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© 2021 Elsevier Masson SASThe aim of this study is to investigate and compare the changes in psychosocial status, self-esteem, and quality of life in patients treated with conventional and SF approaches. 14 patients (mean age 23.04±3.36; 9 male and 5 female) who met the inclusion criteria were included in the SF group; 18 patients with class III malocclusion (mean age 29.27±3.78; 9 male and 9 female) were included in the COS group. In the research protocol, the first questionnaires were carried out 2 weeks before surgery (T0); second survey approximately 4 weeks after surgery (T1); and the third one was done to patients after the treatment was completed (debonding) (T2). In our study, Orthognathic Quality of Life Questionnaire (OQLQ), Pyschosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ), Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14), Beck Depression Inventory second edition (BDI-II) and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), surveys were conducted. No statistically significant difference was observed in all of the PIDAQ parameters and most of the OQLQ parameters within the COS and SF groups (P>0.05). When the BDI-II results were examined, different trends in scores were observed between the two groups, and this difference was found to be statistically significant (P

This paper examines the effect of home country characteristics on the internationalization of emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs). Drawing on the institution-based view (IBV), we argue that institutional, political, and social characteristics will positively relate to the internationalization of EMNEs. Further, drawing on the knowledge-based view (KBV), we also argue that a firm’s knowledge stock (KS) will positively moderate the aforementioned relationship. Our research setting involves the incorporation of primary data collected from Iranian multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in the food and beverage industry. The results provide support for the hypotheses that home country characteristics positively impact the international growth of EMNEs but this does not lead to their further expansion. Also, supported was the hypothesis that EMNEs' knowledge stock positively moderates the relationship between home country characteristics and their international growth. These findings not only contribute to the current knowledge about the drivers of EMNE’s internationalization but also stress upon the idiosyncratic role of home country institutions and the impact of knowledge-specific capabilities on the internationalization of EMNEs, their international growth, and expansion.

We study the role of national culture in influencing the trading behavior of individuals. We achieve this by analyzing the trading patterns of participants trading in a simulated asset market where decision outcomes are framed in terms of both gains and losses, and under different externally imposed constraints. By analyzing the trading history of participants from 21 countries and territories, we show that an individual's cultural background significantly impacts how often they trade, the size of their trades and how long they keep their positions open in the market. Our results are robust when controlling for personal and social characteristics of the traders and for how rewards are offered to traders. Overall, our research shows how culture relates to trading behavior and has implications for the liquidity and risk profiles of exchanges around the world.

This paper is based on Human ear recognition in a new biometric technology by attracting the interest of biometrics community. Biometrics involves the programmed investigation of strategies in order to understand individual’s dependent on physical or social characteristics. Finding a decent biometric strategy, it has been extensively investigated in an ongoing year. The ear is a steady organ, it does not change with age and feelings, among a few biometric highlights.

In 2018, 1.1 million children under the age of 18 received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. Children qualify for SSI if their families have limited income and assets and the children have medically-determinable conditions that result in marked and severe functional limitations. In this study, I use recent data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the Disability Analysis File to measure the demographic, economic, educational, health, and social characteristics of children receiving SSI. Relative to other children, I find SSI children have high rates of poverty, near poverty, material hardship, hospitalization, mortality, and adverse schooling outcomes. Relative to other parents, parents of SSI children are more likely to have a disability of their own and less likely to be married, working, or with education beyond high school. Within the SSI child population, I find children in households where family members also receive SSI to have higher levels of material hardship. The study concludes with a comparison of findings to the research literature and a policy discussion.

Both social structural factors and direct sensory experiences can contribute to the development of environmental perceptions and concerns. We use two separate surveys of Utah adults to explore the association between sociodemographic characteristics and participation in recreational activities on water quality perceptions and concerns. We find that engaging in outdoor recreation is systematically associated with more positive water quality perceptions and higher levels of concern about impaired water quality. However, water quality perceptions appear to be shaped more by social characteristics (age, education, gender, race, religion, and income) and by generic measures of overall recreation behavior than by indicators of participation in particular forms of outdoor recreational activity. There is modest evidence that hikers, birdwatchers, and anglers are generally more likely to express concerns about impaired water quality, while boaters have more positive perceptions and lower levels of concern. Management implications • The baseline results of this study can be used by water managers in Utah to track shifts in public attitudes toward water quality as the state grapples with rapid climatic and demographic changes in the coming years. • Certain types of water recreation (e.g. hiking and birdwatching) are consistently predictive of greater concern about poor water quality. More frequent participation in these types of recreation may lead to increased receptivity to public policies aimed at addressing water quality problems. • Some demographic groups in our sample are more likely to engage in outdoor recreation, which may have important implications for public engagement.

This paper presents a method that combines visibility graph and isovist analyses to investigate the spatial and social properties of architectural plans for aged care facilities. The potential of the combined method is examined by measuring the properties of three sets of plans for residential aged care facilities. The first set is a pair of hypothetical, idealized plans, which allegedly reflect the “best practice” in the industry. The second set comprises a pair of plans for recent Australian designs, and the third set is a pair of plans for South Korean facilities. Results of the computational analysis of these six plans suggest that social and cultural factors may shape the design of aged care settings and partially explain their international differences. The application of this methodological approach contributes to the understanding of the relationship between spaces and their cultural and social properties in the design of aged care facilities.

The trend towards “clean” mobility is growing steadily, causing an exponential increase in lithium demand. Lithium reserves are therefore an important asset for the countries owning them, opening up opportunities for valuable economic activity. However, lithium mining is not free from social, environmental and health impacts and its extraction is far from being a consensual topic on the regions involved. This paper reviewed the main impacts of lithium exploitation and addressed, in particular, the case of Portugal, ranked as the country with the most promising lithium reserves in Europe. The analysis was based on an application of life-cycle assessment for the case of the Barroso-Alvao region in Northern Portugal. Albeit recognizing the limitations of the study given the scarcity of information, it is possible to envisage the importance of local impacts from lithium extraction specially related to Abiotic Resource Depletion, Ecological Toxicity Potential and Occupational Health Hazards. The conclusion of the study was that it was necessary to properly acknowledge the cultural and social characteristics of the region and account for the local communities' needs and expectations, together with the potential social and economic impacts, for the definition of fair and acceptable policies and pathways for the future.

