Sample records for occupational code assignment

  1. Performance of automated and manual coding systems for occupational data: a case study of historical records.

    PubMed

    Patel, Mehul D; Rose, Kathryn M; Owens, Cindy R; Bang, Heejung; Kaufman, Jay S

    2012-03-01

    Occupational data are a common source of workplace exposure and socioeconomic information in epidemiologic research. We compared the performance of two occupation coding methods, an automated software and a manual coder, using occupation and industry titles from U.S. historical records. We collected parental occupational data from 1920-40s birth certificates, Census records, and city directories on 3,135 deceased individuals in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Unique occupation-industry narratives were assigned codes by a manual coder and the Standardized Occupation and Industry Coding software program. We calculated agreement between coding methods of classification into major Census occupational groups. Automated coding software assigned codes to 71% of occupations and 76% of industries. Of this subset coded by software, 73% of occupation codes and 69% of industry codes matched between automated and manual coding. For major occupational groups, agreement improved to 89% (kappa = 0.86). Automated occupational coding is a cost-efficient alternative to manual coding. However, some manual coding is required to code incomplete information. We found substantial variability between coders in the assignment of occupations although not as large for major groups.

  2. Computer-based coding of free-text job descriptions to efficiently identify occupations in epidemiological studies

    PubMed Central

    Russ, Daniel E.; Ho, Kwan-Yuet; Colt, Joanne S.; Armenti, Karla R.; Baris, Dalsu; Chow, Wong-Ho; Davis, Faith; Johnson, Alison; Purdue, Mark P.; Karagas, Margaret R.; Schwartz, Kendra; Schwenn, Molly; Silverman, Debra T.; Johnson, Calvin A.; Friesen, Melissa C.

    2016-01-01

    Background Mapping job titles to standardized occupation classification (SOC) codes is an important step in identifying occupational risk factors in epidemiologic studies. Because manual coding is time-consuming and has moderate reliability, we developed an algorithm called SOCcer (Standardized Occupation Coding for Computer-assisted Epidemiologic Research) to assign SOC-2010 codes based on free-text job description components. Methods Job title and task-based classifiers were developed by comparing job descriptions to multiple sources linking job and task descriptions to SOC codes. An industry-based classifier was developed based on the SOC prevalence within an industry. These classifiers were used in a logistic model trained using 14,983 jobs with expert-assigned SOC codes to obtain empirical weights for an algorithm that scored each SOC/job description. We assigned the highest scoring SOC code to each job. SOCcer was validated in two occupational data sources by comparing SOC codes obtained from SOCcer to expert assigned SOC codes and lead exposure estimates obtained by linking SOC codes to a job-exposure matrix. Results For 11,991 case-control study jobs, SOCcer-assigned codes agreed with 44.5% and 76.3% of manually assigned codes at the 6- and 2-digit level, respectively. Agreement increased with the score, providing a mechanism to identify assignments needing review. Good agreement was observed between lead estimates based on SOCcer and manual SOC assignments (kappa: 0.6–0.8). Poorer performance was observed for inspection job descriptions, which included abbreviations and worksite-specific terminology. Conclusions Although some manual coding will remain necessary, using SOCcer may improve the efficiency of incorporating occupation into large-scale epidemiologic studies. PMID:27102331

  3. Computer-based coding of free-text job descriptions to efficiently identify occupations in epidemiological studies.

    PubMed

    Russ, Daniel E; Ho, Kwan-Yuet; Colt, Joanne S; Armenti, Karla R; Baris, Dalsu; Chow, Wong-Ho; Davis, Faith; Johnson, Alison; Purdue, Mark P; Karagas, Margaret R; Schwartz, Kendra; Schwenn, Molly; Silverman, Debra T; Johnson, Calvin A; Friesen, Melissa C

    2016-06-01

    Mapping job titles to standardised occupation classification (SOC) codes is an important step in identifying occupational risk factors in epidemiological studies. Because manual coding is time-consuming and has moderate reliability, we developed an algorithm called SOCcer (Standardized Occupation Coding for Computer-assisted Epidemiologic Research) to assign SOC-2010 codes based on free-text job description components. Job title and task-based classifiers were developed by comparing job descriptions to multiple sources linking job and task descriptions to SOC codes. An industry-based classifier was developed based on the SOC prevalence within an industry. These classifiers were used in a logistic model trained using 14 983 jobs with expert-assigned SOC codes to obtain empirical weights for an algorithm that scored each SOC/job description. We assigned the highest scoring SOC code to each job. SOCcer was validated in 2 occupational data sources by comparing SOC codes obtained from SOCcer to expert assigned SOC codes and lead exposure estimates obtained by linking SOC codes to a job-exposure matrix. For 11 991 case-control study jobs, SOCcer-assigned codes agreed with 44.5% and 76.3% of manually assigned codes at the 6-digit and 2-digit level, respectively. Agreement increased with the score, providing a mechanism to identify assignments needing review. Good agreement was observed between lead estimates based on SOCcer and manual SOC assignments (κ 0.6-0.8). Poorer performance was observed for inspection job descriptions, which included abbreviations and worksite-specific terminology. Although some manual coding will remain necessary, using SOCcer may improve the efficiency of incorporating occupation into large-scale epidemiological studies. 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/

  4. Beyond crosswalks: reliability of exposure assessment following automated coding of free-text job descriptions for occupational epidemiology.

    PubMed

    Burstyn, Igor; Slutsky, Anton; Lee, Derrick G; Singer, Alison B; An, Yuan; Michael, Yvonne L

    2014-05-01

    Epidemiologists typically collect narrative descriptions of occupational histories because these are less prone than self-reported exposures to recall bias of exposure to a specific hazard. However, the task of coding these narratives can be daunting and prohibitively time-consuming in some settings. The aim of this manuscript is to evaluate the performance of a computer algorithm to translate the narrative description of occupational codes into standard classification of jobs (2010 Standard Occupational Classification) in an epidemiological context. The fundamental question we address is whether exposure assignment resulting from manual (presumed gold standard) coding of the narratives is materially different from that arising from the application of automated coding. We pursued our work through three motivating examples: assessment of physical demands in Women's Health Initiative observational study, evaluation of predictors of exposure to coal tar pitch volatiles in the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Integrated Management Information System, and assessment of exposure to agents known to cause occupational asthma in a pregnancy cohort. In these diverse settings, we demonstrate that automated coding of occupations results in assignment of exposures that are in reasonable agreement with results that can be obtained through manual coding. The correlation between physical demand scores based on manual and automated job classification schemes was reasonable (r = 0.5). The agreement between predictive probability of exceeding the OSHA's permissible exposure level for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, using coal tar pitch volatiles as a surrogate, based on manual and automated coding of jobs was modest (Kendall rank correlation = 0.29). In the case of binary assignment of exposure to asthmagens, we observed that fair to excellent agreement in classifications can be reached, depending on presence of ambiguity in assigned job classification (κ

  5. Industry and Occupation in the Electronic Health Record: An Investigation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Industry and Occupation Computerized Coding System.

    PubMed

    Schmitz, Matthew; Forst, Linda

    2016-02-15

    baseline for performance of NIOCCS by investigators in the field. Further field testing will clarify NIOCCS effectiveness in terms of ability to assign codes and coding accuracy and will clarify its value as inclusion of these occupational variables in the EHR is promoted.

  6. Industry and Occupation in the Electronic Health Record: An Investigation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Industry and Occupation Computerized Coding System

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    “fair” to “good” at the 4-digit level. Conclusions This work serves as a baseline for performance of NIOCCS by investigators in the field. Further field testing will clarify NIOCCS effectiveness in terms of ability to assign codes and coding accuracy and will clarify its value as inclusion of these occupational variables in the EHR is promoted. PMID:26878932

  7. Occupational self-coding and automatic recording (OSCAR): a novel web-based tool to collect and code lifetime job histories in large population-based studies.

    PubMed

    De Matteis, Sara; Jarvis, Deborah; Young, Heather; Young, Alan; Allen, Naomi; Potts, James; Darnton, Andrew; Rushton, Lesley; Cullinan, Paul

    2017-03-01

    Objectives The standard approach to the assessment of occupational exposures is through the manual collection and coding of job histories. This method is time-consuming and costly and makes it potentially unfeasible to perform high quality analyses on occupational exposures in large population-based studies. Our aim was to develop a novel, efficient web-based tool to collect and code lifetime job histories in the UK Biobank, a population-based cohort of over 500 000 participants. Methods We developed OSCAR (occupations self-coding automatic recording) based on the hierarchical structure of the UK Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2000, which allows individuals to collect and automatically code their lifetime job histories via a simple decision-tree model. Participants were asked to find each of their jobs by selecting appropriate job categories until they identified their job title, which was linked to a hidden 4-digit SOC code. For each occupation a job title in free text was also collected to estimate Cohen's kappa (κ) inter-rater agreement between SOC codes assigned by OSCAR and an expert manual coder. Results OSCAR was administered to 324 653 UK Biobank participants with an existing email address between June and September 2015. Complete 4-digit SOC-coded lifetime job histories were collected for 108 784 participants (response rate: 34%). Agreement between the 4-digit SOC codes assigned by OSCAR and the manual coder for a random sample of 400 job titles was moderately good [κ=0.45, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.42-0.49], and improved when broader job categories were considered (κ=0.64, 95% CI 0.61-0.69 at a 1-digit SOC-code level). Conclusions OSCAR is a novel, efficient, and reasonably reliable web-based tool for collecting and automatically coding lifetime job histories in large population-based studies. Further application in other research projects for external validation purposes is warranted.

  8. Bayesian decision support for coding occupational injury data.

    PubMed

    Nanda, Gaurav; Grattan, Kathleen M; Chu, MyDzung T; Davis, Letitia K; Lehto, Mark R

    2016-06-01

    Studies on autocoding injury data have found that machine learning algorithms perform well for categories that occur frequently but often struggle with rare categories. Therefore, manual coding, although resource-intensive, cannot be eliminated. We propose a Bayesian decision support system to autocode a large portion of the data, filter cases for manual review, and assist human coders by presenting them top k prediction choices and a confusion matrix of predictions from Bayesian models. We studied the prediction performance of Single-Word (SW) and Two-Word-Sequence (TW) Naïve Bayes models on a sample of data from the 2011 Survey of Occupational Injury and Illness (SOII). We used the agreement in prediction results of SW and TW models, and various prediction strength thresholds for autocoding and filtering cases for manual review. We also studied the sensitivity of the top k predictions of the SW model, TW model, and SW-TW combination, and then compared the accuracy of the manually assigned codes to SOII data with that of the proposed system. The accuracy of the proposed system, assuming well-trained coders reviewing a subset of only 26% of cases flagged for review, was estimated to be comparable (86.5%) to the accuracy of the original coding of the data set (range: 73%-86.8%). Overall, the TW model had higher sensitivity than the SW model, and the accuracy of the prediction results increased when the two models agreed, and for higher prediction strength thresholds. The sensitivity of the top five predictions was 93%. The proposed system seems promising for coding injury data as it offers comparable accuracy and less manual coding. Accurate and timely coded occupational injury data is useful for surveillance as well as prevention activities that aim to make workplaces safer. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

  9. Development of an occupational airborne chemical exposure matrix

    PubMed Central

    Kurmi, O. P.; Chambers, H.; Lam, K. B. H.; Fishwick, D.

    2016-01-01

    Background Population-based studies of the occupational contribution to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease generally rely on self-reported exposures to vapours, gases, dusts and fumes (VGDF), which are susceptible to misclassification. Aims To develop an airborne chemical job exposure matrix (ACE JEM) for use with the UK Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 2000) system. Methods We developed the ACE JEM in stages: (i) agreement of definitions, (ii) a binary assignation of exposed/not exposed to VGDF, fibres or mists (VGDFFiM), for each of the individual 353 SOC codes and (iii) assignation of levels of exposure (L; low, medium and high) and (iv) the proportion of workers (P) likely to be exposed in each code. We then expanded the estimated exposures to include biological dusts, mineral dusts, metals, diesel fumes and asthmagens. Results We assigned 186 (53%) of all SOC codes as exposed to at least one category of VGDFFiM, with 23% assigned as having medium or high exposure. We assigned over 68% of all codes as not being exposed to fibres, gases or mists. The most common exposure was to dusts (22% of codes with >50% exposed); 12% of codes were assigned exposure to fibres. We assigned higher percentages of the codes as exposed to diesel fumes (14%) compared with metals (8%). Conclusions We developed an expert-derived JEM, using a strict set of a priori defined rules. The ACE JEM could also be applied to studies to assess risks of diseases where the main route of occupational exposure is via inhalation. PMID:27067914

  10. Development of an occupational airborne chemical exposure matrix.

    PubMed

    Sadhra, S S; Kurmi, O P; Chambers, H; Lam, K B H; Fishwick, D

    2016-07-01

    Population-based studies of the occupational contribution to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease generally rely on self-reported exposures to vapours, gases, dusts and fumes (VGDF), which are susceptible to misclassification. To develop an airborne chemical job exposure matrix (ACE JEM) for use with the UK Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 2000) system. We developed the ACE JEM in stages: (i) agreement of definitions, (ii) a binary assignation of exposed/not exposed to VGDF, fibres or mists (VGDFFiM), for each of the individual 353 SOC codes and (iii) assignation of levels of exposure (L; low, medium and high) and (iv) the proportion of workers (P) likely to be exposed in each code. We then expanded the estimated exposures to include biological dusts, mineral dusts, metals, diesel fumes and asthmagens. We assigned 186 (53%) of all SOC codes as exposed to at least one category of VGDFFiM, with 23% assigned as having medium or high exposure. We assigned over 68% of all codes as not being exposed to fibres, gases or mists. The most common exposure was to dusts (22% of codes with >50% exposed); 12% of codes were assigned exposure to fibres. We assigned higher percentages of the codes as exposed to diesel fumes (14%) compared with metals (8%). We developed an expert-derived JEM, using a strict set of a priori defined rules. The ACE JEM could also be applied to studies to assess risks of diseases where the main route of occupational exposure is via inhalation. © Crown copyright 2016.

  11. Preliminary Classification of Army and Navy Entry-Level Occupations by the Holland Coding System.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1986-12-01

    Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes (DOHC; see Gottfredson , Holland, & Ogawa, 1982) either directly or through expert judgment. Results...publications: The Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes (DHOC; Gottfredson , Holland, & Ogawa, 192) and The Occupations Finder (Holland, 1978). The...occupational categories ( Gottfredson et al., 1982). The agreement between the first letters codes obtained from the 1977 Occupations Finder and the

  12. 48 CFR 204.7005 - Assignment of order codes.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... Identification Numbers 204.7005 Assignment of order codes. (a) The Defense Logistics Agency, Acquisition Policy...-1000 Air Force: SAF/AQCI, 1060 Air Force Pentagon, Washington, DC 20330-1060 Defense Logistics Agency: Defense Logistics Agency, Acquisition Policy Branch (J-3311), John J. Kingman Road, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060...

  13. A combined Fuzzy and Naive Bayesian strategy can be used to assign event codes to injury narratives.

    PubMed

    Marucci-Wellman, H; Lehto, M; Corns, H

    2011-12-01

    Bayesian methods show promise for classifying injury narratives from large administrative datasets into cause groups. This study examined a combined approach where two Bayesian models (Fuzzy and Naïve) were used to either classify a narrative or select it for manual review. Injury narratives were extracted from claims filed with a worker's compensation insurance provider between January 2002 and December 2004. Narratives were separated into a training set (n=11,000) and prediction set (n=3,000). Expert coders assigned two-digit Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Injury and Illness Classification event codes to each narrative. Fuzzy and Naïve Bayesian models were developed using manually classified cases in the training set. Two semi-automatic machine coding strategies were evaluated. The first strategy assigned cases for manual review if the Fuzzy and Naïve models disagreed on the classification. The second strategy selected additional cases for manual review from the Agree dataset using prediction strength to reach a level of 50% computer coding and 50% manual coding. When agreement alone was used as the filtering strategy, the majority were coded by the computer (n=1,928, 64%) leaving 36% for manual review. The overall combined (human plus computer) sensitivity was 0.90 and positive predictive value (PPV) was >0.90 for 11 of 18 2-digit event categories. Implementing the 2nd strategy improved results with an overall sensitivity of 0.95 and PPV >0.90 for 17 of 18 categories. A combined Naïve-Fuzzy Bayesian approach can classify some narratives with high accuracy and identify others most beneficial for manual review, reducing the burden on human coders.

  14. Job coding (PCS 2003): feedback from a study conducted in an Occupational Health Service

    PubMed

    Henrotin, Jean-Bernard; Vaissière, Monique; Etaix, Maryline; Malard, Stéphane; Dziurla, Mathieu; Lafon, Dominique

    2016-10-19

    Aim: To examine the quality of manual job coding carried out by occupational health teams with access to a software application that provides assistance in job and business sector coding (CAPS). Methods: Data from a study conducted in an Occupational Health Service were used to examine the first-level coding of 1,495 jobs by occupational health teams according to the French job classification entitled “PSC- Professions and socio-professional categories” (INSEE, 2003 version). A second level of coding was also performed by an experienced coder and the first and second level codes were compared. Agreement between the two coding systems was studied using the kappa coefficient (κ) and frequencies were compared by Chi2 tests. Results: Missing data or incorrect codes were observed for 14.5% of social groups (1 digit) and 25.7% of job codes (4 digits). While agreement between the first two levels of PCS 2003 appeared to be satisfactory (κ=0.73 and κ=0.75), imbalances in reassignment flows were effectively noted. The divergent job code rate was 48.2%. Variation in the frequency of socio-occupational variables was as high as 8.6% after correcting for missing data and divergent codes. Conclusions: Compared with other studies, the use of the CAPS tool appeared to provide effective coding assistance. However, our results indicate that job coding based on PSC 2003 should be conducted using ancillary data by personnel trained in the use of this tool.

  15. Assigning exposure to pesticides and solvents from self-reports collected by a computer assisted personal interview and expert assessment of job codes: the UK Adult Brain Tumour Study.

    PubMed

    Hepworth, S J; Bolton, A; Parslow, R C; van Tongeren, M; Muir, K R; McKinney, P A

    2006-04-01

    To compare assignment of occupational pesticide and solvent exposure using self-reported data collected by a computer assisted personal interview (CAPI) with exposure based on expert assessment of job codes. To discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a CAPI to collect individual occupational exposure data. Between 2001 and 2004, 1495 participants were interviewed using a CAPI for a case-control study of adult brain tumours and acoustic neuromas. Two types of occupational data were collected: (1) a full history, including job title from which a job code was assigned from the Standard Occupational Classification; and (2) specific details on pesticide and solvent exposure reported by participants. Study members' experiences of using the CAPI were recorded and advantages and disadvantages summarised. Of 7192 jobs recorded, the prevalence of self-reported exposure was 1.3% for pesticides and 11.5% for solvents. Comparing this with exposure expertly assessed from job titles showed 53.6% and 45.8% concordance for pesticides and solvents respectively. Advantages of the CAPI include no data entry stage, automatic input validation, and a reduction in interviewer bias. Disadvantages include an adverse effect on study implementation as a consequence of resources required for programming and difficulties encountered with data management prior to analysis. Different methods of exposure assessment derive different exposure levels for pesticide and solvent exposure at work. Agreement between self-reported and expert assessment of exposure was greater for pesticides compared to solvents. The advantages of using a CAPI for the collection of complex data outweigh the disadvantages for interviewers and data quality but using such a method requires extra resources at the study outset.

  16. Assigning exposure to pesticides and solvents from self‐reports collected by a computer assisted personal interview and expert assessment of job codes: the UK Adult Brain Tumour Study

    PubMed Central

    Hepworth, S J; Bolton, A; Parslow, R C; van Tongeren, M; Muir, K R; McKinney, P A

    2006-01-01

    Objectives To compare assignment of occupational pesticide and solvent exposure using self‐reported data collected by a computer assisted personal interview (CAPI) with exposure based on expert assessment of job codes. To discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a CAPI to collect individual occupational exposure data. Methods Between 2001 and 2004, 1495 participants were interviewed using a CAPI for a case‐control study of adult brain tumours and acoustic neuromas. Two types of occupational data were collected: (1) a full history, including job title from which a job code was assigned from the Standard Occupational Classification; and (2) specific details on pesticide and solvent exposure reported by participants. Study members' experiences of using the CAPI were recorded and advantages and disadvantages summarised. Results Of 7192 jobs recorded, the prevalence of self‐reported exposure was 1.3% for pesticides and 11.5% for solvents. Comparing this with exposure expertly assessed from job titles showed 53.6% and 45.8% concordance for pesticides and solvents respectively. Advantages of the CAPI include no data entry stage, automatic input validation, and a reduction in interviewer bias. Disadvantages include an adverse effect on study implementation as a consequence of resources required for programming and difficulties encountered with data management prior to analysis. Conclusions Different methods of exposure assessment derive different exposure levels for pesticide and solvent exposure at work. Agreement between self‐reported and expert assessment of exposure was greater for pesticides compared to solvents. The advantages of using a CAPI for the collection of complex data outweigh the disadvantages for interviewers and data quality but using such a method requires extra resources at the study outset. PMID:16556747

  17. An empirical evaluation of supervised learning approaches in assigning diagnosis codes to electronic medical records

    PubMed Central

    Kavuluru, Ramakanth; Rios, Anthony; Lu, Yuan

    2015-01-01

    Background Diagnosis codes are assigned to medical records in healthcare facilities by trained coders by reviewing all physician authored documents associated with a patient's visit. This is a necessary and complex task involving coders adhering to coding guidelines and coding all assignable codes. With the popularity of electronic medical records (EMRs), computational approaches to code assignment have been proposed in the recent years. However, most efforts have focused on single and often short clinical narratives, while realistic scenarios warrant full EMR level analysis for code assignment. Objective We evaluate supervised learning approaches to automatically assign international classification of diseases (ninth revision) - clinical modification (ICD-9-CM) codes to EMRs by experimenting with a large realistic EMR dataset. The overall goal is to identify methods that offer superior performance in this task when considering such datasets. Methods We use a dataset of 71,463 EMRs corresponding to in-patient visits with discharge date falling in a two year period (2011–2012) from the University of Kentucky (UKY) Medical Center. We curate a smaller subset of this dataset and also use a third gold standard dataset of radiology reports. We conduct experiments using different problem transformation approaches with feature and data selection components and employing suitable label calibration and ranking methods with novel features involving code co-occurrence frequencies and latent code associations. Results Over all codes with at least 50 training examples we obtain a micro F-score of 0.48. On the set of codes that occur at least in 1% of the two year dataset, we achieve a micro F-score of 0.54. For the smaller radiology report dataset, the classifier chaining approach yields best results. For the smaller subset of the UKY dataset, feature selection, data selection, and label calibration offer best performance. Conclusions We show that datasets at different scale

  18. An empirical evaluation of supervised learning approaches in assigning diagnosis codes to electronic medical records.

    PubMed

    Kavuluru, Ramakanth; Rios, Anthony; Lu, Yuan

    2015-10-01

    Diagnosis codes are assigned to medical records in healthcare facilities by trained coders by reviewing all physician authored documents associated with a patient's visit. This is a necessary and complex task involving coders adhering to coding guidelines and coding all assignable codes. With the popularity of electronic medical records (EMRs), computational approaches to code assignment have been proposed in the recent years. However, most efforts have focused on single and often short clinical narratives, while realistic scenarios warrant full EMR level analysis for code assignment. We evaluate supervised learning approaches to automatically assign international classification of diseases (ninth revision) - clinical modification (ICD-9-CM) codes to EMRs by experimenting with a large realistic EMR dataset. The overall goal is to identify methods that offer superior performance in this task when considering such datasets. We use a dataset of 71,463 EMRs corresponding to in-patient visits with discharge date falling in a two year period (2011-2012) from the University of Kentucky (UKY) Medical Center. We curate a smaller subset of this dataset and also use a third gold standard dataset of radiology reports. We conduct experiments using different problem transformation approaches with feature and data selection components and employing suitable label calibration and ranking methods with novel features involving code co-occurrence frequencies and latent code associations. Over all codes with at least 50 training examples we obtain a micro F-score of 0.48. On the set of codes that occur at least in 1% of the two year dataset, we achieve a micro F-score of 0.54. For the smaller radiology report dataset, the classifier chaining approach yields best results. For the smaller subset of the UKY dataset, feature selection, data selection, and label calibration offer best performance. We show that datasets at different scale (size of the EMRs, number of distinct codes) and

  19. De-Coding Writing Assignments.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simon, Linda

    1991-01-01

    Argues that understanding assignments is the first step toward successful college writing. Urges instructors to support students by helping them to decode assignments. Breaks down instructions into individual tasks including (1) writing an essay, (2) examining an issue, (3) reviewing articles and books, and (4) focusing on some texts. Defines each…

  20. Code of Sustainable Practice in Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety for Corporations.

    PubMed

    Castleman, Barry; Allen, Barbara; Barca, Stefania; Bohme, Susanna Rankin; Henry, Emmanuel; Kaur, Amarjit; Massard-Guilbaud, Genvieve; Melling, Joseph; Menendez-Navarro, Alfredo; Renfrew, Daniel; Santiago, Myrna; Sellers, Christopher; Tweedale, Geoffrey; Zalik, Anna; Zavestoski, Stephen

    2008-01-01

    At a conference held at Stony Brook University in December 2007, "Dangerous Trade: Histories of Industrial Hazard across a Globalizing World," participants endorsed a Code of Sustainable Practice in Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety for Corporations. The Code outlines practices that would ensure corporations enact the highest health and environmentally protective measures in all the locations in which they operate. Corporations should observe international guidelines on occupational exposure to air contaminants, plant safety, air and water pollutant releases, hazardous waste disposal practices, remediation of polluted sites, public disclosure of toxic releases, product hazard labeling, sale of products for specific uses, storage and transport of toxic intermediates and products, corporate safety and health auditing, and corporate environmental auditing. Protective measures in all locations should be consonant with the most protective measures applied anywhere in the world, and should apply to the corporations' subsidiaries, contractors, suppliers, distributors, and licensees of technology. Key words: corporations, sustainability, environmental protection, occupational health, code of practice.

  1. A multidisciplinary approach to vascular surgery procedure coding improves coding accuracy, work relative value unit assignment, and reimbursement.

    PubMed

    Aiello, Francesco A; Judelson, Dejah R; Messina, Louis M; Indes, Jeffrey; FitzGerald, Gordon; Doucet, Danielle R; Simons, Jessica P; Schanzer, Andres

    2016-08-01

    Vascular surgery procedural reimbursement depends on accurate procedural coding and documentation. Despite the critical importance of correct coding, there has been a paucity of research focused on the effect of direct physician involvement. We hypothesize that direct physician involvement in procedural coding will lead to improved coding accuracy, increased work relative value unit (wRVU) assignment, and increased physician reimbursement. This prospective observational cohort study evaluated procedural coding accuracy of fistulograms at an academic medical institution (January-June 2014). All fistulograms were coded by institutional coders (traditional coding) and by a single vascular surgeon whose codes were verified by two institution coders (multidisciplinary coding). The coding methods were compared, and differences were translated into revenue and wRVUs using the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Comparison between traditional and multidisciplinary coding was performed for three discrete study periods: baseline (period 1), after a coding education session for physicians and coders (period 2), and after a coding education session with implementation of an operative dictation template (period 3). The accuracy of surgeon operative dictations during each study period was also assessed. An external validation at a second academic institution was performed during period 1 to assess and compare coding accuracy. During period 1, traditional coding resulted in a 4.4% (P = .004) loss in reimbursement and a 5.4% (P = .01) loss in wRVUs compared with multidisciplinary coding. During period 2, no significant difference was found between traditional and multidisciplinary coding in reimbursement (1.3% loss; P = .24) or wRVUs (1.8% loss; P = .20). During period 3, traditional coding yielded a higher overall reimbursement (1.3% gain; P = .26) than multidisciplinary coding. This increase, however, was due to errors by institution coders, with six inappropriately used codes

  2. A Hybrid Path-Oriented Code Assignment CDMA-Based MAC Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Huifang; Fan, Guangyu; Xie, Lei; Cui, Jun-Hong

    2013-01-01

    Due to the characteristics of underwater acoustic channel, media access control (MAC) protocols designed for underwater acoustic sensor networks (UWASNs) are quite different from those for terrestrial wireless sensor networks. Moreover, in a sink-oriented network with event information generation in a sensor field and message forwarding to the sink hop-by-hop, the sensors near the sink have to transmit more packets than those far from the sink, and then a funneling effect occurs, which leads to packet congestion, collisions and losses, especially in UWASNs with long propagation delays. An improved CDMA-based MAC protocol, named path-oriented code assignment (POCA) CDMA MAC (POCA-CDMA-MAC), is proposed for UWASNs in this paper. In the proposed MAC protocol, both the round-robin method and CDMA technology are adopted to make the sink receive packets from multiple paths simultaneously. Since the number of paths for information gathering is much less than that of nodes, the length of the spreading code used in the POCA-CDMA-MAC protocol is shorter greatly than that used in the CDMA-based protocols with transmitter-oriented code assignment (TOCA) or receiver-oriented code assignment (ROCA). Simulation results show that the proposed POCA-CDMA-MAC protocol achieves a higher network throughput and a lower end-to-end delay compared to other CDMA-based MAC protocols. PMID:24193100

  3. A hybrid path-oriented code assignment CDMA-based MAC protocol for underwater acoustic sensor networks.

    PubMed

    Chen, Huifang; Fan, Guangyu; Xie, Lei; Cui, Jun-Hong

    2013-11-04

    Due to the characteristics of underwater acoustic channel, media access control (MAC) protocols designed for underwater acoustic sensor networks (UWASNs) are quite different from those for terrestrial wireless sensor networks. Moreover, in a sink-oriented network with event information generation in a sensor field and message forwarding to the sink hop-by-hop, the sensors near the sink have to transmit more packets than those far from the sink, and then a funneling effect occurs, which leads to packet congestion, collisions and losses, especially in UWASNs with long propagation delays. An improved CDMA-based MAC protocol, named path-oriented code assignment (POCA) CDMA MAC (POCA-CDMA-MAC), is proposed for UWASNs in this paper. In the proposed MAC protocol, both the round-robin method and CDMA technology are adopted to make the sink receive packets from multiple paths simultaneously. Since the number of paths for information gathering is much less than that of nodes, the length of the spreading code used in the POCA-CDMA-MAC protocol is shorter greatly than that used in the CDMA-based protocols with transmitter-oriented code assignment (TOCA) or receiver-oriented code assignment (ROCA). Simulation results show that the proposed POCA-CDMA-MAC protocol achieves a higher network throughput and a lower end-to-end delay compared to other CDMA-based MAC protocols.

  4. Methods and feasibility of collecting occupational data for a large population-based cohort study in the United States: the reasons for geographic and racial differences in stroke study

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background Coronary heart disease and stroke are major contributors to preventable mortality. Evidence links work conditions to these diseases; however, occupational data are perceived to be difficult to collect for large population-based cohorts. We report methodological details and the feasibility of conducting an occupational ancillary study for a large U.S. prospective cohort being followed longitudinally for cardiovascular disease and stroke. Methods Current and historical occupational information were collected from active participants of the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study. A survey was designed to gather quality occupational data among this national cohort of black and white men and women aged 45 years and older (enrolled 2003–2007). Trained staff conducted Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI). After a brief pilot period, interviewers received additional training in the collection of narrative industry and occupation data before administering the survey to remaining cohort members. Trained coders used a computer-assisted coding system to assign U.S. Census codes for industry and occupation. All data were double coded; discrepant codes were independently resolved. Results Over a 2-year period, 17,648 participants provided consent and completed the occupational survey (87% response rate). A total of 20,427 jobs were assigned Census codes. Inter-rater reliability was 80% for industry and 74% for occupation. Less than 0.5% of the industry and occupation data were uncodable, compared with 12% during the pilot period. Concordance between the current and longest-held jobs was moderately high. The median time to collect employment status plus narrative and descriptive job information by CATI was 1.6 to 2.3 minutes per job. Median time to assign Census codes was 1.3 minutes per rater. Conclusions The feasibility of conducting high-quality occupational data collection and coding for a large heterogeneous

  5. Methods and feasibility of collecting occupational data for a large population-based cohort study in the United States: the reasons for geographic and racial differences in stroke study.

    PubMed

    MacDonald, Leslie A; Pulley, LeaVonne; Hein, Misty J; Howard, Virginia J

    2014-02-10

    Coronary heart disease and stroke are major contributors to preventable mortality. Evidence links work conditions to these diseases; however, occupational data are perceived to be difficult to collect for large population-based cohorts. We report methodological details and the feasibility of conducting an occupational ancillary study for a large U.S. prospective cohort being followed longitudinally for cardiovascular disease and stroke. Current and historical occupational information were collected from active participants of the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study. A survey was designed to gather quality occupational data among this national cohort of black and white men and women aged 45 years and older (enrolled 2003-2007). Trained staff conducted Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI). After a brief pilot period, interviewers received additional training in the collection of narrative industry and occupation data before administering the survey to remaining cohort members. Trained coders used a computer-assisted coding system to assign U.S. Census codes for industry and occupation. All data were double coded; discrepant codes were independently resolved. Over a 2-year period, 17,648 participants provided consent and completed the occupational survey (87% response rate). A total of 20,427 jobs were assigned Census codes. Inter-rater reliability was 80% for industry and 74% for occupation. Less than 0.5% of the industry and occupation data were uncodable, compared with 12% during the pilot period. Concordance between the current and longest-held jobs was moderately high. The median time to collect employment status plus narrative and descriptive job information by CATI was 1.6 to 2.3 minutes per job. Median time to assign Census codes was 1.3 minutes per rater. The feasibility of conducting high-quality occupational data collection and coding for a large heterogeneous population-based sample was demonstrated. We found

  6. Literacy Skills, Occupational Assignment and the Returns to Over- and Under-Education. International Adult Literacy Survey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boothby, Daniel

    2002-01-01

    This study uses data from the Canadian panel of the International Adult Literacy Survey to examine the relations between schooling, literacy and occupational assignment and to determine the extent to which returns to over- and under-education are in fact returns to literacy skills. Two measures of required training time for the job are used, both…

  7. Assigning clinical codes with data-driven concept representation on Dutch clinical free text.

    PubMed

    Scheurwegs, Elyne; Luyckx, Kim; Luyten, Léon; Goethals, Bart; Daelemans, Walter

    2017-05-01

    Clinical codes are used for public reporting purposes, are fundamental to determining public financing for hospitals, and form the basis for reimbursement claims to insurance providers. They are assigned to a patient stay to reflect the diagnosis and performed procedures during that stay. This paper aims to enrich algorithms for automated clinical coding by taking a data-driven approach and by using unsupervised and semi-supervised techniques for the extraction of multi-word expressions that convey a generalisable medical meaning (referred to as concepts). Several methods for extracting concepts from text are compared, two of which are constructed from a large unannotated corpus of clinical free text. A distributional semantic model (i.c. the word2vec skip-gram model) is used to generalize over concepts and retrieve relations between them. These methods are validated on three sets of patient stay data, in the disease areas of urology, cardiology, and gastroenterology. The datasets are in Dutch, which introduces a limitation on available concept definitions from expert-based ontologies (e.g. UMLS). The results show that when expert-based knowledge in ontologies is unavailable, concepts derived from raw clinical texts are a reliable alternative. Both concepts derived from raw clinical texts perform and concepts derived from expert-created dictionaries outperform a bag-of-words approach in clinical code assignment. Adding features based on tokens that appear in a semantically similar context has a positive influence for predicting diagnostic codes. Furthermore, the experiments indicate that a distributional semantics model can find relations between semantically related concepts in texts but also introduces erroneous and redundant relations, which can undermine clinical coding performance. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  8. [Topics of occupational medicine and environment in codes and social accountability standards of business].

    PubMed

    Denisov, E I; Golovaneva, G V; Potapenko, A A

    2005-01-01

    The problems of social accountability as applied to the occupational safety, health and environment are discussed. Russian and international codes and standards in the field are reviewed. Legal duties and rights of employers in occupational risk management for workers' health are considered. Some ethical aspects including health protection of female workers are discussed.

  9. Occupational Titles Including Job Descriptions for Health Occupations Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    East Texas State Univ., Commerce. Occupational Curriculum Lab.

    This alphabetical compilation of 80 occupational titles for health occupations education is taken from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, (DOT), 4th edition, 1977. An index shows the arrangement of the occupational titles (together with instructional program and DOT code) according to the United States Office of Education code numbers. For…

  10. Ethics and skeptics: what lies behind ethical codes in occupational health.

    PubMed

    Guidotti, Tee L

    2005-02-01

    Ethical codes, or systems, are conditioned and their enforcement is permitted by social processes and attitudes. In occupational health, our efforts to adhere to our own ethical frameworks often are undermined by forces and interests outside the field. Failure to acknowledge the profoundly social nature of ethical codes impedes our ability to anticipate consequences, to legitimate decisions based on utility and benefit, and to find social structures that support, rather than invalidate, our view of ethical behavior. We examine three sets of social philosophies. Jane Jacobs, the visionary urban planner, has written Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics, which is a restatement in modern terms of a critical passage in Plato's most important dialogue, the Republic. She (and Plato) postulate two major ethical systems, renamed here the "guardian system," which is characterized by loyalty, cohesiveness, and confidentiality, and the "marketplace system," which is characterized by trade, decentralization, and shared information. Occupational health, in this formulation, often runs afoul of the guardian mentality and also may be subject to inappropriate negotiation and compromise in the marketplace system. George Lakoff, a semiotician, has written Moral Politics: What Conservatives Know That Liberals Don't, which argues that there are two fundamental social paradigms based on concepts of the family. One, which he calls the Strict Father, emphasizes discipline, the positive aspects of taking risks, and the need to individuals to be self-sufficient. The other, which he calls the Nurturing Parent, emphasizes empowerment, the positive aspects of security, and the need for community and relationships. Occupational health practice violates aspects of both and therefore is supported by neither. Classical Chinese thought involved many schools of thought, including Confucianism and Legalism. It has been suggested that Confucianism provides

  11. A Qualitative Analysis of the Assignment of Human Resource Officer (HRO) Subspecialty Codes to HR Billets

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-09-01

    and resource sponsors to assign SSP codes to HR billets. A researcher- developed survey of 183 HROs and/or supervisors found: (a) There is a...codes to HR billets. A researcher- developed survey of 183 HROs and/or supervisors found: (a) There is a reality-driven trend (insufficient...the KSAs necessary to successfully fulfill the requirements of HR billets requirements. The Navy SSP was developed as a means of defining officer

  12. 77 FR 69897 - Comment Request for Information Collection for Occupational Code Assignment, Extension Without...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-11-21

    ....onetcenter.org/ombclearance.html . DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the... information in the O*NET Web sites including O*NET OnLine ( http://online.onetcenter.org ), My Next Move ( www.MyNextMove.gov ) and My Next Move for Veterans ( www.MyNextMove.org/vets ) O*NET Code Connector ( www...

  13. Effects of visual cue and response assignment on spatial stimulus coding in stimulus-response compatibility.

    PubMed

    Nishimura, Akio; Yokosawa, Kazuhiko

    2012-01-01

    Tlauka and McKenna ( 2000 ) reported a reversal of the traditional stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) effect (faster responding to a stimulus presented on the same side than to one on the opposite side) when the stimulus appearing on one side of a display is a member of a superordinate unit that is largely on the opposite side. We investigated the effects of a visual cue that explicitly shows a superordinate unit, and of assignment of multiple stimuli within each superordinate unit to one response, on the SRC effect based on superordinate unit position. Three experiments revealed that stimulus-response assignment is critical, while the visual cue plays a minor role, in eliciting the SRC effect based on the superordinate unit position. Findings suggest bidirectional interaction between perception and action and simultaneous spatial stimulus coding according to multiple frames of reference, with contribution of each coding to the SRC effect flexibly varying with task situations.

  14. Systematically extracting metal- and solvent-related occupational information from free-text responses to lifetime occupational history questionnaires.

    PubMed

    Friesen, Melissa C; Locke, Sarah J; Tornow, Carina; Chen, Yu-Cheng; Koh, Dong-Hee; Stewart, Patricia A; Purdue, Mark; Colt, Joanne S

    2014-06-01

    Lifetime occupational history (OH) questionnaires often use open-ended questions to capture detailed information about study participants' jobs. Exposure assessors use this information, along with responses to job- and industry-specific questionnaires, to assign exposure estimates on a job-by-job basis. An alternative approach is to use information from the OH responses and the job- and industry-specific questionnaires to develop programmable decision rules for assigning exposures. As a first step in this process, we developed a systematic approach to extract the free-text OH responses and convert them into standardized variables that represented exposure scenarios. Our study population comprised 2408 subjects, reporting 11991 jobs, from a case-control study of renal cell carcinoma. Each subject completed a lifetime OH questionnaire that included verbatim responses, for each job, to open-ended questions including job title, main tasks and activities (task), tools and equipment used (tools), and chemicals and materials handled (chemicals). Based on a review of the literature, we identified exposure scenarios (occupations, industries, tasks/tools/chemicals) expected to involve possible exposure to chlorinated solvents, trichloroethylene (TCE) in particular, lead, and cadmium. We then used a SAS macro to review the information reported by study participants to identify jobs associated with each exposure scenario; this was done using previously coded standardized occupation and industry classification codes, and a priori lists of associated key words and phrases related to possibly exposed tasks, tools, and chemicals. Exposure variables representing the occupation, industry, and task/tool/chemicals exposure scenarios were added to the work history records of the study respondents. Our identification of possibly TCE-exposed scenarios in the OH responses was compared to an expert's independently assigned probability ratings to evaluate whether we missed identifying

  15. Occupation and multiple myeloma: an occupation and industry analysis.

    PubMed

    Gold, Laura S; Milliken, Kevin; Stewart, Patricia; Purdue, Mark; Severson, Richard; Seixas, Noah; Blair, Aaron; Davis, Scott; Hartge, Patricia; De Roos, Anneclaire J

    2010-08-01

    Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable plasma cell malignancy with a poorly understood etiology. The purpose of our research was to examine the relationships between lifetime occupations and MM in a relatively large case-control study. MM cases (n = 180) were identified through cancer registries in the Seattle-Puget Sound area and Detroit. Population-based controls (n = 481) were identified using random digit dialing and Medicare and Medicaid Services files. In-person interviews were conducted to ascertain occupational histories. Standard occupational classification (SOC) and standard industrial classification (SIC) codes were assigned to each job held by each participant. Unconditional logistic regression was used to generate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations between MM and having ever worked in each occupation/industry and according to duration of employment in an occupation/industry. The risk of MM was associated with several manufacturing occupations and industries, including machine operators and tenders, not elsewhere classified (SOC 76) (OR = 1.8, CI = 1.0-3.3); textile, apparel, and furnishing machine operators and tenders (SOC 765) (OR = 6.0, CI = 1.7-21); and machinery manufacturing, except electrical (SIC 35) (OR = 3.3, CI = 1.7-6.7). Several service occupations and industries, such as food and beverage preparation (SOC 521) (OR = 2.0, CI = 1.1-3.8), were also associated with MM. One occupation that has been associated with MM in several previous studies, painters, paperhangers, and plasterers (SOC 644) was associated with a non-significantly elevated risk (OR = 3.6, CI = 0.7-19). We found associations between the risk of MM and employment in several manufacturing and service-related occupations and industries. Copyright 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  16. Occupation and multiple myeloma: an occupation and industry analysis

    PubMed Central

    Gold, Laura S; Milliken, Kevin; Stewart, Patricia; Purdue, Mark; Severson, Richard; Seixas, Noah; Blair, Aaron; Davis, Scott; Hartge, Patricia; De Roos, Anneclaire J

    2011-01-01

    Background Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable plasma cell malignancy with a poorly understood etiology. The purpose of our research was to examine relationships between lifetime occupations and MM in a relatively large case-control study. Methods MM cases (n=180) were identified through cancer registries in the Seattle-Puget Sound area and Detroit. Population-based controls (n=481) were identified using random digit dialing and Medicare and Medicaid Services files. In-person interviews were conducted to ascertain occupational histories. Standard occupational classification (SOC) and standard industrial classification (SIC) codes were assigned to each job held by each participant. Unconditional logistic regression was used to generate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations between MM and having ever worked in each occupation/industry and according to duration of employment in an occupation/industry. Results The risk of MM was associated with several manufacturing occupations and industries, including machine operators and tenders, not elsewhere classified (SOC 76) (OR=1.8, CI=1.0–3.3); textile, apparel, and furnishing machine operators and tenders (SOC 765) (OR=6.0, CI=1.7–21); and machinery manufacturing, except electrical (SIC 35) (OR=3.3, CI=1.7–6.7). Several service occupations and industries, such as food and beverage preparation (SOC 521) (OR=2.0, CI=1.1–3.8), were also associated with MM. One occupation that has been associated with MM in several previous studies, painters, paperhangers, and plasterers (SOC 644), was associated with a non–significantly elevated risk (OR=3.6, CI=0.7–19). Conclusions We found associations between the risk of MM and employment in several manufacturing and service-related occupations and industries. PMID:20623662

  17. Systematically Extracting Metal- and Solvent-Related Occupational Information from Free-Text Responses to Lifetime Occupational History Questionnaires

    PubMed Central

    Friesen, Melissa C.; Locke, Sarah J.; Tornow, Carina; Chen, Yu-Cheng; Koh, Dong-Hee; Stewart, Patricia A.; Purdue, Mark; Colt, Joanne S.

    2014-01-01

    Objectives: Lifetime occupational history (OH) questionnaires often use open-ended questions to capture detailed information about study participants’ jobs. Exposure assessors use this information, along with responses to job- and industry-specific questionnaires, to assign exposure estimates on a job-by-job basis. An alternative approach is to use information from the OH responses and the job- and industry-specific questionnaires to develop programmable decision rules for assigning exposures. As a first step in this process, we developed a systematic approach to extract the free-text OH responses and convert them into standardized variables that represented exposure scenarios. Methods: Our study population comprised 2408 subjects, reporting 11991 jobs, from a case–control study of renal cell carcinoma. Each subject completed a lifetime OH questionnaire that included verbatim responses, for each job, to open-ended questions including job title, main tasks and activities (task), tools and equipment used (tools), and chemicals and materials handled (chemicals). Based on a review of the literature, we identified exposure scenarios (occupations, industries, tasks/tools/chemicals) expected to involve possible exposure to chlorinated solvents, trichloroethylene (TCE) in particular, lead, and cadmium. We then used a SAS macro to review the information reported by study participants to identify jobs associated with each exposure scenario; this was done using previously coded standardized occupation and industry classification codes, and a priori lists of associated key words and phrases related to possibly exposed tasks, tools, and chemicals. Exposure variables representing the occupation, industry, and task/tool/chemicals exposure scenarios were added to the work history records of the study respondents. Our identification of possibly TCE-exposed scenarios in the OH responses was compared to an expert’s independently assigned probability ratings to evaluate whether

  18. Assigned value improves memory of proper names.

    PubMed

    Festini, Sara B; Hartley, Alan A; Tauber, Sarah K; Rhodes, Matthew G

    2013-01-01

    Names are more difficult to remember than other personal information such as occupations. The current research examined the influence of assigned point value on memory and metamemory judgements for names and occupations to determine whether incentive can improve recall of proper names. In Experiment 1 participants studied face-name and face-occupation pairs assigned 1 or 10 points, made judgements of learning, and were given a cued recall test. High-value names were recalled more often than low-value names. However, recall of occupations was not influenced by value. In Experiment 2 meaningless nonwords were used for both names and occupations. The name difficulty disappeared, and value influenced recall of both names and occupations. Thus value similarly influenced names and occupations when meaningfulness was held constant. In Experiment 3 participants were required to use overt rote rehearsal for all items. Value did not boost recall of high-value names, suggesting that differential processing could not be implemented to improve memory. Thus incentives may improve memory for proper names by motivating people to engage in selective rehearsal and effortful elaborative processing.

  19. Agricultural Occupations Handbook.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lark, Floyd J.; Henderson, Billie

    This agricultural occupations handbook was developed from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and the U.S. Departments of Health, Education, and Welfare, and Labor publication, Vocational Education and Occupations. It includes the U.S. Office of Education coding for the instructional area of agriculture and the cluster coding for the…

  20. Reconstructing past occupational exposures: how reliable are women's reports of their partner's occupation?

    PubMed

    Tagiyeva, Nara; Semple, Sean; Devereux, Graham; Sherriff, Andrea; Henderson, John; Elias, Peter; Ayres, Jon G

    2011-06-01

    Most of the evidence on agreement between self- and proxy-reported occupational data comes from interview-based studies. The authors aimed to examine agreement between women's reports of their partner's occupation and their partner's own description using questionnaire-based data collected as a part of the prospective, population-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Information on present occupation was self-reported by women's partners and proxy-reported by women through questionnaires administered at 8 and 21 months after the birth of a child. Job titles were coded to the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC2000) using software developed by the University of Warwick (Computer-Assisted Structured Coding Tool). The accuracy of proxy-report was expressed as percentage agreement and kappa coefficients for four-, three- and two-digit SOC2000 codes obtained in automatic and semiautomatic (manually improved) coding modes. Data from 6016 couples at 8 months and 5232 couples at 21 months postnatally were included in the analyses. The agreement between men's self-reported occupation and women's report of their partner's occupation in fully automatic coding mode at four-, three- and two-digit code level was 65%, 71% and 77% at 8 months and 68%, 73% and 76% at 21 months. The accuracy of agreement was slightly improved by semiautomatic coding of occupations: 73%/73%, 78%/77% and 83%/80% at 8/21 months respectively. While this suggests that women's description of their partners' occupation can be used as a valuable tool in epidemiological research where data from partners are not available, this study revealed no agreement between these young women and their partners at the two-digit level of SOC2000 coding in approximately one in five cases. Proxy reporting of occupation introduces a statistically significant degree of error in classification. The effects of occupational misclassification by proxy reporting in retrospective occupational epidemiological

  1. Data integration of structured and unstructured sources for assigning clinical codes to patient stays

    PubMed Central

    Luyckx, Kim; Luyten, Léon; Daelemans, Walter; Van den Bulcke, Tim

    2016-01-01

    Objective Enormous amounts of healthcare data are becoming increasingly accessible through the large-scale adoption of electronic health records. In this work, structured and unstructured (textual) data are combined to assign clinical diagnostic and procedural codes (specifically ICD-9-CM) to patient stays. We investigate whether integrating these heterogeneous data types improves prediction strength compared to using the data types in isolation. Methods Two separate data integration approaches were evaluated. Early data integration combines features of several sources within a single model, and late data integration learns a separate model per data source and combines these predictions with a meta-learner. This is evaluated on data sources and clinical codes from a broad set of medical specialties. Results When compared with the best individual prediction source, late data integration leads to improvements in predictive power (eg, overall F-measure increased from 30.6% to 38.3% for International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnostic codes), while early data integration is less consistent. The predictive strength strongly differs between medical specialties, both for ICD-9-CM diagnostic and procedural codes. Discussion Structured data provides complementary information to unstructured data (and vice versa) for predicting ICD-9-CM codes. This can be captured most effectively by the proposed late data integration approach. Conclusions We demonstrated that models using multiple electronic health record data sources systematically outperform models using data sources in isolation in the task of predicting ICD-9-CM codes over a broad range of medical specialties. PMID:26316458

  2. Evaluation of Automatically Assigned Job-Specific Interview Modules.

    PubMed

    Friesen, Melissa C; Lan, Qing; Ge, Calvin; Locke, Sarah J; Hosgood, Dean; Fritschi, Lin; Sadkowsky, Troy; Chen, Yu-Cheng; Wei, Hu; Xu, Jun; Lam, Tai Hing; Kwong, Yok Lam; Chen, Kexin; Xu, Caigang; Su, Yu-Chieh; Chiu, Brian C H; Ip, Kai Ming Dennis; Purdue, Mark P; Bassig, Bryan A; Rothman, Nat; Vermeulen, Roel

    2016-08-01

    In community-based epidemiological studies, job- and industry-specific 'modules' are often used to systematically obtain details about the subject's work tasks. The module assignment is often made by the interviewer, who may have insufficient occupational hygiene knowledge to assign the correct module. We evaluated, in the context of a case-control study of lymphoid neoplasms in Asia ('AsiaLymph'), the performance of an algorithm that provided automatic, real-time module assignment during a computer-assisted personal interview. AsiaLymph's occupational component began with a lifetime occupational history questionnaire with free-text responses and three solvent exposure screening questions. To assign each job to one of 23 study-specific modules, an algorithm automatically searched the free-text responses to the questions 'job title' and 'product made or services provided by employer' using a list of module-specific keywords, comprising over 5800 keywords in English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese. Hierarchical decision rules were used when the keyword match triggered multiple modules. If no keyword match was identified, a generic solvent module was assigned if the subject responded 'yes' to any of the three solvent screening questions. If these question responses were all 'no', a work location module was assigned, which redirected the subject to the farming, teaching, health professional, solvent, or industry solvent modules or ended the questions for that job, depending on the location response. We conducted a reliability assessment that compared the algorithm-assigned modules to consensus module assignments made by two industrial hygienists for a subset of 1251 (of 11409) jobs selected using a stratified random selection procedure using module-specific strata. Discordant assignments between the algorithm and consensus assignments (483 jobs) were qualitatively reviewed by the hygienists to evaluate the potential information lost from missed questions with using

  3. European Code against Cancer 4th Edition: Environment, occupation and cancer.

    PubMed

    Espina, Carolina; Straif, Kurt; Friis, Søren; Kogevinas, Manolis; Saracci, Rodolfo; Vainio, Harri; Schüz, Joachim

    2015-12-01

    People are exposed throughout life to a wide range of environmental and occupational pollutants from different sources at home, in the workplace or in the general environment - exposures that normally cannot be directly controlled by the individual. Several chemicals, metals, dusts, fibres, and occupations have been established to be causally associated with an increased risk of specific cancers, such as cancers of the lung, skin and urinary bladder, and mesothelioma. Significant amounts of air pollutants - mainly from road transport and industry - continue to be emitted in the European Union (EU); an increased occurrence of lung cancer has been attributed to air pollution even in areas below the EU limits for daily air pollution. Additionally, a wide range of pesticides as well as industrial and household chemicals may lead to widespread human exposure, mainly through food and water. For most environmental pollutants, the most effective measures are regulations and community actions aimed at reducing and eliminating the exposures. Thus, it is imperative to raise awareness about environmental and occupational carcinogens in order to motivate individuals to be proactive in advocating protection and supporting initiatives aimed at reducing pollution. Regulations are not homogeneous across EU countries, and protective measures in the workplace are not used consistently by all workers all the time; compliance with regulations needs to be continuously monitored and enforced. Therefore, the recommendation on Environment and Occupation of the 4th edition of the European Code against Cancer, focusing on what individuals can do to reduce their cancer risk, reads: "In the workplace, protect yourself against cancer-causing substances by following health and safety instructions." Copyright © 2015 International Agency for Research on Cancer. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Surface acoustic wave coding for orthogonal frequency coded devices

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Malocha, Donald (Inventor); Kozlovski, Nikolai (Inventor)

    2011-01-01

    Methods and systems for coding SAW OFC devices to mitigate code collisions in a wireless multi-tag system. Each device producing plural stepped frequencies as an OFC signal with a chip offset delay to increase code diversity. A method for assigning a different OCF to each device includes using a matrix based on the number of OFCs needed and the number chips per code, populating each matrix cell with OFC chip, and assigning the codes from the matrix to the devices. The asynchronous passive multi-tag system includes plural surface acoustic wave devices each producing a different OFC signal having the same number of chips and including a chip offset time delay, an algorithm for assigning OFCs to each device, and a transceiver to transmit an interrogation signal and receive OFC signals in response with minimal code collisions during transmission.

  5. Change in MS-DRG assignment and hospital reimbursement as a result of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid changes in payment for hospital-acquired conditions: is it coding or quality?

    PubMed

    McNutt, Robert; Johnson, Tricia J; Odwazny, Richard; Remmich, Zachary; Skarupski, Kimberly; Meurer, Steven; Hohmann, Samuel; Harting, Brian

    2010-01-01

    In October 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reduced payments to hospitals for a group of hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) not documented as present on admission (POA). It is unknown what proportion of Medicare severity diagnosis related group (MS-DRG) assignments will change when the International Classification of Disease, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis code for the HAC is not taken into account even before considering the POA status. The primary objectives were to estimate the proportion of cases that change MS-DRG assignment when HACs are removed from the calculation, the subsequent changes in reimbursement to hospitals, and the attenuation in changes in MS-DRG assignment after factoring in those that may be POA. Last, we explored the effect of the numbers of ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes on MS-DRG assignment. We obtained 2 years of discharge data from academic medical centers that were members of the University Health System Consortium and identified all cases with 1 of 7 HACs coded through ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes. We calculated the MS-DRG for each case with and without the HAC and, hence, the proportion where MS-DRG assignment changed. Next, we used a bootstrap method to calculate the range in the proportion of cases changing assignment to account for POA status. Changes in reimbursement were estimated by using the 2008 MS-DRG weights payment formula. Of 184,932 cases with at least 1 HAC, 27.6% (n = 52,272) would experience a change in MS-DRG assignment without the HAC factored into the assignment. After taking into account those conditions that were potentially POA, 7.5% (n = 14,176) of the original cases would change MS-DRG assignment, with an average loss in reimbursement per case ranging from $1548 with a catheter-associated urinary tract infection to $7310 for a surgical site infection. These reductions would translate into a total reimbursement loss of $50 261,692 (range: $38 330,747-$62 344,360) for the 86

  6. Occupational exposures and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): comparison of a COPD-specific job exposure matrix and expert-evaluated occupational exposures

    PubMed Central

    Kurth, Laura; Doney, Brent; Weinmann, Sheila

    2017-01-01

    Objectives To compare the occupational exposure levels assigned by our National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-specific job exposure matrix (NIOSH COPD JEM) and by expert evaluation of detailed occupational information for various jobs held by members of an integrated health plan in the Northwest USA. Methods We analysed data from a prior study examining COPD and occupational exposures. Jobs were assigned exposure levels using 2 methods: (1) the COPD JEM and (2) expert evaluation. Agreement (Cohen’s κ coefficients), sensitivity and specificity were calculated to compare exposure levels assigned by the 2 methods for 8 exposure categories. Results κ indicated slight to moderate agreement (0.19–0.51) between the 2 methods and was highest for organic dust and overall exposure. Sensitivity of the matrix ranged from 33.9% to 68.5% and was highest for sensitisers, diesel exhaust and overall exposure. Specificity ranged from 74.7% to 97.1% and was highest for fumes, organic dust and mineral dust. Conclusions This COPD JEM was compared with exposures assigned by experts and offers a generalisable approach to assigning occupational exposure. PMID:27777373

  7. 41 CFR 102-85.75 - When can space assignments be terminated?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Property Management Regulations System (Continued) FEDERAL MANAGEMENT REGULATION REAL PROPERTY 85-PRICING POLICY FOR OCCUPANCY IN GSA SPACE Occupancy Agreement § 102-85.75 When can space assignments be...

  8. The Upper Midwest Health Study: industry and occupation of glioma cases and controls.

    PubMed

    Ruder, Avima M; Waters, Martha A; Carreón, Tania; Butler, Mary A; Calvert, Geoffrey M; Davis-King, Karen E; Waters, Kathleen M; Schulte, Paul A; Mandel, Jack S; Morton, Roscoe F; Reding, Douglas J; Rosenman, Kenneth D

    2012-09-01

    Understanding glioma etiology requires determining which environmental factors are associated with glioma. Upper Midwest Health Study case-control participant work histories collected 1995-1998 were evaluated for occupational associations with glioma. "Exposures of interest" from our study protocol comprise our a priori hypotheses. Year-long or longer jobs for 1,973 participants were assigned Standard Occupational Classifications (SOC) and Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC). The analysis file includes 8,078 SIC- and SOC-coded jobs. For each individual, SAS 9.2 programs collated employment with identical SIC-SOC coding. Distributions of longest "total employment duration" (total years worked in jobs with identical industry and occupation codes, including multiple jobs, and non-consecutive jobs) were compared between cases and controls, using an industrial hygiene algorithm to group occupations. Longest employment duration was calculated for 780 cases and 1,156 controls. More case than control longest total employment duration was in the "engineer, architect" occupational group [16 cases, 10 controls, odds ratio (OR) 2.50, adjusted for age group, sex, age and education, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.12-5.60]. Employment as a food processing worker [mostly butchers and meat cutters] was of borderline significance (27 cases, 21 controls, adjusted OR: 1.78, CI: 0.99-3.18). Among our exposures of interest work as engineers or as butchers and meat cutters was associated with increased glioma risk. Significant associations could be due to chance, because of multiple comparisons, but similar findings have been reported for other glioma studies. Our results suggest some possible associations but by themselves could not provide conclusive evidence. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. The Upper Midwest Health Study: Industry and Occupation of Glioma Cases and Controls

    PubMed Central

    Ruder, Avima M.; Waters, Martha A.; Carreón, Tania; Butler, Mary A.; Calvert, Geoffrey M.; Davis-King, Karen E.; Waters, Kathleen M.; Schulte, Paul A.; Mandel, Jack S.; Morton, Roscoe F.; Reding, Douglas J.; Rosenman, Kenneth D.

