Correction of confounding bias in non-randomized studies by appropriate weighting.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmoor, Claudia; Gall, Christine; Stampf, Susanne; Graf, Erika

2011-03-01

In non-randomized studies, the assessment of a causal effect of treatment or exposure on outcome is hampered by possible confounding. Applying multiple regression models including the effects of treatment and covariates on outcome is the well-known classical approach to adjust for confounding. In recent years other approaches have been promoted. One of them is based on the propensity score and considers the effect of possible confounders on treatment as a relevant criterion for adjustment. Another proposal is based on using an instrumental variable. Here inference relies on a factor, the instrument, which affects treatment but is thought to be otherwise unrelated to outcome, so that it mimics randomization. Each of these approaches can basically be interpreted as a simple reweighting scheme, designed to address confounding. The procedures will be compared with respect to their fundamental properties, namely, which bias they aim to eliminate, which effect they aim to estimate, and which parameter is modelled. We will expand our overview of methods for analysis of non-randomized studies to methods for analysis of randomized controlled trials and show that analyses of both study types may target different effects and different parameters. The considerations will be illustrated using a breast cancer study with a so-called Comprehensive Cohort Study design, including a randomized controlled trial and a non-randomized study in the same patient population as sub-cohorts. This design offers ideal opportunities to discuss and illustrate the properties of the different approaches. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Prostate-Specific Antigen Velocity Before and After Elimination of Factors That Can Confound the Prostate-Specific Antigen Level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jessica J.; Chen, Ming-Hui; Loffredo, Marian; D’Amico, Anthony V.

2012-01-01

Purpose: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) velocity, like PSA level, can be confounded. In this study, we estimated the impact that confounding factors could have on correctly identifying a patient with a PSA velocity >2 ng/ml/y. Methods and Materials: Between 2006 and 2010, a total of 50 men with newly diagnosed PC comprised the study cohort. We calculated and compared the false-positive and false-negative PSA velocity >2 ng/ml/y rates for all men and those with low-risk disease using two approaches to calculate PSA velocity. First, we used PSA values obtained within 18 months of diagnosis; second, we used values within 18 months of diagnosis, substituting the prebiopsy PSA for a repeat, nonconfounded PSA that was obtained using the same assay and without confounders. Results: Using PSA levels pre-biopsy, 46% of all men had a PSA velocity >2 ng/ml/y; whereas this value declined to 32% when substituting the last prebiopsy PSA for a repeat, nonconfounded PSA using the same assay and without confounders. The false-positive rate for PSA velocity >2 ng/ml/y was 43% as compared with a false-negative rate of PSA velocity >2 ng/ml/y of 11% (p = 0.0008) in the overall cohort. These respective values in the low-risk subgroup were 60% and 16.7% (p = 0.09). Conclusion: This study provides evidence to explain the discordance in cancer-specific outcomes among groups investigating the prognostic significance of PSA velocity >2 ng/ml/y, and highlights the importance of patient education on potential confounders of the PSA test before obtaining PSA levels.

Resting-state FMRI confounds and cleanup

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Kevin; Birn, Rasmus M.; Bandettini, Peter A.

2013-01-01

The goal of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) is to investigate the brain’s functional connections by using the temporal similarity between blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signals in different regions of the brain “at rest” as an indicator of synchronous neural activity. Since this measure relies on the temporal correlation of FMRI signal changes between different parts of the brain, any non-neural activity-related process that affects the signals will influence the measure of functional connectivity, yielding spurious results. To understand the sources of these resting-state FMRI confounds, this article describes the origins of the BOLD signal in terms of MR physics and cerebral physiology. Potential confounds arising from motion, cardiac and respiratory cycles, arterial CO2 concentration, blood pressure/cerebral autoregulation, and vasomotion are discussed. Two classes of techniques to remove confounds from resting-state BOLD time series are reviewed: 1) those utilising external recordings of physiology and 2) data-based cleanup methods that only use the resting-state FMRI data itself. Further methods that remove noise from functional connectivity measures at a group level are also discussed. For successful interpretation of resting-state FMRI comparisons and results, noise cleanup is an often over-looked but essential step in the analysis pipeline. PMID:23571418

Neighbourhood social and built environment factors and falls in community-dwelling canadian older adults: A validation study and exploration of structural confounding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afshin Vafaei

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Older persons are vulnerable to the ill effects of their social and built environment due to age-related limitations in mobility and bio-psychological vulnerability. Falls are common in older adults and result from complex interactions between individual, social, and contextual determinants. We addressed two methodological issues of neighbourhood-health and social epidemiological studies in this analysis: (1 validity of measures of neighbourhood contexts, and (2 structural confounding resulting from social sorting mechanisms. Baseline data from International Mobility in Aging Study were used. Samples included community-dwelling Canadians older than 65 living in Kingston (Ontario and St-Hyacinthe (Quebec. We performed factor analysis and ecometric analysis to assess the validity of measures of neighbourhood social capital, socioeconomic status, and the built environment and stratified tabular analyses to explore structural confounding. The scales all demonstrated good psychometric and ecometric properties. There was an evidence of the existence of structural confounding in this sample of Canadian older adults as some combinations of strata for the three neighbourhood measures had no population. This limits causal inference in studying relationships between neighbourhood factors and falls and should be taken into account in aetiological aging research. Keywords: Ecometric analysis, Falls, Social and built environment, Neighbourhoods, Older adults, Social Capital, Structural confounding, Validity

Sensitivity analysis for direct and indirect effects in the presence of exposure-induced mediator-outcome confounders

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Chiba, Yasutaka

2014-01-01

Questions of mediation are often of interest in reasoning about mechanisms, and methods have been developed to address these questions. However, these methods make strong assumptions about the absence of confounding. Even if exposure is randomized, there may be mediator-outcome confounding variables. Inference about direct and indirect effects is particularly challenging if these mediator-outcome confounders are affected by the exposure because in this case these effects are not identified irrespective of whether data is available on these exposure-induced mediator-outcome confounders. In this paper, we provide a sensitivity analysis technique for natural direct and indirect effects that is applicable even if there are mediator-outcome confounders affected by the exposure. We give techniques for both the difference and risk ratio scales and compare the technique to other possible approaches. PMID:25580387

Sense of control and self-reported health in a population-based sample of older Americans: assessment of potential confounding by affect, personality, and social support.

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Ward, Michael M

2013-03-01

Sense of control has been linked to improved health outcomes, but it is unclear if this association is independent of other psychosocial factors. The aim of this study is to test the strength of association between sense of control and self-reported health after adjustment for positive and negative affect, "Big 5" personality factors, and social support. Data on sense of control (measured by personal mastery, perceived constraints, and a health-specific rating of control), affect, personality, social support, and two measures of self-reported health (global rating of fair or poor health and presence of functional limitations) were obtained on 6,891 participants in the Health and Retirement Study, a population-based survey of older Americans. The cross-sectional association between sense of control measures and each measure of self-reported health was tested in hierarchical logistic regression models, before and after adjustment for affect, personality, and social support. Participants with higher personal mastery were less likely to report fair/poor health (odds ratio 0.76 per 1-point increase) while those with higher perceived constraints were more likely to report fair/poor health (odds ratio 1.37 per 1-point increase). Associations remained after adjustment for affect, but adjustment for affect attenuated the association of personal mastery by 37% and of perceived constraints by 67%. Further adjustment for personality and social support did not alter the strength of association. Findings were similar for the health-specific rating of control, and for associations with functional limitations. Sense of control is associated with self-reported health in older Americans, but this association is partly confounded by affect.

Intratumoral heterogeneity as a confounding factor in clonogenic assays for tumour radioresponsiveness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Britten, R.A.; Evans, A.J.; Allalunis-Turner, M.J.; Franko, A.J.; Pearcey, R.G.

1996-01-01

The level of intra-tumoral heterogeneity of cellular radiosensitivity within primary cultures of three carcinomas of the cervix has been established. All three cultures contained clones that varied by as much as 3-fold in their clinically relevant radiosensitivity (SF 2 ). The level of intra-tumoral heterogeneity observed in these cervical tumour cultures was sufficient to be a major confounding factor to the use of pre-treatment assessments of radiosensitivity to predict for clinical radioresponsiveness. Mathematical modeling of the relative elimination of the tumour clones during fractionated radiotherapy indicates that, in two of the three biopsy samples, the use of pre-treatment derived SF 2 values from the heterogeneous tumour sample would significantly overestimate radioresponsiveness. We conclude that assays of cellular radiosensitivity that identify the radiosensitivity of the most radioresistant clones and measure their relative abundance could potentially increase the effectiveness of SF 2 values as a predictive marker of radioresponsiveness

Confounding of three binary-variables counterfactual model

OpenAIRE

Liu, Jingwei; Hu, Shuang

2011-01-01

Confounding of three binary-variables counterfactual model is discussed in this paper. According to the effect between the control variable and the covariate variable, we investigate three counterfactual models: the control variable is independent of the covariate variable, the control variable has the effect on the covariate variable and the covariate variable affects the control variable. Using the ancillary information based on conditional independence hypotheses, the sufficient conditions...

Poppers, Kaposi's sarcoma, and HIV infection: empirical example of a strong confounding effect?

Science.gov (United States)

Morabia, A

1995-01-01

Are there empirical examples of strong confounding effects? Textbooks usually show examples of weak confounding or use hypothetical examples of strong confounding to illustrate the paradoxical consequences of not separating out the effect of the studied exposure from that of second factor acting as a confounder. HIV infection is a candidate strong confounder of the spuriously high association reported between consumption of poppers, a sexual stimulant, and risk of Kaposi's sarcoma in the early phase of the AIDS epidemic. To examine this hypothesis, assumptions must be made on the prevalence of HIV infection among cases of Kaposi's sarcoma and on the prevalence of heavy popper consumption according to HIV infection in cases and controls. Results show that HIV infection may have confounded the poppers-Kaposi's sarcoma association. However, it cannot be ruled out that HIV did not qualify as a confounder because it was either an intermediate variable or an effect modifier of the association between popper inhalation and Kaposi's sarcoma. This example provides a basis to discuss the mechanism by which confounding occurs as well as the practical importance of confounding in epidemiologic research.

Control principles of confounders in ecological comparative studies: standardization and regressive modelss

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Varaksin Anatoly

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The methods of the analysis of research data including the concomitant variables (confounders associated with both the response and the current factor are considered. There are two usual ways to take into account such variables: the first, at the stage of planning the experiment and the second, in analyzing the received data. Despite the equal effectiveness of these approaches, there exists strong reason to restrict the usage of regression method to accounting for confounders by ANCOVA. Authors consider the standardization by stratification as a reliable method to account for the effect of confounding factors as opposed to the widely-implemented application of logistic regression and the covariance analysis. The program for the automation of standardization procedure is proposed, it is available at the site of the Institute of Industrial Ecology.

Assessment of Confounding in Studies of Delay and Survival

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tørring, Marie Louise; Vedsted, Peter; Frydenberg, Morten

BACKGROUND: Whether longer time to diagnosis (diagnostic delay) in patients with cancer symptoms is directly and independently associated with poor prognosis cannot be determined in randomised controlled trials. Analysis of observational data is therefore necessary. Many previous studies of the i......BACKGROUND: Whether longer time to diagnosis (diagnostic delay) in patients with cancer symptoms is directly and independently associated with poor prognosis cannot be determined in randomised controlled trials. Analysis of observational data is therefore necessary. Many previous studies......) Clarify which factors are considered confounders or intermediate variables in the literature. 2) Assess how and to what extent these factors bias survival estimates. CONSIDERATIONS: As illustrated in Figure 1, symptoms of cancer may alert patients, GP's, and hospital doctors differently and influence both...... delay and survival time in different ways. We therefore assume that the impact of confounding factors depends on the type of delay studied (e.g., patient delay, GP delay, referral delay, or treatment delay). MATERIALS & METHODS: The project includes systematic review and methodological developments...

Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) in Parkinson's Disease: Potential as Trait-, Progression- and Prediction Marker and Confounding Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Binder, Gerhard; Weber, Karin; Apel, Anja; Roeben, Benjamin; Deuschle, Christian; Maechtel, Mirjam; Heger, Tanja; Nussbaum, Susanne; Gasser, Thomas; Maetzler, Walter; Berg, Daniela

2016-01-01

Introduction Biomarkers indicating trait, progression and prediction of pathology and symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) often lack specificity or reliability. Investigating biomarker variance between individuals and over time and the effect of confounding factors is essential for the evaluation of biomarkers in PD, such as insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Materials and Methods IGF-1 serum levels were investigated in up to 8 biannual visits in 37 PD patients and 22 healthy controls (HC) in the longitudinal MODEP study. IGF-1 baseline levels and annual changes in IGF-1 were compared between PD patients and HC while accounting for baseline disease duration (19 early stage: ≤3.5 years; 18 moderate stage: >4 years), age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and common medical factors putatively modulating IGF-1. In addition, associations of baseline IGF-1 with annual changes of motor, cognitive and depressive symptoms and medication dose were investigated. Results PD patients in moderate (130±26 ng/mL; p = .004), but not early stages (115±19, p>.1), showed significantly increased baseline IGF-1 levels compared with HC (106±24 ng/mL; p = .017). Age had a significant negative correlation with IGF-1 levels in HC (r = -.47, p = .028) and no correlation in PD patients (r = -.06, p>.1). BMI was negatively correlated in the overall group (r = -.28, p = .034). The annual changes in IGF-1 did not differ significantly between groups and were not correlated with disease duration. Baseline IGF-1 levels were not associated with annual changes of clinical parameters. Discussion Elevated IGF-1 in serum might differentiate between patients in moderate PD stages and HC. However, the value of serum IGF-1 as a trait-, progression- and prediction marker in PD is limited as IGF-1 showed large inter- and intraindividual variability and may be modulated by several confounders. PMID:26967642

Bias, Confounding, and Interaction: Lions and Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!

Science.gov (United States)

Vetter, Thomas R; Mascha, Edward J

2017-09-01

Epidemiologists seek to make a valid inference about the causal effect between an exposure and a disease in a specific population, using representative sample data from a specific population. Clinical researchers likewise seek to make a valid inference about the association between an intervention and outcome(s) in a specific population, based upon their randomly collected, representative sample data. Both do so by using the available data about the sample variable to make a valid estimate about its corresponding or underlying, but unknown population parameter. Random error in an experiment can be due to the natural, periodic fluctuation or variation in the accuracy or precision of virtually any data sampling technique or health measurement tool or scale. In a clinical research study, random error can be due to not only innate human variability but also purely chance. Systematic error in an experiment arises from an innate flaw in the data sampling technique or measurement instrument. In the clinical research setting, systematic error is more commonly referred to as systematic bias. The most commonly encountered types of bias in anesthesia, perioperative, critical care, and pain medicine research include recall bias, observational bias (Hawthorne effect), attrition bias, misclassification or informational bias, and selection bias. A confounding variable is a factor associated with both the exposure of interest and the outcome of interest. A confounding variable (confounding factor or confounder) is a variable that correlates (positively or negatively) with both the exposure and outcome. Confounding is typically not an issue in a randomized trial because the randomized groups are sufficiently balanced on all potential confounding variables, both observed and nonobserved. However, confounding can be a major problem with any observational (nonrandomized) study. Ignoring confounding in an observational study will often result in a "distorted" or incorrect estimate of

High Levels of Sample-to-Sample Variation Confound Data Analysis for Non-Invasive Prenatal Screening of Fetal Microdeletions.

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Tianjiao Chu

Full Text Available Our goal was to test the hypothesis that inter-individual genomic copy number variation in control samples is a confounding factor in the non-invasive prenatal detection of fetal microdeletions via the sequence-based analysis of maternal plasma DNA. The database of genomic variants (DGV was used to determine the "Genomic Variants Frequency" (GVF for each 50kb region in the human genome. Whole genome sequencing of fifteen karyotypically normal maternal plasma and six CVS DNA controls samples was performed. The coefficient of variation of relative read counts (cv.RTC for these samples was determined for each 50kb region. Maternal plasma from two pregnancies affected with a chromosome 5p microdeletion was also sequenced, and analyzed using the GCREM algorithm. We found strong correlation between high variance in read counts and GVF amongst controls. Consequently we were unable to confirm the presence of the microdeletion via sequencing of maternal plasma samples obtained from two sequential affected pregnancies. Caution should be exercised when performing NIPT for microdeletions. It is vital to develop our understanding of the factors that impact the sensitivity and specificity of these approaches. In particular, benign copy number variation amongst controls is a major confounder, and their effects should be corrected bioinformatically.

Sensitivity analysis for the effects of multiple unmeasured confounders.

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Groenwold, Rolf H H; Sterne, Jonathan A C; Lawlor, Debbie A; Moons, Karel G M; Hoes, Arno W; Tilling, Kate

2016-09-01

Observational studies are prone to (unmeasured) confounding. Sensitivity analysis of unmeasured confounding typically focuses on a single unmeasured confounder. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of multiple (possibly weak) unmeasured confounders. Simulation studies were performed based on parameters estimated from the British Women's Heart and Health Study, including 28 measured confounders and assuming no effect of ascorbic acid intake on mortality. In addition, 25, 50, or 100 unmeasured confounders were simulated, with various mutual correlations and correlations with measured confounders. The correlated unmeasured confounders did not need to be strongly associated with exposure and outcome to substantially bias the exposure-outcome association at interest, provided that there are sufficiently many unmeasured confounders. Correlations between unmeasured confounders, in addition to the strength of their relationship with exposure and outcome, are key drivers of the magnitude of unmeasured confounding and should be considered in sensitivity analyses. However, if the unmeasured confounders are correlated with measured confounders, the bias yielded by unmeasured confounders is partly removed through adjustment for the measured confounders. Discussions of the potential impact of unmeasured confounding in observational studies, and sensitivity analyses to examine this, should focus on the potential for the joint effect of multiple unmeasured confounders to bias results. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Procedural Factors That Affect Psychophysical Measures of Spatial Selectivity in Cochlear Implant Users

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Stefano Cosentino

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Behavioral measures of spatial selectivity in cochlear implants are important both for guiding the programing of individual users’ implants and for the evaluation of different stimulation methods. However, the methods used are subject to a number of confounding factors that can contaminate estimates of spatial selectivity. These factors include off-site listening, charge interactions between masker and probe pulses in interleaved masking paradigms, and confusion effects in forward masking. We review the effects of these confounds and discuss methods for minimizing them. We describe one such method in which the level of a 125-pps masker is adjusted so as to mask a 125-pps probe, and where the masker and probe pulses are temporally interleaved. Five experiments describe the method and evaluate the potential roles of the different potential confounding factors. No evidence was obtained for off-site listening of the type observed in acoustic hearing. The choice of the masking paradigm was shown to alter the measured spatial selectivity. For short gaps between masker and probe pulses, both facilitation and refractory mechanisms had an effect on masking; this finding should inform the choice of stimulation rate in interleaved masking experiments. No evidence for confusion effects in forward masking was revealed. It is concluded that the proposed method avoids many potential confounds but that the choice of method should depend on the research question under investigation.

Investigating the Idoho oil spillage into Lagos: Some confounding ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... caused by these spillages must consider the socio-economic characteristics of the population as this may reveal a true picture of the event and facilitate proper interpretation of the result. Keywords: Toxicity, Idoho Oil Spillage, Confounders, Socio economic factors. Nigerian Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences Vol.

Determining Confounding Sensitivities In Eddy Current Thin Film Measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gros, Ethan; Udpa, Lalita; Smith, James A.; Wachs, Katelyn

2016-07-01

Determining Confounding Sensitivities In Eddy Current Thin Film Measurements Ethan Gros, Lalita Udpa, Electrical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI 48824 James A. Smith, Experiment Analysis, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls ID 83415 Eddy current (EC) techniques are widely used in industry to measure the thickness of non-conductive films on a metal substrate. This is done using a system whereby a coil carrying a high-frequency alternating current is used to create an alternating magnetic field at the surface of the instrument's probe. When the probe is brought near a conductive surface, the alternating magnetic field will induce ECs in the conductor. The substrate characteristics and the distance of the probe from the substrate (the coating thickness) affect the magnitude of the ECs. The induced currents load the probe coil affecting the terminal impedance of the coil. The measured probe impedance is related to the lift off between coil and conductor as well as conductivity of the test sample. For a known conductivity sample, the probe impedance can be converted into an equivalent film thickness value. The EC measurement can be confounded by a number of measurement parameters. It is the goal of this research to determine which physical properties of the measurement set-up and sample can adversely affect the thickness measurement. The eddy current testing is performed using a commercially available, hand held eddy current probe (ETA3.3H spring loaded eddy probe running at 8 MHz) that comes with a stand to hold the probe. The stand holds the probe and adjusts the probe on the z-axis to help position the probe in the correct area as well as make precise measurements. The signal from the probe is sent to a hand held readout, where the results are recorded directly in terms of liftoff or film thickness. Understanding the effect of certain factors on the measurements of film thickness, will help to evaluate how accurate the ETA3.3H spring

Indoor biofuel air pollution and respiratory health: the role of confounding factors among women in highland Guatemala.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruce, N; Neufeld, L; Boy, E; West, C

1998-06-01

A number of studies have reported associations between indoor biofuel air pollution in developing countries and chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) in adults and acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) in children. Most of these studies have used indirect measures of exposure and generally dealt inadequately with confounding. More reliable, quantified information about this presumed effect is an important pre-requisite for prevention, not least because of the technical, economic and cultural barriers to achieving substantial exposure reductions in the world's poorest households, where ambient pollution levels are typically between ten and a hundred times higher than recommended standards. This study was carried out as part of a programme of research designed to inform the development of intervention studies capable of providing quantified estimates of health benefits. The association between respiratory symptoms and the use of open fires and chimney woodstoves ('planchas'), and the distribution of confounding factors, were examined in a cross-sectional study of 340 women aged 15-45 years, living in a poor rural area in the western highlands of Guatemala. The prevalence of reported cough and phlegm was significantly higher for three of six symptom measures among women using open fires. Although this finding is consistent with a number of other studies, none has systematically examined the extent to which strong associations with confounding variables in these settings limit the ability of observational studies to define the effect of indoor air pollution adequately. Very strong associations (P air pollution and health, although there is a reasonable case for believing that the observed association is causal. Intervention studies are required for stronger evidence of this association, and more importantly, to determine the size of health benefit achievable through feasible exposure reductions.

Confounding in statistical mediation analysis: What it is and how to address it.

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Valente, Matthew J; Pelham, William E; Smyth, Heather; MacKinnon, David P

2017-11-01

Psychology researchers are often interested in mechanisms underlying how randomized interventions affect outcomes such as substance use and mental health. Mediation analysis is a common statistical method for investigating psychological mechanisms that has benefited from exciting new methodological improvements over the last 2 decades. One of the most important new developments is methodology for estimating causal mediated effects using the potential outcomes framework for causal inference. Potential outcomes-based methods developed in epidemiology and statistics have important implications for understanding psychological mechanisms. We aim to provide a concise introduction to and illustration of these new methods and emphasize the importance of confounder adjustment. First, we review the traditional regression approach for estimating mediated effects. Second, we describe the potential outcomes framework. Third, we define what a confounder is and how the presence of a confounder can provide misleading evidence regarding mechanisms of interventions. Fourth, we describe experimental designs that can help rule out confounder bias. Fifth, we describe new statistical approaches to adjust for measured confounders of the mediator-outcome relation and sensitivity analyses to probe effects of unmeasured confounders on the mediated effect. All approaches are illustrated with application to a real counseling intervention dataset. Counseling psychologists interested in understanding the causal mechanisms of their interventions can benefit from incorporating the most up-to-date techniques into their mediation analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

phMRI: methodological considerations for mitigating potential confounding factors

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Julius H Bourke

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Pharmacological Magnetic Resonance Imaging (phMRI is a variant of conventional MRI that adds pharmacological manipulations in order to study the effects of drugs, or uses pharmacological probes to investigate basic or applied (e.g. clinical neuroscience questions. Issues that may confound the interpretation of results from various types of phMRI studies are briefly discussed, and a set of methodological strategies that can mitigate these problems are described. These include strategies that can be employed at every stage of investigation, from study design to interpretation of resulting data, and additional techniques suited for use with clinical populations are also featured. Pharmacological MRI is a challenging area of research that has both significant advantages and formidable difficulties, however with due consideration and use of these strategies many of the key obstacles can be overcome.

Confounding by dietary patterns of the inverse association between alcohol consumption and type 2 diabetes risk

Science.gov (United States)

Epidemiology of dietary components and disease risk limits interpretability due to potential residual confounding by correlated dietary components. Dietary pattern analyses by factor analysis or partial least squares may overcome this limitation. To examine confounding by dietary pattern as well as ...

Confounding by dietary pattern of the inverse association between alcohol consumption and type 2 diabetes risk

Science.gov (United States)

Epidemiology of dietary components and disease risk limits interpretability due to potential residual confounding by correlated dietary components. Dietary pattern analyses by factor analysis or partial least squares may overcome the limitation. To examine confounding by dietary pattern as well as ...

Bias formulas for sensitivity analysis of unmeasured confounding for general outcomes, treatments, and confounders.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanderweele, Tyler J; Arah, Onyebuchi A

2011-01-01

Uncontrolled confounding in observational studies gives rise to biased effect estimates. Sensitivity analysis techniques can be useful in assessing the magnitude of these biases. In this paper, we use the potential outcomes framework to derive a general class of sensitivity-analysis formulas for outcomes, treatments, and measured and unmeasured confounding variables that may be categorical or continuous. We give results for additive, risk-ratio and odds-ratio scales. We show that these results encompass a number of more specific sensitivity-analysis methods in the statistics and epidemiology literature. The applicability, usefulness, and limits of the bias-adjustment formulas are discussed. We illustrate the sensitivity-analysis techniques that follow from our results by applying them to 3 different studies. The bias formulas are particularly simple and easy to use in settings in which the unmeasured confounding variable is binary with constant effect on the outcome across treatment levels.

Comparison of statistical approaches dealing with time-dependent confounding in drug effectiveness studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Karim, Mohammad Ehsanul; Petkau, John; Gustafson, Paul; Platt, Robert W; Tremlett, Helen

2018-06-01

In longitudinal studies, if the time-dependent covariates are affected by the past treatment, time-dependent confounding may be present. For a time-to-event response, marginal structural Cox models are frequently used to deal with such confounding. To avoid some of the problems of fitting marginal structural Cox model, the sequential Cox approach has been suggested as an alternative. Although the estimation mechanisms are different, both approaches claim to estimate the causal effect of treatment by appropriately adjusting for time-dependent confounding. We carry out simulation studies to assess the suitability of the sequential Cox approach for analyzing time-to-event data in the presence of a time-dependent covariate that may or may not be a time-dependent confounder. Results from these simulations revealed that the sequential Cox approach is not as effective as marginal structural Cox model in addressing the time-dependent confounding. The sequential Cox approach was also found to be inadequate in the presence of a time-dependent covariate. We propose a modified version of the sequential Cox approach that correctly estimates the treatment effect in both of the above scenarios. All approaches are applied to investigate the impact of beta-interferon treatment in delaying disability progression in the British Columbia Multiple Sclerosis cohort (1995-2008).

Influence of GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes and confounding factors on the frequency of sister chromatid exchange and micronucleus among road construction workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Anil; Yadav, Anita; Giri, Shiv Kumar; Dev, Kapil; Gautam, Sanjeev Kumar; Gupta, Ranjan; Aggarwal, Neeraj

2011-07-01

In the present study, we have investigated the influence of polymorphism of GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes and confounding factors such as age, sex, exposure duration and consumption habits on cytogenetic biomarkers. Frequency of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs), high frequency cell (HFC) and cytokinesis blocked micronuclei (CBMN) were evaluated in peripheral blood lymphocytes of 115 occupationally exposed road construction workers and 105 unexposed individuals. The distribution of null and positive genotypes of glutathione-S transferase gene was evaluated by multiplex PCR among control and exposed subjects. An increased frequency of CBMN (7.03±2.08); SCE (6.95±1.76) and HFC (6.28±1.69) were found in exposed subjects when compared to referent (CBMN - 3.35±1.10; SCE - 4.13±1.30 and HFC - 3.98±1.56). These results were found statistically significant at p<0.05. When the effect of confounding factors on the frequency of studied biomarkers was evaluated, a strong positive interaction was found. The individuals having GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotypes had higher frequency of CBMN, SCE and HFC. The association between GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes and studied biomarkers was found statistically significant at p<0.05. Our findings suggest that individuals having null type of GST are more susceptible to cytogenetic damage by occupational exposure regardless of confounding factors. There is a significant effect of polymorphism of these genes on cytogenetic biomarkers which are considered as early effects of genotoxic carcinogens. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How to ask about patient satisfaction? The visual analogue scale is less vulnerable to confounding factors and ceiling effect than a symmetric Likert scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Voutilainen, Ari; Pitkäaho, Taina; Kvist, Tarja; Vehviläinen-Julkunen, Katri

2016-04-01

To study the effects of scale type (visual analogue scale vs. Likert), item order (systematic vs. random), item non-response and patient-related characteristics (age, gender, subjective health, need for assistance with filling out the questionnaire and length of stay) on the results of patient satisfaction surveys. Although patient satisfaction is one of the most intensely studied issues in the health sciences, research information about the effects of possible instrument-related confounding factors on patient satisfaction surveys is scant. A quasi-experimental design was employed. A non-randomized sample of 150 surgical patients was gathered to minimize possible alterations in care quality. Data were collected in May-September 2014 from one tertiary hospital in Finland using the Revised Humane Caring Scale instrument. New versions of the instrument were created for the present purposes. In these versions, items were either in a visual analogue format or Likert-scaled, in systematic or random order. The data were analysed using an analysis of covariance and a paired samples t-test. The visual analogue scale items were less vulnerable to bias from confounding factors than were the Likert-scaled items. The visual analogue scale also avoided the ceiling effect better than Likert and the time needed to complete the visual analogue scale questionnaire was 28% shorter than that needed to complete the Likert-scaled questionnaire. The present results supported the use of visual analogue scale rather than Likert scaling in patient satisfaction surveys and stressed the need to account for as many potential confounding factors as possible. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effect of water quality and confounding factors on digestive enzyme activities in Gammarus fossarum.

Science.gov (United States)

Charron, L; Geffard, O; Chaumot, A; Coulaud, R; Queau, H; Geffard, A; Dedourge-Geffard, O

2013-12-01

The feeding activity and subsequent assimilation of the products resulting from food digestion allow organisms to obtain energy for growth, maintenance and reproduction. Among these biological parameters, we studied digestive enzymes (amylase, cellulase and trypsin) in Gammarus fossarum to assess the impact of contaminants on their access to energy resources. However, to enable objective assessment of a toxic effect of decreased water quality on an organisms' digestive capacity, it is necessary to establish reference values based on its natural variability as a function of changing biotic and abiotic factors. To limit the confounding influence of biotic factors, a caging approach with calibrated male organisms from the same population was used. This study applied an in situ deployment at 23 sites of the Rhone basin rivers, complemented by a laboratory experiment assessing the influence of two abiotic factors (temperature and conductivity). The results showed a small effect of conductivity on cellulase activity and a significant effect of temperature on digestive enzyme activity but only at the lowest temperature (7 °C). The experimental conditions allowed us to define an environmental reference value for digestive enzyme activities to select sites where the quality of the water impacted the digestive capacity of the organisms. In addition to the feeding rate, this study showed the relevance of digestive enzymes as biomarkers to be used as an early warning tool to reflect organisms' health and the chemical quality of aquatic ecosystems.

Using ecological propensity score to adjust for missing confounders in small area studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yingbo; Pirani, Monica; Hansell, Anna L; Richardson, Sylvia; Blangiardo, Marta

2017-11-09

Small area ecological studies are commonly used in epidemiology to assess the impact of area level risk factors on health outcomes when data are only available in an aggregated form. However, the resulting estimates are often biased due to unmeasured confounders, which typically are not available from the standard administrative registries used for these studies. Extra information on confounders can be provided through external data sets such as surveys or cohorts, where the data are available at the individual level rather than at the area level; however, such data typically lack the geographical coverage of administrative registries. We develop a framework of analysis which combines ecological and individual level data from different sources to provide an adjusted estimate of area level risk factors which is less biased. Our method (i) summarizes all available individual level confounders into an area level scalar variable, which we call ecological propensity score (EPS), (ii) implements a hierarchical structured approach to impute the values of EPS whenever they are missing, and (iii) includes the estimated and imputed EPS into the ecological regression linking the risk factors to the health outcome. Through a simulation study, we show that integrating individual level data into small area analyses via EPS is a promising method to reduce the bias intrinsic in ecological studies due to unmeasured confounders; we also apply the method to a real case study to evaluate the effect of air pollution on coronary heart disease hospital admissions in Greater London. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Overview of potential procedural and participant-related confounds for neuroimaging of the resting state

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Niall W.; Northoff, Georg

2013-01-01

Studies of intrinsic brain activity in the resting state have become increasingly common. A productive discussion of what analysis methods are appropriate, of the importance of physiologic correction and of the potential interpretations of results has been ongoing. However, less attention has been paid to factors other than physiologic noise that may confound resting-state experiments. These range from straightforward factors, such as ensuring that participants are all instructed in the same manner, to more obscure participant-related factors, such as body weight. We provide an overview of such potentially confounding factors, along with some suggested approaches for minimizing their impact. A particular theme that emerges from the overview is the range of systematic differences between types of study groups (e.g., between patients and controls) that may influence resting-state study results. PMID:22964258

Target gene expression levels and competition between transfected and endogenous microRNAs are strong confounding factors in microRNA high-throughput experiments

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background MicroRNA (miRNA) target genes tend to have relatively long and conserved 3' untranslated regions (UTRs), but to what degree these characteristics contribute to miRNA targeting is poorly understood. Different high-throughput experiments have, for example, shown that miRNAs preferentially regulate genes with both short and long 3' UTRs and that target site conservation is both important and irrelevant for miRNA targeting. Results We have analyzed several gene context-dependent features, including 3' UTR length, 3' UTR conservation, and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels, reported to have conflicting influence on miRNA regulation. By taking into account confounding factors such as technology-dependent experimental bias and competition between transfected and endogenous miRNAs, we show that two factors - target gene expression and competition - could explain most of the previously reported experimental differences. Moreover, we find that these and other target site-independent features explain about the same amount of variation in target gene expression as the target site-dependent features included in the TargetScan model. Conclusions Our results show that it is important to consider confounding factors when interpreting miRNA high throughput experiments and urge special caution when using microarray data to compare average regulatory effects between groups of genes that have different average gene expression levels. PMID:22325809

Mildly elevated serum total bilirubin is negatively associated with hemoglobin A1c independently of confounding factors among community-dwelling middle-aged and elderly persons

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Ryuichi Kawamoto

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Abnormally high glycated hemoglobin (Hb (HbA1c is significantly associated with oxidative stress and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD. Serum total bilirubin (T-B may have a beneficial role in preventing oxidative changes and be a negative risk factor of CVD. Limited information is available on whether serum T-B is an independent confounding factor of HbA1c. The study subjects were 633 men aged 70 ± 9 (mean ± standard deviation (SD years and 878 women aged 70 ± 8 years who were enrolled consecutively from among patients aged ≥40 years through a community-based annual check-up process. We evaluated the relationship between various confounding factors including serum T-B and HbA1c in each gender. Multiple linear regression analysis pertaining to HbA1c showed that in men, serum T-B ( β = −0.139 as well as waist circumference ( β = 0.099, exercise habit ( β = 0.137, systolic blood pressure (SBP ( β = 0.076, triglycerides ( β = 0.087, and uric acid ( β = −0.123 were significantly and independently associated with HbA1c, and in women, serum T-B ( β = −0.084 as well as body mass index ( β = 0.090, smoking status ( β = −0.077, SBP ( β = 0.117, diastolic blood pressure (DBP ( β = −0.155, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( β = 0.074, prevalence of antidyslipidemic medication ( β = 0.174, and uric acid ( β = 0.090 were also significantly and independently associated with HbA1c. Multivariate-adjusted serum HbA1c levels were significantly high in subjects with the lowest serum T-B levels in both genders. Serum T-B is an independent confounding factor for HbA1c among community-dwelling middle-aged and elderly persons.

Effect decomposition in the presence of an exposure-induced mediator-outcome confounder

Science.gov (United States)

VanderWeele, Tyler J.; Vansteelandt, Stijn; Robins, James M.

2014-01-01

Methods from causal mediation analysis have generalized the traditional approach to direct and indirect effects in the epidemiologic and social science literature by allowing for interaction and non-linearities. However, the methods from the causal inference literature have themselves been subject to a major limitation in that the so-called natural direct and indirect effects that are employed are not identified from data whenever there is a variable that is affected by the exposure, which also confounds the relationship between the mediator and the outcome. In this paper we describe three alternative approaches to effect decomposition that give quantities that can be interpreted as direct and indirect effects, and that can be identified from data even in the presence of an exposure-induced mediator-outcome confounder. We describe a simple weighting-based estimation method for each of these three approaches, illustrated with data from perinatal epidemiology. The methods described here can shed insight into pathways and questions of mediation even when an exposure-induced mediator-outcome confounder is present. PMID:24487213

Hypnotics and mortality – confounding by disease and socioeconomic position

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kriegbaum, Margit; Hendriksen, Carsten; Vass, Mikkel

2015-01-01

Purpose The aim of this Cohort study of 10 527 Danish men was to investigate the extent to which the association between hypnotics and mortality is confounded by several markers of disease and living conditions. Methods Exposure was purchases of hypnotics 1995–1999 (“low users” (150 or less defined......% confidence intervals (CI). Results When covariates were entered one at a time, the changes in HR estimates showed that psychiatric disease, socioeconomic position and substance abuse reduced the excess risk by 17–36% in the low user group and by 45–52% in the high user group. Somatic disease, intelligence...... point at psychiatric disease, substance abuse and socioeconomic position as potential confounding factors partly explaining the association between use of hypnotics and all-cause mortality....

An indicator for effects of organic toxicants on lotic invertebrate communities: Independence of confounding environmental factors over an extensive river continuum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beketov, Mikhail A.; Liess, Matthias

2008-01-01

Distinguishing between effects of natural and anthropogenic environmental factors on ecosystems is a fundamental problem in environmental science. In river systems the longitudinal gradient of environmental factors is one of the most relevant sources of dissimilarity between communities that could be confounded with anthropogenic disturbances. To test the hypothesis that in macroinvertebrate communities the distribution of species' sensitivity to organic toxicants is independent of natural longitudinal factors, but depends on contamination with organic toxicants, we analysed the relationship between community sensitivity SPEAR organic (average community sensitivity to organic toxicants) and natural and anthropogenic environmental factors in a large-scale river system, from alpine streams to a lowland river. The results show that SPEAR organic is largely independent of natural longitudinal factors, but strongly dependent on contamination with organic toxicants (petrochemicals and synthetic surfactants). Usage of SPEAR organic as a stressor-specific longitude-independent measure will facilitate detection of community disturbance by organic toxicants. - Indicator for organic toxicants at community level can be independent of natural environmental factors

Carotta: Revealing Hidden Confounder Markers in Metabolic Breath Profiles

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Anne-Christin Hauschild

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Computational breath analysis is a growing research area aiming at identifying volatile organic compounds (VOCs in human breath to assist medical diagnostics of the next generation. While inexpensive and non-invasive bioanalytical technologies for metabolite detection in exhaled air and bacterial/fungal vapor exist and the first studies on the power of supervised machine learning methods for profiling of the resulting data were conducted, we lack methods to extract hidden data features emerging from confounding factors. Here, we present Carotta, a new cluster analysis framework dedicated to uncovering such hidden substructures by sophisticated unsupervised statistical learning methods. We study the power of transitivity clustering and hierarchical clustering to identify groups of VOCs with similar expression behavior over most patient breath samples and/or groups of patients with a similar VOC intensity pattern. This enables the discovery of dependencies between metabolites. On the one hand, this allows us to eliminate the effect of potential confounding factors hindering disease classification, such as smoking. On the other hand, we may also identify VOCs associated with disease subtypes or concomitant diseases. Carotta is an open source software with an intuitive graphical user interface promoting data handling, analysis and visualization. The back-end is designed to be modular, allowing for easy extensions with plugins in the future, such as new clustering methods and statistics. It does not require much prior knowledge or technical skills to operate. We demonstrate its power and applicability by means of one artificial dataset. We also apply Carotta exemplarily to a real-world example dataset on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD. While the artificial data are utilized as a proof of concept, we will demonstrate how Carotta finds candidate markers in our real dataset associated with confounders rather than the primary disease (COPD

Factors Affecting University Library Website Design

OpenAIRE

Kim, Yongi-Mi; University of Oklahoma

2011-01-01

Existing studies have extensively explored factors that affect users’ intentions to use university library website resources (ULWR); yet little attention has been given to factors affecting university library website design. This paper investigates factors that affect university library website design and assesses the success of the university library website from both designers’ and users’ perspectives. The findings show that when planning a website, university web designers consider univers...

Comorbidity and confounding factors in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and sleep disorders in children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huang YS

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Ya-Wen Jan1,2, Chien-Ming Yang1,3, Yu-Shu Huang4,51Department of Psychology, National Cheng-Chi University, Taipei; 2Sleep Center of Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei; 3The Research Center for Mind Brain and Learning, National Cheng-Chi University, Taipei; 4Department of Child Psychiatry and Sleep Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan; 5College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, TaiwanAbstract: Sleep problems are commonly reported in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD symptoms. Research data regarding the complex and reciprocal relationship between ADHD and sleep disturbances has now accumulated. This paper is focused on the types of sleep problems that are associated with ADHD symptomatology, and attempts to untangle confounding factors and overlapping symptoms. The goal is also to present an updated overview of the pathophysiology of and treatment strategies for sleep problems in children with ADHD. The review also points out that future research will be needed to clarify further the other psychiatric comorbidities and side effects of medication in order to improve treatment outcomes and prevent misdiagnosis in clinical practice.Keywords: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, sleep, children 

Medical versus surgical abortion: comparing satisfaction and potential confounders in a partly randomized study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rørbye, Christina; Nørgaard, Mogens; Nilas, Lisbeth

2005-01-01

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to compare satisfaction with medical and surgical abortion and to identify potential confounders affecting satisfaction. METHODS: 1033 women with gestational age (GA) < or = 63 days had either a medical (600 mg mifepristone followed by 1 mg gemeprost) or a sur...

The use of aquatic bioconcentration factors in ecological risk assessments: Confounding issues, laboratory v/s modeled results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brandt, C.; Blanton, M.L.; Dirkes, R.

1995-01-01

Bioconcentration in aquatic systems is generally taken to refer to contaminant uptake through non-ingestion pathways (i.e., dermal and respiration uptake). Ecological risk assessments performed on aquatic systems often rely on published data on bioconcentration factors to calibrate models of exposure. However, many published BCFs, especially those from in situ studies, are confounded by uptake from ingestion of prey. As part of exposure assessment and risk analysis of the Columbia River's Hanford Reach, the authors tested a methodology to estimate radionuclide BCFs for several aquatic species in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River. The iterative methodology solves for BCFs from known body burdens and environmental media concentrations. This paper provides BCF methodology description comparisons of BCF from literature and modeled values and how they were used in the exposure assessment and risk analysis of the Columbia River's Hanford Reach

Factors affecting nuclear development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stevens, G.H.; Girouard, P.

1995-01-01

Among the factors affecting nuclear development, some depend more or less on public authorities, but many are out of public authorities control (foreign policies, market and deregulation, socials and environmental impacts, public opinion). As far as possible, the following study tries to identify those factors. (D.L.). 2 photos

Factors affecting construction performance: exploratory factor analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Soewin, E.; Chinda, T.

2018-04-01

The present work attempts to develop a multidimensional performance evaluation framework for a construction company by considering all relevant measures of performance. Based on the previous studies, this study hypothesizes nine key factors, with a total of 57 associated items. The hypothesized factors, with their associated items, are then used to develop questionnaire survey to gather data. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was applied to the collected data which gave rise 10 factors with 57 items affecting construction performance. The findings further reveal that the items constituting ten key performance factors (KPIs) namely; 1) Time, 2) Cost, 3) Quality, 4) Safety & Health, 5) Internal Stakeholder, 6) External Stakeholder, 7) Client Satisfaction, 8) Financial Performance, 9) Environment, and 10) Information, Technology & Innovation. The analysis helps to develop multi-dimensional performance evaluation framework for an effective measurement of the construction performance. The 10 key performance factors can be broadly categorized into economic aspect, social aspect, environmental aspect, and technology aspects. It is important to understand a multi-dimension performance evaluation framework by including all key factors affecting the construction performance of a company, so that the management level can effectively plan to implement an effective performance development plan to match with the mission and vision of the company.

