How can continuing professional development better promote shared decision-making? Perspectives from an international collaboration.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Shared decision-making is not widely implemented in healthcare. We aimed to set a research agenda about promoting shared decision-making through continuing professional development. METHODS: Thirty-six participants met for two days. RESULTS: Participants suggested ways to improve an environmental scan that had inventoried 53 shared decision-making training programs from 14 countries. Their proposed research agenda included reaching an international consensus on shared decision-making competencies and creating a framework for accrediting continuing professional development initiatives in shared decision-making. CONCLUSIONS: Variability in shared decision-making training programs showcases the need for quality assurance frameworks.

Quines característiques hauria de tenir el perfil professional d'un/a professor/a d'educació física en la secundària?

L’objectiu que pretén aquest treball final de Grau en Ciències de l’Activitat Física i l’Esport, és fer una aproximació inicial a la caracterització dels professors d’Educació Física en la secundària i la identitat docent que se’n deriva per les característiques de l’alumnat d’aquesta etapa i d’organització de les matèries. Alhora pretén reflexionar sobre la importància dels elements relacionals i soci - emocionals que ha de conrear tot docent que treballa en les etapes de l’adolescència. Per aconseguir aquest objectiu he enquestat a diferents professors/es i, a una desena d’alumnes de cada professor/a per tal d’analitzar les diferents característiques de cadascú i identificar les més recurrents i/o més eficaces que defineixen a un/a bon/a professor/a de secundària. Després d’aquest anàlisi de contingut de les respostes dels alumnes i les enquestes i entrevistes dels propis professors/es, podem concloure que hi ha quatre variables importants a tenir en compte; el perfil personal, la metodologia que utilitza cada professor/a en les seves classes, la convivència amb el grup – classe i la societat i, la formació del professorat.

La importància de les accions a pilota aturada en el futbol professional

L’objectiu del present estudi va consistir en estudiar el percentatge de gols a pilota aturada de la Lliga BBVA i la Premier League, establint el percentatge d’efectivitat de cadascuna d’elles. A més, es volia analitzar la freqüència de les diferents tipus d’accions a pilota aturada i substituir el terme estratègia per accions a pilota aturada. Amb aquest objectiu es van analitzar 80 partits disputats per equips de futbol professional en la temporada 2012-13 de la Lliga BBVA i la Premier League mitjançant l’anàlisi de vídeos. Les variable dependent era la consecució o no del gol, tenint com a variables independents 4 tipus d’accions a pilota aturada: tirs lliures directes, tirs lliures indirectes, córners i penals. Els resultats indiquen un major número de gols provinents d’accions a pilota aturada en la Lliga BBVA que en la Premier League, 29,8% per un 23,4% respectivament. Tot i això, s’ha comprovat com els percentatges d’efectivitat són pràcticament idèntics: 4,54% a la Lliga BBVA i 4,58% a la Premier League. Finalment, s’ha identificat el córner com l’acció que més es produeix en el joc, seguit de les faltes directes, els penals i les faltes indirectes.

Airborne exposures to monoethanolamine, glycol ethers, and benzyl alcohol during professional cleaning: a pilot study