    2015-01-01

    Background Understanding glioma etiology requires determining which environmental factors are associated with glioma. Upper Midwest Health Study case–control participant work histories collected 1995–1998 were evaluated for occupational associations with glioma. “Exposures of interest” from our study protocol comprise our a priori hypotheses. Materials and Methods Year-long or longer jobs for 1,973 participants were assigned Standard Occupational Classifications (SOC) and Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC). The analysis file includes 8,078 SIC- and SOC-coded jobs. For each individual, SAS 9.2 programs collated employment with identical SIC-SOC coding. Distributions of longest “total employment duration” (total years worked in jobs with identical industry and occupation codes, including multiple jobs, and non-consecutive jobs) were compared between cases and controls, using an industrial hygiene algorithm to group occupations. Results Longest employment duration was calculated for 780 cases and 1,156 controls. More case than control longest total employment duration was in the “engineer, architect” occupational group [16 cases, 10 controls, odds ratio (OR) 2.50, adjusted for age group, sex, age and education, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.12–5.60]. Employment as a food processing worker [mostly butchers and meat cutters] was of borderline significance (27 cases, 21 controls, adjusted OR: 1.78, CI: 0.99–3.18). Conclusions Among our exposures of interest work as engineers or as butchers and meat cutters was associated with increased glioma risk. Significant associations could be due to chance, because of multiple comparisons, but similar findings have been reported for other glioma studies. Our results suggest some possible associations but by themselves could not provide conclusive evidence. PMID:22715102

  10. Occupational exposures and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): comparison of a COPD-specific job exposure matrix and expert-evaluated occupational exposures.

    PubMed

    Kurth, Laura; Doney, Brent; Weinmann, Sheila

    2017-03-01

    To compare the occupational exposure levels assigned by our National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-specific job exposure matrix (NIOSH COPD JEM) and by expert evaluation of detailed occupational information for various jobs held by members of an integrated health plan in the Northwest USA. We analysed data from a prior study examining COPD and occupational exposures. Jobs were assigned exposure levels using 2 methods: (1) the COPD JEM and (2) expert evaluation. Agreement (Cohen's κ coefficients), sensitivity and specificity were calculated to compare exposure levels assigned by the 2 methods for 8 exposure categories. κ indicated slight to moderate agreement (0.19-0.51) between the 2 methods and was highest for organic dust and overall exposure. Sensitivity of the matrix ranged from 33.9% to 68.5% and was highest for sensitisers, diesel exhaust and overall exposure. Specificity ranged from 74.7% to 97.1% and was highest for fumes, organic dust and mineral dust. This COPD JEM was compared with exposures assigned by experts and offers a generalisable approach to assigning occupational exposure. 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/.

  11. Cracking the code: the accuracy of coding shoulder procedures and the repercussions.

    PubMed

    Clement, N D; Murray, I R; Nie, Y X; McBirnie, J M

    2013-05-01

    Coding of patients' diagnosis and surgical procedures is subject to error levels of up to 40% with consequences on distribution of resources and financial recompense. Our aim was to explore and address reasons behind coding errors of shoulder diagnosis and surgical procedures and to evaluate a potential solution. A retrospective review of 100 patients who had undergone surgery was carried out. Coding errors were identified and the reasons explored. A coding proforma was designed to address these errors and was prospectively evaluated for 100 patients. The financial implications were also considered. Retrospective analysis revealed the correct primary diagnosis was assigned in 54 patients (54%) had an entirely correct diagnosis, and only 7 (7%) patients had a correct procedure code assigned. Coders identified indistinct clinical notes and poor clarity of procedure codes as reasons for errors. The proforma was significantly more likely to assign the correct diagnosis (odds ratio 18.2, p < 0.0001) and the correct procedure code (odds ratio 310.0, p < 0.0001). Using the proforma resulted in a £28,562 increase in revenue for the 100 patients evaluated relative to the income generated from the coding department. High error levels for coding are due to misinterpretation of notes and ambiguity of procedure codes. This can be addressed by allowing surgeons to assign the diagnosis and procedure using a simplified list that is passed directly to coding.

  12. Secondary Health Occupations Education Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matzen, Shelley; Muhl, V. Jane

    This color coded curriculum guide for secondary health occupations in Iowa provides units for the first phase of the curriculum, career exploration of the health occupations. The nine units cover the following topics: (1) introduction to health occupations; (2) health occupations career exploration; (3) communication skills; (4) self-care and…

  13. An Empirical Test of the Modified C Index and SII, O*NET, and DHOC Occupational Code Classifications

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dik, Bryan J.; Hu, Ryan S. C.; Hansen, Jo-Ida C.

    2007-01-01

    The present study investigated new approaches for assessing Holland's congruence hypothesis by (a) developing and applying four sets of decision rules for assigning Holland codes of varying lengths for purposes of computing Eggerth and Andrew's modified C index; (b) testing the modified C index computed using these four approaches against Brown…

  14. Personality Characteristics and Motor Skills Attributed to Occupations in Parkinson Disease

    PubMed Central

    Gatto, Nicole M.; Bordelon, Yvette; Gatz, Margaret; Ritz, Beate

    2013-01-01

    Background It has previously been speculated that a distinct premorbid personality characterized by introversion, rigidity, and over cautiousness might be associated with Parkinson disease (PD). Only 1 previous study has assessed personality before PD onset, and other data collected retrospectively do not exclude reverse causation. Objective We relied on the longest held job reported in an interview to infer personality traits and motor skills for 355 incident PD patients and 335 population controls enrolled in a PD study in California. Methods Jobs were coded according to the 1980 US Census Occupational Code and assigned scores for various demands, skills, and aptitudes required by the job. Results None of the occupational temperament or interest factors required, expected, or exhibited by workers were related to statistically significantly higher odds of having PD per unit increase in scores, whereas there was some suggestion of differences when the extremes were examined. Analyses of physical aptitude factors showed that PD cases were less likely to have worked in jobs that involved certain motor skills. Conclusions This study uses a novel approach to assess personality traits using occupational characteristics. Most job attributes thought to reflect conservativeness; risk taking, stress resistance, and flexibility were not associated with PD in a linear manner. Thus, these occupation-derived traits do not seem to support the existence of a distinct parkinsonian personality. However, the negative associations with jobs requiring certain motor skills are intriguing, and may suggest very early premotor features or a lack of continuous motor training as a risk factor for PD. PMID:21487260

  15. Personality characteristics and motor skills attributed to occupations in Parkinson disease.

    PubMed

    Gatto, Nicole M; Bordelon, Yvette; Gatz, Margaret; Ritz, Beate

    2011-03-01

    It has previously been speculated that a distinct premorbid personality characterized by introversion, rigidity, and over cautiousness might be associated with Parkinson disease (PD). Only 1 previous study has assessed personality before PD onset, and other data collected retrospectively do not exclude reverse causation. We relied on the longest held job reported in an interview to infer personality traits and motor skills for 355 incident PD patients and 335 population controls enrolled in a PD study in California. Jobs were coded according to the 1980 US Census Occupational Code and assigned scores for various demands, skills, and aptitudes required by the job. None of the occupational temperament or interest factors required, expected, or exhibited by workers were related to statistically significantly higher odds of having PD per unit increase in scores, whereas there was some suggestion of differences when the extremes were examined. Analyses of physical aptitude factors showed that PD cases were less likely to have worked in jobs that involved certain motor skills. This study uses a novel approach to assess personality traits using occupational characteristics. Most job attributes thought to reflect conservativeness; risk taking, stress resistance, and flexibility were not associated with PD in a linear manner. Thus, these occupation-derived traits do not seem to support the existence of a distinct parkinsonian personality. However, the negative associations with jobs requiring certain motor skills are intriguing, and may suggest very early premotor features or a lack of continuous motor training as a risk factor for PD.

  16. Evaluation of Automatically Assigned Job-Specific Interview Modules

    PubMed Central

    Friesen, Melissa C.; Lan, Qing; Ge, Calvin; Locke, Sarah J.; Hosgood, Dean; Fritschi, Lin; Sadkowsky, Troy; Chen, Yu-Cheng; Wei, Hu; Xu, Jun; Lam, Tai Hing; Kwong, Yok Lam; Chen, Kexin; Xu, Caigang; Su, Yu-Chieh; Chiu, Brian C. H.; Ip, Kai Ming Dennis; Purdue, Mark P.; Bassig, Bryan A.; Rothman, Nat; Vermeulen, Roel

    2016-01-01

    Objective: In community-based epidemiological studies, job- and industry-specific ‘modules’ are often used to systematically obtain details about the subject’s work tasks. The module assignment is often made by the interviewer, who may have insufficient occupational hygiene knowledge to assign the correct module. We evaluated, in the context of a case–control study of lymphoid neoplasms in Asia (‘AsiaLymph’), the performance of an algorithm that provided automatic, real-time module assignment during a computer-assisted personal interview. Methods: AsiaLymph’s occupational component began with a lifetime occupational history questionnaire with free-text responses and three solvent exposure screening questions. To assign each job to one of 23 study-specific modules, an algorithm automatically searched the free-text responses to the questions ‘job title’ and ‘product made or services provided by employer’ using a list of module-specific keywords, comprising over 5800 keywords in English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese. Hierarchical decision rules were used when the keyword match triggered multiple modules. If no keyword match was identified, a generic solvent module was assigned if the subject responded ‘yes’ to any of the three solvent screening questions. If these question responses were all ‘no’, a work location module was assigned, which redirected the subject to the farming, teaching, health professional, solvent, or industry solvent modules or ended the questions for that job, depending on the location response. We conducted a reliability assessment that compared the algorithm-assigned modules to consensus module assignments made by two industrial hygienists for a subset of 1251 (of 11409) jobs selected using a stratified random selection procedure using module-specific strata. Discordant assignments between the algorithm and consensus assignments (483 jobs) were qualitatively reviewed by the hygienists to evaluate the potential

  17. Variables Affecting Assignment of Occupations to Men and Women.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Neill, Patrick

    Male and female college students were given a questionnaire containing descriptions of four stimulus persons, with gender of stimulus person varied between groups. Subjects selected any of eight occupations for which the stimulus persons might be suited, and they rated the potential of such persons to be good parents. Traditional "masculinity" of…

  18. 10 CFR 434.513 - Occupancy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Occupancy. 434.513 Section 434.513 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY CODE FOR NEW FEDERAL COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY HIGH RISE RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS Building Energy Cost Compliance Alternative § 434.513 Occupancy. 5131Occupancy schedules are...

  19. 10 CFR 434.513 - Occupancy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Occupancy. 434.513 Section 434.513 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY CODE FOR NEW FEDERAL COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY HIGH RISE RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS Building Energy Cost Compliance Alternative § 434.513 Occupancy. 5131 Occupancy schedules are...

  20. 10 CFR 434.513 - Occupancy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Occupancy. 434.513 Section 434.513 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY CODE FOR NEW FEDERAL COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY HIGH RISE RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS Building Energy Cost Compliance Alternative § 434.513 Occupancy. 5131Occupancy schedules are...

  1. 10 CFR 434.513 - Occupancy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Occupancy. 434.513 Section 434.513 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY CODE FOR NEW FEDERAL COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY HIGH RISE RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS Building Energy Cost Compliance Alternative § 434.513 Occupancy. 5131Occupancy schedules are...

  2. Occupational therapy students' perceptions of occupational therapy.

    PubMed

    Turpin, Merrill June; Rodger, Sylvia; Hall, Anna R

    2012-10-01

    An understanding of students' perceptions of occupational therapy on entry is required to recognise how professional socialisation occurs through curriculum. Findings pertain to a qualitative study investigating students' perceptions of occupational therapy upon entry to two occupational therapy programmes in Australia. Students commencing Bachelor of Occupational Therapy and Masters of Occupational Therapy Studies programmes participated in the study (n = 462). A purpose-designed questionnaire was distributed to students in the first lecture of each programme. Preliminary analysis comprised identification of keywords/phrases and coding categories were generated from patterns of keywords. Frequency counts and percentages of keywords/phrases within categories were completed. Students' responses were categorised as 'what' occupational therapists do; 'how' they do it; 'why' they do it; and 'who' they work with. In 'what' occupational therapists do students frequently described 'helping' people. Both undergraduate and graduate entry masters students used the term 'rehabilitation' to describe how occupational therapy is done, with graduate entry students occasionally responding with 'through occupation' and 'modifying the environment'. Students perceived the 'why' of occupational therapy as getting back to 'everyday activities', with some students emphasising returning to 'normal' activities or life. Regarding the 'who' category, students also thought occupational therapists worked with people with an 'injury' or 'disability'. Students entered their occupational therapy programmes with perceptions consistent with the general public's views of occupational therapy. However, graduate entry students exposed to a pre-reading package prior to entry had more advanced occupational therapy concepts than undergraduate students. © 2011 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal © 2011 Occupational Therapy Australia.

  3. Risk of urinary bladder cancer: a case-control analysis of industry and occupation

    PubMed Central

    2009-01-01

    Background Uncertainty remains about urinary bladder cancer (UBC) risk for many occupations. Here, we investigate the association between occupation, industry and UBC. Methods Lifetime occupational history was collected by in-person interview for 604 newly diagnosed UBC patients and 604 cancer-free controls. Each job title was assigned a two-digit industry code and a three-digit occupation code. Odds ratios (ORs) for UBC associated with ever being employed in an industry or occupation were calculated by unconditional logistic regression adjusting for age, gender and smoking status. We also examined UBC risk by duration of employment (>0 to <10, ≥10 years) in industry or occupation. Results Significantly increased risk of UBC was observed among waiters and bartenders (OR 2.87; 95% CI 1.05 to 7.72) and occupations related to medicine and health (OR 2.17; 95% CI 1.21 to 3.92), agricultural production, livestock and animal specialties (OR 1.90; 95% CI 1.03 to 3.49), electrical assembly, installation and repair (OR 1.69; 95% CI 1.07 to 2.65), communications (OR 1.74; 95% CI 1.00 to 3.01), and health services (OR 1.58; 95% CI 1.02 to 2.44). For these occupations we also observed a significant excess risk of UBC for long-term work (i.e. ≥10 years), with the exception of waiters and bartenders. Employment for 10 years or more was associated with increased risk of UBC in general farmers (OR 9.58; 95% CI 2.18 to 42.05), agricultural production of crops (OR 3.36; 95% CI 1.10 to 10.27), occupations related to bench working (OR 4.76; 95% CI 1.74 to 13.01), agricultural, fishery, forestry & related (OR 4.58; 95% CI 1.97 to 10.65), transportation equipment (OR 2.68; 95% CI 1.03 to 6.97), and structural work (OR 1.85; 95% CI 1.16 to 2.95). Conclusions This study provides evidence of increased risk of UBC for occupations that were previously reported as at-risk. Workers in several occupation and industry groups have a significantly higher risk of UBC, particularly when duration

  4. Theoretical and subjective bit assignments in transform picture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jones, H. W., Jr.

    1977-01-01

    It is shown that all combinations of symmetrical input distributions with difference distortion measures give a bit assignment rule identical to the well-known rule for a Gaussian input distribution with mean-square error. Published work is examined to show that the bit assignment rule is useful for transforms of full pictures, but subjective bit assignments for transform picture coding using small block sizes are significantly different from the theoretical bit assignment rule. An intuitive explanation is based on subjective design experience, and a subjectively obtained bit assignment rule is given.

  5. Occupational physical demand and risk of hip fracture in older women.

    PubMed

    Palumbo, Aimee J; Michael, Yvonne L; Burstyn, Igor; Lee, Brian K; Wallace, Robert

    2015-08-01

    Hip fractures are leading causes of disability, morbidity and mortality among older women. Since physical activity helps maintain physical functioning and bone mineral density, occupational physical demand may influence fracture risk. This study investigates the association of occupational physical demand with hip fracture incidence among women. The Women's Health Initiative Observational Study is a multiethnic cohort of 93,676 postmenopausal women, 50-79 years of age at enrolment, enrolled from 1994 to 1998 at 40 geographically diverse clinical centres throughout the USA. Outcomes including hip fractures were assessed annually and up to 3 jobs held since age 18 years were reported by each woman. Occupational physical demand levels were assigned for each job through linkage of occupational titles with Standard Occupational Codes and the Occupational Information Network. Average, cumulative and peak physical demand scores both before and after menopause and throughout women's work life were estimated. Women were followed through 2010 for an average of 11.5 years; 1834 hip fractures occurred during this time. We did not observe an overall association of occupational physical demand with subsequent risk of hip fracture after adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, birth region and education. Previous research on occupations and hip fracture risk in women is inconclusive. This study was able to take critical risk periods into account and control for confounding factors in a large cohort of older women to show that overall occupational physical demand neither increases nor decreases risk of hip fracture later in life. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  6. UNEQUAL RISK: COMBAT OCCUPATIONS IN THE VOLUNTEER MILITARY

    PubMed Central

    MacLEAN, ALAIR; PARSONS, NICHOLAS L.

    2011-01-01

    This study evaluates the characteristics of the men who served in the volunteer military in combat occupations. It examines whether these characteristics stem from supply-side or demand-side decisions, or reflect class bias. The findings suggest that, on the supply side, men who had greater academic abilities were more likely to go to college, thereby avoiding military service and the possibility of serving in a combat occupation. On the demand side, the armed forces were more likely to exclude men with lower academic abilities but were more likely to assign such men in the military to combat occupations. Net of the impacts of these supply-side and demand-side decisions, men who served in combat occupations still differed from those who did not in terms of their family background. The impact of family background was stronger on entering the military than on being assigned to combat occupations once in the military. PMID:21691446

  7. Using narrative text and coded data to develop hazard scenarios for occupational injury interventions

    PubMed Central

    Lincoln, A; Sorock, G; Courtney, T; Wellman, H; Smith, G; Amoroso, P

    2004-01-01

    Objective: To determine whether narrative text in safety reports contains sufficient information regarding contributing factors and precipitating mechanisms to prioritize occupational back injury prevention strategies. Design, setting, subjects, and main outcome measures: Nine essential data elements were identified in narratives and coded sections of safety reports for each of 94 cases of back injuries to United States Army truck drivers reported to the United States Army Safety Center between 1987 and 1997. The essential elements of each case were used to reconstruct standardized event sequences. A taxonomy of the event sequences was then developed to identify common hazard scenarios and opportunities for primary interventions. Results: Coded data typically only identified five data elements (broad activity, task, event/exposure, nature of injury, and outcomes) while narratives provided additional elements (contributing factor, precipitating mechanism, primary source) essential for developing our taxonomy. Three hazard scenarios were associated with back injuries among Army truck drivers accounting for 83% of cases: struck by/against events during motor vehicle crashes; falls resulting from slips/trips or loss of balance; and overexertion from lifting activities. Conclusions: Coded data from safety investigations lacked sufficient information to thoroughly characterize the injury event. However, the combination of existing narrative text (similar to that collected by many injury surveillance systems) and coded data enabled us to develop a more complete taxonomy of injury event characteristics and identify common hazard scenarios. This study demonstrates that narrative text can provide the additional information on contributing factors and precipitating mechanisms needed to target prevention strategies. PMID:15314055

  8. Measuring diagnoses: ICD code accuracy.

    PubMed

    O'Malley, Kimberly J; Cook, Karon F; Price, Matt D; Wildes, Kimberly Raiford; Hurdle, John F; Ashton, Carol M

    2005-10-01

    To examine potential sources of errors at each step of the described inpatient International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding process. The use of disease codes from the ICD has expanded from classifying morbidity and mortality information for statistical purposes to diverse sets of applications in research, health care policy, and health care finance. By describing a brief history of ICD coding, detailing the process for assigning codes, identifying where errors can be introduced into the process, and reviewing methods for examining code accuracy, we help code users more systematically evaluate code accuracy for their particular applications. We summarize the inpatient ICD diagnostic coding process from patient admission to diagnostic code assignment. We examine potential sources of errors at each step and offer code users a tool for systematically evaluating code accuracy. Main error sources along the "patient trajectory" include amount and quality of information at admission, communication among patients and providers, the clinician's knowledge and experience with the illness, and the clinician's attention to detail. Main error sources along the "paper trail" include variance in the electronic and written records, coder training and experience, facility quality-control efforts, and unintentional and intentional coder errors, such as misspecification, unbundling, and upcoding. By clearly specifying the code assignment process and heightening their awareness of potential error sources, code users can better evaluate the applicability and limitations of codes for their particular situations. ICD codes can then be used in the most appropriate ways.

  9. Functions and Positions of Corporate Occupational Health Managers in Company-Wide Occupational Health Management.

    PubMed

    Mori, Koji; Nagata, Tomohisa; Kajiki, Shigeyuki; Hino, Yoshiyuki; Nagata, Masako

    2013-08-21

    Objectives: It has become necessary for Japanese corporations to manage occupational health (OH) programs consistently throughout their organizations. Corporations need to clarify their health policies, develop standardized programs, assign OH staff, and ensure that they communicate with each other. To realize such conditions, many occupational physicians (OPs), who have the skills to lead corporation-wide OH activities, are now being assigned to head offices of corporations and referred to as corporate OH managers. However, there has been no research to date in Japan on their actual situation and function. We conducted an interview study of corporate OH managers to clarify their functions and positions in corporations. Subjects and Methods: We conducted semi-structural interviews with 14 corporate OH managers in large corporations employing more than 5,000 workers and multiple OPs. Interview scripts were coded to identify their functions as corporate OH managers and the context of their positions within corporate-wide OH management systems. Results: Five contexts were suggested. 1) Corporate OH managers played central roles in developing corporate health policies, standards and plans. 2) Head office department managers who supervised the sites distributed the policies and standards, and corporate OH managers instructed site OPs and OH staff. 3) In some corporations, corporate OH managers participated in the evaluation process of OH programs as part of occupational safety and health management systems or business audits. 4) Corporate OH managers led communications among OPs and OH staff by facilitating corporate OH meetings, and provided technical training. 5) Corporate OH managers in positions that enabled them to report directly or indirectly to decision makers (i.e., directors in charge) on human resource issues. Discussion: The results of this study suggest that companies that promote consistent company-wide OH programs also utilized the professional knowledge

  10. Measuring Diagnoses: ICD Code Accuracy

    PubMed Central

    O'Malley, Kimberly J; Cook, Karon F; Price, Matt D; Wildes, Kimberly Raiford; Hurdle, John F; Ashton, Carol M

    2005-01-01

    Objective To examine potential sources of errors at each step of the described inpatient International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding process. Data Sources/Study Setting The use of disease codes from the ICD has expanded from classifying morbidity and mortality information for statistical purposes to diverse sets of applications in research, health care policy, and health care finance. By describing a brief history of ICD coding, detailing the process for assigning codes, identifying where errors can be introduced into the process, and reviewing methods for examining code accuracy, we help code users more systematically evaluate code accuracy for their particular applications. Study Design/Methods We summarize the inpatient ICD diagnostic coding process from patient admission to diagnostic code assignment. We examine potential sources of errors at each step and offer code users a tool for systematically evaluating code accuracy. Principle Findings Main error sources along the “patient trajectory” include amount and quality of information at admission, communication among patients and providers, the clinician's knowledge and experience with the illness, and the clinician's attention to detail. Main error sources along the “paper trail” include variance in the electronic and written records, coder training and experience, facility quality-control efforts, and unintentional and intentional coder errors, such as misspecification, unbundling, and upcoding. Conclusions By clearly specifying the code assignment process and heightening their awareness of potential error sources, code users can better evaluate the applicability and limitations of codes for their particular situations. ICD codes can then be used in the most appropriate ways. PMID:16178999

  11. A method for modeling co-occurrence propensity of clinical codes with application to ICD-10-PCS auto-coding.

    PubMed

    Subotin, Michael; Davis, Anthony R

    2016-09-01

    Natural language processing methods for medical auto-coding, or automatic generation of medical billing codes from electronic health records, generally assign each code independently of the others. They may thus assign codes for closely related procedures or diagnoses to the same document, even when they do not tend to occur together in practice, simply because the right choice can be difficult to infer from the clinical narrative. We propose a method that injects awareness of the propensities for code co-occurrence into this process. First, a model is trained to estimate the conditional probability that one code is assigned by a human coder, given than another code is known to have been assigned to the same document. Then, at runtime, an iterative algorithm is used to apply this model to the output of an existing statistical auto-coder to modify the confidence scores of the codes. We tested this method in combination with a primary auto-coder for International Statistical Classification of Diseases-10 procedure codes, achieving a 12% relative improvement in F-score over the primary auto-coder baseline. The proposed method can be used, with appropriate features, in combination with any auto-coder that generates codes with different levels of confidence. The promising results obtained for International Statistical Classification of Diseases-10 procedure codes suggest that the proposed method may have wider applications in auto-coding. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  12. The neutral emergence of error minimized genetic codes superior to the standard genetic code.

    PubMed

    Massey, Steven E

    2016-11-07

    The standard genetic code (SGC) assigns amino acids to codons in such a way that the impact of point mutations is reduced, this is termed 'error minimization' (EM). The occurrence of EM has been attributed to the direct action of selection, however it is difficult to explain how the searching of alternative codes for an error minimized code can occur via codon reassignments, given that these are likely to be disruptive to the proteome. An alternative scenario is that EM has arisen via the process of genetic code expansion, facilitated by the duplication of genes encoding charging enzymes and adaptor molecules. This is likely to have led to similar amino acids being assigned to similar codons. Strikingly, we show that if during code expansion the most similar amino acid to the parent amino acid, out of the set of unassigned amino acids, is assigned to codons related to those of the parent amino acid, then genetic codes with EM superior to the SGC easily arise. This scheme mimics code expansion via the gene duplication of charging enzymes and adaptors. The result is obtained for a variety of different schemes of genetic code expansion and provides a mechanistically realistic manner in which EM has arisen in the SGC. These observations might be taken as evidence for self-organization in the earliest stages of life. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Report number codes

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

    Nelson, R.N.

    This publication lists all report number codes processed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information. The report codes are substantially based on the American National Standards Institute, Standard Technical Report Number (STRN)-Format and Creation Z39.23-1983. The Standard Technical Report Number (STRN) provides one of the primary methods of identifying a specific technical report. The STRN consists of two parts: The report code and the sequential number. The report code identifies the issuing organization, a specific program, or a type of document. The sequential number, which is assigned in sequence by each report issuing entity, is not included in thismore » publication. Part I of this compilation is alphabetized by report codes followed by issuing installations. Part II lists the issuing organization followed by the assigned report code(s). In both Parts I and II, the names of issuing organizations appear for the most part in the form used at the time the reports were issued. However, for some of the more prolific installations which have had name changes, all entries have been merged under the current name.« less

  14. Occupational stress and related factors among surgical residents in Korea.

    PubMed

    Kang, Sanghee; Jo, Hye Sung; Boo, Yoon Jung; Lee, Ji Sung; Kim, Chong Suk

    2015-11-01

    The application rate for surgical residents in Korea has continuously decreased over the past few years. The demanding workload and the occupational stress of surgical training are likely causes of this problem. The aim of this study was to investigate occupational stress and its related factors in Korean surgical residents. With the support of the Korean Surgical Society, we conducted an electronic survey of Korean surgical residents related to occupational stress. We used the Korean Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS) to measure occupational stress. We analyzed the data focused on the stress level and the factors associated with occupational stress. The mean KOSS score of the surgical residents was 55.39, which was significantly higher than that of practicing surgeons (48.16, P < 0.001) and the average score of specialized professionals (46.03, P < 0.001). Exercise was the only factor found to be significantly associated with KOSS score (P = 0.001) in univariate analysis. However, in multiple linear regression analysis, the mean number of assigned patients, resident occupation rate and exercise were all significantly associated with KOSS score. Surgical residents have high occupational stress compared to practicing surgeons and other professionals. Their mean number of assigned patients, resident recruitment rate and exercise were all significantly associated with occupational stress for surgical residents.

  15. Automated Diagnosis Coding with Combined Text Representations.

    PubMed

    Berndorfer, Stefan; Henriksson, Aron

    2017-01-01

    Automated diagnosis coding can be provided efficiently by learning predictive models from historical data; however, discriminating between thousands of codes while allowing a variable number of codes to be assigned is extremely difficult. Here, we explore various text representations and classification models for assigning ICD-9 codes to discharge summaries in MIMIC-III. It is shown that the relative effectiveness of the investigated representations depends on the frequency of the diagnosis code under consideration and that the best performance is obtained by combining models built using different representations.

  16. 4 CFR 3.3 - Assignments to and from States.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 4 Accounts 1 2014-01-01 2013-01-01 true Assignments to and from States. 3.3 Section 3.3 Accounts GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE PERSONNEL SYSTEM EMPLOYMENT § 3.3 Assignments to and from States. The provisions of subchapter VI of chapter 33 of title 5, U.S. Code, and Office of Personnel Management...

  17. 4 CFR 3.3 - Assignments to and from States.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 4 Accounts 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Assignments to and from States. 3.3 Section 3.3 Accounts GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE PERSONNEL SYSTEM EMPLOYMENT § 3.3 Assignments to and from States. The provisions of subchapter VI of chapter 33 of title 5, U.S. Code, and Office of Personnel Management...

  18. Code of practice for food handler activities.

    PubMed

    Smith, T A; Kanas, R P; McCoubrey, I A; Belton, M E

    2005-08-01

    The food industry regulates various aspects of food handler activities, according to legislation and customer expectations. The purpose of this paper is to provide a code of practice which delineates a set of working standards for food handler hygiene, handwashing, use of protective equipment, wearing of jewellery and body piercing. The code was developed by a working group of occupational physicians with expertise in both food manufacturing and retail, using a risk assessment approach. Views were also obtained from other occupational physicians working within the food industry and the relevant regulatory bodies. The final version of the code (available in full as Supplementary data in Occupational Medicine Online) therefore represents a broad consensus of opinion. The code of practice represents a set of minimum standards for food handler suitability and activities, based on a practical assessment of risk, for application in food businesses. It aims to provide useful working advice to food businesses of all sizes.

  19. Occupational Sex-Role Stereotyping. Effects of a Ninth-Grade Experience-Based Career Education Program on Occupational Sex-Role Stereotyping.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Humburg, Renae Bygel

    A study was conducted to determine the effects of a ninth-grade experience-based career education (EBCE) program upon occupational sex role stereotyping. Twenty-four volunteers were assigned to the EBCE group and twenty-four assigned to the control group. The career education group met four class periods per week and one full day per week for…

  20. Occupational stress and related factors among surgical residents in Korea

    PubMed Central

    Kang, Sanghee; Jo, Hye Sung; Lee, Ji Sung; Kim, Chong Suk

    2015-01-01

    Purpose The application rate for surgical residents in Korea has continuously decreased over the past few years. The demanding workload and the occupational stress of surgical training are likely causes of this problem. The aim of this study was to investigate occupational stress and its related factors in Korean surgical residents. Methods With the support of the Korean Surgical Society, we conducted an electronic survey of Korean surgical residents related to occupational stress. We used the Korean Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS) to measure occupational stress. We analyzed the data focused on the stress level and the factors associated with occupational stress. Results The mean KOSS score of the surgical residents was 55.39, which was significantly higher than that of practicing surgeons (48.16, P < 0.001) and the average score of specialized professionals (46.03, P < 0.001). Exercise was the only factor found to be significantly associated with KOSS score (P = 0.001) in univariate analysis. However, in multiple linear regression analysis, the mean number of assigned patients, resident occupation rate and exercise were all significantly associated with KOSS score. Conclusion Surgical residents have high occupational stress compared to practicing surgeons and other professionals. Their mean number of assigned patients, resident recruitment rate and exercise were all significantly associated with occupational stress for surgical residents. PMID:26576407

  1. Development of a bar code-based exposure assessment method to evaluate occupational exposure to disinfectants and cleaning products: a pilot study.

    PubMed

    Quinot, Catherine; Amsellem-Dubourget, Sylvie; Temam, Sofia; Sevin, Etienne; Barreto, Christine; Tackin, Arzu; Félicité, Jérémy; Lyon-Caen, Sarah; Siroux, Valérie; Girard, Raphaële; Descatha, Alexis; Le Moual, Nicole; Dumas, Orianne

    2018-05-14

    Healthcare workers are highly exposed to various types of disinfectants and cleaning products. Assessment of exposure to these products remains a challenge. We aimed to investigate the feasibility of a method, based on a smartphone application and bar codes, to improve occupational exposure assessment among hospital/cleaning workers in epidemiological studies. A database of disinfectants and cleaning products used in French hospitals, including their names, bar codes and composition, was developed using several sources: ProdHyBase (a database of disinfectants managed by hospital hygiene experts), and specific regulatory agencies and industrial websites. A smartphone application has been created to scan bar codes of products and fill a short questionnaire. The application was tested in a French hospital. The ease of use and the ability to record information through this new approach were estimated. The method was tested in a French hospital (7 units, 14 participants). Through the application, 126 records (one record referred to one product entered by one participant/unit) were registered, majority of which were liquids (55.5%) or sprays (23.8%); 20.6% were used to clean surfaces and 15.9% to clean toilets. Workers used mostly products with alcohol and quaternary ammonium compounds (>90% with weekly use), followed by hypochlorite bleach and hydrogen peroxide (28.6%). For most records, information was available on the name (93.7%) and bar code (77.0%). Information on product compounds was available for all products and recorded in the database. This innovative and easy-to-use method could help to improve the assessment of occupational exposure to disinfectants/cleaning products in epidemiological studies. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  2. Python Source Code Plagiarism Attacks on Introductory Programming Course Assignments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Karnalim, Oscar

    2017-01-01

    This paper empirically enlists Python plagiarism attacks that have been found on Introductory Programming course assignments for undergraduate students. According to our observation toward 400 plagiarism-suspected cases, there are 35 plagiarism attacks that have been conducted by students. It starts with comment & whitespace modification as…

  3. Teaching Qualitative Research: Experiential Learning in Group-Based Interviews and Coding Assignments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeLyser, Dydia; Potter, Amy E.

    2013-01-01

    This article describes experiential-learning approaches to conveying the work and rewards involved in qualitative research. Seminar students interviewed one another, transcribed or took notes on those interviews, shared those materials to create a set of empirical materials for coding, developed coding schemes, and coded the materials using those…

  4. FORMAL AND ON-THE JOB TRAINING IN MILITARY OCCUPATIONS.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    BATEMAN, C.W.

    A MODEL IS CONSTRUCTED TO DETERMINE THE BEST PROPORTION OF FORMAL AND ON-THE-JOB TRAINING IN MILITARY OCCUPATIONS. SPECIAL CONSIDERATION IS GIVEN TO THE UNIQUE SITUATION OF ENLISTED PERSONNEL'S FIXED LENGTH OF SERVICE, THE SMALL PERCENTAGE OF RE-ENLISTMENT, AND THE NECESSITY OF TRAINING ALL ENLISTEES FOR ASSIGNED OCCUPATIONS. THE MODEL FORMULA…

  5. [History of occupational health physician and industrial safety and health law].

    PubMed

    Horie, Seichi

    2013-10-01

    In Japan, an employer of a workplace with 50 or more employees is legally required to assign an occupational health physician. The assignment rate in 2010 was reported as 87.0%. This policy started with the provision of "factory physician"in the Factory Law in 1938, then the Labour Standard Law stipulated "physician hygienist" in 1947, and finally the Industrial Safety and Health Law defined "occupational health physician" in 1972. In 1996, a revision of the law then required those physicians to complete training courses in occupational medicine, as designated by an ordinance. Historically, an on-site physician was expected to cure injuries and to prevent communicable diseases of factory workers. The means of occupational hygienic management by working environment measurements, etc., and of health management by health examinations, etc., were developed. Localized exhaust ventilation and personal protection equipment became widely utilized. Qualification systems for non-medical experts in occupational hygiene were structured, and relationships between employers and occupational health physicians were stipulated in the legislative documents. Currently, the Japan Medical Association and the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan educate and train occupational health physicians, and the Japan Society for Occupational Health maintains a specialized board certification system for these physicians. In the future, additional efforts should be made to strengthen the expertise of occupational health physicians, to define and recognize the roles of non-medical experts in occupational hygiene, to incorporate occupational health services in small enterprises, to promote occupational health risk assessment in the workplace, and to reorganize the current legislation, amended repeatedly over the decades.

  6. Occupation embedded in a real life: interweaving occupational science and occupational therapy. 1993 Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture.

    PubMed

    Clark, F

    1993-12-01

    This lecture presents an example of research in the genre of interpretive occupational science and demonstrates how occupational science can inform clinical practice. The innovative qualitative methodology used blended elements of the anthropological tradition of life history ethnography, ethnomethodology, the naturalistic methods used by Mattingly and Schön to study practice, and especially narrative analysis as described by Polkinghorne. The bulk of the paper is presented in the form of a narrative analysis that provides an account of a stroke survivor's personal struggle for recovery, a story that emerged from transcription, coding, and analysis of transcripts from approximately 20 hours of interview time. First, this narrative analysis provides an example of how the occupational science framework can evoke a particular kind of storytelling in which childhood occupation can be related to adult character. Storytelling of this kind is later shown to be therapeutic for the stroke survivor. Next, the narrative illustrates how rehabilitation can be experienced by the survivor as a rite of passage in which a person is moved to disability status and then abandoned. Finally, a picture is given of how occupational story making and occupational storytelling embedded in real life can nurture the human spirit to act and can become the core of clinical practice.

  7. Comparison of Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance and conventional occupational therapy on occupational performance in individuals with stroke: A randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Ahn, Si-Nae; Yoo, Eun-Young; Jung, Min-Ye; Park, Hae-Yean; Lee, Ji-Yeon; Choi, Yoo-Im

    2017-01-01

    Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) approach based on cognitive strategy in occupational therapy. To investigate the effects of CO-OP approach on occupational performance in individuals with hemiparetic stroke. This study was designed as a 5-week, randomized, single-blind. Forty-three participants who had a diagnosis of first stroke were enrolled in this study. The participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 20) or the control group (n = 23). The experimental group conducted CO-OP approach while the control group conducted conventional occupational therapy based on occupational performance components. This study measured Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) and Performance Quality Rating Scale (PQRS). Outcome measurements were performed at baseline and post-intervention. After training, the scores of COPM and PQRS in trained task were significantly higher for the score in the experimental group than the control group. In addition, the non-trained task was significantly higher for the score in the experimental group than the control group in COPM and the PQRS. This study suggests that the CO-OP approach is beneficial effects on the occupational performance to improvement in individuals with hemiparetic stroke, and have positive effects on generalization and transfer of acquired skills.

  8. Accommodating student learning styles and preferences in an online occupational therapy course.

    PubMed

    Doyle, Nancy Wolcott; Jacobs, Karen

    2013-01-01

    Occupational therapy's online education must be research-based and inclusive. One way to provide a more inclusive online learning experience is to attend to individual learning styles and preferences. This study uses the best available evidence on learning styles and online education to develop, implement, and study occupational therapy students' experiences with an online learning module and related assignment. Eight students consented to take an online survey after completing a learning module and related assignment in an online post-professional graduate course in occupational therapy. The survey explored their learning experience and its applicability to clinical work. Data gathered from multiple-choice, Likert-scale, and open-ended questions were descriptively analyzed. Results from this study suggest that students find the study of learning styles and preferences enjoyable and applicable to their clinical work, but are often motivated by factors such as time and technology when selecting the format of a course assignment.

  9. Ethical Tensions Related to Systemic Constraints: Occupational Alienation in Occupational Therapy Practice.

    PubMed

    Durocher, Evelyne; Kinsella, Elizabeth Anne; McCorquodale, Lisa; Phelan, Shanon

    2016-09-03

    Ethical tensions arise daily in health care practice and are frequently related to health care system structures or policies. Collective case study methodology was adopted to examine ethical tensions reported by occupational therapists practicing in different settings in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Inductive analysis involving multiple layers of coding was conducted. This article focuses on tensions related to systemic constraints. Participants reported ethical tensions related to balancing client priorities with those of health care services. Four themes related to systemic constraints were identified including imposed practices, ineffective processes, resource limitations, and lack of services. Therapists' aims could be seen to align with an "ethic of care" and were seen to be in tension in light of systemic constraints. The findings raise issues related to occupational justice, particularly related to occupational alienation in occupational therapy practice, and open conversations related to neoliberalist health care agendas. © The Author(s) 2016.

  10. Spatial Clustering of Occupational Injuries in Communities

    PubMed Central

    Friedman, Lee; Chin, Brian; Madigan, Dana

    2015-01-01

    Objectives. Using the social-ecological model, we hypothesized that the home residences of injured workers would be clustered predictably and geographically. Methods. We linked health care and publicly available datasets by home zip code for traumatically injured workers in Illinois from 2000 to 2009. We calculated numbers and rates of injuries, determined the spatial relationships, and developed 3 models. Results. Among the 23 200 occupational injuries, 80% of cases were located in 20% of zip codes and clustered in 10 locations. After component analysis, numbers and clusters of injuries correlated directly with immigrants; injury rates inversely correlated with urban poverty. Conclusions. Traumatic occupational injuries were clustered spatially by home location of the affected workers and in a predictable way. This put an inequitable burden on communities and provided evidence for the possible value of community-based interventions for prevention of occupational injuries. Work should be included in health disparities research. Stakeholders should determine whether and how to intervene at the community level to prevent occupational injuries. PMID:25905838

  11. The orchestration of occupation: the dance of mothers.

    PubMed

    Larson, E A

    2000-01-01

    This article describes the relationship of mothers' orchestration of daily occupations, the specialized maternal work of parenting a child with a disability, and the mother's subjective well-being. Mothers' daily occupations and subjective well-being were studied using multiple in-depth interviews, participant observation of a day's round of occupations, and scales of well-being. Data were treated to a recursive analysis, which included theoretical notes generated during transcriptions that identified important themes and additional points of inquiry, line-by-line coding of transcripts, and theoretical sorting of codes and regrouping, recoding. To account for patterns in the data, a relational analysis was conducted that included the generation of metaphors. Emergent findings of this analysis identified the mothers' guiding occupational motif and eight processes of orchestration in their daily routines. The occupational motif, the embrace of paradox, directed the mother's orchestration of daily occupations. The orchestration processes included planning, organizing, balancing, anticipating, interpreting, forecasting, perspective shifting, and meaning making. Examples illustrate the maternally driven and child-sensitive nature of these processes. In their daily rounds, the mothers studied were attentive to the manner and method with which they interacted with their children to produce child-contingent occupations commensurate with their values of being a good mother. Using these orchestration processes, mothers made sense of their past, designed their present, and planned for their future within their daily occupational rounds for themselves and family members.

  12. Occupation and Activity Gender Trends in the Berenstain Bear Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kashey, Melissa J.

    A study of 74 volumes of the Berenstain Bear Series rated illustrations according to the gender orientation of the activity or occupation the pictured bear is engaged in. Each occupation was assigned a number on the continuum by 32 psychology undergraduates at Bethany College who were given a written survey in a classroom together. Results showed…

  13. The Impact of Color-Coding Freshmen Integrated-Science Assignments on Student Achievement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sturdivant Allen, Anita Kay

    Students in Grade 9 exhibit high rates of grade retention and absenteeism. Educators have used different strategies that will increase the achievement of those students. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship existed between student achievement and the strategy to use colored paper for Grade 9 science assignments and tests. Itten's color theory provided the theoretical framework. Itten was one of the first researchers to explore the notion that the human eye can detect wavelengths as colors and that those colors can engage and create order in the human brain. A sample of students assigned to 4 classroom teachers at one high school who volunteered to take part in the study for 18 weeks were used in this quantitative study. Teachers administered student assessments on blue, green, yellow, and white paper. Each class was assigned 1 of the 4 colors for 4.5 weeks. The classes were then assigned a different color for the same length of time until each class had exposure to all 4 colors. Physical science exams given to students in the same grade or subject were used as the dependent variable. An ANOVA indicated that the groups using blue paper scored the highest on the physical science exams; students who used white paper earned the lowest scores. When comparing all 3 groups using colored paper (all three colored paper groups combined into one group) to the white paper groups, t-test results indicated that students using any colored paper scored higher than students using white paper. Further research on the impact of colored paper on student academic performance is necessary. Implications for positive social change indicate that new knowledge about instructional tools that impact student achievement deserves more attention.

  14. Occupational exposure to metals and risk of meningioma: a multinational case-control study.

    PubMed

    Sadetzki, Siegal; Chetrit, Angela; Turner, Michelle C; van Tongeren, Martie; Benke, Geza; Figuerola, Jordi; Fleming, Sarah; Hours, Martine; Kincl, Laurel; Krewski, Daniel; McLean, Dave; Parent, Marie-Elise; Richardson, Lesley; Schlehofer, Brigitte; Schlaefer, Klaus; Blettner, Maria; Schüz, Joachim; Siemiatycki, Jack; Cardis, Elisabeth

    2016-12-01

    The aim of the study was to examine associations between occupational exposure to metals and meningioma risk in the international INTEROCC study. INTEROCC is a seven-country population-based case-control study including 1906 adult meningioma cases and 5565 population controls. Incident cases were recruited between 2000 and 2004. A detailed occupational history was completed and job titles were coded into standard international occupational classifications. Estimates of mean workday exposure to individual metals and to welding fumes were assigned based on a job-exposure-matrix. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using conditional logistic regression. Although more controls than cases were ever exposed to metals (14 vs. 11 %, respectively), cases had higher median cumulative exposure levels. The ORs for ever vs. never exposure to any metal and to individual metals were mostly greater than 1.0, with the strongest association for exposure to iron (OR 1.26, 95 % CI 1.0-1.58). In women, an increased OR of 1.70 (95 % CI 1.0-2.89) was seen for ever vs never exposure to iron (OR in men 1.19, 95 % CI 0.91-1.54), with positive trends in relation with both cumulative and duration of exposure. These results remained after consideration of other occupational metal or chemical co-exposures. In conclusion, an apparent positive association between occupational exposure to iron and meningioma risk was observed, particularly among women. Considering the fact that meningioma is a hormone dependent tumor, the hypothesis that an interaction between iron and estrogen metabolism may be a potential mechanism for a carcinogenic effect of iron should be further investigated.

  15. Ethics in occupational health: deliberations of an international workgroup addressing challenges in an African context.

    PubMed

    London, Leslie; Tangwa, Godfrey; Matchaba-Hove, Reginald; Mkhize, Nhlanhla; Nwabueze, Remi; Nyika, Aceme; Westerholm, Peter

    2014-06-23

    International codes of ethics play an important role in guiding professional practice in developing countries. In the occupational health setting, codes developed by international agencies have substantial import on protecting working populations from harm. This is particularly so under globalisation which has transformed processes of production in fundamental ways across the globe. As part of the process of revising the Ethical Code of the International Commission on Occupational Health, an Africa Working Group addressed key challenges for the relevance and cogency of an ethical code in occupational health for an African context through an iterative consultative process. Firstly, even in the absence of strong legal systems of enforcement, and notwithstanding the value of legal institutionalisation of ethical codes, guidelines alone may offer advantageous routes to enhancing ethical practice in occupational health. Secondly, globalisation has particularly impacted on health and safety at workplaces in Africa, challenging occupational health professionals to be sensitive to, and actively redress imbalance of power. Thirdly, the different ways in which vulnerability is exemplified in the workplace in Africa often places the occupational health professional in invidious positions of Dual Loyalty. Fourth, the particular cultural emphasis in traditional African societies on collective responsibilities within the community impacts directly on how consent should be sought in occupational health practice, and how stigma should be dealt with, balancing individual autonomy with ideas of personhood that are more collective as in the African philosophy of ubuntu. To address stigma, practitioners need to be additionally sensitive to how power imbalances at the workplace intersect with traditional cultural norms related to solidarity. Lastly, particularly in the African context, the inseparability of workplace and community means that efforts to address workplace hazards demand

  16. Ethics in occupational health: deliberations of an international workgroup addressing challenges in an African context

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background International codes of ethics play an important role in guiding professional practice in developing countries. In the occupational health setting, codes developed by international agencies have substantial import on protecting working populations from harm. This is particularly so under globalisation which has transformed processes of production in fundamental ways across the globe. As part of the process of revising the Ethical Code of the International Commission on Occupational Health, an Africa Working Group addressed key challenges for the relevance and cogency of an ethical code in occupational health for an African context through an iterative consultative process. Discussion Firstly, even in the absence of strong legal systems of enforcement, and notwithstanding the value of legal institutionalisation of ethical codes, guidelines alone may offer advantageous routes to enhancing ethical practice in occupational health. Secondly, globalisation has particularly impacted on health and safety at workplaces in Africa, challenging occupational health professionals to be sensitive to, and actively redress imbalance of power. Thirdly, the different ways in which vulnerability is exemplified in the workplace in Africa often places the occupational health professional in invidious positions of Dual Loyalty. Fourth, the particular cultural emphasis in traditional African societies on collective responsibilities within the community impacts directly on how consent should be sought in occupational health practice, and how stigma should be dealt with, balancing individual autonomy with ideas of personhood that are more collective as in the African philosophy of ubuntu. To address stigma, practitioners need to be additionally sensitive to how power imbalances at the workplace intersect with traditional cultural norms related to solidarity. Lastly, particularly in the African context, the inseparability of workplace and community means that efforts to address

  17. 75 FR 55625 - Occupational Information Development Advisory Panel Meeting

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-13

    ... claims; occupational analysis, including definitions, ratings and capture of physical and mental... should contact the Panel staff by any one of these three methods: Mail: Occupational Information... Federal Officer. [FR Doc. 2010-22711 Filed 9-10-10; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4191-02-P ...

  18. DOE 2011 occupational radiation exposure

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

    none,

    2012-12-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Analysis within the Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS) publishes the annual DOE Occupational Radiation Exposure Report to provide an overview of the status of radiation protection practices at DOE (including the National Nuclear Security Administration [NNSA]). The DOE 2011 Occupational Radiation Exposure Report provides an evaluation of DOE-wide performance regarding compliance with Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), Part 835, Occupational Radiation Protection dose limits and as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) process requirements. In addition, the report provides data to DOE organizations responsible for developing policies for protectionmore » of individuals from the adverse health effects of radiation. The report provides a summary and an analysis of occupational radiation exposure information from the monitoring of individuals involved in DOE activities. The occupational radiation exposure information is analyzed in terms of aggregate data, dose to individuals, and dose by site over the past five years.« less

  19. Process Model Improvement for Source Code Plagiarism Detection in Student Programming Assignments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kermek, Dragutin; Novak, Matija

    2016-01-01

    In programming courses there are various ways in which students attempt to cheat. The most commonly used method is copying source code from other students and making minimal changes in it, like renaming variable names. Several tools like Sherlock, JPlag and Moss have been devised to detect source code plagiarism. However, for larger student…

  20. 19 CFR 142.46 - Presentation of invoice and assignment of entry number.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... transportation, the appropriate manifest document. (b) Verification of data. If after scanning the bar code at the Line Release site, the Customs officer verifies the data on the bar code with the information on... assigned to the transaction. If there are any differences between the system data and the invoice and bar...

  1. 19 CFR 142.46 - Presentation of invoice and assignment of entry number.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... transportation, the appropriate manifest document. (b) Verification of data. If after scanning the bar code at the Line Release site, the Customs officer verifies the data on the bar code with the information on... assigned to the transaction. If there are any differences between the system data and the invoice and bar...

  2. 19 CFR 142.46 - Presentation of invoice and assignment of entry number.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... transportation, the appropriate manifest document. (b) Verification of data. If after scanning the bar code at the Line Release site, the Customs officer verifies the data on the bar code with the information on... assigned to the transaction. If there are any differences between the system data and the invoice and bar...

  3. 19 CFR 142.46 - Presentation of invoice and assignment of entry number.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... transportation, the appropriate manifest document. (b) Verification of data. If after scanning the bar code at the Line Release site, the Customs officer verifies the data on the bar code with the information on... assigned to the transaction. If there are any differences between the system data and the invoice and bar...

  4. 19 CFR 142.46 - Presentation of invoice and assignment of entry number.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... transportation, the appropriate manifest document. (b) Verification of data. If after scanning the bar code at the Line Release site, the Customs officer verifies the data on the bar code with the information on... assigned to the transaction. If there are any differences between the system data and the invoice and bar...

  5. 21 CFR 801.57 - Discontinuation of legacy FDA identification numbers assigned to devices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Discontinuation of legacy FDA identification... Device Identification § 801.57 Discontinuation of legacy FDA identification numbers assigned to devices... been assigned an FDA labeler code to facilitate use of NHRIC or NDC numbers may continue to use that...

  6. Reporting of occupational injury and illness in the semiconductor manufacturing industry.

    PubMed

    McCurdy, S A; Schenker, M B; Samuels, S J

    1991-01-01

    In the United States, occupational illness and injury cases meeting specific reporting criteria are recorded on company Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 200 logs; case description data are submitted to participating state agencies for coding and entry in the national Supplementary Data System (SDS). We evaluated completeness of reporting (the percentage of reportable cases that were recorded in the company OSHA 200 log) in the semiconductor manufacturing industry by reviewing company health clinic records for 1984 of 10 manufacturing sites of member companies of a national semiconductor manufacturing industry trade association. Of 416 randomly selected work-related cases, 101 met OSHA reporting criteria. Reporting completeness was 60 percent and was lowest for occupational illnesses (44 percent). Case-description data from 150 reported cases were submitted twice to state coding personnel to evaluate coding reliability. Reliability was high (kappa 0.82-0.93) for "nature," "affected body part," "source," and "type" variables. Coding for the SDS appears reliable; reporting completeness may be improved by use of a stepwise approach by company personnel responsible for reporting decisions.

  7. Navy Occupational Health Information System (NOHIMS). Globals and Routines. Version 3.2

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-04-01

    ENViKONMENTAL HEALTH CENTER CODE 4443, BLDC 143 CODE 40, BLDG X-353 WASHINGTON NAVY YARD NAVAL STATION, WASHINGTON, DC 20374 NORFOLK, VA 23511-6695 6. PRODUCT...Keywords, identifiers, etc.) *Software, OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH MEDICAL EXAMS HAZARDOUS MATERIAL CONTROL ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE 8. DATES OF COVERAGE (For one...Property Control No.) W04. Recordin Oate 05. File Identifier or Descriptive Title 06. Short Title Year M~.ot Iay .NAVY OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH INFORMATION

  8. Occupational Therapy Home Program for Children with Intellectual Disabilities: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wuang, Yee-Pay; Ho, Guang-Sheng; Su, Chwen-Yng

    2013-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a proposed occupational therapy home program (OTHP) for children with intellectual disabilities (ID). Children with ID were randomly and equally assigned to OTHP or to no OTHP groups. The primary outcome measures were Canadian Occupational Performance, Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor…

  9. The Utility of Writing Assignments in Undergraduate Bioscience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Libarkin, Julie; Ording, Gabriel

    2012-01-01

    We tested the hypothesis that engagement in a few, brief writing assignments in a nonmajors science course can improve student ability to convey critical thought about science. A sample of three papers written by students (n = 30) was coded for presence and accuracy of elements related to scientific writing. Scores for different aspects of…

  10. Occupational Engagement in Low-Income Latina Breast Cancer Survivors.

    PubMed

    Sleight, Alix G

    This qualitative study examined the experience of occupational engagement in low-income Latina breast cancer survivors and suggests the potential for occupational therapy practitioners to improve health outcomes in this vulnerable and underserved population. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 9 participants. Inductive analysis was used to code for themes and patterns related to occupational engagement and quality of life (QOL). Lack of occupational engagement negatively affected QOL, but participation in occupations such as religious activity and caregiving promoted well-being. Financial concerns and communication barriers decreased QOL. Breast cancer can have a negative impact on occupational engagement in low-income Latina breast cancer survivors; however, some occupations may increase QOL. Socioeconomic status and cultural values influence occupational engagement and QOL. Occupational therapy practitioners can improve health outcomes in this population through awareness of relevant sociocultural factors and attention to appropriate patient communication. Copyright © 2017 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

  11. Comparison of Computer-Based Versus Counselor-Based Occupational Information Systems with Disadvantaged Vocational Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maola, Joseph; Kane, Gary

    1976-01-01

    Subjects, who were Occupational Work Experience students, were randomly assigned to individual guidance from either a computerized occupational information system, to a counselor-based information system or to a control group. Results demonstrate a hierarchical learning effect: The computer group learned more than the counseled group, which…

  12. [Legal and methodical aspects of occupational risk management].

    PubMed

    2011-01-01

    Legal and methodical aspects of occupational risk management (ORM) are considered with account of new official documents. Introduction of risk and risk management notions into Labor Code reflects the change of forms of occupational health and safety. The role of hygienist and occupational medicine professionals in workplace conditions certification (WCC) and periodical medical examinations (PME) is strengthened. The ORM could be improved by introducing the block of prognosis and causation based on IT-technologies that could match systems of WCC and PME thus improving the effectiveness of prophylactics.

  13. The Utility of Writing Assignments in Undergraduate Bioscience

    PubMed Central

    Libarkin, Julie; Ording, Gabriel

    2012-01-01

    We tested the hypothesis that engagement in a few, brief writing assignments in a nonmajors science course can improve student ability to convey critical thought about science. A sample of three papers written by students (n = 30) was coded for presence and accuracy of elements related to scientific writing. Scores for different aspects of scientific writing were significantly correlated, suggesting that students recognized relationships between components of scientific thought. We found that students' ability to write about science topics and state conclusions based on data improved over the course of three writing assignments, while the abilities to state a hypothesis and draw clear connections between human activities and environmental impacts did not improve. Three writing assignments generated significant change in student ability to write scientifically, although our results suggest that three is an insufficient number to generate complete development of scientific writing skills. PMID:22383616

  14. Internationalization in an Occupational Therapy Curriculum: A Philippine-American Pilot Collaboration.

    PubMed

    Cabatan, Maria Concepcion C; Grajo, Lenin C

    This study is a pilot implementation of an Internationalization at Home (IaH) teaching and learning collaboration to enhance intercultural learning and understanding of concepts of occupation in two cohorts of occupational science and occupational therapy students from the Philippines and the United States. In this collective case study, 149 students (Cohort 1, n = 65; Cohort 2, n = 84) participated. The collaboration included virtual conversations among students, faculty presentations, reflective assignments, and completion of an anonymous online survey. Analysis yielded three essential themes: (1) perception of increased knowledge about human occupation and the influence of culture, (2) identification of teaching-learning aspects that facilitated intercultural learning outcomes, and (3) identification of factors that were enablers of and barriers to learning. This study provides insights on how intercultural learning experiences can be integrated into occupational science and occupational therapy curricula and can increase understanding of concepts related to human occupation. Copyright © 2017 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

  15. Development of authentication code for multi-access optical code division multiplexing based quantum key distribution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Taiwo, Ambali; Alnassar, Ghusoon; Bakar, M. H. Abu; Khir, M. F. Abdul; Mahdi, Mohd Adzir; Mokhtar, M.

    2018-05-01

    One-weight authentication code for multi-user quantum key distribution (QKD) is proposed. The code is developed for Optical Code Division Multiplexing (OCDMA) based QKD network. A unique address assigned to individual user, coupled with degrading probability of predicting the source of the qubit transmitted in the channel offer excellent secure mechanism against any form of channel attack on OCDMA based QKD network. Flexibility in design as well as ease of modifying the number of users are equally exceptional quality presented by the code in contrast to Optical Orthogonal Code (OOC) earlier implemented for the same purpose. The code was successfully applied to eight simultaneous users at effective key rate of 32 bps over 27 km transmission distance.

