The effect of problem construction creativity on solution creativity across multiple everyday problems

Research on creativity has indicated that problem construction, which is the process of making sense out of an ill-defined and ambiguous problem, has a positive influence on solution creativity. This relationship was more closely examined in a sample of university students using multiple everyday problems. Specifically, participants restated the problems in their own words and generated subsequent solutions. In addition, participants’ fluency and problem construction ability were assessed. It was found that how participants constructed problems played an intervening role in the relationship between their overall problem construction ability and the creativity of the solutions they generated above and beyond fluency. This exact relationship, however, depended on the quality and originality of the problem constructions and solutions, as well as the problem. For 1 problem, a congruency effect was found such that problem construction quality predicted solution quality and problem construction originality predicted solution originality. For the other problem, only problem construction quality predicted both solution quality and originality. The results of this study provide evidence showing that problem construction is beneficial to solution creativity in everyday problems but that this relationship might be influenced by task

Does Generating Multiple Ideas Lead to Increased Creativity? A Comparison of Generating One Idea vs. Many

Recent findings in creativity research suggest that how creativity is operationalized may have a profound influence on theories of creative production. In this study, two paradigms—divergent thinking and creative problem solving—were compared on several indices of creativity while keeping the problem constant. Participants were students from a Midwestern University and received extra credit for participation. Ideas were rated for quality, originality, and elaboration, and compared across the 2 approaches. The results of this study indicated that participants that generated a single solution to a problem generated solutions of higher average and participant selected best quality, originality, and elaboration. Participants that generated multiple solutions generated more solutions and generated a highest rated solution for originality. These findings call attention to the need for researchers to more carefully consider the issue of measurement in creativity, and how asking participants to generate one solution or multiple solutions can affect interpretation and subsequent generalizations

Constructing Creativity: Wisdom in Everyday Problem Solving

Creativity is conceptualized as an idea or product that is both original and high in quality (Amabile, 1996). Researchers have sought to better understand the creative process by examining predictors of creative outcomes. Wisdom may play a predictive role in this process. According to Webster (2003), wisdom is the competency in, and application of, critical life experiences to optimize development of the self, as well as others. Research has suggested that wisdom supports creativity at an implicit level (Sternberg, 1985, 1999), and contributes to creative achievements (Helson & Srivastava, 2002). Process models of creativity have sought to demonstrate cognitive operations that contribute to creativity. Problem construction (PC) is the act of structuring and making sense out of an ill-defined problem and is a cognitive operation found to consistently predict creativity (Okuda, Runco, & Berger, 1991). How we interpret problems may draw on past experiences (Mumford, Reiter-Palmon, & Redmond, 1994), therefore PC may play a key role in explaining the relationship between wisdom and creativity

Establishment of surface functionalization methods for spore-based biosensors and implementation into sensor technologies for aseptic food processing

Aseptic processing has become a popular technology to increase the shelf-life of packaged products and to provide non-contaminated goods to the consumers. In 2017, the global aseptic market was evaluated to be about 39.5 billion USD. Many liquid food products, like juice or milk, are delivered to customers every day by employing aseptic filling machines. They can operate around 12,000 ready-packaged products per hour (e.g., Pure-Pak® Aseptic Filling Line E-PS120A). However, they need to be routinely validated to guarantee contamination-free goods. The state-of-the-art methods to validate such machines are by means of microbiological analyses, where bacterial spores are used as test organisms because of their high resistance against several sterilants (e.g., gaseous hydrogen peroxide). The main disadvantage of the aforementioned tests is time: it takes at least 36-48 hours to get the results, i.e., the products cannot be delivered to customers without the validation certificate. Just in this example, in 36 hours, 432,000 products would be on hold for dispatchment; if more machines are evaluated, this number would linearly grow and at the end, the costs (only for waiting for the results) would be considerably high. For this reason, it is very valuable to develop new sensor technologies to overcome this issue. Therefore, the main focus of this thesis is on the further development of a spore-based biosensor; this sensor can determine the viability of spores after being sterilized with hydrogen peroxide. However, the immobilization strategy as well as its implementation on sensing elements and a more detailed investigation regarding its operating principle are missing. In this thesis, an immobilization strategy is developed to withstand harsh conditions (high temperatures, oxidizing environment) for spore-based biosensors applied in aseptic processing. A systematic investigation of the surface functionalization’s effect (e.g., hydroxylation) on sensors (e.g., electrolyte-insulator semiconductor (EIS) chips) is presented. Later on, organosilanes are analyzed for the immobilization of bacterial spores on different sensor surfaces. The electrical properties of the immobilization layer are studied as well as its resistance to a sterilization process with gaseous hydrogen peroxide. In addition, a sensor array consisting of a calorimetric gas sensor and a spore-based biosensor to measure hydrogen peroxide concentrations and the spores’ viability at the same time is proposed to evaluate the efficacy of sterilization processes

