Mobile phone use among patients and health workers to enhance primary healthcare: A qualitative study in rural South Africa.

PubMed

Anstey Watkins, Jocelyn Olivia Todd; Goudge, Jane; Gómez-Olivé, Francesc Xavier; Griffiths, Frances

2018-02-01

Mobile phones have the potential to improve access to healthcare information and services in low-resourced settings. This study investigated the use of mobile phones among patients with chronic diseases, pregnant women, and health workers to enhance primary healthcare in rural South Africa. Qualitative research was undertaken in Mpumalanga in 2014. Semi structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 113 patients and 43 health workers from seven primary healthcare clinics and one district hospital. Data were thematically analysed. We found that some health workers and patients used their own mobile phones for healthcare, bearing the cost themselves. Patients used their mobile phones to remind themselves to take medication or attend their clinic visits, and they appreciated receiving voice call reminders. Some patients and health workers accessed websites and used social media to gather health information, but lacked web search strategies. The use of the websites and social media was intermittent due to lack of financial ability to afford airtime among these patients and health workers. Many did not know what to search for and where to search. Doctors have developed their own informal mobile health solutions in response to their work needs and lack of resources due to their rurality. Physical and social factors influence the usability of mobile phones for healthcare, and this can shape communication patterns such as poor eyesight. The bottom-up use of mobile phones has been evolving to fill the gaps to augment primary care services in South Africa; however, barriers to access remain, such as poor digital infrastructure and low digital literacy. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Health care workers' mobile phones: a potential cause of microbial cross-contamination between hospitals and community.

PubMed

Ustun, Cemal; Cihangiroglu, Mustafa

2012-01-01

This study evaluated the microbial contamination of health care workers' (HCWs) mobile phones. The study was conducted at a secondary referral hospital in July 2010. Samples were taken from all surfaces of the mobile phones using a sterile swab, and incubated on Brain Heart Infusion agar at 37.5°C for 24 hr. Any isolated microorganisms were grown aerobically on 5% sheep blood agar and eosin methylene-blue agar medium at 37.5°C for 24-48 hr. The Sceptor microdilution system was used to identify the microorganisms, together with conventional methods. The oxacillin disc diffusion test and double-disc synergy test were used to identify methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and expanded-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Gram-negative bacilli, respectively. The mobile phones were also categorized according to whether the HCWs used them in the intensive care unit (ICU). Overall, 183 mobile phones were screened: 94 (51.4%) from nurses, 32 (17.5%) from laboratory workers, and 57 (31.1%) from health care staff. In total, 179 (97.8%) culture-positive specimens were isolated from the 183 mobile phones, including 17 (9.5%) MRSA and 20 (11.2%) ESBL-producing Escherichia coli, which can cause nosocomial infections. No statistical difference was observed in the recovery of MRSA (p = 0.3) and ESBL-producing E. coli (p = 0.6) between the HCW groups. Forty-four (24.6%) of the 179 specimens were isolated from mobile phones of ICU workers, including two MRSA and nine ESBL-producing E. coli. A significant (p = 0.02) difference was detected in the isolation of ESBL-producing E. coli between ICU workers and non-ICU workers. HCWs' mobile phones are potential vectors for transferring nosocomial pathogens between HCWs, patients, and the community.

Applying the Rasch Model to Measure Mobility of Women: A Comparative Analysis of Mobility of Informal Workers in Fisheries in Kerala, India.

PubMed

Menon, Nikhila

2016-01-01

Mobility or freedom and ability to move is gendered in many cultural contexts. In this paper I analyse mobility associated with work from the capability approach perspective of Sen. This is an empirical paper which uses the Rasch Rating Scale Model (RSM) to construct the measure of mobility of women for the first time in the development studies discourse. I construct a measure of mobility (latent trait) of women workers engaged in two types of informal work, namely, peeling work and fish vending, in fisheries in the cultural context of India. The scale measure enables first, to test the unidimensionality of my construct of mobility of women and second, to analyse the domains of mobility of women workers. The comparative analysis of the scale of permissibility of mobility constructed using the RSM for the informal women workers shows that women face constraints on mobility in social and personal spaces in the socially advanced state of Kerala in India. Work mobility does not expand the real freedoms, hence work mobility can be termed as bounded capability which is a capability limited or bounded by either the social, cultural and gender norms or a combination of all of these. Therefore at the macro level, growth in informal employment in sectors like fisheries which improve mobility of women through work mobility does not necessarily expand the capability sets by contributing to greater freedoms and transformational mobility. This paper has a significant methodological contribution in that it uses an innovative method for the measurement of mobility of women in the development studies discipline.

Complexities of short-term mobility for sex work and migration among sex workers: violence and sexual risks, barriers to care, and enhanced social and economic opportunities.

PubMed

Goldenberg, Shira M; Chettiar, Jill; Nguyen, Paul; Dobrer, Sabina; Montaner, Julio; Shannon, Kate

2014-08-01

Despite research on the health and safety of mobile and migrant populations in the formal and informal sectors globally, limited information is available regarding the working conditions, health, and safety of sex workers who engage in short-term mobility and migration. The objective of this study was to longitudinally examine work environment, health, and safety experiences linked to short-term mobility/migration (i.e., worked or lived in another city, province, or country) among sex workers in Vancouver, Canada, over a 2.5-year study period (2010-2012). We examined longitudinal correlates of short-term mobility/migration (i.e., worked or lived in another city, province, or country over the 3-year follow-up period) among 646 street and off-street sex workers in a longitudinal community-based study (AESHA). Of 646 sex workers, 10.84 % (n = 70) worked or lived in another city, province, or country during the study. In a multivariate generalized estimating equations (GEE) model, short-term mobility/migration was independently correlated with older age (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 0.95, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.92-0.98), soliciting clients in indoor (in-call) establishments (AOR 2.25, 95 % CI 1.27-3.96), intimate partner condom refusal (AOR 3.00, 1.02-8.84), and barriers to health care (AOR 1.77, 95 % CI 1.08-2.89). In a second multivariate GEE model, short-term mobility for sex work (i.e., worked in another city, province, or country) was correlated with client physical/sexual violence (AOR 1.92, 95 % CI 1.02-3.61). In this study, mobile/migrant sex workers were more likely to be younger, work in indoor sex work establishments, and earn higher income, suggesting that short-term mobility for sex work and migration increase social and economic opportunities. However, mobility and migration also correlated with reduced control over sexual negotiation with intimate partners and reduced health care access, and mobility for sex work was associated with enhanced workplace sexual/physical violence, suggesting that mobility/migration may confer risks through less control over work environment and isolation from health services. Structural and community-led interventions, including policy support to allow for more formal organizing of sex work collectives and access to workplace safety standards, remain critical to supporting health, safety, and access to care for mobile and migrant sex workers.

Mobilizing collective identity to reduce HIV risk among sex workers in Sonagachi, India: The boundaries, consciousness, negotiation framework

PubMed Central

Ghose, Toorjo; Swendeman, Dallas; George, Sheba; Chowdhury, Debasish

2010-01-01

The significantly low rate of HIV infection and high rate of condom use among sex workers in Kolkata, India is partially attributable to a community-led structural intervention called the Sonagachi Project which mobilizes sex workers to engage in HIV education, formation of community-based organizations and advocacy around sex work issues. This research examines how Sonagachi Project participants mobilize collective identity and the manner in which collective identity influences condom use. Using purposive sampling methods, 46 Sonagachi Project participants were selected in 2005 for in-depth qualitative interviews. Taylor and Whittier’s (Taylor, V & Whittier, N (1992). Collective identities in social movement communities: lesbian feminist mobilization. In A. Morris & C. Mueller (Eds.) Frontiers in social movement theory. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press) model of identity-formation through boundaries, consciousness and negotiation was used to interpret results. Subjects mobilized collective identity by (1) building boundaries demarcating in-group sex workers from out-group members, (2) raising consciousness about sex work as legitimate labor and the transformative change that results from program participation, and (3) negotiating identity with out-group members. This research establishes a conceptual link between the boundaries, consciousness and negotiation framework of collective identity mobilization and condom use. Condom use among sex workers is motivated by each element of the boundaries, consciousness and negotiation model: condoms mark boundaries, enunciate the consciousness that sex with clients is legitimate labor, and help negotiate the identity of sex workers in interactions with clients. PMID:18455855

Mobilizing collective identity to reduce HIV risk among sex workers in Sonagachi, India: the boundaries, consciousness, negotiation framework.

PubMed

Ghose, Toorjo; Swendeman, Dallas; George, Sheba; Chowdhury, Debasish

2008-07-01

The significantly low rate of HIV infection and high rate of condom use among sex workers in Kolkata, India is partially attributable to a community-led structural intervention called the Sonagachi Project which mobilizes sex workers to engage in HIV education, formation of community-based organizations and advocacy around sex work issues. This research examines how Sonagachi Project participants mobilize collective identity and the manner in which collective identity influences condom use. Using purposive sampling methods, 46 Sonagachi Project participants were selected in 2005 for in-depth qualitative interviews. Taylor and Whittier's (Taylor, V & Whittier, N (1992). Collective identities in social movement communities: lesbian feminist mobilization. In A. Morris & C. Mueller (Eds.) Frontiers in social movement theory. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press) model of identity-formation through boundaries, consciousness and negotiation was used to interpret results. Subjects mobilized collective identity by (1) building boundaries demarcating in-group sex workers from out-group members, (2) raising consciousness about sex work as legitimate labor and the transformative change that results from program participation, and (3) negotiating identity with out-group members. This research establishes a conceptual link between the boundaries, consciousness and negotiation framework of collective identity mobilization and condom use. Condom use among sex workers is motivated by each element of the boundaries, consciousness and negotiation model: condoms mark boundaries, enunciate the consciousness that sex with clients is legitimate labor, and help negotiate the identity of sex workers in interactions with clients.

Upward Mobility Programs in the Service Sector for Disadvantaged and Dislocated Workers. Volume I: Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tao, Fumiyo; And Others

Upward mobility programs in the service sector for low-skilled, economically disadvantaged, and dislocated or displaced workers promote employment security, career development, and productivity. Two basic types of upward mobility programs are basic and job-specific skills training. Although 60-80 percent of all employer-sponsored formal training…

The national mobile health worker project in England.

PubMed

Drayton, Kathryn; Robinson, Karen

2014-01-01

Community services provide essential care to many, often vulnerable, people, families and communities along the spectrum from health promotion to end of life care. The Mobile Health Worker Project is part of a larger project, the Transforming Community Services programme, which was established to support providers make changes to service provision that would provide better health outcomes, as well as increasing efficiency through the use of technology. This paper draws on the results of the two phase Mobile Health Worker project which involved 11 sites around England, the aim of which was to understand the requirements of mobile working. The results demonstrate that increased productivity and efficiency can be achieved by making changes to working processes. The project also provides guidance to increase the rate of mobile working adoption by providing a solid economic basis for investment in and deployment of mobile solutions to community organisations.

Mobility of diesel versus non-diesel coal miners: some evidence on the healthy worker effect.

PubMed Central

Ames, R G; Trent, B

1984-01-01

Workers who are particularly susceptible to the effects of their occupational exposure, from the perspective of the healthy worker effect, soon leave the workplace. The result of this mobility, called survival bias, is that cross sectional studies based on the survivors underestimate the true risk of occupational exposures. Two questions are addressed in this empirical study of the "survival bias" component of the "healthy worker" effect. Do miners with respiratory impairment or symptoms disproportionately leave jobs that have a potentially harmful respiratory exposure? And does the presence of an additional potentially harmful respiratory exposure, in this case diesel emissions, accelerate the rate of mobility for miners with respiratory impairment or symptoms? No confirmation was found for the survival effect in a study of 738 diesel and 420 non-diesel US underground coal miners. No additional increment in mobility was associated with exposure to both coal mine dust and diesel emissions. PMID:6722047

Meeting Community Health Worker Needs for Maternal Health Care Service Delivery Using Appropriate Mobile Technologies in Ethiopia

PubMed Central

Little, Alex; Medhanyie, Araya; Yebyo, Henock; Spigt, Mark; Dinant, Geert-Jan; Blanco, Roman

2013-01-01

Background Mobile health applications are complex interventions that essentially require changes to the behavior of health care professionals who will use them and changes to systems or processes in delivery of care. Our aim has been to meet the technical needs of Health Extension Workers (HEWs) and midwives for maternal health using appropriate mobile technologies tools. Methods We have developed and evaluated a set of appropriate smartphone health applications using open source components, including a local language adapted data collection tool, health worker and manager user-friendly dashboard analytics and maternal-newborn protocols. This is an eighteen month follow-up of an ongoing observational research study in the northern of Ethiopia involving two districts, twenty HEWs, and twelve midwives. Results Most health workers rapidly learned how to use and became comfortable with the touch screen devices so only limited technical support was needed. Unrestricted use of smartphones generated a strong sense of ownership and empowerment among the health workers. Ownership of the phones was a strong motivator for the health workers, who recognised the value and usefulness of the devices, so took care to look after them. A low level of smartphones breakage (8.3%,3 from 36) and loss (2.7%) were reported. Each health worker made an average of 160 mins of voice calls and downloaded 27Mb of data per month, however, we found very low usage of short message service (less than 3 per month). Conclusions Although it is too early to show a direct link between mobile technologies and health outcomes, mobile technologies allow health managers to more quickly and reliably have access to data which can help identify where there issues in the service delivery. Achieving a strong sense of ownership and empowerment among health workers is a prerequisite for a successful introduction of any mobile health program. PMID:24204872

A mobile hospice nurse teaching team's experience: training care workers in spiritual and existential care for the dying - a qualitative study.

PubMed

Tornøe, Kirsten; Danbolt, Lars Johan; Kvigne, Kari; Sørlie, Venke

2015-09-18

Nursing home and home care nursing staff must increasingly deal with palliative care challenges, due to cost cutting in specialized health care. Research indicates that a significant number of dying patients long for adequate spiritual and existential care. Several studies show that this is often a source of anxiety for care workers. Teaching care workers to alleviate dying patients' spiritual and existential suffering is therefore important. The aim of this study is to illuminate a pioneering Norwegian mobile hospice nurse teaching team's experience with teaching and training care workers in spiritual and existential care for the dying in nursing homes and home care settings. The team of expert hospice nurses participated in a focus group interview. Data were analyzed using a phenomenological hermeneutical method. The mobile teaching team taught care workers to identify spiritual and existential suffering, initiate existential and spiritual conversations and convey consolation through active presencing and silence. The team members transferred their personal spiritual and existential care knowledge through situated "bedside teaching" and reflective dialogues. "The mobile teaching team perceived that the care workers benefitted from the situated teaching because they observed that care workers became more courageous in addressing dying patients' spiritual and existential suffering. Educational research supports these results. Studies show that efficient workplace teaching schemes allowexpert practitioners to teach staff to integrate several different knowledge forms and skills, applying a holisticknowledge approach. One of the features of workplace learning is that expert nurses are able to guide novices through the complexities of practice. Situated learning is therefore central for becoming proficient. Situated bedside teaching provided by expert mobile hospice nurses may be an efficient way to develop care workers' courage and competency to provide spiritual and existential end-of-life-care. Further research is recommended on the use of mobile expert nurse teaching teams to improve nursing competency in the primary health care sector.

Person factors and work environments of workers who use mobility devices.

PubMed

Gray, David B; Morgan, Kerri A; Gottlieb, Meghan; Hollingsworth, Holly H

2014-01-01

Nearly 25% of people with mobility impairments and limitations who are of working age are employed, yet few studies have examined their perspectives on their jobs or work environments required to complete job tasks. The purpose of this study was to describe the factors that contribute to successful employment for those who use mobility devices. A convenience sample of 132 workers who use power wheelchairs, manual wheelchairs, canes, crutches or walkers. Participants completed an online version of the Mobility Device User Work Survey (MWS). A multivariate analysis and a two-step multiple linear regression analysis were used. Study participants had few secondary health conditions that influenced their work. Employee satisfactoriness to their employers was high. Accessibility of worksites was high. Assistive technologies were inexpensive, and personal assistance was used infrequently and usually was unpaid. Co-worker communications were very positive. Flexible work rules and supportive managers were highly valued. Job satisfaction positively correlated with accessibility, work tasks, co-worker communication and work support. The description of work environments of successfully employed mobility device users can provide some useful guidance to employers, vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors and unemployed mobility device users to balance employee abilities and preferences with the needs of employers.

National Study of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Workers, Work, and Organizational Contexts. Research Report No. 1: Overview Study of the Dynamics of Worker Job Mobility.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Social and Rehabilitation Service (DHEW), Washington, DC.

The goals of this study were to review what is known about worker job mobility in the social welfare and rehabilitation services fields, to organize this knowledge, and to suggest improvements in career design and employee management in these fields. To supplement the review of research and theoretical literature, two sets of personal interviews…

Human-centered design (HCD) of a fault-finding application for mobile devices and its impact on the reduction of time in fault diagnosis in the manufacturing industry.

PubMed

Kluge, Annette; Termer, Anatoli

2017-03-01

The present article describes the design process of a fault-finding application for mobile devices, which was built to support workers' performance by guiding them through a systematic strategy to stay focused during a fault-finding process. In collaboration with a project partner in the manufacturing industry, a fault diagnosis application was conceptualized based on a human-centered design approach (ISO 9241-210:2010). A field study with 42 maintenance workers was conducted for the purpose of evaluating the performance enhancement of fault finding in three different scenarios as well as for assessing the workers' acceptance of the technology. Workers using the mobile device application were twice as fast at fault finding as the control group without the application and perceived the application as very useful. The results indicate a vast potential of the mobile application for fault diagnosis in contemporary manufacturing systems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ownership and use of mobile phones among health workers, caregivers of sick children and adult patients in Kenya: cross-sectional national survey.

PubMed

Zurovac, Dejan; Otieno, Gabriel; Kigen, Samuel; Mbithi, Agneta M; Muturi, Alex; Snow, Robert W; Nyandigisi, Andrew

2013-05-14

The rapid growth in mobile phone penetration and use of Short Message Service (SMS) has been seen as a potential solution to improve medical and public health practice in Africa. Several studies have shown effectiveness of SMS interventions to improve health workers' practices, patients' adherence to medications and availability of health facility commodities. To inform policy makers about the feasibility of facility-based SMS interventions, the coverage data on mobile phone ownership and SMS use among health workers and patients are needed. In 2012, a national, cross-sectional, cluster sample survey was undertaken at 172 public health facilities in Kenya. Outpatient health workers and caregivers of sick children and adult patients were interviewed. The main outcomes were personal ownership of mobile phones and use of SMS among phone owners. The predictors analysis examined factors influencing phone ownership and SMS use. The analysis included 219 health workers and 1,177 patients' respondents (767 caregivers and 410 adult patients). All health workers possessed personal mobile phones and 98.6% used SMS. Among patients' respondents, 61.2% owned phones and 71.4% of phone owners used SMS. The phone ownership and SMS use was similar between caregivers of sick children and adult patients. The respondents who were male, more educated, literate and living in urban area were significantly more likely to own the phone and use SMS. The youngest respondents were less likely to own phones, however when the phones were owned, younger age groups were more likely to use SMS. Respondents living in wealthier areas were more likely to own phones; however when phones are owned no significant association between the poverty and SMS use was observed. Mobile phone ownership and SMS use is ubiquitous among Kenyan health workers in the public sector. Among patients they serve the coverage in phone ownership and SMS use is lower and disparities exist with respect to gender, age, education, literacy, urbanization and poverty. Some of the disparities on SMS use can be addressed through the modalities of mHealth interventions and enhanced implementation processes while further growth in mobile phone penetration is needed to reduce the ownership gap.

Mobile phones and sex work in South India: the emerging role of mobile phones in condom use by female sex workers in two Indian states.

PubMed

Navani-Vazirani, Sonia; Solomon, Davidson; Gopalakrishnan; Heylen, Elsa; Srikrishnan, Aylur Kailasom; Vasudevan, Canjeevaram K; Ekstrand, Maria L

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine female sex workers' solicitation of clients using mobile phones and the association between this and condom use with clients. Cross-sectional data were utilised to address the study's aim, drawing on data collected from female sex workers in Calicut, Kerala, and Chirala, Andhra Pradesh. Use of mobile phone solicitation was reported by 46.3% (n = 255) of Kerala participants and 78.7% (n = 464) of those in Andhra Pradesh. Kerala participants reporting exclusive solicitation using mobile phones demonstrated 1.67 times higher odds (95% CI: 1.01-2.79) of inconsistent condom use than those reporting non-use of mobile phones for solicitation. However, those reporting exclusive solicitation through mobile phones in Andhra Pradesh reported lower odds of inconsistent condom use (OR: 0.03; 95% CI: 0.01-0.26) than those not using mobile phones for solicitation. Findings indicate that solicitation of clients using mobile phones facilitates or hampers consistency in condom use with clients depending on the context, and how mobile phones are incorporated into solicitation practices. Variations in sex work environments, including economic dependence on sex work or lack thereof may partially account for the different effects found.

Workers in the VAB move sling into place to lift Columbia to mobile launcher

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

Workers in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) move a specially-built sling into place to lift Orbiter Columbia from the transfer aisle to the mobile launcher platform (27015); Columbia is lifted from the floor of the VAB transfer aisle (27016).

Exploring the use of mobile phone technology for the enhancement of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV program in Nyanza, Kenya: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Jennings, Larissa; Ong'ech, John; Simiyu, Rogers; Sirengo, Martin; Kassaye, Seble

2013-12-05

Community-based mobile phone programs can complement gaps in clinical services for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in areas with poor infrastructure and personnel shortages. However, community and health worker perceptions on optimal mobile phone communication for PMTCT are underexplored. This study examined what specific content and forms of mobile communication are acceptable to support PMTCT. Qualitative methods using focus groups and in-depth interviews were conducted in two district hospitals in Nyanza Province, Kenya. A total of 45 participants were purposefully selected, including HIV-positive women enrolled in PMTCT, their male partners, community health workers, and nurses. Semi-structured discussion guides were used to elicit participants' current mobile phone uses for PMTCT and their perceived benefits and challenges. We also examined participants' views on platform design and gender-tailored short message service (SMS) messages designed to improve PMTCT communication and male involvement. Most participants had access to a mobile phone and prior experience receiving and sending SMS, although phone sharing was common among couples. Mobile phones were used for several health-related purposes, primarily as voice calls rather than texts. The perceived benefits of mobile phones for PMTCT included linking with health workers, protecting confidentiality, and receiving information and reminders. Men and women considered the gender-tailored SMS as a catalyst for improving PMTCT male involvement and couples' communication. However, informative messaging relayed safely to the intended recipient was critical. In addition, health workers emphasized the continual need for in-person counseling coupled with, rather than replaced by, mobile phone reinforcement. For all participants, integrated and neutral text messaging provided antenatally and postnatally was most preferred, although not all topics or text formats were equally acceptable. Given the ubiquity of mobile phones in Kenya and current health-related uses of mobile phones, a PMTCT mobile communications platform holds considerable potential. This pre-intervention assessment of community and health worker preferences yielded valuable information on the complexities of design and implementation. An effective PMTCT mobile platform engaging men and women will need to address contexts of non-disclosure, phone sharing, and linkages with existing community and facility-based services.

Occupational Mobility of Low Income Workers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slifman, Lawrence

This dissertation is primarily concerned with assessing the impact of changes in the aggregate labor supply-demand balance on the upward occupational mobility of lower income workers. The empirical analysis indicates that the size of inter-occupational flows is cyclically sensitive, given relative wages. As the labor market tightens, the…

Socioeconomic mobility and tobacco consumption patterns in fish industry workers in Udupi District of coastal Karnataka.

PubMed

Acharya, Shashidhar; Pentapati, Kalyana Chakravarthy; Acharya, Shruthi

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to understand the tobacco consumption patterns and their relationship with life course socioeconomic mobility among fish industry workers as this could provide important information in dealing with the tobacco problem in this very vulnerable population. Socioeconomic life course data and information about tobacco habits was collected from 102 fish industry workers. A subject was considered to be upwardly mobile if the family head's educational attainment and the number of earning members increased and the number of children and dependents decreased since childhood in his or her household. Oral examination was also done for malignant/premalignant lesions. Of the 102 subjects, 64 regularly consumed tobacco either in smoking or smokeless forms and the common reasons for the habit were the co-workers' influence and to keep awake at work. Fourteen subjects had premalignant lesions in the oral cavity and all them were in the buccal mucosa. The prevalence of the tobacco habit was much lesser (25%) among the upwardly mobile group when compared to the minimal or no improvement group (75%). A majority of those free from the habit (73.7%) were belonging to the group, which showed improved educational attainment. Among those with good social mobility, the percentage of workers with high frequency of tobacco consumption and those with a longer duration of the tobacco habit was low when compared to the minimal social mobility group. A holistic approach consisting of efforts to improve the overall socioeconomic conditions can be more effective than piecemeal solutions in dealing with the tobacco menace.

Interpersonal conflicts at work as a predictor of self-reported health outcomes and occupational mobility.

PubMed

De Raeve, L; Jansen, N W H; van den Brandt, P A; Vasse, R; Kant, I J

2009-01-01

The aim of this prospective study was to examine the relationship between interpersonal conflicts at work and subsequent self-reported health outcomes (self-reported general health, need for recovery, and prolonged fatigue) and occupational mobility (internal mobility ie, changing job function, and external mobility ie, changing employers). Data from the Maastricht Cohort Study on fatigue at work (n = 5582 for co-worker conflict; n = 5530 for supervisor conflict) were used. Interpersonal conflict with either co-workers or supervisors was assessed between baseline and 1-year follow-up. Outcomes were studied every 4 months between 1-year and 2-year follow-up. Logistic regression analyses using generalised estimating equations were conducted for each of the dichotomous outcomes, while controlling for demographic factors, the presence of a long-term illness, other workplace stressors, coping, and outcome at baseline. Analyses were conducted for men only. At baseline, conflicts with co-workers occurred in 7.2% of the study population, while conflicts with supervisors occurred in 9.5% of the study population. In general, this study showed that co-worker conflict was a statistically significant risk factor for the onset of an elevated need for recovery, prolonged fatigue, poor general health and external occupational mobility. Supervisor conflict was a significant risk factor for the onset of an elevated need for recovery, prolonged fatigue, external occupational mobility, and internal occupational mobility. The results of this study indicate a possible causal relationship between interpersonal conflicts at work and self-reported health and occupational mobility. Given the considerable impact of interpersonal conflicts at work on the individual worker and on the organisation, and the fact that interpersonal conflicts at work are highly prevalent, these findings underline the need for interventions aimed at preventing the occurrence of interpersonal conflicts at work, or at least reducing the harmful effects on both the employee and the organisation.

Saving our backs: safe patient handling and mobility for home care.

PubMed

Beauvais, Audrey; Frost, Lenore

2014-01-01

Predicted work-related injuries for nurses and home healthcare workers are on the rise given the many risk factors in the home environment and the escalating demands for home healthcare workers in the United States. Fortunately, safe patient handling and mobility programs can dramatically decrease injuries. Despite strides being made to promote safe patient handling and mobility programs in acute care, more can be done to establish such initiatives in the home care setting.

77 FR 44684 - General Dynamics Itronix Corporation; A Subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation, Including...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-30

... program management services for rugged laptop computers and rugged mobile devices. The worker group... of program management services for rugged laptop computers and rugged mobile devices, meet the worker... threatened to become totally or partially separated. Section 222(a)(2)(A)(i) has been met because the sales...

The Mobile Worker in the Flexible Workplace. Trends and Issues Alert No. 10.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Bettina Lankard

New information technologies, changing work force demographics, rising customer expectations, transnational companies, and cost pressures are altering traditional views of what constitutes a workplace and have given rise to a new trend: the mobile worker in the flexible workplace. Two factors promote acceptance of telework or telecommuting: (1)…

Making It in America: Social Mobility in the Immigrant Population

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borjas, George J.

2006-01-01

In his survey of research on social mobility and U.S. immigration, George Borjas underscores two insights. First, most immigrants are at a sizable earnings disadvantage, relative to nativeborn workers. Second, the earnings of different groups of immigrants vary widely. The children of immigrants "catch up" to native-born workers slowly.…

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A worker sandblasts the surface behind the Mobile Launcher Platform on Launch Pad 39A . Routine maintenance includes sandblasting and repainting as preventive means to minimize corrosion.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-09-12

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A worker sandblasts the surface behind the Mobile Launcher Platform on Launch Pad 39A . Routine maintenance includes sandblasting and repainting as preventive means to minimize corrosion.

Globalized Computing Education: Europe and the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scime, A.

2008-01-01

As computing makes the world a smaller place there will be an increase in the mobility of information technology workers and companies. The European Union has recognized the need for mobility and is instituting educational reforms to provide recognition of worker qualifications. Within computing there have been a number of model curricula proposed…

Workers in Agribusiness: Profile, Images, Recruitment, Mobility, and Occupations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Lee, Ed.; Leagans, J. Paul, Ed.

Designed and conducted by a team of professors and research associates at New York State College of Agriculture, this study focuses on five primary areas of concern: (1) profile of firms and workers, (2) images of agribusiness work, (3) recruitment, (4) occupational mobility, and (5) agribusiness occupations and projections. Findings reveal that…

77 FR 40637 - Honeywell International, Scanning and Mobility Division, Formerly Known as Hand Held Products...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-10

..., Scanning and Mobility Division, Formerly Known as Hand Held Products, Inc., Including On-Site Leased Workers From Manpower, Skaneatelles Falls, NY; Amended Certification Regarding Eligibility To Apply for...''), 19 U.S.C. 2273, the Department of Labor issued a Certification of Eligibility to Apply for Worker...

Who bears the cost of 'informal mhealth'? Health-workers' mobile phone practices and associated political-moral economies of care in Ghana and Malawi.

PubMed

Hampshire, Kate; Porter, Gina; Mariwah, Simon; Munthali, Alister; Robson, Elsbeth; Owusu, Samuel Asiedu; Abane, Albert; Milner, James

2017-02-01

Africa's recent communications 'revolution' has generated optimism that using mobile phones for health (mhealth) can help bridge healthcare gaps, particularly for rural, hard-to-reach populations. However, while scale-up of mhealth pilots remains limited, health-workers across the continent possess mobile phones. This article draws on interviews from Ghana and Malawi to ask whether/how health-workers are using their phones informally and with what consequences. Health-workers were found to use personal mobile phones for a wide range of purposes: obtaining help in emergencies; communicating with patients/colleagues; facilitating community-based care, patient monitoring and medication adherence; obtaining clinical advice/information and managing logistics. However, the costs were being borne by the health-workers themselves, particularly by those at the lower echelons, in rural communities, often on minimal stipends/salaries, who are required to 'care' even at substantial personal cost. Although there is significant potential for 'informal mhealth' to improve (rural) healthcare, there is a risk that the associated moral and political economies of care will reinforce existing socioeconomic and geographic inequalities. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

High mobility, low access thwarts interventions among seasonal workers in the Greater Mekong Sub-region: lessons from the malaria containment project.

PubMed

Canavati, Sara E; Quintero, Cesia E; Lawford, Harriet L S; Yok, Sovann; Lek, Dysoley; Richards, Jack S; Whittaker, Maxine Anne

2016-08-26

During the process of malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, mobile and migrant populations (MMPs) have been identified as the most at-risk demographic. An important sub-group of MMPs are seasonal workers, and this paper presents an evaluation of the reach and effectiveness of interventions tailored towards this group and was carried out as part of the Containment Project from 2009-11. A mixed-methods study was conducted in Pailin Province in Western Cambodia. Three-hundred-and-four seasonal workers were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. Qualitative data were gathered through a total of eight focus group discussions and 14 in-depth interviews. Data triangulation of the qualitative and quantitative data was used during analysis. High mobility and low access of the target population to the interventions, as well as lack of social and anthropological research that led to implementation oversights, resulted in under-exposure of seasonal workers to interventions. Consequently, their reach and impact were severely limited. Some services, particularly Mobile Malaria Workers, had the ability to significantly impact key factors, such as risky behaviours among those they did reach. Others, like Listening and Viewing Clubs and mass media campaigns, showed little impact. There is potential in two of the interventions assessed, but high mobility and inadequate exposure of seasonal workers to these interventions must be considered in the development and planning of future interventions to avoid investing in low-impact activities and ensure that all interventions perform according to their maximum potential. This will be critical in order for Cambodia to achieve its aim of malaria elimination. The lessons learned from this study can be extrapolated to other areas of health care in Cambodia and other countries in order to reduce the gap between healthcare provided to MMPs, especially seasonal workers, and to the general population.

¡No Cierren Nuestra Escuela! Farm Worker Mothers as Cultural Citizens in an Educational Community Mobilization Effort

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deeb-Sossa, Natalia; Moreno, Melissa

2016-01-01

Mexican immigrant farm-worker mothers' class, race, citizenship status, and jurisdictional status of their town in a Northern California community rendered them invisible. However, when the school board decided to close the elementary school the mothers mobilized. Drawing on these mothers' "'fototestimonios" we examine how they, as…

Upward Mobility of Low-Income Workers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steinberg, Edward

The purpose of the study is to help fill the present gap in our knowledge of the internal labor market, and particularly of the internal mobility patterns of low income workers. Through the analysis of data from two samples, one drawn from New York City and the other from the entire nation, the document explores the determinants of worker…

Upward Mobility Programs in the Service Sector for Disadvantaged and Dislocated Workers. Volume II: Technical Appendices.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tao, Fumiyo; And Others

This volume contains technical and supporting materials that supplement Volume I, which describes upward mobility programs for disadvantaged and dislocated workers in the service sector. Appendix A is a detailed description of the project methodology, including data collection methods and information on data compilation, processing, and analysis.…

Work characteristics, motivational orientations, psychological work ability and job mobility intentions of older workers

PubMed Central

Topa, Gabriela

2018-01-01

Drawing on job design theories and a conceptual framework of work-related goals and motivation in later adulthood, the aim of this paper is to explore how work-related and individual factors are separately and jointly related to psychological work ability and bridge employment intentions via late job mobility. The cross-sectional study is based on a sample of 171 older Spanish workers aged 45–65 and beyond. We differentiated between groups of older workers in mid career (45–55 years of age) and in their later careers (56 years and beyond). Our results confirm that task characteristics and, secondarily, knowledge characteristics are the most relevant factors in perceptions of psychological work ability among aged workers. Both age groups display a very marked personal mastery trait, which mediates the relationships between job characteristics and both psychological work ability and late job mobility intentions. The paper concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications and suggestions for future research on the issues implied in the psychological adjustment of older workers in their mid and late careers. PMID:29702693

Work characteristics, motivational orientations, psychological work ability and job mobility intentions of older workers.

PubMed

Alcover, Carlos-María; Topa, Gabriela

2018-01-01

Drawing on job design theories and a conceptual framework of work-related goals and motivation in later adulthood, the aim of this paper is to explore how work-related and individual factors are separately and jointly related to psychological work ability and bridge employment intentions via late job mobility. The cross-sectional study is based on a sample of 171 older Spanish workers aged 45-65 and beyond. We differentiated between groups of older workers in mid career (45-55 years of age) and in their later careers (56 years and beyond). Our results confirm that task characteristics and, secondarily, knowledge characteristics are the most relevant factors in perceptions of psychological work ability among aged workers. Both age groups display a very marked personal mastery trait, which mediates the relationships between job characteristics and both psychological work ability and late job mobility intentions. The paper concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications and suggestions for future research on the issues implied in the psychological adjustment of older workers in their mid and late careers.

Psychophysical Evaluation of Achromatic and Chromatic Vision of Workers Chronically Exposed to Organic Solvents

PubMed Central

Lacerda, Eliza Maria da Costa Brito; Lima, Monica Gomes; Rodrigues, Anderson Raiol; Teixeira, Cláudio Eduardo Correa; de Lima, Lauro José Barata; Ventura, Dora Fix; Silveira, Luiz Carlos de Lima

2012-01-01

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate achromatic and chromatic vision of workers chronically exposed to organic solvents through psychophysical methods. Thirty-one gas station workers (31.5 ± 8.4 years old) were evaluated. Psychophysical tests were achromatic tests (Snellen chart, spatial and temporal contrast sensitivity, and visual perimetry) and chromatic tests (Ishihara's test, color discrimination ellipses, and Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test—FM100). Spatial contrast sensitivities of exposed workers were lower than the control at spatial frequencies of 20 and 30 cpd whilst the temporal contrast sensitivity was preserved. Visual field losses were found in 10–30 degrees of eccentricity in the solvent exposed workers. The exposed workers group had higher error values of FM100 and wider color discrimination ellipses area compared to the controls. Workers occupationally exposed to organic solvents had abnormal visual functions, mainly color vision losses and visual field constriction. PMID:22220188

PubMed Central

Laveissière, C.; Meda, A. H.; Doua, F.; Sane, B.

1998-01-01

The solution to the problem of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) first of all requires improved case detection. Effective tests have been available for a number of years but the results of medical surveys are still mediocre, mainly because the populations are poorly mobilized. Those few mobile teams still visiting villages obtain very low presentation rates. In spite of major information campaigns among villagers, in Côte d'Ivoire the Institut Pierre Richet (IPR) and Trypanosomiasis Clinical Research Project (PRCT) teams examined only 42% (9311) of the 22,300 inhabitants of a disease focus during a conventional ten-day survey. In the same focus, community health workers specially trained in sleeping sickness and in the collection of blood samples on filter-paper examined 73% of the population (15,000 individuals) in less than two months. Implementation of a sleeping sickness control strategy is restricted to two types of intervention: either conventional mobile teams which are on hand, competent and rapidly operational but which fail to carry out exhaustive case detection, or integration of case detection into primary health care by entrusting surveillance to the community health workers. This approach requires a minimum of training but ensures that sentinels are permanently present in the village communities. By using the community health workers rather than mobile teams it should be possible to achieve comprehensive monitoring. In operational terms, the cost of surveillance per person is US$ 0.55 for the mobile teams as against US$ 0.10 for the community health workers. Integration of HAT case detection into primary health care is therefore an effective and economical solution, provided the community health workers are properly supervised and above all motivated. PMID:10191551

Spatial fidelity of workers predicts collective response to disturbance in a social insect.

PubMed

Crall, James D; Gravish, Nick; Mountcastle, Andrew M; Kocher, Sarah D; Oppenheimer, Robert L; Pierce, Naomi E; Combes, Stacey A

2018-04-03

Individuals in social insect colonies cooperate to perform collective work. While colonies often respond to changing environmental conditions by flexibly reallocating workers to different tasks, the factors determining which workers switch and why are not well understood. Here, we use an automated tracking system to continuously monitor nest behavior and foraging activity of uniquely identified workers from entire bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) colonies foraging in a natural outdoor environment. We show that most foraging is performed by a small number of workers and that the intensity and distribution of foraging is actively regulated at the colony level in response to forager removal. By analyzing worker nest behavior before and after forager removal, we show that spatial fidelity of workers within the nest generates uneven interaction with relevant localized information sources, and predicts which workers initiate foraging after disturbance. Our results highlight the importance of spatial fidelity for structuring information flow and regulating collective behavior in social insect colonies.

Community health workers' experiences of mobile device-enabled clinical decision support systems for maternal, newborn and child health in developing countries: a qualitative systematic review protocol.

PubMed

Dzabeng, Francis; Enuameh, Yeetey; Adjei, George; Manu, Grace; Asante, Kwaku Poku; Owusu-Agyei, Seth

2016-09-01

The objective of this review is to synthesize evidence on the experiences of community health workers (CHWs) of mobile device-enabled clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) interventions designed to support maternal newborn and child health (MNCH) in low-and middle-income countries.Specific objectives.

The Role of Qualifications in Foreign Labour Mobility in Australia. Research Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Misko, Josie

2012-01-01

Australia has had a long history of using migrants to fill skill gaps and labour shortages, and continues to target skilled foreign workers for permanent and temporary migration. The purpose of this report is to investigate the role of qualifications in the labour mobility of these foreign workers, especially as those who do not have employer…

Who bears the cost of ‘informal mhealth’? Health-workers’ mobile phone practices and associated political-moral economies of care in Ghana and Malawi

PubMed Central

Hampshire, Kate; Porter, Gina; Mariwah, Simon; Munthali, Alister; Robson, Elsbeth; Owusu, Samuel Asiedu; Abane, Albert; Milner, James

2017-01-01

Abstract Africa’s recent communications ‘revolution’ has generated optimism that using mobile phones for health (mhealth) can help bridge healthcare gaps, particularly for rural, hard-to-reach populations. However, while scale-up of mhealth pilots remains limited, health-workers across the continent possess mobile phones. This article draws on interviews from Ghana and Malawi to ask whether/how health-workers are using their phones informally and with what consequences. Health-workers were found to use personal mobile phones for a wide range of purposes: obtaining help in emergencies; communicating with patients/colleagues; facilitating community-based care, patient monitoring and medication adherence; obtaining clinical advice/information and managing logistics. However, the costs were being borne by the health-workers themselves, particularly by those at the lower echelons, in rural communities, often on minimal stipends/salaries, who are required to ‘care’ even at substantial personal cost. Although there is significant potential for ‘informal mhealth’ to improve (rural) healthcare, there is a risk that the associated moral and political economies of care will reinforce existing socioeconomic and geographic inequalities. PMID:27476501

Spatial distribution of malaria in Peninsular Malaysia from 2000 to 2009.

PubMed

Alias, Haridah; Surin, Johari; Mahmud, Rohela; Shafie, Aziz; Mohd Zin, Junaidden; Mohamad Nor, Mahadzir; Ibrahim, Ahmad Shah; Rundi, Christina

2014-04-15

Malaria is still an endemic disease of public health importance in Malaysia. Populations at risk of contracting malaria includes indigenous people, traditional villagers, mobile ethnic groups and land scheme settlers, immigrants from malaria endemic countries as well as jungle workers and loggers. The predominant species are Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax. An increasing number of P. knowlesi infections have also been encountered. The principal vectors in Peninsular Malaysia are Anopheles maculatus and An. cracens. This study aims to determine the changes in spatial distribution of malaria in Peninsular Malaysia from year 2000-2009. Data for the study was collected from Ministry of Health, Malaysia and was analysed using Geographic Information System (GIS). Changes for a period of 10 years of malaria spatial distribution in 12 states of Peninsular Malaysia were documented and discussed. This is illustrated by digital mapping according to five variables; incidence rate (IR), fatality rate (FR), annual blood examination rate (ABER), annual parasite index (API) and slide positivity rate (SPR). There is a profound change in the spatial distribution of malaria within a 10-year period. This is evident from the digital mapping of the infection in Peninsular Malaysia.

Trends of Occupational Fatalities Involving Machines, United States, 1992–2010

PubMed Central

Marsh, Suzanne M.; Fosbroke, David E.

2016-01-01

Background This paper describes trends of occupational machine-related fatalities from 1992–2010. We examine temporal patterns by worker demographics, machine types (e.g., stationary, mobile), and industries. Methods We analyzed fatalities from Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. We used injury source to identify machine-related incidents and Poisson regression to assess trends over the 19-year period. Results There was an average annual decrease of 2.8% in overall machine-related fatality rates from 1992 through 2010. Mobile machine-related fatality rates decreased an average of 2.6% annually and stationary machine-related rates decreased an average of 3.5% annually. Groups that continued to be at high risk included older workers; self-employed; and workers in agriculture/forestry/fishing, construction, and mining. Conclusion Addressing dangers posed by tractors, excavators, and other mobile machines needs to continue. High-risk worker groups should receive targeted information on machine safety. PMID:26358658

African Immigrants in Low-Wage Direct Health Care: Motivations, Job Satisfaction, and Occupational Mobility.

PubMed

Covington-Ward, Yolanda

2017-06-01

This study explores motivations, job satisfaction, and overall perceived occupational mobility for African immigrants working in low-wage direct health care occupations. The study uses qualitative semi-structured interviews with a sample of thirty African immigrant workers in the greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Results show that four major themes captured the motivations of interviewees for doing direct care work: passion for care work, quick money, easily obtained employment, and direct care work as a pathway to other health occupations. The majority of the interviewees were satisfied with their jobs, yet almost all of them saw their occupations as temporary or transitional employment. Most of the interviewees also saw their jobs as lacking occupational mobility. In light of the increased national demand for direct care workers, the growing numbers of immigrants in the direct care labor force, and the high turnover and low retention rates of direct care workers overall, the study suggests that more must be done to make direct care work attractive and rewarding for African immigrant workers.

[The management of foreign workers in Italy].

PubMed

Iavicoli, Sergio; Valenti, Antonio; Persechino, Benedetta

2011-01-01

Over the last decades, the globalisation and important geopolitical changes have widened the spatial boundaries of international migrations which have reached a so global scope today that they influence the economic, political and social trend of countries of origin, transit and destination. According to the UN, the international labour mobility involved more than 200 million people in 2010, that is approximately 10% of the world's total population. In Italy, in the beginning of 2010 foreign residents amounted to 4.2 million, that is to say, 7% of the total population (ISTAT, 2011). Host countries have been forced to implement a series of policies aimed at combating illegal immigration and employment of foreign people. Special attention must be given to the issue of migrant workers who have become increasingly important actors in the social and productive sectors and, as a consequence, the need for preventive and protective measures taking into consideration the specific work-related hazards is growing more and more urgent. With this respect, the regulatory framework for occupational health and safety now contains explicit references to migrant workers as provided in the Leg. Decree 81/08 with subsequent integrations and modifications. First of all, the issue of occupational health and safety for migrant workers must take into account of the linguistic, social and cultural problems of the different ethnical groups that are present in our country.

EpiCollect: linking smartphones to web applications for epidemiology, ecology and community data collection.

PubMed

Aanensen, David M; Huntley, Derek M; Feil, Edward J; al-Own, Fada'a; Spratt, Brian G

2009-09-16

Epidemiologists and ecologists often collect data in the field and, on returning to their laboratory, enter their data into a database for further analysis. The recent introduction of mobile phones that utilise the open source Android operating system, and which include (among other features) both GPS and Google Maps, provide new opportunities for developing mobile phone applications, which in conjunction with web applications, allow two-way communication between field workers and their project databases. Here we describe a generic framework, consisting of mobile phone software, EpiCollect, and a web application located within www.spatialepidemiology.net. Data collected by multiple field workers can be submitted by phone, together with GPS data, to a common web database and can be displayed and analysed, along with previously collected data, using Google Maps (or Google Earth). Similarly, data from the web database can be requested and displayed on the mobile phone, again using Google Maps. Data filtering options allow the display of data submitted by the individual field workers or, for example, those data within certain values of a measured variable or a time period. Data collection frameworks utilising mobile phones with data submission to and from central databases are widely applicable and can give a field worker similar display and analysis tools on their mobile phone that they would have if viewing the data in their laboratory via the web. We demonstrate their utility for epidemiological data collection and display, and briefly discuss their application in ecological and community data collection. Furthermore, such frameworks offer great potential for recruiting 'citizen scientists' to contribute data easily to central databases through their mobile phone.

Understanding malaria treatment-seeking preferences within the public sector amongst mobile/migrant workers in a malaria elimination scenario: a mixed-methods study.

PubMed

Win, Aung Ye Naung; Maung, Thae Maung; Wai, Khin Thet; Oo, Tin; Thi, Aung; Tipmontree, Rungrawee; Soonthornworasiri, Ngamphol; Kengganpanich, Mondha; Kaewkungwal, Jaranit

2017-11-13

Migration flows and the emerging resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapy in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) create programmatic challenges to meeting the AD 2030 malaria elimination target in Myanmar. The National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) targeted migrant workers based mainly on the stability of their worksites (categories 1: permanent work-setting; categories 2 and 3: less stable work-settings). This study aims to assess the migration patterns, malaria treatment-seeking preferences, and challenges encountered by mobile/migrant workers at remote sites in a malaria-elimination setting. A mixed-methods explanatory sequential study retrospectively analysed the secondary data acquired through migrant mapping surveys (2013-2015) in six endemic regions (n = 9603). A multivariate logistic regression model was used to ascertain the contributing factors. A qualitative strand (2016-2017) was added by conducting five focus-group discussions (n = 50) and five in-depth interviews with migrant workers from less stable worksites in Shwegyin Township, Bago Region. The contiguous approach was used to integrate quantitative and qualitative findings. Among others, migrant workers from Bago Region were significantly more likely to report the duration of stay ≥ 12 months (63% vs. 49%) and high seasonal mobility (40% vs. 35%). Particularly in less stable settings, a very low proportion of migrant workers (17%) preferred to seek malaria treatment from the public sector and was significantly influenced by the worksite stability (adjusted OR = 1.4 and 2.3, respectively for categories 2 and 1); longer duration of stay (adjusted OR = 3.5); and adjusted OR < 2 for received malaria messages, knowledge of malaria symptoms and awareness of means of malaria diagnosis. Qualitative data further elucidated their preference for the informal healthcare sector, due to convenience, trust and good relations, and put migrant workers at risk of substandard care. Moreover, the availability of cheap anti-malarial in unregistered small groceries encouraged self-medication. Infrequent or no contact with rural health centres and voluntary health workers worsened the situation. Mitigating key drivers that favour poor utilization of public-sector services among highly mobile migrant workers in less stable work-settings should be given priority in a malaria-elimination setting. These issues are challenging for the NMCP in Myanmar and might be generalized to other countries in the GMS to achieve malaria-elimination goals. Further innovative out-reach programmes designed and implemented specific to the nature of mobile/migrant workers is crucial.

Going wireless and booth-less for hearing testing in industry.

PubMed

Meinke, Deanna K; Norris, Jesse A; Flynn, Brendan P; Clavier, Odile H

2017-01-01

To assess the test-retest variability of hearing thresholds obtained with an innovative, mobile wireless automated hearing-test system (WAHTS) with enhanced sound attenuation to test industrial workers at a worksite as compared to standardised automated hearing thresholds obtained in a mobile trailer sound booth. A within-subject repeated-measures design was used to compare air-conducted threshold tests (500-8000 Hz) measured with the WAHTS in six workplace locations, and a third test using computer-controlled audiometry obtained in a mobile trailer sound booth. Ambient noise levels were measured in all test environments. Twenty workers served as listeners and 20 workers served as operators. On average, the WAHTS resulted in equivalent thresholds as the mobile trailer audiometry at 1000, 2000, 3000 and 8000 Hz and thresholds were within ±5 dB at 500, 4000 and 6000 Hz. Comparable performance may be obtained with the WAHTS in occupational audiometry and valid thresholds may be obtained in diverse test locations without the use of sound-attenuating enclosures.

Ownership and use of mobile phones among health workers, caregivers of sick children and adult patients in Kenya: cross-sectional national survey

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The rapid growth in mobile phone penetration and use of Short Message Service (SMS) has been seen as a potential solution to improve medical and public health practice in Africa. Several studies have shown effectiveness of SMS interventions to improve health workers’ practices, patients’ adherence to medications and availability of health facility commodities. To inform policy makers about the feasibility of facility-based SMS interventions, the coverage data on mobile phone ownership and SMS use among health workers and patients are needed. Methods In 2012, a national, cross-sectional, cluster sample survey was undertaken at 172 public health facilities in Kenya. Outpatient health workers and caregivers of sick children and adult patients were interviewed. The main outcomes were personal ownership of mobile phones and use of SMS among phone owners. The predictors analysis examined factors influencing phone ownership and SMS use. Results The analysis included 219 health workers and 1,177 patients’ respondents (767 caregivers and 410 adult patients). All health workers possessed personal mobile phones and 98.6% used SMS. Among patients’ respondents, 61.2% owned phones and 71.4% of phone owners used SMS. The phone ownership and SMS use was similar between caregivers of sick children and adult patients. The respondents who were male, more educated, literate and living in urban area were significantly more likely to own the phone and use SMS. The youngest respondents were less likely to own phones, however when the phones were owned, younger age groups were more likely to use SMS. Respondents living in wealthier areas were more likely to own phones; however when phones are owned no significant association between the poverty and SMS use was observed. Conclusions Mobile phone ownership and SMS use is ubiquitous among Kenyan health workers in the public sector. Among patients they serve the coverage in phone ownership and SMS use is lower and disparities exist with respect to gender, age, education, literacy, urbanization and poverty. Some of the disparities on SMS use can be addressed through the modalities of mHealth interventions and enhanced implementation processes while further growth in mobile phone penetration is needed to reduce the ownership gap. PMID:23672301

Uneven Hedging of Economic Risks for a Skilled Workforce: Are Immigrants Disadvantaged?

PubMed Central

Hao, Lingxin; Warkentien, Siri

2015-01-01

Skilled immigration to the United States has been multi-channeled via legislations on permanent and temporary visa programs. This paper argues that skilled immigrants were not disadvantaged during the Great Recession because of a new hedging mechanism, which starts with the federal legislations that admit skilled nonimmigrants, proceeds to vest authority in employers, who perform rigorous screening and selection of temporary workers for future permanency, and ends with greater protection of those selected. To test this mechanism, the paper examines skilled immigrants’ spatial mobility out of the country and their domestic labor market outcomes. The paper presents evidence from analyzing repeated, nationally representative survey data of college graduates in the US using demographic techniques of intra-cohort and inter-cohort analyses. The major findings about the substantial cross-border mobility and high levels of labor force participation among at-entry temporary visa holders who later gained permanent residency provide strong evidence to support our proposed new hedging mechanism. PMID:27605891

Can mobile phones help control neglected tropical diseases? Experiences from Tanzania.

PubMed

Madon, Shirin; Amaguru, Jackline Olanya; Malecela, Mwele Ntuli; Michael, Edwin

2014-02-01

The increasing proliferation of mobiles offers possibilities for improving health systems in developing countries. A case in point is Tanzania which has piloted a mobile phone-based Management Information System (MIS) for the control of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) where village health workers (VHWs) were given mobile phones with web-based software to test the feasibility of using frontline health workers to capture data at point of source. Based on qualitative case study research carried out in 2011, we found that providing mobile phones to VHWs has helped to increase the efficiency of routine work boosting the motivation and self-esteem of VHWs. However, despite these advantages, the information generated from the mobile phone-based NTD MIS has yet to be used to support decentralised decision-making. Even with improved technology and political will, the biggest hindrance to local usage of information for health planning is the lack of synthesised and analysed health information from the district and national levels to the villages. Without inculcating a culture of providing health information feedback to frontline workers and community organisations, the benefits of the intervention will be limited. If not addressed, this will mean that mobiles have maintained the one-way upward flow of information for NTD control and simply made reporting more hi-tech. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rates and Patterns of Professional Mobility in Student Personnel Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherburne, Paul Rogers

1970-01-01

This study piloted the recently developed technique known in business as mobilography." Methods can be adapted to study the mobility among student personnel workers. Greater mobility can be expected within the entrance level. (Author)

Turning workers into false queens- the role of exogenous pheromones in regulating reproduction in worker honey bees.

PubMed

Yusuf, Abdullahi A; Crewe, Robin M; Pirk, Christian W W

2018-05-18

One of the responses that honey bee workers can make in the event of queen loss is to develop into false queens. False queens are workers that exhibit both behavioural and physiological traits similar to those of a true queen. However, the presence of more than one false queen in a colony distorts the established hierarchies. As transformation into a false queen occurs after emergence as an adult, we tested the effect of worker mobile pheromone carriers (PCs) treated with exogenously supplied pheromones on their nestmates. The PCs carried either synthetic mandibular gland pheromones or pheromones extracted from capensis parasitic workers . Only PCs attracted retinues of workers, increased pheromone production, and activated their ovaries becoming false queens. Pheromones from capensis workers were more effective than extracts of commercially available synthetic queen pheromones in eliciting these effects. Using this simple mobile pheromone delivery system, we have shown that, carrying amounts of exogenous pheromone can induce pheromone production in the carrier resulting in the production of false queens within experimental groups. Possible implications of using this technique to modify and regulate worker reproduction in colonies are discussed. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Association Between System Reach and Exposure to Interventions and Characteristics of Mobile Female Sex Workers in Four High HIV Prevalence States in India

PubMed Central

Sharma, Varun; Saggurti, Niranjan; Bharat, Shalini

2015-01-01

Mobility among Female Sex Workers (FSWs) interrupts their demand for, and utilization of, health services under any intervention. Various strategic interventions are meant to provide access to care and reduce the incidence of HIV and other STIs among FSWs. This paper applies a bivariate probit regression analysis to explain the probability of mobile FSWs being reached by the system and being exposed to interventions jointly with a wide variety of characteristics of mobile FSWs in India. The data used are based on a cross-section survey among 5,498 mobile FSWs in 22 districts of four high HIV prevalence states in southern India. A majority of mobile FSWs (59%) were street-based and about 70 percent of them were members of SW organization and nearly half (46%) were highly mobile. The majority of them (90%) had been contacted by outreach workers from any system in the last two years in their current location and 94 percent were exposed to interventions in terms of getting free or subsidized condoms. Bivariate probit analysis revealed that comprehensive interventions are able to reach more vulnerable mobile FSWs effectively, e.g. new entrants, highly mobile, reported STIs, tested for HIV ever and serving a high volume of clients. The results complement the efforts of government and other agencies in response to HIV. However, the results highlight that specific issues related to various subgroups of this highly vulnerable population remain unaddressed calling for tailoring the response to the specific needs of the sub-groups. PMID:25946932

Community Decline as a Generator of "Elite" Mobility: A Gender Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fasick, Frank A.; Dexter, Carolyn R.

Economic decline in a community offering opportunities for higher education was studied as a contributing factor to extensive upward mobility among persons beginning their occupational careers. One process through which mobility into professional occupations by individuals whose fathers were manual workers ("elite" mobility) was documented--the…

Orthostatic symptoms, blood pressure and working postures of factory and service workers over an observed workday.

PubMed

Ngomo, Suzy; Messing, Karen; Perrault, Hélène; Comtois, Alain

2008-11-01

North American workers usually stand while working, and prolonged standing is associated with discomfort and cardiovascular problems. Moving may alleviate the problems, but optimum mobility is unknown. The effects of variations in mobility were explored among (1) 34 health care workers whose symptoms of orthostatic intolerance (OI) were recorded after work; (2) 45 factory and laundry workers. Postures were observed over a workday and blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) of both groups were recorded before and after work. Among health care workers, 65% manifested OI symptoms. In a multiple logistic regression, presence of >or= 1 symptom of OI was associated with static postures and being female (p=0.001). More static standing was associated with a larger drop in BP (p=0.04) in both populations. The results suggest that more static standing postures are associated with OI and musculoskeletal symptoms and with a subclinical drop in BP.

Worker Personality and Its Association with Spatially Structured Division of Labor

PubMed Central

Pamminger, Tobias; Foitzik, Susanne; Kaufmann, Katharina C.; Schützler, Natalie; Menzel, Florian

2014-01-01

Division of labor is a defining characteristic of social insects and fundamental to their ecological success. Many of the numerous tasks essential for the survival of the colony must be performed at a specific location. Consequently, spatial organization is an integral aspect of division of labor. The mechanisms organizing the spatial distribution of workers, separating inside and outside workers without central control, is an essential, but so far neglected aspect of division of labor. In this study, we investigate the behavioral mechanisms governing the spatial distribution of individual workers and its physiological underpinning in the ant Myrmica rubra. By investigating worker personalities we uncover position-associated behavioral syndromes. This context-independent and temporally stable set of correlated behaviors (positive association between movements and attraction towards light) could promote the basic separation between inside (brood tenders) and outside workers (foragers). These position-associated behavior syndromes are coupled with a high probability to perform tasks, located at the defined position, and a characteristic cuticular hydrocarbon profile. We discuss the potentially physiological causes for the observed behavioral syndromes and highlight how the study of animal personalities can provide new insights for the study of division of labor and self-organized processes in general. PMID:24497911

23 CFR 630.1002 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING AND TRAFFIC OPERATIONS PRECONSTRUCTION PROCEDURES Work Zone Safety and Mobility § 630.1002 Purpose. Work zones directly impact the safety and mobility of road users and highway workers. These safety and mobility impacts are exacerbated by an aging...

23 CFR 630.1002 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING AND TRAFFIC OPERATIONS PRECONSTRUCTION PROCEDURES Work Zone Safety and Mobility § 630.1002 Purpose. Work zones directly impact the safety and mobility of road users and highway workers. These safety and mobility impacts are exacerbated by an aging...

23 CFR 630.1002 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING AND TRAFFIC OPERATIONS PRECONSTRUCTION PROCEDURES Work Zone Safety and Mobility § 630.1002 Purpose. Work zones directly impact the safety and mobility of road users and highway workers. These safety and mobility impacts are exacerbated by an aging...

Mobile health (mHealth) approaches and lessons for increased performance and retention of community health workers in low- and middle-income countries: a review.

PubMed

Källander, Karin; Tibenderana, James K; Akpogheneta, Onome J; Strachan, Daniel L; Hill, Zelee; ten Asbroek, Augustinus H A; Conteh, Lesong; Kirkwood, Betty R; Meek, Sylvia R

2013-01-25

Mobile health (mHealth) describes the use of portable electronic devices with software applications to provide health services and manage patient information. With approximately 5 billion mobile phone users globally, opportunities for mobile technologies to play a formal role in health services, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, are increasingly being recognized. mHealth can also support the performance of health care workers by the dissemination of clinical updates, learning materials, and reminders, particularly in underserved rural locations in low- and middle-income countries where community health workers deliver integrated community case management to children sick with diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria. Our aim was to conduct a thematic review of how mHealth projects have approached the intersection of cellular technology and public health in low- and middle-income countries and identify the promising practices and experiences learned, as well as novel and innovative approaches of how mHealth can support community health workers. In this review, 6 themes of mHealth initiatives were examined using information from peer-reviewed journals, websites, and key reports. Primary mHealth technologies reviewed included mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones, patient monitoring devices, and mobile telemedicine devices. We examined how these tools could be used for education and awareness, data access, and for strengthening health information systems. We also considered how mHealth may support patient monitoring, clinical decision making, and tracking of drugs and supplies. Lessons from mHealth trials and studies were summarized, focusing on low- and middle-income countries and community health workers. The review revealed that there are very few formal outcome evaluations of mHealth in low-income countries. Although there is vast documentation of project process evaluations, there are few studies demonstrating an impact on clinical outcomes. There is also a lack of mHealth applications and services operating at scale in low- and middle-income countries. The most commonly documented use of mHealth was 1-way text-message and phone reminders to encourage follow-up appointments, healthy behaviors, and data gathering. Innovative mHealth applications for community health workers include the use of mobile phones as job aides, clinical decision support tools, and for data submission and instant feedback on performance. With partnerships forming between governments, technologists, non-governmental organizations, academia, and industry, there is great potential to improve health services delivery by using mHealth in low- and middle-income countries. As with many other health improvement projects, a key challenge is moving mHealth approaches from pilot projects to national scalable programs while properly engaging health workers and communities in the process. By harnessing the increasing presence of mobile phones among diverse populations, there is promising evidence to suggest that mHealth can be used to deliver increased and enhanced health care services to individuals and communities, while helping to strengthen health systems.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers, covered in protective clothing and breathing apparatus, continue sandblasting on the Mobile Launcher Platform on Launch Pad 39A to remove corrosion before repainting. Routine maintenance includes sandblasting and repainting as preventive means to minimize corrosion.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-09-12

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers, covered in protective clothing and breathing apparatus, continue sandblasting on the Mobile Launcher Platform on Launch Pad 39A to remove corrosion before repainting. Routine maintenance includes sandblasting and repainting as preventive means to minimize corrosion.

