Early Childhood Program Participation, Results from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016. First Look. NCES 2017-101

Science.gov (United States)

Corcoran, Lisa; Steinley, Katrina

2017-01-01

This report presents findings from the Early Childhood Program Participation Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2016 (NHES:2016). The Early Childhood Program Participation Survey collected data on children's participation in relative care, nonrelative care, and center-based care arrangements. It also collected…

Summary of microsatellite instability test results from laboratories participating in proficiency surveys: proficiency survey results from 2005 to 2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyle, Theresa A; Bridge, Julia A; Sabatini, Linda M; Nowak, Jan A; Vasalos, Patricia; Jennings, Lawrence J; Halling, Kevin C

2014-03-01

The College of American Pathologists surveys are the largest laboratory peer comparison programs in the world. These programs allow laboratories to regularly evaluate their performance and improve the accuracy of the patient test results they provide. Proficiency testing is offered twice a year to laboratories performing microsatellite instability testing. These surveys are designed to emulate clinical practice, and some surveys have more challenging cases to encourage the refinement of laboratory practices. This report summarizes the results and trends in microsatellite instability proficiency testing from participating laboratories from the inception of the program in 2005 through 2012. We compiled and analyzed data for 16 surveys of microsatellite instability proficiency testing during 2005 to 2012. The number of laboratories participating in the microsatellite instability survey has more than doubled from 42 to 104 during the 8 years analyzed. An average of 95.4% of the laboratories correctly classified each of the survey test samples from the 2005A through 2012B proficiency challenges. In the 2011B survey, a lower percentage of laboratories (78.4%) correctly classified the specimen, possibly because of overlooking subtle changes of microsatellite instability and/or failing to enrich the tumor content of the specimen to meet the limit of detection of their assay. In general, laboratories performed well in microsatellite instability testing. This testing will continue to be important in screening patients with colorectal and other cancers for Lynch syndrome and guiding the management of patients with sporadic colorectal cancer.

Microfinance Participation and Domestic Violence in Bangladesh: Results From a Nationally Representative Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Murshid, Nadine Shaanta; Akincigil, Ayse; Zippay, Allison

2016-05-01

This article examines domestic violence among women who participate in microfinance in Bangladesh. Secondary analysis of survey data from nationally representative Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey was used to investigate the association between microfinance participation and domestic violence of 4,163 ever-married women between the ages of 18 and 49 years. Outcome measure is experience of domestic violence as measured by a modified Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) and predictor variables include microfinance, binary indicator of relatively better economic status, autonomy, decision-making power, and demographic variables. The likelihood of experiencing domestic violence was not found to vary with microfinance participation. However, the interaction effect of microfinance and better economic status was found to be significantly associated with domestic violence (9% increased probability). Experience of domestic violence was negatively associated with older age, higher education of the husband, and autonomy. In Bangladesh, microfinance participation may be associated with a higher probability of experiencing domestic violence for women with relatively better economic status, but not for the poorest of the poor. © The Author(s) 2015.

Race, Ethnicity and Participation in the Arts: Patterns of Participation by Black, Hispanic and White Americans in Selected Activities from the 1982 and 1985 Surveys of Public Participation in the Arts.

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DiMaggio, Paul; Ostrower, Francie

This report utilizes data from the 1982 and 1985 Surveys of Public Participation in the Arts to describe differences in patterns of participation in selected arts related activities by Black, Hispanic, and White respondents. Arts participation by Whites is greatest for all selected activities, except for Black attendance at jazz music activities.…

ParticipACTION: Baseline assessment of the 'new ParticipACTION': A quantitative survey of Canadian organizational awareness and capacity

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Bauman Adrian

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background ParticipACTION is a Canadian physical activity (PA communications and social marketing organization that was relaunched in 2007 after a six-year hiatus. This study assesses the baseline awareness and capacity of Canadian organizations that promote physical activity, to adopt, implement and promote ParticipACTION's physical activity campaign. The three objectives were: (1 to determine organizational awareness of both the 'original' and 'new' ParticipACTION; (2 to report baseline levels of three organizational capacity domains (i.e., to adopt, implement and externally promote physical activity initiatives; and, (3 to explore potential differences in those domains based on organizational size, sector and primary mandate. Methods Organizations at local, provincial/territorial, and national levels were sent an invitation via email prior to the official launch of ParticipACTION to complete an on-line survey. The survey assessed their organization's capacity to adopt, implement and externally promote a new physical activity campaign within their organizational mandates. Descriptive statistics were employed to address the first two study objectives. A series of one-way analysis of variance were conducted to examine the third objective. Results The response rate was 29.7% (268/902. The majority of responding organizations had over 40 employees and had operated for over 10 years. Education was the most common primary mandate, followed by sport and recreation. Organizations were evenly distributed between government and not-for-profits. Approximately 96% of respondents had heard of the 'original' ParticipACTION while 54.6% had heard of the 'new' ParticipACTION (Objective 1. Findings indicate good organizational capacity in Canada to promote physical activity (Objective 2 based on reported means of approximately 4.0 (on 5-point scales for capacity to adopt, implement, and externally promote new physical activity campaigns. Capacity to

Planning and participation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rucht, D.

1982-01-01

This study is trying to give a vast survey of the political and administrative system. It is to demonstrate the relations between its secular development trends, the necessity and the limits of political planning under the present conditions and, finally, the increasing demands for participation as expressed especially by citizens' initiatives. These stages, however, are certainly not presented in a smooth manner. Yet the author claims to have kept a certain continuity and inner logic of presentation and argumentation. (orig./DG) [de

Prevalence of molar-incisor-hypomineralisation among children participating in the Dutch National Epidemiological Survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jasulaityte, L.; Weerheijm, K.L.; Veerkamp, J.S.

2008-01-01

Aim: This was to determine the prevalence of Molar-Incisor- Hypomineralisation (MIH) among children participating in the Dutch National Epidemiological Survey of 2003 and to compare the prevalence data with that found in the previous survey of 1999 when MIH was found in 9.7% of 11-year-old Dutch

Female labour force participation in Peru: an analysis using the world fertility survey.

OpenAIRE

Rodgers G; Viry D

1980-01-01

ILO pub-WEP pub. Working paper analysing woman worker labour force participation trends in Peru based on a world fertility survey - examines female wages employment, unpaid work, occupational structure, labour supply determinants such as population variables (incl. Family structure, marital status, age, internal migration and educational level), husband's characteristics, etc., in rural areas and urban areas, with a view to estimating participation economic models. References.

CoCoRaHS (The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network): Analysis of Participant Survey Data to Uncover Learning through Participation

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Holzer, M. A.; Zimmerman, T.; Doesken, N. J.; Reges, H. W.; Newman, N.; Turner, J.; Schwalbe, Z.

2010-12-01

CoCoRaHS (The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network) is based out of Fort Collins Colorado and is an extremely successful citizen science project with over 15,000 volunteers collecting valuable precipitation data. Forecasters and scientists use data from this dense network to illuminate and illustrate the high small-scale variability of precipitation across the nation. This presentation will discuss the results of a survey of CoCoRaHS participants as related to 1) citizen scientists’ motivation and learning; 2) the challenges of identifying how people learn science in citizen science projects; and 3) a potential research-based framework for how people learn through engaging in the data collection within in a citizen science project. A comprehensive survey of 14,500 CoCoRaHS observers was recently conducted to uncover participant perceptions of numerous aspects of the CoCoRaHS program, including its goal of increasing climate literacy. The survey yielded a response rate of over 50%, and included measures of motivation, engagement and learning. In relationship to motivation and learning, the survey revealed that most (57.1%) observers would make precipitation observations regardless of being a CoCoRaHS volunteer, therefore their motivation is related to their inherent level of interest in weather. Others are motivated by their desire to learn more about weather and climate, they want to contribute to a scientific project, they think its fun, and/or it provides a sense of community. Because so many respondents already had knowledge and interest in weather and climate, identifying how and what people learn through participating was a challenge. However, the narrow project focus of collecting and reporting of local precipitation assisted in identifying aspects of learning. For instance, most (46.4%) observers said they increased their knowledge about the local variability in precipitation even though they had been collecting precipitation data for many

Political Ideology, Confidence in Science, and Participation in Alzheimer Disease Research Studies.

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Gabel, Matthew; Gooblar, Jonathan; Roe, Catherine M; Selsor, Natalie J; Morris, John C

2018-01-18

Americans' confidence in science varies based on their political ideology. This ideological divide has potentially important effects on citizens' engagement with and participation in clinical studies of Alzheimer disease (AD). A probability sample of 1583 Americans was surveyed about their willingness to participate in longitudinal AD research and about their political attitudes. These survey results were compared with a survey of 382 participants in a longitudinal AD study at the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center. Among Americans, more conservative ideology decreases willingness to participate in a hypothetical longitudinal cohort study of AD both directly and through its negative effect on confidence in science. The Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center study participants expressed more liberal ideology and greater confidence in science than Americans in general. Of the survey respondents opposed to participation, over a quarter changed to neutral or positive if the study returned their research results to them. Clinical studies of AD are likely biased toward participants who are more liberal and have higher confidence in science than the general population. This recruitment bias may be reduced by lowering the trust demanded of participants through measures such as returning research results to participants.

[The impact of a verbal consent form on the participation rate in a telephone survey].

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Jacques, Christian; Ladouceur, Robert; Fournier, Patricia-Maude; Baillargeon, Lucie

2009-03-01

To assess the impact of a consent form on the participation rate in a telephone survey about gambling and money. Four different consent forms were tested. The first consent form globally met the academic ethics committee requirements, while the second and third forms excluded some elements. Finally, the fourth form was similar to the introduction generally used by private survey firms. Even when the consent form required by academic ethics committees was shortened, the private firm introduction led to the best participation rate. However, participants who received the private firm introduction indicated that they wished they had been better informed before the interview started. The discussion highlights the delicate situation of academic research wishing to meet ethics requirements as well as conduct valid and representative research.

Forest Landowner Education Interests and Delivery Preferences: A Retrospective Look at Survey Results and Actual Participation

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Zobrist, Kevin W.; Rozance, Mary Ann

2015-01-01

This article presents survey data on education interests and delivery preferences of small forest landowners in Washington and compares it to actual program participation over 6 years. The survey was conducted in late 2007 to guide development and implementation of a Extension forestry program. The survey found broad interest across many topics…

Measuring children's self-reported sport participation, risk perception and injury history: development and validation of a survey instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Siesmaa, Emma J; Blitvich, Jennifer D; White, Peta E; Finch, Caroline F

2011-01-01

Despite the health benefits associated with children's sport participation, the occurrence of injury in this context is common. The extent to which sport injuries impact children's ongoing involvement in sport is largely unknown. Surveys have been shown to be useful for collecting children's injury and sport participation data; however, there are currently no published instruments which investigate the impact of injury on children's sport participation. This study describes the processes undertaken to assess the validity of two survey instruments for collecting self-reported information about child cricket and netball related participation, injury history and injury risk perceptions, as well as the reliability of the cricket-specific version. Face and content validity were assessed through expert feedback from primary and secondary level teachers and from representatives of peak sporting bodies for cricket and netball. Test-retest reliability was measured using a sample of 59 child cricketers who completed the survey on two occasions, 3-4 weeks apart. Based on expert feedback relating to face and content validity, modification and/or deletion of some survey items was undertaken. Survey items with low test-retest reliability (κ≤0.40) were modified or deleted, items with moderate reliability (κ=0.41-0.60) were modified slightly and items with higher reliability (κ≥0.61) were retained, with some undergoing minor modifications. This is the first survey of its kind which has been successfully administered to cricketers aged 10-16 years to collect information about injury risk perceptions and intentions for continued sport participation. Implications for its generalisation to other child sport participants are discussed. Copyright © 2010 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prospective evaluation of direct approach with a tablet device as a strategy to enhance survey study participant response rate

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Parker Melissa J

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Investigators conduct survey studies for a variety of reasons. Poor participant response rates are common, however, and may limit the generalizability and utility of results. The objective of this study was to determine whether direct approach with a tablet device enhances survey study participant response rate and to assess participants’ experiences with this mode of survey administration. Findings An interventional study nested within a single center survey study was conducted at McMaster Children’s Hospital. The primary outcome was the ability to achieve of a survey study response rate of 70% or greater. Eligible participants received 3 email invitations (Week 0, 2, 4 to complete a web-based (Survey Monkey survey. The study protocol included plans for a two-week follow-up phase (Phase 2 where non-responders were approached by a research assistant and invited to complete an iPad-based version of the survey. The Phase 1 response rate was 48.7% (56/115. Phase 2 effectively recruited reluctant responders, increasing the overall response rate to 72.2% (83/115. On a 7-point Likert scale, reluctant responders highly rated their enjoyment (mean 6.0, sd 0.83 [95% CI: 5.7-6.3] and ease of use (mean 6.7, sd 0.47 [95% CI: 6.5-6.9] completing the survey using the iPad. Reasons endorsed for Phase 2 participation included: direct approach (81%, immediate survey access (62%, and the novelty of completing a tablet-based survey (54%. Most reluctant responders (89% indicated that a tablet-based survey is their preferred method of survey completion. Conclusions Use of a tablet-based version of the survey was effective in recruiting reluctant responders and this group reported positive experiences with this mode of survey administration.

Can smartphones measure momentary quality of life and participation? A proof of concept using experience sampling surveys with university students.

Science.gov (United States)

Liddle, Jacki; Wishink, Anna; Springfield, Liz; Gustafsson, Louise; Ireland, David; Silburn, Peter

2017-08-01

Understanding quality of life and participation is a key aspect of occupational therapy research. The use of smartphones to deliver experience-sampling surveys may provide an accessible way to monitor these outcomes. This study used smartphone-based experience sampling methods (ESM) to investigate factors influencing momentary quality of life (mQOL) of university students. A convenience sample of students at an Australian university participated. Using a custom smartphone application, ESM surveys were sent six to eight times, every second day, over a week. Participants indicated their mQOL, occupational participation, occupational enjoyment, social context and location via surveys and provided demographic and health information in a single self-report questionnaire. The relationship between mQOL and variables was analysed at the survey level using logistic regression. Forty students completed 391 surveys. Higher mQOL was significantly related to participation in productive occupations (z = 3.48; P = 0.001), moderate (z = 4.00; P sample, analysing at the individual level, and using ESM in conjunction with other methodologies is recommended. © 2017 Occupational Therapy Australia.

Survey nonresponse among ethnic minorities in a national health survey--a mixed-method study of participation, barriers, and potentials.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahlmark, Nanna; Algren, Maria Holst; Holmberg, Teresa; Norredam, Marie Louise; Nielsen, Signe Smith; Blom, Astrid Benedikte; Bo, Anne; Juel, Knud

2015-01-01

The participation rate in the Danish National Health Survey (DNHS) 2010 was significantly lower among ethnic minorities than ethnic Danes. The purpose was to characterize nonresponse among ethnic minorities in DNHS, analyze variations in item nonresponse, and investigate barriers and incentives to participation. This was a mixed-method study. Logistic regression was used to analyze nonresponse using data from DNHS (N = 177,639 and chi-square tests in item nonresponse analyses. We explored barriers and incentives regarding participation through focus groups and cognitive interviews. Informants included immigrants and their descendants of both sexes, with and without higher education. The highest nonresponse rate was for non-Western descendants (80.0%) and immigrants 25 (72.3%) with basic education. Immigrants and descendants had higher odds ratios (OR = 3.07 and OR = 3.35, respectively) for nonresponse than ethnic Danes when adjusted for sex, age, marital status, and education. Non-Western immigrants had higher item nonresponse in several question categories. Barriers to non-participation related to the content, language, format, and layout of both the questionnaire and the cover letter. The sender and setting in which to receive the questionnaire also influenced answering incentives. We observed differences in barriers and incentives between immigrants and descendants. Nonresponse appears related to linguistic and/or educational limitations, to alienation generated by the questions' focus on disease and cultural assumptions, or mistrust regarding anonymity. Ethnic minorities seem particularly affected by such barriers. To increase survey participation, questions could be sensitized to reflect multicultural traditions, and the impact of sender and setting considered.

Work-related stress: A survey of Indian anesthesiologists

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sumitra Ganesh Bakshi

2017-01-01

Conclusion: The majority of participants rated their stress as moderate-extreme and was higher in anesthesiologists working long hours, over the weekend and those handling high-risk patients. A majority of participants felt the survey made them think about work-related stress and expressed their willingness to participate in stress management programs.

Does Dog Walking Predict Physical Activity Participation: Results From a National Survey.

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Richards, Elizabeth A

2016-05-01

The purpose of this study is to: (1) identify characteristics associated with dog owners who walk their dog, (2) describe the frequency and duration of walking the dog, and (3) determine whether dog owners who walk their dog participate in more physical activity than dog owners who do not walk their dog and non-dog owners. A cross-sectional study design was used. The study setting was nationwide. Adults (n = 4010) participating in the 2005 ConsumerStyles mail-panel survey were the study subjects. Measures used were demographic, physical activity, dog ownership, and dog walking questions from the 2005 ConsumerStyles mail-panel survey. Chi-square tests and analyses of variance were conducted to examine participant characteristics associated with dog walking and to describe the frequency and duration of dog walking. Analysis of covariance was used to determine whether dog owners who walk their dog participate in more physical activity than dog owners who do not walk their dog and non-dog owners. Among dog owners, 42% reported some dog walking in a typical week. Dog owners walked their dog an average 4.3 ± 0.1 times and 128.8 ± 5.6 minutes per week. There were no significant differences in weekly minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity across the dog-ownership and dog walking groups. Most dog owners did not walk their dog. Dog owners were not more active than non-dog owners, except when considering the activity obtained via dog walking. © The Author(s) 2016.

Using online social media for recruitment of human immunodeficiency virus-positive participants: a cross-sectional survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Patrick; Bare, Michael G; Johnson, Mallory O; Saberi, Parya

2014-05-01

There are many challenges in recruiting and engaging participants when conducting research, especially with HIV-positive individuals. Some of these challenges include geographical barriers, insufficient time and financial resources, and perceived HIV-related stigma. This paper describes the methodology of a recruitment approach that capitalized on existing online social media venues and other Internet resources in an attempt to overcome some of these barriers to research recruitment and retention. From May through August 2013, a campaign approach using a combination of online social media, non-financial incentives, and Web-based survey software was implemented to advertise, recruit, and retain participants, and collect data for a survey study with a limited budget. Approximately US $5,000 was spent with a research staff designated at 20% of full-time effort, yielding 2034 survey clicks, 1404 of which met the inclusion criteria and initiated the survey, for an average cost of US $3.56 per survey initiation. A total of 1221 individuals completed the survey, yielding 86.97% retention. These data indicate that online recruitment is a feasible and efficient tool that can be further enhanced by sophisticated online data collection software and the addition of non-financial incentives.

Work-related stress: A survey of Indian anesthesiologists.

Science.gov (United States)

Bakshi, Sumitra Ganesh; Divatia, Jigeeshu Vasishtha; Kannan, Sadhana; Myatra, Sheila Nainan

2017-01-01

Work-related stress is common among medical caregivers and concerns all perioperative care providers. Although anesthesiologists are known to experience stress, there are limited Indian data addressing this issue. This survey was conducted among Indian anesthesiologists to determine their awareness about work stress and views regarding prevention programs. A survey questionnaire was distributed to delegates visiting the exhibits at the national anesthesiology conference in 2011. The questionnaire had ten questions on the work pattern, five on work-related stress, nine on opinion regarding the need and willingness to participate in stress-related programs. There were 1178 responders. Forty-three percent were faculty in medical institutions, 26% were residents and 25% were in free-lance practice. Ninety-one percent of participants rated their stress as moderate-extreme. There was a significant correlation between the amount of stress and working for more than 8 h ( P working on weekends ( P = 0.002), and carrying work back home ( P work stress. Eighty-four percent of participants felt the need for stress management programs and 69% expressed their willingness to participate in the same. The majority of participants rated their stress as moderate-extreme and was higher in anesthesiologists working long hours, over the weekend and those handling high-risk patients. A majority of participants felt the survey made them think about work-related stress and expressed their willingness to participate in stress management programs.

Using Online Social Media for Recruitment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Participants: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Patrick; Bare, Michael G; Johnson, Mallory O

2014-01-01

Background There are many challenges in recruiting and engaging participants when conducting research, especially with HIV-positive individuals. Some of these challenges include geographical barriers, insufficient time and financial resources, and perceived HIV-related stigma. Objective This paper describes the methodology of a recruitment approach that capitalized on existing online social media venues and other Internet resources in an attempt to overcome some of these barriers to research recruitment and retention. Methods From May through August 2013, a campaign approach using a combination of online social media, non-financial incentives, and Web-based survey software was implemented to advertise, recruit, and retain participants, and collect data for a survey study with a limited budget. Results Approximately US $5,000 was spent with a research staff designated at 20% of full-time effort, yielding 2034 survey clicks, 1404 of which met the inclusion criteria and initiated the survey, for an average cost of US $3.56 per survey initiation. A total of 1221 individuals completed the survey, yielding 86.97% retention. Conclusions These data indicate that online recruitment is a feasible and efficient tool that can be further enhanced by sophisticated online data collection software and the addition of non-financial incentives. PMID:24784982

Lung cancer multidisciplinary team meetings: a survey of participants at a national conference

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bydder, S [Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Australia (Australia). Dept. of Radiation Oncology; Hasani, A [Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, Australia (Australia). Dept. of Medical Oncology; Broderick, C [Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University of technology, Perth, Australia (Australia). WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network; Semmens, J [Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University of technology, Perth, Australia (Australia). Centr for Population Health Research

2008-04-15

Full text: Multidisciplinary meetings (MDMs) are a useful aid for the development of comprehensive treatment plans for cancer patients. However, little is known about the requirements for effective MDM function. Attendees at a national lung cancer conference who participated at least weekly in lung cancer MDMs were surveyed. The survey addressed the attendees' perceptions regarding the aims of MDMs, and for their own institutional MDMs, the importance and need for improvement for each of: (i) the attendance of nine discipline groups; and (ii) 15 aspects related to MDM function derived from the literature. The survey also asked participants if MDMs met their needs. There was a general agreement on the aims of the meetings. There was also an agreement on the importance of various groups' attendance and each of the examined aspects of MDMs. However, many respondents reported their meetings required moderate or substantial improvements in one or more areas. More than 20% of the respondents indicated improvement was required for the attendance of three discipline groups (palliative care physicians, pathologists and cardiothoracic surgeons) and 10 of the 15 examined aspects (more than half in the case of computerised databases). Only 9% of the respondents reported that none of the features surveyed needed either moderate or substantial improvement. MDMs met the needs of 79% of the respondents. We found general agreement on the aims of the meetings, the importance of various groups' attendance at MDMs and each of the examined aspects of MDMs. However, moderate or substantial improvements were thought to be required by many respondents. The performance of individual institutions' MDMs and the resources they have available to achieve their aims should be assessed and periodically reviewed. The survey applied here may provide a framework for MDM members to do this.

Repeat participation in annual cross-sectional surveys of drug users and its implications for analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Agius, P A; Aitken, C K; Breen, C; Dietze, P M

2018-06-04

We sought to establish the extent of repeat participation in a large annual cross-sectional survey of people who inject drugs and assess its implications for analysis. We used "porn star names" (the name of each participant's first pet followed by the name of the first street in which they lived) to identify repeat participation in three Australian Illicit Drug Reporting System surveys. Over 2013-2015, 2468 porn star names (96.2%) appeared only once, 88 (3.4%) twice, and nine (0.4%) in all 3 years. We measured design effects, based on the between-cluster variability for selected estimates, of 1.01-1.07 for seven key variables. These values indicate that the complex sample is (e.g.) 7% less efficient in estimating prevalence of heroin use (ever) than a simple random sample, and 1% less efficient in estimating number of heroin overdoses (ever). Porn star names are a useful means of tracking research participants longitudinally while maintaining their anonymity. Repeat participation in the Australian Illicit Drug Reporting System is low (less than 5% per annum), meaning point-prevalence and effect estimation without correction for the lack of independence in observations is unlikely to seriously affect population inference.

Servicemembers and veterans with major traumatic limb loss from Vietnam war and OIF/OEF conflicts: survey methods, participants, and summary findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Reiber, Gayle E; McFarland, Lynne V; Hubbard, Sharon; Maynard, Charles; Blough, David K; Gambel, Jeffrey M; Smith, Douglas G

2010-01-01

Care of veterans and servicemembers with major traumatic limb loss from combat theaters is one of the highest priorities of the Department of Veteran Affairs. We achieved a 62% response rate in our Survey for Prosthetic Use from 298 Vietnam war veterans and 283 servicemembers/veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) who sustained major traumatic limb loss. Participants reported their combat injuries; health status; quality of life; and prosthetic device use, function, rejection, and satisfaction. Despite the serious injuries experienced, health status was rated excellent, very good, or good by 70.7% of Vietnam war and 85.5% of OIF/OEF survey participants. However, many health issues persist for Vietnam war and OIF/OEF survey participants (respectively): phantom limb pain (72.2%/76.0%), chronic back pain (36.2%/42.1%), residual-limb pain (48.3%/62.9%), prosthesis-related skin problems (51.0%/58.0%), hearing loss (47.0%/47.0%), traumatic brain injury (3.4%/33.9%), depression (24.5%/24.0%), and posttraumatic stress disorder (37.6%/58.7%). Prosthetic devices are currently used by 78.2% of Vietnam war and 90.5% of OIF/OEF survey participants to improve function and mobility. On average, the annual rate for prosthetic device receipt is 10.7-fold higher for OIF/OEF than for Vietnam war survey participants. Findings from this cross-conflict survey identify many strengths in prosthetic rehabilitation for those with limb loss and several areas for future attention.

Forms of Political Participation and Subjective Well-being: A World Survey

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Benjamín Temkin

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Subjective well-being has been described as perhaps “the ultimate dependent variable” of the social sciences. Thus, it is understandable that much of the empirical research on the subject has focused on the identification of its correlates. In this paper we utilize the sixth wave of the World Value Survey carried out in sixty countries between 2010 and 2014, to evaluate the relationship between different types of political participation and the subjective well-being of citizens, Our research partially confirms the hypothesis that, when controlling for the democratic or undemocratic character of political institutions, conventional political participation is positively and significantly associated with life satisfaction, while unconventional conflictive political activities show the opposite relationship to well-being. On the other hand, the democratic nature of state institutions is universally and consistently related to higher levels of personal well-being among individuals.

A Method for Recruiting Participants from Isolated Islands of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) for Survey Research

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Moosa, Sheena; Koopman-Boyden, Peggy

2016-01-01

Representing isolated small island communities through social survey research continues to be challenging. We examine a locally developed method to reach and recruit older people (65+ years) for a survey on well-being in the small island developing state of Maldives. The use of messengers to recruit participants is examined in the context of these…

Allowing Physicians to Choose the Value of Compensation for Participation in a Web-Based Survey: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Turnbull, Alison E; O'Connor, Cristi L; Lau, Bryan; Halpern, Scott D; Needham, Dale M

2015-07-29

Survey response rates among physicians are declining, and determining an appropriate level of compensation to motivate participation poses a major challenge. To estimate the effect of permitting intensive care physicians to select their preferred level of compensation for completing a short Web-based survey on physician (1) response rate, (2) survey completion rate, (3) time to response, and (4) time spent completing the survey. A total of 1850 US intensivists from an existing database were randomized to receive a survey invitation email with or without an Amazon.com incentive available to the first 100 respondents. The incentive could be instantly redeemed for an amount chosen by the respondent, up to a maximum of US $50. The overall response rate was 35.90% (630/1755). Among the 35.4% (111/314) of eligible participants choosing the incentive, 80.2% (89/111) selected the maximum value. Among intensivists offered an incentive, the response was 6.0% higher (95% CI 1.5-10.5, P=.01), survey completion was marginally greater (807/859, 94.0% vs 892/991, 90.0%; P=.06), and the median number of days to survey response was shorter (0.8, interquartile range [IQR] 0.2-14.4 vs 6.6, IQR 0.3-22.3; P=.001), with no difference in time spent completing the survey. Permitting intensive care physicians to determine compensation level for completing a short Web-based survey modestly increased response rate and substantially decreased response time without decreasing the time spent on survey completion.

Consumer participation in quality improvements for chronic disease care: development and evaluation of an interactive patient-centered survey to identify preferred service initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Fradgley, Elizabeth A; Paul, Christine L; Bryant, Jamie; Roos, Ian A; Henskens, Frans A; Paul, David J

2014-12-19

With increasing attention given to the quality of chronic disease care, a measurement approach that empowers consumers to participate in improving quality of care and enables health services to systematically introduce patient-centered initiatives is needed. A Web-based survey with complex adaptive questioning and interactive survey items would allow consumers to easily identify and prioritize detailed service initiatives. The aim was to develop and test a Web-based survey capable of identifying and prioritizing patient-centered initiatives in chronic disease outpatient services. Testing included (1) test-retest reliability, (2) patient-perceived acceptability of the survey content and delivery mode, and (3) average completion time, completion rates, and Flesch-Kincaid reading score. In Phase I, the Web-based Consumer Preferences Survey was developed based on a structured literature review and iterative feedback from expert groups of service providers and consumers. The touchscreen survey contained 23 general initiatives, 110 specific initiatives available through adaptive questioning, and a relative prioritization exercise. In Phase II, a pilot study was conducted within 4 outpatient clinics to evaluate the reliability properties, patient-perceived acceptability, and feasibility of the survey. Eligible participants were approached to complete the survey while waiting for an appointment or receiving intravenous therapy. The age and gender of nonconsenters was estimated to ascertain consent bias. Participants with a subsequent appointment within 14 days were asked to complete the survey for a second time. A total of 741 of 1042 individuals consented to participate (71.11% consent), 529 of 741 completed all survey content (78.9% completion), and 39 of 68 completed the test-retest component. Substantial or moderate reliability (Cohen's kappa>0.4) was reported for 16 of 20 general initiatives with observed percentage agreement ranging from 82.1%-100.0%. The majority of

Consumer Participation in Quality Improvements for Chronic Disease Care: Development and Evaluation of an Interactive Patient-Centered Survey to Identify Preferred Service Initiatives

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Christine L; Bryant, Jamie; Roos, Ian A; Henskens, Frans A; Paul, David J

2014-01-01

Background With increasing attention given to the quality of chronic disease care, a measurement approach that empowers consumers to participate in improving quality of care and enables health services to systematically introduce patient-centered initiatives is needed. A Web-based survey with complex adaptive questioning and interactive survey items would allow consumers to easily identify and prioritize detailed service initiatives. Objective The aim was to develop and test a Web-based survey capable of identifying and prioritizing patient-centered initiatives in chronic disease outpatient services. Testing included (1) test-retest reliability, (2) patient-perceived acceptability of the survey content and delivery mode, and (3) average completion time, completion rates, and Flesch-Kincaid reading score. Methods In Phase I, the Web-based Consumer Preferences Survey was developed based on a structured literature review and iterative feedback from expert groups of service providers and consumers. The touchscreen survey contained 23 general initiatives, 110 specific initiatives available through adaptive questioning, and a relative prioritization exercise. In Phase II, a pilot study was conducted within 4 outpatient clinics to evaluate the reliability properties, patient-perceived acceptability, and feasibility of the survey. Eligible participants were approached to complete the survey while waiting for an appointment or receiving intravenous therapy. The age and gender of nonconsenters was estimated to ascertain consent bias. Participants with a subsequent appointment within 14 days were asked to complete the survey for a second time. Results A total of 741 of 1042 individuals consented to participate (71.11% consent), 529 of 741 completed all survey content (78.9% completion), and 39 of 68 completed the test-retest component. Substantial or moderate reliability (Cohen’s kappa>0.4) was reported for 16 of 20 general initiatives with observed percentage agreement

Understanding the Impact of Lottery Incentives on Web Survey Participation and Response Quality: A Leverage-Salience Theory Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chan; Lonn, Steven; Teasley, Stephanie D.

2017-01-01

Cumulative evidence is mixed regarding the effect of lottery incentives on survey participation; little is known about why this strategy sometimes works and other times fails. We examined two factors that can influence the effectiveness of lottery incentives as suggested by leverage-salience theory: emphasis of survey attributes in invitations and…

Survey datasets on women participation in green jobs in the construction industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adedeji O. Afolabi

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The unique qualities of women can make them bearers of solutions towards achieving sustainability and dealing with the dangers attributed to climate change. The attitudinal study utilized a questionnaire instrument to obtain perception of female construction professionals. By using a well-structured questionnaire, data was obtained on women participating in green jobs in the construction Industry. Descriptive statistics is performed on the collected data and presented in tables and mean scores (MS. In addition, inferential statistics of categorical regression was performed on the data to determine the level of influence (beta factor the identified barriers had on the level of participation in green jobs. Barriers and the socio-economic benefits which can guide policies and actions on attracting, retaining and exploring the capabilities of women in green jobs can be obtained from the survey data when analyzed.

A survey of optometry leadership: participation in disaster response.

Science.gov (United States)

Psoter, Walter J; Glotzer, David L; Weiserbs, Kera Fay; Baek, Linda S; Karloopia, Rajiv

2012-01-01

A study was completed to assess the academic and state-level professional optometry leadership views regarding optometry professionals as surge responders in the event of a catastrophic event. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a 21-question, self-administered, structured questionnaire. All U.S. optometry school deans and state optometric association presidents were mailed a questionnaire and instructions to return it by mail on completion; 2 repeated mailings were made. Descriptive statistics were produced and differences between deans and association presidents were tested by Fisher exact test. The questionnaire response rate was 50% (25 returned/50 sent) for the state association presidents and 65% (11/17) for the deans. There were no statistically significant differences between the leadership groups for any survey questions. All agreed that optometrists have the skills, are ethically obligated to help, and that optometrists should receive additional training for participation in disaster response. There was general agreement that optometrists should provide first-aid, obtain medical histories, triage, maintain infection control, manage a point of distribution, prescribe medications, and counsel the "worried well." Starting intravenous lines, interpreting radiographs, and suturing were less favorably supported. There was some response variability between the 2 leadership groups regarding potential sources for training. The overall opinion of optometry professional leadership is that with additional training, optometrists can and should provide an important reserve pool of catastrophic event responders. Copyright © 2011 American Optometric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Volunteer feedback and perceptions after participation in a phase I, first-in-human Ebola vaccine trial: An anonymous survey.

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Julie-Anne Dayer

Full Text Available The continued participation of volunteers in clinical trials is crucial to advances in healthcare. Few data are available regarding the satisfaction and impressions of healthy volunteers after participation in phase I trials, many of which lead to unexpected adverse events. We report feedback from over 100 adult volunteers who took part in a first-in-human trial conducted in a high-income country testing an experimental Ebola vaccine causing significant reactogenicity, as well as unexpected arthritis in one fifth of participants. The anonymous, internet-based satisfaction survey was sent by email to all participants upon their completion of this one-year trial; it asked 24 questions concerning volunteers' motivations, impressions of the trial experience, and overall satisfaction. Answers were summarized using descriptive statistics. Of the 115 trial participants, 103 (90% filled out the survey. Fifty-five respondents (53% were male. Thirty-five respondents (34% were healthcare workers, many of whom would deploy to Ebola-affected countries. All respondents cited scientific advancement as their chief motivation for participation, while 100/103 (97% and 61/103 (59% reported additional "humanitarian reasons" and potential protection from Ebolavirus, respectively. Although investigators had documented adverse events in 97% of trial participants, only 74 of 103 respondents (72% recalled experiencing an adverse event. All reported an overall positive experience, and 93/103 (90% a willingness to participate in future trials. Given the high level of satisfaction, no significant associations could be detected between trial experiences and satisfaction, even among respondents reporting adverse events lasting weeks or months. Despite considerable reactogenicity and unexpected vaccine-related arthritis, all survey respondents reported overall satisfaction. While this trial's context was unique, the positive feedback is likely due at least in part to the

A Survey Study on Customer Experience in Banking Cash Management Products and, Participation Banking Example

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Cüneyt DİRİCAN

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Banking as a safe bridge of risk management balances relation between deposit and loan. In the growing trend of interest-free banking Turkey practice, Participation Banking is working to fix the expectations of customers with reasonable solutions. For corporate customers with comprehensive cash management expectations, producing appropriate and fast solutions are important for a positive and sustainable customer experience. Cash Management covers collection of trade receivables and short -term debt payments. In this study, in the light of the financial ratios of participation banking within the banking industry, a participation bank customers' experiences and expectations in cash management products and services were evaluated with the survey methodology and its importance were also examined.

Industry and Patient Perspectives on Child Participation in Clinical Trials: The Pediatric Assent Initiative Survey Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Lombardi, Donald; Squires, Liza; Sjostedt, Philip; Eichler, Irmgard; Turner, Mark A; Thompson, Charles

2018-01-01

Obtaining assent from children participating in clinical trials acknowledges autonomy and developmental ability to contribute to the consent process. This critical step in pediatric drug development remains poorly understood, with significant room for improving the clarity, efficiency, and implementation of the assent process. Beyond ethical necessity of informing children about their treatment, the assent process provides the advantages of including children in discussions about their diagnosis and treatment-allowing greater understanding of interventions included in the study. A formalized assent process acknowledges the child as a volunteer and provides a forum for questions and feedback. Legal, cultural, and social differences have historically prevented the development of clear, concise, and accessible materials to ensure children understand the clinical trial design. Published guidelines on obtaining pediatric assent are vague, with many decisions left to local institutional review boards and ethics committees, underscoring the need for collaboratively designed standards. To address this need, 2 surveys were conducted to quantify perspectives on assent in pediatric clinical trials. Two digital surveys were circulated in the United States and internationally (October 2014 to January 2015). The first survey targeted children, parents, and/or caregivers. The second polled clinical trial professionals on their organizations' experience and policies regarding pediatric assent. Forty-five respondents completed the child and parent/caregiver survey; 57 respondents completed the industry survey. Respondents from both surveys detailed experiences with clinical trials and the impediments to securing assent, offering potential solutions to attaining assent in pediatric patients. An important opportunity exists for standardized practices and tools to ensure pediatric patients make well-informed decisions regarding their participation in clinical trials, using materials

Web sites survey for electronic public participation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Moon Su; Lee, Young Wook; Kang, Chang Sun

2004-01-01

Public acceptance has been a key factor in nuclear industry as well as other fields. There are many ways to get public acceptance. Public participation in making a policy must be a good tool for this purpose. Moreover, the participation by means of internet may be an excellent way to increase voluntary participation. In this paper, the level of electronic public participation is defined and how easy and deep for lay public to participate electronically is assessed for some organization's web sites

Recent trends and socio-demographic determinants of exercise participation in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauman, A; Owen, N; Rushworth, R L

1990-01-01

Although sentiments about the positive health benefits of regular exercise have been expressed for many centuries, it is only in the past three decades that epidemiologic evidence has provided scientific support for the health benefits of being physically active. The evidence for the protective effect of physical activity is particularly strong with reference to cardiovascular disease, with the relative risk of being "inactive" compared to 'active' estimated to typically lie between 1.5 and 2.0. Despite the popular view that exercise participation has increased in recent years, estimates of trends in physical activity in Australian (and other) populations have been difficult to interpret because of the different measurements and surveys used. We examined data from population surveys using well validated, standardised methods to assess exercise participation, through National surveys between 1984 and 1987 conducted by the Commonwealth Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories (DASETT). Over the period in which the surveys were conducted, there appears to have been a slight increase in the proportion of Australians who participated in regular physical activity. There was a significant decline in the proportion who reported being totally sedentary--from 32.9 per cent in 1984 to 25.4 per cent in 1987. The data from all of the surveys were then pooled to give an overall sample size of 17053, and socio-demographic variables were examined in relation to exercise participation. Women, older people, the less well educated, and those on lower incomes were less likely to perform regular physical activity. Inequalities in the social distribution of exercise participation parallel those found for other health risk factors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

ParticipACTION after 5 years of relaunch: a quantitative survey of Canadian organizational awareness and capacity regarding physical activity initiatives

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Guy Faulkner

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: ParticipACTION is a Canadian physical activity communications and social marketing organization relaunched in 2007. This study assesses the capacity of Canadian organizations to adopt, implement, and promote physical activity initiatives. The four objectives were to compare findings from baseline (2008 and follow-up (2013 with respect to: (1 awareness of ParticipACTION; (2 organizational capacity to adopt, implement and promote physical activity initiatives; (3 potential differences in capacity based on organizational size, sector, and mandate; and (4 assess perceptions of ParticipACTION five years after relaunch. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, representatives from local, provincial/territorial, and national organizations completed an online survey assessing capacity to adopt, implement, and promote physical activity. Descriptive statistics and one-way analyses of variance were conducted to examine the objectives. Results: Response rate for opening an email survey invitation and consenting to participate was 40.6% (685/1688 and 540 surveys were completed. Awareness of ParticipACTION increased from 54.6% at baseline to 93.9% at follow-up (Objective 1. Findings at both baseline and follow-up reflected good organizational capacity to adopt, implement and promote physical activity (Objective 2 although some varied by organizational sector and mandate (Objective 3. Most respondents reported that ParticipACTION provided positive leadership (65.3%, but there was less agreement regarding ParticipACTION’s facilitation of infrastructure (44.0% or organizational will/motivation (47.1%(Objective 4. Conclusion: Canadian organizations continue to report having good capacity to adopt, implement, and promote physical activity. There was no discernible change in capacity indicators five years after ParticipACTION’s relaunch although its broader contribution to the physical activity sector was endorsed.

ParticipACTION after 5 years of relaunch: a quantitative survey of Canadian organizational awareness and capacity regarding physical activity initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Faulkner, Guy; Ramanathan, Subha; Plotnikoff, Ronald C; Berry, Tanya; Deshpande, Sameer; Latimer-Cheung, Amy E; Rhodes, Ryan E; Tremblay, Mark S; Spence, John C

2018-04-01

ParticipACTION is a Canadian physical activity communications and social marketing organization relaunched in 2007. This study assesses the capacity of Canadian organizations to adopt, implement, and promote physical activity initiatives. The four objectives were to compare findings from baseline (2008) and follow-up (2013) with respect to: (1) awareness of ParticipACTION; (2) organizational capacity to adopt, implement and promote physical activity initiatives; (3) potential differences in capacity based on organizational size, sector, and mandate; and (4) assess perceptions of ParticipACTION five years after relaunch. In this cross-sectional study, representatives from local, provincial/territorial, and national organizations completed an online survey assessing capacity to adopt, implement, and promote physical activity. Descriptive statistics and one-way analyses of variance were conducted to examine the objectives. Response rate for opening an email survey invitation and consenting to participate was 40.6% (685/1688) and 540 surveys were completed. Awareness of ParticipACTION increased from 54.6% at baseline to 93.9% at follow-up (Objective 1). Findings at both baseline and follow-up reflected good organizational capacity to adopt, implement and promote physical activity (Objective 2) although some varied by organizational sector and mandate (Objective 3). Most respondents reported that ParticipACTION provided positive leadership (65.3%), but there was less agreement regarding ParticipACTION's facilitation of infrastructure (44.0%) or organizational will/motivation (47.1%)(Objective 4). Canadian organizations continue to report having good capacity to adopt, implement, and promote physical activity. There was no discernible change in capacity indicators five years after ParticipACTION's relaunch although its broader contribution to the physical activity sector was endorsed.

Research priorities in health communication and participation: international survey of consumers and other stakeholders

Science.gov (United States)

Bragge, Peter; Lowe, Dianne; Nunn, Jack S; O’Sullivan, Molly; Horvat, Lidia; Tong, Allison; Kay, Debra; Ghersi, Davina; McDonald, Steve; Poole, Naomi; Bourke, Noni; Lannin, Natasha; Vadasz, Danny; Oliver, Sandy; Carey, Karen; Hill, Sophie J

2018-01-01

Objective To identify research priorities of consumers and other stakeholders to inform Cochrane Reviews in ‘health communication and participation’ (including such concepts as patient experience, shared decision-making and health literacy). Setting International. Participants We included anyone with an interest in health communication and participation. Up to 151 participants (18–80 years; 117 female) across 12 countries took part, including 48 consumers (patients, carers, consumer representatives) and 75 professionals (health professionals, policymakers, researchers) (plus 25 people who identified as both). Design Survey. Methods We invited people to submit their research ideas via an online survey open for 4 weeks. Using inductive thematic analysis, we generated priority research topics, then classified these into broader themes. Results Participants submitted 200 research ideas, which we grouped into 21 priority topics. Key research priorities included: insufficient consumer involvement in research (19 responses), ‘official’ health information is contradictory and hard to understand (18 responses), communication/coordination breakdowns in health services (15 responses), health information provision a low priority for health professionals (15 responses), insufficient eliciting of patient preferences (14 responses), health services poorly understand/implement patient-centred care (14 responses), lack of holistic care impacting healthcare quality and safety (13 responses) and inadequate consumer involvement in service design (11 responses). These priorities encompassed acute and community health settings, with implications for policy and research. Priority populations of interest included people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, carers, and people with low educational attainment, or mental illness. Most frequently suggested interventions focused on training and cultural change activities for health services and health professionals

Motivation for participating in leisure activities: a survey amongst individuals within a corporate environment

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CH van Heerden

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Since individuals within the working population represents a great purchasing power, it is important for the marketer to know what motivate these individuals to participate in leisure activities. The main aim of the study is to determine whether the level of activity present in leisure, the age or the gender of individuals play a role in their motivation to participate in leisure activities. This is especially useful from a South African perspective. A self-administered survey was conducted amongst individuals working in a corporate company in Johannesburg and Sandton in the Gauteng Province.. Contrary to previous academic research, neither the level of activity in leisure, neither the age nor the gender of an individual plays a significant role in their motivation (either intrinsic or extrinsic to participate in leisure activities. It may therefore indicate that whether an individual participates in leisure is dependant on other factors. This might implicate that marketers need not adjust their marketing communication with prospective clients to incorporate these difference (gender and age.

Training practitioners in preparing systematic reviews: a cross-sectional survey of participants in the Australasian Cochrane Centre training program

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Silagy Chris

2002-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although systematic reviews of health care interventions are an invaluable tool for health care providers and researchers, many potential authors never publish reviews. This study attempts to determine why some people with interest in performing systematic reviews do not subsequently publish a review; and what steps could possibly increase review completion. Methods Cross-sectional survey by email and facsimile of the 179 participants in Australasian Cochrane Centre training events between 1998 and 2000. Results Ninety-two participants responded to the survey (51 percent. Response rate of deliverable surveys was 82 percent (92/112. The remainder of the participants had invalid or no contact information on file. More than 75 percent of respondents felt that the current workshops met their needs for training. The most critical barriers to completion of a Cochrane review were: lack of time (80 percent, lack of financial support (36 percent, methodological problems (23 percent and problems with group dynamics (10 percent. Conclusions Strategies to protect reviewer time and increase the efficiency of the review process may increase the numbers of trained reviewers completing a systematic review.

U.S. Department of Energy student research participation programs. Underrepresented minorities in U.S. Department of Energy student research participation programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-03-01

The purpose of this study was to identify those particular aspects of US Department of Energy (DOE) research participation programs for undergraduate and graduate students that are most associated with attracting and benefiting underrepresented minority students and encouraging them to pursue careers in science, engineering, and technology. A survey of selected former underrepresented minority participants, focus group analysis, and critical incident analysis serve as the data sources for this report. Data collected from underrepresented minority participants indicate that concerns expressed and suggestions made for conducting student research programs at DOE contractor facilities are not remarkably different from those made by all participants involved in such student research participation programs. With the exception of specific suggestions regarding recruitment, the findings summarized in this report can be interpreted to apply to all student research participants in DOE national laboratories. Clearly defined assignments, a close mentor-student association, good communication, and an opportunity to interact with other participants and staff are those characteristics that enhance any educational program and have positive impacts on career development.

Satisfaction of Middle School Lunch Program Participants and Non-Participants with the School Lunch Experience

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Smith, Stephanie; Cunningham-Sabo, Leslie; Auld, Garry

2015-01-01

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine middle school students' satisfaction with the school lunch experience, using two validated surveys; the Middle/Junior High School Student Participation Survey and the Middle/Junior High School Student Non-Participation Survey, both developed by the National Food Service Management…

Updating citizenship? The effects of digital media use on citizenship understanding and political participation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ohme, Jakob

2018-01-01

Is there a connection between increased use of digital media and changing patterns of political participation? This study tests how the use of online media for different purposes (social interaction, creative expression, online news use, social media news use) is related to three types of political...... participation. It examines whether mobilizing effects are partly indirect due to different understandings of citizenship (dutiful, optional, individual, collective) that may be fostered by digital media use. The study is based on a survey of a sample of the Danish population (n = 1322), including data from two...... online survey waves and a smartphone-based media diary that documents respondents’ social media use. Results indicate support for a new pathway to participation, but the relationship depends on whether citizens are socialized in a digital media environment....

Adolescent and Young Adult Patient Engagement and Participation in Survey-Based Research: A Report From the "Resilience in Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer" Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, Abby R; Bona, Kira; Wharton, Claire M; Bradford, Miranda; Shaffer, Michele L; Wolfe, Joanne; Baker, Kevin Scott

2016-04-01

Conducting patient-reported outcomes research with adolescents and young adults (AYAs) is difficult due to low participation rates and high attrition. Forty-seven AYAs with newly diagnosed cancer at two large hospitals were prospectively surveyed at the time of diagnosis and 3-6 and 12-18 months later. A subset participated in 1:1 semistructured interviews. Attrition prompted early study closure at one site. The majority of patients preferred paper-pencil to online surveys. Interview participants were more likely to complete surveys (e.g., 93% vs. 58% completion of 3-6 month surveys, P = 0.02). Engaging patients through qualitative methodologies and using patient-preferred instruments may optimize future research success. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Arts Education in America: What the Declines Mean for Arts Participation. Based on the 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. Research Report #52

Science.gov (United States)

Rabkin, Nick; Hedberg, E. C.