A growing body of epidemiologic evidence suggests an association between exposure to cleaning products and respiratory dysfunction. Due to the lack of quantitative assessments of respiratory exposures to airborne irritants and sensitizers among professional cleaners, the culpable substances have yet to be identified.Purpose: Focusing on previously identified irritants, our aims were to determine (i) airborne concentrations of monoethanolamine (MEA), glycol ethers, and benzyl alcohol (BA) during different cleaning tasks performed by professional cleaning workers and assess their determinants; and (ii) air concentrations of formaldehyde, a known indoor air contaminant. METHODS: Personal air samples were collected in 12 cleaning companies, and analyzed by conventional methods. RESULTS: Nearly all air concentrations [MEA (n = 68), glycol ethers (n = 79), BA (n = 15), and formaldehyde (n = 45)] were far below (<1/10) of the corresponding Swiss occupational exposure limits (OEL), except for ethylene glycol mono-n-butyl ether (EGBE). For butoxypropanol and BA, no OELs exist. Although only detected once, EGBE air concentrations (n = 4) were high (49.48-58.72mg m(-3)), and close to the Swiss OEL (49mg m(-3)). When substances were not noted as present in safety data sheets of cleaning products used but were measured, air concentrations showed no presence of MEA, while the glycol ethers were often present, and formaldehyde was universally detected. Exposure to MEA was affected by its amount used (P = 0.036), and spraying (P = 0.000) and exposure to butoxypropanol was affected by spraying (P = 0.007) and cross-ventilation (P = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Professional cleaners were found to be exposed to multiple airborne irritants at low concentrations, thus these substances should be considered in investigations of respiratory dysfunctions in the cleaning industry; especially in specialized cleaning tasks such as intensive floor cleaning.

A Compilation of the Bioscience Professional Development Opportunities Offered to K-12 Teachers in Iowa, September 14, 2005

Professional development opportunities are offered piecemeal to K-12 teachers in Iowa through Area Education Agencies (AEAs), Regents’ institutions, community colleges, private colleges, private corporations, and out-of-state institutions (often online). Compiling a comprehensive list of in-service and pre-service opportunities for primary and secondary public school educators is not feasible for a variety of reasons. However, this report briefly summarizes most of the bioscience-related options for professional development available for K-12 educators this summer and over the past year.

La FP ha de dur a la universitat? La formació professional compleix uns objectius diferents al batxillerat.

Alumnes de formació professional copen els graus dedicats a formar el professorat. La irrupcio d'estudiants de FP deixa fora de la universitat alguns batxillers.

Chaotic dynamics and team effectiveness: evidence from professional basketball

Considering teams as complex adaptive systems (CAS) this study deals with changes in team effectiveness over time in a specific context: professional basketball. The sample comprised 23 basketball teams whose outcomes were analysed over a 12-year period according to two objective measures. The results reveal that all the teams showed chaotic dynamics, one of the key characteristics of CAS. A relationship was also found between teams showing low-dimensional chaotic dynamics and better outcomes, supporting the idea of healthy variability in organizational behaviour. The stability of the squad was likewise found to influence team outcomes, although it was not associated with the chaotic dynamics in team effectiveness. It is concluded that studying teams as CAS enables fluctuations in team effectiveness to be explained, and that the techniques derived from nonlinear dynamical systems, developed specifically for the study of CAS, are useful for this purpose.

A wearable system to time gate crossing during alpine skiing slalom

INTRODUCTION: In alpine skiing, chronometry analysis is currently the most common tool to assess performance. It is widely used to rank competitors during races, as well as to manage athletes training and to evaluate material. Usually, this measurement is accurately realized using timing cells. Nevertheless, these devices are too complex and expensive to allow chronometry of every gates crossing. On the other side, differential GPS can be used for measuring gate crossing time (Waegli et al). However, this is complex (e.g. recording gate position with GPS) and mainly used in research applications. The aim of the study was to propose a wearable system to time gates crossing during alpine skiing slalom (SL), which is suitable for routine uses. METHODS: The proposed system was composed of a 3D accelerometer (ADXL320®, Analog Device, USA) placed at the sacrum of the athlete, a matrix of force sensors (Flexiforce®, Tekscan, USA) fixed on the right shin guard and a data logger (Physilog®, BioAGM, Switzerland). The sensors were sampled at 500 Hz. The crossing time were calculated in two phases. First, the accelerometer was used to detect the curves by considering the maximum of the mediolateral peak acceleration. Then, the force sensors were used to detect the impacts with the gates by considering maximum force variation. In case of non impact, the detection was realized based on the acceleration and features measured at the other gates. In order to assess the efficiency of the system, two different SL were monitored twice for two world cup level skiers, a male SL expert and a female downhill expert. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The combination of the accelerometer and force sensors allowed to clearly identify the gate crossing times. When comparing the runs of the SL expert and the downhill expert, we noticed that the SL expert was faster. For example for the first SL, the overall difference between the best run of each athlete was of 5.47s. At each gate, the SL expert increased the time difference slower at the beginning (0.27s/gate) than at the end (0.34s/gate). Furthermore, when comparing the runs of the SL expert, a maximum time difference of 20ms at each gate was noticed. This showed high repeatability skills of the SL expert. In opposite, the downhill expert with a maximum difference time of 1s at each gate was clearly less repeatable. Both skiers were not disturbed by the system. CONCLUSION: This study proposed a new wearable system to automatically time gates crossing during alpine skiing slalom combining force and accelerometer sensors. The system was evaluated with two professional world cup skiers and showed a high potential. This system could be extended to time other parameters. REFERENCES Waegli A, Skaloud J (2007). Inside GNSS, Spring, 24-34.

