WorldWideScience

Sample records for identify factors contributing

  1. Identifying risk factors that contribute to acute mountain sickness ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study is a questionnaire-based study conducted in London and at Everest Base Camp, in which 116 lowlanders were invited to participate and fill in a questionnaire to identify potential risk factors in their history that may have contributed to development of or protection against AMS. Results. A total of 89 lowlanders ...

  2. Patient and carer identified factors which contribute to safety incidents in primary care: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernan, Andrea L; Giles, Sally J; Fuller, Jeffrey; Johnson, Julie K; Walker, Christine; Dunbar, James A

    2015-09-01

    Patients can have an important role in reducing harm in primary-care settings. Learning from patient experience and feedback could improve patient safety. Evidence that captures patients' views of the various contributory factors to creating safe primary care is largely absent. The aim of this study was to address this evidence gap. Four focus groups and eight semistructured interviews were conducted with 34 patients and carers from south-east Australia. Participants were asked to describe their experiences of primary care. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and specific factors that contribute to safety incidents were identified in the analysis using the Yorkshire Contributory Factors Framework (YCFF). Other factors emerging from the data were also ascertained and added to the analytical framework. Thirteen factors that contribute to safety incidents in primary care were ascertained. Five unique factors for the primary-care setting were discovered in conjunction with eight factors present in the YCFF from hospital settings. The five unique primary care contributing factors to safety incidents represented a range of levels within the primary-care system from local working conditions to the upstream organisational level and the external policy context. The 13 factors included communication, access, patient factors, external policy context, dignity and respect, primary-secondary interface, continuity of care, task performance, task characteristics, time in the consultation, safety culture, team factors and the physical environment. Patient and carer feedback of this type could help primary-care professionals better understand and identify potential safety concerns and make appropriate service improvements. The comprehensive range of factors identified provides the groundwork for developing tools that systematically capture the multiple contributory factors to patient safety. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not

  3. Identifying factors contributing to slow growth in pigs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Y; Deen, J; Shurson, G C; Wang, L; Chen, C; Keisler, D H; Li, Y Z

    2016-05-01

    Pigs that grow slower than their contemporaries can cause complications for animal welfare and profitability. This study was conducted to investigate factors that may contribute to slow growth of pigs. Pigs ( = 440) farrowed by 65 sows were monitored from birth to market. Pigs were categorized as slow, average, and fast growers based on market weight adjusted to 170 d of age (slow growers were 125 kg). Blood samples were collected from 48 focal pigs at 9 and 21 wk of age and analyzed for hormone and free AA concentrations. Data were analyzed using the Mixed and Logistic procedures of SAS. Slow-growing pigs accounted for 10% of pigs marketed, average growers accounted for 49% of pigs marketed, and fast growers accounted for 41% of pigs marketed. Compared with fast growers, slow growers were lighter at birth ( ratio = 2.17, 95% confidence interval = 1.19 to 3.96, = 0.01). Litter size and parity of the pigs' dam were not associated with slow growth. These results suggest that low concentrations of IGF-1, insulin, leptin, and AA may contribute to or be associated with slow growth in pigs.

  4. Using a Delphi Method to Identify Human Factors Contributing to Nursing Errors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roth, Cheryl; Brewer, Melanie; Wieck, K Lynn

    2017-07-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify human factors associated with nursing errors. Using a Delphi technique, this study used feedback from a panel of nurse experts (n = 25) on an initial qualitative survey questionnaire followed by summarizing the results with feedback and confirmation. Synthesized factors regarding causes of errors were incorporated into a quantitative Likert-type scale, and the original expert panel participants were queried a second time to validate responses. The list identified 24 items as most common causes of nursing errors, including swamping and errors made by others that nurses are expected to recognize and fix. The responses provided a consensus top 10 errors list based on means with heavy workload and fatigue at the top of the list. The use of the Delphi survey established consensus and developed a platform upon which future study of nursing errors can evolve as a link to future solutions. This list of human factors in nursing errors should serve to stimulate dialogue among nurses about how to prevent errors and improve outcomes. Human and system failures have been the subject of an abundance of research, yet nursing errors continue to occur. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. Factors Contributing to EFL Teachers' Professional Development in Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Amin

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This study was aimed at investigating factors contributing to English as a Foreign Language teachers’ professional development and how these factors have shaped their professionalism. The subjects of the study included six English teachers at senior high schools under the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Religious Affairs in three different regions in Indonesia. Findings of the study reveal that there are both personal and environmental factors identified as having contributed to an EFL teacher’s professionalism, both prior to and after their induction into EFL teaching. Prior to the induction, two of the personal factors were identified: an early interest in English and a high aptitude, although early exposure to English may also be considered an environmental factor. After induction, their professional development is affected by: the level of job satisfaction, commitment to their own learning and student learning, communication skills, and resilience as personal factors, and students, school facilities, teacher colleagues, curriculum change, school leadership, and the supervisory system as environmental factors.

  6. Identifying significant factors which can contribute to successful transitions from school to lasting employment affiliation for pupils in vocational training programs

    OpenAIRE

    Nils Breilid; Eva Dyrnes

    2017-01-01

    Introduction: This study deals with young people receiving special needs education in schools and their transition to lasting employment in private or public sector. Through a qualitative approach, the article aims at “identifying significant factors which can, contribute to successful transitions from school to lasting employment affiliation for pupils in vocational training programs”Theoretical approach: The theoretical approach of this article is descriptions and interpretation of the Norw...

  7. Contributing factors of teenage pregnancy among African-American females living in economically disadvantaged communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Summers, Lauren; Lee, Young-Me; Lee, Hyeonkyeong

    2017-10-01

    To identify contributing factors that increased the risk of pregnancy among African-American adolescent females living in economically disadvantaged communities and to evaluate the current pregnancy prevention programs addressing these factors in order to provide suggestions for the development of tailored pregnancy prevention programs for this target population. Pregnancy rates among adolescents in the United States have declined over the past several years. Despite this trend, the pregnancy rate for African-American adolescent females is disproportionately higher than the adolescent pregnancy rates for other ethnicities. Limited attempts have been made to compile and synthesize the factors that increase risk of pregnancy in this population or to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention programs for African-American females that incorporate these risk factors. An integrative literature review was conducted to identify the major contributing factors of pregnancy among African American adolescents living in economically disadvantaged areas. Of the identified contributing risk factors for early pregnancy among African-American adolescent females, the five most supported risk factors were: parental influence, peer influence, social messages, substance use including alcohol, and pregnancy desire. Twelve pregnancy prevention programs were identified that addressed one or more of the five contributing factors to pregnancy. Parental influence and social messages were the most addressed factors among these programs. This review found five contributing factors related to teenage pregnancy; however, current intervention programs are not well addressed substance use as a component of alcohol use. Thus, development of a tailored pregnancy prevention program incorporating those factors will help decrease the high pregnancy rate among this target population. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Identification of the human factors contributing to maintenance failures in a petroleum operation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antonovsky, Ari; Pollock, Clare; Straker, Leon

    2014-03-01

    This research aimed to identify the most frequently occurring human factors contributing to maintenance-related failures within a petroleum industry organization. Commonality between failures will assist in understanding reliability in maintenance processes, thereby preventing accidents in high-hazard domains. Methods exist for understanding the human factors contributing to accidents. Their application in a maintenance context mainly has been advanced in aviation and nuclear power. Maintenance in the petroleum industry provides a different context for investigating the role that human factors play in influencing outcomes. It is therefore worth investigating the contributing human factors to improve our understanding of both human factors in reliability and the factors specific to this domain. Detailed analyses were conducted of maintenance-related failures (N = 38) in a petroleum company using structured interviews with maintenance technicians. The interview structure was based on the Human Factor Investigation Tool (HFIT), which in turn was based on Rasmussen's model of human malfunction. A mean of 9.5 factors per incident was identified across the cases investigated.The three most frequent human factors contributing to the maintenance failures were found to be assumption (79% of cases), design and maintenance (71%), and communication (66%). HFIT proved to be a useful instrument for identifying the pattern of human factors that recurred most frequently in maintenance-related failures. The high frequency of failures attributed to assumptions and communication demonstrated the importance of problem-solving abilities and organizational communication in a domain where maintenance personnel have a high degree of autonomy and a wide geographical distribution.

  9. Factors Contribute to Safety Culture in the Manufacturing Industry in Malaysia

    OpenAIRE

    Ong Choon Hee

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to explain the role of safety culture in the manufacturing industry in Malaysia and identify factors contribute to safety culture. It is suggested in this study that leadership support, management commitment and safety management system are important factors that contribute to safety culture. This study also provides theoretical implications to guide future research and offers practical implications to the managers in the development of safety culture. Given that ...

  10. Factors contributing to adolescent obesity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Kloub, Manal I; Froelicher, Erika S

    2009-06-01

    Obesity in children is a significant public health concern. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Jordanian children, and adolescents has increased in the last decade. The consequences of obesity to health in childhood and adulthood have both medical, and economic cost to individuals and society. This paper reviews the factors that contribute to adolescent obesity and emphasizes behavioral and environmental factors. An individual's behaviors such as increased consumption of high caloric foods, increased sedentary activity while decreasing physical activity has been identified as key issues in the development of obesity. Additionally, the current environment in homes, schools, and neighborhoods tend to discourage a healthy lifestyle. A comprehensive approach that involves the whole community is the best strategy for preventing adolescent obesity. Nurses are in a unique position to provide leadership in developing programs for healthier lifestyle choices for adolescents' and adoption of these goals into their daily lives.

  11. Predicting General Academic Performance and Identifying the Differential Contribution of Participating Variables Using Artificial Neural Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musso, Mariel F.; Kyndt, Eva; Cascallar, Eduardo C.; Dochy, Filip

    2013-01-01

    Many studies have explored the contribution of different factors from diverse theoretical perspectives to the explanation of academic performance. These factors have been identified as having important implications not only for the study of learning processes, but also as tools for improving curriculum designs, tutorial systems, and students'…

  12. Assessment of factors contributing to flood disaster in Ibadan ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Climate change has brought with it some forms of extreme weather events. One of such is heavy rainfall which often leads to flood. In recent times, flood disaster has been a regular occurrence destroying lives and property. This study was carried out to identify and assess contributing factors to flood disaster in Ibadan ...

  13. Identifying significant factors which can contribute to successful transitions from school to lasting employment affiliation for pupils in vocational training programs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nils Breilid

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: This study deals with young people receiving special needs education in schools and their transition to lasting employment in private or public sector. Through a qualitative approach, the article aims at “identifying significant factors which can, contribute to successful transitions from school to lasting employment affiliation for pupils in vocational training programs”Theoretical approach: The theoretical approach of this article is descriptions and interpretation of the Norwegian educational legislation and the theory of «empowerment». These theoretical perspectives will be included in the empirical discussion. Method: The methodological approach is qualitative. Through four semi-structured interviews of young informants who have completed upper secondary school in a vocational education program, and have had a minimum of one-year training in an enterprise. Thematic analysis of the data is conducted with the application of NVivo 11, a computer program that is suitable for qualitative data-analysis and mixed research methods.Results and discussion: Through thematic analysis of the data, we found three significant factors contributing to successful transitions from school to lasting employment:      a Application and development of the pupil’s competence - mastery and meaning      b The significance of relations, communication and well-functioning socio-ecological          networks      c The importance of pupil participation and involvement in decision making

  14. Factors Contributing to Readmission of Seniors into Acute Care Hospitals

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeCoster, Vaughn; Ehlman, Katie; Conners, Carolyn

    2013-01-01

    Medicare spending is expected to increase by 79% between the years 2010 and 2020, caused, in-part, by hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge. This study identified factors contributing to hospital readmissions in a midwest heath service area (HSA), using Coleman's Transition Care Model as the theoretical framework. The researchers…

  15. Factors contributing to outcome following traumatic brain injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ponsford, Jennie

    2013-01-01

    Traumatic brain injury results in some distinctive patterns of cognitive, behavioural and physical impairment which impact significantly on independent living skills and participation in work or study, social and leisure activities and interpersonal relationships. There is, however, still considerable variability in outcome across individuals in each of the reported domains. This has led to a significant body of research examining factors associated with outcome. A range of injury-related, personal and social factors have been shown to influence survival, as well as cognitive, functional and employment outcome. This paper reviews the factors associated with each of these aspects of outcome specifically injury-related factors, including neuroimaging findings, GCS and PTA, other injuries, and cognitive and behavioural impairments; demographic factors, including age, gender, genetic status, education, pre-injury IQ and employment status; and social factors including family and other social support, cultural factors, pre-injury psychiatric history and coping style. The paper identifies contributions and complex interrelationships of all of these factors to outcome following TBI. It concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of these factors for the rehabilitation process.

  16. Identifying risk factors that contribute to acute mountain sickness

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is an ever-increasing burden on the health sector. With reported incidences .... schedule to reduce the likelihood of AMS. The data ... of Health and. Multidisciplinary Board on Exercise to identify individuals who.

  17. Identifying Human Factors Issues in Aircraft Maintenance Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veinott, Elizabeth S.; Kanki, Barbara G.; Shafto, Michael G. (Technical Monitor)

    1995-01-01

    Maintenance operations incidents submitted to the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) between 1986-1992 were systematically analyzed in order to identify issues relevant to human factors and crew coordination. This exploratory analysis involved 95 ASRS reports which represented a wide range of maintenance incidents. The reports were coded and analyzed according to the type of error (e.g, wrong part, procedural error, non-procedural error), contributing factors (e.g., individual, within-team, cross-team, procedure, tools), result of the error (e.g., aircraft damage or not) as well as the operational impact (e.g., aircraft flown to destination, air return, delay at gate). The main findings indicate that procedural errors were most common (48.4%) and that individual and team actions contributed to the errors in more than 50% of the cases. As for operational results, most errors were either corrected after landing at the destination (51.6%) or required the flight crew to stop enroute (29.5%). Interactions among these variables are also discussed. This analysis is a first step toward developing a taxonomy of crew coordination problems in maintenance. By understanding what variables are important and how they are interrelated, we may develop intervention strategies that are better tailored to the human factor issues involved.

  18. Factors contributing to nurse job satisfaction in the acute hospital setting: a review of recent literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayes, Bronwyn; Bonner, Ann; Pryor, Julie

    2010-10-01

    To explore and discuss from recent literature the common factors contributing to nurse job satisfaction in the acute hospital setting. Nursing dissatisfaction is linked to high rates of nurses leaving the profession, poor morale, poor patient outcomes and increased financial expenditure. Understanding factors that contribute to job satisfaction could increase nurse retention. A literature search from January 2004 to March 2009 was conducted using the keywords nursing, (dis)satisfaction, job (dis)satisfaction to identify factors contributing to satisfaction for nurses working in acute hospital settings. This review identified 44 factors in three clusters (intra-, inter- and extra-personal). Job satisfaction for nurses in acute hospitals can be influenced by a combination of any or all of these factors. Important factors included coping strategies, autonomy, co-worker interaction, direct patient care, organizational policies, resource adequacy and educational opportunities. Research suggests that job satisfaction is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon. Collaboration between individual nurses, their managers and others is crucial to increase nursing satisfaction with their job. Recognition and regular reviewing by nurse managers of factors that contribute to job satisfaction for nurses working in acute care areas is pivotal to the retention of valued staff. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  19. An observational study of bullying as a contributing factor in youth suicide in Toronto.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sinyor, Mark; Schaffer, Ayal; Cheung, Amy H

    2014-12-01

    Bullying has been identified as a potential contributing factor in youth suicide. This issue has been highlighted in recent widely publicized media reports, worldwide, in which deceased youth were bullied. We report on an observational study conducted to determine the frequency of bullying as a contributing factor to youth suicide. Coroner records were reviewed for all suicide deaths in youth aged between 10 and 19 in the city of Toronto from 1998 to 2011. Data abstracted were recent stressors (including bullying), clinical variables, such as the presence of mental illness, demographics, and methods of suicide. Ninety-four youth suicides were included in the study. The mean age was 16.8 years, and 70.2% were male. Bullying was present in 6 deaths (6.4%), and there were no deaths where online or cyberbullying was detected. Bullying was the only identified contributing factor in fewer than 5 deaths. The most common stressors identified were conflict with parents (21.3%), romantic partner problems (17.0%), academic problems (10.6%), and criminal and (or) legal problems (10.6%). Any stressor or mental and (or) physical illness was detected in 78.7% of cases. Depression was detected in 40.4% of cases. Our study highlights the need to view suicide in youth as arising from a complex interplay of various biological, psychological, and social factors of which bullying is only one. It challenges simple cause-and-effect models that may suggest that suicide arises from anyone factor, such as bullying.

  20. Factors contributing to sleep deprivation in a multidisciplinary intensive care unit in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valerie J. Ehlers

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Patients in intensive care units require rest and sleep to recuperate, but might suffer from sleep deprivation due to ongoing unit activities. The study aimed to identify and describe the factors contributing to sleep deprivation in one multi-disciplinary intensive care unit MDICU in a private hospital in South Africa. Quantitative, descriptive research was conducted to identify factors contributing to sleep deprivation in the research setting, and to make recommendations to enhance these patients’ abilities to sleep. Structured interviewswere conducted with 34 adult non-ventilated patients who had spent at least one night in the MDICU and who gave informed consent. Out of the 34 interviewed patients 70.6% n = 24 indicated that they suffered from sleep deprivation in the MDICU. The five major factors contributing to sleep deprivation in a MDICU were, (1 not knowing nurses’ names, noise caused by alarms, (2 stress, (3 inability to understand medical terms, and (3 blood pressure cuffs that restricted patients’ movements and smelled badly. Patients’ abilities to sleep were enhanced by reassuring nurses whose names they knew and with whom they could communicate. By attending to the identified five major factors, patients’ abilities to sleep in a MDICU could be enhanced enabling patients to recuperate faster. The implementation of such measures need not incur financial costs for the MDICU concerned.

  1. Factors contributing to sleep deprivation in a multidisciplinary intensive care unit in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valerie J. Ehlers

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Patients in intensive care units require rest and sleep to recuperate, but might suffer from sleep deprivation due to ongoing unit activities. The study aimed to identify and describe the factors contributing to sleep deprivation in one multi-disciplinary intensive care unit (MDICU in a private hospital in South Africa. Quantitative, descriptive research was conducted to identify factors contributing to sleep deprivation in the research setting, and to make recommendations to enhance these patients’ abilities to sleep. Structured interviews were conducted with 34 adult non-ventilated patients who had spent at least one night in the MDICU and who gave informed consent. Out of the 34 interviewed patients 70.6% (n = 24 indicated that they suffered from sleep deprivation in the MDICU. The five major factors contributing to sleep deprivation in a MDICU were, (1 not knowing nurses’ names, noise caused by alarms, (2 stress, (3 inability to understand medical terms, and (3 blood pressure cuffs that restricted patients’ movements and smelled badly. Patients’ abilities to sleep were enhanced by reassuring nurses whose names they knew and with whom they could communicate. By attending to the identified five major factors, patients’ abilities to sleep in a MDICU could be enhanced enabling patients to recuperate faster. The implementation of such measures need not incur financial costs for the MDICU concerned.

  2. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO PERINATAL MORTALITY : OPTIMIZING OUTCOME

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lakshmi

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the various causes of perinatal deaths and adopt strategies to improve perinatal outcome at a referral teaching hospital in North Kerala. METHODS: A prospective observational study conducted at Institute of Maternal and Child Health, Government Medical College, Kozhikode. All perinatal deaths during the period January 2013 to December 2014 were analysed and from this factors responsible for perinatal deaths were identified. RESULTS: Out of total 30,042 deliveries , there were 966 perinatal deaths during the study period. 566 were still births and 400 early neonatal deaths. The perinatal mortality rate was 31.1 per 1000 live births. Perinatal asphyxia was the major cause of perinatal mortality. The important factors contributing to perinatal asphyxia were prematurity (39%, abruptio placenta (19% and MSAF ( 12%. Among the antenatal factors, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy leading to iatrogenic elective preterm delivery were the most important. CONCLUSION: Perinatal asphyxia due to prematurity and low birth weight emerged as the most important cause of perinatal mortality in this study and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were the most important antenatal complication leading to prematurity

  3. Using the community pharmacy to identify patients at risk of poor asthma control and factors which contribute to this poor control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armour, Carol L; Lemay, Kate; Saini, Bandana; Reddel, Helen K; Bosnic-Anticevich, Sinthia Z; Smith, Lorraine D; Burton, Deborah; Song, Yun Ju Christine; Alles, Marie Chehani; Stewart, Kay; Emmerton, Lynne; Krass, Ines

    2011-11-01

    BMQ) and were more likely to have poor control. Community pharmacists were able to identify patients with asthma at risk of suboptimal control, and factors that contributed to this were elicited. This poorly controlled group that was identified may not be visible or accessible to other health-care professionals. There is an opportunity within pharmacies to target poorly controlled asthma and provide timely and tailored interventions.

  4. Identify the Important Decision Factors of Online Shopping Adoption in Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lailatul HIJRAH

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study is to identify factors encouraging a consumer to engage in online shopping activities. The expected contribution of this study is for online entrepreneurs, in order to develop the most suitable business strategy, so that it will be clearly identified and sorted out which factors are the most important and the main motivation of Indonesian consumers to shop via online by using responses from respondents who usually shop online and offline in 3 cities in Indonesia, Jakarta, Surabaya and Samarinda. The research instruments were developed by conducting FGDs on relevant groups, either academics, online shopping activists, suppliers and courier businessmen in Jakarta, Surabaya and Samarinda Cities in effort to extract any information that encourages consumers to online shopping. After conducting FGD, the researcher produced 48 items proposed for factor analysis and after extracted to form eleven constructs, some items were removed because they had less loading factors. The eleven constructs or dimensions are trust, risk, consumer factors, website factors, price, service quality, convenience, subjective norm, product guarantee, variety of products and lifestyle. The implications of this study provide valuable insights about consumer decisions to online shopping or not online shopping.

  5. Rural Women's Perceptions About Cancer Disparities and Contributing Factors: a Call to Communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molina, Yamile; Zimmermann, Kristine; Carnahan, Leslie R; Paulsey, Ellen; Bigman, Cabral A; Khare, Manorama M; Zahnd, Whitney; Jenkins, Wiley D

    2017-02-27

    Rural cancer disparities are increasingly documented in the USA. Research has identified and begun to address rural residents' cancer knowledge and behaviors, especially among women. Little, however, is known about rural female residents' awareness of cancer inequities and perceived contributing factors affecting them and their families. The purpose of this study was to address these gaps in the literature via a secondary analysis of qualitative needs assessment in Illinois' rural southernmost seven counties, a geographic region with relatively high rates of cancer incidence, morbidity, and mortality. A convenience sample of 202 rural adult female residents was recruited and participated in 26 focus groups, with 3-13 women per group. Inductive content analysis, guided by the principle of constant comparison, was used to analyze the qualitative data. Most respondents indicated their awareness of disproportionate cancer burden in their communities. Individual-level behaviors and environmental toxins were identified as contributing factors. Interestingly, however, environmental toxins were more often discussed as factors contributing to geographic differences, whereas individual-level behaviors were noted as important for overall cancer prevention and control. This study provides important insight into female rural residents' perspectives and offers novel venues for educational programs and research in the context of communication to eliminate disparities.

  6. Identification of contributing factors to pedestrian overpass selection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yao Wu

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In order to improve the efficiency of overpass and the safety level of pedestrian, this paper aims to investigate the contributing factors for selective preference of overpass. Eight overpasses were investigated in Xi’an, and a questionnaire was conducted by the pedestrians near the overpass. Totally, 1131 valid samples (873 used of overpasses and 258 non-used of overpasses were collected. Based on the data, a binary logit (BL model was developed to identify what and how the factors affect the selective preference of overpass. The BL model was calibrated by the maximum likelihood method. Likelihood ratio test and McFadden-R2 were used to analyze the goodness-of-fit of the model. The results show that the BL model has a reasonable goodness-of-fit, and the prediction accuracy of the BL model can reach 81.9%. The BL model showed that the selective preference of overpass was significantly influenced by eight factors, including gender, age, career, education level, license, detour wishes, detour distance, and crossing time. Besides, the odds ratios of significant factors were also analyzed to explain the impacts of the factors on selective preference of overpass.

  7. Factors Contributing to Perceived Stress among Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford, Kentya C.; Olotu, Busuyi S.; Thach, Andrew V.; Roberts, Rochelle; Davis, Patrick

    2014-01-01

    Objective: The purpose of this study was to report on perceived stress levels, identify its contributing factors, and evaluate the association between perceived stress and usage of university resources to cope with stress among a cross-section of Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students. Methods: Perceived stress was measured via a web-based survey of…

  8. Factors contributing to the waste generation in building projects of Pakistan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Memon, N.A.; Memon, F.A.

    2016-01-01

    Generation of construction waste is a worldwide issue that concerns not only governments but also the building actors involved in construction industry. For developing countries like Pakistan, rising levels of waste generation, due to the rapid growth of towns and cities have become critical issue. Therefore this study is aimed to detect the factors, which are the main causes of construction waste generation. Questionnaire survey has been conducted to achieve this task and RIW (Relative Importance Weight) method has been used to analyze the results of this study. The important factors contributing to the generation of construction as identified in this study are: frequent changes/ revision in design during construction process; poor scheduling; unavailability of storage; poor workmanship; poor layout; inefficient planning and scheduling of resources and lack of coordination among supervision staff deployed at site. Based on the identified factors, the study also has presented some suggestions for the reduction of construction waste in building construction projects of Pakistan. (author)

  9. Public health leadership development: factors contributing to growth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olson, Linda G

    2013-01-01

    This study compares pre- and posttest Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI-Self) scores for public health leaders who completed the Regional Institute for Health and Environmental Leadership (RIHEL) training program at least 2 years earlier; it seeks to identify factors contributing to changes in practices and overall leadership development for public health and environment leaders. Sixty-seven alumni who completed the yearlong RIHEL program between 1999 and 2002 participated through mailed surveys and phone interviews. The Leadership Practices Inventory, an alumni leadership development survey, and interviews provided evidence for positive change in leadership practices. Alumni experienced significant increases in pre- to post-LPI scores, collaborative leadership practices, and communication skills consistent with those taught in the RIHEL program. Women presented higher Encourage the Heart scores than men. Years of public health service negatively correlated with Total Change scores of LPI. The RIHEL program as a training intervention was credited significantly with changes in leadership practices for alumni studied. Nine influencing factors were identified for leadership development and are embedded in a Leadership Development Influence Model. These include self-awareness, a leadership development framework, and skills important in multiple leadership situations. Confidence was both an encouraging factor and a resulting factor to the increased exemplary leadership practices. Leadership development in public health must include multiple factors to create consistent increases in exemplary leadership practices. While the study focused on the leadership development process itself, RIHEL training was reported as having a positive, significant impact overall in participant leadership development. This study adds research data as a foundation for training content areas of focus. Studies to further test the Leadership Development Influence Model will allow public health

  10. Evaluation of the reliability concerning the identification of human factors as contributing factors by a computer supported event analysis (CEA)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilpert, B.; Maimer, H.; Loroff, C.

    2000-01-01

    The project's objectives are the evaluation of the reliability concerning the identification of Human Factors as contributing factors by a computer supported event analysis (CEA). CEA is a computer version of SOL (Safety through Organizational Learning). Parts of the first step were interviews with experts from the nuclear power industry and the evaluation of existing computer supported event analysis methods. This information was combined to a requirement profile for the CEA software. The next step contained the implementation of the software in an iterative process of evaluation. The completion of this project was the testing of the CEA software. As a result the testing demonstrated that it is possible to identify contributing factors with CEA validly. In addition, CEA received a very positive feedback from the experts. (orig.) [de

  11. Exploring the Factors Contributing to Stress and Coping Strategies ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Exploring the Factors Contributing to Stress and Coping Strategies of Nurses at ... explore the factors contributing to nurses' stress and related coping strategies used ... of staff and materials, facing death and dying, dissatisfaction with the work ...

  12. Factors contributing to registered nurse medication administration error: a narrative review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parry, Angela M; Barriball, K Louise; While, Alison E

    2015-01-01

    To explore the factors contributing to Registered Nurse medication administration error behaviour. A narrative review. Electronic databases (Cochrane, CINAHL, MEDLINE, BNI, EmBase, and PsycINFO) were searched from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2012 in the English language. 1127 papers were identified and 26 papers were included in the review. Data were extracted by one reviewer and checked by a second reviewer. A thematic analysis and narrative synthesis of the factors contributing to Registered Nurses' medication administration behaviour. Bandura's (1986) theory of reciprocal determinism was used as an organising framework. This theory proposes that there is a reciprocal interplay between the environment, the person and their behaviour. Medication administration error is an outcome of RN behaviour. The 26 papers reported studies conducted in 4 continents across 11 countries predominantly in North America and Europe, with one multi-national study incorporating 27 countries. Within both the environment and person domain of the reciprocal determinism framework, a number of factors emerged as influencing Registered Nurse medication administration error behaviour. Within the environment domain, two key themes of clinical workload and work setting emerged, and within the person domain the Registered Nurses' characteristics and their lived experience of work emerged as themes. Overall, greater attention has been given to the contribution of the environment domain rather than the person domain as contributing to error, with the literature viewing an error as an event rather than the outcome of behaviour. The interplay between factors that influence behaviour were poorly accounted for within the selected studies. It is proposed that a shift away from error as an event to a focus on the relationships between the person, the environment and Registered Nurse medication administration behaviour is needed to better understand medication administration error. Copyright © 2014

  13. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO SUBSTANCE (DRUG ABUSE AMONGMALE ADOLESCENTS IN SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irene Mohasoa

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This small-scale study sought to determine the factors that contribute to use ofdrugs by male adolescents in South African public secondary schools. The studywas conducted in four secondary schools in Zeerust, North West, a province ofSouth Africa. Purposive sampling was employed to select from the secondaryschools 12 male adolescents who were prone to substance abuse problems. Aqualitative research approach was followed underpinned by the interpretiveresearch paradigm. More specifically, a multiple case research design was used.The study was successful in identifying the most commonly used drugs such asalcohol, nicotine, cannabis, and heroin. These drugs are readily available in thesurrounding communities and are affordable to the learners. Socialand economicfactors are the main factors contributing to the use of drugs among maleadolescents. The way in which children are brought up, who they associate withand whether they have access to money to buy the drugs largely contribute to druguse. Thisstudy concludes by proposing mitigation strategies that can be employedto deal with substance abuse scourge before it escalates further. Furthermore, thestudy identifies a need for involvement of various stakeholders to find a solutionto the substanceabuse problem.

  14. A brief tool to differentiate factors contributing to insomnia complaints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Townsend, Donald; Kazaglis, Louis; Savik, Kay; Smerud, Adam; Iber, Conrad

    2017-03-01

    A complaint of insomnia may have many causes. A brief tool examining contributing factors may be useful for nonsleep specialists. This study describes the development of the Insomnia Symptoms Assessment (ISA) for examining insomnia complaints. ISA questions were designed to identify symptoms that may represent 1 of 8 possible factors contributing to insomnia symptoms, including delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS), shift work sleep disorder (SWSD), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), mental health, chronic pain, restless leg syndrome (RLS), poor sleep hygiene, and psychophysiological insomnia (PI). The ISA was completed by 346 new patients. Patients met with a sleep specialist who determined primary and secondary diagnoses. Mean age was 45 (18-85) years and 51% were male. Exploratory factor analysis (n = 217) and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 129) supported 5 factors with good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), including RLS (.72), OSA (.60), SWSD (.67), DSPS (.64), and PI (.80). Thirty percent had 1 sleep diagnosis with a mean of 2.2 diagnoses per patient. No diagnosis was entered for 1.2% of patients. The receiver operating characteristics were examined and the area under the curves calculated as an indication of convergent validity for the primary diagnosis (N = 346) were .97 for SWSD, .78 for OSA, .67 for DSPS, .54 for PI, and .80 for RLS. The ISA demonstrated good internal consistency and corresponds well to expert diagnoses. Next steps include setting sensitivity/specificity cutoffs to suggest initial treatment recommendations for use in other settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  15. Bicycling-related accidents and factors contributing to injury

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gonzalez Perez, L.M.; Wideberg, J.; Gonzalez Perez-Somarriba, B.

    2016-07-01

    Objective: This study was conducted to find the epidemiological characteristics of bicycling-related maxillofacial fractures in a defined population, and identify factors contributing to injury. Methodology: A prospective study was carried out involving patients presenting with maxillofacial fractures sustained in bicycling-related accidents. Results: Between 908 of all cycling accidents attending for medical treatment, 122 patients (13% of all cycling accidents) were admitted with facial fractures between 2007 and 2014. Male and female ratio was 2.6:1, and the mean age was 29.4 years (standard deviation: 12.8, range: 12-79 years). Causes of injury included collisions (63%) and accidental falls (37%). The fracture patterns seen were mandibular (49%), zygomatic (32%), orbital (13%), nasal (7%), maxillary (2%), and frontal (2%). Condylar fractures were the most common of the mandibular fractures (63%). The most frequently observed concomitant lesions were orthopedic injuries. Conclusions: Bicycling-related maxillofacial injuries are common and therefore important to identify in order to design a sustainable transport system and for units that provide assistance to traffic accident victims. Missed diagnosis or delayed treatment can lead to facial deformities and functional problems. Wearing protective helmets and the improvement of the helmets design is one aspect that would be of interest for the prevention of injuries. Keywords: Cycling; bicycle-related trauma; maxillofacial fractures; risk factors; helmets. (Author)

  16. Identifying the important factors in simulation models with many factors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bettonvil, B.; Kleijnen, J.P.C.

    1994-01-01

    Simulation models may have many parameters and input variables (together called factors), while only a few factors are really important (parsimony principle). For such models this paper presents an effective and efficient screening technique to identify and estimate those important factors. The

  17. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irwan

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The use of English in Indonesia has developed quickly in all of the fields. It is affected by many things in many ways. The need of English has also increased quickly in many parts of Indonesian life. To face it, teaching English at young ages or studentseems like the solution. Speaking is one of the skills that should be tough to the student. To get effective learning, it's useful to know what are factors contributing to the student speaking development. This research showed that there are some contributing factors to the students’ speaking development. Those factors are Teacher, Daily Practice, Listening to English Music, Family Support, Watching English Video and Movie, Motivation to Learn, Classroom Environment, Learning Material. Such as a good teacher would provide good learning. Support of the family would also give an effective outcome for the student's development. So, the factors should be known to get a better outcome for the students

  18. Assessing vulnerability to drought: identifying underlying factors across Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urquijo, Julia; Gonzalez Tánago, Itziar; Ballesteros, Mario; De Stefano, Lucia

    2015-04-01

    data from the European Drought Impact Report Inventory. For specific hotpots vulnerability factors are presented also through spider diagrams in order to allow policy and decision makers to identify underlying sources of vulnerability in the European context. This assessment offers an overall picture at a European level that strives to contribute to enhance the understanding of drought vulnerability across Europe.

  19. Red-cockaded woodpecker cavity-tree damage by Hurricane Rita: an evaluation of contributing factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ben Bainbridge; Kristen A. Baum; Daniel Saenz; Cory K. Adams

    2011-01-01

    Picoides borealis (Red-cockaded Woodpecker) is an endangered species inhabiting pine savannas of the southeastern United States. Because the intensity of hurricanes striking the southeastern United States is likely to increase as global temperatures rise, it is important to identify factors contributing to hurricane damage to Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavity-trees. Our...

  20. Factors contributing to low institutional deliveries in the Marondera district of Zimbabwe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E Mugweni

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the study was to identify factors contributing to low institutional deliveries in the Marondera District, Zimbabwe, among women who attended antenatal clinics, in order to enhance the number of institutional deliveries. A quantitative descriptive survey, gathering data by conducting structured interviews with 80 women, was used in this study. All 80 women attended ante-natal clinics but 40 delivered at home and 40 delivered at an institution.

  1. Factors contributing to malnutrition in patients with Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Sung R; Chung, Sun J; Yoo, Sung-Hee

    2016-04-01

    Our objective in this study was to evaluate the nutritional status and to identify clinical, psychosocial, and nutritional factors contributing to malnutrition in Korean patients with Parkinson's disease. We used a descriptive, cross-sectional study design. Of 102 enrolled patients, 26 (25.5%) were malnourished and 27 (26.5%) were at risk of malnutrition based on Mini-Nutritional Assessment scores. Malnutrition was related to activity of daily living score, Hoehn and Yahr stage, duration of levodopa therapy, Beck Depression Inventory and Spielberger's Anxiety Inventory scores, body weight, body weight at onset of Parkinson's disease, and body mass index. On multiple logistic regression analysis, anxiety score, duration of levodopa therapy, body weight at onset of Parkinson's disease, and loss of body weight were significant factors predicting malnutrition in Parkinson's disease patients. Therefore, nutritional assessment, including psychological evaluation, is required for Parkinson's disease patients to facilitate interdisciplinary nutritional intervention for malnourished patients. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  2. Factors Contributing to Crashes among Young Drivers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lyndel J. Bates

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Young drivers are the group of drivers most likely to crash. There are a number of factors that contribute to the high crash risk experienced by these drivers. While some of these factors are intrinsic to the young driver, such as their age, gender or driving skill, others relate to social factors and when and how often they drive. This article reviews the factors that affect the risk of young drivers crashing to enable a fuller understanding of why this risk is so high in order to assist in developing effective countermeasures.

  3. Identifying socio-environmental factors that facilitate resilience among Canadian palliative family caregivers: a qualitative case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giesbrecht, Melissa; Wolse, Faye; Crooks, Valorie A; Stajduhar, Kelli

    2015-06-01

    In Canada, friends and family members are becoming increasingly responsible for providing palliative care in the home. This is resulting in some caregivers experiencing high levels of stress and burden that may ultimately surpass their ability to cope. Recent palliative care research has demonstrated the potential for caregiver resilience within such contexts. This research, however, is primarily focused on exploring individual-level factors that contribute to resilience, minimizing the inherent complexity of this concept, and how it is simultaneously influenced by one's social context. Therefore, our study aims to identify socio-environmental factors that contribute to palliative family caregiver resilience in the Canadian homecare context. Drawing on ethnographic fieldnotes and semistructured interviews with family caregivers, care recipients, and homecare nurses, this secondary analysis employs an intersectionality lens and qualitative case study approach to identify socio-environmental factors that facilitate family caregivers' capacity for resilience. Following a case study methodology, two cases are purposely selected for analysis. Findings demonstrate that family caregiver resilience is influenced not only by individual-level factors but also by the social environment, which sets the lived context from which caregiving roles are experienced. Thematic findings of the two case studies revealed six socio-environmental factors that play a role in shaping resilience: access to social networks, education/knowledge/awareness, employment status, housing status, geographic location, and life-course stage. Findings contribute to existing research on caregiver resilience by empirically demonstrating the role of socio-environmental factors in caregiving experiences. Furthermore, utilizing an intersectional approach, these findings build on existing notions that resilience is a multidimensional and complex process influenced by numerous related variables that intersect

  4. Risk and contributing factors of ecosystem shifts over naturally vegetated land under climate change in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Yuanyuan; Tang, Qiuhong; Wang, Lixin; Liu, Xingcai

    2016-02-12

    Identifying the areas at risk of ecosystem transformation and the main contributing factors to the risk is essential to assist ecological adaptation to climate change. We assessed the risk of ecosystem shifts in China using the projections of four global gridded vegetation models (GGVMs) and an aggregate metric. The results show that half of naturally vegetated land surface could be under moderate or severe risk at the end of the 21(st) century under the middle and high emission scenarios. The areas with high risk are the Tibetan Plateau region and an area extended northeastward from the Tibetan Plateau to northeast China. With the three major factors considered, the change in carbon stocks is the main contributing factor to the high risk of ecosystem shifts. The change in carbon fluxes is another important contributing factor under the high emission scenario. The change in water fluxes is a less dominant factor except for the Tibetan Plateau region under the high emission scenario. Although there is considerable uncertainty in the risk assessment, the geographic patterns of the risk are generally consistent across different scenarios. The results could help develop regional strategies for ecosystem conservation to cope with climate change.

  5. The Frequency, Contributing and Preventive Factors of Harassment towards Health Professionals in Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fallahi Khoshknab, Masoud; Oskouie, Fatemeh; Ghazanfari, Nahid; Najafi, Fereshteh; Tamizi, Zahra; Afshani, Shahla; Azadi, Ghazal

    2015-07-01

    There are high levels of sexual harassment in health care systems. Also, workplace violence occurs against ethnic and racial minorities. This study aimed to identify the frequency of and the factors contributing to and preventing sexual and racial harassment in the workplace towards health professionals in Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 6500 out of 57000 health workers who were selected by multistage random sampling from some teaching hospitals in Iran. Data were collected using the questionnaire of "workplace violence in the health sector" developed by the International Labor Organization, International Council of Nurses, World Health Organization, and Public Services International. According to the findings, the frequencies of sexual harassment and racial harassment were, respectively, 4.7% and 12% for the 12 months prior to the study (2011). Among healthcare workers, nurses reported the highest rate of violence. The most important contributing factors in sexual and racial harassment were lack of security facilities (45.8%) and people's ignorance of employees' tasks (55.7%). The presence of security force, safety measures in the wards, and guards were noted as the most important preventive factor to harassment. Based on the results, the frequency of sexual and racial harassment is low, which can be attributed to underreporting due to cultural sensitivity or fear. So, identifying the reasons for refusal to report harassment, developing a clear mechanism for reporting and providing the necessary trainings to health workers are essential in order to deal with harassment.

  6. The current contribution of molecular factors to risk estimation in neuroblastoma patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berthold, F; Sahin, K; Hero, B; Christiansen, H; Gehring, M; Harms, D; Horz, S; Lampert, F; Schwab, M; Terpe, J

    1997-10-01

    The association of molecular characteristics with prognosis has been reported, but not their relationship with each other and their impact in the context of known clinical risk factors. In this study, data of 1249 consecutive intent-to-treat-neuroblastoma patients with more than 1 year follow-up were examined by multivariate analysis using loglinear and Cox proportional hazard regression models on a stage-related basis (stages 1-3: 600, 4S: 116, 4: 533). In a first step, risk factors were identified from 18 selected clinical variables, and risk groups defined. The second step investigated whether molecular characteristics (MYCN, LOH 1p, del 1p, CD44, N-ras, NGF-R, bcl-2, APO-1 (CD95)) contributed additional prognostic information to the model. The loglinear model demonstrated several interactions between clinical factors. By the Cox regression model, seven independent clinical risk factors were found for stages 1-3, seven for stage 4 and two for stage 4S. By subsequent introduction of all molecular variables, MYCN amplification only added significant prognostic information to the clinical factors in localised and stage 4 neuroblastoma. The models allowed the definition of risk groups for stages 1-3 patients by age (e beta = 5.09) and MYCN (e beta = 4.26), for stage 4 by MYCN (e beta = 2.78) and number of symptoms (e beta = 2.44) and for stage 4S by platelet count (e beta = 3.91) and general condition (e beta = 2.99). Molecular factors and in particular MYCN contribute significantly to risk estimation. In conjunction with clinical factors, they are powerful tools to define risk groups in neuroblastoma.

  7. Contractors' Perception of factors Contributing to Project Delay: Case Studies of Commercial Projects in Klang Valley, Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Azlan Shah Ali

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Delay in construction projects is a situation where the project cannot be completed under the planned time. It is a common issue faced in the construction industry all over the world especially in developing countries. In the Malaysian construction industry, 17.3% of construction projects experience more than 3 months delay and some of them are abandoned. Hence, the study of factors contributing to delay is very important in order to reduce the number of projects that experience delay in project delivery. Three objectives of the research have been formulated, namely (1 to identify factors that contribute to delay in construction projects; (2 to analyse and rank the causes of delay rated by contractors; and (3 to study the effects of delay in construction projects. One hundred questionnaires were distributed during data collection stage and only 36 responses received. The respondents only consist of contractors and sub-contractors because the scope of the research focuses on contractors' perception. The data collected was analysed using SPSS software. Seven factors that contribute to delay were identified through literature review, namely contractors' financial difficulties, construction mistakes and defective work, labour shortage, coordination problems, shortage of tools and equipment, material shortage and poor site management. Of those factors, the three most important factors were found to be labour shortage, contractors' financial difficulties and construction mistakes and defective works. Besides project delay, the research shows that cost overrun and extension of time (EOT are the most common effects of delay in construction projects.

  8. The Frequency, Contributing and Preventive Factors of Harassment towards Health Professionals in Iran

    OpenAIRE

    Fallahi Khoshknab, Masoud; Oskouie, Fatemeh; Ghazanfari, Nahid; Najafi, Fereshteh; Tamizi, Zahra; Afshani, Shahla; Azadi, Ghazal

    2015-01-01

    Background There are high levels of sexual harassment in health care systems. Also, workplace violence occurs against ethnic and racial minorities. This study aimed to identify the frequency of and the factors contributing to and preventing sexual and racial harassment in the workplace towards health professionals in Iran. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on 6500 out of 57000 health workers who were selected by multistage random sampling from some teaching hospitals in Iran. D...

  9. Developing a contributing factor classification scheme for Rasmussen's AcciMap: Reliability and validity evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goode, N; Salmon, P M; Taylor, N Z; Lenné, M G; Finch, C F

    2017-10-01

    One factor potentially limiting the uptake of Rasmussen's (1997) Accimap method by practitioners is the lack of a contributing factor classification scheme to guide accident analyses. This article evaluates the intra- and inter-rater reliability and criterion-referenced validity of a classification scheme developed to support the use of Accimap by led outdoor activity (LOA) practitioners. The classification scheme has two levels: the system level describes the actors, artefacts and activity context in terms of 14 codes; the descriptor level breaks the system level codes down into 107 specific contributing factors. The study involved 11 LOA practitioners using the scheme on two separate occasions to code a pre-determined list of contributing factors identified from four incident reports. Criterion-referenced validity was assessed by comparing the codes selected by LOA practitioners to those selected by the method creators. Mean intra-rater reliability scores at the system (M = 83.6%) and descriptor (M = 74%) levels were acceptable. Mean inter-rater reliability scores were not consistently acceptable for both coding attempts at the system level (M T1  = 68.8%; M T2  = 73.9%), and were poor at the descriptor level (M T1  = 58.5%; M T2  = 64.1%). Mean criterion referenced validity scores at the system level were acceptable (M T1  = 73.9%; M T2  = 75.3%). However, they were not consistently acceptable at the descriptor level (M T1  = 67.6%; M T2  = 70.8%). Overall, the results indicate that the classification scheme does not currently satisfy reliability and validity requirements, and that further work is required. The implications for the design and development of contributing factors classification schemes are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Identifying the factors influencing practice variation in thrombosis medicine: A qualitative content analysis of published practice-pattern surveys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skeith, Leslie; Gonsalves, Carol

    2017-11-01

    Practice variation, the differences in clinical management between physicians, is one reason why patient outcomes may differ. Identifying factors that contribute to practice variation in areas of clinical uncertainty or equipoise may have implications for understanding and improving patient care. To discern what factors may influence practice variation, we completed a qualitative content analysis of all practice-pattern surveys in thrombosis medicine in the last 10years. Out of 2117 articles screened using a systematic search strategy, 33 practice-pattern surveys met eligibility criteria. Themes were identified using constant comparative analysis of qualitative data. Practice variation was noted in all 33 practice-pattern surveys. Contributing factors to variation included lack of available evidence, lack of clear and specific guideline recommendations, past experience, patient context, institutional culture and the perceived risk and benefit of a particular treatment. Additional themes highlight the value placed on expertise in challenging clinical scenarios, the complexity of practice variation and the value placed on minimizing practice variation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. IDENTIFYING FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE SATISFACTION OF STUDENTS IN E-LEARNING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Levent CALLI,

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available There has been an increasing interest in the application of e-learning through the enhancement of internet and computer technologies. Satisfaction has appeared as a key factor in order to develop efficient course content in line with students’ demands and expectations. Thus, a lot of research has been conducted on the concept of satisfaction in electronic environments. Satisfaction has been seen to be the most significant variable on loyalty and usage intention in marketing and information science terms, which can also be highly related to academic success. In this regard, this study set out to investigate the effects of several variables on the learning processes of 930 e-learning students in the Sakarya University distance learning program. The findings of the research indicated that factors perceived playfulness, perceived ease of use and multimedia content effectiveness had a significant effect on perceived usefulness. Furthermore, it was concluded that satisfaction was affected by perceived usefulness, perceived playfulness and multimedia content effectivenes

  12. Identifying and prioritizing different factors influencing the success of advertisement during the economic depression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aram Rashidi

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available During the financial crisis of 2007, many businesses and banks faced unexpected circumstances and declared bankruptcy. Market mortgage crisis and the collapse of the economic system in United States created a substantial amount of damage in world economy. Within a few years, the economic downturn was transferred to developing countries such as Iran. The recession has created conditions for Iranian companies that have led them to focus more on the subject of advertising since this is the primary tool of communication and business customers business. Success and failure of many organizations and companies depend on their advertisement planning. In this study, the factors contributing to the success and effectiveness of advertising during the recession time are identified. This survey has been accomplished on investigating an Iranian dairy firm named “Kalle”. Using a questionnaire in Likert scale, the study determines the effects of various factors of advertisement on sales improvement in this firm using Pearson correlation ratio and rank them based on Freedman test. Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.93. According to the results, factors that contribute to the success of advertising during a recession include: Responsiveness to customers’ needs, advertising tools, content factors, the amount of money spent and availability.

  13. Factors contributing to chronic ankle instability: a protocol for a systematic review of systematic reviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Cassandra; Schabrun, Siobhan; Romero, Rick; Bialocerkowski, Andrea; Marshall, Paul

    2016-06-07

    Ankle sprains are a significant clinical problem. Researchers have identified a multitude of factors contributing to the presence of recurrent ankle sprains including deficits in balance, postural control, kinematics, muscle activity, strength, range of motion, ligament laxity and bone/joint characteristics. Unfortunately, the literature examining the presence of these factors in chronic ankle instability (CAI) is conflicting. As a result, researchers have attempted to integrate this evidence using systematic reviews to reach conclusions; however, readers are now faced with an increasing number of systematic review findings that are also conflicting. The overall aim of this review is to critically appraise the methodological quality of previous systematic reviews and pool this evidence to identify contributing factors to CAI. A systematic review will be conducted on systematic reviews that investigate the presence of various deficits identified in CAI. Databases will be searched using pre-determined search terms. Reviews will then be assessed for inclusion based on the set eligibility criteria. Two independent reviewers will assess the articles for inclusion before evaluating the methodological quality and presence of bias of the included studies; any disagreements will be resolved by discussion between reviewers to reach consensus or by a third reviewer. Data concerning the specific research question, search strategy, inclusion/exclusion criteria, population, method and outcomes will be extracted. Findings will be analysed with respect to the methodological quality of the included reviews. It is expected that this review will clarify the cause of contradicting findings in the literature and facilitate future research directions. PROSPERO CRD42016032592 .

  14. Decreased performance of live attenuated, oral rotavirus vaccines in low-income settings: causes and contributing factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velasquez, Daniel E; Parashar, Umesh; Jiang, Baoming

    2018-02-01

    Numerous studies have shown that the oral rotavirus vaccines are less effective in infants born in low income countries compared to those born in developed countries. Identifying the specific factors in developing countries that decrease and/or compromise the protection that rotavirus vaccines offer, could lead to a path for designing new strategies for the vaccines' improvement. Areas covered: We accessed PubMed to identify rotavirus vaccine performance studies (i.e., efficacy, effectiveness and immunogenicity) and correlated performance with several risk factors. Here, we review the factors that might contribute to the low vaccine efficacy, including passive transfer of maternal rotavirus antibodies, rotavirus seasonality, oral polio vaccine (OPV) administered concurrently, microbiome composition and concomitant enteric pathogens, malnutrition, environmental enteropathy, HIV, and histo blood group antigens. Expert commentary: We highlight two major factors that compromise rotavirus vaccines' efficacy: the passive transfer of rotavirus IgG antibodies to infants and the  co-administration of rotavirus vaccines with OPV. We also identify other potential risk factors that require further research because the data about their interference with the efficacy of rotavirus vaccines are inconclusive and at times conflicting.

  15. 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.

  16. Construct of Dialysis Employee Satisfaction: Acquiring Satisfaction Factors and Their Contributions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Xiuzhu; Itoh, Kenji

    2015-10-01

    We developed a construct of dialysis employees' satisfaction as an assessment framework and identified the crucial factors that contribute to overall job satisfaction. We also seek to capture some important characteristics of dialysis professionals' job satisfaction/dissatisfaction in Japan. A questionnaire was developed, including 35 facet-specific job-related satisfaction and 10 general satisfaction items in closed-ended questions. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted between August and October 2013. A total of 799 valid responses (87% of response rate) were collected from 46 physicians, 470 nurses and 251 technologists in the dialysis department of 43 facilities in Japan. Five satisfaction factors were derived by applying principal component analysis with 61% of cumulative variance accounted for. Physicians, nurses and technologists in the dialysis department shared a similar trend of job satisfaction that they were more satisfied with leadership, and communication and teamwork among the five factors, whereas their satisfaction level was relatively low with salary and welfare conditions. Physicians expressed the strongest satisfaction with any factor while nurses were the least satisfied. Nurses' and technologists' overall job satisfaction was mostly determined by satisfaction with self-actualization, and work demands and workload. A five-factor construct of dialysis employee satisfaction was identified. Overall job satisfaction of dialysis nurses and technologists were not overly high in Japan, and this seems to be caused by their relatively low satisfaction with self-actualization and with work demands and workload. Therefore, it is suggested that their work conditions and environment must be improved to support their self-actualization and to reduce their workload. © 2015 The Authors. Therapeutic Apheresis and Dialysis © 2015 International Society for Apheresis.

  17. Identifying Factors for Worker Motivation in Zambia's Rural Health Facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cross, Samuel S; Baernholdt, Dr Marianne

    2017-01-01

    Within Zambia there is a shortage of health workers in rural areas. This study aims to identify motivating factors for retaining rural health workers. Sixty rural health workers completed surveys and 46 were interviewed. They rated the importance of six motivating factors and discussed these and other factors in interviews. An interview was conducted with a Government Human Resources Manager (HR Manager) to elicit contextual information. All six factors were identified as being very important motivators, as were two additional factors. Additional career training was identified by many as the most important factor. Comparison of results and the HR Manager interview revealed that workers lacked knowledge about opportunities and that the HR manager was aware of barriers to career development. The Zambian government might better motivate and retain rural health workers by offering them any combination of identified factors, and by addressing the barriers to career development.

  18. Identifying motivational factors within a multinational company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela Bradutanu

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the study is to identify the main motivational factors within a multinational company. The first objective is to identify work functions, formulated on Abraham Maslow’s pyramid, following the identification of the key characteristics that motivate an employee at the work place and last, but not least, the type of motivation that employees focus, intrinsic or extrinsic. The research method targeted a questionnaire based survey, including various company employees and an interview with the manager. The results confirmed that in Romania, employees put great emphasis on extrinsic motivation, a certain income and job security being primary. These results have implications for managers that in order to effectively motivate staff, first, must know their needs and expectations. To identify the main needs and motivational factors we had as a starting point Maslow's pyramid.

  19. Factors contributing to migraine headache surgery failure and success.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, Kelsey; Lee, Michelle; Davis, Janine; Guyuron, Bahman

    2011-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify factors that contribute to migraine headache surgery failure and success. A retrospective chart review was conducted of patients who underwent surgery for migraine headaches performed by the senior author (B.G.) and had at least 11 months of follow-up. The study population included three groups: migraine surgery success, improvement, and failure. Thirty-six unique data points were collected for each patient. A total of 169 patients met inclusion criteria. Of these, 66 patients comprised the migraine surgery success group (S, complete elimination of migraine headaches); 67 comprised the migraine surgery improvement group (I, >50 percent reduction in migraine frequency, intensity, or duration); and 36 comprised the migraine surgery failure group (F, I, p=0.02), migraine frequency (SI, p=0.003; S>F, p=0.04), history of head or neck injury (SI, p=0.02), increased intraoperative bleeding (SF, p=0.0006; I>F, p=0.0004), site II (S>F, p=0.015), single operative site (SI, p=0.05; S>F, p=0.04). Factors associated with migraine surgery failure include increased intraoperative bleeding and surgery on fewer trigger sites. Factors associated with migraine surgery success are older age of migraine onset, higher rate of visual symptoms versus improvement group, surgery at site I or II, and deactivating all four operative sites. Risk, III.

  20. Factors Contributing to Personal Commitment in Chinese Interethnic Couples

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xinmiao Zhong

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Interethnic relationships are increasingly common in many societies, yet interethnic couples have a higher divorce rate compared to intraethnic couples. Given these facts and the dearth of research, this study aimed to identify factors that contribute to couples’ commitment in interethnic relationships. This study investigated the personal commitment of Chinese interethnic couples in the United Kingdom and the United States. Specifically, whether love, dyadic adjustment and “couple cultural identity” (i.e. acculturation to the partner and couple’s similarity on individualism/collectivism would predict personal commitment and whether each variable would account for unique variance in personal commitment of the participants. Thirty-seven Chinese/non-Chinese heterosexual couples participated in the study and significant relationships between love and personal commitment, dyadic adjustment and personal commitment were found. Also, couple cultural identity was important for women’s personal commitment. Multiple regression and structural equation modelling showed that partners in interethnic relationships defined personal commitment in different ways with men emphasizing love and dyadic adjustment, and women emphasizing love and acculturation to their partner. The discovery of the importance of couple cultural identity in contributing to personal commitment, besides love and dyadic adjustment, helps researchers to gain a greater understanding of such relationships and to extend the research on interethnic relationships.

  1. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in precision medicine: Unraveling the factors that contribute to individual variability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, John D; Cherrington, Nathan J

    2015-07-01

    There are numerous factors in individual variability that make the development and implementation of precision medicine a challenge in the clinic. One of the main goals of precision medicine is to identify the correct dose for each individual in order to maximize therapeutic effect and minimize the occurrence of adverse drug reactions. Many promising advances have been made in identifying and understanding how factors such as genetic polymorphisms can influence drug pharmacokinetics (PK) and contribute to variable drug response (VDR), but it is clear that there remain many unidentified variables. Underlying liver diseases such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) alter absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) processes and must be considered in the implementation of precision medicine. There is still a profound need for clinical investigation into how NASH-associated changes in ADME mediators, such as metabolism enzymes and transporters, affect the pharmacokinetics of individual drugs known to rely on these pathways for elimination. This review summarizes the key PK factors in individual variability and VDR and highlights NASH as an essential underlying factor that must be considered as the development of precision medicine advances. A multifactorial approach to precision medicine that considers the combination of two or more risk factors (e.g. genetics and NASH) will be required in our effort to provide a new era of benefit for patients. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Conformal symmetry and pion form factor: Soft and hard contributions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Ho-Meoyng; Ji, Chueng-Ryong

    2006-01-01

    We discuss a constraint of conformal symmetry in the analysis of the pion form factor. The usual power-law behavior of the form factor obtained in the perturbative QCD analysis can also be attained by taking negligible quark masses in the nonperturbative quark model analysis, confirming the recent AdS/CFT correspondence. We analyze the transition from soft to hard contributions in the pion form factor considering a momentum-dependent dynamical quark mass from an appreciable constituent quark mass at low momentum region to a negligible current quark mass at high momentum region. We find a correlation between the shape of nonperturbative quark distribution amplitude and the amount of soft and hard contributions to the pion form factor

  3. Potentially modifiable factors contributing to sepsis-associated encephalopathy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sonneville, Romain; de Montmollin, Etienne; Poujade, Julien; Garrouste-Orgeas, Maïté; Souweine, Bertrand; Darmon, Michael; Mariotte, Eric; Argaud, Laurent; Barbier, François; Goldgran-Toledano, Dany; Marcotte, Guillaume; Dumenil, Anne-Sylvie; Jamali, Samir; Lacave, Guillaume; Ruckly, Stéphane; Mourvillier, Bruno; Timsit, Jean-François

    2017-08-01

    Identifying modifiable factors for sepsis-associated encephalopathy may help improve patient care and outcomes. We conducted a retrospective analysis of a prospective multicenter database. Sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE) was defined by a score on the Glasgow coma scale (GCS) sepsis at ICU admission, of whom 1341 (53%) had sepsis-associated encephalopathy. After adjusting for baseline characteristics, site of infection, and type of admission, the following factors remained independently associated with sepsis-associated encephalopathy: acute renal failure [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.19-1.67], hypoglycemia 10 mmol/l (aOR = 1.37, 95% CI 1.09-1.72), hypercapnia >45 mmHg (aOR = 1.91, 95% CI 1.53-2.38), hypernatremia >145 mmol/l (aOR = 2.30, 95% CI 1.48-3.57), and S. aureus (aOR = 1.54, 95% CI 1.05-2.25). Sepsis-associated encephalopathy was associated with higher mortality, higher use of ICU resources, and longer hospital stay. After adjusting for age, comorbidities, year of admission, and non-neurological SOFA score, even mild alteration of mental status (i.e., a score on the GCS of 13-14) remained independently associated with mortality (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.38, 95% CI 1.09-1.76). Acute renal failure and common metabolic disturbances represent potentially modifiable factors contributing to sepsis-associated encephalopathy. However, a true causal relationship has yet to be demonstrated. Our study confirms the prognostic significance of mild alteration of mental status in patients with sepsis.

  4. Gut Microbiota: a contributing factor to obesity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steve M Harakeh

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Obesity, a global epidemic of the modern era, is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD and diabetes. The pervasiveness of obesity and overweight in both developed as well as developing populations is on the rise and placing a huge burden on health and economic resources. Consequently, research to control this emerging epidemic is of utmost importance. Recently, host interactions with their resident gut microbiota (GM have been reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of many metabolic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and CVD. Around 1014 microorganisms reside within the lower human intestine and many of these 1014microorganisms have developed mutualistic or commensal associations with the host and actively involved in many physiological processes of the host. However, dysbiosis (altered gut microbial composition with other predisposing genetic and environmental factors, may contribute to host metabolic disorders resulting in many ailments. Therefore, delineating the role of GM as a contributing factor to obesity is the main objective of this review.Obesity research, as a field is expanding rapidly due to major advances in nutrigenomics, metabolomics, RNA silencing, epigenetics and other disciplines that may result in the emergence of new technologies and methods to better interpret causal relationships between microbiota and obesity.

  5. Gut Microbiota: A Contributing Factor to Obesity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harakeh, Steve M.; Khan, Imran; Kumosani, Taha; Barbour, Elie; Almasaudi, Saad B.; Bahijri, Suhad M.; Alfadul, Sulaiman M.; Ajabnoor, Ghada M. A.; Azhar, Esam I.

    2016-01-01

    Obesity, a global epidemic of the modern era, is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes. The pervasiveness of obesity and overweight in both developed as well as developing populations is on the rise and placing a huge burden on health and economic resources. Consequently, research to control this emerging epidemic is of utmost importance. Recently, host interactions with their resident gut microbiota (GM) have been reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of many metabolic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and CVD. Around 1014 microorganisms reside within the lower human intestine and many of these 1014 microorganisms have developed mutualistic or commensal associations with the host and actively involved in many physiological processes of the host. However, dysbiosis (altered gut microbial composition) with other predisposing genetic and environmental factors, may contribute to host metabolic disorders resulting in many ailments. Therefore, delineating the role of GM as a contributing factor to obesity is the main objective of this review. Obesity research, as a field is expanding rapidly due to major advances in nutrigenomics, metabolomics, RNA silencing, epigenetics, and other disciplines that may result in the emergence of new technologies and methods to better interpret causal relationships between microbiota and obesity. PMID:27625997

  6. Identification of factors contributing to successful self-directed weight loss: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rafiei, N; Gill, T

    2017-11-21

    Despite the number of weight management programmes and their wide promotion, most overweight and obese individuals tend to lose weight on their own. The present study aimed to understand the characteristics and strategies of those who successfully engage in self-directed weight loss, which could empower other overweight and obese individuals with information and strategies to manage their weight on their own. Men and women who had lost at least 5% of their body weight without direct interaction with professionals or weight management programmes were recruited. Demographic data were collected by questionnaire and participants' weight-loss experiences were explored using semi- structured interviews to elicit in-depth individual experiences and perspectives. Iterative thematic method data analysis was used to generate themes describing contributing factors to the success of self-directed weight loss identified by participants. Most characteristics of those who successfully self-managed their weight loss were in line with those reported by successful weight losers participating in professional-led projects. However, strategies such as early embedding of new lifestyle behaviours into daily routine, the ability to learn from previous weight-loss experiences, and not requiring social support were identified as distinctive factors that contributed to the success of self-directed weight loss by participants of the present study. Overweight or obese individuals with strong internal motivation, problem-solving skills and self-reliance are more likely to be successful at achieving self-directed weight loss. The patients identified with these characteristics could be encouraged to self-manage their weight-loss process, leaving the places available in more resource-intensive professional-led programmes to those individuals unlikely to succeed on their own. © 2017 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

  7. CVExplorer: identifying candidate developers by mining and exploring their open source contributions.

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Greene, GJ

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Open source code contributions contain a large amount of technical skill information about developers, which can help to identify suitable candidates for a particular development job and therefore impact the success of a development team. We develop...

  8. Physiological Factors Contributing to Postflight Changes in Functional Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, J. J.; Feedback, D. L.; Feiverson, A. H.; Lee, S. M. C.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; Platts, S. H.; Reschke, M. F.; Ryder, J.; Spiering, B. A.; hide

    2009-01-01

    Astronauts experience alterations in multiple physiological systems due to exposure to the microgravity conditions of space flight. These physiological changes include sensorimotor disturbances, cardiovascular deconditioning and loss of muscle mass and strength. These changes might affect the ability of crewmembers to perform critical mission tasks immediately after landing on lunar and Martian surfaces. To date, changes in functional performance have not been systematically studied or correlated with physiological changes. To understand how changes in physiological function impact functional performance an interdisciplinary pre/postflight testing regimen (Functional Task Test, FTT) has been developed that systematically evaluates both astronaut postflight functional performance and related physiological changes. The overall objectives of the FTT are to: Develop a set of functional tasks that represent critical mission tasks for Constellation. Determine the ability to perform these tasks after flight. Identify the key physiological factors that contribute to functional decrements. Use this information to develop targeted countermeasures. The functional test battery was designed to address high priority tasks identified by the Constellation program as critical for mission success. The set of functional tests making up the FTT include the: 1) Seat Egress and Walk Test, 2) Ladder Climb Test, 3) Recovery from Fall/Stand Test, 4) Rock Translation Test, 5) Jump Down Test, 6) Torque Generation Test, and 7) Construction Activity Board Test. Corresponding physiological measures include assessments of postural and gait control, dynamic visual acuity, fine motor control, plasma volume, orthostatic intolerance, upper and lower body muscle strength, power, fatigue, control and neuromuscular drive. Crewmembers will perform both functional and physiological tests before and after short (Shuttle) and long-duration (ISS) space flight. Data will be collected on R+0 (Shuttle only), R

  9. Pilot Critical Incident Reports as a Means to Identify Human Factors of Remotely Piloted Aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hobbs, Alan; Cardoza, Colleen; Null, Cynthia

    2016-01-01

    It has been estimated that aviation accidents are typically preceded by numerous minor incidents arising from the same causal factors that ultimately produced the accident. Accident databases provide in-depth information on a relatively small number of occurrences, however incident databases have the potential to provide insights into the human factors of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) operations based on a larger volume of less-detailed reports. Currently, there is a lack of incident data dealing with the human factors of unmanned aircraft systems. An exploratory study is being conducted to examine the feasibility of collecting voluntary critical incident reports from RPAS pilots. Twenty-three experienced RPAS pilots volunteered to participate in focus groups in which they described critical incidents from their own experience. Participants were asked to recall (1) incidents that revealed a system flaw, or (2) highlighted a case where the human operator contributed to system resilience or mission success. Participants were asked to only report incidents that could be included in a public document. During each focus group session, a note taker produced a de-identified written record of the incident narratives. At the end of the session, participants reviewed each written incident report, and made edits and corrections as necessary. The incidents were later analyzed to identify contributing factors, with a focus on design issues that either hindered or assisted the pilot during the events. A total of 90 incidents were reported. Human factor issues included the impact of reduced sensory cues, traffic separation in the absence of an out-the-window view, control latencies, vigilance during monotonous and ultra-long endurance flights, control station design considerations, transfer of control between control stations, the management of lost link procedures, and decision-making during emergencies. Pilots participated willingly and enthusiastically in the study

  10. [Job burnout and contributing factors for nurses].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Wei; Wang, Zhi-ming; Wang, Mian-zhen; Lan, Ya-jia; Wu, Si-ying

    2006-07-01

    To investigate the degree of job burnout and contributing factors for nurses. A total of 495 nurses from three provincial hospitals were randomly selected. The MBI-GS, EPQ-RSC and OSI-R were administered to measure job burnout, personality traits and occupational stress, respectively. The medical and surgical nurses had significant greater scores of job burnout than others (P < 0.05). The poorer educational background was correlated with lower professional efficacy. The younger nurses had stronger feeling of job burnout. The scores of job burnout changed with different personality traits. The main contributing variables to exhaustion were overload, sense of responsibility, role insufficient and self-care (P < 0.05). The main contributing variables to cynicism were role insufficiency, role boundary, sense of responsibility and self-care (P < 0.05). The main contributing variables to professional inefficacy were role insufficiency, social support and rational/cognitive coping (P < 0.05). Job burnout for nurses can be prevented by reducing or keeping moderate professional duties and responsibility, making clearer job descriptions, promoting leisure activities, and enhancing self-care capabilities.