2011-01-01

The Surveys of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPAs), conducted for the National Endowment for the Arts, have shown a steady decline in the rates of adult attendance at most "benchmark" arts events--specifically, classical music and jazz concerts, musical and non-musical plays, opera, and ballet performances--as well as declines in other forms…

Participants' preference for type of leaflet used to feed back the results of a randomised trial: a survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Houston Helen

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Hundreds of thousands of volunteers take part in medical research, but many will never hear from researchers about what the study revealed. There is a growing demand for the results of randomised trials to be fed back to research participants both for ethical research practice and for ensuring their co-operation in a trial. This study aims to determine participants' preferences for type of leaflet (short versus long used to summarise the findings of a randomised trial; and to test whether certain characteristics explained participants' preferences. Methods 553 participants in a randomised trial about General Practitioners' access to Magnetic Resonance Imaging for patients presenting with suspected internal derangement of the knee were asked in the final follow-up questionnaire whether they would like to be fed back the results of the trial. Participants who agreed to this were included in a postal questionnaire survey asking about their preference, if any, between a short and a long leaflet and what it was about the leaflet that they preferred. Multinomial logistic regression was used to test whether certain demographics of responding participants along with treatment group explained whether a participant had a preference for type of leaflet or no preference. Results Of the participants who returned the final follow-up questionnaire, 416 (88% agreed to receive the results of the trial. Subsequently 132 (32% participants responded to the survey. Most participants preferred the longer leaflet (55% and the main reasons for this were the use of technical information (94% and diagrams (89%. There was weak evidence to suggest that gender might explain whether participants have a preference for type of leaflet or not (P = 0.084. Conclusions Trial participants want to receive feed back about the results and appear to prefer a longer leaflet. Males and females might require information to be communicated to them differently and should

Participants' preference for type of leaflet used to feed back the results of a randomised trial: a survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Brealey, Stephen; Andronis, Lazaros; Dennis, Laura; Atwell, Christine; Bryan, Stirling; Coulton, Simon; Cox, Helen; Cross, Ben; Fylan, Fiona; Garratt, Andrew; Gilbert, Fiona; Gillan, Maureen; Hendry, Maggie; Hood, Kerenza; Houston, Helen; King, David; Morton, Veronica; Robling, Michael; Russell, Ian; Wilkinson, Clare

2010-12-01

Hundreds of thousands of volunteers take part in medical research, but many will never hear from researchers about what the study revealed. There is a growing demand for the results of randomised trials to be fed back to research participants both for ethical research practice and for ensuring their co-operation in a trial. This study aims to determine participants' preferences for type of leaflet (short versus long) used to summarise the findings of a randomised trial; and to test whether certain characteristics explained participants' preferences. 553 participants in a randomised trial about General Practitioners' access to Magnetic Resonance Imaging for patients presenting with suspected internal derangement of the knee were asked in the final follow-up questionnaire whether they would like to be fed back the results of the trial. Participants who agreed to this were included in a postal questionnaire survey asking about their preference, if any, between a short and a long leaflet and what it was about the leaflet that they preferred. Multinomial logistic regression was used to test whether certain demographics of responding participants along with treatment group explained whether a participant had a preference for type of leaflet or no preference. Of the participants who returned the final follow-up questionnaire, 416 (88%) agreed to receive the results of the trial. Subsequently 132 (32%) participants responded to the survey. Most participants preferred the longer leaflet (55%) and the main reasons for this were the use of technical information (94%) and diagrams (89%). There was weak evidence to suggest that gender might explain whether participants have a preference for type of leaflet or not (P = 0.084). Trial participants want to receive feed back about the results and appear to prefer a longer leaflet. Males and females might require information to be communicated to them differently and should be the focus of further research. The trial is registered

A Descriptive Survey of Weight Control Participants at a U.S. Army Community Hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-08-01

participation in the survey was strictly voluntary; 3. only active duty Army personnel who were on the Army’s weight control program could volunteer ...A.R. 600-9 limit 2 I was singled out because I looked overweight 3 I volunteered for the program 4 Other, specify 18. Where was your initial weight...33. Wing, Rena R., and Epstein, Leonard H. "Prescribed Level of Caloric Restriction in Bahavioral Weight Loss Programs. Addictive Behaviors 6

Research priorities in health communication and participation: international survey of consumers and other stakeholders.

Science.gov (United States)

Synnot, Anneliese; Bragge, Peter; Lowe, Dianne; Nunn, Jack S; O'Sullivan, Molly; Horvat, Lidia; Tong, Allison; Kay, Debra; Ghersi, Davina; McDonald, Steve; Poole, Naomi; Bourke, Noni; Lannin, Natasha; Vadasz, Danny; Oliver, Sandy; Carey, Karen; Hill, Sophie J

2018-05-08

To identify research priorities of consumers and other stakeholders to inform Cochrane Reviews in 'health communication and participation' (including such concepts as patient experience, shared decision-making and health literacy). International. We included anyone with an interest in health communication and participation. Up to 151 participants (18-80 years; 117 female) across 12 countries took part, including 48 consumers (patients, carers, consumer representatives) and 75 professionals (health professionals, policymakers, researchers) (plus 25 people who identified as both). Survey. We invited people to submit their research ideas via an online survey open for 4 weeks. Using inductive thematic analysis, we generated priority research topics, then classified these into broader themes. Participants submitted 200 research ideas, which we grouped into 21 priority topics. Key research priorities included: insufficient consumer involvement in research (19 responses), 'official' health information is contradictory and hard to understand (18 responses), communication/coordination breakdowns in health services (15 responses), health information provision a low priority for health professionals (15 responses), insufficient eliciting of patient preferences (14 responses), health services poorly understand/implement patient-centred care (14 responses), lack of holistic care impacting healthcare quality and safety (13 responses) and inadequate consumer involvement in service design (11 responses). These priorities encompassed acute and community health settings, with implications for policy and research. Priority populations of interest included people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, carers, and people with low educational attainment, or mental illness. Most frequently suggested interventions focused on training and cultural change activities for health services and health professionals. Consumers and other stakeholders want research addressing

Participant recruitment to FiCTION, a primary dental care trial - survey of facilitators and barriers.

Science.gov (United States)

Keightley, A; Clarkson, J; Maguire, A; Speed, C; Innes, N

2014-11-01

To identify reasons behind a lower than expected participant recruitment rate within the FiCTION trial, a multi-centre paediatric primary dental care randomised controlled trial (RCT). An online survey, based on a previously published tool, consisting of both quantitative and qualitative responses, completed by staff in dental practices recruiting to FiCTION. Ratings from quantitative responses were aggregated to give overall scores for factors related to participant recruitment. Qualitative responses were independently grouped into themes. Thirty-nine anonymous responses were received. Main facilitators related to the support received from the central research team and importance of the research question. The main barriers related to low child eligibility rates and the integration of trial processes within routine workloads. These findings have directed strategies for enhancing participant recruitment at existing practices and informed recruitment of further practices. The results help provide a profile of the features required of practices to successfully screen and recruit participants. Future trials in this setting should consider the level of interest in the research question within practices, and ensure trial processes are as streamlined as possible. Research teams should actively support practices with participant recruitment and maintain enthusiasm among the entire practice team.

Expression of the synaptic exocytosis-regulating molecule complexin 2 in taste buds and its participation in peripheral taste transduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Kurokawa, Azusa; Narukawa, Masataka; Ohmoto, Makoto; Yoshimoto, Joto; Abe, Keiko; Misaka, Takumi

2015-06-01

Taste information from type III taste cells to gustatory neurons is thought to be transmitted via synapses. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying taste transduction through this pathway have not been fully elucidated. In this study, to identify molecules that participate in synaptic taste transduction, we investigated whether complexins (Cplxs), which play roles in regulating membrane fusion in synaptic vesicle exocytosis, were expressed in taste bud cells. Among four Cplx isoforms, strong expression of Cplx2 mRNA was detected in type III taste cells. To investigate the function of CPLX2 in taste transduction, we observed taste responses in CPLX2-knockout mice. When assessed with electrophysiological and behavioral assays, taste responses to some sour stimuli in CPLX2-knockout mice were significantly lower than those in wild-type mice. These results suggested that CPLX2 participated in synaptic taste transduction from type III taste cells to gustatory neurons. A part of taste information is thought to be transmitted via synapses. However, the molecular mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. To identify molecules that participate in synaptic taste transduction, we investigated complexins (Cplxs) expression in taste bud cells. Strong expression of Cplx2 mRNA was detected in taste bud cells. Furthermore, taste responses to some sour stimuli in CPLX2- knockout mice were significantly lower than those in wild-type mice. These suggested that CPLX2 participated in synaptic taste transduction. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Neurochemistry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The International Society for Neurochemistry.

An examination of responses to surveys among Filipino-Australian migrants.

Science.gov (United States)

Maneze, Della; Everett, Bronwyn; DiGiacomo, Michelle; Davidson, Patricia M; Salamonson, Yenna

2016-11-18

Background Surveys are frequently used to collect data. Although paper surveys are commonly used, online surveys are gaining in popularity, with the inclusion of open-ended questions (OEQs) allowing respondents to freely express their views. Little is known about how Filipino-Australian migrants respond to surveys. There is some concern about the usefulness of OEQs administered to culturally and linguistically diverse migrants, who may have limited capacity to articulate their thoughts in writing. Aim To examine the responses of Filipino-Australian migrants to a survey. Discussion A total of 552 respondents were recruited, of whom 428 (78%) completed the questionnaire online. The overall response rate to the OEQs was 69%, with higher completion rates among those given a paper-based questionnaire and those with university educations. Conclusion Filipino migrants with functional English language skills responded well to the online survey. Paper-based administration elicited more OEQ responses, which is attributed to greater interaction between participants and researchers. Those with university educations may have more capacity to express themselves in English and were therefore more likely to complete the OEQs. Implications for practice The high response rate obtained in this study suggests that among Filipino-Australian migrants who rated their English language skills and educational level highly, the translation of OEQs may not be necessary. This has important implications for resources in research. Face-to-face interaction between participants and researchers is an important strategy for increasing the rates of response to OEQs.

Participation in online continuing education.

Science.gov (United States)

Farrell, Barbara; Ward, Natalie; Jennings, Brad; Jones, Caitlin; Jorgenson, Derek; Gubbels-Smith, Ashley; Dolovich, Lisa; Kennie, Natalie

2016-02-01

The ADAPT (ADapting pharmacists' skills and Approaches to maximize Patients' drug Therapy effectiveness) e-learning programme requires weekly participation in module activities and facilitated discussion to support skill uptake. In this study, we sought to describe the extent and pattern of, satisfaction with and factors affecting participation in the initial programme offering and reasons for withdrawal. Mixed methods - convergent parallel approach. Participation was examined in qualitative data from discussion boards, assignments and action plans. Learner estimations of time commitment and action plan submission rates were calculated. Surveys (Likert scale and open-ended questions) included mid-point and final, exit and participation surveys. Eleven of 86 learners withdrew, most due to time constraints (eight completed an exit survey; seven said they would take ADAPT again). Thirty-five of 75 remaining learners completed a participation survey. Although 50-60% of the remaining 75 learners actively continued participating, only 15/35 respondents felt satisfied with their own participation. Learners spent 3-5 h/week (average) on module activities. Factors challenging participation included difficulty with technology, managing time and group work. Factors facilitating participation included willingness to learn (content of high interest) and supportive work environment. Being informed of programme time scheduling in advance was identified as a way to enhance participation. This study determined extent of learner participation in an online pharmacist continuing education programme and identified factors influencing participation. Interactions between learners and the online interface, content and with other learners are important considerations for designing online education programmes. Recommendations for programme changes were incorporated following this evaluation to facilitate participation. © 2015 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Understanding Citizenship, Understanding Social Media? The effects of digital media on citizenship understanding and political participation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ohme, Jakob; Albæk, Erik

Is there a connection between increased use of digital media and changing patterns of political participation? This study tests how use of online media for different purposes (social interaction, creative expression, online news use, social media news use) is related to three types of political...... participation. It examines whether mobilizing effects are partly indirect due to different understandings of citizenship (dutiful, optional, individual, collective) that may be fostered by digital media use. The study is based on a survey of a sample of the Danish population (n=1322), including data from two...... online survey waves and a smartphone-based media diary that documents respondents’ social media use. Results indicate support for a new pathway to participation, but the relationship depends on whether citizens are socialized in a digital media environment....

Assessment of a multimedia-based prospective method to support public deliberations on health technology design: participant survey findings and qualitative insights.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehoux, P; Jimenez-Pernett, J; Miller, F A; Williams-Jones, B

2016-10-26

Using a combination of videos and online short stories, we conducted four face-to-face deliberative workshops in Montreal (Quebec, Canada) with members of the public who later joined additional participants in an online forum to discuss the social and ethical implications of prospective technologies. This paper presents the participants' appraisal of our intervention and provides novel qualitative insights into the use of videos and online tools in public deliberations. We applied a mixed-method study design. A self-administered survey contained open- and close-ended items using a 5-level Likert-like scale. Absolute frequencies and proportions for the close-ended items were compiled. Qualitative data included field notes, the transcripts of the workshops and the participants' contributions to the online forum. The qualitative data were used to flesh out the survey data describing the participants' appraisal of: 1) the multimedia components of our intervention; 2) its deliberative face-to-face and online processes; and 3) its perceived effects. Thirty-eight participants contributed to the workshops and 57 to the online forum. A total of 46 participants filled-in the survey, for a response rate of 73 % (46/63). The videos helped 96 % of the participants to understand the fictional technologies and the online scenarios helped 98 % to reflect about the issues raised. Up to 81 % considered the arguments of the other participants to be well thought-out. Nearly all participants felt comfortable sharing their ideas in both the face-to-face (89 %) and online environments (93 %), but 88 % preferred the face-to-face workshop. As a result of the intervention, 85 % reflected more about the pros and cons of technology and 94 % learned more about the way technologies may transform society. This study confirms the methodological feasibility of a deliberative intervention whose originality lies in its use of videos and online scenarios. To increase deliberative depth and foster a

Survey of the Heritability and Sparse Architecture of Gene Expression Traits across Human Tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Wheeler, Heather E; Shah, Kaanan P; Brenner, Jonathon; Garcia, Tzintzuni; Aquino-Michaels, Keston; Cox, Nancy J; Nicolae, Dan L; Im, Hae Kyung

2016-11-01

Understanding the genetic architecture of gene expression traits is key to elucidating the underlying mechanisms of complex traits. Here, for the first time, we perform a systematic survey of the heritability and the distribution of effect sizes across all representative tissues in the human body. We find that local h2 can be relatively well characterized with 59% of expressed genes showing significant h2 (FDR Decomposition (OTD) approach. Through a series of simulations we show that the cross-tissue and tissue-specific components are identifiable via OTD. Heritability and sparsity estimates of these derived expression phenotypes show similar characteristics to the original traits. Consistent properties relative to prior GTEx multi-tissue analysis results suggest that these traits reflect the expected biology. Finally, we apply this knowledge to develop prediction models of gene expression traits for all tissues. The prediction models, heritability, and prediction performance R2 for original and decomposed expression phenotypes are made publicly available (https://github.com/hakyimlab/PrediXcan).

Associations Between Resilience, Community Belonging, and Social Participation Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Results From the Eastern Townships Population Health Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Levasseur, Mélanie; Roy, Mathieu; Michallet, Bernard; St-Hilaire, France; Maltais, Danielle; Généreux, Mélissa

2017-12-01

To examine the associations between resilience, community belonging, and social participation, and the moderating effect of resilience on the association between community belonging and social participation among community-dwelling older adults. Cross-sectional; secondary analyses of the Eastern Townships Population Health Survey. Community. A sample (N=4541) of women (n=2485) and men (n=2056) aged ≥60 years was randomly selected according to area. Most participants had community belonging, and resilience were collected by phone interviewer-administered questionnaire. A social participation scale measured frequency of participation in 8 community activities. A 4-point Likert scale ranging from "very strong" to "very weak" estimated sense of belonging to the local community. Social participation and sense of belonging questions came from Statistics Canada surveys. Resilience was assessed with the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, capturing the ability to cope with adversity. Controlling for age, education, and psychological distress, greater resilience and community belonging were associated with greater social participation among women (R 2 =.13; Pcommunity belonging and social participation varied as a function of resilience, especially in men. Greater community belonging further enhanced social participation, especially among women (P=.03) and men (Pcommunity belonging and social participation among community-dwelling older women and, especially, men. Interventions targeting social participation should consider the potential impact of resilience on improving community belonging. Future studies should investigate why resilience moderates associations between community belonging and social participation, and how to enhance resilience among older adults. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A National Survey of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Participants on Environmental Effects, Wildlife Issues, and Vegetation Management on Program Lands

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Allen, Arthur

2003-01-01

A national survey of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contractees was completed to obtain information about environmental and social effects of the program on participants, farms, and communities...

Factors Associated with Participation, Active Refusals and Reasons for Not Taking Part in a Mortality Followback Survey Evaluating End-of-Life Care.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalia Calanzani

Full Text Available Examination of factors independently associated with participation in mortality followback surveys is rare, even though these surveys are frequently used to evaluate end-of-life care. We aimed to identify factors associated with 1 participation versus non-participation and 2 provision of an active refusal versus a silent refusal; and systematically examine reasons for refusal in a population-based mortality followback survey.Postal survey about the end-of-life care received by 1516 people who died from cancer (aged ≥18, identified through death registrations in London, England (response rate 39.3%. The informant of death (a relative in 95.3% of cases was contacted 4-10 months after the patient died. We used multivariate logistic regression to identify factors associated with participation/active refusals and content analysis to examine refusal reasons provided by 205 nonparticipants.The odds of partaking were higher for patients aged 90+ (AOR 3.48, 95%CI: 1.52-8.00, ref: 20-49yrs and female informants (AOR 1.70, 95%CI: 1.33-2.16. Odds were lower for hospital deaths (AOR 0.62, 95%CI: 0.46-0.84, ref: home and proxies other than spouses/partners (AORs 0.28 to 0.57. Proxies of patients born overseas were less likely to provide an active refusal (AOR 0.49; 95% CI: 0.32-0.77. Refusal reasons were often multidimensional, most commonly study-related (36.0%, proxy-related and grief-related (25.1% each. One limitation of this analysis is the large number of nonparticipants who did not provide reasons for refusal (715/920.Our survey better reached proxies of older patients while those dying in hospitals were underrepresented. Proxy characteristics played a role, with higher participation from women and spouses/partners. More information is needed about the care received by underrepresented groups. Study design improvements may guide future questionnaire development and help develop strategies to increase response rates.

Factors Associated with Participation, Active Refusals and Reasons for Not Taking Part in a Mortality Followback Survey Evaluating End-of-Life Care

Science.gov (United States)

Calanzani, Natalia; Higginson, Irene J; Koffman, Jonathan; Gomes, Barbara

2016-01-01

Background Examination of factors independently associated with participation in mortality followback surveys is rare, even though these surveys are frequently used to evaluate end-of-life care. We aimed to identify factors associated with 1) participation versus non-participation and 2) provision of an active refusal versus a silent refusal; and systematically examine reasons for refusal in a population-based mortality followback survey. Methods Postal survey about the end-of-life care received by 1516 people who died from cancer (aged ≥18), identified through death registrations in London, England (response rate 39.3%). The informant of death (a relative in 95.3% of cases) was contacted 4–10 months after the patient died. We used multivariate logistic regression to identify factors associated with participation/active refusals and content analysis to examine refusal reasons provided by 205 nonparticipants. Findings The odds of partaking were higher for patients aged 90+ (AOR 3.48, 95%CI: 1.52–8.00, ref: 20–49yrs) and female informants (AOR 1.70, 95%CI: 1.33–2.16). Odds were lower for hospital deaths (AOR 0.62, 95%CI: 0.46–0.84, ref: home) and proxies other than spouses/partners (AORs 0.28 to 0.57). Proxies of patients born overseas were less likely to provide an active refusal (AOR 0.49; 95% CI: 0.32–0.77). Refusal reasons were often multidimensional, most commonly study-related (36.0%), proxy-related and grief-related (25.1% each). One limitation of this analysis is the large number of nonparticipants who did not provide reasons for refusal (715/920). Conclusions Our survey better reached proxies of older patients while those dying in hospitals were underrepresented. Proxy characteristics played a role, with higher participation from women and spouses/partners. More information is needed about the care received by underrepresented groups. Study design improvements may guide future questionnaire development and help develop strategies to increase

Perspectives on marijuana use and effectiveness: A survey of NARCOMS participants.

Science.gov (United States)

Cofield, Stacey S; Salter, Amber; Tyry, Tuula; Crowe, Christina; Cutter, Gary R; Fox, Robert J; Marrie, Ruth Ann

2017-08-01

Interest in and use of marijuana by persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) has increased. While potential benefits have been reported, so have concerns about potential risks. Few large studies have been conducted about the perceptions and current usage of marijuana and medical cannabinoids in persons with MS. Participants in the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) registry were surveyed in 2014 regarding legality and history of marijuana usage, both before and after diagnosis with MS. A total of 5,481 participants responded, with 78.2% female, 90% relapsing disease at onset, and a current mean age of 55.5 (10.2) years. Sixty-four percent had tried marijuana prior to their MS diagnosis, 47% have considered using for their MS, 26% have used for their MS, 20% have spoken with their physician about use, and 16% are currently using marijuana. Ninety-one percent think marijuana should be legal in some form. Men, those with higher disability, current and past nicotine smokers, and younger age were associated with a higher likelihood of current use. The majority of responders favor legalization and report high interest in the use of marijuana for treatment of MS symptoms, but may be reluctant to discuss this with health care providers. Health care providers should systematically inquire about use of marijuana.

Memory for faces with emotional expressions in Alzheimer's disease and healthy older participants: positivity effect is not only due to familiarity.

Science.gov (United States)

Sava, Alina-Alexandra; Krolak-Salmon, Pierre; Delphin-Combe, Floriane; Cloarec, Morgane; Chainay, Hanna

2017-01-01

Young individuals better memorize initially seen faces with emotional rather than neutral expressions. Healthy older participants and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients show better memory for faces with positive expressions. The socioemotional selectivity theory postulates that this positivity effect in memory reflects a general age-related preference for positive stimuli, subserving emotion regulation. Another explanation might be that older participants use compensatory strategies, often considering happy faces as previously seen. The question about the existence of this effect in tasks not permitting such compensatory strategies is still open. Thus, we compared the performance of healthy participants and AD patients for positive, neutral, and negative faces in such tasks. Healthy older participants and AD patients showed a positivity effect in memory, but there was no difference between emotional and neutral faces in young participants. Our results suggest that the positivity effect in memory is not entirely due to the sense of familiarity for smiling faces.

Employee Participation in Europe: In search of the participative workplace

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poutsma, E.; Hendrickx, J.; Huygen, F.

2003-01-01

This article presents an overview of participation schemes in European companies, It is based on a secondary analysis of data from the 1996 EPOC mail survey among managers of profit sector establishments in 10 EU countries. The article describes the diverse extent and nature of participative

Civic Participation and Self-rated Health: A Cross-national Multi-level Analysis Using the World Value Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saerom Kim

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Civic participation, that which directly influences important decisions in our personal lives, is considered necessary for developing a society. We hypothesized that civic participation might be related to self-rated health status. Methods: We constructed a multi-level analysis using data from the World Value Survey (44 countries, n=50 859. Results: People who participated in voting and voluntary social activities tended to report better subjective health than those who did not vote or participate in social activities, after controlling for socio-demographic factors at the individual level. A negative association with unconventional political activity and subjective health was found, but this effect disappeared in a subset analysis of only the 18 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD countries. Moreover, social participation and unconventional political participation had a statistically significant contextual association with subjective health status, but this relationship was not consistent throughout the analysis. In the analysis of the 44 countries, social participation was of borderline significance, while in the subset analysis of the OECD countries unconventional political participation was a stronger determinant of subjective health. The democratic index was a significant factor in determining self-rated health in both analyses, while public health expenditure was a significant factor in only the subset analysis. Conclusions: Despite the uncertainty of its mechanism, civic participation might be a significant determinant of the health status of a country.

Assessing the Effects of Participant Preference and Demographics in the Usage of Web-based Survey Questionnaires by Women Attending Screening Mammography in British Columbia.

Science.gov (United States)

Mlikotic, Rebecca; Parker, Brent; Rajapakshe, Rasika

2016-03-22

Increased usage of Internet applications has allowed for the collection of patient reported outcomes (PROs) and other health data through Web-based communication and questionnaires. While these Web platforms allow for increased speed and scope of communication delivery, there are certain limitations associated with this technology, as survey mode preferences vary across demographic groups. To investigate the impact of demographic factors and participant preferences on the use of a Web-based questionnaire in comparison with more traditional methods (mail and phone) for women participating in screening mammography in British Columbia, Canada. A sample of women attending the Screening Mammography Program of British Columbia (SMPBC) participated in a breast cancer risk assessment project. The study questionnaire was administered through one of three modes (ie, telephone, mail, or website platform). Survey mode preferences and actual methods of response were analyzed for participants recruited from Victoria General Hospital. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were used to investigate the association of demographic factors (ie, age, education level, and ethnicity) with certain survey response types. A total of 1192 women successfully completed the study questionnaire at Victoria General Hospital. Mail was stated as the most preferred survey mode (509/1192, 42.70%), followed by website platform (422/1192, 35.40%), and telephone (147/1192, 12.33%). Over 80% (955/1192) of participants completed the questionnaire in the mode previously specified as their most preferred; mail was the most common method of response (688/1192, 57.72%). Mail was also the most preferred type of questionnaire response method when participants responded in a mode other than their original preference. The average age of participants who responded via the Web-based platform (age 52.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 52.1-53.7) was significantly lower than those who used mail and telephone methods

Social isolation, survey nonresponse, and nonresponse bias: An empirical evaluation using social network data within an organization.

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Megumi; Olson, Kristen; Falci, Christina

2017-03-01

Survey researchers have long hypothesized that social isolation negatively affects the probability of survey participation and biases survey estimates. Previous research, however, has relied on proxy measures of isolation, such as being a marginalized group member within a population. We re-examine the relationship between social isolation and survey participation using direct measures of social isolation derived from social network data; specifically, instrumental research and expressive friendship connections among faculty within academic departments. Using a reconceptualization of social isolation, we find that social network isolation is negatively associated with unit response. Among women (a numerical minority group within the organization), we further find that social group isolation (i.e., lacking instrumental network connections to men, the majority group in the organization) is negatively associated with survey participation. Finally, we show that some survey estimates are systematically biased due to nonparticipation from socially isolated people. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preliminary development and validation of an Australian community participation questionnaire: types of participation and associations with distress in a coastal community.

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, Helen Louise; Rodgers, Bryan; Dear, Keith B G

2007-04-01

Participating in the social and civic life of communities is protectively associated with the onset and course of physical and mental disorders, and is considered important in achieving health promotion goals. Despite its importance in health research, there is no systematically developed measure of community participation. Our aim was to undertake the preliminary development of a community participation questionnaire, including validating it against an external reference, general psychological distress. Participants were 963 randomly selected community members, aged 19-97, from coastal New South Wales, Australia, who completed an anonymous postal survey. There were 14 types of community participation, most of which were characterised by personal involvement, initiative and effort. Frequency of participation varied across types and between women and men. Based on multiple linear regression analyses, controlling for socio-demographic factors, nine types of participation were independently and significantly associated with general psychological distress. Unexpectedly, for two of these, "expressing opinions publicly" and "political protest", higher levels of participation were associated with higher levels of distress. The other seven were: contact with immediate household, extended family, friends, and neighbours; participating in organised community activities; taking an active interest in current affairs; and religious observance. We called these the "Big 7". Higher levels of participation in the Big 7 were associated with lower levels of distress. Participating in an increasing number of the Big 7 types of participation was strongly associated in linear fashion with decreasing distress.

Assessing Cycling Participation in Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chris Rissel

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Planning and evaluating cycling programs at a national or state level requires accurate measures of cycling participation. However, recent reports of cycling participation have produced very different estimates. This paper examines the reported rates of cycling in five recent population surveys of cycling. Three surveys (one national and two from Sydney asking respondents when they last rode a bicycle generated cycling participation (cycled in the past year estimates of 29.7%, 34.1% and 28.9%. Two other national surveys which asked participants to recall (unprompted any physical activity done for exercise, recreation or sport in the previous 12 months, estimated cycling in the past year as 11.1% and 6.5%. While unprompted recall of cycling as a type of physical activity generates lower estimates of cycling participation than specific recall questions, both assessment approaches produced similar patterns of cycling by age and sex with both approaches indicating fewer women and older adults cycling. The different question styles most likely explain the substantial discrepancies between the estimates of cycling participation. Some differences are to be expected due to sampling variability, question differences, and regional variation in cycling.

Assessment of perception of morphed facial expressions using the Emotion Recognition Task: normative data from healthy participants aged 8-75.

Science.gov (United States)

Kessels, Roy P C; Montagne, Barbara; Hendriks, Angelique W; Perrett, David I; de Haan, Edward H F

2014-03-01

The ability to recognize and label emotional facial expressions is an important aspect of social cognition. However, existing paradigms to examine this ability present only static facial expressions, suffer from ceiling effects or have limited or no norms. A computerized test, the Emotion Recognition Task (ERT), was developed to overcome these difficulties. In this study, we examined the effects of age, sex, and intellectual ability on emotion perception using the ERT. In this test, emotional facial expressions are presented as morphs gradually expressing one of the six basic emotions from neutral to four levels of intensity (40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%). The task was administered in 373 healthy participants aged 8-75. In children aged 8-17, only small developmental effects were found for the emotions anger and happiness, in contrast to adults who showed age-related decline on anger, fear, happiness, and sadness. Sex differences were present predominantly in the adult participants. IQ only minimally affected the perception of disgust in the children, while years of education were correlated with all emotions but surprise and disgust in the adult participants. A regression-based approach was adopted to present age- and education- or IQ-adjusted normative data for use in clinical practice. Previous studies using the ERT have demonstrated selective impairments on specific emotions in a variety of psychiatric, neurologic, or neurodegenerative patient groups, making the ERT a valuable addition to existing paradigms for the assessment of emotion perception. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Participation in Types of Physical Activities Among US Adults--National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2006.

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Shifan; Carroll, Dianna D; Watson, Kathleen B; Paul, Prabasaj; Carlson, Susan A; Fulton, Janet E

2015-06-01

Information on specific types of physical activities in which US adults participate is important for community and program development to promote physical activity. Prevalence of participation and average time spent for 33 leisure-time aerobic activities and 10 activity categories were calculated using self-reported data from 22,545 participants aged ≥ 18 years in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2006. Overall, 38% of US adults reported no leisure-time physical activities, and 43% reported 1 or 2 activities in the past 30 days. Walking was the most frequently reported activity for both men (29%) and women (38%). Among walkers, the average time spent walking was 198 minutes/week for men and 152 minutes/week for women. The most reported activities for men after walking were bicycling and yard work, and for women were aerobics and dance. For most activity categories, participation was lower among adults aged ≥ 65 years than among younger adults, and among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic blacks than among non-Hispanic whites. Participation in most categories increased with increasing educational attainment. Participation in physical activity differs by types of activities and demographic characteristics. Physical activity promotion programs should take these differences into account when developing intervention strategies.

Express saccades in distinct populations: east, west, and in-between.

Science.gov (United States)

Knox, Paul C; Wolohan, Felicity D A; Helmy, Mai S

2017-12-01

Express saccades are low latency (80-130 ms), visually guided saccades. While their occurrence is encouraged by the use of gap tasks (the fixation target is extinguished 200 ms prior to the saccade target appearing) and suppressed by the use of overlap tasks (the fixation target remains present when the saccade target appears), there are some healthy, adult participants, "express saccade makers" (ESMs), who persist in generating high proportions (> 30%) of express saccades in overlap conditions. These participants are encountered much more frequently in Chinese participant groups than amongst the Caucasian participants tested to date. What is not known is whether this high number of ESMs is only a feature of Chinese participant groups. More broadly, there are few comparative studies of saccade behaviour across large participant groups drawn from different populations. We, therefore, tested an independent group of 70 healthy adult Egyptian participants, using the same equipment and procedures as employed in the previous studies. Each participant was exposed to two blocks of 200 gap, and two blocks of 200 overlap trials, with block order counterbalanced. Results from the Schwartz Value Survey were used to confirm that this group of participants was culturally distinct from the Chinese and Caucasian (white British) groups tested previously. Fourteen percent (10/70) of this new group were ESMs, and the pattern of latency distribution in these ESMs was identical to that identified in the other participant groups, with a prominent peak in the express latency range in overlap conditions. Overall, we identified three modes in the distribution of saccade latency in overlap conditions, the timing of which (express peak at 110 ms, subsequent peaks at 160 and 210 ms) were strikingly consistent with our previous observations. That these behavioural patterns of saccade latency are observed consistently in large participant groups, drawn from geographically, ethnically, and

Sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 participates in the regulation of fatty acid synthase expression in colorectal neoplasia.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, J N; Mahmoud, M A; Han, W F; Ripple, M; Pizer, E S

2000-11-25

Endogenous fatty acid synthesis has been observed in certain rapidly proliferating normal and neoplastic tissues. Sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs) are transcription factors that regulate the expression of lipogenic genes including fatty acid synthase (FAS), the major biosynthetic enzyme for fatty acid synthesis. We have previously shown that SREBP-1, FAS, and Ki-67, a proliferation marker, colocalized in the crypts of the fetal gastrointestinal tract epithelium. This study sought to determine whether SREBP-1 participates in the regulation of proliferation-associated fatty acid synthesis in colorectal neoplasia. An immunohistochemical analysis of SREBP-1, FAS, and Ki-67 expression in 25 primary human colorectal carcinoma specimens showed colocalization in 22 of these. To elucidate a functional linkage between SREBP-1 activation and proliferation-associated FA synthesis, SREBP-1 and FAS content were assayed during the adaptive response of cultured HCT116 colon carcinoma cells to pharmacological inhibition of FA synthesis. Cerulenin and TOFA each inhibited the endogenous synthesis of fatty acids in a dose-dependent manner and each induced increases in both precursor and mature forms of SREBP-1. Subsequently, both the transcriptional activity of the FAS promoter in a luciferase reporter gene construct and the FAS expression increased. These results demonstrate that tumor cells recognize and respond to a deficiency in endogenous fatty acid synthesis by upregulating both SREBP-1 and FAS expression and support the model that SREBP-1 participates in the transcriptional regulation of lipogenic genes in colorectal neoplasia. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Surveying hospital nurses to discover educational needs and preferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Michael Lindsay

2017-07-01

Results: Surveys were completed by 865 respondents, which represented a response rate of 58%. The majority of respondents were registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and paramedics (81%, and day-shift workers (65%. For education topics, nursing staff placed the highest priority on finding health-related mobile apps for professionals and developing evidence-based research skills. For mode of delivery, respondents expressed a preference for unit-based in-service, computer-based tutorials, and hands-on computer training. Most (70% respondents expressed an interest in participating in a research information skills certificate program. Conclusions: Our survey results reveal an avenue for reinvigorating and updating the library’s educational program to match the needs of nursing staff and may offer valuable insight for other libraries seeking to do the same.  This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program.

A survey of healthcare industry representatives' participation in surgery: some new ethical concerns.

Science.gov (United States)

Bedard, Jeffrey; Moore, Crystal Dea; Shelton, Wayne

2014-01-01

To provide preliminary evidence of the types and amount of involvement by healthcare industry representatives (HCIRs) in surgery, as well as the ethical concerns of those representatives. A link to an anonymous, web-based survey was posted on several medical device boards of the website http://www. cafepharma.com. Additionally, members of two different medical device groups on LinkedIn were asked to participate. Respondents were self-identified HCIRs in the fields of orthopedics, cardiology, endoscopic devices, lasers, general surgery, ophthalmic surgery, oral surgery, anesthesia products, and urologic surgery. A total of 43 HCIRs replied to the survey over a period of one year: 35 men and eight women. Respondents reported attending an average of 184 surgeries in the prior year and had an average of 17 years as an HCIR and six years with their current employer. Of the respondents, 21 percent (nine of 43) had direct physical contact with a surgical team or patient during a surgery, and 88 percent (38 of 43) provided verbal instruction to a surgical team during a surgery. Additionally, 37 percent (16 of 43) had participated in a surgery in which they felt that their involvement was excessive, and 40 percent (17 of 43) had attended a surgery in which they questioned the competence of the surgeon. HCIRs play a significant role in surgery. Involvement that exceeds their defined role, however, can raise serious ethical and legal questions for surgeons and surgical teams. Surgical teams may at times be substituting the knowledge of the HCIR for their own competence with a medical device or instrument. In some cases, contact with the surgical team or patient may violate the guidelines not only of hospitals and medical device companies, but the law as well. Further study is required to determine if the patients involved have any knowledge or understanding of the role that an HCIR played in their surgery. Copyright 2014 The Journal of Clinical Ethics. All rights reserved.

Safety of sports participation in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators: a survey of heart rhythm society members.

Science.gov (United States)

Lampert, Rachel; Cannom, David; Olshansky, Brian

2006-01-01

Safety of Sports for ICD Patients. The safety of sports participation for patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) is unknown, and recommendations among physicians may vary widely. The purposes of this study were to determine current practice among patients with ICDs and their physicians regarding sports participation, and to determine how many physicians have cared for patients who have sustained adverse events during sports participation. A survey was mailed to all 1,687 U.S. physician members of the Heart Rhythm Society. Among 614 respondent physicians, recommendations varied widely. Only 10% recommended avoidance of all sports more vigorous than golf. Seventy-six percent recommended avoidance of contact, and 45% recommend avoidance of competitive sports. Most (71%) based restrictions on patients' underlying heart disease. Regardless of recommendations, most physicians (71%) reported caring for patients who participated in sports, including many citing vigorous, competitive sports, most commonly cited were basketball, running, and skiing. ICD shocks during sports were common, cited by 40% of physicians. However, few adverse consequences were reported. One percent of physicians reported known injury to patient (all but 3 minor); 5%, injury to the ICD system, and weightlifting and golf. Physician recommendations for sports participation for patients with ICDs varies widely. Many patients with ICDs do participate in vigorous and even competitive sports. While shocks were common, significant adverse events were rare.

Radiographer commenting of trauma radiographs: a survey of the benefits, barriers and enablers to participation in an Australian healthcare setting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neep, Michael J.; Steffens, Tom; Owen, Rebecca; McPhail, Steven M.

2014-01-01

Radiographer abnormality detection systems that highlight abnormalities on trauma radiographs ('red dot' system) have been operating for more than 30 years. Recently, a number of pitfalls have been identified. These limitations initiated the evolution of a radiographer commenting system, whereby a radiographer provides a brief description of abnormalities identified in emergency healthcare settings. This study investigated radiographers' participation in abnormality detection systems, their perceptions of benefits, barriers and enablers to radiographer commenting, and perceptions of potential radiographer image interpretation services for emergency settings. A cross-sectional survey was implemented. Participants included radiographers from four metropolitan hospitals in Queensland, Australia. Conventional descriptive statistics, histograms and thematic analysis were undertaken. Seventy-three surveys were completed and included in the analysis (68% response rate); 30 (41%) of respondents reported participating in abnormality detection in 20% or less of examinations, and 26(36%) reported participating in 80% or more of examinations. Five overarching perceived benefits of radiographer commenting were identified: assisting multidisciplinary teams, patient care, radiographer ability, professional benefits and quality of imaging. Frequently reported perceived barriers included 'difficulty accessing image interpretation education', 'lack of time' and 'low confidence in interpreting radiographs'. Perceived enablers included 'access to image interpretation education' and 'support from radiologist colleagues'. A range of factors are likely to contribute to the successful implementation of radiographer commenting in addition to abnormality detection in emergency settings. Effective image interpretation education amenable to completion by radiographers would likely prove valuable in preparing radiographers for participation in abnormality detection and commenting systems in

A Survey Study of Institutional Review Board Thought Processes in the United States and South Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Si-Kyung Jung

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In the last several decades, South Korea has rapidly adopted Western customs and practices. Yet, cultural differences between South Korea and the United States exist. The purpose ofthis study was to identify and characterize potential cultural differences in the Korean and US institutional review board (IRB approach to certain topics.Methods: A qualitative analysis of a 9-item survey, describing 4 research study case scenarios, sent to IRB members from the United States and South Korea. The case scenarios involved the followingissues: (1 the need for consent for retrospective chart review when research subjects receive their care after the study is conceived; (2 child assent; (3 individual versus population benefit; and (4 exception from informed consent in emergency resuscitation research. The free-text responses were analyzed and abstracted for recurrent themes.Results: Twenty-three of the 45 survey recipients completed the survey, for an overall response rate of 51%. The themes that emerged were as follows: (1 the importance of parental authority among Korean participants versus the importance of child autonomy and child assent among US participants; (2 the recognition of the rights of a proxy or surrogate who can represent an individual’s values by all participants; and (3 the importance of the community, expressed by the Korean respondents, versus individualism, expressed by US respondents.Conclusion: Whereas US participants appear to emphasize the importance of the individual and the autonomy of a child, the Korean respondents stressed the importance of parental authority andbenefiting the community, above and beyond that of the individual person. However, there was substantial overlap in the themes expressed by respondents from both countries.

Surveying hospital nurses to discover educational needs and preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsay, J Michael; Oelschlegel, Sandy; Earl, Martha

2017-07-01

The author investigated the educational needs of nurses in an American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet hospital to determine topics of interest, instruction time and delivery preferences, and interest in a research information skills certificate provided by the library. A 9-question survey was distributed to 1,500 nursing staff of the hospital through email. Surveys were completed by 865 respondents, which represented a response rate of 58%. The majority of respondents were registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and paramedics (81%), and day-shift workers (65%). For education topics, nursing staff placed the highest priority on finding health-related mobile apps for professionals and developing evidence-based research skills. For mode of delivery, respondents expressed a preference for unit-based in-service, computer-based tutorials, and hands-on computer training. Most (70%) respondents expressed an interest in participating in a research information skills certificate program. Our survey results reveal an avenue for reinvigorating and updating the library's educational program to match the needs of nursing staff and may offer valuable insight for other libraries seeking to do the same.

Oncologists' negative attitudes towards expressing emotion over patient death and burnout.

Science.gov (United States)

Granek, Leeat; Ben-David, Merav; Nakash, Ora; Cohen, Michal; Barbera, Lisa; Ariad, Samuel; Krzyzanowska, Monika K

2017-05-01

The aims of this study were to examine the relationship between negative attitudes towards expressing emotion following patient death and burnout in oncologists and to explore oncologists' preferences for institutional interventions to deal with patient death. The participants included a convenience sample of 177 oncologists from Israel and Canada. Oncologists completed a questionnaire package that included a sociodemographic survey, a burnout measure, a survey assessing negative attitudes towards expressing emotion, and a survey assessing desired interventions to cope with patient death. To examine the association between burnout and negative attitudes while controlling for the effect of sociodemographic variables, a hierarchical linear regression was computed. Higher burnout scores were related to higher negative attitudes towards perceived expressed emotion (partial r = .25, p training) helpful in coping with patient death. Our findings suggest that high burnout scores are associated with negative attitudes towards expressing emotion and that there is a wide variation in oncologist preferences in coping with patient death. Institutions should promote interventions that are varied and that focus on the needs of oncologists in order to reduce burnout. Interventions that legitimize expression of emotion about patient death may be useful. Another way to reduce stigma would be to require oncologists to "opt out" rather than "opt in" to accessing a selection of social and/or individual interventions.

Negative and positive participant responses to the composite international diagnostic interview - Results of the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Graaf, R. de; Have, M.L. ten; Dorsselaer, S.A.F.M. van; Schoemaker, C.G.; Vollebergh, W.A.M.

2004-01-01

Little is known about the emotional responses of participants in community surveys to standardised psychiatric interviews like the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). This study investigates the proportion of subjects responding negatively or positively to the CIDI, and identifies

Questionnaire survey of current status and reserve for breast cancer screening in Mie prefecture. Achievement of a 50% participation rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Shigeki; Tanaka, Yukio; Matsuo, Michiko

2012-01-01

Mie Medical Network of Breast Cancer Screening, a NPO, was assigned the task of breast cancer screening in Mie prefecture in April, 2010. For breast cancer screening in Mie prefecture in 2009, a questionnaire survey was performed toward both consigner and consignee. Consigners were local public offices managing breast cancer screening for local inhabitants, and consignees were facilities offering breast cancer screening. The number of breast cancer screening was investigated toward all 29 of consigners in Mie prefecture. The questionnaire survey was conducted toward all 52 of the facilities possessing mammography systems (breast cancer screening being performed at 48 of them) in Mie prefecture in 2009. We investigated the predictive additional number of breast cancer screening and also investigated the requisite number of staff to achieve the predictive maximum number of breast cancer screening. As a result, the total number of breast cancer screenings was 93,525, and the participation rate was 27.5% which was calculated by reduction of continuator in Mie prefecture in 2009. The continuator accounted for over 30% of all breast cancer screenings. The predictive additional number was 126,950, this indicates that a possible participation rate of 75.2% after 2011. To achieve this high participation rate, active support is essential for short-handed facilities, and about 20% increase of medical staff is necessary. To achieve a participation rate of over 50% as a goal, new screenees should be recruited and breast cancer screening of every other year should be enlightened. (author)

Internet trials: participant experiences and perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathieu, Erin; Barratt, Alexandra; Carter, Stacy M; Jamtvedt, Gro

2012-10-23

Use of the Internet to conduct randomised controlled trials is increasing, and provides potential to increase equity of access to medical research, increase the generalisability of trial results and decrease the costs involved in conducting large scale trials. Several studies have compared response rates, completeness of data, and reliability of surveys using the Internet and traditional methods, but very little is known about participants' attitudes towards Internet-based randomised trials or their experience of participating in an Internet-based trial. To obtain insights into the experiences and perspectives of participants in an Internet-based randomised controlled trial, their attitudes to the use of the Internet to conduct medical research, and their intentions regarding future participation in Internet research. All English speaking participants in a recently completed Internet randomised controlled trial were invited to participate in an online survey. 1246 invitations were emailed. 416 participants completed the survey between May and October 2009 (33% response rate). Reasons given for participating in the Internet RCT fell into 4 main areas: personal interest in the research question and outcome, ease of participation, an appreciation of the importance of research and altruistic reasons. Participants' comments and reflections on their experience of participating in a fully online trial were positive and less than half of participants would have participated in the trial had it been conducted using other means of data collection. However participants identified trade-offs between the benefits and downsides of participating in Internet-based trials. The main trade-off was between flexibility and convenience - a perceived benefit - and a lack connectedness and understanding - a perceived disadvantage. The other tradeoffs were in the areas of: ease or difficulty in use of the Internet; security, privacy and confidentiality issues; perceived benefits and

Survey of the Heritability and Sparse Architecture of Gene Expression Traits across Human Tissues.

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Heather E Wheeler

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Understanding the genetic architecture of gene expression traits is key to elucidating the underlying mechanisms of complex traits. Here, for the first time, we perform a systematic survey of the heritability and the distribution of effect sizes across all representative tissues in the human body. We find that local h2 can be relatively well characterized with 59% of expressed genes showing significant h2 (FDR < 0.1 in the DGN whole blood cohort. However, current sample sizes (n ≤ 922 do not allow us to compute distal h2. Bayesian Sparse Linear Mixed Model (BSLMM analysis provides strong evidence that the genetic contribution to local expression traits is dominated by a handful of genetic variants rather than by the collective contribution of a large number of variants each of modest size. In other words, the local architecture of gene expression traits is sparse rather than polygenic across all 40 tissues (from DGN and GTEx examined. This result is confirmed by the sparsity of optimal performing gene expression predictors via elastic net modeling. To further explore the tissue context specificity, we decompose the expression traits into cross-tissue and tissue-specific components using a novel Orthogonal Tissue Decomposition (OTD approach. Through a series of simulations we show that the cross-tissue and tissue-specific components are identifiable via OTD. Heritability and sparsity estimates of these derived expression phenotypes show similar characteristics to the original traits. Consistent properties relative to prior GTEx multi-tissue analysis results suggest that these traits reflect the expected biology. Finally, we apply this knowledge to develop prediction models of gene expression traits for all tissues. The prediction models, heritability, and prediction performance R2 for original and decomposed expression phenotypes are made publicly available (https://github.com/hakyimlab/PrediXcan.

Report of the Committee on the Participation of Women in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Adam D.; Diamond-Stanic, Aleks; Gallagher, John S.; Gillespie, Bruce Andrew; Ho, Shirley; Kinemuchi, Karen; Lucatello, Sara; Lundgren, Britt; Tremonti, Christina A.; Zasowski, Gail; SDSS-III Collaboration, SDSS-IV Collaboration

2015-01-01

The Committee on the Participation of Women in the SDSS (CPWS) was formed by the SDSS to evaluate the gender climate within the collaboration. The CPWS seeks to foster gender balance in our collaboration by fielding concerns from our members and by recommending best practices for establishing the SDSS leadership team. An important aspect of the mission of the CPWS is to regularly assess gender diversity and inclusiveness within the SDSS. Against the backdrop of the transition from SDSS-III to SDSS-IV, the CPWS has been collecting data relevant to gender issues through interviews and surveys. In April, 2014, the CPWS surveyed 251 SDSS-IV members (~50% of active membership) regarding gender and leadership. Broad findings from this survey include that the male-to-female ratio in SDSS-IV is about 3:1 and that the male-to-female ratio among those that identify themselves as being in an SDSS-IV leadership role is also close to 3:1. About 35% of those surveyed self-identify as an SDSS-IV "leader," though we recognize the possibility that active stakeholders might be more likely to respond to a demographics survey. About 80% of those that self-identify as leaders consider their leadership role within SDSS-IV to be officially acknowledged, regardless of gender. The fraction of women in SDSS leadership roles appears to be a weak function of current job position in that 6 of 32 (19%) senior faculty that are SDSS leaders are women, compared to 4 of 13 (31%) postdocs. Similarly, the fraction of SDSS leaders who are women is highest (32%) amongst those leaders who received their PhDs 6-10 years ago, while the fraction of female leaders amongst other age demographics is somewhat lower (20%). Although these are small sample sizes, this hints at a trend where women are most likely to fill SDSS leadership roles at certain stages of their lives and careers. The CPWS intends to use this initial survey data to establish a baseline for tracking SDSS-IV demographics, and thus hopes to

Assessment Of The Effect Of Participation In Zooniverse Projects On Content Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Cormier, Sebastien; Prather, E. E.; Brissenden, G.; Lintott, C.; Gay, P. L.; Raddick, J.; Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars CATS

2011-01-01

The citizen science projects developed by Zooniverse afford volunteers the opportunity to contribute to scientific research in a meaningful way by interacting with actual scientific data. We created two surveys to measure the impact that participation in the Galaxy Zoo and Moon Zoo citizen science projects has on user conceptual knowledge. The Zooniverse Astronomy Concept Survey (ZACS) was designed to assess Galaxy Zoo user understanding of concepts related to galaxies and how their understanding changed through participation in classifying galaxies. The Lunar Cratering Concept Inventory (LCCI) was designed to measure the impact of the Moon Zoo activities on user knowledge about lunar craters and cratering history. We describe how the surveys were developed and validated in collaboration with education researchers and astronomers. Both instruments are administered over time to measure changes to user conceptual knowledge as they gain experience with either Galaxy Zoo or Moon Zoo. Data collection has already begun and in the future we will be able to compare survey answers from users who have classified, for example, a thousand galaxies with users who have only classified ten galaxies. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III Education and Public Outreach Program.

