Context: Scoping is admitted as a key activity in Market Driven Software Development for handling the constant inflow of requirements. It helps in identifying the features, domains and products which help for gaining economic benefits in Software Product Line (SPL) development. Beyond SPL, managing the scope of the project is a major risk for project management. Continuously changing scope creates a congestion state to handle the requirements inflow which causes negative consequences like scope scrap and scope creep. However, for managing negative consequences caused due to requirements volatility depicts a need for work on requirements scoping outside the product line.  Objectives: In this study, an exploratory work is carried to identify the literature and industrial perspectives on requirements scoping outside the product line. The main objectives are: Identifying the state of literature of requirements scoping outside product line and variability analysis. To explore the industrial practice on requirements scoping. Suggesting recommendations in improving the scoping process based on the literature and survey.  Methods: Systematic Literature Review (SLR) using snowballing procedure was conducted to identify the literature available on requirements scoping outside the product line. Quality assessment using rigor and relevance was performed to find the trustworthiness of the papers obtained through SLR. The data obtained through SLR was analyzed using narrative analysis. Furthermore, an industrial survey was performed using web questionnaire to identify the industrial perspective on requirements scoping. Statistical analysis was performed for analyzing the data obtained from survey.  Results: 23 relevant papers were identified through SLR. The results were categorized as definitions obtained, phenomena, challenges and methods/tools identified. From the finding of SLR, an industrial survey was conducted, which has obtained 93 responses. The challenges that were identified through literature were validated through survey and are prioritized. Moreover, the study identified additional challenges that are not discussed in the literature. Additionally, the approaches followed in organizations while scoping the requirements were identified through the survey. Conclusions: This study identified that scope creep is the most frequently occurring phenomenon that organizations are facing throughout the lifecycle of the project. In addition project delays, quality issues and project cost were identified as the most occurring scoping associated challenges. Moreover, scoping activity was identified as the continuous activity which changes significantly throughout the lifecycle. Finally, suggestions were given for improving the scoping process.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:56:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo2982_1.pdf: 2135820 bytes, checksum: df75cf5b4604b648bc295b0acd5b0db0 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco / As constantes mudanças e a busca por novos benefícios na indústria de software possibilitam o surgimento de novas áreas de pesquisa. Neste contexto, uma tendência que tem apresentado importantes benefícios é a área de desenvolvimento ágil de linhas de produtos de software. Linhas de produtos de software é uma importante estratégia de reuso para minimizar custos e tempo de entrega das aplicações, além de maximizar a qualidade e a produtividade do desenvolvimento de software. Entretanto, desenvolver linhas de produtos requer esforços e custos iniciais para apresentar resultados significativos, uma vez que envolve planejamento sistemático, gerenciamento de pontos comuns e variáveis dos produtos e design flexível e detalhado, aspectos que aumentam sua complexidade. Por outro lado, a abordagem ágil apresenta como foco o código e tem seu desenvolvimento realizado de forma iterativa. Além disso, esta metodologia encoraja práticas e valores como comunicação face a face, pequenas iterações, planejamento e design simples e incremental. Comparando linhas de produtos de software e métodos ágeis, diferentes aspectos são identificados. No entanto, pesquisas recentes mostram similaridades entre elas, como: aumento de qualidade e produtividade no desenvolvimento de software e redução de custos e tempo de entrega das aplicações. Portanto, visando diminuir custos e esforços iniciais necessários para adoção de uma linha de produtos de software, este trabalho propõe um processo de escopo ágil para linhas de produtos de software, unindo os benefícios das duas abordagens. O processo proposto é avaliado através de um estudo de caso industrial

Class of 2017 Abstract / Objectives: To conduct a scoping review of studies involving healthcare professionals as study subjects and to describe the methods used, identify the topics researched, and describe the rationale and limitations of using healthcare professionals as subjects. Methods: The study was a scoping review of research utilizing health professionals as study subjects. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in several databases. Two investigators independently screened studies, collected data, and met to resolve discrepancies. Results: Sixty-five studies met the eligibility criteria. Forty-six percent of the studies evaluated cardiovascular events, 25% evaluated cancer, 9% examined ophthalmic events, 5% examined cognitive issues, and 17% miscellaneous topics. Of the 65 studies, 88% were prospective cohort studies. Questionnaires were utilized as the data collection method in 59 studies (91%). Physicians were the primary study subject in 30 studies (46%) and nurses in 20 studies (31%). No study included in the sample identified pharmacists as study subjects. A total of 41 studies (63%) did not list rationales or limitations to utilizing health professionals as subjects. Of the 24 studies that did discuss rationales and limitations, the most frequently cited advantage was reliable self-reporting (38%). The most common limitation to generalizability was high socioeconomic status. Conclusions: Questionnaires were the most common method used to collect data. Physicians were the most often studied health professional. High reliability of data reporting was a common rationale in using health professionals as subjects. The lack of studies utilizing pharmacists as subjects demonstrates an opportunity that should be further evaluated.

