Poverty and Employment in Timber-Dependent Counties

One of the most controversial aspects of federal and state policies aimed at protecting old-growth ecosystems has been the potential impact of job losses on local economies. A fundamental question for historically timber-dependent communities is whether these policies will result in local economic stagnation and enduring pockets of poverty. In this paper, we examine the long-run impact of changes in timber-related employment on other types of employment and participation in major federal poverty programs. We use monthly, multi-county time series data to estimate a vector autoregressive model of the experience of northern California counties during the 1980s and 1990s. We find that employment base multiplier effects of timber employment on other types of employment in each county are small, and state economic conditions rather than local employment conditions are the principal driver behind local poverty.

Shared decision making in Australian physiotherapy practice: A survey of knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported use

OBJECTIVE: To assess Australian physiotherapists’ knowledge about, attitudes towards, and self-reported use of shared decision making, as well as perceived barriers to its implementation in practice. METHODS: Physiotherapists registered for a national Australian physiotherapy conference were invited via email and the conference app to complete a self-administered online questionnaire about shared decision making, including: a) knowledge, b) attitude to and reported approach in practice, c) behaviours used, d) barriers, e) previous training and future training interest. Responses were analysed descriptively and open-ended questions synthesised narratively. RESULTS: 372 physiotherapists (71% female, mean age 45 years, mean experience 23 years) completed the survey. Respondents had a good level of knowledge on most questions, with correct responses ranging from 39.5% to 98.5% of participants, and a generally positive attitude towards shared decision making, believing it useful to most practice areas. Sixty percent indicated they make decisions with their patients and there was general agreement between how decisions should be made and how they are actually made. The behaviour with the lowest reported occurrence was explaining the relevant research evidence about the benefits and harms of the options. The main perceived barriers were patient knowledge and confidence, consequent fewer physiotherapy sessions, and time constraints. Most (79%) were keen to learn more about shared decision making. CONCLUSIONS: Shared decision making is of growing importance to all health professions and rarely studied in physical therapy. This sample of Australian physiotherapists had a generally positive attitude to shared decision making and learning more about it. Opportunities for providing such skills training at the undergraduate level and in continuing professional development should be explored. This training should ensure that the communicating evidence component of shared decision making is addressed as well as debunking myths about perceived barriers to its implementation

Can nudge-interventions address health service overuse and underuse? Protocol for a systematic review

IntroductionNudge-interventions aimed at health professionals are proposed to reduce the overuse and underuse of health services. However, little is known about their effectiveness at changing health professionals’ behaviours in relation to overuse or underuse of tests or treatments.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to systematically identify and synthesise the studies that have assessed the effect of nudge-interventions aimed at health professionals on the overuse or underuse of health services.Methods and analysisWe will perform a systematic review. All study designs that include a control comparison will be included. Any qualified health professional, across any specialty or setting, will be included. Only nudge-interventions aimed at altering the behaviour of health professionals will be included. We will examine the effect of choice architecture nudges (default options, active choice, framing effects, order effects) and social nudges (accountable justification and pre-commitment or publicly declared pledge/contract). Studies with outcomes relevant to overuse or underuse of health services will be included. Relevant studies will be identified by a computer-aided search of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library), MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase and PsycINFO databases. Two independent reviewers will screen studies for eligibility, extract data and perform the risk of bias assessment using the criteria recommended by the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) group. We will report our results in a structured synthesis format, as recommended by the Cochrane EPOC group.Ethics and disseminationNo ethical approval is required for this study. Results will be presented at relevant scientific conferences and in peer-reviewed literature

Composable Constraint Models for Permutation Enumeration

Constraint programming (CP) is a powerful tool for modeling mathematical concepts and objects and finding both solutions or counter examples. One of the major strengths of CP is that problems can easily be combined or expanded. In this paper, we illustrate that this versatility makes CP an ideal tool for exploring problems in permutation patterns. We declaratively define permutation properties, permutation pattern avoidance and containment constraints using CP and show how this allows us to solve a wide range of problems. We show how this approach enables the arbitrary composition of these conditions, and also allows the easy addition of extra conditions. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our techniques by modelling the containment and avoidance of six permutation patterns, eight permutation properties and measuring five statistics on the resulting permutations. In addition to calculating properties and statistics for the generated permutations, we show that arbitrary additional constraints can also be easily and efficiently added. This approach enables mathematicians to investigate permutation pattern problems in a quick and efficient manner. We demonstrate the utility of constraint programming for permutation patterns by showing how we can easily and efficiently extend the known permutation counts for a conjecture involving the class of 1324 avoiding permutations. For this problem, we expand the enumeration of 1324-avoiding permutations with a fixed number of inversions to permutations of length 16 and show for the first time that in the enumeration there is a pattern occurring which follows a unique sequence on the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences

Linking brain activity across scales with simultaneous opto- and electrophysiology

