The Line Operations Safety Audit Program: Transitioning From Flight Operations to Maintenance and Ramp Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

Transport Association ( ATA ) Maintenance & Ramp Human Factors Task Force committee members—we are deeply grateful for their contributions in the...6 Air Transport Association ( ATA ) Human Factors Task Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Form Development...garnered many valuable les- sons, safety improvements, and significant returns on their investment. 1The FAA ATA Human Factors Taskforce has

Social health and dementia: a European consensus on the operationalization of the concept and directions for research and practice.

PubMed

Dröes, R M; Chattat, R; Diaz, A; Gove, D; Graff, M; Murphy, K; Verbeek, H; Vernooij-Dassen, M; Clare, L; Johannessen, A; Roes, M; Verhey, F; Charras, K

2017-01-01

Because the pattern of illnesses changes in an aging population and many people manage to live well with chronic diseases, a group of health care professionals recently proposed reformulating the static WHO definition of health towards a dynamic one based on the ability to physically, mentally and socially adapt and self-manage. This paper is the result of a collaborative action of the INTERDEM Social Health Taskforce to operationalize this new health concept for people with dementia, more specifically the social domain, and to formulate directions for research and practice to promote social health in dementia. Based on the expertise of the Social Health Taskforce members (N = 54) three groups were formed that worked on operationalizing the three social health dimensions described by Huber et al.: (1) capacity to fulfil potential and obligations; (2) ability to manage life with some degree of independence; (3) participation in social activities. For each dimension also influencing factors, effective interventions and knowledge gaps were inventoried. After a consensus meeting, the operationalizations of the dimensions were reviewed by the European Working Group of People with Dementia (EWGPWD). The social health dimensions could be well operationalized for people with dementia and are assessed as very relevant according to the Social Health Taskforce and EWGPWD. Personal (e.g. sense of coherence, competencies), disease-related (e.g. severity of cognitive impairments, comorbidity), social (support from network, stigma) and environmental factors (e.g. enabling design, accessibility) that can influence the person with dementia's social health and many interventions promoting social health were identified. A consensus-based operationalization of social health in dementia is proposed, and factors that can influence, and interventions that improve, social health in dementia identified. Recommendations are made for research and practice.

Impaired Driving - Multiple Languages

MedlinePlus

... and Driving Laws - العربية (Arabic) PDF Karen Chemical Dependency Taskforce of Minnesota Burmese (myanma bhasa) Expand Section ... Driving Laws - myanma bhasa (Burmese) MP3 Karen Chemical Dependency Taskforce of Minnesota Dari (دری) Expand Section Drinking ...

Methamphetamine - Multiple Languages

MedlinePlus

... Facts about Methamphetamine - العربية (Arabic) PDF Karen Chemical Dependency Taskforce of Minnesota Burmese (myanma bhasa) Expand Section ... about Methamphetamine - myanma bhasa (Burmese) MP3 Karen Chemical Dependency Taskforce of Minnesota Chinese, Traditional (Cantonese dialect) (繁體中文) ...

Marijuana - Multiple Languages

MedlinePlus

... Facts about Marijuana - العربية (Arabic) PDF Karen Chemical Dependency Taskforce of Minnesota Burmese (myanma bhasa) Expand Section ... about Marijuana - myanma bhasa (Burmese) MP3 Karen Chemical Dependency Taskforce of Minnesota Dari (دری) Expand Section Facts ...

The Indian National Association for Study of the Liver (INASL) Consensus on Prevention, Diagnosis and Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in India: The Puri Recommendations

PubMed Central

Kumar, Ashish; Acharya, Subrat K.; Singh, Shivaram P.; Saraswat, Vivek A.; Arora, Anil; Duseja, Ajay; Goenka, Mahesh K.; Jain, Deepali; Kar, Premashish; Kumar, Manoj; Kumaran, Vinay; Mohandas, Kunisshery M.; Panda, Dipanjan; Paul, Shashi B.; Ramachandran, Jeyamani; Ramesh, Hariharan; Rao, Padaki N.; Shah, Samir R.; Sharma, Hanish; Thandassery, Ragesh B.

2014-01-01

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the major causes of morbidity, mortality and healthcare expenditure in patients with chronic liver disease. There are no consensus guidelines on diagnosis and management of HCC in India. The Indian National Association for Study of the Liver (INASL) set up a Task-Force on HCC in 2011, with a mandate to develop consensus guidelines for diagnosis and management of HCC, relevant to disease patterns and clinical practices in India. The Task-Force first identified various contentious issues on various aspects of HCC and these issues were allotted to individual members of the Task-Force who reviewed them in detail. The Task-Force used the Oxford Center for Evidence Based Medicine—Levels of Evidence of 2009 for developing an evidence-based approach. A 2-day round table discussion was held on 9th and 10th February, 2013 at Puri, Odisha, to discuss, debate, and finalize the consensus statements. The members of the Task-Force reviewed and discussed the existing literature at this meeting and formulated the INASL consensus statements for each of the issues. We present here the INASL consensus guidelines (The Puri Recommendations) on prevention, diagnosis and management of HCC in India. PMID:25755608

The Indian National Association for Study of the Liver (INASL) Consensus on Prevention, Diagnosis and Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in India: The Puri Recommendations.

PubMed

Kumar, Ashish; Acharya, Subrat K; Singh, Shivaram P; Saraswat, Vivek A; Arora, Anil; Duseja, Ajay; Goenka, Mahesh K; Jain, Deepali; Kar, Premashish; Kumar, Manoj; Kumaran, Vinay; Mohandas, Kunisshery M; Panda, Dipanjan; Paul, Shashi B; Ramachandran, Jeyamani; Ramesh, Hariharan; Rao, Padaki N; Shah, Samir R; Sharma, Hanish; Thandassery, Ragesh B

2014-08-01

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the major causes of morbidity, mortality and healthcare expenditure in patients with chronic liver disease. There are no consensus guidelines on diagnosis and management of HCC in India. The Indian National Association for Study of the Liver (INASL) set up a Task-Force on HCC in 2011, with a mandate to develop consensus guidelines for diagnosis and management of HCC, relevant to disease patterns and clinical practices in India. The Task-Force first identified various contentious issues on various aspects of HCC and these issues were allotted to individual members of the Task-Force who reviewed them in detail. The Task-Force used the Oxford Center for Evidence Based Medicine-Levels of Evidence of 2009 for developing an evidence-based approach. A 2-day round table discussion was held on 9th and 10th February, 2013 at Puri, Odisha, to discuss, debate, and finalize the consensus statements. The members of the Task-Force reviewed and discussed the existing literature at this meeting and formulated the INASL consensus statements for each of the issues. We present here the INASL consensus guidelines (The Puri Recommendations) on prevention, diagnosis and management of HCC in India.

Development of the roadmap and guidelines for the prevention and management of high blood pressure in Africa: Proceedings of the PASCAR Hypertension Task Force meeting: Nairobi, Kenya, 27 October 2014.

PubMed

Dzudie, A; Ojji, D; Anisiuba, B C; Abdou, B A; Cornick, R; Damasceno, A; Kane, A L; Mocumbi, A O; Mohamed, A; Nel, G; Ogola, E; Onwubere, B; Otieno, H; Rainer, B; Schutte, A; Ali, I T; Twagirumukiza, M; Poulter, N; Mayosi, B

2015-01-01

Africa has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The economic changes are associated with a health transition characterised by a rise in cardiovascular risk factors and complications, which tend to affect the African population at their age of maximum productivity. Recent data from Africa have highlighted the increasing importance of high blood pressure in this region of the world. This condition is largely underdiagnosed and poorly treated, and therefore leads to stroke, renal and heart failure, and death. Henceforth, African countries are taking steps to develop relevant policies and programmes to address the issue of blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors in response to a call by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to reduce premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25% by the year 2025 (25 × 25). The World Heart Federation (WHF) has developed a roadmap for global implementation of the prevention and management of raised blood pressure using a health system approach to help realise the 25 × 25 goal set by the WHO. As the leading continental organisation of cardiovascular professionals, the Pan-African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR) aims to contextualise the roadmap framework of the WHF to the African continent through the PASCAR Taskforce on Hypertension. The Taskforce held a workshop in Kenya on 27 October 2014 to discuss a process by which effective prevention and control of hypertension in Africa may be achieved. It was agreed that a set of clinical guidelines for the management of hypertension are needed in Africa. The ultimate goal of this work is to develop a roadmap for implementation of the prevention and management of hypertension in Africa under the auspices of the WHF.

Drug Abuse - Multiple Languages

MedlinePlus

... Facts about Marijuana - العربية (Arabic) PDF Karen Chemical Dependency Taskforce of Minnesota Facts about Methamphetamine - English PDF Facts about Methamphetamine - العربية (Arabic) PDF Karen Chemical Dependency Taskforce of Minnesota Substance Abuse or Dependence - العربية ( ...

Inclusive Education Reform: Implications for Teacher Aides

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bourke, Patricia; Carrington, Suzanne

2007-01-01

In Queensland, inclusive education reform is on the political agenda, following the report of the Ministerial Taskforce on Inclusive Education (students with disabilities) in 2004. The Government's responses to the initiatives outlined in the taskforce report emphasise a commitment to social justice and equity so that all students can be included…

Nuclear Taskforce Summation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

1979

At the end of 1978, there were approximately 230 nuclear-fueled electric generating plants around the world; 72 of these were in the United States. Each plant requires an operations-and-maintenance workforce of 92 people, and attrition occurs at a rate of 8% per year. Requirements for a nuclear taskforce and job training, in view of current…

Making Decisions: Using Electronic Data Collection to Re-Envision Reference Services at the USF Tampa Libraries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Todorinova, Lily; Huse, Andy; Lewis, Barbara; Torrence, Matt

2011-01-01

Declining reference statistics, diminishing human resources, and the desire to be more proactive and embedded in academic departments, prompted the University of South Florida Library to create a taskforce for re-envisioning reference services. The taskforce was charged with examining the staffing patterns at the desk and developing…

Re-Framing, Re-Imagining, and Re-Tooling Curricula from the Grassroots: The Chicago Grassroots Curriculum Taskforce

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pulido, Isaura B.; Miglietta, Anton; Cortez, Gabriel Alejandro; Stovall, David; Aviles de Bradley, Ann

2013-01-01

This article explores the work of the Grassroots Curriculum Taskforce (CGCT), a Chicago-based collaborative that engages in collective production of curricula that more adeptly capture the cultural, economic, and political realities of Chicago Public Schools' students. We first examine the collaborative processes CGCT undertook with parents,…

Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure an Adaptive Culture Profile Using Student Affairs Divisions in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fowler, Tammy Lynne

2013-01-01

The landscape of higher education in the United States shifts and moves in response to environmental challenges often hard to predict or measure. A joint taskforce of the American College Personnel Association and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators taskforce expressed the concern that no other time in history has the…

The electronic patient record: a strategic planning framework.

PubMed

Gordon, D B; Marafioti, S; Carter, M; Kunov, H; Dolan, A

1995-01-01

Sunnybrook Health Science Center (Sunnybrook) is a multifacility academic teaching center. In May 1994, Sunnybrook struck an electronic patient record taskforce to develop a strategic plan for the implementation of a comprehensive, facility wide electronic patient record (EPR). The taskforce sought to create a conceptual framework which provides context and integrates decision-making related to the comprehensive electronic patient record. The EPR is very much broader in scope than the traditional paper-based record. It is not restricted to simply reporting individual patient data. By the Institute of Medicine's definition, the electronic patient record resides in a system specifically designed to support users through availability of complete and accurate data, practitioner reminders and alerts, clinical decision support systems, links to bodies of medical knowledge, and other aids [1]. It is a comprehensive resource for patient care. The taskforce proposed a three domain model for determining how the EPR affects Sunnybrook. The EPR enables Sunnybrook to have a high performance team structure (domain 1), to function as an integrated organization (domain 2), and to reach out and develop new relationships with external organizations to become an extended enterprise (domain 3) [2]. Domain 1: Sunnybrook's high performance teams or patient service units' (PSUs) are decentralized, autonomous operating units that provide care to patients grouped by 'like' diagnosis and resource needs. The EPR must provide functions and applications which promote patient focused care, such as cross functional charting and care maps, group scheduling, clinical email, and a range of enabling technologies for multiskilled workers. Domain 2: In the integrated organization domain, the EPR should facilitate closer linkages between the arrangement of PSUs into clinical teams and with other facilities within the center in order to provide a longitudinal record that covers a continuum of care. Domain 3: In the inter-enterprise domain, the EPR must allow for patient information to be exchanged with external providers including referring doctors, laboratories, and other hospitals via community health information networks (CHINs). Sunnybrook will prioritize the development of first domain functionality within the corporate constraints imposed by the integrated organization domain. Inter-enterprise computing will be less of a priority until Sunnybrook has developed a critical mass of the electronic patient record internally. The three domain description is a useful model for describing the relationship between the electronic patient record enabling technologies and the Sunnybrook organizational structures. The taskforce has used this model to determine EPR development guidelines and implementation priorities.

ISSLS Prize Winner: Consensus on the Clinical Diagnosis of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: Results of an International Delphi Study.

PubMed

Tomkins-Lane, Christy; Melloh, Markus; Lurie, Jon; Smuck, Matt; Battié, Michele C; Freeman, Brian; Samartzis, Dino; Hu, Richard; Barz, Thomas; Stuber, Kent; Schneider, Michael; Haig, Andrew; Schizas, Constantin; Cheung, Jason Pui Yin; Mannion, Anne F; Staub, Lukas; Comer, Christine; Macedo, Luciana; Ahn, Sang-Ho; Takahashi, Kazuhisa; Sandella, Danielle

2016-08-01

Delphi. The aim of this study was to obtain an expert consensus on which history factors are most important in the clinical diagnosis of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). LSS is a poorly defined clinical syndrome. Criteria for defining LSS are needed and should be informed by the experience of expert clinicians. Phase 1 (Delphi Items): 20 members of the International Taskforce on the Diagnosis and Management of LSS confirmed a list of 14 history items. An online survey was developed that permits specialists to express the logical order in which they consider the items, and the level of certainty ascertained from the questions. Phase 2 (Delphi Study) Round 1: Survey distributed to members of the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine. Round 2: Meeting of 9 members of Taskforce where consensus was reached on a final list of 10 items. Round 3: Final survey was distributed internationally. Phase 3: Final Taskforce consensus meeting. A total of 279 clinicians from 29 different countries, with a mean of 19 (±SD: 12) years in practice participated. The six top items were "leg or buttock pain while walking," "flex forward to relieve symptoms," "feel relief when using a shopping cart or bicycle," "motor or sensory disturbance while walking," "normal and symmetric foot pulses," "lower extremity weakness," and "low back pain." Significant change in certainty ceased after six questions at 80% (P < .05). This is the first study to reach an international consensus on the clinical diagnosis of LSS, and suggests that within six questions clinicians are 80% certain of diagnosis. We propose a consensus-based set of "seven history items" that can act as a pragmatic criterion for defining LSS in both clinical and research settings, which in the long term may lead to more cost-effective treatment, improved health care utilization, and enhanced patient outcomes. 2.

Defining consensus norms for palliative care of people with intellectual disabilities in Europe, using Delphi methods: A White Paper from the European Association of Palliative Care

PubMed Central

Tuffrey-Wijne, Irene; McLaughlin, Dorry; Curfs, Leopold; Dusart, Anne; Hoenger, Catherine; McEnhill, Linda; Read, Sue; Ryan, Karen; Satgé, Daniel; Straßer, Benjamin; Westergård, Britt-Evy; Oliver, David

2015-01-01

Background: People with intellectual disabilities often present with unique challenges that make it more difficult to meet their palliative care needs. Aim: To define consensus norms for palliative care of people with intellectual disabilities in Europe. Design: Delphi study in four rounds: (1) a taskforce of 12 experts from seven European countries drafted the norms, based on available empirical knowledge and regional/national guidelines; (2) using an online survey, 34 experts from 18 European countries evaluated the draft norms, provided feedback and distributed the survey within their professional networks. Criteria for consensus were clearly defined; (3) modifications and recommendations were made by the taskforce; and (4) the European Association for Palliative Care reviewed and approved the final version. Setting and participants: Taskforce members: identified through international networking strategies. Expert panel: a purposive sample identified through taskforce members’ networks. Results: A total of 80 experts from 15 European countries evaluated 52 items within the following 13 norms: equity of access, communication, recognising the need for palliative care, assessment of total needs, symptom management, end-of-life decision making, involving those who matter, collaboration, support for family/carers, preparing for death, bereavement support, education/training and developing/managing services. None of the items scored less than 86% agreement, making a further round unnecessary. In light of respondents’ comments, several items were modified and one item was deleted. Conclusion: This White Paper presents the first guidance for clinical practice, policy and research related to palliative care for people with intellectual disabilities based on evidence and European consensus, setting a benchmark for changes in policy and practice. PMID:26346181

Sleep-disordered breathing and type 2 diabetes: a report from the International Diabetes Federation Taskforce on Epidemiology and Prevention.

PubMed

Shaw, Jonathan E; Punjabi, Naresh M; Wilding, John P; Alberti, K George M M; Zimmet, Paul Z

2008-07-01

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) has been associated with insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, and is frequently found in people with type 2 diabetes. SDB not only causes poor sleep quality and daytime sleepiness, but has clinical consequences, including hypertension and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. In addition to supporting the need for further research into the links between SDB and diabetes, the International Diabetes Federation Taskforce on Epidemiology and Prevention strongly recommends that health professionals working in both type 2 diabetes and SDB adopt clinical practices to ensure that a patient presenting with one condition is considered for the other.

Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of adrenal insufficiency in the adult.

PubMed

de Miguel Novoa, Paz; Vela, Elena Torres; García, Nuria Palacios; Rodríguez, Manuela Moreira; Guerras, Icíar Solache; Martínez de Salinas Santamaría, María de Los Ángeles; Masó, Anna Aulinas

2014-09-01

Adrenal insufficiency (AI) is a disease characterized by a deficient production or action of glucocorticoids, with or without deficiency in mineral corticoids and/or adrenal androgens. It can result from disease intrinsic to the adrenal cortex (primary AI), from pituitary diseases that hamper the release of corticotropin (secondary AI) or from hypothalamic disorders that impair the secretion of the corticotropin-releasing hormone (tertiary AI). It is a disease with a low prevalence but its impact on the affected individual is very high as it can be life-threathening if not treated or lead to health problems if inadequately treated. However, currently there are no specific guidelines for the management of this disease. Therefore, at the proposal of the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (SEEN) board, a task-force under the Neuroendocrinology Knowledge Area of the SEEN was established, with the mandate of updating the diagnosis and treatment of AI. In fulfilment of this mandate the task-force has elaborated the present guide that, based on a comprehensive review of literature, is intended to provide an answer to questions related to the management of this disease. It is, therefore, an essentially practical document, mainly aimed at guiding the health professionals involved in the care of IA patients. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Endocrinología y Nutrición. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Evidence-based guidelines for the use of tracheostomy in critically ill patients.

PubMed

Raimondi, Néstor; Vial, Macarena R; Calleja, José; Quintero, Agamenón; Cortés, Albán; Celis, Edgar; Pacheco, Clara; Ugarte, Sebastián; Añón, José M; Hernández, Gonzalo; Vidal, Erick; Chiappero, Guillermo; Ríos, Fernando; Castilleja, Fernando; Matos, Alfredo; Rodriguez, Enith; Antoniazzi, Paulo; Teles, José Mario; Dueñas, Carmelo; Sinclair, Jorge; Martínez, Lorenzo; von der Osten, Ingrid; Vergara, José; Jiménez, Edgar; Arroyo, Max; Rodríguez, Camilo; Torres, Javier; Fernandez-Bussy, Sebastián; Nates, Joseph L

2017-04-01

To provide evidence-based guidelines for tracheostomy in critically ill adult patients and identify areas needing further research. A taskforce composed of representatives of 10 member countries of the Pan-American and Iberic Federation of Societies of Critical and Intensive Therapy Medicine and of the Latin American Critical Care Trial Investigators Network developed recommendations based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system. The group identified 23 relevant questions among 87 issues that were initially identified. In the initial search, 333 relevant publications were identified, of which 226 publications were chosen. The taskforce generated a total of 19 recommendations, 10 positive (1B, 3; 2C, 3; 2D, 4) and 9 negative (1B, 8; 2C, 1). A recommendation was not possible in 6 questions. Percutaneous techniques are associated with a lower risk of infections compared with surgical tracheostomy. Early tracheostomy only seems to reduce the duration of ventilator use but not the incidence of pneumonia, the length of stay, or the long-term mortality rate. The evidence does not support the use of routine bronchoscopy guidance or laryngeal masks during the procedure. Finally, proper prior training is as important or even a more significant factor in reducing complications than the technique used. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Zika in the Americas, year 2: What have we learned? What gaps remain? A report from the Global Virus Network.

PubMed

Aliota, Matthew T; Bassit, Leda; Bradrick, Shelton S; Cox, Bryan; Garcia-Blanco, Mariano A; Gavegnano, Christina; Friedrich, Thomas C; Golos, Thaddeus G; Griffin, Diane E; Haddow, Andrew D; Kallas, Esper G; Kitron, Uriel; Lecuit, Marc; Magnani, Diogo M; Marrs, Caroline; Mercer, Natalia; McSweegan, Edward; Ng, Lisa F P; O'Connor, David H; Osorio, Jorge E; Ribeiro, Guilherme S; Ricciardi, Michael; Rossi, Shannan L; Saade, George; Schinazi, Raymond F; Schott-Lerner, Geraldine O; Shan, Chao; Shi, Pei-Yong; Watkins, David I; Vasilakis, Nikos; Weaver, Scott C

2017-08-01

In response to the outbreak of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in the Western Hemisphere and the recognition of a causal association with fetal malformations, the Global Virus Network (GVN) assembled an international taskforce of virologists to promote basic research, recommend public health measures and encourage the rapid development of vaccines, antiviral therapies and new diagnostic tests. In this article, taskforce members and other experts review what has been learned about ZIKV-induced disease in humans, its modes of transmission and the cause and nature of associated congenital manifestations. After describing the make-up of the taskforce, we summarize the emergence of ZIKV in the Americas, Africa and Asia, its spread by mosquitoes, and current control measures. We then review the spectrum of primary ZIKV-induced disease in adults and children, sites of persistent infection and sexual transmission, then examine what has been learned about maternal-fetal transmission and the congenital Zika syndrome, including knowledge obtained from studies in laboratory animals. Subsequent sections focus on vaccine development, antiviral therapeutics and new diagnostic tests. After reviewing current understanding of the mechanisms of emergence of Zika virus, we consider the likely future of the pandemic. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

How Global Science has yet to Bridge Global Differences - A Status Report of the IUGS Taskforce on Global Geoscience Workforce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keane, C. M.; Gonzales, L. M.

2010-12-01

The International Union of Geological Sciences, with endorsement by UNESCO, has established a taskforce on global geosciences workforce and has tasked the American Geological Institute to take a lead. Springing from a session on global geosciences at the IGC33 in Oslo, Norway, the taskforce is to address three issues on a global scale: define the geosciences, determine the producers and consumers of geoscientists, and frame the understandings to propose pathways towards improved global capacity building in the geosciences. With the combination of rapid retirements in the developed world, and rapid economic expansion and impact of resource and hazard issues in the developing world, the next 25 years will be a dynamic time for the geosciences. However, to date there has been little more than a cursory sense of who and what the geosciences are globally and whether we will be able to address the varied needs and issues in the developed and the developing worlds. Based on prior IUGS estimates, about 50% of all working geoscientists reside in the Unites States, and the US was also producing about 50% of all new geosciences graduate degrees globally. Work from the first year of the taskforce has elucidated the immense complexity of the issue of defining the geosciences, as it bring is enormous cultural and political frameworks, but also shed light on the status of the geosciences in each country. Likewise, this leads to issues of who is actually producing and consuming geoscience talent, and whether countries are meeting domestic demand, and if not, is external talent available to import. Many US-based assumptions about the role of various countries in the geosciences’ global community of people, namely China and India, appear to have been misplaced. In addition, the migration of geoscientists between countries raised enormous questions about what is nationality and if there is an ideal ‘global geoscientist.’ But more than anything, the taskforce is revealing clear global trends in geosciences education, both at the pre-college and university level and frame the state of health of geosciences education in the United States in a totally new light. But indicators are present that the developing world will likely overtake the developed world in the near future in the production of geoscientists, but a key question is will that fundamentally change the nature of the science given the social, cultural, and educational frameworks that the next global generation brings with them.

Preparing a Nation for the Eclipse of a Generation -

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Speck, Angela; Habbal, Shadia; Tresch Fienberg, Richard; Kentrianakis, Michael; Fraknoi, Andrew; Nordgren, Tyler; Penn, Matthew; Pasachoff, Jay M.; Bakich, Michael; Winter, Henry; Gay, Pamela; Motta, Mario

2018-01-01

On August 21st 2017, there was a total solar eclipse visible from a vast swath of the US.In preparation for that event, the American Astronomical society created a taskforce charged with planning for the eclipse for the entire nation. The preparations included interfacing with the public, the media, non-profit organizations and governmental organizations. Preliminary data suggests that nearly 90% of American adults watched the eclipse either directly or via live streams. Moreover, there were no major problems associated with the event, in spite of valiant attempts from, e.g. imprope solar viewing materials. The eclipse offered opportunities for many scientific experiments within and ebyond astronomy. Here we present on the work of the taskforce, and the lessons learned as well as lesser known science experiments undertaken during the eclipse.

Oregon’s Strategy to Confront Prescription Opioid Misuse: A Case Study

PubMed Central

McCarty, Dennis; Bovett, Rob; Burns, Thomas; Cushing, Judy; Glynn, Mary Ellen; Kruse, Senator Jeff; Millet, Lisa M.; Shames, Jim

2014-01-01

Governor John Kitzhaber appointed a Prescription Drug Taskforce to address Oregon’s opioid epidemic. This case study reviews the Taskforce’s participation in the National Governors Association State Policy Academy on Reducing Prescription Drug Abuse. To address the challenge of the misuse and abuse of prescription opioids, the Taskforce developed a strategy for practice change, community education and enhanced access to safe opioid disposal using stakeholder meetings, consensus development, and five action steps: 1) fewer pills in circulation, 2) educate prescribers and the public on the risks of opioid use, 3) foster safe disposal of unused medication, 4) provide treatment for opioid dependence, and 5) continued leadership from the Governor, health plans and health professionals. Although the story is ongoing, there are lessons for leadership in other states and for public health and medical practitioners throughout the country. PMID:25168199

Towards a Managed Aquifer Recharge strategy for Gujarat, India: An economist’s dialogue with hydro-geologists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shah, Tushaar

2014-10-01

Gujarat state in Western India exemplifies all challenges of an agrarian economy founded on groundwater overexploitation sustained over decades by perverse energy subsidies. Major consequences are: secular decline in groundwater levels, deterioration of groundwater quality, rising energy cost of pumping, soaring carbon footprint of agriculture and growing financial burden of energy subsidies. In 2009, Government of Gujarat asked the present author, an economist, to chair a Taskforce of senior hydro-geologists and civil engineers to develop and recommend a Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) strategy for the state. This paper summarizes the recommended strategy and its underlying logic. It also describes the imperfect fusion of socio-economic and hydro-geologic perspectives that occurred in course of the working of the Taskforce and highlights the need for trans-disciplinary perspectives on groundwater governance.

75 FR 6837 - President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-11

... deliberations on reports from the Council's six Taskforces: Economic Recovery and Domestic Poverty, Reform of... Families and Global Poverty and Development. For copies of these reports, please contact Mara Vanderslice...

7 CFR 3430.36 - Procedures to minimize or eliminate duplication of effort.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

.... Business processes may include the review of the Current and Pending Support Form; documented CRIS searches... participation in Federal Government-wide and other committees, taskforces, or groups that seek to solve problems...

7 CFR 3430.36 - Procedures to minimize or eliminate duplication of effort.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

.... Business processes may include the review of the Current and Pending Support Form; documented CRIS searches... participation in Federal Government-wide and other committees, taskforces, or groups that seek to solve problems...

7 CFR 3430.36 - Procedures to minimize or eliminate duplication of effort.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

.... Business processes may include the review of the Current and Pending Support Form; documented CRIS searches... participation in Federal Government-wide and other committees, taskforces, or groups that seek to solve problems...

[Quality assurance in therapy of chronic pain. Results obtained by a taskforce of the German Section of the Association for the Study of Pain on psychological assessment of chronic pain.].

PubMed

Denecke, H; Glier, B; Klinger, R; Nilges, P; Redegeld, M; Weiß, L; Kröner-Herwig, B

1995-01-01

This is the first in a series of publications presenting the results of a taskforce on quality assurance in psychological assessment of chronic pain. The initiative was motivated by the increasing and confusing variety of newly developed German instruments and/or translations of Anglo-American instruments. Our main work was therefore concentrated on the collection of existing German assessment instruments, on summarizing the essentials in a documentary sheet, and on examining their objectivity, reliability, validity, clinical relevance, economy and degree of empirical foundation. For each diagnostic domain we thus elaborated specific differential recommendations for those working in psychological pain research and clinical practice, in an attempt to devise criteria enabling them to choose the optimal instrument or test battery for their needs and conditions.

Implementing a good practice guide for CBRC: perspectives from the ESHRE Cross-Border Reproductive Care Taskforce.

PubMed

Shenfield, Françoise

2011-11-01

This article sets out views about cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) from the point of view of a professional clinicians' group. After publishing the first international European dataset measuring the phenomenon of CBRC in six European countries in June 2010, the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) Taskforce on CBRC set out to write a good practice guide, which aims at advising clinicians and professionals dealing with patients interested in seeking fertility treatment outside their country of residence. The background, outline and possible means of implementation of this guide are discussed here. The aims of the guide are to ensure quality of care and safety for all concerned, from patients to their future offspring, via gamete donors and surrogates if involved. Patient centredness is also an important aspect, as well as fair treatment of all parties, based on appropriate and intelligible information. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Role of the pharmacist in preventing distribution of counterfeit medications.

PubMed

Chambliss, Walter G; Carroll, Wesley A; Kennedy, Daniel; Levine, Donald; Moné, Michael A; Ried, L Douglas; Shepherd, Marv; Yelvigi, Mukund

2012-01-01

To provide an overview of the counterfeit medication problem and recommendations of a joint American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science and APhA Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management taskforce. SciFinder and PubMed were searched from 1980 to March 2011 using the following keywords: counterfeit drug product, counterfeit medications, drug product authentication, drug product verification, and track-and-trace. Publications, presentations, and websites of organizations that research the counterfeit medication problem in the United States and other countries were reviewed. A representative from the security division of a pharmaceutical manufacturer and a representative from a supplier of anticounterfeiting technologies gave presentations to the taskforce. The taskforce recommends that pharmacists (1) purchase medications from known, reliable sources; (2) warn patients of the dangers of purchasing medications over the Internet; (3) confirm with distributors that products were purchased from manufacturers or other reliable sources; (4) monitor counterfeit product alerts; (5) examine products for suspicious appearance; (6) work with the pharmaceutical industry, distributors, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to close gaps in the supply chain, especially for drugs in short supply; (7) use scanning technology in the pharmacy as part of a prescription verification process; (8) educate themselves, coworkers, and patients about the risks of counterfeit medications; and (9) report suspicious medications to FDA, the distributor, and the manufacturer. The consequence of a patient receiving a counterfeit medication in the United States could be catastrophic, and pharmacists must play an active role in preventing such an event from occurring.

Intercultural Action Learning within a Business Context.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sand, Gregory A.

1996-01-01

Describes an intercultural program adapted to international marketing requirements by GLOBALTEAM, a marketing consultancy. GLOBALTEAM aims to increase sales by introducing corporate managers and workers to merchandising principles and standards. Training stresses goal setting, appropriate change atmosphere, task-force organization, operational…

Financing of health systems to achieve the health Millennium Development Goals in low-income countries.

PubMed

Fryatt, Robert; Mills, Anne; Nordstrom, Anders

2010-01-30

Concern that underfunded and weak health systems are impeding the achievement of the health Millennium Development Goals in low-income countries led to the creation of a High Level Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems in September, 2008. This report summarises the key challenges faced by the Taskforce and its Working Groups. Working Group 1 examined the constraints to scaling up and costs. Challenges included: difficulty in generalisation because of scarce and context-specific health-systems knowledge; no consensus for optimum service-delivery approaches, leading to wide cost differences; no consensus for health benefits; difficulty in quantification of likely efficiency gains; and challenges in quantification of the financing gap owing to uncertainties about financial commitments for health. Working Group 2 reviewed the different innovative mechanisms for raising and channelling funds. Challenges included: variable definitions of innovative finance; small evidence base for many innovative finance mechanisms; insufficient experience in harmonisation of global health initiatives; and inadequate experience in use of international investments to improve maternal, newborn, and child health. The various mechanisms reviewed and finally recommended all had different characteristics, some focusing on specific problems and some on raising resources generally. Contentious issues included the potential role of the private sector, the rights-based approach to health, and the move to results-based aid. The challenges and disagreements that arose during the work of the Taskforce draw attention to the many issues facing decision makers in low-income countries. International donors and recipient governments should work together to improve the evidence base for strengthening health systems, increase long-term commitments, and improve accountability through transparent and inclusive national approaches. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Key terms for the assessment of the safety of vaccines in pregnancy: Results of a global consultative process to initiate harmonization of adverse event definitions.

PubMed

Munoz, Flor M; Eckert, Linda O; Katz, Mark A; Lambach, Philipp; Ortiz, Justin R; Bauwens, Jorgen; Bonhoeffer, Jan

2015-11-25

The variability of terms and definitions of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) represents a missed opportunity for optimal monitoring of safety of immunization in pregnancy. In 2014, the Brighton Collaboration Foundation and the World Health Organization (WHO) collaborated to address this gap. Two Brighton Collaboration interdisciplinary taskforces were formed. A landscape analysis included: (1) a systematic literature review of adverse event definitions used in vaccine studies during pregnancy; (2) a worldwide stakeholder survey of available terms and definitions; (3) and a series of taskforce meetings. Based on available evidence, taskforces proposed key terms and concept definitions to be refined, prioritized, and endorsed by a global expert consultation convened by WHO in Geneva, Switzerland in July 2014. Using pre-specified criteria, 45 maternal and 62 fetal/neonatal events were prioritized, and key terms and concept definitions were endorsed. In addition recommendations to further improve safety monitoring of immunization in pregnancy programs were specified. This includes elaboration of disease concepts into standardized case definitions with sufficient applicability and positive predictive value to be of use for monitoring the safety of immunization in pregnancy globally, as well as the development of guidance, tools, and datasets in support of a globally concerted approach. There is a need to improve the safety monitoring of immunization in pregnancy programs. A consensus list of terms and concept definitions of key events for monitoring immunization in pregnancy is available. Immediate actions to further strengthen monitoring of immunization in pregnancy programs are identified and recommended. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Comparisons of guardianship laws and surrogate decision-making practices in China, Japan, Thailand and Australia: a review by the Asia Consortium, International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA) capacity taskforce.

PubMed

Tsoh, Joshua; Peisah, Carmelle; Narumoto, Jin; Wongpakaran, Nahathai; Wongpakaran, Tinakon; O'Neill, Nick; Jiang, Tao; Ogano, Shoichi; Mimura, Masaru; Kato, Yuka; Chiu, Helen

2015-06-01

The International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA) capacity taskforce was established to promote the autonomy, proper access to care, and dignity of persons with decision-making disabilities (DMDs) across nations. The Asia Consortium of the taskforce was established to pursue these goals in the Asia-Pacific region. This paper is part of the Asia Consortium's initiative to promote understanding and advocacy in regard to surrogate decision-making across the region. The current guardianship laws are compared, and jurisdictional variations in the processes for proxy decision-making to support persons with DMDs and other health and social needs in China, Japan, Thailand, and Australia are explored. The different Asia-Pacific countries have various proxy decision-making mechanisms in place for persons with DMDs, which are both formalized according to common law, civil law, and other legislation, and shaped by cultural practices. Various processes for guardianship and mechanisms for medical decision-making and asset management exist across the region. Processes that are still evolving across the region include those that facilitate advanced planning as a result of the paucity of legal structures for enduring powers of attorney (EPA) and guardianship in some regions, and the struggle to achieve consensual positions in regard to end-of-life decision-making. Formal processes for supporting decision-making are yet to be developed. The diverse legal approaches to guardianship and administration must be understood to meet the challenges of the rapidly ageing population in the Asia-Pacific region. Commonalities in the solutions and difficulties faced in encountering these challenges have global significance.

Quantitative appraisal of the Amyloid Imaging Taskforce appropriate use criteria for amyloid-PET.

PubMed

Altomare, Daniele; Ferrari, Clarissa; Festari, Cristina; Guerra, Ugo Paolo; Muscio, Cristina; Padovani, Alessandro; Frisoni, Giovanni B; Boccardi, Marina

2018-04-18

We test the hypothesis that amyloid-PET prescriptions, considered appropriate based on the Amyloid Imaging Taskforce (AIT) criteria, lead to greater clinical utility than AIT-inappropriate prescriptions. We compared the clinical utility between patients who underwent amyloid-PET appropriately or inappropriately and among the subgroups of patients defined by the AIT criteria. Finally, we performed logistic regressions to identify variables associated with clinical utility. We identified 171 AIT-appropriate and 67 AIT-inappropriate patients. AIT-appropriate and AIT-inappropriate cases did not differ in any outcomes of clinical utility (P > .05). Subgroup analysis denoted both expected and unexpected results. The logistic regressions outlined the primary role of clinical picture and clinical or neuropsychological profile in identifying patients benefitting from amyloid-PET. Contrary to our hypothesis, also AIT-inappropriate prescriptions were associated with clinical utility. Clinical or neuropsychological variables, not taken into account by the AIT criteria, may help further refine criteria for appropriateness. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Mission of PROCINORTE’s Tropical and Subtropical Fruit Taskforce

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Canada, Mexico and United States are countries that share many interests in agricultural affairs. The three countries have been commercial partners for many years, and most recently they have been working under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) umbrella. The three countries are natural...

New Mexico Math Remediation Taskforce Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New Mexico Higher Education Department, 2016

2016-01-01

The Math Remediation Task Force is comprised of faculty from two-year, four-year comprehensive, and four-year flagship higher education institutions throughout the state of New Mexico. Its members have varying levels of experience with designing/implementing multiple math remediation programs including traditional, co-requisite and acceleration…

New Mexico Math Pathways Taskforce Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New Mexico Higher Education Department, 2016

2016-01-01

In April 2015 New Mexico faculty, Dana Center staff, and New Mexico Higher Education (NMHED) co-presented the need for better math pathways statewide. Faculty from 6 institutions (New Mexico State University, New Mexico Highlands University, Dine College, Eastern New Mexico University, El Paso Community College, and San Juan College) participated…

77 FR 70423 - State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-26

... STEAB Strategic Planning Subcommittee, and provide an update to the Board on routine business matters and other topics of interest, and follow-up on activities of the Weatherization Taskforce's meeting at... be made to include requested topic(s) on the agenda. The Chair of the Board is empowered to conduct...

Teacher-to-Parent Communication: Experimental Evidence from a Low-Cost Communication Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kraft, Matthew A.; Rogers, Todd

2014-01-01

A wide body of literature documents the important role that parents play in supporting children's academic success in school (Houtenville & Conway, 2008; Barnard, 2004; Fan & Chen, 2001). Drawing on this literature, national taskforces and federal legislation consistently identify increased parental involvement as a central goal of…

78 FR 49768 - Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993-Joint Task-Force...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-15

...; Peter Dare (Individual), Queensland, AUSTRALIA; CS Meyer, Inc., Grass Valley, CA; Devoncroft Partners, Coronado, CA; Dimension Data, Oberursel, GERMANY; Dimetis GmbH, Dietzenbach, GERMANY; DIRECTV, El Segundo..., San Mateo, CA; Grass Valley, San Francisco, CA; Harmonic Inc., Portland, OR; Harris Broadcast...

New Mexico English Remediation Taskforce Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New Mexico Higher Education Department, 2016

2016-01-01

In March, 2016, the state of New Mexico established a Remediation Task Force to examine remediation reform efforts across the state's higher education institutions. On March 11, the Task Force met for the "New Mexico Corequisite Remediation at Scale Policy Institute" in order to learn about the results of the latest national reform…

The Evolution of Assessment Policy: A View from Virginia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erwin, T. Dary; DeFilippo, Joseph G.

2010-01-01

A virtual tsunami of accountability policy proposals--from national taskforces, higher education organizations, the federal government, and others--has washed over higher education in recent years. Almost forgotten in this profusion of proposals is the role of the states, which have a large investment in student learning, and--in some cases--a…

A Statewide Decentralized Approach to Public School Reform: The Case of Career Ladders in Utah.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malen, Betty; Murphy, Michael J.

1985-01-01

In 1984, the Utah legislature enacted a career ladder bill encouraging all local districts to develop plans for restructuring teachers' compensation and promotion options. An independent, bipartisan taskforce then created a statewide, decentralized model that increases educators' power, minimizes merit and staff differentiation, and fosters…

An informatics approach to chronicling the history of IMIA.

PubMed

Kulikowski, Casimir A; McGrew, Charles

2013-01-01

With the 50th Anniversary of IMIA approaching in 2017, the IMIA Board approved the creation of a Taskforce for compiling materials and writing a history of the organization. As part of the work of the Taskforce, the authors have developed informatics tools, and begun collecting IMIA-related historical materials from its members, while soliciting participation and contributions from those involved in the early days of the organization and its predecessor IFIP-TC4. This poster describes the structure and preliminary contents of the media mining and presentation tools designed at Rutgers University for use by the IMIA History Editorial Board, being constituted to produce the 50th Anniversary publication, as well as an online archive of materials chronicling the evolution of IMIA. A major feature of the data repository is its ability to present different modalities of textual, visual and graphical (timelines, trends) summarizations for the IMIA document collection. It will be augmented with audio material, and will serve as an archival repository for historical research, including software tools for text analysis and extraction of the information entering into the 50th Anniversary volume.

The 50(th) Anniversary IMIA History of Medical Informatics Project.

PubMed

Kulikowski, Casimir A

2014-02-01

At the meeting of the IMIA Board in 2009 in Hiroshima, it approved an IMIA 50th Anniversary History Project to produce a historical volume and other materials to commemorate the anniversary of the foundation of the predecessor of IMIA-the IFIP-TC4 in 1967. A Taskforce was organized under the direction of Casimir Kulikowski, then the VP for Services of IMIA, and since that time it has met regularly to plan and implement the 50th Anniversary History of IMIA as an edited volume, and as material available online on a Media Presentation Database. The IMIA Taskforce is gathering IMIA-related archival materials, currently accessible through a prototype media repository at Rutgers University in order to help those contributing to the book or writing their own recollections and histories. The materials will support a chronicle of the development and evolution of IMIA, its contributors, its sponsored events and publications, educational and other professional activities. During 2013 Workshops were held at the Prague EFMI-STC meeting in April and at the MEDINFO 2013 Congress in Copenhagen in August.

Reducing the global burden of HTLV-1 infection: An agenda for research and action.

PubMed

Willems, Luc; Hasegawa, Hideki; Accolla, Roberto; Bangham, Charles; Bazarbachi, Ali; Bertazzoni, Umberto; Carneiro-Proietti, Anna Barbara de Freitas; Cheng, Hua; Chieco-Bianchi, Luigi; Ciminale, Vincenzo; Coelho-Dos-Reis, Jordana; Esparza, José; Gallo, Robert C; Gessain, Antoine; Gotuzzo, Eduardo; Hall, William; Harford, Joseph; Hermine, Olivier; Jacobson, Steven; Macchi, Beatrice; Macpherson, Calum; Mahieux, Renaud; Matsuoka, Masao; Murphy, Edward; Peloponese, Jean-Marie; Simon, Viviana; Tagaya, Yutaka; Taylor, Graham P; Watanabe, Toshiki; Yamano, Yoshihisa

2017-01-01

Even though an estimated 10-20 million people worldwide are infected with the oncogenic retrovirus, human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1), its epidemiology is poorly understood, and little effort has been made to reduce its prevalence. In response to this situation, the Global Virus Network launched a taskforce in 2014 to develop new methods of prevention and treatment of HTLV-1 infection and promote basic research. HTLV-1 is the etiological agent of two life-threatening diseases, adult T-cell leukemia and HTLV-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis, for which no effective therapy is currently available. Although the modes of transmission of HTLV-1 resemble those of the more familiar HIV-1, routine diagnostic methods are generally unavailable to support the prevention of new infections. In the present article, the Taskforce proposes a series of actions to expand epidemiological studies; increase research on mechanisms of HTLV-1 persistence, replication and pathogenesis; discover effective treatments; and develop prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An Examination of Current Adapted Physical Activity Provision in Primary and Special Schools in Ireland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crawford, Susan

2011-01-01

The Disability in Sport Taskforce report examining adapted physical activity (APA) in the Irish context (Department of Education and Science, 1999) found that teachers involved in primary mainstream and specialist settings expressed a grave lack of self-confidence, due to lack of training, in the delivery of APA programmes to children with special…

Standardization of pediatric uroradiological terms: a multidisciplinary European glossary.

PubMed

Vivier, Pierre-Hugues; Augdal, Thomas A; Avni, Fred E; Bacchetta, Justine; Beetz, Rolf; Bjerre, Anna K; Blickman, Johan; Cochat, Pierre; Coppo, Rosana; Damasio, Beatrice; Darge, Kassa; El-Ghoneimi, Alaa; Hoebeke, Piet; Läckgren, Göran; Leclair, Marc-David; Lobo, Maria-Luisa; Manzoni, Gianantonio; Marks, Stephen D; Mattioli, Girolamo; Mentzel, Hans-Joachim; Mouriquand, Pierre; Nevéus, Tryggve; Ntoulia, Aikaterini; Ording-Muller, Lil-Sofie; Oswald, Josef; Papadopoulou, Frederica; Porcellini, Gabriella; Ring, Ekkehard; Rösch, Wolfgang; Teixeira, Ana F; Riccabona, Michael

2018-02-01

To promote the standardization of nephro-uroradiological terms used in children, the European Society of Paediatric Radiology uroradiology taskforce wrote a detailed glossary. This work has been subsequently submitted to European experts in pediatric urology and nephrology for discussion and acceptance to improve the quality of radiological reports and communication between different clinicians involved in pediatric urology and nephrology.

Funding for English as a Second Language New Arrival Students. Schools Resourcing Taskforce Discussion Paper

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (NJ1), 2006

2006-01-01

At the 18th meeting of Ministerial Council on Education (MCEETYA) (12th-13th May 2005), Council urged the Australian Government to: (1) increase per capita assistance to ESL-NA students with high educational needs, in particular, refugees and humanitarian entrants; (2) provide a new per capita allocation so that specific ethnic and cultural issues…

National Data on Participation in VET in Schools Programs & School-Based New Apprenticeships for the 2004 School Year

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (NJ1), 2005

2005-01-01

Early in 2005, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) Taskforce on Transition from School collected data on vocational education and training (VET) in Schools from all States and Territories in the following areas: (1) number of students enrolled in VET in Schools programs; (2) industry coverage by…

Role of Religion in Organ Donation-Development of the United Kingdom Faith and Organ Donation Action Plan.

PubMed

Randhawa, G; Neuberger, J

2016-04-01

At a national policy level, the United Kingdom is at the forefront of recognizing the role of faith and its impact on organ donation. This is demonstrated by the recommendations of the Organ Donation Taskforce, National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines on organ donation, All-Party Parliamentary Kidney Group, and National Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Taskforce Alliance. Evidence to date shows that further thought is required to ensure the active engagement of faith communities with organ donation in the UK. The "Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020" strategy was launched in July 2013 by National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) in collaboration with the Department of Health and Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish governments and seeks to increase the number of people, from all sections of the UK's multiethnic and multifaith population, who consent to and authorize organ donation in their life. NHSBT seeks to work in partnership with faith leaders and this culminated in a Faith and Organ Donation Summit. Faith leaders highlight that there is a need for engagement at both national and local levels concerning organ donation as well as diagnosis and definition of death. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Antibiotic management of complicated intra-abdominal infections in adults: The Asian perspective

PubMed Central

Kurup, Asok; Liau, Kui-Hin; Ren, Jianan; Lu, Min-Chi; Navarro, Narciso S.; Farooka, Muhammad Waris; Usman, Nurhayat; Destura, Raul V.; Sirichindakul, Boonchoo; Tantawichien, Terapong; Lee, Christopher K.C.; Solomkin, Joseph S.

2014-01-01

Regional epidemiological data and resistance profiles are essential for selecting appropriate antibiotic therapy for intra-abdominal infections (IAIs). However, such information may not be readily available in many areas of Asia and current international guidelines on antibiotic therapy for IAIs are for Western countries, with the most recent guidance for the Asian region dating from 2007. Therefore, the Asian Consensus Taskforce on Complicated Intra-Abdominal Infections (ACT-cIAI) was convened to develop updated recommendations for antibiotic management of complicated IAIs (cIAIs) in Asia. This review article is based on a thorough literature review of Asian and international publications related to clinical management, epidemiology, microbiology, and bacterial resistance patterns in cIAIs, combined with the expert consensus of the Taskforce members. The microbiological profiles of IAIs in the Asian region are outlined and compared with Western data, and the latest available data on antimicrobial resistance in key pathogens causing IAIs in Asia is presented. From this information, antimicrobial therapies suitable for treating cIAIs in patients in Asian settings are proposed in the hope that guidance relevant to Asian practices will prove beneficial to local physicians managing IAIs. PMID:25568794

Critical Care Organizations: Business of Critical Care and Value/Performance Building.

PubMed

Leung, Sharon; Gregg, Sara R; Coopersmith, Craig M; Layon, A Joseph; Oropello, John; Brown, Daniel R; Pastores, Stephen M; Kvetan, Vladimir

2018-01-01

New, value-based regulations and reimbursement structures are creating historic care management challenges, thinning the margins and threatening the viability of hospitals and health systems. The Society of Critical Care Medicine convened a taskforce of Academic Leaders in Critical Care Medicine on February 22, 2016, during the 45th Critical Care Congress to develop a toolkit drawing on the experience of successful leaders of critical care organizations in North America for advancing critical care organizations (Appendix 1). The goal of this article was to provide a roadmap and call attention to key factors that adult critical care medicine leadership in both academic and nonacademic setting should consider when planning for value-based care. Relevant medical literature was accessed through a literature search. Material published by federal health agencies and other specialty organizations was also reviewed. Collaboratively and iteratively, taskforce members corresponded by electronic mail and held monthly conference calls to finalize this report. The business and value/performance critical care organization building section comprised of leaders of critical care organizations with expertise in critical care administration, healthcare management, and clinical practice. Two phases of critical care organizations care integration are described: "horizontal," within the system and regionalization of care as an initial phase, and "vertical," with a post-ICU and postacute care continuum as a succeeding phase. The tools required for the clinical and financial transformation are provided, including the essential prerequisites of forming a critical care organization; the manner in which a critical care organization can help manage transformational domains is considered. Lastly, how to achieve organizational health system support for critical care organization implementation is discussed. A critical care organization that incorporates functional clinical horizontal and vertical integration for ICU patients and survivors, aligns strategy and operations with those of the parent health system, and encompasses knowledge on finance and risk will be better positioned to succeed in the value-based world.

IOTF thresholds for overweight and obesity and their relation to metabolic risk in children (EarlyBird 20).

PubMed

Voss, L D; Metcalf, B S; Jeffery, A N; Wilkin, T J

2006-04-01

The International Obesity TaskForce has published paediatric cutoffs from the age of 2 years for overweight and obesity, based on adult thresholds. We question their rationale. The adult cutoffs were based on known health risk; the children's were not. Data from the EarlyBird Study show that BMI category for overweight and obesity in young children are poor markers of insulin resistance and, by implication, of metabolic risk and diabetes. Moreover, BMI is known to track poorly from early childhood to adulthood. We know even less about the tracking of insulin resistance and other indices of metabolic risk from the earliest years. Until we understand more about which children acquire such risk factors, any such thresholds for overweight and obesity should be used with caution in the very young, as they may unnecessarily stigmatise the heavier child.

Alcohol policy reform in Australia: what can we learn from the evidence?

PubMed

Doran, Christopher M; Hall, Wayne D; Shakeshaft, Anthony P; Vos, Theo; Cobiac, Linda J

2010-04-19

Alcohol consumption is a major risk factor contributing to the burden of disease in Australia. The National Preventative Health Taskforce recommends the long-term goal of reshaping Australia's drinking culture to produce healthier and safer outcomes. A study of the cost-effectiveness of interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm in Australia suggests that policymakers could achieve over 10 times the health gain if they reallocated the current level of investment. The optimal package of interventions identified in the study comprises, in order of cost-effectiveness, volumetric taxation, advertising bans, an increase in the minimum legal drinking age to 21 years, brief intervention by primary care practitioners, licensing controls, a drink-driving mass media campaign, and random breath testing. Australia has a window of opportunity to significantly expand activities to reduce alcohol-related harm. It is important that federal and state governments take this opportunity to reform alcohol policy in Australia.

Adherence to oral cancer therapy in older adults: The International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) taskforce recommendations.

PubMed

Mislang, Anna Rachelle; Wildes, Tanya M; Kanesvaran, Ravindran; Baldini, Capucine; Holmes, Holly M; Nightingale, Ginah; Coolbrandt, Annemarie; Biganzoli, Laura

2017-06-01

There is an increasing trend towards using oral systemic therapy in patients with cancer. Compared to parenteral therapy, oral cancer agents offer convenience, have similar efficacy, and are preferred by patients, consequently making its use appealing in older adults. However, adherence is required to ensure its efficacy and to avoid compromising treatment outcomes, especially when the treatment goal is curative, or in case of symptomatic/rapidly progressing disease, where dose-intensity is important. This opens a new challenge for clinicians, as optimizing patient adherence is challenging, particularly due to lack of consensus and scarcity of available clinical evidence. This manuscript aims to review the impact of age-related factors on adherence, summarize the evidence on adherence, recommend methods for selecting patients suitable for oral cancer agents, and advise monitoring interventions to promote adherence to treatment. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Standardization of pediatric uroradiological terms: A multidisciplinary European glossary.

PubMed

Vivier, Pierre-Hugues; Augdal, Thomas A; Avni, Fred E; Bacchetta, Justine; Beetz, Rolf; Bjerre, Anna K; Blickman, Johan; Cochat, Pierre; Coppo, Rosana; Damasio, Beatrice; Darge, Kassa; El-Ghoneimi, Alaa; Hoebeke, Piet; Läckgren, Göran; Leclair, Marc-David; Lobo, Maria-Luisa; Manzoni, Gianantonio; Marks, Stephen D; Mattioli, Girolamo; Mentzel, Hans-Joachim; Mouriquand, Pierre; Nevéus, Tryggve; Ntoulia, Aikaterini; Ording-Muller, Lil-Sofie; Oswald, Josef; Papadopoulou, Frederica; Porcellini, Gabriella; Ring, Ekkehard; Rösch, Wolfgang; Teixeira, Ana F; Riccabona, Michael

2017-12-01

To promote the standardization of nephro-uroradiological terms used in children, the European Society of Pediatric Radiology uroradiology taskforce wrote a detailed glossary. This work has been subsequently submitted to European experts in pediatric urology and nephrology for discussion and acceptance to improve the quality of radiological reports and communication among different clinicians involved in pediatric urology and nephrology. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Immigration Enforcement Within the United States

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-04-06

Domestic Social Policy Division Report Documentation Page Form ApprovedOMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for the collection of information is...interior enforcement lack a border component. For example, fugitive taskforces, investigations of alien slavery and sweatshops , and employer sanctions do...for changing social norms. 38 The definition of aggravated felony (defined in INA §101(a)(43)) includes over 50 types of crimes. In addition, an alien

[The "Green Brigades" task-force. Description and practical information].

PubMed

Taillon, A

1995-11-01

The General Rhône Council has set up a new task force, the "Green Brigades", which reflects awareness that the environment can serve as a means towards social and professional reinsertion. The field of activity is maintenance of open spaces on sites that are cleaned up on behalf of local authorities: removal of bulky matter, renovation of banks and riverbeds, clearing or making of footpaths, etc.

China’s Peaceful Rise

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-20

existential war on several fronts offers the U.S. military a strong opportunity to protect its dwindling budget. 14 Glaser. 15 See Zheng Bijian, “China’s...off [the] Somali coast, [and to ensure] the safety of ships carrying humanistic materials of such international organisations as the World Food...Programme [;] and, if the need arises, the taskforce will jointly conduct humanistic rescue operations with the escorting ships of other countries.” 26

International Society for Quality of Life Research commentary on the draft European Medicines Agency reflection paper on the use of patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures in oncology studies.

PubMed

Kyte, Derek; Reeve, Bryce B; Efficace, Fabio; Haywood, Kirstie; Mercieca-Bebber, Rebecca; King, Madeleine T; Norquist, Josephine M; Lenderking, William R; Snyder, Claire; Ring, Lena; Velikova, Galina; Calvert, Melanie

2016-02-01

In 2014, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) released for comment a draft reflection paper on the use of patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures in oncology studies. A twelve-member International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL) taskforce was convened to coordinate the ISOQOL response. Twenty-one ISOQOL members provided detailed comments and suggestions on the paper: 81 % from academia and 19 % from industry. Taskforce members consolidated and further refined these comments and shared the recommendations with the wider ISOQOL membership. A final response was submitted to the EMA in November 2014. The impending publication of the EMA reflection paper presents a valuable opportunity for ISOQOL to comment on the current direction of EMA PRO guidance and strategy. The EMA paper, although focused on cancer, could serve as a model for using PROs in other conditions, as it provides a useful update surrounding some of the design issues common to all trial research including PRO endpoints. However, we believe there are a number of additional areas in need of greater consideration. The purpose of this commentary is therefore to highlight the strengths of this timely and potentially useful document, but also to outline areas that may warrant further discussion.

Supervisory Control of a Humanoid Robot in Microgravity for Manipulation Tasks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Farrell, Logan C.; Strawser, Phil; Hambuchen, Kimberly; Baker, Will; Badger, Julia

2017-01-01

Teleoperation is the dominant form of dexterous robotic tasks in the field. However, there are many use cases in which direct teleoperation is not feasible such as disaster areas with poor communication as posed in the DARPA Robotics Challenge, or robot operations on spacecraft a large distance from Earth with long communication delays. Presented is a solution that combines the Affordance Template Framework for object interaction with TaskForce for supervisory control in order to accomplish high level task objectives with basic autonomous behavior from the robot. TaskForce, is a new commanding infrastructure that allows for optimal development of task execution, clear feedback to the user to aid in off-nominal situations, and the capability to add autonomous verification and corrective actions. This framework has allowed the robot to take corrective actions before requesting assistance from the user. This framework is demonstrated with Robonaut 2 removing a Cargo Transfer Bag from a simulated logistics resupply vehicle for spaceflight using a single operator command. This was executed with 80% success with no human involvement, and 95% success with limited human interaction. This technology sets the stage to do any number of high level tasks using a similar framework, allowing the robot to accomplish tasks with minimal to no human interaction.

Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Roadmap Taskforce Report, Design of Microprocessors

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-04-01

through on time. Hence, the study is not a crystal-ball- gazing exercise, but a rigorous, schedulable plan of action to attain the goal. NTRS97...formats so as not to impose too heavy a maintenance burden on their users Object Interfaces eliminate these problems: • A tool that binds the interface ...and User Interface - Design Tool Communication - EDA System Extension Language - EDA Standards- Based Software Development Environment - Design and

A Leadership and Managerial Competency Framework for Public Hospital Managers in Vietnam

PubMed Central

Van Tuong, Phan; Duc Thanh, Nguyen

2017-01-01

Objective The aim of this paper was to develop a leadership and managerial competency framework for public hospital managers in Vietnam. Methods This mixed-method study used a four-step approach. The first step was a position description content analysis to identify the tasks hospital managers are required to carry out. The resulting data were used to identify the leadership and managerial competency factors and items in the second step. In the third step, a workshop was organized to reach consensus about the validity of these competency factors and items. Finally, a quantitative survey was conducted across a sample of 891 hospital managers who are working in the selected hospitals in seven geographical regions in Vietnam to validate the competency scales using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbach's alpha. Results The study identified a number of tasks required for public hospital managers and confirmed the competencies for implementing these tasks effectively. Four dimensions with 14 components and 81 items of leadership and managerial competencies were identified. These components exhibited 83.8% of variance and Cronbach's alpha were at good level of 0.9. Conclusions These competencies are required for public hospital managers which provide guidance to the further development of the competency-based training for the current management taskforce and preparing future hospital managers. PMID:29546227

A Leadership and Managerial Competency Framework for Public Hospital Managers in Vietnam.

PubMed

Van Tuong, Phan; Duc Thanh, Nguyen

2017-01-01

The aim of this paper was to develop a leadership and managerial competency framework for public hospital managers in Vietnam. This mixed-method study used a four-step approach. The first step was a position description content analysis to identify the tasks hospital managers are required to carry out. The resulting data were used to identify the leadership and managerial competency factors and items in the second step. In the third step, a workshop was organized to reach consensus about the validity of these competency factors and items. Finally, a quantitative survey was conducted across a sample of 891 hospital managers who are working in the selected hospitals in seven geographical regions in Vietnam to validate the competency scales using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbach's alpha. The study identified a number of tasks required for public hospital managers and confirmed the competencies for implementing these tasks effectively. Four dimensions with 14 components and 81 items of leadership and managerial competencies were identified. These components exhibited 83.8% of variance and Cronbach's alpha were at good level of 0.9. These competencies are required for public hospital managers which provide guidance to the further development of the competency-based training for the current management taskforce and preparing future hospital managers.

The Taskforce 2000 survey on medical education in sleep and sleep disorders.

PubMed

Rosen, R; Mahowald, M; Chesson, A; Doghramji, K; Goldberg, R; Moline, M; Millman, R; Zammit, G; Mark, B; Dement, W

1998-05-01

Previous research has shown evidence of a widening gap between scientific research and clinical teaching in sleep and sleep disorders. To address the deficiencies in current medical education in sleep, the Taskforce 2000 was established by the American Sleep Disorders Association. The present study was undertaken to assess the teaching activities, needs and interests of the membership of the two largest professional sleep societies (American Sleep Disorders Association and Sleep Research Society). Survey instruments included a brief, 5-item postcard survey, which was mailed to all members, followed by an in-depth, 34-item questionnaire, which was completed by 158 respondents from the intitial postcard survey (N = 808). Results indicated that the majority of respondents (65.2%) are currently involved in teaching sleep to medical students or postgraduate trainees, although the average amount of teaching time was only 2.1 hours for undergraduate and 4.8 hours for graduate education in sleep. Teaching of sleep laboratory procedures and clinical evaluation of sleep-disordered patients is limited at either an undergraduate or postgraduate level. The major deficiencies noted were the lack of time in the medical curriculum and the need for better resources and teaching facilities. A large majority of respondents indicated their willingness to be involved in sleep education for physicians, and rated this a high priority for the professional organization.

The AAS Taskforce on Diversity and Inclusion in Graduate Education: a Proposed White Paper

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rudolph, Alexander L.

2018-06-01

At the January 2017 AAS meeting in Texas, the AAS Council approved the creation of a Graduate Education Taskforce focusing on Diversity and Inclusion. This task force is conducting a review of practices in recruiting, admissions, and retention in PhD programs in astronomy (including astronomy programs in departments of physics and astronomy). It is also engaging the broader astronomical community and selected outside experts in diversity in STEM in a discussion of best practices in these activities, with the goal of promoting diversity (race/ethnicity, gender, LGBTQ+, disability status, etc.) and inclusion in astronomy PhD programs. Building on the Nashville Recommendations from the Inclusive Astronomy 2015 meeting, the task force is developing a set of specific recommendations with the aim of endorsement by the AAS, in parallel with a campaign to get them adopted by astronomy departments. Finally, the task force will suggest and push adoption of a set of permanent measurements to be collected by the AAS to track progress on these goals. There is a separate special session at this meeting intended to report on the task force’s progress and to solicit community input on its draft recommendations to date.This presentation will give a brief overview of the task force's charge and activities and their plans to turn their final report into a White Paper for the Decadal Survey.

Incorporating BEAMing technology as a liquid biopsy into clinical practice for the management of colorectal cancer patients: an expert taskforce review.

PubMed

García-Foncillas, J; Alba, E; Aranda, E; Díaz-Rubio, E; López-López, R; Tabernero, J; Vivancos, A

2017-12-01

The importance of mutation identification for advanced colorectal cancer treatment with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor agents is well established. However, due to delays in turnaround time, low-quality tissue samples, and/or lack of standardization of testing methods a significant proportion of patients are being treated without the information that Kirsten rat sarcoma and neuroblastoma rat sarcoma (RAS) testing can provide. The detection of mutated circulating tumor DNA by BEAMing technology addresses this gap in care and allows these patients to receive international guideline-recommended expanded RAS testing with rapid turnaround times. Furthermore, the overall concordance between OncoBEAM RAS colorectal cancer testing and standard of care tissue testing is very high (93.3%). This article presents an overview of the clinical utility and potential applications of this minimally invasive method, such as early detection of emergent resistance to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor therapy. If appropriately implemented, BEAMing technology holds considerable promise to enhance the quality of patient care and improve clinical outcomes. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology.

A consensus approach to the classification of pediatric pulmonary hypertensive vascular disease: Report from the PVRI Pediatric Taskforce, Panama 2011

PubMed Central

del Cerro, Maria Jesus; Abman, Steven; Diaz, Gabriel; Freudenthal, Alexandra Heath; Freudenthal, Franz; Harikrishnan, S.; Haworth, Sheila G.; Ivy, Dunbar; Lopes, Antonio A.; Raj, J. Usha; Sandoval, Julio; Stenmark, Kurt; Adatia, Ian

2011-01-01

Current classifications of pulmonary hypertension have contributed a great deal to our understanding of pulmonary vascular disease, facilitated drug trials, and improved our understanding of congenital heart disease in adult survivors. However, these classifications are not applicable readily to pediatric disease. The classification system that we propose is based firmly in clinical practice. The specific aims of this new system are to improve diagnostic strategies, to promote appropriate clinical investigation, to improve our understanding of disease pathogenesis, physiology and epidemiology, and to guide the development of human disease models in laboratory and animal studies. It should be also an educational resource. We emphasize the concepts of perinatal maladaptation, maldevelopment and pulmonary hypoplasia as causative factors in pediatric pulmonary hypertension. We highlight the importance of genetic, chromosomal and multiple congenital malformation syndromes in the presentation of pediatric pulmonary hypertension. We divide pediatric pulmonary hypertensive vascular disease into 10 broad categories. PMID:21874158

Opening

ScienceCinema

Bruning, Oliver

2018-05-23

Overview of the operation and upgrade plans for the machine. Upgrade studies and taskforces. The Chamonix 2010 discussions led to five new task forces: planning for a long shut down in 2012 for splice consolidation; long term consolidation planning for the injector complex; SPS upgrade task force (accelerated program for SPS upgrade); PSB upgrade and its implications for the PS (e.g. radiation etc.); LHC High Luminosity project (investigate planning for ONE upgrade by 2018-2020); Launch of a dedicated study for doubling the beam energy in the LHC->HE-LHC.

Singapore Paediatric Resuscitation Guidelines 2016.

PubMed

Ong, Gene Yong Kwang; Chan, Irene Lai Yeen; Ng, Agnes Suah Bwee; Chew, Su Yah; Mok, Yee Hui; Chan, Yoke Hwee; Ong, Jacqueline Soo May; Ganapathy, Sashikumar; Ng, Kee Chong

2017-07-01

We present the revised 2016 Singapore paediatric resuscitation guidelines. The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation's Pediatric Taskforce Consensus Statements on Science and Treatment Recommendations, as well as the updated resuscitation guidelines from the American Heart Association and European Resuscitation Council released in October 2015, were debated and discussed by the workgroup. The final recommendations for the Singapore Paediatric Resuscitation Guidelines 2016 were derived after carefully reviewing the current available evidence in the literature and balancing it with local clinical practice. Copyright: © Singapore Medical Association.

An Analysis of Section 529 College Savings and Prepaid Tuition Plans. A Report Prepared by the Department of Treasury for the White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of the Treasury, 2009

2009-01-01

Making college education more affordable is a central goal of the Obama Administration and has been a focus of Vice-President Biden's Taskforce on the Middle Class. To that end, the Task Force asked U.S. Treasury Department to prepare this report on how to make Section 529 college savings plans a more effective and reliable tool for families to…

Vested interests in addiction research and policy. Alcohol industry use of social aspect public relations organizations against preventative health measures.

PubMed

Miller, Peter G; de Groot, Florentine; McKenzie, Stephen; Droste, Nicolas

2011-09-01

It has been proposed that alcohol industry 'social aspects/public relations' organizations (SAPROs) serve the agenda of lending credibility to industry claims of corporate responsibility while promoting ineffective industry-friendly interventions (such as school-based education or TV advertising campaigns) and creating doubt about interventions which have a strong evidence base (such as higher taxes on alcoholic beverages). This paper investigated whether submissions to Australia's National Preventative Health Taskforce (NPHT) from alcohol industry bodies regarding the Australian SAPRO, Drinkwise, have used this organization to demonstrate corporate responsibility while promoting industry-friendly interventions. Submissions to the Australian National Preventative Health Taskforce (NPHT) discussion paper Australia, the healthiest country by 2020 (n = 375) were examined to identify those with primary alcohol content. A thematic analysis of the resulting 33 submissions was conducted to determine which organization, institution or individual discussed Drinkwise. Australia. Nine of the 33 submissions discussed Drinkwise; all were submitted by the alcohol industry or its affiliates. Every industry submission referred to Drinkwise either as providing evidence of social responsibility or by suggesting the industry-friendly actions of Drinkwise as alternatives to those recommended by the NPHT report. Drinkwise has been used by the alcohol industry to create an impression of social responsibility while promoting interventions that maintain profits and campaigning against effective interventions such as higher taxes on alcohol. © 2011 The Authors, Addiction © 2011 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Impact of a National Controlled Donation After Circulatory Death (DCD) Program on Organ Donation in the United Kingdom: A 10-Year Study.

PubMed

Hodgson, R; Young, A L; Attia, M A; Lodge, J P A

2017-12-01

Organ transplantation is the most successful treatment for some forms of organ failure, yet a lack of organs means many die on the waiting list. In the United Kingdom, the Organ Donation Taskforce was set up to identify barriers to organ donation and in 2008 released its first report (Organ Donation Taskforce Report; ODTR). This study assesses the success since the ODTR and examines the impact of the United Kingdom's controlled donation after circulatory death (DCD) program and the controversies surrounding it. There were 12 864 intended donation after brain death (DBD) or DCD donors from April 2004 to March 2014. When the 5 years preceding the ODTR was compared to the 5 years following, intended DCD donors increased 292% (1187 to 4652), and intended DBD donors increased 11% (3327 to 3698). Organs retrieved per intended DBD donor remained static (3.30 to 3.26), whereas there was a decrease in DCD (1.54 to 0.99) due to a large rise in donors who did not proceed to donation (325 to 2464). The majority of DCD donors who proceeded did so within 30 min from time of withdrawal. Our study suggests further work on converting eligible referrals to organ donation and exploring methods of converting DCD to DBD donors. © 2017 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

[eLearning-radiology.com--sustainability for quality assurance].

PubMed

Ketelsen, D; Talanow, R; Uder, M; Grunewald, M

2009-04-01

The aim of the study was to analyze the availability of published radiological e-learning tools and to establish a solution for quality assurance. Substantial pubmed research was performed to identify radiological e-learning tools. 181 e-learning programs were selected. As examples two databases expanding their programs with external links, Compare (n = 435 external links) and TNT-Radiology (n = 1078 external links), were evaluated. A concept for quality assurance was developed by an international taskforce. At the time of assessment, 56.4 % (102 / 181) of the investigated e-learning tools were accessible at their original URL. A subgroup analysis of programs published 5 to 8 years ago showed significantly inferior availability to programs published 3 to 5 years ago (p < 0.01). The analysis of external links showed 49.2 % and 61.0 % accessible links for the programs Compare (published 2003) and TNT-Radiology (published 2006), respectively. As a consequence, the domain www.eLearning-radiology.com was developed by the taskforce and published online. This tool allows authors to present their programs and users to evaluate the e-learning tools depending on several criteria in order to remove inoperable links and to obtain information about the complexity and quality of the e-learning tools. More than 50 % of investigated radiological e-learning tools on the Internet were not accessible after a period of 5 to 8 years. As a consequence, an independent, international tool for quality assurance was designed and published online under www.eLearning-radiology.com .

Neurophysiological localisation of ulnar neuropathy at the elbow: Validation of diagnostic criteria developed by a taskforce of the Danish Society of clinical neurophysiology.

PubMed

Pugdahl, K; Beniczky, S; Wanscher, B; Johnsen, B; Qerama, E; Ballegaard, M; Benedek, K; Juhl, A; Ööpik, M; Selmar, P; Sønderborg, J; Terney, D; Fuglsang-Frederiksen, A

2017-11-01

This study validates consensus criteria for localisation of ulnar neuropathy at elbow (UNE) developed by a taskforce of the Danish Society of Clinical Neurophysiology and compares them to the existing criteria from the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM). The Danish criteria are based on combinations of conduction slowing in the segments of the elbow and forearm expressed in Z-scores, and difference between the segments in m/s. Examining fibres to several muscles and sensory fibres can increase the certainty of the localisation. Diagnostic accuracy for UNE was evaluated on 181 neurophysiological studies of the ulnar nerve from 171 peer-reviewed patients from a mixed patient-group. The diagnostic reference standard was the consensus diagnosis based on all available clinical, laboratory, and electrodiagnostic information reached by a group of experienced Danish neurophysiologists. The Danish criteria had high specificity (98.4%) and positive predictive value (PPV) (95.2%) and fair sensitivity (76.9%). Compared to the AANEM criteria, the Danish criteria had higher specificity (p<0.001) and lower sensitivity (p=0.02). The Danish consensus criteria for UNE are very specific and have high PPV. The Danish criteria for UNE are reliable and well suited for use in different centres as they are based on Z-scores. Copyright © 2017 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Higher maternal education is associated with favourable growth of young children in different countries

PubMed Central

Lakshman, Rajalakshmi; Zhang, Jing; Zhang, Jianduan; Koch, Felix S; Marcus, Claude; Ludvigsson, Johnny; Ong, Ken K; Sobko, Tanja

2013-01-01

Background Childhood growth affects long-term health and could contribute to health inequalities that persist throughout life. Methods We compared growth data of 4-6 year old children born 1997-2002 in UK (n=15,168), Sweden (n=6,749) and rural China (n=10,327). Standard deviation scores (SDS) were calculated against the WHO Standard. Obesity and overweight were defined by International Obesity Taskforce cut-offs, and stunting, underweight and thinness by height, weight or BMI < −2 SDS. Associations with maternal education were standardised by calculating the Slope Index of Inequality (SII). Results Mean SDS height, weight and BMI in UK (−0.01; 0.42; 0.62, respectively) and Sweden (0.45; 0.59; 0.45) were higher than in China (−0.98, −0.82, −0.29). Higher maternal education was consistently associated with taller offspring height SDS (SII: UK 0.25; Sweden 0.17; China 1.06). Underweight and stunting were less common in UK (prevalence: 0.6% and 2.2%, respectively) and Sweden (0.3% and 0.6%) than in China (9.5% and 16.4%), where these outcomes were inversely associated with maternal education (SII: −25.8% and −12.7%). Obesity prevalence in UK, Sweden and China was 4.8%, 3.7% and 0.4%, respectively. Maternal education was inversely associated with offspring obesity in UK (SII: −3.3%) and Sweden (−2.8%), but not in China (+0.3%). Conclusions Higher maternal education was associated with more favourable growth in young children: lower obesity and overweight in UK and Sweden, and lower stunting and underweight in rural China. Public health strategies to optimize growth in early childhood need to acknowledge socioeconomic factors, but possibly with a different emphasis in different settings. PMID:23450064

Higher maternal education is associated with favourable growth of young children in different countries.

PubMed

Lakshman, Rajalakshmi; Zhang, Jing; Zhang, Jianduan; Koch, Felix S; Marcus, Claude; Ludvigsson, Johnny; Ong, Ken K; Sobko, Tanja

2013-07-01

Childhood growth affects long-term health and could contribute to health inequalities that persist throughout life. We compared growth data of 4-year-old to 6-year-old children born 1997-2002 in UK (n=15,168), Sweden (n=6749) and rural China (n=10,327). SD scores (SDS) were calculated against the WHO Growth Standard. Obesity and overweight were defined by the International Obesity Taskforce cut-offs, and stunting, underweight and thinness by height, weight or body mass index (BMI)<-2 SDS. Associations with maternal education were standardised by calculating the Slope Index of Inequality (SII). Mean SDS height, weight and BMI in the UK (-0.01, 0.42, 0.62, respectively) and Sweden (0.45, 0.59, 0.45) were higher than in China (-0.98, -0.82, -0.29). Higher maternal education was consistently associated with taller offspring height SDS (SII: UK 0.25; Sweden 0.17; China 1.06). Underweight and stunting were less common in the UK (prevalence: 0.6% and 2.2%, respectively) and Sweden (0.3% and 0.6%) than in China (9.5% and 16.4%), where these outcomes were inversely associated with maternal education (SII: -25.8% and -12.7%). Obesity prevalence in the UK, Sweden and China was 4.8%, 3.7% and 0.4%, respectively. Maternal education was inversely associated with offspring obesity in the UK (SII: -3.3%) and Sweden (-2.8%), but not in China (+0.3%). Higher maternal education was associated with more favourable growth in young children: lower obesity and overweight in the UK and Sweden, and lower stunting and underweight in rural China. Public health strategies to optimise growth in early childhood need to acknowledge socioeconomic factors, but possibly with a different emphasis in different settings.

A Framework of Care in Multiple Sclerosis, Part 2

PubMed Central

Aliotta, Philip J.; Bainbridge, Jacquelyn; Bennett, Susan E.; Cutter, Gary; Fenton, Kaylan; Lublin, Fred; Northrop, Dorothy; Rintell, David; Walker, Bryan D.; Weigel, Megan; Zackowski, Kathleen; Jones, David E.

2017-01-01

Abstract The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) convened a Framework Taskforce composed of a multidisciplinary group of clinicians and researchers to examine and evaluate the current models of care in multiple sclerosis (MS). The methodology of this project included analysis of a needs assessment survey and an extensive literature review. The outcome of this work is a two-part continuing education series of articles. Part 1, published previously, covered the updated disease phenotypes of MS along with recommendations for the use of disease-modifying therapies. Part 2, presented herein, reviews the variety of symptoms and potential complications of MS. Mobility impairment, spasticity, pain, fatigue, bladder/bowel/sexual dysfunction, cognitive dysfunction, and neuropsychiatric issues are examined, and both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions are described. Because bladder and bowel symptoms substantially affect health-related quality of life, detailed information about elimination dysfunction is provided. In addition, a detailed discussion about mental health and cognitive dysfunction in people with MS is presented. Part 2 concludes with a focus on the role of rehabilitation in MS. The goal of this work is to facilitate the highest levels of independence or interdependence, function, and quality of life for people with MS. PMID:28243186

Building an ethical organizational culture.

PubMed

Nelson, William A; Taylor, Emily; Walsh, Thom

2014-01-01

The success of a health care institution-as defined by delivering high-quality, high-value care, positive patient outcomes, and financial solvency-is inextricably tied to the culture within that organization. The ability to achieve and sustain alignment between its mission, values, and everyday practices defines a positive organizational culture. An institution that has a diminished organizational culture, reflected in the failure to consistently align management and clinical decisions and practices with its mission and values, will struggle. The presence of misalignment or of ethics gaps affects the quality of care being delivered, the morale of the staff, and the organization's image in the community. Transforming an organizational culture will provide a foundation for success and a framework for daily ethics-grounded operations in any organization. However, building an ethics-grounded organization is a challenging process requiring strong organization leadership and planning. Using a case study, the authors provide a multiyear, continuous step-by-step strategy consisting of identifying ethics culture gaps, establishing an ethics taskforce, clarifying and prioritizing the problems, developing strategy for change, implementing the strategy, and evaluating outcomes. This process will assist organizations in aligning its actions with its mission and values, to find success on all fronts.

Value of systematic intervention for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a regional Japanese city based on case detection rate and medical cost.

PubMed

Tawara, Yuichi; Senjyu, Hideaki; Tanaka, Kenichiro; Tanaka, Takako; Asai, Masaharu; Kozu, Ryo; Tabusadani, Mitsuru; Honda, Sumihisa; Sawai, Terumitsu

2015-01-01

We established a COPD taskforce for early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and intervention. We implemented a pilot intervention with a prospective and longitudinal design in a regional city. This study evaluates the usefulness of the COPD taskforce and intervention based on COPD case detection rate and per capita medical costs. We distributed a questionnaire to all 8,878 inhabitants aged 50-89 years, resident in Matsuura, Nagasaki Prefecture in 2006. Potentially COPD-positive persons received a pulmonary function test and diagnosis. We implemented ongoing detection, examination, education, and treatment interventions, performed follow-up examinations or respiratory lessons yearly, and supported the health maintenance of each patient. We compared COPD medical costs in Matsuura and in the rest of Nagasaki Prefecture using data from 2004 to 2013 recorded by the association of Nagasaki National Health Insurance Organization, assessing 10-year means and annual change. As of 2014, 256 people have received a definitive diagnosis of COPD; representing 31% of the estimated total number of COPD patients. Of the cases detected, 87.5% were mild or moderate in severity. COPD medical costs per patient in Matsuura were significantly lower than the rest of Nagasaki Prefecture, as was rate of increase in cost over time. The COPD program in Matsuura enabled early detection and treatment of COPD patients and helped to lower the associated burden of medical costs. The success of this program suggests that a similar program could reduce the economic and human costs of COPD morbidity throughout Japan.

Integration of Cognitive Skills as a Cross-Cutting Theme Into the Undergraduate Medical Curriculum at Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

PubMed

Soltani, Akbar; Allaa, Maryam; Moosapour, Hamideh; Aletaha, Azadeh; Shahrtash, Farzaneh; Monajemi, Alireza; Arastoo, Tohid; Ahmadinejad, Maryam; Mirzazadeh, Azim; Khabaz Mafinejad, Mahboobeh

2017-01-01

Nowadays, improvement of thinking skills of students is one of the universally supported aims in the majority of medical schools. This study aims to design longitudinal theme of reasoning, problem-solving and decision-making into the undergraduate medical curriculum at Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). A participatory approach was applied to design the curriculum during 2009-2011. The project was conducted by the contribution of representatives of both basic and clinical faculty members, students and graduates at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The first step toward integrating cognitive skills into the curriculum was to assemble a taskforce of different faculty and students, including a wide variety of fields with multidisciplinary expertise using nonprobability sampling and the snowball method. Several meetings with the contribution of experts and some medical students were held to generate the draft of expected outcomes. Subsequently, the taskforce also determined what content would fit best into each phase of the program and what teaching and assessment methods would be more appropriate for each outcome. After a pilot curriculum with a small group of second-year medical students, we implemented this program for all first-year students since 2011 at TUMS. Based on findings, the teaching of four areas, including scientific and critical thinking skills (Basic sciences), problem-solving and reasoning (Pathophysiology), evidence-based medicine (Clerkship), and clinical decision-making (Internship) were considered in the form of a longitudinal theme. The results of this study could be utilized as a useful pattern for integration of psycho-social subjects into the medical curriculum.

[Using cancer case identification algorithms in medico-administrative databases: Literature review and first results from the REDSIAM Tumors group based on breast, colon, and lung cancer].

PubMed

Bousquet, P-J; Caillet, P; Coeuret-Pellicer, M; Goulard, H; Kudjawu, Y C; Le Bihan, C; Lecuyer, A I; Séguret, F

2017-10-01

The development and use of healthcare databases accentuates the need for dedicated tools, including validated selection algorithms of cancer diseased patients. As part of the development of the French National Health Insurance System data network REDSIAM, the tumor taskforce established an inventory of national and internal published algorithms in the field of cancer. This work aims to facilitate the choice of a best-suited algorithm. A non-systematic literature search was conducted for various cancers. Results are presented for lung, breast, colon, and rectum. Medline, Scopus, the French Database in Public Health, Google Scholar, and the summaries of the main French journals in oncology and public health were searched for publications until August 2016. An extraction grid adapted to oncology was constructed and used for the extraction process. A total of 18 publications were selected for lung cancer, 18 for breast cancer, and 12 for colorectal cancer. Validation studies of algorithms are scarce. When information is available, the performance and choice of an algorithm are dependent on the context, purpose, and location of the planned study. Accounting for cancer disease specificity, the proposed extraction chart is more detailed than the generic chart developed for other REDSIAM taskforces, but remains easily usable in practice. This study illustrates the complexity of cancer detection through sole reliance on healthcare databases and the lack of validated algorithms specifically designed for this purpose. Studies that standardize and facilitate validation of these algorithms should be developed and promoted. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

The WHO UNESCO FIP Pharmacy Education Taskforce

PubMed Central

Anderson, Claire; Bates, Ian; Beck, Diane; Brock, Tina Penick; Futter, Billy; Mercer, Hugo; Rouse, Mike; Whitmarsh, Sarah; Wuliji, Tana; Yonemura, Akemi

2009-01-01

Pharmacists' roles are evolving from that of compounders and dispensers of medicines to that of experts on medicines within multidisciplinary health care teams. In the developing country context, the pharmacy is often the most accessible or even the sole point of access to health care advice and services. Because of their knowledge of medicines and clinical therapeutics, pharmacists are suitably placed for task shifting in health care and could be further trained to undertake functions such as clinical management and laboratory diagnostics. Indeed, pharmacists have been shown to be willing, competent, and cost-effective providers of what the professional literature calls "pharmaceutical care interventions"; however, internationally, there is an underuse of pharmacists for patient care and public health efforts. A coordinated and multifaceted effort to advance workforce planning, training and education is needed in order to prepare an adequate number of well-trained pharmacists for such roles. Acknowledging that health care needs can vary across geography and culture, an international group of key stakeholders in pharmacy education and global health has reached unanimous agreement that pharmacy education must be quality-driven and directed towards societal health care needs, the services required to meet those needs, the competences necessary to provide these services and the education needed to ensure those competences. Using that framework, this commentary describes the Pharmacy Education Taskforce of the World Health Organization, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Pharmaceutical Federation Global Pharmacy and the Education Action Plan 2008–2010, including the foundation, domains, objectives and outcome measures, and includes several examples of current activities within this scope. PMID:19500351

Revisiting the NIH Taskforce on the Research needs of Eosinophil-Associated Diseases (RE-TREAD).

PubMed

Khoury, Paneez; Akuthota, Praveen; Ackerman, Steven J; Arron, Joseph R; Bochner, Bruce S; Collins, Margaret H; Kahn, Jean-Emmanuel; Fulkerson, Patricia C; Gleich, Gerald J; Gopal-Srivastava, Rashmi; Jacobsen, Elizabeth A; Leiferman, Kristen M; Francesca, Levi-Schaffer; Mathur, Sameer K; Minnicozzi, Michael; Prussin, Calman; Rothenberg, Marc E; Roufosse, Florence; Sable, Kathleen; Simon, Dagmar; Simon, Hans-Uwe; Spencer, Lisa A; Steinfeld, Jonathan; Wardlaw, Andrew J; Wechsler, Michael E; Weller, Peter F; Klion, Amy D

2018-04-19

Eosinophil-associated diseases (EADs) are rare, heterogeneous disorders characterized by the presence of eosinophils in tissues and/or peripheral blood resulting in immunopathology. The heterogeneity of tissue involvement, lack of sufficient animal models, technical challenges in working with eosinophils, and lack of standardized histopathologic approaches have hampered progress in basic research. Additionally, clinical trials and drug development for rare EADs are limited by the lack of primary and surrogate endpoints, biomarkers, and validated patient-reported outcomes. Researchers with expertise in eosinophil biology and eosinophil-related diseases reviewed the state of current eosinophil research, resources, progress, and unmet needs in the field since the 2012 meeting of the NIH Taskforce on the Research of Eosinophil-Associated Diseases (TREAD). RE-TREAD focused on gaps in basic science, translational, and clinical research on eosinophils and eosinophil-related pathogenesis. Improved recapitulation of human eosinophil biology and pathogenesis in murine models was felt to be of importance. Characterization of eosinophil phenotypes, the role of eosinophil subsets in tissues, identification of biomarkers of eosinophil activation and tissue load, and a better understanding of the role of eosinophils in human disease were prioritized. Finally, an unmet need for tools for use in clinical trials was emphasized. Histopathologic scoring, patient- and clinician-reported outcomes, and appropriate coding were deemed of paramount importance for research collaborations, drug development, and approval by regulatory agencies. Further exploration of the eosinophil genome, epigenome, and proteome was also encouraged. Although progress has been made since 2012, unmet needs in eosinophil research remain a priority. ©2018 Society for Leukocyte Biology.

Assessing Climate Vulnerabilities of Food Distribution Center Sites in Greater Boston and Their Regional Implications: Climate Adaptation Planning in Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teferra, A.; Watson, C.; Douglas, E. M.

2016-12-01

The Metro Boston region, an area whose civic leaders have been at the forefront of climate resilience initiatives in recent years, is finalizing a flood vulnerability assessment of food distribution center sites located north of Boston, with the support of the University of Massachusetts Boston and the American Geophysical Union's Thriving Earth Exchange program. The community-scientist collaboration emerged because of the need for more local analyses of the area to inform climate resiliency policy and planning actions for the region. A significant amount of the metro region's food supply passes through two major distribution centers in the cities of Everett and Chelsea, just north of the Mystic River. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), on behalf of the Metro Boston Climate Preparedness Taskforce, is working with Chris Watson and Ellen Douglas of UMass Boston to build on existing analyses of the region's food system and climate vulnerabilities and to develop a report identifying flood risk exposure to the sites. The analysis brings in dynamic modeling techniques that incorporate storm surge and sea level rise projections under different climate scenarios, and aims to align methodologies with those of other regional analyses, such as Climate Ready Boston and the City of Cambridge's Vulnerability Assessment. The study is helping to inform MAPC's and the Metro Boston Climate Preparedness Taskforce's understanding of this critical food distribution infrastructure, illustrate the larger regional implications of climate impacts on food distribution in the Greater Boston area, and guide the development of site-specific strategies for addressing identified vulnerabilities.

Standards for definitions and use of outcome measures for clinical effectiveness research in perioperative medicine: European Perioperative Clinical Outcome (EPCO) definitions: a statement from the ESA-ESICM joint taskforce on perioperative outcome measures.

PubMed

Jammer, Ib; Wickboldt, Nadine; Sander, Michael; Smith, Andrew; Schultz, Marcus J; Pelosi, Paolo; Leva, Brigitte; Rhodes, Andrew; Hoeft, Andreas; Walder, Bernhard; Chew, Michelle S; Pearse, Rupert M

2015-02-01

There is a need for large trials that test the clinical effectiveness of interventions in the field of perioperative medicine. Clinical outcome measures used in such trials must be robust, clearly defined and patient-relevant. Our objective was to develop standards for the use of clinical outcome measures to strengthen the methodological quality of perioperative medicine research. A literature search was conducted using PubMed and opinion leaders worldwide were invited to nominate papers that they believed the group should consider. The full texts of relevant articles were reviewed by the taskforce members and then discussed to reach a consensus on the required standards. The report was then circulated to opinion leaders for comment and review. This report describes definitions for 22 individual adverse events with a system of severity grading for each. In addition, four composite outcome measures were identified, which were designed to evaluate postoperative outcomes. The group also agreed on standards for four outcome measures for the evaluation of healthcare resource use and quality of life. Guidance for use of these outcome measures is provided, with particular emphasis on appropriate duration of follow-up. This report provides clearly defined and patient-relevant outcome measures for large clinical trials in perioperative medicine. These outcome measures may also be of use in clinical audit. This report is intended to complement and not replace other related work to improve assessment of clinical outcomes following specific surgical procedures.

TREatment of ATopic eczema (TREAT) Registry Taskforce: protocol for an international Delphi exercise to identify a core set of domains and domain items for national atopic eczema registries.

PubMed

Gerbens, Louise A A; Boyce, Aaron E; Wall, Dmitri; Barbarot, Sebastien; de Booij, Richard J; Deleuran, Mette; Middelkamp-Hup, Maritza A; Roberts, Amanda; Vestergaard, Christian; Weidinger, Stephan; Apfelbacher, Christian J; Irvine, Alan D; Schmitt, Jochen; Williamson, Paula R; Spuls, Phyllis I; Flohr, Carsten

2017-02-27

Patients with moderate-to-severe atopic eczema (AE) often require photo- or systemic immunomodulatory therapies to induce disease remission and maintain long-term control. The current evidence to guide clinical management is small, despite the frequent and often off-label use of these treatments. Registries of patients on photo- and systemic immunomodulatory therapies could fill this gap, and the collection of a core set concerning these therapies in AE will allow direct comparisons across registries as well as data sharing and pooling. Using an eDelphi approach, the international TREatment of ATopic eczema (TREAT) Registry Taskforce aims to seek consensus between key stakeholders internationally on a core set of domains and domain items for AE patient registries with a research focus that collect data of children and adults on photo- and systemic immunomodulatory therapies. Participants from six stakeholder groups will be invited: doctors, nurses, non-clinical researchers, patients, as well as industry and regulatory body representatives. The eDelphi will comprise three sequential online rounds, requesting participants to rate the importance of each proposed domain and domain items. Participants will be able to add domains and domain items to the proposed list in round 1. A final consensus meeting will be held with representatives of each stakeholder group. Identifying a uniform core set of domains and domain items to be captured by AE patient registries will increase the utility of individual registries, and provide greater insight into the effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of photo- and systemic immunomodulatory therapies to guide clinical management across dermatology centres and country borders. Not applicable. This eDelphi study was registered in the Core Outcome Measures for Effectiveness Trials (COMET) database.

Critical Care Organizations: Building and Integrating Academic Programs.

PubMed

Moore, Jason E; Oropello, John M; Stoltzfus, Daniel; Masur, Henry; Coopersmith, Craig M; Nates, Joseph; Doig, Christopher; Christman, John; Hite, R Duncan; Angus, Derek C; Pastores, Stephen M; Kvetan, Vladimir

2018-04-01

Academic medical centers in North America are expanding their missions from the traditional triad of patient care, research, and education to include the broader issue of healthcare delivery improvement. In recent years, integrated Critical Care Organizations have developed within academic centers to better meet the challenges of this broadening mission. The goal of this article was to provide interested administrators and intensivists with the proper resources, lines of communication, and organizational approach to accomplish integration and Critical Care Organization formation effectively. The Academic Critical Care Organization Building section workgroup of the taskforce established regular monthly conference calls to reach consensus on the development of a toolkit utilizing methods proven to advance the development of their own academic Critical Care Organizations. Relevant medical literature was reviewed by literature search. Materials from federal agencies and other national organizations were accessed through the Internet. The Society of Critical Care Medicine convened a taskforce entitled "Academic Leaders in Critical Care Medicine" on February 22, 2016 at the 45th Critical Care Congress using the expertise of successful leaders of advanced governance Critical Care Organizations in North America to develop a toolkit for advancing Critical Care Organizations. Key elements of an academic Critical Care Organization are outlined. The vital missions of multidisciplinary patient care, safety, and quality are linked to the research, education, and professional development missions that enhance the value of such organizations. Core features, benefits, barriers, and recommendations for integration of academic programs within Critical Care Organizations are described. Selected readings and resources to successfully implement the recommendations are provided. Communication with medical school and hospital leadership is discussed. We present the rationale for critical care programs to transition to integrated Critical Care Organizations within academic medical centers and provide recommendations and resources to facilitate this transition and foster Critical Care Organization effectiveness and future success.

American Society of Functional Neuroradiology-Recommended fMRI Paradigm Algorithms for Presurgical Language Assessment.

PubMed

Black, D F; Vachha, B; Mian, A; Faro, S H; Maheshwari, M; Sair, H I; Petrella, J R; Pillai, J J; Welker, K

2017-10-01

Functional MR imaging is increasingly being used for presurgical language assessment in the treatment of patients with brain tumors, epilepsy, vascular malformations, and other conditions. The inherent complexity of fMRI, which includes numerous processing steps and selective analyses, is compounded by institution-unique approaches to patient training, paradigm choice, and an eclectic array of postprocessing options from various vendors. Consequently, institutions perform fMRI in such markedly different manners that data sharing, comparison, and generalization of results are difficult. The American Society of Functional Neuroradiology proposes widespread adoption of common fMRI language paradigms as the first step in countering this lost opportunity to advance our knowledge and improve patient care. A taskforce of American Society of Functional Neuroradiology members from multiple institutions used a broad literature review, member polls, and expert opinion to converge on 2 sets of standard language paradigms that strike a balance between ease of application and clinical usefulness. The taskforce generated an adult language paradigm algorithm for presurgical language assessment including the following tasks: Sentence Completion, Silent Word Generation, Rhyming, Object Naming, and/or Passive Story Listening. The pediatric algorithm includes the following tasks: Sentence Completion, Rhyming, Antonym Generation, or Passive Story Listening. Convergence of fMRI language paradigms across institutions offers the first step in providing a "Rosetta Stone" that provides a common reference point with which to compare and contrast the usefulness and reliability of fMRI data. From this common language task battery, future refinements and improvements are anticipated, particularly as objective measures of reliability become available. Some commonality of practice is a necessary first step to develop a foundation on which to improve the clinical utility of this field. © 2017 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

Past and future weather-induced risk in crop production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, J. W.; Glotter, M.; Russo, T. A.; Sahoo, S.; Foster, I.; Benton, T.; Mueller, C.

2016-12-01

Drought-induced agricultural loss is one of the most costly impacts of extreme weather and may harm more people than any other consequence of climate change. Improvements in farming practices have dramatically increased crop productivity, but yields today are still tightly linked to climate variation. We report here on a number of recent studies evaluating extreme event risk and impacts under historical and near future conditions, including studies conducted as part of the Agricultural Modeling Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP), the Inter-Sectoral Impacts Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP) and the UK-US Taskforce on Extreme Weather and Global Food System Resilience.

A novel concept for integrating and delivering health information using a comprehensive digital dashboard: An analysis of healthcare professionals' intention to adopt a new system and the trend of its real usage.

PubMed

Lee, Keehyuck; Jung, Se Young; Hwang, Hee; Yoo, Sooyoung; Baek, Hyun Young; Baek, Rong-Min; Kim, Seok

2017-01-01

To introduce a new concept of medical dashboard system called BESTBoard. Such a system was implemented in all wards in a tertiary academic hospital to explore the development process, core designs, functions, usability and feasibility. The task-force team made user interface designs for 6 months based on a need analysis. Hardware configuration and software development was carried out for 3 months. We conducted a survey of 383 physicians and nurses to determine the usability and feasibility of the system. In March 2012, the system was installed in all wards, including the intensive care units, emergency rooms, operation rooms, and even delivery rooms. Healthcare professionals had access to all information of EHRs optimized for a large 55-inch touchscreen. The satisfaction rate of BESTBoard users was high, with a mean of 3.3 points. Voluntary users tended to consider BESTBoard as a good system that is useful for team round visits, interdisciplinary team approach, and collecting the status of the hospital rooms. Elderly users didn't tend to think of BESTBoard as a useful tool for interdisciplinary team approach and collecting the status of the hospital rooms. Greater expectations regarding work performance affected the users' attitudes positively. A positive attitude toward using the system resulted in consistent real usage and health care professionals' satisfaction with the new dashboard system. A new concept of hospital dashboard system proved to be feasible and useful in delivering health information to healthcare professionals. A positive attitude and an expectation regarding work performance were important factors for intention to use the system. This finding can serve for developing new systems to present health information effectively. Further studies will be needed to evaluate the extent to which BESTBoard can have a positive impact on clinical care outcomes and work performance. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Hysteroscopic sterilization: 10-year retrospective analysis of worldwide pregnancy reports.

PubMed

Munro, M G; Nichols, J E; Levy, B; Vleugels, M P H; Veersema, S

2014-01-01

To identify factors that might contribute to pregnancies reported after hysteroscopic sterilization worldwide. Retrospective review of commercial data compiled from the MAUDE database, medical literature, and manufacturer reports received during commercial distribution of hysteroscopic sterilization micro-inserts from 2001 through 2010 (Canadian Taskforce classification III descriptive study). From 2001 through 2010, 497 305 hysteroscopic sterilization kits were distributed worldwide, and 748 pregnancies were reported, i.e., 0.15% of the estimated user population based on the number of distributed kits. The data were sufficient to enable analysis of 508 pregnancies for potential contributing factors and showed most to be associated with patient or physician noncompliance (n = 264) or misinterpreted confirmation tests (n = 212). Conceptions deemed to have occurred within 2 weeks of the procedure and therefore too early for detection were identified in 32 cases. Although there are limitations to the dataset and the study design is retrospective, it represents the largest body of cumulative hysteroscopic sterilization data available to date. Of the 748 pregnancies reported, it is apparent that some might have been prevented with greater patient and clinician attention to interim contraceptive use and counseling and with more rigorous evaluation and informed interpretation of the procedure confirmation tests. Although the estimated pregnancy rate based on such a dataset is likely an underestimation, it does suggest that the evaluable field performance of hysteroscopic sterilization micro-inserts is consistent with the labeled age-adjusted effectiveness of 99.74% at 5 years. Copyright © 2014 AAGL. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Clinical Research and Development of Tuberculosis Diagnostics: Moving From Silos to Synergy

PubMed Central

Kim, Peter S.; Evans, Carlton A.; Alland, David; Barer, Michael; Diefenbach, Jane; Ellner, Jerrold; Hafner, Richard; Hamilton, Carol Dukes; Iademarco, Michael F.; Ireton, Gregory; Kimerling, Michael E.; Lienhardt, Christian; MacKenzie, William R.; Murray, Megan; Perkins, Mark D.; Posey, Jamie E.; Roberts, Teri; Sizemore, Christine; Stevens, Wendy S.; Via, Laura; Williams, Sharon D.; Yew, Wing W.; Swindells, Susan

2012-01-01

The development, evaluation, and implementation of new and improved diagnostics have been identified as critical needs by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis researchers and clinicians alike. These needs exist in international and domestic settings and in adult and pediatric populations. Experts in tuberculosis and HIV care, researchers, healthcare providers, public health experts, and industry representatives, as well as representatives of pertinent US federal agencies (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, United States Agency for International Development) assembled at a workshop proposed by the Diagnostics Working Group of the Federal Tuberculosis Taskforce to review the state of tuberculosis diagnostics development in adult and pediatric populations. PMID:22476718

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Gary E.; Thom, Ronald M.; Whiting, Allan H.

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), in coordination with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) and NOAA Fisheries, originated this project (BPA Project No. 2002-076; Contract No. DE-AC06-76RL01830, Release No. 652-24). Their intent was to develop a useful habitat restoration plan for the lower Columbia River and estuary to help guide restoration efforts and fulfill Reasonable and Prudent Alternative Action 159 of the 2000 National Marine Fisheries Service Biological Opinion on operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System. This document focuses on salmon habitat, although its ecosystem-based approach necessarily affects other species as well. Salmon habitat restoration ismore » best undertaken within the context of other biota and physical processes using an ecosystem perspective. The anticipated audience for the plan includes entities responsible for, interested in, or affected by habitat restoration in the lower Columbia River and estuary. Timeframes to apply this plan extend from the immediate (2003-2004) to the near-term (2005-2006) to the long-term (2007 and beyond). We anticipate and encourage that the plan be revised as new knowledge and experience are attained. A team comprised of the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST), the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership (Estuary Partnership), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) wrote this document. The BPA and the COE, as the responsible Action Agencies, provided technical oversight. The Estuary Partnership's Science Work Group, NOAA Fisheries Habitat Conservation Division, Northwest Power Planning Council (NPPC) staff, and state and tribal fisheries management agencies reviewed drafts. The Independent Scientific Advisory Board of the NPPC reviewed and commented on the 90% draft. Revisions were incorporated into the final draft document subsequently released for public review. Extensive efforts were made to ensure a sound technical and policy basis and to solicit input from all interested parties.« less

EULAR definition of arthralgia suspicious for progression to rheumatoid arthritis.

PubMed

van Steenbergen, Hanna W; Aletaha, Daniel; Beaart-van de Voorde, Liesbeth J J; Brouwer, Elisabeth; Codreanu, Catalin; Combe, Bernard; Fonseca, João E; Hetland, Merete L; Humby, Frances; Kvien, Tore K; Niedermann, Karin; Nuño, Laura; Oliver, Sue; Rantapää-Dahlqvist, Solbritt; Raza, Karim; van Schaardenburg, Dirkjan; Schett, Georg; De Smet, Liesbeth; Szücs, Gabriella; Vencovský, Jirí; Wiland, Piotr; de Wit, Maarten; Landewé, Robert L; van der Helm-van Mil, Annette H M

2017-03-01

During the transition to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) many patients pass through a phase characterised by the presence of symptoms without clinically apparent synovitis. These symptoms are not well-characterised. This taskforce aimed to define the clinical characteristics of patients with arthralgia who are considered at risk for RA by experts based on their clinical experience. The taskforce consisted of 18 rheumatologists, 1 methodologist, 2 patients, 3 health professionals and 1 research fellow. The process had three phases. In phase I, a list of parameters considered characteristic for clinically suspect arthralgia (CSA) was derived; the most important parameters were selected by a three-phased Delphi approach. In phase II, the experts evaluated 50 existing patients on paper, classified them as CSA/no-CSA and indicated their level of confidence. A provisional set of parameters was derived. This was studied for validation in phase III, where all rheumatologists collected patients with and without CSA from their outpatient clinics. The comprehensive list consisted of 55 parameters, of which 16 were considered most important. A multivariable model based on the data from phase II identified seven relevant parameters: symptom duration <1 year, symptoms of metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints, morning stiffness duration ≥60 min, most severe symptoms in early morning, first-degree relative with RA, difficulty with making a fist and positive squeeze test of MCP joints. In phase III, the combination of these parameters was accurate in identifying patients with arthralgia who were considered at risk of developing RA (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.92, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.96). Test characteristics for different cut-off points were determined. A set of clinical characteristics for patients with arthralgia who are at risk of progression to RA was established. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Bring Hidden Hazards to the Publics Attention, Understanding, and Informed Decision by Coordinating Federal Education Initiatives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niepold, F.; Karsten, J. L.; Wei, M.; Jadin, J.

2010-12-01

In the 2010 National Research Council’s America’s Climate Choices’ report on Informing Effective Decisions and Actions Related to Climate Change concluded; “Education and communication are among the most powerful tools the nation has to bring hidden hazards to public attention, understanding, and action.” They conclude that the “current and future students, the broader public, and policymakers need to understand the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to climate change, develop scientific thinking and problem-solving skills, and improve their ability to make informed decisions.” The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) works to integrate the climate related activities of these different agencies, with oversight from the Office of Science and Technology Policy and other White House offices. USGCRP’s focus is now on evaluating optimal strategies for addressing climate change risks, improving coordination among the Federal agencies, engaging stakeholders (including national policy leaders and local resource managers) on the research results to all and improving public understanding and decision-making related to global change. Implicit to these activities is the need to educate the public about the science of climate change and its consequences, as well as coordinate Federal investments related to climate change education. In a broader sense, the implementation of the proposed Interagency Taskforce on Climate Change Communication and Education will serve the evolving USGCRP mandates around cross-cutting, thematic elements, as recommended by the National Research Council (NRC, 2009) and the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Revised Research Plan: An update to the 2003 Strategic Plan (USGCRP, 2008), to help the Federal government “capitalize on its investments and aid in the development of increased climate literacy for the Nation.” This session will update the participants on the work to date and the near term coordinated plans of the proposed Interagency Taskforce on Climate Change Communication and Education.

TREatment of ATopic eczema (TREAT) Registry Taskforce: An international Delphi exercise to identify a core set of domains and domain items for national atopic eczema photo- and systemic therapy registries.

PubMed

Gerbens, L A A; Apfelbacher, C J; Irvine, A D; Barbarot, S; de Booij, R J; Boyce, A E; Deleuran, M; Eichenfield, L F; Hof, M H; Middelkamp-Hup, M A; Roberts, A; Schmitt, J; Vestergaard, C; Wall, D; Weidinger, S; Williamson, P R; Flohr, C; Spuls, P I

2018-05-15

Evidence of immunomodulatory therapies to guide clinical management for atopic eczema (AE) is scarce, despite frequent and often off-label use. Patient registries provide valuable evidence for the effects of treatments under real world conditions which can inform treatment guidelines, give the opportunity for health economic evaluation and the evaluation of quality of care, as well as pharmacogenetic and -dynamic research which cannot be adequately addressed in clinical trials. The TREatment of ATopic eczema (TREAT) Registry Taskforce aims to seek international consensus on a core set of domains and items ('what to measure') for AE research registries, using a Delphi approach. Participants from six stakeholder groups were included: doctors, nurses, non-clinical researchers, patients, industry and regulatory body representatives. The eDelphi comprised 3 sequential online rounds, requesting participants to rate the importance of each proposed domain item. Participants could add domain items to the proposed list in round 1. A final consensus meeting was held to ratify the core set. 479 participants from 36 countries accessed the eDelphi platform, of whom 86%, 79% and 74% completed rounds 1, 2, and 3 respectively. At the face-to-face consensus meeting attended by 42 participants the final core set was established containing 19 domains with 69 domain items (49 baseline and 20 follow-up items). This core set of domains and items to be captured by national AE systemic therapy registries will standardise data collection and thereby allow direct comparability across registries and facilitate data pooling between countries. Ultimately, it will provide greater insight into the effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of photo- and systemic immunomodulatory therapies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Surgery in ovarian cancer - Brazilian Society of Surgical Oncology consensus.

PubMed

Tsunoda, Audrey Tieko; Ribeiro, Reitan; Reis, Rosilene Jara; Andrade, Carlos Eduardo Mattos da Cunha; Marques, Renato Moretti; Baiocchi, Glauco; Fin, Fabio; Zanvettor, Paulo Henrique; Falcao, Deraldo; Batista, Thales Paulo; Azevedo, Bruno Roberto Braga; Guitmann, Gustavo; Pessini, Suzana Arenhart; Nunes, João Soares; Campbell, Leonardo Martins; Linhares, José Clemente; Coimbra, Felipe José Fernandez

2018-06-14

Surgical management in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) has a significant impact in overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS). Brazilian Society of Surgical Oncology (BSSO) supported a taskforce with experts for consensus: experienced and specialized trained surgeons, in cancer centers, provide the best EOC surgery. Laparoscopic and/or radiological staging prognosticate the possibility of complete cytoreduction (CC0) and help to reduce unnecessary laparotomies. Surgical techniques were reviewed. Multidisciplinary input is essential for treatment planning. Quality assurance criteria are proposed and need national consensus. Genetic testing is mandatory. This consensus states the final recommendations from BSSO for management of EOC. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Work Stress as a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease.

PubMed

Kivimäki, Mika; Kawachi, Ichiro

2015-09-01

The role of psychosocial work stress as a risk factor for chronic disease has been the subject of considerable debate. Many researchers argue in support of a causal connection while others remain skeptical and have argued that the effect on specific health conditions is either negligible or confounded. This review of evidence from over 600,000 men and women from 27 cohort studies in Europe, the USA and Japan suggests that work stressors, such as job strain and long working hours, are associated with a moderately elevated risk of incident coronary heart disease and stroke. The excess risk for exposed individuals is 10-40 % compared with those free of such stressors. Differences between men and women, younger versus older employees and workers from different socioeconomic backgrounds appear to be small, indicating that the association is robust. Meta-analyses of a wider range of health outcomes show additionally an association between work stress and type 2 diabetes, though not with common cancers or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, suggesting outcome specificity. Few studies have addressed whether mitigation of work stressors would reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. In view of the limited interventional evidence on benefits, harms and cost-effectiveness, definitive recommendations have not been made (e.g. by the US Preventive Services Taskforce) for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease via workplace stress reduction. Nevertheless, governments are already launching healthy workplace campaigns, and preventing excessive work stress is a legal obligation in several countries. Promoting awareness of the link between stress and health among both employers and workers is an important component of workplace health promotion.

Training the Scientific Workforce: Does Funding Mechanism Matter?

PubMed Central

Blume-Kohout, Margaret E.; Adhikari, Dadhi

2016-01-01

A National Institutes of Health (NIH) taskforce recently recommended decreasing the number of graduate students supported on research assistantships, and instead favoring traineeship and fellowship funding mechanisms. Using instrumental variables estimation with survey data collected from U.S. PhD-granting biomedical sciences departments and their newly-minted PhDs, we find that increases in these programs’ NIH-funded traineeships and fellowships do significantly increase programs’ total graduate enrollments, particularly of female students. However, PhDs who were funded primarily as research assistants are significantly more likely to take research-focused jobs in the U.S. scientific workforce after they graduate, as compared to PhDs who were primarily supported as trainees or fellows. The suggested policy changes thus may have unintended, negative consequences for scientific workforce participation. PMID:28461709

Is Laughing at the Expense of Victims and Offenders a Red Flag? Humor and Secondary Traumatic Stress.

PubMed

Craun, Sarah W; Bourke, Michael L

2015-01-01

Those who work with human trauma often use humor to handle job stressors. Research has demonstrated that lighthearted humor is related to lower secondary traumatic stress scores, while gallows humor has the inverse relationship. This work explores how three types of humor relate to secondary traumatic stress: (a) humor at the expense of victims, (b) humor at the expense of offenders, and (c) humor containing sexual innuendo. Internet crimes against children taskforce personnel completed questionnaires about secondary traumatic stress and coping techniques. Humor at the expense of victims was rarely used, but when it was, it was indicative of higher secondary traumatic stress. There were no relationships between secondary traumatic stress and the use of humor at the expense of offenders or humor containing sexual innuendo.

Development of a Peer Teaching-Assessment Program and a Peer Observation and Evaluation Tool

PubMed Central

Trujillo, Jennifer M.; Barr, Judith; Gonyeau, Michael; Van Amburgh, Jenny A.; Matthews, S. James; Qualters, Donna

2008-01-01

Objectives To develop a formalized, comprehensive, peer-driven teaching assessment program and a valid and reliable assessment tool. Methods A volunteer taskforce was formed and a peer-assessment program was developed using a multistep, sequential approach and the Peer Observation and Evaluation Tool (POET). A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency and practicality of the process and to establish interrater reliability of the tool. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated. Results ICCs for 8 separate lectures evaluated by 2-3 observers ranged from 0.66 to 0.97, indicating good interrater reliability of the tool. Conclusion Our peer assessment program for large classroom teaching, which includes a valid and reliable evaluation tool, is comprehensive, feasible, and can be adopted by other schools of pharmacy. PMID:19325963

Gynecologic Cancer Disparities: a Report from the Health Disparities Taskforce of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology

PubMed Central

Collins, Yvonne; Holcomb, Kevin; Chapman-Davis, Eloise; Khabele, Dineo; Farley, John H.

2014-01-01

Objectives To review the extent of health disparities in gynecologic cancer care and outcomes and to propose recommendations to help counteract the disparities. Methods We searched the electronic databases PubMed and the Cochrane Library. We included studies demonstrating quantifiable differences by race and ethnicity in the incidence, treatment, and survival of gynecologic cancers in the United States (US). Most studies relied on retrospective data. We focused on differences between Black and White women, because of the limited number of studies on non-Black women. Results White women have a higher incidence of ovarian cancer compared to Black women. However, the all-cause ovarian cancer mortality in Black women is 1.3 times higher than that of White women. Endometrial and cervical cancer mortality in Black women is twice that of White women. The etiology of these disparities is multifaceted. However, much of the evidence suggests that equal care leads to equal outcomes for Black women diagnosed with gynecologic cancers. Underlying molecular factors may play an additional role in aggressive tumor biology and endometrial cancer disparities. Conclusion Gynecologic cancer disparities exist between Black and White women. The literature is limited by the lack of large prospective trials and adequate numbers of non-Black racial and ethnic groups. We conclude with recommendations for continued research and a multifaceted approach to eliminate gynecologic cancer disparities. PMID:24406291

A psychometric investigation of the hypersexual disorder screening inventory among highly sexually active gay and bisexual men: an item response theory analysis.

