The Role of the e-Tutor in Synchronous Online Problem-Based Learning: A Study in a Master Public Health Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Jong, Nynke; Verstegen, Daniëlle M. L.; Könings, Karen D.

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to compare the role of the tutor in an online and a face-to-face problem-based learning (PBL) session to shed light on potential differences of the tutor role in both settings. In this practice-based study we compared the two groups with the same tutor undertaking the same module. Students completed questionnaires about…

Partners in public health law: elected officials, health directors, and attorneys.

PubMed

Benjamin, Georges; Lopez, Wilfredo; Monson, Angela Zoe

2002-01-01

The partnership that has developed over the years between elected officials, health directors, and attorneys came about through necessity and practicality. This article examines this partnership and some of the conflicts and problems it contains. The article discusses the problems of overlap of authority between public health departments and elected officials. It also emphasizes that existing laws and regulations often provide sufficiently flexible authority, and that such laws and regulations can be exercised in new ways to address current public health problems. The article concludes with a discussion of the challenges faced by public health officials and legislators in forming a partnership to secure necessary financial support and legal authority for public health activities.

University Education in Kenya: Current Developments and Future Outlook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mutula, Stephen M.

2002-01-01

Discusses university education in Kenya, with an emphasis on patterns of financing and how this has affected overall operations of the universities. Assesses reforms to reduce government grants and make public universities self-sustaining, compares private and public universities, and discusses problems facing public universities and how they are…

Understanding and Facing Discipline-Related Challenges in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom at Public Schools (Comprensión y tratamiento de los retos asociados a la disciplina en el aula de lengua extranjera en escuelas públicas)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quintero Corzo, Josefina; Ramírez Contreras, Odilia

2011-01-01

Complying with school regulations and teachers' instructions is a basic principle of an excellent class; both novice and experienced teachers face challenging situations when getting into real classrooms, especially those related to classroom management. There are various reasons that explain discipline problems in public schools, as well as…

Are public subsidies effective to reduce emergency care? Evidence from the PLASA study.

PubMed

Rapp, Thomas; Chauvin, Pauline; Sirven, Nicolas

2015-08-01

Elderly people facing dependence are exposed to the financial risk of long lasting care expenditures. This risk is high for people facing cognitive, functional and behavioral problems. In the short-term, dependent elderly people face increased non-medical care expenditures. In the long-term, they face increased medical care expenditures, which are driven by emergency care events such as: emergency hospitalization, emergency medical visits, and emergency institutionalizations. In France, providing public financial assistance has been shown to improve dependent people's access to non-medical care services. However, the impact of public financial assistance on emergency care use has not been explored yet. Our study aims at determining whether financial assistance on non-medical care provision decreases the probability of emergency care rates using data of 1131 French patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, collected between 2003 and 2007. Using instrumental variables to deal with the presence of a potential endogeneity bias, we find that beneficiaries of long-term care subsidies have a significantly lower rate of emergency care than non-beneficiaries. Failing to control for endogeneity problems would lead to misestimate the impact of long-term care subsidies on emergency care rates. Finding that home care subsidies has a protective effect for emergency care confirmed the efficacy of this public policy tool. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Unnecessary Tension between Learning Communities and Intellectual Growth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Browne, M. Neil; Minnick, Kevin J.

2005-01-01

Universities face enormous problems. Their survival depends on how they respond to persistent budgetary cuts from public sources, conflicting expectations from varying constituencies, and competitive pressures from competing training organizations. As they search for institutional arrangements that will be conducive to their success in the face of…

Military-Induced Family Separation: A Stress Reduction Intervention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, William G., Jr.

1993-01-01

Notes that Persian Gulf War focused public attention on the problems military families face in coping with military-induced family separation. Highlights some of the unique stressors faced by active-duty, national guard, and reserve military families. Presents practical guidelines to assist social workers in designing interventions to help these…

The Culture of Fear and the Politics of Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ginsberg, Rick; Lyche, Leif Frederick

2008-01-01

American public education has historically been considered a great success. Since the release of the landmark 1983 federal report, "A Nation at Risk," concerns about many aspects of American education have been highly publicized. Although the actual extent of the degree of problems facing public education is debated, this article argues…

Public Funds and Private Colleges.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pope, Kenneth H.

Financial and survival problems facing private colleges, unless the state governments make major changes in the way public education is financed, are discussed in this speech. The gap between the cost of attending public and private institutions is growing, at least for families with incomes above the median. Many of the best academic colleges and…

Commercial influence and global nongovernmental public action in health and pharmaceutical policies.

PubMed

Koivusalo, Meri; Mackintosh, Maureen

2011-01-01

Nongovernmental public action has been effective in influencing global agenda-setting in health and pharmaceutical policies, yet its record in influencing solutions to the problems identified has been notably more limited. While trade policies have been particularly resistant to change, more substantial changes are observable in global health policies and global health governance. However, some of the directions of change may not be conducive to the democratic accountability of global health governance, to the wise use of public resources, to health systems development, or to longer-term access to health care within developing countries. The authors argue that observed changes in global health policies can be understood as accommodating to corporate concerns and priorities. Furthermore, the changing global context and the commercialization of global public action itself pose sharp challenges to the exercise of influence by global nongovernmental public actors. Nongovernmental organizations not only face a major challenge in terms of the imbalance in power and resources between themselves and corporate interest groups when seeking to influence policymaking; they also face the problem of corporate influence on public action itself.

Victimisation through bullying and cyberbullying: Emotional intelligence, severity of victimisation and technology use in different types of victims.

PubMed

Beltrán-Catalán, María; Zych, Izabela; Ortega-Ruiz, Rosario; Llorent, Vicente J

2018-05-01

Bullying and cyberbullying are global public health problems. However, very few studies described prevalence, similarities and differences among face-to-face victims, cybervictims and students who are victimised through both bullying and cyberbullying. This study was conducted to describe these different patterns of victimisation and severity of victimisation, emotional intelligence and technology use in different types of victims. A total number of 2,139 secondary school students from 22 schools, randomly selected from all provinces of Andalusia, Spain, participated in this study. Information about bullying, cyberbullying, social networking sites use and perceived emotional intelligence was collected. Face-to-face victimisation only is the most common type of victimisation followed by mixed victimisation. Cybervictimisation only is rare. Mixed victims score higher in severity of bullying and present higher emotional attention than face-to-face victims. Most victims of cyberbullying are also face-to-face victims. Holistic approach that focuses on different problems at the same time seems to be needed to tackle these behaviours.

Hierarchical Spatio-Temporal Probabilistic Graphical Model with Multiple Feature Fusion for Binary Facial Attribute Classification in Real-World Face Videos.

PubMed

Demirkus, Meltem; Precup, Doina; Clark, James J; Arbel, Tal

2016-06-01

Recent literature shows that facial attributes, i.e., contextual facial information, can be beneficial for improving the performance of real-world applications, such as face verification, face recognition, and image search. Examples of face attributes include gender, skin color, facial hair, etc. How to robustly obtain these facial attributes (traits) is still an open problem, especially in the presence of the challenges of real-world environments: non-uniform illumination conditions, arbitrary occlusions, motion blur and background clutter. What makes this problem even more difficult is the enormous variability presented by the same subject, due to arbitrary face scales, head poses, and facial expressions. In this paper, we focus on the problem of facial trait classification in real-world face videos. We have developed a fully automatic hierarchical and probabilistic framework that models the collective set of frame class distributions and feature spatial information over a video sequence. The experiments are conducted on a large real-world face video database that we have collected, labelled and made publicly available. The proposed method is flexible enough to be applied to any facial classification problem. Experiments on a large, real-world video database McGillFaces [1] of 18,000 video frames reveal that the proposed framework outperforms alternative approaches, by up to 16.96 and 10.13%, for the facial attributes of gender and facial hair, respectively.

Elementary Schools, Teaching, and Social Studies in Texas: Facing the Great Depression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bellows, M. Elizabeth; Baumi, Michelle; Field, Sherry L.

2013-01-01

Across the United States, the Great Depression was a period of tremendous upheaval. Economic, family, political, and educational institutions shook mightily as the tremors of widespread financial downturn were felt. Public schools faced increasing hardships, which included financial problems such as a weakened tax base due to the non-payment of…

Environmental Education for a Sustainable Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schlesinger, William H.

2004-01-01

The American public is now faced with a baffling array of new environmental issues--much more complicated than the problems people faced 30 years ago. Scientists recognize new threats to the biosphere, the fabric of natural ecosystems, and the diversity of plants and animals that inhabit them. Unlike the obvious, toxic pollutants that spurred the…

SEMINAR PUBLICATION: NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOWS (SSOS)

EPA Science Inventory

This seminar publication presents selected peer-reviewed papers from the conference. Thousands of municipalities across the nation are serviced by separate sanitary sewer systems. A chronic problem that faces many of these systems is the occurrence of SSOs, caused mainly by the i...

Teacher Burnout: Will Talking about It Help?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grossnickle, Donald R.

1980-01-01

Teachers are beginning to collectively voice their complaints about the stresses they face in school. While talking about the problems of low morale and poor school climate won't solve these problems, the public is being alerted that teachers need help, not further criticism. (SJL)

Health impacts and research ethics in female trafficking.

PubMed

Dhital, S R; Aro, R A; Sapkota, K

2011-04-01

Female trafficking is a social and public health problem, associated with physical and sexual abuse, psychological trauma, injuries from violence, sexually transmitted infections, adverse reproductive outcomes and substance misuse. It faces several challenges ranging from the hidden nature of the problem to ethical and human rights issues. The objectives of this paper are to analyze health impact of trafficking; ethical and research issues and anti-trafficking strategies in the Nepalese context. We collected published and unpublished data assessing the public health, ethical burden and research needs from different sources. Trafficked female involved in sex-industry that face grave situation as depicted and it might a reservoir of sexually transmitted diseases. Ethical issues related to survey of assessing the burden are difficult to carry out. The best ways to prevent and control these problems are to enhance anti- trafficking laws and raise awareness, empower and mobilize females and establish organizational capacity.

A Study of Difficulties and Approaches for Innovative Talents Training of Public Administration Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Yanhan; Wu, Juan

2014-01-01

The innovation is the soul of one nation making progresses. To build an innovative country, we need to train more innovative talents who is capable of public administration. The innovative talents training of public administration undergraduate faces a lot of problems, such as the influences of traditional culture, the constraint of education…

Retirement Trends and Public Policy: The Carrot and the Stick.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quinn, Joseph F.; Burkhauser, Richard V.

Recent trends toward earlier retirement have exacerbated the financial problems facing the Social Security system and many other public and private pension plans. The massive commitment of public and private funds to Social Security and pension funds is partly responsible for the trend to early retirement. This, in fact, was one of the early goals…

Advisory Commission for the Study of Public Support for Post-Secondary Education in Maine.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maine State Advisory Commission for the Study of Public Support for Postsecondary Education, Augusta.

The Advisory Commission for the Study of Public Support for Postsecondary Education in Maine reviewed the financial problems facing Maine's private higher education institutions and the impact of increasing student costs at Maine's public institutions. The text of the state legislation creating the Commission is presented, along with a summary of…

Solving the Teacher Shortage Problem in Ghana: Critical Perspectives for Understanding the Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cobbold, Cosmas

2015-01-01

The problem of getting sufficient numbers of qualified teachers to staff classrooms is one of the most significant public policy issues facing many countries. In Ghana, the problem of teacher shortage has been a perennial one, necessitated by educational expansion as well as adverse socio-economic and political circumstances, and exacerbated by…

Public Libraries: Responding to Demand.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Annichiarico, Mark; And Others

1993-01-01

Discussion of problems library wholesalers/distributors face trying to fulfill public libraries' needs while adjusting to a changing industry is based on responses by librarians to a survey on library jobbers. Increased services to libraries, electronic ordering, timeliness, stock management, and quality control are addressed; and a chart of…

Rural-Urban Connections.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perkins, Daniel F.; LaGreca, Anthony J.; Mullis, Ronald L.

This publication combines three papers on rural and urban youth issues. "Key Issues Facing Rural Youth" (Daniel F. Perkins) notes that rural adolescents share the same concerns and exhibit the same problem behaviors as their urban counterparts. But in addition, geographic isolation presents problems unique to rural areas. A framework is proposed…

Tracking and Student Achievement: The Role of Instruction as a Mediator

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt, Rebecca Anne

2013-01-01

Most public schools and districts must face the problem of how to help low-achieving students and efficiently target resources, particularly in the face of accountability under No Child Left Behind. One policy that has been employed is grouping students into classrooms by their measured or perceived ability--a process known as tracking. Research…

Face It: P.R. Pablum Fools None of the People None of the Time.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thurman, William

1988-01-01

School boards' public relations efforts should be based on honesty and a clear examination of the issues, rather than self-serving generalizations that mask problems. Seven "C's" of public relations are discussed: credibility, context, content, clarity, continuity, channels, and capability of audience. (TE)

Theme Issue: Organizational Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anapol, Malthon M., Ed.

1978-01-01

The articles in this publication discuss the identity problem of those educated in organizational communication when they face a job market that does not identify specific roles and positions for their specialty. The publication includes an outline for a course in organizational communication and a list of guidelines for the selection of client…

Secondary Education in Germany.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jonen, Gerdi

This booklet provides a brief description of secondary education in Germany. The publication is part of a series that seeks to make the public aware of the education systems and traditions in all signatory states to the European Cultural Convention and to outline the essential problems these systems presently are facing. This short booklet…

A Dangerous Occupation? Violence in Public Libraries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrugia, Sarah

2002-01-01

Outlines the problem of violence in U.S. and British public libraries, including groups incidents, drunks, unruly youths, and irate patrons. Library staff face managerial apathy and reluctance to tackle. Discusses the reasons for violence, suggests measures to reduce threats and deal with incidents, risk assessment, security measures and staff…

Indian Students' Problems in Boarding Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klinekole, Ruth V.

1979-01-01

Indian students who have withdrawn from public schools for various reasons may receive alternative education at Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Boarding Schools, but they may also face academic, environmental, and personal problems. Attending a boarding school involves a radical culture break. Students are often far from home, deprived of parental…

CURRICULUM RELEVANCY AND WORK.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

KREUTER, MORTIMER; BARNETT, LAWRENCE J.

THE DEMANDS OF WORK AND EDUCATION UPON EACH OTHER, THE VALUE OR LACK OF VALUE OF COURSES FOR LEARNERS, AND THE UNDERMOTIVATED LEARNER WHO DOES NOT FIND SIGNIFICANCE IN CURRENT SCHOOL OFFERINGS ARE PROBLEMS FACING PUBLIC EDUCATION. SOME PREVIOUS PLANS TO OVERCOME THESE PROBLEMS HAVE USED (1) THE COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL, (2) INDUSTRY-SCHOOL…

Legal and Constitutional Problems of Public Support for Nonpublic Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whelan, Charles M.; Freund, Paul A.

Two authors analyze the problems facing aid to nonpublic school education and review relevant court decisions, emphasizing the latest Supreme Court decisions on the subject. Charles M. Whelan provides an analytical framework for determining the constitutionality of various assistance forms. He suggests that each program should be submitted to…

U.S., Soviets Face Common Science Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lepkowski, Wil

1981-01-01

Summarizes recent findings reported in a two-volume publication, "Science Policy: USA/USSR," issued by the National Science Foundation. Volumes I and II review U.S. and Soviet science policy in research and development, respectively. Comparisons are made concerning common problems around energy, environment, and the meaning of security.…

RACIAL IMBALANCE AND EDUCATIONAL PLANNING.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

CONROY, VINCENT F.

HARVARD'S ADMINISTRATIVE CAREER PROGRAM FACED THE GROWING PROBLEM OF NEGRO ENROLLMENT IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. NOTING THE FREQUENCY AND INTENSITY WITH WHICH THE PROBLEM WAS ARISING AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL, A GROUP OF LAWYERS AND EDUCATORS CONVENED TO WORK OUT THE LEGAL ASPECTS OF SCHOOL INTEGRATION. FUNDS FROM THE FORD FOUNDATION INITIATED THE…

Bullying and School Liability--Implications for School Personnel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Essex, Nathan

2011-01-01

Bullying is a serious and escalating problem in public schools across America. Each day, thousands of students face taunts and humiliation stemming from bullies. Bullying victims experience emotional and psychological problems that may persist for a lifetime. Other victims commit suicide or retaliate against bullies out of fear for their own…

Teacher Certification: The Problem in the Pacific Northwest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonard, Leo D.

1985-01-01

Teacher certification procedures in the Pacific Northwest are used to illustrate the kinds of problems facing the nation in terms of teacher certification and program accreditation. Proposals for change include: cooperation between public schools and universities; five year programs; and use of research to study the teacher education process. (DF)

Outdoor Recreation Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jubenville, Alan

The complex problems facing the manager of an outdoor recreation area are outlined and discussed. Eighteen chapters cover the following primary concerns of the manager of such a facility: (1) an overview of the management process; (2) the basic outdoor recreation management model; (3) the problem-solving process; (4) involvement of the public in…

History of Injury and Violence as public health problems and emergence of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at CDC.

PubMed

Sleet, David A; Baldwin, Grant; Marr, Angela; Spivak, Howard; Patterson, Sara; Morrison, Christine; Holmes, Wendy; Peeples, Amy B; Degutis, Linda C

2012-09-01

Injuries and violence are among the oldest health problems facing humans. Only within the past 50 years, however, has the problem been addressed with scientific rigor using public health methods. The field of injury control began as early as 1913, but wasn't approached systematically or epidemiologically until the 1940s and 1950s. It accelerated rapidly between 1960 and 1985. Coupled with active federal and state interest in reducing injuries and violence, this period was marked by important medical, scientific, and public health advances. The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) was an outgrowth of this progress and in 2012 celebrated its 20th anniversary. NCIPC was created in 1992 after a series of government reports identified injury as one of the most important public health problems facing the nation. Congressional action provided the impetus for the creation of NCIPC as the lead federal agency for non-occupational injury and violence prevention. In subsequent years, NCIPC and its partners fostered many advances and built strong capacity. Because of the tragically high burden and cost of injuries and violence in the United States and around the globe, researchers, practitioners, and decision makers will need to redouble prevention efforts in the next 20 years. This article traces the history of injury and violence prevention as a public health priority-- including the evolution and current structure of the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Discipline in the Schools. Three Decades of Public Opinion Polling. Search Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Education Association, Washington, DC. Research Div.

Results from a diverse selection of public opinion polls, most conducted by Gallup, taken from 1954 to 1984 reveal Americans' long-term concern about discipline in public schools. Since 1969, in every year but one, discipline has been considered the biggest problem facing schools by at least a quarter of the respondents. One in four surveyed views…

Top-Down Public Health Curricular Change: The Experience of Physical Education Teachers in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cothran, Donetta J.; McCaughtry, Nate; Kulinna, Pamela Hodges; Martin, Jeffrey

2006-01-01

Schools are frequently seen as the solution to social problems, and recent public health issues such as the near epidemic rates of obesity and diabetes are some of the newest pressures facing schools. This investigation is an exploration of physical education teachers' reactions to one school district's attempts to mandate a public health driven…

Tuition and Finance Issues for Public Institutions. AGB Occasional Paper No. 15.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallace, Thomas P.; Greer, Darryl G.; Mingle, James R.; Novak, Richard J.

1992-01-01

This paper contains three articles which present the opinions of the authors on public college tuition and state finance. The problem addressed is the large increase in tuition charged by public sector, four-year colleges coupled with the effects of fiscal constraints facing the states. After an introduction by Richard J. Novak, the papers are:…

Publication aspects of ethics in photogrammetry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thompson, Morris M.

1991-01-01

According to the Code of Ethics of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS), the principles on which ethics are founded consist of honesty, justice, and courtesy, forming a moral philosophy associated with mutual interest among men. We will cover in particular the ethical problems of publication of photogrammetric material in the various media. There are many such problems, and we often face a dilemma in selecting a course which is the right thing to do.

Problem Analysis: The First Step in Prevention Planning. A Prevention 101 Series Publication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeJong, William

2009-01-01

Student alcohol and other drug abuse and violence (AODV) still reign as the most serious social problems faced by U.S. institutions of higher education. To tackle these problems, campus administrators--working in conjunction with partners from the surrounding community--need to put in place an integrated set of strategies that address the mix of…

National School Debate: Banning Cell Phones in Public Schools: Analyzing a National School and Community Relations Problem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Clarence; Kritsonis, William Allan

2007-01-01

School systems in America face many critical challenges pertaining to regulating cell phone use by students in today's schools. School executives and classroom teachers face challenges daily relative to how to effectively deal with student's using cell phones. There are many drawbacks and benefits for cell phone use by students. The authors…

Attitudes to face transplantation: results of a public engagement exercise at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.

PubMed

Clarke, Alex; Simmons, Jon; White, Paul; Withey, Simon; Butler, Peter E M

2006-01-01

Hettiaratchy and Butler (Lancet 2002;360:5-6) framed face transplantation as the next logical step on the reconstructive ladder for severe facial injury, in particular, pan-facial burns. The procedure formed the basis for a Royal College of Surgeons of England working party report. Ethical, surgical, and psychological issues were identified as research priorities before face transplantation is attempted in the United Kingdom. Public engagement is a vital mechanism if people are to be informed about the risks and benefits of the technique and ultimately to be able to consent to either receiving or donating facial tissue. To sample public opinion about the procedure, 304 people attending the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition were sampled by online questionnaire to determine their attitude toward face transplantation. Although people were more cautious about face transplantation when comparing this with solid-organ transplantation, most of the sample were in favor of the procedure, whether receiving a donor face or donating their own face after their death. Only 10% were against the idea in principle. Concerns about altered identity were not a barrier to face transplantation for 69% of the sample, with most people appropriately identifying the long-term problems of immunosuppression as the issue that most concerned them. There is a substantial population of people who, given the right circumstances, would contemplate face transplantation for themselves and would be willing to donate their own face for transplantation after their death.

The Giving Gap

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Webber-Thrush, Diane

2010-01-01

Alumni participation rates of 40 percent and more are not uncommon at private baccalaureate institutions in the United States. At most publics, there is real cause for cheering when the rate peaks over 10 percent. Part of the problem is simply the math. With larger pools of alumni, public institutions face much higher costs, for instance, to send…

Writing for Journal Publication: An Overview of NNES Challenges and Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fazel, Ismaeil

2013-01-01

After a brief discussion of the importance of publishing in academic journals, this paper provides an overview of studies on writing for publication of NNES (non-native English speaking) writers. Based on the related literature, different language problems facing NNES contributors, from the perspective of both NNES writers and journal editors, as…

Teaching Public Speaking with Simulations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kell, Carl L.; Winn, Larry James

In public-speaking courses, the use of games--a specific type of simulation--can help to overcome three of the most basic problems faced by the teacher: the gap between the study of theory and the application of that theory, the limited experience gained by students confined to speaking situations within classroom walls, and student stage fright.…

Keeping Scores: Audited Self-Monitoring of High-Stakes Testing Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Padilla, Raymond; Richards, Michael

2006-01-01

To address a public relations problem faced by a large urban public school district in Texas, we conducted action research that resulted in an audited self-monitoring system for high-stakes testing environments. The system monitors violations of testing protocols while identifying and disseminating best practices to improve the education of…

Strategic Planning for Prevention Professionals on Campus. A Prevention 101 Series Publication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langford, Linda; DeJong, William

2008-01-01

The nation's institutions of higher education continue to face serious problems with respect to student alcohol and other drug abuse and violence (AODV). For campus administrators, deciding how to respond effectively means understanding and taking into account both the complexity of these social problems and the individuality of each campus…

Report on Higher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC.

This report by a task force funded by the Ford Foundation analyzes the problems facing the nation's system of higher education in the 1970's and discusses how well the functioning of that system matches the public interest. The problems are divided in the following categories: (1) the paradox of access, meaning that access alone does not…

Why Can't Johnny Read? The Abell Report. Volume 23, No.7

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobson, Joan

2010-01-01

Baltimore's school-based vision-screening program may be leaving thousands of children with uncorrected eyesight problems. Vision screening in public schools is essential for students to learn, especially when low-income children face a high rate of eyesight problems and have poor access to health care. Left undetected and uncorrected, vision…

Special Problems of the Elderly.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hull, Kathleen V.

Within the next 40 years, people age 65 and over will comprise 20% of the population, yet problems facing this older generation and their families are just coming to the attention of researchers and the public. Accordingly, this literature review focuses on the special needs of older adults and their families. After an introductory overview, the…

Left Behind in the Labor Market: Labor Market Problems of the Nation's Out-of-School, Young Adult Populations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sum, Andrew; Khatiwada, Ishwar; Pond, Nathan; Trub 'skyy, Mykhaylo; Fogg, Neeta; Palma, Sheila

The problems faced by out-of-school young adults in the United States and the policy implications of those problems were examined. The analysis was based on a review of pertinent publications and statistical data from various government agencies and other sources. The study documented that the past decade has witnessed areas of progress,…

3D face recognition based on multiple keypoint descriptors and sparse representation.

PubMed

Zhang, Lin; Ding, Zhixuan; Li, Hongyu; Shen, Ying; Lu, Jianwei

2014-01-01

Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in developing methods for 3D face recognition. However, 3D scans often suffer from the problems of missing parts, large facial expressions, and occlusions. To be useful in real-world applications, a 3D face recognition approach should be able to handle these challenges. In this paper, we propose a novel general approach to deal with the 3D face recognition problem by making use of multiple keypoint descriptors (MKD) and the sparse representation-based classification (SRC). We call the proposed method 3DMKDSRC for short. Specifically, with 3DMKDSRC, each 3D face scan is represented as a set of descriptor vectors extracted from keypoints by meshSIFT. Descriptor vectors of gallery samples form the gallery dictionary. Given a probe 3D face scan, its descriptors are extracted at first and then its identity can be determined by using a multitask SRC. The proposed 3DMKDSRC approach does not require the pre-alignment between two face scans and is quite robust to the problems of missing data, occlusions and expressions. Its superiority over the other leading 3D face recognition schemes has been corroborated by extensive experiments conducted on three benchmark databases, Bosphorus, GavabDB, and FRGC2.0. The Matlab source code for 3DMKDSRC and the related evaluation results are publicly available at http://sse.tongji.edu.cn/linzhang/3dmkdsrcface/3dmkdsrc.htm.

Comfortably, Safely, and Without Shame: Defining Menstrual Hygiene Management as a Public Health Issue

PubMed Central

Hirsch, Jennifer S.; Nathanson, Constance; Parker, Richard G.

2015-01-01

In recent years, the menstrual hygiene management challenges facing schoolgirls in low-income-country contexts have gained global attention. We applied Gusfield’s sociological analysis of the culture of public problems to better understand how this relatively newly recognized public health challenge rose to the level of global public health awareness and action. We similarly applied the conceptualization by Dorfman et al. of the role of public health messaging in changing corporate practice to explore the conceptual frames and the news frames that are being used to shape the perceptions of menstrual hygiene management as an issue of social justice within the context of public health. Important lessons were revealed for getting other public health problems onto the global-, national-, and local-level agendas. PMID:25973831

Comfortably, Safely, and Without Shame: Defining Menstrual Hygiene Management as a Public Health Issue.

PubMed

Sommer, Marni; Hirsch, Jennifer S; Nathanson, Constance; Parker, Richard G

2015-07-01

In recent years, the menstrual hygiene management challenges facing schoolgirls in low-income-country contexts have gained global attention. We applied Gusfield's sociological analysis of the culture of public problems to better understand how this relatively newly recognized public health challenge rose to the level of global public health awareness and action. We similarly applied the conceptualization by Dorfman et al. of the role of public health messaging in changing corporate practice to explore the conceptual frames and the news frames that are being used to shape the perceptions of menstrual hygiene management as an issue of social justice within the context of public health. Important lessons were revealed for getting other public health problems onto the global-, national-, and local-level agendas.

Expanding a community's justice response to sex crimes through advocacy, prosecutorial, and public health collaboration: introducing the RESTORE program.

PubMed

Koss, Mary P; Bachar, Karen J; Hopkins, C Quince; Carlson, Carolyn

2004-12-01

Problems in criminal justice system response to date-acquaintance rape and nonpenetration sexual offenses include (a) they are markers of a sexual offending career, yet are viewed as minor; (b) perpetrators are not held accountable in ways that reduce reoffense; and (c) criminal justice response disappoints and traumatizes victims. To address these problems, a collaboration of victim services, prosecutors, legal scholars, and public health professionals are implementing and evaluating RESTORE, a victim-driven, community-based restorative justice program for selected sex crimes. RESTORE prepares survivors, responsible persons (offenders), and both parties' families and friends for face-to-face dialogue to identify the harm and develop a redress plan. The program then monitors the offender's compliance for 12 months. The article summarizes empirical data on problems in criminal justice response, defines restorative justice models, and examines outcome. Then the RESTORE program processes and goals are described. The article highlights community collaboration in building and sustaining this program.

Faces of Change: Do I Have a Problem with Alcohol or Drugs?

MedlinePlus

... in Substance Abuse Treatment , #35 in SAMHSA’s Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series. The TIP series and its affiliated products may be ordered from SAMHSA’s Publications Ordering Web ...

Is Isolation a Problem? Issues Faced by Rural Libraries and Rural Library Staff in South Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haines, Rebecca; Calvert, Philip J.

2009-01-01

The aim of this research was to investigate current issues faced by public library staff in rural South Australia and to examine some of the reasons why people choose to work in rural libraries. The study took a mixed methods approach, combining interviews and questionnaires to gain a fuller understanding of the issues and experiences of rural…

Public-Private Partnerships in Development: Three Applications in Timor Leste. Working Paper No. 221 (Formerly Webdoc No. 9)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Braz, Jose

2003-01-01

Timor Leste, the first new nation of the twenty-first century, is a young country facing many of the most challenging problems of underdevelopment: illiteracy, malnutrition, low skills base and high unemployment. It also is on the threshold of facing the potential pitfalls of being a relatively large-scale exporter of oil and gas. Finally…

How to avoid unfair discrimination against disabled patients in healthcare resource allocation.

PubMed

Sinclair, Sean

2012-03-01

The paper proposes a new method of researching public opinion for the purposes of valuing the outcomes of healthcare interventions. The issue I address is that, under the quality-adjusted life-year system, disabled patients face a higher cost-effectiveness hurdle than able-bodied patients. This seems inequitable. The author considers the alternative approaches to valuing healthcare interventions that have been proposed, and shows that all of them face the same problem. It is proposed that to value an outcome, instead of researching the general public, the population that is to be targeted with the intervention should be researched.

A UML-based meta-framework for system design in public health informatics.

PubMed

Orlova, Anna O; Lehmann, Harold

2002-01-01

The National Agenda for Public Health Informatics calls for standards in data and knowledge representation within public health, which requires a multi-level framework that links all aspects of public health. The literature of public health informatics and public health informatics application were reviewed. A UML-based systems analysis was performed. Face validity of results was evaluated in analyzing the public health domain of lead poisoning. The core class of the UML-based system of public health is the Public Health Domain, which is associated with multiple Problems, for which Actors provide Perspectives. Actors take Actions that define, generate, utilize and/or evaluate Data Sources. The life cycle of the domain is a sequence of activities attributed to its problems that spirals through multiple iterations and realizations within a domain. The proposed Public Health Informatics Meta-Framework broadens efforts in applying informatics principles to the field of public health

Scientific literacy and environmental policy: The missing prerequisite for sound decision making

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

Howell, D.J.

1993-01-01

Since World War II, two trends in public policy have been much in evidence: the increasing importance of science and technology and the increasing role of public participation. This book discusses the problem that an errant, even if well intentioned, public may demand government policies that fly in the face of scientific reality and that render useless results. The first four chapters provide a general background to the policy process and emphasize regulation in particular. Chapters five through eight discuss the main problems of scientific illiteracy and public participation, using two cases: FDA approval of drugs and government regulation ofmore » recombinant DNA research.« less

Effective intervention programming: improving maternal adjustment through parent education.

PubMed

Farris, Jaelyn R; Bert, Shannon S Carothers; Nicholson, Jody S; Glass, Kerrie; Borkowski, John G

2013-05-01

This study assessed the secondary effects of a parent training intervention program on maternal adjustment, with a focus on understanding ways in which program efficacy differed for participants as a function of whether or not their children had behavior problems. Mothers (N = 99) of toddlers (2-3 years of age) were randomly assigned to receive one of three levels of intervention: (1) informational booklet (2) booklet + face-to-face parent training sessions, or (3) booklet + web-based parent training sessions. Findings indicated that all levels of intervention were associated with increases in maternal well-being for participants with typically developing children. Mothers of toddlers with behavior problems, however, did not benefit from receiving only the booklet but significantly benefitted from receiving either the face-to-face or web-based interventions. Findings are discussed in terms of efficient and efficacious program dissemination and the resulting implications for public policy.

Veterinary public health capacity in the United States: opportunities for improvement.

PubMed

Jarman, Dwayne W; Liang, Jennifer L; Luce, Richard R; Wright, Jennifer G; Stennies, Gail M; Bisgard, Kristine M

2011-01-01

In 2006, the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges reported that the shortage (≥ 1,500) of public health veterinarians is expected to increase tenfold by 2020. In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Preventive Medicine Fellows conducted a pilot project among CDC veterinarians to identify national veterinary public health workforce concerns and potential policy strategies. Fellows surveyed a convenience sample (19/91) of public health veterinarians at CDC to identify veterinary workforce recruitment and retention problems faced by federal agencies; responses were categorized into themes. A focus group (20/91) of staff veterinarians subsequently prioritized the categorized themes from least to most important. Participants identified activities to address the three recruitment concerns with the highest combined weight. Participants identified the following three highest prioritized problems faced by federal agencies when recruiting veterinarians to public health: (1) lack of awareness of veterinarians' contributions to public health practice, (2) competitive salaries, and (3) employment and training opportunities. Similarly, key concerns identified regarding retention of public health practice veterinarians included: (1) lack of recognition of veterinary qualifications, (2) competitive salaries, and (3) seamless integration of veterinary and human public health. Findings identified multiple barriers that can affect recruitment and retention of veterinarians engaged in public health practice. Next steps should include replicating project efforts among a national sample of public health veterinarians. A committed and determined long-term effort might be required to sustain initiatives and policy proposals to increase U.S. veterinary public health capacity.

Research notes : graffiti prevention & removal.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-12-01

Graffiti is a widespread problem faced by public and private agencies throughout the world. n particular, state departments of transportation (DOTs) are being confronted with graffiti on signs and structures such as bridges, retaining walls and sound...

Homeless, Not Hopeless. An Informational Guide for School Personnel: Understanding and Educating Homeless Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seifert, Elli; Stauffer, Carol

This guide explains how to educate homeless students within the public schools, focusing on the Saint Paul, Minnesota, public schools. Section 1 defines homelessness. Section 2 presents data on the increasing numbers of homeless students in the area. Section 3 describes common problems faced by homeless students, including family mobility,…

Social Marketing. Views from Inside the Government. 30th Anniversary Seminar Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Academy for Educational Development, Inc., New York, NY.

This booklet contains excerpted remarks by government and public health officials concerning social marketing and its use. It is noted that the agencies they represent are among those that are considered pioneers in applying social marketing to some of the toughest problems facing America. Topics concerning government, public health, and the use…

Simulator: A Pilot Interactive Simulation Program for Use in Teaching Public Relations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pavlik, John V.

An interactive simulation program was developed for use in teaching students how to handle public relations problems. The program user is placed in the role of assistant newsletter editor, facing a series of decision-making situations. Each choice the user makes affects the subsequent reality created by the program, which is designed to provide…

Faculty Work in Schools of Education: Rethinking Roles and Rewards for the Twenty-First Century. SUNY Series, Frontiers in Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tierney, William G., Ed.

This collection of papers points out problems and challenges that face schools, colleges, and departments of education as change agents try to reform them. After "Introduction: Reforming Schools, Colleges, and Departments of Education" (William G. Tierney), nine papers include: (1) "The Public Responsibility of Public Schools of…

The United States and World Development: Agenda 1980.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sewell, John W.; And Others

This publication examines global problems facing the United States and offers a specific short-term program of action to deal with some of the problems. There are three major parts. Part I describes political and economic developments in both rich and poor countries and comments on the recent record of the United States in its relationships with…

Understanding Teacher Attraction and Retention Drivers: Addressing Teacher Shortages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ashiedu, Jennifer A.; Scott-Ladd, Brenda D.

2012-01-01

The attraction and retention of teachers is a problem faced by schools worldwide and possibly more so in the public sector. One possible solution to this problem is likely to be better targeting of attraction and retention drivers of value to teachers. This paper presents the findings from a qualitative study conducted in Australia. The study used…

The Long-Term Adequacy of Public School Pension Plans.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shapiro, Frieda S.

A serious problem for retired teachers is the decreasing buying power of their retirement benefit. Older teachers who have been retired for 10 years or more face serious economic problems because of low salaries in the past, weak benefit formulas, lost service credit by teachers who moved from one State to another during their teaching careers,…

3D Face Recognition Based on Multiple Keypoint Descriptors and Sparse Representation

PubMed Central

Zhang, Lin; Ding, Zhixuan; Li, Hongyu; Shen, Ying; Lu, Jianwei

2014-01-01

Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in developing methods for 3D face recognition. However, 3D scans often suffer from the problems of missing parts, large facial expressions, and occlusions. To be useful in real-world applications, a 3D face recognition approach should be able to handle these challenges. In this paper, we propose a novel general approach to deal with the 3D face recognition problem by making use of multiple keypoint descriptors (MKD) and the sparse representation-based classification (SRC). We call the proposed method 3DMKDSRC for short. Specifically, with 3DMKDSRC, each 3D face scan is represented as a set of descriptor vectors extracted from keypoints by meshSIFT. Descriptor vectors of gallery samples form the gallery dictionary. Given a probe 3D face scan, its descriptors are extracted at first and then its identity can be determined by using a multitask SRC. The proposed 3DMKDSRC approach does not require the pre-alignment between two face scans and is quite robust to the problems of missing data, occlusions and expressions. Its superiority over the other leading 3D face recognition schemes has been corroborated by extensive experiments conducted on three benchmark databases, Bosphorus, GavabDB, and FRGC2.0. The Matlab source code for 3DMKDSRC and the related evaluation results are publicly available at http://sse.tongji.edu.cn/linzhang/3dmkdsrcface/3dmkdsrc.htm. PMID:24940876

An Assessment of a Freshmen Learning Community at a Rural, Public Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frankenstein, Elizabeth A.

2012-01-01

The problem facing many higher education institutions is the ability to engage freshmen students during the first semester of college in order to sustain their enrollment. This study assessed the effectiveness of a freshmen learning community as a retention strategy at a small, rural, and public community college. The purpose of this ex post facto…

Female Academic Department Chairs at a Public, Very High Research Activity University: Exploring Their Career Pathways to Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

St. Marthe, Tamara Jaslene Marcelle

2012-01-01

The advancement of women into academic leadership remains a problem facing public, high-research activity universities. While there are more women who are qualified to assume the position of department chair in research institutions today than there were 30 years ago, women still lag behind their male counterparts in holding these academic…

Addressing Challenges to Public Understanding of Science: Epistemic Cognition, Motivated Reasoning, and Conceptual Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinatra, Gale M.; Kienhues, Dorothe; Hofer, Barbara K.

2014-01-01

Science is of critical importance to daily life in a knowledge society and has a significant influence on many everyday decisions. As scientific problems increase in their number and complexity, so do the challenges facing the public in understanding these issues. Our objective is to focus on 3 of those challenges: the challenge of reasoning about…

An Analysis of Facebook Intensity and Privacy Management Practices of Public School Educators in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neely, Laura Sue Perry

2011-01-01

Social networking sites like Facebook continue to gain popularity among all segments of the population (boyd & Ellison, 2007; Madden & Smith, 2010). Public school employees all over the country are finding themselves facing disciplinary action due to participation in this fast growing fad. The problem is that there is a lack of clarity in the…

Examining the Achievement Gap: The Effectiveness of African American Teachers Instructing African American Students in Kansas City Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Judith Jordan

2013-01-01

Over several years the American public educational system has failed to address one of the most infuriating problems faced by our nation, narrowing the achievement gap in urban districts with urban learners. Historically, minority students have not paralleled the academic performance of their White counterparts. This holds true with standardized…

Students' Attitudes toward Campus Environment: A Comparative Study of Public and Private Universities in Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chepchieng, Micah C.; Kiboss, Joel K.; Sindabi, Aggrey; Kariuki, Mary W.; Mbugua, Stephen N.

2006-01-01

One of the serious problems facing education in Kenya's public universities has been a persistent student disturbance. Private universities on the other hand, seem to have established a reputation of having minimal incidence of student disturbances. As such private universities are known to have had a good record of student conduct. This may be…

The Mainstream Problems Coping Students with Hearing Disability in Najran Region

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saleem, Suhib Saleem

2017-01-01

This study aimed to explore the problems facing the students with hearing disability in Najran region based on gender, study stage, and type of disability. The sample of the study consisted of 17 males, 13 females, 16 students with hearing disability in the intermediate stage, and 14 students in the secondary stage in public schools. While the…

Veterinary Public Health Capacity in the United States: Opportunities for Improvement

PubMed Central

Jarman, Dwayne W.; Liang, Jennifer L.; Luce, Richard R.; Wright, Jennifer G.; Stennies, Gail M.; Bisgard, Kristine M.

2011-01-01

Objectives In 2006, the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges reported that the shortage (≥1,500) of public health veterinarians is expected to increase tenfold by 2020. In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Preventive Medicine Fellows conducted a pilot project among CDC veterinarians to identify national veterinary public health workforce concerns and potential policy strategies. Methods Fellows surveyed a convenience sample (19/91) of public health veterinarians at CDC to identify veterinary workforce recruitment and retention problems faced by federal agencies; responses were categorized into themes. A focus group (20/91) of staff veterinarians subsequently prioritized the categorized themes from least to most important. Participants identified activities to address the three recruitment concerns with the highest combined weight. Results Participants identified the following three highest prioritized problems faced by federal agencies when recruiting veterinarians to public health: (1) lack of awareness of veterinarians' contributions to public health practice, (2) competitive salaries, and (3) employment and training opportunities. Similarly, key concerns identified regarding retention of public health practice veterinarians included: (1) lack of recognition of veterinary qualifications, (2) competitive salaries, and (3) seamless integration of veterinary and human public health. Conclusions Findings identified multiple barriers that can affect recruitment and retention of veterinarians engaged in public health practice. Next steps should include replicating project efforts among a national sample of public health veterinarians. A committed and determined long-term effort might be required to sustain initiatives and policy proposals to increase U.S. veterinary public health capacity. PMID:22043103

Science to Protect Public Health and the Environment--EPA Research Program Overview 2016-2019

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This document provides an overview of EPA’s research programs within the Office of Research and Development. This critically important work is providing the science needed to address the biggest problems facing environmental science.

Wombs and Whippersnappers: Reflections on Health Education Research and Opportunities for the Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gielen, Andrea Carlson

2016-01-01

My talk will describe two public health problems facing women and children that were the focus of the work my colleagues and I did over my years as a health behavior change researcher. I start by addressing why a focus on women and children is important from a public health perspective and then provide two mini case studies: (1) identifying needs…

State of the World 1990. A Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress toward a Sustainable Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Lester R.; And Others

As the world enters the last decade of the 20th century, the environmental problems facing human societies have been given increased emphasis in world policy debates. The goal of the Worldwatch Institute is to help raise the level of public understanding of global environmental threats to the point where the public will support policies needed to…

JPRS Report China.

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-08-10

JPRS-CAR-93-058 10 August 1993 JPRS Report— China pnavuzmm^mi* Approved for public release; Distribution Unlimited 19980518 086 Reproduced by...Conference To Ensure Procurement Funds [NONGMIN RIBAO 20 May] 38 Shandong Faces Problems Implementing Farm Policies [NONGMIN RIBAO 2 May] 38...U.S. fiscal deficits grew steadily, being $220.4 billion in 1990 and reaching $290.2 billion for 1992. At prevailing prices, the U.S. public and

A Case Study: One Public School's Endeavor to Revive Arts Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naranjo, Juanita

2013-01-01

Public K-12 schools in the United States currently face competing demands that place improved student learning as the main goal to ensure students develop 21st century skills. However, internal and external factors may work with or against each other within a school's efforts to achieve this. The problem that serves as the basis for this…

The Complexity of Developing Properly Trained Education Professionals for African American Children: Exploring an African Indigenous Socialization Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shockley, Kmt G.

