Over the past fifteen years, concern has developed for the condition of the American economy. As a result, business and education leaders in the United States have acknowledged the interdependence between education and the economy. The keys to linking education and the economy are workforce preparation and performance. One major outcome of the concern about the economy and workforce preparation has been the development of industry-based standards, including certification of occupational skills and competencies. The identification, by those who developed the standards, of their perceptions of their adoption might enable business and industry and the labor and education communities to better utilize skill standards. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the perceptions of national industry-based skill standard technical committee members regarding the adoption of skill standards in vocational education programs at the secondary and post-secondary education levels. The study addressed four main research objectives using both quantitative and qualitative methodology. The objectives related to technical committee members' demographic and occupational characteristics and perceptions of the process and results of the standard development project; their perceptions regarding vocational educators IJse of skill standards in workforce preparation programs; their perceptions regarding factors which would enhance or inhibit the adoption of the standards by vocational educators; and their perceptions of how skill standards will impact the effectiveness of vocational education. Skill standards technical committee members' perceptions of their work on the committees and their perceptions of adoption of the standards by vocational educators provide valuable information to assess the skill standard projects and determine whether the work of the committees has been focused on the goals set by the Perkins Act, the U. S. Departments of Education and labor, and the National Skill Standards Board. From the results of this study findings related to the use of the standards by vocational educators, enhancers, inhibitors, and impacts of the standards are reported. Themes associated with international competitiveness, the standard development process, and committee representativeness were also included. Perceptions of technical committee members provide an opportunity to determine how the standards will be adopted by vocational educators as well as the strengths and shortcomings of the committees and possible future directions. Thus, this study provides implications for skill standards committees as well as recommendations for further research. / Ph. D.

Yes / Introduction: In the UK the development of skill mix in radiography at the end of the 20th century formalised the assistant practitioner role, separating it from the support worker function. The key aim was to increase imaging capacity whilst enabling opportunities for career progression within both the support and radiography workforce. There has been limited examination of these support and assistive roles and this review aims to explore the current evidence. Methods: This scoping review used a systematic search strategy and interrogated MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus and Google Scholar. Primary research articles published in the English-language referring to studies conducted in the UK on assistant or support roles in radiography were sought. The sourced data was uploaded to a web-based review platform for screening. Results: The literature search identified only 11 articles which met the search criteria, of which only one referred to the support worker role. Adopting a primarily qualitative approach the quality of the articles varied. Thematic analysis was undertaken using a priori themes role purpose, outcomes, aspirations and capacity building. Conclusion: There is limited research evidence of capacity generation with most presenting individual perspectives. Job satisfaction and career aspirations within the support and assistive workforce are evident but there is still confusion over scope of practice and supervision. Implications for practice: The support and assistive workforce are a key part of the diagnostic imaging workforce but limited research evidence examining these roles has been published. Further research exploring the impact of skill mix changes across all levels and imaging professions is required. / The study was funded by the NIHR Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme (I.D. NIHR133813).

No / The mental health workforce is continually evolving and competing for resources, influenced by local and national factors however effective, provision of mental health care depends on the most important resource—staff.

No / The NHS must increase productivity by 6% every year if it is to make projected efficiency savings of £21 billion by 2014. At the same time, it is expected to maintain or improve the quality of care. We know staff costs make up 60% of the NHS budget, so it is likely that both the number and composition of the 1.7 million-strong workforces will need to change in order to meet these targets. We argue that while substituting registered nurses with healthcare assistants (HCAs) is desirable in terms of financial benefits, there is not enough research evidence to identify the impact of changes or maximisation in skill mix upon efficiency (represented by the number of NHS cases treated) and the quality of care experienced by service users.

