly advancing field. To keep abreast of changes, curricula need regular evaluation and updating. The curriculum consists of many components that may vary from content to timetabling. The aim of this study was to determine how past graduates from the University of the Witwatersrand perceived the OMT curriculum with regards to content, teaching methods and clinical learning. This information will contribute to an overall evaluation of the present OMT curriculum. The sample consisted of graduates from 1997-1999. Questionnaires and interviews were used to gather the information. Some interviews were carried out following analysis of answers to the questionnaire to clarify issues or gain additional information. Results indicated that eighty one percent of the sample found the content relevant to clinical practice, but forty two percent found certain aspects of the content inadequate. The following areas of content were deficient: sixty percent found information on patient education, advice and counseling related to OMT inadequate. Fifty five percent would have liked to be more exposed to research in this area. Sixty seven percent felt that teaching of clinical reasoning skills was lacking. Ninety four percent would have liked information on other joint mobilization concepts. It was perceived that active learning methods were more effective than passive learning methods. Fifty eight percent found tutorials, sixty eight percent found practical sessions, and fifty eight percent found workshops very effective. With regards to clinical learning, seventy seven percent found supervision very helpful in clinical placements. Eighty one percent found patient presentations helpful, and seventy one percent found discussion of patients with lecturers very helpful. Most responses indicated that the OMT curriculum was relevant to current practice in South Africa but inadequate in certain specific areas

Influence of work integrated learning on the enhancement of office management and technology competencies of students

Published ThesisThis study draws on the existence of a highly demanding business context marked by aggressive graduate competition for successful placements, and companies’ demand for an assortment of work-related competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities), which demands the university curriculum to embrace Work Integrated Learning (WIL), in its exploration of the contribution of WIL in preparing Office Management and Technology (OMT) students at the Central University of Technology (CUT) for the world of work. The study particularly examines the perceptions of CUT educators, students and the organisational workforce (business owners who render attachments/WIL experience to students) with regard to the way in which WIL enhances students’ professional competencies. Since WIL is widely conceived as an educational approach that aligns academic and workplace practices for the mutual benefit of students and workplaces, a survey involving educators, students and organisational workforce (employers, management and employees) involved in WIL was conducted to unravel the relationships between student participation in WIL and the enhancement of their OMT competencies. The findings of this study suggest that students’ participation in WIL develops their competencies and prepares them to adapt sufficiently in the real world of work. This quantitative study revealed that competencies acquired by OMT students during their successful placements are transferable across a wide range of contexts, activities and tasks. The study draws from awareness of many challenges that face WIL to recommend that the need for a strengthening of the partnership between organised industry and higher education in order to develop more communication that focuses on the placement of the students who need to complete their WIL programmes

Preparedness, crisis management and policy change : EMU at the critical juncture of 2008-2013

Focusing on the role of the European Central Bank during the recent banking and sovereign debt crisis in the euro area, this article contributes to the literature on ideational and institu-tional change at critical junctures. In line with recent calls to take the temporal dimension of political change seriously, the article argues that in the context of explosive economic crises a phase of emergency crisis management precedes the phase of purposeful institution building. What happens during this phase is crucial, for in spite of their improvised charac-ter emergency crisis management measures create their own path dependencies. This, how-ever, raises the question of why crisis managers act the way they do. While it is true that crisis managers act as bricoleurs who use whichever tools they find at their disposal, the question of why certain tools are available rather than others calls for a historicisation of crisis management. The article therefore introduces the variable of preparedness, which measures the extent to which the pre-crisis policy paradigm was prepared for the occur-rence of, in this case, the combination of a systemic banking crisis and a sovereign debt cri-sis. The empirical section then compares pre-crisis contingency planning and in-crisis contingency acting, revealing several inconsistencies in the pre-crisis crisis paradigm. The analysis matters for our understanding of political change because these inconsistencies caused the ECB to assume a dominant position in the euro area during the emergency phase of the crisis. This windfall gain in power for the ECB has already begun to shape the future ideational and institutional order of the euro area

The pros and cons of using SDL for creation of distributed services

In a competitive market for the creation of complex distributed services, time to market, development cost, maintenance and flexibility are key issues. Optimizing the development process is very much a matter of optimizing the technologies used during service creation. This paper reports on the experience gained in the Service Creation projects SCREEN and TOSCA on use of the language SDL for efficient service creation

Opioid dependency rehabilitation with the opioid maintenance treatment programme - a qualitative study from the clients’ perspective

Background Opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) is the most widely used treatment for opioid dependence. The opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) programme represents an opportunity for people who are opioid users to minimize the many negative health and societal outcomes associated with opioid use through meeting the physiological need of their bodies for opioids. The purpose of this study is to shed some light on how clients in the Norwegian OMT programme see their level of influence on their own treatment. Method It is a qualitative enquiry using semi-structured interviews of seven OMT clients living in various locations in Norway. The analysis of the material utilized a grounded theory-inspired approach. Results This study show that the clients who were part of the OMT programme had better lives than people with untreated addictions did. However, the participants experienced having to play by the rules of the OMT programme if they wanted to have successful treatment. This resulted in varying degrees of dissatisfaction with the treatment. Conclusions The results indicated that the clients felt objectified and disenfranchised in the OMT programme, and points out the low level of influence on their own treatment felt by the OMT clients

Applicability of siberian placer mining technology to Alaska

The result of Perestroyka and Glasnost has been an awakening of potential for cooperation between East and West. Nowhere has that been better demonstrated than between Alaska and Magadan Province, USSR. This report summarizes a one year effort financed by ASTF, with participation from several technical organizations, to establish contacts with the Siberian placer mining industry. The purpose of the project was to provide initial assessment of the Soviet technology for placer mining in permafrost. A ten day trip to Magadan province by an ASTF team and a similar length visit to Alaska by the Soviet mining group representing the All Union Scientific and Research Institute of Gold and Rare Metals, (VNII-I), Magadan are described. The report also reviews translated data on mining in permafrost and describes surface and underground placer mining technology developed by the Soviets. The report also lists relevant publications on Soviet mining research and state of the art Soviet mining technology and expertise

Empowerment and pathologization: A case study in Norwegian mental health and substance abuse services

Context: Service user involvement in service development and research is an international goal. However, research illuminating the patient stakeholder role is limited. Objective: The aim was to explore what may hinder patients’ voices being heard when collaborating with staff and leaders to improve services. Design: This action research project targeted Norwegian public mental health and substance abuse services, utilizing co-operative inquiry principles. Data were collected and member-checked collaboratively by the researcher and coresearchers. Results: Results centre on patient involvement in services, service development and research. The patient voice was regarded as important but not necessarily decisive, as patients’ change needs could be perceived as pathology-based. Patients provided feedback about fellow patients and medication—opioid maintenance treatment, in particular. Barriers to patient involvement included patients not being permitted to influence other patients’ individual treatment and a leader’s difficulty accepting patients’ medication advice. Additionally, an apparent hierarchy among the professionals may have disempowered some staff members. Discussion: Results point to an organizational diagnostic culture, where stigmatizing and risk pathologization may limit patient input. Empowerment appeared to be perceived as something allowed by the staff and leaders, at their discretion. Although all parties may have agreed that patient involvement was valuable, acting as a united group about opioid maintenance treatment appeared difficult. Conclusion: Barriers to patient involvement may hinder the availability and efficacy of patients’ perspectives in service development. Awareness about reciprocal empowerment might contribute to service users’ voices being heard, enabling a united voice from service users and providers regarding service development.publishedVersio