Mating preferences were among the most studied human mating features, as they are the glue that helps form a romantic relationship. We investigated the influence of a broad series of environmental characteristics (e.g., resource scarcity, corruption, physical safety and integrity, insufficient jobs, inadequate medical and educational infrastructure) on women's mate preferences (Study 1, N = 211) and attraction to male narcissists (Study 2, N = 223). We also investigated the link between women's Dark Triad traits and perceived mate value on women's mate preferences in conditions of harsh vs. stable environments (Study 1). In stable environments, we found that women would prefer men interested in long-term relationships, with a pleasant personality and parenting skills (e.g., kind and cooperative). In contrast, in harsh environments, women would prefer men high on resources gathering characteristics (e.g., good cook-housekeepers, with well-off family backgrounds, good economic prospects). In Study 2, we found that women would be more attracted by males high on narcissism in the condition of harsh environments. Finally, we showed that women's Dark Triad traits and perceived mate value were associated with variations in women mate preferences in both conditions.

Hospital readmissions are a perennial problem. We reviewed readmissions to one institution (2002-2015) and investigated their dynamics.96,474 emergency admissions (in 50,701 patients) to an Irish hospital over a 15-year period were studied, and patterns surrounding early (28days) and late (any other) readmissions determined. Univariate and logistic or truncated Poisson regression methods were employed.Early readmission rate averaged 9.6% (95% CI: 9.4, 9.8) with a low/high of 8.4% (95% CI: 7.8, 9.1) and 10.3% (95% CI: 9.6, 11.0) respectively with no overall time trend. Early readmissions represented 20.1% (95% CI: 19.8, 20.5) of emergency medical readmissions. Median time to first readmission was 55weeks (95% CI: 13, 159), time to second was 35weeks (95% CI: 9, 98); by the 7th/8th readmissions, intervals were 13weeks (95% CI: 4, 36) and 11weeks (95% CI: 4, 30). Readmissions were older 67.1years (95% CI: 48.3, 79.2) vs. single admissions 53.9years (34.3, 72.4) and stayed longer - 5.8days (2.7, 10.6) vs. 3.9days (1.5, 8.0). Readmissions had more Acute Illness Severity, Charlson Co-Morbidity and Chronic Disabling Disease. Between 2002 and 2015 the logistic adjusted model of 30-day in-hospital mortality reduced from 6.1% (95% CI: 5.7, 6.5) to 4.4% (95% CI: 4.1, 4.7) (RRR 30.4%).Early hospital readmission rate did not change over 15years despite improvements in hospital mortality outcomes. Readmissions have a consistent pattern related to patient illness and social characteristics; the fundamentals are driven by disease progression over time.

Para conocer la salud de la población es necesario realizar un análisis conjunto y continuado de su estado de salud y de sus determinantes. El objetivo de esta nota de campo es describir el desarrollo y el funcionamiento de la herramienta Infobarris, que permite visualizar una amplia batería de indicadores y determinantes de la salud de la población de la ciudad de Barcelona según el barrio de residencia. Para el desarrollo de Infobarris se ha usado una metodología ágil que permite el desarrollo de un proyecto de forma iterativa e incremental en etapas: selección de indicadores, diseño del prototipo, desarrollo de la herramienta de visualización, carga de datos, revisión y mejora de la herramienta. Infobarris permite la visualización interactiva de 64 indicadores de salud y de sus determinantes, mediante gráficos, mapas y tablas, lo que facilita la vigilancia de la salud y de sus determinantes en los barrios de la ciudad de Barcelona. In order to know about the health of the population, it is necessary to perform a systematic and continuous analysis of their health status and social and economic health determinants. The objective of this paper is to describe the development and implementation of the Infobarris tool, which allows to visualize a wide battery of indicators and social determinants of health by neighbourhoods in the city of Barcelona (Spain). For the development of the Infobarris tool, we used an agile methodology that allows the development of a project in iterative and incremental stages, which are the following: selection of indicators, design of the prototype, development of the tool, data loading, and tool review and improvements. Infobarris displays 64 indicators of health and its determinants through graphics, maps and tables, in a friendly, interactive and attractive way, which facilitates health surveillance in the neighbourhoods of Barcelona.

Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) has a history that is as old as human civilization; yet currently the phenomenon poses a serious environmental challenge for human society. Both due to their bio-geographical and social characteristics, developing regions of the world such as South and Southeast Asia are particularly vulnerable to this problem. Although the popular perception is that HWC intensity has escalated over the past few decades, there is little published literature to support this view. We argue that insights into the historical trajectories of HWC are important to comprehend past trends and set up future priorities. As a case study, we review conflict literature from India to analyze trends in HWC in the country over the past four decades. Our analysis reveals that there has been a consistent increase in the number of HWC publications, and that nearly 90% of the country is currently afflicted by HWC. A total of 88 species belonging to nine taxonomic groups are involved in HWC. Yet, research has been limited to select species and geographical locations. We discuss potential causes for this bias and set out research directions for efficient management of this issue.

In models of coupled human and natural systems (CHANS), the role of individuals and human behavior is often overlooked as data are scarce and assumptions hard to verify. To assess this role, we couple an agent-based model simulating farmers' behavior and a groundwater model and apply the models to the case of groundwater-fed irrigation in a river basin in the High Plains Aquifer region. Results show the crucial role of human behavior in driving the interactions between these coupled systems. Conversely, individuals are impacted by the systems dynamics in different ways depending on physical, economic and social characteristics. The findings provide implications for local policy making and education and demonstrate that assumptions on human behavior could be treated as an additional source of uncertainty. This work suggests that modeling individuals and human behavior can be an important step to simulate and understand the dynamics of CHANS in a holistic way. Individuals and human behavior play a crucial role in driving CHANS' dynamics.Modeling individuals shows how CHANS' dynamics impact these individuals differently.Assumptions on human behavior have considerable effects on model results.Education and information diffusion can have critical roles in water conservation.