Factors Affecting Medical Service Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Mosadeghrad, Ali Mohammad

2014-02-01

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

Examining the Factors Affecting Student Dropout

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fethi Ahmet INAN

2006-07-01

Full Text Available This study examined the factors affecting student dropouts in an online certificate program. In this research, a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used. Online Course Dropout Survey was developed and used to determine which factors affect student attrition from the program. The dropout survey was sent by e-mail to 98 students who had dropped the program. Twenty-six students returned the survey. The findings show that the most important factor affecting student retention is finding sufficient time to study. Having personal problems and affordability of the program took second and third place.

Mismeasurement and the resonance of strong confounders: uncorrelated errors.

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, J R; Hastrup, J L

1996-05-15

Greenland first documented (Am J Epidemiol 1980; 112:564-9) that error in the measurement of a confounder could resonate--that it could bias estimates of other study variables, and that the bias could persist even with statistical adjustment for the confounder as measured. An important question is raised by this finding: can such bias be more than trivial within the bounds of realistic data configurations? The authors examine several situations involving dichotomous and continuous data in which a confounder and a null variable are measured with error, and they assess the extent of resultant bias in estimates of the effect of the null variable. They show that, with continuous variables, measurement error amounting to 40% of observed variance in the confounder could cause the observed impact of the null study variable to appear to alter risk by as much as 30%. Similarly, they show, with dichotomous independent variables, that 15% measurement error in the form of misclassification could lead the null study variable to appear to alter risk by as much as 50%. Such bias would result only from strong confounding. Measurement error would obscure the evidence that strong confounding is a likely problem. These results support the need for every epidemiologic inquiry to include evaluations of measurement error in each variable considered.

Marine oils: Complex, confusing, confounded?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin B. Albert

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Marine oils gained prominence following the report that Greenland Inuits who consumed a high-fat diet rich in long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs also had low rates of cardiovascular disease. Marine n-3 PUFAs have since become a billion dollar industry, which will continue to grow based on current trends. However, recent systematic reviews question the health benefits of marine oil supplements, particularly in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Marine oils constitute an extremely complex dietary intervention for a number of reasons: i the many chemical compounds they contain; ii the many biological processes affected by n-3 PUFAs; iii their tendency to deteriorate and form potentially toxic primary and secondary oxidation products; and iv inaccuracy in the labelling of consumer products. These complexities may confound the clinical literature, limiting the ability to make substantive conclusions for some key health outcomes. Thus, there is a pressing need for clinical trials using marine oils whose composition has been independently verified and demonstrated to be minimally oxidised. Without such data, it is premature to conclude that n-3 PUFA rich supplements are ineffective.

Climate change as a confounding factor in reversibility of acidification: RAIN and CLIMEX projects

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R. F. Wright

2001-01-01

Full Text Available The RAIN and CLIMEX experiments at Risdalsheia, southernmost Norway, together cover 17 years (1984-2000 of whole-catchment manipulation of acid deposition and climate. A 1200 m2 roof placed over the forest canopy at KIM catchment excluded about 80% of ambient acid deposition; clean rain was sprinkled under the roof. A climate change treatment (3.7°C increase in air temperature and increase in air carbon dioxide concentrations to 560 ppmv was superimposed on the clean rain treatment for four years (1995-1998. Sea-salt inputs and temperature are climate-related factors that influence water chemistry and can confound long-term trends caused by changes in deposition of sulphur and nitrogen. The RAIN and CLIMEX experiments at Risdalsheia provided direct experimental data that allow quantitative assessment of these factors. Run-off chemistry responded rapidly to the decreased acid deposition. Sulphate concentrations decreased by 50% within three years; nitrate and ammonium concentrations decreased to new steady-state levels within the first year. Acid neutralising capacity increased and hydrogen ion and inorganic aluminium decreased. Similar recovery from acidification was also observed at the reference catchment, ROLF, in response to the general 50% reduction in sulphate deposition over southern Norway in the late 1980s and 1990s. Variations in sea-salt deposition caused large variations in run-off chemistry at the reference catchment ROLF and the year-to-year noise in acid neutralising capacity was as large as the overall trend over the period. These variations were absent at KIM catchment because the sea-salt inputs were held constant over the entire 17 years of the clean rain treatment. The climate change experiment at KIM catchment resulted in increased leaching of inorganic nitrogen, probably due to increased mineralisation and nitrification rates in the soils. Keywords: acid deposition, global change, water, soil, catchment, experiment, Norway.

Low Calorie Diet Affects Aging-Related Factors

Science.gov (United States)

... Current Issue Past Issues Research News From NIH Low Calorie Diet Affects Aging-Related Factors Past Issues / ... to learn more about the effects of sustained low-calorie diets in humans on factors affecting aging. ...

Methods to control for unmeasured confounding in pharmacoepidemiology: an overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Uddin, Md Jamal; Groenwold, Rolf H H; Ali, Mohammed Sanni; de Boer, Anthonius; Roes, Kit C B; Chowdhury, Muhammad A B; Klungel, Olaf H

2016-06-01

Background Unmeasured confounding is one of the principal problems in pharmacoepidemiologic studies. Several methods have been proposed to detect or control for unmeasured confounding either at the study design phase or the data analysis phase. Aim of the Review To provide an overview of commonly used methods to detect or control for unmeasured confounding and to provide recommendations for proper application in pharmacoepidemiology. Methods/Results Methods to control for unmeasured confounding in the design phase of a study are case only designs (e.g., case-crossover, case-time control, self-controlled case series) and the prior event rate ratio adjustment method. Methods that can be applied in the data analysis phase include, negative control method, perturbation variable method, instrumental variable methods, sensitivity analysis, and ecological analysis. A separate group of methods are those in which additional information on confounders is collected from a substudy. The latter group includes external adjustment, propensity score calibration, two-stage sampling, and multiple imputation. Conclusion As the performance and application of the methods to handle unmeasured confounding may differ across studies and across databases, we stress the importance of using both statistical evidence and substantial clinical knowledge for interpretation of the study results.

Phenotypic variation as an indicator of pesticide stress in gudgeon: Accounting for confounding factors in the wild.

Science.gov (United States)

Shinn, Cândida; Blanchet, Simon; Loot, Géraldine; Lek, Sovan; Grenouillet, Gaël

2015-12-15

The response of organisms to environmental stress is currently used in the assessment of ecosystem health. Morphological changes integrate the multiple effects of one or several stress factors upon the development of the exposed organisms. In a natural environment, many factors determine the patterns of morphological differentiation between individuals. However, few studies have sought to distinguish and measure the independent effect of these factors (genetic diversity and structure, spatial structuring of populations, physical-chemical conditions, etc.). Here we investigated the relationship between pesticide levels measured at 11 sites sampled in rivers of the Garonne river basin (SW France) and morphological changes of a freshwater fish species, the gudgeon (Gobio gobio). Each individual sampled was genotyped using 8 microsatellite markers and their phenotype characterized via 17 morphological traits. Our analysis detected a link between population genetic structure (revealed by a Bayesian method) and morphometry (linear discriminant analysis) of the studied populations. We then developed an original method based on general linear models using distance matrices, an extension of the partial Mantel test beyond 3 matrices. This method was used to test the relationship between contamination (toxicity index) and morphometry (PST of morphometric traits), taking into account (1) genetic differentiation between populations (FST), (2) geographical distances between sites, (3) site catchment area, and (4) various physical-chemical parameters for each sampling site. Upon removal of confounding effects, 3 of the 17 morphological traits studied were significantly correlated with pesticide toxicity, suggesting a response of these traits to the anthropogenic stress. These results underline the importance of taking into account the different sources of phenotypic variability between organisms when identifying the stress factors involved. The separation and quantification of

Confounding and exposure measurement error in air pollution epidemiology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sheppard, L.; Burnett, R.T.; Szpiro, A.A.; Kim, J.Y.; Jerrett, M.; Pope, C.; Brunekreef, B.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/067548180

2012-01-01

Studies in air pollution epidemiology may suffer from some specific forms of confounding and exposure measurement error. This contribution discusses these, mostly in the framework of cohort studies. Evaluation of potential confounding is critical in studies of the health effects of air pollution.

Consequences of exposure measurement error for confounder identification in environmental epidemiology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Budtz-Jørgensen, Esben; Keiding, Niels; Grandjean, Philippe

2003-01-01

Non-differential measurement error in the exposure variable is known to attenuate the dose-response relationship. The amount of attenuation introduced in a given situation is not only a function of the precision of the exposure measurement but also depends on the conditional variance of the true...... exposure given the other independent variables. In addition, confounder effects may also be affected by the exposure measurement error. These difficulties in statistical model development are illustrated by examples from a epidemiological study performed in the Faroe Islands to investigate the adverse...

Factors Affecting University Library Website Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yongi-Mi Kim

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Existing studies have extensively explored factors that affect users’ intentions to use university library website resources (ULWR; yet little attention has been given to factors affecting university library website design. This paper investigates factors that affect university library website design and assesses the success of the university library website from both designers’ and users’ perspectives. The findings show that when planning a website, university web designers consider university guidelines, review other websites, and consult with experts and other divisions within the library; however, resources and training for the design process are lacking. While website designers assess their websites as highly successful, user evaluations are somewhat lower. Accordingly, use is low, and users rely heavily on commercial websites. Suggestions for enhancing the usage of ULWR are provided.

Evaluation and modeling of the parameters affecting fluoride toxicity level in aquatic environments by bioassay method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamid Reza Shamsollahi

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Fluoride exists in various forms in nature and water resources. , The rising level of fluoride in water resources due to discharge of industrial effluents can cause toxicity in aquatic organisms. To prevent toxicity, it is necessary to determine maximum fluoride toxicity as well as effluent discharge limits. The aim of this study was to determine the maximum fluoride toxicity and the factors affecting fluoride toxicity to provide a model in order to determine the effluent discharge limits. Methods: Daphnia magna bioassay in the absence of confounding factors was used to determine the maximum level of fluoride toxicity. Then, bioassay was repeated in the presence of the confounding factors (hardness, temperature and exposure time to determine their effects. Results: In the absence of intervening factors, fluoride LC50 levels determined after 24, 48 and 72 hours exposure were 4.9, 46.5 and 38.7 mg/l, respectively.. Also, the influence of confounding factors on LC50 values was reported significant by Minitab software. Conclusion: Increasing the water hardness reduced fluoride toxicity, and increasing the water temperature and exposure time increased fluoride toxicity in aquatic environments. Therefore, while determining the wastewater discharge limit in terms of fluoride concentration, it is essential to take the effect of confounding factors on fluoride toxicity into account in order to prevent toxicity in the open water resources.

Factors Affecting Tocopherol Concentrations in Soybean Seeds.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrera, Constanza S; Seguin, Philippe

2016-12-21

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

Factors Affecting Wound Healing

OpenAIRE

Guo, S.; DiPietro, L.A.

2010-01-01

Wound healing, as a normal biological process in the human body, is achieved through four precisely and highly programmed phases: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. For a wound to heal successfully, all four phases must occur in the proper sequence and time frame. Many factors can interfere with one or more phases of this process, thus causing improper or impaired wound healing. This article reviews the recent literature on the most significant factors that affect cutane...

Web-based Factors Affecting Online Purchasing Behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

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

2013-06-01

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

Web-based Factors Affecting Online Purchasing Behaviour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2013-01-01

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

Determining the Factors Affecting Labor Productivity of Nurses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yurdanur Dikmen

2016-12-01

Results: It was found that the 45.5% of nurses participated in the study were in the 23-53 age group, 79.5% were women, 76.9% married, 41.1% associate degree graduates. 42.3% of nurses' durations of professional experience were 0-5 years, 22.4% of nurses were clinical chief, 69.2% were working as shifts. Participants believe that the factors affecting the labor productivity were respectively organizational factors, ergonomic factors and personal factors. When organizational factors was examined; nurses stated that the lack of working personnel in the section, the low wages and unequal wages for the same work, the long working hours and the system which based on personal relations instead of merit were affecting productivity. The factors affecting labor productivity of nurses were not different according to age, gender, education level and marital status (p>0.05, but different according to mode of operation and years of experience (p<0.05. Conclusion: According to this study, it was found that there are many factors that affect the efficiency of the nurses. The most important factors affecting nurses' efficiency were determined as wage and working conditions. [J Contemp Med 2016; 6(4.000: 334-342

Habitat geometry does not affect levels of extrapair paternity in an extremely unfaithful fairy-wren

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouwer, L.; Van de Pol, M.; Cockburn, A.

2014-01-01

Density of potential mates has often been proposed to explain the enormous variation in extrapair paternity. However, density is often confounded by other ecological factors that might affect extrapair paternity in their own way. Furthermore, extrapair mating shows strong phylogenetic inertia,

The Association Between Headaches and Temporomandibular Disorders is Confounded by Bruxism and Somatic Symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Meer, Hedwig A; Speksnijder, Caroline M; Engelbert, Raoul H H; Lobbezoo, Frank; Nijhuis-van der Sanden, Maria W G; Visscher, Corine M

2017-09-01

The objective of this observational study was to establish the possible presence of confounders on the association between temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and headaches in a patient population from a TMD and Orofacial Pain Clinic. Several subtypes of headaches have been diagnosed: self-reported headache, (probable) migraine, (probable) tension-type headache, and secondary headache attributed to TMD. The presence of TMD was subdivided into 2 subtypes: painful TMD and function-related TMD. The associations between the subtypes of TMD and headaches were evaluated by single regression models. To study the influence of possible confounding factors on this association, the regression models were extended with age, sex, bruxism, stress, depression, and somatic symptoms. Of the included patients (n=203), 67.5% experienced headaches. In the subsample of patients with a painful TMD (n=58), the prevalence of self-reported headaches increased to 82.8%. The associations found between self-reported headache and (1) painful TMD and (2) function-related TMD were confounded by the presence of somatic symptoms. For probable migraine, both somatic symptoms and bruxism confounded the initial association found with painful TMD. The findings of this study imply that there is a central working mechanism overlapping TMD and headache. Health care providers should not regard these disorders separately, but rather look at the bigger picture to appreciate the complex nature of the diagnostic and therapeutic process.

Pattern classification of brain activation during emotional processing in subclinical depression: psychosis proneness as potential confounding factor.

Science.gov (United States)

Modinos, Gemma; Mechelli, Andrea; Pettersson-Yeo, William; Allen, Paul; McGuire, Philip; Aleman, Andre

2013-01-01

We used Support Vector Machine (SVM) to perform multivariate pattern classification based on brain activation during emotional processing in healthy participants with subclinical depressive symptoms. Six-hundred undergraduate students completed the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II). Two groups were subsequently formed: (i) subclinical (mild) mood disturbance (n = 17) and (ii) no mood disturbance (n = 17). Participants also completed a self-report questionnaire on subclinical psychotic symptoms, the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences Questionnaire (CAPE) positive subscale. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm entailed passive viewing of negative emotional and neutral scenes. The pattern of brain activity during emotional processing allowed correct group classification with an overall accuracy of 77% (p = 0.002), within a network of regions including the amygdala, insula, anterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex. However, further analysis suggested that the classification accuracy could also be explained by subclinical psychotic symptom scores (correlation with SVM weights r = 0.459, p = 0.006). Psychosis proneness may thus be a confounding factor for neuroimaging studies in subclinical depression.

Factors affecting endoglucanase production by Trichoderma reesei ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Jane

2011-08-22

Aug 22, 2011 ... from the ANOVA analysis have a significant value of Pmodel>F= 0.0008 and R2 .... there are various environmental and nutritional factors ... reported to affect cellulase production from wheat straw ... many factors affecting simultaneously the fermentation ..... and control its stability (Kalra and Sandhu, 1986).

Assessing moderated mediation in linear models requires fewer confounding assumptions than assessing mediation.

Science.gov (United States)

Loeys, Tom; Talloen, Wouter; Goubert, Liesbet; Moerkerke, Beatrijs; Vansteelandt, Stijn

2016-11-01

It is well known from the mediation analysis literature that the identification of direct and indirect effects relies on strong no unmeasured confounding assumptions of no unmeasured confounding. Even in randomized studies the mediator may still be correlated with unobserved prognostic variables that affect the outcome, in which case the mediator's role in the causal process may not be inferred without bias. In the behavioural and social science literature very little attention has been given so far to the causal assumptions required for moderated mediation analysis. In this paper we focus on the index for moderated mediation, which measures by how much the mediated effect is larger or smaller for varying levels of the moderator. We show that in linear models this index can be estimated without bias in the presence of unmeasured common causes of the moderator, mediator and outcome under certain conditions. Importantly, one can thus use the test for moderated mediation to support evidence for mediation under less stringent confounding conditions. We illustrate our findings with data from a randomized experiment assessing the impact of being primed with social deception upon observer responses to others' pain, and from an observational study of individuals who ended a romantic relationship assessing the effect of attachment anxiety during the relationship on mental distress 2 years after the break-up. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Can statistic adjustment of OR minimize the potential confounding bias for meta-analysis of case-control study? A secondary data analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Tianyi; Nie, Xiaolu; Wu, Zehao; Zhang, Ying; Feng, Guoshuang; Cai, Siyu; Lv, Yaqi; Peng, Xiaoxia

2017-12-29

Different confounder adjustment strategies were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) in case-control study, i.e. how many confounders original studies adjusted and what the variables are. This secondary data analysis is aimed to detect whether there are potential biases caused by difference of confounding factor adjustment strategies in case-control study, and whether such bias would impact the summary effect size of meta-analysis. We included all meta-analyses that focused on the association between breast cancer and passive smoking among non-smoking women, as well as each original case-control studies included in these meta-analyses. The relative deviations (RDs) of each original study were calculated to detect how magnitude the adjustment would impact the estimation of ORs, compared with crude ORs. At the same time, a scatter diagram was sketched to describe the distribution of adjusted ORs with different number of adjusted confounders. Substantial inconsistency existed in meta-analysis of case-control studies, which would influence the precision of the summary effect size. First, mixed unadjusted and adjusted ORs were used to combine individual OR in majority of meta-analysis. Second, original studies with different adjustment strategies of confounders were combined, i.e. the number of adjusted confounders and different factors being adjusted in each original study. Third, adjustment did not make the effect size of original studies trend to constringency, which suggested that model fitting might have failed to correct the systematic error caused by confounding. The heterogeneity of confounder adjustment strategies in case-control studies may lead to further bias for summary effect size in meta-analyses, especially for weak or medium associations so that the direction of causal inference would be even reversed. Therefore, further methodological researches are needed, referring to the assessment of confounder adjustment strategies, as well as how to take this kind

'Mechanical restraint-confounders, risk, alliance score'

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Deichmann Nielsen, Lea; Bech, Per; Hounsgaard, Lise

2017-01-01

. AIM: To clinically validate a new, structured short-term risk assessment instrument called the Mechanical Restraint-Confounders, Risk, Alliance Score (MR-CRAS), with the intended purpose of supporting the clinicians' observation and assessment of the patient's readiness to be released from mechanical...... restraint. METHODS: The content and layout of MR-CRAS and its user manual were evaluated using face validation by forensic mental health clinicians, content validation by an expert panel, and pilot testing within two, closed forensic mental health inpatient units. RESULTS: The three sub-scales (Confounders......, Risk, and a parameter of Alliance) showed excellent content validity. The clinical validations also showed that MR-CRAS was perceived and experienced as a comprehensible, relevant, comprehensive, and useable risk assessment instrument. CONCLUSIONS: MR-CRAS contains 18 clinically valid items...

Confounding adjustment through front-door blocking in longitudinal studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arvid Sjölander

2013-03-01

Full Text Available A common aim of epidemiological research is to estimate the causal effect of a particular exposure on a particular outcome. Towards this end, observed associations are often ‘adjusted’ for potential confounding variables. When the potential confounders are unmeasured, explicit adjustment becomes unfeasible. It has been demonstrated that causal effects can be estimated even in the presence of umeasured confounding, utilizing a method called ‘front-door blocking’. In this paper we generalize this method to longitudinal studies. We demonstrate that the method of front-door blocking poses a number of challenging statistical problems, analogous to the famous problems associ- ated with the method of ‘back-door blocking’.

Contextual investigation of factors affecting sludge accumulation ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Pit latrines in slums areas of Uganda fill up faster than might be expected from some estimates owing to inappropriate use and failure to consider critical factors affecting sludge accumulation rates at the planning, design and construction stages. This study sought to investigate factors affecting filling rates of lined pit latrines ...

Factors Affecting Wound Healing

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, S.; DiPietro, L.A.

2010-01-01

Wound healing, as a normal biological process in the human body, is achieved through four precisely and highly programmed phases: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. For a wound to heal successfully, all four phases must occur in the proper sequence and time frame. Many factors can interfere with one or more phases of this process, thus causing improper or impaired wound healing. This article reviews the recent literature on the most significant factors that affect cutaneous wound healing and the potential cellular and/or molecular mechanisms involved. The factors discussed include oxygenation, infection, age and sex hormones, stress, diabetes, obesity, medications, alcoholism, smoking, and nutrition. A better understanding of the influence of these factors on repair may lead to therapeutics that improve wound healing and resolve impaired wounds. PMID:20139336

Educational gains in cause-specific mortality: Accounting for cognitive ability and family-level confounders using propensity score weighting.

Science.gov (United States)

Bijwaard, Govert E; Myrskylä, Mikko; Tynelius, Per; Rasmussen, Finn

2017-07-01

A negative educational gradient has been found for many causes of death. This association may be partly explained by confounding factors that affect both educational attainment and mortality. We correct the cause-specific educational gradient for observed individual background and unobserved family factors using an innovative method based on months lost due to a specific cause of death re-weighted by the probability of attaining a higher educational level. We use data on men with brothers from the Swedish Military Conscription Registry (1951-1983), linked to administrative registers. This dataset of some 700,000 men allows us to distinguish between five education levels and many causes of death. The empirical results reveal that raising the educational level from primary to tertiary would result in an additional 20 months of survival between ages 18 and 63. This improvement in mortality is mainly attributable to fewer deaths from external causes. The highly educated gain more than nine months due to the reduction in deaths from external causes, but gain only two months due to the reduction in cancer mortality and four months due to the reduction in cardiovascular mortality. Ignoring confounding would lead to an underestimation of the gains by educational attainment, especially for the less educated. Our results imply that if the education distribution of 50,000 Swedish men from the 1951 cohort were replaced with that of the corresponding 1983 cohort, 22% of the person-years that were lost to death between ages 18 and 63 would have been saved for this cohort. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identification of factors affecting individual industries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryam Sadat Mirzadeh

2017-10-01

Full Text Available High knowledge and technology are rapidly becoming a competitive advantage in today’s world. Individual industries are considered one of the key sectors in the country’s industry. Ranking the factors that affect these industries makes us more familiar with their effectiveness and helps us take actions to improve such factors in knowledge-based companies. Consequently, based on previous research studies on Individual Industries, field observations, and a questionnaire prepared by the researchers, the current study explores and classifies the factors affecting the establishment of these industries. Regarding its purpose, this is an applied research, and regarding data collection, it is a descriptive survey. Using purposive sampling, 60 questionnaires were collected and effective factors were classified applying the SPSS software and the TOPSIS technique. This study suggests that content factors are ranked first place, while contextual and structural factors are ranked second and third, respectively. Therefore, executives and managers in single industries are recommended to strengthen joint enterprise norms and dominant values and beliefs in knowledge-based companies in order to help the growth and development of single industries.

Methods to control for unmeasured confounding in pharmacoepidemiology : an overview

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Uddin, Md Jamal; Groenwold, Rolf H H; Ali, Mohammed Sanni; de Boer, Anthonius; Roes, Kit C B; Chowdhury, Muhammad A B; Klungel, Olaf H.

2016-01-01

Background Unmeasured confounding is one of the principal problems in pharmacoepidemiologic studies. Several methods have been proposed to detect or control for unmeasured confounding either at the study design phase or the data analysis phase. Aim of the Review To provide an overview of commonly

Factors Affecting Time to Sputum Culture Conversion in Adults with Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Historical Cohort Study without Censored Cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanda, Rie; Nagao, Taishi; Tho, Nguyen Van; Ogawa, Emiko; Murakami, Yoshitaka; Osawa, Makoto; Saika, Yoshinori; Doi, Kenji; Nakano, Yasutaka

2015-01-01

In patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), shortening the time to sputum culture conversion is desirable to reduce the likelihood of mycobacterial transmission. A persistent positive sputum culture after 2 months of treatment is reported to be associated with the presence of cavitation and the extent of disease on chest X-ray, high colony count, diabetes mellitus, and smoking. However, little is known about factors affecting the time to sputum culture conversion. This study was conducted to evaluate factors affecting the time to sputum culture conversion throughout the course of treatment in adults with pulmonary TB. This study was performed using a database of the medical records of patients with active pulmonary TB who were treated at Hirakata Kohsai Hospital in Hirakata City, Osaka, Japan, from October 2000 to October 2002. Cox proportional-hazards analysis was used to evaluate factors affecting the time to sputum culture conversion after adjusting for potential confounders. The data of 86 patients with pulmonary TB were analyzed. The median time to sputum culture conversion was 39 days, and the maximum time was 116 days. The Cox proportional-hazards analysis showed that a higher smear grading (HR, 0.40; 95%CI, 0.23-0.71) and a history of ever smoking (HR, 0.48; 95%CI, 0.25-0.94) were associated with delayed sputum culture conversion. High smear grading and smoking prolonged the time to sputum culture conversion in adults with pulmonary TB. To effectively control TB, measures to decrease the cigarette smoking rate should be implemented, in addition to early detection and timely anti-TB treatment.

The associations between serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor, potential confounders, and cognitive decline: a longitudinal study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jasmine Nettiksimmons

Full Text Available Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF plays a role in the maintenance and function of neurons. Although persons with Alzheimer's disease have lower cortical levels of BDNF, evidence regarding the association between circulating BDNF and cognitive function is conflicting. We sought to determine the correlates of BDNF level and whether BDNF level was prospectively associated with cognitive decline in healthy older adults. We measured serum BDNF near baseline in 912 individuals. Cognitive status was assessed repeatedly with the modified Mini-Mental Status Examination and the Digit Symbol Substitution test over the next 10 years. We evaluated the association between BDNF and cognitive decline with longitudinal models. We also assessed the association between BDNF level and demographics, comorbidities and health behaviors. We found an association between serum BDNF and several characteristics that are also associated with dementia (race and depression, suggesting that future studies should control for these potential confounders. We did not find evidence of a longitudinal association between serum BDNF and subsequent cognitive test trajectories in older adults, although we did identify a potential trend toward a cross-sectional association. Our results suggest that serum BDNF may have limited utility as a biomarker of prospective cognitive decline.

Factors affecting farm diversification in rice-wheat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ashfaq, M.; Hassan, S.; Naseer, M.Z.; Baig, I.A.; Asma, J.

2008-01-01

The risk in agriculture sector is due to various factors like weather and market conditions, particularly the demand of the commodities. This uncertainty can result in variable returns (farm income) to the decisions that farmers make in a particular season. Diversification is a frequently used risk management strategy that involves participation in more than one activity. It has the added advantage of mitigating price risk as well as fluctuations in outputs. The main purpose of this paper was to determine the factors affecting crop diversification. For determining the effect of different factors on diversification a multiple regression model was used. The values of Entropy index computed for measuring horizontal diversification were taken as dependent variable and different factors affecting diversification were taken as independent variables. The results showed that the main factors affecting diversification were size of land holding, age of respondent, education level of respondent, farming experience of respondent, off farm income of respondent, distance of farm from main road, distance of farm from main market and farm machinery. (author)

High blood pressure and sedentary behavior in adolescents are associated even after controlling for confounding factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Christofaro, Diego Giulliano Destro; De Andrade, Selma Maffei; Cardoso, Jefferson Rosa; Mesas, Arthur Eumann; Codogno, Jamile Sanches; Fernandes, Rômulo Araújo

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine whether high blood pressure (HBP) is associated with sedentary behavior in young people even after controlling for potential confounders (gender, age, socioeconomic level, tobacco, alcohol, obesity and physical activity). In this epidemiological study, 1231 adolescents were evaluated. Blood pressure was measured with an oscillometric device and waist circumference with an inextensible tape. Sedentary behavior (watching television, computer use and playing video games) and physical activity were assessed by a questionnaire. We used mean and standard deviation to describe the statistical analysis, and the association between HBP and sedentary behavior was assessed by the chi-squared test. Binary logistic regression was used to observe the magnitude of association and cluster analyses (sedentary behavior and abdominal obesity; sedentary behavior and physical inactivity). HBP was associated with sedentary behaviors [odds ratio (OR) = 2.21, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.41-3.96], even after controlling for various confounders (OR = 1.68, CI = 1.03-2.75). In cluster analysis the combination of sedentary behavior and elevated abdominal obesity contributed significantly to an increased likelihood of having HBP (OR = 13.51, CI 7.21-23.97). Sedentary behavior was associated with HBP, and excess fat in the abdominal region contributed to the modulation of this association.

Pattern classification of brain activation during emotional processing in subclinical depression: psychosis proneness as potential confounding factor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gemma Modinos

2013-02-01

Full Text Available We used Support Vector Machine (SVM to perform multivariate pattern classification based on brain activation during emotional processing in healthy participants with subclinical depressive symptoms. Six-hundred undergraduate students completed the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II. Two groups were subsequently formed: (i subclinical (mild mood disturbance (n = 17 and (ii no mood disturbance (n = 17. Participants also completed a self-report questionnaire on subclinical psychotic symptoms, the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences Questionnaire (CAPE positive subscale. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI paradigm entailed passive viewing of negative emotional and neutral scenes. The pattern of brain activity during emotional processing allowed correct group classification with an overall accuracy of 77% (p = 0.002, within a network of regions including the amygdala, insula, anterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex. However, further analysis suggested that the classification accuracy could also be explained by subclinical psychotic symptom scores (correlation with SVM weights r = 0.459, p = 0.006. Psychosis proneness may thus be a confounding factor for neuroimaging studies in subclinical depression.

Examining the role of unmeasured confounding in mediation analysis with genetic and genomic applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Lutz, Sharon M; Thwing, Annie; Schmiege, Sarah; Kroehl, Miranda; Baker, Christopher D; Starling, Anne P; Hokanson, John E; Ghosh, Debashis

2017-07-19

In mediation analysis if unmeasured confounding is present, the estimates for the direct and mediated effects may be over or under estimated. Most methods for the sensitivity analysis of unmeasured confounding in mediation have focused on the mediator-outcome relationship. The Umediation R package enables the user to simulate unmeasured confounding of the exposure-mediator, exposure-outcome, and mediator-outcome relationships in order to see how the results of the mediation analysis would change in the presence of unmeasured confounding. We apply the Umediation package to the Genetic Epidemiology of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPDGene) study to examine the role of unmeasured confounding due to population stratification on the effect of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the CHRNA5/3/B4 locus on pulmonary function decline as mediated by cigarette smoking. Umediation is a flexible R package that examines the role of unmeasured confounding in mediation analysis allowing for normally distributed or Bernoulli distributed exposures, outcomes, mediators, measured confounders, and unmeasured confounders. Umediation also accommodates multiple measured confounders, multiple unmeasured confounders, and allows for a mediator-exposure interaction on the outcome. Umediation is available as an R package at https://github.com/SharonLutz/Umediation A tutorial on how to install and use the Umediation package is available in the Additional file 1.

Some confounding factors in the study of mortality and occupational exposures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilbert, E.S.

1982-01-01

With the recent interest in the study of occupational exposures, the impact of certain selective biases in the groups studied is a matter of some concern. In this paper, data from the Hanford nuclear facility population (southeastern Washington State, 1947-1976), which includes many radiation workers, are used to illustrate a method for examining the effect on mortality of such potentially confounding variables as calendar year, length of time since entering the industry, employment status, length of employment, job category, and initial employment year. The analysis, which is based on the Mantel-Haenszel procedure as adapted for a prospective study, differs from most previous studies of occupational variables which have relied primarily on comparing standardized mortality ratios (utilizing an external control) for various subgroups of the population. Results of this analysis confirm other studies in that reduced death rates are observed for early years of follow-up and for those with higher socioeconomic status (as indicated by job category). In addition, workers employed less than two years and especially terminated workers are found to have elevated death rates as compared with the remainder of the study population. It is important that such correlations be taken into account in planning and interpreting analyses of the effects of occupational exposure

Age Learning Factors Affecting Pilot Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Torbert, Brison

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

Perceived Factors Affecting Performance Of Extension Workers In ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study focused on perceived factors affecting performance of extension workers in Imo State, Nigeria. Data for the study was collected from 83 Extension agents from the Imo State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP). Results of the study revealed that the organizational factors that affect performance are ...

ANALYSIS OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE AVERAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen BOGHEAN

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Productivity in agriculture most relevantly and concisely expresses the economic efficiency of using the factors of production. Labour productivity is affected by a considerable number of variables (including the relationship system and interdependence between factors, which differ in each economic sector and influence it, giving rise to a series of technical, economic and organizational idiosyncrasies. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the underlying factors of the average work productivity in agriculture, forestry and fishing. The analysis will take into account the data concerning the economically active population and the gross added value in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Romania during 2008-2011. The distribution of the average work productivity per factors affecting it is conducted by means of the u-substitution method.

Environmental Factors Affecting Preschoolers' Motor Development

Science.gov (United States)

Venetsanou, Fotini; Kambas, Antonis

2010-01-01

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

Quantitative assessment of unobserved confounding is mandatory in nonrandomized intervention studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groenwold, R H H; Hak, E; Hoes, A W

OBJECTIVE: In nonrandomized intervention studies unequal distribution of patient characteristics in the groups under study may hinder comparability of prognosis and therefore lead to confounding bias. Our objective was to review methods to control for observed confounding, as well as unobserved

Confounding and exposure measurement error in air pollution epidemiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheppard, Lianne; Burnett, Richard T; Szpiro, Adam A; Kim, Sun-Young; Jerrett, Michael; Pope, C Arden; Brunekreef, Bert

2012-06-01

Studies in air pollution epidemiology may suffer from some specific forms of confounding and exposure measurement error. This contribution discusses these, mostly in the framework of cohort studies. Evaluation of potential confounding is critical in studies of the health effects of air pollution. The association between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and mortality has been investigated using cohort studies in which subjects are followed over time with respect to their vital status. In such studies, control for individual-level confounders such as smoking is important, as is control for area-level confounders such as neighborhood socio-economic status. In addition, there may be spatial dependencies in the survival data that need to be addressed. These issues are illustrated using the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention II cohort. Exposure measurement error is a challenge in epidemiology because inference about health effects can be incorrect when the measured or predicted exposure used in the analysis is different from the underlying true exposure. Air pollution epidemiology rarely if ever uses personal measurements of exposure for reasons of cost and feasibility. Exposure measurement error in air pollution epidemiology comes in various dominant forms, which are different for time-series and cohort studies. The challenges are reviewed and a number of suggested solutions are discussed for both study domains.

Factors Affecting Time to Sputum Culture Conversion in Adults with Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Historical Cohort Study without Censored Cases.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rie Kanda

Full Text Available In patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB, shortening the time to sputum culture conversion is desirable to reduce the likelihood of mycobacterial transmission. A persistent positive sputum culture after 2 months of treatment is reported to be associated with the presence of cavitation and the extent of disease on chest X-ray, high colony count, diabetes mellitus, and smoking. However, little is known about factors affecting the time to sputum culture conversion. This study was conducted to evaluate factors affecting the time to sputum culture conversion throughout the course of treatment in adults with pulmonary TB.This study was performed using a database of the medical records of patients with active pulmonary TB who were treated at Hirakata Kohsai Hospital in Hirakata City, Osaka, Japan, from October 2000 to October 2002. Cox proportional-hazards analysis was used to evaluate factors affecting the time to sputum culture conversion after adjusting for potential confounders.The data of 86 patients with pulmonary TB were analyzed. The median time to sputum culture conversion was 39 days, and the maximum time was 116 days. The Cox proportional-hazards analysis showed that a higher smear grading (HR, 0.40; 95%CI, 0.23-0.71 and a history of ever smoking (HR, 0.48; 95%CI, 0.25-0.94 were associated with delayed sputum culture conversion.High smear grading and smoking prolonged the time to sputum culture conversion in adults with pulmonary TB. To effectively control TB, measures to decrease the cigarette smoking rate should be implemented, in addition to early detection and timely anti-TB treatment.

CONFOUNDING STRUCTURE OF TWO-LEVEL NONREGULAR FACTORIAL DESIGNS

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Ren Junbai

2012-01-01

In design theory,the alias structure of regular fractional factorial designs is elegantly described with group theory.However,this approach cannot be applied to nonregular designs directly. For an arbitrary nonregular design,a natural question is how to describe the confounding relations between its effects,is there any inner structure similar to regular designs? The aim of this article is to answer this basic question.Using coefficients of indicator function,confounding structure of nonregular fractional factorial designs is obtained as linear constrains on the values of effects.A method to estimate the sparse significant effects in an arbitrary nonregular design is given through an example.

The relationship between affective factors and the academic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between affective factors and the academic achievement of students at the University of Venda. To this end, self-concept, motivation and attitude are the affective factors selected for the study. The general aim of the study is to determine the role of self-concept, ...

The performance of random coefficient regression in accounting for residual confounding.

Science.gov (United States)

Gustafson, Paul; Greenland, Sander

2006-09-01

Greenland (2000, Biometrics 56, 915-921) describes the use of random coefficient regression to adjust for residual confounding in a particular setting. We examine this setting further, giving theoretical and empirical results concerning the frequentist and Bayesian performance of random coefficient regression. Particularly, we compare estimators based on this adjustment for residual confounding to estimators based on the assumption of no residual confounding. This devolves to comparing an estimator from a nonidentified but more realistic model to an estimator from a less realistic but identified model. The approach described by Gustafson (2005, Statistical Science 20, 111-140) is used to quantify the performance of a Bayesian estimator arising from a nonidentified model. From both theoretical calculations and simulations we find support for the idea that superior performance can be obtained by replacing unrealistic identifying constraints with priors that allow modest departures from those constraints. In terms of point-estimator bias this superiority arises when the extent of residual confounding is substantial, but the advantage is much broader in terms of interval estimation. The benefit from modeling residual confounding is maintained when the prior distributions employed only roughly correspond to reality, for the standard identifying constraints are equivalent to priors that typically correspond much worse.

Nutritional Factors Affecting Adult Neurogenesis and Cognitive Function.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-11-01

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

Factors Affecting Green Residential Building Development: Social Network Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaodong Yang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Green residential buildings (GRBs are one of the effective practices of energy saving and emission reduction in the construction industry. However, many real estate developers in China are less willing to develop GRBs, because of the factors affecting green residential building development (GRBD. In order to promote the sustainable development of GRBs in China, this paper, based on the perspective of real estate developers, identifies the influential and critical factors affecting GRBD, using the method of social network analysis (SNA. Firstly, 14 factors affecting GRBD are determined from 64 preliminary factors of three main elements, and the framework is established. Secondly, the relationships between the 14 factors are analyzed by SNA. Finally, four critical factors for GRBD, which are on the local economy development level, development strategy and innovation orientation, developer’s acknowledgement and positioning for GRBD, and experience and ability for GRBD, are identified by the social network centrality test. The findings illustrate the key issues that affect the development of GRBs, and provide references for policy making by the government and strategy formulation by real estate developers.

Factors affecting dignity of patients with multiple sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharifi, Simin; Borhani, Fariba; Abbaszadeh, Abbas

2016-12-01

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

Role of environmental confounding in the association between FKBP5 and first-episode psychosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olesya eAjnakina

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Failure to account for the etiological diversity that typically occurs in psychiatric cohorts may increase the potential for confounding, as a proportion of genetic variance will be specific to exposures that have variable distribution in cases. This study investigated whether minimizing the potential for such confounding strengthened the evidence for a genetic candidate currently unsupported at the genome-wide level.Methods: 291 first-episode psychosis cases from South London UK, and 218 unaffected controls were evaluated for a functional polymorphism at the rs1360780 locus in FKBP5. The relationship between FKBP5 and psychosis was modelled using logistic regression. Cannabis use (Cannabis Experiences Questionnaire and parental separation (Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire were modelled as confounders in the analysis.Results: Association at rs1360780 was not detected until the effects of the two environmental factors had been adjusted for in the model (OR=2.81, 95% CI 1.23-6.43, p=0.02. A statistical interaction between rs1360780 and parental separation was confirmed by stratified tests (OR=2.8, p=0.02 vs. OR=0.89, p=0.80. The genetic main effect was directionally-consistent with findings in other (stress-related clinical phenotypes. Moreover, the variation in effect magnitude was explained by the level of power associated with different cannabis constructs used in the model (r=0.95.Conclusions: Our results suggest that the extent to which genetic variants in FKBP5 can influence susceptibility to psychosis may depend on the other etiological factors involved. This finding requires further validation in other large independent cohorts. Potentially this work could have translational implications, as the ability to discriminate between genetic etiologies, based on a case-by-case understanding of exposure history would confer an important clinical advantage that would benefit the delivery of personalizable treatment

Propensity score methodology for confounding control in health care utilization databases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elisabetta Patorno

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Propensity score (PS methodology is a common approach to control for confounding in nonexperimental studies of treatment effects using health care utilization databases. This methodology offers researchers many advantages compared with conventional multivariate models: it directly focuses on the determinants of treatment choice, facilitating the understanding of the clinical decision-making process by the researcher; it allows for graphical comparisons of the distribution of propensity scores and truncation of subjects without overlapping PS indicating a lack of equipoise; it allows transparent assessment of the confounder balance achieved by the PS at baseline; and it offers a straightforward approach to reduce the dimensionality of sometimes large arrays of potential confounders in utilization databases, directly addressing the “curse of dimensionality” in the context of rare events. This article provides an overview of the use of propensity score methodology for pharmacoepidemiologic research with large health care utilization databases, covering recent discussions on covariate selection, the role of automated techniques for addressing unmeasurable confounding via proxies, strategies to maximize clinical equipoise at baseline, and the potential of machine-learning algorithms for optimized propensity score estimation. The appendix discusses the available software packages for PS methodology. Propensity scores are a frequently used and versatile tool for transparent and comprehensive adjustment of confounding in pharmacoepidemiology with large health care databases.

Factor affecting Agrobacterium -mediated transformation of rice ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Potato is a very important food crop and is adversely affected by fungus. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation can play an important role in the improvement of potato. The present study was conducted to optimize the different factors affecting Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of chitinase gene. Nodes were used as ...

Factors affecting patient dose in diagnostic radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poletti, J.L.

1994-03-01

The report, Factors Affecting Patient Dose in Diagnostic Radiology is divided into three main sections. Part one is introductory and covers the basic principles of x-ray production and image formation. It includes discussion of x-ray generators and x-ray tubes, radiation properties and units, specification and measurement of x-ray beams, methods of patient dose measurement, radiation effects, radiation protection philosophy and finally the essentials of imaging systems. Part two examines factors affecting the x-ray output of x-ray machines and the characteristics of x-ray beams. These include the influence of heat ratings, kVp, waveform, exposure timer, filtration, focus-film distance, beam intensity distribution, x-ray tube age and focal spot size. Part three examines x-ray machine, equipment and patient factors which affect the dose received by individual patients. The factors considered include justification of examinations, choice of examination method, film/screen combinations, kVp, mAs, focus-film distance, collimation and field size, exposure time, projection, scatter, generator calibration errors, waveform, filtration, film processing and patient size. The patient dose implications of fluoroscopy systems, CT scanners, special procedures and mammography are also discussed. The report concludes with a brief discussion of patient dose levels in New Zealand and dose optimisation. 104 refs., 32 figs., 27 tabs

Overview of factors affecting the leachability of nuclear waste forms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stone, J.A.

