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Little Effort (little + effort)
Selected AbstractsProfessionals' perceptions of the role of literacy in early intervention servicesPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 7 2008Karen Thatcher The purpose of the current study was to examine therapists' perceptions about literacy in early intervention services. Little effort has been devoted to the incorporation of literacy into therapy services for very young children with special needs. In an attempt to understand how therapy providers view the role of literacy in their services, 168 providers were surveyed. Responses were compared and in general, speech therapists and developmental therapists reported similar rates of use of books and rhymes and similar attitudes about the role of literacy in services. In contrast, occupational and physical therapists were often similar in their responses, yet, in most analyses, their responses were significantly different than the speech and developmental therapists'. This trend mirrors the existing literature that more attention has been devoted to encouraging the incorporation of literacy into speech services than other therapy services. Implications for these different practices and attitudes across disciplines are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Providing operators and technicians for the ecological restoration industryECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION, Issue 1 2007Robin Buchanan In 1986, it took little effort from bush regenerators to persuade the New South Wales Department of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) to set up a new course specifically for the bush regeneration industry, but the unique nature of training for ecological restoration and management was threatened in late 2006. [source] Paying attention to attention: New economies for learningEDUCATIONAL THEORY, Issue 4 2004Suzanne De Castell Challenging formal education's traditional monopoly over the mass-scale acculturation of youth, the technological infrastructure of the new economy brings in its wake a new "attentional economy" in which any "connected" adult or child owns and controls a full economic share of her or his own attention. For youth who have never known the text-bound world from which their elders have come, new technologies afford them far greater power and greatly expanded rights that enable them to decide for themselves what they can see, think, and do, as their teachers grapple with ways to attract, rather than compel, students' voluntary attention. This paper reviews various formulations of "attentional economy," and it urges the study of popular forms of technologically enabled play. These technologies effectively mobilize, direct, and sustain the engaged attention of youth, whose learning in and through play far exceeds the kind of glazed-eyed button-mashing complained of by those who have made little effort to understand the educative prospects of computer gaming. [source] Probabilistic risk assessment of reproductive effects of polychlorinated biphenyls on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from the Southeast United States coastENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 12 2002Lori H. Schwacke Abstract High levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been reported in the tissues of some species of marine mammals. The high concentrations are of concern because a growing body of experimental evidence links PCBs to deleterious effects on reproduction, endocrine homeostasis, and immune system function. Much of the recent research has focused on determining the exposure of marine mammal populations to PCBs, but very little effort has been devoted to the actual risk assessments that are needed to determine the expected impacts of the documented exposures. We describe a novel risk assessment approach that integrates measured tissue concentrations of PCBs with a surrogate dose-response relationship and leads to predictions of health risks for marine mammals as well as to the uncertainties associated with these predictions. Specifically, we use PCB tissue residue data from three populations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), study the feasibility of published dose-response data from a surrogate species, and combine this information to estimate the risk of detrimental reproductive effects in female dolphins. Our risk analyses for dolphin populations near Beaufort (NC, USA), Sarasota (FL, USA), and Matagorda Bay (TX, USA) indicate a high likelihood that reproductive success, primarily in primiparous females, is being severely impaired by chronic exposure to PCBs. Excess risk of reproductive failure, measured in terms of stillbirth or neonatal mortality, for primiparous females was estimated as 60% (Beaufort), 79% (Sarasota), and 78% (Matagorda Bay). Females of higher parity, which have previously off-loaded a majority of their PCB burden, exhibit a much lower risk. [source] On the fundamental communication abstraction supplied by P2P overlay networksEUROPEAN TRANSACTIONS ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS, Issue 