  16. Update of an occupational asthma-specific job exposure matrix to assess exposure to 30 specific agents.

    PubMed

    Le Moual, Nicole; Zock, Jan-Paul; Dumas, Orianne; Lytras, Theodore; Andersson, Eva; Lillienberg, Linnéa; Schlünssen, Vivi; Benke, Geza; Kromhout, Hans

    2018-07-01

    We aimed to update an asthmagen job exposure matrix (JEM) developed in the late 1990s. Main reasons were: the number of suspected and recognised asthmagens has since tripled; understanding of the aetiological role of irritants in asthma and methodological insights in application of JEMs have emerged in the period. For each agent of the new occupational asthma-specific JEM (OAsJEM), a working group of three experts out of eight evaluated exposure for each International Standard Classification of Occupations, 1988 (ISCO-88) job code into three categories: 'high' (high probability of exposure and moderate-to-high intensity), 'medium' (low-to-moderate probability or low intensity) and 'unexposed'. Within a working group, experts evaluated exposures independently from each other. If expert assessments were inconsistent the final decision was taken by consensus. Specificity was favoured over sensitivity, that is, jobs were classified with high exposure only if the probability of exposure was high and the intensity moderate-to-high. In the final review, all experts checked assigned exposures and proposed/improved recommendations for expert re-evaluation after default application of the JEM. The OAsJEM covers exposures to 30 sensitisers/irritants, including 12 newly recognised, classified into seven broad groups. Initial agreement between the three experts was mostly fair to moderate (κ values 0.2-0.5). Out of 506 ISCO-88 codes, the majority was classified as unexposed (from 82.6% (organic solvents) to 99.8% (persulfates)) and a minority as 'high-exposed' (0.2% (persulfates) to 2.6% (organic solvents)). The OAsJEM developed to improve occupational exposure assessment may improve evaluations of associations with asthma in epidemiological studies and contribute to assessment of the burden of work-related asthma. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless

  17. 42 CFR 433.146 - Rights assigned; assignment method.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Rights assigned; assignment method. 433.146 Section 433.146 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN... Assignment of Rights to Benefits § 433.146 Rights assigned; assignment method. (a) Except as specified in...

  18. 42 CFR 433.146 - Rights assigned; assignment method.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Rights assigned; assignment method. 433.146 Section 433.146 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN... Assignment of Rights to Benefits § 433.146 Rights assigned; assignment method. (a) Except as specified in...

  19. 42 CFR 433.146 - Rights assigned; assignment method.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Rights assigned; assignment method. 433.146 Section 433.146 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN... Assignment of Rights to Benefits § 433.146 Rights assigned; assignment method. (a) Except as specified in...

  20. Privacy and occupational health services

    PubMed Central

    Heikkinen, A; Launis, V; Wainwright, P; Leino‐Kilpi, H

    2006-01-01

    Privacy is a key ethical principle in occupational health services. Its importance is emphasised in several laws, in ethical codes of conduct as well as in the literature, yet there is only very limited empirical research on privacy in the occupational health context. Conceptual questions on privacy in the occupational health context are discussed. The baseline assumption is that, in this context, privacy cannot be approached and examined only from the employee's (an individual) vantage point but the employer's (a group) point of view must also be taken into account, and that the concept has several dimensions (physical, social, informational and psychological). Even though privacy is a basic human need, there is no universally accepted definition of the concept and no consensus on whether an organisation can have privacy in the same way as people do. Many of the challenges surrounding privacy in the context of occupational health seem to be associated with the dual loyalties of occupational health professionals towards the employee and employer and with their simultaneous duties of disseminating and protecting information (informational privacy). Privacy is thus not an absolute value, but more research is needed to understand its multidimensional nature in the context of occupational health. PMID:16943333

  1. 10 CFR 434.513 - Occupancy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Occupancy. 434.513 Section 434.513 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION ENERGY CODE FOR NEW FEDERAL COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY HIGH RISE RESIDENTIAL... 100 Health/Institutional 200 Multi-family High-rise Residential 2 per unit . 1 1 Heat generation: Btu...

  2. A qualitative review of existing national and international occupational safety and health policies relating to occupational sedentary behaviour.

    PubMed

    Coenen, Pieter; Gilson, Nicholas; Healy, Genevieve N; Dunstan, David W; Straker, Leon M

    2017-04-01

    Prolonged sedentary time is now recognised as an emergent ergonomics issue. We aimed to review current occupational safety and health policies relevant to occupational sedentary behaviour. An electronic search for documents was conducted on websites of ergonomics and occupational safety and health organisations from 10 countries and six international/pan-European agencies. Additionally, 43 informants (nine countries) were contacted and an international conference workshop held. 119 documents (e.g. legislation, guidelines, codes of practice) were identified. Using a qualitative synthesis, it was observed that many jurisdictions had legal frameworks establishing a duty of care for employers, designers/manufacturers/suppliers and employees. While no occupational authority policies focusing specifically on sedentary behaviour were found, relevant aspects of existing policies were identified. We highlight implications for ergonomics research and practice and recommend the development of policy to specifically address occupational sedentary behaviour and support workplace initiatives to assess and control the risks of this emergent hazard. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Alternative Fuels Data Center: E85 Codes and Standards

    Science.gov Websites

    Development Equipment Options Equipment Installation Codes, Standards, & Safety Vehicles Laws & ; Incentives Ethanol Codes, Standards, and Safety The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of -Gasoline Blends. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates some fuel-dispensing

  4. Occupational and non-occupational injuries in the United States Army: focus on gender.

    PubMed

    Tiesman, Hope M; Peek-Asa, Corinne L; Zwerling, Craig S; Sprince, Nancy L; Amoroso, Paul J

    2007-12-01

    The differences in occupational and non-occupational injuries between military men and women have not been documented. This study compares occupational and non-occupational injuries between male and female United States Army soldiers by examining injury hospitalization rates and characteristics. The U.S. Army's Total Army Injury and Health Outcomes Database was searched for hospitalizations with ICD-9-CM codes for injury (800-959.9) between 1992 and 2002. Injury rates were calculated using yearly U.S. Army population data and compared using rate ratios. Injury characteristics were compared among categories of the Trauma Code (on duty; off duty; scheduled training, schemes, and exercises), stratified by gender. Included in this analysis were 792 women for an injury hospitalization rate of 11.0 per 1000 individuals (95% confidence interval [CI]=8.5-13.5) and 4879 men for a rate of 15.5 per 1000 individuals (95% CI=14.0-16.9). While women had significantly more injuries during scheduled training, schemes, and exercises than men (p<0.0001), there were few differences in the cause of those injuries. Women had longer average hospital stays compared to men due to these injuries (9.3 days vs 7.4 days, p=0.002), although these injuries were not more severe (average Injury Severity Score=3.5 for men vs average ISS for women=3.5, p=0.79). There was no difference between the genders in the percent of injuries that occurred off duty; however, men were more likely to get injured due to sports and athletics (p=0.001) and due to fighting (p=0.017) while off duty compared to women. Injury prevention messages for military personnel should focus on reducing risk factors for both on- and off-duty injuries.

  5. 75 FR 8995 - Submission for OMB Review: Comment Request

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-02-26

    ... currently approved collection. Title of Collection: Occupational Code Assignment (OCA). OMB Control Number... (OCA), is provided as a public service for the states as well as for others who use occupational information. The OCA process is designed to help users relate an occupational specialty or a job title or to...

  6. Occupation and mammographic density: A population-based study (DDM-Occup).

    PubMed

    García-Pérez, Javier; Pollán, Marina; Pérez-Gómez, Beatriz; González-Sánchez, Mario; Cortés Barragán, Rosa Ana; Maqueda Blasco, Jerónimo; González-Galarzo, María Carmen; Alba, Miguel Ángel; van der Haar, Rudolf; Casas, Silvia; Vicente, Cándida; Medina, Pilar; Ederra, María; Santamariña, Carmen; Moreno, María Pilar; Casanova, Francisco; Pedraz-Pingarrón, Carmen; Moreo, Pilar; Ascunce, Nieves; García, Montse; Salas-Trejo, Dolores; Sánchez-Contador, Carmen; Llobet, Rafael; Lope, Virginia

    2017-11-01

    High mammographic density is one of the main risk factors for breast cancer. Although several occupations have been associated with breast cancer, there are no previous occupational studies exploring the association with mammographic density. Our objective was to identify occupations associated with high mammographic density in Spanish female workers. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study of occupational determinants of high mammographic density in Spain, based on 1476 women, aged 45-68 years, recruited from seven screening centers within the Spanish Breast Cancer Screening Program network. Reproductive, family, personal, and occupational history data were collected. The latest occupation of each woman was collected and coded according to the 1994 National Classification of Occupations. Mammographic density was assessed from the cranio-caudal mammogram of the left breast using a semi-automated computer-assisted tool. Association between mammographic density and occupation was evaluated by using mixed linear regression models, using log-transformed percentage of mammographic density as dependent variable. Models were adjusted for age, body mass index, menopausal status, parity, smoking, alcohol intake, educational level, type of mammography, first-degree relative with breast cancer, and hormonal replacement therapy use. Screening center and professional reader were included as random effects terms. Mammographic density was higher, although non-statistically significant, among secondary school teachers (e β = 1.41; 95%CI = 0.98-2.03) and nurses (e β = 1.23; 95%CI = 0.96-1.59), whereas workers engaged in the care of people (e β = 0.81; 95%CI = 0.66-1.00) and housewives (e β = 0.87; 95%CI = 0.79-0.95) showed an inverse association with mammographic density. A positive trend for every 5 years working as secondary school teachers was also detected (p-value = 0.035). Nurses and secondary school teachers were the occupations with the highest

  7. 29 CFR 1910.35 - Compliance with alternate exit-route codes.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 1910.35 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS Exit Routes and Emergency Planning § 1910.35...-route provisions of NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, 2009 edition, or the exit-route provisions of the...

  8. Accuracy of external cause-of-injury coding in VA polytrauma patient discharge records.

    PubMed

    Carlson, Kathleen F; Nugent, Sean M; Grill, Joseph; Sayer, Nina A

    2010-01-01

    Valid and efficient methods of identifying the etiology of treated injuries are critical for characterizing patient populations and developing prevention and rehabilitation strategies. We examined the accuracy of external cause-of-injury codes (E-codes) in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) administrative data for a population of injured patients. Chart notes and E-codes were extracted for 566 patients treated at any one of four VHA Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center sites between 2001 and 2006. Two expert coders, blinded to VHA E-codes, used chart notes to assign "gold standard" E-codes to injured patients. The accuracy of VHA E-coding was examined based on these gold standard E-codes. Only 382 of 517 (74%) injured patients were assigned E-codes in VHA records. Sensitivity of VHA E-codes varied significantly by site (range: 59%-91%, p < 0.001). Sensitivity was highest for combat-related injuries (81%) and lowest for fall-related injuries (60%). Overall specificity of E-codes was high (92%). E-coding accuracy was markedly higher when we restricted analyses to records that had been assigned VHA E-codes. E-codes may not be valid for ascertaining source-of-injury data for all injuries among VHA rehabilitation inpatients at this time. Enhanced training and policies may ensure more widespread, standardized use and accuracy of E-codes for injured veterans treated in the VHA.

  9. Study of business ethics in occupational medicine.

    PubMed Central

    Philipp, R; Goodman, G; Harling, K; Beattie, B

    1997-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To investigate the views of specialists in occupational medicine about business ethics in occupational medicine. METHOD: A qualitative study with face to face focus groups and successive reviews of the draft consensus was undertaken of all accredited specialists in occupational medicine who were members of the south Wales and west of England group of the Society of Occupational Medicine, and of all regional specialty advisers and deputies from the Faculty of Occupational Medicine. RESULTS: There was widespread agreement for the need of a code of business ethics. In all, during the four draft stages of preparing a consensus, 72% (28/39) of members of the south Wales and west of England group of the Society of Occupational Medicine, and 31% (20/64) of regional specialty advisers and deputies provided detailed comment for inclusion in it. CONCLUSIONS: Consensus of their views was reached among study participants for issues of business ethics involving advertising, competence, qualifications, fees, commitment, changes in provider contracts, regulation, and supervision of trainees. It provides a basis for further debate. PMID:9196458

  10. [Occupational medicine: practice and ethical requirements of the new law on health and safety in the workplace (legislative decree 81/2008)].

    PubMed

    Franco, Giuliano; Mora, Erika

    2009-01-01

    Decisions in occupational health may involve ethical conflicts arising from conflicts between stakeholders' interests. Codes of ethics can provide a practical guide to solve dilemmas. The new law on health and safety in the workplace in Italy (decree 81/2008) states that occupational health practice must comply with the code of ethics of the International Commission on Occupational Health. The universally acknowledged ethical principles of beneficience/nonmaleficience, autonomy and justice, which are the basis of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union, inspired this code. Although the code is not a systematic textbook of occupational health ethics and does not cover all possible aspects arising from the practice, making decisions based on it will assure their effectiveness and compliance with ethical principles, besides the formal respect of the law.

  11. Histologic Technician. Laboratory Occupations Cluster.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Michigan State Univ., East Lansing. Coll. of Agriculture and Natural Resources Education Inst.

    This task-based curriculum guide for histologic technician is intended to help the teacher develop a classroom management system where students learn by doing. Introductory materials include a Dictionary of Occupational Titles job code and title sheet, a career ladder, a matrix relating duty/task numbers to job titles, and a task list. Each task…

  12. Negotiating Assignment Pathways: Students and Academic Assignments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McDowell, Liz

    2008-01-01

    Existing research identifies that students' approaches to assignments are related to their general approaches to study. It is suggested that students need to better understand the requirements of assignments and acquire new concepts such as "argument". This fine-grained study proposes four qualitatively distinct assignment pathways: gathering,…

  13. Maternal occupation and the risk of neural tube defects in offspring.

    PubMed

    Kim, Jihye; Langlois, Peter H; Mitchell, Laura E; Agopian, A J

    2017-07-19

    We evaluated the association between maternal occupation and the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs) in offspring. Data for 491 nonsyndromic cases were obtained from the Texas Birth Defects Registry for deliveries between 1999 and 2009. We randomly selected 2,291 controls among all live births in Texas during this time. Maternal occupations were classified using automated software and manual assignment. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between maternal occupation and risk for any NTD, adjusting for maternal race/ethnicity, any diabetes, and maternal body mass index. These analyses were repeated for spina bifida specifically. Some maternal occupations, particularly those related to business/finance, health care practice, and cleaning/maintenance, were significantly associated with increased risk of spina bifida and/or any NTD. Further research is needed to identify the specific occupational exposures related to NTD risk.

  14. Dimensions on Women's Employment in Non-Traditional Female Occupations. (A Selected Bibliography), January 1970-July 1975.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tack, Martha Wingard; Ashford, Deborah Taylor

    The bibliography contains examples of women's experiences in occupations traditionally filled by men. All occupations except those related to homemaking, nursing, elementary or secondary education, and stenography are included. Entries are coded by broad occupational categories and arranged alphabetically by author according to type of…

  15. Hollywood takes on intellectual/ developmental disability: cinematic representations of occupational participation.

    PubMed

    Renwick, Rebecca; Schormans, Ann Fudge; Shore, Deborah

    2014-01-01

    Adults with intellectual/developmental disability (IDD), and their occupational participation, are vastly under-represented in Hollywood films. Because films often provide individuals' only experience of people with IDD, cinematic representations can influence audience perceptions. Thus, films can help inform public perceptions about desired and appropriate occupational participation for people with IDD, potentially impacting their access to meaningful occupational participation and achievement of occupational potential. Accordingly, this research examined occupational portrayals of adults with IDD in contemporary Hollywood films. Occupational portrayals, as defined here, refer to representations of the dynamic process of the person participating in occupation(s) in a context. Grounded theory methods guided coding and analysis of qualitative data collected from eight contemporary films using an occupation-focused tool. Two major, striking themes emerging from the qualitative analysis--infantilization and simplification of participation in complex occupations (with three associated sub-themes)--are discussed. Implications of the findings and future research directions are considered.

  16. Classifying U.S. Army Military Occupational Specialties Using the Occupational Information Network

    PubMed Central

    Gadermann, Anne M.; Heeringa, Steven G.; Stein, Murray B.; Ursano, Robert J.; Colpe, Lisa J.; Fullerton, Carol S.; Gilman, Stephen E.; Gruber, Michael J.; Nock, Matthew K.; Rosellini, Anthony J.; Sampson, Nancy A.; Schoenbaum, Michael; Zaslavsky, Alan M.; Kessler, Ronald C.

    2016-01-01

    Objectives To derive job condition scales for future studies of the effects of job conditions on soldier health and job functioning across Army Military Occupation Specialties (MOSs) and Areas of Concentration (AOCs) using Department of Labor (DoL) Occupational Information Network (O*NET) ratings. Methods A consolidated administrative dataset was created for the “Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers” (Army STARRS) containing all soldiers on active duty between 2004 and 2009. A crosswalk between civilian occupations and MOS/AOCs (created by DoL and the Defense Manpower Data Center) was augmented to assign scores on all 246 O*NET dimensions to each soldier in the dataset. Principal components analysis was used to summarize these dimensions. Results Three correlated components explained the majority of O*NET dimension variance: “physical demands” (20.9% of variance), “interpersonal complexity” (17.5%), and “substantive complexity” (15.0%). Although broadly consistent with civilian studies, several discrepancies were found with civilian results reflecting potentially important differences in the structure of job conditions in the Army versus the civilian labor force. Conclusions Principal components scores for these scales provide a parsimonious characterization of key job conditions that can be used in future studies of the effects of MOS/AOC job conditions on diverse outcomes. PMID:25003860

  17. Occupational Needs and Goals of Survivors of Domestic Violence.

    PubMed

    Javaherian-Dysinger, Heather; Krpalek, Dragana; Huecker, Esther; Hewitt, Liane; Cabrera, Michelle; Brown, Canique; Francis, Jason; Rogers, Katie; Server, Sage

    2016-01-01

    This study's purpose was to describe the occupational needs and goals of women residing in a domestic violence shelter and their self-perceived changes in satisfaction and occupational performance. Using a retrospective design, data from 68 occupational therapy evaluations from two domestic violence shelter settings were examined. Data were analyzed by coding problem areas and occupational goals and calculating frequencies for these variables. Where data were available, we also analyzed changes in pre- and postscores for self-perceived satisfaction and occupational performance (n = 25). The most common problem areas were leisure, education, work, child rearing, and health management. The most common goals were in the areas of education, work, health management, child rearing, and home management. Retrospective pre- and postchange scores in performance and satisfaction for 25 women were statistically significant. Findings provide direction for, and highlight the importance of occupational therapy services within domestic violence shelters as women regain their life skills.

  18. Assessing Occupational Exposure to Chemicals in an International Epidemiological Study of Brain Tumours

    PubMed Central

    van Tongeren, Martie

    2013-01-01

    The INTEROCC project is a multi-centre case–control study investigating the risk of developing brain cancer due to occupational chemical and electromagnetic field exposures. To estimate chemical exposures, the Finnish Job Exposure Matrix (FINJEM) was modified to improve its performance in the INTEROCC study and to address some of its limitations, resulting in the development of the INTEROCC JEM. An international team of occupational hygienists developed a crosswalk between the Finnish occupational codes used in FINJEM and the International Standard Classification of Occupations 1968 (ISCO68). For ISCO68 codes linked to multiple Finnish codes, weighted means of the exposure estimates were calculated. Similarly, multiple ISCO68 codes linked to a single Finnish code with evidence of heterogeneous exposure were refined. One of the key time periods in FINJEM (1960–1984) was split into two periods (1960–1974 and 1975–1984). Benzene exposure estimates in early periods were modified upwards. The internal consistency of hydrocarbon exposures and exposures to engine exhaust fumes was improved. Finally, exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and benzo(a)pyrene was modified to include the contribution from second-hand smoke. The crosswalk ensured that the FINJEM exposure estimates could be applied to the INTEROCC study subjects. The modifications generally resulted in an increased prevalence of exposure to chemical agents. This increased prevalence of exposure was not restricted to the lowest categories of cumulative exposure, but was seen across all levels for some agents. Although this work has produced a JEM with important improvements compared to FINJEM, further improvements are possible with the expansion of agents and additional external data. PMID:23467593

  19. The development of fire evaluation system for detention and correctional occupancies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nelson, H. E.; Shibe, A. J.

    1984-12-01

    A fire safety evaluation system for detention and correctional occupancies was developed. It can be used for determining if a facility has fire safety equivalent to that obtained by meeting the requirement of a given code. The system was calibrated for use with proposed chapters for detention and correctional occupancies of the Life Safety Code (1985). There are separate sets of requirements for each of four use conditions: one for zoned egress, one for zoned impeded egress, one for impeded egress, and one for contained. Within each set, there are two levels of evaluation: one for partially sprinklered and nonsprinklered buildings, and one for totally sprinklered buildings.

  20. FERRET adjustment code: status/use

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

    Schmittroth, F.A.

    1982-03-01

    The least-squares data analysis code FERRET is reviewed. Recent enhancements are discussed along with illustrative applications. Particular features noted include the use of differential as well as integral data, and additional user options for assigning and storing covariance matrices.

  1. The structure of affective action representations: temporal binding of affective response codes.

    PubMed

    Eder, Andreas B; Müsseler, Jochen; Hommel, Bernhard

    2012-01-01

    Two experiments examined the hypothesis that preparing an action with a specific affective connotation involves the binding of this action to an affective code reflecting this connotation. This integration into an action plan should lead to a temporary occupation of the affective code, which should impair the concurrent representation of affectively congruent events, such as the planning of another action with the same valence. This hypothesis was tested with a dual-task setup that required a speeded choice between approach- and avoidance-type lever movements after having planned and before having executed an evaluative button press. In line with the code-occupation hypothesis, slower lever movements were observed when the lever movement was affectively compatible with the prepared evaluative button press than when the two actions were affectively incompatible. Lever movements related to approach and avoidance and evaluative button presses thus seem to share a code that represents affective meaning. A model of affective action control that is based on the theory of event coding is discussed.

  2. Medical Laboratory Assistant. Laboratory Occupations Cluster.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Michigan State Univ., East Lansing. Coll. of Agriculture and Natural Resources Education Inst.

    This task-based curriculum guide for medical laboratory assistant is intended to help the teacher develop a classroom management system where students learn by doing. Introductory materials include a Dictionary of Occupational Titles job code and title sheet, a career ladder, a matrix relating duty/task numbers to job titles, and a task list. Each…

  3. [Epidemiology of occupational skin cancer due to UV-irradiation].

    PubMed

    Diepgen, T L; Drexler, H; Schmitt, J

    2012-10-01

    Skin cancer induced by occupational UV-irradiation is not an official occupational disease number in the appendix of the German ordinance on occupational diseases (Berufskrankheitenverordnung (BKV) but can be recognized as a "virtually" occupational disease according to § 9 (2) of the 7th book of the German Social Code (SGB VII). Epidemiological studies have demonstrated a positive, statistically significant and relevant association between occupational UV-irradiation and the risk of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and actinic keratoses (AK). Outdoor workers have on average a 100% higher risk to develop SCC compared to the general population. Therefore, the prerequisites for a new occupational disease are fulfilled and SCC and AK should be reported as an occupational disease if an additional 40% occupationally-related UV-irradiation is documented and the clinical criteria are typical for work- related skin cancer. Epidemiologic evidence also indicates a significant association between work-related UV-irradiation and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) risk: however the results are less consistent and the association is weaker than with SCC. There is an urgent need for further studies in outdoor workers on BCC and lentigo maligna melanoma.

  4. Occupational health practice and exposure to nanoparticles: reconciling scientific evidence, ethical aspects, and legal requirements.

    PubMed

    Franco, Giuliano

    2011-01-01

    The paper aims at focusing the relationship between scientific evidence and ethical values' issues of occupational health practice according to the new Italian law 81/2008 stating that the occupational health physician (OHP) is required to act according to the Code of Ethics of the International Commission on Occupational Health. The code itself emphasizes that (i) the practice should be relevant, knowledge-based, sound, and appropriate to the occupational risks and (ii) the objectives and methods of health surveillance must be clearly defined. Because exposure to nanoparticles involves several uncertainties about health effects and may limit the effectiveness of workers' health surveillance, OHPs face a several ethical dilemmas, involving different stakeholders. The dilemmas arising from the practice should be dealt with according to the ethical principles of beneficence, autonomy, and justice in order to take a decision.

  5. Combined coding and delay-throughput analysis for fading channels of mobile satellite communications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wang, C. C.; Yan, Tsun-Yee

    1986-01-01

    This paper presents the analysis of using the punctured convolutional code with Viterbi decoding to improve communications reliability. The punctured code rate is optimized so that the average delay is minimized. The coding gain in terms of the message delay is also defined. Since using punctured convolutional code with interleaving is still inadequate to combat the severe fading for short packets, the use of multiple copies of assignment and acknowledgment packets is suggested. The performance on the average end-to-end delay of this protocol is analyzed. It is shown that a replication of three copies for both assignment packets and acknowledgment packets is optimum for the cases considered.

  6. 29 CFR 1915.90 - Safety color code for marking physical hazards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 7 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Safety color code for marking physical hazards. 1915.90 Section 1915.90 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH... General Working Conditions § 1915.90 Safety color code for marking physical hazards. The requirements...

  7. 29 CFR 1915.90 - Safety color code for marking physical hazards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 7 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Safety color code for marking physical hazards. 1915.90 Section 1915.90 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH... General Working Conditions § 1915.90 Safety color code for marking physical hazards. The requirements...

  8. 29 CFR 1915.90 - Safety color code for marking physical hazards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 7 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Safety color code for marking physical hazards. 1915.90 Section 1915.90 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH... General Working Conditions § 1915.90 Safety color code for marking physical hazards. The requirements...

  9. Contact replacement for NMR resonance assignment.

    PubMed

    Xiong, Fei; Pandurangan, Gopal; Bailey-Kellogg, Chris

    2008-07-01

    Complementing its traditional role in structural studies of proteins, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is playing an increasingly important role in functional studies. NMR dynamics experiments characterize motions involved in target recognition, ligand binding, etc., while NMR chemical shift perturbation experiments identify and localize protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions. The key bottleneck in these studies is to determine the backbone resonance assignment, which allows spectral peaks to be mapped to specific atoms. This article develops a novel approach to address that bottleneck, exploiting an available X-ray structure or homology model to assign the entire backbone from a set of relatively fast and cheap NMR experiments. We formulate contact replacement for resonance assignment as the problem of computing correspondences between a contact graph representing the structure and an NMR graph representing the data; the NMR graph is a significantly corrupted, ambiguous version of the contact graph. We first show that by combining connectivity and amino acid type information, and exploiting the random structure of the noise, one can provably determine unique correspondences in polynomial time with high probability, even in the presence of significant noise (a constant number of noisy edges per vertex). We then detail an efficient randomized algorithm and show that, over a variety of experimental and synthetic datasets, it is robust to typical levels of structural variation (1-2 AA), noise (250-600%) and missings (10-40%). Our algorithm achieves very good overall assignment accuracy, above 80% in alpha-helices, 70% in beta-sheets and 60% in loop regions. Our contact replacement algorithm is implemented in platform-independent Python code. The software can be freely obtained for academic use by request from the authors.

  10. 29 CFR 1910.35 - Compliance with NFPA 101-2000, Life Safety Code.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 5 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Compliance with NFPA 101-2000, Life Safety Code. 1910.35 Section 1910.35 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS Means of Egress § 1910.35 Compliance...

  11. Caring and Daring Discourses at Work: Doing Gender through Occupational Choices in Elderly Care and Police Work

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fejes, Andreas; Haake, Ulrika

    2013-01-01

    This paper aims to problematise how gender is being done--1. through occupational choices in two occupations that are traditionally gender divided, elderly care and police work, and 2. through the division of work assignments in police work. Interviews with care workers and police officers are analysed using a "doing gender" perspective, a…

  12. [Consent and confidentiality in occupational health practice: balance between legal requirements and ethical values].

    PubMed

    Mora, Erika; Franco, G

    2010-01-01

    The recently introduced Italian law on the protection of workers' health states that the occupational health physician (competent physician) is required to act according to the Code of Ethics of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH). This paper aims at examining the articles of legislative decree 81/2008 dealing with informed consent and confidentiality compared with the corresponding points of the ICOH Ethics Code. Analysis of the relationship between articles 25 and 39 (informed consent) and 18, 20 and 39 (confidentiality) of the decree shows that there are some points of disagreement between the legal requirements and the Code of Ethics, in particular concerning prescribed health surveillance, consent based on appropriate information (points 8, 10 and 12 of the Code) and some aspects of confidentiality (points 10, 20, 21, 22 and 23 of the Code). Although the competent physician is required to act according to the law, the decisional process could lead to a violation of workers' autonomy.

  13. The Use of Color-Coded Genograms in Family Therapy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lewis, Karen Gail

    1989-01-01

    Describes a variable color-coding system which has been added to the standard family genogram in which characteristics or issues associated with a particular presenting problem or for a particular family are arbitrarily assigned a color. Presents advantages of color-coding, followed by clinical examples. (Author/ABL)

  14. Classifying U.S. Army Military Occupational Specialties using the Occupational Information Network.

    PubMed

    Gadermann, Anne M; Heeringa, Steven G; Stein, Murray B; Ursano, Robert J; Colpe, Lisa J; Fullerton, Carol S; Gilman, Stephen E; Gruber, Michael J; Nock, Matthew K; Rosellini, Anthony J; Sampson, Nancy A; Schoenbaum, Michael; Zaslavsky, Alan M; Kessler, Ronald C

    2014-07-01

    To derive job condition scales for future studies of the effects of job conditions on soldier health and job functioning across Army Military Occupation Specialties (MOSs) and Areas of Concentration (AOCs) using Department of Labor (DoL) Occupational Information Network (O*NET) ratings. A consolidated administrative dataset was created for the "Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers" (Army STARRS) containing all soldiers on active duty between 2004 and 2009. A crosswalk between civilian occupations and MOS/AOCs (created by DoL and the Defense Manpower Data Center) was augmented to assign scores on all 246 O*NET dimensions to each soldier in the dataset. Principal components analysis was used to summarize these dimensions. Three correlated components explained the majority of O*NET dimension variance: "physical demands" (20.9% of variance), "interpersonal complexity" (17.5%), and "substantive complexity" (15.0%). Although broadly consistent with civilian studies, several discrepancies were found with civilian results reflecting potentially important differences in the structure of job conditions in the Army versus the civilian labor force. Principal components scores for these scales provide a parsimonious characterization of key job conditions that can be used in future studies of the effects of MOS/AOC job conditions on diverse outcomes. Reprint & Copyright © 2014 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

  15. Accuracy of clinical coding for procedures in oral and maxillofacial surgery.

    PubMed

    Khurram, S A; Warner, C; Henry, A M; Kumar, A; Mohammed-Ali, R I

    2016-10-01

    Clinical coding has important financial implications, and discrepancies in the assigned codes can directly affect the funding of a department and hospital. Over the last few years, numerous oversights have been noticed in the coding of oral and maxillofacial (OMF) procedures. To establish the accuracy and completeness of coding, we retrospectively analysed the records of patients during two time periods: March to May 2009 (324 patients), and January to March 2014 (200 patients). Two investigators independently collected and analysed the data to ensure accuracy and remove bias. A large proportion of operations were not assigned all the relevant codes, and only 32% - 33% were correct in both cycles. To our knowledge, this is the first reported audit of clinical coding in OMFS, and it highlights serious shortcomings that have substantial financial implications. Better input by the surgical team and improved communication between the surgical and coding departments will improve accuracy. Copyright © 2016 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Objectivity in Grading: The Promise of Bar Codes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jae, Haeran; Cowling, John

    2009-01-01

    This article proposes the use of a new technology to assure student anonymity and reduce bias hazards: identifying students by using bar codes. The limited finding suggests that the use of bar codes for assuring student anonymity could potentially cause students to perceive that grades are assigned more fairly and reassure teachers that they are…

  17. Tracking Holland Interest Codes: The Case of South African Field Guides

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Watson, Mark B.; Foxcroft, Cheryl D.; Allen, Lynda J.

    2007-01-01

    Holland believes that specific personality types seek out matching occupational environments and his theory codes personality and environment according to a six letter interest typology. Since 1985 there have been numerous American studies that have queried the validity of Holland's coding system. Research in South Africa is scarcer, despite…

  18. How the brain assigns a neural tag to arbitrary points in a high-dimensional space

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stevens, Charles

    Brains in almost all organisms need to deal with very complex stimuli. For example, most mammals are very good at face recognition, and faces are very complex objects indeed. For example, modern face recognition software represents a face as a point in a 10,000 dimensional space. Every human must be able to learn to recognize any of the 7 billion faces in the world, and can recognize familiar faces after a display of the face is viewed for only a few hundred milliseconds. Because we do not understand how faces are assigned locations in a high-dimensional space by the brain, attacking the problem of how face recognition is accomplished is very difficult. But a much easier problem of the same sort can be studied for odor recognition. For the mouse, each odor is assigned a point in a 1000 dimensional space, and the fruit fly assigns any odor a location in only a 50 dimensional space. A fly has about 50 distinct types of odorant receptor neurons (ORNs), each of which produce nerve impulses at a specific rate for each different odor. This pattern of firing produced across 50 ORNs is called `a combinatorial odor code', and this code assigns every odor a point in a 50 dimensional space that is used to identify the odor. In order to learn the odor, the brain must alter the strength of synapses. The combinatorial code cannot itself by used to change synaptic strength because all odors use same neurons to form the code, and so all synapses would be changed for any odor and the odors could not be distinguished. In order to learn an odor, the brain must assign a set of neurons - the odor tag - that have the property that these neurons (1) should make use of all of the information available about the odor, and (2) insure that any two tags overlap as little as possible (so one odor does not modify synapses used by other odors). In the talk, I will explain how the olfactory system of both the fruit fly and the mouse produce a tag for each odor that has these two properties

  19. Parental occupation and childhood cancer: review of epidemiologic studies.

    PubMed Central

    Savitz, D A; Chen, J H

    1990-01-01

    Parental occupational exposures might affect childhood cancer in the offspring through genetic changes in the ovum or sperm or through transplacental carcinogenesis. The 24 published epidemiologic studies of this association have all used case-control designs, with controls generally selected from birth certificates or from general population sampling. Occupational exposures were inferred from job titles on birth certificates or through interviews. A large number of occupation-cancer associations have been reported, many of which were not addressed or not confirmed in other studies. Several associations have been found with consistency: paternal exposures in hydrocarbon-associated occupations, the petroleum and chemical industries, and especially paint exposures have been associated with brain cancer; paint exposures have also been linked to leukemias. Maternal exposures have received much less attention, but studies have yielded strongly suggestive results linking a variety of occupational exposures to leukemia and brain cancer. The primary limitations in this literature are the inaccuracy inherent in assigning exposure based on job title alone and imprecision due to limited study size. Although no etiologic associations have been firmly established by these studies, the public health concerns and suggestive data warrant continued research. PMID:2272330

  20. Validity of ICD-9-CM Coding for Identifying Incident Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Infections: Is MRSA Infection Coded as a Chronic Disease?

    PubMed Central

    Schweizer, Marin L.; Eber, Michael R.; Laxminarayan, Ramanan; Furuno, Jon P.; Popovich, Kyle J.; Hota, Bala; Rubin, Michael A.; Perencevich, Eli N.

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Investigators and medical decision makers frequently rely on administrative databases to assess methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection rates and outcomes. The validity of this approach remains unclear. We sought to assess the validity of the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) code for infection with drug-resistant microorganisms (V09) for identifying culture-proven MRSA infection. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. METHODS All adults admitted to 3 geographically distinct hospitals between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2007, were assessed for presence of incident MRSA infection, defined as an MRSA-positive clinical culture obtained during the index hospitalization, and presence of the V09 ICD-9-CM code. The k statistic was calculated to measure the agreement between presence of MRSA infection and assignment of the V09 code. Sensitivities, specificities, positive predictive values, and negative predictive values were calculated. RESULTS There were 466,819 patients discharged during the study period. Of the 4,506 discharged patients (1.0%) who had the V09 code assigned, 31% had an incident MRSA infection, 20% had prior history of MRSA colonization or infection but did not have an incident MRSA infection, and 49% had no record of MRSA infection during the index hospitalization or the previous hospitalization. The V09 code identified MRSA infection with a sensitivity of 24% (range, 21%–34%) and positive predictive value of 31% (range, 22%–53%). The agreement between assignment of the V09 code and presence of MRSA infection had a κ coefficient of 0.26 (95% confidence interval, 0.25–0.27). CONCLUSIONS In its current state, the ICD-9-CM code V09 is not an accurate predictor of MRSA infection and should not be used to measure rates of MRSA infection. PMID:21460469

  1. The accuracy of International Classification of Diseases coding for dental problems not associated with trauma in a hospital emergency department.

    PubMed

    Figueiredo, Rafael L F; Singhal, Sonica; Dempster, Laura; Hwang, Stephen W; Quinonez, Carlos

    2015-01-01

    Emergency department (ED) visits for nontraumatic dental conditions (NTDCs) may be a sign of unmet need for dental care. The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of the International Classification of Diseases codes (ICD-10-CA) for ED visits for NTDC. ED visits in 2008-2099 at one hospital in Toronto were identified if the discharge diagnosis in the administrative database system was an ICD-10-CA code for a NTDC (K00-K14). A random sample of 100 visits was selected, and the medical records for these visits were reviewed by a dentist. The description of the clinical signs and symptoms were evaluated, and a diagnosis was assigned. This diagnosis was compared with the diagnosis assigned by the physician and the code assigned to the visit. The 100 ED visits reviewed were associated with 16 different ICD-10-CA codes for NTDC. Only 2 percent of these visits were clearly caused by trauma. The code K0887 (toothache) was the most frequent diagnostic code (31 percent). We found 43.3 percent disagreement on the discharge diagnosis reported by the physician, and 58.0 percent disagreement on the code in the administrative database assigned by the abstractor, compared with what it was suggested by the dentist reviewing the chart. There are substantial discrepancies between the ICD-10-CA diagnosis assigned in administrative databases and the diagnosis assigned by a dentist reviewing the chart retrospectively. However, ICD-10-CA codes can be used to accurately identify ED visits for NTDC. © 2015 American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

  2. Association Between Occupational Exposures and Sarcoidosis: An Analysis From Death Certificates in the United States, 1988-1999.

    PubMed

    Liu, Hongbo; Patel, Divya; Welch, Alison M; Wilson, Carla; Mroz, Margaret M; Li, Li; Rose, Cecile S; Van Dyke, Michael; Swigris, Jeffrey J; Hamzeh, Nabeel; Maier, Lisa A

    2016-08-01

    Sarcoidosis is a disease that is associated with occupational and environmental antigens, in the setting of a susceptible host. The aim of this study was to examine the association between sarcoidosis mortality and previously reported occupational exposures based on sex and race. The decedents enrolled in this study were derived from United States death certificates from 1988-1999. Cause of death was coded according to ICD-9 and ICD-10. The usual occupation was coded with Bureau of the Census Occupation Codes. Mortality odds ratio (MOR) were determined and multiple Poisson regression were performed to evaluate the independent exposure effects after adjustment for age, sex, race and other occupational exposures. Of the 7,118,535 decedents in our study, 3,393 were identified as sarcoidosis-related, including 1,579 identified as sarcoidosis being the underlying cause of death. The sarcoidosis-related MOR of any occupational exposure was 1.52 (95% CI, 1.35-1.71). Women with any exposure demonstrated an increased MOR compared to women without (MOR 1.65, 95% CI, 1.45-1.89). The mortality risk was significantly elevated in those with employment involving metal working, health care, teaching, sales, banking, and administration. Higher sarcoidosis-related mortality risks associated with specific exposures were noted in women vs men and blacks vs whites. Findings of prior occupations and risk of sarcoidosis were verified using sarcoidosis mortality rates. There were significant differences in risk for sarcoidosis mortality by occupational exposures based on sex and race. Copyright © 2016 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Improvement And Development Of The Motivation System In The Occupational And Industrial Safety Field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pavlov, Arkhip; Gavrilov, Dmitrij

    2017-11-01

    This paper discusses one of the main problems in labour and industrial management in the occupational and industrial safety field - motivation to work safely. The problem is complex and should be solved by a set of measures, where the assignment of responsibility to employees for the results of their work is absent, including in the field of labour protection and industrial safety. In accordance with the obligatory management principles, employees' work resolves to the strict implementation of the actions prescribed by the regulations. The responsibility for the negative result rests with the person who enacted or instructs employees. Thus, the employee is practically exempt from responsibility for the final result. One of the possible solutions to this problem is to put an assignment of responsibility on the employees for the results of their activities also in the occupational and industrial safety field. This is illustrated by the experience of other states, particularly of Australia. In conclusion suggestions for improvement and development of the motivation system in the field of occupational and industrial safety.

  4. The Development of an Occupational Information System (OIS), Volume II.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge. Div. of Continuing Education.

    Suppliers of postsecondary trained manpower data in Louisiana were surveyed during a project to obtain labor market information and occupational supply/demand information. All supply data were computerized and assigned to the appropriate training file. The data compiled fell into four major categories with regard to the method(s) of capture and…

  5. Bit-wise arithmetic coding for data compression

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kiely, A. B.

    1994-01-01

    This article examines the problem of compressing a uniformly quantized independent and identically distributed (IID) source. We present a new compression technique, bit-wise arithmetic coding, that assigns fixed-length codewords to the quantizer output and uses arithmetic coding to compress the codewords, treating the codeword bits as independent. We examine the performance of this method and evaluate the overhead required when used block-adaptively. Simulation results are presented for Gaussian and Laplacian sources. This new technique could be used as the entropy coder in a transform or subband coding system.

  6. Quantized phase coding and connected region labeling for absolute phase retrieval.

    PubMed

    Chen, Xiangcheng; Wang, Yuwei; Wang, Yajun; Ma, Mengchao; Zeng, Chunnian

    2016-12-12

    This paper proposes an absolute phase retrieval method for complex object measurement based on quantized phase-coding and connected region labeling. A specific code sequence is embedded into quantized phase of three coded fringes. Connected regions of different codes are labeled and assigned with 3-digit-codes combining the current period and its neighbors. Wrapped phase, more than 36 periods, can be restored with reference to the code sequence. Experimental results verify the capability of the proposed method to measure multiple isolated objects.

  7. Stomach cancer and occupation in Sweden: 1971–89

    PubMed Central

    Aragones, N; Pollan, M; Gustavsson, P

    2002-01-01

    Objectives: To examine the relation between gastric cancer and occupation among men and women gainfully employed in 1970 in Sweden for the period 1971–89 and, more specifically, to evaluate whether any excess of incidence of gastric cancer had also occurred among the subcohort of people reporting the same occupation in 1960 and 1970. Methods: In both sexes and cohorts, relative risks adjusted for age, period of diagnosis, and geographical risk area were computed for occupational codes specified at one, two, or three level (occupational sector, occupational group, and occupation, respectively). Relative risks were calculated with all other occupations as reference and then, to take socioeconomic status into account, solely other occupations within the same occupational sector were used. Results: Among men, occupations with increased risk included miners and quarrymen, construction and metal processing workers, supporting the possible causative role of dusty environments in stomach cancer. In men, the results also provide support for increased risks among electrical and mechanical engineers, fishermen, petrol station workers, motor vehicle drivers, butchers and meat preparers, dockers, freight handlers, launderers and dry cleaners. Furthermore, it is worth noting interesting results for women, whose occupational risks have been studied less. Excess risks were found for practical nurses, cashiers, bank employees, engineering and electronic industry workers, food industry, housekeeping and cleaning workers. Due to the many occupations studied, several significant associations may be expected by chance. Conclusions: The study is explorative but provides support for the relations suggested previously between occupational exposure to dusty environments and stomach cancer, together with some new high risk occupations which should be further studied. PMID:11983848

  8. CH-TRU Waste Content Codes

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

    Washington TRU Solutions LLC

    2008-01-16

    The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container.more » Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to WIPP from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Nevada Test Site, and Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, a 20-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2B provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Close-Proximity Shipments" (20-day shipping period). For shipments implementing the controls specified in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.6 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices, a 10-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2C provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Controlled

  9. DRG benchmarking study establishes national coding norms.

    PubMed

    Vaul, J H

    1998-05-01

    With the increase in fraud and abuse investigations, healthcare financial managers should examine their organization's medical record coding procedures. The Federal government and third-party payers are looking specifically for improper billing of outpatient services, unbundling of procedures to increase payment, assigning higher-paying DRG codes for inpatient claims, and other abuses. A recent benchmarking study of Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR) data has established national norms for hospital coding and case mix based on DRGs and has revealed the majority of atypical coding cases fall into six DRG pairs. Organizations with a greater percentage of atypical cases--those more likely to be scrutinized by Federal investigators--will want to conduct suitable review and be sure appropriate documentation exists to justify the coding.

  10. Assignment Choice, Effort, and Assignment Completion: Does Work Ethic Predict Those Who Choose Higher-Effort Assignments?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parkhurst, John T.; Fleisher, Matthew S.; Skinner, Christopher H.; Woehr, David J.; Hawthorn-Embree, Meredith L.

    2011-01-01

    After completing the Multidimensional Work-Ethic Profile (MWEP), 98 college students were given a 20-problem math computation assignment and instructed to stop working on the assignment after completing 10 problems. Next, they were allowed to choose to finish either the partially completed assignment that had 10 problems remaining or a new…

  11. Validation of ICD-9 Codes for Stable Miscarriage in the Emergency Department.

    PubMed

    Quinley, Kelly E; Falck, Ailsa; Kallan, Michael J; Datner, Elizabeth M; Carr, Brendan G; Schreiber, Courtney A

    2015-07-01

    International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) diagnosis codes have not been validated for identifying cases of missed abortion where a pregnancy is no longer viable but the cervical os remains closed. Our goal was to assess whether ICD-9 code "632" for missed abortion has high sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) in identifying patients in the emergency department (ED) with cases of stable early pregnancy failure (EPF). We studied females ages 13-50 years presenting to the ED of an urban academic medical center. We approached our analysis from two perspectives, evaluating both the sensitivity and PPV of ICD-9 code "632" in identifying patients with stable EPF. All patients with chief complaints "pregnant and bleeding" or "pregnant and cramping" over a 12-month period were identified. We randomly reviewed two months of patient visits and calculated the sensitivity of ICD-9 code "632" for true cases of stable miscarriage. To establish the PPV of ICD-9 code "632" for capturing missed abortions, we identified patients whose visits from the same time period were assigned ICD-9 code "632," and identified those with actual cases of stable EPF. We reviewed 310 patient records (17.6% of 1,762 sampled). Thirteen of 31 patient records assigned ICD-9 code for missed abortion correctly identified cases of stable EPF (sensitivity=41.9%), and 140 of the 142 patients without EPF were not assigned the ICD-9 code "632"(specificity=98.6%). Of the 52 eligible patients identified by ICD-9 code "632," 39 cases met the criteria for stable EPF (PPV=75.0%). ICD-9 code "632" has low sensitivity for identifying stable EPF, but its high specificity and moderately high PPV are valuable for studying cases of stable EPF in epidemiologic studies using administrative data.

  12. Occupational Stress and Physical Symptoms among Family Medicine Residents

    PubMed Central

    Choi, So-Myung; Park, Yong Soon; Kim, Go-Young

    2013-01-01

    Background The purpose of this study was to examine the levels of occupational stress and physical symptoms among family medicine residents and investigate the effect of subscales of occupational stress on physical symptoms. Methods A self-administered questionnaire survey of 1,152 family medicine residents was carried out via e-mail from April 2010 to July 2010. The response rate was 13.1% and the R (ver. 2.9.1) was used for the analysis of completed data obtained from 150 subjects. The questionnaire included demographic factors, resident training related factors, 24-items of the Korean Occupational Stress Scales and Korean Versions of the Wahler Physical Symptom Inventory. Results The total score of occupational stress of family medicine residents was relatively low compared to that of average workers. The scores of 'high job demand', 'inadequate social support', 'organizational injustice', and 'discomfort in occupational climate' were within the top 50%. Parameters associated with higher occupational stress included level of training, on-duty time, daily patient load, critical patient assigned, total working days, night duty day, sleep duration, and sleep quality. The six subscales of occupational stress, except for 'Job insecurity', had a significant positive correlation with physical symptom scores after adjustment had been made for potential confounders (total score, r = 0.325 and P < 0.001; high job demand, r = 0.439 and P < 0.001). Conclusion After the adjustment had been made for potential confounders, the total score of occupational stress and six subscales in family medicine residents showed a significant positive correlation with physical symptom scores. PMID:23372906

  13. Interactions between occupational exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields and chemicals for brain tumour risk in the INTEROCC study.

    PubMed

    Turner, Michelle C; Benke, Geza; Bowman, Joseph D; Figuerola, Jordi; Fleming, Sarah; Hours, Martine; Kincl, Laurel; Krewski, Daniel; McLean, Dave; Parent, Marie-Elise; Richardson, Lesley; Sadetzki, Siegal; Schlaefer, Klaus; Schlehofer, Brigitte; Schüz, Joachim; Siemiatycki, Jack; Tongeren, Martie van; Cardis, Elisabeth

    2017-11-01

    In absence of clear evidence regarding possible effects of occupational chemical exposures on brain tumour aetiology, it is worthwhile to explore the hypothesis that such exposures might act on brain tumour risk in interaction with occupational exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF). INTEROCC is a seven-country (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, New Zealand and UK), population-based, case-control study, based on the larger INTERPHONE study. Incident cases of primary glioma and meningioma were ascertained from 2000 to 2004. Job titles were coded into standard international occupational classifications and estimates of ELF and chemical exposures were assigned based on job-exposure matrices. Dichotomous indicators of cumulative ELF (≥50th vs <50th percentile, 1-4 year exposure time window) and chemical exposures (ever vs never, 5-year lag) were created. Interaction was assessed on both the additive and multiplicative scales. A total of 1939 glioma cases, 1822 meningioma cases and 5404 controls were included in the analysis, using conditional logistic regression. There was no clear evidence for interactions between ELF and any of the chemical exposures assessed for either glioma or meningioma risk. For glioma, subjects in the low ELF/metal exposed group had a lower risk than would be predicted from marginal effects. Results were similar according to different exposure time windows, to cut-points of exposure or in exposed-only analyses. There was no clear evidence for interactions between occupational ELF and chemical exposures in relation to glioma or meningioma risk observed. Further research with more refined estimates of occupational exposures is recommended. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  14. Amino acid fermentation at the origin of the genetic code.

    PubMed

    de Vladar, Harold P

    2012-02-10

    There is evidence that the genetic code was established prior to the existence of proteins, when metabolism was powered by ribozymes. Also, early proto-organisms had to rely on simple anaerobic bioenergetic processes. In this work I propose that amino acid fermentation powered metabolism in the RNA world, and that this was facilitated by proto-adapters, the precursors of the tRNAs. Amino acids were used as carbon sources rather than as catalytic or structural elements. In modern bacteria, amino acid fermentation is known as the Stickland reaction. This pathway involves two amino acids: the first undergoes oxidative deamination, and the second acts as an electron acceptor through reductive deamination. This redox reaction results in two keto acids that are employed to synthesise ATP via substrate-level phosphorylation. The Stickland reaction is the basic bioenergetic pathway of some bacteria of the genus Clostridium. Two other facts support Stickland fermentation in the RNA world. First, several Stickland amino acid pairs are synthesised in abiotic amino acid synthesis. This suggests that amino acids that could be used as an energy substrate were freely available. Second, anticodons that have complementary sequences often correspond to amino acids that form Stickland pairs. The main hypothesis of this paper is that pairs of complementary proto-adapters were assigned to Stickland amino acids pairs. There are signatures of this hypothesis in the genetic code. Furthermore, it is argued that the proto-adapters formed double strands that brought amino acid pairs into proximity to facilitate their mutual redox reaction, structurally constraining the anticodon pairs that are assigned to these amino acid pairs. Significance tests which randomise the code are performed to study the extent of the variability of the energetic (ATP) yield. Random assignments can lead to a substantial yield of ATP and maintain enough variability, thus selection can act and refine the assignments

  15. Optimal block cosine transform image coding for noisy channels

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Vaishampayan, V.; Farvardin, N.

    1986-01-01

    The two dimensional block transform coding scheme based on the discrete cosine transform was studied extensively for image coding applications. While this scheme has proven to be efficient in the absence of channel errors, its performance degrades rapidly over noisy channels. A method is presented for the joint source channel coding optimization of a scheme based on the 2-D block cosine transform when the output of the encoder is to be transmitted via a memoryless design of the quantizers used for encoding the transform coefficients. This algorithm produces a set of locally optimum quantizers and the corresponding binary code assignment for the assumed transform coefficient statistics. To determine the optimum bit assignment among the transform coefficients, an algorithm was used based on the steepest descent method, which under certain convexity conditions on the performance of the channel optimized quantizers, yields the optimal bit allocation. Comprehensive simulation results for the performance of this locally optimum system over noisy channels were obtained and appropriate comparisons against a reference system designed for no channel error were rendered.

  16. Coding OSICS sports injury diagnoses in epidemiological studies: does the background of the coder matter?

    PubMed

    Finch, Caroline F; Orchard, John W; Twomey, Dara M; Saad Saleem, Muhammad; Ekegren, Christina L; Lloyd, David G; Elliott, Bruce C

    2014-04-01

    To compare Orchard Sports Injury Classification System (OSICS-10) sports medicine diagnoses assigned by a clinical and non-clinical coder. Assessment of intercoder agreement. Community Australian football. 1082 standardised injury surveillance records. Direct comparison of the four-character hierarchical OSICS-10 codes assigned by two independent coders (a sports physician and an epidemiologist). Adjudication by a third coder (biomechanist). The coders agreed on the first character 95% of the time and on the first two characters 86% of the time. They assigned the same four-digit OSICS-10 code for only 46% of the 1082 injuries. The majority of disagreements occurred for the third character; 85% were because one coder assigned a non-specific 'X' code. The sports physician code was deemed correct in 53% of cases and the epidemiologist in 44%. Reasons for disagreement included the physician not using all of the collected information and the epidemiologist lacking specific anatomical knowledge. Sports injury research requires accurate identification and classification of specific injuries and this study found an overall high level of agreement in coding according to OSICS-10. The fact that the majority of the disagreements occurred for the third OSICS character highlights the fact that increasing complexity and diagnostic specificity in injury coding can result in a loss of reliability and demands a high level of anatomical knowledge. Injury report form details need to reflect this level of complexity and data management teams need to include a broad range of expertise.

  17. Investigating Public Perception of Occupational Therapy: An Environmental Scan of Three Media Outlets.

    PubMed

    Walsh, Wendy E

    Using a phenomenological approach, this study investigated visibility and perception of the profession of occupational therapy in three media outlets. Content analysis occurred on LexisNexis Academic (LNA), Google Images, and Twitter platforms. Analysis of LNA identified the prevalence of articles about occupational therapy in domestic newspapers and similar media avenues, MaxQDA qualitative software coded Google Images from a search on occupational therapy, and AnalyzeWords evaluated Twitter feeds of four health care professions for presence and tone in a social media context. Results indicate that although occupational therapy is 100 years old, its presence in news and online platforms could be stronger. This study suggests that a clear professional identity for occupational therapy practitioners must be strategically communicated through academic and social platforms. Such advocacy promotes the profession, meets the next iteration of occupational therapy's professional vision, and allows occupational therapy to remain a prominent and formidable stakeholder in today's health care marketplace. Copyright © 2018 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

  18. An algebraic hypothesis about the primeval genetic code architecture.

    PubMed

    Sánchez, Robersy; Grau, Ricardo

    2009-09-01

    A plausible architecture of an ancient genetic code is derived from an extended base triplet vector space over the Galois field of the extended base alphabet {D,A,C,G,U}, where symbol D represents one or more hypothetical bases with unspecific pairings. We hypothesized that the high degeneration of a primeval genetic code with five bases and the gradual origin and improvement of a primeval DNA repair system could make possible the transition from ancient to modern genetic codes. Our results suggest that the Watson-Crick base pairing G identical with C and A=U and the non-specific base pairing of the hypothetical ancestral base D used to define the sum and product operations are enough features to determine the coding constraints of the primeval and the modern genetic code, as well as, the transition from the former to the latter. Geometrical and algebraic properties of this vector space reveal that the present codon assignment of the standard genetic code could be induced from a primeval codon assignment. Besides, the Fourier spectrum of the extended DNA genome sequences derived from the multiple sequence alignment suggests that the called period-3 property of the present coding DNA sequences could also exist in the ancient coding DNA sequences. The phylogenetic analyses achieved with metrics defined in the N-dimensional vector space (B(3))(N) of DNA sequences and with the new evolutionary model presented here also suggest that an ancient DNA coding sequence with five or more bases does not contradict the expected evolutionary history.

  19. HyDEn: A Hybrid Steganocryptographic Approach for Data Encryption Using Randomized Error-Correcting DNA Codes

    PubMed Central

    Regoui, Chaouki; Durand, Guillaume; Belliveau, Luc; Léger, Serge

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a novel hybrid DNA encryption (HyDEn) approach that uses randomized assignments of unique error-correcting DNA Hamming code words for single characters in the extended ASCII set. HyDEn relies on custom-built quaternary codes and a private key used in the randomized assignment of code words and the cyclic permutations applied on the encoded message. Along with its ability to detect and correct errors, HyDEn equals or outperforms existing cryptographic methods and represents a promising in silico DNA steganographic approach. PMID:23984392

  20. Optical network security using unipolar Walsh code

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sikder, Somali; Sarkar, Madhumita; Ghosh, Shila

    2018-04-01

    Optical code-division multiple-access (OCDMA) is considered as a good technique to provide optical layer security. Many research works have been published to enhance optical network security by using optical signal processing. The paper, demonstrates the design of the AWG (arrayed waveguide grating) router-based optical network for spectral-amplitude-coding (SAC) OCDMA networks with Walsh Code to design a reconfigurable network codec by changing signature codes to against eavesdropping. In this paper we proposed a code reconfiguration scheme to improve the network access confidentiality changing the signature codes by cyclic rotations, for OCDMA system. Each of the OCDMA network users is assigned a unique signature code to transmit the information and at the receiving end each receiver correlates its own signature pattern a(n) with the receiving pattern s(n). The signal arriving at proper destination leads to s(n)=a(n).