Yes / Introduction Over the last 2 decades the assistant radiographer practitioner (ARP) role has been introduced into NHS diagnostic imaging departments as a strategy to expand the workforce and create capacity. This skill mix initiative has not been implemented in a standardised way and there is limited knowledge of the current role scope within general radiography (X-Ray). Method An electronic survey of ARPs working within UK diagnostic imaging departments was conducted. Both open and closed questions sought information regarding basic demographic data (age category; gender; geographic region), scope of practice (patient groups; anatomical regions; imaging outside of the diagnostic imaging department), limitations placed on practice, supervision and additional roles. Results A total of 108 responses, including 13 trainees, were received. Most sites employ three or less ARPs in general radiography (n = 43/66; 65.2%), although 11 sites have five (range 1–15). The majority undertake imaging of both adults and children (n = 85/108; 78.7%), although limitations on age were described. Their scope of practice covers a broad anatomical range and included some non-ambulant patients. The level of supervision varied with some sites empowering ARPs to check the referral prior to examination (n = 25) or images post acquisition (n = 32) (both n = 20/66; χ2 = 16.003; 1df; p = 0.000). Conclusion ARPs are helping to maintain capacity in imaging departments but we suggest there is further scope for expansion. The practice described by the post holders suggests that many are working beyond the scope envisaged by the radiography professional body.

Yes / The aim of this study is to profile the contemporary advanced clinical practitioner (ACP) role through standardized document sets. Documentary analysis of job descriptions (JDs), person specification and advertisements. England based jobs advertised on NHS jobs website from 22 January to 21 April 2021. A toatal of 143 trainee and qualified ACP roles were identified. A wide range of sectors and specialities were represented from across all English regions. The most common roles were urgent care, emergency medicine and primary care. Most qualified roles were agenda for change band 8A, although this did vary across specialities. Many roles were restricted to a small number of professions, notably nursing, physiotherapy and paramedic. Inconsistent role titles were noted. A lack of understanding of regulation across different professions was noted. The ACP role has become an accepted across healthcare providers in England. Implementation remains varied across specialities and organizations. Eligibility criteria may relate to professional bias. ACP roles are expanding but this may be at the detriment to advanced nursing posts. Inconsistency in role eligibility suggests some professional bias exists. This was scoping of ACP roles across England using job advertisements. ACP roles are common across sectors and specialities but eligibility varies. The research will have impact on those looking to recruit to ACP roles as well as those refining JDs. No EQUATOR guideline exists for document analysis. No Patient or Public Contribution. The research relates to organizational human resource information only.

<p>I digitala kretsar kan både bit-parallella och bit-seriella interface förekomma.T ex kan en integrerad digital krets (IC-krets) internt använda sig av bit-parallella aritmetiska kretsar medan dess kommunikation med andra integrerade kretsar sker bit-seriellt. Genom att använda seriell kommunikation mellan IC-kretsar kan antalet ben på kapslarna effektivt begränsas.</p><p>Detta examensarbete gick ut på att göra en layoutgenerator för generering av en parametriserbar serie/parallellomvandlare och en parallell/serieomvandlare. När en krets använder sig av både bit-seriell och bit-parallell representation av data behövs dessa för att omvandla mellan formaten.</p> / <p>In digital circuits both bit-parallel and bit-serial interfaces can occur. For example, an integrated digital circuit can use bit-parallel arithmetic circuits internally while its communication with other integrated circuits is bit serial. By using serial communication between IC:s the number of pins on the packages can be effectively limited. </p><p>The purpose of this final project work was to create a layout generator for generation of a parametrizable serial/parallel converter and a parallel/serial converter. If a circuit uses both bit-serial and bit-parallel representation of data these are needed to convert between the formats.</p>

<p>This study is based on discussions among Swedish brass teachers about teaching other brass instruments than their main instrument. Why do some choose to teach only with the help of their main instrument while others use their secondary instruments as well? What are the advantages and disadvantages and how do they look upon other ways of thinking in this matter?</p><p>In addition, the study examines brass teachers’ views on the balance between pedagogical and instrumental skill, as well as their views on teaching sound, technique and expression in relation to the age of the student.</p><p>A questionnaire was used and anwered by 24 teachers with teaching experience in municipal music schools ranging from 7 months to 35 years. The results indicate that pedagogical skill is always important, whereas the importance of instrumental skill increases as the student gets older and more experienced. The advantage of teaching with the help of the main instrument is that one always keeps a high musical and technical level. However, the advantage of always using the instrument taught is that the student gets the right sound ideal. Sound, technique and expression all become more and more important as the student progresses. According to the survey, sound is regarded as the most important thing to work with on all levels, followed by technique and last, expression.</p><p>The main part of the study is seen from a teacher perspective, however some student opinions are also included.</p>

