| 1. |
- Almarlind, Pia, et al.
(författare)
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How to develop and design valid, innovative and complex computer-based items? : Discussion, sharing experiences and working with innovative item types in a digital environment
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Sweden the national tests are designed as a paper-based assessment, but some test parts give students the opportunity to present their proficiency orally and practically. In Sweden different universities are responsible for developing the national tests, commissioned by the National Agency of Education. In 2016 some universities were assigned to start the development of item examples for digital national tests. The idea is to gradually introduce digital national tests between 2018 and 2022. The tests are intended to measure student proficiency in relation to the Swedish curriculum and work as a support for consistent national assessment and grading.A project group at Umeå University, which is responsible for the national science tests, has started work on a test model for a digital national test in science. The test model is supposed to be aligned with the curriculum and fulfil its national aim. The project group also wishes to fully challenge item types in the digital sphere, where e.g. animations, film clips such as courses of events and simulations are available.The project group has in their process been inspired by the released digital item examples from PISA (http://www.oecd.org/pisa/test/other-languages/) and SimScientists (http://simscientists.org/home/index.php). Inspiration also comes from ATC21S (Griffin, Patrick, McGaw, Barry, Care, Esther (Eds.) 2012 and (http://www.atc21s.org/). The project group now wishes to be part of a larger network for further development work.Questions like what do different countries’ test systems look like, how do they build and ensure the quality of different item examples in a digital sphere, what do innovative digital item examples look like and how are they developed, need to be answered.In the first session of the workshop the presenters will give an overview of the Swedish test system and will present what some concrete examples of innovative paper-based items in science look like in the tests.In the second session the participants will have an opportunity to present some concrete examples of innovative items and share their knowledge, experiences and issues concerning the development and design of different types of innovative items in a paper-based and/or a computer-based test system. In this session the participants also will get the opportunity to answer the items. This opportunity will bring space for wider reflections around the developing potentiality.The third session will focus on collaboration and development of ideas. During this session the participants will work in small groups with practical tasks. The purpose is to develop concrete suggestions of ideas for some selected items, and see how the digital format can be used to given the purpose of the items e.g. start formulating items based on ideas presented in earlier sessions and develop items from new ideas. In the fourth session each group will will be given an opportunity to provide feedback concerning the items discussed in session 3 in terms of opportunities, constraints, challenges and threats.Finally we will summarize the sessions by discussing what to bear in mind when developing different types of innovative computer-based items, how to move forward and how to create a future international network.
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| 2. |
- Asplund, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Organizational and psychosocial environmental work factors associated with self-rated exhaustion disorder among municipal employees in rural northern Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Work. - : IOS Press. - 1051-9815 .- 1875-9270. ; 75:4, s. 1215-1229
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Research indicates that good organizational and psychosocial environments are vital to well-functioning workplaces and employee health. Working in the municipal sector and in the rural context may contribute to more health problems, poorer organizational and psychosocial work environments, and higher sick-leave rates.Objective: The aim of this study was to explore organizational and psychosocial environmental work factors among municipal employees with or without self-rated exhaustion disorder (s-ED) in rural northern Sweden.Methods: The Modern Work Life Questionnaire and the Self-Rated Exhaustion Disorder Scale were used among 1093 municipal employees.Results: The results showed that there were significant differences between the s-ED and the non-s-ED group in all but one of the organizational and psychosocial environmental work factors. Various demands, i.e. quantitative, emotional, intellectual, and IT demands were some factors associated with the s-ED group. Social support, resources, and time for work and reflection were some factors associated with the non-s-ED group. Both the s-ED and the non-s-ED groups assessed significantly higher emotional demands and less resources compared to national reference values.Conclusion: Findings from this study are relevant to a better understanding what organizational and psychosocial work environmental work factor the employer need to pay extra attention to. Addressing risk and protective factors in the work environment could tribute to promote occupational well-being, preventing exhaustion disorder and long-term sick leave among municipal employees in rural northern Sweden.
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| 3. |
- Asplund, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Self-rated exhaustion disorder and associated health-related factors among municipal employees in rural areas of northern Sweden
- 2021
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Ingår i: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health. - : Springer. - 0340-0131 .- 1432-1246. ; , s. 659-668
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study among municipal employees in rural areas of northern Sweden were to assess the prevalence of self-rated exhaustion disorder (s-ED), describe plausible between-group differences in self-reported health-related factors among employees with or without s-ED, and identify health-related factors associated with s-ED.METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, data were collected from 1093 municipal employees (76.1% women) in two rural areas using an instrument measuring s-ED and health variables drawn from the Modern Worklife Questionnaire (MWQ), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the National Board of Health and Welfare's questions about physical activity. Comparisons were made between an s-ED and a non-s-ED group. Health-related factors associated with s-ED were identified through a logistic regression.RESULTS: Self-rated exhaustion disorder was reported by 21.5% of the participants. Health-related factors associated with s-ED were cognitive problems, sleep problems, depressive symptoms, high stress, poor self-rated health, and stomach problems. There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of participants who met the criteria of physical activity among s-ED and non-s-ED group.CONCLUSION: Findings from this study suggest that s-ED is more common among municipal employees in rural areas than in other working populations in Sweden. Several health-related factors were associated with s-ED. Regular use of a self-rated instrument in evaluating the organizational and social work environment can identify people at risk of developing exhaustion disorder and requiring long-term sick leave.