CONOCIMIENTO Y POTENCIAL DE USO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES EN ESTUDIANTES DE PRIMARIA EN EL ESTADO DE CAMPECHE

The aim of this work was to assess the level of knowledge that students of elementary school have about the existence of medicinal plants, the relationship between these plants and their health, as well as the interest they have in the use of these plants. We visited one elementary school in each municipality of the State of Campeche. Fifteen workshops were carried out with a population of 398 students in 4th to 6th grade, between 8 and 13 years old. Three instruments were applied during the workshops in order to obtain data: a diagnostic evaluation, an intermediate evaluation and a final evaluation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results highlight the high percentage of students who have knowledge of plants and traditional medicine, mainly obtained through their families, where the participation of grandmothers is of great importance. Likewise, the importance of taking care of the endemic natural resources in the state was strengthened, as well as raising awareness about the prevention, care and healing of human health through the use of medicinal plants versus bad eating habits and their derivation into chronic and fatal diseases for peopleEl trabajo tuvo por objetivo valorar el nivel de conocimiento que tienen estudiantes de escuelas primarias sobre la existencia de plantas medicinales, la relación entre estas plantas y su salud, así como el interés que tienen por el uso de estas plantas. Se visitó una escuela primaria por cada Municipio del estado de Campeche. Se realizaron 15 cursostalleres a una población de 398 estudiantes de 4° a 6° grado, con edades entre 8 y 13 años. Para la obtención de datos se aplicaron durante los talleres tres instrumentos: una evaluación diagnóstica, una evaluación intermedia y una evaluación final. Los datos se analizaron con estadísticos descriptivos. En los resultados se destaca que existe un alto porcentaje de los estudiantes que tienen conocimiento de las plantas y medicina tradicional, principalmente a través de sus familiares, donde la participación de la abuela es de gran importancia. Asimismo, se fortaleció la importancia del cuidado de los recursos naturales endémicos del estado y la reflexión sobre la prevención, cuidado y cura de la salud humana, vía utilización de plantas medicinales versus malos hábitos alimenticios y su derivación en enfermedades crónicas y mortales de las personas

Prevention Program Sustainability and Associated Determinants: A Literature Review, Version 1.0

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made millions of dollars available through the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) Grant Program to help communities across the United States develop capabilities to combat terrorism and targeted violence. Given this investment, a key objective is ensuring the long-term impact of these programs, which depends on their sustainment beyond the initial grant. Thus, the purpose of this report is to review the relevant literature on program sustainability and discuss implications for the TVTP Grant Program. We began the review by exploring definitions of sustainability as well as similar social programming concepts, such as adaptation, scalability, and impact. Our review found no consensus definition for prevention program sustainability, suggesting the TVTP Grant Program should develop a bespoke definition guided by strategic program priorities and incorporating other social programming concepts as needed. We then examined the determinants, or factors related positively to long-term programmatic success, of sustainability. All determinants relate to capacity building at two levels: 1. Organizational (Internal). Internal organizational capacity is impacted by (a) internal stakeholder buy-in and engagement, (b) adequacy of personnel resources, particularly in terms of expertise, (c) the presence of ongoing evaluation activities to support adaptations, and (d) support from the funding agency. 2. Community (External). External community capacity is impacted by (a) external stakeholder buy-in and continued engagement beyond the initial award, and (b) the fit between the program offerings and community needs

Surgical treatment of type-II choledochal cyst: a case report

Choledochal cyst is a pathology conditioned by a complex congenital malformation that involves different degrees of dilation of both the common bile duct and the pancreatic duct with a malignant tendency, these are reported more frequently in children, representing 1% of benign diseases of the biliary. Babbitt 's theory is the most frequently proposed theory and states that CCs (choledochal cysts) result from an anomalous pancreatobiliary junction (APBJ) where the pancreatic duct and bile duct connect 1-2 cm proximal to the sphincter of Oddi. In adults, the presentation is usually nonspecific and vague, with abdominal pain being the most common symptom. Surgical resection of cysts can significantly decrease the risk of malignancy and reduce associated complications. However, less attention has been paid to CC in adults, and its surgical parameters have been reported to be frequently controversial. This manuscript describes the clinical case of a Todani II choledochal cyst managed with surgical resection by laparotomy with Roux-en-Y biliodigestive reconstruction, obtaining satisfactory results