2011-01-01

African centered educationists view the problems that Black children are facing in schools as a part of the disenfranchisement and disorganization of the Black community at large. In that vein, they do not believe that the problems which Black children are experiencing in America's public (and many private) schools are solvable by taking them out…

Science Outreach at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebo, George

2002-07-01

At the end of World War II Duane Deming, an internationally known economist enunciated what later came to be called "Total Quality Management" (TQM). The basic thrust of this economic theory called for companies and governments to identify their customers and to do whatever was necessary to meet their demands and to keep them satisfied. It also called for companies to compete internally. That is, they were to build products that competed with their own so that they were always improving. Unfortunately most U.S. corporations failed to heed this advice. Consequently, the Japanese who actively sought Deming's advice and instituted it in their corporate planning, built an economy that outstripped that of the U.S. for the next three to four decades. Only after U.S. corporations reorganized and fashioned joint ventures which incorporated the tenets of TQM with their Japanese competitors did they start to catch up. Other institutions such as the U.S. government and its agencies and schools face the same problem. While the power of the U.S. government is in no danger of being usurped, its agencies and schools face real problems which can be traced back to not heeding Deming's advice. For example, the public schools are facing real pressure from private schools and home school families because they are not meeting the needs of the general public, Likewise, NASA and other government agencies find themselves shortchanged in funding because they have failed to convince the general public that their missions are important. In an attempt to convince the general public that its science mission is both interesting and important, in 1998 the Science Directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) instituted a new outreach effort using the interact to reach the general public as well as the students. They have called it 'Science@NASA'.

Science Outreach at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lebo, George

2002-01-01

At the end of World War II Duane Deming, an internationally known economist enunciated what later came to be called "Total Quality Management" (TQM). The basic thrust of this economic theory called for companies and governments to identify their customers and to do whatever was necessary to meet their demands and to keep them satisfied. It also called for companies to compete internally. That is, they were to build products that competed with their own so that they were always improving. Unfortunately most U.S. corporations failed to heed this advice. Consequently, the Japanese who actively sought Deming's advice and instituted it in their corporate planning, built an economy that outstripped that of the U.S. for the next three to four decades. Only after U.S. corporations reorganized and fashioned joint ventures which incorporated the tenets of TQM with their Japanese competitors did they start to catch up. Other institutions such as the U.S. government and its agencies and schools face the same problem. While the power of the U.S. government is in no danger of being usurped, its agencies and schools face real problems which can be traced back to not heeding Deming's advice. For example, the public schools are facing real pressure from private schools and home school families because they are not meeting the needs of the general public, Likewise, NASA and other government agencies find themselves shortchanged in funding because they have failed to convince the general public that their missions are important. In an attempt to convince the general public that its science mission is both interesting and important, in 1998 the Science Directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) instituted a new outreach effort using the interact to reach the general public as well as the students. They have called it 'Science@NASA'.

Understanding the shortage of village doctors in China and solutions under the policy of basic public health service equalization: evidence from Changzhou.

PubMed

Li, Xiaohong; Cochran, Christopher; Lu, Jun; Shen, Jay; Hao, Chao; Wang, Ying; Sun, Mei; Li, Chengyue; Chang, Fengshui; Hao, Mo

2015-01-01

As the most important public health service providers in rural China, village doctors are facing a new challenge of heavier workload resulting from the recent policy of public health service equalization. Studies on the shortage of village doctors, mainly based on the national statistics, have so far been very broad. This study conducted detailed field surveys to identify specific factors of and potential solutions to the shortage in village doctors. Eight hundred forty-four village doctors and 995 health decision makers and providers were surveyed through a questionnaire, and some of them were surveyed by in-depth face-to-face interviews and focus group interviews. Opinions on the shortage in village doctors and the potentially effective approaches to addressing the problem were sought. Some village doctors (51.3%) were at least 50 years old. Some village doctors (92.3%) did not want their children to become a village doctor, and the main reasons were "low salary" and "lack of social security". Village doctors felt that it was difficult to provide all the required public health services. Local residents indicated that they established good relationships with village doctors. Some health decision makers and providers (74.0%) thought that they needed more village doctors. The shortage in village doctors presents a major obstacle toward the realization of China's policy of public health service equalization. The aging of current village doctors exacerbates the problem. Policies and programs are needed to retain the current and attract new village doctors into the workforce. Separate measures are also needed to address disparities in socioeconomic circumstance from village to village. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Science educators' perceptions of problems facing science education: A report of five surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallagher, James Joseph; Yager, Robert E.

Five groups of science educators representing faculty at graduate institutions, graduate students, teachers, supervisors, and leadership conferees were surveyed concerning their perceptions of current problems facing science education. A total of 144 participants provided an average of 4.7 responses. The responses were tabulated using an emergent set of categories that resulted in six major groupings, i.e. conceptual, organizational, teacher; related, student-related, university, and societal. The category with the most problems identified was in the area of conceptual problems. University related problems and organizational problems were the next two most frequently mentioned categories for problems. Specific problems in all categories most often cited include the following:1confusion and uncertainty in goals and objectives;2lack of vision and leadership in schools and universities;3absence of a theoretical base for science education;4poor quality teacher education programs;5inappropriate avenues for continuing education of teachers; limited dialogue between researchers and practitioners; declining enrollments; poor quality teaching and counseling; insufficient programs in science for the wide spectrum of students; and public and parental apathy towards science.

Challenges created by data dissemination and access restrictions when attempting to address community concerns: individual privacy versus public wellbeing.

PubMed

Colquhoun, Amy; Aplin, Laura; Geary, Janis; Goodman, Karen J; Hatcher, Juanita

2012-05-08

Population health data are vital for the identification of public health problems and the development of public health strategies. Challenges arise when attempts are made to disseminate or access anonymised data that are deemed to be potentially identifiable. In these situations, there is debate about whether the protection of an individual's privacy outweighs potentially beneficial public health initiatives developed using potentially identifiable information. While these issues have an impact at planning and policy levels, they pose a particular dilemma when attempting to examine and address community concerns about a specific health problem. Research currently underway in northern Canadian communities on the frequency of Helicobacter pylori infection and associated diseases, such as stomach cancer, is used in this article to illustrate the challenges that data controls create on the ability of researchers and health officials to address community concerns. Barriers are faced by public health professionals and researchers when endeavouring to address community concerns; specifically, provincial cancer surveillance departments and community-driven participatory research groups face challenges related to data release or access that inhibit their ability to effectively address community enquiries. The resulting consequences include a limited ability to address misinformation or to alleviate concerns when dealing with health problems in small communities. The development of communication tools and building of trusting relationships are essential components of a successful investigation into community health concerns. It may also be important to consider that public wellbeing may outweigh the value of individual privacy in these situations. As such, a re-evaluation of data disclosure policies that are applicable in these circumstances should be considered.

Animal...Vegetable...or Mineral?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cameron, Eugene

1973-01-01

Outlines the problems facing the United States with mineral reserves being depleted, and the consumption of minerals outstripping production. Expresses concern about the deteriorating mineral position, and the ignorance and confusion of the public with respect to mineral production and supply, energy requirements, and environmental consequences.…

Judging Interpretations: But Is It Rigorous? Trustworthiness and Authenticity in Naturalistic Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwandt, Thomas A.; Lincoln, Yvonna S.; Guba, Egon G.

2007-01-01

Among the most knotty problems faced by investigators committed to interpretive practices in disciplines and fields such as sociocultural anthropology, jurisprudence, literary criticism, historiography, feminist studies, public administration, policy analysis, planning, educational research, and evaluation are deciding whether an interpretation is…

The 21st Century Challenge: Moving the Youth Agenda Forward. A Policy Study of the Levitan Youth Policy Network. Public Policy Issues Monograph.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pines, Marion, Ed.

This document contains nine papers devoted to the labor market problems faced by out-of-school and other disadvantaged young people in the United States and policy options and strategies for addressing those problems. The papers update the data on out-of-school young adults, review the lessons learned from past youth programs and policies,…

The politics of public health policy.

PubMed

Oliver, Thomas R

2006-01-01

Politics, for better or worse, plays a critical role in health affairs. The purpose of this article is to articulate a role for political analysis of public health issues, ranging from injury and disease prevention to health care reform. It begins by examining how health problems make it onto the policy agenda. Perceptions regarding the severity of the problem, responsibility for the problem, and affected populations all influence governmental responses. Next, it considers how bounded rationality, fragmented political institutions, resistance from concentrated interests, and fiscal constraints usually lead political leaders to adopt incremental policy changes rather than comprehensive reforms even when faced with serious public health problems. It then identifies conditions under which larger-scale transformation of health policy can occur, focusing on critical junctures in policy development and the role of policy entrepreneurs in seizing opportunities for innovation. Finally, it reviews the challenges confronting officials and agencies who are responsible for implementing and administering health policies. Public health professionals who understand the political dimensions of health policy can conduct more realistic research and evaluation, better anticipate opportunities as well as constraints on governmental action, and design more effective policies and programs.

Availing services for developmental disabilities: parental experiences from a referral center in developing country.

PubMed

Juneja, Monica; Jain, Rahul; Singhal, Swati; Mishra, Devendra

2012-09-01

To identify the problems faced by parents of children with developmental disabilities in availing rehabilitative services and to find their satisfaction level. This study was carried out at a Child Development Clinic (CDC) located in Northern India. Children with developmental disabilities, who were availing services at CDC for at least last 3 mo and had at least 3 follow-up visits, were enrolled. A questionnaire pertaining to the socio-demographic profile, problems faced in availing services and satisfaction level was filled by the parents of the enrolled children. During the study period, 161 parents filled the questionnaire. 77.6% had some problems in getting the services, the major being difficulty in commuting (50%) and financial constraint (21.7%). More than 80% parents use public transport to reach CDC with 19% travelling more than 50 Km. 29.8% had difficulty in bringing their child to the clinic, either due to severe behavioral problems or physical disability. However, majority of the families were well satisfied with the services as 95% of them graded their satisfaction level at 3 or more on the scale of 0-5. Parents of children with developmental disabilities face many problems in getting rehabilitative services. They travel long distances, face hardships in carrying their child, and lose their day's earnings, apart from spending time and money for their child's therapy. However, most of the parents are well satisfied with the services.

Rewards and the evolution of cooperation in public good games.

PubMed

Sasaki, Tatsuya; Uchida, Satoshi

2014-01-01

Properly coordinating cooperation is relevant for resolving public good problems, such as clean energy and environmental protection. However, little is known about how individuals can coordinate themselves for a certain level of cooperation in large populations of strangers. In a typical situation, a consensus-building process rarely succeeds, owing to a lack of face and standing. The evolution of cooperation in this type of situation is studied here using threshold public good games, in which cooperation prevails when it is initially sufficient, or otherwise it perishes. While punishment is a powerful tool for shaping human behaviours, institutional punishment is often too costly to start with only a few contributors, which is another coordination problem. Here, we show that whatever the initial conditions, reward funds based on voluntary contribution can evolve. The voluntary reward paves the way for effectively overcoming the coordination problem and efficiently transforms freeloaders into cooperators with a perceived small risk of collective failure.

Counseling the Young Adult Lesbian.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Rhoda

1980-01-01

Focuses on problems faced by young adult lesbians. Suggests counselors should: (1) encourage the counselee to "dump"; (2) guide her in a decision on coming out; (3) explain the legal rights and restrictions; (4) provide ongoing support for those who socialize openly; and (5) publicly promote gay rights. (Author)

Reading Resources and Project LEER. Libraries and the Spanish-Speaking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shepard, Marietta Daniels

1970-01-01

A discussion of the problems U.S. librarians and educators face in dealing with Spanish-speaking children and adults; and a description of Project LEER, a program to aid school and public libraries in the selection, procurement, and processing of books in Spanish. (JB)

Students with AIDS. A Legal Memorandum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strope, John L., Jr.; Broadwell, Cathy Allen

When confronted with a student with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), administrators must act very cautiously. In addition to the public relations and political problems asociated with students with AIDS, administrators are faced with the legal implications of their decisions; their actions, if uninformed, can result in monetary…

Propagandizing the Healthy, Bolshevik Life in the Early USSR.

PubMed

Starks, Tricia A

2017-11-01

This essay outlines the problems facing Soviet health authorities at the inception of the People's Commissariat of Public Health in 1918 and the innovative methods employed in sanitary enlightenment propaganda in Russia throughout the 1920s. Beset by funding issues and supply problems, the emissaries of health chose the cheapest means of health improvement (propaganda) with the most cost-effective method (prevention), and crowed of great successes even as large portions of the nation still suffered from lack of contact with sanitary authorities. Targeting Soviet citizens at every stage and space of life, the envoys of public health spread the message of prophylaxis.

Caring for New Mothers: Pressing Problems, New Solutions. Hearing before the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. House of Representatives, One Hundred First Congress, First Session (October 24, 1989).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families.

A hearing was held to consider problems women face in obtaining preventive care or early comprehensive prenatal care. Testimony concerned: (1) the Public Health Service Expert Panel's report on prenatal care; (2) Los Angeles' critical shortage of maternity care providers; (3) new research from Detroit that suggests that even when prenatal care is…

The return of the phoenix: the 1963 International Congress of Zoology and American zoologists in the twentieth century.

PubMed

Johnson, Kristin

2009-01-01

This paper examines the International Congress of Zoology held in Washington D.C. in 1963 as a portrait of American zoologists' search for effective and rewarding relationships with both each other and the public. Organizers of the congress envisioned the congress as a last ditch effort to unify the disparate subdisciplines of zoology, overcome the barriers of specialization, and ward off the heady claims of more reductionist biologists. The problems zoologists faced as they worked to fulfill these ambitious goals illuminate some of the challenges faced by members of the naturalist tradition as they worked to establish disciplinary unity while seeking public support in the competitive world of twentieth century science.

Arrival of Norplant may be bittersweet for clinics.

PubMed

1991-01-01

While the approval of NORPLANT in the US now offers women an effective reversible contraceptive, public health clinics will face several obstacles in providing the new method--especially cost. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, the company marketing NORPLANT, has yet to disclose the price for the new contraceptive, but experts believe that it will be at least $300 per set of implants. Adding the price of insertion, NORPLANT could cost over $500. Planned Parenthood officials say that this will make it far too expensive for public clinics, which currently obtain contraceptives at less than retail cost. Individual, women will also face the high price, since most insurance companies don't cover the cost of contraceptives. Another problem facing the introduction of NORPLANT is the bleeding irregularities most women experience under the new method, especially during the first year. One study of NORPLANT reported that out of 200 women, 17% chose to discontinue the treatment because of bleeding changes. Wyeth-Ayerst's own label indicates that out of 849 women who discontinued use during the first year, 75% did so because of bleeding irregularities. An additional problem with NORPLANT is that clinicians will have to undergo intensive training on the insertion and, more importantly, removal of the implants. Currently there's only a limited number of training sites in the country.

Medical entomology--back to the future?

PubMed

Reisen, William K

2014-12-01

Some of problems and challenges facing Medical/Veterinary Entomology are presented from my perspective, focusing on the current millennium. Topics include anthropogenic environmental changes created by population growth, administrative problems hindering science's response to these changes, and some of the scientific discoveries potentially providing solutions. As the title implies, many recent research discoveries have yet to be translated into major changes in control approaches for the major vectorborne public health problems, thereby providing an interesting mix of modern surveillance technology used to track problems and direct historical intervention solutions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Methamphetamine and the Changing Face of Child Welfare: Practice Principles for Child Welfare Workers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connell-Carrick, Kelli

2007-01-01

Methamphetamine use and production is changing child welfare practice. Methamphetamine is a significant public health threat (National Institute of Justice, 1999) reaching epidemic proportions (Anglin, Burke, Perrochet, Stamper, & Dawud-Nouris, 2000). The manufacturing of methamphetamine is a serious problem for the child welfare system, yet…

Feasibility and Preliminary Outcomes of a Yoga and Mindfulness Intervention for School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ancona, Matthew R.; Mendelson, Tamar

2014-01-01

Many public school teachers face formidable challenges, including overcrowded classrooms, limited administrative resources, and high numbers of students with behavioral and emotional problems. Mindfulness-based strategies are a potentially promising means of reducing teachers' stress and enhancing their ability to handle job demands effectively.…

Tapping the Power of Place

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lockette, Tim

2010-01-01

In American popular culture, the word "rural" invokes images of sunny farms and little red school-houses--while "urban" means drugs, poverty, and crime. But rural schools face many of the same challenges as their urban counterparts. The problems of rural schools are often invisible to the public and policy makers. The solutions…

The Risk of Indifference: From Partnership to Leadership.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitmore, Kay R.

1989-01-01

Compares the problems faced in public education to those of U.S. industry during the past two decades. Points out that today's educational enterprise requires greater cooperation, communication, and commitment. Calls for the formation of a new partnership among education, business, and community. In place of separate reforms, advocates a new…

Critical Adult Education and the Art Gallery Museum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clover, Darlene E.

2018-01-01

Although burdened by legacies of elitism, exclusion and paternalism, some public museums are attempting to respond to the socio-environmental problems currently facing our planet by developing critical non-formal educational activities to foster consciousness and change. This article explores one such response; a six-week non-formal course…

Culture vs. Technology: Mass Media Policy of the Netherlands Attempts a Balance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heuterman, Thomas H.; Rennen, Toon

Telecommunications policy makers in Western Europe face the dilema of satisfying public demand for a wider range of television viewing alternatives without sacrificing national cultural integrity. The Dutch Parliament addressed this problem in 1984, 1985, and 1986 as it approved steps to implement the "Medianota," the comprehensive…

Critical Thinking and Educational Reform; The Emerging Revolution.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paul, Richard W.

This examination of deep-seated structural problems facing public education today is built on the premise that a new beginning is needed in which education focuses on critical thinking or "rational learning." Such a focus presupposes that students and teachers master the critical-analytical vocabulary of the English language in…

Breakdown

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moskowitz, Eva

2006-01-01

The multiplicity of ills facing the nation's public schools can depress even the most optimistic. In this article, the author presents her views about the school system and the negative effects that labor agreements have had on it. Her views on how to solve some seemingly intractable education problems have been informed by two experiences: her…

Proposal for Implementation of Office of Educational Radio Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Petrizzi, David M.; Wright, A. J.

Auburn University's radio station is being faced with providing quality public radio programing with inadequate resources, including money, personnel, and university support. This proposal is directed to the university community and discusses the university radio station's problems at three levels. At the federal level, concerns relate to…

Literature for Children and Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Dorothy, Ed.

1978-01-01

The 11 articles in this publication discuss many topics regarding literature for children and adolescents, including the following: the major problems facing teachers and writers alike as they strive to communicate with the young; E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web"; two views of the American Revolution found in "Johnny Tremain" and "My Brother Sam Is…

The Challenge of Urbanization. The World's Large Cities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations New York, NY. Dept. of Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis.

This publication concentrates on city problems and special city planning issues in the world's large cities, pinpointing their demographic characteristics, economic structure, available social services, and infrastructures, as well as current issues facing city planners. Profiles of 100 large cities across the world, from Abidjan to Yangon, make…

Internetworking Services and the Electronic Library.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brunell, David H.

1991-01-01

Discusses management issues that librarians face in offering public access to library resources through internetworking services, e.g., local area networks, campus networks, or the INTERNET. It is concluded that interface problems and lack of an effective technical support structure make access to library information on INTERNET more of an…

Measuring walking and cycling using the PABS (pedestrian and bicycling survey) approach : a low-cost survey method for local communities.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-12-01

To tackle the problems of greenhouse gas emissions, traffic congestion, resident quality of life, and public health concerns, communities are using initiatives to spur more walking and cycling. As local governments face hard choices about which progr...

Hopeful Thinking: Conceptualizing a Future beyond Domestic Abuse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zombil, Henri

2017-01-01

Domestic violence is a continuing public health problem. Immigrant women facing domestic violence have additional challenges in dealing with domestic violence and accessing services. Hopeful thinking has been identified as a strategy for intervening and surviving beyond domestic violence. The purpose of this multiple descriptive case study was to…

The Effectiveness of Alcohol Policies in 4-Year Public Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walter, Gayle T.

2010-01-01

A problem facing American universities is heavy drinking by the student body which results in unintentional injuries and deaths, illegal offenses, sexual assault, altercations, and academic demise. The relationship between the type of alcohol policy enacted on campus and alcohol consumption among undergraduate students attending 4-year public…

[Frequency of self-reported vocal problems and associated occupational factors in primary schoolteachers in Londrina, Paraná State, Brazil].

PubMed

Fillis, Michelle Moreira Abujamra; Andrade, Selma Maffei de; González, Alberto Durán; Melanda, Francine Nesello; Mesas, Arthur Eumann

2016-01-01

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of self-reported vocal problems among primary schoolteachers and to identify associated occupational factors, using a cross-sectional design and face-to-face interviews with 967 teachers in 20 public schools in Londrina, Paraná State, Brazil. Prevalence of self-reported vocal problems was 25.7%. Adjusted analyses showed associations with characteristics of the employment relationship (workweek ≥ 40 hours and poor perception of salaries and health benefits), characteristics of the work environment (number of students per class and exposure to chalk dust and microorganisms), psychological factors (low job satisfaction, limited opportunities to express opinions, worse relationship with superiors, and poor balance between professional and personal life), and violence (insults and bullying). Vocal disorders affected one in four primary schoolteachers and were associated with various characteristics of the teaching profession (both structural and work-related).

Water management, purification, and conservation in arid climates. Volume 3: Water conservation

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

Goosen, M.F.A.; Shayya, W.H.

1999-07-01

Arid regions are already feeling the severe restraining effects of potable water shortages. In coming years, humid and sub-humid regions of the world will also have to face many of these same problems. In the future, serious conflicts may arise not because of a lack of oil, but due to water shortages. Are there solutions to these problems? Aside from increasing public awareness about the importance of water, society needs to take a three pronged approach: water needs to be effectively managed, it needs to be economically purified, and it needs to be conserved. Only by doing these three thingsmore » in unison can they hope to alleviate the water problems faced by arid regions of the world. This book presents information valuable to seeking, finding and using current technologies to help solve these problems now. Volume 3 addresses aspects of water conservation and includes rainwater harvesting and wastewater reuse and reclamation.« less

Water management, purification, and conservation in arid climates. Volume 2: Water purification

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

Goosen, M.F.A.; Shayya, W.H.

1999-10-01

Arid regions are already feeling the severe restraining effects of potable water shortages. In coming years, humid and sub-humid regions of the world will also have to face many of these same problems. In the future, serious conflicts may arise not because of a lack of oil, but due to water shortages. Are there solutions to these problems? Aside from increasing public awareness about the importance of water, society needs to take a three pronged approach: water needs to be effectively managed, it needs to be economically purified, and it needs to be conserved. Only by doing these three thingsmore » in unison can they hope to alleviate the water problems faced by arid regions of the world. This book presents information valuable to seeking, finding and using current technologies to help solve these problems now. Volume 2 presents various methods of purifying water, and includes membrane processes and alternative techniques such as solar desalination.« less

[Terrorism, public health and health services].

PubMed

Arcos González, Pedro; Castro Delgado, Rafael; Cuartas Alvarez, Tatiana; Pérez-Berrocal Alonso, Jorge

2009-01-01

Today the terrorism is a problem of global distribution and increasing interest for the international public health. The terrorism related violence affects the public health and the health care services in an important way and in different scopes, among them, increase mortality, morbidity and disability, generates a context of fear and anxiety that makes the psychopathological diseases very frequent, seriously alters the operation of the health care services and produces important social, political and economic damages. These effects are, in addition, especially intense when the phenomenon takes place on a chronic way in a community. The objective of this paper is to examine the relation between terrorism and public health, focusing on its effects on public health and the health care services, as well as to examine the possible frames to face the terrorism as a public health concern, with special reference to the situation in Spain. To face this problem, both the public health systems and the health care services, would have to especially adapt their approaches and operational methods in six high-priority areas related to: (1) the coordination between the different health and non health emergency response agencies; (2) the reinforcement of the epidemiological surveillance systems; (3) the improvement of the capacities of the public health laboratories and response emergency care systems to specific types of terrorism as the chemical or biological terrorism; (3) the mental health services; (4) the planning and coordination of the emergency response of the health services; (5) the relations with the population and mass media and, finally; (6) a greater transparency in the diffusion of the information and a greater degree of analysis of the carried out health actions in the scope of the emergency response.

Responses to mental health stigma questions: the importance of social desirability and data collection method.

PubMed

Henderson, Claire; Evans-Lacko, Sara; Flach, Clare; Thornicroft, Graham

2012-03-01

To evaluate the impact on the general public of England's Time to Change program to reduce mental health-related stigma and discrimination using newly developed measures of knowledge and intended behaviour regarding people with mental health problems, and an established attitudes scale, and to investigate whether social desirability affects responses to the new measures and test whether this varies according to data collection method. The Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS) and Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS) were administered together with the 13-item version of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale to 2 samples (each n = 196) drawn from the Time to Change mass media campaign target group; one group was interviewed face to face, while the other completed the measures as an online survey. After controlling for other covariates, interaction terms between collection method and social desirability were positive for each instrument. The social desirability score was associated with the RIBS score in the face-to-face group only (β = 0.35, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.57), but not with the MAKS score in either group; however, MAKS scores were more likely to be positive when data were collected face to face (β = 1.53, 95% CI 0.74 to 2.32). Behavioural intentions toward people with mental health problems may be better assessed using online self-complete methods than in-person interviews. The effect of face-to-face interviewing on knowledge requires further investigation.

PROVING SOLUTIONS FOR A BETTER TOMORROW: A PROGRESS REPORT ON U.S. EPA'S DRINKING WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATIONS IN ECUADOR, MEXICO AND CHINA (EPA/600/F-98/008)

EPA Science Inventory

This publication describes the progress of USEPA's Drinking Water Treatment Demonstration projects currently underway in Ecuador, Mexico and China. Material includes descriptions of problems faced and approaches used to improve water quality.

Introducing the Small Business Management Course.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saskatchewan NewStart, Inc., Prince Albert.

Canadian Indians face the threat of a loss of their once rich resources of fish, fur, and game as undeveloped lands are filling with tourists and new populations. Public awareness of this social problem has produced governmental loans and grants for business undertaking which require some training of recipients to make productive use of the…

How to Paint a Better Portrait of HBCUs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gasman, Marybeth; Bowman, Nelson, III

2011-01-01

An examination of the history of media coverage reveals a pattern of unfair news accounts and shows that historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have experienced intense scrutiny from the beginning. The mainstream media's often-negative portrayals of HBCUs mislead the public and can even exacerbate problems some HBCUs already face.…

Do Beginning Teachers Receive Adequate Support from Their Headteachers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menon, Maria Eliophotou

2012-01-01

The article examines the problems faced by beginning teachers in Cyprus and the extent to which headteachers are considered to provide adequate guidance and support to them. Data were collected through interviews with 25 school teachers in Cyprus, who had recently entered teaching (within 1-5 years) in public primary schools. According to the…

Quotas, Relocation and Jobs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blumrosen, Alfred

1975-01-01

This testimony, before a public hearing of the New York City Commission on Human Rights in May 1974, has two express focuses: one is the question of quotas, and the other is the problem of relocation of plants and facilities in the suburban areas and the consequent difficulties minorities face in retaining equal employment opportunities.…

Citizen-Consumers, Social Markets and the Reform of Public Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters, Michael A.

2004-01-01

In a paper presented in July 2003 to Labour's National Policy Forum, the main policy-making body in the United Kingdom, Liam Byrne, a research associate of the Social Market Foundation, forecast the major problems that will face government in Britain in 2020. As reported in the "Guardian" (9 August 2003): "British national…

The Balancing Act of Women Administrators: Home and Career.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villadsen, Alice W.

The study discussed in this paper investigated the problems that women in educational administration face as they try to balance career and home responsibilities. A survey was taken of 335 women administrators in 56 public colleges and universities in 5 southern states. Twenty women of the 8 percent who responded were interviewed. Results showed…

Preparation of Experienced Teachers to Address Teacher Shortages: A Quantitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Lisa Davis

2009-01-01

Public educational institutions are facing the problem of a shortage of experienced, certified, skilled teachers in the areas of special education, English as a Second Language, mathematics, biology or life science, bilingual education, and music. This shortage compounds difficulties in serving students in these areas. Reasons for this shortage…

Annual Pennsylvania Conference on Postsecondary Occupational Education: Programming Postsecondary Occupational Education. (Ninth, Pennsylvania State University, September 28-29, 1977).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martorana, S. V., Ed.; And Others

This publication contains the text of the main presentations and the highlights of discussion groups from the Ninth Annual Pennsylvania Conference on Postsecondary Occupational Education. The conference theme was "Programming Postsecondary Occupational Education." Ewald Nyquist, the first speaker, delineated the problems faced by…

Urban Education in Distress: South Africa and the United States--Mutual Dilemmas for Two Democratic Societies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uchitelle, Susan

2000-01-01

South Africa and the United States face similar problems: teachers' inadequacies in educating an increasingly diverse population; a culture of poverty undermining public support; urban decay and declining tax bases; insufficient resources; totally inadequate school facilities; and unrealistic expectations, considering allotted resources, faculty,…

Facing the Challenges of E-Learning Initiatives in African Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gunga, Samson O.; Ricketts, Ian W.

2007-01-01

This paper explores the possibility of bringing e-learning to African universities through collaborative networks of public-private partnerships. It is envisaged that this approach will solve the dual problem of infrastructural barriers and weak ICT policies. As technology is used more in education, the teachers' roles are increasingly integrated…

Back in the Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCrea, Bridget

2013-01-01

In 2010, Attila J. Weninger was 61 and ready to retire. But he received a phone call. A recruitment firm hired by the Stevens Point (Wis.) Area Public School District called on Weninger to help the troubled district, which faced budget problems, vacancies in top cabinet positions, and two previously failed referendums. It was in sore need of new…

The $7-Billion Patch for Campus Maintenance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Scott

2009-01-01

Colleges are facing a growing deferred-maintenance problem, which at many public institutions adds up to repair bills in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Sometimes state legislatures have not supported those colleges at levels needed to maintain campus infrastructure. But at the same time, colleges continue to expand their campuses even as…

When Others' Performance Just Isn't Good Enough: Educational Leaders' Framing of Concerns in Private and Public

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinnema, Claire E. L.; Le Fevre, Deidre; Robinson, Viviane M. J.; Pope, Denyse

2013-01-01

Effective instructional leadership demands that leaders address the inevitable problems and concerns that exist in any educational organization. Unfortunately, much evidence suggests that many important concerns, including teacher performance issues, continue to be unaddressed and unresolved. This article portrays the nature of concerns facing 77…

The Educational Disadvantage of the Indian American Student.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coombs, L. Madison

The main body of this research synthesis serves to point out research findings regarding the educationally disadvantaged Indian American school children. The decade of the 1960's is noted to be the significant period in bringing to the attention of educators and the American public the educational problems facing the Indian American. Some of the…

Parents Who Bully the School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, Robert; Thompson, Michael G.

2016-01-01

Over the last 30 years, Robert Evans and Michael Thompson have been called to consult with more than 2,000 schools independent and public, in the United States and internationally. These school visits have given them a deep appreciation for the range and complexity of challenges schools face and for their capacity to master evolving problems. With…

A Democratic Constitution for Public Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Paul T.; Jochim, Ashley E.

2014-01-01

America's education system faces a stark dilemma: it needs governmental oversight, rules and regulations, but it also needs to be adaptable enough to address student needs and the many different problems that can arise at any given school--something that large educational bureaucracies are notoriously bad at. Paul Hill and Ashley Jochim offer here…

Physical Activity and Its Determinants among Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Jin-Ding; Lin, Pei-Ying; Lin, Lan-Ping; Chang, Yu-Yu; Wu, Sheng-Ru; Wu, Jia-Ling

2010-01-01

Physical inactivity is a global public health problem, and it has been linked to many of the most serious illnesses facing many industrialized nations. There is little evidence examining the physical activity profile and determinants for the vulnerable population such as people with intellectual disabilities (ID). The present paper aims to…

Eight Questions Employers Ask About Hiring the Mentally Restored.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Inst. of Mental Health (DHHS), Bethesda, MD.

Perhaps two million or more people in the United States have experienced mental or emotional problems, have been treated and returned to the community, and want their lives to be as normal as possible. Unfortunately, these people often face insurmountable obstacles in finding a job, largely because of public and employer ignorance or prejudice…

Restructuring Public Education: Building a Learning Community. The Report of the Education Task Force.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Washington Education Association, Federal Way.

The American educational system faces a critical need for restructuring. Social lag problems created by the transformation from an industrial to an informational society have affected U.S. institutions, especially education. Educators and policymakers must respond to the new economic, demographic, organizational, and educational forces which have…

Workplace Transformations and Their Impact on People and Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riquelme, Graciela C.

2004-01-01

In the midst of deep transformation in the world economy, women have new problems, and still face hurdles that prevent their full and equitable participation in the labour market. Unceasing economic globalisation and the boom in service industries have increased women's employment, despite the pressure to reduce public sector spending and the…

The Problems Public Schools Face: High School Misbehaviour in 1990 and 2002

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fish, Reva M.; Finn, Kristin V.; Finn, Jeremy D.

2011-01-01

Misbehaviour in high school impacts learning and instruction in the classroom as well as the educational climate of the institution. In this report, changes in administrators', teachers', and students' reports of misbehaviour between 1990 and 2002 were examined using two national US databases. There was little change in administrators'…

The Wicked Problem of Information Sharing in Homeland Security - A Leadership Perspective

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

filled environment. One such coping strategy termed emotion work, describes how analysts manage their feelings to display a public face or bodily ...in many aspects of Western culture but 56 Jeff Conklin, Dialogue Mapping : Building Shared...effective, whether modifications should be 60 Conklin, Dialogue Mapping : Building Shared Understanding

The effects of obesity on doctor-diagnosed chronic diseases in Africa: empirical results from Senegal and South Africa.

PubMed

Asfaw, Abay

2006-01-01

While inadequate food and communicable infectious diseases have been a concern of researchers and policy makers in Africa, little attention has been given to obesity and chronic, non-communicable diseases. Africa is not usually associated with obesity and chronic diseases. Yet there has been a sharp rise in the incidence of obesity and chronic diseases, a major public health problem in many countries. The paper examines the impact of obesity on the prevalence of four doctor-diagnosed chronic diseases in Senegal and South Africa. The results reveal that obese respondents were 4.7, 2.8, and 4.8% more likely to face the risks of arthritis, diabetes, and heart diseases in South Africa and 6.5 and 7.4% more likely to face the risks of heart disease and asthma in Senegal than their lean counterparts. Obesity imposes a real and substantial danger, affecting the prevalence of chronic diseases. Unchecked it can be a major public health problem, impose a serious challenge to the health sector, and can jeopardize future developments.

Radiation risk perception and public information

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

Boggs-Mayes, C.J.

1988-01-01

We as Health Physicists face what, at many times, appears to be a hopeless task. The task simply stated is informing the public about the risks (or lack thereof) of radiation. Unfortunately, the public has perceived radiation risks to be much greater than they actually are. An example of this problem is shown in a paper by Arthur C. Upton. Three groups of people -- the League of Women Voters, students, and Business and Professional Club members -- were asked to rank 30 sources of risk according to their contribution to the number of deaths in the United States. Notmore » surprisingly, they ranked nuclear power much higher and medical x-rays much lower than the actual values. In addition to the perception problem, we are faced with another hurdle: health physicists as communicators. Members of the Health Physics Society (HPS) found that the communication styles of most health physicists appear to be dissimilar to those of the general public. These authors administered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to the HPS Baltimore-Washington Chapter. This test, a standardized test for psychological type developed by Isabel Myers, ask questions that provide a quantitative measure of our natural preferences in four areas. Assume that you as a health physicist have the necessary skills to communicate information about radiation to the public. Health physicists do nothing with these tools. Most people involved in radiation protection do not get involved with public information activies. What I will attempt to do is heighten your interest in such activities. I will share information about public information activities in which I have been involved and give you suggestions for sources of information and materials. 2 refs., 1 tab.« less

Effectiveness of problem gambling interventions in a service setting: a protocol for a pragmatic randomised controlled clinical trial.

PubMed

Abbott, M; Bellringer, M; Vandal, A C; Hodgins, D C; Battersby, M; Rodda, S N

2017-03-02

The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the relative effectiveness of 2 of the best developed and most promising forms of therapy for problem gambling, namely face-to-face motivational interviewing (MI) combined with a self-instruction booklet (W) and follow-up telephone booster sessions (B; MI+W+B) and face-to-face cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). This project is a single-blind pragmatic randomised clinical trial of 2 interventions, with and without the addition of relapse-prevention text messages. Trial assessments take place pretreatment, at 3 and 12 months. A total of 300 participants will be recruited through a community treatment agency that provides services across New Zealand and randomised to up to 10 face-to-face sessions of CBT or 1 face-to-face session of MI+W+up to 5 B. Participants will also be randomised to 9 months of postcare text messaging. Eligibility criteria include a self-perception of having a current gambling problem and a willingness to participate in all components of the study (eg, read workbook). The statistical analysis will use an intent-to-treat approach. Primary outcome measures are days spent gambling and amount of money spent per day gambling in the prior month. Secondary outcome measures include problem gambling severity, gambling urges, gambling cognitions, mood, alcohol, drug use, tobacco, psychological distress, quality of life, health status and direct and indirect costs associated with treatment. The research methods to be used in this study have been approved by the Ministry of Health, Health and Disability Ethics Committees (HDEC) 15/CEN/99. The investigators will provide annual reports to the HDEC and report any adverse events to this committee. Amendments will also be submitted to this committee. The results of this trial will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals and as a report to the funding body. Additionally, the results will be presented at national and international conferences. ACTRN12615000637549. 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/.

Initial public perceptions of deep geological and oceanic disposal of carbon dioxide.

PubMed

Palmgren, Claire R; Morgan, M Granger; Bruine de Bruin, Wändi; Keith, David W

2004-12-15

Two studies were conducted to gauge likely public perceptions of proposals to avoid releasing carbon dioxide from power plants to the atmosphere by injecting it into deep geological formations or the deep ocean. Following a modified version of the mental model interview method, Study 1 involved face-to-face interviews with 18 nontechnical respondents. Respondents shared their beliefs after receiving basic information about the technologies and again after getting specific details. Many interviewees wanted to frame the issue in the broader context of alternative strategies for carbon management, but public understanding of mitigation strategies is limited. The second study, administered to a sample of 126 individuals, involved a closed-form survey that measured the prevalence of general beliefs revealed in study 1 and also assessed the respondent's views of these technologies. Study results suggest that the public may develop misgivings about deep injection of carbon dioxide because it can be seen as temporizing and perhaps creating future problems. Ocean injection was seen as more problematic than geological injection. An approach to public communication and regulation that is open and respectful of public concerns is likely to be a prerequisite to the successful adoption of this technology.

City Space and Schools and Race: A Conceptual Safari into the Wilds of Urban Public Education and Its Geographic Role in Contemporary Urban Crises. Papers in Geography No. 9.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuz, Anthony; Ziegler, Eugene L.

The thrust of this research exploration is aimed at one of the most pressing social problems facing America today: segregation in the public schools. The school system is only one of a complex set of systems, all interrelated, that comprise the entity that we call a city. The geography of the school system--the location of facilities and the…

Water management, purification, and conservation in arid climates. Volume 1: Water management

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

Goosen, M.F.A.; Shayya, W.H.

1999-07-01

Arid regions are already feeling the severe restraining effects of potable water shortages. In coming years, humid and sub-humid regions of the world will also have to face many of these same problems. In the future, serious conflicts may arise not because of a lack of oil, but due to water shortages. Are there solutions to these problems? Aside from increasing public awareness about the importance of water, society needs to take a three pronged approach: water needs to be effectively managed, it needs to be economically purified, and it needs to be conserved. Only by doing these three thingsmore » in unison can they hope to alleviate the water problems faced by arid regions of the world. This book presents information valuable to seeking, finding and using current technologies to help solve these problems now. Volume 1 examines water management problems in detail, along with water problems and water resources in arid climates, and includes chapters that cover aspects of water management. Water purification technology is another key issue. The economics of this technology is becoming more critical in arid areas due to increasing urbanization and industrialization.« less

Emerging Drug Threats and Perils Facing Utah's Youth. Hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, Second Session (Salt Lake City and Cedar City, Utah, July 6-7, 2000).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

This report documents the proceedings of a two-day hearing held in Utah to begin a public dialogue on how professionals can work together to combat the dangers of substance abuse problems among adolescents. The introductory comments by the presiding chairman, Senator Orin Hatch, spell out the present problem in Utah. The senator points out how…

Maximizing Human Fotential: A Curriculum Design for Human Development and Interpersonal Relationships, Kindergarten through Adult Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento. Bureau of Homemaking Education.

This publication was prepared to assist schools in developing curriculum to help children solve complex social problems and achieve their highest potential as human beings in a world society. A major objective is to provide students with competencies and skills necessary to cope with the interpersonal relationships and stresses faced by…

Reconsidering Social Science Theories in Natural Resource Management Continuing Professional Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stummann, C. B.; Gamborg, C.

2014-01-01

Over 25 years ago, the "wicked problems" concept was introduced into forestry to describe the increasingly complex work situations faced by many natural resource management (NRM) professionals and at the same time the demand and frequency of public involvement in NRM issues also grew. Research on the impact of these changes for NRM…

Integrating Academic Management with Business Planning Activities: The Case of University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Ghana

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owusu-Ansah, Collins; Afful, Deborah

2015-01-01

Currently, public universities are facing chronic problem of underfunding. In a bid to explore more alternative and innovative ways of addressing such underfunding challenges, authorities of universities have sought to inject business activities into the management of the universities. They are now forced to search for additional sources of income…

Challenges in an Aging Society: Presidential Address to APPAM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swartz, Katherine

2010-01-01

The United States is at a critical crossroads in its history right now. The public policy problems that the people are facing are complex and interrelated, and the demographic changes that are about to significantly change their country are not well understood by large numbers of people. In this presidential address to the Association for Public…

Visions Lost and Dreams Forgotten: Environmental Education, Systems Thinking, and Possible Futures in American Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cassell, John A.; Nelson, Thomas

2010-01-01

This article discusses the contributions to this special issue of "Teacher Education Quarterly." At the core of all the contributions is the compellingly urgent realization that humanity is facing, and must deal with, enormous ecological and social problems and challenges. This situation has created an urgent and compelling need centered…

A Global Environmental Agenda for the United States: Issues for the New U.S. Administration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kennedy, Donald; Sant, Roger W.

2000-01-01

The new presidential administration faces an array of urgent challenges. Complex public policy choices are necessary to address the near-term challenges of climate change and resource degradation which will help the United States deal with the chronic problems of global inequity and human deprivation. Outlines the environmental problems…

Developing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Pre-Service Science Teachers: Support from Blended Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alayyar, Ghaida M.; Fisser, Petra; Voogt, Joke

2012-01-01

The "Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge" (TPACK) framework has been used to prepare pre-service science teachers at the Public Authority of Applied Education and Training in Kuwait for ICT integration in education. Pre-service teachers worked in teams to design an ICT solution for an authentic problem they faced during in-school…

Buying the Right Thing: Using a Policy Audit to Align Community College Finance with State Policy Goals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shulock, Nancy; Boilard, Steve

2007-01-01

In 2004, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education published "Ensuring Access with Quality to California's Community Colleges", funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. That report called attention to the considerable challenges facing the community colleges and the importance of addressing these problems. A…

Finally, a Good Way to Teach City Government! A Review of the Computer Simulation Game "SimCity."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pahl, Ronald H.

1991-01-01

Offers an evaluation of the computer simulation game "SimCity." Suggests possible uses for the game at different age and experience levels. Recommends the program as challenging, humorous, and an excellent aid in teaching about the problems and solutions facing city government. Explains that students serve as public officials. (DK)

Everybody's Children: Child Care as a Public Problem.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gormley, William T., Jr.

In the face of social changes that are increasing the demand for available, affordable, quality child care, it is difficult to continue to think of child care as a purely private issue. This book presents an analysis of the state of American child care. It evaluates child care policies and the national attention given to young children and their…

Moderating Influence of Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Assessment Practices on Learning Outcomes in Indonesian Secondary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Umami, Ida

2018-01-01

The purpose of this research was to examine the current situation and problems faced by Indonesian schools in curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment practices despite government's several legal initiatives. A questionnaire comprising both open and closed-ended questions was sent to the teachers and public education officers of the Indonesian…

Improving the Quality of Work Life in Public Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corcoran, Thomas B.

