Belize: access rights, free to move

Belize, a pioneer in fisheries conservation, has become the first country to adopt a national, multispecies territorial user rights programm

Knowledge of Overdiagnosis and the Decision To Participate in Breast Cancer Screening

In 2014, breast cancer was the second leading cause of death among Canadian women, with women over age 50 years making up 82% of the identified cases. To address this issue, the Ontario Breast Screening Program developed a media campaign that promoted the benefits of mammogram screening, but not the associated risks (i.e., false-positive, false-negative, radiation exposure, and overdiagnosis). This study was designed to determine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between knowledge of overdiagnosis and participation in mammogram screening. This cross-sectional, correlational study used schema theory supported by the effective health communication model. Forty-one women were invited to listen to a brief presentation on the benefits and risks of screening mammograms and then completed a modified Champion Health Belief Model Scale survey. Two sample t tests and logistic regression analyses of the survey scores showed that the data did not support any correlations with education and screening, but did indicate a correlation between overdiagnosis and participation. The less a participant felt that overdiagnosis was a negative consequence, the more likely they were to participate in breast screening. Survey participants also stated that promotions of mammograms should present balanced information about the benefits and risks of screening. The positive social change and policy implications of this study include providing women aged 50-69 years more information on overdiagnosis in mammograms so they are more informed participants in the decision-making process, and educating Ontario government policymakers with information about the barriers that women aged 50-69 years face in getting balanced information on mammography programs

Democratic Economic Participation and Humane Urban Development

Humane economics, democratic economic participation, and democratic economic control are words not often combined and terms rarely used by traditional economic developers and urban planners, especially when addressing inner-city redevelopment. Most often, discussions about economic development and the elimination of poverty focus on job creation, workforce development, and access to job opportunities - promoting the corporate model of growth and fortifying big business\u27s penetration into and control of community economics. Income receives a bit of attention, in the peripheral discussions about living wages\u27 or family-supporting wages and good jobs. However, concepts such as a guaranteed income or payment for the social reproduction responsibilities mostly shouldered by women (paid household or women\u27s work ) are accorded little if any credibility. Moreover, control over income, especially for women, is not a part of the mainstream vocabulary

Differences in work environment for staff as an explanation for variation in central line bundle compliance in intensive care units.

BACKGROUND: Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) are a common and costly quality problem, and their prevention is a national priority. A decade ago, researchers identified an evidence-based bundle of practices that reduce CLABSIs. Compliance with this bundle remains low in many hospitals. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess whether differences in core aspects of work environments-workload, quality of relationships, and prioritization of quality-are associated with variation in maximal CLABSI bundle compliance, that is, compliance 95%-100% of the time in intensive care units (ICUs). METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A cross-sectional study of hospital medical-surgical ICUs in the United States was done. Data on work environment and bundle compliance were obtained from the Prevention of Nosocomial Infections and Cost-Effectiveness Refined Survey completed in 2011 by infection prevention directors, and data on ICU and hospital characteristics were obtained from the National Healthcare Safety Network. Factor and multilevel regression analyses were conducted. FINDINGS: Reasonable workload and prioritization of quality were positively associated with maximal CLABSI bundle compliance. High-quality relationships, although a significant predictor when evaluated apart from workload and prioritization of quality, had no significant effect after accounting for these two factors. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Aspects of the staff work environment are associated with maximal CLABSI bundle compliance in ICUs. Our results suggest that hospitals can foster improvement in ensuring maximal CLABSI bundle compliance-a crucial precursor to reducing CLABSI infection rates-by establishing reasonable workloads and prioritizing quality

Calibrating cross-training to meet demand mix variation and employee absence

We address the problem of determining the cross-training that a work team needs in order to cope with demand mix variation and absences. We consider the case in which all workers can be trained on all tasks, the workforce is a resource that determines the capacity and a complete forecasting of demand is not available. The demand mix variation that the organization wants to be able to cope with is fixed by establishing a maximum time to devote to each product. We contend that this approach is straightforward, has managerial practicality and can be applied to a broad range of practical scenarios. It is required that the demand mix variation be met, even if there are a certain level of absences. To numerically solve the mathematical problem, a constraint-based selection procedure is developed, which we term CODEMI. We provide illustrated examples demonstrating solution quality for the approximation, and we report on an illustrative set of computational cases. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. and Association of European Operational Research Societies (EURO) within the International Federation of Operational Research Societies (IFORS). All rights reserved.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Racial and Ethnic Disparities throughout the Criminal Legal System: A Result of Racist Policies and Discretionary Practices

Throughout history, the US has created laws that have discriminated against people of color, and as a result, examples of differential treatment on the basis of race can be found throughout the criminal legal system. This brief aims to provide a comprehensive overview of racial disparities at each level of the criminal legal system and highlight how each decision point of the system impacts the next, resulting in continuous, disparate outcomes for people of color. Our findings suggest that in order to address these disparities, researchers must approach their work with appropriately contextualized research questions and an understanding of the language they use. Additionally, researchers should frame reported statistics with the appropriate historical setting, and actively approach research through community engaged methods

Blueprint for the Dissemination of Evidence-Based Practices in Health Care

Proposes strategies for better dissemination of best practices through quality improvement campaigns, including campaigns aligned with adopting organizations' goals, practical implementation tools and guides, and networks to foster learning opportunities

THEORETICAL VALIDATION OF TEST RESULTS FOR THE PRESSURE DROP VALUES OF CIRCULAR PINS WITH A MAXIMUM LENGTH TO DIAMETER RATIO OF 3.0 USING EXISTING EQUATIONS AND TEST DATA FOR HEAT EXCHANGER APPLICATION

Paper presented at the 8th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Mauritius, 11-13 July, 2011.Pins are a very common type of extended surface used in the field of heat transfer; their main use being in the electronics field. In this report, the use of pins as an extended surface is considered for a Heat Exchanger application in the aerospace field. The Heat Exchanger uses forced convective heat transfer mechanism for the dissipation of heat and the implicated fluid is air. For this application the pin layout and design is completely unique in that the pin’s maximum length to diameter ratio is 3.0 and the layout of the pins produces an X T value of 7, which has not been explored in any previous work. The Length: Diameter ratio of these new pins is very small when compared to the Length: Diameter ratios of tubes currently used in heat exchangers to enhance heat transfer. Moreover, the distance between the pins in this arrangement is much greater than those for the tubes. Testing has been performed on this pin design and the theoretical validation of those test results is one of the main aspects discussed in this report. Due to the innovative nature of the pin designs, there is insufficient existing test data or established equations that can be used. Assumptions are made in order to be able to apply the current equations for pressure drop calculations with valid justifications. The theoretical results for the total pressure drop show an average deviation of 6% from the test results for mass flow rates between 0.14 kg/s and 0.36 kg/s. The maximum pressure drop was found to be caused by the pins and it was in the range of 89%-91%of the total. In this article, the limitations of existing equations are discussed and the gap in the theoretical knowledge regarding novel pin designs is highlighted.mp201