  11. Factors contributing to the life satisfaction of secondary school ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study examined the contribution of three factors to the life satisfaction of secondary school teachers in Jos North. The three factors include monthly income, job satisfaction and meaningful work. Ninety-two secondary school teachers working in public and private schools within Jos North participated in the study.

  12. Patients who fall in hospital - Contributing factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.I. Bright

    1983-09-01

    Full Text Available This is a retrospective study of the factors which contributed to accidental injuries sustained by those patients who fell in a White provincial hospital in die period 1 January to 30 June 1982. The research study was undertaken by Diploma in Nursing Administration students during their 3-week hospital practice at a White provincial hospital.

  13. A review of genetic factors contributing to the etiopathogenesis of anorectal malformations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khanna, Kashish; Sharma, Shilpa; Pabalan, Noel; Singh, Neetu; Gupta, D K

    2018-01-01

    Anorectal malformation (ARM) is a common congenital anomaly with a wide clinical spectrum. Recently, many genetic and molecular studies have been conducted worldwide highlighting the contribution of genetic factors in its etiology. We summarize the current literature on such genetic factors. Literature search was done using different combinations of terms related to genetics in anorectal malformations. From 2012 to June 2017, articles published in the English literature and studies conducted on human population were included. A paradigm shift was observed from the earlier studies concentrating on genetic aberrations in specific pathways to genome wide arrays exploring single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and copy number variations (CNVs) in ARM patients. Rare CNVs (including 79 genes) and SNPs have been found to genetically contribute to ARM. Out of disrupted 79 genes one such putative gene is DKK4. Down regulation of CDX-1 gene has also been implicated in isolated ARM patients. In syndromic ARM de novo microdeletion at 17q12 and a few others have been identified. Major genetic aberrations proposed in the pathogenesis of ARM affect members of the Wnt, Hox (homebox) genes, Sonic hedgehog (Shh) and Gli2, Bmp4, Fgf and CDX1 signalling pathways; probable targets of future molecular gene therapy.

  14. Understanding How Components of Organisations Contribute to Attacks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gu, Min; Aslanyan, Zaruhi; Probst, Christian W.

    2016-01-01

    Attacks on organisations today explore many different layers, including buildings infrastructure, IT infrastructure, and human factor – the physical, virtual, and social layer. Identifying possible attacks, understanding their impact, and attributing their origin and contributing factors is diffi......Attacks on organisations today explore many different layers, including buildings infrastructure, IT infrastructure, and human factor – the physical, virtual, and social layer. Identifying possible attacks, understanding their impact, and attributing their origin and contributing factors...... is difficult. Recently, system models have been used for automatically identifying possible attacks on the modelled organisation. The generated attacks consider all three layers, making the contribution of building infrastructure, computer infrastructure, and humans (insiders and outsiders) explicit. However......, this contribution is only visible in the attack trees as part of the performed steps; it cannot be mapped back to the model directly since the actions usually involve several elements (attacker and targeted actor or asset). Especially for large attack trees, understanding the relations between several model...

  15. Determinants of health care expenditures and the contribution of associated factors: 16 cities and provinces in Korea, 2003-2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Kimyoung; Cho, Minho; Chun, Kihong

    2013-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to classify determinants of cost increases into two categories, negotiable factors and non-negotiable factors, in order to identify the determinants of health care expenditure increases and to clarify the contribution of associated factors selected based on a literature review. The data in this analysis was from the statistical yearbooks of National Health Insurance Service, the Economic Index from Statistics Korea and regional statistical yearbooks. The unit of analysis was the annual growth rate of variables of 16 cities and provinces from 2003 to 2010. First, multiple regression was used to identify the determinants of health care expenditures. We then used hierarchical multiple regression to calculate the contribution of associated factors. The changes of coefficients (R(2)) of predictors, which were entered into this analysis step by step based on the empirical evidence of the investigator could explain the contribution of predictors to increased medical cost. Health spending was mainly associated with the proportion of the elderly population, but the Medicare Economic Index (MEI) showed an inverse association. The contribution of predictors was as follows: the proportion of elderly in the population (22.4%), gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (4.5%), MEI (-12%), and other predictors (less than 1%). As Baby Boomers enter retirement, an increasing proportion of the population aged 65 and over and the GDP will continue to increase, thus accelerating the inflation of health care expenditures and precipitating a crisis in the health insurance system. Policy makers should consider providing comprehensive health services by an accountable care organization to achieve cost savings while ensuring high-quality care.

  16. Retaining the nursing workforce: factors contributing to the reduction of nurses' turnover intention in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takase, Miyuki; Teraoka, Sachiko; Yabase, Kousuke

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of psychological contract fulfilment, perceived advancement opportunities and age on reducing the turnover intention of nurses in Japan. The factors that contribute to and mitigate the intentions of nurses to leave their organisations need to be investigated to understand the determinants of nurse turnover better. However, there is a paucity of studies identifying these mitigating factors. Potential participants were 1337 registered nurses and midwives, of whom 766 participated in the study (a return rate of 57%). The data were analysed using a moderated regression analysis. Fulfilment of the psychological contract and perceived advancement opportunities independently and jointly contributed to a reduction in nurses' turnover intentions. The results also showed that nurses' ages were negatively correlated with their turnover intentions. Fulfilment of the psychological contract and advancement opportunities are important for reducing nurses' turnover intentions, especially among younger nurses. Clear guidelines/evaluations of contributions made by nurses and their organisations are needed to enhance the experience of nurses in terms of psychological contract fulfilment. Moreover, a structured advancement support system needs to be implemented to reduce nurses' turnover intentions. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  17. The Contribution of Qualitative Methods for Identifying the Educational Needs of Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boz, Hayat; Dagli, Yakup

    2017-01-01

    This study addresses the contribution of applying qualitative research methods for identifying the educational activities planned for adults. The paper is based on the experience gained during in-depth interviews with 39 elderly and 33 middle-aged participants, by purposive sampling method and maximum variation technique, within a needs analysis…

  18. Relative contributions of individual, institutional and system factors ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study investigated the relative contributions of individual, institutional and system factors to utilisation of Research4Life databases by scientists in the National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) in Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design of the correlational type. Simple and stratified ...

  19. Phlebitis in amiodarone administration: incidence, contributing factors, and clinical implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norton, Linda; Ottoboni, Linda K; Varady, Ann; Yang-Lu, Chia-Yu; Becker, Nancy; Cotter, Theresa; Pummer, Eileen; Haynes, Annette; Forsey, Lynn; Matsuda, Kelly; Wang, Paul

    2013-11-01

    Intravenous amiodarone is an important treatment for arrhythmias, but peripheral infusion is associated with direct irritation of vessel walls and phlebitis rates of 8% to 55%. Objectives To determine the incidence and factors contributing to the development of amiodarone-induced phlebitis in the coronary care unit in an academic medical center and to refine the current practice protocol. Medical records from all adult patients during an 18-month period who received intravenous amiodarone while in the critical care unit were reviewed retrospectively. Route of administration, location, concentration, and duration of amiodarone therapy and factors associated with occurrence of phlebitis were examined. Descriptive statistics and regression methods were used to identify incidence and phlebitis factors. In the final sample of 105 patients, incidence of phlebitis was 40%, with a 50% recurrence rate. All cases of phlebitis occurred in patients given a total dose of 3 g via a peripheral catheter, and one-quarter of these cases (n = 10) developed at dosages less than 1 g. Pain, redness, and warmth were the most common indications of phlebitis. Total dosage given via a peripheral catheter, duration of infusion, and number of catheters were significantly associated with phlebitis. Amiodarone-induced phlebitis occurred in 40% of this sample at higher drug dosages. A new practice protocol resulted from this study. An outcome study is in progress.

  20. Contribution of household environment factors to urban Childhood ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Contribution of household environment factors to urban Childhood mortality in Mozambique. ... Conclusion: Type of toilet facility and source of drinking water play an important role in the risk of childhood mortality in urban areas of Mozambique and the relationship seems to be mediated partly by demographic and ...

  1. Identifying Critical Factors in the Eco-Efficiency of Remanufacturing Based on the Fuzzy DEMATEL Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qianwang Deng

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Remanufacturing can bring considerable economic and environmental benefits such as cost saving, conservation of energy and resources, and reduction of emissions. With the increasing awareness of sustainable manufacturing, remanufacturing gradually becomes the research priority. Most studies concentrate on the analysis of influencing factors, or the evaluation of the economic and environmental performance in remanufacturing, while little effort has been devoted to investigating the critical factors influencing the eco-efficiency of remanufacturing. Considering the current development of the remanufacturing industry in China, this paper proposes a set of factors influencing the eco-efficiency of remanufacturing and then utilizes a fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL method to establish relation matrixes reflecting the interdependent relationships among these factors. Finally, the contributions of each factor to eco-efficiency and mutual influence values among them are obtained, and critical factors in eco-efficiency of remanufacturing are identified. The results of the present work can provide theoretical supports for the government to make appropriate policies to improve the eco-efficiency of remanufacturing.

  2. Characteristics and contributing factors related to sports injuries in young volleyball players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanderlei, Franciele Marques; Bastos, Fabio Nascimento; Tsutsumi, Gustavo Yuki Cantalejo; Vanderlei, Luiz Carlos Marques; Netto Júnior, Jayme; Pastre, Carlos Marcelo

    2013-10-14

    The participation of young in volleyball is becoming increasingly common, and this increased involvement raises concerns about the risk of installation of sports injuries. Therefore, the objectives the study were identify the characteristics of sports injuries in young volleyball players and associate anthropometric and training variables with contributing factors for injuries. A total of 522 volleyball players participating in the High School Olympic Games of the State of São Paulo (Brazil) were interviewed. A reported condition inquiry was used to gather information on injuries, such as anatomic site affected, mechanism and moment of injury, as well as personal and training data. The level of significance was set at 5%. A 19% frequency of injuries was found. Higher age, weight, height, body mass index and training duration values were associated with the occurrence of injuries. The most affected anatomic site was the ankle/foot complex (45 injuries, 36.3%). Direct contact and contactless mechanisms were the main causes of injuries (61 injuries; 49.2% and 48 injuries; 38.7%, respectively). Training was the moment in which most injuries occurred (93 injuries; 75%), independently of personal and training characteristics. Injuries affected the ankle/foot complex with a greater frequency. Direct contact and contactless mechanisms were the most frequently reported and injuries occurred mainly during training sessions. Personal and training characteristics were contributing factors for the occurrence of injuries.

  3. Disconnected-Sea Quarks Contribution to Nucleon Electromagnetic Form Factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sufian, Raza Sabbir

    We present comprehensive analysis of the light and strange disconnected-sea quarks contribution to the nucleon electric and magnetic form factors. The lattice QCD estimates of strange quark magnetic moment GsM (0) = -0.064(14)(09) microN and the mean squared charge radius E = -0.0043(16)(14) fm2 are more precise than any existing experimental measurements and other lattice calculations. The lattice QCD calculation includes ensembles across several lattice volumes and lattice spacings with one of the ensembles at the physical pion mass. We have performed a simultaneous chiral, infinite volume, and continuum extrapolation in a global fit to calculate results in the continuum limit. We find that the combined light-sea and strange quarks contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment is -0.022(11)(09) microN and to the nucleon mean square charge radius is -0.019(05)(05) fm 2. The most important outcome of this lattice QCD calculation is that while the combined light-sea and strange quarks contribution to the nucleon magnetic moment is small at about 1%, a negative 2.5(9)% contribution to the proton charge radius and a relatively larger positive 16.3(6.1)% contribution to the neutron charge radius come from the sea quarks in the nucleon. For the first time, by performing global fits, we also give predictions of the light-sea and strange quarks contributions to the nucleon electric and magnetic form factors at the physical point and in the continuum and infinite volume limits in the momentum transfer range of 0 ≤ Q2 ≤ 0.5 GeV2.

  4. Adipocyte-derived factors in age-related dementia and their contribution to vascular and Alzheimer pathology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishii, Makoto; Iadecola, Costantino

    2016-05-01

    Age-related dementia is increasingly recognized as having a mixed pathology, with contributions from both cerebrovascular factors and pathogenic factors associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Furthermore, there is accumulating evidence that vascular risk factors in midlife, e.g., obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, increase the risk of developing late-life dementia. Since obesity and changes in body weight/adiposity often drive diabetes and hypertension, understanding the relationship between adiposity and age-related dementia may reveal common underlying mechanisms. Here we offer a brief appraisal of how changes in body weight and adiposity are related to both AD and dementia on vascular basis, and examine the involvement of two key adipocyte-derived hormones: leptin and adiponectin. The evidence suggests that in midlife increased body weight/adiposity and subsequent changes in adipocyte-derived hormones may increase the long-term susceptibility to dementia. On the other hand, later in life, decreases in body weight/adiposity and related hormonal changes are early manifestations of disease that precede the onset of dementia and may promote AD and vascular pathology. Understanding the contribution of adiposity to age-related dementia may help identify the underlying pathological mechanisms common to both vascular dementia and AD, and provide new putative targets for early diagnosis and therapy. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia, edited by M. Paul Murphy, Roderick A. Corriveau and Donna M. Wilcock. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Personal factors that contribute to or impair women's ability to achieve orgasm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Lucena, B B; Abdo, C H N

    2014-01-01

    This work aims to identify factors that contribute and those that impair the ability to experience orgasm during sexual activity. It compared women (n=96) aged 18-61 (M=38.5 years) in a stable relationship that, after a normal arousal phase, do not have an orgasm (OD) with those that do (OA) regarding sociodemographic data, sexual frequency, talking about sex with their physician, talking about sex with their partner, sexual education, masturbation, sexual desire, sexual satisfaction, depression and anxiety. We found differences between the OD and OA groups with regard to level of education (P=0.022), sex education during childhood and/or adolescence (Porgasm problems included the variables 'masturbation', 'high school', 'sexual desire' and 'anxiety'. Orgasm difficulties are influenced by personal factors, such as anxiety and low sexual desire. Increased levels of anxiety also increase orgasmic difficulties. Women who masturbate and/or have completed high school are considerably more likely to reach orgasm during sexual activity.

  6. Factors contribution to the reduction of occupational exposures at Dukovany NPP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petrova, K.; Urbancik, L.; Fuchsova, D.; Kulich, V.

    2008-01-01

    This paper describes the causes of achieving such low collective doses and the ways used for a further optimization process reducing occupational exposure at the Dukovany NPP from the beginning of operation up to now. The objective of this contribution is to explain the approaches leading to reduced occupational radiation exposure, measures which have been implemented and what is needed for the maintenance of excellent results in the future. It is possible to identify three main areas and eight main sources affecting collective dose values. There are one objective and two specific causes for low exposures: 1. Objective cause: - General arrangement; - Structural materials; - Fuel integrity. 2. Specific cause influenced by the state regulation: - Legislative support; - Operational safety culture; - Well-though tout system of radiological monitoring; - Effective radiological event feedback; - Effective education and training. 3. Specific cause uninfluenced by the state regulation: - Modified water chemistry of the primary circuit adopted by the licensee; - Licensee's system of radiation work debriefing. All the items specified above contribute to a unique concurrence of circumstances leading to the constantly low occupational exposures at the Czech nuclear power plants. The paper discusses all factors involved in these good results. (authors)

  7. The contribution from psychological, social, and organizational work factors to risk of disability retirement

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knardahl, Stein; Johannessen, Håkon A.; Sterud, Tom

    2017-01-01

    Background: Previous studies indicate that psychological, social, and organizational factors at work contribute to health, motivation, absence from work, and functional ability. The objective of the study was to assess the current state of knowledge of the contribution of psychological, social, a...... social support from ones superior. Conclusions: Psychological and organizational factors at work contribute to disability retirement with the most robust evidence for the role of work control. We recommend the measurement of specific exposure factors in future studies.......Background: Previous studies indicate that psychological, social, and organizational factors at work contribute to health, motivation, absence from work, and functional ability. The objective of the study was to assess the current state of knowledge of the contribution of psychological, social......, and organizational factors to disability retirement by a systematic review and meta-analyses. Methods: Data sources: A systematic literature search for studies of retirement due to disability in Medline, Embase, and PsychINFO was performed. Reference lists of relevant articles were hand-searched for additional...

  8. Identifying work ability promoting factors for home care aides and assistant nurses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Larsson Agneta

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In workplace health promotion, all potential resources needs to be taken into consideration, not only factors relating to the absence of injury and the physical health of the workers, but also psychological aspects. A dynamic balance between the resources of the individual employees and the demands of work is an important prerequisite. In the home care services, there is a noticeable trend towards increased psychosocial strain on employees at work. There are a high frequency of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, and a low prevalence of sustainable work ability. The aim of this research was to identify factors promoting work ability and self-efficacy in care aides and assistant nurses within home care services. Methods This study is based on cross-sectional data collected in a municipality in northern Sweden. Care aides (n = 58 and assistant nurses (n = 79 replied to a self-administered questionnaire (response rate 46%. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to assess the influence of several independent variables on self-efficacy (model 1 and work ability (model 2 for care aides and assistant nurses separately. Results Perceptions of personal safety, self-efficacy and musculoskeletal wellbeing contributed to work ability for assistant nurses (R2adj of 0.36, p 2adj of 0.29, p = 0.001. Self-efficacy was associated with the safety climate and the physical demands of the job in both professions (R2adj of 0.24, p = 0.003 for care aides, and also by sex and age for the assistant nurses (R2adj of 0.31, p Conclusions The intermediate factors contributed differently to work ability in the two professions. Self-efficacy, personal safety and musculoskeletal wellbeing were important for the assistant nurses, while the work ability of the care aides was associated with the safety climate, but also with the non-changeable factors age and seniority. All these factors are important to acknowledge in

  9. Overnight shift work: factors contributing to diagnostic discrepancies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanna, Tarek N; Loehfelm, Thomas; Khosa, Faisal; Rohatgi, Saurabh; Johnson, Jamlik-Omari

    2016-02-01

    The aims of the study are to identify factors contributing to preliminary interpretive discrepancies on overnight radiology resident shifts and apply this data in the context of known literature to draw parallels to attending overnight shift work schedules. Residents in one university-based training program provided preliminary interpretations of 18,488 overnight (11 pm–8 am) studies at a level 1 trauma center between July 1, 2013 and December 31, 2014. As part of their normal workflow and feedback, attendings scored the reports as major discrepancy, minor discrepancy, agree, and agree--good job. We retrospectively obtained the preliminary interpretation scores for each study. Total relative value units (RVUs) per shift were calculated as an indicator of overnight workload. The dataset was supplemented with information on trainee level, number of consecutive nights on night float, hour, modality, and per-shift RVU. The data were analyzed with proportional logistic regression and Fisher's exact test. There were 233 major discrepancies (1.26 %). Trainee level (senior vs. junior residents; 1.08 vs. 1.38 %; p performance. Increased workload affected more junior residents' performance, with R3 residents performing significantly worse on busier nights. Hour of the night was not significantly associated with performance, but there was a trend toward best performance at 2 am, with subsequent decreased accuracy throughout the remaining shift hours. Improved performance occurred after the first six night float shifts, presumably as residents acclimated to a night schedule. As overnight shift work schedules increase in popularity for residents and attendings, focused attention to factors impacting interpretative accuracy is warranted.

  10. Holographic estimate of the meson cloud contribution to nucleon axial form factor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramalho, G.

    2018-04-01

    We use light-front holography to estimate the valence quark and the meson cloud contributions to the nucleon axial form factor. The free couplings of the holographic model are determined by the empirical data and by the information extracted from lattice QCD. The holographic model provides a good description of the empirical data when we consider a meson cloud mixture of about 30% in the physical nucleon state. The estimate of the valence quark contribution to the nucleon axial form factor compares well with the lattice QCD data for small pion masses. Our estimate of the meson cloud contribution to the nucleon axial form factor has a slower falloff with the square momentum transfer compared to typical estimates from quark models with meson cloud dressing.

  11. Contributing factors for therapeutic diet adherence in patients receiving haemodialysis treatment: an integrative review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oquendo, Lissete González; Asencio, José Miguel Morales; de Las Nieves, Candela Bonill

    2017-12-01

    The objective of this integrative review is to identify the factors that contribute to diet adherence in people suffering from kidney disease who are receiving haemodialysis treatment. Adherence to the therapeutic regimen determines therapeutic success, quality of life and survival in patients on haemodialysis. Lack of diet adherence ranges from 25%-86% in patients receiving haemodialysis treatment and affects patient morbidity and mortality. An integrative literature review was conducted based on the criteria of Whittemore & Knafl. A literature review was performed by two members of the team using twelve databases including PubMed, CUIDEN, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library and ScienceDirect. The main issues identified after analysing the results were as follows: the intrinsic barriers (age, dialysis time, motivation, perceived benefit, distorted perception of adherence) and facilitators (self-efficacy, perception of disease, perception of control), extrinsic barriers (family dysfunction, lack of social support, cultural patterns of consumption of food) and facilitators (social support, relationship with healthcare providers), and interventions to encourage diet adherence, such as the use of motivational interviewing in educational interventions, and the training and education of relevant professionals in communication skills. Diet nonadherence remains a serious health problem and suffers from a lack of solid criteria to identify this condition. The onset of depression signs and the level of social support available to the patient should be assessed, because these are important factors that determine adherence to treatment. Professionals should be trained in health education and communication techniques to contribute to the patient's self-management and motivation for diet adherence. Controlled and randomised clinical studies involving predialysis stages should be performed to investigate the impact of the assessment and control of barriers to diet adherence. © 2017

  12. Factors contributing to, and effects of, teenage pregnancy in Juba

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gwido Vincent

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To explore the factors contributing to, and effecting, pregnancy among teenagers in Juba. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Juba Teaching Hospital among 50 randomly sampled pregnant teenagers in 2015. Results: The factors contributing to teenage pregnancy included: lack of school fees, lack of parental care, communication and supervision, poverty, peer pressure, non-use of contraceptives, desire for a child, forced marriage, low educational level and need for dowries. The effects of pregnancy on the teenagers included: school drop-out, health risk during and after childbirth, divorce, rejection by parents, stigmatism, and, sometimes if the baby is unwanted, abortion. Conclusions and recommendations: The factors driving teenage pregnancy are complex and varied and therefore require multifaceted interventions. We recommend improvements related to education, family planning, school-based health centres, youth-friendly clinics and youth development programmes.

  13. Factors contributing to morbidity and mortality among preterm ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Objective: Prematurity is one of the highest global health challenges of the 21st century and has been named the first killer of young children. In Rwanda, it is the leading cause of death in neonates. It is expedient to explore the factors contributing to the observed high morbidity and mortality to plan appropriate interventions.

  14. Factors Contributing to SMEs Failure in Meeting Supplier Performance Standards

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    van Scheers Louise

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This study sought to determine the factors that contribute to the failure of small and medium enterprises (SMEs in meeting supplier performance standards. Suppliers are faced with the challenge of SMEs failing to meet supplier performance standards because they rely on these providers of products and services, mainly SMEs, for their operations and to ultimately achieve their mandate. The researchers were able to establish the main factors contributing to SME failure in meeting supplier performance standards. These are as follows: unclear specifications and terms of references from suppliers; insufficient information provided to SME suppliers to ensure understanding of requirements; insufficient feedback and support; no support of SME suppliers based on their Black Economic Empowerment (BEE status; limited or no use of business support programs by SME suppliers; and external factors such as access to finance, changes in the economy, and location.

  15. Characteristics and contributing factors related to sports injuries in young volleyball players

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background The participation of young in volleyball is becoming increasingly common, and this increased involvement raises concerns about the risk of installation of sports injuries. Therefore, the objectives the study were identify the characteristics of sports injuries in young volleyball players and associate anthropometric and training variables with contributing factors for injuries. Methods A total of 522 volleyball players participating in the High School Olympic Games of the State of São Paulo (Brazil) were interviewed. A reported condition inquiry was used to gather information on injuries, such as anatomic site affected, mechanism and moment of injury, as well as personal and training data. The level of significance was set at 5%. Results A 19% frequency of injuries was found. Higher age, weight, height, body mass index and training duration values were associated with the occurrence of injuries. The most affected anatomic site was the ankle/foot complex (45 injuries, 36.3%). Direct contact and contactless mechanisms were the main causes of injuries (61 injuries; 49.2% and 48 injuries; 38.7%, respectively). Training was the moment in which most injuries occurred (93 injuries; 75%), independently of personal and training characteristics. Conclusion Injuries affected the ankle/foot complex with a greater frequency. Direct contact and contactless mechanisms were the most frequently reported and injuries occurred mainly during training sessions. Personal and training characteristics were contributing factors for the occurrence of injuries. PMID:24124803

  16. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO ELDER ABUSE AND NEGLECT IN THE INFORMAL CAREGIVING SETTING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ananias, Janetta

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available This article provides an overview of factors contributing to elder abuse and neglect within the informal caregiving setting from the perspective of ecological theory. This theory offers a deeper understanding of the complexity of elder abuse by considering the interactions that take place across a number of interrelated systems as well as the multiple risk factors that contribute to elder abuse and neglect. Researchers, policy makers and practitioners need to develop awareness of the risk factors regarding elder abuse and neglect, and to develop appropriate interventions in response to elder abuse and neglect.

  17. Genome-wide association study identifies a single major locus contributing to survival into old age; the APOE locus revisited

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Deelen, Joris; Beekman, Marian; Uh, Hae-Won

    2011-01-01

    By studying the loci which contribute to human longevity, we aim to identify mechanisms that contribute to healthy aging. To identify such loci, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) comparing 403 unrelated nonagenarians from long-living families included in the Leiden Longevity Stu...

  18. Identifiable risk factors in hepatitis b and c

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rehman, F.U.; Pervez, A.; Rafiq, A.

    2011-01-01

    Background: Both hepatitis B and C are common infections affecting masses and are leading causes of Chronic Liver Disease in Pakistan as well as worldwide. In majority of cases both viral diseases spread by factors that are preventable. The present study is conducted to determine the identifiable risk factors in patients admitted with Chronic Hepatitis B and C. Methods: An observational study was carried out for a period of 6 months. All age groups and both sexes were included. The patients were interviewed and the identifiable risk factors were looked for. The standard methods for detection of Hepatitis B and C were used. Results: One-hundred and ten patients were studied from January to July 2009. Sixty-five patients had Hepatitis C, 35 had Hepatitis B, and 10 had both Hepatitis B and C. Ninety-three patients had a history of injections and transfusions etc., and 38 had surgical scars. Tattoos were present in 42 patients and nose and/or ear piercing marks were present in 28 patients. The number of risk factors increased in co-infection. Conclusion: There is a role of unhygienic health delivery practices, lack of awareness and resources for standard screening protocol for spread of Hepatitis B and C. (author)

  19. Bacterial and fungal communities and contribution of physicochemical factors during cattle farm waste composting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huhe; Jiang, Chao; Wu, Yanpei; Cheng, Yunxiang

    2017-12-01

    During composting, the composition of microbial communities is subject to constant change owing to interactions with fluctuating physicochemical parameters. This study explored the changes in bacterial and fungal communities during cattle farm waste composting and aimed to identify and prioritize the contributing physicochemical factors. Microbial community compositions were determined by high-throughput sequencing. While the predominant phyla in the bacterial and fungal communities were largely consistent during the composting, differences in relative abundances were observed. Bacterial and fungal community diversity and relative abundance varied significantly, and inversely, over time. Relationships between physicochemical factors and microbial community compositions were evaluated by redundancy analysis. The variation in bacterial community composition was significantly related to water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), and pile temperature and moisture (p composts. © 2017 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. Identifying the factors underlying discontinuation of triptans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wells, Rebecca E; Markowitz, Shira Y; Baron, Eric P; Hentz, Joseph G; Kalidas, Kavita; Mathew, Paul G; Halker, Rashmi; Dodick, David W; Schwedt, Todd J

    2014-02-01

    To identify factors associated with triptan discontinuation among migraine patients. It is unclear why many migraine patients who are prescribed triptans discontinue this treatment. This study investigated correlates of triptan discontinuation with a focus on potentially modifiable factors to improve compliance. This multicenter cross-sectional survey (n = 276) was performed at US tertiary care headache clinics. Headache fellows who were members of the American Headache Society Headache Fellows Research Consortium recruited episodic and chronic migraine patients who were current triptan users (use within prior 3 months and for ≥1 year) or past triptan users (no use within 6 months; prior use within 2 years). Univariate analyses were first completed to compare current triptan users to past users for: migraine characteristics, other migraine treatments, triptan education, triptan efficacy, triptan side effects, type of prescribing provider, Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) scores and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores. Then, a multivariable logistic regression model was selected from all possible combinations of predictor variables to determine the factors that best correlated with triptan discontinuation. Compared with those still using triptans (n = 207), those who had discontinued use (n = 69) had higher rates of medication overuse (30 vs. 18%, P = .04) and were more likely to have ever used opioids for migraine treatment (57 vs. 38%, P = .006) as well as higher MIDAS (mean 63 vs. 37, P = .001) and BDI scores (mean 10.4 vs. 7.4, P = .009). Compared with discontinued users, current triptan users were more likely to have had their triptan prescribed by a specialist (neurologist, headache specialist, or pain specialist) (74 vs. 54%, P = .002) and were more likely to report headache resolution (53 vs. 14%, P  24 (2.6, [1.5, 4.6]), BDI >4 (2.5, [1.4, 4.5]), and a history of ever using opioids for migraine therapy (2.2, [1

  1. Factors contributing to home delivery in Kongwa District, Dodoma ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Objectives: To determine factors contributing to home delivery in Kongwa District. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in September 2009 in which women of child-bearing age were interviewed. The variables mainly included: accessibility of maternal health care, practicing TBA's, existence of ...

  2. Identifying causal linkages between environmental variables and African conflicts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguy-Robertson, A. L.; Dartevelle, S.

    2017-12-01

    Environmental variables that contribute to droughts, flooding, and other natural hazards are often identified as factors contributing to conflict; however, few studies attempt to quantify these causal linkages. Recent research has demonstrated that the environment operates within a dynamical system framework and the influence of variables can be identified from convergent cross mapping (CCM) between shadow manifolds. We propose to use CCM to identify causal linkages between environmental variables and incidences of conflict. This study utilizes time series data from Climate Forecast System ver. 2 and MODIS satellite sensors processed using Google Earth Engine to aggregate country and regional trends. These variables are then compared to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project observations at similar scales. Results provide relative rankings of variables and their linkage to conflict. Being able to identify which factors contributed more strongly to a conflict can allow policy makers to prepare solutions to mitigate future crises. Knowledge of the primary environmental factors can lead to the identification of other variables to examine in the causal network influencing conflict.

  3. Defining the Physiological Factors that Contribute to Postflight Changes in Functional Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloomberg, J. J.; Arzeno, N.; Buxton, R.; Feiveson, A. H.; Kofman, I.; Lawrence, E.; Lee, S. M. C.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; Platts, S. H.; hide

    2009-01-01

    Astronauts experience alterations in multiple physiological systems due to exposure to the microgravity conditions of space flight. These physiological changes include sensorimotor disturbances, cardiovascular deconditioning and loss of muscle mass and strength. These changes might affect the ability of crewmembers to perform critical mission tasks immediately after landing on lunar and Martian surfaces. To date, changes in functional performance have not been systematically studied or correlated with physiological changes. To understand how changes in physiological function impact functional performance an interdisciplinary pre/postflight testing regimen (Functional Task Test, FTT) has been developed that systematically evaluates both astronaut postflight functional performance and related physiological changes. The overall objective of the FTT is to identify the key underlying physiological factors that contribute to performance of functional tests that are representative of critical mission tasks. This study will identify which physiological systems contribute the most to impaired performance on each functional test. This will allow us to identify the physiological systems that play the largest role in decrement in functional performance. Using this information we can then design and implement countermeasures that specifically target the physiological systems most responsible for the altered functional performance associated with space flight. The functional test battery was designed to address high priority tasks identified by the Constellation program as critical for mission success. The set of functional tests making up the FTT include the: 1) Seat Egress and Walk Test, 2) Ladder Climb Test, 3) Recovery from Fall/Stand Test, 4) Rock Translation Test, 5) Jump Down Test, 6) Torque Generation Test, and 7) Construction Activity Board Test. Corresponding physiological measures include assessments of postural and gait control, dynamic visual acuity, fine motor

  4. Lung cancer and risk factors: how to identify phenotypic markers?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clement-Duchene, Christelle

    2009-01-01

    Lung cancer is the leading cause of death in the world. Most lung cancer are diagnosed at an advanced stage (IIIB and IV), with a poor prognosis. The main risk factors are well known like active smoking, and occupational exposure (asbestos), but 10 a 20% occur in never smokers. In this population, various studies have been conducted in order to identify possible risk factors, and although many have been identified, none seem to explain more than a small percentage of the cases. According to the histological types, adenocarcinoma is now the more frequent type, and its association with the main risk factors (tobacco exposure, asbestos exposure) is still studied. The tumoral location is associated with the exposure to the risk factors. Finally, the survival seems to be different between gender, and between smokers, and never smokers. All these characteristics are perhaps associated with different pathways of carcinogenesis. In this context, we have analyzed a cohort of 1493 patients with lung cancer in order to identify phenotypic markers, and to understand the mechanisms of the lung carcinogenesis. (author) [fr

  5. Determining factors that contribute to financial literacy for small and medium enterprises

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hakim, M. S.; Oktavianti, V.; Gunarta, I. K.

    2018-04-01

    Financial literacy on the SME owner/manager will subsequently improve the profitability of SME. Although, numerous research had existed in financial literacy subject, there are still limited research that examined the factor related to financial literacy. In this paper, we are examining demographic and SME factor that contribute to financial literacy using linear regression. Other objective of this paper is to confirm the benefit of financial literacy on access to credit. The finding shown that for demographic factor, level of education is contributed to financial literacy. The second finding is that level of financial literacy is related with greater degree of access to credit

  6. Factors That Contribute to the Adjustment of International Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mesidor, Jean Kesnold; Sly, Kaye F.

    2016-01-01

    Leaving home to attend college is an important milestone for college students. However, the transition from home to college can be challenging, especially for students studying abroad. In this article, the authors explore factors that contribute to the academic, cultural, social, and psychological adjustments of international students. Adjustment…

  7. Identifying patients with therapy-resistant depression by using factor analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andreasson, K; Liest, V; Lunde, M

    2010-01-01

    with transcranial pulsed electromagnetic fields (T-PEMF)], in which the relative effect as percentage of improvement during the treatment period was analysed. RESULTS: We identified 2 major factors, the first of which was a general factor. The second was a dual factor consisting of a depression subscale comprising...

  8. All for one: Contributions of age, socioeconomic factors, executive functioning and social cognition to moral reasoning in childhood.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evelyn eVera-Estay

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Moral reasoning (MR is a sociocognitive skill essential to appropriate social functioning in childhood, and evolves in quality and complexity during ontogenetic development. Whereas past research suggests that MR is related to age, socioeconomic factors, as well as some social and cognitive skills, such as executive functioning, theory of mind, empathy, and affect recognition, their contributions have been studied in silos rather than comprehensively, with little integration of the relative and combined contribution of these skills to MR. Furthermore, few studies have addressed the putative links between these factors in childhood, a period during which these skills are in maturation. The aim of this study was to explore what factors predict moral maturity in typically developing children (n=76, 47.4% males, M = 9.2, SD = 1.67 years, explore the potential moderating and mediating role of executive functions and social cognition in the relationship between age and MR maturity, and identify the specific contributions of age, socioeconomic factors, executive functioning and social cognition, using an innovative visual MR assessment tool (So-Moral. The results indicate that MR maturity was correlated with age, executive functioning (inhibition, verbal fluency, and attentional control and social cognition (theory of mind and affect recognition. Neither EF nor social cognition moderated the effect of age on MR maturity. However, verbal fluency and third-order false beliefs had a moderating role in this link. MR maturity in children was predicted by three variables from each of the three domains: age, verbal fluency and third order theory of mind. These results contribute to a better understanding of the underpinnings of MR during childhood, suggesting that MR is not reducible to general developmental factors such as age, but that higher order skills such executive functioning and social cognition also contribute to moral maturity. The findings have

  9. Up- and Down-Quark Contributions to the Nucleon Form Factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qattan I. A.

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Recent measurements of the neutron s electric to magnetic form factors ratio, Rn = µnGnE/GnM, up to 3.4 (GeV/c2 combined with existing Rp = µpGpE/GpM measurements in the same Q2 range allowed, for the first time, a separation of the up- and downquark contributions to the form factors at high Q2, as presented by Cates, et al.. Our analysis expands on the original work by including additional form factor data, applying two-photon exchange (TPE corrections, and accounting for the uncertainties associated with all of the form factor measurements.

  10. Identifying influential factors of business process performance using dependency analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wetzstein, Branimir; Leitner, Philipp; Rosenberg, Florian; Dustdar, Schahram; Leymann, Frank

    2011-02-01

    We present a comprehensive framework for identifying influential factors of business process performance. In particular, our approach combines monitoring of process events and Quality of Service (QoS) measurements with dependency analysis to effectively identify influential factors. The framework uses data mining techniques to construct tree structures to represent dependencies of a key performance indicator (KPI) on process and QoS metrics. These dependency trees allow business analysts to determine how process KPIs depend on lower-level process metrics and QoS characteristics of the IT infrastructure. The structure of the dependencies enables a drill-down analysis of single factors of influence to gain a deeper knowledge why certain KPI targets are not met.

  11. The use of seat belts and contributing factors : an international comparison.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mäkinen, T. Wittink, R.D. & Hagenzieker, M.P.

    1991-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to define factors that contribute to the use or non-use of seat belts. Legislation prescribing compulsory seat belt usage is one of the most important factors. Promotion of the use of seat belts without this legislation is very difficult and time-consuming. So far, the

  12. Contributions of dopamine-related genes and environmental factors to highly sensitive personality: a multi-step neuronal system-level approach.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chunhui Chen

    Full Text Available Traditional behavioral genetic studies (e.g., twin, adoption studies have shown that human personality has moderate to high heritability, but recent molecular behavioral genetic studies have failed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL with consistent effects. The current study adopted a multi-step approach (ANOVA followed by multiple regression and permutation to assess the cumulative effects of multiple QTLs. Using a system-level (dopamine system genetic approach, we investigated a personality trait deeply rooted in the nervous system (the Highly Sensitive Personality, HSP. 480 healthy Chinese college students were given the HSP scale and genotyped for 98 representative polymorphisms in all major dopamine neurotransmitter genes. In addition, two environment factors (stressful life events and parental warmth that have been implicated for their contributions to personality development were included to investigate their relative contributions as compared to genetic factors. In Step 1, using ANOVA, we identified 10 polymorphisms that made statistically significant contributions to HSP. In Step 2, these polymorphism's main effects and interactions were assessed using multiple regression. This model accounted for 15% of the variance of HSP (p<0.001. Recent stressful life events accounted for an additional 2% of the variance. Finally, permutation analyses ascertained the probability of obtaining these findings by chance to be very low, p ranging from 0.001 to 0.006. Dividing these loci by the subsystems of dopamine synthesis, degradation/transport, receptor and modulation, we found that the modulation and receptor subsystems made the most significant contribution to HSP. The results of this study demonstrate the utility of a multi-step neuronal system-level approach in assessing genetic contributions to individual differences in human behavior. It can potentially bridge the gap between the high heritability estimates based on traditional

  13. The Contributing Factors to Injury’s Length of Stay in Hospital Among Productive Age Workers in Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lusianawaty Tana

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Background: Injury is one of the factors that contribute to health problems and disabilities. In Indonesia, the data oninjury and its impact are still limited and only focus on formal workers. Methods: This research aimed to describe thecharacteristics of injury by occupation and to identify factors contributed to severity (length of stay in hospital amongproductive age workers in Indonesia, using the data of National Health Research (Riskesdas in 2013. Results: We analyzed30.455 data using complex samples at 95% confi dence level. People worked as farmer, fi sherman, labor, entrepreneur,and others had more injuries in 12 months than employee (p = 0.0001. Non traffi c accident as cause of injury was alsohigher in those group of occupations than employee (p = 0.0001. The contributing factors of length of stay in hospital werethe injury with concussion (OR 23.1; 95% CI 9.2–58.1 p = 0.0001, fractures (OR 6.3; 95%CI 4.6–8.6 p = 0.0001, eyeinjury (OR 3.0; 95% CI 1.2–7.3 p = 0.0001, followed by road traffi c accident (OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.5–2.9 p = 0.0001, andinjury occurred in the business/industry/construction/farm area (OR 1.7; 95% CI 1.2–2.4 p = 0.006. Conclusion: Factorsthat contributed to the length of stay in hospital of the injury were the type of injury, cause of injury, and the area of injury.Recommendation: Efforts to overcome the injury need to be improved, especially for traffi c accidents and injury in thebusiness/industry/construction/farm area.

  14. Identifying influential factors on integrated marketing planning using information technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karim Hamdi

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an empirical investigation to identify important factors influencing integrated marketing planning using information technology. The proposed study designs a questionnaire for measuring integrated marketing planning, which consists of three categories of structural factors, behavioral factors and background factors. There are 40 questions associated with the proposed study in Likert scale. Cronbach alphas have been calculated for structural factors, behavioral factors and background factors as 0.89, 0.86 and 0.83, respectively. Using some statistical test, the study has confirmed the effects of three factors on integrated marketing. In addition, the implementation of Freedman test has revealed that structural factors were the most important factor followed by background factors and behavioral factors.

  15. Factors contributing to delay in diagnosis and start of treatment of leprosy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nicholls, P.G.; Chhina, N; Aaen, Karen Bro

    2005-01-01

    The objective of our research was to identify factors contributing to delay in diagnosis and start of treatment in leprosy, focussing on patients' narratives of help-seeking behaviour. Our research took place in Purulia, West Bengal, India and in Nilphamari, northern Bangladesh. Between January...... and August 2000, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 104 patients that explored each individual's narrative of help-seeking behaviour and the context of beliefs and attitudes towards leprosy. Subsequently we surveyed 356 patients currently receiving treatment for leprosy and recorded specific...... aspects of each help-seeking action and their reports of local beliefs and attitudes towards leprosy. Delay was estimated from time of first symptoms through to start of effective treatment (mean 18 months, median 9 months in Purulia and mean 20 months, median 12 months in Nilphamari). The number of help...

  16. Contribution to identification of factors causing radiographic image unsharpness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Branzan, C.; Popescu, A.; Radu, R.

    1995-01-01

    Radiographic image quality is crucial for the ability of the radiographic method to give us a maximum information about the macroscopic structure of materials and pieces, investigated by penetrating radiation. Radiographic image quality depends on several factors. A high quality image is able to show small and typical defects. One of the most important factor affecting radiographic image is unsharpness. The total effective unsharpness of the film must be some function of several factors and their contribution is taken into account by summing up different kinds of unsharpness: geometric unsharpness, internal unsharpness, screen unsharpness, and accidental unsharpness. This work analyses the weight of the radiographic image unsharpness and the possibilities for determining its influence on the quality of the radiographic image. (author)

  17. [Investigation of the factors that contribute to the onset of insomnia in hypertensive patients by using a post-marketing surveillance database].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanabe, Naoto; Fujita, Toshiharu; Fujii, Yosuke; Orii, Takao

    2011-01-01

    Many factors contribute to the onset of insomnia. However, few studies have identified the factors related to the onset of insomnia in hypertensive patients. We conducted a pharmacoepidemiologic study to examine the incidence of insomnia in hypertensive patients by using a post-marketing surveillance database. The insomnia onset was defined as the time of first prescription of hypnotics. The insomnia incidence rate in hypertensive patients under antihypertensive therapy was 0.77/100 person-years. The median insomnia onset date was 5 weeks. The insomnia type in 50.2% of the patients was difficulty in initiating sleep. We assessed the factors contributing to insomnia by using a nested case-control design. We selected 10 time-matched controls for every case. The hypotensive effect induced by antihypertensive therapy on the case group was lesser than that on the control group (pchannel blockers (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.43-0.90) compared with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors; female sex (OR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.27-2.44); complication of gastric/duodenal disorders (OR, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.14-4.86) or musculoskeletal system/connective tissue disorders (OR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.23-4.79); and concomitant antihypertensive therapy (OR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.31-0.63). This study identified the potential factors that may help to predict insomnia onset in hypertensive patients under antihypertensive therapy.

  18. 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 ...

  19. Factors regulated by interferon gamma and hypoxia-inducible factor 1A contribute to responses that protect mice from Coccidioides immitis infection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Woelk Christopher H

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Coccidioidomycosis results from airborne infections caused by either Coccidioides immitis or C. posadasii. Both are pathogenic fungi that live in desert soil in the New World and can infect normal hosts, but most infections are self-limited. Disseminated infections occur in approximately 5% of cases and may prove fatal. Mouse models of the disease have identified strains that are resistant (e.g. DBA/2 or susceptible (e.g. C57BL/6 to these pathogens. However, the genetic and immunological basis for this difference has not been fully characterized. Results Microarray technology was used to identify genes that were differentially expressed in lung tissue between resistant DBA/2 and sensitive C57BL/6 mice after infection with C. immitis. Differentially expressed genes were mapped onto biological pathways, gene ontologies, and protein interaction networks, which revealed that innate immune responses mediated by Type II interferon (i.e., IFNG and the signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1 contribute to the resistant phenotype. In addition, upregulation of hypoxia inducible factor 1A (HIF1A, possibly as part of a larger inflammatory response mediated by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFA, may also contribute to resistance. Microarray gene expression was confirmed by real-time quantitative PCR for a subset of 12 genes, which revealed that IFNG HIF1A and TNFA, among others, were significantly differentially expressed between the two strains at day 14 post-infection. Conclusion These results confirm the finding that DBA/2 mice express more Type II interferon and interferon stimulated genes than genetically susceptible strains and suggest that differential expression of HIF1A may also play a role in protection.

  20. Identifying Factors Associated with Risk Assessment Competencies of Public Health Emergency Responders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hao, Jiejing; Ren, Jiaojiao; Wu, Qunhong; Hao, Yanhua; Sun, Hong; Ning, Ning; Ding, Ding

    2017-06-04

    This study aimed to better understand the current situation of risk assessment and identify the factors associated with competence of emergency responders in public health risk assessment. The participants were selected by a multi-stage, stratified cluster sampling method in Heilongjiang Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The questionnaires that measured their perceptions on risk assessment competences were administered through the face-to-face survey. A final sample of 1889 staff was obtained. Of this sample, 78.6% of respondents rated their own risk assessment competences as "relatively low", contrasting with 21.4% rated as "relatively high". Most of the respondents (62.7%) did not participate in any risk assessment work. Only 13.7% and 42.7% of respondents reported participating in risk assessment training and were familiar with risk assessment tools. There existed statistical significance between risk assessment-related characteristics of respondents and their self-rated competences scores. Financial support from the government and administrative attention were regarded as the important factors contributing to risk assessment competences of CDC responders. Higher attention should be given to risk assessment training and enhancing the availability of surveillance data. Continuous efforts should be made to remove the financial and technical obstacles to improve the competences of risk assessment for public health emergency responders.

  1. Inroads into Equestrian Safety: Rider-Reported Factors Contributing to Horse-Related Accidents and Near Misses on Australian Roads

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kirrilly Thompson

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Horse riding and horse-related interactions are inherently dangerous. When they occur on public roads, the risk profile of equestrian activities is complicated by interactions with other road users. Research has identified speed, proximity, visibility, conspicuity and mutual misunderstanding as factors contributing to accidents and near misses. However, little is known about their significance or incidence in Australia. To explore road safety issues amongst Australian equestrians, we conducted an online survey. More than half of all riders (52% reported having experienced at least one accident or near miss in the 12 months prior to the survey. Whilst our findings confirm the factors identified overseas, we also identified issues around rider misunderstanding of road rules and driver misunderstanding of rider hand signals. Of particular concern, we also found reports of potentially dangerous rider-directed road rage. We identify several areas for potential safety intervention including (1 identifying equestrians as vulnerable road users and horses as sentient decision-making vehicles (2 harmonising laws regarding passing horses, (3 mandating personal protective equipment, (4 improving road signage, (5 comprehensive data collection, (6 developing mutual understanding amongst road-users, (7 safer road design and alternative riding spaces; and (8 increasing investment in horse-related safety initiatives.

  2. Inroads into Equestrian Safety: Rider-Reported Factors Contributing to Horse-Related Accidents and Near Misses on Australian Roads.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Kirrilly; Matthews, Chelsea

    2015-07-22

    Horse riding and horse-related interactions are inherently dangerous. When they occur on public roads, the risk profile of equestrian activities is complicated by interactions with other road users. Research has identified speed, proximity, visibility, conspicuity and mutual misunderstanding as factors contributing to accidents and near misses. However, little is known about their significance or incidence in Australia. To explore road safety issues amongst Australian equestrians, we conducted an online survey. More than half of all riders (52%) reported having experienced at least one accident or near miss in the 12 months prior to the survey. Whilst our findings confirm the factors identified overseas, we also identified issues around rider misunderstanding of road rules and driver misunderstanding of rider hand signals. Of particular concern, we also found reports of potentially dangerous rider-directed road rage. We identify several areas for potential safety intervention including (1) identifying equestrians as vulnerable road users and horses as sentient decision-making vehicles (2) harmonising laws regarding passing horses, (3) mandating personal protective equipment, (4) improving road signage, (5) comprehensive data collection, (6) developing mutual understanding amongst road-users, (7) safer road design and alternative riding spaces; and (8) increasing investment in horse-related safety initiatives.

  3. The contributions of human factors on human error in Malaysia aviation maintenance industries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Padil, H.; Said, M. N.; Azizan, A.

    2018-05-01

    Aviation maintenance is a multitasking activity in which individuals perform varied tasks under constant pressure to meet deadlines as well as challenging work conditions. These situational characteristics combined with human factors can lead to various types of human related errors. The primary objective of this research is to develop a structural relationship model that incorporates human factors, organizational factors, and their impact on human errors in aviation maintenance. Towards that end, a questionnaire was developed which was administered to Malaysian aviation maintenance professionals. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach was used in this study utilizing AMOS software. Results showed that there were a significant relationship of human factors on human errors and were tested in the model. Human factors had a partial effect on organizational factors while organizational factors had a direct and positive impact on human errors. It was also revealed that organizational factors contributed to human errors when coupled with human factors construct. This study has contributed to the advancement of knowledge on human factors effecting safety and has provided guidelines for improving human factors performance relating to aviation maintenance activities and could be used as a reference for improving safety performance in the Malaysian aviation maintenance companies.

  4. Identifying risk factors for first-episode neck pain: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Rebecca; Wiest, Colin; Clark, Kelly; Cook, Chad; Horn, Maggie

    2018-02-01

    Neck pain affects 15.1% of the United States' general population every 3 months, and ranks fourth in global disability. Because of the tendency for neck pain to become a chronic issue, it is important to identify risk factors that could encourage prevention and early diagnosis. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify risk factors for a first episode of neck pain. Three databases were searched with key words such as "neck pain" and "first incidence." Risk factors from the resulting articles were reported as either a physical or psychosocial risk factor and ranked by the strength of their odds/risk/hazard ratio: empowering leadership, high perceived social climate, leisure physical activity, and cervical extensor endurance. Most risk factors found for neck pain were related to psychosocial characteristics, rather than physical characteristics. A number of these risk factors were mediating factors, suggesting that a prevention-based program may be useful in modifying the existence of the risk factors before the occurrence of neck pain. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Factors Contributing To The Sustainability Of 5S Programmes In Government Hospitals In Regional Director Of Health Services Area Kurunegala

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr. K.W.C.U.K Kendangamuwa

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Introduction 5S is the stepping stone for many quality improvement concepts and its roots date back to 16th century. When successfully implemented 5S gives many benefits to the organization as well as its stakeholders. Though 5S itself has a tool to sustain most of the organizations find it difficult to sustain the 5S practice over the time. Therefore the objective of this study was to find out the factors contributing to sustainability of 5S programmes in Government Hospitals in RDHS area Kurunegala. Methodology This study was a descriptive cross sectional study with two components. First component was to identify the 5S sustaining hospitals from not sustaining hospitals by validated evaluation sheet. Second component was to determine the factors contributing to sustainability of 5S programmes in selected study setting. Self-administrated questionnaire was used for this purpose. Total study population was 543 employees of all the categories of hospital staff. Calculated sample size was 422 and 375 were responded to the questionnaire giving response rate of 88.9. Results The study revealed that the implemented 5S programmes were sustaining in eight hospitals out of ten i.e. sustaining rate was 80. When it considered the degree of sustainability 50 of the selected hospitals reported more than 70 sustainability. This was considered as favourable trend in government health sector in healthcare quality point of view. Ten factors were studied as contributing factors for the 5S sustainability. Socio- demographic factors were also considered. Those ten factors were top management commitment leadership of the organization commitment of middle amp frontline managers commitment amp satisfaction of employees training amp changing attitude of employees motivation of employees organizational culture group cohesiveness community participation and customer satisfaction. Study revealed that organizational leadership customer satisfaction community

  6. Factors contributing to food insecurity among women living with HIV in the Dominican Republic: A qualitative study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Payán, Denise D.; Fulcar, María Altagracia; Terrero, Sergio; Acevedo, Ramón; Farías, Hugo; Palar, Kartika

    2017-01-01

    Background Food insecurity contributes to poor health outcomes among people living with HIV. In Latin America and the Caribbean, structural factors such as poverty, stigma, and inequality disproportionately affect women and may fuel both the HIV epidemic and food insecurity. Methods We examined factors contributing to food insecurity among women living with HIV (WLHIV) in the Dominican Republic (DR). Data collection included in-depth, semi-structured interviews in 2013 with 30 WLHIV with indications of food insecurity who resided in urban or peri-urban areas and were recruited from local HIV clinics. In-person interviews were conducted in Spanish. Transcripts were coded using content analysis methods and an inductive approach to identify principal and emergent themes. Results Respondents identified economic instability as the primary driver of food insecurity, precipitated by enacted stigma in the labor and social domains. Women described experiences of HIV-related labor discrimination in formal and informal sectors. Women commonly reported illegal HIV testing by employers, and subsequent dismissal if HIV-positive, especially in tourism and free trade zones. Enacted stigma in the social domain manifested as gossip and rejection by family, friends, and neighbors and physical, verbal, and sexual abuse by intimate partners, distancing women from sources of economic and food support. These experiences with discrimination and abuse contributed to internalized stigma among respondents who, as a result, were fearful and hesitant to disclose their HIV status; some participants reported leaving spouses and/or families, resulting in further isolation from economic resources, food and other support. A minority of participants described social support by friends, spouses, families and support groups, which helped to ameliorate food insecurity and emotional distress. Conclusions Addressing food insecurity among WLHIV requires policy and programmatic interventions to enforce

  7. Factors contributing to food insecurity among women living with HIV in the Dominican Republic: A qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Derose, Kathryn P; Payán, Denise D; Fulcar, María Altagracia; Terrero, Sergio; Acevedo, Ramón; Farías, Hugo; Palar, Kartika

    2017-01-01

    Food insecurity contributes to poor health outcomes among people living with HIV. In Latin America and the Caribbean, structural factors such as poverty, stigma, and inequality disproportionately affect women and may fuel both the HIV epidemic and food insecurity. We examined factors contributing to food insecurity among women living with HIV (WLHIV) in the Dominican Republic (DR). Data collection included in-depth, semi-structured interviews in 2013 with 30 WLHIV with indications of food insecurity who resided in urban or peri-urban areas and were recruited from local HIV clinics. In-person interviews were conducted in Spanish. Transcripts were coded using content analysis methods and an inductive approach to identify principal and emergent themes. Respondents identified economic instability as the primary driver of food insecurity, precipitated by enacted stigma in the labor and social domains. Women described experiences of HIV-related labor discrimination in formal and informal sectors. Women commonly reported illegal HIV testing by employers, and subsequent dismissal if HIV-positive, especially in tourism and free trade zones. Enacted stigma in the social domain manifested as gossip and rejection by family, friends, and neighbors and physical, verbal, and sexual abuse by intimate partners, distancing women from sources of economic and food support. These experiences with discrimination and abuse contributed to internalized stigma among respondents who, as a result, were fearful and hesitant to disclose their HIV status; some participants reported leaving spouses and/or families, resulting in further isolation from economic resources, food and other support. A minority of participants described social support by friends, spouses, families and support groups, which helped to ameliorate food insecurity and emotional distress. Addressing food insecurity among WLHIV requires policy and programmatic interventions to enforce existing laws designed to protect the

  8. Factors contributing to food insecurity among women living with HIV in the Dominican Republic: A qualitative study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathryn P Derose

    Full Text Available Food insecurity contributes to poor health outcomes among people living with HIV. In Latin America and the Caribbean, structural factors such as poverty, stigma, and inequality disproportionately affect women and may fuel both the HIV epidemic and food insecurity.We examined factors contributing to food insecurity among women living with HIV (WLHIV in the Dominican Republic (DR. Data collection included in-depth, semi-structured interviews in 2013 with 30 WLHIV with indications of food insecurity who resided in urban or peri-urban areas and were recruited from local HIV clinics. In-person interviews were conducted in Spanish. Transcripts were coded using content analysis methods and an inductive approach to identify principal and emergent themes.Respondents identified economic instability as the primary driver of food insecurity, precipitated by enacted stigma in the labor and social domains. Women described experiences of HIV-related labor discrimination in formal and informal sectors. Women commonly reported illegal HIV testing by employers, and subsequent dismissal if HIV-positive, especially in tourism and free trade zones. Enacted stigma in the social domain manifested as gossip and rejection by family, friends, and neighbors and physical, verbal, and sexual abuse by intimate partners, distancing women from sources of economic and food support. These experiences with discrimination and abuse contributed to internalized stigma among respondents who, as a result, were fearful and hesitant to disclose their HIV status; some participants reported leaving spouses and/or families, resulting in further isolation from economic resources, food and other support. A minority of participants described social support by friends, spouses, families and support groups, which helped to ameliorate food insecurity and emotional distress.Addressing food insecurity among WLHIV requires policy and programmatic interventions to enforce existing laws designed to

  9. What paramedics think about when they think about fatigue: contributing factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paterson, Jessica L; Sofianopoulos, Sarah; Williams, Brett

    2014-04-01

    Paramedic fatigue is associated with burnout, attrition, sick leave, work disability, physical and mental health complaints and impaired performance. However, no studies have addressed how fatigue is understood by paramedics. The present study addresses this shortcoming by exploring factors paramedics recognise as contributors to fatigue. Forty-nine (12F; 38 years ± 9.7 years) Australian paramedics completed a survey on perceived causes of performance impairing fatigue. A total of 107 responses were systematically coded following principles common to qualitative data analysis: data immersion, coding, categorisation and theme generation. Six themes emerged: working time, sleep, workload, health and well-being, work-life balance and environment. Consistent with a scientific understanding of fatigue, prior sleep and wake, time of day and task-related factors were often identified as contributing to fatigue. In other cases, paramedics' attributions deviated from a scientific understanding of direct causes of fatigue. These findings demonstrate that paramedics have a broad understanding of fatigue. It is critical to take this into account when discussing fatigue with paramedics, particularly in the case of fatigue education or wellness programmes. These data highlight areas for intervention and education to minimise the experience of paramedic fatigue and the negative health and safety outcomes for paramedics and patients as a result. © 2014 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

  10. Nurses' perceptions on factors contributing to job dissatisfaction in a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Job dissatisfaction among nurses is a serious global concern. However, it seems that the numbers of studies on job dissatisfaction among nurses are limited. This study therefore seeks to explore and describe the nurses' perceptions on the factors contributing to job dissatisfaction in order to make recommendations aimed ...

  11. 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 ...

  12. Factors Contributing to Single- and Dual-Task Timed "Up & Go" Test Performance in Middle-Aged and Older Adults Who Are Active and Dwell in the Community.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hui-Ya; Tang, Pei-Fang

    2016-03-01

    Dual-task Timed "Up & Go" (TUG) tests are likely to have applications different from those of a single-task TUG test and may have different contributing factors. The purpose of this study was to compare factors contributing to performance on single- and dual-task TUG tests. This investigation was a cross-sectional study. Sixty-four adults who were more than 50 years of age and dwelled in the community were recruited. Interviews and physical examinations were performed to identify potential contributors to TUG test performance. The time to complete the single-task TUG test (TUGsingle) or the dual-task TUG test, which consisted of completing the TUG test while performing a serial subtraction task (TUGcognitive) or while carrying water (TUGmanual), was measured. Age, hip extensor strength, walking speed, general mental function, and Stroop scores for word and color were significantly associated with performance on all TUG tests. Hierarchical multiple regression models, without the input of walking speed, revealed different independent factors contributing to TUGsingle performance (Mini-Mental Status Examination score, β=-0.32), TUGmanual performance (age, β=0.35), and TUGcognitive performance (Stroop word score, β=-0.40; Mini-Mental Status Examination score, β=-0.31). At least 40% of the variance in the performance on the 3 TUG tests was not explained by common clinical measures, even when the factor of walking speed was considered. However, this study successfully identified some important factors contributing to performance on different TUG tests, and other studies have reported similar findings for single-task TUG test and dual-task gait performance. Although the TUGsingle and the TUGcognitive shared general mental function as a common factor, the TUGmanual was uniquely influenced by age and the TUGcognitive was uniquely influenced by focused attention. These results suggest that both common and unique factors contribute to performance on single- and dual

  13. Stereotactic core needle breast biopsy marker migration: An analysis of factors contributing to immediate marker migration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jain, Ashali; Khalid, Maria; Qureshi, Muhammad M; Georgian-Smith, Dianne; Kaplan, Jonah A; Buch, Karen; Grinstaff, Mark W; Hirsch, Ariel E; Hines, Neely L; Anderson, Stephan W; Gallagher, Katherine M; Bates, David D B; Bloch, B Nicolas

    2017-11-01

    To evaluate breast biopsy marker migration in stereotactic core needle biopsy procedures and identify contributing factors. This retrospective study analyzed 268 stereotactic biopsy markers placed in 263 consecutive patients undergoing stereotactic biopsies using 9G vacuum-assisted devices from August 2010-July 2013. Mammograms were reviewed and factors contributing to marker migration were evaluated. Basic descriptive statistics were calculated and comparisons were performed based on radiographically-confirmed marker migration. Of the 268 placed stereotactic biopsy markers, 35 (13.1%) migrated ≥1 cm from their biopsy cavity. Range: 1-6 cm; mean (± SD): 2.35 ± 1.22 cm. Of the 35 migrated biopsy markers, 9 (25.7%) migrated ≥3.5 cm. Patient age, biopsy pathology, number of cores, and left versus right breast were not associated with migration status (P> 0.10). Global fatty breast density (P= 0.025) and biopsy in the inner region of breast (P = 0.031) were associated with marker migration. Superior biopsy approach (P= 0.025), locally heterogeneous breast density, and t-shaped biopsy markers (P= 0.035) were significant for no marker migration. Multiple factors were found to influence marker migration. An overall migration rate of 13% supports endeavors of research groups actively developing new biopsy marker designs for improved resistance to migration. • Breast biopsy marker migration is documented in 13% of 268 procedures. • Marker migration is affected by physical, biological, and pathological factors. • Breast density, marker shape, needle approach etc. affect migration. • Study demonstrates marker migration prevalence; marker design improvements are needed.

  14. Violence against women in Pakistan: contributing factors and new interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karmaliani, Rozina; Pasha, Aneeta; Hirani, Saima; Somani, Rozina; Hirani, Shela; Asad, Nargis; Cassum, Laila; McFarlane, Judith

    2012-12-01

    Pakistan ranks 125th out of 169 countries on the Gender Development Index and has high prevalence rates of Violence against Women (VAW). Contributing factors toward gender based violence at the micro, meso and macro levels include the acceptability of violence amongst both men and women, internalization of deservability, economic disempowerment, lack of formal education, joint family systems, entrenched patriarchal norms and values, and a lack of awareness of legal and other support systems. These factors have a long-lasting impact on the health of women and children. The gender disparities in the experience of women seeking health care in Pakistan are well-recognized and documented. In the past, common government policy responses to these disparities have included developing the role of community health workers (CHWs) and lady health visitors (LHVs). Despite being commendable initiatives, these too have been unsuccessful in addressing these multi-faceted disparities. Within this complex scenario, new interventions to address VAW and its impact on health in Pakistan include Group Counselling, Economic Skills Building, Health-Based Microfinance, and Family-Based models that increase male involvement, especially at the primary health care level. The purpose of this article is to outline key contributing factors to VAW, explore tested and new interventions, and highlight the opportunities that exist in implementing them.

  15. What are the factors that contribute to road accidents? An assessment of law enforcement views, ordinary drivers' opinions, and road accident records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rolison, Jonathan J; Regev, Shirley; Moutari, Salissou; Feeney, Aidan

    2018-06-01

    What are the main contributing factors to road accidents? Factors such as inexperience, lack of skill, and risk-taking behaviors have been associated with the collisions of young drivers. In contrast, visual, cognitive, and mobility impairment have been associated with the collisions of older drivers. We investigated the main causes of road accidents by drawing on multiple sources: expert views of police officers, lay views of the driving public, and official road accident records. In Studies 1 and 2, police officers and the public were asked about the typical causes of road traffic collisions using hypothetical accident scenarios. In Study 3, we investigated whether the views of police officers and the public about accident causation influence their recall accuracy for factors reported to contribute to hypothetical road accidents. The results show that both expert views of police officers and lay views of the driving public closely approximated the typical factors associated with the collisions of young and older drivers, as determined from official accident records. The results also reveal potential underreporting of factors in existing accident records, identifying possible inadequacies in law enforcement practices for investigating driver distraction, drug and alcohol impairment, and uncorrected or defective eyesight. Our investigation also highlights a need for accident report forms to be continuously reviewed and updated to ensure that contributing factor lists reflect the full range of factors that contribute to road accidents. Finally, the views held by police officers and the public on accident causation influenced their memory recall of factors involved in hypothetical scenarios. These findings indicate that delay in completing accident report forms should be minimised, possibly by use of mobile reporting devices at the accident scene. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  16. Gully erosion: A comparison of contributing factors in two catchments in South Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mararakanye, Ndifelani; Sumner, Paul D.