This paper offers a traditional but often neglected view of schools as places of work. It argues that schools are best understood as places where people work and face problems similar to those encountered in other work organizations. Good schools are places where the quality and quantity of work are greater and the work is integrated more…

Viva Colombia/Colombia Viva! A Fantasy Trip for the Five Senses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Ramirez, Lori Langer

2006-01-01

In the author's experience, Colombia is among the most misunderstood Spanish-speaking countries. Most of the news about Columbia involves drug trafficking or guerilla warfare, due to the many social and political problems that face the country. It is rare that the public is informed about the culture and people of this beautiful South American…

Sustainability: Building Program and Coalition Support. A Prevention 101 Series Publication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glider, Peggy

2010-01-01

Given the prevalence of alcohol and other drug abuse and violence on campuses and in communities, programs and coalitions developed to prevent or intervene in these problems are faced with a challenging and long-term task. While the development of coalitions or campus-based prevention programs is a healthy start, these efforts must be sustained…

Identifying Personal and Contextual Factors that Contribute to Attrition Rates for Texas Public School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sass, Daniel A.; Flores, Belinda Bustos; Claeys, Lorena; Perez, Bertha

2012-01-01

Teacher attrition is a significant problem facing schools, with a large percentage of teachers leaving the profession within their first few years. Given the need to retain high-quality teachers, research is needed to identify those teachers with higher retention rates. Using survival analyses and a large state dataset, researchers examined…

A Theoretic and Research Basis for Reconceptualizing the Role of Professional Laboratory Experiences in Teacher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haberman, Martin

A major problem in teacher education is the maintenance of beginning teachers' idealism in the face of practicing professionals' pragmatism. Teacher education programs train students in theories, concepts, and practices only to assign them to public schools, where the antithesis of everything the program attempted to teach is an accepted,…

Involving the public in spatial decision making using Internet GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhengrong; Sheng, Grant; Wang, Lei

2006-10-01

Public participation is an integral part of legislation or decision making processes. Traditionally, public participation took place through face-to-face encounters such as public meetings and other fora. However, some important factors limiting the efficiency and effectiveness of this mode of public participation include: geographic separation of participants, scheduling and financial constraints in attending meetings, and limited duration of meetings. These led to the awareness that public participation requires new methods in order to achieve a better democratic decision making. On the other hand, GIS has in the past been accused of being an elitist technology, giving more power to those people already possessing it and depriving those, namely the general public, who more often lack such direct forms of information access. Public participation GIS (PPGIS) is emerging as a distinct subset of two previously separate activities: technology-based spatial analysis and participatory democracy. The paper considers both traditional methods and Internet-based technologies of public participation and argues that new Internet-based technologies have the potential to widen participation by using online spatial decision support systems. GIS and the Internet can be used together to provide the general public with a powerful mechanism for becoming more involved in decision problems. Provision of full access to spatial and non-spatial data, along with the appropriate tools with which to use it, may greatly empower the general public. PPGIS focuses on engaging the public to participate and become involved in a particular subject of interest. It empowers GIS users from all walks of life and enabling them to use the technology purposefully to capture their local knowledge and advance their goals. In the project of public participatory Ontario nuclear waste siting, we focused on developing an Internet based PPGIS prototype to help the public to participate online from inception to the final phase of site decision-making. It shows that in certain siting problems and policy formulation processes, participatory online systems are a useful means of implementing public participation through informing and engaging the public to participate in spatial decision making. Web based PPGIS can involve more participants and higher degree of participation among experts, officials and the pblic than traditional means.

Challenges and Strategies of Laboratory Diagnosis for Newly Emerging Influenza Viruses in Taiwan: A Decade after SARS

PubMed Central

Wu, Ho-Sheng

2015-01-01

Since the first case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Taiwan was identified in March 2003, viral respiratory infections, in particular the influenza virus, have become a national public health concern. Taiwan would face a serious threat of public health problems if another SARS epidemic overlapped with a flu outbreak. After SARS, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control accelerated and strengthened domestic research on influenza and expanded the exchange of information with international counterparts. The capacity of influenza A to cross species barriers presents a potential threat to human health. Given the mutations of avian flu viruses such as H7N9, H6N1, and H10N8, all countries, including Taiwan, must equip themselves to face a possible epidemic or pandemic. Such preparedness requires global collaboration. PMID:26290876

Dissolving the engineering moral dilemmas within the Islamic ethico-legal praxes.

PubMed

Solihu, Abdul Kabir Hussain; Ambali, Abdul Rauf

2011-03-01

The goal of responsible engineers is the creation of useful and safe technological products and commitment to public health, while respecting the autonomy of the clients and the public. Because engineers often face moral dilemma to resolve such issues, different engineers have chosen different course of actions depending on their respective moral value orientations. Islam provides a value-based mechanism rooted in the Maqasid al-Shari'ah (the objectives of Islamic law). This mechanism prioritizes some values over others and could help resolve the moral dilemmas faced in engineering. This paper introduces the Islamic interpretive-evaluative maxims to two core issues in engineering ethics: genetically modified foods and whistleblowing. The study aims primarily to provide problem-solving maxims within the Maqasid al-Shari'ah matrix through which such moral dilemmas in science and engineering could be studied and resolved.

Financing care for the uninsured: the dilemma vexes New Jersey hospitals and payers.

PubMed

Wells, E V

1996-05-01

New Jersey's diverse constituencies and special interest groups don't usually agree on a public policy issue. However, almost everyone in the public policy arena agrees that hospitals should treat people who show up in emergency departments with problems requiring medical attention. For over a decade, Garden State policymakers, payers, and providers have faced the dilemma of excess demand on hospitals that treat the uninsured. This demand has risen due to increasing health care costs, development of costly technology, state deregulation of hospital payments, and employers' reluctance to insure workers and their families coupled with a mobile workforce holding part-time and seasonal jobs. The fiscal solvency of inner-city hospitals is threatened yet the problem continues to elude resolution.

Too easily lead? Health effects of gasoline additives.

PubMed Central

Menkes, D B; Fawcett, J P

1997-01-01

Octane-enhancing constituents of gasoline pose a number of health hazards. This paper considers the relative risks of metallic (lead, manganese), aromatic (e.g., benzene), and oxygenated additives in both industrialized and developing countries. Technological advances, particularly in industrialized countries, have allowed the progressive removal of lead from gasoline and the increased control of exhaust emissions. The developing world, by contrast, has relatively lax environmental standards and faces serious public health problems from vehicle exhaust and the rapid increase in automobile use. Financial obstacles to the modernization of refineries and vehicle fleets compound this problem and the developing world continues to import large quantities of lead additives and other hazardous materials. Progress in decreasing environmental health problems depends both on the adoption of international public health standards as well as efforts to decrease dependence on the private automobile for urban transport. Images Figure 1. Figure 2. PMID:9171982

Testing Scientific Software: A Systematic Literature Review.

PubMed

Kanewala, Upulee; Bieman, James M

2014-10-01

Scientific software plays an important role in critical decision making, for example making weather predictions based on climate models, and computation of evidence for research publications. Recently, scientists have had to retract publications due to errors caused by software faults. Systematic testing can identify such faults in code. This study aims to identify specific challenges, proposed solutions, and unsolved problems faced when testing scientific software. We conducted a systematic literature survey to identify and analyze relevant literature. We identified 62 studies that provided relevant information about testing scientific software. We found that challenges faced when testing scientific software fall into two main categories: (1) testing challenges that occur due to characteristics of scientific software such as oracle problems and (2) testing challenges that occur due to cultural differences between scientists and the software engineering community such as viewing the code and the model that it implements as inseparable entities. In addition, we identified methods to potentially overcome these challenges and their limitations. Finally we describe unsolved challenges and how software engineering researchers and practitioners can help to overcome them. Scientific software presents special challenges for testing. Specifically, cultural differences between scientist developers and software engineers, along with the characteristics of the scientific software make testing more difficult. Existing techniques such as code clone detection can help to improve the testing process. Software engineers should consider special challenges posed by scientific software such as oracle problems when developing testing techniques.

The Road Less Traveled: How the Developmental Sciences Can Prepare Educators to Improve Student Achievement--Policy Recommendations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leibbrand, Jane A.; Watson, Bernardine H.

2010-01-01

The most important problem facing public education in the country today is: how can teachers address the needs of all learners? A 2007 report issued by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) says, "aspects of development--neural, cognitive, social, psychological, physical and ethical--have far-reaching effects on…

Senge's Learning Organization and Teachers' Perceptions of Leadership at an Elementary School in Urban Ohio

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Robert J.

2010-01-01

Urban public schools in the United States face the problem of failure to reach academic goals of performance mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act. It was hypothesized that use of Senge's leadership model might result in academic performance in one urban elementary school. Based on Senge's shared vision leadership model as the theoretical…

Optimizing Home-School Collaboration: Strategies for School Psychologists and Latino Parent Involvement for Positive Mental Health Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olvera, Pedro; Olvera, Veronica I.

2012-01-01

Public schools across the United States are experiencing an increase in Cultural and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students, particularly those of Latino descent. Latino children are at a high-risk for mental health problems (i.e., depression, anxiety, risk of suicide, etc.) and face greater risk factors when compared to many of their ethnic…

Trauma.

PubMed

Bonatti, Hugo; Calland, James Forrest

2008-08-01

In terms of cost and years of potential lives lost, injury arguably remains the most important public health problem facing the United States. Care of traumatically injured patients depends on early surgical intervention and avoiding delays in the diagnosis of injuries that threaten life and limb. In the critical care phase, successful outcomes after injury depend almost solely on diligence, attention to detail, and surveillance for iatrogenic infections and complications.

Examining the Effectiveness of Dropout Prevention Practices and Their Implications for Intervention with Public School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pollack, Louisa

2010-01-01

Schools face the dilemma of transforming both the trend of students dropping out of school and the associated negative socioeconomic outcomes into a positive path of persistence and school completion. Despite ongoing efforts of the federal and state government, as well as those of the local school districts, this problem continues to burden the…

Navigating a Restless Sea: The Continuing Struggle to Achieve a Decent Education for African-American Youngsters in Chicago.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ayers, William; Klonsky, Michael

1994-01-01

The movement to reform the Chicago (Illinois) public schools faces a host of problems in the classroom and a sea of social ills outside the classroom. Without support from the African American community and largely cut off from the reform process, neither significant progress nor progressive change can be made. (SLD)

There Are No Subways in Lickingville: Metropolitan Models Don't Work for Rural People.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hillman, Arnold

This book presents an overview of the problems facing rural America and offers solutions at the national, state, and local levels. The combination of public lack of awareness and metropolitan-centered authority has created a view of rural America and its people that is contrary to both the data and actual living conditions. Rural education has…

The status of rural garbage disposal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Ruqiong; Chen, Hong

2018-01-01

With the development of rural construction and the improvement of the living standard of residents, the production of rural living waste is increasing day by day. These wastes not only pollute the environment, destroy the rural landscape, but also spread disease, threaten the life safety of human beings, and become one of the public hazards. The problem of rural living waste is a major environmental problem facing China and the world. This paper make a summary analysis about the present situation of municipal waste in China, this paper expounds the problems in rural garbage treatment, and in view of status quo of municipal waste in China put forward comprehensive countermeasures.

Poverty and palliative care in the US: issues facing the urban poor.

PubMed

Hughes, Anne

2005-01-01

Poverty is a significant public health and social problem in the US. The urban poor living with life-limiting illnesses are a particularly vulnerable population. The literature related to the experiences of the urban poor at the end of life is sparse. Most relates to the experiences of patients with cancer. The purpose of this literature review is to describe the problem of poverty in the US, to identify challenges in providing palliative care to the urban poor, and lastly, to articulate implications for nursing practice and nursing research.

Child sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation: health care needs of victims.

PubMed

Greenbaum, Jordan; Crawford-Jakubiak, James E

2015-03-01

Child sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) are major public health problems in the United States and throughout the world. Despite large numbers of American and foreign youth affected and a plethora of serious physical and mental health problems associated with CSEC, there is limited information available to pediatricians regarding the nature and scope of human trafficking and how pediatricians and other health care providers may help protect children. Knowledge of risk factors, recruitment practices, possible indicators of CSEC, and common medical and behavioral health problems experienced by victims will help pediatricians recognize potential victims and respond appropriately. As health care providers, educators, and leaders in child advocacy, pediatricians play an essential role in addressing the public health issues faced by child victims of CSEC. Their roles can include working to increase recognition of CSEC, providing direct care and anticipatory guidance related to CSEC, engaging in collaborative efforts with medical and nonmedical colleagues to provide for the complex needs of youth, and educating child-serving professionals and the public. Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

An appraisal of public water supply and coverage in Mzuzu City, northern Malawi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wanda, Elijah M. M.; Gulula, Lewis C.; Phiri, Gift

Literature on water supply and coverage is mixed about whether Malawi will achieve the MDGs by 2015. Mzuzu City is one of the most rapidly growing urban areas that is faced with public water supply and coverage challenges in Malawi. In view of this, an appraisal was done through documentation review, field visits and face to face interviews in order to evaluate problems of public water supply and coverage. It was observed that inequitable distribution of water points, unreliability of the water supply services and financial losses are some of the problems affecting public water supply in Mzuzu City. The financial losses were attributed to poor financial performance resulting from accrued debts by some individual customers and most government institutions, the board’s reliance on loans for expansion of services which has led into more revenue being spent servicing the loan and accrued interests, and high levels of unaccounted for water. This study found out that only 17% of the study population has piped water in their dwelling homes and yards. It was also observed that 51% of the population accesses the water from community stand pipes supplied by the NRWB. This means that only 68% of the study population in Mzuzu City (mostly those from planned settlements) is covered by NRWB and 32% is not covered and relies on boreholes (13.6%), unprotected wells (16.5%) and rivers (1.9%) as sources of water. The percentage composition of the population not covered by NRWB is of great concern and threat to public health and safety. The study recommends that NRWB should ensure that available funds, which would otherwise have been paid out in form of interest, are used on projects in phases to improve water supply and coverage in Mzuzu City. The study also recommends that the government of Malawi should consider converting the NRWB’s loans into grants in order to alleviate the NRWB’s financial losses. Furthermore, the study recommends that the NRWB should equitably increase its customer base.

The US/Mexico Border: A Binational Approach to Framing Challenges and Constructing Solutions for Improving Farmworkers’ Lives

PubMed Central

Rosales, Cecilia; Ortega, Maria Isabel; De Zapien, Jill Guernsey; Paniagua, Alma Delia Contreras; Zapien, Antonio; Ingram, Maia; Aranda, Patricia

2012-01-01

Mexican migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the US-Mexico border region face health hazards and occupational risks and are becoming commonly known in the public health literature. According to several studies, farmworkers have high levels of chronic diseases such as diabetes and respiratory problems, are at risk for infectious diseases, and experience among the highest incidences of work-related injuries of any profession. The findings from two studies are considered and presented with the objective of contributing to an overall understanding of migrant farmworkers as a workforce moving across national boundaries and affected by the work environments and health stressors both shared and unique to each context. We propose a binational approach to comprehensively address the health problems and socioeconomic challenges faced by migrant and seasonal farmworkers. In this paper we present the results of two distinct but complementary studies of farmworker health on the Arizona-Sonora border. PMID:22829796

Beyond Commercialization: Science, Higher Education and the Culture of Neoliberalism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kleinman, Daniel Lee; Feinstein, Noah Weeth; Downey, Greg

2013-10-01

Since the 1980s, scholars and others have been engaged in a lively debate about the virtues and dangers of mingling commerce with university science. In this paper, we contend that the commercialization of academic science, and higher education more broadly, are best understood as pieces of a larger story. We use two cases of institutional change at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to shed light on the implications of neoliberalism for public research universities in the United States. We conclude that instead of neoliberalization being a timely strategy for the specific fiscal and other problems facing public universities today, it has become an omnibus solution available to be employed when any opportunity arises and, in fact, helps to define the "problems" of the university in the first place.

Current and emerging global themes in the bioethics of regenerative medicine: the tangled web of stem cell translation.

PubMed

Chan, Sarah

2017-10-01

Probably the most serious problem facing the field of regenerative medicine today is the challenge of effective translation and development of viable stem cell-based therapies. Particular concerns have been raised over the growing market in unproven cell therapies. In this article, I explore recent developments in the stem cell therapy landscape and argue that while the sale of unproven therapies undoubtedly poses ethical concerns, it must be understood as part of a larger problem at the interface between biomedicine, healthcare, publics, policy and the market. Addressing this will require a broader perspective incorporating the shifting relationships between different stakeholder groups, the global politics of research and innovation, and the evolving role of publics and patients with respect to science.

Current and emerging global themes in the bioethics of regenerative medicine: the tangled web of stem cell translation

PubMed Central

Chan, Sarah

2017-01-01

Probably the most serious problem facing the field of regenerative medicine today is the challenge of effective translation and development of viable stem cell-based therapies. Particular concerns have been raised over the growing market in unproven cell therapies. In this article, I explore recent developments in the stem cell therapy landscape and argue that while the sale of unproven therapies undoubtedly poses ethical concerns, it must be understood as part of a larger problem at the interface between biomedicine, healthcare, publics, policy and the market. Addressing this will require a broader perspective incorporating the shifting relationships between different stakeholder groups, the global politics of research and innovation, and the evolving role of publics and patients with respect to science. PMID:29119870

[Health inequality among vulnerable groups in Mexico: older adults, indigenous people, and migrants].

PubMed

Juárez-Ramírez, Clara; Márquez-Serrano, Margarita; Salgado de Snyder, Nelly; Pelcastre-Villafuerte, Blanca Estela; Ruelas-González, María Guadalupe; Reyes-Morales, Hortensia

2014-04-01

Health vulnerability refers to a lack of protection for specific population groups with specific health problems, as well as the disadvantages they face in solving them in comparison with other population groups. This major public health problem has multiple and diverse causes, including a shortage of trained health care personnel and the lack of family, social, economic, and institutional support in obtaining care and minimizing health risks. Health vulnerability is a dynamic condition arising from the confluence of multiple social determinants. This article attempts to describe the health situation of three vulnerable groups in Mexico-older adults, indigenous people, and migrants-and, after defining the needs of each, explore measures that could contribute to the design and implementation of public health policies better tailored to their respective needs.

Public Acceptability of E-Mental Health Treatment Services for Psychological Problems: A Scoping Review

PubMed Central

Kemper, Jessica; Stürmer, Carolina

2017-01-01

Background Over the past decades, the deficient provision of evidence-based interventions for the prevention and treatment of mental health problems has become a global challenge across health care systems. In view of the ongoing diffusion of new media and mobile technologies into everyday life, Web-delivered electronic mental health (e-mental health) treatment services have been suggested to expand the access to professional help. However, the large-scale dissemination and adoption of innovative e-mental health services is progressing slowly. This discrepancy between potential and actual impact in public health makes it essential to explore public acceptability of e-mental health treatment services across health care systems. Objective This scoping review aimed to identify and evaluate recent empirical evidence for public acceptability, service preferences, and attitudes toward e-mental health treatments. On the basis of both frameworks for technology adoption and previous research, we defined (1) perceived helpfulness and (2) intentions to use e-mental health treatment services as indicators for public acceptability in the respective general population of reviewed studies. This mapping should reduce heterogeneity and help derive implications for systematic reviews and public health strategies. Methods We systematically searched electronic databases (MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, Psyndex, PsycARTICLES, and Cochrane Library, using reference management software for parallel searches) to identify surveys published in English in peer-reviewed journals between January 2010 and December 2015, focusing on public perceptions about e-mental health treatments outside the context of clinical, psychosocial, or diagnostic interventions. Both indicators were obtained from previous review. Exclusion criteria further involved studies targeting specific groups or programs. Results The simultaneous database search identified 76 nonduplicate records. Four articles from Europe and Australia were included in this scoping review. Sample sizes ranged from 217 to 2411 participants of ages 14-95 years. All included studies used cross-sectional designs and self-developed measures for outcomes related to both defined indicators of public acceptability. Three surveys used observational study designs, whereas one study was conducted as an experiment investigating the impact of brief educational information on attitudes. Taken together, the findings of included surveys suggested that e-mental health treatment services were perceived as less helpful than traditional face-to-face interventions. Additionally, intentions to future use e-mental health treatments were overall smaller in comparison to face-to-face services. Professional support was essential for help-seeking intentions in case of psychological distress. Therapist-assisted e-mental health services were preferred over unguided programs. Unexpectedly, assumed associations between familiarity with Web-based self-help for health purposes or “e-awareness” and intentions to use e-mental health services were weak or inconsistent. Conclusions Considering the marginal amount and heterogeneity of pilot studies focusing on public acceptability of e-mental health treatments, further research using theory-led approaches and validated measures is required to understand psychological facilitator and barriers for the implementation of innovative services into health care. PMID:28373153

[Ethical problems experienced by nurses in primary health care: integrative literature review].

PubMed

Nora, Carlise Rigon Dalla; Zoboli, Elma Lourdes Campos Pavone; Vieira, Margarida

2015-03-01

The aim of this study is to identify ethical problems experienced by nurses in primary health care and resources for coping based on publications on the subject. An integrative literature review was performed between the months of October and November 2013, using the databases: BDTD, CINAHL, LILACS, MEDLINE, Biblioteca Cochrane, PubMed, RCAAP and SciELO. Articles, dissertations and theses published in Portuguese, English and Spanish were included, totalling 31 studies published from 1992 to 2013. This analysis resulted in four categories: ethical problems in the relationship between team members, ethical problems in the relationship with the user, ethical problems in health services management and resources for coping with ethical problems. Results showed that nurses need to be prepared to face ethical problems, emphasizing the importance of ethics education during the education process before and during professional practice to enhance the development of ethical sensitivity and competence for problem resolution.

Exploring Gender-Specific Trends in Underage Drinking across Adolescent Age Groups and Measures of Drinking: Is Girls' Drinking Catching up with Boys'?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhong, Hua; Schwartz, Jennifer

2010-01-01

Underage drinking is among the most serious of public health problems facing adolescents in the United States. Recent concerns have centered on young women, reflected in media reports and arrest statistics on their increasing problematic alcohol use. This study rigorously examined whether girls' alcohol use rose by applying time series methods to…

The Effects of Guided Reading Instruction on the Reading Comprehension and Reading Attitudes of Fourth-Grade At-Risk Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruce, Laquanda T.

2010-01-01

America's public schools have faced challenges in educating students, particularly those identified as at risk. According to the No Child Left Behind Act, nearly 70% of 4th grade students are unable to perform on a basic level on national reading tests. The research problem in this study addressed the significance of guided reading instruction,…

The Effectiveness of HIV/AIDS School-Based Sexual Health Education Programmes in Nigeria: A Systematic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amaugo, Lucky Gospel; Papadopoulos, Chris; Ochieng, Bertha M. N.; Ali, Nasreen

2014-01-01

HIV/AIDS is one of the most important public health challenges facing Nigeria today. Recent evidence has revealed that the adolescent population make up a large proportion of the 3.7% reported prevalence rate among Nigerians aged 15-49 years. School-based sexual health education has therefore become an important tool towards fighting this problem.…

The Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project Volume 1: land cover, vertebrate species distributions, and land stewardship

Treesearch

W. A. Gould; C. Alarcon; B. Fevold; M.E. Jimenez; S. Martinuzzi; G. Potts; M. Quinones; M. Solórzano; E. Ventosa

2008-01-01

Puerto Rico faces a number of problems common to much of the world. Population is increasing while land area is not, and there are reassessments of land use policy and practice to accommodate growing populations, shifting economies, and changing public value systems. Puerto Rico shares similarities with the Eastern United States with its history of agricultural...

As 1989 Legislatures Convene, Public Colleges in Many States Face Tough Battles for Funds.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blumenstyk, Goldie

1989-01-01

The summer drought, the oil-market slump, and the desire for political popularity are among the causes for state financial problems. A report by the National Governors' Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers found that in 1987, the amount of money left in general-fund accounts was at its lowest point in 12 years. (MLW)

Implementation of Block Scheduling in a Four-Year High School: A Literary Review and a Handbook for Administrators, Teachers and Parents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scroggins, Gary V.; Karr-Kidwell, PJ

High schools today face problems of culturally diverse student populations, diversity of student learning styles, and a growing public perception that high schools do not adequately prepare their graduates for either work or college. This paper offers an extensive review of literature on block scheduling as well as a handbook for gaining support…

Household Food Insecurity: Serious Concerns for Child Development. Social Policy Report. Volume 25, Number 3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fiese, Barbara H.; Gundersen, Craig; Koester, Brenda; Washington, LaTesha

2011-01-01

In 2009, 14.7% of households were food insecure at some time during the year. In other words, members of those households did not have access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. This is arguably the most serious nutrition-related public health problem facing the U.S. today. The serious developmental consequences of food…

Factors That Influence African American Male Retention and Graduation: The Case of Gateway University, a Historically Black College and University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farmer, Errick D.; Hope, Warren C.

2015-01-01

African American males face major challenges in retention and graduation from institutions of higher education. The 6-year graduation rate for African American males at 4-year public institutions and private nonprofit colleges is less than 40%. This figure suggests that persistence toward degree attainment is a problem. The purpose of this study…

Children Without Homes: An Examination of Public Responsibility to Children in Out-of-Home Care.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knitzer, Jane; And Others

This book is the seventh Children's Defense Fund report on major problems facing American children at risk of placement or already placed out of their homes. The findings are based on a survey of child welfare and probation offices in a stratified random sample of 140 counties (27 with populations over 300,000, and 113 with populations under…

Avoiding Legal Hassles: What School Administrators Really Need To Know. Successful Schools: Guidebooks to Effective Educational Leadership. Volume 3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Streshly, William A.; Frase, Larry E.

Information to help school administrators avoid legal problems is provided in this guidebook. Chapter 1 explains the governance of public education at the federal, state, and local levels, with a focus on the role of local school boards. Chapter 2 outlines the major legal issues facing schools today, with a focus on the broad drift of…

[Social scenarios in Latin America and the Caribbean].

PubMed

Kliksberg, B

2000-01-01

A wide range of sources have pointed out the magnitude and depth of the social problems that trouble Latin America and the Caribbean and the risks that these problems pose for democracy. Although there are other issues that merit consideration, this article briefly outlines nine key social problems: 1) the increase in poverty, 2) the impact of poverty, 3) unemployment and informal employment, 4) deficiencies in public health, 5) problems in education, 6) the newly poor, 7) the erosion of the family, 8) increasing crime, and 9) the perverse cycle of socioeconomic exclusion. Solving these problems must not be delayed. It is urgent to move to a comprehensive view of development that achieves a different balance between economic and social policies, and that recognizes the indispensable role of these policies in achieving truly sustainable development. At stake are problems that not only concern resources, but also priorities, levels of equity, and the organization of society. Facing up to this poverty and inequity requires an in-depth assessment of these economic policies' social consequences, of the crucial subject of Latin American inequity--the greatest in the world--and of the role of social and public policies.

Public health emergencies and the public health/managed care challenge.

PubMed

Rosenbaum, Sara; Skivington, Skip; Praeger, Sandra

2002-01-01

The relationship between insurance and public health is an enduring topic in public health policy and practice. Insurers share certain attributes with public health. But public health agencies operate in relation to the entire community that they are empowered by public law to serve and without regard to the insurance status of community residents; on the other hand, insurers (whether managed care or otherwise) are risk-bearing entities whose obligations are contractually defined and limited to enrolled members and sponsors. Public insurers such as Medicare and Medicaid operate under similar constraints. The fundamental characteristics that distinguish managed care-style insurance and public health become particularly evident during periods of public health emergency, when a public health agency's basic obligations to act with speed and flexibility may come face to face with the constraints on available financing that are inherent in the structure of insurance. Because more than 70% of all personal health care in the United States is financed through insurance, public health agencies effectively depend on insurers to finance necessary care and provide essential patient-level data to the public health system. Critical issues of state and federal policy arise in the context of the public health/insurance relations during public health emergencies. These issues focus on coverage and the power to make coverage decisions, as well as the power to define service networks and classify certain data as exempt from public reporting. The extent to which a formal regulatory approach may become necessary is significantly affected by the extent to which private entities themselves respond to the problem with active efforts to redesign their services and operations to include capabilities and accountability in the realm of public health emergency response.

Understanding the acceptability of e-mental health--attitudes and expectations towards computerised self-help treatments for mental health problems.

PubMed

Musiat, Peter; Goldstone, Philip; Tarrier, Nicholas

2014-04-11

E-mental health and m-mental health include the use of technology in the prevention, treatment and aftercare of mental health problems. With the economical pressure on mental health services increasing, e-mental health and m-mental health could bridge treatment gaps, reduce waiting times for patients and deliver interventions at lower costs. However, despite the existence of numerous effective interventions, the transition of computerised interventions into care is slow. The aim of the present study was to investigate the acceptability of e-mental health and m-mental health in the general population. An advisory group of service users identified dimensions that potentially influence an individual's decision to engage with a particular treatment for mental health problems. A large sample (N = 490) recruited through email, flyers and social media was asked to rate the acceptability of different treatment options for mental health problems on these domains. Results were analysed using repeated measures MANOVA. Participants rated the perceived helpfulness of an intervention, the ability to motivate users, intervention credibility, and immediate access without waiting time as most important dimensions with regard to engaging with a treatment for mental health problems. Participants expected face-to-face therapy to meet their needs on most of these dimensions. Computerised treatments and smartphone applications for mental health were reported to not meet participants' expectations on most domains. However, these interventions scored higher than face-to-face treatments on domains associated with the convenience of access. Overall, participants reported a very low likelihood of using computerised treatments for mental health in the future. Individuals in this study expressed negative views about computerised self-help intervention and low likelihood of use in the future. To improve the implementation and uptake, policy makers need to improve the public perception of such interventions.

Understanding the acceptability of e-mental health - attitudes and expectations towards computerised self-help treatments for mental health problems

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background E-mental health and m-mental health include the use of technology in the prevention, treatment and aftercare of mental health problems. With the economical pressure on mental health services increasing, e-mental health and m-mental health could bridge treatment gaps, reduce waiting times for patients and deliver interventions at lower costs. However, despite the existence of numerous effective interventions, the transition of computerised interventions into care is slow. The aim of the present study was to investigate the acceptability of e-mental health and m-mental health in the general population. Methods An advisory group of service users identified dimensions that potentially influence an individual’s decision to engage with a particular treatment for mental health problems. A large sample (N = 490) recruited through email, flyers and social media was asked to rate the acceptability of different treatment options for mental health problems on these domains. Results were analysed using repeated measures MANOVA. Results Participants rated the perceived helpfulness of an intervention, the ability to motivate users, intervention credibility, and immediate access without waiting time as most important dimensions with regard to engaging with a treatment for mental health problems. Participants expected face-to-face therapy to meet their needs on most of these dimensions. Computerised treatments and smartphone applications for mental health were reported to not meet participants’ expectations on most domains. However, these interventions scored higher than face-to-face treatments on domains associated with the convenience of access. Overall, participants reported a very low likelihood of using computerised treatments for mental health in the future. Conclusions Individuals in this study expressed negative views about computerised self-help intervention and low likelihood of use in the future. To improve the implementation and uptake, policy makers need to improve the public perception of such interventions. PMID:24725765

Does the private sector have a role in Canadian healthcare?

PubMed

McGowan, Tom

2004-01-01

The current system of public pay with primarily public management for essential healthcare services has largely been successful. The Romanow and Kirby reports have made compelling arguments for expanding the definition of essential healthcare services to include, among other things, medications. The problem facing Canadians is that expanding services is not feasible under the current structure, as it is not affordable. The rigid adherence to a 45-year-old definition of system structure is hampering our ability to innovate. In an increasingly unresponsive system, the introduction of private management, through the judicious use of private contracts, can improve efficiency and increase accountability, while maintaining the important principle of public funding.

78 FR 938 - Notification of a Public Meeting and a Public Teleconference of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-07

.... to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). ADDRESSES: The CASAC Lead Review Panel face-to-face public meeting will... Quality Standards (First External Review Draft--January 2013). DATES: The CASAC Lead Review Panel face-to-face public meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 5, 2013, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Eastern...

Specific problems in visual cognition of dyslexic readers: Face discrimination deficits predict dyslexia over and above discrimination of scrambled faces and novel objects.

PubMed

Sigurdardottir, Heida Maria; Fridriksdottir, Liv Elisabet; Gudjonsdottir, Sigridur; Kristjánsson, Árni

2018-06-01

Evidence of interdependencies of face and word processing mechanisms suggest possible links between reading problems and abnormal face processing. In two experiments we assessed such high-level visual deficits in people with a history of reading problems. Experiment 1 showed that people who were worse at face matching had greater reading problems. In experiment 2, matched dyslexic and typical readers were tested, and difficulties with face matching were consistently found to predict dyslexia over and above both novel-object matching as well as matching noise patterns that shared low-level visual properties with faces. Furthermore, ADHD measures could not account for face matching problems. We speculate that reading difficulties in dyslexia are partially caused by specific deficits in high-level visual processing, in particular for visual object categories such as faces and words with which people have extensive experience. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Overestimation of molecular and modelling methods and underestimation of traditional taxonomy leads to real problems in assessing and handling of the world's biodiversity.

PubMed

Löbl, Ivan

2014-02-27

Since the 1992 Rio Convention on Biological Diversity, the earth's biodiversity is a matter of constant public interest, but the community of scientists who describe and delimit species in mega-diverse animal groups, i.e. the bulk of global biodiversity, faces ever-increasing impediments. The problems are rooted in poor understanding of specificity of taxonomy, and overestimation of quantitative approaches and modern technology. A high proportion of the animal species still remains to be discovered and studied, so a more balanced approach to the situation is needed.

Practical problems which women encounter with available contraception in Australia.

PubMed

Weisberg, E

1994-06-01

Australian women face major difficulties with contraception because of the limited range of choices, the need for meticulous attention to compliance with most available methods and because of cost limitations for a significant minority of the population. The most commonly used methods are oral contraceptive pills and barrier methods, and each has substantial compliance problems which can be minimized with care and counselling. There is an urgent need for a wider range of options in Australia and for good information and publicity about them. Present progress in this direction gives some hope for the near future.

Testing Scientific Software: A Systematic Literature Review

PubMed Central

Kanewala, Upulee; Bieman, James M.

2014-01-01

Context Scientific software plays an important role in critical decision making, for example making weather predictions based on climate models, and computation of evidence for research publications. Recently, scientists have had to retract publications due to errors caused by software faults. Systematic testing can identify such faults in code. Objective This study aims to identify specific challenges, proposed solutions, and unsolved problems faced when testing scientific software. Method We conducted a systematic literature survey to identify and analyze relevant literature. We identified 62 studies that provided relevant information about testing scientific software. Results We found that challenges faced when testing scientific software fall into two main categories: (1) testing challenges that occur due to characteristics of scientific software such as oracle problems and (2) testing challenges that occur due to cultural differences between scientists and the software engineering community such as viewing the code and the model that it implements as inseparable entities. In addition, we identified methods to potentially overcome these challenges and their limitations. Finally we describe unsolved challenges and how software engineering researchers and practitioners can help to overcome them. Conclusions Scientific software presents special challenges for testing. Specifically, cultural differences between scientist developers and software engineers, along with the characteristics of the scientific software make testing more difficult. Existing techniques such as code clone detection can help to improve the testing process. Software engineers should consider special challenges posed by scientific software such as oracle problems when developing testing techniques. PMID:25125798

Changing the hearts and minds of policy makers: an exploratory study associated with the West Virginia Walks campaign.

PubMed

Leyden, Kevin M; Reger-Nash, Bill; Bauman, Adrian; Bias, Tom

2008-01-01

To pilot test whether West Virginia Walks changed local policy makers' awareness of walking-related issues. A quasi-experimental design with preintervention and postintervention mail surveys. Morgantown, WV (intervention community), and Huntington, WV (comparison community). One hundred thirty-three and 134 public officials in Morgantown and 120 and 116 public officials in Huntington at baseline and at follow-up, respectively. An 8-week mass media social ecological campaign designed to encourage moderate-intensity walking among insufficiently active persons aged 40 to 65 years. Policy makers listed three problems they believed needed to be addressed in their community. They then rated the severity of several problems that many communities face using a Likert scale, with 1 representing "not a problem" and 5 representing "an extremely important problem." Independent sample t-tests were used to examine differences in mean responses at baseline and at follow-up. Statistically significant increases in the perceived importance of walking-related issues were observed among policy makers in Morgantown but not in the comparison community. Integrated communitywide health promotion campaigns designed to influence the public can also affect the perceptions of policy makers. Future research should examine this linkage and determine whether resource allocation and policy changes follow such interventions.

China's public health-care system: facing the challenges.

PubMed Central

Liu, Yuanli

2004-01-01

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis in China revealed not only the failures of the Chinese health-care system but also some fundamental structural deficiencies. A decentralized and fragmented health system, such as the one found in China, is not well-suited to making a rapid and coordinated response to public health emergencies. The commercial orientation of the health sector on the supply-side and lack of health insurance coverage on the demand-side further exacerbate the problems of the under-provision of public services, such as health surveillance and preventive care. For the past 25 years, the Chinese Government has kept economic development at the top of the policy agenda at the expense of public health, especially in terms of access to health care for the 800 million people living in rural areas. A significant increase in government investment in the public health infrastructure, though long overdue, is not sufficient to solve the problems of the health-care system. China needs to reorganize its public health system by strengthening both the vertical and horizontal connections between its various public health organizations. China's recent policy of establishing a matching-fund financed rural health insurance system presents an exciting opportunity to improve people's access to health care. PMID:15500285

The factors affecting Nigeria's success toward implementation of global public health priorities.

PubMed

Echebiri, Vitalis C

2015-06-01

This paper examines the challenges facing the Nigerian government toward the implementation of global public health priories. The Nigerian government recognizes the need to implement these priorities by putting in place the necessary policy framework, but political instability, poor infrastructural development and inadequate funding have remained barriers toward the achievement of success in implementing these priorities. The rest of the paper elucidates the fact that despite leadership and influence from the World Health Organization and other United Nations agencies, and some responses from the Nigerian government, tackling these public health problems requires much more fundamental reform to primary health services and a reduction in poverty. Although the government has shown enough political will to tackle these problems, it is expected that a better result will be achieved through injecting more funds into the Nigerian health sector, and deploying astute health administrators to manage the sector rather than pure health professionals without managerial acumen. © The Author(s) 2014.

The Influence of Daily Stressors, Severity of Behavior Problems, Uncertainty, and Coping Strategies on Family Adaptation in Families of Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Brien, Sandra L.

2013-01-01

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is rising exponentially. U.S. public health authorities report a 78% increase in ASD prevalence rate during the period (2002-2008), effecting 1 child in 50. Families of adolescents with ASD face the complex task of managing their children's transition into adulthood. Complicating this task is…

A Roadmap for True Accountability: Reconceptualizing Language-Learning Services, Reclassification Practices and Monitoring Systems for English Language Learners in U.S. Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slama, Rachel B.

2012-01-01

A major problem facing educators in the United States is how to determine when the nation's five million English language learners (ELL) are ready to exit language-learning programs, i.e. to be "reclassified" as fluent English proficient (R-FEP) and placed in mainstream classrooms without additional language support. No Child Left Behind…

Study of aerospace technology utilization in the civilian biomedical field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

The treatment of patients with acute pulmonary or cardiovascular diseases is used to demonstrate the benefits to be derived from a more extensive application of NASA technology in public health care. Significant and rather universal problems faced by the medical profession and supporting services are identified. The required technology and specifications for its development and evaluation are delineated. Institutional relationships and collaboration needed to accomplish technology transfer are developed.

An assessment of the occupational and environmental health needs in seven Southeastern European and West-Central Asian countries.

PubMed

Coman, Alexandru; Cherecheş, Răzvan M; Ungureanu, Marius I; Marton-Vasarhelyi, Emanuela O; Valentine, Marissa A; Sabo-Attwood, Tara; Gray, Gregory C

2015-12-01

Eastern European and Central Asian countries are undergoing rapid socioeconomic and political reforms. Many old industrial facilities are either abandoned, or use outdated technologies that severely impact the environment. Emerging industries have less regulation than in developed countries and environmental and occupational problems seem to be increasing. Under a US National Institutes of Health pilot grant, we developed an interdisciplinary One Health research network in Southeastern Europe and West-Central Asia to identify environmental and occupational problems. From 2012 to 2014, this GeoHealth Hub engaged 11 academic centers and 16 public health institutions in eight different countries: Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Romania, and the United States with a goal of strengthening environmental and occupational research and training capacities. Employing face-to-face interviews and large group meetings, we conducted an evidenced-based needs and opportunities assessment focused on aquatic health, food safety, and zoonotic diseases. Comprehensive reviews of the published literature yielded priority research areas for each of the seven GeoHealth Hub countries including heavy metal and pesticide contamination, tick-borne diseases, rabies, brucellosis, and inadequate public health surveillance. Copyright © 2015 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fragility of the provision of local public goods to private and collective risks.

PubMed

Cárdenas, Juan-Camilo; Janssen, Marco A; Ale, Manita; Bastakoti, Ram; Bernal, Adriana; Chalermphol, Juthathip; Gong, Yazhen; Shin, Hoon; Shivakoti, Ganesh; Wang, Yibo; Anderies, John M

2017-01-31

Smallholder agricultural systems, strongly dependent on water resources and investments in shared infrastructure, make a significant contribution to food security in developing countries. These communities are being increasingly integrated into the global economy and are exposed to new global climate-related risks that may affect their willingness to cooperate in community-level collective action problems. We performed field experiments on public goods with private and collective risks in 118 small-scale rice-producing communities in four countries. Our results indicate that increasing the integration of those communities with the broader economic system is associated with lower investments in public goods when facing collective risks. These findings indicate that local public good provision may be negatively affected by collective risks, especially in communities more integrated with the market economy.

Fragility of the provision of local public goods to private and collective risks

PubMed Central

Cárdenas, Juan-Camilo; Ale, Manita; Bastakoti, Ram; Bernal, Adriana; Chalermphol, Juthathip; Gong, Yazhen; Shin, Hoon; Shivakoti, Ganesh; Wang, Yibo; Anderies, John M.

2017-01-01

Smallholder agricultural systems, strongly dependent on water resources and investments in shared infrastructure, make a significant contribution to food security in developing countries. These communities are being increasingly integrated into the global economy and are exposed to new global climate-related risks that may affect their willingness to cooperate in community-level collective action problems. We performed field experiments on public goods with private and collective risks in 118 small-scale rice-producing communities in four countries. Our results indicate that increasing the integration of those communities with the broader economic system is associated with lower investments in public goods when facing collective risks. These findings indicate that local public good provision may be negatively affected by collective risks, especially in communities more integrated with the market economy. PMID:28096383

Public health in the 21st century: working differently means leading and learning differently.

PubMed

Czabanowska, Katarzyna; Rethmeier, Kenneth A; Lueddeke, George; Smith, Tony; Malho, André; Otok, Robert; Stankunas, Mindaugas

2014-12-01

Public health needs to adapt to the complex context of 21st century Europe. Unquestionably, leaders for health require new skills to face a myriad of wicked problems and challenges that are at a critical juncture for potential improvements. Public health curricula are traditionally oriented around core educational disciplines, and there is little room for developing students' leadership capabilities within the context of public health. The aim is to present the meaning of contemporary public health leadership based on qualitative research and propose a curriculum model for contemporary public health leadership. A series of in-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out with six European public health leaders from a variety of countries and professional backgrounds. The interviews recorded and transcribed. A thematic content analysis was undertaken to identify themes within the data. Five common themes that help to inform future leadership capacity arose from the interviews: the inner path of leadership, the essence of leadership, new types of leadership, future leaders' imperatives functioning within a complex and uncertain European public health context. The leadership thematic model makes an important contribution to defining public health leadership in Europe and can help to guide the content development of public health leadership curricula. The authors assert that a new 'integrative inquiry-based learning model', with leadership as a central component, will allow schools and departments of public health across Europe to be able to ensure that tomorrow's public health leaders are adequately trained and prepared for the challenges they will face. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Differences in Attributions for Public and Private Face-to-face and Cyber Victimization Among Adolescents in China, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, India, Japan, and the United States.

PubMed

Wright, Michelle F; Yanagida, Takuya; Aoyama, Ikuko; Dědková, Lenka; Li, Zheng; Kamble, Shanmukh V; Bayraktar, Fatih; Ševčíková, Anna; Soudi, Shruti; Macháčková, Hana; Lei, Li; Shu, Chang

2017-01-01

The authors' aim was to investigate gender and cultural differences in the attributions used to determine causality for hypothetical public and private face-to-face and cyber victimization scenarios among 3,432 adolescents (age range = 11-15 years; 49% girls) from China, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, India, Japan, and the United States, while accounting for their individualism and collectivism. Adolescents completed a questionnaire on cultural values and read four hypothetical victimization scenarios, including public face-to-face victimization, public cyber victimization, private face-to-face victimization, and private cyber victimization. After reading the scenarios, they rated different attributions (i.e., self-blame, aggressor-blame, joking, normative, conflict) according to how strongly they believed the attributions explained why victimization occurred. Overall, adolescents reported that they would utilize the attributions of self-blame, aggressor-blame, and normative more for public forms of victimization and face-to-face victimization than for private forms of victimization and cyber victimization. Differences were found according to gender and country of origin as well. Such findings underscore the importance of delineating between different forms of victimization when examining adolescents' attributions.

An Exploration of the Characteristics of Public Relations in Regards to Face-to-Face versus Distance Learning in Two Private Liberal Arts Higher Education Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winslow, Cessna Catherine Smith

2014-01-01

This study explored perceptions of Public Relations (PR) among graduate higher education publics regarding distance learning as contrasted with face-to-face learning contexts. The research questions assessed student, faculty and administrator perceptions of characteristics of PR: trust, communication, quality, respect and rigor. Participants…

Differences in Coping Strategies for Public and Private Face-to-Face and Cyber Victimization among Adolescents in Six Countries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Michelle F.; Yanagida, Takuya; Ševcíková, Anna; Aoyama, Ikuko; Dedková, Lenka; Machácková, Hana; Li, Zheng; Kamble, Shanmukh V.; Bayraktar, Fatih; Soudi, Shruti; Lei, Li; Shu, Chang

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the role of publicity (private versus public) and medium (face-to-face versus cyber) in adolescents' coping strategies for hypothetical victimization, while also considering culture. Participants were adolescents from China, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, India, Japan, and the United States. The study also…

United States import safety, environmental health, and food safety regulation in China.