Are Well-Informed Potential Trial Participants More Likely to Participate?

Science.gov (United States)

de Oliveira, Lucas Lentini Herling; Vissoci, Joao Ricardo Nickenig; Machado, Wagner de Lara; Rodrigues, Clarissa G; Limkakeng, Alexander T

2017-12-01

Bearing in mind the importance of the informed consent, flaws in this process may be a barrier to participants' recruitment. Our objective was to determine the relationship between the degree of comprehension of the informed consent document plus the importance given to individual elements by potential participants of a hypothetical trial and their willingness to participate in such trials. We performed an Online Survey simulating an emergency department trial recruitment, posteriorly evaluating participants' ratings of importance and self-assessed comprehension of specific topics of the informed consent document. Only 10% of the sample read the entire document. Some specific topics were associated with willingness to participate in the hypothetical trial, but simple composite additive scores of comprehension and importance were not. We concluded that participants in general do not read the entire informed consent document and that importance given to specific topics may influence willingness to participate.

Participant evaluation results for two indoor air quality studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawthorne, A.R.; Dudney, C.S.; Cohen, M.A.; Spengler, J.D.

1987-01-01

After two surveys for indoor air pollutants (radon and other chemicals) the homeowners were surveyed for their reactions. The results of these participant evaluation surveys, assuming that the participants that responded to the survey were representative, indicate that homeowners will accept a significant level of monitoring activity as part of an indoor air quality field study. Those participants completing surveys overwhelmingly enjoyed being in the studies and would do it again. We believe that the emphasis placed on positive homeowner interactions and efforts made to inform participants throughout our studies were positive factors in this result. There was no substantial differences noted in the responses between the 70-house study, which included a homeowner compensation payment of $100, and the 300-house study, which did not include a compensation payment. These results provide encouragement to conduct future complex, multipollutant indoor air quality studies when they are scientifically sound and cost effective

Using participant or non-participant observation to explain information behaviour. Participant observation, Non-participant observation, Information behaviour, Hospital pharmacists, Older people

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janet Cooper

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to provide guidance on conducting participant and non-participant observation studies of information behaviour. Examines lessons learned during non-participant observation of hospital pharmacists, and participant observation with dependent older people living in their own homes. Describes the methods used in both studies, and discusses the ethical issues involved in gaining access to the subjects. In the hospital setting, professional affiliation between the researcher and the subjects (six pharmacists made access easier to obtain. In the home care setting, access to subjects (seven clients for participant observation (as a care worker was more difficult, as was withdrawal from the field study. In both studies, the observation element was triangulated with survey data. Both studies indicated the fundamental need for trust between the observer and the research subjects. In some situations, professional relations offer instant access and trust, whereas in closed and sensitive situations such as social care, time is required to build up trust. With participant observation, that trust should not be damaged by withdrawal of the researcher from the research setting.

Variation in fruit juice consumption among infants and toddlers: associations with WIC participation.

Science.gov (United States)

McElligott, James T; Roberts, James R; Varadi, Eliza A; O'Brien, Elizabeth S; Freeland, Katherine D; Basco, William T

2012-07-01

Juice is a common component of a child's diet. Excessive juice consumption may lead to adverse nutritional and dental outcomes. The objective of the study was to evaluate consumption patterns and parental perception regarding juice in a sample of children from families participating or not participating in Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) services. Parents of children aged 12 months to 5 years completed a survey consisting of questions about beverage intake and related opinions. Practices were selected to provide a mix of families who do and do not use WIC services. Comparisons were made by WIC use and by quantity of juice consumption. Of 173 surveys, 51% of participants had received benefits from the WIC program. Overall, children who drank larger quantities of fruit juice drank less milk. One-third of all of the parents who responded to the survey reported that they believed that juice was at least as healthy as fresh fruit, with WIC parents reporting this belief more often (56% vs 9%; P juice before their child reached age 12 months, and this was more likely in WIC families (78% vs 54%; P juice consumption is associated with decreased milk consumption. Many parents expressed a belief that juice was at least as healthful as fresh fruit. Being a WIC recipient was associated with an earlier introduction of juice into a child's diet and a greater perception that juice was healthful.

Enhancing Survey Participation: Facebook Advertisements for Recruitment in Educational Research

Science.gov (United States)

Forgasz, Helen; Tan, Hazel; Leder, Gilah; McLeod, Amber

2018-01-01

Surveys are commonly used to determine how people feel about a specific issue. The increasing availability of the internet and popularity of social networking sites have opened up new possibilities for conducting surveys and, with limited additional costs, enlarge the pool of volunteer respondents with the desired background, experience, or…

Public Opinion Survey - Energy, The Present and The Future, 2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trontl, K.; Pevec, D.; Matijevic, M.; Jecmenica, R.; Duckic, P.; Lebegner, J.

2016-01-01

During the year 2015 the Department of Applied Physics of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb conducted a public opinion survey entitled 'Energy - The Present and the Future' among student population of 1115 individuals. The tested population consisted of the University of Zagreb six faculties' students: the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, the Faculty of Science, and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The questions in the survey covered several different energy issues, including the present and the future energy resources, the acceptability of different fuel type power plants, the environmental protection and global warming, the radioactivity, the radioactive waste issues, reliable information sources, and position of participants towards climate change issues, as well as European Union and Croatian goals set for the year 2020. The basic results of survey analysis for nuclear oriented questions, as well as the comparison of results of the current survey with the results of the similar surveys conducted in the academic years 2007/08, and 2012/2013, are reported in this paper. Participants generally express high level of formal environmental awareness. However, their choices and attitudes are in a contradiction to claimed eco-orientation, as well as to the scientific facts. The discrepancies are particularly noticeable in parts of the survey dealing with the nuclear energy and the nuclear power plants. The participants are also demonstrating lack of knowledge on nuclear issues especially regarding radioactive waste management, as well as economics and operational safety of nuclear power plants. (author).

Historical Trends of Participation of Women Scientists in Robotic Spacecraft Mission Science Teams: Effect of Participating Scientist Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Rathbun, Julie A.; Castillo-Rogez, Julie; Diniega, Serina; Hurley, Dana; New, Michael; Pappalardo, Robert T.; Prockter, Louise; Sayanagi, Kunio M.; Schug, Joanna; Turtle, Elizabeth P.; Vasavada, Ashwin R.

2016-10-01

Many planetary scientists consider involvement in a robotic spacecraft mission the highlight of their career. We have searched for names of science team members and determined the percentage of women on each team. We have limited the lists to members working at US institutions at the time of selection. We also determined the year each team was selected. The gender of each team member was limited to male and female and based on gender expression. In some cases one of the authors knew the team member and what pronouns they use. In other cases, we based our determinations on the team member's name or photo (obtained via a google search, including institution). Our initial analysis considered 22 NASA planetary science missions over a period of 41 years and only considered NASA-selected PI and Co-Is and not participating scientists, postdocs, or graduate students. We found that there has been a dramatic increase in participation of women on spacecraft science teams since 1974, from 0-2% in the 1970s - 1980s to an average of 14% 2000-present. This, however, is still lower than the recent percentage of women in planetary science, which 3 different surveys found to be ~25%. Here we will present our latest results, which include consideration of participating scientists. As in the case of PIs and Co-Is, we consider only participating scientists working at US institutions at the time of their selection.

Third European Company Survey – Direct and indirect employee participation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Akkerman, Agnes; Sluiter, Roderick; Jansen, Giedo

2015-01-01

This report studies practices in EU establishments for direct and indirect employee participation in decision-making. Indirect employee participation is the involvement of employee representatives in decision-making processes, while direct employee participation describes direct interaction between

Workforce Characteristics and Attitudes Regarding Participation in Worksite Wellness Programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Jennifer L; Kelly, Kevin M; Burmeister, Leon F; Merchant, James A

2017-09-01

To estimate workforce participation characteristics and employees' attitudes regarding participation in workplace wellness programs. Data from a statewide stratified random sample were used to compare small (workplaces to estimate participation in screening programs and likelihood of participation in workplace wellness programs. A telephone survey of employed Iowans registered to vote. Surveyed were 1171 employed Iowans registered to vote, ages 18 to 65. Among questionnaire survey modules were items from the Wellness Council of America Employee Needs and Interest Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau for employment documentation, and the World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire for assessment of sickness absenteeism and presenteeism. Prevalence of participation in screening and wellness programs was analyzed by employment size and levels of likeliness to participate, and multivariable analyses of employee baseline characteristics regarding participation in screening programs and likelihood of participation in wellness programs was presented as top and bottom quartiles. Those employed in smaller workplaces participated less often in screening programs. Multivariable models identified male gender and those with an abnormal body mass index were associated with nonparticipation, while having a primary care physician was associated with participation. Very few items showed significant statistical difference in willingness to participate. Workforce characteristics and access to health care may influence participation in screening and wellness programs. Employment size is not a determining factor for willingness to participate in wellness programs.

Internet trials: participant experiences and perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Use of the Internet to conduct randomised controlled trials is increasing, and provides potential to increase equity of access to medical research, increase the generalisability of trial results and decrease the costs involved in conducting large scale trials. Several studies have compared response rates, completeness of data, and reliability of surveys using the Internet and traditional methods, but very little is known about participants’ attitudes towards Internet-based randomised trials or their experience of participating in an Internet-based trial. Objective To obtain insights into the experiences and perspectives of participants in an Internet-based randomised controlled trial, their attitudes to the use of the Internet to conduct medical research, and their intentions regarding future participation in Internet research. Methods All English speaking participants in a recently completed Internet randomised controlled trial were invited to participate in an online survey. Results 1246 invitations were emailed. 416 participants completed the survey between May and October 2009 (33% response rate). Reasons given for participating in the Internet RCT fell into 4 main areas: personal interest in the research question and outcome, ease of participation, an appreciation of the importance of research and altruistic reasons. Participants’ comments and reflections on their experience of participating in a fully online trial were positive and less than half of participants would have participated in the trial had it been conducted using other means of data collection. However participants identified trade-offs between the benefits and downsides of participating in Internet-based trials. The main trade-off was between flexibility and convenience – a perceived benefit – and a lack connectedness and understanding – a perceived disadvantage. The other tradeoffs were in the areas of: ease or difficulty in use of the Internet; security, privacy and

Internet trials: participant experiences and perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mathieu Erin

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Use of the Internet to conduct randomised controlled trials is increasing, and provides potential to increase equity of access to medical research, increase the generalisability of trial results and decrease the costs involved in conducting large scale trials. Several studies have compared response rates, completeness of data, and reliability of surveys using the Internet and traditional methods, but very little is known about participants’ attitudes towards Internet-based randomised trials or their experience of participating in an Internet-based trial. Objective To obtain insights into the experiences and perspectives of participants in an Internet-based randomised controlled trial, their attitudes to the use of the Internet to conduct medical research, and their intentions regarding future participation in Internet research. Methods All English speaking participants in a recently completed Internet randomised controlled trial were invited to participate in an online survey. Results 1246 invitations were emailed. 416 participants completed the survey between May and October 2009 (33% response rate. Reasons given for participating in the Internet RCT fell into 4 main areas: personal interest in the research question and outcome, ease of participation, an appreciation of the importance of research and altruistic reasons. Participants’ comments and reflections on their experience of participating in a fully online trial were positive and less than half of participants would have participated in the trial had it been conducted using other means of data collection. However participants identified trade-offs between the benefits and downsides of participating in Internet-based trials. The main trade-off was between flexibility and convenience – a perceived benefit – and a lack connectedness and understanding – a perceived disadvantage. The other tradeoffs were in the areas of: ease or difficulty in use of the Internet

Mechanical stretch modulates microRNA 21 expression, participating in proliferation and apoptosis in cultured human aortic smooth muscle cells.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian tao Song

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: Stretch affects vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and apoptosis, and several responsible genes have been proposed. We tested whether the expression of microRNA 21 (miR-21 is modulated by stretch and is involved in stretch-induced proliferation and apoptosis of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs. METHODS AND RESULTS: RT-PCR revealed that elevated stretch (16% elongation, 1 Hz increased miR-21 expression in cultured HASMCs, and moderate stretch (10% elongation, 1 Hz decreased the expression. BrdU incorporation assay and cell counting showed miR-21 involved in the proliferation of HASMCs mediated by stretch, likely by regulating the expression of p27 and phosphorylated retinoblastoma protein (p-Rb. FACS analysis revealed that the complex of miR-21 and programmed cell death protein 4 (PDCD4 participated in regulating apoptosis with stretch. Stretch increased the expression of primary miR-21 and pre-miR-21 in HASMCs. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA demonstrated that stretch increased NF-κB and AP-1 activities in HASMCs, and blockade of AP-1 activity by c-jun siRNA significantly suppressed stretch-induced miR-21 expression. CONCLUSIONS: Cyclic stretch modulates miR-21 expression in cultured HASMCs, and miR-21 plays important roles in regulating proliferation and apoptosis mediated by stretch. Stretch upregulates miR-21 expression at least in part at the transcription level and AP-1 is essential for stretch-induced miR-21 expression.

Annual change in the rate of participation in breast cancer screening through active encouragement of sports participation. A survey of women participants at the annual meetings of the Pink Ribbon Ladies' Tennis Tournament organized by the Japan Women's Tennis Players' League

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimada, Naoko; Nozue; Etsuko; Fukuda, Mamoru; Sawai, Kiyoshi; Kasumi, Fujio

2007-01-01

In March 2002, an initial attempt was made to decrease breast cancer mortality by the Japan Society of Breast Health, by means of encouraging participation in sports. This was followed by other similar events. The present study was designed to examine whether these kinds of sport-associated events are actually effective for increasing the screening participation rate. We hoped that the results would reveal practical ways of organizing such programs. One of these activities, the All Japan Women's Tennis Players' League, has called for amateur players to participate in an annual meeting of the Pink Ribbon Ladies' Tennis Tournament since 2003. A survey of their knowledge about breast cancer and their will to participate in breast cancer screening has been carried out annually in 2003, 2004 and 2005, by asking the participants to respond to our questionnaires. As a result, the number of participants has increased: from 7,201 women in 2003, to 7,846 in 2004 and to 8,572 in 2005. The questionnaires included items about participation in breast cancer screening, performance of self-examination, and participation in mammography screening. The participation rate increased year by year. The participation rate at mammography screening was 21% in 2003, and this increased to 26% in 2005. Thus this kind of sports event appears to promote knowledge about breast cancer screening and to increase the participation rate. On the other hand, it was found that the rate of self-examination decreased from 53% to 22%. Therefore problems that need to be addressed in the future include not only increasing women's motivation to undergo screening, but also the selection of appropriate screening methods, their combination, and distribution of accurate information. (author)

A survey of paediatricians on the use of electrocardiogram for pre-participation sports screening.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Angira; Webster, Gregory; Ward, Kendra; Lantos, John

2017-07-01

Aim The aim of the present study was to determine general paediatrician knowledge, practices, and attitudes towards electrocardiogram (ECG) screening in school athletes during pre-participation screening exam (PPSE). Paediatricians affiliated with a tertiary children's hospital completed a survey about ECGs for PPSE. In total, 205/498 (41%) responded; 92% of the paediatricians did not include an ECG as part of PPSE; 56% were aware of a case in which a student athlete in their own community had died of sudden unexplained death; 4% had an athlete in their practice die. Only 16% of paediatricians perform all 12 American Heart Association recommended elements of the PPSE. If any of these screening elements are abnormal, 69% obtain an ECG, 36% an echocardiogram, and 30% restrict patients from sports activity; 73% of them refer the patient to a cardiologist. Most of the general paediatricians surveyed did not currently perform ECGs for PPSE. In addition, there was a low rate of adherence to performing the 12 screening elements recommended by the American Heart Association. They have trouble obtaining timely, accurate ECG interpretations, worry about potential unnecessary exercise restrictions, and cost-effectiveness. The practical hurdles to ECG implementation emphasise the need for a fresh look at PPSE, and not just ECG screening. Improvements in ECG performance/interpretation would be necessary for ECGs to be a useful part of PPSE.

Sports participation with arachnoid cysts.

Science.gov (United States)

Strahle, Jennifer; Selzer, Béla J; Geh, Ndi; Srinivasan, Dushyanth; Strahle, MaryKathryn; Martinez-Sosa, Meleine; Muraszko, Karin M; Garton, Hugh J L; Maher, Cormac O

2016-04-01

OBJECT There is currently no consensus on the safety of sports participation for patients with an intracranial arachnoid cyst (AC). The authors' goal was to define the risk of sports participation for children with this imaging finding. METHODS A survey was prospectively administered to 185 patients with ACs during a 46-month period at a single institution. Cyst size and location, treatment, sports participation, and any injuries were recorded. Eighty patients completed at least 1 subsequent survey following their initial entry into the registry, and these patients were included in a prospective registry with a mean prospective follow-up interval of 15.9 ± 8.8 months. RESULTS A total 112 patients with ACs participated in 261 sports for a cumulative duration of 4410 months or 1470 seasons. Of these, 94 patients participated in 190 contact sports for a cumulative duration of 2818 months or 939 seasons. There were no serious or catastrophic neurological injuries. Two patients presented with symptomatic subdural hygromas following minor sports injuries. In the prospective cohort, there were no neurological injuries CONCLUSIONS Permanent or catastrophic neurological injuries are very unusual in AC patients who participate in athletic activities. In most cases, sports participation by these patients is safe.

The SDSS-IV in 2015: Report of the Committee on the Participation of Women in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M.; Lucatello, Sara; Aragon-Salamanca, Alfonso; Cherinka, Brian; Cunha, Katia M. L.; Gillespie, Bruce Andrew; Hagen, Alex; Jones, Amy; Kinemuchi, Karen; Lundgren, Britt; Myers, Adam D.; Roman, Alexandre; Zasowski, Gail; SDSS-IV Collaboration

2016-01-01

Given that many astronomers now participate in large international scientific collaborations, it is important to examine whether these structures foster a healthy scientific climate that is inclusive and diverse. The Committee on the Participation of Women in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (CPWS) was formed to evaluate the climate and demographics within the SDSS collaboration and to make recommendations for how best to establish the scientific and technical leadership team for SDSS-IV. Building on the work described in Lundgren et al. (2015), the CPWS conducted a demographic survey in Spring 2015 that included questions about career and leadership status, racial / ethnic identity, gender identity, identification with the LGBT community, disability, partnership status, and level of parental education. For example, 71% of survey respondents identify as male and 81% do not identify as a racial or ethnic minority at their current institution. This reflects the under-representation of women and men from minority groups (e.g., people of color in the United States) and women from majority groups (e.g., white women in the United States) in the field of astronomy. We have focused our analysis on the representation of scientists from these groups among the SDSS-IV leadership and the full collaboration. Our goal is to use these quantitative data to track the demographics of SDSS-IV membership and leadership over time as we work to assess and improve the climate of SDSS-IV.

Technological Implementation of Renewable Energy in Rural-Isolated Areas and Small-Medium Islands in Indonesia: Problem Mapping And Preliminary Surveys of Total People Participation in a Local Wind Pump Water Supply

Science.gov (United States)

Taufik, Ahmad

2007-10-01

This article discusses a formulation of problem mapping and preliminary surveys of total people participation in a local wind pump (LWP) water supply in term of technological implementation of renewable energy (RE) in rural-isolated areas and small-medium islands in Indonesia. The formulation was constructed in order to enhance and to promote the local product of RE across Indonesia. It was also addressed to accommodate local potencies, barriers and opportunities into a priority map. Moreover, it was designed into five aspects such as (1) local technology of the RE: a case of pilot project of the LWP; (2) environmental-cultural aspects related to global issues of energy-renewable energy; (3) potencies and barriers corresponding to local, national, regional and international contents; (4) education and training and (5) gender participation. To focus the formulation, serial preliminary surveys were conducted in five major areas, namely: (1) survey on support and barrier factors of the aspects; (2) strategic planning model, a concept A-B-G which stands for Academician-Business people-Government; (3) survey on background based knowledge on energy conservation; (4) survey on gender participation in energy conservation and (5) survey on local stakeholder involvement. Throughout the surveys, it has been notified that the concept needs to be developed to any level of its component since its elements were identified in tolerance values such as high potency value of the LWP development (95%); a strong potency of rural area application (88%); a medium background of energy, energy conservation (EC) identified in a range of 56%-72%, sufficient support from local stakeholders and gender participation.

Ultraviolet radiation protection and skin cancer awareness in recreational athletes: a survey among participants in a running event.

Science.gov (United States)

Christoph, Sebastian; Cazzaniga, Simone; Hunger, Robert Emil; Naldi, Luigi; Borradori, Luca; Oberholzer, Patrick Antony

2016-01-01

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) protection and skin cancer awareness are essential in the avoidance of cutaneous malignancies. Skin cancer prevention programmes involve public educational campaigns, for example, for outdoor workers or school children. Since nonprofessional sun exposure (e.g. during outdoor sport) is increasing with today's lifestyle, we assessed UVR protection and skin cancer awareness among recreational athletes. This survey-based, paper/pencil study was designed to assess UVR protection and skin cancer awareness among recreational athletes attending the largest running event in Switzerland. All adults (age 18 and older) attending this run were invited to complete our survey at our study booth. Our form consisted of questions about participants' personal characteristics such as age, gender, educational attainment, skin type, history of sunburns, and personal/family history of skin cancer, as well as participants' subjective attitudes and behaviours relating to UVR protection and skin cancer avoidance. We calculated separate scores for individual UVR protection and skin cancer awareness. We tested these two scores in relation to educational level as a primary endpoint. In addition, the impacts of further distinct characteristics were assessed in multivariable analysis. A total of 970 runners (457 males, 513 females, mean age 41.0 years) completed our survey. Our results indicate that UVR protection is dependent on age, gender, skin type and personal history of skin cancer. Educational attainment (at univariate level), age, gender and skin type (in multivariable analysis) significantly affected the skin cancer awareness score. Our findings suggest that protection measures among recreational sportsmen can be improved. Achievements are notable in older, fair skinned, female runners. Our findings indicate that further work is needed in the education of the general public, and athletes in particular.

Men with disabilities - A cross sectional survey of health promotion, social inclusion and participation at community Men's Sheds.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Nathan J; Cordier, Reinie; Parsons, Richard; Vaz, Sharmila; Buchanan, Angus

2016-01-01

The intersections between chronicity, disability and social inequality are well understood. Novel ways to counter the social determinants of health and disability are needed. Men's Sheds are a community space where men can participate in a range of shared activities and potentially experience a health and social benefits. This cross-sectional survey was conducted to inform future research by determining who attended Men's Sheds and the range of health, social, community, and educational activities undertaken there. This paper explores the membership of people with disabilities (PWD) at Men's Sheds and the factors that predict their membership. An online survey link was sent to all known Men's Sheds internationally in 2012. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential (univariate and multivariate) statistics. 32.2% of international sheds and 29% of Australian sheds specifically targeted the inclusion of PWD. 80% of these sheds have significantly more members with disabilities than sheds who do no target PWD. Factors associated with greater membership of PWD included the provision of transport, social outings and promoting occupational skills. PWD are being encouraged to join and are joining Men's Sheds. This is significant as the value of participation and inclusion toward better health and wellbeing is well known. Men's Sheds offer a community space where the social determinants of chronicity and disability can potentially be countered. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spinal Cord Injury Community Survey: Understanding the Needs of Canadians with SCI.

Science.gov (United States)

Noreau, Luc; Noonan, Vanessa K; Cobb, John; Leblond, Jean; Dumont, Frédéric S

2014-01-01

There is a lack of literature regarding service needs of people with SCI living in the community. Better assessment of expressed and met and unmet needs would help in the development of effective service delivery. From a national SCI Community Survey in Canada, the aim was to identify the most critical service needs of people living in the community at least 1 year post discharge from rehabilitation and the support they received to meet their needs. Data were collected mainly through a secure Web site and encompassed demographics, personal and household income, an SCI severity measure, and an SCI community needs measure containing information on 13 SCI-related needs. A total of 1,549 persons with SCI (traumatic lesion, n = 1,137; nontraumatic lesion, n = 412) across Canada completed the survey. Most critical needs for community integration were expressed by a substantial proportion of survey participants, but significantly more expressed and met needs were reported by persons with a traumatic than a nontraumatic lesion. Personal and environmental characteristics influenced the probability of expressing and meeting needs (eg, severity of injury and household income). Help and support to meet expressed needs were received from government agencies, community organizations, and friends or family. Better assessment of expressed and met or unmet needs for services remains a challenge but will serve as a tool to optimize service delivery in the community. Environmental barriers to services, particularly the process of getting needs met and associated costs, remain an issue that requires a reconsideration of some aspects of access to services.

Chronically homeless persons' participation in an advance directive intervention: A cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Alexander K; Nayyar, Dhruv; Sachdeva, Manisha; Song, John; Hwang, Stephen W

2015-09-01

Chronically homeless individuals have high rates of hospitalization and death, and they may benefit from the completion of advance directives. To determine the rate of advance directive completion using a counselor-guided intervention, identify characteristics associated with advance directive completion, and describe end-of-life care preferences in a group of chronically homeless individuals. Participants completed a survey and were offered an opportunity to complete an advance directive with a trained counselor. A total of 205 residents of a shelter in Canada for homeless men (89.1% of those approached) participated from April to June 2013. Duration of homelessness was ⩾12 months in 72.8% of participants, and 103 participants (50.2%) chose to complete an advance directive. Socio-demographic characteristics, health status, and health care use were not associated with completion of an advance directive. Participants were more likely to complete an advance directive if they reported thinking about death on a daily basis, believed that thinking about their friends and family was important, or reported knowing their wishes for end-of-life care but not having told anyone about these wishes. Among individuals who completed an advance directive, 61.2% named a substitute decision maker, and 94.1% expressed a preference to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the event of a cardiorespiratory arrest if there was a chance of returning to their current state of health. A counselor-guided intervention can achieve a high rate of advance directive completion among chronically homeless persons. Most participants expressed a preference to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the event of a cardiorespiratory arrest. © The Author(s) 2015.

Public Opinion Survey - Energy - The Present and the Future - 2012/2013

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trontl, Kresimir; Pevec, Dubravko; Matijevic, Mario; Jecmenica, Radomir; Lebegner, Josip

2014-01-01

During the academic year 2012/13 the Department of Applied Physics of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb conducted a public opinion survey entitled 'Energy- The Present and the Future' among student population of more than 950 individuals. The tested population consisted of the University of Zagreb five faculties' and one polytechnic school's students: the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, the Faculty of Civil Engineering, the Faculty of Science, and the Polytechnic of Zagreb. The questions in the survey covered several different energy issues, including the present and the future energy resources, the acceptability of different fuel type power plants, the environmental protection and global warming, the radioactivity, the waste issues, reliable information sources, and position of participants towards climate change issues, , as well as European Union and Croatian goals set for the year 2020. The basic results of survey analysis for nuclear oriented questions, as well as the comparison of results of the current survey with the results of the similar surveys conducted in the academic years 2007/08 and 2009/2010, are reported in this paper. Participants generally express high level of formal environmental awareness. However, their choices and attitudes are in a contradiction to claimed eco-orientation, as well as to the scientific facts. The discrepancies are particularly noticeable in parts of the survey dealing with the nuclear energy and the nuclear power plants. The participants are also demonstrating lack of knowledge on nuclear issues especially regarding radioactive waste management, as well as economics and operational safety of nuclear power plants. (authors)

Survey-based analysis of risk factors for injury among dogs participating in agility training and competition events.

Science.gov (United States)

Cullen, Kimberley L; Dickey, James P; Bent, Leah R; Thomason, Jeffrey J; Moëns, Noel M M

2013-10-01

To identify potential risk factors for agility-related injuries among dogs. Internet-based, retrospective, cross-sectional survey. 3,801 privately owned dogs participating in agility training or trials. A retrospective electronic survey was used to investigate potential risk factors for injury among dogs participating in agility-related activities. Respondents were handlers recruited through member lists of large canine agility associations in Canada and the United Kingdom and through promotion on an agility blog site. Variables evaluated included demographic information for handlers and dogs, exposure variables (eg, frequency of agility practice and competition in the past year), and use of preventive measures intended to keep dogs fit for agility (warmup, cooldown, or conditioning exercises; alternative therapeutic treatments [eg, acupuncture, massage, or chiropractic care]; or dietary supplement products). Data were collected from 1,669 handlers of 3,801 agility dogs internationally; 1,209 (32%) dogs incurred ≥ 1 injury. Previous injury (OR, 100.5), ≤ 4 years of agility experience for dogs (OR, 1.5), use of alternative therapeutic treatments (OR, 1.5), and Border Collie breed (OR, 1.7) were associated with increased odds of injury. Handlers having 5 to 10 or > 10 years of experience (OR, 0.8 and 0.6, respectively) and dogs having > 4 years of experience in the sport (OR, 0.6) were associated with decreased odds of injury. Specific factors were associated with agility-related injuries in dogs. Educational prevention strategies should target at-risk populations in an effort to reduce potential injuries. Future research should focus on the biomechanical factors associated with agility-related injuries.

Social Mobilization and Reaffirmation of Democratic Participation : The Brotherhood as Expression of a New Relational Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helen Crystine Corrêa Sanches

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Democracy represents a fundamental right for citizens. Democracy and citizen par- ticipation are developing and they complement each other, given that there is no demo- cracy without the active and conscious participation of citizens in the political process. This democratic participation occurs through tools that enable the practice of citizenship, and, among them, the social movements stand out. There is a direct relationship between the social movements and democracy: whilst the social movements exist only in demo- cratic systems, democracy requires the participation of civil society with the state. The social movements consist on a structured organization that has the purpose of uniting people to defend and promote rights, containing social identity and a particular way of thinking and acting collectively to achieve the common good and a new sort of life. The particularities of the social movements let one glimpse that the major expression of civic participation contributes to a cultural change in society, given that, with common goals, the differences are overcome, encouraging a relatedness which looks for ethics, sharing and fraternity. The understanding of fraternity in its various forms – historical, political, legal and ethical – contributes to a development in respect among people, acceptance of socio-economic and cultural differences, emphasizing the feeling of a group belonging. This way, this article aims to analyse social movements and its cooperation in building a new relational culture, more Humane, Fair And Fraternal.

Grandparenting and mothers' labour force participation: A comparative analysis using the Generations and Gender Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arnstein Aassve

2012-07-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND It is well known that the provision of public childcare plays an important role for women labour force participation and its availability varies tremendously across countries. In many countries, informal childcare is also important and typically provided by the grandparents, but its role on mothers' employment is not yet well understood. Understanding the relationship between labour supply decisions and grandparental childcare is complex. While the provision of grandparental childcare is clearly a function of the social and institutional context of a country, it also depends on family preferences, which are typically unobserved in surveys. OBJECTIVE We analyze the role of informal childcare provided by grandparents on mothers' labour force participation keeping unobserved preferences into account. METHODS Bivariate probit models with instrumental variables are estimated on data from seven countries (Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Russia and The Netherlands drawn from the Generations and Gender Survey. RESULTS We find that only in some countries mothers' employment is positively and significantly associated with grandparents providing childcare. In other countries, once we control for unobserved preferences, we do not find this effect. CONCLUSIONS The role of grandparents is an important element to reconcile work and family for women in some countries. Our results show the importance of considering family preferences and country differences when studying the relationship between grandparental childcare and mothers' labour supply. COMMENTS Our results are consistent with previous research on this topic. However, differently from previous studies, we conduct separate analyses by country and show that the effect of grandparental childcare varies considerably. The fact that we also include in the analyses Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia and Georgia is an important novelty as there are no studies on this issue

Political participation of registered nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Vandenhouten, Christine L; Malakar, Crystalmichelle L; Kubsch, Sylvia; Block, Derryl E; Gallagher-Lepak, Susan

2011-08-01

Level of political participation and factors contributing to participation were measured among Midwest RNs (n = 468) via an online survey (Cronbach's α = .95). Respondents reported engaging in primarily "low cost" activities (e.g., voting, discussing politics, and contacting elected officials), with fewer reporting speaking at public gatherings, participating in demonstrations, and membership in nursing organizations. Psychological engagement was most predictive (p political participation with the dimensions of political interest, political efficacy, and political information/knowledge highly significant (p political participation (p political content and did not prepare them for political participation. Findings showed that nurse educators and leaders of professional nursing organizations need to model and cultivate greater psychological engagement among students and nurses.

Ineffective participation: reactions to absentee and incompetent nurse leadership in an intensive care unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Rouse, Ruby A

2009-05-01

The aim of the present study was to analyse reactions to ineffective leader participation in an intensive care unit (ICU). Critical examination of leadership failures helps identify nurse manager behaviours to avoid. An online survey collected data from 51 interacting healthcare providers who work in an intensive care unit. Participants reported dissatisfaction with nurse leaders who were perceived as absent or ill prepared. Participants categorized intensive care unit productivity and morale as moderate to low. Multiple regression suggested the best predictor of perceived unit productivity was supervisor communication; the best predictor of employee morale was perceived leader mentoring. Intensive care unit nurses reported wanting active participation from their leaders and expressed dissatisfaction when supervisors were perceived as absent or incompetent. Ineffective leader participation significantly correlated with lower employee perceptions of productivity and morale. Senior managers should recruit and develop supervisors with effective participation skills. Organizations primarily concerned about productivity should focus on developing the communication skills of nurse leaders. Units mainly concerned with employee morale should emphasize mentorship and role modelling. Formal assessment of nurse leaders by all intensive care unit team members should also be used to proactively identify opportunities for improvement.

Sports participation with Chiari I malformation.

Science.gov (United States)

Strahle, Jennifer; Geh, Ndi; Selzer, Béla J; Bower, Regina; Himedan, Mai; Strahle, MaryKathryn; Wetjen, Nicholas M; Muraszko, Karin M; Garton, Hugh J L; Maher, Cormac O

2016-04-01

OBJECT There is currently no consensus on the safety of sports participation for patients with Chiari I malformation (CM-I). The authors' goal was to define the risk of sports participation for children with the imaging finding of CM-I. METHODS A prospective survey was administered to 503 CM-I patients at 2 sites over a 46-month period. Data were gathered on imaging characteristics, treatment, sports participation, and any sport-related injuries. Additionally, 81 patients completed at least 1 subsequent survey following their initial entry into the registry and were included in a prospective group, with a mean prospective follow-up period of 11 months. RESULTS Of the 503 CM-I patients, 328 participated in sports for a cumulative duration of 4641 seasons; 205 of these patients participated in contact sports. There were no serious or catastrophic neurological injuries. One patient had temporary extremity paresthesias that resolved within hours, and this was not definitely considered to be related to the CM-I. In the prospective cohort, there were no permanent neurological injuries. CONCLUSIONS No permanent or catastrophic neurological injuries were observed in CM-I patients participating in athletic activities. The authors believe that the risk of such injuries is low and that, in most cases, sports participation by children with CM-I is safe.

Analysis of national representative opinion surveys concerning gestational surrogacy in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Kohta; Hoshi, Kazuhiko; Minai, Junko; Yanaihara, Takumi; Takeda, Yasuhisa; Yamagata, Zentaro

2006-05-01

Although gestational surrogacy offers several advantages, this procedure has given rise to some ethical and legal issues. We aimed to clarify the factors affecting the attitude of the Japanese toward gestational surrogacy. Cross-sectional study. Nationwide opinion surveys concerning assisted reproductive technologies (ART) were carried out in 1999 and 2003. Participants included 2568 and 3647 people from the general public surveyed in 1999 and 2003, respectively (1564 people received only the questionnaire, and 2083 people received a questionnaire and brochure about ART). Multivariate-adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval from logistic regression models for factors affecting the attitude toward gestational surrogacy. In both surveys, approximately half of respondents approved of gestational surrogacy; 20-30% disapproved of the procedure. People with high socioeconomic status clearly expressed their opinion on this issue. A liberal attitude toward gender role promoted approval of gestational surrogacy; a liberal attitude toward family had the opposite effect. Our findings suggest that socioeconomic status affects people's expression of their opinion regarding this issue, while attitudes toward this procedure were influenced by individual belief. Considering socioeconomic status and diversity of individual belief is required for further discussion on this topic.

Using Electronic Surveys: Advice from Survey Professionals.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David M. Shannon

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The study reports the perceptions and recommendations of sixty-two experienced survey..researchers from the American Educational Research Association regarding the use of..electronic surveys. The most positive aspects cited for the use of electronic surveys were..reduction of costs (i.e., postage, phone charges, the use of electronic mail for pre-notification or..follow-up purposes, and the compatibility of data with existing software programs. These..professionals expressed limitations in using electronic surveys pertaining to the limited..sampling frame as well as issues of confidentiality, privacy, and the credibility of the sample...They advised that electronic surveys designed with the varied technological background and..capabilities of the respondent in mind, follow sound principles of survey construction, and be..administered to pre-notified, targeted populations with published email addresses.

Expression of deleted in malignant brain tumor-1 (DMBT1) molecule in biliary epithelium is augmented in hepatolithiasis: possible participation in lithogenesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sasaki, Motoko; Huang, Shiu-Feng; Chen, Miin-Fu

2003-01-01

Deleted in malignant brain tumor-1 (DMBT1) is a mucin-like molecule participating in mucosal immune defense. Given that bovine gallbladder mucin, which accelerates cholesterol crystallization, is a DMBT1 homolog, DMBT1 expression was examined immunohistochemically in biliary epithelial cells...

European Patterns of Participation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrebye, Silas Fehmerling; Ejrnæs, Anders

2015-01-01

Social Survey (ESS) Round 4 (2008), the article finds that satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the government is an important predictor alongside the institutional macro-level variable. The article combines a critical tradition, which suggests that political participation is motivated by a feeling...

Willingness to Participate in Longitudinal Research Among People with Chronic Pain Who Take Medical Cannabis: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Bachhuber, Marcus A; Arnsten, Julia H; Starrels, Joanna L; Cunningham, Chinazo O

2018-01-01

Background: Regulatory barriers limit clinical trials of medical cannabis in the United States. Longitudinal cohort studies may be one feasible alternative that could yield clinically relevant information. Willingness to participate in such studies is not known. Materials and Methods: In October 2016, we surveyed a convenience sample of patients with chronic pain from two New York registered organizations (responsible for growing, processing, distributing, and retailing medical cannabis products). After a vignette describing a longitudinal cohort study involving weekly patient-reported outcomes and quarterly assessments of physical functioning and urine and blood tests, we asked about respondents' willingness to participate. We examined willingness to participate, duration of participation, and frequency of data collections overall and by subgroups, using multivariable logistic regression models. Results: Of 405 respondents (estimated response rate: 30%), 54% were women and 81% were white non-Hispanic. Neuropathy was the most common pain condition (67%) followed by inflammatory bowel disease (19%). Of respondents, 94% (95% CI 92-97%) thought that the study should be done, 85% (95% CI 81-88%) would definitely or probably enroll if asked, 76% (95% CI 72-81%) would participate for ≥1 year, and 59% (95% CI 54-64%) would respond to questions at least daily. Older age was the only factor associated with lower willingness to participate, lower willingness to participate for ≥1 year, and lower willingness to respond to questions at least daily. Conclusions: Nearly all respondents were supportive of the proposed study and most reported that they would enroll if asked. Enhanced engagement with older individuals may be needed to promote equal enrollment. Recruitment for longitudinal cohort studies with frequent data collection appears feasible in this patient population.

Understandings of Participation in Behavioural Research: A Qualitative Study of Gay and Bisexual Men in Scotland.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicola Boydell

Full Text Available An array of empirical research has emerged related to public participation in health research. To date, few studies have explored the particular perspectives of gay and bisexual men taking part in behavioural surveillance research, which includes the donation of saliva swabs to investigate HIV prevalence and rates of undiagnosed HIV. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-nine gay and bisexual men in Scotland who had participated in a bar-based survey. Thematic analysis of men's accounts of their motives for participation and their perceptions of not receiving individual feedback on HIV status suggested a shared understanding of participation in research as a means of contributing to 'community' efforts to prevent the spread of HIV. Most men expressed sophisticated understandings of the purpose of behavioural research and distinguished between this and individual diagnostic testing. Despite calls for feedback on HIV results broadly, for these men feedback on HIV status was not deemed crucial.

Understandings of Participation in Behavioural Research: A Qualitative Study of Gay and Bisexual Men in Scotland.

Science.gov (United States)

Boydell, Nicola; Fergie, Gillian May; McDaid, Lisa Margaret; Hilton, Shona

2015-01-01

An array of empirical research has emerged related to public participation in health research. To date, few studies have explored the particular perspectives of gay and bisexual men taking part in behavioural surveillance research, which includes the donation of saliva swabs to investigate HIV prevalence and rates of undiagnosed HIV. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-nine gay and bisexual men in Scotland who had participated in a bar-based survey. Thematic analysis of men's accounts of their motives for participation and their perceptions of not receiving individual feedback on HIV status suggested a shared understanding of participation in research as a means of contributing to 'community' efforts to prevent the spread of HIV. Most men expressed sophisticated understandings of the purpose of behavioural research and distinguished between this and individual diagnostic testing. Despite calls for feedback on HIV results broadly, for these men feedback on HIV status was not deemed crucial.

Participation and factors associated with late or non-response to an online survey in primary care.

Science.gov (United States)

Aerny-Perreten, Nicole; Domínguez-Berjón, Ma Felicitas; Esteban-Vasallo, María D; García-Riolobos, Carmen

2015-08-01

Online surveys have several advantages, but a low response rate is common and it is uncertain how results are affected. Response inducement techniques can be used to overcome this problem. The objectives of this study were to describe the percentage of change in the response rate after reminders and to analyse the characteristics associated with non-response and late response based on the survey results, as well as by applying archival and extrapolation techniques. In the Autonomous Community of Madrid, an online questionnaire about cancer prevention was sent to a random sample of primary care health professionals (3586 physicians and nurses). Two reminders were sent later. The percentage of change in response rates after reminders, global and by demographic and health care characteristics of participants; and factors associated with non-response and late response were analysed using response rates and odds ratios (ORs). After the reminders, the response rate increased from 22.6% to 32.9% and to 39.4%. Non-response was associated with age [OR: 3.14; confidence interval (CI) 95%: 2.23-4.42 for aged >60 years], gender and functional area. Further, a higher response rate after reminders was observed in professionals with heavier workloads (OR: 1.46; CI 95%: 1.08-1.97) and in those who stated a lower relevance of cancer prevention in primary care. After electronic reminders, the response rate increased, especially among professionals with the highest workloads and a minor interest in the survey topic. However, possible bias associated with non-response remains and the factors behind this should be examined in future research. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Sharing individual participant data from clinical trials: an opinion survey regarding the establishment of a central repository.

Science.gov (United States)

Tudur Smith, Catrin; Dwan, Kerry; Altman, Douglas G; Clarke, Mike; Riley, Richard; Williamson, Paula R

2014-01-01

Calls have been made for increased access to individual participant data (IPD) from clinical trials, to ensure that complete evidence is available. However, despite the obvious benefits, progress towards this is frustratingly slow. In the meantime, many systematic reviews have already collected IPD from clinical trials. We propose that a central repository for these IPD should be established to ensure that these datasets are safeguarded and made available for use by others, building on the strengths and advantages of the collaborative groups that have been brought together in developing the datasets. Evaluate the level of support, and identify major issues, for establishing a central repository of IPD. On-line survey with email reminders. 71 reviewers affiliated with the Cochrane Collaboration's IPD Meta-analysis Methods Group were invited to participate. 30 (42%) invitees responded: 28 (93%) had been involved in an IPD review and 24 (80%) had been involved in a randomised trial. 25 (83%) agreed that a central repository was a good idea and 25 (83%) agreed that they would provide their IPD for central storage. Several benefits of a central repository were noted: safeguarding and standardisation of data, increased efficiency of IPD meta-analyses, knowledge advancement, and facilitating future clinical, and methodological research. The main concerns were gaining permission from trial data owners, uncertainty about the purpose of the repository, potential resource implications, and increased workload for IPD reviewers. Restricted access requiring approval, data security, anonymisation of data, and oversight committees were highlighted as issues under governance of the repository. There is support in this community of IPD reviewers, many of whom are also involved in clinical trials, for storing IPD in a central repository. Results from this survey are informing further work on developing a repository of IPD which is currently underway by our group.

Sharing individual participant data from clinical trials: an opinion survey regarding the establishment of a central repository.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catrin Tudur Smith

Full Text Available Calls have been made for increased access to individual participant data (IPD from clinical trials, to ensure that complete evidence is available. However, despite the obvious benefits, progress towards this is frustratingly slow. In the meantime, many systematic reviews have already collected IPD from clinical trials. We propose that a central repository for these IPD should be established to ensure that these datasets are safeguarded and made available for use by others, building on the strengths and advantages of the collaborative groups that have been brought together in developing the datasets.Evaluate the level of support, and identify major issues, for establishing a central repository of IPD.On-line survey with email reminders.71 reviewers affiliated with the Cochrane Collaboration's IPD Meta-analysis Methods Group were invited to participate.30 (42% invitees responded: 28 (93% had been involved in an IPD review and 24 (80% had been involved in a randomised trial. 25 (83% agreed that a central repository was a good idea and 25 (83% agreed that they would provide their IPD for central storage. Several benefits of a central repository were noted: safeguarding and standardisation of data, increased efficiency of IPD meta-analyses, knowledge advancement, and facilitating future clinical, and methodological research. The main concerns were gaining permission from trial data owners, uncertainty about the purpose of the repository, potential resource implications, and increased workload for IPD reviewers. Restricted access requiring approval, data security, anonymisation of data, and oversight committees were highlighted as issues under governance of the repository.There is support in this community of IPD reviewers, many of whom are also involved in clinical trials, for storing IPD in a central repository. Results from this survey are informing further work on developing a repository of IPD which is currently underway by our group.

Patterns of agri-environmental scheme participation in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pavlis, Evangelos S.; Terkenli, Theano S.; Kristensen, Søren Bech Pilgaard

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the personal and property characteristics of landowners who use EU Rural Development agri-environmental schemes (AES), as well as their motives for participation or non-participation in such schemes. The study is based on a questionnaire survey with landowners, in selected...... areas with marginal potential for agriculture. Motives for non-participation were also found to be dependent on the level of farming engagement and on case-area landscape types.......This paper investigates the personal and property characteristics of landowners who use EU Rural Development agri-environmental schemes (AES), as well as their motives for participation or non-participation in such schemes. The study is based on a questionnaire survey with landowners, in selected...... geographical particularities and on subjective factors, farmers' individualities, different rural cultures, landscape types, EU and national policies and special needs of the study areas—all areas where agricultural production is increasingly marginalized, for different reasons. Subsidy scheme participation...

Public Opinion Survey - Energy - The Present and the Future - 2009/10

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trontl, K.; Jecmenica, R.; Pevec, D.

2010-01-01

During the academic year 2009/10 the Department of Applied Physics of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing conducted a public opinion survey entitled 'Energy - The Present and the Future' among student population of 622 individuals age 18-20 (413 male students, 202 female students, and 7 students without the answer on gender question). The tested population consisted of the University of Zagreb four faculties' students: the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, the Faculty of Civil Engineering. The questions in the survey covered several different energy issues, including the present and the future energy resources, the acceptability of different fuel type power plants, the environmental protection and global warming, the radioactivity, the waste issues, as well as reliable information sources. The basic results of survey analysis for nuclear oriented questions, as well as the comparison of results of the current survey with the results of the similar survey conducted in the academic year 2007/08, are reported in this paper. Participants generally express high level of formal environmental awareness. However, their choices and attitudes are in a contradiction to claimed eco-orientation, as well as to the scientific facts. The discrepancies are particularly noticeable in parts of the survey dealing with the nuclear energy and the nuclear power plants. The participants are also demonstrating lack of knowledge on nuclear issues especially regarding radioactive waste management, as well as economics and operational safety of nuclear power plants.(author).

The Association Between Health Program Participation and Employee Retention.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Rebecca J; Ozminkowski, Ronald J; Hartley, Stephen K

2016-09-01

Using health plan membership as a proxy for employee retention, the objective of this study was to examine whether use of health promotion programs was associated with employee retention. Propensity score weighted generalized linear regression models were used to estimate the association between telephonic programs or health risk surveys and retention. Analyses were conducted with six study samples based on type of program participation. Retention rates were highest for employees with either telephonic program activity or health risk surveys and lowest for employees who did not participate in any interventions. Participants ranged from 71% more likely to 5% less likely to remain with their employers compared with nonparticipants, depending on the sample used in analyses. Using health promotion programs in combination with health risk surveys may lead to improvements in employee retention.

[Survey of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus control measures in hospitals participating in the VINCat program].

Science.gov (United States)

Sopena-Galindo, Nieves; Hornero-Lopez, Anna; Freixas-Sala, Núria; Bella-Cueto, Feliu; Pérez-Jové, Josefa; Limon-Cáceres, Enric; Gudiol-Munté, Francesc

2016-01-01

VINCat is a nosocomial infection surveillance program in hospitals in Catalonia. The aim of the study was to determine the surveillance and control measures of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in these centres. An e-mail survey was carried out from January to March 2013 with questions related to the characteristics of the hospitals and their control measures for MRSA. A response was received from 53 hospitals (>500 beds: 7; 200-500 beds: 14;prevent MRSA in hospitals participating in the VINCat program. Most of the centres have an MRSA protocol, however compliance with it should be improved, especially in areas such as active detection on admission in patients at risk, hand hygiene adherence, cleaning frequency and optimising the use of antibiotics. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica. All rights reserved.

Caricaturing facial expressions.

Science.gov (United States)

Calder, A J; Rowland, D; Young, A W; Nimmo-Smith, I; Keane, J; Perrett, D I

2000-08-14

The physical differences between facial expressions (e.g. fear) and a reference norm (e.g. a neutral expression) were altered to produce photographic-quality caricatures. In Experiment 1, participants rated caricatures of fear, happiness and sadness for their intensity of these three emotions; a second group of participants rated how 'face-like' the caricatures appeared. With increasing levels of exaggeration the caricatures were rated as more emotionally intense, but less 'face-like'. Experiment 2 demonstrated a similar relationship between emotional intensity and level of caricature for six different facial expressions. Experiments 3 and 4 compared intensity ratings of facial expression caricatures prepared relative to a selection of reference norms - a neutral expression, an average expression, or a different facial expression (e.g. anger caricatured relative to fear). Each norm produced a linear relationship between caricature and rated intensity of emotion; this finding is inconsistent with two-dimensional models of the perceptual representation of facial expression. An exemplar-based multidimensional model is proposed as an alternative account.

[How do residents in urology evaluate their daily routine at work-a survey analysis].