Russian Abstract: Сложившаяся демографическая ситуация в формировании трудовых ресурсов в России, а также повышение на законодательном уровне пенсионного возраста побуждают рассмотреть особенности использования кадрового потенциала с учетом возрастных особенностей населения и выявить рациональные пути обеспечения занятости специалистов в общественном производстве. Современные издания по социологии, экономике активно обсуждают проблемы повышения пенсионного возраста и привлечения пожилых людей к участию в общественной жизни не только в крупных мегаполисах, но и в отдаленных периферийных регионах страны. В настоящей статье рассматриваются вопросы коммуникативной компетенции путем социологического опроса двух групп пожилых людей и анализа полученных результатов: работающих и неработающих пенсионеров с выявлением значимости жизненных ценностей, смысложизненных ориентаций и компонентов коммуникативной компетенции. Рассмотрение социологических страт: «работающие» и «неработающие» пожилые люди ориентирует социологическую работу на разработку программ по двум направлениям. English Abstract: Current demographic composition of labor resources in Russia, as well as increase of retirement age, legislatively set by government, encourage investigation of staff potential usage in regard of population age characteristics and identification of rational ways of employment for specialists in social production. Contemporary scientific editions devoted to sociology and economy are discussing actively problems of retirement age increasing and ways of involvement of elderly people into social life not only in metropolises, but also, in peripheral parts of the country. In the article, analysis of results of sociological survey, devoted to communicative skills of elderly, is made. Survey of “working and “non-working” retirees, concerned their live values, life guidance and communicative skill components. Taking into consideration two social groups, “working” and “non-working” old people, aims sociological elaborations on both directions.

Objectives The purpose of this paper is to examine whether high school students in Ontario with asthma smoke cigarettes, waterpipes, marijuana or e-cigarettes more or less than those without asthma. Methods The 2013 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey provides self-report data on tobacco cigarettes, waterpipes, marijuana and e-cigarette smoking and asthma rates from 109 high schools in Ontario, Canada. Individual and social characteristics were also collected. Multiple binary logistic regression models measures the association with the various types of smoking in relation to asthma. Results Adolescents with asthma have higher odds of smoking e-cigarettes or smoking any type including either cigarettes, waterpipes, marijuana or e-cigarettes. Respondents of lower socio-economic status had a higher odds of smoking marijuana or any type. Boys were more likely to smoke waterpipes, e-cigarettes or any type, while students in higher grades had a higher odds of smoking cigarettes, waterpipes, marijuana or any type. Conclusions Results from this study suggest that adolescents with asthma have a higher odds of smoking e-cigarettes than those without asthma, but no relationship was found for cigarettes, waterpipes or marijuana. Findings present some new challenges as technology changes how adolescents can smoke. Public health campaigns should target adolescents, especially those with asthma, to raise their awareness of the risks of all types of smoking including e-cigarettes.

Introduction: Homecare (HC) is a service offering home medical and nursing care to the patient at home in equal quantity and quality as in the hospital. The aim of the article is to describe the changes in the HC of preterm and full-term low-birth-weight infants in our department from 2002 to 2014. Material and methods: The HC database is revised. The characteristics of the newborns and the social characteristics of the family in three consecutive time periods are analysed. A satisfaction survey of parents is also presented. Results: The main changes in HC include a decrease in the weight at discharge (from 1880 g in the 2002–2006 period to 1850 g in the 2011–2014 period; P = .006) and at the end of HC (from 2187 g to 2163 g; P = .001), an increase in the duration of HC (from 10 to 11 days; P = .007) and a lower incidence of new hospitalisation (from 3.4% to 1.3%; P = .019) The social characteristics of the family show a higher maternal age with more previous alive children, a family context better suited with a more appropriate housing, and an increase in exclusive breastfeeding at hospital discharge (from 25.5% to 49.0%; P

The purpose of this study was to describe the nurse teacher candidates' learning outcomes and experiences in social media during the international nurse teacher training course, Empowering learning environments in nursing education, Intensive Program (EleneIP). The pre-post research design was used. The data was collected before and after the course, with the questionnaire consisting of structured and open questions. Altogether, 24 nurse teacher candidates from four different European countries participated in the course and this study. The results showed that the knowledge of using social media applications increased during the course from 5.2 (range 1-9) to 8.1 (range 4-10), and their skills increased from 4.5 (range 1-8) to 7.6 (range 4-10).The main topics learnt during the course were divided in two categories: subjects of the course and teaching and learning methods. The students' experiences concerning the EleneIP course were positive in both categories. The international group created during EleneIP course also allowed the students to achieve another important aim, learning from a collaborative group the importance and possibilities of different learning environments, considering the cultural and social characteristics of each country participating in it. The funding for the course was received from the EU, Lifelong Learning Programme.

Ongoing population ageing is one of the factors influencing the increase in the prevalence of undernutrition, as elderly people are a vulnerable group due to their biological, psychological and social characteristics. Despite its high prevalence, undernutrition is underdiagnosed in the geriatric sphere. For this reason, the aim of this consensus document is to devise a protocol for geriatric nutritional assessment. A multidisciplinary team has been set up within the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (in Spanish Sociedad Espanola de Geriatria y Gerontologia [SEGG]) in order to address undernutrition and risk of undernutrition so that they can be diagnosed and treated in an effective manner. The MNA-SF is a practical tool amongst the many validated methods for nutritional screening. Following suspicion of undernutrition, or after establishing the presence of undernutrition, a full assessment will include a detailed nutritional history of the patient. The compilation of clinical-nutritional and dietetic histories is intended to help in identifying the possible risk factors at the root of a patient's undernutrition. Following this, an anthropometric assessment, combined with laboratory data, will describe the patient's physical and metabolic changes associated to undernutrition. Currently, the tendency is for further nutritional assessment through the use of non-invasive techniques to study body composition in association with functional status. The latter is an indirect index for nutritional status, which is very interesting from a geriatrician's point of view. To conclude, correct nutritional screening is the fundamental basis for an early undernutrition diagnosis and to assess the need for nutritional treatment. In order to achieve this, it is fundamental to foster research in the field of nutritional geriatrics, in order to expand our knowledge base and to increasingly practice evidence-based geriatrics.