1980-01-01

An overview of various factors that affect the leachability of nuclear waste forms is presented. The factors affect primarily the leaching system (temperature, for example), the leachant (pH, for example), or the solid being leached (surface condition, for example). A qualitative understanding exists of the major factors affecting leaching, but further studies are needed to establish leaching mechanisms and develop predictive models. 67 refs

Control selection and confounding factors: A lesson from a Japanese case-control study to examine acellular pertussis vaccine effectiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohfuji, Satoko; Okada, Kenji; Nakano, Takashi; Ito, Hiroaki; Hara, Megumi; Kuroki, Haruo; Hirota, Yoshio

2017-08-24

When using a case-control study design to examine vaccine effectiveness, both the selection of control subjects and the consideration of potential confounders must be the important issues to ensure accurate results. In this report, we described our experience from a case-control study conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of acellular pertussis vaccine combined with diphtheria-tetanus toxoids (DTaP vaccine). Newly diagnosed pertussis cases and age- and sex-matched friend-controls were enrolled, and the history of DTaP vaccination was compared between groups. Logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of vaccination for development of pertussis. After adjustment for potential confounders, four doses of DTaP vaccination showed a lower OR for pediatrician-diagnosed pertussis (OR=0.11, 95% CI, 0.01-0.99). In addition, the decreasing OR of four doses vaccination was more pronounced for laboratory-confirmed pertussis (OR=0.07, 95%CI, 0.01-0.82). Besides, positive association with pertussis was observed in subjects with a history of steroid treatment (OR=5.67) and those with a recent contact with a lasting cough (OR=4.12). When using a case-control study to evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines, particularly those for uncommon infectious diseases such as pertussis, the use of friend-controls may be optimal due to the fact that they shared a similar experience for exposure to the pathogen as the cases. In addition, to assess vaccine effectiveness as accurately as possible, the effects of confounding should be adequately controlled with a matching or analysis technique. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Variation in faecal water content may confound estimates of gastro-intestinal parasite intensity in wild African herbivores.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, W C; Cizauskas, C A; Getz, W M

2010-03-01

Estimates of parasite intensity within host populations are essential for many studies of host-parasite relationships. Here we evaluated the seasonal, age- and sex-related variability in faecal water content for two wild ungulate species, springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) and plains zebra (Equus quagga). We then assessed whether or not faecal water content biased conclusions regarding differences in strongyle infection rates by season, age or sex. There was evidence of significant variation in faecal water content by season and age for both species, and by sex in springbok. Analyses of faecal egg counts demonstrated that sex was a near-significant factor in explaining variation in strongyle parasite infection rates in zebra (P = 0.055) and springbok (P = 0.052) using wet-weight faecal samples. However, once these intensity estimates were re-scaled by the percent of dry matter in the faeces, sex was no longer a significant factor (zebra, P = 0.268; springbok, P = 0.234). These results demonstrate that variation in faecal water content may confound analyses and could produce spurious conclusions, as was the case with host sex as a factor in the analysis. We thus recommend that researchers assess whether water variation could be a confounding factor when designing and performing research using faecal indices of parasite intensity.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS AFFECTING APPLE PRODUCTION ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ACSS

Research Organisation scientists working directly with apple farmers ... be productive up to 40 years, it was more realistic to consider .... to determine the factors that affect apple production. ..... profit maximising model using flexible production ...

Factors Affecting Entrepreneurship and Business Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Tur-Porcar

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Sustainability is becoming increasingly important for society, and the creation of business ventures is one area where sustainability is critical. We examined the factors affecting actions that are designed to foster business sustainability. These factors are related to the environment, behavior, human relations, and business activity. Based on questionnaire responses from experts, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP method was used to rank sustainable business criteria according to their importance for entrepreneurs starting sustainable businesses. The results indicate that the most important drivers of sustainable entrepreneurship are behavioral factors and business factors. Ethical principles and values, together with competitive intelligence, are crucial for undertaking actions that lead to sustainability.

Factors Affecting the Productivity of Government Workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jerry P. Haenisch

2012-01-01

Full Text Available While there have been a variety of studies concerning government worker motivation and productivity, few, if any, studies have focused specifically on state government workers’ perceptions about what factors affect their productivity. With more than 5 million workers employed by state governments in the United States, any improvement in state workplace productivity could have significant financial and service impact for society. In this study, state government workers identified those factors perceived as most affecting their workplace productivity. Data were collected through a survey offered to state government workers in the state of Wyoming. Factor analysis was used to derive key productivity factors from survey responses. The results indicate that state government workers appreciate having freedom and autonomy, like their jobs and the sense of achievement, and welcome teamwork, but feel limited by poor supervision and management, poor communications, and insufficient budgets and staffing. To improve productivity, the workers would eliminate bureaucracy, supervise better, and improve communication.

Examining confounding by diet in the association between perfluoroalkyl acids and serum cholesterol in pregnancy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skuladottir, Margret; Ramel, Alfons [Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, Reykjavik (Iceland); Unit for Nutrition Research, Landspitali National University Hospital, Reykjavik (Iceland); Rytter, Dorte [Department of Public Health, Section for Epidemiology, Aarhus University, Aarhus (Denmark); Haug, Line Småstuen; Sabaredzovic, Azemira [Division of Environmental Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo (Norway); Bech, Bodil Hammer [Department of Public Health, Section for Epidemiology, Aarhus University, Aarhus (Denmark); Henriksen, Tine Brink [Pediatric Department, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus (Denmark); Olsen, Sjurdur F. [Center for Fetal Programming, Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen (Denmark); Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA (United States); Halldorsson, Thorhallur I., E-mail: tih@hi.is [Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, Reykjavik (Iceland); Unit for Nutrition Research, Landspitali National University Hospital, Reykjavik (Iceland); Center for Fetal Programming, Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen (Denmark)

2015-11-15

Background: Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) have consistently been associated with higher cholesterol levels in cross sectional studies. Concerns have, however, been raised about potential confounding by diet and clinical relevance. Objective: To examine the association between concentrations of PFOS and PFOA and total cholesterol in serum during pregnancy taking into considerations confounding by diet. Methods: 854 Danish women who gave birth in 1988–89 and provided a blood sample and reported their diet in week 30 of gestation. Results: Mean serum PFOS, PFOA and total cholesterol concentrations were 22.3 ng/mL, 4.1 ng/mL and 7.3 mmol/L, respectively. Maternal diet was a significant predictor of serum PFOS and PFOA concentrations. In particular intake of meat and meat products was positively associated while intake of vegetables was inversely associated (P for trend <0.01) with relative difference between the highest and lowest quartile in PFOS and PFOA concentrations ranging between 6% and 25% of mean values. After adjustment for dietary factors both PFOA and PFOS were positively and similarly associated with serum cholesterol (P for trend ≤0.01). For example, the mean increase in serum cholesterol was 0.39 mmol/L (95%CI: 0.09, 0.68) when comparing women in the highest to lowest quintile of PFOA concentrations. In comparison the mean increase in serum cholesterol was 0.61 mmol/L (95%CI: 0.17, 1.05) when comparing women in the highest to lowest quintile of saturated fat intake. Conclusion: In this study associations between PFOS and PFOA with serum cholesterol appeared unrelated to dietary intake and were similar in magnitude as the associations between saturated fat intake and serum cholesterol. - Highlights: • PFOS and PFOA have consistently been linked with raised serum cholesterol • Clinical relevance remains uncertain and confounding by diet has been suggested • The aim of this study was to address these issues in

Examining confounding by diet in the association between perfluoroalkyl acids and serum cholesterol in pregnancy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skuladottir, Margret; Ramel, Alfons; Rytter, Dorte; Haug, Line Småstuen; Sabaredzovic, Azemira; Bech, Bodil Hammer; Henriksen, Tine Brink; Olsen, Sjurdur F.; Halldorsson, Thorhallur I.

2015-01-01

Background: Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) have consistently been associated with higher cholesterol levels in cross sectional studies. Concerns have, however, been raised about potential confounding by diet and clinical relevance. Objective: To examine the association between concentrations of PFOS and PFOA and total cholesterol in serum during pregnancy taking into considerations confounding by diet. Methods: 854 Danish women who gave birth in 1988–89 and provided a blood sample and reported their diet in week 30 of gestation. Results: Mean serum PFOS, PFOA and total cholesterol concentrations were 22.3 ng/mL, 4.1 ng/mL and 7.3 mmol/L, respectively. Maternal diet was a significant predictor of serum PFOS and PFOA concentrations. In particular intake of meat and meat products was positively associated while intake of vegetables was inversely associated (P for trend <0.01) with relative difference between the highest and lowest quartile in PFOS and PFOA concentrations ranging between 6% and 25% of mean values. After adjustment for dietary factors both PFOA and PFOS were positively and similarly associated with serum cholesterol (P for trend ≤0.01). For example, the mean increase in serum cholesterol was 0.39 mmol/L (95%CI: 0.09, 0.68) when comparing women in the highest to lowest quintile of PFOA concentrations. In comparison the mean increase in serum cholesterol was 0.61 mmol/L (95%CI: 0.17, 1.05) when comparing women in the highest to lowest quintile of saturated fat intake. Conclusion: In this study associations between PFOS and PFOA with serum cholesterol appeared unrelated to dietary intake and were similar in magnitude as the associations between saturated fat intake and serum cholesterol. - Highlights: • PFOS and PFOA have consistently been linked with raised serum cholesterol • Clinical relevance remains uncertain and confounding by diet has been suggested • The aim of this study was to address these issues in

Assessing mediation using marginal structural models in the presence of confounding and moderation

OpenAIRE

Coffman, Donna L.; Zhong, Wei

2012-01-01

This paper presents marginal structural models (MSMs) with inverse propensity weighting (IPW) for assessing mediation. Generally, individuals are not randomly assigned to levels of the mediator. Therefore, confounders of the mediator and outcome may exist that limit causal inferences, a goal of mediation analysis. Either regression adjustment or IPW can be used to take confounding into account, but IPW has several advantages. Regression adjustment of even one confounder of the mediator and ou...

Examination of the Relationship between Oral Health and Arterial Sclerosis without Genetic Confounding through the Study of Older Japanese Twins.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuko Kurushima

Full Text Available Although researchers have recently demonstrated a relationship between oral health and arterial sclerosis, the genetic contribution to this relationship has been ignored even though genetic factors are expected to have some effect on various diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate oral health as a significant risk factor related to arterial sclerosis after eliminating genetic confounding through study of older Japanese twins.Medical and dental surveys were conducted individually for 106 Japanese twin pairs over the age of 50 years. Maximal carotid intima-media thickness (IMT-Cmax was measured as a surrogate marker of arterial sclerosis. IMT-Cmax > 1.0 mm was diagnosed as arterial sclerosis. All of the twins were examined for the number of remaining teeth, masticatory performance, and periodontal status. We evaluated each measurement related with IMT-Cmax and arterial sclerosis using generalized estimating equations analysis adjusted for potential risk factors. For non-smoking monozygotic twins, a regression analysis using a "between within" model was conducted to evaluate the relationship between IMT-Cmax and the number of teeth as the environmental factor controlling genetic and familial confounding.We examined 91 monozygotic and 15 dizygotic twin pairs (males: 42, females: 64 with a mean (± standard deviation age of 67.4 ± 10.0 years. Out of all of the oral health-related measurements collected, only the number of teeth was significantly related to arterial sclerosis (odds ratio: 0.72, 95% confidence interval: 0.52-0.99 per five teeth. Regression analysis showed a significant association between the IMT-Cmax and the number of teeth as an environmental factor (p = 0.037.Analysis of monozygotic twins older than 50 years of age showed that having fewer teeth could be a significant environmental factor related to arterial sclerosis, even after controlling for genetic and familial confounding.

Review: Factors affecting fouling in conventional pens for slaughter pigs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Mona Lilian Vestbjerg; Bertelsen, Maja; Pedersen, Lene Juul

2018-01-01

and pigs’ earlier experience. Further, these primary factors are affected by secondary factors such as the shape of the pen, the weight of the pigs and especially the heat balance of the pigs, which is affected by several tertiary factors including, for example, temperature, humidity and draught. Results...

Factors Affecting Prenatal Care Utilization in East Wollega Zone ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The objective of the study was to identify factors affecting utilization of prenatal care and skilled birth attendant in East Wollega zone. Prenatal care and skilled birth attendant are crucial factor which affects the health and wellbeing of the mother and newborn and help the women to access skilled assistance, drugs, ...

The quantum walk search algorithm: Factors affecting efficiency

OpenAIRE

Lovett, Neil B.; Everitt, Matthew; Heath, Robert M.; Kendon, Viv

2011-01-01

We numerically study the quantum walk search algorithm of Shenvi, Kempe and Whaley [PRA \\textbf{67} 052307] and the factors which affect its efficiency in finding an individual state from an unsorted set. Previous work has focused purely on the effects of the dimensionality of the dataset to be searched. Here, we consider the effects of interpolating between dimensions, connectivity of the dataset, and the possibility of disorder in the underlying substrate: all these factors affect the effic...

Determining the Factors Affecting Labor Productivity of Nurses

OpenAIRE

Yurdanur Dikmen; Dilek Kara Yilmaz; Handenur Basaran; Nasibe Yagmur Filiz

2016-01-01

Aim: This study was conducted to determine the factors affecting the labor productivity of nurses. Material and Methods: The study which was planned as descriptive and analytical was carried out with 156 nurses who volunteered to participate in the study in a public hospital in the northwest of Turkey. Data was collected with the and ldquo;Participant Presentation Form and rdquo; and the questionnaire including the factors affecting labor productivity which was developed by Ozkoc (2005). ...

Identifying factors affecting optimal management of agricultural water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masoud Samian

2015-01-01

In addition to quantitative methodology such as descriptive statistics and factor analysis a qualitative methodology was employed for dynamic simulation among variables through Vensim software. In this study, the factor analysis technique was used through the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO and Bartlett tests. From the results, four key elements were identified as factors affecting the optimal management of agricultural water in Hamedan area. These factors were institutional and legal factors, technical and knowledge factors, economic factors and social factors.

Factors affecting the runoff response of watersheds to precipitation

OpenAIRE

DROZDOVÁ, Martina

2013-01-01

This bachelor thesis is focused on the factors that affect the drainage basin of the response. It contains a literature review, which deals with the hydrological cycle characteristics of precipitation, surface runoff and flood and erosion protection. The aim of the work is to evaluate the factors that adversely affect the runoff from the catchment.

Economic and Cultural Factors Affecting University Excellence

Science.gov (United States)

Jabnoun, Naceur

2009-01-01

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

Factors affecting the organization and management of emergency ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Factors affecting the organization and management of emergency mass casualty ... service all under a unified command of leadership with a specified job description. Factors identified were: Political will, human resource planning, appropriate ...

Factors affecting IUCD discontinuation in Nepal

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thapa, Subash; Paudel, Ishwari Sharma; Bhattarai, Sailesh

2015-01-01

Information related to contraception discontinuation, especially in the context of Nepal is very limited. A nested case-control study was carried out to determine the factors affecting discontinuation of intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUCDs). A total of 115 cases (IUCD discontinuers) and 115...

How differentiated do children experience affect? An investigation of the within- and between-person structure of children's affect.

Science.gov (United States)

Leonhardt, Anja; Könen, Tanja; Dirk, Judith; Schmiedek, Florian

2016-05-01

Research on the structure of children's affect is limited. It is possible that children's perception of their own affect might be less differentiated than that of adults. Support for the 2-factor model of positive and negative affect and the pleasure-arousal model suggests that children in middle childhood can distinguish positive and negative affect as well as valence and arousal. Whether children are able to differentiate further aspects of affect, as proposed by the 3-dimensional model of affect (good-bad mood, alertness-tiredness, calmness-tension), is an unresolved issue. The aim of our study was the comparison of these 3 affect models to establish how differentiated children experience their affect and which model best describes affect in children. We examined affect structures on the between- and within-person level, acknowledging that affect varies across time and that no valid interpretation of either level is feasible if both are confounded. For this purpose, 214 children (age 8-11 years) answered affect items once a day for 5 consecutive days on smartphones. We tested all affect models by means of 2-level confirmatory factor analysis. Although all affect models had an acceptable fit, the 3-dimensional model best described affect in children on both the within- and between-person level. Thus, children in middle childhood can already describe affect in a differentiated way. Also, affect structures were similar on the within- and between-person level. We conclude that in order to acquire a thorough picture of children's affect, measures for children should include items of all 3 affect dimensions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Factors affecting the design of instrument flight procedures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan FERENCZ

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The article highlights factors, which might affect the design of instrument flight procedures. Ishikawa diagram is used to distribute individual factors into classes, as are People, Methods, Regulations, Tools, Data and Environment.

Factors Affecting Rural Facilitators’ Role: Iran

OpenAIRE

Azimi, Farideh; Kamali, Mohammad Bagher

2011-01-01

This study aimed to examine key factors affecting rural female facilitators’ role in participatory rural development in Tehran Province. Since the researchers intended to have a better insight into the facilitators’ role and employ inquiry as a learning forum for bringing about changes for all participants, they preferred to use a case study based upon an appreciative inquiry method. The study divided the factors affecting the facilitators’ role into two main categories: driving factors...

Psychological factors affecting equine performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McBride Sebastian D

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract For optimal individual performance within any equestrian discipline horses must be in peak physical condition and have the correct psychological state. This review discusses the psychological factors that affect the performance of the horse and, in turn, identifies areas within the competition horse industry where current behavioral research and established behavioral modification techniques could be applied to further enhance the performance of animals. In particular, the role of affective processes underpinning temperament, mood and emotional reaction in determining discipline-specific performance is discussed. A comparison is then made between the training and the competition environment and the review completes with a discussion on how behavioral modification techniques and general husbandry can be used advantageously from a performance perspective.

'Mechanical restraint-confounders, risk, alliance score': testing the clinical validity of a new risk assessment instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Deichmann Nielsen, Lea; Bech, Per; Hounsgaard, Lise; Alkier Gildberg, Frederik

2017-08-01

Unstructured risk assessment, as well as confounders (underlying reasons for the patient's risk behaviour and alliance), risk behaviour, and parameters of alliance, have been identified as factors that prolong the duration of mechanical restraint among forensic mental health inpatients. To clinically validate a new, structured short-term risk assessment instrument called the Mechanical Restraint-Confounders, Risk, Alliance Score (MR-CRAS), with the intended purpose of supporting the clinicians' observation and assessment of the patient's readiness to be released from mechanical restraint. The content and layout of MR-CRAS and its user manual were evaluated using face validation by forensic mental health clinicians, content validation by an expert panel, and pilot testing within two, closed forensic mental health inpatient units. The three sub-scales (Confounders, Risk, and a parameter of Alliance) showed excellent content validity. The clinical validations also showed that MR-CRAS was perceived and experienced as a comprehensible, relevant, comprehensive, and useable risk assessment instrument. MR-CRAS contains 18 clinically valid items, and the instrument can be used to support the clinical decision-making regarding the possibility of releasing the patient from mechanical restraint. The present three studies have clinically validated a short MR-CRAS scale that is currently being psychometrically tested in a larger study.

Workplace, Biographical and Motivation Factors Affecting ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper presents the findings of a survey on how workplace, biographical and motivational factors affect the organisational commitment of records officers in federal universities in Nigeria. Single stage random sampling, with equal allocation method, was used to administer questionnaire on 300 sampled participants from ...

Psychological factors affecting equine performance

OpenAIRE

McBride, Sebastian D; Mills, Daniel S

2012-01-01

Abstract For optimal individual performance within any equestrian discipline horses must be in peak physical condition and have the correct psychological state. This review discusses the psychological factors that affect the performance of the horse and, in turn, identifies areas within the competition horse industry where current behavioral research and established behavioral modification techniques could be applied to further enhance the performance of animals. In particular, the role of af...

Physical factors affecting the electrically assisted thermal bitumen recovery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bogdanov, I.I.; Torres, J.-A.; Kamp, A.M. [CHLOE, University of Pau (France); Corre, B. [CSTJF, Total (France)

2011-07-01

In the heavy oil industry, thermal processes are used to enhance oil recovery by increasing the reservoir temperature which results in better oil mobility. Low frequency heating (LFH) is a technology using electrical conductivity of connate water to propagate current between electrodes, thus generating heat in the reservoir through the Joule effect. During the preheating and production periods, many physical factors may affect the LFH process and the aim of this study was to determine which factors affect the process and how, using a particular pattern of electrodes. Simulations were conducted using the CMG Stars reservoir simulator under different configurations, conditions and parameters. Important physical properties and operational conditions affecting the LFH process were determined and results showed that convection heat, bulk electrical conductivity and power distribution can be improved by salt water circulation. This paper highlighted the physical factors affecting LFH efficiency and these findings will be useful for future process design.

Investigation of Factors Affecting Microdialysis Probe Delivery and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

HP

Purpose: To investigate in vitro the factors affecting microdialysis probe delivery and recovery of puerarin . Methods: ... methods. Factors such as drug concentration, stirring speed, additives and length of membrane were ... The high performance liquid chromatography ..... Pharmacokinetic Modeling to Investigate Regional.

Personality factors and adult attachment affecting job mobility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Vianen, A.E.M.; Feij, J.A.; Krausz, M.; Taris, R.

2003-01-01

Past research has revealed that individuals' job mobility is affected by factors such as job satisfaction, specific career enhancing attributes and job availability. This study examined personality factors predicting voluntary internal and external job mobility. Three types of voluntary job mobility

Parallel factor analysis PARAFAC of process affected water

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ewanchuk, A.M.; Ulrich, A.C.; Sego, D. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Alostaz, M. [Thurber Engineering Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2010-07-01

A parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) of oil sands process-affected water was presented. Naphthenic acids (NA) are traditionally described as monobasic carboxylic acids. Research has indicated that oil sands NA do not fit classical definitions of NA. Oil sands organic acids have toxic and corrosive properties. When analyzed by fluorescence technology, oil sands process-affected water displays a characteristic peak at 290 nm excitation and approximately 346 nm emission. In this study, a parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) was used to decompose process-affected water multi-way data into components representing analytes, chemical compounds, and groups of compounds. Water samples from various oil sands operations were analyzed in order to obtain EEMs. The EEMs were then arranged into a large matrix in decreasing process-affected water content for PARAFAC. Data were divided into 5 components. A comparison with commercially prepared NA samples suggested that oil sands NA is fundamentally different. Further research is needed to determine what each of the 5 components represent. tabs., figs.

Factors affecting the performance of professional nurses in Namibia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magdalene H. Awases

2013-04-01

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to identify factors affecting the performance of professional nurses in Namibia. Method: A quantitative, descriptive survey was used to collect data by means of a questionnaire. A random sample of 180 professional nurses was selected from six hospitals in three regions of Namibia. Results: Factors affecting the performance of nurses negatively were identified such as: lack of recognition of employees who are performing well, quality performance outcomes and an absence of a formal performance appraisal system and poor working conditions. Various factors contribute to both the positive and negative performance of professional nurses in Namibia. Strategies were developed for addressing the negative factors that could positively affect the performance of professional nurses in Namibia. Conclusions: This study emphasises the importance of developing strategies to promote the performance of nurses; build knowledge and expertise; develop mechanisms for improving the performance of nurses; expand leadership and management capacity; and generate information and knowledge through research.

Cardiovascular health, traffic-related air pollution and noise: are associations mutually confounded? A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Tétreault, Louis-François; Perron, Stéphane; Smargiassi, Audrey

2013-10-01

This review assessed the confounding effect of one traffic-related exposure (noise or air pollutants) on the association between the other exposure and cardiovascular outcomes. A systematic review was conducted with the databases Medline and Embase. The confounding effects in studies were assessed by using change in the estimate with a 10 % cutoff point. The influence on the change in the estimate of the quality of the studies, the exposure assessment methods and the correlation between road noise and air pollutions were also assessed. Nine publications were identified. For most studies, the specified confounders produced changes in estimates noise and pollutants, the quality of the study and of the exposure assessment do not seem to influence the confounding effects. Results from this review suggest that confounding of cardiovascular effects by noise or air pollutants is low, though with further improvements in exposure assessment, the situation may change. More studies using pollution indicators specific to road traffic are needed to properly assess if noise and air pollution are subjected to confounding.

Recruitment factors which affect the outcome of a seasonal allergic rhinitis trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Shilpy; Vasnani, Raj; De Tineo, Marcella; Du, Gaixin; Pinto, Jayant M; Baroody, Fuad M; Naclerio, Robert M

2011-01-01

Although intranasal corticosteroids (INSs) are the first-line treatment for seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR), some patients do not respond adequately, reflecting biological heterogeneity or confounding conditions. The objective of this study was to determine what recruitment factors identify SAR subjects who will be unresponsive to mometasone furoate (MF). We performed a 2-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel study on 40 subjects with SAR. Each subject underwent a decongestant test using oxymetazoline. Baseline nasal symptoms, nasal peak inspiratory flow (NPIF) and Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) scores were recorded. Next, subjects were randomized to either 200 μg of MF or placebo. Symptom diaries and NPIF measurements were completed twice daily. After 2 weeks, subjects repeated the RQLQ and the global assessment of symptoms. There was a significant reduction in symptoms in the MF group compared with placebo (p ≤ 0.05) in patients with baseline total symptom scores of ≥6. Multivariate analysis showed that treatment (MF versus placebo; p = 0.049) and amount of decongestion (percent change in NPIF after oxymetazoline; p = 0.008) predicted the improvement in total nasal symptoms. In clinical trials, SAR subjects must report multiple symptoms to be responsive to treatment with INSs. Our results also support the use of the decongestant test for choice of appropriate study volunteers, both to ensure participation of potentially responsive subjects and to eliminate those with confounding issues.

A Study of Factors Affecting the Renewal of Health Insurance Policy

OpenAIRE

Bhat Ramesh; Jain Nishant

2007-01-01

Health insurance policies are generally one-year policies and to remain part of the insurance poll, policyholders are required to renew their policies each year. Understanding the factors that affect the demand and renewal decisions to continue in health insurance programme is imperative for future growth and development of the insurance sector. We extend our previous work on factors affecting the decision to purchase health insurance to understand the factors affecting the renewal of insuran...

Confounder selection in environmental epidemiology: Assessment of health effects of prenatal mercury exposure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Budtz-Jørgensen, Esben; Keiding, Niels; Grandjean, Philippe

2007-01-01

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to compare different approaches to the identification of confounders needed for analyzing observational data. Whereas standard analysis usually is conducted as if the confounders were known a priori, selection uncertainty also must be taken into account. METHO...

Factors Affecting Faculty Web Portal Usability

Science.gov (United States)

Bringula, Rex P.; Basa, Roselle S.

2011-01-01

The study investigated the factors that might significantly affect web portal usability. Results of the study were intended to serve as inputs for faculty web portal development of the University of the East-Manila. Descriptive statistics utilized questionnaire data from 82 faculty members. The data showed that most of the respondents were…

[COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY FOR ACCOUNTING OF CONFOUNDERS IN THE RISK ASSESSMENT IN COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON THE BASE OF THE METHOD OF STANDARDIZATION].

Science.gov (United States)

Shalaumova, Yu V; Varaksin, A N; Panov, V G

2016-01-01

There was performed an analysis of the accounting of the impact of concomitant variables (confounders), introducing a systematic error in the assessment of the impact of risk factors on the resulting variable. The analysis showed that standardization is an effective method for the reduction of the shift of risk assessment. In the work there is suggested an algorithm implementing the method of standardization based on stratification, providing for the minimization of the difference of distributions of confounders in groups on risk factors. To automate the standardization procedures there was developed a software available on the website of the Institute of Industrial Ecology, UB RAS. With the help of the developed software by numerically modeling there were determined conditions of the applicability of the method of standardization on the basis of stratification for the case of the normal distribution on the response and confounder and linear relationship between them. Comparison ofresults obtained with the help of the standardization with statistical methods (logistic regression and analysis of covariance) in solving the problem of human ecology, has shown that obtaining close results is possible if there will be met exactly conditions for the applicability of statistical methods. Standardization is less sensitive to violations of conditions of applicability.

Gender factors affecting female labour input in the Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Gender factors affecting female labour input in the Nigerian University system. ... which mostly affect women‟s job performance in the Nigerian university system. ... are essential in building a gender-friendly university work environment.

Passive smoking as a risk factor of anemia in young children aged 0–35 months in Jordan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruiz-Beltran Martin

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Passive smoking unfavorably affects pregnancy, child birth and child health. Passive smoking associates with still-birth, premature birth as well as acute respiratory infection, asthma, disorder in red blood cell metabolism in children. This study examined the effects of passive smoking on anemia in young children in Jordan. Methods The analysis based on the information from 740 children aged 0–35 months that were tested for hemoglobin levels included in the 2002 Jordan Population and Family Health Survey. This study used multivariate logistic regression method to analyze the effect of passive smoking on anemia in young children in Jordan, controlling for a number of risk factors and confounding factors for anemia. Results Results indicated that independent of other risk factors and confounding factors, anemia in young children was strongly positively associated with exposure to passive smoking from both parents (OR= 2.99, p p Conclusion Passive smoking from both parents was strongly positively associated with anemia in young children in Jordan independent of other risk factors and confounding factors. The results support the importance of smoking prevention during and after pregnancy that prevent childhood anemia and others morbidities in young children.

Investigation of Factors Affecting Microdialysis Probe Delivery and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Purpose: To investigate in vitro the factors affecting microdialysis probe delivery and recovery of puerarin. Methods: The recovery and delivery of puerarin were tested for extraction efficiency and retro-dialysis methods. Factors such as drug concentration, stirring speed, additives and length of membrane were studied to ...

Investigation of Factors Affecting Microdialysis Probe Delivery and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Purpose: To investigate in vitro the factors affecting microdialysis probe delivery and recovery of puerarin . Methods: The recovery and delivery of puerarin were tested for extraction efficiency and retro-dialysis methods. Factors such as drug concentration, stirring speed, additives and length of membrane were studied to ...

7339 BASELINE SURVEY ON FACTORS AFFECTING SORGHUM ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

muuicathy

2013-01-01

Jan 1, 2013 ... factors affecting sorghum production and the sorghum farming ... The informal seed system includes methods such as retaining seed on-farm from ..... Jaetzold R and H Schmidt Farm Management Handbook of Kenya, Ministry.

Analysis of Economic Factors Affecting Stock Market

OpenAIRE

Xie, Linyin

2010-01-01

This dissertation concentrates on analysis of economic factors affecting Chinese stock market through examining relationship between stock market index and economic factors. Six economic variables are examined: industrial production, money supply 1, money supply 2, exchange rate, long-term government bond yield and real estate total value. Stock market comprises fixed interest stocks and equities shares. In this dissertation, stock market is restricted to equity market. The stock price in thi...

Factors Affecting Learning Among Undergraduate Nursing Students: Cross-Sectional Survey

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Linu Sara George

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Nursing education expects the students to be competent enough to render quality care for their patients in hospital as well as community setting. To reach the level of expected competency, the students must undergo vigorous training during their undergraduate education. The learning experience of the students is influenced by many factors. Aim: To identify the factors, affecting learning as perceived by the students. Materials and Methods: This descriptive survey was conducted among 414 undergraduate nursing students enrolled in selected Nursing Colleges. Background information was collected using Demographic Proforma and the factors affecting learning were identified using Likert Scale. Factors were identified by exploratory factor analysis using extraction method of principal component analysis with varimax rotation. Results: Majority (73.7% of the samples were between 22-25 years of age, 93.2% were females, most (38.9% were studying in the fourth year of nursing, 50% of the students enrolled in the study had chosen nursing as a career due to job security in future, 58.7% students did not spent time every day for their studies and majority (89.1% had English as their medium of instruction in Pre-university college. Factor analysis identified five factors (Learning environment, Supportive services, Teacher characteristics, Learner challenges and Personal factors that affect the student learning. Conclusion: From the present study it can be concluded that perception of students do have an influence on factors affecting learning. The study findings will help the faculty members to bring in changes for the best learning outcome.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Shao-Yuan Leu; J.Y. Zhu

2013-01-01

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

On Estimation of the Survivor Average Causal Effect in Observational Studies when Important Confounders are Missing Due to Death

Science.gov (United States)

Egleston, Brian L.; Scharfstein, Daniel O.; MacKenzie, Ellen

2008-01-01

We focus on estimation of the causal effect of treatment on the functional status of individuals at a fixed point in time t* after they have experienced a catastrophic event, from observational data with the following features: (1) treatment is imposed shortly after the event and is non-randomized, (2) individuals who survive to t* are scheduled to be interviewed, (3) there is interview non-response, (4) individuals who die prior to t* are missing information on pre-event confounders, (5) medical records are abstracted on all individuals to obtain information on post-event, pre-treatment confounding factors. To address the issue of survivor bias, we seek to estimate the survivor average causal effect (SACE), the effect of treatment on functional status among the cohort of individuals who would survive to t* regardless of whether or not assigned to treatment. To estimate this effect from observational data, we need to impose untestable assumptions, which depend on the collection of all confounding factors. Since pre-event information is missing on those who die prior to t*, it is unlikely that these data are missing at random (MAR). We introduce a sensitivity analysis methodology to evaluate the robustness of SACE inferences to deviations from the MAR assumption. We apply our methodology to the evaluation of the effect of trauma center care on vitality outcomes using data from the National Study on Costs and Outcomes of Trauma Care. PMID:18759833

Factors Affecting Patients' Preferences for and Actual Discussions About End-of-Life Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Fakhri, Shoaib; Engelberg, Ruth A; Downey, Lois; Nielsen, Elizabeth L; Paul, Sudiptho; Lahdya, Alexandria Z; Treece, Patsy D; Curtis, J Randall

2016-09-01

Discussions about end-of-life care are often difficult for patients and clinicians, and inadequate communication poses a barrier to patients receiving the care they desire. To understand factors that facilitate end-of-life care discussions that guide interventions to improve care. We examined baseline data from an ongoing randomized trial to evaluate associations between patients' self-reported desire for, and occurrence of, discussions about end-of-life care and factors influencing these discussions. Factors included emotional symptoms and barriers and facilitators to discussions. The sample included patients with serious illness (n = 473) and their primary or specialty care clinicians (n = 128). Regression analyses were adjusted for confounders and clustered patients under clinicians. Patients who endorsed each of three barriers to discussions were less likely to have had a discussion with their clinician (P-values ranging from communication about end-of-life care is associated with patient factors including communication barriers and facilitators and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Understanding these factors may facilitate design of effective communication interventions. Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On the Confounding Effect of Temperature on Chemical Shift-Encoded Fat Quantification

Science.gov (United States)

Hernando, Diego; Sharma, Samir D.; Kramer, Harald; Reeder, Scott B.

2014-01-01

Purpose To characterize the confounding effect of temperature on chemical shift-encoded (CSE) fat quantification. Methods The proton resonance frequency of water, unlike triglycerides, depends on temperature. This leads to a temperature dependence of the spectral models of fat (relative to water) that are commonly used by CSE-MRI methods. Simulation analysis was performed for 1.5 Tesla CSE fat–water signals at various temperatures and echo time combinations. Oil–water phantoms were constructed and scanned at temperatures between 0 and 40°C using spectroscopy and CSE imaging at three echo time combinations. An explanted human liver, rejected for transplantation due to steatosis, was scanned using spectroscopy and CSE imaging. Fat–water reconstructions were performed using four different techniques: magnitude and complex fitting, with standard or temperature-corrected signal modeling. Results In all experiments, magnitude fitting with standard signal modeling resulted in large fat quantification errors. Errors were largest for echo time combinations near TEinit ≈ 1.3 ms, ΔTE ≈ 2.2 ms. Errors in fat quantification caused by temperature-related frequency shifts were smaller with complex fitting, and were avoided using a temperature-corrected signal model. Conclusion Temperature is a confounding factor for fat quantification. If not accounted for, it can result in large errors in fat quantifications in phantom and ex vivo acquisitions. PMID:24123362

Factors affecting the rural domestic waste generation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.R. Darban Astane

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The current study was carried out to evaluate the quantity and quality of rural domestic waste generation and to identify the factors affecting it in rural areas of Khodabandeh county in Zanjan Province, Iran. Waste samplings consisted of 318 rural households in 11 villages. In order to evaluate the quality and quantity of the rural domestic waste, waste production was classified into 12 groups and 2 main groups of organic waste and solid waste. Moreover, kriging interpolation technique in ARC-GIS software was used to evaluate the spatial distribution of the generated domestic waste and ultimately multiple regression analysis was used to evaluate the factors affecting the generation of domestic waste. The results of this study showed that the average waste generated by each person was 0.588 kilograms per day. with the share of organic waste generated by each person being 0.409 kilograms per day and the share of solid waste generated by each person being 0.179 kilograms per day. The results from spatial distribution of waste generation showed a certain pattern in three groups and a higher rate of waste generation in the northern and northwestern parts, especially in the subdistrict. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the households’ income, assets, age, and personal attitude are respectively the most important variables affecting waste generation. The housholds’ attitude and indigenous knowledge on efficient use of materials are also the key factors which can help reducing waste generation.

Ranking and evaluating the factors affecting the success of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ranking and evaluating the factors affecting the success of management team in construction projects. ... Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences. Journal Home ... The project management team is one of these important factors.

Factors Affecting the Pharmacology of Antibody–Drug Conjugates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew T. Lucas

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Major advances in therapeutic proteins, including antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs, have created revolutionary drug delivery systems in cancer over the past decade. While these immunoconjugate agents provide several advantages compared to their small-molecule counterparts, their clinical use is still in its infancy. The considerations in their development and clinical use are complex, and consist of multiple components and variables that can affect the pharmacologic characteristics. It is critical to understand the mechanisms employed by ADCs in navigating biological barriers and how these factors affect their biodistribution, delivery to tumors, efficacy, and toxicity. Thus, future studies are warranted to better understand the complex pharmacology and interaction between ADC carriers and biological systems, such as the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS and tumor microenvironment. This review provides an overview of factors that affect the pharmacologic profiles of ADC therapies that are currently in clinical use and development.

A causal examination of the effects of confounding factors on multimetric indices

Science.gov (United States)

Schoolmaster, Donald R.; Grace, James B.; Schweiger, E. William; Mitchell, Brian R.; Guntenspergen, Glenn R.

2013-01-01

The development of multimetric indices (MMIs) as a means of providing integrative measures of ecosystem condition is becoming widespread. An increasingly recognized problem for the interpretability of MMIs is controlling for the potentially confounding influences of environmental covariates. Most common approaches to handling covariates are based on simple notions of statistical control, leaving the causal implications of covariates and their adjustment unstated. In this paper, we use graphical models to examine some of the potential impacts of environmental covariates on the observed signals between human disturbance and potential response metrics. Using simulations based on various causal networks, we show how environmental covariates can both obscure and exaggerate the effects of human disturbance on individual metrics. We then examine from a causal interpretation standpoint the common practice of adjusting ecological metrics for environmental influences using only the set of sites deemed to be in reference condition. We present and examine the performance of an alternative approach to metric adjustment that uses the whole set of sites and models both environmental and human disturbance effects simultaneously. The findings from our analyses indicate that failing to model and adjust metrics can result in a systematic bias towards those metrics in which environmental covariates function to artificially strengthen the metric–disturbance relationship resulting in MMIs that do not accurately measure impacts of human disturbance. We also find that a “whole-set modeling approach” requires fewer assumptions and is more efficient with the given information than the more commonly applied “reference-set” approach.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2018-06-11

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

Exploring paraprofessional and classroom factors affecting teacher supervision.

Science.gov (United States)

Irvin, Dwight W; Ingram, Paul; Huffman, Jonathan; Mason, Rose; Wills, Howard

2018-02-01

Paraprofessionals serve a primary role in supporting students with disabilities in the classroom, which necessitates teachers' supervision as a means to improve their practice. Yet, little is known regarding what factors affect teacher supervision. We sought to identify how paraprofessional competence and classroom type affected the levels of teacher direction. We administered an adapted version of the Paraprofessional Needs, Knowledge & Tasks Survey and the Survey for Teachers Supervising Paraprofessionals to teachers supervising paraprofessionals in elementary schools. Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine the link between paraprofessional competence and classroom factors affecting the level of teacher supervision. Our results indicated that when teachers perceived paraprofessionals as being more skilled, they provided more supervision, and when more supervision was provided the less they thought paraprofessionals should be doing their assigned tasks. Additionally, paraprofessionals working in classrooms with more students with mild disabilities received less supervision than paraprofessionals working in classrooms with more students with moderate-to-severe disabilities. Those paraprofessionals in classrooms serving mostly children with mild disabilities were also perceived as having lower levels of skill competence than those serving in classrooms with students with more moderate-to-severe disabilities. By understanding the factors that affect teacher supervision, policy and professional development opportunities can be refined/developed to better support both supervising teachers and paraprofessionals and, in turn, improve the outcomes of children with disabilities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors Affecting Customer Retention in the Airline Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raghda Climis

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This study empirically investigated the factors that affect customer retention in the airline industry in North Cyprus. These factors were service quality attributes, perceived safety, customer satisfaction, loyalty reward program, relationship commitment and customer loyalty. The study also investigated four different groups for purposes of travel (business, education, vacation and family visit in the empirical model. Methodology: A descriptive approach was chosen to conduct this research. A quanhip between customer retention and the related study factors; however, not all of these relations are signifcant. The results also showed that the different purposes of travel had different influences on the variables regarding the positive and signifcant relations between them. Some independent variables had a negative effect on the dependent variables. Conclusions: This research was limited to one group and place: the students of Eastern Mediterranean University in North Cyprus. Originality: This study connected the retention, loyalty, satisfaction and service quality factors as attributes. In addition, this research was the frst to include other independent factors affecting satisfaction and loyalty in a comparison between four different groups regarding the purpose of travel in the airline industry.

An introduction to sensitivity analysis for unobserved confounding in nonexperimental prevention research.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Weiwei; Kuramoto, S Janet; Stuart, Elizabeth A

2013-12-01

Despite the fact that randomization is the gold standard for estimating causal relationships, many questions in prevention science are often left to be answered through nonexperimental studies because randomization is either infeasible or unethical. While methods such as propensity score matching can adjust for observed confounding, unobserved confounding is the Achilles heel of most nonexperimental studies. This paper describes and illustrates seven sensitivity analysis techniques that assess the sensitivity of study results to an unobserved confounder. These methods were categorized into two groups to reflect differences in their conceptualization of sensitivity analysis, as well as their targets of interest. As a motivating example, we examine the sensitivity of the association between maternal suicide and offspring's risk for suicide attempt hospitalization. While inferences differed slightly depending on the type of sensitivity analysis conducted, overall, the association between maternal suicide and offspring's hospitalization for suicide attempt was found to be relatively robust to an unobserved confounder. The ease of implementation and the insight these analyses provide underscores sensitivity analysis techniques as an important tool for nonexperimental studies. The implementation of sensitivity analysis can help increase confidence in results from nonexperimental studies and better inform prevention researchers and policy makers regarding potential intervention targets.

Clinical and pathologic factors affecting lymph node yields in colorectal cancer.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ta-Wen Hsu

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Lymph node yield is recommended as a benchmark of quality care in colorectal cancer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of various factors upon lymph node yield and to identify independent factors associated with lymph node harvest. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of 162 patients with Stage I to Stage III colorectal cancers seen in one institution were reviewed. These patients underwent radical surgery as definitive therapy; high-risk patients then received adjuvant treatment. Pathologic and demographic data were recorded and analyzed. The subgroup analysis of lymph node yields was determined using a t-test and analysis of variants. Linear regression model and multivariable analysis were used to perform potential confounding and predicting variables. RESULTS: Five variables had significant association with lymph node yield after adjustment for other factors in a multiple linear regression model. These variables were: tumor size, surgical method, specimen length, and individual surgeon and pathologist. The model with these five significant variables interpreted 44.4% of the variation. CONCLUSIONS: Patients, tumor characteristics and surgical variables all influence the number of lymph nodes retrieved. Physicians are the main gatekeepers. Adequate training and optimized guidelines could greatly improve the quality of lymph node yields.

Factors affecting the effects of diuresis renography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Deshan

2006-01-01

Diuresis renography is one of the classic methods for diagnosing upper urinary tract obstruction in both children and adults. However, in clinical practice, the results of diuresis renography were often influenced by many factors including diuretics, timing of diuretics injection, the status of renal function and hydration, the volume and compliance of collecting system, bladder fullness and so on. It is important to consider all the factors affecting diuresis renography during performing and interpreting diuresis renography. (authors)

Personal factors affecting organizational commitment of records ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated personal factors affecting organizational commitment among records management personnel in the state universities in Nigeria. Simple cluster sampling with equal allocation method was used to select 180 records management personnel from the study population. A five item organizational ...

Relevant Affect Factors of Smartphone Mobile Data Traffic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siniša Husnjak

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Smartphones are used to access a wide range of different information and communication services and perform functions based on data transfer. A number of subscription contracts for smartphones is rapidly increasing, and the development of mobile communications network provides higher speed of data transfer. The continuous increase in the average amount of data traffic per one subscriber contract leads to an increase in the total Mobile Data Traffic (MDT, globally. This research represents a summary of factors that affect the amount of smartphone MDT. Previous literature shows only a few of the factors individually that affect the realization of smartphone MDT. The results of the research clarify the ways which influence the amount of MDT generated by a smartphone. This paper increases the awareness of the users of the methods of generating smartphone MDT. The research also allows users to specify parameters that affect the prediction of generated MDT of a smartphone.

Analysis of Longitudinal Studies With Repeated Outcome Measures: Adjusting for Time-Dependent Confounding Using Conventional Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Keogh, Ruth H; Daniel, Rhian M; VanderWeele, Tyler J; Vansteelandt, Stijn

2018-05-01

Estimation of causal effects of time-varying exposures using longitudinal data is a common problem in epidemiology. When there are time-varying confounders, which may include past outcomes, affected by prior exposure, standard regression methods can lead to bias. Methods such as inverse probability weighted estimation of marginal structural models have been developed to address this problem. However, in this paper we show how standard regression methods can be used, even in the presence of time-dependent confounding, to estimate the total effect of an exposure on a subsequent outcome by controlling appropriately for prior exposures, outcomes, and time-varying covariates. We refer to the resulting estimation approach as sequential conditional mean models (SCMMs), which can be fitted using generalized estimating equations. We outline this approach and describe how including propensity score adjustment is advantageous. We compare the causal effects being estimated using SCMMs and marginal structural models, and we compare the two approaches using simulations. SCMMs enable more precise inferences, with greater robustness against model misspecification via propensity score adjustment, and easily accommodate continuous exposures and interactions. A new test for direct effects of past exposures on a subsequent outcome is described.

