Building capacity for evidence-based public health: Reconciling the pulls of practice and the push of research

Timely implementation of principles of evidence-based public health (EBPH) is critical for bridging the gap between discovery of new knowledge and its application. Public health organizations need sufficient capacity (the availability of resources, structures, and workforce to plan, deliver, and evaluate the preventive dose of an evidence-based intervention) to move science to practice. We review principles of EBPH, the importance of capacity building to advance evidence-based approaches, promising approaches for capacity building, and future areas for research and practice. Although there is general agreement among practitioners and scientists on the importance of EBPH, there is less clarity on the definition of evidence, how to find it, and how, when, and where to use it. Capacity for EBPH is needed among both individuals and organizations. Capacity can be strengthened via training, use of tools, technical assistance, assessment and feedback, peer networking, and incentives. Modest investments in EBPH capacity building will foster more effective public health practice

Free Competition or Corporate Theft?: The Need for Courts to Consider the Employment Relationship in Preliminary Steps Disputes

The scenario occurs daily in many different businesses. A disgruntled employee decides to use her talents, skills, and knowledge of the industry to start a rival enterprise. She plans to do things differently-offer lower prices, a different sales approach, a more service-oriented style. To minimize the risk involved, the employee decides to investigate potential markets, possible locations for the business, and financing. She would also like to discuss first-hand with current clients or fellow employees the possibility that they would follow her into the new business. Concerned with breaching fiduciary obligations, the employee contacts her attorney and asks for advice-specifically, what steps may she take while still employed? The above hypothetical currently perplexes corporate attorneys because of uncertainty in the law on this matter. The law is clear that absent a covenant-not-to-compete, a high-level employee may resign and set up a new company directly competing with the former employer.\u27 In so doing, the employee may use the skills and knowledge acquired from the employer, and the employee may solicit the employer\u27s customers and employees. Promotion of free competition and entrepreneurial behavior justifies the rule; the right to start a new business based on an innovative idea, product, or approach is integral to our capitalist system. As studies have shown, small- and medium-size firms have employed the most people over the last two decades, serving as the largest source of economic growth. Most business people, however, plan carefully before starting a new enterprise. Before beginning operations, the entrepreneur considers financing, location, the product, customers, and other items. Only through careful consideration of these factors can the entrepreneur make an informed decision about the new venture\u27s likelihood for success. For the employee desiring to form her new business within the same industry that she currently works, such planning creates tensions with opposing policy interests-the duty of loyalty protecting the company from employee self-interest and free competition requiring that the employee have some freedom to make necessary preparations to compete

A Study to Determine if Factors such as Child Labor Laws, Minimum Wages, Tax Credits, and Shifts of Retail Trade and Service Businesses from the City to the County Have Contributed to a Decline in Employment Opportunities for 14 and 15 Year Old Disadvantaged Youth in Charlottesville, Virginia

This problem was answered by focusing on the following research questions: 1. Did existing state and federal labor regulations, as they related to the employment of 14 and 15 year old youth, influence the hiring practices of employers in Charlottesville? 2

The Battle over Athletic Priorities in the Louisville Y.M.C.A.1892-1912

Chronicles the controversy over athletic priorities in the Louisville YMCA between 1892 and 1912 when Louisville YMCA general secretaries and physical directors tried to win acceptance of Luther H. Gulick\u27s philosophy of athletics by the YMCA board of directors and YMCA athletes. This philosophy emphasized athletics as individual self-improvement; winning was not stressed. Describes the difficulties in gaining acceptance for Gulick\u27s philosophy by the board of directors and the athletes, and the policy of the board and actions of the athletes once it was accepted

Entrapment: an important mechanism to explain the shortwave 3D radiative effect of clouds

