Nondestructive assessment of penetration of electron-beam welds

Empirical method correlates penetration of an electron-beam weld with external measurements of the weld. Empirical polygon accurately confirms full-penetration welds while a second, larger polygon provides for penetration of welds near the tip

Review of R and D on Water Hyacinth Utilization in the Philippine Republic

The operations of a Filipino inventor were observed with a view toward determining the technical-economic potential of his hyacinth utilization concepts if the highly fibrous portion of the plant were separated from the other components. Subjects of particular interest include: (1) water hyacinth harvesting techniques, volumes and costs; (2) hyacinth defibering processes; and (3) uses of hyacinth materials for production of animal feeds, paper fibers, particle boards, acoustic and insulation boards, various vitamins and minerals (especially Vitamin A), food products, pesticides, and medicinal and pharmaceutical products

Perceived control in the everyday occupational roles of people with Parkinson's disease and their partners

People with a chronic illness, such as Parkinson’s disease, often live in the community for many years while the illness becomes progressively more debilitating. Little is known about how such people control the impact the disease has upon their various roles in life. This study employed naturalistic qualitative research methods to investigate how people with Parkinson’s disease and their partners continue to actively participate as members of their social community. Using in-depth semi-structured, focused interviews, participants with Parkinson’s disease and their partners were asked to name and describe roles that occupied their daily activity. They were asked about their most significant occupational roles, what they did in these roles, the knowledge or strategies they employed to deal with barriers to occupational role performance, and the personal meaning such roles held. Four basic themes evolved from the data: the impact of the disease on occupational role performance, or ‘doing’, secondary personal limitations to occupational role performance, secondary social limitations to occupational role performance and cumulative barriers to occupational role performance. Loss of control over choice and manner of engagement in occupational roles was a significant element of all four themes. Sense of self and sense of social fit were identified as major elements that informed participants’ perceptions of control. Participants described a range of diverse responses that they used to actively restore personal control of occupational performance in the face of degenerative illness. Learning new coping styles appeared to be underpinned by a personal set of rules or ‘blueprint’, despite professional input. This blueprint was actualised through a problem identification, problem solving and active engagement cycle that was termed a cycle of control. A conceptual model of a cycle of control was proposed as the final stage of the research. The model represented a way of describing how participants acted to restore a sense of personal control once a specific barrier to occupational role performance had been perceived. The findings of this study support the notion that people with chronic illness, such as Parkinson’s disease, are active and knowledgeable participants in health care, and have occupational histories and experiences that they harness when dealing with barriers to performance. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that people with chronic illness work in tandem with significant role partners to constantly maintain the valued partnership in meaningful occupational roles as the disease progresses. A greater understanding of how people with chronic illness and their partners strive to maintain a sense of personal control can enable occupational therapists to work effectively as ancillary partners in care. A greater understanding of the way in which role partners work together to maintain occupational integrity in their lives would be central to assessment and intervention for community programs for people with chronic illness

Occupational Performance Roles Following Stroke

Research into rehabilitation outcomes shows that people recovering from stroke experience serious role loss. Despite this, many occupational therapists working in the area of stroke rehabilitation do not allocate time to therapy designed to achieve specific meaningful role resumption or development for their clients, instead focussing most of their therapy upon the restoration of function at the performance component level (Brodie, Holm, & Tomlin, 1994). Occupational role performance is an area of knowledge that has been neglected within the profession. Little is known about the use of the concept by the role performer. A naturalistic study was undertaken to provide descriptive information about the self-perceived occupational role performance of men over 65 who have had a stroke, and to investigate the possibility that occupational role was a construct used by the participants to organise their occupational performance (Chapparo and Ranka, 1997). Thirteen participants were interviewed in their own homes. Inductive analysis of the data produced the following findings. There was evidence that participants did use role as a construct to organise role performance in terms of meaning, personal abilities and time. This organisation incorporated a large degree of choice about how roles were performed. Choices were made in relation to perceptions of environmental demands and informed by previous experience and personal standards for role performance. A preliminary model of self-perceived occupational role performance was developed from the themes identified in the data. The constructs of the model represent the factors identified as contributing to the meaning, motivation, planning and performance of occupational roles by the participants in the study. Each major construct has a number of sub-constructs, and construct definitions were produced. The relationship between the constructs is thought to be complex, and were considered beyond the scope of this descriptive study. The three major constructs of this model are Active Engagement, Personal Meaning and Perceived Control. The three constructs relate to doing, knowing and being as described in the Occupational Performance Model (Australia) (Chapparo and Ranka, 1997). Active Engagement describes the nature of occupational role performance and is principally related to doing. The construct of Personal Meaning strongly influences Active Engagement and is principally related to being. The last construct of Perceived Control relates to the reasoning of the participant about his role performance, and is principally related to knowing. Perceived Control informs Personal Meaning in terms of the perceived outcomes of Active Engagement. The major outcome of this study has been the detailed identification and description of a number of constructs that relate to both the internal and external aspects of self-perceived occupational role performance for the study participants. These constructs extend the Occupational Performance Model (Australia) (Chapparo and Ranka, 1997) at the role level, and can form the basis of further research to develop a model of occupational role performance that would provide a valuable tool for research and for clinical practice