Science.gov (United States)

Necknig, U; Borowitz, R; Wöhr, M; Leyh, H; Weckermann, D

2018-05-28

The changing conditions in German hospitals is causing a shortage of young people. In order to identify starting point for improvements, the Bavarian association of urologists in collaboration with the German Society of Residents in Urology (GeSRU) conducted an online survey among residents in urology in summer of 2017. A standardised survey composed of 38 questions was distributed to participants through a mailing list of the GeSRU. Most questions were closed-ended; however, some did allow participants to respond by means of an open-ended answer. A total of 218 participants provided a total of 11,764 responses: 58% were female and 42% were male. Over 70% were aged between 31 and 35 years. In all, 29% of participants responded negatively to the question asking whether they feel like their medical studies at university prepared them well for the daily routine in their workplace. Participants particularly demanded a higher degree of practical experience during their studies, as well as more teaching of soft skills. In relation to choosing their specialisation, participants considered the intern year and their clinical traineeships as crucial factors. Participants did express appreciation of their field of specialization in relation to the broad range of available treatments, the opportunity of further specialising, the clientele of patients, the opportunity of working in a small team, innovations, and the high possibilities of opening their own medical practice. On a personal level, participants specifically wished for a more structured plan relating to their further internship, involving regular meetings. They also expressed the wish for more personalised career plans, more flexible work hours, and improved advanced training, both internally and externally. With the aim of making urology even more attractive, participants' wishes and suggestions should be taken into consideration. These, in general, involve a more structured training plan, better working

Knowledge and Perception about Clinical Research Shapes Behavior: Face to Face Survey in Korean General Public.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Yun Jung; Beck, Sung-Ho; Kang, Woon Yong; Yoo, Soyoung; Kim, Seong-Yoon; Lee, Ji Sung; Burt, Tal; Kim, Tae Won

2016-05-01

Considering general public as potential patients, identifying factors that hinder public participation poses great importance, especially in a research environment where demands for clinical trial participants outpace the supply. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate knowledge and perception about clinical research in general public. A total of 400 Seoul residents with no previous experience of clinical trial participation were selected, as representative of population in Seoul in terms of age and sex. To minimize selection bias, every fifth passer-by was invited to interview, and if in a cluster, person on the very right side was asked. To ensure the uniform use of survey, written instructions have been added to the questionnaire. Followed by pilot test in 40 subjects, the survey was administered face-to-face in December 2014. To investigate how perception shapes behavior, we compared perception scores in those who expressed willingness to participate and those who did not. Remarkably higher percentage of responders stated that they have heard of clinical research, and knew someone who participated (both, P perceptions and lack of knowledge will be effective in enhancing public engaged in clinical research.

Cancer Research Participation Beliefs and Behaviors of a Southern Black Population: A Quantitative Analysis of the Role of Structural Factors in Cancer Research Participation.

Science.gov (United States)

Farr, Deeonna E; Brandt, Heather M; Comer, Kimberly D; Jackson, Dawnyéa D; Pandya, Kinjal; Friedman, Daniela B; Ureda, John R; Williams, Deloris G; Scott, Dolores B; Green, Wanda; Hébert, James R

2015-09-01

Increasing the participation of Blacks in cancer research is a vital component of a strategy to reduce racial inequities in cancer burden. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is especially well-suited to advancing our knowledge of factors that influence research participation to ultimately address cancer-related health inequities. A paucity of literature focuses on the role of structural factors limiting participation in cancer research. As part of a larger CBPR project, we used survey data from a statewide cancer needs assessment of a Black faith community to examine the influence of structural factors on attitudes toward research and the contributions of both structural and attitudinal factors on whether individuals participate in research. Regression analyses and non-parametric statistics were conducted on data from 727 adult survey respondents. Structural factors, such as having health insurance coverage, experiencing discrimination during health care encounters, and locale, predicted belief in the benefits, but not the risks, of research participation. Positive attitudes toward research predicted intention to participate in cancer research. Significant differences in structural and attitudinal factors were found between cancer research participants and non-participants; however, directionality is confounded by the cross-sectional survey design and causality cannot be determined. This study points to complex interplay of structural and attitudinal factors on research participation as well as need for additional quantitative examinations of the various types of factors that influence research participation in Black communities.

The socio-economic patterning of survey participation and non-response error in a multilevel study of food purchasing behaviour: area- and individual-level characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Turrell, Gavin; Patterson, Carla; Oldenburg, Brian; Gould, Trish; Roy, Marie-Andree

2003-04-01

To undertake an assessment of survey participation and non-response error in a population-based study that examined the relationship between socio-economic position and food purchasing behaviour. The study was conducted in Brisbane City (Australia) in 2000. The sample was selected using a stratified two-stage cluster design. Respondents were recruited using a range of strategies that attempted to maximise the involvement of persons from disadvantaged backgrounds: respondents were contacted by personal visit and data were collected using home-based face-to-face interviews; multiple call-backs on different days and at different times were used; and a financial gratuity was provided. Non-institutionalised residents of private dwellings located in 50 small areas that differed in their socio-economic characteristics. Rates of survey participation - measured by non-contacts, exclusions, dropped cases, response rates and completions - were similar across areas, suggesting that residents of socio-economically advantaged and disadvantaged areas were equally likely to be recruited. Individual-level analysis, however, showed that respondents and non-respondents differed significantly in their sociodemographic and food purchasing characteristics: non-respondents were older, less educated and exhibited different purchasing behaviours. Misclassification bias probably accounted for the inconsistent pattern of association between the area- and individual-level results. Estimates of bias due to non-response indicated that although respondents and non-respondents were qualitatively different, the magnitude of error associated with this differential was minimal. Socio-economic position measured at the individual level is a strong and consistent predictor of survey non-participation. Future studies that set out to examine the relationship between socio-economic position and diet need to adopt sampling strategies and data collection methods that maximise the likelihood of recruiting

Validation of the Oxford Participation and Activities Questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Morley, David; Dummett, Sarah; Kelly, Laura; Dawson, Jill; Fitzpatrick, Ray; Jenkinson, Crispin

2016-01-01

There is growing interest in the management of long-term conditions and in keeping people active and participating in the community. Testing the effectiveness of interventions that aim to affect activities and participation can be challenging without a well-developed, valid, and reliable instrument. This study therefore aims to develop a patient-reported outcome measure, the Oxford Participation and Activities Questionnaire (Ox-PAQ), which is theoretically grounded in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) and fully compliant with current best practice guidelines. Questionnaire items generated from patient interviews and based on the nine chapters of the ICF were administered by postal survey to 386 people with three neurological conditions: motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. Participants also completed the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and EQ-5D-5L. Thus, 334 participants completed the survey, a response rate of 86.5%. Factor analysis techniques identified three Ox-PAQ domains, consisting of 23 items, accounting for 72.8% of variance. Internal reliability for the three domains was high (Cronbach's α: 0.81-0.96), as was test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation: 0.83-0.92). Concurrent validity was demonstrated through highly significant relationships with relevant domains of the MOS SF-36 and the EQ- 5D-5L. Assessment of known-groups validity identified significant differences in Ox-PAQ scores among the three conditions included in the survey. Results suggest that the Ox-PAQ is a valid and reliable measure of participation and activity. The measure will now be validated in a range of further conditions, and additional properties, such as responsiveness, will also be assessed in the next phase of the instrument's development.

Employee participation in Europe : in search of the high participative workplace in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poutsma, Erik; Hendrickx, John; Huijgen, Fred

2001-01-01

This report presents an overview of practices on participation schemes in companies in different European countries. It is based on a secondary analysis of the 1996 EPOC-mail survey data among managers of profit-sector establishments in ten EU countries. The paper offers a description of the

Survey report on awareness and participation behavior in disabled sports and disability understanding after Tokyo's bid for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiota, Kotomi

2018-01-01

[Purpose] This study analyzes awareness and participation behavior in disabled sports and disability understanding after Tokyo's bid for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. [Subjects and Methods] The study conducted a cross survey on 220 registrants of an Internet research firm. It analyzed: the awareness of citizens and their behavioral changes, in the aftermath of the allocation of Olympic and Paralympic Games; subject attributes and education level; recognition of disabled sports; and the awareness and behavior of participants, with regard to disabled sports. The analysis was conducted using SPSS Ver. 21 (IBM). [Results] The subjects were not interested in watching (72.2%), participating (76.8%), or volunteering (71.8%) in disabled sports. In addition, 76.8% of the subjects exhibited no behavioral changes-such as by watching, participating, or volunteering in disabled sports-after the Olympics and Paralympics bid decision. [Conclusion] This study's subjects had no confidence in their disability knowledge and no opportunities to interact with disabled persons. Furthermore, the bids for mega-events such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games did not lead to behavioral changes concerning disabled sports. Therefore, disability understanding should promote and deepen participation behavior in disabled sports.

Cultural participation in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stevenson, David; Kann-Rasmussen, Nanna; Balling, Gitte

2015-01-01

Europe has a ‘problem’; it is becoming a ‘less cultural continent’ as fewer Europeans are ‘engaging in cultural activities’. This conclusion has been reached due to the findings of the latest cross national cultural participation survey. This paper questions the existence of this ‘problem...

Measuring participation according to the International Classification of Functioning to

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Perenboom, R.J.M.; Chorus, A.M.J.

2003-01-01

Purpose of this study was to report which existing survey instruments assess participation according to the International Classification of Functioning. Disability and Health (ICF). A literature search for relevant survey instruments was conducted. Subsequently, survey instruments were evaluated of

Gender Differences in Recreational Sports Participation among Taiwanese Adults

OpenAIRE

Tsai, Liang-Ting; Lo, Feng-En; Yang, Chih-Chien; Keller, Joseph Jordan; Lyu, Shu-Yu

2015-01-01

This study examines the gender differences in the enjoyment of recreational sports participation among Taiwanese adults. Data were obtained using the 2007 Taiwan Social Change Survey. The questionnaire included a topical module of the International Social Survey Program regarding leisure time and sports. Results showed that male subjects were more likely to participate in recreational sports to improve their appearance and on account of their personal interest. In addition to these factors, f...

Initiating and continuing participation in citizen science for natural history.

Science.gov (United States)

Everett, Glyn; Geoghegan, Hilary

2016-07-22

Natural history has a long tradition in the UK, dating back to before Charles Darwin. Developing from a principally amateur pursuit, natural history continues to attract both amateur and professional involvement. Within the context of citizen science and public engagement, we examine the motivations behind citizen participation in the national survey activities of the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) programme, looking at: people's experiences of the surveys as 'project-based leisure'; their motivations for taking part and barriers to continued participation; where they feature on our continuum of engagement; and whether participation in an OPAL survey facilitated their movement between categories along this continuum. The paper focuses on a less-expected but very significant outcome regarding the participation of already-engaged amateur naturalists in citizen science. Our main findings relate to: first, how committed amateur naturalists (already-engaged) have also enjoyed contributing to OPAL and the need to respect and work with their interest to encourage broader and deeper involvement; and second, how new (previously-unengaged) and relatively new participants (casually-engaged) have gained confidence, renewed their interests, refocussed their activities and/or gained validation from participation in OPAL. Overall, we argue that engagement with and enthusiasm for the scientific process is a motivation shared by citizens who, prior to participating in the OPAL surveys, were previously-unengaged, casually-engaged or already-engaged in natural history activities. Citizen science has largely been written about by professional scientists for professional scientists interested in developing a project of their own. This study offers a qualitative example of how citizen science can be meaningful to participants beyond what might appear to be a public engagement data collection exercise.

Validation of the Oxford Participation and Activities Questionnaire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morley D

2016-06-01

Full Text Available David Morley, Sarah Dummett, Laura Kelly, Jill Dawson, Ray Fitzpatrick, Crispin Jenkinson Health Services Research Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK Purpose: There is growing interest in the management of long-term conditions and in keeping people active and participating in the community. Testing the effectiveness of interventions that aim to affect activities and participation can be challenging without a well-developed, valid, and reliable instrument. This study therefore aims to develop a patient-reported outcome measure, the Oxford Participation and Activities Questionnaire (Ox-PAQ, which is theoretically grounded in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF and fully compliant with current best practice guidelines. Methods: Questionnaire items generated from patient interviews and based on the nine chapters of the ICF were administered by postal survey to 386 people with three neurological conditions: motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. Participants also completed the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36 and EQ-5D-5L. Results: Thus, 334 participants completed the survey, a response rate of 86.5%. Factor analysis techniques identified three Ox-PAQ domains, consisting of 23 items, accounting for 72.8% of variance. Internal reliability for the three domains was high (Cronbach's α: 0.81–0.96, as was test–retest reliability (intraclass correlation: 0.83–0.92. Concurrent validity was demonstrated through highly significant relationships with relevant domains of the MOS SF-36 and the EQ-5D-5L. Assessment of known-groups validity identified significant differences in Ox-PAQ scores among the three conditions included in the survey. Conclusion: Results suggest that the Ox-PAQ is a valid and reliable measure of participation and activity. The measure will now be validated in

The accuracy of surface-contamination measurements; survey of UK hospitals, 1986

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woods, M.J.

1987-01-01

In response to a number of concerns expressed at both national and international levels, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) conducted a survey of UK hospitals and associated Regional Radiation Protection Services. Sources of surface contamination were distributed and participants were requested to measure these and interpret the relevant responses in terms of emission and activity per unit area. The analysis of the returns demonstrates that the vast majority of results was significantly in error and that the quality of radiation protection may be impaired. (author)

Effects of Expressive Writing on Psychological and Physical Health: The Moderating Role of Emotional Expressivity

Science.gov (United States)

Haltom, Kate E.; Mulvenna, Catherine M.; Lieberman, Matthew D.; Stanton, Annette L.

2013-01-01

The current study assessed main effects and moderators (including emotional expressiveness, emotional processing and ambivalence over emotional expression) of the effects of expressive writing in a sample of healthy adults. Young adult participants (N = 116) were randomly assigned to write for 20 minutes on four occasions about deepest thoughts and feelings regarding their most stressful/traumatic event in the past five years (expressive writing) or about a control topic (control). Dependent variables were indicators of anxiety, depression, and physical symptoms. No significant effects of writing condition were evident on anxiety, depressive symptoms, or physical symptoms. Emotional expressiveness emerged as a significant moderator of anxiety outcomes, however. Within the expressive writing group, participants high in expressiveness evidenced a significant reduction in anxiety at three-month follow-up, and participants low in expressiveness showed a significant increase in anxiety. Expressiveness did not predict change in anxiety in the control group. These findings on anxiety are consistent with the matching hypothesis, which suggests that matching a person’s naturally elected coping approach with an assigned intervention is beneficial. These findings also suggest that expressive writing about a stressful event may be contraindicated for individuals who do not typically express emotions. PMID:23742666

Gender differences in recreational sports participation among Taiwanese adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Liang-Ting; Lo, Feng-En; Yang, Chih-Chien; Keller, Joseph Jordan; Lyu, Shu-Yu

2015-01-15

This study examines the gender differences in the enjoyment of recreational sports participation among Taiwanese adults. Data were obtained using the 2007 Taiwan Social Change Survey. The questionnaire included a topical module of the International Social Survey Program regarding leisure time and sports. Results showed that male subjects were more likely to participate in recreational sports to improve their appearance and on account of their personal interest. In addition to these factors, female subjects also experienced greater motivation to participate when Taiwanese athletes performed well in international sporting competitions. This study confirmed that the factors influencing enjoyment of recreational sports participation differ among men and women. These results can be used to better inform public health professionals and other regulatory organizations formulating physical activity intervention strategies.

Association between food assistance program participation and overweight.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaparro, M Pia; Bernabe-Ortiz, Antonio; Harrison, Gail G

2014-12-01

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate the association between food assistance program participation and overweight/obesity according to poverty level. METHODS A cross-sectional analysis of data from 46,217 non-pregnant and non-lactating women in Lima, Peru was conducted; these data were obtained from nationally representative surveys from the years 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2008-2010. The dependent variable was overweight/obesity, and the independent variable was food assistance program participation. Poisson regression was used to stratify the data by family socioeconomic level, area of residence (Lima versus the rest of the country; urban versus rural), and survey year (2003-2006 versus 2008-2010). The models were adjusted for age, education level, urbanization, and survey year. RESULTS Food assistance program participation was associated with an increased risk of overweight/obesity in women living in homes without poverty indicators [prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.29; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06;1.57]. When stratified by area of residence, similar associations were observed for women living in Lima and urban areas; no associations were found between food assistance program participation and overweight/obesity among women living outside of Lima or in rural areas, regardless of the poverty status. CONCLUSIONS Food assistance program participation was associated with overweight/obesity in non-poor women. Additional studies are required in countries facing both aspects of malnutrition.

Association between food assistance program participation and overweight

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Pia Chaparro

2014-12-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate the association between food assistance program participation and overweight/obesity according to poverty level. METHODS A cross-sectional analysis of data from 46,217 non-pregnant and non-lactating women in Lima, Peru was conducted; these data were obtained from nationally representative surveys from the years 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2008-2010. The dependent variable was overweight/obesity, and the independent variable was food assistance program participation. Poisson regression was used to stratify the data by family socioeconomic level, area of residence (Lima versus the rest of the country; urban versus rural, and survey year (2003-2006 versus 2008-2010. The models were adjusted for age, education level, urbanization, and survey year. RESULTS Food assistance program participation was associated with an increased risk of overweight/obesity in women living in homes without poverty indicators [prevalence ratio (PR = 1.29; 95% confidence interval (CI 1.06;1.57]. When stratified by area of residence, similar associations were observed for women living in Lima and urban areas; no associations were found between food assistance program participation and overweight/obesity among women living outside of Lima or in rural areas, regardless of the poverty status. CONCLUSIONS Food assistance program participation was associated with overweight/obesity in non-poor women. Additional studies are required in countries facing both aspects of malnutrition.

Misrecognition of facial expressions in delinquents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matsuura Naomi

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous reports have suggested impairment in facial expression recognition in delinquents, but controversy remains with respect to how such recognition is impaired. To address this issue, we investigated facial expression recognition in delinquents in detail. Methods We tested 24 male adolescent/young adult delinquents incarcerated in correctional facilities. We compared their performances with those of 24 age- and gender-matched control participants. Using standard photographs of facial expressions illustrating six basic emotions, participants matched each emotional facial expression with an appropriate verbal label. Results Delinquents were less accurate in the recognition of facial expressions that conveyed disgust than were control participants. The delinquents misrecognized the facial expressions of disgust as anger more frequently than did controls. Conclusion These results suggest that one of the underpinnings of delinquency might be impaired recognition of emotional facial expressions, with a specific bias toward interpreting disgusted expressions as hostile angry expressions.

Expressing eMotions Through Participation in Painting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Molly Bathje MS, OTR/L

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The cover of the Winter 2013 Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, titled Miles eMOTION, was created by Miles Scharfenberg, an 18-year-old young man with multiple developmental impairments. Miles’ story and his artwork provide a reflection on the ways in which creativity and art can enhance the lives of people with disabilities and their families. Miles’ art exists because of his drive toward engagement and participation in life, but also essential is his mother’s commitment to providing opportunities for him to be creative. The Miles eMOTION series of paintings can inspire occupational therapists, families, caregivers, and people with disabilities to incorporate art making as a part of their occupational profile

Immunohistochemistry practices of cytopathology laboratories: a survey of participants in the College of American Pathologists Nongynecologic Cytopathology Education Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Andrew H; Schwartz, Mary R; Moriarty, Ann T; Wilbur, David C; Souers, Rhona; Fatheree, Lisa; Booth, Christine N; Clayton, Amy C; Kurtyz, Daniel F I; Padmanabhan, Vijayalakshmi; Crothers, Barbara A

2014-09-01

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is important for cytology but poses special challenges because preanalytic conditions may differ from the conditions of IHC-positive controls. To broadly survey cytology laboratories to quantify preanalytic platforms for cytology IHC and identify problems with particular platforms or antigens. To discover how validation guidelines for HER2 testing have affected cytology. A voluntary survey of cytology IHC practices was sent to 1899 cytology laboratories participating in the College of American Pathologists Nongynecologic Cytopathology Education Program in the fall of 2009. A total of 818 laboratories (43%) responded to the survey by April 2010. Three hundred fourty-five of 791 respondents (44%) performed IHC on cytology specimens. Seventeen different fixation and processing platforms prior to antibody reaction were reported. A total of 59.2% of laboratories reported differences between the platforms for cytology specimens and positive controls, but most (155 of 184; 84%) did not alter antibody dilutions or antigen retrieval for cytology IHC. When asked to name 2 antibodies for which staining conditions differed between cytology and surgical samples, there were 18 responses listing 14 antibodies. A total of 30.6% of laboratories performing IHC offered HER2 testing before publication of the 2007 College of American Pathologists/American Society of Clinical Oncologists guidelines, compared with 33.6% afterward, with increased performance of testing by reference laboratories. Three laboratories validated a nonformalin HER2 platform. The platforms for cytology IHC and positive controls differ for most laboratories, yet conditions are uncommonly adjusted for cytology specimens. Except for the unsuitability of air-dried smears for HER2 testing, the survey did not reveal evidence of systematic problems with any antibody or platform.

Nuclear technology and national participation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gueray, B. S.

2001-01-01

The evolution from the initial turnkey approach into a split-package and eventually into a multiple-package approach requires a firm long-term policy for the nuclear program together with careful planning and realistic assessment. Definition of the possible areas and the extent for the national participation is a critical determining factor for the implementation of the program. In this study; importance of a throughout survey with its elementary methods and objectives is presented. Extent of national participation together with its evolutionary aspects investigated through analysis of some countries' experiences and IAEA guides. The beneficial effect of national participation in a nuclear power program is underlined

Gender Differences in Recreational Sports Participation among Taiwanese Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang-Ting Tsai

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study examines the gender differences in the enjoyment of recreational sports participation among Taiwanese adults. Data were obtained using the 2007 Taiwan Social Change Survey. The questionnaire included a topical module of the International Social Survey Program regarding leisure time and sports. Results showed that male subjects were more likely to participate in recreational sports to improve their appearance and on account of their personal interest. In addition to these factors, female subjects also experienced greater motivation to participate when Taiwanese athletes performed well in international sporting competitions. This study confirmed that the factors influencing enjoyment of recreational sports participation differ among men and women. These results can be used to better inform public health professionals and other regulatory organizations formulating physical activity intervention strategies.

Gender Differences in Recreational Sports Participation among Taiwanese Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Liang-Ting; Lo, Feng-En; Yang, Chih-Chien; Keller, Joseph Jordan; Lyu, Shu-Yu

2015-01-01

This study examines the gender differences in the enjoyment of recreational sports participation among Taiwanese adults. Data were obtained using the 2007 Taiwan Social Change Survey. The questionnaire included a topical module of the International Social Survey Program regarding leisure time and sports. Results showed that male subjects were more likely to participate in recreational sports to improve their appearance and on account of their personal interest. In addition to these factors, female subjects also experienced greater motivation to participate when Taiwanese athletes performed well in international sporting competitions. This study confirmed that the factors influencing enjoyment of recreational sports participation differ among men and women. These results can be used to better inform public health professionals and other regulatory organizations formulating physical activity intervention strategies. PMID:25599374

Cervical and breast cancer screening participation for women with chronic conditions in France: results from a national health survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Constantinou, Panayotis; Dray-Spira, Rosemary; Menvielle, Gwenn

2016-03-31

Comorbidity at the time of diagnosis is an independent prognostic factor for survival among women suffering from cervical or breast cancer. Although cancer screening practices have proven their efficacy for mortality reduction, little is known about adherence to screening recommendations for women suffering from chronic conditions. We investigated the association between eleven chronic conditions and adherence to cervical and breast cancer screening recommendations in France. Using data from a cross-sectional national health survey conducted in 2008, we analyzed screening participation taking into account self-reported: inflammatory systemic disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, depression, diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity, osteoarthritis and thyroid disorders. We first computed age-standardized screening rates among women who reported each condition. We then estimated the effect of having reported each condition on adherence to screening recommendations in logistic regression models, with adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, socioeconomic position, health behaviours, healthcare access and healthcare use. Finally, we investigated the association between chronic conditions and opportunistic versus organized breast cancer screening using multinomial logistic regression. The analyses were conducted among 4226 women for cervical cancer screening and 2056 women for breast cancer screening. Most conditions studied were not associated with screening participation. Adherence to cervical cancer screening recommendations was higher for cancer survivors (OR = 1.73 [0.98-3.05]) and lower for obese women (OR = 0.73 [0.57-0.93]), when accounting for our complete range of screening determinants. Women reporting chronic respiratory disease or diabetes participated less in cervical cancer screening, except when adjusting for socioeconomic characteristics. Adherence to breast cancer screening recommendations was lower for

Interrelationship of motivation for and perceived constraints to physical activity participation and the well-being of senior center participants

Science.gov (United States)

Motoko Miyake; Ellen Rodgers

2009-01-01

This study investigated the relationship of motivation for and perceived constraints to physical activity (PA) participation and the well-being of senior center participants. A survey instrument made up of modified versions of the Sport Motivation and Perceived Constraints Scales, the Life Satisfaction Index-Z, and the Geriatric Depression Scale was administered at the...

The involvement of Spanish older people in nondegree educational programs: reasons for and barriers to participation.

Science.gov (United States)

Villar, Feliciano; Celdrán, Montserrat

2014-01-01

This article examines the reasons older Spanish people participate in nondegree educational programs and the barriers they may face when they want to do so. Data were drawn from the 2007 Survey on Adults' Involvement in Learning Activities (Encuesta sobre la Participación de la Población Adulta en Actividades de Aprendizaje: EADA) and correspond to a nationally representative sample of Spanish people aged between 60 and 74 years old (n=4,559). Overall, only 8.7% of the sample participated in a nondegree educational program. Predictors of participation were being a woman, being younger, having a higher educational level, and being employed. The most frequent reason given for participation was of an intrinsic nature (e.g., interest in the topic), although instrumental motives (e.g., utility of the content for daily life) were more common than suggested by previous research. As for barriers to participation, the vast majority of older people (95.6% of those who did not participate) did not even express a desire to participate. The most frequent barriers were internal (e.g., age/health restrictions). This kind of barrier was ascribed a greater importance by older and less educated groups as well as by those who participate less in cultural activities. Policies to promote older people's participation in nonformal educational activities are discussed in light of the data.

Recruitment and Baseline Characteristics of American Indian Tribal College Students Participating in a Tribal College Tobacco and Behavioral Survey.

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Choi, Won S; Nazir, Niaman; Pacheco, Christina M; Filippi, Melissa K; Pacheco, Joseph; White Bull, Julia; Nance, Christi; Faseru, Babalola; Greiner, K Allen; Daley, Christine Makosky

2016-06-01

American Indians (AIs) have the highest cigarette smoking rates of any racial/ethnic group in the United States. Although the overall smoking prevalence in the United States for nonminority populations has decreased over the past several decades, the same pattern is not observed among AIs. The purpose of this observational study was to collect cigarette smoking and related information from American Indian tribal college students to inform tailored interventions. We conducted a repeated cross-sectional survey of American Indian tribal college students, Tribal College Tobacco and Behavior Survey (TCTABS), with a focus on recruiting all incoming freshman at three participating tribal colleges in the Midwest and Northern Plains regions. A total of 1256 students participated in the baseline surveys between April 2011 and October 2014. The overall smoking prevalence of this sample was 34.7%, with differences by region (Northern Plains-44.0% and Midwest-28%). The majority, 87.5% of current smokers reported smoking 10 or less cigarettes per day, 41% reported smoking menthol cigarettes, 52% smoked Marlboro brand, and the mean age of their first cigarette was 14 years. The majority, 62% had made at least one quit attempt in the past year. The overwhelming majority of respondents, regardless of their smoking status, thought that the current smoking prevalence on campus was greater than 41% and approximately one-third believed that it was as high as 61%. Very few studies of smoking have been conducted in this population and results from our study confirm the need for effective interventions. AIs have the highest cigarette smoking rates compared to other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Furthermore, limited studies have examined the epidemiology of cigarette smoking among tribal college students. This study addresses health disparities related to smoking among college students by examining the demographic, cultural, and environmental characteristics of smoking and

Metric properties of the Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation (USER-Participation) in persons with spinal cord injury living in Switzerland

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mader, Luzius; Post, Marcel W M; Ballert, Carolina S; Michel, Gisela; Stucki, Gerold; Brinkhof, Martin W G

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To examine the metric properties of the Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation (USER-Participation) in persons with spinal cord injury in Switzerland from a classical and item response theory perspective. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SUBJECTS: Persons with spinal

Wilderness recreation participation: Projections for the next half century

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J. M. Bowker; D. Murphy; H. K. Cordell; D. B. K. English; J. C. Bergstrom; C. M. Starbuck; C. J. Betz; G. T. Green; P. Reed

2007-01-01

This paper explores the influence of demographic and spatial variables on individual participation in wildland area recreation. Data from the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment (NSRE) are combined with GIS-based distance measures to develop nonlinear regression models used to predict both participation and the number of days of participation in...

Social marketing strategies for reaching older people with disabilities: findings from a survey of centers for independent living participants.

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Moone, Rajean Paul; Lightfoot, Elizabeth

2009-01-01

Centers for independent living (CILs) provide critical supports, services, and advocacy for assisting people with disabilities in living independently. As there is a rapidly increasing population of older people with disabilities, many CILs are now considering how to actively engage older adults in their organizations. This study utilized a survey of older people with disabilities to help identify social marketing techniques that community organizations like CILs can use to effectively reach older people with disabilities. Utilizing the components of the social marketing mix in designing outreach efforts, including a critical examination of product, place, price, participants, and partnering, CILs and other community agencies can better reach older adults with disabilities.

EXPERIENCES OF REPERCUSSIONS FROM PARTICIPATION IN ONLINE DEBATE

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Løvlie, Anders Sundnes; Ihlebæk, Karoline Andrea

Based on data from a survey among contributors (n=3470) to the online comments sections of four Norwegian newspapers, we investigate the following research question: How do contributors to online comments sections in newspaper websites describe their experiences of repercussions from participation...... in debates? Through analysis of two survey questions asking respondents whether they have experienced problems in everyday life after participating in online comments, we find that women to a larger degree report such problems. However, when studying the types of problems reported, we fail to replicate...... earlier findings about gender differences associated with different types of problems. Instead, we find a surprising dominance of relatively inconsequential issues, leading to a discussion about the communicative competencies of participants, and the challenge in facilitating online debate for people...

Informing design of an app-based coaching intervention to promote social participation of teenagers with traumatic brain injury.

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Bedell, Gary M; Wade, Shari L; Turkstra, Lyn S; Haarbauer-Krupa, Juliet; King, Jessica A

2017-10-01

To examine perspectives of multiple stakeholders to inform the design of an app-based coaching intervention to promote social participation in teenagers with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Teenagers and college students with and without TBI and parents of teenagers with TBI were recruited from two children's hospitals and two universities in the USA (n = 39). Data were collected via interviews, focus groups, and surveys and examined using descriptive statistics and content analyses. Teenagers with TBI reported more social participation barriers and fewer strategies for addressing these barriers than teenagers without TBI. There was consensus across groups about the value of college student coaches and use of smartphones and apps. Participants expressed mixed views on the use of chat rooms and degree of parent involvement. Results provided insights about the possible benefits of the intervention, and informed its initial design (e.g., desired coach qualities, and type of coach training and supervision).

What does it mean when people say that they have received expressions of concern about their drinking or advice to cut down on the AUDIT scale?

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Cunningham, John A; Godinho, Alexandra; Kushnir, Vladyslav; Bertholet, Nicolas

2017-12-02

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is a commonly used scale to measure severity of alcohol consumption that contains an item asking if anyone has expressed concern about your drinking or suggested you cut down. What does it mean when a participant says yes to this question? Participants who were 18 or older and who drank at least weekly were recruited to complete a survey about their drinking from the Mechanical Turk platform. Comparisons were made between at risk (n = 2565) and high risk drinkers (n = 581) who said that someone had expressed concern about their drinking regarding who had expressed concern. If the person expressing concern was a health professional, the participant was also asked what type of support was provided. Expressions of concern about drinking were received more often by high risk than at risk drinkers. The most common type of person to have expressed concern was a relative, followed by a friend, or a marital partner. About one quarter of participants had received expressions of concern from a medical doctor or other health professional. All health professionals' expressions of concern were accompanied by a suggestion to cut down and about half provided some additional support (the most common type of support was brief advice). Expressions of concern come from a variety of sources and the likelihood of their occurrence is partially related to amount of alcohol intake.

Teaching Certificate Program Participants' Perceptions of Mentor-Mentee Relationships.

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Sheehan, Amy Heck; Gonzalvo, Jasmine D; Ramsey, Darin C; Sprunger, Tracy L

2016-04-25

Objective. To assess teaching certificate program (TCP) participants' perceptions of mentor-mentee relationships. Methods. A 15-item survey instrument was administered to all 2014-2015 participants of the Indiana Pharmacy Teaching Certificate (IPTeC) program. Results. One hundred percent of IPTeC program participants (83/83) responded to the survey. The majority of participants indicated that having a professional mentor was either very important (52%) or important (47%) to their professional development and preferred to choose their own professional mentor (53%). Mentor characteristics rated as highly important by mentees included having similar clinical practice interests (82%), having similar research interests (66%), and being available to meet face-to-face (90%). Age, race, and gender of the mentor were not rated by mentees as important. Conclusion. Teaching certificate program participants place high importance on having a professional mentor. Mentorship of pharmacists completing TCPs should be a priority for current pharmacy faculty members so adequate guidance is available to future pharmacy educators.

Public appraisal of government efforts and participation intent in medico-ethical policymaking in Japan: a large scale national survey concerning brain death and organ transplant

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Hajime; Akabayashi, Akira; Kai, Ichiro

2005-01-01

Background Public satisfaction with policy process influences the legitimacy and acceptance of policies, and conditions the future political process, especially when contending ethical value judgments are involved. On the other hand, public involvement is required if effective policy is to be developed and accepted. Methods Using the data from a large-scale national opinion survey, this study evaluates public appraisal of past government efforts to legalize organ transplant from brain-dead bodies in Japan, and examines the public's intent to participate in future policy. Results A relatively large percentage of people became aware of the issue when government actions were initiated, and many increasingly formed their own opinions on the policy in question. However, a significant number (43.3%) remained unaware of any legislative efforts, and only 26.3% of those who were aware provided positive appraisals of the policymaking process. Furthermore, a majority of respondents (61.8%) indicated unwillingness to participate in future policy discussions of bioethical issues. Multivariate analysis revealed the following factors are associated with positive appraisals of policy development: greater age; earlier opinion formation; and familiarity with donor cards. Factors associated with likelihood of future participation in policy discussion include younger age, earlier attention to the issue, and knowledge of past government efforts. Those unwilling to participate cited as their reasons that experts are more knowledgeable and that the issues are too complex. Conclusions Results of an opinion survey in Japan were presented, and a set of factors statistically associated with them were discussed. Further efforts to improve policy making process on bioethical issues are desirable. PMID:15661080

Online questionnaire development: Using film to engage participants and then gather attitudes towards the sharing of genomic data☆

Science.gov (United States)

Middleton, A.; Bragin, E.; Morley, K.I.; Parker, M

2014-01-01

How can a researcher engage a participant in a survey, when the subject matter may be perceived as ‘challenging’ or even be totally unfamiliar to the participant? The Genomethics study addressed this via the creation and delivery of a novel online questionnaire containing 10 integrated films. The films documented various ethical dilemmas raised by genomic technologies and the survey ascertained attitudes towards these. Participants were recruited into the research using social media, traditional media and email invitation. The film-survey strategy was successful: 11,336 initial hits on the survey website led to 6944 completed surveys. Participants included from those who knew nothing of the subject matter through to experts in the field of genomics (61% compliance rate), 72% of participants answered every single question. This paper summarises the survey design process and validation methods applied. The recruitment strategy and results from the survey are presented elsewhere. PMID:24468445

Impact of participant incentives and direct and snowball sampling on survey response rate in an ethnically diverse community: results from a pilot study of physical activity and the built environment.

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Perez, Daniel F; Nie, Jason X; Ardern, Chris I; Radhu, Natasha; Ritvo, Paul

2013-02-01

Community-wide efforts to encourage healthy behaviours must respond to the needs of existing neighbourhoods, especially those where low physical activity (PA) is associated with social, economic, and cultural challenges. This study reports on the effect of direct and snowball sampling strategies and financial incentive levels on the response rates of a built environment and PA survey in a predominately urban, low-SES new-immigrant community. Women residing in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario were selected to participate by quasi-random sampling, yielding a response rate of 41.5%. The survey completion rate per contact attempt increased 2-fold when incentives were increased from $10 to $20 and a further threefold following the increase from $20 to $30. Snowball sampled respondents were older, less likely to have full-time employment, and had lower educational attainment than directly sampled participants. With appropriate incentives, face-to-face contact, and snowball sampling, survey-based research is feasible within a low-SES, high minority population.

Clinical trials of medicinal cannabis for appetite-related symptoms from advanced cancer: a survey of preferences, attitudes and beliefs among patients willing to consider participation.

Science.gov (United States)

Luckett, T; Phillips, J; Lintzeris, N; Allsop, D; Lee, J; Solowij, N; Martin, J; Lam, L; Aggarwal, R; McCaffrey, N; Currow, D; Chye, R; Lovell, M; McGregor, I; Agar, M

2016-11-01

Australian clinical trials are planned to evaluate medicinal cannabis in a range of clinical contexts. To explore the preferences, attitudes and beliefs of patients eligible and willing to consider participation in a clinical trial of medicinal cannabis for poor appetite and appetite-related symptoms from advanced cancer. A cross-sectional anonymous survey was administered from July to December 2015 online and in eight adult outpatient palliative care and/or cancer services. Respondents were eligible if they were ≥18 years, had advanced cancer and poor appetite/taste problems/weight loss and might consider participating in a medicinal cannabis trial. Survey items focused on medicinal rather than recreational cannabis use and did not specify botanical or pharmaceutical products. Items asked about previous medicinal cannabis use and preferences for delivery route and invited comments and concerns. There were 204 survey respondents, of whom 26 (13%) reported prior medicinal cannabis use. Tablets/capsules were the preferred delivery mode (n = 144, 71%), followed by mouth spray (n = 84, 42%) and vaporiser (n = 83, 41%). Explanations for preferences (n = 134) most commonly cited convenience (n = 66; 49%). A total of 82% (n = 168) of respondents indicated that they had no trial-related concerns, but a small number volunteered concerns about adverse effects (n = 14) or wanted more information/advice (n = 8). Six respondents volunteered a belief that cannabis might cure cancer, while two wanted assurance of efficacy before participating in a trial. Justification of modes other than tablets/capsules and variable understanding about cannabis and trials will need addressing in trial-related information to optimise recruitment and ensure that consent is properly informed. © 2016 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Understanding Barriers to Participation in Cost-Share Programs For Pollinator Conservation by Wisconsin (USA) Cranberry Growers.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaines-Day, Hannah R; Gratton, Claudio

2017-08-01

The expansion of modern agriculture has led to the loss and fragmentation of natural habitat, resulting in a global decline in biodiversity, including bees. In many countries, farmers can participate in cost-share programs to create natural habitat on their farms for the conservation of beneficial insects, such as bees. Despite their dependence on bee pollinators and the demonstrated commitment to environmental stewardship, participation in such programs by Wisconsin cranberry growers has been low. The objective of this study was to understand the barriers that prevent participation by Wisconsin cranberry growers in cost-share programs for on-farm conservation of native bees. We conducted a survey of cranberry growers (n = 250) regarding farming practices, pollinators, and conservation. Although only 10% of growers were aware of federal pollinator cost-share programs, one third of them were managing habitat for pollinators without federal aid. Once informed of the programs, 50% of growers expressed interest in participating. Fifty-seven percent of growers manage habitat for other wildlife, although none receive cost-share funding to do so. Participation in cost-share programs could benefit from outreach activities that promote the programs, a reduction of bureaucratic hurdles to participate, and technical support for growers on how to manage habitat for wild bees.

Understanding Barriers to Participation in Cost-Share Programs For Pollinator Conservation by Wisconsin (USA Cranberry Growers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hannah R. Gaines-Day

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The expansion of modern agriculture has led to the loss and fragmentation of natural habitat, resulting in a global decline in biodiversity, including bees. In many countries, farmers can participate in cost-share programs to create natural habitat on their farms for the conservation of beneficial insects, such as bees. Despite their dependence on bee pollinators and the demonstrated commitment to environmental stewardship, participation in such programs by Wisconsin cranberry growers has been low. The objective of this study was to understand the barriers that prevent participation by Wisconsin cranberry growers in cost-share programs for on-farm conservation of native bees. We conducted a survey of cranberry growers (n = 250 regarding farming practices, pollinators, and conservation. Although only 10% of growers were aware of federal pollinator cost-share programs, one third of them were managing habitat for pollinators without federal aid. Once informed of the programs, 50% of growers expressed interest in participating. Fifty-seven percent of growers manage habitat for other wildlife, although none receive cost-share funding to do so. Participation in cost-share programs could benefit from outreach activities that promote the programs, a reduction of bureaucratic hurdles to participate, and technical support for growers on how to manage habitat for wild bees.

Randomized controlled trial of expressive writing for psychological and physical health: the moderating role of emotional expressivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Niles, Andrea N; Haltom, Kate E Byrne; Mulvenna, Catherine M; Lieberman, Matthew D; Stanton, Annette L

2014-01-01

The current study assessed main effects and moderators (including emotional expressiveness, emotional processing, and ambivalence over emotional expression) of the effects of expressive writing in a sample of healthy adults. Young adult participants (N=116) were randomly assigned to write for 20 minutes on four occasions about deepest thoughts and feelings regarding their most stressful/traumatic event in the past five years (expressive writing) or about a control topic (control). Dependent variables were indicators of anxiety, depression, and physical symptoms. No significant effects of writing condition were evident on anxiety, depressive symptoms, or physical symptoms. Emotional expressiveness emerged as a significant moderator of anxiety outcomes, however. Within the expressive writing group, participants high in expressiveness evidenced a significant reduction in anxiety at three-month follow-up, and participants low in expressiveness showed a significant increase in anxiety. Expressiveness did not predict change in anxiety in the control group. These findings on anxiety are consistent with the matching hypothesis, which suggests that matching a person's naturally elected coping approach with an assigned intervention is beneficial. These findings also suggest that expressive writing about a stressful event may be contraindicated for individuals who do not typically express emotions.

Survey indicated that core outcome set development is increasingly including patients, being conducted internationally and using Delphi surveys.

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Biggane, Alice M; Brading, Lucy; Ravaud, Philippe; Young, Bridget; Williamson, Paula R

2018-02-17

There are numerous challenges in including patients in a core outcome set (COS) study, these can vary depending on the patient group. This study describes current efforts to include patients in the development of COS, with the aim of identifying areas for further improvement and study. Using the COMET database, corresponding authors of COS projects registered or published from 1 January 2013 to 2 February 2017 were invited via a personalised email to participate in a short online survey. The survey and emails were constructed to maximise the response rate by following the academic literature on enhancing survey responses. Personalised reminder emails were sent to non-responders. This survey explored the frequency of patient input in COS studies, who was involved, what methods were used and whether or not the COS development was international. One hundred and ninety-two COS developers were sent the survey. Responses were collected from 21 February 2017 until 7 May 2017. One hundred and forty-six unique developers responded, yielding a 76% response rate and data in relation to 195 unique COSs (as some developers had worked on multiple COSs). Of focus here are their responses regarding 162 COSs at the published, completed or ongoing stages of development. Inclusion of patient participants was indicated in 87% (141/162) of COSs in the published completed or ongoing stages and over 94% (65/69) of ongoing COS projects. Nearly half (65/135) of COSs included patient participants from two or more countries and 22% (30/135) included patient participants from five or more countries. The Delphi survey was reported as being used singularly or in combination with other methods in 85% (119/140) of projects. Almost a quarter (16/65) of ongoing studies reported using a combination of qualitative interviews, Delphi survey and consensus meeting. These findings indicated that the Delphi survey is the most popular method of facilitating patient participation, while the combination of

[Limitations of Social Participation in General Population - Normative Data of the IMET based on a Population-Based Survey in Northern Germany].

Science.gov (United States)

Deck, R; Walther, A L; Staupendahl, A; Katalinic, A

2015-12-01

Medical rehabilitation in Germany is characterized by the biopsychosocial model of the ICF. Its complexity makes it less suitable for studies in rehabilitation sciences. For an implementation of the ICF, specific assessment instruments that are able to measure activity and participation efficiently in rehabilitation are needed. Instruments measuring social participation are rarely available in German language and have been employed only in a handful of empirical works. The "Index zur Messung von Einschränkungen der Teilhabe" (IMET) was developed in 2005 and measures participation of people with different chronic diseases as described in the ICF. The IMET has been applied in many studies in rehabilitation science, but as reference values were not available so far, the results could not be classified. In a population survey, 5 004 residents in Luebeck were randomly selected by the registration office and sent a short questionnaire. The questionnaire contained questions on the overall state of health, quality of life, prevalence of chronic diseases and limitations of participation (IMET). The completed questionnaire was returned by 2 755 of 4 692 eligible people (58.7%). 731 residents declined participation. Therefore, the participation quota is 43.1%. The mean age of participants was 53 years (SD: 17.1), 53% were women.Limitations of participation varied according to sex and age. Men tended to be more limited in their participation. As expected, limitations in participation increased with age. Participants with a low level of education showed a significantly higher rate of participation restrictions than people with a higher level of education. The IMET correlated significantly with the health status and quality of life as well as with the prevalence of various chronic diseases. The random sample of Luebeck inhabitants comprised people between 19 and 79 years of age. The age distribution of our sample deviated from the German population with younger people being

Performance in Measurement of Serum Cystatin C by Laboratories Participating in the College of American Pathologists 2014 CYS Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Eckfeldt, John H; Karger, Amy B; Miller, W Greg; Rynders, Gregory P; Inker, Lesley A

2015-07-01

Cystatin C is becoming an increasingly popular biomarker for estimating glomerular filtration rate, and accurate measurements of cystatin C concentrations are necessary for accurate estimates of glomerular filtration rate. To assess the accuracy of cystatin C concentration measurements in laboratories participating in the College of American Pathologists CYS Survey. Two fresh frozen serum pools, the first from apparently healthy donors and the second from patients with chronic kidney disease, were prepared and distributed to laboratories participating in the CYS Survey along with the 2 usual processed human plasma samples. Target values were established for each pool by using 2 immunoassays and ERM DA471/IFCC international reference material. For the normal fresh frozen pool (ERM-DA471/IFCC-traceable target of 0.960 mg/L), the all-method mean (SD, % coefficient of variation [CV]) reported by all of the 123 reporting laboratories was 0.894 mg/L (0.128 mg/L, 14.3%). For the chronic kidney disease pool (ERM-DA471/IFCC-traceable target of 2.37 mg/L), the all-method mean (SD, %CV) was 2.258 mg/L (0.288 mg/L, 12.8%). There were substantial method-specific biases (mean milligram per liter reported for the normal pool was 0.780 for Siemens, 0.870 for Gentian, 0.967 for Roche, 1.061 for Diazyme, and 0.970 for other/not specified reagents; and mean milligram per liter reported for the chronic kidney disease pool was 2.052 for Siemens, 2.312 for Gentian, 2.247 for Roche, 2.909 for Diazyme, and 2.413 for other/not specified reagents). Manufacturers need to improve the accuracy of cystatin C measurement procedures if cystatin C is to achieve its full potential as a biomarker for estimating glomerular filtration rate.

Freedom of Choice About Incidental Findings Can Frustrate Participants' True Preferences.

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Viberg, Jennifer; Segerdahl, Pär; Langenskiöld, Sophie; Hansson, Mats G

2016-03-01

Ethicists, regulators and researchers have struggled with the question of whether incidental findings in genomics studies should be disclosed to participants. In the ethical debate, a general consensus is that disclosed information should benefit participants. However, there is no agreement that genetic information will benefit participants, rather it may cause problems such as anxiety. One could get past this disagreement about disclosure of incidental findings by letting participants express their preferences in the consent form. We argue that this freedom of choice is problematic. In transferring the decision to participants, it is assumed that participants will understand what they decide about and that they will express what they truly want. However, psychological findings about people's reaction to probabilities and risk have been shown to involve both cognitive and emotional challenges. People change their attitude to risk depending on what is at stake. Their mood affects judgments and choices, and they over- and underestimate probabilities depending on whether they are low or high. Moreover, different framing of the options can steer people to a specific choice. Although it seems attractive to let participants express their preferences to incidental findings in the consent form, it is uncertain if this choice enables people to express what they truly prefer. In order to better understand the participants' preferences, we argue that future empirical work needs to confront the participant with the complexity of the uncertainty and the trade-offs that are connected with the uncertain predictive value of genetic risk information. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Use of mobile devices to answer online surveys: implications for research.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, John A; Neighbors, Clayton; Bertholet, Nicolas; Hendershot, Christian S

2013-07-08

There is a growing use of mobile devices to access the Internet. We examined whether participants who used a mobile device to access a brief online survey were quicker to respond to the survey but also, less likely to complete it than participants using a traditional web browser. Using data from a recently completed online intervention trial, we found that participants using mobile devices were quicker to access the survey but less likely to complete it compared to participants using a traditional web browser. More concerning, mobile device users were also less likely to respond to a request to complete a six week follow-up survey compared to those using traditional web browsers. With roughly a third of participants using mobile devices to answer an online survey in this study, the impact of mobile device usage on survey completion rates is a concern. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01521078.

SOCIAL CAPITAL AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melike ERDOGAN

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The concept of social capital has a long intellectual history in the fie ld of social sciences. In recent years, interest of scholars from sociology, po litical science, economics and public administration is rapidly increasing. The reason for this increasing interest is that it has been aware of the importance of social capital in communities’ administrative, social, economic and political development. In this sense, the concept of social ca pital is an issue to be discussed with solution of current problems of public administration, subjects of governance, civil society, and participation. Social capital has a lot of definitions which are completely different from each other. Common point of these different definitions is that social capital is a resource at both individual and community level. We will use Robert Putnam’s defi nition about social cap ital in this paper. Putnam (1993 defines social capital as “features of social organization, such as trust, norms, and networks that can improve the efficiency of society by facilitating coordinated action”. In his book; Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of the American Community, Putnam describes declining social capital in America. He analyzes relationship between social capital and civic participation and assumes that there is a positive relationship between social capital and civic participation. The paper aims to reveal how there is a relationshi p between social capital and civic participation in Central Florida. We will use “The Central Florida Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey that is made by The Survey Research Labora tory in the Ins titute for Social and Behavior Sciences at the University of Central Florida among central Florida residents. We use notion of civic participation not only as voting but also as concern of politics, volunteering, attending a political meeting, participating in any demonstrations, protests or boycotts, cooperating to solve problems and

Youth Motivations for Program Participation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenifer K. McGuire

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Through their participation in youth programs, young people have access to opportunities to learn and build important skills. A total of 214 youth between the ages of 10-19 (mean 15.5 years completed an online survey about characteristics of youth programs they participated in, didn’t participate in, and had participated in but quit. We found that youth participated in activities that provided a benefit to meet personal goals or develop skills. However, our findings suggest that youth may leave activities, or never join them, based on different sets of motivations than the reasons they stay in activities. There was variability across demographic groups: Males reported more problems with past activities, sexual minority youth were more likely to endorse social problems with past and never joined activities, and ethnic minorities reported less support for personal goals and connection to adults in current activities and more logistic barriers for activities never joined.

