1,133 research outputs found
Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Capability Framework
Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Capability Framewor
Comparing Moral Reasoning across Graduate Occupational and Physical Therapy Students and Practitioners
Practicing clinicians must use moral reasoning to solve ethical problems and combat moral distress. Development of moral reasoning in occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students has been significantly under researched. The purpose of this study was to analyze the differences in moral reasoning between first year and second year OT and PT students and between students and OT and PT practitioners. Investigators utilized a cross-sectional study design with a convenience sample of University of Indianapolis OT and PT students and a combination of convenience and snowball sampling to recruit licensed OT and PT practitioners. One hundred and fifty-four participants completed the Defining Issues Test - 2 (DIT-2; Rest et al., 1999) survey. Comparisons of N2 scores using t-tests found no differences between groups in moral reasoning schema (one’s preferred way of approaching moral issues, divided into stratified developmental levels). However, Pearson’s Chi-Square analysis for a comparison of all students to all practitioners for moral reasoning patterns (one’s ability to discriminate between types of moral reasoning schemas when presented with a complex moral dilemma) was significant between students (transitional) and practitioners (consolidated), with the greatest difference between second-year students and practitioners. Continual expansion of ethics content, including interjecting clinical experiences into the classroom, within OT and PT graduate programs may promote moral reasoning pattern development with carryover into practice. Clinical experiences provide real-world opportunities necessary to progress students from transitional to consolidated thinking patterns. To improve ethics education, authors recommend active learning strategies and ethics mentorship throughout clinical experiences
Leveraging Strategic Foresight to advance Worker Safety, Health, and Well-Being
Attending to the ever-expanding list of factors impacting work, the workplace, and the workforce will require innovative methods and approaches for occupational safety and health (OSH) research and practice. This paper explores strategic foresight as a tool that can enhance OSH capacity to anticipate, and even shape, the future as it pertains to work. Equal parts science and art, strategic foresight includes the development and analysis of plausible alternative futures as inputs to strategic plans and actions. Here, we review several published foresight approaches and examples of work-related futures scenarios. We also present a working foresight framework tailored for OSH and offer recommendations for next steps to incorporate strategic foresight into research and practice in order to advance worker safety, health, and well-being
Four Futures For Occupational Safety and Health
Rapid changes to the nature of work have challenged the capacity of existing occupational safety and health (OSH) systems to ensure safe and productive workplaces. An effective response will require an expanded focus that includes new tools for anticipating and preparing for an uncertain future. Researchers at the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have adopted the practice of strategic foresight to structure inquiry into how the future will impact OSH. Rooted in futures studies and strategic management, foresight creates well-researched and informed future scenarios that help organizations better prepare for potential challenges and take advantage of new opportunities. This paper summarizes the inaugural NIOSH strategic foresight project, which sought to promote institutional capacity in applied foresight while exploring the future of OSH research and practice activities. With multidisciplinary teams of subject matter experts at NIOSH, we undertook extensive exploration and information synthesis to inform the development of four alternative future scenarios for OSH. We describe the methods we developed to craft these futures and discuss their implications for OSH, including strategic responses that can serve as the basis for an action-oriented roadmap toward a preferred future
Perfectionism and Exercise Dependence: the Role of Basic Psychological Needs and Introjected Regulation
Using a self-determination theory (SDT) framework, the aims of our study were to examine the perfectionism-exercise dependence relationships, and whether basic psychological needs and introjected regulation explained these relationships. Distance runners (n = 260, M age: = 42.41 years; SD: = 11.95 years, n = 144 female) completed measures of multidimensional perfectionism (self-oriented perfectionism (SOP); socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP)), basic psychological need satisfaction and thwarting, introjected regulation, and exercise dependence. Bivariate correlations revealed significant positive SOP-exercise dependence and SPP-exercise dependence relationships. Structural equation modelling suggested that, in combination, perfectionism, basic psychological need satisfaction/thwarting and introjected regulation accounted for large amounts of variance in exercise dependence. Tests of indirect effects showed that the SPP-exercise dependence relationship was mediated by basic psychological need thwarting and introjected regulation. Our findings suggest that while the SOP-exercise dependence relationship is more direct, need thwarting and introjected regulation represent a motivational signature of SPP and exercise dependence