International audience; This paper aims to understand the perception of train and coach modes for medium and long distance travels that may influence their use. Beyond the criteria of performance and travel cost, our hypothesis is that there are other more subjective criteria related to travel emotions or sensory aspects that might explain the differences of perception. Based on the results of both a qualitative and quantitative surveys of regional travels, it analyses the influence of social characteristics, geographical living environment, past experiences of public transport modes and effective travel uses on the image of these modes. It provides some interesting teachings for transport authorities about the influence of modes perception on modal change predisposition.

The focus of the current research was to evaluate how the individual’s social characteristics and urban infrastructure impacts the usage of Private Motorized Modes (PMM). Based on individual and urban characteristics a multilevel analysis was conducted on the possibility of commuting trip by private motorized modes on the rush time of 78 cities around the world. Also the selected cities were classified through a principal component analysis, and based on the classification the impact of and urban variables on the possibility of commuting trips made by private motorized modes (PCTP) was verified. Results showed a diverse range of variables related to the usage of PMM, as well as the urban structure and railway lengths being an important variable in travel behavior.

Background Despite the motivation and proven abilities of many autistic people, their employment rate remains low. This gloomy status relates to complex interactions between personal and environmental characteristics. The goals of this study, which were grounded in the person-environment-occupation (PEO) model, were to determine PEO characteristics that correlate with work participation of autistic people and to identify which PEO characteristics best predict the work performance and related self-efficacy of autistic people. Methods Forty-seven employees with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and no cognitive disabilities receiving support services were recruited via a convenience sample. Each participant completed self-report assessments to evaluate personal, occupational, and work environmental characteristics, as well as work performance and related self-efficacy assessments. Spearman's correlations were used to establish the associations between the variables, and forward stepwise regression to reveal the characteristics that predict work performance and self-efficacy of employees with autism. Results Significant correlations were found between work participation and each of the PEO model's dimensions. The person dimension (specifically, the repetitive and restricted behaviors and interest characteristic and other social characteristics in the workplace) was the most significant dimension explaining work participation of employees with autism, Conclusion Analyzing employment through the PEO theoretical model may contribute to understanding the work-related challenges autistic employees face. Such understanding may assist in establishing evidence based employment-intervention programs to improve their work performance and work-related self-efficacy.

Participatory mapping techniques and social surveys are combined with spatial statistics to examine resident senses of place in a gentrifying neighborhood. Whereas recent debates on gentrification describe how physical displacement need not occur for an area's sense of place to change, there are few tools that test this presumption. Attitudes of current residents toward features of a gentrifying neighborhood are captured using polygons drawn in Collector for ArcGIS. The results were aggregated according to the social characteristics of the respondents (length of residency, education, and housing status). After testing for randomness, it was proven that highly educated newcomers have significantly different attitudes toward their neighborhood when compared to long-term residents. This study supports concerns that the emotional geographies of a gentrifying neighborhood can be disrupted without physical displacement of long-term residents and provides a novel combination of methods for evaluating between-group differences in a sense of place.

While research on criminal sentencing has been an active field of inquiry for decades, social disparities in sentencing of domestic and non-domestic violent offenders remain understudied. Using court data on defendants persecuted in Russia in 2010-2013 enriched with information from verdict texts, we examine the effects of diverse socio-demographic characteristics and victim-offender relationship on both incarceration and sentence length decisions in violent cases, controlling for a range of legal factors. Gender, marital, parental, and employment statuses, educational background, criminal record and some other social characteristics differ significantly among offenders convicted of intimate partner violence, child-parent abuse, or non-domestic violence. Offenders sentenced for child-parent violence have a higher probability to be incarcerated than other violent offenders, while the probability of incarceration does not differ significantly for perpetrators of intimate partner violence compared to non-domestic violent offenders. Moreover, partner abusers receive even shorter sentences than non-domestic violent offenders. This effect sustains only for female offenders but not male offenders when the interaction of gender and the victim-offender relationship is included. Marriage usually decreases sentence severity. However, victim-offender relationship significantly moderates the effect. Partner abusers receive no discount in sentence length for being officially married than offenders in non-domestic violence cases.

Mitigating the effects of traffic congestion has typically been approached from either an engineering perspective or an economic perspective. One mechanism with the potential to alleviate traffic congestion which requires further empirical research is ridesharing. Using national microdata on ridesharing from different regions of the United States and a novel multilevel methodology, the study explores how these two different approaches might best be balanced to promote ridesharing in the future. Results suggest that macroeconomic conditions in the form of historically high gasoline prices are conducive to ridesharing, but that most of the variation in ridesharing nationwide is attributable to differences in the economic, demographic, and social characteristics of commuters. Results also suggest that working women will be unduly disadvantaged by employer-based policies to promote ridesharing given the greater propensity to drive alone among (family and nonfamily) female householders. Further empirical research is necessary to more fully explore the intended and unintended consequences of other economically-oriented policy tools to promote ridesharing relative to other mode choices.

