Behavioral Barriers of Tuberculosis Notification in Private Health Sector: Policy implication and Practice

Under-reporting of new tuberculosis (TB) cases is one of the main problems in TB control, particularly in countries with high incidence and dominating role of a private sector in TB cases diagnosing. The purpose of this paper was to explore behavioral determinants of under-reporting of new TB cases among private sector physicians in Iran. We conducted a population-based, cross-sectional study of physicians working in private clinics. The data collection tool was designed using the theory of planned behavior. We used structural equation models with maximum likelihood estimation to examine attitude towards the notification behavior. Of 519 physicians, 433 physicians completed the questionnaire. Attitude towards notification had the highest score (mean score=87.65; sd=6.79; range: 0-100). The effect of perceived behavioral controls on the notification behavior ((β ̂)= 0.13; CI: .01-.25) was stronger than the total effect of attitude ((β ̂)=0.06; CI: .00-.12) and subjective norms ((β ̂)=0.01; CI: -.00 -.03) on the behavior. However, the attitude was the main predictor of intention and justified 46% of the intention variance. Intention had a significant effect on the behavior ((β ̂)= 0.09; CI:.01- .16). Considering stronger effect of perceived behavioral control on the behavior, interventions aiming at facilitating notification process would be more effective than those aiming at changing the attitude or enhancing intention among physicians. To the best of our knowledge, no other study previously explored determinants of under-reporting from the behavioral and cognitive perspective. Specifically, we explored the role of the theory of planned behavior constructs in predicting intention to notify new TB cases

ALTERATION OF ACTIVE SUBSTANCE CONTENT IN "HEXACHLORAN DUST" PESTICIDE FORMULATION AT EXPOSURE TO ELECTRON BEAM

The most popular methods of organochlorinated pesticides (OCP) destruction, which are based on thermal dechlorination, are not ecologically safe. The other process – radiation-chemical degradation – has got some advantages. It does not involve high temperatures and expensive reagents. In this study, the effective OCP degradation was observed under irradiation of residuals of the active substance of ‘Hexachloran dust’ pesticide formulation, intended for utilization. Parameters for the preparation powder (dry form) exposure to electron beam are discussed. It is shown that at the exposure to electron beam at dose of 100 kGy, the degradation degree of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) isomers in a composition of active substance achieves 56.2–66.3%

The role of time management in the self-organisation of the individual within an effective self-marketing model

The study determines the role of time management in the self-organisation of a person oriented towards successful career development, identifies opportunities and ways of self-organisation within the effective self-marketing model. Two tests have been conducted among two hundred respondents of the following categories: non-working students, working students, freelancers, specialists, middle managers and top managers. The first testing allowed us to identify differences in the structure of timing during the day by categories of respondents. Based on the second test survey, six base effective time management factors have been analysed: consistency, purposefulness, perseverance, fixation (on structuring activities), self-organisation (through external means), orientation to the present. The results of the study confirm the need for time management, its competent distribution and budgeting, and effective use in the context of the self-organisation unit of the effective self-marketing model

Observation of nuclei with energies 8-30 MeV per nucleon in the Earth's magnetosphere at the altitudes 350 KM

Observations of the flux of nuclei with an energy of IO MeV per nucleon on the Salyut-7 Station in September 1984 are presented. The observed flux is smaller by a factor of 50 than the flux detected in May, 1981

Contents of heavy metals in fructicose epiphytic lichens of Karelia as indicator of atmospheric transport of pollutants

Results of studies of heavy metals contents in fruticose epiphytic lichens in Karelia are presented and the influence of different sources on the elemental composition of lichens has been estimated. It has been shown, that long-range atmospheric transport influences strongly the accumulation of Pb, Zn, Cd, Sb. For Al, Fe and Co lithogenic source is the main one. In the Northern Karelia atmospheric transport of Cu, Co and Ni from metallurgic enterprises of the Murmansk Region is important source of these elements

Parametric Generation of Subharmonics in a Composite Multiferroic Resonator

Parametric generation of subharmonics in a composite multiferroic resonator is observed and investigated. The resonator has the form of a disk and contains two mechanically coupled layers, one of which is amorphous ferromagnet Fe-B-Si-C and the other piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate. The resonator is placed inside two planar electromagnetic coils with orthogonal axes. A static magnetic field of 0-100 Oe is applied parallel to the plane of the resonator. The resonator is excited in the frequency range f = 9-10 kHz by either a harmonic magnetic field with an amplitude of up to 5 Oe generated by one of the coils, or a harmonic electric field with an amplitude of up to 500 V/cm applied to the piezoelectric layer. When the pump field is above a certain threshold, generation of a subharmonic of half-frequency (f/2) is observed for three different excitation methods. The first two employed either the direct magnetoelectric effect or the converse magnetoelectric effect, while in the third a transformer system is utilized. The subharmonic is generated in a limited range of pump frequencies and its amplitude is a nonlinear function of both the pump-field amplitude and the strength of static magnetic field. A theory of parametric generation of the subharmonic in a multiferroic resonator is developed, taking into account the magnetoacoustic nonlinearity of the ferromagnetic layer of the structure and excitation of acoustic resonances near the pump and subharmonic frequencies. The theory qualitatively describes the main characteristics of the subharmonic generation.</p