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Cluster Effect (cluster + effect)
Selected AbstractsThe Importance of Being Connected.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 20102005), City Networks, Eurocities (1990, Urban Government: Lyon Abstract The international dimension of cities and their role in inter-urban markets and inter-urban competition are now often studied and analysed from the perspective of public policy, urban planning or geography. Yet few studies highlight the political work that goes on in acquiring this dimension. Focusing on an inter-urban network such as Eurocities sheds light on this work and makes it possible to move away from an analysis of the Europeanization of cities in terms of centre and periphery. In this network, a horizontal form of Europeanization can be observed. The article examines this inter-urban network as an inter-urban configuration. The network is based on relationships between city councils, but due to a sort of cluster effect, it becomes more autonomous and , through resources as well as constraints , influences those relationships, indeed influences urban governance. Résumé La dimension internationale et la place des villes dans le marché et la compétition inter-urbaines sont aujourd'hui des objets bien étudiés à la fois en analyse de l'action publique, en urbanisme ou en géographie. Mais peu de travaux repèrent le travail politique à l',uvre pour acquérir cette dimension. Le détour par un réseau de villes comme Eurocités éclaire ce travail comme il permet de se défaire d'une analyse de l'européanisation des villes en termes de centre et de périphérie. C'est une européanisation horizontale qui est mise au jour à travers ce réseau. Le réseau de villes est ici saisi comme une configuration interurbaine: il repose sur des relations entre municipalités urbaines mais par un effet d'agrégation, le réseau gagne en autonomie et pèse ,à travers des ressources comme des contraintes , sur ces relations voire sur le gouvernement des villes. [source] Predictors of Adherence to the Use of Hip Protectors in Nursing Home ResidentsJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 3 2004Andrea Warnke PhD Objectives: To assess predictors of hip-protector use in nursing home residents under usual-care conditions and after intervention consisting of structured education of nurses and nursing home residents and provision of free hip protectors. Design: Nested cohort analyses within a cluster randomized, controlled trial with 18 months follow-up. Setting: Forty-nine nursing home clusters in Hamburg, Germany. Participants: Residents with at least one fall during the study period (intervention group, n=237; usual-care group, n=274). Measurements: Use of hip protector while falling. Regression analyses were performed for each of the two cohorts of fallers using the time to the first fall without hip protector as the dependent variable. Predefined nursing home cluster-related parameters (center, staffing ratio, proportion of registered nurses in nursing staff, hip-protector use before study period) and resident-related parameters (sex, history of falls and fractures, fear of falling, urinary incontinence, use of walking aid, degree of disablement) were considered as explanatory variables. Results: Under usual care, 97% of fallers (n=266), compared with 62% (n=148) in the intervention group, experienced at least one fall without hip protection. Using Cox proportional hazards models with and without frailty parameter (random cluster effect), the following predictors were identified: intervention group: use of walking aid, hazard ratio (HR)=1.53 (95% confidence interval (CI):0.98,2.39) and no urinary incontinence, HR=1.47 (95% CI:1.03,2.09); usual care: nursing staff per 10 residents, HR=0.78 (95% CI=0.63,0.96); high degree of disablement, HR=1.38 (95% CI=1.06,1.80); strong fear of falling, HR=0.78 (95% CI=0.60,1.02). The nursing home cluster was a significant predictor in the control group (P=.029), but not in the intervention group (P=.100). Conclusion:, Only a few and weak predictors of hip-protector use of questionable relevance could be identified in both groups. Future research should concentrate on the implementation of interventions of proven efficacy, such as provision of hip protectors combined with structured education of staff and residents. [source] Prevalence and associations of partner abuse in women attending general practice: a cross-sectional surveyAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 5 2002Kelsey L. Hegarty Objective: To deter mine the prevalence and socio-demographic associations of physical, emotional and sexual abuse by a partner or ex-partner for women attending Australian general practices. Method: In 1996, women attending 20 randomly chosen Brisbane inner south region general practices were screened for a history of partner abuse using a self-report questionnaire. Multivariate analyses were conducted on the data, using presence of abuse or not adjusting for cluster effect to obtain prevalence rate ratios for socio-demographic background data and history of violence in the family of origin. Results: Thirty-seven per cent (CI 31.0,42.4) of the survey participants (n=1,836, response rate 78.5%) admitted to having ever experienced abuse in an adult intimate relationship. One in four women (23.3%) had ever experienced physical abuse, one in three (33.9%) emotional abuse and one in 10 (10.6%) sexual abuse. Abused women were 64.1 (CI 44.4,94.1) times more likely to have ever been afraid of any partner than non-abused women. Of women in current