PubMed

Nyambok, Edward O; Kastner, Justin J

2012-01-01

China boasts a rapidly growing economy and is a leading food exporter. Since China has dominated world export markets in food, electronics, and toys, many safety concerns about Chinese exports have emerged. For example, many countries have had problems with Chinese food products and food-processing ingredients. Factors behind food safety and environmental health problems in China include poor industrial waste management, the use of counterfeit agricultural inputs, inadequate training of farmers on good farm management practices, and weak food safety laws and poor enforcement. In the face of rising import safety problems, the U.S. is now requiring certification of products and foreign importers, pursuing providing incentives to importers who uphold good safety practices, and considering publicizing the names of certified importers.

Developing communality: family-centered programs to improve children's health and well-being.

PubMed Central

Schor, E. L.

1995-01-01

Despite decades of enormous investment in research and public programs, the United States continues to face pandemics of preventable health problems such as low birth weight, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, and interpersonal violence. With some justification, these problems have been blamed on the failings of families. The reasons why families may function poorly in their child-rearing roles have not been coherently or vigorously addressed by our social policies; sometimes these policies have aggravated the problems. This paper provides background to allow a better understanding of families' role in the social determination of children's health, and argues for programs and policies that assist families through the creation of social supports embedded in communities that are characterized by trust and mutual obligation. PMID:10101380

[Sustainability and excellence of the Catalan health system. New paradigms, challenges and responses].

PubMed

Fernández i Alegre, Roser; Argenter i Giralt, Miquel; Rodríguez i Guasch, Xavier

2015-11-01

The aim of a health system and the priority of any government is to anticipate problems before they appear, provide an innovative response to these new needs and healthcare models, improve access of the general public and patients to health care, especially care for the most vulnerable groups, improve healthcare results and implement the structural reforms necessary to maintain a viable and sustainable quality public healthcare system for everyone. In the current environment, health systems are facing new economic, demographic, care, social, technological and political paradigms to which health policy must respond. Faced with these challenges, health systems, especially in the case of Catalonia, are challenged to take decisions on how best to approach the implementation of structural reform designed to facilitate the necessary economic and fiscal sustainability in the service of fresh and innovative health policies and patient-centred care within a system marked by excellence and equity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Technology Confidence, Competence and Problem Solving Strategies: Differences within Online and Face-to-Face Formats

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Sharon L.; Palmer, Louann Bierlein

2011-01-01

This study identified the problem solving strategies used by students within a university course designed to teach pre-service teachers educational technology, and whether those strategies were influenced by the format of the course (i.e., face-to-face computer lab vs. online). It also examined to what extent the type of problem solving strategies…

If they get sick, they are in trouble: health care restructuring, user charges, and equity in Vietnam.

PubMed

Sepehri, Ardeshir; Chernomas, Robert; Akram-Lodhi, A Haroon

2003-01-01

The transition from a centrally planned economy in the 1980s and the implementation of a series of neoliberal health policy reform measures in 1989 affected the delivery and financing of Vietnam's health care services. More specifically, legalization of private medical practice, liberalization of the pharmaceutical industry, and introduction of user charges at public health facilities have effectively transformed Vietnam's near universal, publicly funded and provided health services into a highly unregulated private-public mix system, with serious consequences for Vietnam's health system. Using Vietnam's most recent household survey data and published facility-based data, this article examines some of the problems faced by Vietnam's health sector, with particular reference to efficiency, access, and equity. The data reveal four important findings: self-treatment is the dominant mode of treatment for both the poor and nonpoor; there is little or no regulation to protect patients from financial abuse by private medical providers, pharmacies, and drug vendors; in the face of a dwindling share of the state health budget in public hospital revenues and low salaries, hospitals increasingly rely on user charges and insurance premiums to finance services, including generous staff bonuses; and health care costs, especially hospital costs, are substantial for many low- and middle-income households.

Load research manual. Volume 3: Load research for advanced technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1980-11-01

Technical guidelines for electric utility load research are presented. Special attention is given to issues raised by the load reporting requirements of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 and to problems faced by smaller utilities that are initiating load research programs. The manual includes guides to load research literature and glossaries of load research and statistical terms. Special load research procedures are presented for solar, wind, and cogeneration technologies.

Our Greatest Natural Resource: Investing in the Future of Alaska's Children. A Report of the Governor's Interim Commission on Children and Youth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alaska Office of the Governor, Juneau.

In 1987, the Governor of Alaska's Interim Commission on Children and Youth was given two tasks: (1) to develop a plan for a first-class child care system for working parents statewide that is workable, fair and sensibly integrates with the public schools; and (2) to produce a comprehensive plan to combat the problems facing Alaskans so they are…

Opinion: Is science really facing a reproducibility crisis, and do we need it to?

PubMed Central

Fanelli, Daniele

2018-01-01

Efforts to improve the reproducibility and integrity of science are typically justified by a narrative of crisis, according to which most published results are unreliable due to growing problems with research and publication practices. This article provides an overview of recent evidence suggesting that this narrative is mistaken, and argues that a narrative of epochal changes and empowerment of scientists would be more accurate, inspiring, and compelling. PMID:29531051

Bringing NASA Technology Down to Earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lockney, Daniel P.; Taylor, Terry L.

2018-01-01

Whether putting rovers on Mars or sustaining life in extreme conditions, NASA develops technologies to solve some of the most difficult challenges ever faced. Through its Technology Transfer Program, the agency makes the innovations behind space exploration available to industry, academia, and the general public. This paper describes the primary mechanisms through which NASA disseminates technology to solve real-life problems; illustrates recent program accomplishments; and provides examples of spinoff success stories currently impacting everyday life.

Psychosocial aspects of infertility and its treatment.

PubMed

Malina, Alicja; Błaszkiewicz, Anna; Owczarz, Urszula

2016-01-01

Nowadays, more and more couples face impediments associated with conception. Infertility is related with experiencing psychological problems by both partners. One of the infertility treatment procedures is in vitro fertilization. Using this method has significant influence on patients and their family's psychology. This essay reviews literature about IVF treatment and discusses the significance of infertility to a couple, children development and psychosocial functioning, their relation with parents and public opinion about in vitro fertilization.

Mothers with mental health problems: Contrasting experiences of support within maternity services in the Republic of Ireland.

PubMed

Higgins, Agnes; Tuohy, Teresa; Murphy, Rebecca; Begley, Cecily

2016-05-01

to explore the views and experiences of women with mental health difficulties, in the Republic of Ireland, accessing and receiving care from publicly-funded maternity care services during pregnancy, childbirth and immediate postnatal period in hospital. in total 20 women with a range of mental health problems were recruited. The women had given birth within maternity services with and without specialist perinatal mental health services. a qualitative descriptive design using in-depth face to face interviews was used to explore women׳s experience. Data were analysed using an inductive thematic process. the study offers valuable insights into the maternity care experiences of women with mental health problems, and highlights the deficits and fragmentation of care in maternity units that do not have a specialist mental health service. Even when the women voluntarily disclosed their difficulties, midwives appeared to lack the knowledge and skills to respond sensitively and responsively. there is a need to expand perinatal mental health services in the Republic of Ireland, so that quality service provision is not dependent on geography. In addition, there is a need for education to address the lack of knowledge and understanding of perinatal mental health problems amongst maternity care practitioners. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Don't look at me in anger! Enhanced processing of angry faces in anticipation of public speaking.

PubMed

Wieser, Matthias J; Pauli, Paul; Reicherts, Philipp; Mühlberger, Andreas

2010-03-01

Anxiety is supposed to enhance the processing of threatening information. Here, we investigated the cortical processing of angry faces during anticipated public speaking. To elicit anxiety, a group of participants was told that they would have to perform a public speech. As a control condition, another group was told that they would have to write a short essay. During anticipation of these tasks, participants saw facial expressions (angry, happy, and neutral) while electroencephalogram was recorded. Event-related potential analysis revealed larger N170 amplitudes for angry compared to happy and neutral faces in the anxiety group. The early posterior negativity as an index of motivated attention was also enhanced for angry compared to happy and neutral faces in participants anticipating public speaking. These results indicate that fear of public speaking influences early perceptual processing of faces such that especially the processing of angry faces is facilitated.

Similar problems, different solutions: comparing refuse collection in the Netherlands and Spain.

PubMed

Bel, Germà; Fageda, Xavier; Dijkgraaf, Elbert; Gradus, Raymond

2010-01-01

Because of differences in institutional arrangements, public service markets, and national traditions regarding government intervention, local public service provision can vary greatly. In this paper we compare the procedures adopted by the local governments of The Netherlands and Spain in arranging for the provision of solid waste collection. We find that Spain faces a problem of consolidation, opting more frequently to implement policies of privatization and cooperation, at the expense of competition. By contrast, The Netherlands, which has larger municipalities on average, resorts somewhat less to privatization and cooperation, and more to competition. Both options-cooperation and competition-have their merits when striving to strike a balance between transaction costs and scale economies. The choices made in organizational reform seem to be related to several factors, among which the nature of the political system and the size of municipalities appear to be relevant.

Reproductive hazards in the workplace: what the practitioner needs to know about chemical exposures.

PubMed

Paul, M; Himmelstein, J

1988-06-01

A growing body of scientific evidence implicates occupational chemical exposures in the etiology of human adverse reproductive outcomes. Most reproductive toxins that have been investigated in sufficient detail have been shown to exert multiple effects on and through both men and women. In the face of growing public awareness, it is essential that clinicians develop a knowledgeable and effective approach to patient concerns about reproductive hazards in the workplace. Of vital importance is the accurate characterization of exposure at the worksite. Intervention strategies for worrisome situations include amelioration of worksite exposure or, as a last resort, temporary, compensated job modification or transfer. The clinician can obtain assistance in addressing the problem from several resources, including local regulatory agencies and occupational health clinics. Widespread involvement of knowledgeable health professionals can have a dramatic impact on improving this important contemporary public health problem.

Commons ignorance: the failure of environmental law to produce needed information on health and the environment.

PubMed

Wagner, Wendy E

2004-04-01

One of the most significant problems facing environmental law is the dearth of scientific information available to assess the impact of industrial activities on public health and the environment. After documenting the significant gaps in existing information, this Article argues that existing laws both exacerbate and perpetuate this problem. By failing to require actors to assess the potential harm from their activities, and by penalizing them with additional regulation when they do, existing laws fail to counteract actors' natural inclination to remain silent about the harms that they might be causing. Both theory and practice confirm that when the stakes are high, actors not only will resist producing potentially incriminating information but will invest in discrediting public research that suggests their activities are harmful. The Article concludes with specific recommendations about how these perverse incentives for ignorance can be reversed.

Ecological literacy and beyond: Problem-based learning for future professionals.

PubMed

Lewinsohn, Thomas M; Attayde, José Luiz; Fonseca, Carlos Roberto; Ganade, Gislene; Jorge, Leonardo Ré; Kollmann, Johannes; Overbeck, Gerhard E; Prado, Paulo Inácio; Pillar, Valério D; Popp, Daniela; da Rocha, Pedro L B; Silva, Wesley Rodrigues; Spiekermann, Annette; Weisser, Wolfgang W

2015-03-01

Ecological science contributes to solving a broad range of environmental problems. However, lack of ecological literacy in practice often limits application of this knowledge. In this paper, we highlight a critical but often overlooked demand on ecological literacy: to enable professionals of various careers to apply scientific knowledge when faced with environmental problems. Current university courses on ecology often fail to persuade students that ecological science provides important tools for environmental problem solving. We propose problem-based learning to improve the understanding of ecological science and its usefulness for real-world environmental issues that professionals in careers as diverse as engineering, public health, architecture, social sciences, or management will address. Courses should set clear learning objectives for cognitive skills they expect students to acquire. Thus, professionals in different fields will be enabled to improve environmental decision-making processes and to participate effectively in multidisciplinary work groups charged with tackling environmental issues.

[IMSS in numbers. Consumption of alcohol and psyhoactive substances].

PubMed

2005-01-01

One of the main public health problems in the world are alcohol and drug abuse. Health impact of addictions is clearly evidenced by the increasing numbers of suicides, depression, domestic violence, accidents and injuries. The mental and behavioral problems derived by the abuse of alcohol and psychoactive drugs are under reported. From 1991 to 2003 around 13,000 cases for problems due to alcohol abuse were reported annually in Family Medicine services, nearly 4000 cases in specialized services and an average of 20,000 cases were attended in the emergency areas of the social security system in Mexico (IMSS). The data indicates that this health problems are becoming evident in young populations under 25 years old and the trend is increasing. Professional resources that are specialized in the treatment of such behavioral problems are not sufficient and the institution faces an upcoming health threat that demands prevention programs and a more integrated health care programs.

A legal primer for the obesity prevention movement.

PubMed

Mermin, Seth E; Graff, Samantha K

2009-10-01

Public health advocates and scientists working on obesity prevention policy face challenges in balancing legal rights, individual freedom, and societal health goals. In particular, the US Constitution and the 50 state constitutions place limits on the ability of government to act, even in the best interests of the public. To help policymakers avoid crossing constitutional boundaries, we distilled the legal concepts most relevant to formulating policies aimed at preventing obesity: police power; allocation of power among federal, state, and local governments; freedom of speech; property rights; privacy; equal protection; and contract rights. The goal is to allow policymakers to avoid potential constitutional problems in the formation of obesity prevention policy.

'Round-table' ethical debate: is a suicide note an authoritative 'living will'?

PubMed

Chalfin, D B; Crippen, D; Franklin, C; Kelly, D F; Kilcullen, J K; Streat, S; Truog, R D; Whetstine, L M

2001-01-01

Living wills are often considered by physicians who are faced with a dying patient. Although popular with the general public, they remain problems of authenticity and authority. It is difficult for the examining physician to know whether the patient understood the terms of the advance directive when they signed it, and whether they still consider it authoritative at the time that it is produced. Also, there is little consensus on what spectrum of instruments constitutes a binding advance directive in real life. Does a 'suicide note' constitute an authentic and authoritative 'living will'? Our panel of authorities considers this problem in a round-table discussion.

An assessment of people's satisfaction with the public hearing on the Yadana Natural Gas Pipeline project.

PubMed

Ogunlana, S; Yotsinsak, T; Yisa, S

2001-11-01

Many public and large-scale construction projects in Thailand have been faced with environmental and social conflict problems. The major cause is that project sponsors do not address concerns of the public in a proper manner during EIA study. The Yadana Natural Gas Pipeline (YNGP) project is an example of a project which suffered the effects of public demonstration. A public hearing, one technique of public participation, is a good mechanism to solve conflict problems in a non-violent way which the Thai Government usually adopts to settle conflict in construction projects. In the case of the YNGP, even after the conflict was 'resolved' hostility towards the project was not eliminated, as the opponents were not satisfied with the decision. Therefore, this article examines the hearing on the YNGP project. The study found that it was too late to make any significant changes to the project after the hearing was held, most respondents were not satisfied with the project. In other words, this hearing did not improve their perception of environmental soundness of the project. The study showed that the project's impact on the environment was not properly addressed. The project sponsors did not provide sufficient publicity for the meeting and the stage at which the hearing was conducted. Suggestions are made for improving participation in future hearings.

Challenges facing general internal medicine in the 99th Congress.

PubMed

Prout, D M

1986-01-01

Since 1976, federal support for training in general internal medicine has been provided through the primary care residency programs under Title VII of the Public Health Service Act. Continuation of these programs is now in jeopardy because of severe fiscal pressures and the response of Congress to the resulting budgetary stringency. General internal medicine faces immediate problems in the budgetary, authorization, and appropriations arenas. However, Congressional proposals for changing the method by which Medicare pays for all graduate medical education may provide an important opportunity. Under a revised method of financing graduate medical education, general internal medicine could eliminate its historical dependence on increasingly unstable federal grant funds and could contribute to the development of new federal incentives for training in the primary care specialties.

Facial detection using deep learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, Manik; Anuradha, J.; Manne, H. K.; Kashyap, G. S. C.

2017-11-01

In the recent past, we have observed that Facebook has developed an uncanny ability to recognize people in photographs. Previously, we had to tag people in photos by clicking on them and typing their name. Now as soon as we upload a photo, Facebook tags everyone on its own. Facebook can recognize faces with 98% accuracy which is pretty much as good as humans can do. This technology is called Face Detection. Face detection is a popular topic in biometrics. We have surveillance cameras in public places for video capture as well as security purposes. The main advantages of this algorithm over other are uniqueness and approval. We need speed and accuracy to identify. But face detection is really a series of several related problems: First, look at a picture and find all the faces in it. Second, focus on each face and understand that even if a face is turned in a weird direction or in bad lighting, it is still the same person. Third select features which can be used to identify each face uniquely like size of the eyes, face etc. Finally, compare these features to data we have to find the person name. As a human, your brain is wired to do all of this automatically and instantly. In fact, humans are too good at recognizing faces. Computers are not capable of this kind of high-level generalization, so we must teach them how to do each step in this process separately. The growth of face detection is largely driven by growing applications such as credit card verification, surveillance video images, authentication for banking and security system access.

New Partnerships for Human and Economic Development. Education in a Changing South: New Policies, Patterns and Programs. Report on the Continuing Conference (1st, Atlanta, Georgia, October 13-14, 1983).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southern Education Foundation, Atlanta, GA.

Solutions to the current problems facing the South are no longer strictly moral, legal, or ethical ones, but are to a large degree technical and economic. In 1983, concern about important public policy questions relating to or arising out of education led the Southern Education Foundation to establish a continuing conference with the overall theme…

EPA Leadership on Science, Innovation, and Decision Support Tools for Addressing Current and Future Challenges.

PubMed

Hecht, Alan D; Ferster, Aaron; Summers, Kevin

2017-10-16

When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established nearly 50 years ago, the nation faced serious threats to its air, land, and water, which in turn impacted human health. These threats were effectively addressed by the creation of EPA (in 1970) and many subsequent landmark environmental legislations which in turn significantly reduced threats to the Nation's environment and public health. A key element of historic legislation is research aimed at dealing with current and future problems. Today we face national and global challenges that go beyond classic media-specific (air, land, water) environmental legislation and require an integrated paradigm of action and engagement based on (1) innovation based on science and technology, (2) stakeholder engagement and collaboration, and (3) public education and support. This three-pronged approach recognizes that current environmental problems, include social as well as physical and environmental factors, are best addressed through collaborative problem solving, the application of innovation in science and technology, and multiple stakeholder engagement. To achieve that goal, EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) is working directly with states and local communities to develop and apply a suite of accessible decision support tools (DST) that aim to improve environmental conditions, protect human health, enhance economic opportunity, and advance a resilient and sustainability society. This paper showcases joint EPA and state actions to develop tools and approaches that not only meet current environmental and public health challenges, but do so in a way that advances sustainable, healthy, and resilient communities well into the future. EPA's future plans should build on current work but aim to effectively respond to growing external pressures. Growing pressures from megatrends are a major challenge for the new Administration and for cities and states across the country. The recent hurricanes hitting Texas and the Gulf Coast, part of the increase in extreme weather events, make it clear that building resilient infrastructure is a crucial step to sustainability.

Counting to 20: Online Implementation of a Face-to-Face, Elementary Mathematics Methods Problem-Solving Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Catherine Stein

2012-01-01

This study describes implementation of the same problem-solving activity in both online and face-to-face environments. The activity, done in the first class period or first module of a K-2 mathematics methods course, was initially used in a face-to-face class and then adapted later for use in an online class. While the task was originally designed…

An argument against the focus on Community Resilience in Public Health

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background It has been suggested that Public Health professionals focus on community resilience in tackling chronic problems, such as poverty and deprivation; is this approach useful? Discussion Resilience is always i) of something ii) to something iii) to an endpoint, as in i) a rubber ball, ii) to a blunt force, iii) to its original shape. “Community resilience” might be: of a neighbourhood, to a flu pandemic, with the endpoint, to return to normality. In these two examples, the endpoint is as-you-were. This is unsuitable for some examples of resilience. A child that is resilient to an abusive upbringing has an endpoint of living a happy life despite that upbringing: this is an as-you-should-be endpoint. Similarly, a chronically deprived community cannot have the endpoint of returning to chronic deprivation: so what is its endpoint? Roughly, it is an as-you-should-be endpoint: to provide an environment for inhabitants to live well. Thus resilient communities will be those that do this in the face of challenges. How can they be identified? One method uses statistical outliers, neighbourhoods that do better than would be expected on a range of outcomes given a range of stressors. This method tells us that a neighbourhood is resilient but not why it is. In response, a number of researchers have attributed characteristics to resilient communities; however, these generally fail to distinguish characteristics of a good community from those of a resilient one. Making this distinction is difficult and we have not seen it successfully done; more importantly, it is arguably unnecessary. There already exist approaches in Public Health to assessing and developing communities faced with chronic problems, typically tied to notions such as Social Capital. Community resilience to chronic problems, if it makes sense at all, is likely to be a property that emerges from the various assets in a community such as human capital, built capital and natural capital. Summary Public Health professionals working with deprived neighbourhoods would be better to focus on what neighbourhoods have or could develop as social capital for living well, rather than on the vague and tangential notion of community resilience. PMID:24447588

An argument against the focus on community resilience in public health.

PubMed

Allmark, Peter; Bhanbhro, Sadiq; Chrisp, Tom

2014-01-21

It has been suggested that Public Health professionals focus on community resilience in tackling chronic problems, such as poverty and deprivation; is this approach useful? Resilience is always i) of something ii) to something iii) to an endpoint, as in i) a rubber ball, ii) to a blunt force, iii) to its original shape. "Community resilience" might be: of a neighbourhood, to a flu pandemic, with the endpoint, to return to normality. In these two examples, the endpoint is as-you-were. This is unsuitable for some examples of resilience. A child that is resilient to an abusive upbringing has an endpoint of living a happy life despite that upbringing: this is an as-you-should-be endpoint. Similarly, a chronically deprived community cannot have the endpoint of returning to chronic deprivation: so what is its endpoint? Roughly, it is an as-you-should-be endpoint: to provide an environment for inhabitants to live well. Thus resilient communities will be those that do this in the face of challenges. How can they be identified?One method uses statistical outliers, neighbourhoods that do better than would be expected on a range of outcomes given a range of stressors. This method tells us that a neighbourhood is resilient but not why it is. In response, a number of researchers have attributed characteristics to resilient communities; however, these generally fail to distinguish characteristics of a good community from those of a resilient one. Making this distinction is difficult and we have not seen it successfully done; more importantly, it is arguably unnecessary.There already exist approaches in Public Health to assessing and developing communities faced with chronic problems, typically tied to notions such as Social Capital. Community resilience to chronic problems, if it makes sense at all, is likely to be a property that emerges from the various assets in a community such as human capital, built capital and natural capital. Public Health professionals working with deprived neighbourhoods would be better to focus on what neighbourhoods have or could develop as social capital for living well, rather than on the vague and tangential notion of community resilience.

Do Commonly Used Functional Outcome Measures Capture Activities that Are Relevant for People with Stroke in India?

PubMed

Prakash, V; Ganesan, Mohan; Vasanthan, R; Hariohm, K

2017-04-01

In India, post-stroke outcomes are determined using functional outcome measures (FOMs), the contents of which have not been validated for their relevance to the Indian population. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the cultural validity of five frequently used stroke-specific FOMs by comparing their contents with the problems reported by patients with stroke in India. Face-to-face structured interviews were conducted with 152 patients diagnosed with stroke in India. Problems and goals identified by the patients were compared to each item included in the FOMs used in stroke rehabilitation. The Stroke Impact Scale (SIS) and the Frenchay Activities Index (FAI) include items related to the most frequently identified problems. However, neither covers problems related to the need for squatting and sitting on the floor. Use of public transport and community walking are not included in the SIS. Leisure and recreational activities (e.g. gardening, reading books), cognitive and speech functions (e.g. memory, thinking) and bowel and bladder dysfunctions were the common items identified as "not a problem" or "not relevant" by the patients. Our findings suggest that the SIS and FAI are the most appropriate FOMs for patients with stroke in India as they include items related to the majority of problems identified by study participants. Many items on both measures, however, were identified as not a problem or not relevant. There is a need for developing culture-specific FOMs that incorporate all major concerns expressed by patients with stroke in India.

An investigation on nuclear energy policy in Turkey and public perception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coskun, Mehmet Burhanettin; Tanriover, Banu

2016-11-01

Turkey, which meets nearly 70 per cent of its energy demands with import, is facing the problems of energy security and current account deficit as a result of its dependence on foreign sources in terms of energy input. It is also known that Turkey is having environmental problems due to the increases in CO2 emission. Considering these problems in Turkish economy, where energy input is commonly used, it is necessary to use energy sources efficiently and provide alternative energy sources. Due to the dependency of renewable sources on meteorological conditions (the absence of enough sun, wind, and water sources), the energy generation could not be provided efficiently and permanently from these sources. At this point, nuclear energy as analternative energy source maintains its importance as a sustainable energy source that providing energy in 7 days and 24 hours. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the nuclear energy subject within the context of negative public perceptions emerged after Chernobyl (1986) and Fukushima (2011) disasters and to investigate in the economic framework.

Nexus between preventive policy inadequacies, workplace bullying, and mental health: Qualitative findings from the experiences of Australian public sector employees.

PubMed

Hurley, John; Hutchinson, Marie; Bradbury, Joanne; Browne, Graeme

2016-02-01

Public sector organizations have been shown to have high levels of workplace bullying, despite widespread adoption of zero-tolerance policy. Given the level of harm that stems from bullying, it has been suggested that it might be one of the most serious problems facing modern organizations. The qualitative findings from a large cross sectional study of public servants in Australia are reported in the present study. The results highlight palpable mental distress and illness stemming from exposure to workplace bullying. This distress was exacerbated by failures in prohibitive workplace procedures. Reporting bullying through formal organization processes did not lead to resolution of the problem; it instead highlighted feelings of powerlessness and mistrust. In light of the findings, we suggest that an alternative discourse is required, one that gives attention to enhancing employee resilience and self-healing behaviours to the emotional trauma of workplaces. Organizations might be better placed investing resources in fostering the resilience and emotional intelligence of their workforce, rather than continuing to invest resources in prohibitive policies that fail to address the problem. Employees should be supported to prioritize responsibility for their own mental health, rather than an overreliance on organizational responses. © 2016 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Public-private interactions in global food safety governance.

PubMed

Lin, Ching-Fu

2014-01-01

In response to an apparent decline in global food safety, numerous public and private regulatory initiatives have emerged to restore public confidence. This trend has been particularly marked by the growing influence of private regulators such as multinational food companies, supermarket chains and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), who employ private standards, certification protocols, third-party auditing, and transnational contracting practices. This paper explores how the structure and processes of private food safety governance interact with traditional public governance regimes, focusing on Global Good Agricultural Practices (GlobalGAP) as a primary example of the former. Due to the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of public regulation in the face of global problems, private governance in food safety has gradually replaced states' command-and-control regulation with more flexible, market-oriented mechanisms. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of constructive regime interaction instead of institutional boundary building to global food safety governance. Public and private ordering must each play a role as integral parts of a larger, dynamic and evolving governance complex.

Ineffective Healthcare Technology Management in Benin’s Public Health Sector: The Perceptions of Key Actors and Their Ability to Address the Main Problems

PubMed Central

Houngbo, P. Thierry; De Cock Buning, Tjard; Bunders, Joske; Coleman, Harry L. S.; Medenou, Daton; Dakpanon, Laurent; Zweekhorst, Marjolein

2017-01-01

Background: Low-income countries face many contextual challenges to manage healthcare technologies effectively, as the majority are imported and resources are constrained to a greater extent. Previous healthcare technology management (HTM) policies in Benin have failed to produce better quality of care for the population and costeffectiveness for the government. This study aims to identify and assess the main problems facing HTM in Benin’s public health sector, as well as the ability of key actors within the sector to address these problems. Methods: We conducted 2 surveys in 117 selected health facilities. The first survey was based on 377 questionnaires and 259 interviews, and the second involved observation and group interviews at health facilities. The Temple-Bird Healthcare Technology Package System (TBHTPS), tailored to the context of Benin’s health system, was used as a conceptual framework. Results: The findings of the first survey show that 85% of key actors in Benin’s HTM sector characterized the system as failing in components of the TBHTPS framework. Biomedical, clinical, healthcare technology engineers and technicians perceived problems most severely, followed by users of equipment, managers and hospital directors, international organization officers, local and foreign suppliers, and finally policy-makers, planners and administrators at the Ministry of Health (MoH). The 5 most important challenges to be addressed are policy, strategic management and planning, and technology needs assessment and selection – categorized as major enabling inputs (MEI) in HTM by the TBHTPS framework – and installation and commissioning, training and skill development and procurement, which are import and use activities (IUA). The ability of each key actor to address these problems (the degree of political or administrative power they possess) was inversely proportional to their perception of the severity of the problems. Observational data gathered during site visits described a different set of challenges including maintenance and repair, distribution, installation and commissioning, use and training and personnel skill development. Conclusion: The lack of experiential and technical knowledge in policy development processes could underpin many of the continuing problems in Benin’s HTM system. Before solutions can be devised to these problems, it is necessary to investigate their root causes, and which problems are most amenable to policy development. PMID:28949474

Using theory to identify beliefs associated with support for policies to raise the price of high-fat and high-sugar foods.

PubMed

Niederdeppe, Jeff; Porticella, Norman; Shapiro, Michael A

2012-01-01

Public policies designed to dramatically raise the price of high-fat and high-sugar foods have received substantial attention from researchers and the media. Although econometric studies suggest that these policies could reduce obesity rates, they are likely to face substantial public opposition. This study used the theory of perceived responsibility and social motivation as a framework to analyze data from a politically diverse convenience sample of 500 adults in upstate New York. The authors examined associations between attribution beliefs and policy support to identify what types of scientific evidence and accompanying messages appear most likely to generate public support for price-raising policies. Results suggest that public health advocates and health communicators could benefit from an increased emphasis on advertising for unhealthy foods as a cause of obesity and the food industry's (manufacturers, advertisers, markets, and restaurants) responsibility for addressing the problem.

A proposed simulation optimization model framework for emergency department problems in public hospital

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibrahim, Ireen Munira; Liong, Choong-Yeun; Bakar, Sakhinah Abu; Ahmad, Norazura; Najmuddin, Ahmad Farid

2015-12-01

The Emergency Department (ED) is a very complex system with limited resources to support increase in demand. ED services are considered as good quality if they can meet the patient's expectation. Long waiting times and length of stay is always the main problem faced by the management. The management of ED should give greater emphasis on their capacity of resources in order to increase the quality of services, which conforms to patient satisfaction. This paper is a review of work in progress of a study being conducted in a government hospital in Selangor, Malaysia. This paper proposed a simulation optimization model framework which is used to study ED operations and problems as well as to find an optimal solution to the problems. The integration of simulation and optimization is hoped can assist management in decision making process regarding their resource capacity planning in order to improve current and future ED operations.

Critical Problems Facing Technology Education: Perceptions of Indiana Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lazaros, Edward J.; Rogers, George E.

2006-01-01

In 1993 Wicklein conducted a study to determine the present and the future critical issues and problems facing the technology education (TE) profession. The Wicklein study questioned 25 panelists from 15 states and the District of Columbia to ascertain the issues and problems facing TE. However, in the Wicklein study, only seven of the panelists…

Telephone triage by GPs in out-of-hours primary care in Denmark: a prospective observational study of efficiency and relevance

PubMed Central

Huibers, Linda; Moth, Grete; Carlsen, Anders H; Christensen, Morten B; Vedsted, Peter

2016-01-01

Background In the UK, telephone triage in out-of-hours primary care is mostly managed by nurses, whereas GPs perform triage in Denmark. Aim To describe telephone contacts triaged to face-to-face contacts, GP-assessed relevance, and factors associated with triage to face-to-face contact. Design and setting A prospective observational study in Danish out-of-hours primary care, conducted from June 2010 to May 2011. Method Information on patients was collected from the electronic patient administration system and GPs completed electronic questionnaires about the contacts. The GPs conducting the face-to-face contacts assessed relevance of the triage to face-to-face contacts. The authors performed binomial regression analyses, calculating relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals. Results In total, 59.2% of calls ended with a telephone consultation. Factors associated with triage to a face-to-face contact were: patient age >40 years (40–64: RR = 1.13; >64: RR = 1.34), persisting problem for 12–24 hours (RR = 1.15), severe problem (RR = 2.60), potentially severe problem (RR = 5.81), and non-severe problem (RR = 2.23). Face-to-face contacts were assessed as irrelevant for 12.7% of clinic consultations and 11.7% of home visits. A statistically significantly higher risk of irrelevant face-to-face contact was found for a persisting problem of >24 hours (RR = 1.25), contact on weekday nights (RR = 1.25), and contact <2 hours before the patient’s own GP’s opening time (RR = 1.80). Conclusion Around 12% of all face-to-face consultations in the study are assessed as irrelevant by GP colleagues, suggesting that GP triage is efficient. Knowledge of the factors influencing triage can provide better education for GPs, but future studies are needed to investigate other quality aspects of GP telephone triage. PMID:27432608

Reforms in the Greek pharmaceutical market during the financial crisis.

PubMed

Vandoros, Sotiris; Stargardt, Tom

2013-01-01

Following the financial crisis of 2008, Greece has been facing severe fiscal problems associated with high public debt and deficit. Given their significant contribution to public sector expenditure, part of the effort to reduce public expenditure has involved a focus on pharmaceutical markets. Our aim is to provide an overview of recent policy changes in the Greek pharmaceutical market as a response to the crisis. We also discuss other potential measures that can be implemented. The recommendations are relevant to European countries facing debt crises, but also to any other country, as improving efficiency makes funds available to be used on other interventions. In 2010 and 2011, following the debt crisis and the agreement with the IMF, EU and ECB, the Greek government introduced several policy measures aimed at cost-containment. These changes included (a) price cuts, (b) the re-introduction of a positive list, (c) changes in the profit margins of pharmacies and wholesalers, and (d) tenders for hospital drugs. As a result, public drug expenditure decreased from €5.09 billion in 2009 to €4.25 billion in 2010 and €4.10 billion in 2011. As the need to cut expenditure becomes more urgent, seeking efficiency is possibly the only option for countries that do not wish to compromise quality of healthcare and public health. However, efficiency and cost containment are not only about introducing new policies, but also about the enforcement of existing laws and fighting corruption. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Legal Primer for the Obesity Prevention Movement

PubMed Central

Mermin, Seth E.

2009-01-01

Public health advocates and scientists working on obesity prevention policy face challenges in balancing legal rights, individual freedom, and societal health goals. In particular, the US Constitution and the 50 state constitutions place limits on the ability of government to act, even in the best interests of the public. To help policymakers avoid crossing constitutional boundaries, we distilled the legal concepts most relevant to formulating policies aimed at preventing obesity: police power; allocation of power among federal, state, and local governments; freedom of speech; property rights; privacy; equal protection; and contract rights. The goal is to allow policymakers to avoid potential constitutional problems in the formation of obesity prevention policy. PMID:19696384

Privacy and policy for genetic research.

PubMed

DeCew, Judith Wagner

2004-01-01

I begin with a discussion of the value of privacy and what we lose without it. I then turn to the difficulties of preserving privacy for genetic information and other medical records in the face of advanced information technology. I suggest three alternative public policy approaches to the problem of protecting individual privacy and also preserving databases for genetic research: (1) governmental guidelines and centralized databases, (2) corporate self-regulation, and (3) my hybrid approach. None of these are unproblematic; I discuss strengths and drawbacks of each, emphasizing the importance of protecting the privacy of sensitive medical and genetic information as well as letting information technology flourish to aid patient care, public health and scientific research.

[How do universities confront and manage environmental problems?].

PubMed

Inadera, H

2001-06-01

Occupational medicine is concerned with the recognition and prevention of diseases related to the work environment. The special tools, namely, epidemiology, toxicology, and public health and clinical expertise, are joined by another specialty, environmental medicine. The Environmental Science Center (ESC) of the University of Tokyo was established in April 1975 for the purpose of treating chemically-hazardous wastes deriving from the university. The ESC houses various sections including research, education, operations, management, and also a waste-collection and-treatment division. In this review, the author intends to summarize the activity of the ESC, and then review the approaches we have applied in order to deal with the environmental problems we have faced.

Public hospital autonomy in China in an international context.

PubMed

Allen, Pauline; Cao, Qi; Wang, Hufeng

2014-01-01

Following decades of change in health care structures and modes of funding, China has recently been making pilot reforms to the governance of its public hospitals, primarily by increasing the autonomy of public hospitals and redefining the roles of the health authorities. In this paper, we analyse the historical evolution and current situation of public hospital governance in China, focussing the range of governance models being tried out in pilot cities across China. We then draw on the experiences of public hospital governance reform in a wide range of other countries to consider the nature of the Chinese pilots. We find that the key difference in China is that the public hospitals in the pilot schemes do not receive sufficient funding from government and are able to distribute profits to staff. This creates incentives to charge patients for excessive treatment. This situation has undermined public service orientation in Chinese public hospitals. We conclude that the pilot reforms of governance will not be sufficient to remedy all the problems facing these hospitals, although they are a step in the right direction. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Readership survey. A big welcome for Diagnostics in Africa.

PubMed

Chinnock, P

1994-09-01

Targeted to physicians, Africa Health is circulated free to 5600 readers in 23 African countries. Diagnostics in Africa (DIA) is a young publication included as a supplement of Africa Health aimed at laboratory personnel. Readers of DIA were surveyed in the first two issues to find out what they thought of the supplement, how it could be improved, and which problems they currently faced in their work. 98 questionnaires were returned from twelve African countries. 46% of respondents were qualified in laboratory science and 41% were physicians; the others were unqualified laboratory staff and other medical personnel. 73% responded that DIA was very useful and 27% useful, with 80% finding the articles of appropriate depth and complexity. Respondents would like to read about clinical chemistry, histopathology/histology, immunology, management issues, serology, and education/professional development, and would particularly enjoy material in the form of readers' letters and quizzes. Readers responded variously that they were regularly exposed to either Medicine Digest, Dialogue on Diarrhea, Postgraduate Doctor, Labmedica, Lancet, International Diabetes Digest, New England Journal of Medicine, British Medical Journal, or ARI News. Problems typically faced in their work include lack of resources, problems related to HIV testing/screening, poor access to literature, problems with professional development, and difficulty understanding the theory and practice of Western blot tests. These findings confirm assessments of the situation in Africa's medical labs which led to the launching of DIA.

Load research manual. Volume 3. Load research for advanced technologies

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

Brandenburg, L.; Clarkson, G.; Grund, Jr., C.

1980-11-01

This three-volume manual presents technical guidelines for electric utility load research. Special attention is given to issues raised by the load data reporting requirements of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 and to problems faced by smaller utilities that are initiating load research programs. The manual includes guides to load research literature and glossaries of load research and statistical terms. In Volume 3, special load research procedures are presented for solar, wind, and cogeneration technologies.

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

Goodsell, J.N.

Mexico's new president faces an economic crisis of high inflation, corruption, and overextended borrowing to finance an ambitious development program based on anticipated oil revenues. The decline of world oil prices in 1981 and the depressed prices of other export commodities led to extensive borrowing from foreign banks, which saw Mexico's oil riches as a good risk. Despite its overpopulation and related socio-economic problems, Mexico's oil resources will be the foundation of economic development even though the government must move first to restore public confidence and diversify the economy. (DCK)

Political Science in Asia and the Pacific: Status Reports on Teaching and Research in Ten Countries. Social and Human Sciences in Asia and the Pacific, RUSHSAP Series on Occasional Monographs and Papers, 10.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uchida, Takeo

This publication contains reports on the status of teaching and research in political science in ten countries in the Asia-Pacific Region. These reports prepared according to a common guideline provide an opportunity for comparison. The essays review how political science has grown and taken root in the respective countries; the problems it faces;…

Analysis of the Questions Asked through Digital and Face-to-Face Reference Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsuji, Keita; Arai, Shunsuke; Suga, Reina; Ikeuchi, Atsushi; Yoshikane, Fuyuki

2013-01-01

In Japan, only a few public libraries provide e-mail reference services. To help public libraries start e-mail reference services, the authors investigated reference questions received by libraries via e-mail and traditional face-to-face services. The authors found that research questions are more frequently observed among e-mail questions and…

Emotional Responses to Bullying among Japanese Adolescents: Gender, Context, and Incidence Visibility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aoyama, Ikuko; Yanagida, Takuya; Wright, Michelle F.

2018-01-01

Bullying can occur with differing levels of visibility (e.g., public or private) and in various contexts (e.g., face-to-face or online). This study examined 474 Japanese middle-school students' emotional responses to public versus private bullying scenarios in face-to-face and digital contexts. After reading four hypothetical bullying vignettes,…

Public inquiries about indoor air quality in California.

PubMed Central

Macher, J M; Hayward, S B

1991-01-01

To identify the indoor air quality issues about which Californians most often sought advice from a health department or a public information agency and to evaluate how well these agencies met the public's needs, members of the California Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Indoor Air Quality kept records of inquiries they received over a 30-month period from mid-1985 through 1987. Members of the IWG answered calls from residents of a least 49 of California's 58 counties. IWG members received more public inquiries about residences than about offices, educational institutions, commercial buildings, or medical facilities. However, each call about a residence probably represented fewer people at risk of exposure to a real or a potential problem than did calls about other types of buildings. Homeowners themselves asked the majority of the questions about residences, whereas a large number of the inquiries about office buildings were made, not by affected office workers, but by building managers, contractors, consultants, or company health and safety officers. The leading topics of concern in the residences were asbestos, chemical and biological contamination, and radon. In offices, chemical contamination, the ventilation system, biological contamination, asbestos, and tobacco smoke were the most frequently mentioned sources of problems. Callers often reported experiencing headaches, allergy symptoms, nose or throat irritation, and respiratory tract problems in connection with their complaints. IWG members directed a third of the calls elsewhere, of which half were referred to consultants or testing laboratories. The IWG's experience in the State of California could help other health departments prepare to face the public's increasing concern about indoor air pollution. PMID:1935848

Multi-texture local ternary pattern for face recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Essa, Almabrok; Asari, Vijayan

2017-05-01

In imagery and pattern analysis domain a variety of descriptors have been proposed and employed for different computer vision applications like face detection and recognition. Many of them are affected under different conditions during the image acquisition process such as variations in illumination and presence of noise, because they totally rely on the image intensity values to encode the image information. To overcome these problems, a novel technique named Multi-Texture Local Ternary Pattern (MTLTP) is proposed in this paper. MTLTP combines the edges and corners based on the local ternary pattern strategy to extract the local texture features of the input image. Then returns a spatial histogram feature vector which is the descriptor for each image that we use to recognize a human being. Experimental results using a k-nearest neighbors classifier (k-NN) on two publicly available datasets justify our algorithm for efficient face recognition in the presence of extreme variations of illumination/lighting environments and slight variation of pose conditions.

'Burden to others' as a public concern in advanced cancer: a comparative survey in seven European countries.

PubMed

Bausewein, Claudia; Calanzani, Natalia; Daveson, Barbara A; Simon, Steffen T; Ferreira, Pedro L; Higginson, Irene J; Bechinger-English, Dorothee; Deliens, Luc; Gysels, Marjolein; Toscani, Franco; Ceulemans, Lucas; Harding, Richard; Gomes, Barbara

2013-03-08

Europe faces an enormous public health challenge with aging populations and rising cancer incidence. Little is known about what concerns the public across European countries regarding cancer care towards the end of life. We aimed to compare the level of public concern with different symptoms and problems in advanced cancer across Europe and examine factors influencing this. Telephone survey with 9,344 individuals aged ≥16 in England, Flanders, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Participants were asked about nine symptoms and problems, imagining a situation of advanced cancer with less than one year to live. These were ranked and the three top concerns examined in detail. As 'burden to others' showed most variation within and between countries, we determined the relative influence of factors on this concern using GEE and logistic regression. Overall response rate was 21%. Pain was the top concern in all countries, from 34% participants (Italy) to 49% (Flanders). Burden was second in England, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Breathlessness was second in Flanders and the Netherlands. Concern with burden was independently associated with age (70+ years, OR 1.50; 95%CI 1.24-1.82), living alone (OR 0.82, 95%CI 0.73-0.93) and preferring quality rather than quantity of life (OR 1.43, 95%CI 1.14-1.80). When imagining a last year of life with cancer, the public is not only concerned about medical problems but also about being a burden. Public education about palliative care and symptom control is needed. Cancer care should include a routine assessment and management of social concerns, particularly for older patients with poor prognosis.

The face of conservation responding to a dynamically changing world.