Embodied Germ Cell at Work: Building an Expansive Concept of Physical Mobility in Home Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engestrom, Yrjo; Nummijoki, Jaana; Sannino, Annalisa

2012-01-01

This article presents a process of collective formation of a new concept of mobility between home care workers and their elderly clients, who are at risk of losing physical mobility and functional capacity. A new tool called mobility agreement was introduced to facilitate the inclusion of regular mobility exercises in home care visits and in the…

77 FR 13352 - Exxonmobil Chemical Company Films Business Division Including on-Site Leased Workers From...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-06

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-74,325] Exxonmobil Chemical..., applicable to ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Films Business Division, including on-site leased workers from... Chemical Company, Films Business Division. The Department has determined that these workers were...

Nosocomial pathogens associated with the mobile phones of healthcare workers in a hospital in Anyigba, Kogi state, Nigeria.

PubMed

Nwankwo, E O; Ekwunife, N; Mofolorunsho, K C

2014-06-01

Mobile phones of healthcare workers (HCWs) could be colonized by potential bacteria pathogens. The aim of this research is to evaluate the bacterial contamination and antibiotic sensitivity pattern of isolates from mobile phones of HCWs in Grimad hospital. A total of 112 swab samples were collected from the mobile phones of HCWs and students in June 2012 in Anyigba. While 56 samples were from HCWs in Grimad hospital, 56 samples were obtained from non-healthcare workers (NHCWs) who served as the control. The samples were all screened for bacterial pathogens by standard bacteriological procedures. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was done by the disc diffusion technique. The rate of bacterial contamination of mobile phones of HCWs was 94.6%. Bacteria isolated from mobile phones of HCWs were more resistant to antibiotics than NHCWs phones. Staphylococcus Epidermidis (42.9%) was the most frequently isolated bacteria followed by Bacillus spp. (32.1%), Staphylococcus Aureus (25%), Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (19.6%), Escherichia Coli (14.3%), Streptococcus spp. (14.3%), Proteus spp. (12.5%), Klebsiella spp. (7.1%), and Acinetobacter spp. (5.3%). Cotrimoxazole, ampicillin and tetracycline showed high levels of resistance while gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone exhibited encouraging results. The presence of bacteria pathogens associated with nosocomial infection was identified. Transmission of pathogens can be reduced by hand hygiene and regular cleaning of mobile phones. Copyright © 2013 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Healthcare workers mobile phone usage: A potential risk for viral contamination. Surveillance pilot study.

PubMed

Cavari, Yuval; Kaplan, Or; Zander, Aviva; Hazan, Guy; Shemer-Avni, Yonat; Borer, Abraham

2016-01-01

Mobile phones are commonly used by healthcare workers (HCW) in the working environment, as they allow instant communication and endless resource utilisation. Studies suggest that mobile phones have been implicated as reservoirs of bacterial pathogens, with the potential to cause nosocomial infection. This study aimed to investigate the presence of Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Adenovirus and Influenza Virus on HCWs mobile phones and to identify risk factors implied by HCWs practice of mobile phones in a clinical paediatric environment. Fifty HCWs' mobile phones were swabbed over both sides of the mobile phone, for testing of viral contamination during 8 days in January 2015. During the same period, a questionnaire investigating usage of mobile phones was given to 101 HCWs. Ten per cent of sampled phones were contaminated with viral pathogens tested for. A total of 91% of sampled individuals by questionnaire used their mobile phone within the workplace, where 37% used their phone at least every hour. Eighty-nine (88%) responders were aware that mobile phones could be a source of contamination, yet only 13 (13%) disinfect their cell phone regularly. Mobile phones in clinical practice may be contaminated with viral pathogenic viruses. HCWs use their mobile phone regularly while working and, although the majority are aware of contamination, they do not disinfect their phones.

Why Does the Spatial Agglomeration of Firms Benefit Workers? Examining the Role of Organizational Diversity in U.S. Industries and Labor Markets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fullerton, Andrew S.; Villemez, Wayne J.

2011-01-01

Several recent studies across the social sciences show that the spatial agglomeration of employment in a local labor market benefits both firms and workers in terms of better firm performance and higher wages. Drawing from the organizational ecology perspective, we argue that workers receive higher wages in large industrial clusters and urban…

Evidence on feasibility and effective use of mHealth strategies by frontline health workers in developing countries: systematic review*

PubMed Central

Agarwal, Smisha; Perry, Henry B; Long, Lesley-Anne; Labrique, Alain B

2015-01-01

Objectives Given the large-scale adoption and deployment of mobile phones by health services and frontline health workers (FHW), we aimed to review and synthesise the evidence on the feasibility and effectiveness of mobile-based services for healthcare delivery. Methods Five databases – MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health, Google Scholar and Scopus – were systematically searched for relevant peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2013. Data were extracted and synthesised across three themes as follows: feasibility of use of mobile tools by FHWs, training required for adoption of mobile tools and effectiveness of such interventions. Results Forty-two studies were included in this review. With adequate training, FHWs were able to use mobile phones to enhance various aspects of their work activities. Training of FHWs to use mobile phones for healthcare delivery ranged from a few hours to about 1 week. Five key thematic areas for the use of mobile phones by FHWs were identified as follows: data collection and reporting, training and decision support, emergency referrals, work planning through alerts and reminders, and improved supervision of and communication between healthcare workers. Findings suggest that mobile based data collection improves promptness of data collection, reduces error rates and improves data completeness. Two methodologically robust studies suggest that regular access to health information via SMS or mobile-based decision-support systems may improve the adherence of the FHWs to treatment algorithms. The evidence on the effectiveness of the other approaches was largely descriptive and inconclusive. Conclusions Use of mHealth strategies by FHWs might offer some promising approaches to improving healthcare delivery; however, the evidence on the effectiveness of such strategies on healthcare outcomes is insufficient. PMID:25881735

Mobile Device Security: Perspectives of Future Healthcare Workers

PubMed Central

Hewitt, Barbara; Dolezel, Diane; McLeod, Alexander

2017-01-01

Healthcare data breaches on mobile devices continue to increase, yet the healthcare industry has not adopted mobile device security standards. This increase is disturbing because individuals are often accessing patients’ protected health information on personal mobile devices, which could lead to a data breach. This deficiency led the researchers to explore the perceptions of future healthcare workers regarding mobile device security. To determine healthcare students’ perspectives on mobile device security, the investigators designed and distributed a survey based on the Technology Threat Avoidance Theory. Three hundred thirty-five students participated in the survey. The data were analyzed to determine participants’ perceptions about security threats, effectiveness and costs of safeguards, self-efficacy, susceptibility, severity, and their motivation and actions to secure their mobile devices. Awareness of interventions to protect mobile devices was also examined. Results indicate that while future healthcare professionals perceive the severity of threats to their mobile data, they do not feel personally susceptible. Additionally, participants were knowledgeable about security safeguards, but their knowledge of costs and problems related to the adoption of these measures was mixed. These findings indicate that increasing security awareness of healthcare professionals should be a priority. PMID:28566992

Mobile Device Security: Perspectives of Future Healthcare Workers.

PubMed

Hewitt, Barbara; Dolezel, Diane; McLeod, Alexander

2017-01-01

Healthcare data breaches on mobile devices continue to increase, yet the healthcare industry has not adopted mobile device security standards. This increase is disturbing because individuals are often accessing patients' protected health information on personal mobile devices, which could lead to a data breach. This deficiency led the researchers to explore the perceptions of future healthcare workers regarding mobile device security. To determine healthcare students' perspectives on mobile device security, the investigators designed and distributed a survey based on the Technology Threat Avoidance Theory. Three hundred thirty-five students participated in the survey. The data were analyzed to determine participants' perceptions about security threats, effectiveness and costs of safeguards, self-efficacy, susceptibility, severity, and their motivation and actions to secure their mobile devices. Awareness of interventions to protect mobile devices was also examined. Results indicate that while future healthcare professionals perceive the severity of threats to their mobile data, they do not feel personally susceptible. Additionally, participants were knowledgeable about security safeguards, but their knowledge of costs and problems related to the adoption of these measures was mixed. These findings indicate that increasing security awareness of healthcare professionals should be a priority.

Mobility as an Intercultural Training Agenda: An Awareness-Raising Programme for Youth Workers and Educators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davcheva, Leah

2011-01-01

This self-study intercultural learning resource has been created for facilitators of mobility programmes for young people. It helps youth facilitators to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities that face the mobile young people they work with. Users explore the intercultural aspects of the "mobility" phenomenon from…

Mobility for care workers: job changes and wages for nurse aides.

PubMed

Ribas, Vanesa; Dill, Janette S; Cohen, Philip N

2012-12-01

The long-term care industry in the United States faces serious recruitment and retention problems among nurse aides. At the same time, these low-wage workers may feel trapped in poorly-paid jobs from which they would do well to leave. Despite this tension, not enough is known about how workers fare when they leave (or stay in) such care work. Using longitudinal data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation for the years 1996-2003, we examine the relationship between different job and occupational mobility patterns and wage outcomes for nurse aides, focusing on which job transitions offer better opportunities to earn higher wages and on whether job transition patterns differ by race. Our results confirm high turnover among nurse aides, with 73 percent of the sample working in occupations other than nurse aide at some point during the survey time frame. About half of respondents that transition out of nurse aide work move into higher-paying occupations, although the percentage of transitions to higher paying occupations drops to 35 percent when nurse aides that become RNs are excluded. Among black workers especially, wage penalties for moving into other jobs in the low-wage labor market appear to be rather small, likely a factor in high turnover among nurse aides. The findings illustrate the importance of occupation-specific mobility trajectories and their outcomes for different groups of workers, and for understanding the constrained decisions these workers make. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Co-Worker Involvement in Relation to Level of Disability versus Placement Approach among Supported Employees.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rusch, Frank R.; And Others

1990-01-01

A study of co-worker involvement among 264 supported employees found that, of 7 types of involvement, "associating" occurred most often, followed by "evaluating" and "training." Employees in mobile work crews experienced less co-worker involvement than those employed in clustered or individual placements, and more…

Structural Barriers to Antiretroviral Therapy Among Sex Workers Living with HIV: Findings of a Longitudinal Study in Vancouver, Canada

PubMed Central

Goldenberg, Shira M.; Montaner, Julio; Duff, Putu; Nguyen, Paul; Dobrer, Sabina; Guillemi, Silvia; Shannon, Kate

2015-01-01

In light of limited data on structural determinants of access and retention in antiretroviral therapy (ART) among sex workers, we examined structural correlates of ART use among sex workers living with HIV over time. Longitudinal data were drawn from a cohort of 646 female sex workers in Vancouver, Canada (2010–2012) and linked pharmacy records on ART dispensation. We used logistic regression with generalized estimating equations (GEE) to examine correlates of gaps in ART use (i.e., treatment interruptions or delayed ART initiation), among sex workers living with HIV (n=74). Over a 2.5-year period, 37.8% of participants experienced gaps in ART use (i.e., no ART dispensed in a six-month period). In a multivariable GEE model, younger age, migration/mobility, incarceration, and non-injection drug use independently correlated with gaps in ART use. In spite of successes scaling-up ART in British Columbia, younger, mobile, or incarcerated sex workers face persistent gaps in access and retention irrespective of drug use. Community-based, tailored interventions to scale-up entry and retention in ART for sex workers should be further explored in this setting. PMID:26148850

The downward occupational mobility of internationally educated nurses to domestic workers.

PubMed

Salami, Bukola; Nelson, Sioban

2014-06-01

Despite the fact that there is unmet demand for nurses in health services around the world, some nurses migrate to destination countries to work as domestic workers. According to the literature, these nurses experience contradictions in class mobility and are at increased risk of exploitation and abuse. This article presents a critical discussion of the migration of nurses as domestic workers using the concept of 'global care chain'. Although several scholars have used the concept of global care chains to illustrate south to north migration of domestic workers and nurses, there is a paucity of literature on the migration of nurses to destination countries as domestic workers. The migration of nurses to destination countries as domestic workers involves the extraction of reproductive and skilled care labor without adequate compensatory mechanisms to such skilled nurses. Using the case of the Canadian Live-in Caregiver Program, the study illustrates how the global movement of internationally educated nurses as migrant domestic workers reinforces inequities that are structured along the power gradient of gender, class, race, nationality, and ethnicity, especially within an era of global nursing shortage. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

From Awareness to Action: The Community of Sarnia Mobilizes to Protect its Workers from Occupational Disease.

PubMed

Kramer, Desre; McMillan, Keith; Gross, Emily; Kone Pefoyo, Anna J; Bradley, Mike; Holness, Dorothy Linn

2015-11-01

An exploratory qualitative case study investigated how different sectors of a highly industrialized community mobilized in the 1990s to help workers exposed to asbestos. For this study, thirty key informants including representatives from industry, workers, the community, and local politicians participated in semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The analysis was framed by a "Dimensions of Community Change" model. The informants highlighted the importance of raising awareness, and the need for leadership, social and organizational networks, acquiring skills and resources, individual and community power, holding shared values and beliefs, and perseverance. We found that improvements in occupational health and safety came from persistently communicating a clearly defined issue ("asbestos exposure causes cancer") and having an engaged community that collaborated with union leadership. Notable successes included stronger occupational health services, a support group for workers and widows, the fast-tracking of compensation for workers exposed to asbestos, and a reduction in hazardous emissions. © The Author(s) 2015.

Capacity building in the health sector to improve care for child nutrition and development.

PubMed

Yousafzai, Aisha K; Rasheed, Muneera A; Daelmans, Bernadette; Manji, Sheila; Arnold, Caroline; Lingam, Raghu; Muskin, Joshua; Lucas, Jane E

2014-01-01

The effectiveness of interventions promoting healthy child growth and development depends upon the capacity of the health system to deliver a high-quality intervention. However, few health workers are trained in providing integrated early child-development services. Building capacity entails not only training the frontline worker, but also mobilizing knowledge and support to promote early child development across the health system. In this paper, we present the paradigm shift required to build effective partnerships between health workers and families in order to support children's health, growth, and development, the practical skills frontline health workers require to promote optimal caregiving, and the need for knowledge mobilization across multiple institutional levels to support frontline health workers. We present case studies illustrating challenges and success stories around capacity development. There is a need to galvanize increased commitment and resources to building capacity in health systems to deliver early child-development services. © 2014 New York Academy of Sciences.

Worker safety during operations with mobile attenuators.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-05-01

While most transportation agencies are very familiar with truck-mounted attenuators, trailer-mounted : attenuators are increasing in popularity. There is a concern for the level of protection that attenuators : provide for workers when they are mount...

Social Welfare Control in Mobile Crowdsensing Using Zero-Determinant Strategy.

PubMed

Hu, Qin; Wang, Shengling; Bie, Rongfang; Cheng, Xiuzhen

2017-05-03

As a promising paradigm, mobile crowdsensing exerts the potential of widespread sensors embedded in mobile devices. The greedy nature of workers brings the problem of low-quality sensing data, which poses threats to the overall performance of a crowdsensing system. Existing works often tackle this problem with additional function components. In this paper, we systematically formulate the problem into a crowdsensing interaction process between a requestor and a worker, which can be modeled by two types of iterated games with different strategy spaces. Considering that the low-quality data submitted by the workers can reduce the requestor's payoff and further decrease the global income, we turn to controlling the social welfare in the games. To that aim, we take advantage of zero-determinant strategy, based on which we propose two social welfare control mechanisms under both game models. Specifically, we consider the requestor as the controller of the games and, with proper parameter settings for the to-be-adopted zero-determinant strategy, social welfare can be optimized to the desired level no matter what strategy the worker adopts. Simulation results demonstrate that the requestor can achieve the maximized social welfare and keep it stable by using our proposed mechanisms.

Social Welfare Control in Mobile Crowdsensing Using Zero-Determinant Strategy

PubMed Central

Hu, Qin; Wang, Shengling; Bie, Rongfang; Cheng, Xiuzhen

2017-01-01

As a promising paradigm, mobile crowdsensing exerts the potential of widespread sensors embedded in mobile devices. The greedy nature of workers brings the problem of low-quality sensing data, which poses threats to the overall performance of a crowdsensing system. Existing works often tackle this problem with additional function components. In this paper, we systematically formulate the problem into a crowdsensing interaction process between a requestor and a worker, which can be modeled by two types of iterated games with different strategy spaces. Considering that the low-quality data submitted by the workers can reduce the requestor’s payoff and further decrease the global income, we turn to controlling the social welfare in the games. To that aim, we take advantage of zero-determinant strategy, based on which we propose two social welfare control mechanisms under both game models. Specifically, we consider the requestor as the controller of the games and, with proper parameter settings for the to-be-adopted zero-determinant strategy, social welfare can be optimized to the desired level no matter what strategy the worker adopts. Simulation results demonstrate that the requestor can achieve the maximized social welfare and keep it stable by using our proposed mechanisms. PMID:28467370

Mobile phones and sex work in South India: The emerging role of mobile phones in condom use by female sex workers in two Indian states

PubMed Central

Navani-Vazirani, S; Solomon, D; Krishnan, G; Heylen, E; Srikrishnan, AK; Vasudevan, CK; Ekstrand, ML

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine female sex workers’ solicitation of clients using mobile phones and the association between this and condom use with clients. Cross-sectional data were utilised to address the study's aim, drawing on data collected from female sex workers in Calicut, Kerala and Chirala, Andhra Pradesh. Use of mobile phone solicitation was reported by 46.3% (n = 255) of Kerala participants and 78.7% (n = 464) of those in Andhra Pradesh. Kerala participants reporting exclusive solicitation using mobile phones demonstrated 1.67 times higher odds (95% CI: 1.01–2.79) of inconsistent condom use than those reporting non-use of mobile phones for solicitation. However, those reporting exclusive solicitation through mobile phones in Andhra Pradesh reported lower odds of inconsistent condom use (OR: 0.03; 95% CI: 0.01–0.26) than those not using mobile phones for solicitation. Findings indicate that solicitation of clients using mobile phones facilitates or hampers consistency in condom use with clients depending on the context, and how mobile phones are incorporated into solicitation practices. Variations in sex work environments, including economic dependence on sex work or lack thereof may partially account for the different effects found. PMID:25301669

Mobile learning for HIV/AIDS healthcare worker training in resource-limited settings.

PubMed

Zolfo, Maria; Iglesias, David; Kiyan, Carlos; Echevarria, Juan; Fucay, Luis; Llacsahuanga, Ellar; de Waard, Inge; Suàrez, Victor; Llaque, Walter Castillo; Lynen, Lutgarde

2010-09-08

We present an innovative approach to healthcare worker (HCW) training using mobile phones as a personal learning environment.Twenty physicians used individual Smartphones (Nokia N95 and iPhone), each equipped with a portable solar charger. Doctors worked in urban and peri-urban HIV/AIDS clinics in Peru, where almost 70% of the nation's HIV patients in need are on treatment. A set of 3D learning scenarios simulating interactive clinical cases was developed and adapted to the Smartphones for a continuing medical education program lasting 3 months. A mobile educational platform supporting learning events tracked participant learning progress. A discussion forum accessible via mobile connected participants to a group of HIV specialists available for back-up of the medical information. Learning outcomes were verified through mobile quizzes using multiple choice questions at the end of each module. In December 2009, a mid-term evaluation was conducted, targeting both technical feasibility and user satisfaction. It also highlighted user perception of the program and the technical challenges encountered using mobile devices for lifelong learning. With a response rate of 90% (18/20 questionnaires returned), the overall satisfaction of using mobile tools was generally greater for the iPhone. Access to Skype and Facebook, screen/keyboard size, and image quality were cited as more troublesome for the Nokia N95 compared to the iPhone. Training, supervision and clinical mentoring of health workers are the cornerstone of the scaling up process of HIV/AIDS care in resource-limited settings (RLSs). Educational modules on mobile phones can give flexibility to HCWs for accessing learning content anywhere. However lack of softwares interoperability and the high investment cost for the Smartphones' purchase could represent a limitation to the wide spread use of such kind mLearning programs in RLSs.

Mobile Health (mHealth) Approaches and Lessons for Increased Performance and Retention of Community Health Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Review

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Mobile health (mHealth) describes the use of portable electronic devices with software applications to provide health services and manage patient information. With approximately 5 billion mobile phone users globally, opportunities for mobile technologies to play a formal role in health services, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, are increasingly being recognized. mHealth can also support the performance of health care workers by the dissemination of clinical updates, learning materials, and reminders, particularly in underserved rural locations in low- and middle-income countries where community health workers deliver integrated community case management to children sick with diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria. Objective Our aim was to conduct a thematic review of how mHealth projects have approached the intersection of cellular technology and public health in low- and middle-income countries and identify the promising practices and experiences learned, as well as novel and innovative approaches of how mHealth can support community health workers. Methods In this review, 6 themes of mHealth initiatives were examined using information from peer-reviewed journals, websites, and key reports. Primary mHealth technologies reviewed included mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones, patient monitoring devices, and mobile telemedicine devices. We examined how these tools could be used for education and awareness, data access, and for strengthening health information systems. We also considered how mHealth may support patient monitoring, clinical decision making, and tracking of drugs and supplies. Lessons from mHealth trials and studies were summarized, focusing on low- and middle-income countries and community health workers. Results The review revealed that there are very few formal outcome evaluations of mHealth in low-income countries. Although there is vast documentation of project process evaluations, there are few studies demonstrating an impact on clinical outcomes. There is also a lack of mHealth applications and services operating at scale in low- and middle-income countries. The most commonly documented use of mHealth was 1-way text-message and phone reminders to encourage follow-up appointments, healthy behaviors, and data gathering. Innovative mHealth applications for community health workers include the use of mobile phones as job aides, clinical decision support tools, and for data submission and instant feedback on performance. Conclusions With partnerships forming between governments, technologists, non-governmental organizations, academia, and industry, there is great potential to improve health services delivery by using mHealth in low- and middle-income countries. As with many other health improvement projects, a key challenge is moving mHealth approaches from pilot projects to national scalable programs while properly engaging health workers and communities in the process. By harnessing the increasing presence of mobile phones among diverse populations, there is promising evidence to suggest that mHealth can be used to deliver increased and enhanced health care services to individuals and communities, while helping to strengthen health systems. PMID:23353680

The dimensions of mobilities: the spatial relationships between corporeal and digital mobilities.

PubMed

Taipale, Sakari

2014-01-01

The aim of this article is to study how the corporeal and digital mobilities are spatially organised in relation to each other in everyday life. The dimensions of mobilities are modelled by using survey data (N=612) collected from Finland in 2011, Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA). The results show that the combined use of corporeal and digital means of mobility affect the spatial organisation of mobilities only little. The results indicate that young people and students are more likely to benefit from their mobility in networking activities as they are equipped with a larger variety of mobility means than older people and pensioners. Lastly, women and people living in essentially urban areas are more likely to augment their physical travelling practices by using small-sized digital mobilities than men and people living in rural locations. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A comparison of the diminution rates of lead in blood and lead mobilized by CaEDTA after termination of occupational exposure: a long-term observation in two lead workers.

PubMed

Araki, S; Murata, K; Aono, H; Yanagihara, S; Ushio, K

1983-07-01

CaEDTA 20 mg/kg was administered weekly for 3.5 years after termination of occupational exposure to two lead workers. The diminution half-lives for lead in blood and urine lead mobilized by CaEDTA were 4.8 and 3.3 years respectively for subject 1 following 28 years exposure and 3.3 and 2.0 years respectively for subject 2 following 26 years exposure. The difference in the diminution rate between lead in blood and lead mobilized by CaEDTA was significant in subject 2 (p less than 0.05).

Skills on the Move: Rethinking the Relationship Between Human Capital and Immigrant Economic Mobility *

PubMed Central

Hagan, Jacqueline; Lowe, Nichola; Quingla, Christian

2013-01-01

Studies of immigrant labor market incorporation in the unregulated sector of the US economy either assume that immigrant workers are trapped in low-wage jobs because of low human capital, or paint a picture of blocked mobility because of exploitation and discrimination. In this paper we offer a third sociological alternative to understand processes of occupational mobility and skill learning. Drawing on work histories of 111 immigrant construction workers, we find that many immigrants are skilled, having come to their jobs with technical skill sets acquired in their home communities and their previous U.S. jobs. We further find that these less-educated immigrants, who rank low on traditional human capital attributes but high on work experience may circumvent exploitation and build mobility pathways through skill transference, on- the- job reskilling, and brincando (job jumping). PMID:23700356

"Contract to Volunteer": South African Community Health Worker Mobilization for Better Labor Protection.

PubMed

Trafford, Zara; Swartz, Alison; Colvin, Christopher J

2018-02-01

In this paper, we explore the increasing activity around labor rights for South African community health workers (CHWs). Contextualizing this activity within broader policy and legal developments, we track the emergence of sporadic mobilizations for decent work (supported by local health activist organizations) and subsequently, the formation of a CHW union. The National Union of Care Workers of South Africa (NUCWOSA) was inaugurated in 2016, hoping to secure formal and secure employment through government and the consequent labor and occupational health protections. Various tensions were observed during fieldwork in the run up to NUCWOSA's formation and raise important questions about representation, legitimacy, and hierarchies of power. We close by offering suggestions for future research in this developing space.

Texas Labor Mobility, Experimental and Demonstration Project. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas Employment Commission, Austin.

The Texas Labor Mobility Project's purpose was to demonstrate the effectiveness of using financial assistance to create stability in migrant workers and to reduce unemployment. The program was designed as a research project to gather information about all phases of the Mobility Project. This was handled through the Texas Employment Commission. In…

Analysis of Co-Worker Involvement in Relation to Level of Disability versus Placement Approach among Supported Employees.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rusch, Frank R.; And Others

The study reported in this paper investigated the type and level of co-worker involvement reported by employment specialists who placed 264 Illinois supported employees individually, in groups, or in mobile work crews, and also investigated the relation of level of disability to type of placement. The study found that co-workers associate with…

Cardiovascular Disease Screening By Community Health Workers Can Be Cost-Effective In Low-Resource Countries.

PubMed

Gaziano, Thomas; Abrahams-Gessel, Shafika; Surka, Sam; Sy, Stephen; Pandya, Ankur; Denman, Catalina A; Mendoza, Carlos; Puoane, Thandi; Levitt, Naomi S

2015-09-01

In low-resource settings, a physician is not always available. We recently demonstrated that community health workers-instead of physicians or nurses-can efficiently screen adults for cardiovascular disease in South Africa, Mexico, and Guatemala. In this analysis we sought to determine the health and economic impacts of shifting this screening to community health workers equipped with either a paper-based or a mobile phone-based screening tool. We found that screening by community health workers was very cost-effective or even cost-saving in all three countries, compared to the usual clinic-based screening. The mobile application emerged as the most cost-effective strategy because it could save more lives than the paper tool at minimal extra cost. Our modeling indicated that screening by community health workers, combined with improved treatment rates, would increase the number of deaths averted from 15,000 to 110,000, compared to standard care. Policy makers should promote greater acceptance of community health workers by both national populations and health professionals and should increase their commitment to treating cardiovascular disease and making medications available. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Structural Barriers to Antiretroviral Therapy Among Sex Workers Living with HIV: Findings of a Longitudinal Study in Vancouver, Canada.

PubMed

Goldenberg, Shira M; Montaner, Julio; Duff, Putu; Nguyen, Paul; Dobrer, Sabina; Guillemi, Silvia; Shannon, Kate

2016-05-01

In light of limited data on structural determinants of access and retention in antiretroviral therapy (ART) among sex workers, we examined structural correlates of ART use among sex workers living with HIV over time. Longitudinal data were drawn from a cohort of 646 female sex workers in Vancouver, Canada (2010-2012) and linked pharmacy records on ART dispensation. We used logistic regression with generalized estimating equations (GEE) to examine correlates of gaps in ART use (i.e., treatment interruptions or delayed ART initiation), among HIV seropositive participants (n = 74). Over a 2.5-year period, 37.8 % of participants experienced gaps in ART use (i.e., no ART dispensed in a 6-month period). In a multivariable GEE model, younger age, migration/mobility, incarceration, and non-injection drug use independently correlated with gaps in ART use. In spite of successes scaling-up ART in British Columbia, younger, mobile, or incarcerated sex workers face persistent gaps in access and retention irrespective of drug use. Community-based, tailored interventions to scale-up entry and retention in ART for sex workers should be further explored in this setting.

Mobility, Latino Migrants, and the Geography of Sex Work: Using Ethnography in Public Health Assessments.

PubMed

Sangaramoorthy, Thurka; Kroeger, Karen

2013-01-01

Recent studies have documented frequent use of female sex workers among Latino migrant men in the southeastern United States, yet little is known about the context in which sex work takes place, or the women who provide these services. As anthropologists working in applied public health, we use rapid ethnographic assessment as a technical assistance tool to document local understandings of the organization and typology of sex work and patterns of mobility among sex workers and their Latino migrant clients. By incorporating ethnographic methods in traditional public health needs assessments, we were able to highlight the diversity of migrant experiences and better understand the health needs of mobile populations more broadly. We discuss the findings in terms of their practical implications for HIV/STD prevention and call on public health to incorporate the concept of mobility as an organizing principle for the delivery of health care services.

One Message, Many Voices: Mobile Audio Counselling in Health Education.

PubMed

Pimmer, Christoph; Mbvundula, Francis

2018-01-01

Health workers' use of counselling information on their mobile phones for health education is a central but little understood phenomenon in numerous mobile health (mHealth) projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing on empirical data from an interpretive case study in the setting of the Millennium Villages Project in rural Malawi, this research investigates the ways in which community health workers (CHWs) perceive that audio-counselling messages support their health education practice. Three main themes emerged from the analysis: phone-aided audio counselling (1) legitimises the CHWs' use of mobile phones during household visits; (2) helps CHWs to deliver a comprehensive counselling message; (3) supports CHWs in persuading communities to change their health practices. The findings show the complexity and interplay of the multi-faceted, sociocultural, political, and socioemotional meanings associated with audio-counselling use. Practical implications and the demand for further research are discussed.

The Extent and Nature of Fluidity in Typologies of Female Sex Work in Southern India: Implications for HIV Prevention Programs

PubMed Central

Saggurti, Niranjan

2012-01-01

These authors examine the nature and extent of fluidity in defining the typology of female sex work based on the place of solicitation or place of sex or both places together, and whether sex workers belonging to a particular typology are at increased risk of HIV in southern India. Data are drawn from a cross-sectional survey conducted during 2007–2008 among mobile female sex workers (N = 5301) in four Indian states. Findings from this study address an important policy issue: Should programmatic prevention interventions be spread to cover all places of sex work or be focused on a few places that cover a large majority of sex workers? Results indicate that most female sex workers, including those who are usually hard to reach such as those who are mobile or who use homes for soliciting clients or sex, can be reached programmatically multiple times by concentrating on a smaller number of categories, such as street-, lodge-, and brothel-based sex workers. PMID:22745597

Cardiovascular Disease Screening By Community Health Workers Can Be Cost-Effective In Low-Resource Countries

PubMed Central

Gaziano, Thomas; Abrahams-Gessel, Shafika; Surka, Sam; Sy, Stephen; Pandya, Ankur; Denman, Catalina A.; Mendoza, Carlos; Puoane, Thandi; Levitt, Naomi S.

2016-01-01

In low-resource settings, a physician is not always available. We recently demonstrated that community health workers—instead of physicians or nurses—can efficiently screen adults for cardiovascular disease in South Africa, Mexico, and Guatemala. In this analysis we sought to determine the health and economic impacts of shifting this screening to community health workers equipped with either a paper-based or a mobile phone–based screening tool. We found that screening by community health workers was very cost-effective or even cost-saving in all three countries, compared to the usual clinic-based screening. The mobile application emerged as the most cost-effective strategy because it could save more lives than the paper tool at minimal extra cost. Our modeling indicated that screening by community health workers, combined with improved treatment rates, would increase the number of deaths averted from 15,000 to 110,000, compared to standard care. Policy makers should promote greater acceptance of community health workers by both national populations and health professionals and should increase their commitment to treating cardiovascular disease and making medications available. PMID:26355056

Self-Reported Halitosis in relation to Oral Hygiene Practices, Oral Health Status, General Health Problems, and Multifactorial Characteristics among Workers in Ilala and Temeke Municipals, Tanzania

PubMed Central

Mumghamba, E. G.

2017-01-01

Aim. To assess self-reported halitosis, oral hygiene practices, oral health conditions, general health problems, sociodemographic factors, and behavioural and psychological characteristics among workers in Ilala and Temeke municipals. Materials and Methods. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Four hundred workers were recruited using a self-administered structured questionnaire. Results. Self-reported tooth brushing practice was 100%, tongue cleaning 58.5%, dental flossing 4.3%, gum bleeding on tooth brushing 79.3%, presence of hard deposits on teeth 32%, mobile teeth 15.3%, and self-reported halitosis (SRH) 48.5%. Tea users were 95%, coffee users 75.8%, smokers 21%, and alcohol consumers 47%. The SRH was significantly associated with bleeding gums, hard deposits, and mobile and malaligned teeth. Tongue cleaning and regular change of toothbrush were associated with low prevalence of SRH (P < 0.001). Higher occurrence of SRH was significantly related to low education and smoking. Conclusion. Self-reported halitosis was prevalent among workers and was significantly associated with bleeding gums, hard dental deposits, mobile teeth, and smoking. All participants brushed their teeth and cleaned the tongue regularly but use of dental floss was extremely low. Oral health education and health promotion are recommended. PMID:28280509

Self-Reported Halitosis in relation to Oral Hygiene Practices, Oral Health Status, General Health Problems, and Multifactorial Characteristics among Workers in Ilala and Temeke Municipals, Tanzania.

PubMed

Kayombo, C M; Mumghamba, E G

2017-01-01

Aim. To assess self-reported halitosis, oral hygiene practices, oral health conditions, general health problems, sociodemographic factors, and behavioural and psychological characteristics among workers in Ilala and Temeke municipals. Materials and Methods. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Four hundred workers were recruited using a self-administered structured questionnaire. Results. Self-reported tooth brushing practice was 100%, tongue cleaning 58.5%, dental flossing 4.3%, gum bleeding on tooth brushing 79.3%, presence of hard deposits on teeth 32%, mobile teeth 15.3%, and self-reported halitosis (SRH) 48.5%. Tea users were 95%, coffee users 75.8%, smokers 21%, and alcohol consumers 47%. The SRH was significantly associated with bleeding gums, hard deposits, and mobile and malaligned teeth. Tongue cleaning and regular change of toothbrush were associated with low prevalence of SRH ( P < 0.001). Higher occurrence of SRH was significantly related to low education and smoking. Conclusion. Self-reported halitosis was prevalent among workers and was significantly associated with bleeding gums, hard dental deposits, mobile teeth, and smoking. All participants brushed their teeth and cleaned the tongue regularly but use of dental floss was extremely low. Oral health education and health promotion are recommended.

Mobile health data collection at primary health care in Ethiopia: a feasible challenge.

PubMed

Medhanyie, Araya Abrha; Moser, Albine; Spigt, Mark; Yebyo, Henock; Little, Alex; Dinant, GeertJan; Blanco, Roman

2015-01-01

Feasibility assessment of mobile health (mHealth) data collection at primary health care in Ethiopia. A total of 14 health workers were recruited from 12 primary health care facilities to use smartphones, installed with customized data collection application and electronic maternal health care forms for assessing pregnant women's health for 6 months. Qualitative approaches comprising in-depth interviews and field notes were used to document the users' perception and experience in using the application and forms. All health workers had never had previous exposure to smartphones and electronic forms, but they got used to them easily. Over 6 months, all health workers completed a total of 952 patient records using the forms on smartphones. Health workers' acceptability and demand for the application and forms were high. In introducing the application, nontechnical challenges were more difficult to solve than technical challenges. Introducing an mHealth application at primary health care for routine collection of health data relevant to maternal health at a small scale was feasible. Nonetheless, implementing a system of assigning unique and consistent patient identifier, standardization of health services, and improving mobile network coverage would be prerequisites for scaled-up usage of such an application. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Face to Face with Poverty: The Mobile Creches in India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahadevan, Meera

1977-01-01

Outlines India's attempt to bring educational services to the poorest sections of its society. Examines mobile child care centers (creches), nursery and elementary schools, training of creche workers, education of parents, and use of community resources. (JK)

The Problem of Developing Professional Mobility of Teachers in the Works of Foreign Scholars

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pavlenko, Marina

2017-01-01

The article analyzes the positions of foreign and domestic scholars on the problem of developing professional mobility of teachers. It has been stated that today professional mobility is a necessary component of training a skilled worker. It has been indicated that the teacher possesses an appropriate set of competences that provide an opportunity…

Spreading the Load: Mobile Information and Communications Technologies and Their Effect on Information Overload

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, David K.; Shoard, M.

2005-01-01

Introduction: We report on a small-scale research project which examined the impact of mobile technologies on the users' experience of information overload. The project focused on a group of worker who have had relatively little attention in both the mobile technology and information overload literatures: senior managers. Method: The case study…

Economic, Demographic, and Sociological Factors Influencing the Geographic Mobility of Young Workers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Lewis H.

Geographic mobility of the labor force is an adjustment mechanism essential to the maintenance of a growing economy which is undergoing technological change and a rising educational level. This study analyzes the factors which influence mobility decisions to determine whether these choices are made on the basis of rational economic motives. To…

Mobile Student to Mobile Worker: The Role of Universities in the "War for Talent"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Zhen; Lowe, John

2016-01-01

Universities, as part of the neoliberal regime imposed on them, are being co-opted into a "war for talent", in which national economic success is heavily invested. We examine part of this "war" that affects universities directly--the recruitment of "the brightest and the best" internationally mobile students and their…

m-Learning: Positioning Educators for a Mobile, Connected Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters, Kristine

2007-01-01

Mobile learning is variously viewed as a fad, a threat, and an answer to the learning needs of time-poor mobile workers, so does it have a place in delivering mainstream learning? Based on a 2005 comparative research project, commissioned by the Australian Flexible Learning Framework, the paper reports on research into Web-based information…

Organizational Orientations in an Instructional Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tibbles, David; Richmond, Virginia P.; McCroskey, James C.; Weber, Keith

2008-01-01

Research on organizational orientations has determined that workers can be categorized into three groups on the basis of their trait orientations toward working in organizations: "upward mobiles," "indifferents," and "ambivalents." Because workers' organizational orientation is predictive of their success, we reasoned that students' orientation…

Use of mobile phone consultations during home visits by Community Health Workers for maternal and newborn care: community experiences from Masindi and Kiryandongo districts, Uganda.

PubMed

Mangwi Ayiasi, Richard; Atuyambe, Lynn Muhimbuura; Kiguli, Juliet; Garimoi Orach, Christopher; Kolsteren, Patrick; Criel, Bart

2015-06-18

Home visits by Community Health Workers [In Uganda Community Health Workers are given the collective term of Village Health Teams (VHTs). Hereafter referred to as VHTs] is recommended to improve maternal and newborn care. We investigated perceived maternal and newborn benefits of home visits made by VHTs, combined with mobile phone consultations with professional health workers for advice. A qualitative study was conducted in Masindi and Kiryandongo districts, Uganda, in December-2013 to March-2014. Study participants were drawn from the intervention arm of a randomised community-intervention trial. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 prenatal and 16 postnatal women who were visited by VHTs; 5 group discussions and 16 key informant interviews were held with VHTs and 10 Key Informant Interviews with professional health workers. Data were analysed using latent content analysis techniques. Majority women and VHTs contend that the intervention improved access to maternal and newborn information; reduced costs of accessing care and facilitated referral. Women, VHTs and professional health workers acknowledged that the intervention induced attitudinal change among women and VHTs towards adapting recommended maternal and newborn care practices. Mobile phone consultations between VHTs and professional health workers were considered to reinforce VHT knowledge on maternal newborn care and boosted the social status of VHTs in community. A minority of VHTs perceived the implementation of recommended maternal and newborn care practices as difficult. Some professional health workers did not approve of the transfer of promotional maternal and newborn responsibility to VHTs. For a range of reasons, a number of professional health workers were not always available on phone or at the health centre to address VHT concerns. Results suggest that home visits made by VHTs for maternal and newborn care are reasonably well accepted. Our study highlights potential benefits of combining home visits with phone consultations between VHTs and professional health workers. However, the challenge of attitudinal change among VHTs towards certain strongly culturally-embedded behavioural post-partum practices, resistance from part of the professional health workforce to collaborate with VHTs and the problematic availability of professional health workers are important systemic problems that need to be addressed. Current Controlled Trials NCT02084680. Registered 14 March 2014.

The Effect of George Bush's NAFTA on American Workers: Ladder Up or Ladder Down? Briefing Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faux, Jeff; Lee, Thea

The proposed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will result in lower wages, fewer jobs, and generally reduced living standards for the majority of U.S. workers. Substantial costs to the U.S. economy will occur in job and income loss and few off-setting benefits for most workers. Proponents argue that NAFTA will create upward mobility for…

Worker experiences of accessibility in post-Katrina New Orleans.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-06-01

Existing research has identified transportation challenges that low-income workers face, including a : spatial mismatch between suburban entry level-jobs and urban low-income workers. These studies rely on travel : models and secondary data and thus ...

Characterizing exposures to airborne metals and nanoparticle emissions in a refinery.

PubMed

Miller, Arthur; Drake, Pamela L; Hintz, Patrick; Habjan, Matt

2010-07-01

An air quality survey was conducted at a precious metals refinery in order to evaluate worker exposures to airborne metals and to provide detailed characterization of the aerosols. Two areas within the refinery were characterized: a furnace room and an electro-refining area. In line with standard survey practices, both personal and area air filter samples were collected on 37-mm filters and analyzed for metals by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy. In addition to the standard sampling, measurements were conducted using other tools, designed to provide enhanced characterization of the workplace aerosols. The number concentration and number-weighted particle size distribution of airborne particles were measured with a fast mobility particle sizer (FMPS). Custom-designed software was used to correlate particle concentration data with spatial location data to generate contour maps of particle number concentrations in the work areas. Short-term samples were collected in areas of localized high concentrations and analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) to determine particle morphology and elemental chemistry. Analysis of filter samples indicated that all of the workers were exposed to levels of silver above the Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible exposure limit of 0.01 mg m(-3) even though the localized ventilation was functioning. Measurements with the FMPS indicated that particle number concentrations near the furnace increased up to 1000-fold above the baseline during the pouring of molten metal. Spatial mapping revealed localized elevated particle concentrations near the furnaces and plumes of particles rising into the stairwells and traveling to the upper work areas. Results of TEM/EDS analyses confirmed the high number of nanoparticles measured by the FMPS and indicated the aerosols were rich in metals including silver, lead, antimony, selenium, and zinc. Results of the survey were used to deduce appropriate strategies for mitigation of worker exposure to airborne metals.

23 CFR 630.1002 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... mobility of road users and highway workers. These safety and mobility impacts are exacerbated by an aging... prescribes standards for the design, application, installation, and maintenance of traffic control devices for highway and street construction, maintenance operation, and utility work. In addition to the...

Performance factors of mobile rich media job aids for community health workers

PubMed Central

Florez-Arango, Jose F; Dunn, Kim; Zhang, Jiajie

2011-01-01

Objective To study and analyze the possible benefits on performance of community health workers using point-of-care clinical guidelines implemented as interactive rich media job aids on small-format mobile platforms. Design A crossover study with one intervention (rich media job aids) and one control (traditional job aids), two periods, with 50 community health workers, each subject solving a total 15 standardized cases per period per period (30 cases in total per subject). Measurements Error rate per case and task, protocol compliance. Results A total of 1394 cases were evaluated. Intervention reduces errors by an average of 33.15% (p=0.001) and increases protocol compliance 30.18% (p<0.001). Limitations Medical cases were presented on human patient simulators in a laboratory setting, not on real patients. Conclusion These results indicate encouraging prospects for mHealth technologies in general, and the use of rich media clinical guidelines on cell phones in particular, for the improvement of community health worker performance in developing countries. PMID:21292702

Performance factors of mobile rich media job aids for community health workers.

PubMed

Florez-Arango, Jose F; Iyengar, M Sriram; Dunn, Kim; Zhang, Jiajie

2011-01-01

To study and analyze the possible benefits on performance of community health workers using point-of-care clinical guidelines implemented as interactive rich media job aids on small-format mobile platforms. A crossover study with one intervention (rich media job aids) and one control (traditional job aids), two periods, with 50 community health workers, each subject solving a total 15 standardized cases per period per period (30 cases in total per subject). Error rate per case and task, protocol compliance. A total of 1394 cases were evaluated. Intervention reduces errors by an average of 33.15% (p = 0.001) and increases protocol compliance 30.18% (p < 0.001). Limitations Medical cases were presented on human patient simulators in a laboratory setting, not on real patients. These results indicate encouraging prospects for mHealth technologies in general, and the use of rich media clinical guidelines on cell phones in particular, for the improvement of community health worker performance in developing countries.

Mobile learning for HIV/AIDS healthcare worker training in resource-limited settings

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background We present an innovative approach to healthcare worker (HCW) training using mobile phones as a personal learning environment. Twenty physicians used individual Smartphones (Nokia N95 and iPhone), each equipped with a portable solar charger. Doctors worked in urban and peri-urban HIV/AIDS clinics in Peru, where almost 70% of the nation's HIV patients in need are on treatment. A set of 3D learning scenarios simulating interactive clinical cases was developed and adapted to the Smartphones for a continuing medical education program lasting 3 months. A mobile educational platform supporting learning events tracked participant learning progress. A discussion forum accessible via mobile connected participants to a group of HIV specialists available for back-up of the medical information. Learning outcomes were verified through mobile quizzes using multiple choice questions at the end of each module. Methods In December 2009, a mid-term evaluation was conducted, targeting both technical feasibility and user satisfaction. It also highlighted user perception of the program and the technical challenges encountered using mobile devices for lifelong learning. Results With a response rate of 90% (18/20 questionnaires returned), the overall satisfaction of using mobile tools was generally greater for the iPhone. Access to Skype and Facebook, screen/keyboard size, and image quality were cited as more troublesome for the Nokia N95 compared to the iPhone. Conclusions Training, supervision and clinical mentoring of health workers are the cornerstone of the scaling up process of HIV/AIDS care in resource-limited settings (RLSs). Educational modules on mobile phones can give flexibility to HCWs for accessing learning content anywhere. However lack of softwares interoperability and the high investment cost for the Smartphones' purchase could represent a limitation to the wide spread use of such kind mLearning programs in RLSs. PMID:20825677

Respondent-driven sampling on the Thailand-Cambodia border. I. Can malaria cases be contained in mobile migrant workers?

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Reliable information on mobility patterns of migrants is a crucial part of the strategy to contain the spread of artemisinin-resistant malaria parasites in South-East Asia, and may also be helpful to efforts to address other public health problems for migrants and members of host communities. In order to limit the spread of malarial drug resistance, the malaria prevention and control programme will need to devise strategies to reach cross-border and mobile migrant populations. Methodology The Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) method was used to survey migrant workers from Cambodia and Myanmar, both registered and undocumented, in three Thai provinces on the Thailand-Cambodia border in close proximity to areas with documented artemisinin-resistant malaria parasites. 1,719 participants (828 Cambodian and 891 Myanmar migrants) were recruited. Subpopulations of migrant workers were analysed using the Thailand Ministry of Health classification based on length of residence in Thailand of greater than six months (long-term, or M1) or less than six months (short-term, or M2). Key information collected on the structured questionnaire included patterns of mobility and migration, demographic characteristics, treatment-seeking behaviours, and knowledge, perceptions, and practices about malaria. Results Workers from Cambodia came from provinces across Cambodia, and 22% of Cambodian M1 and 72% of Cambodian M2 migrants had been in Cambodia in the last three months. Less than 6% returned with a frequency of greater than once per month. Of migrants from Cambodia, 32% of M1 and 68% of M2 were planning to return, and named provinces across Cambodia as their likely next destinations. Most workers from Myanmar came from Mon state (86%), had never returned to Myanmar (85%), and only 4% stated plans to return. Conclusion Information on migratory patterns of migrants from Myanmar and Cambodia along the malaria endemic Thailand-Cambodian border within the artemisinin resistance containment zone will help target health interventions, including treatment follow-up and surveillance. PMID:21554744

47 CFR 2.1091 - Radiofrequency radiation exposure evaluation: mobile devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...: mobile devices. 2.1091 Section 2.1091 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL... workers that can be easily re-located, such as wireless devices associated with a personal computer, are... that operate in the Cellular Radiotelephone Service, the Personal Communications Services, the...

Poland since Martial Law

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-12-01

medical services, professional mobility , job security, and education. These were among the "human rights" on which the socialist system was said to be...economic reform is to mean anything, job uncertainty will supersede full employment. Professional mobility , once an important safety valve against worker

Advanced Manufacturing Training: Mobile Learning Labs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vukich, John C.; Ackerman, Amanda A.

2010-01-01

Across Colorado, manufacturing employers forecast an on-going need not only for workers who are interested in career opportunities but who are prepared to enter the advanced manufacturing industry with the necessary high-tech skills. Additionally, employers report concerns about replacing retiring workers that take with them decades of…

Cell-phone based assistance for waterworks/sewage plant maintenance.

PubMed

Kawada, T; Nakamichi, K; Hisano, N; Kitamura, M; Miyahara, K

2006-01-01

Cell-phones are now incorporating the functions necessary for them to be used as mobile IT devices. In this paper, we present our results of the evaluation of cell-phones as the mobile IT device to assist workers in industrial plants. We use waterworks and sewage plants as examples. By employing techniques to squeeze the SCADA screen on CRT into a small cell-phone LCD, we have made it easier for a plant's field workers to access the information needed for effective maintenance, regardless of location. An idea to link SCADA information and the plant facility information on the cell-phone is also presented. Should an accident or emergency situation arise, these cell-phone-based IT systems can efficiently deliver the latest plant information, thus the worker out in the field can respond to and resolve the emergency.

The Spatial and Career Mobility of China’s Urban and Rural Labor Force*

PubMed Central

Hao, Lingxin; Liang, Yucheng

2017-01-01

This paper provides a comprehensive examination of the spatial and career mobility of China’s labor population. The paper integrates theories on stratification and social change and exploits the innovative design and measurement of the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey to minimize the under-coverage problem of the rural-urban migratory experience. Our analysis provides several fresh findings: (1) at-birth rural household registration (hukou) status leads to a greater probability of spatial mobility and career advancement than at-birth urban hukou status does; (2) education and gender differentiates rural-origin people, increasing the heterogeneity of urban labor and decreasing the heterogeneity of rural labor; (3) hukou policy relaxation favors later cohorts over earlier cohorts; and (4) among demographically comparable people, having experienced spatial mobility is correlated with having career advancement experience. Work organizations are found to be the arena where the two dimensions of mobility can happen jointly. Our findings provide a rich context for understanding the management and organization of Chinese labor. PMID:29129981

The Spatial and Career Mobility of China's Urban and Rural Labor Force.

PubMed

Hao, Lingxin; Liang, Yucheng

2016-03-01

This paper provides a comprehensive examination of the spatial and career mobility of China's labor population. The paper integrates theories on stratification and social change and exploits the innovative design and measurement of the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey to minimize the under-coverage problem of the rural-urban migratory experience. Our analysis provides several fresh findings: (1) at-birth rural household registration (hukou) status leads to a greater probability of spatial mobility and career advancement than at-birth urban hukou status does; (2) education and gender differentiates rural-origin people, increasing the heterogeneity of urban labor and decreasing the heterogeneity of rural labor; (3) hukou policy relaxation favors later cohorts over earlier cohorts; and (4) among demographically comparable people, having experienced spatial mobility is correlated with having career advancement experience. Work organizations are found to be the arena where the two dimensions of mobility can happen jointly. Our findings provide a rich context for understanding the management and organization of Chinese labor.

KSC-08pd1608

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-05-05

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Workers on Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California maneuver the transporter with the Delta II second stage into place. It will be lifted into the mobile service tower and installed on the first stage for launch of the OSTM/Jason-2 spacecraft. The OSTM, or Ocean Topography Mission, on the Jason-2 satellite is a follow-on to Jason-1. It will take oceanographic studies of sea surface height into an operational mode for continued climate forecasting research and science and industrial applications. This satellite altimetry data will help determine ocean circulation, climate change and sea-level rise. OSTM is a joint effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales and the European Meteorological Satellite Organisation. OSTM/Jason-2 will be launched on June 20. Photo credit: NASA

KSC-08pd1611

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-05-05

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Workers on Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California place protective covers over the engine of the Delta II second stage. It will be lifted into the mobile service tower for installation on the first stage for launch of the OSTM/Jason-2 spacecraft. The OSTM, or Ocean Topography Mission, on the Jason-2 satellite is a follow-on to Jason-1. It will take oceanographic studies of sea surface height into an operational mode for continued climate forecasting research and science and industrial applications. This satellite altimetry data will help determine ocean circulation, climate change and sea-level rise. OSTM is a joint effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales and the European Meteorological Satellite Organisation. OSTM/Jason-2 will be launched on June 20. Photo credit: NASA

Alcohol and sexual risk behavior among migrant female sex workers and male workers in districts with high in-migration from four high HIV prevalence states in India.

PubMed

Verma, Ravi K; Saggurti, Niranjan; Singh, Ajay K; Swain, Suvakanta N

2010-08-01

This paper examines the association between alcohol use and sexual risk in two critical migrant populations living within the same geographical areas--migrant men and female sex-workers (FSWs). Data are drawn from two independent surveys of migrant FSWs and male workers in 14 districts of four high HIV prevalent Indian states. In the paper we have examined the independent effects of degree of mobility and alcohol use prior to sex on HIV risk behaviors. Nearly two-thirds of FSWs and a similar proportion of male migrant workers, as well as nine out of ten clients of FSWs consume alcohol. More than half of the FSWs and their clients consumed alcohol prior to sex. The practice of alcohol use prior to sex among both FSWs and their clients has a significant association with inconsistent condom use during paid as well as unpaid sex, and these effects are independent of degree of mobility. The results suggest a need for developing an in-depth understanding of the role of alcohol in accentuating HIV risk particularly among migrant populations who move frequently from one place another.

Governing sex workers in Timor Leste.

PubMed

Harrington, Carol

2011-01-01

This paper argues that international security forces in Timor Leste depend upon civilian partners in HIV/AIDs "knowledge networks" to monitor prostitutes' disease status. These networks produce mobile expertise, techniques of government and forms of personhood that facilitate international government of distant populations without overt coercion. HIV/AIDs experts promote techniques of peer education, empowerment and community mobilisation to construct women who sell sex as health conscious sex workers. Such techniques make impoverished women responsible for their disease status, obscuring the political and economic contexts that produced that status. In the militarised context of Timor Leste, knowledge of the sexual conduct of sub-populations labelled high risk circulates among global HIV/AIDs knowledge networks, confirming their expert status while obscuring the sexual harm produced by military intervention. HIV/AIDs knowledge networks have recently begun to build Timorese sex worker organisations by contracting an Australian sex worker NGO to train a Timorese NGO tasked with building sex worker identity and community. Such efforts fail to address the needs and priorities of the women supposedly empowered. The paper engages theories of global knowledge networks, mobile technologies of government, and governmentality to analyse policy documents, reports, programmes, official statements, speeches, and journalistic accounts regarding prostitution in Timor Leste.

Identification of microorganisms on mobile phones of intensive care unit health care workers and medical students in the tertiary hospital.

PubMed

Kotris, Ivan; Drenjančević, Domagoj; Talapko, Jasminka; Bukovski, Suzana

2017-02-01

Aim To identify and investigate a difference between microorganisms present on intensive care unit (ICU) health care workers' (HCW, doctors, nurses or medical technicians) and medical students' mobile phones as well as to investigate a difference between the frequency and the way of cleaning mobile phones. Methods Fifty swabs were collected from HCWs who work in the ICU (University Hospital Centre Osijek) and 60 swabs from medical students (School of Medicine, University of Osijek). Microorganisms were identified according to standard microbiological methods and biochemical tests to the genus/species level. Results Out of 110 processed mobile phones, mobile phones microorganisms were not detected on 25 (22.7%), 15 (25%) students' and 10 (20%) HCW's mobile phones. No statistically significant difference was found between the number of isolated bacteria between the HCW' and students' mobile phones (p>0.05). Statistically significant difference was found between both HCW and students and frequency of cleaning their mobile phones (p<0.001). A significant difference was also obtained with the way of cleaning mobile phones between HCWs and students (p<0.001). Conclusion The most common isolated microorganisms in both groups were coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) and Staphylococcus aureus. Most HCWs cleaned their mobile phones at least once a week, 35 (52.0%), and most medical students several times per year, 20 (33.3%). HCW clean their mobile phones with alcohol disinfectant in 26 (40.0%) and medical students with dry cloth in 20 (33.3%) cases. Copyright© by the Medical Assotiation of Zenica-Doboj Canton.

Improving the effectiveness of nighttime temporary traffic control warning devices, volume 2 : evaluation of nighttime mobile warning lights.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-11-01

Vehicle-mounted warning lights for nighttime mobile highway operations provide critical protection to workers and the driving : public. Alerting the traveling public of the approaching work activity and providing guidance is vital to maintaining safe...

India: Training Workers to Meet the Challenges of Life.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernau, Curt N.

1982-01-01

Discusses the educational program of the Textile Labour Association of Ahmedabad in India, which is designed to cope with the broad cultural, social, and economic problems facing workers and their families. The program focuses upon individual enrichment, cultural participation, and vocational mobility through the improvement of job skills. (JOW)

Training of Personnel for Programmes in Early Childhood Care and Education in India.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muralidharan, Rajalakshmi

1992-01-01

Describes the early childhood components of India's National Policy on Education (1986), focusing particularly on the training of grassroots level personnel or Anganwadi workers, preschool teachers, creche workers, middle-level personnel, and project officers. Reviews training innovations, including mobile creches, home-based programs,…

Accessing and operating agricultural machinery: Advancements in assistive technology for users with impaired mobility.

PubMed

Ehlers, Shawn G; Field, William E

2018-02-14

This research focused on the advancements made in enabling agricultural workers with impaired mobility to access and operate off-road agricultural machinery. Although not a new concept, technological advancements in remote-controlled lifts, electronic actuators, electric over hydraulic controllers, and various modes of hand controls have advanced significantly, allowing operators with limited mobility to resume a high level of productivity in agricultural-related enterprises. In the United States, approximately 1.7% of the population is living with some form of paralysis or significant mobility impairment. When paired with the 2012 USDA Agriculture Census of 3.2 million farmers, it can be extrapolated that these technologies could impact 54,000 agricultural workers who have encountered disabling injuries or disease, which inhibit their ability to access and operate tractors, combines, and other self-propelled agricultural machines. Advancements in agricultural-specific technologies can allow for many of these individuals to regain the ability to effectively operate machinery once more.

Vulnerabilities and rights of migrant sex workers in Europe.

PubMed

Brussa, Licia; Munk, Veronica

2010-10-01

In recent years, Europe has witnessed a rise in the number of migrant sex workers, in part because of increased mobility for citizens of European Union member states. However, migrant sex workers find themselves in a highly vulnerable position in regard to having their rights respected and accessing HIV prevention services. In this article, based on a presentation at AIDS 2010, Licia Brussa and Veronica Munk outline the current situation of migrant sex workers in Europe and the steps that need to be taken to ensure that their rights are respected.

A mobile mapping system for spatial information based on DGPS/EGIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pei, Ling; Wang, Qing; Gu, Juan

2007-11-01

With the rapid developments of mobile device and wireless communication, it brings a new challenge for acquiring the spatial information. A mobile mapping system based on differential global position system (DGPS) integrated with embedded geographic information system (EGIS) is designed. A mobile terminal adapts to various GPS differential environments such as single base mode and network GPS mode like Virtual Reference Station (VRS) and Master- Auxiliary Concept (MAC) by the mobile communication technology. The spatial information collected through DGPS is organized in an EGIS running in the embedded device. A set of mobile terminal in real-time DGPS based on GPRS adopting multithreading technique of serial port in manner of simulating overlapped I/O operating is developed, further more, the GPS message analysis and checkout based on Strategy Pattern for various receivers are included in the process of development. A mobile terminal accesses to the GPS network successfully by NTRIP (Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol) compliance. Finally, the accuracy and reliability of the mobile mapping system are proved by a lot of testing in 9 provinces all over the country.

Mobile Technology for Empowering Health Workers in Underserved Communities: New Approaches to Facilitate the Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases.