  1. Occupational cancer in Britain

    PubMed Central

    Van Tongeren, Martie; Jimenez, Araceli S; Hutchings, Sally J; MacCalman, Laura; Rushton, Lesley; Cherrie, John W

    2012-01-01

    To estimate the current occupational cancer burden due to past exposures in Britain, estimates of the number of exposed workers at different levels are required, as well as risk estimates of cancer due to the exposures. This paper describes the methods and results for estimating the historical exposures. All occupational carcinogens or exposure circumstances classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as definite or probable human carcinogens and potentially to be found in British workplaces over the past 20–40 years were included in this study. Estimates of the number of people exposed by industrial sector were based predominantly on two sources of data, the CARcinogen EXposure (CAREX) database and the UK Labour Force Survey. Where possible, multiple and overlapping exposures were taken into account. Dose–response risk estimates were generally not available in the epidemiological literature for the cancer–exposure pairs in this study, and none of the sources available for obtaining the numbers exposed provided data by different levels of exposure. Industrial sectors were therefore assigned using expert judgement to ‘higher'- and ‘lower'-exposure groups based on the similarity of exposure to the population in the key epidemiological studies from which risk estimates had been selected. Estimates of historical exposure prevalence were obtained for 41 carcinogens or occupational circumstances. These include exposures to chemicals and metals, combustion products, other mixtures or groups of chemicals, mineral and biological dusts, physical agents and work patterns, as well as occupations and industries that have been associated with increased risk of cancer, but for which the causative agents are unknown. There were more than half a million workers exposed to each of six carcinogens (radon, solar radiation, crystalline silica, mineral oils, non-arsenical insecticides and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin); other agents to which a large

  2. Occupational exposure and ovarian cancer risk.

    PubMed

    Le, Nhu D; Leung, Andy; Brooks-Wilson, Angela; Gallagher, Richard P; Swenerton, Kenneth D; Demers, Paul A; Cook, Linda S

    2014-07-01

    Relatively little work has been done concerning occupational risk factors in ovarian cancer. Although studies conducted in occupational settings have reported positive associations, their usefulness is generally limited by the lack of information on important confounders. In a population-based case-control study, we assessed risk for developing epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) associated with occupational exposure while accounting for important confounders. Participants were identified through provincial population-based registries. Lifetime occupational history and information on potential confounding factors were obtained through a self-administered questionnaire. Unconditional logistic regression and the likelihood ratio test were used to assess EOC risk with each occupation (or industry), relative to all other occupations (or industries), adjusting for potential confounders including body mass index, oral contraceptive use, menopausal hormone therapy, parity, age at first childbirth, age at menarche, age at menopause, family history of breast and ovarian cancer in mother and sister(s), tubal ligation, partial oophorectomy, and hysterectomy. Occupations and industries were coded according to the Canadian Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). Significant excess risk was observed for several groups of teaching occupations, including SOC 27, teaching and related (adjusted OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.15-2.81) and SOC 279, other teaching and related (adjusted OR 3.11, 95% CI 1.35-8.49). Significant excess was also seen for a four-digit occupational group SOC 4131, bookkeepers and accounting clerks (adjusted OR 2.80, 95% CI 1.30-6.80). Industrial sub-groups showing significant excess risk included SIC 65, other retail stores (adjusted OR 2.19, 95 % CI 1.16-4.38); SIC 85, educational service (adjusted OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.00-2.13); and SIC 863, non-institutional health services (adjusted OR 2.54, 95% CI 1.13-6.52). Our study found

  3. Do emergency medical services dispatch nature and severity codes agree with paramedic field findings?

    PubMed

    Neely, K W; Eldurkar, J A; Drake, M E

    2000-02-01

    Emergency medical services (EMS) systems increasingly seek to triage patients to alternative EMS resources. Emergency medical services dispatchers may be asked to perform this triage. New protocols may be necessary. Alternatively, existing protocols may be sufficient for this task. For an existing dispatch protocol to be sufficient, it at least must accurately categorize patient condition and severity based on an external standard. To examine the extent to which nature codes (NCs), or patient condition codes, and severity codes (SCs) currently assigned in one urban 911 center agree with paramedic field findings. The null hypothesis was that there is no routine agreement (75%) between dispatcher-assigned NC or SC and paramedic-assigned NC or SC for the same patient using the same protocol. Emergency medical services dispatch nature and severity code data and matching out-of-hospital data were prospectively gathered over six months. Dispatch data included the NC: caller-identified problem, and the SC: dispatcher-assessed severity. Each NC is modified by one of three SCs (1, 3, or 9): 1 is emergent, 3 is urgent, and 9 is neither. Paramedics verified and/or corrected dispatcher-assigned NCs and SCs using the same dispatch protocol. One thousand forty usable cases fell into 33 unique NC/SC combinations. The designation of SC 1 was assigned 275 times, SC 3 was assigned 736 times, and SC 9 was assigned 24 times. The SC was missing five times. The overall NC agreement was 0.70 (95% CI = 0.697 to 0.703). The overall SC agreement was 0.65 (95% CI = 0.645 to 0.655). The NC agreement exceeded 75% for ten (59%) NC/SC combinations. The SC agreement exceeded 75% for five (29%) NC/SC combinations. There was both NC and SC agreement for four (24%) combinations: urgent breathing problems, urgent diabetic problems, urgent falls, and urgent overdoses. The greatest NC/SC disagreement occurred within emergent and urgent traffic crashes. Paramedics adjusted SC toward lower severity 29

  4. Provisional Coding Practices: Are They Really a Waste of Time?

    PubMed

    Krypuy, Matthew; McCormack, Lena

    2006-11-01

    In order to facilitate effective clinical coding and hence the precise financial reimbursement of acute services, in 2005 Western District Health Service (WDHS) (located in regional Victoria, Australia) undertook a provisional coding trial for inpatient medical episodes to determine the magnitude and accuracy of clinical documentation. Utilising clinical coding software installed on a laptop computer, provisional coding was undertaken for all current overnight inpatient episodes under each physician one day prior to attending their daily ward round. The provisionally coded episodes were re-coded upon the completion of the discharge summary and the final Diagnostic Related Group (DRG) allocation and weight were compared to the provisional DRG assignment. A total of 54 out of 220 inpatient medical episodes were provisionally coded. This represented approximately a 25% cross section of the population selected for observation. Approximately 67.6% of the provisionally allocated DRGs were accurate in contrast to 32.4% which were subject to change once the discharge summary was completed. The DRG changes were primarily due to: disease progression of a patient during their care episode which could not be identified by clinical coding staff due to discharge prior to the following scheduled ward round; the discharge destination of particular patients; and the accuracy of clinical documentation on the discharge summary. The information gathered from the provisional coding trial supported the hypothesis that clinical documentation standards were sufficient and adequate to support precise clinical coding and DRG assignment at WDHS. The trial further highlighted the importance of a complete and accurate discharge summary available during the coding process of acute inpatient episodes.

  5. Recent evidence for evolution of the genetic code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Osawa, S.; Jukes, T. H.; Watanabe, K.; Muto, A.

    1992-01-01

    The genetic code, formerly thought to be frozen, is now known to be in a state of evolution. This was first shown in 1979 by Barrell et al. (G. Barrell, A. T. Bankier, and J. Drouin, Nature [London] 282:189-194, 1979), who found that the universal codons AUA (isoleucine) and UGA (stop) coded for methionine and tryptophan, respectively, in human mitochondria. Subsequent studies have shown that UGA codes for tryptophan in Mycoplasma spp. and in all nonplant mitochondria that have been examined. Universal stop codons UAA and UAG code for glutamine in ciliated protozoa (except Euplotes octacarinatus) and in a green alga, Acetabularia. E. octacarinatus uses UAA for stop and UGA for cysteine. Candida species, which are yeasts, use CUG (leucine) for serine. Other departures from the universal code, all in nonplant mitochondria, are CUN (leucine) for threonine (in yeasts), AAA (lysine) for asparagine (in platyhelminths and echinoderms), UAA (stop) for tyrosine (in planaria), and AGR (arginine) for serine (in several animal orders) and for stop (in vertebrates). We propose that the changes are typically preceded by loss of a codon from all coding sequences in an organism or organelle, often as a result of directional mutation pressure, accompanied by loss of the tRNA that translates the codon. The codon reappears later by conversion of another codon and emergence of a tRNA that translates the reappeared codon with a different assignment. Changes in release factors also contribute to these revised assignments. We also discuss the use of UGA (stop) as a selenocysteine codon and the early history of the code.

  6. Parental knowledge of child development and the assignment of tractor work to children.

    PubMed

    Pickett, William; Marlenga, Barbara; Berg, Richard L

    2003-07-01

    Many childhood farm tractor injuries occur during the performance of work that was assigned by parents, and some tractor work is beyond the developmental capabilities of children. This has been highlighted recently by a policy statement authored by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The objective of this study was 1) to assess child development knowledge of farm parents who received a new resource, the North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT), and 2) to determine whether this knowledge was associated with use of NAGCAT in the assignment of tractor jobs and with compliance with 2 aspects of the NAGCAT tractor guideline. Secondary analysis of data collected during a randomized controlled trial that involved 450 farms in the United States and Canada was conducted. Variables assessed included 1) parental knowledge of child development across several age groups and 3 domains of child development (physical, cognitive, and psychosocial), 2) documentation of the most common tractor jobs assigned to each child, and 3) a report of whether NAGCAT was used in assigning these tractor jobs. High parental knowledge of child development was associated with enhanced use of NAGCAT and fewer violations when assigning tractor work to children. However, even in the presence of high knowledge, some farm parents still assigned to their children work that was in violation of NAGCAT. Educational interventions by themselves are not sufficient to remove many farm children from known occupational hazards. These findings are discussed in light of the recent policy statement on agricultural injuries from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  7. The relationship between occupational sun exposure and non-melanoma skin cancer: clinical basics, epidemiology, occupational disease evaluation, and prevention.

    PubMed

    Fartasch, Manigé; Diepgen, Thomas Ludwig; Schmitt, Jochen; Drexler, Hans

    2012-10-01

    The cumulative effect of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation is responsible for the worldwide increase in non-melanoma skin cancer, a category that includes squamous cell carcinoma and its precursors (the actinic keratoses) as well as basal-cell carcinoma. Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in areas of the world with a light-skinned population. The occupational exposure to UV radiation is high in many outdoor occupations; recent studies suggest that persons working in such occupations are more likely to develop non-melanoma skin cancer. On the basis of a selective review of the literature, we present the current state of knowledge about occupational and non-occupational UV exposure and the findings of meta-analyses on the association of outdoor activity with non-melanoma skin cancer. We also give an overview of the current recommendations for prevention and for medicolegal assessment. Recent meta-analyses have consistently documented a significantly higher risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin among persons who work outdoors (odds ratio [OR] 1.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.40-2.22, p<0.001). There is also evidence for an elevated risk of basal-cell carcinoma (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.23-1.66, p = 0.0001), but the effect is of lesser magnitude and the study findings are not as uniform. The association of occupational exposure to solar UV radiation with squamous cell carcinoma, including actinic keratosis, has been conclusively demonstrated. It follows that, in Germany, suspected non-melanoma skin cancer in persons with high occupational exposure to UV radiation should be reported as an occupational disease under § 9, paragraph 2 of the Seventh Book of the German Social Code (Sozialgesetzbuch, SGB VII). Preventive measures are urgently needed for persons with high occupational exposure to UV radiation.

  8. Prefrontal Neurons Encode a Solution to the Credit-Assignment Problem

    PubMed Central

    Perge, János A.; Eskandar, Emad N.

    2017-01-01

    To adapt successfully to our environments, we must use the outcomes of our choices to guide future behavior. Critically, we must be able to correctly assign credit for any particular outcome to the causal features which preceded it. In some cases, the causal features may be immediately evident, whereas in others they may be separated in time or intermingled with irrelevant environmental stimuli, creating a potentially nontrivial credit-assignment problem. We examined the neuronal representation of information relevant for credit assignment in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) of two male rhesus macaques performing a task that elicited key aspects of this problem. We found that neurons conveyed the information necessary for credit assignment. Specifically, neuronal activity reflected both the relevant cues and outcomes at the time of feedback and did so in a manner that was stable over time, in contrast to prior reports of representational instability in the dlPFC. Furthermore, these representations were most stable early in learning, when credit assignment was most needed. When the same features were not needed for credit assignment, these neuronal representations were much weaker or absent. These results demonstrate that the activity of dlPFC neurons conforms to the basic requirements of a system that performs credit assignment, and that spiking activity can serve as a stable mechanism that links causes and effects. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Credit assignment is the process by which we infer the causes of our successes and failures. We found that neuronal activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex conveyed the necessary information for performing credit assignment. Importantly, while there are various potential mechanisms to retain a “trace” of the causal events over time, we observed that spiking activity was sufficiently stable to act as the link between causes and effects, in contrast to prior reports that suggested spiking representations were

  9. Perception of and attitude toward ethical issues among Korean occupational physicians.

    PubMed

    Choi, Junghye; Suh, Chunhui; Lee, Jong-Tae; Lee, Segyeong; Lee, Chae-Kwan; Lee, Gyeong-Jin; Kim, Taekjoong; Son, Byung-Chul; Kim, Jeong-Ho; Kim, Kunhyung; Kim, Dae Hwan; Ryu, Ji Young

    2017-01-01

    Occupational physicians (OPs) have complex relationships with employees, employers, and the general public. OPs may have simultaneous obligations towards third parties, which can lead to variable conflicts of interests. Among the various studies of ethical issues related to OPs, few have focused on the Korean OPs. The aim of the present survey was to investigate the ethical contexts, the practical resolutions, and the ethical principles for the Korean OPs. An email with a self-administered questionnaire was sent to members of the Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, comprising 150 specialists and 130 residents. The questionnaire was also distributed to 52 specialists and 46 residents who attended the annual meeting of the Korean Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics in October 2015, and to 240 specialists by uploading the questionnaire to the online community 'oem-doctors' in February 2016. The responses to each question (perception of general ethical conflicts, recognition of various ethical codes for OPs, core professional values in ethics of occupational medicine, and a mock case study) were compared between specialists and residents by the chi-squared test and Fisher's exact test. Responses were received from 80 specialists and 71 residents. Most participants had experienced ethical conflicts at work and felt the need for systematic education and training. OPs suffered the most ethical conflicts in decisions regarding occupational health examination and evaluation for work relatedness. Over 60% of total participants were unaware of the ethical codes of other countries. Participants thought 'consideration of worker's health and safety' (26.0%) and 'neutrality' (24.7%) as the prominent ethical values in professionality ofoccupational medicine. In mock cases, participants chose beneficence and justice for fitness for work and confidential information acquired while on duty, and beneficence and respect for autonomy in pre

  10. New class of photonic quantum error correction codes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Silveri, Matti; Michael, Marios; Brierley, R. T.; Salmilehto, Juha; Albert, Victor V.; Jiang, Liang; Girvin, S. M.

    We present a new class of quantum error correction codes for applications in quantum memories, communication and scalable computation. These codes are constructed from a finite superposition of Fock states and can exactly correct errors that are polynomial up to a specified degree in creation and destruction operators. Equivalently, they can perform approximate quantum error correction to any given order in time step for the continuous-time dissipative evolution under these errors. The codes are related to two-mode photonic codes but offer the advantage of requiring only a single photon mode to correct loss (amplitude damping), as well as the ability to correct other errors, e.g. dephasing. Our codes are also similar in spirit to photonic ''cat codes'' but have several advantages including smaller mean occupation number and exact rather than approximate orthogonality of the code words. We analyze how the rate of uncorrectable errors scales with the code complexity and discuss the unitary control for the recovery process. These codes are realizable with current superconducting qubit technology and can increase the fidelity of photonic quantum communication and memories.

  11. Localization of TFIIB binding regions using serial analysis of chromatin occupancy

    PubMed Central

    Yochum, Gregory S; Rajaraman, Veena; Cleland, Ryan; McWeeney, Shannon

    2007-01-01

    Background: RNA Polymerase II (RNAP II) is recruited to core promoters by the pre-initiation complex (PIC) of general transcription factors. Within the PIC, transcription factor for RNA polymerase IIB (TFIIB) determines the start site of transcription. TFIIB binding has not been localized, genome-wide, in metazoans. Serial analysis of chromatin occupancy (SACO) is an unbiased methodology used to empirically identify transcription factor binding regions. In this report, we use TFIIB and SACO to localize TFIIB binding regions across the rat genome. Results: A sample of the TFIIB SACO library was sequenced and 12,968 TFIIB genomic signature tags (GSTs) were assigned to the rat genome. GSTs are 20–22 base pair fragments that are derived from TFIIB bound chromatin. TFIIB localized to both non-protein coding and protein-coding loci. For 21% of the 1783 protein-coding genes in this sample of the SACO library, TFIIB binding mapped near the characterized 5' promoter that is upstream of the transcription start site (TSS). However, internal TFIIB binding positions were identified in 57% of the 1783 protein-coding genes. Internal positions are defined as those within an inclusive region greater than 2.5 kb downstream from the 5' TSS and 2.5 kb upstream from the transcription stop. We demonstrate that both TFIIB and TFIID (an additional component of PICs) bound to internal regions using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). The 5' cap of transcripts associated with internal TFIIB binding positions were identified using a cap-trapping assay. The 5' TSSs for internal transcripts were confirmed by primer extension. Additionally, an analysis of the functional annotation of mouse 3 (FANTOM3) databases indicates that internally initiated transcripts identified by TFIIB SACO in rat are conserved in mouse. Conclusion: Our findings that TFIIB binding is not restricted to the 5' upstream region indicates that the propensity for PIC to contribute to transcript diversity is far greater

  12. Brief surgical procedure code lists for outcomes measurement and quality improvement in resource-limited settings.

    PubMed

    Liu, Charles; Kayima, Peter; Riesel, Johanna; Situma, Martin; Chang, David; Firth, Paul

    2017-11-01

    The lack of a classification system for surgical procedures in resource-limited settings hinders outcomes measurement and reporting. Existing procedure coding systems are prohibitively large and expensive to implement. We describe the creation and prospective validation of 3 brief procedure code lists applicable in low-resource settings, based on analysis of surgical procedures performed at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda's second largest public hospital. We reviewed operating room logbooks to identify all surgical operations performed at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital during 2014. Based on the documented indication for surgery and procedure(s) performed, we assigned each operation up to 4 procedure codes from the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification. Coding of procedures was performed by 2 investigators, and a random 20% of procedures were coded by both investigators. These codes were aggregated to generate procedure code lists. During 2014, 6,464 surgical procedures were performed at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, to which we assigned 435 unique procedure codes. Substantial inter-rater reliability was achieved (κ = 0.7037). The 111 most common procedure codes accounted for 90% of all codes assigned, 180 accounted for 95%, and 278 accounted for 98%. We considered these sets of codes as 3 procedure code lists. In a prospective validation, we found that these lists described 83.2%, 89.2%, and 92.6% of surgical procedures performed at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital during August to September of 2015, respectively. Empirically generated brief procedure code lists based on International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification can be used to classify almost all surgical procedures performed at a Ugandan referral hospital. Such a standardized procedure coding system may enable better surgical data collection for administration, research, and quality improvement in resource

  13. Perception of professional ethics by Iranian occupational therapists working with children

    PubMed Central

    Kalantari, Minoo; Kamali, Mohammad; Joolaee, Soodabeh; Rassafiani, Mehdi; Shafarodi, Narges

    2015-01-01

    Ethics are related to the structure and culture of the society. In addition to specialized ethics for every profession, individuals also hold their own personal beliefs and values. This study aimed to investigate Iranian occupational therapists’ perception of ethical practice when working with children. For this purpose, qualitative content analysis was used and semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten occupational therapists in their convenient place and time. Each interview was transcribed and double-checked by the research team. Units of meaning were extracted from each transcription and then coded and categorized accordingly. The main categories of ethical practice when working with children included personal attributes, responsibility toward clients, and professional responsibility. Personal attributes included four subcategories: veracity, altruism, empathy, and competence. Responsibility toward clients consisted of six subcategories: equality, autonomy, respect for clients, confidentiality, beneficence, and non-maleficence. Professional responsibility included three subcategories: fidelity, development of professional knowledge, and promotion and growth of the profession. Findings of this study indicated that in Iran, occupational therapists’ perception of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, fidelity and competence is different from Western countries, which may be due to a lower knowledge of ethics and other factors such as culture. The results of this study may be used to develop ethical codes for Iranian occupational therapists both during training and on the job. PMID:27354897

  14. Coding OSICS sports injury diagnoses in epidemiological studies: does the background of the coder matter?

    PubMed Central

    Finch, Caroline F; Orchard, John W; Twomey, Dara M; Saad Saleem, Muhammad; Ekegren, Christina L; Lloyd, David G; Elliott, Bruce C

    2014-01-01

    Objective To compare Orchard Sports Injury Classification System (OSICS-10) sports medicine diagnoses assigned by a clinical and non-clinical coder. Design Assessment of intercoder agreement. Setting Community Australian football. Participants 1082 standardised injury surveillance records. Main outcome measurements Direct comparison of the four-character hierarchical OSICS-10 codes assigned by two independent coders (a sports physician and an epidemiologist). Adjudication by a third coder (biomechanist). Results The coders agreed on the first character 95% of the time and on the first two characters 86% of the time. They assigned the same four-digit OSICS-10 code for only 46% of the 1082 injuries. The majority of disagreements occurred for the third character; 85% were because one coder assigned a non-specific ‘X’ code. The sports physician code was deemed correct in 53% of cases and the epidemiologist in 44%. Reasons for disagreement included the physician not using all of the collected information and the epidemiologist lacking specific anatomical knowledge. Conclusions Sports injury research requires accurate identification and classification of specific injuries and this study found an overall high level of agreement in coding according to OSICS-10. The fact that the majority of the disagreements occurred for the third OSICS character highlights the fact that increasing complexity and diagnostic specificity in injury coding can result in a loss of reliability and demands a high level of anatomical knowledge. Injury report form details need to reflect this level of complexity and data management teams need to include a broad range of expertise. PMID:22919021

  15. CAREX Canada: an enhanced model for assessing occupational carcinogen exposure

    PubMed Central

    Peters, Cheryl E; Ge, Calvin B; Hall, Amy L; Davies, Hugh W; Demers, Paul A

    2015-01-01

    Objectives To estimate the numbers of workers exposed to known and suspected occupational carcinogens in Canada, building on the methods of CARcinogen EXposure (CAREX) projects in the European Union (EU). Methods CAREX Canada consists of estimates of the prevalence and level of exposure to occupational carcinogens. CAREX Canada includes occupational agents evaluated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as known, probable or possible human carcinogens that were present and feasible to assess in Canadian workplaces. A Canadian Workplace Exposure Database was established to identify the potential for exposure in particular industries and occupations, and to create exposure level estimates among priority agents, where possible. CAREX EU data were reviewed for relevance to the Canadian context and the proportion of workers likely to be exposed by industry and occupation in Canada was assigned using expert assessment and agreement by a minimum of two occupational hygienists. These proportions were used to generate prevalence estimates by linkage with the Census of Population for 2006, and these estimates are available by industry, occupation, sex and province. Results CAREX Canada estimated the number of workers exposed to 44 known, probable and suspected carcinogens. Estimates of levels of exposure were further developed for 18 priority agents. Common exposures included night shift work (1.9 million exposed), solar ultraviolet radiation exposure (1.5 million exposed) and diesel engine exhaust (781 000 exposed). Conclusions A substantial proportion of Canadian workers are exposed to known and suspected carcinogens at work. PMID:24969047

  16. The Astrophysics Source Code Library: Supporting software publication and citation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Allen, Alice; Teuben, Peter

    2018-01-01

    The Astrophysics Source Code Library (ASCL, ascl.net), established in 1999, is a free online registry for source codes used in research that has appeared in, or been submitted to, peer-reviewed publications. The ASCL is indexed by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) and Web of Science and is citable by using the unique ascl ID assigned to each code. In addition to registering codes, the ASCL can house archive files for download and assign them DOIs. The ASCL advocations for software citation on par with article citation, participates in multidiscipinary events such as Force11, OpenCon, and the annual Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science, works with journal publishers, and organizes Special Sessions and Birds of a Feather meetings at national and international conferences such as Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (ADASS), European Week of Astronomy and Space Science, and AAS meetings. In this presentation, I will discuss some of the challenges of gathering credit for publishing software and ideas and efforts from other disciplines that may be useful to astronomy.

  17. Studying entrepreneurial occupations in the Terman women.

    PubMed

    Schmitt-Rodermund, Eva; Schröder, Elke; Obschonka, Martin

    2017-07-16

    To achieve a better understanding of entrepreneurship development in women, longitudinal data on 672 individuals collected from 1922 to 1959 were analysed in a secondary investigation of the Terman Longitudinal Study. Women's reports on their occupations during 10 different years were assigned to one of two categories: work for pay (0/1), and work allowing for self-employment (0/1) in the respective year. Structural equation modelling supported earlier results concerning male entrepreneurial activity. Personality and aspects of the parenting context the women had experienced by the average age of 12 predicted early entrepreneurial competencies (inventions, leadership) and occupational interests by age 13, which related to an entrepreneurship-related career goal in 1936, when the participants were about 27 years of age on average. Such a career goal in turn predicted a higher number of occasions of entrepreneurship-prone work. Surprisingly, we also found a relationship to divorce. Women who had experienced the failure of a marriage were in occupations with a potential for entrepreneurship more often. Reasons are discussed against a backdrop of historical timing and current findings to identify general aspects of entrepreneurship development. © 2017 International Union of Psychological Science.

  18. Comparing the coding of complications in Queensland and Victorian admitted patient data.

    PubMed

    Michel, Jude L; Cheng, Diana; Jackson, Terri J

    2011-08-01

    To examine differences between Queensland and Victorian coding of hospital-acquired conditions and suggest ways to improve the usefulness of these data in the monitoring of patient safety events. Secondary analysis of admitted patient episode data collected in Queensland and Victoria. Comparison of depth of coding, and patterns in the coding of ten commonly coded complications of five elective procedures. Comparison of the mean complication codes assigned per episode revealed Victoria assigns more valid codes than Queensland for all procedures, with the difference between the states being significantly different in all cases. The proportion of the codes flagged as complications was consistently lower for Queensland when comparing 10 common complications for each of the five selected elective procedures. The estimated complication rates for the five procedures showed Victoria to have an apparently higher complication rate than Queensland for 35 of the 50 complications examined. Our findings demonstrate that the coding of complications is more comprehensive in Victoria than in Queensland. It is known that inconsistencies exist between states in routine hospital data quality. Comparative use of patient safety indicators should be viewed with caution until standards are improved across Australia. More exploration of data quality issues is needed to identify areas for improvement.

  19. Physically demanding jobs and occupational injury and disability in the U.S. Army.

    PubMed

    Hollander, Ilyssa E; Bell, Nicole S

    2010-10-01

    Effective job assignments should take into account physical capabilities to perform required tasks. Failure to do so is likely to result in increased injuries and musculoskeletal disability. To evaluate the association between job demands and health outcomes among U.S. Army soldiers. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis is used to describe associations between job demands, hospitalizations, and disability among 261,096 enlisted Army soldiers in heavily, moderately, and lightly physically demanding occupations (2000-2005) who were followed for up to 5 years. Controlling for gender, race, and age, soldiers in heavily demanding jobs were at increased risk for any-cause injury, on-duty injuries, any-cause hospitalizations, and any-cause disability, but not for musculoskeletal disability. Army job assignments should more accurately match physical capabilities to job demands and/or jobs should be redesigned to reduce injuries. Though musculoskeletal disorders are often the result of acute injury, the demographic and occupational risk patterns differ from acute injury.

  20. Convergent Validity of O*NET Holland Code Classifications

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eggerth, Donald E.; Bowles, Shannon M.; Tunick, Roy H.; Andrew, Michael E.

    2005-01-01

    The interpretive ease and intuitive appeal of the Holland RIASEC typology have made it nearly ubiquitous in vocational guidance settings. Its incorporation into the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) has moved it another step closer to reification. This research investigated the rates of agreement between Holland code classifications from…

  1. Suicide Mortality Across Broad Occupational Groups in Greece: A Descriptive Study

    PubMed Central

    Alexopoulos, Evangelos C.; Kavalidou, Katerina; Messolora, Fani

    2015-01-01

    Background Several studies have investigated the relationship between specific occupations and suicide mortality, as suicide rates differ by profession. The aim of this study was to investigate suicide mortality ratios across broad occupational groups in Greece for both sexes in the period 2000–2009. Methods Data of suicide deaths were retrieved from the Hellenic Statistical Authority and comparative mortality ratios were calculated. Occupational classification was based on the International Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88) and the coding for Intentional self-harm (X60–X84) was based on the international classification of diseases (ICD-10). Results Male dominant occupations, mainly armed forces, skilled farmers and elementary workers, and female high-skilled occupations were seen as high risk groups for suicide in a period of 10 years. The age-productive group of 30–39 years in Greek male elementary workers and the 50–59 age-productive group of Greek professional women proved to have the most elevated number of suicide deaths. Conclusion Further research is needed into the work-related stressors of occupations with high suicide mortality risk and focused suicide prevention strategies should be applied within vulnerable working age populations. PMID:27014484

  2. Suicide Mortality Across Broad Occupational Groups in Greece: A Descriptive Study.

    PubMed

    Alexopoulos, Evangelos C; Kavalidou, Katerina; Messolora, Fani

    2016-03-01

    Several studies have investigated the relationship between specific occupations and suicide mortality, as suicide rates differ by profession. The aim of this study was to investigate suicide mortality ratios across broad occupational groups in Greece for both sexes in the period 2000-2009. Data of suicide deaths were retrieved from the Hellenic Statistical Authority and comparative mortality ratios were calculated. Occupational classification was based on the International Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88) and the coding for Intentional self-harm (X60-X84) was based on the international classification of diseases (ICD-10). Male dominant occupations, mainly armed forces, skilled farmers and elementary workers, and female high-skilled occupations were seen as high risk groups for suicide in a period of 10 years. The age-productive group of 30-39 years in Greek male elementary workers and the 50-59 age-productive group of Greek professional women proved to have the most elevated number of suicide deaths. Further research is needed into the work-related stressors of occupations with high suicide mortality risk and focused suicide prevention strategies should be applied within vulnerable working age populations.

  3. Amino acid fermentation at the origin of the genetic code

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    There is evidence that the genetic code was established prior to the existence of proteins, when metabolism was powered by ribozymes. Also, early proto-organisms had to rely on simple anaerobic bioenergetic processes. In this work I propose that amino acid fermentation powered metabolism in the RNA world, and that this was facilitated by proto-adapters, the precursors of the tRNAs. Amino acids were used as carbon sources rather than as catalytic or structural elements. In modern bacteria, amino acid fermentation is known as the Stickland reaction. This pathway involves two amino acids: the first undergoes oxidative deamination, and the second acts as an electron acceptor through reductive deamination. This redox reaction results in two keto acids that are employed to synthesise ATP via substrate-level phosphorylation. The Stickland reaction is the basic bioenergetic pathway of some bacteria of the genus Clostridium. Two other facts support Stickland fermentation in the RNA world. First, several Stickland amino acid pairs are synthesised in abiotic amino acid synthesis. This suggests that amino acids that could be used as an energy substrate were freely available. Second, anticodons that have complementary sequences often correspond to amino acids that form Stickland pairs. The main hypothesis of this paper is that pairs of complementary proto-adapters were assigned to Stickland amino acids pairs. There are signatures of this hypothesis in the genetic code. Furthermore, it is argued that the proto-adapters formed double strands that brought amino acid pairs into proximity to facilitate their mutual redox reaction, structurally constraining the anticodon pairs that are assigned to these amino acid pairs. Significance tests which randomise the code are performed to study the extent of the variability of the energetic (ATP) yield. Random assignments can lead to a substantial yield of ATP and maintain enough variability, thus selection can act and refine the assignments

  4. BTEC Integrative Assignments.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foot, G. E.

    1992-01-01

    To equip electrical engineering students with common and transferable work skills, a program of integrative assignments was created to develop communication and teamwork skills. Discusses assignment components; the log book, a personal account of each assignment; assessment; conversion of "common skills" to competence statements, and…

  5. Suicide Rates by Occupational Group - 17 States, 2012.

    PubMed

    McIntosh, Wendy LiKamWa; Spies, Erica; Stone, Deborah M; Lokey, Colby N; Trudeau, Aimée-Rika T; Bartholow, Brad

    2016-07-01

    In 2012, approximately 40,000 suicides were reported in the United States, making suicide the 10th leading reported cause of death for persons aged ≥16 years (1). From 2000 to 2012, rates of suicide among persons in this age group increased 21.1%, from 13.3 per 100,000 to 16.1 (1). To inform suicide prevention efforts, CDC analyzed suicide by occupational group, by ascribing occupational codes to 12,312 suicides in 17 states in 2012 from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) (2). The frequency of suicide in different occupational groups was examined, and rates of suicide were calculated by sex and age group for these categories. Persons working in the farming, fishing, and forestry group had the highest rate of suicide overall (84.5 per 100,000 population) and among males (90.5); the highest rates of suicide among females occurred among those working in protective service occupations (14.1). Overall, the lowest rate of suicide (7.5) was found in the education, training, and library occupational group. Suicide prevention approaches directed toward persons aged ≥16 years that enhance social support, community connectedness, access to preventive services, and the reduction of stigma and barriers to help-seeking are needed.

  6. 48 CFR 204.7202-1 - CAGE codes.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... issued by DLA Logistics Information Service. (Their address is: Customer Service, Federal Center, 74... Logistics Information Service assigns or records and maintains CAGE codes to identify commercial and... Volume 7 of DoD 4100.39-M, Federal Logistics Information System (FLIS) Procedures Manual, prescribe use...

  7. 48 CFR 204.7202-1 - CAGE codes.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... issued by DLA Logistics Information Service. (Their address is: Customer Service, Federal Center, 74... Logistics Information Service assigns or records and maintains CAGE codes to identify commercial and... Volume 7 of DoD 4100.39-M, Federal Logistics Information System (FLIS) Procedures Manual, prescribe use...

  8. 48 CFR 204.7202-1 - CAGE codes.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... issued by DLA Logistics Information Service. (Their address is: Customer Service, Federal Center, 74... Logistics Information Service assigns or records and maintains CAGE codes to identify commercial and... Volume 7 of DoD 4100.39-M, Federal Logistics Information System (FLIS) Procedures Manual, prescribe use...

  9. 48 CFR 204.7202-1 - CAGE codes.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... issued by DLA Logistics Information Service. (Their address is: Customer Service, Federal Center, 74... Logistics Information Service assigns or records and maintains CAGE codes to identify commercial and... Volume 7 of DoD 4100.39-M, Federal Logistics Information System (FLIS) Procedures Manual, prescribe use...

  10. Bernardino Ramazzini: the father of occupational medicine.

    PubMed

    Pope, Malcolm H

    2004-10-15

    Bernardino Ramazzini was born on October 4, 1633, in the small town of Capri located in the duchy of Modula, Italy. He is credited with establishing the field of occupational medicine during his lifetime. His major contributions came after 1682, when Duke Francesco II of Modena assigned him to establish a medical department at the University of Modena. He was installed in the title of professor "Medicinae Theoricae." In 1700, Ramazzini was appointed chair of practical medicine in Padua, Republic of Venice, the premier medical faculty in Italy. In 1700, he wrote the seminal book on occupational diseases and industrial hygiene, De Morbis Artificum Diatriba (Diseases of Workers). Although Ramazzini is perhaps most well known for his work on exposure to toxic materials, he wrote extensively about diseases of the musculoskeletal system. In particular, he warned of the problems of inactivity and poor postures inherent in some jobs.

  11. 50 CFR Table 14b to Part 679 - Port of Landing Codes: Non-Alaska

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Port of Landing Codes: Non-Alaska 14b... ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 14b Table 14b to Part 679—Port of Landing Codes: Non-Alaska (California, Canada... report a landing at a location not currently assigned a location code number, use the code for “Other...

  12. 50 CFR Table 14b to Part 679 - Port of Landing Codes: Non-Alaska

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Port of Landing Codes: Non-Alaska 14b... ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 14b Table 14b to Part 679—Port of Landing Codes: Non-Alaska (California, Canada... report a landing at a location not currently assigned a location code number, use the code for “Other...

  13. CAESAR: Commissioned Assignments Executive Support for the US Army.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1986-03-27

    travel between jobs ? b. Detailed Narrative The documented source code of CAESAR can be found in Appendix B. An explanatory listing of variables used is...Compute Match Preference PREFFORM SSI index a, b a,b Match Match Leave ADSPEC SC2 and Travel a, b Time ab a , b ~~N4 4. ORB Mac Matyh ,. ac ASI ASI SReport...sufficient time between assignments for the officer to 44 take 30 days leave and travel . While this is not a manda- tory consideration, it is common to

  14. Assessment of the impact of the change from manual to automated coding on mortality statistics in Australia.

    PubMed

    McKenzie, Kirsten; Walker, Sue; Tong, Shilu

    It remains unclear whether the change from a manual to an automated coding system (ACS) for deaths has significantly affected the consistency of Australian mortality data. The underlying causes of 34,000 deaths registered in 1997 in Australia were dual coded, in ICD-9 manually, and by using an automated computer coding program. The diseases most affected by the change from manual to ACS were senile/presenile dementia, and pneumonia. The most common disease to which a manually assigned underlying cause of senile dementia was coded with ACS was unspecified psychoses (37.2%). Only 12.5% of codes assigned by ACS as senile dementia were coded the same by manual coders. This study indicates some important differences in mortality rates when comparing mortality data that have been coded manually with those coded using an automated computer coding program. These differences may be related to both the different interpretation of ICD coding rules between manual and automated coding, and different co-morbidities or co-existing conditions among demographic groups.

  15. American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM): a professional association in service to industry.

    PubMed

    LaDou, Joseph; Teitelbaum, Daniel T; Egilman, David S; Frank, Arthur L; Kramer, Sharon N; Huff, James

    2007-01-01

    The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) is a professional association that represents the interests of its company-employed physician members. Fifty years ago the ACOEM began to assert itself in the legislative arena as an advocate of limited regulation and enforcement of occupational health and safety standards and laws, and environmental protection. Today the ACOEM provides a legitimizing professional association for company doctors, and continues to provide a vehicle to advance the agendas of their corporate sponsors. Company doctors in ACOEM recently blocked attempts to have the organization take a stand on global warming. Company doctors employed by the petrochemical industry even blocked the ACOEM from taking a position on particulate air pollution. Industry money and influence pervade every aspect of occupational and environmental medicine. The controlling influence of industry over the ACOEM physicians should cease. The conflict of interests inherent in the practice of occupational and environmental medicine is not resolved by the ineffectual efforts of the ACOEM to establish a pretentious code of conduct. The conflicted interests within the ACOEM have become too deeply embedded to be resolved by merely a self-governing code of conduct. The specialty practice of occupational and environmental medicine has the opportunity and obligation to join the public health movement. If it does, the ACOEM will have no further purpose as it exists, and specialists in occupational and environmental medicine will meet with and be represented by public health associations. This paper chronicles the history of occupational medicine and industry physicians as influenced and even controlled by corporate leaders.

  16. Assignment of protein sequences to existing domain and family classification systems: Pfam and the PDB.

    PubMed

    Xu, Qifang; Dunbrack, Roland L

    2012-11-01

    Automating the assignment of existing domain and protein family classifications to new sets of sequences is an important task. Current methods often miss assignments because remote relationships fail to achieve statistical significance. Some assignments are not as long as the actual domain definitions because local alignment methods often cut alignments short. Long insertions in query sequences often erroneously result in two copies of the domain assigned to the query. Divergent repeat sequences in proteins are often missed. We have developed a multilevel procedure to produce nearly complete assignments of protein families of an existing classification system to a large set of sequences. We apply this to the task of assigning Pfam domains to sequences and structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). We found that HHsearch alignments frequently scored more remotely related Pfams in Pfam clans higher than closely related Pfams, thus, leading to erroneous assignment at the Pfam family level. A greedy algorithm allowing for partial overlaps was, thus, applied first to sequence/HMM alignments, then HMM-HMM alignments and then structure alignments, taking care to join partial alignments split by large insertions into single-domain assignments. Additional assignment of repeat Pfams with weaker E-values was allowed after stronger assignments of the repeat HMM. Our database of assignments, presented in a database called PDBfam, contains Pfams for 99.4% of chains >50 residues. The Pfam assignment data in PDBfam are available at http://dunbrack2.fccc.edu/ProtCid/PDBfam, which can be searched by PDB codes and Pfam identifiers. They will be updated regularly.

  17. Effect of Childhood Victimization on Occupational Prestige and Income Trajectories

    PubMed Central

    Fernandez, Cristina A.; Christ, Sharon L.; LeBlanc, William G.; Arheart, Kristopher L.; Dietz, Noella A.; McCollister, Kathyrn E.; Fleming, Lora E.; Muntaner, Carles; Muennig, Peter; Lee, David J.

    2015-01-01

    Background Violence toward children (childhood victimization) is a major public health problem, with long-term consequences on economic well-being. The purpose of this study was to determine whether childhood victimization affects occupational prestige and income in young adulthood. We hypothesized that young adults who experienced more childhood victimizations would have less prestigious jobs and lower incomes relative to those with no victimization history. We also explored the pathways in which childhood victimization mediates the relationships between background variables, such as parent’s educational impact on the socioeconomic transition into adulthood. Methods A nationally representative sample of 8,901 young adults aged 18–28 surveyed between 1999–2009 from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY) were analyzed. Covariate-adjusted multivariate linear regression and path models were used to estimate the effects of victimization and covariates on income and prestige levels and on income and prestige trajectories. After each participant turned 18, their annual 2002 Census job code was assigned a yearly prestige score based on the 1989 General Social Survey, and their annual income was calculated via self-reports. Occupational prestige and annual income are time-varying variables measured from 1999–2009. Victimization effects were tested for moderation by sex, race, and ethnicity in the multivariate models. Results Approximately half of our sample reported at least one instance of childhood victimization before the age of 18. Major findings include 1) childhood victimization resulted in slower income and prestige growth over time, and 2) mediation analyses suggested that this slower prestige and earnings arose because victims did not get the same amount of education as non-victims. Conclusions Results indicated that the consequences of victimization negatively affected economic success throughout young adulthood, primarily by slowing the

  18. Comparing Looping Teacher-Assigned and Traditional Teacher-Assigned Student Achievement Scores

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lloyd, Melissa C.

    2014-01-01

    A problem in many elementary schools is determining which teacher assignment strategy best promotes the academic progress of students. To find and implement educational practices that address the academic needs of all learners, schools need research-based data focusing on the 2 teacher assignment strategies: looping assignment (LA) and traditional…

  19. Occupational dermatoses reported in Brazil from 2007 to 2014*

    PubMed Central

    Lise, Michelle Larissa Zini; Feijó, Fernando Ribas; Lise, Michael Laurence Zini; Lise, Claudia Ribeiro Zini; de Campos, Luis Carlos Elejalde

    2018-01-01

    Background Occupational diseases are very prevalent in the world, especially in developing countries. Occupational dermatoses are responsible for most of these cases. However, epidemiological studies are rare in Brazil. Objectives To verify the panorama of occupational skin diseases in Brazil describing frequencies of work-related dermatoses and their sociodemographic and occupational patterns. Methods We used retrospective data from the Notifiable Diseases Information System, (from 2007-2014) tabulated with the Tab program for Windows - TabWin12. We used intentional non-probability sampling and sequential selection, considering all notified occupational dermatoses. Results All cases of occupational dermatoses referred to in the period were analyzed (n = 4710). Males and the age group of 35-49 years were the most affected. The most affected body area was the upper limb (34.2%) and the hand (25.4%). The "causative agent" field in the forms was not filled in 69.4% of cases, with chrome as the most prevalent cause reported (11.8%). ICD-10 codes more prevalent were L23, L24, and L25, corresponding to 34.2% of the sample. In total, 29% of patients needed to take a sick leave. No cases evolved to death and there were 0.2% of total as permanent disability. Study limitations The amount of missing information for various items in the system draws attention. Conclusions Treatment of patients with occupational dermatitis include the identification and removal of the causative agent and specific treatment of the disease. Diagnosis delay in cases of occupational dermatoses brings social and financial consequences to the work and life of workers. PMID:29641693

  20. Predictors of restraint use among child occupants.

    PubMed

    Benedetti, Marco; Klinich, Kathleen D; Manary, Miriam A; Flannagan, Carol A

    2017-11-17

    The objective of this study was to identify factors that predict restraint use and optimal restraint use among children aged 0 to 13 years. The data set is a national sample of police-reported crashes for years 2010-2014 in which type of child restraint is recorded. The data set was supplemented with demographic census data linked by driver ZIP code, as well as a score for the state child restraint law during the year of the crash relative to best practice recommendations for protecting child occupants. Analysis used linear regression techniques. The main predictor of unrestrained child occupants was the presence of an unrestrained driver. Among restrained children, children had 1.66 (95% confidence interval, 1.27, 2.17) times higher odds of using the recommended type of restraint system if the state law at the time of the crash included requirements based on best practice recommendations. Children are more likely to ride in the recommended type of child restraint when their state's child restraint law includes wording that follows best practice recommendations for child occupant protection. However, state child restraint law requirements do not influence when caregivers fail to use an occupant restraint for their child passengers.

  1. Occupational Opportunities for the Physically Handicapped. Part B. Manual.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Uthe, Elaine F.

    This manual presents the master lists of 206 job titles of 167 different Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) code numbers which were held by physically handicapped graduates/completers of vocational programs as determined by a business and industry survey and graduate followup. (The project itself is reported in CE 026 163; survey and followup…

  2. [Occupational doctors in the public prevention services and qualified occupational doctors: their roles and forms of collaboration].

    PubMed

    Taddeo, D; Di Giammarco, A M

    2006-01-01

    The occupational docters in public prevention and control services and the qualified occupational doctors who carry out functions of specialized doctors for enterprises, as well as operating according to their individual professional skills, are all part of the polydisciplinary system of collaboration that, while differing in methods, organizations and planning of their activities, have a shared aim: the safeguarding of the health and safety of the workers. The two systems have a mutual obligation to give information, foreseen also by several norms, that require common codes for evaluation and interpretation when exchanging communications, also for going beyond the simple conflictual relationship of "controller" and "controlled". In fact a shared commitment is necessary nowadays to face the lesser known and investigated risks and diseases, to promote the roles and rights of the workers, their representatives and also the employers of the micro-enterprises.

  3. ICD Social Codes: An Underutilized Resource for Tracking Social Needs.

    PubMed

    Torres, Jacqueline M; Lawlor, John; Colvin, Jeffrey D; Sills, Marion R; Bettenhausen, Jessica L; Davidson, Amber; Cutler, Gretchen J; Hall, Matt; Gottlieb, Laura M

    2017-09-01

    Social determinants of health (SDH) data collected in health care settings could have important applications for clinical decision-making, population health strategies, and the design of performance-based incentives and penalties. One source for cataloging SDH data is the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD). To explore how SDH are captured with ICD Ninth revision SDH V codes in a national inpatient discharge database. Data come from the 2013 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) National Inpatient Sample, a national stratified sample of discharges from 4363 hospitals from 44 US states. We estimate the rate of ICD-9 SDH V code utilization overall and by patient demographics and payer categories. We additionally estimate the rate of SDH V code utilization for: (a) the 5 most common reasons for hospitalization; and (b) the 5 conditions with the highest rates of SDH V code utilization. Fewer than 2% of overall discharges in the National Inpatient Sample were assigned an SDH V code. There were statistically significant differences in the rate of overall SDH V code utilization by age categories, race/ethnicity, sex, and payer (all P<0.001). Nevertheless, SDH V codes were assigned to <7% of discharges in any demographic or payer subgroup. SDH V code utilization was highest for major diagnostic categories related to mental health and alcohol/substance use-related discharges. SDH V codes are infrequently utilized in inpatient settings for discharges other than those related to mental health and alcohol/substance use. Utilization incentives will likely need to be developed to realize the potential benefits of cataloging SDH information.

  4. UV-induced occupational skin cancer: possibilities of secondary individual prevention in the "Dermatologist's Procedure".

    PubMed

    Elsner, Peter; Blome, Otto; Diepgen, Thomas Ludwig

    2013-07-01

    Invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) as a "quasi occupational disease" according to §9 Section 2 of the German Social Code Book (SGB) VII typically develops on chronically UV-damaged skin from actinic keratoses. After the Medical Scientific Committee of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has confirmed the legal criteria for acknowledging UV-induced SCC as an occupational disease, it is expected that the condition will be added to the official list of occupational diseases issued by the Federal Government in the near future. The Social Accident Insurance is required by law (§3 Occupational Disease Regulation) to prevent these tumors by "all appropriate means". There are excellent therapeutic and preventive measures for the management of actinic keratoses to avoid the development of SCC. The "Dermatologist's Procedure" according to §§ 41-43 of the agreement between the Social Accident Insurance and the Federal Medical Association was established in Germany in 1972 to take preventive measures in insured persons with skin lesions possibly developing into an occupational disease, or worsening it, or leading to a recurrence of it This procedure proved to be very successful in the prevention of severe and/or recurring skin diseases forcing a worker to leave his job. On the basis of this agreement, the Social Accident Insurance has the instruments to independently provide preventive measures for the new occupational skin disease SCC induced by natural UV light according to §9 Section 2 of the German Social Code Book (SGB) VII. © The Authors • Journal compilation © Blackwell Verlag GmbH, Berlin.

  5. Grouping puts figure-ground assignment in context by constraining propagation of edge-assignment

    PubMed Central

    Brooks, Joseph L.; Driver, Jon

    2010-01-01

    Figure-ground organization involves assignment of edges to a figural shape on one or the other side of each dividing edge. Established visual cues for edge-assignment primarily concern relatively local rather than contextual factors. Here we show that assignment for a locally-unbiased edge can be affected by assignment of a remote contextual edge that has its own locally-biased assignment. We find that such propagation of edge-assignment from the biased remote context occurs only when the biased and unbiased edges are grouped. This new principle, whereby grouping constrains propagation of figural edge-assignment, emerges from both subjective reports and from an objective short-term edge-matching task. It generalizes from moving displays involving grouping by common fate and collinearity, to static displays with grouping by similarity of edge-contrast polarity, or apparent occlusion. Our results identify a new contextual influence upon edge-assignment. They also identify a new mechanistic relation between grouping and figure-ground processes, whereby grouping between remote elements can constrain propagation of edge-assignment between those elements. PMID:20436200

  6. Occupation as a risk factor for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

    PubMed

    Bilhartz, Terry D; Bilhartz, Patty

    2013-02-01

    Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are leading causes of morbidity and mortality and have been rising in incidence. Little is known about the effects of worker classifications on HDP. This large-scale study examines associations between occupational classifications and HDP. We examined 385,537 Texas Electronic Registrar Birth Registration 2005 birth certificates. Maternal occupations were coded using the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). Crude and adjusted risks for HDP among working women within occupational groupings were analyzed and compared with risks of nonemployed women. The risk of developing HDP varies across SOC occupational classifications. After controlling for known confounders, women employed in business, management, and the legal and social services, teaching, counseling, and healthcare professions are at higher risk for developing HDP than women employed in support industries, such as food preparation, housekeeping, cosmetic and personal care services, or nonemployed women. Women employed in computer, engineering, architectural, and scientific occupations also carry greater risks, although these increased risks do not affect women of normal weight. Worker classification is an independent risk factor for HDP. Additional work must be done to examine the complex interactions among individual maternal genetics, biology, and physical and mental abilities and how they affect adverse health outcomes. Examining job stressors may shed light on these occupational variations and their potential HDP associations. Strategies to mitigate job stressors in the workplace should be considered.

  7. Occupational Sex Roles and Occupational Prestige.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simerly, D. Emily; Ruback, R. Barry

    Past studies on the sex-typing of occupations have used a single bipolar scale, ranging from masculinity to femininity. An empirical examination of both occupational sex roles and occupational prestige was conducted using two unipolar scales to assess masculinity and femininity. College students (N=183) rated 94 occupations, which were then…

  8. A Gibbs sampler for Bayesian analysis of site-occupancy data

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Dorazio, Robert M.; Rodriguez, Daniel Taylor

    2012-01-01

    1. A Bayesian analysis of site-occupancy data containing covariates of species occurrence and species detection probabilities is usually completed using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods in conjunction with software programs that can implement those methods for any statistical model, not just site-occupancy models. Although these software programs are quite flexible, considerable experience is often required to specify a model and to initialize the Markov chain so that summaries of the posterior distribution can be estimated efficiently and accurately. 2. As an alternative to these programs, we develop a Gibbs sampler for Bayesian analysis of site-occupancy data that include covariates of species occurrence and species detection probabilities. This Gibbs sampler is based on a class of site-occupancy models in which probabilities of species occurrence and detection are specified as probit-regression functions of site- and survey-specific covariate measurements. 3. To illustrate the Gibbs sampler, we analyse site-occupancy data of the blue hawker, Aeshna cyanea (Odonata, Aeshnidae), a common dragonfly species in Switzerland. Our analysis includes a comparison of results based on Bayesian and classical (non-Bayesian) methods of inference. We also provide code (based on the R software program) for conducting Bayesian and classical analyses of site-occupancy data.

  9. Concentration of acrylamide in a polyacrylamide gel affects VP4 gene coding assignment of group A equine rotavirus strains with P[12] specificity

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background It is universally acknowledged that genome segment 4 of group A rotavirus, the major etiologic agent of severe diarrhea in infants and neonatal farm animals, encodes outer capsid neutralization and protective antigen VP4. Results To determine which genome segment of three group A equine rotavirus strains (H-2, FI-14 and FI-23) with P[12] specificity encodes the VP4, we analyzed dsRNAs of strains H-2, FI-14 and FI-23 as well as their reassortants by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) at varying concentrations of acrylamide. The relative position of the VP4 gene of the three equine P[12] strains varied (either genome segment 3 or 4) depending upon the concentration of acrylamide. The VP4 gene bearing P[3], P[4], P[6], P[7], P[8] or P[18] specificity did not exhibit this phenomenon when the PAGE running conditions were varied. Conclusions The concentration of acrylamide in a PAGE gel affected VP4 gene coding assignment of equine rotavirus strains bearing P[12] specificity. PMID:20573245

  10. How Sensory Experiences of Children With and Without Autism Affect Family Occupations

    PubMed Central

    Bagby, Molly Shields; Dickie, Virginia A.; Baranek, Grace T.

    2012-01-01

    We used a grounded theory approach to data analysis to discover what effect, if any, children's sensory experiences have on family occupations. We chose this approach because the existing literature does not provide a theory to account for the effect of children's sensory experiences on family occupations. Parents of six children who were typically developing and six children who had autism were interviewed. We analyzed the data using open, axial, and selective coding techniques. Children's sensory experiences affect family occupations in three ways: (1) what a family chooses to do or not do; (2) how the family prepares; and (3) the extent to which experiences, meaning, and feelings are shared. PMID:22389942

  11. Injury Risk for Rear-Seated Occupants in Small Overlap Crashes

    PubMed Central

    Arbogast, Kristy B.; Locey, Caitlin M.; Hammond, Rachel; Belwadi, Aditya

    2013-01-01

    Small overlap crashes, where the primary crash engagement is outboard from the longitudinal energy absorbing structures of the vehicle, have received recent interest as a crash dynamic that results in high likelihood of injury. Previous analyses of good performing vehicles showed that 24% of crashes with AIS 3+ injuries to front seat occupants were small overlap crashes. However, similar evaluations have not been conducted for those rear seated. Vehicle dynamics suggest that rear seat occupants may be at greater risk due to lack of lateral seating support and a steering wheel to hold, making them more sensitive to lateral movement seen in these crashes. Thus, the objective was to calculate injury risk for rear-seated occupants in small overlap collisions. AIS 2+ and AIS 3+ injury risk was calculated from NASS-CDS data from 2000–2011. Inclusion criteria were vehicles of model year 2000 or later, with CDC codes of “FL” or “FR”, and an occupant in the second or third row. AIS2+ injury risk was 5.1%, and AIS3+ injury risk was 2.4%. Of note, half of the occupants were <15 years of age indicating rear seat protection should emphasize the young. Occupants seated near side were nearly three times as likely to sustain an AIS2+ injury than occupants seated far side. Particular attention should be paid to the prominence of head injuries in this crash dynamic and consideration given to their mitigation. Additional research should determine whether countermeasures being implemented for front seat occupants can be beneficial to rear seat occupants. PMID:24406964

  12. Coding for Language Complexity: The Interplay among Methodological Commitments, Tools, and Workflow in Writing Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geisler, Cheryl

    2018-01-01

    Coding, the analytic task of assigning codes to nonnumeric data, is foundational to writing research. A rich discussion of methodological pluralism has established the foundational importance of systematicity in the task of coding, but less attention has been paid to the equally important commitment to language complexity. Addressing the interplay…

  13. The effect of occupational therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Martinsen, Unni; Bentzen, Hege; Holter, Morag Kelly; Nilsen, Tove; Skullerud, Hallvard; Mowinckel, Petter; Kjeken, Ingvild

    2017-03-01

    Aim The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of individualized occupational therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Additionally, the authors wanted to explore the occupational problems experienced in daily life by individuals with COPD. Methods A total of 52 patients were randomly assigned to the intervention group (occupational therapy) or control group (treatment as usual). The primary outcome was assessed using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), and participants were assessed at baseline and after four and 12 months. Results There were no treatment effects on occupational performance or satisfaction with performance, as measured by the COPM. However, we found a significant effect in favour of the intervention group at exertion when performing an individually chosen activity, and in the activity dimension of St George's Respiratory Questionnaire. A total of 595 occupational problems were reported, most frequently within mobility, active recreation, and household management. Conclusions The results show that, compared with the usual care, individualized occupational therapy did not improve occupational performance or satisfaction with performance. Small but significant changes in activity performance in favour of the intervention group were found in some of the secondary outcomes.

  14. The ICF and Postsurgery Occupational Therapy after Traumatic Hand Injury

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fitinghoff, Helene; Lindqvist, Birgitta; Nygard, Louise; Ekholm, Jan; Schult, Marie-Louise

    2011-01-01

    Recent studies have examined the effectiveness of hand rehabilitation programmes and have linked the outcomes to the concept of ICF but not to specific ICF category codes. The objective of this study was to gain experience using ICF concepts to describe occupational therapy interventions during postsurgery hand rehabilitation, and to describe…

  15. Grouping puts figure-ground assignment in context by constraining propagation of edge assignment.

    PubMed

    Brooks, Joseph L; Brook, Joseph L; Driver, Jon

    2010-05-01

    Figure-ground organization involves the assignment of edges to a figural shape on one or the other side of each dividing edge. Established visual cues for edge assignment primarily concern relatively local rather than contextual factors. In the present article, we show that an assignment for a locally unbiased edge can be affected by an assignment of a remote contextual edge that has its own locally biased assignment. We find that such propagation of edge assignment from the biased remote context occurs only when the biased and unbiased edges are grouped. This new principle, whereby grouping constrains the propagation of figural edge assignment, emerges from both subjective reports and an objective short-term edge-matching task. It generalizes from moving displays involving grouping by common fate and collinearity, to static displays with grouping by similarity of edge-contrast polarity, or apparent occlusion. Our results identify a new contextual influence on edge assignment. They also identify a new mechanistic relation between grouping and figure-ground processes, whereby grouping between remote elements can constrain the propagation of edge assignment between those elements. Supplemental materials for this article may be downloaded from http://app.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.

  16. An Investigation of the Partial-Assignment Completion Effect on Students' Assignment Choice Behavior

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hawthorn-Embree, Meredith L.; Skinner, Christopher H.; Parkhurst, John; Conley, Elisha

    2011-01-01

    This study was designed to investigate the partial assignment completion effect. Seventh-grade students were given a math assignment. After working for 5 min, they were interrupted and their partially completed assignments were collected. About 20 min later, students were given their partially completed assignment and a new, control assignment…

  17. Assignment of protein sequences to existing domain and family classification systems: Pfam and the PDB

    PubMed Central

    Dunbrack, Roland L.

    2012-01-01

    Motivation: Automating the assignment of existing domain and protein family classifications to new sets of sequences is an important task. Current methods often miss assignments because remote relationships fail to achieve statistical significance. Some assignments are not as long as the actual domain definitions because local alignment methods often cut alignments short. Long insertions in query sequences often erroneously result in two copies of the domain assigned to the query. Divergent repeat sequences in proteins are often missed. Results: We have developed a multilevel procedure to produce nearly complete assignments of protein families of an existing classification system to a large set of sequences. We apply this to the task of assigning Pfam domains to sequences and structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). We found that HHsearch alignments frequently scored more remotely related Pfams in Pfam clans higher than closely related Pfams, thus, leading to erroneous assignment at the Pfam family level. A greedy algorithm allowing for partial overlaps was, thus, applied first to sequence/HMM alignments, then HMM–HMM alignments and then structure alignments, taking care to join partial alignments split by large insertions into single-domain assignments. Additional assignment of repeat Pfams with weaker E-values was allowed after stronger assignments of the repeat HMM. Our database of assignments, presented in a database called PDBfam, contains Pfams for 99.4% of chains >50 residues. Availability: The Pfam assignment data in PDBfam are available at http://dunbrack2.fccc.edu/ProtCid/PDBfam, which can be searched by PDB codes and Pfam identifiers. They will be updated regularly. Contact: Roland.Dunbracks@fccc.edu PMID:22942020

  18. The association between occupation and the incidence of knee disorders in young military recruits.

    PubMed

    Gordon, Barak; Moshe, Shlomo; Blanc, Paul D; Derazne, Estela; Tzur, Dorit; Afek, Arnon; Shamiss, Ari

    2013-01-01

    To investigate the association between occupational risk factors and the incidence of knee disorders in a young adult population. Israeli recruits to the Israel Defense Forces go through a rigorous medical investigation. Study participants were classified by prior knee condition status and divided into 5 categories of prospective occupational exposure to physical activity according to their assigned military duties, and were then followed for 30 months for the development of severe knee disorders (SKD). Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the occupational risks for incident SKD, adjusted for any previous mild or moderate disorder, body mass index, and body height at induction. The study population consisted of 76,491 males. SKD developed in 615 (0.8%). Compared to administrative workers as referents, a higher risk of developing SKD was manifest among high intensity combat occupations, (odds ratios [OR] 2.15), those in moderate intensity combat occupations (OR 2.57) and maintenance (OR 1.59). Drivers did not demonstrate increased risk of knee disorders compared to referents. Occupational factors during military service are associated with incident SKD, even when taking into account previous knee disorders, body mass index, and height, which also had independent effects in our study population.