PubMed

Wiederholt, Ruscena; Trainor, Anne M; Michel, Nicole; Shirey, Patrick D; Swaisgood, Ronald R; Tallamy, Doug; Cook-Patton, Susan C

2015-09-01

In its 40-year history, the science of conservation has faced unprecedented challenges in terms of environmental damage and rapid global change, and environmental problems are only increasing as greater demands are placed on limited natural resources. Conservation science has been adapting to keep pace with these changes. Here, we highlight contemporary and emerging trends and innovations in conservation science that we believe represent the most effective responses to biodiversity threats. We focus on specific areas where conservation science has had to adjust its approach to address emerging threats to biodiversity, including habitat destruction and degradation, climate change, declining populations and invasive species. We also document changes in attitudes, norms and practices among conservation scientists. A key component to success is engaging and maintaining public support for conservation, which can be facilitated through the use of technology. These recent trends in conservation and management are innovative and will assist in optimizing conservation strategies, increasing our leverage with the general public and tackling our current environmental challenges. © 2015 International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

A comparison of classroom and online asynchronous problem-based learning for students undertaking statistics training as part of a Public Health Masters degree.

PubMed

de Jong, N; Verstegen, D M L; Tan, F E S; O'Connor, S J

2013-05-01

This case-study compared traditional, face-to-face classroom-based teaching with asynchronous online learning and teaching methods in two sets of students undertaking a problem-based learning module in the multilevel and exploratory factor analysis of longitudinal data as part of a Masters degree in Public Health at Maastricht University. Students were allocated to one of the two study variants on the basis of their enrolment status as full-time or part-time students. Full-time students (n = 11) followed the classroom-based variant and part-time students (n = 12) followed the online asynchronous variant which included video recorded lectures and a series of asynchronous online group or individual SPSS activities with synchronous tutor feedback. A validated student motivation questionnaire was administered to both groups of students at the start of the study and a second questionnaire was administered at the end of the module. This elicited data about student satisfaction with the module content, teaching and learning methods, and tutor feedback. The module coordinator and problem-based learning tutor were also interviewed about their experience of delivering the experimental online variant and asked to evaluate its success in relation to student attainment of the module's learning outcomes. Student examination results were also compared between the two groups. Asynchronous online teaching and learning methods proved to be an acceptable alternative to classroom-based teaching for both students and staff. Educational outcomes were similar for both groups, but importantly, there was no evidence that the asynchronous online delivery of module content disadvantaged part-time students in comparison to their full-time counterparts.

The Social Problem-Solving Questionnaire: Evaluation of Psychometric Properties among Turkish Primary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dereli Iman, Esra

2013-01-01

Problem Statement: Children, like adults, face numerous problems and conflicts in their everyday lives, including issues with peers, siblings, older children, parents, teachers, and other adults. The methods children use to solve such problems are more important than actually facing the problems. The lack of effective social problem-solving skills…

Tackling drug and alcohol misuse in Brazil: priorities and challenges for nurses.

PubMed

Rassool, G H; Villar-Luis, M

2004-12-01

To provide an overview of the extent of drug and alcohol misuse in Brazil and the policies and approaches in tackling substance misuse. An examination of the challenges facing the nursing profession in working with substance misusers is presented. Alcohol, cocaine, and cannabis are the most commonly misused psychoactive substances in Brazil. One of the biggest public health problems is the interface between the misuse of psychoactive substances and HIV prevalence and other sexually transmitted diseases. Findings from a recent study suggest that undergraduate nurses in Brazil are not adequately prepared in the care and management of substance misuse problems. The nursing profession in Brazil faces numerous challenges in the development of professional competence of nurses in this field. A strategy proposed is the creation of regional centres in Brazil to study the integration of substance use and misuse in the nursing undergraduate curriculum and the giving of specific support in teaching and research to nurse teachers. Nurses have a key role to play in the early recognition, assessment, prevention, and treatment of substance misuse.

Recreational drugs. Societal and professional issues.

PubMed

Solari-Twadell, P A

1991-06-01

Recreational drug use presents a challenge to society and, in particular, the profession of nursing. Recreational drug use must be appreciated for the implications it presents for the episodes of abuse and development of chronic health problems. The effects and recreational use of volatile substances, cannabis, opioids, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, cocaine, psychedelics, and designer drugs as well as alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine must be acknowledged and understood if options for change are to be considered. The resultant cost of recreational drug use as well as health care implications, public safety, and prevention are significant issues society is faced with today. These issues will continue to be significant unless the current posture toward recreational drug use and abuse is addressed. The profession of nursing continues to be faced with the problems associated with recreational drug use not only through caring for clients, but immediately by the effects of recreational drug use on individual professional nurses. To respond effectively, nursing education and nursing research must be challenged to create an emphasis on this focus. Only through this type of multifocal approach will long-term substantial change be affected for the betterment of future generations.

A Survey on Sentiment Classification in Face Recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Jingyu

2018-01-01

Face recognition has been an important topic for both industry and academia for a long time. K-means clustering, autoencoder, and convolutional neural network, each representing a design idea for face recognition method, are three popular algorithms to deal with face recognition problems. It is worthwhile to summarize and compare these three different algorithms. This paper will focus on one specific face recognition problem-sentiment classification from images. Three different algorithms for sentiment classification problems will be summarized, including k-means clustering, autoencoder, and convolutional neural network. An experiment with the application of these algorithms on a specific dataset of human faces will be conducted to illustrate how these algorithms are applied and their accuracy. Finally, the three algorithms are compared based on the accuracy result.

What is driving people’s dissatisfaction with their own health care in 17 Latin American countries?

PubMed Central

Kim, Minah K.; Blendon, Robert J.; Benson, John M.

2012-01-01

Abstract Background  A number of expert reports have pointed to serious problems with health care in many Latin American countries and argued the need to reform and improve health‐care systems. In addition, the Ministers of Health of the Americas have stated that health systems should be accountable to citizens. Objective  This paper examines, in each of 17 Latin American countries, public dissatisfaction with the health care to which people have access, the proportion of people reporting problems with access to and the cost of health care and the factors that are most important in driving public dissatisfaction. Methods  Data are drawn from a 2007 Latinobarómetro survey of 19 212 adults interviewed face‐to‐face in 17 Latin American countries. Results  The proportion of people expressing dissatisfaction with their health care varies a great deal by country, as do the proportions reporting problems with access to and the cost of health care. Problems with access to care seem to matter most in trying to explain public dissatisfaction with their health care. More traditional measures of health outcomes and resources seem to matter less as drivers of dissatisfaction. Conclusions  For governments trying to improve their citizens’ satisfaction with the health care they receive, the highest priority would be improving people’s basic access to health‐care services. Also, it appears that democratic governments are seen as being more responsive to the public’s needs in health care. PMID:22512774

Impact of Integrated Watershed Management on Complex Interlinked Factors Influencing Health: Perceptions of Professional Stakeholders in a Hilly Tribal Area of India

PubMed Central

Nerkar, Sandeep S.; Tamhankar, Ashok J.; Johansson, Eva; Lundborg, Cecilia Stålsby

2016-01-01

Lack of access to water has a significant impact on the health of people in tribal areas, where water in households as well as for productive purposes is essential for life. In resource-limited settings such as hilly tribal areas, implementation of an integrated watershed management programme (IWMP) can have a significant impact on public health by providing a solution to water scarcity and related problems. The professional stakeholders in rural healthcare and development administration are important pillars of the system that implements various programmes and policies of government and non-government organizations, and act as facilitators for the improvement of public health in tribal areas. Information about the perceptions of these stakeholders on public health implications of the integrated watershed management programme is important in this context. A qualitative study was conducted using face to face semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with stakeholders involved in healthcare provision, education and development administration. The transcripts of interviews and FGDs were analyzed using manifest and latent content analysis. The perceptions and experiences shared by healthcare and development administration stakeholders suggest that implementation of IWMP in tribal areas helps efficient water and agriculture management, which results in improved socio-economic conditions that lead to positive health outcomes. PMID:26959039

Assessment of accessible facilities for disabled passenger movement in aerodrome terminals in Klang Valley

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramli, M. Z.; Hasnol., J. N. E.; Hamid, N. B.; Ismail, N.; Zawawi, M. H.; Zainal, M. Z.

2017-09-01

The effectiveness of accessibility in public transport has prompted a great deal of weakness and confines many disabled from moving around unreservedly. As far as the built-up environment is concerned, it is important that it should be barrier-free and adapted to fulfill the needs of all people equally. The consideration of equal accessibility to outdoor environments is still lacking. These cause the problems with poor accessibility, the disabled people face more challenges and difficulties while travelling and using the public transport. Therefore, the aim of the study is to evaluate the performance of accessible facilities for disabled movement in aerodrome terminals in Klang Valley. An assessment rating was developed from an established guideline to assess the disabled facilities provided in the Aerodrome Terminal 1 and Aerodrome Terminal 2 by using manual observation and measurement technique. Based on the results obtained, the facility for disabled people in both aerodrome terminals are moderate. Aerodrome Terminal 1 is averagely 63.46% while for Aerodrome Terminal 2 is 67.31%. Results demonstrated that effort is needed by the respective agencies and there was a demand on re-designing the current facility, so that disabled people will not face any difficulty while traveling through public transport stations or terminals.

Impact of Integrated Watershed Management on Complex Interlinked Factors Influencing Health: Perceptions of Professional Stakeholders in a Hilly Tribal Area of India.

PubMed

Nerkar, Sandeep S; Tamhankar, Ashok J; Johansson, Eva; Lundborg, Cecilia Stålsby

2016-03-04

Lack of access to water has a significant impact on the health of people in tribal areas, where water in households as well as for productive purposes is essential for life. In resource-limited settings such as hilly tribal areas, implementation of an integrated watershed management programme (IWMP) can have a significant impact on public health by providing a solution to water scarcity and related problems. The professional stakeholders in rural healthcare and development administration are important pillars of the system that implements various programmes and policies of government and non-government organizations, and act as facilitators for the improvement of public health in tribal areas. Information about the perceptions of these stakeholders on public health implications of the integrated watershed management programme is important in this context. A qualitative study was conducted using face to face semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with stakeholders involved in healthcare provision, education and development administration. The transcripts of interviews and FGDs were analyzed using manifest and latent content analysis. The perceptions and experiences shared by healthcare and development administration stakeholders suggest that implementation of IWMP in tribal areas helps efficient water and agriculture management, which results in improved socio-economic conditions that lead to positive health outcomes.

Health planning in the United States and the decline of public-interest policymaking.

PubMed

Melhado, Evan M

2006-01-01

In the 1960s and 1970s, health planning formed a major theme of American health policy. Planners aimed to improve health services and make them broadly available while using resources efficiently. This article provides a history, both intellectual and political, of the origins of planning, its rise, and--in the face of mounting problems--its decline. The story also illustrates broader changes in the culture of policymaking in American health care. From the Progressive Era through the 1960s, reform-minded experts in health worked to advance the public interest. Thereafter, they increasingly left behind public-interest ideals and their underlying extramarket values in favor of organizing and improving health care markets. Whatever the deficiencies of traditional policymaking may be, this study suggests the need to resurrect extramarket values in health policy.

Patient safety and the problem of many hands

PubMed Central

Dixon-Woods, Mary; Pronovost, Peter

2016-01-01

Summary Healthcare worldwide is faced with a crisis of patient safety: every day, everywhere, patients are injured during the course of their care. Notwithstanding occasional successes in relation to specific harms, safety as a system characteristic has remained elusive. We propose that one neglected reason why the safety problem has proved so stubborn is that healthcare suffers from a pathology known in the public administration literature as the problem of many hands. It is a problem that arises in contexts where multiple actors – organizations, individuals, groups – each contribute to effects seen at system level, but it remains difficult to hold any single actor responsible for these effects. Efforts by individual actors, including local quality improvement projects, may have the paradoxical effect of undermining system safety. Many challenges cannot be resolved by individual organisations, since they require whole-sector coordination and action. We call for recognition of the problem of many hands and for attention to be given to how it might most optimally be addressed in a healthcare context. PMID:26912578

An Overview of Landing Gear Dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pritchard, Jocelyn I.

1999-01-01

One of the problems facing the aircraft community is landing gear dynamics, especially shimmy and brake-induced vibration. Shimmy and brake-induced vibrations can lead to accidents due to excessive wear and shortened life of gear parts and contribute to pilot and passenger discomfort. To increase understanding of these problems, a literature survey was performed. The major focus is on work from the last ten years. Some older publications are included to understand the longevity of the problem and the background from earlier researchers. The literature survey includes analyses, testing, modeling, and simulation of aircraft landing gear; and experimental validation and characterization of shimmy and brake-induced vibration of aircraft landing gear. The paper presents an overview of the problem, background information, and a history of landing gear dynamics problems and solutions. Based on the survey an assessment and recommendations of the most critically needed enhancements to the state of the art will be presented. The status of Langley work contributing to this activity will be given.

Really Reaching the Public, Face-to-Face

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foukal, Peter

2014-02-01

This past summer I was able to provide a young couple with their first view of Saturn through a telescope, and afterward they told me what a profound experience this look into space had been for them. It wasn't the first time I'd seen such an emotional response since I opened the East Point Solar Observatory, a small public observatory in Nahant, Mass., in 1995. But listening to them reminded me how lucky we scientists are to pursue a career that brings out such warm feelings in our neighbors. It also made me wonder whether the effectiveness of our national approach to public outreach might be increased by more face-to-face contact between scientists and the public.

A Meta-Analytic and Qualitative Review of Online versus Face-to-Face Problem-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jurewitsch, Brian

2012-01-01

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional strategy that is poised for widespread application in the current, growing, on-line digital learning environment. While enjoying a track record as a defensible strategy in face-to-face learning settings, the research evidence is not clear regarding PBL in on-line environments. A review of the…

Using virtual worlds for patient and public engagement

PubMed Central

Taylor, Michael J.; Kaur, Meerat; Sharma, Uvarshi; Taylor, Dave; Reed, Julie E.; Darzi, Ara

2015-01-01

Patient and public involvement is fundamental in healthcare and many methods attempt to facilitate this engagement. The present study investigated use of computer-generated environments known as ‘virtual worlds’ (VW) as an involvement method. The VW used in the present research was Second Life, which is 3-dimensional, publically accessible and internet-based. It is accessed using digital self-representations, or ‘avatars’, through which users navigate the virtual environment and communicate with one another. Participants were patients with long-term conditions, frequently involved in shaping health research and care. Some had mobility and communication difficulties, potentially making involvement through traditional face-to-face modes of engagement challenging. There were 2 stages to this study. Stage-1: Participants were introduced to VWs and Second Life. This was followed by a face-to-face focus group discussion (FGD) in order to gain their views on use of SL. Stage-2: An FGD attended by 8 people (4 patients, 3 researchers, 1 healthcare professional) was conducted in Second Life. Training and support on using Second Life had been provided for participants. The FGD took place successfully, although some technical and communication difficulties were experienced. Data was collected in the form of interviews and questionnaires from the patients about their experience of using the virtual world. Participants recognised the potential of VWs as a platform for patient engagement, especially for those who suffer from chronic conditions that impact severely upon their mobility and communication. Participant feedback indicated that potential barriers include technical problems with VW programs and potential user inexperience of using VWs, which may be counteracted by ensuring provision of continuous training and support. In conclusion, this study established the feasibility of using VWs for patient FGDs and indicates a potential of use of VWs for engagement in future, particularly for peer-led support and to engage people with particular long-term conditions. PMID:26543506

Amygdala hypoactivity to fearful faces in boys with conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits.

PubMed

Jones, Alice P; Laurens, Kristin R; Herba, Catherine M; Barker, Gareth J; Viding, Essi

2009-01-01

Although early-onset conduct problems predict both psychiatric and health problems in adult life, little research has been done to index neural correlates of conduct problems. Emerging research suggests that a subgroup of children with conduct problems and elevated levels of callous-unemotional traits may be genetically vulnerable to manifesting disturbances in neural reactivity to emotional stimuli indexing distress. Using functional MRI, the authors evaluated differences in neural response to emotional stimuli between boys with conduct problems and elevated levels of callous-unemotional traits and comparison boys. Seventeen boys with conduct problems and elevated levels of callous-unemotional traits and 13 comparison boys of equivalent age (mean=11 years) and IQ (mean=100) viewed blocked presentations of fearful and neutral faces. For each face, participants distinguished the sex of the face via manual response. Relative to the comparison group, boys with conduct problems and elevated levels of callous-unemotional traits manifested lesser right amygdala activity to fearful faces. This finding is in line with data from studies of adults with antisocial behavior and callous-unemotional traits (i.e., psychopaths), as well as from a recent study of adolescents with callous-unemotional traits, and suggests that the neural substrates of emotional impairment associated with callous-unemotional antisocial behavior are already present in childhood.

An economic way of reducing health, environmental, and other pressures of urban traffic: a decision analysis on trip aggregation

PubMed Central

Tuomisto, Jouni T; Tainio, Marko

2005-01-01

Background Traffic congestion is rapidly becoming the most important obstacle to urban development. In addition, traffic creates major health, environmental, and economical problems. Nonetheless, automobiles are crucial for the functions of the modern society. Most proposals for sustainable traffic solutions face major political opposition, economical consequences, or technical problems. Methods We performed a decision analysis in a poorly studied area, trip aggregation, and studied decisions from the perspective of two different stakeholders, the passenger and society. We modelled the impact and potential of composite traffic, a hypothetical large-scale demand-responsive public transport system for the Helsinki metropolitan area, where a centralised system would collect the information on all trip demands online, would merge the trips with the same origin and destination into public vehicles with eight or four seats, and then would transmit the trip instructions to the passengers' mobile phones. Results We show here that in an urban area with one million inhabitants, trip aggregation could reduce the health, environmental, and other detrimental impacts of car traffic typically by 50–70%, and if implemented could attract about half of the car passengers, and within a broad operational range would require no public subsidies. Conclusion Composite traffic provides new degrees of freedom in urban decision-making in identifying novel solutions to the problems of urban traffic. PMID:16309549

Quantum communication and information processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beals, Travis Roland

Quantum computers enable dramatically more efficient algorithms for solving certain classes of computational problems, but, in doing so, they create new problems. In particular, Shor's Algorithm allows for efficient cryptanalysis of many public-key cryptosystems. As public key cryptography is a critical component of present-day electronic commerce, it is crucial that a working, secure replacement be found. Quantum key distribution (QKD), first developed by C.H. Bennett and G. Brassard, offers a partial solution, but many challenges remain, both in terms of hardware limitations and in designing cryptographic protocols for a viable large-scale quantum communication infrastructure. In Part I, I investigate optical lattice-based approaches to quantum information processing. I look at details of a proposal for an optical lattice-based quantum computer, which could potentially be used for both quantum communications and for more sophisticated quantum information processing. In Part III, I propose a method for converting and storing photonic quantum bits in the internal state of periodically-spaced neutral atoms by generating and manipulating a photonic band gap and associated defect states. In Part II, I present a cryptographic protocol which allows for the extension of present-day QKD networks over much longer distances without the development of new hardware. I also present a second, related protocol which effectively solves the authentication problem faced by a large QKD network, thus making QKD a viable, information-theoretic secure replacement for public key cryptosystems.

The most common problem facing by the maintenance department: A case Study between Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norazam Yasin, Mohd; Mohamad Zin, Rosli; Halid Abdullah, Abd; Shafiq Mahmad, Muhammad; Fikri Hasmori, Muhammad

2017-11-01

From time to time, the maintenance works become more challenging due to construction of new building and also aging of the existing buildings. University buildings without any exception require proper maintenance services to support their function requirements and this can be considered as major responsibilities to be fulfilled by the maintenance department in the universities. Maintenance department specifically will face various kinds of problems in their operation works and thus this might influence the maintenance work operations itself. This study purposely to identify the common problem facing by the maintenance department and also to examine the current status of the maintenance department. In addition, this study would also propose any suitable approach that could be implemented to overcome the problem facing by the maintenance department. To achieve the objectives of this study, a combination of deep literature study and carrying out a survey is necessary. Literature study aimed to obtain deeper information about this study, meanwhile a survey aimed at identifying the common problem facing by the maintenance department and also to provide the information of the maintenance department’s organization. Several methods will be used in analyzing the data obtained through the survey, including Microsoft Office Excel and also using mean index formula. This study has identified three categories of problem in the maintenance department, which are management problems, human resource problem, and technical problems. Following the findings, several solutions being proposed which can be implemented as the solution to the problem facing. These suggestions have the potential to improve the maintenance department work efficiency, thus could help to increase the department productivity.

[Future trends in nursing education in Taiwan in the light of globalization].

PubMed

Lee, Sheuan; Lu, Ying-Chi; Yen, Wen-Jiuan; Lin, Shu-Chin

2004-08-01

The twenty-first century is the era of the knowledge-based economy. Its information networks developing rapidly, Taiwan has already entered an age of liberalization, diversity and globalization. Competition and change will be the norm. As globalization continues it will pose substantial problems for nursing education. Nursing is a service-oriented activity which has to develop constantly to meet the changing demands of the public as people start to live longer, society becomes more multi-cultural, the nature of diseases and other health problems changes and public policy, such as that on National Health Insurance, is modified. This article outlines the problems currently facing nursing education (i.e., the complexity of the educational system, shortcomings in the learning environment, curriculum design, the quality of faculty, evaluation methods, and the quality of students' English and Mathematics) to predict likely difficulties (i.e. student recruitment, the running of schools and the quality of clinical nurses) and trends in nursing education. (i.e. changes in the way schools are run in line with the impact of globalization, new teaching methods; faculty training and development, lifelong learning, and the internationalization of education.) The article should be of interest to nursing educators.

Developing a strategic marketing plan for physical and occupational therapy services: a collaborative project between a critical access hospital and a graduate program in health care management.

PubMed

Kash, Bita A; Deshmukh, A A

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a marketing plan for the Physical and Occupational Therapy (PT/OT) department at a Critical Access Hospital (CAH). We took the approach of understanding and analyzing the rural community and health care environment, problems faced by the PT/OT department, and developing a strategic marketing plan to resolve those problems. We used hospital admissions data, public and physician surveys, a SWOT analysis, and tools to evaluate alternative strategies. Lack of awareness and negative perception were key issues. Recommended strategies included building relationships with physicians, partnering with the school district, and enhancing the wellness program.

An Architectural Model of Visual Motion Understanding

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-08-01

of the Center for Visual Sciences of the University of Rochester. Their courage in the face of the overwhelming com- plexity of the human visual...analysis should perform better than either approach by itself. Notice that the problems of the two approaches are non-overlapping. Continuous methods face no...success. This is not terribly surprising, as the problem is inherently very difficult. Consider the problems faced by a unit that is trying to compute the

Effective media communication of disasters: Pressing problems and recommendations

PubMed Central

Lowrey, Wilson; Evans, William; Gower, Karla K; Robinson, Jennifer A; Ginter, Peter M; McCormick, Lisa C; Abdolrasulnia, Maziar

2007-01-01

Background Public health officials and journalists play a crucial role in disseminating information regarding natural disasters, terrorism and other human-initiated disasters. However, research suggests that journalists are unprepared to cover terrorism and many types of natural disasters, in part because of lack sufficient expertise in science and medicine and training. The objective of this research was to identify solutions to problems facing journalists and public health public information officer (PIOs) of communicating with the public during natural and human-initiated disasters. Methods To assist in identifying the most pressing problems regarding media response to health-related risks such as terrorism and large-scale natural disasters, 26 expert advisors were convened, including leaders representing journalists and public information officers, state health officials, experts in terrorism and emergency preparedness, and experts in health, risk, and science communication. The advisory group participated in pre-arranged interviews and were asked to identify and review bioterrorism educational resources provided to journalist. All advisory group members were then invited to attend a day long meeting January 29, 2004 to review the findings and reach consensus. Results The most pressing problems were found to be a lack of coordination between PIO's and journalists, lack of resources for appropriately evaluating information and disseminating it efficiently, and a difference in perception of PIO's and journalist towards each others role during emergency situations. The advisory board developed a list of 15 recommendations that may enhance communication plans betweens PIO's, journalist and the public. The solutions were meant to be feasible in terms of costs and practical in terms of the professional and organizational realities in which journalists and PIO's work. Conclusion It is clear that PIO's and journalists play crucial roles in shaping public response to terrorism and other disasters. The findings from this formative research suggest that perspectives and organizational processes often limit effective communication between these groups; though practical solutions such as participation of journalists in drills, scenario exercises, sharing of informational resources, and raising awareness at professional trade meetings may enhance the timely dissemination of accurate and appropriate information. PMID:17553153

Effective media communication of disasters: pressing problems and recommendations.

PubMed

Lowrey, Wilson; Evans, William; Gower, Karla K; Robinson, Jennifer A; Ginter, Peter M; McCormick, Lisa C; Abdolrasulnia, Maziar

2007-06-06

Public health officials and journalists play a crucial role in disseminating information regarding natural disasters, terrorism and other human-initiated disasters. However, research suggests that journalists are unprepared to cover terrorism and many types of natural disasters, in part because of lack sufficient expertise in science and medicine and training. The objective of this research was to identify solutions to problems facing journalists and public health public information officer (PIOs) of communicating with the public during natural and human-initiated disasters. To assist in identifying the most pressing problems regarding media response to health-related risks such as terrorism and large-scale natural disasters, 26 expert advisors were convened, including leaders representing journalists and public information officers, state health officials, experts in terrorism and emergency preparedness, and experts in health, risk, and science communication. The advisory group participated in pre-arranged interviews and were asked to identify and review bioterrorism educational resources provided to journalist. All advisory group members were then invited to attend a day long meeting January 29, 2004 to review the findings and reach consensus. The most pressing problems were found to be a lack of coordination between PIO's and journalists, lack of resources for appropriately evaluating information and disseminating it efficiently, and a difference in perception of PIO's and journalist towards each others role during emergency situations. The advisory board developed a list of 15 recommendations that may enhance communication plans between PIO's, journalist and the public. The solutions were meant to be feasible in terms of costs and practical in terms of the professional and organizational realities in which journalists and PIO's work. It is clear that PIO's and journalists play crucial roles in shaping public response to terrorism and other disasters. The findings from this formative research suggest that perspectives and organizational processes often limit effective communication between these groups; though practical solutions such as participation of journalists in drills, scenario exercises, sharing of informational resources, and raising awareness at professional trade meetings may enhance the timely dissemination of accurate and appropriate information.

Polio immunization in Pakistan: ethical issues and challenges.

PubMed

Basharat, Sarah; Shaikh, Babar Tasneem

2017-01-01

Immunization should be considered a basic human right to health and well-being. It is everybody's business, and it is everybody's responsibility: the individual, the community, the health system and the state. This paper attempts to review some of the literature that highlights the ethical and religious concerns surrounding polio vaccination and what approaches may be used to counter the problems faced in Pakistan. This paper is developed through a literature review on public health and polio in Pakistan, consulting local, regional and globally published peer reviewed articles focussing on religion, culture, ethics and public health. Human behaviour, including the utilization and acceptability of healthcare services, is greatly influenced by religious beliefs and dogmas. Immunization, specifically for the purpose of polio eradication, has been a topic under focus and in the news in Pakistan. The government is doing its best through a variety of interventions to increase access, inform the public and increase vaccination rates. Nevertheless, the country still faces a huge challenge from certain stern pockets of uncompromising populations who resist and refuse vaccination. Beliefs, practices and cultural norms overshadow public health priorities and ethics. Understanding of the context, therefore, is critical to determine the social hindrances in polio eradication and strategize thereon. Having programmatic, system-wide, socio-cultural and of course ethical dimensions, the policy makers and the programme managers in Pakistan must attempt to address the multitude of challenges to polio vaccination, whereby the plan of action developed within the ethical norms could potentially lead to an ultimate success.

Public perception and attitude towards chemical industry park in Dalian, Bohai Rim.

PubMed

He, Guizhen; Chen, Chunci; Zhang, Lei; Lu, Yonglong

2018-04-01

Recent decade has witnessed accelerating expansion of chemical industry and increasing conflicts between the local citizens, governmental authorities and project developers, especially in some coastal and port cities in China. Development and transformation of chemical industrial parks has been adopted as a national initiative recently. However, there is a paucity of research examining public perspectives on chemical industrial parks and their risks. Aiming to understand public perception, attitude, and response and the factors underlying the support/acceptance of chemical industry park, this paper investigated 418 residents neighboring to two chemical industrial parks, Dalian in Bohai Rim through face-to-face questionnaire survey. The results showed the knowledge of the respondents on the chemical industrial parks development was very limited. The respondents had complex perceptions on the environmental impacts, risks control, social-economic benefits, and problem awareness. The current levels of information disclosure and public participation were very low. The central governmental official (44.3%) was the most trustworthy group by the respondents. Only 5.5% and 23.2% of the respondents supported the construction of a new CIP nearby and far away their homes, whilst 13% thought new CIP project as acceptable. The spearman correlation analysis results showed a strong NIMBY effect (Not In My Backyard). Factor analysis results demonstrated five latent factors: knowledge, benefit, information, trust, and participation. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated how socio-demographic differences and five latent factors might impact on the support/acceptance of the chemical industrial parks. Education level, trust, information, and participation were significant predictors of public support/acceptance level. This study contributes to our limited knowledge and understanding of public sentiments to the chemical industry parks in China. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Section 6 Schools in Six States: Eleven Case Studies of Transfer Issues

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

in Facing Up--21: Statistical Data on Virginia’s Public Schools, published by the State Department of Education , Virginia, June 1987. - 200 - State...Department of Education , Facing Up--23 Statistical Data on Virginia’s Public Schools, April 1989. Although the county has experienced some growth, the...and state level. 2This and the following data are from the Virginia Department of Education , Facing Up--23 Statistical Data on Virginia’s Public

Semisupervised kernel marginal Fisher analysis for face recognition.

PubMed

Wang, Ziqiang; Sun, Xia; Sun, Lijun; Huang, Yuchun

2013-01-01

Dimensionality reduction is a key problem in face recognition due to the high-dimensionality of face image. To effectively cope with this problem, a novel dimensionality reduction algorithm called semisupervised kernel marginal Fisher analysis (SKMFA) for face recognition is proposed in this paper. SKMFA can make use of both labelled and unlabeled samples to learn the projection matrix for nonlinear dimensionality reduction. Meanwhile, it can successfully avoid the singularity problem by not calculating the matrix inverse. In addition, in order to make the nonlinear structure captured by the data-dependent kernel consistent with the intrinsic manifold structure, a manifold adaptive nonparameter kernel is incorporated into the learning process of SKMFA. Experimental results on three face image databases demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm.

Problems Facing Rural Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, C. E.; And Others

Problems facing rural Scottish schools range from short term consideration of daily operation to long term consideration of organizational alternatives. Addressed specifically, such problems include consideration of: (1) liaison between a secondary school and its feeder primary schools; (2) preservice teacher training for work in small, isolated…

Study protocol: the sleeping sound with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder project.

PubMed

Sciberras, Emma; Efron, Daryl; Gerner, Bibi; Davey, Margot; Mensah, Fiona; Oberklaid, Frank; Hiscock, Harriet

2010-12-30

Up to 70% of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience sleep problems including difficulties initiating and maintaining sleep. Sleep problems in children with ADHD can result in poorer child functioning, impacting on school attendance, daily functioning and behaviour, as well as parental mental health and work attendance. The Sleeping Sound with ADHD trial aims to investigate the efficacy of a behavioural sleep program in treating sleep problems experienced by children with ADHD. We have demonstrated the feasibility and the acceptability of this treatment program in a pilot study. This randomised controlled trial (RCT) is being conducted with 198 children (aged between 5 to 12 years) with ADHD and moderate to severe sleep problems. Children are recruited from public and private paediatric practices across the state of Victoria, Australia. Upon receiving informed written consent, families are randomised to receive either the behavioural sleep intervention or usual care. The intervention consists of two individual, face-to-face consultations and a follow-up phone call with a trained clinician (trainee consultant paediatrician or psychologist), focusing on the assessment and management of child sleep problems. The primary outcome is parent- and teacher-reported ADHD symptoms (ADHD Rating Scale IV). Secondary outcomes are child sleep (actigraphy and parent report), behaviour, daily functioning, school attendance and working memory, as well as parent mental health and work attendance. We are also assessing the impact of children's psychiatric comorbidity (measured using a structured diagnostic interview) on treatment outcome. To our knowledge, this is the first RCT of a behavioural intervention aiming to treat sleep problems in children with ADHD. If effective, this program will provide a feasible non-pharmacological and acceptable intervention improving child sleep and ADHD symptoms in this patient group. Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN68819261. ISRCTN: ISRCTN68819261.

Multi-Dimensional, Non-Pyrolyzing Ablation Test Problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Risch, Tim; Kostyk, Chris

2016-01-01

Non-pyrolyzingcarbonaceous materials represent a class of candidate material for hypersonic vehicle components providing both structural and thermal protection system capabilities. Two problems relevant to this technology are presented. The first considers the one-dimensional ablation of a carbon material subject to convective heating. The second considers two-dimensional conduction in a rectangular block subject to radiative heating. Surface thermochemistry for both problems includes finite-rate surface kinetics at low temperatures, diffusion limited ablation at intermediate temperatures, and vaporization at high temperatures. The first problem requires the solution of both the steady-state thermal profile with respect to the ablating surface and the transient thermal history for a one-dimensional ablating planar slab with temperature-dependent material properties. The slab front face is convectively heated and also reradiates to a room temperature environment. The back face is adiabatic. The steady-state temperature profile and steady-state mass loss rate should be predicted. Time-dependent front and back face temperature, surface recession and recession rate along with the final temperature profile should be predicted for the time-dependent solution. The second problem requires the solution for the transient temperature history for an ablating, two-dimensional rectangular solid with anisotropic, temperature-dependent thermal properties. The front face is radiatively heated, convectively cooled, and also reradiates to a room temperature environment. The back face and sidewalls are adiabatic. The solution should include the following 9 items: final surface recession profile, time-dependent temperature history of both the front face and back face at both the centerline and sidewall, as well as the time-dependent surface recession and recession rate on the front face at both the centerline and sidewall. The results of the problems from all submitters will be collected, summarized, and presented at a later conference.

Ophthalmic public health; the way ahead.

PubMed

Heidary, F; Rahimi, A; Gharebaghi, R

2012-01-01

Visual sciences have been progressing quickly in recent decades through globalization phenomenon. An enormous change has taken place in ocular health issues, however, there are various problems facing ophthalmic public health worldwide. In the previous years, the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness in partnership launched the global initiative to eradicate avoidable blindness by the year 2020, VISION 2020 the Right to Sight. It has concentrated on the prevention of blindness disability and recognized a health issue-sight as a human right. In view of challenges ahead of visual sciences, close collaboration between international agencies at the global level to implement new strategies and monitor the progress will be mandatory. In these circumstances non-governmental organizations should not be neglected. World Sight Day 2012 would be a great opportunity to be a focus on importance of visual impairment as an important public health issue and discovering new challenges ahead.

Why are the many poor?

PubMed

Townsend, P

1986-01-01

In this article the author restates the same arguments put forward in the first Fabian Tract of 1884 entitled Why Are the Many Poor? Today, mass poverty is still the central problem facing the British nation and all nations. The only long-term remedy is to restrict the power and wealth of the rich, to dismantle the present structures of social privilege, and to build social institutions based on fair allocation of wealth and on social equality. The public debate of one hundred years ago on the connections between poverty and wealth is revived in this article.

Appropriate technology and climate change adaptation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bandala, Erick R.; Patiño-Gomez, Carlos

2016-02-01

Climate change is emerging as the greatest significant environmental problem for the 21st Century and the most important global challenge faced by human kind. Based on evidence recognized by the international scientific community, climate change is already an unquestionable reality, whose first effects are beginning to be measured. Available climate projections and models can assist in anticipating potential far-reaching consequences for development processes. Climatic transformations will impact the environment, biodiversity and water resources, putting several productive processes at risk; and will represent a threat to public health and water availability in quantity and quality.

Challenges Facing Healthwatch, a New Consumer Champion in England.

PubMed

Carter, Pam; Martin, Graham

2016-01-21

This article engages with debates about the conceptualisation and practical challenges of patient and public involvement (PPI) in health and social care services. Policy in this area in England has shifted numerous times but increasingly a consumerist discourse seems to override more democratic ideas concerning the relationship between citizens and public services. Recent policy change in England has seen the creation of new consumer champion bodies in the form of local Healthwatch. The article describes these new organisational structures for PPI and shows how those who seek to influence planning and delivery of services or comment or complain about aspects of their care face considerable complexity. This is due, in part, to the ambiguous remit set out for newly instigated Healthwatch organisations by government. Drawing on governance theory, we show that it can also be understood as a function of an increasingly polycentric governance arena. Challenges that flow from this include problems of specifying jurisdictional responsibility, accountability, and legitimacy. We review Healthwatch progress to date, then we set out four challenges facing local Healthwatch organisations before discussing the implications of these for patients and the public. The first challenge relates to non-coterminous boundaries and jurisdictional integrity. Secondly, establishing the unique features of Healthwatch is problematic in the crowded PPI arena. The third challenge arises from limited resources as well as the fact that resources flow to Healthwatch from the local authorities that Healthwatch are expected to hold to account. The fourth challenge we identify is how local Healthwatch organisations negotiate the complexity of being a partner to statutory and other organisations, while at the same time being expected to champion local people's views. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Accuracy of Answers Provided by Digital/Face-to-Face Reference Services in Japanese Public Libraries and Q & A Sites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsuji, Keita; To, Haruna; Hara, Atsuyuki

2011-01-01

We asked the same 60 questions using DRS (digital reference services) in Japanese public libraries, face-to-face reference services and Q & A (question and answer) sites. It was found that: (1) The correct answer ratio of DRS is higher than that of Q & A sites; (2) DRS takes longer to provide answers as compared to Q & A sites; and (3)…

The Hispanic Americans Baseline Alcohol Survey (HABLAS): is the "prevention paradox" applicable to alcohol problems across Hispanic national groups?

PubMed

Caetano, Raul; Mills, Britain A

2011-07-01

The "prevention paradox," a notion that most alcohol-related problems are generated by nonheavy drinkers, has significant relevance to public health policy and prevention efforts. The extent of the paradox has driven debate over the type of balance that should be struck between alcohol policies targeting a select group of high-risk drinkers versus more global approaches that target the population at-large. This paper examines the notion that most alcohol problems among 4 Hispanic national groups in the United States are attributable to moderate drinkers. A general population survey employing a multistage cluster sample design, with face-to-face interviews in respondents' homes was conducted in 5 metropolitan areas of the United States. Study participants included a total of 2,773 current drinkers 18 years and older. Alcohol consumed in the past year (bottom 90% vs. top 10%), binge drinking (binge vs. no binge), and a 4-way grouping defined by volume and binge criteria were used. Alcohol-related harms included 14 social and dependence problems. Drinkers at the bottom 90% of the distribution are responsible for 56 to 73% of all social problems, and for 55 to 73% of all dependence-related problems reported, depending on Hispanic national group. Binge drinkers are responsible for the majority of the social problems (53 to 75%) and dependence-related problems (59 to 73%), also depending on Hispanic national group. Binge drinkers at the bottom 90% of the distribution are responsible for a larger proportion of all social and dependence-related problems reported than those at the top 10% of the volume distribution. Cuban Americans are an exception. The prevention paradox holds when using volume-based risk groupings and disappears when using a binge-drinking risk grouping. Binge drinkers who drink moderately on an average account for more harms than those who drink heavily across all groups, with exception of Cuban Americans. Copyright © 2011 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

The Hispanic Americans Baseline Alcohol Survey (HABLAS): Is the “prevention paradox” applicable to alcohol problems across Hispanic national groups?

PubMed Central

Caetano, Raul; Mills, Britain A.

2011-01-01

Background The “prevention paradox”, a notion that most alcohol-related problems are generated by non-heavy drinkers, has significant relevance to public health policy and prevention efforts. The extent of the paradox has driven debate over the type of balance that should be struck between alcohol policies targeting a select group of high-risk drinkers versus more global approaches that target the population at-large. This paper examines the notion that most alcohol problems among four Hispanic national groups in the U.S. are attributable to moderate drinkers. Methods A general population survey employing a multistage cluster sample design, with face-to-face interviews in respondents' homes was conducted in five metropolitan areas of the U.S. Study participants included a total of 2,773 current drinkers 18 years and older. Alcohol consumed in the past year (bottom 90% vs. top 10%), binge drinking (binge vs. no binge), and a four-way grouping defined by volume and binge criteria were used. Alcohol-related harms included 14 social and dependence problems. Results Drinkers at the bottom 90% of the distribution are responsible for 56% to 73% of all social problems, and for 55% to 73% of all dependence-related problems reported, depending on Hispanic national group. Binge drinkers are responsible for the majority of the social problems (53% to 75%) and dependence-related problems (59% to 73%), also depending on Hispanic national group. Binge drinkers at the bottom 90% of the distribution are responsible for a larger proportion of all social and dependence-related problems reported than those at the top 10% of the volume distribution. Cuban Americans are an exception. Conclusion The prevention paradox holds when using volume-based risk groupings and disappears when using a binge-drinking risk grouping. Binge drinkers who drink moderately on an average account for more harms than those who drink heavily across all groups, with exception of Cuban Americans. PMID:21410485

Influences of face, stigma, and psychological symptoms on help-seeking attitudes in Macao.

PubMed

Cheang, Sut Ieng; Davis, J Mark

2014-09-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between concerns about loss of face, stigma, psychological symptoms, and attitudes toward seeking mental health services such as counseling in Macao. Participants included 391 students attending the largest public university in Macao: 277 were from Macao and 114 were from Mainland China. Participants completed questionnaires measuring attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, concerns about loss of face, self-stigma, public-stigma, and psychological symptoms. Results showed that positive attitudes toward help-seeking were significantly negatively correlated with self-stigma, public-stigma, and concerns about loss of face but there was no significant correlation with psychological symptoms. Psychological symptoms were positively correlated with face concerns, self-stigma, and public-stigma. Stigma (self and public) was found to be significantly positively associated with face concerns, but the correlations were weak. Findings also showed that Macao students had higher levels of distress, and endorsed greater self- and public-stigma than Mainland Chinese students; however, the groups did not differ in face concerns or attitudes toward help-seeking. Regression analysis indicated that group membership was not a significant predictor of help-seeking. Self-stigma was the strongest predictor of professional help-seeking. Age and sex were also found to be significant predictors. Results suggested that younger students were more likely to seek help and that female students reported greater levels of distress and tended to have more positive attitudes toward seeking psychological services than male students. © 2014 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Self-stigma and affiliate stigma in first-episode psychosis patients and their caregivers.

PubMed

Chen, Emily S M; Chang, Wing Chung; Hui, Christy L M; Chan, Sherry K W; Lee, Edwin Ho Ming; Chen, Eric Y H

2016-09-01

Stigma is a major factor causing delayed help-seeking and poor treatment adherence in patients with psychotic disorders. Previous research has mostly focused on chronic samples and the impact of culturally-relevant variables on both patients' and their caregivers' stigmatization is understudied. This study aimed to examine the relationships between various forms of stigma, "face concern", and clinical characteristics in a group of Chinese first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients and their caregivers. Forty-four Hong Kong Chinese aged 15-54 years presenting with FEP to psychiatric services and their caregivers were recruited. Assessments on self-stigma, affiliate stigma, perceived public stigma, "face concern", symptom severity and subjective quality of life (QoL) were conducted. Self-stigma of FEP patients was correlated with perceived public stigma, "face concern", insight and psychological health of QoL. Multiple regression analysis revealed that perceived public stigma and "face concern" independently predicted self-stigma. Mediation analysis further suggested that "face concern" partially mediated the relationship between perceived public stigma and self-stigma. Caregivers' affiliate stigma was significantly associated with higher levels of stress, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Affiliate stigma did not correlate with perceived public stigma and "face concern". Our results indicate a critical role of perceived public stigma and fear of losing face in determining self-stigma in Chinese patients with FEP. Caregivers with greater degree of affiliate stigma experience increased stress and emotional distress. Our findings highlight the importance to examine culturally specific factors that may contribute to the development of self-stigma in first-episode populations of different ethnicities.

45 CFR 1638.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Definitions. 1638.2 Section 1638.2 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION RESTRICTION ON SOLICITATION § 1638.2 Definitions. (a) In-person means a face-to-face encounter or a personal encounter via other...

45 CFR 1638.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Definitions. 1638.2 Section 1638.2 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION RESTRICTION ON SOLICITATION § 1638.2 Definitions. (a) In-person means a face-to-face encounter or a personal encounter via other...

45 CFR 1638.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Definitions. 1638.2 Section 1638.2 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION RESTRICTION ON SOLICITATION § 1638.2 Definitions. (a) In-person means a face-to-face encounter or a personal encounter via other...

Can we match ultraviolet face images against their visible counterparts?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narang, Neeru; Bourlai, Thirimachos; Hornak, Lawrence A.