Transtibial amputation is a major surgical procedure where both short- and long-term perspectives are important. The surgical method can directly impact stump quality which can affect the prosthetic user’squality of life.  The aim of this scoping review is to summarize and give an overview of the research area of different incision types in relation to prosthetic rehabilitation, to help future researchers and potentially unveil areas where further research is needed. The research question: What is the data available for Different Transtibial Amputation Techniques in Prosthetic Rehabilitation, which was divided into three sub questions. The 6-step framework for scoping reviews by the Joanna Briggs Institute was used to structure the review. From a total of 736 studies screened, 28 were selected and mapped onto 12 different outcome measures. Extensive data were found regarding what amputation method has what surgical outcomes. Areas that appear to have research gaps are dressing types and contractures when contrasted with surgical methods. No study could be found regarding length of hospital stay and the Skew flap method. We conclude that there is a research gap when it comes to patient reported assessments, surveys and qualitative evaluations. / Transtibial amputation är ett större kirurgiskt ingrepp där både kort- och långsiktiga perspektiv är viktiga. Den kirurgiska metoden kan direkt påverka stumpkvalitet vilket kan vidare påverka protesanvändarens livskvalitet. Syftet med denna Scoping Review är att summera och ge en överblick över forskningsområdet inom olika typer av kirurgiska snittföringar i relation till protesrehabilitering för att hjälpa framtida forskare och eventuellt avslöja områden där vidare forskning behövs. Forskningsfrågan var: Vad finns det för data tillgänglig för olika transtibial amputationsmetoder i protesrehabilitering, vilket delades upp i tre delfrågor. Ett sex-stegs ramverk för Scoping Reviews från Joanna Briggs Institutet användes för att strukturera översikten.Av totalt 737 studier som granskades var 28 utvalda och kartlagda till 12 olika utfallsmått.  Omfattande data hittades om vilken amputationsmetod som har vilka kirurgiska resultat. Områden som verkar ha forskningsluckor är postoperativt förband och kontrakturer i kontrast till amputationsmetod. Ingen studie kunde hittas angående längden på sjukhusvistelsen med vriden sidolambå. Vi drar även slutsatsen att det finns en forskningslucka när det gäller patientrapporterade bedömningar, undersökningar och kvalitativa utvärderingar

In this paper we describe {\\it syntactic closures}. Syntactic closures address the scoping problems that arise when writing macros. We discuss some issues raised by introducing syntactic closures into the macro expansion interface, and we compare syntactic closures with other approaches. Included is a complete implementation.

Purpose: This thesis focuses on the development of occupational therapy competencies to enable executive occupational performance with school-aged children and youth. Methods: Three studies were structured according to the knowledge inquiry, synthesis, and product stages of the Knowledge To Action cycle (Graham et al., 2006). A scoping review in Phase One explored how executive functioning is described in the occupational therapy literature. In Phase Two, a qualitative study was conducted to determine how occupational therapists who have worked with children and youth perceive executive functioning to be understood and addressed. Phase Three used established competency development processes to produce an occupational therapy competency model and framework for enabling executive occupational performance. Results: Although there is little consensus on how executive functioning is understood, literature reviewed in Phase One demonstrated its pervasive effect on performance of complex, novel, and goal-directed occupations. Emerging themes suggest that assessment requires occupational, dynamic, and performance-based approaches, with interventions rooted in metacognitive frameworks. The Phase Two qualitative study suggested that, although there are challenges to being able to “see” executive functioning, it is necessary to explicitly and systematically consider executive functioning during clinical reasoning. Learning to “see” through the executive functioning lens is a complex process. The competency framework development process utilized in Phase Three yielded the Competencies in Context Model. Responding to series of contextual challenges related to system, client, and occupational therapist factors, professional assessment, intervention, iii knowledge acquisition, and knowledge translation competencies are used to organize 16 specific occupational therapy practice competencies. Conclusion: Points of tension within the literature and the field have implications for occupational therapy curricula, research, practice, and professional development. Executive functioning issues have wide reaching effects on occupational performance of children and youth that have not been adequately recognized or explored in the occupational therapy literature. The competency model and framework developed through this research make a substantive contribution to the field in beginning to redress the dearth of occupational therapy-specific models, resources, and tools designed to support occupational therapists’ acquisition or implementation of the executive functioning perspective. / Thesis (Ph.D, Rehabilitation Science) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-26 22:27:09.05