PubMed

Parsons, Jeffrey T; Rendina, H Jonathon; Ventuneac, Ana; Cook, Karon F; Grov, Christian; Mustanski, Brian

2013-12-01

The Hypersexual Disorder Screening Inventory (HDSI) was designed as an instrument for the screening of hypersexuality by the American Psychiatric Association's taskforce for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Our study sought to conduct a psychometric analysis of the HDSI, including an investigation of its underlying structure and reliability utilizing item response theory (IRT) modeling, and an examination of its polythetic scoring criteria in comparison to a standard dimensionally based cutoff score. We examined a diverse group of 202 highly sexually active gay and bisexual men in New York City. We conducted psychometric analyses of the HDSI, including both confirmatory factor analysis of its structure and IRT analysis of the item and scale reliabilities. We utilized the HDSI. The HDSI adequately fit a single-factor solution, although there was evidence that two of the items may measure a second factor that taps into sex as a form of coping. The scale showed evidence of strong reliability across much of the continuum of hypersexuality, and results suggested that, in addition to the proposed polythetic scoring criteria, a cutoff score of 20 on the severity index might be used for preliminary classification of HD. The HDSI was found to be highly reliable, and results suggested that a unidimensional, quantitative conception of hypersexuality with a clinically relevant cutoff score may be more appropriate than a qualitative syndrome comprised of multiple distinct clusters of problems. However, we also found preliminary evidence that three clusters of symptoms may constitute an HD syndrome as opposed to the two clusters initially proposed. Future research is needed to determine which of these issues are characteristic of the hypersexuality and HD constructs themselves and which are more likely to be methodological artifacts of the HDSI. © 2013 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

Stability of the Associations between Early Life Risk Indicators and Adolescent Overweight over the Evolving Obesity Epidemic

PubMed Central

Graversen, Lise; Sørensen, Thorkild I. A.; Petersen, Liselotte; Sovio, Ulla; Kaakinen, Marika; Sandbæk, Annelli; Laitinen, Jaana; Taanila, Anja; Pouta, Anneli

2014-01-01

Background Pre- and perinatal factors and preschool body size may help identify children developing overweight, but these factors might have changed during the development of the obesity epidemic. Objective We aimed to assess the associations between early life risk indicators and overweight at the age of 9 and 15 years at different stages of the obesity epidemic. Methods We used two population-based Northern Finland Birth Cohorts including 4111 children born in 1966 (NFBC1966) and 5414 children born in 1985–1986 (NFBC1986). In both cohorts, we used the same a priori defined prenatal factors, maternal body mass index (BMI), birth weight, infant weight (age 5 months and 1 year), and preschool BMI (age 2–5 years). We used internal references in early childhood to define percentiles of body size (<50, 50–75, 75–90 and >90) and generalized linear models to study the association with overweight, according to the International Obesity Taskforce (IOTF) definitions, at the ages of 9 and 15 years. Results The prevalence of overweight at the age of 15 was 9% for children born in 1966 and 16% for children born in 1986. However, medians of infant weight and preschool BMI changed little between the cohorts, and we found similar associations between maternal BMI, infant weight, preschool BMI, and later overweight in the two cohorts. At 5 years, children above the 90th percentile had approximately a 12 times higher risk of being overweight at the age of 15 years compared to children below the 50th percentile in both cohorts. Conclusions The associations between early body size and adolescent overweight showed remarkable stability, despite the increase in prevalence of overweight over the 20 years between the cohorts. Using consequently defined internal percentiles may be a valuable tool in clinical practice. PMID:24748033

Leveraging a Redesigned Morbidity and Mortality Conference That Incorporates the Clinical and Educational Missions of Improving Quality and Patient Safety.

PubMed

Tad-Y, Darlene B; Pierce, Read G; Pell, Jonathan M; Stephan, Lindsie; Kneeland, Patrick P; Wald, Heidi L

2016-09-01

The morbidity and mortality (M&M) conference is a vital event that can affect medical education, quality improvement, and peer review in academic departments. Historically, M&M conferences have emphasized cases that highlight diagnostic uncertainty or complex management conundrums. In this report, the authors describe the development, pilot, and refinement of a systems-based M&M conference model that combines the educational and clinical missions of improving quality and patient safety in the University of Colorado Department of Medicine. In 2011, a focused taskforce completed a literature review that informed the development of a framework for the redesigned systems-based M&M conference. The new model included a restructured monthly conference, longitudinal curriculum for residents, and formal channels for interaction with clinical effectiveness departments. Each conference features an in-depth discussion of an adverse event using specific quality improvement tools. Areas for improvement and suggested action items are identified during the conference and delegated to the relevant clinical departments. The new process has enabled the review of 27 adverse events over two years. Sixty-three action items were identified, and 33 were pursued. An average of 50 to 60 individuals participate in each conference, including interprofessional and interdisciplinary colleagues. Resident and faculty feedback regarding the new format has been positive, and other departments are starting to adopt this model. A more robust process for identifying and selecting cases to discuss is needed, as is a stable, sufficient mechanism to manage the improvement initiatives that come out of each conference.

The worldwide obesity epidemic.

PubMed

James, P T; Leach, R; Kalamara, E; Shayeghi, M

2001-11-01

The recent World Health Organization (WHO) agreement on the standardized classification of overweight and obese, based on body mass index (BMI), allows a comparable analysis of prevalence rates worldwide for the first time. In Asia, however, there is a demand for a more limited range for normal BMIs (i.e., 18.5 to 22.9 kg/m(2) rather than 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m(2)) because of the high prevalence of comorbidities, particularly diabetes and hypertension. In children, the International Obesity Task-Force age-, sex-, and BMI-specific cutoff points are increasingly being used. We are currently evaluating BMI data globally as part of a new millennium analysis of the Global Burden of Disease. WHO is analyzing data in terms of 20 or more principal risk factors contributing to the primary causes of disability and lost lives in the 191 countries within the WHO. The prevalence rates for overweight and obese people are different in each region, with the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, and North America having higher prevalence rates. In most countries, women show a greater BMI distribution with higher obesity rates than do men. Obesity is usually now associated with poverty, even in developing countries. Relatively new data suggest that abdominal obesity in adults, with its associated enhanced morbidity, occurs particularly in those who had lower birth weights and early childhood stunting. Waist measurements in nationally representative studies are scarce but will now be needed to estimate the full impact of the worldwide obesity epidemic.

ICT and the future of health care: aspects of doctor-patient communication.

PubMed

Haluza, Daniela; Jungwirth, David

2014-07-01

The current digital revolution is particularly relevant for interactions of healthcare providers with patients and the community as a whole. The growing public acceptance and distribution of new communication tools such as smart mobile phones provide the prerequisite for information and communication technology (ICT) -assisted healthcare applications. The present study aimed at identifying specifications and perceptions of different interest groups regarding future demands of ICT-supported doctor-patient communication in Austria. German-speaking Austrian healthcare experts (n = 73; 74 percent males; mean age, 43.9 years; SD 9.4) representing medical professionals, patient advocates, and administrative personnel participated in a 2-round online Delphi process. Participants evaluated scenario-based benefits and obstacles for possible prospect introduction as well as degree of innovation, desirability, and estimated implementation dates of two medical care-related future set ups. Panelists expected the future ICT-supported doctor-patient dialogue to especially improve the three factors doctors-patient relationship, patients' knowledge, and quality of social health care. However, lack of acceptance by doctors, data security, and monetary aspects were considered as the three most relevant barriers for ICT implementation. Furthermore, inter-group comparison regarding desirability of future scenarios showed that medical professionals tended to be more skeptical about health-related technological innovations (p < .001). The findings of this survey revealed different expectations among interest groups. Thus, we suggest building taskforces and using workshops for establishing a dialogue between stakeholders to positively shape the future of ICT-supported collaboration and communication between doctors and patients.

An ecological systems approach to examining risk factors for early childhood overweight: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

PubMed Central

Hawkins, Summer Sherburne; Cole, Tim J; Law, Catherine

2009-01-01

Objective To use an ecological systems approach to examine individual-, family-, community-, and area-level risk factors for overweight (including obesity) in 3-year-old children. Design Prospective nationally representative cohort study Setting England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland Participants 13 188 singleton children age three in the Millennium Cohort Study, born between 2000 and 2002, who had complete height/weight data Main outcome measure Childhood overweight (including obesity) defined by the International Obesity TaskForce cut-offs for body mass index Results 23.0% of 3-year-old children were overweight or obese. In the fully adjusted model, primarily individual- and family-level factors were associated with early childhood overweight: birthweight z-score (adjusted odds ratio, 1.36, 95% CI 1.30 to 1.42), Black ethnicity (1.41, 1.11 to 1.80) (compared to white), introduction to solid foods <4 months (1.12, 1.02 to 1.23), lone motherhood (1.32, 1.15 to 1.51), smoking during pregnancy (1-9 cigarettes daily: 1.34, 1.17 to 1.54; 10-19: 1.49, 1.26 to 1.75; 20+: 1.34, 1.05 to 1.70), parental overweight (both: 1.89, 1.63 to 2.19; father only: 1.45, 1.28 to 1.63; mother only: 1.37, 1.18 to 1.58), prepregnancy overweight (1.28, 1.14 to 1.45), and maternal employment ≥21 hours/week (1.23, 1.10 to 1.37) (compared to never worked). Breastfeeding ≥4 months (0.86, 0.76 to 0.97) (compared to none) and Indian ethnicity (0.63, 0.42 to 0.94) were associated with a decreased risk of early childhood overweight. Children from Wales were also more likely to be overweight than children from England. Conclusions Most risk factors for early childhood overweight are modifiable or would allow at-risk groups to be identified. Policies and interventions should focus on parents and providing them with an environment to support healthy behaviours for themselves and their children. PMID:18801795

Implementation of Ebola case-finding using a village chieftaincy taskforce in a remote outbreak - Liberia, 2014.

PubMed

Hagan, José E; Smith, Wilmot; Pillai, Satish K; Yeoman, Kristin; Gupta, Sundeep; Neatherlin, John; Slutsker, Laurence; Lindblade, Kim A; DeCock, Kevin M; Kateh, Francis; Nyenswah, Tolbert

2015-02-27

On October 16, 2014, a woman aged 48 years traveled from Monrovia, Liberia, to the Kayah region of Rivercess County, a remote, resource-poor, and sparsely populated region of Liberia, and died on October 21 with symptoms compatible with Ebola virus disease (Ebola). She was buried in accordance with local tradition, which included grooming, touching, and kissing the body by family and other community members while it was being prepared for burial. During October 24-November 12, eight persons with probable and 13 with confirmed Ebola epidemiologically linked to the deceased woman had onset of symptoms. Nineteen of the 21 persons lived in five nearby villages in Kayah region; two, both with probable cases, lived in neighboring Grand Bassa County (Figure). Four of the confirmed cases in Kayah were linked by time and location, although the source case could not be determined because the patients had more than one exposure.

Patient-centred care of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and risk of sudden cardiac death: What do the 2015 European Society of Cardiology guidelines add?

PubMed

Norekvål, Tone M; Kirchhof, Paulus; Fitzsimons, Donna

2017-10-01

Nurses and allied professionals are at the forefront of care delivery in patients with arrythmogenic risk and have a responsibility to deliver care that is focused on their individual needs. The 2015 European Society of Cardiology guideline on prevention of ventricular arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death heralds a step-change in patient and family focus and interdisciplinary involvement. This development reflects a recognition within the European Society of Cardiology that chronic care of patients with cardiovascular conditions can be improved by involving all stakeholders, making use of multidisciplinary interventions, and placing the patient at the centre of the care process. In this article, taskforce contributors discuss the latest evidence and highlight some of the most pertinent issues for nurses involved in patient-centred care of patients and families with ventricular arrhythmias and/or risk of sudden death.

Final Report for Grant R021597

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Konesky, Peter

2012-12-07

The program was under the supervision of the Nevada State Office of Energy (NSOE) with sub-contractors being the Nevada Division of Minerals (NDOM), the Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy (GBCGE) and the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Taskforce (REECT). The NDOM grant was for $40,560 to develop a trade mission for Nevada Native American tribes. The trade mission was a two day workshop and field trip held on October 11 & 12, 2005 with 44 in attendance representing 12 tribes. Per-diem allowances were made so the tribal groups could attend the workshop. The format followed similar trade missions donemore » for Alaska, Idaho and Colorado. In addition to the trade mission, funding was used to allow 3 members of the geothermal working group to attend the Geothermal Research Council annual meeting and the Geopowering the West states meeting that followed.« less

Improvement of cardiovascular risk prediction: time to review current knowledge, debates, and fundamentals on how to assess test characteristics.

PubMed

Romanens, Michel; Ackermann, Franz; Spence, John David; Darioli, Roger; Rodondi, Nicolas; Corti, Roberto; Noll, Georg; Schwenkglenks, Matthias; Pencina, Michael

2010-02-01

Cardiovascular risk assessment might be improved with the addition of emerging, new tests derived from atherosclerosis imaging, laboratory tests or functional tests. This article reviews relative risk, odds ratios, receiver-operating curves, posttest risk calculations based on likelihood ratios, the net reclassification improvement and integrated discrimination. This serves to determine whether a new test has an added clinical value on top of conventional risk testing and how this can be verified statistically. Two clinically meaningful examples serve to illustrate novel approaches. This work serves as a review and basic work for the development of new guidelines on cardiovascular risk prediction, taking into account emerging tests, to be proposed by members of the 'Taskforce on Vascular Risk Prediction' under the auspices of the Working Group 'Swiss Atherosclerosis' of the Swiss Society of Cardiology in the future.

Lives and choices, give and take: Altruism and organ procurement.

PubMed

Thornton, Vicky

2017-01-01

In 2015, Wales introduced a deemed consent: soft opt-out system for organ procurement in order to address the chronic shortage of organs for transplant. Early statistical evidence suggests that this has had a positive impact on cadaveric organ donation. Such a system for procurement has previously been dismissed by the Organ Donation Taskforce, who suggested that opting out could potentially undermine the concept of donated organs as gifts and this could then negatively impact the number of organs offered for transplant. Considerable weight was placed upon the need to retain the altruistic gift element associated with an opt-in system. This article will consider the role of altruism in an organ procurement policy. A broad utilitarian approach will be taken when putting forward the arguments in favour of adopting a weak altruism position in a soft opt-out system for procurement with a combined registry.

The 2015 Resuscitation Council of Asia (RCA) guidelines on adult basic life support for lay rescuers.

PubMed

Chung, Sung Phil; Sakamoto, Tetsuya; Lim, Swee Han; Ma, Mathew Huei-Ming; Wang, Tzong-Luen; Lavapie, Francis; Krisanarungson, Sopon; Nonogi, Hiroshi; Hwang, Sung Oh

2016-08-01

This paper introduces adult basic life support (BLS) guidelines for lay rescuers of the resuscitation council of Asia (RCA) developed for the first time. The RCA BLS guidelines for lay rescuers have been established by expert consensus among BLS Guidelines Taskforce of the RCA on the basis of the 2015 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science with Treatment Recommendations. The RCA recommends compression-only CPR for lay rescuers and emphasizes high-quality CPR with chest compression depth of approximately 5cm and chest compression rate of 100-120min(-1). Role of emergency medical dispatchers in helping lay rescuers recognize cardiac arrest and perform CPR is also emphasized. The RCA guidelines will contribute to help Asian countries establish and implement their own CPR guidelines in the context of their domestic circumstances. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program: Restoration Design Challenges for Topographic Mounds, Channel Outlets, and Reed Canarygrass

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Diefenderfer, Heida L.; Borde, Amy B.; Sinks, Ian A.

The purpose of this study was to provide science-based information to practitioners and managers of restoration projects in the Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program (CEERP) regarding aspects of restoration techniques that currently pose known challenges and uncertainties. The CEERP is a program of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Portland District, in collaboration with the National Marine Fisheries Service and five estuary sponsors implementing restoration. The estuary sponsors are Columbia Land Trust, Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce, Cowlitz Tribe, Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The scope ofmore » the research conducted during federal fiscal year 2015 included three aspects of hydrologic reconnection that were selected based on available scientific information and feedback from restoration practitioners during project reviews: the design of mounds (also called hummocks, peninsulas, or berms); the control of reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinaceae); and aspects of channel network design related to habitat connectivity for juvenile salmonids.« less

Using MSD prevention for cultural change in mining: Queensland Government/Anglo Coal Industry partnership.

PubMed

Tilbury, Trudy; Sanderson, Liz

2012-01-01

Queensland Mining has a strong focus on safety performance, but risk management of health, including Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) continues to have a lower priority. The reliance on individual screening of workers and lower level approaches such as manual handling training is part of the coal mining 'culture'. Initiatives such as the New South Wales and Queensland Mining joint project to develop good practice guidance for mining has allowed for a more consistent message on participatory ergonomics and prevention of MSD. An evidence based practice approach, including the introduction of participatory ergonomics and safe design principles, was proposed to Anglo American Coal operations in Queensland. The project consisted of a skills analysis of current health personnel, design of a facilitated participatory ergonomics training program, site visits to identify good practice and champions, and a graduated mentoring program for health personnel. Early results demonstrate a number of sites are benefiting from site taskforces with a focus on positive performance outcomes.

Profile and competences for the graduating European dentist - update 2009.

PubMed

Cowpe, J; Plasschaert, A; Harzer, W; Vinkka-Puhakka, H; Walmsley, A D

2010-11-01

This paper presents the profile and competences for the European Dentist as approved by the General Assembly of the Association for Dental Education in Europe at its annual meeting held in Helsinki in August 2009. A new taskforce was convened to update the previous document published in 2005. The updated document was then sent to all European Dental Schools, ministries of health, national dental associations and dental specialty associations or societies in Europe. The feedback received was used to improve the document. European dental schools are expected to adhere to the profile and the 17 major competences but the supporting competences may vary in detail between schools. The document will be reviewed once again in 5 years time. Feedback to the newly published document is welcomed and all dental educators are encouraged to draw upon the content of the paper to assist them in harmonising the curriculum throughout Europe with the aim of improving the quality of the dental curriculum. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Current state of knowledge on Takotsubo syndrome: a Position Statement from the Taskforce on Takotsubo Syndrome of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology.

PubMed

Lyon, Alexander R; Bossone, Eduardo; Schneider, Birke; Sechtem, Udo; Citro, Rodolfo; Underwood, S Richard; Sheppard, Mary N; Figtree, Gemma A; Parodi, Guido; Akashi, Yoshihiro J; Ruschitzka, Frank; Filippatos, Gerasimos; Mebazaa, Alexandre; Omerovic, Elmir

2016-01-01

Takotsubo syndrome is an acute reversible heart failure syndrome that is increasingly recognized in modern cardiology practice. This Position Statement from the European Society of Cardiology Heart Failure Association provides a comprehensive review of the various clinical and pathophysiological facets of Takotsubo syndrome, including nomenclature, definition, and diagnosis, primary and secondary clinical subtypes, anatomical variants, triggers, epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, complications, prognosis, clinical investigations, and treatment approaches. Novel structured approaches to diagnosis, risk stratification, and management are presented, with new algorithms to aid decision-making by practising clinicians. These also cover more complex areas (e.g. uncertain diagnosis and delayed presentation) and the management of complex cases with ongoing symptoms after recovery, recurrent episodes, or spontaneous presentation. The unmet needs and future directions for research in this syndrome are also discussed. © 2015 The Authors European Journal of Heart Failure © 2015 European Society of Cardiology.

Assessing Behavioural Manifestations Prior to Clinical Diagnosis of Huntington Disease: "Anger and Irritability" and "Obsessions and Compulsions"

PubMed Central

Vaccarino, Anthony L; Anonymous; Anderson, Karen E.; Borowsky, Beth; Coccaro, Emil; Craufurd, David; Endicott, Jean; Giuliano, Joseph; Groves, Mark; Guttman, Mark; Ho, Aileen K; Kupchak, Peter; Paulsen, Jane S.; Stanford, Matthew S.; van Kammen, Daniel P; Watson, David; Wu, Kevin D; Evans, Ken

2011-01-01

The Functional Rating Scale Taskforce for pre-Huntington Disease (FuRST-pHD) is a multinational, multidisciplinary initiative with the goal of developing a data-driven, comprehensive, psychometrically sound, rating scale for assessing symptoms and functional ability in prodromal and early Huntington disease (HD) gene expansion carriers. The process involves input from numerous sources to identify relevant symptom domains, including HD individuals, caregivers, and experts from a variety of fields, as well as knowledge gained from the analysis of data from ongoing large-scale studies in HD using existing clinical scales. This is an iterative process in which an ongoing series of field tests in prodromal (prHD) and early HD individuals provides the team with data on which to make decisions regarding which questions should undergo further development or testing and which should be excluded. We report here the development and assessment of the first iteration of interview questions aimed to assess "Anger and Irritability" and "Obsessions and Compulsions" in prHD individuals. PMID:21826116

Simulation training in neurosurgery: advances in education and practice

PubMed Central

Konakondla, Sanjay; Fong, Reginald; Schirmer, Clemens M

2017-01-01

The current simulation technology used for neurosurgical training leaves much to be desired. Significant efforts are thoroughly exhausted in hopes of developing simulations that translate to give learners the “real-life” feel. Though a respectable goal, this may not be necessary as the application for simulation in neurosurgical training may be most useful in early learners. The ultimate uniformly agreeable endpoint of improved outcome and patient safety drives these investments. We explore the development, availability, educational taskforces, cost burdens and the simulation advancements in neurosurgical training. The technologies can be directed at achieving early resident milestones placed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. We discuss various aspects of neurosurgery disciplines with specific technologic advances of simulation software. An overview of the scholarly landscape of the recent publications in the realm of medical simulation and virtual reality pertaining to neurologic surgery is provided. We analyze concurrent concept overlap between PubMed headings and provide a graphical overview of the associations between these terms. PMID:28765716

"The Big WHY": Philip Morris's failed search for corporate social value.

PubMed

McDaniel, Patricia A; Malone, Ruth E

2012-10-01

We examined Philip Morris USA's exploration of corporate social responsibility practices and principles and its outcome. We analyzed archival internal tobacco industry documents, generated in 2000 to 2002, related to discussions of corporate social responsibility among a Corporate Responsibility Taskforce and senior management at Philip Morris. In exploring corporate social responsibility, Philip Morris executives sought to identify the company's social value-its positive contribution to society. Struggling to find an answer, they considered dramatically changing the way the company marketed its products, apologizing for past actions, and committing the company to providing benefits for future generations. These ideas were eventually abandoned. Despite an initial call to distinguish between social and economic value, Philip Morris ultimately equated social value with providing shareholder returns. When even tobacco executives struggle to define their company's social value, it signals an opening to advocate for endgame scenarios that would encourage supply-side changes appropriate to the scale of the tobacco disease epidemic and consistent with authentic social value.

Primary Payer at DX: Issues with Collection and Assessment of Data Quality.

PubMed

Sherman, Recinda L; Williamson, Laura; Andrews, Patricia; Kahn, Amy

2016-01-01

An individual's access to health insurance influences the amount and type of health services a patient receives for prevention and treatment, and, ultimately, influences survival. The North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) Item #630, Primary Payer at DX, is a required field intended to document health insurance status for the purpose of supporting patterns-of-care studies and other research. However, challenges related to the uniformity of collection and availability of data needed to populate this field diminish the value of the Primary Payer at DX data. A NAACCR taskforce worked on issues surrounding the collection of Primary Payer at DX; including proposing a crosswalk between Primary Payer at DX and the new Public Health Payment Typology standard, often available in hospital discharge databases. However, there are issues with compatibility between coding systems, intent of data collection, timelines for coding insurance, and changes in insurance coverage (partly due to the Affordable Care Act) that continue to complicate the collection and use of Primary Payer at DX data.

An Innovative Approach for Decreasing Fall Trauma Admissions from Geriatric Living Facilities: Preliminary Investigation.

PubMed

Evans, Tracy; Gross, Brian; Rittenhouse, Katelyn; Harnish, Carissa; Vellucci, Ashley; Bupp, Katherine; Horst, Michael; Miller, Jo Ann; Baier, Ron; Chandler, Roxanne; Rogers, Frederick B

2015-12-01

Geriatric living facilities have been associated with a high rate of falls. We sought to develop an innovative intervention approach targeting geriatric living facilities that would reduce geriatric fall admissions to our Level II trauma center. In 2011, a Trauma Prevention Taskforce visited 5 of 28 local geriatric living facilities to present a fall prevention protocol composed of three sections: fall education, risk factor identification, and fall prevention strategies. To determine the impact of the intervention, the trauma registry was queried for all geriatric fall admissions attributed to patients living at local geriatric living facilities. The fall admission rate (total fall admissions/total beds) of the pre-intervention period (2010-2011) was compared with that of the postintervention period (2012-2013) at the 5 intervention and 23 control facilities. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. From 2010 to 2013, there were 487 fall admissions attributed to local geriatric living facilities (intervention: 179 fall admissions; control: 308 fall admissions). The unadjusted fall rate decreased at intervention facilities from 8.9 fall admissions/bed pre-intervention to 8.1 fall admissions/bed postintervention, whereas fall admission rates increased at control sites from 5.9 to 7.7 fall admissions/bed during the same period [control/intervention odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.32, 1.05-1.67; period OR, 95%CI = 1.55, 1.18-2.04, P = 0.002; interaction of control/intervention group and period OR 95% CI = 0.68, 0.46-1.00, P = 0.047]. An aggressive intervention program targeting high-risk geriatric living facilities resulted in a statistically significant decrease in geriatric fall admissions to our Level II trauma center.

Parental work schedules and child overweight and obesity.

PubMed

Champion, S L; Rumbold, A R; Steele, E J; Giles, L C; Davies, M J; Moore, V M

2012-04-01

Studies in school-age children have consistently shown a positive association between maternal paid work hours and child obesity. However, there is conflicting evidence about the impact of maternal work hours scheduled at nonstandard times (for example, evenings, nights or weekends), and no previous examination of paternal work schedules and child weight. We examined the associations between maternal, paternal and combined parental paid work schedules and overweight/obesity in children at age 9 years. Data were analysed from the most recent follow-up of 9-year-old children (n=434) in an Australian birth cohort study. Children were measured and classified as overweight/obese using the International Obesity Taskforce body mass index cutoff points. Current working conditions of parents were obtained from a structured interview with the primary caregiver. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the effect of parental work schedules on child overweight/obesity with adjustment for a range of sociodemographic and household factors associated with parental employment and child weight. At 9 years of age, 99 children (22.8%) were overweight or obese. When parental work schedules were examined separately, child overweight/obesity was significantly associated with paternal nonstandard work schedules (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-3.61). There was no association with any type of maternal work schedule. We also found an association between child overweight/obesity and circumstances in which both parents worked nonstandard schedules; however, this was of borderline statistical significance in the adjusted models (adjusted OR 2.26, 95% CI 0.99-5.16). Work hours scheduled at nonstandard times, when worked by the father or both parents, were associated with child overweight and obesity. These findings indicate the potential importance of fathers' paid work arrangements for child overweight/obesity, which until recently has largely been ignored.

EAACI guidelines on allergen immunotherapy: Hymenoptera venom allergy.

PubMed

Sturm, G J; Varga, E-M; Roberts, G; Mosbech, H; Bilò, M B; Akdis, C A; Antolín-Amérigo, D; Cichocka-Jarosz, E; Gawlik, R; Jakob, T; Kosnik, M; Lange, J; Mingomataj, E; Mitsias, D I; Ollert, M; Oude Elberink, J N G; Pfaar, O; Pitsios, C; Pravettoni, V; Ruëff, F; Sin, B A; Agache, I; Angier, E; Arasi, S; Calderón, M A; Fernandez-Rivas, M; Halken, S; Jutel, M; Lau, S; Pajno, G B; van Ree, R; Ryan, D; Spranger, O; van Wijk, R G; Dhami, S; Zaman, H; Sheikh, A; Muraro, A

2018-04-01

Hymenoptera venom allergy is a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction following a honeybee, vespid, or ant sting. Systemic-allergic sting reactions have been reported in up to 7.5% of adults and up to 3.4% of children. They can be mild and restricted to the skin or moderate to severe with a risk of life-threatening anaphylaxis. Patients should carry an emergency kit containing an adrenaline autoinjector, H 1 -antihistamines, and corticosteroids depending on the severity of their previous sting reaction(s). The only treatment to prevent further systemic sting reactions is venom immunotherapy. This guideline has been prepared by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology's (EAACI) Taskforce on Venom Immunotherapy as part of the EAACI Guidelines on Allergen Immunotherapy initiative. The guideline aims to provide evidence-based recommendations for the use of venom immunotherapy, has been informed by a formal systematic review and meta-analysis and produced using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) approach. The process included representation from a range of stakeholders. Venom immunotherapy is indicated in venom-allergic children and adults to prevent further moderate-to-severe systemic sting reactions. Venom immunotherapy is also recommended in adults with only generalized skin reactions as it results in significant improvements in quality of life compared to carrying an adrenaline autoinjector. This guideline aims to give practical advice on performing venom immunotherapy. Key sections cover general considerations before initiating venom immunotherapy, evidence-based clinical recommendations, risk factors for adverse events and for relapse of systemic sting reaction, and a summary of gaps in the evidence. © 2017 EAACI and John Wiley and Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Gary E.; Diefenderfer, Heida L.; Borde, Amy B.

This is the sixth annual report of a seven-year project (2004 through 2010) to evaluate the cumulative effects of habitat restoration actions in the lower Columbia River and estuary (LCRE). The project, called the Cumulative Effects Study, is being conducted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland District (USACE) by the Marine Sciences Laboratory of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the Pt. Adams Biological Field Station of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST), and the University of Washington. The goal of the Cumulative Effects Study is to develop a methodology tomore » evaluate the cumulative effects of multiple habitat restoration projects intended to benefit ecosystems supporting juvenile salmonids in the 235-km-long LCRE. Literature review in 2004 revealed no existing methods for such an evaluation and suggested that cumulative effects could be additive or synergistic. From 2005 through 2009, annual field research involved intensive, comparative studies paired by habitat type (tidal swamp versus marsh), trajectory (restoration versus reference site), and restoration action (tidegate replacement vs. culvert replacement vs. dike breach).« less

Development of the roadmap for reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality through the detection, treatment and control of hypertension in Africa: report of a working group of the PASCAR Hypertension Task Force.

PubMed

Dzudie, Anastase; Kane, Abdoul; Kramoh, Euloge; Anzouan-Kacou, Jean-Baptiste; Damourou, Jean Marie; Allawaye, Lucien; Nzisabira, Jolis; Mousse, Latif; Balde, Dadier; Nouhom, Ouane; Nkoa, Jean Louis; Kaki, Kimbally; Djomou, Armel; Menanga, Alain; Nganou, Christ Nadege; Mipinda, Jean Bruno; Nebie, Lucie; Kuate, Liliane Mfeukeu; Kingue, Samuel; Ba, Serigne Abdou

The fourth Pan-African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR) hypertension taskforce meeting was held at the Yaoundé Hilton Hotel on 16 March 2016. Its main goals were to update and facilitate understanding of the PASCAR roadmap for the control of hypertension on the continent, to refine the PASCAR hypertension algorithm, and to discuss the next steps of the PASCAR hypertension policy, including how the PASCAR initiative can be customised at country level. The formation of the PASCAR coalition against hypertension, the writing group and the current status of the PASCAR hypertension policy document as well as the algorithm were presented to delegates representing 12 French-speaking countries. The urgency to finalise the continental policy was recognised and consensus was achieved by discussion on the main points and strategy. Relevant scientific issues were discussed and comments were received on all points, including how the algorithm could be simplified and made more accessible for implementation at primary healthcare centres.

“The Big WHY”: Philip Morris’s Failed Search for Corporate Social Value

PubMed Central

Malone, Ruth E.

2012-01-01

Objectives. We examined Philip Morris USA’s exploration of corporate social responsibility practices and principles and its outcome. Methods. We analyzed archival internal tobacco industry documents, generated in 2000 to 2002, related to discussions of corporate social responsibility among a Corporate Responsibility Taskforce and senior management at Philip Morris. Results. In exploring corporate social responsibility, Philip Morris executives sought to identify the company’s social value—its positive contribution to society. Struggling to find an answer, they considered dramatically changing the way the company marketed its products, apologizing for past actions, and committing the company to providing benefits for future generations. These ideas were eventually abandoned. Despite an initial call to distinguish between social and economic value, Philip Morris ultimately equated social value with providing shareholder returns. Conclusions. When even tobacco executives struggle to define their company’s social value, it signals an opening to advocate for endgame scenarios that would encourage supply-side changes appropriate to the scale of the tobacco disease epidemic and consistent with authentic social value. PMID:22897536

Functional classification of pulmonary hypertension in children: Report from the PVRI pediatric taskforce, Panama 2011.

PubMed

Lammers, Astrid E; Adatia, Ian; Cerro, Maria Jesus Del; Diaz, Gabriel; Freudenthal, Alexandra Heath; Freudenthal, Franz; Harikrishnan, S; Ivy, Dunbar; Lopes, Antonio A; Raj, J Usha; Sandoval, Julio; Stenmark, Kurt; Haworth, Sheila G

2011-08-02

The members of the Pediatric Task Force of the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute (PVRI) were aware of the need to develop a functional classification of pulmonary hypertension in children. The proposed classification follows the same pattern and uses the same criteria as the Dana Point pulmonary hypertension specific classification for adults. Modifications were necessary for children, since age, physical growth and maturation influences the way in which the functional effects of a disease are expressed. It is essential to encapsulate a child's clinical status, to make it possible to review progress with time as he/she grows up, as consistently and as objectively as possible. Particularly in younger children we sought to include objective indicators such as thriving, need for supplemental feeds and the record of school or nursery attendance. This helps monitor the clinical course of events and response to treatment over the years. It also facilitates the development of treatment algorithms for children. We present a consensus paper on a functional classification system for children with pulmonary hypertension, discussed at the Annual Meeting of the PVRI in Panama City, February 2011.

Appropriate Use Criteria for Amyloid PET

PubMed Central

Johnson, Keith A.; Minoshima, Satoshi; Bohnen, Nicolaas I.; Donohoe, Kevin J.; Foster, Norman L.; Herscovitch, Peter; Karlawish, Jason H.; Rowe, Christopher C.; Carrillo, Maria C.; Hartley, Dean M.; Hedrick, Saima; Mitchell, Kristi; Pappas, Virginia; Thies, William H.

2013-01-01

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) of brain amyloid-beta is a technology that is becoming more available, but its clinical utility in medical practice requires careful definition. In order to provide guidance to dementia care practitioners, patients and caregivers, the Alzheimer Association and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging convened the Amyloid Imaging Taskforce (AIT). The AIT considered a broad range of specific clinical scenarios in which amyloid PET could potentially be appropriately used. Peer-reviewed, published literature was searched to ascertain available evidence relevant to these scenarios, and the AIT developed a consensus of expert opinion. While empirical evidence of impact on clinical outcomes is not yet available, a set of specific Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) were agreed upon that define the types of patients and clinical circumstances in which amyloid PET could be used. Both appropriate and inappropriate uses were considered and formulated, and are reported and discussed here. Because both dementia care and amyloid PET technology are in active development, these AUC will require periodic reassessment. Future research directions are also outlined, including diagnostic utility and patient-centered outcomes. PMID:23360977

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baptista, António M.

This work focuses on the numerical modeling of Columbia River estuarine circulation and associated modeling-supported analyses conducted as an integral part of a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional effort led by NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center. The overall effort is aimed at: (1) retrospective analyses to reconstruct historic bathymetric features and assess effects of climate and river flow on the extent and distribution of shallow water, wetland and tidal-floodplain habitats; (2) computer simulations using a 3-dimensional numerical model to evaluate the sensitivity of salmon rearing opportunities to various historical modifications affecting the estuary (including channel changes, flow regulation, and diking of tidalmore » wetlands and floodplains); (3) observational studies of present and historic food web sources supporting selected life histories of juvenile salmon as determined by stable isotope, microchemistry, and parasitology techniques; and (4) experimental studies in Grays River in collaboration with Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST) and the Columbia Land Trust (CLT) to assess effects of multiple tidal wetland restoration projects on various life histories of juvenile salmon and to compare responses to observed habitat-use patterns in the mainstem estuary. From the above observations, experiments, and additional modeling simulations, the effort will also (5) examine effects of alternative flow-management and habitat-restoration scenarios on habitat opportunity and the estuary's productive capacity for juvenile salmon. The underlying modeling system is part of the SATURN1coastal-margin observatory [1]. SATURN relies on 3D numerical models [2, 3] to systematically simulate and understand baroclinic circulation in the Columbia River estuary-plume-shelf system [4-7] (Fig. 1). Multi-year simulation databases of circulation are produced as an integral part of SATURN, and have multiple applications in understanding estuary/plume variability, the role of the estuary and plume on salmon survival, and functional changes in the estuary-plume system in response to climate and human activities.« less

Moving from local to State water governance to resolve a local conflict between irrigated agriculture and commercial forestry in South Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gillet, Virginie; McKay, Jennifer; Keremane, Ganesh

2014-11-01

In the Lower Limestone Coast, South Australia, a unique water allocation plan has been under consideration for several years. This plan is the first in Australia to consider forestry as a water affecting activity. Indeed, forestry plantations have a twofold impact on water-rainfall or aquifer recharge interception and direct extraction of groundwater in shallow water table areas-and alter the available water for irrigation as a result of the previous water budget. This paper examines how water is allocated across the competing requirements for water but also across the competing legal, economic and administrative scales embodied by the competing water users; and thus it also details the pre-judicial mechanism used to resolve the conflict over these competing scales. Qualitative and quantitative content analysis in Nvivo was applied to: (i) 180 local newspaper articles on the planning process, (ii) 65 submission forms filled in by the community during a public consultation on the draft water plan and (iii) 20 face-to-face interviews of keys stakeholders involved in the planning process. The social sustainability perspective taken in this study establishes the legal, economic and administrative competitive scales at stake in the conflict regarding water between forestry and irrigation. It also evidences the special feature of this paper, which is that to overcome these competitions and resolve the local conflict before judicial process, the water governance moved up in the administrative scale, from local/regional to State level. Initiated and initially prepared at regional level through the local Natural Resources Management Board, the water planning process was taken up to State level through the formation of an Interdepartmental Committee and the establishment of a Taskforce in charge of developing a policy. These were supported by an amendment of a State legislation on Natural Resources Management to manage the water impacts of forestry plantations.

Report of the European Respiratory Society/European Cystic Fibrosis Society task force on the care of adults with cystic fibrosis.

PubMed

Elborn, J Stuart; Bell, Scott C; Madge, Susan L; Burgel, Pierre-Regis; Castellani, Carlo; Conway, Steven; De Rijcke, Karleen; Dembski, Birgit; Drevinek, Pavel; Heijerman, Harry G M; Innes, J Alistair; Lindblad, Anders; Marshall, Bruce; Olesen, Hanne V; Reimann, Andreas L; Solé, Ampara; Viviani, Laura; Wagner, Thomas O F; Welte, Tobias; Blasi, Francesco

2016-02-01

The improved survival in people with cystic fibrosis has led to an increasing number of patients reaching adulthood. This trend is likely to be maintained over the next decades, suggesting a need to increase the number of centres with expertise in the management of adult patients with cystic fibrosis. These centres should be capable of delivering multidisciplinary care addressing the complexity of the disease, in addition to addressing the psychological burden on patients and their families. Further issues that require attention are organ transplantation and end of life management.Lung disease in adults with cystic fibrosis drives most of the clinical care requirements, and major life-threatening complications, such as respiratory infection, respiratory failure, pneumothorax and haemoptysis, and the management of lung transplantation require expertise from trained respiratory physicians. The taskforce therefore strongly reccommends that medical leadership in multidisciplinary adult teams should be attributed to a respiratory physician adequately trained in cystic fibrosis management.The task force suggests the implementation of a core curriculum for trainees in adult respiratory medicine and the selection and accreditation of training centres that deliver postgraduate training to the standards of the HERMES programme. Copyright ©ERS 2016.

Use of amyloid PET across the spectrum of Alzheimer's disease: clinical utility and associated ethical issues.

PubMed

Leuzy, Antoine; Zimmer, Eduardo Rigon; Heurling, Kerstin; Rosa-Neto, Pedro; Gauthier, Serge

2014-09-01

Abstract Recent advances have made possible the in vivo detection of beta-amyloid (Aβ) pathology using positron emission tomography. While the gold standard for amyloid imaging, carbon-11 labeled Pittsburgh compound B is increasingly being replaced by fluorine-18 labeled radiopharmaceuticals, with three already approved for clinical use by US and European regulatory bodies. Appropriate use criteria proposed by an amyloid imaging taskforce convened by the Alzheimer's Association and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging recommend restricting use of this technology to the evaluation of patients with mild cognitive impairment or atypical dementia syndromes. While use among asymptomatic individuals is currently viewed as inappropriate due prognostic uncertainty, elevated levels of brain Aβ among asymptomatic individuals may represent preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid imaging is likewise expected to play a role in the design of clinical trials. Though preliminary results suggest amyloid imaging to possess clinical utility and cost-effectiveness, both domains have yet to be assessed systematically. As the field moves toward adoption of a pro-disclosure stance for amyloid imaging findings, it is imperative that a broad range of stakeholders be involved to ensure the appropriateness of emerging policies and protocols.

A practical guideline for examining a uterine niche using ultrasonography in non-pregnant women: a modified Delphi method amongst European experts.

PubMed

Jordans, I P M; de Leeuw, R; Stegwee, S I; Amso, N N; Barri-Soldevila, P N; van den Bosch, T; Bourne, T; Brolmann, H A M; Donnez, O; Dueholm, M; Hehenkamp, W J K; Jastrow, N; Jurkovic, D; Mashiach, R; Naji, O; Streuli, I; Timmerman, D; Vd Voet, L F; Huirne, J A F

2018-03-14

To generate a uniform, internationally recognized guideline for detailed uterine niche evaluation by ultrasonography in non-pregnant women using a modified Delphi method amongst international experts. Fifteen international gynecological experts were recruited by their membership of the European niche taskforce group. All experts were physicians with extensive experience in niche evaluation in clinical practice and/or authors of niche studies. Relevant items for niche measurement were determined based on the results of a literature search and recommendations of a focus group. Two online questionnaires were sent to the expert panel and one group meeting was organized. Consensus was predefined as a consensus rate of at least 70%. In total 15 experts participated in this study. Consensus was reached for a total of 42 items on niche evaluation, including definitions, relevance, method of measurement and tips for visualization of the niche. All experts agreed on the proposed guideline for niche evaluation in non-pregnant women as presented in this paper. Consensus between niche experts was achieved on all items regarding ultrasonographic niche measurement. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Bariatric surgery: an IDF statement for obese Type 2 diabetes

PubMed Central

Dixon, J B; Zimmet, P; Alberti, K G; Rubino, F

2011-01-01

The International Diabetes Federation Taskforce on Epidemiology and Prevention of Diabetes convened a consensus working group of diabetologists, endocrinologists, surgeons and public health experts to review the appropriate role of surgery and other gastrointestinal interventions in the treatment and prevention of Type 2 diabetes. The specific goals were: to develop practical recommendations for clinicians on patient selection; to identify barriers to surgical access and suggest interventions for health policy changes that ensure equitable access to surgery when indicated; and to identify priorities for research. Bariatric surgery can significantly improve glycaemic control in severely obese patients with Type 2 diabetes. It is an effective, safe and cost-effective therapy for obese Type 2 diabetes. Surgery can be considered an appropriate treatment for people with Type 2 diabetes and obesity not achieving recommended treatment targets with medical therapies, especially in the presence of other major co-morbidities. The procedures must be performed within accepted guidelines and require appropriate multidisciplinary assessment for the procedure, comprehensive patient education and ongoing care, as well as safe and standardized surgical procedures. National guidelines for bariatric surgery need to be developed for people with Type 2 diabetes and a BMI of 35 kg/m2 or more. PMID:21480973

Past, present and future of Barrett's oesophagus.

PubMed

Tan, W K; di Pietro, M; Fitzgerald, R C

2017-07-01

Barrett's oesophagus is a condition which predisposes towards development of oesophageal adenocarcinoma, a highly lethal tumour which has been increasing in incidence in the Western world over the past three decades. There have been tremendous advances in the field of Barrett's oesophagus, not only in diagnostic modalities, but also in therapeutic strategies available to treat this premalignant disease. In this review, we discuss the past, present and future of Barrett's oesophagus. We describe the historical and new evolving diagnostic criteria of Barrett's oesophagus, while also comparing and contrasting the British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines, American College of Gastroenterology guidelines and International Benign Barrett's and CAncer Taskforce (BOBCAT) for Barrett's oesophagus. Advances in endoscopic modalities such as confocal and volumetric laser endomicroscopy, and a non-endoscopic sampling device, the Cytosponge, are described which could aid in identification of Barrett's oesophagus. With regards to therapy we review the evidence for the utility of endoscopic mucosal resection and radiofrequency ablation when coupled with better characterization of dysplasia. These endoscopic advances have transformed the management of Barrett's oesophagus from a primarily surgical disease into an endoscopically managed condition. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Forecasting future tobacco control policy: where to next?

PubMed

Freeman, Becky; Gartner, Coral; Hall, Wayne; Chapman, Simon

2010-10-01

Effective tobacco control policies include price increases through taxes, restrictions on smoking in public and work places, adequately funded mass media campaigns, bans on advertising, health warnings on packages and cessation assistance. As these policies have been largely implemented in Australia, what next should the country do in tobacco control? Ninety-one Australian tobacco control stakeholders took part in a web-based survey about the future of tobacco control policies. The policy deemed most important in decreasing smoking was to increase excise and customs duty by 30%. Other policies receiving high support included: funding mass media campaigns through tax hypothecation; introducing retail display bans; plain packaging of tobacco products; and banning smoking in outdoor dining areas. Reintroducing the sale of smokeless tobacco products received the least support. Countries that have largely implemented the provisions of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control must maintain commitments to proven tobacco control measures, but also provide global leadership through the adoption of innovative policies. The release of the Australian 2009 National Preventative Health Taskforce's report presents an opportunity to translate these ideas into action. © 2010 The Authors. Journal Compilation © 2010 Public Health Association of Australia.

The potential of legislation on organ donation to increase the supply of donor organs.

PubMed

Coppen, Remco; Friele, Roland D; van der Zee, Jouke; Gevers, Sjef K

2010-12-01

The aim of this paper is to assess the possibilities to adapt the 1998 Dutch Organ Donation Act, taking account of fundamental principles such as the right to physical integrity, equitable access to and equal availability of care, and the non-commerciality principle, with a view to increasing the organ supply. In 2008 the Dutch Taskforce on Organ Donation presented several proposals to amend the Act and to increase the supply of organs. This paper describes the proposals to amend the Act and evaluates them by assessing their intrinsic adherence to basic principles and the available evidence that these proposals will indeed increase the organ supply. Several proposals could constitute an infringement of fundamental principles of the Act. Moreover, evidence for their impact on the organ supply is lacking. Changing the consent system is possible, as this would not incur legal objections. There are diverging views regarding the impact of consent systems on the organ supply. The scope for changing the Act and its impact on organ procurement is at best limited. Relying on legislation alone will possibly not bring much relief, whereas additional policy measures may be more successful. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Documenting quality improvement and patient safety efforts: the quality portfolio. A statement from the academic hospitalist taskforce.

PubMed

Taylor, Benjamin B; Parekh, Vikas; Estrada, Carlos A; Schleyer, Anneliese; Sharpe, Bradley

2014-01-01

Physicians increasingly investigate, work, and teach to improve the quality of care and safety of care delivery. The Society of General Internal Medicine Academic Hospitalist Task Force sought to develop a practical tool, the quality portfolio, to systematically document quality and safety achievements. The quality portfolio was vetted with internal and external stakeholders including national leaders in academic medicine. The portfolio was refined for implementation to include an outlined framework, detailed instructions for use and an example to guide users. The portfolio has eight categories including: (1) a faculty narrative, (2) leadership and administrative activities, (3) project activities, (4) education and curricula, (5) research and scholarship, (6) honors, awards, and recognition, (7) training and certification, and (8) an appendix. The authors offer this comprehensive, yet practical tool as a method to document quality and safety activities. It is relevant for physicians across disciplines and institutions and may be useful as a standalone document or as an adjunct to traditional promotion documents. As the Next Accreditation System is implemented, academic medical centers will require faculty who can teach and implement the systems-based practice requirements. The quality portfolio is a method to document quality improvement and safety activities.

EULAR recommendations for cardiovascular disease risk management in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of inflammatory joint disorders: 2015/2016 update.

PubMed

Agca, R; Heslinga, S C; Rollefstad, S; Heslinga, M; McInnes, I B; Peters, M J L; Kvien, T K; Dougados, M; Radner, H; Atzeni, F; Primdahl, J; Södergren, A; Wallberg Jonsson, S; van Rompay, J; Zabalan, C; Pedersen, T R; Jacobsson, L; de Vlam, K; Gonzalez-Gay, M A; Semb, A G; Kitas, G D; Smulders, Y M; Szekanecz, Z; Sattar, N; Symmons, D P M; Nurmohamed, M T

2017-01-01

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other inflammatory joint disorders (IJD) have increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk compared with the general population. In 2009, the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) taskforce recommended screening, identification of CVD risk factors and CVD risk management largely based on expert opinion. In view of substantial new evidence, an update was conducted with the aim of producing CVD risk management recommendations for patients with IJD that now incorporates an increasing evidence base. A multidisciplinary steering committee (representing 13 European countries) comprised 26 members including patient representatives, rheumatologists, cardiologists, internists, epidemiologists, a health professional and fellows. Systematic literature searches were performed and evidence was categorised according to standard guidelines. The evidence was discussed and summarised by the experts in the course of a consensus finding and voting process. Three overarching principles were defined. First, there is a higher risk for CVD in patients with RA, and this may also apply to ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis. Second, the rheumatologist is responsible for CVD risk management in patients with IJD. Third, the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroids should be in accordance with treatment-specific recommendations from EULAR and Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society. Ten recommendations were defined, of which one is new and six were changed compared with the 2009 recommendations. Each designated an appropriate evidence support level. The present update extends on the evidence that CVD risk in the whole spectrum of IJD is increased. This underscores the need for CVD risk management in these patients. These recommendations are defined to provide assistance in CVD risk management in IJD, based on expert opinion and scientific evidence. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Morbidity and mortality amongst Indian Hajj pilgrims: A 3-year experience of Indian Hajj medical mission in mass-gathering medicine.

PubMed

Khan, Inam D; Khan, Shahbaz A; Asima, Bushra; Hussaini, Syed B; Zakiuddin, M; Faisal, F A

The Hajj, a mass-gathering of over 3.5-million pilgrims, faces challenges to global health-security, housing, food, water, transportation, communication, sanitation, crowd-control and security. The Indian Medical Mission extended health-security to approximately 140,000 pilgrims, through outreach medical teams, primary-care clinics, tent-clinics, secondary-care hospitals and evacuation capabilities. Data on medical attendance, bed-occupancy, investigations, referrals, medication usage and deaths was compared. Outpatient attendance was 374,475 in static-clinics, 5135 in tent-clinics and 13,473 through task-forces. 585 (62.90%) in-patients were hospitalized amongst 930 secondary-care referrals. Secondary-care bed-days were 2106 with average bed-occupancy being 77.78%. 495 patients were institutionalized in tertiary-care Saudi-Arabian hospitals. Infectious diseases were most commonly (53.26%) encountered due to overwhelming respiratory-infections, followed by trauma (24.40%). Analgesics (66.38/100 patients) and antibacterials (48.34/100 patients) were frequently prescribed. Crude mortality amongst Indian pilgrims was 11.99/10,000. Risk-factors associated with high morbidity were old-age and pre-existing comorbidities. Overwhelming surge of patients facilitates transmission of communicable infections and leads to stress induced physical, mental and compassion fatigue amongst healthcare personnel. Respiratory infections are highly prevalent and easily transmissible during Hajj leading to significant morbidity, increased burden to existing health facilities, overwhelming costs on health systems and globalization of multiresistant pathogens. Diabetic patients should avoid heat exposure and use protective footwear during Hajj rituals. Mass-gathering medicine at Hajj can be optimized by improving patient knowledge on performing Hajj at a younger age, medicine compliance, avoiding self-medication, self-monitoring of hypertension, blood glucose, and preventive health measures; screening of pre-existing comorbidities; and resource augmentation with telemedicine networks and decision-support systems. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

10 years of didactic training for novices in medical education at Charité.

PubMed

Sonntag, Ulrike; Peters, Harm; Schnabel, Kai P; Breckwoldt, Jan

2017-01-01

Introduction: Many medical faculties are introducing faculty development programmes to train their teaching staff with the aim of improving student learning performance. Frequently changing parameters within faculties pose a challenge for the sustainable establishment of such programmes. In this paper, we aim to describe facilitating and hindering parameters using the example of the basic teacher training (BTT) course at the Charité - Universtitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité). Project description: After sporadic pilot attempts for university education training, basic teacher training was finally established at the Charité in 2006 for all new teaching staff. An interdisciplinary taskforce at the office for student affairs designed the programme according to the Kern cycle of curriculum development, while the Charité advanced training academy provided the necessary resources. Within ten years more than 900 faculty members have completed the BTT (9% of current active teaching staff at the Charité). The BTT programme underwent several phases (piloting, evaluation, review, personnel and financial boosting), all of which were marked by changes in the staff and organizational framework. Evaluations by participants were very positive, sustainable effects on teaching could be proven to a limited extent. Discussion: Success factors for the establishment of the programme were the institutional framework set by the faculty directors, the commitment of those involved, the support of research grants and the thoroughly positive evaluation by participants. More challenging were frequent changes in parameters and the allocation of incentive resources for other, format-specific training courses (e.g. PBL) as part of the introduction of the new modular curriculum of the Charité. Conclusion: The sustainment of the programme was enabled through strategic institutional steps taken by the faculty heads. Thanks to the commitment and input by those at a working level as well as management level, the basic teacher training course is today an established part of the faculty development programme at the Charité.

10 years of didactic training for novices in medical education at Charité

PubMed Central

Sonntag, Ulrike; Peters, Harm; Schnabel, Kai P.; Breckwoldt, Jan

2017-01-01

Introduction: Many medical faculties are introducing faculty development programmes to train their teaching staff with the aim of improving student learning performance. Frequently changing parameters within faculties pose a challenge for the sustainable establishment of such programmes. In this paper, we aim to describe facilitating and hindering parameters using the example of the basic teacher training (BTT) course at the Charité – Universtitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité). Project description: After sporadic pilot attempts for university education training, basic teacher training was finally established at the Charité in 2006 for all new teaching staff. An interdisciplinary taskforce at the office for student affairs designed the programme according to the Kern cycle of curriculum development, while the Charité advanced training academy provided the necessary resources. Within ten years more than 900 faculty members have completed the BTT (9% of current active teaching staff at the Charité). The BTT programme underwent several phases (piloting, evaluation, review, personnel and financial boosting), all of which were marked by changes in the staff and organizational framework. Evaluations by participants were very positive, sustainable effects on teaching could be proven to a limited extent. Discussion: Success factors for the establishment of the programme were the institutional framework set by the faculty directors, the commitment of those involved, the support of research grants and the thoroughly positive evaluation by participants. More challenging were frequent changes in parameters and the allocation of incentive resources for other, format-specific training courses (e.g. PBL) as part of the introduction of the new modular curriculum of the Charité. Conclusion: The sustainment of the programme was enabled through strategic institutional steps taken by the faculty heads. Thanks to the commitment and input by those at a working level as well as management level, the basic teacher training course is today an established part of the faculty development programme at the Charité. PMID:29085883

Nordic guidelines for neuraxial blocks in disturbed haemostasis from the Scandinavian Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine.

PubMed

Breivik, H; Bang, U; Jalonen, J; Vigfússon, G; Alahuhta, S; Lagerkranser, M

2010-01-01

Central neuraxial blocks (CNBs) for surgery and analgesia are an important part of anaesthesia practice in the Nordic countries. More active thromboprophylaxis with potent antihaemostatic drugs has increased the risk of bleeding into the spinal canal. National guidelines for minimizing this risk in patients who benefit from such blocks vary in their recommendations for safe practice. The Scandinavian Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (SSAI) appointed a task force of experts to establish a Nordic consensus on recommendations for best clinical practice in providing effective and safe CNBs in patients with an increased risk of bleeding. We performed a literature search and expert evaluation of evidence for (1) the possible benefits of CNBs on the outcome of anaesthesia and surgery, for (2) risks of spinal bleeding from hereditary and acquired bleeding disorders and antihaemostatic drugs used in surgical patients for thromboprophylaxis, for (3) risk evaluation in published case reports, and for (4) recommendations in published national guidelines. Proposals from the taskforce were available for feedback on the SSAI web-page during the summer of 2008. Neuraxial blocks can improve comfort and reduce morbidity (strong evidence) and mortality (moderate evidence) after surgical procedures. Haemostatic disorders, antihaemostatic drugs, anatomical abnormalities of the spine and spinal blood vessels, elderly patients, and renal and hepatic impairment are risk factors for spinal bleeding (strong evidence). Published national guidelines are mainly based on experts' opinions (weak evidence). The task force reached a consensus on Nordic guidelines, mainly based on our experts' opinions, but we acknowledge different practices in heparinization during vascular surgery and peri-operative administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs during neuraxial blocks. Experts from the five Nordic countries offer consensus recommendations for safe clinical practice of neuraxial blocks and how to minimize the risks of serious complications from spinal bleeding. A brief version of the recommendations is available on http://www.ssai.info.

Guidelines for Inclusion of Patient-Reported Outcomes in Clinical Trial Protocols: The SPIRIT-PRO Extension.

PubMed

Calvert, Melanie; Kyte, Derek; Mercieca-Bebber, Rebecca; Slade, Anita; Chan, An-Wen; King, Madeleine T; Hunn, Amanda; Bottomley, Andrew; Regnault, Antoine; Chan, An-Wen; Ells, Carolyn; O'Connor, Daniel; Revicki, Dennis; Patrick, Donald; Altman, Doug; Basch, Ethan; Velikova, Galina; Price, Gary; Draper, Heather; Blazeby, Jane; Scott, Jane; Coast, Joanna; Norquist, Josephine; Brown, Julia; Haywood, Kirstie; Johnson, Laura Lee; Campbell, Lisa; Frank, Lori; von Hildebrand, Maria; Brundage, Michael; Palmer, Michael; Kluetz, Paul; Stephens, Richard; Golub, Robert M; Mitchell, Sandra; Groves, Trish

2018-02-06

Patient-reported outcome (PRO) data from clinical trials can provide valuable evidence to inform shared decision making, labeling claims, clinical guidelines, and health policy; however, the PRO content of clinical trial protocols is often suboptimal. The SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) statement was published in 2013 and aims to improve the completeness of trial protocols by providing evidence-based recommendations for the minimum set of items to be addressed, but it does not provide PRO-specific guidance. To develop international, consensus-based, PRO-specific protocol guidance (the SPIRIT-PRO Extension). The SPIRIT-PRO Extension was developed following the Enhancing Quality and Transparency of Health Research (EQUATOR) Network's methodological framework for guideline development. This included (1) a systematic review of existing PRO-specific protocol guidance to generate a list of potential PRO-specific protocol items (published in 2014); (2) refinements to the list and removal of duplicate items by the International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL) Protocol Checklist Taskforce; (3) an international stakeholder survey of clinical trial research personnel, PRO methodologists, health economists, psychometricians, patient advocates, funders, industry representatives, journal editors, policy makers, ethicists, and researchers responsible for evidence synthesis (distributed by 38 international partner organizations in October 2016); (4) an international Delphi exercise (n = 137 invited; October 2016 to February 2017); and (5) consensus meeting (n = 30 invited; May 2017). Prior to voting, consensus meeting participants were informed of the results of the Delphi exercise and given data from structured reviews evaluating the PRO protocol content of 3 defined samples of trial protocols. The systematic review identified 162 PRO-specific protocol recommendations from 54 sources. The ISOQOL Taskforce (n = 21) reduced this to 56 items, which were considered by 138 international stakeholder survey participants and 99 Delphi panelists. The final wording of the SPIRIT-PRO Extension was agreed on at a consensus meeting (n = 29 participants) and reviewed by external group of experts during a consultation period. Eleven extensions and 5 elaborations to the SPIRIT 2013 checklist were recommended for inclusion in clinical trial protocols in which PROs are a primary or key secondary outcome. Extension items focused on PRO-specific issues relating to the trial rationale, objectives, eligibility criteria, concepts used to evaluate the intervention, time points for assessment, PRO instrument selection and measurement properties, data collection plan, translation to other languages, proxy completion, strategies to minimize missing data, and whether PRO data will be monitored during the study to inform clinical care. The SPIRIT-PRO guidelines provide recommendations for items that should be addressed and included in clinical trial protocols in which PROs are a primary or key secondary outcome. Improved design of clinical trials including PROs could help ensure high-quality data that may inform patient-centered care.