The brain enables adaptive behavior via the dynamic coordination of diverse neuronal signals across spatial and temporal scales: from fast action potential patterns in microcircuits to slower patterns of distributed activity in brain-wide networks. Understanding principles of multiscale dynamics requires simultaneous monitoring of signals in multiple, distributed network nodes. Combining optical and electrical recordings of brain activity is promising for collecting data across multiple scales and can reveal aspects of coordinated dynamics invisible to standard, single-modality approaches. We review recent progress in combining opto- and electrophysiology, focusing on mouse studies that shed new light on the function of single neurons by embedding their activity in the context of brain-wide activity patterns. Optical and electrical readouts can be tailored to desired scales to tackle specific questions. For example, fast dynamics in single cells or local populations recorded with multi-electrode arrays can be related to simultaneously acquired optical signals that report activity in specified subpopulations of neurons, in non-neuronal cells, or in neuromodulatory pathways. Conversely, two-photon imaging can be used to densely monitor activity in local circuits while sampling electrical activity in distant brain areas at the same time. The refinement of combined approaches will continue to reveal previously inaccessible and under-appreciated aspects of coordinated brain activity

Enhancing PrEP uptake among MSM: Findings from interviews with researchers and practitioners

BACKGROUND: HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a prescription antiretroviral medication that an HIV-negative person who is at high risk for HIV infection takes once per day to prevent infection. The most recent National HIV/AIDS Strategy identifies increasing PrEP uptake among men who have sex with men (MSM) as a pillar of ending the AIDS epidemic. Extant literature suggests that barriers to PrEP uptake among MSM are related to access, stigma, and knowledge/attitudes. METHODS: From February-March 2016, semi-structured interviews were conducted with researchers and practitioners in the HIV prevention field who work with MSM in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (n=11). An interview guide was used that asked about PrEP barriers and ways to mitigate these barriers. Interview recordings were transcribed and analyzed for key themes using ATLAS.ti software. RESULTS: The original list of 39 codes was condensed into five key themes. The five key themes are that PrEP is empowering; PrEP barriers are multidimensional and overlapping; episodic PrEP is viewed favorably; PrEP needs, access, and perceptions differ by race and age; and risk compensation is real, but it should not be used to prohibit PrEP uptake. A list of all PrEP barriers identified in the interviews is presented. PUBLIC HEALTH SIGNIFICANCE: For public health practice, participants in these interviews identified stigma as more significant of a barrier to PrEP uptake for MSM than its discussion in the existing literature would suggest. PrEP enhancement efforts should simultaneously target multiple barriers across constructs for maximum effectiveness, avoid shaming overtones, and be inclusive of black MSM. A table is presented that may serve as a map to intervention design. Research is needed to test the association of PrEP use and STI incidence in US-based samples, to fine-tune local PrEP uptake efforts in other regions, and to monitor unintended consequences of PrEP uptake in the near or distant future

Cyber equipping 4.0 – fe-simulation-based setting instructions for a rotary draw-bending machine

The tool setting process for rotary draw-bending is very complex. Only experienced machine operators know which settings lead to a good result in relation to the bending task. Up to seven individual tools can be installed, positioned and set in the process independently. A complete set of tools consists of: pressure die, mandrel, wiper die, inner and outer clamp die as well as the bend die and the collet or piston bend. [1] Furthermore there are the axis settings, which can be adjusted with the parameters distance, force, angle, torque and time. If a defect occurs after the successful set-up process the machine operator has various possibilities to solve the problem. The effects of the different setting parameters and the procedure for the fastest possible elimination of the error are often unclear. The goal is to be able to use an adjustment support for the setting process by means of physical-analytical principles and systematically constructed FE simulations at the bending machine. In order to evaluate the bending result, the condition of the bending component is examined concerning the quality characteristics, cracking, wrinkling, cross-section deformation and elastic deformation. [2] Based on performed and analyzed FE simulations, adjustment recommendations regarding the respective quality characteristics are to be established as well as predictions about possible defects. The simulation and calculation results flow into a database. This is used for the implementation of an electronic expert, who uses a visualization aid to provide the machine operator with information and recommendations on the setup settings. This avoids errors during the equipping process and saves set-up time. Machine operators and particularly trained employees are guided and supported in their work

Vom administrativen Markt zur virtuellen Ökonomie: Rußlands scheinbare Transformation

"Der Übergang von administrativem Markt zu virtueller Ökonomie in Rußland ist in erheblichem Maße ein von Pfadabhängigkeit geprägter Prozeß. Zahlreiche, überwiegend informelle institutionelle Arrangements des sowjetischen Wirtschaftssystems wirken noch heute kontinuierlich weiter. Die virtuelle Ökonomie ist eine potenzierte Form des administrativen Marktes, in der vornehmlich die alten Eliten mit ähnlichen Methoden ähnlich ineffizient wirtschaften. Gründe hierfür sind im Wechselspiel zwischen institutionellem Gefüge und rational verfolgten Akteursinteressen zu finden. Dabei wirken einerseits extrem resistente Institutionen des administrativen Marktes wie etwa informelle Eigentumsrechte, administrative Währungen, sowie improvisierte Transaktionsformen gegen einen Wandel, während andererseits gesellschaftliche Akteursgruppen äußerst zielstrebig rationale Strategien zur Sicherung ihres institutionellen Umfelds ausspielen, das ihnen Profitpotentiale und Eigentumsansprüche garantiert. Diese lock-in Mechanismen, die einen nachhaltigen Wandel erheblich behindern, lassen die These von einer scheinbaren Transformation zu." (Autorenreferat