  19. Differences in folic acid use, prenatal care, smoking, and drinking in early pregnancy by occupation.

    PubMed

    Agopian, A J; Lupo, Philip J; Herdt-Losavio, Michele L; Langlois, Peter H; Rocheleau, Carissa M; Mitchell, Laura E

    2012-10-01

    To describe differences in four high risk periconceptional behaviors (lack of folic acid supplementation, lack of early prenatal care, smoking, and drinking) by maternal occupation. Analyses were conducted among women in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study who delivered liveborn infants without birth defects. Periconceptional occupational data were collected using a computer-assisted telephone interview and occupational coding was performed using the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification System. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine whether prevalence of behaviors differed between occupational groups. Subjects included 5153 women employed during early pregnancy from 1997 to 2007. Compared to women in management, business, science, and arts occupations, women in other occupations (e.g., service occupations) were significantly more likely to engage in all four high risk behaviors. Specifically, women in food preparation/serving-related occupations were significantly more likely to engage in all four behaviors compared to women in all other occupational groups (odds ratios: 1.8-3.0), while women in education/training/library occupations were significantly less likely to do so (odds ratios: 0.2-0.5). We identified several occupational groups with an increased prevalence of high-risk maternal behaviors during pregnancy. Our findings could aid in developing interventions targeted towards women in these occupational groups. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON)

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

    Washington TRU Solutions LLC

    2007-08-15

    The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container.more » Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to WIPP from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Nevada Test Site, and Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, a 20-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2B provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Close-Proximity Shipments" (20-day shipping period). For shipments implementing the controls specified in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.6 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices, a 10-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2C provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Controlled

  1. CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON)

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

    Washington TRU Solutions LLC

    2007-06-15

    The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container.more » Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to WIPP from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Nevada Test Site, and Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, a 20-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2B provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Close-Proximity Shipments" (20-day shipping period). For shipments implementing the controls specified in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.6 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices, a 10-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2C provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Controlled

  2. CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON)

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

    Washington TRU Solutions LLC

    2007-09-20

    The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container.more » Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to WIPP from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Nevada Test Site, and Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, a 20-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2B provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Close-Proximity Shipments" (20-day shipping period). For shipments implementing the controls specified in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.6 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices, a 10-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2C provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Controlled

  3. CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON)

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

    Washington TRU Solutions LLC

    2006-06-20

    The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container.more » Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to WIPP from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Nevada Test Site, and Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, a 20-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2B provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Close-Proximity Shipments" (20-day shipping period). For shipments implementing the controls specified in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.6 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices, a 10-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2C provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Controlled

  4. CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON)

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

    Washington TRU Solutions LLC

    2006-01-18

    The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container.more » Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to WIPP from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Nevada Test Site, and Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, a 20-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2B provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Close-Proximity Shipments" (20-day shipping period). For shipments implementing the controls specified in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.6 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices, a 10-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2C provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Controlled

  5. CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON)

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

    Washington TRU Solutions LLC

    2006-08-15

    The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container.more » Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to WIPP from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Nevada Test Site, and Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, a 20-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2B provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Close-Proximity Shipments" (20-day shipping period). For shipments implementing the controls specified in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.6 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices, a 10-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2C provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Controlled

  6. CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON)

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

    Washington TRU Solutions LLC

    2006-12-20

    The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container.more » Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to WIPP from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Nevada Test Site, and Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, a 20-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2B provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Close-Proximity Shipments" (20-day shipping period). For shipments implementing the controls specified in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.6 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices, a 10-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2C provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Controlled

  7. CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON)

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

    Washington TRU Solutions LLC

    2007-02-15

    The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container.more » Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to WIPP from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Nevada Test Site, and Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, a 20-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2B provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Close-Proximity Shipments" (20-day shipping period). For shipments implementing the controls specified in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.6 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices, a 10-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2C provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Controlled

  8. CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON)

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

    Washington TRU Solutions LLC

    2006-09-15

    The CH-TRU Waste Content Codes (CH-TRUCON) document describes the inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CH-TRU waste within the transportation parameters specified by the Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste Authorized Methods for Payload Control (CH-TRAMPAC). The CH-TRAMPAC defines the allowable payload for the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT packagings. This document is a catalog of TRUPACT-II and HalfPACT authorized contents and a description of the methods utilized to demonstrate compliance with the CH-TRAMPAC. A summary of currently approved content codes by site is presented in Table 1. The CH-TRAMPAC describes "shipping categories" that are assigned to each payload container.more » Multiple shipping categories may be assigned to a single content code. A summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories is provided in Table 2, which consists of Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. Table 2A provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for the "General Case," which reflects the assumption of a 60-day shipping period as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.4 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to be completed within an approximately 1,000-mile radius, a shorter shipping period of 20 days is applicable as described in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.5 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices. For shipments to WIPP from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Nevada Test Site, and Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, a 20-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2B provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Close-Proximity Shipments" (20-day shipping period). For shipments implementing the controls specified in the CH-TRAMPAC and Appendix 3.6 of the CH-TRU Payload Appendices, a 10-day shipping period is applicable. Table 2C provides a summary of approved content codes and corresponding shipping categories for "Controlled

  9. Potential loss of revenue due to errors in clinical coding during the implementation of the Malaysia diagnosis related group (MY-DRG®) Casemix system in a teaching hospital in Malaysia.

    PubMed

    Zafirah, S A; Nur, Amrizal Muhammad; Puteh, Sharifa Ezat Wan; Aljunid, Syed Mohamed

    2018-01-25

    The accuracy of clinical coding is crucial in the assignment of Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) codes, especially if the hospital is using Casemix System as a tool for resource allocations and efficiency monitoring. The aim of this study was to estimate the potential loss of income due to an error in clinical coding during the implementation of the Malaysia Diagnosis Related Group (MY-DRG ® ) Casemix System in a teaching hospital in Malaysia. Four hundred and sixty-four (464) coded medical records were selected, re-examined and re-coded by an independent senior coder (ISC). This ISC re-examined and re-coded the error code that was originally entered by the hospital coders. The pre- and post-coding results were compared, and if there was any disagreement, the codes by the ISC were considered the accurate codes. The cases were then re-grouped using a MY-DRG ® grouper to assess and compare the changes in the DRG assignment and the hospital tariff assignment. The outcomes were then verified by a casemix expert. Coding errors were found in 89.4% (415/424) of the selected patient medical records. Coding errors in secondary diagnoses were the highest, at 81.3% (377/464), followed by secondary procedures at 58.2% (270/464), principal procedures of 50.9% (236/464) and primary diagnoses at 49.8% (231/464), respectively. The coding errors resulted in the assignment of different MY-DRG ® codes in 74.0% (307/415) of the cases. From this result, 52.1% (160/307) of the cases had a lower assigned hospital tariff. In total, the potential loss of income due to changes in the assignment of the MY-DRG ® code was RM654,303.91. The quality of coding is a crucial aspect in implementing casemix systems. Intensive re-training and the close monitoring of coder performance in the hospital should be performed to prevent the potential loss of hospital income.

  10. Phase II evaluation of clinical coding schemes: completeness, taxonomy, mapping, definitions, and clarity. CPRI Work Group on Codes and Structures.

    PubMed

    Campbell, J R; Carpenter, P; Sneiderman, C; Cohn, S; Chute, C G; Warren, J

    1997-01-01

    To compare three potential sources of controlled clinical terminology (READ codes version 3.1, SNOMED International, and Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) version 1.6) relative to attributes of completeness, clinical taxonomy, administrative mapping, term definitions and clarity (duplicate coding rate). The authors assembled 1929 source concept records from a variety of clinical information taken from four medical centers across the United States. The source data included medical as well as ample nursing terminology. The source records were coded in each scheme by an investigator and checked by the coding scheme owner. The codings were then scored by an independent panel of clinicians for acceptability. Codes were checked for definitions provided with the scheme. Codes for a random sample of source records were analyzed by an investigator for "parent" and "child" codes within the scheme. Parent and child pairs were scored by an independent panel of medical informatics specialists for clinical acceptability. Administrative and billing code mapping from the published scheme were reviewed for all coded records and analyzed by independent reviewers for accuracy. The investigator for each scheme exhaustively searched a sample of coded records for duplications. SNOMED was judged to be significantly more complete in coding the source material than the other schemes (SNOMED* 70%; READ 57%; UMLS 50%; *p < .00001). SNOMED also had a richer clinical taxonomy judged by the number of acceptable first-degree relatives per coded concept (SNOMED* 4.56, UMLS 3.17; READ 2.14, *p < .005). Only the UMLS provided any definitions; these were found for 49% of records which had a coding assignment. READ and UMLS had better administrative mappings (composite score: READ* 40.6%; UMLS* 36.1%; SNOMED 20.7%, *p < .00001), and SNOMED had substantially more duplications of coding assignments (duplication rate: READ 0%; UMLS 4.2%; SNOMED* 13.9%, *p < .004) associated with a loss of clarity

  11. Efficacy of occupational therapy for patients with Parkinson's disease: a randomised controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Sturkenboom, Ingrid H W M; Graff, Maud J L; Hendriks, Jan C M; Veenhuizen, Yvonne; Munneke, Marten; Bloem, Bastiaan R; Nijhuis-van der Sanden, Maria W

    2014-06-01

    There is insufficient evidence to support use of occupational therapy interventions for patients with Parkinson's disease. We aimed to assess the efficacy of occupational therapy in improving daily activities of patients with Parkinson's disease. We did a multicentre, assessor-masked, randomised controlled clinical trial in ten hospitals in nine Dutch regional networks of specialised health-care professionals (ParkinsonNet), with assessment at 3 months and 6 months. Patients with Parkinson's disease with self-reported difficulties in daily activities were included, along with their primary caregivers. Patients were randomly assigned (2:1) to the intervention or control group by a computer-generated minimisation algorithm. The intervention consisted of 10 weeks of home-based occupational therapy according to national practice guidelines; control individuals received usual care with no occupational therapy. The primary outcome was self-perceived performance in daily activities at 3 months, assessed with the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (score 1-10). Data were analysed using linear mixed models for repeated measures (intention-to-treat principle). Assessors monitored safety by asking patients about any unusual health events during the preceding 3 months. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01336127. Between April 14, 2011, and Nov 2, 2012, 191 patients were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n=124) or the control group (n=67). 117 (94%) of 124 patients in the intervention group and 63 (94%) of 67 in the control group had a participating caregiver. At baseline, the median score on the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure was 4·3 (IQR 3·5-5·0) in the intervention group and 4·4 (3·8-5·0) in the control group. At 3 months, these scores were 5·8 (5·0-6·4) and 4·6 (4·6-6·6), respectively. The adjusted mean difference in score between groups at 3 months was in favour of the intervention group (1·2; 95% CI 0·8-1·6; p

  12. Different occupations associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: is diesel exhaust the link?

    PubMed

    Pamphlett, Roger; Rikard-Bell, Anna

    2013-01-01

    The cause of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (SALS) remains unknown. We attempted to find out if occupational exposure to toxicants plays a part in the pathogenesis of this disease. In an Australia-wide case-control study we compared the lifetime occupations of 611 SALS and 775 control individuals. Occupations were coded using country-specific as well as international classifications. The risk of SALS for each occupation was calculated with odds ratios using logistic regression. In addition, the literature was searched for possible toxicant links between our findings and previously-reported occupational associations with SALS. Male occupations in our study that required lower skills and tasks tended to have increased risks of SALS, and conversely, those occupations that required higher skills and tasks had decreased risks of SALS. Of all the occupations, only truck drivers, where exposure to diesel exhaust is common, maintained an increased risk of SALS throughout all occupational groups. Another large case-control study has also found truck drivers to be at risk of SALS, and almost two-thirds of occupations, as well as military duties, that have previously been associated with SALS have potential exposure to diesel exhaust. In conclusion, two of the largest case-control studies of SALS have now found that truck drivers have an increased risk of SALS. Since exposure to diesel exhaust is common in truck drivers, as well as in other occupations that have been linked to SALS, exposure to this toxicant may underlie some of the occupations that are associated with SALS.

  13. Different Occupations Associated with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Is Diesel Exhaust the Link?

    PubMed Central

    Pamphlett, Roger; Rikard-Bell, Anna

    2013-01-01

    The cause of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (SALS) remains unknown. We attempted to find out if occupational exposure to toxicants plays a part in the pathogenesis of this disease. In an Australia-wide case-control study we compared the lifetime occupations of 611 SALS and 775 control individuals. Occupations were coded using country-specific as well as international classifications. The risk of SALS for each occupation was calculated with odds ratios using logistic regression. In addition, the literature was searched for possible toxicant links between our findings and previously-reported occupational associations with SALS. Male occupations in our study that required lower skills and tasks tended to have increased risks of SALS, and conversely, those occupations that required higher skills and tasks had decreased risks of SALS. Of all the occupations, only truck drivers, where exposure to diesel exhaust is common, maintained an increased risk of SALS throughout all occupational groups. Another large case-control study has also found truck drivers to be at risk of SALS, and almost two-thirds of occupations, as well as military duties, that have previously been associated with SALS have potential exposure to diesel exhaust. In conclusion, two of the largest case-control studies of SALS have now found that truck drivers have an increased risk of SALS. Since exposure to diesel exhaust is common in truck drivers, as well as in other occupations that have been linked to SALS, exposure to this toxicant may underlie some of the occupations that are associated with SALS. PMID:24244728

  14. Job Grading System for Trades and Labor Occupations. Part II.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Civil Service Commission, Washington, DC. Bureau of Policies and Standards.

    Three new standards (telephone mechanic, electroplater, and animal caretaker) for grading jobs under the Federal Wage System are cited. There is an alphabetical listing by job for published job grading standards, an occupational code-structure index for published grading standards, and a list of 61 jobs by published job grading standard with…

  15. Mitigating the impact of the DESI fiber assignment on galaxy clustering

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

    Burden, Angela; Padmanabhan, Nikhil; Cahn, Robert N.

    2017-03-01

    We present a simple strategy to mitigate the impact of an incomplete spectroscopic redshift galaxy sample as a result of fiber assignment and survey tiling. The method has been designed for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) galaxy survey but may have applications beyond this. We propose a modification to the usual correlation function that nulls the almost purely angular modes affected by survey incompleteness due to fiber assignment. Predictions of this modified statistic can be calculated given a model of the two point correlation function. The new statistic can be computed with a slight modification to the data cataloguesmore » input to the standard correlation function code and does not incur any additional computational time. Finally we show that the spherically averaged baryon acoustic oscillation signal is not biased by the new statistic.« less

  16. A study of critical reasoning in online learning: application of the Occupational Performance Process Model.

    PubMed

    Mitchell, Anita Witt; Batorski, Rosemary E

    2009-01-01

    This study examined the effect of an online guided independent study on critical reasoning skills. Twenty-one first-semester Master of Occupational Therapy students completed an online assignment designed to facilitate application of the Occupational Performance Process Model (Fearing & Clark) and kept reflective journals. Data from the journals were analyzed in relation to the three sets of questions, question type and results of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA). This assignment appeared to be effective for enhancing awareness and use of critical reasoning skills. Differences in patterns of critical reasoning between students with high and low WGCTA scores and results of an inductive analysis of the journal entries are discussed. Future research investigating the types of feedback that effectively facilitate development of critical reasoning and whether students with high and low WGCTA scores might benefit from different types of instruction and/or feedback is recommended. Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  17. Phase II Evaluation of Clinical Coding Schemes

    PubMed Central

    Campbell, James R.; Carpenter, Paul; Sneiderman, Charles; Cohn, Simon; Chute, Christopher G.; Warren, Judith

    1997-01-01

    Abstract Objective: To compare three potential sources of controlled clinical terminology (READ codes version 3.1, SNOMED International, and Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) version 1.6) relative to attributes of completeness, clinical taxonomy, administrative mapping, term definitions and clarity (duplicate coding rate). Methods: The authors assembled 1929 source concept records from a variety of clinical information taken from four medical centers across the United States. The source data included medical as well as ample nursing terminology. The source records were coded in each scheme by an investigator and checked by the coding scheme owner. The codings were then scored by an independent panel of clinicians for acceptability. Codes were checked for definitions provided with the scheme. Codes for a random sample of source records were analyzed by an investigator for “parent” and “child” codes within the scheme. Parent and child pairs were scored by an independent panel of medical informatics specialists for clinical acceptability. Administrative and billing code mapping from the published scheme were reviewed for all coded records and analyzed by independent reviewers for accuracy. The investigator for each scheme exhaustively searched a sample of coded records for duplications. Results: SNOMED was judged to be significantly more complete in coding the source material than the other schemes (SNOMED* 70%; READ 57%; UMLS 50%; *p <.00001). SNOMED also had a richer clinical taxonomy judged by the number of acceptable first-degree relatives per coded concept (SNOMED* 4.56; UMLS 3.17; READ 2.14, *p <.005). Only the UMLS provided any definitions; these were found for 49% of records which had a coding assignment. READ and UMLS had better administrative mappings (composite score: READ* 40.6%; UMLS* 36.1%; SNOMED 20.7%, *p <. 00001), and SNOMED had substantially more duplications of coding assignments (duplication rate: READ 0%; UMLS 4.2%; SNOMED* 13.9%, *p

  18. [Obligation to report occupational diseases. Importance of external post-mortem examinations before cremation].

    PubMed

    Verhoff, M A; Risse, M; Alles, J-U; Müller, K-M; Stachetzki, U

    2004-05-01

    The practical use of the legally required documentation of occupational diseases is demonstrated by a case of asbestos-related pleural mesothelioma. During the mandatory inquest before cremation, information of manifest pleural mesothelioma had been relayed to the widow of the patient, and an investigation for a possible occupational disease was performed. Reconstruction of the case showed that in the course of 3 months at least 13 physicians had been involved in in-hospital as well as ambulatory therapeutic measures. Until death, none of them informed the trade association about a suspected occupational disease in accordance with BK 4105 of the codex of occupational diseases, although the diagnosis of manifest pleural mesothelioma had been histologically confirmed already 10 weeks prior to the death of the patient. This case demonstrates obvious and evident deficiencies in applying the Code of Social Law VII, which requires physicians to report occupational diseases. In addition, it shows the importance of the post-mortem examination as a control function before cremation.

  19. Occupant-to-occupant contact injury in motor vehicle crashes.

    PubMed

    Viano, David C; Parenteau, Chantal S

    2017-10-03

    This is a descriptive study of the frequency and risk of occupant-to-occupant contact injury by crash type and occupant age. It focused on rear impacts because of a recent Senate inquiry. 1994-2013 NASS-CDS data were used to investigate the effects of occupant-to-occupant contact on the risk of serious-to-fatal injury (Abbreviated Injury Scale [AIS] 3+) by crash type and age group. NASS-CDS in-depth cases were analyzed to identify crash circumstances for AIS 3+ occupant-to-occupant contact injury in rear crashes. Serious injury (AIS 3+) due to occupant-to-occupant contact was uncommon. It represented only 0.84% of all AIS 3+ injury for all age groups. The overall risk of AIS 3+ occupant-to-occupant contact injury was 0.042 ± 0.007%. The highest incidence was in side impacts (69.8%) followed by rollovers (22.9%). Occupant-to-occupant contact injury risk was lower in rear impacts than in other crash types, at 0.0078 ± 0.0054%. The highest risk of AIS 3+ injury with occupant-to-occupant was for the <9-year-old age group when compared to other age groups for all crash types. The risk was 0.051 ± 0.026%, representing 2.69% of all AIS 3+ injury in the <9-year-old age group. Only 4.2% of AIS 3+ occupant-to-occupant contact injury occurred to children <9 years old in rear impacts. The corresponding injury risk was lowest in rear impacts, at 0.014 ± 0.014%%, when compared to other crash types. The analysis of in-depth NASS-CDS cases of occupant-to-occupant contact injury in children< 9 years old involved in rear impacts identified very severe collisions in older model vehicles with deformation of the occupant compartment and yielding front seats as main factors for the contact injury. Front seat occupants injuring rear-seated children was not identified in the in-depth NASS-CDS cases. AIS 3+ occupant-to-occupant contact injury occurs primarily in side impacts and rollovers. Most contact injury is to adults (89.4% incidence). Occupant-to-occupant contact injury to

  20. Occupational Psychosocial Hazards Among the Emerging US Green Collar Workforce.

    PubMed

    Fernandez, Cristina A; Moore, Kevin; McClure, Laura A; Caban-Martinez, Alberto J; LeBlanc, William G; Fleming, Lora E; Cifuentes, Manuel; Lee, David J

    2017-01-01

    To compare occupational psychosocial hazards in green collar versus non-green collar workers. Standard Occupational Classification codes were used to link the 2010 National Health Interview Survey to the 2010 Occupational Information Network Database. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to predict job insecurity, work life imbalance, and workplace harassment in green versus non-green collar workers. Most participants were white, non-Hispanic, 25 to 64 years of age, and obtained greater than a high school education. The majority of workers reported no job insecurity, work life imbalance, or workplace harassment. Relative to non-green collar workers (n = 12,217), green collar workers (n = 2,588) were more likely to report job insecurity (Odds ratio [OR] = 1.13; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02 to 1.26) and work life imbalance (1.19; 1.05 to 1.35), but less likely to experience workplace harassment (0.77; 0.62 to 0.95). Continuous surveillance of occupational psychosocial hazards is recommended in this rapidly emerging workforce.

  1. Adding industry and occupation questions to the behavioral risk factor surveillance system: new opportunities in public health surveillance.

    PubMed

    Towle, Meredith; Tolliver, Rickey; Bui, Alison Grace; Warner, Amy; Van Dyke, Mike

    2015-01-01

    Industry and occupation variables are overlooked in many public health surveillance efforts, yet they are useful for describing the burden and distribution of various public health diseases, behaviors, and conditions. This study is the first ever analysis of the Colorado Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to describe chronic conditions and risk behaviors by occupation. It is intended to provide a new perspective on this existing data source and demonstrate the value of occupation as a core demographic variable for public health research, policy, and practice. Two standardized employment questions were included in the 2012 Colorado BRFSS survey and administered to eligible survey respondents who were employed, self-employed, or out of work for less than one year. Occupation data were coded using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Industry and Occupation Computerized Coding System. We analyzed health behaviors and conditions by major occupation groups. We calculated prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The prevalence of chronic conditions, health statuses, and risk behaviors (e.g., smoking and seatbelt use) varied significantly by occupation. For example, compared with all workers (93.6%, 95% CI 92.7, 94.5), significantly fewer workers in farming, forestry, fishing and construction, extraction jobs (87.0%, 95% CI 82.0, 92.0) reported always or nearly always wearing a seatbelt while driving. Additionally, significantly more office and administrative support workers (27.5%, 95% CI 22.5, 32.4) compared with all workers (20.6%, 95% CI 19.3, 22.0) were obese. Further observation and research is needed to understand the effects of occupation on health outcomes and behaviors. There are no other Colorado state-level datasets that link health behaviors and chronic conditions with occupation. This study shows that the prevalence of chronic conditions and risk behaviors varies substantially by occupation. Other

  2. Do plant cell walls have a code?

    PubMed

    Tavares, Eveline Q P; Buckeridge, Marcos S

    2015-12-01

    A code is a set of rules that establish correspondence between two worlds, signs (consisting of encrypted information) and meaning (of the decrypted message). A third element, the adaptor, connects both worlds, assigning meaning to a code. We propose that a Glycomic Code exists in plant cell walls where signs are represented by monosaccharides and phenylpropanoids and meaning is cell wall architecture with its highly complex association of polymers. Cell wall biosynthetic mechanisms, structure, architecture and properties are addressed according to Code Biology perspective, focusing on how they oppose to cell wall deconstruction. Cell wall hydrolysis is mainly focused as a mechanism of decryption of the Glycomic Code. Evidence for encoded information in cell wall polymers fine structure is highlighted and the implications of the existence of the Glycomic Code are discussed. Aspects related to fine structure are responsible for polysaccharide packing and polymer-polymer interactions, affecting the final cell wall architecture. The question whether polymers assembly within a wall display similar properties as other biological macromolecules (i.e. proteins, DNA, histones) is addressed, i.e. do they display a code? Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Lung Cancer and Occupation in a Population-based Case-Control Study

    PubMed Central

    Consonni, Dario; De Matteis, Sara; Lubin, Jay H.; Wacholder, Sholom; Tucker, Margaret; Pesatori, Angela Cecilia; Caporaso, Neil E.; Bertazzi, Pier Alberto; Landi, Maria Teresa

    2010-01-01

    The authors examined the relation between occupation and lung cancer in the large, population-based Environment And Genetics in Lung cancer Etiology (EAGLE) case-control study. In 2002–2005 in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, 2,100 incident lung cancer cases and 2,120 randomly selected population controls were enrolled. Lifetime occupational histories (industry and job title) were coded by using standard international classifications and were translated into occupations known (list A) or suspected (list B) to be associated with lung cancer. Smoking-adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated with logistic regression. For men, an increased risk was found for list A (177 exposed cases and 100 controls; odds ratio = 1.74, 95% confidence interval: 1.27, 2.38) and most occupations therein. No overall excess was found for list B with the exception of filling station attendants and bus and truck drivers (men) and launderers and dry cleaners (women). The authors estimated that 4.9% (95% confidence interval: 2.0, 7.8) of lung cancers in men were attributable to occupation. Among those in other occupations, risk excesses were found for metal workers, barbers and hairdressers, and other motor vehicle drivers. These results indicate that past exposure to occupational carcinogens remains an important determinant of lung cancer occurrence. PMID:20047975

  4. Exploration of ICD-9-CM Coding of Chronic Disease within the Elixhauser Comorbidity Measure in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure

    PubMed Central

    Garvin, Jennifer Hornung; Redd, Andrew; Bolton, Dan; Graham, Pauline; Roche, Dominic; Groeneveld, Peter; Leecaster, Molly; Shen, Shuying; Weiner, Mark G.

    2013-01-01

    Introduction International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes capture comorbidities that can be used to risk adjust nonrandom patient groups. We explored the accuracy of capturing comorbidities associated with one risk adjustment method, the Elixhauser Comorbidity Measure (ECM), in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) at one Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center. We explored potential reasons for the differences found between the original codes assigned and conditions found through retrospective review. Methods This descriptive, retrospective study used a cohort of patients discharged with a principal diagnosis coded as CHF from one VA medical center in 2003. One admission per patient was used in the study; with multiple admissions, only the first admission was analyzed. We compared the assignment of original codes assigned to conditions found in a retrospective, manual review of the medical record conducted by an investigator with coding expertise as well as by physicians. Members of the team experienced with assigning ICD-9-CM codes and VA coding processes developed themes related to systemic reasons why chronic conditions were not coded in VA records using applied thematic techniques. Results In the 181-patient cohort, 388 comorbid conditions were identified; 305 of these were chronic conditions, originally coded at the time of discharge with an average of 1.7 comorbidities related to the ECM per patient. The review by an investigator with coding expertise revealed a total of 937 comorbidities resulting in 618 chronic comorbid conditions with an average of 3.4 per patient; physician review found 872 total comorbidities with 562 chronic conditions (average 3.1 per patient). The agreement between the original and the retrospective coding review was 88 percent. The kappa statistic for the original and the retrospective coding review was 0.375 with a 95 percent confidence interval (CI) of 0.352 to 0.398. The kappa

  5. Occupation and keratinocyte cancer risk: a population-based case-control study.

    PubMed

    Marehbian, Josh; Colt, Joanne S; Baris, Dalsu; Stewart, Patricia; Stukel, Therese A; Spencer, Steven K; Karagas, Margaret R

    2007-10-01

    The aim of our study was to identify occupations associated with increased risk of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). We conducted a population-based case-control study of BCC and SCC in New Hampshire. Cases (n = 599 BCC, n = 290 SCC) and controls (n = 524) completed a self-administered residence and work history questionnaire and personal interview regarding major risk factors for skin cancer. Reported jobs were coded using the Standardized Occupational Classification system (SOC). Odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CIs) for BCC and SCC were calculated for men and women separately using unconditional logistic regression models taking into account age, education, skin reaction to sun, history of painful sunburns, time spent outdoors, and for SCC, smoking. Among men, we observed elevated risks of both BCC and SCC among groundskeepers and gardeners, except farm (SOC 5622). We also found that garage and service station-related occupations (SOCs 873) and to some extent food/beverage preparation/service occupations (SOC 521) were associated with BCC risk among men. Women in health services occupations (SOC 523) had elevated risks for both tumors, especially for BCC. Additionally, administrative support (SOC 46/47) occupations were related to BCC risk among women. Other occupations were associated with excess risks, but without consistent trends by duration of employment. We observed several occupations associated with elevated BCC and SCC risk. These results resemble reported findings for cutaneous melanoma and are generally consistent with the few available studies on keratinocyte cancers.

  6. Case-crossover analysis of heat-coded deaths and vulnerable subpopulations: Oklahoma, 1990-2011

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moore, Brianna F.; Brooke Anderson, G.; Johnson, Matthew G.; Brown, Sheryll; Bradley, Kristy K.; Magzamen, Sheryl

    2017-11-01

    The extent of the association between temperature and heat-coded deaths, for which heat is the primary cause of death, remains largely unknown. We explored the association between temperature and heat-coded deaths and potential interactions with various demographic and environmental factors. A total of 335 heat-coded deaths that occurred in Oklahoma from 1990 through 2011 were identified using heat-related International Classification of Diseases codes, cause-of-death nomenclature, and narrative descriptions. Conditional logistic regression models examined the association between temperature and heat index on heat-coded deaths. Interaction by demographic factors (age, sex, marital status, living alone, outdoor/heavy labor occupations) and environmental factors (ozone, PM10, PM2.5) was also explored. Temperatures ≥99 °F (the median value) were associated with approximately five times higher odds of a heat-coded death as compared to temperatures <99 °F (adjusted OR = 4.9, 95% CI 3.3, 7.2). The effect estimates were attenuated when exposure to heat was characterized by heat index. The interaction results suggest that effect of temperature on heat-coded deaths may depend on sex and occupation. For example, the odds of a heat-coded death among outdoor/heavy labor workers exposed to temperatures ≥99 °F was greater than expected based on the sum of the individual effects (observed OR = 14.0, 95% CI 2.7, 72.0; expected OR = 4.1 [2.8 + 2.3-1.0]). Our results highlight the extent of the association between temperature and heat-coded deaths and emphasize the need for a comprehensive, multisource definition of heat-coded deaths. Furthermore, based on the interaction results, we recommend that states implement or expand heat safety programs to protect vulnerable subpopulations, such as outdoor workers.

  7. Fast and accurate resonance assignment of small-to-large proteins by combining automated and manual approaches.

    PubMed

    Niklasson, Markus; Ahlner, Alexandra; Andresen, Cecilia; Marsh, Joseph A; Lundström, Patrik

    2015-01-01

    The process of resonance assignment is fundamental to most NMR studies of protein structure and dynamics. Unfortunately, the manual assignment of residues is tedious and time-consuming, and can represent a significant bottleneck for further characterization. Furthermore, while automated approaches have been developed, they are often limited in their accuracy, particularly for larger proteins. Here, we address this by introducing the software COMPASS, which, by combining automated resonance assignment with manual intervention, is able to achieve accuracy approaching that from manual assignments at greatly accelerated speeds. Moreover, by including the option to compensate for isotope shift effects in deuterated proteins, COMPASS is far more accurate for larger proteins than existing automated methods. COMPASS is an open-source project licensed under GNU General Public License and is available for download from http://www.liu.se/forskning/foass/tidigare-foass/patrik-lundstrom/software?l=en. Source code and binaries for Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows are available.

  8. Fast and Accurate Resonance Assignment of Small-to-Large Proteins by Combining Automated and Manual Approaches

    PubMed Central

    Niklasson, Markus; Ahlner, Alexandra; Andresen, Cecilia; Marsh, Joseph A.; Lundström, Patrik

    2015-01-01

    The process of resonance assignment is fundamental to most NMR studies of protein structure and dynamics. Unfortunately, the manual assignment of residues is tedious and time-consuming, and can represent a significant bottleneck for further characterization. Furthermore, while automated approaches have been developed, they are often limited in their accuracy, particularly for larger proteins. Here, we address this by introducing the software COMPASS, which, by combining automated resonance assignment with manual intervention, is able to achieve accuracy approaching that from manual assignments at greatly accelerated speeds. Moreover, by including the option to compensate for isotope shift effects in deuterated proteins, COMPASS is far more accurate for larger proteins than existing automated methods. COMPASS is an open-source project licensed under GNU General Public License and is available for download from http://www.liu.se/forskning/foass/tidigare-foass/patrik-lundstrom/software?l=en. Source code and binaries for Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows are available. PMID:25569628

  9. Method of Error Floor Mitigation in Low-Density Parity-Check Codes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hamkins, Jon (Inventor)

    2014-01-01

    A digital communication decoding method for low-density parity-check coded messages. The decoding method decodes the low-density parity-check coded messages within a bipartite graph having check nodes and variable nodes. Messages from check nodes are partially hard limited, so that every message which would otherwise have a magnitude at or above a certain level is re-assigned to a maximum magnitude.

  10. Interactive RadioEpidemiological Program (IREP): a web-based tool for estimating probability of causation/assigned share of radiogenic cancers.

    PubMed

    Kocher, David C; Apostoaei, A Iulian; Henshaw, Russell W; Hoffman, F Owen; Schubauer-Berigan, Mary K; Stancescu, Daniel O; Thomas, Brian A; Trabalka, John R; Gilbert, Ethel S; Land, Charles E

    2008-07-01

    The Interactive RadioEpidemiological Program (IREP) is a Web-based, interactive computer code that is used to estimate the probability that a given cancer in an individual was induced by given exposures to ionizing radiation. IREP was developed by a Working Group of the National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and was adopted and modified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for use in adjudicating claims for compensation for cancer under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. In this paper, the quantity calculated in IREP is referred to as "probability of causation/assigned share" (PC/AS). PC/AS for a given cancer in an individual is calculated on the basis of an estimate of the excess relative risk (ERR) associated with given radiation exposures and the relationship PC/AS = ERR/ERR+1. IREP accounts for uncertainties in calculating probability distributions of ERR and PC/AS. An accounting of uncertainty is necessary when decisions about granting claims for compensation for cancer are made on the basis of an estimate of the upper 99% credibility limit of PC/AS to give claimants the "benefit of the doubt." This paper discusses models and methods incorporated in IREP to estimate ERR and PC/AS. Approaches to accounting for uncertainty are emphasized, and limitations of IREP are discussed. Although IREP is intended to provide unbiased estimates of ERR and PC/AS and their uncertainties to represent the current state of knowledge, there are situations described in this paper in which NIOSH, as a matter of policy, makes assumptions that give a higher estimate of the upper 99% credibility limit of PC/AS than other plausible alternatives and, thus, are more favorable to claimants.

  11. Gender Stereotypes and Women's Reports of Liking and Ability in Traditionally Masculine and Feminine Occupations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Oswald, Debra L.

    2008-01-01

    Gender stereotypes were examined for their causal influence on women's reported liking for and perceived ability to succeed in traditionally masculine and feminine occupations. One hundred twenty-one women were assigned to either a gender-stereotype activation or filler task and then completed measures of liking for, and perceived ability to…

  12. 7 CFR 760.31 - Assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... Assignment. No assignment shall be made of any indemnity payment due or to come due under the regulations in this subpart. Any assignment or attempted assignment of any indemnity payment due or to come due under...

  13. 7 CFR 760.31 - Assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... Assignment. No assignment shall be made of any indemnity payment due or to come due under the regulations in this subpart. Any assignment or attempted assignment of any indemnity payment due or to come due under...

  14. 7 CFR 760.31 - Assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... Assignment. No assignment shall be made of any indemnity payment due or to come due under the regulations in this subpart. Any assignment or attempted assignment of any indemnity payment due or to come due under...

  15. 7 CFR 760.31 - Assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... Assignment. No assignment shall be made of any indemnity payment due or to come due under the regulations in this subpart. Any assignment or attempted assignment of any indemnity payment due or to come due under...

  16. 7 CFR 760.31 - Assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... Assignment. No assignment shall be made of any indemnity payment due or to come due under the regulations in this subpart. Any assignment or attempted assignment of any indemnity payment due or to come due under...

  17. Feed-forward segmentation of figure-ground and assignment of border-ownership.

    PubMed

    Supèr, Hans; Romeo, August; Keil, Matthias

    2010-05-19

    Figure-ground is the segmentation of visual information into objects and their surrounding backgrounds. Two main processes herein are boundary assignment and surface segregation, which rely on the integration of global scene information. Recurrent processing either by intrinsic horizontal connections that connect surrounding neurons or by feedback projections from higher visual areas provide such information, and are considered to be the neural substrate for figure-ground segmentation. On the contrary, a role of feedforward projections in figure-ground segmentation is unknown. To have a better understanding of a role of feedforward connections in figure-ground organization, we constructed a feedforward spiking model using a biologically plausible neuron model. By means of surround inhibition our simple 3-layered model performs figure-ground segmentation and one-sided border-ownership coding. We propose that the visual system uses feed forward suppression for figure-ground segmentation and border-ownership assignment.

  18. Feed-Forward Segmentation of Figure-Ground and Assignment of Border-Ownership

    PubMed Central

    Supèr, Hans; Romeo, August; Keil, Matthias

    2010-01-01

    Figure-ground is the segmentation of visual information into objects and their surrounding backgrounds. Two main processes herein are boundary assignment and surface segregation, which rely on the integration of global scene information. Recurrent processing either by intrinsic horizontal connections that connect surrounding neurons or by feedback projections from higher visual areas provide such information, and are considered to be the neural substrate for figure-ground segmentation. On the contrary, a role of feedforward projections in figure-ground segmentation is unknown. To have a better understanding of a role of feedforward connections in figure-ground organization, we constructed a feedforward spiking model using a biologically plausible neuron model. By means of surround inhibition our simple 3-layered model performs figure-ground segmentation and one-sided border-ownership coding. We propose that the visual system uses feed forward suppression for figure-ground segmentation and border-ownership assignment. PMID:20502718

  19. 49 CFR 41.115 - New buildings to be leased for DOT occupancy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... compliance may include the engineer's and architect's authenticated verifications of seismic design codes... design and construction of new buildings to be leased for DOT occupancy or use will ensure that each building is designed and constructed in accord with the seismic design and construction standards set out...

  20. 49 CFR 41.115 - New buildings to be leased for DOT occupancy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... compliance may include the engineer's and architect's authenticated verifications of seismic design codes... design and construction of new buildings to be leased for DOT occupancy or use will ensure that each building is designed and constructed in accord with the seismic design and construction standards set out...

  1. Non-Robbery-Related Occupational Homicides in the Retail Industry, 2003–2008

    PubMed Central

    Konda, Srinivas; Tiesman, Hope M.; Hendricks, Scott; Gurka, Kelly K.

    2015-01-01

    Background The purpose of this study was to examine non-robbery-related occupational homicides in the retail industry from 2003 to 2008. Methods Data were abstracted from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Motive (robbery- or non-robbery-related) and workplace violence (WPV) typology (Type I–IV) were assigned using narrative text fields. Non-robbery-related homicide rates were calculated and compared among WPV types, demographic characteristics, and occupation. Results Twenty-eight percent of homicides that occurred in the retail industry were non-robbery-related. The leading event associated with non-robbery-related homicides was Type II (perpetrated by customers) (34%), followed by Type IV (perpetrated by personal relationship) (31%). The majority of homicides were due to arguments (50%). Security guards and workers in drinking establishments had the highest homicide rates per 100,000 workers (14.3 and 6.0, respectively). Conclusions Non-robbery-related homicides comprised a meaningful proportion of workplace homicides in the retail industry. Research is needed to develop strategies Periodicals, Inc. PMID:24248892

  2. Effects of occupational therapy on quality of life of patients with metastatic prostate cancer

    PubMed Central

    Huri, Meral; Huri, Emre; Kayihan, Hulya; Altuntas, Onur

    2015-01-01

    Objectives: To evaluate the efficiency of occupational therapy relative to a home program in improving quality of life (QoL) among men who were treated for metastatic prostate cancer (MPC). Methods: Fifty-five men were assigned randomly to either the 12-week cognitive behavioral therapy based occupational therapy (OT-CBSM) intervention (treatment group) or a home program (control group) between March 2012 and August 2014 in the Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) was used to measure the occupational performance and identify difficulties in daily living activities. The QoL and symptom status were measured by The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 and its Prostate Cancer Module. A 12-week OT-CBSM intervention including client-centered training of daily living activities, recreational group activities, and cognitive behavioral stress management intervention were applied. Results: The COPM performance and satisfaction scores, which indicate occupational participation and QoL increased statistically in the treatment group in relation to men who were included in the home-program (p≤0.05). Conclusion: A 12-week OT-CBSM intervention was effective in improving QoL in men treated for MPC, and these changes were associated significantly with occupational performance. PMID:26219446

  3. Medical decision making: guide to improved CPT coding.

    PubMed

    Holt, Jim; Warsy, Ambreen; Wright, Paula

    2010-04-01

    The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) coding system for office visits, which has been in use since 1995, has not been well studied, but it is generally agreed that the system contains much room for error. In fact, the available literature suggests that only slightly more than half of physicians will agree on the same CPT code for a given visit, and only 60% of professional coders will agree on the same code for a particular visit. In addition, the criteria used to assign a code are often related to the amount of written documentation. The goal of this study was to evaluate two novel methods to assess if the most appropriate CPT code is used: the level of medical decision making, or the sum of all problems mentioned by the patient during the visit. The authors-a professional coder, a residency faculty member, and a PGY-3 family medicine resident-reviewed 351 randomly selected visit notes from two residency programs in the Northeast Tennessee region for the level of documentation, the level of medical decision making, and the total number of problems addressed. The authors assigned appropriate CPT codes at each of those three levels. Substantial undercoding occurred at each of the three levels. Approximately 33% of visits were undercoded based on the written documentation. Approximately 50% of the visits were undercoded based on the level of documented medical decision making. Approximately 80% of the visits were undercoded based on the total number of problems which the patient presented during the visit. Interrater agreement was fair, and similar to that noted in other coding studies. Undercoding is not only common in a family medicine residency program but it also occurs at levels that would not be evident from a simple audit of the documentation on the visit note. Undercoding also occurs from not exploring problems mentioned by the patient and not documenting additional work that was performed. Family physicians may benefit from minor alterations in their

  4. The linkage between patterns of daily occupations and occupational balance: Applications within occupational science and occupational therapy practice.

    PubMed

    Eklund, Mona; Orban, Kristina; Argentzell, Elisabeth; Bejerholm, Ulrika; Tjörnstrand, Carina; Erlandsson, Lena-Karin; Håkansson, Carita

    2017-01-01

    Patterns of daily occupations (PDO) and occupational balance (OB) are recurring phenomena in the literature. Both are related with health and well-being, which makes them central in occupational therapy practice and occupational science. The aim was to review how PDO and OB are described in the literature, to propose a view of how the two constructs may be linked, and elaborate on how such a view may benefit occupational science and occupational therapy. The literature was analysed by latent and manifest content analysis and comparative analysis. The findings were summarized in a model, framing PDO as the more objective and OB as the more subjective result from an interaction between personal preferences and environmental influences. The proposed model does not assume a cause-effect relationship between the targeted constructs, rather a mutual influence and a joint reaction to influencing factors. Indicators of PDO and OB were identified, as well as tools for assessing PDO and OB. The authors propose that discerning PDO and OB as separate but interacting phenomena may be useful in developing a theoretical discourse in occupational science and enhancing occupational therapy practice. Although the scope of this study was limited, the proposed view may hopefully inspire further scrutiny of constructs.

  5. Ideas about Occupational Roles and Inclusive Practices among Special Needs Educators and Support Teachers in Sweden

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Göransson, Kerstin; Lindqvist, Gunilla; Möllås, Gunvie; Almqvist, Lena; Nilholm, Claes

    2017-01-01

    Special needs educators (SNEs) and their counterparts are expected to play a significant role in schools' work towards inclusive practices. Studies do, however, indicate a rather diversified picture regarding the occupational groups assigned to work with special support and their workroles, within and between different countries. In Sweden, one…

  6. 29 CFR 1910.144 - Safety color code for marking physical hazards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... the basic color for the identification of: (i) Fire protection equipment and apparatus. [Reserved] (ii... 29 Labor 5 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Safety color code for marking physical hazards. 1910.144 Section 1910.144 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH...

  7. Description of Panel Method Code ANTARES

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ulbrich, Norbert; George, Mike (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    Panel method code ANTARES was developed to compute wall interference corrections in a rectangular wind tunnel. The code uses point doublets to represent blockage effects and line doublets to represent lifting effects of a wind tunnel model. Subsonic compressibility effects are modeled by applying the Prandtl-Glauert transformation. The closed wall, open jet, or perforated wall boundary condition may be assigned to a wall panel centroid. The tunnel walls can be represented by using up to 8000 panels. The accuracy of panel method code ANTARES was successfully investigated by comparing solutions for the closed wall and open jet boundary condition with corresponding Method of Images solutions. Fourier transform solutions of a two-dimensional wind tunnel flow field were used to check the application of the perforated wall boundary condition. Studies showed that the accuracy of panel method code ANTARES can be improved by increasing the total number of wall panels in the circumferential direction. It was also shown that the accuracy decreases with increasing free-stream Mach number of the wind tunnel flow field.

  8. [Qualitative evaluation of employer requirements associated with occupational health and safety as good practice in small-scale enterprises].

    PubMed

    Kuroki, Naomi; Miyashita, Nana; Hino, Yoshiyuki; Kayashima, Kotaro; Fujino, Yoshihisa; Takada, Mikio; Nagata, Tomohisa; Yamataki, Hajime; Sakuragi, Sonoko; Kan, Hirohiko; Morita, Tetsuya; Ito, Akiyoshi; Mori, Koji

    2009-09-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify what motivates employers to promote good occupational health and safety practices in small-scale enterprises. Previous studies have shown that small-scale enterprises generally pay insufficient attention to issues of occupational health and safety. These findings were mainly derived from questionnaire based surveys. Nevertheless, some small-scale enterprises in which employers exercise good leadership do take a progressive approach to occupational health and safety. Although good practices can be identified in small-scale enterprises, it remains unclear what motivates employers in small-scale enterprises to actively implement occupational health and safety practices. We speculated that identifying employer motivations in promoting occupational health would help to spread good practices among small-scale enterprises. Using a qualitative approach based on the KJ methods, we interviewed ten employers who actively promote occupational health and safety in the workplace. The employers were asked to discuss their views of occupational health and safety in their own words. A semi-structured interview format was used, and transcripts were made of the interviews. Each transcript was independently coded by two or more researchers. These transcripts and codes were integrated and then the research group members discussed the heading titles and structural relationships between them according to the KJ method. Qualitative analysis revealed that all the employers expressed a strong interest in a "good company" and "good management". They emphasized four elements of "good management", namely "securing human resources", "trust of business partners", "social responsibility" and "employer's health condition itself", and considered that addressing occupational health and safety was essential to the achievement of these four elements. Consistent with previous findings, the results showed that implementation of occupational health and safety

  9. Occupational risk and chronic kidney disease: a population-based study in the United States adult population.

    PubMed

    Rubinstein, Sofia; Wang, Chengwei; Qu, Wenchun

    2013-01-01

    Previous studies on occupational risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD) have analyzed a limited range of occupations and focused on nephrotoxins. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relative risk for the occurrence of CKD between different occupations in the US adult population. This was a population-based survey study of 91,340 participants in the US, who completed the National Health Interview Survey, 2004 through 2008. The outcome variable, CKD, was defined as having weakening/failing kidneys in the past 12 months, as diagnosed by a physician. The predictor variable, occupation, was obtained using the census occupational codes, regrouped according to North American Industrial Classification System. After controlling for age, gender, hypertension, and education, and with the category Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations as a reference group, the likelihood of developing CKD was 4.3 times higher in respondents working in Building, Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations, 4.4 times higher in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, 4.7 times higher in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations and in Computer and Mathematical Occupations, 4.8 times higher in Production Occupations, 5.3 times higher in Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations, and 6.1 times higher in Healthcare Support Occupations and in Legal Occupations. This study identified occupation groups in US adult population with increased risk for CKD. Alleviation of workplace stress is suggested as a goal for behavioral intervention in high-risk occupations.

  10. Occupational psychosocial hazards among the emerging U.S. green collar workforce

    PubMed Central

    Fernandez, Cristina A.; Moore, Kevin; McClure, Laura A.; Caban-Martinez, Alberto J.; LeBlanc, William G.; Fleming, Lora E.; Cifuentes, Manuel; Lee, David J.

    2016-01-01

    Objective To compare occupational psychosocial hazards in green collar versus non-green collar workers. Methods Standard Occupational Classification codes were used to link the 2010 National Health Interview Survey to the 2010 Occupational Information Network Database. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to predict job insecurity, work-life imbalance, and workplace harassment in green versus non-green collar workers. Results Most participants were white, non-Hispanic, 25–64 years of age, and obtained greater than a high school education. The majority reported not being harassed at work, no work-life imbalance, and no job insecurity. Relative to non-green collar workers (n=12,217), green collar workers (n=2,588) were more likely to report job insecurity (OR=1.13; 95% CI=1.02–1.26) and work-life imbalance (1.19; 1.05–1.35), but less likely to experience workplace harassment (0.77; 0.62–0.95). Conclusions Continuous surveillance of occupational psychosocial hazards is recommended in this rapidly emerging workforce. PMID:28045790

  11. Protein Side-Chain Resonance Assignment and NOE Assignment Using RDC-Defined Backbones without TOCSY Data3

    PubMed Central

    Zeng, Jianyang; Zhou, Pei; Donald, Bruce Randall

    2011-01-01

    One bottleneck in NMR structure determination lies in the laborious and time-consuming process of side-chain resonance and NOE assignments. Compared to the well-studied backbone resonance assignment problem, automated side-chain resonance and NOE assignments are relatively less explored. Most NOE assignment algorithms require nearly complete side-chain resonance assignments from a series of through-bond experiments such as HCCH-TOCSY or HCCCONH. Unfortunately, these TOCSY experiments perform poorly on large proteins. To overcome this deficiency, we present a novel algorithm, called NASCA (NOE Assignment and Side-Chain Assignment), to automate both side-chain resonance and NOE assignments and to perform high-resolution protein structure determination in the absence of any explicit through-bond experiment to facilitate side-chain resonance assignment, such as HCCH-TOCSY. After casting the assignment problem into a Markov Random Field (MRF), NASCA extends and applies combinatorial protein design algorithms to compute optimal assignments that best interpret the NMR data. The MRF captures the contact map information of the protein derived from NOESY spectra, exploits the backbone structural information determined by RDCs, and considers all possible side-chain rotamers. The complexity of the combinatorial search is reduced by using a dead-end elimination (DEE) algorithm, which prunes side-chain resonance assignments that are provably not part of the optimal solution. Then an A* search algorithm is employed to find a set of optimal side-chain resonance assignments that best fit the NMR data. These side-chain resonance assignments are then used to resolve the NOE assignment ambiguity and compute high-resolution protein structures. Tests on five proteins show that NASCA assigns resonances for more than 90% of side-chain protons, and achieves about 80% correct assignments. The final structures computed using the NOE distance restraints assigned by NASCA have backbone RMSD 0

  12. Occupational Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in a Danish Population-Based Study.

    PubMed

    Würtz, Else Toft; Schlünssen, Vivi; Malling, Tine Halsen; Hansen, Jens Georg; Omland, Øyvind

    2015-08-01

    The aim was to explore the impact of occupation on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a cross-sectional population-based study among subjects aged 45 to 84 years. In a stratified sampling 89 general practitioners practices (GPP) in Denmark recruited 3106 males and 1636 females through the Danish Civil Registration System. COPD was defined by spirometry by the 2.5(th)-centile Lower Limit of Normal of FEV1 and FEV1/FVC. Information about smoking, occupational exposure and the respective occupations were obtained from questionnaires. Occupations followed the Danish adaptation of The International Standard Classification of Occupations, revision 1988 (DISCO-88). Exposure to vapour, gas, dust (organic and inorganic), and fume (VGDF) in each occupation (yes/no) was evaluated by two independent specialist in occupational medicine. Exposures were divided in no, low, medium, and high exposure as 0, < 5, 5-14, and ≥ 15 years in the job, respectively. Data was analysed by a mixed random effect logistic regression model. The age-standardised COPD study prevalence was 5.0%. Of 372 DISCO-88 codes 72 were identified with relevant exposure to VGDF. 46% of the participants reported at least one occupation with VGDF exposure. Adjusted for smoking, age, sex, and GPP a dose-dependent association of COPD was found among workers in jobs with high organic dust exposure, with OR 1.56 (95% CI 1.09-2.24). Restricted to agriculture the OR was 1.59 (95% CI: 1.08-2.33). No association was observed for workers in jobs with inorganic dust, fume/gas, or vapour exposures. In summary, occupational organic dust exposure was associated to the prevalence of COPD.

  13. Fair Package Assignment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lahaie, Sébastien; Parkes, David C.

    We consider the problem of fair allocation in the package assignment model, where a set of indivisible items, held by single seller, must be efficiently allocated to agents with quasi-linear utilities. A fair assignment is one that is efficient and envy-free. We consider a model where bidders have superadditive valuations, meaning that items are pure complements. Our central result is that core outcomes are fair and even coalition-fair over this domain, while fair distributions may not even exist for general valuations. Of relevance to auction design, we also establish that the core is equivalent to the set of anonymous-price competitive equilibria, and that superadditive valuations are a maximal domain that guarantees the existence of anonymous-price competitive equilibrium. Our results are analogs of core equivalence results for linear prices in the standard assignment model, and for nonlinear, non-anonymous prices in the package assignment model with general valuations.

  14. Using software to predict occupational hearing loss in the mining industry

    PubMed Central

    Azman, A.S.; Li, M.; Thompson, J.K.

    2017-01-01

    Powerful mining systems typically generate high-level noise that can damage the hearing ability of miners. Engineering noise controls are the most desirable and effective control for overexposure to noise. However, the effects of these noise controls on the actual hearing status of workers are not easily measured. A tool that can provide guidance in assigning workers to jobs based on the noise levels to which they will be exposed is highly desirable. Therefore, the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD) of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed a tool to estimate in a systematic way the hearing loss due to occupational noise exposure and to evaluate the effectiveness of developed engineering controls. This computer program is based on the ISO 1999 standard and can be used to estimate the loss of hearing ability caused by occupational noise exposures. In this paper, the functionalities of this software are discussed and several case studies related to mining machinery are presented to demonstrate the functionalities of this software. PMID:28596700

  15. Non-robbery-related occupational homicides in the retail industry, 2003-2008.

    PubMed

    Konda, Srinivas; Tiesman, Hope M; Hendricks, Scott; Gurka, Kelly K

    2014-02-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine non-robbery-related occupational homicides in the retail industry from 2003 to 2008. Data were abstracted from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Motive (robbery- or non-robbery-related) and workplace violence (WPV) typology (Type I-IV) were assigned using narrative text fields. Non-robbery-related homicide rates were calculated and compared among WPV types, demographic characteristics, and occupation. Twenty-eight percent of homicides that occurred in the retail industry were non-robbery-related. The leading event associated with non-robbery-related homicides was Type II (perpetrated by customers) (34%), followed by Type IV (perpetrated by personal relationship) (31%). The majority of homicides were due to arguments (50%). Security guards and workers in drinking establishments had the highest homicide rates per 100,000 workers (14.3 and 6.0, respectively). Non-robbery-related homicides comprised a meaningful proportion of workplace homicides in the retail industry. Research is needed to develop strategies to prevent non-robbery-related homicides specifically. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Using software to predict occupational hearing loss in the mining industry.

    PubMed

    Azman, A S; Li, M; Thompson, J K

    2016-01-01

    Powerful mining systems typically generate high-level noise that can damage the hearing ability of miners. Engineering noise controls are the most desirable and effective control for overexposure to noise. However, the effects of these noise controls on the actual hearing status of workers are not easily measured. A tool that can provide guidance in assigning workers to jobs based on the noise levels to which they will be exposed is highly desirable. Therefore, the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD) of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed a tool to estimate in a systematic way the hearing loss due to occupational noise exposure and to evaluate the effectiveness of developed engineering controls. This computer program is based on the ISO 1999 standard and can be used to estimate the loss of hearing ability caused by occupational noise exposures. In this paper, the functionalities of this software are discussed and several case studies related to mining machinery are presented to demonstrate the functionalities of this software.

  17. Descriptive profile of the academic integrity of Australian occupational therapy students.

    PubMed

    Brown, Ted; Isbel, Stephen; Bourke-Taylor, Helen; Gustafsson, Louise; McKinstry, Carol; Logan, Alexandra

    2018-04-10

    Academic integrity is the moral code of academia. Students who demonstrate trustworthiness in an academic setting are more likely to be dependable in a clinical setting. It is, therefore, important for occupational therapy academic and fieldwork educators to know the academic integrity profile of their students and to address any areas of academic dishonesty in curriculum design and delivery. To date, there has been no baseline description of the academic honesty profile of Australian occupational therapy students. To establish a baseline of academic integrity and academic dishonesty among occupational therapy undergraduate and graduate-entry masters students in a cohort of Australian students. Seven hundred and one students from five Australian universities completed a self-report questionnaire comprising demographic questions and six standardised scales measuring academic integrity. Overall, occupational therapy students reported high levels of academic and fieldwork integrity; however, some areas of concerns exist. Students report copying material without citations at least once during their studies (55%), obtaining test questions at least once during their studies (42.6%) or padding out a bibliography (39.5%). Occupational therapy education needs to continue to emphasise the importance of academic and fieldwork integrity. Students need to be explicitly taught what academic honesty and dishonesty is and be provided with the resources and time to complete academic work to reduce the risk of academic dishonesty. © 2018 Occupational Therapy Australia.

  18. A Comprehensive Approach to Convert a Radiology Department From Coding Based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, to Coding Based on International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision.

    PubMed

    McBee, Morgan P; Laor, Tal; Pryor, Rebecca M; Smith, Rachel; Hardin, Judy; Ulland, Lisa; May, Sally; Zhang, Bin; Towbin, Alexander J

    2018-02-01

    The purpose of this study was to adapt our radiology reports to provide the documentation required for specific International Classification of Diseases, tenth rev (ICD-10) diagnosis coding. Baseline data were analyzed to identify the reports with the greatest number of unspecified ICD-10 codes assigned by computer-assisted coding software. A two-part quality improvement initiative was subsequently implemented. The first component involved improving clinical histories by utilizing technologists to obtain information directly from the patients or caregivers, which was then imported into the radiologist's report within the speech recognition software. The second component involved standardization of report terminology and creation of four different structured report templates to determine which yielded the fewest reports with an unspecified ICD-10 code assigned by an automated coding engine. In all, 12,077 reports were included in the baseline analysis. Of these, 5,151 (43%) had an unspecified ICD-10 code. The majority of deficient reports were for radiographs (n = 3,197; 62%). Inadequacies included insufficient clinical history provided and lack of detailed fracture descriptions. Therefore, the focus was standardizing terminology and testing different structured reports for radiographs obtained for fractures. At baseline, 58% of radiography reports contained a complete clinical history with improvement to >95% 8 months later. The total number of reports that contained an unspecified ICD-10 code improved from 43% at baseline to 27% at completion of this study (P < .0001). The number of radiology studies with a specific ICD-10 code can be improved through quality improvement methodology, specifically through the use of technologist-acquired clinical histories and structured reporting. Copyright © 2017 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Potential Uses of Occupational Analysis Data By Air Force Management Engineering Teams.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McFarland, Barry P.

    Both the occupational analysis program and the management engineering program are primarily concerned with task level descriptions of time spent to perform tasks required in the Air Force, the first being personnel specialty code oriented and the second being work center oriented. However two separate and independent techniques have been developed…

  20. Integrating evidence-based practice and information literacy skills in teaching physical and occupational therapy students.

    PubMed

    Boruff, Jill T; Thomas, Aliki

    2011-12-01

    To ensure that physical and occupational therapy graduates develop evidence-based practice (EBP) competencies, their academic training must promote EBP skills, such as posing a clinical question and retrieving relevant literature, and the information literacy skills needed to practice these EBP skills. This article describes the collaborative process and outcome of integrating EBP and information literacy early in a professional physical therapy and occupational therapy programme. The liaison librarian and a faculty member designed an instructional activity that included a lecture, workshop and assignment that integrated EBP skills and information literacy skills in the first year of the programme. The assignment was designed to assess students' ability to conduct a search independently. The lecture and workshop were successful in their objectives, as 101 of the 104 students received at least 8 out of 10 points on the search assignment. The teaching activities developed for the students in this course appear to have achieved the goal of teaching students the EBP research cycle so that they might begin to emulate it. The collaboration between the faculty member and the librarian was integral to the success of this endeavour. Future work will include the evaluation of students' long-term retention of information literacy objectives. © 2011 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2011 Health Libraries Group.

  1. The Extension of Holland's Occupational Classification to All Occupations in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Viernstein, Mary Cowan

    Two methods are presented for extending Holland's occupational classification to include all occupations in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). Holland's classification is based on a theory of personality types, with occupations in the classification organized into major categories (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social,…

  2. Occupational Consciousness.

    PubMed

    Ramugondo, Elelwani L

    2015-10-02

    Occupational consciousness refers to ongoing awareness of the dynamics of hegemony and recognition that dominant practices are sustained through what people do every day, with implications for personal and collective health. The emergence of the construct in post-apartheid South Africa signifies the country's ongoing struggle with negotiating long-standing dynamics of power that were laid down during colonialism, and maintained under black majority rule. Consciousness, a key component of the new terminology, is framed from post-colonial perspectives - notably work by Biko and Fanon - and grounded in the philosophy of liberation, in order to draw attention to continuing unequal intersubjective relations that play out through human occupation. The paper also draws important links between occupational consciousness and other related constructs, namely occupational possibilities, occupational choice, occupational apartheid, and collective occupation. The use of the term 'consciousness' in sociology, with related or different meanings, is also explored. Occupational consciousness is then advanced as a critical notion that frames everyday doing as a potentially liberating response to oppressive social structures. This paper advances theorizing as a scholarly practice in occupational science, and could potentially expand inter or transdisciplinary work for critical conceptualizations of human occupation.