Single-tooth replacement: factors affecting different prosthetic treatment modalities

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Al-Quran Firas A

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The choice between several treatment options for replacing a single missing tooth is influenced by clinical, dentist- and patient-immanent factors. This study aimed to determine the patient factors that would affect the treatment decision to replace a single missing tooth and to assess the satisfaction with several options. Method 200 volunteers involved (121 females and 79 males divided into four groups, Group A: consisted of patients with conventional fixed partial dentures or patients with resin bonded fixed partial dentures. Group B: consisted of patients who received removable partial dentures while Group C: consisted of patients who received a single implant supported crown, and a control group D: consisted of patients who received no treatment. Data were collected using a questionnaire. Results The highest percentage of males within groups (58% was within the removable prostheses category. The majority of the subjects in the study reported that the main reason for replacing a missing tooth was for esthetic and function. Most important factor affecting the choice between treatment modalities was damaging the neighboring teeth. Pain, post operative sensitivity and dental phobia were important factors in choosing the prosthesis type and affected the control group patients not to have any treatment. The highest satisfaction percentage among groups studied was recorded for dental implants then FPD groups, while the least percentage were in both the control and RPD groups, for all aspects of function, esthetic and speech efficiency. Conclusions The final choice between FPD, RPD and implant depended on several factors which affected the decision making; among these is cost and patients' awareness of the different treatment options.

Socio-demographic and clinical factors affecting adherence to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Socio-demographic and clinical factors affecting adherence to antihypertensive medications and blood pressure control among patients attending the family practice clinic in a tertiary hospital in northern Nigeria.

Economic Analysis of Factors Affecting Technical Efficiency of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Economic Analysis of Factors Affecting Technical Efficiency of Smallholders ... socio-economic characteristics which influence technical efficiency in maize production. ... Ministry of Agriculture and livestock, records, books, reports and internet.

Influential Factors Affecting Materials Management in Construction Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jusoh Zairra Mat

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Construction projects are more often than not plagued by poor performances such as delays, cost overrun, low productivity, construction wastes and compromised quality. Amongst the critical contributory factors of poor project performances, is the ineffectiveness of materials management occurring in the construction sites. Indeed, materials management is a very important component for construction projects. However, there are only limited numbers of research available regarding this topic. Thus, this research focuses its study on materials management, specifically in identifying the influential factors that affect materials management in the construction project activities. Literatures from books, journal articles and conference papers related to poor project performances and materials management have been reviewed. Consequently, this study sorted the salient influential factors and categorized them based on their specific group. Out of 47 factors identified, they are classified into 8 groups. They are (1 site condition; (2 planning and handling on site; (3 management; (4 materials; (5 supplier and manufacturer default; (6 transportation; (7 contractual; and (8 governmental interferences. In conclusion, this study contends that by identifying the influential factors affecting materials management, it will help construction players to avoid the occurrence of those factors and will minimize the negative impacts on the overall performance of construction projects. Hence, the handling-over of project will be according to schedule and not delayed by materials mismanagement.

Empirical Analysis on Factors Affecting User Behavior in Social Commerce

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Xu Jiayi

2017-02-01

Full Text Available [Purpose/significance] This paper aims to discover the factors affecting user behavior in the derivative situation of e-commerce, social commerce, and explore the sustainable development and related marketing advice of it. [Method/process］This paper put forward a theoretical model of factors affecting user behavior in social commerce by integrating emotional state impact into the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R framework. 277 valid samples were collected by questionnaires and PLS. [Result/conclusion］The results show that information quality and tie strength significantly affect user emotional states, while emotional states positively affect user behavior. In addition, graphic features of business information have indirect effects on user emotional states, while it has direct effect on purchase intention.

Serotonin-1A receptors in major depression quantified using PET: controversies, confounds, and recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Shrestha, Saurav; Hirvonen, Jussi; Hines, Christina S; Henter, Ioline D; Svenningsson, Per; Pike, Victor W; Innis, Robert B

2012-02-15

The serotonin-1A (5-HT(1A)) receptor is of particular interest in human positron emission tomography (PET) studies of major depressive disorder (MDD). Of the eight studies investigating this issue in the brains of patients with MDD, four reported decreased 5-HT(1A) receptor density, two reported no change, and two reported increased 5-HT(1A) receptor density. While clinical heterogeneity may have contributed to these differing results, methodological factors by themselves could also explain the discrepancies. This review highlights several of these factors, including the use of the cerebellum as a reference region and the imprecision of measuring the concentration of parent radioligand in arterial plasma, the method otherwise considered to be the 'gold standard'. Other potential confounds also exist that could restrict or unexpectedly affect the interpretation of results. For example, the radioligand may be a substrate for an efflux transporter - like P-gp - at the blood-brain barrier; furthermore, the binding of the radioligand to the receptor in various stages of cellular trafficking is unknown. Efflux transport and cellular trafficking may also be differentially expressed in patients compared to healthy subjects. We believe that, taken together, the existing disparate findings do not reliably answer the question of whether 5-HT(1A) receptors are altered in MDD or in subgroups of patients with MDD. In addition, useful meta-analysis is precluded because only one of the imaging centers acquired all the data necessary to address these methodological concerns. We recommend that in the future, individual centers acquire more thorough data capable of addressing methodological concerns, and that multiple centers collaborate to meaningfully pool their data for meta-analysis. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Factors affecting academic leadership in dermatology.

Science.gov (United States)

Martires, Kathryn J; Aquino, Lisa L; Wu, Jashin J

2015-02-01

Although prior studies have examined methods by which to recruit and retain academic dermatologists, few have examined factors that are important for developing academic leaders in dermatology. This study sought to examine characteristics of dermatology residency programs that affect the odds of producing department or division chairs/chiefs and program directors (PDs). Data regarding program size, faculty, grants, alumni residency program attended, lectures, and publications for all accredited US dermatology residency programs were collected. Of the 103 programs examined, 46% had graduated at least 1 chair/chief, and 53% had graduated at least 1 PD. Results emphasize that faculty guidance and research may represent modifiable factors by which a dermatology residency program can increase its graduation of academic leaders.

A study of affecting factors on the degree of university students ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There are different factors which affect the way people select and continue their attitudes towards products of certain brands. The main objective of the present study was investigating factors affecting the degree of University students' loyalty to Nike brand. This research is functional in regard with objective and ...

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

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-31

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

The alarming problems of confounding equivalence using logistic regression models in the perspective of causal diagrams.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Yuanyuan; Li, Hongkai; Sun, Xiaoru; Su, Ping; Wang, Tingting; Liu, Yi; Yuan, Zhongshang; Liu, Yanxun; Xue, Fuzhong

2017-12-28

Confounders can produce spurious associations between exposure and outcome in observational studies. For majority of epidemiologists, adjusting for confounders using logistic regression model is their habitual method, though it has some problems in accuracy and precision. It is, therefore, important to highlight the problems of logistic regression and search the alternative method. Four causal diagram models were defined to summarize confounding equivalence. Both theoretical proofs and simulation studies were performed to verify whether conditioning on different confounding equivalence sets had the same bias-reducing potential and then to select the optimum adjusting strategy, in which logistic regression model and inverse probability weighting based marginal structural model (IPW-based-MSM) were compared. The "do-calculus" was used to calculate the true causal effect of exposure on outcome, then the bias and standard error were used to evaluate the performances of different strategies. Adjusting for different sets of confounding equivalence, as judged by identical Markov boundaries, produced different bias-reducing potential in the logistic regression model. For the sets satisfied G-admissibility, adjusting for the set including all the confounders reduced the equivalent bias to the one containing the parent nodes of the outcome, while the bias after adjusting for the parent nodes of exposure was not equivalent to them. In addition, all causal effect estimations through logistic regression were biased, although the estimation after adjusting for the parent nodes of exposure was nearest to the true causal effect. However, conditioning on different confounding equivalence sets had the same bias-reducing potential under IPW-based-MSM. Compared with logistic regression, the IPW-based-MSM could obtain unbiased causal effect estimation when the adjusted confounders satisfied G-admissibility and the optimal strategy was to adjust for the parent nodes of outcome, which

The alarming problems of confounding equivalence using logistic regression models in the perspective of causal diagrams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanyuan Yu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Confounders can produce spurious associations between exposure and outcome in observational studies. For majority of epidemiologists, adjusting for confounders using logistic regression model is their habitual method, though it has some problems in accuracy and precision. It is, therefore, important to highlight the problems of logistic regression and search the alternative method. Methods Four causal diagram models were defined to summarize confounding equivalence. Both theoretical proofs and simulation studies were performed to verify whether conditioning on different confounding equivalence sets had the same bias-reducing potential and then to select the optimum adjusting strategy, in which logistic regression model and inverse probability weighting based marginal structural model (IPW-based-MSM were compared. The “do-calculus” was used to calculate the true causal effect of exposure on outcome, then the bias and standard error were used to evaluate the performances of different strategies. Results Adjusting for different sets of confounding equivalence, as judged by identical Markov boundaries, produced different bias-reducing potential in the logistic regression model. For the sets satisfied G-admissibility, adjusting for the set including all the confounders reduced the equivalent bias to the one containing the parent nodes of the outcome, while the bias after adjusting for the parent nodes of exposure was not equivalent to them. In addition, all causal effect estimations through logistic regression were biased, although the estimation after adjusting for the parent nodes of exposure was nearest to the true causal effect. However, conditioning on different confounding equivalence sets had the same bias-reducing potential under IPW-based-MSM. Compared with logistic regression, the IPW-based-MSM could obtain unbiased causal effect estimation when the adjusted confounders satisfied G-admissibility and the optimal

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-01-01

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

Factors Affecting Successful Implementation of Hospital Information Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Farzandipur, Mehrdad; Jeddi, Fatemeh Rangraz; Azimi, Esmaeil

2016-02-01

Today, the use of information systems in health environments, like any other fields, is necessary and organizational managers are convinced to use these systems. However, managers' satisfaction is not the only factor in successfully implementing these systems and failed information technology projects (IT) are reported despite the consent of the directors. Therefore, this study aims to determine the factors affecting the successful implementation of a hospital information system. The study was carried out as a descriptive method in 20 clinical hospitals that the hospital information system (HIS) was conducted in them. The clinical and paraclinical users of mentioned hospitals are the study group. 400 people were chosen as samples in scientific method and the data was collected using a questionnaire consisted of three main human, managerial and organizational, and technological factors, by questionnaire and interview. Then the data was scored in Likert scale (score of 1 to 5) and were analyzed using the SPSS software. About 75 percent of the population were female, with average work experience of 10 years and the mean age was 30 years. The human factors affecting the success of hospital information system implementation achieved the mean score of 3.5, both organizational and managerial factors 2.9 and technological factors the mean of 3. Human factors including computer skills, perceiving usefulness and perceiving the ease of a hospital information system use are more effective on the acceptance and successful implementation of hospital information systems; then the technological factors play a greater role. It is recommended that for the successful implementation of hospital information systems, most of these factors to be considered.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Jouhari, Zahra; Haghani, Fariba; Changiz, Tahereh

2015-01-01

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

Confounding factors in determining causal soil moisture-precipitation feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Tuttle, Samuel E.; Salvucci, Guido D.

2017-07-01

Identification of causal links in the land-atmosphere system is important for construction and testing of land surface and general circulation models. However, the land and atmosphere are highly coupled and linked by a vast number of complex, interdependent processes. Statistical methods, such as Granger causality, can help to identify feedbacks from observational data, independent of the different parameterizations of physical processes and spatiotemporal resolution effects that influence feedbacks in models. However, statistical causal identification methods can easily be misapplied, leading to erroneous conclusions about feedback strength and sign. Here, we discuss three factors that must be accounted for in determination of causal soil moisture-precipitation feedback in observations and model output: seasonal and interannual variability, precipitation persistence, and endogeneity. The effect of neglecting these factors is demonstrated in simulated and observational data. The results show that long-timescale variability and precipitation persistence can have a substantial effect on detected soil moisture-precipitation feedback strength, while endogeneity has a smaller effect that is often masked by measurement error and thus is more likely to be an issue when analyzing model data or highly accurate observational data.

Familial confounding of the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring substance use and problems.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Onofrio, Brian M; Rickert, Martin E; Langström, Niklas; Donahue, Kelly L; Coyne, Claire A; Larsson, Henrik; Ellingson, Jarrod M; Van Hulle, Carol A; Iliadou, Anastasia N; Rathouz, Paul J; Lahey, Benjamin B; Lichtenstein, Paul

2012-11-01

Previous epidemiological, animal, and human cognitive neuroscience research suggests that maternal smoking during pregnancy (SDP) causes increased risk of substance use/problems in offspring. To determine the extent to which the association between SDP and offspring substance use/problems depends on confounded familial background factors by using a quasi-experimental design. We used 2 separate samples from the United States and Sweden. The analyses prospectively predicted multiple indices of substance use and problems while controlling for statistical covariates and comparing differentially exposed siblings to minimize confounding. Offspring of a representative sample of women in the United States (sample 1) and the total Swedish population born during the period from January 1, 1983, to December 31, 1995 (sample 2). Adolescent offspring of the women in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (n = 6904) and all offspring born in Sweden during the 13-year period (n = 1,187,360). Self-reported adolescent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use and early onset (before 14 years of age) of each substance (sample 1) and substance-related convictions and hospitalizations for an alcohol- or other drug-related problem (sample 2). The same pattern emerged for each index of substance use/problems across the 2 samples. At the population level, maternal SDP predicted every measure of offspring substance use/problems in both samples, ranging from adolescent alcohol use (hazard ratio [HR](moderate), 1.32 [95% CI, 1.22-1.43]; HR(high), 1.33 [1.17-1.53]) to a narcotics-related conviction (HR(moderate), 2.23 [2.14-2.31]; HR(high), 2.97 [2.86-3.09]). When comparing differentially exposed siblings to minimize genetic and environmental confounds, however, the association between SDP and each measure of substance use/problems was minimal and not statistically significant. The association between maternal SDP and offspring substance use/problems is likely due to familial background

Determination of the Burnout Levels of Workers and Factors Affecting It in a District Municipality, in Central Ankara

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Burcu Kucuk Bicer

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Aim: The study aimed to assess the burnout levels of municipality workers and the factors affecting it. Method: The descriptive study was carried out in a municipality in Ankara. The data was collected under observation. A standart questionnaire composed of some descriptive features, Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI and General Health Survey-12 (GSA-12 questions was used. SPSS 15.0 statistical programme was used for analysis (alpha value was taken as 0.05. Also logistic regression was used in advanced analysis in order to determine the factors effecting burnout. Results: In the study, 48.0% of the workers were female and their age was between the ages of 20 to 61 years. Women, workers between 30-39 years old, who are in risk according to GHQ-12 and with chronical diseases got scores over median value from all three dimensions: emotional exhaustion (EE, depersonalization (D and personal accomplishment (PA. According to logistic regression results, gender, graduation from college, chronical disease and GHQ-12 was related with EE, whereas marital status, number of children, GHQ-12 scores, EE and PA was related with D. PA was found related with GHQ-12 scores, number of children and D scores. Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that burnout was found to be related with gender, chronical disease and mental health symptoms. Because this is a descriptive study precautionary approach to the results is needed. Determination of confounding factors by using similar models will be helpful to show the major effecting factors of burnout. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2012; 11(6.000: 673-680

Factors Affecting Furfural as a Nematicide on Turf

OpenAIRE

Luc, J. E.; Crow, W. T.

2013-01-01

Recently a furfural nematicide Multiguard Protect EC was launched for use on turfgrasses in the United States. A series of greenhouse experiments were conducted to determine the concentration and exposure time required for this formulation to irreversibly affect Belonolaimus longicaudatus, and to study factors that might affect the practicality of furfural use in turfgrass systems. One experiment exposed B. longicaudatus to increasing concentrations of furfural (0 to 990 ppm) in vitro for eit...

Prenatal Paracetamol Exposure and Wheezing in Childhood: Causation or Confounding?

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Enrica Migliore

Full Text Available Several studies have reported an increased risk of wheezing in the children of mothers who used paracetamol during pregnancy. We evaluated to what extent this association is explained by confounding.We investigated the association between maternal paracetamol use in the first and third trimester of pregnancy and ever wheezing or recurrent wheezing/asthma in infants in the NINFEA cohort study. Risks ratios (RR and 95% confidence intervals (CI were estimated after adjustment for confounders, including maternal infections and antibiotic use during pregnancy.The prevalence of maternal paracetamol use was 30.6% during the first and 36.7% during the third trimester of pregnancy. The prevalence of ever wheezing and recurrent wheezing/asthma was 16.9% and 5.6%, respectively. After full adjustment, the RR for ever wheezing decreased from 1.25 [1.07-1.47] to 1.10 [0.94-1.30] in the first, and from 1.26 [1.08-1.47] to 1.10 [0.93-1.29] in the third trimester. A similar pattern was observed for recurrent wheezing/asthma. Duration of maternal paracetamol use was not associated with either outcome. Further analyses on paracetamol use for three non-infectious disorders (sciatica, migraine, and headache revealed no increased risk of wheezing in children.The association between maternal paracetamol use during pregnancy and infant wheezing is mainly, if not completely explained by confounding.

Factors that affect South African Reading Literacy Achievement ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Factors that affect South African Reading Literacy Achievement: evidence from prePIRLS 2011. ... achievement among Grade 4 learners in South Africa by utilising aspects of Carroll's model of school learning. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Is the association between general cognitive ability and violent crime caused by family-level confounders?

Science.gov (United States)

Frisell, Thomas; Pawitan, Yudi; Långström, Niklas

2012-01-01

Research has consistently found lower cognitive ability to be related to increased risk for violent and other antisocial behaviour. Since this association has remained when adjusting for childhood socioeconomic position, ethnicity, and parental characteristics, it is often assumed to be causal, potentially mediated through school adjustment problems and conduct disorder. Socioeconomic differences are notoriously difficult to quantify, however, and it is possible that the association between intelligence and delinquency suffer substantial residual confounding. We linked longitudinal Swedish total population registers to study the association of general cognitive ability (intelligence) at age 18 (the Conscript Register, 1980-1993) with the incidence proportion of violent criminal convictions (the Crime Register, 1973-2009), among all men born in Sweden 1961-1975 (N = 700,514). Using probit regression, we controlled for measured childhood socioeconomic variables, and further employed sibling comparisons (family pedigree data from the Multi-Generation Register) to adjust for shared familial characteristics. Cognitive ability in early adulthood was inversely associated to having been convicted of a violent crime (β = -0.19, 95% CI: -0.19; -0.18), the association remained when adjusting for childhood socioeconomic factors (β = -0.18, 95% CI: -0.18; -0.17). The association was somewhat lower within half-brothers raised apart (β = -0.16, 95% CI: -0.18; -0.14), within half-brothers raised together (β = -0.13, 95% CI: (-0.15; -0.11), and lower still in full-brother pairs (β = -0.10, 95% CI: -0.11; -0.09). The attenuation among half-brothers raised together and full brothers was too strong to be attributed solely to attenuation from measurement error. Our results suggest that the association between general cognitive ability and violent criminality is confounded partly by factors shared by brothers. However, most of the association remains even

Motivation factors affecting employees job performance in selected ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Motivation can be intrinsic, such as satisfaction and feelings of achievement; or extrinsic, such as rewards, punishment, and goal obtainment. The study assessed the motivating factors affecting the job performance of two oil palm companies' ...

Associations between lifestyle and air pollution exposure: Potential for confounding in large administrative data cohorts.

Science.gov (United States)

Strak, Maciej; Janssen, Nicole; Beelen, Rob; Schmitz, Oliver; Karssenberg, Derek; Houthuijs, Danny; van den Brink, Carolien; Dijst, Martin; Brunekreef, Bert; Hoek, Gerard

2017-07-01

Cohorts based on administrative data have size advantages over individual cohorts in investigating air pollution risks, but often lack in-depth information on individual risk factors related to lifestyle. If there is a correlation between lifestyle and air pollution, omitted lifestyle variables may result in biased air pollution risk estimates. Correlations between lifestyle and air pollution can be induced by socio-economic status affecting both lifestyle and air pollution exposure. Our overall aim was to assess potential confounding by missing lifestyle factors on air pollution mortality risk estimates. The first aim was to assess associations between long-term exposure to several air pollutants and lifestyle factors. The second aim was to assess whether these associations were sensitive to adjustment for individual and area-level socioeconomic status (SES), and whether they differed between subgroups of the population. Using the obtained air pollution-lifestyle associations and indirect adjustment methods, our third aim was to investigate the potential bias due to missing lifestyle information on air pollution mortality risk estimates in administrative cohorts. We used a recent Dutch national health survey of 387,195 adults to investigate the associations of PM 10 , PM 2.5 , PM 2.5-10 , PM 2.5 absorbance, OP DTT, OP ESR and NO 2 annual average concentrations at the residential address from land use regression models with individual smoking habits, alcohol consumption, physical activity and body mass index. We assessed the associations with and without adjustment for neighborhood and individual SES characteristics typically available in administrative data cohorts. We illustrated the effect of including lifestyle information on the air pollution mortality risk estimates in administrative cohort studies using a published indirect adjustment method. Current smoking and alcohol consumption were generally positively associated with air pollution. Physical activity

An Introduction to Sensitivity Analysis for Unobserved Confounding in Non-Experimental Prevention Research

Science.gov (United States)

Kuramoto, S. Janet; Stuart, Elizabeth A.

2013-01-01

Despite that randomization is the gold standard for estimating causal relationships, many questions in prevention science are left to be answered through non-experimental studies often because randomization is either infeasible or unethical. While methods such as propensity score matching can adjust for observed confounding, unobserved confounding is the Achilles heel of most non-experimental studies. This paper describes and illustrates seven sensitivity analysis techniques that assess the sensitivity of study results to an unobserved confounder. These methods were categorized into two groups to reflect differences in their conceptualization of sensitivity analysis, as well as their targets of interest. As a motivating example we examine the sensitivity of the association between maternal suicide and offspring’s risk for suicide attempt hospitalization. While inferences differed slightly depending on the type of sensitivity analysis conducted, overall the association between maternal suicide and offspring’s hospitalization for suicide attempt was found to be relatively robust to an unobserved confounder. The ease of implementation and the insight these analyses provide underscores sensitivity analysis techniques as an important tool for non-experimental studies. The implementation of sensitivity analysis can help increase confidence in results from non-experimental studies and better inform prevention researchers and policymakers regarding potential intervention targets. PMID:23408282

INTERNATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN FACTORS AFFECTING LABOUR MOBILITY.

Science.gov (United States)

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.…

Factors Which Affect Academic Achievement of University Students

OpenAIRE

RENÇBER, Bahman Alp

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate by analysing factors affecting academic achievement of university students. Also effects of these factors are studied. For this purpose, the students attending “Statistics and Transport Technology” course at Gazi University, Industrial Arts Education and Arts Faculty, Industrial Technology Education Department, in the 2008-2009 academic year have been identified as the study universe. Analysis has been done by taking examples for this universe. The ...

Host and Environmental Factors Affecting the Intestinal Microbiota in Chickens.

Science.gov (United States)

Kers, Jannigje G; Velkers, Francisca C; Fischer, Egil A J; Hermes, Gerben D A; Stegeman, J A; Smidt, Hauke

2018-01-01

The initial development of intestinal microbiota in poultry plays an important role in production performance, overall health and resistance against microbial infections. Multiplexed sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicons is often used in studies, such as feed intervention or antimicrobial drug trials, to determine corresponding effects on the composition of intestinal microbiota. However, considerable variation of intestinal microbiota composition has been observed both within and across studies. Such variation may in part be attributed to technical factors, such as sampling procedures, sample storage, DNA extraction, the choice of PCR primers and corresponding region to be sequenced, and the sequencing platforms used. Furthermore, part of this variation in microbiota composition may also be explained by different host characteristics and environmental factors. To facilitate the improvement of design, reproducibility and interpretation of poultry microbiota studies, we have reviewed the literature on confounding factors influencing the observed intestinal microbiota in chickens. First, it has been identified that host-related factors, such as age, sex, and breed, have a large effect on intestinal microbiota. The diversity of chicken intestinal microbiota tends to increase most during the first weeks of life, and corresponding colonization patterns seem to differ between layer- and meat-type chickens. Second, it has been found that environmental factors, such as biosecurity level, housing, litter, feed access and climate also have an effect on the composition of the intestinal microbiota. As microbiota studies have to deal with many of these unknown or hidden host and environmental variables, the choice of study designs can have a great impact on study outcomes and interpretation of the data. Providing details on a broad range of host and environmental factors in articles and sequence data repositories is highly recommended. This creates opportunities to

Host and Environmental Factors Affecting the Intestinal Microbiota in Chickens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jannigje G. Kers

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The initial development of intestinal microbiota in poultry plays an important role in production performance, overall health and resistance against microbial infections. Multiplexed sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicons is often used in studies, such as feed intervention or antimicrobial drug trials, to determine corresponding effects on the composition of intestinal microbiota. However, considerable variation of intestinal microbiota composition has been observed both within and across studies. Such variation may in part be attributed to technical factors, such as sampling procedures, sample storage, DNA extraction, the choice of PCR primers and corresponding region to be sequenced, and the sequencing platforms used. Furthermore, part of this variation in microbiota composition may also be explained by different host characteristics and environmental factors. To facilitate the improvement of design, reproducibility and interpretation of poultry microbiota studies, we have reviewed the literature on confounding factors influencing the observed intestinal microbiota in chickens. First, it has been identified that host-related factors, such as age, sex, and breed, have a large effect on intestinal microbiota. The diversity of chicken intestinal microbiota tends to increase most during the first weeks of life, and corresponding colonization patterns seem to differ between layer- and meat-type chickens. Second, it has been found that environmental factors, such as biosecurity level, housing, litter, feed access and climate also have an effect on the composition of the intestinal microbiota. As microbiota studies have to deal with many of these unknown or hidden host and environmental variables, the choice of study designs can have a great impact on study outcomes and interpretation of the data. Providing details on a broad range of host and environmental factors in articles and sequence data repositories is highly recommended. This creates

Analysis of the factors that affect photon counts in Compton scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, Guang; Xiao, Guangyu

2015-01-01

Compton scattering has been applied in a variety of fields. The factors that affect Compton scattering have been studied extensively in the literature. However, the factors that affect the measured photon counts in Compton scattering are rarely considered. In this paper, we make a detailed discussion on those factors. First, Compton scattering experiments of some alloy series and powder mixture series are explored. Second, the electron density is researched in terms of atom and lattice constants. Third, the factor of attenuation coefficient is discussed. And then, the active degree of electrons is discussed based on the DFT theory. Lastly, the conclusions are made, that the factors affecting Compton scattering photon counts include mainly electron number density, attenuation coefficient and active degree of electrons. - Highlights: • Compton scattering experiments of some alloy series and powder mixture series are explored. • The influence of electron density is researched in terms of atom and lattice constants. • The influence of attenuation coefficient is discussed. • The active degree of electrons is discussed detailedly based on DFT theory

Factors Affecting Microbial Contamination of Market Eggs: A Review

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Svobodová J.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the review was to analyze the ways of microbial contamination, the protective mechanism of egg, and factors that affect the quantity of contamination and microbial penetration. Eggs can be contaminated during their formation in the infected reproductive organs of hens or after laying, when eggs are exposed to contaminated environment. The eggs are equipped against microbial contamination by several protective mechanisms comprising the presence of cuticle, eggshell, eggshell membranes, occurrence of some antibacterial proteins, and high pH value of albumen. There are several factors that affect the quantity of microbial contamination and penetration such as species of bacteria, the amount of microorganisms, storage conditions, quality of eggshell or number of pores.

ORIGINAL ARTICLES Factors affecting career preferences of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

College of Medicine prefer to work as doctors, and (ii) what factors may affect their long-term retention in their home country? Methods. We designed ... from rural areas and small towns, and whose parents were 'non- professionals', were .... needs – 5; city life can be difficult – 3; one is closer to family – 2; there is a sense of ...

Factors affecting compliance to treatment among children with ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

BACKGROUND:This study aimed to determine the factors affecting compliance to treatment among children with epilepsy in Enugu,Nigeria. METHODS: Children with diagnosis of epilepsy were consecutively recruited.Their 6 months retrospective and 1 month prospective data were collected;and analyzed using SPSS ...

Factors affecting the tissues composition of pork belly.

Science.gov (United States)

Duziński, K; Knecht, D; Lisiak, D; Janiszewski, P

2015-11-01

Bellies derived from the commercial population of pig carcasses are diverse in terms of tissue composition. Knowledge of the factors influencing it and the expected results, permits quick and easy evaluation of raw material. The study was designed to determine the factors affecting the tissues composition of pork bellies and to estimate their lean meat content. The research population (n=140 pig carcasses) was divided into groups according to sex (gilts, barrows), half-carcass mass (meat content class: S (⩾60%), E (55% to 60%), U (50% to 55%), R (meat content affected the growth of the fat and skin mass in a linear way. No differences were observed between class S and E in terms of belly muscle mass. A 0.37% higher share of belly in the half-carcass was found for barrows (Pmeat content in bellies, suggesting they may be used directly in the production line.

Cognitive Factors Affecting Freeze-like Behavior in Humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Alban, Michael W; Pocknell, Victoria

2017-01-01

Contemporary research on survival-related defensive behaviors has identified physiological markers of freeze/flight/fight. Our research focused on cognitive factors associated with freeze-like behavior in humans. Study 1 tested if an explicit decision to freeze is associated with the psychophysiological state of freezing. Heart rate deceleration occurred when participants chose to freeze. Study 2 varied the efficacy of freezing relative to other defense options and found "freeze" was responsive to variations in the perceived effectiveness of alternative actions. Study 3 tested if individual differences in motivational orientation affect preference for a "freeze" option when the efficacy of options is held constant. A trend in the predicted direction suggested that naturally occurring cognitions led loss-avoiders to select "freeze" more often than reward-seekers. In combination, our attention to the cognitive factors affecting freeze-like behavior in humans represents a preliminary step in addressing an important but neglected research area.

Factors affecting cardiac rehabilitation referral by physician specialty.

Science.gov (United States)

Grace, Sherry L; Grewal, Keerat; Stewart, Donna E

2008-01-01

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is widely underutilized because of multiple factors including physician referral practices. Previous research has shown CR referral varies by type of provider, with cardiologists more likely to refer than primary care physicians. The objective of this study was to compare factors affecting CR referral in primary care physicians versus cardiac specialists. A cross-sectional survey of a stratified random sample of 510 primary care physicians and cardiac specialists (cardiologists or cardiovascular surgeons) in Ontario identified through the Canadian Medical Directory Online was administered. One hundred four primary care physicians and 81 cardiac specialists responded to the 26-item investigator-generated survey examining medical, demographic, attitudinal, and health system factors affecting CR referral. Primary care physicians were more likely to endorse lack of familiarity with CR site locations (P negatively impacting CR referral practices than cardiac specialists. Cardiac specialists were significantly more likely to perceive that their colleagues and department would regularly refer patients to CR than primary care physicians (P Marketing CR site locations, provision of standardized referral forms, and ensuring discharge summaries are communicated to primary care physicians may improve their willingness to refer to CR.

Desire thinking as a confounder in the relationship between mindfulness and craving: Evidence from a cross-cultural validation of the Desire Thinking Questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Chakroun-Baggioni, Nadia; Corman, Maya; Spada, Marcantonio M; Caselli, Gabriele; Gierski, Fabien

2017-10-01

Desire thinking and mindfulness have been associated with craving. The aim of the present study was to validate the French version of the Desire Thinking Questionnaire (DTQ) and to investigate the relationship between mindfulness, desire thinking and craving among a sample of university students. Four hundred and ninety six university students completed the DTQ and measures of mindfulness, craving and alcohol use. Results from confirmatory factor analyses showed that the two-factor structure proposed in the original DTQ exhibited suitable goodness-of-fit statistics. The DTQ also demonstrated good internal reliability, temporal stability and predictive validity. A set of linear regressions revealed that desire thinking had a confounding effect in the relationship between mindfulness and craving. The confounding role of desire thinking in the relationship between mindfulness and craving suggests that interrupting desire thinking may be a viable clinical option aimed at reducing craving. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

No evidence for thermal transgenerational plasticity in metabolism when minimizing the potential for confounding effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Kielland, Ø N; Bech, C; Einum, S

2017-01-11

Environmental change may cause phenotypic changes that are inherited across generations through transgenerational plasticity (TGP). If TGP is adaptive, offspring fitness increases with an increasing match between parent and offspring environment. Here we test for adaptive TGP in somatic growth and metabolic rate in response to temperature in the clonal zooplankton Daphnia pulex Animals of the first focal generation experienced thermal transgenerational 'mismatch' (parental and offspring temperatures differed), whereas conditions of the next two generations matched the (grand)maternal thermal conditions. Adjustments of metabolic rate occurred during the lifetime of the first generation (i.e. within-generation plasticity). However, no further change was observed during the subsequent two generations, as would be expected under TGP. Furthermore, we observed no tendency for increased juvenile somatic growth (a trait highly correlated with fitness in Daphnia) over the three generations when reared at new temperatures. These results are inconsistent with existing studies of thermal TGP, and we describe how previous experimental designs may have confounded TGP with within-generation plasticity and selective mortality. We suggest that the current evidence for thermal TGP is weak. To increase our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary role of TGP, future studies should more carefully identify possible confounding factors. © 2017 The Author(s).

Policy factors affecting broadband development in Poland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henten, Anders; Windekilde, Iwona Maria

2014-01-01

of telecommunications network development in Poland than other countries in the European Union is the reason that the circumstances and also the effects of the implementation of some solutions of the EU regulation model are different in Poland than in the most developed EU countries. The aim of the paper is to examine...... and discuss broadband access development in Poland and the policy factors influencing this development as well as to examine national strategies used to stimulate service and infrastructure competition in Poland. There are, indeed, many other factors affecting broadband development such as the income level....../distribution in the country and the infrastructural point of departure. The paper, therefore, analyses the implications of the policy initiatives in light of these basic conditions and the broader context of factors influencing broadband development. In the paper, different kinds of policy initiatives are examined...

An Improved Reinforcement Learning System Using Affective Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takashi Kuremoto

2013-07-01

Full Text Available As a powerful and intelligent machine learning method, reinforcement learning (RL has been widely used in many fields such as game theory, adaptive control, multi-agent system, nonlinear forecasting, and so on. The main contribution of this technique is its exploration and exploitation approaches to find the optimal solution or semi-optimal solution of goal-directed problems. However, when RL is applied to multi-agent systems (MASs, problems such as “curse of dimension”, “perceptual aliasing problem”, and uncertainty of the environment constitute high hurdles to RL. Meanwhile, although RL is inspired by behavioral psychology and reward/punishment from the environment is used, higher mental factors such as affects, emotions, and motivations are rarely adopted in the learning procedure of RL. In this paper, to challenge agents learning in MASs, we propose a computational motivation function, which adopts two principle affective factors “Arousal” and “Pleasure” of Russell’s circumplex model of affects, to improve the learning performance of a conventional RL algorithm named Q-learning (QL. Compared with the conventional QL, computer simulations of pursuit problems with static and dynamic preys were carried out, and the results showed that the proposed method results in agents having a faster and more stable learning performance.

Nurse aide decision making in nursing homes: factors affecting empowerment.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhuri, Tanni; Yeatts, Dale E; Cready, Cynthia M

2013-09-01

To evaluate factors affecting structural empowerment among nurse aides in nursing homes. Structural empowerment can be defined as the actual rather than perceived ability to make autonomous decisions within an organisation. Given the paucity of research on the subject, this study helps to close the gap by identifying factors that affect nurse aide empowerment, that is, decision-making among nurse aides. The data for the study come from self-administered questionnaires distributed to direct-care workers (nurse aides) in 11 nursing homes in a southern state in the USA. Ordinary least square regression models were estimated to analyse the effects of demographic predictors, personal factors (competency, emotional exhaustion and positive attitude) and structural characteristics (coworker and supervisor support, information availability and shared governance) on nurse aide decision-making. Findings suggest race among demographic predictors, emotional exhaustion among personal characteristics, and supervisor support, and shared governance among structural factors, significantly affect nurse aide decision-making. It is important to explore race as one of the central determinants of structural empowerment among nurse aides. In addition, the nature and type of emotional exhaustion that propels decision-making needs to be further examined. The study shows the importance of shared governance and supervisor support for fostering nurse aide empowerment. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Cryptic confounding compounds: A brief consideration of the influences of anthropogenic contaminants on courtship and mating behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Blocker, Tomica D.; Ophir, Alexander G.

2012-01-01

Contaminants, like pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins and metals, are persistent and ubiquitous and are known to threaten the environment. Traditionally, scientists have considered the direct physiological risks that these contaminants pose. However, scientists have just begun to integrate ethology and toxicology to investigate the effects that contaminants have on behavior. This review considers the potential for contaminant effects on mating behavior. Here we assess the growing body of research concerning disruptions in sexual differentiation, courtship, sexual receptivity, arousal, and mating. We discuss the implications of these disruptions on conservation efforts and highlight the importance of recognizing the potential for environmental stressors to affect behavioral experimentation. More specifically, we consider the negative implications for anthropogenic contaminants to affect the immediate behavior of animals, and their potential to have cascading and/or long-term effects on the behavioral ecology and evolution of populations. Overall, we aim to raise awareness of the confounding influence that contaminants can have, and promote caution when interpreting results where the potential for cryptic affects are possible. PMID:24244068

Factors Affecting Utilization of Cooking Banana among Households ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study investigated factors affecting utilization of cooking banana among households in Oguta area of Imo State, Nigeria. Data were collected from 84 randomly selected respondents from six communities in the study area who were administered with structured questionnaire. Data analysis was by use of descriptive ...

Factors Affecting Academic Achievement of Students in Senior ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study investigated the factors affecting academic achievement ofstudents in Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) in ChristianReligious Knowledge. A total of three hundred students in SS III from five secondary schools were randomly selected and used as sample for the study. Five hypotheses were tested, ...

Nutritional Factors Affecting Adult Neurogenesis and Cognitive Function

Science.gov (United States)

Adult neurogenesis, a complex process by which stem cells in the hippocampal brain region differentiate and proliferate into new neurons and other resident brain cells, is known to be affected by many intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including diet. Neurogenesis plays a critical role in neural plas...

An Initial Investigation of Factors Affecting Multi-Task Performance

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Branscome, Tersa A; Swoboda, Jennifer C; Fatkin, Linda T

2007-01-01

This report presents the results of the first in a series of investigations designed to increase fundamental knowledge and understanding of the factors affecting multi-task performance in a military environment...

Confounding and Statistical Significance of Indirect Effects: Childhood Adversity, Education, Smoking, and Anxious and Depressive Symptomatology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mashhood Ahmed Sheikh

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The life course perspective, the risky families model, and stress-and-coping models provide the rationale for assessing the role of smoking as a mediator in the association between childhood adversity and anxious and depressive symptomatology (ADS in adulthood. However, no previous study has assessed the independent mediating role of smoking in the association between childhood adversity and ADS in adulthood. Moreover, the importance of mediator-response confounding variables has rarely been demonstrated empirically in social and psychiatric epidemiology. The aim of this paper was to (i assess the mediating role of smoking in adulthood in the association between childhood adversity and ADS in adulthood, and (ii assess the change in estimates due to different mediator-response confounding factors (education, alcohol intake, and social support. The present analysis used data collected from 1994 to 2008 within the framework of the Tromsø Study (N = 4,530, a representative prospective cohort study of men and women. Seven childhood adversities (low mother's education, low father's education, low financial conditions, exposure to passive smoke, psychological abuse, physical abuse, and substance abuse distress were used to create a childhood adversity score. Smoking status was measured at a mean age of 54.7 years (Tromsø IV, and ADS in adulthood was measured at a mean age of 61.7 years (Tromsø V. Mediation analysis was used to assess the indirect effect and the proportion of mediated effect (% of childhood adversity on ADS in adulthood via smoking in adulthood. The test-retest reliability of smoking was good (Kappa: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.63; 0.71 in this sample. Childhood adversity was associated with a 10% increased risk of smoking in adulthood (Relative risk: 1.10, 95% CI: 1.03; 1.18, and both childhood adversity and smoking in adulthood were associated with greater levels of ADS in adulthood (p < 0.001. Smoking in adulthood did not significantly

Factors That Affect Suicidal Attempt Risk Among Korean Elderly Adults: A Path Analysis

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Junsoo Ro

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Among the Korean elderly (those 65 years of age and older, the suicide rate is 80.3/100 000 people, which is ten times higher than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average. Because South Korea is rapidly becoming an aging population, this high elderly suicidal rate will only get worse. Although the size of the elderly suicide problem is quite large, previous research in South Korea has surveyed restricted areas and not the entire country. Even though the factors that affect elderly suicide are complicated, there has been little research into these influencing factors. Thus, this research uses the national survey data (Community Health Survey that was obtained in 2009. Additionally, we analyze factors affecting elderly suicidal ideation and attempts as well as the paths of these effects. Methods: Community Health Survey data obtained by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2009 was used for this study. We additionally examined the factors that affect suicide with chi-squared tests, t-tests, Pearson’s correlation test, and path analysis. Results: Depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation are the only factors that directly affect suicidal attempts. Demographic, behavioral, and physical activity factors have indirect effects on suicidal attempts. Conclusions: Depression has the strongest influence on suicidal ideation and attempts. Demographic, behavioral, and physical activity factors affect suicidal attempts mostly through depressive symptoms. In addition, there is a path that suggests that demographic, behavioral, and physical activity factors affect suicidal attempts not through depression symptoms but only through suicidal ideation. This means that the elderly who do not have depression symptoms attempt suicide according to their own situations and characteristics.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Derek

2018-01-01

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

Factors Affecting Dental Caries of Preschool Children in Shiraz, 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Shaghaghian, Soheila; Abolvardi, Masoud; Akhlaghian, Marzieh

2018-01-01

Statement of the Problem: Dental caries, the most common infectious disease, can lead to several consequences, including inflammation and bleeding of the gum, abscess formation, tooth loss, and subsequently loss of available space in the arch. Purpose: This study was designed to determine dental caries status of Shiraz preschool children and its related factors. Materials and Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted on the children registered in Shiraz kindergartens in 2014. The study recruited 453 children by randomized cluster sampling. We evaluated the children’s demographic and oral hygiene factors, and their dental caries status using decayed, missed, and filled tooth (dmft) index and prevalence of the children with untreated dental caries. Relationship between the children’s characteristics and their dental caries status was evaluated. Results: Only 119 children (30.1%) were caries-free. The children’s mean dmft index was 3.88(±3.9). After controlling the effect of confounding factors, the children’s dental caries status was significantly associated with variables indicating their socioeconomic status such as fathers’ job, mothers’ education, and number of children in the family. Furthermore, there was a significant association between the children’s dental caries status and their oral hygiene habits such as frequency of tooth brushing. Conclusion: The dental caries status of the studied preschool children was not desirable which could be indicative of the inadequacy of the current preventive programs. To improve this issue, interventional preventive programs such as tooth brushing are recommended. The programs are more necessary for the children of low socioeconomic families and those with poor oral hygiene habits. PMID:29854883

Evaluation of factors affecting adherence to asthma controller ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Evaluation of factors affecting adherence to asthma controller therapy in chest clinics in a sub-Saharan African setting: a cross-sectional study. ... Background: Adherence to controller therapy in asthma is a major concern during the management of the disease. Objective: To determine the adherence rate and identify the ...

Factors affecting mortality and epidemiological data in patients ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background. Burns continue to be responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in developing countries. In this study we aimed to determine the factors affecting mortality and epidemiological data by examining the records of burned patients. Method. The hospital records of 980 patients who were hospitalised in the ...

Factors Affecting Students' Grades in Principles of Economics

Science.gov (United States)

Kara, Orhan; Bagheri, Fathollah; Tolin, Thomas

2009-01-01

Factors affecting students' grades in principles of microeconomics and macroeconomics students are analyzed from the data collected in two public universities. Results indicate that gender, number of hours worked, SAT scores, number of missed classes, recommending the course to a friend, instructors, being a junior, number of economics courses…

Factors affecting guidance and counseling programme in primary ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The objective of this study was to establish the factors that affect guidance and counseling in primary schools. Guidance and counseling seems not to be adequately helping pupils with physical and psychological problems in Nairobi province of Kenya. Many primary schools are faced with indiscipline and poor performance ...