PubMed

Stanton, Michelle; Molineux, Andrew; Mackenzie, Charles; Kelly-Hope, Louise

2016-01-01

As global mobile phone penetration increases, direct health information communication from hard-to-reach communities is becoming commonplace. Mobile health (mHealth) tools that enable disease control programs to benefit from this information, while simultaneously empowering community members to take control of their own health, are vital to the goal of universal health care. Our aim was to highlight the development of the Liverpool mHealth Suite (LMS), which has been designed to address this need and improve health services for neglected tropical diseases being targeted for global elimination, such as lymphatic filariasis. The LMS has two main communication approaches-short message service and mobile phone apps-to facilitate real-time mass drug administration (MDA) coverage, reporting patient numbers, managing stock levels of treatment supplies, and exchanging health information to improve the quality of care of those affected. The LMS includes the MeasureSMS-MDA tool to improve drug supplies and MDA coverage rates in real-time (currently being trialed in urban Tanzania); the MeasureSMS-Morbidity tool to map morbidity, including lymphedema and hydrocele cases (initially piloted in rural Malawi and Ghana, then extended to Ethiopia, and scaled up to large urban areas in Bangladesh and Tanzania); the LyMSS-lymphedema management supply system app to improve distribution of treatments (trialed for 6 months in Malawi with positive impacts on health workers and patients); and the HealthFront app to improve education and training (in development with field trials planned). The current success and scale-up of the LMS by many community health workers in rural and urban settings across Africa and Asia highlights the value of this simple and practical suite of tools that empowers local health care workers to contribute to local, national, and global elimination of disease.

On the Process and Consequences of Job Rationing in Oregon's Declining Wood Products Industry. WRDC Discussion Paper No. 4.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Joe B.; And Others

The study of the mobility of the wood products labor force was made in response to a predicted decline in manpower needs for the wood products industry in western Oregon and western Washington. Variables affecting workers' employability and mobility were analyzed to determine the potential in Oregon for mobility within and out of the industry, the…

Unveiling Spatial Epidemiology of HIV with Mobile Phone Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brdar, Sanja; Gavrić, Katarina; Ćulibrk, Dubravko; Crnojević, Vladimir

2016-01-01

An increasing amount of geo-referenced mobile phone data enables the identification of behavioral patterns, habits and movements of people. With this data, we can extract the knowledge potentially useful for many applications including the one tackled in this study - understanding spatial variation of epidemics. We explored the datasets collected by a cell phone service provider and linked them to spatial HIV prevalence rates estimated from publicly available surveys. For that purpose, 224 features were extracted from mobility and connectivity traces and related to the level of HIV epidemic in 50 Ivory Coast departments. By means of regression models, we evaluated predictive ability of extracted features. Several models predicted HIV prevalence that are highly correlated (>0.7) with actual values. Through contribution analysis we identified key elements that correlate with the rate of infections and could serve as a proxy for epidemic monitoring. Our findings indicate that night connectivity and activity, spatial area covered by users and overall migrations are strongly linked to HIV. By visualizing the communication and mobility flows, we strived to explain the spatial structure of epidemics. We discovered that strong ties and hubs in communication and mobility align with HIV hot spots.

Unveiling Spatial Epidemiology of HIV with Mobile Phone Data

PubMed Central

Brdar, Sanja; Gavrić, Katarina; Ćulibrk, Dubravko; Crnojević, Vladimir

2016-01-01

An increasing amount of geo-referenced mobile phone data enables the identification of behavioral patterns, habits and movements of people. With this data, we can extract the knowledge potentially useful for many applications including the one tackled in this study - understanding spatial variation of epidemics. We explored the datasets collected by a cell phone service provider and linked them to spatial HIV prevalence rates estimated from publicly available surveys. For that purpose, 224 features were extracted from mobility and connectivity traces and related to the level of HIV epidemic in 50 Ivory Coast departments. By means of regression models, we evaluated predictive ability of extracted features. Several models predicted HIV prevalence that are highly correlated (>0.7) with actual values. Through contribution analysis we identified key elements that correlate with the rate of infections and could serve as a proxy for epidemic monitoring. Our findings indicate that night connectivity and activity, spatial area covered by users and overall migrations are strongly linked to HIV. By visualizing the communication and mobility flows, we strived to explain the spatial structure of epidemics. We discovered that strong ties and hubs in communication and mobility align with HIV hot spots. PMID:26758042

Spatial effects, sampling errors, and task specialization in the honey bee.

PubMed

Johnson, B R

2010-05-01

Task allocation patterns should depend on the spatial distribution of work within the nest, variation in task demand, and the movement patterns of workers, however, relatively little research has focused on these topics. This study uses a spatially explicit agent based model to determine whether such factors alone can generate biases in task performance at the individual level in the honey bees, Apis mellifera. Specialization (bias in task performance) is shown to result from strong sampling error due to localized task demand, relatively slow moving workers relative to nest size, and strong spatial variation in task demand. To date, specialization has been primarily interpreted with the response threshold concept, which is focused on intrinsic (typically genotypic) differences between workers. Response threshold variation and sampling error due to spatial effects are not mutually exclusive, however, and this study suggests that both contribute to patterns of task bias at the individual level. While spatial effects are strong enough to explain some documented cases of specialization; they are relatively short term and not explanatory for long term cases of specialization. In general, this study suggests that the spatial layout of tasks and fluctuations in their demand must be explicitly controlled for in studies focused on identifying genotypic specialists.

[Selection criteria of mobile lifters in the hospital setting].

PubMed

Ferriero, G; Ottonello, M; Franchignoni, F

2002-01-01

The manual handling of patients with limited mobility represents the major cause of musculoskeletal injury to the spine in paramedical health care workers. Within the hospital, the more complex procedures of patient transfer often require the use of mobile hoists. The aim of this paper is to describe the basic criteria for the selection of such hoists. The main characteristics of a hoist are its stability, the sling attachment, the speed of operation, range of movement of the spreader bar, safety of the operation being performed, patient comfort, the physical effort required on the part of the health care worker, manoeuvrability and simplicity of use. Important organizational-structural features to evaluate include: the type of patient normally present in the unit concerned, the specific movement to be performed, the structural characteristics of the environment, and the work organization of the personnel.

The Structural Invisibility of Outsiders: The Role of Migrant Labour in the Meat-Processing Industry

PubMed Central

Lever, John; Milbourne, Paul

2016-01-01

This article examines the role of migrant workers in meat-processing factories in the UK. Drawing on materials from mixed methods research in a number of case study towns across Wales, we explore the structural and spatial processes that position migrant workers as outsiders. While state policy and immigration controls are often presented as a way of protecting migrant workers from work-based exploitation and ensuring jobs for British workers, our research highlights that the situation ‘on the ground’ is more complex. We argue that ‘self-exploitation’ among the migrant workforce is linked to the strategies of employers and the organisation of work, and that hyper-flexible work patterns have reinforced the spatial and social invisibilities of migrant workers in this sector. While this creates problems for migrant workers, we conclude that it is beneficial to supermarkets looking to supply consumers with the regular supply of cheap food to which they have become accustomed. PMID:28490818

Use of mobile technology-based participatory mapping approaches to geolocate health facility attendees for disease surveillance in low resource settings.

PubMed

Fornace, Kimberly M; Surendra, Henry; Abidin, Tommy Rowel; Reyes, Ralph; Macalinao, Maria L M; Stresman, Gillian; Luchavez, Jennifer; Ahmad, Riris A; Supargiyono, Supargiyono; Espino, Fe; Drakeley, Chris J; Cook, Jackie

2018-06-18

Identifying fine-scale spatial patterns of disease is essential for effective disease control and elimination programmes. In low resource areas without formal addresses, novel strategies are needed to locate residences of individuals attending health facilities in order to efficiently map disease patterns. We aimed to assess the use of Android tablet-based applications containing high resolution maps to geolocate individual residences, whilst comparing the functionality, usability and cost of three software packages designed to collect spatial information. Using Open Data Kit GeoODK, we designed and piloted an electronic questionnaire for rolling cross sectional surveys of health facility attendees as part of a malaria elimination campaign in two predominantly rural sites in the Rizal, Palawan, the Philippines and Kulon Progo Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The majority of health workers were able to use the tablets effectively, including locating participant households on electronic maps. For all households sampled (n = 603), health facility workers were able to retrospectively find the participant household using the Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates and data collected by tablet computers. Median distance between actual house locations and points collected on the tablet was 116 m (IQR 42-368) in Rizal and 493 m (IQR 258-886) in Kulon Progo Regency. Accuracy varied between health facilities and decreased in less populated areas with fewer prominent landmarks. Results demonstrate the utility of this approach to develop real-time high-resolution maps of disease in resource-poor environments. This method provides an attractive approach for quickly obtaining spatial information on individuals presenting at health facilities in resource poor areas where formal addresses are unavailable and internet connectivity is limited. Further research is needed on how to integrate these with other health data management systems and implement in a wider operational context.

[The Mobile Precarity Team: a tool for building relations].

PubMed

Crambert, Geneviève; Puren, Agnès; Bougon, Aude; Quellennec, Patrick

2013-01-01

The Mobile Precarity Team is based in the medical-psychological centre. It works with people in situations of exclusion, in collaboration with social workers, doctors, hospitals, emergency housing centres and social action associations and charities. The main objective is to encourage people to seek medical care.

Ergonomics: safe patient handling and mobility.

PubMed

Hallmark, Beth; Mechan, Patricia; Shores, Lynne

2015-03-01

This article reviews and investigates the issues surrounding ergonomics, with a specific focus on safe patient handling and mobility. The health care worker of today faces many challenges, one of which is related to the safety of patients. Safe patient handling and mobility is on the forefront of the movement to improve patient safety. This article reviews the risks associated with patient handling and mobility, and informs the reader of current evidence-based practice relevant to this area of care. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Participatory mapping of sex trade and enumeration of sex workers using capture-recapture methodology in Diego-Suarez, Madagascar.

PubMed

Kruse, Natalie; Behets, Frieda M-T F; Vaovola, Georgine; Burkhardt, Gillian; Barivelo, Texina; Amida, X; Dallabetta, Gina

2003-08-01

Capture-recapture methodology has been employed to estimate the size of hidden or difficult-to-reach human populations such as sex workers, homeless persons, and intravenous drug users. This study took place in the context of efforts to improve the quality of curative and preventive services for sexually transmitted infections offered to sex workers in Diego-Suarez, Madagascar in partnership with sex workers. The goal of this study was to better understand sex-trading practices, map out sex work sites, and estimate the size of a mobile sex-worker population in Diego-Suarez, Madagascar using methods that can be reproduced in other resource-poor settings. Forty sex workers were trained to function as field researchers. Key informants in designated neighborhoods were identified and interviewed. Basic maps of sex-trade sites were designed by hand. The number of sex workers in Diego-Suarez was estimated using capture-recapture methodology. An educational brochure was used to "capture" sex workers during a first phase, and "recapture" 2 weeks later. Most sex trade was street based and mobile. Capture-recapture methods estimated a total of 2684 sex workers (95% CI: 2588-2780) in Diego-Suarez, or approximately 12% of the 15- to 49-year-old female population in the city. Geographic mapping and capture-recapture proved to be low-cost and relatively easy to use techniques for counting a hard-to-reach population, such as female street-based sex workers. Sex workers can be capable fieldworkers, and their active participation in research concerning sex work should be considered whenever possible. A high proportion of women of reproductive age were found to engage in sex work, indicating that there is an urgent need to scale up sexually transmitted infection and HIV prevention activities targeting sex workers, their sexual partners, and the general population.

Spatial-Temporal Data Collection with Compressive Sensing in Mobile Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Li, Jiayin; Guo, Wenzhong; Chen, Zhonghui; Xiong, Neal

2017-01-01

Compressive sensing (CS) provides an energy-efficient paradigm for data gathering in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However, the existing work on spatial-temporal data gathering using compressive sensing only considers either multi-hop relaying based or multiple random walks based approaches. In this paper, we exploit the mobility pattern for spatial-temporal data collection and propose a novel mobile data gathering scheme by employing the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm with delayed acceptance, an improved random walk algorithm for a mobile collector to collect data from a sensing field. The proposed scheme exploits Kronecker compressive sensing (KCS) for spatial-temporal correlation of sensory data by allowing the mobile collector to gather temporal compressive measurements from a small subset of randomly selected nodes along a random routing path. More importantly, from the theoretical perspective we prove that the equivalent sensing matrix constructed from the proposed scheme for spatial-temporal compressible signal can satisfy the property of KCS models. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can not only significantly reduce communication cost but also improve recovery accuracy for mobile data gathering compared to the other existing schemes. In particular, we also show that the proposed scheme is robust in unreliable wireless environment under various packet losses. All this indicates that the proposed scheme can be an efficient alternative for data gathering application in WSNs. PMID:29117152

Spatial-Temporal Data Collection with Compressive Sensing in Mobile Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Zheng, Haifeng; Li, Jiayin; Feng, Xinxin; Guo, Wenzhong; Chen, Zhonghui; Xiong, Neal

2017-11-08

Compressive sensing (CS) provides an energy-efficient paradigm for data gathering in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However, the existing work on spatial-temporal data gathering using compressive sensing only considers either multi-hop relaying based or multiple random walks based approaches. In this paper, we exploit the mobility pattern for spatial-temporal data collection and propose a novel mobile data gathering scheme by employing the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm with delayed acceptance, an improved random walk algorithm for a mobile collector to collect data from a sensing field. The proposed scheme exploits Kronecker compressive sensing (KCS) for spatial-temporal correlation of sensory data by allowing the mobile collector to gather temporal compressive measurements from a small subset of randomly selected nodes along a random routing path. More importantly, from the theoretical perspective we prove that the equivalent sensing matrix constructed from the proposed scheme for spatial-temporal compressible signal can satisfy the property of KCS models. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can not only significantly reduce communication cost but also improve recovery accuracy for mobile data gathering compared to the other existing schemes. In particular, we also show that the proposed scheme is robust in unreliable wireless environment under various packet losses. All this indicates that the proposed scheme can be an efficient alternative for data gathering application in WSNs .

Workers Welding on ML

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-02-24

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Modifications continue on the Mobile Launcher, or ML, at the Mobile Launcher Park Site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A construction worker prepares a metal beam that will be attached to the ML. In 2013, the agency awarded a contract to J.P. Donovan Construction Inc. of Rockledge, Fla., to modify the ML, which is one of the key elements of ground support equipment that is being upgraded by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program office at Kennedy. The ML will carry the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B for its first mission, Exploration Mission 1, in 2017. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

Career Progression Systems for a Multi-Plant Manufacturing Corporation; Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brecher, Charles

The report explores the obstacles to increased occupational mobility for workers at a multiplant manufacturing firm. Analysis of the job histories of workers at two plants found advancement opportunities to be limited and inequitable because narrow departmental units were used as the basis for defining eligibility for promotions. Through the use…

Engineering Commodifiable Workers: Language, Migration and the Governmentality of the Self

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Del Percio, Alfonso

2018-01-01

This article examines the strategies and forms of expertise on language and communication mobilized to engineer commodifiable migrant workers. Drawing on an ethnographic account of counselling practices in a state-run Italian job guidance centre for newly arrived migrants, I examine the calculations, tactics, and forms of expertise on language and…

Digital Doings: Curating Work-Learning Practices and Ecologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Terrie Lynn

2016-01-01

Workers are faced with wider networks of knowledge generation amplified by the scale, diffusion, and critical mass of digital artefacts and web technologies globally. In this study of mobilities of work-learning practices, I draw on sociomaterial theorizing to explore how the work and everyday learning practices of self-employed workers or…

Changing Career Patterns. ERIC Digest No. 219.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Bettina Lankard

The linear career path that once kept people working in the same job is not the standard career route for today's workers. Instead, many workers are now pursuing varied career paths that reflect sequential career changes. Although job mobility no longer carries the stigma once associated with job change, it can still be emotionally stressful. Job…

Feeling good about the iron rice bowl: Economic sector and happiness in post-reform urban China.

PubMed

Wang, Jia; Xie, Yu

2015-09-01

Situated in China's market transition, this study examines the relationship between economic sector and a worker's happiness in post-reform urban China. Using datasets from the Chinese General Social Surveys 2003, 2006 and 2008, we find that workers in the state sector enjoy a subjective premium in well-being - reporting significantly higher levels of happiness than their counterparts in the private sector. We also find that during a period when a large wave of workers moved from the state sector to the private sector, those remaining in the state sector reported being significantly happier than did former state sector workers who had moved, whether the move was voluntary or involuntary. We attribute the higher level of reported happiness in the state sector than in the private sector to the disparity by sector in the provision of social welfare benefits. Those who made voluntary state-to-private moves experienced a trade-off in enjoying higher payoffs while losing job security, whereas involuntary mobiles experienced downward mobility and suffered a long-term psychological penalty. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Qualitative Assessment of the Feasibility, Usability, and Acceptability of a Mobile Client Data App for Community-Based Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Care in Rural Ghana.

PubMed

Rothstein, Jessica D; Jennings, Larissa; Moorthy, Anitha; Yang, Fan; Gee, Lisa; Romano, Karen; Hutchful, David; Labrique, Alain B; LeFevre, Amnesty E

2016-01-01

Mobile phone applications may enhance the delivery of critical health services and the accuracy of health service data. Yet, the opinions and experiences of frontline health workers on using mobile apps to track pregnant and recently delivered women are underreported. This evaluation qualitatively assessed the feasibility, usability, and acceptability of a mobile Client Data App for maternal, neonatal, and child client data management by community health nurses (CHNs) in rural Ghana. The mobile app enabled CHNs to enter, summarize, and query client data. It also sent visit reminders for clients and provided a mechanism to report level of care to district officers. Fourteen interviews and two focus groups with CHNs, midwives, and district health officers were conducted, coded, and thematically analyzed. Results indicated that the app was easily integrated into care, improved CHN productivity, and was acceptable due to its capacity to facilitate client follow-up, data reporting, and decision-making. However, the feasibility and usability of the app were hindered by high client volumes, staff shortages, and software and device challenges. Successful integration of mobile client data apps for frontline health workers in rural and resource-poor settings requires real-time monitoring, program investments, and targeted changes in human resources.

Qualitative Assessment of the Feasibility, Usability, and Acceptability of a Mobile Client Data App for Community-Based Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Care in Rural Ghana

PubMed Central

Jennings, Larissa; Moorthy, Anitha; Yang, Fan; Gee, Lisa; Romano, Karen; Hutchful, David; Labrique, Alain B.; LeFevre, Amnesty E.

2016-01-01

Mobile phone applications may enhance the delivery of critical health services and the accuracy of health service data. Yet, the opinions and experiences of frontline health workers on using mobile apps to track pregnant and recently delivered women are underreported. This evaluation qualitatively assessed the feasibility, usability, and acceptability of a mobile Client Data App for maternal, neonatal, and child client data management by community health nurses (CHNs) in rural Ghana. The mobile app enabled CHNs to enter, summarize, and query client data. It also sent visit reminders for clients and provided a mechanism to report level of care to district officers. Fourteen interviews and two focus groups with CHNs, midwives, and district health officers were conducted, coded, and thematically analyzed. Results indicated that the app was easily integrated into care, improved CHN productivity, and was acceptable due to its capacity to facilitate client follow-up, data reporting, and decision-making. However, the feasibility and usability of the app were hindered by high client volumes, staff shortages, and software and device challenges. Successful integration of mobile client data apps for frontline health workers in rural and resource-poor settings requires real-time monitoring, program investments, and targeted changes in human resources. PMID:28070186

Effects of an internet-based lifestyle intervention on cardio-metabolic risks and stress in Korean workers with metabolic syndrome: a controlled trial.

PubMed

Kim, Chun-Ja; Schlenk, Elizabeth A; Kang, Se-Won; Park, Jae-Bum

2015-01-01

This study examined the effects of an Internet-based Best Exerciser Super Trainer (BEST) program on cardio-metabolic risks and stress among workers with metabolic syndrome. This study utilized a non-randomized, pretest, and posttest, controlled design with a convenience sample of 48 Korean male workers. The workers in the BEST group participated in a 16-week Internet-based program: 150 min of regular physical activity per week, 200- to 300-kcal reduced daily diet for weight control, one-on-one counseling, and mobile phone text messages. Workers in the Education group received text messages and an educational booklet. There were significant group by time interactions in cardio-metabolic risks: body weight (p = .022), visceral fat mass (p = .033), and waist circumference (p = .037). There was no group by time interaction in stress (p > .05); however, the BEST group showed a significantly greater reduction in health-related stress than those in the Education group (p = .025). This study yielded evidence of the beneficial impact of the Internet-based BEST program for workers with metabolic syndrome on selected cardio-metabolic risks and health-related stress. Internet-based one-on-one counseling and mobile phone text messages can assist individuals with targeted lifestyle modifications for metabolic syndrome. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hispanic migrant farm workers' attitudes toward mobile phone-based telehealth for management of chronic health conditions.

PubMed

Price, Matthew; Williamson, Deborah; McCandless, Romina; Mueller, Martina; Gregoski, Mathew; Brunner-Jackson, Brenda; Treiber, Eveline; Davidson, Lydia; Treiber, Frank

2013-03-30

Mobile phone-based interventions present a means of providing high quality health care to hard-to-reach underserved populations. Migrant farm workers (MFWs) are among the most underserved populations in the United States due to a high prevalence of chronic diseases yet limited access to health care. However, it is unknown if MFWs have access to mobile phone devices used in mobile health (mHealth) interventions, or if they are willing to use such technologies. Determine rates of ownership of mobile devices and willingness to use mHealth strategies in MFWs. A demonstration of mHealth devices and a survey were individually administered to 80 Hispanic MFWs to evaluate use of mobile phones and mHealth devices and willingness to use such technologies. Of the 80 participants, 81% (65/80) owned cell phones capable of sending and receiving health-related messages. Most participants (65/80, 81%) were receptive to using mHealth technology and felt it would be helpful in enhancing medication adherence, self-monitoring health conditions, and receiving quicker medication changes from their doctors (median scores ≥4 on 5-point Likert scales). Relations between age and attitudes toward using mHealth were not statistically significant. Hispanic MFWs have access to mobile phones and are willing to use mHealth devices. Future work is needed to comprehensively evaluate the degree to which these devices could be used.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection patterns and risk behaviours in different population groups and provinces in Viet Nam.

PubMed

Tuan, Nguyen Anh; Fylkesnes, Knut; Thang, Bui Duc; Hien, Nguyen Tran; Long, Nguyen Thanh; Kinh, Nguyen Van; Thang, Pham Hong; Manh, Pham Duc; O'Farrell, Nigel

2007-01-01

To study patterns and determinants of HIV prevalence and risk-behaviour characteristics in different population groups in four border provinces of Viet Nam. We surveyed four population groups during April-June 2002. We used stratified random-cluster sampling and collected data concomitantly on HIV status and risk behaviours. The groups included were female sex workers (n = 2023), injecting drug users (n = 1391), unmarried males aged 15-24 years (n = 1885) and different categories of mobile groups (n = 1923). We found marked geographical contrasts in HIV prevalence, particularly among female sex workers (range 0-24%). The HIV prevalence among injecting drug users varied at high levels in all provinces (range 4-36%), whereas lower prevalences were found among both unmarried young men (range 0-1.3%) and mobile groups (range 0-2.5%). All groups reported sex with female sex workers. Less than 40% of the female sex workers had used condoms consistently. The strongest determinants of HIV infection among female sex workers were inconsistent condom use (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 5.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.4-11.8), history of injecting drug use and mobility, and, among injecting drug users, sharing of injection equipment (adjusted OR, 7.3; 95% CI, 2.3-24.0) and sex with non-regular partners (adjusted OR 3.4; 95% CI 1.4-8.5). The finding of marked geographical variation in HIV prevalence underscores the value of understanding local contexts in the prevention of HIV infection. Although lacking support from data from all provinces, there would appear to be a potential for sex work to drive a self-sustaining heterosexual epidemic. That the close links to serious injecting drug use epidemics can have an accelerating effect in increasing the spread of HIV merits further study.

Evaluating Spatial Interaction Models for Regional Mobility in Sub-Saharan Africa

PubMed Central

Wesolowski, Amy; O’Meara, Wendy Prudhomme; Eagle, Nathan; Tatem, Andrew J.; Buckee, Caroline O.

2015-01-01

Simple spatial interaction models of human mobility based on physical laws have been used extensively in the social, biological, and physical sciences, and in the study of the human dynamics underlying the spread of disease. Recent analyses of commuting patterns and travel behavior in high-income countries have led to the suggestion that these models are highly generalizable, and as a result, gravity and radiation models have become standard tools for describing population mobility dynamics for infectious disease epidemiology. Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa may not conform to these models, however; physical accessibility, availability of transport, and cost of travel between locations may be variable and severely constrained compared to high-income settings, informal labor movements rather than regular commuting patterns are often the norm, and the rise of mega-cities across the continent has important implications for travel between rural and urban areas. Here, we first review how infectious disease frameworks incorporate human mobility on different spatial scales and use anonymous mobile phone data from nearly 15 million individuals to analyze the spatiotemporal dynamics of the Kenyan population. We find that gravity and radiation models fail in systematic ways to capture human mobility measured by mobile phones; both severely overestimate the spatial spread of travel and perform poorly in rural areas, but each exhibits different characteristic patterns of failure with respect to routes and volumes of travel. Thus, infectious disease frameworks that rely on spatial interaction models are likely to misrepresent population dynamics important for the spread of disease in many African populations. PMID:26158274

Perspectives on the geographic stability and mobility of people in cities

PubMed Central

Hanson, Susan

2005-01-01

A class of questions in the human environment sciences focuses on the relationship between individual or household behavior and local geographic context. Central to these questions is the nature of people's geographic mobility as well as the duration of their locational stability at varying spatial and temporal scales. The problem for researchers is that the processes of mobility/stability are temporally and spatially dynamic and therefore difficult to measure. Whereas time and space are continuous, analysts must select levels of aggregation for both length of time in place and spatial scale of place that fit with the problem in question. Previous work has emphasized mobility and suppressed stability as an analytic category. I focus here on stability and show how analyzing individuals' stability requires also analyzing their mobility. Through an empirical example centered on the relationship between entrepreneurship and place, I demonstrate how a spotlight on stability illuminates a resolution to the measurement problem by highlighting the interdependence between the time and space dimensions of stability/mobility. PMID:16230616

The Role of Sex Work Pay in Moderating the Effect of Mobile Phone Solicitation on Condom Practices: An Analysis of Female Sex Workers in India

PubMed Central

Navani-Vazirani, S; Heylen, E; Deardorff, J; Srikrishnan, AK; Vasudevan, CK; Solomon, D; Ekstrand, ML

2017-01-01

Mobile phones remain a largely untapped resource in the ongoing challenge to address Female Sex Worker (FSW) health, including HIV prevention services, in India. An important step towards designing effective mobile phone-based initiatives for FSWs is clarifying the contextual influences of mobile phone solicitation on sexual risk behavior. In this paper, we extend previously identified associations between mobile phone solicitation and condom practices by examining whether this association is moderated by sex work pay and offer key considerations for future research and implementation. Specifically, we conducted an analysis among 589 Indian FSWs, where FSWs who did not use mobile phones to solicit clients had the lowest mean sex work pay (INR 394/ USD 6.54) compared to FSWs who used both mobile and traditional strategies (INR 563/ USD 9.34). Our analysis indicate low paid FSWs who used mobile phones concurrently with traditional strategies had 2.46 times higher odds of inconsistent condom use compared to low paid FSWs who did not use mobile phones for client solicitation. No such effect was identified among high paid FSWs. These findings also identified group level differences among FSWs reporting different mobile phone solicitation strategies, including violence, client condom use and HIV status. Our results indicate that low pay does moderate the association between mobile phone solicitation and condom practices, but only among a sub-set of low paid FSWs. These findings also demonstrate the utility of classification by different mobile phone solicitation strategies for accurate assessment of sexual risk among mobile phone soliciting FSWs. In turn, this paves the way for novel approaches to utilize mobile phones for FSW HIV prevention. We discuss one such example, a mobile phone-based rapid screening tool for acute HIV infection targeting Indian FSWs. PMID:29202126

The Role of Sex Work Pay in Moderating the Effect of Mobile Phone Solicitation on Condom Practices: An Analysis of Female Sex Workers in India.

PubMed

Navani-Vazirani, S; Heylen, E; Deardorff, J; Srikrishnan, A K; Vasudevan, C K; Solomon, D; Ekstrand, M L

2017-01-01

Mobile phones remain a largely untapped resource in the ongoing challenge to address Female Sex Worker (FSW) health, including HIV prevention services, in India. An important step towards designing effective mobile phone-based initiatives for FSWs is clarifying the contextual influences of mobile phone solicitation on sexual risk behavior. In this paper, we extend previously identified associations between mobile phone solicitation and condom practices by examining whether this association is moderated by sex work pay and offer key considerations for future research and implementation. Specifically, we conducted an analysis among 589 Indian FSWs, where FSWs who did not use mobile phones to solicit clients had the lowest mean sex work pay (INR 394/ USD 6.54) compared to FSWs who used both mobile and traditional strategies (INR 563/ USD 9.34). Our analysis indicate low paid FSWs who used mobile phones concurrently with traditional strategies had 2.46 times higher odds of inconsistent condom use compared to low paid FSWs who did not use mobile phones for client solicitation. No such effect was identified among high paid FSWs. These findings also identified group level differences among FSWs reporting different mobile phone solicitation strategies, including violence, client condom use and HIV status. Our results indicate that low pay does moderate the association between mobile phone solicitation and condom practices, but only among a sub-set of low paid FSWs. These findings also demonstrate the utility of classification by different mobile phone solicitation strategies for accurate assessment of sexual risk among mobile phone soliciting FSWs. In turn, this paves the way for novel approaches to utilize mobile phones for FSW HIV prevention. We discuss one such example, a mobile phone-based rapid screening tool for acute HIV infection targeting Indian FSWs.

Mobile Autonomous Humanoid Assistant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Diftler, M. A.; Ambrose, R. O.; Tyree, K. S.; Goza, S. M.; Huber, E. L.

2004-01-01

A mobile autonomous humanoid robot is assisting human co-workers at the Johnson Space Center with tool handling tasks. This robot combines the upper body of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robonaut system with a Segway(TradeMark) Robotic Mobility Platform yielding a dexterous, maneuverable humanoid perfect for aiding human co-workers in a range of environments. This system uses stereo vision to locate human team mates and tools and a navigation system that uses laser range and vision data to follow humans while avoiding obstacles. Tactile sensors provide information to grasping algorithms for efficient tool exchanges. The autonomous architecture utilizes these pre-programmed skills to form human assistant behaviors. The initial behavior demonstrates a robust capability to assist a human by acquiring a tool from a remotely located individual and then following the human in a cluttered environment with the tool for future use.

Mobility, fitness collection, and the breakdown of cooperation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gelimson, Anatolij; Cremer, Jonas; Frey, Erwin

2013-04-01

The spatial arrangement of individuals is thought to overcome the dilemma of cooperation: When cooperators engage in clusters, they might share the benefit of cooperation while being more protected against noncooperating individuals, who benefit from cooperation but save the cost of cooperation. This is paradigmatically shown by the spatial prisoner's dilemma model. Here, we study this model in one and two spatial dimensions, but explicitly take into account that in biological setups, fitness collection and selection are separated processes occurring mostly on vastly different time scales. This separation is particularly important to understand the impact of mobility on the evolution of cooperation. We find that even small diffusive mobility strongly restricts cooperation since it enables noncooperative individuals to invade cooperative clusters. Thus, in most biological scenarios, where the mobility of competing individuals is an irrefutable fact, the spatial prisoner's dilemma alone cannot explain stable cooperation, but additional mechanisms are necessary for spatial structure to promote the evolution of cooperation. The breakdown of cooperation is analyzed in detail. We confirm the existence of a phase transition, here controlled by mobility and costs, which distinguishes between purely cooperative and noncooperative absorbing states. While in one dimension the model is in the class of the voter model, it belongs to the directed percolation universality class in two dimensions.

KSC-08pd1317

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-04-25

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers on Space Launch Complex 2 prepare to raise the Delta II first stage of the OSTM/Jason-2 spacecraft. Once it is vertical, the first stage will be transferred into the mobile service tower. The OSTM, or Ocean Topography Mission, on the Jason-2 satellite is a follow-on to Jason-1. It will take oceanographic studies of sea surface height into an operational mode for continued climate forecasting research and science and industrial applications. This satellite altimetry data will help determine ocean circulation, climate change and sea-level rise. OSTM is a joint effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales and the European Meteorological Satellite Organisation. OSTM/Jason-2 will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320 from Vandenberg on June 15. Photo credit: NASA/Dan Liberotti

KSC-08pd1318

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-04-25

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers prepare the equipment on Space Launch Complex 2 to raise the Delta II first stage of the OSTM/Jason-2 spacecraft. Once it is vertical, the first stage will be transferred into the mobile service tower. The OSTM, or Ocean Topography Mission, on the Jason-2 satellite is a follow-on to Jason-1. It will take oceanographic studies of sea surface height into an operational mode for continued climate forecasting research and science and industrial applications. This satellite altimetry data will help determine ocean circulation, climate change and sea-level rise. OSTM is a joint effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales and the European Meteorological Satellite Organisation. OSTM/Jason-2 will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320 from Vandenberg on June 15. Photo credit: NASA/Dan Liberotti

KSC-08pd1609

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-05-05

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Workers on Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California prepare to attach a sling crane onto the Delta II second stage. The sling will lift the second stage into the mobile service tower for installation on the first stage for launch of the OSTM/Jason-2 spacecraft. The OSTM, or Ocean Topography Mission, on the Jason-2 satellite is a follow-on to Jason-1. It will take oceanographic studies of sea surface height into an operational mode for continued climate forecasting research and science and industrial applications. This satellite altimetry data will help determine ocean circulation, climate change and sea-level rise. OSTM is a joint effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales and the European Meteorological Satellite Organisation. OSTM/Jason-2 will be launched on June 20. Photo credit: NASA

A pilot study of an mHealth application for healthcare workers: poor uptake despite high reported acceptability at a rural South African community-based MDR-TB treatment program.

PubMed

Chaiyachati, Krisda H; Loveday, Marian; Lorenz, Stephen; Lesh, Neal; Larkan, Lee-Megan; Cinti, Sandro; Friedland, Gerald H; Haberer, Jessica E

2013-01-01

As the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal addresses a growing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) epidemic by shifting care and treatment from trained specialty centers to community hospitals, delivering and monitoring MDR-TB therapy has presented new challenges. In particular, tracking and reporting adverse clinical events have been difficult for mobile healthcare workers (HCWs), trained health professionals who travel daily to patient homes to administer and monitor therapy. We designed and piloted a mobile phone application (Mobilize) for mobile HCWs that electronically standardized the recording and tracking of MDR-TB patients on low-cost, functional phones. We assess the acceptability and feasibility of using Mobilize to record and submit adverse events forms weekly during the intensive phase of MDR-TB therapy and evaluate mobile HCW perceptions throughout the pilot period. All five mobile HCWs at one site were trained and provided with phones. Utilizing a mixed-methods evaluation, mobile HCWs' usage patterns were tracked electronically for seven months and analyzed. Qualitative focus groups and questionnaires were designed to understand the impact of mobile phone technology on the work environment. Mobile HCWs submitted nine of 33 (27%) expected adverse events forms, conflicting with qualitative results in which mobile HCWs stated that Mobilize improved adverse events communication, helped their daily workflow, and could be successfully expanded to other health interventions. When presented with the conflict between their expressed views and actual practice, mobile HCWs cited forgetfulness and believed patients should take more responsibility for their own care. This pilot experience demonstrated poor uptake by HCWs despite positive responses to using mHealth. Though our results should be interpreted cautiously because of the small number of mobile HCWs and MDR-TB patients in this study, we recommend carefully exploring the motivations of HCWs and technologic enhancements prior to scaling new mHealth initiatives in resource poor settings.

SPOKEN-ENGLISH LESSONS FOR SPANISH-SPEAKING MIGRANT FARM WORKERS.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

GOODWIN, SARAH HALL

PLANS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE TO THE 200,000 SPANISH-SPEAKING FARM WORKERS WHO MOVE IN AND OUT OF SOUTH TEXAS INTO MORE THAN 30 STATES MUST TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE PHYSICAL FACTS OF POVERTY, MOBILITY, AND LIVES DISORDERED BY SEASONAL WORK, AS WELL AS PSYCHOLOGICAL HANDICAPS AND EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES. THE FIRST LARGE…

Mathematical models of human mobility of relevance to malaria transmission in Africa.

PubMed

Marshall, John M; Wu, Sean L; Sanchez C, Hector M; Kiware, Samson S; Ndhlovu, Micky; Ouédraogo, André Lin; Touré, Mahamoudou B; Sturrock, Hugh J; Ghani, Azra C; Ferguson, Neil M

2018-05-16

As Africa-wide malaria prevalence declines, an understanding of human movement patterns is essential to inform how best to target interventions. We fitted movement models to trip data from surveys conducted at 3-5 sites throughout each of Mali, Burkina Faso, Zambia and Tanzania. Two models were compared in terms of their ability to predict the observed movement patterns - a gravity model, in which movement rates between pairs of locations increase with population size and decrease with distance, and a radiation model, in which travelers are cumulatively "absorbed" as they move outwards from their origin of travel. The gravity model provided a better fit to the data overall and for travel to large populations, while the radiation model provided a better fit for nearby populations. One strength of the data set was that trips could be categorized according to traveler group - namely, women traveling with children in all survey countries and youth workers in Mali. For gravity models fitted to data specific to these groups, youth workers were found to have a higher travel frequency to large population centers, and women traveling with children a lower frequency. These models may help predict the spatial transmission of malaria parasites and inform strategies to control their spread.

49 CFR 228.5 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... from the requirement to report prior to the report-for-duty time. Camp car means a trailer and/or on-track vehicle, including an outfit, camp, bunk car, or modular home mounted on a flatcar, or any other mobile vehicle or mobile structure used to house or accommodate an employee or MOW worker. An office car...

49 CFR 228.5 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... from the requirement to report prior to the report-for-duty time. Camp car means a trailer and/or on-track vehicle, including an outfit, camp, bunk car, or modular home mounted on a flatcar, or any other mobile vehicle or mobile structure used to house or accommodate an employee or MOW worker. An office car...

Pension Policy for a Mobile Labor Force.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, John A.; And Others

This book analyzes what happens to the pension benefits of workers who quit or are laid off jobs. The first chapter reviews the connection between job mobility and pension portability. Chapter 2 portrays a labor market undergoing changes that often result in reductions in retirement benefits. Chapter 3 describes job change further by examining…

Work and Family in the Virtual Office: Perceived Influences of Mobile Telework.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, E. Jeffrey; And Others

1996-01-01

Explored influences of mobile telework on family life as reported by teleworkers in a large national corporation. Compared this group to office workers within the same company. Teleworkers reported greater work flexibility. Some described positive family influences, whereas others revealed family problems arising from blurred lines between work…

INTERNATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN FACTORS AFFECTING LABOUR MOBILITY.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

SELLIER, F.; ZARKA, C.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL, OCCUPATIONAL, AND INTERFIRM MOBILITY, AND THE FACTORS AFFECTING THESE MOVEMENTS FOR WORKERS IN FRANCE, ITALY, GERMANY, AND SWEDEN IN THE PERIOD SINCE THE SECOND WORLD WAR ARE STUDIED. DATA OBTAINED FROM INDUSTRIAL SURVEYS AND GENERAL CENSUSES WERE USED TO COMPARE THE FOUR COUNTRIES WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH THE UNITED STATES.…

A Framework for Mobile Apps in Colleges and Universities: Data Mining Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Archana; Ranjan, Jayanthi

2016-01-01

The Enterprise mobility communication technology provides easy and quick accessibility to data and information integrated into one single touch point device. This device incorporates or integrates all the processes into small applications or App and thus increases the workforce capability of knowledge workers. "App" which is a small set…

76 FR 5834 - International Business Machines Corporation, Global Technology Services Business Unit, Integrated...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-02

... Expense Team, Payroll, Travel and Mobility Services Team, Working From Various States In the United States... Unit, Integrated Technology Services, Cost and Expense Team, working from various states in the United... reports that workers of the Payroll, Travel, and Mobility Services Team were part of the International...

Temporal and spatial variation in personal ambient temperatures for outdoor working populations in the southeastern USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugg, Margaret M.; Fuhrmann, Christopher M.; Runkle, Jennifer D.

2018-05-01

Excessive ambient temperature exposure can result in significant morbidity and mortality, especially among vulnerable occupational groups like outdoor workers. Average temperatures in the USA are projected to increase in frequency and intensity, placing future worker populations at greater risk for unhealthy levels of exposure. Unlike previous research focused on aggregate-level temperature exposures from in situ weather station data, this study will measure location-based personal ambient temperatures (PAT) at the individual-level by piloting the use of wearable sensor technology. A total of 66 outdoor workers in three geographically and climatologically diverse regions in the Southeast USA were continuously sampled during the workday for a 1-week period throughout July 11 to August 8 2016. Results indicate significant worker variation in temperature exposure within and between study locations; with PAT characterized by less pronounced variability as workers moved between indoor and outdoor environments. Developed land covers, a factor often associated with higher temperatures, were poorly correlated with PAT. Future analysis should focus on a worker's physiological response to PAT and mapping of spatial patterns of PAT for a larger worker population to produce innovative and targeted heat prevention programs.

Spatial distribution of traffic in a cellular mobile data network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linnartz, J. P. M. G.

1987-02-01

The use of integral transforms of the probability density function for the received power to analyze the relation between the spatial distributions of offered and throughout packet traffic in a mobile radio network with Rayleigh fading channels and ALOHA multiple access was assessed. A method to obtain the spatial distribution of throughput traffic from a prescribed spatial distribution of offered traffic is presented. Incoherent and coherent addition of interference signals is considered. The channel behavior for heavy traffic loads is studied. In both the incoherent and coherent case, the spatial distribution of offered traffic required to ensure a prescribed spatially uniform throughput is synthesized numerically.

Using Mobile Monitoring to Assess Spatial Variability in Urban Air Pollution Levels: Opportunities and Challenges (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larson, T.

2010-12-01

Measuring air pollution concentrations from a moving platform is not a new idea. Historically, however, most information on the spatial variability of air pollutants have been derived from fixed site networks operating simultaneously over space. While this approach has obvious advantages from a regulatory perspective, with the increasing need to understand ever finer scales of spatial variability in urban pollution levels, the use of mobile monitoring to supplement fixed site networks has received increasing attention. Here we present examples of the use of this approach: 1) to assess existing fixed-site fine particle networks in Seattle, WA, including the establishment of new fixed-site monitoring locations; 2) to assess the effectiveness of a regulatory intervention, a wood stove burning ban, on the reduction of fine particle levels in the greater Puget Sound region; and 3) to assess spatial variability of both wood smoke and mobile source impacts in both Vancouver, B.C. and Tacoma, WA. Deducing spatial information from the inherently spatio-temporal measurements taken from a mobile platform is an area that deserves further attention. We discuss the use of “fuzzy” points to address the fine-scale spatio-temporal variability in the concentration of mobile source pollutants, specifically to deduce the broader distribution and sources of fine particle soot in the summer in Vancouver, B.C. We also discuss the use of principal component analysis to assess the spatial variability in multivariate, source-related features deduced from simultaneous measurements of light scattering, light absorption and particle-bound PAHs in Tacoma, WA. With increasing miniaturization and decreasing power requirements of air monitoring instruments, the number of simultaneous measurements that can easily be made from a mobile platform is rapidly increasing. Hopefully the methods used to design mobile monitoring experiments for differing purposes, and the methods used to interpret those measurements will keep pace.

Communication: Slow relaxation, spatial mobility gradients, and vitrification in confined films.

PubMed

Mirigian, Stephen; Schweizer, Kenneth S

2014-10-28

Two decades of experimental research indicate that spatial confinement of glass-forming molecular and polymeric liquids results in major changes of their slow dynamics beginning at large confinement distances. A fundamental understanding remains elusive given the generic complexity of activated relaxation in supercooled liquids and the major complications of geometric confinement, interfacial effects, and spatial inhomogeneity. We construct a predictive, quantitative, force-level theory of relaxation in free-standing films for the central question of the nature of the spatial mobility gradient. The key new idea is that vapor interfaces speed up barrier hopping in two distinct, but coupled, ways by reducing near surface local caging constraints and spatially long range collective elastic distortion. Effective vitrification temperatures, dynamic length scales, and mobile layer thicknesses naturally follow. Our results provide a unified basis for central observations of dynamic and pseudo-thermodynamic measurements.

Communication: slow relaxation, spatial mobility gradients, and vitrification in confined films

DOE PAGES

Mirigian, Stephen; Schweizer, Kenneth S.

2014-10-31

Two decades of experimental research indicate that spatial confinement of glass-forming molecular and polymeric liquids results in major changes of their slow dynamics beginning at large confinement distances. A fundamental understanding remains elusive given the generic complexity of activated relaxation in supercooled liquids and the major complications of geometric confinement, interfacial effects, and spatial inhomogeneity. For this research, we construct a predictive, quantitative, force-level theory of relaxation in free-standing films for the central question of the nature of the spatial mobility gradient. The key new idea is that vapor interfaces speed up barrier hopping in two distinct, but coupled, waysmore » by reducing near surface local caging constraints and spatially long range collective elastic distortion. Effective vitrification temperatures, dynamic length scales, and mobile layer thicknesses naturally follow. In conclusion, our results provide a unified basis for central observations of dynamic and pseudo-thermodynamic measurements.« less

An Efficient G-XML Data Management Method using XML Spatial Index for Mobile Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamada, Takashi; Momma, Kei; Seo, Kazuo; Hijikata, Yoshinori; Nishida, Shogo

This paper presents an efficient G-XML data management method for mobile devices. G-XML is XML based encoding for the transport of geographic information. Mobile devices, such as PDA and mobile-phone, performance trail desktop machines, so some techniques are needed for processing G-XML data on mobile devices. In this method, XML-format spatial index file is used to improve an initial display time of G-XML data. This index file contains XML pointer of each feature in G-XML data and classifies these features by multi-dimensional data structures. From the experimental result, we can prove this method speed up about 3-7 times an initial display time of G-XML data on mobile devices.

a Multidisciplinary Analytical Framework for Studying Active Mobility Patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orellana, D.; Hermida, C.; Osorio, P.

2016-06-01

Intermediate cities are urged to change and adapt their mobility systems from a high energy-demanding motorized model to a sustainable low-motorized model. In order to accomplish such a model, city administrations need to better understand active mobility patterns and their links to socio-demographic and cultural aspects of the population. During the last decade, researchers have demonstrated the potential of geo-location technologies and mobile devices to gather massive amounts of data for mobility studies. However, the analysis and interpretation of this data has been carried out by specialized research groups with relatively narrow approaches from different disciplines. Consequently, broader questions remain less explored, mainly those relating to spatial behaviour of individuals and populations with their geographic environment and the motivations and perceptions shaping such behaviour. Understanding sustainable mobility and exploring new research paths require an interdisciplinary approach given the complex nature of mobility systems and their social, economic and environmental impacts. Here, we introduce the elements for a multidisciplinary analytical framework for studying active mobility patterns comprised of three components: a) Methodological, b) Behavioural, and c) Perceptual. We demonstrate the applicability of the framework by analysing mobility patterns of cyclists and pedestrians in an intermediate city integrating a range of techniques, including: GPS tracking, spatial analysis, auto-ethnography, and perceptual mapping. The results demonstrated the existence of non-evident spatial behaviours and how perceptual features affect mobility. This knowledge is useful for developing policies and practices for sustainable mobility planning.

Universal predictability of mobility patterns in cities

PubMed Central

Yan, Xiao-Yong; Zhao, Chen; Fan, Ying; Di, Zengru; Wang, Wen-Xu

2014-01-01

Despite the long history of modelling human mobility, we continue to lack a highly accurate approach with low data requirements for predicting mobility patterns in cities. Here, we present a population-weighted opportunities model without any adjustable parameters to capture the underlying driving force accounting for human mobility patterns at the city scale. We use various mobility data collected from a number of cities with different characteristics to demonstrate the predictive power of our model. We find that insofar as the spatial distribution of population is available, our model offers universal prediction of mobility patterns in good agreement with real observations, including distance distribution, destination travel constraints and flux. By contrast, the models that succeed in modelling mobility patterns in countries are not applicable in cities, which suggests that there is a diversity of human mobility at different spatial scales. Our model has potential applications in many fields relevant to mobility behaviour in cities, without relying on previous mobility measurements. PMID:25232053

Improving Health Worker Adherence to Malaria Treatment Guidelines in Papua New Guinea: Feasibility and Acceptability of a Text Message Reminder Service

PubMed Central

Kurumop, Serah F.; Bullen, Chris; Whittaker, Robyn; Betuela, Inoni; Hetzel, Manuel W.; Pulford, Justin

2013-01-01

The aim of this study is to assess whether a text message reminder service designed to support health worker adherence to a revised malaria treatment protocol is feasible and acceptable in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The study took place in six purposively selected health facilities located in the Eastern Highlands Province (EHP) of PNG. Ten text messages designed to remind participants of key elements of the new NMTP were transmitted to 42 health workers twice over a two week period (two text messages per day, Monday to Friday) via the country’s largest mobile network provider. The feasibility and acceptability of the text message reminder service was assessed by transmission reports, participant diaries and group discussions. Findings indicate that the vast majority of text messages were successfully transmitted, participants’ had regular mobile phone access and that most text messages were read most of the time and were considered both acceptable and clinically useful. Nevertheless, the study found that PNG health workers may tire of the service if the same messages are repeated too many times and that health workers may be reluctant to utilize more comprehensive, yet complementary, resources. In conclusion, a text message reminder service to support health worker adherence to the new malaria treatment protocol is feasible and acceptable in PNG. A rigorous pragmatic, effectiveness trial would be justified on the basis of these findings. PMID:24116122

Assessment of Near-Source Air Pollution at a Fine Spatial Scale Utilizing Mobile Monitoring Approach

EPA Science Inventory

Mobile monitoring is an emerging strategy to characterize spatially and temporally variable air pollution in areas near sources. EPA’s Geospatial Monitoring of Air Pollution (GMAP) vehicle – an all-electric vehicle measuring real-time concentrations of partic...

Enhancing emergency care in low-income countries using mobile technology-based training tools

PubMed Central

Edgcombe, Hilary; Paton, Chris; English, Mike

2016-01-01

In this paper, we discuss the role of mobile technology in developing training tools for health workers, with particular reference to low-income countries (LICs). The global and technological context is outlined, followed by a summary of approaches to using and evaluating mobile technology for learning in healthcare. Finally, recommendations are made for those developing and using such tools, based on current literature and the authors' involvement in the field. PMID:27658948

Usability and Utility of a Mobile Application for Marksmanship Training

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of National Defence, 2015 © Sa Majesté la Reine (en droit du Canada), telle que représentée par le...Empirical Evaluation of the System Usability Scale. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 24(6), 574-594. BenMoussa, C. (2003). Workers on...Behavioral and Social Sciences. Jumisko-Pyykko, S., & Vainio, T. (2011). Framing the Context of Use for Mobile HCI. International Journal of Mobile

Implementing Mobile Phone Solutions for Health in Resource Constrained Areas: Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manda, Tiwonge Davis; Herstad, Jo

This paper presents results from a study on mobile phone use to connect two rural hospitals in Malawi with community health workers (CHWs), the hospitals work with. Mobile phone use at the hospitals has helped reduce the need for face-to-face communication to permit patient information exchange, meetings and appointments scheduling, as well as work coordination. On the other hand mobile phone use has proved paradoxical as it has introduced users to challenges, like recharging of phone batteries, they did not anticipate. The paper highlights use context-centric and solution based opportunities and challenges associated with mobile phone use in rural settings.

HEALTH AND SAFETY ORGANIZING: OCAW’S WORKER-TO-WORKER HEALTH AND SAFETY TRAINING PROGRAM*

PubMed Central

SLATIN, CRAIG

2018-01-01

In 1987, the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers International Union (OCAW) was funded as one of the original eleven awardees of the Superfund Worker Training Program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The OCAW, with the Labor Institute, developed a hazardous waste worker and hazardous materials emergency responder health and safety training program that was specific to its members in the represented industries. A social history is developed to explore a union-led, worker health education intervention. The program sought to develop worker-trainers who would conduct the training, using the Small-Group Activity Method, participate in curriculum development, and ultimately use health and safety training as a vehicle for identifying, developing, and mobilizing health and safety activists among the membership. Although the direction for this effort came from progressive leadership, it arose from the political economy of labor/management relations within specific industrial sectors. PMID:17208754

Mexican Immigration to Southern California: Issues of Job Competition and Worker Mobility. Impacts of Immigration in California.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manson, Donald M.; And Others

Characteristics that would tend to place Mexican immigrants in direct competition with native workers for jobs at the bottom of the wage and skill hierarchy are their numbers, their largely undocumented status, low education and skill levels, and poor English-speaking ability. Using regression analysis, 1980 Census data were analyzed to determine…

Opportunistic mobile air pollution monitoring: A case study with city wardens in Antwerp

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van den Bossche, Joris; Theunis, Jan; Elen, Bart; Peters, Jan; Botteldooren, Dick; De Baets, Bernard

2016-09-01

The goal of this paper is to explore the potential of opportunistic mobile monitoring to map the exposure to air pollution in the urban environment at a high spatial resolution. Opportunistic mobile monitoring makes use of existing mobile infrastructure or people's common daily routines to move measurement devices around. Opportunistic mobile monitoring can also play a crucial role in participatory monitoring campaigns as a typical way to gather data. A case study to measure black carbon was set up in Antwerp, Belgium, with the collaboration of city employees (city wardens). The Antwerp city wardens are outdoors for a large part of the day on surveillance tours by bicycle or on foot, and gathered a total of 393 h of measurements. The data collection is unstructured both in space and time, leading to sampling bias. A temporal adjustment can only partly counteract this bias. Although a high spatial coverage was obtained, there is still a rather large uncertainty on the average concentration levels at a spatial resolution of 50 m due to a limited number of measurements and sampling bias. Despite of this uncertainty, large spatial patterns within the city are clearly captured. This study illustrates the potential of campaigns with unstructured opportunistic mobile monitoring, including participatory monitoring campaigns. The results demonstrate that such an approach can indeed be used to identify broad spatial trends over a wider area, enabling applications including hotspot identification, personal exposure studies, regression mapping, etc. But, they also emphasize the need for repeated measurements and careful processing and interpretation of the data.

Mobility Patterns of Children of Migrant Agricultural Workers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cox, J. Lamarr; And Others

Narrative text, tables, and maps summarize information derived from a random sample of 20% of the Migrant Student Record Transfer System (MSRTS) data base as it existed in June 1976 related to the mobility patterns of migrant children in the contiguous United States and Puerto Rico from January 1975 to April 1976. The data base is a tabulation of…

Assessment of Near-Source Air Pollution at a Fine Spatial Scale Utilizing Mobile Monitoring Approach

EPA Science Inventory

Mobile monitoring is an emerging strategy to characterize spatially and temporally variable air pollution in areas near sources. EPA’s Geospatial Monitoring of Air Pollution (GMAP) vehicle – an all-electric vehicle measuring real-time concentrations of particulate and gaseous po...

Assessment of Near-Source Air Pollution at a Fine Spatial Scale Utilizing a Mobile Monitoring Approach

EPA Science Inventory

Mobile monitoring is an emerging strategy to characterize spatially and temporally variable air pollution in areas near sources. EPA’s Geospatial Monitoring of Air Pollution (GMAP) vehicle – an all-electric vehicle measuring real-time concentrations of particulate and gaseous po...

Assessment of near-source air pollution at a fine spatial scale utilizing a mobile measurement platform approach

EPA Science Inventory

Mobile monitoring is an emerging strategy to characterize spatially and temporally variable air pollution in areas near sources. EPA’s Geospatial Monitoring of Air Pollution (GMAP) vehicle, an all-electric vehicle measuring real-time concentrations of particulate and gaseous poll...

Consistent Condom Use by Female Sex Workers in Kolkata, India: Testing Theories of Economic Insecurity, Behavior Change, Life Course Vulnerability and Empowerment.

PubMed

Fehrenbacher, Anne E; Chowdhury, Debasish; Ghose, Toorjo; Swendeman, Dallas

2016-10-01

Consistent condom use (CCU) is the primary HIV/STI prevention option available to sex workers globally but may be undermined by economic insecurity, life-course vulnerabilities, behavioral factors, disempowerment, or lack of effective interventions. This study examines predictors of CCU in a random household survey of brothel-based female sex workers (n = 200) in two neighborhoods served by Durbar (the Sonagachi Project) in Kolkata, India. Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that CCU was significantly associated with perceived HIV risk, community mobilization participation, working more days in sex work, and higher proportion of occasional clients to regular clients. Exploratory analyses stratifying by economic insecurity indicators (i.e., debt, savings, income, housing security) indicate that perceived HIV risk and community mobilization were only associated with CCU for economically secure FSW. Interventions with FSW must prioritize economic security and access to social protections as economic insecurity may undermine the efficacy of more direct condom use intervention strategies.

A spatial analysis of urban transit accidents assisted by Emergency Mobile Care Services: an analysis of space and time.

PubMed

Mendonça, Marcela Franklin Salvador de; Silva, Amanda Priscila de Santana Cabral; Castro, Claudia Cristina Lima de

2017-01-01

Urban transit accident are a global public health problem. The objective of this study was to describe the profile of the victims and the occurrences of urban transit accidents attended to by emergency mobile care services (Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência- SAMU) in Recife, and their distribution based on spatial analysis. An ecological study, developed through secondary data from emergency mobile care services in Recife, referring to the total number of occurrences of urban transit accidents attended to from January 1 to June 30, 2015. The spatial analysis was performed using the Moran index. Basic support units performed most of the emergency services (89.2%). Among the victims, there was a predominance of males (76.8%) and an age group of 20 - 29 years old (31.5%). Collisions were responsible for 59.9% of the transit accidents, and motorcycles for 61.6% of the accidents among all means of transportation. Friday was the day that showed the highest risk for treatment, and there was a concentration of events between 6:00 am - 8:59am and 6:00pm - 8:59pm. The MoranMap identified critical areas where calls came from traffic accidents during the period analyzed. The records of the mobile service from the spatial analysis are an important source of information for health surveillance. The spatial analysis of urban transit accidents identified regions with a positive spatial correlation, providing subsidies to the logistical planning of emergency mobile care services. This study is groundbreaking in that it offers such information about the region.

The properties of human body phantoms used in calculations of electromagnetic fields exposure by wireless communication handsets or hand-operated industrial devices.

PubMed

Zradziński, Patryk

2013-06-01

According to international guidelines, the assessment of biophysical effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) generated by hand-operated sources needs the evaluation of induced electric field (E(in)) or specific energy absorption rate (SAR) caused by EMF inside a worker's body and is usually done by the numerical simulations with different protocols applied to these two exposure cases. The crucial element of these simulations is the numerical phantom of the human body. Procedures of E(in) and SAR evaluation due to compliance analysis with exposure limits have been defined in Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers standards and International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection guidelines, but a detailed specification of human body phantoms has not been described. An analysis of the properties of over 30 human body numerical phantoms was performed which has been used in recently published investigations related to the assessment of EMF exposure by various sources. The differences in applicability of these phantoms in the evaluation of E(in) and SAR while operating industrial devices and SAR while using mobile communication handsets are discussed. The whole human body numerical phantom dimensions, posture, spatial resolution and electric contact with the ground constitute the key parameters in modeling the exposure related to industrial devices, while modeling the exposure from mobile communication handsets, which needs only to represent the exposed part of the human body nearest to the handset, mainly depends on spatial resolution of the phantom. The specification and standardization of these parameters of numerical human body phantoms are key requirements to achieve comparable and reliable results from numerical simulations carried out for compliance analysis against exposure limits or within the exposure assessment in EMF-related epidemiological studies.

Cognitive functioning is more closely related to real-life mobility than to laboratory-based mobility parameters.

PubMed

Giannouli, Eleftheria; Bock, Otmar; Zijlstra, Wiebren

2018-03-01

Increasing evidence indicates that mobility depends on cognitive resources, but the exact relationships between various cognitive functions and different mobility parameters still need to be investigated. This study examines the hypothesis that cognitive functioning is more closely related to real-life mobility performance than to mobility capacity as measured with standardized laboratory tests. The final sample used for analysis consisted of 66 older adults (72.3 ± 5.6 years). Cognition was assessed by measures of planning (HOTAP test), spatial working memory (Grid-Span test) and visuospatial attention (Attention Window test). Mobility capacity was assessed by an instrumented version of the Timed Up-and-Go test (iTUG). Mobility performance was assessed with smartphones which collected accelerometer and GPS data over one week to determine the spatial extent and temporal duration of real-life activities. Data analyses involved an exploratory factor analysis and correlation analyses. Mobility measures were reduced to four orthogonal factors: the factor 'real-life mobility' correlated significantly with most cognitive measures (between r   =  .229 and r   =  .396); factors representing 'sit-to-stand transition' and 'turn' correlated with fewer cognitive measures (between r   =  .271 and r   =  .315 and between r   =  .210 and r   =  .316, respectively), and the factor representing straight gait correlated with only one cognitive measure ( r   =  .237). Among the cognitive functions tested, visuospatial attention was associated with most mobility measures, executive functions with fewer and spatial working memory with only one mobility measure. Capacity and real-life performance represent different aspects of mobility. Real-life mobility is more closely associated with cognition than mobility capacity, and in our data this association is most pronounced for visuospatial attention. The close link between real-life mobility and visuospatial attention should be considered by interventions targeting mobility in old age.

