Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Research Addressing (research + addressing)
Selected AbstractsExamining the association between media coverage of organ donation and organ transplantation ratesCLINICAL TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 2 2007Brian L. Quick Abstract:, Research addressing the organ shortage in the USA has examined multiple factors influencing one's decision to become an organ donor. One of these research lines addresses media coverage of organ donation. The present investigation seeks to advance this research line by examining the association between organ donation media coverage and organ transplantation rates. A content analysis spanning January 1990 to December 2005 of three television networks reveals an overall positive association between coverage and transplantation rates. The implications of our findings are discussed along with recommendations for practitioners and advocates alike. [source] Childhood trauma, psychosis and schizophrenia: a literature review with theoretical and clinical implicationsACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2005J. Read Objective:, To review the research addressing the relationship of childhood trauma to psychosis and schizophrenia, and to discuss the theoretical and clinical implications. Method:, Relevant studies and previous review papers were identified via computer literature searches. Results:, Symptoms considered indicative of psychosis and schizophrenia, particularly hallucinations, are at least as strongly related to childhood abuse and neglect as many other mental health problems. Recent large-scale general population studies indicate the relationship is a causal one, with a dose-effect. Conclusion:, Several psychological and biological mechanisms by which childhood trauma increases risk for psychosis merit attention. Integration of these different levels of analysis may stimulate a more genuinely integrated bio-psycho-social model of psychosis than currently prevails. Clinical implications include the need for staff training in asking about abuse and the need to offer appropriate psychosocial treatments to patients who have been abused or neglected as children. Prevention issues are also identified. [source] Does opioid substitution treatment in prisons reduce injecting-related HIV risk behaviours?ADDICTION, Issue 2 2010A systematic review ABSTRACT Objectives To review systematically the evidence on opioid substitution treatment (OST) in prisons in reducing injecting-related human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviours. Methods Systematic review in accordance with guidelines of the Cochrane Collaboration. Electronic databases were searched to identify studies of prison-based opioid substitution treatment programmes that included assessment of effects of prison OST on injecting drug use, sharing of needles and syringes and HIV incidence. Published data were used to calculate risk ratios for outcomes of interest. Risk ratios were not pooled due to the low number of studies and differences in study designs. Results Five studies were included in the review. Poor follow-up rates were reported in two studies, and representativeness of the sample was uncertain in the remaining three studies. Compared to inmates in control conditions, for treated inmates the risk of injecting drug use was reduced by 55,75% and risk of needle and syringe sharing was reduced by 47,73%. No study reported a direct effect of prison OST on HIV incidence. Conclusions There may be a role for OST in preventing HIV transmission in prisons, but methodologically rigorous research addressing this question specifically is required. OST should be implemented in prisons as part of comprehensive HIV prevention programmes that also provide condoms and sterile injecting and tattooing equipment. [source] A mixture of seven antiandrogens induces reproductive malformations in ratsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ANDROLOGY, Issue 2 2008Cynthia V. Rider Summary To date, regulatory agencies have not considered conducting cumulative risk assessments for mixtures of chemicals with diverse mechanisms of toxicity because it is assumed that the chemicals will act independently and the individual chemical doses are not additive. However, this assumption is not supported by new research addressing the joint effects of chemicals that disrupt reproductive tract development in the male rat by disrupting the androgen signalling pathway via diverse mechanisms of toxicity [i.e. androgen receptor (AR) antagonism in the reproductive tract vs. inhibition of androgen synthesis in the foetal testis]. In this study, pregnant rats were exposed to four dilutions of a mixture containing vinclozolin, procymidone, linuron, prochloraz, benzyl butyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate and diethylhexyl phthalate during the period of sexual differentiation and male offspring were assessed for effects on hormone sensitive endpoints including: anogenital distance, infant areolae retention and reproductive tract tissue weights and malformations. The ratio of the chemicals in the mixture was based upon each chemical's ED50 for inducing reproductive tract malformations (hypospadias or epididymal agenesis). The observed responses from the mixture were compared with