Factors affecting e-Commerce adoption in Danish and Australian SMEs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scupola, Ada

2006-01-01

This paper presents the results of a study investigating environmental, organizational and technological factors influencing adoption of electronic commerce in small and medium size enterprises in Denmark and Australia. A total of eight companies have been interviewd, four located in the area....... The main organizational factors affecting e-commerce adoption in the two countries are the CEO and employees' knowledge and attitude. Finally a number of technology related factors affect e-commerce adoption in the two countries as for example the ability to stream information out to the clients...... of Copenhagen, Denamrk and four in Brisbane area, Australia. The results show many interesting similarities and few differences between the two countries. For example, in both countries the external environment has an influence mainly through customer pressure and availability of ICT consulting services...

Correlation between radon level and confounders of cancer. A note on epidemiological inference at low doses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hajnal, M.A.; Toth, E.; Hamori, K.; Minda, M.; Koteles, Gy.J.

2007-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. Objective. The aim of this study was to examine and further clarify the extent of radon and progeny induced carcinogenesis, both separated from and combined with other confounders and health risk factors. This work was financed by National Development Agency, Hungary, with GVOP-3.1.1.-2004-05-0384/3.0. Methods. A case-control study was conducted in a Hungarian countryside region where the proportion of houses with yearly average radon level above 200 Bq.m -3 was estimated to be higher than 20% by our preceding regional surveys. Radon levels were measured with CR39 closed etched detectors for three seasons separately yielding yearly average by estimating the low summer level. The detectors were placed in the bedrooms, where people were expected to spend one third of a day. 520 patients with diagnosed cancers were included in these measurements, amongst which 77 developed lung or respiratory cancers. The control group consisted 6333 individuals, above 30 years of age. Lifestyle risk factors of cancers were collected by surveys including social status, pollution from indoor heating, smoking and alcohol history, nutrition, exercise and mental health index 5. Except smoking and alcohol habits, these cofactors were only available for the control group. Comparing disease occurrences the authors selected the multivariate generalised linear models. The case and control proportions along a given factor are binomially distributed, thus the logit link function was used. For radon both log and linear terms were probed for. Results. Many known health confounders of cancers correlated with radon levels, with an estimated total net increase of 50-150 Bq m -3 with increased risks. For lung cancers the model with the terms radon, age, gender and smoking was found to have the lowest Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). Heavy dependency on age, gender and smoking contribute largely to observed lung cancer incidence. However log linear relationship

Factors affecting the HIV/AIDS epidemic: An ecological analysis of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Factors affecting the HIV/AIDS epidemic: An ecological analysis of global data. ... Backward multiple linear regression analysis identified the proportion of Muslims, physicians density, and adolescent fertility rate are as the three most prominent factors linked with the national HIV epidemic. Conclusions: The findings support ...

Factors Affecting Adoption of Recommended Cauliflower Production Technology in Nepal

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Pankaj Raj Dhital

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Binary logit regression model of econometrics was used to identify the factors affecting adoption of recommended agricultural technology by the commercial farmers of Nepal. A survey was carried out in 2012 in 120 households from Kavre district, Nepal. The objective was to appraise factors affecting adoption of recommended technology of cauliflower, finding out the level of adoption, identifying the constraints of cauliflower cultivation, assessing the perceived level of satisfaction and studying the relationship of certain selected variables on the adoption. Education, Occupation, contact with Personal Localite sources of information, Group membership and Experience were the most influencing factors for adoption of recommended technology. Though, other factors were not strong enough to contribute significantly but indirectly influence the adoption decision of farmers as combined effects. Occupation was found as negatively associated. Landholding size was strongly and positively influencing among the non significant factors. The level of satisfaction and the constraints of cauliflower production were also identified. Transfer of technology will be effective if and only if the client adopts the technology. For an effective transfer of technology, it is better to go for activities for the welfare of the socioeconomic factors of the farmers.

Interpretational confounding is due to misspecification, not to type of indicator: comment on Howell, Breivik, and Wilcox (2007).

Science.gov (United States)

Bollen, Kenneth A

2007-06-01

R. D. Howell, E. Breivik, and J. B. Wilcox (2007) have argued that causal (formative) indicators are inherently subject to interpretational confounding. That is, they have argued that using causal (formative) indicators leads the empirical meaning of a latent variable to be other than that assigned to it by a researcher. Their critique of causal (formative) indicators rests on several claims: (a) A latent variable exists apart from the model when there are effect (reflective) indicators but not when there are causal (formative) indicators, (b) causal (formative) indicators need not have the same consequences, (c) causal (formative) indicators are inherently subject to interpretational confounding, and (d) a researcher cannot detect interpretational confounding when using causal (formative) indicators. This article shows that each claim is false. Rather, interpretational confounding is more a problem of structural misspecification of a model combined with an underidentified model that leaves these misspecifications undetected. Interpretational confounding does not occur if the model is correctly specified whether a researcher has causal (formative) or effect (reflective) indicators. It is the validity of a model not the type of indicator that determines the potential for interpretational confounding. Copyright 2007 APA, all rights reserved.

Multiple factors affecting South African anchovy recruitment in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Multiple factors affecting South African anchovy recruitment in the spawning, transport and nursery. ... and are inversely linked to high rates of gonad atresia in anchovy and reduced subsequent recruitment. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Genetic factors affecting dental caries risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Opal, S; Garg, S; Jain, J; Walia, I

2015-03-01

This article reviews the literature on genetic aspects of dental caries and provides a framework for the rapidly changing disease model of caries. The scope is genetic aspects of various dental factors affecting dental caries. The PubMed database was searched for articles with keywords 'caries', 'genetics', 'taste', 'diet' and 'twins'. This was followed by extensive handsearching using reference lists from relevant articles. The post-genomic era will present many opportunities for improvement in oral health care but will also present a multitude of challenges. We can conclude from the literature that genes have a role to play in dental caries; however, both environmental and genetic factors have been implicated in the aetiology of caries. Additional studies will have to be conducted to replicate the findings in a different population. Identification of genetic risk factors will help screen and identify susceptible patients to better understand the contribution of genes in caries aetiopathogenesis. Information derived from these diverse studies will provide new tools to target individuals and/or populations for a more efficient and effective implementation of newer preventive measures and diagnostic and novel therapeutic approaches in the management of this disease. © 2015 Australian Dental Association.

Factors affecting scholastic performances of adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Shashidhar, Saraswati; Rao, Chandrika; Hegde, Radhakrishna

2009-05-01

The present study aims at recognizing the social influence, study habits and health factors affecting scholastic performances of adolescents and to compare these factors among the adolescents between two categories of school. A total of 1230 adolescents (13-18 yrs) were screened. Data was collected by personal interview, using the teenage screening questionnaire, Trivandrum, between May 2004 and November 2005. A total 615 students from corporation and private schools were studied. 39.76% (489) were high achievers, 13.5% (166) were low achievers with p poor study habits and social factors were increased in low achievers of corporation schools. On multivariate analysis, the predictor variables for poor scholastic performance were adolescent having refractory error, not having help for study at home, not doing home work regularly, not solving question bank papers and reading only before examinations. It is feasible and worthwhile to identify the determinants of scholastic performance and plan intervention strategies at each school. The results of this study highlight the importance of implementing newer strategies, focusing on strict study patterns and creating the conducive school and home environment for study, so as to achieve better scholastic performances.

Factors affecting sustainability of rural water schemes in Swaziland

Science.gov (United States)

Peter, Graciana; Nkambule, Sizwe E.

The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target to reduce the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by the year 2015 has been met as of 2010, but huge disparities exist. Some regions, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa are lagging behind it is also in this region where up to 30% of the rural schemes are not functional at any given time. There is need for more studies on factors affecting sustainability and necessary measures which when implemented will improve the sustainability of rural water schemes. The main objective of this study was to assess the main factors affecting the sustainability of rural water schemes in Swaziland using a Multi-Criteria Analysis Approach. The main factors considered were: financial, social, technical, environmental and institutional. The study was done in Lubombo region. Fifteen functional water schemes in 11 communities were studied. Data was collected using questionnaires, checklist and focused group discussion guide. A total of 174 heads of households were interviewed. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data and to calculate sustainability scores for water schemes. SPSS was also used to classify sustainability scores according to sustainability categories: sustainable, partially sustainable and non-sustainable. The averages of the ratings for the different sub-factors studied and the results on the sustainability scores for the sustainable, partially sustainable and non-sustainable schemes were then computed and compared to establish the main factors influencing sustainability of the water schemes. The results indicated technical and social factors as most critical while financial and institutional, although important, played a lesser role. Factors which contributed to the sustainability of water schemes were: functionality; design flow; water fetching time; ability to meet additional demand; use by population; equity; participation in decision making on operation and

Factors Affecting Behaviours that address HIV Risk among Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify factors affecting HIV risk reduction ... Main outcome measures: Sexual behavior and condom use, knowledge about ... attitudes, normative beliefs, and subjective norms about condoms, HIV/AIDS ...

Factors Affecting the Efficiency of Maize Marketing in Vandeikya ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Factors Affecting the Efficiency of Maize Marketing in Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. ... Two hundred maize marketers were selected from Vandeikya Local Area (LGA) of ... EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT

Identifying factors affecting about outsourcing in paraclinical services

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: Outsourcing refers to the transfer of services or functions to an outsider supplier, which controls them through a contract or cooperative. The main problem of senior managers in health organizations is determining the services which should be outsourced. The present study seeks to identify the factors that affect ...

Factors Affecting Online Groupwork Interest: A Multilevel Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Jianxia; Xu, Jianzhong; Fan, Xitao

2013-01-01

The purpose of the present study is to examine the personal and contextual factors that may affect students' online groupwork interest. Using the data obtained from graduate students in an online course, both student- and group-level predictors for online groupwork interest were analyzed within the framework of hierarchical linear modeling…

Factors affecting sustainable animal trypanosomosis control in parts ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study examined the factors affecting sustainable trypanosomiasis control in parts of Kaduna State within the sub-humid savannah ecological zone of Nigeria. Focus group discussions were ... More awareness and preference for pour-on and aerial spraying were higher than the use of traps, target or screens. Rearing of ...

Global Factors that Affect the Real Estate Markets in the EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Povilas Švogžlys

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The place, neighbourhood, infrastructure, and apartment plan are the main factors which have an influence on price for the buyers, sellers, investors, or brokers participating in the buying and selling processes of real estate. Participants of the process forget frequently that there are more crucial factors which can affect not only the prices of property, but the prices of real estate in the whole region as well in the future. The article uses benchmarking and discuss the main external factors which affect the real estate market in the European Union, the current events and the proposals are presented and the specific conclusions are identified.

Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Adoption of Sunflower Varieties in Sindh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghulam Ali Jariko (Corresponding Author

2011-09-01

Full Text Available This research study is based on primary data collection from sunflower growers to assess the socioeconomic factors that are affecting the adoption of sunflower varieties in Sindh.Data samples have been selected from two districts; Badin and Thatta, as these districts are considered main sunflower growing areas in Sindh. The results reveal that Sunflower growers are using Hybrid varieties i.e. 43 percent planted Hysun-33, 29 percent Hysun-38 and 28 percent Hysun-37 varieties. The finding of research using multinomial logistic regression suggests that farm size and level of education significantly affected the adoption of sunflower varieties. These factors are statistically significant at p<0.05. Theother variables such as tenancy status and source of income are not statistically significant in the adoption of sunflower varieties in Sindh.

Factors affecting extension workers in their rendering of effective ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Factors affecting extension workers in their rendering of effective service to pre and ... Small, micro and medium entrepreneurs play an important role in economic ... such as production, marketing and management to adequately service the ...

Factors affecting the periapical healing process of endodontically treated teeth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Holland

Full Text Available Abstract Tissue repair is an essential process that reestablishes tissue integrity and regular function. Nevertheless, different therapeutic factors and clinical conditions may interfere in this process of periapical healing. This review aims to discuss the important therapeutic factors associated with the clinical protocol used during root canal treatment and to highlight the systemic conditions associated with the periapical healing process of endodontically treated teeth. The antibacterial strategies indicated in the conventional treatment of an inflamed and infected pulp and the modulation of the host's immune response may assist in tissue repair, if wound healing has been hindered by infection. Systemic conditions, such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension, can also inhibit wound healing. The success of root canal treatment is affected by the correct choice of clinical protocol. These factors are dependent on the sanitization process (instrumentation, irrigant solution, irrigating strategies, and intracanal dressing, the apical limit of the root canal preparation and obturation, and the quality of the sealer. The challenges affecting the healing process of endodontically treated teeth include control of the inflammation of pulp or infectious processes and simultaneous neutralization of unpredictable provocations to the periapical tissue. Along with these factors, one must understand the local and general clinical conditions (systemic health of the patient that affect the outcome of root canal treatment prediction.

Emergency Nurses' Perspectives: Factors Affecting Caring.

Science.gov (United States)

Enns, Carol L; Sawatzky, Jo-Ann V

2016-05-01

Caring is a universal phenomenon. However, as a result of higher patient acuity and staff shortages within the chaotic ED environment, caring behaviors may be in peril. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the meaning of caring from the perspective of emergency nurses. Exploring nurses' perspectives of caring is central to improving staffing and retention issues in this unique work environment. As part of a larger study, a subsample of emergency nurses who work in public hospitals in Manitoba, Canada (n = 17) were interviewed. A qualitative descriptive design was used to gain insight into the caring perspectives of nurses by asking them, "What does caring meaning to you?" and "What affects caring in your practice in the emergency department?" Emerging themes were extracted through analysis of audio tapes and transcripts. Advocacy and holistic care emerged as major themes in the meaning of caring for emergency nurses. Caring was affected by a number of factors, including workload, lack of time, staffing issues, shift work, and lack of self-care. However, lack of management support was the most consistent hindrance to caring identified by study participants. Caring continues to be a unifying concept in nursing; however, influencing factors continue to undermine caring for emergency nurses. Caring is not subsidiary to nursing; it is the central core of nursing. Therefore, fostering a caring working environment is essential for nurses to practice holistic nursing care. It is also imperative to job satisfaction and the retention of emergency nurses. Copyright © 2016 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Some factors that will affect the next generation of forest growth models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leary, R.A.

1988-01-01

This paper discusses several types of factors that affect the form and referents of future growth models. These include philosophical, scientific, technological, educational, and organizational factors. Each factor is presented individually

Factors affecting outcome in ocular myasthenia gravis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazzoli, Marco; Ariatti, Alessandra; Valzania, Franco; Kaleci, Shaniko; Tondelli, Manuela; Nichelli, Paolo F; Galassi, Giuliana

2018-01-01

50%-60% of patients with ocular myasthenia gravis (OMG) progress to generalized myasthenia gravis (GMG) within two years. The aim of our study was to explore factors affecting prognosis of OMG and to test the predictive role of several independent clinical variables. We reviewed a cohort of 168 Caucasian patients followed from September 2000 to January 2016. Several independent variables were considered as prognostic factors: gender, age of onset, results on electrophysiological tests, presence and level of antibodies against acetylcholine receptors (AChR Abs), treatments, thymic abnormalities. The primary outcome was the progression to GMG and/or the presence of bulbar symptoms. Secondary outcomes were either achievement of sustained minimal manifestation status or worsening in ocular quantitative MG subscore (O-QMGS) or worsening in total QMG score (T-QMGS), assessed by Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) quantitative scores. Changes in mental and physical subscores of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) were assessed with SF-36 questionnaire. Variance analysis was used to interpret the differences between AChR Ab titers at different times of follow up among the generalized and non-generalized patients. Conversion to GMG occurred in 18.4% of patients; it was significantly associated with sex, later onset of disease and anti-AChR Ab positivity. Antibody titer above the mean value of 25.8 pmol/mL showed no significant effect on generalization. Sex and late onset of disease significantly affected T-QMGS worsening. None of the other independent variables significantly affected O-QMGS and HRQoL. Sex, later onset and anti-AChR Ab positivity were significantly associated with clinical worsening.

Management of a Septic Open Abdomen Patient with Spontaneous Jejunal Perforation after Emergent C/S with Confounding Factor of Mild Acute Pancreatitis.

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Yetisir, Fahri; Sarer, Akgün Ebru; Acar, Hasan Zafer; Osmanoglu, Gokhan; Özer, Mehmet; Yaylak, Faik

2016-01-01

Introduction. We report the management of a septic Open Abdomen (OA) patient by the help of negative pressure therapy (NPT) and abdominal reapproximation anchor (ABRA) system in pregnant woman with spontaneous jejunal perforation after emergent cesarean section (C/S) with confounding factor of mild acute pancreatitis (AP). Presentation of Case. A 29-year-old and 34-week pregnant woman with AP underwent C/S. She was arrested after anesthesia induction and responded to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). There were only ash-colored serosanguinous fluid within abdomen during C/S. After C/S, she was transferred to intensive care unit (ICU) with vasopressor support. On postoperative 1st day, she underwent reoperation due to fecal fluid coming near the drainage. Leakage point could not be identified exactly and operation had to be deliberately abbreviated due to hemodynamic instability. NPT was applied. Two days later source control was provided by conversion of enteroatmospheric fistula (EAF) to jejunostomy. ABRA was added and OA was closed. No hernia developed at 10-month follow-up period. Conclusion. NPT application in septic OA patient may gain time to patient until adequate source control could be achieved. Using ABRA in conjunction with NPT increases the fascial closure rate in infected OA patient.

Management of a Septic Open Abdomen Patient with Spontaneous Jejunal Perforation after Emergent C/S with Confounding Factor of Mild Acute Pancreatitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fahri Yetisir

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. We report the management of a septic Open Abdomen (OA patient by the help of negative pressure therapy (NPT and abdominal reapproximation anchor (ABRA system in pregnant woman with spontaneous jejunal perforation after emergent cesarean section (C/S with confounding factor of mild acute pancreatitis (AP. Presentation of Case. A 29-year-old and 34-week pregnant woman with AP underwent C/S. She was arrested after anesthesia induction and responded to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR. There were only ash-colored serosanguinous fluid within abdomen during C/S. After C/S, she was transferred to intensive care unit (ICU with vasopressor support. On postoperative 1st day, she underwent reoperation due to fecal fluid coming near the drainage. Leakage point could not be identified exactly and operation had to be deliberately abbreviated due to hemodynamic instability. NPT was applied. Two days later source control was provided by conversion of enteroatmospheric fistula (EAF to jejunostomy. ABRA was added and OA was closed. No hernia developed at 10-month follow-up period. Conclusion. NPT application in septic OA patient may gain time to patient until adequate source control could be achieved. Using ABRA in conjunction with NPT increases the fascial closure rate in infected OA patient.

Is the association between general cognitive ability and violent crime caused by family-level confounders?

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Thomas Frisell

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Research has consistently found lower cognitive ability to be related to increased risk for violent and other antisocial behaviour. Since this association has remained when adjusting for childhood socioeconomic position, ethnicity, and parental characteristics, it is often assumed to be causal, potentially mediated through school adjustment problems and conduct disorder. Socioeconomic differences are notoriously difficult to quantify, however, and it is possible that the association between intelligence and delinquency suffer substantial residual confounding. METHODS: We linked longitudinal Swedish total population registers to study the association of general cognitive ability (intelligence at age 18 (the Conscript Register, 1980-1993 with the incidence proportion of violent criminal convictions (the Crime Register, 1973-2009, among all men born in Sweden 1961-1975 (N = 700,514. Using probit regression, we controlled for measured childhood socioeconomic variables, and further employed sibling comparisons (family pedigree data from the Multi-Generation Register to adjust for shared familial characteristics. RESULTS: Cognitive ability in early adulthood was inversely associated to having been convicted of a violent crime (β = -0.19, 95% CI: -0.19; -0.18, the association remained when adjusting for childhood socioeconomic factors (β = -0.18, 95% CI: -0.18; -0.17. The association was somewhat lower within half-brothers raised apart (β = -0.16, 95% CI: -0.18; -0.14, within half-brothers raised together (β = -0.13, 95% CI: (-0.15; -0.11, and lower still in full-brother pairs (β = -0.10, 95% CI: -0.11; -0.09. The attenuation among half-brothers raised together and full brothers was too strong to be attributed solely to attenuation from measurement error. DISCUSSION: Our results suggest that the association between general cognitive ability and violent criminality is confounded partly by factors shared by

Factors that affect the accuracy in the precise radiotherapy for abdomen tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Tieming; Ju Yongjian

2008-01-01

The precise radiotherapy has been widely used in the clinics. But there are many factors that affect the accuracy in the course of implementation. Finally the effect of radiotherapy is affected. These factors are reviewed. And the previous research data about the abdomen tumors is summed up. Also how the accuracy was affected by the respiratory movement, positioning, position fixed technology, weight, retraction and motion of the tumor and the situation of surrounding organs will be analyzed. At last, how to avoid these errors in clinics will be discussed. (authors)

Unemployment in Kenya: Some economic factors affecting wage ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article analyses the economic factors affecting wage employment in Kenya, where open unemployment fell from 15 per cent in 1998/1999 to 13 per cent in 2005/2006. As of 2005/2006, wage employment constituted 13 per cent of the total working population, which implies that doubling wage employment will absorb ...

Factors affecting sports participation among female students at ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The primary aim of this study was to examine factors affecting sport participation among resident and non- resident female students at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), Pretoria, South Africa. The study targeted all students participating in 12 registered sports but due to the fact that only a limited number of the total ...

Factors affecting sexual function in menopause: A review article

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soheila Nazarpour

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to systematically review the articles on factors affecting sexual function during menopause. Searching articles indexed in Pubmed, Science Direct, Iranmedex, EMBASE, Scopus, and Scientific Information Database databases, a total number of 42 studies published between 2003 and 2013 were selected. Age, estrogen deficiency, type of menopause, chronic medical problems, partner's sex problems, severity of menopause symptoms, dystocia history, and health status were the physical factors influencing sexual function of menopausal women. There were conflicting results regarding the amount of androgens, hormonal therapy, exercise/physical activity, and obstetric history. In the mental–emotional area, all studies confirmed the impact of depression and anxiety. Social factors, including smoking, alcohol consumption, the quality of relationship with husband, partner's loyalty, sexual knowledge, access to health care, a history of divorce or the death of a husband, living apart from a spouse, and a negative understanding of women's health were found to affect sexual function; however, there were conflicting results regarding the effects of education, occupation, socioeconomic status, marital duration, and frequency of sexual intercourse.

Factors affecting sexual function in menopause: A review article.

Science.gov (United States)

Nazarpour, Soheila; Simbar, Masoumeh; Tehrani, Fahimeh Ramezani

2016-08-01

This study aimed to systematically review the articles on factors affecting sexual function during menopause. Searching articles indexed in Pubmed, Science Direct, Iranmedex, EMBASE, Scopus, and Scientific Information Database databases, a total number of 42 studies published between 2003 and 2013 were selected. Age, estrogen deficiency, type of menopause, chronic medical problems, partner's sex problems, severity of menopause symptoms, dystocia history, and health status were the physical factors influencing sexual function of menopausal women. There were conflicting results regarding the amount of androgens, hormonal therapy, exercise/physical activity, and obstetric history. In the mental-emotional area, all studies confirmed the impact of depression and anxiety. Social factors, including smoking, alcohol consumption, the quality of relationship with husband, partner's loyalty, sexual knowledge, access to health care, a history of divorce or the death of a husband, living apart from a spouse, and a negative understanding of women's health were found to affect sexual function; however, there were conflicting results regarding the effects of education, occupation, socioeconomic status, marital duration, and frequency of sexual intercourse. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

factors affecting antenatal care service utilization in yem special ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

jhon

assess antenatal care utilization and factors that affect it in Yem Special Woreda, South Western Ethiopia. METHODS: A ... A pre-tested structured questionnaire consisting of information on socio- ..... model and access to medical care: does it.

Environmental Factors Affecting Where People Geocache

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Golbeck

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Outdoor leisure activities are important for public health as well as family cohesiveness, yet environmental factors may easily affect someone’s ability to participate in such activities. We explored this with a focus on the social web-based treasure hunt game called Geocaching. We collected data on all US and Canadian geocaches from OpenCaching.com and conducted an online survey with twenty geocachers as a follow-up to our data analysis. Data analysis showed that geocaches were more often found in areas that were wealthier, better educated, younger, and more urban, and had higher population density and better weather. Survey results showed similar trends: Most people actively thought about where they would cache and tried to minimize risks, despite cache hiders thinking less about these concerns. These results further emphasize the importance of environmental factors when it comes to participation in outdoor activities and leads to Human–Computer Interaction design implications for location-based online social activities.

Which Factors Affect Citation Rates in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Literature?

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Cheng, Kristie L; Dodson, Thomas B; Egbert, Mark A; Susarla, Srinivas M

2017-07-01

Citation rate is one of several tools to measure academic productivity. The purposes of this study were to estimate and identify factors associated with citation rates in the oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) literature. This was a retrospective longitudinal study of publications in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (JOMS), International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (IJOMS), and Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, and Oral Radiology (OOOO) from January through December 2012. The predictor variables were author- and article-specific factors. The outcome variable was the citation rate, defined as the total number of citations for each article over a 4-year period. Descriptive, bivariate, and multiple regression statistics were computed. The authors identified 993 articles published during 2012. The mean number of citations at 4 years after publication was 5.6 ± 5.3 (median, 4). In bivariate analyses, several author- and article-specific factors were associated with citation rates. In a multiple regression model adjusting for potential confounders and effect modifiers, first author H-index, number of authors, journal, OMS focus area, and Oxford level of evidence were significantly associated with citation rate (P ≤ .002). The authors identified 5 factors associated with citation rates in the OMS literature. These factors should be considered in context when evaluating citation-based metrics for OMS. Studies that focus on core OMS procedures (eg, dentoalveolar surgery, dental implant surgery), are published in specialty-specific journals (eg, JOMS or IJOMS), and have higher levels of evidence are more likely to be cited. Copyright © 2017 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analysis on factors affecting consumers decision on purchasing simple-type houses

Science.gov (United States)

Rumintang, A.; Sholichin, I.

2018-01-01

In line with the increase of the population and the need of comfortable houses, as affected by modernization era, the house demand is getting higher. Hence, conducting a research on consumers need and want in buying a house should be seriously attempted to succeed marketing activity. Using an analysis consumers’ behavior, the researcher will know few affecting factors related to consumers’ satisfaction in buying a house. Among other, the factors in question include: house price, house condition, facilities, location and accessability. The sample of this research was drawn from the residents of Graha Asri Housing, Taman Bulang Permai, and Sukodono Permai. Based on the analysis and discussion, some conclusions are made as follow: the factors and variables affecting the consumers’ decision on each choice of house is different and also the same variables on three sources of data include housing atmosphere, cleaning service, ease of access to shopping center, health clinics or hospitals, tourism spot, schools, and the bus station.

Factors Affecting Quality of Life and Fatigue in Gynaecologic Cancer Patients

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Güngör İ

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Cancer-related fatigue (CRF is the most commonly reported and most distressing symptom in cancer patients. Health-related quality of life (QOL is an important outcome in cancer management, the authors sought to better understand its determinants. Aim: This study aims to identify quality of life and fatigue levels and the affecting factors in gynaecologic cancer patients. Method: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 154 volunteer women with gynaecologic cancer. The data were collected through the interview form, functional assessment of cancer therapy-general (FACT-G Quality of Life Scale, and Piper Fatigue Scale. Results: The mean score of total quality of life in gynaecologic cancer patients was low, 53.4 ± 15.4. Physical and emotional states were found to be the mostly affected states in the quality of life. According to the Piper Fatigue Scale, the total fatigue score was mild, 3.5 ± 2.4. Total fatigue scores were found to be high in metastatic cancers. Multivariate analyses indicate that the most important factor affecting the quality of life is economic condition, and the most important variables affecting fatigue are the level of activity and use of medicine. Conclusion: This study found that quality of life dimensions in women with gynaecologic cancer was affected by factors such as cancer type, time of diagnosis, and stage and spread of the cancer.

Adaptive Measures for the Factors Affecting Marketing of Coffee ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Adaptive Measures for the Factors Affecting Marketing of Coffee ( Coffea robusta ... of coffee in the study area was poor pricing and marketing systems; this is as a ... of quality control and relevant information on improved coffee technologies.

Identifying factors affecting destination choice of medical tourists: a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

medical tourism”, has emerged as a new source of competitive advantage all over the world. The present study seeks to identify the factors that affect destination choice of medical tourists. Methods: We systematically searched relevant databases ...

Environmental and genetic factors affecting faecal worm egg counts ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Environmental and genetic factors affecting faecal worm egg counts in Merinos divergently selected for reproduction. ... The fixed effect of birth year x sex interaction was significant, with rams showing higher mean values for FWEC than ewes ...

Reappraising factors affecting mourning dove perch coos

Science.gov (United States)

Sayre, M.W.; Atkinson, R.D.; Baskett, T.S.; Haas, G.H.

1978-01-01

Results confirmed pairing as the primary factor influencing perch-cooing rates of wild mourning doves (Zenaida macroura). Marked unmated males cooed at substantially higher rates (6.2x) than mated males, had greater probability of cooing (2.3x) during 3-minute periods, and continued cooing longer each morning than mated males. Population density was not a major factor affecting cooing. Unmated males cooed more frequently in the presence of other cooing doves (P < 0.05) than when alone, but the number of additional doves above 1 was unimportant. Cooing rates of both mated and unmated males on areas with dissimilar dove densities were not significantly different. Within limits of standard call-count procedure, weather exerted no detectable influence on cooing.

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

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Zardo, Pauline; Collie, Alex; Livingstone, Charles

2015-01-01

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

Factors affecting dental service quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahadori, Mohammadkarim; Raadabadi, Mehdi; Ravangard, Ramin; Baldacchino, Donia

2015-01-01

Measuring dental clinic service quality is the first and most important factor in improving care. The quality provided plays an important role in patient satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to identify factors affecting dental service quality from the patients' viewpoint. This cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was conducted in a dental clinic in Tehran between January and June 2014. A sample of 385 patients was selected from two work shifts using stratified sampling proportional to size and simple random sampling methods. The data were collected, a self-administered questionnaire designed for the purpose of the study, based on the Parasuraman and Zeithaml's model of service quality which consisted of two parts: the patients' demographic characteristics and a 30-item questionnaire to measure the five dimensions of the service quality. The collected data were analysed using SPSS 21.0 and Amos 18.0 through some descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, as well as analytical methods, including confirmatory factor. Results showed that the correlation coefficients for all dimensions were higher than 0.5. In this model, assurance (regression weight=0.99) and tangibility (regression weight=0.86) had, respectively, the highest and lowest effects on dental service quality. The Parasuraman and Zeithaml's model is suitable to measure quality in dental services. The variables related to dental services quality have been made according to the model. This is a pioneering study that uses Parasuraman and Zeithaml's model and CFA in a dental setting. This study provides useful insights and guidance for dental service quality assurance.

Exploring Factors that Affect Purchase Intention of Athletic Team Merchandise

Science.gov (United States)

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

2013-01-01

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

Factors Affecting Utilization of Skilled Birth Attendants by Women in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This underscores the need to investigate factors responsible for low use of skilled attendants at birth. The main purpose of the study was to identify factors affecting utilization of skilled attendants at birth by pregnant women in Kasama district in order to help contribute to the reduction of maternal and child complications.

Factors Affecting Community Participation in O and OD Planning ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Factors Affecting Community Participation in O and OD Planning and ... great success at start but later dropped in number of cattle taken for dipping. ... and to establish the measures taken by the district leadership in addressing the problems.

Kjell J. Nilssen; Factors affecting energy expenditure in reindeer

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Sven Skjenneberg (ed.

1984-05-01

Full Text Available The thesis Factors affecting energy expenditure in reindeer by Kjell J. Nilssen was approved for the Phil, dr's degree at the University of Tromsø. The dissertation took place in Tromsø December 15.1984.

Group decision-making: Factors that affect group effectiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana Osmani

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Organizations are operating in a dynamic and turbulent environment. In these conditions, they have to make decisions for new problems or situations. Most of decisions are therefore non-programmed and unstructured, accompanied by risk and uncertainty. Moreover, the problems and situations are complex. All organizations are oriented towards group decisionmaking processes, as useful tools to cope with uncertainty and complexity. Apart from the necessity, companies are turning towards participatory processes also to benefit from the important advantages that these processes offer. Organizations have realized the importance of group decision-making processes to contribute to the creation of sustainable competitive advantages. Main objective of this paper is to show that group decision-making processes do not offer guarantee for good decisions, because the effectiveness of group is affected by many factors. So, the first thing done in this paper is discussing about the benefits and limitations that accompany the use of groups with decision-making purpose. Afterwards, we stop on the different factors that influence the group’s ability to make good decisions. The aim is to emphasize that regardless of the many advantages of groups, some factors as group size, type of communication within the group, leadership style, the norms, the differentiation of roles and statuses, cohesion and compliance degree should be the main elements to keep into consideration because they affect the effectiveness of group. In this regard, is discussed how such factors influence the quality of decision and then we try to draw some conclusions that can improve and make better and easier group decision-making processes.

Fresh fruit intake and asthma symptoms in young British adults: confounding or effect modification by smoking?

Science.gov (United States)

Butland, B K; Strachan, D P; Anderson, H R

1999-04-01

Antioxidant vitamins have been postulated as a protective factor in asthma. The associations between the frequency of fresh fruit consumption in summer, and the prevalence of self-reported asthma symptoms were investigated. The analysis was based on 5,582 males and 5,770 females, born in England, Wales and Scotland between March 3-9, 1958 and aged 33 yrs at the time of survey. The 12-month period prevalence of wheeze and frequent wheeze were inversely associated with frequent intakes of fresh fruit and salad/raw vegetables and positively associated with smoking and lower social class. After adjustment for mutual confounding and sex, associations with smoking persisted, but those with social class and salad/raw vegetable consumption lost significance. The frequency of fresh fruit intake was no longer associated with wheeze after adjustment, but was inversely associated with frequent wheeze and speech-limiting attacks. The association with frequent wheeze differed significantly between smoking groups (never, former, current) and appeared to be confined to exsmokers and current smokers. These findings support postulated associations between infrequent fresh fruit consumption and the prevalence of frequent or severe asthma symptoms in adults. Associations appeared to be restricted to smokers, with effect modification as a more likely explanation of this pattern than residual confounding by smoking.

Factors affecting surf zone phytoplankton production in Southeastern North Carolina, USA

KAUST Repository

Cahoon, Lawrence B.

2017-07-15

Abstract: The biomass and productivity of primary producers in the surf zone of the ocean beach at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, USA, were measured during all seasons, along with environmental parameters and nutrient levels. Variation in biomass (chlorophyll a) was associated with temperature. Primary production (PP), measured by in situ 14-C incubations, was a function of chlorophyll a, tide height at the start of incubations, and rainfall in the preceding 24-hr period. Biomass-normalized production (PB) was also a function of tide height and rainfall in the preceding 24-hr period. We interpreted these results as evidence of surf production 1) as combined contributions of phytoplankton and suspended benthic microalgae, which may confound application of simple P-E models to surf zone production, and 2) being regulated by nutrient source/supply fluctuations independently from other factors. Surf zone biomass and production levels are intermediate between relatively high estuarine values and much lower coastal ocean values. Surf zone production may represent an important trophic connection between these two important ecosystems.

Factors affecting surf zone phytoplankton production in Southeastern North Carolina, USA

KAUST Repository

Cahoon, Lawrence B.; Bugica, Kalman; Wooster, Michael K.; Dickens, Amanda Kahn

2017-01-01

Abstract: The biomass and productivity of primary producers in the surf zone of the ocean beach at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, USA, were measured during all seasons, along with environmental parameters and nutrient levels. Variation in biomass (chlorophyll a) was associated with temperature. Primary production (PP), measured by in situ 14-C incubations, was a function of chlorophyll a, tide height at the start of incubations, and rainfall in the preceding 24-hr period. Biomass-normalized production (PB) was also a function of tide height and rainfall in the preceding 24-hr period. We interpreted these results as evidence of surf production 1) as combined contributions of phytoplankton and suspended benthic microalgae, which may confound application of simple P-E models to surf zone production, and 2) being regulated by nutrient source/supply fluctuations independently from other factors. Surf zone biomass and production levels are intermediate between relatively high estuarine values and much lower coastal ocean values. Surf zone production may represent an important trophic connection between these two important ecosystems.

Factors affecting surf zone phytoplankton production in Southeastern North Carolina, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Cahoon, Lawrence B.; Bugica, Kalman; Wooster, Michael K.; Dickens, Amanda Kahn

2017-09-01

The biomass and productivity of primary producers in the surf zone of the ocean beach at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, USA, were measured during all seasons, along with environmental parameters and nutrient levels. Variation in biomass (chlorophyll a) was associated with temperature. Primary production (PP), measured by in situ 14-C incubations, was a function of chlorophyll a, tide height at the start of incubations, and rainfall in the preceding 24-hr period. Biomass-normalized production (PB) was also a function of tide height and rainfall in the preceding 24-hr period. We interpreted these results as evidence of surf production 1) as combined contributions of phytoplankton and suspended benthic microalgae, which may confound application of simple P-E models to surf zone production, and 2) being regulated by nutrient source/supply fluctuations independently from other factors. Surf zone biomass and production levels are intermediate between relatively high estuarine values and much lower coastal ocean values. Surf zone production may represent an important trophic connection between these two important ecosystems.

Factors Affecting Customer Satisfaction in Mobile Telecommunication Industry in Bangladesh

OpenAIRE

Md. Rahman

2014-01-01

Identification of factors responsible for customer satisfaction is a key concern of marketing scholars and marketers in now a days and it will remain in the future. There is considerable evidence that quality factors affecting customer satisfaction in numerous ways. However, this empirical study is initiated to find out what particular factors responsible for customer satisfaction in the mobile tel- ecommunication industry in Bangladesh. 282 samples have been collected through structured ques...

Formal Classroom Observations: Factors That Affect Their Success

Science.gov (United States)

Zaidi, Zeba

2017-01-01

Formal class room observation is a very delicate topic in any educational institution. It involves a series of emotions and sentiments that come with the package. In this paper, the researcher will attempt to analyze the factors that affect the process in a relatively significant manner and thereby contribute greatly to the success or failure of…

Factors affecting disclosure of serostatus to children attending Jinja ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Factors affecting disclosure of serostatus to children attending Jinja Hospital ... twenty children and all (ten) health workers at Jinja Hospital paediatric HIV clinic. ... and child attending psychosocial support group (OR 7.4 CI 3.6-15.3 p < 0.001).

Factors affecting 30-month survival in lung cancer patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahesh, P A; Archana, S; Jayaraj, B S; Patil, Shekar; Chaya, S K; Shashidhar, H P; Sunitha, B S; Prabhakar, A K

2012-10-01

Age adjusted incidence rate of lung cancer in India ranges from 7.4 to 13.1 per 100,000 among males and 3.9 to 5.8 per 100,000 among females. The factors affecting survival in lung cancer patients in India are not fully understood. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the factors affecting survival in patients diagnosed with lung cancer attending a tertiary care cancer institute in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Consecutive patients with primary lung cancer attending Bangalore Institute of Oncology, a tertiary care centre at Bangalore, between 2006 and 2009 were included. Demographic, clinical, radiological data were collected retrospectively from the medical records. A total of 170 consecutive subjects (128 males, 42 females) diagnosed to have lung cancer; 151 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 19 small cell lung cancer (SCLC) were included. A higher proportion of never-smokers (54.1%) were observed, mostly presenting below the age of 60 yr. Most subjects were in stage IV and III at the time of diagnosis. More than 50 per cent of patients presented with late stage lung cancer even though the duration of symptoms is less than 2 months. The 30-month overall survival rates for smokers and never-smokers were 32 and 49 per cent, respectively. No significant differences were observed in 30 month survival based on age at presentation, gender and type of lung cancer. Cox proportional hazards model identified never-smokers and duration of symptoms less than 1 month as factors adversely affecting survival. Our results showed that lung cancer in Indians involved younger subjects and associated with poorer survival as compared to other ethnic population. Studies on large sample need to be done to evaluate risk factors in lung cancer patients.

Factors affecting medication-order processing time.

Science.gov (United States)

Beaman, M A; Kotzan, J A

1982-11-01

The factors affecting medication-order processing time at one hospital were studied. The order processing time was determined by directly observing the time to process randomly selected new drug orders on all three work shifts during two one-week periods. An order could list more than one drug for an individual patient. The observer recorded the nature, location, and cost of the drugs ordered, as well as the time to process the order. The time and type of interruptions also were noted. The time to process a drug order was classified as six dependent variables: (1) total time, (2) work time, (3) check time, (4) waiting time I--time from arrival on the dumbwaiter until work was initiated, (5) waiting time II--time between completion of the work and initiation of checking, and (6) waiting time III--time after the check was completed until the order left on the dumbwaiter. The significant predictors of each of the six dependent variables were determined using stepwise multiple regression. The total time to process a prescription order was 58.33 +/- 48.72 minutes; the urgency status of the order was the only significant determinant of total time. Urgency status also significantly predicted the three waiting-time variables. Interruptions and the number of drugs on the order were significant determinants of work time and check time. Each telephone interruption increased the work time by 1.72 minutes. While the results of this study cannot be generalized to other institutions, pharmacy managers can use the method of determining factors that affect medication-order processing time to identify problem areas in their institutions.

Factors Affecting Gastrointestinal Microbiome Development in Neonates

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Clara Yieh Lin Chong

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The gut microbiome is established in the newborn period and is recognised to interact with the host to influence metabolism. Different environmental factors that are encountered during this critical period may influence the gut microbial composition, potentially impacting upon later disease risk, such as asthma, metabolic disorder, and inflammatory bowel disease. The sterility dogma of the foetus in utero is challenged by studies that identified bacteria, bacterial DNA, or bacterial products in meconium, amniotic fluid, and the placenta; indicating the initiation of maternal-to-offspring microbial colonisation in utero. This narrative review aims to provide a better understanding of factors that affect the development of the gastrointestinal (GI microbiome during prenatal, perinatal to postnatal life, and their reciprocal relationship with GI tract development in neonates.

AFFECTING CUSTOMER LOYALTY: DO DIFFERENT FACTORS HAVE VARIOUS INFLUENCES IN DIFFERENT LOYALTY LEVELS?

OpenAIRE

Andres Kuusik

2007-01-01

The current paper studies the influence of various factors on customer loyalty. The main hypothesis of the study insists that the list of most important factors affecting loyalty is dependant on the level of loyalty of costumers. LOGIT method was used for testing the hypotheses on the sample of survey data about 1000 private customers of the biggest telecommunication company in Estonia. The results reveal that four analysed factors affecting customer loyalty (satisfaction, trustworthiness, im...

Teachers' Perception of the Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Toshiba

perception of salary as a factor affecting job satisfaction. Also, there .... Thus workers now have higher purchasing power, are given opportunity to use their .... Z-Cal. Z-Crit Significant. Level decision. Female. 70 12.73 3.23. Teachers. 0.32. 1.96.

Factors affecting in sacco dietary degradation by Ankole cattle ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Factors affecting in sacco dietary degradation by Ankole cattle grazing natural range pastures in Uganda. ... Keywords: Ankole cattle, dietary selection, dry matter disappearance, free water intake, in sacco degradation, lignification, live weight change, predictive model, water solubility. African Journal of Range & Forage ...

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

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Masaya; Hofmann, Stefan G

2014-09-02

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

Factors affecting incidence of dry socket: a prospective community-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Parthasarathi, Krishnan; Smith, Andrew; Chandu, Arun

2011-07-01

Dry socket, or alveolar osteitis, can occur because of the removal of teeth. No clear etiology has been acknowledged; however, numerous risk factors have been proposed and tested. We report on the results of a prospective, multicenter study of the incidence and factors affecting the occurrence of alveolar osteitis at the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne and Community Dental Clinics in Melbourne, Australia. Ethics approval was gained from the University of Melbourne and Dental Health Services Victoria. The data were analyzed in a descriptive fashion, and the factors affecting alveolar osteitis were assessed using logistic regression analysis. The incidence of alveolar osteitis was 2.3% of all teeth extracted, with 4.2% of all patients experiencing alveolar osteitis in a public dental setting. Multivariate analysis revealed operator experience, perioperative crown and root fractures, periodontal disease, posterior teeth, and, interestingly, the use of mental health medications to be significant independent risk factors for the development of alveolar osteitis. No alveolar osteitis was reported in patients taking antibiotics, the oral contraceptive pill, bisphosphonates, or oral steroid drugs. Smoking and extraction technique (either operative or nonoperative) were also not found to significantly affect the development of alveolar osteitis. Copyright © 2011 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

FACTORS AFFECTING COST PERFORMANCE IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS WITHIN KELANTAN STATE IN MALAYSIA

OpenAIRE

ABDELNASER OMRAN; SITI NORHYDAYATON BINTI MAMAT

2011-01-01

This study investigates the factors affecting cost performance of construction projects in Kelantan State located in the east-coast part of Malaysia. It draws on relevant previous research in the theory of work on cost performance. Thirty-three contractors companies with different working grades in the state of Kelantan were participated in the study. Data were collected from the contractors using a questionnaire survey. The results indicated that the success factors affecting the cost perfor...