Development of Activity and Participation Norms among General Adult Populations in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Yen, Chia-Feng; Chiu, Tzu-Ying; Liou, Tsan-Hon; Chi, Wen-Chou; Liao, Hua-Fang; Liang, Chung-Chao; Escorpizo, Reuben

2017-06-06

Based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0), The Functioning Disability Evaluation Scale-Adult version (FUNDES-Adult) began development in 2011. The FUNDES-Adult was designed to assess the difficulty level of an individual's activities and participation in daily life. There is a lack of research regarding the profile of activity and participation for the general adult population. The purposes of this study were to establish activity and participation norms for the general adult population in Taiwan and to describe, discuss, and compare the activity and participation profile with other population. A population-based survey was administered in 2013 using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing system (CATI system). Using probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling and systematic sampling with random digit dialing (RDD), 1500 adults from Taiwan's general population were selected to participate in the survey. The FUNDES-Adult with six domains and two dimensions (performance and capability) was used to obtain data on activities and participation levels. A higher domain score indicated higher participation restriction. Approximately 50% of the respondents were male, and the average age of the respondents was 45.23 years. There were no significant differences in the demographic features between the sample and the population. Among the six domains, the self-care domain score was the lowest (least restriction) and the participation domain score was the highest (most restriction). Approximately 90% of the sample scored were less than 15, and only 0.1% scored more than 80. This is the first cross-national population-based survey to assess norms of activity and participation relevant to the general population of Taiwan. As such, the results of this survey can be used as a reference for comparing the activity and participation (AP) functioning of

Statistical Analysis of the Worker Engagement Survey Administered at the Worker Safety and Security Team Festival

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davis, Adam Christopher [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2015-08-25

The Worker Safety and Security Team (WSST) at Los Alamos National Laboratory holds an annual festival, WSST-fest, to engage workers and inform them about safety- and securityrelated matters. As part of the 2015 WSST-fest, workers were given the opportunity to participate in a survey assessing their engagement in their organizations and work environments. A total of 789 workers participated in the 23-question survey where they were also invited, optionally, to identify themselves, their organization, and to give open-ended feedback. The survey consisted of 23 positive statements (i.e. “My organization is a good place to work.”) with which the respondent could express a level of agreement. The text of these statements are provided in Table 1. The level of agreement corresponds to a 5-level Likert scale ranging from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree.” In addition to assessing the overall positivity or negativity of the scores, the results were partitioned into several cohorts based on the response meta-data (self-identification, comments, etc.) to explore trends. Survey respondents were presented with the options to identify themselves, their organizations and to provide comments. These options suggested the following questions about the data set.

4-H Participation and Science Interest in Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Heck, Katherine; Carlos, Ramona M.; Barnett, Cynthia; Smith, Martin H.

2012-01-01

The study reported here investigated the impacts of participation in 4-H on young people's interest and participation in science. Survey data were collected from relatively large and ethnically diverse samples of elementary and high school-aged students in California. Results indicated that although elementary-grade 4-H members are not more…

Community Participation as a Teaching Resource

Science.gov (United States)

Palley, Marian Lief

1975-01-01

As part of a course entitled "The Politics of Poverty," students at the University of Deleware worked in social work organizations for the poor. Analysis of the program's effectiveness as measured by an opinion survey of participating students is included. (DE)

Online registration of monthly sports participation after anterior cruciate ligament injury: a reliability and validity study.

Science.gov (United States)

Grindem, Hege; Eitzen, Ingrid; Snyder-Mackler, Lynn; Risberg, May Arna

2014-05-01

The current methods measuring sports activity after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury are commonly restricted to the most knee-demanding sports, and do not consider participation in multiple sports. We therefore developed an online activity survey to prospectively record the monthly participation in all major sports relevant to our patient-group. To assess the reliability, content validity and concurrent validity of the survey and to evaluate if it provided more complete data on sports participation than a routine activity questionnaire. 145 consecutively included ACL-injured patients were eligible for the reliability study. The retest of the online activity survey was performed 2 days after the test response had been recorded. A subsample of 88 ACL-reconstructed patients was included in the validity study. The ACL-reconstructed patients completed the online activity survey from the first to the 12th postoperative month, and a routine activity questionnaire 6 and 12 months postoperatively. The online activity survey was highly reliable (κ ranging from 0.81 to 1). It contained all the common sports reported on the routine activity questionnaire. There was a substantial agreement between the two methods on return to preinjury main sport (κ=0.71 and 0.74 at 6 and 12 months postoperatively). The online activity survey revealed that a significantly higher number of patients reported to participate in running, cycling and strength training, and patients reported to participate in a greater number of sports. The online activity survey is a highly reliable way of recording detailed changes in sports participation after ACL injury. The findings of this study support the content and concurrent validity of the survey, and suggest that the online activity survey can provide more complete data on sports participation than a routine activity questionnaire.

Online registration of monthly sports participation after anterior cruciate ligament injury: a reliability and validity study

Science.gov (United States)

Grindem, Hege; Eitzen, Ingrid; Snyder-Mackler, Lynn; Risberg, May Arna

2013-01-01

Background Current methods measuring sports activity after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury are commonly restricted to the most knee-demanding sport, and do not consider participation in multiple sports. We therefore developed an online activity survey to prospectively record monthly participation in all major sports relevant to our patient-group. Objective To assess the reliability, content validity, and concurrent validity of the survey, and evaluate if it provided more complete data on sports participation than a routine activity questionnaire. Methods One hundred and forty-five consecutively included ACL-injured patients were eligible for the reliability study. The retest of the online activity survey was performed two days after the test response had been recorded. A subsample of 88 ACL-reconstructed patients were included in the validity study. The ACL-reconstructed patients completed the online activity survey from the first to the twelfth postoperative month, and a routine activity questionnaire 6 and 12 months postoperatively. Results The online activity survey was highly reliable (κ ranging from 0.81 to 1). It contained all the common sports reported on the routine activity questionnaire. There was substantial agreement between the two methods on return to preinjury main sport (κ = 0.71 and 0.74 at 6 and 12 months postoperatively). The online activity survey revealed that a significantly higher number of patients reported to participate in running, cycling and strength training, and patients reported to participate in a greater number of sports. Conclusion The online activity survey is a highly reliable way of recording detailed changes in sports participation after ACL injury. The findings of this study support the content and concurrent validity of the survey, and suggest that the online activity survey can provide more complete data on sports participation than a routine activity questionnaire. PMID:23645830

Cervical and breast cancer screening participation for women with chronic conditions in France: results from a national health survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Constantinou, Panayotis; Dray-Spira, Rosemary; Menvielle, Gwenn

2016-01-01

Comorbidity at the time of diagnosis is an independent prognostic factor for survival among women suffering from cervical or breast cancer. Although cancer screening practices have proven their efficacy for mortality reduction, little is known about adherence to screening recommendations for women suffering from chronic conditions. We investigated the association between eleven chronic conditions and adherence to cervical and breast cancer screening recommendations in France. Using data from a cross-sectional national health survey conducted in 2008, we analyzed screening participation taking into account self-reported: inflammatory systemic disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, depression, diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity, osteoarthritis and thyroid disorders. We first computed age-standardized screening rates among women who reported each condition. We then estimated the effect of having reported each condition on adherence to screening recommendations in logistic regression models, with adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, socioeconomic position, health behaviours, healthcare access and healthcare use. Finally, we investigated the association between chronic conditions and opportunistic versus organized breast cancer screening using multinomial logistic regression. The analyses were conducted among 4226 women for cervical cancer screening and 2056 women for breast cancer screening. Most conditions studied were not associated with screening participation. Adherence to cervical cancer screening recommendations was higher for cancer survivors (OR = 1.73 [0.98–3.05]) and lower for obese women (OR = 0.73 [0.57–0.93]), when accounting for our complete range of screening determinants. Women reporting chronic respiratory disease or diabetes participated less in cervical cancer screening, except when adjusting for socioeconomic characteristics. Adherence to breast cancer screening recommendations was lower for

Pension plan participation among married couples.

Science.gov (United States)

Dushi, Irena; Iams, Howard M

2013-01-01

We present descriptive statistics on pension participation and types of pensions among married couples, using data from the 1996/2008 Panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation and Social Security administrative records. Previous research has focused on pension coverage by marital status, but has not examined couples as a unit. Because couples usually share income, viewing them as a unit provides a better picture of potential access to income from retirement plans. Our analysis compares 1998 and 2009 data because substantial changes occurred in the pension landscape over this decade that could have influenced the prevalence of different pension plans, although we observe modest changes in participation rates and types of plans over the period. We find that in 20 percent of couples, neither spouse participated in a pension plan; in 10 percent, the wife was the only participant; and in 37 percent, the husband was the only participant.

Positivity bias in judging ingroup members' emotional expressions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazerus, Talya; Ingbretsen, Zachary A; Stolier, Ryan M; Freeman, Jonathan B; Cikara, Mina

2016-12-01

We investigated how group membership impacts valence judgments of ingroup and outgroup members' emotional expressions. In Experiment 1, participants, randomized into 2 novel, competitive groups, rated the valence of in- and outgroup members' facial expressions (e.g., fearful, happy, neutral) using a circumplex affect grid. Across all emotions, participants judged ingroup members' expressions as more positive than outgroup members' expressions. In Experiment 2, participants categorized fearful and happy expressions as being either positive or negative using a mouse-tracking paradigm. Participants exhibited the most direct trajectories toward the "positive" label for ingroup happy expressions and an initial attraction toward positive for ingroup expressions of fear, with outgroup emotion trajectories falling in between. Experiment 3 replicated Experiment 2 and demonstrated that the effect could not be accounted for by targets' gaze direction. Overall, people judged ingroup faces as more positive, regardless of emotion, both in deliberate and implicit judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Participation and successful patient recruitment in primary care.

Science.gov (United States)

de Wit, N J; Quartero, A O; Zuithoff, A P; Numans, M E

2001-11-01

The demand for family physicians (FPs) to participate in research is growing. The delicate balance between research participation and the daily practice routine might explain the often-disappointing number of patients recruited. We analyzed practice and physician characteristics associated with successful patient recruitment. We used a survey to conduct this study. There was a total of 165 FPs who participated in a combined randomized clinical trial/cohort study on drug treatment of dyspepsia in the Netherlands. We surveyed FPs about personal and practice characteristics and their motivation for participation in the project. These data were then related to the number of patients recruited. Univariate associations were calculated; relevant factors were entered into a logistic model that predicted patient recruitment. Data on 128 FPs could be analyzed (80% response rate); these FPs recruited 793 patients in the cohort study (mean = 6.3 per FP) and 527 in the clinical trial (mean = 4.2 per FP). The main reasons for participation were the research topic (59%) and the participation of an academic research group in the study (63%). Many FPs felt that participation was a professional obligation (39%); the financial incentive played a minor role (15%). The number of recruited patients was only independently associated with the participation of an academic research group. Successful patient recruitment in primary care research is determined more by motivation driven by the research group than by financial incentives, the research topic, or research experience.

Nationwide survey of cobalt-60 teletherapy. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thompson, D.L.; Kearly, F.E.; Wyckoff, H.O.; Gitlin, J.N.; Reffit, E.B.; Shangold, E.J.

1980-08-01

The Bureau of Radiological Health and the National Bureau of Standards conducted a nationwide survey of cobalt-60 teletherapy facilities to determine their accuracy in delivery of a prescribed dose to a phantom. Participation was obtained from 684 respondents or 75 percent of US facilities. For each cobalt-60 unit the average dose recorded on five dosimeters was within 5 percent of the prescribed value for 83 percent of the respondents and only exceeded a 10 percent difference for 3 percent of the respondents. Sufficient information for reconstruction of dose calculations was available for 87 percent of the participating facilities. Of these reconstructed calculations, 56 percent were within 1 percent of the prescribed dose of 300 rads. The analysis of data from the survey showed that better performance were related to a number of factors. Among these were expressing the machine calibration in terms of dose rate, performing the machine calibration on an annual basis, and correcting for source decay on a monthly basis. Larger facilities achieved better results than smaller facilities when calculating the absorbed dose rate. Also, each 4 machine characteristics (isocentric mounting, short exposure time, high normalized output, and long treatment distance) were related to better performance with regard to both dosimeter readings and calculated doses. Larger facilities were more likely to be using a cobalt-60 unit having those characteristics

Participation by US adults in sports, exercise, and recreational physical activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ham, Sandra A; Kruger, Judy; Tudor-Locke, Catrine

2009-01-01

Given the evidence that regular physical activity produces substantial health benefits, participation in sports, exercise, and recreation is widely encouraged. The objective of this study was to describe participation in sports, exercise, and recreational physical activities among US adults. Data from 2 national surveys of respondents age 18 years and older were analyzed. Respondents to the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) from 2003 through 2005 (N=45,246) reported all activities on 1 randomly selected survey day. Respondents to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 through 2004 (N=17,061) reported leisure-time physical activities in the 30 days before the interview. One-quarter of adults participated in any sport, exercise, or recreational activity on a random day, and 60.9% of adults participated in any leisure-time activity in the previous 30 days. The most common types of activities were walking, gardening and yard work, and other forms of exercise. The sports and recreational activities had typical durations of 1/2 to 3 hours per session, and the exercise activities typically lasted 1 hour or less. The prevalence of sports, exercise, and recreational physical activities is generally low among US adults; exercise is the most commonly reported type of activity.

Giving voice to study volunteers: comparing views of mentally ill, physically ill, and healthy protocol participants on ethical aspects of clinical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Laura Weiss; Kim, Jane Paik

2014-09-01

Ethical controversy surrounds clinical research involving seriously ill participants. While many stakeholders have opinions, the extent to which protocol volunteers themselves see human research as ethically acceptable has not been documented. To address this gap of knowledge, authors sought to assess views of healthy and ill clinical research volunteers regarding the ethical acceptability of human studies involving individuals who are ill or are potentially vulnerable. Surveys and semi-structured interviews were used to query clinical research protocol participants and a comparison group of healthy individuals. A total of 179 respondents participated in this study: 150 in protocols (60 mentally ill, 43 physically ill, and 47 healthy clinical research protocol participants) and 29 healthy individuals not enrolled in protocols. Main outcome measures included responses regarding ethical acceptability of clinical research when it presents significant burdens and risks, involves people with serious mental and physical illness, or enrolls people with other potential vulnerabilities in the research situation. Respondents expressed decreasing levels of acceptance of participation in research that posed burdens of increasing severity. Participation in protocols with possibly life-threatening consequences was perceived as least acceptable (mean = 1.82, sd = 1.29). Research on serious illnesses, including HIV, cancer, schizophrenia, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, was seen as ethically acceptable across respondent groups (range of means = [4.0, 4.7]). Mentally ill volunteers expressed levels of ethical acceptability for physical illness research and mental illness research as acceptable and similar, while physically ill volunteers expressed greater ethical acceptability for physical illness research than for mental illness research. Mentally ill, physically ill, and healthy participants expressed neutral to favorable perspectives regarding the ethical

User participation in urban green spaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fors, Hanna; Molin, Julie Frøik; Murphyc, Melissa Anna

2015-01-01

The provision and administration of high quality urban public green spaces intertwines issues of planning, design, management and maintenance with governance. The benefits of such spaces are often tied to social justice, public health and recreation, biodiversity and helping cities to deal...... with climate change. International policies and changes in public administration have encouraged user participation across multiple phases of green space development. Although sceptics towards participation are easily found supporting arguments sometimes stand without critique, not questioning how...... participation affects the physical quality of green spaces. This literature review surveyed empirical scientific studies seeking to answer the following research question: How does research to date reflect over user participation's contribution to public urban green space quality? The review includes 31...

Non-Response in Student Surveys: The Role of Demographics, Engagement and Personality

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, Stephen R.; Whitcomb, Michael E.

2005-01-01

What causes a student to participate in a survey? This paper looks at participation across multiple surveys to understand survey non-response; by using multiple surveys we minimize the impact of survey salience. Students at a selective liberal arts college were administered four different surveys throughout the 2002-2003 academic year, and we use…

Variety, Enjoyment, and Physical Activity Participation Among High School Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Michael, Shannon L; Coffield, Edward; Lee, Sarah M; Fulton, Janet E

2016-02-01

Federal guidelines state that youth should participate in a variety of physical activity (PA) they find enjoyable. Little is known, however, about how variety and enjoyment are associated with PA participation among adolescents. Data came from the 2010 National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey, a nationally representative survey of adolescents. Path analysis was used to examine the association of a variety of self-reported PA, defined as the number of activities and activity types (ie, team sports/weightlifting, individual activities, and other competitive/recreational sports), on self-reported PA enjoyment and participation. The analysis also examined whether enjoyment mediates the association between a variety of PA and participation. Separate models were estimated for boys and girls. Number of activities was associated with increased PA enjoyment and participation. For boys and girls, team sports/weightlifting was associated with increased participation, and individual activities were indirectly associated with increased participation through enjoyment. For boys, team sports/weightlifting was indirectly related with participation. These findings suggest that participation in a variety of PA is associated with increased PA enjoyment and participation. Providing opportunities for adolescents to engage in a variety of activities might help them identify PA they enjoy and facilitate lifelong PA habits.

Considering sport participation as a source for physical activity among adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Pharr, Jennifer; Lough, Nancy L

2014-07-01

Studies have shown participation in sport is lower among girls than boys, decreases as students matriculate through high school, is lowest among Black and Hispanic girls and has a positive relationship with SES. With sport recognized as a contributor to physical activity and health in adolescents, consideration of diminishing rates of participation appears warranted. The purpose of this study was to identify patterns related to differences in self-reported sport participation between genders, ethnic groups, grades and SES. This study was a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of data collected for a sport interest survey. All students in grades 8-11 attending middle and high schools were provided an opportunity to participate in the survey. Data from 49,832 students were analyzed. Among the participants, Black girls participated more and White girls participated less than expected. Black boys participated more while White and Asian boys participated less than expected. Reported sport participation was high compared with national data when analyzed by gender and ethnic group. Sport participation was higher in low SES schools compared with high SES schools. The importance of sport as a source of physical activity in underserved groups is significant.

Motivations of Citizen Scientists Participating in Galaxy Zoo: A More Detailed Look

Science.gov (United States)

Raddick, Jordan; Bracey, G. L.; Gay, P. L.

2010-01-01

Our ongoing research program is examining the motivations of participants in the Galaxy Zoo citizen science project. At the 2009 AAS summer meeting, we presented preliminary results from a survey taken by more than 10,000 participants of the original Galaxy Zoo. We are continuing to analyze data from this survey. Galaxy Zoo is an online citizen science project in which more than 230,000 participants have classified the morphologies of galaxies. The original Galaxy Zoo, in which participants classified galaxies as elliptical or spiral, has led to more than a dozen science journal papers published or in peer review. In our research, we have found that Galaxy Zoo participants are mostly male and represent a wide range of ages and educations. They are primarily motivated by a desire to contribute to scientific research (40%), interest in astronomy (13%), and looking at beautiful galaxy images (10%). In this poster, we present results from free response data. Each question about motivation included an "Other" response where participants could indicate that their motivation for participating was not included in the survey instrument. By analyzing these "Other" responses, we can ensure that we have a complete list of motivations present in the Galaxy Zoo participant population, and we can also gain insight into what other populations might be recruited to participate in Galaxy Zoo. We have had multiple raters analyze these "Other" responses. We have uncovered new motivations at a very low level in our sample - for example, a "religious/spiritual" motivation that was indicated by 5 of the 205 people who entered text in the "Other" field (from among the 10,000 survey respondents). In this poster, we will present results from this analysis of the "Other" motivations, as well as results from analyzing our full dataset.

Household market participation and stunting in preschool children in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Stunting among Malawian preschool children continues to be a concern. Method: A cross-sectional survey of 251 semi-urban households, who participated in a community-supported preschool programme, was conducted. Results: Of the 433 participating two- to five-year-old children, 34.4% had stunting.

New Forms of Youth Participation and Work in Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Hartmann, Jurgen

1985-01-01

Surveys past and current youth employment and social participation programs in Sweden. Maintains that while these were effective in giving Sweden one of the lowest youth unemployment rates among market-economy nations, more must be done to ensure meaningful social participation of youth in the community. (JDH)

economies of private sector participation in solid waste management

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Prince Acheampong

adopts that definition in the conduct of its censuses and by that, recorded eight .... Since the 1990s, private sector participation in public utilities and service .... The government of Ghana through the Urban Environmental and Sanitation ..... Framework Document: A Survey of Theoretical Issues on Private Sector Participation.

Strategies for securing participant motivation and engagement in a 19 week online course

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lüders, Bo; Hansen, Pernille Stenkil; Kjær, Christopher

Presentation of results from an exit survey exploring participant experiences in an online course aimed at teachers from higher education institutions in southern Denmark and northern Germany.......Presentation of results from an exit survey exploring participant experiences in an online course aimed at teachers from higher education institutions in southern Denmark and northern Germany....

The Developmental Quality of Participation Experiences: Beyond the Rhetoric that "Participation Is Always Good!"

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Pedro D.; Azevedo, Cristina N.; Menezes, Isabel

2012-01-01

A powerful rhetoric regarding the importance of adolescents' civic engagement and political participation is common in contemporary societies, whilst citizens, both adolescent and adults, seem to express a growing scepticism and alienation regarding politics. Even if this disengagement is debatable, as there are simultaneous signs of an increasing…

Association of church-sponsored activity participation and prevalence of overweight and obesity in African American Protestants, National Survey of American Life, 2001-2003.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Jerome; Belay, Brook; Park, Sohyun; Onufrak, Stephen; Dietz, William

2013-01-01

This study examines the relationships between participation in the African American church and overweight/obesity (body mass index (BMI) > or = 25 kg/m2). This cross-sectional analysis was based on the National Survey of American Life 2001-2003 and included 2,689 African American Protestant (AAP) adults. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for overweight/obesity. Two practices were examined--frequency of participation in church activities (excluding services) and frequency of church service attendance. Each practice was analyzed in separate models. Each model included the following covariates: age, marital status, education, poverty, smoking, and region of country. We also adjusted models for sex. After adjustment, African American Protestant men (AAPM) who participated in church activities at least weekly were more likely to be overweight/obese (aOR=2.17; 95% CI = 1.25, 3.77) compared to AAPM who did not participate in church activities. There was no statistically significant association between overweight/obesity and participation in church activities for AAPW. There was no association between overweight/obesity and attendance of church services for AAP men and women combined. For AAPM, participation in church activities was significantly associated with overweight/obesity. Further studies are required to determine why this association occurs in AAPM but not AAPW. Studies looking at the wider application of the several successful health initiatives targeting the AAP community should also be considered.

Financial literacy and stock market participation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Rooij, Maarten; Lusardi, Annamaria; Alessie, Rob

We have devised two special modules for De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) Household Survey to measure financial literacy and study its relationship to stock market participation. We find that the majority of respondents display basic financial knowledge and have some grasp of concepts such as interest

Ethical Gifts?: An Analysis of Soap-for-data Transactions in Malawian Survey Research Worlds.

Science.gov (United States)

Biruk, Crystal

2017-09-01

In 2008, thousands of Malawians received soap from an American research project as a gift for survey participation. Soap was deemed an ethical, non-coercive gift by researchers and ethics boards, but took on meanings that expressed recipients' grievances and aspirations. Research participants reframed soap and research benefits as "rights" they are entitled to, wages for "work," and a symbol of exploitation. Enlisting the perspectives of Malawi's ethics board, demographers, Malawian fieldworkers, and research participants, I describe how soap is spoken about and operates in research worlds. I suggest that neither a prescriptive nor a situated frame for ethics-with their investments in standardization and attention to context, respectively-provides answers about how to compensate Malawian research participants. The conclusion gestures toward a reparative framework for thinking ethics that is responsive not just to project-based parameters but also to the histories and political economy in which projects (and ethics) are situated. © 2017 by the American Anthropological Association.

Participation in HIV research: the importance of clinic contact factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Worthington, Catherine A; Gill, M John

2008-08-01

Recruiting minority populations living with HIV to many types of clinic-based HIV research is a concern. This study examined an expanded range of predictors of HIV research participation (clinic contact, clinical, and personal characteristics) to investigate observed ethnocultural differences in HIV research participation. Research participation was defined as participation in any of diagnostic, pathogenesis, drug trial or survey research. Logistic regression modeling was used to predict research participation of 657 eligible patients (93% of the patient population) who began care between January 1997 and the end of September 2003 at a regional outpatient HIV care program in Calgary, Canada. Approximately one third (32%) were non-white, including 18% Aboriginal, 9% black, 4% Asian, and 1% Hispanic individuals. Twenty-nine percent (187/657) of the patients participated in at least one study of any kind. Multivariate analysis indicated that the strongest predictors of any research participation (including diagnostic, pathogenesis, drug trial, or survey studies) are clinical (including nadir CD4 count [odds ratio {OR} = 0.132, p percentage of appointments kept [OR = 1.022, p service use shown by these groups that may influence research participation. To attract under researched populations, attention should shift from the "who" of research participation to the "how" of clinical interactions.

2009 Canadian Radiation Oncology Resident Survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debenham, Brock; Banerjee, Robyn; Fairchild, Alysa; Dundas, George; Trotter, Theresa; Yee, Don

2012-01-01

Purpose: Statistics from the Canadian post-MD education registry show that numbers of Canadian radiation oncology (RO) trainees have risen from 62 in 1999 to approximately 150 per year between 2003 and 2009, contributing to the current perceived downturn in employment opportunities for radiation oncologists in Canada. When last surveyed in 2003, Canadian RO residents identified job availability as their main concern. Our objective was to survey current Canadian RO residents on their training and career plans. Methods and Materials: Trainees from the 13 Canadian residency programs using the national matching service were sought. Potential respondents were identified through individual program directors or chief resident and were e-mailed a secure link to an online survey. Descriptive statistics were used to report responses. Results: The eligible response rate was 53% (83/156). Similar to the 2003 survey, respondents generally expressed high satisfaction with their programs and specialty. The most frequently expressed perceived weakness in their training differed from 2003, with 46.5% of current respondents feeling unprepared to enter the job market. 72% plan on pursuing a postresidency fellowship. Most respondents intend to practice in Canada. Fewer than 20% of respondents believe that there is a strong demand for radiation oncologists in Canada. Conclusions: Respondents to the current survey expressed significant satisfaction with their career choice and training program. However, differences exist compared with the 2003 survey, including the current perceived lack of demand for radiation oncologists in Canada.

2009 Canadian Radiation Oncology Resident Survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Debenham, Brock, E-mail: debenham@ualberta.net [Department of Radiation Oncology, Cross Cancer Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta (Canada); Banerjee, Robyn [Department of Radiation Oncology, Tom Baker Cancer Centre, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta (Canada); Fairchild, Alysa; Dundas, George [Department of Radiation Oncology, Cross Cancer Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta (Canada); Trotter, Theresa [Department of Radiation Oncology, Tom Baker Cancer Centre, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta (Canada); Yee, Don [Department of Radiation Oncology, Cross Cancer Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta (Canada)

2012-03-15

Purpose: Statistics from the Canadian post-MD education registry show that numbers of Canadian radiation oncology (RO) trainees have risen from 62 in 1999 to approximately 150 per year between 2003 and 2009, contributing to the current perceived downturn in employment opportunities for radiation oncologists in Canada. When last surveyed in 2003, Canadian RO residents identified job availability as their main concern. Our objective was to survey current Canadian RO residents on their training and career plans. Methods and Materials: Trainees from the 13 Canadian residency programs using the national matching service were sought. Potential respondents were identified through individual program directors or chief resident and were e-mailed a secure link to an online survey. Descriptive statistics were used to report responses. Results: The eligible response rate was 53% (83/156). Similar to the 2003 survey, respondents generally expressed high satisfaction with their programs and specialty. The most frequently expressed perceived weakness in their training differed from 2003, with 46.5% of current respondents feeling unprepared to enter the job market. 72% plan on pursuing a postresidency fellowship. Most respondents intend to practice in Canada. Fewer than 20% of respondents believe that there is a strong demand for radiation oncologists in Canada. Conclusions: Respondents to the current survey expressed significant satisfaction with their career choice and training program. However, differences exist compared with the 2003 survey, including the current perceived lack of demand for radiation oncologists in Canada.

North Sea mackerel egg survey: dutch participation may and June 2011

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Damme, van C.J.G.

2012-01-01

Every three years an international North Sea survey is carried out by two European institutes, Institute for Marine Research (IMR) from Norway and Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies (IMARES) from the Netherlands, to monitor the spatial and seasonal distribution of North Sea

Consumer participation in housing: reflecting on consumer preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Browne, Graeme; Hemsley, Martin

2010-12-01

Historically, people living with mental illness have had limited chance to participate in mental health services other than as patients. Following on from a recent review focusing on consumer participation in mental health services, this paper looks at consumer participation in housing. Housing is a critical element in recovery from mental illness. Without suitable housing, people have little chance of maintaining other resources in their lives, such as supportive social relationships and meaningful activities. Consumer participation is not a common topic in the recent literature, despite the significant public policy push to promote it. The importance of appropriate housing to the recovery of people living with mental illness cannot be underestimated. Even well-meaning and well-resourced housing initiatives can fall short of meeting consumers' recovery goals when they do not incorporate the expressed needs of consumers. These expressed needs include keeping units small in size and employing drop-in support models.

Evaluating tablet computers as a survey tool in rural communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Newell, Steve M; Logan, Henrietta L; Guo, Yi; Marks, John G; Shepperd, James A

2015-01-01

Although tablet computers offer advantages in data collection over traditional paper-and-pencil methods, little research has examined whether the 2 formats yield similar responses, especially with underserved populations. We compared the 2 survey formats and tested whether participants' responses to common health questionnaires or perceptions of usability differed by survey format. We also tested whether we could replicate established paper-and-pencil findings via tablet computer. We recruited a sample of low-income community members living in the rural southern United States. Participants were 170 residents (black = 49%; white = 36%; other races and missing data = 15%) drawn from 2 counties meeting Florida's state statutory definition of rural with 100 persons or fewer per square mile. We randomly assigned participants to complete scales (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Inventory and Regulatory Focus Questionnaire) along with survey format usability ratings via paper-and-pencil or tablet computer. All participants rated a series of previously validated posters using a tablet computer. Finally, participants completed comparisons of the survey formats and reported survey format preferences. Participants preferred using the tablet computer and showed no significant differences between formats in mean responses, scale reliabilities, or in participants' usability ratings. Overall, participants reported similar scales responses and usability ratings between formats. However, participants reported both preferring and enjoying responding via tablet computer more. Collectively, these findings are among the first data to show that tablet computers represent a suitable substitute among an underrepresented rural sample for paper-and-pencil methodology in survey research. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Determinants of decision to participate in cocoyam marketing among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study presents the Estimates of Factors Influencing Decision to Participate in Cocoyam Marketing in Abia State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of this study are to estimate factors influencing the decision to participate in cocoyam marketing in Abia State. Primary and secondary data were used in the survey. The primary ...

What does a "superstitious" person believe? Impressions of participants.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudski, Jeffrey

2003-10-01

The questions in surveys in which superstitious belief is examined are based on the researcher or researchers' definitions of superstition and not on participants' definitions. In the present study, 170 undergraduates filled out 2 surveys. In the 1st survey, they were asked to rate 28 possible beliefs of a fictitious person described as "superstitious." In the 2nd survey, they were asked to rate their own level of belief for the same items. An analysis revealed several different factors describing different types of beliefs held by the fictitious person. Ratings for the fictitious person were greatest for socially transmitted beliefs (e.g., black cats, rabbits' feet) or idiosyncratic rituals related to luck and chance, followed by belief in the paranormal (e.g., ghosts), spiritualism (e.g., reincarnation), or psi (e.g., telepathy). Religious beliefs were rated as not being descriptive of the fictitious superstitious person. However, an analysis of the participants' own beliefs revealed that those with higher levels of religious belief also tended to be superstitious and believed in the paranormal.

Development of Activity and Participation Norms among General Adult Populations in Taiwan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chia-Feng Yen

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0, The Functioning Disability Evaluation Scale-Adult version (FUNDES-Adult began development in 2011. The FUNDES-Adult was designed to assess the difficulty level of an individual’s activities and participation in daily life. There is a lack of research regarding the profile of activity and participation for the general adult population. The purposes of this study were to establish activity and participation norms for the general adult population in Taiwan and to describe, discuss, and compare the activity and participation profile with other population. Method: A population-based survey was administered in 2013 using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing system (CATI system. Using probability proportional to size (PPS sampling and systematic sampling with random digit dialing (RDD, 1500 adults from Taiwan’s general population were selected to participate in the survey. The FUNDES-Adult with six domains and two dimensions (performance and capability was used to obtain data on activities and participation levels. A higher domain score indicated higher participation restriction. Results: Approximately 50% of the respondents were male, and the average age of the respondents was 45.23 years. There were no significant differences in the demographic features between the sample and the population. Among the six domains, the self-care domain score was the lowest (least restriction and the participation domain score was the highest (most restriction. Approximately 90% of the sample scored were less than 15, and only 0.1% scored more than 80. This is the first cross-national population-based survey to assess norms of activity and participation relevant to the general population of Taiwan. As such, the results of this survey can be used as a reference for comparing the activity and

Cultural diversity and saccade similarities: culture does not explain saccade latency differences between Chinese and Caucasian participants.

Science.gov (United States)

Knox, Paul C; Wolohan, Felicity D A

2014-01-01

A central claim of cultural neuroscience is that the culture to which an individual belongs plays a key role in shaping basic cognitive processes and behaviours, including eye movement behaviour. We previously reported a robust difference in saccade behaviour between Chinese and Caucasian participants; Chinese participants are much more likely to execute low latency express saccades, in circumstances in which these are normally discouraged. To assess the extent to which this is the product of culture we compared a group of 70 Chinese overseas students (whose primary cultural exposure was that of mainland China), a group of 45 participants whose parents were Chinese but who themselves were brought up in the UK (whose primary cultural exposure was western European) and a group of 70 Caucasian participants. Results from the Schwartz Value Survey confirmed that the UK-Chinese group were culturally similar to the Caucasian group. However, their patterns of saccade latency were identical to the mainland Chinese group, and different to the Caucasian group. We conclude that at least for the relatively simple reflexive saccade behaviour we have investigated, culture cannot explain the observed differences in behaviour.

Le tappe italiane del Trimble Express 2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Leonardi

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Trimble Express stopped over Italy Trimble Express stopped in Italy, in 6 cities. The european road show has been set up to promote the latest news regarding Trimble technologies such as Trimble Access, the software that offers to survey teams a new approach in surveying; Trimble Access expedites data collection, processing, analysis, and delivery through improved workflows, collaboration and control.

Le tappe italiane del Trimble Express 2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Leonardi

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Trimble Express stopped over ItalyTrimble Express stopped in Italy, in 6 cities. The european road show has been set up to promote the latest news regarding Trimble technologies such as Trimble Access, the software that offers to survey teams a new approach in surveying; Trimble Access expedites data collection, processing, analysis, and delivery through improved workflows, collaboration and control.

Benefits and Burdens of Participation in a Longitudinal Clinical Trial

Science.gov (United States)

Lazovski, Jaime; Losso, Marcelo; Krohmal, Benjamin; Emanuel, Ezekiel J.; Grady, Christine; Wendler, David

2010-01-01

systematic data on the impact that longitudinal clinical trials have on patient participants are needed to ensure that all the risks and potential benefits of participating in clinical research are properly evaluated and disclosed. Recognizing the lack of systematic data on this topic, we surveyed 582 individuals from Argentina, Brazil, and Thailand who were participating in the ESPRIT study, a Phase III randomized trial of interleukin-2 in HIV disease. Respondents were asked about the benefits and burdens of participating in ESPRIT using a self-administered survey. We found that 91% of respondents in the IL-2 treatment arm and 79% in the no IL-2 control arm reported medical benefits from their participation. In addition, 68% in the IL-2 treatment arm and 60% of the no IL-2 controls reported non-medical benefits. Thirteen percent of the IL-2 respondents and 5% of the non-IL2 respondents reported problems with their jobs due to study participation. Given that respondents, including those in the control arm, reported medical and non-medical benefits and burdens from their research participation, investigators and review committees should be aware of and respond to the potential for research participants to experience benefits and burdens that are unrelated to the intervention being tested. PMID:19754238

Positive facial expressions during retrieval of self-defining memories.

Science.gov (United States)

Gandolphe, Marie Charlotte; Nandrino, Jean Louis; Delelis, Gérald; Ducro, Claire; Lavallee, Audrey; Saloppe, Xavier; Moustafa, Ahmed A; El Haj, Mohamad

2017-11-14

In this study, we investigated, for the first time, facial expressions during the retrieval of Self-defining memories (i.e., those vivid and emotionally intense memories of enduring concerns or unresolved conflicts). Participants self-rated the emotional valence of their Self-defining memories and autobiographical retrieval was analyzed with a facial analysis software. This software (Facereader) synthesizes the facial expression information (i.e., cheek, lips, muscles, eyebrow muscles) to describe and categorize facial expressions (i.e., neutral, happy, sad, surprised, angry, scared, and disgusted facial expressions). We found that participants showed more emotional than neutral facial expressions during the retrieval of Self-defining memories. We also found that participants showed more positive than negative facial expressions during the retrieval of Self-defining memories. Interestingly, participants attributed positive valence to the retrieved memories. These findings are the first to demonstrate the consistency between facial expressions and the emotional subjective experience of Self-defining memories. These findings provide valuable physiological information about the emotional experience of the past.

Atlantic mackerel and Horse mackerel egg survey 2016: Dutch participation on board FV Atlantic Lady: May

OpenAIRE

Damme, van, C.J.G.

2016-01-01

From 10 till 25 May 2016 IMARES carried out a mackerel and horse mackerel egg survey on board the FV Atlantic Lady. This survey was part of the international mackerel and horse mackerel egg survey coordinated by ICES. The Redersvereniging voor de Zeevisserij (RVZ) asked IMARES to carry out this survey. Numbers of mackerel eggs in the samples were low, lower compared to previous surveys. Most mackerel eggs were found along the 200m depth contour of the continental slope. Most of the adult mack...

Drama-based education to motivate participation in substance abuse prevention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cameron Amura

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The substance abuse prevention goal of the theatre production "TUNNELS" was to provide community education on substance abuse to an audience in Durham, NC and surrounding communities. The education effort intended to increase awareness and understanding of the risk and protective factors associated with alcohol and other drug use, and to promote pro-active behaviors in substance abuse prevention within the adult community. It was hypothesized that community-based education via drama would change attitudes toward alcohol and substance abuse, and increase participation in family and community activities aimed at substance abuse prevention. Methods A focus group comprised of educators, substance abuse researchers and local substance abuse counselors developed "life stories" of users of alcohol and other drugs and a local playwright incorporated these and other experiences into a series of six vignettes. The production was publicized throughout the Durham area, and 700 adults attending the play signed a consent form and completed the pre-play survey. The participant pool was restricted to those adults who completed both the time-1 and time-2 surveys and resided within Durham and surrounding communities. Paired comparisons of mean responses were analyzed using a paired sample two-tailed t-test. A telephone survey three months after the play assessed attitudes toward substance abuse as a disease, and whether the respondents had increased their participation in prevention activities including discussions of the play with others. Results Viewing the play increased the knowledge base of participants regarding substance abuse as a disease, even though the audience demonstrated an appreciation of risk and protective factors prior to attending the performance. In the pre-play survey, participants indicated a strong opinion that parental involvement in teen life was important, and therefore this was not increased as a result of viewing

Ethical Considerations for Data Collection Using Surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammer, Marilyn J

2017-03-01

Surveys are widely used instruments to collect research data. Although surveys may appear relatively benign and easily unlinked to participants, considerations for the ethical conduct of research with surveys are important. Maintaining scientific rigor is essential. This article explores ethical tenets in relation to informed consent and scientific consent when using surveys.

Which Early Care and Education Centers Participate in Head Start or Public Pre-Kindergarten? National Survey of Early Care & Education. Technical Report. OPRE Report 2015-92a

Science.gov (United States)

Administration for Children & Families, 2015

2015-01-01

This report draws on newly available data from the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) to describe early care and education (ECE) centers that participate in two prominent publicly-funded ECE initiatives: Head Start and publicly-funded pre-kindergarten. Although a great deal is known about Head Start programs, and there are sources…

Molecular risk assessment of BIG 1-98 participants by expression profiling using RNA from archival tissue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antonov, Janine; Altermatt, Hans Jörg; Aebi, Stefan; Jaggi, Rolf; Popovici, Vlad; Delorenzi, Mauro; Wirapati, Pratyaksha; Baltzer, Anna; Oberli, Andrea; Thürlimann, Beat; Giobbie-Hurder, Anita; Viale, Giuseppe

2010-01-01

The purpose of the work reported here is to test reliable molecular profiles using routinely processed formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues from participants of the clinical trial BIG 1-98 with a median follow-up of 60 months. RNA from fresh frozen (FF) and FFPE tumor samples of 82 patients were used for quality control, and independent FFPE tissues of 342 postmenopausal participants of BIG 1-98 with ER-positive cancer were analyzed by measuring prospectively selected genes and computing scores representing the functions of the estrogen receptor (eight genes, ER-8), the progesterone receptor (five genes, PGR-5), Her2 (two genes, HER2-2), and proliferation (ten genes, PRO-10) by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) on TaqMan Low Density Arrays. Molecular scores were computed for each category and ER-8, PGR-5, HER2-2, and PRO-10 scores were combined into a RISK-25 score. Pearson correlation coefficients between FF- and FFPE-derived scores were at least 0.94 and high concordance was observed between molecular scores and immunohistochemical data. The HER2-2, PGR-5, PRO-10 and RISK-25 scores were significant predictors of disease free-survival (DFS) in univariate Cox proportional hazard regression. PRO-10 and RISK-25 scores predicted DFS in patients with histological grade II breast cancer and in lymph node positive disease. The PRO-10 and PGR-5 scores were independent predictors of DFS in multivariate Cox regression models incorporating clinical risk indicators; PRO-10 outperformed Ki-67 labeling index in multivariate Cox proportional hazard analyses. Scores representing the endocrine responsiveness and proliferation status of breast cancers were developed from gene expression analyses based on RNA derived from FFPE tissues. The validation of the molecular scores with tumor samples of participants of the BIG 1-98 trial demonstrates that such scores can serve as independent prognostic factors to estimate disease free survival (DFS) in

Surrogate receptivity to participation in critical illness genetic research: aligning research oversight and stakeholder concerns.

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Bradley D; Butler, Kevin; Bolcic-Jankovic, Dragana; Clarridge, Brian R; Kennedy, Carie R; LeBlanc, Jessica; Chandros Hull, Sara

2015-04-01

Collection of genetic biospecimens as part of critical illness investigations is increasingly commonplace. Oversight bodies vary in restrictions imposed on genetic research, introducing inconsistencies in study design, potential for sampling bias, and the possibility of being overly prohibitive of this type of research altogether. We undertook this study to better understand whether restrictions on genetic data collection beyond those governing research on cognitively intact subjects reflect the concerns of surrogates for critically ill patients. We analyzed survey data collected from 1,176 patients in nonurgent settings and 437 surrogates representing critically ill adults. Attitudes pertaining to genetic data (familiarity, perceptions, interest in participation, concerns) and demographic information were examined using univariate and multivariate techniques. We explored differences among respondents who were receptive (1,333) and nonreceptive (280) to genetic sample collection. Whereas factors positively associated with receptivity to research participation were "complete trust" in health-care providers (OR, 2.091; 95% CI, 1.544-2.833), upper income strata (OR, 2.319; 95% CI, 1.308-4.114), viewing genetic research "very positively" (OR, 3.524; 95% CI, 2.122-5.852), and expressing "no worry at all" regarding disclosure of results (OR, 2.505; 95% CI, 1.436-4.369), black race was negatively associated with research participation (OR, 0.410; 95% CI, 0.288-0.585). We could detect no difference in receptivity to genetic sample collection comparing ambulatory patients and surrogates (OR, 0.738; 95% CI, 0.511-1.066). Expressing trust in health-care providers and viewing genetic research favorably were associated with increased willingness for study enrollment, while concern regarding breach of confidentiality and black race had the opposite effect. Study setting had no bearing on willingness to participate.

Student experiences of participating in five collaborative blended learning courses in Africa and Asia: a survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Atkins, Salla; Yan, Weirong; Meragia, Elnta; Mahomed, Hassan; Rosales-Klintz, Senia; Skinner, Donald; Zwarenstein, Merrick

2016-01-01

As blended learning (BL; a combination of face-to-face and e-learning methods) becomes more commonplace, it is important to assess whether students find it useful for their studies. ARCADE HSSR and ARCADE RSDH (African Regional Capacity Development for Health Systems and Services Research; Asian Regional Capacity Development for Research on Social Determinants of Health) were unique capacity-building projects, focusing on developing BL in Africa and Asia on issues related to global health. We aimed to evaluate the student experience of participating in any of five ARCADE BL courses implemented collaboratively at institutions from Africa, Asia, and Europe. A post-course student survey with 118 students was conducted. The data were collected using email or through an e-learning platform. Data were analysed with SAS, using bivariate and multiple logistic regression. We focused on the associations between various demographic and experience variables and student-reported overall perceptions of the courses. In total, 82 students responded to the survey. In bivariate logistic regression, the course a student took [ p =0.0067, odds ratio (OR)=0.192; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.058-0.633], male gender of student ( p =0.0474, OR=0.255; 95% CI: 0.066-0.985), not experiencing technical problems ( p learning component to their studies. In contrast, perceiving the assessment as adequate was associated with a worse perception of overall usefulness. In a multiple regression, the course, experiencing no technical problems, and perceiving the discussion as adequate remained significantly associated with a more positively rated perception of the usefulness of the online component of the blended courses. The results suggest that lack of technical problems and functioning discussion forums are of importance during BL courses focusing on global health-related topics. Through paying attention to these aspects, global health education could be provided using BL approaches to student

Barriers to Medicaid Participation among Florida Dentists

Science.gov (United States)

Logan, Henrietta L.; Catalanotto, Frank; Guo, Yi; Marks, John; Dharamsi, Shafik

2015-01-01

Background Finding dentists who treat Medicaid-enrolled children is a struggle for many parents. The purpose of this study was to identify non-reimbursement factors that influence the decision by dentists about whether or not to participate in the Medicaid program in Florida. Methods Data from a mailed survey was analyzed using a logistic regression model to test the association of Medicaid participation with the Perceived Barriers and Social Responsibility variables. Results General and pediatric dentists (n=882) who identified themselves as either Medicaid (14%) or Non-Medicaid (86%) participants responded. Five items emerged as significant predictors of Medicaid participation, with a final concordance index of 0.905. Two previously unreported barriers to participation in Medicaid emerged: 1) dentists’ perception of social stigma from other dentists for participating in Medicaid, and 2) the lack of specialists to whom Medicaid patients can be referred. Conclusions This study provides new information about non-reimbursement barriers to Medicaid participation. PMID:25702734

American Samoa Shore-based Creel Survey

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The DMWR staff has also conducted shore-based creel surveys which also have 2 major sub-surveys; one to estimate participation (fishing effort), and one to provide...

Genome-wide survey and developmental expression mapping of zebrafish SET domain-containing genes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao-Jian Sun

Full Text Available SET domain-containing proteins represent an evolutionarily conserved family of epigenetic regulators, which are responsible for most histone lysine methylation. Since some of these genes have been revealed to be essential for embryonic development, we propose that the zebrafish, a vertebrate model organism possessing many advantages for developmental studies, can be utilized to study the biological functions of these genes and the related epigenetic mechanisms during early development. To this end, we have performed a genome-wide survey of zebrafish SET domain genes. 58 genes total have been identified. Although gene duplication events give rise to several lineage-specific paralogs, clear reciprocal orthologous relationship reveals high conservation between zebrafish and human SET domain genes. These data were further subject to an evolutionary analysis ranging from yeast to human, leading to the identification of putative clusters of orthologous groups (COGs of this gene family. By means of whole-mount mRNA in situ hybridization strategy, we have also carried out a developmental expression mapping of these genes. A group of maternal SET domain genes, which are implicated in the programming of histone modification states in early development, have been identified and predicted to be responsible for all known sites of SET domain-mediated histone methylation. Furthermore, some genes show specific expression patterns in certain tissues at certain stages, suggesting the involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in the development of these systems. These results provide a global view of zebrafish SET domain histone methyltransferases in evolutionary and developmental dimensions and pave the way for using zebrafish to systematically study the roles of these genes during development.

EPRINT ARCHIVE USER SURVEY

CERN Multimedia

2001-01-01

University of Southampton invites the CERN community to participate in a survey Professor Stevan Harnad is conducting on current users and non-users of Eprint Archives. http://www.eprints.org/survey/ The findings will be used to suggest potential enhancements of the services as well as to get a deeper understanding of the very rapid developments in the on-line dissemination and use of scientific and scholarly research. (The survey is anonymous. Revealing your identity is optional and it will be kept confidential.)

Children’s participation in Finnish pre-school education - Identifying, Describing and Documenting Children’s Participation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonna Leinonen

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This article describes, analyzes, and evaluates children’s participatory in Finnish pre-school groups. Children’s participation is viewed in the context of the Core Curriculum for Pre-school Education in Finland (2010, in which children are considered active subjects, who interact with both other people and the environment. However, in practical data, collected via survey from pre-school educators, this ideology is restricted and the educators in pre-school groups focus on children’s participation from a narrow point of view that reflects a lack of connection between the Core Curriculum goals for pre-school education and the actual participatory practices children face.

Can teacher-child relationships support human rights to freedom of opinion and expression, education and participation?

