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Growing Trend (growing + trend)
Selected AbstractsOutsourcing: A Growing Trend in EHS ManagementENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2001Bruce A. Martin This article explores the recent growth and current trends in outsourcing EHS services. More and more organizations are recognizing that outsourcing can cut costs, save time, improve staffing flexibility, and enhance the overall quality of EHS programs. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source] Avoiding Misconception, Misuse, and Missed Opportunities: The Collection of Verbal Reports in Educational Achievement TestingEDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT: ISSUES AND PRACTICE, Issue 4 2004Jacqueline P. Leighton The collection of verbal reports is one way in which cognitive and developmental psychologists gather data to formulate and corroborate models of problem solving. The current use of verbal reports to design and validate educational assessments reflects the growing trend to fuse cognitive psychological research and educational measurement. However, doubts about the trustworthiness or accuracy of verbal reports may suggest a potential reversal of this trend. Misconceptions about the trustworthiness of verbal reports could signal misuse of verbal reports and, consequently, waning interest and missed opportunities in the description of cognitive models of test performance. In this article, misconceptions of verbal reports are addressed by (a) discussing the value of cognitive models for educational achievement testing; (b) addressing pertinent issues in the collection of verbal reports from students; and (c) concluding with avenues for a more productive union between cognitive psychological research and educational measurement. [source] Employer-supported volunteering benefits: Gift exchange among employers, employees, and volunteer organizationsHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2009Jonathan E. Booth Abstract Using gift exchange theory to explain the growing trend of employers offering employer-supported volunteering (ESV) benefits, this article discusses the creation of exchange relationships between the employer and employee and between the volunteer organization and employee. Hypotheses derived from the employee's perspective are tested with a nationally representative sample of volunteers (n=3,658). Findings suggest that ESV benefits are positively related to hours volunteered by the employee. Volunteer hours predict employee perceptions of skill acquisition, and such perceptions are positively related to perceptions of job success and employer recognition. We discuss the implications of these findings for business, employees, and volunteer organizations, with an emphasis on human resource management policy and practice. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Social Change and Social Policy in JapanINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF JAPANESE SOCIOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Masayuki Fujimura Abstract This paper aims to present and discuss social change and social policy in Japan after the mid-20th century from a sociological viewpoint. Japanese social change and social policy from the mid-20th century onward can be categorized into three models in chronological order: escape from mass poverty by means of industrialization, improvement of the social security system to establish a welfare state, and parallel progress of aspiration for a welfare society and workfare. Defined concretely, these are (1) the period that established and improved social security, which started immediately after the end of World War II and ended in 1973, when Japan began to suffer from low growth after enjoying high growth; (2) the period in which finance for social security was adjusted, halfway through which the country experienced a bubble economy; and (3) the period after the 1990s, in which the structural reform of social security went hand-in-hand with labor policy and the advent of globalization. In each of the three periods, the direction of social policy was affected by factors that caused changes in such areas as industrial structure (the decline of agriculture), demographic structure (an aging society), and family structure and work pattern (the growing trend of nuclear families, single-person households, and irregular employment). In Japan, life security now attracts increasing attention, and employment security rather than social security has been the central issue. As it is greatly affected by globalization, employment security grows less conspicuous and makes the vulnerability of social security grow more conspicuous. Social policy has the potential to become an area with which to struggle for national integration and fissures between social groups. [source] New Glaucoma Medications in the Geriatric Population: Efficacy and SafetyJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 5 2002Gary D. Novack PhD Glaucoma can be considered a disease of the aging eye. Most medications used to treat glaucoma are in topical eyedrop form and may cause numerous untoward systemic effects in older persons. In recent years, several new ocular hypotensive medications have become available. These medications are being used more commonly because there is a growing trend by ophthalmologists