2015-05-01

In law enforcement and security applications, the acquisition of face images is critical in producing key trace evidence for the successful identification of potential threats. However, face recognition (FR) for face images captured using different camera sensors, and under variable illumination conditions, and expressions is very challenging. In this paper, we investigate the advantages and limitations of the heterogeneous problem of matching ultra violet (from 100 nm to 400 nm in wavelength) or UV, face images against their visible (VIS) counterparts, when all face images are captured under controlled conditions. The contributions of our work are three-fold; (i) We used a camera sensor designed with the capability to acquire UV images at short-ranges, and generated a dual-band (VIS and UV) database that is composed of multiple, full frontal, face images of 50 subjects. Two sessions were collected that span over the period of 2 months. (ii) For each dataset, we determined which set of face image pre-processing algorithms are more suitable for face matching, and, finally, (iii) we determined which FR algorithm better matches cross-band face images, resulting in high rank-1 identification rates. Experimental results show that our cross spectral matching (the heterogeneous problem, where gallery and probe sets consist of face images acquired in different spectral bands) algorithms achieve sufficient identification performance. However, we also conclude that the problem under study, is very challenging, and it requires further investigation to address real-world law enforcement or military applications. To the best of our knowledge, this is first time in the open literature the problem of cross-spectral matching of UV against VIS band face images is being investigated.

Memory for angry faces, impulsivity, and problematic behavior in adolescence.

PubMed

d'Acremont, Mathieu; Van der Linden, Martial

2007-04-01

Research has shown that cognitive processes like the attribution of hostile intention or angry emotion to others contribute to the development and maintenance of conduct problems. However, the role of memory has been understudied in comparison with attribution biases. The aim of this study was thus to test if a memory bias for angry faces was related to conduct problems in youth. Adolescents from a junior secondary school were presented with angry and happy faces and were later asked to recognize the same faces with a neutral expression. They also completed an impulsivity questionnaire. A teacher assessed their behavior. The results showed that a better recognition of angry faces than happy faces predicted conduct problems and hyperactivity/inattention as reported by the teacher. The memory bias effect was more pronounced for impulsive adolescents. It is suggested that a memory bias for angry faces favors disruptive behavior but that a good ability to control impulses may moderate the negative impact of this bias.

Turn and Face the Strain: Age Demographic Change and the near Future of American Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ladner, Matthew

2015-01-01

"Turn and Face the Strain: Age Demographic Change and the Near Future of American Education" outlines a fierce battle looming between the needs of public health care and education. A crisis is fast approaching that makes comprehensive improvement of America's public schools more important than ever. Faced with rapidly expanding…

The Impact of Respite Programming on Caregiver Resilience in Dementia Care: A Qualitative Examination of Family Caregiver Perspectives

PubMed Central

Roberts, Emily; Struckmeyer, Kristopher M.

2018-01-01

Family members with a relative with dementia often experience what has been called the “unexpected career of caregiver” and face multifaceted, complex, and stressful life situations that can have important consequences. This exploratory study was designed to address this major public health challenge through the lens of caregiver resilience and caregiver respite programming. While many caregivers report that they derive significant emotional and spiritual rewards from their caregiving role, many also experience physical and emotional problems directly related to the stress and demands of daily care. One way to alleviate these demands is the growing respite care field, providing services in a variety of settings for caregiver. Through qualitative analysis from face-to-face interviews with 33 family caregivers of individuals with dementia, several themes emerged describing the path to caregiver resilience which include family dynamics, isolation, financial struggles, seeking respite, and acceptance. While much research focuses on a caregiving burden perspective, the innovation of the present study is applying the resilience framework to outcomes from respite programming. PMID:29424252

An Awful and Impressive Spectacle: Crime Scene Executions in Scotland, 1801-1841

PubMed Central

Bennett, Rachel

2018-01-01

Early nineteenth-century Britain witnessed rising numbers of offenders facing capital punishment and a plethora of legal and public discourse debating the criminal justice system. This article will examine a distinct Scottish response to the problem in the form of crime scene executions. By the turn of the nineteenth century it had long been the established practice of the Scottish courts to order that capitally convicted offenders would be executed at an established ‘common place’. However, between 1801 and 1841, the decision was taken to execute 37 offenders at the scene of their crimes. This article argues that in the face of an unprecedented number of offenders facing the hangman’s noose the Scottish judges chose to exercise this penal option which had not been used to a similar extent since the mid-eighteenth century. In turn these events had a multiplicity of impact and provoked responses ranging from a morbid curiosity to witness the spectacle to anxiety and outright disdain at its intrusion into areas previously unsullied by the last punishment of the law. PMID:29780278

When health systems are barriers to health care: challenges faced by uninsured Mexican kidney patients.

PubMed

Kierans, Ciara; Padilla-Altamira, Cesar; Garcia-Garcia, Guillermo; Ibarra-Hernandez, Margarita; Mercado, Francisco J

2013-01-01

Chronic Kidney Disease disproportionately affects the poor in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Mexico exemplifies the difficulties faced in supporting Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) and providing equitable patient care, despite recent attempts at health reform. The objective of this study is to document the challenges faced by uninsured, poor Mexican families when attempting to access RRT. The article takes an ethnographic approach, using interviewing and observation to generate detailed accounts of the problems that accompany attempts to secure care. The study, based in the state of Jalisco, comprised interviews with patients, their caregivers, health and social care professionals, among others. Observations were carried out in both clinical and social settings. In the absence of organised health information and stable pathways to renal care, patients and their families work extraordinarily hard and at great expense to secure care in a mixed public-private healthcare system. As part of this work, they must navigate challenging health and social care environments, negotiate treatments and costs, resource and finance healthcare and manage a wide range of formal and informal health information. Examining commonalities across pathways to adequate healthcare reveals major failings in the Mexican system. These systemic problems serve to reproduce and deepen health inequalities. A system, in which the costs of renal care are disproportionately borne by those who can least afford them, faces major difficulties around the sustainability and resourcing of RRTs. Attempts to increase access to renal therapies, therefore, need to take into account the complex social and economic demands this places on those who need access most. This paper further shows that ethnographic studies of the concrete ways in which healthcare is accessed in practice provide important insights into the plight of CKD patients and so constitute an important source of evidence in that effort.

Problems facing Korean hospitals and possible countermeasures.

PubMed

Kim, Kwang-Tae

2004-07-01

Korea has a unique health care system, of which the private sector comprises most of the country's health resources: 88% of the beds and 91% of specialists in Korea, but are funded by public financing, such as national health insurance and the national aid program. However, the public financing pays only 50% of actual costs and the patient's co-payment is still high. Healthcare organizations in Korea are categorized into four types; tertiary care hospitals, general hospitals, hospitals and clinics by scale of operator: number of beds. General hospitals must have 100 beds and over, and compulsorily specialties in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics, dental service, other ancillary service units and an emergency care unit. General hospitals with 300 beds and more must operate an intensive care unit. There are many challenges facing the Korean healthcare system, such as reformation of primary healthcare system, enhancing hospitals' competitiveness, and permission of for-profit hospital, introduction of private health insurance, enhancement of geriatric care. These challenges can be resolved with long-term vision, willingness and strategies of the Korean government to ensure equitable financing and access to healthcare, combined with the active participation and utilization of the private sector.

Examining Information Problem-Solving, Knowledge, and Application Gains within Two Instructional Methods: Problem-Based and Computer-Mediated Participatory Simulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newell, Terrance S.

2008-01-01

This study compared the effectiveness of two instructional methods--problem-based instruction within a face-to-face context and computer-mediated participatory simulation--in increasing students' content knowledge and application gains in the area of information problem-solving. The instructional methods were implemented over a four-week period. A…

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Preparing future fisheries professionals to make good decisions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Colvin, Michael E.; Peterson, James T.

2017-01-01

Future fisheries professionals will face decision-making challenges in an increasingly complex field of fisheries management. Though fisheries students are well trained in the use of the scientific method to understand the natural world, they are rarely exposed to structured decision making (SDM) as part of an undergraduate or graduate education. Specifically, SDM encourages users (e.g., students, managers) to think critically and communicate the problem and then identify specific, measurable objectives as they relate to the problem. Next, users must think critically and creatively about management alternatives that can be used to meet the objectives—there must be more than one alternative or there is no decision to be made. Lastly, the management alternatives are evaluated with regard to how likely they are to succeed in terms of multiple, possibly completing, objectives, such as how stakeholder groups value outcomes of management actions versus monetary cost. We believe that exposure to SDM and its elements is an important part of preparing future fisheries professional to meet the challenges they may face. These challenges include reduced budgets, the growth of potentially competing natural resource interest groups, and stakeholder desire to be involved in management decisions affecting public trust resources, just to name a few.

Hierarchical Recognition Scheme for Human Facial Expression Recognition Systems

PubMed Central

Siddiqi, Muhammad Hameed; Lee, Sungyoung; Lee, Young-Koo; Khan, Adil Mehmood; Truc, Phan Tran Ho

2013-01-01

Over the last decade, human facial expressions recognition (FER) has emerged as an important research area. Several factors make FER a challenging research problem. These include varying light conditions in training and test images; need for automatic and accurate face detection before feature extraction; and high similarity among different expressions that makes it difficult to distinguish these expressions with a high accuracy. This work implements a hierarchical linear discriminant analysis-based facial expressions recognition (HL-FER) system to tackle these problems. Unlike the previous systems, the HL-FER uses a pre-processing step to eliminate light effects, incorporates a new automatic face detection scheme, employs methods to extract both global and local features, and utilizes a HL-FER to overcome the problem of high similarity among different expressions. Unlike most of the previous works that were evaluated using a single dataset, the performance of the HL-FER is assessed using three publicly available datasets under three different experimental settings: n-fold cross validation based on subjects for each dataset separately; n-fold cross validation rule based on datasets; and, finally, a last set of experiments to assess the effectiveness of each module of the HL-FER separately. Weighted average recognition accuracy of 98.7% across three different datasets, using three classifiers, indicates the success of employing the HL-FER for human FER. PMID:24316568

Alcohol use patterns, problems and policies in Malaysia.

PubMed

Jernigan, D H; Indran, S K

1997-12-01

The roots of Malaysia's drinking patterns lie in the introduction of most forms of alcohol by Europeans. Although Malaysia today has relatively low per capita alcohol consumption, available studies and interviews with alcohol industry officials point to a small segment of the population that drinks heavily and causes and experiences substantial alcohol related-problems. Indians are over-represented in this sub-population, but studies also reveal substantial drinking problems among Chinese and Malays. Government officials categorize alcohol as an Indian problem. The government devotes little resources to monitoring drinking patterns, use or problems; or to preventing, treating or educating the public about alcohol-related problems. Alcohol-producing transnational corporations own shares of all of Malaysia's major alcohol producers. In the face of high alcohol taxes and a ban on broadcast advertising of alcoholic beverages, these companies market alcohol aggressively, making health claims, targeting heavy drinkers and encouraging heavy drinking, employing indirect advertising, and using women in seductive poses and occupations to attract the mostly male drinking population. Monitoring of the country's alcohol problems is greatly needed in order to establish alcohol consumption more clearly as a national health and safety issue, while stronger controls and greater corporate responsibility are required to control alcohol marketing.

Organisational innovation and control practices: the case of public-private mix in tuberculosis control in India.

PubMed

Engel, Nora; van Lente, Harro

2014-07-01

Partnerships between public and private healthcare providers are often seen as an important way to improve health care in resource-constrained settings. Despite the reconfirmed policy support for including private providers into public tuberculosis control in India, the public-private mix (PPM) activities continue to face apprehension at local implementation sites. This article investigates the causes for those difficulties by examining PPM initiatives as cases of organisational innovation. It examines findings from semi-structured interviews, observations and document analyses in India around three different PPM models and the attempts of innovating and scaling up. The results reveal that in PPM initiatives underlying problem definitions and different control practices, including supervision, standardisation and culture, continue to clash and ultimately hinder the scaling up of PPM. Successful PPM initiatives require organisational control practices which are rooted in different professions to be bridged. This entails difficult balancing acts between innovation and control. The innovators handle those differently, based on their own ideas of the problem that PPM should address and their own control practices. We offer new perspectives on why collaboration is so difficult and show a possible way to mitigate the established apprehensions between professions in order to make organisational innovations, such as PPM, sustainable and scalable. © 2013 The Authors Sociology of Health & Illness © 2013 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The use and abuse of female domestic workers from Sri Lanka in Lebanon.

PubMed

Abu-habib, L

1998-03-01

Women who migrate from Sri Lanka to become domestic workers in Lebanon face gender, class, and race discrimination that often results in abuse, yet the predicament of these women is largely ignored by local and international humanitarian and human rights agencies. Public consciousness about the plight of Asian domestic workers in the Persian Gulf region was raised in 1990 when domestic workers were repatriated in the wake of the Gulf War. In Lebanon, nearly half of the work permits granted to foreigners in 1997 were to women from Sri Lanka. This migration began in the 1970s and is sanctioned by the Sri Lanka government because of the economic benefits accruing from wages sent home by these women. Lebanese families procure domestic positions through an employment agency that arranges transportation and entry for the Sri Lankan women. These women, especially minors, often have to bribe Sri Lankan government agents to falsify travel documents. Upon arrival in Lebanon, the women have no support systems or job security. Most employment contracts last 3 years and pay $100/month with no benefits or protection from local labor laws. Domestic workers are made vulnerable by employers who withhold salaries or travel documents. Upon return to Sri Lanka, former domestic workers face social disapproval and marital problems. To redress this situation, the governments of sending and receiving countries must take action to protect female migrant workers, and nongovernmental organizations must publicize the plight of these women and take action to address the abuses they face.

Safety of sports facilities and training of graduates in physical education.

PubMed

Romano Spica, V; Giampaoli, S; Di Onofrio, V; Liguori, G

2015-01-01

Post-industrial societies have to face the problem of physical inactivity and inappropriate lifestyles. Programs to promote physical activity are strongly supported by supranational, national and local institutions and organizations. These programs can be developed in sport facilities but also in places that are not institutionally dedicated to sport. The use of urban and working sites has the advantage of better reach the various segments of the population, but at the same time requires coordination between various professionals in structuring an effective intervention. Bibliographical research in the historical archives of the library of the University of Rome Foro Italico, online databases, paleoigiene (wikigiene), documents archives (GSMS-SItI, WHO, ISS, OsEPi, INAIL, ISTAT, national laws). Several guidelines and regulations face the problem of safety in sport environments. The context is in rapid evolution and directions are provided by public health authorities. Graduates in Sport and Physical Activity, represent an additional resource in terms of: prevention and safety in the workplace, health education, application of preventive and adapted physical activities in the territory. These tasks can be integrated in all prevention stages: e.g. childhood and primary prevention programs in school, adapted physical activity for the elderly. The contribution of public health specialists is strategic in the surveillance and coordination of integrated projects. At the same time, graduates in Physical Education appear to be pivots for health promotion and qualified resources for institutions in the territory. Their training should always include contents related to prevention and safety, regulations on sport and working environments, along with bases of preventive medicine related to the context of physical activity.

Historical Perspectives and Guidelines for Botulinum Neurotoxin Subtype Nomenclature

PubMed Central

Peck, Michael W.; Smith, Theresa J.; Anniballi, Fabrizio; Austin, John W.; Bano, Luca; Bradshaw, Marite; Cuervo, Paula; Cheng, Luisa W.; Derman, Yagmur; Dorner, Brigitte G.; Fisher, Audrey; Hill, Karen K.; Kalb, Suzanne R.; Korkeala, Hannu; Lindström, Miia; Lista, Florigio; Lúquez, Carolina; Mazuet, Christelle; Pirazzini, Marco; Popoff, Michel R.; Rossetto, Ornella; Rummel, Andreas; Sesardic, Dorothea; Singh, Bal Ram; Stringer, Sandra C.

2017-01-01

Botulinum neurotoxins are diverse proteins. They are currently represented by at least seven serotypes and more than 40 subtypes. New clostridial strains that produce novel neurotoxin variants are being identified with increasing frequency, which presents challenges when organizing the nomenclature surrounding these neurotoxins. Worldwide, researchers are faced with the possibility that toxins having identical sequences may be given different designations or novel toxins having unique sequences may be given the same designations on publication. In order to minimize these problems, an ad hoc committee consisting of over 20 researchers in the field of botulinum neurotoxin research was convened to discuss the clarification of the issues involved in botulinum neurotoxin nomenclature. This publication presents a historical overview of the issues and provides guidelines for botulinum neurotoxin subtype nomenclature in the future. PMID:28106761

Historical Perspectives and Guidelines for Botulinum Neurotoxin Subtype Nomenclature.

PubMed

Peck, Michael W; Smith, Theresa J; Anniballi, Fabrizio; Austin, John W; Bano, Luca; Bradshaw, Marite; Cuervo, Paula; Cheng, Luisa W; Derman, Yagmur; Dorner, Brigitte G; Fisher, Audrey; Hill, Karen K; Kalb, Suzanne R; Korkeala, Hannu; Lindström, Miia; Lista, Florigio; Lúquez, Carolina; Mazuet, Christelle; Pirazzini, Marco; Popoff, Michel R; Rossetto, Ornella; Rummel, Andreas; Sesardic, Dorothea; Singh, Bal Ram; Stringer, Sandra C

2017-01-18

Botulinum neurotoxins are diverse proteins. They are currently represented by at least seven serotypes and more than 40 subtypes. New clostridial strains that produce novel neurotoxin variants are being identified with increasing frequency, which presents challenges when organizing the nomenclature surrounding these neurotoxins. Worldwide, researchers are faced with the possibility that toxins having identical sequences may be given different designations or novel toxins having unique sequences may be given the same designations on publication. In order to minimize these problems, an ad hoc committee consisting of over 20 researchers in the field of botulinum neurotoxin research was convened to discuss the clarification of the issues involved in botulinum neurotoxin nomenclature. This publication presents a historical overview of the issues and provides guidelines for botulinum neurotoxin subtype nomenclature in the future.

Cost containment for the public health.

PubMed

Eastaugh, Steven R

2006-01-01

The U.S. health care system has major problems with respect to patient access and cost control. Trimming excess hospital expenses and expanding public health activities are cost effective. By budgeting well, with global budgets set for the high cost sectors, the United States might emerge with lower tax hikes, a healthier population, better facilities, and enhanced access to service. Nations with global budgets have better health statistics, and lower costs, compared to the United States. With global budgets, these countries employ 75 to 85 percent fewer employees in administration and regulation, but patient satisfaction is almost double the rate in the United States. Implement a global budget for health care, or substantially raise taxes, is the basic choice faced in this country. Key words: global budget control cost containment.

Turn and Face the Strain: Age Demographic Change and the Near Future of American Education. Policy Paper Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ladner, Matthew

2015-01-01

"Turn and Face the Strain: Age Demographic Change and the Near Future of American Education" outlines a fierce battle looming between the needs of public health care and education. A crisis is fast approaching that makes comprehensive improvement of America's public schools more important than ever. Faced with rapidly expanding…

Western Region: A Report Identifying and Addressing the Educational Needs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Education, 2011

2011-01-01

During a four-week period (May 23, 2011-June 21, 2011), the Western Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) held a series of public meetings to solicit input and deliberate on key educational needs facing the four states in the region--Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. A two-day, face-to-face, public meeting was held May 23-24, 2011 in Arlington,…

78 FR 52996 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “Face to Face: Flanders...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-27

... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 8441] Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: ``Face to Face: Flanders, Florence, and Renaissance Painting'' Exhibition SUMMARY: Notice is... objects to be included in the exhibition ``Face to Face: Flanders, Florence, and Renaissance Painting...

Web-based training for primary healthcare workers in rural China: a qualitative exploration of stakeholders' perceptions.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhixia; Zhan, Xingxin; Li, Yingxue; Hu, Rong; Yan, Weirong

2015-01-01

Equitable access to basic public health services is a priority in China. However, primary healthcare workers' competence to deliver public health services is relatively poor because they lack professional training. Since the availability of web-based training has increased in China, the current study explored stakeholders' perceptions of a web-based training program on basic public health services to understand their thoughts, experiences, and attitudes about it. Six focus group discussions with primary healthcare workers and three with directors of township hospitals, county-level Health Bureaus, and county-level Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were conducted in Yichang City during 2013. Semi-structured topic guides were used to facilitate qualitative data collection. Audio recordings of the sessions were transcribed verbatim and theme analysis was performed. Most of the study's participants, especially the village doctors, had insufficient knowledge of basic public health services. The existing training program for primary healthcare workers consisted of ineffective traditional face-to-face sessions and often posed accessibility problems for the trainees. Most of the study's participants had a positive attitude about web-based learning and expressed a strong desire to receive this novel training approach because of its flexibility and convenience. The perceived barriers to utilizing the web-based training method included poor computer literacy, lack of personal interaction, inadequate infrastructure, and lack of time and motivation. The facilitators of this approach included the training content applicability, the user-friendly and interactive learning format, and policy support. Web-based training on basic public health services is a promising option in rural China. The findings of the study will contribute knowledge to implementation of web-based training in similar settings.

Web-Based Training for Primary Healthcare Workers in Rural China: A Qualitative Exploration of Stakeholders’ Perceptions

PubMed Central

Zhang, Zhixia; Zhan, Xingxin; Li, Yingxue; Hu, Rong; Yan, Weirong

2015-01-01

Background Equitable access to basic public health services is a priority in China. However, primary healthcare workers’ competence to deliver public health services is relatively poor because they lack professional training. Since the availability of web-based training has increased in China, the current study explored stakeholders’ perceptions of a web-based training program on basic public health services to understand their thoughts, experiences, and attitudes about it. Methods Six focus group discussions with primary healthcare workers and three with directors of township hospitals, county-level Health Bureaus, and county-level Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were conducted in Yichang City during 2013. Semi-structured topic guides were used to facilitate qualitative data collection. Audio recordings of the sessions were transcribed verbatim and theme analysis was performed. Results Most of the study’s participants, especially the village doctors, had insufficient knowledge of basic public health services. The existing training program for primary healthcare workers consisted of ineffective traditional face-to-face sessions and often posed accessibility problems for the trainees. Most of the study’s participants had a positive attitude about web-based learning and expressed a strong desire to receive this novel training approach because of its flexibility and convenience. The perceived barriers to utilizing the web-based training method included poor computer literacy, lack of personal interaction, inadequate infrastructure, and lack of time and motivation. The facilitators of this approach included the training content applicability, the user-friendly and interactive learning format, and policy support. Conclusions Web-based training on basic public health services is a promising option in rural China. The findings of the study will contribute knowledge to implementation of web-based training in similar settings. PMID:25961727

Spatial Character Analysis of Streets as Public Spaces: The Case of Izmit Hurriyet and Cumhuriyet Street, Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Özbayraktar, Mehtap; Pekdemir, Merve; Mırzaliyeva, Gumru

2017-10-01

The word “public” was first used to refer to the theatre audience in France in the mid-17th century. In the 18th century, it turned into the meaning of “public space incorporating a large variety of people and composed of acquaintances and strangers”. The concepts of publicity, public space, and public realm have been studied and described by many researchers in the course of time. These descriptions show the development of public space as well. In the very general sense, public spaces are areas of personal and social happiness; collective living spaces of the society; areas of expression of natural and cultural variety; and key elements providing a ground for the establishment of an identity. In the United Nations’ report on public spaces, public space is addressed under six groups: 1. The spaces we intensely used in our daily life; 2. Green open public spaces; 3. Public activity spaces which users can go in without any difficulty, are open to public, and are under protection; 4. Public sector realm (social agreements in which the people are represented, contribute to collective goods, and trust in the administrators elected); 5. City as a public space; 6. Cyberspace. As cities grow, public spaces transform and diversify. Attempts are made to meet the changing needs through types of space developed. However, the character of the existing public spaces, the distribution of open spaces and parks and their inadequacy, the destruction of public space, and the things that are required to be done stand as important issues to be addressed. One of the public spaces going through transformation are streets which we intensely use in our daily life. In general, streets are defined as roads with buildings on both sides in settlements such as provinces and districts whose boundaries are determined by neighbouring buildings. Some researchers have defined streets based on their social functions. According to them, streets are meeting spaces; spaces to deal with strangers; the house of the society; the main elements of urban existence; spaces as changeable as life; symbolic models of urban problems; and symbols of free city. However, the role of streets, which are so important in our daily life, has only been reduced to pass. They have been divided into two between pedestrians and vehicles and lost many social functions of theirs. Accordingly, the present study aims to answer the question of whether the abovementioned features and characters of streets as public spaces are still maintained with special reference to a street, which is one of the main streets of Izmit, Turkey. The street, which was called İmre Tökeli Avenue, Hamidiye Street (1908), and Demiryolu Tekeli Street (1948) in the course of time, is currently called Hürriyet and Cumhuriyet Street. The people also call it “walking road”. According to the sources, the history of this street is the history of Izmit as well. The past and present spatial character of the study area will be revealed through archive reviews, city development plants, face-to-face interviews, and surveys. Problems will be determined, and recommendations will be developed.

Cyberbullying victimization and mental health in adolescents and the moderating role of family dinners.

PubMed

Elgar, Frank J; Napoletano, Anthony; Saul, Grace; Dirks, Melanie A; Craig, Wendy; Poteat, V Paul; Holt, Melissa; Koenig, Brian W

2014-11-01

This study presents evidence that cyberbullying victimization relates to internalizing, externalizing, and substance use problems in adolescents and that the frequency of family dinners attenuate these associations. To examine the unique association between cyberbullying victimization and adolescent mental health (after controlling differences in involvement in traditional, face-to-face bullying) and to explore the potential moderating role of family contact in this association. This cross-sectional, observational study used survey data on 18,834 students (aged 12-18 years) from 49 schools in a Midwestern US state. Logistic regression analysis tested associations between cyberbullying victimization and the likelihood of mental health and substance use problems. Negative binomial regression analysis tested direct and synergistic contributions of cyberbullying victimization and family dinners on the rates of mental health and substance use problems. Frequency of cyberbullying victimization during the previous 12 months; victimization by traditional (face-to-face) bullying; and perpetration of traditional bullying. Five internalizing mental health problems (anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide ideation, and suicide attempt), 2 externalizing problems (fighting and vandalism), and 4 substance use problems (frequent alcohol use, frequent binge drinking, prescription drug misuse, and over-the-counter drug misuse). About one-fifth (18.6%) of the sample experienced cyberbullying during the previous 12 months. The frequency of cyberbullying positively related to all 11 internalizing, externalizing, and substance use problems (odds ratios from 2.6 [95% CI, 1.7-3.8] to 4.5 [95% CI, 3.0-6.6]). However, victimization related more closely to rates of problems in adolescents that had fewer family dinners. Cyberbullying relates to mental health and substance use problems in adolescents, even after their involvement in face-to-face bullying is taken into account. Although correlational, these results suggest that family dinners (ie, family contact and communication) are beneficial to adolescent mental health and may help protect adolescents from the harmful consequences of cyberbullying.

Collaborative Accounting Problem Solving via Group Support Systems in a Face-to-Face versus Distant Learning Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burke, Jacqueline A.

2001-01-01

Accounting students (n=128) used either face-to-face or distant Group support systems to complete collaborative tasks. Participation and social presence perceptions were significantly higher face to face. Task difficulty did not affect participation in either environment. (Contains 54 references.) (JOW)

Effect of Internet-Based Learning in Public Health Training: An Exploratory Meta-Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peng, Ying; Yan, Weirong

2017-01-01

Internet-based learning is increasingly applied in medical education, but its effect in the field of public health training is still unclear. This meta-analysis was undertaken to explore the impact of Internet-based learning on students'/professionals' knowledge of public health compared with no intervention and with traditional face-to-face (FTF)…

Tamarisk control on public lands in the desert of southern California: two case studies

USGS Publications Warehouse

1994-01-01

As a land manager, the Federal Government faces enormous challenges from exotic pest invasions and associated changes to the structure and stability of native ecosystems (Bureau of Land Management, 1988). On public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) alone, it is estimated that almost three million hectares are occupied by invasive exotic plant species (weeds). Assuming an annual rate of invasion of 14 percent, 930 hectares of BLM-administered land are infested everyday by weeds (Jerry Asher, personal communication). When one considers the fact that BLM administers only about one-third of the public land in the United States (The Keystone Center, 1991), the magnitude of the problem assumes staggering proportions. The scenario described in the quote above portrays only some of the problems associated with the spread of the exotic plant tamarisk, a species on the California Exotic Pest Plant Council’s list of exotic pest plants of greatest concern (California Exotic Pest Plant Council, 1993). In this paper we review the threats posed by tamarisk invasion and proliferation and examine the traits that make the plant such a successful competitor. In addition, we highlight two tamarisk control efforts conducted by the Bureau of Land Management in the southern California desert.

Beyond leadership: political strategies for coordination in health policies.

PubMed

Greer, Scott L; Lillvis, Denise F

2014-05-01

Health in All Policies (HiAP) promises to improve population health by harnessing the energies and activities of various sectors. Nevertheless, it faces well-documented bureaucratic obstacles and appears to require intersectoral governance if it is to be established. The basic problems of establishing intersectoral governance for HiAP are known to public administration and political science. On reading that literature, we find that the difficulty of establishing intersectoral governance for HiAP breaks down into two kinds of problems: that of establishing coordinated actions at all (coordination); and ensuring that they endure in changed political circumstances (durability). We further find that policymakers' solutions fall into three categories: visible ones of political will (e.g., plans and targets); bureaucratic changes such as the introduction of Health Impact Assessment or reorganization; and indirect methods such as data publication and support from outside groups to put pressure on the government. It can seem that Health in All Policies, like much of public health, depends on effective and committed policymakers but is vulnerable to changing political winds. The three kinds of strategies suggest how policymakers can, and do, create intersectoral governance that functions and persists, expanding the range of effective policy recommendations. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

A qualitative study on barriers in the prevention of anaemia during pregnancy in public health centres: perceptions of Indonesian nurse-midwives.

PubMed

Widyawati, Widyawati; Jans, Suze; Utomo, Sutarti; van Dillen, Jeroen; Janssen, A L M Lagro

2015-02-26

Anemia in pregnancy remains a major problem in Indonesia over the past decade. Early detection of anaemia in pregnancy is one of the components which is unsuccessfully implemented by nurse-midwives. This study aims to explore nurse-midwives' experiences in managing pregnant women with anaemia in Public Health Centres. We conducted a qualitative study with semi-structured face to face interviews from November 2011 to February 2012 with 23 nurse-midwives in five districts in Yogyakarta Special Province. Data analysis was thematic, using the constant comparison method, making comparison between participants and supported by ATLAS.ti software. Twelve nurse-midwives included in the interviews had less than or equal to 10 years' working experience (junior nurse-midwives) and 11 nurse-midwives had more than 10 years' working experience (senior nurse-midwives) in Public Health Centres. The senior nurse-midwives mostly worked as coordinators in Public Health Centres. Three main themes emerged: 1) the lack of competence and clinical skill; 2) cultural beliefs and low participation of family in antenatal care programme; 3) insufficient facilities and skilled support staff in Public Health Centres. The nurse-midwives realized that they need to improve their communication and clinical skills to manage pregnant women with anaemia. The husband and family involvement in antenatal care was constrained by the strength of cultural beliefs and lack of health information. Moreover, unfavourable work environment of the Public Health Centres made it difficult to apply antenatal care the pregnant womens' need. The availability of facilities and skilled staffs in Public Health Centre as well as pregnant women's husbands or family members contribute to the success of managing anaemia in pregnancy. Nurse-midwives and pregnant women need to be empowered to achieve the optimum result of anaemia management. We recommend a more comprehensive approach in managing pregnant women with anaemia, which synergizes the available resources and empowers nurse-midwives and pregnant women.

Lightning Injury is a disaster in Bangladesh? - Exploring its magnitude and public health needs.

PubMed

Biswas, Animesh; Dalal, Koustuv; Hossain, Jahangir; Ul Baset, Kamran; Rahman, Fazlur; Rahman Mashreky, Saidur

2016-01-01

Background: Lightning injury is a global public health issue. Low and middle-income countries in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world are most affected by lightning. Bangladesh is one of the countries at particular risk, with a high number of devastating lightning injuries in the past years, causing high mortality and morbidity. The exact magnitude of the problem is still unknown and therefore this study investigates the epidemiology of lightning injuries in Bangladesh, using a national representative sample. Methods: A mixed method was used. The study is based on results from a nationwide cross-sectional survey performed in 2003 in twelve randomly selected districts. In the survey, a total of 819,429 respondents from 171,336 households were interviewed using face-to-face interviews. In addition, qualitative information was obtained by reviewing national and international newspaper reports of lightning injuries sustained in Bangladesh between 13 and 15 May 2016. Results: The annual mortality rate was 3.661 (95% CI 0.9313-9.964) per 1,000,000 people. The overall incidence of lightning injury was 19.89/100,000 people. Among the victims, 60.12% (n=98) were males and 39.87% (n=65) were females. Males were particularly vulnerable, with a 1.46 times increased risk compared with females (RR 1.46, 95% CI 1.06-1.99). Rural populations were more vulnerable, with a 8.73 times higher risk, than urban populations (RR 8.73, 95% CI 5.13-14.86). About 43% of injuries occurred between 12 noon and 6 pm. The newspapers reported 81 deaths during 2 days of electric storms in 2016. Lightning has been declared a natural disaster in Bangladesh. Conclusions: The current study indicates that lightning injuries are a public health problem in Bangladesh. The study recommends further investigations to develop interventions to reduce lightning injuries, mortality and related burden in Bangladesh.

Lightning Injury is a disaster in Bangladesh? - Exploring its magnitude and public health needs

PubMed Central

Biswas, Animesh; Dalal, Koustuv; Hossain, Jahangir; Ul Baset, Kamran; Rahman, Fazlur; Rahman Mashreky, Saidur

2016-01-01

Background: Lightning injury is a global public health issue. Low and middle-income countries in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world are most affected by lightning. Bangladesh is one of the countries at particular risk, with a high number of devastating lightning injuries in the past years, causing high mortality and morbidity. The exact magnitude of the problem is still unknown and therefore this study investigates the epidemiology of lightning injuries in Bangladesh, using a national representative sample. Methods: A mixed method was used. The study is based on results from a nationwide cross-sectional survey performed in 2003 in twelve randomly selected districts. In the survey, a total of 819,429 respondents from 171,336 households were interviewed using face-to-face interviews. In addition, qualitative information was obtained by reviewing national and international newspaper reports of lightning injuries sustained in Bangladesh between 13 and 15 May 2016. Results: The annual mortality rate was 3.661 (95% CI 0.9313–9.964) per 1,000,000 people. The overall incidence of lightning injury was 19.89/100,000 people. Among the victims, 60.12% (n=98) were males and 39.87% (n=65) were females. Males were particularly vulnerable, with a 1.46 times increased risk compared with females (RR 1.46, 95% CI 1.06–1.99). Rural populations were more vulnerable, with a 8.73 times higher risk, than urban populations (RR 8.73, 95% CI 5.13–14.86). About 43% of injuries occurred between 12 noon and 6 pm. The newspapers reported 81 deaths during 2 days of electric storms in 2016. Lightning has been declared a natural disaster in Bangladesh. Conclusions: The current study indicates that lightning injuries are a public health problem in Bangladesh. The study recommends further investigations to develop interventions to reduce lightning injuries, mortality and related burden in Bangladesh. PMID:28184286

Generalized public health and industrial nurses work together. 1949.

PubMed

Schwem, Margaret A

2009-01-01

Occupational health has been considered a subset of public health nursing for years. The first industrial or occupational health nurses were employed by large companies in the 1890s but the role evolved quickly in the early 20(th) century. By mid-century, many large companies employed a physician and nurse(s) to provide examinations, screenings, episodic care, and trauma intervention for workers. Occupational health nurses faced different problems than community-based public health nurses in generalized nursing service. The intersection of public health and employee health was apparent, though, because large industries often constituted the main workplace for a smaller community and sickness could spread throughout a town if the occupational health nurse was not well-prepared in principles of infection control and health promotion. Excerpts from this July 1949 article about building relationship between public health and industrial nurses illustrate the benefits hoped for when they were formally connected to one another through cross-training and in-service education. The author, Margaret Schwem, was a supervisor at the Rensselaer County Department of Health in Troy, New York. In the original article, Schwem included a list of reference materials for those interested in public health and industrial nursing.

Balanced scorecard: application in the General Panarcadian Hospital of Tripolis, Greece.

PubMed

Koumpouros, Yiannis

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the application of the balanced scorecard (BSC) in the Greek public health sector. The basic balanced scorecard theory has been adopted in the characteristics and individualities of the Greek public health system. The theoretical model developed was applied in the General Panarcadian Hospital of Tripolis (GPHT) in Greece. GPHT is a representative paradigm of a big regional Greek public hospital. It has about 300 beds and many clinics and specialties (internal medicine, cardiology, general surgery, intensive care unit, artificial kidney unit, etc.). Strategic management was performed for almost three years. The BSC model was formulated in an appropriate software program. The problems (both technical and managerial) faced during a three-year period along with the results of this management approach are presented in the current paper. The paper highlights some important gaps in the Greek public health system, while proposing actions to be taken. The BSC theory can be very successful under certain conditions. Special attention is given to the peculiarities of the Greek public health situation. The paper presents for the first time a real life example of applying BSC in the Greek public health sector.

Final Report: Resolving and Discriminating Overlapping Anomalies from Multiple Objects in Cluttered Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-15

UXO community . NAME Total Number: PERCENT_SUPPORTEDNAME FTE Equivalent: Total Number: Irma Shamatava 0.50 0.50 1 Resolving and Discriminating...Distinguishing an object of interest from innocuous items is the main problem that the UXO community is facing currently. This inverse problem...innocuous items is the main problem that the UXO community is facing currently. This inverse problem demands fast and accurate representation of

Pose-Invariant Face Recognition via RGB-D Images.

PubMed

Sang, Gaoli; Li, Jing; Zhao, Qijun

2016-01-01

Three-dimensional (3D) face models can intrinsically handle large pose face recognition problem. In this paper, we propose a novel pose-invariant face recognition method via RGB-D images. By employing depth, our method is able to handle self-occlusion and deformation, both of which are challenging problems in two-dimensional (2D) face recognition. Texture images in the gallery can be rendered to the same view as the probe via depth. Meanwhile, depth is also used for similarity measure via frontalization and symmetric filling. Finally, both texture and depth contribute to the final identity estimation. Experiments on Bosphorus, CurtinFaces, Eurecom, and Kiwi databases demonstrate that the additional depth information has improved the performance of face recognition with large pose variations and under even more challenging conditions.

77 FR 55525 - Open Meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-10

... Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and...

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

Witherspoon, P.A.

The problem of isolating radioactive wastes from the biosphere presents specialists in the fields of earth sciences with some of the most complicated problems they have ever encountered. This is especially true for high level waste (HLW) which must be isolated in the underground and away from the biosphere for thousands of years. Essentially every country that is generating electricity in nuclear power plants is faced with the problem of isolating the radioactive wastes that are produced. The general consensus is that this can be accomplished by selecting an appropriate geologic setting and carefully designing the rock repository. Much newmore » technology is being developed to solve the problems that have been raised and there is a continuing need to publish the results of new developments for the benefit of all concerned. The 28th International Geologic Congress that was held July 9--19, 1989 in Washington, DC provided an opportunity for earth scientists to gather for detailed discussions on these problems. Workshop W3B on the subject, Geological Problems in Radioactive Waste Isolation -- A World Wide Review'' was organized by Paul A Witherspoon and Ghislain de Marsily and convened July 15--16, 1989 Reports from 19 countries have been gathered for this publication. Individual papers have been cataloged separately.« less

Centre-based restricted nearest feature plane with angle classifier for face recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Linlin; Lu, Huifen; Zhao, Liang; Li, Zuohua

2017-10-01

An improved classifier based on the nearest feature plane (NFP), called the centre-based restricted nearest feature plane with the angle (RNFPA) classifier, is proposed for the face recognition problems here. The famous NFP uses the geometrical information of samples to increase the number of training samples, but it increases the computation complexity and it also has an inaccuracy problem coursed by the extended feature plane. To solve the above problems, RNFPA exploits a centre-based feature plane and utilizes a threshold of angle to restrict extended feature space. By choosing the appropriate angle threshold, RNFPA can improve the performance and decrease computation complexity. Experiments in the AT&T face database, AR face database and FERET face database are used to evaluate the proposed classifier. Compared with the original NFP classifier, the nearest feature line (NFL) classifier, the nearest neighbour (NN) classifier and some other improved NFP classifiers, the proposed one achieves competitive performance.

A modified active appearance model based on an adaptive artificial bee colony.

PubMed

Abdulameer, Mohammed Hasan; Sheikh Abdullah, Siti Norul Huda; Othman, Zulaiha Ali

2014-01-01

Active appearance model (AAM) is one of the most popular model-based approaches that have been extensively used to extract features by highly accurate modeling of human faces under various physical and environmental circumstances. However, in such active appearance model, fitting the model with original image is a challenging task. State of the art shows that optimization method is applicable to resolve this problem. However, another common problem is applying optimization. Hence, in this paper we propose an AAM based face recognition technique, which is capable of resolving the fitting problem of AAM by introducing a new adaptive ABC algorithm. The adaptation increases the efficiency of fitting as against the conventional ABC algorithm. We have used three datasets: CASIA dataset, property 2.5D face dataset, and UBIRIS v1 images dataset in our experiments. The results have revealed that the proposed face recognition technique has performed effectively, in terms of accuracy of face recognition.

Coming to grips with consumerism. [Panel answers on utility operations and problems

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

Not Available

Utility companies, as regulated monopolies, are facing increasing questioning and challenges from consumers. Representatives of the Consumer Federation of America, The Department of Energy, and Edison Electric Institute discuss the kind of information that consumers want and how they can get satisfactory responses from utility companies. The movement, seen as a healthy way for citizens to understand how utilities operate and to learn how to communicate their concerns, is assuming more of a conciliatory than adversary nature. In a panel discussion, the participants outline the issues of communication, rate structure, public relations, utility decision making, and regulation.

A Sophisticated Architecture Is Indeed Necessary for the Implementation of Health in All Policies but not Enough Comment on "Understanding the Role of Public Administration in Implementing Action on the Social Determinants of Health and Health Inequities".

PubMed

Breton, Eric

2016-02-29

In this commentary, I argue that beyond a sophisticated supportive architecture to facilitate implementation of actions on the social determinants of health (SDOH) and health inequities, the Health in All Policies (HiAP) project faces two main barriers: lack of awareness within policy networks on the social determinants of population health, and a tendency of health actors to neglect investing in other sectors' complex problems. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Conscientious refusals and reason-giving.

PubMed

Marsh, Jason

2014-07-01

Some philosophers have argued for what I call the reason-giving requirement for conscientious refusal in reproductive healthcare. According to this requirement, healthcare practitioners who conscientiously object to administering standard forms of treatment must have arguments to back up their conscience, arguments that are purely public in character. I argue that such a requirement, though attractive in some ways, faces an overlooked epistemic problem: it is either too easy or too difficult to satisfy in standard cases. I close by briefly considering whether a version of the reason-giving requirement can be salvaged despite this important difficulty. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

National Center tour guide

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1979-01-01

On behalf of each employee at the Geological Survey's National Center, I [H. William Menard, Director] extend a warm welcome to you during our Centennial Year. We hope that your visit to our headquarters will be a pleasant and rewarding experience. Our scientific research is directed towards helping to solve some of the critical environmental and natural resource problems that face our Nation today. We want you to see some aspects of this work, and we hope you will visit us again. As part of the Federal Government, we are deeply committed to the concept of public service. We are proud to serve you.

When Whistle-blowers Become the Story: The Problem of the ‘Third Victim’

PubMed Central

Waring, Justin

2016-01-01

In the healthcare context, whistleblowing has come to the fore of political, professional and public attention in the wake of major service scandals and mounting evidence of the routine threats to safety that patients face in their care. This paper offers a commentary and wider contextualisation of Mannion and Davies, ‘Cultures of silence and cultures of voice: the role of whistleblowing in healthcare organisations.’ It argues that closer attention is needed to the way in which whistle-blowers can become the focus and victim of raising concerns and speaking up. PMID:26927403

Diagnosis: Michael Moore--media paint filmmaker to be health care system's main problem.

PubMed

Kao, Caroline

2008-01-01

The media reporting on Sicko, Michael Moore's documentary about the failures of the U.S. health care system, provides an example of how corporate media continue to twist and restrict the much-needed debate on health care reform. Aside from an occasional concession that having 46 million uninsured Americans is indeed problematic, the media's hype-filled conversation on health care avoids the issues and echoes old myths about the dangers of "government-run" and "socialized" health care. But in the face of the media demonization, universal health care is remarkably popular among the public.

Human recognition in a video network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhanu, Bir

2009-10-01

Video networks is an emerging interdisciplinary field with significant and exciting scientific and technological challenges. It has great promise in solving many real-world problems and enabling a broad range of applications, including smart homes, video surveillance, environment and traffic monitoring, elderly care, intelligent environments, and entertainment in public and private spaces. This paper provides an overview of the design of a wireless video network as an experimental environment, camera selection, hand-off and control, anomaly detection. It addresses challenging questions for individual identification using gait and face at a distance and present new techniques and their comparison for robust identification.

The Struggle for the Soul of Public Health.