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Cen; Harrison, Linda J; McLeod, Sharynne; Walker, Sue; Spilt, Jantine L

2018-02-01

This study explored how teacher-child relationships change over the early school years, in terms of closeness and conflict, whether these trajectories differ in type and frequency for children with typical development and children with speech and language concern (SLC), and whether the trajectories are associated with school outcomes at 12-13 years. Participants were children, parents and teachers in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Parents identified 2890 children with typical communication and 1442 children with SLC. Teacher-rated teacher-child closeness and conflict were collected biennially over six years. Academic and social-emotional outcomes were reported by teachers and children. Growth mixture modelling was conducted to generate teacher-child relationship trajectories and Wald's chi-square analyses were used to test the association between trajectories and school outcomes at 12-13 years, after controlling for a range of covariates including child's sex, language background, Indigenous status, age and socio-economic position. In both groups, the majority of children had teacher-child relationship trajectories with sustained high closeness and low conflict that predicted positive outcomes at age 12-13, but the SLC group was more at risk of less positive trajectories and poorer school outcomes. Close, less conflicted relationships with teachers may provide a supportive context for later language, literacy and social-emotional development. This study highlights the role of teachers in supporting children in their development of communication and academic skills that will optimise their capacity for freedom of opinions and expression, education and participation, as enshrined in Articles 19, 26 and 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

38 CFR 20.1509 - Rule 1509. Compliance and revocation of participation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... participate in the Initiative. (c) Implied revocation. The failure of a participant to meet the terms of these... Board has been issued. (b) Express revocation. A participant may revoke participation in the Initiative... constituting such implied revocation, any covered claims will be processed in the same manner as if the...

Health promotion site selection blues: barriers to participation and implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherniack, Martin; Morse, Tim; Henning, Robert; Seidner, Adam; Punnett, Laura

2010-06-01

To shed light on research-to-practice challenges in workplace health promotion research. More than 1200 companies serviced by a national insurer were assessed by measures, including management surveys, and insurance premium costs and risk profile. A 21-item Workplace Readiness Checklist was the core assessment tool. Quantitative and qualitative measures were used to identify 12 to 14 companies deemed most "ready for change." The four priority candidate companies decided against participation. A post hoc survey to evaluate reasons for non-participation identified factors such as time allocations, the deteriorating economic environment, and the participatory nature of the interventions proposed for half of the study sites. Differing priorities within management also seemed to interfere with participation. A highly structured process for determining corporate readiness for participatory health promotion produced contradictory results.

Advantages and limitations of web-based surveys: evidence from a child mental health survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Heiervang, Einar; Goodman, Robert

2011-01-01

Web-based surveys may have advantages related to the speed and cost of data collection as well as data quality. However, they may be biased by low and selective participation. We predicted that such biases would distort point-estimates such as average symptom level or prevalence but not patterns of associations with putative risk-factors. A structured psychiatric interview was administered to parents in two successive surveys of child mental health. In 2003, parents were interviewed face-to-face, whereas in 2006 they completed the interview online. In both surveys, interviews were preceded by paper questionnaires covering child and family characteristics. The rate of parents logging onto the web site was comparable to the response rate for face-to-face interviews, but the rate of full response (completing all sections of the interview) was much lower for web-based interviews. Full response was less frequent for non-traditional families, immigrant parents, and less educated parents. Participation bias affected point estimates of psychopathology but had little effect on associations with putative risk factors. The time and cost of full web-based interviews was only a quarter of that for face-to-face interviews. Web-based surveys may be performed faster and at lower cost than more traditional approaches with personal interviews. Selective participation seems a particular threat to point estimates of psychopathology, while patterns of associations are more robust.

The Effect of Message Framing on African American Women's Intention to Participate in Health-Related Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Balls-Berry, Joyce E; Hayes, Sharonne; Parker, Monica; Halyard, Michele; Enders, Felicity; Albertie, Monica; Pinn, Vivian; Radecki Breitkopf, Carmen

2016-05-01

This study examined the effect of message framing on African American women's intention to participate in health-related research and actual registration in ResearchMatch (RM), a disease-neutral, national volunteer research registry. A community-engaged approach was used involving collaboration between an academic medical center and a volunteer service organization formed by professional women of color. A self-administered survey that contained an embedded message framing manipulation was distributed to more than 2,000 African American women attending the 2012 national assembly of The Links, Incorporated. A total of 391 surveys were completed (381 after exclusion: 187 containing the gain-framed message and 194 containing the loss-framed message). The majority (57%) of women expressed favorable intentions to participate in health-related research, and 21% subsequently enrolled in RM. The effect of message framing on intention was moderated by self-efficacy. There was no effect of message framing on RM registration; however, those with high self-efficacy were more than 2 times as likely as those with low self-efficacy to register as a potential study volunteer in RM (odds ratio = 2.62, 95% confidence interval [1.29, 5.33]). This investigation makes theoretical and practical contributions to the field of health communication and informs future strategies to meaningfully and effectively include women and minorities in health-related research.

The Aalborg Survey / Part 3 - Interview Based Survey

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harder, Henrik; Christensen, Cecilie Breinholm; Jensen, Maria Vestergaard

Background and purpose The Aalborg Survey consists of four independent parts: a web, GPS and an interview based survey and a literature study, which together form a consistent investigation and research into use of urban space, and specifically into young people’s use of urban space: what young...... people do in urban spaces, where they are in the urban spaces and when the young people are in the urban spaces. The answers to these questions form the framework and enable further academic discussions and conclusions in relation to the overall research project Diverse Urban Spaces (DUS). The primary......) and the research focus within the cluster of Mobility and Tracking Technologies (MoTT), AAU. Summary / Part 3 - Interview Based Survey The 3rd part of the DUS research project has been carried out during the fall of 2009 and the summer and fall of 2010 as an interview based survey of 18 selected participants (nine...

Evaluating guilt and shame in an expressive writing alcohol intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Lindsey M; Young, Chelsie M; Neighbors, Clayton; Campbell, Michelle T; Lu, Qian

2015-08-01

Expressive writing interventions have shown positive physical and psychological health benefits over time, with the presumed mechanism being emotional disclosure. However, work utilizing expressive writing in behavior change has been minimal. The current research applied the expressive writing paradigm to reduce drinking intentions among college students, and evaluated the role of event-related guilt and shame in intervention effects. College students (N=429) completed a baseline survey and were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Negative (write about a heavy drinking event that was negative); Positive (write about a heavy drinking event that was positive); or Neutral (write about their first day of college). After writing, readiness to change and future drinking intentions were assessed. Results revealed intervention effects on intended drinks per week and intended number of drinks during peak and typical drinking occasions. Participants in the negative condition also displayed higher levels of event-related guilt and shame. Results showed that guilt mediated intervention effects on readiness to change, which also mediated the association between guilt-reparative behavior and drinking intentions. Results provide initial support for an expressive writing intervention on alcohol use and underscore the importance of eliciting emotions associated with reparative behavior when considering negative past experiences and future behavior change. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Trends in participation in nonformal education in the second half of life : Increasing educational participation in retirement].

Science.gov (United States)

Wiest, Maja; Hoffmann, Madlain; Widany, Sarah; Kaufmann, Katrin

2017-05-22

Research on nonformal education often focuses on participation within employment. Participation of workers decreases with age; however, recent studies show an increase in participation in nonformal education of older workers. It remains, however, unclear if this trend spills over to retirement. In the context of social change processes, trends in nonformal educational participation are analyzed. The study addresses employment and retirement as opportunity structures and investigates their impact on educational participation in the second half of life. Predictors of educational participation are modeled in logistic regression, including interaction effects. Analyses are based on cross-sectional data of the German Ageing Survey and covers 20,129 respondents aged 40-85 years (T 1 : 1996 n = 4838; T 2 : 2002 n = 3084; T 3 : 2008 n = 6205; T 4 : 2014 n = 6002). Educational level, age, gender, employment status, region, social integration, and subjective health predict participation in nonformal education for people aged 40 to 85 years. Employment as an opportunity structure has a constant impact on participation, whereas retirees' participation increases over the course of time. The increase of retirees' participation in nonformal education is discussed in the context of social change processes and connected to theoretical und empirical research gaps with regard to educational participation in the second half of life.

Feminist music therapy pedagogy: a survey of music therapy educators.

Science.gov (United States)

Hahna, Nicole D; Schwantes, Melody

2011-01-01

This study surveyed 188 music therapy educators regarding their views and use of feminist pedagogy and feminist music therapy. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) to determine how many music therapy educators used feminist pedagogy and (b) to determine if there was a relationship between the use of feminist pedagogy and academic rank of the participants. Seventy-two participants responded to this study, with 69 participants included for data analysis. Stake and Hoffman's (2000) feminist pedagogy survey was adapted for this study, examining four subscales of feminist pedagogy: (a) participatory learning, (b) validation of personal experience/development of confidence, (c) political/ social activism, and (d) critical thinking/open-mindedness. The results revealed that 46% (n=32) of participants identified as feminist music therapists and 67% (n=46) of participants identified as using feminist pedagogy. Results of a mixed analysis of variance revealed a statistically significant difference within the four survey subscales (p<.0001), no significant difference (p=.32) for academic rank, and no significant interaction (p=.08) of academic rank and the four survey subscales. Tukey's post hoc analysis of the data indicated that the survey subscale measuring political activism (p<.0001) was significantly lower than the other three survey subscales. In addition, a qualitative analysis on open-ended responses is also included. Discussion of the results, limitations, and areas for future research are addressed.

Making participation accessible for vulnerable clients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louis Anthony Iaquinto

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Despite forty years of research, community sector service providers still find operationalising participation in their practice confusing and difficult.  This paper presents the results of a preliminary study that begins to question why this is so and what can be done about it?  The study examines the meaning and importance of participation determined by a review of the academic literature, by soliciting feedback from a range of stakeholders in community sector organisations, including service users with complex barriers to participation, staff, and board members.  The participants’ perspectives, views and experience of participation were obtained through the use of semi-structured interviews.  The data generated a number of telling examples of the impact organisational culture has on service delivery and how the values of the leadership shape the organization, as well as illustrations of the principles that underpin participation expressed from the standpoints of the three participant groups.  Study findings underscore the critical importance for service providers to consider their culture and its influences.   Keywords: organisational culture, vulnerable clients, client participation

'Radiation Fair' for 15 years in Osaka, Japan, and survey of the participants attitude toward radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furuta, Masakazu; Asano, Takeyoshi; Hayashi, Toshio; Hosokawa, Yasushi; Kakefu, Tomohisa; Nishihara, Hideaki

1999-01-01

We have been successfully operating 'Radiation Fair--The relationship between daily life and radiation--' during summer vacation season in August every year for 15 years in Osaka, the largest city of western Japan. The purpose of this event is radiation education of public including school kids through efficient information transfer of radiation and radiation-related technology. Currently we set up the space of it on a floor of Kintetsu Department Store, one of the major department stores in downtown Osaka and display various irradiated products available in our daily life together with explanatory panels. We have been devising various attractions as efficient information transfer media so that even elementary-school kids understand the basic knowledge of radiation and irradiation technologies. The number of participants has increased year by year until more than 20,000 in recent years. We distributed questionnaires to the visitors for recent 3 years to inquire their status toward radiation and irradiated products as well as impression toward the displays. The survey results suggest that school education may contribute to establish the public image toward 'radiation' as well as mass media. (author)

A Survey of Teen Museum Education Participants and Their Parents

Science.gov (United States)

Hornby, Jenny; Bobick, Bryna

2016-01-01

In this article, we discuss a museum program for teens located in an urban environment. The participants were high school students from public, private, religious and home schools. The program allowed learning to occur in an informal setting and united teens from one city through a common interest in visual art. Also, it was an opportunity for the…

Industry Based Monkfish Survey

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Monkfish industry leaders expressed concerns that the NEFSC bottom trawl surveys did not sample in all monkfish habitats; particularly the deeper water outside the...

Atlantic mackerel and Horse mackerel egg survey 2016: Dutch participation on board FV Atlantic Lady: May

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Damme, van C.J.G.

2016-01-01

From 10 till 25 May 2016 IMARES carried out a mackerel and horse mackerel egg survey on board the FV Atlantic Lady. This survey was part of the international mackerel and horse mackerel egg survey coordinated by ICES. The Redersvereniging voor de Zeevisserij (RVZ) asked IMARES to carry out this

Biobank participant support of newborn screening for disorders with variable treatment and intervention options.

Science.gov (United States)

Bunnell, Megan E; Tarini, Beth A; Petros, Michael; Goldenberg, Aaron J; Arjunan, Aishwarya; Wicklund, Catherine

2016-10-01

We aimed to better understand biobank participant opinions of the benefits of newborn screening (NBS) for certain disorder types and how terminology used in NBS discourse might impact stakeholder opinion. We conducted a between-subjects randomized survey of 5840 members of the Northwestern University Biobank. The survey contained 12 scenarios, each describing a disorder and its treatment. For each scenario, we varied the terminology used to describe treatment options. One survey version used the term intervention and the other treatment. The outcome measured for each scenario was perceived benefit (for the infant) and importance of testing (for participants). Comparisons were made between participants and between scenarios. Ratings of benefit and importance were not influenced by the use of the term intervention versus treatment within scenarios. Nuances existed in ratings of benefit to the infant and importance to participants amongst scenarios. Participants were most likely to perceive benefit and importance in screening for a disorder if treatment/intervention offered a high chance of improved outcomes. While participants perceived benefit to the infant and importance to themselves in screening for most disorders, nuances in inter-scenario ratings suggest participants weighed availability and type of treatment/intervention in consideration of the benefits of NBS.

Educational stratification in cultural participation: Cognitive competence or status motivation?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Notten, N.; Bol, Th.; van de Werfhorst, H.G.; Ganzeboom, H.B.G.

2015-01-01

This article examines educational stratification in highbrow cultural participation. There are two contrasting explanations of why cultural participation is stratified. The status hypothesis predicts that people come to appreciate particular forms of art because it expresses their belonging to a

Educational stratification in cultural participation: cognitive competence or status motivation?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Notten, N.; Lancee, B.; van de Werfhorst, H.G.; Ganzeboom, H.B.G.

2015-01-01

This article examines educational stratification in highbrow cultural participation. There are two contrasting explanations of why cultural participation is stratified. The status hypothesis predicts that people come to appreciate particular forms of art because it expresses their belonging to a

Labor Force Participation and Gender Inequalities: Comparative Analysis of Pakistan and Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Najeebullah Khan; Adnan Hussein; Qamar Afaq; Zahid Awan

2012-01-01

In this study we analyzed gender inequalities in labour force participation of the two Asian Countries namely Pakistan and Malaysia. Gender inequalities in labour market are analyzed and updated using recent time series data of 2005 to 2009. The data are drawn from different sources including various Integrated Household Surveys, Labour Force Surveys, Economic Surveys and Labour Force Survey Reports of the two countries. The results indicate significant gender differences in the labour force ...

Gender and Participation in High School and College Instrumental Jazz Ensembles

Science.gov (United States)

McKeage, Kathleen M.

2004-01-01

This study is an examination of the relationship between gender and participation in high school and college instrumental jazz ensembles. Student demographic and attitudinal information was collected using the researcher-designed Instrumental Jazz Participation Survey (IJPS). Undergraduate college band students (N = 628) representing 15 programs…

Does Personality Influence Project Participation? Evidence from Rural Malawi

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lønborg, Jonas Helth; Bie Lilleør, Helene

participating in it. There is a large and still growing literature on how personality traits matter for economic and social outcomes in life. In this paper, we find that there is indeed a strong degree of self-selection on specific personality traits, when it comes to expressing interest in participating...

PARTAKE Survey of Public Knowledge and Perceptions of Clinical Research in India

Science.gov (United States)

Burt, Tal; Dhillon, Savita; Sharma, Pooja; Khan, Danish; MV, Deepa; Alam, Sazid; Jain, Sarika; Alapati, Bhavana; Mittal, Sanjay; Singh, Padam

2013-01-01

Background A public that is an informed partner in clinical research is important for ethical, methodological, and operational reasons. There are indications that the public is unaware or misinformed, and not sufficiently engaged in clinical research but studies on the topic are lacking. PARTAKE – Public Awareness of Research for Therapeutic Advancements through Knowledge and Empowerment is a program aimed at increasing public awareness and partnership in clinical research. The PARTAKE Survey is a component of the program. Objective To study public knowledge and perceptions of clinical research. Methods A 40-item questionnaire combining multiple-choice and open-ended questions was administered to 175 English- or Hindi-speaking individuals in 8 public locations representing various socioeconomic strata in New Delhi, India. Results Interviewees were 18–84 old (mean: 39.6, SD±16.6), 23.6% female, 68.6% employed, 7.3% illiterate, 26.3% had heard of research, 2.9% had participated and 58.9% expressed willingness to participate in clinical research. The following perceptions were reported (% true/% false/% not aware): ‘research benefits society’ (94.1%/3.5%/2.3%), ‘the government protects against unethical clinical research’ (56.7%/26.3%/16.9%), ‘research hospitals provide better care’ (67.2%/8.7%/23.9%), ‘confidentiality is adequately protected’ (54.1%/12.3%/33.5%), ‘participation in research is voluntary’ (85.3%/5.8%/8.7%); ‘participants treated like ‘guinea pigs’’ (20.7%/53.2%/26.0%), and ‘compensation for participation is adequate’ (24.7%/12.9%/62.3%). Conclusions Results suggest the Indian public is aware of some key features of clinical research (e.g., purpose, value, voluntary nature of participation), and supports clinical research in general but is unaware of other key features (e.g., compensation, confidentiality, protection of human participants) and exhibits some distrust in the conduct and reporting of clinical trials

PARTAKE survey of public knowledge and perceptions of clinical research in India.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tal Burt

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: A public that is an informed partner in clinical research is important for ethical, methodological, and operational reasons. There are indications that the public is unaware or misinformed, and not sufficiently engaged in clinical research but studies on the topic are lacking. PARTAKE - Public Awareness of Research for Therapeutic Advancements through Knowledge and Empowerment is a program aimed at increasing public awareness and partnership in clinical research. The PARTAKE Survey is a component of the program. OBJECTIVE: To study public knowledge and perceptions of clinical research. METHODS: A 40-item questionnaire combining multiple-choice and open-ended questions was administered to 175 English- or Hindi-speaking individuals in 8 public locations representing various socioeconomic strata in New Delhi, India. RESULTS: Interviewees were 18-84 old (mean: 39.6, SD ± 16.6, 23.6% female, 68.6% employed, 7.3% illiterate, 26.3% had heard of research, 2.9% had participated and 58.9% expressed willingness to participate in clinical research. The following perceptions were reported (% true/% false/% not aware: 'research benefits society' (94.1%/3.5%/2.3%, 'the government protects against unethical clinical research' (56.7%/26.3%/16.9%, 'research hospitals provide better care' (67.2%/8.7%/23.9%, 'confidentiality is adequately protected' (54.1%/12.3%/33.5%, 'participation in research is voluntary' (85.3%/5.8%/8.7%; 'participants treated like 'guinea pigs'' (20.7%/53.2%/26.0%, and 'compensation for participation is adequate' (24.7%/12.9%/62.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest the Indian public is aware of some key features of clinical research (e.g., purpose, value, voluntary nature of participation, and supports clinical research in general but is unaware of other key features (e.g., compensation, confidentiality, protection of human participants and exhibits some distrust in the conduct and reporting of clinical trials. Larger, cross

Recruitment and Participation of Recreational Runners in a Large Epidemiological and Genetic Research Study: Retrospective Data Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Manzanero, Silvia; Kozlovskaia, Maria; Vlahovich, Nicole; Hughes, David C

2018-05-23

With the increasing capacity for remote collection of both data and samples for medical research, a thorough assessment is needed to determine the association of population characteristics and recruitment methodologies with response rates. The aim of this research was to assess population representativeness in a two-stage study of health and injury in recreational runners, which consisted of an epidemiological arm and genetic analysis. The cost and success of various classical and internet-based methods were analyzed, and demographic representativeness was assessed for recruitment to the epidemiological survey, reported willingness to participate in the genetic arm of the study, actual participation, sample return, and approval for biobank storage. A total of 4965 valid responses were received, of which 1664 were deemed eligible for genetic analysis. Younger age showed a negative association with initial recruitment rate, expressed willingness to participate in genetic analysis, and actual participation. Additionally, female sex was associated with higher initial recruitment rates, and ethnic origin impacted willingness to participate in the genetic analysis (all P<.001). The sharp decline in retention through the different stages of the study in young respondents suggests the necessity to develop specific recruitment and retention strategies when investigating a young, physically active population. ©Silvia Manzanero, Maria Kozlovskaia, Nicole Vlahovich, David C Hughes. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 23.05.2018.

Computerised analysis of facial emotion expression in eating disorders

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

Background Problems with social-emotional processing are known to be an important contributor to the development and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs). Diminished facial communication of emotion has been frequently reported in individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN). Less is known about facial expressivity in bulimia nervosa (BN) and in people who have recovered from AN (RecAN). This study aimed to pilot the use of computerised facial expression analysis software to investigate emotion expression across the ED spectrum and recovery in a large sample of participants. Method 297 participants with AN, BN, RecAN, and healthy controls were recruited. Participants watched film clips designed to elicit happy or sad emotions, and facial expressions were then analysed using FaceReader. Results The finding mirrored those from previous work showing that healthy control and RecAN participants expressed significantly more positive emotions during the positive clip compared to the AN group. There were no differences in emotion expression during the sad film clip. Discussion These findings support the use of computerised methods to analyse emotion expression in EDs. The findings also demonstrate that reduced positive emotion expression is likely to be associated with the acute stage of AN illness, with individuals with BN showing an intermediate profile. PMID:28575109

Computerised analysis of facial emotion expression in eating disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Leppanen, Jenni; Dapelo, Marcela Marin; Davies, Helen; Lang, Katie; Treasure, Janet; Tchanturia, Kate

2017-01-01

Problems with social-emotional processing are known to be an important contributor to the development and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs). Diminished facial communication of emotion has been frequently reported in individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN). Less is known about facial expressivity in bulimia nervosa (BN) and in people who have recovered from AN (RecAN). This study aimed to pilot the use of computerised facial expression analysis software to investigate emotion expression across the ED spectrum and recovery in a large sample of participants. 297 participants with AN, BN, RecAN, and healthy controls were recruited. Participants watched film clips designed to elicit happy or sad emotions, and facial expressions were then analysed using FaceReader. The finding mirrored those from previous work showing that healthy control and RecAN participants expressed significantly more positive emotions during the positive clip compared to the AN group. There were no differences in emotion expression during the sad film clip. These findings support the use of computerised methods to analyse emotion expression in EDs. The findings also demonstrate that reduced positive emotion expression is likely to be associated with the acute stage of AN illness, with individuals with BN showing an intermediate profile.

A survey of educational uses of molecular visualization freeware.

Science.gov (United States)

Craig, Paul A; Michel, Lea Vacca; Bateman, Robert C

2013-01-01

As biochemists, one of our most captivating teaching tools is the use of molecular visualization. It is a compelling medium that can be used to communicate structural information much more effectively with interactive animations than with static figures. We have conducted a survey to begin a systematic evaluation of the current classroom usage of molecular visualization. Participants (n = 116) were asked to complete 11 multiple choice and 3 open ended questions. To provide more depth to these results, interviews were conducted with 12 of the participants. Many common themes arose in the survey and the interviews: a shared passion for the use of molecular visualization in teaching, broad diversity in software preference, the lack of uniform standards for assessment, a desire for more quality resources, and the challenge of enabling students to incorporate visualization in their learning. The majority of respondents had used molecular visualization for more than 5 years and mentioned 32 different visualization tools used, with Jmol and PyMOL clearly standing out as the most frequently used programs at the present time. The most common uses of molecular visualization in teaching were lecture and lab illustrations, followed by exam questions, in-class or in-laboratory exercises, and student projects, which frequently included presentations. While a minority of instructors used a grading rubric/scoring matrix for assessment of student learning with molecular visualization, many expressed a desire for common use assessment tools. Copyright © 2013 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Adopting customers' empowerment and social networks to encourage participations in e-health services.

Science.gov (United States)

Anshari, Muhammad; Almunawar, Mohammad Nabil; Low, Patrick Kim Cheng; Wint, Zaw; Younis, Mustafa Z

2013-01-01

The aim of this article is to present an e-health model that embeds empowerment and social network intervention that may extend the role of customers in health care settings. A 25-item Likert-type survey instrument was specifically developed for this study and administered to a sample of 108 participants in Indonesia from October to November 2012. The data were analyzed to provide ideas on how to move forward with the e-health initiative as a means to improve e-health services. The survey revealed that there is a high demand for customers' empowerment and involvement in social networks to improve their health literacy and customer satisfaction. Regardless of the limitations of the study, the participants have responded with great support for the abilities of the prototype systems drawn from the survey. The survey results were used as requirements to develop a system prototype that incorporates the expectations of the people. The prototype (namely Clinic 2.0) was derived from the model and confirmed from the survey. Participants were selected to use the system for three months, after which we measured its impact towards their health literacy and customer satisfaction. The results show that the system intervention through Clinic 2.0 leads to a high level of customer satisfaction and health literacy.

Comparison of emotion recognition from facial expression and music.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaspar, Tina; Labor, Marina; Jurić, Iva; Dumancić, Dijana; Ilakovac, Vesna; Heffer, Marija

2011-01-01

The recognition of basic emotions in everyday communication involves interpretation of different visual and auditory clues. The ability to recognize emotions is not clearly determined as their presentation is usually very short (micro expressions), whereas the recognition itself does not have to be a conscious process. We assumed that the recognition from facial expressions is selected over the recognition of emotions communicated through music. In order to compare the success rate in recognizing emotions presented as facial expressions or in classical music works we conducted a survey which included 90 elementary school and 87 high school students from Osijek (Croatia). The participants had to match 8 photographs of different emotions expressed on the face and 8 pieces of classical music works with 8 offered emotions. The recognition of emotions expressed through classical music pieces was significantly less successful than the recognition of emotional facial expressions. The high school students were significantly better at recognizing facial emotions than the elementary school students, whereas girls were better than boys. The success rate in recognizing emotions from music pieces was associated with higher grades in mathematics. Basic emotions are far better recognized if presented on human faces than in music, possibly because the understanding of facial emotions is one of the oldest communication skills in human society. Female advantage in emotion recognition was selected due to the necessity of their communication with the newborns during early development. The proficiency in recognizing emotional content of music and mathematical skills probably share some general cognitive skills like attention, memory and motivation. Music pieces were differently processed in brain than facial expressions and consequently, probably differently evaluated as relevant emotional clues.

Willingness to express emotion depends upon perceiving partner care.

Science.gov (United States)

Von Culin, Katherine R; Hirsch, Jennifer L; Clark, Margaret S

2017-06-01

Two studies document that people are more willing to express emotions that reveal vulnerabilities to partners when they perceive those partners to be more communally responsive to them. In Study 1, participants rated the communal strength they thought various partners felt toward them and their own willingness to express happiness, sadness and anxiety to each partner. Individuals who generally perceive high communal strength from their partners were also generally most willing to express emotion to partners. Independently, participants were more willing to express emotion to particular partners whom they perceived felt more communal strength toward them. In Study 2, members of romantic couples independently reported their own felt communal strength toward one another, perceptions of their partners' felt communal strength toward them, and willingness to express emotions (happiness, sadness, anxiety, disgust, anger, hurt and guilt) to each other. The communal strength partners reported feeling toward the participants predicted the participants' willingness to express emotion to those partners. This link was mediated by participants' perceptions of the partner's communal strength toward them which, itself, was a joint function of accurate perceptions of the communal strength partners had reported feeling toward them and projections of their own felt communal strength for their partners onto those partners.

Factors that influence parental decisions to participate in clinical research: consenters vs nonconsenters.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoberman, Alejandro; Shaikh, Nader; Bhatnagar, Sonika; Haralam, Mary Ann; Kearney, Diana H; Colborn, D Kathleen; Kienholz, Michelle L; Wang, Li; Bunker, Clareann H; Keren, Ron; Carpenter, Myra A; Greenfield, Saul P; Pohl, Hans G; Mathews, Ranjiv; Moxey-Mims, Marva; Chesney, Russell W

2013-06-01

A child's health, positive perceptions of the research team and consent process, and altruistic motives play significant roles in the decision-making process for parents who consent for their child to enroll in clinical research. This study identified that nonconsenting parents were better educated, had private insurance, showed lower levels of altruism, and less understanding of study design. To determine the factors associated with parental consent for their child's participation in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Cross-sectional survey conducted from July 2008 to May 2011. The survey was an ancillary study to the Randomized Intervention for Children with VesicoUreteral Reflux Study. Seven children's hospitals participating in a randomized trial evaluating management of children with vesicoureteral reflux. Parents asked to provide consent for their child's participation in the randomized trial were invited to complete an anonymous online survey about factors influencing their decision. A total of 120 of the 271 (44%) invited completed the survey; 58 of 125 (46%) who had provided consent and 62 of 144 (43%) who had declined consent completed the survey. A 60-question survey examining child, parent, and study characteristics; parental perception of the study; understanding of the design; external influences; and decision-making process. RESULTS Having graduated from college and private health insurance were associated with a lower likelihood of providing consent. Parents who perceived the trial as having a low degree of risk, resulting in greater benefit to their child and other children, causing little interference with standard care, or exhibiting potential for enhanced care, or who perceived the researcher as professional were significantly more likely to consent to participate. Higher levels of understanding of the randomization process, blinding, and right to withdraw were significantly positively associated with consent to participate. CONCLUSIONS AND

Getting the engine started: motivations for participation in a university outdoor recreation program

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan L. Sharp; Craig A. Miller

2009-01-01

This study was conducted to identify the motivations of trip participants in the Georgia Outdoor Recreation Program at the University of Georgia during the fall semester of 2007, and to collect baseline data about their participation. Participants were asked to fill out a survey and return it to the trip leader at the conclusion of each trip. Participants'...

Public Opinion Survey-Energy-The Present and the Future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pejic Bach, M.; Pevec, D.; Bace, M.; Trontl, K.; Jecmenica, R.; Matijevic, M.; Lebegner, J.

2008-01-01

During the academic year 2007/08 the Department of Applied Physics of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing conducted a public opinion survey entitled 'Energy - The Present and the Future' among student population of 1439 individuals age 18-20. The tested population consisted of the University of Zagreb nine faculties' students: the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing - 367 students, the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology - 149 students, the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology - 118 students, the Faculty of Civil Engineering - 102 students, the Faculty of Philosophy - 100 students, the Faculty of Science - 50 students, the Medical School - 217 students, the School of Dental Medicine - 108 students, and the Faculty of Economics and Business - 228 students. The questions in the survey covered several different energy issues, including the present and the future energy resources, the acceptability of different fuel type power plants, the environmental protection and global warming, the radioactivity, the waste issues, as well as reliable information sources. The basic results of survey analysis for nuclear oriented questions are reported in this paper. Although participants expressed high level of formal environmental awareness, their choices and attitudes are in a contradiction to claimed eco-orientation, as well as to the scientific facts. The discrepancies are particularly noticeable in parts of the survey dealing with the nuclear energy and the nuclear power plants. The radioactive waste management, proved to be a potential stumbling-stone for the entire nuclear program. The participants are demonstrating deep lack of knowledge which results in the radioactive waste management becoming the main source of fear from the nuclear technology in general. A very disturbing attitude is a belief that the nuclear energy is non-economic, environmentally unacceptable and operationally unsafe source of energy. Such an attitude

Optimum survey methods when interviewing employed women.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunning, Kari; LeMasters, Grace K

2009-02-01

While survey studies have examined bias much is unknown regarding specific subpopulations, especially women workers. A population based phone, Internet, and mail survey of workplace falls during pregnancy was undertaken. Participation by industry and occupation and survey approach and bias, reliability, and incomplete data were examined. Of the 3,997 women surveyed, 71% were employed during their pregnancy. Internet responders were most likely to be employed while pregnant and to report a workplace fall at 8.8% compared to 5.8% and 6.1% for mail and phone respondents. Internet responders had the most missing employment data with company name missing for 17.9% compared to 1.3% for phone responders. Mail surveys were best for recruiting those employed in eight of nine industries, and this was especially true for service occupations. To decrease bias and increase participation, mixed approaches may be useful with particular attention for collecting occupational data. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:105-112, 2009. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Employee participation in decision-making in architectural firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adedapo Oluwatayo

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In this study, the participation of employee architects in decision-making in architectural firms is investigated. This is with a view to identifying the organisational contexts that enhance employee participation in decision making. The impact of such participation on the performances of the firms was also assessed. This study was carried out through a questionnaire survey of employers of architects in Nigeria. In agreement with findings of previous studies, participation of the employees of the architectural firms in the study in decision making is low. Employee participation in decision making in the firms was dependent on the staffing strategy and proportion of junior staff in many cases. The positive impact of employee participation in decision making on firm performance varied with the nature of the decision. This study concludes that there is need for employers in architectural firms to identify the categories of decision that employees should be involved in and to modify their firm contexts to encourage participation where desired.

Association of marital status and colorectal cancer screening participation in the USA.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Haddad, B; Dong, F; Kallail, K J; Hines, R B; Ablah, E

2015-05-01

In the USA, for both men and women, colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks third in incidence and second in mortality. Despite evidence that it decreases mortality, CRC screening in the USA remains under-utilized. Some European studies have suggested that marital status affects participation in CRC screening, but the effect of marital status on CRC screening participation in the USA is unknown. In this study, the aim was to compare CRC screening participation rates among married and unmarried couples, separated, widowed, never married and divorced adults living in the USA. This was a retrospective data analysis of the 2010 Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. The population studied included 239,300 participants, aged 50-75 years, who completed the 2010 survey. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the association between adherence with CRC screening guidelines and marital status while accounting for survey stratum/weight and covariates. Individuals who were divorced or separated, never married or widowed had decreased odds of adherence with CRC screening guidelines compared with individuals who were married and unmarried couples. In this study, individuals living in the USA who were married and unmarried couples had increased odds of undergoing CRC screening compared to individuals in other marital status groups. Public health interventions are needed to promote CRC screening participation in these other groups. Colorectal Disease © 2015 The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland.

Benchmarking participation of Canadian university health sciences librarians in systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Susan A; Boden, Catherine

2015-04-01

This study describes the current state of Canadian university health sciences librarians' knowledge about, training needs for, and barriers to participating in systematic reviews (SRs). A convenience sample of Canadian librarians was surveyed. Over half of the librarians who had participated in SRs acknowledged participating in a traditional librarian role (e.g., search strategy developer); less than half indicated participating in any one nontraditional librarian role (e.g., data extractor). Lack of time and insufficient training were the most frequently reported barriers to participating in SRs. The findings provide a benchmark for tracking changes in Canadian university health sciences librarians' participation in SRs.

Habit-based Asset Pricing with Limited Participation Consumption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bach, Christian; Møller, Stig Vinther

We calibrate and estimate a consumption-based asset pricing model with habit formation using limited participation consumption data. Based on survey data of a representative sample of American households, we distinguish between assetholder and non-assetholder consumption, as well as the standard...

Habit-based asset pricing with limited participation consumption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Stig Vinther; Bach, Christian

2011-01-01

We calibrate and estimate a consumption-based asset pricing model with habit formation using limited participation consumption data. Based on survey data of a representative sample of American households, we distinguish between assetholder and non-assetholder consumption, as well as the standard...

Altering sensorimotor feedback disrupts visual discrimination of facial expressions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Adrienne; Lupyan, Gary; Sherrin, Steven; Niedenthal, Paula

2016-08-01

Looking at another person's facial expression of emotion can trigger the same neural processes involved in producing the expression, and such responses play a functional role in emotion recognition. Disrupting individuals' facial action, for example, interferes with verbal emotion recognition tasks. We tested the hypothesis that facial responses also play a functional role in the perceptual processing of emotional expressions. We altered the facial action of participants with a gel facemask while they performed a task that involved distinguishing target expressions from highly similar distractors. Relative to control participants, participants in the facemask condition demonstrated inferior perceptual discrimination of facial expressions, but not of nonface stimuli. The findings suggest that somatosensory/motor processes involving the face contribute to the visual perceptual-and not just conceptual-processing of facial expressions. More broadly, our study contributes to growing evidence for the fundamentally interactive nature of the perceptual inputs from different sensory modalities.

French-speaking Children's Freely Produced Labels for Facial Expressions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reem eMaassarani

2014-06-01

Full Text Available In this study, we investigated the labeling of facial expressions in French-speaking children. The participants were 137 French-speaking children, between the ages of 5 and 11 years, recruited from three elementary schools in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The facial expressions included expressions of happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, and disgust. Participants were shown one facial expression at a time, and asked to say what the stimulus person was feeling. Participants’ responses were coded by two raters who made judgments concerning the specific emotion category in which the responses belonged. Five- and 6-year-olds were quite accurate in labeling facial expressions of happiness, anger, and sadness but far less accurate for facial expressions of fear, surprise, and disgust. An improvement in accuracy as a function of age was found for fear and surprise only. Labeling facial expressions of disgust proved to be very difficult for the children, even for the 11-year-olds. In order to examine the fit between the model proposed by Widen and Russell (2003 and our data, we looked at the number of participants who had the predicted response patterns. Overall, 88.52% of the participants did. Most of the participants used between 3 and 5 labels, with correspondence percentages varying between 80.00% and 100.00%. Our results suggest that the model proposed by Widen and Russell is not limited to English-speaking children, but also accounts for the sequence of emotion labeling in French-Canadian children.

Using perceptual mapping methods to understand gender differences in perceived barriers and benefits of clinical research participation in urban minority HIV+ patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Bass, Sarah Bauerle; Wolak, Caitlin; Greener, Judith; Tedaldi, Ellen; Nanavati, Aasit; Ruppert, Katey; Gordon, Thomas F

2016-01-01

Minority participation in HIV clinical trials research is critical to understanding the impact of medications or behavioral interventions, but little is known about gender differences in perceptions of participation. We surveyed 50 minority HIV+ patients from an urban clinic to assess perceived risks/benefits of clinical trial research participation and used innovative marketing methods to analyze results. Perceptual mapping and vector message-modeling, a method that creates 3-D models representing how groups conceptualize elements, were used to assess how male and female participants could be motivated to participate. Results showed men farther away from participation and more concerned with HIV disclosure and experimentation than women. Men expressed distrust of the medical system, doubted HIV's origin, and knew less about research implementation. Women were closer to participation in both behavior and medical trials and perceived medication issues as more significant, including fear of losing medication stability, medications not working, being in the placebo group, and experiencing side effects. Vector modeling shows that messages would need to focus on different aspects of clinical research for men and women and that interventions aimed at minority HIV+ patients to encourage clinical trial participation would need to be targeted to their unique perceptions. Understanding gender perceptions of HIV clinical research has significant implications for targeting messages to increase minority participation.

Interactive effects of work psychosocial factors on participation in workplace wellness programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Sangachin, Mahboobeh Ghesmaty; Cavuoto, Lora A

2018-01-01

This study explored concurrent effects of six work psychosocial factors on current participation and the self-reported likelihood of future participation in workplace wellness programs using a cross-sectional survey, an ad hoc focus group, and structured interviews. Classification and regression tree analysis was used to analyze survey responses from 343 employees (194 nonparticipants, 95 participants, and 54 engaged participants). A thematic analysis of focus group ( n = 7) and interview ( n = 5) narratives was also undertaken. In combination with high work control, high superior support was associated with an engaged participant profile. Job demand was the third important variable with low and very high levels associated with participation. With regard to high likelihood of future participation, among respondents with age older than 50, high predictability of occupational activities and control were identified as a significant factor, and among others, high superior support and control. The analysis of narratives revealed peer relations and flexible working hours to be positively linked to participation and general job stress was identified as having a bidirectional relationship. Employees stated that stress led them to take advantage of these programs as a source of relief and that their availability/participation has contributed to lowering their stress. These findings inform practitioners about the importance of addressing poor psychosocial factors as a participation barrier and having a holistic approach to employee well-being.

When Age Matters: Patterns of Participative and Communicative Practices in the Czech Republic

OpenAIRE

Macková Alena; Macháčková Hana; Macek Jakub; Šerek Jan

2016-01-01

After a long history, research on the relation between participative and communicative practices was revived in the late 1990s because of the proliferation of new media. New studies have taken into account both online and offline participation and the ability of new media to provide citizens with easier access to information and a broader repertoire of actions. In this article, which is based on a representative survey of the adult Czech population and a survey of Czech adolescents, we addres...

Graduate Education in Chemistry. The ACS Committee on Professional Training: Surveys of Programs and Participants.

Science.gov (United States)

American Chemical Society, Washington, DC.

This document reports on graduate education in chemistry concerning the nature of graduate programs. Contents include: (1) "Graduate Education in Chemistry in the United States: A Snapshot from the Late Twentieth Century"; (2) "A Survey of Ph.D. Programs in Chemistry"; (4) "The Master's Degree in Chemistry"; (5) "A Survey of Ph.D. Recipients in…

Farmer participation in radio campaigns for technology adoption:

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Peter Berglez

produce enough food for themselves, their families, and their immediate markets. ... or associative) were selected using criteria that included “expressed interest ... In all the five participating countries, selection of agricultural technologies or.

Sanitation and Civic Participation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Antonio Peña Barreto

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This research is proposed in order to propose an action plan for environmental sanitation citizen participation in the "Manuela Sáenz" Concentrating National Basic School Parish Municipality City Bolivia Pedraza Barinas state. It is part of the qualitative approach in the form of participatory action research and supported by a narrative descriptive design. The selected scenario for performance of work was the Concentrating National School "Manuela Sáenz" key informants consist of 1 member of the community, 1 member of the community council and one teacher of the institution. The techniques used are observation and depth interview, using as instruments a field notebook and an interview script. For the presentation and analysis of results he was categorized, triangulated and theorized the information obtained, performing a thorough and detailed report on the integrated management of solid waste diagnosis. Subsequently, the proposal called Action Plan for environmental sanitation was developed with citizen participation in concentrated Manuela Saenz National Basic School. Then the proposal where participants expressed the view that activities allowed to obtain very important basic knowledge on environmental sanitation was run.

Participation in leisure activities after stroke: A survey of community-residing stroke survivors in Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Vincent-Onabajo, Grace; Blasu, Cephas

2016-01-01

Leisure provides pleasure and relaxation, and has health benefits even after a stressful and life-changing event such as a stroke. This study examined leisure participation among a sample of community-residing stroke survivors in Nigeria. Fifty-five stroke survivors undergoing rehabilitation were consecutively recruited from two government hospitals in Northern Nigeria. Data on pre- and post-stroke participation, and socio-demographic (age, sex, marital, employment, and educational status) and clinical (level of disability, post-stroke duration, stroke type and side of hemiplegia/hemiparesis) attributes of the stroke survivors were obtained. Leisure participation was assessed in four domains of recreational, social, cognitive, and productive/creative activities. Associations between leisure participation and the socio-demographic and clinical variables were examined using bivariate analysis. Mean (SD) age of the stroke survivors was 53.55 (14.39) years. Prevalence of leisure participation was 89.1%. Participation in specific leisure domains however varied thus: social (83.6%), cognitive (60%), recreational (41.8%), productive/creative activities (30.9%). Significant associations were observed between participation in cognitive, productive/creative, and recreational leisure activities, and specific socio-demographic and clinical attributes. Leisure participation was high in a general sense but marginal in recreational and productive/creative activities. The observed socio-demographic and clinical associations with post-stroke leisure participation may assist in providing effective leisure rehabilitation strategies.

The Impact of Repeated Lying on Survey Results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Chesney

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We study the effects on results of participants completing a survey more than once, a phenomenon known as farming. Using data from a real social science study as a baseline, three strategies that participants might use to farm are studied by Monte Carlo simulation. Findings show that farming influences survey results and can cause both statistical hypotheses testing Type I (false positive and Type II (false negative errors in unpredictable ways.

Sample Loss and Survey Bias in Estimates of Social Security Beneficiaries: A Tale of Two Surveys.

OpenAIRE

John L. Czajka; James Mabli; Scott Cody

2008-01-01

Data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and the Current Population Survey (CPS) provide information on current and potential beneficiaries served by Social Security Administration (SSA) programs. SSA also links administrative records to the records of survey respondents who provide Social Security numbers. These matched data expand the content of the SIPP and CPS files to fields available only through SSA and Internal Revenue Service records—such as l...

Mutacins and bacteriocins like genes in Streptococcus mutans isolated from participants with high, moderate, and low salivary count.

Science.gov (United States)

Soto, Carolina; Padilla, Carlos; Lobos, Olga

2017-02-01

To detect S. mutans producers of mutacins and bacteriocins like substances (BLIS) from saliva of participants with low, moderate, and high salivary counts. 123 strains of S. mutans were obtained from participants with low, moderate, and high salivary counts (age 18 and 20 years old) and their antibacterial capacity analyzed. By using PCR amplification, the expression levels of mutacins and BLIS genes were studied (expressed in arbitrary units/ml) in all three levels. S. mutans strains from participants with low salivary counts show high production of mutacins (63%). In contrast, participants with moderate and high salivary counts depict relatively low levels of mutacins (22 and 15%, respectively). Moreover, participants with low salivary counts showed high expression levels of genes encoding mutacins, a result that correlates with the strong antimicrobial activity of the group. Participants with moderate and high salivary counts however depict low expression levels of mutacin related genes, and little antimicrobial activity. No BLIS were detected in any of the groups studied. S. mutans isolated from the saliva of participants with low bacterial counts have significant antibacterial capacity compared to that of participants with moderate and high salivary counts. The superior lethality of S. mutans in participants with low salivary counts is likely due to the augmented expression of mutacin- related genes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Survey of Students Participating in a Computer-Assisted Education Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Yel, Elif Binboga; Korhan, Orhan

2015-01-01

This paper mainly examines anthropometric data, data regarding the habits, experiences, and attitudes of the students about their tablet/laptop/desktop computer use, in addition to self-reported musculoskeletal discomfort levels and frequencies of students participating in a tablet-assisted interactive education programme. A two-part questionnaire…

CDS User survey

CERN Multimedia

CERN Document Service

2011-01-01

  The CERN Document Server is launching a user survey in order to collect information relative to its search engine, submission interfaces, collaborative features and content organisation. With the view of re-shaping its collections and interfaces and to better integrate with the new INSPIRE platform that serves all HEP literature, CERN Document Server team invites you to take part in the survey. Your input is essential to provide us with useful information before setting up the new service and improve your interactions with CDS. Thanks for participating !  

Understanding the Impact of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training on Participants' Perceived Confidence Levels

Science.gov (United States)

Nordheim, Shawn M.

2013-01-01

This pre-experimental, participatory action research study investigated the impact of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training on participants' perceived confidence and willingness to initiate CPR. Parents of seventh and eighth grade students were surveyed. Parent participants were asked to watch the American Heart Association's Family and…

Barriers and Possible Facilitators to Participation in Farm to School Week

Science.gov (United States)

Landry, Alicia S.; Lingsch, Kelsey J.; Weiss, Caitlin; Connell, Carol L.; Yadrick, Kathleen

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate child nutrition directors' (CNDs) Farm to School (F2S) Week participation. This cross-sectional, census survey was completed by CNDs working in Mississippi public school districts participating in the National School Lunch Program. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographic data and the…

The relationship among expressions, labels, and descriptions of contempt.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsumoto, David; Ekman, Paul

2004-10-01

This article reports 4 studies that demonstrate that the contempt expression is reliably associated with situations that elicit contempt and that the inability to label the contempt expression reflects a problem with its label or concept and not with the relationship between its expression and emotion. In Study I, the labeling of contempt in fixed-choice judgment tasks did not occur because of a process of elimination. In Studies 2 and 3, the contempt expression was associated with situations that elicit contempt, but participants did not label the situations in an open-ended response. In Study 3, participants also more reliably labeled the contempt expression with situations rather than with labels and did not generate contempt situations from labels. In Study 4, participants reported using, hearing, and reading about contempt the least among 7 emotions tested. (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved

Financial disclosure and clinical research: what is important to participants?

Science.gov (United States)

Hutchinson, Anastasia; Rubinfeld, Abe R

2008-08-18

To assess what participants in company-sponsored clinical trials wish to know about financial aspects of the study. Cross-sectional questionnaire administered to 324 participants in six clinical trials conducted at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1999-2000 and 2006 for non-acute conditions (asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and influenza vaccine efficacy). Participants' desire for information on study funding, investigators' conflicts of interest, and use of accrued funds. 259 participants (80%) completed the survey. Participants wanted to be informed about the identity of the project sponsor (148 participants; 57%), whether the investigators owned shares in the company (105; 41%) or received travel grants (83; 32%), how much funding was accrued at study completion (88; 34%), how accrued funds were used (98; 38%), and who approved their use (91; 35%). After adjusting for year of survey and level of education, younger subjects (aged informed more often than older participants of who sponsored the project (odds ratio [OR], 2.35 [95% CI, 1.21-4.55]; P=0.012), whether the investigators owned shares in the company (OR, 2.41 [95% CI, 1.27-4.60]; P=0.007) and how much funding was available for other uses (OR, 1.79 [95% CI, 0.94-3.41]; P=0.078). While most participants indicated that they would take part in clinical research again regardless of whether they received financial information, providing information on the sponsor, the investigators' financial interest in the company, whether accrual of funds is expected, and how these funds will be spent should satisfy the interests of participants in company-sponsored clinical trials.

2007 Veterans Employability Research Survey

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — The 2007 Veterans Employability Research Survey (VERS) was conducted to determine the factors that impact veterans' employability resulting from participation in the...

An aerial radiological survey of Areas 16 and 30, Nevada Test Site: Date of survey: June 1983

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bluitt, C.M.

1986-10-01

An aerial radiological survey of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) was conducted for the US Department of Energy (DOE). The survey period was from 1 June to 16 June 1983, during which airborne measurements were obtained over Areas 16 and 30. The data were used to generate exposure rate, cobalt-60, and cesium-137 spatial distribution maps. The aerial survey results are expressed as exposure rate, cesium-137, and cobalt-60 isopleth contours, superimposed on NTS maps. 12 refs., 16 figs

Benchmarking participation of Canadian university health sciences librarians in systematic reviews

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Susan A.; Boden, Catherine

2015-01-01

This study describes the current state of Canadian university health sciences librarians' knowledge about, training needs for, and barriers to participating in systematic reviews (SRs). A convenience sample of Canadian librarians was surveyed. Over half of the librarians who had participated in SRs acknowledged participating in a traditional librarian role (e.g., search strategy developer); less than half indicated participating in any one nontraditional librarian role (e.g., data extractor). Lack of time and insufficient training were the most frequently reported barriers to participating in SRs. The findings provide a benchmark for tracking changes in Canadian university health sciences librarians' participation in SRs. PMID:25918485

Participation in Farm Markets in Rural Northwest Pakistan: A Regression Analysis

OpenAIRE

Inayatullah Jan

2012-01-01

Participation in farm markets is important for increasing income of farmers in the developing countries. A number of factors account for a household participation in agricultural marketing. This study attempts to explore such associated factors which playa significant role in farmers’ participation in farm markets in rural northwest Pakistan. Drawing on empirical data from the field survey; gur, vegetables, and milk were the main products offered for marketing in the area. The degree of speci...