1 2006Curt Cramer The disruptive advent of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing in 2000 attracted significant interest. P2P networks have matured from their initial form, unstructured overlays, to structured overlays like distributed hash tables (DHTs), which are considered state-of-the-art. There are huge efforts to improve their performance. Various P2P applications like distributed storage and application-layer multicast were proposed. However, little effort was spent to understand the communication abstraction P2P overlays supply. Only when it is understood, the reach of P2P ideas will significantly broaden. Furthermore, this clarification reveals novel approaches and highlights future directions. In this paper, we reconsider well-known P2P overlays, linking them to insights from distributed systems research. We conclude that the main communication abstraction is that of a virtual address space or application-specific naming. On this basis, P2P systems build a functional layer implementing, for example lookup, indirection and distributed processing. Our insights led us to identify interesting and unexplored points in the design space. Copyright © 2004 AEI. [source] African-American Students' Opinions About Foreign Language Study: An Exploratory Study of Low Enrollments at the College LevelFOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 2 2005Zena Moore Abstract: Persistent low numbers of African Americans in the foreign language teacher certification program at the University of Texas at Austin motivated the study reported here. Two groups of students responded to a questionnaire that sought information on foreign language experience at elementary and high school, as well as family experiences in foreign languages. Findings revealed that whereas very few students had the opportunity to study a foreign language at the elementary level, all were exposed to at least a two-year compulsory program at high school. These experiences were not motivating enough to encourage college-level continuation, nor were family experiences. Students' language preferences did not support previous findings that low enrollment figures resulted from language offerings that lacked ethnic and cultural appeal. Rather, the study found that there appeared to be little effort made to encourage African-American high school and college students to consider teaching career paths. Students recommended more aggressive dissemination of information to African-American students at the college level about the advantages on pursuing foreign language study. They overwhelmingly suggested including a foreign language requirement in all discipline areas. [source] The Deciduous Forest , Boreal Forest EcotoneGEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 7 2010David Goldblum Ecotones have been subject to significant attention over the past 25 years as a consensus emerged that they might be uniquely sensitive to the effects of climate change. Most ecotone field studies and modeling efforts have focused on transitions between forest and non-forest biomes (e.g. boreal forest to Arctic tundra, forest to prairie, subalpine forests to alpine tundra) while little effort has been made to evaluate or simply understand forest,forest ecotones, specifically the deciduous forest , boreal forest ecotone. Geographical shifts and changes at this ecotone because of anthropogenic factors are tied to the broader survival of both the boreal and deciduous forest communities as well as global factors such as biodiversity loss and dynamics of the carbon cycle. This review summarizes what is known about the location, controlling mechanisms, disturbance regimes, anthropogenic impacts, and sensitivity to climate change of the deciduous forest , boreal forest ecotone. [source] A Numerical Simulation Model for Shield Tunnelling with Compressed Air SupportGEOMECHANICS AND TUNNELLING, Issue 3 2008Felix Nagel Dipl.-Ing. This paper is concerned with a numerical simulation model (ekate) specifically designed for shield tunnelling in fully and partially saturated soils based upon the Finite Element Method (FEM). The model considers all relevant components , the soil, the lining, the tail void grouting, the hydraulic jacks and different types of face support , involved in shield tunnelling. The surrounding soft soil is formulated as a three-phase material, consisting of the soil skeleton, pore water and air. This model allows for the simulation of consolidation processes in partially saturated soils as well as of flow of compressed air often used as temporary face support during repair interventions at the cutting wheel. Despite the complexity connected with the relatively high degree of realism of the simulation model, only little effort is required from the user to establish a realistic 3D model for shield tunnelling. To this end an automatic model generator has been developed which allows for a user friendly generation of the discretized model including all components involved and to investigate variants with a minimum effort for the user. The model allows for realistic predictions of settlements and also