This scoping review examines the available evidence supporting accommodation use in the assessment of health professionals with disabilities in licensing contexts. While test accommodations are a protected right under antidiscrimination legislation, the peer-reviewed evidence informing their use is contested and widely dispersed. Furthermore, the ramifications of accommodation misuse are significant, including human rights violations and increased risks to patients. As such, this study addressed two research questions: 1) What is the current state of literature on accommodation use in the assessment of health professionals? and 2) What programs of research would address stakeholders’ concerns about the use of accommodations in the assessment of those professionals? Systematic searches of five prominent databases identified 15 articles for analysis. Several major themes emerged from that analysis: interpreting legislation, administration and process, relationships between education and licensure, and psychometrics and test development. Stakeholder consultation revealed that stakeholders face challenges managing accommodation requests and defining reasonable accommodations. While there is a paucity of literature on the topic overall, especially of an empirical nature, this study mapped the available evidence and laid the foundation for future studies by delineating the gaps in the scholarly literature as defined by stakeholders’ needs.

Scoping in Software Product Lines (SPL) is the first step to identify products, features, and assets in a market segment. Traditional approaches for SPL scoping are heavyweight and upfront processes in scenarios with unpredictable changes and little resources. An incurred key challenge is handling systematically the iterativeness, adaptability, and feedback in the SPL scoping process. As a final consequence, the software industry can hamper investment in the SPL scoping. In this context, the Scrum framework, as the most popular agile approach to foster the iterativeness, adaptability, and feedbacks, can address that challenge. Previous studies have combined Scrum into some SPL activities with good results. This thesis provides a process, named of RiPLE-SCA, for SPL scoping inspired in the Scrum practices. This process bases on industrial evidence (a case study of a traditional SPL scoping), expert opinion on agile SPL (through a survey), and scientific literature about agile SPL (a systematic mapping). A feasibility study and a cross-case study carried out with two industrial partners indicated that the RiPLE-SCA is practicable and appropriate for an industrial setting as well as fosters iterativeness, adaptability, and feedbacks detecting early obsolete features and changes in domain, requirements, features, and technology. / Submitted by João Arthur Martins (joao.arthur@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-12T18:58:41Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese Ivonei Freitas da Silva.pdf: 9233841 bytes, checksum: 6029df71deecd12c97bd99e1787a8361 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-12T18:58:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese Ivonei Freitas da Silva.pdf: 9233841 bytes, checksum: 6029df71deecd12c97bd99e1787a8361 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-10-29 / CNPq / A atividade de escopo em linhas de produto de software é o primeiro passo para identificar produtos, características e ativos de software em um segmento de mercado. As abordagens tradicionais para escopo de linhas de produto de software são processos densos e abrangentes em cenários com mudanças imprevisíveis e com poucos recursos. Um desafio chave nesse cenário é o gerenciamento sistemático da iteratividade, adaptabilidade e do feedback no processo de escopo de linhas de produto de software. Como último efeito, a indústria de software pode restringir investimentos no processo de escopo. Neste contexto, o framework Scrum, abordagem mais popular para incentivar a iteratividade, a adaptabilidade e o feedback, pode lidar com esse desafio. Estudos anteriores têm combinado Scrum com algumas atividades de linhas de produto de software obtendo bons resultados. Esta tese define um processo, denominado de RiPLE-ASC, para o escopo da linha de produtos de software inspirado nas práticas do Scrum. Este processo basea-se nas evidências da indústria (um estudo de caso real de escopo de linhas de produto usando uma abordagem tradicional), na opinião de especialistas em linhas de produto de software ágeis (através de um survey) e na literatura científica sobre linhas de produto de software ágeis (uma mapeamento sistemático). Um estudo de viabilidade e um estudo de caso “cross-case” executados com dois parceiros industriais de nosso grupo de pesquisa indicaram que o RiPLE-ASC tem aplicação prática e adequa-se em um ambiente de produção de software industrial bem como incentiva a iteratividade, adaptabilidade e o feedback detectando cedo características obsoletas e mudanças no domínio, requisitos, características e tecnologia