Applying total interpretive structural modeling to study factors affecting construction labour productivity

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Sayali Shrikrishna Sandbhor

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Construction sector has always been dependent on manpower. Most of the activities carried out on any construction site are labour intensive. Since productivity of any project depends directly on productivity of labour, it is a prime responsibility of the employer to enhance labour productivity. Measures to improve the same depend on analysis of positive and negative factors affecting productivity. Major attention should be given to factors that decrease the productivity of labour. Factor analysis thus is an integral part of any study aiming to improve productivity.  Interpretive structural modeling is a methodology for identifying and summarizing relationships among factors which define an issue or problem. It provides a means to arrange the factors in an order as per their complexity. This study attempts to use the latest version of interpretive structural modeling i.e. total interpretive structural modeling to analyze factors negatively affecting construction labour productivity. It establishes interpretive relationship among these factors facilitating improvement in the overall productivity of construction site.

Motivation and Factors Affecting It among Health Professionals in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

BACKGROUND: Motivation is an individual's degree of willingness to exert and maintain an effort towards organizational goals. This study assessed motivational status and factors affecting it among health professionals in public hospitals of West Shoa Zone, Oromia Region. METHOD: Facility based cross-sectional survey ...

Factors affecting sustainability of land reform projects in Ehlanzeni ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study evaluated factors affecting sustainability of land reform projects in Mpumalanga Province in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality (BLM) of Ehlanzeni District. The study was conducted between July and September 2014. A random sampling technique was used in selecting 31 key informants from the projects.

Various factors affecting /sup 67/Ga scintigraphy of liver cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Motoki, T; Morinari, H; Oono, K [Tokyo Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Medicine

1980-10-01

Various factors affecting /sup 67/Ga accumulation in liver cancer were studied in 38 patients with liver cancer (19 with hepatocellular carcinoma and 19 with metastatic liver cancer) who had received /sup 67/Ga-scintigraphy and liver scintigraphy. Besides histological types, the size, necrosis, vascularity and treatments of liver cancer, concentrations of transferrin (/sup 67/Ga binding protein) and iron in blood probably affected /sup 67/Ga accumulation in liver cancer.

Factors affecting the adoption and diffusion of Internet in higher ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal of Language, Technology & Entrepreneurship in Africa ... Factors affecting the adoption and diffusion of Internet in higher educational institutions in Kenya ... communication Technologies (ICTs) such as the Internet, Learning ...

Which Propensity Score Method Best Reduces Confounder Imbalance? An Example From a Retrospective Evaluation of a Childhood Obesity Intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, Krista; Jia, Haomiao; Smaldone, Arlene

Propensity score (PS) methods are increasingly being employed by researchers to reduce bias arising from confounder imbalance when using observational data to examine intervention effects. The purpose of this study was to examine PS theory and methodology and compare application of three PS methods (matching, stratification, weighting) to determine which best improves confounder balance. Baseline characteristics of a sample of 20,518 school-aged children with severe obesity (of whom 1,054 received an obesity intervention) were assessed prior to PS application. Three PS methods were then applied to the data to determine which showed the greatest improvement in confounder balance between the intervention and control group. The effect of each PS method on the outcome variable-body mass index percentile change at one year-was also examined. SAS 9.4 and Comprehensive Meta-analysis statistical software were used for analyses. Prior to PS adjustment, the intervention and control groups differed significantly on seven of 11 potential confounders. PS matching removed all differences. PS stratification and weighting both removed one difference but created two new differences. Sensitivity analyses did not change these results. Body mass index percentile at 1 year decreased in both groups. The size of the decrease was smaller in the intervention group, and the estimate of the decrease varied by PS method. Selection of a PS method should be guided by insight from statistical theory and simulation experiments, in addition to observed improvement in confounder balance. For this data set, PS matching worked best to correct confounder imbalance. Because each method varied in correcting confounder imbalance, we recommend that multiple PS methods be compared for ability to improve confounder balance before implementation in evaluating treatment effects in observational data.

Factors affecting the carbon allowance market in the US

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hyun Seok; Koo, Won W. [Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies, Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics, North Dakota State University, Dept 7610, P.O. Box 6050, Fargo, ND 58103-6050 (United States)

2010-04-15

The US carbon allowance market has different characteristic and price determination process from the EU ETS market, since emitting installations voluntarily participate in emission trading scheme. This paper examines factors affecting the US carbon allowance market. An autoregressive distributed lag model is used to examine the short- and long-run relationships between the US carbon allowance market and its determinant factors. In the long-run, the price of coal is a main factor in the determination of carbon allowance trading. In the short-run, on the other hand, the changes in crude oil and natural gas prices as well as coal price have significant effects on carbon allowance market. (author)

Factors affecting the carbon allowance market in the US

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyun Seok; Koo, Won W.

2010-01-01

The US carbon allowance market has different characteristic and price determination process from the EU ETS market, since emitting installations voluntarily participate in emission trading scheme. This paper examines factors affecting the US carbon allowance market. An autoregressive distributed lag model is used to examine the short- and long-run relationships between the US carbon allowance market and its determinant factors. In the long-run, the price of coal is a main factor in the determination of carbon allowance trading. In the short-run, on the other hand, the changes in crude oil and natural gas prices as well as coal price have significant effects on carbon allowance market.

Factors Affecting Research Environment at Syrian Business Faculties: A Student-Perceived Model

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Bayan Khalifa

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims at investigating the factors that affect the research environment of business postgraduate students, particularly master students, from the perspective of these students. From the same perspective, it also aims at assessing these factors together with the quality of research environment. A questionnaire survey method was employed. The questionnaire was developed by academics from five business faculties based on relevant studies and was distributed to graduate students enrolled in all of the research business programs at the Faculty of Economics, Damascus University, ending up with 88 valid responses. To explore the factors that may affect research environment, exploratory factor analysis was employed. In addition, multiple regression analysis and t-test were applied to respond to the study purposes. Facilities and industry linkage come to be significant factors in the research environment. However, the results show insignificant impact for each of the research courses, networking, and research skills in the overall research environment. Variations in regard to the availability of these factors were identified with low level of availability for the facilities and industry linkage. The study is one of a kind that investigates factors affecting research environment of postgraduate students and particularly master students. Further and to the best of our knowledge, it is the first study that examines such factors in war conditions, which enables us to understand what students perceive as critical factors influencing their research performance in these conditions. Recommendations to policy makers are presented to develop strategies that respond to students’ concerns for a better research environment.

Psychological factors affecting medical condition: a new proposal for DSM-V.

Science.gov (United States)

Fava, Giovanni A; Fabbri, Stefania; Sirri, Laura; Wise, Thomas N

2007-01-01

The DSM category of "psychological factors affecting medical condition" had virtually no impact on clinical practice. However, several clinically relevant psychosomatic syndromes have been described in the literature: disease phobia, persistent somatization, conversion symptoms, illness denial, demoralization, and irritable mood. These syndromes, in addition to the DSM definition of hypochondriasis, can yield clinical specification in the category of "psychological factors affecting medical condition" and eliminate the need for the highly criticized DSM classification of somatoform disorders. This new classification is supported by a growing body of research evidence and is in line with psychosomatic medicine as a recognized subspecialty.

Risk factors that influence suicidal behavior in affective disorders

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Stanojević Albina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available It is known in the literature that the incidence and prevalence of suicide and attempted suicide in psychiatric patients is significantly higher than in the general population. The paper examined risk factors for suicidal behavior in the category of admitted patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of sleep disorders and affective (Unipolar resp. Bipolar depression. Study activated by 80 patients, 40 in both diagnostic groups received treatment at the Special Psychiatric Hospital in Gornja Toponica near Nis. The work methodology used are: psychiatric interview, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD, and the C-SSRS (Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale- assessment tool that assesses suicidal ideation and behavior. The study results show that there is a relationship between suicidal behavior (suicide attempts and suicidal ideation and the diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder, positive history of previous suicide attempts, so that these factors are stronger, to the degree of suicidality higher. On this sample, clearly suicidal behavior, with the same purpose, intensity of suicidal thoughts and medical impairment after suicide attempts were significantly more frequent in patients with Bipolar Affective Disorder in the depressive phase of the illness. Patients with a previous suicide attempt, and poor personal and social circumstances had a higher rate of attempted suicide.

Examining the factors affecting willingness to use electronic banking ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Examining the factors affecting willingness to use electronic banking: the ... which information technologies are accepted are of the research studies. ... Customers' understanding of the ease of use of e-banking systems has a significant impact on perceived usefulness and their attitude had. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Factors affecting farmers' participation in irrigation schemes of the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... those factors affecting farmers' participation in irrigated agriculture at the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA) in Kwara State, Nigeria. One hundred and sixty (160) respondents were selected from communities around LNRBDA site at Oke Oyi for this study through a two-stage sampling procedures.

EXPLORING THE FACTORS AFFECTING EMPLOYEES’ ADOPTION AND USE OF INNOVATION

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Majharul Talukder

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the factors affecting innovation adoption by individual employees within an organization in Australia. Following a qualitative research approach, this paper uses a series of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions involving academic and administrative employees at a tertiary educational institution in Australia. The qualitative approach is adopted to have a deeper insight into the complexities and dynamism associated with the factors influencing innovation adoption process in organizational settings. The findings of this research highlight the need for broadening an understanding of the key factors affecting employee’s decisions to uptake the adoption of innovation. The results provide important clues for comprehending the factors influencing and determining the employee’s adoption and continued use of innovation in the work environment. In the face of the current trend towards end-user applications of technological innovation, the results suggest some guidelines for management toward effective and efficient adoption and use of innovation in organizational settings. This paper has highlighted the above findings and their implications for management practices related to innovation management in an Australian organizational setting. This paper also identifies possible limitations and future research potential in the relevant field.

Affect and Health Behavior Co-Occurrence: The Emerging Roles of Transdiagnostic Factors and Sociocultural Factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Zvolensky, Michael J; Leventhal, Adam M

2016-01-01

The majority of scientific work addressing relations among affective states and health correlates has focused primarily on their co-occurrence and a limited range of health conditions. We have developed a Special Issue to highlight recent advances in this emerging field of work that addresses the nature and interplay between affective states and disorders, in terms of their impact and consequences from health status and behavior. This Special Issue is organized into three parts classified as (a) co-occurrence and interplay between (b) transdiagnostic factors and (c) sociocultural factors. It is hoped that this issue will (a) alert readers to the significance of this work at different levels of analysis, (b) illustrate the many domains currently being explored via innovative approaches, and (c) identify fecund areas for future systematic study. © The Author(s) 2016.

Factors affecting mechanical (nociceptive) thresholds in piglets.

Science.gov (United States)

Janczak, Andrew M; Ranheim, Birgit; Fosse, Torunn K; Hild, Sophie; Nordgreen, Janicke; Moe, Randi O; Zanella, Adroaldo J

2012-11-01

To evaluate the stability and repeatability of measures of mechanical (nociceptive) thresholds in piglets and to examine potentially confounding factors when using a hand held algometer. Descriptive, prospective cohort. Forty-four piglets from four litters, weighing 4.6 ± 1.0 kg (mean ± SD) at 2 weeks of age. Mechanical thresholds were measured twice on each of 2 days during the first and second week of life. Data were analyzed using a repeated measures design to test the effects of behavior prior to testing, sex, week, day within week, and repetition within day. The effect of body weight and the interaction between piglet weight and behaviour were also tested. Piglet was entered into the model as a random effect as an additional test of repeatability. The effect of repeated testing was used to test the stability of measures. Pearson correlations between repeated measures were used to test the repeatability of measures. Variance component analysis was used to describe the variability in the data. Variance component analysis indicated that piglet explained only 17% of the variance in the data. All variables in the model (behaviour prior to testing, sex, week, day within week, repetition within day, body weight, the interaction between body weight and behaviour, piglet identity) except sex had a significant effect (p testing and measures changed with repeated testing and increased with increasing piglet weight, indicating that time (age) and animal body weight should be taken into account when measuring mechanical (nociceptive) thresholds in piglets. Mechanical (nociceptive) thresholds can be used both for testing the efficacy of anaesthetics and analgesics, and for assessing hyperalgesia in chronic pain states in research and clinical settings. © 2012 The Authors. Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia. © 2012 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and the American College of Veterinary Anesthesiologists.

Factors Affecting Loan Utilization And Repayment Patterns By Small ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study identified factors affecting loan utilization and repayment patterns by small holder farmers of the Nigerian Agricultural Co-operative and Rural Development Bank (NACRDB) Osogbo branch in Osun State. Two Local Government Areas with large number of loan beneficiaries from 2003 to 2008 in NACRDB were ...

Factors affecting the utilisation of electronic medical records system ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Malawi Medical Journal 29 (3): September 2017. Electronic medical ... care, as they enable storage of large amounts of data and ... EMRs. This study assessed factors that affect the use of EMRs in Malawi, particularly at Queen Elizabeth and Kamuzu Central ..... paperless hospitals in Norway : A socio-technical perspective.

Factors affecting quality of life in cancer patients undergoing ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Factors affecting quality of life in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. ... Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the QoL in cancer patients with solid tumors and at the different chemotherapy cycles (CT). ... Results: A significant relationship between the cancer type, pain intensity, and fatigue was found.

Factors Affecting Recruitment into Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Training

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Jon A.; Lewis, John E.; Katyal, Shalini

2010-01-01

Objective: The authors studied the factors affecting the recruitment into child and adolescent psychiatry training in the United States. Methods: Medical students (n = 154) and general and child and adolescent psychiatry residents (n = 111) completed a questionnaire to evaluate career choice in child psychiatry (n = 265). Results: Compared with…

Factors affecting functional prognosis of patients with hip fracture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, M T

2011-01-01

to just one or two single factors. The current article reviews important factors affecting the functional prognosis, and clinicians are encouraged to include all factors potentially influencing the outcome of patients with hip fracture in their individualised treatment and rehabilitation plan. Especially......Having a hip fracture is considered one of the most fatal fractures for elderly people, resulting in impaired function, and increased morbidity and mortality. This challenges clinicians in identifying patients at risk of worse outcome, in order to optimise and intensify treatment in these patients....... A variety of factors such as age, prefracture function and health status, fracture type, pain, anaemia, muscle strength, and the early mobility level have been shown to influence patient outcome. Thus, the outcome of patients with hip fracture is considered multi-factorial, and can therefore not be related...

Factors that contribute to biomarker responses in humans including a study in individuals taking Vitamin C supplementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, D

2001-09-01

It is possible in many situations to identify humans exposed to potentially toxic materials in the workplace and in the environment. As in most human studies, there tends to be a high degree of interindividual variability in response to chemical insults. Some non-exposed control individuals exhibit as high a level of damage as some exposed individuals and some of these have levels of damage as low as many of the controls. Thus, it is only the mean values of the groups that can substantiate an exposure-related problem; the data on an individual basis are still of limited use. While human lymphocytes remain the most popular cell type for monitoring purposes, sperm, buccal, nasal, epithelial and placental cells are also used. However, for interpretation of responses, the issue of confounding factors must be addressed. There are endogenous confounding factors, such as age, gender, and genetic make-up and exogenous ones, including lifestyle habits (smoking, drinking, etc.) There are biomarkers of exposure, effect/response and susceptibility and the last may be influenced by the genotype and polymorphism genes existing in a population. From our own studies, confounding effects on cytogenetic damage and ras oncoproteins will be considered in relation to workers exposed to vinyl chloride and petroleum emissions and to volunteers taking Vitamin C supplementation. Smoking history, exposure and duration of employment affected the worker studies. For petroleum emissions, so did gender and season of exposure. For the non-smoking volunteer Vitamin C supplementation study, cholesterol levels, plasma Vitamin C levels, lipid peroxidation products and DNA damage in the Comet assay were also measured. Gender affected differences in Vitamin C levels, antioxidant capacity and the number of chromosome aberrations induced by bleomycin challenge in vitro. The results were the same for both high and low cholesterol subjects. The relationship between biomarkers and the various factors which

A review of affecting factors on sexual satisfaction in women.

Science.gov (United States)

Shahhosseini, Zohreh; Gardeshi, Zeinab Hamzeh; Pourasghar, Mehdi; Salehi, Fariba

2014-12-01

Sex is a complex, important and sensitive issue in human being and interwoven with the whole of human existence. Given the serious changes in attitude, function and behavior in sex, the need to address sexual function, especially sexual satisfaction, is felt completely. Sexual satisfaction has a very important role in creating marital satisfaction and any defect in sexual satisfaction is significantly associated with risky sexual behaviors, serious mental illness, social crimes and ultimately divorce. The aim of this study was to explore affecting factors on sexual satisfaction in women based on an overview in scientific database. In this narrative review the researchers searched MEDLINE database, Google Scholar and Science Direct as well as Persian database like Scientific Information Database with search terms of sexual satisfaction and sexual function, restricted to English/ Persian language, during the 20 years ago. Then those articles written by renowned experts were selected. In this regard, 57 articles have been reviewed, which 30 articles related to this research have been extracted. The findings were divided in to four categories including: Demographic factors, Pathophysiological factors, Psychological factors and Sociocultural factors. Sexuality, especially sexual intimacy is sophisticated and yet elegant affair that the other persons has different definitions and different functions. Discrepancies in the results of the studies show that analysis of factors affecting sexual satisfaction regardless of the women's' sociocultural context, religious beliefs, and personal attitudes is undoubtedly inefficient, unscientific and irrational.

Factors affecting yearly and monthly visits to Taipei Zoo

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Ai-Tsen; Lin, Yann-Jou

2018-02-01

This study investigated factors affecting yearly and monthly numbers of visits to Taipei Zoo. Both linear and nonlinear regression models were used to estimate yearly visits. The results of both models showed that the "opening effect" and "animal star effect" had a significantly positive effect on yearly visits, while a SARS outbreak had a negative effect. The number of years had a significant influence on yearly visits. Results showed that the nonlinear model had better explanatory power and fitted the variations of visits better. Results of monthly model showed that monthly visits were significantly influenced by time fluctuations, weather conditions, and the animal star effect. Chinese New Year, summer vacation, numbers of holidays, and animal star exhibitions increased the number of monthly visits, while the number of days with temperatures at or below 15 °C, the number of days with temperatures at or above 30 °C, and the number of rainy days had significantly negative effects. Furthermore, the model of monthly visits showed that the animal star effect could last for over two quarters. The results of this study clarify the factors affecting visits to an outdoor recreation site and confirm the importance of meteorological factors to recreation use.

External factors affecting data acquisition during corneal topography examination.

Science.gov (United States)

González-Méijome, José Manuel; Queirós, Antonio; Jorge, Jorge; Fernandes, Paulo; Cerviño, Alejandro; de Almeida, José Borges

2007-03-01

To analyze the factors affecting data acquisition during corneal topography examination with the Medmont E-300 videokeratoscope and to provide strategies to minimize their effects. Sixty eyes from thirty young adults were examined. A second observer registered incidences with the potential to affect data acquisition. Those factors were correlated with the difficulty of measurements as judged subjectively by the practitioner who performed the examination. Measurements of axial curvature were analyzed to evaluate the variability expressed as intrasession and intersession coefficient of variation and the standard error of the mean (SEM). The level of difficulty rated by the practitioner was in general low, with 70% of the eyes being easy or very easy to measure. For the remaining 30% of the eyes, corneal topography measurements were considered to be difficult (27%) or very difficult (3%). Of the external parameters investigated, only fixation instability (PSEM improved when three readings from each session were considered. The level of subjective difficulty found during videokeratoscopy examination is correlated strongly with fixation instability and the need for head reorientation in the chin rest, whereas tear-related events seem to be less relevant in the practitioner perception of test ease or difficulty. Those factors have relevance in measurement variability.

Childhood trauma is not a confounder of the overlap between autistic and schizotypal traits: A study in a non-clinical adult sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Jing-Bo; Wang, Ya; Lui, Simon S Y; Cheung, Eric F C; Chan, Raymond C K

2017-11-01

Childhood trauma has been shown to be a robust risk factor for mental disorders, and may exacerbate schizotypal traits or contribute to autistic trait severity. However, little is known whether childhood trauma confounds the overlap between schizotypal traits and autistic traits. This study examined whether childhood trauma acts as a confounding variable in the overlap between autistic and schizotypal traits in a large non-clinical adult sample. A total of 2469 participants completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form. Correlation analysis showed that the majority of associations between AQ variables and SPQ variables were significant (p autistic and schizotypal traits could not be explained by shared variance in terms of exposure to childhood trauma. The findings point to important overlaps in the conceptualization of ASD and SSD, independent of childhood trauma. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

GENDER DIFFERENTIALS IN FACTORS AFFECTING PERFORMANCE OF SMALL-SCALE ENTERPRISES IN LAGOS STATE – NIGERIA

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Yusuff Olabisi Sherifat

2013-05-01

Full Text Available There is a lack of empirical data segregation on factors affecting gender as the variable of interest. However, previous research had indicated several factors that affect business performances among small-scale enterprise owners. Using feminist theory and a descriptive survey research design, data were collected from fifty (50 small-scale enterprise owners that were purposively chosen across the study area. The findings show that the factors that were significant for female were significantly different from male. For female small scale enterprise owners, marital status (64% Age of Children (68%, Role Model/ advisors (58% were significant factors that affect their business performance. For male small-scale enterprise owners, Friends (70%, a lack of Government support (80%, inability to display innovativeness (78% and Risk-Taking (84% were significant for male. Lack of availability of capital and finances were significant for the two. Other factors that affect performance include friends, inadequate training and business location. Adequate knowledge of factors that affect gender enterprise performance will go a long way in alleviating these problems. Small-scale enterprises should be supported for poverty alleviation, especially among women and for the nation’s economic development

LD Score regression distinguishes confounding from polygenicity in genome-wide association studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bulik-Sullivan, Brendan K.; Loh, Po-Ru; Finucane, Hilary K.

2015-01-01

Both polygenicity (many small genetic effects) and confounding biases, such as cryptic relatedness and population stratification, can yield an inflated distribution of test statistics in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, current methods cannot distinguish between inflation from...

Factors Affecting Role Stress and Burnout among School Counselors

Science.gov (United States)

Willingham, Wendy Elizabeth

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study is to determine factors affecting role stress and burnout among practicing school counselors as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey (MBI-ES) and the Role Conflict and Ambiguity Scale. The MBI-ES utilizes three subscales to measure burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal…

Away-from-reactor storage of spent nuclear fuel: factors affecting demand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dinneen, P.M.; Solomon, K.A.; Triplett, M.B.

1980-10-01

This report analyzes factors that affect the magnitude and timing of demand for government AFRs, relative to the demand for other storage options, to assist policymakers in predicting this demand. Past predictions of AFT demand range widely and often appear to conflict. This report helps to explain the apparent conflicts among existing demand predictions by demonstrating their sensitivity to changes in key assumptions. Specifically, the report analyzes factors affecting the demand for government AFR storage facilities; illustrates why demand estimates may vary; and identifies actions that may be undertaken by groups, within and outside the government, to influence the level and timing of demands

New strategies in the assessment of psychological factors affecting medical conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Sirri, Laura; Fabbri, Stefania; Fava, Giovanni A; Sonino, Nicoletta

2007-12-01

In this article, we examine research that may lead to a better assessment of psychological factors affecting medical conditions. We performed a review of the psychosomatic literature using both Medline and manual searches. We selected papers that were judged to be relevant to new strategies of assessment, with particular reference to the use of the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research. We assessed 8 areas concerned with the assessment of psychological factors in the setting of medical disease: hypochondriasis, disease phobia, persistent somatization, conversion symptoms, illness denial, demoralization, irritable mood, and Type A behavior. A new subclassification of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed. [DSM-V]; not yet published) category of psychological factors affecting physical conditions appears to be feasible and may provide the clinician with better tools for identifying psychological distress.

Quantifying the potential role of unmeasured confounders : the example of influenza vaccination

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groenwold, R H H; Hoes, A W; Nichol, K L; Hak, E

2008-01-01

BACKGROUND: The validity of non-randomized studies using healthcare databases is often challenged because they lack information on potentially important confounders, such as functional health status and socioeconomic status. In a study quantifying the effects of influenza vaccination among

Multivariate analysis of various factors affecting background liver and mediastinal standardized uptake values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuruva, Manohar; Mittal, Bhagwant Rai; Abrar, Mohammed Labeeb; Kashyap, Raghava; Bhattacharya, Anish

2012-01-01

Standardized uptake value (SUV) is the most commonly used semi-quantitative PET parameter. Various response assessment criteria grade the tumor uptake relative to liver or mediastinal uptake. However various factors can affect the background SUV values. This prospective study was carried out to assess the variability of liver and mediastinal SUVs normalized to lean body mass (SUL-L, SUL-M), body surface area (SUB-L, SUB-M), and body weight (SUW-L, SUW-M) and their dependence on various factors which can affect SUV values. Eighty-eight patients who underwent F-18 FDG PET/CT for various oncological indications were prospectively included in this study. SUVs of liver and mediastinum were calculated by ROIs drawn as suggested by Wahl, et al., in PERCIST 1.0 criteria. Multivariate linear regression analysis was done to assess for the various factors influencing the SUVs of liver and mediastinum. Factors assessed were age, sex, weight, blood glucose level, diabetic status, and uptake period. A P value less than 0.01 was considered significant. SUL-L, SUL-M, SUB-L, SUB-M, SUW-L, SUW-M were not affected significantly by age, sex, blood glucose levels, diabetic status. The uptake period had a statistically significant effect on SUL-L (P = 0.007) and SUW-L (P = 0.008) with a progressive decrease with increasing uptake time. Body weight showed a statistically significant effect on SUW-L (P = 0.001) while SUL-L and SUB-L were not dependent on weight. SUB-L was least dependent on weight (P = 0.851) when compared with SUL-L (P = 0.425). However SUL-L was also not affected statistically significantly by variations in body weight (P = 0.425). Mediastinal SUVs were not significantly affected by any of the factors. As mediastinal SUVs are not affected significantly by any of the factors, it can be considered as background when wide variations occur in uptake times or weight of the patient when comparing two PET/CT studies to evaluate response

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism affects sympathetic tone in a gender-specific way.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Chuan-Chia; Chang, Hsin-An; Chen, Tien-Yu; Fang, Wen-Hui; Huang, San-Yuan

2014-09-01

The Val/Val genotype of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) polymorphism (Val66Met) has been reported to affect human anxiety-related phenotypes. Substantial research has demonstrated that anxiety is associated with sympathetic activation, while sex steroid hormones have been shown to exert differential actions in regulating BDNF expression. Thus, we examined whether the BDNF variant modulates autonomic function in a gender-dependent manner. From 708 adults initially screened for medical and psychiatric illnesses, a final cohort of 583 drug-free healthy Han Chinese (355 males, 228 females; age 34.43±8.42 years) was recruited for BDNF genotyping (Val/Val: 136, 23.3%, Val/Met: 294, 50.4%, and Met/Met: 153, 26.2%). Time- and frequency-domain analyses of heart rate variability (HRV) were used to assess autonomic outflow to the heart. Significant genotype-by-gender interaction effects were found on HRV indices. Even after adjusting for possible confounders, male participants bearing the Val/Val genotype had significant increases in low frequency (LF), LF% and LF/high frequency (HF) ratio, indicating altered sympathovagal balance with increased sympathetic modulation, compared to male Met/Met homozygotes. Females, however, showed an opposite but non-significant pattern. These results suggest that the studied BDNF polymorphism is associated with sympathetic control in a gender-specific way. The findings here support the view that male subjects with the Val/Val genotype have increased risk of anxiety by association with sympathetic activation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors Affecting Surgical Decision-making—A Qualitative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caroline Gunaratnam

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background Guidelines and Class 1 evidence are strong factors that help guide surgeons’ decision-making, but dilemmas exist in selecting the best surgical option, usually without the benefit of guidelines or Class 1 evidence. A few studies have discussed the variability of surgical treatment options that are currently available, but no study has examined surgeons’ views on the influential factors that encourage them to choose one surgical treatment over another. This study examines the influential factors and the thought process that encourage surgeons to make these decisions in such circumstances. Methods Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 32 senior consultant surgeons, surgical fellows, and senior surgical residents at the University of Toronto teaching hospitals. An e-mail was sent out for volunteers, and interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and subjected to thematic analysis using open and axial coding. Results Broadly speaking there are five groups of factors affecting surgeons’ decision-making: medical condition, information, institutional, patient, and surgeon factors. When information factors such as guidelines and Class 1 evidence are lacking, the other four groups of factors—medical condition, institutional, patient, and surgeon factors (the last-mentioned likely being the most powerful—play a significant role in guiding surgical decision-making. Conclusions This study is the first qualitative study on surgeons’ perspectives on the influential factors that help them choose one surgical treatment option over another for their patients.

Factors Affecting Sugarcane Production in Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adnan Nazir

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This study was undertaken to identify the factors affecting sugarcane production in Pakistan. Data were collected from 387 sugarcane growers from Sindh, Punjab and NWFP province. Data were collected during the period 2007-08. The study reveals that the costs of inputs of sugarcane i.e. urea, DAP, FYM, land preparation, seed and its application, weeding and cost of irrigation were the important factors which influenced on the returns of sugarcane growers. The effectiveness was examined by using the Cobb-Douglas production function; MVP and allocative efficiency were calculated. The coefficient of multiple determinations R2 was 0.9249, which indicated that 92% variation in the cost of inputs was explained by all explanatory variables and the adjusted R2 was 92%. The F-value was 666.94 and was highly significant at 5% level of significance, indicating that the regression model was well fitted. The high prices of inputs, low price of output, delay in payments and lack of scientific knowledge were the major problems in sugarcane production. In order to enhance the productivity of sugarcane in the country, government should solve the identified problems to increase the income of sugarcane growers.

factors affecting particle retention in thermal field-flow fractionation

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this paper, we report a range of factors which affect the retention of colloidal particles in thermal field-flow fractionation (ThFFF). These results are observed among different sizes of polystyrene (PS) latex particles suspended in both aqueous and nonaqueous liquid carriers and very low density lipoproteins in a phosphate ...

Factors Affecting Time, Cost and Quality Management in Building ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study is an assessment of time, cost and quality management in the Nigerian construction industry, and it aims to explore time cost and quality management in the construction industry. The objective of the study is to identify factors affecting time; cost and quality management in building construction projects. This study ...

Factors affecting the survival of HIV-infected children after ART ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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Factors affecting the survival of HIV-infected children after. ART initiation ... balance between treating the disease and maintaining quality of life must be weighed carefully. An evaluation .... children were forced to work in early life, especially in.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2009-01-01

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

Lengths of Orthologous Prokaryotic Proteins Are Affected by Evolutionary Factors

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Tatiana Tatarinova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Proteins of the same functional family (for example, kinases may have significantly different lengths. It is an open question whether such variation in length is random or it appears as a response to some unknown evolutionary driving factors. The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate existence of factors affecting prokaryotic gene lengths. We believe that the ranking of genomes according to lengths of their genes, followed by the calculation of coefficients of association between genome rank and genome property, is a reasonable approach in revealing such evolutionary driving factors. As we demonstrated earlier, our chosen approach, Bubble-sort, combines stability, accuracy, and computational efficiency as compared to other ranking methods. Application of Bubble Sort to the set of 1390 prokaryotic genomes confirmed that genes of Archaeal species are generally shorter than Bacterial ones. We observed that gene lengths are affected by various factors: within each domain, different phyla have preferences for short or long genes; thermophiles tend to have shorter genes than the soil-dwellers; halophiles tend to have longer genes. We also found that species with overrepresentation of cytosines and guanines in the third position of the codon (GC3 content tend to have longer genes than species with low GC3 content.

Lengths of Orthologous Prokaryotic Proteins Are Affected by Evolutionary Factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Tatarinova, Tatiana; Salih, Bilal; Dien Bard, Jennifer; Cohen, Irit; Bolshoy, Alexander

2015-01-01

Proteins of the same functional family (for example, kinases) may have significantly different lengths. It is an open question whether such variation in length is random or it appears as a response to some unknown evolutionary driving factors. The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate existence of factors affecting prokaryotic gene lengths. We believe that the ranking of genomes according to lengths of their genes, followed by the calculation of coefficients of association between genome rank and genome property, is a reasonable approach in revealing such evolutionary driving factors. As we demonstrated earlier, our chosen approach, Bubble-sort, combines stability, accuracy, and computational efficiency as compared to other ranking methods. Application of Bubble Sort to the set of 1390 prokaryotic genomes confirmed that genes of Archaeal species are generally shorter than Bacterial ones. We observed that gene lengths are affected by various factors: within each domain, different phyla have preferences for short or long genes; thermophiles tend to have shorter genes than the soil-dwellers; halophiles tend to have longer genes. We also found that species with overrepresentation of cytosines and guanines in the third position of the codon (GC3 content) tend to have longer genes than species with low GC3 content.

Factors affecting passive monitoring of radon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asano, Tomohiro; Kahn, B.

1989-09-01

In recent years, increasing cancer has been expressed as a possible health hazards associated with long-term exposures to a large population at a low level of radon in the environment. Because radon is ubiquitous nuclide, nation-wide monitoring is necessary to determine lung cancer risk. For such purpose, passive sampling methods with track etch detector or charcoal adsorption collector may have the advantage in lower cost and convenience. The charcoal adsorption collector is considered in this study. Various factors may significantly affect the charcoal adsorption mechanism on its practical application. Moisture effects are discussed here as having major impact on radon collection by charcoal. Set of equations are presented in this report to describe adsorption of radon including moisture effects. (author) 61 refs

Factors affecting defensive strike behavior in Brown Treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) provoked by humans

Science.gov (United States)

Spencer, McKayka M.; Lardner, Bjorn; Mazurek, M.J.; Reed, Robert N.

2015-01-01

Striking is a typical antipredator defense exhibited by many species of snakes. While trapping Brown Treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) on Guam, we observed that snakes most frequently struck at an approaching person at a site where snakes had been trapped, marked, and handled in the past. Using a combination of between-sites and within-site comparisons, we assessed if the propensity to strike was correlated with capture histories (both recent and long-term), snake size, body condition (a proxy to nutritional stress), sex, or tail condition (broken or intact), while controlling for confounding variables. We confirmed that propensity to strike was higher at the site where we had been conducting capture-mark-recapture for several years. However, we were unable to demonstrate a correlation between striking tendencies and individual recent or long-term capture histories. The only morphological covariate that had an effect on strike propensity was sex, with females striking more often than males. After removing the site effect from our model, we found that snakes missing parts of their tails were more likely to strike than snakes with intact tails. We have yet to identify the factor(s) that cause the pronounced difference across sites in snake propensity to strike, and data from additional sites might help elucidate any geographical patterns.

Factors affecting rotator cuff healing after arthroscopic repair: osteoporosis as one of the independent risk factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Seok Won; Oh, Joo Han; Gong, Hyun Sik; Kim, Joon Yub; Kim, Sae Hoon

2011-10-01

The prognostic factors associated with structural outcome after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair have not yet been fully determined. The hypothesis of this study was that bone mineral density (BMD) is an important prognostic factor affecting rotator cuff healing after arthroscopic cuff repair. Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Among 408 patients who underwent arthroscopic repair for full-thickness rotator cuff tear between January 2004 and July 2008, 272 patients were included whose postoperative cuff integrity was verified by computed tomography arthrography (CTA) or ultrasonography (USG) and simultaneously who were evaluated by various functional outcome instruments. The mean age at the time of operation was 59.5 ± 7.9 years. Postoperative CTA or USG was performed at a mean 13.0 ± 5.1 months after surgery, and the mean follow-up period was 37.2 ± 10.0 months (range, 24-65 months). The clinical, structural, and surgery-related factors affecting cuff integrity including BMD were analyzed using both univariate and multivariate analysis. Evaluation of postoperative cuff integrity was performed by musculoskeletal radiologists who were unaware of the present study. The failure rate of rotator cuff healing was 22.8% (62 of 272). The failure rate was significantly higher in patients with lower BMD (P cuff healing failure following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. Bone mineral density, as well as FI of the infraspinatus and amount of retraction, was an independent determining factor affecting postoperative rotator cuff healing. Further studies with prospective, randomized, and controlled design are needed to confirm the relationship between BMD and postoperative rotator cuff healing.

External adjustment of unmeasured confounders in a case-control study of benzodiazepine use and cancer risk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thygesen, Lau Caspar; Pottegård, Anton; Ersbøll, Annette Kjaer

2017-01-01

AIMS: Previous studies have reported diverging results on the association between benzodiazepine use and cancer risk. METHODS: We investigated this association in a matched case-control study including incident cancer cases during 2002-2009 in the Danish Cancer Registry (n = 94 923) and age......% confidence interval 1.00-1.19) and for smoking-related cancers from 1.20 to 1.10 (95% confidence interval 1.00-1.21). CONCLUSION: We conclude that the increased risk observed in the solely register-based study could partly be attributed to unmeasured confounding....... PSs were used: The error-prone PS using register-based confounders and the calibrated PS based on both register- and survey-based confounders, retrieved from the Health Interview Survey. RESULTS: Register-based data showed that cancer cases had more diagnoses, higher comorbidity score and more co...

[Factors affecting residual stones after percutaneous nephrolithotomy in patients with renal calculus].

Science.gov (United States)

Qiao, Mingzhou; Zhang, Haifang; Zhou, Chenlong

2015-11-24

To explore the factors affecting the residual stones after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in patients with renal calculus. A retrospective analysis was performed for 1 200 patients who were affected by renal calculus and treated with PCNL between Jan 2008 and May 2014 in People's Hospital of Anyang City. Among those patients, 16 were diagnosed as bilateral renal stone and had two successive operations. The size, location and number of stones, previous history of surgery, the degree of hydronephrosis, urinary infection were included in the univariate analysis. Significant factors in univariate analysis were included in the multivariate analysis to determine factors affecting stone residual. A total of 385 cases developed stone residual after surgery. The overall residual rate was 31.7%. In univariate analysis, renal pelvis combined with caliceal calculus (P=0.006), stone size larger than 4 cm (P=0.005), stone number more than 4 (P=0.002), the amount of bleeding more than 200 ml (P=0.025), operation time longer than 120 minutes (P=0.028) were associated with an increased rate of stone residual. When subjected to the Cox multivariate analysis, the independent risk factors for residual stones were renal pelvis combined with caliceal calculus (P=0.049), stone size larger than 4 cm (P=0.038) and stone number more than 4 (P=0.018). Factors affecting the incidence of residual stones after PCNL are the size, location and number of stones. Larger size stone and the presence of renal pelvis combined with caliceal calculus are significantly associated with residual stones. Nevertheless, stone number less than 4 indicates an increased stone clearance rate.

Investigating the factors affecting the investment decision in residential development.

OpenAIRE

Narang, Somil

2007-01-01

The purpose of this project is to provide a rare insight into the motivation behind residential property investors when looking to purchase an apartment. The factors driving demand preferences for housing are constantly changing, difficult to measure, and often deemed to be a complex bundle of attributes. The project attempts to answer the following questions: What are the factors affecting the investment decision in a Residential Development? To identify the significance and weight of su...

Factors affecting mortality of critical care trauma patients | Hefny ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The most common mechanism of injury was road traffic collisions (72.3 %). The overall mortality was 13.9%. A direct logistic regression model has shown that factors that affected mortality were decreased GCS (p < 0.0001), mechanism of injury (p = 0.004) with burns having the highest mortality, increased age (p = 0.004), ...

Some factors affecting the accuracy of uranium content determined by DNC measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Quanxun

1988-01-01

Some factors affecting the accuracy of uranium contents determined by delayed neutron counting and methods solving these problems are described. One of the factors is deterioration of the BF 3 proportional counters. This problem is discussed in more detail

The relationship between urinary tract infection during pregnancy and preeclampsia: causal, confounded or spurious?

Science.gov (United States)

Karmon, Anatte; Sheiner, Eyal

2008-06-01

Preeclampsia is a major cause of maternal morbidity, although its precise etiology remains elusive. A number of studies suggest that urinary tract infection (UTI) during the course of gestation is associated with elevated risk for preeclampsia, while others have failed to prove such an association. In our medical center, pregnant women who were exposed to at least one UTI episode during pregnancy were 1.3 times more likely to have mild preeclampsia and 1.8 times more likely to have severe preeclampsia as compared to unexposed women. Our results are based on univariate analyses and are not adjusted for potential confounders. This editorial aims to discuss the relationship between urinary tract infection and preeclampsia, as well as examine the current problems regarding the interpretation of this association. Although the relationship between UTI and preeclampsia has been demonstrated in studies with various designs, carried-out in a variety of settings, the nature of this association is unclear. By taking into account timeline, dose-response effects, treatment influences, and potential confounders, as well as by neutralizing potential biases, future studies may be able to clarify the relationship between UTI and preeclampsia by determining if it is causal, confounded, or spurious.

The Combined Effects of Measurement Error and Omitting Confounders in the Single-Mediator Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Fritz, Matthew S; Kenny, David A; MacKinnon, David P

2016-01-01

Mediation analysis requires a number of strong assumptions be met in order to make valid causal inferences. Failing to account for violations of these assumptions, such as not modeling measurement error or omitting a common cause of the effects in the model, can bias the parameter estimates of the mediated effect. When the independent variable is perfectly reliable, for example when participants are randomly assigned to levels of treatment, measurement error in the mediator tends to underestimate the mediated effect, while the omission of a confounding variable of the mediator-to-outcome relation tends to overestimate the mediated effect. Violations of these two assumptions often co-occur, however, in which case the mediated effect could be overestimated, underestimated, or even, in very rare circumstances, unbiased. To explore the combined effect of measurement error and omitted confounders in the same model, the effect of each violation on the single-mediator model is first examined individually. Then the combined effect of having measurement error and omitted confounders in the same model is discussed. Throughout, an empirical example is provided to illustrate the effect of violating these assumptions on the mediated effect.

The Combined Effects of Measurement Error and Omitting Confounders in the Single-Mediator Model

Science.gov (United States)

Fritz, Matthew S.; Kenny, David A.; MacKinnon, David P.

2016-01-01

Mediation analysis requires a number of strong assumptions be met in order to make valid causal inferences. Failing to account for violations of these assumptions, such as not modeling measurement error or omitting a common cause of the effects in the model, can bias the parameter estimates of the mediated effect. When the independent variable is perfectly reliable, for example when participants are randomly assigned to levels of treatment, measurement error in the mediator tends to underestimate the mediated effect, while the omission of a confounding variable of the mediator to outcome relation tends to overestimate the mediated effect. Violations of these two assumptions often co-occur, however, in which case the mediated effect could be overestimated, underestimated, or even, in very rare circumstances, unbiased. In order to explore the combined effect of measurement error and omitted confounders in the same model, the impact of each violation on the single-mediator model is first examined individually. Then the combined effect of having measurement error and omitted confounders in the same model is discussed. Throughout, an empirical example is provided to illustrate the effect of violating these assumptions on the mediated effect. PMID:27739903

A cross-sectional study of factors affecting seasonality in bipolar ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal Home > Vol 20, No 2 (2014) >. Log in or ... To study seasonality in bipolar disorder (BD) patients and also the factors affecting this seasonality. ... Most of the patients were morning types but chronotype had no influence on seasonality.

Factors that Affect Poverty Areas in North Sumatera Using Discriminant Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Nasution, D. H.; Bangun, P.; Sitepu, H. R.

2018-04-01

In Indonesia, especially North Sumatera, the problem of poverty is one of the fundamental problems that become the focus of government both central and local government. Although the poverty rate decreased but the fact is there are many people who are poor. Poverty happens covers several aspects such as education, health, demographics, and also structural and cultural. This research will discuss about several factors such as population density, Unemployment Rate, GDP per capita ADHK, ADHB GDP per capita, economic growth and life expectancy that affect poverty in Indonesia. To determine the factors that most influence and differentiate the level of poverty of the Regency/City North Sumatra used discriminant analysis method. Discriminant analysis is one multivariate analysis technique are used to classify the data into a group based on the dependent variable and independent variable. Using discriminant analysis, it is evident that the factor affecting poverty is Unemployment Rate.

Service-Oriented Factors Affecting the Adoption of Smartphones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Youngmo Kang

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This research investigates the adoption factors of smartphones focusing on the differences of smartphone and feature phone users. We used Technology Acceptance Model (TAM which incorporates service-oriented and device-oriented functional attributes as exogenous variables for a product-service system such as smartphones. In addition, Decision Tree (DT and customer surveys were conducted. As a study results, we found that the service-oriented functional attributes - ‘wireless internet’ and ‘mobile applications’ - affect the adoption of smartphones regardless of users. However, the DT results revealed that the more important factor is 'mobile applications' to smartphone users but 'wireless internet' for feature phone users. In conclusion, we discovered that a strategy emphasis on the service-oriented attributes is needed for the adoption of smartphones.