relationships (n=1,344), 8.0% self-reported physical or emotional or sexual abuse in the past 12 months and 1.5% all three types of abuse. Associations of abuse included being younger (<60 years), separated or divorced, having a history of child abuse or domestic violence between their parents. Conclusion: Partner abuse is very common in women attending general practices and clinicians need to be alert to possible indications of partner abuse (age, marital status, past history of abuse). [source] Overcoming the barriers to disclosure and inquiry of partner abuse for women attending general practiceAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 5 2001Kelsey L. Hegarty Objectives: To determine the barriers to and rates of disclosure of partner abuse by women attending GPs. Methods: In a qualitative study, abused Melbourne women were interviewed about their experiences with GPs. Following this, adult women attending a random sample of Brisbane general practices were surveyed. Multivariate analyses were conducted on the data, using levels of disclosure and GP inquiry adjusting for cluster effect to obtain prevalence rate ratios. Results: Thirty-seven per cent of the survey participants (n=1836, response rate 78.5%) admitted to having ever experienced abuse in an adult intimate relationship. One-third (36.7%) of these abused women (n=674) had ever told a GP and 87.8% had never been asked by their GP about partner abuse. Women who disclosed were almost twice as likely than women who have not: to be middle aged, have experienced combined physical, emotional and sexual abuse and be afraid of their partner. They were more than twice as likely to have been asked about abuse. A GP's good communication skills facilitated disclosure. The main barriers to disclosure were that women saw the problem as their own i.e. internal barriers. The data from the qualitative study (n=20) are used to illustrate these findings. Conclusion: Educational interventions that improve GPs' communication skills might result in increased disclosure and early intervention in partner abuse. GPs need sensitive attitudes, greater skills, knowledge and support to manage the consequences of disclosure. [source] Multivalent Carbohydrate Recognition on a Glycodendrimer-Functionalized Flow-Through ChipCHEMBIOCHEM, Issue 11 2008Hilbert M. Branderhorst Abstract Dendrimers were fitted out with up to eight mannose moieties by "click" chemistry. They were subsequently attached to aluminum oxide chips via a spacer that was linked to the dendrimer core; this resulted in a microarray of glycodendrimers. Binding of the glycodendrimers to the fluorescent lectins ConA and GNA was observable in real time. In a single experiment it was possible to observe the multivalency enhancement or cluster effect in the binding event. This effect was small for ConA, in agreement with its widely spaced binding sites, whereas it was large for GNA, with its twelve much more closely spaced binding sites. The dendrimer-fitted chip represents a valuable screening tool for multivalency effects. Furthermore kinetic and thermodynamic data on binding events can be deduced. Inhibition experiments are also possible with the system as was shown for ConA with ,-methyl mannose as the inhibitor. [source] A Mechanically Interlocked BundleCHEMISTRY - A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Issue 8 2004Jovica D. Badji Abstract The prototype of an artificial molecular machine consisting of a trisammonium tricationic component interlocked with a tris(crown ether) component to form a molecular bundle with averaged C3v symmetry has been designed and synthesized. The system is based on noncovalent interactions, which include 1) N+H,,,O hydrogen bonds; 2) CH,,,O interactions between the CH2NH2+CH2 protons on three dibenzylammonium-ion-containing arms, which are attached symmetrically to a benzenoid core, and three dibenzo[24]crown-8 macrorings fused onto a triphenylene core; and 3) ,,,,, stacking interactions between the aromatic cores. The template-directed synthesis of the mechanically interlocked, triply threaded bundle involves post- assembly covalent modification, that is, the efficient conversion of three azide functions at the ends of the arms of the bound and threaded trication into bulky triazole stoppers, after 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with di- tert -butylacetylenedicarboxylate to the extremely strong 1:1 adduct that is formed in dichloromethane/acetonitrile (3:2), on account of a cluster effect associated with the paucivalent adduct. Evidence for the averaged C3v symmetry of the molecular bundle comes from absorption and luminescence data, as well as from electrochemical experiments, 1H NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. The photophysical properties of the mechanically interlocked bundle are very similar to those of the superbundle that precedes the formation of the bundle in the process of supramolecular assistance to covalent synthesis. Although weak non-nucleophilic bases (e.g., nBu3N and iPr2NEt) fail to deprotonate the bundle, the strong tBuOK does, as indicated by both luminescence and 1H NMR spectroscopy. While deprotonation undoubtedly loosens up the interlocked structure of the molecular bundle by replacing relatively strong N+H,,,O hydrogen bonds by much weaker NH,,,O ones, the ,,,,, stacking interactions ensure that any structural changes are inconsequential, particularly when the temperature of the solution of the neutral molecular bundle in dichloromethane is cooled down to considerably below room temperature. [source] | |||||||||||||