provides information on deformations and stresses in the ground, the lining and the TBM, respectively. In addition to its use as a prognosis tool in the design process, in particular for tunnelling projects in sensitive urban areas, the model also may be used to assist the driving and steering process in mechanized tunnelling. The paper provides an overview over the main components of the model, the automatic model generator and the tri-phasic representation of the soil. A simulation of a compressed air intervention of a shield tunnel in soft soil demonstrates the applicability of the model. Ein numerisches Simulationsmodell für druckluftgestützte Schildvortriebe In diesem Beitrag wird ein Simulationsmodell basierend auf der Methode der Finiten Elemente (FEM) für die Berechnung schildvorgetriebener Tunnel in un-, voll- und teilgesättigten Böden vorgestellt. In diesem numerischen Modell werden alle beim maschinellen Tunnelbau wesentlichen Komponenten , der Boden, der Ausbau, die Schildschwanzverpressung, die Vortriebspressen sowie unterschiedliche Arten der Ortsbruststützung , wirklichkeitsnah berücksichtigt. Der Baugrund wird im Simulationsmodell als dreiphasiges Material modelliert, bestehend aus dem Korngerüst, dem Porenwasser und der Porenluft. Diese Materialformulierung für den Baugrund ermöglicht die Analyse von Konsolidierungsprozessen in teilgesättigten Böden ebenso wie von Strömungsvorgängen im Boden bei Verwendung von Druckluft als temporärer Ortsbruststützung. Druckluft wird häufig beim Wechsel von Schneidwerkzeugen eingesetzt. Ungeachtet der Komplexität des Modells, die mit der relativ wirklichkeitsnahen Abbildung des Vortriebsgeschehens verbunden ist, ist nur ein sehr geringer Aufwand für die Modellgenerierung erforderlich. Um diesen Eingabeaufwand auf ein Minimum zu reduzieren, wurde ein automatischer Modellgenerator entwickelt, der den Ingenieur bei der Eingabe unterstützt und die Untersuchung von Planungsalternativen deutlich vereinfacht. Das Modell ermöglicht wirklichkeitsnahe Prognosen von Bodenbewegungen und Beanspruchungen, wie sie für die Planung von Vortrieben insbesondere unter setzungsempfindlichen, innerstädtischen Gebieten erforderlich sind. Darüber hinaus stellt das Modell ein wertvolles Hilfsmittel bei der vortriebsbegleitenden Steuerung von Vortriebsmaschinen in Lockergestein dar. Neben den wesentlichen Komponenten des numerischen Modells, des Modellgenerators und der Dreiphasen-Formulierung für den Boden enthält der Beitrag als prototypisches Anwendungsbeispiel die Simulation einer Druckluftintervention in Lockergestein. [source] 360 Feedback from Another AngleHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2001David W. Bracken How do you know if a 360 process has been implemented successfully? What are the factors that influence its success? How can those factors be controlled by those responsible for its implementation? Despite its popularity, there has been little effort to build a comprehensive model that addresses these fundamental questions about 360 feedback. In a quest for such a model, we identify a host of key factors organized according to whether they exert their influence proximally or distally. We discuss how each factor contributes to successful implementation. After identifying how design features of a 360 process affect these key factors, we recommend how to enhance the probability of implementing 360 feedback successfully and sustaining the process over time. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source] A peer-to-peer IPTV service architecture for the IP multimedia subsystemINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, Issue 6-7 2010A. Bikfalvi Abstract During these last years the Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service and the different peer-to-peer (P2P) technologies have generated an increasing interest for the developers and the research community that find in them the solution to deal with the scalability problem of media streaming and reducing costs at the same time. However, despite of the benefits obtained in Internet-based applications and the growing deployment of commercial IPTV systems, there has been a little effort in combining them both. With the advent of the next-generation-network platforms such as the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), which advocates for an open and inter-operable service infrastructure, P2P emerges as a possible solution in situations where the traditional streaming mechanisms are not possible or not economically feasible. In this paper, we propose an IPTV service architecture for the IMS that combines a centralized control layer and a distributed, P2P-like, media layer that relies on the IMS devices or peers located in the customers' premises to act as streaming forwarding nodes. We extend the existing IMS IPTV standardization work that has already been done in 3GPP and ETSI TISPAN in order to require a minimum number of architectural changes. The objective is to obtain a system with a similar performance to the one in currently deployed systems and with the flexibility of P2P. One of the main challenges is to achieve comparable response times to user actions such as changing and tuning into channels, as well as providing a fast recovery mechanism when streaming nodes leave. To accomplish this we introduce the idea of foster peers as peers having inactive multimedia sessions and reserved resources. These peers are on stand-by until their functionality is required and at that moment, they are able to accept downstream peers at short notice for events requiring urgent treatment like channel changing and recovery. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Change impact analysis to support architectural evolutionJOURNAL OF SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND EVOLUTION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE, Issue 5 2002Jianjun Zhao Abstract Change impact analysis is a useful technique in software maintenance and evolution. Many techniques have been proposed to support change impact analysis at the code level of software systems, but little effort has been made for change impact analysis at the architectural level. In this paper, we present an approach to supporting change impact analysis at the architectural level of software systems based on an architectural slicing and chopping technique. The main feature of our approach is to assess the effect of changes in a software architecture by analyzing its formal architectural specification, and, therefore, the process of change impact analysis can be automated completely. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Respect in close relationships: Prototype definition, self-report assessment, and initial correlatesPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, Issue 2 2002Jennifer R. Frei Researchers who study romantic relationships have mentioned respect as a factor contributing to relationship success, but little effort has been made to define respect, measure it, or discover how it relates to other relationship constructs. In Study 1 a prototype methodology was used to identify consensual features of respect. Participants in Study 2 rated the centrality of the features of respect and completed a new prototype-based respect-for-partner scale that was highly reliable and correlated in predictable ways with avoidant attachment and evaluative aspects of partner descriptions. In Study 3, the new respect scale predicted relationship satisfaction better than scales measuring liking, loving, attachment-related anxiety and avoidance, and positive and negative partner qualities. Suggestions are offered for future research on respect. [source] Styrene grafting onto a polyolefin in an internal mixer and a twin-screw extruder: Experiment and kinetic modelPOLYMER ENGINEERING & SCIENCE, Issue 7 2001Jaehyug Cha There has been relatively little effort to quantitatively understand graft copolymerizaution in either batch mixers or twin-screw extruders. Most efforts have concentrated on grafting maleic anhydride, which does not homopolymerize. In this paper we consider grafting with styrene, which may homopolymerize as well as graft. The influence of residence time on degree of grafting in an internal mixer and a twin-screw extruder were studied by measuring reaction yields with respect to reaction time in a mixer and along the screw axis in a twin-screw extruder. The degree of grafting increased with initial monomer and peroxide concentration. Grafting reactions with three different peroxides were also investigated. The degree of styrene grafting in an internal mixer is slightly higher than that in a twin-screw extruder. The rate of reaction along the screw axis in terms of residence time seems higher than for the batch mixer. The melt viscosity dropped dramatically with addition of peroxide. A kinetic scheme is proposed and the experimental results are critically compared with it. [source] The relevance, practicality and viability of spatial development initiatives: a South African case studyPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 5 2003John M. Luiz Policymakers have for long had an ambivalent attitude towards space and have been hesitant in dealing with intra-national models of uneven development. Issues surrounding regional development have always been tainted with ideological and political influences rather than being a purely economic consideration. This article addresses the thinking behind regional development policies and questions the role of spatial policy. It confronts this question in the South African case where local government capacity is particularly constrained and the boundaries between government tiers unclear. The first section outlines a selected critical history of the regional policy literature as it applies to South Africa. This is followed by an examination of South Africa's post-apartheid policy of spatial development initiatives (SDIs) focusing on the most contentious of these, namely the Fish River SDI, which has been plagued by controversy. It focuses on the tensions involved in development planning between government agencies and between politicians and technocrats. It also highlights the growing schism between government and civil society with the former emphasising mega-projects which reinforce its global competitive strategy but with limited apparent benefit to the local community. Lastly, it concludes that little effort was made to integrate the SDI into a provincial poverty strategy and argues that instead of utilising industrial decentralisation to redress inequality and poverty, a ,first-best' option may be for the government to target poverty directly by investing in various forms of human capital. Such an approach would lead to long-term economic growth and also improve South Africa's international competitiveness. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Using plant analysis to predict yield losses caused by sulphur deficiencyANNALS OF APPLIED BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2001MECHTELD M A BLAKE-KALFF Summary Yield losses in agricultural crops as a result of sulphur deficiency are increasing in the UK, because of the decrease in sulphur dioxide emissions and changes in fertiliser practices. Therefore, there is a need for a reliable and practical diagnostic indicator to predict early in the growing season whether it is necessary to apply S fertiliser, but also to avoid the application of fertiliser when not necessary. A successful diagnostic indicator should be reliable and stable throughout plant development, but also easily measured with great accuracy and as little effort as possible. In this paper the difficulties and problems with currently used diagnostic tests for S deficiency, such as total S, sulphate or the N:S ratio, will be discussed. A more reliable and practical indicator of S deficiency is the malate: sulphate peak area ratio which is at present being developed for use by commercial laboratories and their customers. [source] Front and Back Covers, Volume 21, Number 3.ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY, Issue 3 2005June 200 Front and back cover caption, volume 21 issue 3 ENERGY AND VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE The photo on the front and back cover illustrates the article by Annette Henning in this issue. A solar collector is hoisted onto the roof of a Swedish house. In Sweden, the most common solar heating systems are those that supply hot water for both heating and general domestic hot water purposes. Contrary to popular belief, solar collectors are not dependent on a high air temperature, but produce heat throughout the year, whenever there is a clear sky. In her article, Annette Henning examines the actual and potential role of anthropology in energy studies. She reflects on her own experience of the trials of working as an anthropologist in the energy sector, where economists and technical expertise reign, and where production- and distribution-oriented approaches prevail. There is a great deal of resistance to anthropological contributions, in part because anthropologists have made so little effort to be heard in the public domain on this issue. In his editorial, Hal Wilhite makes the case for "energy anthropology". He argues that anthropologists have paid insufficient attention to one of the most urgent problems facing the world, namely our patterns of energy consumption and their economic and environmental consequences. Increasing consumerism in developing countries makes anthropological approaches indispensable, particularly in finding ways to moderate energy consumption and to help implement small-scale renewable energy initiatives. In his review of three of the latest books on vernacular architecture, Marcel Vellinga identifies architecture as a prominent cultural category and a major consumer of energy and resources, and thus a significant contributor to current environmental problems. Vellinga argues that anthropology should pay more attention to vernacular architecture as a locus of indigenous knowledge, to help the global community address the challenges of creating a sustainable built environment for all. ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY brings these contributions to your attention in the hope of stimulating discussion and promoting wider ethnographic research in areas of public concern. [source] Breeding Influenza: The Political Virology of Offshore FarmingANTIPODE, Issue 5 2009Robert G. Wallace Abstract:, The geographic extent, xenospecificity, and clinical course of influenza A (H5N1), the bird flu strain, suggest the virus is an excellent candidate for a pandemic infection. Much attention has been paid to the virus's virology, pathogenesis and spread. In contrast, little effort has been aimed at identifying influenza's social origins. In this article, I review H5N1's phylogeographic properties, including mechanisms for its evolving virulence. The novel contribution here is the attempt to integrate these with the political economies of agribusiness and global finance. Particular effort is made to explain why H5N1 emerged in southern China in 1997. It appears the region's reservoir of near-human-specific recombinants was subjected to a phase change in opportunity structure brought about by China's newly liberalized economy. Influenza, 200 nm long, seems able to integrate selection pressures