Proposed Uniform Acccountancy Act; Exposure Draft (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), 1990, December 2

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_assoc/1544/thumbnail.jp

Psychopathy and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Revisited: Results From a Statewide Population of Institutionalized Youth

Suicide is the leading cause of death for incarcerated youth, and up to half of all juveniles in confinement experience suicidal ideation in addition to other psychopathology, including psychopathic personality features. Unfortunately, limited research has investigated the psychopathy–suicidality link among juvenile delinquents and using newer psychopathy measures. Based upon a statewide population of incarcerated juvenile offenders, we found that psychopathy was a significant risk factor for suicidal ideation and lifetime suicide attempts, but the latter relationship was attenuated by lifetime depression diagnosis. In addition, certain affective psychopathic features such as Stress Immunity conferred protection against suicidality, whereas behavioral and lifestyle components including Carefree Nonplanfulness, Blame Externalization, and Rebellious Nonconformity were positively linked to suicidal thoughts among the youth offenders. As these risk factors are routinely screened for in juvenile justice settings, this study’s findings have considerable implications to applied practice and prevention among juvenile justice involved youth

Physical restraint in residential child care : the experiences of young people and residential workers

There have long been concerns about the use of physical restraint in residential care. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study which explores the experiences of children, young people and residential workers about physical restraint. The research identifies the dilemmas and ambiguities for both staff and young people, and participants discuss the situations where they feel physical restraint is appropriate as well as their concerns about unjustified or painful restraints. They describe the negative emotions involved in restraint but also those situations where, through positive relationships and trust, restraint can help young people through unsafe situations

The Merger of Rural Primary Care and Home Health Services *

The merger of rural primary care and home health services offers the potential for increasing the administrative efficiency of health care, and thereby enhancing the quality of care and increasing access to services, particularly health promotion. However, the proposed benefits of any merger can only be realized if the merger process is successfully completed. An analysis of the factors that were important in a case study of successful and unsuccessful mergers of rural health centers and home health care agencies in northeastern Vermont is presented. Three components were found to be necessary to start the merger process: complementary needs, opportunity, and common philosophy. The involvement and support of key individuals was crucial to sustaining merger interest. Good communication throughout the process contributed substantially to the maintenance of both community and staff support. Others considering similar mergers should recognize that the process of consolidating organizations and satisfying regulations takes some time to complete.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73135/1/j.1748-0361.1991.tb00702.x.pd

Australian family carer responses when a loved one receives a diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease—“Our life has changed forever”

While the experiences of family members supporting a person with a terminal illness are well documented, less is known about the needs of carers of people with neurological diseases, in particular, Motor Neurone Disease (MND). This paper describes the qualitative data from a large Australian survey of family carers of people with MND, to ascertain their experiences of receiving the diagnosis. The aim of the study was to describe the experiences of family carers of people with MND in receiving the diagnosis in order to inform and improve ways in which the diagnosis is communicated. Anonymous postal surveys were sent to people with MND in Australia and their family carers respectively. The perceived ability/skills of neurologists was assessed using a five‐point scale from excellent to poor. Attributes of communication of bad news was measured by the SPIKES protocol. Each survey question invited further written responses. Eight hundred and sixty‐four questionnaires were posted to people with MND and their family carers, with assistance from MND associations. One hundred and ninety‐six family carers submitted responses, of which 171 (88%) were patient‐carer dyads. Analyses were conducted on 190 family carers. Five themes emerged from reading and re‐reading written responses: frustrations with the diagnosis; giving information; family carer observations of the neurologist; the setting; and what would have made the diagnosis easier? The delivery of the diagnosis is a pivotal event in the MND trajectory. Satisfaction for patients and their family carers is related to the neurologists showing empathy and responding appropriately to their emotions, exhibiting knowledge and providing longer consultations. Neurologists may benefit from education and training in communication skills to adequately respond to patients’ and families’ emotions and development of best practice protocols

BMI, Physical Activity, and Health Care Utilization/Costs among Medicare Retirees