    2017-07-01

    Gully erosion is an environmental, agricultural and social problem requiring extensive research and mitigation actions to control. This study assesses the influence of factors contributing to gully erosion using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Information Value (InfVal) statistics from two catchments coded X12 and W55 in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Existing spatial data representing contributing factors; soil, geology, vegetation and land use were analyzed. Topographic variables were extracted from a 10 m Digital Elevation Model (DEM) interpolated from map contours, and gullies were mapped from aerial photos with 0.5 m spatial resolution. A zonal approach was used to extract the proportion of gullies in each of the contributing factor classes using GIS software packages, and InfVal weighting was performed to determine the influence of each class. Comparison of the results shows the variation in the level of influence of factors contributing to gully erosion. The findings in catchment X12 support a commonly held assumption that gully formation is influenced by duplex soils underlain by colluvium and alluvial deposits on a lower slope position where overland flow converges and accumulates, resulting in high soil moisture. Gullies were also influenced by soils developed over weathered granite, gneiss and ultramafic rocks. The influence of a granite rock was further highlighted in catchment W55 where there is a variable thickness of very deep Hutton dominant soil form and shallow Lithosols with sandy texture, on an area of moderate to steep slopes where overland flow converges and accumulates, with high stream power in overgrazed grassland. An understanding of these factors will assist future modelling of the vulnerability to gully erosion over a wider geographical area.

  17. Factors contributing to the fluctuations in residential construction in Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hassan Gholipour Fereidouni

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Residential construction is one of the most important pillars of Iran’s economy. Although this sector had an increasing trend over the past two decades, however, the growth rate of residential construction was very volatile. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate those factors contributing to this fluctuation over the 1991:Q2-2008:Q4. By applying cointegration approach, the empirical results show that housing prices, construction costs, GDP and gold prices are important factors to explain swings in residential construction in Iran.

  18. Searching for the Final Answer: Factors Contributing to Medication Administration Errors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pape, Tess M.

    2001-01-01

    Causal factors contributing to errors in medication administration should be thoroughly investigated, focusing on systems rather than individual nurses. Unless systemic causes are addressed, many errors will go unreported for fear of reprisal. (Contains 42 references.) (SK)

  19. Inroads into Equestrian Safety: Rider-Reported Factors Contributing to Horse-Related Accidents and Near Misses on Australian Roads

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Kirrilly; Matthews, Chelsea

    2015-01-01

    Simple Summary Riding horses on roads can be dangerous, but little is known about accidents and near misses. To explore road safety issues amongst Australian equestrians, we conducted an online survey. More than half of all riders (52%) reported having experienced at least one accident or near miss in the 12 months prior to the survey, mostly attributed to speed. Whilst our findings confirmed factors identified overseas, we also identified issues around road rules, hand signals and road rage. This paper suggests strategies for improving the safety of horses, riders and other road users. Abstract Horse riding and horse-related interactions are inherently dangerous. When they occur on public roads, the risk profile of equestrian activities is complicated by interactions with other road users. Research has identified speed, proximity, visibility, conspicuity and mutual misunderstanding as factors contributing to accidents and near misses. However, little is known about their significance or incidence in Australia. To explore road safety issues amongst Australian equestrians, we conducted an online survey. More than half of all riders (52%) reported having experienced at least one accident or near miss in the 12 months prior to the survey. Whilst our findings confirm the factors identified overseas, we also identified issues around rider misunderstanding of road rules and driver misunderstanding of rider hand signals. Of particular concern, we also found reports of potentially dangerous rider-directed road rage. We identify several areas for potential safety intervention including (1) identifying equestrians as vulnerable road users and horses as sentient decision-making vehicles; (2) harmonising laws regarding passing horses; (3) mandating personal protective equipment; (4) improving road signage; (5) comprehensive data collection; (6) developing mutual understanding amongst road-users; (7) safer road design and alternative riding spaces; and (8) increasing investment

  20. Aetiological factors contributing to road traffic accidents in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nofal, F H; Saeed, A A; Anokute, C C

    1996-10-01

    The study analysed 13,390 police records of road traffic accidents (RTAs) covering a three and a half year period according to different suspected aetiological factors. The majority of the accidents were recorded for vehicles in good condition on well-paved straight roads with well-operating traffic light systems. Adverse weather conditions such as precipitation, fog and dust were of minimal importance, with most of the accidents being reported during sunny days during the rush period of 12 noon to 3 pm. Driver's error was identified as the main contributing factor in about two thirds of all RTAs mainly as reckless driving and excess speeding. About 27% of the drivers were professional drivers and 41% were in the age group 25-35 years in good health with no alcohol or drug intake. Hence, human errors may be attributed to carelessness, experience, lack of knowledge or attention, over-exhaustion or fatigue. The effects of physical stressors on performance of drivers need to be further explored and clarified but this need not underestimate the importance of vehicle and environment since most accidents are multifactoral and a slight change in them may effectively enhance perception and minimise personal error. Recommendations for remedial measures adopting an interdisciplinary approach are presented.

  1. Contribution of meson exchange currents to magnetic form factor of a few complex nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mathiot, J.F.

    1981-12-01

    We were interested in the contribution of meson exchange currents (MEC) to the magnetic form factor (MFF) of 49 Ti, 51 V, 87 Sr, 93 Nb at high momentum transfer (1.8 fm -1 to 3.2 fm -1 ). We found that the contribution of tensor correlations to the 1 S 0 - 3 S 1 transition of MEC (adding the 3 D 1 tensor part to the 3 S 1 relative state) multiply the previous calculations by a factor of 2.5 to 4. The sensitivity of MEC to the hadronic form factor is also estimated. It remains of discrepancy of a factor 2 for the MFF at 3 fm -1 for the first three nuclei [fr

  2. Contributing factors in self-poisoning leading to hospital admission in adolescents in northern Finland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liisanantti, Janne Henrik; Ala-Kokko, Tero Ilmari; Dunder, Teija Sinikka; Ebeling, Hanna Elina

    2010-07-01

    To evaluate the frequencies of different agents used in self-poisonings and acute factors contributing to intoxication of patients aged 12-18 years in northern Finland. Retrospective medical record review of all hospitalized patients during the period from January 1, 1991 to December 31, 2006. Cause of the admission, contributing factors, readmissions within one year. There were 309 admissions during the period, 54% were females. The leading cause of admission was alcohol, in 222 cases (71.8%). Hospitalizations related to alcohol consumption were associated with accidental poisoning in recreational use. There were no acute contributing factors in the majority of all patients. Over one-third of all intoxications were intentional self-harm, although previously diagnosed psychiatric diseases were rare. It is crucial to recognize adolescent psychiatric disorders in time and consult child and adolescent psychiatrist in case of poisoning.

  3. Factors Contributing to the Hydrologic Effectiveness of a Rain Garden Network (Cincinnati OH USA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William D. Shuster

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Infiltrative rain gardens can add retention capacity to sewersheds, yet factors contributing to their capacity for detention and redistribution of stormwater runoff are dynamic and often unverified. Over a four-year period, we tracked whole-system water fluxes in a two-tier rain garden network and assessed near-surface hydrology and soil development across construction and operational phases. The monitoring data provided a quantitative basis for determining effectiveness of this stormwater control measure. Based on 233 monitored warm-season rainfall events, nearly half of total inflow volume was detained, with 90 percent of all events producing no flow to the combined sewer. For the events that did result in flow to the combined sewer system, the rain garden delayed flows for an average of 5.5 h. Multivariate analysis of hydrologic fluxes indicated that total event rainfall depth was a predominant hydrologic driver for network outflow during both phases, with average event intensity and daily evapotranspiration as additional, independent factors in regulating retention in the operational phase. Despite sediment loads that can clog the rooting zone, and overall lower-than-design infiltration rates, tradeoffs among soil profile development and hydrology apparently maintained relatively high overall retention effectiveness. Overall, our study identified factors relevant to regulation of retention capacity of a rain garden network. These factors may be generalizable, and guide improvement of new or existing rain garden designs.

  4. Deconstructing contributing factors to bullying and lateral violence in nursing using a postcolonial feminist lens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Croft, Rhonda Kathleen; Cash, Penelope Anne

    2012-10-01

    Bullying and lateral violence is a reality in the workplace for many nurses and has been explored in nursing literature for at least three decades. Using a postcolonial feminist approach this paper examines what contributes to bullying and lateral violence in the nursing workplace by deconstructing the findings from a British Columbia Nurses Union and Union of Psychiatric Nurses study. Theories of oppression and organizational context which have appeared in the literature serve to inform the discussion. A postcolonial lens provides an opportunity to come to grips with the insidiousness of bullying and lateral violence. An adaption of Phillips, Lawrence, and Hardy's (2004) framework is used to unpack discourses, actions, texts, and organizational practices to challenge taken-for-granted hegemonies in the workplace. Taking this different view has enabled new prisms of understanding to emerge from the contributing factors identified in the study. Based on this analysis it is clear that bullying and lateral violence is deeply institutionalized. Nurses, managers, and organizations need to interrupt and interrogate the embeddedness of bullying and lateral violence in order to create a civil workplace.

  5. Identifying factors to improve oral cancer screening uptake: a qualitative study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fatemeh Vida Zohoori

    Full Text Available To engage with high risk groups to identify knowledge and awareness of oral cancer signs and symptoms and the factors likely to contribute to improved screening uptake.Focus group discussions were undertaken with 18 males; 40+ years of age; smokers and/or drinkers (15+ cigarettes per day and/or 15+ units of alcohol per week, irregular dental attenders living in economically deprived areas of Teesside.There was a striking reported lack of knowledge and awareness of oral cancer and its signs and symptoms among the participants. When oral/mouth cancer leaflets produced by Cancer Research UK were presented to the participants, they claimed that they would seek help on noticing such a condition. There was a preference to seek help from their general practitioner rather than their dentist due to perceptions that a dentist is 'inaccessible' on a physical and psychological level, costly, a 'tooth specialist' not a 'mouth specialist', and also not able to prescribe medication and make referrals to specialists. Interestingly, none of the 18 participants who were offered a free oral cancer examination at a dental practice took up this offer.The uptake of oral cancer screening may be improved by increasing knowledge of the existence and signs and symptoms of oral cancer. Other factors that may increase uptake are increased awareness of the role of dentists in diagnosing oral cancer, promotion of oral cancer screening by health professionals during routine health checks, and the use of a "health" screening setting as opposed to a "dental" setting for such checks.

  6. Factors Contributing to the Subjective Career Success among Islamic Educators in Primary Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mesnan Supa`ad

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available A very limited research has been done in the field of career development among Islamic education teachers. Most of the previous researches showed an improvement in terms of grades, positions, and responsibilities of their previous routines as an indicator of their career advancement. However, this conceptual (concept paper discusses how personality factors, career planning, and career strategy can provide significant contribution to the success of Islamic education teachers’ career. Based on the Five Factor Model, Gould Planning Model, and the support of previous researches, this paper discusses how these three factors can contribute to the success of Islamic education teachers’ career. This paper also discusses its impact towards Islamic education teachers in Malaysia, schools management, District Education Office, Ministry of Education, and teachers education institutions.

  7. Enhancement of crop photosynthesis by diffuse light: quantifying the contributing factors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Li, T.; Heuvelink, E.; Dueck, T.A.; Janse, J.; Gort, G.; Marcelis, L.F.M.

    2014-01-01

    Plants use diffuse light more efficiently than direct light. However, experimental comparisons between diffuse and direct light have been obscured by co-occurring differences in environmental conditions (e.g. light intensity). This study aims to analyse the factors that contribute to an increase in

  8. Contribution of individual and environmental factors to physical activity level among Spanish adults.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Antonio Serrano-Sanchez

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Lack of physical activity (PA is a major risk for chronic disease and obesity. The main aims of the present study were to identify individual and environmental factors independently associated with PA and examine the relative contribution of these factors to PA level in Spanish adults. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A population-based cross-sectional sample of 3,000 adults (18-75 years old from Gran Canaria (Spain was selected using a multistage stratified random sampling method. The participants were interviewed at home using a validated questionnaire to assess PA as well as individual and environmental factors. The data were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression. One demographic variable (education, two cognitive (self-efficacy and perceived barriers, and one social environmental (organized format were independently associated with PA in both genders. Odds ratios ranged between 1.76-2.07 in men and 1.35-2.50 in women (both p<0.05. Individual and environmental factors explained about one-third of the variance in PA level. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Self-efficacy and perceived barriers were the most significant factors to meet an adequate level of PA. The risk of insufficient PA was twofold greater in men with primary or lesser studies and who are employed. In women, living in rural environments increased the risk of insufficient PA. The promotion of organized PA may be an efficient way to increase the level of PA in the general population. Improvement in the access to sport facilities and places for PA is a prerequisite that may be insufficient and should be combined with strategies to improve self-efficacy and overcome perceived barriers in adulthood.

  9. Personality Factors in Elementary School Children: Contributions to Academic Performance over and above Executive Functions?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neuenschwander, Regula; Cimeli, Patrizia; Rothlisberger, Marianne; Roebers, Claudia M.

    2013-01-01

    Unique contributions of Big Five personality factors to academic performance in young elementary school children were explored. Extraversion and Openness (labeled "Culture" in our study) uniquely contributed to academic performance, over and above the contribution of executive functions in first and second grade children (N = 446). Well…

  10. Biological factors contributing to bark and ambrosia beetle species diversification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gohli, Jostein; Kirkendall, Lawrence R; Smith, Sarah M; Cognato, Anthony I; Hulcr, Jiri; Jordal, Bjarte H

    2017-05-01

    The study of species diversification can identify the processes that shape patterns of species richness across the tree of life. Here, we perform comparative analyses of species diversification using a large dataset of bark beetles. Three examined covariates-permanent inbreeding (sibling mating), fungus farming, and major host type-represent a range of factors that may be important for speciation. We studied the association of these covariates with species diversification while controlling for evolutionary lag on adaptation. All three covariates were significantly associated with diversification, but fungus farming showed conflicting patterns between different analyses. Genera that exhibited interspecific variation in host type had higher rates of species diversification, which may suggest that host switching is a driver of species diversification or that certain host types or forest compositions facilitate colonization and thus allopatric speciation. Because permanent inbreeding is thought to facilitate dispersal, the positive association between permanent inbreeding and diversification rates suggests that dispersal ability may contribute to species richness. Bark beetles are ecologically unique; however, our results indicate that their impressive species diversity is largely driven by mechanisms shown to be important for many organism groups. © 2017 The Author(s). Evolution © 2017 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

  11. Analysis of Traffic Crashes Involving Pedestrians Using Big Data: Investigation of Contributing Factors and Identification of Hotspots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Kun; Ozbay, Kaan; Kurkcu, Abdullah; Yang, Hong

    2017-08-01

    This study aims to explore the potential of using big data in advancing the pedestrian risk analysis including the investigation of contributing factors and the hotspot identification. Massive amounts of data of Manhattan from a variety of sources were collected, integrated, and processed, including taxi trips, subway turnstile counts, traffic volumes, road network, land use, sociodemographic, and social media data. The whole study area was uniformly split into grid cells as the basic geographical units of analysis. The cell-structured framework makes it easy to incorporate rich and diversified data into risk analysis. The cost of each crash, weighted by injury severity, was assigned to the cells based on the relative distance to the crash site using a kernel density function. A tobit model was developed to relate grid-cell-specific contributing factors to crash costs that are left-censored at zero. The potential for safety improvement (PSI) that could be obtained by using the actual crash cost minus the cost of "similar" sites estimated by the tobit model was used as a measure to identify and rank pedestrian crash hotspots. The proposed hotspot identification method takes into account two important factors that are generally ignored, i.e., injury severity and effects of exposure indicators. Big data, on the one hand, enable more precise estimation of the effects of risk factors by providing richer data for modeling, and on the other hand, enable large-scale hotspot identification with higher resolution than conventional methods based on census tracts or traffic analysis zones. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

  12. Contribution of genetic background, traditional risk factors, and HIV-related factors to coronary artery disease events in HIV-positive persons

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rotger, Margalida; Glass, Tracy R; Junier, Thomas; Lundgren, Jens; Neaton, James D; Poloni, Estella S; van 't Wout, Angélique B; Lubomirov, Rubin; Colombo, Sara; Martinez, Raquel; Rauch, Andri; Günthard, Huldrych F; Neuhaus, Jacqueline; Wentworth, Deborah; van Manen, Danielle; Gras, Luuk A; Schuitemaker, Hanneke; Albini, Laura; Torti, Carlo; Jacobson, Lisa P; Li, Xiuhong; Kingsley, Lawrence A; Carli, Federica; Guaraldi, Giovanni; Ford, Emily S; Sereti, Irini; Hadigan, Colleen; Martinez, Esteban; Arnedo, Mireia; Egaña-Gorroño, Lander; Gatell, Jose M; Law, Matthew; Bendall, Courtney; Petoumenos, Kathy; Rockstroh, Jürgen; Wasmuth, Jan-Christian; Kabamba, Kabeya; Delforge, Marc; De Wit, Stephane; Berger, Florian; Mauss, Stefan; de Paz Sierra, Mariana; Losso, Marcelo; Belloso, Waldo H; Leyes, Maria; Campins, Antoni; Mondi, Annalisa; De Luca, Andrea; Bernardino, Ignacio; Barriuso-Iglesias, Mónica; Torrecilla-Rodriguez, Ana; Gonzalez-Garcia, Juan; Arribas, José R; Fanti, Iuri; Gel, Silvia; Puig, Jordi; Negredo, Eugenia; Gutierrez, Mar; Domingo, Pere; Fischer, Julia; Fätkenheuer, Gerd; Alonso-Villaverde, Carlos; Macken, Alan; Woo, James; McGinty, Tara; Mallon, Patrick; Mangili, Alexandra; Skinner, Sally; Wanke, Christine A; Reiss, Peter; Weber, Rainer; Bucher, Heiner C; Fellay, Jacques; Telenti, Amalio; Tarr, Philip E; Schölvinck, Elisabeth H.

    BACKGROUND: Persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have increased rates of coronary artery disease (CAD). The relative contribution of genetic background, HIV-related factors, antiretroviral medications, and traditional risk factors to CAD has not been fully evaluated in the

  13. Occupational, Environmental, and Lifestyle Factors and their Contribution to Preterm Birth - An Overview.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Sunil; Sharma, Surendra; Thaker, Riddhi

    2017-01-01

    Preterm birth (PTB) is a significant public health concern and a leading cause of infant mortality and morbidity worldwide and often contributes to various health complications later in life. More than 60% of PTBs occur in Africa and south Asia. This overview discusses the available information on occupational, environmental, and lifestyle factors and their contribution to PTB and proposes new etiological explanations that underlie this devastating pregnancy complication. Several factors such as emotional, stress, social, racial, maternal anxiety, multiple pregnancies, infections during pregnancy, diabetes and high blood pressure, and in-vitro fertilization pregnancy have been shown to be associated with PTB. Data are emerging that occupational, environmental exposure and lifestyle factors might also be associated in part with PTB, however, they are at best limited and inconclusive. Nevertheless, data on heavy metals such as lead, air pollutants and particulate matters, bisphenol A, phthalate compounds, and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) are promising and point to higher incidence of PTB associated with exposure to them. Thus, these observations can be used to advise pregnant women or women of reproductive age to avoid such exposures and adopt positive lifestyle to protect pregnancy and normal fetal development. There is a need to conduct well-planned epidemiological studies that include all the pathology causing factors that may contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes, including PTB.

  14. The gold standard and the European Monetary Union (EMU) : are the factors that contributed to the breakdown of the gold standard also present in the EMU?

    OpenAIRE

    Wergeland, Helene

    2012-01-01

    This thesis seeks to identify the most important factors that contributed to the breakdown of the gold standard in the 1930s, and to see if these factors are present in the European Monetary Union (EMU) today. This is done in order to find out if the same factors might create, or have created, similar instabilities and problems in the EMU as they imposed on the interwar gold standard. The factors regarded as important for the breakdown of the gold standard are (1) the central ...

  15. Contribution of genetic background, traditional risk factors, and HIV-related factors to coronary artery disease events in HIV-positive persons

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rotger, Margalida; Glass, Tracy R.; Junier, Thomas; Lundgren, Jens; Neaton, James D.; Poloni, Estella S.; van 't Wout, Angélique B.; Lubomirov, Rubin; Colombo, Sara; Martinez, Raquel; Rauch, Andri; Günthard, Huldrych F.; Neuhaus, Jacqueline; Wentworth, Deborah; van Manen, Danielle; Gras, Luuk A.; Schuitemaker, Hanneke; Albini, Laura; Torti, Carlo; Jacobson, Lisa P.; Li, Xiuhong; Kingsley, Lawrence A.; Carli, Federica; Guaraldi, Giovanni; Ford, Emily S.; Sereti, Irini; Hadigan, Colleen; Martinez, Esteban; Arnedo, Mireia; Egaña-Gorroño, Lander; Gatell, Jose M.; Law, Matthew; Bendall, Courtney; Petoumenos, Kathy; Rockstroh, Jürgen; Wasmuth, Jan-Christian; Kabamba, Kabeya; Delforge, Marc; de Wit, Stephane; Berger, Florian; Mauss, Stefan; de Paz Sierra, Mariana; Losso, Marcelo; Belloso, Waldo H.; Leyes, Maria; Campins, Antoni; Mondi, Annalisa; de Luca, Andrea; Bernardino, Ignacio; Barriuso-Iglesias, Mónica; Torrecilla-Rodriguez, Ana; Gonzalez-Garcia, Juan; Arribas, José R.; Fanti, Iuri; Gel, Silvia; Puig, Jordi; Negredo, Eugenia; Gutierrez, Mar; Domingo, Pere; Fischer, Julia; Fätkenheuer, Gerd; Alonso-Villaverde, Carlos; Macken, Alan; Woo, James; McGinty, Tara; Mallon, Patrick; Mangili, Alexandra; Skinner, Sally; Wanke, Christine A.; Reiss, Peter; Weber, Rainer; Bucher, Heiner C.; Fellay, Jacques; Telenti, Amalio; Tarr, Philip E.; Gras, A. Luuk; van Wout, Angelique B.; Arnedo-Valero, Mireia; Sierra, Mariana de Paz; Rodriguez, Ana Torrecilla; Garcia, Juan Gonzalez; Arribas, Jose R.; Aubert, V.; Barth, J.; Battegay, M.; Bernasconi, E.; Böni, J.; Bucher, H. C.; Burton-Jeangros, C.; Calmy, A.; Cavassini, M.; Egger, M.; Elzi, L.; Fehr, J.; Fellay, J.; Francioli, P.; Furrer, H.; Fux, C. A.; Gorgievski, M.; Günthard, H.; Haerry, D.; Hasse, B.; Hirsch, H. H.; Hirschel, B.; Hösli, I.; Kahlert, C.; Kaiser, L.; Keiser, O.; Kind, C.; Klimkait, T.; Kovari, H.; Ledergerber, B.; Martinetti, G.; Martinez de Tejada, B.; Metzner, K.; Müller, N.; Nadal, D.; Pantaleo, G.; Rauch, A.; Regenass, S.; Rickenbach, M.; Rudin, C.; Schmid, P.; Schultze, D.; Schöni-Affolter, F.; Schüpbach, J.; Speck, R.; Taffé, P.; Tarr, P.; Telenti, A.; Trkola, A.; Vernazza, P.; Weber, R.; Prins, Yerly S. J. M.; Kuijpers, T. W.; Scherpbier, H. J.; Boer, K.; van der Meer, J. T. M.; Wit, F. W. M. N.; Godfried, M. H.; van der Poll, T.; Nellen, F. J. B.; Lange, J. M. A.; Geerlings, S. E.; van Vugt, M.; Vrouenraets, S. M. E.; Pajkrt, D.; Bos, J. C.; van der Valk, M.; Schreij, G.; Lowe, S.; Oude Lashof, A.; Pronk, M. J. H.; Bravenboer, B.; van der Ende, M. E.; de Vries-Sluijs, T. E. M. S.; Schurink, C. A. M.; van der Feltz, M.; Nouwen, J. L.; Gelinck, L. B. S.; Verbon, A.; Rijnders, B. J. A.; van de Ven-de Ruiter, E. D.; Slobbe, L.; Haag, Den; Kauffmann, R. H.; Schippers, E. F.; Groeneveld, P. H. P.; Alleman, M. A.; Bouwhuis, J. W.; ten Kate, R. W.; Soetekouw, R.; Kroon, F. P.; van den Broek, P. J.; van Dissel, J. T.; Arend, S. M.; van Nieuwkoop, C.; de Boer, M. J. G.; Jolink, H.; den Hollander, J. G.; Pogany, K.; Bronsveld, W.; Kortmann, W.; van Twillert, G.; van Houte, D. P. F.; Polée, M. B.; van Vonderen, M. G. A.; ten Napel, C. H. H.; Kootstra, G. J.; Brinkman, K.; Blok, W. L.; Frissen, P. H. J.; Schouten, W. E. M.; van den Berk, G. E. L.; Juttmann, J. R.; van Kasteren, M. E. E.; Brouwer, A. E.; Mulder, J. W.; van Gorp, E. C. M.; Smit, P. M.; Weijer, S.; van Eeden, A.; Verhagen, D. W. M.; Sprenger, H. G.; Doedens, R.; Scholvinck, E. H.; van Assen, S.; Stek, C. J.; Hoepelman, I. M.; Mudrikova, T.; Schneider, M. M. E.; Jaspers, C. A. J. J.; Ellerbroek, P. M.; Peters, E. J. G.; Maarschalk-Ellerbroek, L. J.; Oosterheert, J. J.; Arends, J. E.; Wassenberg, M. W. M.; van der Hilst, J. C. H.; Richter, C.; van der Berg, J. P.; Gisolf, E. H.; Margolick, Joseph B.; Plankey, Michael; Crain, Barbara; Dobs, Adrian; Farzadegan, Homayoon; Gallant, Joel; Johnson-Hill, Lisette; Sacktor, Ned; Selnes, Ola; Shepard, James; Thio, Chloe; Phair, John P.; Wolinsky, Steven M.; Badri, Sheila; Conover, Craig; O'Gorman, Maurice; Ostrow, David; Palella, Frank; Ragin, Ann; Detels, Roger; Martínez-Maza, Otoniel; Aronow, Aaron; Bolan, Robert; Breen, Elizabeth; Butch, Anthony; Fahey, John; Jamieson, Beth; Miller, Eric N.; Oishi, John; Vinters, Harry; Visscher, Barbara R.; Wiley, Dorothy; Witt, Mallory; Yang, Otto; Young, Stephen; Zhang, Zuo Feng; Rinaldo, Charles R.; Becker, James T.; Cranston, Ross D.; Martinson, Jeremy J.; Mellors, John W.; Silvestre, Anthony J.; Stall, Ronald D.; Muñoz, Alvaro; Abraham, Alison; Althoff, Keri; Cox, Christopher; D'Souza, Gypsyamber; Gange, Stephen J.; Golub, Elizabeth; Schollenberger, Janet; Seaberg, Eric C.; Su, Sol; Huebner, Robin E.; Dominguez, Geraldina; Moroni, M.; Angarano, G.; Antinori, A.; Carosi, G.; Cauda, R.; Monforte, A. d'Arminio; Di Perri, G.; Galli, M.; Iardino, R.; Ippolito, G.; Lazzarin, A.; Perno, C. F.; Sagnelli, E.; Viale, P. L.; Von Schlosser, F.; d'Arminio Monforte, A.; Ammassari, A.; Andreoni, M.; Balotta, C.; Bonfanti, P.; Bonora, S.; Borderi, M.; Capobianchi, M. R.; Castagna, A.; Ceccherini-Silberstein, F.; Cozzi-Lepri, A.; de Luca, A.; Gargiulo, M.; Gervasoni, C.; Girardi, E.; Lichtner, M.; Lo Caputo, S.; Madeddu, G.; Maggiolo, F.; Marcotullio, S.; Monno, L.; Murri, R.; Mussini, C.; Puoti, M.; Torti, C.; Fanti, I.; Formenti, T.; Galli, Laura; Lorenzini, Patrizia; Montroni, M.; Giacometti, A.; Costantini, A.; Riva, A.; Tirelli, U.; Martellotta, F.; Ladisa, N.; Lazzari, G.; Verucchi, G.; Castelli, F.; Scalzini, A.; Minardi, C.; Bertelli, D.; Quirino, T.; Abeli, C.; Manconi, P. E.; Piano, P.; Vecchiet, J.; Falasca, K.; Carnevale, G.; Lorenzotti, S.; Sighinolfi, L.; Segala, D.; Leoncini, F.; Mazzotta, F.; Pozzi, M.; Cassola, G.; Viscoli, G.; Viscoli, A.; Piscopo, R.; Mazzarello, G.; Mastroianni, C.; Belvisi, V.; Caramma, I.; Chiodera, A.; Castelli, P.; Rizzardini, G.; Ridolfo, A. L.; Foschi, A.; Salpietro, S.; Galli, A.; Bigoloni, A.; Spagnuolo, V.; Merli, S.; Carenzi, L.; Moioli, M. C.; Cicconi, P.; Bisio, L.; Gori, A.; Lapadula, G.; Abrescia, N.; Chirianni, A.; de Marco, M.; Ferrari, C.; Borghi, R.; Baldelli, F.; Belfiori, B.; Parruti, G.; Ursini, T.; Magnani, G.; Ursitti, M. A.; Narciso, P.; Tozzi, V.; Vullo, V.; d'Avino, A.; Zaccarelli, M.; Gallo, L.; Acinapura, R.; Capozzi, M.; Libertone, R.; Trotta, M. P.; Tebano, G.; Cattelan, A. M.; Mura, M. S.; Caramello, P.; Orofino, G. C.; Sciandra, M.; Raise, N. N.; Ebo, F.; Pellizzer, G.; Manfrin, V.; Law, M.; Petoumenos, K.; McManus, H.; Wright, S.; Bendall, C.; Moore, R.; Edwards, S.

    2013-01-01

    Persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have increased rates of coronary artery disease (CAD). The relative contribution of genetic background, HIV-related factors, antiretroviral medications, and traditional risk factors to CAD has not been fully evaluated in the setting of HIV

  16. Factors contributing to low participation in mammography screening in Papua New Guinea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pape, R.; Spuur, K.M.; Umo, P.

    2016-01-01

    Aim: The aim of this paper is to describe the current state of mammography screening services in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and to document factors thought to contribute to low participation in the free mammography screening service at the Pacific International Hospital (PIH), Port Moresby. Method: Women attending for mammography screening at PIH between August 2006 and July 2010 were invited to complete a survey investigating environmental, political, social, financial, cultural and health factors thought to be contributing to low participation in the mammography screening service. Ethics approval and permission to collect data was granted through the University of Papua New Guinea, School of Medicine and Health Sciences Research and Ethics Committee and by the Medical Director and Chief Operating Officer of PIH. Results: The reasons for low participation were found to be multifactorial; difficult environmental factors 42.86%; financial dependency factors 40.54%; cultural factors related to exposing the body 50.03%, social factors (sexual harassment) 77.6%, political factors 4.29% and health factors including poor health 54.54%. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that in this snapshot of PNG women, the low participation rate in the free mammography screening program at PIH was influenced by various interrelated factors inherent in both the PNG environment and culture, in particular lack of transport infrastructure, financial burden and sexual harassment. As low participation directly impacts upon the high breast cancer mortality in PNG women, a more comprehensive study of the women of PNG is required to validate this research. - Highlights: • Snap shot of issues surrounding low participation in the free screening program. • Geography and poor transport infrastructure made participation almost impossible. • Lack of funds for transport by either road or air deterred participation. • Sexual harassment was the main social factor that deterred access.

  17. Contributing factors of elective surgical case cancellation: a retrospective cross-sectional study at a single-site hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Kaiye; Xie, Xiaolei; Luo, Li; Gong, Renrong

    2017-09-11

    Case cancellation (CC) has significant impact on the efficiency of operating room (OR) management, which can be mitigated by taking preventive measures. In this study, using the data of the West China Hospital (WCH), we identified the effect of contributing factors and recommended hospital interventions to facilitate CC prevention. We conducted a retrospective review of 11,331 elective surgical cases from January 1 to December 31, 2014. CC reasons were grouped into six categories. The methods of descriptive statistics and hypothesis test were used to identify the effect of factors. CC reasons (746) were divided into six broad categories: workup related (preoperative diagnostic assessment issues or sudden medical condition changes) (25.8%), non-specified reasons (25.8%), coordination issues (15.1%), patient related (13.0%), support system issues (11.8%), and doctor related (8.5%). The types of the most frequently performed operations are identified, as well as their CRs. The cancellation rate (CR) of males was lower than that of females (16.7% to 18.3%). A large difference in the CRs existed among doctors. The CR on Monday was significantly higher than the other four weekdays. Workup related issues, the types of procedures, the menstrual cycle of females, highly imbalanced CRs among doctors, and tendency of cancellation on Monday are the major identified factors, which account for a significant amount of preventable cancellations. It is suggested that corresponding hospital interventions can reduce CR and improve OR efficiency, including maintaining effective coordination, good communication and well-designed preoperative assessment processes, focusing on the type of procedures which are more time-consuming and complex, paying special attention to the physiology of females during surgery planning, taking measures to reduce CR of top eight doctors, and improving surgery scheduling on Monday.

  18. Identifying and assessing the factors affecting skill gap in digital marketing in communication industry companies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fereshteh Ghotbifar

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available As far as new communication channels are concerned, there have been extensive developments in communications and marketing in digital era. Today, therefore, companies try to take advantage of digital marketing channels to provide suitable services to customers to improve their satisfaction level. However, this study aimed to identify and assess factors affecting skill gap in digital marketing. This was descriptive correlation study. The population consisted of experts in communications industry to identify most important skill gaps in digital marketing and factors affecting them; also, managers and specialists of these companies were investigated to determine the role of identified factors in reducing skills gaps. Using localized questionnaire and interviewing with ten experts who were selected by Delphi snowball method, the skill gaps in marketing and factors affecting them were identified. Also, a researcher made questionnaire with 32 questions was distributed among 226 employees to investigate the identified factors role in reducing skills gap in digital marketing. The results showed that from four identified factors, the components including operational strategic factors and environmental factors had direct and positive impact on creating skill gap in digital marketing of studied companies. The environmental factors such as social and cultural conditions, religion, technology, and economy had more proactive impact on skills gap in digital marketing. Also, the results showed that among skills gaps in digital marketing of studied companies, the skills (Principles of Communication and (Predicting Future had the highest and lowest gaps, respectively.

  19. Factors contributing to work related low back pain among personal care workers in old age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeung, Simon S

    2012-01-01

    This study aims to preliminary explore the work related and individual factors that contributed to the occurrence of low back pain (LBP) that affected work activities of Personal Care Workers (PCWs). A cross-sectional study was conducted to 36 PCWs in an old age home of Hong Kong. The study is divided into three parts: 1) a questionnaire to document the workload exposure factors and the musculoskeletal symptoms survey of the PCWs, 2) work posture evaluation; and 3) an evaluation of the physical fitness and lifting capacity of the PCWs. Univariate analyses were used to explore the risk factors associated with LBP that affected work activities. The results indicated that individual physical profile and lifting capacities did not contribute to occurrence of low back pain at work. For the work demand factors, the perceived physical demands in lifting and lowering heavy objects, awkward sustain neck and back postures, loading on the back, and perceived effort of cleaning task contributed to the occurrence of LBP. For the physical environment factors, thermal stress and improper ventilation were associated with the occurrence of LBP cases. For the individual factor, LBP cases were associated with workers' self perceived muscular effort, and perceived risk of mental illness in response to work requirements.

  20. Risk factors for atherosclerosis - can they be used to identify the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Risk factors are often used in preventive care programmes to identify the patient at particular risk for developing atherosclerosis. Risk factors for atherosclerosis have also been shown to be linked to the presence of the disease at a given time, a fact that may be helpful when screening for additional atherosclerotic disease in ...

  1. Factors contributing to and strategies to combat emerging arboviruses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Callender, David Michael

    2018-04-17

    Less than half a century ago infectious diseases appeared to be destined to be extinguished via as a culmination of medical triumphs. As focus turned towards combating non-communicable diseases, emerging and re-emerging diseases (EIDs) have bloomed from those ashes. Five epidemic mosquito-borne arboviruses (Yellow Fever virus (YFV), Dengue virus, West Nile virus, Chikungunya virus, and Zika virus) have emerged in the recent past. Arboviruses are of the utmost importance with respect to EIDs due to intensive growth of globalisation, arthropod urban fitness/adaption, and environmental changes. We focus on recent outbreaks of the arthropod borne viruses (arboviruses) Zika virus and YFV. Factors contributing to the blossoming of EIDs (environmental, globalisation, and urbanisation) and combating strategies (surveillance, containment, and prevention) will be discussed. Specifically, Zika virus and YFV will be used in the context of these factors and strategies. YFV is discussed in detail as it pertains to these factors and strategies in the United States (US), 2017 Brazil Outbreak, 2016 Africa Outbreak, and global risk. Vigilance is needed to focus on, prevent, and control the current and next arbovirus EIDs.

  2. Considering the human factors contribution to the risk in the design choices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Papin, B.

    2004-01-01

    Abstract: With the increasing reliability of the modern technological systems, the human contribution to the global risk in the operation of industrial systems is becoming more and more significant: in the nuclear reactor operation for example, a recent PSA estimation of this contribution is about 25% of the risk of core melting, all situations considered. This urges the designers of future plants to consider the minimization of this Human Factor (HF) contribution, at the very early stage of their design: the experience feedback shows that this is indeed at this stage that the fundamental design options, impacting the most the human reliability in operation, are fixed. The problem is that at these early design stages, it is also quite impossible to apply formal human reliability methods to support this HF optimisation, while the precise operating conditions of the plant are not yet known in enough details. In this paper, another approach of the HF evaluation during the design, based on the functional and operational complexity assessment, is proposed. As an illustration, this approach is used to compare various concepts of nuclear reactors from the point of view of the Human Factor relevance. (authors)

  3. Smoking Attitudes and Practices among Low-Income African Americans: Qualitative Assessment of Contributing Factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beech, Bettina M.; Scarinci, Isabel C.

    2003-01-01

    Qualitatively examined sociocultural factors associated with smoking attitudes and practices among low-income, African American young adults smokers and nonsmokers. Focus group data indicated that specific contextual and familial factors contributed to smoking initiation, maintenance, and cessation (e.g., strong parental discipline, limited…

  4. Identifying Key Drivers of Return Reversal with Dynamical Bayesian Factor Graph.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuai Zhao

    Full Text Available In the stock market, return reversal occurs when investors sell overbought stocks and buy oversold stocks, reversing the stocks' price trends. In this paper, we develop a new method to identify key drivers of return reversal by incorporating a comprehensive set of factors derived from different economic theories into one unified dynamical Bayesian factor graph. We then use the model to depict factor relationships and their dynamics, from which we make some interesting discoveries about the mechanism behind return reversals. Through extensive experiments on the US stock market, we conclude that among the various factors, the liquidity factors consistently emerge as key drivers of return reversal, which is in support of the theory of liquidity effect. Specifically, we find that stocks with high turnover rates or high Amihud illiquidity measures have a greater probability of experiencing return reversals. Apart from the consistent drivers, we find other drivers of return reversal that generally change from year to year, and they serve as important characteristics for evaluating the trends of stock returns. Besides, we also identify some seldom discussed yet enlightening inter-factor relationships, one of which shows that stocks in Finance and Insurance industry are more likely to have high Amihud illiquidity measures in comparison with those in other industries. These conclusions are robust for return reversals under different thresholds.

  5. Factors contributing to Korean teachers' attitudes toward students with epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Sang-Ahm; Yim, Soo Bin; Rho, Young Il; Chu, Minkyung; Park, Hyeon Mi; Lee, Geun-ho; Park, Sung-Pa; Jung, Dae Soo

    2011-02-01

    We investigated factors contributing to teachers' attitudes toward students with epilepsy. Data were collected from 604 teachers in Korea. The questionnaire included the Scale of Attitudes Toward Persons with Epilepsy (ATPE) and a demographic and teaching experience survey. In stepwise linear regression analysis, ATPE Knowledge scores (PAttitude scores. The ATPE Knowledge scores accounted for 50.1% of the variance in the Attitude scores, and experience teaching a student with epilepsy accounted only for 1.0%. Our finding that teachers' knowledge is the most important factor influencing teacher's attitudes toward epilepsy indicates that teachers should be provided with information about epilepsy universally, across geographic settings, educational levels, and experience levels. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Fatores contribuintes aos acidentes aeronáuticos Factores contribuyentes de accidentes aeronáuticos Contributive factors to aviation accidents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcia Fajer

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available O objetivo do estudo foi comparar os resultados de investigações de acidentes aeronáuticos brasileiros do Centro de Investigação e Prevenção de Acidentes Aeronáuticos (Cenipa com os do sistema de análise e classificação de fatores humanos (Human Factors Analysis and Classification System - HFACS. Foram analisados e comparados os relatórios finais de 36 investigações de acidentes aeronáuticos ocorridos entre 2000 e 2005, no estado de São Paulo. Foram mencionados 163 fatores contribuintes dos acidentes aeronáuticos nos relatórios do Cenipa, enquanto 370 foram identificados por meio do HFACS. Conclui-se que as análises do Cenipa não contemplaram fatores organizacionais associados aos acidentes aéreos.El objetivo del estudio fue comparar los resultados de investigaciones de accidentes aeronáuticos brasileños del Centro de Investigación y Prevención de Accidentes Aeronáuticos (CENIPA con los del sistema de análisis y clasificación de factores humanos (Human Factors Analysis and Classification System - HFACS. Se analizaron y compararon los informes finales de 36 investigaciones de accidentes aeronáuticos ocurridos entre 2000 y 2005, en el estado de Sao Paulo, Sureste de Brasil. Se mencionaron 163 factores contribuyentes de accidentes aeronáuticos en los informes del CENIPA, mientras que 370 fueron identificados por medio del HFACS. Se concluye que los análisis del CENIPA no contemplaron factores organizacionales asociados con los accidentes aéreos.The objective of the study was to compare the results of aviation accident analyses performed by the Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aviation Accidents (CENIPA with the method Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS. The final reports of thirty-six general aviation accidents occurring between 2000 and 2005 in the State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil were analyzed and compared. CENIPA reports mentioned 163 contributive factors, while HFACS

  7. The nutritional status and factors contributing to malnutrition in children with chronic pancreatitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolodziejczyk, E; Wejnarska, K; Dadalski, M; Kierkus, J; Ryzko, J; Oracz, G

    2014-01-01

    The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of malnutrition among children with chronic pancreatitis (CP). Furthermore, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between etiological factors of CP, its clinical characteristics, and the severity of malnutrition. The study included 208 children with CP (113 girls and 95 boys; mean age: 10.8 years, range: 1.6-18 years), hospitalized at our center between 1988 and 2012. The severity of malnutrition was graded on the basis of Cole's ratios, and its prevalence was analyzed according to the etiological factors of pancreatitis. Moreover, the analysis of discrimination was performed to identify the factors contributing to malnutrition among the following variables: age at CP onset, duration of CP, number of CP exacerbations, the number of ERCPs performed, the grade of pancreatic damage documented on imaging, co-occurrence of diabetes, and the results of 72-h fecal fat quantification. We documented features of malnutrition in 52 (25%) children with CP, including 36 (17.3%) patients with moderate malnutrition, and 2 (0.96%) with severe malnutrition. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of malnutrition between groups of patients with various etiological factors of chronic pancreatitis. The age at CP onset showed the best discrimination ability of malnourished patients: the mean age at disease onset in a subgroup of malnourished children was significantly higher than in children with Cole's index >85%. A considerable percentage of children with CP can suffer from clinically significant malnutrition. Later age at CP onset predisposes to development of malnutrition. Copyright © 2014 IAP and EPC. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Use of model plant hosts to identify Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahme, Laurence G.; Tan, Man-Wah; Le, Long; Wong, Sandy M.; Tompkins, Ronald G.; Calderwood, Stephen B.; Ausubel, Frederick M.

    1997-01-01

    We used plants as an in vivo pathogenesis model for the identification of virulence factors of the human opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Nine of nine TnphoA mutant derivatives of P. aeruginosa strain UCBPP-PA14 that were identified in a plant leaf assay for less pathogenic mutants also exhibited significantly reduced pathogenicity in a burned mouse pathogenicity model, suggesting that P. aeruginosa utilizes common strategies to infect both hosts. Seven of these nine mutants contain TnphoA insertions in previously unknown genes. These results demonstrate that an alternative nonvertebrate host of a human bacterial pathogen can be used in an in vivo high throughput screen to identify novel bacterial virulence factors involved in mammalian pathogenesis. PMID:9371831

  9. Gene expression meta-analysis identifies metastatic pathways and transcription factors in breast cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomassen, Mads; Tan, Qihua; Kruse, Torben A

    2008-01-01

    Metastasis is believed to progress in several steps including different pathways but the determination and understanding of these mechanisms is still fragmentary. Microarray analysis of gene expression patterns in breast tumors has been used to predict outcome in recent studies. Besides classification of outcome, these global expression patterns may reflect biological mechanisms involved in metastasis of breast cancer. Our purpose has been to investigate pathways and transcription factors involved in metastasis by use of gene expression data sets. We have analyzed 8 publicly available gene expression data sets. A global approach, 'gene set enrichment analysis' as well as an approach focusing on a subset of significantly differently regulated genes, GenMAPP, has been applied to rank pathway gene sets according to differential regulation in metastasizing tumors compared to non-metastasizing tumors. Meta-analysis has been used to determine overrepresentation of pathways and transcription factors targets, concordant deregulated in metastasizing breast tumors, in several data sets. The major findings are up-regulation of cell cycle pathways and a metabolic shift towards glucose metabolism reflected in several pathways in metastasizing tumors. Growth factor pathways seem to play dual roles; EGF and PDGF pathways are decreased, while VEGF and sex-hormone pathways are increased in tumors that metastasize. Furthermore, migration, proteasome, immune system, angiogenesis, DNA repair and several signal transduction pathways are associated to metastasis. Finally several transcription factors e.g. E2F, NFY, and YY1 are identified as being involved in metastasis. By pathway meta-analysis many biological mechanisms beyond major characteristics such as proliferation are identified. Transcription factor analysis identifies a number of key factors that support central pathways. Several previously proposed treatment targets are identified and several new pathways that may

  10. An All-Recombinant Protein-Based Culture System Specifically Identifies Hematopoietic Stem Cell Maintenance Factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aki Ieyasu

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs are considered one of the most promising therapeutic targets for the treatment of various blood disorders. However, due to difficulties in establishing stable maintenance and expansion of HSCs in vitro, their insufficient supply is a major constraint to transplantation studies. To solve these problems we have developed a fully defined, all-recombinant protein-based culture system. Through this system, we have identified hemopexin (HPX and interleukin-1α as responsible for HSC maintenance in vitro. Subsequent molecular analysis revealed that HPX reduces intracellular reactive oxygen species levels within cultured HSCs. Furthermore, bone marrow immunostaining and 3D immunohistochemistry revealed that HPX is expressed in non-myelinating Schwann cells, known HSC niche constituents. These results highlight the utility of this fully defined all-recombinant protein-based culture system for reproducible in vitro HSC culture and its potential to contribute to the identification of factors responsible for in vitro maintenance, expansion, and differentiation of stem cell populations.

  11. Factors contributing to the immunogenicity of meningococcal conjugate vaccines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bröker, Michael; Berti, Francesco; Costantino, Paolo

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT Various glycoprotein conjugate vaccines have been developed for the prevention of invasive meningococcal disease, having significant advantages over pure polysaccharide vaccines. One of the most important features of the conjugate vaccines is the induction of a T-cell dependent immune response, which enables both the induction of immune memory and a booster response after repeated immunization. The nature of the carrier protein to which the polysaccharides are chemically linked, is often regarded as the main component of the vaccine in determining its immunogenicity. However, other factors can have a significant impact on the vaccine's profile. In this review, we explore the physico-chemical properties of meningococcal conjugate vaccines, which can significantly contribute to the vaccine's immunogenicity. We demonstrate that the carrier is not the sole determining factor of the vaccine's profile, but, moreover, that the conjugate vaccine's immunogenicity is the result of multiple physico-chemical structures and characteristics. PMID:26934310

  12. The use of population viability analysis to identify possible factors contributing to the decline of a rare ungulate population in south-eastern Zimbabwe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simon D. Capon

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Populations that are vulnerable to decline are of particular concern to wildlife managers and uncovering the mechanisms responsible for downward trends is a crucial step towards developing future viable populations. The aims of this study were to better understand the mechanisms behind the historic decline of the sable antelope, Hippotragus niger, population at the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve (MWR, to assess its future viability and to use this analysis to determine key areas of breakdown in population growth and link these to potential limiting factors. VORTEX, a population viability model was used to assess the future viability of the sable antelope population and a sensitivity analysis was applied to identify the key areas of breakdown in growth. The sable population is currently viable, but remains highly vulnerable to changes in adult female survival, a factor which had the greatest influence on overall population fitness. Lion predation, impacting on the adult segment of the population, appeared to be the main factor responsible for the historic decline at the MWR.Conservation implications: Sable generally occur at low densities in the lowveld region of Zimbabwe and, as such, populations are vulnerable to increases in mortality rates. The role of lions in driving the decline at the MWR suggests a need to control their numbers and develop prey refuges through improved management of artificial water.

  13. Sensitized mutagenesis screen in Factor V Leiden mice identifies thrombosis suppressor loci.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westrick, Randal J; Tomberg, Kärt; Siebert, Amy E; Zhu, Guojing; Winn, Mary E; Dobies, Sarah L; Manning, Sara L; Brake, Marisa A; Cleuren, Audrey C; Hobbs, Linzi M; Mishack, Lena M; Johnston, Alexander J; Kotnik, Emilee; Siemieniak, David R; Xu, Jishu; Li, Jun Z; Saunders, Thomas L; Ginsburg, David

    2017-09-05

    Factor V Leiden ( F5 L ) is a common genetic risk factor for venous thromboembolism in humans. We conducted a sensitized N -ethyl- N -nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis screen for dominant thrombosuppressor genes based on perinatal lethal thrombosis in mice homozygous for F5 L ( F5 L/L ) and haploinsufficient for tissue factor pathway inhibitor ( Tfpi +/- ). F8 deficiency enhanced the survival of F5 L/L Tfpi +/- mice, demonstrating that F5 L/L Tfpi +/- lethality is genetically suppressible. ENU-mutagenized F5 L/L males and F5 L/+ Tfpi +/- females were crossed to generate 6,729 progeny, with 98 F5 L/L Tfpi +/- offspring surviving until weaning. Sixteen lines, referred to as "modifier of Factor 5 Leiden ( MF5L1-16 )," exhibited transmission of a putative thrombosuppressor to subsequent generations. Linkage analysis in MF5L6 identified a chromosome 3 locus containing the tissue factor gene ( F3 ). Although no ENU-induced F3 mutation was identified, haploinsufficiency for F3 ( F3 +/- ) suppressed F5 L/L Tfpi +/- lethality. Whole-exome sequencing in MF5L12 identified an Actr2 gene point mutation (p.R258G) as the sole candidate. Inheritance of this variant is associated with suppression of F5 L/L Tfpi +/- lethality ( P = 1.7 × 10 -6 ), suggesting that Actr2 p.R258G is thrombosuppressive. CRISPR/Cas9 experiments to generate an independent Actr2 knockin/knockout demonstrated that Actr2 haploinsufficiency is lethal, supporting a hypomorphic or gain-of-function mechanism of action for Actr2 p.R258G Our findings identify F8 and the Tfpi/F3 axis as key regulators in determining thrombosis balance in the setting of F5 L and also suggest a role for Actr2 in this process.

  14. Factors contributing to young moped rider accidents in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Mette; Haustein, Sonja

    2016-01-01

    Young road users still constitute a high-risk group with regard to road traffic accidents. The crash rate of a moped is four times greater than that of a motorcycle, and the likelihood of being injured in a road traffic accident is 10-20 times higher among moped riders compared to car drivers...... was made between accident factors related to (1) the road and its surroundings, (2) the vehicle, and (3) the reported behaviour and condition of the road user. Thirteen accident factors were identified with the majority concerning the reported behaviour and condition of the road user. The average number...... of accident factors assigned per accident was 2.7. Riding speed was assigned in 45% of the accidents which made it the most frequently assigned factor on the part of the moped rider followed by attention errors (42%), a tuned up moped (29%) and position on the road (14%). For the other parties involved...

  15. Occupational, Environmental, and Lifestyle Factors and their Contribution to Preterm Birth – An Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Sunil; Sharma, Surendra; Thaker, Riddhi

    2017-01-01

    Preterm birth (PTB) is a significant public health concern and a leading cause of infant mortality and morbidity worldwide and often contributes to various health complications later in life. More than 60% of PTBs occur in Africa and south Asia. This overview discusses the available information on occupational, environmental, and lifestyle factors and their contribution to PTB and proposes new etiological explanations that underlie this devastating pregnancy complication. Several factors such as emotional, stress, social, racial, maternal anxiety, multiple pregnancies, infections during pregnancy, diabetes and high blood pressure, and in-vitro fertilization pregnancy have been shown to be associated with PTB. Data are emerging that occupational, environmental exposure and lifestyle factors might also be associated in part with PTB, however, they are at best limited and inconclusive. Nevertheless, data on heavy metals such as lead, air pollutants and particulate matters, bisphenol A, phthalate compounds, and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) are promising and point to higher incidence of PTB associated with exposure to them. Thus, these observations can be used to advise pregnant women or women of reproductive age to avoid such exposures and adopt positive lifestyle to protect pregnancy and normal fetal development. There is a need to conduct well-planned epidemiological studies that include all the pathology causing factors that may contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes, including PTB. PMID:29391742

  16. Identifying the customer satisfaction factors in furniture market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Majid Azizi

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Purpose – the purpose of this research is to identify the influential factors on customer satisfaction in the Iranian furniture market in order to get acquainted with the fundamental items for planning future sales programs with the purposes of extolling competitive advantages. Design/methodology/approach – A commixture of 6 items and 31 factors were educed from interviewing with 20 experts in furniture designing and manufacturing industry. The collected data from customer need indexes in previous research were also used. Findings – results showed that such factors as economic factors weighting 0.32, product specifications weighting 0.21 and credibility weighting 0.19 were the most important indexes and price weighting 0.195, fame weighting 0.131, quality, durability and resistance weighting 0.116, paying conditions weighting 0.095, designing and decorating in virtual softwares before ordering weighting 0.074, updatedness weighting 0.064 and interaction approach with the weight of 0.42 were the most considerable influential sub-indexes on the satisfaction of the Iranian furniture market customers. Research limitations/implications – by the enhancement of competition throughout the world markets and the inevitable presence of Iran in it, the market activists’ concentration should shift towards paying comprehensive attention to desires and needs of furniture market customers. Practical implications – some important issues on planning suitable manufacturing and marketing programs in furniture market are introduce so that the activists be aware of considering the growing knowledge and awareness of end-users which increases the pressure on the manufacturer side. There are also some solutions in terms of internal and external organizational factors with regard to the complex nature of competitive environment in furniture market. Originality/value – the paper provides an examination of effective factors on customer satisfaction with a

  17. Identifying important motivational factors for professionals in Greek hospitals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kontodimopoulos, Nick; Paleologou, Victoria; Niakas, Dimitris

    2009-01-01

    Background The purpose of this study was to identify important motivational factors according to the views of health-care professionals in Greek hospitals and particularly to determine if these might differ in the public and private sectors. Methods A previously developed -and validated- instrument addressing four work-related motivators (job attributes, remuneration, co-workers and achievements) was used. Three categories of health care professionals, doctors (N = 354), nurses (N = 581) and office workers (N = 418), working in public and private hospitals, participated and motivation was compared across socio-demographic and occupational variables. Results The range of reported motivational factors was mixed and Maslow's conclusions that lower level motivational factors must be met before ascending to the next level were not confirmed. The highest ranked motivator for the entire sample, and by professional subgroup, was achievements (P motivators were similar, and only one significant difference was observed, namely between doctors and nurses in respect to co-workers (P motivated by all factors significantly more than their public-hospital counterparts. Conclusion The results are in agreement with the literature which focuses attention to management approaches employing both monetary and non-monetary incentives to motivate health care workers. This study showed that intrinsic factors are particularly important and should become a target for effective employee motivation. PMID:19754968

  18. Hip instability: a review of hip dysplasia and other contributing factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraeutler, Matthew J.; Garabekyan, Tigran; Pascual-Garrido, Cecilia; Mei-Dan, Omer

    2016-01-01

    Summary Background Hip instability has classically been associated with developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) in newborns and children. However, numerous factors may contribute to hip instability in children, adolescents, and adults. Purpose This review aims to concisely present the literature on hip instability in patients of all ages in order to guide health care professionals in the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of the various disorders which may contribute to an unstable hip. Methods We reviewed the literature on the diagnosis and surgical management of hip dysplasia and other causes of hip instability. Conclusions Multiple intra- and extra-articular variables may contribute to hip instability, including acetabular bony coverage, femoral torsion, femoroacetabular impingement, and soft tissue laxity. Physical examination and advanced imaging studies are essential to accurately diagnose the pathology contributing to a patient’s unstable hip. Conservative management, including activity modification and physical therapy, may be used as a first-line treatment in patients with intra-articular hip pathology. Patients who continue to experience symptoms of pain or instability should proceed with arthroscopic or open surgical treatment aimed at correcting the underlying pathology. Level of evidence V. PMID:28066739

  19. The Promise of Virtual Teams: Identifying Key Factors in Effectiveness and Failure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horwitz, Frank M.; Bravington, Desmond; Silvis, Ulrik

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: The aim of the investigation is to identify enabling and disenabling factors in the development and operation of virtual teams; to evaluate the importance of factors such as team development, cross-cultural variables, leadership, communication and social cohesion as contributors to virtual team effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach:…

  20. Using dynamic walking models to identify factors that contribute to increased risk of falling in older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roos, Paulien E; Dingwell, Jonathan B

    2013-10-01

    Falls are common in older adults. The most common cause of falls is tripping while walking. Simulation studies demonstrated that older adults may be restricted by lower limb strength and movement speed to regain balance after a trip. This review examines how modeling approaches can be used to determine how different measures predict actual fall risk and what some of the causal mechanisms of fall risk are. Although increased gait variability predicts increased fall risk experimentally, it is not clear which variability measures could best be used, or what magnitude of change corresponded with increased fall risk. With a simulation study we showed that the increase in fall risk with a certain increase in gait variability was greatly influenced by the initial level of variability. Gait variability can therefore not easily be used to predict fall risk. We therefore explored other measures that may be related to fall risk and investigated the relationship between stability measures such as Floquet multipliers and local divergence exponents and actual fall risk in a dynamic walking model. We demonstrated that short-term local divergence exponents were a good early predictor for fall risk. Neuronal noise increases with age. It has however not been fully understood if increased neuronal noise would cause an increased fall risk. With our dynamic walking model we showed that increased neuronal noise caused increased fall risk. Although people who are at increased risk of falling reduce their walking speed it had been questioned whether this slower speed would actually cause a reduced fall risk. With our model we demonstrated that a reduced walking speed caused a reduction in fall risk. This may be due to the decreased kinematic variability as a result of the reduced signal-dependent noise of the smaller muscle forces that are required for slower. These insights may be used in the development of fall prevention programs in order to better identify those at increased risk of

  1. Using Dynamic Walking Models to Identify Factors that Contribute to Increased Risk of Falling in Older Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roos, Paulien E.; Dingwell, Jonathan B.

    2013-01-01

    Falls are common in older adults. The most common cause of falls is tripping while walking. Simulation studies demonstrated that older adults may be restricted by lower limb strength and movement speed to regain balance after a trip. This review examines how modeling approaches can be used to determine how different measures predict actual fall risk and what some of the causal mechanisms of fall risk are. Although increased gait variability predicts increased fall risk experimentally, it is not clear which variability measures could best be used, or what magnitude of change corresponded with increased fall risk. With a simulation study we showed that the increase in fall risk with a certain increase in gait variability was greatly influenced by the initial level of variability. Gait variability can therefore not easily be used to predict fall risk. We therefore explored other measures that may be related to fall risk and investigated the relationship between stability measures such as Floquet multipliers and local divergence exponents and actual fall risk in a dynamic walking model. We demonstrated that short-term local divergence exponents were a good early predictor for fall risk. Neuronal noise increases with age. It has however not been fully understood if increased neuronal noise would cause an increased fall risk. With our dynamic walking model we showed that increased neuronal noise caused increased fall risk. Although people who are at increased risk of falling reduce their walking speed it had been questioned whether this slower speed would actually cause a reduced fall risk. With our model we demonstrated that a reduced walking speed caused a reduction in fall risk. This may be due to the decreased kinematic variability as a result of the reduced signal-dependent noise of the smaller muscle forces that are required for slower. These insights may be used in the development of fall prevention programs in order to better identify those at increased risk of

  2. BENCHMARKING - PRACTICAL TOOLS IDENTIFY KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Ju. Malinina

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article gives a practical example of the application of benchmarking techniques. The object of study selected fashion store Company «HLB & M Hennes & Mauritz», located in the shopping center «Gallery», Krasnodar. Hennes & Mauritz. The purpose of this article is to identify the best ways to develop a fashionable brand clothing store Hennes & Mauritz on the basis of benchmarking techniques. On the basis of conducted market research is a comparative analysis of the data from different perspectives. The result of the author’s study is a generalization of the ndings, the development of the key success factors that will allow to plan a successful trading activities in the future, based on the best experience of competitors.

  3. Identifying key hospital service quality factors in online health communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Yuchul; Hur, Cinyoung; Jung, Dain; Kim, Minki

    2015-04-07

    The volume of health-related user-created content, especially hospital-related questions and answers in online health communities, has rapidly increased. Patients and caregivers participate in online community activities to share their experiences, exchange information, and ask about recommended or discredited hospitals. However, there is little research on how to identify hospital service quality automatically from the online communities. In the past, in-depth analysis of hospitals has used random sampling surveys. However, such surveys are becoming impractical owing to the rapidly increasing volume of online data and the diverse analysis requirements of related stakeholders. As a solution for utilizing large-scale health-related information, we propose a novel approach to identify hospital service quality factors and overtime trends automatically from online health communities, especially hospital-related questions and answers. We defined social media-based key quality factors for hospitals. In addition, we developed text mining techniques to detect such factors that frequently occur in online health communities. After detecting these factors that represent qualitative aspects of hospitals, we applied a sentiment analysis to recognize the types of recommendations in messages posted within online health communities. Korea's two biggest online portals were used to test the effectiveness of detection of social media-based key quality factors for hospitals. To evaluate the proposed text mining techniques, we performed manual evaluations on the extraction and classification results, such as hospital name, service quality factors, and recommendation types using a random sample of messages (ie, 5.44% (9450/173,748) of the total messages). Service quality factor detection and hospital name extraction achieved average F1 scores of 91% and 78%, respectively. In terms of recommendation classification, performance (ie, precision) is 78% on average. Extraction and

  4. What Makes Sports Fans Interactive? Identifying Factors Affecting Chat Interactions in Online Sports Viewing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ko, Minsam; Yeo, Jaeryong; Lee, Juyeong; Lee, Uichin; Jang, Young Jae

    2016-01-01

    Sports fans are able to watch games from many locations using TV services while interacting with other fans online. In this paper, we identify the factors that affect sports viewers' online interactions. Using a large-scale dataset of more than 25 million chat messages from a popular social TV site for baseball, we extract various game-related factors, and investigate the relationships between these factors and fans' interactions using a series of multiple regression analyses. As a result, we identify several factors that are significantly related to viewer interactions. In addition, we determine that the influence of these factors varies according to the user group; i.e., active vs. less active users, and loyal vs. non-loyal users.

  5. Factors Contributing Decreased Performance Of Slow Learners

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr. L. Kannan

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Back ground Even experienced teaching faculty and administrators can be challenged by learners who have not able to perform up to expected need in their annual performance of their students these students are called as slow learnersStruggle learners. There should be a designed study to foster discussion about diagnosing particular problems that contribute with meeting objectives of slow learners. Methodology The study was performed on the entire current first year of Medical students were all the three internal assessments of 250 students performance is taken in to consideration for the study. This study is of cross section type.After obtaining the list of all students marks in internal examination from medical education unit supporting mentors are contacted to meet the students and confidentiality is maintained throughout the study. After obtaining informed consent a questionnaire was administered to the students by the investigator. The questionnaire contains the following sections. Section I will be on the background characteristics of the student name age sex type of family. Section II will be on the details of their learning capabilities. Section III will focus on the awareness of the slow learners in which the precipitating factors contributing to them. Results The prevalence of slow learners as low achievers were contributed to be 32.4 percentages.The performance of the students is based on combination of all three internal assessment marks including theory and practical performance. In this the students age ranges from 17 to 21 years the mean age of student was contributed to be 17.81 and majority of the students were in the age group of 18 years which contributed to be 16867.2.In the present study majority were males 13252.8 compared to females 11847.2.but when study is compared to percentage of attendance majority of the individual 15177 scored more than 50 percentage of marks have more than 80 percentage of attendance but when

  6. Source contributions to PM10 and arsenic concentrations in Central Chile using positive matrix factorization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedberg, Emma; Gidhagen, Lars; Johansson, Christer

    Sampling of particles (PM10) was conducted during a one-year period at two rural sites in Central Chile, Quillota and Linares. The samples were analyzed for elemental composition. The data sets have undergone source-receptor analyses in order to estimate the sources and their abundance's in the PM10 size fraction, by using the factor analytical method positive matrix factorization (PMF). The analysis showed that PM10 was dominated by soil resuspension at both sites during the summer months, while during winter traffic dominated the particle mass at Quillota and local wood burning dominated the particle mass at Linares. Two copper smelters impacted the Quillota station, and contributed to 10% and 16% of PM10 as an average during summer and winter, respectively. One smelter impacted Linares by 8% and 19% of PM10 in the summer and winter, respectively. For arsenic the two smelters accounted for 87% of the monitored arsenic levels at Quillota and at Linares one smelter contributed with 72% of the measured mass. In comparison with PMF, the use of a dispersion model tended to overestimate the smelter contribution to arsenic levels at both sites. The robustness of the PMF model was tested by using randomly reduced data sets, where 85%, 70%, 50% and 33% of the samples were included. In this way the ability of the model to reconstruct the sources initially found by the original data set could be tested. On average for all sources the relative standard deviation increased from 7% to 25% for the variables identifying the sources, when decreasing the data set from 85% to 33% of the samples, indicating that the solution initially found was very stable to begin with. But it was also noted that sources due to industrial or combustion processes were more sensitive for the size of the data set, compared to the natural sources as local soil and sea spray sources.

  7. Identifying and ranking the factors affecting entrepreneurial marketing to facilitate exports

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehdi Habibzadeh

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Small and medium enterprises (SMEs are believed the most important components of today’s businesses and they can boost the growth of economy. This paper presents an empirical investigation to identify and rank important factors influencing on entrepreneurial marketing to facilitate exports of SMEs. The study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among 387 randomly selected entrepreneurs who act as managers of some SMEs in city of Tehran, Iran. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.873, which is well above the acceptable level. Using principle component analysis, the study has determined four factors including competitive intelligence, competitive advantage, external factors and internal factors to facilitate the export of SMEs.