The 2 × 2 model of perfectionism and youth sport participation: A mixed-methods approach
ObjectivesResearch demonstrates that four subtypes of perfectionism from the 2 × 2 model are associated with different youth sport experiences. This study provided the first exploration of the experiences of youth sport participants exhibiting different subtypes of perfectionism using mixed-methods.DesignA two-stage, mixed-methods, approach was adopted (quantitative identification then qualitative data collection).MethodIn stage one (quantitative identification), 192 females enrolled in school- or community-based sport groups (M age = 13.91; SD = .90; range 12–16 years) completed a domain-specific perfectionism instrument (Sport-MPS-2) to identify participants prototypical of the four subtypes of perfectionism. In stage two (qualitative data collection), 19 prototypical participants (M age = 13.74; SD = .65; range 13–15 years) described their experiences of their youth sport involvement. One focus group (n = 4 to 5 per group) and one follow-up individual, semi-structured, interview (n = 4 in total) per subtype were conducted.ResultsThematic analysis revealed that the meaning youth sport participants gave to their sport involvement (i.e., goals, values, and purposes) and the features of the social-environment they perceived to be important differed between the four subtypes of perfectionism. For the “pure PSP” and “mixed perfectionism” subtypes, sport was a time to shine and experience success. For the “non-perfectionism” and “pure ECP” subtypes, sport was a place to make friends and belong. Participants from all four subtypes described the importance of the coach and peers, with some groups identifying different preferred roles for the coach in terms of type and amount of involvement.ConclusionsYouth sport participants exhibiting different subtypes of perfectionism vary in their experiences of youth sport. Practitioners working with young people in sport should consider these differences so to better understand and improve youth sport experiences
Century-scale wood nitrogen isotope trajectories from an oak savanna with variable fire frequencies
Fire frequency exerts a fundamental control on productivity and nutrient cycling in savanna ecosystems. Individual fires often increase short-Term nitrogen (N) availability to plants, but repeated burning causes ecosystem N losses and can ultimately decrease soil organic matter and N availability. However, these effects remain poorly understood due to limited long-Term biogeochemical data. Here, we evaluate how fire frequency and changing vegetation composition influenced wood stable N isotopes (15N) across space and time at one of the longest running prescribed burn experiments in the world (established in 1964). We developed multiple 15N records across a burn frequency gradient from precisely dated Quercus macrocarpa tree rings in an oak savanna at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, Minnesota, USA. Sixteen trees were sampled across four treatment stands that varied with respect to the temporal onset of burning and burn frequency but were consistent in overstory species representation, soil characteristics, and topography. Burn frequency ranged from an unburned control stand to a high-fire-frequency stand that had burned in 4 of every 5 years during the past 55 years. Because N stocks and net N mineralization rates are currently lowest in frequently burned stands, we hypothesized that wood 15N trajectories would decline through time in all burned stands, but at a rate proportional to the fire frequency. We found that wood 15N records within each stand were remarkably coherent in their mean state and trend through time. A gradual decline in wood 15N occurred in the mid-20th century in the no-, low-, and medium-fire stands, whereas there was no trend in the highfire stand. The decline in the three stands did not systematically coincide with the onset of prescribed burning. Thus, we found limited evidence for variation in wood 15N that could be attributed directly to long-Term fire frequency in this prescribed burn experiment in temperate oak savanna. Our wood 15N results may instead reflect decadal-scale changes in vegetation composition and abundance due to early-to mid-20th-century fire suppression
Stakeholder preferences for attributes of digital health technologies to consider in health service funding
