Impact of research activity on performance of general practices: a qualitative study

Background: There is evidence that engaging in research is directly associated with better performance. If this relationship is to be strengthened, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms which might underlie that relationship. Aim: To explore the perspectives of staff and wider stakeholders about mechanisms by which research activity might impact on the performance of general practices. Design & Setting: Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with general practice professionals and wider stakeholders in England. Method: Individual interviews with purposively sampled staff in ‘research ready’ or ‘research active’ general practices and other stakeholders. Interviews were analysed using a Framework approach. Results: Participants described potential ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ impacts on their work. ‘Direct’ impacts included research changing practice work (e.g. additional records searches for particular conditions), bringing in additional resources (e.g. access to investigations or staff) and improving relationships with patients. ‘Indirect’ impacts included job satisfaction (e.g. perception of practice as a centre of excellence and innovation, and the variety afforded by research activity reducing burnout) and staff recruitment (increasing the attractiveness of the practice as a place to work). Respondents identified few negative impacts. Conclusions: Staff and stakeholders identified a range of potential impacts of research activity on practice performance, with impacts on their working lives most salient. Negative impacts were not generally raised. Nevertheless, respondents generally discussed potential impacts rather than providing specific examples of those impacts. This may reflect the type of research activity conducted in general practice, often led by external collaborators

Biomedical Engineering Students’ Perceived Learning Through Co-Curriculars

Background: Co-curricular student outcomes research has focused on connecting outcomes to activities based on the co-curricular type. Less work has explored what aspects of those co-curricular activities could lead to student outcomes. Purpose: Our research aimed to identify common elements of co-curricular activities that connected to students’ development of professional, career, or personal outcomes and can inform how we study and design co-curricular activities in engineering. Design: We recruited participants from one biomedical engineering (BME) program. We used a one-year series of four semi-structured interviews with fourteen upper-level BME students to explore students’ perceptions of their co-curricular learning. Using a qualitative, causal analysis approach, we identified elements of students’ co-curricular experiences in research or a multi-disciplinary design team, as well as other co-curricular experiences (e.g., internships, professional societies), that linked to professional, career, or personal learning outcomes that have been previously identified as important in engineering education. Findings: We identified patterns of connections between unique “experience elements” and a variety of “outcome categories” through participant activities we called “participant actions.” The most prevalent connections—those experience elements and participant actions that connected to multiple outcome categories—included the experience elements Independent Project Work, Project Work That Engages Multiple Disciplines, STEM Education Opportunities, and Mentorship from a Skilled Other as well as a participant action Reflecting on Experience. We found connections to the outcome categories of Leadership, Design, Business, Interdisciplinary Competence, Disciplinary Competence, Communication, and Career Direction Outcomes. Conclusions: Based on our findings, educators and mentors should consider the value of supporting students’ decision-making autonomy and multidisciplinary interactions in projects to support learning. They could also incorporate opportunities for students to teach each other technical content, receive structured mentorship, and reflect on their experiences as they are happening. Further, this work demonstrates a need to explore co-curricular learning processes in new ways that can lead to better understandings of students’ learning processes

Origins Space Telescope: baseline mission concept

The Origins Space Telescope will trace the history of our origins from the time dust and heavy elements permanently altered the cosmic landscape to present-day life. How did galaxies evolve from the earliest galactic systems to those found in the Universe today? How do habitable planets form? How common are life-bearing worlds? To answer these alluring questions, Origins will operate at mid- and far-infrared (IR) wavelengths and offer powerful spectroscopic instruments and sensitivity three orders of magnitude better than that of the Herschel Space Observatory, the largest telescope flown in space to date. We describe the baseline concept for Origins recommended to the 2020 US Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The baseline design includes a 5.9-m diameter telescope cryocooled to 4.5 K and equipped with three scientific instruments. A mid-infrared instrument (Mid-Infrared Spectrometer and Camera Transit spectrometer) will measure the spectra of transiting exoplanets in the 2.8 to 20  μm wavelength range and offer unprecedented spectrophotometric precision, enabling definitive exoplanet biosignature detections. The far-IR imager polarimeter will be able to survey thousands of square degrees with broadband imaging at 50 and 250  μm. The Origins Survey Spectrometer will cover wavelengths from 25 to 588  μm, making wide-area and deep spectroscopic surveys with spectral resolving power R  ∼  300, and pointed observations at R  ∼  40,000 and 300,000 with selectable instrument modes. Origins was designed to minimize complexity. The architecture is similar to that of the Spitzer Space Telescope and requires very few deployments after launch, while the cryothermal system design leverages James Webb Space Telescope technology and experience. A combination of current-state-of-the-art cryocoolers and next-generation detector technology will enable Origins’ natural background-limited sensitivity