  8. Risk Assessment: Factors Contributing to Discomfort for Menopausal Women in Workplace.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jafari, Mehdi; Seifi, Bahar; Heidari, Mohammad

    2017-08-01

    The purpose of this study was to review the Factors contributing to discomfort for menopausal women in workplace and the perceived effects of working conditions on menopausal symptoms, and to produce recommendations for managers and women. This study was a review article. We searched PubMed and Science Direct for articles related to menopause and workplace. Keywords included: menopause AND workplace OR occupational health or menopausal women AND managers. Because we aimed to update the literature following the 2011 review of menopause and workplace, only English-language articles published between 2011 and 2017 were included. This review showed that how managers could be help and awareness and what should be done for menopausal women in workplace by risk assessment. Many risk factors are contributing to discomfort for menopausal women in workplace and managers should be assessed them. Managers should be aware that menopausal transition causes difficulty for some women at work, then occupational health and safety and health promotion policies will be increasingly important. It may help inform the development of tailored occupational health policies and programs that cater for the needs of women as they transition through menopause in the workplace.

  9. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TOWARDS DIFFICULTIES IN GENERATING IDEAS AMONG TECHNICAL STUDENTS

    OpenAIRE

    Yee Mei Heong

    2013-01-01

    Idea is a thought or collection of thoughts that are important to decision making and problem solving.  The purpose of this research was to analysis the factors contributing to difficulty in generating ideas among technical students.  A total of 375 technical students from four technical universities in Malaysia were randomly selected as samples.  A set of questionnaires was developed and used as research instrument.  The findings indicated that a total of 319 (85.1%) technical students faced...

  10. Factors that contribute to the willingness to try "street hypnosis".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Orin C; Gao, Xuan

    2014-01-01

    This study takes a context-specific approach to examine people's willingness to try hypnosis under various conditions and the factors that contribute to their willingness. It examined 378 participants, who completed a web-based hypnosis survey. The results showed that people's willingness to try hypnosis varies by context. Specifically, people are more willing to try hypnosis when it is framed as "peak focus" rather than "hypnosis" and when they perceive the environment as being safer. Moreover, factors including participants' demographics, hypnotists' demographics (relative to the subjects'), participants' control bias, and knowledge of hypnosis affect people's degrees of willingness to try hypnosis, depending on the specific context. The results suggest further analysis of hypnosis occurring in public contexts and the effects it may have on attitudes and therapeutic outcomes.

  11. Enhancement of crop photosynthesis by diffuse light: quantifying the contributing factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, T; Heuvelink, E; Dueck, T A; Janse, J; Gort, G; Marcelis, L F M

    2014-07-01

    Plants use diffuse light more efficiently than direct light. However, experimental comparisons between diffuse and direct light have been obscured by co-occurring differences in environmental conditions (e.g. light intensity). This study aims to analyse the factors that contribute to an increase in crop photosynthesis in diffuse light and to quantify their relative contribution under different levels of diffuseness at similar light intensities. The hypothesis is that the enhancement of crop photosynthesis in diffuse light results not only from the direct effects of more uniform vertical and horizontal light distribution in the crop canopy, but also from crop physiological and morphological acclimation. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) crops were grown in three greenhouse compartments that were covered by glass with different degrees of light diffuseness (0, 45 and 71 % of the direct light being converted into diffuse light) while maintaining similar light transmission. Measurements of horizontal and vertical photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) distribution in the crop, leaf photosynthesis light response curves and leaf area index (LAI) were used to quantify each factor's contribution to an increase in crop photosynthesis in diffuse light. In addition, leaf temperature, photoinhibition, and leaf biochemical and anatomical properties were studied. The highest degree of light diffuseness (71 %) increased the calculated crop photosynthesis by 7·2 %. This effect was mainly attributed to a more uniform horizontal (33 % of the total effect) and vertical PPFD distribution (21 %) in the crop. In addition, plants acclimated to the high level of diffuseness by gaining a higher photosynthetic capacity of leaves in the middle of the crop and a higher LAI, which contributed 23 and 13 %, respectively, to the total increase in crop photosynthesis in diffuse light. Moreover, diffuse light resulted in lower leaf temperatures and less photoinhibition at the top of the canopy when

  12. Factors contributing to the surgical retreatment of mandibular fractures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    João Gualberto de Cerqueira Luz

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate contributing factors in patients requiring surgical retreatment of mandibular fractures. Of all the patients with mandibular fractures who were treated using internal fixation at a trauma hospital over a seven-year period, 20 patients (4.7% required a second surgery and thus composed the “reoperated” group. The control group comprised 42 consecutive patients with mandibular fractures who were treated at the same clinic and who healed without complications. Medical charts were reviewed for gender, age, substance abuse history, dental condition, etiology, location of fracture, degree of fragmentation, fracture exposure, teeth in the fracture line, associated facial fractures, polytrauma, time elapsed between trauma and initial treatment, surgical approach and fixation system. Statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20.0; descriptive statistics and the chi-squared test were used to determine differences between groups. Significant differences in substance abuse (p = 0.006, dental condition (p < 0.001, location of fracture (p = 0.010, degree of fragmentation (p = 0.003 and fracture exposure (p < 0.001 were found. With regard to age and time elapsed between trauma and initial treatment, older patients (31.4 years, SD = 11.1 and a delay in fracture repair (19.1 days, SD = 18.7 were more likely to be associated with reoperation. It was concluded that substance abuse, age, dental condition, location of fracture, degree of fragmentation, fracture exposure and the time between trauma and initial treatment should be considered contributing factors to the occurrence of complications that require surgical retreatment of mandibular fractures.

  13. What Makes Sports Fans Interactive? Identifying Factors Affecting Chat Interactions in Online Sports Viewing.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Minsam Ko

    Full Text Available Sports fans are able to watch games from many locations using TV services while interacting with other fans online. In this paper, we identify the factors that affect sports viewers' online interactions. Using a large-scale dataset of more than 25 million chat messages from a popular social TV site for baseball, we extract various game-related factors, and investigate the relationships between these factors and fans' interactions using a series of multiple regression analyses. As a result, we identify several factors that are significantly related to viewer interactions. In addition, we determine that the influence of these factors varies according to the user group; i.e., active vs. less active users, and loyal vs. non-loyal users.

  14. What Makes Sports Fans Interactive? Identifying Factors Affecting Chat Interactions in Online Sports Viewing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeo, Jaeryong; Lee, Juyeong

    2016-01-01

    Sports fans are able to watch games from many locations using TV services while interacting with other fans online. In this paper, we identify the factors that affect sports viewers’ online interactions. Using a large-scale dataset of more than 25 million chat messages from a popular social TV site for baseball, we extract various game-related factors, and investigate the relationships between these factors and fans’ interactions using a series of multiple regression analyses. As a result, we identify several factors that are significantly related to viewer interactions. In addition, we determine that the influence of these factors varies according to the user group; i.e., active vs. less active users, and loyal vs. non-loyal users. PMID:26849568

  15. Factors Contributing to Learners’ Autonomy in EFL Reading

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sri Endah Tabiati

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract: This study aims to discover factors that assist learners develop their autonomy in EFL reading. The approach employed is qualitative involving EFL learners in an English Department of the Faculty of Cultural Studies, Brawijaya University Malang. There are two stages in the study: the subject selection stage intended to gain potential subjects and the main study intended to find the answer of the research questions. The findings of the study show that the autonomy of EFL learners in reading is influenced by 14 internal and 14 external factors.These factors appear to happen naturally. It seemed that autonomy in reading is subconscious and has been gained by the subjects gradually since childhood. Moreover, autonomy in EFL reading is presumed to be universal as it is found in a collectivist culture such as the one in Indonesia. Based on the findings, suggestions are proposed and addressed to Reading lecturers, parents and the faculty representing the goverment. Because the factors seem to occur before they study at a university, the suggestions are also addressed to teachers and schools. Key Words: internal factors, external factors, contribution, learners’ autonomy, EFL reading Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menemukan faktor yang membantu mahasiswa dalam mengembangkan kemampuannya secara otonom pada kemampuan membaca EFL. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain kualitative dengan melibatkan mahasiswa kategori EFL Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Universitas Brawijaya Malang. Terdapat dua thapa dalam penelitian ini. Tahap pertama merupakan pemilihan subyek yang bertujuan untuk mencari subyek yang berpotensi dan setelah itu penelitian dilakukan untuk menjawab rumusan masalah. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa sikap otonom mahasiswa EFL dalam kemampuan membaca dipengaruhi oleh 14 faktor internal dan 14 faktor eksternal. Faktor-faktor tersebut muncul secara natural. Terlihat bahwa sikap otonom dalam kemampuan membaca merupakah hal yang terjadi

  16. Organizational factors in Korean NPPs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jang, D. J.; Kim, Y. I.; Jeong, C. H.; Kim, J. W.

    2003-01-01

    Organizational factors are referred to as the factors that influence the achievement of a goal of an organization. Latent problems of an organization could contribute to causing human errors in such stages as design, operation and maintenance, and furthermore, leading to an severe accident. In order to evaluate an organization from the safety viewpoint, it is necessary to identify the organizational factors in a systematic fashion. In this paper, some efforts to identify the organizational factors in Korean NPPs are presented. The study was performed in the following steps: 1) Reviewing the definitions and range of the organizational factors used by the previous 13 researches, 2) Structuring the organizational factors by screening and collating factors, 3) Analysing the organizational factors that is considered to have contributed to the trip events based on the trip report of Korean NPPs, 4) Suggesting a more reliable taxonomy of organizational factors for event analysis by applying the Onion Structure Model to the selected factors

  17. Sexual harassment: identifying risk factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Hare, E A; O'Donohue, W

    1998-12-01

    A new model of the etiology of sexual harassment, the four-factor model, is presented and compared with several models of sexual harassment including the biological model, the organizational model, the sociocultural model, and the sex role spillover model. A number of risk factors associated with sexually harassing behavior are examined within the framework of the four-factor model of sexual harassment. These include characteristics of the work environment (e.g., sexist attitudes among co-workers, unprofessional work environment, skewed sex ratios in the workplace, knowledge of grievance procedures for sexual harassment incidents) as well as personal characteristics of the subject (e.g., physical attractiveness, job status, sex-role). Subjects were 266 university female faculty, staff, and students who completed the Sexual Experience Questionnaire to assess the experience of sexual harassment and a questionnaire designed to assess the risk factors stated above. Results indicated that the four-factor model is a better predictor of sexual harassment than the alternative models. The risk factors most strongly associated with sexual harassment were an unprofessional environment in the workplace, sexist atmosphere, and lack of knowledge about the organization's formal grievance procedures.

  18. Legionnaires' Disease in Hotels and Passenger Ships: A Systematic Review of Evidence, Sources, and Contributing Factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mouchtouri, Varvara A; Rudge, James W

    2015-01-01

    Travel-associated Legionnaires' disease (LD) is a serious problem, and hundreds of cases are reported every year among travelers who stayed at hotels, despite the efforts of international and governmental authorities and hotel operators to prevent additional cases. A systematic review of travel-associated LD events (cases, clusters, outbreaks) and of environmental studies of Legionella contamination in accommodation sites was conducted. Two databases were searched (PubMed and EMBASE). Data were extracted from 50 peer-reviewed articles that provided microbiological and epidemiological evidence for linking the accommodation sites with LD. The strength of evidence was classified as strong, possible, and probable. Three of the 21 hotel-associated events identified and four of nine ship-associated events occurred repeatedly on the same site. Of 197 hotel-associated cases, 158 (80.2%) were linked to hotel cooling towers and/or potable water systems. Ship-associated cases were most commonly linked to hot tubs (59/83, 71.1%). Common contributing factors included inadequate disinfection, maintenance, and monitoring; water stagnation; poor temperature control; and poor ventilation. Across all 30 events, Legionella concentrations in suspected water sources were >10,000 cfu/L, hotels (587/1,200), while all 12 cruise ships examined were negative. This review highlights the need for LD awareness strategies targeting operators of accommodation sites. Increased standardization of LD investigation and reporting, and more rigorous follow-up of LD events, would help generate stronger, more comparable evidence on LD sources, contributing factors, and control measure effectiveness. © 2015 International Society of Travel Medicine.

  19. Elevated plasma factor VIII enhances venous thrombus formation in rabbits: contribution of factor XI, von Willebrand factor and tissue factor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugita, Chihiro; Yamashita, Atsushi; Matsuura, Yunosuke; Iwakiri, Takashi; Okuyama, Nozomi; Matsuda, Shuntaro; Matsumoto, Tomoko; Inoue, Osamu; Harada, Aya; Kitazawa, Takehisa; Hattori, Kunihiro; Shima, Midori; Asada, Yujiro

    2013-07-01

    Elevated plasma levels of factor VIII (FVIII) are associated with increased risk of deep venous thrombosis. The aim of this study is to elucidate how elevated FVIII levels affect venous thrombus formation and propagation in vivo. We examined rabbit plasma FVIII activity, plasma thrombin generation, whole blood coagulation, platelet aggregation and venous wall thrombogenicity before and one hour after an intravenous infusion of recombinant human FVIII (rFVIII). Venous thrombus induced by the endothelial denudation of rabbit jugular veins was histologically assessed. Thrombus propagation was evaluated as indocyanine green fluorescence intensity. Argatroban, a thrombin inhibitor, and neutralised antibodies for tissue factor (TF), factor XI (FXI), and von Willebrand factor (VWF) were infused before or after thrombus induction to investigate their effects on venous thrombus formation or propagation. Recombinant FVIII (100 IU/kg) increased rabbit plasma FVIII activity two-fold and significantly enhanced whole blood coagulation and total plasma thrombin generation, but did not affect initial thrombin generation time, platelet aggregation and venous wall thrombogenicity. The rFVIII infusion also increased the size of venous thrombus 1 hour after thrombus induction. Argatroban and the antibodies for TF, FXI or VWF inhibited such enhanced thrombus formation and all except TF suppressed thrombus propagation. In conclusion, elevated plasma FVIII levels enhance venous thrombus formation and propagation. Excess thrombin generation by FXI and VWF-mediated FVIII recruitment appear to contribute to the growth of FVIII-driven venous thrombus.

  20. THE LIFE EXPERIENCES OF ADOLESCENT SEXUAL OFFENDERS: FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO OFFENDING BEHAVIOURS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naidoo, Linda

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This study, based on the case studies of 25 adolescent sex offenders, was designed to understand those factors that contribute to adolescent sexual offending. Although the focus is primarily on the micro level, we acknowledge the impacts of mezzo- and macro-level factors on family and individual functioning. External structural factors such as poverty, inequality, unemployment, societal values regarding sexuality, lack of support systems and violence penetrate the lives of individuals and families to manifest in a range of problems that human service professionals such as psychiatrists, social workers and psychologists deal with on a daily basis

  1. Satellite retrieval of actual evapotranspiration in the Tibetan Plateau: Components partitioning, multidecadal trends and dominated factors identifying

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Weiguang; Li, Jinxing; Yu, Zhongbo; Ding, Yimin; Xing, Wanqiu; Lu, Wenjun

    2018-04-01

    As the only connecting term between water balance and energy budget in the earth-atmospheric system, evapotranspiration (ET) is considered the most excellent indicator for the activity for the water and energy cycle. Under the background of global change, regional ET estimates, components partitioning as well as their spatial and temporal patterns recognition are of great importance in understanding the hydrological processes and improving water management practices. This is particularly true for the Tibetan Plateau (TP), one of most sensitive and vulnerable region in response to the environment change in the earth. In this study, with flux site observation data and monthly ET data from the monthly water balance method incorporating the terrestrial water storage changes from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite (GRACE) production as the multiple validations, the long-term daily ET in the TP was retrieved by a modified Penman-Monteith-Leuning (PML) model with considering evapotranspiration over snow covered area during 1982-2012. The spatial and temporal changes of partitioned three components of ET, i.e., soil evaporation (Es), transpiration through the stomata of plant (Ec) and canopy interception (Ei), were investigated in the TP. Meanwhile, how the ET components contribute to ET changes and respond to the change in environmental factors in the TP was revealed and discussed. The results indicate that Es dominates ET in most areas of the TP with the mean annual ratio of 65.7%, except southeastern regions where the vegetation coverage is high. Although regional average ET and three main components all present obvious increase trends during the past decades, high spatial heterogeneity for their trends are identified in the TP. Moreover, a mixed changing pattern can be apparently found for Es in southeastern area, Ec and Ei in northwestern and southeastern area. Spatially, the ET variation are mainly attributed to change in Es, followed by Ec and Ei

  2. Contribution of genetic background, traditional risk factors, and HIV-related factors to coronary artery disease events in HIV-positive persons

    OpenAIRE

    Rotger, Margalida; Glass, Tracy R; Junier, Thomas; Lundgren, Jens; Neaton, James D; Poloni, Estella S; van 't Wout, Angélique B; Lubomirov, Rubin; Colombo, Sara; Martinez, Raquel; Rauch, Andri; Günthard, Huldrych F; Neuhaus, Jacqueline; Wentworth, Deborah; van Manen, Danielle

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have increased rates of coronary artery disease (CAD). The relative contribution of genetic background, HIV-related factors, antiretroviral medications, and traditional risk factors to CAD has not been fully evaluated in the setting of HIV infection. METHODS: In the general population, 23 common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were shown to be associated with CAD through genome-wide association analysis. Using the ...

  3. Contributing Factors to Older Teen Mothers' Academic Success as Very Young Mothers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernandez, Jennifer; Abu Rabia, Hazza M.

    2017-01-01

    This qualitative study explores the factors contributed to 13 older teen mothers' academic success as very young mothers. The participants were older teen mothers who were pregnant and gave birth at the age of 16 years old or younger, and who have achieved a college degree from an accredited college or university while they raised their…

  4. IDENTIFYING MOTIVATION FACTOR INVOLVEMENT OF SARAWAK MALAY WOMEN ENTREPRENEUR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masyantie Mohamad

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Sarawak multilayered cake among Sarawak product signature famous among the local as well as international tourist visiting Sarawak. In fact, Sarawak Malay women entrepreneurs have become very necessary players in the entrepreneurial field specifically in this cottage industries from the early introduction of this business, they have facing various problem in this businesses. Thus, this research aims to build an understanding of motivational factor that encourage Sarawak Malay women entrepreneurial experiences especially in multilayered cake businesses. Using qualitative methods, this research aims to identify the entrepreneurial motivations factors; with regards to start-up motivation by Sarawak Malay women. The finding shows that the motivations that influence Malay women within Kuching, Sarawak areas to start and grow their business are involve self-driven and context driven that motivate them involve in multilayered cakes businesses.

  5. Using focus groups to identify factors affecting healthy weight maintenance in college men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walsh, Jennifer R; White, Adrienne A; Greaney, Mary L

    2009-06-01

    Healthful eating and physical activity are important for healthy weight maintenance. The hypothesis for this study was that college-aged men would perceive factors affecting eating and physical activity as both contributing to and inhibiting healthy weight maintenance. The overall objective was to explore how men view weight maintenance in the context of these aspects. Subjects (n = 47, mean age = 20.3 +/- 1.7 years) completed an online survey, including the 51-item Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire, and participated in 1 of 6 focus groups. Three face-to-face and 3 online synchronous groups were conducted using a 15-question discussion guide to identify weight maintenance issues around eating, physical activity, and body perceptions. Weight satisfaction decreased with increase in both dietary restraint and disinhibition. Number of attempts to lose weight was positively associated with BMI (r [44] = .465, P = .01) and dietary restraint (r [44] = .515, P = .01). Findings from both focus group formats were similar. Motivators (sports performance/fitness, self-esteem, attractiveness, long-term health) were similar for eating healthfully and being physically active; however, more motivators to be physically active than to eat healthfully emerged. Enablers for eating healthfully included liking the taste, availability of healthful foods, using food rules to guide intake, having a habit of healthful eating, and internal drive/will. Barriers to healthful eating included fat in dairy foods, fruit and vegetable taste, and quick spoilage. Barriers to being physically active included lack of time/time management, obligations, being lazy, and girlfriends. Results may be used to inform future obesity prevention interventions.

  6. The contributions of human factors and ergonomics to a sustainable minerals industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horberry, Tim; Burgess-Limerick, Robin; Fuller, Ruth

    2013-01-01

    This article describes examples of the application of human factors research and development work to a sustainable minerals industry. It begins by outlining human-related aspects of the minerals industry and the key human factors work previously undertaken in this domain. The focus then switches to sustainability in the minerals industry. Sustainability principles are introduced and illustrations provided of how human factors research and development work fits within such a framework. Three case studies of human factors in the minerals industry research are presented and the sustainability implications in each case study are highlighted. Finally, future trends related to human factors work in a sustainable minerals industry are addressed, in particular the opportunities and possible adverse consequences that increasing deployment of mining automation might bring. Minerals industries are a major global activity with significant sustainability implications. Aspects of sustainability in mining are examined using three case studies. These illustrate the contribution of human factors/ergonomics in reducing risks; developing emergency response management systems; and the value of participatory ergonomics in improving the design of mining equipment.

  7. Identifying perinatal risk factors for infant maltreatment: an ecological approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hallisey Elaine J

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Child maltreatment and its consequences are a persistent problem throughout the world. Public health workers, human services officials, and others are interested in new and efficient ways to determine which geographic areas to target for intervention programs and resources. To improve assessment efforts, selected perinatal factors were examined, both individually and in various combinations, to determine if they are associated with increased risk of infant maltreatment. State of Georgia birth records and abuse and neglect data were analyzed using an area-based, ecological approach with the census tract as a surrogate for the community. Cartographic visualization suggested some correlation exists between risk factors and child maltreatment, so bivariate and multivariate regression were performed. The presence of spatial autocorrelation precluded the use of traditional ordinary least squares regression, therefore a spatial regression model coupled with maximum likelihood estimation was employed. Results Results indicate that all individual factors or their combinations are significantly associated with increased risk of infant maltreatment. The set of perinatal risk factors that best predicts infant maltreatment rates are: mother smoked during pregnancy, families with three or more siblings, maternal age less than 20 years, births to unmarried mothers, Medicaid beneficiaries, and inadequate prenatal care. Conclusion This model enables public health to take a proactive stance, to reasonably predict areas where poor outcomes are likely to occur, and to therefore more efficiently allocate resources. U.S. states that routinely collect the variables the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS defines for birth certificates can easily identify areas that are at high risk for infant maltreatment. The authors recommend that agencies charged with reducing child maltreatment target communities that demonstrate the perinatal risks

  8. Risk and Protective Factors Contributing to Depressive Symptoms in Vietnamese American College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Meekyung; Lee, Mary

    2011-01-01

    With the demographic shifts the United States faces, understanding the contributing factors to mental well-being among minority college students is crucial. This study examines the roles of parental and peer attachment, intergenerational conflict, and perceived racial discrimination on depressive symptoms while also analyzing the mediational role…

  9. Assessing Factors Contributing to Cyanobacteria Harmful Algal Blooms in U.S. Lakes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salls, W. B.; Iiames, J. S., Jr.; Lunetta, R. S.; Mehaffey, M.; Schaeffer, B. A.

    2017-12-01

    Cyanobacteria Harmful Algal Blooms (CHABs) in inland lakes have emerged as a major threat to water quality from both ecological and public health standpoints. Understanding the factors and processes driving CHAB occurrence is important in order to properly manage ensuring more favorable water quality outcomes. High water temperatures and nutrient loadings are known drivers of CHABs; however, the contribution of landscape variables and their interactions with these drivers remains relatively unstudied at a regional or national scale. This study assesses upstream landscape variables that may contribute to or obstruct/delay nutrient loadings to freshwater systems in several hundred inland lakes in the Upper Mid-western and Northeastern United States. We employ multiple linear regression and random forest modeling to determine which variables contribute most strongly to CHAB occurrence. This lakeshed-based approach will rank the impact of each landscape variable on cyanobacteria levels derived from satellite remotely sensed data from the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) sensor for the 2011 bloom season (July - October).

  10. Cross-cultural experiences of maternal depression: associations and contributing factors for Vietnamese, Turkish and Filipino immigrant women in Victoria, Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Small, Rhonda; Lumley, Judith; Yelland, Jane

    2003-08-01

    To investigate in an Australian study of immigrant women conducted 6-9 months following childbirth (a) the associations of a range of demographic, obstetric, health and social context variables with maternal depression, and (b) women's views of contributing factors in their experiences of depression. Three hundred and eighteen Vietnamese, Turkish and Filipino women participated in personal interviews conducted by three bicultural interviewers in the language of the women's choice. Utilising three approaches to the assessment of maternal depression, the consistency of associations on the different measures is examined. Women's views of contributing factors are compared with previous research with largely English-speaking Australian-born women. Analysis of the associations of maternal depression revealed considerable consistency in associations among the three approaches to assessing depression. Significant associations with depression on at least two of the measures were seen for: mothers under 25 years, shorter residence in Australia, speaking little or no English, migrating for marriage, having no relatives in Melbourne, or no friends to confide in, physical health problems, or a baby with feeding problems. There were no consistent associations found with family income or maternal education, method of delivery and a range of other birth events, or women's views about maternity care. The issues most commonly identified by women in this study as contributing to depression are similar to those found previously for Australian-born women: isolation (in this study, including being homesick)--29%; lack of support and marital issues--25%; physical ill-health and exhaustion--23%; family problems--19%, and baby-related issues--17%. There were some differences in the importance of these among the three country-of-birth groups, but all except family issues were in the top four contributing factors mentioned by women in all groups. These findings support the evidence for quite

  11. Factors contributing to the disturbance of coagulation and fibrinolysis in dengue virus infection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yung-Chun Chuang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Hemorrhage is one of the hallmarks of dengue hemorrhagic fever. However, the mechanisms that cause hemorrhage are unclear. In this review we focus on the possible factors that may be involved in the disturbance of coagulation and fibrinolysis during dengue virus (DENV infection. Factors such as autoantibodies and cytokines induced by DENV infection as well as hemostatic molecules expressed on DENV-infected cells, and DENV viral proteins may all contribute to the defect of hemostasis during DENV infection. It is the combination of these viral and host factors that may tilt the balance of coagulation and fibrinolysis toward bleeding in dengue patients.

  12. “Thanks for sharing”—Identifying users’ roles based on knowledge contribution in Enterprise Social Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cetto, Alexandra; Klier, Mathias; Richter, Alexander

    2018-01-01

    in the network and help others to get their work done. In this paper, we propose a new methodological approach consisting of three steps, namely “message classification”, “identification of users’ roles” as well as “characterization of users’ roles”. We apply the approach to a dataset from a multinational......, are a central element of the network. In conclusion, the development and application of a new methodological approach allows us to contribute to a more refined understanding of users’ knowledge exchanging behavior in Enterprise Social Networks which can ultimately help companies to take measures to improve......While ever more companies use Enterprise Social Networks for knowledge management, there is still a lack of understanding of users’ knowledge exchanging behavior. In this context, it is important to be able to identify and characterize users who contribute and communicate their knowledge...

  13. Risk Assessment: Factors Contributing to Discomfort for Menopausal Women in Workplace

    OpenAIRE

    Jafari, Mehdi; Seifi, Bahar; Heidari, Mohammad

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to review the Factors contributing to discomfort for menopausal women in workplace and the perceived effects of working conditions on menopausal symptoms, and to produce recommendations for managers and women. This study was a review article. We searched PubMed and Science Direct for articles related to menopause and workplace. Keywords included: menopause AND workplace OR occupational health or menopausal women AND managers. Because we aimed to update the litera...

  14. Functional mobility and its contributing factors for older adults in different cities in Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sang-I. Lin

    2017-02-01

    Conclusion: Taiwanese older adults with mobility problems living in different cities performed differently in TUG and the contributing factors were also different. These findings indicate a need of further studies examining older adults in different environments.

  15. The contribution of human factors to accidents in the offshore oil industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gordon, Rachael P.E.

    1998-01-01

    Accidents such as the Piper Alpha disaster illustrate that the performance of a highly complex socio-technical system, is dependent upon the interaction of technical, human, social, organisational, managerial and environmental factors and that these factors can be important co-contributors that could potentially lead to a catastrophic event. The purpose of this article is to give readers an overview of how human factors contribute to accidents in the offshore oil industry. An introduction to human errors and how they relate to human factors in general terms is given. From here the article discusses some of the human factors which were found to influence safety in other industries and describes the human factors codes used in accident reporting forms in the aviation, nuclear and marine industries. Analysis of 25 accident reporting forms from offshore oil companies in the UK sector of the North Sea was undertaken in relation to the human factors. Suggestions on how these accident reporting forms could be improved are given. Finally, this article describes the methods by which accidents can be reduced by focusing on the human factors, such as feedback from accident reporting in the oil industry, auditing of unsafe acts and auditing of latent failures

  16. Environmental impact and risk assessments and key factors contributing to the overall uncertainties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salbu, Brit

    2016-01-01

    There is a significant number of nuclear and radiological sources that have contributed, are still contributing, or have the potential to contribute to radioactive contamination of the environment in the future. To protect the environment from radioactive contamination, impact and risk assessments are performed prior to or during a release event, short or long term after deposition or prior and after implementation of countermeasures. When environmental impact and risks are assessed, however, a series of factors will contribute to the overall uncertainties. To provide environmental impact and risk assessments, information on processes, kinetics and a series of input variables is needed. Adding problems such as variability, questionable assumptions, gaps in knowledge, extrapolations and poor conceptual model structures, a series of factors are contributing to large and often unacceptable uncertainties in impact and risk assessments. Information on the source term and the release scenario is an essential starting point in impact and risk models; the source determines activity concentrations and atom ratios of radionuclides released, while the release scenario determine the physico-chemical forms of released radionuclides such as particle size distribution, structure and density. Releases will most often contain other contaminants such as metals, and due to interactions, contaminated sites should be assessed as a multiple stressor scenario. Following deposition, a series of stressors, interactions and processes will influence the ecosystem transfer of radionuclide species and thereby influence biological uptake (toxicokinetics) and responses (toxicodynamics) in exposed organisms. Due to the variety of biological species, extrapolation is frequently needed to fill gaps in knowledge e.g., from effects to no effects, from effects in one organism to others, from one stressor to mixtures. Most toxtests are, however, performed as short term exposure of adult organisms

  17. Contribution of Educational Factors in the Capacity to Overcome Adversity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palomar, Joaquina; Montes de Oca, Sandra

    2011-01-01

    The objective of this study was to identify factors that predict resilience and social mobility in persons living in extreme poverty in Mexico by analyzing an extensive set of school-related variables. A total of 913 adults were surveyed, with 65.2% women and an average age of 43.71 years. Significant correlations were found between the seven…

  18. Hearing loss and contributing factors among airport workers in Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nasir, H M; Rampal, K G

    2012-02-01

    Sensorineural hearing loss is a common and important source of disability among the workers and often caused by occupational noise exposure. Aims of the study were to determine the prevalence and contributing factors of hearing loss among airport workers. A cross-sectional study was carried out at an airport in Malaysia. This study used stratified sampling method that involved 358 workers who were working in 3 different units between November 2008 and March 2009. Data for this study were collected by using questionnaires eliciting sociodemographic, occupational exposure history (previous and present), life-style including smoking habits and health-related data. Otoscopic and pure-tone audiometric tests were conducted for hearing assessment. Noise exposure status was categorize by using a noise logging dosimeter to obtain 8-hour Time-Weighted Average (TWA). Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 12.0.1 and EpiInfo 6.04. The prevalence of hearing loss was 33.5%. Age >40 years old (aOR 4.3, 95%CI 2.2-8.3) is the main risk factors for hearing loss followed by duration of noise exposure >5 years (aOR 2.5, 95%CI 1.4-4.7), smoking (aOR 2.1, 95%CI 1.2-3.4), duration of service >5 years (aOR 2.1, 95%CI 1.1-3.9), exposure to explosion (aOR 6.1, 95%CI 1.3-29.8), exposure to vibration (aOR 2.2, 95%CI 1.1-4.3) and working in engineering unit (aOR 5.9, 95%CI 1.1-30.9). The prevalence rate ratio of hearing loss for nonsmokers aged 40 years old and younger, smokers aged 40 years old and younger, non-smokers older than 40 years old and smokers older than 40 years old was 1.0, 1.7, 2.8 and 4.6 respectively. This result contributes towards better understanding of risk factors for hearing loss, which is relatively common among Malaysian workers.

  19. Identifying the necessary and sufficient number of risk factors for predicting academic failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucio, Robert; Hunt, Elizabeth; Bornovalova, Marina

    2012-03-01

    Identifying the point at which individuals become at risk for academic failure (grade point average [GPA] academic success or failure. This study focused on 12 school-related factors. Using a thorough 5-step process, we identified which unique risk factors place one at risk for academic failure. Academic engagement, academic expectations, academic self-efficacy, homework completion, school relevance, school safety, teacher relationships (positive relationship), grade retention, school mobility, and school misbehaviors (negative relationship) were uniquely related to GPA even after controlling for all relevant covariates. Next, a receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine a cutoff point for determining how many risk factors predict academic failure (GPA academic failure, which provides a way for early identification of individuals who are at risk. Further implications of these findings are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

  20. Factors contributing to managerial competence of first-line nurse managers: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gunawan, Joko; Aungsuroch, Yupin; Fisher, Mary L

    2018-02-01

    To determine the factors contributing to managerial competence of first-line nurse managers. Understanding factors affecting managerial competence of nurse managers remains important to increase the performance of organizations; however, there is sparse research examining factors that influence managerial competence of first-line nurse managers. Systematic review. The search strategy was conducted from April to July 2017 that included 6 electronic databases: Science Direct, PROQUEST Dissertations and Theses, MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Google Scholar for the years 2000 to 2017 with full text in English. Quantitative and qualitative research papers that examined relationships among managerial competence and antecedent factors were included. Quality assessment, data extractions, and analysis were completed on all included studies. Content analysis was used to categorize factors into themes. Eighteen influencing factors were examined and categorized into 3 themes-organizational factors, characteristics and personality traits of individual managers, and role factors. Findings suggest that managerial competence of first-line nurse managers is multifactorial. Further research is needed to develop strategies to develop managerial competence of first-line nurse managers. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  1. Self-Medication and Contributing Factors: A Questionnaire Survey Among Iranian Households

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadia Abdarzadeh

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Background: Self-medication is a serious danger in every health sector which potentially brings harmful side effects for the society. The aim of this research was to investigate self-medication and its contributing factors among residents of Yazd province in Iran in 2014. Methods: A descriptive, cross sectional study was conducted in 2014 using a self-constructed questionnaire. A total of 580 families living in Yazd in the time period of study were contributed to fill out the questions organized in two sections of demographic and self-medication factors. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 through appropriate descriptive and analytical statistical tests. Results: Self-medication was reported in 53.4% of the cases. The most frequent self-prescribed medications were related to pain killer drugs (26.6%. There was a significant statistical relation between self-medication and households’ age, occupation and income, level of parents’ education, number of children and place of residence. Among different reasons for self-medication the most important one was reported to be accessibility (3.44+1.3. Conclusion: Due to the considerable prevalence of self-medication and its harmful effects on every society, such an issue should be appropriately controlled through legal regulations particularly in the area of selling dangerous drugs. Furthermore, provision of proper information and warning the population about harmful side effects can be helpful in this regard. 

  2. Novel Application of Statistical Methods to Identify New Urinary Incontinence Risk Factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Theophilus O. Ogunyemi

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Longitudinal data for studying urinary incontinence (UI risk factors are rare. Data from one study, the hallmark Medical, Epidemiological, and Social Aspects of Aging (MESA, have been analyzed in the past; however, repeated measures analyses that are crucial for analyzing longitudinal data have not been applied. We tested a novel application of statistical methods to identify UI risk factors in older women. MESA data were collected at baseline and yearly from a sample of 1955 men and women in the community. Only women responding to the 762 baseline and 559 follow-up questions at one year in each respective survey were examined. To test their utility in mining large data sets, and as a preliminary step to creating a predictive index for developing UI, logistic regression, generalized estimating equations (GEEs, and proportional hazard regression (PHREG methods were used on the existing MESA data. The GEE and PHREG combination identified 15 significant risk factors associated with developing UI out of which six of them, namely, urinary frequency, urgency, any urine loss, urine loss after emptying, subject’s anticipation, and doctor’s proactivity, are found most highly significant by both methods. These six factors are potential candidates for constructing a future UI predictive index.

  3. A method to identify dependencies between organizational factors using statistical independence test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Y.; Chung, C.H.; Kim, C.; Jae, M.; Jung, J.H.

    2004-01-01

    A considerable number of studies on organizational factors in nuclear power plants have been made especially in recent years, most of which have assumed organizational factors to be independent. However, since organizational factors characterize the organization in terms of safety and efficiency etc. and there would be some factors that have close relations between them. Therefore, from whatever point of view, if we want to identify the characteristics of an organization, the dependence relationships should be considered to get an accurate result. In this study the organization of a reference nuclear power plant in Korea was analyzed for the trip cases of that plant using 20 organizational factors that Jacobs and Haber had suggested: 1) coordination of work, 2) formalization, 3) organizational knowledge, 4) roles and responsibilities, 5) external communication, 6) inter-department communications, 7) intra-departmental communications, 8) organizational culture, 9) ownership, 10) safety culture, 11) time urgency, 12) centralization, 13) goal prioritization, 14) organizational learning, 15) problem identification, 16) resource allocation, 17) performance evaluation, 18) personnel selection, 19) technical knowledge, and 20) training. By utilizing the results of the analysis, a method to identify the dependence relationships between organizational factors is presented. The statistical independence test for the analysis result of the trip cases is adopted to reveal dependencies. This method is geared to the needs to utilize many kinds of data that has been obtained as the operating years of nuclear power plants increase, and more reliable dependence relations may be obtained by using these abundant data

  4. Study of factors contributing to the development of osteoradionecrosis of the jaws

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kluth, E.V.; Jain, P.R.; Stuchell, R.N.; Frich, J.C. Jr.

    1988-01-01

    The histories of 14 patients in whom osteoradionecrosis developed were compared with those of 28 patients who had similar tumors and/or treatment and were not afflicted with osteoradionecrosis. 1. Fourteen of 15 episodes of bone complications occurred in the mandible, and 70% occurred within 1 year after the completion of radiation therapy. 2. A high dose of radiation, with conventional fractionation, did not specifically predispose patients to osteoradionecrosis. Fifty percent of the ORN patients actually received a total dose of 6000 rad or less. Combined radiation therapy and surgery did not seem to significantly increase the risk inasmuch as both groups of patients had similar combinations. In two of four patients who received methotrexate, however, osteoradionecrosis developed during the time of administration. 3. One of the most prevalent negative factors associated with the ORN patients was the continued heavy use of alcohol and tobacco by 86% of them. These strong tissue irritants could have significantly contributed to the breakdown of mucosa and exposure of bone. Alcohol and tobacco could also have potentiated the combined effects of the other negative factors, such as contributing to poor oral hygiene. 4. The ORN patients had poorer oral hygiene than the control group. Seventy-five percent of the patients with teeth who had osteoradionecrosis continued to have poor oral hygiene. In contrast, none of the control patients had poor oral hygiene. 5. A combination of factors relating to stage of tumor and treatment was found in the ORN patients

  5. Identify and rank key factors influencing the adoption of cloud computing for a healthy Electronics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javad Shukuhy

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Cloud computing as a new technology with Internet infrastructure and new approaches can be significant benefits in providing medical services electronically. Aplying this technology in E-Health requires consideration of various factors. The main objective of this study is to identify and rank the factors influencing the adoption of e-health cloud. Based on the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE framework and Human-Organization-Technology fit (HOT-fit model, 16 sub-factors were identified in four major factors. With survey of 60 experts, academics and experts in health information technology and with the help of fuzzy analytic hierarchy process had ranked these sub-factors and factors. In the literature, considering newness this study, no internal or external study, have not alluded these number of criteria. The results show that when deciding to adopt cloud computing in E-Health, respectively, must be considered technological, human, organizational and environmental factors.

  6. An exploratory study to identify critical factors of innovation culture in organizations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamed Asgari

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available During the past two decades, there has been a growing trend on knowledge-based organizations. Innovation, on the other hand, plays essential role on building competitive business units. In this paper, we present an exploratory study to identify critical factors of innovation culture in organizations. We detect important factors influencing innovation culture in construction industry based on the implementation of factor analysis. The proposed study designs a questionnaire and distributes it among 400 experts who are involved in construction industry. Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.779, which validates the overall questionnaire. The results of factor analysis have indicated that six factors of building cultural infrastructures, education, organizational vision, established culture, strategic culture and flexible culture are the most important items influencing innovation culture.

  7. Factors Contributing to Student Engagement in an Instructional Facebook Group for Undergraduate Mathematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregory, Peter L.; Gregory, Karen M.; Eddy, Erik R.

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates factors contributing to student engagement in an educational Facebook group. The study is based on survey results of 138 undergraduate mathematics students at a highly diverse urban public university. Survey measures included engagement in the Facebook group, access to Facebook, comfort using technology, and interest in the…

  8. Prevalence of and management factors contributing to Cryptosporidium sp. infection in pre-weaned and post-weaned calves in Johor, Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muhid, Aida; Robertson, Ian; Ng, Josephine; Ryan, Una

    2011-02-01

    A cross-sectional study was carried out to identify species and determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium sp. shedding in pre-weaned and post-weaned dairy calves and to identify management factors that may be contributing to disease. A total of 240 calf faecal samples were collected from 16 farms in two districts in Johor, Malaysia, and screened by PCR. The overall Cryptosporidium prevalence was 27.1%. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium species in pre-weaned calves was 32.4% for C. parvum, 26.5% for C. bovis, followed by C. andersoni (20.6%), C. ryanae (11.8%) and mixed sp. (8.8%). The prevalence of Cryptosporidium species in post-weaned calves was 35% for C. bovis followed by C. andersoni and C. ryanae (30% each) and mixed sp. (5%). Subtyping analysis of 8 of the 11 C. parvum isolates at the gp60 locus identified five isolates as IIdA15G1, one as IIa18A3R1 and two isolates as IIa17G2R1. Management factors that increased the risk of Cryptosporidium infection included having other cattle farms close by, feeding calves with saleable milk, keeping pre-weaned calves in pens with slatted floors and keeping post-weaned calves in pens with a sand floor. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. BIOELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE VECTOR ANALYSIS IDENTIFIES SARCOPENIA IN NURSING HOME RESIDENTS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loss of muscle mass and water shifts between body compartments are contributing factors to frailty in the elderly. The body composition changes are especially pronounced in institutionalized elderly. We investigated the ability of single-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to identify b...

  10. Combined and interactive effects of environmental and GWAS-identified risk factors in ovarian cancer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pearce, Celeste Leigh; Rossing, Mary Anne; Lee, Alice W

    2013-01-01

    There are several well-established environmental risk factors for ovarian cancer, and recent genome-wide association studies have also identified six variants that influence disease risk. However, the interplay between such risk factors and susceptibility loci has not been studied....

  11. Personal and environmental factors contributing to participation in romantic relationships and sexual activity of young adults with cerebral palsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiegerink, Diana J H G; Stam, Henk J; Ketelaar, Marjolijn; Cohen-Kettenis, Peggy T; Roebroeck, Marij E

    2012-01-01

    To study determinants of romantic relationships and sexual activity of young adults with cerebral palsy (CP), focusing on personal and environmental factors. A cohort study was performed with 74 young adults (46 men; 28 women) aged 20-25 years (SD 1.4) with CP (49% unilateral CP, 76% GMFCS level I, 85% MACS level I). All participants were of normal intelligence. Romantic relationships, sexual activity (outcome measures), personal and environmental factors (associated factors) were assessed. Associations were analyzed using logistic regression analyses. More females than males with CP were in a current romantic relationship. Self-esteem, sexual esteem and feelings of competence regarding self-efficacy contributed positively to having current romantic relationships. A negative parenting style contributed negatively. Age and gross motor functioning explained 20% of the variance in experience with intercourse. In addition, sexual esteem and taking initiative contributed significantly to intercourse experience. For young adults with CP personal factors (20-35% explained variances) seem to contribute more than environmental factors (9-12% explained variances) to current romantic relationships and sexual experiences. We advice parents and professionals to focus on self-efficacy, self-esteem and sexual self-esteem in development of young adults with CP. [ • The severity of gross motor functioning contributed somewhat to sexual activities, but not to romantic relationships.• High self-efficacy, self-esteem and sexual self-esteem can facilitate involvement in romantic and sexual relationships for young adults with CP.

  12. Describing Case Study Method and Identifying the Factors that Contribute to the Successful Conduct of Case Studies

    OpenAIRE

    Ahmad H. Juma'h; Mustafa Cavus

    2001-01-01

    This article has attempted to describe case study, the limitations and critiques on case study methodology and how the proponents have responded to these. Our special focus have been on the debate on theory building from case study research, and a framework for conducting case study research as well as the factors for a successful case study research. The overall conclusion is that the case study has been inappropriately used to generate theories.

  13. The contribution of school-level factors to contraceptive use among adolescents in New York city public high schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaplan, Deborah L.

    Every year approximately 17,000 adolescents ages 15-19 become pregnant in New York City. Most of these pregnancies are unintended and only a small percent of adolescents use effective contraception, with wide disparities by race/ethnicity and poverty level. While many studies have identified factors associated with contraceptive use, most research has focused on individual level factors, with little attention to the contribution of the school environment to sexual risk behavior and contraceptive use. This study investigates the effect of school-level factors on contraceptive use among adolescents in NYC public high schools before and after controlling for individual-level factors, and whether this effect varies with race/ethnicity. Using a cross-sectional design, the NYC Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) individual-level datasets for 2007, 2009 and 2011 were linked to a school-level dataset. Variables were selected based on empirical findings on factors associated with sexual behaviors, including contraceptive use, by adolescents. The analytic sample included all YRBS respondents aged 14 or older who reported having sexual intercourse in the past three months and had complete responses to the YRBS questions on contraceptive use at last sex (N=8,054). The chi square test of significance was used to evaluate significant associations between independent variables and contraceptive use in bivariate analyses; variables with a p value < 0.1 were included in the multivariable analyses. Binary and multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to estimate the strength of the associations of school-level factors with contraceptive use among sexually active adolescents. Findings included that use of any contraception and/or hormonal contraception at last sexual intercourse was associated with attending schools with a higher six-year graduation rate, higher percent of students strongly agreeing they were safe in their classrooms, higher percent of teachers at the

  14. Identify and Classify Critical Success Factor of Agile Software Development Methodology Using Mind Map

    OpenAIRE

    Tasneem Abd El Hameed; Mahmoud Abd EL Latif; Sherif Kholief

    2016-01-01

    Selecting the right method, right personnel and right practices, and applying them adequately, determine the success of software development. In this paper, a qualitative study is carried out among the critical factors of success from previous studies. The factors of success match with their relative principles to illustrate the most valuable factor for agile approach success, this paper also prove that the twelve principles poorly identified for few factors resulting from qualitative and qua...

  15. Does the Eye of the Beholder Construct Beauty? Contributions of Self-Efficacy Factors to Divergent Thinking Traits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kharkhurin, Anatoliy V.

    2017-01-01

    The study initiated a project exploring a contribution of creative perception to creative behavior. This study investigated the factors in creative self-perception contributing to creative potential. Creative potential was operationalized as divergent thinking and measured by the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults. Creative self-perception was…

  16. Environmental impact and risk assessments and key factors contributing to the overall uncertainties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salbu, Brit

    2016-01-01

    There is a significant number of nuclear and radiological sources that have contributed, are still contributing, or have the potential to contribute to radioactive contamination of the environment in the future. To protect the environment from radioactive contamination, impact and risk assessments are performed prior to or during a release event, short or long term after deposition or prior and after implementation of countermeasures. When environmental impact and risks are assessed, however, a series of factors will contribute to the overall uncertainties. To provide environmental impact and risk assessments, information on processes, kinetics and a series of input variables is needed. Adding problems such as variability, questionable assumptions, gaps in knowledge, extrapolations and poor conceptual model structures, a series of factors are contributing to large and often unacceptable uncertainties in impact and risk assessments. Information on the source term and the release scenario is an essential starting point in impact and risk models; the source determines activity concentrations and atom ratios of radionuclides released, while the release scenario determine the physico-chemical forms of released radionuclides such as particle size distribution, structure and density. Releases will most often contain other contaminants such as metals, and due to interactions, contaminated sites should be assessed as a multiple stressor scenario. Following deposition, a series of stressors, interactions and processes will influence the ecosystem transfer of radionuclide species and thereby influence biological uptake (toxicokinetics) and responses (toxicodynamics) in exposed organisms. Due to the variety of biological species, extrapolation is frequently needed to fill gaps in knowledge e.g., from effects to no effects, from effects in one organism to others, from one stressor to mixtures. Most toxtests are, however, performed as short term exposure of adult organisms

  17. Identifying risk factors for PTSD in women seeking medical help after rape

    OpenAIRE

    Möller, Anna Tiihonen; Bäckström, Torbjörn; Söndergaard, Hans Peter; Helström, Lotti

    2014-01-01

    Objectives: Rape has been found to be the trauma most commonly associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among women. It is therefore important to be able to identify those women at greatest risk of developing PTSD. The aims of the present study were to analyze the PTSD prevalence six months after sexual assaults and identify the major risk factors for developing PTSD. Methods: Participants were 317 female victims of rape who sought help at the Emergency Clinic for Raped Women at S...

  18. E-Prescribing Errors in Community Pharmacies: Exploring Consequences and Contributing Factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stone, Jamie A.; Chui, Michelle A.

    2014-01-01

    Objective To explore types of e-prescribing errors in community pharmacies and their potential consequences, as well as the factors that contribute to e-prescribing errors. Methods Data collection involved performing 45 total hours of direct observations in five pharmacies. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 20 study participants. Transcripts from observations and interviews were subjected to content analysis using NVivo 10. Results Pharmacy staff detected 75 e-prescription errors during the 45 hour observation in pharmacies. The most common e-prescribing errors were wrong drug quantity, wrong dosing directions, wrong duration of therapy, and wrong dosage formulation. Participants estimated that 5 in 100 e-prescriptions have errors. Drug classes that were implicated in e-prescribing errors were antiinfectives, inhalers, ophthalmic, and topical agents. The potential consequences of e-prescribing errors included increased likelihood of the patient receiving incorrect drug therapy, poor disease management for patients, additional work for pharmacy personnel, increased cost for pharmacies and patients, and frustrations for patients and pharmacy staff. Factors that contribute to errors included: technology incompatibility between pharmacy and clinic systems, technology design issues such as use of auto-populate features and dropdown menus, and inadvertently entering incorrect information. Conclusion Study findings suggest that a wide range of e-prescribing errors are encountered in community pharmacies. Pharmacists and technicians perceive that causes of e-prescribing errors are multidisciplinary and multifactorial, that is to say e-prescribing errors can originate from technology used in prescriber offices and pharmacies. PMID:24657055

  19. Factors that contribute to Hispanic English Language Learners' high academic performance in high school science in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas: A multicase study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elizondo, Antonio

    The purpose of this multicase study was to discover factors that contribute to Hispanic English language learners' (ELL) high academic performance in high school science in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Participants were high school seniors enrolled in college-level classes who had scored commended on the science exit-level Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and ranked toward the top of their class. One student from each of four different high schools in south Texas were selected to participate. Schools identified students meeting the participant criteria and provided consent documents. In this qualitative research study, students were interviewed on three different dates. Administrators and science teachers were also interviewed for triangulation. Significant findings showed that intrinsic qualities were mainly responsible for factors contributing to high academic performance. Hispanic ELL students need meaningful responsibilities to internalize self-esteem and self-efficacy to realize high academic performance. Self-motivation, a contributing factor, provides students with a positive outlook on high academic performance and the ability to defer more immediate undermining rewards. Students expect to contribute to society by helping others. This helps their self-esteem as well as their self-worth and supports high academic performance. Parental and teacher support are critical for high academic performance. Low socioeconomic status alone is not a causal factor for poor academic performance. School administrations should assign willing and enthusiastic teachers as mentors to target students and provide skills to parents that promote, inspire, and motivate students' intrinsic qualities. Future studies should examine different leadership styles that maximize teachers' ability to influence students' high academic performance. Finally, students should be given guidance in setting career goals and demonstrating that high academic achievement is attainable and

  20. Identifying serotonergic mechanisms underlying the corticolimbic response to threat in humans

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fisher, Patrick M; Hariri, Ahmad R

    2013-01-01

    . Integrating these methodological approaches offers novel opportunities to identify mechanisms through which serotonin signalling contributes to differences in brain function and behaviour, which in turn can illuminate factors that confer risk for illness and inform the development of more effective treatment...

  1. Factors contributing to delayed diagnosis of cancer among Aboriginal people in Australia: a qualitative study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shahid, Shaouli; Teng, Tiew-Hwa Katherine; Bessarab, Dawn; Aoun, Samar; Baxi, Siddhartha; Thompson, Sandra C

    2016-01-01

    Background/objectives Delayed presentation of symptomatic cancer is associated with poorer survival. Aboriginal patients with cancer have higher rates of distant metastases at diagnosis compared with non-Aboriginal Australians. This paper examined factors contributing to delayed diagnosis of cancer among Aboriginal Australians from patient and service providers' perspectives. Methods In-depth, open-ended interviews were conducted in two stages (2006–2007 and 2011). Inductive thematic analysis was assisted by use of NVivo looking around delays in presentation, diagnosis and referral for cancer. Participants Aboriginal patients with cancer/family members (n=30) and health service providers (n=62) were recruited from metropolitan Perth and six rural/remote regions of Western Australia. Results Three broad themes of factors were identified: (1) Contextual factors such as intergenerational impact of colonisation and racism and socioeconomic deprivation have negatively impacted on Aboriginal Australians' trust of the healthcare professionals; (2) health service-related factors included low accessibility to health services, long waiting periods, inadequate numbers of Aboriginal professionals and high staff turnover; (3) patient appraisal of symptoms and decision-making, fear of cancer and denial of symptoms were key reasons patients procrastinated in seeking help. Elements of shame, embarrassment, shyness of seeing the doctor, psychological ‘fear of the whole health system’, attachment to the land and ‘fear of leaving home’ for cancer treatment in metropolitan cities were other deterrents for Aboriginal people. Manifestation of masculinity and the belief that ‘health is women's domain’ emerged as a reason why Aboriginal men were reluctant to receive health checks. Conclusions Solutions to improved Aboriginal cancer outcomes include focusing on the primary care sector encouraging general practitioners to be proactive to suspicion of symptoms with appropriate

  2. Contribution of WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX genes to identify the phylogenetic relationships among Petunia species

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Lúcia Anversa Segatto

    Full Text Available Abstract Developmental genes are believed to contribute to major changes during plant evolution, from infrageneric to higher levels. Due to their putative high sequence conservation, developmental genes are rarely used as molecular markers, and few studies including these sequences at low taxonomic levels exist. WUSCHEL-related homeobox genes (WOX are transcription factors exclusively present in plants and are involved in developmental processes. In this study, we characterized the infrageneric genetic variation of Petunia WOX genes. We obtained phylogenetic relationships consistent with other phylogenies based on nuclear markers, but with higher statistical support, resolution in terminals, and compatibility with flower morphological changes.

  3. Factor contribution to fire occurrence, size, and burn probability in a subtropical coniferous forest in East China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Tao; Wang, Yao; Guo, Zhixing; Li, Yijia

    2017-01-01

    The contribution of factors including fuel type, fire-weather conditions, topography and human activity to fire regime attributes (e.g. fire occurrence, size distribution and severity) has been intensively discussed. The relative importance of those factors in explaining the burn probability (BP), which is critical in terms of fire risk management, has been insufficiently addressed. Focusing on a subtropical coniferous forest with strong human disturbance in East China, our main objective was to evaluate and compare the relative importance of fuel composition, topography, and human activity for fire occurrence, size and BP. Local BP distribution was derived with stochastic fire simulation approach using detailed historical fire data (1990-2010) and forest-resource survey results, based on which our factor contribution analysis was carried out. Our results indicated that fuel composition had the greatest relative importance in explaining fire occurrence and size, but human activity explained most of the variance in BP. This implies that the influence of human activity is amplified through the process of overlapping repeated ignition and spreading events. This result emphasizes the status of strong human disturbance in local fire processes. It further confirms the need for a holistic perspective on factor contribution to fire likelihood, rather than focusing on individual fire regime attributes, for the purpose of fire risk management.

  4. Tombusvirus-yeast interactions identify conserved cell-intrinsic viral restriction factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zsuzsanna eSasvari

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available To combat viral infections, plants possess innate and adaptive immune pathways, such as RNA silencing, R gene and recessive gene-mediated resistance mechanisms. However, it is likely that additional cell-intrinsic restriction factors (CIRF are also involved in limiting plant virus replication. This review discusses novel CIRFs with antiviral functions, many of them RNA-binding proteins or affecting the RNA binding activities of viral replication proteins. The CIRFs against tombusviruses have been identified in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is developed as an advanced model organism. Grouping of the identified CIRFs based on their known cellular functions and subcellular localization in yeast reveals that TBSV replication is limited by a wide variety of host gene functions. Yeast proteins with the highest connectivity in the network map include the well-characterized Xrn1p 5’-3’ exoribonuclease, Act1p actin protein and Cse4p centromere protein. The protein network map also reveals an important interplay between the pro-viral Hsp70 cellular chaperone and the antiviral co-chaperones, and possibly key roles for the ribosomal or ribosome-associated factors. We discuss the antiviral functions of selected CIRFs, such as the RNA binding nucleolin, ribonucleases, WW-domain proteins, single- and multi-domain cyclophilins, TPR-domain co-chaperones and cellular ion pumps. These restriction factors frequently target the RNA-binding region in the viral replication proteins, thus interfering with the recruitment of the viral RNA for replication and the assembly of the membrane-bound viral replicase. Although many of the characterized CIRFs act directly against TBSV, we propose that the TPR-domain co-chaperones function as guardians of the cellular Hsp70 chaperone system, which is subverted efficiently by TBSV for viral replicase assembly in the absence of the TPR-domain co-chaperones.

  5. The Analysis of the Contribution of Human Factors to the In-Flight Loss of Control Accidents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ancel, Ersin; Shih, Ann T.

    2012-01-01

    In-flight loss of control (LOC) is currently the leading cause of fatal accidents based on various commercial aircraft accident statistics. As the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) emerges, new contributing factors leading to LOC are anticipated. The NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP), along with other aviation agencies and communities are actively developing safety products to mitigate the LOC risk. This paper discusses the approach used to construct a generic integrated LOC accident framework (LOCAF) model based on a detailed review of LOC accidents over the past two decades. The LOCAF model is comprised of causal factors from the domain of human factors, aircraft system component failures, and atmospheric environment. The multiple interdependent causal factors are expressed in an Object-Oriented Bayesian belief network. In addition to predicting the likelihood of LOC accident occurrence, the system-level integrated LOCAF model is able to evaluate the impact of new safety technology products developed in AvSP. This provides valuable information to decision makers in strategizing NASA's aviation safety technology portfolio. The focus of this paper is on the analysis of human causal factors in the model, including the contributions from flight crew and maintenance workers. The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) taxonomy was used to develop human related causal factors. The preliminary results from the baseline LOCAF model are also presented.

  6. Remembering the past and imagining the future: Identifying and enhancing the contribution of episodic memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schacter, Daniel L; Madore, Kevin P

    2016-01-01

    Recent studies have shown that imagining or simulating future events relies on many of the same cognitive and neural processes as remembering past events. According to the constructive episodic simulation hypothesis (Schacter and Addis, 2007), such overlap indicates that both remembered past and imagined future events rely heavily on episodic memory: future simulations are built on retrieved details of specific past experiences that are recombined into novel events. An alternative possibility is that commonalities between remembering and imagining reflect the influence of more general, non-episodic factors such as narrative style or communicative goals that shape the expression of both memory and imagination. We consider recent studies that distinguish the contributions of episodic and non-episodic processes in remembering the past and imagining the future by using an episodic specificity induction – brief training in recollecting the details of a past experience – and also extend this approach to the domains of problem solving and creative thinking. We conclude by suggesting that the specificity induction may target a process of scene construction that contributes to episodic memory as well as to imagination, problem solving, and creative thinking. PMID:28163775

  7. Factors contributing to the health-related quality of life of people ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study identified factors that influence the health-related quality of life of people living with HIV (PLWH). A qualitative research approach was used for this study and focus group discussions (FGDs) were used for data collection, while grounded theory informed the data analysis. The key finding of this study is that ...

  8. A Study of Contributing Factors in Islamic Motor Insurance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wan Asri Wan Abdul Aziz

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the government servant‟s perception toward Islamic Motor Insurance named as takaful. The product based on syariah rules for general insurance provided by Insurance Company in Malaysia. This study emphasizes on four factors, which product knowledge, awareness, advertising and benefit of the product. The purpose of this study is to measure the level of perception of Islamic Motor insurance and to identify whether there is a relationship between the independent variables (four factors with the dependent variable (perception. The respondents are the government servants who are using Motor insurance. This research is carried out through the finding of multiple regression and Pearson correlation analysis where the relationship between knowledge, awareness, advertising and benefit of the product toward perception of Islamic Motor Insurance among government servants. From the findings, the respondents show very good perception toward Islamic Motor Insurance. The findings showed customers‟ perception levels are very positive towards Islamic Motor insurance

  9. Contributing and Damaging Factors Related to the Psychological Capital of Teachers: A Qualitative Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çimen, Ismail; Özgan, Habib

    2018-01-01

    Over the last two decades, psychological capital has gained prominence in the literature on positive organisational behaviour. However, further investigation is still needed in relation to this issue, particularly in the context of educational organisations. Accordingly, this study aimed to examine the contributing and damaging factors relating to…

  10. Identifying the Prognosis Factors in Death after Liver Transplantation via Adaptive LASSO in Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hadi Raeisi Shahraki

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Despite the widespread use of liver transplantation as a routine therapy in liver diseases, the effective factors on its outcomes are still controversial. This study attempted to identify the most effective factors on death after liver transplantation. For this purpose, modified least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO, called Adaptive LASSO, was utilized. One of the best advantages of this method is considering high number of factors. Therefore, in a historical cohort study from 2008 to 2013, the clinical findings of 680 patients undergoing liver transplant surgery were considered. Ridge and Adaptive LASSO regression methods were then implemented to identify the most effective factors on death. To compare the performance of these two models, receiver operating characteristic (ROC curve was used. According to the results, 12 factors in Ridge regression and 9 ones in Adaptive LASSO regression were significant. The area under the ROC curve (AUC of Adaptive LASSO was equal to 89% (95% CI: 86%–91%, which was significantly greater than Ridge regression (64%, 95% CI: 61%–68% (p<0.001. As a conclusion, the significant factors and the performance criteria revealed the superiority of Adaptive LASSO method as a penalized model versus traditional regression model in the present study.

  11. Top Five Physical Design Factors Contributing to Fall Initiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pati, Debajyoti; Lee, Jaehoon; Mihandoust, Sahar; Kazem-Zadeh, Mahshad; Oh, Youngha

    2018-01-01

    To develop a prioritized list of physical design questions/interventions to reduce patient falls by conducting expanded analysis (Phase II) of data generated from a completed study phase. Patient falls continue to be a critical concern for healthcare providers, patients, and families. While substantial literature exist on intrinsic factors, scientific evidence on the role of the physical environment is scarce. Expanded analysis of data from 180 videos of trials conducted in a physical mock-up of a medical-surgical inpatient room in a previously completed study phase. The odds of subject's exhibited postures (predictors) on fall initiation (outcome) were examined in a series of generalized linear mixed effects models. Physical design elements and attributes associated with postures exhibiting statistical significance were examined. Turning, pulling, pushing, and bending forward exhibited the highest odds of contributing to fall initiation in the bathroom. Grabbing, pushing, and sitting exhibited the highest odds of contributing to fall initiation around the patient bed. Physical design elements/attributes associated with the above postures are the (1) bathroom door; (2) bathroom spatial configuration-relative locations of door, toilet bowl, and the sink; (3) door, toilet, and sink hardware; (4) space availability/tightness inside the clinician zone; and (5) spatial configuration around patient bed-relative locations of bed, patient chair, and overbed table, in relation to bathroom door, and resulting obstructions originating from the configuration. Patient falls during unassisted ambulation may be reduced through appropriate examination of these five physical elements/attributes.

  12. Identifying Factors Causing Variability in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Fluxes in a Polygonal Tundra Landscape

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arora, B.; Wainwright, H. M.; Vaughn, L. S.; Curtis, J. B.; Torn, M. S.; Dafflon, B.; Hubbard, S. S.