78 FR 46418 - Proposed Information Collection (Obligation To Report Factors Affecting Entitlement) Activity...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-31

... (Obligation To Report Factors Affecting Entitlement) Activity; Comment Request AGENCY: Veterans Benefits... use of other forms of information technology. Title: Obligation to Report Factors Affecting... entitlement factors. Individual factors such as income, marital status, and the beneficiary's number of...

75 FR 62634 - Proposed Information Collection (Obligation to Report Factors Affecting Entitlement) Activity...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-12

... (Obligation to Report Factors Affecting Entitlement) Activity: Comment Request AGENCY: Veterans Benefits... use of other forms of information technology. Title: Obligation to Report Factors Affecting... entitlement factors. Individual factors such as income, marital status, and the beneficiary's number of...

[Prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents from 1977 to 2009 - examination of the school medical data of more than 94,000 school-age children in the city of Basel (Switzerland)].

PubMed

Ledergerber, M; Steffen, Th

2011-01-01

A cross-sectional study over a period of 30 years was used to investigate the development of overweight and obesity in school children. Of particular interest is the question of whether the overweight epidemic is continuing to increase, as often postulated, or whether a stagnation point or the start of a reversal of the trend has already been reached. School medical examinations take place at three school levels in the city of Basel. 94,004 student files from these examinations from the school years 1977/78 and 1978/79, as well as from 1989/90 to 2008/09, have been subjected to a secondary analysis. The overweight and obesity prevalences were calculated for eleven 2-year cohorts according to the standards of the International Obesity Taskforce IOTF. A more in-depth analysis followed, differentiated by school grade, gender and nationality. The percentage of overweight and obese children and young people has increased strongly in the last 3 decades. Whereas every 11th child was overweight 30 years ago (9.3%), it now amounts to every 5th child (20.9%). The proportion of obese children has increased from 1.2% to 5.4%. The large increase in overweight and obesity prevalences mainly took place in the 1990s. Since the millennium change, the number of overweight and obese school children among those examined has only increased slightly, or has at least no longer increased. This general development was observed in all school grades and was independent of gender and nationality, although foreign children are always twice as likely to be affected by overweight and obesity. The stabilisation can be seen at its earliest and the change in trend is clearest in the kindergarten, which could indicate a "year's cohort effect". The development over the last 10 years is welcome from a public health point of view. The continued high prevalence still represents a significant health problem, however, and the prevention efforts being made against the overweight epidemic must be further strengthened. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Force protection in contingency operations: an evaluation of temperature monitoring in Sierra Leone.

PubMed

Cole, Catherine; Turnbull, C; Eardley, W; Hunt, P

2016-06-01

The deployment of the UK-led Joint Inter-Agency Taskforce to Sierra Leone in September 2014 brought the era of contingency operations into focus. Daily health screening of such deployed personnel forms a key element of medical force protection. We have performed a service evaluation of an existing screening programme and detail the comparison of the two thermometers used in this role. Data from the existing screening programme were used to inform a sample size required to enable statistically and clinically significant differences to be detected between the two interchangeably used thermometer systems in use. A prospective service evaluation on these devices was then carried out over a 10-day period and the data analysed by parametric tools. 10 personnel had their temperature recorded by both devices at the same time by a single operator every day. For the screened population, a mean temperature of 36.55°C and SD of 0.32°C was revealed. Powered to 80% with a two-tailed α of 0.05, the evaluation of the two thermometers revealed no significant difference between recordings taken with either device (p=0.115). The low SD meant that a pyrexial patient (>37.5°C) would require a recording over 3 SD from the population mean. Evaluations of medical force protection will carry increasing consequence as the UK deploy on short notice operations to regions of considerable endemic threat. Presence of pyrexia is a key early indicator of illness affecting deployed personnel, and two different thermometer types are provided for this function. We have shown for the first time with statistical and clinical significance that the two thermometers used in contingency force protection are interchangeable. The narrow variance is reassuring and confirms that the chosen trigger (>37.5°C) would warrant further investigation in the pyrexial patient. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Factor structure of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) in adult women with fibromyalgia from Southern Spain: the al-Ándalus project.

PubMed

Estévez-López, Fernando; Pulido-Martos, Manuel; Armitage, Christopher J; Wearden, Alison; Álvarez-Gallardo, Inmaculada C; Arrayás-Grajera, Manuel Javier; Girela-Rejón, María J; Carbonell-Baeza, Ana; Aparicio, Virginia A; Geenen, Rinie; Delgado-Fernández, Manuel; Segura-Jiménez, Víctor

2016-01-01

Fibromyalgia is a syndrome characterized by the presence of widespread chronic pain. People with fibromyalgia report lower levels of Positive Affect and higher levels of Negative Affect than non-fibromyalgia peers. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)-a widely used questionnaire to assess two core domains of affect; namely 'Positive Affect' and 'Negative Affect' -has a controversial factor structure varying across studies. The internal structure of a measurement instrument has an impact on the meaning and validity of its score. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the structural construct validity of the PANAS in adult women with fibromyalgia. This population-based cross-sectional study included 442 adult women with fibromyalgia (age: 51.3 ± 7.4 years old) from Andalusia (Southern Spain). Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test the factor structure of the PANAS. A structure with two correlated factors (Positive Affect and Negative Affect) obtained the best fit; S-B χ(2) = 288.49, df = 155, p < .001; RMSEA = .04; 90% CI of RMSEA = (.036, .052); the best fit SRMR = .05; CFI = .96; CAIC = -810.66, respectively. The present study demonstrates that both Positive Affect and Negative Affect are core dimensions of affect in adult women with fibromyalgia. A structure with two correlated factors of the PANAS emerged from our sample of women with fibromyalgia from Andalusia (Southern Spain). In this model, the amount of variance shared by Positive Affect and Negative Affect was small. Therefore, our findings support to use and interpret the Positive Affect and Negative Affect subscales of the PANAS as separate factors that are associated but distinctive as well.

75 FR 80114 - Agency Information Collection (Obligation To Report Factors Affecting Entitlement) Activity Under...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-21

... (Obligation To Report Factors Affecting Entitlement) Activity Under OMB Review AGENCY: Veterans Benefits... Report Factors Affecting Entitlement (38 CFR 3.204(a)(1), 38 CFR 3.256(a) and 38 CFR 3.277(b)). OMB... benefits must report changes in their entitlement factors. Individual factors such as income, marital...

Differences in within- and between-person factor structure of positive and negative affect: analysis of two intensive measurement studies using multilevel structural equation modeling.

PubMed

Rush, Jonathan; Hofer, Scott M

2014-06-01

The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) is a widely used measure of emotional experience. The factor structure of the PANAS has been examined predominantly with cross-sectional designs, which fails to disaggregate within-person variation from between-person differences. There is still uncertainty as to the factor structure of positive and negative affect and whether they constitute 2 distinct independent factors. The present study examined the within-person and between-person factor structure of the PANAS in 2 independent samples that reported daily affect over 7 and 14 occasions, respectively. Results from multilevel confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a 2-factor structure at both the within-person and between-person levels, with correlated specific factors for overlapping items, provided good model fit. The best-fitting solution was one where within-person factors of positive and negative affect were inversely correlated, but between-person factors were independent. The structure was further validated through multilevel structural equation modeling examining the effects of cognitive interference, daily stress, physical symptoms, and physical activity on positive and negative affect factors.

Urdu translation and validation of shorter version of Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) on Pakistani bank employees.

PubMed

Akhter, Noreen

2017-10-01

To translate, adapt and validate shorter version of positive affect and negative affect scale on Pakistani corporate employees. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi from October 2014 to December 2015. The study was completed into two independent parts. In part one, the scale was translated by forward translation. Then it was pilot-tested and administered on customer services employees from commercial banks and the telecommunication sector. Data of the pilot study was analysed by using exploratory factor analysis to extract the initial factor of positive affect and negative affect scale. Part two comprised the main study. Commercial bank employees were included in the sample using convenient sampling technique. Data of the main study was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis in order to establish construct validity of positive affect and negative affect scale. There were145 participants in the first part of the study and 495 in the second. Results of confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the two-factor structure of positive affect and negative affect scale suggesting that the scale has two distinct domains, i.e. positive affect and negative affect. The shorter version of positive affect and negative affect scale was found to be a valid and reliable measure.

Religion and organ donation: the views of UK faith leaders.

PubMed

Randhawa, Gurch; Brocklehurst, Anna; Pateman, Ruth; Kinsella, Suzannah; Parry, Vivienne

2012-09-01

This article reports the findings from the one-to-one interviews with the main UK faith and belief leaders which were commissioned by the Organ Donation Taskforce as part of its evidence gathering. Interviews were arranged with the main faith and belief organisations within the UK. Interviews covered a range of issues related to organ donation. Although some faith groups had some reservations regarding organ donation, interviews with these leaders demonstrated that none of these faith groups have reached a consensus against organ donation. The interviewees stated that the majority opinion in their faith or belief group is to permit organ donation, with some actively supporting it. Interviewees were keen to stress that there is a broad spectrum of opinion on organ transplantation within each faith and belief group and that consequently it is difficult to speak on behalf of an entire group. One complication mentioned by interviewees is that as organ transplantation is a relatively new medical procedure, there is no explicit reference to it in many original religious texts. Consequently, positions on the receipt and donation of organs are based on interpretation. It was felt that a much greater level of engagement is needed, as organ donation is currently not a priority for many faith and belief groups.

CO2 storage capacity estimation: Issues and development of standards

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bradshaw, J.; Bachu, S.; Bonijoly, D.; Burruss, R.; Holloway, S.; Christensen, N.P.; Mathiassen, O.M.

2007-01-01

Associated with the endeavours of geoscientists to pursue the promise that geological storage of CO2 has of potentially making deep cuts into greenhouse gas emissions, Governments around the world are dependent on reliable estimates of CO2 storage capacity and insightful indications of the viability of geological storage in their respective jurisdictions. Similarly, industry needs reliable estimates for business decisions regarding site selection and development. If such estimates are unreliable, and decisions are made based on poor advice, then valuable resources and time could be wasted. Policies that have been put in place to address CO2 emissions could be jeopardised. Estimates need to clearly state the limitations that existed (data, time, knowledge) at the time of making the assessment and indicate the purpose and future use to which the estimates should be applied. A set of guidelines for estimation of storage capacity will greatly assist future deliberations by government and industry on the appropriateness of geological storage of CO2 in different geological settings and political jurisdictions. This work has been initiated under the auspices of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (www.cslforum.org), and it is intended that it will be an ongoing taskforce to further examine issues associated with storage capacity estimation. Crown Copyright ?? 2007.

A seminar on gardens for the health of the skin.

PubMed

Ryan, Terence J; Matts, Paul J; Snyder, Brad; Orr, Vanya

2014-05-01

This is a report on a seminar held on January 12, 2013, at the Regional Dermatology Training Centre in Tanzania, sponsored by the International Society of Dermatology as part of its Taskforce Program for Skin Care for All: Community Dermatology. There were four themes: (i) Gardens attached to health centers increase their attractiveness and result in increased attendance and, thus, increase the utilization of effective skin care interventions. Literature on the positive effect of greenery surrounding health centers on health and the environment is reviewed. (ii) Adding an expert on agriculture to the staff of health centers in Rwanda has provided nutrition and safe medicines. (iii) In southern India, these interventions are channeled through the empowerment of tribal women in an area noted for anxiety due to unemployment in the tea and forestry industry. The gardens are used for teaching about nutrition and herbal medicines, and the women are further attracted by childcare facilities. (iv) Measuring barrier function defects gives early warning of malnutrition of the skin after damage by trauma or by ultraviolet radiation. Higher cost research techniques may help to provide the science required to produce its evidence base. In conclusion, Gardens for health should be adopted as policy by skin care providers. © 2014 The International Society of Dermatology.

Cisgender male and transgender female sex workers in South Africa: gender variant identities and narratives of exclusion.

PubMed

Samudzi, Zoe; Mannell, Jenevieve

2016-01-01

Sex workers are often perceived as possessing 'deviant' identities, contributing to their exclusion from health services. The literature on sex worker identities in relation to health has focused primarily on cisgender female sex workers as the 'carriers of disease', obscuring the experiences of cisgender male and transgender sex workers and the complexities their gender identities bring to understandings of stigma and exclusion. To address this gap, this study draws on 21 interviews with cisgender male and transgender female sex workers receiving services from the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce in Cape Town, South Africa. Our findings suggest that the social identities imposed upon sex workers contribute to their exclusion from public, private, discursive and geographic spaces. While many transgender female sex workers described their identities using positive and empowered language, cisgender male sex workers frequently expressed shame and internalised stigma related to identities, which could be described as 'less than masculine'. While many of those interviewed felt empowered by positive identities as transgender women, sex workers and sex worker-advocates, disempowerment and vulnerability were also linked to inappropriately masculinised and feminised identities. Understanding the links between gender identities and social exclusion is crucial to creating effective health interventions for both cisgender men and transgender women in sex work.

Innovation in the role of the Office of the Ombudsman of the Unified Health System (SUS) - reflections and potential benefits.

PubMed

Fernandes, Fernando Manuel Bessa; Moreira, Marcelo Rasga; Ribeiro, José Mendes; Ouverney, Assis Mafort; Oliveira, Flávio José Fonseca de; Moro, Maria Francisca Abritta

2016-08-01

This article seeks to reflect on the potential of innovative practices in the design and work of the government bodies that comprise the National System of Offices of the Ombudsman of the Unified Health System. It is divided into two parts, seeking to answer the following question: How to think of and implement innovative practices - which include sustainability - when the people are voicing their urgent demands and these are being heard by the public authorities? These grievances are all the more urgent as they involve the area of Health and can they be promptly discussed, attended and resolved? In the first part, the article discusses the polysemic concept of innovation, focusing on its application in the three spheres of public administration, and highlights the importance of its close correlation with the different notions of information and knowledge in a society such as the one we live in. In the second, it develops a task-force of ideas for the office of the ombudsman and based on this, a draft operational concept of innovation in the role of the office of the ombudsman, considering the context of high speed change and transformations and the complexity inherent to contemporary life and the need for resource management and expertise development in information management.

Differential Predictability of Four Dimensions of Affect Intensity

PubMed Central

Rubin, David C.; Hoyle, Rick H.; Leary, Mark R.

2013-01-01

Individual differences in affect intensity are typically assessed with the Affect Intensity Measure (AIM). Previous factor analyses suggest that the AIM is comprised of four weakly correlated factors: Positive Affectivity, Negative Reactivity, Negative Intensity and Positive Intensity or Serenity. However, little data exist to show whether its four factors relate to other measures differently enough to preclude use of the total scale score. The present study replicated the four-factor solution and found that subscales derived from the four factors correlated differently with criterion variables that assess personality domains, affective dispositions, and cognitive patterns that are associated with emotional reactions. The results show that use of the total AIM score can obscure relationships between specific features of affect intensity and other variables and suggest that researchers should examine the individual AIM subscales. PMID:21707262

Organisational Factors Affecting Policy and Programme Decision Making in a Public Health Policy Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zardo, Pauline; Collie, Alex; Livingstone, Charles

2015-01-01

Organisational factors can affect the success of interventions aimed at increasing research use. Research is needed to identify organisational factors affecting research use in specific public health policy contexts. Qualitative interviews with decision makers from a specific public health context identified a range of organisational factors that…

Substrate-Related Factors Affecting Enzymatic Saccharification of Lignocelluloses: Our Recent Understanding

Treesearch

Shao-Yuan Leu; J.Y. Zhu

2013-01-01

Enzymatic saccharification of cellulose is a key step in conversion of plant biomass to advanced biofuel and chemicals. Many substrate-related factors affect saccharification. Rather than examining the role of each individual factor on overall saccharification efficiency, this study examined how each factor affects the three basic processes of a heterogeneous...

29 CFR 784.118 - The exemption is intended for work affected by natural factors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false The exemption is intended for work affected by natural...(a)(5) Exemption § 784.118 The exemption is intended for work affected by natural factors. As... that are controlled or materially affected by natural factors or elements, such as the vicissitudes of...

29 CFR 784.118 - The exemption is intended for work affected by natural factors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false The exemption is intended for work affected by natural...(a)(5) Exemption § 784.118 The exemption is intended for work affected by natural factors. As... that are controlled or materially affected by natural factors or elements, such as the vicissitudes of...

Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lúcio, F.

2012-04-01

Climate information at global, regional and national levels and in timeframes ranging from the past, present and future climate is fundamental for planning, sustainable development and to help organizations, countries and individuals adopt appropriate strategies to adapt to climate variability and change. Based on this recognition, in 2009, the Heads of States and Governments, Ministers and Heads of Delegation representing more than 150 countries, 34 United Nations Organizations and 36 Governmental and non-Governmental international organizations, and more than 2500 experts present at the Third World Climate Conference (WCC - 3) unanimously agreed to develop the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) to strengthen the production, availability, delivery and application of science-based climate prediction and services. They requested that a taskforce of high-level independent advisors be appointed to prepare a report, including recommendations on the proposed elements of the Framework and the next steps for its implementation. The high-level taskforce produced a report which was endorsed by the Sixteeth World Meteorological Congress XVI in May 2011. A process for the development of the implementation plan and the governance structure of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) is well under way being led by the World Meteorological Organization within the UN system. This process involves consultations that engage a broad range of stakeholders including governments, UN and international agencies, regional organizations and specific communities of practitioners. These consultations are being conducted to facilitate discussions of key issues related to the production, availability, delivery and application of climate services in the four priority sectors of the framework (agriculture, water, health and disaster risk reduction) so that the implementation plan of the Framework is a true reflection of the aspirations of stakeholders. The GFCS is envisaged as a set of international arrangements that will coordinate the activities and build on existing efforts to provide climate services that are truly focused on meeting user needs. It will be implemented through the development of five main components: 1) User Interface Platform — to provide ways for climate service users and providers to interact and improve the effectiveness of the Framework and its climate services 2) Climate Services Information System — to produce and distribute climate data and information according to the needs of users and to agreed standards 3) Observations and Monitoring - to develop agreements and standards for collecting and generating necessary climate data 4) Research, Modeling and Prediction section — to harness science capabilities and results to meet the needs of climate services 5) Capacity Building — to support the systematic development of the institutions, infrastructure and human resources needed for effective production of climate services and their application. Putting the GFCS in place will require unprecedented collaboration among agencies and across political, functional and disciplinary boundaries, and a global mobilization of effort. This communication will provide information on benefits and the process for the development of the GFCS as well as potential entry points for stakeholders to participate. In addition, it will highlight some of the research, modelling and prediction opportunities that will require intra-disciplinary science action.

Looking under the Bonnet: Factors Affecting Student Adoption of E-Learning Systems in Jordan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abbad, Muneer Mahmood; Morris, David; de Nahlik, Carmel

2009-01-01

The primary questions addressed in this paper are the following: what are the factors that affect students' adoption of an e-learning system and what are the relationships among these factors? This paper investigates and identifies some of the major factors affecting students' adoption of an e-learning system in a university in Jordan. E-learning…

Beyond Negative Pain-Related Psychological Factors: Resilience Is Related to Lower Pain Affect in Healthy Adults.

PubMed

Hemington, Kasey S; Cheng, Joshua C; Bosma, Rachael L; Rogachov, Anton; Kim, Junseok A; Davis, Karen D

2017-09-01

Resilience, a characteristic that enhances adaptation in response to stressful events, is a positive psychological factor that can predict and modulate health outcomes. However, resilience is rarely considered in pain research. Conversely, negative psychological factors (eg, anxiety, depression) are known to be related to the affective dimension of pain. It is critical to understand all potential psychological drivers of pain affect, a prominent component of chronic pain. We tested the hypothesis that higher resilience is associated with lower pain affect, above and beyond the predictive value of negative psychological factors. Healthy adults underwent psychophysical testing to acquire ratings of heat pain intensity and unpleasantness and completed the Resilience Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (trait form), Beck Depression Inventory, Pain Catastrophizing Scale, and the Pain Vigilance and Attention Questionnaire. Multiple regression modeling (n = 68) showed resilience to be a negatively associated with pain affect (unpleasantness). Furthermore, in individuals with higher anxiety scores, resilience was protective against higher pain affect. This highlights the importance of resilience, a positive psychological factor, in the affective dimension of pain. This study is the first to assess a positive psychological factor and experimental pain affect, and has the potential to improve prediction of and treatment strategies for clinical pain. We report that resilience, a positive psychological factor, interacts with anxiety and is associated with heat pain affect (unpleasantness) in healthy individuals. Resilience may provide predictive value of chronic pain affect and treatment outcomes, and could be a target for behavioral therapy. Copyright © 2017 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quality of life in breast cancer sufferers.

PubMed

Shouman, Ahmed Essmat; Abou El Ezz, Nahla Fawzy; Gado, Nivine; Ibrahim Goda, Amal Mahmoud

2016-08-08

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to measure health-related quality of life (QOL) among patients with early stage cancer breast under curative treatment at department of oncology and nuclear medicine at Ain Shams University Hospitals. Identify factors affecting QOL among these patients. Design/methodology/approach - A cross-sectional study measured QOL among early stage female breast cancer (BC) patients and determined the main factors affecting their QOL. Three interviewer administered questionnaires were used. Findings - The physical domain mostly affected in BC patients and the functional domain least. Socio-demographic factors that significantly affected BC patients QOL scores were patient age, education, having children and family income. Specific patient characteristics include caregiver presence - a factor that affected different QOL scores. Age at diagnosis, affection in the side of the predominant hand, post-operative chemotherapy and difficulty in obtaining the medication were the disease-related factors that affected QOL scores. Originality/value - The final model predicting QOL for early stage female BC patients included age, education and difficulty in obtaining the medication as determinants for total QOL score. Carer presence was the specific patient characteristic that affected different QOL scores.

77 FR 18862 - Brazil: Competitive Factors Affecting U.S. and Brazilian Agricultural Sales in Selected Third...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-28

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 332-524] Brazil: Competitive Factors Affecting U.S. and Brazilian Agricultural Sales in Selected Third Country Markets AGENCY: United States... Committee in investigation No. 332-524, Brazil: Competitive Factors In Brazil Affecting U.S. and Brazilian...

Disentangling Vulnerabilities from Outcomes: Distinctions between Trait Affect and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent and Adult Samples

PubMed Central

Harding, Kaitlin A.; Willey, Brittany; Ahles, Joshua; Mezulis, Amy

2016-01-01

Background Trait negative affect and trait positive affect are affective vulnerabilities to depressive symptoms in adolescence and adulthood. While trait affect and the state affect characteristic of depressive symptoms are proposed to be theoretically distinct, no studies have established that these constructs are statistically distinct. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to determine whether the trait affect (e.g. temperament dimensions) that predicts depressive symptoms and the state affect characteristic of depressive symptoms are statistically distinct among early adolescents and adults. We hypothesized that trait negative affect, trait positive affect, and depressive symptoms would represent largely distinct factors in both samples. Method Participants were 268 early adolescents (53.73% female) and 321 young adults (70.09% female) who completed self-report measures of demographic information, trait affect, and depressive symptoms. Results Principal axis factoring with oblique rotation for both samples indicated distinct adolescent factor loadings and overlapping adult factor loadings. Confirmatory factor analyses in both samples supported distinct but related relationships between trait NA, trait PA, and depressive symptoms. Limitations Study limitations include our cross-sectional design that prevented examination of self-reported fluctuations in trait affect and depressive symptoms and the unknown potential effects of self-report biases among adolescents and adults. Conclusions Findings support existing theoretical distinctions between adolescent constructs but highlight a need to revise or remove items to distinguish measurements of adult trait affect and depressive symptoms. Adolescent trait affect and depressive symptoms are statistically distinct, but adult trait affect and depressive symptoms statistically overlap and warrant further consideration. PMID:27085163

A Study on Factors Affecting Navy Officers’ Decisions to Pursue Funded Graduate Education: A Qualitative Approach

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-01

Distribution is unlimited. A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING NAVY OFFICERS’ DECISIONS TO PURSUE FUNDED GRADUATE EDUCATION: A QUALITATIVE APPROACH ...NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited. A STUDY ON FACTORS...REPORT DATE June 2017 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING NAVY OFFICERS

An Analysis of Factors That Affect the Educational Performance of Agricultural Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenway, Gina

2012-01-01

Many factors contribute to student achievement. This study focuses on three areas: how students learn, how student personality type affects performance, and how course format affects performance outcomes. The analysis sought to improve understanding of the direction and magnitude with which each of these factors impacts student success. Improved…

14 CFR Appendix B to Part 1215 - Factors Affecting Standard Charges

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2011-01-01 2010-01-01 true Factors Affecting Standard Charges B Appendix B to Part 1215 Aeronautics and Space NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION TRACKING AND DATA RELAY SATELLITE SYSTEM (TDRSS) Pt. 1215, App. B Appendix B to Part 1215—Factors Affecting Standard...

Affective and Social Factors in a Project-Based Writing Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kathpalia, Sujata Surinder; Heah, Carmel

2011-01-01

Much of the work in academic writing has focused on the cognitive rather than the affective and social aspects involved in project-based writing. Emphasis in past research has been on skills and processes of writing rather than on affective factors such as motivation, attitudes, feelings or social factors involving intrapersonal and interpersonal…

Assessment of Factor Affecting Institutional Performance: The Case of Wolaita Sodo University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shibru, Sintayehu; Bibiso, Mesfin; Ousman, Kedir

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to explore factors that affect institutional performance of Wolaita Sodo University. The study has identified middle level manager's perceptions toward institutional performance to indicate the key factors that seem to affect the performance of the university. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and…

Narrowing the Skills Gap for Innovation: An Empirical Study in the Hospital Sector

PubMed Central

Escoval, Ana

2014-01-01

Background The current financial crisis and the increasing burden of chronic diseases are challenging hospitals to enhance their innovation capacity to deliver new and more effective health services. However, the shortage of skills has been widely recognized as a key obstacle for innovation. Ensuring the presence of a skilled workforce has become a priority for the health system in Portugal and across Europe. Objective The aim of this study was to examine the demand of new skills and their influence in both investments in innovation and development of skills. Methods We used a mixed-methods approach combining statistical analysis of data survey and content analysis of semistructured interviews with the Administration Boards of hospitals, using a nominal group technique. Results The results illustrate an increasing demand of a broad range of skills for innovation development, including responsibility and quality consciousness (with a significant increase of 55%, 52/95), adaptation skills (with an increase of 44%, 42/95) and cooperation and communication skills (with an increase of 55%, 52/95). Investments in the development of skills for innovation are mainly focused on aligning professional training with an organizational strategy (69%, 66/95) as well as collaboration in taskforces (61%, 58/95) and cross-department teams (60%, 57/95). However, the dynamics between the supply and demand of skills for innovation are better explained through a broader perspective of organizational changes towards enhancing learning opportunities and engagement of health professionals to boost innovation. Conclusions The results of this study illustrate that hospitals are unlikely to enhance their innovation capacity if they pursue strategies failing to match the skills needed. Within this context, hospitals with high investments in innovation tend to invest more in skills development. The demand of skills and investments in training are influenced by many other factors, including the hospital’s strategies, as well as changes in the work organization. Relevant implications for managers and policy makers can be drawn from the empirical findings of this paper, building on the current efforts from leading innovating hospitals that are already defining the future of health care. PMID:27025197

Narrowing the Skills Gap for Innovation: An Empirical Study in the Hospital Sector.

PubMed

Dias, Casimiro; Escoval, Ana

2014-09-23

The current financial crisis and the increasing burden of chronic diseases are challenging hospitals to enhance their innovation capacity to deliver new and more effective health services. However, the shortage of skills has been widely recognized as a key obstacle for innovation. Ensuring the presence of a skilled workforce has become a priority for the health system in Portugal and across Europe. The aim of this study was to examine the demand of new skills and their influence in both investments in innovation and development of skills. We used a mixed-methods approach combining statistical analysis of data survey and content analysis of semistructured interviews with the Administration Boards of hospitals, using a nominal group technique. The results illustrate an increasing demand of a broad range of skills for innovation development, including responsibility and quality consciousness (with a significant increase of 55%, 52/95), adaptation skills (with an increase of 44%, 42/95) and cooperation and communication skills (with an increase of 55%, 52/95). Investments in the development of skills for innovation are mainly focused on aligning professional training with an organizational strategy (69%, 66/95) as well as collaboration in taskforces (61%, 58/95) and cross-department teams (60%, 57/95). However, the dynamics between the supply and demand of skills for innovation are better explained through a broader perspective of organizational changes towards enhancing learning opportunities and engagement of health professionals to boost innovation. The results of this study illustrate that hospitals are unlikely to enhance their innovation capacity if they pursue strategies failing to match the skills needed. Within this context, hospitals with high investments in innovation tend to invest more in skills development. The demand of skills and investments in training are influenced by many other factors, including the hospital's strategies, as well as changes in the work organization. Relevant implications for managers and policy makers can be drawn from the empirical findings of this paper, building on the current efforts from leading innovating hospitals that are already defining the future of health care.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding smoking cessation among Chinese affiliates of women's organisations in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Leung, Doris Y P; Chan, Sophia S C; Fu, Idy C Y; Lam, Tai-hing

2011-03-01

Volunteers and staff of women's organisations who are highly active in engaging and providing community service can be recruited to motivate female smokers to quit. We described the knowledge and attitudes regarding tobacco control and smoking cessation among these affiliates in Hong Kong and identified factors associated with the practices of cessation interventions. Eight of 14 women's organisations joining the Women Against Tobacco Taskforce agreed to participate. All staff, volunteers, and members of the eight organisations were invited to complete a self-administered anonymous questionnaire during July and August 2006. A total of 623 out of 771 (80.8%) affiliates responded. Their knowledge on smoking and health (mean = 3.91, SD = 1.44 on a range of 0-7), smoking related diseases (mean = 2.91, SD = 0.97 on a range of 0-4), and women-specific diseases (mean = 2.93, SD = 1.87 on a range of 0-6), was considered to be inadequate. They had positive attitudes towards tobacco control (mean = 3.31, SD = 0.55) and their own role in smoking cessation counselling (mean = 3.19, SD = 0.56) on a 4-point Likert scale and 39.3% reported had attempted to offer quitting advice. Logistic regression analysis found that participants having direct contact with smokers who had a positive attitude towards their own role in smoking cessation counselling (OR = 2.57; 95% CI = 1.67-3.95) and better knowledge of smoking and smoking-related diseases (OR = 1.35; 95% CI = 1.06-1.71) were more likely to provide cessation counselling after controlling for gender; knowledge on smoking and health, and women-specific diseases; attitude towards tobacco control, negative and positive attitudes towards female smokers, and perceived self-efficacy in smoking cessation counselling. Women's organisations showed limited support towards tobacco control and their affiliates had a limited knowledge on smoking and health but had positive attitudes. Appropriate training, capacity building and establishing rapport with women's organisations are needed to promote smoking cessation and to support tobacco control in the community. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The use of a dietary quality score as a predictor of childhood overweight and obesity.

PubMed

Perry, Catherine P; Keane, Eimear; Layte, Richard; Fitzgerald, Anthony P; Perry, Ivan J; Harrington, Janas M

2015-06-24

The use of dietary quality scores/indices to describe diet quality in children has increased in the past decade. However, to date, few studies have focused on the use of these scores on disease outcomes such as childhood obesity and most are developed from detailed dietary assessments. Therefore, the aims of this study were: firstly to construct a diet quality score (DQS) from a brief dietary assessment tool; secondly to examine the association between diet quality and childhood overweight or obesity; thirdly we also aim to examine the associations between individual DQS components and childhood overweight or obesity. A secondary analysis of cross sectional data of a sample of 8,568 9-year-old children and their families as part of the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study. Subjects were drawn from a probability proportionate to size sampling of primary schools throughout Ireland over the school year 2007-2008. Height and weight were measured by trained researchers using standardised methods and BMI was classified using the International Obesity Taskforce cut-points. The DQS (un-weighted) was developed using a 20-item, parent reported, food frequency questionnaire of foods consumed over the past 24 h. Adjusted odds ratios for overweight and obesity were examined by DQS quintile, using the first quintile (highest diet quality) as the reference category. The prevalence of normal weight, overweight and obese was 75, 19 and 6% respectively. DQS ranged from -5 to 25, higher scores indicated higher diet quality in the continuous score. In analyses adjusted for gender, parent's education, physical activity and T.V. viewing, child obesity but not overweight was significantly associated with poor diet quality: OR of 1.56 (95% CI 1.02 2.38) in the 5th compared to the 1st DQS quintile. Findings from individual food items were inconsistent. The findings suggest that diet quality may be an important factor in childhood obesity. A simple DQS developed from a short dietary assessment tool is significantly associated with childhood obesity.

Analyzing the Factors Affecting the Success in University Entrance Examination through the use of Artificial Neural Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agdelen, Zafer; Haydar, Ali; Kanani, Andisheh

2007-01-01

There are many factors that affect the success of students in university entrance examination. These factors can be mainly categorized as follows; social factors, environmental factors, economical factors etc. The main aim of this study is to find whether there is a relation between these factors and the success in the university entrance…

Analysis of Factors Influencing Creative Personality of Elementary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Jongman; Kim, Minkee; Jang, Shinho

2017-01-01

This quantitative research examined factors that affect elementary students' creativity and how those factors correlate. Aiming to identify significant factors that affect creativity and to clarify the relationship between these factors by path analysis, this research was designed to be a stepping stone for creativity enhancement studies. Data…

Factors That Affect the Academic Success of Foreign Students at Cardinal Stritch University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Annor, Peter

2010-01-01

There are limited studies in the literature on the factors that affect the academic success of foreign students in the United States. This ex post facto mixed method study investigated the factors that affect the academic success of foreign students at Cardinal Stitch University (CSU), a medium size, private university located in the Midwestern…

A Study of Investigating Adolescents' Eating out Behavior by Using Analytic Hierarchy Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lan, Tian-Syung; Lan, Yu-Hua; Chen, Pin-Chang; Lo, Wen-Chi

2017-01-01

The main purpose of this study is to understand the factors affecting adolescents' eating out behavior, as well as to develop scientific principles for selection of factors affecting adolescents' eating out behavior. According to literature review and expert questionnaire survey, this study obtained the factors affecting adolescents' choice to eat…

A Study of the Technological, Instructional, and Motivational Factors Affecting PHR Certification Exam Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonner, David M.

2012-01-01

Although previous studies have considered the factors affecting other certification exam outcomes, they have not examined those that are related to performance on the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) exam. In response to that need, this study specifically investigates technology and training factors that affect self-efficacy and self-set…

Factors Affecting Differential Equation Problem Solving Ability of Students at Pre-University Level: A Conceptual Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aisha, Bibi; Zamri, Sharifa NorulAkmar Syed; Abdallah, Nabeel; Abedalaziz, Mohammad; Ahmad, Mushtaq; Satti, Umbreen

2017-01-01

In this study, different factors affecting students' differential equations (DEs) solving abilities were explored at pre university level. To explore main factors affecting students' differential equations problem solving ability, articles for a 19-year period, from 1996 to 2015, were critically reviewed and analyzed. It was revealed that…

The Internal Structure of Positive and Negative Affect: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the PANAS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuccitto, Daniel E.; Giacobbi, Peter R., Jr.; Leite, Walter L.

2010-01-01

This study tested five confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) models of the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) to provide validity evidence based on its internal structure. A sample of 223 club sport athletes indicated their emotions during the past week. Results revealed that an orthogonal two-factor CFA model, specifying error…

Changing social factors and their long-term implications for health.

PubMed

Wadsworthx, M E

1997-01-01

This paper presents findings and arguments to show the power of social factors to affect health at the individual and at the national level. Social factors most strongly and negatively associated with health, at both levels, are those that indicate disorganisation and disruption, perceived helplessness and lack of support, low educational attainment, and poverty. Adverse changes in these social factors and their negative effects on health have been observed in many studies. When such adverse changes affect the lives and health of children, and those who will become parents, they affect the present and long-term future health of individuals because of the processes of biological programming described in this and other papers presented here. Such adverse changes in social factors also adversely affect the social circumstances of childhood, which in turn have a negative impact on health. Because changing social factors affect biological programming and social capitalisation, awareness of the health damaging effects of recent social change provides information on the future health of the population.

Factors affecting the quality of life in childhood epilepsy in China.

PubMed

Yong, L; Chengye, J; Jiong, Q

2006-03-01

To explore the level of, and factors affecting the quality of life (QOL) in childhood epilepsy in China. At the Peking University First Hospital, we consecutively identified 418 parents whose children were with known epilepsy to complete a questionnaire, which included children's demographic characteristics, clinical message of epilepsy, QOL, familial message, parental symptoms of anxiety/depression. Significant (p<0.05) affecting factors of children's quality of life included current educational degree, mental development, age at diagnosis, age at onset, seizure frequency, duration, AED number; parental significant (p<0.05) affecting factors included anxiety, depression and health. On regression analysis, parental anxiety was the most important factor in explaining lower QOL in childhood epilepsy. AEDs, familial economic state, paternal career, seizure frequency were also significant factors. Parental anxiety outweighed the physical factors in determining QOL in childhood epilepsy. Recognition of this will be helpful for professionals to treat disease and improve the QOL of childhood epilepsy.

Factors Affecting Tocopherol Concentrations in Soybean Seeds.

PubMed

Carrera, Constanza S; Seguin, Philippe

2016-12-21

Soybean seeds contain several health-beneficial compounds, including tocopherols, which are used by the nutraceutical and functional food industries. Soybean tocopherol concentrations are, however, highly variable. Large differences observed in tocopherol concentrations among soybean genotypes together with the relatively simple biosynthetic pathway involving few genes support the feasibility of selecting for high-tocopherol soybean. Tocopherol concentrations are also highly influenced by environmental factors and field management. Temperature during seed filling and soil moisture appear to be the main factors affecting tocopherol concentrations; other factors such as soil fertility and solar radiation also affect concentrations and composition. Field management decisions including seeding date, row spacing, irrigation, and fertilization also affect tocopherols. Knowledge of factors affecting soybean tocopherols is essential to develop management strategies that will lead to the production of seeds with consistent target concentrations that will meet the needs of the nutraceutical and functional food industries.

Factors affecting sign retroreflectivity

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-01-01

This study was undertaken to better understand the factors that may affect road sign retroreflectivity, specifically age and physical orientation. A better understanding of these factors could provide guidance to ODOT in managing its inventory of roa...

Factors Affecting the Interest of Israeli Social Work Students in Working with Different Client Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krumer-Nevo, Michal; Weiss, Idit

2006-01-01

Employing a large-scale sample of 521 BSW students from 4 Israeli schools of social work, this research examines the factors affecting social work students' interest in working with a wide range of client groups. The results suggest that student interest in working with specific client groups is affected by factors related to desire for…

Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Adoption of Modern Information and Communication Technology by Farmers in India: Analysis Using Multivariate Probit Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mittal, Surabhi; Mehar, Mamta

2016-01-01

Purpose: The paper analyzes factors that affect the likelihood of adoption of different agriculture-related information sources by farmers. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper links the theoretical understanding of the existing multiple sources of information that farmers use, with the empirical model to analyze the factors that affect the…

Analysis of Factors that Affect the Teacher Certification Exam Results in a University System in Puerto Rico

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garofalo, Jorge H.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors that affect a teacher preparation exam results within a University System in Puerto Rico. Using Bertalanffy's System Theory as theoretical framework, this mixed methods study examined factors in the university system that could have affected student's preparation for a teacher exam (PCMAS by its…

Reducing the Digital Divide through ICT Adoption: Factors, Barriers, and How ICT in Schools Can Help

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tengtrakul, Pitikorn

2013-01-01

Through econometric analysis of data from multiple surveys, this study explores factors that affect ICT adoption and evaluates the extent to which ICT in schools affect the ICT adoption of surrounding communities, in order to provide a perspective that can help narrow the gap of digital divide. Understanding factors affecting ICT adoption may…

Factors Affecting Open-Set Word Recognition in Adults with Cochlear Implants

PubMed Central

Holden, Laura K.; Finley, Charles C.; Firszt, Jill B.; Holden, Timothy A.; Brenner, Christine; Potts, Lisa G.; Gotter, Brenda D.; Vanderhoof, Sallie S.; Mispagel, Karen; Heydebrand, Gitry; Skinner, Margaret W.

2012-01-01

A monosyllabic word test was administered to 114 postlingually-deaf adult cochlear implant (CI) recipients at numerous intervals from two weeks to two years post-initial CI activation. Biographic/audiologic information, electrode position, and cognitive ability were examined to determine factors affecting CI outcomes. Results revealed that Duration of Severe-to-Profound Hearing Loss, Age at Implantation, CI Sound-field Threshold Levels, Percentage of Electrodes in Scala Vestibuli, Medio-lateral Electrode Position, Insertion Depth, and Cognition were among the factors that affected performance. Knowledge of how factors affect performance can influence counseling, device fitting, and rehabilitation for patients and may contribute to improved device design. PMID:23348845

Family-focussed interventions to reduce harm from smoking in primary school-aged children: A systematic review of evaluative studies.

PubMed

Brown, Nicola; Luckett, Tim; Davidson, Patricia M; DiGiacomo, Michelle

2017-08-01

Children living in families where adults smoke are exposed to harmful effects of tobacco smoke and risk a predisposition to smoking initiation. Interventions to support families to reduce risk of harm from smoking have been developed and tested. The purpose of this review is to identify effective family-based interventions used to promote smoke-free home environments in families with primary school age children (aged 5-12years). A systematic search of MEDLINE, Cochrane and CINAHL electronic databases was conducted. Narrative synthesis of included articles was completed. Guidelines for reporting behaviour change interventions were used to summarise and compare intervention timing, content, intensity and delivery. Quality of included studies was critiqued using United States Preventative Services Taskforce (USPST) procedures for internal and external validity. Narrative synthesis was based on methods described by Popay and colleagues. Nineteen articles that evaluated 14 intervention studies focussed on child smoking prevention (n=5), parent smoking cessation (n=4) and environmental tobacco smoke reduction (n=6). Interventions and outcomes were heterogeneous, and were rarely informed by theoretical frameworks relating to family, parenting or child development. Family based interventions may be an important strategy to reduce the effects of smoking for children. There is a need for interventions to be informed by theory relevant to children, parenting and families. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Conceptualizing a model: a report of the ISPOR-SMDM Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force-2.

PubMed

Roberts, Mark; Russell, Louise B; Paltiel, A David; Chambers, Michael; McEwan, Phil; Krahn, Murray

2012-01-01

The appropriate development of a model begins with understanding the problem that is being represented. The aim of this article is to provide a series of consensus-based best practices regarding the process of model conceptualization. For the purpose of this series of papers, the authors consider the development of models whose purpose is to inform medical decisions and health-related resource allocation questions. They specifically divide the conceptualization process into two distinct components: the conceptualization of the problem, which converts knowledge of the health care process or decision into a representation of the problem, followed by the conceptualization of the model itself, which matches the attributes and characteristics of a particular modeling type to the needs of the problem being represented. Recommendations are made regarding the structure of the modeling team, agreement on the statement of the problem, the structure, perspective and target population of the model, and the interventions and outcomes represented. Best practices relating to the specific characteristics of model structure, and which characteristics of the problem might be most easily represented in a specific modeling method, are presented. Each section contains a number of recommendations that were iterated among the authors, as well as the wider modeling taskforce, jointly set up by the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research and the Society for Medical Decision Making.

Risk of disordered eating attitudes among adolescents in seven Arab countries by gender and obesity: a cross-cultural study.

PubMed

Musaiger, Abdulrahman O; Al-Mannai, Mariam; Tayyem, Reema; Al-Lalla, Osama; Ali, Essa Y A; Kalam, Faiza; Benhamed, Mofida M; Saghir, Sabri; Halahleh, Ismail; Djoudi, Zahra; Chirane, Manel

2013-01-01

The objectives were to discover the prevalence of disordered eating attitudes (EAs) among adolescent males and females, and the association of obesity with EA in seven Arab countries. A multistage stratified sampling technique was used to select secondary students aged 15-18 years from cities in Algeria, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Palestine, Syria and Sharijah Emirate (United Arab Emirates). The total sample was 4698 (2240 males and 2458 females). The Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was used to measure those at risk of disordered EA. Obesity was calculated according to the International Obesity Taskforce criteria. Participants were grouped into two categories, non-obese and obese (overweight and obese). The risk of disordered EA was twice as high among females as in males in Jordan, Libya, Palestine and Syria. Kuwaiti adolescents (males and females) showed higher prevalence of disordered EA than their counterparts in other countries. The risk of disordered EA among obese adolescents was two to three times higher than that of non-obese adolescents, in both genders. Excepting Kuwaiti females and Palestinian males. The association of obesity with disordered EA was statistically significant. This study highlighted the magnitude of the risk of disordered eating attitudes among both male and female adolescents in Arab countries and identified the need for programmes to prevent and control these disorders in the Arab region. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring the impact of dermatological conditions on family and caregivers: a review of dermatology-specific instruments.

PubMed

Sampogna, F; Finlay, A Y; Salek, S S; Chernyshov, P; Dalgard, F J; Evers, A W M; Linder, D; Manolache, L; Marron, S E; Poot, F; Spillekom-van Koulil, S; Svensson, Å; Szepietowski, J C; Tomas-Aragones, L; Abeni, D

2017-09-01

The patient is the centre of a web of relationships, and the impact of his/her disease on family members and caregivers must be taken into account. The aim of this study was to identify the specific instruments that measure the impact of a dermatological disease on the quality of life (QoL) of family members, by performing a systematic search of the literature. Fifteen papers were identified, describing the creation and validation of nine instruments. Four of them concerned atopic dermatitis (Dermatitis Family Index, DFI; Parents' Index QoL Atopic Dermatitis, PiQoL-AD; QoL in primary caregivers of children with atopic dermatitis, QPCAD; Childhood Atopic Dermatitis Impact Scale, CADIS), two measured the impact of psoriasis in family members (Psoriasis Family Index, PFI; FamilyPso), one the impact of epidermolysis bullosa (Epidermolysis Bullosa Burden of Disease, EB-BoD), one of ichthyosis (Family Burden Ichthyosis, FBI), and one was generic for dermatological conditions (Family Dermatology Life Quality Index, FDLQI). The European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology quality of life taskforce recommends that the impact of a skin disease on family and caregivers should be measured as part of any thorough evaluation of the burden of a disease. Guidelines are given to choose the most appropriate instruments. © 2017 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

A practitioner-driven research agenda for syndromic surveillance

DOE PAGES

Hopkins, Richard S.; Gunn, Julia; Berezowski, John; ...

2017-05-02

The objective here is to obtain feedback and seek future directions for an ISDS initiative to establish and update research questions in Informatics, Analytics,Communications, and Systems Research with the greatest perceived impact for improving surveillance practice.Introduction Over the past fifteen years, syndromic surveillance (SyS) has evolved from a set of ad hoc methods used mostly in post-disaster settings, then expanded with broad support and development because of bioterrorism concerns, and subsequently evolved to a mature technology that runs continuously to detect and monitor a wide range of health issues. Continued enhancements needed to meet the challenges of novel health threatsmore » with increasingly complex information sources will require technical advances focused on day-to-day public health needs.Since its formation in 2005, the International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) has sought to clarify and coordinate global priorities in surveillance research. As part of a practitioner-driven initiative to identify current research priorities in SyS, ISDS polled its members about capabilities needed by SyS practitioners that could be improved as a result of research efforts. A taskforce of the ISDS Research Committee, consisting of national and global subject matter experts (SMEs) in SyS and ISDS professional staff, carried out the project. This panel will discuss the results and the preferred means to determine and communicate priorities in the future.« less

Barriers beyond words: cancer, culture, and translation in a community of Russian speakers.

PubMed

Dohan, Daniel; Levintova, Marya

2007-11-01

Language and culture relate in complex ways. Addressing this complexity in the context of language translation is a challenge when caring for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). To examine processes of care related to language, culture and translation in an LEP population is the objective of this study. We used community based participatory research to examine the experiences of Russian-speaking cancer patients in San Francisco, California. A Russian Cancer Information Taskforce (RCIT), including community-based organizations, local government, and clinics, participated in all phases of the study. A purposeful sample of 74 individuals were the participants of the study. The RCIT shaped research themes and facilitated access to participants. Methods were focus groups, individual interviews, and participant observation. RCIT reviewed data and provided guidance in interpreting results. Four themes emerged. (1) Local Russian-language resources were seen as inadequate and relatively unavailable compared to other non-English languages; (2) a taboo about the word "cancer" led to language "games" surrounding disclosure; (3) this taboo, and other dynamics of care, reflected expectations that Russian speakers derived from experiences in their countries of origin; (4) using interpreters as cultural brokers or establishing support groups for Russian speakers could help address barriers. The language barriers experienced by this LEP population reflect cultural and linguistic issues. Providers should consider partnering with trained interpreters to address the intertwining of language and culture.

Impact of the new european paediatric regulatory framework on ethics committees: overview and perspectives.

PubMed

Altavilla, A; Manfredi, C; Baiardi, P; Dehlinger-Kremer, M; Galletti, P; Pozuelo, A Alemany; Chaplin, J; Ceci, A

2012-01-01

To evaluate the impact of the new European paediatric regulatory framework on the activities of Ethics Committees operating in Europe and to assess their involvement and interest in paediatric research. Task-force in Europe for Drug Development for the Young Network of Excellence and Relating Expectations and Needs to the Participation and Empowerment of Children in Clinical Trials project set up an inventory of Ethics Committees existing in Europe and conducted a survey on their approach to paediatric trials. Ethics Committees operating in 22 European Countries participated in this survey. Results showed a high lack of knowledge, understanding and awareness of the current European paediatric regulatory framework and a lack of involvement of Ethics Committees in paediatric research, especially in terms of training and education, demonstrated also by the decreasing number of Ethics Committees answering exhaustively to the whole questionnaire. The majority of participating Ethics Committees expressed interest in future initiatives related to paediatric research. Despite a limited knowledge and understanding of the current paediatric regulatory framework, a significant number of Ethics Committees operating in Europe show interest in initiatives related to paediatric research. Networking may be an essential tool to be used to enhance Ethics Committees role in supporting paediatric research. Any initiative should be undertaken at European level in collaboration with European Union Institutions. © 2011 The Author(s)/Acta Paediatrica © 2011 Foundation Acta Paediatrica.

Since surgery isn't getting any easier, why is reimbursement going down? An update from the SGO taskforce on coding and reimbursement.

PubMed

Uppal, Shitanshu; Shahin, Mark S; Rathbun, Jill A; Goff, Barbara A

2017-02-01

In 2015, there was an 18% reduction in the Relative Value Units (RVUs) that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) assigned to the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code 58571 (Laparoscopy, surgical, with total hysterectomy, for uterus 250g or less; with removal of tube(s) and/or ovary(s)→TLH+BSO). The other CPT codes for laparoscopic hysterectomy and laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy (58541-58544 and 58570-58573) lost between 12 and 23% of their assigned RVUs. In 2016, the laparoscopic lymph node dissection codes 38570 (Laparoscopy, surgical; with retroperitoneal lymph node sampling (biopsy), single or multiple), 38571 (Laparoscopy, surgical; with bilateral total pelvic lymphadenectomy), and 38572 (Laparoscopy, surgical; with bilateral total pelvic lymphadenectomy and para-aortic lymph node sampling (biopsy), single or multiple) lost between 5.5 and 16.3% of their RVU's. The goals of this article from the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Task force on Coding and Reimbursement are 1) to inform the SGO members on why CMS identified these codes as a part of their misvalued services screening program and then finalized a reduction in their payment levels; and 2) outline the role individual providers have in CMS' methodology used to determine the reimbursement of a surgical procedure. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Attitude of parents and teachers towards adolescent reproductive and sexual health education.

PubMed

Nair, M K C; Leena, M L; Paul, Mini K; Pillai, H Vijayan; Babu, George; Russell, P S; Thankachi, Yamini

2012-01-01

To assess parents' and teachers' attitude towards Adolescent Reproductive Sexual Health Education (ARSHE). The study group consisted of a random sample of 795 parents and 115 teachers belonging to three urban schools (one boys only, one girls only and one co-education) and one co-education rural school at Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala, where an ICMR supported ARSHE intervention programme was done subsequently. A self-administered questionnaire for parents and teachers developed by an ICMR taskforce for ARSHE programme was used to assess their opinion on the need, content and the appropriate person to provide adolescent reproductive sexual health education in a school setting. 65.2% of parents and 40.9% teachers have not discussed growth and development issues with their adolescents. Only 5.2% teachers and 1.1% parents discussed sexual aspects with adolescents. 44% of parents agreed that information on HIV/AIDS/STD should be provided. More than 50% of parents were not sure whether information on topics like masturbation, dating, safe sex, contraceptives, pregnancy, abortion and childcare should be provided to adolescents. Results pointed out the need for introducing reproductive and sexual education in the school setting. Only 1.1% of parents and 5.2% teachers actually discussed sexual aspects with adolescents which highlights the need for parent and teacher awareness programs before ARSHE is introduced in the schools.

Effectiveness of a reproductive sexual health education package among school going adolescents.

PubMed

Nair, M K C; Paul, Mini K; Leena, M L; Thankachi, Yamini; George, Babu; Russell, P S; Pillai, H Vijayan

2012-01-01

To assess the effectiveness of a school based "Adolescent Reproductive Sexual Health Education (ARSHE) Package" in improving students' knowledge on reproductive sexual health matters. An ARSHE package originally developed at Child Development Centre, Kerala, modified and approved by ICMR taskforce group was administered in three urban schools (One boys only, one girls only and one co-education) and one co-education rural school at Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala. The study sample consisted of 1,586 adolescents including 996 boys and 560 girls of class IX and XI. Pre and post intervention knowledge regarding reproductive sexual health matters was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. In the pre-intervention period, it was observed that majority of adolescents were poorly informed about reproductive sexual health matters, particularly about contraceptives. As compared to boys, girls had much poorer knowledge about prevention of pregnancy and after intervention; there was a statistically significant increase in the knowledge in both boys and girls. Among girls percentage of poor knowledge had reduced significantly from 64.1% to 8.3% and among boys from 37.7% to 3.5%. Similarly, increase in knowledge level was also observed in various other aspects of reproductive and sexual health including, STI, HIV/AIDS and perceptions about premarital sex. The study results revealed the feasibility and effectiveness of school based reproductive and sexual health education intervention programs for adolescents.

Retrospective assessment of movement disorder society criteria for mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Loftus, Andrea M; Bucks, Romola S; Thomas, Meghan; Kane, Robert; Timms, Caitlin; Barker, Roger A; Gasson, Natalie

2015-02-01

A Movement Disorder Society (MDS) taskforce recently proposed diagnostic criteria for Parkinson's disease with features of mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI). This study first examined the prevalence and nature of PD-MCI in a non-demented cohort using the MDS criteria. Using the generic Monte Carlo simulation method developed by Crawford and colleagues (2007), this study then estimated the base rate of the representative population who would demonstrate PD-MCI due to chance alone. A total of 104 participants with idiopathic PD underwent extensive motor and neuropsychological testing at baseline and 2 years later. The Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) was used to assess motor symptoms of PD and a range of established neuropsychological tests was used to assess PD-MCI in accord with MDS criteria. In accord with MDS criteria, 38% of this cohort demonstrated PD-MCI at baseline and 48% at follow-up. Of the 36 participants in the multiple-domain PD-MCI subtype at time-1, 9 (25%) demonstrated no PD-MCI at follow up. Analysis revealed that approximately 13% of the representative population would demonstrate abnormally low scores for 2 of the 9 tests used, thereby meeting MDS criteria for PD-MCI. Clinicians and researchers need to approach a single diagnosis (i.e., based on one assessment) of PD-MCI with considerable caution.

Organizing safety: conditions for successful information assurance programs.

PubMed

Collmann, Jeff; Coleman, Johnathan; Sostrom, Kristen; Wright, Willie

2004-01-01

Organizations must continuously seek safety. When considering computerized health information systems, "safety" includes protecting the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of information assets such as patient information, key components of the technical information system, and critical personnel. "High Reliability Theory" (HRT) argues that organizations with strong leadership support, continuous training, redundant safety mechanisms, and "cultures of high reliability" can deploy and safely manage complex, risky technologies such as nuclear weapons systems or computerized health information systems. In preparation for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), the Offices of the Surgeons General of the United States Army, Navy and Air Force, and the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command sponsored organizational, doctrinal, and technical projects that individually and collectively promote conditions for a "culture of information assurance." These efforts include sponsoring the "P3 Working Group" (P3WG), an interdisciplinary, tri-service taskforce that reviewed all relevant Department of Defense (DoD), Miliary Health System (MHS), Army, Navy and Air Force policies for compliance with the HIPAA medical privacy and data security regulations; supporting development, training, and deployment of OCTAVE(sm), a self-directed information security risk assessment process; and sponsoring development of the Risk Information Management Resource (RIMR), a Web-enabled enterprise portal about health information assurance.

A practitioner-driven research agenda for syndromic surveillance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hopkins, Richard S.; Gunn, Julia; Berezowski, John

The objective here is to obtain feedback and seek future directions for an ISDS initiative to establish and update research questions in Informatics, Analytics,Communications, and Systems Research with the greatest perceived impact for improving surveillance practice.Introduction Over the past fifteen years, syndromic surveillance (SyS) has evolved from a set of ad hoc methods used mostly in post-disaster settings, then expanded with broad support and development because of bioterrorism concerns, and subsequently evolved to a mature technology that runs continuously to detect and monitor a wide range of health issues. Continued enhancements needed to meet the challenges of novel health threatsmore » with increasingly complex information sources will require technical advances focused on day-to-day public health needs.Since its formation in 2005, the International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) has sought to clarify and coordinate global priorities in surveillance research. As part of a practitioner-driven initiative to identify current research priorities in SyS, ISDS polled its members about capabilities needed by SyS practitioners that could be improved as a result of research efforts. A taskforce of the ISDS Research Committee, consisting of national and global subject matter experts (SMEs) in SyS and ISDS professional staff, carried out the project. This panel will discuss the results and the preferred means to determine and communicate priorities in the future.« less

Environmental and socio-economic sustainability appraisal of contaminated land remediation strategies: A case study at a mega-site in China.