Experiential Learning in Co-Curricular Settings: What are the Professional Implications for Biomedical Engineering Students?

Biomedical engineering (BME) undergraduate students take courses that allow them to develop skills in multiple disciplinary areas (e.g., biology, medicine, chemical, mechanical, electrical engineering) and as such, have a wide array of career opportunities available to them upon graduation. While their broad curricular exposure lends itself to flexibility in careers, it leaves little room in the curriculum for professional competence development and has been implicated in graduates’ difficulties navigating career searches upon graduation. This research addresses this concern by examining how students enrolled in an BME program in a highly selective research university fill the professional development curricular gap while pursuing their undergraduate degree. I leveraged professional development educational literature that described concepts of student involvement and experiential learning. These concepts emphasize the importance of active engagement to promote students’ learning and development. Through in-depth analysis of the engineering education literature using a systematic search and qualitative synthesis of 100 full articles, I found that assessment efforts in experiential learning settings have largely focused on in-class opportunities and infrequently leverage mixed or qualitative methods of inquiry. This review of the literature informed my year-long qualitative study of BME students’ professional development in out-of- class, co-curricular settings. Each of the studies presented in this dissertation analyze data from a series of four interviews with fourteen third-year BME undergraduate students over one academic year. The studies focused on understanding relevant professional development questions for students pursuing BME degrees and engaging in co-curricular opportunities while pursuing their degrees. I found that BME students were most frequently motivated to participate in co-curricular opportunities that they thought had value for their future careers, but also engaged in co-curricular experiences that supported parts of their identities or were generally interesting to them. I also found that BME students described their motivations for pursuing BME in similar ways. Participants in this study discussed personal interests as a motivating factor for pursuing a BME degree, and were able to articulate professionally relevant skills they described as unique to BME graduates. Furthermore, I found data that supports previously anecdotal disciplinary discussions about the career search and exploration process of BME students, finding that across the span of one year, students were discovering multiple new career options, and considering how to address perceived career placement difficulties after completing a BME degree. In my final analysis, I examined the data for evidence of participants’ professional competency development over time, looking for patterns in the experiential process by which students developed professional competencies. I found evidence of learning processes connected to the development of ten professional competencies: business, career direction, communication, cultural, design, disciplinary, interdisciplinary, leadership, personal attributes, and teamwork. My work can inform efforts to improve the previously understudied career search experiences of BME undergraduate students. The results of my work indicate the importance of career exploration opportunities throughout students’ four-year experience in both curricular and co-curricular settings. My work also has implications for BME educators and advisors interested in co-curricular or experiential learning opportunities. Using the results of my final study as a basis, I have developed a set of recommendations for students interested in selecting co-curricular experiences that support specific professional competence development. Similarly, I recommended curricular strategies educators can incorporate in their classes to support the development of professional competencies linked to experiential, co-curricular engagement in my study.PHDBiomedical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/172712/1/cswood_1.pd

An Empirical Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Continuous Improvement Techniques

An organization\u27s commitment to continuous improvement is key for their long-term health. The principles, practices, and techniques embodied within continuous improvement form a comprehensive organizational philosophy that strives to effectively fulfill customers\u27 needs. Within continuous improvement efforts, learning is driven by the use of scientific methods (i.e., tools to monitor and analyze work processes such as control charts and Pareto charts). Within continuous improvement projects, various techniques (e.g., flowcharts, brainstorming, cause-and- effect diagrams, etc.) are used to help teams effectively utilize their collective knowledge to develop shared understandings and solve problems. Today, organizations often use Lean, Six Sigma, and Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophies to improve operational performance and quality, which has been well documented across a variety of industries. This paper addresses the effectiveness of specific Lean and TQM techniques and tools based on the experiences and insights obtained through a survey administered to practitioners working in a variety of industries. The objective of this research is to assess and understand the performance of continuous improvement philosophies based on the specific techniques used, as well as the methods used to implement these techniques, and to evaluate the reasons they have or have not been effective. The results of this survey were analyzed using a variety of statistical techniques