    2017-12-01

    Greenhouse gas (GHG) flux variations in Arctic tundra environments are important to understand because of the vast amount of soil carbon stored in these regions and the potential of these regions to convert from a global carbon sink to a source under warmer conditions. Multiple factors potentially contribute to GHG flux variations observed in these environments, including snowmelt timing, growing season length, active layer thickness, water table variations, and temperature fluctuations. The objectives of this study are to investigate temporal variability in CO2 and CH4 fluxes at Barrow, AK over three successive growing seasons (2012-14) and to determine the factors influencing this variability using a novel entropy-based classification scheme. We analyzed soil, vegetation, and climate parameters as well as GHG fluxes at multiple locations within low-, flat- and high-centered polygons at Barrow, AK as part of the Next Generation Ecosystem Experiment (NGEE) Arctic project. Entropy results indicate that different environmental factors govern variability in GHG fluxes under different spatiotemporal settings. In particular, flat-centered polygons are more likely to become significant sources of CO2 during warm and dry years as opposed to high-centered polygons that contribute considerably to CO2 emissions during cold and wet years. In contrast, the highest CH4 emissions were always associated with low-centered polygons. Temporal variability in CO2 fluxes was primarily associated with factors affecting soil temperature and/or vegetation dynamics during early and late season periods. Temporal variability in CH4 fluxes was primarily associated with changes in vegetation cover and its covariability with primary controls such as seasonal thaw—rather than direct response to changes in soil moisture. Overall, entropy results document which factors became important under different spatiotemporal settings, thus providing clues concerning the manner in which ecosystem

  13. Biological, Psychological, and Sociocultural Factors Contributing to the Drive for Muscularity in Weight-Training Men

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Catharina; Rollitz, Laura; Voracek, Martin; Hennig-Fast, Kristina

    2016-01-01

    The drive for muscularity and associated behaviors (e.g., exercising and dieting) are of growing importance for men in Western societies. In its extreme form, it can lead to body image concerns and harmful behaviors like over-exercising and the misuse of performance-enhancing substances. Therefore, investigating factors associated with the drive for muscularity, especially in vulnerable populations like bodybuilders and weight trainers can help identify potential risk and protective factors for body image problems. Using a biopsychosocial framework, the aim of the current study was to explore different factors associated with drive for muscularity in weight-training men. To this purpose, German-speaking male weight trainers (N = 248) completed an online survey to determine the extent to which biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors contribute to drive for muscularity and its related attitudes and behaviors. Using multiple regression models, findings showed that media ideal body internalization was the strongest positive predictor for drive for muscularity, while age (M = 25.9, SD = 7.4) held the strongest negative association with drive for muscularity. Dissatisfaction with muscularity, but not with body fat, was related to drive for muscularity. The fat-free mass index, a quantification of the actual degree of muscularity of a person, significantly predicted drive for muscularity-related behavior but not attitudes. Body-related aspects of self-esteem, but not global self-esteem, were significant negative predictors of drive for muscularity. Since internalization of media body ideals presented the highest predictive value for drive for muscularity, these findings suggest that media body ideal internalizations may be a risk factor for body image concerns in men, leading, in its most extreme form to disordered eating or muscle dysmorphia. Future research should investigate the relations between drive for muscularity, age, body composition

  14. Motivational Factors Contributing to Turkish High School Students' Achievement in Gases and Chemical Reactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kadioglu, Cansel; Uzuntiryaki, Esen

    2008-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate the contribution of motivational factors to 10th grade students' achievement in gases and chemical reactions in chemistry. Three hundred fifty nine 10th grade students participated in the study. The Gases and Chemical Reactions Achievement Test and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire were…

  15. The Frequency of Prediabetes and Contributing Factors in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    Razeghi, Effat; Heydarian, Peimaneh; Heydari, Mahshid

    2011-01-01

    AIMS: Uremia is a prediabetic state, but abnormal glucose metabolism and relative risk factors in non-diabetic chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients are not studied extensively. This study aimed to evaluate prediabetes and contributing factors in patients with CKD. METHODS: We studied the frequency of prediabetes (defined as fasting plasma glucose 100-125 mg/dl and 2-h plasma glucose 140-199 mg/dl) and contributing risk factors in 91 (34 women and 57 men) non-diabetic CKD (GFR prediabetic state. RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients (41.8%), 28 male and 10 female, with mean age of 57.4 ± 17.1 yr, had prediabetes. Among these, 18.7% had impaired fasting glucose, 7.7% impaired glucose tolerance, and 15.4% combined impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance. CKD patients with impaired glucose tolerance had more frequently hypertriglyceridemia (85.7% vs. 42.0%, p = 0.001), hypertension (66.6% vs. 31.4%, p = 0.004), and metabolic syndrome according to National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (52.3% vs. 25.7%, p = 0.02). Also, mean systolic blood pressure (134.2 ± 13.9 vs. 124.5 ± 20.0, p = 0.004) was higher in CKD patients with impaired glucose tolerance compared to CKD patients with normal glucose. CONCLUSIONS: Prediabetes is a frequent condition in CKD patients. Also, hypertriglyceridemia and hypertension are more prevalent in prediabetic CKD patients than in non-diabetic CKD patients. PMID:22189551

  16. Combining structural-thermal coupled field FE analysis and the Taguchi method to evaluate the relative contributions of multi-factors in a premolar adhesive MOD restoration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Chun-Li; Chang, Yen-Hsiang; Lin, Yi-Feng

    2008-08-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the relative contribution of changes in restorative material, cavity dimensions, adhesive layer adaptation, and load conditions on the biomechanical response of an adhesive Class II MOD restoration during oral temperature changes. A validated finite-element (FE) model was used to perform the structural-thermal coupled field analyses and the Taguchi method was employed to identify the significance of each design factor in controlling the stress. The results indicated that thermal expansion in restorative material amplified the thermal effect and dominated the tooth stress value (69%) at high temperatures. The percentage contributions of the load conditions, cavity depth, and cement modulus increased the effect on tooth stress values 46%, 32%, and 14%, respectively, when the tooth temperature was returned to 37 degrees C. Load conditions were also the main factor influencing the resin cement stress values, irrespective of temperature changes. Increased stress values occurred with composite resin, lateral force, a deeper cavity, and a higher luting cement modulus. The combined use of FE analysis and the Taguchi method efficiently identified that a deeper cavity might increase the risk of a restored tooth fracture, as well as a ceramic inlay with a lower thermal expansion, attaining a proper occlusal adjustment to reduce the lateral occlusal force and low modulus luting material application to obtain a better force-transmission mechanism are recommended.

  17. Endotoxin levels and contribution factors of endotoxins in resident, school, and office environments - A review

    OpenAIRE

    Salonen, Heidi; Duchaine, Caroline; Letourneau, Valerie; Mazaheri, Mandana; Laitinen, Sirpa; Clifford, Sam; Mikkola, Raimo; Lappalainen, Sanna; Reijula, Kari; Morawska, Lidia

    2016-01-01

    As endotoxin exposure has known effects on human health, it is important to know the generally existing levels of endotoxins as well as their contributing factors. This work reviews current knowledge on the endotoxin loads in settled floor dust, concentrations of endotoxins in indoor air, and different environmental factors potentially affecting endotoxin levels. The literature review consists of peer-reviewed manuscripts located using Google and PubMed, with search terms based on individual ...

  18. Multiplicity in supervision relationships: A factor in improving ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Supervision has been identified as an important factor in the success of postgraduate students, even as the most significant variable and a large number of studies have been conducted to identify factors that contribute to supervision success. However the dependent variable in these studies – supervision success – has ...

  19. Factors contributing to the effectiveness of internal audit : case study of internal audit in the public sector in Kosovo

    OpenAIRE

    Rudhani, Leonora Haliti; Vokshi, Nexhmie Berisha; Hashani, Shqipdona

    2017-01-01

    Since audit has a great importance in preventing, consulting and finding cases of funds misuse, it was thought of analyzing the factors that contribute to increasing the efficiency of internal audit in the public sector which would help to set proper and more transparent governance of public financial resources. This study investigated the relationship between effectiveness and contributing factors. The data for the study were collected through an online questionnaire and direct hand-outs of ...

  20. Contribution of university farms to teaching and learning of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Contribution of university farms to teaching and learning of agricultural science in Ghana. ... leaving the university. The main factors identified for this gap were the lack of supervision, lack of basic and modern facilities on the farms, lack of motivation, inadequate funds, and inadequate time allotted for practical on the farms.

  1. Differential splicing of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in African and Caucasian American populations: contributing factor in prostate cancer disparities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-12-01

    populations: contributing factor in prostate cancer disparities? PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Norman H Lee, PhD CONTRACTING ORGANIZATION: George Washington...splicing of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in African and Caucasian American populations: contributing factor in prostate cancer disparities? 5b...American (AA) versus Caucasian American (CA) prostate cancer (PCa). We focused our efforts on two oncogenes, phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3

  2. Contributing Factors on Malaysia Preschool Teachers' Belief, Attitude and Competence in Using Play Activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jantan, Hafsah Binti; Bin Hamdan, Abdul Rahim; Yahya, Fauziah Hj; Saleh, Halimatussadiah Binti; Ong, Mohd Hanafi Bin Azman

    2015-01-01

    This study focused on preschool teachers' belief, attitude, knowledge and competence in using play in Malaysia. Its purpose is to find out indicators significantly contribute to belief, attitude, knowledge and competence in play of preschool teachers in Malaysia. The method used was factor analysis in order to confirm indicators in each variable…

  3. Motivation and engagement in computer-based learning tasks: investigating key contributing factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michela Ott, Mauro Tavella

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper, drawing on a research project concerning the educational use of digital mind games with primary school students, aims at giving a contribution to the understanding of which are the main factors influencing student motivation during computer-based learning activities. It puts forward some ideas and experience based reflections, starting by considering digital games that are widely recognized as the most promising ICT tools to enhance student motivation. The project results suggest that student genuine engagement in learning activities is mainly related to the actual possession of the skills and of the cognitive capacities needed to perform the task. In this perspective, cognitive overload should be regarded as one of the main reasons contributing to hinder student motivation and, consequently, should be avoided. Other elements such as game attractiveness and experimental setting constraints resulted to have a lower effect on student motivation.

  4. Factors contributing to young moped rider accidents in Denmark.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Møller, Mette; Haustein, Sonja

    2016-02-01

    Young road users still constitute a high-risk group with regard to road traffic accidents. The crash rate of a moped is four times greater than that of a motorcycle, and the likelihood of being injured in a road traffic accident is 10-20 times higher among moped riders compared to car drivers. Nevertheless, research on the behaviour and accident involvement of young moped riders remains sparse. Based on analysis of 128 accident protocols, the purpose of this study was to increase knowledge about moped accidents. The study was performed in Denmark involving riders aged 16 or 17. A distinction was made between accident factors related to (1) the road and its surroundings, (2) the vehicle, and (3) the reported behaviour and condition of the road user. Thirteen accident factors were identified with the majority concerning the reported behaviour and condition of the road user. The average number of accident factors assigned per accident was 2.7. Riding speed was assigned in 45% of the accidents which made it the most frequently assigned factor on the part of the moped rider followed by attention errors (42%), a tuned up moped (29%) and position on the road (14%). For the other parties involved, attention error (52%) was the most frequently assigned accident factor. The majority (78%) of the accidents involved road rule breaching on the part of the moped rider. The results indicate that preventive measures should aim to eliminate violations and increase anticipatory skills among moped riders and awareness of mopeds among other road users. Due to their young age the effect of such measures could be enhanced by infrastructural measures facilitating safe interaction between mopeds and other road users. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. The contribution of human agricultural activities to increasing evapotranspiration is significantly greater than climate change effect over Heihe agricultural region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Minzhong; Niu, Jun; Kang, Shaozhong; Li, Xiaolin; Lu, Hongna

    2017-08-18

    Evapotranspiration (ET) is a major component linking the water, energy, and carbon cycles. Understanding changes in ET and the relative contribution rates of human activity and of climate change at the basin scale is important for sound water resources management. In this study, changes in ET in the Heihe agricultural region in northwest China during 1984-2014 were examined using remotely-sensed ET data with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Correlation analysis identified the dominant factors that influence change in ET per unit area and those that influence change in total ET. Factor analysis identified the relative contribution rates of the dominant factors in each case. The results show that human activity, which includes factors for agronomy and irrigation, and climate change, including factors for precipitation and relative humidity, both contribute to increases in ET per unit area at rates of 60.93% and 28.01%, respectively. Human activity, including the same factors, and climate change, including factors for relative humidity and wind speed, contribute to increases in total ET at rates of 53.86% and 35.68%, respectively. Overall, in the Heihe agricultural region, the contribution of human agricultural activities to increased ET was significantly greater than that of climate change.

  6. Contribution of environmental factors to the risk of male infertility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliva, A; Spira, A; Multigner, L

    2001-08-01

    An increasing number of reports suggest that chemical and physical agents in the environment, introduced and spread by human activity, may affect male fertility in humans. We investigated the relationships between exposure to environmental agents and seminal characteristics, and the concentrations of reproductive hormones in the serum of men seeking infertility treatment. We studied 225 male partners from consecutively recruited couples, who had their first infertility consultation between 1995 and 1998, in the Litoral Sur region of Argentina, one of the most productive farming regions in the world. A multivariate logistic regression model showed that exposure to pesticides and solvents is significantly associated with sperm threshold values well below the limit for male fertility. We also found that men exposed to pesticides had higher serum oestradiol concentrations, and that men exposed to solvents had lower LH concentrations than non-exposed men. All of these effects were greater in men with primary infertility than in men with secondary infertility. We have shown that environmental factors contribute to the severity of infertility, and that this may worsen the effects of pre-existing genetic or medical risk factors.

  7. Use of clinical risk factors to identify postmenopausal women with vertebral fractures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tobias, J H; Hutchinson, A P; Hunt, L P; McCloskey, E V; Stone, M D; Martin, J C; Thompson, P W; Palferman, T G; Bhalla, A K

    2007-01-01

    Previous studies have been unable to identify risk factors for prevalent vertebral fractures (VF), which are suitable for use in selection strategies intended to target high-risk sub-groups for diagnostic assessment. However, these studies generally consisted of large epidemiology surveys based on questionnaires and were only able to evaluate a limited number of risk factors. Here, we investigated whether a stronger relationship exists with prevalent VF when conventional risk factors are combined with additional information obtained from detailed one-to-one assessment. Women aged 65-75 registered at four geographically distinct GP practices were invited to participate (n=1,518), of whom 540 attended for assessment as follows: a questionnaire asking about risk factors for osteoporosis such as height loss compared to age 25 and history of non-vertebral fracture (NVF), the get-up-and-go test, Margolis back pain score, measurement of wall-tragus and rib-pelvis distances, and BMD as measured by the distal forearm BMD. A lateral thoraco-lumbar spine X-ray was obtained, which was subsequently scored for the presence of significant vertebral deformities. Of the 509 subjects who underwent spinal radiographs, 37 (7.3%) were found to have one or more VF. Following logistic regression analysis, the four most predictive clinical risk factors for prevalent VF were: height loss (P=0.006), past NVF (P=0.004), history of back pain (P=0.075) and age (P=0.05). BMD was also significantly associated with prevalent VF (P=0.002), but its inclusion did not affect associations with other variables. Factors elicited from detailed one-to-one assessment were not related to the risk of one or more prevalent VFs. The area under ROC curves derived from these regressions, which suggested that models for prevalent VF had modest predictive accuracy, were as follows: 0.68 (BMD), 0.74 (four clinical risk factors above) and 0.78 (clinical risk factors + BMD). Analyses were repeated in relation to the

  8. Contribution of sacred forests to biodiversity conservation: case of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Phytosociological relevés were done in 25 circular plots of 18 m radius. Based on the species red list of Benin, threatened species found in Adjahouto and Lokozoun sacred forests were identified. Moreover, socio-economic survey of local residents allowed highlighting the factors that could impede the contribution of sacred ...

  9. Novel Gentic Variations Contributing to Asthma Susceptability in Saudi Arabia

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-04-13

    Collection of Clinical Data That Will be Used in This Study and Will Form a Data Bank for Asthma in Saudi Arabia; Identify Known and NOVEL Genetic Risk Factors Contributing to Asthma Susceptibility; Study the Mechanistic Roles of the Genetic Variants Within Major Asthma Susceptibility Genes

  10. Factors Contributing to the Subjective Career Success among Islamic Educators in Primary Schools

    OpenAIRE

    Mesnan Supa`ad; Nor Wahiza Abd Wahat; Fathiyah Mohd Fakhruddin; Turiman Suandi

    2013-01-01

    A very limited research has been done in the field of career development among Islamic education teachers. Most of the previous researches showed an improvement in terms of grades, positions, and responsibilities of their previous routines as an indicator of their career advancement. However, this conceptual (concept paper) discusses how personality factors, career planning, and career strategy can provide significant contribution to the success of Islamic education teachers’ career. Based on...

  11. Changes in Reference Evapotranspiration and Its Contributing Factors in Jiangsu, a Major Economic and Agricultural Province of Eastern China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ronghao Chu

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Reference evapotranspiration (ETref is a key parameter of hydro-meteorological studies as well as water resource planning. In this study, we adopted the Penman–Monteith FAO 56 model to estimate ETref and through the differential equation and detrending method to determine sensitivities and the contributions of four meteorological parameters to ETref based on daily weather data from 60 stations of Jiangsu province during 1961–2015. Results reveal that ETref and its trends in the three sub-regions of the Jiangsu province had a significant spatial heterogeneity. A significant decreasing tendency of ETref (p < 0.001 was observed in the Huaibei region, while a slightly increasing tendency was identified in the Jianghuai and Sunan regions. These changes of ETref were caused by a significant increasing trend in air temperature (TA and significant decreasing trends in wind speed (WS, sunshine duration (SD as well as a non-significant change trend in actual vapor pressure (VP. However, the VP was the meteorological parameter to which ETref was most sensitive, whereas ETref was more sensitive to TA and SD in the summer but less so in the winter; the least sensitive factor, WS, had the opposite trend. Across the whole region, WS contributed most to ETref, followed by SD, while the positive contribution of TA to ETref could not offset the negative contributions of WS and SD. Although the effect of VP on changes in ETref is small, it could not be ignored, especially in the winter. The reverse relationship between increasing TA and decreasing ETref, namely the “evaporation paradox,” occurred in Jiangsu province. Thus, the outcomes of this study will contribute to thorough insight into the response to changes in ETref to the provincial water planning and management in eastern China.

  12. Identifying Sources of Funding That Contribute to Scholastic Productivity in Academic Plastic Surgeons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruan, Qing Zhao; Cohen, Justin B; Baek, Yoonji; Chen, Austin D; Doval, Andres F; Singhal, Dhruv; Fukudome, Eugene Y; Lin, Samuel J; Lee, Bernard T

    2018-04-01

    Scholastic productivity has previously been shown to be positively associated with National Institute of Health (NIH) grants and industry funding. This study examines whether society, industry, or federal funding contributes toward academic productivity as measured by scholastic output of academic plastic surgeons. Institution Web sites were used to acquire academic attributes of full-time academic plastic surgeons. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payment database, NIH reporter, the Plastic Surgery Foundation (PSF), and American Association of Plastic Surgeons (AAPS) Web sites were accessed for funding and endowment details. Bibliometric data of each surgeon were then collected via Scopus to ascertain strengths of association with each source. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify significant contributors to high scholastic output. We identified 935 academic plastic surgeons with 94 (10.1%), 24 (2.6%), 724 (77.4%), and 62 (6.6%) receiving funding from PSF, AAPS, industry, and NIH, respectively. There were positive correlations in receiving NIH, PSF, and/or AAPS funding (P funding was found to negatively associate with PSF (r = -0.75, P = 0.022) grants. The NIH R award was consistently found to be the most predictive of academic output across bibliometrics, followed by the AAPS academic scholarship award. Conventional measures of academic seniority remained predictive across all measures used. Our study demonstrates for the first time interactions between industry, federal, and association funding. The NIH R award was the strongest determinant of high scholastic productivity. Recognition through AAPS academic scholarships seemed to associate with subsequent success in NIH funding.

  13. Maternal perceptions of factors contributing to severe under-nutrition among children in a rural African setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abubakar, A; Holding, P; Mwangome, M; Maitland, K

    2011-01-01

    In developing countries, severe undernutrition in early childhood is associated with increased mortality and morbidity, and 10-40% of hospital admissions. The current study aimed to elicit maternal perceptions of factors that contribute to severe undernutrition among children in a rural Kenyan community in order to identify appropriate and acceptable targeted interventions. The study consisted of 10 focus group discussions (FGDs) of between eight and ten mothers each, in a rural coastal community in Kenya. A grounded theory approach was used to analyse the FGD data. In all FGDs 'financial constraints' was the main reason given for severe undernutrition of children. The mothers reported the additional factors of inadequate food intake, ill health, inadequate care of children, heavy workload for mothers, inadequate control of family resources by women and a lack of resources for generating income for the family. The mothers also reported their local cultural belief that severe malnutrition was due to witchcraft and the violation of sexual taboos. The mothers in the study community recognised multiple aetiologies for severe undernutrition. A multidisciplinary approach is needed address the range of issues raised and so combat severe undernutrition. Suggested interventions include poverty alleviation, medical education and psychosocial strategies. The content and approach of any program must address the need for variability, determined by individual and local needs, concerns, attitudes and beliefs.

  14. Investigation on factors that contribute to the abandonment of building in construction industry in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farhayu Ariffin, Nur; Jaafar, Mohd Faizal Md; Idris Ali, Mohamad; Irwan Ramli, Noram; Muthusamy, Khairunisa; Shukor Lim, Nor Hasanah Abdul

    2018-03-01

    In Malaysia, the construction sector is one of the important sectors that contribute to economic growth and employments. However, a major concern facing the construction industry is the growing rate of delays in project delivery. In the worse cases, the projects were abandoned due to some reasons when the contract period ended. Abandoned building defines as construction work that has been continuously stalled for 6 months or more, during the project completion period or beyond the scheduled date of completion. When the projects become abandoned, it gives an adverse effect on many parties such as the developer, contractor, consultant and also client. According to previous researchers, the abandonment of building causes a serious problem and need some mitigation plan to avoid this problem from occurring. This study will investigate the fundamental factors that contribute to the abandonment of building and projects in Malaysia based on the current data of the abandoned building in most states in Malaysia. The data was collected from the respondents who is in the construction industry and had experience working with abandoned housing project. Form the respondents perspective, it shows that the main factor contribute to the building abandonment is due to the financial problem facing by the developer company.

  15. Contributing Factors to Colorectal Cancer Screening among Chinese People: A Review of Quantitative Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Doris Y. P. Leung

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Colorectal cancer (CRC is a major health problem in Asia. It has been reported that the Chinese are more susceptible to CRC than many other ethnic groups. Screening for CRC is a cost-effective prevention and control strategy; however, the screening rates among the Chinese are sub-optimal. We conducted a review to identify the factors associated with CRC screening participation among Chinese people. Twenty-two studies that examined the factors related to CRC screening behaviors among the Chinese were identified through five databases. Seven factors were consistently reported to influence CRC screening behaviors in at least one of the studies: socio-demographic characteristics (educational level, health insurance, and knowledge about CRC and its screening; psychological factors (perceived severity of CRC, susceptibility of having CRC, and barriers to screening; and contact with medical provider (physician recommendation. The evidence base for many of these relationships is quite limited. Furthermore, the associations of many factors, including age, gender, income, cancer worry/fear, and self-efficacy with CRC screening behaviors, were mixed or inconsistent across these studies, thereby indicating that more studies are needed in this area.

  16. Identifying Critical Factors Influencing the Rents of Public Rental Housing Delivery by PPPs: The Case of Nanjing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jingfeng Yuan

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The occupancy rate of Public Rental Housing (PRH in China is relatively low due to the unreasonable rents. At the same time, the development of PRH using Public Private Partnerships (PPPs increases the complexity of the rents. Therefore, the critical factors influencing the rents of PRH delivery by PPPs should be identified. Based on the comprehensive literature, this article identified a conceptual model for the factors influencing the rents of PRH delivery by PPPs in China, composed of 14 factors grouped in three factor packages, and discussed the relationships among three factor packages. A survey based on Nanjing was conducted to assess the relative significance of 14 factors. According to the results, six critical factors were identified: construction costs, household income, floor area and structure, transportation, market rents in the same district and public facilities. In addition, the proposed conceptual model had a good fit. The results also supported two hypothetical relationships among three factor packages: (1 the increase of the affordability of the target tenants had a positive effect on the increase of profits of private sectors; and (2 the increase of the affordability of the target tenants had a positive effect on the increase of level of the characteristics of PRH units. For future research, six critical factors and the relationships among three factor packages can be used to determine the reasonable rents for PRH delivery by PPPs in China.

  17. An Investigation into Factors Contributing to Iranian Secondary School English Teachers' Job Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soodmand Afshar, Hassan; Doosti, Mehdi

    2016-01-01

    This study explored factors contributing to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction of male and female Iranian secondary school English teachers. A Likert-scale 58-item questionnaire was developed which was completed by 210 participants. The questionnaire also included three open-ended questions which investigated participants' motivation and…

  18. Using exploratory factor analysis of FFQ data to identify dietary patterns among Yup'ik people.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryman, Tove K; Austin, Melissa A; Hopkins, Scarlett; Philip, Jacques; O'Brien, Diane; Thummel, Kenneth; Boyer, Bert B

    2014-03-01

    An FFQ developed by the Center for Alaska Native Health Research for studies in Yup'ik people includes market foods and subsistence foods such as moose, seal, waterfowl and salmon that may be related to disease risk. Because the FFQ contains >100 food items, we sought to characterize dietary patterns more simply for use in ongoing pharmacogenomics studies. Exploratory factor analysis was used to derive a small number of 'factors' that explain a substantial amount of the variation in the Yup'ik diet. We estimated factor scores and measured associations with demographic characteristics and biomarkers. South-west Alaska, USA. Yup'ik people (n 358) aged ≥18 years. We identified three factors that each accounted for ≥10 % of the common variance: the first characterized by 'processed foods' (e.g. salty snacks, sweetened cereals); the second by 'fruits and vegetables' (e.g. fresh citrus, potato salad); and the third by 'subsistence foods' (seal or walrus soup, non-oily fish). Participants from coastal communities had higher values for the 'subsistence' factor, whereas participants from inland communities had higher values for the 'fruits and vegetables' factor. A biomarker of marine intake, δ 15N, was correlated with the 'subsistence' factor, whereas a biomarker of corn- and sugarcane-based market food intake, δ 13C, was correlated with 'processed foods'. The exploratory factor analysis identified three factors that appeared to reflect dietary patterns among Yup'ik based on associations with participant characteristics and biomarkers. These factors will be useful for chronic disease studies in this population.

  19. Factor Analysis of Therapist-Identified Treatment Targets in Community-Based Children's Mental Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Love, Allison R; Okado, Izumi; Orimoto, Trina E; Mueller, Charles W

    2018-01-01

    The present study used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to identify underlying latent factors affecting variation in community therapists' endorsement of treatment targets. As part of a statewide practice management program, therapist completed monthly reports of treatment targets (up to 10 per month) for a sample of youth (n = 790) receiving intensive in-home therapy. Nearly 75 % of youth were diagnosed with multiple co-occurring disorders. Five factors emerged: Disinhibition, Societal Rules Evasion, Social Engagement Deficits, Emotional Distress, and Management of Biodevelopmental Outcomes. Using logistic regression, primary diagnosis predicted therapist selection of Disinhibition and Emotional Distress targets. Client age predicted endorsement of Societal Rules Evasion targets. Practice-to-research implications are discussed.

  20. The contribution of classical risk factors to cardiovascular disease in familial hypercholesterolaemia: data in 2400 patients

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jansen, A. C. M.; van Aalst-Cohen, E. S.; Tanck, M. W.; Trip, M. D.; Lansberg, P. J.; Liem, A. H.; van Lennep, H. W. O. Roeters; Sijbrands, E. J. G.; Kastelein, J. J. P.

    2004-01-01

    Objective. To determine the contribution of classical risk factors to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH). Design. A retrospective, multi-centre, cohort study. Extensive data were collected by scrutinizing medical records

  1. Identifying risk factors for PTSD in women seeking medical help after rape.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiihonen Möller, Anna; Bäckström, Torbjörn; Söndergaard, Hans Peter; Helström, Lotti

    2014-01-01

    Rape has been found to be the trauma most commonly associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among women. It is therefore important to be able to identify those women at greatest risk of developing PTSD. The aims of the present study were to analyze the PTSD prevalence six months after sexual assaults and identify the major risk factors for developing PTSD. Participants were 317 female victims of rape who sought help at the Emergency Clinic for Raped Women at Stockholm South Hospital, Sweden. Baseline assessments of mental health were carried out and followed up after six months. Thirty-nine percent of the women had developed PTSD at the six month assessment, and 47% suffered from moderate or severe depression. The major risk factors for PTSD were having been sexually assaulted by more than one person, suffering from acute stress disorder (ASD) shortly after the assault, having been exposed to several acts during the assault, having been injured, having co-morbid depression, and having a history of more than two earlier traumas. Further, ASD on its own was found to be a poor predictor of PTSD because of the substantial ceiling effect after sexual assaults. Development of PTSD is common in the aftermath of sexual assaults. Increased risk of developing PTSD is caused by a combination of victim vulnerability and the extent of the dramatic nature of the current assault. By identifying those women at greatest risk of developing PTSD appropriate therapeutic resources can be directed.

  2. Identifying risk factors associated with smear positivity of pulmonary tuberculosis in Kazakhstan.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabrina Hermosilla

    Full Text Available Sputum smear-positive tuberculosis (TB patients have a high risk of transmission and are of great epidemiological and infection control significance. Little is known about the smear-positive populations in high TB burden regions, such as Kazakhstan. The objective of this study is to characterize the smear-positive population in Kazakhstan and identify associated modifiable risk factors.Data on incident TB cases' (identified between April 2012 and March 2014 socio-demographic, risk behavior, and comorbidity characteristics were collected in four regions of Kazakhstan through structured survey and medical record review. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine factors associated with smear positivity.Of the total sample, 193 (34.3% of the 562 study participants tested smear-positive. In the final adjusted multivariable logistic regression model, sex (adjusted odds ratio (aOR = 2.0, 95% CI:1.3-3.1, p < 0.01, incarceration (aOR = 3.6, 95% CI:1.2-11.1, p = 0.03, alcohol dependence (aOR = 2.6, 95% CI:1.2-5.7, p = 0.02, diabetes (aOR = 5.0, 95% CI:2.4-10.7, p < 0.01, and physician access (aOR = 2.7, 95% CI:1.3-5.5p < 0.01 were associated with smear-positivity.Incarceration, alcohol dependence, diabetes, and physician access are associated with smear positivity among incident TB cases in Kazakhstan. To stem the TB epidemic, screening, treatment and prevention policies should address these factors.

  3. The contribution of genetics and environment to obesity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albuquerque, David; Nóbrega, Clévio; Manco, Licínio; Padez, Cristina

    2017-09-01

    Obesity is a global health problem mainly attributed to lifestyle changes such as diet, low physical activity or socioeconomics factors. However, several evidences consistently showed that genetics contributes significantly to the weight-gain susceptibility. A systematic literature search of most relevant original, review and meta-analysis, restricted to English was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science and Google scholar up to May 2017 concerning the contribution of genetics and environmental factors to obesity. Several evidences suggest that obesogenic environments contribute to the development of an obese phenotype. However, not every individual from the same population, despite sharing the same obesogenic environment, develop obesity. After more than 10 years of investigation on the genetics of obesity, the variants found associated with obesity represent only 3% of the estimated BMI-heritability, which is around 47-80%. Moreover, genetic factors per se were unable to explain the rapid spread of obesity prevalence. The integration of multi-omics data enables scientists having a better picture and to elucidate unknown pathways contributing to obesity. New studies based on case-control or gene candidate approach will be important to identify new variants associated with obesity susceptibility and consequently unveiling its genetic architecture. This will lead to an improvement of our understanding about underlying mechanisms involved in development and origin of the actual obesity epidemic. The integration of several omics will also provide insights about the interplay between genes and environments contributing to the obese phenotype. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

  4. Is the quality of cement a contributing factor for building collapse in Ghana?

    OpenAIRE

    Danso, Humphrey; Boateng, Isaac

    2013-01-01

    Sub-standard (poor quality) materials have been mentioned as one of the major causes of building collapse worldwide. The main materials mostly identified as sub-standard are cement, reinforcement bars, timber and aggregate. This Paper assesses whether the quality of Type I Portland cement use in Ghana - contribute to the recent building collapse in Accra and Kumasi. This was achieved through experimental study by comparing the properties of Ghana cement with that of UK cement. The study found...

  5. Contribution of Genetic Background, Traditional Risk Factors, and HIV-Related Factors to Coronary Artery Disease Events in HIV-Positive Persons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rotger, Margalida; Glass, Tracy R.; Junier, Thomas; Lundgren, Jens; Neaton, James D.; Poloni, Estella S.; van 't Wout, Angélique B.; Lubomirov, Rubin; Colombo, Sara; Martinez, Raquel; Rauch, Andri; Günthard, Huldrych F.; Neuhaus, Jacqueline; Wentworth, Deborah; van Manen, Danielle; Gras, Luuk A.; Schuitemaker, Hanneke; Albini, Laura; Torti, Carlo; Jacobson, Lisa P.; Li, Xiuhong; Kingsley, Lawrence A.; Carli, Federica; Guaraldi, Giovanni; Ford, Emily S.; Sereti, Irini; Hadigan, Colleen; Martinez, Esteban; Arnedo, Mireia; Egaña-Gorroño, Lander; Gatell, Jose M.; Law, Matthew; Bendall, Courtney; Petoumenos, Kathy; Rockstroh, Jürgen; Wasmuth, Jan-Christian; Kabamba, Kabeya; Delforge, Marc; De Wit, Stephane; Berger, Florian; Mauss, Stefan; de Paz Sierra, Mariana; Losso, Marcelo; Belloso, Waldo H.; Leyes, Maria; Campins, Antoni; Mondi, Annalisa; De Luca, Andrea; Bernardino, Ignacio; Barriuso-Iglesias, Mónica; Torrecilla-Rodriguez, Ana; Gonzalez-Garcia, Juan; Arribas, José R.; Fanti, Iuri; Gel, Silvia; Puig, Jordi; Negredo, Eugenia; Gutierrez, Mar; Domingo, Pere; Fischer, Julia; Fätkenheuer, Gerd; Alonso-Villaverde, Carlos; Macken, Alan; Woo, James; McGinty, Tara; Mallon, Patrick; Mangili, Alexandra; Skinner, Sally; Wanke, Christine A.; Reiss, Peter; Weber, Rainer; Bucher, Heiner C.; Fellay, Jacques; Telenti, Amalio; Tarr, Philip E.

    2013-01-01

    Background Persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have increased rates of coronary artery disease (CAD). The relative contribution of genetic background, HIV-related factors, antiretroviral medications, and traditional risk factors to CAD has not been fully evaluated in the setting of HIV infection. Methods In the general population, 23 common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were shown to be associated with CAD through genome-wide association analysis. Using the Metabochip, we genotyped 1875 HIV-positive, white individuals enrolled in 24 HIV observational studies, including 571 participants with a first CAD event during the 9-year study period and 1304 controls matched on sex and cohort. Results A genetic risk score built from 23 CAD-associated SNPs contributed significantly to CAD (P = 2.9×10−4). In the final multivariable model, participants with an unfavorable genetic background (top genetic score quartile) had a CAD odds ratio (OR) of 1.47 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05–2.04). This effect was similar to hypertension (OR = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.06–1.73), hypercholesterolemia (OR = 1.51; 95% CI, 1.16–1.96), diabetes (OR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.10–2.49), ≥1 year lopinavir exposure (OR = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.06–1.73), and current abacavir treatment (OR = 1.56; 95% CI, 1.17–2.07). The effect of the genetic risk score was additive to the effect of nongenetic CAD risk factors, and did not change after adjustment for family history of CAD. Conclusions In the setting of HIV infection, the effect of an unfavorable genetic background was similar to traditional CAD risk factors and certain adverse antiretroviral exposures. Genetic testing may provide prognostic information complementary to family history of CAD. PMID:23532479

  6. Wait Not, Want Not: Factors Contributing to the Development of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, Trish

    2003-01-01

    The purpose of this literature review is to examine prevalence and incident rates of both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. In addition, this article will review the psychological and sociological factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of an eating disorder. Finally, different treatment approaches will be discussed in…

  7. Contributing Factors to Student Success in Anatomy and Physiology: Lower outside Workload and Better Preparation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, David E.; Hannum, Lynn; Gupta, Sat

    2004-01-01

    A study of students of a traditional two-semester Anatomy and Physiology class was made to determine factors that contributed to success in the coursework. The test established a co-relation between the amount of study in mathematics and science done previously in school and final grades in the subject.

  8. Identifying depression severity risk factors in persons with traumatic spinal cord injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Ryan T; Wilson, Catherine S; Heinemann, Allen W; Lazowski, Linda E; Fann, Jesse R; Bombardier, Charles H

    2014-02-01

    Examine the relationship between demographic characteristics, health-, and injury-related characteristics, and substance misuse across multiple levels of depression severity. 204 persons with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) volunteered as part of screening efforts for a randomized controlled trial of venlafaxine extended release for major depressive disorder (MDD). Instruments included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) depression scale, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and the Substance Abuse in Vocational Rehabilitation-Screener (SAVR-S), which contains 3 subscales: drug misuse, alcohol misuse, and a subtle items scale. Each of the SAVR-S subscales contributes to an overall substance use disorder (SUD) outcome. Three proportional odds models were specified, varying the substance misuse measure included in each model. 44% individuals had no depression symptoms, 31% had mild symptoms, 16% had moderate symptoms, 6% had moderately severe symptoms, and 3% had severe depression symptoms. Alcohol misuse, as indicated by the AUDIT and the SAVR-S drug misuse subscale scores were significant predictors of depression symptom severity. The SAVR-S substance use disorder (SUD) screening outcome was the most predictive variable. Level of education was only significantly predictive of depression severity in the model using the AUDIT alcohol misuse indicator. Likely SUD as measured by the SAVR-S was most predictive of depression symptom severity in this sample of persons with traumatic SCI. Drug and alcohol screening are important for identifying individuals at risk for depression, but screening for both may be optimal. Further research is needed on risk and protective factors for depression, including psychosocial characteristics. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  9. Personal, professional and workplace factors that contribute to burnout in Australian midwives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fenwick, Jennifer; Lubomski, Anna; Creedy, Debra K; Sidebotham, Mary

    2018-04-01

    This study aimed to identify personal, professional and workplace factors that contribute to burnout in midwives. Burnout is prevalent in the midwifery workforce. Burnout adversely affects the well-being of midwives, diminishes the quality of care they provide and can shorten career duration. Self-administered online survey. The survey included the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory and personal and professional variables related to age, children, years of experience, role, model of care and satisfaction with work life. Midwives were invited to participate via an email sent from the Australian College of Midwives and through professional networks between June and July 2014. Variables associated with burnout were entered in a multinomial logistic regression. A total of 1,037 responses were received and 990 analysed. The prevalence of moderate to severe personal (N = 643; 64.9%) and work-related burnout (N = 428; 43.8%) were high. Having children, providing caseload midwifery care and working in a regional area were associated with low burnout. However, midwives registered for 5-10 years were more likely to report work and client-related burnout. Similarly, midwives reporting a lack of satisfaction with work-life balance were also more likely to report personal and work-related burnout. Family-friendly work environments that facilitate work-life balance can help to reduce the personal and organizational costs of burnout. Similarly, providing continuity of midwifery care in a caseload model can facilitate work-life balance and provide significant mental health benefits to participating midwives. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. A multi-factor GIS method to identify optimal geographic locations for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yongqin; Iman, Kory

    2018-05-01

    Fuel-based transportation is one of the major contributors to poor air quality in the United States. Electric Vehicle (EV) is potentially the cleanest transportation technology to our environment. This research developed a spatial suitability model to identify optimal geographic locations for installing EV charging stations for travelling public. The model takes into account a variety of positive and negative factors to identify prime locations for installing EV charging stations in Wasatch Front, Utah, where automobile emission causes severe air pollution due to atmospheric inversion condition near the valley floor. A walkable factor grid was created to store index scores from input factor layers to determine prime locations. 27 input factors including land use, demographics, employment centers etc. were analyzed. Each factor layer was analyzed to produce a summary statistic table to determine the site suitability. Potential locations that exhibit high EV charging usage were identified and scored. A hot spot map was created to demonstrate high, moderate, and low suitability areas for installing EV charging stations. A spatially well distributed EV charging system was then developed, aiming to reduce "range anxiety" from traveling public. This spatial methodology addresses the complex problem of locating and establishing a robust EV charging station infrastructure for decision makers to build a clean transportation infrastructure, and eventually improve environment pollution.

  11. Estimating the relative contributions of maternal genetic, paternal genetic and intrauterine factors to offspring birth weight and head circumference.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rice, Frances; Thapar, Anita

    2010-07-01

    Genetic factors and the prenatal environment contribute to birth weight. However, very few types of study design can disentangle their relative contribution. To examine maternal genetic and intrauterine contributions to offspring birth weight and head circumference. To compare the contribution of maternal and paternal genetic effects. Mothers and fathers were either genetically related or unrelated to their offspring who had been conceived by in vitro fertilization. 423 singleton full term offspring, of whom 262 were conceived via homologous IVF (both parents related), 66 via sperm donation (mother only related) and 95 via egg donation (father only related). Maternal weight at antenatal booking, current weight and maternal height. Paternal current weight and height were all predictors. Infant birth weight and head circumference were outcomes. Genetic relatedness was the main contributing factor between measures of parental weight and offspring birth weight as correlations were only significant when the parent was related to the child. However, there was a contribution of the intrauterine environment to the association between maternal height and both infant birth weight and infant head circumference as these were significant even when mothers were unrelated to their child. Both maternal and paternal genes made contributions to infant birth weight. Maternal height appeared to index a contribution of the intrauterine environment to infant growth and gestational age. Results suggested a possible biological interaction between the intrauterine environment and maternal inherited characteristics which suppresses the influence of paternal genes. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Identifying factors associated with the discharge of male State patients from Weskoppies Hospital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Riaan G. Prinsloo

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Designated psychiatric facilities are responsible for the care, treatment and reintegration of State patients. The necessary long-term care places a considerable strain on health-care resources. Resource use should be optimised while managing the risks that patients pose to themselves and the community. Identifying unique factors associated with earlier discharge may decrease the length of stay. Factors associated with protracted inpatient care without discharge could identify patients who require early and urgent intervention. Aim: We identify socio-economic, demographic, psychiatric and charge-related factors associated with the discharge of male State patients. Methods: We reviewed the files of discharged and admitted forensic State patients at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital. Data were captured in an electronic recording sheet. The association between factors and the outcome measure (discharged vs. admitted was determined using chi-squared tests and Fischer’s exact tests. Results: Discharged State patients were associated with being a primary caregiver (p = 0.031 having good insight into illness (p = 0.025 or offence (p = 0.005 and having had multiple successful leaves of absences. A lack of substance abuse during admission (p = 0.027, an absence of a diagnosis of substance use disorder (p = 0.013 and the absence of verbal and physical aggression (p = 0.002 and p = 0.016 were associated with being discharged. Prolonged total length of stay (9–12 years, p = 0.031 and prolonged length of stay in open wards (6–9 years, p = 0.000 were associated with being discharged. A history of previous offences (p = 0.022, a diagnosis of substance use disorder (p = 0.023, recent substance abuse (p = 0.018 and a history of physical aggression since admission (p = 0.017 were associated with continued admission. Conclusion: Discharge of State patients is associated with an absence of substance abuse, lack of aggression

  13. Contribution of transcription factor, SP1, to the promotion of HB-EGF expression in defense mechanism against the treatment of irinotecan in ovarian clear cell carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miyata, Kohei; Yotsumoto, Fusanori; Nam, Sung Ouk; Odawara, Takashi; Manabe, Sadao; Ishikawa, Toyokazu; Itamochi, Hiroaki; Kigawa, Junzo; Takada, Shuji; Asahara, Hiroshi; Kuroki, Masahide; Miyamoto, Shingo

    2014-01-01

    Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) is a worst histological subtype than other ovarian malignant tumor. Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is a promising target for ovarian cancer therapy. The aims of this study were to validate the efficacy of HB-EGF–targeted therapy for OCCC and to identify the transcription factor that contributed to the induction of HB-EGF by SN38 treatment in OCCC cells. HB-EGF was highly expressed in OCCC cells, and an increase of HB-EGF was induced by SN38 which had only antitumor effect among conventional anticancer agents on OCCC. A specific inhibitor of HB-EGF, a cross-reacting material 197 (CRM197), led to a synergistic increase in the number of apoptotic OCCC cells with the treatment of SN38. The luciferase assay with 5′-deletion promoter constructs identified a GC-rich element between −125 and −178 (the distal transcription start site was denoted +1) as a cis-regulatory region, and the treatment of SN38 induced luciferase activity in this region. An in silico and chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis estimated that SP1 bound to the cis-regulatory region of HB-EGF in OCCC cells. Real-time PCR and cell viability assays showed that the transfection of a small interfering RNA targeting SP1 suppressed the expression of HB-EGF induced by SN38, resulting in the enhanced sensitivity of SN38. Taken together, these results indicate that induction of HB-EGF expression contributed to defense mechanism against treatment of SN38 through the transcriptional activity of SP1 in OCCC cells

  14. Quantitative investigation of physical factors contributing to gold nanoparticle-mediated proton dose enhancement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, Jongmin; Manohar, Nivedh; Kerr, Matthew; Cho, Sang Hyun; Gonzalez-Lepera, Carlos; Krishnan, Sunil

    2016-01-01

    Some investigators have shown tumor cell killing enhancement in vitro and tumor regression in mice associated with the loading of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) before proton treatments. Several Monte Carlo (MC) investigations have also demonstrated GNP-mediated proton dose enhancement. However, further studies need to be done to quantify the individual physical factors that contribute to the dose enhancement or cell-kill enhancement (or radiosensitization). Thus, the current study investigated the contributions of particle-induced x-ray emission (PIXE), particle-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE), Auger and secondary electrons, and activation products towards the total dose enhancement. Specifically, GNP-mediated dose enhancement was measured using strips of radiochromic film that were inserted into vials of cylindrical GNPs, i.e. gold nanorods (GNRs), dispersed in a saline solution (0.3 mg of GNRs/g or 0.03% of GNRs by weight), as well as vials containing water only, before proton irradiation. MC simulations were also performed with the tool for particle simulation code using the film measurement setup. Additionally, a high-purity germanium detector system was used to measure the photon spectrum originating from activation products created from the interaction of protons and spherical GNPs present in a saline solution (20 mg of GNPs/g or 2% of GNPs by weight). The dose enhancement due to PIXE/PIGE recorded on the films in the GNR-loaded saline solution was less than the experimental uncertainty of the film dosimetry (<2%). MC simulations showed highly localized dose enhancement (up to a factor 17) in the immediate vicinity (<100 nm) of GNRs, compared with hypothetical water nanorods (WNRs), mostly due to GNR-originated Auger/secondary electrons; however, the average dose enhancement over the entire GNR-loaded vial was found to be minimal (0.1%). The dose enhancement due to the activation products from GNPs was minimal (<0.1%) as well. In conclusion, under the

  15. Physical Design Factors Contributing to Patient Falls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pati, Debajyoti; Valipoor, Shabboo; Cloutier, Aimee; Yang, James; Freier, Patricia; Harvey, Thomas E; Lee, Jaehoon

    2017-02-03

    The aim of this study was to identify physical design elements that contribute to potential falls in patient rooms. An exploratory, physical simulation-based approach was adopted for the study. Twenty-seven subjects, older than 70 years (11 male and 16 female subjects), conducted scripted tasks in a mockup of a patient bathroom and clinician zone. Activities were captured using motion-capture technology and video recording. After biomechanical data processing, video clips associated with potential fall moments were extracted and then examined and coded by a group of registered nurses and health care designers. Exploratory analyses of the coded data were conducted followed by a series of multivariate analyses using regression models. In multivariate models with all personal, environmental, and postural variables, only the postural variables demonstrated statistical significance-turning, grabbing, pushing, and pulling in the bathroom and pushing and pulling in the clinician zone. The physical elements/attributes associated with the offending postures include bathroom configuration, intravenous pole, door, toilet seat height, flush, grab bars, over-bed table, and patient chair. Postural changes, during interactions with the physical environment, constitute the source of most fall events. Physical design must include simultaneous examination of postural changes in day-to-day activities in patient rooms and bathrooms. Among discussed testable recommendations in the article, the followings design strategies should be considered: (a) designing bathrooms to reduce turning as much as possible and (b) designing to avoid motions that involve 2 or more of the offending postures, such as turning and grabbing or grabbing and pulling, and so on.

  16. Identifying risk factors for PTSD in women seeking medical help after rape.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Tiihonen Möller

    Full Text Available Rape has been found to be the trauma most commonly associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD among women. It is therefore important to be able to identify those women at greatest risk of developing PTSD. The aims of the present study were to analyze the PTSD prevalence six months after sexual assaults and identify the major risk factors for developing PTSD.Participants were 317 female victims of rape who sought help at the Emergency Clinic for Raped Women at Stockholm South Hospital, Sweden. Baseline assessments of mental health were carried out and followed up after six months.Thirty-nine percent of the women had developed PTSD at the six month assessment, and 47% suffered from moderate or severe depression. The major risk factors for PTSD were having been sexually assaulted by more than one person, suffering from acute stress disorder (ASD shortly after the assault, having been exposed to several acts during the assault, having been injured, having co-morbid depression, and having a history of more than two earlier traumas. Further, ASD on its own was found to be a poor predictor of PTSD because of the substantial ceiling effect after sexual assaults.Development of PTSD is common in the aftermath of sexual assaults. Increased risk of developing PTSD is caused by a combination of victim vulnerability and the extent of the dramatic nature of the current assault. By identifying those women at greatest risk of developing PTSD appropriate therapeutic resources can be directed.

  17. Identifying organizational deficiencies through root-cause analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tuli, R.W.; Apostolakis, G.E.

    1996-01-01

    All nuclear power plants incorporate root-cause analysis as an instrument to help identify and isolate key factors judged to be of significance following an incident or accident. Identifying the principal deficiencies can become very difficult when the event involves not only human and machine interaction, but possibly the underlying safety and quality culture of the organization. The current state of root-cause analysis is to conclude the investigation after identifying human and/or hardware failures. In this work, root-cause analysis is taken one step further by examining plant work processes and organizational factors. This extension is considered significant to the success of the analysis, especially when management deficiency is believed to contribute to the incident. The results of root-cause analysis can be most effectively implemented if the organization, as a whole, wishes to improve the overall operation of the plant by preventing similar incidents from occurring again. The study adds to the existing root-cause analysis the ability to localize the causes of undesirable events and to focus on those problems hidden deeply within the work processes that are routinely followed in the operation and maintenance of the facility

  18. The potential contribution of dietary factors to breast cancer prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapira, Niva

    2017-09-01

    Breast cancer (BC), the leading cancer in women, is increasing in prevalence worldwide, concurrent with western metabolic epidemics, that is, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes, and shares major risk factors with these diseases. The corresponding potential for nutritional contributions toward BC prevention is reviewed and related to critical stages in the life cycle and their implications for carcinogenic and pathometabolic trajectories. BC initiation potentially involves diet-related pro-oxidative, inflammatory, and procarcinogenic processes, that interact through combined lipid/fatty acid peroxidation, estrogen metabolism, and related DNA-adduct/depurination/mutation formation. The pathometabolic trajectory is affected by high estrogen, insulin, and growth factor cascades and resultant accelerated proliferation/progression. Anthropometric risk factors - high birth weight, adult tallness, adiposity/BMI, and weight gain - are often reflective of these trends. A sex-based nutritional approach targets women's specific risk in western obesogenic environments, associated with increasing fatness, estrogen metabolism, n-6 : n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid ratio, and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid conversion to proinflammatory/carcinogenic eicosanoids, and effects of timing of life events, for example, ages at menarche, full-term pregnancy, and menopause. Recent large-scale studies have confirmed the effectiveness of the evidence-based recommendations against BC risk, emphasizing low-energy density diets, highly nutritious plant-based regimes, physical activity, and body/abdominal adiposity management. Better understanding of dietary inter-relationships with BC, as applied to food intake, selection, combination, and processing/preparation, and recommended patterns, for example, Mediterranean, DASH, plant-based, low energy density, and low glycemic load, with high nutrient/phytonutrient density, would increase public motivation and authoritative support for early

  19. Enhancing maya women's development through cooperative associations : what factors support or restrict the contribution of cooperatives?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Osorio Vazquez, Maria Cristina

    2017-01-01

    With the aim of contributing to the development of Mayan women living in the Yucatan Peninsula, this research focused on determine the factors that support or inhibit the sustainability of micro-businesses cooperatives, which are organizations with innovative elements that allow Mayan women to work

  20. Organisational Issues for E-Learning: Critical Success Factors as Identified by HE Practitioners

    Science.gov (United States)

    McPherson, Maggie; Nunes, Miguel Baptista

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on a research project that identified organisational critical success factors (CSFs) for e-learning implementation in higher education (HE). These CSFs can be used as a theoretical foundation upon which to base decision-making and strategic thinking about e-learning. Design/methodology/approach: The…

  1. Multiple factors contribute to reproductive isolation between two co-existing Habenaria species (Orchidaceae.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenliu Zhang

    Full Text Available Reproductive isolation is a key feature that forms barriers to gene flow between distinct plants. In orchids, prezygotic reproductive isolation has been considered to be strong, because their associations with highly specific pollinators. In this study, the reproductive ecology and reproductive isolation of two sympatric Habenaria species, H. davidii and H. fordii, was investigated by floral phenology and morphology, hand-pollination experiments and visitor observation in southwest China. The two species were dependent on insects for pollination and completely self-compatible. A number of factors have been identified to limit gene flow between the two species and achieved full reproductive isolation. Ecogeographic isolation was a weak barrier. H. fordii and H. davidii had completely overlapped flowering periods, and floral morphology plays an important role in floral isolation. The two species shared the same hawkmoth pollinator, Cechenena lineosa, but the pollinaria of the two orchids were attached on different body parts of pollinators. Prezygotic isolation was not complete, but the interspecific pollination treatments of each species resulted in no seed sets, indicating that unlike many other orchid species, in which the postzygotic reproductive isolation is very weak or complete absence, the post-zygotic isolation strongly acted in the stage of seed production between two species. The results illustrate the reproductive isolation between two species involves multiple plant life-history stages and a variety of reproductive barriers can contribute to overall isolation.

  2. Analysis of contributing factors associated to related patients safety incidents in Intensive Care Medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martín Delgado, M C; Merino de Cos, P; Sirgo Rodríguez, G; Álvarez Rodríguez, J; Gutiérrez Cía, I; Obón Azuara, B; Alonso Ovies, Á

    2015-01-01

    To explore contributing factors (CF) associated to related critical patients safety incidents. SYREC study pos hoc analysis. A total of 79 Intensive Care Departments were involved. The study sample consisted of 1.017 patients; 591 were affected by one or more incidents. The CF were categorized according to a proposed model by the National Patient Safety Agency from United Kingdom that was modified. Type, class and severity of the incidents was analyzed. A total 2,965 CF were reported (1,729 were associated to near miss and 1,236 to adverse events). The CF group more frequently reported were related patients factors. Individual factors were reported more frequently in near miss and task related CF in adverse events. CF were reported in all classes of incidents. The majority of CF were reported in the incidents classified such as less serious, even thought CF patients factors were associated to serious incidents. Individual factors were considered like avoidable and patients factors as unavoidable. The CF group more frequently reported were patient factors and was associated to more severe and unavoidable incidents. By contrast, individual factors were associated to less severe and avoidable incidents. In general, CF most frequently reported were associated to near miss. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

  3. Identifying at-risk profiles and protective factors for problem gambling: A longitudinal study across adolescence and early adulthood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allami, Youssef; Vitaro, Frank; Brendgen, Mara; Carbonneau, René; Tremblay, Richard E

    2018-05-01

    Past studies have identified various risk and protective factors for problem gambling (PG). However, no study has examined the interplay between these factors using a combination of person-centered and variable-centered approaches embedded within a longitudinal design. The present study aimed to (a) identify distinct profiles in early adolescence based on a set of risk factors commonly associated with PG (impulsivity, depression, anxiety, drug-alcohol use, aggressiveness, and antisociality), (b) explore the difference in reported gambling problems between these profiles during midadolescence and early adulthood, and (c) identify family- and peer-related variables that could operate as protective or compensatory factors in this context. Two samples were used: (a) a population sample (N = 1,033) living in low socioeconomic-status neighborhoods and (b) a population sample (N = 3,017) representative of students attending Quebec schools. Latent profile analyses were conducted to identify at-risk profiles based on individual risk factors measured at age 12 years. Negative binomial regression models were estimated to compare profiles in terms of their reported gambling problems at ages 16 and 23. Finally, family- and peer-related variables measured at age 14 were included to test their protective or compensatory role with respect to the link between at-risk profiles and gambling problems. Four profiles were identified: well-adjusted, internalizing, externalizing, and comorbid. Compared to the well-adjusted profile, the externalizing and comorbid profiles reported more gambling problems at ages 16 and 23, but the internalizing profile did not differ significantly. Various protective and compensatory factors emerged for each profile at both time points. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  4. A Model of Factors Contributing to STEM Learning and Career Orientation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nugent, Gwen; Barker, Bradley; Welch, Greg; Grandgenett, Neal; Wu, ChaoRong; Nelson, Carl

    2015-05-01

    The purpose of this research was to develop and test a model of factors contributing to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning and career orientation, examining the complex paths and relationships among social, motivational, and instructional factors underlying these outcomes for middle school youth. Social cognitive career theory provided the foundation for the research because of its emphasis on explaining mechanisms which influence both career orientations and academic performance. Key constructs investigated were youth STEM interest, self-efficacy, and career outcome expectancy (consequences of particular actions). The study also investigated the effects of prior knowledge, use of problem-solving learning strategies, and the support and influence of informal educators, family members, and peers. A structural equation model was developed, and structural equation modeling procedures were used to test proposed relationships between these constructs. Results showed that educators, peers, and family-influenced youth STEM interest, which in turn predicted their STEM self-efficacy and career outcome expectancy. STEM career orientation was fostered by youth-expected outcomes for such careers. Results suggest that students' pathways to STEM careers and learning can be largely explained by these constructs, and underscore the importance of youth STEM interest.

  5. Evaluation of model-simulated source contributions to tropospheric ozone with aircraft observations in the factor-projected space

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Yoshida

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Trace gas measurements of TOPSE and TRACE-P experiments and corresponding global GEOS-Chem model simulations are analyzed with the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF method for model evaluation purposes. Specially, we evaluate the model simulated contributions to O3 variability from stratospheric transport, intercontinental transport, and production from urban/industry and biomass burning/biogenic sources. We select a suite of relatively long-lived tracers, including 7 chemicals (O3, NOy, PAN, CO, C3H8, CH3Cl, and 7Be and 1 dynamic tracer (potential temperature. The largest discrepancy is found in the stratospheric contribution to 7Be. The model underestimates this contribution by a factor of 2–3, corresponding well to a reduction of 7Be source by the same magnitude in the default setup of the standard GEOS-Chem model. In contrast, we find that the simulated O3 contributions from stratospheric transport are in reasonable agreement with those derived from the measurements. However, the springtime increasing trend over North America derived from the measurements are largely underestimated in the model, indicating that the magnitude of simulated stratospheric O3 source is reasonable but the temporal distribution needs improvement. The simulated O3 contributions from long-range transport and production from urban/industry and biomass burning/biogenic emissions are also in reasonable agreement with those derived from the measurements, although significant discrepancies are found for some regions.

  6. Identifying and Ranking the Effective Factors on Successful Implementation of Social Commerce in Iran, Using AHP Fuzzy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zahra Rahimi

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Social commerce has been introduced as a new approach to increase sales, number of customers and reduce marketing expenditures. This approach is a combination of business, communication between people, as well as communicative and informative technologies based on web 2.0 Its achievement originated from different factors relied on business, individuals, culture, and technology. These factors have been primarily identified on the basis of library researches and classified into six infrastructural groups including:  technical, economical and human resources, cultural, rules governing the countries, style of management, and business. Then, it identified priority of the factors by using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP. Innovation of this research was to extract a comprehensive list of factors and to prioritize them based on specific conditions in Iran.

  7. Contributing risk factors for orthopedic device related infections in sina hospital, tehran, iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadadi, A; Zehtab, M J; Babagolzadeh, H; Ashraf, H

    2011-02-01

    In spite of decreasing incidence of orthopedic device-related infections to 1%, nowadays, device-related infection still remains a diagnostic, therapeutic and cost-related problem. The objective of this study is to evaluate the contributing risk factors for orthopedic device-related infections in Sina Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Three hundred and thirty patients who underwent orthopedic device implantation from 2002-2006 were enrolled; among them, 110 patients were complicated with infection. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the risk factors for device related infections. Patients with infection were older compared to those without infection. The Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest organism. A correlation was observed between wound infection and external fixation, an underlying health condition, and addiction which were independent risk factors for a device related infection. Orthopedic device-related infection puts a great financial burden on patients and hospital resources and could lead to morbidity and mortality in patients. So, appropriate pre and postoperative wound care for dirty wounds, especially when external fixators are used, and in patients with poor conditions or addiction should be done with more caution.

  8. Exploring the risk factors contributing to suicide attempt among adolescents: A qualitative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad-Rafi Bazrafshan

    2016-01-01

    Conclusions: This study identified three major themes related to suicide attempt among adolescents in the context. As a result, suicide prevention and care provision should formulate a comprehensive method, considering the interaction of medical besides individual, familiar, and social factors in their assessment and care provision.

  9. Human Factors in Accidents Involving Remotely Piloted Aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merlin, Peter William

    2013-01-01

    This presentation examines human factors that contribute to RPA mishaps and provides analysis of lessons learned. RPA accident data from U.S. military and government agencies were reviewed and analyzed to identify human factors issues. Common contributors to RPA mishaps fell into several major categories: cognitive factors (pilot workload), physiological factors (fatigue and stress), environmental factors (situational awareness), staffing factors (training and crew coordination), and design factors (human machine interface).

  10. Dietary fat, body weight, and cancer: contributions of studies in rodents to understanding these cancer risk factors in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, A E; Sullivan, L M; Hafer, L J

    1999-12-01

    Understanding diet and energy balance as risk factors for breast, colon, and other cancers requires information on the contribution of each factor and of interactions among factors to cancer risk. Rodent models for breast cancer provide extensive data on effects of dietary fat and calories, energy balance, body weight gain, and physical activity on tumor development. Analyses of the combined data from many studies have shown clearly that quality and quantity of dietary fat and energy balance contribute independently to increased mammary gland tumorigenesis. These findings were seen in female rats fed diets high in fat (35-40% of calories) compared to rats fed control diets, with approximately 10% of calories as fat (Fay and Freedman, 1997, Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 46, 215-223). The methods used permit comparison of experimental and epidemiological data, and they may be useful in extrapolating between species and developing public health recommendations. In addition to the contributions of lifetime-diet composition, intake, energy balance, and physical activity to cancer risk, there are questions about the timing and duration of alterations in these factors and about the "dose-response" characteristics of cancer risk to the factors. Endocrine mechanisms may be significant in mammary gland tumor risk, but experimental and epidemiological data indicate that cancers at other sites, such as colon and liver, also are influenced by the factors listed. Other diet and lifestyle factors that influence energy, or specifically fat, metabolism may also affect risk for cancers that are promoted by increased intake of fat and calories. Studies of separate and interactive effects of dietary fat, black tea, weight gain, and mammary gland tumorigenesis (Rogers, et al, 1998, Carcinogenesis 19, 1269-1273) have been analyzed. Using adjustment of carcinogenesis endpoints for body weight, tumor burden, and latency, they were found to be related to weight gain within treatment groups in

  11. Identifying and prioritizing the factors effective in customer satisfaction using the TOPSIS method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H Forougozar

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Customer satisfaction has been suggested as one of the interesting and challenging issues of management in the new millennium. In addition, oral and dental health and the quality of the services the health centers delivered to the patients directly affect the customer satisfaction. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify, investigate, and rank the factors affecting the customer satisfaction in the department of dentistry of Shiraz Farhangiyan health center. Method: The present descriptive study was conducted on the specialists and patients of the department of dentistry of Shiraz Farhangiyan health center. The validity of the questionnaire utilized in the study was confirmed by expert professors and its reliability was approved using the Cronbach’s alpha formula. Finally, the study data were analyzed in SPSS statistical software (v. 16, using inferential statistics. Results: All the hypotheses were confirmed by the results of the statistical analyses and quality, services, and expenditures revealed to affect the customer satisfaction in the department of dentistry of Shiraz Farhangiyan health center. Moreover, these factors were ranked using the TOPSIS method and the results showed quality and expenditures as the most and the least effective factors in customer satisfaction, respectively. Conclusion: Since restoring and arranging the organization based on the customer needs is among the main priorities of designing an organization, managers are suggested to take measures for organizational reformation based on the customers’ priorities. Of course, conducting such programs is of utmost importance in health and treatment environments, leading to provision of better services and facilitation of learning, education, and research. Thus, identifying the effective factors in customer satisfaction and ranking them are highly important.

  12. Families, nurses and organisations contributing factors to medication administration error in paediatrics: a literature review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Albara Alomari

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: Medication error is the most common adverse event for hospitalised children and can lead to significant harm. Despite decades of research and implementation of a number of initiatives, the error rates continue to rise, particularly those associated with administration. Objectives: The objective of this literature review is to explore the factors involving nurses, families and healthcare systems that impact on medication administration errors in paediatric patients. Design: A review was undertaken of studies that reported on factors that contribute to a rise or fall in medication administration errors, from family, nurse and organisational perspectives. The following databases were searched: Medline, Embase, CINAHL and the Cochrane library. The title, abstract and full article were reviewed for relevance. Articles were excluded if they were not research studies, they related to medications and not medication administration errors or they referred to medical errors rather than medication errors. Results: A total of 15 studies met the inclusion criteria. The factors contributing to medication administration errors are communication failure between the parents and healthcare professionals, nurse workload, failure to adhere to policy and guidelines, interruptions, inexperience and insufficient nurse education from organisations. Strategies that were reported to reduce errors were doublechecking by two nurses, implementing educational sessions, use of computerised prescribing and barcoding administration systems. Yet despite such interventions, errors persist. The review highlighted families that have a central role in caring for the child and therefore are key to the administration process, but have largely been ignored in research studies relating to medication administration. Conclusions: While there is a consensus about the factors that contribute to errors, sustainable and effective solutions remain elusive. To date, families have not

  13. Using qualitative methods to understand factors contributing to patient satisfaction among dermatology patients: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibbons, Caitlin; Singh, Sanminder; Gibbons, Brittany; Clark, Caitlin; Torres, Josefina; Cheng, Michelle Y; Wang, Elizabeth A; Armstrong, April W

    2018-05-01

    In this systematic review, we aimed to synthesize data that identify factors contributing to patient satisfaction in dermatology care using qualitative methods. We performed a comprehensive search of the literature using the PubMed database for articles published between January 1, 2000 and February 9, 2015. The initial search yielded 186 articles, of which 13 were included after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. The systematic review of 13 articles included a total of 330 patients. Using in-field observations and semistructured interviews, studies found that qualitative methods and analysis increased the provider's sensitivity to patient needs and enhanced patient care. Analyses using qualitative methods found increased patient satisfaction in their healthcare provider is associated with (1) confidence in the provider's diagnosis, (2) perception of patient-centered, individualized recommendations and (3) quality of patient education and provider explanation during a visit. Patient satisfaction is measured using either quantitative or qualitative methods. Quantitative methods result in standardized data that often does not capture the nuances of patient experience. In contrast, qualitative methodology is integral to gathering patient perspectives on patient care and satisfaction and should be included in future research models.

  14. Spatiotemporal Patterns of the Use of Urban Green Spaces and External Factors Contributing to Their Use in Central Beijing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fangzheng Li

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Urban green spaces encourage outdoor activity and social communication that contribute to the health of local residents. Examining the relationship between the use of urban green spaces and factors influencing their utilization can provide essential references for green space site selection in urban planning. In contrast to previous studies that focused on internal factors, this study highlights the external factors (traffic convenience, population density and commercial facilities contributing to the use of urban green spaces. We conducted a spatiotemporal analysis of the distribution of visitors in 208 selected green spaces in central Beijing. We examined the relationship between the spatial pattern of visitor distribution within urban green spaces and external factors, using the Gini coefficient, kernel density estimation, and geographical detectors. The results of the study were as follows. The spatial distribution of visitors within central Beijing’s green spaces was concentrated, forming different agglomerations. The three examined external factors are all associated with the use of green spaces. Among them, commercial facilities are the important external factor associated with the use of green spaces. For the selection of sites for urban green spaces, we recommend consideration of external factors in order to balance urban green space utilization.

  15. Breast cancer as heterogeneous disease: contributing factors and carcinogenesis mechanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kravchenko, Julia; Akushevich, Igor; Seewaldt, Victoria L; Abernethy, Amy P; Lyerly, H Kim

    2011-07-01

    The observed bimodal patterns of breast cancer incidence in the U.S. suggested that breast cancer may be viewed as more than one biological entity. We studied the factors potentially contributing to this phenomenon, specifically focusing on how disease heterogeneity could be linked to breast carcinogenesis mechanisms. Using empirical analyses and population-based biologically motivated modeling, age-specific patterns of incidence of ductal and lobular breast carcinomas from the SEER registry (1990-2003) were analyzed for heterogeneity and characteristics of carcinogenesis, stratified by race, stage, grade, and estrogen (ER)/progesterone (PR) receptor status. The heterogeneity of breast carcinoma age patterns decreased after stratification by grade, especially for grade I and III tumors. Stratification by ER/PR status further reduced the heterogeneity, especially for ER(+)/PR(-) and ER(-)/(-) tumors; however, the residual heterogeneity was still observed. The number of rate-limiting events of carcinogenesis and the latency of ductal and lobular carcinomas differed, decreasing from grade I to III, with poorly differentiated tumors associated with the least number of carcinogenesis stages and the shortest latency. Tumor grades play important role in bimodal incidence of breast carcinoma and have distinct mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Race and cancer subtype could play modifying role. ER/PR status contributes to the observed heterogeneity, but is subdominant to tumor grade. Further studies on sources of "remaining" heterogeneity of population with breast cancer (such as genetic/epigenetic characteristics) are necessary. The results of this study could suggest stratification rather than unification of breast cancer prevention strategies, risk assessment, and treatment.