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| 4. |
- Blomstedt, Patric, et al.
(författare)
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Unilateral caudal zona incerta deep brain stimulation for Parkinsonian tremor
- 2012
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Ingår i: Parkinsonism & Related Disorders. - : Elsevier. - 1353-8020 .- 1873-5126. ; 18:10, s. 1062-1066
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The subthalamic nucleus is currently the target of choice in deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinsons disease (PD), while thalamic DBS is used in some cases of tremor-dominant PD. Recently, a number of studies have presented promising results from DBS in the posterior subthalamic area, including the caudal zona incerta (cZi). The aim of the current study was to evaluate cZi DBS in tremor-dominant Parkinsons disease. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMethods: 14 patients with predominately unilateral tremor-dominant PD and insufficient relief from pharmacologic therapy were included and evaluated according to the motor part of the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). The mean age was 65 +/- 6.1 years and the disease duration 7 +/- 5.7 years. Thirteen patients were operated on with unilateral cZi DBS and 1 patient with a bilateral staged procedure. Five patients had non-L-dopa responsive symptoms. The patients were evaluated on/off medication before surgery and on/off medication and stimulation after a minimum of 12 months after surgery. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResults: At the follow-up after a mean of 18.1 months stimulation in the off-medication state improved the contralateral UPDRS III score by 47.7%. Contralateral tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia were improved by 82.2%, 34.3%, and 26.7%, respectively. Stimulation alone abolished tremor at rest in 10 (66.7%) and action tremor in 8 (533%) of the patients. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusion: Unilateral cZi DBS seems to be safe and effective for patients with severe Parkinsonian tremor. The effects on rigidity and bradykinesia were, however, not as profound as in previous reports of DBS in this area.
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| 5. |
- Cubo, Rubén, et al.
(författare)
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Electric field modeling and spatial control in Deep Brain Stimulation
- 2015
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Ingår i: Proc. 54th Conference on Decision and Control. - Piscataway, NJ : IEEE. - 9781479978847 - 9781479978861 ; , s. 3846-3851
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is an established treatment, in e.g. Parkinson's Disease, whose underlying biological mechanisms are unknown. In DBS, electrical stimulation is delivered through electrodes surgically implanted into certain regions of the brain of the patient. Mathematical models aiming at a better understanding of DBS and optimization of its therapeutical effect through the simulation of the electrical field propagating in the brain tissue have been developed in the past decade. The contribution of the present study is twofold: First, an analytical approximation of the electric field produced by an emitting contact is suggested and compared to the numerical solution given by a Finite Element Method (FEM) solver. Second, the optimal stimulation settings are evaluated by fitting the field distribution to a target one to control the spread of the stimulation. Optimization results are compared to those of a geometric approach, maximizing the intersection between the target and the activated volume in the brain tissue and reducing the stimulated area beyond said target. Both methods exhibit similar performance with respect to the optimal stimuli, with the electric field control approach being faster and more versatile.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Cubo, Rubén, et al.
(författare)
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Model-based optimization of lead configurations in Deep Brain Stimulation
- 2015
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Ingår i: Proc. 1st International Conference on Smart Portable, Wearable, Implantable and Disability-oriented Devices and Systems. - : International Academy, Research and Industry Association (IARIA). - 9781612084466 ; , s. 14-19
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)
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| 8. |
- Cubo, Rubén, et al.
(författare)
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Optimization-Based Contact Fault Alleviation in Deep Brain Stimulation Leads
- 2018
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Ingår i: IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering. - : IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC. - 1534-4320 .- 1558-0210. ; 26:1, s. 69-76
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical treatment in, e.g., Parkinsons Disease. Electrical stimulation in DBS is delivered to a certain target through electrodes implanted into the brain. Recent developments aiming at better stimulation target coverage and lesser side effects have led to an increase in the number of contacts in a DBS lead as well as higher hardware complexity. This paper proposes an optimization-based approach to alleviation of the fault impact on the resulting therapeutical effect in field steering DBS. Faulty contacts could be an issue given recent trends of increasing number of contacts in DBS leads. Hence, a fault detection/alleviation scheme, such as the one proposed in this paper, is necessary ensure resilience in the chronic stimulation. Two alternatives are considered and compared with the stimulation prior to the fault: one using higher amplitudes on the remaining contacts and another with alleviating contacts in the neighborhood of the faulty one. Satisfactory compensation for a faulty contact can be achieved in both ways. However, to designate alleviating contacts, a model-based optimization procedure is necessary. Results suggest that stimulating with more contacts yields configurations that are more robust to contact faults, though with reduced selectivity.
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| 10. |
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