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This study investigated the level of awareness and extent of compliance to certification of corn farmers with Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) in corn development projects in the cluster municipalities of Nueva Vizcaya. The study sought to determine the demographic characteristics of the respondents, their level of awareness in GAP corn certification requirements, and extent of compliance in GAP corn certification. One hundred sixty (160) corn farmers who are active participant in GAP corn project were randomly selected. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, and mean were used in describing the demographic characteristics of the respondents. A four-point Likert-type scale was used to analyze the level of awareness and extent of compliance. The result revealed that both men and women are active corn farmers, older farmers, most have formal education, smallholder farms, more experience in farming and members in farmers' organization and cooperatives. Likewise, the study indicated a high awareness of the respondents in GAP corn certification requirements gained through their participation to various GAP and GAP-related trainings and activities while compliance to GAP certification is moderate which resulted to low certified corn farms in Nueva Vizcaya. Demographic profile such as sex, education and trainings have positive correlation to the respondents' awareness, however, there is no significant correlation to their compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In The Netherlands, the quality of abdominal wall hernia surgery is largely unknown due to the lack of a hernia registry. This study was designed to assess the current state of abdominal wall hernia surgery in The Netherlands, to create a starting point for future evaluation of new quality measures.Methods: Dutch hernia management indicators and recently proposed European Hernia Society (EHS) requirements for accredited/certified hernia centers were used. The number of Dutch hospitals that meet the four main EHS requirements (on volume, experience, use of a registry and quality control) was assessed by analyzing governmental information and the results of a survey amongst all 1.554 Dutch general surgeons.Results: The survey was representative with 426 respondents (27%) from all 75 hospitals. Fifty-one percent of the hospitals had a median inguinal repair volume of more than 290 (14-1.238) per year. An open or laparo-endoscopic inguinal repair technique was not related to hospital volume. Experienced hernia surgeons, use of a registry and a structured quality control were reported to be present in, respectively, 97%, 39%, and 15% of the hospitals. Consensus in answers between the respondents per hospital was low (< 20%). Two hospitals (3%) met all four requirements for accreditation.Conclusion: This descriptive analysis demonstrates that hernia surgery in the Netherlands is performed in every hospital, by all types of surgeons, using many different techniques. If the suggested EHS requirements are used as a measuring rod, only 3% of the Dutch hospitals could be accredited as a hernia center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There is a need for hernia centers and specialist hernia surgeons because of the increasing complexity of hernia surgery procedures due to new techniques, more difficult cases and a tailored approach with an increasing public awareness demanding optimal treatment results. Therefore, the requirements for accredited/certified hernia centers and specialist hernia surgeons should be formulated by the international and national hernia societies, while taking account of the respective health care systems.Methods: The European Hernia Society (EHS) has appointed a working group composed of 18 hernia experts from all regions of Europe (ACCESS Group-Hernia Accreditation and Certification of Centers and Surgeons-Working Group) to formulate scientifically based requirements for hernia centers and specialist hernia surgeons while taking into consideration different health care systems. A consensus was reached on the key questions by means of a meeting, a telephone conference and the exchange of contributions. The requirements formulated below were deemed implementable by all participating hernia experts in their respective countries.Results: The ACCESS Group suggests for an adequately equipped hernia center the following requirements: (a) to be accredited/certified by a national or international hernia society, (b) to perform a higher case volume in all types of hernia surgery compared to an average general surgery department in their country, (c) to be staffed by experienced hernia surgeons who are beyond the learning curve for all types of hernia surgery recommended in the guidelines and are responsible for education and training of hernia surgery in their department, (d) to treat hernia patients according to the current guidelines and scientific recommendations, (e) to document each case prospectively in a registry or quality assurance database (f) to perform follow-up for comparison of their own results with benchmark data for continuous improvement of their treatment results and ensuring contribution to research in hernia treatment. To become a specialist hernia surgeon, the ACCESS Group suggests a general surgeon to master the learning curve of all open and laparo-endoscopic hernia procedures recommended in the guidelines, perform a high caseload and additionally to implement and fulfill the other requirements for a hernia center.Conclusion: Based on the above requirements formulated by the European Hernia Society for accredited/certified hernia centers and hernia specialist surgeons, the national and international hernia societies can now develop their own programs, while taking account of their specific health care systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The objective of this paper was to design, manufacture and test a composite leading edge, without ribs, able to satisfy birdstrike requirements specified by certification authorities. The leading edge configuration was validated through an extensive campaign of experimental tests performed firstly on small sample to determine the mechanical properties [1], then through the analysis and testing of a small representative structures of the wing leading edge [2,3]. The explicit finite