  16. [Factors contributing to smoking among students in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koueta, F; Dao, L; Yé, D; Koura, M; Sawadogo, A

    2009-03-01

    Smoking is of great concern to the international community because of the sharp increase in tobacco consumption among adolescents. We conducted a transverse descriptive study on 23 to 27 May 2006, on a sample of 500 smoking students randomly selected from secondary schools in the city of Ouagadougou, to identify their motivation with the aim of prevention. The main factors encouraging smoking among students were: *Economic conditions: 64% came from a favourable economic environment with daily pocket money (100%) and a means of travel (74.8%). *Difficulties with their studies: 57.2% of smoking students had repeated at least one class and half had a class average lower than 10/20. *A smoking environment: 72% of smokers lived away from their parents, 46% of students had smoked in imitation of their colleagues. School was the preferred place for the consumption of cigarettes (67.9%). *The influence of the media: 80.8% were drawn into smoking by the influence of advertising. Prevention programmes must take all these factors into account.

  17. Nurses'experiences of perceived support and their contributing factors: A qualitative content analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sodeify, Roghieh; Vanaki, Zohreh; Mohammadi, Eesa

    2013-05-01

    Following professional standards is the main concern of all managers in organizations. The functions of nurses are essential for both productivity and improving health organizations. In human resources management, supporting nursing profession is of ultimate importance. However, nurses' experiences of perceived support, which are affected by various factors in workplace, have not been clearly explained yet. Thus, this study aimed to explain nurses' experiences of perceived support and their contributing factors. This study is a qualitative research in which 12 nurses were selected through purposive sampling among nurses in university hospitals affiliated to University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran, during 2011-2012. Data collection was conducted through deep interviews with semi-structural questions. All interviews were first recorded and then transcribed. Finally, data were analyzed through conventional content analysis. The four main themes indicated that nurses experienced their workplace as non-supportive. Themes such as poor organizational climate, low social dignity, poor work conditions, and managers' ignorance to individual and professional values were considered as inhibitory factors to support. Nursing managers can promote nurses' positive support perceptions through recognizing inhibitory factors and applying fair solutions and take benefits of their positive consequences including high efficacy, self-esteem, and organizational commitment to promote the quality of care.

  18. Retention in medication-assisted treatment programs in Ukraine-Identifying factors contributing to a continuing HIV epidemic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dumchev, Kostyantyn; Dvoryak, Sergii; Chernova, Olena; Morozova, Olga; Altice, Frederick L

    2017-10-01

    Opioid agonist treatments (OAT) are widely-used, evidence-based strategies for treating opioid dependence and reducing HIV transmission. The positive benefits of OAT are strongly correlated with time spent in treatment, making retention a key indicator for program quality. This study assessed patient retention and associated factors in Ukraine, where OAT was first introduced in 2004. Data from clinical records of 2916 patients enrolled in OAT at thirteen sites from 2005 to 2012 were entered into an electronic monitoring system. Survival analysis methods were used to determine the probability of retention and its correlates. Twelve-month retention was 65.8%, improving from 27.7% in 2005, to 70.9% in 2011. In multivariable analyses, the correlates of retention were receiving medium and high doses of medication (compared to low doses, dropout aHR=0.57 for both medium and high doses), having not been tested for HIV and tuberculosis (compared to not being tested, dropout aHR=4.44 and 3.34, respectively), and among those who were tested-a negative TB test result (compared to receiving a positive test result, dropout aHR=0.67). Retention in Ukrainian OAT programs, especially in recent years, is comparable to other countries. The results confirm the importance of adequate OAT dosing (≥60mg of methadone, ≥8mg of buprenorphine). Higher dosing, however, will require interventions that address negative attitudes toward OAT by patients and providers. Interruption of OAT, in the case developing tuberculosis, should incorporate continuity of OAT for TB patients through integrated care delivery systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Business Intelligence Success Factors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gaardboe, Rikke; Jonasen, Tanja Svarre

    2018-01-01

    Business intelligence (BI) is a strategically important practice in many organizations. Several studies have investigated the factors that contribute to BI success; however, an overview of the critical success factors (CSFs) involved is lacking in the extant literature. We have integrated...... 34 CSFs related to BI success. The distinct CSFs identified in the extant literature relate to project management skills (13 papers), management support (20 papers), and user involvement (11 papers). In the articles with operationalized BI success, we found several distinct factors: system quality...

  20. Labor inclusion of individuals with disabilities: Managers' conceptions as a contributing factor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brite, Roberta; Nunes, Francisco; Souza, Danielle

    2015-01-01

    This study aims to analyze the managers' conceptions involved in the process of labor inclusion in 18 supermarkets with 5,000 employees, 300 of whom with disabilities. A group of 90 managers working with people with disability completed a Conceptions of Disability Inventory (CDI) about their conceptions of people with disabilities. Their responses were categorized as follows: (a) disability as a spiritual manifestation; b) disability as a deviation from normality; (c) disability based on assumptions of inclusion; (d) disability assessed from performance criteria; (e) disability assessed from the connection established with the work organization; (f) disability conceived by contracting benefits, and (g) disability based on the perception of the need for training. Based on the outcomes of the Pearson Correlation Matrix, significant linear correlations were found in seven managers' conceptions of disability. The results also indicate that the managers' conceptions contributed to differentiated inclusionist actions based on their perceptions related to people with disabilities. This study data contributes to identifying the best practices in labor inclusion. The outcomes of the present study could lead to development of a public policy aimed towards humanizing job alternatives for people with disability.

  1. APPLICATION OF MULTIPLE LOGISTIC REGRESSION, BAYESIAN LOGISTIC AND CLASSIFICATION TREE TO IDENTIFY THE SIGNIFICANT FACTORS INFLUENCING CRASH SEVERITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    MILAD TAZIK

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Identifying cases in which road crashes result in fatality or injury of drivers may help improve their safety. In this study, datasets of crashes happened in TehranQom freeway, Iran, were examined by three models (multiple logistic regression, Bayesian logistic and classification tree to analyse the contribution of several variables to fatal accidents. For multiple logistic regression and Bayesian logistic models, the odds ratio was calculated for each variable. The model which best suited the identification of accident severity was determined based on AIC and DIC criteria. Based on the results of these two models, rollover crashes (OR = 14.58, %95 CI: 6.8-28.6, not using of seat belt (OR = 5.79, %95 CI: 3.1-9.9, exceeding speed limits (OR = 4.02, %95 CI: 1.8-7.9 and being female (OR = 2.91, %95 CI: 1.1-6.1 were the most important factors in fatalities of drivers. In addition, the results of the classification tree model have verified the findings of the other models.

  2. SU-E-T-517: Investigation of Factors Contributing to Extracranial Radiation Doses From Leksell Gamma Knife

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kon, D [The University of Tokyo Graduate school of Medicine, Tokyo, JP (Japan); Kameda Medical Centre, Chiba, JP (Japan); Nakano, M [The University of Tokyo Graduate school of Medicine, Tokyo, JP (Japan); Nawa, K; Haga, A; Nakagawa, K [University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, JP (Japan)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate dominant factors for doses to extracranial sites in treatment with Leksell Gamma Knife (LGK). Methods Monte Carlo simulation was implemented using EGS5 version 1.4.401. The simulation was divided into two major steps for the purpose of efficiency. As the first step, phase-space files were obtained at a scoring plane located just below patient-side surface of the collimator helmet of LGK. Scored particles were classified into three groups, primary, leakage and scatter, using their history information until their arrival to the scoring plane. Then classification was used at the following second step simulation to investigate which type of particle is dominant in the deposited energy at extra-cranial sites. In the second stage, a cylindrical phantom with a semisphere shaped head was modeled such that the geometrical center of the phantom’s head corresponds to the unit center point (UCP) of LGK. Scoring regions were arranged at 10 cm intervals from the UCP to 70 cm away on the central axis of the phantom. Energy deposition from each type of particles and location of interaction were recorded. Results The dominant factor of deposited energy depended on the collimator size. In the case of smaller collimator size, leakage was dominant. However, contribution of leakage was relatively small in the case of larger collimator size. The contribution of internal scatter varied with the distance from the UCP. In the proximal areas, internal scatter was dominant, whereas in the distal areas, particles interacting with machine components became dominant factor. Conclusion The Result of this study indicates that the dominant factor to dose to an extracranial site can vary with the distance from UCP and with collimator size. This means that the variation of this contribution must be considered for modeling of the extracranial dose especially in the distal area. This work was partly supported by the JSPS Core-to-Core Program (No

  3. Transcription factor expression uniquely identifies most postembryonic neuronal lineages in the Drosophila thoracic central nervous system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lacin, Haluk; Zhu, Yi; Wilson, Beth A; Skeath, James B

    2014-03-01

    Most neurons of the adult Drosophila ventral nerve cord arise from a burst of neurogenesis during the third larval instar stage. Most of this growth occurs in thoracic neuromeres, which contain 25 individually identifiable postembryonic neuronal lineages. Initially, each lineage consists of two hemilineages--'A' (Notch(On)) and 'B' (Notch(Off))--that exhibit distinct axonal trajectories or fates. No reliable method presently exists to identify these lineages or hemilineages unambiguously other than labor-intensive lineage-tracing methods. By combining mosaic analysis with a repressible cell marker (MARCM) analysis with gene expression studies, we constructed a gene expression map that enables the rapid, unambiguous identification of 23 of the 25 postembryonic lineages based on the expression of 15 transcription factors. Pilot genetic studies reveal that these transcription factors regulate the specification and differentiation of postembryonic neurons: for example, Nkx6 is necessary and sufficient to direct axonal pathway selection in lineage 3. The gene expression map thus provides a descriptive foundation for the genetic and molecular dissection of adult-specific neurogenesis and identifies many transcription factors that are likely to regulate the development and differentiation of discrete subsets of postembryonic neurons.

  4. Identifying risk factors for victimization among male prisoners in Taiwan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuo, Shih-Ya; Cuvelier, Steven J; Huang, Yung-Shun

    2014-02-01

    This study identified risk factors for prison victimization in Taiwan with an application of Western literature and assessed the extent of its applicability in an Eastern context. The sample was drawn from four male prisons located in Northern, Central, Southern, and Eastern Taiwan; a total of 1,181 valid surveys were collected. The results generally support the major findings of the extant Western studies. Crowding, however, was not significantly associated with the risk of victimization in any of the statistical models, which might be related to the different experiences and living conditions in the free community between Taiwanese and American inmates. This study generated clear policy implications, which may reduce prison victimization and engender a greater sense of well-being in the prison environment.

  5. Complementary factors contributing to the rapid spread of HIV-I in sub-Saharan Africa: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyindo, M

    2005-01-01

    To examine and establish complementary factors that contribute to the alarmingly high prevalence of HIV-1 in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in order to create awareness and suggest possible measures to avert the spread of the pandemic. Review of literature via Medline, the Internet, articles in refereed journals, and un-refereed features from the East Africa media houses and personal communications. Most published data from 1981 to September 2004 found to have revealed an impact on the spread of HIV-1 in SSA were included in the review. Therefore, all selected articles were read and critically evaluated. Where possible the number of citations articles which had been received were sought to established the degree of impact. Abstracts of all articles identified were accessed, read and analysed to determined possible relevance to the spread of HIV-1. When relevance was established from the abstract the entire paper was read and important points were included in the review. A matrix was drawn to include all subtitles (e.g. polygamy, circumcision, poverty, etc). Below each subtitle all published works were included and prioritised. Published works that were found to have impact were included in the review. Finally a percent composite picture of all factors was drawn in an attempt to prioritise the factors, not withstanding the fact that most factors are interrelated and complementary. There are many reasons why the spread of HIV-1 in SSA has not been declining over the years. Main risk factors for HIV-1 infection and AIDS disease in SSA were found to include poverty, famine, low status of women in society, corruption, naive risk taking perception, resistance to sexual behaviour change, high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI), internal conflicts and refugee status, antiquated beliefs, lack of recreational facilities, ignorance of individual's HIV status, child and adult prostitution, uncertainty of safety of blood intended for transfusion, widow inheritance

  6. Relative Risks of Contributing Factors to Morbidity and Mortality in Adults With Craniopharyngioma on Growth Hormone Replacement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuen, Kevin C J; Mattsson, Anders F; Burman, Pia; Erfurth, Eva-Marie; Camacho-Hubner, Cecilia; Fox, Janet L; Verhelst, Johan; Geffner, Mitchell E; Abs, Roger

    2018-02-01

    In adults, craniopharyngioma (CP) of either childhood-onset (CO-CP) or adult-onset (AO-CP) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, but data on the relative risks (RRs) of contributing factors are lacking. To assess the RRs of factors contributing to morbidity and mortality in adults with CO-CP and AO-CP. Data on 1669 patients with CP from KIMS (Pfizer International Metabolic Database) were analyzed using univariate and multiple Poisson and Cox regression methods. When CO-CP and AO-CP groups were combined, history of stroke and hyperlipidemia increased cardiovascular risk, higher body mass index (BMI) and radiotherapy increased cerebrovascular risk, and increased waist circumference increased the risk of developing diabetes mellitus (DM). Compared with patients with CO-CP, patients with AO-CP had a threefold higher risk of tumor recurrence, whereas being female and previous radiotherapy exposure conferred lower risks. Radiotherapy and older age with every 10 years from disease onset conferred a 2.3- to 3.5-fold risk for developing new intracranial tumors, whereas older age, greater and/or increasing BMI, history of stroke, and lower insulinlike growth factor I (IGF-I) standard deviation score measured at last sampling before death were related to increased all-cause mortality. Compared with the general population, adults with CP had 9.3-, 8.1-, and 2.2-fold risks of developing DM, new intracranial tumors, and early death, respectively. Conventional factors that increase the risks of cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases and DM and risks for developing new intracranial tumors contributed to excess morbidity and mortality. In addition, lower serum IGF-I level measured from the last sample before death was inversely associated with mortality risk in patients with CP. Copyright © 2017 Endocrine Society

  7. Risk factors identified for certain lymphoma subtypes

    Science.gov (United States)

    In a large international collaborative analysis of risk factors for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), scientists were able to quantify risk associated with medical history, lifestyle factors, family history of blood or lymph-borne cancers, and occupation for 11

  8. Linking demand and supply factors in identifying cultural ecosystem services of urban green infrastructures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hegetschweiler, K. Tessa; de Vries, Sjerp; Arnberger, Arne

    2017-01-01

    and supply factors together. The aim was to provide an overview of this highly interdisciplinary research, to describe how these linkages are being made and to identify which factors significantly influence dependent variables such as levels of use, activities or health and well-being benefits. Commonly used......Urban green infrastructure provides a number of cultural ecosystem services that are greatly appreciated by the public. In order to benefit from these services, actual contact with the respective ecosystem is often required. Furthermore, the type of services offered depend on the physical...... characteristics of the ecosystem. We conducted a review of publications dealing with demand or social factors such as user needs, preferences and values as well as spatially explicit supply or physical factors such as amount of green space, (bio)diversity, recreational infrastructure, etc. and linking demand...

  9. Contribution of occupational risk factors to the global burden of disease - a summary of findings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fingerhut, M.; Driscoll, T.; Nelson, D.I.; Concha-Barrientos, M.; Punnett, L.; Pruss-Ustin, A.; Steenland, K.; Leigh, J.; Corvalan, C. [NIOSH, Cincinnati, OH (United States)

    2005-07-01

    The World Health Organization conducted a comparative risk assessment to ascertain the contributions of 26 risk factors to the global burden of disease. Five occupational risk factors accounted for an estimated 37% of back pain, 16% of hearing loss, 13% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 11% of asthma, 9% of lung cancer, 8% of injuries, and 2% of leukemia worldwide. Virtually all cases of silicosis, asbestosis, and coal workers' pneumoconiosis were work-related. Contaminated sharps injuries accounted for 40% of hepatitis B, 40% of hepatitis C, and 4% of HIV/AlDS infections among health care workers. Data limitations, primarily in developing countries, prevented the inclusion of other major occupational risk factors. These selected occupational risks accounted for about 850,000 deaths and 24 million years of healthy life lost each year. The deaths due to these selected occupational risk factors constitute only 43% of the International Labour Organization's estimate of 2 million deaths worldwide due to work-related risks.

  10. Dietary patterns as identified by factor analysis and colorectal cancer among middle-aged Americans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flood, Andrew; Rastogi, Tanuja; Wirfält, Elisabet; Mitrou, Panagiota N; Reedy, Jill; Subar, Amy F; Kipnis, Victor; Mouw, Traci; Hollenbeck, Albert R; Leitzmann, Michael; Schatzkin, Arthur

    2008-07-01

    Although diet has long been suspected as an etiological factor for colorectal cancer, studies of single foods and nutrients have provided inconsistent results. We used factor analysis methods to study associations between dietary patterns and colorectal cancer in middle-aged Americans. Diet was assessed among 293,615 men and 198,767 women in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. Principal components factor analysis identified 3 primary dietary patterns: a fruit and vegetables, a diet foods, and a red meat and potatoes pattern. State cancer registries identified 2151 incident cases of colorectal cancer in men and 959 in women between 1995 and 2000. Men with high scores on the fruit and vegetable pattern were at decreased risk [relative risk (RR) for quintile (Q) 5 versus Q1: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.93; P for trend = 0.004]. Both men and women had a similar risk reduction with high scores on the diet food factor: men (RR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.72, 0.94; P for trend = 0.001) and women (RR: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.71, 1.07; P for trend = 0.06). High scores on the red meat factor were associated with increased risk: men (RR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.35; P for trend = 0.14) and women (RR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.20, 1.83; P for trend = 0.0002). These results suggest that dietary patterns characterized by a low frequency of meat and potato consumption and frequent consumption of fruit and vegetables and fat-reduced foods are consistent with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer.

  11. Application of positive matrix factorization to identify potential sources of PAHs in soil of Dalian, China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Degao; Tian Fulin; Yang Meng; Liu Chenlin; Li Yifan

    2009-01-01

    Soil derived sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the region of Dalian, China were investigated using positive matrix factorization (PMF). Three factors were separated based on PMF for the statistical investigation of the datasets both in summer and winter. These factors were dominated by the pattern of single sources or groups of similar sources, showing seasonal and regional variations. The main sources of PAHs in Dalian soil in summer were the emissions from coal combustion average (46%), diesel engine (30%), and gasoline engine (24%). In winter, the main sources were the emissions from coal-fired boiler (72%), traffic average (20%), and gasoline engine (8%). These factors with strong seasonality indicated that coal combustion in winter and traffic exhaust in summer dominated the sources of PAHs in soil. These results suggested that PMF model was a proper approach to identify the sources of PAHs in soil. - PMF model is a proper approach to identify potential sources of PAHs in soil based on the PAH profiles measured in the field and those published in the literature.

  12. Anaerobes and Bacterial Vaginosis in Pregnancy: Virulence Factors Contributing to Vaginal Colonisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charlene W. J. Africa

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The aetiology and pathogenesis of bacterial vaginosis (BV is unclear but it appears to be associated with factors that disrupt the normal acidity of the vagina thus altering the equilibrium between the normal vaginal microbiota. BV has serious implications for female morbidity, including reports of pelvic inflammatory disease, adverse pregnancy outcomes, increased susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections and infertility. This paper reviewed new available information regarding possible factors contributing to the establishment of the BV vaginal biofilm, examined the proposed role of anaerobic microbial species recently detected by new culture-independent methods and discusses developments related to the effects of BV on human pregnancy. The literature search included Pubmed (NLM, LISTA (EBSCO, and Web of Science. Because of the complexity and diversity of population groups, diagnosis and methodology used, no meta-analysis was performed. Several anaerobic microbial species previously missed in the laboratory diagnosis of BV have been revealed while taking cognisance of newly proposed theories of infection, thereby improving our understanding and knowledge of the complex aetiology and pathogenesis of BV and its perceived role in adverse pregnancy outcomes.

  13. Genome wide association study identifies KCNMA1 contributing to human obesity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jiao, Hong; Arner, Peter; Hoffstedt, Johan

    2011-01-01

    Recent genome-wide association (GWA) analyses have identified common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are associated with obesity. However, the reported genetic variation in obesity explains only a minor fraction of the total genetic variation expected to be present in the population....... Thus many genetic variants controlling obesity remain to be identified. The aim of this study was to use GWA followed by multiple stepwise validations to identify additional genes associated with obesity....

  14. Factors that contribute to public sector nurses’ turnover in Limpopo province of South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takalani G. Tshitangano

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: The ongoing worldwide phenomenon of a shortage of about 4.3 million nurses and midwives poses a threat to health service delivery. Limpopo province had the worst nurse shortage of over 60% in 2010. Authors attribute this shortage to turnover of nurses. The quest to describe factors contributing to nurses’ turnover led to this study in Limpopo province,South Africa. Objectives: To explore and describe factors that contribute to nurses’ turnover in Limpopo province of South Africa by assessing public sector nurses’ job satisfaction in relation to common determinants of job satisfaction. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional approach used primary quantitative data collected from 141 of 380 respondents (31.1% response rate contacted incidentally. Self-administered hand delivered questionnaires were used to gather ordinal data, which were analysed in terms off requency and percentage tables using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 6. The sum of positive and negative effects was used to determine satisfaction; if positive effects were greater than negative effects respondents were judged to be satisfied and vice versa. Results: Frequency and percentage tables revealed that nurses in Limpopo province were more dissatisfied (53.9% than satisfied (37.8% with their jobs. Factors which respondents were found to be dissatisfied with included staffing (85.2%, availability of workplace resources(83.7%, salaries (78.8%, workplace safety (73.7%, career development opportunities (64.5% and hours of work (47.6%. Conclusion: Nurses’ turnover is attributed to nurses’ dissatisfaction with staffing, resources, salaries and workplace safety. Attention needs to be given to these specific issues if retentionof nurses is to be achieved.

  15. Parenting a Child with Phenylketonuria: An Investigation into the Factors That Contribute to Parental Distress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ambler, Olivia; Medford, Emma; Hare, Dougal J

    2018-04-20

    Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an inherited metabolic condition that can lead to the onset of intellectual disabilities if not strictly managed through a low-protein diet. Parents are responsible for supervising their child's treatment for PKU, which may impact on their experience of distress. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the factors that contribute to distress in parents who care for a child with PKU, distinct from parents in the general population. Thirty-eight parents of children and adolescents with PKU and 32 parents in the general population completed the questionnaires measuring parental psychological resilience, child behaviour problems, perceived social support and distress. Parents of children with PKU also completed measures of their child's care dependency and behaviour related to developmental and intellectual disabilities. The findings revealed no statistically significant differences in distress between the groups, but parents of children with PKU reported more child behaviour problems. Multiple regression analysis identified that parental psychological resilience and child anxious behaviour explained 35% of the variance in distress for parents of children with PKU. By comparison, parental psychological resilience and generic child behaviour only accounted for 19% of the variance in distress for parents in the general population. This has implications for developing interventions in clinical settings that aim to reduce parents' distress by enhancing their psychological resilience and supporting them to manage child behaviour difficulties, particularly anxious behaviour. Future research should include larger, more diverse samples and use longitudinal study designs.

  16. Factors contributing to teenage pregnancy in the Capricorn district of the Limpopo Province

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tebogo M. Mothiba

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Teenage pregnancy refers to pregnancy of a woman of less than 19 years. It is found commonly amongst young people who have been disadvantaged and have poor expectations with regard to either their education or job market. Adolescents may lack knowledge of access to conventional methods of preventing pregnancy, as they may be afraid to seek such information. The study purpose was to identify factors contributing to teenage pregnancy in one village in the Capricorn District of the Limpopo Province.A quantitative descriptive research approach was chosen. Population consisted of all pregnant teenagers attending antenatal care during June to August 2007 at one clinic in the Capricorn District of the Limpopo Province. Simple random probability sampling was used to include 100 pregnant teenagers who satisfied the inclusion criteria. Data were collected through structured self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistical data analysis was used. Ethical considerations were ensured.Findings were classified as demographic data where 24% of the respondents were aged between 15–16 years and 76% were aged between 17–19 years. Findings further revealed that 60% of the respondents started to engage in sex at 13–15 years; 48% of the teenagers’ partners were 21 years and above, 44% depended on a single parents’ income; 20% father’s income, 16% received a social grant and 8% lived on the pension fund of the grandparents.Pregnancy prevention strategies were recommended based on the results. The strategies focused on reproductive health services, male involvement and adult-teenager communication programmes.

  17. Using HFACS-Healthcare to Identify Systemic Vulnerabilities During Surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Tara N; Francis, Sarah E; Wiegmann, Douglas A; Shappell, Scott A; Gewertz, Bruce L

    2018-03-01

    The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System for Healthcare (HFACS-Healthcare) was used to classify surgical near miss events reported via a hospital's event reporting system over the course of 1 year. Two trained analysts identified causal factors within each event narrative and subsequently categorized the events using HFACS-Healthcare. Of 910 original events, 592 could be analyzed further using HFACS-Healthcare, resulting in the identification of 726 causal factors. Most issues (n = 436, 60.00%) involved preconditions for unsafe acts, followed by unsafe acts (n = 257, 35.39%), organizational influences (n = 27, 3.72%), and supervisory factors (n = 6, 0.82%). These findings go beyond the traditional methods of trending incident data that typically focus on documenting the frequency of their occurrence. Analyzing near misses based on their underlying contributing human factors affords a greater opportunity to develop process improvements to reduce reoccurrence and better provide patient safety approaches.

  18. Logistical Factors in Teachers' Motivation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniels, Erika

    2016-01-01

    Research in education and psychology contributes to an understanding of how educators create contexts for learning that encourage intrinsic motivation and increase academic achievement. In this article, the researcher investigated how teachers themselves define effectiveness and identified what factors influence their motivation, both positively…

  19. An assessment of predominant causal factors of pilot deviations that contribute to runway incursions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, Denado M.

    The aim of this study was to identify predominant causal factors of pilot deviations in runway incursions over a two-year period. Runway incursion reports were obtained from NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), and a qualitative method was used by classifying and coding each report to a specific causal factor(s). The causal factors that were used were substantiated by research from the Aircraft Owner's and Pilot's Association that found that these causal factors were the most common in runway incursion incidents and accidents. An additional causal factor was also utilized to determine the significance of pilot training in relation to runway incursions. From the reports examined, it was found that miscommunication and situational awareness have the greatest impact on pilots and are most often the major causes of runway incursions. This data can be used to assist airports, airlines, and the FAA to understand trends in pilot deviations, and to find solutions for specific problem areas in runway incursion incidents.

  20. Identifying context factors explaining physician's low performance in communication assessment: an explorative study in general practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Essers, Geurt; van Dulmen, Sandra; van Weel, Chris; van der Vleuten, Cees; Kramer, Anneke

    2011-12-13

    Communication is a key competence for health care professionals. Analysis of registrar and GP communication performance in daily practice, however, suggests a suboptimal application of communication skills. The influence of context factors could reveal why communication performance levels, on average, do not appear adequate. The context of daily practice may require different skills or specific ways of handling these skills, whereas communication skills are mostly treated as generic. So far no empirical analysis of the context has been made. Our aim was to identify context factors that could be related to GP communication. A purposive sample of real-life videotaped GP consultations was analyzed (N = 17). As a frame of reference we chose the MAAS-Global, a widely used assessment instrument for medical communication. By inductive reasoning, we analyzed the GP behaviour in the consultation leading to poor item scores on the MAAS-Global. In these cases we looked for the presence of an intervening context factor, and how this might explain the actual GP communication behaviour. We reached saturation after having viewed 17 consultations. We identified 19 context factors that could potentially explain the deviation from generic recommendations on communication skills. These context factors can be categorized into doctor-related, patient-related, and consultation-related factors. Several context factors seem to influence doctor-patient communication, requiring the GP to apply communication skills differently from recommendations on communication. From this study we conclude that there is a need to explicitly account for context factors in the assessment of GP (and GP registrar) communication performance. The next step is to validate our findings.

  1. Factors contributing to low uptake and renewal of health insurance: a qualitative study in Ghana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fenny, Ama Pokuaa; Kusi, Anthony; Arhinful, Daniel K; Asante, Felix Ankoma

    2016-01-01

    The effort to expand access to healthcare and reduce health inequalities in many low income countries have meant that many have adopted different levels of social health protection mechanisms. Ghana introduced a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2005 with the aim of removing previous barriers created by the user fees financing system. Although the NHIS has made health accessible to some category of people, the majority of Ghanaians (60 %) are not enroled on the scheme. Earlier studies have looked at various factors that account for this low uptake. However, we recognise that this qualitative study will nuance the depth of these barriers to enrolment. Minimally structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with key stakeholders at the district, regional and national levels. Focus group discussions were also undertaken at the community level. Using an inductive and content analytic approach, the transcripts were analyzed to identify and define categories that explain low uptake of health insurance. The results are presented under two broad themes: sociocultural and systemic factors. Sociocultural factors identified were 1) vulnerability within certain groups such as the aged and the disabled groups which impeded access to the NHIS 2) cultural and religious norms which discouraged enrolment into the scheme. System-wide factors were 1) inadequate distribution of social infrastructure such as healthcare facilities, 2) weak administrative processes within the NHIS, and 3) poor quality of care. Mapping the interplay of these dynamic relations between the NHIS, its clients and service providers, the study identifies critical factors at the policy-making level, service provider level, and client level (reflective in household and community level institutional arrangements) that affect enrolment in the scheme. Our findings inform a number of potential reforms in the area of distribution of health resources and cost containment to expand coverage, increase

  2. [Psychosocial factors as predictors of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events: contribution from animal models].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alboni, Paolo; Alboni, Marco

    2006-11-01

    Conventional risk factors (abnormal lipids, hypertension, etc.) are independent predictors of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events; however, these factors are not specific since about half patients with acute myocardial infarction paradoxically result at low cardiovascular risk. Recent prospective studies provide convincing evidence that some psychosocial factors are independent predictors of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events, as well. Psychosocial factors that promote atherosclerosis can be divided into two general categories: chronic stressors, including social isolation/low social support and work stress (subordination without job control) and emotional factors, including affective disorders such as depression, severe anxiety and hostility/anger. The emotional factors, such as the chronic stressors, activate the biological mechanisms of chronic stress: increased activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, sympathetic system and inflammation processes, which have atherogenic effects, and an increase in blood coagulation. In spite of the amount of published data, psychosocial factors receive little attention in the medical setting. About 30 years ago, Kuller defined the criteria for a causal relation between a risk factor and atherosclerosis and cardiac events. The first of these criteria states that experimental research should demonstrate that any new factor would increase the extent of atherosclerosis or its complications in suitable animal models. We carried out a bibliographic research in order to investigate whether the results of the studies dealing with animal examination and experimentation support the psychosocial factors as predictors of atherosclerosis. Contributions related to some of the psychosocial factors such as social isolation, subordination and hostility/anger have been found. In these studies atherosclerotic extension has been evaluated at necroscopy; however, the incidence of cardiovascular events has not been

  3. An explorative study of factors contributing to the job satisfaction of primary care midwives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warmelink, J Catja; Hoijtink, Kirsten; Noppers, Marloes; Wiegers, Therese A; de Cock, T Paul; Klomp, Trudy; Hutton, Eileen K

    2015-04-01

    the main objectives of our study was to gain an understanding of how primary care midwives in the Netherlands feel about their work and to identify factors associated with primary care midwives׳ job satisfaction and areas for improvement. a qualitative analysis was used, based on the constructivist/interpretative paradigm. Three open-ended questions in written or online questionnaire, analysed to identify factors that are linked with job satisfaction, were as follows: 'What are you very satisfied with, in your work as a midwife?', 'What would you most like to change about your work as a midwife?' and 'What could be improved in your work?'. 20 of the 519 primary care practices in the Netherlands in May 2010 were included. at these participating practices 99 of 108 midwives returned a written or online questionnaire. in general, most of the participating primary care midwives were satisfied with their job. The factors positively associated with their job satisfaction were their direct contact with clients, the supportive co-operation and teamwork with immediate colleagues, the organisation of and innovation within their practice group and the independence, autonomy, freedom, variety and opportunities that they experienced in their work. Regarding improvements, the midwives desired a reduction in non-client-related activities, such as paperwork and meetings. They wanted a lower level of work pressure, and a reduced case-load in order to have more time to devote to individual clients׳ needs. Participants identified that co-operation with other partners in the health care system could also be improved. our knowledge, our study is the first explorative study on factors associated with job satisfaction of primary care midwives. While there are several studies on job satisfaction in health care; little is known about the working conditions of midwives in primary care settings. Although the participating primary care midwives in the Netherlands were satisfied with their

  4. The interactomes of influenza virus NS1 and NS2 proteins identify new host factors and provide insights for ADAR1 playing a supportive role in virus replication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Chassey, Benoît; Aublin-Gex, Anne; Ruggieri, Alessia; Meyniel-Schicklin, Laurène; Pradezynski, Fabrine; Davoust, Nathalie; Chantier, Thibault; Tafforeau, Lionel; Mangeot, Philippe-Emmanuel; Ciancia, Claire; Perrin-Cocon, Laure; Bartenschlager, Ralf; André, Patrice; Lotteau, Vincent

    2013-01-01

    Influenza A NS1 and NS2 proteins are encoded by the RNA segment 8 of the viral genome. NS1 is a multifunctional protein and a virulence factor while NS2 is involved in nuclear export of viral ribonucleoprotein complexes. A yeast two-hybrid screening strategy was used to identify host factors supporting NS1 and NS2 functions. More than 560 interactions between 79 cellular proteins and NS1 and NS2 proteins from 9 different influenza virus strains have been identified. These interacting proteins are potentially involved in each step of the infectious process and their contribution to viral replication was tested by RNA interference. Validation of the relevance of these host cell proteins for the viral replication cycle revealed that 7 of the 79 NS1 and/or NS2-interacting proteins positively or negatively controlled virus replication. One of the main factors targeted by NS1 of all virus strains was double-stranded RNA binding domain protein family. In particular, adenosine deaminase acting on RNA 1 (ADAR1) appeared as a pro-viral host factor whose expression is necessary for optimal viral protein synthesis and replication. Surprisingly, ADAR1 also appeared as a pro-viral host factor for dengue virus replication and directly interacted with the viral NS3 protein. ADAR1 editing activity was enhanced by both viruses through dengue virus NS3 and influenza virus NS1 proteins, suggesting a similar virus-host co-evolution.

  5. The interactomes of influenza virus NS1 and NS2 proteins identify new host factors and provide insights for ADAR1 playing a supportive role in virus replication.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benoît de Chassey

    Full Text Available Influenza A NS1 and NS2 proteins are encoded by the RNA segment 8 of the viral genome. NS1 is a multifunctional protein and a virulence factor while NS2 is involved in nuclear export of viral ribonucleoprotein complexes. A yeast two-hybrid screening strategy was used to identify host factors supporting NS1 and NS2 functions. More than 560 interactions between 79 cellular proteins and NS1 and NS2 proteins from 9 different influenza virus strains have been identified. These interacting proteins are potentially involved in each step of the infectious process and their contribution to viral replication was tested by RNA interference. Validation of the relevance of these host cell proteins for the viral replication cycle revealed that 7 of the 79 NS1 and/or NS2-interacting proteins positively or negatively controlled virus replication. One of the main factors targeted by NS1 of all virus strains was double-stranded RNA binding domain protein family. In particular, adenosine deaminase acting on RNA 1 (ADAR1 appeared as a pro-viral host factor whose expression is necessary for optimal viral protein synthesis and replication. Surprisingly, ADAR1 also appeared as a pro-viral host factor for dengue virus replication and directly interacted with the viral NS3 protein. ADAR1 editing activity was enhanced by both viruses through dengue virus NS3 and influenza virus NS1 proteins, suggesting a similar virus-host co-evolution.

  6. Local acceptance of wind energy: Factors of success identified in French and German case studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jobert, Arthur; Laborgne, Pia; Mimler, Solveig

    2007-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to identify and analyse factors that are important for winning acceptance of wind-energy parks on the local level. The developers of wind-energy parks need to know how to manage 'social acceptance' at the different stages of planning, realisation and operation. Five case studies in France and Germany focused on factors of success in developing a wind-energy project on a given site and illuminated how policy frameworks influence local acceptance. Our hypothesis is that these factors fall into two categories: institutional conditions, such as economic incentives and regulations; and site-specific conditions (territorial factors), such as the local economy, the local geography, local actors, and the actual on-site planning process (project management)

  7. A Global Interactome Map of the Dengue Virus NS1 Identifies Virus Restriction and Dependency Host Factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed Lamine Hafirassou

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Dengue virus (DENV infections cause the most prevalent mosquito-borne viral disease worldwide, for which no therapies are available. DENV encodes seven non-structural (NS proteins that co-assemble and recruit poorly characterized host factors to form the DENV replication complex essential for viral infection. Here, we provide a global proteomic analysis of the human host factors that interact with the DENV NS1 protein. Combined with a functional RNAi screen, this study reveals a comprehensive network of host cellular processes involved in DENV infection and identifies DENV host restriction and dependency factors. We highlight an important role of RACK1 and the chaperonin TRiC (CCT and oligosaccharyltransferase (OST complexes during DENV replication. We further show that the OST complex mediates NS1 and NS4B glycosylation, and pharmacological inhibition of its N-glycosylation function strongly impairs DENV infection. In conclusion, our study provides a global interactome of the DENV NS1 and identifies host factors targetable for antiviral therapies.

  8. Robust Nonnegative Matrix Factorization via Joint Graph Laplacian and Discriminative Information for Identifying Differentially Expressed Genes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ling-Yun Dai

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Differential expression plays an important role in cancer diagnosis and classification. In recent years, many methods have been used to identify differentially expressed genes. However, the recognition rate and reliability of gene selection still need to be improved. In this paper, a novel constrained method named robust nonnegative matrix factorization via joint graph Laplacian and discriminative information (GLD-RNMF is proposed for identifying differentially expressed genes, in which manifold learning and the discriminative label information are incorporated into the traditional nonnegative matrix factorization model to train the objective matrix. Specifically, L2,1-norm minimization is enforced on both the error function and the regularization term which is robust to outliers and noise in gene data. Furthermore, the multiplicative update rules and the details of convergence proof are shown for the new model. The experimental results on two publicly available cancer datasets demonstrate that GLD-RNMF is an effective method for identifying differentially expressed genes.

  9. Quality Improvement in Hospitals: Identifying and Understanding Behaviors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lukasz M. Mazur

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Improving operational performance in hospitals is complicated, particularly if process improvement requires complex behavioral changes. Using single-loop and double-loop learning theory as a foundation, the purpose of this research is to empirically uncover key improvement behaviors and the factors that may be associated with such behaviors in hospitals. A two-phased approach was taken to collect data regarding improvement behaviors and associated factors, and data analysis was conducted using methods proposed by grounded theorists. The contributions of this research are twofold. First, five key behaviors related to process improvement are identified, namely Quick Fixing, Initiating, Conforming, Expediting, and Enhancing. Second, based on these observed behaviors, a set of force field diagrams is developed to structure and organize possible factors that are important to consider when attempting to change improvement behaviors. This begins to fill the gap in the knowledge about what factors drive effective improvement efforts in hospital settings.

  10. The contribution of lifestyle factors to depressive symptoms: A cross-sectional study in Chinese college students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Ying; Qi, Juan; Yang, Yi; Wen, Xiaozhong

    2016-11-30

    It is well known that some lifestyle factors are related to depression, but their cumulative contribution to the depression remains unclear. This study aimed to assess the importance of multiple lifestyle factors in contributing to depressive symptoms among Chinese college students. Between September and December in 2012, we conducted a cross-sectional study among 1907 Chinese college students from Guangzhou, Southern China. College students completed self-administered questionnaires and reported their lifestyle factors including sleep quality and duration, Internet use, smoking, drinking, exercise, outdoor activity or sunlight exposure, and eating breakfast. Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms were defined as the CES-D score ≥16. Among all the students, 29.7% reported mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms. Higher quality and longer duration of sleep, more exercises, more outdoor activities or sunlight exposures, and eating breakfast daily were associated with a lower CES-D score, which could explain 11.3% of variance of the CES-D score, after adjusting for socio-demographics, family history, interpersonal relationship, and academic characteristics using hierarchical multivariable linear regression. These associations were comparable between males and females. The protective role of healthy lifestyles should be considered in intervention programs for improving mental health among college students. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. School Correlates of Academic Behaviors and Performance among McKinney-Vento Identified Youth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stone, Susan; Uretsky, Mathew

    2016-01-01

    We utilized a pooled sample of elementary, middle, and high school-aged children identified as homeless via definitions set forth by McKinney-Vento legislation in a large urban district in California to estimate the extent to which school factors contributed to student attendance, suspensions, test-taking behaviors, and performance on state…

  12. Genome-wide screen of Pseudomonas aeruginosa In Saccharomyces cerevisiae identifies new virulence factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafat eZrieq

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a human opportunistic pathogen that causes mortality in cystic fibrosis and immunocompromised patients. While many virulence factors of this pathogen have already been identified, several remain to be discovered. In this respect we set an unprecedented genome-wide screen of a P. aeruginosa expression library based on a yeast growth phenotype. 51 candidates were selected in a three-round screening process. The robustness of the screen was validated by the selection of three well known secreted proteins including one demonstrated virulence factor, the protease LepA. Further in silico sorting of the 51 candidates highlighted three potential new Pseudomonas effector candidates (Pec. By testing the cytotoxicity of wild type P. aeruginosa vs pec mutants towards macrophages and the virulence in the Caenorhabditis elegans model, we demonstrated that the three selected Pecs are novel virulence factors of P. aeruginosa. Additional cellular localization experiments in the host revealed specific localization for Pec1 and Pec2 that could inform about their respective functions.

  13. Factors Contributing to Sexual Violence at Selected Schools for Learners with Mild Intellectual Disability in South Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyokangi, Doris; Phasha, Nareadi

    2016-05-01

    This paper reports part of the findings of a study which exposed sexual violence in schools for learners with mild intellectual disability in South Africa. Special attention was paid on factors contributing to such a problem. Data were collected using focus groups and individual interviews with 16 learners with mild intellectual disability at two special schools in South Africa. This was followed by individual interviews with the school nurse and social worker, and an analysis of schools' books of incidents. Factors contributing to sexual violence at schools for learners with mild intellectual disability included: (i) peer pressure, (ii) concealment of reported incidents of sexual violence, (iii) unsupervised areas linked to schools and (iv) arranged relationships. The following suggestions are put forth: (i) awareness programmes, (ii) sensitization of teachers about the consequences and prevention of sexual violence, (iii) boundaries within which the arranged relationship occurs, (iv) intensification of sexuality education and (v) supervision around the school premises. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. An International Approach to identify the root causes of Childhood Leukemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laurier, Dominique

    2015-01-01

    Living near a nuclear site is one of the risk factors studied for childhood leukemia. The IRSN and BfS brought together scientists from several disciplines under the aegis of the European Association MelodiGLO to take stock of the existing epidemiological studies, their contributions and their limitations as well as to identify the analysis and research avenues to provide more robust answers. (author)

  15. Random T-DNA mutagenesis identifies a Cu-Zn-superoxide dismutase gene as a virulence factor of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (AMT) was used to identify potential virulence factors in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Screening AMT transformants identified two mutants showing significantly reduced virulence. The mutants showed similar growth rate, colony morphology, and sclerotial and oxalate ...

  16. Testing job typologies and identifying at-risk subpopulations using factor mixture models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Anita C; Igic, Ivana; Meier, Laurenz L; Semmer, Norbert K; Schaubroeck, John M; Brunner, Beatrice; Elfering, Achim

    2017-10-01

    Research in occupational health psychology has tended to focus on the effects of single job characteristics or various job characteristics combined into 1 factor. However, such a variable-centered approach does not account for the clustering of job attributes among groups of employees. We addressed this issue by using a person-centered approach to (a) investigate the occurrence of different empirical constellations of perceived job stressors and resources and (b) validate the meaningfulness of profiles by analyzing their association with employee well-being and performance. We applied factor mixture modeling to identify profiles in 4 large samples consisting of employees in Switzerland (Studies 1 and 2) and the United States (Studies 3 and 4). We identified 2 profiles that spanned the 4 samples, with 1 reflecting a combination of relatively low stressors and high resources (P1) and the other relatively high stressors and low resources (P3). The profiles differed mainly in terms of their organizational and social aspects. Employees in P1 reported significantly higher mean levels of job satisfaction, performance, and general health, and lower means in exhaustion compared with P3. Additional analyses showed differential relationships between job attributes and outcomes depending on profile membership. These findings may benefit organizational interventions as they show that perceived work stressors and resources more strongly influence satisfaction and well-being in particular profiles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  17. Stakeholders' perception of critical success factors for sustainable ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    interval' and 'adherence to the tenets of the SD agenda (supply chain)' were selected as most critical of the success factors identified. It is expected that the study's findings will contribute to the development of a viable SFM strategy in SSA universities. Keywords: Facilities management, sub-Saharan Africa, success factors, ...

  18. Osteonecrosis. Part 1. Risk factors and pathogenesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ekaterina Valeriyevna Ilyinykh

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper considers different risk factors for osteonecrosis (ON and some aspects of its pathogenesis: impairments in the differentiation of stromal cells, the vascular provision of intraand extravasal genesis, the quality of proper bone tissue due to generalized or local osteoporosis, intravascular coagulation factors contributing to microthrombogenesis. The basic types of ON are identified.

  19. 20 CFR 404.1536 - Treatment required for individuals whose drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Treatment required for individuals whose drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability. 404.1536 Section 404.1536 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY INSURANCE (1950- ) Determining...

  20. [Analysis of dietary pattern and diabetes mellitus influencing factors identified by classification tree model in adults of Fujian].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, F L; Ye, Y; Yan, Y S

    2017-05-10

    Objective: To find out the dietary patterns and explore the relationship between environmental factors (especially dietary patterns) and diabetes mellitus in the adults of Fujian. Methods: Multi-stage sampling method were used to survey residents aged ≥18 years by questionnaire, physical examination and laboratory detection in 10 disease surveillance points in Fujian. Factor analysis was used to identify the dietary patterns, while logistic regression model was applied to analyze relationship between dietary patterns and diabetes mellitus, and classification tree model was adopted to identify the influencing factors for diabetes mellitus. Results: There were four dietary patterns in the population, including meat, plant, high-quality protein, and fried food and beverages patterns. The result of logistic analysis showed that plant pattern, which has higher factor loading of fresh fruit-vegetables and cereal-tubers, was a protective factor for non-diabetes mellitus. The risk of diabetes mellitus in the population at T2 and T3 levels of factor score were 0.727 (95 %CI: 0.561-0.943) times and 0.736 (95 %CI : 0.573-0.944) times higher, respectively, than those whose factor score was in lowest quartile. Thirteen influencing factors and eleven group at high-risk for diabetes mellitus were identified by classification tree model. The influencing factors were dyslipidemia, age, family history of diabetes, hypertension, physical activity, career, sex, sedentary time, abdominal adiposity, BMI, marital status, sleep time and high-quality protein pattern. Conclusion: There is a close association between dietary patterns and diabetes mellitus. It is necessary to promote healthy and reasonable diet, strengthen the monitoring and control of blood lipids, blood pressure and body weight, and have good lifestyle for the prevention and control of diabetes mellitus.

  1. Identifying high ability students: a contribution from neuropsychological indicators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dora Cortat Simonetti

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents some data on the convergence between psychometric intelligence measurements (IQ tests and physiological signs of mental activity found in high ability adolescents. The research study focus on a small group of 15 subjects submitted to electric encephalograms, previously chosen from a larger group of 77 classmates on the basis of scores on the WISC-III IQ Test. The results suggest continuous predominance of Alpha waves for the gifted group (higher frequency percentile and higher amplitude what was not observed in the group without any superior intellectual ability. Even taking into account methodological limitations, this study may contribute to the understanding of a relationship between the intellectual quotient (IQ and alpha waves frequency and amplitude, as observed during performance on cognitive tasks. Such results may suggest a possibility to complement psychometric measures with encephalic registers in giftedness research studies.

  2. An explorative study of factors contributing to the job satisfaction of primary care midwives

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Warmelink, J.C.; Hoijtink, K.; Noppers, M.; Wiegers, T.A.; de Cock, T.P.; Klomp, T.; Hutton, E.K.

    2015-01-01

    Objective: the main objectives of our study was to gain an understanding of how primary care midwives in the Netherlands feel about their work and to identify factors associated with primary care midwives' job satisfaction and areas for improvement. Design: a qualitative analysis was used, based on

  3. An explorative study of factors contributing to the job satisfaction of primary care midwives.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Warmelink, J.C.; Hoijtink, K.; Noppers, M.; Wiegers, T.A.; Cock, T.P. de; Klomp, T.; Hutton, E.K.

    2015-01-01

    Objective: the main objectives of our study was to gain an understanding of how primary care midwives in the Netherlands feel about their work and to identify factors associated with primary care midwives׳ job satisfaction and areas for improvement. Design: a qualitative analysis was used, based on

  4. Contributing factors in construction accidents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haslam, R A; Hide, S A; Gibb, A G F; Gyi, D E; Pavitt, T; Atkinson, S; Duff, A R

    2005-07-01

    This overview paper draws together findings from previous focus group research and studies of 100 individual construction accidents. Pursuing issues raised by the focus groups, the accident studies collected qualitative information on the circumstances of each incident and the causal influences involved. Site based data collection entailed interviews with accident-involved personnel and their supervisor or manager, inspection of the accident location, and review of appropriate documentation. Relevant issues from the site investigations were then followed up with off-site stakeholders, including designers, manufacturers and suppliers. Levels of involvement of key factors in the accidents were: problems arising from workers or the work team (70% of accidents), workplace issues (49%), shortcomings with equipment (including PPE) (56%), problems with suitability and condition of materials (27%), and deficiencies with risk management (84%). Employing an ergonomics systems approach, a model is proposed, indicating the manner in which originating managerial, design and cultural factors shape the circumstances found in the work place, giving rise to the acts and conditions which, in turn, lead to accidents. It is argued that attention to the originating influences will be necessary for sustained improvement in construction safety to be achieved.

  5. Resident Workflow and Psychiatric Emergency Consultation: Identifying Factors for Quality Improvement in a Training Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blair, Thomas; Wiener, Zev; Seroussi, Ariel; Tang, Lingqi; O'Hora, Jennifer; Cheung, Erick

    2017-06-01

    Quality improvement to optimize workflow has the potential to mitigate resident burnout and enhance patient care. This study applied mixed methods to identify factors that enhance or impede workflow for residents performing emergency psychiatric consultations. The study population consisted of all psychiatry program residents (55 eligible, 42 participating) at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles. The authors developed a survey through iterative piloting, surveyed all residents, and then conducted a focus group. The survey included elements hypothesized to enhance or impede workflow, and measures pertaining to self-rated efficiency and stress. Distributional and bivariate analyses were performed. Survey findings were clarified in focus group discussion. This study identified several factors subjectively associated with enhanced or impeded workflow, including difficulty with documentation, the value of personal organization systems, and struggles to communicate with patients' families. Implications for resident education are discussed.

  6. Brain-derived neurotropic factor polymorphisms, traumatic stress, mild traumatic brain injury, and combat exposure contribute to postdeployment traumatic stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dretsch, Michael N; Williams, Kathy; Emmerich, Tanja; Crynen, Gogce; Ait-Ghezala, Ghania; Chaytow, Helena; Mathura, Venkat; Crawford, Fiona C; Iverson, Grant L

    2016-01-01

    In addition to experiencing traumatic events while deployed in a combat environment, there are other factors that contribute to the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military service members. This study explored the contribution of genetics, childhood environment, prior trauma, psychological, cognitive, and deployment factors to the development of traumatic stress following deployment. Both pre- and postdeployment data on 231 of 458 soldiers were analyzed. Postdeployment assessments occurred within 30 days from returning stateside and included a battery of psychological health, medical history, and demographic questionnaires; neurocognitive tests; and blood serum for the D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2), apolipoprotein E (APOE), and brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) genes. Soldiers who screened positive for traumatic stress at postdeployment had significantly higher scores in depression (d = 1.91), anxiety (d = 1.61), poor sleep quality (d = 0.92), postconcussion symptoms (d = 2.21), alcohol use (d = 0.63), traumatic life events (d = 0.42), and combat exposure (d = 0.91). BDNF Val66 Met genotype was significantly associated with risk for sustaining a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and screening positive for traumatic stress. Predeployment traumatic stress, greater combat exposure and sustaining an mTBI while deployed, and the BDNF Met/Met genotype accounted for 22% of the variance of postdeployment PTSD scores (R (2)  = 0.22, P PTSD scores. These findings suggest predeployment traumatic stress, genetic, and environmental factors have unique contributions to the development of combat-related traumatic stress in military service members.

  7. Identifying Predictive Factors for Incident Reports in Patients Receiving Radiation Therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elnahal, Shereef M., E-mail: selnaha1@jhmi.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland (United States); Blackford, Amanda [Department of Oncology Biostatistics, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland (United States); Smith, Koren; Souranis, Annette N.; Briner, Valerie; McNutt, Todd R.; DeWeese, Theodore L.; Wright, Jean L.; Terezakis, Stephanie A. [Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland (United States)

    2016-04-01

    Purpose: To describe radiation therapy cases during which voluntary incident reporting occurred; and identify patient- or treatment-specific factors that place patients at higher risk for incidents. Methods and Materials: We used our institution's incident learning system to build a database of patients with incident reports filed between January 2011 and December 2013. Patient- and treatment-specific data were reviewed for all patients with reported incidents, which were classified by step in the process and root cause. A control group of patients without events was generated for comparison. Summary statistics, likelihood ratios, and mixed-effect logistic regression models were used for group comparisons. Results: The incident and control groups comprised 794 and 499 patients, respectively. Common root causes included documentation errors (26.5%), communication (22.5%), technical treatment planning (37.5%), and technical treatment delivery (13.5%). Incidents were more frequently reported in minors (age <18 years) than in adult patients (37.7% vs 0.4%, P<.001). Patients with head and neck (16% vs 8%, P<.001) and breast (20% vs 15%, P=.03) primaries more frequently had incidents, whereas brain (18% vs 24%, P=.008) primaries were less frequent. Larger tumors (17% vs 10% had T4 lesions, P=.02), and cases on protocol (9% vs 5%, P=.005) or with intensity modulated radiation therapy/image guided intensity modulated radiation therapy (52% vs 43%, P=.001) were more likely to have incidents. Conclusions: We found several treatment- and patient-specific variables associated with incidents. These factors should be considered by treatment teams at the time of peer review to identify patients at higher risk. Larger datasets are required to recommend changes in care process standards, to minimize safety risks.

  8. Identifying Predictive Factors for Incident Reports in Patients Receiving Radiation Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elnahal, Shereef M.; Blackford, Amanda; Smith, Koren; Souranis, Annette N.; Briner, Valerie; McNutt, Todd R.; DeWeese, Theodore L.; Wright, Jean L.; Terezakis, Stephanie A.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: To describe radiation therapy cases during which voluntary incident reporting occurred; and identify patient- or treatment-specific factors that place patients at higher risk for incidents. Methods and Materials: We used our institution's incident learning system to build a database of patients with incident reports filed between January 2011 and December 2013. Patient- and treatment-specific data were reviewed for all patients with reported incidents, which were classified by step in the process and root cause. A control group of patients without events was generated for comparison. Summary statistics, likelihood ratios, and mixed-effect logistic regression models were used for group comparisons. Results: The incident and control groups comprised 794 and 499 patients, respectively. Common root causes included documentation errors (26.5%), communication (22.5%), technical treatment planning (37.5%), and technical treatment delivery (13.5%). Incidents were more frequently reported in minors (age <18 years) than in adult patients (37.7% vs 0.4%, P<.001). Patients with head and neck (16% vs 8%, P<.001) and breast (20% vs 15%, P=.03) primaries more frequently had incidents, whereas brain (18% vs 24%, P=.008) primaries were less frequent. Larger tumors (17% vs 10% had T4 lesions, P=.02), and cases on protocol (9% vs 5%, P=.005) or with intensity modulated radiation therapy/image guided intensity modulated radiation therapy (52% vs 43%, P=.001) were more likely to have incidents. Conclusions: We found several treatment- and patient-specific variables associated with incidents. These factors should be considered by treatment teams at the time of peer review to identify patients at higher risk. Larger datasets are required to recommend changes in care process standards, to minimize safety risks.

  9. Enterprise Factors Contributing to The Success of Malaysian Biotechnology SMEs: A Grounded Theory Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saridan Abu Bakar

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available While numerous empirical studies have been conducted in Western countries on biotechnology enterprises, little empirical research has been done in Malaysia especially in respect to the factors that contribute to the success of biotechnology small and medium enterprises (SMEs. In view of this, a study was undertaken recently in Malaysia to address this gap in the existing body of biotechnology knowledge. Using a grounded theory approach, this qualitative study managed to develop a conceptual framework that sheds useful information on the enterprise factors that significantly impact the success of Malaysian biotechnology SMEs. Specifically, this study found that organizational structure, innovation activities, linkages with academic research institutions, linkages with other private enterprises, personal linkages with academic researchers, access to financial capital, the procuring of government assistances, vertical integration, enterprise image, GMP compliance and halal certification, strongly influence enterprise success.

  10. Lessons of History: Organizational Factors in Three Aviation Mishaps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merlin, Peter William

    2013-01-01

    This presentation examines organizational factors that contributed to three aircraft mishaps and provides analysis of lessons learned. Three historical aviation mishaps were studied from a human factors perspective, and organizational factors identified and analyzed. These case studies provide valuable lessons for understanding the interaction of people with aircraft systems and with each other during flight operations.

  11. European Clearinghouse. Incidents related to reactivity management. Contributing factors, failure modes and corrective actions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bruynooghe, Christiane; Noel, Marc

    2009-01-01

    This work is part of the European Clearinghouse on Nuclear Power Plant Operational Experience Feedback (NPP-OEF) activity carried out at the Joint Research Centre/Institute for Energy (JRC/IE) with the participation of nine EU Regulatory Authorities. It investigates the 1999 Shika-1 criticality event together with other shortcomings in reactivity management reported to the IAE4 Incident Reporting System in the period 1981-2008. The aim of the work was to identify reactivity control failure modes, reactor status and corrective actions. Initiating factors and associated root causes were also analysed. Five of the 7 factors identified for all events were present in the 1999 Shika-1 event where criticality has been unexpectedly reached and maintained during 15 minutes. Most of the events resulted in changes in procedures, material or staff and management training. The analysis carried out put in evidence that in several instances appropriate communication based on operational experience feedback would have prevented incident to occur. This paper also summarises the action taken at power plants and by the regulatory bodies in different countries to avoid repetition of similar events. It identifies insights that might be useful to reduce the likelihood of operational events caused by shortcomings in reactivity management. (orig.)

  12. Scrub typhus re-emergence in India: Contributing factors and way forward.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranjan, Jai; Prakash, John Antony Jude

    2018-06-01

    Scrub typhus is a mite borne infectious disease which has re-emerged in India in the 3rd millennium after years of quiescence. In this review, the authors hypothesize the various factors responsible for resurgence of this disease. The main drivers that could have contributed to the upsurge in scrub typhus cases in past two decades are changes in land use land cover (LULC) and urbanisation which are; as a result of the population explosion, causing a strain on sanitation and also increased diversion of forest land for agricultural use. In addition, the availability of better tests, changes in antimicrobial use, climate change also could have impacted the epidemiology, which is showing an upward trend as is evidenced by increasing reports and concomitant publications from India on scrub typhus. Scrub typhus cases are supposed to increase in the coming years as factors like global warming, urbanisation, changes in LULC and rise in AMR (anti-microbial resistance) will be difficult or impossible to control. Therefore, increasing awareness of public and health care professionals regarding scrub typhus coupled with availability of rapid diagnostic assays and implementation of appropriate treatment protocols for control of AFI (acute febrile illness) especially at the community level will help mitigate the scenario in the long run. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  13. Factors contributing to anterior cruciate ligament injury and pattern of presentations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shah, F.; Riaz, M.U.; Hassan, D.; Abbas, Z.

    2017-01-01

    Objectives: To determine the factors contributing to Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and their pattern of presentation. Methodology: This descriptive study included 45 patients diagnosed with ACL injury that were selected using non probability convenience sampling technique from department of orthopaedic and physical therapy of Mayo Hospital and Gurki Trust Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan. The study was completed in 6 months of duration. Subjects that were diagnosed with ACL injury using MRI with positive Lachman and Anterior Drawer test. Data regarding demographics, onset of injury, mechanism, occupational, recreational, daily routines and clinical presentations were recorded. Data were analysed by SPSS. Results: Out of 45 patients, 38(84.4%) cases were male and 7(16.5%) were female. 76% belonged to 20 to 30 age range. Regarding source of injury to anterior cruciate ligament, 32% got it during cricket, 21% during mild to severe road side accident, 20% during running and other 27% during daily life activities twisting, jumping and other high impact activities. The individual involved very often in high impact activities were 8%, often 13% and less often 79%. Conclusion: Major risk factors found were engaging in high impact activities such as sports, running and jumping nature. Clinical presentations were edema, decreased mobility, mild to moderate pain and limited range of knee range of motion. (author)

  14. Background for Community-Level Work on Emotional Well-Being in Adolescence: Reviewing the Literature on Contributing Factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bridges, Lisa J.; Margie, Nancy Geyelin; Zaff, Jonathan F.

    This paper reviews the research literature on factors contributing to adolescent emotional well-being, focusing on generalized mood/affective states, emotion regulation and coping, and feelings about self, including self-esteem, self-efficacy, and locus of control. Each construct is defined and evidence from research is presented to indicate the…

  15. 20 CFR 416.936 - Treatment required for individuals whose drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Treatment required for individuals whose drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability. 416.936 Section 416.936 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME FOR THE AGED, BLIND, AND DISABLED Determining...

  16. The Psychosocial Factors Contributing to the Underrepresentation of African American Males in Advanced High School Mathematics Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowlett, Joel Everett

    2013-01-01

    This case study examined the beliefs of African American males on the psychosocial and pedagogical factors contributing to the underrepresentation of African American males in advanced high school math courses. Six 11th grade African American male juniors from a large, comprehensive, Southeastern high school served as individual cases. Within- and…

  17. Motivation to Participate in Workplace Training within the Intelligence Community and Beyond: A Study of Contributing Factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanard, Stephanie Vernice Overton

    2013-01-01

    Organizations can incur extensive costs to fund training typically available to employees free of charge. However, some employees do not participate. The body of research reviewed in adult education focused on relevant studies and models of contributing factors for participation in academia, the workplace, and the community. No studies were found…

  18. Large-Scale Gene-Centric Meta-Analysis across 39 Studies Identifies Type 2 Diabetes Loci

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Saxena, Richa; Elbers, Clara C.; Guo, Yiran; Peter, Inga; Gaunt, Tom R.; Mega, Jessica L.; Lanktree, Matthew B.; Tare, Archana; Almoguera Castillo, Berta; Li, Yun R.; Johnson, Toby; Bruinenberg, Marcel; Gilbert-Diamond, Diane; Rajagopalan, Ramakrishnan; Voight, Benjamin F.; Balasubramanyam, Ashok; Barnard, John; Bauer, Florianne; Baumert, Jens; Bhangale, Tushar; Boehm, Bernhard O.; Braund, Peter S.; Burton, Paul R.; Chandrupatla, Hareesh R.; Clarke, Robert; Cooper-DeHoff, Rhonda M.; Crook, Errol D.; Davey-Smith, George; Day, Ian N.; de Boer, Anthonius; de Groot, Mark C. H.; Drenos, Fotios; Ferguson, Jane; Fox, Caroline S.; Furlong, Clement E.; Gibson, Quince; Gieger, Christian; Gilhuijs-Pederson, Lisa A.; Glessner, Joseph T.; Goel, Anuj; Gong, Yan; Grant, Struan F. A.; Kumari, Meena; van der Harst, Pim; van Vliet-Ostaptchouk, Jana V.; Verweij, Niek; Wolffenbuttel, Bruce H. R.; Hofker, Marten H.; Asselbergs, Folkert W.; Wijmenga, Cisca

    2012-01-01

    To identify genetic factors contributing to type 2 diabetes (T2D), we performed large-scale meta-analyses by using a custom similar to 50,000 SNP genotyping array (the ITMAT-Broad-CARe array) with similar to 2000 candidate genes in 39 multiethnic population-based studies, case-control studies, and

  19. Factors contributing to the decision to perform a cesarean section in Labrador retrievers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dolf, Gaudenz; Gaillard, Claude; Russenberger, Jane; Moseley, Lou; Schelling, Claude

    2018-02-27

    In the past 10 years, the frequency of unplanned cesarean sections in the Labrador Retriever breeding colony at Guiding Eyes for the Blind stayed around 10% (range 5% to 28%). To reduce the number of cesarean sections, factors influencing the occurrence of a cesarean section need to be known. The goal of this study was to identify factors that contribute to the decision to perform a cesarean section. Of the 688 Labrador Retriever litters whelped between 2003 and 2016, 667 litters had sufficient data and remained in the analysis. The target trait was ordinal with the three levels "normal whelping", "assisted whelping" and "cesarean section". A general ordinal logistic regression approach was used to analyze the data. Model selection with possible predictors resulted in a final model including weight of the dam, the weight of the heaviest puppy of a litter, the number of fetuses malpositioned and the quality of uterine contractions. Weight and size of a litter, parity, maternal inbreeding coefficient, whelping season, dam and sire were dropped from the model because they were not significant. The risk of a cesarean section was influenced by the combination of the weight of the dam and the weight of the heaviest puppy in the litter, as well as by the number of malpositioned fetuses and the quality of the contractions. Larger puppies increased the risk of cesarean section especially when the dam had a lighter weight. For dams weighing 23.6 kg and 32.8 kg the predicted probability of a cesarean section was low, with 0.06 and 0.02, respectively, when the heaviest puppy in a litter was light (0.42 kg), contractions were normal and no fetus was malpositioned. However, the probability of a cesarean section was much higher, ranging from 0.24 to 0.08, when the heaviest puppy in a litter was heavy (0.66 kg). Means to reduce the cesarean section frequency in this Labrador Retriever breeding colony should include genetic selection for ideal puppy weight. In addition, dams

  20. Factors contributing to academic achievement: a Bayesian structure equation modelling study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Payandeh Najafabadi, Amir T.; Omidi Najafabadi, Maryam; Farid-Rohani, Mohammad Reza

    2013-06-01

    In Iran, high school graduates enter university after taking a very difficult entrance exam called the Konkoor. Therefore, only the top-performing students are admitted by universities to continue their bachelor's education in statistics. Surprisingly, statistically, most of such students fall into the following categories: (1) do not succeed in their education despite their excellent performance on the Konkoor and in high school; (2) graduate with a grade point average (GPA) that is considerably lower than their high school GPA; (3) continue their master's education in majors other than statistics and (4) try to find jobs unrelated to statistics. This article employs the well-known and powerful statistical technique, the Bayesian structural equation modelling (SEM), to study the academic success of recent graduates who have studied statistics at Shahid Beheshti University in Iran. This research: (i) considered academic success as a latent variable, which was measured by GPA and other academic success (see below) of students in the target population; (ii) employed the Bayesian SEM, which works properly for small sample sizes and ordinal variables; (iii), which is taken from the literature, developed five main factors that affected academic success and (iv) considered several standard psychological tests and measured characteristics such as 'self-esteem' and 'anxiety'. We then study the impact of such factors on the academic success of the target population. Six factors that positively impact student academic success were identified in the following order of relative impact (from greatest to least): 'Teaching-Evaluation', 'Learner', 'Environment', 'Family', 'Curriculum' and 'Teaching Knowledge'. Particularly, influential variables within each factor have also been noted.