Librarian participation in expanding the pool of potential medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Guerrieri, Rose

2012-01-01

This article reports on the results of an exploratory survey to determine if librarians actively participate in medical school student recruiting programs. It looks specifically at what librarians are doing to assist with recruitment and what biomedical career resources their libraries offer. The survey link was e-mailed to all U.S. medical school library directors, who were asked to forward it to the appropriate librarian. Out of 113 medical schools, 68 (60%) responded to most questions. Forty-three (86%) of 50 item respondents do participate in such activities, and 29 (67%) of 43 item respondents have been doing so for more than five years. Thirty-two (64%) of 50 item respondents provide resources on biomedical careers in the libraries. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

The Relationship between Wheelchair Mobility Patterns and Community Participation among Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Rory A.; Ferretti, Eliana; Oyster, Michelle; Kelleher, Annmarie; Cooper, Rosemarie

2011-01-01

Participation is considered the most meaningful outcome of rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there were correlations between wheelchair activity recorded with a data logger and community participation as measured by the Participation Survey/Mobility. Data from 16 participants were included in this study. Data…

Expressive Dissonance: When Emotional Inconsistency Arouses Dissonance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Audrey Pelt

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of the two studies was to explore a new dissonance paradigm–expressive dissonance–based on the inconsistency between what people feel and what people express behaviorally. Expressive dissonance was aroused by asking participants to watch a film with a high emotional content, either positive (joy or negative (sadness. In the no-dissonance condition, they received the instruction to naturally watch the film. In the expressive dissonance condition, they received the instruction to facially express emotions that were the opposite of what they felt. We expected that the expressive dissonance situation would: 1 require cognitive resources leading to a decrease in cognitive performance (studies 1 and 2; 2 be accompanied by emotional regulation strategies (study 1; 3 be accompanied by an increase in dissonance-related affects (study 2. Although our results (studies 1 and 2 corroborated those obtained previously in terms of performance, they also showed that participants in the expressive dissonance situation use emotional regulation strategies: exaggeration and suppression (study 1, and that they felt self-directed negative affects (study 2, just like the participants in a cognitive dissonance situation. These first results allowed us to establish a theoretical bridge between the theories of emotions–particularly those related to the emotional regulation processes–and to widen the scope of relevance of the dissonance theory.

Characteristics of 'tween' participants and non-participants in the VERB™ summer scorecard physical activity promotion program.

Science.gov (United States)

Nickelson, Jen; Alfonso, Moya L; McDermott, Robert J; Bumpus, Elizabeth C; Bryant, Carol A; Baldwin, Julie A

2011-04-01

Creating community-based opportunities for youth to be physically active is challenging for many municipalities. A Lexington, Kentucky community coalition designed and piloted a physical activity program, 'VERB™ summer scorecard (VSS)', leveraging the brand equity of the national VERB™--It's What You Do! campaign. Key elements of VSS subsequently were adopted in Sarasota County, FL. This study identified characteristics of Sarasota's VSS participants and non-participants. Students in Grades 5-8 from six randomly selected public schools completed a survey assessing VSS participation, physical activity level, psychosocial variables, parental support for physical activity and demographics. Logistic regression showed that VSS participants were more likely to be from Grades 5 to 6 versus Grades 7 and 8 [odds ratio (OR) = 6.055] and perceive high versus low parental support for physical activity (OR = 4.627). Moreover, for each unit rise in self-efficacy, the odds of VSS participation rose by 1.839. Chi-squared automatic interaction detector (CHAID) analysis suggested an interaction effect between grade and school socioeconomic status (SES), with a large proportion of seventh and eighth graders from high SES schools being non-participants (76.6%). A VSS-style program can be expected to be more effective with tweens who are younger, in a middle SES school, having high self-efficacy and high parental support for physical activity.

Investigation of Participation in Adult Education in Turkey: AES Data Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Dincer, N. Nergiz; Tekin-Koru, Ayca; Askar, Petek

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to identify the determinants of participation in adult education in Turkey. The analysis is conducted using the Adult Education Survey (AES), conducted by TurkStat. The results indicate that economic growth in the sector of employment significantly and positively affects the odds for adult education participation. The data…

Understanding the Relationship Between Incentive Design and Participation in U.S. Workplace Wellness Programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Batorsky, Benjamin; Taylor, Erin; Huang, Crystal; Liu, Hangsheng; Mattke, Soeren

2016-01-01

We aimed to understand how employer characteristics relate to the use of incentives to promote participation in wellness programs and to explore the relationship between incentive type and participation rates. A cross-sectional analysis of nationally representative survey data combined with an administrative business database was employed. Random sampling of U.S. companies within strata based on industry and number of employees was used to determine a final sample of 3000 companies. Of these, 19% returned completed surveys. The survey asked about employee participation rate, incentive type, and gender composition of employees. Incentive types included any incentives, high-value rewards, and rewards plus penalties. Logistic regressions of incentive type on employer characteristics were used to determine what types of employers are more likely to offer which type of incentives. A generalized linear model of participation rate was used to determine the relationship between incentive type and participation. Employers located in the Northeast were 5 to 10 times more likely to offer incentives. Employers with a large number of employees, particularly female employees, were up to 1.25 times more likely to use penalties. Penalty and high-value incentives were associated with participation rates of 68% and 52%, respectively. Industry or regional characteristics are likely determinants of incentive use for wellness programs. Penalties appear to be effective, but attention should be paid to what types of employees they affect.

The positives of negative emotions: willingness to express negative emotions promotes relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Steven M; Huang, Julie Y; Clark, Margaret S; Helgeson, Vicki S

2008-03-01

Four studies support the hypothesis that expressing negative emotion is associated with positive relationship outcomes, including elicitation of support, building of new close relationships, and heightening of intimacy in the closest of those relationships. In Study 1, participants read vignettes in which another person was experiencing a negative emotion. Participants reported they would provide more help when the person chose to express the negative emotion. In Study 2, participants watched a confederate preparing for a speech. Participants provided more help to her when she expressed nervousness. In Study 3, self-reports of willingness to express negative emotions predicted having more friends, controlling for demographic variables and extraversion. In Study 4, self-reports of willingness to express negative emotion measured prior to arrival at college predicted formation of more relationships, greater intimacy in the closest of those relationships, and greater received support from roommates across participants' first semester of college.

Public participation in nuclear waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schilling, A.H.; Nealey, S.M.

1979-04-01

The recent report of the Interagency Review Group (IRG) on Nuclear Waste Management formalized what has become increasingly clear in recent years: public participation in nuclear waste management decisions is a fact of life and will be more emphasized in the future than in the past. The purpose of this paper is to discuss, and stimulate discussion, of major issues which must be considered before attempting to design and implement a program to encourage public participation in this complex and sensitive area. Public participation is a term with many possible meanings. The term is used here to stand for a very wide range of activities including: providing information about programs and intended actions, seeking advice or permission from state or local officials, conducting public meetings to announce plans and receive reactions, conducting hearings, establishing consultative panels of outside experts or special interest group members, and even conducting surveys of public opinion and concern. This paper is not a proposal or a set of specific recommendations, but a stimulus to thought and discussion. It was prepared with DOE's role in waste management in mind, and benefits from the authors' opportunity to observe the public participation process in this topic area to data. The paper is organized into four sections that take account of (1) past participation efforts, (2) why public participation is necessary and what might be gained by it, (3) considerations in designing a participation program, and (4) major principles involved in conducting a public participation program, including a brief review of participation procedures

Political Participation and Power Relations in Egypt

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shehata, Mostafa

2017-01-01

The political use of media in Egypt post-2011 revolution brought about drastic transformations in political activism and power structures. In the context of communication power theory, this article investigates the effects of newspapers and social network sites on political participation...... and political power relations. The research employed a mixed methodology, comprised of a survey of 527 Egyptian youth and semi-structured interviews of 12 political activists and journalists. The results showed a significant relationship between reading newspapers and youth’s political participation......, but not between using social network sites and political participation. In addition, newspapers and social network sites were platforms for a series of conflicts and coalitions that emerged between pro- and anti-revolution actors. Despite the importance of social network sites as key tools for informing...

An Online Survey of New Zealand Vapers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Penelope Truman

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Using electronic cigarettes (vaping is controversial, but is increasingly widespread. This paper reports the results of an electronic survey of vapers in New Zealand, a country where the sale and supply of e-liquids containing nicotine is illegal, although vapers can legally access e-liquids from overseas. An on-line survey was conducted, using vaper and smoking cessation networks for recruitment, with follow up surveys conducted 1 and 2 months after the initial survey. 218 participants were recruited. Almost all had been smokers, but three quarters no longer smoked, with the remainder having significantly reduced their tobacco use. Three participants were non-smokers before starting to vape, but none had gone on to become smokers. The overriding motivation to begin and continue vaping was to stop or to reduce smoking. The results were consistent with a progression from initially both vaping and smoking using less effective electronic cigarette types, then moving to more powerful devices, experimentation with flavors and nicotine strengths—all resulting in reducing or stopping tobacco use. Lack of access to nicotine and lack of support for their chosen cessation method were the main problems reported. Vaping had resulted in effective smoking cessation for the majority of participants.

An Online Survey of New Zealand Vapers

Science.gov (United States)

Glover, Marewa; Fraser, Trish

2018-01-01

Using electronic cigarettes (vaping) is controversial, but is increasingly widespread. This paper reports the results of an electronic survey of vapers in New Zealand, a country where the sale and supply of e-liquids containing nicotine is illegal, although vapers can legally access e-liquids from overseas. An on-line survey was conducted, using vaper and smoking cessation networks for recruitment, with follow up surveys conducted 1 and 2 months after the initial survey. 218 participants were recruited. Almost all had been smokers, but three quarters no longer smoked, with the remainder having significantly reduced their tobacco use. Three participants were non-smokers before starting to vape, but none had gone on to become smokers. The overriding motivation to begin and continue vaping was to stop or to reduce smoking. The results were consistent with a progression from initially both vaping and smoking using less effective electronic cigarette types, then moving to more powerful devices, experimentation with flavors and nicotine strengths—all resulting in reducing or stopping tobacco use. Lack of access to nicotine and lack of support for their chosen cessation method were the main problems reported. Vaping had resulted in effective smoking cessation for the majority of participants. PMID:29382129

Survey of Canadian Myotonic Dystrophy Patients' Access to Computer Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Climans, Seth A; Piechowicz, Christine; Koopman, Wilma J; Venance, Shannon L

2017-09-01

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 is an autosomal dominant condition affecting distal hand strength, energy, and cognition. Increasingly, patients and families are seeking information online. An online neuromuscular patient portal under development can help patients access resources and interact with each other regardless of location. It is unknown how individuals living with myotonic dystrophy interact with technology and whether barriers to access exist. We aimed to characterize technology use among participants with myotonic dystrophy and to determine whether there is interest in a patient portal. Surveys were mailed to 156 participants with myotonic dystrophy type 1 registered with the Canadian Neuromuscular Disease Registry. Seventy-five participants (60% female) responded; almost half were younger than 46 years. Most (84%) used the internet; almost half of the responders (47%) used social media. The complexity and cost of technology were commonly cited reasons not to use technology. The majority of responders (76%) were interested in a myotonic dystrophy patient portal. Patients in a Canada-wide registry of myotonic dystrophy have access to and use technology such as computers and mobile phones. These patients expressed interest in a portal that would provide them with an opportunity to network with others with myotonic dystrophy and to access information about the disease.

Clinical decision-making: predictors of patient participation in nursing care.

Science.gov (United States)

Florin, Jan; Ehrenberg, Anna; Ehnfors, Margareta

2008-11-01

To investigate predictors of patients' preferences for participation in clinical decision-making in inpatient nursing care. Patient participation in decision-making in nursing care is regarded as a prerequisite for good clinical practice regarding the person's autonomy and integrity. A cross-sectional survey of 428 persons, newly discharged from inpatient care. The survey was conducted using the Control Preference Scale. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used for testing the association of patient characteristics with preferences for participation. Patients, in general, preferred adopting a passive role. However, predictors for adopting an active participatory role were the patient's gender (odds ratio = 1.8), education (odds ratio = 2.2), living condition (odds ratio = 1.8) and occupational status (odds ratio = 2.0). A probability of 53% was estimated, which female senior citizens with at least a high school degree and who lived alone would prefer an active role in clinical decision-making. At the same time, a working cohabiting male with less than a high school degree had a probability of 8% for active participation in clinical decision making in nursing care. Patient preferences for participation differed considerably and are best elicited by assessment of the individual patient. Relevance to clinical practice. The nurses have a professional responsibility to act in such a way that patients can participate and make decisions according to their own values from an informed position. Access to knowledge of patients'basic assumptions and preferences for participation is of great value for nurses in the care process. There is a need for nurses to use structured methods and tools for eliciting individual patient preferences regarding participation in clinical decision-making.

Serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphism affects detection of facial expressions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ai Koizumi

Full Text Available Previous studies have demonstrated that the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR affects the recognition of facial expressions and attention to them. However, the relationship between 5-HTTLPR and the perceptual detection of others' facial expressions, the process which takes place prior to emotional labeling (i.e., recognition, is not clear. To examine whether the perceptual detection of emotional facial expressions is influenced by the allelic variation (short/long of 5-HTTLPR, happy and sad facial expressions were presented at weak and mid intensities (25% and 50%. Ninety-eight participants, genotyped for 5-HTTLPR, judged whether emotion in images of faces was present. Participants with short alleles showed higher sensitivity (d' to happy than to sad expressions, while participants with long allele(s showed no such positivity advantage. This effect of 5-HTTLPR was found at different facial expression intensities among males and females. The results suggest that at the perceptual stage, a short allele enhances the processing of positive facial expressions rather than that of negative facial expressions.

Survey of public definitions of the term ?overdiagnosis? in the UK

OpenAIRE

Ghanouni, Alex; Meisel, Susanne F; Renzi, Cristina; Wardle, Jane; Waller, Jo

2016-01-01

Objectives To determine how ?overdiagnosis? is currently conceptualised among adults in the UK in light of previous research, which has found that the term is difficult for the public to understand and awareness is low. This study aimed to add to current debates on healthcare in which overdiagnosis is a prominent issue. Design An observational, web-based survey was administered by a survey company. Setting Participants completed the survey at a time and location of their choosing. Participant...

Interview and recollection-based research with child disaster survivors: Participation-related changes in emotion and perceptions of participation

Science.gov (United States)

Hambrick, Erin P.; O’Connor, Bridget M.; Vernberg, Eric M.

2015-01-01

Objective Research suggests that some types of trauma research can be conducted safely with children ages 10 and older. The aim of this project was to learn more about potential risks or benefits of conducting research with younger children or with child disaster survivors, specifically about research that includes children providing trauma recollections. Method Fifty 8- to 12-year-old children who experienced a devastating tornado participated in an in-person interview that included both individual and joint (mother-child) recollections of their tornado experiences one year following exposure. These 50 children also rated three emotions at three timepoints and rated their perceptions (e.g., benefit and regret) of research post-participation. Children (N = 28) also participated in phone surveys three months later to assess persistent participation-related emotions and perceptions. Results Child reported emotions worsened from pre- to during participation; however, reports of emotions returned to pre-participation levels post-participation and remained so at the 3-month follow-up. Sixty-four percent of children reported at least some participation benefit and no participation regret immediately post-participation, as did 89.3% at the 3-month follow-up. Four percent of children reported some participation regret (no benefit) post-participation, and 0% three months later. No children requested to stop participating, and none required post-research connection with crisis services. Posttraumatic stress symptom severity, tornado exposure, and age were largely unrelated to child-reported emotions and perceptions of research. Conclusions Results indicate that carefully planned and executed disaster-related research that includes children providing recollections research can be conducted with preadolescents with little risk and some benefit. PMID:26390107

Indonesian students' participation in an interprofessional learning workshop.

Science.gov (United States)

Ernawati, Desak Ketut; Lee, Ya Ping; Hughes, Jeffery

2015-01-01

Interprofessional learning activities, such as workshops allow students to learn from, with and about each other. This study assessed the impact on Indonesian health students' attitudes towards interprofessional education (IPE) from participating in a workshop on medication safety. The students attended a two-day IPE workshop on medication safety. Thirty-five (48.6%) students completed pre-/post-workshop surveys using a modified Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) survey. The post-workshop survey also had a series of open-ended questions. Students' responses to each RIPLS statement pre-/post-workshop were compared, whilst their responses to open-ended questions in post-workshop survey were thematically analysed. Students reported positive attitudinal changes on statements of shared learning and teamwork sub-scale (Wilcoxon p value importance of teamwork and communication skills. This study found that learning with other health students through an IPE workshop improved medical, nursing and pharmacy students' attitudes towards the importance of shared learning, teamwork and communication in healthcare service.

P2-35: The KU Facial Expression Database: A Validated Database of Emotional and Conversational Expressions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haenah Lee

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Facial expressions are one of the most important means of nonverbal communication transporting both emotional and conversational content. For investigating this large space of expressions we recently developed a large database containing dynamic emotional and conversational expressions in Germany (MPI facial expression database. As facial expressions crucially depend on the cultural context, however, a similar resource is needed for studies outside of Germany. Here, we introduce and validate a new, extensive Korean facial expression database containing dynamic emotional and conversational information. Ten individuals performed 62 expressions following a method-acting protocol, in which each person was asked to imagine themselves in one of 62 corresponding everyday scenarios and to react accordingly. To validate this database, we conducted two experiments: 20 participants were asked to name the appropriate expression for each of the 62 everyday scenarios shown as text. Ten additional participants were asked to name each of the 62 expression videos from 10 actors in addition to rating its naturalness. All naming answers were then rated as valid or invalid. Scenario validation yielded 89% valid answers showing that the scenarios are effective in eliciting appropriate expressions. Video sequences were judged as natural with an average of 66% valid answers. This is an excellent result considering that videos were seen without any conversational context and that 62 expressions were to be recognized. These results validate our Korean database and, as they also parallel the German validation results, will enable detailed cross-cultural comparisons of the complex space of emotional and conversational expressions.

Behavioural responses to facial and postural expressions of emotion: An interpersonal circumplex approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Aan Het Rot, Marije; Enea, Violeta; Dafinoiu, Ion; Iancu, Sorina; Taftă, Steluţa A; Bărbuşelu, Mariana

2017-11-01

While the recognition of emotional expressions has been extensively studied, the behavioural response to these expressions has not. In the interpersonal circumplex, behaviour is defined in terms of communion and agency. In this study, we examined behavioural responses to both facial and postural expressions of emotion. We presented 101 Romanian students with facial and postural stimuli involving individuals ('targets') expressing happiness, sadness, anger, or fear. Using an interpersonal grid, participants simultaneously indicated how communal (i.e., quarrelsome or agreeable) and agentic (i.e., dominant or submissive) they would be towards people displaying these expressions. Participants were agreeable-dominant towards targets showing happy facial expressions and primarily quarrelsome towards targets with angry or fearful facial expressions. Responses to targets showing sad facial expressions were neutral on both dimensions of interpersonal behaviour. Postural versus facial expressions of happiness and anger elicited similar behavioural responses. Participants responded in a quarrelsome-submissive way to fearful postural expressions and in an agreeable way to sad postural expressions. Behavioural responses to the various facial expressions were largely comparable to those previously observed in Dutch students. Observed differences may be explained from participants' cultural background. Responses to the postural expressions largely matched responses to the facial expressions. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Barriers to Maternal Workforce Participation and Relationship between Paid Work and Health

Science.gov (United States)

Bourke-Taylor, H.; Howie, L.; Law, M.

2011-01-01

Background: Families of children with disabilities experience extra financial strains, and mothers are frequently unable to participate in paid work because of caregiving obligations. Methods: A mailed survey and follow-up phone calls were used to gather data about mother's health, workforce participation and barriers to inclusion in the workplace…

Predicting Adolescent Self-Esteem from Participation in School Sports among Latino Subgroups.

Science.gov (United States)

Erkut, Sumru; Tracy, Allison J.

2002-01-01

Data from a national longitudinal survey of secondary school students showed that participation in a school sport was associated with self-esteem among Mexican American boys and girls, Puerto Rican girls, and Cuban American boys. School attachment and physical well-being mediated the relationship between sports participation and self-esteem.…

[Sex/Gender-sensitive Research - A Survey of Epidemiologists in Germany].

Science.gov (United States)

Gansefort, D; Jahn, I

2016-07-01

Epidemiology is the basic science of Public Health and has to provide high-quality scientific evidence for disease prevention and health care. Sex/Gender, as social and biological structure categories of population, play a central role in the analysis of epidemiological data. Whether and how epidemiologists incorporate sex/gender aspects in their research, their attitudes, needs and requirements they have in this context have hardly been investigated. These questions were addressed in a survey of epidemiologists in Germany. With the support of the respective scientific societies, an online survey was conducted of German epidemiologists, and the data subjected to descriptive analysis. Approximately 64% of the 276 participants (response rate 25%) were female and 75% worked in the academic field. 70% reported having had experience in sex/gender-sensitive research and 83% expressed future interest in this topic. Issues mentioned as important were interaction of gender aspects and other factors of social inequality as well as the inclusion of sex and gender in all phases of the research process. Women and younger participants reported more experience and more needs concerning sex/gender sensitive research. To facilitate further incorporation of sex/gender-sensitive research in epidemiology, special workshops/tutorials at the respective scientific societies' annual meetings and online information materials were rated as important. Due to the low response rate, a positive selection of participants cannot be ruled out. The results show that, while a large group of epidemiologists had experience and interest in gender-sensitive research, there are some with less interest. Possible starting points for the strengthening of sex/gender-sensitivity research include further training and involvement of scientific societies in the process. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Association between community garden participation and fruit and vegetable consumption in rural Missouri.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnidge, Ellen K; Hipp, Pamela R; Estlund, Amy; Duggan, Kathleen; Barnhart, Kathryn J; Brownson, Ross C

2013-11-19

Fruit and vegetable consumption reduces chronic disease risk, yet the majority of Americans consume fewer than recommended. Inadequate access to fruits and vegetables is increasingly recognized as a significant contributor to low consumption of healthy foods. Emerging evidence shows the effectiveness of community gardens in increasing access to, and consumption of, fruits and vegetables. Two complementary studies explored the association of community garden participation and fruit and vegetable consumption in rural communities in Missouri. The first was with a convenience sample of participants in a rural community garden intervention who completed self-administered surveys. The second was a population-based survey conducted with a random sample of 1,000 residents in the intervention catchment area. Participation in a community garden was associated with higher fruit and vegetable consumption. The first study found that individuals who worked in a community garden at least once a week were more likely to report eating fruits and vegetables because of their community garden work (X² (125) = 7.78, p = .0088). Population-based survey results show that 5% of rural residents reported participating in a community garden. Those who reported community garden participation were more likely to report eating fruits 2 or more times per day and vegetables 3 or more times per day than those who did not report community garden participation, even after adjusting for covariates (Odds Ratio [OR] = 2.76, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.35 to 5.65). These complementary studies provide evidence that community gardens are a promising strategy for promoting fruit and vegetable consumption in rural communities.

76 FR 79650 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Survey of Income and Program Participation...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-22

...' participation in government programs as well as prior labor force patterns of household members. These... were interviewed. We estimate that each household contains 2.1 people, age 15 years or older, yielding... of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) Wave 13 of the 2008 Panel AGENCY: U.S. Census Bureau...

ParticipACTION: Awareness of the participACTION campaign among Canadian adults - Examining the knowledge gap hypothesis and a hierarchy-of-effects model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faulkner Guy EJ

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background ParticipACTION was a pervasive communication campaign that promoted physical activity in the Canadian population for three decades. According to McGuire's hierarchy-of-effects model (HOEM, this campaign should influence physical activity through intermediate mediators such as beliefs and intention. Also, when such media campaigns occur, knowledge gaps often develop within the population about the messages being conveyed. The purposes of this study were to (a determine the current awareness of ParticipACTION campaigns among Canadians; (b confirm if awareness of the ParticipACTION initiative varied as a function of levels of education and household income; and, (c to examine whether awareness of ParticipACTION was associated with physical activity related beliefs, intentions, and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA as suggested by the HOEM. Specifically, we tested a model including awareness of ParticipACTION (unprompted, prompted, outcome expectations, self-efficacy, intention, and physical activity status. Methods A population-based survey was conducted on 4,650 Canadians over a period of 6 months from August, 2007 to February, 2008 (response rate = 49%. The survey consisted of a set of additional questions on the 2007 Physical Activity Monitor (PAM. Our module on the PAM included questions related to awareness and knowledge of ParticipACTION. Weighted logistic models were constructed to test the knowledge gap hypotheses and to examine whether awareness was associated with physical activity related beliefs (i.e., outcome expectations, self-efficacy, intention, and LTPA. All analyses included those respondents who were 20 years of age and older in 2007/2008 (N = 4424. Results Approximately 8% of Canadians were still aware of ParticipACTION unprompted and 82% were aware when prompted. Both education and income were significant correlates of awareness among Canadians. The odds of people being aware of ParticipACTION were

ParticipACTION: awareness of the participACTION campaign among Canadian adults--examining the knowledge gap hypothesis and a hierarchy-of-effects model.

Science.gov (United States)

Spence, John C; Brawley, Lawrence R; Craig, Cora Lynn; Plotnikoff, Ronald C; Tremblay, Mark S; Bauman, Adrian; Faulkner, Guy Ej; Chad, Karen; Clark, Marianne I

2009-12-09

ParticipACTION was a pervasive communication campaign that promoted physical activity in the Canadian population for three decades. According to McGuire's hierarchy-of-effects model (HOEM), this campaign should influence physical activity through intermediate mediators such as beliefs and intention. Also, when such media campaigns occur, knowledge gaps often develop within the population about the messages being conveyed. The purposes of this study were to (a) determine the current awareness of ParticipACTION campaigns among Canadians; (b) confirm if awareness of the ParticipACTION initiative varied as a function of levels of education and household income; and, (c) to examine whether awareness of ParticipACTION was associated with physical activity related beliefs, intentions, and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) as suggested by the HOEM. Specifically, we tested a model including awareness of ParticipACTION (unprompted, prompted), outcome expectations, self-efficacy, intention, and physical activity status. A population-based survey was conducted on 4,650 Canadians over a period of 6 months from August, 2007 to February, 2008 (response rate = 49%). The survey consisted of a set of additional questions on the 2007 Physical Activity Monitor (PAM). Our module on the PAM included questions related to awareness and knowledge of ParticipACTION. Weighted logistic models were constructed to test the knowledge gap hypotheses and to examine whether awareness was associated with physical activity related beliefs (i.e., outcome expectations, self-efficacy), intention, and LTPA. All analyses included those respondents who were 20 years of age and older in 2007/2008 (N = 4424). Approximately 8% of Canadians were still aware of ParticipACTION unprompted and 82% were aware when prompted. Both education and income were significant correlates of awareness among Canadians. The odds of people being aware of ParticipACTION were greater if they were more educated and reported

Orphan nuclear receptor Nur77 participates in human apolipoprotein A5 gene expression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Kwang-Hoon

2010-01-01

The orphan nuclear receptor Nur77 (NR4A1) has been reported to play a crucial role in the modulation of diverse metabolic processes in liver. Here, we reported the identification of human apolipoprotein A5 (ApoA5), which implicated in lowering plasma triglyceride levels, as a novel target gene of Nur77. Nur77 induced the human ApoA5 promoter activity. Using 5'-deletion and mutagenesis of human ApoA5 promoter analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, it was shown that Nur77 directly regulated human ApoA5 gene expression by binding to a Nur77 response element (AAAGGTCA) located in the proximal human ApoA5 promoter region. In addition, we demonstrated that blocking of Nur77 transcriptional activity via overexpression of dominant negative Nur77 suppressed human ApoA5 promoter activity and mRNA expression in human hepatoma cells, HepG2. Taken together, our results demonstrated that Nur77 is a novel regulator of human ApoA5 gene expression and provide a new insight into the role of this orphan nuclear receptor in lipoprotein metabolism and triglyceride homeostasis.

Orphan nuclear receptor Nur77 participates in human apolipoprotein A5 gene expression

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Kwang-Hoon, E-mail: ksong@kiom.re.kr [Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon 305-811 (Korea, Republic of)

2010-01-29

The orphan nuclear receptor Nur77 (NR4A1) has been reported to play a crucial role in the modulation of diverse metabolic processes in liver. Here, we reported the identification of human apolipoprotein A5 (ApoA5), which implicated in lowering plasma triglyceride levels, as a novel target gene of Nur77. Nur77 induced the human ApoA5 promoter activity. Using 5'-deletion and mutagenesis of human ApoA5 promoter analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, it was shown that Nur77 directly regulated human ApoA5 gene expression by binding to a Nur77 response element (AAAGGTCA) located in the proximal human ApoA5 promoter region. In addition, we demonstrated that blocking of Nur77 transcriptional activity via overexpression of dominant negative Nur77 suppressed human ApoA5 promoter activity and mRNA expression in human hepatoma cells, HepG2. Taken together, our results demonstrated that Nur77 is a novel regulator of human ApoA5 gene expression and provide a new insight into the role of this orphan nuclear receptor in lipoprotein metabolism and triglyceride homeostasis.

Study Abroad Survey Instruments: A Comparison of Survey Types and Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Durrant, Marie Bradshaw; Dorius, Cassandra Rasmussen

2007-01-01

This study examines different survey instruments used to assess the experiences of U.S. study abroad participants. The intended audience is international and area study practitioners interested in assessing study abroad programs through postprogram interviews. An interview with the top 20 universities for number of students sent on study abroad…

How Do The EV Project Participants Feel About Their EVS?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Francfort, James E. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2015-02-01

The EV Project is an infrastructure study that enrolled over 8,000 residential participants. These participants purchased or leased a Nissan Leaf battery electric vehicle (BEV) or Chevrolet Volt extended range electric vehicle (EREV) and were among the first to explore this new electric drive technology. Collectively, BEV, EREV, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are called plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). The EV Project participants were very cooperative and enthusiastic about their participation in the project and very supportive in providing feedback and information. The information and attitudes of these participants concerning their experience with their PEVs were solicited using a survey in June 2013. At that time, some had up to 3 years of experience with their PEVs.

Sport participation in colorectal cancer survivors: an unexplored approach to promoting physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

McGowan, Erin L; Speed-Andrews, Amy E; Rhodes, Ryan E; Blanchard, Chris M; Culos-Reed, S Nicole; Friedenreich, Christine M; Courneya, Kerry S

2013-01-01

Physical activity improves health outcomes in colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors, but participation rates are low. One understudied strategy for increasing physical activity in CRC survivors may be sport participation. Here, we report the sport participation rate, sport preferences, and correlates of sport participation among CRC survivors. A provincial, population-based mailed survey of CRC survivors in Alberta, Canada was performed and included measures of sport participation, sport preferences, sport benefits and barriers, and medical and demographic variables. A total of 600 CRC survivors completed the survey (34 % response rate). Almost a quarter (23.0 %) of CRC survivors reported participating in a sport in the past month, with the most common sport being golf (58.7 %). In multivariate regression analysis, 33.0 % (p = 0.001) of the variance in sport participation was explained by being male (β = 0.12; p = 0.006), in better general health (β = 0.12; p = 0.006), and ≥ 5 years post-diagnosis (β = 0.09; p = 0.031). The most common barriers to sport participation were time, age/agility, and no interest/dislike of sports. The most common anticipated benefits of sport participation were improved physical fitness, meeting people, and improved health. Over half (57.2 %) of CRC survivors were possibly interested in learning about sport participation opportunities. Promotion of sport participation may be a potentially fruitful strategy for increasing physical activity in CRC survivors.

Participation in leisure activities during brain injury rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleming, Jennifer; Braithwaite, Helen; Gustafsson, Louise; Griffin, Janelle; Collier, Ann Maree; Fletcher, Stephanie

2011-01-01

To describe and compare pre- and post-injury leisure activities of individuals receiving brain injury rehabilitation and explore levels of leisure participation and satisfaction. Cross-sectional descriptive study incorporating a survey of current and past leisure activities. Questionnaires were completed by 40 individuals with an acquired brain injury receiving inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation. Shortened Version of the Nottingham Leisure Questionnaire and Changes in Leisure Questionnaire (developed for this study). Leisure participation declined following injury, particularly in social leisure activities. Pre-injury activities with high rates of discontinued or decreased participation were driving, going to pubs and parties, do-it-yourself activities and attending sports events. Inpatient participants generally attributed decreased participation to the hospital environment, whereas outpatient participants reported this predominantly as a result of disability. Post-injury levels of perceived leisure satisfaction were significantly lower for the inpatient group compared to pre-injury, but not for the outpatient group. Uptake of some new leisure activities was reported post-injury, however not at the rate to which participation declined. Leisure participation decreases during brain injury rehabilitation compared to pre-injury levels. Re-engagement in relevant, age-appropriate leisure activities needs to be addressed during rehabilitation to improve participation in this domain.

Is this happiness I see? Biases in the identification of emotional facial expressions in depression and social phobia.

Science.gov (United States)

Joormann, Jutta; Gotlib, Ian H

2006-11-01

The present study was designed to examine the operation of depression-specific biases in the identification or labeling of facial expression of emotions. Participants diagnosed with major depression and social phobia and control participants were presented with faces that expressed increasing degrees of emotional intensity, slowly changing from a neutral to a full-intensity happy, sad, or angry expression. The authors assessed individual differences in the intensity of facial expression of emotion that was required for the participants to accurately identify the emotion being expressed. The depressed participants required significantly greater intensity of emotion than did the social phobic and the control participants to correctly identify happy expressions and less intensity to identify sad than angry expressions. In contrast, social phobic participants needed less intensity to correctly identify the angry expressions than did the depressed and control participants and less intensity to identify angry than sad expressions. Implications of these results for interpersonal functioning in depression and social phobia are discussed. (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved.

Japanese study on stratification, health, income, and neighborhood: study protocol and profiles of participants.

Science.gov (United States)

Takada, Misato; Kondo, Naoki; Hashimoto, Hideki

2014-01-01

The Japanese Study on Stratification, Health, Income, and Neighborhood (J-SHINE) aims to clarify the complex associations between social factors and health from an interdisciplinary perspective and to provide a database for use in various health policy evaluations. J-SHINE is an ongoing longitudinal panel study of households of adults aged 25-50 years. The wave 1 survey was carried out in 2010 among adults randomly selected from the resident registry of four urban and suburban municipalities in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan. In 2011, surveys for the participants' spouse/partner and child were additionally conducted. The wave 2 survey was conducted in 2012 for the wave 1 participants and will be followed by the wave 2 survey for spouse/partner and child in 2013. Wave 1 sample sizes were 4357 for wave 1 participants (valid response rate: 31.3%; cooperation rate: 51.8%), 1873 for spouse/partner (response rate: 61.9%), and 1520 for child (response rate: 67.7%). Wave 2 captured 69.0% of wave 1 participants. Information gathered covered socio-demographics, household economy, self-reported health conditions and healthcare utilization, stress and psychological values, and developmental history. A subpopulation underwent physiological (n = 2468) and biomarker (n = 1205) measurements. Longitudinal survey data, including repeated measures of social factors evaluated based on theories and techniques of various disciplines, like J-SHINE, should contribute toward opening a web of causality for society and health, which may have important policy implications for recent global health promotion strategies such as the World Health Organization's Social Determinants of Health approach and the second round of Japan's Healthy Japan 21.

The influence of public participation on the attitude of local inhabitants towards wind energy developments in Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erp, F.C.W. van; Wiedemann, P.M.; Midden, C.J.H.; Westra, C.A.

1996-01-01

This paper presents results of a study concerning the siting processes of wind energy developments in Germany. By means of two case studies and a mail questionnaire survey among developers of completed wind energy projects, measures to encourage public participation and reactions of the local public towards concrete projects are examined. One case study demonstrated a development in which the public cooperated to realise a joint wind project. The other study concerns a development that faced public protests. The survey found that both public participation and public protests occur quite rarely in the siting of Wind Energy Converter (WEC) developments. The relation between participation and protests, hypothesized on the basis of the case studies, is not confirmed in the survey. (author)

Upper Limb Absence : Predictors of Work Participation and Work Productivity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Postema, Sietke G; Bongers, Raoul M; Brouwers, Michael A; Burger, Helena; Norling-Hermansson, Liselotte M; Reneman, Michiel F; Dijkstra, Pieter U; van der Sluis, Corry K

OBJECTIVES: To analyze work participation, work productivity, contributing factors, and physical work demands of individuals with upper limb absence (ULA). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study: postal survey (response rate, 45%). SETTING: Twelve rehabilitation centers and orthopedic workshops.

Music Ensemble Participation: Personality Traits and Music Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Torrance, Tracy A.; Bugos, Jennifer A.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to examine the relationship between personality type and ensemble choice and (2) to examine the differences in personality across age and music experience in young adults. Participants (N = 137; 68 instrumentalists, 69 vocalists) completed a demographic survey and the Big Five Personality Inventory.…

The correlates of sports participation in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Downward, Paul; Lera-López, Fernando; Rasciute, Simona

2014-01-01

Based on the Eurobarometer data from 2009 (N = 26,788), this paper investigates the correlates of sports participation. In addition to examining standard socio-demographic, economic and lifestyle factors, the paper also focuses on the impact of motivational factors, the availability of sports infrastructure and government support, for the first time collectively at the European level. A further contribution of the paper is that it simultaneously investigates both the decision to participate in sport and the frequency of sports participation in this context. This is made possible through the application of a Zero-Inflated Ordered Probit estimator. This estimator also takes into account two types of non-participants: those who have never participated in sport and those who did not participate at the time of the survey. The results show that the decision to participate in sports and the frequency of sports participation of males and females are affected by different factors, therefore distinct government policies should be applied to attract new, and retain the existing, participants. For example, women are affected more by a need to improve self-esteem, while the men to produce social integration. The provision of sports facilities is of more importance for males, which may indicate a male-oriented nature of the sports facilities, for example, the gym. However, the number of adults and the number of children in the household reduce the probability of sports participation by females. Therefore, higher provision of childcare may be important if female participation is to be increased.

Motivational Factors for Evaluating Sport Spectator and Participant Markets.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Mark A.; Milne, George R.; Hong, JinBae

2002-01-01

Suggests a motivations framework to organize constructs for evaluating sport consumption. Researchers developed scales to measure motivations for spectating and participant markets, then surveyed 1,611 sports enthusiasts nationwide, profiling sports using motivational constructs. The proposed constructs are shown to have implications for marketing…

Health, utilisation of health services, 'core' information, and reasons for non-participation: a triangulation study amongst non-respondents.

Science.gov (United States)

Näslindh-Ylispangar, Anita; Sihvonen, Marja; Kekki, Pertti

2008-11-01

To explore health, use of health services, 'core' information and reasons for non-participation amongst males. Gender may provide an explanation for non-participation in the healthcare system. A growing body of research suggests that males are less likely than females to seek help from health professionals for their problems. The current research had its beginnings with the low response rate in a prior voluntary survey and health examination for Finnish males born in 1961. Data triangulation among 28 non-respondent middle-aged males in Helsinki was used. The methods involved structured and in-depth interviews and health measurements to explore the views of these males concerning their health-related behaviours and use of health services. Non-respondent males seldom used healthcare services. Despite clinical risk factors (e.g. obesity and blood pressure) and various symptoms, males perceived their health status as good. Work was widely experienced as excessively demanding, causing insomnia and other stress symptoms. Males expressed sensitive messages when a session was ending and when the participant was close to the door and leaving the room. This 'core' information included major causes of concern, anxiety, fears and loneliness. This triangulation study showed that by using an in-depth interview as one research strategy, more sensitive 'feminist' expressions in health and ill-health were got by men. The results emphasise a male's self-perception of his masculinity that may have relevance to the health experience of the male population. Nurses and physicians need to pay special attention to the requirements of gender-specific healthcare to be most effective in the delivery of healthcare to males.

Duty and dilemma: Perioperative nurses hiding an objection to participate in organ procurement surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Zaneta

2017-07-01

Perioperative nurses assist in organ procurement surgery; however, there is a dearth of information of how they encounter making conscientious objection requests or refusals to participate in organ procurement surgery. Organ procurement surgical procedures can present to the operating room ad hoc and can catch a nurse who may not desire to participate by surprise with little opportunity to refuse as a result of staffing, skill mix or organizational work demands. This paper that stems from a larger doctoral research study exploring the experiences of perioperative nurses participating in multi-organ procurement surgery used a grounded theory method to develop a substantive theory of the nurses' experiences. This current paper aimed to highlight the experiences of perioperative nurses when confronted with expressing a conscientious objection towards their participation in these procedures. A number of organizational and cultural barriers within the healthcare organization were seen to hamper their ability in expressing a conscience-based refusal, which lead to their reluctant participation. Perioperative nurses must feel safe to express a conscientious objection towards these types of surgical procedures and feel supported in doing so by their respective hospital organizations and not be forced to participate unwillingly. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Barriers to participation in vocational orientation programmes among prisoners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorien Brosens

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the barriers to prisoners’ participation in vocational education, as well as the predictors of different types of barriers. Survey data derived from a project in a remand prison in Belgium (N=468 provided the empirical evidence for the analyses. The results indicate that facing situational and informational barriers are most common. Based on the different kinds of barriers, various types of non-participants can be distinguished and multinomial logistic regression analyses are conducted to identify in what way participants of vocational education differ from various types of non-participants. For instance, prisoners with a poor understanding of the Dutch language and those who never/rarely receive visitors participate less in vocational education as they are more likely to be confronted with informational barriers. We conclude this article by discussing paths for future research and implications for policy and practice to anticipate the barriers for those who want to participate in vocational education.

Does the sequence of data collection influence participants' responses to closed and open-ended questions? A methodological study.

Science.gov (United States)

Covell, Christine L; Sidani, Souraya; Ritchie, Judith A

2012-06-01

The sequence used for collecting quantitative and qualitative data in concurrent mixed-methods research may influence participants' responses. Empirical evidence is needed to determine if the order of data collection in concurrent mixed methods research biases participants' responses to closed and open-ended questions. To examine the influence of the quantitative-qualitative sequence on responses to closed and open-ended questions when assessing the same variables or aspects of a phenomenon simultaneously within the same study phase. A descriptive cross-sectional, concurrent mixed-methods design was used to collect quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) data. The setting was a large multi-site health care centre in Canada. A convenience sample of 50 registered nurses was selected and participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two sequences for data collection, quantitative-qualitative or qualitative-quantitative. Independent t-tests were performed to compare the two groups' responses to the survey items. Directed content analysis was used to compare the participants' responses to the interview questions. The sequence of data collection did not greatly affect the participants' responses to the closed-ended questions (survey items) or the open-ended questions (interview questions). The sequencing of data collection, when using both survey and semi-structured interviews, may not bias participants' responses to closed or open-ended questions. Additional research is required to confirm these findings. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Maximising nurses' and midwives' response rates to surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Alannah Louise; Brown, Janie

2017-12-18

Low response rates to surveys have been a long-standing issue in research. This includes research involving nurses and midwives. To gain representative samples, appropriate measures to maximise response rates need to be used. To explore ways to maximise response rates from nurses and midwives, using a hospital-wide survey as an example. All nurses and midwives at the study hospital were invited to participate in a survey. To encourage participation and elicit an adequate response rate, several strategies were used. A total of 1,000 surveys were distributed and 319 (32%) were returned. All the required age groups, levels of experience and types of nursing registration were represented in the responses and data saturation was achieved. It is important to pay attention to obtaining a representative sample. Further investigation of response rates to surveys by nurses and midwives is warranted. Strategies to maximise response rates from a target population should be used when conducting surveys. ©2017 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers.

Undervaluing Gratitude: Expressers Misunderstand the Consequences of Showing Appreciation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Amit; Epley, Nicholas

2018-06-01

Expressing gratitude improves well-being for both expressers and recipients, but we suggest that an egocentric bias may lead expressers to systematically undervalue its positive impact on recipients in a way that could keep people from expressing gratitude more often in everyday life. Participants in three experiments wrote gratitude letters and then predicted how surprised, happy, and awkward recipients would feel. Recipients then reported how receiving an expression of gratitude actually made them feel. Expressers significantly underestimated how surprised recipients would be about why expressers were grateful, overestimated how awkward recipients would feel, and underestimated how positive recipients would feel. Expected awkwardness and mood were both correlated with participants' willingness to express gratitude. Wise decisions are guided by an accurate assessment of the expected value of action. Underestimating the value of prosocial actions, such as expressing gratitude, may keep people from engaging in behavior that would maximize their own-and others'-well-being.

'Radiation Fair' for 15 years in Osaka, Japan, and survey of the participants attitude toward radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Furuta, Masakazu; Asano, Takeyoshi; Hayashi, Toshio; Hosokawa, Yasushi [Research Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, Osaka Prefecture Univ., Sakai, Osaka (Japan); Kakefu, Tomohisa; Nishihara, Hideaki

1999-09-01

We have been successfully operating 'Radiation Fair--The relationship between daily life and radiation--' during summer vacation season in August every year for 15 years in Osaka, the largest city of western Japan. The purpose of this event is radiation education of public including school kids through efficient information transfer of radiation and radiation-related technology. Currently we set up the space of it on a floor of Kintetsu Department Store, one of the major department stores in downtown Osaka and display various irradiated products available in our daily life together with explanatory panels. We have been devising various attractions as efficient information transfer media so that even elementary-school kids understand the basic knowledge of radiation and irradiation technologies. The number of participants has increased year by year until more than 20,000 in recent years. We distributed questionnaires to the visitors for recent 3 years to inquire their status toward radiation and irradiated products as well as impression toward the displays. The survey results suggest that school education may contribute to establish the public image toward 'radiation' as well as mass media. (author)

Designing Emotionally Expressive Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tsiourti, Christiana; Weiss, Astrid; Wac, Katarzyna

2017-01-01

Socially assistive agents, be it virtual avatars or robots, need to engage in social interactions with humans and express their internal emotional states, goals, and desires. In this work, we conducted a comparative study to investigate how humans perceive emotional cues expressed by humanoid...... robots through five communication modalities (face, head, body, voice, locomotion) and examined whether the degree of a robot's human-like embodiment affects this perception. In an online survey, we asked people to identify emotions communicated by Pepper -a highly human-like robot and Hobbit – a robot...... for robots....

Does the Role Checklist Measure Occupational Participation?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tore Bonsaksen

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Among the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO assessments, the Role Checklist is one of the most established. In spite of its widespread use, no studies have examined role examples and their association with the three embedded levels of doing, as established in the MOHO theory. Method: A cross-sectional survey of 293 respondents from the US, the UK, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, and Norway produced 7,182 role examples. The respondents completed Part I of the Role Checklist and provided examples of each internalized role they performed. Responses were classified as occupational skill, occupational performance, or occupational participation. Results: Thirty-three percent of the examples were classified as examples of occupational participation, whereas 65% were classified as examples of occupational performance. Four roles linked mostly with occupational participation, another four roles linked mostly with occupational performance, and the two remaining roles were mixed between occupational participation and occupational performance. Discussion: The Role Checklist assesses a person’s involvement in internalized roles at the level of both occupational participation and occupational performance. There are differences among countries with regard to how roles are perceived and exemplified, and different roles relate differently to the occupational performance and occupational participation levels of doing. There are related implications for occupational therapists.

Attitudinal and motivational antecedents of participation in voluntary employee development activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Hurtz, Gregory M; Williams, Kevin J

2009-05-01

This study investigated factors influencing ongoing participation in employee development activities. A multiple-indicator structural equation model building on the theory of planned behavior and prior employee development literature was tested with a survey across 4 organizations on 2 occasions. The model uses reactions to past participation and past supportiveness of the social and organizational environment as indirect antecedents of participation, filtered through their impact on attitudes and behavioral intentions toward future participation. Learning goal orientation also influenced attitudes toward participation. Whereas personal control over participation and higher levels of voluntariness were negatively related to participation, intentions to participate and availability of opportunities arose as strong predictors of higher participation rates. Many significant hypothesized paths were found, and 85% of the variance in participation was explained by the model variables. Increasing employee awareness of opportunities and managing positive attitudes toward those opportunities are recommended as key factors for increasing participation rates. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

TRIPTYCHON, not CAPRICE, participates in feedback regulation of SCM expression in the Arabidopsis root epidermis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwak, Su-Hwan; Schiefelbein, John

2014-01-01

The Arabidopsis root epidermal cells decide their fates (root-hair cell and non-hair cell) according to their position. SCRAMBLED (SCM), an atypical leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase (LRR RLK) mediates the positional information to the epidermal cells enabling them to adopt the proper fate. Via feedback regulation, the SCM protein accumulates preferentially in cells adopting the root-hair cell fate. In this study, we determine that TRY, but not the related factor CPC, is responsible for this preferential SCM accumulation. We observed severe reduction of SCM::GUS expression in the try-82 mutant root, but not in the cpc-1 mutant. Furthermore, the overexpression of TRY by CaMV35S promoter caused an increase in the expression of SCM::GUS in the root epidermis. Intriguingly, the overexpression of CPC by CaMV35S promoter repressed the expression of SCM::GUS. Together, these results suggest that TRY plays a unique role in generating the appropriate spatial expression of SCM.