PubMed

Wiley, Lindsay F

2016-12-01

Prevention has become a central focus for health care payers, providers, policy makers, and the general public. Given the centrality of prevention to public health science, practice, and law, it would seem that conditions are ripe for the public health law renaissance to expand beyond legal and scientific circles to permeate the general consciousness. Yet, public health law and policy interventions continue to face considerable political and legal opposition. The population perspective-which emphasizes the social determinants of health, collective action to create healthier communities, and communitarian rationales for prioritizing health-is as important to public health problem-solving as the prevention orientation. But it conflicts with the individualistic orientation that dominates American legal, cultural, and social discourse. This article suggests that public health law and policy debates offer important opportunities for public health advocates to reach across silos to promote the population perspective that unites the field. The article explores contrasting explanations for disease, injury, premature death, and health disparities offered by the population perspective and the individualistic orientation; political and cultural barriers that stand in the way of innovative law and policy interventions; and normative tensions between the communitarian population perspective and self-interested rationales for investment in prevention. Copyright © 2016 by Duke University Press.

77 FR 14783 - Notification of a Public Meeting and Two Public Teleconferences for the Clean Air Scientific...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-13

... face-to-face public meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 10, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) and on Wednesday, April 11, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Eastern Time). The follow-up.... to 3 p.m. (Eastern Time). The quality review public teleconference of the Chartered CASAC will be...

Modelling temporal networks of human face-to-face contacts with public activity and individual reachability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yi-Qing; Cui, Jing; Zhang, Shu-Min; Zhang, Qi; Li, Xiang

2016-02-01

Modelling temporal networks of human face-to-face contacts is vital both for understanding the spread of airborne pathogens and word-of-mouth spreading of information. Although many efforts have been devoted to model these temporal networks, there are still two important social features, public activity and individual reachability, have been ignored in these models. Here we present a simple model that captures these two features and other typical properties of empirical face-to-face contact networks. The model describes agents which are characterized by an attractiveness to slow down the motion of nearby people, have event-triggered active probability and perform an activity-dependent biased random walk in a square box with periodic boundary. The model quantitatively reproduces two empirical temporal networks of human face-to-face contacts which are testified by their network properties and the epidemic spread dynamics on them.

Public health ethics related training for public health workforce: an emerging need in the United States.

PubMed

Kanekar, A; Bitto, A

2012-01-01

Ethics is a discipline, which primarily deals with what is moral and immoral behavior. Public Health Ethics is translation of ethical theories and concepts into practice to address complex multidimensional public health problems. The primary purpose of this paper was to conduct a narrative literature review-addressing role of ethics in developing curriculum in programs and schools of public health, ethics-related instruction in schools and programs of public health and the role of ethics in developing a competent public health workforce. An open search of various health databases including Google scholar and Ebscohost yielded 15 articles related to use of ethics in public health practice or public health training and the salient features were reported. Results indicated a variable amount of ethics' related training in schools and programs of public health along with public health practitioner training across the nation. Bioethics, medical ethics and public health ethics were found to be subspecialties' needing separate ethical frameworks to guide decision making. Ethics based curricular and non-curricular training for emerging public health professionals from schools and programs of public health in the United States is extremely essential. In the current age of public health challenges faced in the United States and globally, to have an ethically untrained public health force is arguably, immoral and unethical and jeopardizes population health. There is an urgent need to develop innovative ethic based curriculums in academia as well as finding effective means to translate these curricular competencies into public health practice.

Coexisting social conditions and health problems among clients seeking treatment for illicit drug use in Finland: The HUUTI study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Illicit drug use is an important public health problem. Identifying conditions that coexist with illicit drug use is necessary for planning health services. This study described the prevalence and factors associated with social and health problems among clients seeking treatment for illicit drug use. Methods We carried out cross-sectional analyses of baseline data of 2526 clients who sought treatment for illicit drug use at Helsinki Deaconess Institute between 2001 and 2008. At the clients’ first visit, trained clinicians conducted face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to compute adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for factors associated with social and health problems. Results The mean age of the clients was 25 years, 21% (n = 519) were homeless, 54% (n = 1363) were unemployed and 7% (n = 183) had experienced threats of violence. Half of the clients (50%, n = 1258) were self-referred and 31% (n = 788) used opiates as their primary drugs of abuse. Hepatitis C (25%, n = 630) was more prevalent than other infectious diseases and depressive symptoms (59%, n = 1490) were the most prevalent psychological problems. Clients who were self-referred to treatment were most likely than others to report social problems (AOR = 1.86; 95% CI = 1.50–2.30) and psychological problems (AOR = 1.51; 95% CI = 1.23–1.85). Using opiates as primary drugs of abuse was the strongest factor associated with infectious diseases (AOR = 3.89; 95% CI = 1.32–11.46) and for reporting a combination of social and health problems (AOR = 3.24; 95% CI = 1.58–6.65). Conclusion The existence of illicit drug use with other social and health problems could lead to increased utilisation and cost of healthcare services. Coexisting social and health problems may interfere with clients’ treatment response. Our findings support the call for integration of relevant social, medical and mental health support services within drug treatment programmes. PMID:23617549

Public Health Potential of Farmers’ Markets on Medical Center Campuses: A Case Study From Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

PubMed Central

Kraschnewski, Jennifer L.; Rovniak, Liza S.

2011-01-01

There are currently 7175 farmers’ markets in the United States, and these organizations are increasingly viewed as one facet of the solution to national health problems. There has been a recent trend toward establishing markets on medical center campuses, and such partnerships can augment a medical center's ability to serve community health. However, to our knowledge no studies have described the emergence of a market at a medical center, the barriers and challenges such an initiative has faced, or the nature of programming it may foster. We provide a qualitative description of the process of starting a seasonal, once-a-week, producers-only market at the Pennsylvania State Hershey Medical Center, and we call for greater public health attention to these emerging community spaces. PMID:22021298

Public health potential of farmers' markets on medical center campuses: a case study from Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

PubMed

George, Daniel R; Kraschnewski, Jennifer L; Rovniak, Liza S

2011-12-01

There are currently 7175 farmers' markets in the United States, and these organizations are increasingly viewed as one facet of the solution to national health problems. There has been a recent trend toward establishing markets on medical center campuses, and such partnerships can augment a medical center's ability to serve community health. However, to our knowledge no studies have described the emergence of a market at a medical center, the barriers and challenges such an initiative has faced, or the nature of programming it may foster. We provide a qualitative description of the process of starting a seasonal, once-a-week, producers-only market at the Pennsylvania State Hershey Medical Center, and we call for greater public health attention to these emerging community spaces.

Ideologies in the Swedish health sector today: the crisis of the social democracy.

PubMed

Diderichsen, F

1982-01-01

Sweden has a long tradition of social democracy and corporate cooperation. Social problems are treated as technological questions that always should be solved through rational and neutral means. Today Sweden faces a crisis of economy as well as a crisis of medicine. In the spirit of consensus, the state has proposed a new health reform emphasizing the responsibility of the public health service to prevent disease and provide equal access to care. It is claimed that improved health planning, based on epidemiological knowledge on inequalities, can solve the crisis in medicine within an improved system of primary care and prevention. However, in the context of the current economic crisis, the struggle against health hazards and cuts in public spending has intensified and the gap between the ideology of technological rationalism and reality has widened.

[Sex workers and public health: intersections, vulnerabilities and resistance].

PubMed

Oliveira, Alexandra; Fernandes, Luís

2017-01-01

Since the 19th century with syphilis and most recently with AIDS, sex workers have been seen as a means for disease transmission and a public health problem that requires intervention. However, researchers have shown that in Western countries, HIV rates in people involved in commercial sex are low, except for in specific groups, such as intravenous drug users. Moreover, the risks faced by sex workers due to stigmatization and other forms of violence have been put into evidence. Based on an urban ethnography with street sex workers carried out in Porto (Portugal), between 2004 and 2005, this article discusses the social, labor, and legal vulnerabilities affecting people involved in commercial sex and how these interfere with their health. Focus is placed on the strategies used by sex workers to minimize health risks and their discourses of resistance in fighting vulnerabilities.

Challenges and responsibilities for public sector scientists.

PubMed

Van Montagu, Marc

2010-11-30

Current agriculture faces the challenge of doubling food production to meet the food needs of a population expected to reach 9 billion by mid-century whilst maintaining soil and water quality and conserving biodiversity. These challenges are more overwhelming for the rural poor, who are the custodians of environmental resources and at the same time particularly vulnerable to environmental degradation. Solutions have to come from concerted actions by different segments of society in which public sector science plays a fundamental role. Public sector scientists are at the root of all the present generation of GM crop traits under cultivation and more will come with the new knowledge that is being generated by systems biology. To speed up innovation, molecular biologists must interact with scientists from the different fields as well as with stakeholders outside the academic world in order to create an environment capable of capturing value from public sector knowledge. I highlight here the measures that have to be taken urgently to guarantee that science and technology can tackle the problems of subsistence farmers. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Domestic violence against women, public policies and community health workers in Brazilian Primary Health Care.

PubMed

Signorelli, Marcos Claudio; Taft, Angela; Pereira, Pedro Paulo Gomes

2018-01-01

Domestic violence creates multiple harms for women's health and is a 'wicked problem' for health professionals and public health systems. Brazil recently approved public policies to manage and care for women victims of domestic violence. Facing these policies, this study aimed to explore how domestic violence against women is usually managed in Brazilian primary health care, by investigating a basic health unit and its family health strategy. We adopted qualitative ethnographic research methods with thematic analysis of emergent categories, interrogating data with gender theory and emergent Brazilian collective health theory. Field research was conducted in a local basic health unit and the territory for which it is responsible, in Southern Brazil. The study revealed: 1) a yawning gap between public health policies for domestic violence against women at the federal level and its practical application at local/decentralized levels, which can leave both professionals and women unsafe; 2) the key role of local community health workers, paraprofessional health promotion agents, who aim to promote dialogue between women experiencing violence, health care professionals and the health care system.

Scale-invariant properties of public-debt growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petersen, A. M.; Podobnik, B.; Horvatic, D.; Stanley, H. E.

2010-05-01

Public debt is one of the important economic variables that quantitatively describes a nation's economy. Because bankruptcy is a risk faced even by institutions as large as governments (e.g., Iceland), national debt should be strictly controlled with respect to national wealth. Also, the problem of eliminating extreme poverty in the world is closely connected to the study of extremely poor debtor nations. We analyze the time evolution of national public debt and find "convergence": initially less-indebted countries increase their debt more quickly than initially more-indebted countries. We also analyze the public debt-to-GDP ratio {\\cal R} , a proxy for default risk, and approximate the probability density function P({\\cal R}) with a Gamma distribution, which can be used to establish thresholds for sustainable debt. We also observe "convergence" in {\\cal R} : countries with initially small {\\cal R} increase their {\\cal R} more quickly than countries with initially large {\\cal R} . The scaling relationships for debt and {\\cal R} have practical applications, e.g. the Maastricht Treaty requires members of the European Monetary Union to maintain {\\cal R} < 0.6 .

Accentuating the positive.

PubMed

Adkins, P C

1980-07-01

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is the largest organization representing our specialty. At this time, escalating costs of medical care and the public demand for accountability have given rise to a number of issues that must be faced. The Society is in a position to lead the medical profession in addressing many of these issues. We must present a united front for our specialty and resolve problems involving our training programs, manpower, federal regulations regarding medical devices, and the Federal Trade Commission's position on advertising. Additionally, the organization must address the issue of a definition of physician competence as it relates to the certifying and recertifying process. Awareness of these problems by all members of the Society with the opportunity for open discussion is essential. It is vital that The Society of Thoracic Surgeons assume a visible positive position on these issues.

You're Not Alone in Facing These Board-Related Bugaboos.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Loozen, Luann F.

1982-01-01

School board service can have detrimental effects on members' personal lives. The most frequent and pervasive problems faced by board members are lack of time, loneliness, stress, alienation from community life, abuse, and fatigue. Problem-solving tips are offered. (Author/MLF)

Incorporating social anxiety into a model of college student problematic drinking

PubMed Central

Ham, Lindsay S.; Hope, Debra A.

2009-01-01

College problem drinking and social anxiety are significant public health concerns with highly negative consequences. College students are faced with a variety of novel social situations and situations encouraging alcohol consumption. The current study involved developing a path model of college problem drinking, including social anxiety, in 316 college students referred to an alcohol intervention due to a campus alcohol violation. Contrary to hypotheses, social anxiety generally had an inverse relationship with problem drinking. As expected, perceived drinking norms had important positive, direct effects on drinking variables. However, the results generally did not support the hypotheses regarding the mediating or moderating function of the valuations of expected effects and provided little support for the mediating function of alcohol expectancies in the relations among social anxiety and alcohol variables. Therefore, it seems that the influence of peers may be more important for college students than alcohol expectancies and valuations of alcohol’s effects are. College students appear to be a unique population in respect to social anxiety and problem drinking. The implications of these results for college prevention and intervention programs were discussed. PMID:15561454

76 FR 7199 - Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of a Public Meeting of the Science Advisory...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-09

...The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public face-to-face meeting of the SAB Panel to conduct an independent review of EPA's Draft Hydraulic Fracturing Study Plan.

[European public health professionals express ten priorities for the European Union...to be followed].

PubMed

Oberlé, D; Weil, O; McKee, M; Brodin, M

1999-12-01

Even if the European Union acquired explicit competencies in public health with the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties (articles 129 and 152), public health professionals still have not had their word in the definition of public health priorities. Yet it is they, whatever their mission, who must take into consideration the new constraints imposed by Community directives. The French Society for Public Health (FSPH) took the initiative of running a project, financed by the European Commission, aiming to shed light on some of the public health problems considered priority in the 15 member states, and to provide suggestions for facing them. The FSPH adopted a resolutely participative and pragmatic process. At each step (definition of priorities and compiling arguments), the intention of the SFPH was more to allow different, even diverging, points of view to be expressed, than to aim for a hypothetical representativeness. The undertaken themes are the social gradients in health, alcohol, illicit drugs, tobacco, surveillance of health issues, quality of care, older persons, mental health, the environment, nutrition and food security. This work marks the wish of the FSPH for international openness toward Europe. The FSPH hopes that this work becomes a platform for the development of a reinforced dialogue between public health professionals and European decision makers.

Problems Facing Native American Youths. Hearing before the Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, Second Session, on Oversight Hearing on Problems Facing Native American Youths (August 1, 2002).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

A Senate committee hearing received testimony on the problems of Native American youth and programs addressing those problems. Speakers included representatives of the American Academy of Pediatrics, United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY), Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the Office of National Drug…

A perspective on the future public health practitioner.

PubMed

Hanlon, Phil; Carlisle, Sandra; Hannah, Margaret; Lyon, Andrew; Reilly, David

2012-09-01

In the centuries following the Enlightenment, scientific and technological developments gave 'modern people' an unprecedented ability to understand, predict and control the natural world. This has brought health and social benefits unimaginable to our ancestors and sets us apart from all previous generations. Yet there is a wide-ranging body of evidence that suggests that modernity is now in decline, largely because its methods and mindset are increasingly recognized as unsustainable. Problems are manifest in the emergence of new public health epidemics such as obesity and addictive behaviours, the loss of well-being and increase in anxiety and depression in affluent society, and the persistence of ever-widening health and social inequalities at national and global levels. Still larger problems now confront us, such as climate change, peak oil and the loss of biodiversity, all of which are linked to the 'modern' way of life. We are potentially faced with the collapse of certain aspects of modern society: we are certainly faced with the prospect of inevitable change. While the broad public health community has an important role to play in developing workable solutions to such daunting problems, we argue that some profound changes will be needed in order for us to cope successfully. No blueprints for dealing with change exist, which means that we will need to learn our way into the future. In this paper we take a perspective on the role and nature of the future practitioner in public health and health promotion. We argue that future practitioners will need to develop new ways of thinking, being and doing; new perspectives and new forms of understanding the world. We believe our discipline - and people generally - to be capable of such development, as insights from multiple sources tell us that human nature is malleable, not fixed. We use this analysis to trace, as examples, the imagined lives of five women living in different eras over the course of history in a Western society, and the emergence of different mindsets or worldviews, as the social, economic and cultural context changes. Post-modern analysts might insist that we have no basis for making value judgements between such different worldviews. In this paper, however, we argue that future practitioners should be empathetic to different views and willing to move beyond them, as necessary. We will need to learn and develop in ways that are compatible with our intrinsic needs as human beings and the needs of our ecosystem. We conclude by suggesting just some of the supportive processes of change needed in mapping out a more sustainable future for the public health community.

Wearing face masks in public during the influenza season may reflect other positive hygiene practices in Japan.

PubMed

Wada, Koji; Oka-Ezoe, Kuniko; Smith, Derek R

2012-12-10

Although the wearing of face masks in public has not been recommended for preventing influenza, these devices are often worn in many Asian countries during the influenza season. In Japan, it is thought that such behavior may be an indicator of other positive hygiene practices. The aim of this study, therefore, was to determine if wearing a face mask in public is associated with other positive hygiene practices and health behaviors among Japanese adults. We initially recruited around 3,000 Japanese individuals ranging from 20 to 69 years of age who were registered with a web survey company. Participants were asked to recall their personal hygiene practices during the influenza season of the previous year. Logistic regression analysis was then used to examine the associations between wearing a face mask in public and personal hygiene practices and health behaviors. A total of 3,129 persons responded to the survey, among whom 38% reported that they had worn a face mask in public during the previous influenza season. Wearing a face mask in public was associated with various self-reported hygiene practices including: frequent hand washing (adjusted Odds Ratio [OR]: 1.67; 95% Confidence Interval [95%CI]: 1.34-1.96), occasional hand washing (OR: 1.43; 95%CI: 1.10-1.75), frequently avoiding crowds (OR: 1.85; 95%CI: 1.70-1.98), occasionally avoiding crowds (OR: 1.65; 95%CI: 1.53-1.76), frequent gargling (OR: 1.68; 95%CI: 1.51-1.84), occasional gargling (OR: 1.46; 95%CI: 1.29-1.62), regularly avoiding close contact with an infected person (OR: 1.50; 95%CI: 1.33-1.67), occasionally avoiding close contact with an infected person (OR: 1.31; 95%CI: 1.16-1.46), and being vaccinated of influenza in the last season (OR: 1.31; 95%CI: 1.17-1.45). Overall, this study suggests that wearing a face mask in public may be associated with other personal hygiene practices and health behaviors among Japanese adults. Rather than preventing influenza itself, face mask use might instead be a marker of additional, positive hygiene practices and other favorable health behaviors in the same individuals.

Proposing a conceptual framework for integrated local public health policy, applied to childhood obesity--the behavior change ball.

PubMed

Hendriks, Anna-Marie; Jansen, Maria W J; Gubbels, Jessica S; De Vries, Nanne K; Paulussen, Theo; Kremers, Stef P J

2013-04-18

Childhood obesity is a 'wicked' public health problem that is best tackled by an integrated approach, which is enabled by integrated public health policies. The development and implementation of such policies have in practice proven to be difficult, however, and studying why this is the case requires a tool that may assist local policy-makers and those assisting them. A comprehensive framework that can help to identify options for improvement and to systematically develop solutions may be used to support local policy-makers. We propose the 'Behavior Change Ball' as a tool to study the development and implementation of integrated public health policies within local government. Based on the tenets of the 'Behavior Change Wheel' by Michie and colleagues (2011), the proposed conceptual framework distinguishes organizational behaviors of local policy-makers at the strategic, tactical and operational levels, as well as the determinants (motivation, capability, opportunity) required for these behaviors, and interventions and policy categories that can influence them. To illustrate the difficulty of achieving sustained integrated approaches, we use the metaphor of a ball in our framework: the mountainous landscapes surrounding the ball reflect the system's resistance to change (by making it difficult for the ball to roll). We apply this framework to the problem of childhood obesity prevention. The added value provided by the framework lies in its comprehensiveness, theoretical basis, diagnostic and heuristic nature and face validity. Since integrated public health policies have not been widely developed and implemented in practice, organizational behaviors relevant to the development of these policies remain to be investigated. A conceptual framework that can assist in systematically studying the policy process may facilitate this. Our Behavior Change Ball adds significant value to existing public health policy frameworks by incorporating multiple theoretical perspectives, specifying a set of organizational behaviors and linking the analysis of these behaviors to interventions and policies. We would encourage examination by others of our framework as a tool to explain and guide the development of integrated policies for the prevention of wicked public health problems.

Proposing a conceptual framework for integrated local public health policy, applied to childhood obesity - the behavior change ball

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Childhood obesity is a ‘wicked’ public health problem that is best tackled by an integrated approach, which is enabled by integrated public health policies. The development and implementation of such policies have in practice proven to be difficult, however, and studying why this is the case requires a tool that may assist local policy-makers and those assisting them. A comprehensive framework that can help to identify options for improvement and to systematically develop solutions may be used to support local policy-makers. Discussion We propose the ‘Behavior Change Ball’ as a tool to study the development and implementation of integrated public health policies within local government. Based on the tenets of the ‘Behavior Change Wheel’ by Michie and colleagues (2011), the proposed conceptual framework distinguishes organizational behaviors of local policy-makers at the strategic, tactical and operational levels, as well as the determinants (motivation, capability, opportunity) required for these behaviors, and interventions and policy categories that can influence them. To illustrate the difficulty of achieving sustained integrated approaches, we use the metaphor of a ball in our framework: the mountainous landscapes surrounding the ball reflect the system’s resistance to change (by making it difficult for the ball to roll). We apply this framework to the problem of childhood obesity prevention. The added value provided by the framework lies in its comprehensiveness, theoretical basis, diagnostic and heuristic nature and face validity. Summary Since integrated public health policies have not been widely developed and implemented in practice, organizational behaviors relevant to the development of these policies remain to be investigated. A conceptual framework that can assist in systematically studying the policy process may facilitate this. Our Behavior Change Ball adds significant value to existing public health policy frameworks by incorporating multiple theoretical perspectives, specifying a set of organizational behaviors and linking the analysis of these behaviors to interventions and policies. We would encourage examination by others of our framework as a tool to explain and guide the development of integrated policies for the prevention of wicked public health problems. PMID:23597122

Domestic violence and its associated factors among married women of a village development committee of rural Nepal.

PubMed

Sapkota, Diksha; Bhattarai, Sailesh; Baral, Dharanidhar; Pokharel, Paras K

2016-03-19

Violence against women is a global public health problem occurring in multitude of contexts and domestic violence is considered to be the most pervasive one. Poor enforcement of policies, limitation of researches and expertise in this field largely accounts for persistence of this problem and nature of domestic violence and its associated factors are poorly understood. This research aimed to estimate the magnitude of different forms of domestic violence and identify its associated factors. Community based cross sectional study was conducted among 355 married women of reproductive age group of Kusheshwor, Sindhuli, Nepal. The questionnaire adapted from the World Health Organization Multi-Country Study was used for the face to face interviews. Occurrence of current domestic violence was used as outcome variable in logistic regression. Descriptive and multivariate analysis were performed in order to assess the magnitude of domestic violence and to identify its associated factors respectively. Self-reported lifetime prevalence of physical violence was 29.6% and past year prevalence was 15.2%, while corresponding figures for sexual violence were 6.8 and 2.3%, and for psychological violence were 31.0 and 18.3%. Lifetime domestic violence was 38.6% while in past 12 months, prevalence was 23.1%. Furthermore, 12.4% of women were experiencing all forms of violence concurrently. Women with controlling husband and having poor mental health were found to be at higher risk of domestic violence. Domestic violence is still rampant in our society with several forms of violence occurring together. In a country like Nepal, differentials power in relationship and poor mental health was found to be positively associated with violent episodes. This study highlights the infringement of women rights which can be the cause for serious public health consequences.

Can Sensors Solve the Deterioration Problems of Public Infrastructure?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miki, Chitoshi

2014-11-01

Various deteriorations are detected in public infrastructures, such as bridges, viaducts, piers and tunnels and caused fatal accidents in some cases. The possibility of the applications of health monitoring by using sensors is the issues of this lecture. The inspection and diagnosis are essential in the maintenance works which include appropriate rehabilitations and replacements. The introduction of monitoring system may improve accuracy and efficiency of inspection and diagnosis. This seems to be innovation of maintenance, old structures may change smart structures by the installation of nerve network and brain, specifically. Cost- benefit viewpoint is also important point, because of public infrastructures. The modes of deterioration are fatigue, corrosion, and delayed fracture in steel, and carbonization and alkali aggregate reaction in concrete. These are like adult disease in human bodies. The developments of Infrastructures in Japan were concentrated in the 1960th and 1970th. These ages are approaching 50 and deterioration due to aging has been progress gradually. The attacks of earthquakes are also a major issue. Actually, these infrastructures have been supporting economic and social activities in Japan and the deterioration of public infrastructure has become social problems. How to secure the same level of safety and security for all public infrastructures is the challenge we face now. The targets of monitoring are external disturbances such as traffic loads, earthquakes, winds, temperature, responses against external disturbances, and the changes of performances. In the monitoring of infrastructures, 3W1H(WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and HOW) are essential, that is what kind of data are necessary, where sensors place, when data are collected, and how to collect and process data. The required performances of sensors are accuracy, stability for long time. In the case of long term monitoring, the durability of systems needs more than five years, because the interval of regular bridge inspection works are five years. The supply of powers sometimes becomes serious problem. Some case studies will be presented here.

IntraFace

PubMed Central

De la Torre, Fernando; Chu, Wen-Sheng; Xiong, Xuehan; Vicente, Francisco; Ding, Xiaoyu; Cohn, Jeffrey

2016-01-01

Within the last 20 years, there has been an increasing interest in the computer vision community in automated facial image analysis algorithms. This has been driven by applications in animation, market research, autonomous-driving, surveillance, and facial editing among others. To date, there exist several commercial packages for specific facial image analysis tasks such as facial expression recognition, facial attribute analysis or face tracking. However, free and easy-to-use software that incorporates all these functionalities is unavailable. This paper presents IntraFace (IF), a publicly-available software package for automated facial feature tracking, head pose estimation, facial attribute recognition, and facial expression analysis from video. In addition, IFincludes a newly develop technique for unsupervised synchrony detection to discover correlated facial behavior between two or more persons, a relatively unexplored problem in facial image analysis. In tests, IF achieved state-of-the-art results for emotion expression and action unit detection in three databases, FERA, CK+ and RU-FACS; measured audience reaction to a talk given by one of the authors; and discovered synchrony for smiling in videos of parent-infant interaction. IF is free of charge for academic use at http://www.humansensing.cs.cmu.edu/intraface/. PMID:27346987

IntraFace.

PubMed

De la Torre, Fernando; Chu, Wen-Sheng; Xiong, Xuehan; Vicente, Francisco; Ding, Xiaoyu; Cohn, Jeffrey

2015-05-01

Within the last 20 years, there has been an increasing interest in the computer vision community in automated facial image analysis algorithms. This has been driven by applications in animation, market research, autonomous-driving, surveillance, and facial editing among others. To date, there exist several commercial packages for specific facial image analysis tasks such as facial expression recognition, facial attribute analysis or face tracking. However, free and easy-to-use software that incorporates all these functionalities is unavailable. This paper presents IntraFace (IF), a publicly-available software package for automated facial feature tracking, head pose estimation, facial attribute recognition, and facial expression analysis from video. In addition, IFincludes a newly develop technique for unsupervised synchrony detection to discover correlated facial behavior between two or more persons, a relatively unexplored problem in facial image analysis. In tests, IF achieved state-of-the-art results for emotion expression and action unit detection in three databases, FERA, CK+ and RU-FACS; measured audience reaction to a talk given by one of the authors; and discovered synchrony for smiling in videos of parent-infant interaction. IF is free of charge for academic use at http://www.humansensing.cs.cmu.edu/intraface/.

A national research agenda for public health services and systems.

PubMed

2012-05-01

The field of public health services and systems research (PHSSR) has emerged over the past decade to produce the evidence needed to address critical uncertainties about how best to organize, finance, and deliver effective public health strategies to all Americans. To advance these efforts, a national PHSSR research agenda-setting process was used to identify a broad inventory of information needs and uncertainties that public health stakeholders face in the domains of public health workforce, public health system structure and performance, public health financing, and public health information and technology. This paper presents the results of an expert review process used to transform the identified information needs into a concise set of research questions that can be pursued through new scientific inquiry in PHSSR. Established research frameworks were used to specify the contexts, mechanisms of action, and outcomes within the public health system that require further study. A total of 72 research questions were developed from the 113 original items in the PHSSR inventory of information needs. The questions include both persistent problems and newly emerging needs in public health practice and policy. The resulting research agenda provides a starting point for mobilizing the public health scientific enterprise around contemporary, high-priority uncertainties identified by broad cross sections of public health stakeholders. Regular updates to this agenda will be required to achieve continuous improvements in both the science and practice of public health. Copyright © 2012 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. All rights reserved.

Taking It Online--The Effects of Delivery Medium and Facilitator on Student Achievement in Problem-Based Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoenfeld-Tacher, Regina; McConnell, Sherry; Kogan, Lori R.

2004-01-01

This study compares the effects of delivery medium (online vs. face-to-face) and facilitator content expertise on academic outcomes in a problem-based learning (PBL) course in anatomy for pre-health/medical majors. The content of online PBL sessions was examined to gain insight into the problem-solving process taking place in these situations.…

The Problem of Science Education in Minority Areas--Based on a Study in Gansu Province of China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liang, Bai

2017-01-01

After 60 years of development, minority education not only has made great achievements in China, but also faces many problems. Among them is the problem of science education. The students learning in high school in the basic education in minority areas have faced particular difficulties in learning science. The teaching quality is not high,…

DoD Implementation of the Better Buying Power Initiatives

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-01

statutory measures (Budget Control Act of 2011), Congress has been directed to face this problem and provide a workable solution or face the evils...Defense Support Program (DSP) to provide the capabilities that the SBIRS has had problems delivering (Richelson, 2007; Werner, 2011). The purpose of the...Defense David Packard took office. They were keen on addressing the problems plaguing defense acquisition: excessive centralization, inefficiencies

Ethical challenges in cluster randomized controlled trials: experiences from public health interventions in Africa and Asia

PubMed Central

Azad, Kishwar; Fernandez, Armida; Manandhar, Dharma S; Mwansambo, Charles W; Tripathy, Prasanta; Costello, Anthony M

2009-01-01

Abstract Public health interventions usually operate at the level of groups rather than individuals, and cluster randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are one means of evaluating their effectiveness. Using examples from six such trials in Bangladesh, India, Malawi and Nepal, we discuss our experience of the ethical issues that arise in their conduct. We set cluster RCTs in the broader context of public health research, highlighting debates about the need to reconcile individual autonomy with the common good and about the ethics of public health research in low-income settings in general. After a brief introduction to cluster RCTs, we discuss particular challenges we have faced. These include the nature of – and responsibility for – group consent, and the need for consent by individuals within groups to intervention and data collection. We discuss the timing of consent in relation to the implementation of public health strategies, and the problem of securing ethical review and approval in a complex domain. Finally, we consider the debate about benefits to control groups and the standard of care that they should receive, and the issue of post-trial adoption of the intervention under test. PMID:19876544

A preliminary survey analysis of school shuttle bus system towards smart mobility solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yue, Wong Seng; Hoy, Cheong Wan; Chye, Koh Keng

2017-10-01

Mobility and accessibility are crucial indicators of urban development. Public transport in the urban areas came into existence to fulfil transportation needs as well as mobility and accessibility demands. Ridership can be affected by the quality and quantity of transit service. However, technical improvements are needed for such as real-time bus information, controlling run time and headway delay. Thus, this paper is aimed to carry out a preliminary survey to determine the problems of school shuttle bus that faced by the students in a selected educational institution, their perceptions of using shuttle bus tracking and information mobile application and impacts of real-time information of public transits on bus ridership and towards smart mobility solutions. Efficient public transportation system needs further investigation about the role of mobile application for the bus tracking system in supporting smart mobility actions and real-time information. The proposed application also provides a smart solution for the management of public infrastructures and urban facilities in Malaysia in future. Eventually, this study opens an opportunity to improve Malaysian quality of life on the public value that created for the city as a whole.

Training the Next Generation: Developing Health Education Skills in Undergraduate Public Health Students at a Historically Black College and University.

PubMed

Mincey, Krista; Gross, Tyra

2017-01-01

With the looming workforce crisis, undergraduate public health students could be an important link in filling this demand. As public health continues to face challenges in the future, it is important that the future workforce is not only diverse but also trained in a manner that exposes them to real-world experiences that give them an opportunity to apply coursework to solve problems. This article outlines how a health program planning course was taught at a Historically Black College and University using assignments that promote active learning. Students were assessed on their ability to plan and implement a health activity based on a developed metric. Student and instructor reflections were collected from final assessments of the health programs by both groups. All elements of the course are discussed from course design, structure, assignments, and outcomes along with student and instructor reflections and lessons learned. Results suggest that including assignments focused on active learning are beneficial to helping students learn course material. As public health continues to change, more work needs to focus on teaching pedagogies that better prepare students to address future public health issues.

The Right Tools for the Right Jobs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barbalich, Andrea, Ed.

1995-01-01

A chart shows the best campus public relations uses for 17 communication techniques: face-to-face contact; phone call, regular mail; electronic mail; special events; a speech; press release; press kit; press conference; television and radio public service announcements; video news releases; promotions and posters; advertising; newsletter;…

The Answer Van in Rural New Jersey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milich, Patricia S.

1978-01-01

Description of a mobile information center that provides public information on local events, municipal ordinances, employment, taxes, social security, planned parenthood, welfare, adoption laws, and other topics. The project has been deemed successful because it offers the public an opportunity to communicate face to face in a nonthreatening…

76 FR 40355 - Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of a Public Meeting of the Science Advisory...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-08

... meeting location for a public face-to-face meeting of the SAB panel to review the interagency Great Lakes... Time). ADDRESSES: The Panel meeting will be held at the EPA Region 5 Offices, The Lake Michigan Room in...

Reputation Management: The New Face of Corporate Public Relations?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hutton, James G.; Goodman, Michael B.; Alexander, Jill B.; Genest, Christina M.

2001-01-01

Presents an empirical study of the Fortune 500 companies suggesting that "reputation management" is gaining ground as a driving philosophy behind corporate public relations. Finds some interesting correlations between reputation and specific categories of spending. Concludes that if reputation management is the new face of corporate…

Public Reporting and Demand Rationing: Evidence from the Nursing Home Industry.

PubMed

He, Daifeng; Konetzka, R Tamara

2015-11-01

This paper examines an under-explored unintended consequence of public reporting: the potential for demand rationing. Public reporting, although intended to increase consumer access to high-quality products, may have provided the perverse incentive for high-quality providers facing fixed capacity and administrative pricing to avoid less profitable types of residents. Using data from the nursing home industry before and after the implementation of the public reporting system in 2002, we find that high-quality nursing homes facing capacity constraints reduced admissions of less profitable Medicaid residents while increasing the more profitable Medicare and private-pay admissions, relative to low-quality nursing homes facing no capacity constraints. These effects, although small in magnitude, are consistent with provider rationing of demand on the basis of profitability and underscore the important role of institutional details in designing effective public reporting systems for regulated industries. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The publication strategies of Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779-1848): negotiating national and linguistic boundaries in chemistry.

PubMed

Beckman, Jenny

2016-04-01

This article follows the publication strategies of the Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779-1848). It focuses on the role of language and translation in Berzelius' efforts to strengthen his own reputation, and that of Swedish science. As an author and editor, Berzelius encouraged the translation of his own works into several languages, while endeavouring to preserve the status of Swedish as a language of scientific publication in the face of French, and increasingly German and English, dominance. Reforming the Transactions of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and launching several new scientific periodicals, Berzelius also attempted to influence the publication practices in other countries. Recent scholarship on the history of scientific publication has drawn attention to the practical difficulties of determining and getting hold of the relevant publications in one's field, the 'malleability' of the journal medium, and the common practice of reprinting and summarising papers published elsewhere. Berzelius' publication strategies highlight translation - time-consuming, unreliable and problematic in terms of authorisation and ownership - as one aspect of the wider problem of communicating across national and linguistic boundaries. Berzelius' struggles with the practicalities of communicating across borders in times of war, the choice of language and its consequences, and national standards of publication, demonstrate the importance of a transnational perspective on the history of scientific publication.

Relationship between Family Adaptability, Cohesion and Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Curvilinearity of Circumplex Model.

PubMed

Joh, Ju Youn; Kim, Sun; Park, Jun Li; Kim, Yeon Pyo

2013-05-01

The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES) III using the circumplex model has been widely used in investigating family function. However, the criticism of the curvilinear hypothesis of the circumplex model has always been from an empirical point of view. This study examined the relationship between adolescent adaptability, cohesion, and adolescent problem behaviors, and especially testing the consistency of the curvilinear hypotheses with FACES III. We used the data from 398 adolescent participants who were in middle school. A self-reported questionnaire was used to evaluate the FACES III and Youth Self Report. According to the level of family adaptability, significant differences were evident in internalizing problems (P = 0.014). But, in externalizing problems, the results were not significant (P = 0.305). Also, according to the level of family cohesion, significant differences were in internalizing problems (P = 0.002) and externalizing problems (P = 0.004). The relationship between the dimensions of adaptability, cohesion and adolescent problem behaviors was not curvilinear. In other words, adolescents with high adaptability and high cohesion showed low problem behaviors.

Relationship between Family Adaptability, Cohesion and Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Curvilinearity of Circumplex Model

PubMed Central

Joh, Ju Youn; Kim, Sun; Park, Jun Li

2013-01-01

Background The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES) III using the circumplex model has been widely used in investigating family function. However, the criticism of the curvilinear hypothesis of the circumplex model has always been from an empirical point of view. This study examined the relationship between adolescent adaptability, cohesion, and adolescent problem behaviors, and especially testing the consistency of the curvilinear hypotheses with FACES III. Methods We used the data from 398 adolescent participants who were in middle school. A self-reported questionnaire was used to evaluate the FACES III and Youth Self Report. Results According to the level of family adaptability, significant differences were evident in internalizing problems (P = 0.014). But, in externalizing problems, the results were not significant (P = 0.305). Also, according to the level of family cohesion, significant differences were in internalizing problems (P = 0.002) and externalizing problems (P = 0.004). Conclusion The relationship between the dimensions of adaptability, cohesion and adolescent problem behaviors was not curvilinear. In other words, adolescents with high adaptability and high cohesion showed low problem behaviors. PMID:23730484

A Modified Active Appearance Model Based on an Adaptive Artificial Bee Colony

PubMed Central

Othman, Zulaiha Ali

2014-01-01

Active appearance model (AAM) is one of the most popular model-based approaches that have been extensively used to extract features by highly accurate modeling of human faces under various physical and environmental circumstances. However, in such active appearance model, fitting the model with original image is a challenging task. State of the art shows that optimization method is applicable to resolve this problem. However, another common problem is applying optimization. Hence, in this paper we propose an AAM based face recognition technique, which is capable of resolving the fitting problem of AAM by introducing a new adaptive ABC algorithm. The adaptation increases the efficiency of fitting as against the conventional ABC algorithm. We have used three datasets: CASIA dataset, property 2.5D face dataset, and UBIRIS v1 images dataset in our experiments. The results have revealed that the proposed face recognition technique has performed effectively, in terms of accuracy of face recognition. PMID:25165748

Consultation Focus: Identification of Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pian, Canta

This paper discusses some of the problems faced by Asian Americans. Major topics addressed include: (1) the lack of accurate census statistics on minorities, especially Asian and Pacific Americans; (2) the employment, health, and stereotypic portrayal problems faced by Asian and Pacific American women; (3) racially discriminatory immigration laws…

Plagiarism Due to Misunderstanding: Online Instructor Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenberger, Scott; Holbeck, Rick; Steele, John; Dyer, Thomas

2016-01-01

Plagiarism is an ongoing problem in higher education. This problem exists in both online and face-to-face modalities. The literature indicates that there are three ways higher education institutions define plagiarism, which includes theft, deception, and misunderstanding. Plagiarism due to misunderstanding has received less attention in the…

Researching for Public Speaking Classes: Requiring Various Media.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenberg, Cindy A.

This paper presents steps for incorporating research into a community college public speaking class curriculum. It outlines, from an historical perspective, the different techniques and tools of research, including face-to-face contact, the printing press, modern machinery, and computers. It suggests discussing research surveys and taking students…

Facing the Knowledge Society: Mexico's Public Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Varela-Petito, Gonzalo

2010-01-01

Public higher education in Mexico faces major challenges vis-a-vis its position within the modern knowledge society, sparking concern among educational authorities. In the second half of the 20th century Mexican universities ceased to be selective, elitist schools, becoming, instead, massive institutions that reflect social and intellectual…

Student Experiences of Problem-Based Learning in Pharmacy: Conceptions of Learning, Approaches to Learning and the Integration of Face-to-Face and On-Line Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellis, Robert A.; Goodyear, Peter; Brillant, Martha; Prosser, Michael

2008-01-01

This study investigates fourth-year pharmacy students' experiences of problem-based learning (PBL). It adopts a phenomenographic approach to the evaluation of problem-based learning, to shed light on the ways in which different groups of students conceive of, and approach, PBL. The study focuses on the way students approach solving problem…

Integrated Maintenance Information System (IMIS): A Maintenance Information Delivery Concept.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-11-01

InterFace Figure 2. Portable Maintenance Computer Concept. provide advice for difficult fault-isolation problems . The technician will be able to accomplish...faced with an ever-growing number of paper-based technical orders (TOs). This has greatly increased costs and distribution problems . In addition, it has...compounded problems associ- ated with ensuring accurate data and the lengthy correction times involved. To improve the accuracy of technical data and

Problems faced and coping strategies used by adolescents with mentally ill parents in Delhi.

PubMed

George, Shoba; Shaiju, Bindu; Sharma, Veena

2012-01-01

The present study was conducted to assess the problems faced by adolescents whose parents suffer from major mental illness at selected mental health institutes of Delhi. The objectives also included assessment of the coping strategies of the adolescents in dealing with these problems. The Stuart Stress Adaptation Model of Psychiatric Nursing Care was used as the conceptual framework. A descriptive survey approach with cross-sectional design was used in the study. A structured interview schedule was prepared. Purposive non-probability sampling technique was employed to interview 50 adolescents whose parents suffer from major mental illness. Data gathered was analysed and interpreted using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study showed that majority of the adolescents had moderate problems as a result of their parent's mental illness. Area-wise analysis of the problems revealed that the highest problems faced were in family relationship and support and majority of the adolescents used maladaptive coping strategies. A set of guidelines on effective coping strategies was disseminated to these adolescents.

Exact solution for a two-phase Stefan problem with variable latent heat and a convective boundary condition at the fixed face

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bollati, Julieta; Tarzia, Domingo A.

2018-04-01

Recently, in Tarzia (Thermal Sci 21A:1-11, 2017) for the classical two-phase Lamé-Clapeyron-Stefan problem an equivalence between the temperature and convective boundary conditions at the fixed face under a certain restriction was obtained. Motivated by this article we study the two-phase Stefan problem for a semi-infinite material with a latent heat defined as a power function of the position and a convective boundary condition at the fixed face. An exact solution is constructed using Kummer functions in case that an inequality for the convective transfer coefficient is satisfied generalizing recent works for the corresponding one-phase free boundary problem. We also consider the limit to our problem when that coefficient goes to infinity obtaining a new free boundary problem, which has been recently studied in Zhou et al. (J Eng Math 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10665-017-9921-y).

Use of face masks in a primary care outpatient setting in Hong Kong: Knowledge, attitudes and practices.

PubMed

Ho, H S W

2012-12-01

To assess if a knowledge gap exists in the correct use of face masks, and to explore the correlations between knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the use of face masks among outpatients and their caregivers in an outpatient clinic in Hong Kong. Cross-sectional study. Outpatients and their caregivers who were present at an outpatient setting in Hong Kong were invited to participate in this survey. All participants were asked to complete a self-administered closed-ended questionnaire about their knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the use of face masks. Data were described using descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients. Among the 399 respondents, 52% knew the correct steps in wearing a face mask, and their attitudes toward face masks were generally positive. Further analyses showed that respondents were more likely to wear a face mask at a clinic than in a public place or at home. Moreover, respondents were more likely to wear a face mask to protect others against influenza-like illness (ILI) than for self-protection. There was low to moderate correlation between attitudes and practices (correlation coefficient 0.26, P < 0.05). This study identified a knowledge gap in the correct use of face masks among outpatients and their caregivers; attitudes and practices regarding the use of face masks were generally positive, but correlation was not high. It is recommended that public health education campaigns should tailor efficient programmes to combat ILI transmission among outpatient clinic populations by improving knowledge about the correct use of face masks. Copyright © 2012 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Familial Road to Healthy Societies: New and Converging Modes of Re-Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dyson, William A.