  1. Description of Various Factors Contributing to Traffic Accidents in Youth and Measures Proposed to Alleviate Recurrence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gicquel, Ludovic; Ordonneau, Pauline; Blot, Emilie; Toillon, Charlotte; Ingrand, Pierre; Romo, Lucia

    2017-01-01

    Traffic accidents are the leading cause of hospitalization in adolescence, with the 18-24-year-old age group accounting for 23% of deaths by traffic accidents. Recurrence rate is also high. One in four teenagers will have a relapse within the year following the first accident. Cognitive impairments known in adolescence could cause risky behaviors, defined as repetitive engagement in dangerous situations such as road accidents. Two categories of factors seem to be associated with traffic accidents: (1) factors specific to the traffic environment and (2) "human" factors, which seem to be the most influential. Moreover, the establishment of a stronger relation to high speed driving increases traffic accident risks and can also be intensified by sensation seeking. Other factors such as substance use (alcohol, drugs, and "binge drinking") are also identified as risk factors. Furthermore, cell phone use while driving and attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity also seem to be important risk factors for car accidents. The family environment strongly influences a young person's driving behavior. Some interventional driving strategies and preventive measures have reduced the risk of traffic accidents among young people, such as the graduated driver licensing program and advertising campaigns. So far, few therapeutic approaches have been implemented. Reason why, we decided to set up an innovative strategy consisting of a therapeutic postaccident group intervention, entitled the ECARR2 protocol, to prevent recurrence among adolescents and young adults identified at risk, taking into account the multiple risk factors.

  2. Using a Systematic Approach to Identifying Organizational Factors in Root Cause Analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gallogly, Kay Wilde

    2011-01-01

    This presentation set the scene for the second discussion session. In her presentation, the author observed that: - Investigators do not see the connection between the analysis tools available and the identification of HOF. Most investigators use the tools in a cursory manner and so do not derive the full benefits of the tools. Some tools are used for presentation purposes as opposed to being used for analytical purposes e.g. event and causal factors charts. In some cases, the report will indicate that specific analytical tools were used in the investigation but the analysis is not in the body of the report. - Some investigators are documenting HOF causes but do not recognize them as such. This indicates a lack of understanding of HOF. - Others investigators focus on technical issues because of their own comfort level. - The culture of the Organisation will affect the depth of the investigation and therefore the use of the analytical tools to pursue HOF issues. - The author contends that if analysis tools are applied systematically to gather factually based data, then HOF issues can be identified. The use of factual information (without judgement and subjectivity) is important to maintain the credibility of the investigation especially when HOF issues are identified. - Systematic use of tools assists in better communication of the issues to foster greater understanding and acceptance by senior management. - Barrier Analysis, Change Analysis, and TWIN (Task Demands, Work Environment, Individual Capabilities, and Human Nature) all offer the opportunity to identify HOF issues if the analyst pursues this line of investigation. It was illustrated that many elements of the TWIN Error Precursors are themselves Organisational in nature. - The TWIN model applied to the Anatomy of an Event will help to distinguish those which are Organisational issues (Latent Organisational Weaknesses, Error Precursors and Flawed Defences) and those which are human factors (Active Errors

  3. Identifying Socio-Cultural Factors That Impact the Use of Open Educational Resources in Local Public Administrations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julia Stoffregen

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The goal of this paper is to define relevant barriers to the exchange of Open Educational Resources in local public administrations. Building upon a cultural model, eleven experts were interviewed and asked to evaluate several factors, such as openness in discourse, learning at the workplace, and superior support, among others. The result is a set of socio-cultural factors that shape the use of Open Educational Resources in public administrations. Significant factors are, in this respect, the independent choice of learning resources, the spirit of the platform, the range of available formats and access to technologies. Practitioners use these factors to elaborate on the readiness of public administrations towards the use of open e-Learning systems. To academic debates on culture in e-Learning, the results provide an alternative model that is contextualized to meet the demands of public sector contexts. Overall, the paper contributes to the lack of research about open e-Learning systems in the public sector, as well as regarding culture in the management of learning and knowledge exchange.

  4. Factors Contributing to Sexual Violence at Selected Schools for Learners with Mild Intellectual Disability in South Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyokangi, Doris; Phasha, Nareadi

    2016-01-01

    Background: This paper reports part of the findings of a study which exposed sexual violence in schools for learners with mild intellectual disability in South Africa. Special attention was paid on factors contributing to such a problem. Methods: Data were collected using focus groups and individual interviews with 16 learners with mild…

  5. Contribution of susceptibility locus at HLA class I region and environmental factors to occurrence of nasopharyngeal cancer in Northeast India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lakhanpal, Meena; Singh, Laishram Chandreshwor; Rahman, Tashnin; Sharma, Jagnnath; Singh, M Madhumangal; Kataki, Amal Chandra; Verma, Saurabh; Chauhan, Pradeep Singh; Singh, Y Mohan; Wajid, Saima; Kapur, Sujala; Saxena, Sunita

    2015-04-01

    High incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has been reported from China, Southeast Asia and Northeast (NE) region of India. Populations at geographic regions having higher incidence of NPC display human leukocyte antigen (HLA) distribution patterns different from areas having low incidence. The current study has investigated the contribution of environmental risk factors and ethnic variation of microsatellite markers in HLA region for the high incidence of NPC in NE India. Genotyping of HLA region using 33 microsatellite markers by fragment length analysis was done in 220 study subjects (120 NPC patients and 100 healthy controls). Association analysis showed two adjacent microsatellite markers HL003 (allele 121) and D6S2704 (allele 218) in the HLA class I region having association with high risk of NPC while allele 127 of HL003 and allele 255 of D6S2678 conferred a protective effect. The environmental factors mainly use of firewood (odds ratio (OR) = 3.797385, confidence interval (CI) = 1.97-7.30, P < 0), living in mud house (OR = 3.46, CI = 1.19-10.08, P = 0.022) and consumption of alcohol (OR = 2.11, CI = 1.02-4.37, P = 0.043) were found as major risk factors for NPC. Higher-order interaction showed combination of smoked food consumption and firewood use for cooking in multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) analysis and interaction of non-firewood users, non-ventilated houses and residence in mud houses in classification and regression tree (CART) analysis as the significant risk factors for NPC. Expression of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) RNA was found in 92% (23/25) of NPC cases suggesting its significant role in NPC aetiopathogenesis. This study identified association of NPC with a susceptibility locus in the HLA class I region which has complex interaction with viral DNA and environmental factors.

  6. Hedgehog signaling contributes to basic fibroblast growth factor-regulated fibroblast migration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhu, Zhong Xin [School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang (China); Sun, Cong Cong [School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang (China); Wenzhou People' s Hospital, Wenzhou, Zhejiang (China); Ting Zhu, Yu; Wang, Ying; Wang, Tao; Chi, Li Sha; Cai, Wan Hui [School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang (China); Zheng, Jia Yong [Wenzhou People' s Hospital, Wenzhou, Zhejiang (China); Zhou, Xuan [Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang (China); Cong, Wei Tao [School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang (China); Li, Xiao Kun, E-mail: proflxk@163.com [School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang (China); Jin, Li Tai, E-mail: jin_litai@126.com [School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang (China)

    2017-06-15

    Fibroblast migration is a central process in skin wound healing, which requires the coordination of several types of growth factors. bFGF, a well-known fibroblast growth factor (FGF), is able to accelerate fibroblast migration; however, the underlying mechanism of bFGF regulation fibroblast migration remains unclear. Through the RNA-seq analysis, we had identified that the hedgehog (Hh) canonical pathway genes including Smoothened (Smo) and Gli1, were regulated by bFGF. Further analysis revealed that activation of the Hh pathway via up-regulation of Smo promoted fibroblast migration, invasion, and skin wound healing, but which significantly reduced by GANT61, a selective antagonist of Gli1/Gli2. Western blot analyses and siRNA transfection assays demonstrated that Smo acted upstream of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-β-catenin to promote cell migration. Moreover, RNA-seq and qRT-PCR analyses revealed that Hh pathway genes including Smo and Gli1 were under control of β-catenin, suggesting that β-catenin turn feedback activates Hh signaling. Taken together, our analyses identified a new bFGF-regulating mechanism by which Hh signaling regulates human fibroblast migration, and the data presented here opens a new avenue for the wound healing therapy. - Highlights: • bFGF regulates Hedgehog (Hh) signaling in fibroblasts. • The Smo and Gli two master regulators of Hh signaling positively regulate fibroblast migration. • Smo facilitates β-catenin nuclear translocation via activation PI3K/JNK/GSK3β. • β-catenin positively regulates fibroblast cell migration and the expression of Hh signaling genes including Smo and Gli.

  7. Hedgehog signaling contributes to basic fibroblast growth factor-regulated fibroblast migration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, Zhong Xin; Sun, Cong Cong; Ting Zhu, Yu; Wang, Ying; Wang, Tao; Chi, Li Sha; Cai, Wan Hui; Zheng, Jia Yong; Zhou, Xuan; Cong, Wei Tao; Li, Xiao Kun; Jin, Li Tai

    2017-01-01

    Fibroblast migration is a central process in skin wound healing, which requires the coordination of several types of growth factors. bFGF, a well-known fibroblast growth factor (FGF), is able to accelerate fibroblast migration; however, the underlying mechanism of bFGF regulation fibroblast migration remains unclear. Through the RNA-seq analysis, we had identified that the hedgehog (Hh) canonical pathway genes including Smoothened (Smo) and Gli1, were regulated by bFGF. Further analysis revealed that activation of the Hh pathway via up-regulation of Smo promoted fibroblast migration, invasion, and skin wound healing, but which significantly reduced by GANT61, a selective antagonist of Gli1/Gli2. Western blot analyses and siRNA transfection assays demonstrated that Smo acted upstream of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-β-catenin to promote cell migration. Moreover, RNA-seq and qRT-PCR analyses revealed that Hh pathway genes including Smo and Gli1 were under control of β-catenin, suggesting that β-catenin turn feedback activates Hh signaling. Taken together, our analyses identified a new bFGF-regulating mechanism by which Hh signaling regulates human fibroblast migration, and the data presented here opens a new avenue for the wound healing therapy. - Highlights: • bFGF regulates Hedgehog (Hh) signaling in fibroblasts. • The Smo and Gli two master regulators of Hh signaling positively regulate fibroblast migration. • Smo facilitates β-catenin nuclear translocation via activation PI3K/JNK/GSK3β. • β-catenin positively regulates fibroblast cell migration and the expression of Hh signaling genes including Smo and Gli.

  8. Contribution of non-negative matrix factorization to the classification of remote sensing images

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karoui, M. S.; Deville, Y.; Hosseini, S.; Ouamri, A.; Ducrot, D.

    2008-10-01

    Remote sensing has become an unavoidable tool for better managing our environment, generally by realizing maps of land cover using classification techniques. The classification process requires some pre-processing, especially for data size reduction. The most usual technique is Principal Component Analysis. Another approach consists in regarding each pixel of the multispectral image as a mixture of pure elements contained in the observed area. Using Blind Source Separation (BSS) methods, one can hope to unmix each pixel and to perform the recognition of the classes constituting the observed scene. Our contribution consists in using Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) combined with sparse coding as a solution to BSS, in order to generate new images (which are at least partly separated images) using HRV SPOT images from Oran area, Algeria). These images are then used as inputs of a supervised classifier integrating textural information. The results of classifications of these "separated" images show a clear improvement (correct pixel classification rate improved by more than 20%) compared to classification of initial (i.e. non separated) images. These results show the contribution of NMF as an attractive pre-processing for classification of multispectral remote sensing imagery.

  9. Abnormal cardiovascular response to exercise in hypertension: contribution of neural factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Jere H

    2017-06-01

    During both dynamic (e.g., endurance) and static (e.g., strength) exercise there are exaggerated cardiovascular responses in hypertension. This includes greater increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and efferent sympathetic nerve activity than in normal controls. Two of the known neural factors that contribute to this abnormal cardiovascular response are the exercise pressor reflex (EPR) and functional sympatholysis. The EPR originates in contracting skeletal muscle and reflexly increases sympathetic efferent nerve activity to the heart and blood vessels as well as decreases parasympathetic efferent nerve activity to the heart. These changes in autonomic nerve activity cause an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, left ventricular contractility, and vasoconstriction in the arterial tree. However, arterial vessels in the contracting skeletal muscle have a markedly diminished vasoconstrictor response. The markedly diminished vasoconstriction in contracting skeletal muscle has been termed functional sympatholysis. It has been shown in hypertension that there is an enhanced EPR, including both its mechanoreflex and metaboreflex components, and an impaired functional sympatholysis. These conditions set up a positive feedback or vicious cycle situation that causes a progressively greater decrease in the blood flow to the exercising muscle. Thus these two neural mechanisms contribute significantly to the abnormal cardiovascular response to exercise in hypertension. In addition, exercise training in hypertension decreases the enhanced EPR, including both mechanoreflex and metaboreflex function, and improves the impaired functional sympatholysis. These two changes, caused by exercise training, improve the muscle blood flow to exercising muscle and cause a more normal cardiovascular response to exercise in hypertension. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

  10. STUDY OF IDENTIFYING AND PRIORITIZING THE AFFECTING FACTORS ON BANK BRAND CUSTOMER LOYALTY

    OpenAIRE

    Zahra Aliyari; Yosef Beygzadeh

    2017-01-01

    Today, customer loyalty is the key to business success. By increased customers’ loyalty, market share and profitability level of enterprises will rise. Market perception along with planning and adopting appropriate strategies for making customers loyal and enhancing their rate of loyalty leads to long-term benefits for the enterprises. Given the importance of the issue, the goal of this study was to identify and prioritize the factors affecting loyalty to a banking brand from perspective of K...

  11. Genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 Screen Identifies Host Factors Essential for Influenza Virus Replication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julianna Han

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Summary: The emergence of influenza A viruses (IAVs from zoonotic reservoirs poses a great threat to human health. As seasonal vaccines are ineffective against zoonotic strains, and newly transmitted viruses can quickly acquire drug resistance, there remains a need for host-directed therapeutics against IAVs. Here, we performed a genome-scale CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screen in human lung epithelial cells with a human isolate of an avian H5N1 strain. Several genes involved in sialic acid biosynthesis and related glycosylation pathways were highly enriched post-H5N1 selection, including SLC35A1, a sialic acid transporter essential for IAV receptor expression and thus viral entry. Importantly, we have identified capicua (CIC as a negative regulator of cell-intrinsic immunity, as loss of CIC resulted in heightened antiviral responses and restricted replication of multiple viruses. Therefore, our study demonstrates that the CRISPR/Cas9 system can be utilized for the discovery of host factors critical for the replication of intracellular pathogens. : Using a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screen, Han et al. demonstrate that the major hit, the sialic acid transporter SLC35A1, is an essential host factor for IAV entry. In addition, they identify the DNA-binding transcriptional repressor CIC as a negative regulator of cell-intrinsic immunity. Keywords: CRISPR/Cas9 screen, GeCKO, influenza virus, host factors, sialic acid pathway, SLC35A1, Capicua, CIC, cell-intrinsic immunity, H5N1

  12. Spatiotemporal variations of ambient PM10 source contributions in Beijing in 2004 using positive matrix factorization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Chen

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Source contributions to ambient PM10 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 μm or less in Beijing, China were determined with positive matrix factorization (PMF based on ambient PM10 composition data including concentrations of organic carbon (OC, elemental carbon (EC, ions and metal elements, which were simultaneously obtained at six sites through January, April, July and October in 2004. Results from PMF indicated that seven major sources of ambient PM10 were urban fugitive dust, crustal soil, coal combustion, secondary sulfate, secondary nitrate, biomass burning with municipal incineration, and vehicle emission, respectively. In paticular, urban fugitive dust and crustal soil as two types of dust sources with similar chemical characteristics were differentiated by PMF. Urban fugitive dust contributed the most, accounting for 34.4% of total PM10 mass on an annual basis, with relatively high contributions in all four months, and even covered 50% in April. It also showed higher contributions in southwestern and southeastern areas than in central urban areas. Coal combustion was found to be the primary contributor in January, showing higher contributions in urban areas than in suburban areas with seasonal variation peaking in winter, which accounted for 15.5% of the annual average PM10 concentration. Secondary sulfate and secondary nitrate combined as the largest contributor to PM10 in July and October, with strong seasonal variation peaking in summer, accounting for 38.8% and 31.5% of the total PM10 mass in July and October, respectively. Biomass burning with municipal incineration contributions were found in all four months and accounted for 9.8% of the annual average PM10 mass concentration, with obviously higher contribution in October than in other months. Incineration sources were probably located in southwestern Beijing. Contribution from vehicle emission accounted for 5.0% and exhibited no significant seasonal variation. In sum

  13. Proteomics identifies Bacillus cereus EntD as a pivotal protein for the production of numerous virulence factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hélène eOmer

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Bacillus cereus is a gram-positive pathogen that causes a wide variety of diseases in humans. It secretes into the extracellular milieu proteins that may contribute directly or indirectly to its virulence. EntD is a novel exoprotein identified by proteogenomics of B. cereus ATCC 14579. We constructed a ΔentD mutant and analyzed the impact of entD disruption on the cellular proteome and exoproteome isolated from early, late and stationary-phase cultures. We identified 308 and 79 proteins regulated by EntD in the cellular proteome and the exoproteome, respectively. The contribution of these proteins to important virulence-associated functions, including central metabolism, cell structure, antioxidative ability, cell motility and toxin production, are presented. The proteomic data were correlated with the growth defect, cell morphology change, reduced motility and reduced cytotoxicity of the ΔentD mutant strain. We conclude that EntD is an important player in B. cereus virulence. The function of EntD and the putative EntD-dependent regulatory network are discussed. To our knowledge, this study is the first characterization of an Ent family protein in a species of the B. cereus group.

  14. Identifying Environmental and Social Factors Predisposing to Pathological Gambling Combining Standard Logistic Regression and Logic Learning Machine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parodi, Stefano; Dosi, Corrado; Zambon, Antonella; Ferrari, Enrico; Muselli, Marco

    2017-12-01

    Identifying potential risk factors for problem gambling (PG) is of primary importance for planning preventive and therapeutic interventions. We illustrate a new approach based on the combination of standard logistic regression and an innovative method of supervised data mining (Logic Learning Machine or LLM). Data were taken from a pilot cross-sectional study to identify subjects with PG behaviour, assessed by two internationally validated scales (SOGS and Lie/Bet). Information was obtained from 251 gamblers recruited in six betting establishments. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle and cognitive-related factors, and type, place and frequency of preferred gambling were obtained by a self-administered questionnaire. The following variables associated with PG were identified: instant gratification games, alcohol abuse, cognitive distortion, illegal behaviours and having started gambling with a relative or a friend. Furthermore, the combination of LLM and LR indicated the presence of two different types of PG, namely: (a) daily gamblers, more prone to illegal behaviour, with poor money management skills and who started gambling at an early age, and (b) non-daily gamblers, characterised by superstitious beliefs and a higher preference for immediate reward games. Finally, instant gratification games were strongly associated with the number of games usually played. Studies on gamblers habitually frequently betting shops are rare. The finding of different types of PG by habitual gamblers deserves further analysis in larger studies. Advanced data mining algorithms, like LLM, are powerful tools and potentially useful in identifying risk factors for PG.

  15. Enterprise Factors Contributing to The Success of Malaysian Biotechnology SMEs: A Grounded Theory Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saridan Abu Bakar

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available While numerous empirical studies have been conducted in Western countries on biotechnology enterprises, little empirical research has been done in Malaysia especially in respect to the factors that contribute to the success of biotechnology small and medium enterprises (SMEs. In view of this, a study was undertaken recently in Malaysia to address this gap in the existing body of biotechnology knowledge. Using a grounded theory approach, this qualitative study managed to develop a conceptual framework that sheds useful information on the enterprise factors that significantly impact the success of Malaysian biotechnology SMEs. Specifically, this study found that organizational structure, innovation activities, linkages with academic research institutions, linkages with other private enterprises, personal linkages with academic researchers, access to financial capital, the procuring of government assistances, vertical integration, enterprise image, GMP compliance and halal certification, strongly influence enterprise success.Keywords: biotechnology, SMEs, Malaysia, success, qualitative study, grounded theory

  16. Contributions of sociodemographic factors to criminal behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mundia L

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Lawrence Mundia, Rohani Matzin, Salwa Mahalle, Malai Hayati Hamid, Ratna Suriani Osman Psychological Studies and Human Development Academic Group, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Abstract: We explored the extent to which prisoner sociodemographic variables (age, education, marital status, employment, and whether their parents were married or not influenced offending in 64 randomly selected Brunei inmates, comprising both sexes. A quantitative field survey design ideal for the type of participants used in a prison context was employed to investigate the problem. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis with backward elimination identified prisoner marital status and age groups as significantly related to offending. Furthermore, hierarchical multinomial logistic regression analysis with backward elimination indicated that prisoners’ age, primary level education, marital status, employment status, and parental marital status as significantly related to stealing offenses with high odds ratios. All 29 nonrecidivists were false negatives and predicted to reoffend upon release. Similarly, all 33 recidivists were projected to reoffend after release. Hierarchical binary logistic regression analysis revealed age groups (24–29 years and 30–35 years, employed prisoner, and primary level education as variables with high likelihood trends for reoffending. The results suggested that prisoner interventions (educational, counseling, and psychotherapy in Brunei should treat not only antisocial personality, psychopathy, and mental health problems but also sociodemographic factors. The study generated offending patterns, trends, and norms that may inform subsequent investigations on Brunei prisoners. Keywords: crimes, prisoner, sociodemographic, recidivism, interventions, Brunei

  17. Erectile Dysfunction Under Age 40: Etiology and Role of Contributing Factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tahir Karadeniz

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate the etiology of erectile dysfunction (ED in patients under the age of 40 years. Eighty one patients were included in this study. All patients underwent a multidisciplinary diagnostic approach by color Doppler ultrasonography, dynamic pharmacocavernosometry (optional, selective pudendal pharmaco-arteriography (optional and nocturnal penile tumescence monitoring by a Rigi-Scan (optional. Mean age of the population was 32 years. Psychogenic impotence was diagnosed in 50% of the patients and organic impotence was diagnosed in 45%. After the 3rd decade of life, a vasculogenic etiology was the most common cause of impotence. Smoking and hypertension played a major role as chronic contributing factors in the overall study population. Primary impotence was diagnosed in 11 patients who were unmarried. The rate of organic causes was 45% in this group (all vasculogenic in nature. Erectile dysfunction in younger patients and in patients with primary impotence is due mainly to organic causes, usually vascular in origin.

  18. Critical factors for EIA implementation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Jasmine; Kørnøv, Lone; Christensen, Per

    2013-01-01

    After decades of development, the gap between expectations of Environment Impact Assessments (EIA) and their practical performance remains significant. Research has been done to identify the critical factors for an effective implementation of EIA. However, this research, to a large extent, has...... not been cumulated and analysed comprehensively according to the stages of the EIA process. This paper contributes to the critical review of the literature on EIA implementation and effectiveness by cumulating mainly empirical findings in an implementation theoretical perspective. It focuses on the links...... between different critical factors and how they relate to different stages in the EIA and thus influence the decision making process. After reviewing 33 refereed journal articles published between 1999 and 2011, we identified 203 notions of critical factors. Of these, 102 related to different stages...

  19. Factors Influencing Healthcare Service Quality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Mohammad Mosadeghrad

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Background The main purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence healthcare quality in the Iranian context. Methods Exploratory in-depth individual and focus group interviews were conducted with 222 healthcare stakeholders including healthcare providers, managers, policy-makers, and payers to identify factors affecting the quality of healthcare services provided in Iranian healthcare organisations. Results Quality in healthcare is a production of cooperation between the patient and the healthcare provider in a supportive environment. Personal factors of the provider and the patient, and factors pertaining to the healthcare organisation, healthcare system, and the broader environment affect healthcare service quality. Healthcare quality can be improved by supportive visionary leadership, proper planning, education and training, availability of resources, effective management of resources, employees and processes, and collaboration and cooperation among providers. Conclusion This article contributes to healthcare theory and practice by developing a conceptual framework that provides policy-makers and managers a practical understanding of factors that affect healthcare service quality.

  20. Imaging-Based Screen Identifies Laminin 411 as a Physiologically Relevant Niche Factor with Importance for i-Hep Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Ong

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Summary: Use of hepatocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (i-Heps is limited by their functional differences in comparison with primary cells. Extracellular niche factors likely play a critical role in bridging this gap. Using image-based characterization (high content analysis; HCA of freshly isolated hepatocytes from 17 human donors, we devised and validated an algorithm (Hepatocyte Likeness Index; HLI for comparing the hepatic properties of cells against a physiological gold standard. The HLI was then applied in a targeted screen of extracellular niche factors to identify substrates driving i-Heps closer to the standard. Laminin 411, the top hit, was validated in two additional induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC lines, primary tissue, and an in vitro model of α1-antitrypsin deficiency. Cumulatively, these data provide a reference method to control and screen for i-Hep differentiation, identify Laminin 411 as a key niche protein, and underscore the importance of combining substrates, soluble factors, and HCA when developing iPSC applications. : Rashid and colleagues demonstrate the utility of a high-throughput imaging platform for identification of physiologically relevant extracellular niche factors to advance i-Heps closer to their primary tissue counterparts. The extracellular matrix (ECM protein screen identified Laminin 411 as an important niche factor facilitating i-Hep-based disease modeling in vitro. Keywords: iPS hepatocytes, extracellular niche, image-based screening, disease modeling, laminin

  1. Description of Various Factors Contributing to Traffic Accidents in Youth and Measures Proposed to Alleviate Recurrence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ludovic Gicquel

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Traffic accidents are the leading cause of hospitalization in adolescence, with the 18–24-year-old age group accounting for 23% of deaths by traffic accidents. Recurrence rate is also high. One in four teenagers will have a relapse within the year following the first accident. Cognitive impairments known in adolescence could cause risky behaviors, defined as repetitive engagement in dangerous situations such as road accidents. Two categories of factors seem to be associated with traffic accidents: (1 factors specific to the traffic environment and (2 “human” factors, which seem to be the most influential. Moreover, the establishment of a stronger relation to high speed driving increases traffic accident risks and can also be intensified by sensation seeking. Other factors such as substance use (alcohol, drugs, and “binge drinking” are also identified as risk factors. Furthermore, cell phone use while driving and attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity also seem to be important risk factors for car accidents. The family environment strongly influences a young person’s driving behavior. Some interventional driving strategies and preventive measures have reduced the risk of traffic accidents among young people, such as the graduated driver licensing program and advertising campaigns. So far, few therapeutic approaches have been implemented. Reason why, we decided to set up an innovative strategy consisting of a therapeutic postaccident group intervention, entitled the ECARR2 protocol, to prevent recurrence among adolescents and young adults identified at risk, taking into account the multiple risk factors.

  2. No Major Host Genetic Risk Factor Contributed to A(H1N12009 Influenza Severity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koldo Garcia-Etxebarria

    Full Text Available While most patients affected by the influenza A(H1N1 pandemic experienced mild symptoms, a small fraction required hospitalization, often without concomitant factors that could explain such a severe course. We hypothesize that host genetic factors could contribute to aggravate the disease. To test this hypothesis, we compared the allele frequencies of 547,296 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs between 49 severe and 107 mild confirmed influenza A cases, as well as against a general population sample of 549 individuals. When comparing severe vs. mild influenza A cases, only one SNP was close to the conventional p = 5×10-8. This SNP, rs28454025, sits in an intron of the GSK233 gene, which is involved in a neural development, but seems not to have any connections with immunological or inflammatory functions. Indirectly, a previous association reported with CD55 was replicated. Although sample sizes are low, we show that the statistical power in our design was sufficient to detect highly-penetrant, quasi-Mendelian genetic factors. Hence, and assuming that rs28454025 is likely to be a false positive, no major genetic factor was detected that could explain poor influenza A course.

  3. Source apportionment of ambient particle number concentrations in central Los Angeles using positive matrix factorization (PMF

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. H. Sowlat

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available In this study, the positive matrix factorization (PMF receptor model (version 5.0 was used to identify and quantify major sources contributing to particulate matter (PM number concentrations, using PM number size distributions in the range of 13 nm to 10 µm combined with several auxiliary variables, including black carbon (BC, elemental and organic carbon (EC/OC, PM mass concentrations, gaseous pollutants, meteorological, and traffic counts data, collected for about 9 months between August 2014 and 2015 in central Los Angeles, CA. Several parameters, including particle number and volume size distribution profiles, profiles of auxiliary variables, contributions of different factors in different seasons to the total number concentrations, diurnal variations of each of the resolved factors in the cold and warm phases, weekday/weekend analysis for each of the resolved factors, and correlation between auxiliary variables and the relative contribution of each of the resolved factors, were used to identify PM sources. A six-factor solution was identified as the optimum for the aforementioned input data. The resolved factors comprised nucleation, traffic 1, traffic 2 (with a larger mode diameter than traffic 1 factor, urban background aerosol, secondary aerosol, and soil/road dust. Traffic sources (1 and 2 were the major contributor to PM number concentrations, collectively making up to above 60 % (60.8–68.4 % of the total number concentrations during the study period. Their contribution was also significantly higher in the cold phase compared to the warm phase. Nucleation was another major factor significantly contributing to the total number concentrations (an overall contribution of 17 %, ranging from 11.7 to 24 %, with a larger contribution during the warm phase than in the cold phase. The other identified factors were urban background aerosol, secondary aerosol, and soil/road dust, with relative contributions of approximately 12

  4. Identifying sources of atmospheric fine particles in Havana City using Positive Matrix Factorization technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pinnera, I.; Perez, G.; Ramos, M.; Guibert, R.; Aldape, F.; Flores M, J.; Martinez, M.; Molina, E.; Fernandez, A.

    2011-01-01

    In previous study a set of samples of fine and coarse airborne particulate matter collected in a urban area of Havana City were analyzed by Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) technique. The concentrations of 14 elements (S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Br and Pb) were consistently determined in both particle sizes. The analytical database provided by PIXE was statistically analyzed in order to determine the local pollution sources. The Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) technique was applied to fine particle data in order to identify possible pollution sources. These sources were further verified by enrichment factor (EF) calculation. A general discussion about these results is presented in this work. (Author)

  5. Factors Contributing to Pelvis Instability in Female Adolescent Athletes During Unilateral Repeated Partial Squat Activity

    OpenAIRE

    Scarborough, Donna Moxley; Linderman, Shannon; Berkson, Eric M.; Oh, Luke S.

    2017-01-01

    Objectives: Unilateral partial squat tasks are often used to assess athletes? lower extremity (LE) neuromuscular control. Single squat biomechanics such as lateral drop of the non-stance limb?s pelvis have been linked to knee injury risk. Yet, there are limited studies on the factors contributing to pelvic instability during the unilateral partial squat such as anatomical alignment of the knee and hip strength. The purpose of this study was 1) to assess the influence of leg dominance on pelvi...

  6. Factors Contributing to the Catastrophe in Mexico City During the Earthquake of September 19, 1985

    OpenAIRE

    Beck, James L.; Hall, John F.

    1986-01-01

    The extensive damage to high‐rise buildings in Mexico City during the September 19, 1985 earthquake is primarily due to the intensity of the ground shaking exceeding what was previously considered credible for the city by Mexican engineers. There were two major factors contributing to the catastrophe, resonance in the sediments of an ancient lake that once existed in the Valley of Mexico, and the long duration of shaking compared with other coastal earthquakes in the last 50 years. Both of th...

  7. Modifiable worker risk factors contributing to workplace absence: a stakeholder-centred best-evidence synthesis of systematic reviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagner, Shannon; White, Marc; Schultz, Izabela; Murray, Eleanor; Bradley, Susan M; Hsu, Vernita; McGuire, Lisa; Schulz, Werner

    2014-01-01

    A challenge facing stakeholders is the identification and translation of relevant high quality research to inform policy and practice. This study engaged academic and community stakeholders in conducting a best evidence-synthesis to identify modifiable risk and protective worker factors across health conditions impacting work-related absence. To identify modifiable worker disability risk and protective factors across common health conditions impacting work-related absence. We searched Medline, Embase, CINHAL, The Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, BusinessSourceComplete, and ABI/Inform from 2000 to 2011. Quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods systematic reviews of work-focused population were considered for inclusion. Two or more reviewers independently reviewed articles for inclusion and methodological screening. The search strategy, expert input and grey literature identified 2,467 unique records. One hundred and forty-two full text articles underwent comprehensive review. Twenty-four systematic reviews met eligibility criteria. Modifiable worker factors found to have consistent evidence across two or more health conditions included emotional distress, negative enduring psychology/personality factors, negative health and disability perception, decreased physical activity, lack of family support, poor general health, increased functional disability, increased pain, increased fatigue and lack of motivation to return to work. Systematic reviews are limited by availability of high quality studies, lack of consistency of methodological screening and reporting, and variability of outcome measures used.

  8. The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Dominican Republic: Key Contributing Factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rojas, Patria; Malow, Robert; Ruffin, Beverly; Rothe, Eugenio M; Rosenberg, Rhonda

    2011-01-01

    This article reviews HIV/AIDS epidemiological data and recent research conducted in the Dominican Republic, with a focus on explaining the variability in estimated seroincidence and prevalence within the country. HIV seroprevalence estimates range from 1.0% (in the general population) to 11.0% among men who have sex with men (MSM). Some have indicated that the highest HIV seroprevalence occurs in Haitian enclaves called bateyes (US Agency for International Development [USAID], 2008), which are migrant worker shantytowns primarily serving the sugar industry in the Dominican Republic. Others report higher or comparable rates to the bateyes in areas related to the tourism and sex industries. As in other Caribbean and Latin American countries, reported HIV transmission in the Dominican Republic is predominantly due to unprotected heterosexual sex and the infection rate has been increasing disproportionally among women. The Dominican Republic represents two thirds of the Hispaniola island; the western one third is occupied by Haiti, the nation with the highest HIV prevalence in the western hemisphere. Although data is limited, it shows important differences in seroprevalence and incidence between these two countries, but commonalities such as poverty, gender inequalities, and stigma appear to be pivotal factors driving the epidemic. This article will discuss these and other factors that may contribute to the HIV epidemic in the Dominican Republic, as well as highlight the gaps in the literature and provide recommendations to guide further work in this area, particularly in the role of governance in sustainable HIV prevention.

  9. Factors relating to high psychological distress in Indigenous Australians and their contribution to Indigenous-non-Indigenous disparities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNamara, Bridgette J; Banks, Emily; Gubhaju, Lina; Joshy, Grace; Williamson, Anna; Raphael, Beverley; Eades, Sandra

    2018-04-01

    To explore factors associated with high psychological distress among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians and their contribution to the elevated distress prevalence among Aboriginal people. Questionnaire data from 1,631 Aboriginal and 233,405 non-Aboriginal 45 and Up Study (NSW, Australia) participants aged ≥45 years were used to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios for high psychological distress (Kessler-10 score ≥22) for socio-demographic, health and disability-related factors, and to quantify contributions to differences in distress prevalence. While high-distress prevalence was increased around three-fold in Aboriginal versus non-Aboriginal participants, distress-related risk factors were similar. Morbidity and physical disability had the strongest associations; high distress affected 43.8% of Aboriginal and 20.9% of non-Aboriginal participants with severe physical limitations and 9.5% and 3.9% of those without limitations, respectively. Differences in distress prevalence between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal participants were essentially attributable to differences in SES, morbidity, disability/functional limitations and social support (fully-adjusted PR 1.19 [95% 1.08, 1.30]); physical morbidity and disability explained the bulk. The markedly elevated prevalence of high distress among older Aboriginal Australians appears largely attributable to greater physical morbidity and disability. Implications for public health: Addressing upstream determinants of physical morbidity and improved integration of social and emotional wellbeing care into primary care and chronic disease management are essential. © 2018 The Authors.

  10. Factors Contributing to Psycho-Social Ill-Health in Male Adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gurpreet Singh Chhabra

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To study the prevalence of psychosocial problems in male adolescents and find out various factors contributing to psycho-social ill health. Methods: 500 adolescents were interviewed using a pre-tested structured questionnaire to elicit the information about the psychosocial problems including depression, suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts. Association of academic performance, family problems, psychological problems and substance abuse was also included. Results: More than one third (39.6% adolescents were having psychological problems. These problems were significantly higher in middle adolescence (14-16 years, large extended families (> 8 members and lower socioeconomic status. Residence had no significant relation to psychological problems in the adolescents. On correlation, these adolescents with psychological problems were having significantly more academic problems, family disputes, domestic violence, lesser number of close friends and greater substance abuse. Conclusion: Considering that male adolescents from large families with lesser education and lower income had higher prevalence of psychosocial problems, it is essential for health care planners to design comprehensive family and health education programs for the adolescents. The family support, teacher student rapport and peer group communication should be strengthened to counteract unsafe behaviours in the adolescents.

  11. Probabilistic measure of factors contributing to social media practices among Facebook users

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jandryle U. Trondillo

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Social media is the most popular tool to communicate and interact with people nowadays and offers easy access to connect with people anywhere in the globe. This study was conducted to develop a construct about social media practice and explore the probabilistic measure of the factors contributing to social media practices among selected Facebook users. Data was gathered utilizing a structured online survey form from selected 162 online Facebook users who consented to participate in this study. Most of the respondents are male, from 21 to 30 age group, employed and with average social media use of 1 to 4 hours in a day. Out of 30 items in the structured questionnaire, 19 items where retained with eight new factors that served as construct for social media practice (KMO= Bartlett's test of Sphericity= 2109.530, p=0.000,<0.01. Proposed model was significant 99% (p=0.002,<0.01, chi-square of 19.25 which can explain 6.4% to 13.3% of the variation in social media practice. Eight new components were found to simulate respondent’s social media practices. Social media practice varies between males and females while characteristics of age, occupational status and average number of hours spent in social media in a day have no variation.

  12. Globalisation and the fear factor of the financial crime compliance regimes

    OpenAIRE

    Ryder, N.

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this key note address is to provide a detailed and critical review of the United Kingdom's anti-money laundering regime. It seeks to identify several factors that have contributed towards the creation of a 'fear factor' for compliance officers.

  13. The contributions of unhealthy lifestyle factors to apparent resistant hypertension: findings from the Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimbo, Daichi; Levitan, Emily B; Booth, John N; Calhoun, David A; Judd, Suzanne E; Lackland, Daniel T; Safford, Monika M; Oparil, Suzanne; Muntner, Paul

    2013-02-01

    Unhealthy lifestyle factors may contribute to apparent treatment resistant hypertension (aTRH). We examined associations of unhealthy lifestyle factors with aTRH in individuals taking antihypertensive medications from three or more classes. Participants (n = 2602) taking three or more antihypertensive medication classes were identified from the population-based REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. aTRH was defined as having SBP/DBP at least 140/90 mmHg despite the use of three or more antihypertensive medication classes or the use of four or more classes to achieve blood pressure control. Lifestyle factors included obesity, physical inactivity, current smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, a low Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet score and high sodium-to-potassium (Na/K) intake. Among participants taking three or more antihypertensive medication classes, 1293 (49.7%) participants had aTRH. The prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle factors in participants with and without aTRH was 55.2 and 51.7%, respectively, for obesity, 42.2 and 40.5% for physical inactivity, 11.3 and 11.5% for current smoking, 3.1 and 4.0% for heavy alcohol consumption, 23.1 and 21.5% for low-DASH diet score, and 25.4 and 24.4% for high Na/K intake. After adjustment for age, sex, race, and geographic region of residence, none of the unhealthy lifestyle factors were associated with aTRH. The associations between each unhealthy lifestyle factor and aTRH remained nonsignificant after additional adjustment for education, income, depressive symptoms, total calorie intake, and comorbidities. Unhealthy lifestyle factors did not have independent associations with aTRH among individuals taking three or more antihypertensive medication classes.

  14. Heavy quarkonium production at collider energies: Factorization and evolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Zhong-Bo; Ma, Yan-Qing; Qiu, Jian-Wei; Sterman, George

    2014-08-01

    We present a perturbative QCD factorization formalism for inclusive production of heavy quarkonia of large transverse momentum, pT at collider energies, including both leading power (LP) and next-to-leading power (NLP) behavior in pT. We demonstrate that both LP and NLP contributions can be factorized in terms of perturbatively calculable short-distance partonic coefficient functions and universal nonperturbative fragmentation functions, and derive the evolution equations that are implied by the factorization. We identify projection operators for all channels of the factorized LP and NLP infrared safe short-distance partonic hard parts, and corresponding operator definitions of fragmentation functions. For the NLP, we focus on the contributions involving the production of a heavy quark pair, a necessary condition for producing a heavy quarkonium. We evaluate the first nontrivial order of evolution kernels for all relevant fragmentation functions, and discuss the role of NLP contributions.

  15. A comparative study to identify factors of caregiver burden between baby boomers and post baby boomers: a secondary analysis of a US online caregiver survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Heejung; Lee, Sangeun; Cheon, Jooyoung; Hong, Soyun; Chang, Mido

    2018-05-02

    Baby boomers' position in the caregiving context is shifting from caregiver to care recipient as the population ages. While the unique characteristics of baby boomer caregivers are well established in caregiving literature, there is limited information about the next caregiving group after the baby boomers. In this study, the sociodemographic and caregiving-related characteristics of the two generations are compared and specific factors contributing to caregiver burden between baby boomer and post baby boomer caregivers are identified. This cross-sectional and correlational study used secondary analysis of data from the National Alliance for Caregiving and the American Association of Retired Persons. A structured online survey was conducted in 2014 with randomly selected samples (n = 1069) in the United States focusing on sociodemographics, caregiving-related characteristics, and burden of care. Descriptive statistics, multivariate linear regression analyses, and Steiger's Z-test were used to identify group differences in multivariate factors related to caregiver burden in two generational groups. Baby boomers and post baby boomers experienced caregiver burden to a similar degree. Caregiving-related factors are more likely to increase burden of care than sociodemographics in both groups. Caregiving without choice and spending longer hours on caregiving tasks were common factors that increased the burden in both generational groups (all p values baby boomer caregivers reported additional challenges, such as unemployment during caregiving, the dual responsibility of both adult and child care, and a family relationship with the care recipient. Due to the aging population of baby boomers, post baby boomers encounter different challenges related to caregiving burden, which is often considered an additional workload in their life course. Current policy and program tailored to baby boomers should be re-designed to meet the different needs of emerging caregivers

  16. Factors contributing to radiocaesium variability in upland sheep flocks in west Cumbria (United Kingdom)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beresford, N.A.; Barnett, C.L.; Wright, S.M.; Howard, B.J.; Crout, N.M.J.

    2007-01-01

    Following the Chernobyl accident in 1986, restrictions were placed on the movement and slaughter of sheep within upland areas of the UK because radiocaesium activity concentrations in their meat exceeded 1000 Bq kg -1 fresh weight. Some farms remain under restriction in 2007. From 1991 to 1993 detailed studies were conducted on three sheep farms within the restricted area of west Cumbria to systematically assess the various parameters which may contribute to the observed variability in radiocaesium activity concentrations within sheep flocks. This paper reports the spatial variation in soil and vegetation activity concentrations across the grazed areas at these farms and determines the influence of grazing behaviour on variability in 137 Cs activity concentrations between individual sheep within the flocks. Together with previously reported results, these new data are used to draw conclusions on the factors determining variability within the three flocks. However, the factors are too site specific to be able to generalise the findings to other farms within the restricted areas of the UK

  17. Identifying factors which enhance capacity to engage in clinical education among podiatry practitioners: an action research project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abey, Sally; Lea, Susan; Callaghan, Lynne; Shaw, Steve; Cotton, Debbie

    2015-01-01

    Health profession students develop practical skills whilst integrating theory with practice in a real world environment as an important component of their training. Research in the area of practice placements has identified challenges and barriers to the delivery of effective placement learning. However, there has been little research in podiatry and the question of which factors impact upon clinical educators' capacity to engage with the role remains an under-researched area. This paper presents the second phase of an action research project designed to determine the factors that impact upon clinical educators' capacity to engage with the mentorship role. An online survey was developed and podiatry clinical educators recruited through National Health Service (NHS) Trusts. The survey included socio-demographic items, and questions relating to the factors identified as possible variables influencing clinical educator capacity; the latter was assessed using the 'Clinical Educator Capacity to Engage' scale (CECE). Descriptive statistics were used to explore demographic data whilst the relationship between the CECE and socio-demographic factors were examined using inferential statistics in relation to academic profile, career profile and organisation of the placement. The survey response rate was 42 % (n = 66). Multiple linear regression identified four independent variables which explain a significant proportion of the variability of the dependent variable, 'capacity to engage with clinical education', with an adjusted R2 of 0.428. The four variables were: protected mentorship time, clinical educator relationship with university, sign-off responsibility, and volunteer status. The identification of factors that impact upon clinical educators' capacity to engage in mentoring of students has relevance for strategic planning and policy-making with the emphasis upon capacity-building at an individual level, so that the key attitudes and characteristics that are linked

  18. Validating the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ-II) Using Set-ESEM: Identifying Psychosocial Risk Factors in a Sample of School Principals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dicke, Theresa; Marsh, Herbert W; Riley, Philip; Parker, Philip D; Guo, Jiesi; Horwood, Marcus

    2018-01-01

    School principals world-wide report high levels of strain and attrition resulting in a shortage of qualified principals. It is thus crucial to identify psychosocial risk factors that reflect principals' occupational wellbeing. For this purpose, we used the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ-II), a widely used self-report measure covering multiple psychosocial factors identified by leading occupational stress theories. We evaluated the COPSOQ-II regarding factor structure and longitudinal, discriminant, and convergent validity using latent structural equation modeling in a large sample of Australian school principals ( N = 2,049). Results reveal that confirmatory factor analysis produced marginally acceptable model fit. A novel approach we call set exploratory structural equation modeling (set-ESEM), where cross-loadings were only allowed within a priori defined sets of factors, fit well, and was more parsimonious than a full ESEM. Further multitrait-multimethod models based on the set-ESEM confirm the importance of a principal's psychosocial risk factors; Stressors and depression were related to demands and ill-being, while confidence and autonomy were related to wellbeing. We also show that working in the private sector was beneficial for showing a low psychosocial risk, while other demographics have little effects. Finally, we identify five latent risk profiles (high risk to no risk) of school principals based on all psychosocial factors. Overall the research presented here closes the theory application gap of a strong multi-dimensional measure of psychosocial risk-factors.

  19. Differences of Rotavirus Vaccine Effectiveness by Country: Likely Causes and Contributing Factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ulrich Desselberger

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Rotaviruses are a major cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide and in many other mammalian and avian host species. Since 2006, two live-attenuated rotavirus vaccines, Rotarix® and RotaTeq®, have been licensed in >100 countries and are applied as part of extended program of vaccination (EPI schemes of childhood vaccinations. Whereas the vaccines have been highly effective in high-income countries, they were shown to be considerably less potent in low- and middle-income countries. Rotavirus-associated disease was still the cause of death in >200,000 children of <5 years of age worldwide in 2013, and the mortality is concentrated in countries of sub-Saharan Africa and S.E. Asia. Various factors that have been identified or suggested as being involved in the differences of rotavirus vaccine effectiveness are reviewed here. Recognition of these factors will help to achieve gradual worldwide improvement of rotavirus vaccine effectiveness.

  20. A descriptive study of noise in the neonatal intensive care unit: ambient levels and perceptions of contributing factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darcy, Ashley E; Hancock, Lauren E; Ware, Emily J

    2008-10-01

    To examine the baseline acoustic environment in several mid-Atlantic region neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and investigate the perceived factors contributing to noise levels in these NICUs. Quantitative data were collected from 3 urban, mid-Atlantic level IIIB and level IIIC NICUs. Qualitative data were collected via interview from 2 RNs employed in each of the study NICUs. This was an exploratory descriptive study utilizing a mixed-methods approach. A quantitative method was used for sound-level data collection, and a qualitative method was utilized during interviews with nurses to examine perceptions of factors contributing to noise. Ambient sound levels, measured in decibels, were taken at 5-minute intervals over a 2-hour period during both day and night shifts in a central location at each NICU. In addition, nurses were interviewed using a standardized interview questionnaire, and these interviews were then reviewed to determine themes regarding perceived factors contributing to sound levels. Hourly mean sound levels in each NICU ranged from 53.9 dB to 60.6 dB, with no statistically significant difference between noise levels recorded on day shift versus night shift, and no statistically significant difference among sites. Qualitative data showed that nurses' believed day shift to be louder than night shift and many perceived their own NICU as "pretty quiet." Key contributing factors to increased sound levels were stated as monitors or alarms, performing invasive procedures, presence of family, nurses or doctors giving report or rounds, and ringing phones. Noise levels were found to be above the American Academy of Pediatrics-recommended 45-dB level and often louder than the 50-dB level, which should not be exceeded more than 10% of the time. The recommended impulse maximum of 65 dB was also exceeded. Environmental Protection Agency recommendations for hospitals include sound levels no louder than 35 dB on night shift; this standard was also violated

  1. A descriptive study of noise in the neonatal intensive care unit. Ambient levels and perceptions of contributing factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darcy, Ashley E; Hancock, Lauren E; Ware, Emily J

    2008-06-01

    To examine the baseline acoustic environment in several mid-Atlantic region neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and investigate the perceived factors contributing to noise levels in these NICUs. Quantitative data were collected from 3 urban, mid-Atlantic level IIIB and level IIIC NICUs. Qualitative data were collected via interview from 2 RNs employed in each of the study NICUs. This was an exploratory descriptive study utilizing a mixed-methods approach. A quantitative method was used for sound-level data collection, and a qualitative method was utilized during interviews with nurses to examine perceptions of factors contributing to noise. Ambient sound levels, measured in decibels, were taken at 5-minute intervals over a 2-hour period during both day and night shifts in a central location at each NICU. In addition, nurses were interviewed using a standardized interview questionnaire, and these interviews were then reviewed to determine themes regarding perceived factors contributing to sound levels. Hourly mean sound levels in each NICU ranged from 53.9 dB to 60.6 dB, with no statistically significant difference between noise levels recorded on day shift versus night shift, and no statistically significant difference among sites. Qualitative data showed that nurses' believed day shift to be louder than night shift and many perceived their own NICU as "pretty quiet." Key contributing factors to increased sound levels were stated as monitors or alarms, performing invasive procedures, presence of family, nurses or doctors giving report or rounds, and ringing phones. Noise levels were found to be above the American Academy of Pediatrics--recommended 45-dB level and often louder than the 50-dB level, which should not be exceeded more than 10% of the time. The recommended impulse maximum of 65 dB was also exceeded. Environmental Protection Agency recommendations for hospitals include sound levels no louder than 35 dB on night shift; this standard was also violated

  2. Identifying Contextual and Emotional Factors to Explore Weight Disparities between Obese Black and White Women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    NiCole R. Keith

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background Obese black women enrolled in weight loss interventions experience 50% less weight reduction than obese white women. This suggests that current weight loss strategies may increase health disparities. Objective We evaluated the feasibility of identifying daily contextual factors that may influence obesity. Methods In-home interviews with 16 obese (body mass index ≥ 30 black and white urban poor women were performed. For 14 days, ecological momentary assessment (EMA was used to capture emotion and social interactions every other day, and day reconstruction method surveys were used the following day to reconstruct the context of the prior day's EMA. Results Factors included percentage of participants without weight scales (43.8% or fitness equipment (68.8% in the home and exposed to food at work (55.6%. The most frequently reported location, activity, and emotion were home (19.4 ± 8.53, working (7.1 ± 8.80, and happy (6.9 ± 10.03, respectively. Conclusion Identifying individual contexts may lead to valuable insights about obesogenic behaviors and new interventions to improve weight management.

  3. Factors contributing to the resilience of middle-adolescents in a South African township: insights from a resilience questionnaire

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Motlalepule Ruth Mampane

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Factors that contribute to resilience are key to the positive development of youths, and knowledge of such factors is essential for promoting resilience in schools through both policy and practice. This study reports on the results of an item and factor analysis of the Resilience Questionnaire for Middle-adolescents in Township Schools (R-MATS that was used to survey 291 Grade 9 middle-adolescent learners from two black-only township secondary schools. The majority of respondents indicated an overall sense of contending with various stressors, especially the exposure to violence, and academic challenges. Respondents attributed their buoyancy to individual and environmental factors, such as self-confidence, an internal locus of control, a tough personality, commitment, being achievement-oriented, as well as positive identification of and access to social support.

  4. Investigating the factors that contribute to the academic underachievement of grade 9 learners / Uys R.M.

    OpenAIRE

    Uys, Riza Mari

    2011-01-01

    Academic underachievement potentially redirects the future of adolescents. The specific sample for this research was Grade nine learners. Grade nine is when subject choices are made and the last year of compulsory education. Academic underachievement during Grade nine becomes a barrier to career enhancing subject choices. Subject choice is a first step to greater specialisation of skills and a future career path. This study focused on the investigation of factors that could possibly contribut...

  5. Prevalence of and contributing factors to overweight and obesity among the schoolchildren of Podgorica, Montenegro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jakšić Marina

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction/Objective. Childhood obesity is an emerging public health problem. The national prevalence of child overweight/obesity in Montenegro has increased by one third in the last decade. As the overwhelming majority of Montenegrin population is urban, investigation of obesity and correlates among urban children is of special public health interest. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of and contributing factors to obesity among schoolchildren of Podgorica. Method. The sample included 1,134 schoolchildren (49.8% boys aged 7–12 years, from 10 elementary schools in Podgorica. We measured children’s body mass, body height, and waist circumference to calculate body mass index (BMI and waist-to-height ratio. The research instrument was a closed type of the original questionnaire. Nutritional status was assessed according to the criteria recommended by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization and International Obesity Task Force. Results. Among the investigated children there were 21.2% and 6% overweight and obese children, respectively. Obesity was more frequent among boys (7.6% compared to girls (4.4%. In a multiple regression, childhood obesity was positively related to the following: male gender, younger age, lower number of siblings, parental obesity, and low physical activity. Conclusion. One out of five urban Montenegrin schoolchildren is overweight/obese, with obesity being twice as frequent among boys compared to girls. A program against obesity among urban Montenegrin children should focus on the revealed contributing factors.

  6. Factors that Influence the Identity Development of Punjabi American Women

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gill, Satinder Kaur

    2010-01-01

    This study was conducted in order to understand the factors that contribute to the identity development of Punjabi American women in college. The identified factors are useful for enhancing the educational and psychological development of Punjabi American women in college. A qualitative phenomenological design was implemented to collect data from…

  7. Social contextual factors contributing to child and adolescent labor: an ecological analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vilma Sousa Santana

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between social contextual factors and child and adolescent labor. METHODS: Population-based cohort study carried out with 2,512 families living in 23 subareas of a large urban city in Brazil from 2000 to 2002. A random one-stage cluster sampling was used to select families. Data were obtained through individual household interviews using questionnaires. The annual cumulative incidence of child and adolescent labor was estimated for each district. New child and adolescent labor cases were those who had their first job over the two-year follow-up. The annual cumulative incidence of child and adolescent labor was the response variable and predictors were contextual factors such as lack of social support, social deprivation, unstructured family, perceived violence, poor school quality, poor environment conditions, and poor public services. Pearson's correlation and multiple linear regression were used to assess the associations. RESULTS: There were selected 943 families corresponding to 1,326 non-working children and adolescents aged 8 to 17 years. Lack of social support, social deprivation, perceived violence were all positively and individually associated with the annual cumulative incidence of child and adolescent labor. In the multiple linear regression model, however, only lack of social support and perceived violence in the neighborhood were positively associated to child and adolescent labor. No effect was found for poor school quality, poor environment conditions, poor public services or unstructured family. CONCLUSIONS: Poverty reduction programs can reduce the contextual factors associated with child and adolescent labor. Violence reduction programs and strengthening social support at the community level may contribute to reduce CAL.

  8. A retrospective chart review to identify perinatal factors associated with food allergies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dowhower Karpa, Kelly; Paul, Ian M; Leckie, J Alexander; Shung, Sharon; Carkaci-Salli, Nurgul; Vrana, Kent E; Mauger, David; Fausnight, Tracy; Poger, Jennifer

    2012-10-19

    Gut flora are important immunomodulators that may be disrupted in individuals with atopic conditions. Probiotic bacteria have been suggested as therapeutic modalities to mitigate or prevent food allergic manifestations. We wished to investigate whether perinatal factors known to disrupt gut flora increase the risk of IgE-mediated food allergies. Birth records obtained from 192 healthy children and 99 children diagnosed with food allergies were reviewed retrospectively. Data pertaining to delivery method, perinatal antibiotic exposure, neonatal nursery environment, and maternal variables were recorded. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between variables of interest and subsequent food allergy diagnosis. Retrospective investigation did not find perinatal antibiotics, NICU admission, or cesarean section to be associated with increased risk of food allergy diagnosis. However, associations between food allergy diagnosis and male gender (66 vs. 33; p=0.02) were apparent in this cohort. Additionally, increasing maternal age at delivery was significantly associated with food allergy diagnosis during childhood (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.017 to 1.105; p=0.005). Gut flora are potent immunomodulators, but their overall contribution to immune maturation remains to be elucidated. Additional understanding of the interplay between immunologic, genetic, and environmental factors underlying food allergy development need to be clarified before probiotic therapeutic interventions can routinely be recommended for prevention or mitigation of food allergies. Such interventions may be well-suited in male infants and in infants born to older mothers.

  9. Using exploratory regression to identify optimal driving factors for cellular automaton modeling of land use change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Yongjiu; Tong, Xiaohua

    2017-09-22

    Defining transition rules is an important issue in cellular automaton (CA)-based land use modeling because these models incorporate highly correlated driving factors. Multicollinearity among correlated driving factors may produce negative effects that must be eliminated from the modeling. Using exploratory regression under pre-defined criteria, we identified all possible combinations of factors from the candidate factors affecting land use change. Three combinations that incorporate five driving factors meeting pre-defined criteria were assessed. With the selected combinations of factors, three logistic regression-based CA models were built to simulate dynamic land use change in Shanghai, China, from 2000 to 2015. For comparative purposes, a CA model with all candidate factors was also applied to simulate the land use change. Simulations using three CA models with multicollinearity eliminated performed better (with accuracy improvements about 3.6%) than the model incorporating all candidate factors. Our results showed that not all candidate factors are necessary for accurate CA modeling and the simulations were not sensitive to changes in statistically non-significant driving factors. We conclude that exploratory regression is an effective method to search for the optimal combinations of driving factors, leading to better land use change models that are devoid of multicollinearity. We suggest identification of dominant factors and elimination of multicollinearity before building land change models, making it possible to simulate more realistic outcomes.

  10. A conceptual model of factors contributing to the development of muscle dysmorphia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grieve, Frederick G

    2007-01-01

    Muscle dysmorphia is a recently described subcategory of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. It is most prevalent in males and has a number of cognitive, behavioral, socioenviornmental, emotional, and psychological factors that influence its expression. An etiological model describing these influences is presented for evaluation. Nine variables (body mass, media influences, ideal body internalization, low self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, health locus of control, negative affect, perfectionism, and body distortion) were identified through the use of extant literature on muscle dysmorphia and through extrapolation from literature involving women and eating disorders. The functional relationships among these variables are described and implications of the model are discussed.

  11. Environmental and nursing-staff factors contributing to aggressive and violent behaviour of patients in mental health facilities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evalina van Wijk

    2014-08-01

    Objectives: The aim of the study was to describe patients’ perceptions of the possible environmental and staff factors that might contribute to their aggressive and violent behaviour after admission to a mental health facility; and to propose strategies to prevent and manage such behaviour. Research design: A qualitative, phenomenological study was utilised, in which purposefully sampled inpatients were interviewed over a six-month period. Inpatients were invited to participate if they had been admitted for at least seven days and were in touch with reality. Method: Forty inpatients in two mental health facilities in Cape Town participated in face-to-face, semi-structured interviews over a period of six months. Tesch’s descriptive method of open coding formed the framework for the data analysis and presentation of the results. Trustworthiness was ensured in accordance with the principles of credibility, confirmability, transferability and dependability. Results: Analysis of the data indicates two central categories in the factors contributing to patients’ aggressive and violent behaviour, namely, environmental factors and the attitude and behaviour of staff. Conclusion: From the perspective of the inpatients included in this study, aggressive and violent episodes are common and require intervention. Specific strategies for preventing such behaviour are proposed and it is recommended that these strategies be incorporated into the in-service training programmes of the staff of mental health facilities. These strategies could prevent, or reduce, aggressive and violent behaviour in in-patient facilities.

  12. Environmental and nursing-staff factors contributing to aggressive and violent behaviour of patients in mental health facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Wijk, Evalina; Traut, Annalene; Julie, Hester

    2014-08-14

    Aggressive and violent behaviour of inpatients in mental health facilities disrupts the therapeutic alliance and hampers treatment. The aim of the study was to describe patients' perceptions of the possible environmental and staff factors that might contribute to their aggressive and violent behaviour after admission to a mental health facility; and to propose strategies to prevent and manage such behaviour. A qualitative, phenomenological study was utilised, in which purposefully sampled inpatients were interviewed over a six-month period. Inpatients were invited to participate if they had been admitted for at least seven days and were in touch with reality. Forty inpatients in two mental health facilities in Cape Town participated in face-to-face, semi-structured interviews over a period of six months. Tesch's descriptive method of open coding formed the framework for the data analysis and presentation of the results. Trustworthiness was ensured in accordance with the principles of credibility, confirmability, transferability and dependability. Analysis of the data indicates two central categories in the factors contributing to patients' aggressive and violent behaviour, namely, environmental factors and the attitude and behaviour of staff. From the perspective of the inpatients included in this study, aggressive and violent episodes are common and require intervention. Specific strategies for preventing such behaviour are proposed and it is recommended that these strategies be incorporated into the in-service training programmes of the staff of mental health facilities. These strategies could prevent, or reduce, aggressive and violent behaviour in in-patient facilities.

  13. A study on the factors that contribute to the practice of organizational behavior as coping with unexpected events. Exploration of the factors through the case survey of the Great East Japan Earthquake

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hayase, Kenichi

    2016-01-01

    In the organizations in the face of unexpected events in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the organizational behavior which was coped with by their members was seen. It is important to prepare emergency that the backgrounds of those organizational behavior were understood. This study aimed to explore the factors that contribute to the practice of organizational behavior as coping with unexpected events through the case survey of the Great East Japan Earthquake. This study carried out literature survey and interview survey of personnel in charge of disaster prevention, BCP in the 10 organizations which coped with the earthquake. As the result, the following two outcomes were obtained. 1) Factors that contribute to the practice of the 13 kinds of the organizational behavior were clarified. 2) Discussion from the view point of the factors classification indicated the importance of the factors which are classified into normal business and features of organization. (author)

  14. Factors contributing to delay in parasite clearance in uncomplicated falciparum malaria in children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sijuade Abayomi

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum is common in many endemic and other settings but there is no clear recommendation on when to change therapy when there is delay in parasite clearance after initiation of therapy in African children. Methods The factors contributing to delay in parasite clearance, defined as a clearance time > 2 d, in falciparum malaria were characterized in 2,752 prospectively studied children treated with anti-malarial drugs between 1996 and 2008. Results 1,237 of 2,752 children (45% had delay in parasite clearance. Overall 211 children (17% with delay in clearance subsequently failed therapy and they constituted 72% of those who had drug failure, i.e., 211 of 291 children. The following were independent risk factors for delay in parasite clearance at enrolment: age less than or equal to 2 years (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.13, 95% confidence interval [CI]1.44-3.15, P 50,000/ul (AOR = 2.21, 95% CI = 1.77-2.75, P 20000/μl a day after treatment began, were independent risk factors for delay in clearance. Non-artemisinin monotherapies were associated with delay in clearance and treatment failures, and in those treated with chloroquine or amodiaquine, with pfmdr 1/pfcrt mutants. Delay in clearance significantly increased gametocyte carriage (P Conclusion Delay in parasite clearance is multifactorial, is related to drug resistance and treatment failure in uncomplicated malaria and has implications for malaria control efforts in sub-Saharan Africa.

  15. Factors Affecting the Provision of Quality Service in Real Estate Agency in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

    OpenAIRE

    Funmilayo Moyinola Araloyin; OJO Olatoye

    2011-01-01

    Real estate firms attempting to increase and retain their customers need to know the factors contributing to customers¡¯ satisfaction and retention. This study investigate into real estate agency market with the purposes of identifying factors that affect quality in service provision and possible factors contributing to customers¡¯ satisfaction and retention in real estate agency. This study uses survey questionnaires to obtain information from real estate consumers. This sample size consiste...

  16. IDENTIFYING ELEVEN FACTORS OF SERVICE MARKETING MIX (4PS) EFFECTIVE ON TENDENCY OF PATIENTS TOWARD PRIVATE HOSPITAL.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosseini, Seyed Mojtaba; Etesaminia, Samira; Jafari, Mehrnoosh

    2016-10-01

    One of the important factors of correct management is to identify the reasons for patient tendency toward private hospitals. This study measures these factors based on service marketing mixes. This study used a cross sectional descriptive methodology. The study was conducted during 6 months in 2015. The studied population included patients of private hospitals in Tehran. Random sampling was used (n = 200). Data was collected by an author-made questionnaire for service marketing factors. Reliability and validity of the questionnaire were confirmed. Data analysis was done using factor analysis test in SPSS 20. The results showed that constant attendance of physicians and nurses has the highest effect (0.707%) on patient tendency toward private hospitals.

  17. Factors contributing to tooth loss among the elderly: A cross sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natto, Zuhair S; Aladmawy, Majdi; Alasqah, Mohammed; Papas, Athena

    2014-12-01

    The present study evaluates the influence of several demographic, health, personal, and clinical factors on the number of missing teeth in old age sample. The number of patients included was 259; they received a full mouth examination and answered a questionnaire provided by one examiner. All the variables related to teeth loss based on the literature were included. These variables focused on age, gender, race, marital status, clinical attachment level, pocket depth, year of smoking, number of cigarettes smoked per day, number of medications, root decay, coronal decay, health status, and year of education. Statistical analysis involved stepwise multivariate linear regression. Teeth loss was statistically associated with clinical attachment level (CAL)(p value 0.0001), pocket depth (PD) (0.0007) and education level (0.0048). When smoking was included in the model, age was significantly associated with teeth loss (0.0037). At least one of these four factors was also related to teeth loss in several specific groups such as diabetes mellitus, male, and White. The multiple linear regressions for all the proposed variables showed that they contributed to teeth loss by about 23%. It can be concluded that less education or increased clinical attachment level loss may increase number of missing teeth. Additionally, age may cause teeth loss in the presence of smoking. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  18. Identifying factors relevant in the assessment of return-to-work efforts in employees on long-term sickness absence due to chronic low back pain: a focus group study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muijzer Anna

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Efforts undertaken during the return to work (RTW process need to be sufficient to prevent unnecessary applications for disability benefits. The purpose of this study was to identify factors relevant to RTW Effort Sufficiency (RTW-ES in cases of sick-listed employees with chronic low back pain (CLBP. Methods Using focus groups consisting of Labor Experts (LE's working at the Dutch Social Insurance Institute, arguments and underlying grounds relevant to the assessment of RTW-ES were investigated. Factors were collected and categorized using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF model. Results Two focus groups yielded 19 factors, of which 12 are categorized in the ICF model under activities (e.g. functional capacity and in the personal (e.g. age, tenure and environmental domain (e.g. employer-employee relationship. The remaining 7 factors are categorized under intervention, job accommodation and measures. Conclusions This focus group study shows that 19 factors may be relevant to RTW-ES in sick-listed employees with CLBP. Providing these results to professionals assessing RTW-ES might contribute to a more transparent and systematic approach. Considering the importance of the quality of the RTW process, optimizing the RTW-ES assessment is essential.