  3. 14 CFR Sec. 1-4 - System of accounts coding.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... General Accounting Provisions Sec. 1-4 System of accounts coding. (a) A four digit control number is assigned for each balance sheet and profit and loss account. Each balance sheet account is numbered sequentially, within blocks, designating basic balance sheet classifications. The first two digits of the four...

  4. Dental Faculty Accuracy When Using Diagnostic Codes: A Pilot Study.

    PubMed

    Sutton, Jeanne C; Fay, Rose-Marie; Huynh, Carolyn P; Johnson, Cleverick D; Zhu, Liang; Quock, Ryan L

    2017-05-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the accuracy of dental faculty members' utilization of diagnostic codes and resulting treatment planning based on radiographic interproximal tooth radiolucencies. In 2015, 50 full-time and part-time general dentistry faculty members at one U.S. dental school were shown a sequence of 15 bitewing radiographs; one interproximal radiolucency was highlighted on each bitewing. For each radiographic lesion, participants were asked to choose the most appropriate diagnostic code (from a concise list of five codes, corresponding to lesion progression to outer/inner halves of enamel and outer/middle/pulpal thirds of dentin), acute treatment (attempt to arrest/remineralize non-invasively, operative intervention, or no treatment), and level of confidence in choices. Diagnostic and treatment choices of participants were compared to "gold standard" correct responses, as determined by expert radiology and operative faculty members, respectively. The majority of the participants selected the correct diagnostic code for lesions in the outer one-third of dentin (p<0.0001) and the pulpal one-third of dentin (p<0.0001). For lesions in the outer and inner halves of enamel and the middle one-third of dentin, the correct rates were moderate. However, the majority of the participants chose correct treatments on all types of lesions (correct rate 63.6-100%). Faculty members' confidence in their responses was generally high for all lesions, all above 90%. Diagnostic codes were appropriately assigned by participants for the very deepest lesions, but they were not assigned accurately for more incipient lesions (limited to enamel). Paradoxically, treatment choices were generally correct, regardless of diagnostic choices. Further calibration is needed to improve faculty use and teaching of diagnostic codes.

  5. Plagiarism-Proofing Assignments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Doug

    2004-01-01

    Mr. Johnson has discovered that the higher the level of student engagement and creativity, the lower the probability of plagiarism. For teachers who would like to see such desirable results, he describes the characteristics of assignments that are most likely to produce them. Two scenarios of types of assignments that avoid plagiarism are…

  6. Occupational injury and illness recording and reporting requirements. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. Department of Labor. Final rule.

    PubMed

    2001-01-19

    The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is revising its rule addressing the recording and reporting of occupational injuries and illnesses (29 CFR parts 1904 and 1952), including the forms employers use to record those injuries and illnesses. The revisions to the final rule will produce more useful injury and illness records, collect better information about the incidence of occupational injuries and illnesses on a national basis, promote improved employee awareness and involvement in the recording and reporting of job-related injuries and illnesses, simplify the injury and illness recordkeeping system for employers, and permit increased use of computers and telecommunications technology for OSHA recordkeeping purposes. This rulemaking completes a larger overall effort to revise Part 1904 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Two sections of Part 1904 have already been revised in earlier rulemakings. A rule titled Reporting fatalities and multiple hospitalization incidents to OSHA, became effective May 2, 1994 and has been incorporated into this final rule as Section 1904.39. A second rule entitled Annual OSHA injury and illness survey of ten or more employers became effective on March 13, 1997 and has been incorporated into this final rule as Section 1904.41. The final rule being published today also revises 29 CFR 1952.4, Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements, which prescribes the recordkeeping and reporting requirements for States that have an occupational safety and health program approved by OSHA under Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (the "Act" or "OSH Act").

  7. Wireless Occupancy Sensors for Lighting Controls: An Applications Guide for Federal Facility Managers

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

    None

    This guide provides federal facility managers with an overview of the energy savings potential of wireless lighting occupancy sensors for various room types, cost considerations, key steps to successful installation of wireless sensors, pros and cons of various technology options, light source considerations, and codes and standards.

  8. Occupational therapy practitioners' perspectives regarding international cross-cultural work.

    PubMed

    Humbert, Tamera Keiter; Burket, Allison; Deveney, Rebecca; Kennedy, Katelyn

    2011-08-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the perspectives of occupational therapy practitioners who have engaged in cross-cultural work experiences. The research question was how do occupational therapy practitioners make meaning of their lived cross-cultural experiences.   This study utilised a qualitative, phenomenological design. Eleven open-ended, semi-structured interviews were conducted with occupational therapy practitioners educated in the United States and who engaged in international practice. The interviews were then coded and analysed using a constant comparative analysis approach. Three central themes emerged from the completed interviews and data analysis, including connectedness, cultural awareness and complexity. Connectedness is the process of forming relationships with others while engaging in cross-cultural experiences. Cultural awareness is the recognition and understanding of a different culture, comparing these insights with one's own culture and then responding to those differences. Complexity is the idea that cross-cultural experiences are dynamic, multi-faceted and intricate. This study helps provide an understanding of cross-cultural work experiences from the practitioners' perspective. The demands of such work require practitioners to go beyond developing basic skills related to cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness. Instead, practitioners need to embrace and integrate the ability to incorporate layers of cultural awareness, complexity and connectedness into practice. Further research is needed to understand how this is actually developed and utilised within practice. © 2011 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal © 2011 Occupational Therapy Australia.

  9. A test of the occupational matching hypothesis for rehabilitation clients with severe mental illness.

    PubMed

    Bond, Gary R; Campbell, Kikuko; Becker, Deborah R

    2013-06-01

    This study compared job matching rates for clients with severe mental illness enrolled in two types of employment programs. Also examined was the occupational matching hypothesis that job matching is associated with better employment outcomes. The study involved a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial comparing evidence-based supported employment to a diversified placement approach. The study sample consisted of 187 participants, of whom 147 obtained a paid job during the 2-year follow-up. Jobs were coded using the Dictionary of Occupational Titles classification system. Match between initial job preferences and type of job obtained was the predictor variable. Outcomes included time to job start, job satisfaction, and job tenure on first job. Most occupational preferences were for clerical and service jobs, and most participants obtained employment in these two occupational domains. In most cases, the first job obtained matched a participant's occupational preference. The occupational matching hypothesis was not supported for any employment outcome. The occupational matching rate was similar in this study to previous studies. Most clients who obtain employment with the help of evidence-based supported employment or diversified placement services find jobs matching their occupational preference, and most often it is a rough match. Occupational matching is but one aspect of job matching; it may be time to discard actuarial classification systems such as the Dictionary of Occupational Titles as a basis for assessing job match.

  10. Developing regulations for occupational exposures to health hazards in Malaysia.

    PubMed

    Rampal, Krishna Gopal; Mohd Nizam, J

    2006-11-01

    In Malaysia exposures in the workplace are regulated under the Factories and Machinery Act (FMA), 1967 and also under the more comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) enacted in 1994. With OSHA 1994 the philosophy of legislating safety and health in the workplace changed from one that was very prescriptive and containing detailed technical provisions under FMA, 1967 to one that is more flexible and encourages self-regulation under OSHA 1994. OSHA 1994 is supported by regulations, codes of practices and guidelines to further clarify the provisions in the Act. Under the FMA 1967 emphasis was on safety while with OSHA 1994 there has been equal emphasis on addressing health hazards in the workplace. Regulations for occupational exposures are developed by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health with tripartite and stakeholder consultation. When developing these regulations International Labor Organization Conventions, laws of other countries and occupational exposure standards adopted internationally are reviewed. The government also conducts surveys to collect information on both exposures and health effects in workplaces to have better understanding on specific occupational health problems. Effective law enforcement is crucial in ensuring compliance to safety and health law. The challenge at the moment is to ensure all employers and employees, particularly those in the small and medium enterprises, understand and comply with the provisions stipulated in the legislation.

  11. Case-control study of paternal occupation and childhood leukaemia in Great Britain, 1962-2006.

    PubMed

    Keegan, T J; Bunch, K J; Vincent, T J; King, J C; O'Neill, K A; Kendall, G M; MacCarthy, A; Fear, N T; Murphy, M F G

    2012-10-23

    Paternal occupational exposures have been proposed as a risk factor for childhood leukaemia. This study investigates possible associations between paternal occupational exposure and childhood leukaemia in Great Britain. The National Registry of Childhood Tumours provided all cases of childhood leukaemia born and diagnosed in Great Britain between 1962 and 2006. Controls were matched on sex, period of birth and birth registration subdistrict. Fathers' occupations were assigned to 1 or more of 33 exposure groups. Social class was derived from father's occupation at the time of the child's birth. A total of 16 764 cases of childhood leukaemia were ascertained. One exposure group, paternal social contact, was associated with total childhood leukaemia (odds ratio 1.14, 1.05-1.23); this association remained significant when adjusted for social class. The subtypes lymphoid leukaemia (LL) and acute myeloid leukaemia showed increased risk with paternal exposure to social contact before adjustment for social class. Risk of other leukaemias was significantly increased by exposure to electromagnetic fields, persisting after adjustment for social class. For total leukaemia, the risks for exposure to lead and exhaust fumes were significantly <1. Occupationally derived social class was associated with risk of LL, with the risk being increased in the higher social classes. Our results showed some support for a positive association between childhood leukaemia risk and paternal occupation involving social contact. Additionally, LL risk increased with higher paternal occupational social class.

  12. 78 FR 15740 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-03-12

    ... of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) sponsored information... Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for DOL-ETA, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, 725 17th...). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Information collected on the Occupational Code Assignment Form (Form ETA-741) is...

  13. Occupational cancer in Britain. Preventing occupational cancer.

    PubMed

    Chen, Yiqun; Osman, John

    2012-06-19

    Although only a relatively small proportion of cancer is attributable to occupational exposure to carcinogenic agents, the estimated number of deaths due to occupational cancer is high when compared to other deaths due to work-related ill health and injury. However, risk from occupational exposure to carcinogens can be minimised through proportionate but effective risk management. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the regulator of workplace health and safety in Great Britain. As part of its aim to reduce ill health arising from failures to control properly exposure to hazards at work, HSE commissioned the research presented elsewhere in this supplement to enable it to identify priorities for preventing occupational cancer. The research has shown that occupational cancer remains a key health issue and that low-level exposure of a large number of workers to carcinogens is important. The finding that a small number of carcinogens have been responsible for the majority of the burden of occupational cancer provides key evidence in the development of priorities for significant reduction of occupational cancer. Although the research presented in this supplement reflects the consequences of past exposures to carcinogens, occupational cancer remains a problem. The potential for exposure to the agents considered in this research is still present in the workplace and the findings are relevant to prevention of future disease. In this article, the principle approaches for risk reduction are described. It provides supporting information on some of the initiatives already being undertaken, or those being put in place, to reduce occupational cancer in Great Britain. The need also for systematic collection of exposure information and the importance of raising awareness and changing behaviours are discussed.

  14. [Occupational cancer].

    PubMed

    Mori, Ippei

    2014-02-01

    Occupational cancer is one of the most important topics in occupational health, because it can be avoided by using appropriate risk management strategies at work. However, due to the lack of suitable surveillance systems in Japan, it goes under-recognized. Burden of disease studies conducted elsewhere can be extrapolated to suggest thousands of deaths are attributable to occupational cancer in Japan. By law, about 20 kinds of cancer have been listed as occupational hazards; among those is asbestos related cancer. In fact, in recent years, thousands of asbestos related cancer cases have been compensated by the government run workers' compensation scheme for occupational accidents and diseases. On the other hand, for the other types of occupational cancer, only few cases are reported. To prevent re-emergence of occupational cancer, such as the recently publicized cholangiocarcinoma epidemics, employees, employers, medical institutions and competent authorities are strongly urged to establish better surveillance systems for occupational cancer.

  15. [Fatal occupational accidents: updating of data from a mortality register].

    PubMed

    Mantero, Silvia; Baldasseroni, A; Chellini, Elisabetta; Giovanetti, Lucia

    2005-01-01

    In Italy, almost one thousand deaths due to occupational accidents are usually registered by INAIL each year. Case registration by INAIL has merely administrative purposes and therefore it is necessary to use other sources for case ascertainment in order to better estimate the real number of deaths related to occupational accidents, as shown also by previous papers. Evaluation of the contribution of another data source, namely the Tuscany Regional Mortality Registry, to obtain the correct figure for occupational accident deaths through the use of a place-of-occurrence notation on the death certificate. Cases that occurred in residents in Tuscany in 2000-2001 were considered. They were identified from : a) the Tuscany Regional Mortality Registry (RMR) using the E code of the ICD LX code of death, the year and place of occurrence; b) the INAIL archive using the year of event, the type of definition and management. The INAIL source was without doubt the most informative but was only 51% complete, whereas the RMR source, although less informative, was more complete (82.4%) and allowed identification of cases not registered by INAIL, that had occurred for instance in the Armed Forces and in the National Railway Company. However, the vast majority of RMR extra-cases occurred in subjects aged 65+, in agriculture and in the building industry. It is currently possible to plan a systematic linkage of the two sources due to the new possibilities that are available: the place-of-occurrence in the death certificate and the availability of individual data in the INAIL source.

  16. Occupant and crash characteristics for case occupants with cervical spine injuries sustained in motor vehicle collisions.

    PubMed

    Stein, Deborah M; Kufera, Joseph A; Ho, Shiu M; Ryb, Gabriel E; Dischinger, Patricia C; O'Connor, James V; Scalea, Thomas M

    2011-02-01

    Motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) are the leading cause of spine and spinal cord injuries in the United States. Traumatic cervical spine injuries (CSIs) result in significant morbidity and mortality. This study was designed to evaluate both the epidemiologic and biomechanical risk factors associated with CSI in MVCs by using a population-based database and to describe occupant and crashes characteristics for a subset of severe crashes in which a CSI was sustained as represented by the Crash Injury Research Engineering Network (CIREN) database. Prospectively collected CIREN data from the eight centers were used to identify all case occupants between 1996 and November 2009. Case occupants older than 14 years and case vehicles of the four most common vehicle types were included. The National Automotive Sampling System's Crashworthiness Data System, a probability sample of all police-reported MVCs in the United States, was queried using the same inclusion criteria between 1997 and 2008. Cervical spinal cord and spinal column injuries were identified using Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) score codes. Data were abstracted on all case occupants, biomechanical crash characteristics, and injuries sustained. Univariate analysis was performed using a χ analysis. Logistic regression was used to identify significant risk factors in a multivariate analysis to control for confounding associations. CSIs were identified in 11.5% of CIREN case occupants. Case occupants aged 65 years or older and those occupants involved in rollover crashes were more likely to sustain a CSI. In univariate analysis of the subset of severe crashes represented by CIREN, the use of airbag and seat belt together (reference) were more protective than seat belt alone (odds ratio [OR]=1.73, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.32-2.27) or the use of neither restraint system (OR=1.45, 95% CI=1.02-2.07). The most frequent injury sources in CIREN crashes were roof and its components (24.8%) and noncontact sources (15

  17. Cognitive Jointly Optimal Code-Division Channelization and Routing Over Cooperative Links

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-04-01

    i List of Figures Fig. 1: Comparison between code-division channelization and FDM. Fig. 2: Secondary receiver SINR as a function of the iteration step...transmission percentage as a function of the number of active links under Cases rank(X′′) = 1 and > 1 (the study includes also the random code assignment...scheme); (b) Instantaneous output SINR of a primary signal against primary SINR-QoS threshold SINRthPU (thick line) and instanta- neous output SINR of

  18. Estimation of an Occupational Choice Model when Occupations Are Misclassified

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sullivan, Paul

    2009-01-01

    This paper develops an empirical occupational choice model that corrects for misclassification in occupational choices and measurement error in occupation-specific work experience. The model is used to estimate the extent of measurement error in occupation data and quantify the bias that results from ignoring measurement error in occupation codes…

  19. Preserving Envelope Efficiency in Performance Based Code Compliance

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

    Thornton, Brian A.; Sullivan, Greg P.; Rosenberg, Michael I.

    2015-06-20

    The City of Seattle 2012 Energy Code (Seattle 2014), one of the most progressive in the country, is under revision for its 2015 edition. Additionally, city personnel participate in the development of the next generation of the Washington State Energy Code and the International Energy Code. Seattle has pledged carbon neutrality by 2050 including buildings, transportation and other sectors. The United States Department of Energy (DOE), through Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) provided technical assistance to Seattle in order to understand the implications of one potential direction for its code development, limiting trade-offs of long-lived building envelope components less stringentmore » than the prescriptive code envelope requirements by using better-than-code but shorter-lived lighting and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) components through the total building performance modeled energy compliance path. Weaker building envelopes can permanently limit building energy performance even as lighting and HVAC components are upgraded over time, because retrofitting the envelope is less likely and more expensive. Weaker building envelopes may also increase the required size, cost and complexity of HVAC systems and may adversely affect occupant comfort. This report presents the results of this technical assistance. The use of modeled energy code compliance to trade-off envelope components with shorter-lived building components is not unique to Seattle and the lessons and possible solutions described in this report have implications for other jurisdictions and energy codes.« less

  20. Role of maternal occupational physical activity and psychosocial stressors on adverse birth outcomes

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Laura J; Symanski, Elaine; Lupo, Philip J; Tinker, Sarah C; Razzaghi, Hilda; Chan, Wenyaw; Hoyt, Adrienne T; Canfield, Mark A

    2016-01-01

    Objectives We examined the association of an array of estimated maternal occupational physical activities and psychosocial stressors during pregnancy with odds for preterm birth (PTB) and small-for-gestational age (SGA). Methods Data for infants born without major birth defects delivered from 1997 to 2009 whose mothers reported working at least 1 month during pregnancy were obtained from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. We linked occupational codes to the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Information Network, which provides estimates of exposure for multiple domains of physical activity and psychosocial stressors by occupational categories. We conducted factor analysis using principal components extraction with 17 occupational activities and calculated factor scores. ORs for PTB and SGA across quartiles of factor scores in each trimester were computed using logistic regression. Results Factor analysis grouped occupational domains into 4 groups based on factor loadings. These groups were ‘occupational physical activity’, ‘interpersonal stressor’, ‘automated work’ and ‘job responsibility’. High levels of ‘occupational physical activity’ were significantly associated with SGA (adjusted OR (AOR) for highest quartile compared with lowest quartile of factor score: 1.36; 95% CIs 1.02 to 1.82; p for trend=0.001) and were also positively associated with PTB (AOR: 1.24; 95% CI 0.93 to 1.64; p for trend=0.01). No clear results were observed across domains of psychosocial stressors. Conclusions Our findings expand understanding of associations between occupational physical activity and psychosocial stressors and PTB and SGA and suggest that additional research is needed to further examine these relationships. PMID:27919059

  1. The revised burn diagram and its effect on diagnosis-related group coding.

    PubMed

    Turner, D G; Berger, N; Weiland, A P; Jordan, M H

    1996-01-01

    Diagnosis-related group (DRG) codes for burn injuries are defined by thresholds of the percentage of total body surface area and depth of burns, and by whether surgery, debridement, or grafting or both occurred. This prospective study was designed to determine whether periodic revisions of the burn diagram resulted in more accurate assignment of the International Classification of Diseases and DRG codes. The admission burn diagrams were revised after admission and after each surgical procedure. All areas grafted (deep second-and third-degree burns) were diagrammed as "third-degree," after the current convention that both are biologically the same and require grafting. The multiple diagrams from 82 charts were analyzed to determine the disparities in the percentage of total body surface area burn and the percentage of body surface area third-degree burn. The revised diagrams differed from the admission diagrams in 96.5% of the cases. In 77% of the cases, the revised diagram correctly depicted the percentage of body surface area third-degree burn as confirmed intraoperatively. In 7.3% of the cases, diagram revision changed the DRG code. Documenting wound evolution in this manner allows more accurate assignment of the International Classification of Diseases and DRG codes, assuring optimal reimbursement under the prospective payment system.

  2. HCPCS Coding: An Integral Part of Your Reimbursement Strategy.

    PubMed

    Nusgart, Marcia

    2013-12-01

    The first step to a successful reimbursement strategy is to ensure that your wound care product has the most appropriate Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code (or billing) for your product. The correct HCPCS code plays an essential role in patient access to new and existing technologies. When devising a strategy to obtain a HCPCS code for its product, companies must consider a number of factors as follows: (1) Has the product gone through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory process or does it need to do so? Will the FDA code designation impact which HCPCS code will be assigned to your product? (2) In what "site of service" do you intend to market your product? Where will your customers use the product? Which coding system (CPT ® or HCPCS) applies to your product? (3) Does a HCPCS code for a similar product already exist? Does your product fit under the existing HCPCS code? (4) Does your product need a new HCPCS code? What is the linkage, if any, between coding, payment, and coverage for the product? Researchers and companies need to start early and place the same emphasis on a reimbursement strategy as it does on a regulatory strategy. Your reimbursement strategy staff should be involved early in the process, preferably during product research and development and clinical trial discussions.

  3. EELAB: an innovative educational resource in occupational medicine.

    PubMed

    Zhou, A Y; Dodman, J; Hussey, L; Sen, D; Rayner, C; Zarin, N; Agius, R

    2017-07-01

    Postgraduate education, training and clinical governance in occupational medicine (OM) require easily accessible yet rigorous, research and evidence-based tools based on actual clinical practice. To develop and evaluate an online resource helping physicians develop their OM skills using their own cases of work-related ill-health (WRIH). WRIH data reported by general practitioners (GPs) to The Health and Occupation Research (THOR) network were used to identify common OM clinical problems, their reported causes and management. Searches were undertaken for corresponding evidence-based and audit guidelines. A web portal entitled Electronic, Experiential, Learning, Audit and Benchmarking (EELAB) was designed to enable access to interactive resources preferably by entering data about actual cases. EELAB offered disease-specific online learning and self-assessment, self-audit of clinical management against external standards and benchmarking against their peers' practices as recorded in the research database. The resource was made available to 250 GPs and 224 occupational physicians in UK as well as postgraduate OM students for evaluation. Feedback was generally very favourable with physicians reporting their EELAB use for case-based assignments. Comments such as those suggesting a wider range of clinical conditions have guided further improvement. External peer-reviewed evaluation resulted in accreditation by the Royal College of GPs and by the Faculties of OM (FOM) of London and of Ireland. This innovative resource has been shown to achieve education, self-audit and benchmarking objectives, based on the participants' clinical practice and an extensive research database. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

  4. [Temporary employment and health: a multivariate analysis of occupational injury risk by job tenure].

    PubMed

    Bena, Antonella; Giraudo, Massimiliano

    2013-01-01

    To study the relationship between job tenure and injury risk, controlling for individual factors and company characteristics. Analysis of incidence and injury risk by job tenure, controlling for gender, age, nationality, economic activity, firm size. Sample of 7% of Italian workers registered in the INPS (National Institute of Social Insurance) database. Private sector employees who worked as blue collars or apprentices. First-time occupational injuries, all occupational injuries, serious occupational injuries. Our findings show an increase in injury risk among those who start a new job and an inverse relationship between job tenure and injury risk. Multivariate analysis confirm these results. Recommendations for improving this situation include the adoption of organizational models that provide periods of mentoring from colleagues already in the company and the assignment to simple and not much hazardous tasks. The economic crisis may exacerbate this problem: it is important for Italy to improve the systems of monitoring relations between temporary employment and health.

  5. Military positions and post-service occupational mobility of Union Army veterans, 1861–1880

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Chulhee

    2009-01-01

    Although the Civil War has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention, little is known about how different wartime experiences of soldiers influenced their civilian lives after the war. This paper examines how military rank and duty of Union Army soldiers while in service affected their post-service occupational mobility. Higher ranks and non-infantry duties appear to have provided more opportunities for developing skills, especially those required for white-collar jobs. Among the recruits who were unskilled workers at the time of enlistment, commissioned and non-commissioned officers were much more likely to move up to a white-collar job by 1880. Similarly, unskilled recruits assigned to white-collar military duties were more likely to enter a white-collar occupation by 1880. The higher occupational mobility of higher-ranking soldiers is likely to have resulted from disparate human capital accumulations offered by their military positions rather than from their superior abilities. PMID:20234792

  6. 48 CFR 227.7010 - Assignments.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... OF DEFENSE GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS Infringement Claims, Licenses, and Assignments 227.7010 Assignments. (a) The clause at 252.227-7011 is an example which may be used in contracts of assignment of patent rights to the Government. (b) To facilitate proof of...

  7. Case–control study of paternal occupation and childhood leukaemia in Great Britain, 1962–2006

    PubMed Central

    Keegan, T J; Bunch, K J; Vincent, T J; King, J C; O'Neill, K A; Kendall, G M; MacCarthy, A; Fear, N T; MFG, Murphy

    2012-01-01

    Background: Paternal occupational exposures have been proposed as a risk factor for childhood leukaemia. This study investigates possible associations between paternal occupational exposure and childhood leukaemia in Great Britain. Methods: The National Registry of Childhood Tumours provided all cases of childhood leukaemia born and diagnosed in Great Britain between 1962 and 2006. Controls were matched on sex, period of birth and birth registration subdistrict. Fathers' occupations were assigned to 1 or more of 33 exposure groups. Social class was derived from father's occupation at the time of the child's birth. Results: A total of 16 764 cases of childhood leukaemia were ascertained. One exposure group, paternal social contact, was associated with total childhood leukaemia (odds ratio 1.14, 1.05–1.23); this association remained significant when adjusted for social class. The subtypes lymphoid leukaemia (LL) and acute myeloid leukaemia showed increased risk with paternal exposure to social contact before adjustment for social class. Risk of other leukaemias was significantly increased by exposure to electromagnetic fields, persisting after adjustment for social class. For total leukaemia, the risks for exposure to lead and exhaust fumes were significantly <1. Occupationally derived social class was associated with risk of LL, with the risk being increased in the higher social classes. Conclusion: Our results showed some support for a positive association between childhood leukaemia risk and paternal occupation involving social contact. Additionally, LL risk increased with higher paternal occupational social class. PMID:22968649

  8. Using Embedded Visual Coding to Support Contextualization of Historical Texts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baron, Christine

    2016-01-01

    This mixed-method study examines the think-aloud protocols of 48 randomly assigned undergraduate students to understand what effect embedding a visual coding system, based on reliable visual cues for establishing historical time period, would have on novice history students' ability to contextualize historic documents. Results indicate that using…

  9. Impact of Obesity on Work Productivity in Different US Occupations: Analysis of the National Health and Wellness Survey 2014 to 2015.

    PubMed

    Kudel, Ian; Huang, Joanna C; Ganguly, Rahul

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to quantify the relationship between workers' body mass index and work productivity within various occupations. Data from two administrations (2014 and 2015) of the United States (US) National Health and Wellness Survey, an Internet-based survey administered to an adult sample of the US population, were used for this study (n = 59,772). Occupation was based on the US Department of Labor's 2010 Standardized Occupation Codes. Outcomes included work productivity impairment and indirect costs of missed work time. Obesity had the greatest impact on work productivity in Construction, followed by Arts and Hospitality occupations. Outcomes varied across occupations; multivariable analyses found significant differences in work productivity impairment and indirect costs between normal weight and at least one obesity class. Obesity differentially impacted productivity and costs, depending upon occupation.

  10. Risk of injury for occupants of motor vehicle collisions from unbelted occupants.

    PubMed

    MacLennan, P A; McGwin, G; Metzger, J; Moran, S G; Rue, L W

    2004-12-01

    Unbelted occupants may increase the risk of injury for other occupants in a motor vehicle collision (MVC). This study evaluated the association between occupant restraint use and the risk of injury (including death) to other vehicle occupants. A population based cohort study. United States. MVC occupants (n = 152 191 unweighted, n = 18 426 684 weighted) seated between a belted or unbelted occupant and the line of the principal direction of force in frontal, lateral, and rear MVCs were sampled from the 1991-2002 National Automotive Sampling System General Estimates System. Offset MVCs were not included in the study. Risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals for injury (including death) for occupants seated contiguous to unbelted occupants compared to occupants seated contiguous to belted occupants. Risk ratios were adjusted for at risk occupant's sex, age, seating position, vehicle type, collision type, travel speed, crash severity, and at risk occupants' own seat belt use. Exposure to unbelted occupants was associated with a 40% increased risk of any injury. Belted at risk occupants were at a 90% increased risk of injury but unbelted occupants were not at increased risk. Risks were similar for non-incapacitating and capacitating injuries. There was a 4.8-fold increased risk of death for exposed belted occupants but no increased risk of death for unbelted occupants. Belted occupants are at an increased risk of injury and death in the event of a MVC from unbelted occupants.

  11. Increasing Nucleosome Occupancy Is Correlated with an Increasing Mutation Rate so Long as DNA Repair Machinery Is Intact

    PubMed Central

    Taylor, Jared F.; Khattab, Omar S.; Chen, Yu-Han; Chen, Yumay; Jacobsen, Steven E.; Wang, Ping H.

    2015-01-01

    Deciphering the multitude of epigenomic and genomic factors that influence the mutation rate is an area of great interest in modern biology. Recently, chromatin has been shown to play a part in this process. To elucidate this relationship further, we integrated our own ultra-deep sequenced human nucleosomal DNA data set with a host of published human genomic and cancer genomic data sets. Our results revealed, that differences in nucleosome occupancy are associated with changes in base-specific mutation rates. Increasing nucleosome occupancy is associated with an increasing transition to transversion ratio and an increased germline mutation rate within the human genome. Additionally, cancer single nucleotide variants and microindels are enriched within nucleosomes and both the coding and non-coding cancer mutation rate increases with increasing nucleosome occupancy. There is an enrichment of cancer indels at the theoretical start (74 bp) and end (115 bp) of linker DNA between two nucleosomes. We then hypothesized that increasing nucleosome occupancy decreases access to DNA by DNA repair machinery and could account for the increasing mutation rate. Such a relationship should not exist in DNA repair knockouts, and we thus repeated our analysis in DNA repair machinery knockouts to test our hypothesis. Indeed, our results revealed no correlation between increasing nucleosome occupancy and increasing mutation rate in DNA repair knockouts. Our findings emphasize the linkage of the genome and epigenome through the nucleosome whose properties can affect genome evolution and genetic aberrations such as cancer. PMID:26308346

  12. Quaternionic representation of the genetic code.

    PubMed

    Carlevaro, C Manuel; Irastorza, Ramiro M; Vericat, Fernando

    2016-03-01

    A heuristic diagram of the evolution of the standard genetic code is presented. It incorporates, in a way that resembles the energy levels of an atom, the physical notion of broken symmetry and it is consistent with original ideas by Crick on the origin and evolution of the code as well as with the chronological order of appearance of the amino acids along the evolution as inferred from work that mixtures known experimental results with theoretical speculations. Suggested by the diagram we propose a Hamilton quaternions based mathematical representation of the code as it stands now-a-days. The central object in the description is a codon function that assigns to each amino acid an integer quaternion in such a way that the observed code degeneration is preserved. We emphasize the advantages of a quaternionic representation of amino acids taking as an example the folding of proteins. With this aim we propose an algorithm to go from the quaternions sequence to the protein three dimensional structure which can be compared with the corresponding experimental one stored at the Protein Data Bank. In our criterion the mathematical representation of the genetic code in terms of quaternions merits to be taken into account because it describes not only most of the known properties of the genetic code but also opens new perspectives that are mainly derived from the close relationship between quaternions and rotations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Extending Beyond Qualitative Interviewing to Illuminate the Tacit Nature of Everyday Occupation: Occupational Mapping and Participatory Occupation Methods.

    PubMed

    Huot, Suzanne; Rudman, Debbie Laliberte

    2015-07-01

    The study of human occupation requires a variety of methods to fully elucidate its complex, multifaceted nature. Although qualitative approaches have commonly been used within occupational therapy and occupational science, we contend that such qualitative research must extend beyond the sole use of interviews. Drawing on qualitative methodological literature, we discuss the limits of interview methods and outline other methods, particularly visual methods, as productive means to enhance qualitative research. We then provide an overview of our critical ethnographic study that used narrative, visual, and observational methods to explore the occupational transitions experienced by immigrants to Canada. We describe our use of occupational mapping and participatory occupation methods and the contributions of these combined methods. We conclude that adopting a variety of methods can enable a deeper understanding of the tacit nature of everyday occupation, and is key to advancing knowledge regarding occupation and to informing occupational therapy practice.

  14. 43 CFR 2521.3 - Assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) DESERT-LAND ENTRIES Procedures § 2521.3 Assignment...), assignments of desert-land entries were recognized, the Department of the Interior, largely for administrative reasons, held that a desert-land entry might be assigned as a whole or in its entirety, but refused to...

  15. 43 CFR 2521.3 - Assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) DESERT-LAND ENTRIES Procedures § 2521.3 Assignment...), assignments of desert-land entries were recognized, the Department of the Interior, largely for administrative reasons, held that a desert-land entry might be assigned as a whole or in its entirety, but refused to...

  16. 43 CFR 2521.3 - Assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) DESERT-LAND ENTRIES Procedures § 2521.3 Assignment...), assignments of desert-land entries were recognized, the Department of the Interior, largely for administrative reasons, held that a desert-land entry might be assigned as a whole or in its entirety, but refused to...

  17. 43 CFR 2521.3 - Assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) DESERT-LAND ENTRIES Procedures § 2521.3 Assignment...), assignments of desert-land entries were recognized, the Department of the Interior, largely for administrative reasons, held that a desert-land entry might be assigned as a whole or in its entirety, but refused to...

  18. Oil and Gas Field Code Master List 1990

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

    Not Available

    This is the ninth annual edition of the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Oil and Gas Field Code Master List. It reflects data collected through October 1990 and provides standardized field name spellings and codes for all identified oil and/or gas fields in the United States. There are 54,963 field records in this year's Oil and Gas Field Code Master List (FCML). This amounts to 467 more than in last year's report. As it is maintained by EIA, the Master List includes: Field records for each state and county in which a field resides; field records for each offshore area blockmore » in the Gulf of Mexico in which a field resides;field records for each alias field name; fields crossing state boundaries that may be assigned different names by the respective state naming authorities.« less

  19. Risk of injury for occupants of motor vehicle collisions from unbelted occupants

    PubMed Central

    MacLennan, P; McGwin, G; Metzger, J; Moran, S; Rue, L

    2004-01-01

    Objective: Unbelted occupants may increase the risk of injury for other occupants in a motor vehicle collision (MVC). This study evaluated the association between occupant restraint use and the risk of injury (including death) to other vehicle occupants. Design: A population based cohort study. Setting: United States. Subjects: MVC occupants (n = 152 191 unweighted, n = 18 426 684 weighted) seated between a belted or unbelted occupant and the line of the principal direction of force in frontal, lateral, and rear MVCs were sampled from the 1991–2002 National Automotive Sampling System General Estimates System. Offset MVCs were not included in the study. Main outcome measure: Risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals for injury (including death) for occupants seated contiguous to unbelted occupants compared to occupants seated contiguous to belted occupants. Risk ratios were adjusted for at risk occupant's sex, age, seating position, vehicle type, collision type, travel speed, crash severity, and at risk occupants' own seat belt use. Results: Exposure to unbelted occupants was associated with a 40% increased risk of any injury. Belted at risk occupants were at a 90% increased risk of injury but unbelted occupants were not at increased risk. Risks were similar for non-incapacitating and capacitating injuries. There was a 4.8-fold increased risk of death for exposed belted occupants but no increased risk of death for unbelted occupants. Conclusions: Belted occupants are at an increased risk of injury and death in the event of a MVC from unbelted occupants. PMID:15583258

  20. [Data protection and data access (I): federal data protection law and the social welfare code with reference to carrying out occupational medicine epidemiologic studies in Germany].

    PubMed

    Weigelt, E; Scherb, H

    1992-11-01

    The regulations applicable to research in occupational epidemiology are the federal data protection (confidentiality) law (BDSG), the social welfare code (SGB), medical professional secrecy regulations and the federal statistics law (BStatG). The SGB, medical professional secrecy, and BStatG codes take precedence over BDSG rulings. This paper discusses BDSG and SGB. Medical professional secrecy and BStatG will be the topic of another publication (Datenschutz and Datenzugang II). The BDSG permits processing and utilization of personal data only if 1. this is permitted by BDSG or a law with higher priority, or 2. if the individual concerned has given her or his informed consent. According to the BDSG private research institutes can have access to personal data collected within non-public institutions only via section 28 (2) without consent of the individual. The "research paragraph" section 40 governs the processing and utilisation of personal data by research institutions. As a rule, the SGB permits access to epidemiological data sources only with the informed consent of the individuals concerned. The exception is section 75 SGBX. This paragraph permits disclosure of personal data without the individual's consent by the relevant public institution only if public interest considerably outweighs the private concerns. To our knowledge, however, this clause has had no practical significance. The concept of "informed consent" is discussed in detail, including the requirements for a legal form for informed consent. The legal codes of the BDSG, professional secrecy, and BStatG permit the transfer of personal data if the individuals concerned remain anonymous. This paper deals in detail with the concept of "anonymity".(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

  1. Evaluation of assigned-value uncertainty for complex calibrator value assignment processes: a prealbumin example.

    PubMed

    Middleton, John; Vaks, Jeffrey E

    2007-04-01

    Errors of calibrator-assigned values lead to errors in the testing of patient samples. The ability to estimate the uncertainties of calibrator-assigned values and other variables minimizes errors in testing processes. International Organization of Standardization guidelines provide simple equations for the estimation of calibrator uncertainty with simple value-assignment processes, but other methods are needed to estimate uncertainty in complex processes. We estimated the assigned-value uncertainty with a Monte Carlo computer simulation of a complex value-assignment process, based on a formalized description of the process, with measurement parameters estimated experimentally. This method was applied to study uncertainty of a multilevel calibrator value assignment for a prealbumin immunoassay. The simulation results showed that the component of the uncertainty added by the process of value transfer from the reference material CRM470 to the calibrator is smaller than that of the reference material itself (<0.8% vs 3.7%). Varying the process parameters in the simulation model allowed for optimizing the process, while keeping the added uncertainty small. The patient result uncertainty caused by the calibrator uncertainty was also found to be small. This method of estimating uncertainty is a powerful tool that allows for estimation of calibrator uncertainty for optimization of various value assignment processes, with a reduced number of measurements and reagent costs, while satisfying the requirements to uncertainty. The new method expands and augments existing methods to allow estimation of uncertainty in complex processes.

  2. Inference for occupancy and occupancy dynamics

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    O'Connell, Allan F.; Bailey, Larissa L.; O'Connell, Allan F.; Nichols, James D.; Karanth, K. Ullas

    2011-01-01

    This chapter deals with the estimation of occupancy as a state variable to assess the status of, and track changes in, species distributions when sampling with camera traps. Much of the recent interest in occupancy estimation and modeling originated from the models developed by MacKenzie et al. (2002, 2003), although similar methods were developed independently (Azuma et al. 1990; Bayley and Petersen 2001; Nichols and Karanth, 2002; Tyre et al. 2003), all of which deal with species occurrence information and imperfect detection. Less than a decade after these publications, the modeling and estimation of species occurrence and occupancy dynamics have increased significantly. Special features of scientific journals have explored innovative uses of detection–nondetection data with occupancy models (Vojta 2005), and an entire volume has synthesized the use and application of occupancy estimation methods (MacKenzie et al. 2006). Reviews of the topical concepts, philosophical considerations, and various sampling designs that can be used for occupancy estimation are now readily available for a range of audiences (MacKenzie and Royle 2005; MacKenzie et al. 2006; Bailey et al. 2007; Royle and Dorazio 2008; Conroy and Carroll 2009; Kendall and White 2009; Hines et al. 2010; Link and Barker 2010). As a result, it would be pointless here to recast all that these publications have so eloquently articulated, but that said, a review of any scientific topic requires sufficient context and relevant background information, especially when relatively new methodologies and techniques such as occupancy estimation and camera traps are involved. This is especially critical in a digital age where new information is published at warp speed, making it increasingly difficult to stay abreast of theoretical advances and research developments.

  3. The non-coding RNA landscape of human hematopoiesis and leukemia.

    PubMed

    Schwarzer, Adrian; Emmrich, Stephan; Schmidt, Franziska; Beck, Dominik; Ng, Michelle; Reimer, Christina; Adams, Felix Ferdinand; Grasedieck, Sarah; Witte, Damian; Käbler, Sebastian; Wong, Jason W H; Shah, Anushi; Huang, Yizhou; Jammal, Razan; Maroz, Aliaksandra; Jongen-Lavrencic, Mojca; Schambach, Axel; Kuchenbauer, Florian; Pimanda, John E; Reinhardt, Dirk; Heckl, Dirk; Klusmann, Jan-Henning

    2017-08-09

    Non-coding RNAs have emerged as crucial regulators of gene expression and cell fate decisions. However, their expression patterns and regulatory functions during normal and malignant human hematopoiesis are incompletely understood. Here we present a comprehensive resource defining the non-coding RNA landscape of the human hematopoietic system. Based on highly specific non-coding RNA expression portraits per blood cell population, we identify unique fingerprint non-coding RNAs-such as LINC00173 in granulocytes-and assign these to critical regulatory circuits involved in blood homeostasis. Following the incorporation of acute myeloid leukemia samples into the landscape, we further uncover prognostically relevant non-coding RNA stem cell signatures shared between acute myeloid leukemia blasts and healthy hematopoietic stem cells. Our findings highlight the importance of the non-coding transcriptome in the formation and maintenance of the human blood hierarchy.While micro-RNAs are known regulators of haematopoiesis and leukemogenesis, the role of long non-coding RNAs is less clear. Here the authors provide a non-coding RNA expression landscape of the human hematopoietic system, highlighting their role in the formation and maintenance of the human blood hierarchy.

  4. Data linkage of inpatient hospitalization and workers' claims data sets to characterize occupational falls.

    PubMed

    Bunn, Terry L; Slavova, Svetla; Bathke, Arne

    2007-07-01

    The identification of industry, occupation, and associated injury costs for worker falls in Kentucky have not been fully examined. The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between industry and occupation and 1) hospitalization length of stay; 2) hospitalization charges; and 3) workers' claims costs in workers suffering falls, using linked inpatient hospitalization discharge and workers' claims data sets. Hospitalization cases were selected with ICD-9-CM external cause of injury codes for falls and payer code of workers' claims for years 2000-2004. Selection criteria for workers'claims cases were International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions Electronic Data Interchange Nature (IAIABCEDIN) injuries coded as falls and/or slips. Common data variables between the two data sets such as date of birth, gender, date of injury, and hospital admission date were used to perform probabilistic data linkage using LinkSolv software. Statistical analysis was performed with non-parametric tests. Construction falls were the most prevalent for male workers and incurred the highest hospitalization and workers' compensation costs, whereas most female worker falls occurred in the services industry. The largest percentage of male worker falls was from one level to another, while the largest percentage of females experienced a fall, slip, or trip (not otherwise classified). When male construction worker falls were further analyzed, laborers and helpers had longer hospital stays as well as higher total charges when the worker fell from one level to another. Data linkage of hospitalization and workers' claims falls data provides additional information on industry, occupation, and costs that are not available when examining either data set alone.

  5. Principal Approaches to Understanding Occupation and Occupational Science Found in the Chilean Journal of Occupational Therapy (2001-2012).

    PubMed

    Morrison, Rodolfo; Gómez, Silvia; Henny, Enrique; Tapia, María Jesús; Rueda, Laura

    2017-01-01

    The progression of occupational science in Chile is documented in the main scientific publication of the field, the Chilean Journal of Occupational Therapy (RChTO). Identify approaches to understanding and applying occupation and occupational science as elucidated in the RChTO. A systematic qualitative review of the journal (2001-2012) identified articles elucidating an approach to understanding and application operationally defined as references to specific authors, theories, models/paradigms, definitions, and other fields that support approaches to O/OS. The study identified two main approaches. The first considers occupation/occupational science from a practical perspective or as a means to explain human behavior; the second considers occupation/occupational science as an object of study. Each approach is further divided into categories. This study provides a novel perspective on regional use of occupational science concepts. These findings contribute to our understanding of this science in context and to recognition of the cultural relevance of these scientific concepts.

  6. Occupational Component. 36-Level Courses. Teacher Resource Manual. Integrated Occupational Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton. Curriculum Branch.

    This 36-level occupational component of Integrated Occupational Program (IOP) consists of 8 occupational clusters composed of 20 occupational courses. Each course contains learning activities so that students in Alberta (Canada) may develop occupational concepts, skills, and attitudes. This teacher's manual consists of the following sections:…

  7. Structural Case Assignment in Korean

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koak, Heeshin

    2012-01-01

    In this dissertation, I aim to provide a theory on the distribution of structural Case in Korean. I propose the following Structural Case Assignment Hypothesis (SCAH) regarding the assignment of structural Case: "Structural Case is assigned by phase heads (C: nominative; v: accusative) to every argument in the c-command domain of the phase…

  8. Occupational exposures and Parkinson's disease mortality in a prospective Dutch cohort.

    PubMed

    Brouwer, Maartje; Koeman, Tom; van den Brandt, Piet A; Kromhout, Hans; Schouten, Leo J; Peters, Susan; Huss, Anke; Vermeulen, Roel

    2015-06-01

    We investigated the association between six occupational exposures (ie, pesticides, solvents, metals, diesel motor emissions (DME), extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) and electric shocks) and Parkinson's disease (PD) mortality in a large population-based prospective cohort study. The Netherlands Cohort Study on diet and cancer enrolled 58,279 men and 62,573 women aged 55-69 years in 1986. Participants were followed up for cause-specific mortality over 17.3 years, until December 2003, resulting in 402 male and 207 female PD deaths. Following a case-cohort design, a subcohort of 5,000 participants was randomly sampled from the complete cohort. Information on occupational history and potential confounders was collected at baseline. Job-exposure matrices were applied to assign occupational exposures. Associations with PD mortality were evaluated using Cox regression. Among men, elevated HRs were observed for exposure to pesticides (eg, ever high exposed, HR 1.27, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.88) and ever high exposed to ELF-MF (HR 1.54, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.36). No association with exposure duration or trend in cumulative exposure was observed for any of the occupational exposures. Results among women were unstable due to small numbers of high-exposed women. Associations with PD mortality were observed for occupational exposure to pesticides and ELF-MF. However, the weight given to these findings is limited by the absence of a monotonic trend with either duration or cumulative exposure. No associations were found between PD mortality and occupational exposure to solvents, metals, DME or electric shocks. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  9. Sampling scales define occupancy and underlying occupancy-abundance relationships in animals.

    PubMed

    Steenweg, Robin; Hebblewhite, Mark; Whittington, Jesse; Lukacs, Paul; McKelvey, Kevin

    2018-01-01

    Occupancy-abundance (OA) relationships are a foundational ecological phenomenon and field of study, and occupancy models are increasingly used to track population trends and understand ecological interactions. However, these two fields of ecological inquiry remain largely isolated, despite growing appreciation of the importance of integration. For example, using occupancy models to infer trends in abundance is predicated on positive OA relationships. Many occupancy studies collect data that violate geographical closure assumptions due to the choice of sampling scales and application to mobile organisms, which may change how occupancy and abundance are related. Little research, however, has explored how different occupancy sampling designs affect OA relationships. We develop a conceptual framework for understanding how sampling scales affect the definition of occupancy for mobile organisms, which drives OA relationships. We explore how spatial and temporal sampling scales, and the choice of sampling unit (areal vs. point sampling), affect OA relationships. We develop predictions using simulations, and test them using empirical occupancy data from remote cameras on 11 medium-large mammals. Surprisingly, our simulations demonstrate that when using point sampling, OA relationships are unaffected by spatial sampling grain (i.e., cell size). In contrast, when using areal sampling (e.g., species atlas data), OA relationships are affected by spatial grain. Furthermore, OA relationships are also affected by temporal sampling scales, where the curvature of the OA relationship increases with temporal sampling duration. Our empirical results support these predictions, showing that at any given abundance, the spatial grain of point sampling does not affect occupancy estimates, but longer surveys do increase occupancy estimates. For rare species (low occupancy), estimates of occupancy will quickly increase with longer surveys, even while abundance remains constant. Our results

  10. Diagnostic labels assigned to patients with orthopedic conditions and the influence of the label on selection of interventions: a qualitative study of orthopaedic clinical specialists.

    PubMed

    Miller-Spoto, Marcia; Gombatto, Sara P

    2014-06-01

    A variety of diagnostic classification systems are used by physical therapists, but little information about how therapists assign diagnostic labels and how the labels are used to direct intervention is available. The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine the diagnostic labels assigned to patient problems by physical therapists who are board-certified Orthopaedic Clinical Specialists (OCSs) and (2) to determine whether the label influences selection of interventions. A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Two written cases were developed for patients with low back and shoulder pain. A survey was used to evaluate the diagnostic label assigned and the interventions considered important for each case. The cases and survey were sent to therapists who are board-certified OCSs. Respondents assigned a diagnostic label and rated the importance of intervention categories for each case. Each diagnostic label was coded based on the construct it represented. Percentage responses for each diagnostic label code and intervention category were calculated. Relative importance of intervention category based on diagnostic label was examined. For the low back pain and shoulder pain cases, respectively, "Combination" (48.5%, 34.9%) and "Pathology/Pathophysiology" (32.7%, 57.3%) diagnostic labels were most common. Strengthening (85.9%, 98.1%), stretching (86.8%, 84.9%), neuromuscular re-education (87.6%, 93.4%), functional training (91.4%, 88.6%), and mobilization/manipulation (85.1%, 86.8%) were considered the most important interventions. Relative importance of interventions did not differ based on diagnostic label (χ2=0.050-1.263, P=.261-.824). The low response rate may limit the generalizability of the findings. Also, examples provided for labels may have influenced responses, and some of the label codes may have represented overlapping constructs. There is little consistency with which OCS therapists assign diagnostic labels, and the label does not seem to influence

  11. Northeast regional and state trends in anuran occupancy from calling survey data (2001-2011) from the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Weir, Linda A.; Royle, Andy; Gazenski, Kimberly D.; Villena Carpio, Oswaldo

    2014-01-01

    We present the first regional trends in anuran occupancy from North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP) data from 11 northeastern states using an 11 years of data. NAAMP is a long-term monitoring program where observers collect data at assigned random roadside routes using a calling survey technique. We assessed occupancy trends for 17 species. Eight species had statistically significant regional trends, of these seven were negative (Anaxyrus fowleri, Acris crepitans, Pseudacris brachyphona, Pseudacris feriarum-kalmi complex, Lithobates palustris, Lithobates pipiens, and Lithobates sphenocephalus) and one was positive (Hyla versicolor-chrysoscelis complex). We also assessed state level trends for 101 species/state combinations, of these 29 showed a significant decline and nine showed a significant increase in occupancy.

  12. Occupational correlates of low back pain among U.S. Marines following combat deployment.

    PubMed

    MacGregor, Andrew J; Dougherty, Amber L; Mayo, Jonathan A; Rauh, Mitchell J; Galarneau, Michael R

    2012-07-01

    Many U.S. Marines have experienced routine combat deployments during Operation Iraqi Freedom, which present numerous occupational hazards that may result in low back pain (LBP). The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to identify new-onset LBP among Marines following initial deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Active duty Marines deployed to Iraq or Kuwait between 2005 and 2008 were identified from deployment records and linked to medical databases (n = 36,680). The outcome of interest was an International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification code indicating LBP (724.2) within 1 year postdeployment. Multivariate logistic regression examined the effect of occupation on LBP. Overall, 4.1% (n = 1,517) of Marines were diagnosed with LBP. After adjusting for covariates, the service/supply (odds ratio 1.33, 95% confidence interval, 1.12-1.59) and electrical/mechanical/craftsworker occupations (odds ratio 1.31, 95% confidence interval, 1.12-1.53) had higher odds of LBP when compared to the administrative/other referent group. Within these groups, the highest LBP prevalence was in the construction (8.6%) and law enforcement (6.2%) subgroups. Although infantry occupations purposefully engage the enemy and often face sustained physical rigors of combat, LBP was most prevalent in noninfantry occupations. Future studies should include detailed exposure histories to elucidate occupation-specific etiologies of LBP in order to guide prevention efforts.

  13. [Occupational pesticide poisoning mortality, 2000-2009, Brazil].

    PubMed

    Santana, Vilma Sousa; Moura, Maria Claudia Peres; Ferreira e Nogueira, Flávia

    2013-06-01

    To estimate the mortality rate due to occupational pesticide poisoning in Brazil. Data on diagnoses of death from pesticide poisoning between 2000 and 2009 were obtained from the Mortality Information System. ICD-10 codes T60.0-T60.4, T60.8 and T60.9, Y18, X487 and Z578 as the main or secondary cause of death; data on work-related deaths were obtained from the death certificate, from the fields , and whether cases were agricultural workers. Homicides and suicides were excluded. To calculate mortality, the number of agricultural workers was obtained from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, National System of Accounts estimates. There were 2,052 deaths recorded as caused by pesticide poisoning in Brazil, between 2000 and 2009, of which 36.2% (n = 743) had no occupation data. Of the remaining 1,309, 679 (51.9%) were agricultural workers. Mortality from occupational pesticide poisoning declined from 0.56/100.000 (2000-2001) to 0.39/100.000 (2008-2009) workers during the study period, and there was a larger decrease among men compared with women. Males had a higher mortality from this type of poisoning than women in all study years. Most deaths were caused by organophosphates and carbamate pesticides poisoning. During the study period the number of cases declined in all regions, except for the Northeast. Improvement in the quality of Death Certificate records is needed, particularly for occupation and the assessment of causes of death as work related, crucial for work injuries control and prevention programs. Special attention is required in the Northeast region.

  14. AssignFit: a program for simultaneous assignment and structure refinement from solid-state NMR spectra

    PubMed Central

    Tian, Ye; Schwieters, Charles D.; Opella, Stanley J.; Marassi, Francesca M.

    2011-01-01

    AssignFit is a computer program developed within the XPLOR-NIH package for the assignment of dipolar coupling (DC) and chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) restraints derived from the solid-state NMR spectra of protein samples with uniaxial order. The method is based on minimizing the difference between experimentally observed solid-state NMR spectra and the frequencies back calculated from a structural model. Starting with a structural model and a set of DC and CSA restraints grouped only by amino acid type, as would be obtained by selective isotopic labeling, AssignFit generates all of the possible assignment permutations and calculates the corresponding atomic coordinates oriented in the alignment frame, together with the associated set of NMR frequencies, which are then compared with the experimental data for best fit. Incorporation of AssignFit in a simulated annealing refinement cycle provides an approach for simultaneous assignment and structure refinement (SASR) of proteins from solid-state NMR orientation restraints. The methods are demonstrated with data from two integral membrane proteins, one α-helical and one β-barrel, embedded in phospholipid bilayer membranes. PMID:22036904

  15. Curriculum Materials for "Health Occupations Education." Annotated Listing of Materials Available from Public Education Agencies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Adult, Vocational, and Technical Education (DHEW/OE), Washington, DC.

    This annotated listing of curriculum materials for Health Occupations Education provides planners, administrators, vocational educators, and others with information as to available curriculum materials developed by the various States. The materials are identified with the instructional titles and codes from the classification system of the Office…

  16. An Application of Holland’s Occupational Codes to Air Force Officer Career Fields.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1985-09-01

    allows men to intelligently counteract the arbitrary decisions of their corporations, to address themselves as private persons, and to restore the balance...57) (23:114). Gottfredson , an associate of Holland, in a study of newly hired bank tellers, found that congruence of VPI score and occupation type...Campbell, David P. and Jo-Ida C. Hansen. Manual for the SVIB-SCII. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1981. 4. Gottfredson , Gary D. and others. Dictionary

  17. Defining acute aortic syndrome after trauma: Are Abbreviated Injury Scale codes a useful surrogate descriptor?

    PubMed

    Leach, R; McNally, Donal; Bashir, Mohamad; Sastry, Priya; Cuerden, Richard; Richens, David; Field, Mark

    2012-10-01

    The severity and location of injuries resulting from vehicular collisions are normally recorded in Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) code; we propose a system to link AIS code to a description of acute aortic syndrome (AAS), thus allowing the hypothesis that aortic injury is progressive with collision kinematics to be tested. Standard AIS codes were matched with a clinical description of AAS. A total of 199 collisions that resulted in aortic injury were extracted from a national automotive collision database and the outcomes mapped onto AAS descriptions. The severity of aortic injury (AIS severity score) and stage of AAS progression were compared with collision kinematics and occupant demographics. Post hoc power analyses were used to estimate maximum effect size. The general demographic distribution of the sample represented that of the UK population in regard to sex and age. No significant relationship was observed between estimated test speed, collision direction, occupant location or seat belt use and clinical progression of aortic injury (once initiated). Power analysis confirmed that a suitable sample size was used to observe a medium effect in most of the cases. Similarly, no association was observed between injury severity and collision kinematics. There is sufficient information on AIS severity and location codes to map onto the clinical AAS spectrum. It was not possible, with this data set, to consider the influence of collision kinematics on aortic injury initiation. However, it was demonstrated that after initiation, further progression along the AAS pathway was not influenced by collision kinematics. This might be because the injury is not progressive, because the vehicle kinematics studied do not fully represent the kinematics of the occupants, or because an unknown factor, such as stage of cardiac cycle, dominates. Epidemiologic/prognostic study, level IV.

  18. Relationship between chemical structure and the occupational asthma hazard of low molecular weight organic compounds

    PubMed Central

    Jarvis, J; Seed, M; Elton, R; Sawyer, L; Agius, R

    2005-01-01

    Aims: To investigate quantitatively, relationships between chemical structure and reported occupational asthma hazard for low molecular weight (LMW) organic compounds; to develop and validate a model linking asthma hazard with chemical substructure; and to generate mechanistic hypotheses that might explain the relationships. Methods: A learning dataset used 78 LMW chemical asthmagens reported in the literature before 1995, and 301 control compounds with recognised occupational exposures and hazards other than respiratory sensitisation. The chemical structures of the asthmagens and control compounds were characterised by the presence of chemical substructure fragments. Odds ratios were calculated for these fragments to determine which were associated with a likelihood of being reported as an occupational asthmagen. Logistic regression modelling was used to identify the independent contribution of these substructures. A post-1995 set of 21 asthmagens and 77 controls were selected to externally validate the model. Results: Nitrogen or oxygen containing functional groups such as isocyanate, amine, acid anhydride, and carbonyl were associated with an occupational asthma hazard, particularly when the functional group was present twice or more in the same molecule. A logistic regression model using only statistically significant independent variables for occupational asthma hazard correctly assigned 90% of the model development set. The external validation showed a sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 99%. Conclusions: Although a wide variety of chemical structures are associated with occupational asthma, bifunctional reactivity is strongly associated with occupational asthma hazard across a range of chemical substructures. This suggests that chemical cross-linking is an important molecular mechanism leading to the development of occupational asthma. The logistic regression model is freely available on the internet and may offer a useful but inexpensive adjunct to the

  19. Principal Approaches to Understanding Occupation and Occupational Science Found in the Chilean Journal of Occupational Therapy (2001–2012)

    PubMed Central

    Gómez, Silvia; Tapia, María Jesús; Rueda, Laura

    2017-01-01

    Background The progression of occupational science in Chile is documented in the main scientific publication of the field, the Chilean Journal of Occupational Therapy (RChTO). Objective Identify approaches to understanding and applying occupation and occupational science as elucidated in the RChTO. Methodology A systematic qualitative review of the journal (2001–2012) identified articles elucidating an approach to understanding and application operationally defined as references to specific authors, theories, models/paradigms, definitions, and other fields that support approaches to O/OS. Results The study identified two main approaches. The first considers occupation/occupational science from a practical perspective or as a means to explain human behavior; the second considers occupation/occupational science as an object of study. Each approach is further divided into categories. Conclusion This study provides a novel perspective on regional use of occupational science concepts. These findings contribute to our understanding of this science in context and to recognition of the cultural relevance of these scientific concepts. PMID:29097971

  20. Occupation and industry on death certificates of long-term chemical workers: concordance with work history records.

    PubMed

    Olsen, G W; Brondum, J; Bodner, K M; Kravat, B A; Mandel, J S; Mandel, J H; Bond, G G

    1990-01-01

    This study evaluated the concordance between occupation and industry listed on death certificates with actual work history information for a group (n = 5,882) of long-term (10 years or more) workers at a chemical company. Match rates were calculated as the percent of death certificate occupation and company entries that were confirmed by work history data using 3-digit 1980 U.S. Census Bureau group codes. The concordance rate for industry differed by employment status at death: employed, 94.9%; inactive, 30.8%; and retired, 91.1%. Concordance on occupation was analyzed for employed (n = 467) and retired (n = 932) subjects who had computerized work histories (randomly done prior to the study) and who had matched on the company on the death certificate. Concordance ranged from 0 to 50% for the first job, to 50 to 70% for the last job, longest job, and longest job in the last 10 years of company employment. The most consistent predictor of concordance was job duration. Misclassification was reviewed by occupational category. Results from this and other investigations lead to the inevitable conclusion that usual occupation data from death certificates are grossly inadequate for studies of occupational risks.