predicted responses generated with a toxic equivalency approach and models of dose addition, response addition or integrated addition. As hypothesized, we found that the mixture of chemicals that alter the androgen signalling pathway via diverse mechanisms disrupted male rat reproductive tract differentiation and induced malformations in a cumulative, dose-additive manner. The toxic equivalency and dose addition models provided the best fit to observed responses even though the chemicals do not act via a common cellular mechanism of action. The current regulatory framework for conducting cumulative risk assessments needs to consider the results, including those presented herein, which indicate that chemicals that disrupt foetal tissues during sexual differentiation act in a cumulative, dose-additive manner irrespective of the specific cellular mechanism of toxicity. [source] Visualization of the foaming mechanism of polyethylene blown by chemical blowing agents under ambient pressureADVANCES IN POLYMER TECHNOLOGY, Issue 4 2007Remon Pop-Iliev Abstract Understanding the fundamental mechanisms that govern the foaming process is the most essential universal prerequisite for developing effective processing strategies for fabricating high-quality foamed plastic products using any type of foaming technology. Despite chemically blown foaming of thermoplastics under atmospheric pressure has been successfully implemented in rotational foam molding over the last decade, the related open literature does not provide substantial research addressing the fundamentals of this unique foaming mechanism. The present study focuses on clarifying the fundamental foaming mechanisms that govern the successful manufacture of thermoplastic foams using a chemical blowing agent under low-pressure (atmospheric) conditions. The presented research is mainly based on observing a series of visualization experiments conducted using a custom-made visualization system including an optical microscope and a computerized CCD camera imaging system, which was utilized for investigating the behavior of foamable polyethylene samples prepared by using the compression-molding method. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 26:213,222, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/adv.20102 [source] School Engagement Trajectories and Their Differential Predictive Relations to DropoutJOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES, Issue 1 2008Michel Janosz Although most theories draw upon the construct of school engagement in their conceptualization of the dropout process, research addressing its hypothesized prospective relation with dropout remains scarce and does not account for the academic and social heterogeneity of students who leave school prematurely. This study explores the reality of different life-course pathways of school engagement and their predictive relations to dropout. Using an accelerated longitudinal design, we used growth mixture modeling to generate seven distinct trajectories of school engagement with 12- to 16-year-old students (N = 13,300). A vast majority of students were classified into three stable trajectories, distinguishing themselves at moderate to very high levels of school engagement. We refer to these as developmentally normative pathways in light of their frequent occurrence and stability. Although regrouping only one-tenth of participants, four other nonnormative (or unexpected pathways) accounted for the vast majority of dropouts. Dropout risk was closely linked with unstable pathways of school engagement. We conclude by debating the delicate investment balance between universal strategies and more selective and differentiated strategies to prevent dropout. We also discuss the need to better understand why, within normative trajectories, some students with high levels of school engagement drop out of school. [source] Moral reasoning among physical therapists: results of the defining issues testPHYSIOTHERAPY RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2010Laura Lee Swisher Abstract Background and Purpose.,Although there is extensive literature in other health care fields about the ability to make ethical judgements (moral reasoning), there is a paucity of research addressing the moral reasoning of practising physical therapists. The purposes of this research were to 1) identify the types of moral reasoning used by practising physical therapists as measured by the Defining Issues Test; 2) identify differences in moral reasoning among physical therapists based on educational background, demographic variables, clinical experience, practice setting or expertise in ethics; and 3) compare the moral reasoning of physical therapists with that of other professional groups.,Methods.,The Defining Issues Test of James Rest was used to evaluate moral reasoning. Five hundred thirty-seven physical therapists responded to a mail survey sent to a random sample of 2,000 American Physical Therapy Association members. Twelve physical therapists with expertise in ethics or professionalism completed the same survey.,Results.,The mean postconventional score for the random sample was 41.93. This score was lower than the mean scores of physicians, nurses, medical students, nursing students and dental students established in previous research. Females, ethics