Augmented reality application utility for aviation maintenance work instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pourcho, John Bryan

Current aviation maintenance work instructions do not display information effectively enough to prevent costly errors and safety concerns. Aircraft are complex assemblies of highly interrelated components that confound troubleshooting and can make the maintenance procedure difficult (Drury & Gramopadhye, 2001). The sophisticated nature of aircraft maintenance necessitates a revolutionized training intervention for aviation maintenance technicians (United States General Accounting Office, 2003). Quite simply, the paper based job task cards fall short of offering rapid access to technical data and the system or component visualization necessary for working on complex integrated aircraft systems. Possible solutions to this problem include upgraded standards for paper based task cards and the use of integrated 3D product definition used on various mobile platforms (Ropp, Thomas, Lee, Broyles, Lewin, Andreychek, & Nicol, 2013). Previous studies have shown that incorporation of 3D graphics in work instructions allow the user to more efficiently and accurately interpret maintenance information (Jackson & Batstone, 2008). For aircraft maintenance workers, the use of mobile 3D model-based task cards could make current paper task card standards obsolete with their ability to deliver relevant, synchronized information to and from the hangar. Unlike previous versions of 3D model-based definition task cards and paper task cards, which are currently used in the maintenance industry, 3D model based definition task cards have the potential to be more mobile and accessible. Utilizing augmented reality applications on mobile devices to seamlessly deliver 3D product definition on mobile devices could increase the efficiency, accuracy, and reduce the mental workload for technicians when performing maintenance tasks (Macchiarella, 2004). This proposal will serve as a literary review of the aviation maintenance industry, the spatial ability of maintenance technicians, and benefits of modern digital hardware to educate, point out gaps in research, and observe possible foundations on which to build the future of aviation maintenance job task cards leading to a the methodology of the proposed study.

Considering risk contexts in explaining the paradoxical HIV increase among female sex workers in Mumbai and Thane, India.

PubMed

Bandewar, Sunita V S; Bharat, Shalini; Kongelf, Anine; Pisal, Hemlata; Collumbien, Martine

2016-01-28

The period 2006-2009 saw intensive scale-up of HIV prevention efforts and an increase in reported safer sex among brothel and street-based sex workers in Mumbai and Thane (Maharashtra, India). Yet during the same period, the prevalence of HIV increased in these groups. A better understanding of sex workers' risk environment is needed to explain this paradox. In this qualitative study we conducted 36 individual interviews, 9 joint interviews, and 10 focus group discussions with people associated with HIV interventions between March and May 2012. Dramatic changes in Mumbai's urban landscape dominated participants' accounts, with dwindling sex worker numbers in traditional brothel areas attributed to urban restructuring. Gentrification and anti-trafficking efforts explained an escalation in police raids. This contributed to dispersal of sex work with the sex-trade management adapting by becoming more hidden and mobile, leading to increased vulnerability. Affordable mobile phone technology enabled independent sex workers to trade in more hidden ways and there was an increased dependence on lovers for support. The risk context has become ever more challenging, with animosity against sex work amplified since the scale up of targeted interventions. Focus on condom use with sex workers inadvertently contributed to the diversification of the sex trade as clients seek out women who are less visible. Sex workers and other marginalised women who sell sex all strictly prioritise anonymity. Power structures in the sex trade continue to pose insurmountable barriers to reaching young and new sex workers. Economic vulnerability shaped women's decisions to compromise on condom use. Surveys monitoring HIV prevalence among 'visible' street and brothel-bases sex workers are increasingly un-representative of all women selling sex and self-reported condom use is no longer a valid measure of risk reduction. Targeted harm reduction programmes with sex workers fail when implemented in complex urban environments that favour abolition. Increased stigmatisation and dispersal of risk can no longer be considered as unexpected. Reaching the increasing proportion of sex workers who intentionally avoid HIV prevention programmes has become the main challenge. Future evaluations need to incorporate building 'dark logic' models to predict potential harms.

Spatial Mismatch: A Third Generation Survey.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eagan, J. Vincent

1999-01-01

The spatial mismatch argument hypothesizes that racial discrimination in the housing market, together with the suburbanization of low skilled jobs, contributes significantly to the high unemployment and/or low wages of inner city minority workers. Surveys recent spatial mismatch literature and discusses policy alternatives, focusing on areas…

Education Matters: Continuity and Change in Attitudes to Education and Social Mobility among the Offspring of Turkish Guest Workers in the Netherlands and Austria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pásztor, Adél

2014-01-01

By comparing the educational situation of second-generation Turks in the Netherlands and Austria, the paper investigates the reasons behind the differential higher educational gains of the descendants of guest workers in the two countries. By relying on in-depth interviews with second-generation Turks, the paper illustrates how ethnic…

Bidding for Brains: Intellectual Property Rights and the International Migration of Knowledge Workers. NBER Working Paper No. 15486

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAusland, Carol; Kuhn, Peter J.

2009-01-01

We introduce international mobility of knowledge workers into a model of Nash equilibrium IPR policy choice among countries. We show that governments have incentives to use IPRs in a bidding war for global talent, resulting in Nash equilibrium IPRs that can be too high, rather than too low, from a global welfare perspective. These incentives…

Going Home: The Influence of Workforce Performance Management Systems on the Decision to Engage in Remote Work Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Kenneth E., Jr.

2011-01-01

Since 1975, the advance of home-based or remote work has been predicted and encouraged (Nilles). Remote work entails the ability of workers to function as productively from distant locations as those workers in face-to-face office environments: e.g. secondary offices, co-workplace offices, mobile workstations, and home. This study will look at the…

Spatial Clustering of Occupational Injuries in Communities

PubMed Central

Friedman, Lee; Chin, Brian; Madigan, Dana

2015-01-01

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

The lid of the container for the Mobile Base System, part of the Canadian arm, is prepared for remov

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

Inside the Space Station Processing Facility, workers prepare to remove the lid of a container holding the Mobile Base System (MBS). The MBS is part of the Canadian Space Agency's Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), which is part of the payload on mission STS-100 to the International Space Station.

Do Stackable Credentials Reinforce Stratification or Promote Upward Mobility? An Analysis of Health Professions Pathways Reform in a Community College Consortium

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giani, Matthew; Fox, Heather Lee

2017-01-01

Career pathways, comprised of stackable credentials and a coherently aligned sequence of programmes of study, are being hailed as an effective means for promoting postsecondary attainment and upward mobility, particularly for low-income and low-skilled adult workers. However, concerns have been raised regarding whether this strategy accomplishes…

Induced Labour Mobility through Continuing Vocational Training: Investigating Its Development and Role in the French Context during the Last Three Decades.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dif, M'Hamed

Introduced in 1971, the French "Continuing Vocational Training (CVT)" system was designed to promote workers'"socio-professional promotion." The contribution of its induced mobility to the fulfillment of this objective has always been considered as one of its key performance indicators. Outcomes of the CVT over the last 3…

Migrant Students Experiencing Homelessness: Rights and Services under the McKinney-Vento Act. McKinney-Vento Law into Practice Brief Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Homeless Education at SERVE, 2012

2012-01-01

Migrant students often face significant educational challenges resulting from a highly mobile lifestyle lived in poverty-level conditions. Many migrant workers move frequently to obtain temporary or seasonal employment in agriculture, fishing, meat processing, or dairy work, leading to high residential and school mobility for their children. With…

Effectiveness of mHealth Interventions Targeting Health Care Workers to Improve Pregnancy Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Amoakoh-Coleman, Mary; Borgstein, Alexander Berend-Jan; Sondaal, Stephanie Fv; Grobbee, Diederick E; Miltenburg, Andrea Solnes; Verwijs, Mirjam; Ansah, Evelyn K; Browne, Joyce L; Klipstein-Grobusch, Kerstin

2016-08-19

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face the highest burden of maternal and neonatal deaths. Concurrently, they have the lowest number of physicians. Innovative methods such as the exchange of health-related information using mobile devices (mHealth) may support health care workers in the provision of antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes in LMICs. We conducted a systematic review evaluating the effectiveness of mHealth interventions targeting health care workers to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes in LMIC. The Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, Global Health Library, and Popline were searched using predetermined search and indexing terms. Quality assessment was performed using an adapted Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. A strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat analysis was performed for each included paper. A total of 19 studies were included for this systematic review, 10 intervention and 9 descriptive studies. mHealth interventions were used as communication, data collection, or educational tool by health care providers primarily at the community level in the provision of antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care. Interventions were used to track pregnant women to improve antenatal and delivery care, as well as facilitate referrals. None of the studies directly assessed the effect of mHealth on maternal and neonatal mortality. Challenges of mHealth interventions to assist health care workers consisted mainly of technical problems, such as mobile network coverage, internet access, electricity access, and maintenance of mobile phones. mHealth interventions targeting health care workers have the potential to improve maternal and neonatal health services in LMICs. However, there is a gap in the knowledge whether mHealth interventions directly affect maternal and neonatal outcomes and future research should employ experimental designs with relevant outcome measures to address this gap.

Effectiveness of mHealth Interventions Targeting Health Care Workers to Improve Pregnancy Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Borgstein, Alexander Berend-Jan; Sondaal, Stephanie FV; Grobbee, Diederick E; Miltenburg, Andrea Solnes; Verwijs, Mirjam; Ansah, Evelyn K; Browne, Joyce L; Klipstein-Grobusch, Kerstin

2016-01-01

Background Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face the highest burden of maternal and neonatal deaths. Concurrently, they have the lowest number of physicians. Innovative methods such as the exchange of health-related information using mobile devices (mHealth) may support health care workers in the provision of antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes in LMICs. Objective We conducted a systematic review evaluating the effectiveness of mHealth interventions targeting health care workers to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes in LMIC. Methods The Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, Global Health Library, and Popline were searched using predetermined search and indexing terms. Quality assessment was performed using an adapted Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. A strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat analysis was performed for each included paper. Results A total of 19 studies were included for this systematic review, 10 intervention and 9 descriptive studies. mHealth interventions were used as communication, data collection, or educational tool by health care providers primarily at the community level in the provision of antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care. Interventions were used to track pregnant women to improve antenatal and delivery care, as well as facilitate referrals. None of the studies directly assessed the effect of mHealth on maternal and neonatal mortality. Challenges of mHealth interventions to assist health care workers consisted mainly of technical problems, such as mobile network coverage, internet access, electricity access, and maintenance of mobile phones. Conclusions mHealth interventions targeting health care workers have the potential to improve maternal and neonatal health services in LMICs. However, there is a gap in the knowledge whether mHealth interventions directly affect maternal and neonatal outcomes and future research should employ experimental designs with relevant outcome measures to address this gap. PMID:27543152

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection patterns and risk behaviours in different population groups and provinces in Viet Nam

PubMed Central

Tuan, Nguyen Anh; Fylkesnes, Knut; Thang, Bui Duc; Hien, Nguyen Tran; Long, Nguyen Thanh; Van Kinh, Nguyen; Thang, Pham Hong; Manh, Pham Duc

2007-01-01

Abstract Objective To study patterns and determinants of HIV prevalence and risk-behaviour characteristics in different population groups in four border provinces of Viet Nam. Methods We surveyed four population groups during April–June 2002. We used stratified random-cluster sampling and collected data concomitantly on HIV status and risk behaviours. The groups included were female sex workers (n = 2023), injecting drug users (n = 1391), unmarried males aged 15–24 years (n = 1885) and different categories of mobile groups (n = 1923). Findings We found marked geographical contrasts in HIV prevalence, particularly among female sex workers (range 0–24%). The HIV prevalence among injecting drug users varied at high levels in all provinces (range 4–36%), whereas lower prevalences were found among both unmarried young men (range 0–1.3%) and mobile groups (range 0–2.5%). All groups reported sex with female sex workers. Less than 40% of the female sex workers had used condoms consistently. The strongest determinants of HIV infection among female sex workers were inconsistent condom use (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 5.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.4–11.8), history of injecting drug use and mobility, and, among injecting drug users, sharing of injection equipment (adjusted OR, 7.3; 95% CI, 2.3–24.0) and sex with non-regular partners (adjusted OR 3.4; 95% CI 1.4–8.5). Conclusion The finding of marked geographical variation in HIV prevalence underscores the value of understanding local contexts in the prevention of HIV infection. Although lacking support from data from all provinces, there would appear to be a potential for sex work to drive a self-sustaining heterosexual epidemic. That the close links to serious injecting drug use epidemics can have an accelerating effect in increasing the spread of HIV merits further study. PMID:17242756

Lifestyle as an Influential Factor to Urban Mobility Transport: a Case Study of Semarang City, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ismiyati, I.; Hermawan, F.

2018-02-01

Most of urban spatial structures in developing countries apparently face a typical phenomenon, as well as in Indonesia. The development of the urban spatial structure has the effects, namely to create polycentric pattern (sprawl). Moreover, communication technology believes that the factors of distance and density are highly considered in the organization of the urban structure. In other words, a distance problem is overcome by communication technology, in terms of interaction among people; in running their activities, mobility or distance is not a problem at all. Urban structure as path which is dependent is unable to intervene for an optimum form of urban structure because of dynamic of development objectives. In facts, lifestyle of inhabitant particularly concerning residential and vehicle ownership influences the mobility transport on the tremendous changes in developing countries. On the contrary, this research points out that mobility transport contributes to transportation problems as it becomes increasingly inefficient. Therefore, a sporadic traffic jam and increasing carbon emission issues have risen on the urban phenomenon. It is important to investigate the lifestyle, in terms of residential choice and vehicle ownership to reshape the urban spatial structure. The research aims to draw the urban spatial growth which extends to the phenomenon process toward polycentric pattern and inefficient transport mobility patterns triggering transportation problems in the context of Indonesia. The results confirm that lifestyle regarding residential choices to suburban area and vehicle ownership preference are unable to create the efficient mobility transport, either by cost, density consequences or vehicle ownership as orientation. This research recommends the local authority from multi-disciplinary sector, in particular public policy making to issue permission for authority of land use; residential area and transport agencies for reconciliation with regard to life style aspects in urban spatial planning.

Predicting 30- to 120-Day Readmission Risk among Medicare Fee-for-Service Patients Using Nonmedical Workers and Mobile Technology.

PubMed

Ostrovsky, Andrey; O'Connor, Lori; Marshall, Olivia; Angelo, Amanda; Barrett, Kelsy; Majeski, Emily; Handrus, Maxwell; Levy, Jeffrey

2016-01-01

Hospital readmissions are a large source of wasteful healthcare spending, and current care transition models are too expensive to be sustainable. One way to circumvent cost-prohibitive care transition programs is complement nurse-staffed care transition programs with those staffed by less expensive nonmedical workers. A major barrier to utilizing nonmedical workers is determining the appropriate time to escalate care to a clinician with a wider scope of practice. The objective of this study is to show how mobile technology can use the observations of nonmedical workers to stratify patients on the basis of their hospital readmission risk. An area agency on aging in Massachusetts implemented a quality improvement project with the aim of reducing 30-day hospital readmission rates using a modified care transition intervention supported by mobile predictive analytics technology. Proprietary readmission risk prediction algorithms were used to predict 30-, 60-, 90-, and 120-day readmission risk. The risk score derived from the nonmedical workers' observations had a significant association with 30-day readmission rate with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.12 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1 .09-1.15) compared to an OR of 1.25 (95 percent CI, 1.19-1.32) for the risk score using nurse observations. Risk scores using nurse interpretation of nonmedical workers' observations show that patients in the high-risk category had significantly higher readmission rates than patients in the baseline-risk and mild-risk categories at 30, 60, 90, and 120 days after discharge. Of the 1,064 elevated-risk alerts that were triaged, 1,049 (98.6 percent) involved the nurse care manager, 804 (75.6 percent) involved the patient, 768 (72.2 percent) involved the health coach, 461 (43.3 percent) involved skilled nursing, and 235 (22.1 percent) involved the outpatient physician in the coordination of care in response to the alert. The predictive nature of the 30-day readmission risk scores is influenced by both nurse and nonmedical worker input, and both are required to adequately triage the needs of the patient. Although this preliminary study is limited by a modest effect size, it demonstrates one approach to using technology to contribute to delivery model innovation that could curb wasteful healthcare spending by tapping into an existing underutilized workforce.

Characteristics of home care workers who leave their jobs: a cross-sectional study of job satisfaction and turnover in Washington State.

PubMed

Banijamali, Sahar; Jacoby, Daniel; Hagopian, Amy

2014-01-01

Attracting and retaining a stable and motivated home care workforce has become a top policy priority. We surveyed 402 former home care workers in Washington State. We compared these "leavers" to current home care workers recently surveyed. Those who left the profession were more highly educated, had higher household income, and were more likely to be White. Those newly employed have better benefits, wages, hours, and career mobility than in their home care jobs. The low status and poor pay of home care workers may result in the inability of the profession to retain those who face better prospects.

Modeling the spatial spread of infectious diseases: the GLobal Epidemic and Mobility computational model

PubMed Central

Balcan, Duygu; Gonçalves, Bruno; Hu, Hao; Ramasco, José J.; Colizza, Vittoria

2010-01-01

Here we present the Global Epidemic and Mobility (GLEaM) model that integrates sociodemographic and population mobility data in a spatially structured stochastic disease approach to simulate the spread of epidemics at the worldwide scale. We discuss the flexible structure of the model that is open to the inclusion of different disease structures and local intervention policies. This makes GLEaM suitable for the computational modeling and anticipation of the spatio-temporal patterns of global epidemic spreading, the understanding of historical epidemics, the assessment of the role of human mobility in shaping global epidemics, and the analysis of mitigation and containment scenarios. PMID:21415939

Climate-driven endemic cholera is modulated by human mobility in a megacity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez-Saez, Javier; King, Aaron A.; Rinaldo, Andrea; Yunus, Mohammad; Faruque, Abu S. G.; Pascual, Mercedes

2017-10-01

Although a differential sensitivity of cholera dynamics to climate variability has been reported in the spatially heterogeneous megacity of Dhaka, Bangladesh, the specific patterns of spread of the resulting risk within the city remain unclear. We build on an established probabilistic spatial model to investigate the importance and role of human mobility in modulating spatial cholera transmission. Mobility fluxes were inferred using a straightforward and generalizable methodology that relies on mapping population density based on a high resolution urban footprint product, and a parameter-free human mobility model. In accordance with previous findings, we highlight the higher sensitivity to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the highly populated urban center than in the more rural periphery. More significantly, our results show that cholera risk is largely transmitted from the climate-sensitive core to the periphery of the city, with implications for the planning of control efforts. In addition, including human mobility improves the outbreak prediction performance of the model with an 11 month lead. The interplay between climatic and human mobility factors in cholera transmission is discussed from the perspective of the rapid growth of megacities across the developing world.

Migration/mobility and risk factors for HIV among female sex workers in Andhra Pradesh, India: implications for HIV prevention.

PubMed

Reed, E; Gupta, J; Biradavolu, M; Blankenship, K M

2012-04-01

We examined the relation between high mobility/migration (sex work in three or more villages/towns within the past year) and HIV risk factors among a sample of female sex workers (FSWs) in Andhra Pradesh, India. We recruited FSWs aged ≥18 years (n = 673) through respondent-driven sampling for a survey on HIV risk. Adjusted logistic and linear regression models assessed high mobility in relation to sexual and physical victimization, sexually transmitted infection (STI) symptoms and treatment, condom use and negotiation, number and/or types of sex trades, number of clients and number of days worked. Twelve percent (n = 82) of FSWs were highly mobile; those with high mobility were more likely to report recent HIV risk factors: sexual violence (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 5.2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.0-8.9), physical violence (AOR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1-2.7), unprotected sex for more money (AOR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1-3.0), at least one STI symptom (AOR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.1-3.1), a greater number of vaginal sex trades (β = 3.9, P = 0.003), a greater number of clients (β = 2.5, P = 0.02) and anal sex with clients (AOR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.4-4.1). Findings from this study underscore the violence and HIV-related vulnerability faced by mobile/migrant FSWs and highlight the need to inform and tailor related prevention strategies.

NHS connecting for health: healthcare professionals, mobile technology, and infection control.

PubMed

Brady, Richard R W; Chitnis, Shruti; Stewart, Ross W; Graham, Catriona; Yalamarthi, Satheesh; Morris, Keith

2012-05-01

Mobile phones improve the efficiency of clinical communication and are increasingly involved in all areas of healthcare delivery. Despite this, healthcare workers' mobile phones provide a known reservoir of pathogenic bacteria, with the potential to undermine infection control efforts aimed at the reducing bacterial cross-contamination in hospitals. This potential could be amplified further when employers require doctors to carry additional electronic devices for communication, without concurrently providing appropriate guidance on decontamination or use. Eighty-seven on-call doctors' mobile phones were sampled for bacterial growth prior to, and 12 h after, a cleaning intervention involving 70% isopropyl alcohol. Seventy-eight percent of doctors were aware that mobile phones could carry pathogenic bacteria, but only 8% cleaned their phones regularly. The cleaning intervention reduced the number of phones that grew bacteria by 79% (55% [48 of 87] before versus 16% [14 of 87] after cleaning). Eight percent of the phones grew Staphyloccus aureus, and 44.8% of phones grew Gram-positive cocci. All S. aureus isolates were methicillin-sensitive. Bacterial contamination was not associated with gender, specialty, or seniority of the phone user (p>0.05). Simple cleaning interventions can reduce the surface bioburden of hospital-provided doctors' mobile phones and therefore the potential for cross-contamination. This cleaning intervention is inexpensive, easily instituted, and effective. Healthcare workers should carry the minimum number of electronic devices on their person, maintain good hand hygiene, and clean their device appropriately in order to minimize the potential for cross-contamination in the work place.

Spatial learning while navigating with severely degraded viewing: The role of attention and mobility monitoring

PubMed Central

Rand, Kristina M.; Creem-Regehr, Sarah H.; Thompson, William B.

2015-01-01

The ability to navigate without getting lost is an important aspect of quality of life. In five studies, we evaluated how spatial learning is affected by the increased demands of keeping oneself safe while walking with degraded vision (mobility monitoring). We proposed that safe low-vision mobility requires attentional resources, providing competition for those needed to learn a new environment. In Experiments 1 and 2 participants navigated along paths in a real-world indoor environment with simulated degraded vision or normal vision. Memory for object locations seen along the paths was better with normal compared to degraded vision. With degraded vision, memory was better when participants were guided by an experimenter (low monitoring demands) versus unguided (high monitoring demands). In Experiments 3 and 4, participants walked while performing an auditory task. Auditory task performance was superior with normal compared to degraded vision. With degraded vision, auditory task performance was better when guided compared to unguided. In Experiment 5, participants performed both the spatial learning and auditory tasks under degraded vision. Results showed that attention mediates the relationship between mobility-monitoring demands and spatial learning. These studies suggest that more attention is required and spatial learning is impaired when navigating with degraded viewing. PMID:25706766

An evaluation of a family planning mobile job aid for community health workers in Tanzania.

PubMed

Braun, Rebecca; Lasway, Christine; Agarwal, Smisha; L'Engle, Kelly; Layer, Erica; Silas, Lucy; Mwakibete, Anna; Kudrati, Mustafa

2016-07-01

The global rapid growth in mobile technology provides unique opportunities to support community health workers (CHWs) in providing family planning (FP) services. FHI 360, Pathfinder International and D-tree International developed an evidence-based mobile job aid to support CHW counseling, screening, service provision and referrals, with mobile forms for client and service data, and text-message reporting and reminders. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the acceptability and potential benefits to service quality from the perspective of CHWs and their clients. The mobile job aid was piloted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Data collection tools included a demographic survey of all 25 CHWs trained to use the mobile job aid, in-depth interviews with 20 of the CHWs after 3 months and a survey of 176 clients who received FP services from a CHW using the mobile job aid after 6 months. Both CHWs and their clients reported that the mobile job aid was a highly acceptable FP support tool. CHWs perceived benefits to service quality, including timelier and more convenient care; better quality of information; increased method choice; and improved privacy, confidentiality and trust with clients. Most clients discussed multiple FP methods with CHWs; only 1 in 10 clients reported discussion of all 9 methods. This research suggests that mobile phones can be effective tools to support CHWs with FP counseling, screening and referrals, data collection and reporting, and communication. Challenges remain to support informed contraceptive choice. Future research should focus on implementation, including scale-up and sustainability. Mobile job aids can uniquely enhance FP service provision at the community level through adherence to standard protocols, real-time feedback and technical assistance, and provision of confidential care. This study can inform future efforts to support and expand the role of CHWs in increasing FP access and informed contraceptive choice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessing patterns of spatial behavior in health studies: their socio-demographic determinants and associations with transportation modes (the RECORD Cohort Study).

PubMed

Perchoux, Camille; Kestens, Yan; Thomas, Frédérique; Van Hulst, Andraea; Thierry, Benoit; Chaix, Basile

2014-10-01

Prior epidemiological studies have mainly focused on local residential neighborhoods to assess environmental exposures. However, individual spatial behavior may modify residential neighborhood influences, with weaker health effects expected for mobile populations. By examining individual patterns of daily mobility and associated socio-demographic profiles and transportation modes, this article seeks to develop innovative methods to account for daily mobility in health studies. We used data from the RECORD Cohort Study collected in 2011-2012 in the Paris metropolitan area, France. A sample of 2062 individuals was investigated. Participants' perceived residential neighborhood boundaries and regular activity locations were geocoded using the VERITAS application. Twenty-four indicators were created to qualify individual space-time patterns, using spatial analysis methods and a geographic information system. Three domains of indicators were considered: lifestyle indicators, indicators related to the geometry of the activity space, and indicators related to the importance of the residential neighborhood in the overall activity space. Principal component analysis was used to identify main dimensions of spatial behavior. Multilevel linear regression was used to determine which individual characteristics were associated with each spatial behavior dimension. The factor analysis generated five dimensions of spatial behavior: importance of the residential neighborhood in the activity space, volume of activities, and size, eccentricity, and specialization of the activity space. Age, socioeconomic status, and location of the household in the region were the main predictors of daily mobility patterns. Activity spaces of small sizes centered on the residential neighborhood and implying a large volume of activities were associated with walking and/or biking as a transportation mode. Examination of patterns of spatial behavior by individual socio-demographic characteristics and in relation to transportation modes is useful to identify populations with specific mobility/accessibility needs and has implications for investigating transportation-related physical activity and assessing environmental exposures and their effects on health. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sex work in Tallinn, Estonia: the sociospatial penetration of sex work into society.

PubMed

Aral, S O; St Lawrence, J S; Uusküla, A

2006-10-01

It is important to describe and understand the underlying patterns and dynamics that govern sex work in societies undergoing rapid political and social changes, its heterogeneity across populations, and its evolution through time in order to inform future research, sound policy formation, and programme delivery. To describe the socioeconomic and cultural determinants, organisational structure, distinct categories, and spatial patterning of sex work in Tallinn, Estonia, and identify recent temporal changes in sex work patterns. In-depth interviews with key informants; naturalistic observations of sex work and drug use venues, geo-mapping of sex work sites, review of media, public policy, and commissioned reports, and analyses of existing data. Sex work takes place in a hierarchy of locations in Tallinn ranging from elite brothels and "love flats" to truck stops. These sites vary in terms of their public health importance and social organisation. There are full time, part time, and intermittent male and female sex workers. Among others, the taxi driver, madam and the bartender are central roles in the organisation of sex work in Tallinn. Cell phone and internet technology enable sex work to be highly dispersed and spatially mobile. Future research and programmatic service delivery or outreach efforts should respond to the changing profile of sex work in Tallinn and its implications for STD/HIV epidemiology.

East Europe Report.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-02-10

departments in aplicable managerial positions. I do not know if minister Kwasniewski really has an effect the penetration of promotions but he says that the...very great tasks of revolutionary significance, tasks able to mobilize our youth. Work requires independent thinking and initiative, emphasized the... mobility , and all the charities. Primarily the church itself has been urging the founding of the order, because we need workers and nurses. Just as

Enhancing the Supervision of Community Health Workers With WhatsApp Mobile Messaging: Qualitative Findings From 2 Low-Resource Settings in Kenya.

PubMed

Henry, Jade Vu; Winters, Niall; Lakati, Alice; Oliver, Martin; Geniets, Anne; Mbae, Simon M; Wanjiru, Hannah

2016-06-20

An estimated half of all mobile phone users in Kenya use WhatsApp, an instant messaging platform that provides users an affordable way to send and receive text messages, photos, and other media at the one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, or many-to-many levels. A mobile learning intervention aimed at strengthening supervisory support for community health workers (CHWs) in Kibera and Makueni, Kenya, created a WhatsApp group for CHWs and their supervisors to support supervision, professional development, and team building. We analyzed 6 months of WhatsApp chat logs (from August 19, 2014, to March 1, 2015) and conducted interviews with CHWs and their supervisors to understand how they used this instant messaging tool. During the study period, 1,830 posts were made by 41participants. Photos were a key component of the communication among CHWs and their supervisors: 430 (23.4%) of all posts contained photos or other media. Of the remaining 1,400 text-based posts, 87.6% (n = 1,227) related to at least 1 of 3 defined supervision objectives: (1) quality assurance, (2) communication and information, or (3) supportive environment. This supervision took place in the context of posts about the roll out of the new mobile learning intervention and the delivery of routine health care services, as well as team-building efforts and community development. Our preliminary investigation demonstrates that with minimal training, CHWs and their supervisors tailored the multi-way communication features of this mobile instant messaging technology to enact virtual one-to-one, group, and peer-to-peer forms of supervision and support, and they switched channels of communication depending on the supervisory objectives. We encourage additional research on how health workers incorporate mobile technologies into their practices to develop and implement effective supervisory systems that will safeguard patient privacy, strengthen the formal health system, and create innovative forms of community-based, digitally supported professional development for CHWs. © Henry et al.

Enhancing the Supervision of Community Health Workers With WhatsApp Mobile Messaging: Qualitative Findings From 2 Low-Resource Settings in Kenya

PubMed Central

Henry, Jade Vu; Winters, Niall; Lakati, Alice; Oliver, Martin; Geniets, Anne; Mbae, Simon M; Wanjiru, Hannah

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT An estimated half of all mobile phone users in Kenya use WhatsApp, an instant messaging platform that provides users an affordable way to send and receive text messages, photos, and other media at the one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, or many-to-many levels. A mobile learning intervention aimed at strengthening supervisory support for community health workers (CHWs) in Kibera and Makueni, Kenya, created a WhatsApp group for CHWs and their supervisors to support supervision, professional development, and team building. We analyzed 6 months of WhatsApp chat logs (from August 19, 2014, to March 1, 2015) and conducted interviews with CHWs and their supervisors to understand how they used this instant messaging tool. During the study period, 1,830 posts were made by 41participants. Photos were a key component of the communication among CHWs and their supervisors: 430 (23.4%) of all posts contained photos or other media. Of the remaining 1,400 text-based posts, 87.6% (n = 1,227) related to at least 1 of 3 defined supervision objectives: (1) quality assurance, (2) communication and information, or (3) supportive environment. This supervision took place in the context of posts about the roll out of the new mobile learning intervention and the delivery of routine health care services, as well as team-building efforts and community development. Our preliminary investigation demonstrates that with minimal training, CHWs and their supervisors tailored the multi-way communication features of this mobile instant messaging technology to enact virtual one-to-one, group, and peer-to-peer forms of supervision and support, and they switched channels of communication depending on the supervisory objectives. We encourage additional research on how health workers incorporate mobile technologies into their practices to develop and implement effective supervisory systems that will safeguard patient privacy, strengthen the formal health system, and create innovative forms of community-based, digitally supported professional development for CHWs. PMID:27353623

A Framework for Spatial Interaction Analysis Based on Large-Scale Mobile Phone Data

PubMed Central

Li, Weifeng; Cheng, Xiaoyun; Guo, Gaohua

2014-01-01

The overall understanding of spatial interaction and the exact knowledge of its dynamic evolution are required in the urban planning and transportation planning. This study aimed to analyze the spatial interaction based on the large-scale mobile phone data. The newly arisen mass dataset required a new methodology which was compatible with its peculiar characteristics. A three-stage framework was proposed in this paper, including data preprocessing, critical activity identification, and spatial interaction measurement. The proposed framework introduced the frequent pattern mining and measured the spatial interaction by the obtained association. A case study of three communities in Shanghai was carried out as verification of proposed method and demonstration of its practical application. The spatial interaction patterns and the representative features proved the rationality of the proposed framework. PMID:25435865

Spatial accessibility to physical activity facilities and to food outlets and overweight in French youth.

PubMed

Casey, R; Chaix, B; Weber, C; Schweitzer, B; Charreire, H; Salze, P; Badariotti, D; Banos, A; Oppert, J-M; Simon, C

2012-07-01

Some characteristics of the built environment have been associated with obesity in youth. Our aim was to determine whether individual and environmental socio-economic characteristics modulate the relation between youth overweight and spatial accessibility to physical activity (PA) facilities and to food outlets. Cross-sectional study. 3293 students, aged 12 ± 0.6 years, randomly selected from eastern France middle schools. Using geographical information systems (GIS), spatial accessibility to PA facilities (urban and nature) was assessed using the distance to PA facilities at the municipality level; spatial accessibility to food outlets (general food outlets, bakeries and fast-food outlets) was calculated at individual level using the student home address and the food outlets addresses. Relations of weight status with spatial accessibility to PA facilities and to food outlets were analysed using mixed logistic models, testing potential direct and interaction effects of individual and environmental socio-economic characteristics. Individual socio-economic status modulated the relation between spatial accessibility to PA facilities and to general food outlets and overweight. The likelihood of being overweight was higher when spatial accessibility to urban PA facilities and to general food outlets was low, but in children of blue-collar-workers only. The odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval) for being overweight of blue-collar-workers children compared with non-blue-collar-workers children was 1.76 (1.25-2.49) when spatial accessibility to urban PA facilities was low. This OR was 1.86 (1.20-2.86) when spatial accessibility to general food outlets was low. There was no significant relationship of overweight with either nature PA facilities or other food outlets (bakeries and fast-food outlets). These results indicate that disparities in spatial accessibility to PA facilities and to general food outlets may amplify the risk of overweight in socio-economically disadvantaged youth. These data should be relevant for influencing health policies and urban planning at both a national and local level.

Strengthening human resources for health through information, coordination and accountability mechanisms: the case of the Sudan.

PubMed

Badr, Elsheikh; Mohamed, Nazar A; Afzal, Muhammad Mahmood; Bile, Khalif Mohamud

2013-11-01

Human resources for health (HRH) in the Sudan were limited by shortages and the maldistribution of health workers, poor management, service fragmentation, poor retention of health workers in rural areas, and a weak health information system. A "country coordination and facilitation" process was implemented to strengthen the national HRH observatory, provide a coordination platform for key stakeholders, catalyse policy support and HRH planning, harmonize the mobilization of resources, strengthen HRH managerial structures, establish new training institutions and scale up the training of community health workers. The national government of the Sudan sanctioned state-level governance of the health system but many states lacked coherent HRH plans and policies. A paucity of training institutions constrained HRH production and the adequate and equitable deployment of health workers in rural areas. The country coordination and facilitation process prompted the establishment of a robust HRH information system and the development of the technical capacities and tools necessary for data analysis and evidence-based participatory decision-making and action. The success of the country coordination and facilitation process was substantiated by the stakeholders' coordinated support, which was built on solid evidence of the challenges in HRH and shared accountability in the planning and implementation of responses to those challenges. The support led to political commitment and the mobilization of resources for HRH. The leadership that was promoted and the educational institutions that were opened should facilitate the training, deployment and retention of the health workers needed to achieve universal health coverage.

Matching spatial property rights fisheries with scales of fish dispersal.

PubMed

White, Crow; Costello, Christopher

2011-03-01

Regulation of fisheries using spatial property rights can alleviate competition for high-value patches that hinders economic efficiency in quota-based, rights-based, and open-access management programs. However, efficiency gains erode when delineation of spatial rights constitutes incomplete ownership of the resource, thereby degrading its local value and promoting overexploitation. Incomplete ownership may be particularly prevalent in the spatial management of mobile fishery species. We developed a game-theoretic bioeconomic model of spatial property rights representing territorial user rights fisheries (TURF) management of nearshore marine fish and invertebrate species with mobile adult and larval life history stages. Strategic responses by fisheries in neighboring management units result in overexploitation of the stock and reduced yields for each fishery compared with those attainable without resource mobility or with coordination or sole control in fishing effort. High dispersal potential of the larval stage, a common trait among nearshore fishery species, coupled with scaling of management units to only capture adult mobility, a common characteristic of many nearshore TURF programs, in particular substantially reduced stock levels and yields. In a case study of hypothetical TURF programs of nearshore fish and invertebrate species, management units needed to be tens of kilometers in alongshore length to minimize larval export and generate reasonable returns to fisheries. Cooperation and quota regulations represent solutions to the problem that need to be quantified in cost and integrated into the determination of the acceptability of spatial property rights management of fisheries.

Assessment of the quality of antenatal care services provided by health workers using a mobile phone decision support application in northern Nigeria: a pre/post-intervention study.

PubMed

McNabb, Marion; Chukwu, Emeka; Ojo, Oluwayemisi; Shekhar, Navendu; Gill, Christopher J; Salami, Habeeb; Jega, Farouk

2015-01-01

Given the shortage of skilled healthcare providers in Nigeria, frontline community health extension workers (CHEWs) are commonly tasked with providing maternal and child health services at primary health centers. In 2012, we introduced a mobile case management and decision support application in twenty primary health centers in northern Nigeria, and conducted a pre-test/post-test study to assess whether the introduction of the app had an effect on the quality of antenatal care services provided by this lower-level cadre. Using the CommCare mobile platform, the app dynamically guides CHEWs through antenatal care protocols and collects client data in real time. Thirteen health education audio clips are also embedded in the app for improving and standardizing client counseling. To detect changes in quality, we developed an evidence-based quality score consisting of 25 indicators, and conducted a total of 266 client exit interviews. We analyzed baseline and endline data to assess changes in the overall quality score as well as changes in the provision of key elements of antenatal care. Overall, the quality score increased from 13.3 at baseline to 17.2 at endline (p<0.0001), out of a total possible score of 25, with the most significant improvements related to health counseling, technical services provided, and quality of health education. These study results suggest that the introduction of a low-cost mobile case management and decision support application can spur behavior change and improve the quality of services provided by a lower level cadre of healthcare workers. Future research should employ a more rigorous experimental design to explore potential longer-term effects on client health outcomes.

Taking knowledge for health the extra mile: participatory evaluation of a mobile phone intervention for community health workers in Malawi

PubMed Central

Campbell, Natalie; Schiffer, Eva; Buxbaum, Ann; McLean, Elizabeth; Perry, Cary; Sullivan, Tara M

2014-01-01

In Malawi, where the majority of the population resides in rural areas, community health workers (CHWs) are the first, and often only, providers of health services. An assessment of health information needs, however, found that these frontline workers often lacked essential health information. A pilot project, implemented in 2 rural districts of Malawi between 2010 and 2011, introduced a mobile phone system to strengthen knowledge exchange within networks of CHWs and district staff. To evaluate the mobile phone intervention, a participatory evaluation method called Net-Map was used, an approach built on traditional social network analysis. Together, CHWs and district personnel discussed information needs and gaps and the roles of different actors in their information networks. They then used drawings and 3-dimensional objects to create baseline and endline maps showing the linkages and levels of influence among members of the information network. Net-Map provided them with powerful evidence of differences before and after the mobile phone initiative. At baseline, CHWs were not mentioned as actors in the information network, while at endline they were seen to have significant connections with colleagues, beneficiaries, supervisors, and district health facilities, as both recipients and providers of information. Focus groups with CHWs complemented the Net-Map findings with reports of increased self-confidence and greater trust by their communities. These qualitative results were bolstered by surveys that showed decreases in stockouts of essential medicines, lower communication costs, wider service coverage, and more efficient referrals. As an innovative, participatory form of social network analysis, Net-Map yielded important visual, quantitative, and qualitative information at reasonable cost. PMID:25276560

Taking knowledge for health the extra mile: participatory evaluation of a mobile phone intervention for community health workers in Malawi.

PubMed

Campbell, Natalie; Schiffer, Eva; Buxbaum, Ann; McLean, Elizabeth; Perry, Cary; Sullivan, Tara M

2014-02-01

In Malawi, where the majority of the population resides in rural areas, community health workers (CHWs) are the first, and often only, providers of health services. An assessment of health information needs, however, found that these frontline workers often lacked essential health information. A pilot project, implemented in 2 rural districts of Malawi between 2010 and 2011, introduced a mobile phone system to strengthen knowledge exchange within networks of CHWs and district staff. To evaluate the mobile phone intervention, a participatory evaluation method called Net-Map was used, an approach built on traditional social network analysis. Together, CHWs and district personnel discussed information needs and gaps and the roles of different actors in their information networks. They then used drawings and 3-dimensional objects to create baseline and endline maps showing the linkages and levels of influence among members of the information network. Net-Map provided them with powerful evidence of differences before and after the mobile phone initiative. At baseline, CHWs were not mentioned as actors in the information network, while at endline they were seen to have significant connections with colleagues, beneficiaries, supervisors, and district health facilities, as both recipients and providers of information. Focus groups with CHWs complemented the Net-Map findings with reports of increased self-confidence and greater trust by their communities. These qualitative results were bolstered by surveys that showed decreases in stockouts of essential medicines, lower communication costs, wider service coverage, and more efficient referrals. As an innovative, participatory form of social network analysis, Net-Map yielded important visual, quantitative, and qualitative information at reasonable cost.

Spatial representations in blind people: the role of strategies and mobility skills.

PubMed

Schmidt, Susanna; Tinti, Carla; Fantino, Micaela; Mammarella, Irene C; Cornoldi, Cesare

2013-01-01

The role of vision in the construction of spatial representations has been the object of numerous studies and heated debate. The core question of whether visual experience is necessary to form spatial representations has found different, often contradictory answers. The present paper examines mental images generated from verbal descriptions of spatial environments. Previous evidence had shown that blind individuals have difficulty remembering information about spatial environments. By testing a group of congenitally blind people, we replicated this result and found that it is also present when the overall mental model of the environment is assessed. This was not always the case, however, but appeared to correlate with some blind participants' lower use of a mental imagery strategy and preference for a verbal rehearsal strategy, which was adopted particularly by blind people with more limited mobility skills. The more independent blind people who used a mental imagery strategy performed as well as sighted participants, suggesting that the difficulty blind people may have in processing spatial descriptions is not due to the absence of vision per se, but could be the consequence of both, their using less efficient verbal strategies and having poor mobility skills. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A fast integrated mobility spectrometer for rapid measurement of sub-micrometer aerosol size distribution, Part I: Design and model evaluation

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

Wang, Jian; Pikridas, Michael; Spielman, Steven R.

This study discusses, a fast integrated mobility spectrometer (FIMS) was previously developed to characterize submicron aerosol size distributions at a frequency of 1 Hz and with high size resolution and counting statistics. However, the dynamic size range of the FIMS was limited to one decade in particle electrical mobility. It was proposed that the FIMS dynamic size range can be greatly increased by using a spatially varying electric field. This electric field creates regions with drastically different field strengths in the separator, such that particles of a wide diameter range can be simultaneously classified and subsequently measured. A FIMS incorporatingmore » this spatially varying electric field is developed. This paper describes the theoretical frame work and numerical simulations of the FIMS with extended dynamic size range, including the spatially varying electric field, particle trajectories, activation of separated particles in the condenser, and the transfer function, transmission efficiency, and mobility resolution. The influences of the particle Brownian motion on FIMS transfer function and mobility resolution are examined. The simulation results indicate that the FIMS incorporating the spatially varying electric field is capable of measuring aerosol size distribution from 8 to 600 nm with high time resolution. As a result, the experimental characterization of the FIMS is presented in an accompanying paper.« less

A fast integrated mobility spectrometer for rapid measurement of sub-micrometer aerosol size distribution, Part I: Design and model evaluation

DOE PAGES

Wang, Jian; Pikridas, Michael; Spielman, Steven R.; ...

2017-06-01

This study discusses, a fast integrated mobility spectrometer (FIMS) was previously developed to characterize submicron aerosol size distributions at a frequency of 1 Hz and with high size resolution and counting statistics. However, the dynamic size range of the FIMS was limited to one decade in particle electrical mobility. It was proposed that the FIMS dynamic size range can be greatly increased by using a spatially varying electric field. This electric field creates regions with drastically different field strengths in the separator, such that particles of a wide diameter range can be simultaneously classified and subsequently measured. A FIMS incorporatingmore » this spatially varying electric field is developed. This paper describes the theoretical frame work and numerical simulations of the FIMS with extended dynamic size range, including the spatially varying electric field, particle trajectories, activation of separated particles in the condenser, and the transfer function, transmission efficiency, and mobility resolution. The influences of the particle Brownian motion on FIMS transfer function and mobility resolution are examined. The simulation results indicate that the FIMS incorporating the spatially varying electric field is capable of measuring aerosol size distribution from 8 to 600 nm with high time resolution. As a result, the experimental characterization of the FIMS is presented in an accompanying paper.« less

The safety of women health workers at the frontlines.

PubMed

Dasgupta, Jashodhara; Velankar, Jayashree; Borah, Pritisha; Nath, Gangotri Hazarika

2017-01-01

This article, based on the report of the fact-finding team on the gang rape and death of an accredited social health activist (ASHA) in Muzaffarnagar in January 2016, attempts to analyse the issues of the safety and mobility of front-line women health workers. It argues that although the National Health Mission is often alluded to as a flagship programme of the government, it has failed in its basic responsibility as an ethical employer, since there is no support and back-up system that can be easily accessed by ASHAs in terms of dealing with the fallout of their social role as "change agents" in rural areas, and community reactions to their mobility and public exposure. The report stresses the need to consider the deeply patriarchal system within which ASHAs function in states such as Uttar Pradesh. It also discusses the fact that the workforce is increasingly shifting from the formal to the informal sector, which has given rise to an assumption that the employer is no longer accountable for women workers' safety at the workplace.

Feeling Good About the Iron Rice Bowl: Economic Sector and Happiness in Post-Reform Urban China*

PubMed Central

Wang, Jia; Xie, Yu

2015-01-01

Situated in China’s market transition, this study examines the relationship between economic sector and a worker’s happiness in post-reform urban China. Using datasets from the Chinese General Social Surveys 2003, 2006 and 2008, we find that workers in the state sector enjoy a subjective premium in well-being – reporting significantly higher levels of happiness than their counterparts in the private sector. We also find that during a period when a large wave of workers moved from the state sector to the private sector, those remaining in the state sector reported being significantly happier than did former state sector workers who had moved, whether the move was voluntary or involuntary. We attribute the higher level of reported happiness in the state sector than in the private sector to the disparity by sector in the provision of social welfare benefits. Those who made voluntary state-to-private moves experienced a trade-off in enjoying higher payoffs while losing job security, whereas involuntary mobiles experienced downward mobility and suffered a long-term psychological penalty. PMID:26188448

[Population mobility and issues in Surabaya].

PubMed

Mantra, I B; Sunarti

1988-06-01

Employment opportunities in the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors in the rural areas of Java are very limited and many people are either unemployed or semi-employed. Consequently, many members of the work force have moved to the cities in search of employment. The migration of the labor force accelerated the growth of cities in Java during the past 25 years. Medium-sized cities, however, grew faster than the larger urban areas. This article reviews the patterns and behaviors of migrant workers in Surabaya and several of the problems created by their migration. The article is based on the findings of a study Migrant Population Mobility to Surabaya, which was conducted by the Ministry of Population and Environmental Affairs in conjunction with the Center for Population Studies at Gajah Mada University. Population growth in Surabays between 1971 and 1980 was slow. This was due to several factors. The migrants who went to Surabaya for the most part were itinerant workers. The renewals of towns around Surabaya, such as Gresik, Sidoardjo, and Mojokerto, helped filter migration to the port city. The majority of the itinerant workers were engaged in the informal sector.

Roles of dispersal, stochasticity, and nonlinear dynamics in the spatial structuring of seasonal natural enemy-victim populations

Treesearch

Patrick C. Tobin; Ottar N. Bjornstad

2005-01-01

Natural enemy-victim systems may exhibit a range of dynamic space-time patterns. We used a theoretical framework to study spatiotemporal structuring in a transient natural enemy-victim system subject to differential rates of dispersal, stochastic forcing, and nonlinear dynamics. Highly mobile natural enemies that attacked less mobile victims were locally spatially...

Mobile Devices and Spatial Enactments of Learning: iPads in Lower Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, Bente

2016-01-01

Based on ethnographic studies of students' learning, this paper investigates how new spatial enactments of learning that include mobile technologies engage students in specific ways that enable them to learn. Data used in the paper have been collected in three lower secondary schools (7-9th form, ages 13-15) where students and teachers have been…

Understanding the barriers to successful adoption and use of a mobile health information system in a community health center in São Paulo, Brazil: a cohort study.

PubMed

Rajan, Jayant V; Moura, Juliana; Gourley, Gato; Kiso, Karina; Sizilio, Alexandre; Cortez, Ana Maria; Riley, Lee W; Veras, Maria Amelia; Sarkar, Urmimala

2016-11-17

Mobile technology to support community health has surged in popularity, yet few studies have systematically examined usability of mobile platforms for this setting. We conducted a mixed-methods study of 14 community healthcare workers at a public healthcare clinic in São Paulo, Brazil. We held focus groups with community healthcare workers to elicit their ideas about a mobile health application and used this input to build a prototype app. A pre-use test survey was administered to all participants, who subsequently use-tested the app on three different devices (iPhone, iPad mini, iPad Air). Usability was assessed by objectively scored data entry errors and through a post-use focus group held to gather open-ended feedback on end-user satisfaction. All of the participants were women, ranging from 18-64 years old. A large percentage (85.7%) of participants had at least a high school education. Internet (92.8%), computer (85.7%) and cell phone (71.4%) use rates were high. Data entry error rates were also high, particularly in free text fields, ranging from 92.3 to 100%. Error rates were comparable across device type. In a post-use focus group, participants reported that they found the app easy to use and felt that its design was consistent with their vision. The participants raised several concerns, including that they did not find filling out the forms in the app to be a useful task. They also were concerned about an app potentially creating more work for them and personal security issues related to carrying a mobile device in low-income areas. In a cohort of formally educated community healthcare workers with high levels of personal computer and cell phone use, we identified no technological barriers to adapting their existing work to a mobile device based system. Transferring current data entry work into a mobile platform, however, uncovered underlying dissatisfaction with some data entry tasks. This dissatisfaction may be a more significant barrier than the data entry errors our testing revealed. Our results highlight the fact that without a deep understanding of local process to optimize usability, technology-based solutions in health may fail. Developing such an understanding must be a central component in the design of any mHealth solution in global health.

Remote quality assurance in cervical cancer screening in low resource settings using a handheld smartphone-based colposcope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Millien, Christophe; Jean-Baptiste, Meredith C.; Manite, Garçon; Levitz, David

2015-03-01

Cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer death for women all across the developing world, where much of the infrastructure required for effective cervical cancer screening is unavailable because of limited resources. One of the most common method to screen for cervical cancer is by visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), in which the cervix is imaged with the naked eye. Given inherent challenges in analysis and documentation when characterizing cervical tissue with the naked eye, an optical solution is needed. To address this challenge, a smartphone was modified and transformed into a mobile colposcope (a device used to image the cervix from outside) by adding a custom-fit light source and optics. The mobile smartphone colposcope was designed such that it augments VIA and easily integrates within the standard of care. The mobile smartphone colposcope is controlled by an app, which, stores cervical images captured on the mobile smartphone colposcope on a portal, enabling remote doctors to evaluate images and the treatment chosen by the health worker. Images from patients undergoing cervical cancer screening by a nurse using VIA in the University Hospital of Mirebalais (HUM) GYN outpatient clinic in Haiti were captured on the mobile smartphone colposcope. These images were later analyzed by an experienced OB/GYN at HUM, who determined whether or not the patient should be treated with cryoablation; more complicated cases were also shared with a consulting doctor in the US. The opinions of the experienced OB/GYN doctors at HUM, as well as the experts from the US, were used to educate nurses and midwives performing mobile colposcopy. These results suggest that remote assessment offered by mobile colposcopy can improve training of health workers performing VIA, and ultimately affect the therapy administered to patients.

Relationship between mobility, violence and HIV/STI among female sex workers in Andhra Pradesh, India

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Violence and mobility have been identified as critical factors contributing to the spread of HIV worldwide. This study aimed to assess the independent and combined associations of mobility and violence with sexual risk behaviors and HIV, STI prevalence among female sex workers (FSWs) in India. Methods Data were drawn from a cross-sectional, bio-behavioral survey conducted among 2042 FSWs across five districts of southern India in 2005–06. Regression models were used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for sexual risk behaviors and HIV infection based on experience of violence and mobility after adjusting for socio-demographic and sex work related characteristics. Results One-fifth of FSWs (19%) reported experiencing violence; 68% reported travelling outside their current place of residence at least once in the past year and practicing sex work during their visit. Mobile FSWs were more likely to report violence compared to their counterparts (23% vs. 10%, p < 0.001). Approximately 1 in 5 tested positive for HIV. In adjusted models, FSWs reporting both mobility and violence as compared to their counterparts were more likely to be infected with HIV (Adjusted odds ratio (adjusted OR): 2.07, 95% CI: 1.42–3.03) and to report unprotected sex with occasional (adjusted OR: 2.86, 95% CI: 1.76–4.65) and regular clients (adjusted OR: 2.07, 95% CI: 1.40–3.06). Conclusions The findings indicate that mobility and violence were independently associated with HIV infection. Notably, the combined effect of mobility and violence posed greater HIV risk than their independent effect. These results point to the need for the provision of an enabling environment and safe spaces for FSWs who are mobile, to augment existing efforts to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. PMID:22967276

Effect of Village Health Team Home Visits and Mobile Phone Consultations on Maternal and Newborn Care Practices in Masindi and Kiryandongo, Uganda: A Community-Intervention Trial

PubMed Central

Mangwi Ayiasi, Richard; Kolsteren, Patrick; Batwala, Vincent; Criel, Bart; Orach, Christopher Garimoi

2016-01-01

Introduction The World Health Organisation recommends home visits conducted by Community Health Workers (in Uganda known as Village Health Teams—VHTs) in order to improve maternal and newborn health. This study measured the effect of home visits combined with mobile phone consultations on maternal and newborn care practices. Method In a community intervention trial design 16 health centres in Masindi and Kiryandongo districts, Uganda were randomly and equally allocated to one of two arms: control and intervention arms. Eight control health centres received the usual maternal and newborn educational messages offered by professional health workers and eight intervention health centres that received an intervention package for maternal care and essential newborn care practices. In the intervention arm VHTs made two prenatal and one postnatal home visit to households. VHTs were provided with mobile phones to enable them make regular telephone consultations with health workers at the health centre serving the catchment area. The primary outcome was health facility delivery. Other outcomes included antenatal attendances, birth preparedness, cord and thermal care and breastfeeding practices. Analysis was by intention-to-treat. Results A total of 1385 pregnant women were analysed: 758 and 627 in the control and intervention arms respectively. Significant post-intervention differences were: delivery place [adjusted Odds Ratio aOR: 17.94(95%CI: 6.26–51.37); p<0.001], cord care [aOR: 3.05(95%CI: 1.81–5.12); p<0.001] thermal care [aOR: 7.58(95%CI: 2.52–22.82); p<0.001], and timely care-seeking for newborn illness [aOR: 4.93(95%CI: 1.59–15.31); p = 0.006]. Conclusion VHTs can have an effect in promoting proper cord and thermal care for the newborn and improve timely care-seeking for health facility delivery and newborn illness, because they could answer questions and refer patients correctly. However, VHTs should be supported by professional health workers through the use of mobile phones. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02084680 PMID:27101379

Inferring Human Activity in Mobile Devices by Computing Multiple Contexts.

PubMed

Chen, Ruizhi; Chu, Tianxing; Liu, Keqiang; Liu, Jingbin; Chen, Yuwei

2015-08-28

This paper introduces a framework for inferring human activities in mobile devices by computing spatial contexts, temporal contexts, spatiotemporal contexts, and user contexts. A spatial context is a significant location that is defined as a geofence, which can be a node associated with a circle, or a polygon; a temporal context contains time-related information that can be e.g., a local time tag, a time difference between geographical locations, or a timespan; a spatiotemporal context is defined as a dwelling length at a particular spatial context; and a user context includes user-related information that can be the user's mobility contexts, environmental contexts, psychological contexts or social contexts. Using the measurements of the built-in sensors and radio signals in mobile devices, we can snapshot a contextual tuple for every second including aforementioned contexts. Giving a contextual tuple, the framework evaluates the posteriori probability of each candidate activity in real-time using a Naïve Bayes classifier. A large dataset containing 710,436 contextual tuples has been recorded for one week from an experiment carried out at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi with three participants. The test results demonstrate that the multi-context solution significantly outperforms the spatial-context-only solution. A classification accuracy of 61.7% is achieved for the spatial-context-only solution, while 88.8% is achieved for the multi-context solution.

[Spatial mobility on reaching adult age].

PubMed

De Coninck, F

1990-12-01

"Starting with longitudinal data on two cohorts of women living in the Alpes-Maritimes [France] in 1982 (a sample of 1,500 women in total) we try to establish the role of the spatial distribution of opportunities at a number of key stages in the life cycle: marriage, birth of first child, making professional use of qualifications, confrontation of a situation of professional risk and professional mobility during the years immediately following the completion of studies. The underlying hypothesis is that control of social location often depends on the control of spatial location." (SUMMARY IN ENG) excerpt

Quantifying the impact of human mobility on malaria

PubMed Central

Wesolowski, Amy; Eagle, Nathan; Tatem, Andrew J.; Smith, David L.; Noor, Abdisalan M.; Snow, Robert W.; Buckee, Caroline O.

2013-01-01

Human movements contribute to the transmission of malaria on spatial scales that exceed the limits of mosquito dispersal. Identifying the sources and sinks of imported infections due to human travel and locating high-risk sites of parasite importation could greatly improve malaria control programs. Here we use spatially explicit mobile phone data and malaria prevalence information from Kenya to identify the dynamics of human carriers that drive parasite importation between regions. Our analysis identifies specific importation routes that contribute to malaria epidemiology on regional spatial scales. PMID:23066082

Mobile open-source plant-canopy monitoring system

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Many agricultural applications, including improved crop production, precision agriculture, and phenotyping, rely on detailed field and crop information to detect and react to spatial variabilities. Mobile farm vehicles, such as tractors and sprayers, have the potential to operate as mobile sensing ...

Human mobility in an emerging epidemic: a key aspect for response planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poletto, Chiara; Bajardi, Paolo; Colizza, Vittoria; Ramasco, Jose J.; Tizzoni, Michele; Vespignani, Alessandro

2010-03-01

Human mobility and interactions represent key ingredients in the spreading dynamics of an infectious disease. The flows of traveling people form a network characterized by complex features, such as strong topological and traffic heterogeneities, that unfolds at different temporal and spatial scales, from short ranges to the global scale. Computational models can be developed that integrate detailed network structures based on demographic and mobility data, in order to simulate the spatial evolution of an epidemic. Focusing on the recent A(H1N1) influenza pandemic as a paradigmatic example, these approaches allow the assessment of the interplay between individual mobility and epidemic dynamics, quantifying the effects of travel restrictions in delaying the epidemic spread and the role of mobility as an additional source of information for the understanding of the early outbreak.

Sex workers as peer health advocates: community empowerment and transformative learning through a Canadian pilot program.

PubMed

Benoit, Cecilia; Belle-Isle, Lynne; Smith, Michaela; Phillips, Rachel; Shumka, Leah; Atchison, Chris; Jansson, Mikael; Loppie, Charlotte; Flagg, Jackson

2017-08-30

Social marginalization and criminalization create health and safety risks for sex workers and reduce their access to health promotion and prevention services compared to the general population. Community empowerment-based interventions that prioritize the engagement of sex workers show promising results. Peer-to-peer interventions, wherein sex workers act as educators of their colleagues, managers, clients and romantic partners, foster community mobilization and critical consciousness among sex workers and equip them to exercise agency in their work and personal lives. A pilot peer health education program was developed and implemented, with and for sex workers in one urban centre in Canada. To explore how the training program contributed to community empowerment and transformative learning among participants, the authors conducted qualitative interviews, asked participants to keep personal journals and to fill out feedback forms after each session. Thematic analysis was conducted on these three data sources, with emerging themes identified, organized and presented in the findings. Five themes emerged from the analysis. Our findings show that the pilot program led to reduced internalized stigma and increased self-esteem in participants. Participants' critical consciousness increased concerning issues of diversity in cultural background, sexual orientation, work experiences and gender identity. Participants gained knowledge about how sex work stigma is enacted and perpetuated. They also became increasingly comfortable challenging negative judgments from others, including frontline service providers. Participants were encouraged to actively shape the training program, which fostered positive relationships and solidarity among them, as well as with colleagues in their social network and with the local sex worker organization housing the program. Resources were also mobilized within the sex worker community through skills building and knowledge acquisition. The peer education program proved successful in enhancing sex workers' community empowerment in one urban setting by increasing their knowledge about health issues, sharing information about and building confidence in accessing services, and expanding capacity to disseminate this knowledge to others. This 'proof of concept' built the foundation for a long-term initiative in this setting and has promise for other jurisdictions wishing to adapt similar programs.

A mobile phone-based, community health worker program for referral, follow-up, and service outreach in rural Zambia: outcomes and overview.

PubMed

Schuttner, Linnaea; Sindano, Ntazana; Theis, Mathew; Zue, Cory; Joseph, Jessica; Chilengi, Roma; Chi, Benjamin H; Stringer, Jeffrey S A; Chintu, Namwinga

2014-08-01

Mobile health (m-health) utilizes widespread access to mobile phone technologies to expand health services. Community health workers (CHWs) provide first-level contact with health facilities; combining CHW efforts with m-health may be an avenue for improving primary care services. As part of a primary care improvement project, a pilot CHW program was developed using a mobile phone-based application for outreach, referral, and follow-up between the clinic and community in rural Zambia. The program was implemented at six primary care sites. Computers were installed at clinics for data entry, and data were transmitted to central servers. In the field, using a mobile phone to send data and receive follow-up requests, CHWs conducted household health surveillance visits, referred individuals to clinic, and followed up clinic patients. From January to April 2011, 24 CHWs surveyed 6,197 households with 33,304 inhabitants. Of 15,539 clinic visits, 1,173 (8%) had a follow-up visit indicated and transmitted via a mobile phone to designated CHWs. CHWs performed one or more follow-ups on 74% (n=871) of active requests and obtained outcomes on 63% (n=741). From all community visits combined, CHWs referred 840 individuals to a clinic. CHWs completed all planned aspects of surveillance and outreach, demonstrating feasibility. Components of this pilot project may aid clinical care in rural settings and have potential for epidemiologic and health system applications. Thus, m-health has the potential to improve service outreach, guide activities, and facilitate data collection in Zambia.