to aggressively lower intraocular pressure. Therefore, geriatricians require a comprehensive knowledge of medications used to treat glaucoma, in addition to an understanding of their mechanism of action profiles of untoward effects and possible interactions with other diseases or medications. Therefore, we performed a review of the medications recently introduced into clinical practice. We selected drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 1996 and September 2001. The safety profiles of these agents and their untoward side effects were reviewed by class: topical carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (brinzolamide: ocular tolerance, taste perversion), ,-adrenoceptor antagonists (timolol: bradycardia and bronchospasm), ,-adrenergic agonists (brimonidine: oral dryness, headache, and fatigue), and prostaglandin analogs (latanoprost, bimatoprost, travoprost, and unoprostone isopropyl: ocular hyperemia, iris color changes). The function of this review is to make geriatricians more aware of the efficacy and untoward effects of medications recently introduced into clinical practice. We recommend that geriatricians perform a medication review on all medications their patients use, including eye drops. [source] Changes in epidemiological patterns of sea lice infestation on farmed Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., in Scotland between 1996 and 2006JOURNAL OF FISH DISEASES, Issue 4 2008F Lees Abstract Analyses of a unique database containing sea lice records over an 11 year period provide evidence of changing infestation patterns in Scotland. The data, collected from more than 50 commercial Atlantic salmon farms, indicate that both species of sea lice commonly found in Scotland, Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus, have declined on farms over the past decade. Reductions for both species have been particularly marked since 2001 when more effective veterinary medicines became available. Treatment data were also available in the database and these show a growing trend towards the use of the in-feed medication emamectin benzoate (Slice®), particularly in the first year of the salmon production cycle. However, this trend towards single product use has not been sustained in 2006, the latest year for which data are available. There is some evidence of region to region variation within Scotland with the Western Isles experiencing higher levels of infestation. However, compared to the levels observed between 1996 and 2000, all regions have benefited from reduced lice infestation, with the overall pattern showing a particular reduction in the second and third quarters of the second year of production. [source] Large mergers and acquisitions of European brewing groups,event study evidence on value creationAGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2007Oliver Ebneth Acquisitions have been the growing trend in recent years, giving brewers the opportunity to enhance their degree of internationalization and market share remarkably through diverse one-off deals. Larger brewers are faced with low prospects for volume growth in developed markets leading them to seek growth either via acquisition of other brewers or by aggressive participation in developing markets or both. This study employs event study analysis to examine 31 mergers and acquisitions among leading European brewing groups. Differences regarding the brewers' corporate success can be determined within the European peer group. The results are discussed by additionally comparing the performance of companies that experienced M&As and companies that did not. Managerial implications as well as future research propositions conclude this article. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 23: 377,406, 2007. [source] Girls and Culture, in Delinquency Intervention: A Case Study of RYSEJUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 3 2003THAO LE ABSTRACT Given the growing trend of girls in the juvenile justice system, there has been increasing attention toward providing gender-specific programming. The Reaffirming Young Sisters' Excellence (RYSE) program was one of Alameda County, Calif., Probation Department's intervention programs designed to address both gender and cultural factors in girls programming. ANCOVA analyses of 350 randomized girls did not provide support for the gender-specific hypothesis that girls who received RYSE intervention will have a lower recidivism score than girls who received traditional probation services. However, the cultural hypothesis was partially supported with African American girls who participated in the RYSE intervention faring better than Hispanic, White, and Asian RYSE girls, and their African American control counterparts. [source] WHAT WORKS BEST WHEN CONTRACTING FOR SERVICES?PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 4 2007AN ANALYSIS OF CONTRACTING PERFORMANCE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL IN THE US During the last decade the field of public administration has undergone a period of renewed interest in the topic of performance and effectiveness. Key contributions to the growing stream of research on public sector performance include work focusing on the adoption and implementation of performance measurement in the public sector (see, for example, Julnes and Holzer 2001; Behn 2003); theoretical