368 research outputs found
La Théâtralité de la dissémination : un modèle de General Idea
En 1968, AA Bronson, Jorge Zontal et Felix Partz se réinventent au sein de l’entité General Idea et commencent à produire des films, des vidéos, des performances et des photographies (et d’autres actions et événements plus difficiles à catégoriser) afin de donner corps à une construction fictionnelle. Produisant et se reproduisant eux-mêmes à l’image de ceux qu’ils désiraient être – s’engageant ainsi dans l’ultime aliénation – les membres de General Idea se représentaient comme les figures d’..
The shaping of knowledge transfer from UK universities: an exploration of influences and motivations
Industrial innovation can lead to economic benefits for a nation. Sources of such innovation are therefore important to governments. Over the last decade in the UK there has been a growth in government funding of knowledge transfer (KT) activities from UK universities, as they have been considered a relatively untapped source of innovation. European and regional funding tends to target work relating with SMEs (small to medium sized enterprises) within specific geographical areas. UK national government funding however, can encompass support for a very wide variety of university knowledge and technology transfer activities. This study examines why UK universities undertake knowledge transfer activities and how this work is shaped at individual institutions. Evolutionary theory is used to examine differences at a range of universities, using contextual information about each university’s history and influences
Longitudinal metagenomic profiling of bovine milk to assess the impact of intramammary treatment using a third-generation cephalosporin
Antimicrobial usage in food animals has a direct impact on human health, and approximately 80% of the antibiotics prescribed in the dairy industry are used to treat bovine mastitis. Here we provide a longitudinal description of the changes in the microbiome of milk that are associated with mastitis and antimicrobial therapy. Next-generation sequencing, 16 S rRNA gene quantitative real-time PCR, and aerobic culturing were applied to assess the effect of disease and antibiotic therapy on the milk microbiome. Cows diagnosed with clinical mastitis associated with Gram-negative pathogens or negative aerobic culture were randomly allocated into 5 days of Ceftiofur intramammary treatment or remained as untreated controls. Serial milk samples were collected from the affected quarter and the ipsilateral healthy quarter of the same animal. Milk from the mastitic quarter had a higher bacterial load and reduced microbial diversity compared to healthy milk. Resolution of the disease was accompanied by increases in diversity indexes and a decrease in pathogen relative abundance. Escherichia coli-associated mastitic milk samples had a remarkably distinct bacterial profile, dominated by Enterobacteriaceae, when compared to healthy milk. However, no differences were observed in culture-negative mastitis samples when compared to healthy milk. Antimicrobial treatment had no significant effect on clinical cure, bacteriological cure, pathogen clearance rate or bacterial load
Small-area estimates from consumer trace data
Background: Timely, accurate, and precise demographic estimates at various levels of geography are crucial for planning, policymaking, and analysis. In the United States, data from the decennial census and annual American Community Survey (ACS) serve as the main sources for subnational demographic estimates. While estimates derived from these sources are widely regarded as accurate, their timeliness is limited and variability sizable for small geographic units like towns and neighborhoods. Objective: This paper investigates the potential for using nonrepresentative consumer trace data assembled by commercial vendors to produce valid and timely estimates. We focus on data purchased from Data Axle, which contains the names and addresses of over 150 million Americans annually. Methods: We identify the predictors of over- and undercounts of households as measured with consumer trace data and compare a range of calibration approaches to assess the extent to which systematic errors in the data can be adjusted for over time. We also demonstrate the utility of the data for predicting contemporaneous (nowcasting) tract-level household counts in the 2020 Decennial Census. Results: We find that adjusted counts at the county, ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTA), and tract levels deviate from ACS survey-based estimates by an amount roughly equivalent to the ACS margins of error. Machine-learning methods perform best for calibration of county- and tract-level data. The estimates are stable over time and across regions of the country. We also find that when doing nowcasts, incorporating Data Axle estimates improved prediction bias relative to using the most recent ACS five-year estimates alone. Contribution: Despite its affordability and timeliness compared to survey-based measures, consumer trace data remains underexplored by demographers. This paper examines one consumer trace data source and demonstrates that challenges with representativeness can be overcome to produce household estimates that align with survey-based estimates and improve demographic forecasts. At the same time, the analysis also underscores the need for researchers to examine the limits of the data carefully before using them for specific applications
The new mythologies and premature aging in the youth culture
Comparative studies of aging men in a variety of preliterate traditional societies suggest that older men, across cultures, are relatively mild and uncompetitive, as compared to younger men from the same communities. Older men are more interested in receiving than in producing, more interested in communion than in agency; their sense of pleasure and security is based on food, religion, and the assurance of love. The counterculture gives priority to the same themes, and thereby seems to sponsor a premature senescence, in the psychological sense. Various contemporary myths stemming from affluence and consumerism that have led to the new geriatrics are examined, particularly the myth of the all-including, omnipotential self, which is seen as a translation of socialist, collectivist ideals into the domain of personality. The effects of the new psychic collectivism on ego development in the adolescent and postadolescent periods are also considered.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45279/1/10964_2005_Article_BF02214091.pd