  19. Relating genes to function: identifying enriched transcription factors using the ENCODE ChIP-Seq significance tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Auerbach, Raymond K; Chen, Bin; Butte, Atul J

    2013-08-01

    Biological analysis has shifted from identifying genes and transcripts to mapping these genes and transcripts to biological functions. The ENCODE Project has generated hundreds of ChIP-Seq experiments spanning multiple transcription factors and cell lines for public use, but tools for a biomedical scientist to analyze these data are either non-existent or tailored to narrow biological questions. We present the ENCODE ChIP-Seq Significance Tool, a flexible web application leveraging public ENCODE data to identify enriched transcription factors in a gene or transcript list for comparative analyses. The ENCODE ChIP-Seq Significance Tool is written in JavaScript on the client side and has been tested on Google Chrome, Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox browsers. Server-side scripts are written in PHP and leverage R and a MySQL database. The tool is available at http://encodeqt.stanford.edu. abutte@stanford.edu Supplementary material is available at Bioinformatics online.

  20. Cognitive and system factors contributing to diagnostic errors in radiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Cindy S; Nagy, Paul G; Weaver, Sallie J; Newman-Toker, David E

    2013-09-01

    In this article, we describe some of the cognitive and system-based sources of detection and interpretation errors in diagnostic radiology and discuss potential approaches to help reduce misdiagnoses. Every radiologist worries about missing a diagnosis or giving a false-positive reading. The retrospective error rate among radiologic examinations is approximately 30%, with real-time errors in daily radiology practice averaging 3-5%. Nearly 75% of all medical malpractice claims against radiologists are related to diagnostic errors. As medical reimbursement trends downward, radiologists attempt to compensate by undertaking additional responsibilities to increase productivity. The increased workload, rising quality expectations, cognitive biases, and poor system factors all contribute to diagnostic errors in radiology. Diagnostic errors are underrecognized and underappreciated in radiology practice. This is due to the inability to obtain reliable national estimates of the impact, the difficulty in evaluating effectiveness of potential interventions, and the poor response to systemwide solutions. Most of our clinical work is executed through type 1 processes to minimize cost, anxiety, and delay; however, type 1 processes are also vulnerable to errors. Instead of trying to completely eliminate cognitive shortcuts that serve us well most of the time, becoming aware of common biases and using metacognitive strategies to mitigate the effects have the potential to create sustainable improvement in diagnostic errors.

  1. Risk factors for obesity in Chinese adults. Highlights and achievements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma Guasheng

    2002-01-01

    Obesity is now one of the public health concerns in China. Many factors are contributing to obesity. However, the underlying mechanism is not clear. As it is hard to cure it once obesity occurs, the most effective and encouraging strategies is prevention. Risk factors should be identified in order to develop prevention strategies

  2. 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.

  3. IDENTIFYING ELEVEN FACTORS OF SERVICE MARKETING MIX (4PS) EFFECTIVE ON TENDENCY OF PATIENTS TOWARD PRIVATE HOSPITAL

    OpenAIRE

    Hosseini, Seyed Mojtaba; Etesaminia, Samira; Jafari, Mehrnoosh

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: One of the important factors of correct management is to identify the reasons for patient tendency toward private hospitals. This study measures these factors based on service marketing mixes. Patients and methods: This study used a cross sectional descriptive methodology. The study was conducted during 6 months in 2015. The studied population included patients of private hospitals in Tehran. Random sampling was used (n = 200). Data was collected by an author-made questionnaire ...

  4. A combined structural dynamics approach identifies a putative switch in factor VIIa employed by tissue factor to initiate blood coagulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Ole H; Rand, Kasper D; Østergaard, Henrik

    2007-01-01

    Coagulation factor VIIa (FVIIa) requires tissue factor (TF) to attain full catalytic competency and to initiate blood coagulation. In this study, the mechanism by which TF allosterically activates FVIIa is investigated by a structural dynamics approach that combines molecular dynamics (MD......) simulations and hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HX) mass spectrometry on free and TF-bound FVIIa. The differences in conformational dynamics from MD simulations are shown to be confined to regions of FVIIa observed to undergo structural stabilization as judged by HX experiments, especially implicating activation...... in the presence of TF or an active-site inhibitor. Based on MD simulations, a key switch of the TF-induced structural changes is identified as the interacting pair Leu305{163} and Phe374{225} in FVIIa, whose mutual conformations are guided by the presence of TF and observed to be closely linked to the structural...

  5. Application of Geomorphologic Factors for Identifying Soil Loss in Vulnerable Regions of the Cameron Highlands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kahhoong Kok

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The main purpose of this study is to propose a methodology for identifying vulnerable regions in the Cameron Highlands that are susceptible to soil loss, based on runoff aggregation structure and the energy expenditure pattern of the natural river basin, within the framework of power law distribution. To this end, three geomorphologic factors, namely shear stress and stream power, as well as the drainage area of every point in the basin of interest, have been extracted using GIS, and then their complementary cumulative distributions are graphically analyzed by fitting them to power law distribution, with the purpose of identifying the sensitive points within the basin that are susceptible to soil loss with respect to scaling regimes of shear stress and stream power. It is observed that the range of vulnerable regions by the scaling regime of shear stress is much narrower than by the scaling regime of stream power. This result seems to suggest that shear stress is a scale-dependent factor, which does not follow power law distribution and does not adequately reflect the energy expenditure pattern of a river basin. Therefore, stream power is preferred as a more reasonable factor for the evaluation of soil loss. The methodology proposed in this study can be validated by visualizing the path of soil loss, which is generated from the hillslope process (characterized by the local slope to the valley through a fluvial process (characterized by the drainage area as well as the local slope.

  6. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-2: contributions of the C-terminal domain to insulin-like growth factor-1 binding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kibbey, Megan M; Jameson, Mark J; Eaton, Erin M; Rosenzweig, Steven A

    2006-03-01

    Signaling by the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 receptor (IGF-1R) has been implicated in the promotion and aggressiveness of breast, prostate, colorectal, and lung cancers. The IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) represent a class of natural IGF antagonists that bind to and sequester IGF-1/2 from the IGF-1R, making them attractive candidates as therapeutics for cancer prevention and control. Recombinant human IGFBP-2 significantly attenuated IGF-1-stimulated MCF-7 cell proliferation with coaddition of 20 or 100 nM IGFBP-2 (50 or 80% inhibition, respectively). We previously identified IGF-1 contact sites both upstream and downstream of the CWCV motif (residues 247-250) in human IGFBP-2 (J Biol Chem 276:2880-2889, 2001). To further test their contributions to IGFBP-2 function, the single tryptophan in human IGFBP-2, Trp-248, was selectively cleaved with 2-(2'nitrophenylsulfenyl)-3-methyl-3 bromoindolenine (BNPS-skatole) and the BNPS-skatole products IGFBP-2(1-248) and IGFBP-2(249-289) as well as IGFBP-2(1-190) were expressed as glutathione S-transferase-fusion proteins and purified. Based on competition binding analysis, deletion of residues 249 to 289 caused an approximately 20-fold decrease in IGF-1 binding affinity (IGFBP-2 EC50 = 0.35 nM and IGFBP-2(1-248) = 7 nM). Removal of the remainder of the C-terminal domain had no further effect on affinity (IGFBP-2(1-190) EC50 = 9.2 nM). In kinetic assays, IGFBP-2(1-248) and IGFBP-2(1-190) exhibited more rapid association and dissociation rates than full-length IGFBP-2. These results confirm that regions upstream and downstream of the CWCV motif participate in IGF-1 binding. They further support the development of full-length IGFBP-2 as a cancer therapeutic.

  7. Prevalence of HIV in pregnant women identified with a risk factor at a tertiary care hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmud, Ghazala; Abbas, Shazra

    2009-01-01

    HIV is an epidemic quite unlike any other, combining the problems of a lifelong medical disease with immense social, psychological, economic and public health consequences. Since we are living in a global village where human interactions has become fast and frequent, diseases like HIV are no more alien to us. HIV/AIDS in Pakistan is slowly gaining recognition as a public health issue of great importance. Objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of HIV in pregnant women identified with a high risk factor/behaviour at a tertiary care hospital. It is a Descriptive study. All pregnant women attending antenatal booking clinic were assessed via a pre-designed 'Risk assessment questionnaire'. Women identified with a risk factor were offered HIV Rapid screening test (Capillus HIV1/2). Positive (reactive) results on screening test were confirmed with ELISA. During the study period (March 2007-May 2008), out of 5263 antenatal bookings 785 (14%) women were identified with a risk factor. HIV screening test was done in 779 (99%), and 6 women refused testing. Three women (0.3%) were found positive (reactive) on screening. Two out of 3 women were confirmed positive (0.2%) on ELISA. Husbands of both women were tested and one found positive (migrant from Dubai). Second women had history of blood transfusion. Her husband was HIV negative. During the study period, in addition to 2 pregnant women diagnosed as HIV positive through ANC risk screening, 6 confirmed HIV positive women, found pregnant were referred from 'HIV Treatment Centre', Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) to Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) centre for obstetric care. Spouses of 5 out of 6 had history of working abroad and extramarital sexual relationships. All positive (8) women were referred to PPTCT centre for further management. A simple 'Risk Assessment Questionnaire' can help us in identifying women who need HIV screening. Sexual transmission still remains the

  8. Evolutionary genomics and HIV restriction factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pyndiah, Nitisha; Telenti, Amalio; Rausell, Antonio

    2015-03-01

    To provide updated insights into innate antiviral immunity and highlight prototypical evolutionary features of well characterized HIV restriction factors. Recently, a new HIV restriction factor, Myxovirus resistance 2, has been discovered and the region/residue responsible for its activity identified using an evolutionary approach. Furthermore, IFI16, an innate immunity protein known to sense several viruses, has been shown to contribute to the defense to HIV-1 by causing cell death upon sensing HIV-1 DNA. Restriction factors against HIV show characteristic signatures of positive selection. Different patterns of accelerated sequence evolution can distinguish antiviral strategies--offense or defence--as well as the level of specificity of the antiviral properties. Sequence analysis of primate orthologs of restriction factors serves to localize functional domains and sites responsible for antiviral action. We use recent discoveries to illustrate how evolutionary genomic analyses help identify new antiviral genes and their mechanisms of action.

  9. Frequency and contributing factors for acute pancreatitis after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in patients with obstructive jaundice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zubair, M.; Zaidi, A.R.; Hyder, A.

    2017-01-01

    To evaluate the frequency and contributing factors for acute pancreatitis after endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography in patients with obstructive jaundice. Study Design: Descriptive case series. Place and Duration of Study: A descriptive case series conducted at department of Gastroenterology, Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore in the period of six months. Material and Methods: Two hundred and thirty patients diagnosed as having obstructive jaundice and undergoing ERCP who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the study from the outpatient and indoor department of Gastroenterology-Hepatology Shaikh Zayed Hospital Lahore. Informed consent was taken. After the selection of the cases, patients were evaluated for the presence or absence of contributing factors like age, gender, cannulation attempts, cannulation time, percutaneous papillotomy, pancreatic duct contrast injection and previous history of post ERCP pancreatitis. Data was analysed by using the statistical software for social sciences (SPSS) version 15. Results: In our study, mean age was 44 +- 14.12 years. Out of 230 patients 42.17% (n=97) were male and 57.83% (n=133) were females. Frequency of acute pancreatitis after ERCP in patients with obstructive jaundice was 4.78% (n=11) while 95.22% (n=219) had no findings of acute pancreatitis after ERCP. Frequency of factors for acute pancreatitis after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in patients with obstructive jaundice was recorded which shows that out of 11 cases, 45.45% (n=5) were females, 36.36% (n=4) had previous history of Post ERCP Pancreatitis, 27.27% (n=3) had >5 attempts of cannulation, 36.36% (n=4) had >5 minute time for cannulation, 54.55% (n=6) had pre-cut papillotomy while 63.64% (n=7) had pancreatic duct contrast injection. Conclusion: We concluded that frequency of acute pancreatitis after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in patients with obstructive jaundice was found not very high in our practice

  10. Genome-wide strategies identify downstream target genes of chick connective tissue-associated transcription factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orgeur, Mickael; Martens, Marvin; Leonte, Georgeta; Nassari, Sonya; Bonnin, Marie-Ange; Börno, Stefan T; Timmermann, Bernd; Hecht, Jochen; Duprez, Delphine; Stricker, Sigmar

    2018-03-29

    Connective tissues support organs and play crucial roles in development, homeostasis and fibrosis, yet our understanding of their formation is still limited. To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms of connective tissue specification, we selected five zinc-finger transcription factors - OSR1, OSR2, EGR1, KLF2 and KLF4 - based on their expression patterns and/or known involvement in connective tissue subtype differentiation. RNA-seq and ChIP-seq profiling of chick limb micromass cultures revealed a set of common genes regulated by all five transcription factors, which we describe as a connective tissue core expression set. This common core was enriched with genes associated with axon guidance and myofibroblast signature, including fibrosis-related genes. In addition, each transcription factor regulated a specific set of signalling molecules and extracellular matrix components. This suggests a concept whereby local molecular niches can be created by the expression of specific transcription factors impinging on the specification of local microenvironments. The regulatory network established here identifies common and distinct molecular signatures of limb connective tissue subtypes, provides novel insight into the signalling pathways governing connective tissue specification, and serves as a resource for connective tissue development. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  11. Factors that influence nurses' job satisfaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Chen-Chung; Samuels, Michael E; Alexander, Judith W

    2003-05-01

    To examine factors affecting the job satisfaction of registered nurses (RNs). A growing recognition of job dissatisfaction among RNs in South Carolina hospitals has contributed to current problems with recruitment and retention. If administrators identify factors influencing RNs' job satisfaction in hospitals and implement strategies to address these factors, RN turnover rates will decrease and recruiting and retention rates will increase. A cross-sectional study of secondary data was designed to identify the individual, work, and geographic factors that impact nursing job satisfaction at the state level. A 27-question self-administered survey was sent to 17,500 RNs in South Carolina with postage-paid envelopes for their responses. Surveys from 3472 nurses were completed anonymously. Univariate statistics were used to describe the study sample. One-way and multivariable Analysis of Variance were used to determine which variables contributed the most to job satisfaction. For about two thirds of the RNs, job satisfaction remained the same or had lessened over the past 2 years. In addition, statistically significant differences were found between job satisfaction and years of service, job position, hospital retirement plan, and geographic area. The findings have implications for nurse managers and hospital administrators for planning and implementing effective health policies that will meet the unique needs of their staffs and organizations. Such research is particularly relevant in this difficult time of nursing shortages throughout the healthcare industry.

  12. No Major Host Genetic Risk Factor Contributed to A(H1N1)2009 Influenza Severity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia-Etxebarria, Koldo; Bracho, María Alma; Galán, Juan Carlos; Pumarola, Tomàs; Castilla, Jesús; Ortiz de Lejarazu, Raúl; Rodríguez-Dominguez, Mario; Quintela, Inés; Bonet, Núria; Garcia-Garcerà, Marc; Domínguez, Angela; González-Candelas, Fernando; Calafell, Francesc

    2015-01-01

    While most patients affected by the influenza A(H1N1) pandemic experienced mild symptoms, a small fraction required hospitalization, often without concomitant factors that could explain such a severe course. We hypothesize that host genetic factors could contribute to aggravate the disease. To test this hypothesis, we compared the allele frequencies of 547,296 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between 49 severe and 107 mild confirmed influenza A cases, as well as against a general population sample of 549 individuals. When comparing severe vs. mild influenza A cases, only one SNP was close to the conventional p = 5×10-8. This SNP, rs28454025, sits in an intron of the GSK233 gene, which is involved in a neural development, but seems not to have any connections with immunological or inflammatory functions. Indirectly, a previous association reported with CD55 was replicated. Although sample sizes are low, we show that the statistical power in our design was sufficient to detect highly-penetrant, quasi-Mendelian genetic factors. Hence, and assuming that rs28454025 is likely to be a false positive, no major genetic factor was detected that could explain poor influenza A course.

  13. Propagule pressure and climate contribute to the displacement of Linepithema humile by Pachycondyla chinensis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eleanor Spicer Rice

    Full Text Available Identifying mechanisms governing the establishment and spread of invasive species is a fundamental challenge in invasion biology. Because species invasions are frequently observed only after the species presents an environmental threat, research identifying the contributing agents to dispersal and subsequent spread are confined to retrograde observations. Here, we use a combination of seasonal surveys and experimental approaches to test the relative importance of behavioral and abiotic factors in determining the local co-occurrence of two invasive ant species, the established Argentine ant (Linepithema humile Mayr and the newly invasive Asian needle ant (Pachycondyla chinensis Emery. We show that the broader climatic envelope of P. chinensis enables it to establish earlier in the year than L. humile. We also demonstrate that increased P. chinensis propagule pressure during periods of L. humile scarcity contributes to successful P. chinensis early season establishment. Furthermore, we show that, although L. humile is the numerically superior and behaviorally dominant species at baits, P. chinensis is currently displacing L. humile across the invaded landscape. By identifying the features promoting the displacement of one invasive ant by another we can better understand both early determinants in the invasion process and factors limiting colony expansion and survival.

  14. Identifying Risk Factors for Drug Use in an Iranian Treatment Sample: A Prediction Approach Using Decision Trees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amirabadizadeh, Alireza; Nezami, Hossein; Vaughn, Michael G; Nakhaee, Samaneh; Mehrpour, Omid

    2018-05-12

    Substance abuse exacts considerable social and health care burdens throughout the world. The aim of this study was to create a prediction model to better identify risk factors for drug use. A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in South Khorasan Province, Iran. Of the total of 678 eligible subjects, 70% (n: 474) were randomly selected to provide a training set for constructing decision tree and multiple logistic regression (MLR) models. The remaining 30% (n: 204) were employed in a holdout sample to test the performance of the decision tree and MLR models. Predictive performance of different models was analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve using the testing set. Independent variables were selected from demographic characteristics and history of drug use. For the decision tree model, the sensitivity and specificity for identifying people at risk for drug abuse were 66% and 75%, respectively, while the MLR model was somewhat less effective at 60% and 73%. Key independent variables in the analyses included first substance experience, age at first drug use, age, place of residence, history of cigarette use, and occupational and marital status. While study findings are exploratory and lack generalizability they do suggest that the decision tree model holds promise as an effective classification approach for identifying risk factors for drug use. Convergent with prior research in Western contexts is that age of drug use initiation was a critical factor predicting a substance use disorder.

  15. The contributions of risk factor trends and medical care to cardiovascular mortality trends

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ezzati, Majid; Obermeyer, Ziad; Tzoulaki, Ioanna; Mayosi, Bongani M; Elliott, Paul; Leon, David A

    2016-01-01

    Ischaemic heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are responsible for an estimated 17.5 million annual deaths in the world. If account is taken of population aging, death rates from CVDs are estimated to be steadily decreasing in the world as a whole, and in regions with reliable trend data. The declines in high-income countries and some countries in Latin America have been ongoing for decades with no indication of slowing. In high-income countries, these positive trends have broadly coincided with, and benefited from, declines in smoking and physiological risk factors like blood pressure and serum cholesterol. Improvements in medical care, including effective primary prevention through management of physiological risk factors, better diagnosis and treatment of acute CVDs, and post-hospital care of those with prior CVDs, are also likely to have contributed to declining CVD event and death rates, especially in the past 40 years. However, the measured risk factor and treatment variables neither explain why the decline began when it did, nor much of the similarities and differences in the start time and rate of the decline across countries or between men and women. There have been sharp changes and fluctuations in CVDs in the former communist countries of Europe and the Soviet Union since the fall of communism in the early 1990s, with changes in volume and patterns of alcohol drinking, as a major cause of the rise in Russia and some other former Soviet countries. The challenge of reaching more definitive conclusions concerning the drivers of what constitutes one of the most remarkable international trends in adult mortality in the past half-century in part reflects the paucity of time trend data not only on disease incidence, risk factors, and clinical care, but also on other potential drivers, including infection and associated inflammatory processes throughout the lifecourse. PMID:26076950

  16. Interpersonal factors contributing to the stigma of schizophrenia: social skills, perceived attractiveness, and symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Penn, D L; Kohlmaier, J R; Corrigan, P W

    2000-09-29

    This study investigated the interpersonal factors (i.e., social skills, symptoms, perceived physical attractiveness) which are related to the stigma of schizophrenia. Social skills performance was assessed for 39 individuals with schizophrenia who participated in two role-plays with a confederate. Social skills ratings comprised 'overall social skill', 'meshing', 'clarity', and 'fluency' of speech, 'gaze', 'pleasantness' of conversation, 'involvement' in conversation, 'number of questions asked' during conversation, and 'perceived strangeness'. Symptomatology was assessed with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Ratings of perceived physical attractiveness were obtained by pausing the videotaped role-plays after the first 2s of the interaction. Ratings of 'social distance', based on an independent sample who observed the role-plays, were used as a proxy measure of stigma. The results showed that social distance was best statistically predicted by perceived strangeness, which in turn, was best statistically predicted by ratings of overall social skill. Negative symptoms appeared to have a more robust association with desired social distance than positive symptoms. Interpersonal factors, such as overall social skill, negative symptoms, and perceived strangeness, may contribute to stigma.

  17. Factors contributing to utilization of health care services in Malaysia: a population-based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishnaswamy, Saroja; Subramaniam, Kavitha; Low, Wah Yun; Aziz, Jemain Abdul; Indran, Tishya; Ramachandran, Padma; Hamid, Abdul Rahman Abdul; Patel, Vikram

    2009-10-01

    This paper examines the factors contributing to the under utilisation of health care services in the Malaysian population. Using data derived from Malaysian Mental Health Survey (MMHS) information on utilisation of four basic health services in the previous three months, namely contact with health care professionals, ward admissions, having diagnostic or laboratory tests done and being on any medications were obtained. A total of 2202 out of 3666 or 60% of the MMHS participants were included in this study. Thirty percent of the subjects (n = 664) had contacts with health care professionals. Those with health complications, disabilities and those aged 50 years and above utilised health services more significantly as compared to those who lacked health facilities near their homes, had little family support during illnesses and were from the Chinese ethnic group. Factors leading to the under utilisation of health care services need to be further studied and needs in certain groups in the population should be addressed. Healthcare providers must be prepared to fulfil these needs.

  18. Factors that contribute to the body image concern of female college students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Wanderson Roberto; Dias, Juliana Chioda Ribeiro; Maroco, João; Campos, Juliana Alvares Duarte Bonini

    2015-01-01

    To estimate the contribution of sociodemographic and labor variables and body mass index to body image concern. In order to estimate body image concern, the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and the Weight Concerns Scale (WCS) were applied. A confirmatory factor analysis of scales was carried out. The reason χ2 by degree of freedom ratio (χ2/df ), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Normed Fit Index (NFI), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) were used. Convergent validity was assessed through the average variance extracted and composed reliability and the internal consistency through standardized Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α). A structural model was developed, and the body image concern was the second-order main construct. The model appropriation was evaluated based on the goodness-of-fit indices. The z test was used to estimate the significance of trajectories (β) using a 5% significance level. Totally, 595 female college students participated in the study, with a mean age of 20.42 ± 2.44 years. The entire model, with the inclusion of all independent variables, showed unsatisfactory adjustment and was refined. The final model presented a satisfactory adjustment (χ2/df = 5.75; CFI = 0.87; NFI = 0.85; RMSEA = 0.09) with inclusion of medication use because of studies (β = 0.08; p = 0.04), academic performance (β = 0.09; p = 0.02), economic class (β = 0.08; p = 0.03), and body mass index (β = 0.44; p concern. Medication use due to studies, academic performance, economic class and body mass index significantly contribute to body image concern.

  19. Are Your Students Ready for Anatomy and Physiology? Developing Tools to Identify Students at Risk for Failure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gultice, Amy; Witham, Ann; Kallmeyer, Robert

    2015-01-01

    High failure rates in introductory college science courses, including anatomy and physiology, are common at institutions across the country, and determining the specific factors that contribute to this problem is challenging. To identify students at risk for failure in introductory physiology courses at our open-enrollment institution, an online…

  20. Putative Risk Factors in Developmental Dyslexia: A Case-Control Study of Italian Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mascheretti, Sara; Marino, Cecilia; Simone, Daniela; Quadrelli, Ermanno; Riva, Valentina; Cellino, Maria Rosaria; Maziade, Michel; Brombin, Chiara; Battaglia, Marco

    2015-01-01

    Although dyslexia runs in families, several putative risk factors that cannot be immediately identified as genetic predict reading disability. Published studies analyzed one or a few risk factors at a time, with relatively inconsistent results. To assess the contribution of several putative risk factors to the development of dyslexia, we conducted…

  1. Contribution of price/expenditure factors of residential energy consumption in China from 1993 to 2011: A decomposition analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Zengming; Zhao, Tao

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Analysis about energy prices and the residential expenditure on energy in China. • Though the prices of energy declined, the price effect was negative. • The effect of price was the strongest restraining contribution. • Discussion on the proportion of energy expenditure in residential incomes. - Abstract: Since the establishment of the market economy in 1993, the residential consumption of commodities, including energy, has been highly influenced by prices in China. However, the contribution of the factors related to prices in residential energy consumption is relatively unexplored. This paper extends the KAYA identity with price and expenditure factors and then applies the LMDI method to a decomposition of residential energy consumption in China from 1993 to 2011. Our results show the following: (1) Though the prices of a majority of residential energy sources in China declined, the effect of energy prices restrained residential energy consumption because the expenditure structure changed during the period. (2) During the research period, the urban energy expenditure proportion experienced two progresses of rising and falling, and the rural proportion, which was stable before 2002, sharply increased. (3) The energy consumption intensity effect, which is the negative of the average energy price effect, contributed to most of the decrease in energy consumption, whereas residential income played a key role in the growth of consumption. According to the conclusions, we suggest further marketization and deregulation of energy prices, the promotion of advanced energy types and guidance for better energy consumption patterns

  2. IDENTIFYING ELEVEN FACTORS OF SERVICE MARKETING MIX (4PS) EFFECTIVE ON TENDENCY OF PATIENTS TOWARD PRIVATE HOSPITAL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosseini, Seyed Mojtaba; Etesaminia, Samira; Jafari, Mehrnoosh

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: One of the important factors of correct management is to identify the reasons for patient tendency toward private hospitals. This study measures these factors based on service marketing mixes. Patients and methods: This study used a cross sectional descriptive methodology. The study was conducted during 6 months in 2015. The studied population included patients of private hospitals in Tehran. Random sampling was used (n = 200). Data was collected by an author-made questionnaire for service marketing factors. Reliability and validity of the questionnaire were confirmed. Data analysis was done using factor analysis test in SPSS 20. Results: The results showed that constant attendance of physicians and nurses has the highest effect (0.707%) on patient tendency toward private hospitals. PMID:27999486

  3. Sustainable Innovation - Driving Factors in Large Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Alderin, Clara; Do, Thao

    2016-01-01

    During recent years, there has been a growing interest in sustainable innovation both in academia and in practice. Our qualitative, multiple case study examines this emerging field in the context of large firms. By doing so, this thesis contributes to the understanding of the concept as well as the underlying factors driving sustainable innovation. Theory highlighted both external and internal factors in firms’ sustainable innovation engagement. The empirical evidence identifies five key fact...

  4. A comparison of contributing factors between alcohol related single vehicle motorcycle and car crashes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maistros, Alexander; Schneider, William H; Savolainen, Peter T

    2014-06-01

    Alcohol related crashes have accounted for approximately 35% of fatal crashes per year since 1994 nationwide, with approximately 30% involving impairment over the legal blood alcohol content limit of 0.08%. Educational campaigns and law enforcement efforts are two components of multi-faceted programs aimed toward reducing impaired driving. It is crucial that further research be conducted to guide the implementation of enforcement and educational programs. This research attempts to provide such guidance by examining differences in alcohol-involved crashes involving motorcycles and passenger cars. Prior safety research has shown that motorcyclists follow a significantly different culture than the average passenger car operator. These cultural differences may be reflected by differences in the contributing factors affecting crashes and the severity of the resulting injuries sustained by the driver or motorcyclist. This research is focused on single-vehicle crashes only, in order to isolate modal effects from the contribution of additional vehicles. The crash data provided for this study are from the Ohio Department of Public Safety from 2009 through 2012. The injury severity data are analysed through the development of two mixed logit models, one for motorcyclists and one for passenger car drivers. The models quantify the effects of various factors, including horizontal curves, speeds, seatbelt use, and helmet use, which indicate that the required motor skills and balance needed for proper motorcycle operation compounded with a lack of mechanical protection make motorcyclists more prone to severe injuries, particularly on curves and in collisions with roadside objects. The findings of this study have been incorporated into combined motorcycle and sober driving educational safety campaigns. The results have shown to be favorable in supporting national campaign messages with local justification and backing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Environmental risk factors contributing to traffic accidents in children: a case-control study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jamshidi, Ensiyeh; Moradi, Ali; Majdzadeh, Reza

    2017-09-01

    The aim of this study is to identify environmental risk factors related to road accidents in children of Tehran. This case-control study was performed in 2013. The cases were injured pedestrians aged 5-15 who were admitted to major hospitals supervised by Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The sample size for the cases was 273 and for the control group was 546. For the completeness of the clusters, 7 extra persons in case (total = 280) and 14 persons (total = 560) in control group were included. The interference of confounding variables assessed through forward conditional logistic regression. Result shows occurrence of traffic accidents was significantly associate with the width of the alleys or (traffic congestion (OR = 4.1, 95% CI: 2.6-6.4), traffic speed (OR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.3-3.2) and existence of pedestrian bridges(OR = 4.2, 95% CI: 2.6-6.8). In the light of the important role of environmental factors in the occurrence of child traffic accidents, alleviating structural risk factors in addition to education and enforcement need more systematic efforts and planning by policymakers and urban planners to attain pedestrian safety goals.

  6. Qualitative analysis of factors leading to clinical incidents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Matthew D; Birch, Julian D; Renshaw, Mark; Ottewill, Melanie

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the common themes leading or contributing to clinical incidents in a UK teaching hospital. A root-cause analysis was conducted on patient safety incidents. Commonly occurring root causes and contributing factors were collected and correlated with incident timing and severity. In total, 65 root-cause analyses were reviewed, highlighting 202 factors implicated in the clinical incidents and 69 categories were identified. The 14 most commonly occurring causes (encountered in four incidents or more) were examined as a key-root or contributory cause. Incident timing was also analysed; common factors were encountered more frequently during out-hours--occurring as contributory rather than a key-root cause. In total, 14 commonly occurring factors were identified to direct interventions that could prevent many clinical incidents. From these, an "Organisational Safety Checklist" was developed to involve departmental level clinicians to monitor practice. This study demonstrates that comprehensively investigating incidents highlights common factors that can be addressed at a local level. Resilience against clinical incidents is low during out-of-hours periods, where factors such as lower staffing levels and poor service provision allows problems to escalate and become clinical incidents, which adds to the literature regarding out-of-hours care provision and should prove useful to those organising hospital services at departmental and management levels.

  7. What factors facilitate regulatory competence in supervising the safety of nuclear technology?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mishar, Marina

    2012-01-01

    The proposed utilization of nuclear energy for electricity generation as the alternative energy source requires Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), the Malaysian nuclear regulatory body taking key role in supervising the safety of the program. This study looked into factors influencing the competency of current AELB human resource as technical competency has been identified as one of the main contributors to the success of a civil nuclear power program. The four quadrant competency model developed by International Atomic Energy Agency was utilized as the required competency. A comprehensive study on 81 personnel from five states in different geographic regions of the country were carried out to investigate the impact of six factors related to competency (educational level, years of working experience, trainings attended, participation in technical committees, numbers of technical papers written and number of technical presentation presented) on four dependent measures in the areas of regulatory competency (legal basis, technical disciplines, regulatory practices and personal and interpersonal effectiveness). Multiple regression (method enter) identified factors that had significant contribution to level of competency while stepwise regression resulted in identifying predictors to enhance competencies. Results were mixed but each of the independent factors is a predictor to different competencies. This study had identified the best predictors that could significantly contribute to the enhancement of regulatory. (author)

  8. Refining Trait Resilience: Identifying Engineering, Ecological, and Adaptive Facets from Extant Measures of Resilience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maltby, John; Day, Liz; Hall, Sophie

    2015-01-01

    The current paper presents a new measure of trait resilience derived from three common mechanisms identified in ecological theory: Engineering, Ecological and Adaptive (EEA) resilience. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of five existing resilience scales suggest that the three trait resilience facets emerge, and can be reduced to a 12-item scale. The conceptualization and value of EEA resilience within the wider trait and well-being psychology is illustrated in terms of differing relationships with adaptive expressions of the traits of the five-factor personality model and the contribution to well-being after controlling for personality and coping, or over time. The current findings suggest that EEA resilience is a useful and parsimonious model and measure of trait resilience that can readily be placed within wider trait psychology and that is found to contribute to individual well-being. PMID:26132197

  9. Factors contributing to the development of overt encephalopathy in liver cirrhosis patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwasa, Motoh; Sugimoto, Ryosuke; Mifuji-Moroka, Rumi; Hara, Nagisa; Yoshikawa, Kyoko; Tanaka, Hideaki; Eguchi, Akiko; Yamamoto, Norihiko; Sugimoto, Kazushi; Kobayashi, Yoshinao; Hasegawa, Hiroshi; Takei, Yoshiyuki

    2016-10-01

    The aim of this study was to clarify the relationships among psychometric testing results, blood ammonia (NH3) levels, electrolyte abnormalities, and degree of inflammation, and their associations with the development of overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in liver cirrhosis (LC) patients. The relationships between covert HE and blood NH3, sodium (Na), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were examined in 40 LC patients. The effects of elevated NH3, hyponatremia, and elevated CRP on the development of overt HE were also investigated. The covert HE group had significantly lower serum Na levels and significantly higher serum CRP levels. During the median observation period of 11 months, 10 patients developed overt HE, and the results of multivariate analysis showed that covert HE and elevated blood NH3 were factors contributing to the development of overt HE. Electrolyte abnormalities and mild inflammation are involved in the pathogenesis of HE. Abnormal psychometric testing results and hyperammonemia are linked to subsequent development of overt HE.

  10. Factor analysis in the Genetics of Asthma International Network family study identifies five major quantitative asthma phenotypes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pillai, S. G.; Tang, Y.; van den Oord, E.; Klotsman, M.; Barnes, K.; Carlsen, K.; Gerritsen, J.; Lenney, W.; Silverman, M.; Sly, P.; Sundy, J.; Tsanakas, J.; von Berg, A.; Whyte, M.; Ortega, H. G.; Anderson, W. H.; Helms, P. J.

    Background Asthma is a clinically heterogeneous disease caused by a complex interaction between genetic susceptibility and diverse environmental factors. In common with other complex diseases the lack of a standardized scheme to evaluate the phenotypic variability poses challenges in identifying the

  11. 20 CFR 404.1535 - How we will determine whether your drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false How we will determine whether your drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability. 404.1535 Section 404.1535 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY INSURANCE (1950- ) Determining Disability...

  12. Factors contributing to disability in rheumatoid arthritis patients: An Egyptian multicenter study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammad, Marwa; Eissa, Mervat; Dawa, Ghada A

    2018-04-30

    Minimizing disability and enhancing physical function to its optimal levels is still a challenge in management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim is to identify factors leading to disability in RA. This is a cross-sectional Egyptian multicenter study carried out on 215 RA patients attending to our inpatient and outpatient rheumatology clinics during 4 months starting from April to July 2017 who agreed to participate in the study; 170 patients were from Cairo University hospitals and 45 from Zagazig University hospitals. We recorded a number of possible risk factors including demographic, clinical, serological and therapeutic factors. The assessment of patients' disability was done using Modified HAQ (MHAQ). A significant positive correlation was found between MHAQ and different markers of activity in addition to age and depression score (P<0.001). Illiteracy accounted for higher MHAQ scores (P=0.001). A higher MHAQ was found in patients with ischemic heart disease (P<0.05). Patients with erosions on X-rays had significantly higher MHAQ scores. Subluxations also accounted for higher MHAQ scores (P=0.000). Aging, illiteracy, disease activity, erosions, subluxations, depression and ischemic heart disease were all related to higher disability. Good control of disease activity which in turn reduces erosions and subluxations is mandatory. Screening for depression and proper use of anti-depressants is of great value. Proper screening and prophylaxis is recommended against ischemic heart disease by controlling modifiable risk factors like obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, smoking and sedentary lifestyle. Copyright © 2018 Sociedad Española de Reumatología y Colegio Mexicano de Reumatología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  13. The emergence of a temporally extended self and factors that contribute to its development: from theoretical and empirical perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-01

    The main aims of the current research were to determine when children develop a temporally extended self (TES) and what factors contribute to its development. However, in order to address these aims it was important to, first, assess whether the test of delayed self-recognition (DSR) is a valid measure for the development of the TES, and, second, to propose and evaluate a theoretical model that describes what factors influence the development of the TES. The validity of the DSR test was verified by comparing the performance of 57 children on the DSR test to their performance on a meta-representational task (modified false belief task) and to a task that was essentially the same as the DSR test but was specifically designed to rely on the capacity to entertain secondary representations (i.e., surprise body task). Longitudinal testing of the children showed that at the mental age (MA) of 2.5 years they failed the DSR test, despite training them to understand the intended functions of the medium used in the DSR test; whereas, with training, children at the MA of 3.0 and 3.5 years exhibited DSR. Children at the MA of 4 years exhibited DSR without any training. Finally, results suggest that children's meta-representational ability was the only factor that contributed to the prediction of successful performance on the DSR test, and thus to the emergence of the TES. Furthermore, prospective longitudinal data revealed that caregiver conversational style was the only factor that contributed to the prediction of level of training required to pass the DSR test. That is, children of low-elaborative caregivers required significantly more training to pass the DSR test than children of high-elaborative caregivers, indicating that children who received more elaborative conversational input from their caregivers had a more advanced understanding of their TES. © 2013 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  14. [Factors Associated with Suicide in Adolescents and Young People Self-Identified as Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual: Current State of the Literature].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pineda Roa, Carlos Alejandro

    2013-12-01

    A framework within sexual and reproductive health is presented to understand the mental health issues of the population of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adolescents and young people. Different ways of understanding the nature of internalized homophobia were developed. On the other hand, in suicidology studies it is understood that the risk of suicide consists of the steps of ideation, planning and attempted suicide, and that there is an increased risk of suicide in the LGB population. Numerous factors have been associated with suicide risk in this population, one of the main internalized homophobia and other mental health problems. By means of a literature review, to establish the possible relationship between internalized homophobia and ideation and attempted suicide in the LGB population, as well as to identify the mental health problems associated to suicide risk in sexually diverse communities. Articles in English and Spanish, mainly within the last five years, were reviewed. They included articles in peer reviewed journals, and databases, such as Google Scholar, Redalyc, Byreme, Ovid, Science Direct, Taylor and Francis, MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Ebsco. It was found in the available literature that internalized homophobia is associated with suicide ideation and attempts in adults. A state of science of the major mental health problems associated with suicide risk in young LGB people reported contradictory findings. While some studies showed an association between depression, anxiety and distress and suicidal ideation and attempts, in others, the data do not allow such a conclusion. The theoretical framework presents the most important conceptualizations of suicide risk and emphasizes the social type. It identifies issues of suicide prevention, protective factors that contribute towards this, as well as elements of psychotherapy for LGB consultants. It concludes and discusses the importance of studying the sexually diverse as regards determining factors

  15. The Incidence and the Contributing factors of premenstrual syndrome in health working women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bülent Demir

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available AIM: To report the incidence of premenstrual syndrome in working women and the association of premenstrual syndrome with social and demographical factors, menstrual cycle, and nutritional status. The second aim of this study is to investigate the influence\tof premenstrual syndrome on working performance. Finally, to contribute to decrease the waste of labor time and unnecessary drugs usage caused by premenstrual syndrome.\tMATERIAL-METHODS: Totally 254 women aged between 19-49 years old who work in Dicle University Faculty of Medicine Hospital were enrolled for this prospective study. Data were obtained by face to face interview questionnaires.\tRESULTS: The incidence of premenstrual syndrome was 20.1%. The 91.7% of women had experienced mild or moderate symptoms in premenstrual period. The most common complains were pelvic pain, tension or restlessness, irritability or agitation, abdominal bloating and breast tenderness. Furthermore, in the presence of following factors; women with young ages ( CONCLUSION: The incidence of premenstrual syndrome is higher in working women and this condition may affect the whole population. In order to decrease the incidence of premenstrual syndrome and to increase the life quality of women; more attention\tshould be paid to this condition and proper precautions should be taken.

  16. Urban Household Carbon Emission and Contributing Factors in the Yangtze River Delta, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Xibao; Tan, Yan; Chen, Shuang; Yang, Guishan; Su, Weizhong

    2015-01-01

    Carbon reduction at the household level is an integral part of carbon mitigation. This study analyses the characteristics, effects, contributing factors and policies for urban household carbon emissions in the Yangtze River Delta of China. Primary data was collected through structured questionnaire surveys in three cities in the region – Nanjing, Ningbo, and Changzhou in 2011. The survey data was first used to estimate the magnitude of household carbon emissions in different urban contexts. It then examined how, and to what extent, each set of demographic, economic, behavioral/cognitive and spatial factors influence carbon emissions at the household level. The average of urban household carbon emissions in the region was estimated to be 5.96 tonnes CO2 in 2010. Energy consumption, daily commuting, garbage disposal and long-distance travel accounted for 51.2%, 21.3%, 16.0% and 11.5% of the total emission, respectively. Regulating rapidly growing car-holdings of urban households, stabilizing population growth, and transiting residents’ low-carbon awareness to household behavior in energy saving and other spheres of consumption in the context of rapid population aging and the growing middle income class are suggested as critical measures for carbon mitigation among urban households in the Yangtze River Delta. PMID:25884853

  17. Factores contribuyentes al desarrollo de infecciones adquiridas en la comunidad en diabéticos tipo 2 admitidos en salas de medicina del Hospital Nacional Cayetano Heredia Factors contributing to the development of community-acquired infections in type-2 diabetics admitted to the Cayetano Heredia National Hospital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gino Guillermo Tapia-Zegarra

    2001-12-01

    Full Text Available El propósito del estudio es identificar factores contribuyentes al desarrollo de infecciones adquiridas en la comunidad en diabéticos tipo 2 hospitalizados. De tal forma, se siguió el diseño de un estudio de casos y controles no apareado. Consecuentemente, se eligieron en forma aleatoria 105 diabéticos con infección adquirida en la comunidad y 105 diabéticos con patología no infecciosa, obtenidos de los Servicios de Medicina de un hospital universitario, entre 1991 y 1998. Mediante el análisis bivariado y multivariado, se obtuvo la estimación ajustada del valor de odds ratio. Los resultados permitieron, según análisis estratificado por edad y sexo, obtener a neuropatía autonómica como factor contribuyente de infecciones urinarias (OR = 4,07. En el modelo multivariado se aisló a vasculopatía periférica (R²: 0,24 como contribuyente de infección de piel y partes blandas (OR = 6,79. Los intervalos de confianza fueron significativos y de 95% de confiabilidad. En conclusión, vasculopatía periférica y vejiga neurogénica contribuyen al desarrollo de infecciones adquiridas en la comunidad en diabéticos tipo 2 hospitalizados.This study aims to identify factors contributing to the development of community-acquired infections in hospitalized type-2 diabetics, using an unmatched case-control design. A total of 105 pairs of diabetic patients with community-acquired infections as compared to non-infectious diseases, respectively, were chosen randomly from the discharge registry of the clinical wards of a teaching hospital from 1991 to 1998. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was conducted with estimation of the adjusted odds ratio. According to stratified analysis controlling for age and sex, autonomic neuropathy proved to be a contributing factor to development of urinary tract infections (OR = 4.07. In the multivariate model, peripheral vasculopathy was isolated (R²: 0.24 as a contributing factor in the development of soft

  18. Identifying Bitcoin users by transaction behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monaco, John V.

    2015-05-01

    Digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, offer convenience and security to criminals operating in the black marketplace. Some Bitcoin marketplaces, such as Silk Road, even claim anonymity. This claim contradicts the findings in this work, where long term transactional behavior is used to identify and verify account holders. Transaction timestamps and network properties observed over time contribute to this finding. The timestamp of each transaction is the result of many factors: the desire purchase an item, daily schedule and activities, as well as hardware and network latency. Dynamic network properties of the transaction, such as coin flow and the number of edge outputs and inputs, contribute further to reveal account identity. In this paper, we propose a novel methodology for identifying and verifying Bitcoin users based on the observation of Bitcoin transactions over time. The behavior we attempt to quantify roughly occurs in the social band of Newell's time scale. A subset of the Blockchain 230686 is taken, selecting users that initiated between 100 and 1000 unique transactions per month for at least 6 different months. This dataset shows evidence of being nonrandom and nonlinear, thus a dynamical systems approach is taken. Classification and authentication accuracies are obtained under various representations of the monthly Bitcoin samples: outgoing transactions, as well as both outgoing and incoming transactions are considered, along with the timing and dynamic network properties of transaction sequences. The most appropriate representations of monthly Bitcoin samples are proposed. Results show an inherent lack of anonymity by exploiting patterns in long-term transactional behavior.

  19. Identifying Topics in Microblogs Using Wikipedia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yıldırım, Ahmet; Üsküdarlı, Suzan; Özgür, Arzucan

    2016-01-01

    Twitter is an extremely high volume platform for user generated contributions regarding any topic. The wealth of content created at real-time in massive quantities calls for automated approaches to identify the topics of the contributions. Such topics can be utilized in numerous ways, such as public opinion mining, marketing, entertainment, and disaster management. Towards this end, approaches to relate single or partial posts to knowledge base items have been proposed. However, in microblogging systems like Twitter, topics emerge from the culmination of a large number of contributions. Therefore, identifying topics based on collections of posts, where individual posts contribute to some aspect of the greater topic is necessary. Models, such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), propose algorithms for relating collections of posts to sets of keywords that represent underlying topics. In these approaches, figuring out what the specific topic(s) the keyword sets represent remains as a separate task. Another issue in topic detection is the scope, which is often limited to specific domain, such as health. This work proposes an approach for identifying domain-independent specific topics related to sets of posts. In this approach, individual posts are processed and then aggregated to identify key tokens, which are then mapped to specific topics. Wikipedia article titles are selected to represent topics, since they are up to date, user-generated, sophisticated articles that span topics of human interest. This paper describes the proposed approach, a prototype implementation, and a case study based on data gathered during the heavily contributed periods corresponding to the four US election debates in 2012. The manually evaluated results (0.96 precision) and other observations from the study are discussed in detail.

  20. Identifying main factors of capacity fading in lithium ion cells using orthogonal design of experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Su, Laisuo; Zhang, Jianbo; Wang, Caijuan; Zhang, Yakun; Li, Zhe; Song, Yang; Jin, Ting; Ma, Zhao

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • The effect of seven principal factors on the aging behavior of lithium ion cells is studied. • Orthogonal design of experiments is used to reduce the experiment units. • Capacity fades linearly during the initial 10% capacity fading period. • Statistical methods are used to compare the significance of each principal factor. • A multi-factor statistical model is developed to predict the aging rate of cells. - Abstract: The aging rate under cycling conditions for lithium-ion cells is affected by many factors. Seven principal factors are systematically examined using orthogonal design of experiments, and statistical analysis was used to identify the order of principal factors in terms of strength in causing capacity fade. These seven principal factors are: the charge and discharge currents (i_1, i_2) during the constant current regime, the charge and discharge cut-off voltages (V_1, V_2) and the corresponding durations (t_1, t_2) during the constant voltage regime, and the ambient temperature (T). An orthogonal array with 18 test units was selected for the experiments. The test results show that (1) during the initial 10% capacity fading period, the capacity faded linearly with Wh-throughput for all the test conditions; (2) after the initial period, certain cycling conditions exacerbated aging rates, while the others remain the same. The statistical results show that: (1) except for t_1, the other six principal factors significantly affect the aging rate; (2) the strength of the principal factors was ranked as: i_1 > V_1 > T > t_2 > V_2 > i_2 > t_1. Finally, a multi-factor statistical aging model is developed to predict the aging rate, and the accuracy of the model is validated.

  1. Changing Perspectives: Teaching and Learning Centres' Strategic Contributions to Academic Development in Australian Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holt, Dale; Palmer, Stuart; Challis, Di

    2011-01-01

    This article reports on a study of Australian teaching and learning centres to identify factors that contribute to their effective strategic leadership. These centres remain in a state of flux, with seemingly endless reconfiguration. The drivers for such change appear to lie in decision makers' search for their centres to add more strategic value…

  2. BRAVO identifies critical success factors for logistics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kokke, C.J.T.M.; Donselaar, van K.H.; Allessie, M.

    1997-01-01

    Good operational performance depends on knowing which operational factors are critical to success. Bravo, a research project involving 150 transport and distribution companies in The Netherlands, has developed a tool now being adopted nationally by all companies in the sector to find opportunities

  3. Relative contributions of external forcing factors to circulation and hydrographic properties in a micro-tidal bay

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoon, Seokjin; Kasai, Akihide

    2017-11-01

    The dominant external forcing factors influencing estuarine circulation differ among coastal environments. A three-dimensional regional circulation model was developed to estimate external influence indices and relative contributions of external forcing factors such as external oceanic forcing, surface heat flux, wind stress, and river discharge to circulation and hydrographic properties in Tango Bay, Japan. Model results show that in Tango Bay, where the Tsushima Warm Current passes offshore of the bay, under conditions of strong seasonal winds and river discharge, the water temperature and salinity are strongly influenced by surface heat flux and river discharge in the surface layer, respectively, while in the middle and bottom layers both are mainly controlled by open boundary conditions. The estuarine circulation is comparably influenced by all external forcing factors, the strong current, surface heat flux, wind stress, and river discharge. However, the influence degree of each forcing factor varies with temporal variations in external forcing factors as: the influence of open boundary conditions is higher in spring and early summer when the stronger current passes offshore of the bay, that of surface heat flux reflects the absolute value of surface heat flux, that of wind stress is higher in late fall and winter due to strong seasonal winds, and that of river discharge is higher in early spring due to snow-melting and summer and early fall due to flood events.

  4. 20 CFR 416.935 - How we will determine whether your drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false How we will determine whether your drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability. 416.935 Section 416.935 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME FOR THE AGED, BLIND, AND DISABLED Determining Disability...

  5. Identifying and assessing the factors affecting skill gap in digital marketing in communication industry companies

    OpenAIRE

    Ghotbifar, Fereshteh; Marjani, Mohammad Reza; Ramazani, Abbas

    2017-01-01

    As far as new communication channels are concerned, there have been extensive developments in communications and marketing in digital era. Today, therefore, companies try to take advantage of digital marketing channels to provide suitable services to customers to improve their satisfaction level. However, this study aimed to identify and assess factors affecting skill gap in digital marketing. This was descriptive correlation study. The population consisted of experts in communications indust...

  6. The corporate governance contribution as a creation of value for commercial partnerships between service providers and logistic operators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Alberto da Rocha

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This theoretical research identified the possibility that Governance factors contribute as evidence of value in the relationships of commercial partnerships between Logistic Operators and service providers. The data analysis allowed to identify three possible levels of grouping due to the variables of facilitators of proximity of partnerships that showed that it is possible to have a relationship with transparence between the client company and its suppliers. Most of these groups of suppliers were characterized by the intention to share operating profits with the client company, with little tolerance to financial risks of joint investments and a tendency to sign future supply contracts. Transparency, ethics and corporate responsibility have contributed to the consolidation of these groupings of partnerships among companies, as well as creating a mutual and evolutionary process of full confidence in such a way that Corporate Governance becomes the main value factor for this relationship.

  7. [Identifying transcription factors involved in Arabidopsis adventious shoot regeneration by RNA-Seq technology].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xingchun; Chen, Zhao; Fan, Juan; He, Miaomiao; Han, Yuanhuai; Yang, Zhirong

    2015-04-01

    Transcriptional regulation is one of the major regulations in plant adventious shoot regeneration, but the exact mechanism remains unclear. In our study, the RNA-seq technology based on the IlluminaHiSeq 2000 sequencing platform was used to identify differentially expressed transcription factor (TF) encoding genes during callus formation stage and adventious shoot regeneration stage between wild type and adventious shoot formation defective mutant be1-3 and during the transition from dedifferentiation to redifferentiation stage in wildtype WS. Results show that 155 TFs were differentially expressed between be1-3 mutant and wild type during callus formation, of which 97 genes were up-regulated, and 58 genes were down-regulated; and that 68 genes were differentially expressed during redifferentiation stage, with 40 genes up-regulated and 28 genes down-regulated; whereas at the transition stage from dedifferentiation to redifferention in WS wild type explants, a total of 231 differentially expressed TF genes were identified, including 160 up-regualted genes and 71 down-regulated genes. Among these TF genes, the adventious shoot related transcription factor 1 (ART1) gene encoding a MYB-related (v-myb avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog) TF, was up-regulated 3 217 folds, and was the highest up-regulated gene during be1-3 callus formation. Over expression of the ART1 gene caused defects in callus formation and shoot regeneration and inhibited seedling growth, indicating that the ART1 gene is a negative regulator of callus formation and shoot regeneration. This work not only enriches our knowledge about the transcriptional regulation mechanism of adventious shoot regeneration, but also provides valuable information on candidate TF genes associated with adventious shoot regeneration for future research.

  8. A Sensitivity Analysis Approach to Identify Key Environmental Performance Factors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xi Yu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Life cycle assessment (LCA is widely used in design phase to reduce the product’s environmental impacts through the whole product life cycle (PLC during the last two decades. The traditional LCA is restricted to assessing the environmental impacts of a product and the results cannot reflect the effects of changes within the life cycle. In order to improve the quality of ecodesign, it is a growing need to develop an approach which can reflect the changes between the design parameters and product’s environmental impacts. A sensitivity analysis approach based on LCA and ecodesign is proposed in this paper. The key environmental performance factors which have significant influence on the products’ environmental impacts can be identified by analyzing the relationship between environmental impacts and the design parameters. Users without much environmental knowledge can use this approach to determine which design parameter should be first considered when (redesigning a product. A printed circuit board (PCB case study is conducted; eight design parameters are chosen to be analyzed by our approach. The result shows that the carbon dioxide emission during the PCB manufacture is highly sensitive to the area of PCB panel.

  9. Osteoporosis among Fallers without Concomitant Fracture Identified in an Emergency Department: Frequencies and Risk Factors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Glintborg, Bente; Hesse, Ulrik; Houe, Thomas

    2011-01-01

    aged 50-80 years sustaining a low-energy fall without fracture were identified from an ED (n = 199). Patients answered a questionnaire on risk factors and underwent osteodensitometry. Data was compared to a group of patients routinely referred to osteodensitometry from general practice (n = 201......). Results. Among the 199 included fallers, 41 (21%) had osteoporosis. Among these, 35 (85%) reported either previous fracture or reduced body height (>3¿cm). These two risk factors were more frequent among fallers with osteoporosis compared to fallers with normal bone mineral density or osteopenia (previous...... if the patient has a prior fracture or declined body height. Since fallers generally have higher fracture risk, the ED might serve as an additional entrance to osteodensitometry compared to referral from primary care....

  10. Identifying Risk Factors for Elder Falls in Geriatric Rehabilitation in Israel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ben Natan, Merav; Heyman, Neomi; Ben Israel, Joshua

    2016-01-01

    To identify risk factors for elder falls in a geriatric rehabilitation center in Israel. Retrospective chart review study. Four hundred and twelve medical records of inpatients in geriatric rehabilitation were retrospectively analyzed to compare between elders who sustained falls and those who did not. Of elders hospitalized during this year, 14% sustained falls. Fallers included a high proportion of males, with little comorbidity, not obese, and cardiovascular patients. Falls occurred frequently during patients' first week at the facility, mostly during the daytime. The falls occurred frequently in patients' rooms, and a common scenario was a fall during transition. The research findings single out patients who are allegedly at a lower risk of falls than more complex patients. Caregivers in geriatric rehabilitation settings should pay attention to patients who are allegedly at a lower risk of falls than more complex patients, and to cardiovascular patients in particular. © 2014 Association of Rehabilitation Nurses.

  11. Evaluation of an inpatient fall risk screening tool to identify the most critical fall risk factors in inpatients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Wen-Hsuan; Kang, Chun-Mei; Ho, Mu-Hsing; Kuo, Jessie Ming-Chuan; Chen, Hsiao-Lien; Chang, Wen-Yin

    2017-03-01

    To evaluate the accuracy of the inpatient fall risk screening tool and to identify the most critical fall risk factors in inpatients. Variations exist in several screening tools applied in acute care hospitals for examining risk factors for falls and identifying high-risk inpatients. Secondary data analysis. A subset of inpatient data for the period from June 2011-June 2014 was extracted from the nursing information system and adverse event reporting system of an 818-bed teaching medical centre in Taipei. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and logistic regression analysis. During the study period, 205 fallers and 37,232 nonfallers were identified. The results revealed that the inpatient fall risk screening tool (cut-off point of ≥3) had a low sensitivity level (60%), satisfactory specificity (87%), a positive predictive value of 2·0% and a negative predictive value of 99%. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed an area under the curve of 0·805 (sensitivity, 71·8%; specificity, 78%). To increase the sensitivity values, the Youden index suggests at least 1·5 points to be the most suitable cut-off point for the inpatient fall risk screening tool. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed a considerably increased fall risk in patients with impaired balance and impaired elimination. The fall risk factor was also significantly associated with days of hospital stay and with admission to surgical wards. The findings can raise awareness about the two most critical risk factors for falls among future clinical nurses and other healthcare professionals and thus facilitate the development of fall prevention interventions. This study highlights the needs for redefining the cut-off points of the inpatient fall risk screening tool to effectively identify inpatients at a high risk of falls. Furthermore, inpatients with impaired balance and impaired elimination should be closely

  12. Bipolar disorder: The importance of clinical assessment in identifying prognostic factors - An Audit. Part 1: An analysis of potential prognostic factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verdolini, Norma; Dean, Jonathon; Elisei, Sandro; Quartesan, Roberto; Zaman, Rashid; Agius, Mark

    2014-11-01

    Prognostic factors of bipolar disorder must be identified to assist in staging and treatment, and this may be done primarily during the initial psychiatric assessment. In fact, most of the prognostic factors, which determine disease outcome, could be detected from simple but often-unrecorded questions asked during the psychiatric clinic visit. We collected data from the clinical notes of 70 bipolar outpatients seen at the initial psychiatric assessment clinic about socio-demographic and clinical factors to determine whether various factors had relevance to prevalence, prognosis, or outcome. The sample comprised 16 bipolar I (22.9%) and 54 bipolar II (77.1%) outpatients; a psychiatric comorbidity was noted in 26 patients (37.1%). 60.9% (42 patients) reported anxiety features and 12 patients (17.6%) were noted to have obsessive-compulsive characteristics. Percentages reported in our results are of the sample for which the data was available. Anhedonia is a depressive feature that was present in most of the population where this data was available (92.2%, 59 patients) and 81.8% (54 patients) reported suicidal thoughts during a depressive episode. 74.6% (47 patients) had a family history of bipolar disorder, depression, suicide or psychosis. 27 patients (39.7%) reported current alcohol use and 14 patients (22.6%) current illicit drug use. A comparison between 10 prognostic factors found that only the correlations between current illicit drug use/previous illicit drug use (χ(2)=11.471, Palcohol use/previous alcohol use (χ(2)=31.510, Palcohol use (χ(2)=5.071, P=0.023) and previous alcohol use/family history (χ(2)=4.309, P=0.037) were almost statistically significant. 17 patients (24.3%) of the 70 bipolar patients were assigned to a care coordinator; we have evaluated the possible differences between the patients with or without a care coordinator on the basis of the presence of 10 possible prognostic factors and found no statistically significant differences between

  13. Estimating the contribution of genetic variants to difference in incidence of disease between population groups

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moonesinghe, Ramal; Ioannidis, John PA; Flanders, W Dana; Yang, Quanhe; Truman, Benedict I; Khoury, Muin J

    2012-01-01

    Genome-wide association studies have identified multiple genetic susceptibility variants to several complex human diseases. However, risk-genotype frequency at loci showing robust associations might differ substantially among different populations. In this paper, we present methods to assess the contribution of genetic variants to the difference in the incidence of disease between different population groups for different scenarios. We derive expressions for the contribution of a single genetic variant, multiple genetic variants, and the contribution of the joint effect of a genetic variant and an environmental factor to the difference in the incidence of disease. The contribution of genetic variants to the difference in incidence increases with increasing difference in risk-genotype frequency, but declines with increasing difference in incidence between the two populations. The contribution of genetic variants also increases with increasing relative risk and the contribution of joint effect of genetic and environmental factors increases with increasing relative risk of the gene–environmental interaction. The contribution of genetic variants to the difference in incidence between two populations can be expressed as a function of the population attributable risks of the genetic variants in the two populations. The contribution of a group of genetic variants to the disparity in incidence of disease could change considerably by adding one more genetic variant to the group. Any estimate of genetic contribution to the disparity in incidence of disease between two populations at this stage seems to be an elusive goal. PMID:22333905

  14. Estimating the contribution of genetic variants to difference in incidence of disease between population groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moonesinghe, Ramal; Ioannidis, John P A; Flanders, W Dana; Yang, Quanhe; Truman, Benedict I; Khoury, Muin J

    2012-08-01

    Genome-wide association studies have identified multiple genetic susceptibility variants to several complex human diseases. However, risk-genotype frequency at loci showing robust associations might differ substantially among different populations. In this paper, we present methods to assess the contribution of genetic variants to the difference in the incidence of disease between different population groups for different scenarios. We derive expressions for the contribution of a single genetic variant, multiple genetic variants, and the contribution of the joint effect of a genetic variant and an environmental factor to the difference in the incidence of disease. The contribution of genetic variants to the difference in incidence increases with increasing difference in risk-genotype frequency, but declines with increasing difference in incidence between the two populations. The contribution of genetic variants also increases with increasing relative risk and the contribution of joint effect of genetic and environmental factors increases with increasing relative risk of the gene-environmental interaction. The contribution of genetic variants to the difference in incidence between two populations can be expressed as a function of the population attributable risks of the genetic variants in the two populations. The contribution of a group of genetic variants to the disparity in incidence of disease could change considerably by adding one more genetic variant to the group. Any estimate of genetic contribution to the disparity in incidence of disease between two populations at this stage seems to be an elusive goal.

  15. 20 CFR 416.214 - You are disabled and drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false You are disabled and drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability. 416.214 Section 416.214 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME FOR THE AGED, BLIND, AND DISABLED Eligibility Reasons Why You May Not...

  16. A structured elicitation method to identify key direct risk factors for the management of natural resources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Smith

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The high level of uncertainty inherent in natural resource management requires planners to apply comprehensive risk analyses, often in situations where there are few resources. In this paper, we demonstrate a broadly applicable, novel and structured elicitation approach to identify important direct risk factors. This new approach combines expert calibration and fuzzy based mathematics to capture and aggregate subjective expert estimates of the likelihood that a set of direct risk factors will cause management failure. A specific case study is used to demonstrate the approach; however, the described methods are widely applicable in risk analysis. For the case study, the management target was to retain all species that characterise a set of natural biological elements. The analysis was bounded by the spatial distribution of the biological elements under consideration and a 20-year time frame. Fourteen biological elements were expected to be at risk. Eleven important direct risk factors were identified that related to surrounding land use practices, climate change, problem species (e.g., feral predators, fire and hydrological change. In terms of their overall influence, the two most important risk factors were salinisation and a lack of water which together pose a considerable threat to the survival of nine biological elements. The described approach successfully overcame two concerns arising from previous risk analysis work: (1 the lack of an intuitive, yet comprehensive scoring method enabling the detection and clarification of expert agreement and associated levels of uncertainty; and (2 the ease with which results can be interpreted and communicated while preserving a rich level of detail essential for informed decision making.

  17. Anatomy of Bs → PV decays and effects of next-to-leading order contributions in the perturbative QCD factorization approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yan, Da-Cheng; Yang, Ping; Liu, Xin; Xiao, Zhen-Jun

    2018-06-01

    In this paper, we will make systematic calculations for the branching ratios and the CP-violating asymmetries of the twenty one Bbars0 → PV decays by employing the perturbative QCD (PQCD) factorization approach. Besides the full leading-order (LO) contributions, all currently known next-to-leading order (NLO) contributions are taken into account. We found numerically that: (a) the NLO contributions can provide ∼ 40% enhancement to the LO PQCD predictions for B (Bbars0 →K0K bar * 0) and B (Bbars0 →K±K*∓), or a ∼ 37% reduction to B (Bbars0 →π-K*+); and we confirmed that the inclusion of the known NLO contributions can improve significantly the agreement between the theory and those currently available experimental measurements; (b) the total effects on the PQCD predictions for the relevant Bs0 → P transition form factors after the inclusion of the NLO twist-2 and twist-3 contributions is generally small in magnitude: less than 10% enhancement respect to the leading order result; (c) for the "tree" dominated decay Bbars0 →K+ρ- and the "color-suppressed-tree" decay Bbars0 →π0K*0, the big difference between the PQCD predictions for their branching ratios are induced by different topological structure and by interference effects among the decay amplitude AT,C and AP: constructive for the first decay but destructive for the second one; and (d) for Bbars0 → V (η ,η‧) decays, the complex pattern of the PQCD predictions for their branching ratios can be understood by rather different topological structures and the interference effects between the decay amplitude A (Vηq) and A (Vηs) due to the η-η‧ mixing.

  18. Ergonomics Contribution in Maintainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teymourian, Kiumars; Seneviratne, Dammika; Galar, Diego

    2017-09-01

    The objective of this paper is to describe an ergonomics contribution in maintainability. The economical designs, inputs and training helps to increase the maintainability indicators for industrial devices. This analysis can be helpful, among other cases, to compare systems, to achieve a better design regarding maintainability requirements, to improve this maintainability under specific industrial environment and to foresee maintainability problems due to eventual changes in a device operation conditions. With this purpose, this work first introduces the notion of ergonomics and human factors, maintainability and the implementation of assessment of human postures, including some important postures to perform maintenance activities. A simulation approach is used to identify the critical posture of the maintenance personnel and implements the defined postures with minimal loads on the personnel who use the equipment in a practical scenario. The simulation inputs are given to the designers to improve the workplace/equipment in order to high level of maintainability. Finally, the work concludes summarizing the more significant aspects and suggesting future research.

  19. Educators' Perceptions of Factors Contributing to School Violence

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    At an individual and familial level age, mental health and child rearing arose as risk factors of school ... community and societal risk factors for school violence. ... drug abuse may also preclude parents from having an interest in school matters thus ..... You see some other things are these movies that they see in [sic] TV.

  20. Identifying practice-related factors for high-volume prescribers of antibiotics in Danish general practice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Aabenhus, Rune; Siersma, Volkert Dirk; Sandholdt, Håkon

    2017-01-01

    practice-related factors driving high antibiotic prescribing rates. Results: We included 98% of general practices in Denmark (n = 1962) and identified a 10% group of high prescribers who accounted for 15% of total antibiotic prescriptions and 18% of critically important antibiotic prescriptions. Once case...... prescriptions issued over the phone compared with all antibiotic prescriptions; and a high number of consultations per 1000 patients. We also found that a low number of consultations per 1000 patients was associated with a reduced likelihood of being a high prescriber of antibiotics. Conclusions: An apparent...