and empirical research on management's effect on organizational performance (see, for example, O'Toole and Meier 1999; Meier and O'Toole 2002); and efforts to identify the determinants of organizational effectiveness (see, for example, Rainey and Steinbauer 1999; Brewer and Selden 2004). Surprisingly, this literature includes very few studies that explicitly address the issue of performance in contracting for services (exceptions include Domberger and Hensher 1993; Romzek and Johnstone 2002). In the United States alone, hundreds of billions of dollars are contracted out every year, and innumerable policies and programmes are implemented, at least in part, through contractual arrangements between public agencies and private providers (Savas 2000; DeHoog and Salamon 2002; Kelman 2002; Cooper 2003). Moreover, contracting for services appears to be a growing trend in Western Europe and other regions (Kettl 2000; Savas 2000). With the stakes so high, there is a pressing need for research that identifies factors and practices that contribute to success in contracting for services. This paper takes on the challenge by developing a model of contracting performance and testing it using Substantively Weighted Analytic Techniques (SWAT), a new methodology that allows researchers to isolate high performance among a large number of observations in order to identify variables practitioners can manipulate to improve practice (Meier and Gill 2000). [source] Between spin and reality: examining disclosure practices in three African countriesPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2007George A. LarbiArticle first published online: 28 JUN 200 Abstract The declaration of assets and liabilities represents a growing trend in the avoidance and resolution of conflict of interest and has become a part of an integrated strategy to control corruption. This article reviews practices in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda by addressing questions of who must declare, what must be declared, where to declare and how often to declare. It argues that like all the other mechanisms for controlling corruption, its efficacy depends on enforcement and compliance. The three cases reviewed suggest that there is a significant gap between the rhetoric of declaration and the reality of effective monitoring and compliance to make the system work to ensure transparency and public trust. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Emerging Federal Quasi Government: Issues of Management and AccountabilityPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 3 2001Ronald C. Moe There has been a growing trend in the federal government toward reliance on organizations that commingle legal attributes of the government and private sectors. These hybrid organizations now constitute a quasi government that occasions both interest and concern by political leaders, practitioners, and scholars alike because these organizations touch the very heart of democratic governance: To whom are these hybrids accountable? How well is the public interest being protected against the interests of private parties? In this article, the author seeks to define the quasi government and place these hybrid entities into manageable categories from which legal and behavioral generalizations may be drawn. Are hybrid organizations a problem or a solution? Looking critically at this question, the author suggests the answer may depend in large measure on which of two management paradigms the reader accepts: the constitutionalist management paradigm or the entrepreneurial management paradigm, both of which are defined and discussed. The author concludes that the increasin reliance on hybrid organizations constitutes a threat not only to accountable management within the government, but to the fundamental values of democratic governance as well. [source] The national innovation system and foreign R&D: the case of TaiwanR & D MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2007Shin-Horng Chen R&D internationalization has increasingly involved countries outside the developed world. In addition, there has been a growing trend for countries in East Asia to seek to attract the R&D facilities of multinationals (MNCs). For such countries, they are faced with a fundamental question as to what kinds of impact MNCs' offshore R&D facilities will have on their own countries, especially in terms of technological innovation and industrial development. Set against the above backdrop, this paper sets out to examine a relatively new aspect of R&D internationalization related to global innovation networks and to open up the blackbox of the spillover effect regarding foreign R&D by examining the interplay of foreign R&D and Taiwan's national innovation system. The empirical part of the paper draws mainly upon intensive case studies of four high-profile foreign R&D facilities in the IT industry. The way foreign R&D interplays with Taiwan's NIS is examined in terms of the market & technology linkages. [source] Development of a low volume plasma sample precipitation procedure for liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry assays used for drug discovery applicationsRAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 15 2005Xiaoying Xu The demand for high sensitivity bioanalytical methods has dramatically increased in the drug