Implementation of a disability management policy in a large healthcare employer: a quasi-experimental, mixed-method evaluation

Objective: This study describes the process and outcomes of the implementation of a strengthened disability management policy in a large Canadian healthcare employer. Key elements of the strengthened policy included an emphasis on early contact, the training of supervisors and the integration of union representatives in return-to-work (RTW) planning. Design: The study applied mixed methods, combining a process evaluation within the employer and a quasi-experimental outcome evaluation between employers for a 3-year period prior to and following policy implementation in January 2012. Participants: Staff in the implementation organisation (n=4000) and staff in a peer group of 29 large hospitals (n=1 19 000). Outcomes: Work disability episode incidence and duration. Results: Both qualitative and quantitative measures of the implementation process were predominantly positive. Over the 6-year observation period, there were 624 work disability episodes in the organisation and 8604 in the comparison group of 29 large hospitals. The annual per cent change in episode incidence in the organisation was −5.6 (95% CI −9.9 to −1.1) comparable to the annual per cent change in the comparison group: −6.2 (-7.2 to –5.3). Disability episode durations also declined in the organisation, from a mean of 19.4 days (16.5, 22.3) in the preintervention period to 10.9 days (8.7, 13.2) in the postintervention period. Reductions in disability durations were also observed in the comparison group: from a mean of 13.5 days (12.9, 14.1) in the 2009–2011 period to 10.5 days (9.9, 11.1) in the 2012–2014 period. Conclusion: The incidence of work disability episodes and the durations of work disability declined strongly in this hospital sector over the 6-year observation period. The implementation of the organisation’s RTW policy was associated with larger reductions in disability durations than observed in the comparison group

Cardiac steatosis in HIV-A marker or mediator of disease?

Although people living with HIV (PLHIV) are approaching normal life expectancy, a limitation to achieving this goal is managing the higher prevalence of co-morbidities, including cardiovascular disease. Whilst ischaemic heart disease likely contributes to a large proportion of cardiac disease in the modern era of treatment, cardio-metabolic disease, including cardiac steatosis, akin to obesity-related heart disease, is also a possible mechanism of increased cardiac morbidity and mortality. HIV and other metabolic and inflammatory diseases affecting the heart, including obesity, share many cardio-metabolic abnormalities, with increased pericardial and myocardial fat content, in association with chronic systemic inflammatory changes and alterations in cardiac metabolism. Understanding the mechanisms of HIV-associated cardiac steatosis remains an important challenge, as managing the untreated metabolic and inflammatory precipitants may substantially improve cardiac outcomes for PLHIV

Implementation of a disability management policy in a large healthcare employer: a quasi-experimental, mixed-method evaluation

Objective: This study describes the process and outcomes of the implementation of a strengthened disability management policy in a large Canadian healthcare employer. Key elements of the strengthened policy included an emphasis on early contact, the training of supervisors and the integration of union representatives in return-to-work (RTW) planning. Design: The study applied mixed methods, combining a process evaluation within the employer and a quasi-experimental outcome evaluation between employers for a 3-year period prior to and following policy implementation in January 2012. Participants: Staff in the implementation organisation (n=4000) and staff in a peer group of 29 large hospitals (n=1 19 000). Outcomes: Work disability episode incidence and duration. Results: Both qualitative and quantitative measures of the implementation process were predominantly positive. Over the 6-year observation period, there were 624 work disability episodes in the organisation and 8604 in the comparison group of 29 large hospitals. The annual per cent change in episode incidence in the organisation was −5.6 (95% CI −9.9 to −1.1) comparable to the annual per cent change in the comparison group: −6.2 (-7.2 to –5.3). Disability episode durations also declined in the organisation, from a mean of 19.4 days (16.5, 22.3) in the preintervention period to 10.9 days (8.7, 13.2) in the postintervention period. Reductions in disability durations were also observed in the comparison group: from a mean of 13.5 days (12.9, 14.1) in the 2009–2011 period to 10.5 days (9.9, 11.1) in the 2012–2014 period. Conclusion: The incidence of work disability episodes and the durations of work disability declined strongly in this hospital sector over the 6-year observation period. The implementation of the organisation’s RTW policy was associated with larger reductions in disability durations than observed in the comparison group