PubMed

Song, Yinan; Hou, Deyi; Zhang, Junli; O'Connor, David; Li, Guanghe; Gu, Qingbao; Li, Shupeng; Liu, Peng

2018-01-01

Green and sustainable remediation (GSR) has become a global trend in the contaminated land remediation field. Growing numbers of countries have adopted GSR procedures published in regulatory and/or technical guidance. China is fast becoming one of the largest remediation markets in the world, and is beginning to engage with GSR. Among other efforts, a taskforce is currently developing the first Chinese technical standard on GSR. This paper presents the context positioning and development of a sustainable remediation assessment indicator set for China. This sustainability indicator set was formed based on existing sustainable remediation guidelines and literature. LCA was used to evaluate environmental impacts, and the results combined with social and economic appraisal via MCA. The indicator set was applied to a remediation 'mega-site' in China. The results showed that compared to excavation and landfill, an alternative treatment strategy of soil washing, thermal desorption and S/S brought about relatively less waste generation, better worker safety, and preferable local impacts, leading to higher scores in the environmental and social-economic domains. However, the social-economic scores were limited by a lack of public engagement. The results of the case study have shown that the indicator set is valid, with lessons learnt and suggestions for improvement discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Revised classification/nomenclature of vitiligo and related issues: the Vitiligo Global Issues Consensus Conference

PubMed Central

Ezzedine, K.; Lim, H. W.; Suzuki, T.; Katayama, I.; Hamzavi, I.; Lan, C. C. E.; Goh, B. K.; Anbar, T.; de Castro, C. Silva; Lee, A. Y.; Parsad, D.; van Geel, N.; Le Poole, I. C.; Oiso, N.; Benzekri, L.; Spritz, R.; Gauthier, Y.; Hann, S. K.; Picardo, M.; Taieb, A.

2012-01-01

Summary During the 2011 International Pigment Cell Conference (IPCC), the Vitiligo European Taskforce (VETF) convened a consensus conference on issues of global importance for vitiligo clinical research. As suggested by an international panel of experts, the conference focused on four topics: classification and nomenclature; definition of stable disease; definition of Koebner’s phenomenon (KP); and ‘autoimmune vitiligo’. These topics were discussed in seven working groups representing different geographical regions. A consensus emerged that segmental vitiligo be classified separately from all other forms of vitiligo and that the term ‘vitiligo’ be used as an umbrella term for all non-segmental forms of vitiligo, including ‘mixed vitiligo’ in which segmental and non-segmental vitiligo are combined and which is considered a subgroup of vitiligo. Further, the conference recommends that disease stability be best assessed based on the stability of individual lesions rather than the overall stability of the disease as the latter is difficult to define precisely and reliably. The conference also endorsed the classification of KP for vitiligo as proposed by the VETF (history based, clinical observation based, or experimentally induced). Lastly, the conference agreed that ‘autoimmune vitiligo’ should not be used as a separate classification as published evidence indicates that the pathophysiology of all forms of vitiligo likely involves autoimmune or inflammatory mechanisms. PMID:22417114

Consultative Committee on Road Traffic Fatalities: trauma audit methodology.

PubMed

McDermott, F T; Cordner, S M; Tremayne, A B

2000-10-01

Since 1992 the Consultative Committee on Road Traffic Fatalities in Victoria has identified deficiencies and errors in the management of 559 road traffic fatalities in which the patients were alive on arrival of ambulance services. The Committee also assessed the preventability of deaths. Reproducibility of results using its methodology has been shown to be statistically significant. The Committee's findings and recommendations, the latter made in association with the learned Colleges and specialist Societies, led to the establishment of a Ministerial Taskforce on Trauma and Emergency Services. As a consequence, in 2000, a new trauma care system will be implemented in Victoria. This paper presents a case example demonstrating the Committee's methodology. The Committee has two 12 member multidisciplinary evaluative panels. A retrospective evaluation was made of the complete ambulance, hospital and autopsy records of eligible fatalities. The clinical and pathological findings were analysed using a comprehensive data proforma, a narrative summary and the complete records. Resulting multidisciplinary discussion problems were identified and the potential preventability of death was assessed. In the present case example the Committee identified 16 management deficiencies of which 11 were assessed as having contributed to the patient's death; the death, however, was judged to be non-preventable. The presentation of this example demonstrating the Committee's methodology may be of assistance to hospital medical staff undertaking their own major trauma audit.

Revised classification/nomenclature of vitiligo and related issues: the Vitiligo Global Issues Consensus Conference.

PubMed

Ezzedine, K; Lim, H W; Suzuki, T; Katayama, I; Hamzavi, I; Lan, C C E; Goh, B K; Anbar, T; Silva de Castro, C; Lee, A Y; Parsad, D; van Geel, N; Le Poole, I C; Oiso, N; Benzekri, L; Spritz, R; Gauthier, Y; Hann, S K; Picardo, M; Taieb, A

2012-05-01

During the 2011 International Pigment Cell Conference (IPCC), the Vitiligo European Taskforce (VETF) convened a consensus conference on issues of global importance for vitiligo clinical research. As suggested by an international panel of experts, the conference focused on four topics: classification and nomenclature; definition of stable disease; definition of Koebner's phenomenon (KP); and 'autoimmune vitiligo'. These topics were discussed in seven working groups representing different geographical regions. A consensus emerged that segmental vitiligo be classified separately from all other forms of vitiligo and that the term 'vitiligo' be used as an umbrella term for all non-segmental forms of vitiligo, including 'mixed vitiligo' in which segmental and non-segmental vitiligo are combined and which is considered a subgroup of vitiligo. Further, the conference recommends that disease stability be best assessed based on the stability of individual lesions rather than the overall stability of the disease as the latter is difficult to define precisely and reliably. The conference also endorsed the classification of KP for vitiligo as proposed by the VETF (history based, clinical observation based, or experimentally induced). Lastly, the conference agreed that 'autoimmune vitiligo' should not be used as a separate classification as published evidence indicates that the pathophysiology of all forms of vitiligo likely involves autoimmune or inflammatory mechanisms. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Telomeres, lifestyle, cancer, and aging

PubMed Central

Shammas, Masood A.

2012-01-01

Purpose of review There has been growing evidence that lifestyle factors may affect the health and lifespan of an individual by affecting telomere length. The purpose of this review was to highlight the importance of telomeres in human health and aging and to summarize possible lifestyle factors that may affect health and longevity by altering the rate of telomere shortening. Recent findings Recent studies indicate that telomere length, which can be affected by various lifestyle factors, can affect the pace of aging and onset of age-associated diseases. Summary Telomere length shortens with age. Progressive shortening of telomeres leads to senescence, apoptosis, or oncogenic transformation of somatic cells, affecting the health and lifespan of an individual. Shorter telomeres have been associated with increased incidence of diseases and poor survival. The rate of telomere shortening can be either increased or decreased by specific lifestyle factors. Better choice of diet and activities has great potential to reduce the rate of telomere shortening or at least prevent excessive telomere attrition, leading to delayed onset of age-associated diseases and increased lifespan. This review highlights the role of telomeres in aging and describes the lifestyle factors which may affect telomeres, human health, and aging. PMID:21102320

Factors Affecting Sign Retroreflectivity : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-01-01

This study was undertaken to better understand the factors that may affect road sign retroreflectivity, specifically age and physical orientation. A better understanding of these factors could provide guidance to ODOT in managing its inventory of roa...

Web-based Factors Affecting Online Purchasing Behaviour

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ariff, Mohd Shoki Md; Sze Yan, Ng; Zakuan, Norhayati; Zaidi Bahari, Ahamad; Jusoh, Ahmad

2013-06-01

The growing use of internet and online purchasing among young consumers in Malaysia provides a huge prospect in e-commerce market, specifically for B2C segment. In this market, if E-marketers know the web-based factors affecting online buyers' behaviour, and the effect of these factors on behaviour of online consumers, then they can develop their marketing strategies to convert potential customers into active one, while retaining existing online customers. Review of previous studies related to the online purchasing behaviour in B2C market has point out that the conceptualization and empirical validation of the online purchasing behaviour of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) literate users, or ICT professional, in Malaysia has not been clearly addressed. This paper focuses on (i) web-based factors which online buyers (ICT professional) keep in mind while shopping online; and (ii) the effect of web-based factors on online purchasing behaviour. Based on the extensive literature review, a conceptual framework of 24 items of five factors was constructed to determine web-based factors affecting online purchasing behaviour of ICT professional. Analysis of data was performed based on the 310 questionnaires, which were collected using a stratified random sampling method, from ICT undergraduate students in a public university in Malaysia. The Exploratory factor analysis performed showed that five factors affecting online purchase behaviour are Information Quality, Fulfilment/Reliability/Customer Service, Website Design, Quick and Details, and Privacy/Security. The result of Multiple Regression Analysis indicated that Information Quality, Quick and Details, and Privacy/Security affect positively online purchase behaviour. The results provide a usable model for measuring web-based factors affecting buyers' online purchase behaviour in B2C market, as well as for online shopping companies to focus on the factors that will increase customers' online purchase.

Pleiotropy of tissue-specific growth factors: from neurons to vessels via the bone marrow

PubMed Central

Duda, Dan G.; Jain, Rakesh K.

2005-01-01

Recent evidence has demonstrated that endothelial-specific growth factors affect the development of apparently unrelated organs and cells. Expanding this evidence further, new findings in this issue of the JCI show that neurotrophic factors can affect neovascularization. Neurotrophic factors achieve proangiogenic effects not only by directly affecting endothelial cells, but also by recruiting hematopoietic precursors. Further understanding of the biology of angiogenic factors, as well as of the function of hematopoietic cells in tissue neovascularization, will lead to improved therapeutic strategies for the treatment of diseases ranging from ischemia to cancer. PMID:15765145

Are Affective Factors a Good Predictor of Science Achievement? Examining the Role of Affective Factors Based on PISA 2006

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozel, Murat; Caglak, Serdar; Erdogan, Mehmet

2013-01-01

This study investigated how affective factors like attitude and motivation contribute to science achievement in PISA 2006 using linear structural modeling. The data set of PISA 2006 collected from 4942 fifteen-year-old Turkish students (2290 females, 2652 males) was used for the statistical analyses. A total of 42 selected items on a four point…

Factors affecting self-regulated learning in medical students: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Jouhari, Zahra; Haghani, Fariba; Changiz, Tahereh

2015-01-01

Clinical courses are required of all medical students and means that they must develop the key skill of self-regulation during learning. The ability to self-regulate learning strategies is affected by different factors. This study determined the views of medical students on the factors affecting self-regulated learning (SRL). This study uses a qualitative approach and the content analysis method. Nineteen medical students in their fourth, fifth, and sixth years of study at Isfahan University of Medical Science participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The students were selected using purposive sampling based on their overall grade point average (GPA). Five main themes were found to affect SRL. These themes included family with the two subthemes of family supervisory and supportive roles; peers with the two subthemes of facilitating and inhibiting roles; instructors with the two subthemes of personal and educational instructor's characteristics; educational environment with the two subthemes of facilitator and inhibitor roles; and student with the two subthemes of facilitating and inhibiting personal factors. The outcomes of student understanding of the factors affecting self-regulation indicate that facilitating factors should be used on an individual basis to reduce the effect of inhibiting factors to improve self-regulation in students.

Personal Factors that Affect the Satisfaction of Female Patients Undergoing Esthetic Suture after Typical Thyroidectomy.

PubMed

Kim, Hyo Young; Kim, Jung Won; Park, Jin Hyung; Kim, Jung Hun; Han, Yea Sik

2013-07-01

In esthetic surgery, understanding the factors that influence patient satisfaction is important for successful practice. We hypothesize that the factors that influence patient satisfaction include not only aesthetic and functional outcomes, but also personal factors such as the level of familiarity with factors affecting wound healing and expectations regarding aesthetic outcome. One hundred patients who underwent esthetic closure after thyroidectomy were included in this study. In order to evaluate the individual characteristics of the patients, a preoperative survey was administered to the patients. We estimated the patient satisfaction six months postoperatively and assessed the aesthetic and functional outcomes using the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale. According to the results of correlation analysis, level of familiarity with wound healing factors had a positive correlation with satisfaction. High expectations, pain, itching, and high observer scale score had negative correlations with satisfaction. The factors that were correlated with satisfaction were included in the multiple regression analysis. Level of familiarity with wound healing factors was found to have a positive relationship with satisfaction, while itching and observer scale were found to have a negative relationship with satisfaction. After excluding 10 patients who had hypertrophic scars, only level of familiarity with wound healing factors and expectations affected satisfaction. The level of familiarity with factors affecting wound healing and expectations were found to independently affect satisfaction. Improving patients' level of familiarity with wound healing factors and reducing their expectations by providing suitable preoperative education has the potential to improve patient satisfaction.

14 CFR Appendix B to Part 1215 - Factors Affecting Standard Charges

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... DATA RELAY SATELLITE SYSTEM (TDRSS) Pt. 1215, App. B Appendix B to Part 1215—Factors Affecting Standard Charges Charges for services shall be determined by multiplying the factors below by the base rates for...

Examining the Factor Structure of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) in a Multiethnic Sample of Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villodas, Feion; Villodas, Miguel T.; Roesch, Scott

2011-01-01

The psychometric properties of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule were examined in a multiethnic sample of adolescents. Results from confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the original two-factor model did not adequately fit the data. Exploratory factor analyses revealed that four items were not pure markers of the factors. (Contains 1…

Psychometric properties of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) in a heterogeneous sample of substance users.

PubMed

Serafini, Kelly; Malin-Mayor, Bo; Nich, Charla; Hunkele, Karen; Carroll, Kathleen M

2016-03-01

The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) is a widely used measure of affect. A comprehensive psychometric evaluation among substance users, however, has not been published. To examine the psychometric properties of the PANAS in a sample of outpatient treatment substance users. We used pooled data from four randomized clinical trials (N = 416; 34% female, 48% African American). A confirmatory factor analysis indicated adequate support for a two-factor correlated model comprised of Positive Affect and Negative Affect with correlated item errors (Comparative Fit Index = 0.93, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.07, χ(2) = 478.93, df = 156). Cronbach's α indicated excellent internal consistency for both factors (0.90 and 0.91, respectively). The PANAS factors had good convergence and discriminability (Composite Reliability > 0.7; Maximum Shared Variance < Average Variance Extracted). A comparison from baseline to Week 1 indicated acceptable test-retest reliability (Positive Affect = 0.80, Negative Affect = 0.76). Concurrent and discriminant validity were demonstrated with correlations with the Brief Symptom Inventory and Addiction Severity Index. The PANAS scores were also significantly correlated with treatment outcomes (e.g. Positive Affect was associated with the maximum days of consecutive abstinence from primary substance of abuse, r = 0.16, p = 0.001). Our data suggest that the psychometric properties of the PANAS are retained in substance using populations. Although several studies have focused on the role of Negative Affect, our findings suggest that Positive Affect may also be an important factor in substance use treatment outcomes.

Psychometric properties of the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) in a heterogeneous sample of substance users

PubMed Central

Serafini, Kelly; Malin-Mayor, Bo; Nich, Charla; Hunkele, Karen; Carroll, Kathleen M.

2016-01-01

Background The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) is a widely used measure of affect, and a comprehensive psychometric evaluation has never been conducted among substance users. Objective To examine the psychometric properties of the PANAS in a sample of outpatient treatment substance users. Methods We used pooled data from four randomized clinical trials (N = 416; 34% female, 48% African American). Results A confirmatory factor analysis indicated adequate support for a two-factor correlated model comprised of Positive Affect and Negative Affect with correlated item errors (Comparative Fit Index = .93, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = .07, χ2 = 478.93, df = 156). Cronbach’s α indicated excellent internal consistency for both factors (.90 and .91, respectively). The PANAS factors had good convergence and discriminability (Composite Reliability >.7; Maximum Shared Variance < Average Variance Extracted). A comparison from baseline to Week 1 indicated acceptable test-retest reliability (Positive Affect = .80, Negative Affect = .76). Concurrent and discriminant validity were demonstrated with correlations with the Brief Symptom Inventory and Addiction Severity Index. The PANAS scores were also significantly correlated with treatment outcomes (e.g., Positive Affect was associated with the maximum days of consecutive abstinence from primary substance of abuse, r = .16, p = .001). Conclusion Our data suggest that the psychometric properties of the PANAS are retained in substance using populations. Although several studies have focused on the role of Negative Affect, our findings suggest that Positive Affect may also be an important factor in substance use treatment outcomes. PMID:26905228

Multi-Level Family Factors and Affective and Behavioral Symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Chinese Children

PubMed Central

Tang, Yixin; Lin, Xiuyun; Chi, Peilian; Zhou, Qing; Hou, Xiangning

2017-01-01

Given the important role of family environment in children's psychological development, the objective of this study was to examine the linkages between family factors at the whole, dyadic, and individual levels and two dimensions (affective and behavioral) of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) symptoms in Chinese children. Participants comprised of 80 father-child dyads and 169 mother-child dyads from families with ODD children. The results indicated that multilevel family factors were differently associated with children's affective and behavioral ODD symptoms. All the family factors at the dyadic and individual levels were significantly associated with child affective ODD symptoms. However, only the most proximal factors (parent-child relationship and child emotion regulation, which were directly related to child) were significantly related to child behavioral ODD symptoms. The present study extends the current knowledge regarding the relationships between family factors and two dimensions of child ODD symptoms by testing the comprehensive multilevel family factors model. This study also recommends that future interventions for ODD children should consider the multi-level family factors to enhance intervention efficacy. PMID:28713321

Preslaughter factors affecting poultry meat quality chapter 2.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Poultry meat quality is affected by numerous antemortem factors, in particular those occurring during the last 24 hours that the bird is alive. These short term factors influence carcass yield (live shrink), carcass defects (bruising, broken/dislocated bones), carcass microbiological contamination, ...

Well-being as a moving target: measurement equivalence of the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale.

PubMed

Maitland, S B; Dixon, R A; Hultsch, D F; Hertzog, C

2001-03-01

Although the Bradburn Affect Balance scale (ABS) is a frequently used two-factor indicator of well-being in later life, its measurement and invariance properties are not well documented. We examined these issues using confirmatory factor analyses of cross-sectional (adults ages 54-87 years) and longitudinal data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study. Stability of the positive and negative affect factors was moderate across a 3-year period. Overall, factor loadings for positive affect items were invariant over time with the exception of the pleased item. Negative affect items were time invariant. However, age-group comparisons between young-old and old-old groups revealed age differences in loadings for the upset item at Time 1. Finally, gender groups differed in loadings for the top of the world and going your way items. Thus a pattern of partial measurement equivalence characterized item response to the ABS. Our results suggest that group comparisons and longitudinal change in ABS scale scores of positive and negative affect should be interpreted with caution.

Light intensity affects RNA silencing of a transgene in Nicotiana benthamiana plants.

PubMed

Kotakis, Christos; Vrettos, Nicholas; Kotsis, Dimitrios; Tsagris, Mina; Kotzabasis, Kiriakos; Kalantidis, Kriton

2010-10-12

Expression of exogenous sequences in plants is often suppressed through one of the earliest described RNA silencing pathways, sense post-transcriptional gene silencing (S-PTGS). This type of suppression has made significant contributions to our knowledge of the biology of RNA silencing pathways and has important consequences in plant transgenesis applications. Although significant progress has been made in recent years, factors affecting the stability of transgene expression are still not well understood. It has been shown before that the efficiency of RNA silencing in plants is influenced by various environmental factors. Here we report that a major environmental factor, light intensity, significantly affects the induction and systemic spread of S-PTGS. Moreover, we show that photoadaptation to high or low light intensity conditions differentially affects mRNA levels of major components of the RNA silencing machinery. Light intensity is one of the previously unknown factors that affect transgene stability at the post-transcriptional level. Our findings demonstrate an example of how environmental conditions could affect RNA silencing.

Reviews on factors affecting fatigue behavior of high-Mn steels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Sangshik; Jeong, Daeho; Sung, Hyokyung

2018-01-01

A variety of factors affect the fatigue behavior of high-Mn steels, which include both extrinsic (i.e., loading type, R ratio, specimen type, surface condition, temperature, and environment) and intrinsic (i.e., chemical composition, grain size, microstructure, stacking fault energy) factors. Very often, the influence of extrinsic factors on the fatigue behavior is even greater than that of intrinsic factors, misleading the interpretation of fatigue data. The metallurgical factors influence the initiation and propagation behaviors of fatigue by altering the characteristics of slip that is prerequisite for fatigue damage accumulation. It is however not easy to separate the effect of each factor since they affect the fatigue behavior of high-Mn steels in complex and synergistic way. In this review, the fatigue data of high-Mn steels are summarized and the factors complicating the interpretation are discussed.

FACTORS ADVERSELY AFFECTING AMPHIBIAN POPULATIONS IN THE US

EPA Science Inventory

Factors known or suspected to be adversely affecting native amphibian populations in the US were identified using information from species accounts written in a standardized format by multiple authors in a forthcoming book. Specific adverse factors were identified for 53 (58%) of...

The Relationship among Leisure Interests, Personality Traits, Affect, and Mood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilkinson, Todd J.; Hansen, Jo-Ida C.

2006-01-01

The present study examined relationships between leisure interests and the Big Five personality traits, positive and negative affect, and moods. Regression analysis identified particular personality but not mood or affect variables as significant predictors of leisure factor scores. Further exploration through factor analysis revealed factor…

Influence of Students' Affective and Conative Factors on Laboratory Learning: Moderating Effect of Online Social Network Attention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hwang, Wu-Yuin; Kongcharoen, Chaknarin; Ghinea, Gheorghita

2017-01-01

According to aptitude theory, the measures of aptitude include not only cognitive factors but also affective factors (i.e., emotions) and conative factors (i.e., motivation) that can influence students' learning achievement (LA). Therefore, this study employed structural equation modelling from experimental data of 96 college students to…

An Analysis of Factors Affecting Community College Students' Expectations on E-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilic-Cakmak, Ebru; Karatas, Sercin; Ocak, Mehmet Akif

2009-01-01

There are many factors that affect the e-learning process. Instructor, assessment and evaluation, communication, and technical support are among the leading factors. It is obvious that these factors influence the effectiveness of e-learning and may be related to different expectations of e-learners. Therefore, this study focuses on examining the…

Factors affecting the use of hardwood flooring in urban rehabilitation

Treesearch

Robert L. Jr. Nevel; Robert L. Jr. Nevel

1973-01-01

The continued use of hardwood flooring in urban rehabilitation is being threatened. A study of the influences that determine the choice of flooring indicates that economic, physical, or technological factors dominate. Most factors affecting the use of hardwood flooring are related to cost, availability, and compatibility. Of these factors, time and cost of installation...

Vulnerability and Resilience in Women with Arthritis: Test of a Two-Factor Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Bruce W.; Zautra, Alex J.

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test a 2-factor model of affective health in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA; n = 82) or osteoarthritis (OA; n = 88). Positive and negative social interactions and affect were assessed for 11 consecutive weeks. For each participant, Vulnerability and Resilience factors were created from factor analyses of…

Analysis of factors affecting employee satisfaction: A case study from Pakistan.

PubMed

Rukh, Lala; Choudhary, Muhammad Abbas; Abbasi, Saddam Akber

2015-01-01

Employee job satisfaction has been a research focal point throughout the world. It is a key factor when measuring the performance of an organization and individuals. A leading engineering goods manufacturing enterprise in Pakistan, has been used in this case study. In Pakistan, very limited research has been done with respect to factors affecting job satisfaction. Some research has been done in medical institutions, banks, universities and the information technology sector but large public sector organizations in Pakistan have not been studied. A theoretical foundation for researching factors affecting job satisfaction in large organizations is outlined. The objective of this research is to analyze various demographic, financial and non-financial factors affecting the satisfaction level of employees and to study the effects across different employee groups. This study is based on quantitative data analysis. The employees of the organization under study have been divided into 10 homogeneous groups based on their departments. Information on job related factors (affecting the satisfaction level) have been collected from subsamples of each group using a self-administered questionnaire. An overall sample of 250 (out of total 1100) employees has been selected. Before conducting the survey, reliability of the questionnaire was measured using Cronbach's alpha. The normality of data was also examined using the Kolmogorov Smirnov test. Hypotheses devised to address the research questions were tested by using non-parametric Spearman correlation and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The response rate was 73.2%. Research findings indicated the significant factors that affect the satisfaction level of employees. Median group differences existed between responses based on age, work experience, salary and designation (i.e. job position/rank) of employees. Job satisfaction was also positively and significantly associated with job related factors such as pay, promotion, relation with employees, relation with supervisor, work stress and job security. Job satisfaction of employees was significantly affected by demographic, financial and non-financial factors. Employees who are older than 50 years, with greater experience, and in higher management positions were more satisfied with pay, promotion, work stress, work condition and working environment. The employees' departments did not play any significant role in affecting satisfaction levels.

Nutritional Factors Affecting Adult Neurogenesis and Cognitive Function.

PubMed

Poulose, Shibu M; Miller, Marshall G; Scott, Tammy; Shukitt-Hale, Barbara

2017-11-01

Adult neurogenesis, a complex process by which stem cells in the hippocampal brain region differentiate and proliferate into new neurons and other resident brain cells, is known to be affected by many intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including diet. Neurogenesis plays a critical role in neural plasticity, brain homeostasis, and maintenance in the central nervous system and is a crucial factor in preserving the cognitive function and repair of damaged brain cells affected by aging and brain disorders. Intrinsic factors such as aging, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and brain injury, as well as lifestyle factors such as high-fat and high-sugar diets and alcohol and opioid addiction, negatively affect adult neurogenesis. Conversely, many dietary components such as curcumin, resveratrol, blueberry polyphenols, sulforaphane, salvionic acid, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and diets enriched with polyphenols and PUFAs, as well as caloric restriction, physical exercise, and learning, have been shown to induce neurogenesis in adult brains. Although many of the underlying mechanisms by which nutrients and dietary factors affect adult neurogenesis have yet to be determined, nutritional approaches provide promising prospects to stimulate adult neurogenesis and combat neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive decline. In this review, we summarize the evidence supporting the role of nutritional factors in modifying adult neurogenesis and their potential to preserve cognitive function during aging. © 2017 American Society for Nutrition.

Factors affecting self-regulated learning in medical students: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

Jouhari, Zahra; Haghani, Fariba; Changiz, Tahereh

2015-01-01

Introduction Clinical courses are required of all medical students and means that they must develop the key skill of self-regulation during learning. The ability to self-regulate learning strategies is affected by different factors. This study determined the views of medical students on the factors affecting self-regulated learning (SRL). Method This study uses a qualitative approach and the content analysis method. Nineteen medical students in their fourth, fifth, and sixth years of study at Isfahan University of Medical Science participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The students were selected using purposive sampling based on their overall grade point average (GPA). Results Five main themes were found to affect SRL. These themes included family with the two subthemes of family supervisory and supportive roles; peers with the two subthemes of facilitating and inhibiting roles; instructors with the two subthemes of personal and educational instructor's characteristics; educational environment with the two subthemes of facilitator and inhibitor roles; and student with the two subthemes of facilitating and inhibiting personal factors. Conclusion The outcomes of student understanding of the factors affecting self-regulation indicate that facilitating factors should be used on an individual basis to reduce the effect of inhibiting factors to improve self-regulation in students. PMID:26549046

Factors affecting self-regulated learning in medical students: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Jouhari, Zahra; Haghani, Fariba; Changiz, Tahereh

2015-01-01

Introduction Clinical courses are required of all medical students and means that they must develop the key skill of self-regulation during learning. The ability to self-regulate learning strategies is affected by different factors. This study determined the views of medical students on the factors affecting self-regulated learning (SRL). Method This study uses a qualitative approach and the content analysis method. Nineteen medical students in their fourth, fifth, and sixth years of study at Isfahan University of Medical Science participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The students were selected using purposive sampling based on their overall grade point average (GPA). Results Five main themes were found to affect SRL. These themes included family with the two subthemes of family supervisory and supportive roles; peers with the two subthemes of facilitating and inhibiting roles; instructors with the two subthemes of personal and educational instructor's characteristics; educational environment with the two subthemes of facilitator and inhibitor roles; and student with the two subthemes of facilitating and inhibiting personal factors. Conclusion The outcomes of student understanding of the factors affecting self-regulation indicate that facilitating factors should be used on an individual basis to reduce the effect of inhibiting factors to improve self-regulation in students.

Factors Affecting Medical Service Quality.

PubMed

Mosadeghrad, Ali Mohammad

2014-02-01

A better understanding of factors influencing quality of medical service can pinpoint better strategies for quality assurance in medical services. This study aimed to identify factors affecting the quality of medical services provided by Iranian physicians. Exploratory in-depth individual interviews were conducted with sixty-four physicians working in various medical institutions in Iran. Individual, organizational and environmental factors enhance or inhibit the quality of medical services. Quality of medical services depends on the personal factors of the physician and patient, and factors pertaining to the healthcare setting and the broader environment. Differences in internal and external factors such as availability of resources, patient cooperation and collaboration among providers affect the quality of medical services and patient outcomes. Supportive leadership, proper planning, education and training and effective management of resources and processes improve the quality of medical services. This article contributes to healthcare theory and practice by developing a conceptual framework for understanding factors that influence medical services quality.

The relationship investigation between factors affecting demand for broadband and the level of satisfaction among broadband customers in the South East Coast of Sabah, Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hashim, S. H. A.; Hamid, F. A.; Kiram, J. J.; Sulaiman, J.

2017-09-01

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between factors that affecting the demand for broadband and the level of satisfaction. Previous researchers have found that the adoption of broadband is greatly influenced by many factors. Thus, in this study, a self-administered questionnaire was developed to obtain the factors affecting demand for broadband among broadband customers as well as their level of satisfaction. Pearson correlation, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test were used for statistical interpretation of the relationship. This study shows that there are better relationships between several factors over demand for broadband and satisfaction level.

FACTORS AFFECTING SENSITIVITY OF CHEMICAL AND ECOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF MARINE EMBAYMEMTS TO NITROGEN LOADING

EPA Science Inventory

This paper summarizes an ongoing examination of the primary factors that affect sensitivity of marine embayment responses to nitrogen loading. Included is a discussion of two methods for using these factors: classification of embayments into discrete sensitivity classes and norma...

Age Learning Factors Affecting Pilot Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torbert, Brison

This document, intended for pilot education and flight safety specialists, consists chiefly of a review of the literature on physiological factors that affect pilot education and an examination of environmental factors that should be scrutinized in order to improve the effectiveness of aviation learning facilities. The physiological factors…

FACTORS AFFECTING THE USE OF CAF2:MN THERMOLUMINESCENT DOSIMETERS FOR LOW-LEVEL ENVIRONMENTAL RADIATION MONITORING

EPA Science Inventory

An investigation was made of factors affecting the use of commercially-produced CaF2:Mn thermoluminescent dosimeters for low level environmental radiation monitoring. Calibration factors and self-dosing rates were quantified for 150 thermoluminescent dosimeters. Laboratory studie...

Robust impact of social anxiety in relation to coping motives and expectancies, barriers to quitting, and cessation-related problems.

PubMed

Buckner, Julia D; Zvolensky, Michael J; Jeffries, Emily R; Schmidt, Norman B

2014-08-01

Although social anxiety is related to smoking and nicotine dependence, few researchers have sought to identify factors that contribute to these relations. The current study examined whether social anxiety was associated with cognitive vulnerability factors related to smoking: perceived barriers for quitting, cessation-related problems, negative-affect-reduction-outcome expectancies, and negative-affect-reduction motives. Further, we tested whether social anxiety was robustly related to these factors after controlling for cigarettes smoked per day, gender, alcohol-use frequency, lifetime cannabis-use status, panic attack frequency, anxiety sensitivity, and negative affectivity. The sample consisted of 580 (38.6% female) treatment-seeking smokers. Social anxiety was associated with perceived barriers for quitting, cessation-related problems, negative-affect-reduction-outcome expectancies, and negative-affect-reduction motives. After controlling for covariates, social anxiety was robustly related to perceived barriers for quitting, cessation-related problems, and negative-affect-reduction-outcome expectancies. Social anxiety was robustly related to negative-affect-reduction motives among men, but not women. Results indicate that social anxiety is robustly related to cognitive vulnerability factors associated with poorer cessation outcomes, suggesting that social anxiety may be an important therapeutic target during smoking cessation.

Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors affecting the self-perception period of lower urinary tract symptoms of international prostate symptom score items.

PubMed

Kim, J H; Shim, S R; Lee, W J; Kim, H J; Kwon, S-S; Bae, J H

2012-12-01

This study investigated the influence of sociodemographic and lifestyle factors on the lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS) self-perception period and International Prostate Symptom Score. This cross-sectional study examined 209 men aged ≥ 40 years with non-treated LUTS who participated in a prostate examination survey. Questions included International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) items with self-perception periods for each item. Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors were also assessed. Participants were divided by mild LUTS (IPSS less than 8) and moderate-to-severe LUTS (IPSS 8 or higher). Self-perception period of the moderate-to-severe LUTS (n = 110) was affected by BMI; the self-perception period of the mild LUTS (n = 90) was affected by age, income, occupation and concomitant disease. Moderate-to-severe LUTS were affected by self-perception period (p = 0.03). Self-perception period was affected by concern for health (p = 0.005) by multivariate analysis, and self-perception period of mild LUTS was affected by BMI (p = 0.012). Moderate-to-severe LUTS were affected by age, number of family members, concern for health and drinking (p < 0.05, respectively) by multivariate analysis. Lower urinary tract symptom was affected by self-perception period. In moderate-to-severe LUTS, age, concern for health and drinking were affecting factors of self-perception period. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Ranking factors affecting emissions of GHG from incubated agricultural soils.

PubMed

García-Marco, S; Ravella, S R; Chadwick, D; Vallejo, A; Gregory, A S; Cárdenas, L M

2014-07-01

Agriculture significantly contributes to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and there is a need to develop effective mitigation strategies. The efficacy of methods to reduce GHG fluxes from agricultural soils can be affected by a range of interacting management and environmental factors. Uniquely, we used the Taguchi experimental design methodology to rank the relative importance of six factors known to affect the emission of GHG from soil: nitrate (NO 3 - ) addition, carbon quality (labile and non-labile C), soil temperature, water-filled pore space (WFPS) and extent of soil compaction. Grassland soil was incubated in jars where selected factors, considered at two or three amounts within the experimental range, were combined in an orthogonal array to determine the importance and interactions between factors with a L 16 design, comprising 16 experimental units. Within this L 16 design, 216 combinations of the full factorial experimental design were represented. Headspace nitrous oxide (N 2 O), methane (CH 4 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations were measured and used to calculate fluxes. Results found for the relative influence of factors (WFPS and NO 3 - addition were the main factors affecting N 2 O fluxes, whilst glucose, NO 3 - and soil temperature were the main factors affecting CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes) were consistent with those already well documented. Interactions between factors were also studied and results showed that factors with little individual influence became more influential in combination. The proposed methodology offers new possibilities for GHG researchers to study interactions between influential factors and address the optimized sets of conditions to reduce GHG emissions in agro-ecosystems, while reducing the number of experimental units required compared with conventional experimental procedures that adjust one variable at a time.

Ranking factors affecting emissions of GHG from incubated agricultural soils

PubMed Central

García-Marco, S; Ravella, S R; Chadwick, D; Vallejo, A; Gregory, A S; Cárdenas, L M

2014-01-01

Agriculture significantly contributes to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and there is a need to develop effective mitigation strategies. The efficacy of methods to reduce GHG fluxes from agricultural soils can be affected by a range of interacting management and environmental factors. Uniquely, we used the Taguchi experimental design methodology to rank the relative importance of six factors known to affect the emission of GHG from soil: nitrate (NO3−) addition, carbon quality (labile and non-labile C), soil temperature, water-filled pore space (WFPS) and extent of soil compaction. Grassland soil was incubated in jars where selected factors, considered at two or three amounts within the experimental range, were combined in an orthogonal array to determine the importance and interactions between factors with a L16 design, comprising 16 experimental units. Within this L16 design, 216 combinations of the full factorial experimental design were represented. Headspace nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations were measured and used to calculate fluxes. Results found for the relative influence of factors (WFPS and NO3− addition were the main factors affecting N2O fluxes, whilst glucose, NO3− and soil temperature were the main factors affecting CO2 and CH4 fluxes) were consistent with those already well documented. Interactions between factors were also studied and results showed that factors with little individual influence became more influential in combination. The proposed methodology offers new possibilities for GHG researchers to study interactions between influential factors and address the optimized sets of conditions to reduce GHG emissions in agro-ecosystems, while reducing the number of experimental units required compared with conventional experimental procedures that adjust one variable at a time. PMID:25177207

What Factors Affect Response to Ads? A Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rotzoll, Kim B.

The concept of "frame of reference" offers a perspective from which to examine the many factors which affect advertising response. The advertiser is interested in affecting two types of overt behavior. First, the individual is induced to select a particular stimulus (the advertisement) from competing stimuli (such as other people, noise,…

Psychological Factor Affecting English Speaking Performance for the English Learners in Indonesia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haidara, Youssouf

2016-01-01

In every learning situation or environment, human psychology plays a significant role. English speaking is a language skill that is highly affected by human psychology. This research aimed at describing the psychological factor that affects negatively the English speaking performance for the English learners in Indonesia. A descriptive qualitative…

Investigating Learner Affective Performance in Web-Based Learning by Using Entrepreneurship as a Metaphor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Ming-Chou; Chi, Ming-Hsiao

2012-01-01

In the era of the Internet, factors which influence effective learning in a Web-based learning environment are well worth exploring. In addition to knowledge acquisition and skills training, affect is also an important factor, since successful learning requires excellent affective performance. Thus this study focuses on learners' affective…

The Key Factors Affecting Students' Individual Interest in School Science Lessons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheung, Derek

2018-01-01

Individual interest in school science lessons can be defined as a relatively stable and enduring personal emotion comprising affective and behavioural reactions to events in the regular science lessons at school. Little research has compared the importance of different factors affecting students' individual interest in school science lessons. The…

Factors Affecting Corporate Image from the Perspective of Distance Learning Students in Public Higher Education Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

da Costa, Fábio Reis; Pelissari, Anderson Soncini

2016-01-01

New information technologies enable different interactions in the educational environment, affecting how the image of educational institutions adopting distance-learning programmes is perceived. This article identifies factors affecting the perception of corporate image from the viewpoint of distance-learning students at public higher education…

The Identification of Factors Affecting the Development and Practice of School-Based Counseling in Different National Contexts: A Grounded Theory Study Using a Worldwide Sample of Descriptive Journal Articles and Book Chapters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Ian; Lauterbach, Alexandra; Carey, John

2015-01-01

A grounded theory methodology was used to analyze articles and book chapters describing the development and practice of school-based counseling in 25 different countries in order to identify the factors that affect development and practice. An 11-factor analytic framework was developed. Factors include: Cultural Factors, National Needs, Larger…

An Examination of Factors Contributing to Student Satisfaction in Armenian Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martirosyan, Nara

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that affect student satisfaction in college environment in Armenian Higher Educational Institutions (AHEIs). Design/methodology/approach: This study used an "ex-post facto," non-experimental approach to investigate factors that affected student satisfaction in college…

Environmental Factors Affecting Preschoolers' Motor Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venetsanou, Fotini; Kambas, Antonis

2010-01-01

The process of development occurs according to the pattern established by the genetic potential and also by the influence of environmental factors. The aim of the present study was to focus on the main environmental factors affecting motor development. The review of the literature revealed that family features, such as socioeconomic status,…

International Academic Success: Institutional Planning & Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamilton, Kristen; Kennedy, Matthew; Crespin-Mueller, Dorys

2010-01-01

This study was requested by the Senate International Affairs Committee. The research questions included: (1) What factors affect the cumulative GPA (CGPA) of International students at TRU?; (2) What factors affect the retention of International students at TRU?; and (3) Are Student Success Courses among the significant factors for GPA and…

Psycho-social factors determining success in high-performance triathlon: compared perception in the coach-athlete pair.

PubMed

Ruiz-Tendero, Germán; Salinero Martín, Juan José

2012-12-01

High-level sport can be analyzed using the complex system model, in which performance is constrained by many factors. Coaches' and athletes' perceptions of important positive and negative factors affecting performance were compared. Participants were 48 high-level international triathletes (n = 34) and their coaches (n = 14). They were personally interviewed via a questionnaire designed by four accredited experts, who selected groups of both positive and negative factors affecting performance. A list of factors was developed, in order of greater to lesser importance in the opinion of athletes and coaches, for subsequent analysis. Two ranked lists (positive and negative factors) indicated that athletes appear to rate personal environment factors (family, teammates, lack of support from relatives) higher, while the coaches tended to give more importance to technical and institutional aspects (institutional support, coach, medical support). There was complete agreement between coaches and triathletes about the top five positive factors. Negative factor agreement was somewhat lower (agreement on 3/5 factors). The most important positive factor for coaches and athletes was "dedication/engagement," while the most important factor adversely affecting performance was "injuries".

Assessing Cognitive and Affective Empathy Through the Interpersonal Reactivity Index: An Argument Against a Two-Factor Model.

PubMed

Chrysikou, Evangelia G; Thompson, W Jake

2016-12-01

One aspect of higher order social cognition is empathy, a psychological construct comprising a cognitive (recognizing emotions) and an affective (responding to emotions) component. The complex nature of empathy complicates the accurate measurement of these components. The most widely used measure of empathy is the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). However, the factor structure of the IRI as it is predominantly used in the psychological literature differs from Davis's original four-factor model in that it arbitrarily combines the subscales to form two factors: cognitive and affective empathy. This two-factor model of the IRI, although popular, has yet to be examined for psychometric support. In the current study, we examine, for the first time, the validity of this alternative model. A confirmatory factor analysis showed poor model fit for this two-factor structure. Additional analyses offered support for the original four-factor model, as well as a hierarchical model for the scale. In line with previous findings, females scored higher on the IRI than males. Our findings indicate that the IRI, as it is currently used in the literature, does not accurately measure cognitive and affective empathy and highlight the advantages of using the original four-factor structure of the scale for empathy assessments. © The Author(s) 2015.

Implicit theories of a desire for fame.

PubMed

Maltby, John; Day, Liz; Giles, David; Gillett, Raphael; Quick, Marianne; Langcaster-James, Honey; Linley, P Alex

2008-05-01

The aim of the present studies was to generate implicit theories of a desire for fame among the general population. In Study 1, we were able to develop a nine-factor analytic model of conceptions of the desire to be famous that initially comprised nine separate factors; ambition, meaning derived through comparison with others, psychologically vulnerable, attention seeking, conceitedness, social access, altruistic, positive affect, and glamour. Analysis that sought to examine replicability among these factors suggested that three factors (altruistic, positive affect, and glamour) neither display factor congruence nor display adequate internal reliability. A second study examined the validity of these factors in predicting profiles of individuals who may desire fame. The findings from this study suggested that two of the nine factors (positive affect and altruism) could not be considered strong factors within the model. Overall, the findings suggest that implicit theories of a desire for fame comprise six factors. The discussion focuses on how an implicit model of a desire for fame might progress into formal theories of a desire for fame.

Factors affecting strategic plan implementation using interpretive structural modeling (ISM).

PubMed

Bahadori, Mohammadkarim; Teymourzadeh, Ehsan; Tajik, Hamidreza; Ravangard, Ramin; Raadabadi, Mehdi; Hosseini, Seyed Mojtaba

2018-06-11

Purpose Strategic planning is the best tool for managers seeking an informed presence and participation in the market without surrendering to changes. Strategic planning enables managers to achieve their organizational goals and objectives. Hospital goals, such as improving service quality and increasing patient satisfaction cannot be achieved if agreed strategies are not implemented. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting strategic plan implementation in one teaching hospital using interpretive structural modeling (ISM). Design/methodology/approach The authors used a descriptive study involving experts and senior managers; 16 were selected as the study sample using a purposive sampling method. Data were collected using a questionnaire designed and prepared based on previous studies. Data were analyzed using ISM. Findings Five main factors affected strategic plan implementation. Although all five variables and factors are top level, "senior manager awareness and participation in the strategic planning process" and "creating and maintaining team participation in the strategic planning process" had maximum drive power. "Organizational structure effects on the strategic planning process" and "Organizational culture effects on the strategic planning process" had maximum dependence power. Practical implications Identifying factors affecting strategic plan implementation is a basis for healthcare quality improvement by analyzing the relationship among factors and overcoming the barriers. Originality/value The authors used ISM to analyze the relationship between factors affecting strategic plan implementation.

Predictive factors for somatization in a trauma sample

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background Unexplained somatic symptoms are common among trauma survivors. The relationship between trauma and somatization appears to be mediated by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, only few studies have focused on what other psychological risk factors may predispose a trauma victim towards developing somatoform symptoms. Methods The present paper examines the predictive value of PTSD severity, dissociation, negative affectivity, depression, anxiety, and feeling incompetent on somatization in a Danish sample of 169 adult men and women who were affected by a series of explosions in a firework factory settled in a residential area. Results Negative affectivity and feelings of incompetence significantly predicted somatization, explaining 42% of the variance. PTSD was significant until negative affectivity was controlled for. Conclusion Negative affectivity and feelings of incompetence significantly predicted somatization in the trauma sample whereas dissociation, depression, and anxiety were not associated with degree of somatization. PTSD as a risk factor was mediated by negative affectivity. PMID:19126224

Evidence That Environmental and Familial Risks for Psychosis Additively Impact a Multidimensional Subthreshold Psychosis Syndrome.

PubMed

Pries, Lotta-Katrin; Guloksuz, Sinan; Ten Have, Margreet; de Graaf, Ron; van Dorsselaer, Saskia; Gunther, Nicole; Rauschenberg, Christian; Reininghaus, Ulrich; Radhakrishnan, Rajiv; Bak, Maarten; Rutten, Bart P F; van Os, Jim

2018-06-06

The observed link between positive psychotic experiences (PE) and psychosis spectrum disorder (PSD) may be stronger depending on concomitant presence of PE with other dimensions of psychopathology. We examined whether the effect of common risk factors for PSD on PE is additive and whether the impact of risk factors on the occurrence of PE depends on the co-occurrence of other symptom dimensions (affective dysregulation, negative symptoms, and cognitive alteration). Data from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study 2 were used. Risk factors included childhood adversity, cannabis use, urbanicity, foreign born, hearing impairment, and family history of affective disorders. Logistic regression models were applied to test (1) the additive effect of risk factors (4 levels) on PE and (2) the moderating effects of symptom dimensions on the association between risk factors (present/absent) and PE, using additive interaction, expressed as the interaction contrast ratio. Risk factors were additive: the greater the number of risk factors, the greater the odds of PE. Furthermore, concomitant presence of the other symptom dimensions all increased the impact of risk factors on PE. After controlling for age, sex, and education, only affective dysregulation and negative symptoms remained significant moderators; only affective dysregulation remained a significant moderator if all dimensions were adjusted for each other. Risk factors may not be directly associated with PE but additively give rise to a multidimensional subthreshold state anticipating the multidimensional clinical syndrome. Early motivational and cognitive impairments in the context of PE may be reducible to affective dysregulation.

Factors associated with stocked cutthroat trout populations in high-mountain lakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bailey, Paul E.; Hubert, W.A.

2003-01-01

High-mountain lakes provide important fisheries in the Rocky Mountains; therefore we sought to gain an understanding of the relationships among environmental factors, accessibility to anglers, stocking rates, and features of stocks of cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki in high-mountain lakes of the Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming. We sampled fish with experimental gill nets, measured lake habitat features, and calculated factors affecting angler access among 19 lakes that lacked sufficient natural reproduction to support salmonid fisheries and that were stocked at 1-, 2-, or 4-year intervals with fingerling cutthroat trout. We found that angler accessibility was probably the primary factor affecting stock structure, whereas stocking rates affected the densities of cutthroat trout among lakes. The maximum number of years survived after stocking appeared to have the greatest affect on biomass and population structure. Our findings suggest that control of harvest and manipulation of stocking densities can affect the density, biomass, and structure of cutthroat trout stocks in high-elevation lakes.

Factors affecting dignity of patients with multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Sharifi, Simin; Borhani, Fariba; Abbaszadeh, Abbas

2016-12-01

MS is one of the most common chronic diseases of the nervous system. Apart from disease progression, other complications such as unemployment, separation and divorce could potentially threat patients' dignity. Most of the previous studies have been done of maintaining patients' dignity in interaction with healthcare team, but studies on affecting factors of dignity in chronic patients in the society and in interaction with usual people are scarce. We aimed to investigate factors affecting dignity of Iranian patients with MS in daily living and in interaction of them with the society. In this qualitative study, 13 patients with multiple sclerosis were chosen by purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews were conducted until data saturation. The study was done in Tehran, the capital city of Iran. Factors affecting dignity were classified as 'personal factors' and 'social factors'. Personal factors consist of the following subcategories: patients' communication with self, patients' knowledge, patients' values and beliefs and patients' resources. Social factors include others' communication with patients, social knowledge, social values and beliefs and social resources. Multiple personal and social factors interfere in perceived patient dignity. In fact, interaction between personal and social factors can be influential in final perceived dignity. By focusing on whole aspects of the patients' lives, we can identify dignity-promoting or dignity-threatening factors and help patients maintain their dignity by taking appropriate measures for moderating threatening factors and improving dignity enhancing ones. © 2016 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Using clinical vignettes to assess doctors' and medical students' ability to identify sociocultural factors affecting health and health care.

PubMed

Hudelson, Patricia; Perron, N Junod; Perneger, Thomas

2011-01-01

Methods are needed for assessing clinicians' cultural knowledge frameworks. We used a mail survey containing four short clinical vignettes to explore respondents' ability to identify sociocultural factors affecting health and health care. Participants included 299 physicians working at the University Hospitals of Geneva, 156 private physicians, and all 134 local medical students in their clinical years. Twenty-one sociocultural "domains" were identified through inductive coding of responses. For each vignette, we obtained the sum of codes as a measure of the respondent's awareness of sociocultural factors that might affect care in this particular situation. As internal consistency was reasonably high (0.68), we computed a single total score as the sum of responses given to all four vignettes. Reponses correlated with factors that might be expected to impact clinicians' awareness of sociocultural factors affecting care. Medical students, females, respondents who had received cultural competence training, those with greater interest in caring for immigrant patients, and those with high self-assessed skills at exploring psychosocial and migration-related issues scored higher on the vignettes. Brief clinical vignettes appear to be a relevant and feasible method for exploring physicians' knowledge of social and cultural factors affecting health and health care.

Methods of Combinatorial Optimization to Reveal Factors Affecting Gene Length

PubMed Central

Bolshoy, Alexander; Tatarinova, Tatiana

2012-01-01

In this paper we present a novel method for genome ranking according to gene lengths. The main outcomes described in this paper are the following: the formulation of the genome ranking problem, presentation of relevant approaches to solve it, and the demonstration of preliminary results from prokaryotic genomes ordering. Using a subset of prokaryotic genomes, we attempted to uncover factors affecting gene length. We have demonstrated that hyperthermophilic species have shorter genes as compared with mesophilic organisms, which probably means that environmental factors affect gene length. Moreover, these preliminary results show that environmental factors group together in ranking evolutionary distant species. PMID:23300345

Low Calorie Diet Affects Aging-Related Factors

MedlinePlus

... Research News From NIH Low Calorie Diet Affects Aging-Related Factors Past Issues / Summer 2006 Table of ... project sponsored by the NIH's National Institute on Aging (NIA) to learn more about the effects of ...

Osteoporosis: Peak Bone Mass in Women

MedlinePlus

... Osteoporosis: Peak Bone Mass in Women Osteoporosis: Peak Bone Mass in Women Bones are the framework for ... that affect peak bone mass. Factors Affecting Peak Bone Mass A variety of genetic and environmental factors ...

The Development of the Meta-Affective Trait Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uzuntiryaki-Kondakci, Esen; Kirbulut, Zubeyde Demet

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a Meta-Affective Trait Scale (MATS) to measure the meta-affective inclinations related to emotions that students have while they are studying for their classes. First, a pilot study was performed with 380 10th-grade students. Results of the exploratory factor analysis supported a two-factor structure of the…

LITERATURE ABSTRACTS.

PubMed

1971-12-01

1. General Principles: 'Statistical Aspect of the Correlation Between Objective and Subjective Measurements of Meat Tenderness', by M. C. Gacula, Jr., J. B. Reaume, K. J. Morgan, and R. L. Luckett 1. General Principles: 'Texture of Semi-Solid Foods: Sensory and Physical Correlates', by W. F. Henry, M. H. Katz, F. J. Pilgrim, and A. T. May 2. Instrumentation and Methodology: 'Measurement of Bread Staling', by W. Morandini and L. Wassermann 2. Instrumentation and Methodology: 'Physical Considerations of the Methods of Consistency Measurement of Butter', by E. Knoop 2. Instrumentation and Methodology: 'Electronic Recording Mixers for the Baking Test', by P. W. Voisey, V. M. Bendelow and H. Miller 2. Instrumentation and Methodology: 'Measurement of the Consistency of Reconstituted Instant Potato Flakes', by P. W. Voisey and P. R. Dean 2. Instrumentation and Methodology: 'The Ottawa Electronic Recording Farinograph', by P. W. Voisey, H. Miller and P. L. Byrne 3. Objective Measurements: A. FOODS: 'The Rheological Properties of Corn Horny Endosperm', by J. R. Hamerle*, R. K. White**, and N. N. Mohsenin*** 3. Objective Measurements: 'Evaluation of Mechanical Properties of Comminuted Sausages by Construction and Analysis of Rheological Model', by St. Tyszkiewicz 3. Objective Measurements: 'Studies on Creep Compliance of Butter', by M. Chwiej 3. Objective Measurements: 'Heat-Induced Milk Gels. II. Preparation of Gels and Measurement of Firmness', by M. Kalab, P. W. Voisey and D. B. Emmons 3. Objective Measurements: 'Rheology of Fresh, Aged and Gamma-Irradiated Egg White', by M. A. Tung, J. F. Richards, B. C. Morrison and E. L. Watson 3. Objective Measurements: 'Retardation of Bread Staling - Practical Experiences', by W. Morandini and L. Wassermann 3. Objective Measurements: B. PHARMACEUTICALS: 'Influence of HLB on Certain Physicochemical Parameters of an O/W Emulsion', by M. Schrenzel 3. Objective Measurements: 'The Rheological Evaluation of Semisolids', by L. H. Block and P. P. Lamy 4. Factors Affecting Texture: 'Effects of Physical and Mechanical Treatments on the Tenderness of the Beef Longissimus', by G. C. Smith, T. C. Arango and Z. L. Carpenter 4. Factors Affecting Texture: 'Histological and Physical Changes in Carrots as Affected by Blanching, Cooking, Freezing, Freeze Drying and Compression', by A. R. Rahman, W. L. Henning and D. E. Westcott 4. Factors Affecting Texture: 'Effects of Physiological Maturity of Beef and Marbling of Rib Steaks on Eating Quality', by H. L. Norris, D. L. Harrison, L. L. Anderson, B. Van Welck and H. J. Tuma 4. Factors Affecting Texture: 'Effect of Ultimate pH Upon the Water-Holding Capacity and Tenderness of Mutton', by P. E. Bouton, P. V. Harris and W. R. Shorthose 4. Factors Affecting Texture: 'The Dilution Coefficient of Butter Serum and the Consistency of Butter', by E. Pijanowski, M. Chwiej, H. Hernik and M. Kurtowicz 4. Factors Affecting Texture: 'Moisture and pH Changes as Criteria of Freshness in Abalone and their Relationship to Texture of the Canned Product', by D. G. James and J. Olley 4. Factors Affecting Texture: 'Effect of Sucrose on Crispness of Explosion-Puffed Apple Pieces Exposed to High Humidities', by E. O. Strolle, J. Cording, Jr., P. E. McDowell, and R. K. Eskew 4. Factors Affecting Texture: 'Effect of Heat Treatment on Viscosity of Yolk', by P. K. Chang, W. D. Powrie and O. Fennema 4. Factors Affecting Texture: 'Protein Quality and Quantity: A Rheological Assessment of the Relative Importance in Breadmaking', by T. Webb, P. W. Heaps, and J. B. M. Coppock 4. Factors Affecting Texture: 'Bread Staling. 1. Experimental Study', by E. M. A. Willhoft 4. Factors Affecting Texture: 'Bread Staling. II. Theoretical Study', by E. M. A. Willhoft.

Exploring Factors that Affect Purchase Intention of Athletic Team Merchandise

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Donghun; Trail, Galen T.; Lee, Cindy; Schoenstedt, Linda J.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test a structural model to determine which psychosocial constructs affected the purchase intention of athletic team merchandise (ATM). Results from the analyses indicated that the twelve-factor ATM model fit the data from collegiate athletic events well, explaining the various impact factors that lead to purchase…

Risk and Protective Factors for Bullying Victimization among AIDS-Affected and Vulnerable Children in South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cluver, Lucie; Bowes, Lucy; Gardner, Frances

2010-01-01

Objectives: To examine whether bullying is a risk factor for psychological distress among children in poor, urban South Africa. To determine risk and protective factors for bullying victimization. Method: One thousand and fifty children were interviewed in deprived neighborhoods, including orphans, AIDS-affected children, street children, and…

An Investigation of Relationships between Internal and External Factors Affecting Technology Integration in Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hur, Jung Won; Shannon, David; Wolf, Sara

2016-01-01

Various factors affecting technology integration have been identified, but little research has examined the relationships between factors, especially internal and external ones, and whether they directly or indirectly influenced each other. To fill this research gap, this study examined the significance and relationships of five factors…

The Interactive Effects of Self-Perceptions and Job Requirements on Creative Problem Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson-Morral, Erika J.; Reiter-Palmon, Roni; Kaufman, James C.