Empowering Melatonin Therapeutics with <i>Drosophila</i> Models

Melatonin functions as a central regulator of cell and organismal function as well as a neurohormone involved in several processes, e.g., the regulation of the circadian rhythm, sleep, aging, oxidative response, and more. As such, it holds immense pharmacological potential. Receptor-mediated melatonin function mainly occurs through MT1 and MT2, conserved amongst mammals. Other melatonin-binding proteins exist. Non-receptor-mediated activities involve regulating the mitochondrial function and antioxidant cascade, which are frequently affected by normal aging as well as disease. Several pathologies display diseased or dysfunctional mitochondria, suggesting melatonin may be used therapeutically. Drosophila models have extensively been employed to study disease pathogenesis and discover new drugs. Here, we review the multiple functions of melatonin through the lens of functional conservation and model organism research to empower potential melatonin therapeutics to treat neurodegenerative and renal diseases

Impact of research activity on performance of general practices: a qualitative study.

There is evidence that engaging in research is directly associated with better performance. If this relationship is to be strengthened, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms which might underlie that relationship. To explore the perspectives of staff and wider stakeholders about mechanisms by which research activity might impact on the performance of general practices. Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with general practice professionals and wider stakeholders in England. Individual interviews with 41 purposively sampled staff in 'research ready' or 'research active' general practices and 21 other stakeholders. Interviews were independently coded by three researchers using a Framework approach. Participants described potential 'direct' and 'indirect' impacts on their work. 'Direct' impacts included research changing practice work (eg, additional records searches for particular conditions), bringing in additional resources (eg, access to investigations or staff) and improving relationships with patients. 'Indirect' impacts included job satisfaction (eg, perception of practice as a centre of excellence and innovation, and the variety afforded by research activity reducing burnout) and staff recruitment (increasing the attractiveness of the practice as a place to work). Respondents identified few negative impacts. Staff and stakeholders identified a range of potential impacts of research activity on practice performance, with impacts on their working lives most salient. Negative impacts were not generally raised. Nevertheless, respondents generally discussed potential impacts rather than providing specific examples of those impacts. This may reflect the type of research activity conducted in general practice, often led by external collaborators. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2024, The Authors.

Origins Space Telescope: baseline mission concept

International audienc

The Origins Space Telescope

The Origins Space Telescope will trace the history of our origins from the time dust and heavy elements permanently altered the cosmic landscape to present-day life. How did galaxies evolve from the earliest galactic systems to those found in the universe today? How do habitable planets form? How common are life-bearing worlds? To answer these alluring questions, Origins will operate at mid- and far-infrared wavelengths and offer powerful spectroscopic instruments and sensitivity three orders of magnitude better than that of Herschel, the largest telescope flown in space to date. After a 3 1/2 year study, the Origins Science and Technology Definition Team will recommend to the Decadal Survey a concept for Origins with a 5.9-m diameter telescope cryocooled to 4.5 K and equipped with three scientific instruments. A mid-infrared instrument (MISC-T) will measure the spectra of transiting exoplanets in the 2.8 - 20 mu m wavelength range and offer unprecedented sensitivity, enabling definitive biosignature detections. The Far-IR Imager Polarimeter (FIP) will be able to survey thousands of square degrees with broadband imaging at 50 and 250 mu m. The Origins Survey Spectrometer (OSS) will cover wavelengths from 25 - 588 mu m, make wide-area and deep spectroscopic surveys with spectral resolving power R similar to 300, and pointed observations at R similar to 40,000 and 300,000 with selectable instrument modes. Origins was designed to minimize complexity. The telescope has a Spitzer-like architecture and requires very few deployments after launch. The cryo-thermal system design leverages JWST technology and experience. A combination of current-state-of-the-art cryocoolers and next-generation detector technology will enable Origins' natural background-limited sensitivity.This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]