Objective: To examine variation in the duration of non-work-related sickness absence (NWRSA) across geographical areas and the degree to which this variation can be explained by individual and/or contextual factors. Methods: All first NWRSA episodes ending in 2007 and 2010 were analyzed. Individual (diagnosis, age, sex) and contextual factors (healthcare resources, socioeconomic factors) were analyzed to assess how much of the geographical variation was explained by these factors. Median NWRSA durations in quartiles were mapped by counties in Catalonia. Multilevel Cox proportional hazard regression models with episodes nested within counties were fitted to quantify the magnitude of this variation. The proportional change in variance (PCV), median hazard ratios (MHR) and interquartile hazard ratios (IHR) were calculated. Results: We found a geographical pattern in the duration of NWRSA, with longer duration in northwestern Catalonia. There was a small, but statistically significant, geographical variation in the duration of NWRSA, which mostly decreased after adjustment for individual factors in both women (PCV = 34.98%, MHR = 1.09, IHR = 1.13 in 2007; PCV = 34.68%, MHR = 1.11, IHR = 1.28 in 2010) and men (PCV = 39.88%, MHR = 1.10, IHR = 1.27 in 2007; PCV = 45.93%, MHR = 1.10, IHR = 1.25 in 2010); only in the case of women in 2010 was there a reduction in county-level variance due to contextual covariates (PCV = 16.18%, MHR = 1.12, IHR = 1.32). Conclusions: County-level variation in the duration of NWRSA was small and was explained more by individual than by contextual variables. Knowledge of geographic differences in NWRSA duration is needed to plan specific programs and interventions to minimize these differences. Objetivo: Examinar la variabilidad de la duración la incapacidad temporal por contingencia común (ITcc) entre áreas geográficas y el grado en que factores individuales y/o contextuales la explican. Métodos: Se analizaron los primeros episodios de ITcc finalizados en 2007 y 2010. Se evaluó la variabilidad geográfica explicada por factores individuales (diagnóstico, edad, sexo) y contextuales (recursos sanitarios, socioeconómicos). Se reperesentó gráficamente la duración mediana por comarcas de Cataluña. Se cuantificó la variailidad geográfica de la duración de la ITcc entre comarcas ajustando modelos de regresión multinivel de riesgos proporcionales, con episodios anidados en comarcas. Se calculó el porcentaje de cambio de la varianza (PCV), el razón de riesgo mediano (RRM) y razón de riesgo intercuartílico (RRI). Resultados: Se encontró un patrón geográfico en la duración de la ITcc, con mayor duración en el noroeste de Cataluña. La variabilidad geográfica de la duración de la ITcc fue, aunque no elevada, estadísticamente signifitiva, y disminuyó después de ajustar por factores de nivel individual en mujeres (PCV = 34.98%, RRM =1.09, RRI =1.13 en 2007; PCV = 34.68%, RRM =1.11, RRI =1.28 en 2010) y hombres (PCV = 39.88%, RRM =1.10, RRI =1.27 en 2007; PCV = 45.93%, RRM =1.10, RRI =1.25 en 2010); y solo en el caso de las mujeres en 2010 hubo una reducción de la varianza debido a los factores contextuales (PCV = 16.18%, RRM =1.12, RRI =1.32). Conclusiones: La variabilidad geográfica de la duración de la ITcc fue pequeña y explicada principalmente por los factores de nivel individual. El conocimiento de las diferencias geográficas en la duración de la ITcc es necesario para planificar programas e intervenciones específicas para reducir al mínimo estas diferencias.

The paper argues that by examining accounting’s technical/objective and relational/social characteristics simultaneously, a deeper understanding can be gained of accounting transition at key stages of economic development. Using the case of Boulton & Watt (B&W), a pioneering firm of the British Industrial Revolution (BIR), the paper critiques prior interpretations and applies a taxonomy using new archival evidence, contrasting these with developments at the Springfield Armory. Results show that the management of internal contractual relationships and a preoccupation with efficiency rather than profit or control through surveillance were the dominant explanations of accounting change.

Many urban societies are faced with a growing incidence of poor health because of mental stress and sedentary lifestyles. Urban green spaces are increasingly seen as a counter to hectic city living and as restorative settings. This study investigates the preferences for site characteristics green-space visitors have when they are seeking stress relief compared to their general green-space preferences. This study developed a conceptual framework integrating physical and social characteristics of different green-space types in Vienna, Austria and investigated the preferences of 692 on-site visitors. A stated choice model with digitally calibrated images found that visitors’ general preferences are similar to their site preferences when seeking stress relief. However, for stress relief, visitor numbers played a more important role in their green-space choices, while litter and trail environment played a larger role in general preferences. The stress-relief preferences of respondents did not differ remarkably subject to their own reported stress level. Recommendations for green-space planning are derived.

Even though the unemployment rate remains the main indicator that measures the labor underutilization, it is not able to reflect the total lack of work in a country, but also other insufficiencies to capture the volume of work at national level. The statistical community devoted efforts to introduce supplementary measures to quantify of work underutilization, in order to have a better view of less employment and wasted working time. The main objective of the present paper is to analyze the underutilization of the capacity of the labour force in Romania in line with the demographic, social characteristics as well as education level and status in employment. The paper will also reflect an evidence of disparities of different category of underemployment across the geographical regions in the country and the main reasons of labour underutilization.

The article sets out to provide an historical survey of the industry–community relationship in the Australian mining industry. The mining industry had a vital role in encouraging population growth, regional development, and industrial diversification. The relationship is understood through three key themes. Firstly, the industry–community relationship was underpinned by geology. Since ore was often found across large areas, mineral ‘regions’ developed. Secondly, the industry–community relationship was specific to particular places in the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. Mining towns became very distinctive communities that shared economic and social characteristics. Thirdly, the industry–community relationship did not finish at the town limits. The history of the mining industry in Australia offers a strong case for exploring the effects of both global and local impacts. Communities were heavily influenced by local economic and geological realities but as the twentieth century progressed the close geographical relationship between industry and community began to disperse with wider regional and interstate effects. The article posits ‘community’ as a description of a geographically specific social formation, but this final theme moves towards seeing ‘community’ as a wider concept transcending place and geography.

Fishers often behave in ways that were neither intended, nor anticipated, by managers or policy makers. This is in part because the factors that motivate and constrain behavior – people's preferences and their social characteristics – are overlooked. We used a case study of coral reef artisanal fishers in Seychelles to assess likely responses to different management approaches by identifying the benefits fishers associate with their coral reef environment, the extent to which they prioritize these benefits, and examining how these priorities relate to their social characteristics. We found that fishers identified a diversity of benefits associated with the fishery but overall fishery, option, bequest, and existence benefits were assigned the highest priorities. Fishers who prioritized fishery benefits, identified as “income”, were different to the fishers who prioritized option and bequest benefits, identified as “a right of access for all” and “for our children” – differences that were also reflected in their social characteristics. Fishers who prioritized option and bequest benefits identified avenues to resolve conflicts and were more likely to take action when a norm was broken – characteristics thought to enable cooperation. There was a clear relationship between fishers’ earnings and the extent to which they prioritized both fishery benefits and option benefits. Specifically, fishers with higher earnings tended to prioritize option whereas fishers with lower earnings tended to prioritize fishery benefits. These findings have important implications for fisheries management decision-making. For example, decentralized approaches, such as fisheries co-management, are only likely to succeed for the group of fishers who demonstrated a high likelihood of cooperation. Due to the relationship between earnings and fishers’ priorities, management that influences fishers’ earnings (e.g. through a tax), must consider the likely influence on fishers’ priorities if it is to avoid unexpected or perverse outcomes.