Introduction: Innovations in modern medicine have led to the development of many effective laboratory tests for diagnosis and monitoring of disease. However, research suggests that 20-50% of tests may be inappropriately ordered. Test-ordering intervention development experts i.e. those staff at individual institutions who are tasked with designing different approaches to improving test-ordering practice, often have large datasets on the test-ordering practices within their jurisdiction as part of clinical care, but often have no clear guidance on how to choose which tests are worthy of intervention. These staff can include both clinicians and knowledge translation experts working in separately or in tandem to improve test-ordering behaviours at their institutions. The overall aim of this research is to build a prioritization framework to assist healthcare organizations in deciding which tests are worth targeting for intervention. Methods: The first stage of this project was a scoping review of the literature, the purpose of which was to determine the factors and processes used by intervention developers to choose which tests to target for intervention. Identification of these articles allowed for the descriptive analysis of the factors and processes reported in making the test-ordering decisions. The second stage involved semi-structured interviews with intervention development experts and contains information on their experiences with measuring and prioritizing among factors, as well as which processes they found to be most effective in making the decision on which tests to target for intervention. Results: By exploring all relevant guideline statements and related empirical studies, we gathered a wide range of factors to consider when deciding which test(s) to target for intervention. Overall, we identified 18 factors in our review and 30 in our interviews, highlighting the potential complexity of these decisions. While our studies were not the first to demonstrate that targeting tests is complex and that many factors must go into the decision of deciding which tests to target, our work has identified the most comprehensive range of factors available. We also explored processes reported by the studies that led to these decisions. Of the nine processes identified in our review, some were identified in a majority of cases (literature review, followed by clinical standard-implicit and consensus process), and other processes far more infrequently. Our interviews with relevant stakeholders demonstrated that the interviewees used 18 unique processes to decide which tests to target for intervention and helped to prioritize among the processes that are most effective in making these decisions. Conclusion: The current work prepares the way to develop a framework designed to help intervention developers choose which tests can most efficiently result in improved test-ordering processes. After additional interviews to ensure saturation of themes, we will be able to proceed with framework development, perhaps involving a consensus process of all relevant stakeholders. We hope to widely distribute our framework to assist intervention development experts working in a wide variety of milieus to help them decide which tests are worth targeting for intervention such that their respective institutions can provide the highest quality of care to patients.

My thesis examines the interprofessional collaboration between school-based educators and health professionals (HPs). Four research questions guided the study: 1) What is the current state of literature on interprofessional collaborations between school-based educators and HPs? 2) Based on the existing literature, how are school-based educators and HPs collaborating interprofessionally? 3) Based on the existing literature, what are the outcome(s) or impact(s) of interprofessional collaborations between school-based educators and HPs? and 4) Based on the current state of the literature, what areas are important to consider for future research on interprofessional collaborations between school-based educators and HPs? It is important for both school-based educators and HPs alike to consider answers to these questions as it can refine and strengthen their current and future practices in an effort to ultimately create a successful working and learning environment for themselves and for their students and patients. Systematic searches of four databases yielded 46 articles for inclusion, data extraction, and analysis. Through a thematic analysis of the literature, I found the following two overarching themes that govern the implementation of interprofessional collaboration: 1) time and 2) funding. In addition to these themes, I extracted two major themes and one minor theme from the literature that can guide current and future interprofessional collaborative practices. These themes included 1) pre-service training whereby a) everyone is involved, b) there is a mutual understanding between and of educators and HPs, c) both educators and HPs feel valued in their positions for their work, d) there is less sophisticated profession-specific jargon which can in turn open further dialogue between both teams of professionals, and e) a journal or frequent log can be kept to track the successes and challenges of and suggestions for the collaborative efforts as well as of student satisfaction; and 2) in-service training whereby a) educators and HPs are able to maintain consistency in their roles and responsibilities as well as for students educationally, and b) provide continued support for all. I discuss methods of how this interprofessional collaboration could be implemented, noting a) proximity (i.e., how closely, in what ways, and how frequently educators and HPs work together) and b) frequent meetings as essential to successful interprofessional collaboration. Finally, a minor theme emerged from the literature with suggestions for current and ongoing implementation of interprofessional collaboration which suggested a) increased and stronger liaison in schools and b) frequent meetings to establish and build upon a foundation that will foster further interprofessional collaboration. This review of the available literature on this topic, especially of the literature empirical in nature, worked to map key concepts, evidence, and main sources of information as well as synthesize a myriad of information (Arksey and O’Malley, 2005), fill a visible gap in the area of interprofessional collaboration among school-based educators and HPs specifically, and provide avenues for further study and practical application.