A mobile clinic approach to the delivery of community-based mental health services in rural Haiti.

PubMed

Fils-Aimé, J Reginald; Grelotti, David J; Thérosmé, Tatiana; Kaiser, Bonnie N; Raviola, Giuseppe; Alcindor, Yoldie; Severe, Jennifer; Affricot, Emmeline; Boyd, Katherine; Legha, Rupinder; Daimyo, Shin; Engel, Stephanie; Eustache, Eddy

2018-01-01

This study evaluates the use of a mental health mobile clinic to overcome two major challenges to the provision of mental healthcare in resource-limited settings: the shortage of trained specialists; and the need to improve access to safe, effective, and culturally sound care in community settings. Employing task-shifting and supervision, mental healthcare was largely delivered by trained, non-specialist health workers instead of specialists. A retrospective chart review of 318 unduplicated patients assessed and treated during the mobile clinic's first two years (January 2012 to November 2013) was conducted to explore outcomes. These data were supplemented by a quality improvement questionnaire, illustrative case reports, and a qualitative interview with the mobile clinic's lead community health worker. The team evaluated an average of 42 patients per clinic session. The most common mental, neurological, or substance abuse (MNS) disorders were depression and epilepsy. Higher follow-up rates were seen among those with diagnoses of bipolar disorder and neurological conditions, while those with depression or anxiety had lower follow-up rates. Persons with mood disorders who were evaluated on at least two separate occasions using a locally developed depression screening tool experienced a significant reduction in depressive symptoms. The mental health mobile clinic successfully treated a wide range of MNS disorders in rural Haiti and provided care to individuals who previously had no consistent access to mental healthcare. Efforts to address these common barriers to the provision of mental healthcare in resource-limited settings should consider supplementing clinic-based with mobile services.

United States Air Force Summer Faculty Research Program. Management Report. Volume 4

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-12-01

Anderson, N.L. et al (1986). Effects of Aroclor 1254 on proteins of mouse liver: Aplication of two-dimensional electrophoretic protein mapping...transferability of job skill, has surfaced in the context of civilian occupational mobility (Byrne, 1975; Fine, 1957a, 1957b) transitions from military to...considerations from concept through deployment. Defense Management Journal, 16(2), 12-19. Byrne, J. J. (1975). Occupational mobility of workers. Monthly

Emerging and reemerging epidemic-prone diseases among settling nomadic pastoralists in Uganda.

PubMed

Cummings, Matthew J; Wamala, Joseph F; Komakech, Innocent; Malimbo, Mugagga; Lukwago, Luswa

2014-09-01

Epidemic-prone diseases have traditionally been uncommon among nomadic pastoralists as mobility allows already dispersed populations to migrate away from epidemic threats. In the Karamoja region of Uganda, nomadic pastoralists are transitioning to an increasingly settled lifestyle due to cattle raiding and associated civil insecurity. In attempts to reduce conflict in the region, the Ugandan government has instituted disarmament campaigns and encouraged sedentism in place of mobility. In Karamoja, this transition to sedentism has contributed to the emergence and reemergence of epidemic-prone diseases such as cholera, hepatitis E, yellow fever, and meningococcal meningitis. The incidence of these diseases remains difficult to measure and several challenges exist to their control. Challenges to communicable disease surveillance and control among settling nomadic pastoralists are related to nomadic mobility, remote geography, vaccination and immunity, and poor sanitation and safe water access. In addition to improving gaps in infrastructure, attracting well-trained government health workers to Karamoja and similar areas with longstanding human resource limitations is critical to address the challenges to epidemic-prone disease surveillance and control among settling nomadic pastoralists. In conjunction with government health workers, community health teams provide a sustainable method by which public health programs can be improved in the austere environments inhabited by mobile and settling pastoralists. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Changing Urban Work Ethic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pagano, Helen P.

1974-01-01

In an urbanized society, work and leisure include an orientation toward control, achievement, and the mobilization of energy to specific ends. Workers' attitudes, both white and blue collar, are becoming increasingly permissive and exploratory. (Author)

Comparison of a mobile phone-based malaria reporting system with source participant register data for capturing spatial and temporal trends in epidemiological indicators of malaria transmission collected by community health workers in rural Zambia.

PubMed

Hamainza, Busiku; Killeen, Gerry F; Kamuliwo, Mulakwa; Bennett, Adam; Yukich, Joshua O

2014-12-12

Timeliness, completeness, and accuracy are key requirements for any surveillance system to reliably monitor disease burden and guide efficient resource prioritization. Evidence that electronic reporting of malaria cases by community health workers (CHWs) meet these requirements remains limited. Residents of two adjacent rural districts in Zambia were provided with both passive and active malaria testing and treatment services with malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and artemisinin-based combination therapy by 42 CHWs serving 14 population clusters centred around public sector health facilities. Reference data describing total numbers of RDT-detected infections and diagnostic positivity (DP) were extracted from detailed participant register books kept by CHWs. These were compared with equivalent weekly summaries relayed directly by the CHWs themselves through a mobile phone short messaging system (SMS) reporting platform. Slightly more RDT-detected malaria infections were recorded in extracted participant registers than were reported in weekly mobile phone summaries but the difference was equivalent to only 19.2% (31,665 versus 25,583, respectively). The majority (81%) of weekly SMS reports were received within one week and the remainder within one month. Overall mean [95% confidence limits] difference between the numbers of register-recorded and SMS-reported RDT-detected malaria infections per CHW per week, as estimated by the Bland Altman method, was only -2.3 [-21.9, 17.2]. The mean [range] for both the number of RDT-detected malaria infections (86 [0, 463] versus 73.6 [0, 519], respectively)) and DP (22.8% [0.0 to 96.3%] versus 23.2% [0.4 to 75.8%], respectively) reported by SMS were generally very consistent with those recorded in the reference paper-based register data and exhibited similar seasonality patterns across all study clusters. Overall, mean relative differences in the SMS reports and reference register data were more consistent with each other for DP than for absolute numbers of RDT-detected infections, presumably because this indicator is robust to variations in patient reporting rates by location, weather, season and calendar event because these are included in both the nominator and denominator. The SMS reports captured malaria transmission trends with adequate accuracy and could be used for population-wide, continuous, longitudinal monitoring of malaria transmission.

A novel mobile monitoring approach to characterize spatial and temporal variation in traffic-related air pollutants in an urban community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Chang Ho; Fan, Zhihua; Lioy, Paul J.; Baptista, Ana; Greenberg, Molly; Laumbach, Robert J.

2016-09-01

Air concentrations of traffic-related air pollutants (TRAPs) vary in space and time within urban communities, presenting challenges for estimating human exposure and potential health effects. Conventional stationary monitoring stations/networks cannot effectively capture spatial characteristics. Alternatively, mobile monitoring approaches became popular to measure TRAPs along roadways or roadsides. However, these linear mobile monitoring approaches cannot thoroughly distinguish spatial variability from temporal variations in monitored TRAP concentrations. In this study, we used a novel mobile monitoring approach to simultaneously characterize spatial/temporal variations in roadside concentrations of TRAPs in urban settings. We evaluated the effectiveness of this mobile monitoring approach by performing concurrent measurements along two parallel paths perpendicular to a major roadway and/or along heavily trafficked roads at very narrow scale (one block away each other) within short time period (<30 min) in an urban community. Based on traffic and particulate matter (PM) source information, we selected 4 neighborhoods to study. The sampling activities utilized real-time monitors, including battery-operated PM2.5 monitor (SidePak), condensation particle counter (CPC 3007), black carbon (BC) monitor (Micro-Aethalometer), carbon monoxide (CO) monitor (Langan T15), and portable temperature/humidity data logger (HOBO U12), and a GPS-based tracker (Trackstick). Sampling was conducted for ∼3 h in the morning (7:30-10:30) in 7 separate days in March/April and 6 days in May/June 2012. Two simultaneous samplings were made at 5 spatially-distributed locations on parallel roads, usually distant one block each other, in each neighborhood. The 5-min averaged BC concentrations (AVG ± SD, [range]) were 2.53 ± 2.47 [0.09-16.3] μg/m3, particle number concentrations (PNC) were 33,330 ± 23,451 [2512-159,130] particles/cm3, PM2.5 mass concentrations were 8.87 ± 7.65 [0.27-46.5] μg/m3, and CO concentrations were 1.22 ± 0.60 [0.22-6.29] ppm in the community. The traffic-related air pollutants, BC and PNC, but not PM2.5 or CO, varied spatially depending on proximity to local stationary/mobile sources. Seasonal differences were observed for all four TRAPs, significantly higher in colder months than in warmer months. The coefficients of variation (CVs) in concurrent measurements from two parallel routes were calculated around 0.21 ± 0.17, and variations were attributed by meteorological variation (25%), temporal variability (19%), concentration level (6%), and spatial variability (2%), respectively. Overall study findings suggest this mobile monitoring approach could effectively capture and distinguish spatial/temporal characteristics in TRAP concentrations for communities impacted by heavy motor vehicle traffic and mixed urban air pollution sources.

A Web-Based GIS for Reporting Water Usage in the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, M.; Deeds, N.; Winckler, M.

2012-12-01

The High Plains Underground Water Conservation District (HPWD) is the largest and oldest of the Texas water conservation districts, and oversees approximately 1.7 million irrigated acres. Recent rule changes have motivated HPWD to develop a more automated system to allow owners and operators to report well locations, meter locations, meter readings, the association between meters and wells, and contiguous acres. INTERA, Inc. has developed a web-based interactive system for HPWD water users to report water usage and for the district to better manage its water resources. The HPWD web management system utilizes state-of-the-art GIS techniques, including cloud-based Amazon EC2 virtual machine, ArcGIS Server, ArcSDE and ArcGIS Viewer for Flex, to support web-based water use management. The system enables users to navigate to their area of interest using a well-established base-map and perform a variety of operations and inquiries against their spatial features. The application currently has six components: user privilege management, property management, water meter registration, area registration, meter-well association and water use report. The system is composed of two main databases: spatial database and non-spatial database. With the help of Adobe Flex application at the front end and ArcGIS Server as the middle-ware, the spatial feature geometry and attributes update will be reflected immediately in the back end. As a result, property owners, along with the HPWD staff, collaborate together to weave the fabric of the spatial database. Interactions between the spatial and non-spatial databases are established by Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services to record water-use report, user-property associations, owner-area associations, as well as meter-well associations. Mobile capabilities will be enabled in the near future for field workers to collect data and synchronize them to the spatial database. The entire solution is built on a highly scalable cloud server to dynamically allocate the computational resources so as to reduce the cost on security and hardware maintenance. In addition to the default capabilities provided by ESRI, customizations include 1) enabling interactions between spatial and non-spatial databases, 2) providing role-based feature editing, 3) dynamically filtering spatial features on the map based on user accounts and 4) comprehensive data validation.

Intelligent Context-Aware and Adaptive Interface for Mobile LBS

PubMed Central

Liu, Yanhong

2015-01-01

Context-aware user interface plays an important role in many human-computer Interaction tasks of location based services. Although spatial models for context-aware systems have been studied extensively, how to locate specific spatial information for users is still not well resolved, which is important in the mobile environment where location based services users are impeded by device limitations. Better context-aware human-computer interaction models of mobile location based services are needed not just to predict performance outcomes, such as whether people will be able to find the information needed to complete a human-computer interaction task, but to understand human processes that interact in spatial query, which will in turn inform the detailed design of better user interfaces in mobile location based services. In this study, a context-aware adaptive model for mobile location based services interface is proposed, which contains three major sections: purpose, adjustment, and adaptation. Based on this model we try to describe the process of user operation and interface adaptation clearly through the dynamic interaction between users and the interface. Then we show how the model applies users' demands in a complicated environment and suggested the feasibility by the experimental results. PMID:26457077

The role of mHealth intervention on maternal and child health service delivery: findings from a randomized controlled field trial in rural Ethiopia

PubMed Central

Otto, Kate; Herbst, Christopher H.

2017-01-01

Background The provision of consistent and quality maternal and child health (MCH) services is a challenge for Ethiopia where most of the population lives in the rural setup. Health service delivery is constrained mainly by shortage of health professionals, meager resources, limited awareness among the society and bureaucratic procedures. Low health service utilization of antenatal care (ANC), delivery services, and postnatal care (PNC) are believed to contribute for high maternal and child mortality rates. Innovative approach like mHealth based technological intervention believed to alleviate such challenges in countries like ours. However, currently, there are few evidences that demonstrate the impact of mHealth technology applications on the level of service utilization. Therefore, the objective our study is to assess the role of mobile phone equipped with short message service (SMS) based data-exchange software linking community health workers to Health Centers in rural Ethiopia affect selected MCH outcomes. Methods A community-based randomized control trial (RCT) was conducted in three woredas of Guraghe zone (Ezha, partial &Abeshge full intervention, Sodo Control). Mobile phones equipped with FrontlineSMS based, locally developed application was distributed to all health extension workers (HEWs) to both intervention woredas who filled maternal, child and stock related forms and submitted to the central server which in turn sends reminder about the scheduled date of ANC visit, expected date of delivery, PNC, immunization schedule and vaccine and contraceptive stock status. Moreover, in Abeshge, the voluntary health workers (vCHW) and HEW supervisors in both intervention woreda were given a phone to facilitate communication with the HEW. No mobile was offered to the control woreda.Pre [2012] and post [2013] intervention community based survey on mothers who have under 5 and under 1 year old child was done to assess the effect of the mobile intervention on selected MCH process indicators. Structured and pretested questionnaire was used to collect data and SPSS v16 statistical software was used for analysis. Results Three thousand two hundred and forty mothers, 1,080 from each, were surveyed in the three woredas. The study revealed that the proportion of mothers receiving more than four ANC visits increased significantly in both intervention woredas. Besides, the rate of ANC delivered by HEWs improved in Ezha woreda (T1) (19.01% to 28.27%), proportions of deliveries attended by skilled health workers increased and home delivery decreased in all woredas; most pronounced increases in referrals from health post to health center by HEWs, reported in Ezha and Abeshge. The intervention also led to a significant reduction in stock-outs of preferred contraceptive products in Ezha (T1) from 16.96% to 8.24% but no change was observed in both contraceptive prevalence and immunization rates in the control and the other intervention woreda. Conclusions The study confirmed the positive contribution of SMS based mobile phone intervention in most of the selected MCH service indicators, like improvement in the percent of recommended number of ANC visit, percentage of delivery attended by health workers and facilitating the work processes of the health workers in rural Ethiopia. PMID:29184891

The role of mHealth intervention on maternal and child health service delivery: findings from a randomized controlled field trial in rural Ethiopia.

PubMed

Atnafu, Asfaw; Otto, Kate; Herbst, Christopher H

2017-01-01

The provision of consistent and quality maternal and child health (MCH) services is a challenge for Ethiopia where most of the population lives in the rural setup. Health service delivery is constrained mainly by shortage of health professionals, meager resources, limited awareness among the society and bureaucratic procedures. Low health service utilization of antenatal care (ANC), delivery services, and postnatal care (PNC) are believed to contribute for high maternal and child mortality rates. Innovative approach like mHealth based technological intervention believed to alleviate such challenges in countries like ours. However, currently, there are few evidences that demonstrate the impact of mHealth technology applications on the level of service utilization. Therefore, the objective our study is to assess the role of mobile phone equipped with short message service (SMS) based data-exchange software linking community health workers to Health Centers in rural Ethiopia affect selected MCH outcomes. A community-based randomized control trial (RCT) was conducted in three woredas of Guraghe zone (Ezha, partial &Abeshge full intervention, Sodo Control). Mobile phones equipped with FrontlineSMS based, locally developed application was distributed to all health extension workers (HEWs) to both intervention woredas who filled maternal, child and stock related forms and submitted to the central server which in turn sends reminder about the scheduled date of ANC visit, expected date of delivery, PNC, immunization schedule and vaccine and contraceptive stock status. Moreover, in Abeshge, the voluntary health workers (vCHW) and HEW supervisors in both intervention woreda were given a phone to facilitate communication with the HEW. No mobile was offered to the control woreda.Pre [2012] and post [2013] intervention community based survey on mothers who have under 5 and under 1 year old child was done to assess the effect of the mobile intervention on selected MCH process indicators. Structured and pretested questionnaire was used to collect data and SPSS v16 statistical software was used for analysis. Three thousand two hundred and forty mothers, 1,080 from each, were surveyed in the three woredas. The study revealed that the proportion of mothers receiving more than four ANC visits increased significantly in both intervention woredas. Besides, the rate of ANC delivered by HEWs improved in Ezha woreda (T1) (19.01% to 28.27%), proportions of deliveries attended by skilled health workers increased and home delivery decreased in all woredas; most pronounced increases in referrals from health post to health center by HEWs, reported in Ezha and Abeshge. The intervention also led to a significant reduction in stock-outs of preferred contraceptive products in Ezha (T1) from 16.96% to 8.24% but no change was observed in both contraceptive prevalence and immunization rates in the control and the other intervention woreda. The study confirmed the positive contribution of SMS based mobile phone intervention in most of the selected MCH service indicators, like improvement in the percent of recommended number of ANC visit, percentage of delivery attended by health workers and facilitating the work processes of the health workers in rural Ethiopia.

Cross-border mobility and social networks: Laotians seeking medical treatment along the Thai border.

PubMed

Bochaton, Audrey

2015-01-01

Drawing upon research conducted on cross-border patients living in Laos and seeking care in Thailand, this paper examines the important role played by social networks in patients' decision-making and on the itineraries they choose to seek treatment on the Thai side of the border. Due to the vastly contrasting situations between the two countries in terms of healthcare supply, and considering Laotians' increasing demand for high quality healthcare, a number of them have managed to satisfy their needs by combining cross-border treatment with the use of the healthcare facilities provided by their own country. This study consisted first of household surveys conducted in five border areas (2006-2007) in Laos in order to quantify and map out cross-border healthcare-related travel patterns. Afterwards, interviews were conducted with cross-border patients (55), Laotian and Thai medical doctors (6), Thai social workers (5), and officials working in public institutions (12). While socioeconomic and spatial factors partly explain cross-border mobility, patients' social networks significantly influence treatment itineraries throughout the decision-making process, including logistical and financial considerations. The social networks existing at different geographical levels (neighbourhood, regional and global) are therefore a powerful analytical tool not only for understanding the emergence of these cross-border movements but also for justifying them in an authoritarian political environment such as Lao PDR's. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Generalized Radiation Model for Human Mobility: Spatial Scale, Searching Direction and Trip Constraint

PubMed Central

Kang, Chaogui; Liu, Yu; Guo, Diansheng; Qin, Kun

2015-01-01

We generalized the recently introduced “radiation model”, as an analog to the generalization of the classic “gravity model”, to consolidate its nature of universality for modeling diverse mobility systems. By imposing the appropriate scaling exponent λ, normalization factor κ and system constraints including searching direction and trip OD constraint, the generalized radiation model accurately captures real human movements in various scenarios and spatial scales, including two different countries and four different cities. Our analytical results also indicated that the generalized radiation model outperformed alternative mobility models in various empirical analyses. PMID:26600153

A Generalized Radiation Model for Human Mobility: Spatial Scale, Searching Direction and Trip Constraint.

PubMed

Kang, Chaogui; Liu, Yu; Guo, Diansheng; Qin, Kun

2015-01-01

We generalized the recently introduced "radiation model", as an analog to the generalization of the classic "gravity model", to consolidate its nature of universality for modeling diverse mobility systems. By imposing the appropriate scaling exponent λ, normalization factor κ and system constraints including searching direction and trip OD constraint, the generalized radiation model accurately captures real human movements in various scenarios and spatial scales, including two different countries and four different cities. Our analytical results also indicated that the generalized radiation model outperformed alternative mobility models in various empirical analyses.

Good Job, Bad Job: Occupational Perceptions Among Latino Poultry Workers

PubMed Central

Mora, Dana C.; Arcury, Thomas A.; Quandt, Sara A.

2016-01-01

Objectives Immigrant workers frequently take jobs that are physically demanding, provide low wages, and result in injuries (e.g., poultry production and processing). Through a qualitative approach, this paper elicits poultry workers’ evaluations of their jobs and set them in the larger context of their lives. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 65 poultry workers in western North Carolina. Workers were asked to discuss job characteristics, physical and psychological impacts of their employment, and perceived health risks. Results Immigrant workers valued the stability, benefits, upward mobility, and pay offered. They disliked the physical demands, the potential perceived effects of the job on their health, and the interactions with bosses and peers. Conclusion Workers’ willingness to endure dirty, dangerous, and demanding (3-D) conditions of poultry must be understood in the context of other employment options, structural violence, and their focus on immediate family needs that positive aspects of these jobs can fulfill. PMID:27195478

"Even if you know everything you can forget": health worker perceptions of mobile phone text-messaging to improve malaria case-management in Kenya.

PubMed

Jones, Caroline O H; Wasunna, Beatrice; Sudoi, Raymond; Githinji, Sophie; Snow, Robert W; Zurovac, Dejan

2012-01-01

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study to investigate the perceptions and experiences of health workers involved in a a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a novel intervention to improve health worker malaria case-management in 107 government health facilities in Kenya. The intervention involved sending text-messages about paediatric outpatient malaria case-management accompanied by "motivating" quotes to health workers' mobile phones. Ten malaria messages were developed reflecting recommendations from the Kenyan national guidelines. Two messages were delivered per day for 5 working days and the process was repeated for 26 weeks (May to October 2009). The accompanying quotes were unique to each message. The intervention was delivered to 119 health workers and there were significant improvements in correct artemether-lumefantrine (AL) management both immediately after the intervention (November 2009) and 6 months later (May 2010). In-depth interviews with 24 health workers were undertaken to investigate the possible drivers of this change. The results suggest high acceptance of all components of the intervention, with the active delivery of information in an on the job setting, the ready availability of new and stored text messages and the perception of being kept 'up to date' as important factors influencing practice. Applying the construct of stages of change we infer that in this intervention the SMS messages were operating primarily at the action and maintenance stages of behaviour change achieving their effect by creating an enabling environment and providing a prompt to action for the implementation of case management practices that had already been accepted as the clinical norm by the health workers. Future trials testing the effectiveness of SMS reminders in creating an enabling environment for the establishment of new norms in clinical practice as well as in providing a prompt to action for the implementation of the new case-management guidelines are justified.

A review of a GP registrar-run mobile health clinic for homeless people.

PubMed

O'Carroll, A; Irving, N; O'Neill, J; Flanagan, E

2017-08-01

Homeless people have excessively high morbidity and mortality rates, yet they face barriers accessing primary care. A mobile health clinic, staffed by GP registrars, was developed to provide services to homeless people, particularly rough sleepers and sex workers. The aims were to improve access to primary care and to challenge the stereotypes and prejudices of GP registrars through direct contact with homeless people. This was a qualitative study; questionnaires were completed on the mobile health clinic and two focus groups were conducted. All service users were asked to complete a questionnaire over a 3 month period. Two focus groups were conducted with 6 and 14 GP registrars who had worked on the bus. There was an 80% response rate (116 of 145). Fifty-two percent had no Medical Card meaning that they had no way to access the free primary care to which they are entitled. Had the clinic not been available, over half would not have sought further treatment and 16% would have gone to an Emergency Department. Ninety-one percent of users rated the service 10/10. The focus groups found that GP registrars who worked on the mobile health clinic had decreased negative stereotypes, increased empathy, and more knowledge of homeless issues. Furthermore, they intended to ensure that homeless people will not face discrimination in their future practice. A GP Registrar-run Mobile Health Clinic achieved its aims of improving access to primary care for rough sleepers and sex workers, and challenging stereotypes of GP Registrars.

HIV Programs for Sex Workers: Lessons and Challenges for Developing and Delivering Programs.

PubMed

Wilson, David

2015-06-01

There is evidence that HIV prevention programs for sex workers, especially female sex workers, are cost-effective in several contexts, including many western countries, Thailand, India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. The evidence that sex worker HIV prevention programs work must not inspire complacency but rather a renewed effort to expand, intensify, and maximize their impact. The PLOS Collection "Focus on Delivery and Scale: Achieving HIV Impact with Sex Workers" highlights major challenges to scaling-up sex worker HIV prevention programs, noting the following: sex worker HIV prevention programs are insufficiently guided by understanding of epidemic transmission dynamics, situation analyses, and programmatic mapping; sex worker HIV and sexually transmitted infection services receive limited domestic financing in many countries; many sex worker HIV prevention programs are inadequately codified to ensure consistency and quality; and many sex worker HIV prevention programs have not evolved adequately to address informal sex workers, male and transgender sex workers, and mobile- and internet-based sex workers. Based on the wider collection of papers, this article presents three major clusters of recommendations: (i) HIV programs focused on sex workers should be prioritized, developed, and implemented based on robust evidence; (ii) national political will and increased funding are needed to increase coverage of effective sex worker HIV prevention programs in low and middle income countries; and (iii) comprehensive, integrated, and rapidly evolving HIV programs are needed to ensure equitable access to health services for individuals involved in all forms of sex work.

The utilization of mobile devices for telemedicine services in a South African public healthcare system.

PubMed

Hartmann, André; Van Dyk, Liezl

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to develop an understanding in the use of mobile devices in administering telemedicine services within the public health care sector of South Africa. An online questionnaire was developed and distributed amongst medical officers, specialists, students and medical staff of one of the health districts of South Africa. This paper describes the design of the questionnaire as well as the most significant outcomes. Results are presented in terms of reasons why healthcare workers use mobile devices, as well as perceptions in terms of transmission security and quality of transmitted information.

Wave-driven sediment mobilization on a storm-controlled continental shelf (Northwest Iberia)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oberle, Ferdinand; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Hanebuth, Till

2014-01-01

Seafloor sediment mobilization on the inner Northwest Iberian continental shelf is caused largely by ocean surface waves. The temporal and spatial variability in the wave height, wave period, and wave direction has a profound effect on local sediment mobilization, leading to distinct sediment mobilization scenarios. Six grain-size specific sediment mobilization scenarios, representing seasonal average and storm conditions, were simulated with a physics-based numerical model. Model inputs included meteorological and oceanographic data in conjunction with seafloor grain-size and the shelf bathymetric data. The results show distinct seasonal variations, most importantly in wave height, leading to sediment mobilization, specifically on the inner shelf shallower than 30 m water depth where up to 49% of the shelf area is mobilized. Medium to severe storm events are modeled to mobilize up to 89% of the shelf area above 150 m water depth. The frequency of each of these seasonal and storm-related sediment mobilization scenarios is addressed using a decade of meteorological and oceanographic data. The temporal and spatial patterns of the modeled sediment mobilization scenarios are discussed in the context of existing geological and environmental processes and conditions to assist scientific, industrial and environmental efforts that are directly affected by sediment mobilization. Examples, where sediment mobilization plays a vital role, include seafloor nutrient advection, recurrent arrival of oil from oil-spill-laden seafloor sediment, and bottom trawling impacts.

SARANA: language, compiler and run-time system support for spatially aware and resource-aware mobile computing.

PubMed

Hari, Pradip; Ko, Kevin; Koukoumidis, Emmanouil; Kremer, Ulrich; Martonosi, Margaret; Ottoni, Desiree; Peh, Li-Shiuan; Zhang, Pei

2008-10-28

Increasingly, spatial awareness plays a central role in many distributed and mobile computing applications. Spatially aware applications rely on information about the geographical position of compute devices and their supported services in order to support novel functionality. While many spatial application drivers already exist in mobile and distributed computing, very little systems research has explored how best to program these applications, to express their spatial and temporal constraints, and to allow efficient implementations on highly dynamic real-world platforms. This paper proposes the SARANA system architecture, which includes language and run-time system support for spatially aware and resource-aware applications. SARANA allows users to express spatial regions of interest, as well as trade-offs between quality of result (QoR), latency and cost. The goal is to produce applications that use resources efficiently and that can be run on diverse resource-constrained platforms ranging from laptops to personal digital assistants and to smart phones. SARANA's run-time system manages QoR and cost trade-offs dynamically by tracking resource availability and locations, brokering usage/pricing agreements and migrating programs to nodes accordingly. A resource cost model permeates the SARANA system layers, permitting users to express their resource needs and QoR expectations in units that make sense to them. Although we are still early in the system development, initial versions have been demonstrated on a nine-node system prototype.

Mobile Platforms for Continuous Spatial Measurements of Urban Trace Gases and Criteria Pollutants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fasoli, B.; Mitchell, L.; Bares, R.; Crosman, E.; Bush, S. E.; Horel, J.; Lin, J. C.; Bowling, D. R.; Ehleringer, J. R.

2015-12-01

Surface-based observations of atmospheric trace gases and criteria pollutants provide critical data on how emissions and pollutant concentrations vary over time. However, traditional stationary measurement sites only quantify concentrations at a single point in space, limiting our ability to understand spatial patterns. Using trace gas instrumentation capable of making continuous high-frequency (~1s) measurements, we have developed mobile platforms to complement stationary observation sites in order to better constrain the heterogeneity and complexities of urban emissions. These compact trace gas and criteria pollutant measurement systems are capable of precisely measuring CO2, CH4 PM2.5, O3, NOx, and several meteorological parameters on TRAX, Salt Lake City's light-rail system, and in a van-based mobile laboratory. Using case study observations, we discuss mobile measurement methodologies and the practical applications of mobile trace gas sampling platforms.

The battle over workers' compensation.

PubMed

Ellenberger, J N

2000-01-01

Faced with lower profits and rapidly increasing premium costs in the 1980s, insurers and employer organizations cleverly parlayed the public perception of worker fraud and abuse in the workers' compensation system (that they helped to create) into massive legislative changes. Over the last decade, state legislators and governors, Republican and Democrat alike, have jumped on this bandwagon, one that workers and their allies have dubbed the workers' compensation "deform" movement. Alleging a "game plan" and a calculated campaign on the part of insurers and employers, the author looks at the major components of changes that were made, examines the elements of workers' compensation over which employers and insurers have gained control, and discusses Newt Gingrich's efforts to capitalize on employer and insurer fervor over the system. This campaign whistled through the country until it goaded the labor movement, injured workers, the trial bar, and others in Ohio in 1997 to organize themselves to stand up to employers by defeating the deform law through a ballot initiative. The article details that battle and suggests that similar voices can be achieved through a return to grassroots organizing and mobilization.

The High-risk Groups According to the Trends and Characteristics of Fatal Occupational Injuries in Korean Workers Aged 50 Years and Above.

PubMed

Yi, Kwan Hyung

2018-06-01

Due to an increasing number of workers aged 50 years and above, the number of those employed is also on the rise, and those workers aged 50 and over has exceeded 50% of the total fatal occupational injuries. Therefore, it is necessary to implement the selection and concentration by identifying the characteristics of high-risk groups necessary for an effective prevention against and reduction of fatal occupational injuries. This study analyzed the characteristics of high-risk groups and the occupational injury fatality rate per 10,000 workers among the workers aged 50 and over through a multi-dimensional analysis by sex, employment status of workers, industry and occupation by targeting 4,079 persons who died in fatal occupational injuries from January 2007 to December 12. The share of the workers aged 50 years and above is increasing every year in the total fatal occupational injuries occurrence, and the high-risk groups include 'male workers' by sex, 'daily workers' by worker's status, 'craft and related-trades workers' by occupation, and 'mining' by industry. The most frequent causal objects of fatal occupational injuries of the workers aged 50 years and above are found out to be 'installment and dismantlement of temporary equipment and material on work platforms including scaffold' in the construction industry and 'mobile crane, conveyor belt and fork lifts' in the manufacturing industry.

Evaluating neighborhood structures for modeling intercity diffusion of large-scale dengue epidemics.

PubMed

Wen, Tzai-Hung; Hsu, Ching-Shun; Hu, Ming-Che

2018-05-03

Dengue fever is a vector-borne infectious disease that is transmitted by contact between vector mosquitoes and susceptible hosts. The literature has addressed the issue on quantifying the effect of individual mobility on dengue transmission. However, there are methodological concerns in the spatial regression model configuration for examining the effect of intercity-scale human mobility on dengue diffusion. The purposes of the study are to investigate the influence of neighborhood structures on intercity epidemic progression from pre-epidemic to epidemic periods and to compare definitions of different neighborhood structures for interpreting the spread of dengue epidemics. We proposed a framework for assessing the effect of model configurations on dengue incidence in 2014 and 2015, which were the most severe outbreaks in 70 years in Taiwan. Compared with the conventional model configuration in spatial regression analysis, our proposed model used a radiation model, which reflects population flow between townships, as a spatial weight to capture the structure of human mobility. The results of our model demonstrate better model fitting performance, indicating that the structure of human mobility has better explanatory power in dengue diffusion than the geometric structure of administration boundaries and geographic distance between centroids of cities. We also identified spatial-temporal hierarchy of dengue diffusion: dengue incidence would be influenced by its immediate neighboring townships during pre-epidemic and epidemic periods, and also with more distant neighbors (based on mobility) in pre-epidemic periods. Our findings suggest that the structure of population mobility could more reasonably capture urban-to-urban interactions, which implies that the hub cities could be a "bridge" for large-scale transmission and make townships that immediately connect to hub cities more vulnerable to dengue epidemics.

Interpretive flexibility in mobile health: lessons from a government-sponsored home care program.

PubMed

Nielsen, Jeppe Agger; Mathiassen, Lars

2013-10-30

Mobile technologies have emerged as important tools that health care personnel can use to gain easy access to client data anywhere. This is particularly useful for nurses and care workers in home health care as they provide services to clients in many different settings. Although a growing body of evidence supports the use of mobile technologies, the diverse implications of mobile health have yet to be fully documented. Our objective was to examine a large-scale government-sponsored mobile health implementation program in the Danish home care sector and to understand how the technology was used differently across home care agencies. We chose to perform a longitudinal case study with embedded units of analysis. We included multiple data sources, such as written materials, a survey to managers across all 98 Danish municipalities, and semistructured interviews with managers, care workers, and nurses in three selected home care agencies. We used process models of change to help analyze the overall implementation process from a longitudinal perspective and to identify antecedent conditions, key events, and practical outcomes. Strong collaboration between major stakeholders in the Danish home care sector (government bodies, vendors, consultants, interest organizations, and managers) helped initiate and energize the change process, and government funding supported quick and widespread technology adoption. However, although supported by the same government-sponsored program, mobile technology proved to have considerable interpretive flexibility with variation in perceived nature of technology, technology strategy, and technology use between agencies. What was first seen as a very promising innovation across the Danish home care sector subsequently became the topic of debate as technology use arrangements ran counter to existing norms and values in individual agencies. Government-sponsored programs can have both positive and negative results, and managers need to be aware of this and the interpretive flexibility of mobile technology. Mobile technology implementation is a complex process that is best studied by combining organization-level analysis with features of the wider sociopolitical and interorganizational environment.

HIV Programs for Sex Workers: Lessons and Challenges for Developing and Delivering Programs

PubMed Central

Wilson, David

2015-01-01

There is evidence that HIV prevention programs for sex workers, especially female sex workers, are cost-effective in several contexts, including many western countries, Thailand, India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. The evidence that sex worker HIV prevention programs work must not inspire complacency but rather a renewed effort to expand, intensify, and maximize their impact. The PLOS Collection “Focus on Delivery and Scale: Achieving HIV Impact with Sex Workers” highlights major challenges to scaling-up sex worker HIV prevention programs, noting the following: sex worker HIV prevention programs are insufficiently guided by understanding of epidemic transmission dynamics, situation analyses, and programmatic mapping; sex worker HIV and sexually transmitted infection services receive limited domestic financing in many countries; many sex worker HIV prevention programs are inadequately codified to ensure consistency and quality; and many sex worker HIV prevention programs have not evolved adequately to address informal sex workers, male and transgender sex workers, and mobile- and internet-based sex workers. Based on the wider collection of papers, this article presents three major clusters of recommendations: (i) HIV programs focused on sex workers should be prioritized, developed, and implemented based on robust evidence; (ii) national political will and increased funding are needed to increase coverage of effective sex worker HIV prevention programs in low and middle income countries; and (iii) comprehensive, integrated, and rapidly evolving HIV programs are needed to ensure equitable access to health services for individuals involved in all forms of sex work. PMID:26079267

Spatial accessibility to physical activity facilities and to food outlets and overweight in French youth

PubMed Central

Casey, R; Chaix, B; Weber, C; Schweitzer, B; Charreire, H; Salze, P; Badariotti, D; Banos, A; Oppert, J-M; Simon, C

2012-01-01

Objective: Some characteristics of the built environment have been associated with obesity in youth. Our aim was to determine whether individual and environmental socio-economic characteristics modulate the relation between youth overweight and spatial accessibility to physical activity (PA) facilities and to food outlets. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: 3293 students, aged 12±0.6 years, randomly selected from eastern France middle schools. Measurements and methods: Using geographical information systems (GIS), spatial accessibility to PA facilities (urban and nature) was assessed using the distance to PA facilities at the municipality level; spatial accessibility to food outlets (general food outlets, bakeries and fast-food outlets) was calculated at individual level using the student home address and the food outlets addresses. Relations of weight status with spatial accessibility to PA facilities and to food outlets were analysed using mixed logistic models, testing potential direct and interaction effects of individual and environmental socio-economic characteristics. Results: Individual socio-economic status modulated the relation between spatial accessibility to PA facilities and to general food outlets and overweight. The likelihood of being overweight was higher when spatial accessibility to urban PA facilities and to general food outlets was low, but in children of blue-collar-workers only. The odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval) for being overweight of blue-collar-workers children compared with non-blue-collar-workers children was 1.76 (1.25–2.49) when spatial accessibility to urban PA facilities was low. This OR was 1.86 (1.20–2.86) when spatial accessibility to general food outlets was low. There was no significant relationship of overweight with either nature PA facilities or other food outlets (bakeries and fast-food outlets). Conclusion: These results indicate that disparities in spatial accessibility to PA facilities and to general food outlets may amplify the risk of overweight in socio-economically disadvantaged youth. These data should be relevant for influencing health policies and urban planning at both a national and local level. PMID:22310474

Sex worker-led structural interventions in India: a case study on addressing violence in HIV prevention through the Ashodaya Samithi collective in Mysore

PubMed Central

Reza-Paul, Sushena; Lorway, Rob; O’Brien, Nadia; Lazarus, Lisa; Jain, Jinendra; Bhagya, M.; Fathima, Mary P; Venukumar, KT; Raviprakash, K.N.; Baer, James; Steen, Richard

2012-01-01

Background & objectives: Structural interventions have the capacity to improve the outcomes of HIV/AIDS interventions by changing the social, economic, political or environmental factors that determine risk and vulnerability. Marginalized groups face disproportionate barriers to health, and sex workers are among those at highest risk of HIV in India. Evidence in India and globally has shown that sex workers face violence in many forms ranging from verbal, psychological and emotional abuse to economic extortion, physical and sexual violence and this is directly linked to lower levels of condom use and higher levels of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the most critical determinants of HIV risk. We present here a case study of an intervention that mobilized sex workers to lead an HIV prevention response that addresses violence in their daily lives. Methods: This study draws on ethnographic research and project monitoring data from a community-led structural intervention in Mysore, India, implemented by Ashodaya Samithi. Qualitative and quantitative data were used to characterize baseline conditions, community responses and subsequent outcomes related to violence. Results: In 2004, the incidence of reported violence by sex workers was extremely high (> 8 incidents per sex worker, per year) but decreased by 84 per cent over 5 years. Violence by police and anti-social elements, initially most common, decreased substantially after a safe space was established for sex workers to meet and crisis management and advocacy were initiated with different stakeholders. Violence by clients, decreased after working with lodge owners to improve safety. However, initial increases in intimate partner violence were reported, and may be explained by two factors: (i) increased willingness to report such incidents; and (ii) increased violence as a reaction to sex workers’ growing empowerment. Trafficking was addressed through the establishment of a self-regulatory board (SRB). The community's progressive response to violence was enabled by advancing community mobilization, ensuring community ownership of the intervention, and shifting structural vulnerabilities, whereby sex workers increasingly engaged key actors in support of a more enabling environment. Interpretation & conclusions: Ashodaya's community-led response to violence at multiple levels proved highly synergistic and effective in reducing structural violence. PMID:22382190

Uncovering urban human mobility from large scale taxi GPS data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Jinjun; Liu, Fang; Wang, Yinhai; Wang, Hua

2015-11-01

Taxi GPS trajectories data contain massive spatial and temporal information of urban human activity and mobility. Taking taxi as mobile sensors, the information derived from taxi trips benefits the city and transportation planning. The original data used in study are collected from more than 1100 taxi drivers in Harbin city. We firstly divide the city area into 400 different transportation districts and analyze the origin and destination distribution in urban area on weekday and weekend. The Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) algorithm is used to cluster pick-up and drop-off locations. Furthermore, four spatial interaction models are calibrated and compared based on trajectories in shopping center of Harbin city to study the pick-up location searching behavior. By extracting taxi trips from GPS data, travel distance, time and average speed in occupied and non-occupied status are then used to investigate human mobility. Finally, we use observed OD matrix of center area in Harbin city to model the traffic distribution patterns based on entropy-maximizing method, and the estimation performance verify its effectiveness in case study.

Wide size range fast integrated mobility spectrometer

DOEpatents

Wang, Jian

2013-10-29

A mobility spectrometer to measure a nanometer particle size distribution is disclosed. The mobility spectrometer includes a conduit and a detector. The conduit is configured to receive and provide fluid communication of a fluid stream having a charged nanometer particle mixture. The conduit includes a separator section configured to generate an electrical field of two dimensions transverse to a dimension associated with the flow of the charged nanometer particle mixture through the separator section to spatially separate charged nanometer particles of the charged nanometer particle mixture in said two dimensions. The detector is disposed downstream of the conduit to detect concentration and position of the spatially-separated nanometer particles.

A retrospective cohort mortality study of blending and packaging workers of Mobil Corporation.

PubMed

Collingwood, K W; Milcarek, B I; Raabe, G K

1991-01-01

This retrospective cohort mortality study examined 2,467 workers in lubrication products blending and packaging (B&P) operations at two refineries of Mobil Corporation between January 1, 1945 and December 31, 1978. Ninety-seven percent were male. Compared with U.S. males, there were significantly fewer deaths observed among males due to all causes, external causes, and diseases of the circulatory, respiratory, digestive, and genitourinary systems. Deaths observed from all cancer were fewer than expected, although not statistically significant. No statistically significant excess cause-specific mortality occurred at B&P facilities combined or separately. Nonsignificant increases in mortality were observed for cancers of the stomach, large intestine, prostate, the category of "other lymphatic tissue" cancer, and leukemia and aleukemia. Analyses demonstrated a statistically significant pattern of increasing SMR with employment duration for "other lymphatic tissue" cancer. Within the highest cumulative duration of employment category, the excess was confined to workers after 30 or more years since first employment. Although the interpretation of cancer mortality patterns is limited due to small numbers of deaths, the absence of associations with specific B&P departments is evidence against a causal interpretation.

Polio eradication: mobilizing and managing the human resources.

PubMed Central

Aylward, R. Bruce; Linkins, Jennifer

2005-01-01

Between 1988 and 2004, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative grew to become the largest international health effort in history, operating in every country of the world. An estimated 10 million health workers and volunteers have been engaged in implementing the necessary polio supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) on a recurring basis, and at least 35,000 well-trained workers have been conducting polio surveillance. A combination of task simplification, technological innovations and adaptation of strategies to fit local circumstances has allowed the Initiative to use a wide range of workers and volunteers, from both inside and outside the health sector, to deliver the polio vaccine during SIAs and to monitor progress in virtually every area of every country, regardless of the health infrastructure, conflict, geography and/or culture. This approach has required sustained political advocacy and mass community mobilization, together with strong management and supervisory processes. Non-monetary incentives, reimbursement of costs and substantial technical assistance have been essential. Given the unique features of eradication programmes in general, and polio eradication in particular, the implications of this approach for the broader health system must continue to be studied if it is to be replicated for the delivery and monitoring of other interventions. PMID:15868017

Polio eradication: mobilizing and managing the human resources.

PubMed

Aylward, R Bruce; Linkins, Jennifer

2005-04-01

Between 1988 and 2004, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative grew to become the largest international health effort in history, operating in every country of the world. An estimated 10 million health workers and volunteers have been engaged in implementing the necessary polio supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) on a recurring basis, and at least 35,000 well-trained workers have been conducting polio surveillance. A combination of task simplification, technological innovations and adaptation of strategies to fit local circumstances has allowed the Initiative to use a wide range of workers and volunteers, from both inside and outside the health sector, to deliver the polio vaccine during SIAs and to monitor progress in virtually every area of every country, regardless of the health infrastructure, conflict, geography and/or culture. This approach has required sustained political advocacy and mass community mobilization, together with strong management and supervisory processes. Non-monetary incentives, reimbursement of costs and substantial technical assistance have been essential. Given the unique features of eradication programmes in general, and polio eradication in particular, the implications of this approach for the broader health system must continue to be studied if it is to be replicated for the delivery and monitoring of other interventions.

Spatial Stories with Nomadic Narrators: Affect, Snapchat, and Feeling Embodiment in Youth Mobile Composing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wargo, Jon M.

2015-01-01

While the vast majority of scholarship on mobile media, social semiotics, and multimodality highlights work done "behind" the screen, few studies have considered the embodied processes of youth composing "with" and "through" mobile technology. This study, drawn from a larger critical qualitative connective…

Supporting Place Sensemaking with Multidimensional Information Representation on Mobile Devices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Anna

2012-01-01

Knowing the living environments is an intrinsic part of human development for building self-confidence and meeting social requirements. Proliferation of mobile devices has greatly changed our interaction with the physical environments. The problem for existing mobile navigation tools is that it only emphasizes the spatial factor by offering…

Factors Affecting Mobile Banking Adoption in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engwanda, Michel Ndongola

2014-01-01

Mobile banking (m-banking) allows consumers to conduct financial transactions without temporal and spatial constraints through Internet-enabled mobile devices such as smartphones. The adoption patterns are of particular research interest because m-banking penetration has been relatively low even though smartphones are the most dominant forms of…

Mobilities of Youth: Social and Spatial Trajectories in a Segregated Sweden

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindgren, Joakim; Lundahl, Lisbeth

2010-01-01

This article explores youth mobilities in three geographic and socio-economically diverse Swedish contexts. The concept of mobility has become an important feature of individualistic discourses of responsibility relating to inclusion, lifelong learning and self-regulating entrepreneurial behaviour. This article draws attention to the fact that…

The Effectiveness of Interacting with Scientific Animations in Chemistry Using Mobile Devices on Grade 12 Students' Spatial Ability and Scientific Reasoning Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Balushi, Sulaiman M.; Al-Musawi, Ali S.; Ambusaidi, Abdullah K.; Al-Hajri, Fatemah H.

2017-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of interacting with animations using mobile devices on grade 12 students' spatial and reasoning abilities. The study took place in a grade 12 context in Oman. A quasi-experimental design was used with an experimental group of 32 students and a control group of 28 students. The…

A method of reconstructing the spatial measurement network by mobile measurement transmitter for shipbuilding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Siyang; Lin, Jiarui; Yang, Linghui; Ren, Yongjie; Guo, Yin

2017-07-01

The workshop Measurement Position System (wMPS) is a distributed measurement system which is suitable for the large-scale metrology. However, there are some inevitable measurement problems in the shipbuilding industry, such as the restriction by obstacles and limited measurement range. To deal with these factors, this paper presents a method of reconstructing the spatial measurement network by mobile transmitter. A high-precision coordinate control network with more than six target points is established. The mobile measuring transmitter can be added into the measurement network using this coordinate control network with the spatial resection method. This method reconstructs the measurement network and broadens the measurement scope efficiently. To verify this method, two comparison experiments are designed with the laser tracker as the reference. The results demonstrate that the accuracy of point-to-point length is better than 0.4mm and the accuracy of coordinate measurement is better than 0.6mm.

Spatial Indexing for Data Searching in Mobile Sensing Environments.

PubMed

Zhou, Yuchao; De, Suparna; Wang, Wei; Moessner, Klaus; Palaniswami, Marimuthu S

2017-06-18

Data searching and retrieval is one of the fundamental functionalities in many Web of Things applications, which need to collect, process and analyze huge amounts of sensor stream data. The problem in fact has been well studied for data generated by sensors that are installed at fixed locations; however, challenges emerge along with the popularity of opportunistic sensing applications in which mobile sensors keep reporting observation and measurement data at variable intervals and changing geographical locations. To address these challenges, we develop the Geohash-Grid Tree, a spatial indexing technique specially designed for searching data integrated from heterogeneous sources in a mobile sensing environment. Results of the experiments on a real-world dataset collected from the SmartSantander smart city testbed show that the index structure allows efficient search based on spatial distance, range and time windows in a large time series database.

Spatial Indexing for Data Searching in Mobile Sensing Environments

PubMed Central

Zhou, Yuchao; De, Suparna; Wang, Wei; Moessner, Klaus; Palaniswami, Marimuthu S.

2017-01-01

Data searching and retrieval is one of the fundamental functionalities in many Web of Things applications, which need to collect, process and analyze huge amounts of sensor stream data. The problem in fact has been well studied for data generated by sensors that are installed at fixed locations; however, challenges emerge along with the popularity of opportunistic sensing applications in which mobile sensors keep reporting observation and measurement data at variable intervals and changing geographical locations. To address these challenges, we develop the Geohash-Grid Tree, a spatial indexing technique specially designed for searching data integrated from heterogeneous sources in a mobile sensing environment. Results of the experiments on a real-world dataset collected from the SmartSantander smart city testbed show that the index structure allows efficient search based on spatial distance, range and time windows in a large time series database. PMID:28629156

Resources on work zone safety and mobility performance monitoring and measurement.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-01-01

Work zone performance measures are metrics that help quantify how work zones impact travelers, residents, businesses, and workers. Some performance measures describe how an individual work zone impacts these audiences; other performance measures desc...

An Attention-Information-Based Spatial Adaptation Framework for Browsing Videos via Mobile Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Houqiang; Wang, Yi; Chen, Chang Wen

2007-12-01

With the growing popularity of personal digital assistant devices and smart phones, more and more consumers are becoming quite enthusiastic to appreciate videos via mobile devices. However, limited display size of the mobile devices has been imposing significant barriers for users to enjoy browsing high-resolution videos. In this paper, we present an attention-information-based spatial adaptation framework to address this problem. The whole framework includes two major parts: video content generation and video adaptation system. During video compression, the attention information in video sequences will be detected using an attention model and embedded into bitstreams with proposed supplement-enhanced information (SEI) structure. Furthermore, we also develop an innovative scheme to adaptively adjust quantization parameters in order to simultaneously improve the quality of overall encoding and the quality of transcoding the attention areas. When the high-resolution bitstream is transmitted to mobile users, a fast transcoding algorithm we developed earlier will be applied to generate a new bitstream for attention areas in frames. The new low-resolution bitstream containing mostly attention information, instead of the high-resolution one, will be sent to users for display on the mobile devices. Experimental results show that the proposed spatial adaptation scheme is able to improve both subjective and objective video qualities.

Glove Changing When Handling Money: Observational and Microbiological Analysis.

PubMed

Basch, Corey H; Wahrman, Miryam Z; Shah, Jay; Guerra, Laura A; MacDonald, Zerlina; Marte, Myladys; Basch, Charles E

2016-04-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the rate of glove changing by mobile food vendors after monetary transactions, and the presence of bacterial contamination on a sample of dollar bills obtained from 25 food vendors near five hospitals in Manhattan, New York City. During 495 monetary transactions observed there were only seven glove changes performed by the workers. Eleven of 34 food workers wore no gloves at all while handling money and food. Nineteen of 25 one-dollar bills collected (76 %) had 400 to 42,000 total bacterial colony-forming units. Colonies were of varied morphology and size. Of these 19 samples, 13 were selected (based on level of growth), and tested for the presence of coliform bacteria, which was found in 10 of the 13 samples. Effective strategies to monitor and increase glove wearing and changing habits of mobile food vendors are needed to reduce risk of foodborne illness.

Using sensor networks to study the effect of peripatetic healthcare workers on the spread of hospital-associated infections.

PubMed

Hornbeck, Thomas; Naylor, David; Segre, Alberto M; Thomas, Geb; Herman, Ted; Polgreen, Philip M

2012-11-15

Super-spreading events, in which an individual with measurably high connectivity is responsible for infecting a large number of people, have been observed. Our goal is to determine the impact of hand hygiene noncompliance among peripatetic (eg, highly mobile or highly connected) healthcare workers compared with less-connected workers. We used a mote-based sensor network to record contacts among healthcare workers and patients in a 20-bed intensive care unit. The data collected from this network form the basis for an agent-based simulation to model the spread of nosocomial pathogens with various transmission probabilities. We identified the most- and least-connected healthcare workers. We then compared the effects of hand hygiene noncompliance as a function of connectedness. The data confirm the presence of peripatetic healthcare workers. Also, agent-based simulations using our real contact network data confirm that the average number of infected patients was significantly higher when the most connected healthcare worker did not practice hand hygiene and significantly lower when the least connected healthcare workers were noncompliant. Heterogeneity in healthcare worker contact patterns dramatically affects disease diffusion. Our findings should inform future infection control interventions and encourage the application of social network analysis to study disease transmission in healthcare settings.

The need for family planning and safe abortion services among women sex workers seeking STI care in Cambodia.

PubMed

Delvaux, Thérèse; Crabbé, François; Seng, Sopheap; Laga, Marie

2003-05-01

In Cambodia, clinics established for the prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in women sex workers do not address other reproductive health services. The aim of this study was to assess the need for more comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services for women sex workers in Cambodia. In January 2000, relevant documents were reviewed, interviews with key informants carried out and group interviews with women sex workers conducted. Medical records from women sex workers were also reviewed and some data collected prospectively in one government STI clinic. Interviews with the women and data from the government clinic indicated that excluding condoms, a very low proportion of women sex workers were currently using a modern contraceptive method--5% of 38 women and 1.6% of 632 women, respectively. Induced abortion was widely used but was perceived to be risky and costly. Data from a mobile team intervention and the government clinic respectively showed that 25.5% (n = 1744) and 21.9% (n = 588) of women sex workers reported at least one previous induced abortion. These findings reveal the need for accessible contraception and safe abortion services among sex workers in Cambodia, and raise the issue of the reproductive rights and reproductive health needs of women sex workers in general.

Modeling a Mobile Health Management Business Model for Chronic Kidney Disease.

PubMed

Lee, Ying-Li; Chang, Polun

2016-01-01

In these decades, chronic kidney disease (CKD) has become a global public health problem. Information technology (IT) tools have been used widely to empower the patients with chronic disease (e.g., diabetes and hypertension). It is also a potential application to advance the CKD care. In this project, we analyzed the requirements of a mobile health management system for healthcare workers, patients and their families to design a health management business model for CKD patients.

COSH groups--mobilizing workers, unions, and the community for health and safety: an interview with Joel Shufro.

PubMed

Shufro, Joel; Kotelchuck, David; Mooser, Steve

2013-01-01

An interview with Joel Shufro, Executive Director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health [NYCOSH], conducted shortly before he steps down after 34 years of service. Shufro discusses the recent history of the U.S. worker health and safety movement, including successes and failures of NYCOSH's efforts. He addresses some of the new issues COSH groups are facing as a result of declines in labor union density and the lack of effective government protection for large populations of workers, as well as assessing strategies that NYCOSH and other groups have adopted to strengthen and revive the U.S. health and safety movement.

Emergence of chaos in a spatially confined reactive system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voorsluijs, Valérie; De Decker, Yannick

2016-11-01

In spatially restricted media, interactions between particles and local fluctuations of density can lead to important deviations of the dynamics from the unconfined, deterministic picture. In this context, we investigated how molecular crowding can affect the emergence of chaos in small reactive systems. We developed to this end an amended version of the Willamowski-Rössler model, where we account for the impenetrability of the reactive species. We analyzed the deterministic kinetics of this model and studied it with spatially-extended stochastic simulations in which the mobility of particles is included explicitly. We show that homogeneous fluctuations can lead to a destruction of chaos through a fluctuation-induced collision between chaotic trajectories and absorbing states. However, an interplay between the size of the system and the mobility of particles can counterbalance this effect so that chaos can indeed be found when particles diffuse slowly. This unexpected effect can be traced back to the emergence of spatial correlations which strongly affect the dynamics. The mobility of particles effectively acts as a new bifurcation parameter, enabling the system to switch from stationary states to absorbing states, oscillations or chaos.

Sex work in Tallinn, Estonia: the sociospatial penetration of sex work into society

PubMed Central

Aral, S O; Lawrence, J S St; Uusküla, A

2006-01-01

Background It is important to describe and understand the underlying patterns and dynamics that govern sex work in societies undergoing rapid political and social changes, its heterogeneity across populations, and its evolution through time in order to inform future research, sound policy formation, and programme delivery. Objectives To describe the socioeconomic and cultural determinants, organisational structure, distinct categories, and spatial patterning of sex work in Tallinn, Estonia, and identify recent temporal changes in sex work patterns. Methods In‐depth interviews with key informants; naturalistic observations of sex work and drug use venues, geo‐mapping of sex work sites, review of media, public policy, and commissioned reports, and analyses of existing data. Results Sex work takes place in a hierarchy of locations in Tallinn ranging from elite brothels and “love flats” to truck stops. These sites vary in terms of their public health importance and social organisation. There are full time, part time, and intermittent male and female sex workers. Among others, the taxi driver, madam and the bartender are central roles in the organisation of sex work in Tallinn. Cell phone and internet technology enable sex work to be highly dispersed and spatially mobile. Conclusion Future research and programmatic service delivery or outreach efforts should respond to the changing profile of sex work in Tallinn and its implications for STD/HIV epidemiology. PMID:16807288

Systematic Medical Appraisal, Referral and Treatment (SMART) Mental Health Programme for providing innovative mental health care in rural communities in India.

PubMed

Maulik, P K; Devarapalli, S; Kallakuri, S; Praveen, D; Jha, V; Patel, A

2015-01-01

India has few mental health professionals to treat the large number of people suffering from mental disorders. Rural areas are particularly disadvantaged due to lack of trained health workers. Ways to improve care could be by training village health workers in basic mental health care, and by using innovative methods of service delivery. The ongoing Systematic Medical Appraisal, Referral and Treatment Mental Health Programme will assess the acceptability, feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a task-shifting mobile-based intervention using mixed methods, in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. The key components of the study are an anti-stigma campaign followed by a mobile-based mental health services intervention. The study will be done across two sites in rural areas, with intervention periods of 1 year and 3 months, respectively. The programme uses a mobile-based clinical decision support tool to be used by non-physician health workers and primary care physicians to screen, diagnose and manage individuals suffering from depression, suicidal risk and emotional stress. The key aim of the study will be to assess any changes in mental health services use among those screened positive following the intervention. A number of other outcomes will also be assessed using mixed methods, specifically focussed on reduction of stigma, increase in mental health awareness and other process indicators. This project addresses a number of objectives as outlined in the Mental Health Action Plan of World Health Organization and India's National Mental Health Programme and Policy. If successful, the next phase will involve design and conduct of a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Motivations for entry into sex work and HIV risk among mobile female sex workers in India.

PubMed

Saggurti, Niranjan; Verma, Ravi K; Halli, Shiva S; Swain, Suvakanta N; Singh, Rajendra; Modugu, Hanimi Reddy; Ramarao, Saumya; Mahapatra, Bidhubhusan; Jain, Anrudh K

2011-09-01

This paper assesses the reasons for entry into sex work and its association with HIV risk behaviours among mobile female sex workers (FSWs) in India. Data were collected from a cross-sectional survey conducted in 22 districts across four high HIV prevalence states in India during 2007-2008. Analyses were limited to 5498 eligible mobile FSWs. The reasons given by FSWs for entering sex work and associations with socio-demographic characteristics were assessed. Reported reasons for entering sex work include poor or deprived economic conditions; negative social circumstances in life; own choice; force by an external person; and family tradition. The results from multivariate analyses indicate that those FSWs who entered sex work due to poor economic conditions or negative social circumstances in life or force demonstrated elevated levels of current inconsistent condom use as well as in the past in comparison with those FSWs who reported entering sex work by choice or family tradition. This finding indicates the need for a careful assessment of the pre-entry contexts among HIV prevention interventions since these factors may continue to hinder the effectiveness of efforts to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in India and elsewhere.

Are healthcare workers' mobile phones a potential source of nosocomial infections? Review of the literature.

PubMed

Ulger, Fatma; Dilek, Ahmet; Esen, Saban; Sunbul, Mustafa; Leblebicioglu, Hakan

2015-10-29

Mobile communication devices help accelerate in-hospital flow of medical information, information sharing and querying, and contribute to communications in the event of emergencies through their application and access to wireless media technology. Healthcare-associated infections remain a leading and high-cost problem of global health systems despite improvements in modern therapies. The objective of this article was to review different studies on the relationship between mobile phones (MPs) and bacterial cross-contamination and report common findings. Thirty-nine studies published between 2005 and 2013 were reviewed. Of these, 19 (48.7%) identified coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), and 26 (66.7%) identified Staphylococcus aureus; frequency of growth varied. The use of MPs by healthcare workers increases the risk of repetitive cyclic contamination between the hands and face (e.g., nose, ears, and lips), and differences in personal hygiene and behaviors can further contribute to the risks. MPs are rarely cleaned after handling. They may transmit microorganisms, including multiple resistant strains, after contact with patients, and can be a source of bacterial cross-contamination. To prevent bacterial contamination of MPs, hand-washing guidelines must be followed and technical standards for prevention strategies should be developed.

Enhancing emergency care in low-income countries using mobile technology-based training tools.

PubMed

Edgcombe, Hilary; Paton, Chris; English, Mike

2016-12-01

In this paper, we discuss the role of mobile technology in developing training tools for health workers, with particular reference to low-income countries (LICs). The global and technological context is outlined, followed by a summary of approaches to using and evaluating mobile technology for learning in healthcare. Finally, recommendations are made for those developing and using such tools, based on current literature and the authors' involvement in the field. 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/.