Inner city redevelopment frequently involves the assembly of small lots into bigger ones. We analyze joint lot development and the influence of coordination and transaction costs of land assembly on the exercise of the redevelopment option, using Amsterdam micro housing information for 1832, 1860 and 2015. In all, we have a complete set of building structure and household characteristics for dwellings on almost 30,000 lots for each of these years. We estimate a logit model to predict joint lot redevelopment, based on structural characteristics of lots and dwellings and on social characteristics of their occupants. The results show that both types of characteristics significantly explain land assembly, and the regression coefficients adhere to the theoretical land assembly literature. This paper contributes importantly to our knowledge of the specific land parcel and structural physical characteristics that impact redevelopment. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to study the joint characteristics of the potentially combinable lots, and to document and quantify the role of social characteristics in land assembly.

In this paper we investigate the evolution of public European LTC systems in the forthcoming decades, using the Europe Future Elderly Model (EuFEM), a dynamic microsimulation model which projects the health and socio-economic characteristics of the 50 population of ten European countries, augmented with the explicit modelling of the eligibility rules of 5 countries. The use of SHARE data allows to have a better understanding of the trends in the demand for LTC differentiated by age groups, gender, and other demographic and social characteristics in order to better assess the distributional effects. We estimate the future potential coverage (or gap of coverage) of each national/regional public home-care system, and then disentangle the differences between countries in a population and a regulation effects. Our analysis offers new insights on how would the demand for LTC evolve over time, what would the distributional effects of different LTC policies be if no action is taken, and what could be potential impact of alternative care policies.

Emergency evacuations are essential for protecting humans from hazardous events such as wildfires, tsunamis, hurricanes, and industrial accidents. In urban regions, effective emergency management is highly dependent on reliable knowledge about potential traffic congestion hotspots that can arise during an evacuation. Spatially explicit models that combine network science and optimization techniques within a Geographic Information System (GIS) can target the unique physical, biological, and social characteristics of an area to provide more locally relevant evacuation traffic congestion predictions. The objective of this study is to design and implement the Network Science Emergency Evacuation Model (NetSEEM) using spatially explicit network science principles. The NetSEEM design is theoretically robust and can be adapted for different geographic areas and hazard types to represent the specific complexity of emergency evacuation situations. The developed NetSEEM model is applied to four evacuation scenarios in the City of Burnaby, BC, Canada. The results show expected congestion patterns at the major transportation intersections, and highlight NetSEEM as an exploratory management tool to anticipate and mitigate traffic congestion during context-dependent emergency evacuations.

At present in the psychological and educational literature the concept of “competence” are widely used and the idea of competence approach in education is actively discussed. For example, the American researcher R. Meyers implies competence as not only compliance with the certain criteria of the activity, but also a demonstration of the behavioral problems at work implementation ( Meyers, 1998 ). Though the specialists of Center for Vocational Education and Training of Ohio State University understand competence as specific, well-diagnosed knowledge, skills necessary for the effective activity of chosen area ( Columbus, 1995 ). This definition limits the concept as it takes into account only the area of knowledge, abilities, skills and does not consider personal ability, his personal and social characteristics that would reveal the level of mobility. However in the scientific and educational community there is still not common, clear and unambiguous understanding of the terms “competence”, “professional competence”. There are no specified means and psychological-pedagogical conditions for the development of personal competencies that reflect the results of the students’ personal qualities in the educational process during bachelor program at university. In the experiment to obtain objective information various separate methods and their synthetic use of the studied process were used. A series of comparative pedagogical experiments with the use of profession-based education technology at the university was used as well. As a result it was possible to identify and substantiate the psychological and educational conditions conducive to the future teachers’ professional competence development.

Opportunistic networks are derived from delay tolerant networks, where mobile nodes have no end-to-end connections. Nodes are represented by people, which means that opportunistic networks can be regarded as social networks. Human mobility plays an important role in affecting the performance of forwarding protocols in social networks, furthermore, the trajectory of people's movements are driven by social characteristics. However, current routing protocols rely on simple mobility models, and rarely consider social characteristics. Considering two heterogeneous network models, an social opportunistic networks routing (SONR) was proposed which brings an adapted discrete Markov chain into nodes' mobility model and calculates the transition probability between successive status. Comparison was made between Spray, Wait and Epidemic protocol. Simulation show that SONR can improve performance on delivery ratio, delivery latency and network overhead, meanwhile. SONR approaches the performance of Epidemic routing.

Summary Objectives Health and social characteristics place prisoners at high risk for progression from latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) to tuberculosis (TB), but completion of LTBI therapy is low with many patients lost to follow-up after release. Despite decreases in active TB, demographic characteristics of active cases have remained relatively unchanged. This study investigated whether characteristics have changed in inmates diagnosed with LTBI in San Francisco, CA, USA. Study design Cross-sectional. Methods Data from baseline interviews of randomized trials conducted in 1998–1999 and 2004–2007 were compared. Results In both time periods, most subjects with LTBI (>60%) were Latinos, while the proportion in both the jail and San Francisco remained at 15–20%. Overall, the prisoners interviewed in 2004–2007 were less likely to have been on medication for LTBI previously, and expressed more likelihood of finishing their medication compared with those interviewed in 1998–1999. In 2004–2007, the foreign-born subjects were more likely to prefer English to Spanish, to have been in stable housing and to have been employed before jail compared with 1998–1999, while no such changes were seen between the two time periods for US-born subjects. Conclusions The pool of TB-infected individuals coming from a jail is not static, and understanding the changes over time is of importance for targeted programmes. Given the high infection rate and the predominance of foreign-born individuals who may have received bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccination, screening with interferon-gamma release assay may be beneficial to identify those with true infection.