Cette thèse avait pour objectif d'analyser l'influence de certains facteurs (expertise, difficulté de la tâche) sur le traitement dimages en 2D et 3D. Le terrain choisi pour étudier cette question est le domaine de la chirurgie minimale invasive, qui, par les nouvelles technologies quelle utilise, permet de recueillir des données écologiques dans une situation réelle avec de vrais experts. Nous avons donc comparé la performance de sujets novices et experts dans des tâches de complexités diverses avec différentes technologies chirurgicales (laparoscopie classique en 2D et 3D et laparoscopie robotique en 2D et 3D). Nos plans expérimentaux nous ont permis de mettre en évidence deux dimensions distinctes : une perceptive (différence 2D-3D) et une instrumentale (différence laparoscopie classique-robotique). Nos résultats montrent dans lensemble que les différences entre le 2D et le 3D se marquent particulièrement pour les sujets novices et dans les tâches de complexité moyenne. En effet, peu de différence entre le 2D et 3D est mise en évidence chez les chirurgiens experts qui ont développé des mécanismes de compensation très efficaces quand ils sont dans un environnement en 2D. En ce qui concerne la complexité des tâches, la différence entre le 2D et 3D est minime quand la tâche est simple et augmente avec la difficulté de la tâche. Elle atteint cependant un sommet à partir duquel elle napparaît plus, la différence se marquant pour les tâches très complexes à un niveau instrumental et non plus perceptif. Enfin, nous montrons chez nos sujets novices très peu de transfert dhabiletés dune technologie à lautre, ce qui encourage la poursuite des formations avec les diverses techniques afin déviter tout risque lors dune reconversion au cours dune intervention chirurgicale. This thesis aimed to analyse the influence of some factors (expertise, task complexity) on the processing of 2D and 3D images. The field of these studies was the minimal invasive surgery which uses new technologies and allows to obtain ecological data from real experts. We compared the performance of novices (medical students) and experts (surgeons) in tasks of varied complexities with different surgical techniques (classical laparoscopy in 2D and 3d and robotic laparoscopy in 2D and 3D). Our experimental plans allowed us to differentiate two dimensions: one perceptive (2D-3D difference) and one instrumental (classical and robotic laparoscopy difference). Our main results showed that difference between 2D and 3D particularly occurs in novice performance and in tasks of middle complexity. Indeed, we observed very few differences between 2D and 3D in expert performance, surgeons have developed very efficient compensatory mechanisms when they act in 2D vision. Concerning the task complexity, the difference between 2D and 3D was really minor when the task is easy and increased with the complexity of the task. However, this difference reached a top after which the difference between 2D and 3D disappeared and thus only the instrumental difference remained for very complex tasks. Finally, we showed very switch of skills between the techniques by novice subjects. This finding stresses the necessity to pursue training with the different techniques in order to prevent gaps in performance and thus operating risk if a conversion procedure occurs.

This study is based on discussions among Swedish brass teachers about teaching other brass instruments than their main instrument. Why do some choose to teach only with the help of their main instrument while others use their secondary instruments as well? What are the advantages and disadvantages and how do they look upon other ways of thinking in this matter? In addition, the study examines brass teachers’ views on the balance between pedagogical and instrumental skill, as well as their views on teaching sound, technique and expression in relation to the age of the student. A questionnaire was used and anwered by 24 teachers with teaching experience in municipal music schools ranging from 7 months to 35 years. The results indicate that pedagogical skill is always important, whereas the importance of instrumental skill increases as the student gets older and more experienced. The advantage of teaching with the help of the main instrument is that one always keeps a high musical and technical level. However, the advantage of always using the instrument taught is that the student gets the right sound ideal. Sound, technique and expression all become more and more important as the student progresses. According to the survey, sound is regarded as the most important thing to work with on all levels, followed by technique and last, expression. The main part of the study is seen from a teacher perspective, however some student opinions are also included.