2013-01-01

Over the years, researchers have focused on ways to facilitate creativity in the workplace by looking at individual factors and organizational factors that affect employee creativity (Woodman, Sawyer, & Griffin, [Woodman, R.W., 1993]). In many cases, the factors that affect creativity are examined independently. In other words, it is uncommon…

Environmental Factors of Distance Learning: An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klaus, Tim; Changchit, Chuleeporn

2014-01-01

The widespread use of the Internet has opened new avenues for learning in higher education. Distance education through the Internet has had a large increase over the last decade. This study focuses on examining factors of the online course environment that affect student satisfaction. The results identify factors that affect students' satisfaction…

Factors Affecting College-Going Rates in California: A Study Prospectus. Working Paper WP/06-09

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California Postsecondary Education Commission, 2006

2006-01-01

This working paper announces a report proposed by the California Postsecondary Education Commission to conduct a further statistical study on the factors affecting college-going rates in California. These factors would include school demographics, neighborhood characteristics, and regional labor market forces. Such a study could reveal insights…

Economic and Cultural Factors Affecting University Excellence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jabnoun, Naceur

2009-01-01

Purpose: The ranking of top universities in the world has generated increased interest in the factors that enhance university performance. The purpose of this paper is to identify economic and cultural factors that affect the number of top ranking universities in each country. Design/methodology/approach: This paper first identifies the number of…

Conceptualizing a model: a report of the ISPOR-SMDM Modeling Good Research Practices Task Force--2.

PubMed

Roberts, Mark; Russell, Louise B; Paltiel, A David; Chambers, Michael; McEwan, Phil; Krahn, Murray

2012-01-01

The appropriate development of a model begins with understanding the problem that is being represented. The aim of this article was to provide a series of consensus-based best practices regarding the process of model conceptualization. For the purpose of this series of articles, we consider the development of models whose purpose is to inform medical decisions and health-related resource allocation questions. We specifically divide the conceptualization process into two distinct components: the conceptualization of the problem, which converts knowledge of the health care process or decision into a representation of the problem, followed by the conceptualization of the model itself, which matches the attributes and characteristics of a particular modeling type with the needs of the problem being represented. Recommendations are made regarding the structure of the modeling team, agreement on the statement of the problem, the structure, perspective, and target population of the model, and the interventions and outcomes represented. Best practices relating to the specific characteristics of model structure and which characteristics of the problem might be most easily represented in a specific modeling method are presented. Each section contains a number of recommendations that were iterated among the authors, as well as among the wider modeling taskforce, jointly set up by the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research and the Society for Medical Decision Making. Copyright © 2012 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Web-based tailored intervention for preparation of parents and children for outpatient surgery (WebTIPS): development.

PubMed

Kain, Zeev N; Fortier, Michelle A; Chorney, Jill MacLaren; Mayes, Linda

2015-04-01

As a result of cost-containment efforts, preparation programs for outpatient surgery are currently not available to the majority of children and parents. The recent dramatic growth in the Internet presents a unique opportunity to transform how children and their parents are prepared for surgery. In this article, we describe the development of a Web-based Tailored Intervention for Preparation of parents and children undergoing Surgery (WebTIPS). A multidisciplinary taskforce agreed that a Web-based tailored intervention consisting of intake, matrix, and output modules was the preferred approach. Next, the content of the various intake variables, the matrix logic, and the output content was developed. The output product has a parent component and a child component and is described in http://surgerywebtips.com/about.php. The child component makes use of preparation strategies such as information provision, modeling, play, and coping skills training. The parent component of WebTIPS includes strategies such as information provision, coping skills training, and relaxation and distraction techniques. A reputable animation and Web design company developed a secured Web-based product based on the above description. In this article, we describe the development of a Web-based tailored preoperative preparation program that can be accessed by children and parents multiple times before and after surgery. A follow-up article in this issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia describes formative evaluation and preliminary efficacy testing of this Web-based tailored preoperative preparation program.

Increased Aldosterone Release During Head-Up Tilt in Early Primary Hypertension.

PubMed

Reinold, Annemarie; Schneider, Andreas; Kalizki, Tatjana; Raff, Ulrike; Schneider, Markus P; Schmieder, Roland E; Schmidt, Bernhard M W

2017-05-01

Hyperaldosteronism is well known cause of secondary hypertension. However, the importance of aldosterone for the much larger group of patients with primary hypertension is less clear. We hypothesized that in young subjects with primary hypertension, the rise of plasma aldosterone levels in response to head-up tilt testing as a stress stimulus is exaggerated. Hemodynamics (blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), cardiac index (CI), and total peripheral vascular resistance index (TPRI), all by TaskForce monitor) and hormones (plasma renin activity (PRA), angiotensin II (Ang II), aldosterone) were measured before and during 30 minutes of head-up tilt in 45 young hypertensive and 45 normotensive subjects. BP, HR, CI, and TPRI all increased in response to head-up tilt, with no difference between groups. There was no difference in baseline PRA, Ang II, and aldosterone between groups. During head-up tilt, PRA, and Ang II levels increased similarly. However, aldosterone levels increased to a greater extent in the hypertensive vs. normotensive subjects (P = 0.0021). Our data suggest that an increased release of aldosterone in response to orthostatic stress is a feature of early primary hypertension. The similar increase in PRA and Ang II suggests a potential role for secretagogues of aldosterone other than Ang II in this response. In addition to its established role in secondary hypertension, dysregulation of aldosterone release might contribute to the development of primary arterial hypertension. © American Journal of Hypertension, Ltd 2017. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

AGO Austria recommendation on screening and diagnosis of Lynch syndrome (LS).

PubMed

Zeimet, Alain G; Mori, Harald; Petru, Edgar; Polterauer, Stephan; Reinthaller, Alexander; Schauer, Christian; Scholl-Firon, Tonja; Singer, Christian; Wimmer, Katharina; Zschocke, Johannes; Marth, Christian

2017-07-01

This manuscript reports the consensus recommendations on screening and diagnosis of Lynch syndrome (LS) in patients with endometrial or ovarian cancer as well as on possible preventive measures in effectively LS-diagnosed women. The recommendations are issued by the Austrian Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Gynäkologische Onkologie (AGO) of the Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe (OEGGG) after consultation of the most recent and relevant literature and following deliberation by the Genetic Task-Force convoked May, 2015 by the AGO Council. The Austrian AGO recommends immunohistochemical tissue screening for type-I and type-II endometrial cancers in all patients below the age of 70 years, and for all endometrioid and clear-cell ovarian cancers independently of the patient's age. If needed immunohistochemistry should be complemented by tissue MLH1 promotor hypermethylation testing and/or microsatellite instability (MSI) analysis. The diagnosis LS requires confirmation through identification of a germline mutation by a molecular genetic examination in the mismatch repair genes using the patient's blood. This should be performed without preceding tissue screening when in LS-associated cancer patients the family history fulfills the Amsterdam II or the revised Bethesda criteria. In LS-diagnosed women, the age for prophylactic surgery should be set flexibly based on an informed consent. Regarding the monitoring of these women, chemo-preventive measures as well as screening procedures either to avoid or to early detect LS-related tumors are discussed with a special light on their specific limitations.

Barriers Beyond Words: Cancer, Culture, and Translation in a Community of Russian Speakers

PubMed Central

Levintova, Marya

2007-01-01

BACKGROUND Language and culture relate in complex ways. Addressing this complexity in the context of language translation is a challenge when caring for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). OBJECTIVE To examine processes of care related to language, culture and translation in an LEP population is the objective of this study. DESIGN We used community based participatory research to examine the experiences of Russian-speaking cancer patients in San Francisco, California. A Russian Cancer Information Taskforce (RCIT), including community-based organizations, local government, and clinics, participated in all phases of the study. PARTICIPANTS A purposeful sample of 74 individuals were the participants of the study. APPROACH The RCIT shaped research themes and facilitated access to participants. Methods were focus groups, individual interviews, and participant observation. RCIT reviewed data and provided guidance in interpreting results. RESULTS Four themes emerged. (1) Local Russian-language resources were seen as inadequate and relatively unavailable compared to other non-English languages; (2) a taboo about the word “cancer” led to language “games” surrounding disclosure; (3) this taboo, and other dynamics of care, reflected expectations that Russian speakers derived from experiences in their countries of origin; (4) using interpreters as cultural brokers or establishing support groups for Russian speakers could help address barriers. CONCLUSIONS The language barriers experienced by this LEP population reflect cultural and linguistic issues. Providers should consider partnering with trained interpreters to address the intertwining of language and culture. PMID:17957415

The child neurology clinical workforce in 2015: Report of the AAP/CNS Joint Taskforce.

PubMed

Kang, Peter B; Bale, James F; Mintz, Mark; Joshi, Sucheta M; Gilbert, Donald L; Radabaugh, Carrie; Ruch-Ross, Holly

2016-09-27

More than a decade has passed since the last major workforce survey of child neurologists in the United States; thus, a reassessment of the child neurology workforce is needed, along with an inaugural assessment of a new related field, neurodevelopmental disabilities. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Child Neurology Society conducted an electronic survey in 2015 of child neurologists and neurodevelopmental disabilities specialists. The majority of respondents participate in maintenance of certification, practice in academic medical centers, and offer subspecialty care. EEG reading and epilepsy care are common subspecialty practice areas, although many child neurologists have not had formal training in this field. In keeping with broader trends, medical school debts are substantially higher than in the past and will often take many years to pay off. Although a broad majority would choose these fields again, there are widespread dissatisfactions with compensation and benefits given the length of training and the complexity of care provided, and frustrations with mounting regulatory and administrative stresses that interfere with clinical practice. Although not unique to child neurology and neurodevelopmental disabilities, such issues may present barriers for the recruitment of trainees into these fields. Creative approaches to enhance the recruitment of the next generation of child neurologists and neurodevelopmental disabilities specialists will benefit society, especially in light of all the exciting new treatments under development for an array of chronic childhood neurologic disorders. © 2016 American Academy of Neurology.

Web-based Tailored Intervention for Preparation of Parents and Children for Outpatient Surgery (WebTIPS): Development

PubMed Central

Kain, Zeev N.; Fortier, Michelle A.; Chorney, Jill MacLaren; Mayes, Linda

2014-01-01

Background Due to cost-containment efforts, preparation programs for outpatient surgery are currently not available to the majority of children and parents. The recent dramatic growth in the Internet presents a unique opportunity to transform how children and their parents are prepared for surgery. In this article we describe the development of a Web-based tailored preparation program for children and parents undergoing surgery (WebTIPS). Development of Program A multidisciplinary taskforce agreed that a Web-based tailored intervention comprised of intake, matrix and output modules was the preferred approach. Next, the content of the various intake variables, the matrix logic and the output content was developed. The output product has a parent component and a child component and is described in http://surgerywebtips.com/about.php. The child component makes use of preparation strategies such as information provision, modeling, play and coping skills training. The parent component of WebTIPS includes strategies such as information provision, coping skills training, relaxation and distraction techniques. A reputable animation and Web-design company developed a secured Web-based product based on the above description. Conclusions In this article we describe the development of a Web-based tailored preoperative preparation program that can be accessed by children and parents multiple times before and after surgery. A follow-up article in this issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia describes formative evaluation and preliminary efficacy testing of this Web-based tailored preoperative preparation program. PMID:25790212

Neurocritical Care Education During Residency: Opinions (NEURON) Study.

PubMed

Lerner, David P; Kim, Jennifer; Izzy, Saef

2017-02-01

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has established a core curriculum of topics for residency training in neurocritical care. At present there is limited data evaluating neurology residency education within the neurological intensive care unit. This study evaluates learner concerns with the neurological intensive care unit. The Communication Committee and Resident & Fellow Taskforce within the Neurocritical Care Society (NCS) developed an online survey that consisted of 20 selection and free-text based questions. The survey was distributed to NCS members and then to neurology residency program directors. Statistical analysis of neurocritical care exposure were completed with t or Fisher exact test with p-value <0.05 considered significant. A total of 95 individuals from 32 different residency programs (36.5 % response rate) responded to the questionnaire. Most individuals train with neurocritical care attendings, fellows and advanced practitioners and have neurocritical care exposure during multiple years of residency training. 54 % of responders cite improvement in education as a means to improve neurocritical care training. Those that raised concern had no difference in time in the neurocritical care unit (9.4 weeks vs 8.8 weeks), exposure to trained neurointensivists, neurocritical care fellows or advanced providers (p value 0.53, 0.19, 0.83, respectively). There is significant learner concern regarding education within the neurointensive care unit. Although there are educational guidelines and focused neurocritical care educational materials, these alone do not satisfy residents' educational needs. This study demonstrates the need for educational changes, but it does not assess best strategies nor curricular content.

Culture and affect: the factor structure of the affective style questionnaire and its relation with depression and anxiety among Japanese.

PubMed

Ito, Masaya; Hofmann, Stefan G

2014-09-02

Affective styles are assumed to be one of the underlying processes of depression and anxiety maintenance. However, little is known about the effect of depression and anxiety and the cultural influence of the factor structure. Here, we examined the cross-cultural validity of the Affective Style Questionnaire and its incremental validity for the influence on depression and anxiety. Affective Style Questionnaire was translated into Japanese using standard back-translation procedure. Japanese university students (N = 1,041) served as participants. Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Rumination and Reflection Questionnaire, Brief COPE, Self-Construal Scale, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were administered. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that the Affective Style Questionnaire comprised four factors: Concealing, Adjusting, Holding and Tolerating (CFI = .92, TLI = .90, RMSEA = .07). The measure's convergent and discriminant validity was substantiated by its association with various emotion regulation measures. Regression analyses showed that negative influence of Adjusting, Holding, Reappraisal (β = -.17, -.19, -.30) and positive influence of Suppression (β = .23) were observed on depression. For anxiety, Adjusting and Reappraisal was negatively influenced (β = -.29, and -.18). Reliability and validity of the Affective Style Questionnaire was partly confirmed. Further study is needed to clarify the culturally dependent aspects of affective styles.

Factors Affecting Academic Resilience in Middle School Students: A Case Study (Factores que Afectan la Resiliencia Académica en Estudiantes de Bachillerato)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rojas Flórez, Luisa Fernanda

2015-01-01

This research was carried out with the purpose of identifying how and which risk and protective factors affect academic outcomes. The study explored how different family and individual environmental factors foster academic resilience. The exploratory study took place with a group of six students from a public school in Bogotá, Colombia. The school…

An Empirically Derived Taxonomy of Factors Affecting Physicians' Willingness to Disclose Medical Errors

PubMed Central

Kaldjian, Lauris C; Jones, Elizabeth W; Rosenthal, Gary E; Tripp-Reimer, Toni; Hillis, Stephen L

2006-01-01

BACKGROUND Physician disclosure of medical errors to institutions, patients, and colleagues is important for patient safety, patient care, and professional education. However, the variables that may facilitate or impede disclosure are diverse and lack conceptual organization. OBJECTIVE To develop an empirically derived, comprehensive taxonomy of factors that affects voluntary disclosure of errors by physicians. DESIGN A mixed-methods study using qualitative data collection (structured literature search and exploratory focus groups), quantitative data transformation (sorting and hierarchical cluster analysis), and validation procedures (confirmatory focus groups and expert review). RESULTS Full-text review of 316 articles identified 91 impeding or facilitating factors affecting physicians' willingness to disclose errors. Exploratory focus groups identified an additional 27 factors. Sorting and hierarchical cluster analysis organized factors into 8 domains. Confirmatory focus groups and expert review relocated 6 factors, removed 2 factors, and modified 4 domain names. The final taxonomy contained 4 domains of facilitating factors (responsibility to patient, responsibility to self, responsibility to profession, responsibility to community), and 4 domains of impeding factors (attitudinal barriers, uncertainties, helplessness, fears and anxieties). CONCLUSIONS A taxonomy of facilitating and impeding factors provides a conceptual framework for a complex field of variables that affects physicians' willingness to disclose errors to institutions, patients, and colleagues. This taxonomy can be used to guide the design of studies to measure the impact of different factors on disclosure, to assist in the design of error-reporting systems, and to inform educational interventions to promote the disclosure of errors to patients. PMID:16918739

Factor structure of the happiness-increasing strategies scales (H-ISS): activities and coping strategies in relation to positive and negative affect.

PubMed

Al Nima, Ali; Garcia, Danilo

2015-01-01

Background. Previous research (Tkach & Lyubomirsky, 2006) shows that there are eight general happiness-increasing strategies: social affiliation, partying, mental control, goal pursuit, passive leisure, active leisure, religion, and direct attempts. The present study investigates the factor structure of the happiness-increasing strategies scales (H-ISS) and their relationship to positive and negative affect. Method. The present study used participants' (N = 1,050 and age mean = 34.21 sd = 12.73) responses to the H-ISS in structural equation modeling analyses. Affect was measured using the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule. Results. After small modifications we obtained a good model that contains the original eight factors/scales. Moreover, we found that women tend to use social affiliation, mental control, passive leisure, religion, and direct attempts more than men, while men preferred to engage in partying and clubbing more than women. The H-ISS explained significantly the variance of positive affect (R (2) = .41) and the variance of negative affect (R (2) = .27). Conclusions. Our study is an addition to previous research showing that the factor structure of the happiness-increasing strategies is valid and reliable. However, due to the model fitting issues that arise in the present study, we give some suggestions for improving the instrument.

Thinking versus feeling: differentiating between cognitive and affective components of perceived cancer risk.

PubMed

Janssen, Eva; van Osch, Liesbeth; Lechner, Lilian; Candel, Math; de Vries, Hein

2012-01-01

Despite the increased recognition of affect in guiding probability estimates, perceived risk has been mainly operationalised in a cognitive way and the differentiation between rational and intuitive judgements is largely unexplored. This study investigated the validity of a measurement instrument differentiating cognitive and affective probability beliefs and examined whether behavioural decision making is mainly guided by cognition or affect. Data were obtained from four surveys focusing on smoking (N=268), fruit consumption (N=989), sunbed use (N=251) and sun protection (N=858). Correlational analyses showed that affective likelihood was more strongly correlated with worry compared to cognitive likelihood and confirmatory factor analysis provided support for a two-factor model of perceived likelihood instead of a one-factor model (i.e. cognition and affect combined). Furthermore, affective likelihood was significantly associated with the various outcome variables, whereas the association for cognitive likelihood was absent in three studies. The findings provide support for the construct validity of the measures used to assess cognitive and affective likelihood. Since affective likelihood might be a better predictor of health behaviour than the commonly used cognitive operationalisation, both dimensions should be considered in future research.

Water Stage Forecasting in Tidal streams during High Water Using EEMD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yen-Chang; Kao, Su-Pai; Su, Pei-Yi

2017-04-01

There are so many factors may affect the water stages in tidal streams. Not only the ocean wave but also the stream flow affects the water stage in a tidal stream. During high water, two of the most important factors affecting water stages in tidal streams are flood and tide. However the hydrological processes in tidal streams during high water are nonlinear and nonstationary. Generally the conventional methods used for forecasting water stages in tidal streams are very complicated. It explains the accurately forecasting water stages, especially during high water, in tidal streams is always a difficult task. The study makes used of Ensemble Empirical Model Decomposition (EEMD) to analyze the water stages in tidal streams. One of the advantages of the EEMD is it can be used to analyze the nonlinear and nonstationary data. The EEMD divides the water stage into several intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) and a residual; meanwhile, the physical meaning still remains during the process. By comparing the IMF frequency with tidal frequency, it is possible to identify if the IMF is affected by tides. Then the IMFs is separated into two groups, affected by tide or not by tide. The IMFs in each group are assembled to become a factor. Therefore the water stages in tidal streams are only affected by two factors, tidal factor and flood factor. Finally the regression analysis is used to establish the relationship between the factors of the gaging stations in the tidal stream. The available data during 15 typhoon periods of the Tanshui River whose downstream reach is in estuary area is used to illustrate the accuracy and reliability of the proposed method. The results show that the simple but reliable method is capable of forecasting water stages in tidal streams.

Factors affecting pre-ovulatory follicle diameter and ovulation rate following GnRH in postpartum beef cows Part II: Anestrous cows

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The objectives of this study were to identify factors affecting ovulatory follicle size in anestrous suckled beef cows so that we could determine how ovulatory follicle size affects fertility. This study used a two by two factorial design in which anestrous suckled beef cows (n = 55) either ovulate...

A scoping review of the associations between mental health and factors related to HIV acquisition and disease progression in conflict-affected populations.

PubMed

Koegler, Erica; Kennedy, Caitlin E

2018-01-01

The association between poor mental health and factors related to HIV acquisition and disease progression (also referred to as HIV-related factors) may be stronger among conflict-affected populations given elevated rates of mental health disorders. We conducted a scoping review of the literature to identify evidence-based associations between mental health (depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) and factors related to HIV acquisition and progression in conflict-affected populations. Five electronic databases were searched on October 10, 2014 and updated on March 7, 2017 to identify peer-reviewed publications presenting primary data from January 1, 1994 to March 7, 2017. Articles were included if: 1) depression, anxiety, and/or PTSD was assessed using a validated scale, 2) HIV or HIV-related factors were a primary focus, 3) quantitative associations between depression/anxiety/PTSD and HIV or HIV-related factors were assessed, and 4) the study population was conflict-affected and from a conflict-affected setting. Of 714 citations identified, 33 articles covering 110,818 participants were included. Most were from sub-Saharan Africa ( n  = 25), five were from the USA, and one each was from the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. There were 23 cross-sectional, 3 time-series, and 7 cohort studies. The search identified that mental health has been quantitatively associated with the following categories of HIV-related factors in conflict-affected populations: markers of HIV risk, HIV-related health status, sexual risk behaviors, and HIV risk exposures (i.e. sexual violence). Further, findings suggest that symptoms of poor mental health are associated with sexual risk behaviors and HIV markers, while HIV risk exposures and health status are associated with symptoms of poor mental health. Results suggest a role for greater integration and referrals across HIV and mental health programs for conflict-affected populations.

The importance of contextual, relational and cognitive factors for novice nurses' emotional state and affective commitment to the profession. A multilevel study.

PubMed

Hoeve, Yvonne Ten; Brouwer, Jasperina; Roodbol, Petrie F; Kunnen, Saskia

2018-05-13

This study explored the effects of contextual, relational and cognitive factors derived from novice nurses' work experiences on emotions and affective commitment to the profession. With an increasing demand for well-trained nurses, it is imperative to investigate which work-related factors most affect their commitment to develop effective strategies to improve work conditions, work satisfaction and emotional attachment. A repeated-measures within subjects design. From September 2013 - September 2014 eighteen novice nurses described work-related experiences in unstructured diaries and scored their emotional state and affective commitment on a scale. The themes that emerged from the 18 diaries (with 580 diary entries) were quantified as contextual, relational and cognitive factors. Contextual factors refer to complexity of care and existential events; relational factors to experiences with patients, support from colleagues, supervisors and physicians; cognitive factors to nurses' perceived competence. The first multilevel regression analysis, based on the 18 diaries with 580 entries, showed that complexity of care, lack of support and lack of competence were negatively related to novice nurses' affective commitment, whereas received support was positively related. The next multilevel regression analyses showed that all contextual, relational and cognitive factors were either related to negative or positive emotions. To retain novice nurses in the profession, it is important to provide support and feedback. This enables novice nurses to deal with the complexity of care and feelings of incompetence and to develop a professional commitment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting the implementation of childhood vaccination communication strategies in Nigeria: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Oku, Afiong; Oyo-Ita, Angela; Glenton, Claire; Fretheim, Atle; Eteng, Glory; Ames, Heather; Muloliwa, Artur; Kaufman, Jessica; Hill, Sophie; Cliff, Julie; Cartier, Yuri; Bosch-Capblanch, Xavier; Rada, Gabriel; Lewin, Simon

2017-02-15

The role of health communication in vaccination programmes cannot be overemphasized: it has contributed significantly to creating and sustaining demand for vaccination services and improving vaccination coverage. In Nigeria, numerous communication approaches have been deployed but these interventions are not without challenges. We therefore aimed to explore factors affecting the delivery of vaccination communication in Nigeria. We used a qualitative approach and conducted the study in two states: Bauchi and Cross River States in northern and southern Nigeria respectively. We identified factors affecting the implementation of communication interventions through interviews with relevant stakeholders involved in vaccination communication in the health services. We also reviewed relevant documents. Data generated were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. We used the SURE framework to organise the identified factors (barriers and facilitators) affecting vaccination communication delivery. We then grouped these into health systems and community level factors. Some of the commonly reported health system barriers amongst stakeholders interviewed included: funding constraints, human resource factors (health worker shortages, training deficiencies, poor attitude of health workers and vaccination teams), inadequate infrastructure and equipment and weak political will. Community level factors included the attitudes of community stakeholders and of parents and caregivers. We also identified factors that appeared to facilitate communication activities. These included political support, engagement of traditional and religious institutions and the use of organised communication committees. Communication activities are a crucial element of immunization programmes. It is therefore important for policy makers and programme managers to understand the barriers and facilitators affecting the delivery of vaccination communication so as to be able to implement communication interventions more effectively.

Factors affecting caregivers' ability to make environmental modifications.

PubMed

Messecar, D C

2000-12-01

This study explored factors that family caregivers described as affecting their ability to use environmental modifications. Intensive interviews and participant observation were used to collect detailed data from 24 primary family caregivers. Several factors that affect the caregivers' ability to implement modification strategies were identified in the analysis. These factors included attributes of the elderly individual, attributes of the modification, quality of the caregiver-elderly relationship, caregivers' skills, personal resources of the caregiver, and the informal and formal supports available. Of these factors, the most important were the salient skills that caregivers need to implement environmental modifications. These findings point to the importance of caregivers receiving skills training in this important dimension of caregiving. Intervention should be based on a collaborative approach that ensures the caregiver and care receiver's needs and preferences are respected.

A Study on Motivational Factors of Students in German Language Teaching Department at Trakya University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yucel, Mukadder Seyhan

2009-01-01

There are many definitions, views and theories for motivation. This study aims to state expressly what type of motivation factors according to the students' grades affects the students of German Language Teaching Departments (Turkey) negatively or positively. How the external and internal factors affect the students of German Language Teaching…

Motivating Factors that Affect Enrolment and Student Performance in an ODL Engineering Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dadigamuwa, P. R.; Senanayake, Samans

2012-01-01

The present study was carried out to determine the motivating factors for enrolling in an engineering study programme in open and distance learning (ODL) and the factors that affect the students' performance. The study was conducted with two convenient samples of students following distance learning courses in engineering technology, conducted by…

An Analysis of Multiple Factors Affecting Retention in Web-Based Community College Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doherty, William

2006-01-01

The current study examined four factors affecting retention in Web-based community college courses. Analyses were conducted on student demographics, student learning styles, course communication and external factors. The results suggest that Web-based courses are more attractive to busy students who are also more likely to fail or drop the course.…

Factors Affecting the Full Use of Library and Information Management Systems by Library Personnel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skretas, Georgios

2005-01-01

Purpose: To provide a general list of factors that affects and determines the full use of library information management systems (LIMS) by library staff. Design/methodology/approach: The factors, which were identified mainly during participation in the implementation of automation projects in Greece, are listed and briefly analysed in categories…

Factors Affecting Perceived Learning, Satisfaction, and Quality in the Online MBA: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sebastianelli, Rose; Swift, Caroline; Tamimi, Nabil

2015-01-01

The authors examined how six factors related to content and interaction affect students' perceptions of learning, satisfaction, and quality in online master of business administration (MBA) courses. They developed three scale items to measure each factor. Using survey data from MBA students at a private university, the authors estimated structural…

Mathematics Performance and the Role Played by Affective and Background Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grootenboer, Peter; Hemmings, Brian

2007-01-01

In this article, we report on a study examining those factors which contribute to the mathematics performance of a sample of children aged between 8 and 13 years. The study was designed specifically to consider the potency of a number of mathematical affective factors, as well as background characteristics (viz., gender, ethnicity, and…

Factors Affecting Career Decision-Making: Further Validation of the O'Neil Career-Sex Role Model and the Career Factor Checklist.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meinecke, Christine; O'Neil, James M.

Many correlates of vocational choice have been suggested by career development theorists. A career decision-making model developed by O'Neil, Meeker, and Borgers suggests six factors (individual, societal, familial, socioeconomic, situational, psychosocial-emotional) that affect both sex role socialization and career decision-making. The validity…

Factors Affecting Career Decision Making of Mexican and Mexican-American Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newlon, Betty J.; Borboa, Roman

The purpose of this research was to identify the self-reported factors affecting the career decision making of Mexican and Mexican-American students. It was hypothesized that the factor clusters would differ between the two sample populations, Mexican and Mexican-American. It was also hypothesized that these clusters would differ from six clusters…

A Qualitative Study of Indian and Indian Immigrant Adolescents' Perceptions of the Factors Affecting Their Engagement and Performance in School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Areepattamannil, Shaljan; Freeman, John G.; Klinger, Don A.

2018-01-01

Although a growing body of quantitative research has examined the non-cognitive factors affecting the school engagement and performance of adolescents across cultures, there is relatively sparse qualitative research investigating the perceptions of adolescents regarding the factors influencing their engagement and performance in school. This focus…

Influence of Linguistic Challenges on Attitude towards Mathematics Learning among Upper Primary Students of Kerala

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sarabi, M. K.; Gafoor, K. Abdul

2017-01-01

Aspects that influences mathematics learning is widely studied and language factors have been identified as a key backer to difficulties in learning Mathematics. It is evidenced that not only cognitive factors but also affective factors have vital role in learning mathematics. Such affective beliefs sources from various aspects of mathematics…

A review of genetic, biological, pharmacological, and clinical factors that affect carbohydrate-deficient transferrin levels.

PubMed

Fleming, Michael F; Anton, Raymond F; Spies, Claudia D

2004-09-01

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is an alcohol biomarker recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This test is increasingly being used to detect and monitor alcohol use in a variety of health care, legal, and industrial settings. The goal of this study is to review the genetic, biological, pharmacological, and clinical factors that may affect CDT levels. A review of the literature identified 95 research articles that met the authors' criteria and reported potential interactions of a variety of factors on percent and total CDT levels. The review established 12 categories of variables that may affect CDT levels. These categories include (1) alcohol use, (2) genetic factors, (3) race, (4) gender, (5) age, (6) liver disease, (7) iron levels, (8) tobacco use, (9) medication such as estrogen and anticonvulsants, (10) metabolic factors such as body mass index and total body water, (11) chronic medical conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, and (12) surgical patients. There is evidence that %CDT levels are affected by alcohol use, end-stage liver disease, and genetic variants. In addition to these three factors, total CDT levels (CDTect) are also affected by factors that raise transferrin levels such as iron deficiency, chronic illnesses, and menopausal status. Other potential factors such as tobacco and age appear to be confounded by alcohol use. The roles of female gender, low body mass index, chronic inflammatory diseases, and medication on CDT levels require further study. False negatives are associated with female gender, episodic lower level alcohol use, and acute trauma with blood loss. This review suggests that a number of factors are associated with false-positive CDTect and %CDT levels. CDT offers great promise to assist physicians in the care of patients to detect and monitor heavy alcohol use.

Measurement of affective and activity pain interference using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI): Cancer and Leukemia Group B 70903.

PubMed

Atkinson, Thomas M; Halabi, Susan; Bennett, Antonia V; Rogak, Lauren; Sit, Laura; Li, Yuelin; Kaplan, Ellen; Basch, Ethan

2012-11-01

The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) was designed to yield separate scores for pain intensity and interference. It has been proposed that the pain interference factor can be further broken down into unique factors of affective (e.g., mood) and activity (e.g., work) interference. The purpose of this analysis was to confirm this affective/activity interference dichotomy. A retrospective confirmatory factor analysis was completed for a sample of 184 individuals diagnosed with castrate-resistant prostate cancer (age 40-86, mean = 65.46, 77% White non-Hispanic) who had been administered the BPI as part of Cancer and Leukemia Group B trial 9480. A one-factor model was compared against two-factor and three-factor models that were developed based on the design of the instrument. Root mean squared error of approximation (0.075), comparative fit index (0.971), and change in chi-square, given the corresponding change in degrees of freedom (13.33, P < 0.05) values for the three-factor model (i.e., pain intensity, activity interference, and affective interference), were statistically superior in comparison with the one- and two-factor models. This three-factor structure was found to be invariant across age, mean prostate-specific antigen, and hemoglobin levels. These results confirm that the BPI can be used to quantify the degree to which pain separately interferes with affective and activity aspects of a patient's everyday life. These findings will provide clinical trialists, pharmaceutical sponsors, and regulators with confidence in the flexibility of the BPI as they consider the use of this instrument to assist with understanding the patient experience as it relates to treatment. Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Review: Factors affecting fouling in conventional pens for slaughter pigs.

PubMed

Larsen, M L V; Bertelsen, M; Pedersen, L J

2018-02-01

This review assesses factors affecting fouling in conventional pens for slaughter pigs. Fouling of the pen happens when pigs change their excretory behaviour from occurring in the designated dunging area to the lying area. This can result in a lower hygiene, bad air quality, extra work for the farmer, disturbance of the pigs' resting behaviour and an increase in agonistic interactions. A systematic search was conducted and results narrowed down to 21 articles. Four factors were found to affect fouling directly: insufficient space allowance, the flooring design of the pen, the thermal climate and pigs' earlier experience. Further, these primary factors are affected by secondary factors such as the shape of the pen, the weight of the pigs and especially the heat balance of the pigs, which is affected by several tertiary factors including, for example, temperature, humidity and draught. Results indicate that the most important factor to control when trying to prevent fouling of a pen is the pen climate. An appropriate climate may be accomplished through floor cooling in the designated lying area, sprinklers above the designated dunging area and by ensuring a more optimal ambient temperature curve that also fits the weight of the pigs in different stages of the production. All in all, fouling of the pen in conventional slaughter pigs is a multifactorial problem, but it is important to focus on increasing the comfortability, and especially the climate, of the designated lying area.

Tack coat optimization for HMA overlays laboratory testing.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-09-01

Interface bonding between hot-mix asphalt (HMA) overlays and Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements can be one of the most : significant factors affecting overlay service life. Various factors may affect the bonding condition at the interface, incl...

Factors affecting physical therapists’ job satisfaction: questionnaire survey targeting first-year physical therapists

PubMed Central

Kota, Munetsugu; Kudo, Hiroyuki; Okita, Kazuhiko

2018-01-01

[Purpose] The survey aimed to clarify the factors that affect physiotherapists’ job satisfaction. [Subjects and Methods] To examine factors affecting physical therapists’ job satisfaction using a cross-sectional study with a questionnaire survey. Subjects were 193 first-year physical therapists who participated in a newcomer orientation at Hiroshima Prefectural Physical Therapy Association. The questionnaire comprised items concerning physical therapists’ satisfaction with their work, motives for becoming physical therapists, education in school, internships, the workplace, and comfort in the workplace. [Results] Subjects were divided into two groups according to their satisfaction with their occupation. The “high satisfaction” group included 157 subjects, and the group “low satisfaction” group included 36 subjects. Using logistic regression analysis, items concerning comfort in the workplace, motives for becoming physical therapists, and learning in school were analysed. [Conclusion] Factors affecting physical therapists’ job satisfaction were primarily influenced by previous experience and working conditions. PMID:29706706

Factors affecting physical therapists' job satisfaction: questionnaire survey targeting first-year physical therapists.

PubMed

Kota, Munetsugu; Kudo, Hiroyuki; Okita, Kazuhiko

2018-04-01

[Purpose] The survey aimed to clarify the factors that affect physiotherapists' job satisfaction. [Subjects and Methods] To examine factors affecting physical therapists' job satisfaction using a cross-sectional study with a questionnaire survey. Subjects were 193 first-year physical therapists who participated in a newcomer orientation at Hiroshima Prefectural Physical Therapy Association. The questionnaire comprised items concerning physical therapists' satisfaction with their work, motives for becoming physical therapists, education in school, internships, the workplace, and comfort in the workplace. [Results] Subjects were divided into two groups according to their satisfaction with their occupation. The "high satisfaction" group included 157 subjects, and the group "low satisfaction" group included 36 subjects. Using logistic regression analysis, items concerning comfort in the workplace, motives for becoming physical therapists, and learning in school were analysed. [Conclusion] Factors affecting physical therapists' job satisfaction were primarily influenced by previous experience and working conditions.

Research on the Multiple Factors Influencing Human Identification Based on Pyroelectric Infrared Sensors

PubMed Central

Lou, Ping; Hu, Jianmin

2018-01-01

Analysis of the multiple factors affecting human identification ability based on pyroelectric infrared technology is a complex problem. First, we examine various sensed pyroelectric waveforms of the human body thermal infrared signal and reveal a mechanism for affecting human identification. Then, we find that the mechanism is decided by the distance, human target, pyroelectric infrared (PIR) sensor, the body type, human moving velocity, signal modulation mask, and Fresnel lens. The mapping relationship between the sensed waveform and multiple influencing factors is established, and a group of mathematical models are deduced which fuse the macro factors and micro factors. Finally, the experimental results show the macro-factors indirectly affect the recognition ability of human based on the pyroelectric technology. At the same time, the correctness and effectiveness of the mathematical models is also verified, which make it easier to obtain more pyroelectric infrared information about the human body for discriminating human targets. PMID:29462908

Factors Influencing the Job Satisfaction of Health System Employees in Tabriz, Iran

PubMed Central

Bagheri, Shokoufe; Kousha, Ahmad; Janati, Ali; Asghari-Jafarabadi, Mohammad

2012-01-01

Background: Employees can be counseled on how they feel about their job. If any particular dimension of their job is causing them dissatisfaction, they can be assisted to appropriately change it. In this study, we investigated the factors affecting job satisfaction from the perspective of employees working in the health system and thereby a quantitative measure of job satisfaction. Methods: Using eight focus group discussions (n=70), factors affecting job satisfaction of the employees were discussed. The factors identified from literature review were categorized in four groups: structural and managerial, social, work in it-self, environmental and welfare factors. Results: The findings confirmed the significance of structural and managerial, social, work in it-self, environmental and welfare factors in the level of job satisfaction. In addition, a new factor related to individual characteristics such as employee personal characteristics and development was identified. Conclusion: In order to improve the quality and productivity of work, besides, structural and managerial, social, work in it-self, environmental and welfare factors, policy makers should be taken into account individual characteristics of the employee as a factor affecting job satisfaction. PMID:24688933

Factors influencing the job satisfaction of health system employees in tabriz, iran.

PubMed

Bagheri, Shokoufe; Kousha, Ahmad; Janati, Ali; Asghari-Jafarabadi, Mohammad

2012-01-01

Employees can be counseled on how they feel about their job. If any particular dimension of their job is causing them dissatisfaction, they can be assisted to appropriately change it. In this study, we investigated the factors affecting job satisfaction from the perspective of employees working in the health system and thereby a quantitative measure of job satisfaction. Using eight focus group discussions (n=70), factors affecting job satisfaction of the employees were discussed. The factors identified from literature review were categorized in four groups: structural and managerial, social, work in it-self, environmental and welfare factors. The findings confirmed the significance of structural and managerial, social, work in it-self, environmental and welfare factors in the level of job satisfaction. In addition, a new factor related to individual characteristics such as employee personal characteristics and development was identified. In order to improve the quality and productivity of work, besides, structural and managerial, social, work in it-self, environmental and welfare factors, policy makers should be taken into account individual characteristics of the employee as a factor affecting job satisfaction.

The multidimensional nature of ageism: construct validity and group differences.

PubMed

Rupp, Deborah E; Vodanovich, Stephen J; Credé, Marcus

2005-06-01

The authors investigated the factor structure and construct validity of the Fraboni Scale of Ageism and the age and gender differences in ageism scores. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the multidimensional nature of FSA scores and generally corroborated the initial factor structure reported by M. Fraboni, with some notable exceptions. Essentially, the present findings were aligned with theoretical models of ageism that emphasize both cognitive facets and affective facets. That is, on the basis of their factor analytic findings, the authors redefined Fraboni's original factors of Antilocution, Avoidance, and Discrimination as Stereotypes, Separation, and Affective Attitudes, respectively, because of the clustering of items within factors. The revised 3-factor structure accounted for 36.4% of the variance in FSA scores. FSA factor scores significantly related to other scores from other measures of age-related attitudes, with higher correlations among factors that were similar in terms of their cognitive nature versus their affective nature. Finally, younger individuals and men had significantly higher ageism scores on the FSA than older individuals and women. The authors discussed the importance of adequately assessing ageism, with particular emphasis devoted to the understanding of age bias.

Factors affecting workplace bullying and lateral violence among clinical nurses in Korea: descriptive study.

PubMed

Oh, Hyunjin; Uhm, Dong Choon; Yoon, Young Joo

2016-04-01

Workplace bullying and lateral violence are serious issues affecting the work life of hospital nurses. The purpose of this study was to identify the selected individual and institutional characteristics for workplace bullying and lateral violence using a conceptual framework. A descriptive survey design was used. A convenience sample of 255 nurses in tertiary hospitals, who had a minimum of 6 months clinical experience, completed the survey. Regression analysis was used to determine factors significantly associated with workplace bullying and lateral violence. The Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised and the Lateral Violence scale were used to measure workplace bullying and lateral violence. A negative affect, individualism and working in hospital specialty units predicted workplace bullying. Individualism, a negative affect, affiliated hospital and working hours predicted verbal abuse whereas the place of employment was significantly associated with lateral violence. The results of this study identified factors that are associated with bullying and violence but did not fully support the conceptual framework. The individual characteristic negative affect was significantly associated with most types of workplace bullying and lateral violence bully whereas the place of employment was an important factor in lateral violence. Nurse managers need to be aware that both individual and institutional factors may impact levels of workplace bullying and lateral violence in their hospitals and need to prepare specific strategies to address these multiple factors. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

What factors affect patient access and engagement with clubfoot treatment in low- and middle-income countries? Meta-synthesis of existing qualitative studies using a social ecological model.

PubMed

Drew, Sarah; Lavy, Christopher; Gooberman-Hill, Rachael

2016-05-01

To conduct a systematic synthesis of previous research to identify factors that affect treatment-seeking for clubfoot and community-level interventions to improve engagement in low- and middle-income counties. A search of five databases was conducted, and articles screened using six criteria. Quality was appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist. Eleven studies were identified for inclusion. Analysis was informed by a social ecological model, which specifies five inter-related factors that may affect treatment-seeking: intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, community or socio-cultural factors and public policy. Intrapersonal barriers experienced were a lack of income and additional responsibilities. At the interpersonal level, support from fathers, the extended family and wider community affected on treatment-seeking. Institutional or organisational factors included long distances to treatment centres, insufficient information about treatments and challenges following treatment. Guardians' beliefs about the causes of clubfoot shaped behaviour. At the level of public policy, two-tiered healthcare systems made it difficult for some groups to access timely care. Interventions to address these challenges included counselling sessions, outreach clinics, brace recycling and a range of education programmes. This study identifies factors that affect access and engagement with clubfoot treatment across diverse settings and strategies to address them. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The key factors affecting students' individual interest in school science lessons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheung, Derek

2018-01-01

Individual interest in school science lessons can be defined as a relatively stable and enduring personal emotion comprising affective and behavioural reactions to events in the regular science lessons at school. Little research has compared the importance of different factors affecting students' individual interest in school science lessons. The present study aimed to address this gap, using a mixed methods design. Qualitative interview data were collected from 60 Hong Kong junior secondary school students, who were asked to describe the nature of their interest in science lessons and the factors to which they attribute this. Teacher interviews, parent interviews, and classroom observations were conducted to triangulate student interview data. Five factors affecting students' individual interest in school science lessons were identified: situational influences in science lessons, individual interest in science, science self-concept, grade level, and gender. Quantitative data were then collected from 591 students using a questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was applied to test a hypothesised model, which provided an acceptable fit to the student data. The strongest factor affecting students' individual interest in school science lessons was science self-concept, followed by individual interest in science and situational influences in science lessons. Grade level and gender were found to be nonsignificant factors. These findings suggest that teachers should pay special attention to the association between academic self-concept and interest if they want to motivate students to learn science at school.

Distinguishing affective depersonalization from anhedonia in major depression and bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Mula, Marco; Pini, Stefano; Calugi, Simona; Preve, Matteo; Masini, Matteo; Giovannini, Ilaria; Rucci, Paola; Cassano, Giovanni B

2010-01-01

Affective depersonalization has received limited attention in the literature, although its conceptualization may have implications in terms of identification of clinical endophenotypes of mood disorders. Thus, this study aims to test the hypothesis that anhedonia and affective depersonalization represent 2 distinct psychopathological dimensions and to investigate their clinical correlates in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). Using a data pool of 258 patients with mood and anxiety disorders, an item response theory-based factor analysis approach was carried out on 16 items derived from 2 clinical instruments developed in the Spectrum Project (the Structured Clinical Interview for Mood Spectrum and the Structured Clinical Interview for Derealization-Depersonalization Spectrum). Clinical correlates of these psychometrically derived dimensions were subsequently investigated in patients with BD or MDD. Using an item response theory-based factor analysis, a 2-factor solution was identified, accounting overall for the 47.0% of the variance. Patients with BD showed statistically significant higher affective depersonalization factor scores than those with MDD (Z = 2.215, P = .027), whereas there was no between-groups difference in anhedonia scores (Z = 0.825 P = .411). In patients with BD, age of onset of the disease correlated with affective depersonalization factor scores (rho = -0.330, P = .001) but not with anhedonia factor scores (rho = -0.097, P = .361). Affective depersonalization and anhedonia seem to be 2 distinct psychopathological dimensions, although closely related, bearing the opportunity to identify patients with a specific profile for a better clinical and neurobiological definition. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychometric properties of Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) original and short forms in an African American community sample.

PubMed

Merz, Erin L; Malcarne, Vanessa L; Roesch, Scott C; Ko, Celine M; Emerson, Marc; Roma, Vincenzo G; Sadler, Georgia Robins

2013-12-01

The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) has been widely used as a self-report measure of affect in community and clinical contexts. However, evaluations of the psychometric properties of PANAS scores have been limited in diverse ethnic groups. Several short forms of the PANAS have also been proposed, but very little is known about the psychometric properties of these versions. The present study investigated the psychometric properties, including the factor structure of the original PANAS and two short forms in an African American community sample (N=239). Descriptive, internal consistency reliability, factorial validity, and measurement invariance analyses were conducted. All PANAS subscales from the original and short forms had adequate internal consistency. For the original PANAS, the model specifying three correlated factors (Positive Affect, Afraid, Upset) with correlated uniquenesses from redundant items provided the best fit to the data. However, the two-factor model (Positive Affect, Negative Affect) with correlated uniquenesses was also supported. For both short forms, the two-factor model with correlated uniquenesses fit the data best. Factors from all forms were generally invariant across age and gender, although there was some minor invariance at the item level. Participants were from a limited geographic area and one ethnic group. Indicators of anxiety, depression, and cultural characteristics were not measured. The factor structure was replicated, suggesting no immediate concerns regarding the valid interpretation of PANAS scores. The results support the reliability and validity of the PANAS and its short forms for use among African Americans. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Other Factors That Affect Heart Disease: Birth Control Pills

MedlinePlus

... Heart Handbook for Women Other Factors That Affect Heart Disease Birth Control Pills Studies show that women who ... t had any more complications because of my heart disease." — Diane Pay attention to diabetes. Levels of glucose, ...

Dynamic Synchronization of Teacher-Students Affection in Affective Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Wenhai; Lu, Jiamei

2011-01-01

Based on Bower's affective network theory, the article links the dynamic analysis of affective factors in affective instruction, and presents affective instruction strategic of dynamic synchronization between teacher and students to implement the best ideal mood that promotes students' cognition and affection together. In the process of teaching,…

Influencing factors of outcome after lower-limb amputation: a five-year review in a plastic surgical department.

PubMed

Chen, Meng-Chum; Lee, Su-Shin; Hsieh, Ya-Lun; Wu, Shu-Jung; Lai, Chung-Sheng; Lin, Sin-Daw

2008-09-01

The crude major lower limb amputation procedure rate is 8.8 per 100,000 of the population per year in Taiwan. From January 2002 to October 2006, patients that received major lower limb amputation in our department were enrolled in this study. Retrospective chart reviews concerning different factors that can affect the eventual postoperative functional status were investigated. Factors that affected the length of hospital stay included duration before amputation (P < 0.001) and renal function (P = 0.045). Phantom limb pain was affected by wound healing time (P = 0.006). Factors that affected the daily prosthesis usage time were initial infection status (P = 0.021), renal function (P = 0.01), patient educational level (P = 0.016), and pretraining waiting time (P = 0.003). The duration of prosthetic training was affected by patient educational level (P = 0.004) and marital status (P = 0.024). In addition, subjective satisfaction about the usage of prosthesis was affected by pretraining waiting time (P = 0.001) and daily prosthesis usage time (P < 0.001). The daily prosthesis usage time was closely related to life quality improvement (P < 0.001) and subjective satisfaction of prosthesis usage (P < 0.001). Despite reported unchangeable factors like age, end-stage renal disease, dementia, coronary artery disease, and level of amputation, preprosthesis training waiting time significantly affected the satisfaction and daily usage time of the prosthesis. Surgeons can make some contribution to accelerate amputation wound healing and stump maturation by choosing the correct operating procedure, delicately managing the soft tissue, and ascertaining proper wound care to improve the outcome.

The Affective and Emotional Composite Temperament (AFECT) model and scale: a system-based integrative approach.

PubMed

Lara, Diogo R; Bisol, Luisa W; Brunstein, Miriam G; Reppold, Caroline T; de Carvalho, Hudson W; Ottoni, Gustavo L

2012-09-01

Based on many temperament frameworks, here we propose an integration of emotional and affective temperaments (the AFECT model), forming a common substrate for mood, behavior, personality and part of cognition. Temperament is conceived as a self-regulated system with six emotional dimensions: volition, anger, inhibition, sensitivity, coping and control. The different combinations of these emotional dimensions result in 12 affective temperament types, namely depressive, anxious, apathetic, obsessive, cyclothymic, dysphoric, irritable, volatile, disinhibited, hyperthymic and euphoric. We also developed and validated a self-report scale to evaluate this construct, the Affective and Emotional Composite Temperament Scale (AFECTS). Exploratory and confirmatory psychometric analyses were performed with the internet version of the AFECTS in 2947 subjects (72% females, 35±11years old). The factors interpreted as volition, anger, inhibition, sensitivity, coping and control showed very good Cronbach's alphas for 5 dimensions (0.87-0.90) and acceptable alpha for inhibition (0.75). Confirmatory factor analysis corroborated this 6-factor structure when considering inhibition as a second-order factor with fear and caution as first-order factors (SRMR=0.061; RMSEA=0.053). In the Affective section, all 12 categorical affective temperaments were selected in the categorical choice, with 99% of volunteers identifying at least one adequate description of their affective temperament. Only the internet version was used in a general population sample. The AFECT model provides an integrated framework of temperament as a self-regulated system, with implications for mental health, psychiatric disorders and their treatment. The AFECTS showed good psychometric properties to further study this model. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cross-cultural measurements of psychological well-being: the psychometric equivalence of Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Laotian translations of the Affect Balance Scale.

PubMed Central

Devins, G M; Beiser, M; Dion, R; Pelletier, L G; Edwards, R G

1997-01-01

OBJECTIVES: This paper evaluates the cultural equivalence of Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Laotian translations of the Affect Balance Scale. METHODS: The scale was completed by 399 Vietnamese, 193 Laotian, 756 Cantonese, and 319 English speakers who were participants in the Clarke Institute-University of Toronto Refugee Resettlement Project (n = 1667). RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses indicated a good fit between the hypothesized two-factor model (separate factors for positive and negative affect) across the original English-language version and each of the Asian-language translations. Factorial invariance (numbers and patterns of factor loadings) was evident across all versions of the scale. No evidence of item bias was detected by mixed Language x Item analyses of variance. Acceptable reliability was observed; coefficient alphas ranged from .62 to .72 for positive affect and from .62 to .70 for negative affect items. CONCLUSIONS: These findings substantiate the cultural equivalence of the three translations of the scale for population health research. Important future research directions made possible by the availability of culturally equivalent instruments are discussed. PMID:9184508

Factors Affecting the Disposition of Research-Based Innovations in the Development of a Basal Reading Program: A Case Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wile, J. M.

A study investigated how the beliefs of literacy scholars affect the development of basal reading programs, the roles literacy scholars play in the development of new reading programs, and some of the critical factors that affect the disposition of innovative ideas. Two literacy scholars who had actively collaborated on the development of separate…

A Psychometric Analysis of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children-Parent Version in a School Sample

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ebesutani, Chad; Okamura, Kelsie; Higa-McMillan, Charmaine; Chorpita, Bruce F.

2011-01-01

The current study was the 1st to examine the psychometric properties of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children-Parent Version (PANAS-C-P) using a large school-based sample of children and adolescents ages 8 to 18 (N = 606). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a 2-factor (correlated) model of positive affect (PA) and negative…

Replication and extension of a hierarchical model of social anxiety and depression: fear of positive evaluation as a key unique factor in social anxiety.

PubMed

Weeks, Justin W

2015-01-01

Wang, Hsu, Chiu, and Liang (2012, Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26, 215-224) recently proposed a hierarchical model of social interaction anxiety and depression to account for both the commonalities and distinctions between these conditions. In the present paper, this model was extended to more broadly encompass the symptoms of social anxiety disorder, and replicated in a large unselected, undergraduate sample (n = 585). Structural equation modeling (SEM) and hierarchical regression analyses were employed. Negative affect and positive affect were conceptualized as general factors shared by social anxiety and depression; fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and disqualification of positive social outcomes were operationalized as specific factors, and fear of positive evaluation (FPE) was operationalized as a factor unique to social anxiety. This extended hierarchical model explicates structural relationships among these factors, in which the higher-level, general factors (i.e., high negative affect and low positive affect) represent vulnerability markers of both social anxiety and depression, and the lower-level factors (i.e., FNE, disqualification of positive social outcomes, and FPE) are the dimensions of specific cognitive features. Results from SEM and hierarchical regression analyses converged in support of the extended model. FPE is further supported as a key symptom that differentiates social anxiety from depression.

Factors Affecting the Supply of Recent College Graduates in New England. Policy Brief 09-1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sasser, Alicia

2009-01-01

This policy brief investigates factors affecting New England's supply of recent college graduates and how those factors have changed over time, and suggests steps that states might take to expand this source of skilled labor. (Contains 3 figures.) [This brief summarizes analysis in NEPPC research report 08-1: "The Future of the Skilled Labor…

Evaluation of Factors Affecting Vaccine Efficacy of Recombinant Marek's Disease Virus Lacking the Meq Oncogene in Chickens

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

We have previously reported that deletion of Meq gene from oncogenic rMd5 virus rendered it apathogenic for chickens. Here we examined multiple factors affecting Marek’s disease (MD) vaccine efficacy of this non-pathogenic recombinant Meq null rMd5 virus (rMd5deltaMeq). These factors included host g...

What Makes Teachers Use Technology in the Classroom? Exploring the Factors Affecting Facilitation of Technology with a Korean Sample

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baek, Youngkyun; Jung, Jaeyeob; Kim, Bokyeong

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing teachers' decisions about using technology in the classroom setting and examine the degree to which teaching experience affects these decisions. Specifically, the items employed in this study were derived from the teachers' perceptions of technology use. We discovered six factors which…

The Impact of Cognitive and Affective Aspects of Cognitive Conflict on Learners' Conceptual Change about Floating and Sinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadjiachilleos, Stella; Valanides, Nicos; Angeli, Charoula

2013-01-01

Background: Cognitive conflict has been identified as an important factor for bringing about students' conceptual change. Researchers draw attention to the need to study not only cognitive factors related to cognitive conflict but affective factors as well. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of cognitive…

Factors affecting songbird nest survival in riparian forests in a Midwestern agricultural landscape

Treesearch

Rebecca G. Peak; Frank R. Thompson; Terry L. Shaffer

2004-01-01

We investigated factors affecting nest success of songbirds in riparian forest and buffers in northeastern Missouri. We used an information-theoretic approach to determine support for hypotheses concerning effects of nest-site, habitat-patch, edge, and temporal factors on nest success of songbirds in three narrow (55-95 m) and three wide (400-530 m) riparian forests...

Factors Influencing Persistence/Achievement in the Sciences and Health Professions by Black High School and College Women. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, Henrie M.; And Others

This paper reports on a study which investigated socioeconomic, academic, and psychosocial factors that might affect enrollment and persistence rates of black women in science and health careers. An overview is presented of women in science, black women's status in science, role models and support groups, other factors affecting persistence, and…

Factors affecting implementation of an evidence-based practice in the Veterans Health Administration: Illness management and recovery.

PubMed

McGuire, Alan B; Salyers, Michelle P; White, Dominique A; Gilbride, Daniel J; White, Laura M; Kean, Jacob; Kukla, Marina

2015-12-01

Illness management and recovery (IMR) is an evidence-based practice that assists consumers in managing their illnesses and pursuing personal recovery goals. Although research has examined factors affecting IMR implementation facilitated by multifaceted, active roll-outs, the current study attempted to elucidate factors affecting IMR implementation outside the context of a research-driven implementation. Semi-structured interviews with 20 local recovery coordinators and 18 local IMR experts were conducted at 23 VA medical centers. Interviews examined perceived and experienced barriers and facilitators to IMR implementation. Data were analyzed via thematic inductive/deductive analysis in the form of crystallization/immersion. Six factors differed between sites implementing IMR from those not providing IMR: awareness of IMR, importer-champions, autonomy-supporting leadership, veteran-centered care, presence of a sensitive period, and presence of a psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery center. Four factors were common in both groups: recovery orientation, evidence-based practices orientation, perceived IMR fit within program structure, and availability of staff time. IMR can be adopted in lieu of active implementation support; however, knowledge dissemination appears to be key. Future research should examine factors affecting the quality of implementation. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

[Factors affecting the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in inpatient units: perception of nurses].

PubMed

Citolino, Clairton Marcos Filho; Santos, Eduesley Santana; Silva, Rita de Cassia Gengo E; Nogueira, Lilia de Souza

2015-12-01

To identify, in the perception of nurses, the factors that affect the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in adult inpatient units, and investigate the influence of both work shifts and professional experience length of time in the perception of these factors. A descriptive, exploratory study conducted at a hospital specialized in cardiology and pneumology with the application of a questionnaire to 49 nurses working in inpatient units. The majority of nurses reported that the high number of professionals in the scenario (75.5%), the lack of harmony (77.6%) or stress of any member of staff (67.3%), lack of material and/or equipment failure (57.1%), lack of familiarity with the emergency trolleys (98.0%) and presence of family members at the beginning of the cardiopulmonary arrest assistance (57.1%) are factors that adversely affect the quality of care provided during CPR. Professional experience length of time and the shift of nurses did not influence the perception of these factors. The identification of factors that affect the quality of CPR in the perception of nurses serves as parameter to implement improvements and training of the staff working in inpatient units.

The roles of social factor and internet self-efficacy in nurses' web-based continuing learning.