With the introduction of wireless communication technologies cellular phones and base stations became more prominent. Since wireless technology has come into existence in the last decades but now the radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation exposure levels has amplified many folds because of the extensive use of cellular phone. In general, cellular phones irradiate an average power of 0.2-0.6 watts when operated near to the head and likely 40-50% electromagnetic radiation (EMR) absorbed into the brain. In order to reduce EMR from wireless devices or cellular phones, debates for green communication have been initiated and highly appreciated by technocrats or innovators. In this study we are lighting over the stipulation of green communication in terms of electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) among cellular users from its irradiation. Prevalence of EHS for Headache symptom was assessed among 659 cellular phone users in India. Risk assessment was made on the basis of age, gender and ethnicity. Study also aimed to compare ‘headache’ among 4 individual groups, i.e., low users (LU), normal users (NU), moderate users (MU) and heavy users (HU). The questionnaire was designed to collect the information for demographic and social characteristics, cellular phone utilization patterns, association of the symptom to the subjects and awareness over the safety measures to reduce the cellular phone's exposure. The overall 92 users reported headache and association of headache symptom was found greater with normal, moderate and heavy cellular phone users when compared to low users. Although significant association were not found within these individual groups in overall analysis but a trend (p=0.091) was observed among moderate users. Risk of headache among moderate users was 1.6 fold increased (95% CI: 0.925 – 2.827) than the low users. The risk at significant level was not found on the basis of gender, ethnicity and age, yet moderate users those belong to rural areas, had more than 3 times increased risk (OR-3.438; CI: 1.117-10.58) of headache than the low users of same ethnicity. Furthermore, concept of green communication would play a vital role to minimize the cellular irradiation and then possibilities of EHS can be reduced among cellular users.

Objective The primary aim of the study is to document the prevalence and variation in types of pre-incarceration gang membership among a sample of incarcerated felons. The second goal is to consider if and how pre-incarceration gang involvement affects institutional behavior. Materials and Methods This study builds on the existing literature by considering if and how different types of pre-incarceration gang involvement effect prison misconduct. This relationship is examined while controlling for attitudinal measures and pre-prison social characteristics that may condition entrance into gangs and involvement in serious prison misconduct. The study includes a sample of 504 youthful adults incarcerated in a large Midwestern state in 1996. Results The results highlight that there is a high degree of variation in pre-incarceration gang involvement. Moreover, involvement in different types of gangs also is a significant predictor of prison misconduct. Individuals involved in organized/criminal gangs at the point of incarceration experienced significantly more serious misconduct reports than their non-gang counterparts, but similar findings were not evident for those involved in unorganized gangs. Conclusions Even among a relatively serious population of youthful adult offenders, pre-incarceration gang involvement is uncommon. Pre-incarceration involvement in organized gangs represents a significant risk factor for prison misconduct.

Based on a longitudinal ethnographic study of Goreme in Cappadocia, Turkey, this paper addresses destination development and change in a rural peasant society context as well as peasant socio-cultural factors influencing tourism entrepreneurship. The paper discusses how, as the destination continues to evolve, peasant production and social characteristics have an ongoing effect on entrepreneurship and development, which are therefore always in a process of becoming. It is concluded that peasant continuities create contradiction and ambivalence and thereby produce an ongoing hybrid entanglement of a moral and a capitalist economy wherein both cause fissures and tensions in each other. This highlights the usefulness of a critical postcolonial approach when considering tourism destinations in transition.

There is an increasing interest in evaluating physical and social characteristics of deprived and wealthy neighbourhoods to explain social health disparities. Direct observations enable obtaining a comprehensive and objective representation of such characteristics. The quality of this representation rests on the use of a reliable and valid observation tool. This study reports measurement properties of an instrument that was developed to directly observe structural and contextual environmental characteristics of urban neighbourhoods with respect to urban form (e.g., street safety elements, parking), negative attributes (e.g., rubbish, crumbling masonry, graffiti), and positive attributes (e.g., maintained dwellings, sitting benches). Two trained evaluators rated the condition of streets, public spaces, dwelling units and the presence/absence of specific characteristics of 250 street blocks within 30 socio-economically diverse census tracts of the Montreal Metropolitan Census Area in 2003. Inter- and intra-rater reliability was assessed using kappa and internal consistency was ascertained using Cronbach's alpha. Inter- and intra-rater reliability was excellent (>0.80) for items pertaining to urban form, and substantial (>0.60) for domains pertaining to positive and negative characteristics. Internal consistency was acceptable (>0.70) for urban form and negative characteristics, but not for positive characteristics. This study demonstrates the psychometric properties of an instrument designed to measure positive, negative, and urban form characteristics which has utility for examining various environmental effects on many aspects of health in a wide range of research contexts.

The aim of this research was to compare the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores and subscale scores in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), and also to clarify the differences between parent- and teacher-assessed SDQ scores/subscores in HFASD and AD/HD children. These patients' total difficulties scores were significantly high compared to the community sample. In the parent rating, HFASD children had significantly higher scores in the subscales of emotional symptoms and peer problems. In the teacher rating, AD/HD children showed significantly higher scores in the subscales of hyperactivity/inattention and conduct problems, whereas peer problems were significantly higher in HFASD. The teacher rating showed significantly greater difficulties than the parent rating on the subscale of prosocial behavior in both the AD/HD and HFASD groups. These results suggest that each subscale may reflect behavioral, emotional, and social characteristics of HFASD and AD/HD.