Validating YouTube Factors Affecting Learning Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Pratama, Yoga; Hartanto, Rudy; Suning Kusumawardani, Sri

2018-03-01

YouTube is often used as a companion medium or a learning supplement. One of the educational places that often uses is Jogja Audio School (JAS) which focuses on music production education. Music production is a difficult material to learn, especially at the audio mastering. With tutorial contents from YouTube, students find it easier to learn and understand audio mastering and improved their learning performance. This study aims to validate the role of YouTube as a medium of learning in improving student’s learning performance by looking at the factors that affect student learning performance. The sample involves 100 respondents from JAS at audio mastering level. The results showed that student learning performance increases seen from factors that have a significant influence of motivation, instructional content, and YouTube usefulness. Overall findings suggest that YouTube has a important role to student learning performance in music production education and as an innovative and efficient learning medium.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-09-01

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

CRITICAL THINKING AND ITS AFFECTING FACTORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S Slameto

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The objectives of this research were to measure the success rate achieved by the alumni of Open/Distance Learning (O/DL, the Bachelor Education In-service Teachers Program (BEITP, Staya Jacana Christian University(SWCU, Salatiga in their critical thinking habit that lead to their success, and to find factors which determined their critical thinking habit. The factors concerned were student factor (learning motivation, alumni’s readiness to enter ICT community, prerequisite or teacher factor (teacher’s ability in creating and using a new instructional context. This quantitative research belongs to the causality ex-post facto research. The data source was one class of O/ DL, the BEITP, SWCUstudents, who were chosen out of four classes, as many as 32 alumni in the academic year 2015/2016. Data were screened using a self-rating scale, which consisted of 40 items tested valid and reliable, and then reduced to 5 variablas. The BEITP, SWCU Salatiga had graduated most of its alumni who owned critical thinking habit at a high rate. The critical thinking habit was affected by the instructional contexts which enabled a new situation (Model 1, alumni’s readiness to enter the ICT community (Model 2, pre-requisite, i.e., mastery of previous lecture materials (Model 3, and student’s learning motivation (Model 4 to reach 81%. The alumni’s critical thinking habit of 51.20% was determined by the teacher’s role in developing instructional contexts which made a new situation possible. This finding was useful for educational quality management for the effectiveness and productivity of higher education, which should have been focused on the teacher in developing an instructional strategy based on context, alumni readiness to enter the ICT community, prerequisite, and student’s learning motivation.

Comparison of factors affecting orthodontic treatment motivation of Taiwanese and Thai patients in two hospitals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wariya Laothong

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background/purpose: Many factors, including economic, psychosocial statuses and ethnicity, affect patients' decision to seek orthodontic treatment. The present study compared orthodontic patients' motivation, attitude and the factors affecting this motivation in Taiwanese and Thai patients. We investigated the association between the aforementioned variables and patient characteristics. Materials and methods: We enrolled 250 Thai and 250 Taiwanese patients (age ≥ 20 years from Sunprasitthiprasong and Taipei Medical University Hospitals, respectively, by using self-administered questionnaires. Demographic characteristics were analyzed using Pearson's chi-square test, patients' motivation, attitude and the factors affecting this motivation were analyzed using the sample t-test. The association among the variables was investigated by multiple regression analysis. Results: In both hospitals, the main motivation for seeking orthodontic treatment was esthetic concerns; the patients believed that treatment could make them more beautiful. Taiwanese and Thai patients rejected treatment because of high treatment costs and long treatment periods, respectively. A significant association was observed between household income and Thai patients' motivation (p < 0.05. Sex was significantly associated with Thai patients' attitude (p < 0.05. Age, sex, active treatment duration, and marital status were associated with Taiwanese attitude toward treatment (p < 0.05. In addition, age, household income, and information resources were significantly associated with the factors affecting Taiwanese patients' motivation (p < 0.05. Conclusion: Ethnicity influenced patients' motivation. Economic status was the main factor affecting Thai patients, whereas many factors affected Taiwanese patients' decision to seek orthodontic treatment. However, esthetic concerns were a crucial motivation for both groups. Keywords: factors affecting

Breed effect and non-genetic factors affecting growth performance of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

SARAH

2013-07-30

Jul 30, 2013 ... Methodology and results: Data on birth weight (BWT), 90-day weaning ... Pre and post-weaning growth rates were significantly (P<0.05) affected by all the factors examined ... The majority of the sheep population of the semi-.

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Improved Rice Varieties in Borno ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

USER

The study investigated the factors that affect adoption of improved rice varieties in the ... give a good results and also a threat to food security. Keywords: ..... decision of the farmers, however, inappropriate chain of supply/distributing the input or ...

Analysis Of The Social-Economic Factors Affecting Output Of Nihort ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Analysis Of The Social-Economic Factors Affecting Output Of Nihort Fruit Adoptors And ... A moderate family size of 6-7 family members are in adopters and ... Extension agents presence is necessary in the study area so as to organise training ...

A systematic study on factors affecting patient dose, (1)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otsuka, Akiyoshi; Higashida, Yoshiharu; Utsumi, Hiromoto; Ota, Masaji; Nakanishi, Takashi

1979-01-01

In the study of possible reduction in irradiation dose to patients during medical treatments, the following two methods can be considered: (1) To obtain absorbed doses for each part of a body in diagnostic X-ray examinations. (2) To obtain data on factors such as the tube voltage which may affect patient dose. There are a number of reports both at home and abroad concerning the above (1), but very few reports are available concerning the above (2). Moreover, most of them are on fragmentary aspects of each factor and no systematic reports have been made. For this reason, we have taken up, as factors affecting the patient dose, the field size, the tube voltage, and by checking them again, we wanted to obtain some systematic data. Our aim has been fully attained by conducting an experiment. In the ICRP's Publ. 26 issued last year, the idea of the critical organ which had not been fully elucidated in the Publ. 9 was abandoned. As a result, assessment of the irradiation doses has become more rational and the total risk for an individual was obtained. In Japan, the idea proposed in the Publ. 9 is adopted. Therefore, in this paper, we will raise some questions regarding the assessment of the irradiation doses, pointing out at the same time the rationality of the idea put forward in Publ. 26. (author)

Construction Managers’ Perception of the Factors Affecting Sustainability in Construction Projects

OpenAIRE

Reza Taheriattar; Morvarid Farzanehrafat

2014-01-01

Sustainable construction is a comprehensive concept which requires long-term planning. Moreover, construction managers play a key role in leading, planning and scheduling of a construction project. As a result, sustainability of construction projects can be affected by construction managers’ decisions. In addition, for greater development of sustainable construction, affecting factors should firstly be notified. Therefore, it seems necessary to investigate construction managers’ perception of...

Factors Affecting Teen Involvement in Pennsylvania 4-H Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, Bart E.; Ewing, John C.; Bruce, Jacklyn A.

2010-01-01

The study reported here determined the factors that affect teen involvement in 4-H programming. The design of the study was descriptive and correlational in nature. Using a purposive sampling procedure, a survey questionnaire was distributed to all (N=214) 4-H members attending the 4-H State Leadership Conference. The major findings of the study…

Factors Affecting Quality of Audit; Empirical Evidence from Iran ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study examines factors affecting quality of audit using empirical evidence from Iran Quality of audit was seen as the degree to which an audit report is free from deficiencies and distortions which show up later on. The quality of an audit was measured in terms of an auditor's ability to report financial distortions willingly ...

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

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Clairton Marcos Citolino Filho

2015-12-01

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

Factors Affecting Zebra Mussel Kill by the Bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daniel P. Molloy

2004-02-24

The specific purpose of this research project was to identify factors that affect zebra mussel kill by the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens. Test results obtained during this three-year project identified the following key variables as affecting mussel kill: treatment concentration, treatment duration, mussel siphoning activity, dissolved oxygen concentration, water temperature, and naturally suspended particle load. Using this latter information, the project culminated in a series of pipe tests which achieved high mussel kill inside power plants under once-through conditions using service water in artificial pipes.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Derek

2018-01-01

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

Factors affecting hydrocarbon removal by air stripping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McFarland, W.E.

1992-01-01

This paper includes an overview of the theory of air stripping design considerations and the factors affecting stripper performance. Effects of temperature, contaminant characteristics, stripping tower geometry and air/water ratios on removal performance are discussed. The discussion includes treatment of groundwater contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents such as TCE and PCE. Control of VOC emissions from air strippers has become a major concern in recent years, due to more stringent restrictions on air quality in many areas. This paper includes an overview of available technology to control air emissions (including activated carbon adsorption, catalytic oxidation and steam stripping) and the effects of air emission control on overall efficiency of the treatment process. The paper includes an overview of the relative performance of various packing materials for air strippers and explains the relative advantages and disadvantages of comparative packing materials. Field conditions affecting selection of packing materials are also discussed. Practical guidelines for the design of air stripping systems are presented, as well as actual case studies of full-scale air stripping projects

Literature review of factors affecting continence after radical prostatectomy

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Dalibor Pacik

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Radical prostatectomy (RP is the most common cause of stress urinary incontinence (UI in men. Several anatomic structures affect or may affect urinary continence - urethral sphincter, levator ani muscle, puboprostatic ligaments, bladder neck, endopelvic fascia, neurovascular bundle - and understanding of the anatomy of pelvic floor and urethra is crucial for satisfactory functional outcome of the procedure. Surgical techniques implemented to improve continence rates include nerve-sparing procedure, bladder neck preservation/plication, urethral length preservation, musculofascial reconstruction, puboprostatic ligaments preservation or seminal vesicle preservation. Perioperative (preoperative and postoperative pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT aims to shorten the duration of postoperative UI and thus, improve early continence rates postoperatively. In the review, complex information regarding anatomical, intra- and perioperative factors affecting urinary continence after RP is provided, including description of important anatomical structures, possible implications for surgical technique and evaluation of different PFMT strategies in perioperative period.

An Exploratory Study of the Critical Factors Affecting the Acceptability of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in Nigeria

OpenAIRE

Olusegun Folorunso; Oluwafunmilayo Ayobami Ateji; Gabriel Oludare Awe

2010-01-01

This paper uses the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a basis for studying critical factors that affects the acceptability of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in Nigeria. Questionnaire approach was used with the respondents predominantly between 20-29 years old. Factor analysis was used to test which of the factors are the main factors affecting the adoption of the technology in Nigeria. It was discovered that the major factors affecting people’s intention to accept ATM are the security issu...

Affective changes during the postpartum period: Influences of genetic and experiential factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Agrati, Daniella; Lonstein, Joseph S

2016-01-01

This article is part of a Special Issue "Parental Care". The postpartum period involves some truly transformational changes in females' socioemotional behaviors. For most female laboratory rodents and women, these changes include an improvement in their affective state, which has positive consequences for their ability to sensitively care for their offspring. There is heterogeneity among females in the likelihood of this positive affective change, though, and some women experience elevated anxiety or depression (or in rodents anxiety- or depression-related behaviors) after giving birth. We aim to contribute to the understanding of this heterogeneity in maternal affectivity by reviewing selected components of the scientific literatures on laboratory rodents and humans examining how mothers' physical contact with her infants, genetics, history of anxiety and depression and early-life and recent-life experiences contribute to individual differences in postpartum affective states. These studies together indicate that multiple biological and environmental factors beyond female maternal state shape affective responses during the postpartum period, and probably do so in an interactive manner. Furthermore, the similar capacity of some of these factors to modulate anxiety and depression in human and rodent mothers suggests cross-species conservation of mechanisms regulating postpartum affectivity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Non-genetic factors affecting fertility traits in South African Holstein ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

referee1

2014-03-08

Mar 8, 2014 ... non-genetic factors affect the fertility of dairy cows. ... (2002) found conception rates of 64% in open heifers and 39% in .... the number of days from calving date to first service date for Holstein cows in the USA increased from.

Factors affecting metal and radionuclide pollution in the Baltic sea

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Martin Lodenius

2016-12-01

Full Text Available External pollution load in the Baltic Sea originates from urban, agricultural and industrial sources. Emissions of heavy metals have decreased substantially in the catchment area but the temporal trends are not always significant and differ with sample, area and pollutant. The most significant source of anthropogenic radioactivity in the Baltic Sea is fallout from the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Many factors affect the future development of pollutant concentrations including anthropogenic emissions, political decisions and changes in salinity, temperature and water currents, in eutrophication and oxygen status, in fisheries and in atmospheric deposition of pollutants. Large scale changes like eutrophication and climate change affect ecosystems in many ways, directly and indirectly, causing biological and abiotic effects. These factors are interrelated and difficult to predict. Measures aiming to enhance the ecological status of the Baltic Sea will certainly give positive results but this will take at least several decades.

Autologous peripheral blood stem cell harvest: Collection efficiency and factors affecting it

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Aseem K Tiwari

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Harvest of hematopoietic progenitor cells via leukapheresis is being used increasingly for transplants in India. Adequate yield of cells per kilogram body weight of recipient is required for successful engraftment. Collection efficiency (CE is an objective quality parameter used to assess the quality of leukapheresis program. In this study, we calculated the CE of the ComTec cell separator (Fresenius Kabi, Germany using two different formulae (CE1 and CE2 and analyzed various patient and procedural factors, which may affect it. Materials and Methods: One hundred and one consecutive procedures in 77 autologous donors carried out over 3 years period were retrospectively reviewed. Various characteristics like gender, age, weight, disease status, hematocrit, preprocedure total leukocyte count, preprocedure CD34 positive (CD34+ cells count, preprocedure absolute CD34+ cell count and processed apheresis volume effect on CE were compared. CE for each procedure was calculated using two different formulae, and results were compared using statistical correlation and regression analysis. Results: The mean CE1 and CE2 was 41.2 and 49.1, respectively. CE2 appeared to be more accurate indicator of overall CE as it considered the impact of continued mobilization of stem cells during apheresis procedure, itself. Of all the factors affecting CE, preprocedure absolute CD34+ was the only independent factor affecting CE. Conclusion: The only factor affecting CE was preprocedure absolute CD34+ cells. Though the mean CE2 was higher than CE1, it was not statistically significant.

Factors affecting the employability in people with epilepsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wo, Monica Chen Mun; Lim, Kheng Seang; Choo, Wan Yuen; Tan, Chong Tin

2016-12-01

People with epilepsy (PWE) are negatively prejudiced in their ability to work. This study aimed to examine demographic, clinical and psychological factors associated with employability in PWE. This study recruited epilepsy patients from a neurology clinic in Malaysia. Employability was measured using employment ratio, with a ratio ≥90% (ER90) classified as high employability. Basic demographic data such as age, gender, marital status, religion, education level and household income was collected. Clinical measures consisted of age of seizure onset, seizure frequency, type of epilepsy, aura, polytherapy, nocturnal seizures and seizure control. Psychological measures included Work Self-Determination Index (WSDI), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Of 146 PWE, 64.4% had high employability. The participants were predominantly female (52%), Chinese (50.7%), single (50%), having tertiary education (55.5%) and focal epilepsy (72.6%). Clinically, only type of epilepsy was significantly correlated to employability of PWE. Employability of PWE was associated with ability to work (indicated by education level, work performance affected by seizures, ability to travel independently and ability to cope with stress at work) and family overprotection. The high employability group was found to have lower self-perceived stigma (ESS), higher self-determined motivation (WSDI), self-esteem (SES) and perceived social support (MSPSS), than the low employability group. Logistic regression analysis showed that tertiary education level (AOR 3.42, CI: 1.46-8.00), higher self-determination (WSDI, AOR 1.09, CI: 1.012-1.17), lower family overprotection (AOR 0.76, CI: 0.61-0.95), and generalised epilepsy (AOR 4.17, CI: 1.37-12.70) were significant predictors for higher employability in PWE. Ability to work (education level), clinical factor (type of epilepsy) and psychological factor (self-determined motivation and family

Analysis of Factors That Affects the Investors in Conducting Business in Indonesia

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Rini Kurnia Sari

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Investment is needed in the development of the economy. With the decentralization of investment is expected to evolve as a whole in every province in Indonesia. Local governments need to improve the quality of economic (GDP / Capita, social (HDI and the infrastructure to attract domestic and foreign investors. Fromthe test results showed that factors affecting investors conducting business in Indonesia is still influenced by GDP/capita, HDI and Infrastructure instead of natural resources.This study uses descriptive analysis and correlation analysis methods to look at the correlation factors that affect investors doing business in Indonesia.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2013-07-01

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

Health Promotion Behaviors of Women and Affecting Factors

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Naile Bilgili

2009-12-01

Full Text Available AIM: Women should be healthy and have health promotion behaviors, so they can accomplish both their maternal and social tasks. This descriptive study was conducted to determine the healthy life-style behaviors of married women and the factors which could affect those behaviors. METHOD: The population comprised all married women older than 15 years and who live in Ankara Kale region. Three hundred-sixty five married women were included in the study. The questionnaire form and the healthy life-style behaviors scale was used for data collection. RESULTS: The mean score taken from scale was 112.2±19.4. The scores of the women who graduated from middle school / high school, who have sufficient income and good socio-economic status, who have a perception of physical health fairly good and who have any chronic disease in their families, have significantly higher mean scores from healthy life-style behaviors scale and subgroups (p<0.05 CONCLUSION: Health promotion behaviors of the women was low and some factors like education level, income, socioeconomic status, perception of health, having any chronic illness and using regular medicine affected healthy life-style behaviors. It is recommended that nurses, who have education and consultation roles, should inform the women about health promotion behaviors and encourage them to use that information in their lives. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2009; 8(6.000: 497-502

Arsenic in Drinking Water in Bangladesh: Factors Affecting Child Health

Science.gov (United States)

Aziz, Sonia N.; Aziz, Khwaja M. S.; Boyle, Kevin J.

2014-01-01

The focus of this paper is to present an empirical model of factors affecting child health by observing actions households take to avoid exposure to arsenic in drinking water. Millions of Bangladeshis face multiple health hazards from high levels of arsenic in drinking water. Safe water sources are either expensive or difficult to access, affecting people’s individuals’ time available for work and ultimately affecting the health of household members. Since children are particularly susceptible and live with parents who are primary decision makers for sustenance, parental actions linking child health outcomes is used in the empirical model. Empirical results suggest that child health is significantly affected by the age and gender of the household water procurer. Adults with a high degree of concern for children’s health risk from arsenic contamination, and who actively mitigate their arsenic contaminated water have a positive effect on child health. PMID:24982854

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

Science.gov (United States)

Kota, Munetsugu; Kudo, Hiroyuki; Okita, Kazuhiko

2018-04-01

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

Marital well-being and depression in Chinese marriage: Going beyond satisfaction and ruling out critical confounders.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Hongjian; Zhou, Nan; Fang, Xiaoyi; Fine, Mark

2017-09-01

Based on data obtained from 203 Chinese couples during the early years of marriage and utilizing the actor-partner interdependence model, this study examined the prospective associations between different aspects of marital well-being (i.e., marital satisfaction, instability, commitment, and closeness) and depressive symptoms (assessed 2 years later) while controlling for critical intrapersonal (i.e., neuroticism and self-esteem) and contextual (i.e., stressful life events) confounders. Results indicated that (a) when considering different aspects of marital well-being as predictors of depressive symptoms separately, each aspect was significantly associated with spouses' own subsequent depressive symptoms; (b) when examining various aspects of marital well-being simultaneously, only husbands' commitment, husbands' instability, and wives' instability were significantly associated with their own subsequent depressive symptoms above and beyond the other aspects; and (c) the associations between husbands' commitment, husbands' instability, and wives' instability and their own subsequent depressive symptoms remained significant even after controlling for potential major intrapersonal and contextual confounders. Such findings (a) provide evidence that the marital discord model of depression may apply to Chinese couples, (b) highlight the importance of going beyond marital (dis)satisfaction when examining the association between marital well-being and depression, and (c) demonstrate that marital well-being can account for unique variance in depressive symptoms above and beyond an array of intrapersonal and contextual risk factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Analysis of Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Output of Farmers' in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This research work was carried out to ascertain the factors affecting cocoa production investment among three management systems in Abia State. The production management systems examined were owner-managed, lease and share-crop management systems. Questionnaires and oral interview were jointly used to elicit ...

Wind turbines and idiopathic symptoms: The confounding effect of concurrent environmental exposures.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanes-Vidal, Victoria; Schwartz, Joel

2016-01-01

Whether or not wind turbines pose a risk to human health is a matter of heated debate. Personal reactions to other environmental exposures occurring in the same settings as wind turbines may be responsible of the reported symptoms. However, these have not been accounted for in previous studies. We investigated whether there is an association between residential proximity to wind turbines and idiopathic symptoms, after controlling for personal reactions to other environmental co-exposures. We assessed wind turbine exposures in 454 residences as the distance to the closest wind turbine (Dw) and number of wind turbines turbines and agricultural odor exposure, we did not observe a significant relationship between residential proximity to wind turbines and symptoms and the parameter estimates were attenuated toward zero. Wind turbines-health associations can be confounded by personal reactions to other environmental co-exposures. Isolated associations reported in the literature may be due to confounding bias. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting wood energy consumption by U.S. households

Science.gov (United States)

Nianfu Song; Francisco X. Aguilar; Stephen R. Shifley; Michael E. Goerndt

2012-01-01

About 23% of energy derived from woody sources in the U.S. was consumed by households, of which 70% was used by households in rural areas in 2005. We investigated factors affecting household-level wood energy consumption in the four continental U.S. regions using data from the U.S. Residential Energy Consumption Survey. To account for a large number of zero...

Factors affecting employee attrition among engineers and non-engineers in manufacturing industry

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Bhardwaj, Shikha

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Almost every industry nowadays is badly affected by attrition. Retention of talented employees is the biggest problem faced by India Incorporation. In order to gather more insights on the talent crunch, the undertaken study was conducted on technical and non-technical jobs in manufacturing sector in Delhi NCR. Research has identified three major factors – Salary, Boss and Stress in the jobs after conducted interviews with around 50 technical and non-technical respondents. A set of questions were prepared and send to 120 employee but only 75 responded. The study shows a strong relationship between type of job and factors of attrition. Chi-square test clearly states strong relationship among two. Thus, any change in one will affect the other also. At the same time other important outcomes were that for technical jobs salary is the most important factor whereas non-technical Boss is the factor. Out 75, 63 were engineer and rest were non-engineer. The research can be further done to understand factors of attrition with other demographic variable.

The main factor affecting the competitiveness of Contractor Company

Science.gov (United States)

Nurisra; Malahayati, Nurul; Mahmuddin

2018-05-01

Contractor companies must have the competitive advantage to compete in maintaining the survival of the company. Problems arise because quite a lot of advantages can be used and these advantages must be used appropriately to produce competitiveness for the company to continue to compete and to win the competition. This study aims to determine the main factors affecting the competitiveness of medium-class contractors in Banda Aceh. Data collection was obtained through questionnaires distributed to 31 middle-class contractors in Banda Aceh. Data processing and analysis is done by using descriptive analysis. Based on the result of descriptive analysis, it can be concluded that the most important competitiveness factor with a mean score value 4.52 is the relationship, and the factor that has the highest mean score value is the relationship with the government of 4.97, while the result of the ranking analysis is obtained 25 factor that is critical to the competitiveness of medium-class contractors in Banda Aceh.

Affective traits link to reliable neural markers of incentive anticipation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Charlene C; Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R; Katovich, Kiefer; Knutson, Brian

2014-01-01

While theorists have speculated that different affective traits are linked to reliable brain activity during anticipation of gains and losses, few have directly tested this prediction. We examined these associations in a community sample of healthy human adults (n=52) as they played a Monetary Incentive Delay task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI). Factor analysis of personality measures revealed that subjects independently varied in trait Positive Arousal and trait Negative Arousal. In a subsample (n=14) retested over 2.5years later, left nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activity during anticipation of large gains (+$5.00) and right anterior insula activity during anticipation of large losses (-$5.00) showed significant test-retest reliability (intraclass correlations>0.50, p'santicipation of large gains, while trait Negative Arousal correlated with individual differences in right anterior insula activity during anticipation of large losses. Associations of affective traits with neural activity were not attributable to the influence of other potential confounds (including sex, age, wealth, and motion). Together, these results demonstrate selective links between distinct affective traits and reliably-elicited activity in neural circuits associated with anticipation of gain versus loss. The findings thus reveal neural markers for affective dimensions of healthy personality, and potentially for related psychiatric symptoms. © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting polyamide prototypes design of Albedo dosemeters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martins, M.M.; Mauricio, C.L.P.; Fonseca, E.S.

1996-01-01

This work studies the most important factors which affect the response of albedo neutron dosemeters containing LiF TLDs with the aim to improve their sensitivity. It includes tests of thickness and shape of the polyamide moderator body prototypes, albedo window diameter and TLD position inside the moderator. Analyzing the results, an albedo neutron dosemeter prototype, B 4 C covered, was developed. The prototype has a response three times higher than the albedo dosemeter now in use in Brazil. (author)

An Exploratory Study of the Critical Factors Affecting the Acceptability of Automated Teller Machine (ATM in Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olusegun Folorunso

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper uses the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM as a basis for studying critical factors that affects the acceptability of Automated Teller Machine (ATM in Nigeria. Questionnaire approach was used with the respondents predominantly between 20-29 years old. Factor analysis was used to test which of the factors are the main factors affecting the adoption of the technology in Nigeria. It was discovered that the major factors affecting people’s intention to accept ATM are the security issues and poor internet connectivity.

Reducing confounding and suppression effects in TCGA data: an integrated analysis of chemotherapy response in ovarian cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsu Fang-Han

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite initial response in adjuvant chemotherapy, ovarian cancer patients treated with the combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin frequently suffer from recurrence after few cycles of treatment, and the underlying mechanisms causing the chemoresistance remain unclear. Recently, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA research network concluded an ovarian cancer study and released the dataset to the public. The TCGA dataset possesses large sample size, comprehensive molecular profiles, and clinical outcome information; however, because of the unknown molecular subtypes in ovarian cancer and the great diversity of adjuvant treatments TCGA patients went through, studying chemotherapeutic response using the TCGA data is difficult. Additionally, factors such as sample batches, patient ages, and tumor stages further confound or suppress the identification of relevant genes, and thus the biological functions and disease mechanisms. Results To address these issues, herein we propose an analysis procedure designed to reduce suppression effect by focusing on a specific chemotherapeutic treatment, and to remove confounding effects such as batch effect, patient's age, and tumor stages. The proposed procedure starts with a batch effect adjustment, followed by a rigorous sample selection process. Then, the gene expression, copy number, and methylation profiles from the TCGA ovarian cancer dataset are analyzed using a semi-supervised clustering method combined with a novel scoring function. As a result, two molecular classifications, one with poor copy number profiles and one with poor methylation profiles, enriched with unfavorable scores are identified. Compared with the samples enriched with favorable scores, these two classifications exhibit poor progression-free survival (PFS and might be associated with poor chemotherapy response specifically to the combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin. Significant genes and biological processes are

Factors Affecting the Formation of Food Preferences in Preschool Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Alles-White, Monica L.; Welch, Patricia

1985-01-01

Identifies and discusses factors that affect the development of food preferences in preschool children, including familiarity, age, parents, peers, teachers, and programs designed to influence food habits. Makes recommendations to preschool and day care programs for creating an atmosphere conducive to trying new foods. (Author/DST)

Identification and assessment of risk factors affecting construction projects

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Mohamed Sayed Bassiony Ahmed Abd El-Karim

2017-08-01

Unexpected increase in cost and delays in construction projects are caused by owner, contractor, environments, etc. in which several types of risk factors may occur concurrently. The effect of cost overrun and schedule overrun do not only influence the construction industry but the overall economy as well. Even though construction project increasing in cost and schedule has received extensive attention of researchers, but because of continuous changes and development in the field, the study considered of added value to the construction industry in Egypt, in addition to risk strategy and plan analysis. In order to meet the deadline of a project and due to the complex nature of construction projects, cost and scheduling should be flexible enough to accommodate changes without negatively affecting the overall project cost and duration. As such, the objectives of the presented research in this paper are to identify, study, and assess the effect of the factors that affect cost and time contingency. Data are collected from sixteen construction companies in Egypt. The collected data, output charts and analyses spreadsheets will be used for the development of computerized model built by the authors with identification abbreviation RIAM.

A comparison of Bayesian and Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis for unmeasured confounding.

Science.gov (United States)

McCandless, Lawrence C; Gustafson, Paul

2017-08-15

Bias from unmeasured confounding is a persistent concern in observational studies, and sensitivity analysis has been proposed as a solution. In the recent years, probabilistic sensitivity analysis using either Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis (MCSA) or Bayesian sensitivity analysis (BSA) has emerged as a practical analytic strategy when there are multiple bias parameters inputs. BSA uses Bayes theorem to formally combine evidence from the prior distribution and the data. In contrast, MCSA samples bias parameters directly from the prior distribution. Intuitively, one would think that BSA and MCSA ought to give similar results. Both methods use similar models and the same (prior) probability distributions for the bias parameters. In this paper, we illustrate the surprising finding that BSA and MCSA can give very different results. Specifically, we demonstrate that MCSA can give inaccurate uncertainty assessments (e.g. 95% intervals) that do not reflect the data's influence on uncertainty about unmeasured confounding. Using a data example from epidemiology and simulation studies, we show that certain combinations of data and prior distributions can result in dramatic prior-to-posterior changes in uncertainty about the bias parameters. This occurs because the application of Bayes theorem in a non-identifiable model can sometimes rule out certain patterns of unmeasured confounding that are not compatible with the data. Consequently, the MCSA approach may give 95% intervals that are either too wide or too narrow and that do not have 95% frequentist coverage probability. Based on our findings, we recommend that analysts use BSA for probabilistic sensitivity analysis. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Companion of choice at birth: factors affecting implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kabakian-Khasholian, Tamar; Portela, Anayda

2017-08-31

Two recent recommendations made by the World Health Organization confirm the benefits of companion of choice at birth on labour outcomes; however institutional practices and policies do not always support its implementation in different settings around the world. We conducted a review to determine factors that affect implementation of this intervention considering the perspectives and experiences of different stakeholders and other institutional, systemic barriers and facilitators. Forty one published studies were included in this review. Thirty one publications were identified from a 2013 Cochrane review on the effectiveness of companion of choice at birth. We also reviewed 10 qualitative studies conducted alongside the trials or other interventions on labour and birth companionship identified through electronic searches. The SURE (Supporting the Use of Research Evidence) framework was used to guide the thematic analysis of implementation factors. Women and their families expressed appreciation for the continuous presence of a person to provide support during childbirth. Health care providers were concerned about the role of the companion and possible interference with activities in the labour ward. Allocation of resources, organization of care, facility-related constraints and cultural inclinations were identified as implementation barriers. Prior to introducing companion of choice at birth, understanding providers' attitudes and sensitizing them to the evidence is necessary. The commitment of the management of health care facilities is also required to change policies, including allocation of appropriate physical space that respects women's privacy. Implementation research to develop models for different contexts which could be scaled up would be useful, including documentation of factors that affected implementation and how they were addressed. Future research should also focus on documenting the costs related to implementation, and on measuring the impact of

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muneer Mahmood Abbad, David Morris, Carmel de Nahlik

2009-04-01

Full Text Available The primary questions addressed in this paper are the following: what are the factors that affect students’ adoption of an e-learning system and what are the relationships among these factors?This paper investigates and identifies some of the major factors affecting students’ adoption of an e-learning system in a university in Jordan. E-learning adoption is approached from the information systems acceptance point of view. This suggests that a prior condition for learning effectively using e-learning systems is that students must actually use them. Thus, a greater knowledge of the factors that affect IT adoption and their interrelationships is a pre-cursor to a better understanding of student acceptance of e-learning systems. In turn, this will help and guide those who develop, implement, and deliver e-learning systems.In this study, an extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM was developed to investigate the underlying factors that influence students’ decisions to use an e-learning system. The TAM was populated using data gathered from a survey of 486 undergraduate students using the Moodle based e-learning system at the Arab Open University. The model was estimated using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM. A path model was developed to analyze the relationships between the factors to explain students’ adoption of the e-learning system. Whilst findings support existing literature about prior experience affecting perceptions, they also point to surprising group effects, which may merit future exploration.

Factors affecting aggression in South Korean middle school students.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, MiJeong; Choi, Jihea; Lim, Seung-Joo

2014-12-01

The study was undertaken to assess levels of aggression, and to determine factors affecting aggression among South Korean middle school students. A descriptive study was conducted using self-report questionnaires. The participants were 340 girls and boys from two middle schools and 302 questionnaires were used for the final data analysis. Aggression, academic stress, depression, self esteem, decision-making competency, and happiness were measured. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including t tests, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficients and multiple regressions. Aggression had significant correlations with academic stress (r = .21, p decision-making competency (r = -.25, p emotional factors like depression and academic stress. Additionally, development of positive factors such as self esteem, decision-making skills, and happiness in middle school students is important to reduce aggression. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Multisample adjusted U-statistics that account for confounding covariates.

Science.gov (United States)

Satten, Glen A; Kong, Maiying; Datta, Somnath

2018-06-19

Multisample U-statistics encompass a wide class of test statistics that allow the comparison of 2 or more distributions. U-statistics are especially powerful because they can be applied to both numeric and nonnumeric data, eg, ordinal and categorical data where a pairwise similarity or distance-like measure between categories is available. However, when comparing the distribution of a variable across 2 or more groups, observed differences may be due to confounding covariates. For example, in a case-control study, the distribution of exposure in cases may differ from that in controls entirely because of variables that are related to both exposure and case status and are distributed differently among case and control participants. We propose to use individually reweighted data (ie, using the stratification score for retrospective data or the propensity score for prospective data) to construct adjusted U-statistics that can test the equality of distributions across 2 (or more) groups in the presence of confounding covariates. Asymptotic normality of our adjusted U-statistics is established and a closed form expression of their asymptotic variance is presented. The utility of our approach is demonstrated through simulation studies, as well as in an analysis of data from a case-control study conducted among African-Americans, comparing whether the similarity in haplotypes (ie, sets of adjacent genetic loci inherited from the same parent) occurring in a case and a control participant differs from the similarity in haplotypes occurring in 2 control participants. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Motivation-One of the Affective Factors and its Effect

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LIN Fang-hua

2014-01-01

Affective factors play a positive role in English study and motivation is the most important. Higher motivation predicts better second language acquisition. The types of motivation are mainly divided into two:extrinsic motivation and intrinsic moti-vation. Teachers should study their students as well as the teaching materials and then select scientific methods and make good use of them to reinforce their students' motivation.

Factors Affecting Sarcopenia in Korean Adults by Age Groups.

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Bae, Eun-Jung; Kim, Yun-Hee

2017-06-01

This study aimed to investigate factors affecting sarcopenia in different age groups among Korean adults aged 20 years or older. In this secondary analysis, data were collected from records for 17,968, participants who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey during 2008-2011. Data were analyzed using multiple logistic regression to determine the associated factors of sarcopenia by age groups. The prevalence of sarcopenia increased significantly with age. Physical activity, blood pressure, waist circumference, triglycerides, vitamin D level were found to be factors significantly associated with sarcopenia in all age groups. Total energy intake was found to be a factor that is significantly associated with sarcopenia among the adults aged 20-39 years. Fasting glucose, suicidal ideation, perceived health status, mobility problem, pain/discomfort, total energy intake were found to be factors associated with sarcopenia in the adults aged 40-64 years. Sex, residential area, smoking, drinking, fasting glucose, osteoarthritis, fall experience, usual activity problem, protein intake were factors associated with sarcopenia in the adults over 65 years of age. The findings show that sarcopenia in adults and the associated factors were different by age groups. Thus, these factors should be considered in the development of intervention programs for the care and prevention of sarcopenia, and such programs should be modified according to different age groups.

Factors Affecting School Choice: What Do Malaysian Chinese Parents Want?

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Siah, Poh Chua; Christina Ong, Sook Beng; Tan, Swee Mee; Sim, Chzia Poaw; Xian Thoo, Raphael Yi

2018-01-01

Aiming to explore factors affecting Malaysian Chinese parents in sending their children to either national secondary schools or Chinese independent schools, 494 parents were surveyed using a questionnaire. Results showed that parents who sent their children to Chinese independent schools have different priorities compared to those who sent theirs…

Scrutinizing the Factors Affecting Fluency of English among Arab Learners

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Al Ghazali, Fawzi

2017-01-01

This research study investigates the cognitive, psychological and personal factors affecting the accuracy and fluency of English language usage among Arab learners. Early research led by Chomsky (1965) and Krashen (1981) suggested that an individual's Language Acquisition Device once triggered at the appropriate time and supported with adequate…

Factors affecting job satisfaction of front-line extension workers in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study examined the factors affecting job satisfaction of field extension workers in Enugu State Agricultural Development Programme. Forty-two extension staff randomly selected across the three agricultural zones were used for the study. The field extension workers indicated low level of satisfaction with their job content, ...

Factors That Affect Adolescent Drug Users' Suicide Attempts

OpenAIRE

Park, Subin; Song, Hokwang

2016-01-01

Drug abuse has been widely linked to suicide risk. We examined the factors that affect adolescent drug users' suicide attempts in South Korea. This study analyzed the data of 311 adolescents who had used drugs such as inhalants, psychotropic drugs, and marijuana (195 males and 116 females). Among 311 subjects, 109 (35.0%) had attempted suicide during the last 12 months. After adjusting for other variables, depressive mood (OR=19.79) and poly-drug use (OR=2.79), and low/middle levels of academ...

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2016-04-01

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

Analysis of usability factors affecting purchase intention in online e-commerce sites

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Perdana, R. A.; Suzianti, A.

2017-03-01

The growing number of internet users plays a significant role in the emergence of a variety of online e-commerce sites to meet the needs of Indonesians. However, there are still some problems faced by the users in using e-commerce sites. Therefore, a research related to user experience on their purchase intention to foster e-commerce sites is required. This study is conducted to find out the relationship between usability factors on e-commerce users’ purchase intention using a case study by using SEM to analyse the usability of the website. The result of this study shows that credibility, readability and telepresence are usability factors that directly affect purchase intention, while simplicity, consistency and interactivity are usability factors that indirectly affect purchase intention. Therefore, we can conclude that Indonesian consumers are on the Early Majority phase in adopting Company A.

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

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

2010-01-01

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

Factors affecting midwives' confidence in intrapartum care: a phenomenological study.

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Bedwell, Carol; McGowan, Linda; Lavender, Tina

2015-01-01

midwives are frequently the lead providers of care for women throughout labour and birth. In order to perform their role effectively and provide women with the choices they require midwives need to be confident in their practice. This study explores factors which may affect midwives' confidence in their practice. hermeneutic phenomenology formed the theoretical basis for the study. Prospective longitudinal data collection was completed using diaries and semi-structured interviews. Twelve midwives providing intrapartum care in a variety of settings were recruited to ensure a variety of experiences in different contexts were captured. the principal factor affecting workplace confidence, both positively and negatively, was the influence of colleagues. Perceived autonomy and a sense of familiarity could also enhance confidence. However, conflict in the workplace was a critical factor in reducing midwives' confidence. Confidence was an important, but fragile, phenomenon to midwives and they used a variety of coping strategies, emotional intelligence and presentation management to maintain it. this is the first study to highlight both the factors influencing midwives' workplace confidence and the strategies midwives employed to maintain their confidence. Confidence is important in maintaining well-being and workplace culture may play a role in explaining the current low morale within the midwifery workforce. This may have implications for women's choices and care. Support, effective leadership and education may help midwives develop and sustain a positive sense of confidence. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of factors affecting social media use for HIV andAIDS ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study evaluated factors that affect use of social media for HIV and AIDS ... Structured questionnaire copies were administered to 355 undergraduate students. ... media sites for HIV and AIDS information communication was influenced by ...

An education gradient in health, a health gradient in education, or a confounded gradient in both?

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, Jamie L; von Hippel, Paul T

2016-04-01

There is a positive gradient associating educational attainment with health, yet the explanation for this gradient is not clear. Does higher education improve health (causation)? Do the healthy become highly educated (selection)? Or do good health and high educational attainment both result from advantages established early in the life course (confounding)? This study evaluates these competing explanations by tracking changes in educational attainment and Self-rated Health (SRH) from age 15 to age 31 in the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1997 cohort. Ordinal logistic regression confirms that high-SRH adolescents are more likely to become highly educated. This is partly because adolescent SRH is associated with early advantages including adolescents' academic performance, college plans, and family background (confounding); however, net of these confounders adolescent SRH still predicts adult educational attainment (selection). Fixed-effects longitudinal regression shows that educational attainment has little causal effect on SRH at age 31. Completion of a high school diploma or associate's degree has no effect on SRH, while completion of a bachelor's or graduate degree have effects that, though significant, are quite small (less than 0.1 points on a 5-point scale). While it is possible that educational attainment would have greater effect on health at older ages, at age 31 what we see is a health gradient in education, shaped primarily by selection and confounding rather than by a causal effect of education on health. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors affecting orientation and satisfaction of women entrepreneurs in rural India

OpenAIRE

Jyoti, Jeevan; Sharma, Jyoti; Kumari, Anita

2011-01-01

In the present era, the women-owned businesses in the form of women entrepreneurs are one of the fastest growing entrepreneurial populations in the India. The objective of the paper is to study the factors that affect women entrepreneurial orientation and their satisfaction. In this regard, the paper explores the affecting variables and their impact on orientation and satisfaction. The proposed model and hypotheses were tested by using the data collected from boutiques, beauty parlors, carpet...

PERMANOVA-S: association test for microbial community composition that accommodates confounders and multiple distances.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Zheng-Zheng; Chen, Guanhua; Alekseyenko, Alexander V

2016-09-01

Recent advances in sequencing technology have made it possible to obtain high-throughput data on the composition of microbial communities and to study the effects of dysbiosis on the human host. Analysis of pairwise intersample distances quantifies the association between the microbiome diversity and covariates of interest (e.g. environmental factors, clinical outcomes, treatment groups). In the design of these analyses, multiple choices for distance metrics are available. Most distance-based methods, however, use a single distance and are underpowered if the distance is poorly chosen. In addition, distance-based tests cannot flexibly handle confounding variables, which can result in excessive false-positive findings. We derive presence-weighted UniFrac to complement the existing UniFrac distances for more powerful detection of the variation in species richness. We develop PERMANOVA-S, a new distance-based method that tests the association of microbiome composition with any covariates of interest. PERMANOVA-S improves the commonly-used Permutation Multivariate Analysis of Variance (PERMANOVA) test by allowing flexible confounder adjustments and ensembling multiple distances. We conducted extensive simulation studies to evaluate the performance of different distances under various patterns of association. Our simulation studies demonstrate that the power of the test relies on how well the selected distance captures the nature of the association. The PERMANOVA-S unified test combines multiple distances and achieves good power regardless of the patterns of the underlying association. We demonstrate the usefulness of our approach by reanalyzing several real microbiome datasets. miProfile software is freely available at https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/tang-lab/software/miProfile z.tang@vanderbilt.edu or g.chen@vanderbilt.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Factors affecting mobility milestones and activities of daily living after stroke

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeuchi, Masahito

2008-01-01

Mobility milestones are elementary movements related to activities of daily living (ADL) and have a significant influence on functional recovery after stroke. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting mobility milestones and to clarify the relationships between mobility milestones and ADL. Participants were in the acute phase after first-ever strokes (ischemic, n=77; hemorrhagic, n=84). Clinical and radiological factors within the first week were determined and their effects on mobility milestones after 4 weeks were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. After 4 weeks the patients were divided into four groups on the basis of sitting balance, standing balance, and walking ability. Then total ADL score was calculated using the Barthel index (BI), and percentage of independent patients in each 10 items of BI was transition rate of ADL for each of the four groups. Patients with ischemic stroke showed the following findings. Sitting balance was affected by severity of lower limb paralysis, consciousness level, and presence of an internal capsule lesion on computed tomography (CT) (R 2 =0.86); standing balance was influenced by severity of lower limb paralysis and consciousness level (R 2 =0.72); and walking ability was affected by severity of lower limb paralysis (R 2 =0.64). Patients with hemorrhagic stroke showed the following findings. Sitting balance was influenced by severity of lower limb paralysis, intraventricular hemorrhage on CT, blood pressure instability, and fever (R 2 =0.75); standing balance was affected by severity of lower limb paralysis, consciousness level, and presence of an internal capsule lesion (R 2 =0.58); and walking ability was influenced by severity of lower limb paralysis and presence of an internal capsule lesion (R 2 =0.70). In both types of stroke, sitting and standing balance and walking ability were directly associated with total ADL score, and sitting and standing balance became independent earlier than ADL. Severity of

Study on the factors affecting the quality of public bus transportation service in Bali Province using factor analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Susilawati, M.; Nilakusmawati, D. P. E.