PubMed

Chiu, Yen-Lin; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2014-03-01

This study was conducted to explore the relationships among social factor, Internet self-efficacy and attitudes toward web-based continuing learning in a clinical nursing setting. The participants recruited were 244 in-service nurses from hospitals in Taiwan. Three instruments were used to assess their perceptions of social factor, Internet self-efficacy (including basic and advanced Internet self-efficacy) and attitudes toward web-based continuing learning (including perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, affection and behavior). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to identify the hypothesized structural model. The results of this study support that social factor is a significant factor correlated to Internet self-efficacy and attitudes toward web-based continuing learning (including perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and affection). In addition, nurses' basic Internet self-efficacy plays a key role in attitudes including perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and affection. However, advanced self-efficacy was not correlated to any of the attitudes. The behavior dimension was not linked to social factor or Internet self-efficacy, but was linked to perceived ease of use and affection. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting access to healthcare services by intermarried Filipino women in rural Tasmania: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Hannah, Chona T; Lê, Quynh

2012-10-01

Access to health care services is vital for every migrant's health and wellbeing. However, migrants' cultural health beliefs and views can hinder their ability to access available services. This study examined factors affecting access to healthcare services for intermarried Filipino women in rural Tasmania, Australia. A qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews was employed to investigate the factors affecting access to healthcare services for 30 intermarried Filipino women in rural Tasmania. The study used grounded theory and thematic analysis for its data analysis. Nvivo v8 (www.qsrinternational.com) was also used to assist the data coding process and analysis. Five influencing factors were identified: (1) language or communication barriers; (2) area of origin in the Philippines; (3) cultural barriers; (4) length of stay in Tasmania; and (5) expectations of healthcare services before and after migration. Factors affecting intermarried Filipino women in accessing healthcare services are shaped by their socio-demographic and cultural background. The insights gained from this study are useful to health policy-makers, healthcare professionals and to intermarried female migrants. The factors identified can serve as a guide to improve healthcare access for Filipino women and other migrants.

Facilities, breed and experience affect ease of sheep handling: the livestock transporter's perspective.

PubMed

Burnard, C L; Pitchford, W S; Hocking Edwards, J E; Hazel, S J

2015-08-01

An understanding of the perceived importance of a variety of factors affecting the ease of handling of sheep and the interactions between these factors is valuable in improving profitability and welfare of the livestock. Many factors may contribute to animal behaviour during handling, and traditionally these factors have been assessed in isolation under experimental conditions. A human social component to this phenomenon also exists. The aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of a variety of factors affecting ease of handling, and the interactions between these from the perspective of the livestock transporter. Qualitative interviews were used to investigate the factors affecting sheep behaviour during handling. Interview transcripts underwent thematic analysis. Livestock transporters discussed the effects of attitudes and behaviours towards sheep, helpers, facilities, distractions, environment, dogs and a variety of sheep factors including breed, preparation, experience and sex on sheep behaviour during handling. Transporters demonstrated care and empathy and stated that patience and experience were key factors determining how a person might deal with difficult sheep. Livestock transporters strongly believed facilities (ramps and yards) had the greatest impact, followed by sheep experience (naivety of the sheep to handling and transport) and breed. Transporters also discussed the effects of distractions, time of day, weather, dogs, other people, sheep preparation, body condition and sheep sex on ease of handling. The concept of individual sheep temperament was indirectly expressed.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING BREAST CANCER SUSCEPTIBILITY

EPA Science Inventory

Environmental Factors Affecting Breast Cancer Susceptibility
Suzanne. E. Fenton
US EPA, ORD, MD-67 NHEERL, Reproductive Toxicology Division, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711.

Breast cancer is still the most common malignancy afflicting women in the Western world. Alt...

Factors affecting maintenance overlay ride quality : 1996 rideability status.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-01-01

In early 1996, the Virginia Transportation Research Council initiated a formal analysis of the factors affecting overlay ride quality. As part of that effort, a statewide, multi-year survey of the ride quality for both new overlays and pavement await...

Psychological factors affecting medical condition: a new proposal for DSM-V.

PubMed

Fava, Giovanni A; Fabbri, Stefania; Sirri, Laura; Wise, Thomas N

2007-01-01

The DSM category of "psychological factors affecting medical condition" had virtually no impact on clinical practice. However, several clinically relevant psychosomatic syndromes have been described in the literature: disease phobia, persistent somatization, conversion symptoms, illness denial, demoralization, and irritable mood. These syndromes, in addition to the DSM definition of hypochondriasis, can yield clinical specification in the category of "psychological factors affecting medical condition" and eliminate the need for the highly criticized DSM classification of somatoform disorders. This new classification is supported by a growing body of research evidence and is in line with psychosomatic medicine as a recognized subspecialty.

Predictors of pre- and post-competition affective states in male martial artists: a multilevel interactional approach

PubMed Central

Cerin, E; Barnett, A

2011-01-01

The aims of this study were to examine (a) the effects of competition-related and competition-extraneous concerns on affective states; (b) the relationships of primary and secondary appraisal with affective states and (c) the main and moderating effects of personality traits on pre- and post-competition affects. Thirty-nine male elite martial artists were assessed on 12 affective states, concerns and dimensions of primary and secondary appraisal at five random times a day across 1 week before and 3 days after a competition. On the competition day, they were assessed 1 h before and immediately after the contest. Competitive trait anxiety, neuroticism and extraversion were measured at the start of the study. The competition was the most significant and stressful event experienced in the examined period and had a pervasive influence on athletes' affective states. All examined appraisal and personality factors were somewhat associated with pre- and post-competition affective states. Competitive trait anxiety was a key moderator of the relationship between cognitive appraisal and affective states. This study supports the idea that cognitive appraisal and situational and personality factors exert main and interactive effects on athletes' pre- and post-competition affects. These factors need to be accounted for in planning of emotion regulation interventions. PMID:19883381

Factors influencing the retention of midwives in the public sector in Afghanistan: a qualitative assessment of midwives in eight provinces.

PubMed

Wood, Molly E; Mansoor, G Farooq; Hashemy, Pashton; Namey, Emily; Gohar, Fatima; Ayoubi, Saadia Fayeq; Todd, Catherine S

2013-10-01

to examine factors that affect retention of public sector midwives throughout their career in Afghanistan. qualitative assessment using semi-structured in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs). health clinics in eight provinces in Afghanistan, midwifery education schools in three provinces, and stakeholder organisations in Kabul. purposively sampled midwifery profession stakeholders in Kabul (n=14 IDIs); purposively selected community midwifery students in Kabul (n=3 FGDs), Parwan (n=1 FGD) and Wardak (n=1 FGD) provinces (six participants per FGD); public sector midwives, health facility managers, and community health workers from randomly selected clinics in eight provinces (n=48 IDIs); midwives who had left the public sector midwifery service (n=5 IDIs). several factors affect a midwife throughout her career in the public sector, including her selection as a trainee, the training itself, deployment to her pre-assigned post, and working in clinics. Overall, appropriate selection is the key to ensuring deployment and retention later on in a midwife's career. Other factors that affect retention of midwives include civil security concerns in rural areas, support of family and community, salary levels, professional development opportunities and workplace support, and inefficient human resources planning in the public sector. Factors affecting midwife retention are linked to problems within the community midwifery education (CME) programme and those reflecting the wider Afghan context. Civil insecurity and traditional attitudes towards women were major factors identified that negatively affect midwifery retention. Factors such as civil insecurity and traditional attitudes towards women require a multisectoral response and innovative strategies to reduce their impact. However, factors inherent to midwife career development also impact retention and may be more readily modified. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting the operating time for complete cyst excision and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy in paediatric cases of congenital choledochal malformation: a retrospective case study in Southeast China

PubMed Central

Guo, Wan-liang; Zhan, Yang; Fang, Fang; Deng, Yan-bing; Zhao, Jun-gang

2018-01-01

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate factors affecting the operating time for complete cyst excision and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy in paediatric cases of congenital choledochal malformation (CCM). Design A 3-year retrospective study was undertaken between January 2013 and December 2015 in four centres in China. Setting This involved a retrospective chart review of paediatric patients with CCM in four large hospitals in Southeast China. Participants Sixty-five paediatric patients with CCM were included in this study. We derived all available information on patient demographics, clinical characteristics, preoperative complications and surgical methods from the charts of all these patients. Interventions Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate factors significantly affecting the operating time for complete cyst excision and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy in paediatric cases of CCM. Results Twenty-three of the 65 case surgeries were performed using laparoscopic technique, and 42 surgeries were performed by conventional open surgery. The median operating time was 215 min (range 120–430 min). The morphological subtype of CCM and the presence of cholecystitis or cholangitis were the only factors found to affect the operating time (p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis confirmed cholangitis as an independent risk factor. Conclusions The morphological subtype of CMM and the presence of cholecystitis or cholangitis are factors affecting the operating time for complete cyst excision and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy in paediatric cases of CCM, whereas cholangitis is an independent risk factor. PMID:29804066

A study of the factors affecting the range of airplanes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biermann, David

1937-01-01

A study was made of the most important factors affecting the range of airplanes. Numerical examples are given showing the effects of different variables on the range of a two-engine airplane. The takeoff problems of long-range airplanes are analyzed.

Dysfunctional Attitudes and Affective Responses to Daily Stressors: Separating Cognitive, Genetic, and Clinical Influences on Stress Reactivity

PubMed Central

Conway, Christopher C.; Slavich, George M.; Hammen, Constance

2016-01-01

Despite decades of research examining diathesis-stress models of emotional disorders, it remains unclear whether dysfunctional attitudes interact with stressful experiences to shape affect on a daily basis and, if so, how clinical and genetic factors influence these associations. To address these issues, we conducted a multi-level daily diary study that examined how dysfunctional attitudes and stressful events relate to daily fluctuations in negative and positive affect in 104 young adults. Given evidence that clinical and genetic factors underlie stress sensitivity, we also examined how daily affect is influenced by internalizing and externalizing symptoms and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) genotype, which have been shown to influence neural, endocrine, and affective responses to stress. In multivariate models, internalizing symptoms and BDNF Val66Met genotype independently predicted heightened negative affect on stressful days, but dysfunctional attitudes did not. Specifically, the BDNF Met allele and elevated baseline internalizing symptomatology predicted greater increases in negative affect in stressful circumstances. These data are the first to demonstrate that BDNF genotype and stress are jointly associated with daily fluctuations in negative affect, and they challenge the assumption that maladaptive beliefs play a strong independent role in determining affective responses to everyday stressors. The results may thus inform the development of new multi-level theories of psychopathology and guide future research on predictors of affective lability. PMID:27041782

Theory of Semiconducting Superlattices and Microstructures

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-03-01

theory elucidated the various factors affecting deep levels, sets forth the conditions for obtaining shallow-deep transitions, and predicts that Si (a...theory elucidates the various factors affecting deep levels, sets forth the conditions for obtaining shallow-deep transitions, and predicts that Si (a...ondenotes the anion vacancy, which can be thought any quantitative theoretical factor are theof as originating from Column-O of the Period strengths of

Biological, social, and urban design factors affecting young street tree mortality in New York City

Treesearch

Jacqueline W.T. Lu; Erika S. Svendsen; Lindsay K. Campbell; Jennifer Greenfeld; Jessie Braden; Kristen King; Nancy Falxa-Raymond

2010-01-01

In dense metropolitan areas, there are many factors including traffic congestion, building development and social organizations that may impact the health of street trees. The focus of this study is to better understand how social, biological and urban design factors affect the mortality rates of newly planted street trees. Prior analyses of street trees planted by the...

Women in Leadership: Factors That Affect the Achievement of Women in Higher Education Administration at Four-Year Public and Private Universities in Texas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramirez, Dawn Marie

2012-01-01

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the factors that affect women administrators in higher education at four-year public and private universities in Texas. By comparing private and public universities, the research provided an assessment of similarities and differences of the factors impacting achievement of women in higher…

Factors that Affect the Decision of Refugee and Immigrant Students to Pursue Higher Education in Tennessee: The Case of Egyptian, Somali, Kurdish and Mexican Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weldegebriel, Mengistu H.

2011-01-01

Refugee and immigrant students face challenges in pursuing higher education. This study examined factors that affect the decision of refugees and immigrant students to pursue higher education in Tennessee. The factors included cultural capital these students acquire from their parents and families; cultural difference they have with the mainstream…

Effect of Principal Managerial Leadership and Compensation towards Physics Teacher Performance in Senior High School in Baguala District-Ambon

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wenno, Izaak Hendrik

2017-01-01

The performance of teachers is an important factor that must be considered in efforts to improve the quality of education. Teacher's performance is affected by many factors. Factors that affect the performance of teachers are principals' managerial leadership and compensation. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of principals'…

Radiation-induced nausea and vomiting: Is ABO blood group as important as radiation and patient-related factors? An observational study.

PubMed

Habibi, Mohsen; Namimoghadam, Amir; Korouni, Roghaye; Fashiri, Paria; Borzoueisileh, Sajad; Elahimanesh, Farideh; Amiri, Fatemeh; Moradi, Ghobad

2016-08-01

Despite the improvements in cancer screening and treatment, it still remains as one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Nausea and vomiting as the side effects of different cancer treatment modalities, such as radiotherapy, are multifactorial and could affect the treatment continuation and patient quality of life. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the possible linkage between ABO blood groups and radiation-induced nausea and vomiting (RINV), also its incidence and affecting factors.One hundred twenty-eight patients referring to Tohid hospital of Sanandaj, Iran, were selected and the patients and treatment-related factors were determined in a cross-sectional study. Patients' nausea and vomiting were recorded from the onset of treatment until 1 week after treatment accomplishment. Also, previous possible nausea and vomiting were recorded. The frequencies of nausea and vomiting and their peak time were examined during the treatment period.The association between ABO blood group and the incidence of radiotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (RINV) were significant and it seems that A blood group patients are the most vulnerable individuals to these symptoms. The association between Rhesus antigen and the time of maximum severity of RINV may indicate that Rhesus antigen affects the time of maximum severity of RINV. The incidence of RINV was not affected by karnofsky performance status, but it was related to the severity of RINV. Furthermore, among the factors affecting the incidence of nausea and vomiting, nausea and vomiting during patient's previous chemotherapy, radiotherapy region, and background gastrointestinal disease were shown to be three important factors.In addition to familiar RINV-affecting factors, ABO blood group may play an important role and these results address the needs for further studies with larger sample size.

[The relationship of empathic-affective responses toward others' positive affect with prosocial behaviors and aggressive behaviors].

PubMed

Sakurai, Shigeo; Hayama, Daichi; Suzuki, Takashi; Kurazumi, Tomoe; Hagiwara, Toshihiko; Suzuki, Miyuki; Ohuchi, Akiko; Chizuko, Oikawa

2011-06-01

The purposes of this study were to develop and validate the Empathic-Affective Response Scale, and to examine the relationship of empathic-affective responses with prosocial behaviors and aggressive behaviors. Undergraduate students (N = 443) participated in a questionnaire study. The results of factor analysis indicated that empathic-affective responses involved three factors: (a) sharing and good feeling toward others' positive affect, (b) sharing of negative affect and (c) sympathy toward others' negative affect. Correlations with other empathy-related scales and internal consistency suggested that this scale has satisfactory validity and reliability. Cluster analysis revealed that participants were clustered into four groups: high-empathic group, low-empathic group, insufficient positive affective response group and insufficient negative affective response group. Additional analysis showed the frequency of prosocial behaviors in high-empathic group was highest in all groups. On the other hand, the frequency of aggressive behaviors in both insufficient positive affective response group and low-empathic group were higher than others' groups. The results indicated that empathic-affective responses toward positive affect are also very important to predict prosocial behaviors and aggressive behaviors.

Anxiety sensitivity cognitive concerns drive the relation between anxiety sensitivity and symptoms of depression.

PubMed

Saulnier, Kevin G; Allan, Nicholas P; Raines, Amanda M; Schmidt, Norman B

2018-05-29

Depression is typically treated as a homogeneous construct despite evidence for distinct cognitive, affective, and somatic symptom dimensions. Anxiety sensitivity (AS; the fear of consequences of anxiety symptoms) is a cognitive risk factor implicated in the development of depressive symptoms. However, it is unclear how lower order AS dimensions (i.e. physical, cognitive, and social concerns) relate to depressive symptom factors. Confirmatory factor analysis, followed by structural equation modeling, were conducted to examine the factor structure of depression and to then examine the relations between these factors and the lower order factors of AS. This study was conducted in a sample of 374 adults (M age = 35.5, 54.3% female) with elevated levels of psychopathology (89.2% meeting criteria for at least one DSM-5 diagnosis, 25.6% primary depressive disorder). In this study a two-factor model of depression, composed of Cognitive and Affective/Somatic factors, was superior to one- and three-factor solutions. AS cognitive concerns were related to both cognitive and affective/somatic symptoms of depression. Neither of the other AS dimensions was related to depression symptom dimensions. These findings provide a better understanding of the relations between AS and depression symptoms.

The Structure of Musical Preferences: A Five-Factor Model

PubMed Central

Rentfrow, Peter J.; Goldberg, Lewis R.; Levitin, Daniel J.

2011-01-01

Music is a cross-cultural universal, a ubiquitous activity found in every known human culture. Individuals demonstrate manifestly different preferences in music, and yet relatively little is known about the underlying structure of those preferences. Here, we introduce a model of musical preferences based on listeners’ affective reactions to excerpts of music from a wide variety of musical genres. The findings from three independent studies converged to suggest that there exists a latent five-factor structure underlying music preferences that is genre-free, and reflects primarily emotional/affective responses to music. We have interpreted and labeled these factors as: 1) a Mellow factor comprising smooth and relaxing styles; 2) an Urban factor defined largely by rhythmic and percussive music, such as is found in rap, funk, and acid jazz; 3) a Sophisticated factor that includes classical, operatic, world, and jazz; 4) an Intense factor defined by loud, forceful, and energetic music; and 5) a Campestral factor comprising a variety of different styles of direct, and rootsy music such as is often found in country and singer-songwriter genres. The findings from a fourth study suggest that preferences for the MUSIC factors are affected by both the social and auditory characteristics of the music. PMID:21299309

Social and occupational factors associated with psychological wellbeing among occupational groups affected by disaster: a systematic review.

PubMed

Brooks, Samantha K; Dunn, Rebecca; Amlôt, Richard; Rubin, G James; Greenberg, Neil

2017-08-01

The psychological impact of disasters has been well-documented; less attention has been paid to factors affecting the wellbeing of those exposed to disasters as occupational groups. To conduct a systematic literature review identifying social and occupational factors affecting the wellbeing of disaster-exposed employees; to use these factors to identify recommendations for potential interventions. Four electronic literature databases were searched; reference lists of relevant papers were hand-searched. A total of 18 005 papers were found, 571 full texts were read and 36 included in the review. The psychological impact of disasters on employees was associated with pre-disaster factors (experience/training; income; life events/health; job satisfaction), peri-disaster factors (exposure; peri-traumatic experiences; perceptions of safety; injury), social factors (organisational support; social support generally) and post-disaster factors (impact on life). It is important to build a resilient workforce outside of a crisis. Pre-disaster training in recognising signs of distress, understanding vulnerability factors such as those described above, which may put certain employees at greater risk of distress and how to support colleagues may be useful. Further research into the effectiveness of post-disaster interventions is needed.

Factors affecting construction performance: exploratory factor analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soewin, E.; Chinda, T.

2018-04-01

The present work attempts to develop a multidimensional performance evaluation framework for a construction company by considering all relevant measures of performance. Based on the previous studies, this study hypothesizes nine key factors, with a total of 57 associated items. The hypothesized factors, with their associated items, are then used to develop questionnaire survey to gather data. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was applied to the collected data which gave rise 10 factors with 57 items affecting construction performance. The findings further reveal that the items constituting ten key performance factors (KPIs) namely; 1) Time, 2) Cost, 3) Quality, 4) Safety & Health, 5) Internal Stakeholder, 6) External Stakeholder, 7) Client Satisfaction, 8) Financial Performance, 9) Environment, and 10) Information, Technology & Innovation. The analysis helps to develop multi-dimensional performance evaluation framework for an effective measurement of the construction performance. The 10 key performance factors can be broadly categorized into economic aspect, social aspect, environmental aspect, and technology aspects. It is important to understand a multi-dimension performance evaluation framework by including all key factors affecting the construction performance of a company, so that the management level can effectively plan to implement an effective performance development plan to match with the mission and vision of the company.

APPLICATION OF EPANET TO UNDERSTAND LEAD ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This presentation describes the factors affecting lead concentration in tap water using an EPANET hydraulic model for a simplified home model, a realistic home model, and EPA's experimental home plumbing system. This presentation describes the factors affecting lead concentration in tap water using an EPANET hydraulic model.

Factors Affecting Soil Microbial Community Structure in Tomato Cropping Systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil and rhizosphere microbial communities in agroecosystems may be affected by soil, climate, plant species, and management. We identified some of the most important factors controlling microbial biomass and community structure in an agroecosystem utilizing tomato plants with the following nine tre...

Institutional and Managerial Factors Affecting International Student Recruitment Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Mitchell; Heaney, Joo-Gim; Cooper, Maxine

2007-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate international student recruitment from an institutional perspective and to consider institutional factors that may affect recruitment. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative study is undertaken in which education marketing practitioners are interviewed regarding aspects of international…

Gratitude is Associated with Greater Levels of Protective Factors and Lower Levels of Risks in African American Adolescents

PubMed Central

Ma, Mindy; Kibler, Jeffrey L.; Sly, Kaye

2013-01-01

The literature suggests gratitude is associated with positive youth development. The current study examined the relationship between gratitude and protective/risk factors among African American youth. Adolescents (N = 389; 50.4% males) ages 12 – 14 completed measures of gratitude (moral affect and life-orientation), protective factors (e.g., academic and activity engagement, family relationship), and high-risk behaviors (e.g., sexual attitudes and behaviors, drug/alcohol use). Results indicated greater moral affect gratitude was the only variable significantly associated with greater academic interest, better academic performance, and more extra-curricular activity engagement. Greater moral affect and life-orientation gratitude both significantly correlated with positive family relationship. Greater life-orientation gratitude was the only variable significantly associated with abstinence from sexual intimacy, sexual intercourse, likelihood of engaging in sex during primary school, and abstinence from drug/alcohol use. The findings suggest that moral affect gratitude may enhance protective factors while life-orientation gratitude may buffer against high-risk behaviors among African American youth. PMID:24011114

Adjusting the tasseled cap brightness and greenness factors for atmospheric path radiance and absorption on a pixel by pixel basis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, R. D.; Slater, P. N.; Pinter, P. J. (Principal Investigator)

1982-01-01

A radiative transfer model was used to convert ground measured reflectances into the radiance at the top of the atmosphere, for several levels of atmospheric path radiance. The radiance in MSS7 (0.8 to 1.1 m) was multiplied by the transmission fraction for atmospheres having different levels of precipitable water. The radiance values were converted to simulated LANDSAT digital counts for four path radiance levels and four levels of precipitable water. These values were used to calculate the Kauth-Thomas brightness, greenness, yellowness, and nonsuch factors. Brightness was affected by surface conditions and path radiance. Greenness was affected by surface conditions, path radiance, and precipitable water. Yellowness was affected by path radiance and nonsuch by precipitable water, and both factors changed only slightly with surface conditions. Yellowness and nonsuch were used to adjust brightness and greenness to produce factors that were affected only by surface conditions such as soils and vegetation, and not by path radiance and precipitable water.

Effect of different professions' clothing on children's height perception.

PubMed

Rashidi, Mahmoud; Keshtkaran, Katayoun; Zabihidan, Sahar; Hosseinchari, Masoud; Pazhoohi, Farid

2012-11-01

Height is a biological factor that can affect how others perceive and behave toward an individual. Height is a biological factor that can affect how others perceive and behave toward an individual. Clothing, as a non-biological factor, can affect these perceptions of height. In this study weClothing, as a non-biological factor, can affect these perceptions of height. In this study we investigated the effect of different professions' clothing on children's perceptions of height. One investigated the effect of different professions' clothing on children's perceptions of height. One hundred and eighty primary school students participated in this study and estimated the height of an actor in the clothing of four different professions which differed in terms of prestige. The results of study showed that the difference between the perceived and actual height was larger when participants estimated the height of socially esteemed professions. Also there was no difference between girls' and boys' estimation of different professions' height. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Analysis on factors affecting consumers decision on purchasing simple-type houses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rumintang, A.; Sholichin, I.

2018-01-01

In line with the increase of the population and the need of comfortable houses, as affected by modernization era, the house demand is getting higher. Hence, conducting a research on consumers need and want in buying a house should be seriously attempted to succeed marketing activity. Using an analysis consumers’ behavior, the researcher will know few affecting factors related to consumers’ satisfaction in buying a house. Among other, the factors in question include: house price, house condition, facilities, location and accessability. The sample of this research was drawn from the residents of Graha Asri Housing, Taman Bulang Permai, and Sukodono Permai. Based on the analysis and discussion, some conclusions are made as follow: the factors and variables affecting the consumers’ decision on each choice of house is different and also the same variables on three sources of data include housing atmosphere, cleaning service, ease of access to shopping center, health clinics or hospitals, tourism spot, schools, and the bus station.

Factors affecting onset of puberty in Denizli province in Turkey.

PubMed

Semiz, Serap; Kurt, Funda; Kurt, Devrim Tanil; Zencir, Mehmet; Sevinç, Ozgür

2009-01-01

The relationship between the possible factors affecting pubertal onset and pubertal timing was investigated in the Denizli province in Turkey. A total number of 3311 subjects (1562 girls, 1749 boys) aged 6-16.5 years participated in this study. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Pubertal stages were assessed according to methods of Marshall and Tanner. Testicular volume was determined using Prader orchidometer. Menarcheal age was recorded. All parents and students completed different questionnaires on demographic variables affecting pubertal timing such as socioeconomic conditions, psychosocial factors, exercise, nutritional status, chronic diseases, migration and birth weight. Using distribution percentiles of pubertal stages according to age, the relation between pubertal timing and factors affecting puberty was investigated. There was no significant association between exercise, birth weight, migration, chronic disease, and socioeconomic status and age of puberty onset. Menarcheal age of overweight and obese girls was significantly lower than that of girls with normal weight. In-family stress was the cause of early puberty in girls and of delayed puberty in boys.

Study on the quality of FRP fishing vessel based on improved Fishbone Chart

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sui, J. H.; Yu, Y. F.; Du, Q. F.; Jiang, D. W.

2018-01-01

The construction quality of FRP fishing vessels influences their production, use and industry development. In order to explore the factors that affect the construction quality of FRP fishing vessels, key factors affecting the construction quality of FRP fishing vessels are determined based on the quality problems of FRP fishing vessels constructed. The improved Fishbone Chart is used to analyze the eight factors of “human, machine, material, process, environment, inspection, design and information”. Taking the factors that affect the construction quality of FRP fishing vessels as the central target, the eight influencing factors were condensed into five aspects and a composite Fishbone Chart is drawn. The Fishbone Chart is used as the basic model, the influencing factors are sorted, screened and discriminated, and the system model convenient for construction site management and control is established. Finally, the causes of poor construction of FRP fishing vessels are analyzed and discussed, and relevant suggestions are put forward.

Factors influencing healthcare service quality

PubMed Central

Mosadeghrad, Ali Mohammad

2014-01-01

Background: The main purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence healthcare quality in the Iranian context. Methods: Exploratory in-depth individual and focus group interviews were conducted with 222 healthcare stakeholders including healthcare providers, managers, policy-makers, and payers to identify factors affecting the quality of healthcare services provided in Iranian healthcare organisations. Results: Quality in healthcare is a production of cooperation between the patient and the healthcare provider in a supportive environment. Personal factors of the provider and the patient, and factors pertaining to the healthcare organisation, healthcare system, and the broader environment affect healthcare service quality. Healthcare quality can be improved by supportive visionary leadership, proper planning, education and training, availability of resources, effective management of resources, employees and processes, and collaboration and cooperation among providers. Conclusion: This article contributes to healthcare theory and practice by developing a conceptual framework that provides policy-makers and managers a practical understanding of factors that affect healthcare service quality. PMID:25114946

Common Factor Mechanisms in Clinical Practice and Their Relationship with Outcome.

PubMed

Gaitan-Sierra, Carolina; Hyland, Michael E

2015-01-01

This study investigates three common factor mechanisms that could affect outcome in clinical practice: response expectancy, the affective expectation model and motivational concordance. Clients attending a gestalt therapy clinic (30 clients), a sophrology (therapeutic technique) clinic (33 clients) and a homeopathy clinic (31 clients) completed measures of expectancy and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) before their first session. After 1 month, they completed PANAS and measures of intrinsic motivation, perceived effort and empowerment. Expectancy was not associated with better outcome and was no different between treatments. Although some of the 54 clients who endorsed highest expectations showed substantial improvement, others did not: 19 had no change or deteriorated in positive affect, and 18 had the same result for negative affect. Intrinsic motivation independently predicted changes in negative affect (β = -0.23). Intrinsic motivation (β = 0.24), effort (β = 0.23) and empowerment (β = 0.20) independently predicted positive affect change. Expectancy (β = -0.17) negatively affected changes in positive affect. Clients found gestalt and sophrology to be more intrinsically motivating, empowering and effortful compared with homeopathy. Greater improvement in mood was found for sophrology and gestalt than for homeopathy clients. These findings are inconsistent with response expectancy as a common factor mechanism in clinical practice. The results support motivational concordance (outcome influenced by the intrinsic enjoyment of the therapy) and the affective expectation model (high expectations can lead for some clients to worse outcome). When expectancy correlates with outcome in some other studies, this may be due to confound between expectancy and intrinsic enjoyment. Common factors play an important role in outcome. Intrinsic enjoyment of a therapeutic treatment is associated with better outcome. Active engagement with a therapeutic treatment improves outcome. Unrealistic expectations about a therapeutic treatment can have a negative impact on outcome. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Feelings about culture scales: development, factor structure, reliability, and validity.

PubMed

Maffini, Cara S; Wong, Y Joel

2015-04-01

Although measures of cultural identity, values, and behavior exist in the multicultural psychological literature, there is currently no measure that explicitly assesses ethnic minority individuals' positive and negative affect toward culture. Therefore, we developed 2 new measures called the Feelings About Culture Scale--Ethnic Culture and Feelings About Culture Scale--Mainstream American Culture and tested their psychometric properties. In 6 studies, we piloted the measures, conducted factor analyses to clarify their factor structure, and examined reliability and validity. The factor structure revealed 2 dimensions reflecting positive and negative affect for each measure. Results provided evidence for convergent, discriminant, criterion-related, and incremental validity as well as the reliability of the scales. The Feelings About Culture Scales are the first known measures to examine both positive and negative affect toward an individual's ethnic culture and mainstream American culture. The focus on affect captures dimensions of psychological experiences that differ from cognitive and behavioral constructs often used to measure cultural orientation. These measures can serve as a valuable contribution to both research and counseling by providing insight into the nuanced affective experiences ethnic minority individuals have toward culture. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Variation of NEE and its affecting factors in a vineyard of arid region of northwest China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, W. H.; Kang, S. Z.; Li, F. S.; Li, S. E.

2014-02-01

To understand the variation of net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) in orchard ecosystem and it's affecting factors, carbon flux was measured using eddy covariance system in a wine vineyard in arid northwest China during 2008-2010. Results show that vineyard NEE was positive value at the early growth stage, higher negative value at the mid-growth stage, and lower negative value at the later growth stage. Diurnal variation of NEE was "W" shaped curve in sunny day, but "U" shaped curve in cloudy day. Irrigation and pruning did not affect diurnal variation shape of NEE, however, irrigation reduced the difference between maximal and minimal value of NEE and pruning reduced the carbon sink capacity. The main factors affecting hourly NEE were canopy conductance (gc) and net radiation (Rn). The hourly NEE increased with the increase of gc or Rn when gc was less than 0.02 m·s-1 or Rn was between 0 and 200 W·m-2. The main factors affecting both daily and seasonal NEE were gc, air temperature (Ta), atmospheric CO2 density, vapour pressure deficit (VPD) and soil moisture content.

Which factors affect software projects maintenance cost more?

PubMed

Dehaghani, Sayed Mehdi Hejazi; Hajrahimi, Nafiseh

2013-03-01

The software industry has had significant progress in recent years. The entire life of software includes two phases: production and maintenance. Software maintenance cost is increasingly growing and estimates showed that about 90% of software life cost is related to its maintenance phase. Extraction and considering the factors affecting the software maintenance cost help to estimate the cost and reduce it by controlling the factors. In this study, the factors affecting software maintenance cost were determined then were ranked based on their priority and after that effective ways to reduce the maintenance costs were presented. This paper is a research study. 15 software related to health care centers information systems in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and hospitals function were studied in the years 2010 to 2011. Among Medical software maintenance team members, 40 were selected as sample. After interviews with experts in this field, factors affecting maintenance cost were determined. In order to prioritize the factors derived by AHP, at first, measurement criteria (factors found) were appointed by members of the maintenance team and eventually were prioritized with the help of EC software. Based on the results of this study, 32 factors were obtained which were classified in six groups. "Project" was ranked the most effective feature in maintenance cost with the highest priority. By taking into account some major elements like careful feasibility of IT projects, full documentation and accompany the designers in the maintenance phase good results can be achieved to reduce maintenance costs and increase longevity of the software.

Factors influencing consultation length in general/family practice.

PubMed

Orton, Peter K; Pereira Gray, Denis

2016-10-01

The length of consultations is an important factor affecting the quality of care in general practice. It is however difficult to study as many factors are simultaneously involved. Much that is known is about patient factors as so far, doctor factors have been neglected. To investigate multiple factors affecting consultation length, how they interact and the association between consultation length and patient-centredness. Previously collected observational data from 38 National Health Service NHS GPs in England stratified according to doctor's gender, experience and degree of emotional exhaustion were used. Multiple regression analyses were applied to 822 audio-recorded and timed consultations. Each consultation was analysed for the doctor's gender, patient's gender, experience, level of emotional exhaustion and patient-centredness. We previously reported that 261/564 (46%) of GPs in Essex England were emotionally exhausted. Here, we found that male and female doctors respond differently to both experience and emotional exhaustion, which are associated with differences in their consultation length. The effect of experience on consultation length is only observed in male doctors: the more experienced, the shorter their consultation. Emotional exhaustion affected consultation length in opposite ways for females and male GPs: exhausted female GPs had shorter consultations, while exhausted male doctors had longer ones. Longer consultations were significantly more patient-centred and were associated with female patients. We found five factors affecting consultation length significantly. Moreover, these factors can predict the consultation length. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Envenomation by the invasive Pterois volitans species (lionfish) in the French West Indies--a two-year prospective study in Martinique.

PubMed

Resiere, Dabor; Cerland, Laura; De Haro, Luc; Valentino, Ruddy; Criquet-Hayot, Anne; Chabartier, Cyrille; Kaidomar, Stephane; Brouste, Yanick; Mégarbane, Bruno; Mehdaoui, Hossein

2016-01-01

The invasion of the lionfish (Pterois volitans) in the French West Indies represents one of the most important marine invasions by alien species in history. Since its first recognition in Martinique in February 2011, the lionfish presence has strongly progressed, resulting in increasing envenomation cases. Our objective was to report features of lionfish envenomation and outcome. A prospective study conducted at the Martinique University Hospital by the emergency departments, general practitioners, and the pre-hospital emergency ambulance service included all the patients referred from November 2011 to February 2014 for one or several stings by lionfish, as strongly suggested by the fish description and the association with marked local pain and edema. Recommended management included immersion of the affected body part in hot water at 35-40 °C for 60 min, analgesics, tetanus toxoid, and antibiotics. 117 patients [98M/19F; age: 42 ± 14 years [mean ± SD]; with significant past morbidities (16%)] were included. Envenomation resulted in marked pain and local edema (100%), paresthesia (90%), abdominal cramps (62%), extensive edema (53%), tachycardia (34%), skin rash (32%), gastrointestinal disorders (28%), fainting (27%), transient weakness (24%), hypertension (21%), hypotension (18%), hyperthermia (9%), bradycardia (3%), hypophosphatemia (12%), elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (10%), and thrombocytopenia (3%). The sting was complicated by local infection (18%) including skin abscess (5%), cellulitis (3%), skin necrosis (3%), and septic arthritis (2%). 26 patients (22%) were hospitalized requiring surgery (8%). Lionfish stings were single (81%) or multiple (19%). Localization was preferentially at one upper (67%) or lower limb (32%). All patients actually improved. Based on multivariate analyses, pain duration > 24 h was significantly associated with skin eruption (p = 0.001) and muscle cramps (p = 0.0002). Local infectious complications occurred more frequently in patients presenting multiple stings (p = 0.008). Immersion in hot water (44%, performed less than 3 h after the sting in 36% of the cases) significantly reduced pain duration (p = 0.02) and local infection (p = 0.02). Lionfish represents a major health threat in Martinique with increasing envenomation and significant morbidities. Outcome is favorable if promptly managed, with possible reduction in pain duration and local infections with the rapid immersion of the stung body part in hot water. Our data encourage the authorities to develop investigations on the exact extent of the lionfish invasion and set up a regional taskforce to inform the ecosystem users and register all lionfish-attributed incidents.

Marketing environment dynamics and implications for pricing strategies: the case of home health care.

PubMed

Ponsford, B J; Barlow, D

1999-01-01

This research reviews the factors affecting the pricing or rate schedules of home health care agencies. A large number of factors affect costs and thus rate structures. The major factors include reimbursement structures with accompanying discount structures, administrative burdens, and risks. Channel issues include bargaining power, competition, and size. Staffing issues affect pricing and product through the provider level, productivity, and quality outcomes. Physician and patient issues include quality concerns and choices. These factors are discussed in light of overall marketing strategy and the interaction of pricing with other marketing controllables such as product, place/distribution, and promotion. Economic and accounting principles are also reviewed with consideration to understanding direct and indirect costs in order to enable negotiators to effectively price health care services.

The Future Battlefield: Human Dimensions and Implications for Doctrine and Research

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-12-01

Brodan, V., & Kuhn, E. Physical Performance in Man During Sleep Deprivation. 1967. Journal Sports Medicine Phys. Fit. 7:28-30. Bugge, J.F., Opstad, P.K...S- 1 𔃾. , : • - . ... _. . .q r •j • .,,• CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 MILITARY SITUATIONAL STRESSORS AND HUMAN PERFORMANCE FACTORS 3 The Battlefield...Situation 4 External Factors Affecting Performance Capability 6 Internal Factors Affecting Performance Capability 8 MILITARY IMPLICATIONS 10 Leadership

Factor Structure of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) Among Older Men and Women Who Provide Care to Persons with Dementia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Rourke, Norm

2005-01-01

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies?Depression Scale (CES-D) is among the most widely used depression screening measures. Existing research suggests a higher order factor structure of responses among older adults (factors labeled as Depressive Affect, Absence of Well-being, Somatic Symptoms, and Interpersonal Affect each loading on a 2nd-order…

A Study of the Significant Factors That Affect the Job Placement Rates of Students Who Have Completed a HERO Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Instructional Development and Evaluation Associates, Inc., Berkeley, MI.

A three-year study examined the significant factors that affect the job placement rates of students completing a Home Economics Related Occupations (HERO) program. Other purposes of the study were to develop and pilot test a model that could be used to determine factors related to student placement in a variety of vocational education programs and…

A Study of the Significant Factors That Affect the Job Placement Rates of Students Who Have Completed a HERO Program. Year Summary Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Instructional Development and Evaluation Associates, Inc., Berkeley, MI.

A three-year study examined the significant factors that affect the job placement rates of students completing a Home Economics Related Occupations (HERO) program. Other purposes of the study were to develop and pilot test a model that could be used to determine factors related to student placement in a variety of vocational education programs and…

A Study of the Significant Factors That Affect the Job Placement Rates of Students Who Have Completed a HERO Program. Year 2 Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Instructional Development and Evaluation Associates, Inc., Berkeley, MI.

A three-year study examined the significant factors that affect the job placement rates of students completing a Home Economics Related Occupations (HERO) program. Other purposes of the study were to develop and pilot test a model that could be used to determine factors related to student placement in a variety of vocational education programs and…

Exploring the factors affecting motorway accident severity in England using the generalised ordered logistic regression model.

PubMed

Michalaki, Paraskevi; Quddus, Mohammed A; Pitfield, David; Huetson, Andrew

2015-12-01

The severity of motorway accidents that occurred on the hard shoulder (HS) is higher than for the main carriageway (MC). This paper compares and contrasts the most important factors affecting the severity of HS and MC accidents on motorways in England. Using police reported accident data, the accidents that occurred on motorways in England are grouped into two categories (i.e., HS and MC) according to the location. A generalized ordered logistic regression model is then applied to identify the factors affecting the severity of HS and MC accidents on motorways. The factors examined include accident and vehicle characteristics, traffic and environment conditions, as well as other behavioral factors. Results suggest that the factors positively affecting the severity include: number of vehicles involved in the accident, peak-hour traffic time, and low visibility. Differences between HS and MC accidents are identified, with the most important being the involvement of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and driver fatigue, which are found to be more crucial in increasing the severity of HS accidents. Measures to increase awareness of HGV drivers regarding the risk of fatigue when driving on motorways, and especially the nearside lane, should be taken by the stakeholders. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

A Metasynthesis of Factors Affecting Self-Management of Chronic Illness

PubMed Central

SCHULMAN-GREEN, Dena; JASER, Sarah S.; PARK, Chorong; WHITTEMORE, Robin

2015-01-01

Aim To identify factors that may serve as facilitators and barriers to self-management described by adults living with chronic illness by conducting a qualitative metasynthesis. Background Self-management is an individuals’ active management of a chronic illness in collaboration with their family members and clinicians. Design Qualitative metasynthesis. Data Sources We analyzed studies (N=53) published between January 2000–May 2013 that described factors affecting self-management in chronic illness as reported by adults aged over 18 years with chronic illness. Review Methods Sandelowsi and Barroso approach to qualitative metasynthesis: literature search; quality appraisal; analysis; and synthesis of findings. Results Collectively, article authors reported on sixteen chronic illnesses, most commonly diabetes (N=28) and cardiovascular disease (N=20). Participants included men and women (mean age=57, range 18–94) from twenty countries representing diverse races and ethnicities. We identified five categories of factors affecting self-management: Personal/Lifestyle Characteristics; Health Status; Resources; Environmental Characteristics; and Health Care System. Factors may interact to affect self-management and may exist on a continuum of positive (facilitator) to negative (barrier). Conclusion Understanding factors that influence self-management may improve assessment of self-management among adults with chronic illness and may inform interventions tailored to meet individuals’ needs and improve health outcomes. PMID:26781649

Phonetic complexity and stuttering in Spanish

PubMed Central

Howell, Peter; Au-Yeung, James

2007-01-01

The current study investigated whether phonetic complexity affected stuttering rate for Spanish speakers. The speakers were assigned to three age groups (6-11, 12-17 and 18 years plus) that were similar to those used in an earlier study on English. The analysis was performed using Jakielski's (1998) Index of Phonetic Complexity (IPC) scheme in which each word is given an IPC score based on the number of complex attributes it includes for each of eight factors. Stuttering on function words for Spanish did not correlate with IPC score for any age group. This mirrors the finding for English that stuttering on these words is not affected by phonetic complexity. The IPC scores of content words correlated positively with stuttering rate for 6-11 year old and adult speakers. Comparison was made between the languages to establish whether or not experience with the factors determines the problem they pose for speakers (revealed by differences in stuttering rate). Evidence was obtained that four factors found to be important determinants of stuttering on content words in English for speakers aged 12 and above, also affected Spanish speakers. This occurred despite large differences in frequency of usage of these factors. It is concluded that phonetic factors affect stuttering rate irrespective of a speaker's experience with that factor. PMID:17364620

Phonetic complexity and stuttering in Spanish.

PubMed

Howell, Peter; Au-Yeung, James

2007-02-01

The current study investigated whether phonetic complexity affected stuttering rate for Spanish speakers. The speakers were assigned to three age groups (6-11, 12-17 and 18-years plus) that were similar to those used in an earlier study on English. The analysis was performed using Jakielski's Index of Phonetic Complexity (IPC) scheme in which each word is given an IPC score based on the number of complex attributes it includes for each of eight factors. Stuttering on function words for Spanish did not correlate with IPC score for any age group. This mirrors the finding for English that stuttering on these words is not affected by phonetic complexity. The IPC scores of content words correlated positively with stuttering rate for 6-11-year-old and adult speakers. Comparison was made between the languages to establish whether or not experience with the factors determines the problem they pose for speakers (revealed by differences in stuttering rate). Evidence was obtained that four factors found to be important determinants of stuttering on content words in English for speakers aged 12 and above, also affected Spanish speakers. This occurred despite large differences in frequency of usage of these factors. It is concluded that phonetic factors affect stuttering rate irrespective of a speaker's experience with that factor.

Malaria treatment-seeking behaviour and related factors of Wa ethnic minority in Myanmar: a cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background In Southeast Asia, data on malaria treatment-seeking behaviours and related affecting factors are rare. The population of the Wa ethnic in Myanmar has difficulty in accessing formal health care. To understand malaria treatment-seeking behaviour and household-affecting factors of the Wa people, a cross-sectional study carried out in Shan Special Region II, Myanmar. Methods The two methods, questionnaire-based household surveys to household heads and in-depth interviews to key informants, were carried out independently. The proportion of treatment-seeking patterns was calculated. Logistic regression was used to determine affecting factors of treatment-seeking. Qualitative data were analysed by using Text Analysis Markup System. Results Overall, 87.5% of the febrile population sought treatment, but only 32.0% did so within 24 hours. The proportion accessing the retail sector (79.6%) was statistically significant higher (P<0.0001) than accessing the public sector (10.6%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified family income, distances from a health facility, family decision and patient characteristics being independently associated with delayed malaria treatment. Conclusion Malaria treatment-seeking behaviour is not appropriate, and affecting factors include health service systems, social and cultural factors in Wa State of Myanmar. PMID:23237576

The Importance of Social Learning Environment Factors for Affective Well-Being among Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Idsoe, Ella Maria Cosmovici

2016-01-01

We investigated whether perceived inclusion and exclusion with peers at school, as well as self-reported bullying exposure, affected positive and negative affect among 1161 students from grades five through seven. Positive affect was significantly, but only weakly, affected by perceived exclusion and inclusion. Negative affect was not related to…

Stress-Preventive Management Competencies, Psychosocial Work Environments, and Affective Well-Being: A Multilevel, Multisource Investigation.

PubMed

Toderi, Stefano; Balducci, Cristian

2018-02-26

The Management Competencies for Preventing and Reducing Stress at Work framework represents one of the few tailored models of leadership for work stress prevention purposes, but it has never been empirically evaluated. The aim of this study was to investigate whether supervisors' stress-preventive management competencies, as measured by the Stress Management Competencies Indicator Tool (SMCIT), are related to employees' affective well-being through psychosocial work environmental factors. To this end, multilevel structural equation modelling (MSEM) was developed and tested, including data provided by both supervisors and employees. Supervisors ( n = 84) self-assessed their stress-preventive management competencies (i.e., being respectful and responsible, managing and communicating existing and future work, reasoning and managing difficult situations, and managing the individual within the team) with a previously validated reduced version of the SMCIT. The supervised employees ( n = 584) rated job content (e.g., job demands) and work context (e.g., role clarity) psychosocial factors and their job-related affective well-being. Supervisors' job-related affective well-being was also included in the tested model. The results revealed that the stress-preventive competencies factor was related to employees' affective well-being through the psychosocial work environment only when the latter was operationalized by means of contextual work factors. Supervisors' affective well-being was related to their stress-preventive competencies, but it was not related to employees' affective well-being. We discuss the implications of the results obtained.

Effects of Socio-Economic Background Factors on Typewriting Speed and Accuracy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erickson, Lawrence W.

The socioeconomic backgrounds of typewriting students as such backgrounds affect typewriting performance is evaluated in this research. There is convincing evidence that socioeconomic factors play a significant role in affecting typewriting performance. Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds are almost always associated with the poorest…

FACTORS AFFECTING SUSCEPTIBILITY OF THE CORAL MONTASTRAEA FAVEOLATE TO BLACK-BAND DISEASE

EPA Science Inventory

Black-band disease affects many species of tropical reef-building corals, but it is unclear what factors contribute to the disease-susceptibility of individual corals or how the disease is transmitted between colonies. Studies have suggested that the ability of black-band disease...

Plasticity of Nonneuronal Brain Tissue: Roles in Developmental Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dong, Willie K.; Greenough, William T.

2004-01-01

Neuronal and nonneuronal plasticity are both affected by environmental and experiential factors. Remodeling of existing neurons induced by such factors has been observed throughout the brain, and includes alterations in dendritic field dimensions, synaptogenesis, and synaptic morphology. The brain loci affected by these plastic neuronal changes…

Merriam's turkey nest survival and factors affecting nest predation by mammals

Treesearch

Chad P. Lehman; Mark A. Rumble; Lester D. Flake; Daniel J. Thompson

2008-01-01

Nest success is an important parameter affecting population fluctuations of wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). Factors influencing mammalian predation on turkey nests are complicated and not well understood. Therefore, we assessed nest hazard risk by testing competing hypotheses of Merriam's turkey (M. g. merriami) nest...

Factors that influence tractive performance of wheels, tracks, and vehicles

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Traction of agricultural vehicles and other off-road vehicles is important in allowing these vehicles to perform their desired tasks. This book chapter describes factors affecting the off-road tractive performance of tires and rubber tracks. Tractive performance is affected by soil type, soil cond...

Nutritional Factors Affecting Adult Neurogenesis and Cognitive Function

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Adult neurogenesis, a complex process by which stem cells in the hippocampal brain region differentiate and proliferate into new neurons and other resident brain cells, is known to be affected by many intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including diet. Neurogenesis plays a critical role in neural plas...

How Do You Play? A Comparison among Children Aged 4–10

PubMed Central

Delvecchio, Elisa; Li, Jian-Bin; Pazzagli, Chiara; Lis, Adriana; Mazzeschi, Claudia

2016-01-01

Pretend play has a central role for children's development and psychological well-being. However, there is a paucity of standardized and valid measures specifically devoted to assess the core domains involved in play activities in preschool and primary school children. The Affect in Play Scale-Preschool (4–5 years) and the Affect in Play Scale-Preschool Extended Version (6–10 years) are semi-structured parallel tools designed to explore child's cognitive and affective processes using a standardized play task. The current study administered this 5-min play task to 538 Italian children aged 4–10. The purposes were to compare play abilities in boys vs. girls and in preschool vs. primary school children, to correlate pretend play with divergent thinking and to evaluate the structural validity of the measure along the considered age span. No differences, excepting for Organization, were found between boys and girls, whereas school age children reported higher play abilities then the younger ones. External validity was assessed using correlational analysis with the divergent thinking task (the Alternate Uses Test) for preschoolers and primary school-aged children, in line with findings from Manova. Construct validity, assessed through the Confirmatory Factor Analysis, showed good fits for the two-factor model with cognitive and affective factor for both the Affect in Play Scale-Preschool and its Extended Version. A multi-group factor analysis suggested a partial invariance of the two-factor model across preschool (4–5 years old) and primary school-aged (6–10 years old) children. Results supported the use of the Affect in Play Scale-Preschool and its Extended Version as adequate measures to assess the interplay of cognitive and affective skills in preschool and school age children. The discussion highlights clinical and research implications linked to the possibility to have a unique play task able to assess child's affective and cognitive abilities throughout a quite wide life span (from 4 to 10 years old). PMID:27909423

Can you un-ring the bell? A qualitative study of how affect influences cancer screening decisions.

PubMed

Driedger, S Michelle; Annable, Gary; Brouwers, Melissa; Turner, Donna; Maier, Ryan

2017-09-13

The belief that early detection is the best protection against cancer underlies cancer screening. Emerging research now suggests harms associated with early detection may sometimes outweigh the benefits. Governments, cancer agencies, and organizations that publish screening guidelines have found it is difficult to "un-ring the bell" on the message that "early detection is your best protection" because of its widespread communication and enduring resonance. This study explores affective factors-and their interplay with relevant analytical factors-in public/laypersons' decision making about cancer screening. A total of 93 people (47 men, 46 women) attended focus groups about, respectively, prostate cancer screening and breast cancer screening in two Canadian cities. Affective factors were a major influence on many focus group participants' decision making about cancer screening, including fear of cancer and a generalized enthusiasm for prevention/screening, and they were often inspired by anecdotes about the cancer experiences of family and friends. Affect also existed alongside more analytical factors including assessments of reduced risk in the management of any cancer diagnosis if caught early, and, for men, the belief that an unreliable test is "better than nothing," and that men deserve prostate cancer screening because women have breast and cervical cancer screening. Affective factors were particularly noticeable in the sub-groups most supportive of screening and the "early detection" message: older women who felt that mammogram screening should begin at age 40 rather than 50, and older men who felt that prostate cancer screening should be expanded beyond its current unorganized, opportunistic usage. In contrast, younger participants displayed less affective attachments to "early detection" messages and had greater concerns about harms of screening and were more receptive to nuanced messages informed by evidence. Policymakers attempting to communicate more nuanced versions of the "early detection" message need to understand the role of affect alongside other judgments brought into laypersons' decision making processes and anticipate how affective responses to their messages will be shaped, transformed, and potentially subverted by external forces beyond their control. Particularly overt external factors are campaigns by cancer advocacy organizations actively promoting breast and prostate cancer awareness and screening to younger women and men using affectively-charged messages.

[Effect of emotional content and self reference of learning materials on recall performance].

PubMed

Spies, K

1994-01-01

It is assumed that high affective value and high self-reference of learning material help to improve memory performance as these factors allow better memory consolidation (activation hypothesis) or better integration of the new material into existing knowledge structures (extent-of-processing hypothesis). To test this assumption, 60 subjects were shown 16 short advertising films characterized by low vs. high affective value and low vs. high self-reference. Both factors were varied within subjects. After the films had each been presented twice, subjects had to recall the product names and answer two questions to each film. Results showed for both dependent variables that films with high affective values were better remembered than films with low affective values. The same held true--though to a lower extent--with respect to self-reference. According to the expected linear trend, performance was best for material scoring high on affective value as well as on self-reference, while it was worst for material scoring low on both factors.

Increased bone morphogenetic protein 7 signalling in the kidneys of dogs affected with a congenital portosystemic shunt.

PubMed

van Dongen, Astrid M; Heuving, Susanne M; Tryfonidou, Marianna A; van Steenbeek, Frank G; Rothuizen, Jan; Penning, Louis C

2015-05-01

Dogs with a congenital portosystemic shunt (CPSS) often have enlarged and hyper-filtrating kidneys. Although expression of different growth factors has been well-described in the livers of dogs affected with a CPSS, their expression in the kidneys has yet to be determined. Bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP-7), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β have been implicated in renal development (BMP-7, HGF) or the onset of renal fibrosis (TGF-β). Moreover, BMP-7 and HGF have protective properties in renal fibrosis. In this study, the expression and activity of BMP-7 were investigated in renal biopsies obtained from 13 dogs affected with a CPSS and compared to similar samples from age-matched healthy control dogs. Both quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR and Western blotting showed up-regulated BMP-7 signalling in kidneys of CPPS-affected dogs. These research findings may help to explain the renal pathology/dysfunction in dogs affected with a CPSS. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting length of stay in teaching hospitals of a middle-income country

PubMed Central

Khosravizadeh, Omid; Vatankhah, Soudabeh; Bastani, Peivand; Kalhor, Rohollah; Alirezaei, Samira; Doosty, Farzane

2016-01-01

Introduction The length of stay (LOS) in hospitals is a widely used and important criteria for evaluating hospital performance. The aim of this study was to determine factors affecting LOS in teaching hospitals of Qazvin Providence. Methods In this cross-sectional study, patients’ health records were randomly selected from archives in teaching hospitals of Qazvin in 2013. Data were collected through a data entry form and were analyzed using Kolmogorov–Smirnov, Kruskal–Wallis, and Mann–Whitney U tests at the significant level of 0.05. Results The mean of hospital LOS was 5.45 ± 6.14 days. Age, employment, marital status, history of previous admission, patient condition at discharge, method of payment, and type of treatment had an impact on LOS (p<0.05). Other factors, including gender, place of residence, and type of admission, did not affect LOS. Conclusion Because hospitals consume a perceptible part of resources in a health system, controlled and optimized use of its resources help to save a lot. Therefore, this study showed many clinical and nonclinical factors affect LOS in evaluating these factors, which may reduce inappropriate hospital stays and decrease costs. PMID:27957301

Factors Affecting Female Participation in Education in Seven Developing Countries. Second Edition. Education Research Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brock, Colin; Cammish, Nadine

Factors affecting female participation in education in seven developing countries were examined through field visits to the following countries: Bangladesh, Cameroon, India, Jamaica, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, and Vanuatu. In each country, researchers interviewed key personnel, consulted local documentation, and conducted two empirical surveys…

Graduate Students as Academic Writers: Writing Anxiety, Self-Efficacy and Emotional Intelligence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huerta, Margarita; Goodson, Patricia; Beigi, Mina; Chlup, Dominique

2017-01-01

Researchers interested in psychological factors affecting writers in higher-education institutions, or academic writers, are concerned with internal variables affecting writing productivity; however few empirical studies explore these factors with samples of students who are in the process of earning master's or doctoral degrees (i.e., graduate…

The Synergistic Effect of Affective Factors on Student Learning Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jack, Brady Michael; Lin, Huann-shyang; Yore, Larry D.

2014-01-01

This study investigates how affective and self-related factors impact participation in science learning and environmental awareness and responsibility. Using PISA 2006 datasets from Taiwan and Canada having similar level of science competency, the model for this study verifies and expands an earlier model by examining the relationships among…

Factors Affecting Role Stress and Burnout among School Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willingham, Wendy Elizabeth

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study is to determine factors affecting role stress and burnout among practicing school counselors as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey (MBI-ES) and the Role Conflict and Ambiguity Scale. The MBI-ES utilizes three subscales to measure burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal…

Factors affecting species distribution predictions: A simulation modeling experiment

Treesearch

Gordon C. Reese; Kenneth R. Wilson; Jennifer A. Hoeting; Curtis H. Flather

2005-01-01

Geospatial species sample data (e.g., records with location information from natural history museums or annual surveys) are rarely collected optimally, yet are increasingly used for decisions concerning our biological heritage. Using computer simulations, we examined factors that could affect the performance of autologistic regression (ALR) models that predict species...

Factors Affecting Educational Innovation with in Class Electronic Response Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freeman, Mark; Bell, Amani; Comerton-Forde, Carole; Pickering, Joanne; Blayney, Paul

2007-01-01

This paper reports the use of Rogers' diffusion of innovation perspective to understand the factors affecting educational innovation decisions, specifically in regard to in class electronic response systems. Despite decreasing costs and four decades of research showing strong student support, academic adoption is limited. Using data collected from…

Factors Affecting Faculty Web Portal Usability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bringula, Rex P.; Basa, Roselle S.