Several mechanisms have previously been proposed to explain differences between the shortwave reflectance of realistic cloud scenes computed using the 1D independent column approximation (ICA) and 3D solutions of the radiative transfer equation. When the sun is low in the sky, interception of sunlight by cloud sides tends to increase reflectance relative to ICA estimates that neglect this effect. When the sun is high, 3D radiative transfer tends to make clouds less reflective, which we argue is explained by the mechanism of “entrapment” whereby horizontal transport of radiation beneath a cloud layer increases the chances, relative to the ICA, of light being absorbed by cloud or the surface. It is especially important for multilayered cloud scenes. We describe modifications to the previously described Speedy Algorithm for Radiative Transfer through Cloud Sides (SPARTACUS) to represent different entrapment assumptions, and test their impact on 65 contrasting scenes from a cloud-resolving model. When entrapment is represented explicitly via a calculation of the mean horizontal distance traveled by reflected light, SPARTACUS predicts a mean “3D radiative effect” (the difference in top-of-atmosphere irradiances between 3D and ICA calculations) of 8.1 W m−2 for overhead sun. This is within 2% of broadband Monte Carlo calculations on the same scenes. The importance of entrapment is highlighted by the finding that the extreme assumptions in SPARTACUS of “zero entrapment” and “maximum entrapment” lead to corresponding mean 3D radiative effects of 1.7 and 19.6 W m−2, respectively

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How do anticipated worry and regret predict seasonal influenza vaccination uptake among Chinese adults?

Objectives: To test two hypothesized models of how anticipated affect, cognitive risk estimate and vaccination intention might influence vaccination uptake against seasonal influenza. Methods: The study collected baseline and follow-up data during the main influenza seasons (January-March) of 2009 and 2010, respectively, among 507 university students and staff of a university in Hong Kong. Following logistic regression to determine eligible variables, two mediation models of cognitive risk estimate, anticipated affect, vaccination intention and vaccination uptake against seasonal influenza were tested using structural equation modeling. Results: Mediation analyses found that anticipated worry if not vaccinated influenced seasonal influenza vaccination uptake through its effects on either perceived probability of influenza infection (β= 0.45) or intention (.β= 0.45) while anticipated regret if not vaccinated influenced vaccination uptake through its effect on intention (β= 0.45) only; anticipated regret if vaccinated impeded vaccination uptake indirectly through its effect on vaccination intention (β= -0.26) or directly (β= -0.20); perceived probability of influenza infection influenced vaccination uptake through its effect on intention (β= 0.20) or directly (β= 0.22); and finally, intention influenced vaccination uptake directly (β= 0.58). Conclusion: The results suggest that anticipated affect seems to drive risk estimates related to seasonal influenza vaccination rather than vice versa and intention remains an important mediator of the associations of anticipated affect and cognitive risk estimate with vaccination uptake against seasonal influenza. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.postprin

Propofol Sedation for Oesophago-Gastro-Duodenoscopy

A questionnaire was sent to 53 patients who had undergone an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy under total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) using intermittent Propofol. All of the patients would accept the same technique again. Out of 20 patients who had previously had the procedure performed under Diazepam sedation, 18 preferred the use of Propofol. This technique can only be used with an anaesthetist present

The rise of the Louisville Slugger in the mass market

The following article is a historical case study on the obstacles confronted by Hillerich & Son and the strategies the company employed to survive in a tumultuous industry. Three key marketing strate­gies will be discussed. These key strategies, al­though historical in nature, are still effectively used by manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers in the 1990s. Furthermore, Hillerich & Son\u27s marketing strategies defy the historical production era model. According to the production era model, production was manufacturers\u27 primary concern until 1930. Customer research was inconsequential since demand exceeded supply and competition was scarce within product markets.Hillerich & Son\u27s marketing strategies in the first decade of the 20th century exem­plify that following eras, production (1870-1930), sales (1930-1950), and-marketing (1950s), were not a sequential evolution. Competition in the baseball bat industry was indeed fierce. Consequently, manu­facturers concentrated on the customer to ascertain desired products and product attributes. This case study suggests that marketing has always been an integral part of company strategies. This proposi­tion is exemplified by Hillerich & Son\u27s three key marketing strategies, 1) the 1912 push rule, 2) the 1914 youth market decision, and 3) the 1919 na­tional advertising campaign