Mobile Motion Capture--MiMiC.

PubMed

Harbert, Simeon D; Jaiswal, Tushar; Harley, Linda R; Vaughn, Tyler W; Baranak, Andrew S

2013-01-01

The low cost, simple, robust, mobile, and easy to use Mobile Motion Capture (MiMiC) system is presented and the constraints which guided the design of MiMiC are discussed. The MiMiC Android application allows motion data to be captured from kinematic modules such as Shimmer 2r sensors over Bluetooth. MiMiC is cost effective and can be used for an entire day in a person's daily routine without being intrusive. MiMiC is a flexible motion capture system which can be used for many applications including fall detection, detection of fatigue in industry workers, and analysis of individuals' work patterns in various environments.

Understanding out-migration among female sex workers in South India

PubMed Central

Banandur, Pradeep; Ramnaik, Satyanarayana; Manhart, Lisa E.; Buzdugan, Raluca; Mahapatra, Bidhubhushan; Isac, Shajy; Halli, Shiva S; Washington, Reynold G; Moses, Stephen; Blanchard, James F

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND Migrant sex workers are known to be vulnerable to HIV. There is substantial female sex worker (FSW) mobility between the borders of Maharashtra and Karnataka, but little programming emphasis on migrant FSWs in India. We sought to understand the individual/cultural, structural and contextual determinants of migration among FSWs from Karnataka. METHODS A cross sectional face-to-face interview of 1567FSWs from 142 villages in 3 districts of northern Karnataka, India was conducted from January–June 2008. Villages having 10+FSWs, a large number of whom were migrant, were selected following mapping of FSWs. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to identify characteristics associated with migrant (travelled for ≥2weeks outside the district past year) and mobile (travelled for <2weeks outside the district past year) FSWs; adjusting for age and district. RESULTS Compared to non-migrants, migrant FSWs were more likely to be brothel than street-based (AOR 5.7; 95%CI 1.6–20.0), have higher income from sex work (AOR 42.2; 12.6–142.1), speak >2languages (AOR 5.6%; 2.6–12.0), have more clients (AORper client 2.9; 1.2–7.2) and have more sex acts/day (AORper sex act 3.5; 1.3–9.3). Mobile FSWs had higher income from sex work (AOR=13.2; 3.9–44.6) relative to non-migrants, but not as strongly as for migrant FSWs. CONCLUSION Out-migration of FSWs in Karnataka was strongly tied to sex work characteristics; thus, the structure inherent in sex work should be capitalized on when developing HIV preventive interventions. The important role of FSWs in HIV epidemics, coupled with the potential for rapid spread of HIV with migration, requires the most effective interventions possible for mobile and migrant FSWs. PMID:23001264

Introduction of mobile phones for use by volunteer community health workers in support of integrated community case management in Bushenyi District, Uganda: development and implementation process.

PubMed

Tumusiime, David Katuruba; Agaba, Gad; Kyomuhangi, Teddy; Finch, Jan; Kabakyenga, Jerome; MacLeod, Stuart

2014-01-01

A substantial literature suggests that mobile phones have great potential to improve management and survival of acutely ill children in rural Africa. The national strategy of the Ugandan Ministry of Health calls for employment of volunteer community health workers (CHWs) in implementation of Integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) of common illnesses (diarrhea, acute respiratory infection, pneumonia, fever/malaria) affecting children under five years of age. A mobile phone enabled system was developed within iCCM aiming to improve access by CHWs to medical advice and to strengthen reporting of data on danger signs and symptoms for acutely ill children under five years of age. Herein critical steps in development, implementation, and integration of mobile phone technology within iCCM are described. Mechanisms to improve diagnosis, treatment and referral of sick children under five were defined. Treatment algorithms were developed by the project technical team and mounted and piloted on the mobile phones, using an iterative process involving technical support personnel, health care providers, and academic support. Using a purposefully developed mobile phone training manual, CHWs were trained over an intensive five-day course to make timely diagnoses, recognize clinical danger signs, communicate about referrals and initiate treatment with appropriate essential drugs. Performance by CHWs and the accuracy and completeness of their submitted data was closely monitored post training test period and during the subsequent nine month community trial. In the full trial, the number of referrals and correctly treated children, based on the agreed treatment algorithms, was recorded. Births, deaths, and medication stocks were also tracked. Seven distinct phases were required to develop a robust mobile phone enabled system in support of the iCCM program. Over a nine month period, 96 CHWs were trained to use mobile phones and their competence to initiate a community trial was established through performance monitoring. Local information/communication consultants, working in concert with a university based department of pediatrics, can design and implement a robust mobile phone based system that may be anticipated to contribute to efficient delivery of iCCM by trained volunteer CHWs in rural settings in Uganda.

Antenatal depression case-finding by community health workers in South Africa: feasibility of a mobile phone application

PubMed Central

Tsai, Alexander C.; Tomlinson, Mark; Dewing, Sarah; le Roux, Ingrid M.; Harwood, Jessica M.; Chopra, Mickey; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane

2014-01-01

Purpose Randomised controlled trials conducted in resource-limited settings have shown that once women with depressed mood are evaluated by specialists and referred for treatment, lay health workers can be trained to effectively administer psychological treatments. We sought to determine the extent to which community health workers could also be trained to conduct case finding using short and ultra-short screening instruments programmed into mobile phones. Methods Pregnant, Xhosa-speaking women were recruited independently in two cross-sectional studies (N=1,144 and N=361) conducted in Khayelitsha, South Africa and assessed for antenatal depression. In the smaller study, community health workers with no training in human subjects research were trained to administer the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) during the routine course of their community-based outreach. We compared the operating characteristics of 4 short and ultra-short versions of the EPDS with the criterion standard of probable depression, defined as an EPDS-10 ≥13. Results The prevalence of probable depression (475/1144 [42%] and 165/361 [46%]) was consistent across both samples. The 2-item subscale demonstrated poor internal consistency (Cronbach’s α ranged from 0.55-0.58). All 4 subscales demonstrated excellent discrimination, with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values ranging from 0.91-0.99. Maximal discrimination was observed for the 7-item depressive symptoms subscale: at the conventional screening threshold of ≥10, it had 0.97 sensitivity and 0.76 specificity for detecting probable antenatal depression. Conclusions The comparability of the findings across the two studies suggests that it is feasible to use community health workers to conduct case finding for antenatal depression. PMID:24682529

Antenatal depression case finding by community health workers in South Africa: feasibility of a mobile phone application.

PubMed

Tsai, Alexander C; Tomlinson, Mark; Dewing, Sarah; le Roux, Ingrid M; Harwood, Jessica M; Chopra, Mickey; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane

2014-10-01

Randomized controlled trials conducted in resource-limited settings have shown that once women with depressed mood are evaluated by specialists and referred for treatment, lay health workers can be trained to effectively administer psychological treatments. We sought to determine the extent to which community health workers could also be trained to conduct case finding using short and ultrashort screening instruments programmed into mobile phones. Pregnant, Xhosa-speaking women were recruited independently in two cross-sectional studies (N = 1,144 and N = 361) conducted in Khayelitsha, South Africa and assessed for antenatal depression. In the smaller study, community health workers with no training in human subject research were trained to administer the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) during the routine course of their community-based outreach. We compared the operating characteristics of four short and ultrashort versions of the EPDS with the criterion standard of probable depression, defined as an EPDS-10 ≥ 13. The prevalence of probable depression (475/1144 [42 %] and 165/361 [46 %]) was consistent across both samples. The 2-item subscale demonstrated poor internal consistency (Cronbach's α ranged from 0.55 to 0.58). All four subscales demonstrated excellent discrimination, with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values ranging from 0.91 to 0.99. Maximal discrimination was observed for the 7-item depressive symptoms subscale: at the conventional screening threshold of ≥10, it had 0.97 sensitivity and 0.76 specificity for detecting probable antenatal depression. The comparability of the findings across the two studies suggests that it is feasible to use community health workers to conduct case finding for antenatal depression.

The Adaptation of Women to Residential Mobility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAllister, Ronald J.; And Others

1973-01-01

This paper examines the hypothesis that residential mobility is disruptive of social relations; and it seeks to identify patterns of adaptation which emerge from that disruption. Women who moved between 1966 and 1969 were more frequently sociable both before and after their move than those who did not move. Spatial mobility, does exert changes on…

Counter-Mapping the Neighborhood on Bicycles: Mobilizing Youth to Reimagine the City

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Katie Headrick; Hall, Rogers

2013-01-01

Personal mobility is a mundane characteristic of daily life. However, mobility is rarely considered an opportunity for learning in the learning sciences, and is almost never leveraged as relevant, experiential material for teaching. This article describes a social design experiment for spatial justice that focused on changes in the personal…

Life space and mental health: a study of older community-dwelling persons in Australia.

PubMed

Byles, Julie E; Leigh, Lucy; Vo, Kha; Forder, Peta; Curryer, Cassie

2015-01-01

The ability of older people to mobilise within and outside their community is dependent on a number of factors. This study explored the relationship between spatial mobility and psychological health among older adults living in Australia. The survey sample consisted of 260 community-dwelling men and women aged 75-80 years, who returned a postal survey measuring spatial mobility (using the Life Space Questionnaire) and psychological health (using the SF36 Health Related Quality of Life Profile). From the Life Space Questionnaire, participants were given a life-space score and multinomial regression was used to explore the potential effect of mental health on life-space score. The study found a significant association between mental health and life space. However, gender, physical functioning, and ability to drive were most strongly associated with the extent of life space and spatial mobility. Compared to men, older women are more likely to experience less spatial mobility and restricted life space, and hence are more vulnerable to social isolation. Mental health and life space were associated for the older people in this study. These findings have important implications for health policy and highlight the need to support older persons to maintain independence and social networks, and to successfully age in place within their community. This study also highlights the utility of the Life Space Questionnaire in terms of identifying older persons at risk of poorer mental health.

Global multi-layer network of human mobility

PubMed Central

Belyi, Alexander; Bojic, Iva; Sobolevsky, Stanislav; Sitko, Izabela; Hawelka, Bartosz; Rudikova, Lada; Kurbatski, Alexander; Ratti, Carlo

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Recent availability of geo-localized data capturing individual human activity together with the statistical data on international migration opened up unprecedented opportunities for a study on global mobility. In this paper, we consider it from the perspective of a multi-layer complex network, built using a combination of three datasets: Twitter, Flickr and official migration data. Those datasets provide different, but equally important insights on the global mobility – while the first two highlight short-term visits of people from one country to another, the last one – migration – shows the long-term mobility perspective, when people relocate for good. The main purpose of the paper is to emphasize importance of this multi-layer approach capturing both aspects of human mobility at the same time. On the one hand, we show that although the general properties of different layers of the global mobility network are similar, there are important quantitative differences among them. On the other hand, we demonstrate that consideration of mobility from a multi-layer perspective can reveal important global spatial patterns in a way more consistent with those observed in other available relevant sources of international connections, in comparison to the spatial structure inferred from each network layer taken separately. PMID:28553155

Relationship between mobility, violence and major depression among female sex workers: a cross-sectional study in southern India

PubMed Central

Patel, Sangram Kishor; Ganju, Deepika; Prabhakar, Parimi; Adhikary, Rajatashuvra

2016-01-01

Background The relationship between mobility, violence and mental health has largely been unexplored in developing countries. This study screens for signs of major depression, and assesses its association with mobility and violence among female sex workers (FSWs) in southern India. Methods Data (N=2400) for this study were used from a cross-sectional Behavioral Tracking Survey (BTS-2014) conducted among FSWs from a southern state of India as part of the Avahan programme. Major depression of FSWs was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 depression scale. Descriptive statistics, frequency, bivariate, interaction effect and multivariate logistic regression techniques were used for the analysis. Results More than one-fourth of FSWs (29%) screened positive for major depression. The likelihood of screening positive for major depression was 6 times higher among FSWs who were both mobile for sex work outside their district of residence and had experienced any violence (combined association) during the past 1 year (62% vs 19%, adjusted OR 6.1, 95% CI 4.4 to 8.6) compared with those who reported neither. The individual association results show that FSWs who reported being mobile outside the district, and FSWs who were beaten or raped in the past 1 year, were 3 times more likely to screen positive for major depression. Conclusions The findings indicate that violence and mobility are independently associated with major depression among FSWs. The combined association of mobility and violence poses a greater risk to the mental health of FSWs than their independent association. These results point to the need for creating an enabling environment for FSWs to enhance existing efforts to reduce the spread of HIV and mental health problems. The study highlights that HIV prevention efforts among FSWs in India require evidence-based research and integrated programme approaches to address mental health issues. PMID:27612536

Nurses' use of mobile devices to access information in health care environments in australia: a survey of undergraduate students.

PubMed

Mather, Carey; Cummings, Elizabeth; Allen, Penny

2014-12-10

The growth of digital technology has created challenges for safe and appropriate use of mobile or portable devices during work-integrated learning (WIL) in health care environments. Personal and professional use of technology has outpaced the development of policy or codes of practice for guiding its use at the workplace. There is a perceived risk that portable devices may distract from provision of patient or client care if used by health professionals or students during employment or WIL. This study aimed to identify differences in behavior of undergraduate nurses in accessing information, using a portable or mobile device, when undertaking WIL compared to other non-work situations. A validated online survey was administered to students while on placement in a range of health care settings in two Australian states. There were 84 respondents, with 56% (n=47) reporting access to a mobile or portable device. Differences in use of a mobile device away from, compared with during WIL, were observed for non-work related activities such as messaging (P<.001), social networking (P<.001), shopping on the Internet (P=.01), conducting personal business online (P=.01), and checking or sending non-work related texts or emails to co-workers (P=.04). Study-related activities were conducted more regularly away from the workplace and included accessing University sites for information (P=.03) and checking or sending study-related text messages or emails to friends or co-workers (P=.01). Students continued to access nursing, medical, professional development, and study-related information away from the workplace. Undergraduate nurses limit their access to non-work or non-patient centered information while undertaking WIL. Work-related mobile learning is being undertaken, in situ, by the next generation of nurses who expect easy access to mobile or portable devices at the workplace, to ensure safe and competent care is delivered to their patients.

Psychosocial work environment, job mobility and gender differences in turnover behaviour: a prospective study among the Swedish general population.

PubMed

Söderberg, Mia; Härenstam, Annika; Rosengren, Annika; Schiöler, Linus; Olin, Anna-Carin; Lissner, Lauren; Waern, Margda; Torén, Kjell

2014-06-14

Throughout the literature, substantial evidence supports associations between poor psychosocial work characteristics and a variety of ill-health outcomes. Yet, few reports strategies workers carry out to improve detrimental work conditions and consequently their health, such as changing jobs. The aim of this study was to examine if adverse psychosocial work exposure, as measured with the job demand-control and effort-reward imbalance models, could predict job mobility over a 5 years observation period. Participants were working men and women (n = 940; 54.3% women), aged 24-60 years from the population of Gothenburg and surrounding metropolitan area. Job demand-control and effort-reward variables were compared with independent t-tests and chi2-test in persons with and without job mobility. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyse whether psychosocial factors could predict job mobility. All regression analyses were stratified by gender. Exposure to a combination of high demands-low control or high imbalance between effort and reward was related to increased odds of changing jobs (OR 1.63; CI 1.03-2.59 and OR 1.46; CI 1.13-1.89 respectively). When analysing men and women separately, men had a higher OR of changing jobs when exposed to either high demands-low control (OR 2.72; CI 1.24-5.98) or high effort-reward imbalance (OR 1.74; CI 1.11-2.72) compared to reference values. The only significant associations for women was slightly decreased odds for turnover in high reward jobs (OR 0.96; CI 0.92-0.99). The results indicate that workers will seek to improve poor work environment by changing jobs. There were notable gender differences, where men tended to engage in job mobility when exposed to adverse psychosocial factors, while women did not. The lack of measures for mechanisms driving job mobility was a limitation of this study, thus preventing conclusions regarding psychosocial factors as the primary source for job mobility.

Nurses’ Use of Mobile Devices to Access Information in Health Care Environments in Australia: A Survey of Undergraduate Students

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The growth of digital technology has created challenges for safe and appropriate use of mobile or portable devices during work-integrated learning (WIL) in health care environments. Personal and professional use of technology has outpaced the development of policy or codes of practice for guiding its use at the workplace. There is a perceived risk that portable devices may distract from provision of patient or client care if used by health professionals or students during employment or WIL. Objective This study aimed to identify differences in behavior of undergraduate nurses in accessing information, using a portable or mobile device, when undertaking WIL compared to other non-work situations. Methods A validated online survey was administered to students while on placement in a range of health care settings in two Australian states. Results There were 84 respondents, with 56% (n=47) reporting access to a mobile or portable device. Differences in use of a mobile device away from, compared with during WIL, were observed for non-work related activities such as messaging (P<.001), social networking (P<.001), shopping on the Internet (P=.01), conducting personal business online (P=.01), and checking or sending non-work related texts or emails to co-workers (P=.04). Study-related activities were conducted more regularly away from the workplace and included accessing University sites for information (P=.03) and checking or sending study-related text messages or emails to friends or co-workers (P=.01). Students continued to access nursing, medical, professional development, and study-related information away from the workplace. Conclusions Undergraduate nurses limit their access to non-work or non-patient centered information while undertaking WIL. Work-related mobile learning is being undertaken, in situ, by the next generation of nurses who expect easy access to mobile or portable devices at the workplace, to ensure safe and competent care is delivered to their patients. PMID:25499736

Social workers' knowledge, beliefs, and practices regarding driving and dementia.

PubMed

Adler, Geri

2010-01-01

Drivers with dementia present a significant public safety concern. Failure to recognize and address declines in driving skills associated with dementia can have hazardous consequences for the driver and others. A random sample of social workers was surveyed to better understand their knowledge, beliefs, and practices toward drivers with dementia. Six-hundred five social workers completed the questionnaire. Results reported are based on the analyses of the 152 respondents (25.1% of the sample) who indicated that they worked with persons with dementia. Social workers were significantly more likely to address driving if they had seen more clients with dementia, were more knowledgeable about driving-related issues, and believed they should have a strong role in helping persons with dementia and their families deal with mobility concerns. Social workers who reported that driving situations were more difficult to address than other topics were significantly less likely to broach it in their practices. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Health Worker mHealth Utilization: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

White, Alice; Thomas, Deborah S.K.; Ezeanochie, Nnamdi; Bull, Sheana

2016-01-01

This systematic review describes mHealth interventions directed at healthcare workers in low resource settings from the PubMed database from March, 2009 to May, 2015. Thirty-one articles were selected for final review. Four categories emerged from the reviewed articles: data collection during patient visits; communication between health workers and patients; communication between health workers; and public health surveillance. Most studies used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to assess acceptability of use, barriers to use, changes in healthcare delivery, and improved health outcomes. Few papers included theory explicitly to guide development and evaluation of their mHealth programs. Overall, evidence indicated that mobile technology tools, such as smartphones and tablets, substantially benefit healthcare workers, their patients, and health care delivery. Limitations to mHealth tools included insufficient program use and sustainability, unreliable Internet and electricity, and security issues. Despite these limitations, this systematic review demonstrates the utility of using mHealth in low-resource settings and the potential for widespread health system improvements using technology. PMID:26955009

Ischaemic heart disease mortality and years of work in trucking industry workers.

PubMed

Hart, Jaime E; Garshick, Eric; Smith, Thomas J; Davis, Mary E; Laden, Francine

2013-08-01

Evidence from general population-based studies and occupational cohorts has identified air pollution from mobile sources as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In a cohort of US trucking industry workers, with regular exposure to vehicle exhaust, the authors previously observed elevated standardised mortality ratios for ischaemic heart disease (IHD) compared with members of the general US population. Therefore, the authors examined the association of increasing years of work in jobs with vehicle exhaust exposure and IHD mortality within the cohort. The authors calculated years of work in eight job groups for 30,758 workers using work records from four nationwide companies. Proportional hazard regression was used to examine relationships between IHD mortality, 1985-2000, and employment duration in each job group. HRs for at least 1 year of work in each job were elevated for dockworkers, long haul drivers, pick-up and delivery drivers, combination workers, hostlers, and shop workers. There was a suggestion of an increased risk of IHD mortality with increasing years of work as a long haul driver, pick-up and delivery driver, combination worker, and dockworker. These results suggest an elevated risk of IHD mortality in workers with a previous history of regular exposure to vehicle exhaust.

The integrated project: a promising promotional strategy for primary health care.

PubMed

Daniel, C; Mora, B

1985-10-01

The integrated project using parasite control and nutrition as entry points for family planning practice has shown considerable success in promoting health consciousness among health workers and project beneficiaries. This progress is evident in the Family Planning, Parasite Control and Nutrition (FAPPCAN) areas. The project has also mobilized technical and financial support from the local government as well as from private and civic organizations. The need for integration is underscored by the following considerations: parasite control has proved to be effective for preventive health care; the integrated project uses indigenous community health workers to accomplish its objectives; the primary health care (PHC) movement depends primarily on voluntary community participation and the integrated project has shown that it can elicit this participation. The major health problems in the Philippines are: a prevalence of communicable and other infectious diseases; poor evironmental sanitation; malnutrition; and a rapid population growth rate. The integrated program utilizes the existing village health workers in identifying problems related to family planning, parasite control and nutrition and integrates these activities into the health delivery system; educates family members on how to detect health and health-related problems; works out linkages with government agencies and the local primary health care committee in defining the scope of health-related problems; mobilizes community members to initiate their own projects; gets the commitment of village officials and committe members. The integrated project operates within the PHC. A health van with a built-in video playback system provides educational and logistical support to the village worker. The primary detection and treatment of health problems are part of the village health workers' responsibilities. Research determines the project's capability to reactivate the village primary health care committees and sustain community commitment. The project initially covered 4 villages. Implementation problems included: inactive village health workers, inadequate supervision and monitoring of PHC, a lack of commitment of committee members, and the lack of financial support.

The Effect of Oxygen Enrichment on Cardiorespiratory and Neuropsychological Responses in Workers With Chronic Intermittent Exposure to High Altitude (ALMA, 5,050 m)

PubMed Central

Moraga, Fernando A.; López, Iván; Morales, Alicia; Soza, Daniel; Noack, Jessica

2018-01-01

It is estimated that labor activity at high altitudes in Chile will increase from 60,000 to 120,000 workers by the year 2020. Oxygenation of spaces improves the quality of life for workers at high geographic altitudes (<5,000 m). The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a mobile oxygen module system on cardiorespiratory and neuropsychological performance in a population of workers from Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA, 5,050 m) radiotelescope in the Chajnantor Valley, Chile. We evaluated pulse oximetry, systolic and diastolic arterial pressure (SAP/DAP), and performed neuropsychological tests (Mini-Mental State examination, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test) at environmental oxygen conditions (5,050 m), and subsequently in a mobile oxygenation module that increases the fraction of oxygen in order to mimic the higher oxygen partial pressure of lower altitudes (2,900 m). The use of module oxygenation at an altitude of 5,050 m, simulating an altitude of 2,900 m, increased oxygen saturation from 84 ± 0.8 to 91 ± 0.8% (p < 0.00001), decreased heart rate from 90 ± 8 to 77 ± 12 bpm (p < 0.01) and DAP from 96 ± 3 to 87 ± 5 mmHg (p < 0.01). In addition, mental cognitive state of workers (Mini-Mental State Examination) shown an increased from 19 to 31 points (p < 0.02). Furthermore, the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test (memory) shown a significant increase from 35 to 70 (p < 0.0001). The results demonstrate that the use of an oxygen module system at 5,050 m, simulating an altitude equivalent to 2,900 m, by increasing FiO2 at 28%, significantly improves cardiorespiratory response and enhances neuropsychological performance in workers exposed to an altitude of 5,050 m. PMID:29628892

Village malaria worker performance key to the elimination of artemisinin-resistant malaria: a Western Cambodia health system assessment.

PubMed

Canavati, Sara E; Lawpoolsri, Saranath; Quintero, Cesia E; Nguon, Chea; Ly, Po; Pukrittayakamee, Sasithon; Sintasath, David; Singhasivanon, Pratap; Peeters Grietens, Koen; Whittaker, Maxine Anne

2016-05-20

Village malaria workers (VMWs) and mobile malaria workers (MMWs) are a critical component of Cambodia's national strategy to eliminate Plasmodium falciparum malaria by 2025. Since 2004, VMWs have been providing malaria diagnosis through the use of rapid diagnostic tests and free-of-charge artemisinin-based combination therapy in villages more than 5 km away from the closest health facility. They have also played a key role in the delivery of behaviour change communication interventions to this target population. This study aimed to assess the job performance of VMWs/MMWs, and identify challenges they face, which may impede elimination efforts. A mixed-methods assessment was conducted in five provinces of western Cambodia. One hundred and eighty five VMW/MMW participants were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. Qualitative data was gathered through a total of 60 focus group discussions and 65 in-depth interviews. Data triangulation of the qualitative and quantitative data was used during analysis. Overall, VMWs/MMWs met or exceeded the expected performance levels (80 %). Nevertheless, some performance gaps were identified. Misconceptions regarding malaria transmission and prevention were found among workers. The recommended approach for malaria treatment, directly-observed treatment (DOT), had low implementation rates. Stock-outs, difficulties in reaching out to migrant and mobile populations, insufficient means of transportation and dwindling worker satisfaction also affected job performance. VMW/MMW job performance must be increased from 80 to 100 % in order to achieve elimination. In order to do this, it is recommended for the national malaria programme to eliminate worker malaria knowledge gaps. Barriers to DOT implementation and health system failures also need to be addressed. The VMW programme should be expanded on several fronts in order to tackle remaining performance gaps. Findings from this evaluation are useful to inform the planning of future activities of the programme and to improve the effectiveness of interventions in a context where artemisinin drug resistance is a significant public health issue.

“Even if You Know Everything You Can Forget”: Health Worker Perceptions of Mobile Phone Text-Messaging to Improve Malaria Case-Management in Kenya

PubMed Central

Jones, Caroline O. H.; Wasunna, Beatrice; Sudoi, Raymond; Githinji, Sophie; Snow, Robert W.; Zurovac, Dejan

2012-01-01

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study to investigate the perceptions and experiences of health workers involved in a a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a novel intervention to improve health worker malaria case-management in 107 government health facilities in Kenya. The intervention involved sending text-messages about paediatric outpatient malaria case-management accompanied by “motivating” quotes to health workers’ mobile phones. Ten malaria messages were developed reflecting recommendations from the Kenyan national guidelines. Two messages were delivered per day for 5 working days and the process was repeated for 26 weeks (May to October 2009). The accompanying quotes were unique to each message. The intervention was delivered to 119 health workers and there were significant improvements in correct artemether-lumefantrine (AL) management both immediately after the intervention (November 2009) and 6 months later (May 2010). In-depth interviews with 24 health workers were undertaken to investigate the possible drivers of this change. The results suggest high acceptance of all components of the intervention, with the active delivery of information in an on the job setting, the ready availability of new and stored text messages and the perception of being kept ‘up to date’ as important factors influencing practice. Applying the construct of stages of change we infer that in this intervention the SMS messages were operating primarily at the action and maintenance stages of behaviour change achieving their effect by creating an enabling environment and providing a prompt to action for the implementation of case management practices that had already been accepted as the clinical norm by the health workers. Future trials testing the effectiveness of SMS reminders in creating an enabling environment for the establishment of new norms in clinical practice as well as in providing a prompt to action for the implementation of the new case-management guidelines are justified. PMID:22719911

Costs and cost-effectiveness of a mobile phone text-message reminder programmes to improve health workers' adherence to malaria guidelines in Kenya.

PubMed

Zurovac, Dejan; Larson, Bruce A; Sudoi, Raymond K; Snow, Robert W

2012-01-01

Simple interventions for improving health workers' adherence to malaria case-management guidelines are urgently required across Africa. A recent trial in Kenya showed that text-message reminders sent to health workers' mobile phones improved management of pediatric outpatients by 25 percentage points. In this paper we examine costs and cost-effectiveness of this intervention. We evaluate costs and cost-effectiveness in 2010 USD under three implementation scenarios: (1) as implemented under study conditions in study areas; (2) if the intervention was routinely implemented by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in the same areas; and (3) if the intervention was scaled up nationally. Under study conditions, intervention costs were 19,342 USD, of which 45% were for developing and pretesting text-messages, 12% for developing text-message distribution system, 29% for collecting health workers' phone numbers, and 13% were costs of sending text-messages and monitoring of the system. If the intervention was implemented in the same areas by the MoH, the costs would be 28% lower (13,920 USD) due to lower costs of collecting health workers' numbers. The cost of national scale-up would be 97,350 USD, and the majority of these costs (66%) would be for sending text-messages. The cost per additional child correctly managed was 0.50 USD under study conditions, 0.36 USD if implemented by the MoH in the same area, and estimated at only 0.03 USD if implemented nationally. Even if the effect size was only 5% or the cost on the national scale was 400% higher than estimated, the cost per additional child correctly managed would be only 0.16 USD. A simple text-messaging intervention improving health worker adherence to malaria guidelines is effective and inexpensive. Further research is justified to optimize delivery of the intervention and expand targets beyond children and malaria disease.

Using Mobile Phone Data to Predict the Spatial Spread of Cholera

PubMed Central

Bengtsson, Linus; Gaudart, Jean; Lu, Xin; Moore, Sandra; Wetter, Erik; Sallah, Kankoe; Rebaudet, Stanislas; Piarroux, Renaud

2015-01-01

Effective response to infectious disease epidemics requires focused control measures in areas predicted to be at high risk of new outbreaks. We aimed to test whether mobile operator data could predict the early spatial evolution of the 2010 Haiti cholera epidemic. Daily case data were analysed for 78 study areas from October 16 to December 16, 2010. Movements of 2.9 million anonymous mobile phone SIM cards were used to create a national mobility network. Two gravity models of population mobility were implemented for comparison. Both were optimized based on the complete retrospective epidemic data, available only after the end of the epidemic spread. Risk of an area experiencing an outbreak within seven days showed strong dose-response relationship with the mobile phone-based infectious pressure estimates. The mobile phone-based model performed better (AUC 0.79) than the retrospectively optimized gravity models (AUC 0.66 and 0.74, respectively). Infectious pressure at outbreak onset was significantly correlated with reported cholera cases during the first ten days of the epidemic (p < 0.05). Mobile operator data is a highly promising data source for improving preparedness and response efforts during cholera outbreaks. Findings may be particularly important for containment efforts of emerging infectious diseases, including high-mortality influenza strains. PMID:25747871

Using mobile phone data to predict the spatial spread of cholera.

PubMed

Bengtsson, Linus; Gaudart, Jean; Lu, Xin; Moore, Sandra; Wetter, Erik; Sallah, Kankoe; Rebaudet, Stanislas; Piarroux, Renaud

2015-03-09

Effective response to infectious disease epidemics requires focused control measures in areas predicted to be at high risk of new outbreaks. We aimed to test whether mobile operator data could predict the early spatial evolution of the 2010 Haiti cholera epidemic. Daily case data were analysed for 78 study areas from October 16 to December 16, 2010. Movements of 2.9 million anonymous mobile phone SIM cards were used to create a national mobility network. Two gravity models of population mobility were implemented for comparison. Both were optimized based on the complete retrospective epidemic data, available only after the end of the epidemic spread. Risk of an area experiencing an outbreak within seven days showed strong dose-response relationship with the mobile phone-based infectious pressure estimates. The mobile phone-based model performed better (AUC 0.79) than the retrospectively optimized gravity models (AUC 0.66 and 0.74, respectively). Infectious pressure at outbreak onset was significantly correlated with reported cholera cases during the first ten days of the epidemic (p < 0.05). Mobile operator data is a highly promising data source for improving preparedness and response efforts during cholera outbreaks. Findings may be particularly important for containment efforts of emerging infectious diseases, including high-mortality influenza strains.

Professional and spatial mobility of osteopathic physicians.

PubMed

Hassinger, E W; Gill, L S; Hobbs, D J; Hageman, R L

1979-12-01

The study examines changes in location of osteopathic and medical doctors in a 20-county area of rural Missouri over a 14-year period. Losses of osteopathic physicians were greater than medical doctors. However, there was a convergence over the 14-year period in background characteristics of the two types of physicians. The finding of greater spatial mobility of DOs is placed in the context of professional mobility of osteopathy. It is also argued that as practice opportunities for DOs increase, background factors associated with early socialization become more influential in choice of practice sites. The relationship of practice opportunities to choice of practice sites can be extended to foreign medical school graduates and "new health practitioners."

GIS Data Collection for Pedestrian Facilities and Furniture Using Mapinr for Android

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naharudin, N.; Ahamad, M. S. S.; Sadullah, A. F. M.

2016-09-01

Mobile GIS is introduced to reduce the time taken in completing the field data collection procedure. With the expansion of technology today, mobile GIS is not far behind. It can be integrated with the high-end innovation tools like smartphones. Spatial data capture which deemed to be the toughest stage of a GIS project is made simple with this method. Many studies had demonstrated the usage of mobile GIS in collecting spatial data and this paper discusses how it can be applied in capturing the GPS location of pedestrian furniture and facilities. Although some of the spatial data are available from local agencies, still a more detailed data is needed to create a better data model for this study. This study uses a free android application, MAPinr, which is available on the Google PlayStore to collect spatial data on site. It adopted the GNSS and cellular network positioning to locate the position of the required data. As the application allows the captured data to be exported to a GIS platform, the geometric error of the data was improved. In the end, an authenticated spatial dataset comprising pedestrian facilities and furniture in point and line form will be produced and later be used in a pedestrian network analysis study.

3D interactive surgical visualization system using mobile spatial information acquisition and autostereoscopic display.

PubMed

Fan, Zhencheng; Weng, Yitong; Chen, Guowen; Liao, Hongen

2017-07-01

Three-dimensional (3D) visualization of preoperative and intraoperative medical information becomes more and more important in minimally invasive surgery. We develop a 3D interactive surgical visualization system using mobile spatial information acquisition and autostereoscopic display for surgeons to observe surgical target intuitively. The spatial information of regions of interest (ROIs) is captured by the mobile device and transferred to a server for further image processing. Triangular patches of intraoperative data with texture are calculated with a dimension-reduced triangulation algorithm and a projection-weighted mapping algorithm. A point cloud selection-based warm-start iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm is also developed for fusion of the reconstructed 3D intraoperative image and the preoperative image. The fusion images are rendered for 3D autostereoscopic display using integral videography (IV) technology. Moreover, 3D visualization of medical image corresponding to observer's viewing direction is updated automatically using mutual information registration method. Experimental results show that the spatial position error between the IV-based 3D autostereoscopic fusion image and the actual object was 0.38±0.92mm (n=5). The system can be utilized in telemedicine, operating education, surgical planning, navigation, etc. to acquire spatial information conveniently and display surgical information intuitively. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A High Speed Mobile Courier Data Access System That Processes Database Queries in Real-Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gatsheni, Barnabas Ndlovu; Mabizela, Zwelakhe

A secure high-speed query processing mobile courier data access (MCDA) system for a Courier Company has been developed. This system uses the wireless networks in combination with wired networks for updating a live database at the courier centre in real-time by an offsite worker (the Courier). The system is protected by VPN based on IPsec. There is no system that we know of to date that performs the task for the courier as proposed in this paper.

Spatial heterogeneity of mobilization processes and input pathways of herbicides into a brook in a small agricultural catchment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doppler, Tobias; Lück, Alfred; Popow, Gabriel; Strahm, Ivo; Winiger, Luca; Gaj, Marcel; Singer, Heinz; Stamm, Christian

2010-05-01

Soil applied herbicides can be transported from their point of application (agricultural field) to surface waters during rain events. There they can have harmful effects on aquatic species. Since the spatial distribution of mobilization and transport processes is very heterogeneous, the contributions of different fields to the total load in a surface water body may differ considerably. The localization of especially critical areas (contributing areas) can help to efficiently minimize herbicide inputs to surface waters. An agricultural field becomes a contributing area when three conditions are met: 1) herbicides are applied, 2) herbicides are mobilized on the field and 3) the mobilized herbicides are transported rapidly to the surface water. In spring 2009, a controlled herbicide application was performed on corn fields in a small (ca 1 km2) catchment with intensive crop production in the Swiss plateau. Subsequently water samples were taken at different locations in the catchment with a high temporal resolution during rain events. We observed both saturation excess and hortonian overland flow during the field campaign. Both can be important mobilization processes depending on the intensity and quantity of the rain. This can lead to different contributing areas during different types of rain events. We will show data on the spatial distribution of herbicide loads during different types of rain events. Also the connectivity of the fields with the brook is spatially heterogeneous. Most of the fields are disconnected from the brook by internal sinks in the catchment, which prevents surface runoff from entering the brook directly. Surface runoff from these disconnected areas can only enter the brook rapidly via macropore-flow into tile drains beneath the internal sinks or via direct shortcuts to the drainage system (maintenance manholes, farmyard or road drains). We will show spatially distributed data on herbicide concentration in purely subsurface systems which shows how important such input pathways can be.

A mobile network-based multimedia teleconference system for homecare services.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhaomin; He, Aiguo; Wei, Daming

2008-03-01

Because most research and development for homecare services have focused on providing connections between home and service centers, the goal of the present work is to develop techniques and create realtime communications to connect service centers and homecare workers in mobile environments. A key technical issue for this research is how to overcome the limitation of bandwidth in mobile media and networks. An effort has been made to balance performance of communication and basic demands in telehealth through optimized system design and technical implementation. Implementations using third generation (3G) Freedom Of Mobile multimedia Access (FOMA) and Personal Handyphone System (PHS) were developed and evaluated. We conclude that the system we developed based on 3G FOMA provides sufficient and satisfactory functions for use in homecare services.

Evaluation of a mobile work zone barrier system : appendices.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-08-01

A high percentage of highway maintenance activities and some construction activities are performed in a travel lane, median, or shoulder while the public travels by at relatively high speeds in very close proximity to the workers. Work zone traffic c...

Evaluation of a mobile work zone barrier system.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-08-01

A high percentage of highway maintenance activities and some construction activities are performed in a travel lane, median, or shoulder while the public travels by at relatively high speeds in very close proximity to the workers. Work zone traffic c...

Analyzing spatial coherence using a single mobile field sensor.

PubMed

Fridman, Peter

2007-04-01

According to the Van Cittert-Zernike theorem, the intensity distribution of a spatially incoherent source and the mutual coherence function of the light impinging on two wave sensors are related. It is the comparable relationship using a single mobile sensor moving at a certain velocity relative to the source that is calculated in this paper. The auto-corelation function of the electric field at the sensor contains information about the intensity distribution. This expression could be employed in aperture synthesis.

Transport Imaging of Spatial Distribution of Mobility-Lifetime (Micro Tau) Product in Bulk Semiconductors for Nuclear Radiation Detection

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

the diffusion length L and the mobility-lifetime product  from the luminescence distribution using the 2D model for transport imaging in bulk...C. Scandrett, and N. M. Haegel, “Three-dimensional transport imaging for the spatially resolved determination of carrier diffusion length in bulk...that allows measurements of the diffusion length and extraction of the  product in luminescent materials without the need for device processing

Effect of Major Royal Jelly Proteins on Spatial Memory in Aged Rats: Metabolomics Analysis in Urine.

PubMed

Chen, Di; Liu, Fang; Wan, Jian-Bo; Lai, Chao-Qiang; Shen, Li-Rong

2017-04-19

Royal jelly (RJ) produced by worker honeybees is the sole food for the queen bee throughout her life as well as the larvae of worker bees for the first 3 days after hatching. Supplementation of RJ in the diet has been shown to increase spatial memory in rodents. However, the key constituents in RJ responsible for improvement of cognitive function are unknown. Our objective was to determine if the major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs) extracted from RJ can improve the spatial memory of aged rats. The spatial memory assay using the Morris water maze test was administered once to rats after a 14-week feeding. Metabolomics analysis based on quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was conducted to examine the differences in compounds from urine. Aged male rats fed MRJPs showed improved spatial memory up to 48.5% when compared to the control male aged rats fed distilled water. The metabolite pattern of the MRJPs-fed aged rats was regressed to that of the young rats. Compounds altered by MRJPs were mapped to nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism, cysteine taurine metabolism, and energy metabolism pathways. In summary, MRJPs may improve spatial memory and possess the potential for prevention of cognitive impairment via the cysteine and taurine metabolism and energy metabolism pathways in aged rats.

Oh sister, where art thou? Spatial population structure and the evolution of an altruistic defence trait.

PubMed

Pamminger, T; Foitzik, S; Metzler, D; Pennings, P S

2014-11-01

The evolution of parasite virulence and host defences is affected by population structure. This effect has been confirmed in studies focusing on large spatial scales, whereas the importance of local structure is not well understood. Slavemaking ants are social parasites that exploit workers of another species to rear their offspring. Enslaved workers of the host species Temnothorax longispinosus have been found to exhibit an effective post-enslavement defence behaviour: enslaved workers were observed killing a large proportion of the parasites' offspring. As enslaved workers do not reproduce, they gain no direct fitness benefit from this 'rebellion' behaviour. However, there may be an indirect benefit: neighbouring host nests that are related to 'rebel' nests can benefit from a reduced raiding pressure, as a result of the reduction in parasite nest size due to the enslaved workers' killing behaviour. We use a simple mathematical model to examine whether the small-scale population structure of the host species could explain the evolution of this potentially altruistic defence trait against slavemaking ants. We find that this is the case if enslaved host workers are related to nearby host nests. In a population genetic study, we confirm that enslaved workers are, indeed, more closely related to host nests within the raiding range of their resident slavemaker nest, than to host nests outside the raiding range. This small-scale population structure seems to be a result of polydomy (e.g. the occupation of several nests in close proximity by a single colony) and could have enabled the evolution of 'rebellion' by kin selection. © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Investing in communities: evaluating the added value of community mobilization on HIV prevention outcomes among FSWs in India.

PubMed

Kuhlmann, Anne Sebert; Galavotti, Christine; Hastings, Philip; Narayanan, Pradeep; Saggurti, Niranjan

2014-04-01

Community mobilization often requires greater time and resource investments than typical interventions, yet few evaluations exist to justify these investments. We evaluated the added benefit of community mobilization on HIV prevention outcomes among female sex workers (FSWs) using a composite measure of volunteer participation in program committees by FSWs. After adjusting for treatment propensity, we used multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) to test our program theory. We hypothesized that stronger community mobilization would be associated with increased levels of consistent condom use and with increased levels of perceived fairness, mediated by psychosocial processes. Community mobilization had an indirect effect on consistent condom use mediated through social cohesion and an indirect effect on perceived fairness mediated by collective efficacy. Our results suggest higher levels of community mobilization help improve condom use and reduce perceived discrimination beyond the effects of the core HIV intervention program. We recommend further testing of this model.

An augmented reality tool for learning spatial anatomy on mobile devices.

PubMed

Jain, Nishant; Youngblood, Patricia; Hasel, Matthew; Srivastava, Sakti

2017-09-01

Augmented Realty (AR) offers a novel method of blending virtual and real anatomy for intuitive spatial learning. Our first aim in the study was to create a prototype AR tool for mobile devices. Our second aim was to complete a technical evaluation of our prototype AR tool focused on measuring the system's ability to accurately render digital content in the real world. We imported Computed Tomography (CT) data derived virtual surface models into a 3D Unity engine environment and implemented an AR algorithm to display these on mobile devices. We investigated the accuracy of the virtual renderings by comparing a physical cube with an identical virtual cube for dimensional accuracy. Our comparative study confirms that our AR tool renders 3D virtual objects with a high level of accuracy as evidenced by the degree of similarity between measurements of the dimensions of a virtual object (a cube) and the corresponding physical object. We developed an inexpensive and user-friendly prototype AR tool for mobile devices that creates highly accurate renderings. This prototype demonstrates an intuitive, portable, and integrated interface for spatial interaction with virtual anatomical specimens. Integrating this AR tool with a library of CT derived surface models provides a platform for spatial learning in the anatomy curriculum. The segmentation methodology implemented to optimize human CT data for mobile viewing can be extended to include anatomical variations and pathologies. The ability of this inexpensive educational platform to deliver a library of interactive, 3D models to students worldwide demonstrates its utility as a supplemental teaching tool that could greatly benefit anatomical instruction. Clin. Anat. 30:736-741, 2017. © 2017Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Racial-ethnic disparities in health and the labor market: Losing and leaving jobs.

PubMed

Strully, Kate

2009-09-01

This study examines whether employment disruptions have varying health consequences for White and Black or Hispanic workers in the U.S. Since employment disruptions mark major shocks to socioeconomic status (SES), this analysis also speaks to a broader set of questions about how race/ethnicity and SES shape population-level health disparities. Data from 1999, 2001 and 2003 waves of the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics provide no evidence of racial/ethnic variation in the health consequences of involuntary job loss. However, associations between leaving jobs voluntarily and poor self-assessed health are larger for Black and Hispanic workers than for White workers. This pattern may be linked to downward occupational mobility within the Black and Hispanic sample.

Environmental pollution as engine of industrialization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antoci, Angelo; Galeotti, Marcello; Sordi, Serena

2018-05-01

This paper analyzes the dynamics of a small open economy with two sectors (a farming sector and an industrial one), heterogeneous agents (workers and entrepreneurs) and free inter-sectoral labor mobility. Labor productivity in the first sector is negatively affected by environmental pollution generated by both sectors, whereas in the second sector it is positively affected by physical capital accumulated by entrepreneurs. Through a global analysis of the non-linear three-dimensional dynamic system of the model we derive conditions under which industrialization generates a decline in workers' revenues in both sectors.

Entomology in translation: interpreting French medical entomological knowledge in colonial Mali.

PubMed

Giles-Vernick, T

2008-12-01

This essay examines how knowledge and practices around entomology and parasitology travelled and the consequences of their mobility. In exploring three anti-malaria campaigns in French Soudan before 1960, it argues that the history of medical entomology's travels entailed multiple temporal, spatial, social translations that African medical personnel, intellectuals, healers, and farmers in French Soudan reinterpreted, appropriated, and sometimes wholly rejected. This essay also focuses on "erroneous" translations, detailing how and why middle class medical personnel and intellectuals interpreted and reformulated farmers' and healers' diagnostic categories that may or may not be malaria. Anti-mosquito and antilarval interventions, and more generally anti-malaria interventions, influenced how African colonial subjects and health workers understood certain vectors and of certain maladies. These understandings, in turn, shaped the consequences of subsequent public health measures. Histories of translated parasitological and entomological knowledge and etiologies of illness have critical implications for contemporary malaria control efforts: interventions to reduce malaria transmission through various kinds of entomological controls that require active participation of local populations cannot be effective if all participants cannot agree upon what is being controlled or prevented.

On Spatially Explicit Models of Epidemic and Endemic Cholera: The Haiti and Lake Kivu Case Studies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rinaldo, A.; Bertuzzo, E.; Mari, L.; Finger, F.; Casagrandi, R.; Gatto, M.; Rodriguez-Iturbe, I.

2014-12-01

The first part of the Lecture deals with the predictive ability of mechanistic models for the Haitian cholera epidemic. Predictive models of epidemic cholera need to resolve at suitable aggregation levels spatial data pertaining to local communities, epidemiological records, hydrologic drivers, waterways, patterns of human mobility and proxies of exposure rates. A formal model comparison framework provides a quantitative assessment of the explanatory and predictive abilities of various model settings with different spatial aggregation levels. Intensive computations and objective model comparisons show that parsimonious spatially explicit models accounting for spatial connections have superior explanatory power than spatially disconnected ones for short-to intermediate calibration windows. In general, spatially connected models show better predictive ability than disconnected ones. We suggest limits and validity of the various approaches and discuss the pathway towards the development of case-specific predictive tools in the context of emergency management. The second part deals with approaches suitable to describe patterns of endemic cholera. Cholera outbreaks have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the 1970s. Here we employ a spatially explicit, inhomogeneous Markov chain model to describe cholera incidence in eight health zones on the shore of lake Kivu. Remotely sensed datasets of chlorophyll a concentration in the lake, precipitation and indices of global climate anomalies are used as environmental drivers in addition to baseline seasonality. The effect of human mobility is also modelled mechanistically. We test several models on a multi-year dataset of reported cholera cases. Fourteen models, accounting for different environmental drivers, are selected in calibration. Among these, the one accounting for seasonality, El Nino Southern Oscillation, precipitation and human mobility outperforms the others in cross-validation.

[Worker's Health Surveillance

PubMed

Machado

1997-01-01

This paper is part of a broader discussion on the need for more in-depth study of workers' health surveillance practices, which are most often developed empirically, without well-defined theoretical or technical foundations. The paper presents a concept of surveillance in workers' health as a fulcrum for actions in the relationship between the work process and health. It emphasizes the exposure-based perspective involved in the epidemiological approach. Risk situations and effects are placed in spatial and technological context. The model provides an interdisciplinary approach with a technological, social, and epidemiological basis in a three-dimensional structure. A matrix for planning actions in workers' health surveillance is also presented, focusing on the connections between effects, risks, territory, and activities.

Targeting populations at higher risk for malaria: a survey of national malaria elimination programmes in the Asia Pacific.

PubMed

Wen, Shawn; Harvard, Kelly E; Gueye, Cara Smith; Canavati, Sara E; Chancellor, Arna; Ahmed, Be-Nazir; Leaburi, John; Lek, Dysoley; Namgay, Rinzin; Surya, Asik; Thakur, Garib D; Whittaker, Maxine Anne; Gosling, Roly D

2016-05-10

Significant progress has been made in reducing the malaria burden in the Asia Pacific region, which is aggressively pursuing a 2030 regional elimination goal. Moving from malaria control to elimination requires National Malaria Control Programmes (NMCPs) to target interventions at populations at higher risk, who are often not reached by health services, highly mobile and difficult to test, treat, and track with routine measures, and if undiagnosed, can maintain parasite reservoirs and contribute to ongoing transmission. A qualitative, free-text questionnaire was developed and disseminated among 17 of the 18 partner countries of the Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN). All 14 countries that responded to the survey identified key populations at higher risk of malaria in their respective countries. Thirteen countries engage in the dissemination of malaria-related Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials. Eight countries engage in diagnostic screening, including of mobile and migrant workers, military staff, and/or overseas workers. Ten countries reported distributing or recommending the use of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) among populations at higher risk with fewer countries engaging in other prevention measures such as indoor residual spraying (IRS) (two countries), spatial repellents (four countries), chemoprophylaxis (five countries), and mass drug administration (MDA) (three countries). Though not specifically tailored to populations at higher risk, 11 countries reported using mass blood surveys as a surveillance tool and ten countries map case data. Most NMCPs lack a monitoring and evaluation structure. Countries in the Asia Pacific have identified populations at higher risk and targeted interventions to these groups but there is limited information on the effectiveness of these interventions. Platforms like APMEN offer the opportunity for the sharing of protocols and lessons learned related to finding, targeting and successfully clearing malaria from populations at higher risk. The sharing of programme data across borders may further strengthen national and regional efforts to eliminate malaria. This exchange of real-life experience is invaluable to NMCPs when scarce scientific evidence on the topic exists to aid decision-making and can further support NMCPs to develop strategies that will deliver a malaria-free Asia Pacific by 2030.

Mobility of Vulnerable Elders (MOVE): study protocol to evaluate the implementation and outcomes of a mobility intervention in long-term care facilities.

PubMed

Slaughter, Susan E; Estabrooks, Carole A; Jones, C Allyson; Wagg, Adrian S

2011-12-16

Almost 90% of residents living in long-term care facilities have limited mobility which is associated with a loss of ability in activities of daily living, falls, increased risk of serious medical problems such as pressure ulcers, incontinence and a significant decline in health-related quality of life. For health workers caring for residents it may also increase the risk of injury. The effectiveness of rehabilitation to facilitate mobility has been studied with dedicated research assistants or extensively trained staff caregivers; however, few investigators have examined the effectiveness of techniques to encourage mobility by usual caregivers in long-term care facilities. This longitudinal, quasi-experimental study is designed to demonstrate the effect of the sit-to-stand activity carried out by residents in the context of daily care with health care aides. In three intervention facilities health care aides will prompt residents to repeat the sit-to-stand action on two separate occasions during each day and each evening shift as part of daily care routines. In three control facilities residents will receive usual care. Intervention and control facilities are matched on the ownership model (public, private for-profit, voluntary not-for-profit) and facility size. The dose of the mobility intervention is assessed through the use of daily documentation flowsheets in the health record. Resident outcome measures include: 1) the 30-second sit-to-stand test; 2) the Functional Independence Measure; 3) the Health Utilities Index Mark 2 and 3; and, 4) the Quality of Life - Alzheimer's Disease. There are several compelling reasons for this study: the widespread prevalence of limited mobility in this population; the rapid decline in mobility after admission to a long-term care facility; the importance of mobility to quality of life; the increased time (and therefore cost) required to care for residents with limited mobility; and, the increased risk of injury for health workers caring for residents who are unable to stand. The importance of these issues is magnified when considering the increasing number of people living in long-term care facilities and an aging population. This clinical trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (trial registration number: NCT01474616).

Study of diffusion and local structure of sodium-silicate liquid: the molecular dynamic simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hung, Pham Khac; Noritake, Fumiya; San, Luyen Thi; Van, To Ba; Vinh, Le The

2017-10-01

A systematic analysis on sodium-silicate melt with various silica contents was carried out. The simulation revealed two diffusion mechanisms occurred in the melt: the bond-breaking and hopping between sites. The local structure was analyzed through T-simplexes. It was revealed that T-clusters have a non-spherical shape and represent the diffusion channel, in which Na atoms are dominant, but no any O atoms are located. The SiO2-poor melt acquires a long channel. In contrast, the SiO2-rich melt consists of unconnected short channels. The simulation also revealed the immobile and mobile regions which differ in local structure and constituent composition. We propose a new CL-function to characterizing the spatial distribution of different atom component. The spatial distribution of mobile and immobile atoms is found quite different. In particular, the immobile atoms are concentrated in high-density regions possessing very large density of immobile atoms. The spatial distribution of mobile atoms in contrast is more homogeneous.

Interpretive Flexibility in Mobile Health: Lessons From a Government-Sponsored Home Care Program

PubMed Central

Mathiassen, Lars

2013-01-01

Background Mobile technologies have emerged as important tools that health care personnel can use to gain easy access to client data anywhere. This is particularly useful for nurses and care workers in home health care as they provide services to clients in many different settings. Although a growing body of evidence supports the use of mobile technologies, the diverse implications of mobile health have yet to be fully documented. Objective Our objective was to examine a large-scale government-sponsored mobile health implementation program in the Danish home care sector and to understand how the technology was used differently across home care agencies. Methods We chose to perform a longitudinal case study with embedded units of analysis. We included multiple data sources, such as written materials, a survey to managers across all 98 Danish municipalities, and semistructured interviews with managers, care workers, and nurses in three selected home care agencies. We used process models of change to help analyze the overall implementation process from a longitudinal perspective and to identify antecedent conditions, key events, and practical outcomes. Results Strong collaboration between major stakeholders in the Danish home care sector (government bodies, vendors, consultants, interest organizations, and managers) helped initiate and energize the change process, and government funding supported quick and widespread technology adoption. However, although supported by the same government-sponsored program, mobile technology proved to have considerable interpretive flexibility with variation in perceived nature of technology, technology strategy, and technology use between agencies. What was first seen as a very promising innovation across the Danish home care sector subsequently became the topic of debate as technology use arrangements ran counter to existing norms and values in individual agencies. Conclusions Government-sponsored programs can have both positive and negative results, and managers need to be aware of this and the interpretive flexibility of mobile technology. Mobile technology implementation is a complex process that is best studied by combining organization-level analysis with features of the wider sociopolitical and interorganizational environment. PMID:24172852

Inner Space and Outer Space: Pressure Suits & Life Support Systems for Space Workers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Webbon, Bruce

2004-01-01

This slide presentation presents an overview of work system requirements, extravehicular activity system evolution, key issues, future needs, and a summary. Key issues include pressure suits, life support systems, system integration, biomedical requirements, and work and mobility aids.

Jobs for Two Million Workers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

VocEd, 1982

1982-01-01

The outlook for jobs in the computer industry is excellent for people with appropriate training. The shortage of computer personnel is expected to continue, resulting in higher wages, more job mobility, increasing job security and generally greater opportunities for two million Americans by 1990. (CT)

Spatial patterns of schistosomiasis in Burkina Faso: relevance of human mobility and water resources development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez-Saez, Javier; Bertuzzo, Enrico; Frohelich, Jean-Marc; Mande, Theophile; Ceperley, Natalie; Sou, Mariam; Yacouba, Hamma; Maiga, Hamadou; Sokolow, Susanne; De Leo, Giulio; Casagrandi, Renato; Gatto, Marino; Mari, Lorenzo; Rinaldo, Andrea

2015-04-01

We study the spatial geography of schistosomiasis in the african context of Burkina Faso by means of a spatially explicit model of disease dynamics and spread. The relevance of our work lies in its ability to describe quantitatively a geographic stratification of the disease burden capable of reproducing important spatial differences, and drivers/controls of disease spread. Among the latters, we consider specifically the development and management of water resources which have been singled out empirically as an important risk factor for schistosomiasis. The model includes remotely acquired and objectively manipulated information on the distributions of population, infrastructure, elevation and climatic drivers. It also includes a general description of human mobility and addresses a first-order characterization of the ecology of the intermediate host of the parasite causing the disease based on maximum entropy learning of relevant environmenal covariates. Spatial patterns of the disease were analyzed about their disease-free equilibrium by proper extraction and mapping of suitable eigenvectors of the Jacobian matrix subsuming all stability properties of the system. Human mobility was found to be a primary control of both pathogen invasion success and of the overall distribution of disease burden. The effects of water resources development were studied by accounting for the (prior and posterior) average distances of human settlements from water bodies that may serve as suitable habitats to the intermediate host of the parasite. Water developments, in combination with human mobility, were quantitatively related to disease spread into regions previously nearly disease-free and to large-scale empirical incidence patterns. We concluded that while the model still needs refinements based on field and epidemiological evidence, the framework proposed provides a powerful tool for large-scale, long-term public health planning and management of schistosomiasis.

Chain conformations dictate multiscale charge transport phenomena in disordered semiconducting polymers

PubMed Central

Noriega, Rodrigo; Salleo, Alberto; Spakowitz, Andrew J.

2013-01-01

Existing models for the electronic properties of conjugated polymers do not capture the spatial arrangement of the disordered macromolecular chains over which charge transport occurs. Here, we present an analytical and computational description in which the morphology of individual polymer chains is dictated by well-known statistical models and the electronic coupling between units is determined using Marcus theory. The multiscale transport of charges in these materials (high mobility at short length scales, low mobility at long length scales) is naturally described with our framework. Additionally, the dependence of mobility with electric field and temperature is explained in terms of conformational variability and spatial correlation. Our model offers a predictive approach to connecting processing conditions with transport behavior. PMID:24062459

Chain conformations dictate multiscale charge transport phenomena in disordered semiconducting polymers.

PubMed

Noriega, Rodrigo; Salleo, Alberto; Spakowitz, Andrew J

2013-10-08

Existing models for the electronic properties of conjugated polymers do not capture the spatial arrangement of the disordered macromolecular chains over which charge transport occurs. Here, we present an analytical and computational description in which the morphology of individual polymer chains is dictated by well-known statistical models and the electronic coupling between units is determined using Marcus theory. The multiscale transport of charges in these materials (high mobility at short length scales, low mobility at long length scales) is naturally described with our framework. Additionally, the dependence of mobility with electric field and temperature is explained in terms of conformational variability and spatial correlation. Our model offers a predictive approach to connecting processing conditions with transport behavior.

Health worker recruitment and deployment in remote areas of Indonesia.

PubMed

Efendi, Ferry

2012-01-01

Providing health care in remote and very remote areas has long been a major concern in Indonesia. In order to improve access to quality health care for residents in these areas, various policies on recruitment and deployment of health workers have been implemented, among them compulsory service, contracted staff and the Special Assignment of strategic health workers. Indonesia's difficult geography presents great challenges to health service delivery and most health workers prefer to serve in urban areas, resulting in an uneven distribution of health workers and shortages in remote areas. Great efforts have been made to mobilize health human resources more equitably, including placement schemes for strategic health workers and contracted staff, combined with an incentive scheme. While these have partially addressed the severe shortage of health workers in remote areas, current government policies were reviewed in order to clarify the current situation in Indonesia. The Contracted Staff and Special Assignment of Strategic Health Workers programs show have made a significant contribution to improving the availability of health workers in Indonesia's remote areas. As these two programs used financial incentives as the main intervention, other non-financial interventions should also be trialed. For example, incentives such as the promise of a civil servant appointment or the provision of continuing professional education, as well as the recruitment of rural-background health workers may increase the willingness of health staff to serve in the remote and very remote areas of Indonesia.

Wave-driven spatial and temporal variability in sea-floor sediment mobility in the Monterey Bay, Cordell Bank, and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries

USGS Publications Warehouse

Storlazzi, Curt D.; Reid, Jane A.; Golden, Nadine E.

2007-01-01

Wind and wave patterns affect many aspects of continental shelves and shorelines geomorphic evolution. Although our understanding of the processes controlling sediment suspension on continental shelves has improved over the past decade, our ability to predict sediment mobility over large spatial and temporal scales remains limited. The deployment of robust operational buoys along the U.S. West Coast in the early 1980s provides large quantities of high-resolution oceanographic and meteorologic data. By 2006, these data sets were long enough to clearly identify long-term trends and compute statistically significant probability estimates of wave and wind behavior during annual and interannual climatic cycles (that is, El Niño and La Niña). Wave-induced sediment mobility on the shelf and upper slope off central California was modeled using synthesized oceanographic and meteorologic data as boundary input for the Delft SWAN model, sea-floor grain-size data provided by the usSEABED database, and regional bathymetry. Differences in waves (heights, periods, and directions) and winds (speeds and directions) between El Niño and La Niña months cause temporal and spatial variations in peak wave-induced bed shear stresses. These variations, in conjunction with spatially heterogeneous unconsolidated sea-floor sedimentary cover, result in predicted sediment mobility widely varying in both time and space. These findings indicate that these factors have significant consequences for both geological and biological processes.