imposed by human production across continental distances, an integration any analysis of the virus should assimilate in turn. [source] Appraisal Detection Bias and Well-Being in Close Relationships: Couples Experiencing Assisted Reproduction TreatmentAPPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, Issue 2 2009Rolf Kienle Communication between partners about each other's individual stress appraisals is considered to be pivotal for dyadic coping. So far, very little effort has been made to investigate the effects of accurate or biased detection of the partner's stress appraisals. On the basis of a dyadic stress model we predicted low appraisal detection bias among partners to be associated with better emotional well-being. Furthermore, we predicted appraisal detection bias to moderate the relationship between received support and well-being. Indicators of affect and depressive symptoms, spousal emotional support, and self- and partner-rated stress appraisals from 80 couples were assessed at two points in time during early phases of assisted reproduction treatment (in-vitro fertilisation and intracytoplasmatic sperm injection). Results indicated a protective effect of low appraisal detection bias on partners' affect. Contrary to our prediction, little or no appraisal detection bias in support-providing partners and higher emotional support were associated with an increase of depressive symptoms in support-receiving partners. These findings are discussed in light of research on stress-increasing effects of received social support. [source] Confidence intervals for fitting of atomic models into low-resolution densitiesACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 7 2009Niels Volkmann The fitting of high-resolution structures into low-resolution densities obtained from techniques such as electron microscopy or small-angle X-ray scattering can yield powerful new insights. While several algorithms for achieving optimal fits have recently been developed, relatively little effort has been devoted to developing objective measures for judging the quality of the resulting fits, in particular with regard to the danger of overfitting. Here, a general method is presented for obtaining confidence intervals for atomic coordinates resulting from fitting of atomic resolution domain structures into low-resolution densities using well established statistical tools. It is demonstrated that the resulting confidence intervals are sufficiently accurate to allow meaningful statistical tests and to provide tools for detecting potential overfitting. [source] Landslides and Their Contribution to Land-cover Change in the Mountains of Mexico and Central America,BIOTROPICA, Issue 4 2006Carla Restrepo ABSTRACT Landsliding is a natural process influencing montane ecosystems, particularly in areas with elevated rainfall and seismic activity. Yet, to date, little effort has been made to quantify the contribution of this process to land-cover change. Focusing on the mountains of Mexico and Central America (M-CA), we estimated the contribution of landsliding to land-cover change at two scales. At the scale of M-CA, we classified the terrain into major landforms and entered in a GIS historical data on earthquake- and rainfall-triggered landslides. At the scale of the Sierra de Las Minas of Guatemala, we investigated Landsat TM data to map rainfall-triggered landslides. During the past 110 yr, >136,200 ha of land in the mountains of M-CA have been affected by landslides, which translates into disturbance rates exceeding 0.317 percent/century. In Sierra de Las Minas, rainfall associated with hurricane Mitch affected 1765 ha of forest, or equivalently, landslides triggered by storms of this magnitude transformed between 0.196 (return time of 500 yr) and 1.290 (return time of 75 yr) percent of forest/century. Although landsliding results in smaller rates of land-cover change than deforestation, we hypothesize that it has a stronger impact on ecosystems, both in qualitative and quantitative terms, given its influence on vegetation and soil. Moreover, interactions between landsliding and deforestation may be altering the expression of this complex process such that the few protected areas in the mountains of M-CA may represent the only possibility for the conservation of this process. RESUMEN Los deslizamientos de tierra representan un fenómeno natural que afecta a todos los ecosistemas montañosos, particularmente aquellos que se encuentran en áreas de elevadas precipitaciones y actividad sísmica. Sin embargo, hasta el presente los esfuerzos por cuantificar la contribución de este proceso a cambios de cobertura de suelo han sido limitados. Enfocados en las montañas de México y Centro America (M-OA) estimamos que la contribución de los deslizamientos de tierra con cambios de cobertura de suelo a dos escalas. A la escala de M-CA, clasificamos el terreno basado en clases mayores de relieve e incluímos datos históricos de sismos y tormentas que han provocado deslizamientos de tierra en un SIG. A la escala de la Sierra de Las Minas en Guatemala, investigamos datos Landsat TM para identificar y localizar