experts and those in academic settings had higher postconventional scores.,Conclusions.,Physical therapists scored lower in postconventional moral reasoning than some other professional groups with similar educational background. Factors that may inhibit or enhance the development of moral reasoning among physical therapists and possible consequences of high or low moral reasoning scores in physical therapy require further research. These findings may raise concerns about the entry-level educational curriculum and professional development opportunities in the area of ethics and moral reasoning. Results of this research may also highlight the challenges of evaluation, scholarship and research in physical therapy ethics. Further research and theory development is needed to address the relationships between moral theory and descriptive or empirical research within physical therapy. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Efficacy and safety of transvaginal mesh kits in the treatment of prolapse of the vaginal apex: a systematic reviewBJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 1 2009B Feiner Background, Vaginal mesh kits are being used to surgically treat apical vaginal prolapse; however, their safety and efficacy are currently unknown. Objectives, To summarise success and complication rates for commonly used vaginal mesh kits in the treatment of apical prolapse. Search strategy, MEDLINE and other scientific databases were queried for primary research addressing the use of vaginal mesh kits for apical prolapse published between 1950 and 2007, including abstracts presented in major scientific meetings. Selection criteria, Studies describing the use of mesh to support either the anterior or posterior compartment alone, for incontinence or fistula repair or not addressing the vaginal apex were excluded. Data collection and analysis, Identified studies were grouped by the mesh kit and complications categorised using the Dindo classification system. Weighted averages and confidence intervals were calculated on objective success, follow-up length and complications. Main results, Thirty studies totalling 2653 women met inclusion criteria. Objective success rates (95% CI) were ApogeeÔ (American Medical Systems Inc., Minnetonka, MN, USA) 95% (95,96), ProliftÔ (Ethicon Women's Health and Urology, Somerville, NJ, USA) 87% (86,87) and posterior intravaginal slingplasty 88% (87,89). Reoperations not requiring anaesthesia (Dindo IIIa) occurred in 0.4,2.3% and requiring anaesthesia (Dindo IIIb) in 1.5,6.0%, with a follow up between 26 and 78 weeks. Mesh erosion was the most commonly reported complication occurring in 4.6,10.7%. Author's conclusions, Overall objective success using transvaginal mesh kits in restoring apical vaginal prolapse is high. However, an increasing number of women require surgical intervention for mesh-related complications based on limited data quality and short follow up. Further research addressing functional outcomes and the impact of these procedures on women's symptoms and quality of life is mandatory. [source] An assessment and ranking of barriers to doing environmental business with ChinaBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 6 2009Turlough F. Guerin Abstract The transfer of environmental goods and services to China will increasingly be of importance to developed nations as the demand for environmental management services increases in China. A review of the literature on technology transfer to China revealed a range of well recognized and commonly known constraints to transferring technologies to China. There were gaps in the literature in relation to the concerns that environmental professionals have regarding technology transfer to China, as there is limited information on the transfer in environmental goods and services to China. A survey of the non-trade barriers and their practical impact on the transfer of environmental technologies and goods and services to China, focusing on Australian suppliers, was undertaken to address these gaps. The survey, which was developed from barriers to technology transfer already described in the extensive research addressing the wider issues of technology transfer to China, targeted environmental professionals but also included other professionals with interests in transferring environmental goods and services to China. From the survey, the highest priority barriers to transferring environmental goods and service to China were identified, and those that are most likely to limit Australian vendors of environmental goods and services in their technology transfers to China were protection of intellectual property (IP), limitations of the rule of law, fragmentation and bureaucracy of the Chinese government and establishing appropriate level of ownership (of environmental goods and services providers in China). Examples of Australian experience were also examined, which confirmed these barriers to providing the needed technology and innovation to manage China's increasing environmental impacts. The research also shows that the barriers identified do not appear to be unique to transfer of environmental goods and services but rather generic to the transfer and adoption of Australian technology into China. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] | ||||||||||