How Building Systems Affect Worker Wellness

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-03-01

spatial configuration must strike a balance between the objective needs of the organization and the more subjective human ingredient. Good building...sense, building design for thermal comfort involves a balance between the building’s orientation, its windowing scheme, the use of thermal mass, and the...stated above. An improved quality of worklife and a humanized work environment are psychological incentives that can increase productivity. Worker specific

Youth Clubs as Spaces of Non-Formal Learning: Professional Idealism Meets the Spatiality Experienced by Young People in Finland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiilakoski, Tomi; Kivijärvi, Antti

2015-01-01

For many young people, youth clubs constitute a key instrument for learning outside the school curriculum. In this article, we scrutinise Finnish youth clubs empirically as spaces of non-formal learning from the perspectives of both professional youth workers and young people themselves. We propose that youth workers tend to present an educational…

The Effectiveness of Interacting with Scientific Animations in Chemistry Using Mobile Devices on Grade 12 Students' Spatial Ability and Scientific Reasoning Skills

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Balushi, Sulaiman M.; Al-Musawi, Ali S.; Ambusaidi, Abdullah K.; Al-Hajri, Fatemah H.

2017-02-01

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of interacting with animations using mobile devices on grade 12 students' spatial and reasoning abilities. The study took place in a grade 12 context in Oman. A quasi-experimental design was used with an experimental group of 32 students and a control group of 28 students. The experimental group studied chemistry using mobile tablets that had a digital instructional package with different animation and simulations. There was one tablet per student. A spatial ability test and a scientific reasoning test were administered to both groups prior and after the study, which lasted for 9 weeks. The findings showed that there were significant statistical differences between the two groups in terms of spatial ability in favour of the experimental group. However, there were no differences between the two groups in terms of reasoning ability. The authors reasoned that the types of animations and simulations used in the current study featured a wide range of three-dimensional animated illustrations at the particulate level of matter. Most probably, this decreased the level of abstractness that usually accompanies chemical entities and phenomena and helped the students to visualize the interactions between submicroscopic entities spatially. Further research is needed to decide on types of scientific animations that could help students improve their scientific reasoning.

A Study Tour of India.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

French, Shirley

1992-01-01

Describes 1991 site visits by British educational administrators of early childhood educational institutions in Delhi and Bombay, India. Discusses philosophies and practices witnessed at a national center providing preschool education and meals, a mobile day-care center for children of migrant workers, a preschool teacher training institute, and…

Exposure of farm workers to electromagnetic radiation from cellular network radio base stations situated on rural agricultural land.

PubMed

Pascuzzi, Simone; Santoro, Francesco

2015-01-01

The electromagnetic field (EMF) levels generated by mobile telephone radio base stations (RBS) situated on rural-agricultural lands were assessed in order to evaluate the exposure of farm workers in the surrounding area. The expected EMF at various distances from a mobile telephone RBS was calculated using an ad hoc numerical forecast model. Subsequently, the electric fields around some RBS on agricultural lands were measured, in order to obtain a good approximation of the effective conditions at the investigated sites. The viability of this study was tested according to the Italian Regulations concerning general and occupational public exposure to time-varying EMFs. The calculated E-field values were obtained with the RBS working constantly at full power, but during the in situ measurements the actual power emitted by RBS antennas was lower than the maximum level, and the E-field values actually registered were much lower than the calculated values.

KSC-2014-4072

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-09-22

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Construction workers watch as a crane is used to bring the final large steel beam closer for installation on the base of the Mobile Launcher, or ML, at the Mobile Launcher Park Site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Workers on lifts are monitoring the progress from above. The ML is being modified and strengthened to accommodate the weight, size and thrust at launch of NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, and Orion spacecraft. In 2013, the agency awarded a contract to J.P. Donovan Construction Inc. of Rockledge, Fla., to modify the ML, which is one of the key elements of ground support equipment that is being upgraded by the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy. The existing 24-foot exhaust hole is being enlarged and strengthened for the larger, heavier SLS rocket. The ML will carry the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B for its first uncrewed mission, Exploration Mission-1, in 2018. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

Impact of a mHealth intervention for peer health workers on AIDS care in rural Uganda: a mixed methods evaluation of a cluster-randomized trial.

PubMed

Chang, Larry W; Kagaayi, Joseph; Arem, Hannah; Nakigozi, Gertrude; Ssempijja, Victor; Serwadda, David; Quinn, Thomas C; Gray, Ronald H; Bollinger, Robert C; Reynolds, Steven J

2011-11-01

Mobile phone access in low and middle-income countries is rapidly expanding and offers an opportunity to leverage limited human resources for health. We conducted a mixed methods evaluation of a cluster-randomized trial exploratory substudy on the impact of a mHealth (mobile phone) support intervention used by community-based peer health workers (PHW) on AIDS care in rural Uganda. 29 PHWs at 10 clinics were randomized by clinic to receive the intervention or not. PHWs used phones to call and text higher level providers with patient-specific clinical information. 970 patients cared for by the PHWs were followed over a 26 month period. No significant differences were found in patients' risk of virologic failure. Qualitative analyses found improvements in patient care and logistics and broad support for the mHealth intervention among patients, clinic staff, and PHWs. Key challenges identified included variable patient phone access, privacy concerns, and phone maintenance.

Large-scale mHealth professional support for health workers in rural Maharashtra, India.

PubMed

Hegde, Shailendra Kumar B; Saride, Sriranga Prasad; Kuruganty, Sudha; Banker, Niraja; Patil, Chetan; Phanse, Vishal

2018-04-01

Expanding mobile telephony in India has prompted interest in the potential of mobile-telephone health (mHealth) in linking health workers in rural areas with specialist medical advice and other professional services. In 2012, a toll-free helpline offering specialist medical advice to community-based health workers throughout Maharashtra was launched. Calls are handled via a 24 h centre in Pune, staffed by health advisory officers and medical specialists. Health advisory officers handle general queries, which include medical advice via validated algorithms; blood on-call services; grievance issues; and mental health support - the latter calls are transferred to a qualified counsellor. Calls requiring more specialist advice are transferred to the appropriate medical specialist. This paper describes the experience of the first 4 years of this helpline, in terms of the services used, callers, nature of calls, types of queries serviced and lessons learnt. In the first 4 years of the helpline, 669 265 calls were serviced. Of these calls, 453 373 (67.74%) needed medical advice and were handled by health advisory officers. Specialist services were required to address 199 226 (29.77%) calls. Blood-bank-related services accounted for 7919 (1.18%) calls, while 2462 (0.37%) were grievance calls. Counselling for mental health issues accounted for 6285 (0.94%) calls. The large-scale mHealth professional support provided by this helpline in Maharashtra has reached many health workers serving rural communities. Future work is required to explore ways to expand the reach of the helpline further and to measure its effectiveness in improving health outcomes.

Disaster management mobile protocols: a technology that will save lives.

PubMed

Williamson, Hope M

2011-01-01

Although training and education have long been accepted as integral to disaster preparedness, many currently taught practices are neither evidence based nor standardized. The need for effective evidence-based disaster education for healthcare workers at all levels in the multidisciplinary medical response to major events has been designated by the disaster response community as a high priority. This article describes a disaster management mobile application of systematic evidence-based practice. The application is interactive and comprises portable principles, algorithms, and emergency protocols that are agile, concise, comprehensive, and response relevant to all healthcare workers. Early recognition through clinical assessment versus laboratory and diagnostic procedures in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRNE) exposures grounded in an evidence-based skill set is especially important. During the immediate threat, the clinical diagnosis can get frustrating because CBRNE casualties can mimic everyday healthcare illnesses and initially present with nonspecific respiratory or flu-like symptoms. As there is minimal time in a catastrophic event for the medical provider to make accurate decisions, access to accurate, timely, and comprehensive information in these situations is critical. The CBRNE mobile application is intended to provide a credible source for treatment and management of numerous patients in an often intimidating environment with scarce resources and overwhelming tasks.

Mobility dynamics of migrant workers and their socio-behavioral parameters related to malaria in Tier II, Artemisinin Resistance Containment Zone, Myanmar.

PubMed

Hlaing, Thaung; Wai, Khin Thet; Oo, Tin; Sint, Nyan; Min, Tun; Myar, Shwe; Lon, Khin Nan; Naing, Myo Myint; Tun, Tet Toe; Maung, Nay Lin Yin; Galappaththy, Gawrie N L; Thimarsan, Krongthong; Wai, Tin Tin; Thaung, Lwin Ni Ni

2015-09-14

Areas with dynamic population movements are likely to be associated with higher levels of drug-resistant malaria. Myanmar Artemisinin Resistance Containment (MARC) Project has been launching since 2012. One of its components includes enhancing strategic approaches for mobile/migrant populations. We aimed to ascertain the estimated population of mobile migrant workers and their families in terms of stability in work setting in townships classified as tier II (areas with significant inflows of people from areas with credible evidence of artemisinin resistance) for Artemisinin resistance; to identify knowledge, attitudes and practices related to prevention and control of malaria and to recommend cost-effective strategies in planning for prevention and control of malaria. A prospective cross-sectional study conducted between June to December 2013 that covered 1,899 migrant groups from 16 tier II townships of Bago Region, and Kayin and Kayah States. Trained data collectors used a pre-tested and subsequently modified questionnaire and interviewed 2,381 respondents. Data of migrant groups were analyzed and compared by category depending upon the stability of their work setting. The estimated population of the 1,899 migrant groups categorized into three on the nature of their work setting was 56,030. Bago region was the commonest reported source of origin of migrant groups as well as their transit. Malaria volunteers were mostly within the reach of category 1 migrant groups (43/66, 65.2 %). Less stable migrant groups in category 3 had limited access to malaria information (14.7 %) and malaria care providers (22.1 %), low level of awareness and use of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (46.6 and 38.8 %). Also, they had poor knowledge on malaria prevention on confirming suspected malaria and on using artemisinin combined therapy (ACT). Within two weeks prior to the survey, only 16.5 % of respondents in all categories combined reported acute undifferentiated fever. Mobility dynamics of migrant groups was complex and increased their vulnerability to malaria. This phenomenon was accentuated in less stable areas. Even though migrant workers were familiar with rapid diagnostic tests for malaria, ACT still needed wide recognition to improve practices supportive of MARC including the use of appropriate personal protection. High mobility calls for re-designation of tier II townships to optimize ACT resistance containment.

Vulnerabilities of Local Healthcare Providers in Complex Emergencies: Findings from the Manipur Micro-level Insurgency Database 2008-2009.

PubMed

Sinha, Samrat; David, Siddarth; Gerdin, Martin; Roy, Nobhojit

2013-04-24

Research on healthcare delivery in zones of conflict requires sustained and systematic attention. In the context of the South Asian region, there has been an absence of research on the vulnerabilities of health care workers and institutions in areas affected by armed conflict. The paper presents a case study of the varied nature of security challenges faced by local healthcare providers in the state of Manipur in the North-eastern region of India, located in the Indo-Myanmar frontier region which has been experiencing armed violence and civil strife since the late 1960s. . The aim of this study was to assess longitudinal and spatial trends in incidents involving health care workers in Manipur during the period 2008 to 2009. We conducted a retrospective database analysis of the Manipur Micro-level Insurgency Database 2008-2009, created by using local newspaper archives to measure the overall burden of violence experienced in the state over a two year period. Publicly available press releases of armed groups and local hospitals in the state were used to supplement the quantitative data. Simple linear regression was used to assess longitudinal trends. Data was visualized with GIS-software for spatial analysis. The mean proportion of incidents involving health care workers per month was 2.7% and ranged between 0 and 6.1% (table 2). There was a significant (P=0.037) month-to-month variation in the proportion of incidents involving health care workers, as well as a upward trend of about 0.11% per month. Spatial analysis revealed different patterns depending on whether absolute, population-adjusted, or incident-adjusted frequencies served as the basis of the analysis. The paper shows a small but steady rise in violence against health workers and health institutions impeding health services in Manipur's pervasive violence. More evidence-building backed by research along with institutional obligations and commitment is essential to protect the health-systems Keywords: India, Manipur, insurgency, healthcare, security, ethnic strife.

A new working class in the making? The rise of the peasant workers and implications for social policy in China.

PubMed

Mok, Ka Ho; Ngok, Kinglun

2011-01-01

The major objective of this article is to critically examine changes in social stratification and social mobility of the peasant workers in the post-Mao period, with particular reference to examine whether and how the selected peasant workers in Dongguan city in South China have asserted themselves in protecting their labour rights. The present studies is based upon intensive policy and documentary analysis, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and survey in getting first-hand data from conducting fieldwork in China. Migrant workers in Dongguan city in South China. Although peasant workers are becoming more concerned with their economic and social rights, they have not attempted to organize themselves as organized social organizations in protecting their own interests. Despite the fact that peasant workers may have a greater awareness of the interests as a social group, such a consciousness has not been developed into a distinct class identity. Without a distinct class identity, coupled with a lack of organized social forces in asserting their class interests, peasant workers have not formed themselves into an organized social class right now, especially as many of them still consider themselves having a peasant status instead of obtaining a new citizenship associated with working in urban China.

International labor migration and financial crisis in Korea.

PubMed

Hyunho, S

1999-06-01

Although the Korean economy became severely depressed because of the financial crisis in November 1997, most foreign migrant workers in the country opted to stay rather than return to their home countries. This study examined the causes of their relative immobility at both the macro- and microlevel through the use of government statistics and survey data. The first section of this study explored in- and outflows of migrant workers in relation to labor market conditions and government interventions before and after the crisis. The second section looked into the effects of the crisis on the companies employing migrant workers, while the final section investigated the effects of the crisis on migrant workers. The findings of this study indicated that the amnesty measure, which was a major government policy to reduce the number of illegal sojourners, exerted some positive effect in the first months after the crisis. Employment and income opportunities at origin countries are important factors determining mobility. Moreover, manufacturing companies still prefer to hire migrant workers before native workers because of cheaper wages for the former. Overall, most migrant workers, regardless of their sojourn status, desire to stay in Korea because of two main reasons: 1) their total earnings are less than their migration costs; 2) they cannot get a job in their home country.

The spatial spread of schistosomiasis: A multidimensional network model applied to Saint-Louis region, Senegal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciddio, Manuela; Mari, Lorenzo; Sokolow, Susanne H.; De Leo, Giulio A.; Casagrandi, Renato; Gatto, Marino

2017-10-01

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic, water-related disease that is prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas of the world, causing severe and chronic consequences especially among children. Here we study the spatial spread of this disease within a network of connected villages in the endemic region of the Lower Basin of the Senegal River, in Senegal. The analysis is performed by means of a spatially explicit metapopulation model that couples local-scale eco-epidemiological dynamics with spatial mechanisms related to human mobility (estimated from anonymized mobile phone records), snail dispersal and hydrological transport of schistosome larvae along the main water bodies of the region. Results show that the model produces epidemiological patterns consistent with field observations, and point out the key role of spatial connectivity on the spread of the disease. These findings underline the importance of considering different transport pathways in order to elaborate disease control strategies that can be effective within a network of connected populations.

Spatial networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barthélemy, Marc

2011-02-01

Complex systems are very often organized under the form of networks where nodes and edges are embedded in space. Transportation and mobility networks, Internet, mobile phone networks, power grids, social and contact networks, and neural networks, are all examples where space is relevant and where topology alone does not contain all the information. Characterizing and understanding the structure and the evolution of spatial networks is thus crucial for many different fields, ranging from urbanism to epidemiology. An important consequence of space on networks is that there is a cost associated with the length of edges which in turn has dramatic effects on the topological structure of these networks. We will thoroughly explain the current state of our understanding of how the spatial constraints affect the structure and properties of these networks. We will review the most recent empirical observations and the most important models of spatial networks. We will also discuss various processes which take place on these spatial networks, such as phase transitions, random walks, synchronization, navigation, resilience, and disease spread.

Reasoning with inaccurate spatial knowledge. [for Planetary Rover

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Doshi, Rajkumar S.; White, James E.; Lam, Raymond; Atkinson, David J.

1988-01-01

This paper describes work in progress on spatial planning for a semiautonomous mobile robot vehicle. The overall objective is to design a semiautonomous rover to plan routes in unknown, natural terrains. The approach to spatial planning involves deduction of common-sense spatial knowledge using geographical information, natural terrain representations, and assimilation of new and possibly conflicting terrain information. This report describes the ongoing research and implementation.

[Effect of stress and intesity of mobile phone using on the health and subjective symptoms in GSM workers].

PubMed

Szyjkowska, Agata; Gadzicka, Elżbieta; Szymczak, Wiesław; Bortkiewicz, Alicja

2017-07-26

There are no available data on the health consequences that may result from the synergistic effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) and stress. Understanding the mechanisms of the simultaneous exposure will make it possible to develop procedures to minimize adverse health effects in professionals using mobile phones. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 600 randomly selected people to obtain data on their health status and the prevalence of subjective symptoms related to the mobile phones using. Among them, there were 208 GSM Network employees, to whom the Perceived Stress Scale and Assessment of Stress at Work Questionnaire were sent. Eighty-nine completed questionnaires were returned (response rate - 42.8%). The mean age of respondents was 30.3 years (standard deviation (SD) = 7.7), time of occupational use of mobile phone - 4.1 years (SD = 1.7), the level of occupational stress - 95.3 (SD = 19.1). A significant percentage of people (62.8%) complained of the frequent difficulties in coping with problems of everyday life, and 57.4% had a fairly frequent problems with managing their own affairs. Significant differences in the life stress were detected between groups with different time of phone use (p = 0.03), and in occupational stress level, significant differences were noted between the 2 groups differing in the length of the conversation (p = 0.05). The risk of headache, associated (odds ratio (OR) = 4.2, p = 0.008) or not associated (OR = 2.97, p = 0.04) with calls on mobile phone, adjusted for stress, was significantly higher in people speaking via mobile more than 60 min/day than in those talking less. The study indicates that both stressors acting at the same time (EMF from cell phone and stress) adversely affect the well-being of workers and increase the risk of subjective symptoms. Med Pr 2017;68(5):617-628. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

KSC-02pd0396

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-04-04

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Launch Pad 39B, workers on a crane inspect pipes on the Mobile Launcher Platform where Space Shuttle Atlantis sits. Earlier today a leak in a ground support liquid hydrogen vent line on the south side of the Mobile Launcher Platform caused a scrub of the launch of Atlantis on mission STS-110. An engineering team is assessing the situation to determine the best method to repair the hydrogen line. The turnaround plan includes time to perfor weld repairs and return the vehicle to a timeline to resume the countdown

Follow Me, Like Me, Tweet Me! Implementing Social Media Into Occupational Health.

PubMed

Olszewski, Kimberly; Wolf, Debra M

2015-06-01

Occupational health nurses can advance their professional practices through virtual platforms (e.g., social media and mobile applications). Virtual platforms allow occupational health nurses to disseminate occupational safety and health information efficiently to employees, families, and other stakeholders. Occupational health nurses exchange information with employees, enhancing communication and disseminating appropriate and accurate safety and health information to workers and their families. This article assists occupational health nurses in understanding how to use social media and other mobile applications to enhance their practices. © 2015 The Author(s).

Spatial variation in carrier dynamics along a single CdSSe nanowire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blake, Jolie C.; Eldridge, Peter S.; Gundlach, Lars

2014-10-01

Ultrafast charge carrier dynamics along individual CdSxSe1-x nanowires has been measured. The use of an improved ultrafast Kerr-gated microscope allows for spatially resolved luminescence measurements along a single nanowire. Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) was observed at high excitation fluences. Position dependent variations of ultrafast ASE dynamics were observed. SEM and colorimetric measurements showed that the difference in dynamics can be attributed to variations in non-radiative recombination rates along the wire. The dominant Shockley-Read recombination rate can be extracted from ASE dynamics and can be directly related to charge carrier mobility and defect density. Employing ASE as a probe for defect densities provides a new sub-micron spatially resolved, contactless method for measurements of charge carrier mobility.

A microstructural model of motion of macro-twin interfaces in Ni-Mn-Ga 10 M martensite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seiner, Hanuš; Straka, Ladislav; Heczko, Oleg

2014-03-01

We present a continuum-based model of microstructures forming at the macro-twin interfaces in thermoelastic martensites and apply this model to highly mobile interfaces in 10 M modulated Ni-Mn-Ga martensite. The model is applied at three distinct spatial scales observed in the experiment: meso-scale (modulation twinning), micro-scale (compound a-b lamination), and nano-scale (nanotwining in the concept of adaptive martensite). We show that two mobile interfaces (Type I and Type II macro-twins) have different micromorphologies at all considered spatial scales, which can directly explain their different twinning stress observed in experiments. The results of the model are discussed with respect to various experimental observations at all three considered spatial scales.

Design and application of a mobile ground-based observatory for continuous measurements of atmospheric trace-gas and criteria pollutant species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bush, S. E.; Hopkins, F. M.; Randerson, J. T.; Lai, C.-T.; Ehleringer, J. R.

2015-01-01

Ground-based measurements of atmospheric trace gas species and criteria pollutants are essential for understanding emissions dynamics across space and time. Gas composition in the surface 50 m has the greatest direct impacts on human health as well as ecosystem processes, hence data at this level is necessary for addressing carbon cycle and public health related questions. However, such surface data are generally associated with stationary measurement towers, where spatial representation is limited due to the high cost of establishing and maintaining an extensive network of measurement stations. We describe here a compact mobile laboratory equipped to provide high-precision, high-frequency, continuous, on-road synchronous measurements of CO2, CO, CH4, H2O, NOx, O3, aerosol, meteorological, and geospatial position data. The mobile laboratory has been deployed across the western USA. In addition to describing the vehicle and its capacity, we present data that illustrate the use of the laboratory as a powerful tool for investigating the spatial structure of urban trace gas emissions and criteria pollutants at spatial scales ranging from single streets to whole ecosystem and regional scales. We identify fugitive urban CH4 emissions and assess the magnitude of CH4 emissions from known point sources. We illustrate how such a mobile laboratory can be used to better understand emissions dynamics and quantify emissions ratios associated with trace gas emissions from wildfire incidents. Lastly, we discuss additional mobile laboratory applications in health and urban metabolism.

Connecting Mobility to Infectious Diseases: The Promise and Limits of Mobile Phone Data.

PubMed

Wesolowski, Amy; Buckee, Caroline O; Engø-Monsen, Kenth; Metcalf, C J E

2016-12-01

Human travel can shape infectious disease dynamics by introducing pathogens into susceptible populations or by changing the frequency of contacts between infected and susceptible individuals. Quantifying infectious disease-relevant travel patterns on fine spatial and temporal scales has historically been limited by data availability. The recent emergence of mobile phone calling data and associated locational information means that we can now trace fine scale movement across large numbers of individuals. However, these data necessarily reflect a biased sample of individuals across communities and are generally aggregated for both ethical and pragmatic reasons that may further obscure the nuance of individual and spatial heterogeneities. Additionally, as a general rule, the mobile phone data are not linked to demographic or social identifiers, or to information about the disease status of individual subscribers (although these may be made available in smaller-scale specific cases). Combining data on human movement from mobile phone data-derived population fluxes with data on disease incidence requires approaches that can tackle varying spatial and temporal resolutions of each data source and generate inference about dynamics on scales relevant to both pathogen biology and human ecology. Here, we review the opportunities and challenges of these novel data streams, illustrating our examples with analyses of 2 different pathogens in Kenya, and conclude by outlining core directions for future research. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

Evaluation of Unbound Engineered Nanoparticles from a Worker Exposure and Environmental Release Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bunker, K.; Casuccio, G.; Lersch, T.; Ogle, R.; Wahl, L.

2009-12-01

Nanotechnology and the use of unbound engineered nanoparticles (UNP) is a rapidly developing area of materials science. UNP are defined as engineered nanoparticles that are not contained within a matrix that would prevent the nanoparticles from being mobile and a potential source of exposure. At this time there are no regulatory environmental release limits or worker exposure limits for UNP. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has initiated a study to evaluate worker exposure and potential environmental release of UNP related to various research activities at LBNL. The study is being performed to help identify and manage potential health and safety hazards as well as environmental impacts related to UNP. A key component of the study is the characterization of starting (source) UNP materials to assist in the determination of worker exposure and environmental release. Analysis of the starting materials is being used to establish source signatures. The source signatures will then be used in the evaluation of worker exposure and environmental release. This presentation will provide an overview of the LBNL study with a focus on the methodologies being used to analyze the samples.

Presentation of Anatomical Variations Using the Aurasma Mobile App

PubMed Central

Bézard, Georg; Lozanoff, Beth K; Labrash, Steven; Lozanoff, Scott

2015-01-01

Knowledge of anatomical variations is critical to avoid clinical complications and it enables an understanding of morphogenetic mechanisms. Depictions are comprised of photographs or illustrations often limiting appreciation of three-dimensional (3D) spatial relationships. The purpose of this study is to describe an approach for presenting anatomical variations utilizing video clips emphasizing 3D anatomical relationships delivered on personal electronic devices. An aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA) was an incidental finding in a routine dissection of an 89-year-old man cadaver during a medical student instructional laboratory. The specimen was photographed and physical measurements were recorded. Three-dimensional models were lofted and rendered with Maya software and converted as Quicktime animations. Photographs of the first frame of the animations were recorded and registered with Aurasma Mobile App software (www.aurasma.com). Resulting animations were viewed on mobile devices. The ARSA model can be manipulated on the mobile device enabling the student to view and appreciate spatial relationships. Model elements can be de-constructed to provide even greater spatial resolution of anatomical relationships. Animations provide a useful approach for visualizing anatomical variations. Future work will be directed at creating a library of variants and underlying mechanism of formation for presentation through the Aurasma application. PMID:26793410

Will an Unsupervised Self-Testing Strategy for HIV Work in Health Care Workers of South Africa? A Cross Sectional Pilot Feasibility Study

PubMed Central

Pant Pai, Nitika; Behlim, Tarannum; Abrahams, Lameze; Vadnais, Caroline; Shivkumar, Sushmita; Pillay, Sabrina; Binder, Anke; Deli-Houssein, Roni; Engel, Nora; Joseph, Lawrence; Dheda, Keertan

2013-01-01

Background In South Africa, stigma, discrimination, social visibility and fear of loss of confidentiality impede health facility-based HIV testing. With 50% of adults having ever tested for HIV in their lifetime, private, alternative testing options are urgently needed. Non-invasive, oral self-tests offer a potential for a confidential, unsupervised HIV self-testing option, but global data are limited. Methods A pilot cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2012 in health care workers based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. An innovative, unsupervised, self-testing strategy was evaluated for feasibility; defined as completion of self-testing process (i.e., self test conduct, interpretation and linkage). An oral point-of-care HIV test, an Internet and paper-based self-test HIV applications, and mobile phones were synergized to create an unsupervised strategy. Self-tests were additionally confirmed with rapid tests on site and laboratory tests. Of 270 health care workers (18 years and above, of unknown HIV status approached), 251 consented for participation. Findings Overall, about 91% participants rated a positive experience with the strategy. Of 251 participants, 126 evaluated the Internet and 125 the paper-based application successfully; completion rate of 99.2%. All sero-positives were linked to treatment (completion rate:100% (95% CI, 66.0–100). About half of sero-negatives were offered counselling on mobile phones; completion rate: 44.6% (95% CI, 38.0–51.0). A majority of participants (78.1%) were females, aged 18–24 years (61.4%). Nine participants were found sero-positive after confirmatory tests (prevalence 3.6% 95% CI, 1.8–6.9). Six of nine positive self-tests were accurately interpreted; sensitivity: 66.7% (95% CI, 30.9–91.0); specificity:100% (95% CI, 98.1–100). Interpretation Our unsupervised self-testing strategy was feasible to operationalize in health care workers in South Africa. Linkages were successfully operationalized with mobile phones in all sero-positives and about half of the sero-negatives sought post-test counselling. Controlled trials and implementation research studies are needed before a scale-up is considered. PMID:24312185

Will an unsupervised self-testing strategy for HIV work in health care workers of South Africa? A cross sectional pilot feasibility study.

PubMed

Pant Pai, Nitika; Behlim, Tarannum; Abrahams, Lameze; Vadnais, Caroline; Shivkumar, Sushmita; Pillay, Sabrina; Binder, Anke; Deli-Houssein, Roni; Engel, Nora; Joseph, Lawrence; Dheda, Keertan

2013-01-01

In South Africa, stigma, discrimination, social visibility and fear of loss of confidentiality impede health facility-based HIV testing. With 50% of adults having ever tested for HIV in their lifetime, private, alternative testing options are urgently needed. Non-invasive, oral self-tests offer a potential for a confidential, unsupervised HIV self-testing option, but global data are limited. A pilot cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2012 in health care workers based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. An innovative, unsupervised, self-testing strategy was evaluated for feasibility; defined as completion of self-testing process (i.e., self test conduct, interpretation and linkage). An oral point-of-care HIV test, an Internet and paper-based self-test HIV applications, and mobile phones were synergized to create an unsupervised strategy. Self-tests were additionally confirmed with rapid tests on site and laboratory tests. Of 270 health care workers (18 years and above, of unknown HIV status approached), 251 consented for participation. Overall, about 91% participants rated a positive experience with the strategy. Of 251 participants, 126 evaluated the Internet and 125 the paper-based application successfully; completion rate of 99.2%. All sero-positives were linked to treatment (completion rate:100% (95% CI, 66.0-100). About half of sero-negatives were offered counselling on mobile phones; completion rate: 44.6% (95% CI, 38.0-51.0). A majority of participants (78.1%) were females, aged 18-24 years (61.4%). Nine participants were found sero-positive after confirmatory tests (prevalence 3.6% 95% CI, 1.8-6.9). Six of nine positive self-tests were accurately interpreted; sensitivity: 66.7% (95% CI, 30.9-91.0); specificity:100% (95% CI, 98.1-100). Our unsupervised self-testing strategy was feasible to operationalize in health care workers in South Africa. Linkages were successfully operationalized with mobile phones in all sero-positives and about half of the sero-negatives sought post-test counselling. Controlled trials and implementation research studies are needed before a scale-up is considered.

Social, Spatial, and Skill Mismatch among Immigrants and Native-Born Workers in Los Angeles. Working Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pastor, Manuel, Jr.; Marcelli, Enrico A.

Racially different economic outcomes stem from multiple causes, including various "mismatches" between minority employees and available jobs. A skill mismatch occurs when individuals' education and job skills do not qualify them for existing jobs. A spatial mismatch means that people live far from the work for which they qualify. A…

Near-Port Air Quality Assessment Utilizing a Mobile Monitoring Approach

EPA Science Inventory

Mobile monitoring is an emerging strategy to characterize spatially and temporally variable air pollution in areas near sources. EPA’s Geospatial Monitoring of Air Pollution (GMAP) vehicle – an all-electric vehicle measuring real-time concentrations of particulate and gaseous po...

Development and validation of safety climate scales for mobile remote workers using utility/electrical workers as exemplar.

PubMed

Huang, Yueng-Hsiang; Zohar, Dov; Robertson, Michelle M; Garabet, Angela; Murphy, Lauren A; Lee, Jin

2013-10-01

The objective of this study was to develop and test the reliability and validity of a new scale designed for measuring safety climate among mobile remote workers, using utility/electrical workers as exemplar. The new scale employs perceived safety priority as the metric of safety climate and a multi-level framework, separating the measurement of organization- and group-level safety climate items into two sub-scales. The question of the emergence of shared perceptions among remote workers was also examined. For the initial survey development, several items were adopted from a generic safety climate scale and new industry-specific items were generated based on an extensive literature review, expert judgment, 15-day field observations, and 38 in-depth individual interviews with subject matter experts (i.e., utility industry electrical workers, trainers and supervisors of electrical workers). The items were revised after 45 cognitive interviews and a pre-test with 139 additional utility/electrical workers. The revised scale was subsequently implemented with a total of 2421 workers at two large US electric utility companies (1560 participants for the pilot company and 861 for the second company). Both exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were adopted to finalize the items and to ensure construct validity. Reliability of the scale was tested based on Cronbach's α. Homogeneity tests examined whether utility/electrical workers' safety climate perceptions were shared within the same supervisor group. This was followed by an analysis of the criterion-related validity, which linked the safety climate scores to self-reports of safety behavior and injury outcomes (i.e., recordable incidents, missing days due to work-related injuries, vehicle accidents, and near misses). Six dimensions (Safety pro-activity, General training, Trucks and equipment, Field orientation, Financial Investment, and Schedule flexibility) with 29 items were extracted from the EFA to measure the organization-level safety climate. Three dimensions (Supervisory care, Participation encouragement, and Safety straight talk) with 19 items were extracted to measure the group-level safety climate. Acceptable ranges of internal consistency statistics for the sub-scales were observed. Whether or not to aggregate these multi-dimensions of safety climate into a single higher-order construct (overall safety climate) was discussed. CFAs confirmed the construct validity of the developed safety climate scale for utility/electrical workers. Homogeneity tests showed that utility/electrical workers' safety climate perceptions were shared within the same supervisor group. Both the organization- and group-level safety climate scores showed a statistically significant relationship with workers' self-reported safety behaviors and injury outcomes. A valid and reliable instrument to measure the essential elements of safety climate for utility/electrical workers in the remote working situation has been introduced. The scale can provide an in-depth understanding of safety climate based on its key dimensions and show where improvements can be made at both group and organization levels. As such, it may also offer a valuable starting point for future safety interventions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Applications of Mobile GIS in Forestry South Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battad, D. T.; Mackenzie, P.

2012-07-01

South Australian Forestry Corporation (ForestrySA) had been actively investigating the applications of mobile GIS in forestry for the past few years. The main objective is to develop an integrated mobile GIS capability that allows staff to collect new spatial information, verify existing data, and remotely access and post data from the field. Two (2) prototype mobile GIS applications have been developed already using the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ARCGISR technology as the main spatial component. These prototype systems are the Forest Health Surveillance System and the Mobile GIS for Wetlands System. The Forest Health Surveillance System prototype is used primarily for aerial forest health surveillance. It was developed using a tablet PC with ArcMapR GIS. A customised toolbar was developed using ArcObjectsR in the Visual Basic 6 Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The resulting dynamic linked library provides a suite of custom tools which enables the following: - quickly create spatial features and attribute the data - full utilisation of global positioning system (GPS) technology - excellent screen display navigation tools, i.e. pan, rotate map, capture of flight path - seamless integration of data into GIS as geodatabase (GDB) feature classes - screen entry of text and conversion to annotation feature classes The Mobile GIS for Wetlands System prototype was developed for verifying existing wetland areas within ForestrySA's plantation estate, collect new wetland data, and record wetland conditions. Mapping of actual wetlands within ForestrySA's plantation estate is very critical because of the need to establish protection buffers around these features during the implementation of plantation operations. System development has been focussed on a mobile phone platform (HTC HD2R ) with WindowsR Mobile 6, ESRI's ArcGISR Mobile software development kit (SDK) employing ArcObjectsR written on C#.NET IDE, and ArcGIS ServerR technology. The system is also implemented in the VILIVR X70. The system has undergone testing by ForestrySA staff and the refinements had been incorporated in the latest version of the system. The system has the following functionalities: - display and query strategic data layers - collect and edit spatial and attribute data - full utilisation of global positioning GPS technology - distance and area measurements - display of high resolution imagery - seamless integration of data into GIS as feature classes - screen display and navigation tools, i.e. pan, zoom in/out, rotate map - capture of flight path The next stages in the development of mobile GIS technologies at ForestrySA are to enhance the systems' capabilities as one of the organization main data capture systems. These include incorporating other applications, e.g. roads/tracks mapping, mapping of significant sites, etc., and migration of the system to Windows Phone7.

Service Learning and Community Health Nursing: A Natural Fit.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Marilyn P.; Swanson, Elizabeth

2002-01-01

Community health nursing students performed community assessments and proposed and implemented service learning projects that addressed adolescent smoking in middle schools, home safety for elderly persons, industrial worker health, and sexual abuse of teenaged girls. Students learned to apply epidemiological research methods, mobilize resources,…

Engineering a mobile health tool for resource-poor settings to assess and manage cardiovascular disease risk: SMARThealth study.

PubMed

Raghu, Arvind; Praveen, Devarsetty; Peiris, David; Tarassenko, Lionel; Clifford, Gari

2015-04-29

The incidence of chronic diseases in low- and middle-income countries is rapidly increasing both in urban and rural regions. A major challenge for health systems globally is to develop innovative solutions for the prevention and control of these diseases. This paper discusses the development and pilot testing of SMARTHealth, a mobile-based, point-of-care Clinical Decision Support (CDS) tool to assess and manage cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in resource-constrained settings. Through pilot testing, the preliminary acceptability, utility, and efficiency of the CDS tool was obtained. The CDS tool was part of an mHealth system comprising a mobile application that consisted of an evidence-based risk prediction and management algorithm, and a server-side electronic medical record system. Through an agile development process and user-centred design approach, key features of the mobile application that fitted the requirements of the end users and environment were obtained. A comprehensive analytics framework facilitated a data-driven approach to investigate four areas, namely, system efficiency, end-user variability, manual data entry errors, and usefulness of point-of-care management recommendations to the healthcare worker. A four-point Likert scale was used at the end of every risk assessment to gauge ease-of-use of the system. The system was field-tested with eleven village healthcare workers and three Primary Health Centre doctors, who screened a total of 292 adults aged 40 years and above. 34% of participants screened by health workers were identified by the CDS tool to be high CVD risk and referred to a doctor. In-depth analysis of user interactions found the CDS tool feasible for use and easily integrable into the workflow of healthcare workers. Following completion of the pilot, further technical enhancements were implemented to improve uptake of the mHealth platform. It will then be evaluated for effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in a cluster randomized controlled trial involving 54 southern Indian villages and over 16000 individuals at high CVD risk. An evidence-based CVD risk prediction and management tool was used to develop an mHealth platform in rural India for CVD screening and management with proper engagement of health care providers and local communities. With over a third of screened participants being high risk, there is a need to demonstrate the clinical impact of the mHealth platform so that it could contribute to improved CVD detection in high risk low resource settings.

Mapping sleeping bees within their nest: spatial and temporal analysis of worker honey bee sleep.

PubMed

Klein, Barrett Anthony; Stiegler, Martin; Klein, Arno; Tautz, Jürgen

2014-01-01

Patterns of behavior within societies have long been visualized and interpreted using maps. Mapping the occurrence of sleep across individuals within a society could offer clues as to functional aspects of sleep. In spite of this, a detailed spatial analysis of sleep has never been conducted on an invertebrate society. We introduce the concept of mapping sleep across an insect society, and provide an empirical example, mapping sleep patterns within colonies of European honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). Honey bees face variables such as temperature and position of resources within their colony's nest that may impact their sleep. We mapped sleep behavior and temperature of worker bees and produced maps of their nest's comb contents as the colony grew and contents changed. By following marked bees, we discovered that individuals slept in many locations, but bees of different worker castes slept in different areas of the nest relative to position of the brood and surrounding temperature. Older worker bees generally slept outside cells, closer to the perimeter of the nest, in colder regions, and away from uncapped brood. Younger worker bees generally slept inside cells and closer to the center of the nest, and spent more time asleep than awake when surrounded by uncapped brood. The average surface temperature of sleeping foragers was lower than the surface temperature of their surroundings, offering a possible indicator of sleep for this caste. We propose mechanisms that could generate caste-dependent sleep patterns and discuss functional significance of these patterns.

SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL PATTERNS OF THE MOVEMENT OF SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL MIGRANT CHILDREN INTO WISCONSIN, EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN OF MIGRATORY AGRICULTURAL WORKERS IN WISCONSIN, REPORT 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LINDSEY, HERBERT H.; AND OTHERS

USEFUL MEANS OF ANTICIPATING THE MOVEMENTS OF MIGRANT CHILDREN INCLUDE ANALYSIS OF CROPS, THE HARVESTING OF WHICH REQUIRES OUT-OF-STATE WORKERS, DISTRIBUTIONAL MAPS OF CROP ACREAGE, NORMAL TIME SCHEDULES FOR CROPS, AND INFORMATION ON AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS. SUCH INFORMATION ASSISTS IN THE PLANNING OF SCHOOL PROGRAMS. IN WISCONSIN, MOST MIGRANT…

The influence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycles on wave-driven sea-floor sediment mobility along the central California continental margin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Storlazzi, Curt D.; Reid, Jane A.

2010-01-01

Ocean surface waves are the dominant temporally and spatially variable process influencing sea floor sediment resuspension along most continental shelves. Wave-induced sediment mobility on the continental shelf and upper continental slope off central California for different phases of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events was modeled using monthly statistics derived from more than 14 years of concurrent hourly oceanographic and meteorologic data as boundary input for the Delft SWAN wave model, gridded sea floor grain-size data from the usSEABED database, and regional bathymetry. Differences as small as 0.5 m in wave height, 1 s in wave period, and 10° in wave direction, in conjunction with the spatially heterogeneous unconsolidated sea-floor sedimentary cover, result in significant changes in the predicted mobility of continental shelf surficial sediment in the study area. El Niño events result in more frequent mobilization on the inner shelf in the summer and winter than during La Niña events and on the outer shelf and upper slope in the winter months, while La Niña events result in more frequent mobilization on the mid-shelf during spring and summer months than during El Niño events. The timing and patterns of seabed mobility are addressed in context of geologic and biologic processes. By understanding the spatial and temporal variability in the disturbance of the sea floor, scientists can better interpret sedimentary patterns and ecosystem structure, while providing managers and planners an understanding of natural impacts when considering the permitting of offshore activities that disturb the sea floor such as trawling, dredging, and the emplacement of sea-floor engineering structures.

The importance of incorporating functional habitats into conservation planning for highly mobile species in dynamic systems.

PubMed

Webb, Matthew H; Terauds, Aleks; Tulloch, Ayesha; Bell, Phil; Stojanovic, Dejan; Heinsohn, Robert

2017-10-01

The distribution of mobile species in dynamic systems can vary greatly over time and space. Estimating their population size and geographic range can be problematic and affect the accuracy of conservation assessments. Scarce data on mobile species and the resources they need can also limit the type of analytical approaches available to derive such estimates. We quantified change in availability and use of key ecological resources required for breeding for a critically endangered nomadic habitat specialist, the Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor). We compared estimates of occupied habitat derived from dynamic presence-background (i.e., presence-only data) climatic models with estimates derived from dynamic occupancy models that included a direct measure of food availability. We then compared estimates that incorporate fine-resolution spatial data on the availability of key ecological resources (i.e., functional habitats) with more common approaches that focus on broader climatic suitability or vegetation cover (due to the absence of fine-resolution data). The occupancy models produced significantly (P < 0.001) smaller (up to an order of magnitude) and more spatially discrete estimates of the total occupied area than climate-based models. The spatial location and extent of the total area occupied with the occupancy models was highly variable between years (131 and 1498 km 2 ). Estimates accounting for the area of functional habitats were significantly smaller (2-58% [SD 16]) than estimates based only on the total area occupied. An increase or decrease in the area of one functional habitat (foraging or nesting) did not necessarily correspond to an increase or decrease in the other. Thus, an increase in the extent of occupied area may not equate to improved habitat quality or function. We argue these patterns are typical for mobile resource specialists but often go unnoticed because of limited data over relevant spatial and temporal scales and lack of spatial data on the availability of key resources. Understanding changes in the relative availability of functional habitats is crucial to informing conservation planning and accurately assessing extinction risk for mobile resource specialists. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Incorporating GIS data into an agent-based model to support planning policy making for the development of creative industries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Helin; Silva, Elisabete A.; Wang, Qian

2016-07-01

This paper presents an extension to the agent-based model "Creative Industries Development-Urban Spatial Structure Transformation" by incorporating GIS data. Three agent classes, creative firms, creative workers and urban government, are considered in the model, and the spatial environment represents a set of GIS data layers (i.e. road network, key housing areas, land use). With the goal to facilitate urban policy makers to draw up policies locally and optimise the land use assignment in order to support the development of creative industries, the improved model exhibited its capacity to assist the policy makers conducting experiments and simulating different policy scenarios to see the corresponding dynamics of the spatial distributions of creative firms and creative workers across time within a city/district. The spatiotemporal graphs and maps record the simulation results and can be used as a reference by the policy makers to adjust land use plans adaptively at different stages of the creative industries' development process.

Mobile phone use while driving in a sample of Spanish university workers.

PubMed

Gras, M Eugenia; Cunill, Monica; Sullman, Mark J M; Planes, Montserrat; Aymerich, Maria; Font-Mayolas, Silvia

2007-03-01

A number of epidemiological studies have reported drivers who use a mobile phone while driving have an elevated risk of being involved in a crash. This is particularly concerning as a survey of drivers in the Spanish region of Catalunya found that approximately 87% own mobile phones. The present study investigated the reported frequency of mobile phone use on Spanish roads (for talking and using SMS), the characteristics of the drivers who use mobile phones while driving and whether they altered their driving behaviour when using a mobile phone. The research found that more than 60% use a mobile phone while driving and that the phone is mostly used for making calls, rather than using SMS. In general, males and females use mobile phones about the same reported frequency, although males were more likely to use a mobile phone to talk on the highway. The pattern for age was the same for both male and female participants, with the younger drivers using SMS more frequently than older drivers. On urban roads almost half of the drivers reported changing their driving behaviour when using a mobile phone, while on the highway this figure was slightly over 41%. The reported frequency of using a mobile phone to talk on urban roads was significantly correlated with crash involvement. However, this affect disappeared once the contributions of the demographic and descriptive variables had been partialled out.

FTP-Server for exchange, interpretation, and database-search of ion mobility spectra, literature, preprints and software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baumbach, J. I.; Vonirmer, A.

1995-01-01

To assist current discussion in the field of ion mobility spectrometry, at the Institut fur Spectrochemie und angewandte Spektroskopie, Dortmund, start with 4th of December, 1994 work of an FTP-Server, available for all research groups at univerisities, institutes and research worker in industry. We support the exchange, interpretation, and database-search of ion mobility spectra through data format JCAMP-DS (Joint Committee on Atomic and Molecular Physical Data) as well as literature retrieval, pre-print, notice, and discussion board. We describe in general lines the entrance conditions, local addresses, and main code words. For further details, a monthly news report will be prepared for all common users. Internet email address for subscribing is included in document.

ICPSU Install onto Mobile Launcher - Preps for Lift

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-15

Construction workers with JP Donovan assist with preparations to lift and install the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage Umbilical on the tower of the mobile launcher at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The last of the large umbilicals to be installed, the ICPSU will provide super-cooled hydrogen and liquid oxygen to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's interim cryogenic propulsion stage, or upper stage, at T-0 for Exploration Mission-1. The umbilical is located at about the 240-foot-level of the mobile launcher and will supply fuel, oxidizer, gaseous helium, hazardous gas leak detection, electrical commodities and environment control systems to the upper stage of the SLS rocket during launch. Exploration Ground Systems is overseeing installation of the umbilicals on the ML.

ICPSU Install onto Mobile Launcher

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-16

Construction workers with JP Donovan install the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage Umbilical (ICPSU) at about the 240-foot-level of the mobile launcher (ML) tower at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The last of the large umbilicals to be installed, the ICPSU will provide super-cooled hydrogen and liquid oxygen to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's interim cryogenic propulsion stage, or upper stage, at T-0 for Exploration Mission-1. The umbilical is located at about the 240-foot-level of the mobile launcher and will supply fuel, oxidizer, gaseous helium, hazardous gas leak detection, electrical commodities and environment control systems to the upper stage of the SLS rocket during launch. Exploration Ground Systems is overseeing installation of the umbilicals on the ML.

Relationship between mobility, violence and major depression among female sex workers: a cross-sectional study in southern India.

PubMed

Patel, Sangram Kishor; Ganju, Deepika; Prabhakar, Parimi; Adhikary, Rajatashuvra

2016-09-09

The relationship between mobility, violence and mental health has largely been unexplored in developing countries. This study screens for signs of major depression, and assesses its association with mobility and violence among female sex workers (FSWs) in southern India. Data (N=2400) for this study were used from a cross-sectional Behavioral Tracking Survey (BTS-2014) conducted among FSWs from a southern state of India as part of the Avahan programme. Major depression of FSWs was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 depression scale. Descriptive statistics, frequency, bivariate, interaction effect and multivariate logistic regression techniques were used for the analysis. More than one-fourth of FSWs (29%) screened positive for major depression. The likelihood of screening positive for major depression was 6 times higher among FSWs who were both mobile for sex work outside their district of residence and had experienced any violence (combined association) during the past 1 year (62% vs 19%, adjusted OR 6.1, 95% CI 4.4 to 8.6) compared with those who reported neither. The individual association results show that FSWs who reported being mobile outside the district, and FSWs who were beaten or raped in the past 1 year, were 3 times more likely to screen positive for major depression. The findings indicate that violence and mobility are independently associated with major depression among FSWs. The combined association of mobility and violence poses a greater risk to the mental health of FSWs than their independent association. These results point to the need for creating an enabling environment for FSWs to enhance existing efforts to reduce the spread of HIV and mental health problems. The study highlights that HIV prevention efforts among FSWs in India require evidence-based research and integrated programme approaches to address mental health issues. 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/

Psychosocial work environment, job mobility and gender differences in turnover behaviour: a prospective study among the Swedish general population

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Throughout the literature, substantial evidence supports associations between poor psychosocial work characteristics and a variety of ill-health outcomes. Yet, few reports strategies workers carry out to improve detrimental work conditions and consequently their health, such as changing jobs. The aim of this study was to examine if adverse psychosocial work exposure, as measured with the job demand-control and effort-reward imbalance models, could predict job mobility over a 5 years observation period. Method Participants were working men and women (n = 940; 54.3% women), aged 24–60 years from the population of Gothenburg and surrounding metropolitan area. Job demand-control and effort-reward variables were compared with independent t-tests and chi2-test in persons with and without job mobility. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyse whether psychosocial factors could predict job mobility. All regression analyses were stratified by gender. Results Exposure to a combination of high demands-low control or high imbalance between effort and reward was related to increased odds of changing jobs (OR 1.63; CI 1.03-2.59 and OR 1.46; CI 1.13-1.89 respectively). When analysing men and women separately, men had a higher OR of changing jobs when exposed to either high demands-low control (OR 2.72; CI 1.24-5.98) or high effort-reward imbalance (OR 1.74; CI 1.11-2.72) compared to reference values. The only significant associations for women was slightly decreased odds for turnover in high reward jobs (OR 0.96; CI 0.92-0.99). Conclusions The results indicate that workers will seek to improve poor work environment by changing jobs. There were notable gender differences, where men tended to engage in job mobility when exposed to adverse psychosocial factors, while women did not. The lack of measures for mechanisms driving job mobility was a limitation of this study, thus preventing conclusions regarding psychosocial factors as the primary source for job mobility. PMID:24927628

Implementing and sustaining a mobile medical clinic for prenatal care and sexually transmitted infection prevention in rural Mysore, India.

PubMed

Kojima, Noah; Krupp, Karl; Ravi, Kavitha; Gowda, Savitha; Jaykrishna, Poornima; Leonardson-Placek, Caitlyn; Siddhaiah, Anand; Bristow, Claire C; Arun, Anjali; Klausner, Jeffrey D; Madhivanan, Purnima

2017-03-06

In rural India, mobile medical clinics are useful models for delivering health promotion, education, and care. Mobile medical clinics use fewer providers for larger catchment areas compared to traditional clinic models in resource limited settings, which is especially useful in areas with shortages of healthcare providers and a wide geographical distribution of patients. From 2008 to 2011, we built infrastructure to implement a mobile clinic system to educate rural communities about maternal child health, train community health workers in common safe birthing procedures, and provide comprehensive antenatal care, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and testing for specific infections in a large rural catchment area of pregnant women in rural Mysore. This was done using two mobile clinics and one walk-in clinic. Women were tested for HIV, hepatitis B, syphilis, and bacterial vaginosis along with random blood sugar, urine albumin, and anemia. Sociodemographic information, medical, and obstetric history were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires in the local language, Kannada. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using Stata SE 14.1. During the program period, nearly 700 community workers and 100 health care providers were trained; educational sessions were delivered to over 15,000 men and women and integrated antenatal care and HIV/sexually transmitted infection testing was offered to 3545 pregnant women. There were 22 (0.6%) cases of HIV, 19 (0.5%) cases of hepatitis B, 2 (0.1%) cases of syphilis, and 250 (7.1%) cases of BV, which were identified and treated. Additionally, 1755 (49.5%) cases of moderate to severe anemia and 154 (4.3%) cases of hypertension were identified and treated among the pregnant women tested. Patient-centered mobile medical clinics are feasible, successful, and acceptable models that can be used to provide quality healthcare to pregnant women in rural and hard-to-reach settings. The high numbers of pregnant women attending mobile medical clinics show that integrated antenatal care with PMTCT services were acceptable and utilized. The program also developed and trained health professionals who continue to remain in those communities.

Quantifying long-term evolution of intra-urban spatial interactions

PubMed Central

Sun, Lijun; Jin, Jian Gang; Axhausen, Kay W.; Lee, Der-Horng; Cebrian, Manuel

2015-01-01

Understanding the long-term impact that changes in a city's transportation infrastructure have on its spatial interactions remains a challenge. The difficulty arises from the fact that the real impact may not be revealed in static or aggregated mobility measures, as these are remarkably robust to perturbations. More generally, the lack of longitudinal, cross-sectional data demonstrating the evolution of spatial interactions at a meaningful urban scale also hinders us from evaluating the sensitivity of movement indicators, limiting our capacity to understand the evolution of urban mobility in depth. Using very large mobility records distributed over 3 years, we quantify the impact of the completion of a metro line extension: the Circle Line (CCL) in Singapore. We find that the commonly used movement indicators are almost identical before and after the project was completed. However, in comparing the temporal community structure across years, we do observe significant differences in the spatial reorganization of the affected geographical areas. The completion of CCL enables travellers to re-identify their desired destinations collectively with lower transport cost, making the community structure more consistent. These changes in locality are dynamic and characterized over short timescales, offering us a different approach to identify and analyse the long-term impact of new infrastructures on cities and their evolution dynamics. PMID:25551142

A METHOD OF ASSESSING AIR TOXICS CONCENTRATIONS IN URBAN AREAS USING MOBILE PLATFORM MEASUREMENTS

EPA Science Inventory

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate an approach to characterize the spatial variability in ambient air concentrations using mobile platform measurements. This approach may be useful for air toxic assessments in Environmental Justice applications, epidemiological studies...

Mobile Applications for Participatory Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drill, Sabrina L.

2013-01-01

Citizen science, participatory research, and volunteer monitoring all describe research where data are collected by non-professional collaborators. These approaches can allow for research to be conducted at spatial and temporal scales unfeasible for professionals, especially in current budget climates. Mobile computing apps for data collection,…

Application of Mobile Laser Scanning for Lean and Rapid Highway Maintenance and Construction

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-08-28

Mobile Terrestrial Laser Scanning (MTLS) is an emerging technology that combines the use of a laser scanner(s), the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) on a vehicle to collect geo-spatial data. The overal...

Scaling identity connects human mobility and social interactions.

PubMed

Deville, Pierre; Song, Chaoming; Eagle, Nathan; Blondel, Vincent D; Barabási, Albert-László; Wang, Dashun

2016-06-28

Massive datasets that capture human movements and social interactions have catalyzed rapid advances in our quantitative understanding of human behavior during the past years. One important aspect affecting both areas is the critical role space plays. Indeed, growing evidence suggests both our movements and communication patterns are associated with spatial costs that follow reproducible scaling laws, each characterized by its specific critical exponents. Although human mobility and social networks develop concomitantly as two prolific yet largely separated fields, we lack any known relationships between the critical exponents explored by them, despite the fact that they often study the same datasets. Here, by exploiting three different mobile phone datasets that capture simultaneously these two aspects, we discovered a new scaling relationship, mediated by a universal flux distribution, which links the critical exponents characterizing the spatial dependencies in human mobility and social networks. Therefore, the widely studied scaling laws uncovered in these two areas are not independent but connected through a deeper underlying reality.

Rich do not rise early: spatio-temporal patterns in the mobility networks of different socio-economic classes

PubMed Central

Hurtado, Rafael G.; Floría, Luis Mario

2016-01-01

We analyse the urban mobility in the cities of Medellín and Manizales (Colombia). Each city is represented by six mobility networks, each one encoding the origin-destination trips performed by a subset of the population corresponding to a particular socio-economic status. The nodes of each network are the different urban locations whereas links account for the existence of a trip between two different areas of the city. We study the main structural properties of these mobility networks by focusing on their spatio-temporal patterns. Our goal is to relate these patterns with the partition into six socio-economic compartments of these two societies. Our results show that spatial and temporal patterns vary across these socio-economic groups. In particular, the two datasets show that as wealth increases the early-morning activity is delayed, the midday peak becomes smoother and the spatial distribution of trips becomes more localized. PMID:27853531

Predicting commuter flows in spatial networks using a radiation model based on temporal ranges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Yihui; Ercsey-Ravasz, Mária; Wang, Pu; González, Marta C.; Toroczkai, Zoltán

2014-11-01

Understanding network flows such as commuter traffic in large transportation networks is an ongoing challenge due to the complex nature of the transportation infrastructure and human mobility. Here we show a first-principles based method for traffic prediction using a cost-based generalization of the radiation model for human mobility, coupled with a cost-minimizing algorithm for efficient distribution of the mobility fluxes through the network. Using US census and highway traffic data, we show that traffic can efficiently and accurately be computed from a range-limited, network betweenness type calculation. The model based on travel time costs captures the log-normal distribution of the traffic and attains a high Pearson correlation coefficient (0.75) when compared with real traffic. Because of its principled nature, this method can inform many applications related to human mobility driven flows in spatial networks, ranging from transportation, through urban planning to mitigation of the effects of catastrophic events.

Scaling identity connects human mobility and social interactions

PubMed Central

Deville, Pierre; Song, Chaoming; Eagle, Nathan; Blondel, Vincent D.; Barabási, Albert-László; Wang, Dashun

2016-01-01

Massive datasets that capture human movements and social interactions have catalyzed rapid advances in our quantitative understanding of human behavior during the past years. One important aspect affecting both areas is the critical role space plays. Indeed, growing evidence suggests both our movements and communication patterns are associated with spatial costs that follow reproducible scaling laws, each characterized by its specific critical exponents. Although human mobility and social networks develop concomitantly as two prolific yet largely separated fields, we lack any known relationships between the critical exponents explored by them, despite the fact that they often study the same datasets. Here, by exploiting three different mobile phone datasets that capture simultaneously these two aspects, we discovered a new scaling relationship, mediated by a universal flux distribution, which links the critical exponents characterizing the spatial dependencies in human mobility and social networks. Therefore, the widely studied scaling laws uncovered in these two areas are not independent but connected through a deeper underlying reality. PMID:27274050

Theory of activated glassy relaxation, mobility gradients, surface diffusion, and vitrification in free standing thin films

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

Mirigian, Stephen, E-mail: kschweiz@illinois.edu, E-mail: smirigian@gmail.com; Schweizer, Kenneth S., E-mail: kschweiz@illinois.edu, E-mail: smirigian@gmail.com

2015-12-28

We have constructed a quantitative, force level, statistical mechanical theory for how confinement in free standing thin films introduces a spatial mobility gradient of the alpha relaxation time as a function of temperature, film thickness, and location in the film. The crucial idea is that relaxation speeds up due to the reduction of both near-surface barriers associated with the loss of neighbors in the local cage and the spatial cutoff and dynamical softening near the vapor interface of the spatially longer range collective elasticity cost for large amplitude hopping. These two effects are fundamentally coupled. Quantitative predictions are made formore » how an apparent glass temperature depends on the film thickness and experimental probe technique, the emergence of a two-step decay and mobile layers in time domain measurements, signatures of confinement in frequency-domain dielectric loss experiments, the dependence of film-averaged relaxation times and dynamic fragility on temperature and film thickness, surface diffusion, and the relationship between kinetic experiments and pseudo-thermodynamic measurements such as ellipsometry.« less

Theory of activated glassy relaxation, mobility gradients, surface diffusion, and vitrification in free standing thin films.

PubMed

Mirigian, Stephen; Schweizer, Kenneth S

2015-12-28

We have constructed a quantitative, force level, statistical mechanical theory for how confinement in free standing thin films introduces a spatial mobility gradient of the alpha relaxation time as a function of temperature, film thickness, and location in the film. The crucial idea is that relaxation speeds up due to the reduction of both near-surface barriers associated with the loss of neighbors in the local cage and the spatial cutoff and dynamical softening near the vapor interface of the spatially longer range collective elasticity cost for large amplitude hopping. These two effects are fundamentally coupled. Quantitative predictions are made for how an apparent glass temperature depends on the film thickness and experimental probe technique, the emergence of a two-step decay and mobile layers in time domain measurements, signatures of confinement in frequency-domain dielectric loss experiments, the dependence of film-averaged relaxation times and dynamic fragility on temperature and film thickness, surface diffusion, and the relationship between kinetic experiments and pseudo-thermodynamic measurements such as ellipsometry.

Exploring space-time structure of human mobility in urban space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, J. B.; Yuan, J.; Wang, Y.; Si, H. B.; Shan, X. M.

2011-03-01

Understanding of human mobility in urban space benefits the planning and provision of municipal facilities and services. Due to the high penetration of cell phones, mobile cellular networks provide information for urban dynamics with a large spatial extent and continuous temporal coverage in comparison with traditional approaches. The original data investigated in this paper were collected by cellular networks in a southern city of China, recording the population distribution by dividing the city into thousands of pixels. The space-time structure of urban dynamics is explored by applying Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to the original data, from temporal and spatial perspectives between which there is a dual relation. Based on the results of the analysis, we have discovered four underlying rules of urban dynamics: low intrinsic dimensionality, three categories of common patterns, dominance of periodic trends, and temporal stability. It implies that the space-time structure can be captured well by remarkably few temporal or spatial predictable periodic patterns, and the structure unearthed by PCA evolves stably over time. All these features play a critical role in the applications of forecasting and anomaly detection.