deslizamientos de tierra disperados por lluvia. Durante los últimos 110 años >136,200 ha de tierra han sido transformados por deslizamientos de tierra en las montañas de M-CA, lo que se traduce en tasas de perturbación >0.317 por ciento/siglo. En la Sierra de Las Minas, las lluvias asociadas con el huracán Mitch transformaron 1765 ha de bosque, lo que es equivalente a tasas de perturbación por deslizamientos de tierra entre 0.196 (tasa de retorno de 500 años) y 1.290 por ciento/siglo (tasa de retorno de 75 años). A pesar de que las tasas de cambio de cobertura vegetal por deslizamientos son menores que las causadas por deforestación, hipotetizamos que tienen un mayor impacto en estos ecosistemas tanto en términos cualitativos como cuantitativos por su influencia sobre la vegetación y el suelo. Además, interacciones entre los deslizamientos de tierra y la deforestación podrían estar afectando la expresión de este complejo proceso de tal forma que las pocas áreas montañosas de México y Centro América que están protegidas representan la única posibilidad para la conservación de este proceso. [source] Prediction of findings at defecography in patients with genital prolapseBJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 11 2005Jan-Paul W.R. Roovers Objective Defecography may be useful in pre-operative assessment of patients with genital prolapse. Defecography is an invasive and embarrassing procedure for patients and little effort has been made to optimalise selection criteria for defecography. This study investigated whether discrimination of high and low probability of abnormal defecography is possible based on the quantified findings from patient history, pelvic examination and a validated questionnaire. Design Prospective observational study. Setting Three teaching hospitals in The Netherlands. Population Eighty-two patients undergoing surgical correction of uterine prolapse Stages 2,4. Methods A history and pelvic examination were obtained from all patients. A validated questionnaire was used to assess the presence of defecation and micturition symptoms. Using multivariate logistic regression analyses with receiver operating characteristic curves, a diagnostic model to predict the presence of an abnormal defecography was systematically constructed and validated. Main outcome measure Presence of abnormal finding at defecography. Results The most important predictors for abnormal defecography were prolapse of the posterior vaginal wall, history of abdominal or pelvic surgery and the presence of constipation. With these variables, a prediction rule could be constructed which predicted the prevalence of an abnormal defecography (area under curve = 0.73; 95% CI 0.61,0.83). Conclusions This study shows that a diagnostic model based on findings obtained from a non-invasive workup can accurately predict the presence of an abnormal defecography. Such a model provides the possibility to tailor the request for defecography to the individual patient. [source] Cultural perspectives of interventions for managing diabetes and asthma in children and adolescents from ethnic minority groupsCHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 5 2010V. Mc Manus Abstract Both diabetes and asthma are increasingly being recognized as health problems for ethnic groups. Because of cultural differences, ethnicity is reported to be a risk factor for poorer quality in health care, disease management and disease control. Ethnic groups are at risk for poorer quality of life and increased disease complications when compared with non-ethnic counterparts living in the same country. There is little known about how culture is addressed in interventions developed for ethnic groups. The aim of this paper is to systematically review the cultural perspectives of interventions for managing diabetes and asthma in children, adolescents and/or their families from ethnic minority groups. A total of 92 records were identified that were potentially relevant to this review following which, 61 papers were excluded. The full texts of remaining papers (n= 31) were then read independently by both authors, and agreement was reached to exclude a further 27 papers that did not meet inclusion criteria. A total of four papers were eligible for inclusion in this review. Findings indicate that despite growing concerns about health disparities between ethnic and non-ethnic groups in relation to both asthma and diabetes in childhood, there has been little effort to develop cultural specific interventions for ethnic groups. By systematically reviewing asthma and diabetes interventions we have highlighted that few interventions have been developed from a cultural perspective. There are a limited number of interventions published that add knowledge on the specific elements of intervention that is needed to effectively and sensitively educate other cultures. More work is required into identifying which strategies or components of cultural interventions are most effective in achieving positive health outcomes for children, adolescents and/or their families from ethnic groups. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||