  1. Malnutrition coding 101: financial impact and more.

    PubMed

    Giannopoulos, Georgia A; Merriman, Louise R; Rumsey, Alissa; Zwiebel, Douglas S

    2013-12-01

    Recent articles have addressed the characteristics associated with adult malnutrition as published by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (the Academy) and the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.). This article describes a successful interdisciplinary program developed by the Department of Food and Nutrition at New York-Presbyterian Hospital to maintain and monitor clinical documentation, ensure accurate International Classification of Diseases 9th Edition (ICD-9) coding, and identify subsequent incremental revenue resulting from the early identification, documentation, and treatment of malnutrition in an adult inpatient population. The first step in the process requires registered dietitians to identify patients with malnutrition; then clear and specifically worded diagnostic statements that include the type and severity of malnutrition are documented in the medical record by the physician, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant. This protocol allows the Heath Information Management/Coding department to accurately assign ICD-9 codes associated with protein-energy malnutrition. Once clinical coding is complete, a final diagnosis related group (DRG) is generated to ensure appropriate hospital reimbursement. Successful interdisciplinary programs such as this can drive optimal care and ensure appropriate reimbursement.

  2. The values of occupational therapy: Perceptions of occupational therapists in Quebec.

    PubMed

    Drolet, Marie-Josée; Désormeaux-Moreau, Marjorie

    2016-07-01

    Recently, there has been increasing interest in the values of occupational therapy and the values held by occupational therapists. A wide range of values has been reported in the literature. Furthermore, despite the fact that values are an important part of professional identity, empirical studies have demonstrated that several occupational therapists possess an ambiguous professional identity. This study was undertaken to explore the values of Canadian occupational therapists, specifically French-speaking occupational therapists in Quebec. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 occupational therapists. Their narratives were subject to hermeneutic analysis, a method of textual analysis common in philosophical research. A total of 16 values were identified in the discourses of the occupational therapists interviewed: autonomy; human dignity; occupational participation; social justice and equity; professionalism; holism; partnership, environment, or ecological approach; quality of life; solicitude; honesty; integrity; health; creativity; professional autonomy; effectiveness; and spirituality. The results of this study are, in general, consistent with those reported in the few other empirical studies that have documented the values perceptions of occupational therapists. Finally, the explanation of the values of occupational therapists may reinforce their professional identity and favour best, or at least desirable, professional practices related to ethics and culture.

  3. [Amendments of occupational laws in Germany and consequences for occupational health].

    PubMed

    Bolm-Audorff, U

    2008-03-01

    German legislation with respect to occupational health during recent years is reviewed. Discussed is the occupational safety law and related legislation as the hazardous substances act and the biological hazard act, the occupational health and safety act and the social act VII. Most improvements of occupational standards in Germany are induced by regulations of the European Union. Furthermore initiatives of the federal government and the federal states according to an amendment of the social act VII and the occupational health and safety act, which would induce a reduction of social standards, are discussed. The role of occupational medicine in companies by some of the above mentioned laws is improved. On the other hand the situation of occupational physicians in companies, universities and other agencies is characterized by budget cuts, reduction of occupational standards and loss of importance.

  4. Estimated prevalence of exposure to occupational carcinogens in Australia (2011-2012).

    PubMed

    Carey, Renee N; Driscoll, Timothy R; Peters, Susan; Glass, Deborah C; Reid, Alison; Benke, Geza; Fritschi, Lin

    2014-01-01

    Although past studies of workplace exposures have contributed greatly to our understanding of carcinogens, significant knowledge gaps still exist with regard to the actual extent of exposure among current workers, with no routinely collected population-based data being available in most countries. This study, the Australian Work Exposures Study (AWES), aimed to investigate the current prevalence of occupational exposure to carcinogens. A random sample of men and women aged between 18 and 65, who were currently in paid employment, were invited to participate in a telephone interview collecting information about their current job and various demographic factors. Interviews were conducted using a web-based application (OccIDEAS). OccIDEAS uses the expert exposure method in which participants are asked about their job tasks and predefined algorithms are used to automatically assign exposures. Responses were obtained from 5023 eligible Australian residents, resulting in an overall response rate of 53%. 1879 respondents (37.6%) were assessed as being exposed to at least one occupational carcinogen in their current job. Extrapolation of these figures to the Australian working population suggested 3.6 million (40.3%) current workers could be exposed to carcinogens in their workplace. Exposure prevalence was highest among farmers, drivers, miners and transport workers, as well as men and those residing in regional areas. This study demonstrates a practical, web-based approach to collecting population information on occupational exposure to carcinogens and documents the high prevalence of current exposure to occupational carcinogens in the general population.

  5. Dynamic online peer evaluations to improve group assignments in nursing e-learning environment.

    PubMed

    Adwan, Jehad

    2016-06-01

    The purpose of this research was to evaluate the use of online peer evaluation forms for online group activities in improving group project outcomes. The investigator developed and used a web-based Google Forms® self and peer evaluation form of 2 group assignments' rubric for junior and senior nursing students. The form covered elements of the assignments including: research activity, analysis of the literature, writing of report, participation in making of presentation, overall contribution to the project, and participation in the weekly group discussions. Items were rated from 1 (did not contribute) to 5 (outstanding contribution) in addition to NA when one activity did not apply. The self and peer evaluation process was conducted twice: once after group assignment 1 and once after group assignment 2. The group assignments final products were done in the form of VoiceThread online presentations that were shared with the rest of the class reflecting the groups' work on a health informatics topic of interest. Data collected as the students completed self and peer evaluations for group assignments 1 and 2. Also, optional comments regarding member performance were collected to add contextual information in addition to ratings. Students received credit for completing the peer evaluations and the grade for the particular assignment was affected by their performance based on peer evaluations of their contributions. Students' peer evaluations showed in a color-coded spreadsheet which enabled the course faculty to view real time results of students' ratings after each assignment. The faculty provided timely and tailored feedback to groups or individuals as needed, using positive feedback and commending high performance while urging struggling individual students and groups to improve lower ratings in specific areas. Comparing evaluations of both assignments, there were statistically significant improvements among all students. The mean scores of the entire sample were

  6. Listing Occupational Carcinogens

    PubMed Central

    Siemiatycki, Jack; Richardson, Lesley; Straif, Kurt; Latreille, Benoit; Lakhani, Ramzan; Campbell, Sally; Rousseau, Marie-Claude; Boffetta, Paolo

    2004-01-01

    The occupational environment has been a most fruitful one for investigating the etiology of human cancer. Many recognized human carcinogens are occupational carcinogens. There is a large volume of epidemiologic and experimental data concerning cancer risks in different work environments. It is important to synthesize this information for both scientific and public health purposes. Various organizations and individuals have published lists of occupational carcinogens. However, such lists have been limited by unclear criteria for which recognized carcinogens should be considered occupational carcinogens, and by inconsistent and incomplete information on the occupations and industries in which the carcinogenic substances may be found and on their target sites of cancer. Based largely on the evaluations published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and augmented with additional information, the present article represents an attempt to summarize, in tabular form, current knowledge on occupational carcinogens, the occupations and industries in which they are found, and their target organs. We have considered 28 agents as definite occupational carcinogens, 27 agents as probable occupational carcinogens, and 113 agents as possible occupational carcinogens. These tables should be useful for regulatory or preventive purposes and for scientific purposes in research priority setting and in understanding carcinogenesis. PMID:15531427

  7. Comparison of procedure coding systems for level 1 and 2 hospitals in South Africa.

    PubMed

    Montewa, Lebogang; Hanmer, Lyn; Reagon, Gavin

    2013-01-01

    The ability of three procedure coding systems to reflect the procedure concepts extracted from patient records from six hospitals was compared, in order to inform decision making about a procedure coding standard for South Africa. A convenience sample of 126 procedure concepts was extracted from patient records at three level 1 hospitals and three level 2 hospitals. Each procedure concept was coded using ICPC-2, ICD-9-CM, and CCSA-2001. The extent to which each code assigned actually reflected the procedure concept was evaluated (between 'no match' and 'complete match'). For the study sample, CCSA-2001 was found to reflect the procedure concepts most completely, followed by ICD-9-CM and then ICPC-2. In practice, decision making about procedure coding standards would depend on multiple factors in addition to coding accuracy.

  8. 47 CFR 74.1202 - Frequency assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... FM Broadcast Booster Stations § 74.1202 Frequency assignment. (a) An applicant for a new FM broadcast... broadcast booster station will be assigned the channel assigned to its primary station. [35 FR 15388, Oct. 2...

  9. 47 CFR 74.1202 - Frequency assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... FM Broadcast Booster Stations § 74.1202 Frequency assignment. (a) An applicant for a new FM broadcast... broadcast booster station will be assigned the channel assigned to its primary station. [35 FR 15388, Oct. 2...

  10. 47 CFR 74.1202 - Frequency assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... FM Broadcast Booster Stations § 74.1202 Frequency assignment. (a) An applicant for a new FM broadcast... broadcast booster station will be assigned the channel assigned to its primary station. [35 FR 15388, Oct. 2...

  11. 47 CFR 74.1202 - Frequency assignment.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... FM Broadcast Booster Stations § 74.1202 Frequency assignment. (a) An applicant for a new FM broadcast... broadcast booster station will be assigned the channel assigned to its primary station. [35 FR 15388, Oct. 2...

  12. Effects of occupational therapy on quality of life of patients with metastatic prostate cancer. A randomized controlled study.

    PubMed

    Huri, Meral; Huri, Emre; Kayihan, Hulya; Altuntas, Onur

    2015-08-01

    To evaluate the efficiency of occupational therapy relative to a home program in improving quality of life (QoL) among men who were treated for metastatic prostate cancer (MPC). Fifty-five men were assigned randomly to either the 12-week cognitive behavioral therapy based occupational therapy (OT-CBSM) intervention (treatment group) or a home program (control group) between March 2012 and August 2014 in the Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) was used to measure the occupational performance and identify difficulties in daily living activities. The QoL and symptom status were measured by The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 and its Prostate Cancer Module. A 12-week OT-CBSM intervention including client-centered training of daily living activities, recreational group activities, and cognitive behavioral stress management intervention were applied. The COPM performance and satisfaction scores, which indicate occupational participation and QoL increased statistically in the treatment group in relation to men who were included in the home-program (p less than or equal to 0.05). A 12-week OT-CBSM intervention was effective in improving QoL in men treated for MPC, and these changes were associated significantly with occupational performance.

  13. 47 CFR 3.22 - Number of accounting authority identification codes per applicant.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... AUTHORIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF ACCOUNTING AUTHORITIES IN MARITIME AND MARITIME MOBILE-SATELLITE RADIO SERVICES Application Procedures § 3.22 Number of accounting authority identification codes per applicant... assign U.S. AAICs for entities settling accounts of U.S. licensed vessels in the maritime mobile and...

  14. 41 CFR 102-85.205 - What happens if a customer agency continues occupancy after the expiration of an OA?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... assignments. However, provisions are necessary to cover the GSA and customer relationship if an OA expires... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What happens if a customer agency continues occupancy after the expiration of an OA? 102-85.205 Section 102-85.205 Public...

  15. 41 CFR 102-85.205 - What happens if a customer agency continues occupancy after the expiration of an OA?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... assignments. However, provisions are necessary to cover the GSA and customer relationship if an OA expires... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false What happens if a customer agency continues occupancy after the expiration of an OA? 102-85.205 Section 102-85.205 Public...

  16. Feasibility and Utility of Lexical Analysis for Occupational Health Text.

    PubMed

    Harber, Philip; Leroy, Gondy

    2017-06-01

    Assess feasibility and potential utility of natural language processing (NLP) for storing and analyzing occupational health data. Basic NLP lexical analysis methods were applied to 89,000 Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) free text records. Steps included tokenization, term and co-occurrence counts, term annotation, and identifying exposure-health effect relationships. Presence of terms in the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) was assessed. The methods efficiently demonstrated common exposures, health effects, and exposure-injury relationships. Many workplace terms are not present in UMLS or map inaccurately. Use of free text rather than narrowly defined numerically coded fields is feasible, flexible, and efficient. It has potential to encourage workers and clinicians to provide more data and to support automated knowledge creation. The lexical method used is easily generalizable to other areas. The UMLS vocabularies should be enhanced to be relevant to occupational health.

  17. Role of maternal occupational physical activity and psychosocial stressors on adverse birth outcomes.

    PubMed

    Lee, Laura J; Symanski, Elaine; Lupo, Philip J; Tinker, Sarah C; Razzaghi, Hilda; Chan, Wenyaw; Hoyt, Adrienne T; Canfield, Mark A

    2017-03-01

    We examined the association of an array of estimated maternal occupational physical activities and psychosocial stressors during pregnancy with odds for preterm birth (PTB) and small-for-gestational age (SGA). Data for infants born without major birth defects delivered from 1997 to 2009 whose mothers reported working at least 1 month during pregnancy were obtained from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. We linked occupational codes to the US Department of Labor's Occupational Information Network, which provides estimates of exposure for multiple domains of physical activity and psychosocial stressors by occupational categories. We conducted factor analysis using principal components extraction with 17 occupational activities and calculated factor scores. ORs for PTB and SGA across quartiles of factor scores in each trimester were computed using logistic regression. Factor analysis grouped occupational domains into 4 groups based on factor loadings. These groups were 'occupational physical activity', 'interpersonal stressor', 'automated work' and 'job responsibility'. High levels of 'occupational physical activity' were significantly associated with SGA (adjusted OR (AOR) for highest quartile compared with lowest quartile of factor score: 1.36; 95% CIs 1.02 to 1.82; p for trend=0.001) and were also positively associated with PTB (AOR: 1.24; 95% CI 0.93 to 1.64; p for trend=0.01). No clear results were observed across domains of psychosocial stressors. Our findings expand understanding of associations between occupational physical activity and psychosocial stressors and PTB and SGA and suggest that additional research is needed to further examine these relationships. 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/.

  18. Clarifying the Construct of Occupational Engagement for Occupational Therapy Practice.

    PubMed

    Kennedy, Jennifer; Davis, Jane A

    2017-04-01

    Occupational engagement (OE) has been presented as a core construct in occupational therapy; however, its broad conceptualization and confounding definitions are problematic. Clarifying the construct of OE would help occupational therapists to explicate the nature of their practice. The purpose of this study was to explore occupational therapists' perspectives of the construct of OE. Qualitative descriptive methodology was used to collect data using semistructured interviews with nine practicing occupational therapists in the Greater Toronto Area. Qualitative content analysis, using an inductive approach, was employed to uncover emerging categories. Participants spoke about transitioning from therapeutic engagement to OE with a client by following a client's path of choice. The essential elements and influencers of OE were highlighted, and the relationship between OE and occupational performance was discussed. The findings provide an initial understanding of essential elements necessary to enable clients to initiate engagement in therapy and then, subsequently, in occupations of their choice.

  19. Public Utilities Occupations. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

    Focusing on public utilities occupations, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providing current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include occupations in the electric power…

  20. Occupational exposure to endotoxins and lung cancer risk: results of the ICARE Study

    PubMed Central

    Ben Khedher, Soumaya; Neri, Monica; Guida, Florence; Matrat, Mireille; Cenée, Sylvie; Sanchez, Marie; Menvielle, Gwenn; Molinié, Florence; Luce, Danièle; Stücker, Isabelle

    2017-01-01

    Objectives To investigate the role of occupational exposure to endotoxins in lung cancer in a French population-based case–control study (ICARE (Investigation of occupational and environmental causes of respiratory cancers)). Methods Detailed information was collected on the occupational history and smoking habits from 2926 patients with histologically confirmed lung cancer and 3555 matched controls. We evaluated each subject’s endotoxin exposure after cross referencing International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) codes (for job tasks) and Nomenclature d'Activités Françaises (NAF) codes (for activity sectors). Endotoxin exposure levels were attributed to each work environment based on literature reports. ORs and 95% CIs were estimated using unconditional logistic regression models and controlled for main confounding factors. Results An inverse association between exposure to endotoxins and lung cancer was found (OR=0.80, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.95). Negative trends were shown with duration and cumulative exposure, and the risk was decreased decades after exposure cessation (all statistically significant). Lung cancer risk was particularly reduced among workers highly exposed (eg, in dairy, cattle, poultry, pig farms), but also in those weakly exposed (eg, in waste treatment). Statistically significant interactions were shown with smoking, and never/light smokers were more sensitive to an endotoxin effect than heavy smokers (eg, OR=0.14, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.32 and OR=0.80, 95% CI 0.45 to 1.40, respectively, for the quartiles with the highest cumulative exposure, compared with those never exposed). Pronounced inverse associations were shown with adenocarcinoma histological subtype (OR=0.37, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.55 in the highly exposed). Conclusions Our findings suggest that exposure to endotoxins, even at a low level, reduces the risk of lung cancer. PMID:28490662

  1. Business Occupations. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

    Focusing on business occupations, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providing current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include accountants, advertising workers, collections…

  2. Occupation-based intervention in hand injury rehabilitation: Experiences of occupational therapists in Malaysia.

    PubMed

    Che Daud, Ahmad Zamir; Yau, Matthew K; Barnett, Fiona; Judd, Jenni

    2016-01-01

    In a previous study consensus was sought from Malaysian occupational therapists of occupation-based intervention (OBI) that was perceived as a means and an end. Occupation as a means refers to occupational and purposeful tasks as a therapeutic agent while occupation as an end refers to occupation as an outcome of intervention. The purpose of this follow-up study was to describe the occupational therapists' experiences of providing OBI in hand injury rehabilitation in Malaysia. Sixteen occupational therapists with more than five years of experience in hand rehabilitation were individually interviewed on their experiences of using OBI in practice. Data were thematically analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Definition of "Occupation as a means", and "Occupation as an end" was broadened after data analysis of interviews to include two new themes: "Rewarding yet challenging" and "Making OBI a reality". Occupational therapists had positive experiences with OBI and perceived that occupation as a means and an end can be merged into a single therapy session when the occupational therapists use an occupation that is therapeutic. Although occupation as a means and as an end have different purposes, when the ultimate goal is to enhance the clients' maximum level of functioning both can be used for successful rehabilitation of hand injuries.

  3. Optimal processor assignment for pipeline computations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nicol, David M.; Simha, Rahul; Choudhury, Alok N.; Narahari, Bhagirath

    1991-01-01

    The availability of large scale multitasked parallel architectures introduces the following processor assignment problem for pipelined computations. Given a set of tasks and their precedence constraints, along with their experimentally determined individual responses times for different processor sizes, find an assignment of processor to tasks. Two objectives are of interest: minimal response given a throughput requirement, and maximal throughput given a response time requirement. These assignment problems differ considerably from the classical mapping problem in which several tasks share a processor; instead, it is assumed that a large number of processors are to be assigned to a relatively small number of tasks. Efficient assignment algorithms were developed for different classes of task structures. For a p processor system and a series parallel precedence graph with n constituent tasks, an O(np2) algorithm is provided that finds the optimal assignment for the response time optimization problem; it was found that the assignment optimizing the constrained throughput in O(np2log p) time. Special cases of linear, independent, and tree graphs are also considered.

  4. Optimizing Marine Security Guard Assignments

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-06-01

    Bangkok, Thailand East Asia and Pacific 18 4 Fort Lauderdale, Florida Western Hemisphere - South 13 5 Frankfurt, Germany Western Europe and Scandinavia 15...Marine-billet assignment using similar fit criteria, such as rank and gender . 3. Minimize the amount of movement when filling the billets. That is, their...more than once. Gender Female MSGs will not be assigned to embassies that are not configured for females. DC Only DC-qualified MSGs are assigned to DC

  5. Real-time transmission of digital video using variable-length coding

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bizon, Thomas P.; Shalkhauser, Mary JO; Whyte, Wayne A., Jr.

    1993-01-01

    Huffman coding is a variable-length lossless compression technique where data with a high probability of occurrence is represented with short codewords, while 'not-so-likely' data is assigned longer codewords. Compression is achieved when the high-probability levels occur so frequently that their benefit outweighs any penalty paid when a less likely input occurs. One instance where Huffman coding is extremely effective occurs when data is highly predictable and differential coding can be applied (as with a digital video signal). For that reason, it is desirable to apply this compression technique to digital video transmission; however, special care must be taken in order to implement a communication protocol utilizing Huffman coding. This paper addresses several of the issues relating to the real-time transmission of Huffman-coded digital video over a constant-rate serial channel. Topics discussed include data rate conversion (from variable to a fixed rate), efficient data buffering, channel coding, recovery from communication errors, decoder synchronization, and decoder architectures. A description of the hardware developed to execute Huffman coding and serial transmission is also included. Although this paper focuses on matters relating to Huffman-coded digital video, the techniques discussed can easily be generalized for a variety of applications which require transmission of variable-length data.

  6. Cause-specific mortality by occupational skill level in Canada: a 16-year follow-up study.

    PubMed

    Tjepkema, M; Wilkins, R; Long, A

    2013-09-01

    Mortality data by occupation are not routinely available in Canada, so we analyzed census-linked data to examine cause-specific mortality rates across groups of occupations ranked by skill level. A 15% sample of 1991 Canadian Census respondents aged 25 years or older was previously linked to 16 years of mortality data (1991-2006). The current analysis is based on 2.3 million people aged 25 to 64 years at cohort inception, among whom there were 164 332 deaths during the follow-up period. Occupations coded according to the National Occupation Classification were grouped into five skill levels. Age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs), rate ratios (RRs), rate differences (RDs) and excess mortality were calculated by occupational skill level for various causes of death. ASMRs were clearly graded by skill level: they were highest among those employed in unskilled jobs (and those without an occupation) and lowest for those in professional occupations. All-cause RRs for men were 1.16, 1.40, 1.63 and 1.83 with decreasing occupational skill level compared with professionals. For women the gradient was less steep: 1.23, 1.24, 1.32 and 1.53. This gradient was present for most causes of death. Rate ratios comparing lowest to highest skill levels were greater than 2 for HIV/AIDS, diabetes mellitus, suicide and cancer of the cervix as well as for causes of death associated with tobacco use and excessive alcohol consumption. Mortality gradients by occupational skill level were evident for most causes of death. These results provide detailed cause-specific baseline indicators not previously available for Canada.

  7. 48 CFR 52.204-18 - Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... assigned to entities located in the United States or its outlying areas by the Defense Logistics Agency... NATO Support Agency (NSPA) to entities located outside the United States and its outlying areas that... code on the contract. (c) Contractors located in the United States or its outlying areas that are not...

  8. Occupant Protection Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bopp, Genie; Somers, Jeff; Granderson, Brad; Gernhardt, Mike; Currie, Nancy; Lawrence, Chuck

    2010-01-01

    Topics include occupant protection overview with a focus on crew protection during dynamic phases of flight; occupant protection collaboration; modeling occupant protection; occupant protection considerations; project approach encompassing analysis tools, injury criteria, and testing program development; injury criteria update methodology, unique effects of pressure suits and other factors; and a summary.

  9. Occupational Therapy Assistant.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Center on Education and Training for Employment.

    This document, which is designed for use in developing a tech prep competency profile for the occupation of occupational therapy assistant, lists technical competencies and competency builders for 16 units pertinent to the health technologies cluster in general as well as those specific to the occupation of occupational therapy assistant. The…

  10. Improving the occupational skills of students with intellectual disability by applying video prompting combined with dance pads.

    PubMed

    Lin, Mei-Lan; Chiang, Ming-Shan; Shih, Ching-Hsiang; Li, Meng-Fang

    2018-01-01

    Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) are prone to inattention, are slow in learning and reaction, and have deficits in memory skills. Providing proper vocational education and training for individuals with intellectual disability is able to enhance their occupational skills. This study applied video prompting to provide instructional prompts to help participants accurately perform an assigned occupational activity. A control system installed with developed software was used to turn a standard dance pad into a sensor to detect the participants' standing position and to automatically trigger video prompting. The results show that the participants' correct performance of the target behaviour improved significantly after their exposure to the video prompting intervention, and this positive outcome remained consistent during the maintenance phase. Video prompting combined with dance pads was a feasible approach to improving the occupational skills of the three students with intellectual disability. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Service Occupations. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

    Focusing on service occupations, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providng current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include building custodians, pest controllers, private…

  12. Sales Occupations. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

    Focusing on sales occupations, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providing current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include automobile sales workers, buyers, insurance…

  13. Driving Occupations. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

    Focusing on driving occupations, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providing current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include intercity busdrivers, local transit busdrivers,…

  14. Using bark char codes to predict post-fire cambium mortality

    Treesearch

    Sharon M. Hood; Danny R. Cluck; Sheri L. Smith; Kevin C. Ryan

    2008-01-01

    Cambium injury is an important factor in post-fire tree survival. Measurements that quantify the degree of bark charring on tree stems after fire are often used as surrogates for direct cambium injury because they are relatively easy to assign and are non-destructive. However, bark char codes based on these measurements have been inadequately tested to determine how...

  15. Efficacy of nursing interventions in reducing social and occupational disabilities among patients with neurosis.

    PubMed

    Nagarajaiah; Jothimani, G; Parthasarathi, R; Reddemma, K; Giri, A T S

    2012-01-01

    Individuals suffering from neurosis suffer from social and occupational disabilities similar to that of psychoses. Though understanding of disabilities in neurosis is essential in management of the clients, the relevant interventional studies are very limited. The present study attempted to evaluate the effect of nursing interventions in reducing social and occupational disabilities in neurotic patients. Sixty neurotic patients diagnosed as per ICD 9 criteria were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups followed by pre-assessment by Groningen social disability schedule. Of the 10 sessions of nursing intervention, 3 were individual sessions with clients, 5 with clients and family members and 2 with small group of clients with similar problems; nursing intervention group and non-nursing intervention group received the routine drug treatment at rural community mental health centre, NIMHANS, Bengaluru. The post-assessment was carried out first, second, and the third month followed by the nursing intervention. The findings revealed statistically significant reduction in social and occupational disabilities. A community-based psychosocial intervention led by community health nurses catering to the needs of neurotic patients is indicated by the results.

  16. Curriculum Materials for "Trade and Industrial Occupations." Annotated Listing of Materials Available from Public Education Agencies.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Adult, Vocational, and Technical Education (DHEW/OE), Washington, DC.

    This annotated listing of curriculum materials for Trade and Industrial Occupations provides planners, administrators, vocational educators, and others with information as to available curriculum materials developed by the various States. The materials are identified with the instructional titles and codes from the classification system of the…

  17. Reported experiences from occupational therapists interacting with teachers in inclusive early childhood classrooms.

    PubMed

    Bose, Pia; Hinojosa, Jim

    2008-01-01

    This grounded theory study described the perspectives of school-based occupational therapists working in inclusive early childhood classrooms emphasizing interactions with teaching staff. Six therapists were interviewed multiple times over several months. The participants viewed their interactions with teaching staff as challenging but potentially rewarding experiences. Viewing collaboration as valuable, their descriptions nonetheless generally omitted many collaborative features, with therapists often assigned the role of "expert." Data analysis revealed four major themes: (1) "It's Not Like I Don't Value Collaboration" (the benefits of collaboration); (2) "Collaboration--I Can't Do It Alone" (the challenges of interactions); (3) "My Opinion, Please Ask for It" (attachment to the expert status), and (4) "Is This Collaboration?" (interactions in practice). The results of this study suggest that current recommendations for collaboration for inclusion in school-based occupational therapy are not optimally implemented in all practice settings.

  18. Occupational medicine specialist referral triggers: Mixed-methods analysis of teleconsult cases.

    PubMed

    Eaton, J L; Mohammad, A; Mohr, D C; Brustein, D J; Kirkhorn, S R

    2017-12-30

    Qualitative analyses can yield critical lessons for learning organizations in healthcare. Few studies have applied these techniques in the field of occupational and environmental medicine (OEM). To describe the characteristics of complex cases referred for OEM subspecialty evaluation and variation by referring provider's training. Using a mixed methods approach, we conducted a content analysis of clinical cases submitted to a national OEM teleconsult service. Consecutive cases entered between April 2014 and July 2015 were screened, coded and analysed. 108 cases were available for analysis. Local Veterans Health Administration (VHA) non-specialist providers entered a primary medical diagnosis in 96% of cases at the time of intake. OEM speciality physicians coded significant medical conditions based on free text comments. Coder inter-rater reliability was 84%. The most frequent medical diagnosis types associated with tertiary OEM referral by non-specialists were endocrine (19%), cardiovascular (18%) and mental health (16%). Concern for usage of controlled and/or sedating medications was cited in 1% of cases. Compared to referring non-specialists, OEM physicians were more likely to attribute case complexity to musculoskeletal (OR: 2.3, 1.68-3.14) or neurological (OR: 1.69, 1.28-2.24) conditions. Medication usage (OR: 2.2, 1.49-2.26) was more likely to be a source of clinical concern among referring providers. The findings highlight the range of triggers for OEM physician subspecialty referral in clinical practice with employee patients. The results of this study can be used to inform development of provider education, standardized clinical practice pathways, and quality review activities for occupational medicine practitioners. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society of Occupational Medicine 2017.

  19. Occupational rhinitis.

    PubMed

    Petrick, Maria M; Slavin, Raymond G

    2003-05-01

    This article aims to define occupational rhinitis, classify its various causes, review the steps in its diagnosis, and describe its nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic principles of management. Occupational rhinitis frequently coexists with asthma but also occurs alone. Although it does not have the same impact as occupational asthma, occupational rhinitis causes distress, discomfort, and work inefficiency. By concentrating on the patient's workplace, the clinician has an opportunity to practice preventive medicine: to recognize substances in the patient's micro- and macroenvironment that are causing the problems and then to intervene by altering the environment or removing the patient from the environment.

  20. An Exploration of the Role of Occupation in School-Based Occupational Therapy Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Benson, Jeryl DiSanti

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore the role of occupation in school-based occupational therapy practice. The research questions were (1) How do school-based occupational therapists describe the role of occupation during intervention? (2) Which theories of occupation do school-based occupational therapists associate with their own practice?…

  1. External cause-specific summaries of occupational fatal injuries. Part II: an analysis of years of potential life lost.

    PubMed

    Bailer, A John; Bena, James F; Stayner, Leslie T; Halperin, William E; Park, Robert M

    2003-03-01

    Fatal injury surveillance data provide an opportunity to assess the impact of occupational injuries and may indicate which industries or occupations are appreciably more hazardous than others, and thus should be given priority in public health intervention. Fatalities from the National Traumatic Occupational Fatality surveillance system served as the basis for examining external cause (E-code) specific impact summaries. Years of potential life lost (YPLL) were calculated for fatal injuries in the years 1983-1994. Industries and occupations were compared with respect to frequency of fatal injuries. In addition, injuries in categories of external causes are examined across all industries and occupations. Machinery, electric current, homicide, falls, and transportation-related are the external cause groups highlighted by high frequency/rate of occurrence. Electric current event groups are also characterized by high average YPLL. Poisoning, conflagration, and lightning were also identified in several occupations as having high associated average YPLL. The external-cause-specific analysis of average YPLL identified industries and occupations where, on average, younger workers were dying in fatal injuries. Noteworthy in this assessment were homicides and falls. The YPLL measure coupled with more commonly employed indices (e.g., rates) may provide a fuller description of the impact of occupational fatal injuries.

  2. Occupational infections.

    PubMed

    Lim, V K E

    2009-06-01

    Many infections are associated with occupations. Involvement in a particular occupation may place the person at higher direct risk of contracting certain infections. In some instances the life-style associated with the occupation results in a higher risk of exposure to the infection. The link between the infection and the workplace is often missed by the attending physician. This may be due to a lack of awareness on the part of the physician. Sometimes a direct link can be difficult to prove without the use of sophisticated molecular epidemiological tests. This has led to gross under-diagnosis and under-reporting of such cases. It is however important that occupational infections be diagnosed as adequate preventive measures need to be implemented. Furthermore the patient may be eligible for monetary compensation under the relevant occupational safety laws of the country.

  3. Effectiveness of occupational therapy in Parkinson's disease: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Sturkenboom, Ingrid H W M; Graff, Maud J; Borm, George F; Adang, Eddy M M; Nijhuis-van der Sanden, Maria W G; Bloem, Bastiaan R; Munneke, Marten

    2013-02-02

    Occupational therapists may have an added value in the care of patients with Parkinson's disease whose daily functioning is compromised, as well as for their immediate caregivers. Evidence for this added value is inconclusive due to a lack of rigorous studies. The aim of this trial is to evaluate the (cost) effectiveness of occupational therapy in improving daily functioning of patients with Parkinson's disease. A multicenter, assessor-blinded, two-armed randomized controlled clinical trial will be conducted, with evaluations at three and six months. One hundred ninety-two home-dwelling patients with Parkinson's disease and with an occupational therapy indication will be assigned to the experimental group or to the control group (2:1). Patients and their caregivers in the experimental group will receive ten weeks of home-based occupational therapy according to recent Dutch guidelines. The intervention will be delivered by occupational therapists who have been specifically trained to treat patients according to these guidelines. Participants in the control group will not receive occupational therapy during the study period. The primary outcome for the patient is self-perceived daily functioning at three months, assessed with the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure. Secondary patient-related outcomes include: objective performance of daily activities, self-perceived satisfaction with performance in daily activities, participation, impact of fatigue, proactive coping skills, health-related quality of life, overall quality of life, health-related costs, and effectiveness at six months. All outcomes at the caregiver level will be secondary and will include self-perceived burden of care, objective burden of care, proactive coping skills, overall quality of life, and care-related costs. Effectiveness will be evaluated using a covariance analysis of the difference in outcome at three months. An economic evaluation from a societal perspective will be conducted, as

  4. Towards Automated Structure-Based NMR Resonance Assignment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jang, Richard; Gao, Xin; Li, Ming

    We propose a general framework for solving the structure-based NMR backbone resonance assignment problem. The core is a novel 0-1 integer programming model that can start from a complete or partial assignment, generate multiple assignments, and model not only the assignment of spins to residues, but also pairwise dependencies consisting of pairs of spins to pairs of residues. It is still a challenge for automated resonance assignment systems to perform the assignment directly from spectra without any manual intervention. To test the feasibility of this for structure-based assignment, we integrated our system with our automated peak picking and sequence-based resonance assignment system to obtain an assignment for the protein TM1112 with 91% recall and 99% precision without manual intervention. Since using a known structure has the potential to allow one to use only N-labeled NMR data and avoid the added expense of using C-labeled data, we work towards the goal of automated structure-based assignment using only such labeled data. Our system reduced the assignment error of Xiong-Pandurangan-Bailey-Kellogg's contact replacement (CR) method, which to our knowledge is the most error-tolerant method for this problem, by 5 folds on average. By using an iterative algorithm, our system has the added capability of using the NOESY data to correct assignment errors due to errors in predicting the amino acid and secondary structure type of each spin system. On a publicly available data set for Ubiquitin, where the type prediction accuracy is 83%, we achieved 91% assignment accuracy, compared to the 59% accuracy that was obtained without correcting for typing errors.

  5. Quality of head injury coding from autopsy reports with AIS © 2005 update 2008.

    PubMed

    Schick, Sylvia; Humrich, Anton; Graw, Matthias

    2018-02-28

    ABSTACT Objective: Coding injuries from autopsy reports of traffic accident victims according to Abbreviated Injury Scale AIS © 2005 update 2008 [1] is quite time consuming. The suspicion arose, that many issues leading to discussion between coder and control reader were based on information required by the AIS that was not documented in the autopsy reports. To quantify this suspicion, we introduced an AIS-detail-indicator (AIS-DI). To each injury in the AIS Codebook one letter from A to N was assigned indicating the level of detail. Rules were formulated to receive repeatable assignments. This scheme was applied to a selection of 149 multiply injured traffic fatalities. The frequencies of "not A" codes were calculated for each body region and it was analysed, why the most detailed level A had not been coded. As a first finding, the results of the head region are presented. 747 AIS head injury codes were found in 137 traffic fatalities, and 60% of these injuries were coded with an AIS-DI of level A. There are three different explanations for codes of AIS-DI "not A": Group 1 "Missing information in autopsy report" (5%), Group 2 "Clinical data required by AIS" (20%), and Group 3 "AIS system determined" (15%). Groups 1 and 2 show consequences for the ISS in 25 cases. Other body regions might perform differently. The AIS-DI can indicate the quality of the underlying data basis and, depending on the aims of different AIS users it can be a helpful tool for quality checks.

  6. Towards inclusive occupational therapy: Introducing the CORE approach for inclusive and occupation-focused practice.

    PubMed

    Pereira, Robert B

    2017-12-01

    Occupation is a human right and a social determinant of health. It is also taken for granted. Having access to, and participating in, occupation, is intricately linked to positive health and wellbeing. Despite theory and evidence to support the link between occupation, health and wellbeing, occupational therapists can struggle with applying an occupation focus in practice and knowing how to use occupational frameworks to enable occupation. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the Capabilities, Opportunities, Resources and Environments (CORE) approach for inclusive and occupation-focused practice. It provides occupational therapists with a means of operationalising occupational enablement and facilitating social inclusion. The CORE approach is introduced by linking its main ideas to Economist and Nobel Prize Laureate Amartya Sen's capabilities approach, as well as findings from the author's doctoral research into entrenched disadvantage and social inclusion. Practical questions guided by the CORE approach's acronym are given to explore how the approach can be utilised alongside other occupational models and frameworks to encourage strategies for effective enablement through occupation for social inclusion. As experts in enabling occupation, occupational therapists can use the CORE approach to design occupation-focused interventions and promote inclusive occupational therapy. © 2017 Occupational Therapy Australia.

  7. Potential Health Effects Associated with Dermal Exposure to Occupational Chemicals

    PubMed Central

    Anderson, Stacey E; Meade, B Jean

    2014-01-01

    There are a large number of workers in the United States, spanning a variety of occupational industries and sectors, who are potentially exposed to chemicals that can be absorbed through the skin. Occupational skin exposures can result in numerous diseases that can adversely affect an individual’s health and capacity to perform at work. In general, there are three types of chemical–skin interactions of concern: direct skin effects, immune-mediated skin effects, and systemic effects. While hundreds of chemicals (metals, epoxy and acrylic resins, rubber additives, and chemical intermediates) present in virtually every industry have been identified to cause direct and immune-mediated effects such as contact dermatitis or urticaria, less is known about the number and types of chemicals contributing to systemic effects. In an attempt to raise awareness, skin notation assignments communicate the potential for dermal absorption; however, there is a need for standardization among agencies to communicate an accurate description of occupational hazards. Studies have suggested that exposure to complex mixtures, excessive hand washing, use of hand sanitizers, high frequency of wet work, and environmental or other factors may enhance penetration and stimulate other biological responses altering the outcomes of dermal chemical exposure. Understanding the hazards of dermal exposure is essential for the proper implementation of protective measures to ensure worker safety and health. PMID:25574139

  8. Potential health effects associated with dermal exposure to occupational chemicals.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Stacey E; Meade, B Jean

    2014-01-01

    There are a large number of workers in the United States, spanning a variety of occupational industries and sectors, who are potentially exposed to chemicals that can be absorbed through the skin. Occupational skin exposures can result in numerous diseases that can adversely affect an individual's health and capacity to perform at work. In general, there are three types of chemical-skin interactions of concern: direct skin effects, immune-mediated skin effects, and systemic effects. While hundreds of chemicals (metals, epoxy and acrylic resins, rubber additives, and chemical intermediates) present in virtually every industry have been identified to cause direct and immune-mediated effects such as contact dermatitis or urticaria, less is known about the number and types of chemicals contributing to systemic effects. In an attempt to raise awareness, skin notation assignments communicate the potential for dermal absorption; however, there is a need for standardization among agencies to communicate an accurate description of occupational hazards. Studies have suggested that exposure to complex mixtures, excessive hand washing, use of hand sanitizers, high frequency of wet work, and environmental or other factors may enhance penetration and stimulate other biological responses altering the outcomes of dermal chemical exposure. Understanding the hazards of dermal exposure is essential for the proper implementation of protective measures to ensure worker safety and health.

  9. Adaptable Assignment

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1997-01-01

    This paper reports on a practical, simple method for adjusting a vehicle trip table so that the resulting assignments more closely match available traffic counts. "Practical" means that this is not purely a research effort - the procedure described h...

  10. TOUGH+ v1.5 Core Code

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

    Moridis, George J.

    TOUGH+ v1.5 is a numerical code for the simulation of multi-phase, multi-component flow and transport of mass and heat through porous and fractured media, and represents the third update of the code since its first release [Moridis et al., 2008]. TOUGH+ is a successor to the TOUGH2 [Pruess et al., 1991; 2012] family of codes for multi-component, multiphase fluid and heat flow developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It is written in standard FORTRAN 95/2003, and can be run on any computational platform (workstations, PC, Macintosh). TOUGH+ v1.5 employs dynamic memory allocation, thus minimizing storage requirements. It has amore » completely modular structure, follows the tenets of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), and involves the advanced features of FORTRAN 95/2003, i.e., modules, derived data types, the use of pointers, lists and trees, data encapsulation, defined operators and assignments, operator extension and overloading, use of generic procedures, and maximum use of the powerful intrinsic vector and matrix processing operations. TOUGH+ v1.5 is the core code for its family of applications, i.e., the part of the code that is common to all its applications. It provides a description of the underlying physics and thermodynamics of non-isothermal flow, of the mathematical and numerical approaches, as well as a detailed explanation of the general (common to all applications) input requirements, options, capabilities and output specifications. The core code cannot run by itself: it needs to be coupled with the code for the specific TOUGH+ application option that describes a particular type of problem. The additional input requirements specific to a particular TOUGH+ application options and related illustrative examples can be found in the corresponding User's Manual.« less

  11. On the possible origin and evolution of the genetic code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jukes, T. H.

    1974-01-01

    The genetic code is examined for indications of possible preceding codes that existed during early evolution. Eight of the 20 amino acids are coded by 'quartets' of codons with fourfold degeneracy, and 16 such quartets can exist, so that an earlier code could have provided for 15 or 16 amino acids, rather than 20. If twofold degeneracy is postulated for the first position of the codon, there could have been ten amino acids in the code. It is speculated that these may have been phenylalanine, valine, proline, alanine, histidine, glutamine, glutanic acid, aspartic acid, cysteine and glycine. There is a notable deficiency of arginine in proteins, despite the fact that it has six codons. Simultaneously, there is more lysine in proteins than would be expected from its two codons, if the four bases in mRNA are equiprobable and are arranged randomly. It is speculated that arginine is an 'intruder' into the genetic code, and that it may have displayed another amino acid such as ornithine, or may even have displayed lysine from some of its previous codon assignments. As a result, natural selection has favored lysine against the fact that it has only two codons.

  12. LSENS, The NASA Lewis Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Radhakrishnan, K.

    2000-01-01

    A general chemical kinetics and sensitivity analysis code for complex, homogeneous, gas-phase reactions is described. The main features of the code, LSENS (the NASA Lewis kinetics and sensitivity analysis code), are its flexibility, efficiency and convenience in treating many different chemical reaction models. The models include: static system; steady, one-dimensional, inviscid flow; incident-shock initiated reaction in a shock tube; and a perfectly stirred reactor. In addition, equilibrium computations can be performed for several assigned states. An implicit numerical integration method (LSODE, the Livermore Solver for Ordinary Differential Equations), which works efficiently for the extremes of very fast and very slow reactions, is used to solve the "stiff" ordinary differential equation systems that arise in chemical kinetics. For static reactions, the code uses the decoupled direct method to calculate sensitivity coefficients of the dependent variables and their temporal derivatives with respect to the initial values of dependent variables and/or the rate coefficient parameters. Solution methods for the equilibrium and post-shock conditions and for perfectly stirred reactor problems are either adapted from or based on the procedures built into the NASA code CEA (Chemical Equilibrium and Applications).

  13. The challenge of mapping between two medical coding systems.

    PubMed

    Wojcik, Barbara E; Stein, Catherine R; Devore, Raymond B; Hassell, L Harrison

    2006-11-01

    Deployable medical systems patient conditions (PCs) designate groups of patients with similar medical conditions and, therefore, similar treatment requirements. PCs are used by the U.S. military to estimate field medical resources needed in combat operations. Information associated with each of the 389 PCs is based on subject matter expert opinion, instead of direct derivation from standard medical codes. Currently, no mechanisms exist to tie current or historical medical data to PCs. Our study objective was to determine whether reliable conversion between PC codes and International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis codes is possible. Data were analyzed for three professional coders assigning all applicable ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes to each PC code. Inter-rater reliability was measured by using Cohen's K statistic and percent agreement. Methods were developed to calculate kappa statistics when multiple responses could be selected from many possible categories. Overall, we found moderate support for the possibility of reliable conversion between PCs and ICD-9-CM diagnoses (mean kappa = 0.61). Current PCs should be modified into a system that is verifiable with real data.

  14. Wood-related occupations, wood dust exposure, and sinonasal cancer.

    PubMed

    Hayes, R B; Gerin, M; Raatgever, J W; de Bruyn, A

    1986-10-01

    A case-control study was conducted to examine the relations between type of woodworking and the extent of wood dust exposure to the risks for specific histologic types of sinonasal cancer. In cooperation with the major treatment centers in the Netherlands, 116 male patients newly diagnosed between 1978 and 1981 with primary malignancies of epithelial origin of this site were identified for study. Living controls were selected from the municipal registries, and deceased controls were selected from the national death registry. Interviews were completed for 91 (78%) cases and 195 (75%) controls. Job histories were coded by industry and occupation. An index of exposure was developed to classify the extent of occupational exposure to wood dust. When necessary, adjustment was made for age and usual cigarette use. The risk for nasal adenocarcinoma was elevated by industry for the wood and paper industry (odds ratio (OR) = 11.9) and by occupation for those employed in furniture and cabinet making (OR = 139.8), in factory joinery and carpentry work (OR = 16.3), and in association with high-level wood dust exposure (OR = 26.3). Other types of nasal cancer were not found to be associated with wood-related industries or occupations. A moderate excess in risk for squamous cell cancer (OR = 2.5) was associated with low-level wood dust exposure; however, no dose-response relation was evident. The association between wood dust and adenocarcinoma was strongest for those employed in wood dust-related occupations between 1930 and 1941. The risk of adenocarcinoma did not appear to decrease for at least 15 years after termination of exposure to wood dust. No cases of nasal adenocarcinoma were observed in men whose first exposure to wood dust occurred after 1941.

  15. Real life working shift assignment problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sze, San-Nah; Kwek, Yeek-Ling; Tiong, Wei-King; Chiew, Kang-Leng

    2017-07-01

    This study concerns about the working shift assignment in an outlet of Supermarket X in Eastern Mall, Kuching. The working shift assignment needs to be solved at least once in every month. Current approval process of working shifts is too troublesome and time-consuming. Furthermore, the management staff cannot have an overview of manpower and working shift schedule. Thus, the aim of this study is to develop working shift assignment simulation and propose a working shift assignment solution. The main objective for this study is to fulfill manpower demand at minimum operation cost. Besides, the day off and meal break policy should be fulfilled accordingly. Demand based heuristic is proposed to assign working shift and the quality of the solution is evaluated by using the real data.

  16. Occupational contact dermatitis.

    PubMed

    Lushniak, Boris D

    2004-01-01

    The dermatologist should be aware of the many facets of occupational skin diseases, which can be caused by physical, chemical, and biological insults. The most common manifestation of occupational skin diseases is contact dermatitis (both irritant and allergic). Three factors point out the importance of occupational skin diseases as diseases that have a public health impact: 1) occupational skin diseases are common; 2) they often have a poor prognosis; and 3) they result in a noteworthy economic impact for society and for an individual. They are also diseases amenable to public health interventions. Specific industries and exposures may put a worker at risk of occupational contact dermatitis. The accuracy of the diagnosis of occupational contact dermatitis is related to the skill level, experience, and knowledge of the medical professional who makes the diagnosis and confirms the relationship with a workplace exposure. Prevention of occupational contact dermatitis is important, and a variety of prevention strategies are available.

  17. 28 CFR 301.103 - Inmate work assignments.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Inmate work assignments. 301.103 Section... COMPENSATION General § 301.103 Inmate work assignments. The unit team of each inmate, which ordinarily designates work assignments, or whoever makes work assignments, shall review appropriate medical records...

  18. 28 CFR 301.103 - Inmate work assignments.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Inmate work assignments. 301.103 Section... COMPENSATION General § 301.103 Inmate work assignments. The unit team of each inmate, which ordinarily designates work assignments, or whoever makes work assignments, shall review appropriate medical records...

  19. 28 CFR 301.103 - Inmate work assignments.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Inmate work assignments. 301.103 Section... COMPENSATION General § 301.103 Inmate work assignments. The unit team of each inmate, which ordinarily designates work assignments, or whoever makes work assignments, shall review appropriate medical records...

  20. 28 CFR 301.103 - Inmate work assignments.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Inmate work assignments. 301.103 Section... COMPENSATION General § 301.103 Inmate work assignments. The unit team of each inmate, which ordinarily designates work assignments, or whoever makes work assignments, shall review appropriate medical records...

  1. 28 CFR 544.74 - Work assignment limitations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Work assignment limitations. 544.74... EDUCATION Literacy Program § 544.74 Work assignment limitations. These limitations on work assignment... order to be considered for a commissary work assignment above minimum pay level, an institution work...

  2. ICC-CLASS: isotopically-coded cleavable crosslinking analysis software suite

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background Successful application of crosslinking combined with mass spectrometry for studying proteins and protein complexes requires specifically-designed crosslinking reagents, experimental techniques, and data analysis software. Using isotopically-coded ("heavy and light") versions of the crosslinker and cleavable crosslinking reagents is analytically advantageous for mass spectrometric applications and provides a "handle" that can be used to distinguish crosslinked peptides of different types, and to increase the confidence of the identification of the crosslinks. Results Here, we describe a program suite designed for the analysis of mass spectrometric data obtained with isotopically-coded cleavable crosslinkers. The suite contains three programs called: DX, DXDX, and DXMSMS. DX searches the mass spectra for the presence of ion signal doublets resulting from the light and heavy isotopic forms of the isotopically-coded crosslinking reagent used. DXDX searches for possible mass matches between cleaved and uncleaved isotopically-coded crosslinks based on the established chemistry of the cleavage reaction for a given crosslinking reagent. DXMSMS assigns the crosslinks to the known protein sequences, based on the isotopically-coded and un-coded MS/MS fragmentation data of uncleaved and cleaved peptide crosslinks. Conclusion The combination of these three programs, which are tailored to the analytical features of the specific isotopically-coded cleavable crosslinking reagents used, represents a powerful software tool for automated high-accuracy peptide crosslink identification. See: http://www.creativemolecules.com/CM_Software.htm PMID:20109223

  3. DSSPcont: continuous secondary structure assignments for proteins

    PubMed Central

    Carter, Phil; Andersen, Claus A. F.; Rost, Burkhard

    2003-01-01

    The DSSP program automatically assigns the secondary structure for each residue from the three-dimensional co-ordinates of a protein structure to one of eight states. However, discrete assignments are incomplete in that they cannot capture the continuum of thermal fluctuations. Therefore, DSSPcont (http://cubic.bioc.columbia.edu/services/DSSPcont) introduces a continuous assignment of secondary structure that replaces ‘static’ by ‘dynamic’ states. Technically, the continuum results from calculating weighted averages over 10 discrete DSSP assignments with different hydrogen bond thresholds. A DSSPcont assignment for a particular residue is a percentage likelihood of eight secondary structure states, derived from a weighted average of the ten DSSP assignments. The continuous assignments have two important features: (i) they reflect the structural variations due to thermal fluctuations as detected by NMR spectroscopy; and (ii) they reproduce the structural variation between many NMR models from one single model. Therefore, functionally important variation can be extracted from a single X-ray structure using the continuous assignment procedure. PMID:12824310

  4. Military Occupations Most Affected by Head/Sensory Injuries and the Potential Job Impact of Those Injuries.

    PubMed

    Lawson, Ben D; Kass, Steven J; Dhillon, Kieran K; Milam, Lana S; Cho, Timothy H; Rupert, Angus H

    2016-08-01

    Identifying Department of Defense (DoD) occupations affected by injuries to the head and sensory systems. We explored the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database to identify occupations with the highest incidence of injured personnel, then ranked how frequently they occurred in a top 10 list for each of four injury categories (head/brain, visual, auditory, vestibular) encompassing 25 injury codes. Across all four categories, the most affected occupations were identified, among which we chose three Army combat-related military occupational specialties (MOSs) for detailed study. We identified skills needed to perform these MOSs and explored whether MOS-critical deficits could be expected following the injuries. Some DoD occupations are more likely to suffer from these injuries, including Infantry, Combat Operations Control, Artillery/Gunnery, Motor Vehicle Operator, Combat Engineering, and Armor/Amphibious. Within these DoD occupations, we explored three Army combatant MOSs: Infantry (11B), Cavalry Scout (19D), and Artillery (13B), confirming that these jobs are likely to be disrupted by injuries within the four categories. Head and sensory injuries disproportionately affect certain military occupations. Relatively few injuries disrupt combat-related abilities that are job critical (e.g., firearms operation) and job specific (e.g., Artillery gunnery problems); these should be the focus of efforts to improve rehabilitation and RTD outcomes. Reprint & Copyright © 2016 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

  5. Occupational exposure to glycol ethers: implications for occupational health nurses.

    PubMed

    Snow, J E

    1994-09-01

    1. Evaluation of workplace exposure to reproductive hazards is difficult and is often confounded by occupational exposure to multiple agents and exposure to non-occupational factors. 2. A growing body of evidence from animal and human study data supports a causal association between occupational exposure to certain glycol ethers and adverse reproductive outcomes. 3. Occupational health nurses providing services to employees exposed to glycol ethers should remain knowledgeable about the results of epidemiologic studies and current trends in the regulation of glycol ethers in industry. 4. Occupational health nurses are in a key position to reduce exposure to reproductive hazards by monitoring trends in group data and by implementing training and education programs to employees exposed to reproductive hazards.

  6. 24 CFR 221.770 - Assignment option.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Assignment option. 221.770 Section... § 221.770 Assignment option. A mortgagee holding a conditional or firm commitment issued on or before... mortgagee's approved underwriter on or before November 30, 1983) has the option to assign, transfer and...

  7. A new method for species identification via protein-coding and non-coding DNA barcodes by combining machine learning with bioinformatic methods.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Ai-bing; Feng, Jie; Ward, Robert D; Wan, Ping; Gao, Qiang; Wu, Jun; Zhao, Wei-zhong

    2012-01-01

    Species identification via DNA barcodes is contributing greatly to current bioinventory efforts. The initial, and widely accepted, proposal was to use the protein-coding cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) region as the standard barcode for animals, but recently non-coding internal transcribed spacer (ITS) genes have been proposed as candidate barcodes for both animals and plants. However, achieving a robust alignment for non-coding regions can be problematic. Here we propose two new methods (DV-RBF and FJ-RBF) to address this issue for species assignment by both coding and non-coding sequences that take advantage of the power of machine learning and bioinformatics. We demonstrate the value of the new methods with four empirical datasets, two representing typical protein-coding COI barcode datasets (neotropical bats and marine fish) and two representing non-coding ITS barcodes (rust fungi and brown algae). Using two random sub-sampling approaches, we demonstrate that the new methods significantly outperformed existing Neighbor-joining (NJ) and Maximum likelihood (ML) methods for both coding and non-coding barcodes when there was complete species coverage in the reference dataset. The new methods also out-performed NJ and ML methods for non-coding sequences in circumstances of potentially incomplete species coverage, although then the NJ and ML methods performed slightly better than the new methods for protein-coding barcodes. A 100% success rate of species identification was achieved with the two new methods for 4,122 bat queries and 5,134 fish queries using COI barcodes, with 95% confidence intervals (CI) of 99.75-100%. The new methods also obtained a 96.29% success rate (95%CI: 91.62-98.40%) for 484 rust fungi queries and a 98.50% success rate (95%CI: 96.60-99.37%) for 1094 brown algae queries, both using ITS barcodes.

  8. 24 CFR 221.255 - Assignment option.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Assignment option. 221.255 Section... Assignment option. (a) A mortgagee holding a mortgage insured pursuant to a conditional or firm commitment issued on or before November 30, 1983 has the option to assign, transfer and deliver to the Commissioner...

  9. Construction Occupations--Finishing. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

    Focusing on finishing construction occupations, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providing current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include air…

  10. 48 CFR 1552.211-74 - Work assignments.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Work assignments. 1552.211... Work assignments. As prescribed in 1511.011-74, insert the following contract clause in cost-reimbursement type term form contracts when work assignments are to be used. Work Assignments (APR 1984) (a) The...

  11. Occupational exposure to magnetic fields and the risk of brain tumors

    PubMed Central

    Coble, Joseph B.; Dosemeci, Mustafa; Stewart, Patricia A.; Blair, Aaron; Bowman, Joseph; Fine, Howard A.; Shapiro, William R.; Selker, Robert G.; Loeffler, Jay S.; Black, Peter M.; Linet, Martha S.; Inskip, Peter D.

    2009-01-01

    We investigated the association between occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (MFs) and the risk of glioma and meningioma. Occupational exposure to MF was assessed for 489 glioma cases, 197 meningioma cases, and 799 controls enrolled in a hospital-based case–control study. Lifetime occupational history questionnaires were administered to all subjects; for 24% of jobs, these were supplemented with job-specific questionnaires, or “job modules,” to obtain information on the use of electrically powered tools or equipment at work. Job-specific quantitative estimates for exposure to MF in milligauss were assigned using a previously published job exposure matrix (JEM) with modification based on the job modules. Jobs were categorized as ≤1.5 mG, >1.5 to <3.0 mG, and ≥3.0 mG. Four exposure metrics were evaluated: (1) maximum exposed job; (2) total years of exposure >1.5 mG; (3) cumulative lifetime exposure; and (4) average lifetime exposure. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using unconditional logistic regression with adjustment for the age, gender, and hospital site. The job modules increased the number of jobs with exposure ≥3.0 mG from 4% to 7% relative to the JEM. No statistically significant elevation in ORs or trends in ORs across exposure categories was observed using four different exposure metrics for the three tumor types analyzed. Occupational exposure to MFs assessed using job modules was not associated with an increase in the risk for glioma, glioblastoma, or meningioma among the subjects evaluated in this study. PMID:19234232

  12. Botulinum toxin A injections and occupational therapy in children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Lidman, Git; Nachemson, Ann; Peny-Dahlstrand, Marie; Himmelmann, Kate

    2015-08-01

    To investigate the effects of repeated botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) injections combined with occupational therapy, including a splint, compared with occupational therapy alone on hand function in children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (USCP), in all International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) domains. This was a randomized controlled study, population-based and evaluator-blinded for primary outcome (October 2004 to September 2010). Twenty children (14 males; median age 3y 1mo) with USCP, recruited at a rehabilitation centre in Sweden, were assigned to one of two parallel groups using concealed allocation. In the course of one year, 10 children received occupational therapy, while 10 received repeated BoNT-A plus occupational therapy (BoNT-A/OT). Primary outcome (Assisting Hand Assessment [AHA]), and secondary outcome measures (range of movement [ROM], and Canadian Occupational Performance Measure), were measured at baseline, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. AHA revealed a superior effect in the BoNT-A/OT group at 12 months: 6 out of 10 improved compared with 1 out of 10 in the occupational therapy group (p<0.03). A 95% Peskun exact confidence interval for the difference in proportions is given as 0.01 to 0.81. Secondary outcomes improved in both groups. Repeated BoNT-A/OT appeared superior to occupational therapy alone for bimanual performance in young children with USCP. Active ROM and goal performance improved in both groups. © 2015 Mac Keith Press.