Analysing Professional Discourse in Interactive Learning: Integrating Historical and Situational Perspectives

Peer-reviewed

Multidisciplinary practice vs. inter-firm collaboration in professional services market

Yritysten välinen yhteistyö kasvaa asiantuntijamarkkinoilla. Suppean palvelutarjooman omaavat yritykset muodostavat laajempia palveluita yhdistämällä osaamisiaan kumppaneidensa kanssa. Näin muodostuvat yritysryhmittymät uhkaavat alaa hallitsevia monipuolisen palvelutarjooman omaavia kansainvälisiä moniosaajayrityksiä. Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena on selvittää minkälaisia hyötyjä moniosaajayritys voi saada näitä ryhmittymiä vastaan lisäämällä omaa yhteistyötään. Tavoitteeseen pääsemiseksi markkinoilla olevat yritysryhmittymät tunnistetaan ja selvitetään minkälaisia asioita asiakas pitää tärkeänä ostaessaan asiantuntijapalveluita. Toimialan trendit ja aikaisemmat tutkimukset yritysten välisestä yhteistyöstä sekä asiakkaan ostokäyttäytymisestä osoittavat, että yhteistyön avulla yrityksellä on mahdollisuus saavuttaa monia hyötyjä. Tietoa olemassa olevista yritysryhmittymistä ja asiakkaiden ostokäyttäytymisestä kerättiin haastattelemalla yhden kansainvälisen moniosaajayrityksen henkilöstöä sekä asiakkaita. Tuloksena löytyi yritysryhmittymiä, joista osa uhkaa moniosaajayrityksen kilpailuetua. Asiakkaiden ostokäyttäyminen suosi hieman enemmän asiantuntijapalveluiden hankkimista yritysryhmittymältä moniosaajayrityksen sijaan. Tekemällä yhteistyötä ja tarjoamalla tiettyjä palveluita yhdessä kumppanin kanssa, moniosaajayritys voi saavuttaa hyötyjä yritysryhmittymiä vastaan ja vaikuttaa positiivisesti asiakkaan ostokäyttäytymiseen.

Challenge of transition in the socio-professional insertion of youngsters with neurodisabilities.

Objective: To evaluate the activities of patients with neurodisabilities and assess their insertion problems in the professional world. Methods: It is based on medical records of 267 patients (224 with neurodevelopmental diseases and 43 with neuromuscular diseases), aged 16-25 years, followed in the transition clinic of young adults in the neurorehabilitation services of a tertiary center. Results: Nearly half of them (46.8%) were in a protected environment, 37.08% studied and only 3.4% worked. Their studies are much longer and they are less in university than Swiss people of same age. The competitiveness criteria are no mental retardation and to be completely independent. Finally, 29.2% reported work problems, the foremost being the lack of adaptation in the workplace. Conclusion: These results highlight the need to increase the integration of young adults with neuromotor disorders in the labor market.