4040C Universal Tester Backup

The 40 Series valve is one of Swagelok\u27s highest volume part families of which 60,000 parts per year shipped are multi-ported. The multiport configuration requires a unique tester to ensure proper assembly and quality of upstream processes. Due to the multiport configuration of these valves no alternate testing option exists, resulting in a high rate of customer disappointments per day should the equipment fail. In addition to the tester\u27s criticality, it has also been ranked as one of Swagelok\u27s most unhealthy assets and is probable to experience extended downtime in the future. This project proposes to design and build a manually actuated test station to maintain the flow of multi-ported 40 series parts in the event of tester downtime

Rebekah\u27s Ride

It was our mission to design and build a bicycle attachment that provides a safe, comfortable, and entertaining ride that can attach to any common bicycle for Rebekah, a 12 year old girl living with cerebral palsy. The aluminum frame bicycle trailer we built motivates Rebekah to exercise with a speaker that plays music when she pedals and ceases the music when she stops pedaling. The speaker and sensor system is controlled by an Adafruit Trinket microcontroller using the Arduino IDE. The trailer does not have a chain drive so Rebekah\u27s pedaling will not actually contribute to the movement of the bike. To create resistance, we fabricated an aluminum disk that acts as a flywheel. Magnets were placed on either side of the disk to create eddy current resistance (magnetic resistance). The seat is custom made to fit Rebekah as she grows. Rebekah\u27s Ride was given to the family in June of 2015

Cardiac Steatosis in HIV-A Marker or Mediator of Disease?

Although people living with HIV (PLHIV) are approaching normal life expectancy, a limitation to achieving this goal is managing the higher prevalence of co-morbidities, including cardiovascular disease. Whilst ischaemic heart disease likely contributes to a large proportion of cardiac disease in the modern era of treatment, cardio-metabolic disease, including cardiac steatosis, akin to obesity-related heart disease, is also a possible mechanism of increased cardiac morbidity and mortality. HIV and other metabolic and inflammatory diseases affecting the heart, including obesity, share many cardio-metabolic abnormalities, with increased pericardial and myocardial fat content, in association with chronic systemic inflammatory changes and alterations in cardiac metabolism. Understanding the mechanisms of HIV-associated cardiac steatosis remains an important challenge, as managing the untreated metabolic and inflammatory precipitants may substantially improve cardiac outcomes for PLHIV

Building Bases of Loop Integrands

We describe a systematic approach to the construction of loop-integrand bases at arbitrary loop-order, sufficient for the representation of general quantum field theories. We provide a graph-theoretic definition of `power-counting' for multi-loop integrands beyond the planar limit, and show how this can be used to organize bases according to ultraviolet behavior. This allows amplitude integrands to be constructed iteratively. We illustrate these ideas with concrete applications. In particular, we describe complete integrand bases at two loops sufficient to represent arbitrary-multiplicity amplitudes in four (or fewer) dimensions in any massless quantum field theory with the ultraviolet behavior of the Standard Model or better. We also comment on possible extensions of our framework to arbitrary (including regulated) numbers of dimensions, and to theories with arbitrary mass spectra and charges. At three loops, we describe a basis sufficient to capture all `leading-(transcendental-)weight' contributions of any four-dimensional quantum theory; for maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, this basis should be sufficient to represent all scattering amplitude integrands in the theory---for generic helicities and arbitrary multiplicity.Comment: 76 pages, 6 tables, hundreds of figures. Ancillary file includes our results for three loop

Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Religious Holidays in the U.S.

The following teaching module is designed for high school and college level instructors who seek to teach a lesson on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the celebration of religious holidays, such as Ramadan, Passover, and Easter. The teaching module features a lesson plan, case studies, and assignments that can be incorporated as the instructor sees fit. This teaching module was created by Western Michigan University\u27s Department of Comparative Religion

Ritual During Covid-19

The following teaching module is designed for high school and college level instructors who seek to teach a lesson on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the participation and practice of religious rituals. The teaching module features a lesson plan, case studies, and assignments that can be incorporated as the instructor sees fit. This teaching module was created by Western Michigan University\u27s Department of Comparative Religion