Does health differ between participants and non-participants in the MRI-HUNT study, a population based neuroimaging study? The Nord-Trøndelag health studies 1984–2009

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Honningsvåg, Lasse-Marius; Linde, Mattias; Håberg, Asta; Stovner, Lars Jacob; Hagen, Knut

2012-01-01

Bias with regard to participation in epidemiological studies can have a large impact on the generalizability of results. Our aim was to investigate the direction and magnitude of potential bias by comparing health-related factors among participants and non-participants in a MRI-study based on HUNT, a large Norwegian health survey. Of 14,033 individuals aged 50–65, who had participated in all three large public health surveys within the Norwegian county of Nord-Trøndelag (HUNT 1, 2 and 3), 1,560 who lived within 45 minutes of travel from the city of Levanger were invited to a MRI study (MRI-HUNT). The sample of participants in MRI-HUNT (n = 1,006) were compared with those who were invited but did not participate (n = 554) and with those who were eligible but not invited (n = 12,473), using univariate analyses and logistic regression analyses adjusting for age and education level. Self-reported health did not differ between the three groups, but participants had a higher education level and were somewhat younger than the two other groups. In the adjusted multivariate analyses, obesity was consistently less prevalent among participants. Significant differences in blood pressure and cholesterol were also found. This is the first large population-based study comparing participants and non-participants in an MRI study with regard to general health. The groups were not widely different, but participants had a higher level of education, and were less likely to be obese and have hypertension, and were slightly younger than non-participants. The observed differences between participants and non-invited individuals are probably partly explained by the inclusion criterion that participants had to live within 45 minutes of transport to where the MRI examination took place. One will expect that the participants have somewhat less brain morphological changes related to cardiovascular risk factors than the general population. Such consequences underline the crucial importance

P2-31: In-Group Advantage in Negative Facial Expressions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li-Chuan Hsu

2012-10-01

Full Text Available To perceive facial expressions is suggested to be universal. However, studies have shown the in-group advantage (IGA in recognition of facial expressions (e.g., Matsumoto, 1989, 1992 which is that people understand emotions more accurately when these emotions are expressed by members of their own culture group. A balanced design was used to investigate whether this IGA was showed in Western people and as well as in Asian people (Taiwanese. An emotional identification task was adopted to ask participants to identify positive (happy and negative (sadness, fear, and anger faces among Eastern and Western faces. We used Eastern faces from the Taiwanese Facial Expression Image Database (Chen, 2007 and Western faces from Ekman & Frisen (1979. Both reaction times and accuracies of performance were measured. Results showed that even all participants can identify positive and negative faces accurately; Asia participants responded significantly faster to negative Eastern faces than to negative Western faces. The similar IGA effect was also shown in Western participants. However, no such culture difference was found to positive faces. The results revealed the in-group advantage of the perception of facial expressions was specific to negative emotions and question the universality of perceiving facial expressions.

Survey on workforce retention and attrition

Science.gov (United States)

Showstack, Randy

2013-03-01

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is conducting a survey to gather information on why technical professionals change jobs or quit working. The survey, prompted by concern about the retention of skilled workers, aims to provide information to employers that can assist them in addressing practices that can lead to significant workforce attrition. To participate in the survey, which is open to everyone (including those who are not SPE members), go to http://research.spe.org/se.ashx?s=705E3F1335720258 through 15 May 2013. For more information, contact speresearch@spe.org.

Risk Perception of Pregnancy Promotes Disapproval of Gestational Surrogacy: Analysis of a Nationally Representative Opinion Survey in Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Kohta; Sawa, Rintaro; Muto, Kaori; Kusuda, Satoshi; Banno, Kouji; Yamagata, Zentaro

2011-01-01

Background To clarify the relationship between the general attitude towards gestational surrogacy and risk perception about pregnancy and infertility treatment. Materials and Methods This study analysed the data of nationally representative cross-sectional surveys from 2007 concerning assisted reproductive technologies. The participants represented the general Japanese population. We used this data to carry out multivariate analysis. The main outcome measures were adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals from logistic regression models for factors including the effect of pregnancy risk perception on the attitude toward gestational surrogacy. Results In this survey, 3412 participants responded (response rate of 68.2%). With regard to the attitude towards gestational surrogacy, 54.0% of the respondents approved of it, and 29.7% stated that they were undecided. The perception of a high level of risk concerning ectopic pregnancy, threatened miscarriage or premature birth, and pregnancy-induced hypertension influenced the participants’ attitudes towards gestational surrogacy. Moreover, this perception of risk also contributed to a disapproval of the technique. Conclusion Our findings suggest that a person who understands the risks associated with pregnancy might clearly express their disapproval of gestational surrogacy. PMID:24963363

Prevalence and correlates of participation in fall prevention exercise/physical activity by older adults

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Merom, D.; Pye, V.; Macniven, R.; van der Ploeg, H.; Milat, A.; Sherrington, C.; Lord, S.; Bauman, A.

2012-01-01

Objective: To examine older people's participation in fall prevention exercise/physical activities. Methods: Participants comprised 5,681 randomly selected older people (≥ 65. years) who took part in the 2009 New South Wales (Australia) Fall Prevention telephone survey (61% response-rate). The

The AAVSO 2011 Demographic and Background Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Price, A.

2012-04-01

In 2011, the AAVSO conducted a survey of 615 people who are or were recently active in the organization. The survey included questions about their demographic background and variable star interests. Data are descriptively analyzed and compared with prior surveys. Results show an organization of very highly educated, largely male amateur and professional astronomers distributed across 108 countries. Participants tend to be loyal, with the average time of involvement in the AAVSO reported as 14 years. Most major demographic factors have not changed much over time. However, the average age of new members is increasing. Also, a significant portion of the respondents report being strictly active in a non-observing capacity, reflecting the growing mission of the organization. Motivations of participants are more aligned with scientific contribution than with that reported by other citizen science projects. This may help explain why a third of all respondents are an author or co-author of a paper in an astronomical journal. Finally, there is some evidence that participation in the AAVSO has a greater impact on the respondents' view of their role in astronomy compared to that expected through increasing amateur astronomy experience alone.

Regional anesthesia practice in China: a survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jeffrey; Gao, Huan

2016-11-01

Neuraxial anesthesia has been widely used in China. Recently, Chinese anesthesiologists have applied nerve stimulator and ultrasound guidance for peripheral nerve blocks. Nationwide surveys about regional anesthesia practices in China are lacking. We surveyed Chinese anesthesiologists about regional anesthesia techniques, preference, drug selections, complications, and treatments. A survey was sent to all anesthesiologist members by WeChat. The respondents can choose mobile device or desktop to complete the survey. Each IP address is allowed to complete the survey once. A total of 6589 members read invitations. A total of 2654 responses were received with fully completed questionnaires, which represented an overall response rate of 40%. Forty-one percent of the respondents reported that more than 50% of surgeries in their hospitals were done under regional anesthesia. Most of the participants used test dose after epidural catheter insertion. The most common drug for test dose was 3-mL 1.5% lidocaine; 2.6% of the participants reported that they had treated a patient with epidural hematoma after neuraxial anesthesia. Most anesthesiologists (68.2%) performed peripheral nerve blocks as blind procedures based on the knowledge of anatomical landmarks. A majority of hospitals (80%) did not stock Intralipid; 61% of the respondents did not receive peripheral nerve block training. The current survey can serve as a benchmark for future comparisons and evaluation of regional anesthesia practices in China. This survey revealed potential regional anesthesia safety issues in China. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Motives for participation in the sharing economy – evidence from Lithuania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grybaitė Virginija

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Information and communication technologies enable the emergence of a new phenomenon called the “sharing economy”. An increasing number of articles in the media as well as debates about the positive and negative aspects of the sharing economy show a growing interest in the subject. The paper aims to review the different approaches to the definition of the sharing economy and to present the authors’ views on the concept. The reviewed literature reveals the main drivers for participating in the sharing economy. A survey was conducted to learn more about the motives of Lithuanian people participating in this concept. The survey reveals the following leading factors of using the sharing economy platforms: an easy way to make extra money; supporting individuals and/or small/independent companies; meeting new people and having an interesting experience/doing something most people haven’t tried yet. The survey also reveals that most of the respondents prefer to own things rather than share them. Despite the widespread popularity of the sharing economy platforms in the world, this phenomenon is in its infancy in Lithuania.

The Communicative Function of Sad Facial Expressions.

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Lawrence Ian; DeScioli, Peter

2017-01-01

What are the communicative functions of sad facial expressions? Research shows that people feel sadness in response to losses but it's unclear whether sad expressions function to communicate losses to others and if so, what makes these signals credible. Here we use economic games to test the hypothesis that sad expressions lend credibility to claims of loss. Participants play the role of either a proposer or recipient in a game with a fictional backstory and real monetary payoffs. The proposers view a (fictional) video of the recipient's character displaying either a neutral or sad expression paired with a claim of loss. The proposer then decided how much money to give to the recipient. In three experiments, we test alternative theories by using situations in which the recipient's losses were uncertain (Experiment 1), the recipient's losses were certain (Experiment 2), or the recipient claims failed gains rather than losses (Experiment 3). Overall, we find that participants gave more money to recipients who displayed sad expressions compared to neutral expressions, but only under conditions of uncertain loss. This finding supports the hypothesis that sad expressions function to increase the credibility of claims of loss.

The Communicative Function of Sad Facial Expressions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lawrence Ian Reed

2017-03-01

Full Text Available What are the communicative functions of sad facial expressions? Research shows that people feel sadness in response to losses but it’s unclear whether sad expressions function to communicate losses to others and if so, what makes these signals credible. Here we use economic games to test the hypothesis that sad expressions lend credibility to claims of loss. Participants play the role of either a proposer or recipient in a game with a fictional backstory and real monetary payoffs. The proposers view a (fictional video of the recipient’s character displaying either a neutral or sad expression paired with a claim of loss. The proposer then decided how much money to give to the recipient. In three experiments, we test alternative theories by using situations in which the recipient’s losses were uncertain (Experiment 1, the recipient’s losses were certain (Experiment 2, or the recipient claims failed gains rather than losses (Experiment 3. Overall, we find that participants gave more money to recipients who displayed sad expressions compared to neutral expressions, but only under conditions of uncertain loss. This finding supports the hypothesis that sad expressions function to increase the credibility of claims of loss.

A Global Oral Health Survey of professional opinion using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Dougall, Alison; Molina, Gustavo F; Eschevins, Caroline; Faulks, Denise

2015-06-01

The concept of oral health is frequently reduced to the absence of disease, despite existing conceptual models exploring the wider determinants of oral health and quality of life. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) (WHO) is designed to qualify functional, social and environmental aspects of health. This survey aimed to reach a consensual description of adult oral health, derived from the ICF using international professional opinion. The Global Oral Health Survey involved a two-round, online survey concerning factors related to oral health including functioning, participation and social environment. Four hundred eighty-six oral health professionals from 74 countries registered online. Professionals were pooled into 18 groups of six WHO world regions and three professional groups. In a randomised stratification process, eight professionals from each pool (n=144) completed the survey. The first round consisted of eight open-ended questions. Open expression replies were analysed for meaningful concepts and linked using established rules to the ICF. In Round 2, items were rated for their relevance to oral health (88% response rate). Eighty-nine ICF items and 30 other factors were considered relevant by at least 80% of participants. International professionals reached consensus on a holistic description of oral health, which could be qualified and quantified using the ICF. These results represent the first step towards developing an ICF Core Set in Oral Health, which would provide a practical tool for reporting outcome measures in clinical practice, for research and epidemiology, and for the improvement of interdisciplinary communication regarding oral health. Professional consensus reached in this survey is the foundation stone for developing an ICF Core Set in Oral Health, allowing the holistic aspects of oral health to be qualified and quantified. This tool is necessary to widen our approach to clinical decision making

Categorical Perception of Affective and Linguistic Facial Expressions

Science.gov (United States)

McCullough, Stephen; Emmorey, Karen

2009-01-01

Two experiments investigated categorical perception (CP) effects for affective facial expressions and linguistic facial expressions from American Sign Language (ASL) for Deaf native signers and hearing non-signers. Facial expressions were presented in isolation (Experiment 1) or in an ASL verb context (Experiment 2). Participants performed ABX…

TCF-1 participates in the occurrence of dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xiaolong; Tang, Xiaodong; Guo, Wei; Yang, Kang; Ren, Tingting

2016-10-01

The present study demonstrated that T cell factor 1 (TCF-1) protein, a component of the canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, can regulate the expression of runt-related transcription factor 2 (runx2) gene and Sry-related HMG box 9 (sox9) gene, which may participate in the differentiation of chondrosarcoma. Dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma (DDCS) is a special variant of conventional chondrosarcoma (CCS), associated with poor survival and high metastasis rate. However, little is known about the mechanism of its occurrence; thus, no effective treatment is available except surgery. Earlier, high expression of runx2 and low expression of sox9 were found in DDCS compared with CCS. Using Western blot to detect clinical tissue samples (including 8 CCS samples and 8 DDCS samples) and immunohistochemistry to detect 85 different-grade chondrosarcoma specimens, a high expression of TCF-1 in DDCS tissues was found compared with CCS tissues. This difference in expression was related to patients' prognosis. Results of luciferase, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and gel electrophoresis mobility shift assays demonstrated that TCF-1 protein could bind to the promoter of runx2 gene directly and sox9 gene indirectly. Hence, it could regulate expression of runx2 gene positively and sox9 gene negatively. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that TCF-1 protein was closely related to the phenotype and aggressiveness of chondrosarcoma. In conclusion, this study proved that TCF-1 participates in the dedifferentiation of DDCS, which may be mediated by runx2 gene and sox9 gene. Also, TCF-1 can be of important prognostic value and a promising therapeutic target for DDCS patients.

International Survey on the Management of Wake-Up Stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

de Castro-Afonso, Luís Henrique; Nakiri, Guilherme Seizem; Pontes-Neto, Octávio Marques; dos Santos, Antônio Carlos; Abud, Daniel Giansante

2016-01-01

Patients who wake up having experienced a stroke while asleep represent around 20% of acute stroke admissions. According to international guidelines for the management of acute stroke, patients presenting with wake-up stroke are not currently eligible to receive revascularization treatments. In this study, we aimed to assess the opinions of stroke experts about the management of patients with wake-up stroke by using an international multicenter electronic survey. This study consisted of 8 questions on wake-up stroke treatment. Two hundred invitations to participate in the survey were sent by e-mail. Fifty-nine participants started the survey, 4 dropped out before completing it, and 55 completed the full questionnaire. We had 55 participants from 22 countries. In this study, most stroke experts recommended a recanalization treatment for wake-up stroke. However, there was considerable disagreement among experts regarding the best brain imaging method and the best recanalization treatment. The results of ongoing randomized trials on wake-up stroke are urgently needed.

Emotional intelligence, trauma severity, and emotional expression.

Science.gov (United States)

Kao, Min C; Chen, Yung Y

2016-07-01

This study investigated Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a moderator for the association between emotional expression and adaptive trauma processing, as measured by depressive symptoms. Using Pennebaker's written emotional expression paradigm, 105 participants were assigned to either a conventional trauma-writing or religious trauma-writing condition. Depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and again at one-month post writing. No significant association between EI and religiousness was found at baseline. Results indicated a three-way interaction among EI, trauma severity, and writing condition on depressive symptoms at follow-up. For the religious trauma-writing condition only, there was a significant difference between high- versus low-EI participants who experienced more severe trauma in depressive symptoms at follow-up, such that low-EI participants registered less depressive symptoms than high-EI participants; while there was no significant difference between low versus high EI for participants with less severe trauma. These findings encourage further investigation of the conditions under which religion may be a beneficial factor in trauma adaptation.

Methods of milk expression for lactating women.

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Genevieve E; Smith, Hazel A; Cooney, Fionnuala

2016-09-29

Breastfeeding is important, however not all infants can feed at the breast and methods of expressing milk need evaluation. To assess acceptability, effectiveness, safety, effect on milk composition, contamination and costs of methods of milk expression. We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (21 March 2016), handsearched relevant journals and conference proceedings, and contacted experts in the field to seek additional published or unpublished studies. We also examined reference lists of all relevant retrieved papers. Randomised and quasi-randomised trials comparing methods at any time after birth. Three review authors independently assessed trials for inclusion and risk of bias, extracted data and checked them for accuracy. This updated review includes 41 trials involving 2293 participants, with 22 trials involving 1339 participants contributing data for analysis. Twenty-six of the trials referred to mothers of infants in neonatal units (n = 1547) and 14 to mothers of healthy infants at home (n = 730), with one trial containing mothers of both neonatal and healthy older infants (n = 16). Eleven trials compared one or more types of pump versus hand expression and 14 studies compared one type of pump versus another type of pump, with three of these studies comparing both hand expression and pump types. Twenty studies compared a specific protocol or adjunct behaviour including sequential versus simultaneous pumping protocols, pumping frequency, provision of an education and support intervention, relaxation, breast massage, combining hand expression with pumping and a breast cleansing protocol.Due to heterogeneity in participants, interventions, and outcomes measured or reported, we were unable to pool findings for most of the specified outcomes. It was not possible therefore to produce a 'Summary of findings' table in this update. Most of the included results were derived from single studies. Trials took place in 14 countries under

A Survey of Industrial Involvement in Open Source

OpenAIRE

Røsdal, Andreas

2006-01-01

This thesis presents the results of an explorative survey of industrial involvement in open source. The survey is performed in collaboration with participants from the European ITEA project, COSI (Co-development using inner & Open source in Software Intensive products). The survey was performed to explore aspects of industrial involvement in open source, as industrial management of open source project, industrial use of open source components, related development, and communication processes,...

[On the front line: survey on shared responsibility. General practitioners and schizophrenia].

Science.gov (United States)

Stip, Emmanuel; Boyer, Richard; Sepehry, Amir Ali; Rodriguez, Jean Pierre; Umbricht, Daniel; Tempier, Adrien; Simon, Andor E

2007-01-01

General practitioners (GP) play a preponderant role in the treatment of patients suffering of schizophrenia. Discovering the number of patients with schizophrenia who are treated by GPs ; the needs and attitudes of GPs, their knowledge concerning diagnosis, and the treatment they provide. A postal survey was conducted with Quebec GPs who were randomly chosen. A total of 1003 GPs have participated in the survey. Among them, a small percentage have to treat an early onset schizophrenia and the GPs have expressed their wish to be more informed on the accessibility of specialized services. Results pertaining to questions on diagnoses and knowledge on treatments are inconsistent. The majority of GPs treat the first psychotic episodes with antipsychotic medication. Only a third of GPs surveyed propose maintaining the treatment after a first psychotic episode, in accordance with international recommendations and the recent Canadian guidelines on practices that recommends at least 6 to 12 months of treatment after a partial or complete clinical response. Time given by male GPs to a first contact varies between 10 and 20 minutes, while 80 % of female GPs spend at least 20 minutes. The adverse effects of antipsychotic medication that raise most concern is weight gain before neurological signs. some of this survey's data should be considered by various professional and governmental associations, in order to improve the place of GPs in a health plan destined to treat schizophrenia.

A Study of the Utility of a Participative Approach to Employee Attitude Surveys as a Management Tool at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital in San Antonio, Texas

Science.gov (United States)

1979-05-01

Classification) A Study of the Utility of a Participative Approach to Employee Attitude Surveys as a Management Tool at the Audie L. Murphy Memoria VA...Engineering-49, Medical-38, Laboratory-32, Social Work-23, and RMS-19.) The responses of employees in all other services would be collectively identified...Laboratory 47 Social Work 78 All Others 50 TABLE 3 Positive Responses to Question Thirteen By Service Comparing responses by salary level the average positive

Parent Participation in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Rounds via Telemedicine: Feasibility and Impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Yager, Phoebe H; Clark, Maureen; Cummings, Brian M; Noviski, Natan

2017-06-01

To evaluate feasibility and impact of telemedicine for remote parent participation in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) rounds when parents are unable to be present at their child's bedside. Parents of patients admitted to a 14-bed PICU were approached, and those unable to attend rounds were eligible subjects. Nurse and physician caregivers were also surveyed. Parents received an iPad (Apple Inc, Cupertino, California) with an application enabling audio-video connectivity with the care team. At a predetermined time for bedside rounds with the PICU team, parents entered a virtual meeting room to participate. Following each telemedicine encounter, participants (parent, physician, nurse) completed a brief survey rating satisfaction (0?=?not satisfied, 10?=?completely satisfied) and disruption (0?=?no disruption at all, 10?=?very disruptive). A total of 153 surveys were completed following 51 telemedicine encounters involving 13 patients. Parents of enrolled patients cited work demands (62%), care for other dependents (46%), and transportation difficulties (31%) as reasons for study participation. The median levels of satisfaction and disruption were 10 (range 5-10) and 0 (range 0-5), respectively. All parents reported that telemedicine encounters had a positive effect on their level of reassurance regarding their child's care and improved communication with the care team. This proof-of-concept study indicates that remote parent participation in PICU rounds is feasible, enhances parent-provider communication, and offers parents reassurance. Providers reported a high level of satisfaction with minimal disruption. Technological advancements to streamline teleconferencing workflow are needed to ensure program sustainability. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Performance of Ductless Personalized Ventilation in Open-Plan Office - Field Survey

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dalewski, Mariusz; Ezzat Khalifa, H.; Melikov, Arsen Krikor

2013-01-01

A field survey was conducted in an architectural company located in Syracuse, USA. 54 employees who participated in the survey performed mostly design work. Large open-plan office and several single offices ventilated by displacement air distribution were included in the survey. Ductless...

Participative management: Concept and application in consumer goods companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ann I Ogbo

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts to ascertain the impact of participative management on workflows, its influence on sales output and how well the concept is practised by consumer goods companies in Nigeria. Study adopted the survey design; questionnaires were used to collect necessary data from sales personnel across 10 states in South-Ssouth and South East Nigeria. Respondents rated the concept and application of participative management as it affects their work environment and sales output of the company. Statistical results of the study showed that 92.08% of the respondents believe that there are benefits derivable from participative management and that these benefits improve both sales output and workflow. 48% believe that participative management is practised in firms. Hypotheses tested using the chi-square test statistic revealed that: Consumer goods companies benefit from practising participative management, Participative management has effect on sales output of consumer goods companies, and the concept of participative management is not fully practised by consumer goods companies in Nigeria. These findings indicate that participative management principles need to be inculcated fully in the running of sales organisations so as to increase sales volume and ultimately boost the profit of consumer goods companies

Anger expression among Danish cyclists and drivers: A comparison based on mode specific anger expression inventories

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Mette; Haustein, Sonja

2017-01-01

, gender, self-reported aggressive behaviours and traffic fines: Women scored for instance lower in physical expression, while older people scored higher in constructive expression. The effect of age and gender on anger expression among drivers and cyclists remained significant when controlling......Based on the short form of the driving anger expression inventory (DAX-short, 15-item), the present study developed an adapted version of the DAX for cyclists (CAX, 14 items). The data basis was an online survey of 2000 inhabitants of Denmark. A principle component analysis on the translated DAX...... for exposure and other factors in linear regression analyses. These analyses also showed a relationship between a positive attitude towards driving and higher levels of anger expression among drivers, while this was not the case for cyclists....

Exploring the characteristics, global distribution and reasons for retraction of published articles involving human research participants: a literature survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Guowei; Kamel, Mariam; Jin, Yanling; Xu, Michael Kuan; Mbuagbaw, Lawrence; Samaan, Zainab; Levine, Mitchell Ah; Thabane, Lehana

2018-01-01

Article retraction is a measure taken by journals or authors where there is evidence of research misconduct or error, redundancy, plagiarism or unethical research. Recently, the retraction of scientific publications has been on the rise. In this survey, we aimed to describe the characteristics and distribution of retracted articles and the reasons for retractions. We searched retracted articles on the PubMed database and Retraction Watch website from 1980 to February 2016. The primary outcomes were the characteristics and distribution of retracted articles and the reasons for retractions. The secondary outcomes included how article retractions were handled by journals and how to improve the journal practices toward article retractions. We included 1,339 retracted articles. Most retracted articles had six authors or fewer. Article retraction was most common in the USA (26%), Japan (11%) and Germany (10%). The main reasons for article retraction were misconduct (51%, n = 685) and error (14%, n = 193). There were 66% (n = 889) of retracted articles having male senior or corresponding authors. Of the articles retracted after August 2010, 63% (n = 567) retractions were reported on Retraction Watch. Large discrepancies were observed in the ways that different journals handled article retractions. For instance, articles were completely withdrawn from some journals, while in others, articles were still available with no indication of retraction. Likewise, some retraction notices included a detailed account of the events that led to article retraction, while others only consisted of a statement indicating the article retraction. The characteristics, geographic distribution and reasons for retraction of published articles involving human research participants were examined in this survey. More efforts are needed to improve the consistency and transparency of journal practices toward article retractions.

Fear of falling and self-perception of health in older participants and non-participants of physical activity programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carolina Kruleske da Silva

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Fear of falling, self-perception of health, and participation in physical activity programs have been associated with several variables related to health and performance in older adults. The purpose of this study was to evaluate self-perception of health and fear of falling in older adult participants and non-participants of physical activity programs, and to verify the relationship between these variables. A total of 40 healthy but sedentary older adults, and 45 physically active older adults were assessed through the Falls Efficacy Scale International-Brazil (FES-I and a questionnaire that measured their self-perception of health. The older adults that did not participate in regular physical activity programs presented higher scores of fear of falling, which, in turn, is associated with an increase of risk for falls. Moreover, older adults, participants in regular physical activity programs exhibited a more positive health perception than did the non-participants. Also, non-participants of physical activity programs perceived their health status as being poor or very poor as well as expressing great concern about falling compared to those who considered their health as excellent, good or regular. The results of this study have important implications for making clinical decisions in prevention or rehabilitation of older people, and they justify recommendations to the public health system.

Understanding Factors Leading to Participation in Supplemental Instruction Programs in Introductory Accounting Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, James; Sauer, Paul; O'Donnell, Joseph

2014-01-01

Although studies have shown that supplemental instruction (SI) programs can have positive effects in introductory accounting courses, these programs experience low participation rates. Thus, our study is the first to examine the factors leading to student participation in SI programs. We do this through a survey instrument based on the Theory of…

Teachers' Beliefs about the Participation of Students with Severe Disabilities in School Clubs

Science.gov (United States)

Pence, Alicia R.; Dymond, Stacy K.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' beliefs about the participation of students with severe disabilities (SD) in school clubs. Participants were special education teachers (N = 60) of middle and junior high school students with SD from one state. Data were collected using a survey. Results indicate that teachers value including…

Fair Shares and Sharing Fairly: A Survey of Public Views on Open Science, Informed Consent and Participatory Research in Biobanking.

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Yann Joly

Full Text Available Biobanks are important resources which enable large-scale genomic research with human samples and data, raising significant ethical concerns about how participants' information is managed and shared. Three previous studies of the Canadian public's opinion about these topics have been conducted. Building on those results, an online survey representing the first study of public perceptions about biobanking spanning all Canadian provinces was conducted. Specifically, this study examined qualitative views about biobank objectives, governance structure, control and ownership of samples and data, benefit sharing, consent practices and data sharing norms, as well as additional questions and ethical concerns expressed by the public.Over half the respondents preferred to give a one-time general consent for the future sharing of their samples among researchers. Most expressed willingness for their data to be shared with the international scientific community rather than used by one or more Canadian institutions. Whereas more respondents indicated a preference for one-time general consent than any other model of consent, they constituted less than half of the total responses, revealing a lack of consensus among survey respondents regarding this question. Respondents identified biobank objectives, governance structure and accountability as the most important information to provide participants. Respondents' concerns about biobanking generally centred around the control and ownership of biological samples and data, especially with respect to potential misuse by insurers, the government and other third parties. Although almost half the respondents suggested that these should be managed by the researchers' institutions, results indicate that the public is interested in being well-informed about these projects and suggest the importance of increased involvement from participants. In conclusion, the study discusses the viability of several proposed models for

Fair Shares and Sharing Fairly: A Survey of Public Views on Open Science, Informed Consent and Participatory Research in Biobanking.

Science.gov (United States)

Joly, Yann; Dalpé, Gratien; So, Derek; Birko, Stanislav

2015-01-01

Biobanks are important resources which enable large-scale genomic research with human samples and data, raising significant ethical concerns about how participants' information is managed and shared. Three previous studies of the Canadian public's opinion about these topics have been conducted. Building on those results, an online survey representing the first study of public perceptions about biobanking spanning all Canadian provinces was conducted. Specifically, this study examined qualitative views about biobank objectives, governance structure, control and ownership of samples and data, benefit sharing, consent practices and data sharing norms, as well as additional questions and ethical concerns expressed by the public. Over half the respondents preferred to give a one-time general consent for the future sharing of their samples among researchers. Most expressed willingness for their data to be shared with the international scientific community rather than used by one or more Canadian institutions. Whereas more respondents indicated a preference for one-time general consent than any other model of consent, they constituted less than half of the total responses, revealing a lack of consensus among survey respondents regarding this question. Respondents identified biobank objectives, governance structure and accountability as the most important information to provide participants. Respondents' concerns about biobanking generally centred around the control and ownership of biological samples and data, especially with respect to potential misuse by insurers, the government and other third parties. Although almost half the respondents suggested that these should be managed by the researchers' institutions, results indicate that the public is interested in being well-informed about these projects and suggest the importance of increased involvement from participants. In conclusion, the study discusses the viability of several proposed models for informed consent

Comparison of Survey Data Collection Methods

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VIDAL DÍAZ DE RADA

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the results of a mixed-mode survey of the general population using a combination of postal, telephone, and Internet survey protocols. Potential respondents were invited to participate by ordinary mail and were allowed to choose their preferred response mode. The paper focuses on response quality (taking non-responses into consideration, fieldwork time and data collection cost. The results reveal that the Internet survey produces the lowest rate of non-responses and requires significantly less fieldwork time, although it is slightly more costly than the postal survey. However, when differences in cost structure are taken into account, we find that the same number of completed questionnaires could have been obtained through the Internet alone at a cost that is 18.2% lower than the mixed-mode survey.

[Factors affecting the participation rates in epidemiologic surveys].

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Deng, R Z; Jiao, W; Mu, L G; Chen, K; Li, G; Huang, W; Wang, R X; Tan, S R

2017-10-10

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the response in health-related epidemiological investigation among Chinese population aged 15 and over. We analyzed the specific causes of non-response, and explored the effective ways to improve the response rate, so as to provide reference for future epidemiological studies of this kind. Methods: Two modes of studies regarding the prevalence of important cardiovascular diseases were used in Chongqing, during the 12(th) Five-Year Plan period in oder to find out the cause related to non-response. Intervention programs were carried out to evaluate the effects. Results: When using the concentrated mode (CM), the completion rate to the questionnaires was only 20.00 % in the pre-investigation, with the response rate as 13.48 % . In the deconcentrated mode (DM), the completion rate was 31.16 % , with the response rate as 25.19 % . After a series of incentives provided to both the respondents and the project-related core staff in the two modes, response rates of the two modes increased to the expected 60 % . Conclusions: CM appeared having advantages on quality control, but was more time consuming, with higher cost, and without effective follow-up measures to improve the response rate. However, DM had the advantages on controlling the cost and could increase the response rate through making advanced appointment with the households but quality control remained difficult. Two key points should be strengthened to improve the response rates, which including: Precisely finding out the research objects and providing incentives to the respondents to attract their interests of participating in the investigation.

Participant Assisted Data Collection Methods in the California Healthy Homes Indoor Air Quality Study of 2011-13

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mullen, Nasim A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Li, Jina [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Singer, Brett C. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2013-08-01

From November 2011 to March 2013, air quality was measured over 6-day periods in 324 residences across California using a mail-out strategy. All interactions with study participants, from recruitment, to data collection, to communication of results, were conducted with remote communication methods including conventional mail, electronic mail, telephone and text messaging. Potential participants were reached primarily by sharing study information with community groups and organizations that directed interested individuals to complete an online screening survey. Pollutant concentrations were measured with sampling equipment that was mailed to participants' homes with deployment instructions. Residence and household characteristics and activity data were collected via two phone surveys and an activity log. A comparison of responses to survey questions completed online versus over the phone indicated that a substantial fraction of participants (roughly 20%) required a researcher's assistance to respond to basic questions about appliance characteristics. Using the printed instructions and telephone assistance from researchers, roughly 90% of participants successfully deployed and returned sampling materials accurately and on schedule. The mail-out strategy employed in this study was found to be a cost-effective means for collecting residential air quality data.

The mediating effects of values on the relationship between outdoor recreation participation and pro-environment behavior

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Alan D. Bright; Susan C. Barro

2000-01-01

Environmental awareness has increased in the past two decades. One factor believed to influence this awareness is outdoor recreation participation. We examined whether participation in outdoor recreation predicts pro-environmental behavior and whether environmental values mediate the relationship. A survey of residents of Washington state measured (a) participation in...

Expressive Writing as a Therapeutic Process for Drug Dependent Women

Science.gov (United States)

Meshberg-Cohen, Sarah; Svikis, Dace; McMahon, Thomas J

2013-01-01

Background Although women with Substance Use Disorders (SUD) have high rates of trauma and post-traumatic stress, many addiction programs do not offer trauma-specific treatments. One promising intervention is Pennebaker’s expressive writing, which involves daily, 20-minute writing sessions to facilitate disclosure of stressful experiences. Methods Women (N = 149) in residential treatment completed a randomized clinical trial comparing expressive writing to control writing. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to document change in psychological and physical distress from baseline to 2-week and 1-month follow-ups. Analyses also examined immediate levels of negative affect following expressive writing. Results Expressive writing participants showed greater reductions in post-traumatic symptom severity, depression, and anxiety scores, when compared to control writing participants at the 2-week follow-up. No group differences were found at the 1-month follow-up. Safety data were encouraging; while expressive writing participants showed increased negative affect immediately after each writing session, there were no differences in pre-writing negative affect scores between conditions the following day. By the final writing session, participants were able to write about traumatic/stressful events without having a spike in negative affect. Conclusions Results suggest expressive writing may be a brief, safe, low cost, adjunct to SUD treatment that warrants further study as a strategy for addressing post-traumatic distress in substance-abusing women. PMID:24588298

Expressive writing as a therapeutic process for drug-dependent women.

Science.gov (United States)

Meshberg-Cohen, Sarah; Svikis, Dace; McMahon, Thomas J

2014-01-01

Although women with substance use disorders (SUDs) have high rates of trauma and posttraumatic stress, many addiction programs do not offer trauma-specific treatments. One promising intervention is Pennebaker's expressive writing, which involves daily, 20-minute writing sessions to facilitate disclosure of stressful experiences. Women (N = 149) in residential treatment completed a randomized clinical trial comparing expressive writing with control writing. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to document change in psychological and physical distress from baseline to 2-week and 1-month follow-ups. Analyses also examined immediate levels of negative affect following expressive writing. Expressive writing participants showed greater reductions in posttraumatic symptom severity, depression, and anxiety scores, when compared with control writing participants at the 2-week follow-up. No group differences were found at the 1-month follow-up. Safety data were encouraging: although expressive writing participants showed increased negative affect immediately after each writing session, there were no differences in pre-writing negative affect scores between conditions the following day. By the final writing session, participants were able to write about traumatic/stressful events without having a spike in negative affect. Results suggest that expressive writing may be a brief, safe, low-cost, adjunct to SUD treatment that warrants further study as a strategy for addressing posttraumatic distress in substance-abusing women.

Fair reckoning: a qualitative investigation of responses to an economic health resource allocation survey.

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Giacomini, Mita; Hurley, Jeremiah; DeJean, Deirdre

2014-04-01

To investigate how participants in an economic resource allocation survey construct notions of fairness. Qualitative interview study guided by interpretive grounded theory methods. Qualitative interviews were conducted with volunteer university- (n=39) and community-based (n =7) economic survey participants. INTERVENTION OR MAIN VARIABLES STUDIED: We explored how participants constructed meanings to guide or explain fair survey choices, focusing on rationales, imagery and additional desired information not provided in the survey scenarios. Data were transcribed and coded into qualitative categories. Analysis iterated with data collection iterated through three waves of interviews. Participants compared the survey dilemmas to domains outside the health system. Most compared them with other micro-level, inter-personal sharing tasks. Participants raised several fairness-relevant factors beyond need or capacity to benefit. These included age, weight, poverty, access to other options and personal responsibility for illness; illness duration, curability or seriousness; life expectancy; possibilities for sharing; awareness of other's needs; and ability to explain allocations to those affected. They also articulated a fairness principle little considered by equity theories: that everybody must get something and nobody should get nothing. Lay criteria for judging fairness are myriad. Simple scenarios may be used to investigate lay commitments to abstract principles. Although principles are the focus of analysis and inference, participants may solve simplified dilemmas by imputing extraneous features to the problem or applying unanticipated principles. These possibilities should be taken into account in the design of resource allocation surveys eliciting the views of the public. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Deterministic modeling of the exposure of individual participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to polychlorinated biphenyls.

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Stephen A; Armitage, James M; Binnington, Matthew J; Wania, Frank

2016-09-14

A population's exposure to persistent organic pollutants, e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), is typically assessed through national biomonitoring programs, such as the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). To complement statistical methods, we use a deterministic modeling approach to establish mechanistic links between human contaminant concentrations and factors (e.g. age, diet, lipid mass) deemed responsible for the often considerable variability in these concentrations. Lifetime exposures to four PCB congeners in 6128 participants from NHANES 1999-2004 are simulated using the ACC-Human model supplied with individualized input parameters obtained from NHANES questionnaires (e.g., birth year, sex, body mass index, dietary composition, reproductive behavior). Modeled and measured geometric mean PCB-153 concentrations in NHANES participants of 13.3 and 22.0 ng g -1 lipid, respectively, agree remarkably well, although lower model-measurement agreement for air, water, and food suggests that this is partially due to fortuitous error cancellation. The model also reproduces trends in the measured data with key factors such as age, parity and sex. On an individual level, 62% of all modeled concentrations are within a factor of three of their corresponding measured values (Spearman r s = 0.44). However, the model attributes more of the inter-individual variability to differences in dietary lipid intake than is indicated by the measured data. While the model succeeds in predicting levels and trends on the population level, the accuracy of individual-specific predictions would need to be improved for refined exposure characterization in epidemiological studies.

A survey of referee participation, training and injury in elite Gaelic games referees.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Blake, Catherine

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Referees in Gaelic games are exposed to injury risk in match-play and training. Little is currently know about the degree of exposure or the prevalence of injury in this group. The aim of this study was to determine the time commitment to refereeing and training in elite-level Gaelic referees and to establish, for the first time, point and period (past 12 months) prevalence of Gaelic games injury in these officials. METHODS: A retrospective survey was posted to the complete list of 111 male referees who officiated in elite-level competition in Gaelic football and hurling at the end of the 2005 competition season. Data were summarised using percentages with 95% Confidence Intervals. RESULTS: The response rate was 80% (n = 89). Mean age was 42 +\\/- 6 years, ranging from 28-55 years. Forty eight percent were football referees, 25% were hurling referees and 27% refereed both football and hurling. Most referees (69%) officiated at 3-4 games weekly (range 1-6) and most (62%) trained 2-3 times per week (range 1-7). Fourteen percent (n = 12) were currently injured (95% CI 9-21%). Annual injury prevalence was 58% (95% CI 46 to 70%) for football, 50% (95% CI 33 to 67%) for hurling and 42% (95% CI 27 to 58%) for dual referee groups. Sixty percent of injuries were sustained while refereeing match play. The majority (83%, n = 40) were to the lower limb and the predominant (56%, n = 27) injury mechanism was running or sprinting. The most prevalent injuries were hamstring strain (n = 12, 25% of injuries) and calf strain (n = 9, 19% of injuries). Injury causing time off from refereeing was reported by 31% of all referees (95% CI 24 to 40%, n = 28), for a median duration of 3 weeks. CONCLUSION: Participation in official duties and training is high in elite Gaelic games referees, despite the amateur status of the sports. Gaelic games injury is common in the referee cohort, with lower limb injury predominating. These injuries have implications for both the referee and

A survey of referee participation, training and injury in elite gaelic games referees

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Gissane Conor

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Referees in Gaelic games are exposed to injury risk in match-play and training. Little is currently know about the degree of exposure or the prevalence of injury in this group. The aim of this study was to determine the time commitment to refereeing and training in elite-level Gaelic referees and to establish, for the first time, point and period (past 12 months prevalence of Gaelic games injury in these officials. Methods A retrospective survey was posted to the complete list of 111 male referees who officiated in elite-level competition in Gaelic football and hurling at the end of the 2005 competition season. Data were summarised using percentages with 95% Confidence Intervals. Results The response rate was 80% (n = 89. Mean age was 42 ± 6 years, ranging from 28–55 years. Forty eight percent were football referees, 25% were hurling referees and 27% refereed both football and hurling. Most referees (69% officiated at 3–4 games weekly (range 1–6 and most (62% trained 2–3 times per week (range 1–7. Fourteen percent (n = 12 were currently injured (95% CI 9–21%. Annual injury prevalence was 58% (95% CI 46 to 70% for football, 50% (95% CI 33 to 67% for hurling and 42% (95% CI 27 to 58% for dual referee groups. Sixty percent of injuries were sustained while refereeing match play. The majority (83%, n = 40 were to the lower limb and the predominant (56%, n = 27 injury mechanism was running or sprinting. The most prevalent injuries were hamstring strain (n = 12, 25% of injuries and calf strain (n = 9, 19% of injuries. Injury causing time off from refereeing was reported by 31% of all referees (95% CI 24 to 40%, n = 28, for a median duration of 3 weeks. Conclusion Participation in official duties and training is high in elite Gaelic games referees, despite the amateur status of the sports. Gaelic games injury is common in the referee cohort, with lower limb injury predominating. These injuries have implications for both

Methodical principles of assessment of financial compensation for clinical trial volunteer participants

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V. Ye. Dobrova

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Due to the necessity to obtain the reliable results of a clinical trial and to distribute it to the general population of patients the problem of recruiting the adequate number of individuals to participate in the study as objects of observation in the group receiving the investigational medicinal product or as a member of the control group should to be solved. Aim of study. The aim of our study was to research and to justify practically the methodological approaches to determining financial compensation for participation of volunteers in the clinical trials and the appropriate methods of its calculation. Material and methods. For the purpose of determining the baseline factors for calculating the hourly compensation the survey of healthy volunteers and of expert professionals as well as the analysis of its results have been done. Questioning healthy volunteers regarding their attitudes towards inconvenience and discomfort during participation in clinical trials was held at the Ukrainian clinical research centers. Survey participants number was 99, they were healthy volunteers who took part in the first phase clinical trial or bioequivalence studies. The expert survey included questioning of the 193 professionals from Ukrainian clinical research centers, CRO, pharmaceutical manufacturers – research sponsors and collaborators State Expert Center Ministry of Health of Ukraine, who were involved in the planning, organization, implementation and evaluation of clinical trials as well as their regulatory control. Results of study. Using the method of pairwise comparisons and iterative refinement procedures the collective estimate of experts questionnaire results has been performed, by the results of which the nine indicators have been identified and the importance of each of them as units of discomfort have been established. Motivational factors of voluntary participation in clinical trials have been studied. Motivation system for

2012 School Libraries Count! National Longitudinal Survey of School Library Programs

Science.gov (United States)

American Association of School Librarians (NJ1), 2012

2012-01-01

AASL's School Libraries Count! annual longitudinal survey is an online survey that is open to all primary and secondary school library programs to participate. The 2012 survey was launched on January 24th and closed on March 20th. The survey was publicized through various professional organizations and events and through word of mouth. Data…

Patient participation, a prerequisite for care: A grounded theory study of healthcare professionals' perceptions of what participation means in a paediatric care context.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlsson, Ing-Marie; Nygren, Jens M; Svedberg, Petra

2018-01-01

To explore healthcare professionals' perceptions of what patient participation means in a paediatric care context . A qualitative explorative design with grounded theory. Fifteen healthcare professionals who worked in paediatric care settings were either interviewed or asked open-ended questions in a survey, during December 2015-May 2016. Grounded theory was used as a method. The study results provide a theoretical conceptualization of what patient participation meant for healthcare professionals in paediatric care and how participation was enabled. The core category "participation a prerequisite for care" emerged as the main finding explaining the concept as ethical, practical and integrated in the care givers way of working. However, the concept was implicit in the organization. Four additional categories illustrated the healthcare professionals' different strategies used to enhance patient participation; "meeting each child where the child is," "building a relationship with the child," "showing respect for each individual child" and "making the most of the moment."

Commercial Banking Industry Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Bright Horizons Children's Centers, Cambridge, MA.

Work and family programs are becoming increasingly important in the commercial banking industry. The objective of this survey was to collect information and prepare a commercial banking industry profile on work and family programs. Fifty-nine top American commercial banks from the Fortune 500 list were invited to participate. Twenty-two…

Medical student attitudes before and after participation in rural health fairs

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David C Landy

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Despite an increased need, residents of rural communities have decreased access to healthcare and oftenpresentuniquehealthcare challenges associated with their rurality. Ensuring medical students receive adequate exposure to these issues is complicated by the urban location of most medical schools. Health fairs (fairs conducted in rural communities can provide students exposure to ruralhealth;however, it is unknown how participation affects attitudes regarding these issues. Materials and Methods: During the 2010-2011 academic year, first-year medical students were surveyed before and after participating in a rural fair regarding the importance of rural health issues, the need for exposure to rural healthcare, their plans to practice in a rural community,andthe educational impact of fairs. Results : Of the 121participating students, 77% and 61% completed pre- and post-fair surveys, respectively. Few had lived in a rural area or planned to practice primary care. Participants strongly agreed that the delivery of healthcare in rural areas was important, and that all physicians should receive rural health training (4.8 and 3.7 out of 5, respectively despite less than halfplanning to practice in a rural community.After participating in a rural fair, student attitudes were unchanged, although 87% of participants strongly agreed their involvement had contributed to improving patient health and 70% that the fairs provided rural medicine experience. Conclusions : Among urban medical school students with varied interests in primary care, there was strong interest in volunteering at rural fairs and appreciation for the importance of rural health. Fairs provided interested students with rural medicine experience that reinforced student attitudes regarding rural health. Further, students felt their participation improved patient health.

Family Structure as a Correlate of Organized Sport Participation among Youth.

Science.gov (United States)

McMillan, Rachel; McIsaac, Michael; Janssen, Ian

2016-01-01

Organized sport is one way that youth participate in physical activity. There are disparities in organized sport participation by family-related factors. The purpose of this study was to determine whether non-traditional family structure and physical custody arrangements are associated with organized sport participation in youth, and if so whether this relationship is mediated by socioeconomic status. Data were from the 2009-10 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey, a nationally representative cross-section of Canadian youth in grades 6-10 (N = 21,201). Information on family structure was derived from three survey items that asked participants the number of adults they lived with, their relationship to these adults, and if applicable, how often they visited another parent outside their home. Participants were asked whether or not they were currently involved in an organized sport. Logistic regression was used to compare the odds of organized sport participation according to family structure. Bootstrap-based mediation analysis was used to assess mediation by perceived family wealth. The results indicated that by comparison to traditional families, boys and girls from reconstituted families with irregular visitation of a second parent, reconstituted families with regular visitation of a second parent, single-parent families with irregular visitation of a second parent, and single-parent families with regular visitation of a second parent were less likely to participate in organized sport than those from traditional families, with odds ratios ranging from 0.48 (95% confidence interval: 0.38-0.61) to 0.78 (95% confidence interval: 0.56-1.08). The relationship between family structure and organized sport was significantly mediated by perceived family wealth, although the magnitude of the mediation was modest (ie, reconstituted families experienced significant disparities in organized sport participation that was partially mediated by perceived family wealth.

Nutrition surveys in Burma and northeast Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Bunce, George E

2005-05-01

Participation of the author in the Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defense sponsored nutrition surveys of Burma and northeast Brazil is described. These surveys not only collected important data on nutritional status but also guided the subsequent research interests of the author. The Brazil survey results contributed to the creation of legislation that mandated the addition of water-dispersible vitamin A to skimmed-milk powder products. This additive has greatly diminished the likelihood of vitamin A deficiency syndrome occurring in children after famine relief efforts.

Forming impressions: effects of facial expression and gender stereotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hack, Tay

2014-04-01

The present study of 138 participants explored how facial expressions and gender stereotypes influence impressions. It was predicted that images of smiling women would be evaluated more favorably on traits reflecting warmth, and that images of non-smiling men would be evaluated more favorably on traits reflecting competence. As predicted, smiling female faces were rated as more warm; however, contrary to prediction, perceived competence of male faces was not affected by facial expression. Participants' female stereotype endorsement was a significant predictor for evaluations of female faces; those who ascribed more strongly to traditional female stereotypes reported the most positive impressions of female faces displaying a smiling expression. However, a similar effect was not found for images of men; endorsement of traditional male stereotypes did not predict participants' impressions of male faces.

Ethylene and cold participate in the regulation of LeCBF1 gene expression in postharvest tomato fruits.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Danying; Shen, Lin; Fan, Bei; Yu, Mengmeng; Zheng, Yang; Lv, Shengnan; Sheng, Jiping

2009-10-20

C-repeat/dehydration-responsive element binding factor (CBF) is a transcription factor regulating cold response in plants, of which little is known in fruits. We showed a double-peak expression pattern of Lycopersicon esculentum putative transcriptional activator CBF1 (LeCBF1) in mature green fruit. The peaks appeared at 2 and 16 h after subjection to cold storage (2 degrees C). The second peak was coincident with, and thus caused by a peak in endogenous ethylene production. We showed that LeCBF1 expression was regulated by exogenous ethylene and 1-methylcyclopropene, and was not expressed without cold induction. LeCBF1 expression was different in the five maturation stages of fruits, but expression peaked at 2 h at all stages.

Acceptance of a systematic review as a thesis: survey of biomedical doctoral programs in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Puljak, Livia; Sapunar, Damir

2017-12-12

Systematic reviews (SRs) have been proposed as a type of research methodology that should be acceptable for a graduate research thesis. The aim of this study was to analyse whether PhD theses in European biomedical graduate programs can be partly or entirely based on SRs. In 2016, we surveyed individuals in charge of European PhD programs from 105 institutions. The survey asked about acceptance of SRs as the partial or entire basis for a PhD thesis, their attitude towards such a model for PhD theses, and their knowledge about SR methodology. We received responses from 86 individuals running PhD programs in 68 institutions (institutional response rate of 65%). In 47% of the programs, SRs were an acceptable study design for a PhD thesis. However, only 20% of participants expressed a personal opinion that SRs meet the criteria for a PhD thesis. The most common reasons for not accepting SRs as the basis for PhD theses were that SRs are 'not a result of a PhD candidate's independent work, but more of a team effort' and that SRs 'do not produce enough new knowledge for a dissertation'. The majority of participants were not familiar with basic concepts related to SRs; questions about meta-analyses and the type of plots frequently used in SRs were correctly answered by only one third of the participants. Raising awareness about the importance of SRs and their methodology could contribute to higher acceptance of SRs as a type of research that forms the basis of a PhD thesis.

Female Schooling, Non-Market Productivity, and Labor Market Participation in Nigeria

OpenAIRE

Aromolaran, Adebayo B.

2004-01-01

Economists have argued that increasing female schooling positively influences the labor supply of married women by inducing a faster rise in market productivity relative to non-market productivity. I use the Nigerian Labor Force Survey to investigate how own and husband's schooling affect women's labor market participation. I find that additional years of postsecondary education increases wage market participation probability by as much as 15.2%. A marginal increase in primary schooling has n...