Objective : To examine the influence of physical activity (PA) and BMI on health care utilization and costs among Medicare retirees. Research Methods and Procedures : This cross‐sectional study was based on 42, 520 Medicare retirees in a U.S.‐wide manufacturing corporation who participated in indemnity/perferred provider and one health risk appraisal during the years 2001 and 2002. Participants were assigned into one of the three weight groups: normal weight, overweight, and obese. PA behavior was classified into three levels: sedentary (0 time/wk), moderately active (1 to 3 times/wk), and very active (4+ times/wk). Results : Generalized linear models revealed that the moderately active retirees had $1456,$1731, and $1177 lower total health care charges than their sedentary counterparts in the normal‐weight, overweight, and obese groups, respectively ( p < 0.01). The very active retirees had$1823, $581, and$1379 lower costs than the moderately active retirees. Health care utilization and specific costs showed similar trends with PA levels for all BMI groups. The total health care charges were lower with higher PA level for all age groups ( p < 0.01). Discussion : Regular PA has strong dose‐response effects on both health care utilization and costs for overweight/obese as well as normal‐weight people. Promoting active lifestyle in this Medicare population, especially overweight and obese groups, could potentially improve their well‐being and save a substantial amount of health care expenditures. Because those Medicare retirees are hard to reach in general, more creative approaches should be launched to address their needs and interests as well as help reduce the usage of health care system.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/93683/1/oby.2005.175.pd

Analysis and Synthesis of Metadata Goals for Scientific Data

The proliferation of discipline-specific metadata schemes contributes to artificial barriers that can impede interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. The authors considered this problem by examining the domains, objectives, and architectures of nine metadata schemes used to document scientific data in the physical, life, and social sciences. They used a mixed-methods content analysis and Greenberg’s (2005) metadata objectives, principles, domains, and architectural layout (MODAL) framework, and derived 22 metadata-related goals from textual content describing each metadata scheme. Relationships are identified between the domains (e.g., scientific discipline and type of data) and the categories of scheme objectives. For each strong correlation (\u3e0.6), a Fisher’s exact test for nonparametric data was used to determine significance (p \u3c .05). Significant relationships were found between the domains and objectives of the schemes. Schemes describing observational data are more likely to have “scheme harmonization” (compatibility and interoperability with related schemes) as an objective; schemes with the objective “abstraction” (a conceptual model exists separate from the technical implementation) also have the objective “sufficiency” (the scheme defines a minimal amount of information to meet the needs of the community); and schemes with the objective “data publication” do not have the objective “element refinement.” The analysis indicates that many metadata-driven goals expressed by communities are independent of scientific discipline or the type of data, although they are constrained by historical community practices and workflows as well as the technological environment at the time of scheme creation. The analysis reveals 11 fundamental metadata goals for metadata documenting scientific data in support of sharing research data across disciplines and domains. The authors report these results and highlight the need for more metadata-related research, particularly in the context of recent funding agency policy changes

Obesity and prevalence of chronic diseases in the 1999–2000 Italian National Health Survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is consistent evidence that obesity is a correlate of mortality. Less information is available about the relation between body weight and the prevalence of diseases. We investigated the prevalence of overweight and obesity and their relationship with 14 groups of chronic diseases in a Mediterranean population using data from the Italian National Survey collected in 1999–2000.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A sample of 52,300 families was randomly selected using a complex stratified multistage design, within strata of geographical areas, municipalities, and household sizes, to produce estimates representative of the whole Italian population. Data were collected by civil servants both with an interview and a self-reported questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The present study documents an increase in the prevalence of overweight among Italian adults in the last decades and an increased prevalence of several chronic conditions in obese or overweight individuals. A general pattern of a positive association between excess weight and chronic disease was observed for both sexes. The ratio of the prevalences of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases was higher in obese versus normal-weight individuals in the age group under 45 years.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>To reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases a policy promoting a healthier individual lifestyle is becoming more and more desirable.</p