Objectives: Health service providers are currently making decisions on the public funding of digital health technologies (DHTs) for managing chronic diseases with limited understanding of stakeholder preferences for DHT attributes. This study aims to understand the community, patient/carer, and health professionals' preferences to help inform a prioritized list of evaluation criteria. Methods: An online best-worst scaling survey was conducted in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom to ascertain the relative importance of twenty-four DHT attributes among stakeholder groups using an efficient incomplete block design. The attributes were identified from a systematic review of DHT evaluation frameworks for consideration in a health technology assessment. Results were analyzed with multinomial models by stakeholder group and latent class. Results: A total of 1,251 participants completed the survey (576 general community members, 543 patients/carers, and 132 health professionals). Twelve attributes achieved a preference score above 50 percent in the stakeholder group model, predominantly related to safety but also covering technical features, effectiveness, ethics, and economics. Results from the latent class model supported this prioritization. Overall, connectedness with the patient's healthcare team seemed the most important; with Helps health professionals respond quickly when changes in patient care are needed as the most highly prioritized of all attributes. Conclusions: It is proposed that these prioritized twelve attributes be considered in all evaluations of DHTs that manage chronic disease, supplemented with a limited number of attributes that reflect the specific perspective of funders, such as equity of access, cost, and system-level implementation considerations
Scaling K2. VI. Reduced Small Planet Occurrence in High Galactic Amplitude Stars
In this study, we performed a homogeneous analysis of the planets around FGK
dwarf stars observed by the Kepler and K2 missions, providing spectroscopic
parameters for 310 K2 targets -- including 239 Scaling K2 hosts -- observed
with Keck/HIRES. For orbital periods less than 40 days, we found that the
distribution of planets as a function of orbital period, stellar effective
temperature, and metallicity was consistent between K2 and Kepler, reflecting
consistent planet formation efficiency across numerous ~1 kpc sight-lines in
the local Milky Way. Additionally, we detected a 3X excess of sub-Saturns
relative to warm Jupiters beyond 10 days, suggesting a closer association
between sub-Saturn and sub-Neptune formation than between sub-Saturn and Jovian
formation. Performing a joint analysis of Kepler and K2 demographics, we
observed diminishing super-Earth, sub-Neptune, and sub-Saturn populations at
higher stellar effective temperatures, implying an inverse relationship between
formation and disk mass. In contrast, no apparent host-star spectral-type
dependence was identified for our population of Jupiters, which indicates
gas-giant formation saturates within the FGK mass regimes. We present support
for stellar metallicity trends reported by previous Kepler analyses. Using GAIA
DR3 proper motion and RV measurements, we discovered a galactic location trend:
stars that make large vertical excursions from the plane of the Milky Way host
fewer super-Earths and sub-Neptunes. While oscillation amplitude is associated
with metallicity, metallicity alone cannot explain the observed trend,
demonstrating that galactic influences are imprinted on the planet population.
Overall, our results provide new insights into the distribution of planets
around FGK dwarf stars and the factors that influence their formation and
evolution.Comment: 28 Pages, 12 Figures, 3 Tables; Accepted for Publication A
Molecular recognition of DNA base pairs by the formamido/pyrrole and formamido/imidazole pairings in stacked polyamides
Polyamides containing an N-terminal formamido (f) group bind to the minor groove of DNA as staggered, antiparallel dimers in a sequence-specific manner. The formamido group increases the affinity and binding site size, and it promotes the molecules to stack in a staggered fashion thereby pairing itself with either a pyrrole (Py) or an imidazole (Im). There has not been a systematic study on the DNA recognition properties of the f/Py and f/Im terminal pairings. These pairings were analyzed here in the context of f-ImPyPy, f-ImPyIm, f-PyPyPy and f-PyPyIm, which contain the central pairing modes, –ImPy– and –PyPy–. The specificity of these triamides towards symmetrical recognition sites allowed for the f/Py and f/Im terminal pairings to be directly compared by SPR, CD and ΔT(M) experiments. The f/Py pairing, when placed next to the –ImPy– or –PyPy– central pairings, prefers A/T and T/A base pairs to G/C base pairs, suggesting that f/Py has similar DNA recognition specificity to Py/Py. With –ImPy– central pairings, f/Im prefers C/G base pairs (>10 times) to the other Watson–Crick base pairs; therefore, f/Im behaves like the Py/Im pair. However, the f/Im pairing is not selective for the C/G base pair when placed next to the –PyPy– central pairings
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