discovery stage; in addition, there has been a growing trend of reducing the sample volume that is required for these assays. A sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS) procedure has been developed and tested to meet these needs. The assay requires only a low plasma sample volume (10,µL) and employs a protein precipitation procedure using a 1:6 plasma/acetonitrile ratio. The supernatant is injected directly into the LC/MS/MS system using the selected reaction monitoring (SRM) procedure for detection. A generic HPLC gradient based on a methanol/water mobile phase with a flow rate set to 0.8,mL/min was used. The test method showed very good linearity between 0.1,1000,ng/mL (R2,=,0.9737), precision (%RSD,=,6,9), accuracy (%RE,=,,2) and reproducibility (%RSD,=,11). A drug discovery IV/PO study was assayed using both the new low volume method and our standard volume (50,µL) method. The correlation of the two sets of data from the two methods was excellent (R2,=,0.9287). This new assay procedure has been successfully used in our laboratory for over 100 different rat or mouse discovery PK studies. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Modelling the impact of modifying lifestyle risk factors on dementia prevalence in Australian population aged 45 years and over, 2006,2051AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL ON AGEING, Issue 3 2010Binod Nepal Aim:, To model impact of modifiable risk behaviour on dementia prevalence among the Australian population aged 45 years and over. Methods:, A group-based computer model was constructed to estimate the impact of modifying risk behaviour on dementia prevalence. Results:, Based on population ageing, the number of people aged 45 years and over living with dementia is expected to triple from 187 000 in 2006 to 650 000 by 2051. A drop in proportion ever smokers by 5% every 5 years would lower population with dementia by 2% in 2051. If obesity rate drops by 5%, dementia prevalence would be lower by 6%. A decline in physical inactivity rate by 5% would reduce dementia by 11%. Persistence of the growing trend in obesity and physical inactivity would result in a larger than expected dementia epidemic. Conclusion:, Improving the risk behaviours has potential to make a substantial reduction in the number of people with dementia. [source] A Latent Contingency Table Approach to Dose Finding for Combinations of Two AgentsBIOMETRICS, Issue 3 2009Guosheng Yin Summary Two-agent combination trials have recently attracted enormous attention in oncology research. There are several strong motivations for combining different agents in a treatment: to induce the synergistic treatment effect, to increase the dose intensity with nonoverlapping toxicities, and to target different tumor cell susceptibilities. To accommodate this growing trend in clinical trials, we propose a Bayesian adaptive design for dose finding based on latent 2 × 2 tables. In the search for the maximum tolerated dose combination, we continuously update the posterior estimates for the unknown parameters associated with marginal probabilities and the correlation parameter based on the data from successive patients. By reordering the dose toxicity probabilities in the two-dimensional space, we assign each coming cohort of patients to the most appropriate dose combination. We conduct extensive simulation studies to examine the operating characteristics of the proposed method under various practical scenarios. Finally, we illustrate our dose-finding procedure with a clinical trial of agent combinations at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. [source] Prescribing pattern of anti-epileptic drugs in an Italian setting of elderly outpatients: a population-based study during 2004,07BRITISH JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 4 2010Alessandro Oteri WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT , In the last years there has been a growing trend in anti-epileptic drug (AED) use, particularly in elderly patients, but few data concerning indication of use are available in general practice. , Various AEDs, including newer agents, have been approved for indications other than epilepsy and are increasingly also used for unlicensed indications. , No data about the impact of re-imbursement restrictions on the choice of anti-epileptic drugs in general practice are available. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS , In general practice, a rapid increase of AED prescriptions in the elderly was observed, principally due to the use of newer AEDs for indications other than epilepsy. , Re-imbursement restrictions influenced newer AED use, particularly pregabalin and gabapentin prescriptions. , Phenobarbital, accounting for more than 50% of total AED volume, was the most prescribed medication during the entire study period. This finding should be considered in light of the potential risks associated with phenobarbital use in the geriatric population. AIMS The aims of the study were to assess the trend of older and newer anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) in the elderly population and to analyze the effects of a health-policy intervention with regard to AED use in general practice in a setting in Southern Italy. METHODS Data were extracted from the ,Caserta-1' Local-Health-Unit Arianna database in the years 2004,07. Patients