2017-06-01

The volume of mobility flows are increasing day by day and the condition of the number of people using private transport modes contribute to traffic congestion. With the limited capacity of the road, one of the alternatives solution to reduce congestion is to optimize the use of public transport. The purposes of this study are to determine the factors that influence user’s satisfaction on the quality of public bus transportation service and determine variables that became identifier on the dominant factor affecting user’s satisfaction. The study was conducted for the public bus transportation between districts in the province of Bali, which is among the eight regencies and one municipality, using a questionnaire as a data collection instrument. Service variables determinant of user’s satisfaction in this study, described in 25 questions, which were analyzed using factor analysis. The results showed there were six factors that explain the satisfaction of users of public transport in Bali, with a total diversity of data that can be parsed by 61.436%. These factors are: Safety and comfort, Responsiveness, Capacity, Tangible, Safety, Reliability. The dominant factor affecting public transport user satisfaction is the safety and comfort, with the most influential variable is feeling concerned about the personal safety of users when on the bus.

A study of factors affecting the adoption of server virtualization technology

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Hsin-Ke; Lin, Peng-Chun; Chiang, Chang-Heng; Cho, Chien-An

2018-04-01

It has become a trend that worldwide enterprises and organizations apply new technologies to improve their operations; besides, it has higher cost and less flexibility to construct and manage traditional servers, therefore the current mainstream is to use server virtualization technology. However, from these new technology organizations will not necessarily get the expected benefits because each one has its own level of organizational complexity and abilities to accept changes. The researcher investigated key factors affecting the adoption of virtualization technology through two phases. In phase I, the researcher reviewed literature and then applied the dimensions of "Information Systems Success Model" (ISSM) to generalize the factors affecting the adoption of virtualization technology to be the preliminary theoretical framework and develop a questionnaire; in phase II, a three-round Delphi Method was used to integrate the opinions of experts from related fields which were then gradually converged in order to obtain a stable and objective questionnaire of key factors so that these results were expected to provide references for organizations' adoption of server virtualization technology and future studies.

Socio-Economic Factors Affecting the Marketing of Garri in Port ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Socio-Economic Factors Affecting the Marketing of Garri in Port Harcourt City of ... recommended ways of improving the marketing system of garri in the study area. ... socio economic characteristic of the traders, purchases and sales transaction, ... 78% had basic education which help them in keeping proper record and in ...

Factors Affecting Performance of Undergraduate Students in Construction Related Disciplines

Science.gov (United States)

Olatunji, Samuel Olusola; Aghimien, Douglas Omoregie; Oke, Ayodeji Emmanuel; Olushola, Emmanuel

2016-01-01

Academic performance of students in Nigerian institutions has been of much concern to all and sundry hence the need to assess the factors affecting performance of undergraduate students in construction related discipline in Nigeria. A survey design was employed with questionnaires administered on students in the department of Quantity Surveying,…

Dissecting Attending Surgeons' Operating Room Guidance: Factors That Affect Guidance Decision Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaodong Phoenix; Williams, Reed G; Smink, Douglas S

2015-01-01

The amount of guidance provided by the attending surgeon in the operating room (OR) is a key element in developing residents' autonomy. The purpose of this study is to explore factors that affect attending surgeons' decision making regarding OR guidance provided to the resident. We used video-stimulated recall interviews (VSRI) throughout this 2-phase study. In Phase 1, 3 attending surgeons were invited to review separately 30 to 45 minute video segments of their prerecorded surgical operations to explore factors that influenced their OR guidance decision making. In Phase 2, 3 attending surgeons were observed and documented in the OR (4 operations, 341min). Each operating surgeon reviewed their videotaped surgical performance within 5 days of the operation to reflect on factors that affected their decision making during the targeted guidance events. All VSRI were recorded. Thematic analysis and manual coding were used to synthesize and analyze data from VSRI transcripts, OR observation documents, and field notes. A total of 255 minutes of VSRI involving 6 surgeons and 7 surgical operations from 5 different procedures were conducted. A total of 13 guidance decision-making influence factors from 4 categories were identified (Cohen's κ = 0.674): Setting (case schedule and patient morbidity), content (procedure attributes and case progress), resident (current competency level, trustworthiness, self-confidence, and personal traits), and attending surgeon (level of experience, level of comfort, preferred surgical technique, OR training philosophy, and responsibility as surgeon). A total of 5 factors (case schedule, patient morbidity, procedure attributes, resident current competency level, and trustworthiness) influenced attending surgeons' pre-OR guidance plans. "OR training philosophy" and "responsibility as surgeon" were anchor factors that affected attending surgeons' OR guidance decision-making patterns. Surgeons' OR guidance decision making is a dynamic process

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-02-15

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

ANALYSIS OF FACTORS AFFECTING POST-POWER SYNDROME AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE ELDERLY

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Retno Indarwati

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Quality of life is the individual's perception of their place in life in the context of the cultural system and values in which they live, along with their goals, expectations, and worries. Retirement is an adaptable period that results in a change of role, changes in social interactions, and limited financial resources. Aim: This study aims to analyze the factors that affect post power syndrome and quality of life of the elderly. Methods: The design of this research was a correlation study with a cross-sectional approach. The population consisted of 44 retired elderly individuals. Purposive sampling was applied to the determined sample size. The independent variables were physiological stressors, psychological stressors and aging attitudes. The dependent variables were post-power syndrome and the quality of life of elderly people. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling- Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS with a significance t statistic ≥ 1.96. Results: The findings showed all of the significant indicators measured to the variable factor. Physical stressor factors affect post-power syndrome with a t value of 2,366, and psychological stress factors affect post-power syndrome with a t value of 3,326. Aging behavior factors affects post-power syndrome with a t statistic of 5.296 and the post-power syndrome effect on the quality of life of the elderly has a t value of 7,689. Conclusion: There were significant effects in relation to physiological stressor factors, psychological stress factors, and aging attitudes towards post-power syndrome. There was an influence of post-power syndrome on the quality of elderly life.

Factors Affecting Aggression in South Korean Middle School Students

OpenAIRE

MiJeong Park, PhD, RN; Jihea Choi, PhD, RN, CPNP; Seung-Joo Lim, PhD, RN

2014-01-01

Purpose: The study was undertaken to assess levels of aggression, and to determine factors affecting aggression among South Korean middle school students. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted using self-report questionnaires. The participants were 340 girls and boys from two middle schools and 302 questionnaires were used for the final data analysis. Aggression, academic stress, depression, self esteem, decision-making competency, and happiness were measured. Data were analyzed using...

Factors Affecting 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentration in Response to Vitamin D Supplementation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hajar Mazahery

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Sun exposure is the main source of vitamin D. Due to many lifestyle risk factors vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency is becoming a worldwide health problem. Low 25(OHD concentration is associated with adverse musculoskeletal and non-musculoskeletal health outcomes. Vitamin D supplementation is currently the best approach to treat deficiency and to maintain adequacy. In response to a given dose of vitamin D, the effect on 25(OHD concentration differs between individuals, and it is imperative that factors affecting this response be identified. For this review, a comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify those factors and to explore their significance in relation to circulating 25(OHD response to vitamin D supplementation. The effect of several demographic/biological factors such as baseline 25(OHD, aging, body mass index(BMI/body fat percentage, ethnicity, calcium intake, genetics, oestrogen use, dietary fat content and composition, and some diseases and medications has been addressed. Furthermore, strategies employed by researchers or health care providers (type, dose and duration of vitamin D supplementation and environment (season are other contributing factors. With the exception of baseline 25(OHD, BMI/body fat percentage, dose and type of vitamin D, the relative importance of other factors and the mechanisms by which these factors may affect the response remains to be determined.

Factors Affecting 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentration in Response to Vitamin D Supplementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazahery, Hajar; von Hurst, Pamela R

2015-06-25

Sun exposure is the main source of vitamin D. Due to many lifestyle risk factors vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency is becoming a worldwide health problem. Low 25(OH)D concentration is associated with adverse musculoskeletal and non-musculoskeletal health outcomes. Vitamin D supplementation is currently the best approach to treat deficiency and to maintain adequacy. In response to a given dose of vitamin D, the effect on 25(OH)D concentration differs between individuals, and it is imperative that factors affecting this response be identified. For this review, a comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify those factors and to explore their significance in relation to circulating 25(OH)D response to vitamin D supplementation. The effect of several demographic/biological factors such as baseline 25(OH)D, aging, body mass index(BMI)/body fat percentage, ethnicity, calcium intake, genetics, oestrogen use, dietary fat content and composition, and some diseases and medications has been addressed. Furthermore, strategies employed by researchers or health care providers (type, dose and duration of vitamin D supplementation) and environment (season) are other contributing factors. With the exception of baseline 25(OH)D, BMI/body fat percentage, dose and type of vitamin D, the relative importance of other factors and the mechanisms by which these factors may affect the response remains to be determined.

Factors Affecting Aerosol Radiative Forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, J.; Lin, J.; Ni, R.

2016-12-01

Rapid industrial and economic growth has meant large amount of aerosols in the atmosphere with strong radiative forcing (RF) upon the climate system. Over parts of the globe, the negative forcing of aerosols has overcompensated for the positive forcing of greenhouse gases. Aerosol RF is determined by emissions and various chemical-transport-radiative processes in the atmosphere, a multi-factor problem whose individual contributors have not been well quantified. In this study, we analyze the major factors affecting RF of secondary inorganic aerosols (SIOAs, including sulfate, nitrate and ammonium), primary organic aerosol (POA), and black carbon (BC). We analyze the RFof aerosols produced by 11 major regions across the globe, including but not limited to East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, North America, and Western Europe. Factors analyzed include population size, per capita gross domestic production (GDP), emission intensity (i.e., emissionsper unit GDP), chemical efficiency (i.e., mass per unit emissions) and radiative efficiency (i.e., RF per unit mass). We find that among the 11 regions, East Asia produces the largest emissions and aerosol RF, due to relatively high emission intensity and a tremendous population size.South Asia produce the second largest RF of SIOA and BC and the highest RF of POA, in part due to its highest chemical efficiency among all regions. Although Southeast Asia also has large emissions,its aerosol RF is alleviated by its lowest chemical efficiency.The chemical efficiency and radiative efficiency of BC produced by the Middle East-North Africa are the highest across the regions, whereas its RF is loweredbyasmall per capita GDP.Both North America and Western Europe have low emission intensity, compensating for the effects on RF of large population sizes and per capita GDP. There has been a momentum to transfer industries to Southeast Asia and South Asia, and such transition is expected to continue in the coming years. The resulting

Mothers recovering from cocaine addiction: factors affecting parenting skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Coyer, S M

2001-01-01

To identify factors that may influence parenting by mothers who are recovering from cocaine addiction. Exploratory descriptive, with in-depth unstructured interviews. Interviews were conducted in the woman's home or in a treatment center. A convenience sample of 11 women recovering from cocaine addiction who were mothers of children 3 years of age and younger. A content analysis was used to analyze the interview data. Two themes, personal/psychologic factors and environmental/contextual factors, and four subthemes emerged. They identify issues that may affect parenting by mothers being treated for cocaine addiction. Subthemes included low self-esteem, difficulty developing a maternal identity, isolation from friends and family, and chronic life stress. This study provides a better understanding of the sources contributing to vulnerability in the parenting role for mothers recovering from cocaine addiction and will assist nurses in providing care for these mothers and their children.

Systematically missing confounders in individual participant data meta-analysis of observational cohort studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jackson, D.; White, I.; Kostis, J.B.

2009-01-01

One difficulty in performing meta-analyses of observational cohort studies is that the availability of confounders may vary between cohorts, so that some cohorts provide fully adjusted analyses while others only provide partially adjusted analyses. Commonly, analyses of the association between an...

Systematically missing confounders in individual participant data meta-analysis of observational cohort studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jackson, D.; White, I.; Kostis, J.B.; Wilson, A.C.; Folsom, A.R.; Feskens, E.J.M.

2009-01-01

One difficulty in performing meta-analyses of observational cohort studies is that the availability of confounders may vary between cohorts, so that some cohorts provide fully adjusted analyses while others only provide partially adjusted analyses. Commonly, analyses of the association between an

Applying total interpretive structural modeling to study factors affecting construction labour productivity

OpenAIRE

Sayali Shrikrishna Sandbhor; Rohan P. Botre

2014-01-01

Construction sector has always been dependent on manpower. Most of the activities carried out on any construction site are labour intensive. Since productivity of any project depends directly on productivity of labour, it is a prime responsibility of the employer to enhance labour productivity. Measures to improve the same depend on analysis of positive and negative factors affecting productivity. Major attention should be given to factors that decrease the productivity of labour. Factor anal...

Factors Affecting English Language Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Hong Thi; Warren, Wendy; Fehring, Heather

2014-01-01

This paper reports part of a study that aims to explore factors affecting the efficacy of non-major English teaching and learning in Vietnamese higher education through an investigation of classroom practices. Eight non-participant class observations were conducted at HUTECH University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The study's findings show that…

The Impact of CLIL on Affective Factors and Vocabulary Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Heras, Arantxa; Lasagabaster, David

2015-01-01

The aim of this article is twofold: to assess the effectiveness of a CLIL (content and language integrated learning) module on affective factors (motivation and self-esteem), and to test the purported blurring effect of CLIL on gender differences in foreign language learning. Forty-six students in their fourth year of compulsory secondary…

Factors Affecting Oil Palm Production in Ondo State of Nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The discovery of crude oil and the civil war adversely affected oil palm production in Nigeria. This has resulted in scarcity and high cost of palm products and palm oil. The study therefore investigated the factors influencing oil palm production in Ondo State, Nigeria. One hundred and fifty respondents were selected from ...

Climatic factors and bipolar affective disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Ellen Margrethe; Larsen, Jens Knud; Gjerris, Annette

2008-01-01

In bipolar disorder, the factors provoking a new episode are unknown. As a seasonal variation has been noticed, it has been suggested that weather conditions may play a role. The aim of the study was to elucidate whether meteorological parameters influence the development of new bipolar phases....... A group of patients with at least three previous hospitalizations for bipolar disorder was examined every 3 months for up to 3 years. At each examination an evaluation of the affective phase was made according to the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D(17)), and the Bech-Rafaelsen Mania Rating Scale (MAS......). In the same period, daily recordings from the Danish Meteorological Institute were received. We found no correlations between onset of bipolar episodes [defined as MAS score of 11 or more (mania) and as HAM-D(17) score of 12 or more (depression)] and any meteorological parameters. We found a statistical...

A comprehensive health plan: The lifestyle affecting factors in iranian youth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahdieh Chinekesh

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Factors affecting lifestyle become one of the most priorities of the research field, especially in adolescents and youth. Using a qualitative approach, this study aimed to understand what factors are affecting young people's healthy lifestyle. Methods: Using the conventional content analysis, and used the semi-structured in-depth interviews, we conducted a qualitative study to elicit the youth opinion considering their lifestyle affecting factors. Initially, purposeful sampling method was considered for data collection. Participants were selected from volunteered youths 18–30 years whom were selected from the Tehran city. Inclusion criteria for the participants were; (a willingness to participate in the study, and (b ability to express experiences. Results: According to findings, although the majority of participants agreed on the important role of lifestyle related behaviors in their healthy life, the lack of essential motivation and the pressure of educational assignments remove it from their daily program priorities. The most important barrier to observing the healthy lifestyle was expressed as; the acceptance of the concept by the individual and the social and economic potential of the individual. It was also suggested that practical interventions should focus on improving more participator engagement of all of the related stakeholders. Conclusions: We proposed the participatory strategies for youth healthy lifestyle promotion. Through which based on a specific needs the assessment of different target groups, designing, development, and implementation of health programs led to more effective interventions.

Heterogeneity in white blood cells has potential to confound DNA methylation measurements.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bjorn T Adalsteinsson

Full Text Available Epigenetic studies are commonly conducted on DNA from tissue samples. However, tissues are ensembles of cells that may each have their own epigenetic profile, and therefore inter-individual cellular heterogeneity may compromise these studies. Here, we explore the potential for such confounding on DNA methylation measurement outcomes when using DNA from whole blood. DNA methylation was measured using pyrosequencing-based methodology in whole blood (n = 50-179 and in two white blood cell fractions (n = 20, isolated using density gradient centrifugation, in four CGIs (CpG Islands located in genes HHEX (10 CpG sites assayed, KCNJ11 (8 CpGs, KCNQ1 (4 CpGs and PM20D1 (7 CpGs. Cellular heterogeneity (variation in proportional white blood cell counts of neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils, counted by an automated cell counter explained up to 40% (p<0.0001 of the inter-individual variation in whole blood DNA methylation levels in the HHEX CGI, but not a significant proportion of the variation in the other three CGIs tested. DNA methylation levels in the two cell fractions, polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells, differed significantly in the HHEX CGI; specifically the average absolute difference ranged between 3.4-15.7 percentage points per CpG site. In the other three CGIs tested, methylation levels in the two fractions did not differ significantly, and/or the difference was more moderate. In the examined CGIs, methylation levels were highly correlated between cell fractions. In summary, our analysis detects region-specific differential DNA methylation between white blood cell subtypes, which can confound the outcome of whole blood DNA methylation measurements. Finally, by demonstrating the high correlation between methylation levels in cell fractions, our results suggest a possibility to use a proportional number of a single white blood cell type to correct for this confounding effect in analyses.

Empirical Look at the Factors Affecting Perception of Business Ethics in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vedat Akman

2011-07-01

Full Text Available This study aims to explore the influence of gender, age, education, profession and sector choices towards factors affecting business ethics in Turkey. Self-administered questionnaire with scale of 1-5 was used to measure attitudes towards business ethics (1= "strongly agree" to 5="strongly disagree" with reasonable good score on Cronbach's realibility test. With Cronbach alpha of .692 and KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Meaure of Sampling Adequecy .746 (which sould be greater than .5 for a satisfactor analysis we proceeded to our analysis successfully.  Choice job, sector, age and gender were significant determinants to factors affecting perception of business ethics but education level was not a significant determinant.

Factors Affecting Youth Voice in Decision-Making Processes within Youth Development Programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Todd Tarifa

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Results of a study aimed at determining the factors affecting the level of inclusiveness of youth voice in the decision-making process of the 4-H youth development program are discussed in this paper. State and field level 4-H professionals identified potential factors which affect youth voice in the decision-making process. The information gathered was utilized to identify the degree to which youth voice was incorporated in the decision-making process, to better understand how to suit youth’s needs, identify promising practices, and diagnose barriers towards fostering youth voice within the 4-H youth development program. This feature article presents the findings of the study, and discusses potential ramifications and remedies.

Factors Affecting the Effectiveness and Use of Moodle: Students' Perception

Science.gov (United States)

Damnjanovic, Vesna; Jednak, Sandra; Mijatovic, Ivana

2015-01-01

The purpose of this research paper is to identify the factors affecting the effectiveness of Moodle from the students' perspective. The research hypotheses derived from the suggested extended Seddon model have been empirically validated using the responses to a survey on e-learning usage among 255 users. We tested the model across higher education…

Structural Equation Model for Evaluating Factors Affecting Quality of Social Infrastructure Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahid Hussain

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The quality of the constructed social infrastructure project has been considered a necessary measure for the sustainability of projects. Studies on factors affecting project quality have used various techniques and methods to explain the relationships between particular variables. Unexpectedly, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM has acquired very little concern in factors affecting project quality studies. To address this limitation in the body of knowledge, the objective of this study was to apply the SEM approach and build a model that explained and identified the critical factors affecting quality in social infrastructure projects. The authors developed a quantitative approach using smart-PLS version 3.2.7. This study shed light on the views of different experts based on their experience in public construction projects in Pakistan. Particularly, the authors aimed to find out the relationships between construction, stakeholders, materials, design, and external factors, and how these relate to project quality. The findings of this study revealed that the R2 value of the model was scored at 0.749, which meant that the five exogenous latent constructs collectively explained 74.9% of the variance in project quality. The Goodness-of-Fit of the model was 0.458. The construction related factor was the most important out of the five constructs. This study determined that better planning and monitoring and evaluation should be developed to better address and control the quality defects by decision-makers, project managers as well as contractors. These findings might support practitioners and decision makers to focus on quality related problems that might occur in their current or future projects.

Which Factors Affect the Success or Failure of Eradication Campaigns against Alien Species?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pluess, T.; Jarošík, V.; Pysek, P.; Cannon, R.; Pergl, J.; Breukers, A.; Bacher, S.

2012-01-01

Although issues related to the management of invasive alien species are receiving increasing attention, little is known about which factors affect the likelihood of success of management measures. We applied two data mining techniques, classification trees and boosted trees, to identify factors that

A Comprehensive Analysis of the SRS-Schwab Adult Spinal Deformity Classification and Confounding Variables

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hallager, Dennis Winge; Hansen, Lars Valentin; Dragsted, Casper Rokkjær

2016-01-01

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analyses on a consecutive, prospective cohort. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the ability of the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS)-Schwab Adult Spinal Deformity Classification to group patients by widely used health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) scores and examine possible...... to confounding. However, age group and aetiology had individual significant effects. CONCLUSION: The SRS-Schwab sagittal modifiers reliably grouped patients graded 0 versus + / +  + according to the most widely used HRQOL scores and the effects of increasing grade level on odds for worse ODI scores remained...... confounding variables. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The SRS-Schwab Adult Spinal Deformity Classification includes sagittal modifiers considered important for HRQOL and the clinical impact of the classification has been validated in patients from the International Spine Study Group database; however, equivocal...

Factors Affecting Conservation Practice Behavior of CRP Participants in Alabama

Science.gov (United States)

Okwudili Onianwa; Gerald Wheelock; Shannon Hendrix

1999-01-01

This study examines the factors that affect conservation practice choices of CRP farmers in Alabama. From over 9,000 contracts enrolled in the state between 1986 and 1995, 594 were randomly selected for the study. A multiple-regression analysis was employed to analyze the data. Results indicate that education, ratio ofcropland in CRP, farm size, gender, prior crop...

Factors that affecting mothers’ postnatal comfort

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gül Pınar

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: The comfort is defined as; “an expected result of a complex conformation of providing peace and help about individual’s needs in a physical, psycho-spiritual, social and environmental entity to overcome the problems”. The aim of this study was to determine the mother’s postnatal comfort and the affecting factors of it.Materials and Methods: This is a sectional and descriptive study. The study was performed on the mothers (n=150 who applied to the delivery service of the Başkent University Ankara Hospital between the date of 30.07.2008 to 31.12.2008. A questionnaire was developed by the investigators to collect data and determine patients’ postnatal comfort scores. Results: The mean age of women was 26.4±3.5 years, the majority of patients had an educational level of high school (68.7% and were multipara (66.0%. It was determined that the mothers had problems and needed help with the fatigue, pain, in standing up, the adverse effect of anesthesia, personal and perineal hygiene that affect their postnatal comfort. The comfort score of the mothers who had spontaneous vaginal birth was higher than those of underwent cesarean delivery (p<0.05.Conclusion: The mothers’ needs and expectations about themselves and their babies were generally supplied by midwifes and the nurses in the postnatal period. Opinion of the mothers about their comfort were influenced to a positive view and the comfort scores increased while the mothers’ satisfaction were augmented (p<0.05.

Distance to High-Voltage Power Lines and Risk of Childhood Leukemia – an Analysis of Confounding by and Interaction with Other Potential Risk Factors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Camilla; Bräuner, Elvira V; Rod, Naja Hulvej

2014-01-01

. We used geographical information systems to determine the distance between residence at birth and the nearest 132-400 kV overhead power line. Concentrations of domestic radon and traffic-related air pollution (NOx at the front door) were estimated using validated models. We found a statistically......We investigated whether there is an interaction between distance from residence at birth to nearest power line and domestic radon and traffic-related air pollution, respectively, in relation to childhood leukemia risk. Further, we investigated whether adjusting for potential confounders alters...

Factors affecting the reproductive potential of dairy cows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Folman, Y.; Rosenberg, M.; Kaim, M.

1990-01-01

Various factors that affect fertility were examined in high yielding dairy cows. In cows treated for the synchronization of oestrous cycles, manifestation of oestrus following synchronization treatment was affected by the body condition score in the winter; 74% of the cows had a low score. Primiparous cows that were thin or fat had a low conception rate. The conception rate of multiparous cows with different body condition scores did not differ in the winter. However, in the summer, thin, medium-low, medium-high and fat cows had a conception rate of 15, 36, 48 and 27%, respectively (P 4 ) levels five days before the first post-partum AI affected conception rates. Primiparous cows with low (≤2 ng/mL), medium (2.1-4.0 ng/mL) and high (≥4.1 ng/mL) P 4 levels had a conception rate of 28, 17 and 61%, respectively (P 4 had a conception rate of 25, 46 and 52%, respectively (P<0.02). Cows in their fifth or later lactation that were fed straw as their sole roughage had a conception rate of 23% and a 120 day pregnancy rate of 23%. Cows of the same parities that were fed hay had a conception rate of 50% (P<0.05) and a pregnancy rate of 80% (P<0.005). (author). 15 refs, 5 tabs

Factors affecting assertiveness among student nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Ibrahim, Sanaa Abd El Azim

2011-05-01

This study aimed to investigate the factors affecting assertiveness among student nurses. The study was carried out at Faculty of Nursing, Port-Said University, on 207 student nurses from four different grades. Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, consisted of 30 items, was used to measure the students' assertiveness level and a 12-item scale developed by Spreitzer was used to measure students' psychological empowerment. The study results showed that 60.4% of the students were assertive, while about half of the students were empowered. A positive relation between student assertiveness and psychological empowerment was detected. Moreover, positive relations regarding family income and students' assertiveness and psychological empowerment were determined. The study recommended introduction of specific courses aiming at enhancing the acquisition of assertiveness skills, in addition, nurse educators must motivate their students to express their opinion and personal rights and also they must pay attention for students' empowerment and enhance students' autonomy. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Everything that you have ever been told about assessment center ratings is confounded.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Duncan J R; Michaelides, George; Dewberry, Chris; Kim, Young-Jae

2016-07-01

Despite a substantial research literature on the influence of dimensions and exercises in assessment centers (ACs), the relative impact of these 2 sources of variance continues to raise uncertainties because of confounding. With confounded effects, it is not possible to establish the degree to which any 1 effect, including those related to exercises and dimensions, influences AC ratings. In the current study (N = 698) we used Bayesian generalizability theory to unconfound all of the possible effects contributing to variance in AC ratings. Our results show that ≤1.11% of the variance in AC ratings was directly attributable to behavioral dimensions, suggesting that dimension-related effects have no practical impact on the reliability of ACs. Even when taking aggregation level into consideration, effects related to general performance and exercises accounted for almost all of the reliable variance in AC ratings. The implications of these findings for recent dimension- and exercise-based perspectives on ACs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Factors Affecting Regional Per-Capita Carbon Emissions in China Based on an LMDI Factor Decomposition Model

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Feng; Long, Ruyin; Chen, Hong; Li, Xiaohui; Yang, Qingliang

2013-01-01

China is considered to be the main carbon producer in the world. The per-capita carbon emissions indicator is an important measure of the regional carbon emissions situation. This study used the LMDI factor decomposition model–panel co-integration test two-step method to analyze the factors that affect per-capita carbon emissions. The main results are as follows. (1) During 1997, Eastern China, Central China, and Western China ranked first, second, and third in the per-capita carbon emissions, while in 2009 the pecking order changed to Eastern China, Western China, and Central China. (2) According to the LMDI decomposition results, the key driver boosting the per-capita carbon emissions in the three economic regions of China between 1997 and 2009 was economic development, and the energy efficiency was much greater than the energy structure after considering their effect on restraining increased per-capita carbon emissions. (3) Based on the decomposition, the factors that affected per-capita carbon emissions in the panel co-integration test showed that Central China had the best energy structure elasticity in its regional per-capita carbon emissions. Thus, Central China was ranked first for energy efficiency elasticity, while Western China was ranked first for economic development elasticity. PMID:24353753

Factors Affecting the Underperformance of Employees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadeeka Amarasinghe

2015-04-01

Full Text Available BASL Intimate Apparel Mirigama is the largest factory of Brandix Group of Companies catering to VS Pink. It has a labour force of 1250 employees including a direct labour force of 659. Production capabilities have been extended to in-house printing and embroidery sections in addition to cutting and shipping facilities. Like other apparel manufacturers in the industry, BASL Intimate Apparel Mirigama also faces much competition and problems in its day to day business operations. One of the major issues so faced is On-Time-Delivery due to underperformance of the employees. Therefore, with the objectives of studying factors affecting the underperformance of the employees of the production department, analysing and identifying such factors, and providing recommendations, a few variables i.e. machines and methods, skill level, financial incentives, leadership practices and working conditions were identified as having a potential impact over the performance of the production employees. Stratified random sampling method was used to select 64 team members from the 32 production modules, and research work continued to collate primary data through administrating a structured questionnaire among selected associates. Null and alternative hypotheses were tested using correlations, and the data is presented as graphical pictures, tables, and in narrative form. However, there were a few limitations such as management influence, sample basis selection, service period, level of understating, time availability and commitment, time availability for the study etc. which may have had an impact over the research findings.

Factors Affecting Innovation Within Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) Organizations - An inductive Study

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Feil, Eric

2003-01-01

.... This thesis analyzed data collected during the 2002 Chief of Staff of the Air Force Organizational Climate Survey to identify factors that affect innovation within Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) organizations...

Factors affecting intra-oral pH - a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Loke, C; Lee, J; Sander, S; Mei, L; Farella, M

2016-10-01

One of the greatest challenges to modern dentistry is the progressive destruction of tooth material due to chemical erosion. Dental erosion is the loss of dental hard tissue, without the action of bacteria, in which demineralisation of enamel and dentine results due to a decrease in intra-oral pH. The aim of this review was to appraise the scientific literature on the factors that can affect intra-oral pH. The review will examine (i) the protective role of human saliva, in terms of its mineral composition, flow rates and buffering systems and (ii) sources of in-mouth acids such as extrinsic acids, which are derived from the diet and environment, as well as intrinsic acids, which are related to disorders of the gastro-oesophageal tract. This review may assist clinicians to identify the risk factors for tooth wear and to recommend adequate preventive measures to patients. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction of Immigrant Korean Nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

An, Ji-Young; Cha, Sunkyung; Moon, Hyunjung; Ruggiero, Jeanne S; Jang, Haeran

2016-03-01

An increasing number of foreign-born nurses are working in the United States. Nurses' job satisfaction is a critical issue for quality patient care. The purpose of this study was to examine factors affecting the job satisfaction of immigrant Korean nurses. We used a cross-sectional mailed survey design. A convenience sample (n = 105) of members of the Greater New York Korean Nurses Association currently working or had previously worked in the United States completed the questionnaires. We used hierarchical regression to test the effects of acculturation and life satisfaction on job satisfaction. Most participants were female (n = 98, 93.3%) aged 27 to 70 years (mean = 52.27 years, SD = 10.67). In the regression model, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and perceived stress predicted job satisfaction (F = 5.127, p job satisfaction. U.S. nurses need to gain insight into factors influencing job satisfaction in Korean nurses to promote retention and quality care. © The Author(s) 2014.

Bio-psycho-social factors affecting sexual self-concept: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Potki, Robabeh; Ziaei, Tayebe; Faramarzi, Mahbobeh; Moosazadeh, Mahmood; Shahhosseini, Zohreh

2017-09-01

Nowadays, it is believed that mental and emotional aspects of sexual well-being are the important aspects of sexual health. Sexual self-concept is a major component of sexual health and the core of sexuality. It is defined as the cognitive perspective concerning the sexual aspects of 'self' and refers to the individual's self-perception as a sexual creature. The aim of this study was to assess the different factors affecting sexual self-concept. English electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar as well as two Iranian databases including Scientific Information Database and Iranmedex were searched for English and Persian-language articles published between 1996 and 2016. Of 281 retrieved articles, 37 articles were finally included for writing this review article. Factors affecting sexual self-concept were categorized to biological, psychological and social factors. In the category of biological factors, age gender, marital status, race, disability and sexual transmitted infections are described. In the psychological category, the impact of body image, sexual abuse in childhood and mental health history are present. Lastly, in the social category, the roles of parents, peers and the media are discussed. As the development of sexual self-concept is influenced by multiple events in individuals' lives, to promotion of sexual self-concept, an integrated implementation of health policies is recommended.

Factors affecting smartphone adoption for accessing information in medical settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Tahamtan, Iman; Pajouhanfar, Sara; Sedghi, Shahram; Azad, Mohsen; Roudbari, Masoud

2017-06-01

This study aimed to acquire knowledge about the factors affecting smartphone adoption for accessing information in medical settings in Iranian Hospitals. A qualitative and quantitative approach was used to conduct this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 medical residents and interns in 2013 to identify determinant factors for smartphone adoption. Afterwards, nine relationships were hypothesised. We developed a questionnaire to test these hypotheses and to evaluate the importance of each factor. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the causal relations between model parameters and to accurately identify determinant factors. Eight factors were identified in the qualitative phase of the study, including perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, training, internal environment, personal experience, social impacts, observability and job related characteristics. Among the studied factors, perceived usefulness, personal experience and job related characteristics were significantly associated with attitude to use a smartphone which accounted for 64% of the variance in attitude. Perceived usefulness had the strongest impact on attitude to use a smartphone. The factors that emerged from interviews were consistent with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and some previous studies. TAM is a reliable model for understanding the factors of smartphone acceptance in medical settings. © 2017 Health Libraries Group.

Control of exogenous factors affecting plasma homovanillic acid concentration.

Science.gov (United States)

Davidson, M; Giordani, A B; Mohs, R C; Mykytyn, V V; Platt, S; Aryan, Z S; Davis, K L

1987-04-01

Measurements of plasma homovanillic acid (pHVA) concentrations appear to be a valid research strategy in psychiatric disorders in which a central dopamine (DA) abnormality has been implicated. This study provides guidance about the control of some of the exogenous factors affecting pHVA concentrations. Fasting for 14 hours eliminates the dietary effects on pHVA in healthy human subjects. Changing position, walking for 30 minutes, or smoking two cigarettes has no effect on pHVA concentrations.

ASSESMENT OF FACTORS AFFECTING THE PRODUCTIVITY OF AMBER CHARKHA AND ERGONOMIC EVALUATION OF WORKERS

OpenAIRE

G. V. THAKRE; S. G. PATIL; D. N. AGRAWAL

2011-01-01

Increasing demands of the cotton fabrics, now a day has made it necessary to increase the production of cotton fabrics. To increase the production it is necessary to study the factors affecting the performance of the women workers working on Amber charkha. Most of the Amber charkha in rural areas are hand operated (i.e. they runwith the help of human energy input). There are various medical, technical and environmental factors which affect the productivity of women workers working on Amber ch...

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-01-01

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

[Factors affecting re-smoking in male workers].

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jin-Hoon; Ha, Hee-Sook; Kam, Sin; Lim, Ji-Seun; Kang, Yune-Sik; Lee, Duk-Hee; Chun, Byung-Yeol

2005-05-01

This study was performed to examine the factors affecting re-smoking in male workers. A self-administrated questionnaire survey was conducted during April 2003 to examine the smoking state of 1,154 employees of a company that launched a smoking cessation campaign in 1998. Five hundred and eighty seven persons, who had stopped smoking for at least one week, were selected as the final study subjects. This study collected data on smoking cessation success or failure for 6 months, and looked at the factors having an effect on resmoking within this period. This study employed the Health Belief Model as its theoretical basis. The re-smoking rate of the 587 study subjects who had stopped smoking for at least one week was 44.8% within the 6 month period. In a simple analysis, the resmoking rates were higher in workers with a low age, on day and night shifts, blue collar, of a low rank, where this was their second attempt at smoking cessation and for those with a shorter job duration (pHeath Belief Model, re-smoking was significantly related with the perceived susceptibility factor, economic advantages of smoking cessation among the perceived benefits factor, the degree of cessation trial's barrier of the perceived barriers factor, smoking symptom experience, recognition of the degree of harmfulness of environmental tobacco smoke and the existence of chronic disease due to smoking (psmoking, the significant variables were age, perceived susceptibility for disease, economic advantages due to smoking cessation, the perceived barrier for smoking cessation, recognition on the degree of harmfulness of environmental tobacco smoke, the existence of chronic disease due to smoking and the number of attempts at smoking cessation (psmoking ban policy within the work place, health education that improves the knowledge of the adverse health effects of smoking and the harmfulness of environmental tobacco smoke will be required, as well as counter plans to reduce the barriers for smoking

The prognostic factors affecting survival in muscle invasive bladder cancer treated with radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, Woong Ki; Oh, Bong Ryoul; Ahn, Sung Ja; Nah, Byung Sik; Kwon, Dong Deuk; Park, Kwang Sung; Ryu, Soo Bang; Park, Yang Il

2002-01-01

This study analyzed the prognostic factors affecting the survival rate and evaluated the role of radiation therapy in muscle-invading bladder cancer. Twenty eight patient with bladder cancer who completed planned definitive radiotherapy in the Departments of Therapeutic Radiology and Urology, Chonnam National University Hospital between Jan. 1986 to Dec. 1998 were retrospectively analyzed. The reviews were performed based on the patients' medical records. There were 21 males and 7 females in this study. The median of age was 72 years old ranging from 49 to 84 years. All patients were confirmed as having transitional cell carcinoma with histological grade 1 in one patient, grade 2 in 15, grade 3 in 9, and uniformed in 3. Radiation therapy was performed using a linear accelerator with 6 or 10 MV X-rays. Radiation was delivered daily with a 1.8 or 2.0 Gy fraction size by 4 ports (anterior-posterior, both lateral, alternatively) or 3 ports (Anterior and both lateral). The median radiation dose delivered to the isocenter of the target volume was 61.24 Gy ranging from 59 to 66.6 Gy. The survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate analysis was performed on the prognostic factors affecting the survival rate. The survival rate was 76%, 46%, 33%, 33% at 1, 2, 3, 5 years, respectively, with 19 months of median survival. The potential factors of age (less than 70 years vs above 70), sex, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hydronephrosis, T-stage (T3a vs T3b), TUR, chemotherapy, total duration of radiotherapy, radiation dose (less than 60 Gy vs above 60 Gy), and the treatment response were investigated with uni- and multivariate analysis. In univariate analysis, the T-stage (ρ 0.078) and radiation dose (ρ = 0.051) were marginally significant, and the treatment response (ρ = 0.011) was a statistically significant factor on the survival rate. Multivariate analysis showed there were no significant prognostic factors affecting the survival rate. The

The prognostic factors affecting survival in muscle invasive bladder cancer treated with radiotherapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chung, Woong Ki; Oh, Bong Ryoul; Ahn, Sung Ja; Nah, Byung Sik; Kwon, Dong Deuk; Park, Kwang Sung; Ryu, Soo Bang; Park, Yang Il [Chonnam National University Medical School, Chonnam National University Hospital, Kwangju (Korea, Republic of)

2002-06-15

This study analyzed the prognostic factors affecting the survival rate and evaluated the role of radiation therapy in muscle-invading bladder cancer. Twenty eight patient with bladder cancer who completed planned definitive radiotherapy in the Departments of Therapeutic Radiology and Urology, Chonnam National University Hospital between Jan. 1986 to Dec. 1998 were retrospectively analyzed. The reviews were performed based on the patients' medical records. There were 21 males and 7 females in this study. The median of age was 72 years old ranging from 49 to 84 years. All patients were confirmed as having transitional cell carcinoma with histological grade 1 in one patient, grade 2 in 15, grade 3 in 9, and uniformed in 3. Radiation therapy was performed using a linear accelerator with 6 or 10 MV X-rays. Radiation was delivered daily with a 1.8 or 2.0 Gy fraction size by 4 ports (anterior-posterior, both lateral, alternatively) or 3 ports (Anterior and both lateral). The median radiation dose delivered to the isocenter of the target volume was 61.24 Gy ranging from 59 to 66.6 Gy. The survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate analysis was performed on the prognostic factors affecting the survival rate. The survival rate was 76%, 46%, 33%, 33% at 1, 2, 3, 5 years, respectively, with 19 months of median survival. The potential factors of age (less than 70 years vs above 70), sex, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hydronephrosis, T-stage (T3a vs T3b), TUR, chemotherapy, total duration of radiotherapy, radiation dose (less than 60 Gy vs above 60 Gy), and the treatment response were investigated with uni- and multivariate analysis. In univariate analysis, the T-stage ({rho} 0.078) and radiation dose ({rho} = 0.051) were marginally significant, and the treatment response ({rho} = 0.011) was a statistically significant factor on the survival rate. Multivariate analysis showed there were no significant prognostic factors affecting the survival

Factors affecting irrigant extrusion during root canal irrigation: a systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boutsioukis, C.; Psimma, Z.; van der Sluis, L.W.M.

2013-01-01

The aim of the present study was to conduct a systematic review and critical analysis of published data on irrigant extrusion to identify factors causing, affecting or predisposing to irrigant extrusion during root canal irrigation of human mature permanent teeth. An electronic search was conducted

Assessing Mediation Using Marginal Structural Models in the Presence of Confounding and Moderation

Science.gov (United States)

Coffman, Donna L.; Zhong, Wei

2012-01-01

This article presents marginal structural models with inverse propensity weighting (IPW) for assessing mediation. Generally, individuals are not randomly assigned to levels of the mediator. Therefore, confounders of the mediator and outcome may exist that limit causal inferences, a goal of mediation analysis. Either regression adjustment or IPW…

Factors affecting the determination of the isotopically exchangeable phosphorus in soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morales, L.E.M.

1981-06-01

In order to evaluate the factors that affect the determination of the isotopically exchangeable phosphorus in soils (L value), various greenhouse experiments were carried out. The following factors were considered: carrier level; plant species; harvest time; nitrogen doses; nitrogen sources; culture conditions and soil type. A radioactive solution with an activity level of approximately 10 μCi 32 p/3 kg soil with different carrier levels was located in layers or mixed completely with the soil depending upon the experiment. (author)

Factors that affect coseismic folds in an overburden layer

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Shaogang; Cai, Yongen

2018-03-01

Coseismic folds induced by blind thrust faults have been observed in many earthquake zones, and they have received widespread attention from geologists and geophysicists. Numerous studies have been conducted regarding fold kinematics; however, few have studied fold dynamics quantitatively. In this paper, we establish a conceptual model with a thrust fault zone and tectonic stress load to study the factors that affect coseismic folds and their formation mechanisms using the finite element method. The numerical results show that the fault dip angle is a key factor that controls folding. The greater the dip angle is, the steeper the fold slope. The second most important factor is the overburden thickness. The thicker the overburden is, the more gradual the fold. In this case, folds are difficult to identify in field surveys. Therefore, if a fold can be easily identified with the naked eye, the overburden is likely shallow. The least important factors are the mechanical parameters of the overburden. The larger the Young's modulus of the overburden is, the smaller the displacement of the fold and the fold slope. Strong horizontal compression and vertical extension in the overburden near the fault zone are the main mechanisms that form coseismic folds.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yixin Tang

2017-06-01

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

An Investigation of Factors Affecting Multi-Task Performance in an Immersive Environment

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Branscome, Teresa A; Grynovicki, Jock O

2007-01-01

This report presents the results of a study included in a series of investigations designed to increase fundamental knowledge and understanding of the factors affecting multi-task performance in a military environment...

Factors affecting compliance with measles vaccination in Lao PDR.

Science.gov (United States)

Phimmasane, Maniphet; Douangmala, Somthana; Koffi, Paulin; Reinharz, Daniel; Buisson, Yves

2010-09-24

In line with WHO objectives, the Lao Government is committed to eliminate measles by 2012. Yet from 1992 to 2007, the annual incidence of measles remained high while the vaccination coverage showed a wide diversity across provinces. A descriptive study was performed to determine factors affecting compliance with vaccination against measles, which included qualitative and quantitative components. The qualitative study used a convenience sample of 13 persons in charge of the vaccination program, consisting of officials from different levels of the health care structure and members of vaccination teams. The quantitative study performed on the target population consisted of a matched, case-control survey conducted on a stratified random sample of parents of children aged 9-23 months. Overall, 584 individuals (292 cases and 292 controls) were interviewed in the three provinces selected because of low vaccination coverage. On the provision of services side (supply), the main problems identified were a lack of vaccine supply and diluent, a difficulty in maintaining the cold chain, a lack of availability and competence among health workers, a lack of coordination and a limited capacity to assess needs and make coherent decisions. In the side of the consumer (demand), major obstacles identified were poor knowledge about measles immunization and difficulties in accessing vaccination centers because of distance and cost. In multivariate analysis, a low education level of the father was a factor of non-immunization while the factors of good compliance were high incomes, spacing of pregnancies, a feeling that children must be vaccinated, knowledge about immunization age, presenting oneself to the hospital rather than expecting the mobile vaccination teams and last, immunization of other family members or friends' children. The main factors affecting the compliance with vaccination against measles in Laos involve both the supply side and the demand side. Obtaining an effective