An investigation into the use of the car as a mobile office.

PubMed

Eost, C; Flyte, M G

1998-10-01

In today's business environment people can no longer afford to be 'out of touch' when they are away from the office, with the result, the car has become a mobile office for many workers. The aims of this study were * to review current technology in the mobile office, * to determine problems of office working in the car, * to offer design solutions. Case studies gained an insight into working practices and problems in the car. Diaries quantified the types and amounts of work done in the car and an interview survey measured the extent of mobile office technology implemented into cars, problems relating to working in the car and some potential solutions. People do experience problems trying to do office work in their car. These problems include lack of space, lack of storage, nowhere flat to rest work on, inadequate temperature control in the car and poor communication facilities.

The horizontal working mobility of employees with garment technique educational background

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Supraptono, Eko; Sudana, I. Made; Rini, Sri Hastuti Eko

2018-03-01

The purposes of this report are: 1) to know how is the working mobility for garment employees, 2) to analyze the factors that caused working mobility, and new working orientation who searched by garment employees. This research is using qualitative and quantitative approach. The Informant in this research is gotten by purposive action. The data collecting techniques are observations, interviews, and documentations. The data analysis is using descriptive qualitative analysis by observing every aspect. The result of research shows that the criteria of the labor migration was high. It can be seen from Ungaran Sari Garment Company. The length of the migration is high, between 1 until 6 months. and the types of new job that searched by the employees is appropriate job vacancy with their competence. Some factors that influence the working mobility are mental of the workers and company management system. The orientation of the new job is feeling comfortable while working.

47 CFR 2.1091 - Radiofrequency radiation exposure evaluation: mobile devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... transmission of a signal. In general, maximum average power levels must be used to determine compliance. (3) If... workers that can be easily re-located, such as wireless devices associated with a personal computer, are... Satellite Communications Services, the General Wireless Communications Service, the Wireless Communications...

Policy and Planning for Post-Secondary Education--A European Overview.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, William

1970-01-01

A comprehensive view of educational development in Europe considers the long-term policy implications of integrating post-secondary education into the emerging systems of education, the diversification and decentralization of post-secondary education, and mobility of students, teachers, and research workers. Major sections examine: (1) policy…

Complexity of the Generalized Mover’s Problem.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-01-01

problem by workers in the robotics fields and in artificial intellegence , (for example [Nilson, 69], [Paul, 72], (Udupa, 77], [Widdoes, 74], [Lozano-Perez...Nilsson, "A mobile automation: An application of artificial intelligence techniques," Proceedings TJCAI-69, 509-520, 1969. . -7-- -17- C. O’Dunlaing, M

The Colonial Worker in Boston, 1775. Regional Report Number 75-2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erlanger, Steven J.

This monograph focuses on the working class in Boston during 1775, the period just before the American Revolution. Seven sections describe Boston's geographical and political background; working conditions, employment, and controls; income by industry and occupation; standards of living; social life; mobility and the situation of minorities; and…

Geographic Mobility of Manpower in the USSR.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kossov, V. V.; Tatevosoc, R. V.

1984-01-01

The Soviet Union is experiencing substantial reduction in the growth of the working-age population, accompanied by a shift in the distribution of population growth. The government is using various means to encourage workers to move to the sparsely populated developing regions and away from the large cities. (SK)

Scaling "Stackable Credentials": Implications for Implementation and Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ganzglass, Evelyn

2014-01-01

Postsecondary education and credentials are key to economic mobility for individuals and economic competitiveness for our nation. Although the economic return to credentials varies significantly by field of study, generally workers with higher levels of education have higher wages, work more hours, and suffer lower rates and shorter durations of…

Mental Health and Migration: Depression, Alcohol Abuse, and Access to Health Care among Migrants in Central Asia

PubMed Central

Ismayilova, Leyla; Lee, Hae Nim; Shaw, Stacey; El-Bassel, Nabila; Gilbert, Louisa; Terlikbayeva, Assel; Rozental, Yelena

2014-01-01

Background One fifth of Kazakhstan’s population is labor migrants working in poor conditions with limited legal rights. This paper examines self-rated health, mental health and access to health care among migrant workers. Methods Using geo-mapping, a random sample of internal and external migrant market workers was selected in Almaty (N=450). We used survey logistic regression adjusted for clustering of workers within stalls. Results Almost half of participants described their health as fair or poor and reported not seeing a doctor when needed, 6.2% had clinical depression and 8.7% met criteria for alcohol abuse. Female external migrants were at higher risk for poor health and underutilization of health services. High mobility was associated with depression among internal migrants and with alcohol abuse among female migrant workers. Conclusions This study demonstrates the urgent need to address health and mental health needs and improve access to health care among labor migrants in Central Asia. PMID:24186359

Mental health and migration: depression, alcohol abuse, and access to health care among migrants in Central Asia.

PubMed

Ismayilova, Leyla; Lee, Hae Nim; Shaw, Stacey; El-Bassel, Nabila; Gilbert, Louisa; Terlikbayeva, Assel; Rozental, Yelena

2014-12-01

One-fifth of Kazakhstan's population is labor migrants working in poor conditions with limited legal rights. This paper examines self-rated health, mental health and access to health care among migrant workers. Using geo-mapping, a random sample of internal and external migrant market workers was selected in Almaty (N = 450). We used survey logistic regression adjusted for clustering of workers within stalls. Almost half of participants described their health as fair or poor and reported not seeing a doctor when needed, 6.2% had clinical depression and 8.7% met criteria for alcohol abuse. Female external migrants were at higher risk for poor health and underutilization of health services. High mobility was associated with depression among internal migrants and with alcohol abuse among female migrant workers. This study demonstrates the urgent need to address health and mental health needs and improve access to health care among labor migrants in Central Asia.

Migration status, work conditions and health utilization of female sex workers in three South African cities.

PubMed

Richter, Marlise; Chersich, Matthew F; Vearey, Jo; Sartorius, Benn; Temmerman, Marleen; Luchters, Stanley

2014-02-01

Intersections between migration and sex work are underexplored in southern Africa, a region with high internal and cross-border population mobility, and HIV prevalence. Sex work often constitutes an important livelihood activity for migrant women. In 2010, sex workers trained as interviewers conducted cross-sectional surveys with 1,653 female sex workers in Johannesburg (Hillbrow and Sandton), Rustenburg and Cape Town. Most (85.3%) sex workers were migrants (1396/1636): 39.0% (638/1636) internal and 46.3% (758/1636) cross-border. Cross-border migrants had higher education levels, predominately worked part-time, mainly at indoor venues, and earned more per client than other groups. They, however, had 41% lower health service contact (adjusted odds ratio = 0.59; 95% confidence interval = 0.40-0.86) and less frequent condom use than non-migrants. Police interaction was similar. Cross-border migrants appear more tenacious in certain aspects of sex work, but require increased health service contact. Migrant-sensitive, sex work-specific health care and health education are needed.

Estimates of Environmental Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields and Risk of Lymphoma Subtypes.

PubMed

Satta, G; Mascia, N; Serra, T; Salis, A; Saba, L; Sanna, S; Zucca, M G; Angelucci, E; Gabbas, A; Culurgioni, F; Pili, P; Mura, E; Cappai, M; Ennas, M G; Cocco, P

2018-05-01

We investigated the association between environmental exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) and risk of lymphoma subtypes in a case-control study comprised of 322 patients and 444 individuals serving as controls in Sardinia, Italy in 1998-2004. Questionnaire information included the self-reported distance of the three longest held residential addresses from fixed radio-television transmitters and mobile phone base stations. We georeferenced the residential addresses of all study subjects and obtained the spatial coordinates of mobile phone base stations. For each address within a 500-meter radius from a mobile phone base station, we estimated the RF-EMF intensity using predictions from spatial models, and we performed RF-EMF measurements at the door in the subset of the longest held addresses within a 250-meter radius. We calculated risk of lymphoma and its major subtypes associated with the RF-EMF exposure metrics with unconditional logistic regression, adjusting by age, gender and years of education. In the analysis of self-reported data, risk associated with residence in proximity (within 50 meters) to fixed radio-television transmitters was likewise elevated for lymphoma overall [odds ratio = 2.7, 95% confidence interval = 1.5-4.6], and for the major lymphoma subtypes. With reference to mobile phone base stations, we did not observe an association with either the self-reported, or the geocoded distance from mobile phone base stations. RF-EMF measurements did not vary by case-control status. By comparing the self-reports to the geocoded data, we discovered that the cases tended to underestimate the distance from mobile phone base stations differentially from the controls ( P = 0.073). The interpretation of our findings is compromised by the limited study size, particularly in the analysis of the individual lymphoma subtypes, and the unavailability of the spatial coordinates of radio-television transmitters. Nonetheless, our results do not support the hypothesis of a link between environmental exposure to RF-EMF from mobile phone base stations and risk of lymphoma subtypes.

Development of Mobile Accessible Pedestrian Signals (MAPS) for Blind Pedestrians at Signalized Intersections

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-06-01

People with vision impairment have different perception and spatial cognition as compared to the sighted people. Blind pedestrians primarily rely on auditory, olfactory, or tactile feedback to determine spatial location and find their way. They gener...

Mobile health use in low- and high-income countries: an overview of the peer-reviewed literature

PubMed Central

Bastawrous, Andrew; Armstrong, Matthew J

2013-01-01

The evolution of mobile phone technology has introduced new possibilities to the field of medicine. Combining technological advances with medical expertise has led to the use of mobile phones in all healthcare areas including diagnostics, telemedicine, research, reference libraries and interventions. This article provides an overview of the peer-reviewed literature, published between 1 August 2006 and 1 August 2011, for the application of mobile/cell phones (from basic text-messaging systems to smartphones) in healthcare in both resource-poor and high-income countries. Smartphone use is paving the way in high-income countries, while basic text-messaging systems of standard mobile phones are proving to be of value in low- and middle-income countries. Ranging from infection outbreak reporting, anti-HIV therapy adherence to gait analysis, resuscitation training and radiological imaging, the current uses and future possibilities of mobile phone technology in healthcare are endless. Multiple mobile phone based applications are available for healthcare workers and healthcare consumers; however, the absolute majority lack an evidence base. Therefore, more rigorous research is required to ensure that healthcare is not flooded with non-evidence based applications and is maximized for patient benefit. PMID:23564897

Mobile phone use while driving: a hybrid modeling approach.

PubMed

Márquez, Luis; Cantillo, Víctor; Arellana, Julián

2015-05-01

The analysis of the effects that mobile phone use produces while driving is a topic of great interest for the scientific community. There is consensus that using a mobile phone while driving increases the risk of exposure to traffic accidents. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the drivers' behavior when they decide whether or not to use a mobile phone while driving. For that, a hybrid modeling approach that integrates a choice model with the latent variable "risk perception" was used. It was found that workers and individuals with the highest education level are more prone to use a mobile phone while driving than others. Also, "risk perception" is higher among individuals who have been previously fined and people who have been in an accident or almost been in an accident. It was also found that the tendency to use mobile phones while driving increases when the traffic speed reduces, but it decreases when the fine increases. Even though the urgency of the phone call is the most important explanatory variable in the choice model, the cost of the fine is an important attribute in order to control mobile phone use while driving. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Silk Road Health Project: How Mobility and Migration Status Influence HIV Risks among Male Migrant Workers in Central Asia.

PubMed

El-Bassel, Nabila; Gilbert, Louisa; Shaw, Stacey A; Mergenova, Gaukhar; Terlikbayeva, Assel; Primbetova, Sholpan; Ma, Xin; Chang, Mingway; Ismayilova, Leyla; Hunt, Tim; West, Brooke; Wu, Elwin; Beyrer, Chris

2016-01-01

We examined whether mobility, migrant status, and risk environments are associated with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV risk behaviors (e.g. sex trading, multiple partners, and unprotected sex). We used Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to recruit external male migrant market vendors from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan as well internal migrant and non-migrant market vendors from Kazakhstan. We conducted multivariate logistic regressions to examine the effects of mobility combined with the interaction between mobility and migration status on STIs and sexual risk behaviors, when controlling for risk environment characteristics. Mobility was associated with increased risk for biologically-confirmed STIs, sex trading, and unprotected sex among non-migrants, but not among internal or external migrants. Condom use rates were low among all three groups, particularly external migrants. Risk environment factors of low-income status, debt, homelessness, and limited access to medical care were associated with unprotected sex among external migrants. Study findings underscore the role mobility and risk environments play in shaping HIV/STI risks. They highlight the need to consider mobility in the context of migration status and other risk environment factors in developing effective prevention strategies for this population.

[Mapping of information on worker's health].

PubMed

Guimarães, Raul Borges; Ribeiro, Helena

2010-12-01

Geographic studies and spatial analyses have been recognized in Brazilian public health papers. It is still, however, very little explored by researchers. In a survey of the leading scientific journals covering issues related to Brazilian worker's health, we found the predominant use of charts and tables as a way to organize and present results with a small number of maps. This survey was conducted by examining all papers published in four journals, covering the period from 1967 to 2009 (Revista de Saúde Pública, Cadernos de Saúde Pública, Revista Saúde e Sociedade, and Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia). After analyzing the set of papers selected for the study, the papers that used maps were given special attention. The tools of geoprocessing and geostatistics with GIS support, although little used, open new possibilities to use thematic cartography in the field of workers' health. However, it is recommended that editors of scientific journals have detailed technical standards as well as specific reports for the publication of cartographic figures aimed at facilitating the modifications necessary for the improvement of the visual quality of maps and of the spatial correlations through cartography.

Complexity in the spatial utilization of rangelands: Pastoral mobility in the horn of Africa

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Extensive movement is a key strategy for pastoralists to ensure adequate forage intake for livestock while distributing grazing pressure throughout the landscape. However, the complexity of pastoral mobility was overgeneralized in previous research, which often leads to sedentarization-oriented poli...

Mobile Air Monitoring Data Processing Strategies and Effects on Spatial Air Pollution Trends

EPA Science Inventory

The collection of real-time air quality measurements while in motion (i.e., mobile monitoring) is currently conducted worldwide to evaluate in situ emissions, local air quality trends, and air pollutant exposure. This measurement strategy pushes the limits of traditional data an...

A Mobile-Based Community Health Management Information System for Community Health Workers and Their Supervisors in 2 Districts of Zambia

PubMed Central

Biemba, Godfrey; Chiluba, Boniface; Yeboah-Antwi, Kojo; Silavwe, Vichaels; Lunze, Karsten; Mwale, Rodgers K; Russpatrick, Scott; Hamer, Davidson H

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Introduction: Effective community health management information systems (C-HMIS) are important in low-resource countries that rely heavily on community-based health care providers. Zambia currently lacks a functioning C-HMIS to provide real-time, community-based health information from community health workers (CHWs) to health center staff and higher levels of the health system. Program Description: We developed a C-HMIS mobile platform for use by CHWs providing integrated community case management (iCCM) services and their supervisors to address challenges of frequent stock-outs and inadequate supportive supervision of iCCM-trained CHWs. The platform used simple feature mobile phones on which were loaded the District Health Information System version 2 (DHIS2) software and Java 2 platform micro edition (J2ME) aggregation and tracker applications. This project was implemented in Chipata and Chadiza districts, which supported previous mHealth programs and had cellular coverage from all 3 major network carriers in Zambia. A total of 40 CHWs and 20 CHW supervisors received mobile phones with data bundles and training in the mobile application, after which they implemented the program over a period of 5.5 months, from February to mid-July 2016. CHWs used the mobile phones to submit data on iCCM cases seen, managed, and referred, as well as iCCM medical and diagnostic supplies received and dispensed. Using their mobile phones, the supervisors tracked CHWs' reported cases with medicine consumption, sent CHWs feedback on their referrals, and received SMS reminders to set up mentorship sessions. Observations: CHWs were able to use the mobile application to send weekly reports to health center supervisors on disease caseloads and medical commodities consumed, to make drug and supply requisitions, and to send pre-referral notices to health centers. Health center staff used the mobile system to provide feedback to CHWs on the case outcomes of referred patients and to receive automated monthly SMS reminders to invite CHWs to the facility for mentorship. District- and central-level staff were able to access community-level health data in real time using passwords. Lessons Learned: C-HMIS, using simple feature phones, was feasible and viable for the provision of real-time community-based health information to all levels of the health care system in Zambia, but smartphones, laptops, or desktop computers are needed to perform data analysis and visualization. Ongoing technical support is needed to address the hardware and software challenges CHWs face in their day-to-day interaction with the application on their mobile phones. PMID:28855233

A Mobile-Based Community Health Management Information System for Community Health Workers and Their Supervisors in 2 Districts of Zambia.

PubMed

Biemba, Godfrey; Chiluba, Boniface; Yeboah-Antwi, Kojo; Silavwe, Vichaels; Lunze, Karsten; Mwale, Rodgers K; Russpatrick, Scott; Hamer, Davidson H

2017-09-27

Effective community health management information systems (C-HMIS) are important in low-resource countries that rely heavily on community-based health care providers. Zambia currently lacks a functioning C-HMIS to provide real-time, community-based health information from community health workers (CHWs) to health center staff and higher levels of the health system. We developed a C-HMIS mobile platform for use by CHWs providing integrated community case management (iCCM) services and their supervisors to address challenges of frequent stock-outs and inadequate supportive supervision of iCCM-trained CHWs. The platform used simple feature mobile phones on which were loaded the District Health Information System version 2 (DHIS2) software and Java 2 platform micro edition (J2ME) aggregation and tracker applications. This project was implemented in Chipata and Chadiza districts, which supported previous mHealth programs and had cellular coverage from all 3 major network carriers in Zambia. A total of 40 CHWs and 20 CHW supervisors received mobile phones with data bundles and training in the mobile application, after which they implemented the program over a period of 5.5 months, from February to mid-July 2016. CHWs used the mobile phones to submit data on iCCM cases seen, managed, and referred, as well as iCCM medical and diagnostic supplies received and dispensed. Using their mobile phones, the supervisors tracked CHWs' reported cases with medicine consumption, sent CHWs feedback on their referrals, and received SMS reminders to set up mentorship sessions. CHWs were able to use the mobile application to send weekly reports to health center supervisors on disease caseloads and medical commodities consumed, to make drug and supply requisitions, and to send pre-referral notices to health centers. Health center staff used the mobile system to provide feedback to CHWs on the case outcomes of referred patients and to receive automated monthly SMS reminders to invite CHWs to the facility for mentorship. District- and central-level staff were able to access community-level health data in real time using passwords. C-HMIS, using simple feature phones, was feasible and viable for the provision of real-time community-based health information to all levels of the health care system in Zambia, but smartphones, laptops, or desktop computers are needed to perform data analysis and visualization. Ongoing technical support is needed to address the hardware and software challenges CHWs face in their day-to-day interaction with the application on their mobile phones. © Biemba et al.

A mobile sensing system for structural health monitoring: design and validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Dapeng; Yi, Xiaohua; Wang, Yang; Lee, Kok-Meng; Guo, Jiajie

2010-05-01

This paper describes a new approach using mobile sensor networks for structural health monitoring. Compared with static sensors, mobile sensor networks offer flexible system architectures with adaptive spatial resolutions. The paper first describes the design of a mobile sensing node that is capable of maneuvering on structures built with ferromagnetic materials. The mobile sensing node can also attach/detach an accelerometer onto/from the structural surface. The performance of the prototype mobile sensor network has been validated through laboratory experiments. Two mobile sensing nodes are adopted for navigating on a steel portal frame and providing dense acceleration measurements. Transmissibility function analysis is conducted to identify structural damage using data collected by the mobile sensing nodes. This preliminary work is expected to spawn transformative changes in the use of mobile sensors for future structural health monitoring.

Investigations of temporal and spatial distribution of precursors SO2 and NO2 vertical columns in the North China Plain using mobile DOAS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Fengcheng; Xie, Pinhua; Li, Ang; Mou, Fusheng; Chen, Hao; Zhu, Yi; Zhu, Tong; Liu, Jianguo; Liu, Wenqing

2018-02-01

Recently, Chinese cities have suffered severe events of haze air pollution, particularly in the North China Plain (NCP). Investigating the temporal and spatial distribution of pollutants, emissions, and pollution transport is necessary to better understand the effect of various sources on air quality. We report on mobile differential optical absorption spectroscopy (mobile DOAS) observations of precursors SO2 and NO2 vertical columns in the NCP in the summer of 2013 (from 11 June to 7 July) in this study. The different temporal and spatial distributions of SO2 and NO2 vertical column density (VCD) over this area are characterized under various wind fields. The results show that transport from the southern NCP strongly affects air quality in Beijing, and the transport route, particularly SO2 transport on the route of Shijiazhuang-Baoding-Beijing, is identified. In addition, the major contributors to SO2 along the route of Shijiazhuang-Baoding-Beijing are elevated sources compared to low area sources for the route of Dezhou-Cangzhou-Tianjin-Beijing; this is found using the interrelated analysis between in situ and mobile DOAS observations during the measurement periods. Furthermore, the discussions on hot spots near the city of JiNan show that average observed width of polluted air mass is 11.83 and 17.23 km associated with air mass diffusion, which is approximately 60 km away from emission sources based on geometrical estimation. Finally, a reasonable agreement exists between the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and mobile DOAS observations, with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.65 for NO2 VCDs. Both datasets also have a similar spatial pattern. The fitted slope of 0.55 is significantly less than unity, which can reflect the contamination of local sources, and OMI observations are needed to improve the sensitivities to the near-surface emission sources through improvements of the retrieval algorithm or the resolution of satellites.

Spatial variations in estimated chronic exposure to traffic-related air pollution in working populations: A simulation

PubMed Central

Setton, Eleanor M; Keller, C Peter; Cloutier-Fisher, Denise; Hystad, Perry W

2008-01-01

Background Chronic exposure to traffic-related air pollution is associated with a variety of health impacts in adults and recent studies show that exposure varies spatially, with some residents in a community more exposed than others. A spatial exposure simulation model (SESM) which incorporates six microenvironments (home indoor, work indoor, other indoor, outdoor, in-vehicle to work and in-vehicle other) is described and used to explore spatial variability in estimates of exposure to traffic-related nitrogen dioxide (not including indoor sources) for working people. The study models spatial variability in estimated exposure aggregated at the census tracts level for 382 census tracts in the Greater Vancouver Regional District of British Columbia, Canada. Summary statistics relating to the distributions of the estimated exposures are compared visually through mapping. Observed variations are explored through analyses of model inputs. Results Two sources of spatial variability in exposure to traffic-related nitrogen dioxide were identified. Median estimates of total exposure ranged from 8 μg/m3 to 35 μg/m3 of annual average hourly NO2 for workers in different census tracts in the study area. Exposure estimates are highest where ambient pollution levels are highest. This reflects the regional gradient of pollution in the study area and the relatively high percentage of time spent at home locations. However, for workers within the same census tract, variations were observed in the partial exposure estimates associated with time spent outside the residential census tract. Simulation modeling shows that some workers may have exposures 1.3 times higher than other workers residing in the same census tract because of time spent away from the residential census tract, and that time spent in work census tracts contributes most to the differences in exposure. Exposure estimates associated with the activity of commuting by vehicle to work were negligible, based on the relatively short amount of time spent in this microenvironment compared to other locations. We recognize that this may not be the case for pollutants other than NO2. These results represent the first time spatially disaggregated variations in exposure to traffic-related air pollution within a community have been estimated and reported. Conclusion The results suggest that while time spent in the home indoor microenvironment contributes most to between-census tract variation in estimates of annual average exposures to traffic-related NO2, time spent in the work indoor microenvironment contributes most to within-census tract variation, and time spent in transit by vehicle makes a negligible contribution. The SESM has potential as a policy evaluation tool, given input data that reflect changes in pollution levels or work flow patterns due to traffic demand management and land use development policy. PMID:18638398

The importance of mobile phones in the possible transmission of bacterial infections in the community.

PubMed

Bhoonderowa, A; Gookool, S; Biranjia-Hurdoyal, S D

2014-10-01

Mobile phones have become indispensable accessories in today's life. However, they might act as fomites as they have travelled with their owner to places such as toilets, hospitals and kitchens which are loaded with microorganisms. A cross-sectional study was carried out to isolate and identify bacteria from mobile phones of volunteers in the community. A total of 192 mobile phones from 102 males and 90 females were swabbed and cultured. The bacteria were identified by gram staining and conventional biochemical tests. A total of 176 mobile phones (91.7 %) showed bacterial contamination. Coagulase negative Staphylococcus was the most prevalent (69.3 %) followed by Micrococci (51.8 %), Klebsiella (1.5 %) and Pseudomonas (1 %). The mean colony forming units was higher among females than males (p < 0.05; 95 % CI 0.021-0.365) and higher on mobile phones which were kept in bags than in pockets (p < 0.05; 95 % CI 0.019-0.369). Furthermore, the use of phone cover was found to reduce microbial growth (OR 4.2; 95 % CI 1.423-12.39; p < 0.05). Significant associations were also found between bacterial growth and female participants, agricultural workers, mobile phones older than 6 months and sharing of mobile phones (p < 0.05). Mobile phones from the community carry potential pathogens. Cleaning of mobile phones should be encouraged and should be preferably stored in pockets or carry cases.

Findings from Encontros: a multi-level STI/HIV intervention to increase condom use, reduce STI, and change the social environment among sex workers in Brazil

PubMed Central

Lippman, Sheri A.; Chinaglia, Magda; Donini, Angela A.; Diaz, Juan; Reingold, Arthur; Kerrigan, Deanna L.

2012-01-01

Background Sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV prevention programs which do not modify social-structural contexts that contribute to risk of STI/HIV may fail to bring about improvements in health, particularly among groups who experience discrimination and exclusion from public life. We conducted a multi-level intervention with sex workers, including improved clinical care and community mobilizing strategies to modify social-structural factors that shape sexual behavior, in order to improve condom use and reduce incident STI. Methods We followed 420 sex workers participating in the Encontros intervention in Corumbá, Brazil from 2003-2005. We estimated the effect of the intervention on incident chlamydia and gonorrhea infections and condom use using generalized estimating equations and inverse probability weighting by comparing those who actively engaged in the intervention activities (exposed) to those who were less engaged (unexposed). We also determined the association of participation on reported social cohesion and participation in networks. Results Exposed participants had significantly higher odds of reporting consistent condom use with regular clients (OR:1.9, 95%CI:1.1-3.3) and non-significantly increased odds with both new clients (OR:1.6, 0.9-2.8) and nonpaying partners (OR:1.5, 0.9-1.5). The odds of an incident STI were non-significantly reduced for exposed participants compared to unexposed (OR:0.46, 0.2-1.3). Participation was significantly associated with increased perceived cohesion and participation in networks. Conclusion This prospective study provides evidence that multi-level interventions with mobilizing strategies to modify aspects of the social environment can improve condom use, reduce STIs, and increase social cohesion and participation in networks among sex workers. PMID:22337108

Findings from Encontros: a multilevel STI/HIV intervention to increase condom use, reduce STI, and change the social environment among sex workers in Brazil.

PubMed

Lippman, Sheri A; Chinaglia, Magda; Donini, Angela A; Diaz, Juan; Reingold, Arthur; Kerrigan, Deanna L

2012-03-01

Sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV prevention programs, which do not modify social structural contexts that contribute to risk of STI/HIV may fail to bring about improvements in health, particularly among groups who experience discrimination and exclusion from public life. We conducted a multilevel intervention with sex workers, including improved clinical care and community-mobilizing strategies to modify social structural factors that shape sexual behavior, to improve condom use and reduce incident STI. We followed 420 sex workers participating in the Encontros intervention in Corumbá, Brazil, between 2003 and 2005. We estimated the effect of the intervention on incident chlamydia and gonorrhea infections and condom use using generalized estimating equations and inverse probability weighting by comparing those who actively engaged in the intervention activities (exposed) with those who were less engaged (unexposed). We also determined the association of participation on reported social cohesion and participation in networks. Exposed participants had significantly higher odds of reporting consistent condom use with regular clients (odds ratio [OR]: 1.9, 95% confidence interval:1.1-3.3) and nonsignificantly increased odds with both new clients (OR: 1.6, 0.9-2.8) and nonpaying partners (OR: 1.5, 0.9-1.5). The odds of an incident STI were nonsignificantly reduced for exposed participants compared with unexposed (OR: 0.46, 0.2-1.3). Participation was significantly associated with increased perceived cohesion and participation in networks. This prospective study provides evidence that multilevel interventions with mobilizing strategies to modify aspects of the social environment can improve condom use, reduce STIs, and increase social cohesion and participation in networks among sex workers.

Design and application of a mobile ground-based observatory for continuous measurements of atmospheric trace gas and criteria pollutant species

DOE PAGES

Bush, S. E.; Hopkins, F. M.; Randerson, J. T.; ...

2015-08-26

Ground-based measurements of atmospheric trace gas species and criteria pollutants are essential for understanding emissions dynamics across space and time. Gas composition in the lower 50 m of the atmosphere has the greatest direct impacts on human health as well as ecosystem processes; hence data at this level are necessary for addressing carbon-cycle- and public-health-related questions. However, such surface data are generally associated with stationary measurement towers, where spatial representation is limited due to the high cost of establishing and maintaining an extensive network of measurement stations. We describe here a compact mobile laboratory equipped to provide high-precision, high-frequency, continuous,more » on-road synchronous measurements of CO 2, CO, CH 4, H 2O, NO x, O 3, aerosol, meteorological, and geospatial position data. The mobile laboratory has been deployed across the western USA. In addition to describing the vehicle and its capacity, we present data that illustrate the use of the laboratory as a powerful tool for investigating the spatial structure of urban trace gas emissions and criteria pollutants at spatial scales ranging from single streets to whole ecosystem and regional scales. We assess the magnitude of known point sources of CH 4 and also identify fugitive urban CH 4 emissions. We illustrate how such a mobile laboratory can be used to better understand emissions dynamics and quantify emissions ratios associated with trace gas emissions from wildfire incidents. Lastly, we discuss additional mobile laboratory applications in health and urban metabolism.« less

Design and application of a mobile ground-based observatory for continuous measurements of atmospheric trace gas and criteria pollutant species

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

Bush, S. E.; Hopkins, F. M.; Randerson, J. T.

Ground-based measurements of atmospheric trace gas species and criteria pollutants are essential for understanding emissions dynamics across space and time. Gas composition in the lower 50 m of the atmosphere has the greatest direct impacts on human health as well as ecosystem processes; hence data at this level are necessary for addressing carbon-cycle- and public-health-related questions. However, such surface data are generally associated with stationary measurement towers, where spatial representation is limited due to the high cost of establishing and maintaining an extensive network of measurement stations. We describe here a compact mobile laboratory equipped to provide high-precision, high-frequency, continuous,more » on-road synchronous measurements of CO 2, CO, CH 4, H 2O, NO x, O 3, aerosol, meteorological, and geospatial position data. The mobile laboratory has been deployed across the western USA. In addition to describing the vehicle and its capacity, we present data that illustrate the use of the laboratory as a powerful tool for investigating the spatial structure of urban trace gas emissions and criteria pollutants at spatial scales ranging from single streets to whole ecosystem and regional scales. We assess the magnitude of known point sources of CH 4 and also identify fugitive urban CH 4 emissions. We illustrate how such a mobile laboratory can be used to better understand emissions dynamics and quantify emissions ratios associated with trace gas emissions from wildfire incidents. Lastly, we discuss additional mobile laboratory applications in health and urban metabolism.« less

Design and application of a mobile ground-based observatory for continuous measurements of atmospheric trace gas and criteria pollutant species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bush, S. E.; Hopkins, F. M.; Randerson, J. T.; Lai, C.-T.; Ehleringer, J. R.

2015-08-01

Ground-based measurements of atmospheric trace gas species and criteria pollutants are essential for understanding emissions dynamics across space and time. Gas composition in the lower 50 m of the atmosphere has the greatest direct impacts on human health as well as ecosystem processes; hence data at this level are necessary for addressing carbon-cycle- and public-health-related questions. However, such surface data are generally associated with stationary measurement towers, where spatial representation is limited due to the high cost of establishing and maintaining an extensive network of measurement stations. We describe here a compact mobile laboratory equipped to provide high-precision, high-frequency, continuous, on-road synchronous measurements of CO2, CO, CH4, H2O, NOx, O3, aerosol, meteorological, and geospatial position data. The mobile laboratory has been deployed across the western USA. In addition to describing the vehicle and its capacity, we present data that illustrate the use of the laboratory as a powerful tool for investigating the spatial structure of urban trace gas emissions and criteria pollutants at spatial scales ranging from single streets to whole ecosystem and regional scales. We assess the magnitude of known point sources of CH4 and also identify fugitive urban CH4 emissions. We illustrate how such a mobile laboratory can be used to better understand emissions dynamics and quantify emissions ratios associated with trace gas emissions from wildfire incidents. Lastly, we discuss additional mobile laboratory applications in health and urban metabolism.

Ergonomic analysis of construction worker's body postures using wearable mobile sensors.

PubMed

Nath, Nipun D; Akhavian, Reza; Behzadan, Amir H

2017-07-01

Construction jobs are more labor-intensive compared to other industries. As such, construction workers are often required to exceed their natural physical capability to cope with the increasing complexity and challenges in this industry. Over long periods of time, this sustained physical labor causes bodily injuries to the workers which in turn, conveys huge losses to the industry in terms of money, time, and productivity. Various safety and health organizations have established rules and regulations that limit the amount and intensity of workers' physical movements to mitigate work-related bodily injuries. A precursor to enforcing and implementing such regulations and improving the ergonomics conditions on the jobsite is to identify physical risks associated with a particular task. Manually assessing a field activity to identify the ergonomic risks is not trivial and often requires extra effort which may render it to be challenging if not impossible. In this paper, a low-cost ubiquitous approach is presented and validated which deploys built-in smartphone sensors to unobtrusively monitor workers' bodily postures and autonomously identify potential work-related ergonomic risks. Results indicates that measurements of trunk and shoulder flexions of a worker by smartphone sensory data are very close to corresponding measurements by observation. The proposed method is applicable for workers in various occupations who are exposed to WMSDs due to awkward postures. Examples include, but are not limited to industry laborers, carpenters, welders, farmers, health assistants, teachers, and office workers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sexually transmitted infection screening uptake and knowledge of sexually transmitted infection symptoms among female sex workers participating in a community randomised trial in Peru.

PubMed

Kohler, Pamela K; Campos, Pablo E; Garcia, Patricia J; Carcamo, Cesar P; Buendia, Clara; Hughes, James P; Mejia, Carolina; Garnett, Geoff P; Holmes, King K

2016-04-01

This study aims to evaluate condom use, sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening, and knowledge of STI symptoms among female sex workers in Peru associated with sex work venues and a community randomised trial of STI control. One component of the Peru PREVEN intervention conducted mobile-team outreach to female sex workers to reduce STIs and increase condom use and access to government clinics for STI screening and evaluation. Prevalence ratios were calculated using multivariate Poisson regression models with robust standard errors, clustering by city. As-treated analyses were conducted to assess outcomes associated with reported exposure to the intervention. Care-seeking was more frequent in intervention communities, but differences were not statistically significant. Female sex workers reporting exposure to the intervention had a significantly higher likelihood of condom use, STI screening at public health clinics, and symptom recognition compared to those not exposed. Compared with street- or bar-based female sex workers, brothel-based female sex workers reported significantly higher rates of condom use with last client, recent screening exams for STIs, and HIV testing. Brothel-based female sex workers also more often reported knowledge of STIs and recognition of STI symptoms in women and in men. Interventions to promote STI detection and prevention among female sex workers in Peru should consider structural or regulatory factors related to sex work venues. © The Author(s) 2015.

Mobile Link - a theory-based messaging intervention for improving sexual and reproductive health of female entertainment workers in Cambodia: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Brody, Carinne; Tuot, Sovannary; Chhoun, Pheak; Swendenman, Dallas; Kaplan, Kathryn C; Yi, Siyan

2018-04-19

In Cambodia, HIV prevalence is concentrated in key populations including among female entertainment workers (FEWs) who may engage in direct or indirect sex work. Reaching FEWs with sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services has been difficult because of their hidden and stigmatized nature. Mobile-phone-based interventions may be an effective way to reach this population and connect them with the existing services. This article describes study design and implementation of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a mobile health intervention (the Mobile Link) aiming to improve SRH and related outcomes among FEWs in Cambodia. A two-arm RCT will be used to determine the effectiveness of a mobile-phone-based text/voice messaging intervention. The intervention will be developed through a participatory process. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews have been conducted to inform and tailor behavior change theory-based text and voice messages. During the implementation phase, 600 FEWs will be recruited and randomly assigned into one of the two arms: (1) a control group and (2) a mobile phone message group (either text messages [SMS] or voice messages [VM], a delivery method chosen by participants). Participants in the control group will also receive a weekly monitoring survey, which will provide real-time information to implementing partners to streamline outreach efforts and be able to quickly identify geographic trends. The primary outcome measures will include self-reported HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing and treatment, condom use, contraceptive use, and gender-based violence (GBV). If the Mobile Link trial is successful, participants will report an increase in condom use, linkages to screening and treatment for HIV and STI, and contraception use as well as a reduction in GBV. This trial is unique in a number of ways. First, the option of participation mode (SMS or VM) allows participants to choose the message medium that best links them to services. Second, this is the first RCT of a mobile-phone-based behavior change intervention using SMS/VMs to support linkage to SRH services in Cambodia. Lastly, we are working with a hidden, hard-to-reach, and dynamic population with which existing methods of outreach have not been fully successful. Clinical trials.gov, NCT03117842 . Registered on 31 March 2017.

Adaptive multi-node multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) transmission for mobile wireless multimedia sensor networks.

PubMed

Cho, Sunghyun; Choi, Ji-Woong; You, Cheolwoo

2013-10-02

Mobile wireless multimedia sensor networks (WMSNs), which consist of mobile sink or sensor nodes and use rich sensing information, require much faster and more reliable wireless links than static wireless sensor networks (WSNs). This paper proposes an adaptive multi-node (MN) multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) transmission to improve the transmission reliability and capacity of mobile sink nodes when they experience spatial correlation. Unlike conventional single-node (SN) MIMO transmission, the proposed scheme considers the use of transmission antennas from more than two sensor nodes. To find an optimal antenna set and a MIMO transmission scheme, a MN MIMO channel model is introduced first, followed by derivation of closed-form ergodic capacity expressions with different MIMO transmission schemes, such as space-time transmit diversity coding and spatial multiplexing. The capacity varies according to the antenna correlation and the path gain from multiple sensor nodes. Based on these statistical results, we propose an adaptive MIMO mode and antenna set switching algorithm that maximizes the ergodic capacity of mobile sink nodes. The ergodic capacity of the proposed scheme is compared with conventional SN MIMO schemes, where the gain increases as the antenna correlation and path gain ratio increase.

Adaptive Multi-Node Multiple Input and Multiple Output (MIMO) Transmission for Mobile Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Cho, Sunghyun; Choi, Ji-Woong; You, Cheolwoo

2013-01-01

Mobile wireless multimedia sensor networks (WMSNs), which consist of mobile sink or sensor nodes and use rich sensing information, require much faster and more reliable wireless links than static wireless sensor networks (WSNs). This paper proposes an adaptive multi-node (MN) multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) transmission to improve the transmission reliability and capacity of mobile sink nodes when they experience spatial correlation. Unlike conventional single-node (SN) MIMO transmission, the proposed scheme considers the use of transmission antennas from more than two sensor nodes. To find an optimal antenna set and a MIMO transmission scheme, a MN MIMO channel model is introduced first, followed by derivation of closed-form ergodic capacity expressions with different MIMO transmission schemes, such as space-time transmit diversity coding and spatial multiplexing. The capacity varies according to the antenna correlation and the path gain from multiple sensor nodes. Based on these statistical results, we propose an adaptive MIMO mode and antenna set switching algorithm that maximizes the ergodic capacity of mobile sink nodes. The ergodic capacity of the proposed scheme is compared with conventional SN MIMO schemes, where the gain increases as the antenna correlation and path gain ratio increase. PMID:24152920

Squeezing of Ion Populations and Peaks in Traveling Wave Ion Mobility Separations and Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations using Compression Ratio Ion Mobility Programming

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

Garimella, Venkata BS; Hamid, Ahmed M.; Deng, Liulin

In this work, we report an approach for spatial and temporal gas phase ion population manipulation, and demonstrate its application for the collapse of the ion distributions in ion mobility (IM) separations into tighter packets providing higher sensitivity measurements in conjunction with mass spectrometry (MS). We do this for ions moving from a conventionally traveling wave (TW)-driven region to a region where the TW is intermittently halted or ‘stuttered’. This approach causes the ion packets spanning a number of TW-created traveling traps (TT) to be redistributed into fewer TT, resulting in spatial compression. The degree of spatial compression is controllablemore » and determined by the ratio of stationary time of the TW in the second region to its moving time. This compression ratio ion mobility programming (CRIMP) approach has been implemented using Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM) in conjunction with MS. CRIMP with the SLIM-MS platform is shown to provide increased peak intensities, reduced peak widths, and improved S/N ratios with MS detection. CRIMP also provides a foundation for extremely long path length and multi-pass IM separations in SLIM providing greatly enhanced IM resolution by reducing the detrimental effects of diffusional peak broadening due to increasing peak widths.« less

Collection, Processing and Accuracy of Mobile Terrestrial Lidar Survey Data in the Coastal Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-01

ER D C/ CH L TR -1 7- 5 Coastal Field Data Collection Program Collection, Processing, and Accuracy of Mobile Terrestrial Lidar Survey ... Survey Data in the Coastal Environment Nicholas J. Spore and Katherine L. Brodie Field Research Facility U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development...value to a mobile lidar survey may misrepresent some of the spatially variable error throughout the survey , and further work should incorporate full

Collection, Processing, and Accuracy of Mobile Terrestrial Lidar Survey Data in the Coastal Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-01

ER D C/ CH L TR -1 7- 5 Coastal Field Data Collection Program Collection, Processing, and Accuracy of Mobile Terrestrial Lidar Survey ... Survey Data in the Coastal Environment Nicholas J. Spore and Katherine L. Brodie Field Research Facility U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development...value to a mobile lidar survey may misrepresent some of the spatially variable error throughout the survey , and further work should incorporate full

Community Health Workers and Use of mHealth: Improving Identification of Pregnancy Complications and Access to Care in the Dominican Republic.

PubMed

Bonnell, Susan; Griggs, Anne; Avila, Gloria; Mack, Jonathan; Bush, Ruth A; Vignato, Julie; Connelly, Cynthia D

2018-05-01

This article presents the feasibility and acceptability of using mobile health technology by community health workers (CHWs) in San Juan Province, Dominican Republic, to improve identification of pregnancy complications and access to care for pregnant women. Although most women in the Dominican Republic receive four antenatal care visits, poor women and adolescents in remote areas are more likely to have only one initial prenatal visit to verify the pregnancy. This community-based research began when community leaders raised concern about the numbers of their mothers who died in childbirth annually; San Juan's maternal mortality rate is 144/100,000 compared to the Caribbean rate of 85/100,000. Eight CHWs in three communities were taught to provide third-trimester antenatal assessment, upload the data on a mobile phone application, send the data to the local physician who monitored data for "red flags," and call directly if a mother had an urgent problem. Fifty-two pregnant women enrolled, 38 were followed to delivery, 95 antenatal care postintake were provided, 2 urgent complications required CHW home management of mothers, and there were 0 deaths. Stakeholders endorsed acceptability of intervention. Preliminary data suggest CHWs using mobile health technology is feasible, linking underserved and formal health care systems with provision of primary care in mothers' homes.

Depth-time interpolation of feature trends extracted from mobile microelectrode data with kernel functions.

PubMed

Wong, Stephen; Hargreaves, Eric L; Baltuch, Gordon H; Jaggi, Jurg L; Danish, Shabbar F

2012-01-01

Microelectrode recording (MER) is necessary for precision localization of target structures such as the subthalamic nucleus during deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. Attempts to automate this process have produced quantitative temporal trends (feature activity vs. time) extracted from mobile MER data. Our goal was to evaluate computational methods of generating spatial profiles (feature activity vs. depth) from temporal trends that would decouple automated MER localization from the clinical procedure and enhance functional localization in DBS surgery. We evaluated two methods of interpolation (standard vs. kernel) that generated spatial profiles from temporal trends. We compared interpolated spatial profiles to true spatial profiles that were calculated with depth windows, using correlation coefficient analysis. Excellent approximation of true spatial profiles is achieved by interpolation. Kernel-interpolated spatial profiles produced superior correlation coefficient values at optimal kernel widths (r = 0.932-0.940) compared to standard interpolation (r = 0.891). The choice of kernel function and kernel width resulted in trade-offs in smoothing and resolution. Interpolation of feature activity to create spatial profiles from temporal trends is accurate and can standardize and facilitate MER functional localization of subcortical structures. The methods are computationally efficient, enhancing localization without imposing additional constraints on the MER clinical procedure during DBS surgery. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Assessing the quality of open spatial data for mobile location-based services research and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciepłuch, C.; Mooney, P.; Jacob, R.; Zheng, J.; Winstanely, A. C.

2011-12-01

New trends in GIS such as Volunteered Geographical Information (VGI), Citizen Science, and Urban Sensing, have changed the shape of the geoinformatics landscape. The OpenStreetMap (OSM) project provided us with an exciting, evolving, free and open solution as a base dataset for our geoserver and spatial data provider for our research. OSM is probably the best known and best supported example of VGI and user generated spatial content on the Internet. In this paper we will describe current results from the development of quality indicators for measures for OSM data. Initially we have analysed the Ireland OSM data in grid cells (5km) to gather statistical data about the completeness, accuracy, and fitness for purpose of the underlying spatial data. This analysis included: density of user contributions, spatial density of points and polygons, types of tags and metadata used, dominant contributors in a particular area or for a particular geographic feature type, etc. There greatest OSM activity and spatial data density is highly correlated with centres of large population. The ability to quantify and assess if VGI, such as OSM, is of sufficient quality for mobile mapping applications and Location-based services is critical to the future success of VGI as a spatial data source for these technologies.

Vehicle Support Posts Installation at Mobile Launcher

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-05-11

Construction workers at the Mobile Launcher at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, prepare to install vehicle support posts. A total of eight support posts are being installed to support the load of the Space Launch System's (SLS) solid rocket boosters, with four posts for each of the boosters. The support posts are about five feet tall and each weigh about 10,000 pounds. The posts will structurally support the SLS rocket through T-0 and liftoff. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing installation of the support posts to prepare for the launch of the Orion spacecraft atop the SLS rocket.

Mapping Sleeping Bees within Their Nest: Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Worker Honey Bee Sleep

PubMed Central

Klein, Barrett Anthony; Stiegler, Martin; Klein, Arno; Tautz, Jürgen

2014-01-01

Patterns of behavior within societies have long been visualized and interpreted using maps. Mapping the occurrence of sleep across individuals within a society could offer clues as to functional aspects of sleep. In spite of this, a detailed spatial analysis of sleep has never been conducted on an invertebrate society. We introduce the concept of mapping sleep across an insect society, and provide an empirical example, mapping sleep patterns within colonies of European honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). Honey bees face variables such as temperature and position of resources within their colony's nest that may impact their sleep. We mapped sleep behavior and temperature of worker bees and produced maps of their nest's comb contents as the colony grew and contents changed. By following marked bees, we discovered that individuals slept in many locations, but bees of different worker castes slept in different areas of the nest relative to position of the brood and surrounding temperature. Older worker bees generally slept outside cells, closer to the perimeter of the nest, in colder regions, and away from uncapped brood. Younger worker bees generally slept inside cells and closer to the center of the nest, and spent more time asleep than awake when surrounded by uncapped brood. The average surface temperature of sleeping foragers was lower than the surface temperature of their surroundings, offering a possible indicator of sleep for this caste. We propose mechanisms that could generate caste-dependent sleep patterns and discuss functional significance of these patterns. PMID:25029445

Female Sex Worker Social Networks and STI/HIV Prevention in South China

PubMed Central

Tucker, Joseph D.; Peng, Hua; Wang, Kaidi; Chang, Helena; Zhang, Sen-Miao; Yang, Li-Gang; Yang, Bin

2011-01-01

Background Reducing harm associated with selling and purchasing sex is an important public health priority in China, yet there are few examples of sustainable, successful programs to promote sexual health among female sex workers. The limited civil society and scope of nongovernmental organizations circumscribe the local capacity of female sex workers to collectively organize, advocate for their rights, and implement STI/HIV prevention programs. The purpose of this study was to examine social networks among low-income female sex workers in South China to determine their potential for sexual health promotion. Methods/Principal Findings Semi-structured interviews with 34 low-income female sex workers and 28 health outreach members were used to examine how social relationships affected condom use and negotiation, STI/HIV testing and health-seeking behaviors, and dealing with violent clients. These data suggested that sex worker's laoxiang (hometown social connections) were more powerful than relationships between women selling sex at the same venue in establishing the terms and risk of commercial sex. Female sex workers from the same hometown often migrated to the city with their laoxiang and these social connections fulfilled many of the functions of nongovernmental organizations, including collective mobilization, condom promotion, violence mitigation, and promotion of health-seeking behaviors. Outreach members observed that sex workers accompanied by their laoxiang were often more willing to accept STI/HIV testing and trust local sexual health services. Conclusions/Significance Organizing STI/HIV prevention services around an explicitly defined laoxiang social network may provide a strong foundation for sex worker health programs. Further research on dyadic interpersonal relationships between female sex workers, group dynamics and norm establishment, and the social network characteristics are needed. PMID:21931856

Orion Service Module Umbilical (OSMU) Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-03-16

Construction workers assist as a crane and rigging are used to position the Orion Service Module Umbilical (OSMU) for installation high up on the mobile launcher tower at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mobile launcher tower will be equipped with a number of lines, called umbilicals, that will connect to the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). The OSMU will be located high on the mobile launcher tower and, prior to launch, will transfer liquid coolant for the electronics and air for the Environmental Control System to the Orion service module that houses these critical systems to support the spacecraft. EM-1 is scheduled to launch in 2018. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing installation of the umbilicals.

Usability factors of mobile health application for chronic diseases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zahra, Fatima; Hussain, Azham; Mohd, Haslina

2016-08-01

M-health has changed the conventional delivery system of health-care, permitting continuous, pervasive Health-care anywhere, anytime. Chronic disease apps are increasing, as many health workers, patients and clinicians already embracing smartphones in their comprehensive and diverse practices. There are lots of challenges and requirements that need to be addressed for mobile health applications to prevent or eliminate design problems and minimize potential threats for users, the proposed factors for chronic disease mobile applications can be used as a guide for app developers While, the usability testing, and evaluations of chronic disease apps have not yet touched the accuracy level of other web based applications. This study is being conducted to learn about challenges of m-health apps and to identify the factors that affect the usability of such applications.

ICPSU Install onto Mobile Launcher

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-16

The mobile launcher (ML) is reflected in the sunglasses of a construction worker with JP Donovan at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A crane is lifting the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage Umbilical (ICPSU) up for installation on the tower of the ML. The last of the large umbilicals to be installed, the ICPSU will provide super-cooled hydrogen and liquid oxygen to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's interim cryogenic propulsion stage, or upper stage, at T-0 for Exploration Mission-1. The umbilical is located at about the 240-foot-level of the mobile launcher and will supply fuel, oxidizer, gaseous helium, hazardous gas leak detection, electrical commodities and environment control systems to the upper stage of the SLS rocket during launch. Exploration Ground Systems is overseeing installation of the umbilicals on the ML.

ICPSU Install onto Mobile Launcher - Preps for Lift

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-15

A construction worker with JP Donovan helps prepare the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage Umbilical (ICPSU) for installation high up on the tower of the mobile launcher (ML) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The last of the large umbilicals to be installed, the ICPSU will provide super-cooled hydrogen and liquid oxygen to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's interim cryogenic propulsion stage, or upper stage, at T-0 for Exploration Mission-1. The umbilical will be located at about the 240-foot-level of the mobile launcher and will supply fuel, oxidizer, gaseous helium, hazardous gas leak detection, electrical commodities and environment control systems to the upper stage of the SLS rocket during launch. Exploration Ground Systems is overseeing installation of the umbilicals on the ML.

Effects of parkinsonism on health status in welding exposed workers.

PubMed

Harris, Rachel C; Lundin, Jessica I; Criswell, Susan R; Hobson, Angela; Swisher, Laura M; Evanoff, Bradley A; Checkoway, Harvey; Racette, Brad A

2011-11-01

Previous studies suggest that welders frequently display parkinsonian signs, such as bradykinesia and tremor. Demonstrating that these parkinsonian findings are associated with reductions in quality of life (QoL) or health status could have important repercussions for worker safety and performance. Subjects included 394 active workers exposed to welding fumes and evaluated for parkinsonism by movement disorders experts in a worksite-based epidemiology study. Subjects were diagnosed with parkinsonism if the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale motor subsection part 3 (UPDRS3) score was ≥15. All subjects completed a Parkinson's disease (PD) symptom questionnaire and the PDQ39, a widely used QoL and health status measure for PD. Total PDQ39 score and all subscores were greater in welders with parkinsonism than welders without parkinsonism, with the most significant differences observed for mobility, emotional well-being, and activities of daily living (ADL's). The PDQ39 scores for welding exposed workers with parkinsonism were similar to scores seen in a group of early PD patients. Parkinsonism in active, welding exposed workers is associated with reductions in health status and QoL affecting a broad range of categories and within the range seen in early PD. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of Parkinsonism on Health Status in Welding Exposed Workers

PubMed Central

Harris, Rachel C.; Lundin, Jessica I.; Criswell, Susan R.; Hobson, Angela; Swisher, Laura M.; Evanoff, Bradley A.; Checkoway, Harvey; Racette, Brad A.

2011-01-01

Background Previous studies suggest that welders frequently display parkinsonian signs, such as bradykinesia and tremor. Demonstrating that these parkinsonian findings are associated with reductions in quality of life (QoL) or health status could have important repercussions for worker safety and performance. Methods Subjects included 394 active workers exposed to welding fumes and evaluated for parkinsonism by movement disorders experts in a worksite-based epidemiology study. Subjects were diagnosed with parkinsonism if the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale motor subsection part 3 (UPDRS3) score was >15. All subjects completed a Parkinson’s disease (PD) symptom questionnaire and the PDQ39, a widely used QoL and health status measure for PD. Results Total PDQ39 score and all subscores were greater in welders with parkinsonism than welders without parkinsonism, with the most significant differences observed for mobility, emotional well-being, and activities of daily living (ADL’s). The PDQ39 scores for welding exposed workers with parkinsonism were similar to scores seen in a group of early PD patients. Conclusion Parkinsonism in active, welding exposed workers is associated with reductions in health status and QoL affecting a broad range of categories and within the range seen in early PD. PMID:21724446

A Big-Data-based platform of workers' behavior: Observations from the field.

PubMed

Guo, S Y; Ding, L Y; Luo, H B; Jiang, X Y

2016-08-01

Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) has been used in construction to observe, analyze and modify workers' behavior. However, studies have identified that BBS has several limitations, which have hindered its effective implementation. To mitigate the negative impact of BBS, this paper uses a case study approach to develop a Big-Data-based platform to classify, collect and store data about workers' unsafe behavior that is derived from a metro construction project. In developing the platform, three processes were undertaken: (1) a behavioral risk knowledge base was established; (2) images reflecting workers' unsafe behavior were collected from intelligent video surveillance and mobile application; and (3) images with semantic information were stored via a Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS). The platform was implemented during the construction of the metro-system and it is demonstrated that it can effectively analyze semantic information contained in images, automatically extract workers' unsafe behavior and quickly retrieve on HDFS as well. The research presented in this paper can enable construction organizations with the ability to visualize unsafe acts in real-time and further identify patterns of behavior that can jeopardize safety outcomes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Texas Urban Triangle : pilot study to implement a spatial decision support system (SDSS) for sustainable mobility.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-03-01

This project addressed sustainable transportation in the Texas Urban Triangle (TUT) by conducting a pilot : project at the county scale. The project tested and developed the multi-attribute Spatial Decision Support : System (SDSS) developed in 2009 u...

Creating widely accessible spatial interfaces: mobile VR for managing persistent pain.

PubMed

Schroeder, David; Korsakov, Fedor; Jolton, Joseph; Keefe, Francis J; Haley, Alex; Keefe, Daniel F

2013-01-01

Using widely accessible VR technologies, researchers have implemented a series of multimodal spatial interfaces and virtual environments. The results demonstrate the degree to which we can now use low-cost (for example, mobile-phone based) VR environments to create rich virtual experiences involving motion sensing, physiological inputs, stereoscopic imagery, sound, and haptic feedback. Adapting spatial interfaces to these new platforms can open up exciting application areas for VR. In this case, the application area was in-home VR therapy for patients suffering from persistent pain (for example, arthritis and cancer pain). For such therapy to be successful, a rich spatial interface and rich visual aesthetic are particularly important. So, an interdisciplinary team with expertise in technology, design, meditation, and the psychology of pain collaborated to iteratively develop and evaluate several prototype systems. The video at http://youtu.be/mMPE7itReds demonstrates how the sine wave fitting responds to walking motions, for a walking-in-place application.

The Long Arm of the Law

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maxwell, Lesli A.

2006-01-01

John M. Tyson Jr., the district attorney in Mobile County, Ala., has a prosecutor's zeal for convicting felons and a social worker's compassion for helping troubled people. Mr. Tyson believes that fighting juvenile crime starts in the schools, where the children are. The author discusses a program that Mr. Tyson created called the Helping Families…

[The migration and professional characteristics of young people in Medina-Dakar].

PubMed

Badiane, W

1990-01-01

The characteristics of young migrants in the Medina quarter of Dakar, Senegal, are analyzed using data from a survey carried out in 1987 of 300 workers. The author concludes that these migrants are mainly from rural areas and have high levels of professional mobility associated with their search for better-paying jobs.

Troubling the Proletarianization of Mexican Immigrant Students in an Era of Neoliberal Immigration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choudry, Aziz

2010-01-01

In response to Richardson Bruna's "Mexican immigrant transnational social capital and class transformation: examining the role of peer mediation in insurgent science", this paper draws on the author's research on organizing, mobilization and knowledge production among adult im/migrant workers in Canada. While appreciative of the content…

Supporting University Learning through Mobile Technologies: A Global Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mugo, David Gitumu; Njagi, Kageni; Chemwei, Bernard; Gakuru, Paul Maina

2015-01-01

The workplace in the modern world continues to demand higher qualifications and refined competencies. In the recent past, workers would respond to such demands through learning by correspondence. When the Internet and e-Learning emerged, it received widespread accolade as a solution to the challenges experienced by distant learners. The technology…

Stuck on the Sideline: Race, Segregation, and Mobility in the College Football Coaching Profession

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Day, Jacob C.

2012-01-01

Although becoming increasingly diverse over the last 50 years, American occupations remain highly segregated and black workers are still underrepresented in managerial and professional occupations. To better understand the documented racial inequality in access to high status positions within the American labor market, this study investigates the…

Wages, Nonwage Job Characteristics, and Labor Mobility.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bartel, Ann P.

1982-01-01

Shows that some job attributes have significant influence on worker quit behavior and there are important differences in the effects of nonwage job characteristics across age groups. Young men are more likely than older men to quit repetitive jobs, whereas bad working conditions are an important factor in quit decisions of older men. (Author/JOW)

Evaluation of Progress, Bilingual Mini-Head Start, November 1973.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McConnell, Beverly

A 5-year experimental project, the Bilingual Mini Head Start program is an early education program for children of migrant farm workers. The program has 2 components: the mobile and the stationary components. In the stationary program, 2 year-round centers are operated in Connell and Moses Lake (Washington). These centers' purpose is to…

Linked migration systems: immigration and internal labor flows in the United States.

Treesearch

R. Walker; M. Ellis; R. Barff

1992-01-01

We investigate the relationship between immigration and internal labor movements in the US. Wedding the literatures on immigration and internal migration, we develop a mobility model linking these various flows on the basis of occupational status of worker, producction and institutional relations in the economy, and economic restructuring.

Employee Turnover: Evidence from a Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borland, Jeff

1997-01-01

Patterns of employee turnover from a medium-sized law firm in Australia were examined in regard to theories of worker mobility (matching, sectoral shift, and incentive). Results support a role for matching effects, but personnel practices affect the timing of turnover. Matching and incentive-based theories do not explain the high rates of turnover…

Utilisation of Acoustics for Monitoring Local and Near-Field Mine Burial Processes: Proof-Of-Concept

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-09-30

IMPACT/ APLICATION The observations presented here and those from other workers (4-6) show that acoustics has an important and expanding role in its...relationship between the presence of the mine, its impact on the local hydrodynamics and sediment mobility , and thereby gain insight into the burial mechanisms

Mobile acoustic transects miss rare bat species: implications of survey method and spatio-temporal sampling for monitoring bats

PubMed Central

Wallrichs, Megan A.; Ober, Holly K.; McCleery, Robert A.

2017-01-01

Due to increasing threats facing bats, long-term monitoring protocols are needed to inform conservation strategies. Effective monitoring should be easily repeatable while capturing spatio-temporal variation. Mobile acoustic driving transect surveys (‘mobile transects’) have been touted as a robust, cost-effective method to monitor bats; however, it is not clear how well mobile transects represent dynamic bat communities, especially when used as the sole survey approach. To assist biologists who must select a single survey method due to resource limitations, we assessed the effectiveness of three acoustic survey methods at detecting species richness in a vast protected area (Everglades National Park): (1) mobile transects, (2) stationary surveys that were strategically located by sources of open water and (3) stationary surveys that were replicated spatially across the landscape. We found that mobile transects underrepresented bat species richness compared to stationary surveys across all major vegetation communities and in two distinct seasons (dry/cool and wet/warm). Most critically, mobile transects failed to detect three rare bat species, one of which is federally endangered. Spatially replicated stationary surveys did not estimate higher species richness than strategically located stationary surveys, but increased the rate at which species were detected in one vegetation community. The survey strategy that detected maximum species richness and the highest mean nightly species richness with minimal effort was a strategically located stationary detector in each of two major vegetation communities during the wet/warm season. PMID:29134138