Perceived control in the everyday occupational roles of people with Parkinson's disease and their partners

People with a chronic illness, such as Parkinson’s disease, often live in the community for many years while the illness becomes progressively more debilitating. Little is known about how such people control the impact the disease has upon their various roles in life. This study employed naturalistic qualitative research methods to investigate how people with Parkinson’s disease and their partners continue to actively participate as members of their social community. Using in-depth semi-structured, focused interviews, participants with Parkinson’s disease and their partners were asked to name and describe roles that occupied their daily activity. They were asked about their most significant occupational roles, what they did in these roles, the knowledge or strategies they employed to deal with barriers to occupational role performance, and the personal meaning such roles held. Four basic themes evolved from the data: the impact of the disease on occupational role performance, or ‘doing’, secondary personal limitations to occupational role performance, secondary social limitations to occupational role performance and cumulative barriers to occupational role performance. Loss of control over choice and manner of engagement in occupational roles was a significant element of all four themes. Sense of self and sense of social fit were identified as major elements that informed participants’ perceptions of control. Participants described a range of diverse responses that they used to actively restore personal control of occupational performance in the face of degenerative illness. Learning new coping styles appeared to be underpinned by a personal set of rules or ‘blueprint’, despite professional input. This blueprint was actualised through a problem identification, problem solving and active engagement cycle that was termed a cycle of control. A conceptual model of a cycle of control was proposed as the final stage of the research. The model represented a way of describing how participants acted to restore a sense of personal control once a specific barrier to occupational role performance had been perceived. The findings of this study support the notion that people with chronic illness, such as Parkinson’s disease, are active and knowledgeable participants in health care, and have occupational histories and experiences that they harness when dealing with barriers to performance. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that people with chronic illness work in tandem with significant role partners to constantly maintain the valued partnership in meaningful occupational roles as the disease progresses. A greater understanding of how people with chronic illness and their partners strive to maintain a sense of personal control can enable occupational therapists to work effectively as ancillary partners in care. A greater understanding of the way in which role partners work together to maintain occupational integrity in their lives would be central to assessment and intervention for community programs for people with chronic illness

Occupational Performance Roles Following Stroke

Research into rehabilitation outcomes shows that people recovering from stroke experience serious role loss. Despite this, many occupational therapists working in the area of stroke rehabilitation do not allocate time to therapy designed to achieve specific meaningful role resumption or development for their clients, instead focussing most of their therapy upon the restoration of function at the performance component level (Brodie, Holm, & Tomlin, 1994). Occupational role performance is an area of knowledge that has been neglected within the profession. Little is known about the use of the concept by the role performer. A naturalistic study was undertaken to provide descriptive information about the self-perceived occupational role performance of men over 65 who have had a stroke, and to investigate the possibility that occupational role was a construct used by the participants to organise their occupational performance (Chapparo and Ranka, 1997). Thirteen participants were interviewed in their own homes. Inductive analysis of the data produced the following findings. There was evidence that participants did use role as a construct to organise role performance in terms of meaning, personal abilities and time. This organisation incorporated a large degree of choice about how roles were performed. Choices were made in relation to perceptions of environmental demands and informed by previous experience and personal standards for role performance. A preliminary model of self-perceived occupational role performance was developed from the themes identified in the data. The constructs of the model represent the factors identified as contributing to the meaning, motivation, planning and performance of occupational roles by the participants in the study. Each major construct has a number of sub-constructs, and construct definitions were produced. The relationship between the constructs is thought to be complex, and were considered beyond the scope of this descriptive study. The three major constructs of this model are Active Engagement, Personal Meaning and Perceived Control. The three constructs relate to doing, knowing and being as described in the Occupational Performance Model (Australia) (Chapparo and Ranka, 1997). Active Engagement describes the nature of occupational role performance and is principally related to doing. The construct of Personal Meaning strongly influences Active Engagement and is principally related to being. The last construct of Perceived Control relates to the reasoning of the participant about his role performance, and is principally related to knowing. Perceived Control informs Personal Meaning in terms of the perceived outcomes of Active Engagement. The major outcome of this study has been the detailed identification and description of a number of constructs that relate to both the internal and external aspects of self-perceived occupational role performance for the study participants. These constructs extend the Occupational Performance Model (Australia) (Chapparo and Ranka, 1997) at the role level, and can form the basis of further research to develop a model of occupational role performance that would provide a valuable tool for research and for clinical practice