aged over 65 years, receiving at least one AED prescription and registered in the lists of 88 general practitioners, were selected. The use of older and newer AEDs was calculated as 1 year prevalence and incidence of use and defined daily dose (DDD) per 1000 inhabitants day,1. Sub-analyses by gender, age and indication of use were performed. RESULTS Most of AED users were treated because of neuropathic pain (64.8%). However, the main indication of use for older AEDs (57.8%) was epilepsy, whereas newer AEDs (79.5%) were used for neuropathic pain. Prevalence and incidence of newer AED use increased until 2006, followed by a reduction in 2007. Newer AEDs, particularly gabapentin and pregabalin, were used in the treatment of more patients than older AEDs. However phenobarbital, accounting for more than 50% of total AED volume, was the most prescribed medication during the entire study period. CONCLUSIONS An increasing use of AEDs has been observed during 2004,07, mostly due to the prescription of newer compounds for neuropathic pain. The fall in the use of newer AEDs during 2007 coincides with revised re-imbursement criteria for gabapentin and pregabalin. The large use of phenobarbital in the elderly should be considered in the light of a risk of adverse drug reactions. [source] The Search for Common Ground: Developing Emergency Medicine in IranACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 5 2007Jeffrey P. Smith MD Academic ties between Iran and the United States were extensive before the 1979 revolution in Iran. After 20 years of negligible academic exchanges, there has been a growing trend of professional contacts between the two countries over the past few years. The genuine warmth of friendship and commitment to excellence in emergency medicine (EM) among Iranians has transcended the political barriers to allow international contribution of EM development in the country. Since 1999, there has been a successful academic collaboration between Iranian and U.S. universities to help develop EM in Iran. Today, remarkable progresses have been achieved through recognition of EM as a distinct profession, developing EM residency programs, improving emergency medical services, establishing qualified emergency departments, training faculty and staff, starting physician exchange programs, and building mutual contributions with professionals throughout the world. A supportive policy environment and a high-quality health care system have had incredible impacts on EM development in the country. [source] ,-Adrenoceptor gene variation and intermediate physiological traits: prediction of distant phenotypeEXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 7 2010John H. Eisenach Intermediate physiological phenotype is the genetic and environmental influence on functional physiological characteristics with direct prognostic relevance to distant, more complex phenotypes, such as cardiovascular and metabolic disease. Increasingly available and affordable genotyping techniques have created an explosion of information on candidate gene variation and its relationship to intermediate physiological traits. Variation in ,-adrenoceptor genes is an intense focus of investigation because ,-adrenoceptors are: (1) ubiquitous in organ system distribution; (2) integral to a multitude of physiological processes; (3) well described in cardiovascular and metabolic disease; and (4) major pharmacological treatment targets. Furthermore, knowledge of functional gene variants in these receptors predates the description of the human genome. This review highlights the influence of common gene variation in the three ,-adrenoceptor subtypes on intermediate physiological phenotype predictive of cardiovascular disease and obesity. Although further information is needed to replicate this information across populations, this review condenses and summarizes growing trends in specific pleiotropic effects of ,-adrenoceptor polymorphisms and suggests which variants may be predictive of distant phenotype. [source] Exploring New Frontiers: What Do Computers Contribute to Teaching Foreign Languages in Elementary School?FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 3 2002Joyce W. Nutta ABSTRACT: Two growing trends in foreign language education, the study of foreign languages in the elementary school (FLES) and the use of computer-assisted language learning (CALL), have been well researched independently but rarely in concert. This study compares the use of a print and multimedia program to teach Spanish to second through fifth graders from quantitative and qualitative perspectives. The experimental portion of the study showed that the achievement and proficiency of students using print or multimedia materials did not differ at posttest. However, a small but statistically significant difference in achievement emerged at the delayed test point in favor of the students who used the multimedia materials, although this finding is limited by participant attrition over the 13-month study. The qualitative portion of the study detected differences in language behavior, with the students who used multimedia spending more time to stop, check, and revise their language production, leading to greater precision in pronunciation and the use of larger chunks of language when repeating phrases. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||