element software MSC.Dytran®[4] was chosen for the numerical investigation and a validated simulation methodology was developed to predict the birdstrike scenario. The evaluation of numerous birdstrike scenarios allowed an improved design efficiency and safety and led to a significant reduction of certification costs. The most important achievement was a ribless wing leading edge made of FML, aluminium and honeycomb able to satisfy the birdstrike resistance test specified by the Federal Aviation Regulation [5]. This configuration allowed a considerable reduction in weight and manufacturing costs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The music education profession is in a period of transition. New musics, cultural understandings, and technologies require music teachers to continually update their knowledge and skills. Regulatory changes in many states that require teachers to pursue continuing education credits and receive a master's degree earlier in their careers than previously and the retirement of the baby boom generation will soon create a shortage of qualified teachers and university professors. At the same time, doctoral education is being scrutinized and reconsidered for the relevance of its content and the efficacy of traditional models in preparing professionals for the twenty-first century. This article proposes a way to address this situation by defining the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in music education as a distinctive credential and making the degree accessible to working teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical equipment is highly regulated and held to a higher level of safety than nearly all other types of equipment on the market. This is because patients who are not able to respond to hazardous conditions or pain, an actual electrical connection between the equipment and patient may exist, and certain types of medical equipment function as life support, the failure of which could result in the death of the patient. Understanding the certification and regulatory requirements before the design phase of the equipment will result in a cost reduction in equipment development, faster certification turnaround and increased product safety. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: Orthopaedic training has undergone considerable changes in the last few decades. Although structured training pathways exist in most countries, the requirements for completion of training are remarkably different. This review aims to assess key differences among orthopaedic curricula in selected high-income countries with well-established orthopaedic training programmes, focusing on their criteria for assessing technical competence prior to completion of training.Methods: Current orthopaedic training curricula published by the relevant accrediting bodies in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Germany and the European Union were reviewed. Data extracted included specified training duration, minimum or desirable operative experience requirements, methods and timing of in-training assessments.Results: The overall training duration ranged between 9 and 10 years in the UK and Australia, compared to 5-6 years in all other countries. While operative logbook was an essential component of formative and end-of-training reviews in all countries, minimum indicative numbers in index operations were a requirement only in the UK (minimum total required; 1800, index operations; 365) and USA (minimum total required; 1000, index operations; 455). On average, USA residents performed 1700 procedures compared to German residents performing 730 procedures before completion of training.Conclusion: There is a lack of robust data describing the operative experiences of orthopaedic trainees outside of the UK and USA. UK training is the longest among countries compared in this review and also sets the highest standards in minimum operative experience requirements. Based on the evidence available, surgeons exiting training and entering independent practice in the above countries are not trained to the same minimum standard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a model for the assessment and certification of safety-critical programmable electronic systems in the transportation industries. The proposed model is founded on the significant commonalities between emerging international safety-related standards in the automotive, railway and aerospace industries. It contains a system development and a safety assessment process which rationalise and unify the common requirements among the standards in these areas. In addition, it defines an evolutionary process for the development of the system’s safety case. The safety case process shows how the evidence produced in the progression of safety assessment can be structured in order to form an overall argument about the safety of the system. We conclude that it is possible to use this model as the basis of a generic approach to the certification of systems across the transportation sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changes which have taken place across all of social work education and practice in Britain introduce a new phase for the profession in line with wider political and economic changes in the UK. The Rules and Requirements for the Diploma in Social Work exemplify these changes, and the document containing them is a useful focus for an analysis of what is at stake. This article employs discourse analysis to examine the ideological functions of the Dip.S.W. regulations and their relationship to wider social discourses, having in mind both the disciplining role of discourse and its possibilities for transformation. It identifies a dominant regulatory discourse, and an oppositional liberatory discourse which are in dialogue with each other and with related discourses. The article considers the construction of social work in the document in its surveillance, managerialist, competence-based functions. The analysis also looks for contradictory voices in these discourses and in CCETSW's. Welsh Language Policy and Equal Opportunities Statement, which might offer sites of resistance and refusal. It is argued that the shape of the stage social work has entered into is not inevitable. and the destabilizing potential of such an analysis creates a space for the imagination of alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]