2011-01-01

The study investigated the factors that might significantly affect web portal usability. Results of the study were intended to serve as inputs for faculty web portal development of the University of the East-Manila. Descriptive statistics utilized questionnaire data from 82 faculty members. The data showed that most of the respondents were…

Scrutinizing the Factors Affecting Fluency of English among Arab Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al Ghazali, Fawzi

2017-01-01

This research study investigates the cognitive, psychological and personal factors affecting the accuracy and fluency of English language usage among Arab learners. Early research led by Chomsky (1965) and Krashen (1981) suggested that an individual's Language Acquisition Device once triggered at the appropriate time and supported with adequate…

Factors Affecting Online Groupwork Interest: A Multilevel Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Du, Jianxia; Xu, Jianzhong; Fan, Xitao

2013-01-01

The purpose of the present study is to examine the personal and contextual factors that may affect students' online groupwork interest. Using the data obtained from graduate students in an online course, both student- and group-level predictors for online groupwork interest were analyzed within the framework of hierarchical linear modeling…

Factors Affecting Participation of Displaced Workers in Retraining: A Literature Review.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dean, Gary J.

This document offers a selected review of literature relevant to retraining displaced workers. A description of the economic conditions leading to the displacement of workers, the nature and scope of the displaced worker problem, and factors potentially affecting displaced workers' participation in adult education and training programs is…

Factors Affecting the Acceptability of Microforms as a Reading Medium.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spencer, Herbert; Reynolds, Linda

Based on visits to representative microform users and an extensive survey of relevant literature, a study was undertaken to assess the relative importance of factors affecting the acceptability of microforms as reading mediums. The following variables were considered: (1) microform characteristics; (2) equipment design; (3) work station design;…

Critical Review on Affect of Personality on Learning Styles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamarulzaman, Wirawani

2012-01-01

This paper is intended to review the affect of personality on learning styles. Costa and McCrae's Five-Factor Model of Personality (The Big 5) is explored against Kolb Learning Styles. The Big 5 factors are extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness, whereas Kolb Learning Styles are divergers, assimilators,…

Factors Affecting Recruitment into Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaw, Jon A.; Lewis, John E.; Katyal, Shalini

2010-01-01

Objective: The authors studied the factors affecting the recruitment into child and adolescent psychiatry training in the United States. Methods: Medical students (n = 154) and general and child and adolescent psychiatry residents (n = 111) completed a questionnaire to evaluate career choice in child psychiatry (n = 265). Results: Compared with…

FACTORS INFLUENCING PHOTOREACTIONS OF DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER IN A COASTAL RIVER OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

EPA Science Inventory

Photoreactions of dissolved organic matter can affect the oxidizing capacity, nutrient dynamics, trace gas exchange, and color of surface waters. This study focuses on factors that affect the photoreactions of the colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in the Satilla River, a co...

Factors that Affect Emergent Literacy Development When Engaging with Electronic Books

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salmon, Lynda G.

2014-01-01

This article reviews extant literature with the purpose of identifying factors that affect the potential efficacy of electronic books to support literacy development during early childhood. Selection criteria include experimental, quasi-experimental, and observational studies from peer-reviewed journals from 2000 to 2013 with a target population…

Factors Affecting the Technology Readiness of Health Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Myers, Stephanie E.

2010-01-01

Federal government policies are promoting diffusion of technologies into the healthcare system. If health professionals reject the new technologies planned for the healthcare system, it could result in costly failures, delays, and workforce problems. There is a lack of knowledge about factors that affect technology readiness (TR), defined as the…

Factors Affecting the Formation of Food Preferences in Preschool Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alles-White, Monica L.; Welch, Patricia

1985-01-01

Identifies and discusses factors that affect the development of food preferences in preschool children, including familiarity, age, parents, peers, teachers, and programs designed to influence food habits. Makes recommendations to preschool and day care programs for creating an atmosphere conducive to trying new foods. (Author/DST)

Factors Affecting the Productivity of Logging Crews Using Chain Saws and Wheeled Skidders in Tree-Length Aspen

Treesearch

Dennis P. Bradley; Frank E. Biltonen

1973-01-01

Describes the productivity of selected aspen pulpwood loggers in northern Minnesota. The most important factors affecting productivity were the ratio of harvested trees per acre to total trees per acre, harvested volume per acre, and the spacing of nonharvested trees

Rehabilitation Counselor Narratives on Factors Affecting Vocational Goal Acquisition of Female Immigrant Clients: Incorporating Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akande, Abigail O.

2014-01-01

This dissertation examines factors affecting the service outcomes of immigrant women with disabilities who received vocational rehabilitation services, from the perspectives of their rehabilitation counselors. The participants were eight rehabilitation counselors who had received their Master's degrees from programs accredited by the Council on…

Factors Affecting the Identification of Hispanic English Language Learners in Special Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becker, Gail I.

2012-01-01

This qualitative phenomenological study revealed factors affecting the overrepresentation of Hispanic English language learners (ELLs) in special education. An analysis of the lived experiences of school professionals indicate multiple causes that determine students to be disabled often in violation of state and federal guidelines. Child study…

Environmental factors affecting understory diversity in second-growth deciduous forests

Treesearch

Cynthia D. Huebner; J.C. Randolph; G.R. Parker

1995-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the most important nonanthropogenic factors affecting understory (herbs, shrubs and low-growing vines) diversity in forested landscapes of southern Indiana. Fourteen environmental variables were measured for 46 sites. Multiple regression analysis showed significant positive correlation between understory diversity and tree...

Factors Affecting Students' Grades in Principles of Economics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kara, Orhan; Bagheri, Fathollah; Tolin, Thomas

2009-01-01

Factors affecting students' grades in principles of microeconomics and macroeconomics students are analyzed from the data collected in two public universities. Results indicate that gender, number of hours worked, SAT scores, number of missed classes, recommending the course to a friend, instructors, being a junior, number of economics courses…

Factors Affecting School Choice: What Do Malaysian Chinese Parents Want?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siah, Poh Chua; Christina Ong, Sook Beng; Tan, Swee Mee; Sim, Chzia Poaw; Xian Thoo, Raphael Yi

2018-01-01

Aiming to explore factors affecting Malaysian Chinese parents in sending their children to either national secondary schools or Chinese independent schools, 494 parents were surveyed using a questionnaire. Results showed that parents who sent their children to Chinese independent schools have different priorities compared to those who sent theirs…

Dispositional Factors Affecting Motivation during Learning in Adult Basic and Secondary Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mellard, Daryl F.; Krieshok, Thomas; Fall, Emily; Woods, Kari

2013-01-01

Research indicates that about a quarter of adult students separate from formal adult basic and secondary education (ABE/ASE) programs before completing one educational level. This retrospective study explores individual dispositional factors that affect motivation during learning, particularly students' goals, goal-directed thinking and action…

To Learn or Not To Learn: Understanding Student Motivation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lumsden, Linda S.

1995-01-01

A multitude of factors affect the attitudes and behaviors that students bring to the learning situation. This document discusses some motivation-related terms and concepts. It then examines several factors that affect students' basic beliefs about and attitudes toward learning. The first section differentiates between the following terms: ability…

Evaluation of factors affecting nitrous oxide emission and N transformation in a sandy loam soil

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A better understanding of the complex factors affecting nitrous oxide (N2O) emission and potential mitigation practices will assist in developing strategies to improve the sustainability of agricultural production systems. Using surface soil collected from a pomegranate orchard, a series of laborato...

Cognitive-Affective Dimensions of Female Orgasm: The Role of Automatic Thoughts and Affect During Sexual Activity.

PubMed

Tavares, Inês M; Laan, Ellen T M; Nobre, Pedro J

2017-06-01

Cognitive-affective factors contribute to female sexual dysfunctions, defined as clinically significant difficulties in the ability to respond sexually or to experience sexual pleasure. Automatic thoughts and affect presented during sexual activity are acknowledged as maintenance factors for these difficulties. However, there is a lack of studies on the influence of these cognitive-affective dimensions regarding female orgasm. To assess the role of automatic thoughts and affect during sexual activity in predicting female orgasm occurrence and to investigate the mediator role of these variables in the relation between sexual activity and orgasm occurrence. Nine hundred twenty-six sexually active heterosexual premenopausal women reported on frequency of sexual activities and frequency of orgasm occurrence, cognitive factors, and social desirability. Participants completed the Sexual Modes Questionnaire-Automatic Thoughts Subscale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Socially Desirable Response Set. Multiple linear regressions and mediation analyses were performed, controlling for the effect of covariates such as social desirability, sociodemographic and medical characteristics, and relationship factors. The main outcome measurement was orgasm frequency as predicted and mediated by automatic thoughts and affect experienced during sexual activities. The presence of failure thoughts and lack of erotic thoughts during sexual activity significantly and negatively predicted female orgasm, whereas positive affect experienced during sexual activity significantly and positively predicted female orgasm. Moreover, negative automatic thoughts and positive affect during sexual activity were found to mediate the relation between sexual activity and female orgasm occurrence. These data suggest that the cognitive aspects of sexual involvement are critical to enhancing female orgasm experience and can aid the development of strategies that contemplate the central role of automatic thoughts and of positive emotions experienced during sexual activity. Data were not collected face to face, which constitutes a strength of this study, because it is known that social desirability is lower in self-administered online questionnaires compared with traditional paper-and-pencil questionnaires, particularly for more sensitive sexual issues. The fact that the sample was composed of heterosexual, premenopausal, and relatively young women demands some caution regarding generalization of the present results. The findings support the contribution of cognitive and affective factors to female orgasmic functioning. It is recommended that future research confirm these findings with other samples, particularly clinical samples of women with orgasmic difficulties. Tavares IM, Laan ETM, Nobre PJ. Cognitive-Affective Dimensions of Female Orgasm: The Role of Automatic Thoughts and Affect During Sexual Activity. J Sex Med 2017;14:818-828. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Family affection as a protective factor against the negative effects of perceived Asian values gap on the parent-child relationship for Asian American male and female college students.

PubMed

Park, Yong S; Vo, Leyna P; Tsong, Yuying

2009-01-01

The study examined whether family affection (i.e., affective responsiveness, affectionate communication, and affective orientation) protected against the negative effects of perceived parent-child Asian values gap on the quality of their parent relationships for 259 female and 77 male Asian American college students. Asian values gap was higher for women than men, and inversely related to a perceived healthy parent-child relationship for both genders. Participants rated the relationship with their mothers as more positive and affectionate than with their fathers. Both parents were reported to communicate more supportive affection than verbal and nonverbal affection. Affective responsiveness was identified as a protective factor in the father-son relationship whereas verbal affection protected the mother-daughter relationship. The study also revealed that daughters' affective orientation had beneficial effects on the father-daughter relationship at lower levels of Asian values gap. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Factors Affecting Intention to Use in Social Networking Sites: An Empirical Study on Thai Society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jairak, Rath; Sahakhunchai, Napath; Jairak, Kallaya; Praneetpolgrang, Prasong

This research aims to explore the factors that affect the intention to use in Social Networking Sites (SNS). We apply the theory of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), intrinsic motivation, and trust properties to develop the theoretical framework for SNS users' intention. The results show that the important factors influencing SNS users' intention for general purpose and collaborative learning are task-oriented, pleasure-oriented, and familiarity-based trust. In marketing usage, dispositional trust and pleasure-oriented are two main factors that reflect intention to use in SNS.

An Integrated Career Coaching and Time-Banking System Promoting Flexibility, Wellness, and Success: A Pilot Program at Stanford University School of Medicine.

PubMed

Fassiotto, Magali; Simard, Caroline; Sandborg, Christy; Valantine, Hannah; Raymond, Jennifer

2018-06-01

Faculty in academic medicine experience multiple demands on their time at work and home, which can become a source of stress and dissatisfaction, compromising success. A taskforce convened to diagnose the state of work-life flexibility at Stanford University School of Medicine uncovered two major sources of conflict: work-life conflict, caused by juggling demands of career and home; and work-work conflict, caused by competing priorities of the research, teaching, and clinical missions combined with service and administrative tasks. Using human-centered design research principles, the 2013-2014 Academic Biomedical Career Customization (ABCC) pilot program incorporated two elements to mitigate work-life and work-work conflict: integrated career-life planning, coaching to create a customized plan to meet both career and life goals; and a time-banking system, recognizing behaviors that promote team success with benefits that mitigate work-life and work-work conflicts. A matched-sample pre-post evaluation survey found the two-part program increased perceptions of a culture of flexibility (P = .020), wellness (P = .013), understanding of professional development opportunities (P = .036), and institutional satisfaction (P = .020) among participants. In addition, analysis of research productivity indicated that over the two-year program, ABCC participants received 1.3 more awards, on average, compared with a matched set of nonparticipants, a funding difference of approximately $1.1 million per person. These results suggest it is possible to mitigate the effects of extreme time pressure on academic medicine faculty, even within existing institutional structures.

BMI, health behaviors, and quality of life in children and adolescents: a school-based study.

PubMed

Chen, Gang; Ratcliffe, Julie; Olds, Tim; Magarey, Anthea; Jones, Michelle; Leslie, Eva

2014-04-01

To explore the relationship between weight status (BMI) and health-related quality of life in children and adolescents through application of the Child Health Utility 9D, a new generic preference-based instrument. Data were collected from primary and high school students in rural and metropolitan regions of South Australia. Consenting participants (2588 in grades 4-6 and 765 in grades 9-10) were weighed and measured and categorized as underweight, healthy weight, overweight, or obese according to International Obesity Taskforce BMI cutoff points (primary outcome). Participants also completed a questionnaire including the Child Health Utility 9D and standardized measures of physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep patterns, and eating behavior (secondary outcomes). Descriptive and multivariate linear regression analyses were undertaken to calculate mean utility differences. In comparison with healthy-weight primary school students, adjusted mean utilities were lower for overweight (-0.016, P = .02) or obese (-0.039, P = .001) students. For high school students, the adjusted mean utilities were also lower for overweight and obese students but were nonsignificant (-0.018, P > .10). Physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep patterns, and eating behavior were all found to be significantly associated with utilities. Irrespective of BMI, young people engaging in more physical activities or less sedentary behavior, and having healthier sleep patterns or eating behavior exhibited higher utilities. Associations between utilities and sleep patterns or eating behavior were stronger than the associations with BMI. Future economic evaluations for obesity interventions should more formally investigate the relationship between changes over time in weight status and health-related quality of life for children and adolescents.

Measuring what matters to rare disease patients - reflections on the work by the IRDiRC taskforce on patient-centered outcome measures.

PubMed

Morel, Thomas; Cano, Stefan J

2017-11-02

Our ability to evaluate outcomes which genuinely reflect patients' unmet needs, hopes and concerns is of pivotal importance. However, much current clinical research and practice falls short of this objective by selecting outcome measures which do not capture patient value to the fullest. In this Opinion, we discuss Patient-Centered Outcomes Measures (PCOMs), which have the potential to systematically incorporate patient perspectives to measure those outcomes that matter most to patients. We argue for greater multi-stakeholder collaboration to develop PCOMs, with rare disease patients and families at the center. Beyond advancing the science of patient input, PCOMs are powerful tools to translate care or observed treatment benefit into an 'interpretable' measure of patient benefit, and thereby help demonstrate clinical effectiveness. We propose mixed methods psychometric research as the best route to deliver fit-for-purpose PCOMs in rare diseases, as this methodology brings together qualitative and quantitative research methods in tandem with the explicit aim to efficiently utilise data from small samples. And, whether one opts to develop a brand-new PCOM or to select or adapt an existing outcome measure for use in a rare disease, the anchors remain the same: patients, their daily experience of the rare disease, their preferences, core concepts and values. Ultimately, existing value frameworks, registries, and outcomes-based contracts largely fall short of consistently measuring the full range of outcomes that matter to patients. We argue that greater use of PCOMs in rare diseases would enable a fast track to Patient-Centered Care.

Review of the 25th annual scientific meeting of the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer.

PubMed

Balwit, James M; Kalinski, Pawel; Sondak, Vernon K; Coulie, Pierre G; Jaffee, Elizabeth M; Gajewski, Thomas F; Marincola, Francesco M

2011-05-12

Led by key opinion leaders in the field, the 25th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer (iSBTc, recently renamed the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, SITC) provided a scientific platform for ~500 attendees to exchange cutting-edge information on basic, clinical, and translational research in cancer immunology and immunotherapy. The meeting included keynote addresses on checkpoint blockade in cancer therapy and recent advances in therapeutic vaccination against cancer induced by Human Papilloma Virus 16. Participants from 29 countries interacted through oral presentations, panel discussions, and posters on topics that included dendritic cells and cancer, targeted therapeutics and immunotherapy, innate/adaptive immune interplay in cancer, clinical trial endpoints, vaccine combinations, countering negative regulation, immune cell trafficking to tumor microenvironment, and adoptive T cell transfer. In addition to the 50 oral presentations and >180 posters on these topics, a new SITC/iSBTc initiative to create evidence-based Cancer Immunotherapy Guidelines was announced. The SITC/iSBTc Biomarkers Taskforce announced the release of recommendations on immunotherapy biomarkers and a highly successful symposium on Immuno-Oncology Biomarkers that took place on the campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) immediately prior to the Annual Meeting. At the Annual Meeting, the NIH took the opportunity to publicly announce the award of the U01 grant that will fund the Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network (CITN). In summary, the Annual Meeting gathered clinicians and scientists from academia, industry, and regulatory agencies from around the globe to interact and exchange important scientific advances related to tumor immunobiology and cancer immunotherapy.

A collaborative institutional model for integrating computer applications in the medical curriculum.

PubMed Central

Friedman, C. P.; Oxford, G. S.; Juliano, E. L.

1991-01-01

The introduction and promotion of information technology in an established medical curriculum with existing academic and technical support structures poses a number of challenges. The UNC School of Medicine has developed the Taskforce on Educational Applications in Medicine (TEAM), to coordinate this effort. TEAM works as a confederation of existing research and support units with interests in computers and education, along with a core of interested faculty with curricular responsibilities. Constituent units of the TEAM confederation include the medical center library, medical television studios, basic science teaching laboratories, educational development office, microcomputer and network support groups, academic affairs administration, and a subset of course directors and teaching faculty. Among our efforts have been the establishment of (1) a mini-grant program to support faculty initiated development and implementation of computer applications in the curriculum, (2) a symposium series with visiting speakers to acquaint faculty with current developments in medical informatics and related curricular efforts at other institution, (3) 20 computer workstations located in the multipurpose teaching labs where first and second year students do much of their academic work, (4) a demonstration center for evaluation of courseware and technologically advanced delivery systems. The student workstations provide convenient access to electronic mail, University schedules and calendars, the CoSy computer conferencing system, and several software applications integral to their courses in pathology, histology, microbiology, biochemistry, and neurobiology. The progress achieved toward the primary goal has modestly exceeded our initial expectations, while the collegiality and interest expressed toward TEAM activities in the local environment stand as empirical measures of the success of the concept. PMID:1807705

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Diefenderfer, Heida L.; Thom, Ronald M.; Borde, Amy B.

This report is the second annual report of a six-year project to evaluate the cumulative effects of habitat restoration projects in the Columbia River Estuary, conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Marine Sciences Laboratory, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service Pt. Adams Biological Field Station, and the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce for the US Army Corps of Engineers. In 2005, baseline data were collected on two restoration sites and two associated reference sites in the Columbia River estuary. The sites represent two habitat types of the estuary--brackish marsh and freshwater swamp--that have sustained substantial losses in area and that maymore » play important roles for salmonids. Baseline data collected included vegetation and elevation surveys, above and below-ground biomass, water depth and temperature, nutrient flux, fish species composition, and channel geometry. Following baseline data collection, three kinds of restoration actions for hydrological reconnection were implemented in several locations on the sites: tidegate replacements (2) at Vera Slough, near the city of Astoria in Oregon State, and culvert replacements (2) and dike breaches (3) at Kandoll Farm in the Grays River watershed in Washington State. Limited post-restoration data were collected: photo points, nutrient flux, water depth and temperature, and channel cross-sections. In subsequent work, this and additional post-restoration data will be used in conjunction with data from other sites to estimate net effects of hydrological reconnection restoration projects throughout the estuary. This project is establishing methods for evaluating the effectiveness of individual projects and a framework for assessing estuary-wide cumulative effects including a protocol manual for monitoring restoration and reference sites.« less

Exploring nursing assistants' roles in the process of pain management for cognitively impaired nursing home residents: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Liu, Justina Y W

2014-05-01

To explore nursing assistants' roles during the actual process of pain management (assessment, reporting, implementation of pain-relieving interventions and re-assessment) for cognitively impaired home residents with pain. Nursing assistants provide most of the direct care to residents and represent the major taskforce in nursing homes. They may develop specialized knowledge of residents' pain experience that enables them to play both a pivotal role in pain assessment and possibly a supporting role in pain treatment. Currently, there is a lack of research into nursing assistants' functions in pain management. This is a descriptive, exploratory qualitative study. Forty-nine nursing assistants were recruited from 12 nursing homes, 12 of them participating in semi-structured individual interviews and 37 in 8 semi-structured focus groups. All interviews were carried out from May to September 2010. Data collected via both data collection methods were transcribed verbatim and analysed by content analysis. Nursing assistants were found to play four roles in the pain management process: (1) pain assessor; (2) reporter; (3) subordinate implementing prescribed medications; and (4) instigator implementing non-pharmacological interventions. This study highlights the importance of nursing assistants in successful pain assessment and identifies their possible supporting roles in other aspects of pain management. However, nursing assistants' scope of practice resulted in their functions in pain management being continually undervalued by other healthcare professionals. Continuous in-service training, the use of a standardized pain management protocol and strategies for building coherent work teams in nursing homes are suggested to improve this situation. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Assessment of preventive measures for accidental blood exposure in operating theaters: a survey of 20 hospitals in Northern France.

PubMed

Tarantola, Arnaud; Golliot, Franck; L'Heriteau, François; Lebascle, Karin; Ha, Catherine; Farret, Danièle; Bignon, Sylvie; Smaïl, Amar; Doutrellot-Philippon, Catherine; Astagneau, Pascal; Bouvet, Elisabeth

2006-08-01

Accidental exposures to blood of body fluids (ABE) expose health care workers (HCW) to the risk of occupational infection. Our aim was to assess the prevention equipment available in the operating theater (OT) with reference to guidelines or recommendations and its use by the staff in that OT on that day and past history of ABE. Correspondents of the Centre de Coordination de la Lutte contre les Infections Nosocomiales (CCLIN) Paris-Nord ABE Surveillance Taskforce carried out an observational multicenter survey in 20 volunteer French hospitals. In total, 260 operating staff (including 151 surgeons) were investigated. Forty-nine of the 260 (18.8%) staff said they double-gloved for all patients and procedures, changing gloves hourly. Blunt-tipped suture needles were available in 49.1% of OT; 42 of 76 (55.3%) of the surgeons in these OT said they never used them. Overall, 60% and 64% of surgeons had never self-tested for HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), respectively. Fifty-five surgeons said they had sustained a total of 96 needlestick injuries during the month preceding the survey. Ten of these surgeons had notified of 1 needlestick injury each to the occupational health department of their hospital (notification rate, 10.4%). The occurrence of needlestick injury remained high in operating personnel in France in 2000. Although hospitals may improve access to protective devices, operating staff mindful of safety in the OT should increase their use of available devices, their knowledge of their own serostatus, and their ABE notification rate to guide well-targeted prevention efforts.

Using Qualitative Research to Inform Development of Professional Guidelines: A Case Study of the Society of Critical Care Medicine Family-Centered Care Guidelines.

PubMed

Coombs, Maureen A; Davidson, Judy E; Nunnally, Mark E; Wickline, Mary A; Curtis, J Randall

2017-08-01

To explore the importance, challenges, and opportunities using qualitative research to enhance development of clinical practice guidelines, using recent guidelines for family-centered care in the ICU as an example. In developing the Society of Critical Care Medicine guidelines for family-centered care in the neonatal ICU, PICU, and adult ICU, we developed an innovative adaptation of the Grading of Recommendations, Assessments, Development and Evaluations approach to explicitly incorporate qualitative research. Using Grading of Recommendations, Assessments, Development and Evaluations and the Council of Medical Specialty Societies principles, we conducted a systematic review of qualitative research to establish family-centered domains and outcomes. Thematic analyses were undertaken on study findings and used to support Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome question development. We identified and employed three approaches using qualitative research in these guidelines. First, previously published qualitative research was used to identify important domains for the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome questions. Second, this qualitative research was used to identify and prioritize key outcomes to be evaluated. Finally, we used qualitative methods, member checking with patients and families, to validate the process and outcome of the guideline development. In this, a novel report, we provide direction for standardizing the use of qualitative evidence in future guidelines. Recommendations are made to incorporate qualitative literature review and appraisal, include qualitative methodologists in guideline taskforce teams, and develop training for evaluation of qualitative research into guideline development procedures. Effective methods of involving patients and families as members of guideline development represent opportunities for future work.

2016 Guidelines for the management of thyroid storm from The Japan Thyroid Association and Japan Endocrine Society (First edition).

PubMed

Satoh, Tetsurou; Isozaki, Osamu; Suzuki, Atsushi; Wakino, Shu; Iburi, Tadao; Tsuboi, Kumiko; Kanamoto, Naotetsu; Otani, Hajime; Furukawa, Yasushi; Teramukai, Satoshi; Akamizu, Takashi

2016-12-30

Thyroid storm is an endocrine emergency which is characterized by multiple organ failure due to severe thyrotoxicosis, often associated with triggering illnesses. Early suspicion, prompt diagnosis and intensive treatment will improve survival in thyroid storm patients. Because of its rarity and high mortality, prospective intervention studies for the treatment of thyroid storm are difficult to carry out. We, the Japan Thyroid Association and Japan Endocrine Society taskforce committee, previously developed new diagnostic criteria and conducted nationwide surveys for thyroid storm in Japan. Detailed analyses of clinical data from 356 patients revealed that the mortality in Japan was still high (∼11%) and that multiple organ failure and acute heart failure were common causes of death. In addition, multimodal treatment with antithyroid drugs, inorganic iodide, corticosteroids and beta-adrenergic antagonists has been suggested to improve mortality of these patients. Based on the evidence obtained by nationwide surveys and additional literature searches, we herein established clinical guidelines for the management of thyroid storm. The present guideline includes 15 recommendations for the treatment of thyrotoxicosis and organ failure in the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and hepato-gastrointestinal tract, admission criteria for the intensive care unit, and prognostic evaluation. We also proposed preventive approaches to thyroid storm, roles of definitive therapy, and future prospective trial plans for the treatment of thyroid storm. We hope that this guideline will be useful for many physicians all over the world as well as in Japan in the management of thyroid storm and the improvement of its outcome.

Accrual and recruitment practices at Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) institutions: a call for expectations, expertise, and evaluation.

PubMed

Kost, Rhonda G; Mervin-Blake, Sabrena; Hallarn, Rose; Rathmann, Charles; Kolb, H Robert; Himmelfarb, Cheryl Dennison; D'Agostino, Toni; Rubinstein, Eric P; Dozier, Ann M; Schuff, Kathryn G

2014-08-01

To respond to increased public and programmatic demand to address underenrollment of clinical translational research studies, the authors examined participant recruitment practices at Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) sites and make recommendations for performance metrics and accountability. The CTSA Recruitment and Retention taskforce in 2010 invited representatives at 46 CTSAs to complete an online 48-question survey querying accrual and recruitment outcomes, practices, evaluation methods, policies, and perceived gaps in related knowledge/practice. Descriptive statistical and thematic analyses were conducted. Forty-six respondents representing 44 CTSAs completed the survey. Recruitment conducted by study teams was the most common practice reported (78%-91%, by study type); 39% reported their institution offered recruitment services to investigators. Respondents valued study feasibility assessment as a successful practice (39%); desired additional resources included feasibility assessments (49%) and participant registries (44%). None reported their institution systematically required justification of feasibility; some indicated relevant information was considered prior to institutional review board (IRB) review (30%) or contract approval (22%). All respondents' IRBs tracked study progress, but only 10% of respondents could report outcome data for timely accrual. Few reported written policies addressing poor accrual or provided data to support recruitment practice effectiveness. Many CTSAs lack the necessary frame work to support study accrual. Recom men dations to enhance accrual include articulating institutional expectations and policy for routine recruitment plan ning; providing recruitment expertise to inform feasibility assessment and recruit ment planning; and developing interdepartmental coordination and integrated informatics infrastructure to drive the conduct, evaluation, and improvement of recruitment practices.

Accrual and Recruitment Practices at Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Institutions: A Call for Expectations, Expertise, and Evaluation

PubMed Central

Kost, Rhonda G.; Mervin-Blake, Sabrena; Hallarn, Rose; Rathmann, Charles; Kolb, H. Robert; Himmelfarb, Cheryl Dennison; D’Agostino, Toni; Rubinstein, Eric P.; Dozier, Ann M.; Schuff, Kathryn G.

2014-01-01

Purpose To respond to increased public and programmatic demand to address underenrollment of clinical translational research studies, the authors examine participant recruitment practices at Clinical and Translational Science Award sites (CTSAs) and make recommendations for performance metrics and accountability. Method The CTSA Recruitment and Retention taskforce developed and, in 2010, invited representatives at 46 CTSAs to complete an online 48-question survey querying CTSA accrual and recruitment outcomes, practices, evaluation methods, policies, and perceived gaps in related knowledge/practice. Descriptive statistical and thematic analyses were conducted. Results Forty-six respondents representing 44 CTSAs completed the survey. Recruitment conducted by study teams was the most common practice reported (78–91%, by study type); 39% reported their institution offered recruitment services to investigators. Respondents valued study feasibility assessment as a successful practice (39%); their desired additional resources included feasibility assessments (49%) and participant registries (44%). None reported their institution systematically required justification of feasibility; some indicated relevant information was considered prior to IRB review (30%) or contract approval (22%). All respondents’ IRBs tracked study progress, but only 10% of respondents could report outcome data for timely accrual. Few reported written policies addressing poor accrual or provided data to support recruitment practice effectiveness. Conclusions Many CTSAs lack the necessary framework to support study accrual. Recommendations to enhance accrual include articulating institutional expectations and policy for routine recruitment planning; providing recruitment expertise to inform feasibility assessment and recruitment planning; and developing interdepartmental coordination and integrated informatics infrastructure to drive the conduct, evaluation, and improvement of recruitment practices. PMID:24826854

The practices, challenges and recommendations of South African audiologists regarding managing children with auditory processing disorders

PubMed Central

Govender, Samantha; Khan, Nasim

2016-01-01

Audiologists managing children with auditory processing disorders (APD) encounter challenges that include conflicting definitions, several classification profiles, problems with differential diagnosis and a lack of standardised guidelines. The heterogeneity of the disorder and its concomitant childhood disorders makes diagnosis difficult. Linguistic and cultural issues are additional challenges faced by South African audiologists. The study aimed to describe the practices, challenges and recommendations of South African audiologists managing children with APD. A quantitative, non-experimental descriptive survey was used to obtain data from 156 audiologists registered with the Health Professions of South Africa. Findings revealed that 67% screened for APD, 42% assessed while 43% provided intervention. A variety of screening and assessment procedures were being administered, with no standard test battery identified. A range of intervention strategies being used are discussed. When the relationship between the number of years of experience and the audiologists’ level of preparedness to practice in the field of APD was compared, a statistically significant difference (p = 0.049) was seen in that participants with more than 10 years of experience were more prepared to practice in this area. Those participants having qualified as speech-language therapists and audiologists were significantly more prepared (p = 0.03) to practice than the audiologists who comprised the sample. Challenges experienced by the participants included the lack of linguistically and culturally appropriate screening and assessment tools and limited normative data. Recommendations included reviewing the undergraduate audiology training programmes, reinstituting the South African APD Taskforce, developing linguistically and culturally appropriate normative data, creating awareness among educators and involving them in the multidisciplinary team. PMID:27380913

Factors Affecting Option Choices Relative to the Uptake of Design and Technology at a Selected Hong Kong International School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hughes, Marshall

2008-01-01

The purpose of the study described in this paper was to identify those factors which affect Year 9 students at Sha Tin College, Hong Kong, as they make option choices at the end of Key Stage 3 (Year 9: age 14). The main focus of the investigation was how these factors influence the selection or rejection of the four subjects offered under the…

Proposal for a recovery prediction method for patients affected by acute mediastinitis

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background An attempt to find a prediction method of death risk in patients affected by acute mediastinitis. There is not such a tool described in available literature for that serious disease. Methods The study comprised 44 consecutive cases of acute mediastinitis. General anamnesis and biochemical data were included. Factor analysis was used to extract the risk characteristic for the patients. The most valuable results were obtained for 8 parameters which were selected for further statistical analysis (all collected during few hours after admission). Three factors reached Eigenvalue >1. Clinical explanations of these combined statistical factors are: Factor1 - proteinic status (serum total protein, albumin, and hemoglobin level), Factor2 - inflammatory status (white blood cells, CRP, procalcitonin), and Factor3 - general risk (age, number of coexisting diseases). Threshold values of prediction factors were estimated by means of statistical analysis (factor analysis, Statgraphics Centurion XVI). Results The final prediction result for the patients is constructed as simultaneous evaluation of all factor scores. High probability of death should be predicted if factor 1 value decreases with simultaneous increase of factors 2 and 3. The diagnostic power of the proposed method was revealed to be high [sensitivity =90%, specificity =64%], for Factor1 [SNC = 87%, SPC = 79%]; for Factor2 [SNC = 87%, SPC = 50%] and for Factor3 [SNC = 73%, SPC = 71%]. Conclusion The proposed prediction method seems a useful emergency signal during acute mediastinitis control in affected patients. PMID:22574625

Factors affecting post-pubertal penile size in patients with hypospadias.

PubMed

Moriya, Kimihiko; Nakamura, Michiko; Nishimura, Yoko; Kitta, Takeya; Kanno, Yukiko; Chiba, Hiroki; Kon, Masafumi; Shinohara, Nobuo

2016-09-01

To evaluate actual post-pubertal penile size and factors affecting it in hypospadias patients, we retrospectively reviewed medical charts. Hypospadias patients whose external genitalia were categorized into Tanner stage 5, and whose stretched penile length was evaluated at 15 years old or older from April 2008 to April 2015, were enrolled in the present study. Stretched penile length was measured by a single examiner. Actual post-pubertal stretched penile length and factors affecting the post-pubertal stretched penile length were estimated. Statistical analysis was performed using Mann-Whitney U test and univariate and multivariate linear regression models for the determination of independent factors. Thirty patients met the inclusion criteria. Median age at evaluation was 17.2 years. Thirteen and 17 had mild and severe hypospadias, respectively. Endocrinological abnormality was identified in 5. Multivariate analysis showed that the severity of hypospadias and endocrinological abnormality were significant factors affecting stretched penile length. Stretched penile length in 25 patients without endocrinological abnormality was significantly longer than that in those with endocrinological abnormality (p = 0.036). Among patients without endocrinological abnormality, stretched penile length in 13 with severe hypospadias was significantly shorter than that in 12 with mild hypospadias (p = 0.004). While the severity of hypospadias and endocrinological abnormality at post-pubertal evaluation were factors affecting post-pubertal penile size, stretched penile length in patients with severe hypospadias was shorter even in cases without endocrinological abnormality. These results suggest that severe hypospadias is not only a disorder of urethral development, but also a disorder of penile development.

Factors affecting colonoscope insertion time in patients with or without a colostomy after left-sided colorectal resection.

PubMed

Jang, Hui Won; Kim, Yoon Nam; Nam, Chung Mo; Lee, Hyun Jung; Park, Soo Jung; Hong, Sung Pil; Kim, Tae Il; Kim, Won Ho; Cheon, Jae Hee

2012-12-01

We examined whether the insertion time for colonoscopies performed after left-sided resection was different in patients with a colostomy from that in patients without a colostomy and identified factors that could impact colonoscopy performance. We included consecutive patients who underwent colonoscopy between July 2005 and March 2011 after left-sided colorectal resection for colorectal cancer. We classified surgical methods according to the presence or absence of a colostomy and evaluated colonoscope insertion time retrospectively. Furthermore, we analyzed factors that might affect insertion time. A total of 1,041 patients underwent colonoscopy after left-sided colorectal resection during the study period. The colonoscopy completion rate was 98.6 %, and the mean insertion time was 6.1 ± 4.6 min (median 4.7 min, range 0.3-35.8 min). A shorter resection length of colon, the presence of a colostomy, and a lower endoscopist case volume were found to be independent factors associated with prolonged insertion time in patients with left-sided colorectal resection. Among experienced colonoscopists, no colonoscopy-associated or clinical factors were found to affect insertion time. However, a shorter resection length of colon, the presence of a colostomy, and poor bowel preparation were associated with prolonged insertion time among inexperienced endoscopists. We identified three factors that affect colonoscope insertion time after left-sided colorectal resection, including the presence of a colostomy. Inexperienced endoscopists were much more affected by the presence of a colostomy after left-sided colorectal resection. These findings have implications for the practice and teaching of colonoscopy after left-sided colorectal resection.

Depressive Symptomatology, Psychological Stress, and Ovarian Reserve: A Role for Psychological Factors in Ovarian Aging?

PubMed Central

Bleil, Maria E.; Adler, Nancy E.; Pasch, Lauri A.; Sternfeld, Barbara; Gregorich, Steven E.; Rosen, Mitchell P.; Cedars, Marcelle I.

2012-01-01

Objective To examine psychological factors in relation to antral follicle count (AFC), a marker of ovarian reserve, in a multiethnic sample of 683 pre-menopausal women in the Ovarian Aging (OVA) Study. Methods In cross-sectional analyses, linear regression was performed to determine whether AFC decline across women varied over levels of depression as well as depression in combination with psychological stress. The total and subscale scores of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD) were used to measure depression and the Perceived Stress Scale was used to measure psychological stress. Results Following covariate-adjustment, the 2-way interaction of age-x-positive affect and the 3-way interaction of age-x-positive affect-x-stress were related to AFC (b = 0.047, p = .036; b = 0.012, p = .099, respectively). In stratified analyses, stress was related to AFC in women with low positive affect (b = −.070, p = .021) but not in women with high positive affect (b = .018, p = .54). AFC decline across women was progressively higher in women with low positive affect who reported low (−0.747 follicles/year), mid (−0.920 follicles/year), and high (−1.112 follicles/year) levels of stress. Results examining the CESD total and remaining subscale scores were all non-significant (p’s > .05). Conclusions Cross-sectional evidence suggests that 1) women with low positive affect may experience accelerated AFC decline and 2) low positive affect may be a vulnerability factor, or, alternatively, high positive affect may be a protective factor, in moderating the negative effects of psychological stress on AFC decline. PMID:22760086

Analysis of extrinsic and intrinsic factors affecting event related desynchronization production.

PubMed

Takata, Yohei; Kondo, Toshiyuki; Saeki, Midori; Izawa, Jun; Takeda, Kotaro; Otaka, Yohei; It, Koji

2012-01-01

Recently there has been an increase in the number of stroke patients with motor paralysis. Appropriate re-afferent sensory feedback synchronized with a voluntary motor intention would be effective for promoting neural plasticity in the stroke rehabilitation. Therefore, BCI technology is considered to be a promising approach in the neuro-rehabilitation. To estimate human motor intention, an event-related desynchronization (ERD), a feature of electroencephalogram (EEG) evoked by motor execution or motor imagery is usually used. However, there exists various factors that affect ERD production, and its neural mechanism is still an open question. As a preliminary stage, we evaluate mutual effects of intrinsic (voluntary motor imagery) and extrinsic (visual and somatosensory stimuli) factors on the ERD production. Experimental results indicate that these three factors are not always additively interacting with each other and affecting the ERD production.

Affect and Health Behavior Co-Occurrence: The Emerging Roles of Transdiagnostic Factors and Sociocultural Factors.

PubMed

Zvolensky, Michael J; Leventhal, Adam M

2016-01-01

The majority of scientific work addressing relations among affective states and health correlates has focused primarily on their co-occurrence and a limited range of health conditions. We have developed a Special Issue to highlight recent advances in this emerging field of work that addresses the nature and interplay between affective states and disorders, in terms of their impact and consequences from health status and behavior. This Special Issue is organized into three parts classified as (a) co-occurrence and interplay between (b) transdiagnostic factors and (c) sociocultural factors. It is hoped that this issue will (a) alert readers to the significance of this work at different levels of analysis, (b) illustrate the many domains currently being explored via innovative approaches, and (c) identify fecund areas for future systematic study. © The Author(s) 2016.

New strategies in the assessment of psychological factors affecting medical conditions.

PubMed

Sirri, Laura; Fabbri, Stefania; Fava, Giovanni A; Sonino, Nicoletta

2007-12-01

In this article, we examine research that may lead to a better assessment of psychological factors affecting medical conditions. We performed a review of the psychosomatic literature using both Medline and manual searches. We selected papers that were judged to be relevant to new strategies of assessment, with particular reference to the use of the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research. We assessed 8 areas concerned with the assessment of psychological factors in the setting of medical disease: hypochondriasis, disease phobia, persistent somatization, conversion symptoms, illness denial, demoralization, irritable mood, and Type A behavior. A new subclassification of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed. [DSM-V]; not yet published) category of psychological factors affecting physical conditions appears to be feasible and may provide the clinician with better tools for identifying psychological distress.

The structure of musical preferences: a five-factor model.

PubMed

Rentfrow, Peter J; Goldberg, Lewis R; Levitin, Daniel J

2011-06-01

Music is a cross-cultural universal, a ubiquitous activity found in every known human culture. Individuals demonstrate manifestly different preferences in music, and yet relatively little is known about the underlying structure of those preferences. Here, we introduce a model of musical preferences based on listeners' affective reactions to excerpts of music from a wide variety of musical genres. The findings from 3 independent studies converged to suggest that there exists a latent 5-factor structure underlying music preferences that is genre free and reflects primarily emotional/affective responses to music. We have interpreted and labeled these factors as (a) a Mellow factor comprising smooth and relaxing styles; (b) an Unpretentious factor comprising a variety of different styles of sincere and rootsy music such as is often found in country and singer-songwriter genres; (c) a Sophisticated factor that includes classical, operatic, world, and jazz; (d) an Intense factor defined by loud, forceful, and energetic music; and (e) a Contemporary factor defined largely by rhythmic and percussive music, such as is found in rap, funk, and acid jazz. The findings from a fourth study suggest that preferences for the MUSIC factors are affected by both the social and the auditory characteristics of the music. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

Socioeconomic factors affecting patients’ utilization of primary care services at a Tertiary Teaching Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

PubMed Central

Alsubaie, Abdulaziz M.; Almohaimede, Khaled A.; Aljadoa, Abdulrahman F.; Jarallah, Osamah J.; Althnayan, Yasser I.; Alturki, Yousef A.

2016-01-01

Background: Primary care services utilization is dependent on socioeconomic factors. It is proven that variation in socioeconomic factors result in discrepancies in the use of such services. Admittedly, research is limited on the socioeconomic factors affecting the utilization of primary care services in Saudi Arabia. Objectives: The aim of this research was to study the effect of the main socioeconomic factors affecting patients' utilization of primary care services at a tertiary teaching hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to February 2014 in a primary care clinic of a tertiary teaching hospital in Riyadh city; subjects selected using a random consecutive sampling technique. A self-administered questionnaire in Arabic was given to the participants to collect the data which comprised sociodemographic data, utilization measures, and health needs. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: A total of 358 subjects participated in the study. The main factors that best determine the utilization of primary health care clinic in a tertiary teaching hospital were the possession of a health insurance (P = 0.046, odds ratio [OR] = 8.333), and bad self-health-perception (P < 0.014, OR: 2.088). Chronic illness was also associated with higher utilization (OR = 2.003). Conclusion: Our results reveal that chronic health problems, self-health-perception, and health insurance are the most significant socioeconomic factors affecting the utilization of primary care services. PMID:26929723

Factors Influencing Team Behaviors in Surgery: A Qualitative Study to Inform Teamwork Interventions.

PubMed

Aveling, Emma-Louise; Stone, Juliana; Sundt, Thoralf; Wright, Cameron; Gino, Francesca; Singer, Sara

2018-07-01

Surgical excellence demands teamwork. Poor team behaviors negatively affect team performance and are associated with adverse events and worse outcomes. Interventions to improve surgical teamwork focusing on frontline team members' nontechnical skills have proliferated but shown mixed results. Literature on teamwork in organizations suggests that team behaviors are also contingent on psychosocial, cultural, and organizational factors. This study examined factors influencing surgical team behaviors to inform more contextually sensitive and effective approaches to optimizing surgical teamwork. This qualitative study of cardiac surgical teams in a large United States teaching hospital included 34 semistructured interviews. Thematic network analysis was used to examine perceptions of ideal teamwork and factors influencing team behaviors in the operating room. Perceptions of ideal teamwork were largely shared, but team members held discrepant views of which team and leadership behaviors enhanced or undermined teamwork. Other factors affecting team behaviors were related to the local organizational culture, including management of staff behavior, variable case demands, and team members' technical competence, and fitness of organizational structures and processes to support teamwork. These factors affected perceptions of what constituted optimal interpersonal and team behaviors in the operating room. Team behaviors are contextually contingent and organizationally determined, and beliefs about optimal behaviors are not necessarily shared. Interventions to optimize surgical teamwork require establishing consensus regarding best practice, ability to adapt as circumstances require, and organizational commitment to addressing contextual factors that affect teams. Copyright © 2018 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Resolution V fractional factorial design for screening of factors affecting weakly basic drugs liposomal systems.

PubMed

Nageeb El-Helaly, Sara; Habib, Basant A; Abd El-Rahman, Mohamed K

2018-07-01

This study aims to investigate factors affecting weakly basic drugs liposomal systems. Resolution V fractional factorial design (2 V 5-1 ) is used as an example of screening designs that would better be used as a wise step before proceeding with detailed factors effects or optimization studies. Five factors probable to affect liposomal systems of weakly basic drugs were investigated using Amisulpride as a model drug. Factors studied were; A: Preparation technique B: Phosphatidyl choline (PhC) amount (mg) C: Cholesterol: PhC molar ratio, D: Hydration volume (ml) and E: Sonication type. Levels investigated were; Ammonium sulphate-pH gradient technique or Transmembrane zinc chelation-pH gradient technique, 200 or 400 mg, 0 or 0.5, 10 or 20 ml and bath or probe sonication for A, B, C, D and E respectively. Responses measured were Particle size (PS) (nm), Zeta potential (ZP) (mV) and Entrapment efficiency percent (EE%). Ion selective electrode was used as a novel method for measuring unentrapped drug concentration and calculating entrapment efficiency without the need for liposomal separation. Factors mainly affecting the studied responses were Cholesterol: PhC ratio and hydration volume for PS, preparation technique for ZP and preparation technique and hydration volume for EE%. The applied 2 V 5-1 design enabled the use of only 16 trial combinations for screening the influence of five factors on weakly basic drugs liposomal systems. This clarifies the value of the use of screening experiments before extensive investigation of certain factors in detailed optimization studies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The role of general psychosocial factors for the use of cancer screening-Findings of a population-based observational study among older adults in Germany.

PubMed

Hajek, André; Bock, Jens-Oliver; König, Hans-Helmut

2017-12-01

Within the framework of the health-belief model, some studies exist investigating the association between illness-specific psychosocial factors and the use of cancer screenings. However, studies investigating the association between general psychosocial factors and the use of cancer screenings are missing. Thus, this study aimed at examining the association between well-established general psychosocial factors and the use of cancer screenings. Data were gathered from a large, population-based sample of community-dwelling individuals aged 40 and above in Germany (n = 7673; in 2014). Loneliness, cognitive well-being, affective well-being (negative and positive affect), optimism, self-efficacy, self-esteem, self-regulation, perceived autonomy, perceived stress, and perceived social exclusion were used as general psychosocial factors. Furthermore, individuals were asked whether they regularly underwent early cancer screening in the past years (yes; no). A total of 65.6% of the individuals used cancer screening. Adjusting for sociodemographic factors, self-rated health, morbidity and lifestyle factors, multiple logistic regressions revealed that the use of cancer screening is positively associated with decreased loneliness, cognitive well-being, optimism, self-efficacy, self-esteem, self-regulation, perceived autonomy, decreased perceived stress, decreased perceived social exclusion, and positive affect, while it is not associated with negative affect. This study stresses the strong association between general psychosocial factors and the use of cancer screening. This knowledge might be fruitful to address individuals at risk for underuse. © 2017 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An Analysis of the Factors Affecting the Career Orientation/Turnover Behavior of Female Naval Officers.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-12-01

that there are five major, levels of needs in an ascending hierarchy: physiological, safety, social, self - esteem and self actualization. Once a need is...California OI FIlE CMP 0 THESIS AN ANALYSIS OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE CAREER ORIENTATION/TURNOVER BEHAVIOR OF FEMALE NAVAL OFFICERS by Richard W. Lowell...PROGRAM PROJECT TASK WORK UNIT ELEMENT NO. NO. No. ACCESSION NO A ,gNcg ecc%rv,.y~ra 1AS AFFECTING THE CAREER ORIENTATION/TURNOVER BEHAVIOR OF FEMALE NAVAL

Factors affecting corticosteroid concentrations in yellow-bellied marmots.

PubMed

Armitage, K B

1991-01-01

1. Bound and total corticosteroid concentrations of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) were lowest in May after emergence from hibernation and peaked in August prior to immergence. 2. Total corticosteroids were affected by age but not by sex or reproductive status. 3. There was no consistent relationship between measures of population density and concentrations of corticosteroids; when a significant relationship occurred, only 22-34% of the variation was explained. 4. Social status and social behavior were the major factors affecting corticosteroid concentrations.

Hearts and Minds: The Priority of Affective versus Cognitive Factors in Person Perception.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Kari; Hippel, William von

1995-01-01

In two experiments, affect-based and cognition-based attitudes toward a person were induced by varying sequence of affective and cognitive information presented to subjects while holding content constant. Results indicated affect-based attitudes were most effectively changed by affective persuasive appeals, whether these appeals were produced by…

Affective changes during the postpartum period: Influences of genetic and experiential factors.

PubMed

Agrati, Daniella; Lonstein, Joseph S

2016-01-01

This article is part of a Special Issue "Parental Care". The postpartum period involves some truly transformational changes in females' socioemotional behaviors. For most female laboratory rodents and women, these changes include an improvement in their affective state, which has positive consequences for their ability to sensitively care for their offspring. There is heterogeneity among females in the likelihood of this positive affective change, though, and some women experience elevated anxiety or depression (or in rodents anxiety- or depression-related behaviors) after giving birth. We aim to contribute to the understanding of this heterogeneity in maternal affectivity by reviewing selected components of the scientific literatures on laboratory rodents and humans examining how mothers' physical contact with her infants, genetics, history of anxiety and depression and early-life and recent-life experiences contribute to individual differences in postpartum affective states. These studies together indicate that multiple biological and environmental factors beyond female maternal state shape affective responses during the postpartum period, and probably do so in an interactive manner. Furthermore, the similar capacity of some of these factors to modulate anxiety and depression in human and rodent mothers suggests cross-species conservation of mechanisms regulating postpartum affectivity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Emotional Awareness Moderates the Relationship Between Childhood Abuse and Borderline Personality Disorder Symptom Factors.

PubMed

Westbrook, John; Berenbaum, Howard

2017-07-01

To examine pathways to borderline personality disorder (BPD), focusing on childhood abuse and emotional attention and clarity. Among 293 community residents (mean age = 43.1; 53.9% female), measured associations between the BPD symptom factors of disturbed relatedness, affective dysregulation, and behavioral dysregulation and (a) childhood abuse (emotional, physical, and sexual); (b) emotional attention and clarity; and (c) negative affect, using structured interviews, the Schedule for Non-Adaptive and Adaptive Personality-2, the Trait Meta Mood Scale, and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale, respectively. All forms of childhood abuse were associated with BPD symptom factors. Emotional attention and clarity moderated the effects of childhood physical and emotional abuse on behavioral dysregulation and disturbed relatedness. All results held when controlling for negative affect. The relations between childhood abuse and BPD are robust. Emotional attention and clarity may help elucidate the links between childhood abuse and BPD. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Affective picture processing: An integrative review of ERP findings

PubMed Central

Olofsson, Jonas K.; Nordin, Steven; Sequeira, Henrique; Polich, John

2008-01-01

The review summarizes and integrates findings from 40 years of event-related potential (ERP) studies using pictures that differ in valence (unpleasant-to-pleasant) and arousal (low-to-high) and that are used to elicit emotional processing. Affective stimulus factors primarily modulate ERP component amplitude, with little change in peak latency observed. Arousal effects are consistently obtained, and generally occur at longer latencies. Valence effects are inconsistently reported at several latency ranges, including very early components. Some affective ERP modulations vary with recording methodology, stimulus factors, as well as task-relevance and emotional state. Affective ERPs have been linked theoretically to attention orientation for unpleasant pictures at earlier components (< 300 ms). Enhanced stimulus processing has been associated with memory encoding for arousing pictures of assumed intrinsic motivational relevance, with task-induced differences contributing to emotional reactivity at later components (> 300 ms). Theoretical issues, stimulus factors, task demands, and individual differences are discussed. PMID:18164800

Cued Speech Transliteration: Effects of Accuracy and Lag Time on Message Intelligibility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krause, Jean C.; Lopez, Katherine A.

2017-01-01

This paper is the second in a series concerned with the level of access afforded to students who use educational interpreters. The first paper (Krause & Tessler, 2016) focused on factors affecting accuracy of messages produced by Cued Speech (CS) transliterators (expression). In this study, factors affecting intelligibility (reception by deaf…

Factors Mediating Dysphoric Moods and Help Seeking Behaviour among Australian Parents of Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snow, Matthew; Donnelly, James

2016-01-01

This study compared levels of state affect, dysphoric mood, and parenting sense of competence in Australian parents of children with or without autism. The effects of personality and location on the parents' experience were also examined, while controlling for current affect. Possible relationships among personality, location factors and…

Factors Affecting Smoking Tendency and Smoking Intensity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

David, Nissim Ben; Zion, Uri Ben

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure the relative effect of relevant explanatory variable on smoking tendency and smoking intensity. Design/methodology/approach: Using survey data collected by the Israeli Bureau of Statistics in 2003-2004, a probit procedure is estimated for analyzing factors that affect the probability of being a…

Relationships between High School Chemistry Students' Perceptions of a Constructivist Learning Environment and Their STEM Career Expectations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wild, Andrew

2015-01-01

Considerable attention has been devoted to factors affecting the persistence of women and historically underrepresented ethnic groups in their science education trajectories. The literature has focused more on structural factors that affect longitudinal outcomes rather than classroom experiences. This exploratory survey study described…

A Prospective Study Investigating the Impact of School Belonging Factors on Negative Affect in Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shochet, Ian M.; Smith, Coral L.; Furlong, Michael J.; Homel, Ross

2011-01-01

School belonging, measured as a unidimensional construct, is an important predictor of negative affective problems in adolescents, including depression and anxiety symptoms. A recent study found that one such measure, the Psychological Sense of School Membership scale, actually comprises three factors: Caring Relations, Acceptance, and Rejection.…

How Creativity Was Affected by Environmental Factors and Individual Characteristics: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deng, Lifang; Wang, Lijuan; Zhao, Yanyun

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore how environmental factors (family environment and school education) and individual characteristics (personality, creative attitudes, and divergent thinking) collectively affect creative achievement of American and Chinese college students. Data were collected from 378 college students in the United States…

Conformity Behavior and Self-Consciousness.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Froming, William J.

Compliance, conforming behavior as a response to social influences, is affected by a variety of factors within the self. Some of these factors pertain to one's perceived place in the social context; others pertain to the salience of one's immediate affective and perceptual experience. The self-aspect chosen as the object of one's attention can…

Who Should Mark What? A Study of Factors Affecting Marking Accuracy in a Biology Examination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suto, Irenka; Nadas, Rita; Bell, John

2011-01-01

Accurate marking is crucial to the reliability and validity of public examinations, in England and internationally. Factors contributing to accuracy have been conceptualised as affecting either marking task demands or markers' personal expertise. The aim of this empirical study was to develop this conceptualisation through investigating the…

Learning Outcomes and Affective Factors of Blended Learning of English for Library Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wentao, Chen; Jinyu, Zhang; Zhonggen, Yu

2016-01-01

English for Library Science is an essential course for students to command comprehensive scope of library knowledge. This study aims to compare the learning outcomes, gender differences and affective factors in the environments of blended and traditional learning. Around one thousand participants from one university were randomly selected to…

Factors Affecting Applicants' Acceptance or Decline of Offers to Enroll in a Medical School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cleave-Hogg, Doreen; And Others

1994-01-01

A University of Toronto (Canada) study of medical school applicants accepting (n=784) and declining (n=255) admission identified influential factors. Some (living cost, location) cannot be affected by the institution. The institution has limited control of others (faculty size, school environment) but can influence applicant perceptions. One…

Caregiving and Developmental Factors Differentiating Young At-Risk Urban Children Showing Resilient Versus Stress-Affected Outcomes: A Replication and Extension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wyman, Peter A.; And Others

1999-01-01

Tested hypotheses from an organizational-developmental model for childhood resilience among 7- to 9-year olds. Found that caregiving factors and early development differentiated children with resilient and stress-affected adaptations. Variables reflecting emotionally responsive, competent parenting were direct, proximal predictors of resilience…

Factors Affecting Teachers' Adoption of Educational Computer Games: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kebritchi, Mansureh

2010-01-01

Even though computer games hold considerable potential for engaging and facilitating learning among today's children, the adoption of modern educational computer games is still meeting significant resistance in K-12 education. The purpose of this paper is to inform educators and instructional designers on factors affecting teachers' adoption of…

Individual and Technological Factors Affecting Undergraduates' Use of Mobile Technology in University of Ilorin, Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olufunmilola Ogulande, Oyeronke; Oladimeji Olafare, Festus; Ayuba Sakaba, Dabo

2016-01-01

The proliferation and utilization of handheld mobile technology among undergraduates for mobile learning cannot be underestimated. This study was geared towards investigating individual and technological factors affecting the perceived usefulness of mobile technology by undergraduates in university of Ilorin, Nigeria. The study was a descriptive…

Basic Factors that Affect General Academic Motivation Levels of Candidate Preschool Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Celikoz, Nadir

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate some personal and familial factors that affect overall academic motivation levels of candidate preschool teachers. The study group of this research consists of 285 students attending the child development and preschool education department at Selcuk University Faculty of Vocational Education in the…

Industry Training: The Factors that Affect Demand. Discussion Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, A.; Roberts, P.; Noble, C.; Hayton, G.; Thorne, E.

A study was conducted in Australia, to determine the factors that affect demand for job training. The study consisted of 30 detailed industry case studies, an industry analysis, and a literature review. Each case study examined current training practices, training decision making in the business, and the determinants of training for the…