This discussion focuses on problems facing developing and developed nations and describes social changes required to meet human needs in the economic condition of scarcity facing industrializing and postindustrial societies. Current problems of developed societies are emphasized. For example, traditional health care provision in western societies…

Facing Life, English: 5113.30.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singleton, Clifford G.; Rice, M. Paul

The outline of a course in the investigation of literature (both fiction and nonfiction) which concerns youth facing and overcoming problems of life, with stress upon the novel and biography, is presented. The student is expected, through reading selected literary works, to (1) examine the problems confronted by youth, (2) examine youth's needs…

Analysis of Five Instructional Methods for Teaching Sketchpad to Junior High Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Geoffrey; Shumway, Steve; Terry, Ronald; Bartholomew, Scott

2012-01-01

This manuscript addresses a problem teachers of computer software applications face today: What is an effective method for teaching new computer software? Technology and engineering teachers, specifically those with communications and other related courses that involve computer software applications, face this problem when teaching computer…

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

Flintoff, F.

With the advent of industrialisation and urbanisation, developing countries are faced with numerous problems, one of the biggest being the provision of an effective solid wastes system appropriate to their varying climates and economies. The problems facing third world countries are discussed, these include the lack of a network of district depots, inadequate automotive servicing facilities and technical expertise.

People Considerations in Word Processing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diamond, Marion L.

1984-01-01

Business educators preparing students for jobs in business and industry should become aware of the problems faced by workers in a typical large office environment. Word processor operators face many of the same problems as factory assembly line workers--lack of personalization, lack of incentive, and removal from the mainstream. (JOW)

The Big Picture and Specifics of College General Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gan, Yang

2018-01-01

In recent years, general education has developed considerably in Chinese universities, but it still faces many challenges and problems. Among the various negative factors, four problems may be the greatest challenges currently faced by Chinese university general education and ordinary undergraduate education: (1) In the era of massified higher…

Critical Review of Willingness to Pay for Clinical Oral Health Interventions

PubMed Central

Tan, Sharon Hui Xuan; Vernazza, Christopher R; Nair, Rahul

2017-01-01

Objectives This critical review aimed to identify, consolidate and evaluate the quality of Willingness to Pay (WTP) studies applied to clinical contexts in the field of dentistry. Methods PubMed and Web of Science databases were systematically searched for relevant publications. Screening and data extraction was then performed. Primary literature in English-language were included to assess the WTP for oral health interventions, when the valuations were applied to a clinical measure. Twenty-six publications met the inclusion criteria. Results WTP was elicited mainly via face-to-face interviews (13 publications) and questionnaires (12 publications). The majority (24) of publications selected an out-of-pocket payment vehicle. Eleven publications adopted a bidding method, nine publications adopted an open-ended format, and the remaining six studies adopted a payment card or choice method. Pre-testing was reported in only nine publications, and few studies accounted for starting point bias. Eight of 11 publications found that higher incomes were associated with higher WTP values. The female gender, a younger age and higher education levels were associated with a higher WTP in select studies. Conclusions Only a small minority of the studies used strategies to avoid well documented biases related to WTP elicitation. Cost versus benefit of many clinical scenarios remain uninvestigated. Clinical significance WTP studies in dentistry may benefit from pre-testing and the inclusion of a script to minimise hypothetical bias. They may also be better conducted face-to-face and via a shuffled payment card method. Income levels, and potentially education levels, gender and age, should be assessed for their influence on WTP values. PMID:28662842

Ciguatera fish poisoning and environmental change: a case for strengthening health surveillance in the Pacific?

PubMed

Derne, Bonnie; Fearnley, Emily; Goater, Sarah; Carter, Karen; Weinstein, Philip

2010-09-01

Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP), a significant public health problem in the Pacific, is intrinsically linked to the health of coral reef ecosystems. Incidence data on CFP could therefore be used, in theory, as indicators of disruption to coral reefs. Some disruptions, such as increasing sea surface temperatures, result from global environmental change--therefore suggesting that CFP is likely to become an increasing public health problem in the region. The proactive management of increasing numbers of cases will depend on an understanding of the ecology of the disease, sound health surveillance systems to report cases of CFP including appropriate case definitions, and quantifiable correlations between case numbers and environmental variables. Here, we briefly review the knowledge about these components in Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs), including summarising regional variation in symptoms of CFP cases, investigating media as an enhanced surveillance tool, and summarising regional environmental drivers of CFP cases. We conclude that CFP could be an important indicator of the health of reef ecosystems in the face of global climate change and more novel approaches such as combining environmental and health data, need to be implemented to improve surveillance of CFP.

Managing scientific complexity in public policy: the case of U.S. climate change legislation in the 111th Congress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller, J. A.; Runci, P. J.

2009-12-01

The recent passage of the American Climate and Energy Security Act by the U.S. House of Representatives in June of this year was a landmark in U.S. efforts to move climate change legislation through Congress. Although an historic achievement, the bill (and surrounding debate) highlights many concerns about the processes by which lawmakers and the public inform themselves about scientifically relevant problems and, subsequently, by which policy responses are crafted in a context of complexity, uncertainty, and competition for resources and attention. In light of the ever-increasing specialization of expertise in the sciences and other technical fields, and the inherent complexity of scientifically relevant problems such as climate change, society faces significant hurdles in its efforts to integrate knowledge and develop sufficient understanding of these problems to which it must respond with legislation or other effective collective or individual action. The emergence of a new class of experts who act as science-policy brokers may not be sufficient to cross these hurdles. Herein, we explore how society and the scientific community in particular can work toward closing the ever-growing gap between technical knowledge and society’s ability to comprehend and use it. Both authors are currently legislative fellows working on energy and climate change issues in the U.S. Senate.

An investigation of the effects of interventions on problem-solving strategies and abilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, Charles Terrence, Jr.

Problem-solving has been described as being the "heart" of the chemistry classroom, and students' development of problem-solving skills is essential for their success in chemistry. Despite the importance of problem-solving, there has been little research within the chemistry domain, largely because of the lack of tools to collect data for large populations. Problem-solving was assessed using a software package known as IMMEX (for Interactive Multimedia Exercises) which has an HTML tracking feature that allows for collection of problem-solving data in the background as students work the problems. The primary goal of this research was to develop methods (known as interventions) that could promote improvements in students' problem-solving and most notably aid in their transition from the novice to competent level. Three intervention techniques that were incorporated within the chemistry curricula: collaborative grouping (face-to-face and distance), concept mapping, and peer-led team learning. The face-to-face collaborative grouping intervention was designed to probe the factors affecting the quality of the group interaction. Students' logical reasoning abilities were measured using the Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) test which classifies students as formal, transitional, or concrete. These classifications essentially provide a basis for identifying scientific aptitude. These designations were used as the basis for forming collaborative groups of two students. The six possibilities (formal-formal, formal-transitional, etc.) were formed to determine how the group composition influences the gains in student abilities observed from collaborative grouping interventions. Students were given three assignments (an individual pre-collaborative, an individual post collaborative, and a collaborative assignment) each requiring them to work an IMMEX problem set. Similar gains in performance of 10% gains were observed for each group with two exceptions. The transitional students who were paired with concrete students had a 15% gain, and the concrete students paired with other concrete students had only a marginal gain. In fact, there was no statistical difference in the pre-collaborative and post-collaborative student abilities for concrete-concrete groups. The distance collaborative intervention was completed using a new interface for the IMMEX software designed to mimic face-to-face collaboration. A stereochemistry problem set which had a solved rate of 28% prior to collaboration was chosen for incorporation into this distance collaboration study. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Technology assessment and the Food and Drug Administration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaplan, A. H.; Becker, R. H.

1972-01-01

The statutory standards underlying the activities of the FDA, and the problems the Agency faces in decision making are discussed from a legal point of view. The premarketing clearance of new drugs and of food additives, the two most publicized and criticized areas of FDA activity, are used as illustrations. The importance of statutory standards in technology assessment in a regulatory setting is developed. The difficulties inherent in the formulation of meaningful standards are recognized. For foods, the words of the statute are inadequate, and for drugs, a statutory recognition of the various other objectives would be useful to the regulator and the regulated.

Developing Medical Geology in Uruguay: A Review

PubMed Central

Mañay, Nelly

2010-01-01

Several disciplines like Environmental Toxicology, Epidemiology, Public Health and Geology have been the basis of the development of Medical Geology in Uruguay during the last decade. The knowledge and performance in environmental and health issues have been improved by joining similar aims research teams and experts from different institutions to face environmental problems dealing with the population’s exposure to metals and metalloids and their health impacts. Some of the Uruguayan Medical Geology examples are reviewed focusing on their multidisciplinary approach: Lead pollution and exposed children, selenium in critically ill patients, copper deficiency in cattle and arsenic risk assessment in ground water. Future actions are also presented. PMID:20623004

Developing medical geology in Uruguay: a review.

PubMed

Mañay, Nelly

2010-05-01

Several disciplines like Environmental Toxicology, Epidemiology, Public Health and Geology have been the basis of the development of Medical Geology in Uruguay during the last decade. The knowledge and performance in environmental and health issues have been improved by joining similar aims research teams and experts from different institutions to face environmental problems dealing with the population's exposure to metals and metalloids and their health impacts. Some of the Uruguayan Medical Geology examples are reviewed focusing on their multidisciplinary approach: Lead pollution and exposed children, selenium in critically ill patients, copper deficiency in cattle and arsenic risk assessment in ground water. Future actions are also presented.

[Social health insurance in China: principal reforms and inequalities].

PubMed

Ferreira, Fabianna Bacil Lourenço

2017-01-01

This article analyzes the social health insurance system in China, its reforms and the principal social inequalities uncovered. Based in the work of a number of authors of reference, it is possible to observe that rural and urban reforms follow the same pattern: large systems that were gradually reduced and then again expanded relatively quickly. Improvements notwithstanding, some of China's historical problems persist, especially the rural-urban gap and regional disparities. The lack of integration of workers that migrate from the country to the city is reproduced in the current Chinese public health system, constituting one of the primary challenges to be faced at present.

Clinical assessment of patients with orofacial pain and temporomandibular disorders.

PubMed

Stern, Ilanit; Greenberg, Martin S

2013-07-01

Accurate diagnosis of chronic pain disorders of the mouth, jaws, and face is frequently complex. It is common for patients with chronic orofacial pain to consult multiple clinicians and receive ineffective treatment before a correct diagnosis is reached. This problem is a significant public health concern. Clinicians can minimize error by starting the diagnostic procedure with a careful, accurate history and thorough head and neck examination followed by a thoughtfully constructed differential diagnosis. The possibility that the patient has symptoms of a life-threatening underlying disease rather than a more common dental, sinus, or temporomandibular disorder must always be considered. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Effects of Competing Narratives on Public Perceptions of Opioid Pain Reliever Addiction during Pregnancy.

PubMed

Kennedy-Hendricks, Alene; McGinty, Emma E; Barry, Colleen L

2016-10-01

Opioid pain reliever addiction has increased among women of reproductive age over the last fifteen years. News media and public attention have focused on the implications of this trend for infants exposed to opioids prenatally, with state policy responses varying in the extent to which they are punitive or public health oriented. We fielded a six-group randomized experiment among a nationally representative sample of US adults to test the effects of narratives portraying a woman with opioid pain reliever addiction during pregnancy on beliefs about people addicted to opioid pain relievers, perceptions of treatment effectiveness, policy attitudes, and emotional responses. Portraying a high socioeconomic status (SES) woman in the narrative lowered perceptions of individual blame for addiction and reduced public support for punitive policies. Depicting the barriers to treatment faced by a low SES woman lowered support for punitive policies and increased support for expanded insurance coverage for treatment. The extent to which narratives portraying successfully treated addiction affected public attitudes depended on the SES of the woman portrayed. These findings can inform the development of communication strategies to reduce stigma toward this population, reduce support for punitive policies, and increase support for more public health-oriented approaches to addressing this problem. Copyright © 2016 by Duke University Press.

[Inequality in access to health care services. Policy recommendations aimed at achieving equity].

PubMed

Urbanos-Garrido, Rosa

2016-11-01

This article reveals the presence of inequalities in access to health care that may be considered unfair and avoidable. These inequalities are related to coverage of clinical needs, to the financial problems faced by families in completing medical treatments, or to disparities in waiting times and the use of services for equal need. A substantial proportion of inequalities appears to have increased as a result of the measures adopted to face the economic crisis. The recommendations aimed at improving equity affect different pillars of the taxpayer-funded health system, including, among others, the definition of the right to public health care coverage, the formulas of cost-sharing, the distribution of powers between primary and specialty care, the reforms of clinical management, and the production and dissemination of information to facilitate the decision-making processes of health authorities, professionals and citizens. Moreover, it is recommended to focus on particularly vulnerable population groups. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

A Robust Shape Reconstruction Method for Facial Feature Point Detection.

PubMed

Tan, Shuqiu; Chen, Dongyi; Guo, Chenggang; Huang, Zhiqi

2017-01-01

Facial feature point detection has been receiving great research advances in recent years. Numerous methods have been developed and applied in practical face analysis systems. However, it is still a quite challenging task because of the large variability in expression and gestures and the existence of occlusions in real-world photo shoot. In this paper, we present a robust sparse reconstruction method for the face alignment problems. Instead of a direct regression between the feature space and the shape space, the concept of shape increment reconstruction is introduced. Moreover, a set of coupled overcomplete dictionaries termed the shape increment dictionary and the local appearance dictionary are learned in a regressive manner to select robust features and fit shape increments. Additionally, to make the learned model more generalized, we select the best matched parameter set through extensive validation tests. Experimental results on three public datasets demonstrate that the proposed method achieves a better robustness over the state-of-the-art methods.

The ugly face of tourism: Marine debris pollution linked to visitation in the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

PubMed

Wilson, Scott P; Verlis, Krista M

2017-04-15

Marine debris is one of the most significant issues facing oceans worldwide. The sources of this debris vary depending on proximity to urban centres and the nature of activities within an area. This paper examines the influence of tourism in the southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR), and its contribution to litter levels in the region. By conducting beach debris surveys on occupied and unoccupied islands, this study found that debris was prevalent throughout the region with significant differences in material types between locations. The greatest source of debris from publically accessible islands was tourist-related, with this source also influencing debris loads on nearby uninhabited islands. A focus on debris at Heron Island, showed that sites close to amenities had greater levels of tourist-sourced items like cigarette butts. These findings indicate the contribution of tourists to this problem and that working with operators and managers is needed to minimise visitor impacts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Online social integration is associated with reduced mortality risk.

PubMed

Hobbs, William R; Burke, Moira; Christakis, Nicholas A; Fowler, James H

2016-11-15

Social interactions increasingly take place online. Friendships and other offline social ties have been repeatedly associated with human longevity, but online interactions might have different properties. Here, we reference 12 million social media profiles against California Department of Public Health vital records and use longitudinal statistical models to assess whether social media use is associated with longer life. The results show that receiving requests to connect as friends online is associated with reduced mortality but initiating friendships is not. Additionally, online behaviors that indicate face-to-face social activity (like posting photos) are associated with reduced mortality, but online-only behaviors (like sending messages) have a nonlinear relationship, where moderate use is associated with the lowest mortality. These results suggest that online social integration is linked to lower risk for a wide variety of critical health problems. Although this is an associational study, it may be an important step in understanding how, on a global scale, online social networks might be adapted to improve modern populations' social and physical health.

Selection of suitable e-learning approach using TOPSIS technique with best ranked criteria weights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammed, Husam Jasim; Kasim, Maznah Mat; Shaharanee, Izwan Nizal Mohd

2017-11-01

This paper compares the performances of four rank-based weighting assessment techniques, Rank Sum (RS), Rank Reciprocal (RR), Rank Exponent (RE), and Rank Order Centroid (ROC) on five identified e-learning criteria to select the best weights method. A total of 35 experts in a public university in Malaysia were asked to rank the criteria and to evaluate five e-learning approaches which include blended learning, flipped classroom, ICT supported face to face learning, synchronous learning, and asynchronous learning. The best ranked criteria weights are defined as weights that have the least total absolute differences with the geometric mean of all weights, were then used to select the most suitable e-learning approach by using TOPSIS method. The results show that RR weights are the best, while flipped classroom approach implementation is the most suitable approach. This paper has developed a decision framework to aid decision makers (DMs) in choosing the most suitable weighting method for solving MCDM problems.

Online social integration is associated with reduced mortality risk

PubMed Central

Hobbs, William R.; Burke, Moira; Christakis, Nicholas A.; Fowler, James H.

2016-01-01

Social interactions increasingly take place online. Friendships and other offline social ties have been repeatedly associated with human longevity, but online interactions might have different properties. Here, we reference 12 million social media profiles against California Department of Public Health vital records and use longitudinal statistical models to assess whether social media use is associated with longer life. The results show that receiving requests to connect as friends online is associated with reduced mortality but initiating friendships is not. Additionally, online behaviors that indicate face-to-face social activity (like posting photos) are associated with reduced mortality, but online-only behaviors (like sending messages) have a nonlinear relationship, where moderate use is associated with the lowest mortality. These results suggest that online social integration is linked to lower risk for a wide variety of critical health problems. Although this is an associational study, it may be an important step in understanding how, on a global scale, online social networks might be adapted to improve modern populations’ social and physical health. PMID:27799553

Knowledge of breast cancer and breast self-examination practice among Iranian women in Hamedan, Iran.

PubMed

Akhtari-Zavare, Mehrnoosh; Ghanbari-Baghestan, Abbas; Latiff, Latiffah A; Matinnia, Nasrin; Hoseini, Mozhgan

2014-01-01

In Iran, breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in women and a major public health problem. A cross sectional study was carried out to determine knowledge on breast cancer and breast self- examination (BSE) practices of 384 females living in the city of Hamadan, Iran. A purposive sampling method was adopted and data were collected via face-to-face interviews based on a validated questionnaire developed for this study. Among respondents 268 (69.8%) were married and 144 (37.5%) of the respondents reported having a family history of breast cancer. One hundred respondents (26.0%) claimed they practiced BSE. Level of breast cancer knowledge was significantly associated with BSE practice (p=0.000). There was no association with demographic details (p<0.05). The findings showed that Iranian women's knowledge regarding breast cancer and the practice of BSE is inadequate. Targeted education should be implemented to improve early detection of breast cancer.

When Health Systems Are Barriers to Health Care: Challenges Faced by Uninsured Mexican Kidney Patients

PubMed Central

Kierans, Ciara; Padilla-Altamira, Cesar; Garcia-Garcia, Guillermo; Ibarra-Hernandez, Margarita; Mercado, Francisco J.

2013-01-01

Background Chronic Kidney Disease disproportionately affects the poor in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Mexico exemplifies the difficulties faced in supporting Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) and providing equitable patient care, despite recent attempts at health reform. The objective of this study is to document the challenges faced by uninsured, poor Mexican families when attempting to access RRT. Methods The article takes an ethnographic approach, using interviewing and observation to generate detailed accounts of the problems that accompany attempts to secure care. The study, based in the state of Jalisco, comprised interviews with patients, their caregivers, health and social care professionals, among others. Observations were carried out in both clinical and social settings. Results In the absence of organised health information and stable pathways to renal care, patients and their families work extraordinarily hard and at great expense to secure care in a mixed public-private healthcare system. As part of this work, they must navigate challenging health and social care environments, negotiate treatments and costs, resource and finance healthcare and manage a wide range of formal and informal health information. Conclusions Examining commonalities across pathways to adequate healthcare reveals major failings in the Mexican system. These systemic problems serve to reproduce and deepen health inequalities. A system, in which the costs of renal care are disproportionately borne by those who can least afford them, faces major difficulties around the sustainability and resourcing of RRTs. Attempts to increase access to renal therapies, therefore, need to take into account the complex social and economic demands this places on those who need access most. This paper further shows that ethnographic studies of the concrete ways in which healthcare is accessed in practice provide important insights into the plight of CKD patients and so constitute an important source of evidence in that effort. PMID:23349868

Cross sectional: perception of children from public and private schools regarding the esthetic impact of different types of face masks.

PubMed

Pithon, Matheus Melo; Ferraz, Caio Sousa; de Oliveira, Gabriel Couto; Dos Santos, Adrielle Mangabeira; Couto, Felipe Santos; da Silva Coqueiro, Raildo; Dos Santos, Rogério Lacerda

2013-01-01

The purpose was to evaluate the esthetic perception among children from public and private schools regarding the use of different types of face masks. Six different types of orthopedic face masks made from images of the same patient were evaluated. Initially, the images were standardized with the help of Adobe Photoshop software. The variable considered was type of mask: (A) Delaire with facebow; (B) Petit; (C) Delaire; (D)Turley; (E) Hickham; and (F) Sky Hook. The images were printed on photographic paper and incorporated into a specific personalized questionnaire that was distributed to 7- to 10-year-olds attending public and private schools (n=120). The data obtained were compared via chi-square, Fisher's exact tests, Mann-Whitney and Spearman's tests. The proportion of participants who chose image A as the best was significantly higher (P<.05) compared to the other masks. Images B and F were chosen as the worst, without a significant difference between them (P>.05). The mean scores between groups were not significantly correlated between private vs public schoolchildren (r=0.32) and between boys and girls (r=0.41). Delaire face mask with facebow was chosen as the most attractive, and the Petit and Sky Hook face masks were voted the least attractive.

Publication bias and the canonization of false facts.

PubMed

Nissen, Silas Boye; Magidson, Tali; Gross, Kevin; Bergstrom, Carl T

2016-12-20

Science is facing a "replication crisis" in which many experimental findings cannot be replicated and are likely to be false. Does this imply that many scientific facts are false as well? To find out, we explore the process by which a claim becomes fact. We model the community's confidence in a claim as a Markov process with successive published results shifting the degree of belief. Publication bias in favor of positive findings influences the distribution of published results. We find that unless a sufficient fraction of negative results are published, false claims frequently can become canonized as fact. Data-dredging, p-hacking, and similar behaviors exacerbate the problem. Should negative results become easier to publish as a claim approaches acceptance as a fact, however, true and false claims would be more readily distinguished. To the degree that the model reflects the real world, there may be serious concerns about the validity of purported facts in some disciplines.

Family first: Community-based supports for refugees.

PubMed

Pejic, Vanja; Hess, Robyn S; Miller, Gloria E; Wille, Alice

2016-01-01

This article presents a community-based approach that targets family interventions and services through a preventive, family systems ecological framework. A public health approach is used to emphasize the need for a tiered model of family support that builds on the strengths of refugee families while recognizing their specific needs and challenges. The rationale for a family systems ecological perspective is presented to highlight the critical features of effective family support programs for refugee families, followed by a discussion regarding the transitions and adaptation faced by refugee families when entering the United States. Finally, a public-health problem solving model is employed to promote a comprehensive vision for how more effective support can be developed to best serve the mental health needs of refugee families. An integrated case example highlighting the Somali Parent Program, a family-focused intervention, is also provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Challenges in the development and implementation of the National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program in Mexico.

PubMed

Reynoso-Noverón, Nancy; Meneses-García, Abelardo; Erazo-Valle, Aura; Escudero-de Los Ríos, Pedro; Kuri-Morales, Pablo Antonio; Mohar-Betancourt, Alejandro

2016-04-01

Chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer, have become the leading cause of human morbidity and mortality. In Mexico, cancer is the third leading cause of death, with a high incidence among the economically active population, a high proportion of advanced stages at diagnosis and limited care coverage for patients. However, no public policy aimed at managing this important public health problem has been developed and implemented to date. This manuscript describes the first interinstitutional proposal of a National Program for Cancer Control, considering the known risk factors, early detection, treatment, palliative care and patient rehabilitation. This manuscript also outlines a series of thoughts on the difficulties and needs that the Mexican health system faces in achieving the main objectives of the program: to decrease the incidence of cancer, to increase survival and to improve the quality of life for this group of patients.

Technology survey on video face tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Tong; Gomes, Herman Martins

2014-03-01

With the pervasiveness of monitoring cameras installed in public areas, schools, hospitals, work places and homes, video analytics technologies for interpreting these video contents are becoming increasingly relevant to people's lives. Among such technologies, human face detection and tracking (and face identification in many cases) are particularly useful in various application scenarios. While plenty of research has been conducted on face tracking and many promising approaches have been proposed, there are still significant challenges in recognizing and tracking people in videos with uncontrolled capturing conditions, largely due to pose and illumination variations, as well as occlusions and cluttered background. It is especially complex to track and identify multiple people simultaneously in real time due to the large amount of computation involved. In this paper, we present a survey on literature and software that are published or developed during recent years on the face tracking topic. The survey covers the following topics: 1) mainstream and state-of-the-art face tracking methods, including features used to model the targets and metrics used for tracking; 2) face identification and face clustering from face sequences; and 3) software packages or demonstrations that are available for algorithm development or trial. A number of publically available databases for face tracking are also introduced.

Oral Academic Discourse Socialisation: Challenges Faced by International Undergraduate Students in a Malaysian Public University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahfoodh, Omer Hassan Ali

2014-01-01

This paper reports a qualitative study which examines the challenges faced by six international undergraduate students in their socialisation of oral academic discourse in a Malaysian public university. Data were collected employing interviews. Students' presentations were also collected. Semi-structured interviews were transcribed verbatim and…

Playing the City: Public Participation in a Contested Suburban Area

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lauwaert, Maaike

2009-01-01

This article presents one case study of public participation in urban planning: the "Face Your World" project that took place in 2005 in the suburban area of Slotervaart, close to the Dutch city of Amsterdam. "Face Your World" was a participation project that aimed at engaging both younger and immigrant inhabitants of…

International Students' Experience of Studying and Working at a Northeastern Public University in the US

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kwadzo, Moses

2014-01-01

This study explores international students' experiences with studying and working at a North Eastern public university. Through phenomenological research approach that utilized face-to-face interview and photo-elicitation techniques, the personal experiences of twenty international students were captured. The findings of this study indicated that…

An Operational Commander’s Guide to Contractors on the Battlefield

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-05-10

Operational Law Handbook, Charlottesville, VA: 2005, 145. 12 R. R. Vernon, “Battlefield Contractors: Facing Tough Issues,” Public Contract Law Journal...Operations. Joint Pub 4-0. Washington, DC: 6 April 2000. Vernon, R. R. “Battlefield Contractors: Facing Tough Issues.” Public Contract Law Journal, Vol. 33 (Winter 2004): 404-421.

Lost in Translation: Adapting a Face-to-Face Course Into an Online Learning Experience.

PubMed

Kenzig, Melissa J

2015-09-01

Online education has grown dramatically over the past decade. Instructors who teach face-to-face courses are being called on to adapt their courses to the online environment. Many instructors do not have sufficient training to be able to effectively move courses to an online format. This commentary discusses the growth of online learning, common challenges faced by instructors adapting courses from face-to-face to online, and best practices for translating face-to-face courses into online learning opportunities. © 2015 Society for Public Health Education.

The changing face of environmentalism in the Soviet Union

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

Not Available

1990-03-01

Igor Izodorovich Altshuler and Ruben Artyomovich Mnatsakanyan are scientific researchers in the department of geography at Moscow State University and cofounders of the Association for the Support of Ecological initiatives established by the Soviet Foundation for Social Innovations. They authored a report on glasnost and ecology in the Soviet Union published in the December 1988 ENVIRONMENT. Recently, Altshuler and Mnatsakanyan visited ENVIRONMENT's offices in Washington, D.C., and talked at length about environmental problems and issues in the USSR. This paper presents excerpts of an interview of Altshuler and Mnatsakanyan conducted by Barbara Richman, managing editor of ENVIRONMENT. They discuss environmentalmore » problems, global climate change, agriculture, lack of information on the biggest polluters, transboundary pollution, impact of recent elections on environmental policy, the use of environmental impact assessments, public information about the environment, training of reporters, environmental organizations, and lack of money and political obstacles to environmental improvements.« less

Nanotechnology for treating osteoporotic vertebral fractures

PubMed Central

Gao, Chunxia; Wei, Donglei; Yang, Huilin; Chen, Tao; Yang, Lei

2015-01-01

Osteoporosis is a serious public health problem affecting hundreds of millions of aged people worldwide, with severe consequences including vertebral fractures that are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. To augment or treat osteoporotic vertebral fractures, a number of surgical approaches including minimally invasive vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty have been developed. However, these approaches face problems and difficulties with efficacy and long-term stability. Recent advances and progress in nanotechnology are opening up new opportunities to improve the surgical procedures for treating osteoporotic vertebral fractures. This article reviews the improvements enabled by new nanomaterials and focuses on new injectable biomaterials like bone cements and surgical instruments for treating vertebral fractures. This article also provides an introduction to osteoporotic vertebral fractures and current clinical treatments, along with the rationale and efficacy of utilizing nanomaterials to modify and improve biomaterials or instruments. In addition, perspectives on future trends with injectable bone cements and surgical instruments enhanced by nanotechnology are provided. PMID:26316746

Guest Editorial Image Quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheatham, Patrick S.

1982-02-01

The term image quality can, unfortunately, apply to anything from a public relations firm's discussion to a comparison between corner drugstores' film processing. If we narrow the discussion to optical systems, we clarify the problem somewhat, but only slightly. We are still faced with a multitude of image quality measures all different, and all couched in different terminology. Optical designers speak of MTF values, digital processors talk about summations of before and after image differences, pattern recognition engineers allude to correlation values, and radar imagers use side-lobe response values measured in decibels. Further complexity is introduced by terms such as information content, bandwidth, Strehl ratios, and, of course, limiting resolution. The problem is to compare these different yardsticks and try to establish some concrete ideas about evaluation of a final image. We need to establish the image attributes which are the most important to perception of the image in question and then begin to apply the different system parameters to those attributes.

Chinese ethics review system and Chinese medicine ethical review: past, present, and future.

PubMed

Li, En-Chang; Du, Ping; Ji, Ke-Zhou; Wang, Zhen

2011-11-01

The Chinese medical ethics committee and the ethical review system have made the following achievements: (1) enabled the institutionalization of medical ethics, (2) carried out the ethics review of Chinese medicine (CM) and integrative medicine extensively, (3) trained a large number of ethical professionals, (4) supported and protected the interests of patients and subjects, and (5) ensured the correct direction of biological research and provided ethical defense for the publication of its results. However, at the same time, they are also faced with some new problems and difficulties that need to be resolved in the following ways: (1) to refine the relevant rules of ethical review, (2) to develop the relevant standards of the CM and integrative medicine ethical review, (3) to enhance the independence and authority of ethics committee, (4) to emphasize innovation and to discover and solve new problems, and (5) to increase international exchanges and improve relevant research.

Reflections on curative health care in Nicaragua.

PubMed Central

Slater, R G

1989-01-01

Improved health care in Nicaragua is a major priority of the Sandinista revolution; it has been pursued by major reforms of the national health care system, something few developing countries have attempted. In addition to its internationally recognized advances in public health, considerable progress has been made in health care delivery by expanding curative medical services through training more personnel and building more facilities to fulfill a commitment to free universal health coverage. The very uneven quality of medical care is the leading problem facing curative medicine now. Underlying factors include the difficulty of adequately training the greatly increased number of new physicians. Misdiagnosis and mismanagement continue to be major problems. The curative medical system is not well coordinated with the preventive sector. Recent innovations include initiation of a "medicina integral" residency, similar to family practice. Despite its inadequacies and the handicaps of war and poverty, the Nicaraguan curative medical system has made important progress. PMID:2705603

Resveratrol and cancer: Challenges for clinical translation

PubMed Central

Singh, Chandra K.; Ndiaye, Mary A.; Ahmad, Nihal

2014-01-01

Significant work has been done towards identifying the health-beneficial effects of the grape antioxidant resveratrol in a variety of bioassay- and disease- models, with much research being focused on its possible application to cancer management. Despite the large number of preclinical studies dealing with different aspects of the biological effects of resveratrol, it’s translation to clinics is far from reality due to a variety of challenges. In this review, we discuss the issues and questions associated with resveratrol becoming an effective in vivo anticancer drug, from basic metabolic issues to the problems faced by incomplete understanding of the mechanism(s) of action in the body. We also explore efforts taken by researchers, both public and private, to contend with some of these issues. By examining the published data and previous clinical trials, we have attempted to identify the problems and issues that hinder the clinical translation of resveratrol for cancer management. PMID:25446990

Trauma and its aftermath for commercially sexually exploited women as told by front-line service providers.

PubMed

Hom, Kristin A; Woods, Stephanie J

2013-02-01

Commercial sexual exploitation of women and girls through forced prostitution and sex-trafficking is a human rights and public health issue, with survivors facing complex mental health problems from trauma and violence. An international and domestic problem, the average age of recruitment into sex-trafficking is between 11 and 14 years old. Given its secrecy and brutality, such exploitation remains difficult to study, which results in a lack of knowledge related to trauma and how best to develop specific services that effectively engage and meet the unique needs of survivors. This qualitative research, using thematic analysis, explored the stories of trauma and its aftermath for commercially sexually exploited women as told by front-line service providers. Three themes emerged regarding the experience of sex-trafficking and its outcomes-Pimp Enculturation, Aftermath, and Healing the Wound-along with seven subthemes. These have important implications for all service and healthcare providers.

Addressing the policy cacophony does not require more evidence: an argument for reframing obesity as caloric overconsumption.

PubMed

Shelley, Jacob J

2012-11-30

Numerous policies have been proposed to address the public health problem of obesity, resulting in a policy cacophony. The noise of so many policy options renders it difficult for policymakers to determine which policies warrant implementation. This has resulted in calls for more and better evidence to support obesity policy. However, it is not clear that evidence is the solution. This paper argues that to address the policy cacophony it is necessary to rethink the problem of obesity, and more specifically, how the problem of obesity is framed. This paper argues that the frame "obesity" be replaced by the frame "caloric overconsumption", concluding that the frame caloric overconsumption can overcome the obesity policy cacophony. Frames are important because they influence public policy. Understood as packages that define issues, frames influence how best to approach a problem. Consequently, debates over public policy are considered battles over framing, with small shifts in how an issue is framed resulting in significant changes to the policy environment. This paper presents a rationale for reframing the problem of obesity as caloric overconsumption. The frame "obesity" contributes to the policy cacophony by including policies aimed at both energy output and energy input. However, research increasingly demonstrates that energy input is the primary cause of obesity, and that increases in energy input are largely attributable to the food environment. By focusing on policies that aim to prevent increases in energy input, the frame caloric overconsumption will reduce the noise of the obesity policy cacophony. While the proposed frame will face some challenges, particularly industry opposition, policies aimed at preventing caloric overconsumption have a clearer focus, and can be more politically palatable if caloric overconsumption is seen as an involuntary risk resulting from the food environment. The paper concludes that policymakers will be able to make better sense of the obesity policy cacophony if the problem of obesity is reframed as caloric overconsumption. By focusing on a specific cause of obesity, energy input, the frame caloric overconsumption allows policymakers to focus on the most promising obesity prevention policies.

Preventing facial recognition when rendering MR images of the head in three dimensions.

PubMed

Budin, François; Zeng, Donglin; Ghosh, Arpita; Bullitt, Elizabeth

2008-06-01

In the United States it is not allowed to make public any patient-specific information without the patient's consent. This ruling has led to difficulty for those interested in sharing three-dimensional (3D) images of the head and brain since a patient's face might be recognized from a 3D rendering of the skin surface. Approaches employed to date have included brain stripping and total removal of the face anterior to a cut plane, each of which lose potentially important anatomical information about the skull surface, air sinuses, and orbits. This paper describes a new approach that involves (a) definition of a plane anterior to which the face lies, and (b) an adjustable level of deformation of the skin surface anterior to that plane. On the basis of a user performance study using forced choices, we conclude that approximately 30% of individuals are at risk of recognition from 3D renderings of unaltered images and that truncation of the face below the level of the nose does not preclude facial recognition. Removal of the face anterior to a cut plane may interfere with accurate registration and may delete important anatomical information. Our new method alters little of the underlying anatomy and does not prevent effective registration into a common coordinate system. Although the methods presented here were not fully effective (one subject was consistently recognized under the forced choice study design even at the maximum deformation level employed) this paper may point a way toward solution of a difficult problem that has received little attention in the literature.

Preventing Facial Recognition When Rendering MR Images of the Head in Three Dimensions

PubMed Central

Budin, François; Zeng, Donglin; Ghosh, Arpita; Bullitt, Elizabeth

2008-01-01

In the United States it is not allowed to make public any patient-specific information without the patient's consent. This ruling has led to difficulty for those interested in sharing three-dimensional (3D) images of the head and brain since a patient's face might be recognized from a 3D rendering of the skin surface. Approaches employed to date have included brain stripping and total removal of the face anterior to a cut plane, each of which lose potentially important anatomical information about the skull surface, air sinuses, and orbits. This paper describes a new approach that involves a) definition of a plane anterior to which the face lies, and b) an adjustable level of deformation of the skin surface anterior to that plane. On the basis of a user performance study using forced choices, we conclude that approximately 30% of individuals are at risk of recognition from 3D renderings of unaltered images and that truncation of the face below the level of the nose does not preclude facial recognition. Removal of the face anterior to a cut plane may interfere with accurate registration and may delete important anatomical information. Our new method alters little of the underlying anatomy and does not prevent effective registration into a common coordinate system. Although the methods presented here were not fully effective (one subject was consistently recognized under the forced choice study design even at the maximum deformation level employed) this paper may point a way toward solution of a difficult problem that has received little attention in the literature. PMID:18069044

Closure of a local public hospital in Korea: focusing on the organizational life cycle

PubMed Central

Yeo, Young Hyun; Lee, Keon-Hyung; Kim, Hye Jeong

2016-01-01

Just as living organisms have a creation-maintenance-extinction life cycle, organizations also have a life cycle. Private organizations will not survive if they fail to acquire necessary resources through market competition. Public organizations, however, continue to survive because the government has provided financial support in order to enhance public interest. Only a few public organizations in Korea have closed. With the introduction of new public management since the economic crisis in 1997, however, public organizations have had to compete with private organizations. Public hospitals are not free to open or close their business. They are also controlled by the government in terms of their prices, management, budgets, and operations. As they pursue public interest by fulfilling the government’s order such as providing free or lower-priced care to the vulnerable population, they tend to provide a lower quality of care and suffer a financial burden. Employing a case study analysis, this study attempts to understand the external environment that local public hospitals face. The fundamental problem of local public hospitals in Korea is the value conflict between public interest and profitability. Local public hospitals are required to pursue public interest by assignment of a public mission including building a medical safety net for low-income patients and managing nonprofitable medical facilities and emergent health care situations. At the same time, they are required to pursue profitability by achieving high-quality care through competition and the operation of an independent, self-supporting system according to private business logic. Under such paradoxical situations, a political decision may cause an unexpected result. PMID:29355194

Closure of a local public hospital in Korea: focusing on the organizational life cycle.

PubMed

Yeo, Young Hyun; Lee, Keon-Hyung; Kim, Hye Jeong

2016-01-01

Just as living organisms have a creation-maintenance-extinction life cycle, organizations also have a life cycle. Private organizations will not survive if they fail to acquire necessary resources through market competition. Public organizations, however, continue to survive because the government has provided financial support in order to enhance public interest. Only a few public organizations in Korea have closed. With the introduction of new public management since the economic crisis in 1997, however, public organizations have had to compete with private organizations. Public hospitals are not free to open or close their business. They are also controlled by the government in terms of their prices, management, budgets, and operations. As they pursue public interest by fulfilling the government's order such as providing free or lower-priced care to the vulnerable population, they tend to provide a lower quality of care and suffer a financial burden. Employing a case study analysis, this study attempts to understand the external environment that local public hospitals face. The fundamental problem of local public hospitals in Korea is the value conflict between public interest and profitability. Local public hospitals are required to pursue public interest by assignment of a public mission including building a medical safety net for low-income patients and managing nonprofitable medical facilities and emergent health care situations. At the same time, they are required to pursue profitability by achieving high-quality care through competition and the operation of an independent, self-supporting system according to private business logic. Under such paradoxical situations, a political decision may cause an unexpected result.

What's Ailing Ontario's Colleges and What Can Faculty Do about It

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fedderson, Kim

2008-01-01

In this article, the author discusses the problems facing Ontario's community colleges' faculty as educators whose "craft" is to teach. The author contends that the problems educators face haven't really been the focus of the three constituencies that have dominated the conversations about the colleges: (1) college management; (2) the…

The New Workforce Generation: Understanding the Problems Facing Parental Involvement in Jordanian Kindergartens

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ihmeideh, Fathi; Khasawneh, Samer; Mahfouz, Safi; Khawaldeh, Moustafa

2008-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the problems facing parental involvement in Jordanian kindergartens from the parents' perspectives. A 36-item questionnaire that addressed five domains was designed by the researchers and distributed among the study participants. The study sample consisted of 297 parents of kindergarten children from various…

A Problem in Online Interpersonal Skills Training: Do Learners Practice Skills?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doo, Min Young

2006-01-01

One problem found when teaching interpersonal skills online is learners' lack of opportunity for skill practice. The online learning environment is deficient in face-to-face interaction, and opportunities for self-regulation make it difficult to ensure learners practice skills despite the positive effects of such practice on skill improvement. The…

The Problems of Translating Oriental Texts into Arabic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sakarna, Ahmad Khalaf; Ma'Abrah, Mohamdd Akash

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the problems and difficulties that face the students of Arabic Language at Mu'tah University when translating oriental texts from English into Arabic in the academic year 2011-2012. The difficulties facing Arabic students when translating oriental texts has never been studied, rising an urgent need to…

Problems Teachers Face When Doing Action Research and Finding Possible Solutions: Three Cases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Jun

2012-01-01

Through case studies, this paper explores problems teachers face when doing action research: for instance, teachers may misunderstand the research, mistrust university researchers, lack the time or adequate library resources to conduct research, lack theoretical guidance or knowledge of research methodology, and feel pressure or frustration during…

Rationale for Students Preparation and Entrepreneurship Education in the Face of Global Economic Crisis in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Onuma, Nwite

2016-01-01

The rationale for students preparation in job creation through entrepreneurship education was examined. Problems of unemployment among Nigerian university graduates and challenges to entrepreneurship in the face of global economic crisis were also highlighted. The persistent problem of unemployment among University graduates and its attendant…

The Effects of Vocal Activity and Race of Applicant on Job Selection Interview Decisions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byrd, Marquita L.

Because interviewing is a face-to-face interaction belonging to the genre of interpersonal relationships, the employment interview is subject to some of the same problems that beset interpersonal relationships. Problems can occur in both interviews and interpersonal relationships because of bias, which originates from background characteristics,…

Using Asynchronous Learning in Redesign: Reaching and Retaining the At-Risk Student

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Twigg, Carol A.

2009-01-01

In addition to experiencing the generic quality and cost problems faced by all colleges and universities, community colleges face problems particular to their student populations. They need to design more flexible schedules for working adult students, create a greater sense of community or engagement for commuting students, address the special…

Direct Problem-Based Learning (DPBL): A Framework for Integrating Direct Instruction and Problem-Based Learning Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winarno, Sri; Muthu, Kalaiarasi Sonai; Ling, Lew Sook

2018-01-01

Direct instruction approach has been widely used in higher education. Many studies revealed that direct instruction improved students' knowledge. The characteristics of direct instruction include the subject delivered through face-to-face interaction with the lecturers and materials that sequenced deliberately and taught explicitly. However,…

Assessing Student Performance and Perceptions in Lecture Capture vs. Face-to-Face Course Delivery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Euzent, Patricia; Martin, Thomas; Moskal, Patrick; Moskal, Patsy

2011-01-01

Public universities are currently facing a challenge in determining how to deliver quality instruction in the face of severe fiscal constraints. With recent technological advances, courses streamed over the Internet (i.e., lecture capture) are now becoming common. However, little research has been published that specifically examines student…

Modeling Cooperation in an Address-Register-Based Telephone/Face-to-Face Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lipps, Oliver

2016-01-01

I analyze the effects of household sociodemography, interviewer performance in the current survey, and fieldwork characteristics on cooperation in a central telephone survey, where households with no publicly listed landline number receive face-to-face visits. Using the 2013 refreshment sample of the Swiss Household Panel, I employ…

Heterogeneous Face Attribute Estimation: A Deep Multi-Task Learning Approach.

PubMed

Han, Hu; K Jain, Anil; Shan, Shiguang; Chen, Xilin

2017-08-10

Face attribute estimation has many potential applications in video surveillance, face retrieval, and social media. While a number of methods have been proposed for face attribute estimation, most of them did not explicitly consider the attribute correlation and heterogeneity (e.g., ordinal vs. nominal and holistic vs. local) during feature representation learning. In this paper, we present a Deep Multi-Task Learning (DMTL) approach to jointly estimate multiple heterogeneous attributes from a single face image. In DMTL, we tackle attribute correlation and heterogeneity with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) consisting of shared feature learning for all the attributes, and category-specific feature learning for heterogeneous attributes. We also introduce an unconstrained face database (LFW+), an extension of public-domain LFW, with heterogeneous demographic attributes (age, gender, and race) obtained via crowdsourcing. Experimental results on benchmarks with multiple face attributes (MORPH II, LFW+, CelebA, LFWA, and FotW) show that the proposed approach has superior performance compared to state of the art. Finally, evaluations on a public-domain face database (LAP) with a single attribute show that the proposed approach has excellent generalization ability.