An Analysis of the Role of Management in Nuclear Disasters using Text Mining

This study uses text mining as a method of examining the role of management and culture in three disasters in the nuclear energy sector, Three Mile Island nuclear reactor explosion (USA 1979), Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion (Ukraine then USSR 1986) and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (Japan 2011). The findings identify the role of management in shaping the quality of the crisis and disaster mitigation and preparedness management process employed by organisations. The implications of the findings are that it is imperative for organisations to develop and employ effective crisis/disaster management practice

Bullies in the Block Area: The Early Childhood Origins of Mean Behavior

Bullying can pose a serious threat to children's immediate and long-term health and well-being, and can have profound impacts on all children involved in bullying behaviors, whether as the one bullying others, the one being bullied, or the one witnessing bullying. At least some of the roots of bullying behaviors, and conversely the roots of positive pro-social skills, can likely be found in adverse and positive experiences during early childhood, yet the research literature on these connections is limited. The early childhood field lacks a coherent, theoretical model that identifies the factors contributing to "mean" or aggressive behavior in young children, and establishes the developmental link between this early behavior and later bullying behavior. This white paper summarizes the literature on seven key hypotheses about the roots of bullying behavior in early childhood experiences

Using a conceptual framework during learning attenuates the loss of expert-type knowledge structure

BACKGROUND: During evolution from novice to expert, knowledge structure develops into an abridged network organized around pathophysiological concepts. The objectives of this study were to examine the change in knowledge structure in medical students in one year and to investigate the association between the use of a conceptual framework (diagnostic scheme) and long-term knowledge structure. METHODS: Medical students' knowledge structure of metabolic alkalosis was studied after instruction and one year later using concept-sorting. Knowledge structure was labeled 'expert-type' if students shared ≥ 2 concepts with experts and 'novice-type' if they shared < 2 concepts. Conditional logistic regression was used to study the association between short-term knowledge structure, the use of a diagnostic scheme and long-term knowledge structure. RESULTS: Thirty-four medical students completed the concept-sorting task on both occasions. Twenty-four used a diagnostic scheme for metabolic alkalosis. Short-term knowledge structure was not a correlate of long-term knowledge structure, whereas use of a diagnostic scheme was associated with increased odds of expert-type long-term knowledge structure (odds ratio 12.6 [1.4, 116.0], p = 0.02). There was an interaction between short-term knowledge structure and the use of a diagnostic scheme. In the group who did not use a diagnostic scheme the number of students changing from expert-type to novice-type was greater than vice versa (p = 0.046). There was no significant change in the group that used the diagnostic scheme (p = 0.6). CONCLUSION: The use of a diagnostic scheme by students may attenuate the loss of expert-type knowledge structure

Expanding the online math homework system WeBWork to CUNY

Math teachers everywhere agree: the way to learn math is to do math. Effective homework is a key to a successful math course. With this goal in mind, a group of math professors at BCC spent the last year working with the online homework system WeBWork. Our intention is to expand our current implementation, with the hope of working across campuses. We will discuss the advantages of WeBWork and how we might work collaboratively across CUNY

Do effective workplace relationships with management and an effective maintenance culture affect organisational safety outcomes?

The issue of safety and longevity of engineering assets is of increasing importance because of their impact when disasters happen. This paper addresses a literature gap by examining the role of workplace relationships in employees' safety behaviour, and builds on the Resilience Engineering (RE) framework by examining some organisational culture factors affecting how employees behave. A Social Exchange framework is used to examine the impact of supervisor-employee relationships, employee commitment to safety practices, and the type of maintenance culture upon employees’ commitment to safety and safety outcomes. Survey data from 284 technical and engineering employees in engineering asset management organisations within Australia were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Effective employee relationships with management and a proactive maintenance culture were associated with employee commitment to safety culture and safety outcomes. The findings provide empirical support for embedding an effective organisational culture focused on a proactive maintenance approach, along with ensuring employees are committed to safety processes, to ensure safety outcomes and also asset longevity. One study contribution is that good safety outcomes do not develop in a vacuum; instead they are built on effective workplace relationships. Therefore, SET helps to explain the forming of effective safety culture

Knowledge translation for allied health professionals working with children with cerebral palsy: effects on evidence-based knowledge and practice

We present a computational model of a thalamocortical relay neuron for exploring basal ganglia thalamocortical loop behavior in relation to Parkinson's disease and deep brain stimulation (DBS). Previous microelectrode, single-unit recording studies demonstrated that oscillatory interaction within and between basal ganglia nuclei is very often accompanied by synchronization at Parkinsonian rest tremor frequencies (3-10 Hz). These oscillations have a profound influence on thalamic projections and impair the thalamic relaying of cortical input by generating rebound action potentials. Our model describes convergent inhibitory input received from basal ganglia by the thalamocortical cells based on characteristics of normal activity, and/or low-frequency oscillations (activity associated with Parkinson's disease). In addition to simulated input, we also used microelectrode recordings as inputs for the model. In the resting state, and without additional sensorimotor input, pathological rebound activity is generated for even mild Parkinsonian input. We have found a specific stimulation window of amplitudes and frequencies for periodic input, which corresponds to high-frequency DBS, and which also suppresses rebound activity for mild and even more prominent Parkinsonian input. When low-frequency pathological rebound activity disables the thalamocortical cell's ability to relay excitatory cortical input, a stimulation signal with parameter settings corresponding to our stimulation window can restore the thalamocortical cell's relay functionalit