  13. The impact of 'Generation Y' occupational therapy students on practice education.

    PubMed

    Hills, Caroline; Ryan, Susan; Smith, Derek R; Warren-Forward, Helen

    2012-04-01

    Many occupational therapy students can be classified as 'Generation Y', a group whose characteristics are perceived as being confident, optimistic and 'techno-savvy'. This study aimed to explore practice educator perceptions of 'Generation Y' students. A questionnaire survey was sent to all practice educators affiliated with the university. The survey contained fixed choice questions on demographics and educators' knowledge of the term 'Generation Y', followed by open-ended questions on practice educator perceptions of occupational therapy 'Generation Y' students and the educational strategies used in practice education. Anonymous responses were analysed using descriptive statistics, attribute coding and content analysis. Most educators considered that there was, in fact, a 'Generation Y student', describing them as confident with technology, over confident in their skill level and easily bored. Practice educators raised concerns regarding students' casual communication, poor professional behaviour, shallow professional reasoning and difficulty when receiving negative feedback. Overall, the results of this study suggest that 'Generation Y' students are having both a negative and a positive impact on practice education in occupational therapy. For educators, management of the overconfident student and professional reasoning development should be addressed in university practice education workshops. For students, the need for clarification of placement expectations on professional behaviour and communication was indicated. Students may also require 'listening to feedback' skill development prior to practice education. Universities and practice educators should consider the development of technological resources for practice education, including simulation, to meet the needs of the, now recognised 'Generation Y' student. © 2011 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal © 2011 Occupational Therapy Australia.

  14. Small Business Occupations. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

    Focusing on small business occupations, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providing current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include barbers, cosmetologists, funeral…

  15. Illinois Occupational Skill Standards: Occupational Therapy Cluster.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Illinois Occupational Skill Standards and Credentialing Council, Carbondale.

    This document, which is intended to serve as a guide for work force preparation program providers, details the Illinois occupational skill standards for programs preparing students for employment in jobs in occupational therapy. Agency partners involved in this project include: the Illinois State board of Education, Illinois Community College…

  16. Evaluation and implementation of QR Code Identity Tag system for Healthcare in Turkey.

    PubMed

    Uzun, Vassilya; Bilgin, Sami

    2016-01-01

    For this study, we designed a QR Code Identity Tag system to integrate into the Turkish healthcare system. This system provides QR code-based medical identification alerts and an in-hospital patient identification system. Every member of the medical system is assigned a unique QR Code Tag; to facilitate medical identification alerts, the QR Code Identity Tag can be worn as a bracelet or necklace or carried as an ID card. Patients must always possess the QR Code Identity bracelets within hospital grounds. These QR code bracelets link to the QR Code Identity website, where detailed information is stored; a smartphone or standalone QR code scanner can be used to scan the code. The design of this system allows authorized personnel (e.g., paramedics, firefighters, or police) to access more detailed patient information than the average smartphone user: emergency service professionals are authorized to access patient medical histories to improve the accuracy of medical treatment. In Istanbul, we tested the self-designed system with 174 participants. To analyze the QR Code Identity Tag system's usability, the participants completed the System Usability Scale questionnaire after using the system.

  17. Occupational Orientation: Applied Biological and Agricultural Occupations. Experimental Curriculum Materials.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Illinois State Office of Education, Springfield.

    These experimental curriculum materials, from one of five clusters developed for the occupational orientation program in Illinois, include a series of learning activity packages (LAPs) designed to acquaint the student with the wide range of occupational choices available in the applied biological and agricultural occupations. The 30 LAPs, each…

  18. Preliminary evaluation of a nest usage sensor to detect double nest occupations of laying hens.

    PubMed

    Zaninelli, Mauro; Costa, Annamaria; Tangorra, Francesco Maria; Rossi, Luciana; Agazzi, Alessandro; Savoini, Giovanni

    2015-01-26

    Conventional cage systems will be replaced by housing systems that allow hens to move freely. These systems may improve hens' welfare, but they lead to some disadvantages: disease, bone fractures, cannibalism, piling and lower egg production. New selection criteria for existing commercial strains should be identified considering individual data about laying performance and the behavior of hens. Many recording systems have been developed to collect these data. However, the management of double nest occupations remains critical for the correct egg-to-hen assignment. To limit such events, most systems adopt specific trap devices and additional mechanical components. Others, instead, only prevent these occurrences by narrowing the nest, without any detection and management. The aim of this study was to develop and test a nest usage "sensor", based on imaging analysis, that is able to automatically detect a double nest occupation. Results showed that the developed sensor correctly identified the double nest occupation occurrences. Therefore, the imaging analysis resulted in being a useful solution that could simplify the nest construction for this type of recording system, allowing the collection of more precise and accurate data, since double nest occupations would be managed and the normal laying behavior of hens would not be discouraged by the presence of the trap devices.

  19. Preliminary Evaluation of a Nest Usage Sensor to Detect Double Nest Occupations of Laying Hens

    PubMed Central

    Zaninelli, Mauro; Costa, Annamaria; Tangorra, Francesco Maria; Rossi, Luciana; Agazzi, Alessandro; Savoini, Giovanni

    2015-01-01

    Conventional cage systems will be replaced by housing systems that allow hens to move freely. These systems may improve hens' welfare, but they lead to some disadvantages: disease, bone fractures, cannibalism, piling and lower egg production. New selection criteria for existing commercial strains should be identified considering individual data about laying performance and the behavior of hens. Many recording systems have been developed to collect these data. However, the management of double nest occupations remains critical for the correct egg-to-hen assignment. To limit such events, most systems adopt specific trap devices and additional mechanical components. Others, instead, only prevent these occurrences by narrowing the nest, without any detection and management. The aim of this study was to develop and test a nest usage “sensor”, based on imaging analysis, that is able to automatically detect a double nest occupation. Results showed that the developed sensor correctly identified the double nest occupation occurrences. Therefore, the imaging analysis resulted in being a useful solution that could simplify the nest construction for this type of recording system, allowing the collection of more precise and accurate data, since double nest occupations would be managed and the normal laying behavior of hens would not be discouraged by the presence of the trap devices. PMID:25629704

  20. The fourfold way of the genetic code.

    PubMed

    Jiménez-Montaño, Miguel Angel

    2009-11-01

    We describe a compact representation of the genetic code that factorizes the table in quartets. It represents a "least grammar" for the genetic language. It is justified by the Klein-4 group structure of RNA bases and codon doublets. The matrix of the outer product between the column-vector of bases and the corresponding row-vector V(T)=(C G U A), considered as signal vectors, has a block structure consisting of the four cosets of the KxK group of base transformations acting on doublet AA. This matrix, translated into weak/strong (W/S) and purine/pyrimidine (R/Y) nucleotide classes, leads to a code table with mixed and unmixed families in separate regions. A basic difference between them is the non-commuting (R/Y) doublets: AC/CA, GU/UG. We describe the degeneracy in the canonical code and the systematic changes in deviant codes in terms of the divisors of 24, employing modulo multiplication groups. We illustrate binary sub-codes characterizing mutations in the quartets. We introduce a decision-tree to predict the mode of tRNA recognition corresponding to each codon, and compare our result with related findings by Jestin and Soulé [Jestin, J.-L., Soulé, C., 2007. Symmetries by base substitutions in the genetic code predict 2' or 3' aminoacylation of tRNAs. J. Theor. Biol. 247, 391-394], and the rearrangements of the table by Delarue [Delarue, M., 2007. An asymmetric underlying rule in the assignment of codons: possible clue to a quick early evolution of the genetic code via successive binary choices. RNA 13, 161-169] and Rodin and Rodin [Rodin, S.N., Rodin, A.S., 2008. On the origin of the genetic code: signatures of its primordial complementarity in tRNAs and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Heredity 100, 341-355], respectively.

  1. Factory Production Occupations. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

    Focusing on factory production occupations, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providing current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include assemblers, blue collar worker…

  2. Image processing occupancy sensor

    DOEpatents

    Brackney, Larry J.

    2016-09-27

    A system and method of detecting occupants in a building automation system environment using image based occupancy detection and position determinations. In one example, the system includes an image processing occupancy sensor that detects the number and position of occupants within a space that has controllable building elements such as lighting and ventilation diffusers. Based on the position and location of the occupants, the system can finely control the elements to optimize conditions for the occupants, optimize energy usage, among other advantages.

  3. Food Merchandising Occupations. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

    Focusing on food merchandising occupations, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providing current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include bartenders, cooks and chefs, dining room…

  4. DICTIONARY OF OCCUPATIONAL TITLES, 1965. VOLUME II, OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION AND INDUSTRY INDEX.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Employment Security (DOL), Washington, DC.

    VOLUME 2 COMPLEMENTS VOLUME 1 (VT 003 654) BY PROVIDING A CLASSIFICATION STRUCTURE WHICH GROUPS JOBS HAVING THE SAME BASIC OCCUPATIONAL, INDUSTRIAL, OR WORKER CHARACTERISTICS. THE SECTIONS ARE (1) THE OCCUPATIONAL CATEGORIES, DIVISIONS, AND GROUPS, (2) AN ALPHABETIC ARRANGEMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL DIVISIONS AND GROUPS, (3) THE OCCUPATIONAL GROUP…

  5. Replicating and Extending Research on the Partial Assignment Completion Effect: Is Sunk Cost Related to Partial Assignment Completion Strength?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hawthorn-Embree, Meredith L.; Taylor, Emily P.; Skinner, Christopher H.; Parkhurst, John; Nalls, Meagan L.

    2014-01-01

    After students acquire a skill, mastery often requires them to choose to engage in assigned academic activities (e.g., independent seatwork, and homework). Although students may be more likely to choose to work on partially completed assignments than on new assignments, the partial assignment completion (PAC) effect may not be very powerful. The…

  6. Exploring mobility & workplace choice in a flexible office through post-occupancy evaluation.

    PubMed

    Göçer, Özgür; Göçer, Kenan; Ergöz Karahan, Ebru; İlhan Oygür, Işıl

    2018-02-01

    Developments in information and communication systems, organisational structure and the nature of work have contributed to the restructuring of work environments. In these new types of work environments, employees do not have assigned workplaces. This arrangement helps organisations to minimise rent costs and increase employee interaction and knowledge exchange through mobility. This post-occupancy evaluation (POE) study focuses on a flexible office in a Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified building in Istanbul. An integrated qualitative and quantitative POE technique with occupancy tracking via barcode scanning and instant surveying has been introduced. Using this unique approach, we examined the directives/drivers in workplace choice and mobility from different perspectives. The aggregated data was used to discern work-related consequences such as flexibility, workplace choice, work and indoor environment satisfaction, place attachment and identity. The results show that employees who have a conventional working culture develop a new working style: 'fixed-flexible working'. Practitioner Summary: This paper introduces a new POE approach for flexible offices based on occupancy tracking through barcode scanning to explore workplace choice and mobility. More than half (52.1%) of the participants have tended to choose the same desk every day. However, the satisfaction level of the 'mobile' employees was higher than that of the 'fixed flexible' employees.

  7. An evaluation of the quality of obstetric morbidity coding using an objective assessment tool, the Performance Indicators For Coding Quality (PICQ).

    PubMed

    Lamb, Mary K; Innes, Kerry; Saad, Patricia; Rust, Julie; Dimitropoulos, Vera; Cumerlato, Megan

    The Performance Indicators for Coding Quality (PICQ) is a data quality assessment tool developed by Australia's National Centre for Classification in Health (NCCH). PICQ consists of a number of indicators covering all ICD-10-AM disease chapters, some procedure chapters from the Australian Classification of Health Intervention (ACHI) and some Australian Coding Standards (ACS). The indicators can be used to assess the coding quality of hospital morbidity data by monitoring compliance of coding conventions and ACS; this enables the identification of particular records that may be incorrectly coded, thus providing a measure of data quality. There are 31 obstetric indicators available for the ICD-10-AM Fourth Edition. Twenty of these 31 indicators were classified as Fatal, nine as Warning and two Relative. These indicators were used to examine coding quality of obstetric records in the 2004-2005 financial year Australian national hospital morbidity dataset. Records with obstetric disease or procedure codes listed anywhere in the code string were extracted and exported from the SPSS source file. Data were then imported into a Microsoft Access database table as per PICQ instructions, and run against all Fatal and Warning and Relative (N=31) obstetric PICQ 2006 Fourth Edition Indicators v.5 for the ICD-10- AM Fourth Edition. There were 689,905 gynaecological and obstetric records in the 2004-2005 financial year, of which 1.14% were found to have triggered Fatal degree errors, 3.78% Warning degree errors and 8.35% Relative degree errors. The types of errors include completeness, redundancy, specificity and sequencing problems. It was found that PICQ is a useful initial screening tool for the assessment of ICD-10-AM/ACHI coding quality. The overall quality of codes assigned to obstetric records in the 2004- 2005 Australian national morbidity dataset is of fair quality.

  8. Sharing the knowledge gained from occupational cohort studies: a call for action.

    PubMed

    Behrens, Thomas; Mester, Birte; Fritschi, Lin

    2012-06-01

    An immense body of knowledge has been created by establishing various job-exposure matrices (JEMs) to assess occupational exposures in community- and industry-based cohort studies. These JEMs could be made available to occupational epidemiologists using knowledge-sharing technologies, thereby saving considerable amounts of time and money for researchers investigating occupation-related research questions. In this paper, the authors give an example of how a detailed JEM can be easily transformed into a job-specific module (JSM) for use in community-based studies. OccIDEAS is operationalised as a web-based software, combining the use of JSMs with an individual expert exposure assessment to assess occupational exposures in various industries according to a set of predefined rules. The authors used a JEM focusing on endocrine-disrupting chemicals from a German study on testicular cancer in the automobile industry to create a JSM in OccIDEAS. The JEM was easily translated into OccIDEAS requiring about 50 h of work by an epidemiologist familiar with the German JEM to learn about the OccIDEAS structure, establish the required set of exposure rules and to translate the JEM into OccIDEAS. Language did not represent an obstacle for translation either. To make the data available in an international context, an interpreter had to translate the German tasks and exposures after they were coded into OccIDEAS. JEMs which are constructed based on identifying tasks that determine exposure can be easily transformed into a JSM. Occupational epidemiologists are invited to contribute to the international scope of OccIDEAS by providing their previously established JEMs to make existing data on occupational exposures widely available to the epidemiological community.

  9. Occupational risks for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis mortality in the United States.

    PubMed

    Pinheiro, Germania A; Antao, Vinicius C; Wood, John M; Wassell, James T

    2008-01-01

    Metal and wood dust exposures have been identified as possible occupational risk factors for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We analyzed mortality data using ICD-10 code J84.1--"Other interstitial pulmonary diseases with fibrosis," derived age-adjusted mortality rates for 1999-2003, and assessed occupational risks for 1999, by calculating proportionate mortality ratios (PMRs) and mortality odds ratios (MORs) using a matched case-control approach. We identified 84,010 IPF deaths, with an age-adjusted mortality rate of 75.7 deaths/million. Mortality rates were highest among males, whites, and those aged 85 and older. Three industry categories with potential occupational exposures recognized as risk factors for IPF were identified: "Wood buildings and mobile homes" (PMR = 4.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2-11.6 and MOR = 5.3, 95% CI 1.2-23.8), "Metal mining" (PMR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.3-4.0 and MOR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.1-4.4), and "Fabricated structural metal products" (PMR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.1 and MOR = 1.7, 95% CI 1.0-3.1). Workers in these industry categories may benefit from toxicological studies and improved surveillance for this disease.

  10. Occupation and thyroid cancer.

    PubMed

    Aschebrook-Kilfoy, Briseis; Ward, Mary H; Della Valle, Curt T; Friesen, Melissa C

    2014-05-01

    Numerous occupational and environmental exposures have been shown to disrupt thyroid hormones, but much less is known about their relationships with thyroid cancer. Here we review the epidemiology studies of occupations and occupational exposures and thyroid cancer incidence to provide insight into preventable risk factors for thyroid cancer. The published literature was searched using the Web of Knowledge database for all articles through August 2013 that had in their text 'occupation' 'job' 'employment' or 'work' and 'thyroid cancer'. After excluding 10 mortality studies and 4 studies with less than 5 exposed incident cases, we summarised the findings of 30 articles that examined thyroid cancer incidence in relation to occupations or occupational exposure. The studies were grouped by exposure/occupation category, study design and exposure assessment approach. Where available, gender-stratified results are reported. The most studied (19 of 30 studies) and the most consistent associations were observed for radiation-exposed workers and healthcare occupations. Suggestive, but inconsistent, associations were observed in studies of pesticide-exposed workers and agricultural occupations. Findings for other exposures and occupation groups were largely null. The majority of studies had few exposed cases and assessed exposure based on occupation or industry category, self-report, or generic (population-based) job exposure matrices. The suggestive, but inconsistent findings for many of the occupational exposures reviewed here indicate that more studies with larger numbers of cases and better exposure assessment are necessary, particularly for exposures known to disrupt thyroid homeostasis.

  11. Combining multinuclear high-resolution solid-state MAS NMR and computational methods for resonance assignment of glutathione tripeptide.

    PubMed

    Sardo, Mariana; Siegel, Renée; Santos, Sérgio M; Rocha, João; Gomes, José R B; Mafra, Luis

    2012-06-28

    We present a complete set of experimental approaches for the NMR assignment of powdered tripeptide glutathione at natural isotopic abundance, based on J-coupling and dipolar NMR techniques combined with (1)H CRAMPS decoupling. To fully assign the spectra, two-dimensional (2D) high-resolution methods, such as (1)H-(13)C INEPT-HSQC/PRESTO heteronuclear correlations (HETCOR), (1)H-(1)H double-quantum (DQ), and (1)H-(14)N D-HMQC correlation experiments, have been used. To support the interpretation of the experimental data, periodic density functional theory calculations together with the GIPAW approach have been used to calculate the (1)H and (13)C chemical shifts. It is found that the shifts calculated with two popular plane wave codes (CASTEP and Quantum ESPRESSO) are in excellent agreement with the experimental results.

  12. Modeling Single Occupant Vehicle Behavior in High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) Facilities

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2009-12-14

    High-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes are in operation, under construction, and planned for in several major metropolitan areas. The premise behind HOT lanes is to allow single occupant vehicles (SOVs) to access high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes (and theo...

  13. 7 CFR 784.15 - Assignments.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 7 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Assignments. 784.15 Section 784.15 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL PROGRAMS 2004 EWE LAMB REPLACEMENT AND RETENTION PAYMENT PROGRAM § 784.15 Assignments. Any person...

  14. A method of assigning socio-economic status classification to British Armed Forces personnel.

    PubMed

    Yoong, S Y; Miles, D; McKinney, P A; Smith, I J; Spencer, N J

    1999-10-01

    The objective of this paper was to develop and evaluate a socio-economic status classification method for British Armed Forces personnel. Two study groups comprising of civilian and Armed Forces families were identified from livebirths delivered between 1 January-30 June 1996 within the Northallerton Health district which includes Catterick Garrison and RAF Leeming. The participants were the parents of babies delivered at a District General Hospital, comprising of 436 civilian and 162 Armed Forces families. A new classification method was successfully used to assign Registrar General's social classification to Armed Forces personnel. Comparison of the two study groups showed a significant difference in social class distribution (p = 0.0001). This study has devised a new method for classifying occupations within the Armed Forces to categories of social class thus permitting comparison with Registrar General's classification.

  15. Exogenous spatial attention influences figure-ground assignment.

    PubMed

    Vecera, Shaun P; Flevaris, Anastasia V; Filapek, Joseph C

    2004-01-01

    In a hierarchical stage account of vision, figure-ground assignment is thought to be completed before the operation of focal spatial attention. Results of previous studies have supported this account by showing that unpredictive, exogenous spatial precues do not influence figure-ground assignment, although voluntary attention can influence figure-ground assignment. However, in these studies, attention was not summoned directly to a region in a figure-ground display. In three experiments, we addressed the relationship between figure-ground assignment and visuospatial attention. In Experiment 1, we replicated the finding that exogenous precues do not influence figure-ground assignment when they direct attention outside of a figure-ground stimulus. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated that exogenous attention can influence figure-ground assignment if it is directed to one of the regions in a figure-ground stimulus. In Experiment 3, we demonstrated that exogenous attention can influence figure-ground assignment in displays that contain a Gestalt figure-ground cue; this result suggests that figure-ground processes are not entirely completed prior to the operation of focal spatial attention. Exogenous spatial attention acts as a cue for figure-ground assignment and can affect the outcome of figure-ground processes.

  16. Occupational therapy practice in emergency care: Occupational therapists' perspectives.

    PubMed

    Spang, Lisa; Holmqvist, Kajsa

    2015-01-01

    Emergency care takes place in a complex work environment that is characterized by critically ill patients, short hospital stays, and a wide variety of different healthcare professionals. Studies of occupational therapists' (OTs) experiences of working within emergency care have shown that they often experience difficulties in explaining the essence of occupational therapy and have to justify their approaches. Much effort has been made in Sweden to help OTs dispel the notion that occupational therapy is difficult to explain, and the aim of this study was to describe how Swedish OTs perceive their work in emergency care. A qualitative descriptive approach was taken, and 14 interviews were conducted with OTs working in emergency care. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data. The overall theme that emerged was "Feeling established through deliberate occupation-based work". The underlying categories showed different strategies used by the OTs to provide occupational therapy in an emergency care context. Deliberate strategies were used to demonstrate the effectiveness of occupational therapy and its approaches to patients and other health care professionals, and this resulted in the OTs feeling both established and needed. Unlike the OTs in previous studies, the Swedish OTs experienced no difficulties in explaining occupational therapy and could make convincing arguments for their interventions. Parallel to their clinical work, the OTs worked with on-going development to find ways to improve their approaches. In summary, these Swedish OTs seem to have been provided with a professional language and the knowledge required to establish themselves in an emergency care setting.

  17. Image Processing Occupancy Sensor

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

    The Image Processing Occupancy Sensor, or IPOS, is a novel sensor technology developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The sensor is based on low-cost embedded microprocessors widely used by the smartphone industry and leverages mature open-source computer vision software libraries. Compared to traditional passive infrared and ultrasonic-based motion sensors currently used for occupancy detection, IPOS has shown the potential for improved accuracy and a richer set of feedback signals for occupant-optimized lighting, daylighting, temperature setback, ventilation control, and other occupancy and location-based uses. Unlike traditional passive infrared (PIR) or ultrasonic occupancy sensors, which infer occupancy based only onmore » motion, IPOS uses digital image-based analysis to detect and classify various aspects of occupancy, including the presence of occupants regardless of motion, their number, location, and activity levels of occupants, as well as the illuminance properties of the monitored space. The IPOS software leverages the recent availability of low-cost embedded computing platforms, computer vision software libraries, and camera elements.« less

  18. Exposure to potential occupational asthmogens: prevalence data from the National Occupational Exposure Survey.

    PubMed

    de la Hoz, R E; Young, R O; Pedersen, D H

    1997-02-01

    Few data are available about the prevalence of occupational exposures to agents which can cause occupational asthma or aggravate preexisting asthma (asthmogens). Using potential occupational exposure data from the National Occupational Exposure Survey (NOES) of 1980-1983, we investigated the number of asthmogen exposures, asthmogen-exposure(s) per production worker, and unprotected occupational asthmogen exposures in different industries and occupations. Data for the entire United States were used to generate estimates of occupational exposure at two selected state and local levels. It was estimated that 7,864,000 workers in the surveyed industries were potentially exposed to one or more occupational asthmogen(s) in the United States. The average number of observed potential exposures per asthmogen-exposed worker was 4.4, and varied from 11.9, in the Water Transportation industry, to 1.2 in Local and Suburban transportation. The largest number of observed potential exposures was recorded in the Apparel and Other Finished Products (garment) industry. This work and further analyses using this approach are expected to contribute to a better understanding of the epidemiology of occupational asthma, and to serve as a guide to target future occupational asthma surveillance efforts.

  19. Integer-Linear-Programing Optimization in Scalable Video Multicast with Adaptive Modulation and Coding in Wireless Networks

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Chaewoo

    2014-01-01

    The advancement in wideband wireless network supports real time services such as IPTV and live video streaming. However, because of the sharing nature of the wireless medium, efficient resource allocation has been studied to achieve a high level of acceptability and proliferation of wireless multimedia. Scalable video coding (SVC) with adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) provides an excellent solution for wireless video streaming. By assigning different modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) to video layers, SVC can provide good video quality to users in good channel conditions and also basic video quality to users in bad channel conditions. For optimal resource allocation, a key issue in applying SVC in the wireless multicast service is how to assign MCSs and the time resources to each SVC layer in the heterogeneous channel condition. We formulate this problem with integer linear programming (ILP) and provide numerical results to show the performance under 802.16 m environment. The result shows that our methodology enhances the overall system throughput compared to an existing algorithm. PMID:25276862

  20. Risk of laryngeal cancer by occupational chemical exposure in Turkey.

    PubMed

    Elci, Omur Cinar; Akpinar-Elci, Muge; Blair, Aaron; Dosemeci, Mustafa

    2003-10-01

    Laryngeal cancer is the second most common cancer among men in Turkey. In this hospital based case-control study, we evaluated laryngeal cancer risks from occupational chemical exposures. We analyzed 940 laryngeal cancer cases and 1519 controls. Occupational history, tobacco, and alcohol use and demographic information were obtained by a questionnaire. The job and industries were classified by special seven-digit codes. We calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) based on a developed exposure matrix for chemicals, including diesel exhaust, gasoline exhaust, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), formaldehyde, and solvents. An excess of laryngeal cancer occurred with diesel exhaust (OR=1.5, 95% CI=1.3-1.9), gasoline exhaust (OR=1.6, 95% CI=1.3-2.0), and PAHs (OR=1.3, 95% CI=1.1-1.6). There was a dose-response relationship for these substances with supraglottic cancers (P<0.000). The PAH association only occurred among those who also had exposure to diesel exhaust.

  1. Occupational Asthma

    MedlinePlus

    ... The rate of occupational asthma varies within individual industries. Irritants in high doses that induce occupational asthma ... which is found in the petroleum or chemical industries. If you are exposed to any of these ...

  2. Doing what's right: A grounded theory of ethical decision-making in occupational therapy.

    PubMed

    VanderKaay, Sandra; Letts, Lori; Jung, Bonny; Moll, Sandra E

    2018-04-20

    Ethical decision-making is an important aspect of reasoning in occupational therapy practice. However, the process of ethical decision-making within the broader context of reasoning is yet to be clearly explicated. The purpose of this study was to advance a theoretical understanding of the process by which occupational therapists make ethical decisions in day-to-day practice. A constructivist grounded theory approach was adopted, incorporating in-depth semi-structured interviews with 18 occupational therapists from a range of practice settings and years of experience. Initially, participants nominated as key informants who were able to reflect on their decision-making processes were recruited. Theoretical sampling informed subsequent stages of data collection. Participants were asked to describe their process of ethical decision-making using scenarios from clinical practice. Interview transcripts were analyzed using a systematic process of initial then focused coding, and theoretical categorization to construct a theory regarding the process of ethical decision-making. An ethical decision-making prism was developed to capture three main processes: Considering the Fundamental Checklist, Consulting Others, and Doing What's Right. Ethical decision-making appeared to be an inductive and dialectical process with the occupational therapist at its core. Study findings advance our understanding of ethical decision-making in day-to-day clinical practice.

  3. Hazard Prevention Regarding Occupational Accidents Involving Blue-Collar Foreign Workers: A Perspective of Taiwanese Manpower Agencies

    PubMed Central

    Chang, Huan-Cheng; Wang, Mei-Chin; Liao, Hung-Chang; Cheng, Shu-Fang; Wang, Ya-huei

    2016-01-01

    Since 1989, blue-collar foreign workers have been permitted to work in Taiwanese industries. Most blue-collar foreign workers apply for jobs in Taiwan through blue-collar foreign workers’ agencies. Because blue-collar foreign workers are not familiar with the language and culture in Taiwan, in occupational accident education and hazard prevention, the agencies play an important role in the coordination and translation between employees and blue-collar foreign workers. The purpose of this study is to establish the agencies’ role in the occupational accidents education and hazard prevention for blue-collar foreign workers in Taiwan. This study uses a qualitative method—grounded theory—to collect, code, and analyze the data in order to understand the agencies’ role in occupational accident education and hazard prevention for blue-collar foreign workers in Taiwan. The results show that the duty of agencies in occupational accident education and hazard prevention includes selecting appropriate blue-collar foreign workers, communicating between employees and blue-collar foreign workers, collecting occupational safety and health information, assisting in the training of occupational safety and health, and helping blue-collar foreign workers adapt to their lives in Taiwan. Finally, this study suggests seven important points and discusses the implementation process necessary to improve governmental policies. The government and employees should pay attention to the education/training of occupational safety and health for blue-collar foreign workers to eliminate unsafe behavior in order to protect the lives of blue-collar foreign workers. PMID:27420085

  4. Hazard Prevention Regarding Occupational Accidents Involving Blue-Collar Foreign Workers: A Perspective of Taiwanese Manpower Agencies.

    PubMed

    Chang, Huan-Cheng; Wang, Mei-Chin; Liao, Hung-Chang; Cheng, Shu-Fang; Wang, Ya-Huei

    2016-07-13

    Since 1989, blue-collar foreign workers have been permitted to work in Taiwanese industries. Most blue-collar foreign workers apply for jobs in Taiwan through blue-collar foreign workers' agencies. Because blue-collar foreign workers are not familiar with the language and culture in Taiwan, in occupational accident education and hazard prevention, the agencies play an important role in the coordination and translation between employees and blue-collar foreign workers. The purpose of this study is to establish the agencies' role in the occupational accidents education and hazard prevention for blue-collar foreign workers in Taiwan. This study uses a qualitative method-grounded theory-to collect, code, and analyze the data in order to understand the agencies' role in occupational accident education and hazard prevention for blue-collar foreign workers in Taiwan. The results show that the duty of agencies in occupational accident education and hazard prevention includes selecting appropriate blue-collar foreign workers, communicating between employees and blue-collar foreign workers, collecting occupational safety and health information, assisting in the training of occupational safety and health, and helping blue-collar foreign workers adapt to their lives in Taiwan. Finally, this study suggests seven important points and discusses the implementation process necessary to improve governmental policies. The government and employees should pay attention to the education/training of occupational safety and health for blue-collar foreign workers to eliminate unsafe behavior in order to protect the lives of blue-collar foreign workers.

  5. Participation and occupation in occupational therapy models of practice: A discussion of possibilities and challenges.

    PubMed

    Larsson-Lund, Maria; Nyman, Anneli

    2017-11-01

    Occupation has been the focus in occupational therapy practice to greater or lesser degrees from a historical viewpoint. This evokes a need to discuss whether concepts that are added to our field will enhance or blur our focus on occupation. To explore how the concept of participation in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is related to the concept of occupation by reviewing and comparing its use in three models of practice within occupational therapy. The aim was also to generate discussion on possibilities and challenges concerning the relationship of participation and occupation. The models reviewed were The Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement (CMOP-E) and the Occupational Therapy Intervention Process Model (OTIPM). The concept of participation was related to occupation in different ways in these models. Based on the review some challenges and considerations for occupational therapy were generated. Relating the concept of participation from the ICF to the concept of occupation in models of practice can be challenging. At the same time, relating the concepts can be a resource to develop occupational therapy and the understanding of occupational issues in society.

  6. Minimizing embedding impact in steganography using trellis-coded quantization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Filler, Tomáš; Judas, Jan; Fridrich, Jessica

    2010-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a practical approach to minimizing embedding impact in steganography based on syndrome coding and trellis-coded quantization and contrast its performance with bounds derived from appropriate rate-distortion bounds. We assume that each cover element can be assigned a positive scalar expressing the impact of making an embedding change at that element (single-letter distortion). The problem is to embed a given payload with minimal possible average embedding impact. This task, which can be viewed as a generalization of matrix embedding or writing on wet paper, has been approached using heuristic and suboptimal tools in the past. Here, we propose a fast and very versatile solution to this problem that can theoretically achieve performance arbitrarily close to the bound. It is based on syndrome coding using linear convolutional codes with the optimal binary quantizer implemented using the Viterbi algorithm run in the dual domain. The complexity and memory requirements of the embedding algorithm are linear w.r.t. the number of cover elements. For practitioners, we include detailed algorithms for finding good codes and their implementation. Finally, we report extensive experimental results for a large set of relative payloads and for different distortion profiles, including the wet paper channel.

  7. Consensus Assignments for Water Vapor Lines Not Assigned on the HITRAN Database: 13,200 to 16,500/cm

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Giver, Lawerence P.; Chackerian, Charles, Jr.; Freedman, Richard S.; Varanasi, Prasad; Gore, Warren (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    There are nearly 800 water Vapor-lines in the 13,200-16,500/cm region that do not have rovibrational assignments in the HITRAN database. The positions and intensities in the database were determined by Mandin et al., but assignments could not be determined at that time. Polyansky, et al. have now assigned over 600 of the unassigned lines in the 11,200-16,500/cm region. Schwenke has also given rovibrational assignments to many of these unassigned lines throughout the visible and near-infrared. Both articles changed the assignments of some HITRAN lines. Carleer et al. extend assignments to some weaker lines measured by them on new spectra with excellent signal/noise. However, some lines measured by Mandin et al. were omitted by Carleer, et al. because of blends due to lower spectral resolution. The rovibrational assignments of Polyansky et al. completely agree with those in Schwenke's article for only about 200 lines. However, Schwenke's ab initio line list is available on his internet site (http://ccf.arc.nasa.gov/-dschwenke). A detailed comparison of the Polyansky et al.line list, the Carleer et al.line list, and Schwenke's ab initio line list shows a larger number of agreements. In many cases the disagreement is only about the vibrational and/or rotational upper level, while there is agreement on the lower state assignment and energy level, "E", which is of primary importance for atmospheric applications. We will present a line list of "consensus" assignments in the 13,200-16,500/cm region for consideration of inclusion on the HITRAN and GEISA databases. This will substantially reduce the number of unassigned lines on the databases in this spectral region.

  8. Relationship of occupational and non-occupational stress with smoking in automotive industry workers.

    PubMed

    Hassani, Somayeh; Yazdanparast, Taraneh; Seyedmehdi, Seyed Mohammad; Ghaffari, Mostafa; Attarchi, Mirsaeed; Bahadori, Baharak

    2014-01-01

    Tobacco use is the second cause of death and first cause of preventable mortality worldwide. Smoking in the workplace is particularly concerning. Smoking-free workplaces decrease the risk of exposure of non-smoking personnel to cigarette smoke. Recent studies have mostly focused on the effect of daily or non-occupational stressors (in comparison with occupational stress) on prevalence of smoking. Occupational stress is often evaluated in workplaces for smoking cessation or control programs, but the role of non-occupational stressors is often disregarded in this respect. This cross-sectional study was conducted in an automobile manufacturing company. The response of automotive industry workers to parts of the validated, reliable, Farsi version of Musculoskeletal Intervention Center (MUSIC)-Norrtalje questionnaire was evaluated. A total of 3,536 factory workers participated in this study. Data were analyzed using SPSS and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. The correlation of smoking with demographic factors, occupational stressors and life events was evaluated. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that even after adjusting for the confounding factors, cigarette smoking was significantly correlated with age, sex, level of education, job control and life events (P<0.05). The results showed that of occupational and non-occupational stressors, only job control was correlated with cigarette smoking. Non-occupational stressors had greater effect on cigarette smoking. Consideration of both non-occupational and occupational stressors can enhance the success of smoking control programs. On the other hand, a combination of smoking control and stress (occupational and non-occupational) control programs can be more effective than smoking cessation interventions alone.

  9. Assessment of occupational cosmic radiation exposure of flight attendants using questionnaire data.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Jeri L; Waters, Martha A; Hein, Misty J; Schubauer-Berigan, Mary K; Pinkerton, Lynne E

    2011-11-01

    Female flight attendants may have a higher risk of breast and other cancers than the general population because of routine exposure to cosmic radiation. As part of a forthcoming study of breast and other cancer incidence, occupational cosmic radiation exposure of a cohort of female flight attendants was estimated. Questionnaire data were collected from living female cohort members who were formerly employed as flight attendants with Pan American World Airways. These data included airline at which the flight attendant was employed, assigned domicile, start and end dates for employment at domicile, and number of block hours and commuter segments flown per month. Questionnaire respondents were assigned daily absorbed and effective doses using a time-weighted dose rate specific to the domicile and/or work history era combined with self-reported work history information. Completed work history questionnaires were received from 5898 living cohort members. Mean employment time as a flight attendant was 7.4 yr at Pan Am and 12 yr in total. Estimated mean annual effective dose from all sources of occupational cosmic radiation exposure was 2.5 +/- 1.0 mSv, with a mean career dose of 30 mSv. Annual effective doses were similar to doses assessed for other flight attendant cohorts; however, questionnaire-based cumulative doses assessed in this study were on average higher than those assessed for other flight attendant cohorts using company-based records. The difference is attributed to the inclusion of dose from work at other airlines and commuter flights, which was made possible by using questionnaire data.

  10. Sexual orientation: its relevance to occupational science and the practice of occupational therapy.

    PubMed

    Jackson, J

    1995-01-01

    This article examines how sexual orientation may be relevant to the study of occupations and the practice of occupational therapy. It is suggested that a lesbian, gay, or bisexual orientation may influence the occupations in which a person engages, the symbolic interpretation of those occupations, and the environmental contingencies of those occupations, and thus is an appropriate topic for occupational scientists to address. With the use of clinical reasoning studies and literature on authentic occupational therapy, it is argued that a person's lesbian, gay, or bisexual orientation may be relevant to the therapeutic process if therapists are to truly achieve an intersubjective understanding of the patient's world and create an environment in which the patient is able to live a meaningful life. Given this argument as a foundation, the article explores why sexual orientation may be overlooked in some of the theoretical perspectives that guide practice. The narrative perspective on identity is introduced as one potentially valuable way that occupational therapy researchers and practitioners may understand sexual orientation and its relationship to occupation. Specifically it is suggested that sexual orientation may be understood, in part, as a symbolic theme of meaning that informs values and convictions that may then be expressed in one's choice of occupations.

  11. 25 CFR 535.2 - Assignments.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Assignments. 535.2 Section 535.2 Indians NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MANAGEMENT CONTRACT PROVISIONS POST-APPROVAL PROCEDURES... disapprove an assignment applying the standards of, and within the time provided by §§ 535.1(d) and 535.1(e...

  12. Occupational exposure to endotoxins and lung cancer risk: results of the ICARE Study.

    PubMed

    Ben Khedher, Soumaya; Neri, Monica; Guida, Florence; Matrat, Mireille; Cenée, Sylvie; Sanchez, Marie; Menvielle, Gwenn; Molinié, Florence; Luce, Danièle; Stücker, Isabelle

    2017-09-01

    To investigate the role of occupational exposure to endotoxins in lung cancer in a French population-based case-control study (ICARE (Investigation of occupational and environmental causes of respiratory cancers)). Detailed information was collected on the occupational history and smoking habits from 2926 patients with histologically confirmed lung cancer and 3555 matched controls. We evaluated each subject's endotoxin exposure after cross referencing International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) codes (for job tasks) and Nomenclature d'Activités Françaises (NAF) codes (for activity sectors). Endotoxin exposure levels were attributed to each work environment based on literature reports. ORs and 95% CIs were estimated using unconditional logistic regression models and controlled for main confounding factors. An inverse association between exposure to endotoxins and lung cancer was found (OR=0.80, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.95). Negative trends were shown with duration and cumulative exposure, and the risk was decreased decades after exposure cessation (all statistically significant). Lung cancer risk was particularly reduced among workers highly exposed (eg, in dairy, cattle, poultry, pig farms), but also in those weakly exposed (eg, in waste treatment). Statistically significant interactions were shown with smoking, and never/light smokers were more sensitive to an endotoxin effect than heavy smokers (eg, OR=0.14, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.32 and OR=0.80, 95% CI 0.45 to 1.40, respectively, for the quartiles with the highest cumulative exposure, compared with those never exposed). Pronounced inverse associations were shown with adenocarcinoma histological subtype (OR=0.37, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.55 in the highly exposed). Our findings suggest that exposure to endotoxins, even at a low level, reduces the risk of lung cancer. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is

  13. Investigation of occupational asthma: Do clinicians fail to identify relevant occupational exposures?

    PubMed Central

    de Olim, Carlo; Bégin, Denis; Boulet, Louis-Philippe; Cartier, André; Gérin, Michel; Lemière, Catherine

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Specific inhalation challenges (SIC) enable the identification of the agent responsible of occupational asthma (OA). A clinician may fail to identify a specific agent in the workplace, which may potentially lead to a misdiagnosis. The expert assessment method performed by an occupational hygienist has been used to evaluate occupational exposures in epidemiological studies. OBJECTIVE: The broad aim of the present study was to evaluate the contribution of an expert assessment performed by an occupational hygienist to the diagnosis of OA. The specific aim was to compare work-place exposures identified by an occupational hygienist and by chest physicians in subjects with positive SICs and subjects with asthma, but with a negative SIC. METHODS: SICs were performed in 120 cases: 67 were positive and 53 were negative. A clinician assessed occupational exposures to sensitizers during a routine clinical evaluation preceding the performance of the SIC. An expert assessment of occupational exposures was performed by an occupational hygienist blind to the result of the SIC. RESULTS: The occupational hygienist identified the causal agent in 96.7% of the 61 cases of positive SIC. In 33 (62.3%) cases of negative SICs, the occupational hygienist identified ≥1 sensitizing agent(s) that had not been identified by the clinician. CONCLUSION: The hygienist identified the causal agent in almost all subjects with OA. In contrast, the clinician failed to identify potential exposures to sensitizers in >60% of the negative SIC subjects, which may have resulted in some subjects being misdiagnosed as not having OA. PMID:26422401

  14. Engineering and Related Occupations. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

    Focusing on engineering and related occupations, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providing current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include aerospace engineers, agricultural…

  15. Mathematics and Related Occupations. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

    Focusing on mathematics and related occupations, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providing current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include accountants, actuaries,…

  16. A Second Look at the Process of Occupational Feminization and Pay Reduction in Occupations.

    PubMed

    Mandel, Hadas

    2018-04-01

    Using the IPUMS-USA data for the years 1960-2015, this study examines trends in the effect of occupational feminization on occupational pay in the U.S. labor market and explores some of the mechanisms underlying these trends. The findings show that the (negative) association between occupational feminization and occupational pay level has declined, becoming insignificent in 2015. This trend, however, is reversed after education is controlled for at the individual as well as the occupational level. The two opposite trends are discussed in light of the twofold effect of education: (1) the entry of women into occupations requiring high education, and (2) the growing returns to education and to occupations with higher educational requirements. These two processes have concealed the deterioration in occupational pay following feminization. The findings underscore the significance of structural forms of gender inequality in general, and occupational devaluation in particular.

  17. Occupational Component. 36-Level Courses. Program of Studies/Curriculum Guide. Integrated Occupational Program.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton. Curriculum Branch.

    The Integrated Occupational Program (IOP) enables students in Alberta (Canada) who have experienced difficulty in learning to develop essential concepts, skills, and attitudes in the context of one or more occupational clusters. The IOP has four levels: occupational awareness (grades 8-9), career exploration (level 16), occupational orientation…

  18. Banking and Insurance Occupations. Reprinted from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1978-79 Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL), Washington, DC.

    Focusing on banking and insurance occupations, this document is one in a series of forty-one reprints from the Occupational Outlook Handbook providing current information and employment projections for individual occupations and industries through 1985. The specific occupations covered in this document include bank clerks, bank officers/managers,…

  19. Occupation and Thyroid Cancer

    PubMed Central

    Aschebrook-Kilfoy, Briseis; Ward, Mary H.; Valle, Curt T. Della; Friesen, Melissa C.

    2014-01-01

    Objectives Numerous occupational and environmental exposures have been shown to disrupt thyroid hormones, but much less is known about their relationships with thyroid cancer. Here we review the epidemiology studies of occupations and occupational exposures and thyroid cancer incidence to provide insight into preventable risk factors for thyroid cancer. Methods The published literature was searched using the Web of Knowledge database for all articles through August 2013 that had in their text “occupation” “job” ”employment” or “work” and “thyroid cancer”. After excluding 10 mortality studies and 4 studies with less than 5 exposed incident cases, we summarized the findings of 30 articles that examined thyroid cancer incidence in relation to occupations or occupational exposure. The studies were grouped by exposure/occupation category, study design, and exposure assessment approach. Where available, gender stratified results are reported. Results The most studied (19 of 30 studies) and the most consistent associations were observed for radiation-exposed workers and health care occupations. Suggestive, but inconsistent, associations were observed in studies of pesticide-exposed workers and agricultural occupations. Findings for other exposures and occupation groups were largely null. The majority of studies had few exposed cases and assessed exposure based on occupation or industry category, self-report, or generic (population-based) job exposure matrices. Conclusion The suggestive, but inconsistent findings for many of the occupational exposures reviewed here indicate that more studies with larger numbers of cases and better exposure assessment are necessary, particularly for exposures known to disrupt thyroid homeostasis. PMID:24604144

  20. 5 CFR 351.701 - Assignment involving displacement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Assignment involving displacement. 351.701 Section 351.701 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS REDUCTION IN FORCE Assignment Rights (Bump and Retreat) § 351.701 Assignment involving displacement. (a...

  1. 5 CFR 351.701 - Assignment involving displacement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Assignment involving displacement. 351.701 Section 351.701 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS REDUCTION IN FORCE Assignment Rights (Bump and Retreat) § 351.701 Assignment involving displacement. (a...

  2. 5 CFR 351.701 - Assignment involving displacement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Assignment involving displacement. 351.701 Section 351.701 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS REDUCTION IN FORCE Assignment Rights (Bump and Retreat) § 351.701 Assignment involving displacement. (a...

  3. 5 CFR 351.701 - Assignment involving displacement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Assignment involving displacement. 351.701 Section 351.701 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS REDUCTION IN FORCE Assignment Rights (Bump and Retreat) § 351.701 Assignment involving displacement. (a...

  4. 5 CFR 351.701 - Assignment involving displacement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Assignment involving displacement. 351.701 Section 351.701 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS REDUCTION IN FORCE Assignment Rights (Bump and Retreat) § 351.701 Assignment involving displacement. (a...

  5. Teacher's Guide to Occupational Orientation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Evaluation Systems, Inc., Amherst, MA.

    This guide is specifically designed to accompany materials developed for occupational orientation (particularly in Illinois) in the following five cluster areas: Applied biological and agricultural occupations; personal and public service occupations; health occupations; business, marketing, and management occupations; and industrial oriented…

  6. Occupational Mental Health, Labor Accidents and Occupational Diseases

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Naveillan, F. Pedro

    1973-01-01

    The article discusses the relationship between mental health and labor accidents as it pertains to accident prevention, treatment of accident victims, and their rehabilitation. It also comments briefly on mental health and occupational diseases and the scope of the field of occupational mental health from a Chilean perspective. (AG)

  7. Relationship of Occupational and Non-Occupational Stress with Smoking in Automotive Industry Workers

    PubMed Central

    Hassani, Somayeh; Yazdanparast, Taraneh; Ghaffari, Mostafa; Attarchi, Mirsaeed; Bahadori, Baharak

    2014-01-01

    Background Tobacco use is the second cause of death and first cause of preventable mortality worldwide. Smoking in the workplace is particularly concerning. Smoking-free workplaces decrease the risk of exposure of non-smoking personnel to cigarette smoke. Recent studies have mostly focused on the effect of daily or non-occupational stressors (in comparison with occupational stress) on prevalence of smoking. Occupational stress is often evaluated in workplaces for smoking cessation or control programs, but the role of non-occupational stressors is often disregarded in this respect. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in an automobile manufacturing company. The response of automotive industry workers to parts of the validated, reliable, Farsi version of Musculoskeletal Intervention Center (MUSIC)-Norrtalje questionnaire was evaluated. A total of 3,536 factory workers participated in this study. Data were analyzed using SPSS and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The correlation of smoking with demographic factors, occupational stressors and life events was evaluated. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that even after adjusting for the confounding factors, cigarette smoking was significantly correlated with age, sex, level of education, job control and life events (P<0.05). Conclusion The results showed that of occupational and non-occupational stressors, only job control was correlated with cigarette smoking. Non-occupational stressors had greater effect on cigarette smoking. Consideration of both non-occupational and occupational stressors can enhance the success of smoking control programs. On the other hand, a combination of smoking control and stress (occupational and non-occupational) control programs can be more effective than smoking cessation interventions alone. PMID:25506374

  8. Occupational asthma: a review.

    PubMed Central

    Lombardo, L J; Balmes, J R

    2000-01-01

    Occupational asthma is the most common form of occupational lung disease in the developed world at the present time. In this review, the epidemiology, pathogenesis/mechanisms, clinical presentations, management, and prevention of occupational asthma are discussed. The population attributable risk of asthma due to occupational exposures is considerable. Current understanding of the mechanisms by which many agents cause occupational asthma is limited, especially for low-molecular-weight sensitizers and irritants. The diagnosis of occupational asthma is generally established on the basis of a suggestive history of a temporal association between exposure and the onset of symptoms and objective evidence that these symptoms are related to airflow limitation. Early diagnosis, elimination of exposure to the responsible agent, and early use of inhaled steroids may play important roles in the prevention of long-term persistence of asthma. Persistent occupational asthma is often associated with substantial disability and consequent impacts on income and quality of life. Prevention of new cases is the best approach to reducing the burden of asthma attributable to occupational exposures. Future research needs are identified. PMID:10931788

  9. Statistical Modeling of Occupational Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Using OSHA Data.

    PubMed

    Lee, Derrick G; Lavoué, Jérôme; Spinelli, John J; Burstyn, Igor

    2015-01-01

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of pollutants with multiple variants classified as carcinogenic. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) provided access to two PAH exposure databanks of United States workplace compliance testing data collected between 1979 and 2010. Mixed-effects logistic models were used to predict the exceedance fraction (EF), i.e., the probability of exceeding OSHA's Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL = 0.2 mg/m3) for PAHs based on industry and occupation. Measurements of coal tar pitch volatiles were used as a surrogate for PAHs. Time, databank, occupation, and industry were included as fixed-effects while an identifier for the compliance inspection number was included as a random effect. Analyses involved 2,509 full-shift personal measurements. Results showed that the majority of industries had an estimated EF < 0.5, although several industries, including Standardized Industry Classification codes 1623 (Water, Sewer, Pipeline, and Communication and Powerline Construction), 1711 (Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning), 2824 (Manmade Organic Fibres), 3496 (Misc. Fabricated Wire products), and 5812 (Eating Places), and Major group's 13 (Oil and Gas Extraction) and 30 (Rubber and Miscellaneous Plastic Products), were estimated to have more than an 80% likelihood of exceeding the PEL. There was an inverse temporal trend of exceeding the PEL, with lower risk in most recent years, albeit not statistically significant. Similar results were shown when incorporating occupation, but varied depending on the occupation as the majority of industries predicted at the administrative level, e.g., managers, had an estimated EF < 0.5 while at the minimally skilled/laborer level there was a substantial increase in the estimated EF. These statistical models allow the prediction of PAH exposure risk through individual occupational histories and will be used to create a job-exposure matrix for use in a population-based case

  10. A narrative insight into disability pensioners' work experiences in highly gender-segregated occupations.

    PubMed

    Reinholdt, Sofia; Alexanderson, Kristina

    2009-01-01

    This study examined some plausible explanations for the higher rates of ill-health seen in extremely gender-segregated occupations. The focus was on the work experiences of disability pensioners with last jobs prior to pensioning characterized by segregated conditions (i.e., less than 10% of the employees of their own sex). Seven interviews were subjected to qualitative content analyses focusing on aspects of health selection, gender differences in work tasks, and in the work situation. The results show a negative health selection into occupations in which the participants constitute an extreme minority. There were some differences in work tasks between the gender in extreme minority and the other gender. Exposure to different stress factors related to the minority status included increased visibility, performance pressure, and harassment. Gender had been of main importance for differences in exposure, for assigning work tasks, and for interaction dynamics between the groups in majority and extreme minority. A combination of negative health selection, gender marking of work tasks, and group interaction dynamics related to group proportions and gender may play a role in cumulative health risks. Additional longitudinal studies are needed to identify mechanisms and interactions in this context in order to better understand possible relationships between occupational gender segregation and increased health risks.

  11. Multipoint to multipoint routing and wavelength assignment in multi-domain optical networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qin, Panke; Wu, Jingru; Li, Xudong; Tang, Yongli

    2018-01-01

    In multi-point to multi-point (MP2MP) routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) problems, researchers usually assume the optical networks to be a single domain. However, the optical networks develop toward to multi-domain and larger scale in practice. In this context, multi-core shared tree (MST)-based MP2MP RWA are introduced problems including optimal multicast domain sequence selection, core nodes belonging in which domains and so on. In this letter, we focus on MST-based MP2MP RWA problems in multi-domain optical networks, mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulations to optimally construct MP2MP multicast trees is presented. A heuristic algorithm base on network virtualization and weighted clustering algorithm (NV-WCA) is proposed. Simulation results show that, under different traffic patterns, the proposed algorithm achieves significant improvement on network resources occupation and multicast trees setup latency in contrast with the conventional algorithms which were proposed base on a single domain network environment.

  12. 7 CFR 900.106 - Assignment of mediator.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 8 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Assignment of mediator. 900.106 Section 900.106 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing... Assignment of mediator. The Director of the Division shall assign a mediator, from the group designated by...

  13. 48 CFR 1511.011-74 - Work assignments.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Work assignments. 1511.011... ACQUISITION PLANNING DESCRIBING AGENCY NEEDS 1511.011-74 Work assignments. The Contracting Officer shall insert the contract clause at 1552.211-74, Work Assignments, in cost-reimbursement type term form...

  14. Occupational pressure-targeting organisational factors to ameliorate occupational dysfunction.

    PubMed

    Loh, Siew Yim; Than, Winn; Quek, Kia Fatt

    2011-12-01

    Chronic pressure at work has debilitating impact on healthcare employers (e.g. reduced productivity, high costs, poor patient care) and on female healthcare employees (e.g. sickness, dysfunction). This paper highlights relationship at work as the key occupational source of work-stress which is organisational in nature. A cross-sectional study (n = 230) was conducted using the Pressure Management Inventory on several female dominated health professions within a large public hospital. Analysis of variance was used to show relationship between sources and outcome of pressure. Linear regressions were used to predict which sources of pressure (IV) was linked to the outcomes of occupational pressure (DV). The number one source of occupational pressure is relationships at work (i.e. with supervisors), and not workload. 'Relationship' is also the key predictor of several negative outcomes of pressure at work. Analysis of variance showed significant differences in two sources of pressures, i.e. Workload (P = 0.04) and Home-work balance (P = 0.03). This paper provides insights into the occupational pressure of women health professionals by highlighting the organisational sources of pressure and the implications for preventing occupational dysfunction secondary to stress at work.

  15. A Study of Clinical Coding Accuracy in Surgery: Implications for the Use of Administrative Big Data for Outcomes Management.

    PubMed

    Nouraei, S A R; Hudovsky, A; Frampton, A E; Mufti, U; White, N B; Wathen, C G; Sandhu, G S; Darzi, A

    2015-06-01

    Clinical coding is the translation of clinical activity into a coded language. Coded data drive hospital reimbursement and are used for audit and research, and benchmarking and outcomes management purposes. We undertook a 2-center audit of coding accuracy across surgery. Clinician-auditor multidisciplinary teams reviewed the coding of 30,127 patients and assessed accuracy at primary and secondary diagnosis and procedure levels, morbidity level, complications assignment, and financial variance. Postaudit data of a randomly selected sample of 400 cases were reaudited by an independent team. At least 1 coding change occurred in 15,402 patients (51%). There were 3911 (13%) and 3620 (12%) changes to primary diagnoses and procedures, respectively. In 5183 (17%) patients, the Health Resource Grouping changed, resulting in income variance of £3,974,544 (+6.2%). The morbidity level changed in 2116 (7%) patients (P < 0.001). The number of assigned complications rose from 2597 (8.6%) to 2979 (9.9%) (P < 0.001). Reaudit resulted in further primary diagnosis and procedure changes in 8.7% and 4.8% of patients, respectively. The coded data are a key engine for knowledge-driven health care provision. They are used, increasingly at individual surgeon level, to benchmark performance. Surgical clinical coding is prone to subjectivity, variability, and error (SVE). Having a specialty-by-specialty understanding of the nature and clinical significance of informatics variability and adopting strategies to reduce it, are necessary to allow accurate assumptions and informed decisions to be made concerning the scope and clinical applicability of administrative data in surgical outcomes improvement.

  16. Population Health and Occupational Therapy.

    PubMed

    Braveman, Brent

    2016-01-01

    Occupational therapy practitioners play an important role in improving the health of populations through the development of occupational therapy interventions at the population level and through advocacy to address occupational participation and the multiple determinants of health. This article defines and explores population health as a concept and describes the appropriateness of occupational therapy practice in population health. Support of population health practice as evidenced in the official documents of the American Occupational Therapy Association and the relevance of population health for occupational therapy as a profession are reviewed. Recommendations and directions for the future are included related to celebration of the achievements of occupational therapy practitioners in the area of population health, changes to the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework and educational accreditation standards, and the importance of supporting, recognizing, rewarding, and valuing occupational therapy practitioners who assume roles in which direct care is not their primary function. Copyright © 2016 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

  17. A comparison of some of the characteristics of patients with occupational and non-occupational asthma.

    PubMed

    Axon, E J; Beach, J R; Burge, P S

    1995-04-01

    Occupational asthma is the most frequently diagnosed occupational lung disease reported to the SWORD (Surveillance of Work-related and Occupational Respiratory Disease) scheme. However, diagnosing occupational asthma is not straightforward, and establishing a link with work may be difficult. This study was undertaken to determine the differences between patients with occupational asthma and those with non-occupational asthma which might help in their diagnosis. Information was collected using a self-completed questionnaire. Questionnaires were distributed to 30 subjects aged 18-65 years at each of two clinics--one for patients with occupational asthma and one for those with cryptogenic and environmental asthma. Replies were received from 26 patients with occupational asthma (87%) and 29 patients with non-occupational asthma (97%). The age of onset was significantly higher for those with occupational asthma (42.6 vs 20.7 years). Significantly more subjects with occupational asthma reported improvement on holiday, whereas no significant difference was found in the numbers reporting worsening of symptoms on work days. Those with occupational asthma were less likely to report seasonal variation in symptoms, exacerbation by allergies, pets and stress, or a family history of asthma. Subjects with occupational asthma were more likely to become unemployed (50% vs 3%). Recognition of some of these features in a patient's history may help in the difficult task of differentiating occupational from non-occupational asthma, potentially avoiding the need for exhaustive investigations in some patients. The high prevalence of holiday improvement among subjects with non-occupational asthma suggested that domestic or environmental allergies arising outside the workplace may have been making an important contribution to ongoing symptoms in these subjects.

  18. Individual and occupational factors related to fatal occupational injuries: a case-control study.

    PubMed

    Villanueva, Vicent; Garcia, Ana M

    2011-01-01

    This study has been designed in order to identify factors increasing the risk of a fatal outcome when occupational accidents occur. The aim is to provide further evidence for the design and implementation of preventive measures in occupational settings. The Spanish Ministry of Labour registry of occupational injuries causing absence from work includes information on individual and occupational characteristics of injured workers and events. Registered fatal occupational injuries in 2001 (n=539) were compared to a sample of non-fatal injuries in the same year (n=3493). Risks for a fatal result of occupational injuries, adjusted by individual and occupational factors significantly associated, were obtained through logistic regression models. Compared to non-fatal injuries, fatal occupational injuries were mostly produced by trapping or by natural causes, mostly related to elevation and transport devices and power generators, and injured parts of body more frequently affected were head, multiple parts or internal organs. Adjusted analyses showed increased risk of fatality after an occupational injury for males (adjusted odds ratio aOR=10.92; 95%CI 4.80-24.84) and temporary workers (aOR=5.18; 95%CI 2.63-10.18), and the risk increased with age and with advancing hour of the work shift (p for trends <0.01). Injuries taking place out of the usual occupational setting (aOR=2.85, 95%CI 2.27-3.59), or carrying out atypical tasks (aOR=2.08; 95%CI 1.27-3.39) showed increased risks of a fatal result too, as occupational accidents in agricultural or construction companies. These data can help to select and define priorities for programmes aimed to prevent fatal consequences of occupational injuries. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Instructional Support System--Occupational Education. Building Industries Occupations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abramson, Theodore; And Others

    The modules which make up the bulk of this report are the result of a two-week workshop at which thirteen building industries occupations teachers worked toward the development of a student outcome oriented curriculum. These modules are divided into the following occupational units: (1) carpentry (containing hand tools; portable power tools;…

  20. Welding. Occupational Competency Analysis Profile.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Vocational Instructional Materials Lab.

    This Occupational Competency Analysis Profile (OCAP), which is one of a series of OCAPs developed to identify the skills that Ohio employers deem necessary to entering a given occupation/occupational area, lists the occupational, academic, and employability skills required of individuals entering the occupation of welder. The introduction explains…