An invisible problem: stigma and FASD diagnosis in the health and justice professions

Purpose Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a complex lifelong disorder impacting the brain and body. Individuals with FASD may require lifelong supports and are at a higher risk of experiencing adverse outcomes, including incarceration. Individuals with FASD face stigma related to FASD that impacts disclosure of the diagnosis and access to supports. The prevalence of FASD exceeds that of other developmental disabilities, yet it remains less visible and stigmatized. Design/methodology/approach Interviews conducted with health-care and justice professionals in a Canadian province explore their experiences attending to FASD and challenges of stigma. Findings While difficult to access, diagnosis provides a pathway to supports and is crucial in the criminal justice process. Visibility and invisibility in health and justice systems highlight the lack of understanding of FASD and surrounding stigma. When unaddressed, individuals with FASD face additional challenges stemming from a lack of information and strategies by professionals involved in their lives. Originality/value Stigma represents a significant and complex issue intertwined in understandings of FASD. This research explores this relationship and the mechanisms through which FASD stigma has impacts in health-care and justice settings.

Using mobile technologies for studying foreign languages

In our modern world mobile devices play an important role in the learning process and provide more opportunities for access to educational resources. The use of mobile devices in the learning process is a promising direction that attracts researchers all over the world. Although mobile devices are widely used and they are accessible means of studying, they are still not perceived as means of foreign language learning. The use of mobile technologies will make it possible not only to induce the learning process visibility, divisiveness and interaction, but also to improve the quality of education, and to expand the possibilities for both students and teachers. The paper presents a systematic review of resources on the problem of mobile assisted language learning. The results of the research have shown that this method is widely used by researchers in Scandinavian countries. The classification has been made on the basis of the existing concept of mobile learning. In addition, the paper describes main technical, pedagogical and psychosocial factors which influence the development of modern resources for mobile learning of foreign languages.

Emergence of Digital Twins - Is this the march of reason?

Multiple forms of digital transformation are imminent. Digital Twins represent one concept, where we may use tools and technologies to “map” data (bits) from objects (atoms). It is gaining momentum because the “map” can act as a “compass” to reveal the status of atoms (things, devices, components, machines, people), process visibility and real-time transparency. Adoption of digital proxies, or digital duplicates, may face hurdles due to lack of semantic interoperability between architectures, standards and ontologies. The technologies necessary for automated discovery are in short supply. Progress depends on the convergence of information technology, operational technology and protocol-agnostic telecommunications. Making sense of the data, ability to curate data, and perform data analytics, at the edge (or mist, rather than in the fog or cloud) is key to value. Delivering algorithm engines to the edge, are crucial for edge analytics, if latency is detrimental. The confluence of these, and other factors, may chart the future path for Digital Twins. The number of unknown unknowns, and the known unknowns, in this process, makes it imperative to create global infrastructures and organize groups, to pursue the development of fundamental building blocks. We need new ideas and research in new domains to generate creative and innovative solutions.

Operational antecedents of integrated patient planning in hospitals

Purpose – Hospitals struggle to integrate the planning from different departments; resulting in unacceptable waiting times for patients. The literature mainly addresses general, organizational factors inhibiting or enabling integration and omits important factors stemming from the care delivery process. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to uncover operational antecedents and to assess their effect on the integration of hospital planning. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a three-hospital multi-case study. The main findings stem from over 40 in-depth interviews with specialists, nurses, planners, and managers of four specialties that are all involved in the orthopedic internal supply chain. Findings – This study identifies five critical operational antecedents: performance management, shared resources, information technology, process visibility, and uncertainty/variability. The latter two are of specific importance in a healthcare context. Three distinctive roles are identified; initiating (performance management and process visibility), facilitating (information technology), and inhibiting (shared resources and uncertainty/variability). Practical implications – The authors address how integration can be achieved, rather than merely prescribing integration as a means to improve performance. The identification of specific operational antecedents and their role help managers to find tangible ways to effectively integrate hospital planning which increases hospital performance. Originality/value – First, the identified operational antecedents are essential supplementary factors to more common organizational and behavioral antecedents. Second, in contrast to earlier contributions the authors show the effects of antecedents on three different stages of integration, rather than on integration in general.

A New RFID-Based RTLS for Discrete Manufacturing Workshop

The research is concerned with the practical use of RFID-based traceability approach in large discrete manufacturing workshop. An RFID-based RTLS (Real-time location system) is proposed for tracking WIPs (work in processes), Tool, Measuring tool, and AGV to achieve new levels of process visibility and control. The positioning methods and principle are introduced and the framework of the proposed system is provided. A prototype system is developed to verify the proposed system and a simulation model is built to evaluate the performance of the proposed system. The results indicate that the proposed system generates better performance compared with traditional system with regard to cycle time and machine utilizations, especially when some disruptions occur.