Implementation of a health care policy: An analysis of barriers and facilitators to practice change
BACKGROUND: Governments often create policies that rely on implementation by arms length organizations and require practice changes on the part of different segments of the health care system without understanding the differences in and complexities of these agencies. In 2000, in response to publicity about the shortening length of postpartum hospital stay, the Ontario government created a universal program offering up to a 60-hour postpartum stay and a public health follow-up to mothers and newborn infants. The purpose of this paper is to examine how a health policy initiative was implemented in two different parts of a health care system and to analyze the barriers and facilitators to achieving practice change. METHODS: The data reported came from two studies of postpartum health and service use in Ontario Canada. Data were collected from newly delivered mothers who had uncomplicated vaginal deliveries. The study samples were drawn from the same five purposefully selected hospitals for both studies. Questionnaires prior to discharge and structured telephone interviews at 4-weeks post discharge were used to collect data before and after policy implementation. Qualitative data were collected using focus groups with hospital and community-based health care practitioners and administrators at each site. RESULTS: In both studies, the respondents reflected a population of women who experienced an "average" or non-eventful hospital-based, singleton vaginal delivery. The findings of the second study demonstrated wide variance in implementation of the offer of a 60-hour stay among the sites and focus groups revealed that none of the hospitals acknowledged the 60-hour stay as an official policy. The uptake of the offer of a 60-hour stay was unrelated to the rate of offer. The percentage of women with a hospital stay of less than 25 hours and the number with the guideline that the call be within 48 hours of hospital discharge. Public health telephone contact was high although variable in relation to compliance the guideline that the call be within 48 hours of hospital discharge. Home visits were offered at consistently high rates. CONCLUSION: Policy enactment is sometimes inadequate to stimulate practice changes in health care. Policy as a tool for practice change must thoughtfully address the organizational, professional, and social contexts within which the policy is to be implemented. These contexts can either facilitate or block implementation. Our examination of Ontario's universal postpartum program provides an example of differential implementation of a common policy intended to change post-natal care practices that reflects the differential influence of context on implementation
Neurogenic bladder: etiology and assessment
A review of the various causes of neurologic impairment to the lower urinary tract in children was the aim of this presentation. The emphasis was on diagnosis, pathophysiology, and treatment that strive to maintain as normal a function as possible in order to achieve eventual urinary continence and health of the upper urinary tract. The latest principles based on the most up to date evidence are promulgated but with an eye towards historical prospective. The reader should gain an adequate understanding of various disorders that comprise this condition and feel comfortable with proposing options for management when faced with the responsibility of caring for an affected child
Rationality versus reality: the challenges of evidence-based decision making for health policy makers
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Current healthcare systems have extended the evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach to health policy and delivery decisions, such as access-to-care, healthcare funding and health program continuance, through attempts to integrate valid and reliable evidence into the decision making process. These policy decisions have major impacts on society and have high personal and financial costs associated with those decisions. Decision models such as these function under a shared assumption of rational choice and utility maximization in the decision-making process.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>We contend that health policy decision makers are generally unable to attain the basic goals of evidence-based decision making (EBDM) and evidence-based policy making (EBPM) because humans make decisions with their naturally limited, faulty, and biased decision-making processes. A cognitive information processing framework is presented to support this argument, and subtle cognitive processing mechanisms are introduced to support the focal thesis: health policy makers' decisions are influenced by the subjective manner in which they individually process decision-relevant information rather than on the objective merits of the evidence alone. As such, subsequent health policy decisions do not necessarily achieve the goals of evidence-based policy making, such as maximizing health outcomes for society based on valid and reliable research evidence.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>In this era of increasing adoption of evidence-based healthcare models, the rational choice, utility maximizing assumptions in EBDM and EBPM, must be critically evaluated to ensure effective and high-quality health policy decisions. The cognitive information processing framework presented here will aid health policy decision makers by identifying how their decisions might be subtly influenced by non-rational factors. In this paper, we identify some of the biases and potential intervention points and provide some initial suggestions about how the EBDM/EBPM process can be improved.</p
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