Resumo: Objectivo: Avaliar a associação entre a qualidade do ar interior em escolas da cidade do Porto e a prevalência de patologia alérgica e respiratória nos adolescentes que as frequentam.Participantes e métodos: Foi avaliada temperatura, humidade relativa, concentração de CO2 (dióxido de carbono) e de COV (compostos orgânicos voláteis) em nove escolas públicas da cidade do Porto. Em cada escola foram avaliados os alunos de nove turmas do 7.º, 8.º e 9.º anos, num total de 1607 adolescentes com média de idades de 14,0 (desvio-padrão=0,3) anos. A avaliação foi feita através de um questionário que compreendia questões referentes a características demográficas, sociais e comportamentais do adolescente e características da habitação de residência. Utilizou-se o questionário do International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) para avaliar a sintomatologia respiratória.Resultados: Nos doze meses que antecederam a avaliação, referiram ter tido asma 5,8% dos adolescentes, pieira 9,2%, crises de espirros 22,0% e alterações na pele 6,6%.Após ajuste para a escolaridade dos pais, valores de CO2 > 2100 ppm associaram-se a pieira durante o exercício [OR=1,86 (IC95% 1,20-2,89)] e tosse nocturna [OR=1,40 (0,95-2,06)]. Observou-se um aumento da estimativa de risco de sintomas de pieira nos últimos 12 meses, asma alguma vez na vida e nos últimos 12 meses e tosse nocturna nas escolas com valores mais elevados de COV, embora a associação não seja estatisticamente significativa.Conclusão: Piores indicadores de qualidade do ar interior, nomeadamente concentração de CO2, associaram-se a maior sintomatologia respiratória.Rev Port Pneumol 2008; XIV (4): 487-507 Abstract: Aim: To evaluate the association between the indoor air quality in Porto schools and the prevalence of allergic and respiratory symptoms in adolescents.Material and methods: Temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide (CO2) and volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations were evaluated in nine Porto schools. Questionnaires were distributed to 9 classes of 7th, 8th and 9th year students in each school, total 1607 adolescents, with a mean age of 14.0 years (standard deviation=0.3). Information was collected on participantsâ socio-demo-graphic and social characteristics, behaviour, and housing conditions. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire was used to evaluate respiratory symptoms.Results: 5.8% of participants stated they had had asthma, 9.2% wheezing, 22.0% sneezing and 6.6% itchy rash In the 12 months preceding the evaluation.After adjustment for parental educational attainment level, CO2 > 2100 ppm values were associated with exercise-induced wheeze [OR=1.86 (95%CI:1.20-2.89)] and night cough [OR=1.40 (4.20-2.89)]. We observed an increasing odds ratio in wheezing symptoms over the last 12 months, in asthma âat some pointâ and asthma over the last 12 months, and night cough at schools with higher VOC values. The association was not statistically significant, however.Conclusion: Lower indicators of indoor air quality, particularly CO2, were associated with a greater respiratory symptomatology.Rev Port Pneumol 2008; XIV (4): 487-507 Palavras-chave: Sintomas respiratórios, escolas, adolescentes, Key-words: Respiratory symptoms, schools, adolescents

We investigated the student-teacher relationships (STRs) of 6-year-old children with (n=58) and without (n=82) intellectual disability (ID). We also examined early (age 3) and concurrent (age 6) child behavioral, self-regulatory, and social characteristics as predictors of age 6 STR quality. Children with ID experienced significantly poorer relationships with their teachers, marked by less closeness and more conflict and dependency, compared to typically-developing children. This group difference was not accounted for entirely by IQ differences. The relation between ID status and STR quality was fully mediated by four age 6 child variables: mother- and teacher-reported behavior problems and mother- and teacher-reported social skills. The quality of children's relationships with teachers was also predicted by child characteristics as early as age 3, including early behavior problems, self-regulation, and behavior during parent-child interactions. The relation of ID status to STR quality at age 6 was fully mediated by children's self-regulatory abilities at age 3. Our findings demonstrate the importance of child behavioral and social characteristics in predicting relationships with teachers for children with and without ID.

Lack of safe drinkable water is a serious problem that affects people in developing countries, conditioning health, social and economic development. AQUAPOT project, has researched and developed the use of membrane technology as an effectivemethod to obtain drinkable water fromsurface water in developing countries. AQUAPOT has also designed, built and installed a membrane-based facility. Placement and assembly of the designed potabilization plant, is done after the area recognition. The location study includes the identification of the main technical, cultural and social characteristics in the local situation. The place chosen to install the UF designed plant, is an urban area, with a population of around 1000 inhabitants, located in a mountain region of Ecuador, with no drinkable water and with a surface water supply from a reservoir, where just a settling is done. The analytical results of feed, permeate and concentrate samples from the last six months, conclude that the UF-facility designed works properly and allows to obtain drinkable water in the studied region.

Summary Purpose Elective cosmetic surgery is expanding in the UK in both the public and private sectors. Because resources are constrained, many cosmetic procedures are being excluded within the National Health Service. If guidelines on who can receive such surgery are to be evidence-based, information is needed about the level of dysfunction in patients referred for elective surgery and whether this is related to their degree of physical abnormality. Method Consecutive patients referred to a regional plastic surgery and burns unit for assessment for elective cosmetic surgery completed standardised measures of physical and psychosocial dysfunction, and indicated their perception of the degree of their abnormality and their preoccupation with it. We distinguished between patients referred for physical reasons or appearance reasons only, and compared levels of physical and psychosocial dysfunction in each with published values for community and clinical samples. Surgeons indicated patients' degree of objective abnormality, and we identified the relationship of dysfunction with perceived and objective abnormality and preoccupation. Results Whether patients sought surgery for physical or appearance reasons, physical function was normal. Those seeking surgery for appearance reasons only had moderate psychosocial dysfunction, but were not as impaired as clinical groups with psychological problems. Patients seeking the correction of minor skin lesions for purely appearance reasons reported excellent physical and psychosocial function. Level of function was related (negatively) to patients' preoccupation with abnormality rather than to their perceived or objective abnormality. Conclusions In general, patients referred for elective cosmetic surgery did not present with significant levels of dysfunction. Moreover, levels of functioning were related to preoccupation rather than to objective abnormality. Therefore, for most patients, whether surgical treatment is generally appropriate is questionable. Future guidelines must seek to identify the small minority who do have a clinical need for surgery.

The overall purpose of this study was to examine the correlates of substantiation of child neglect or child abuse in children 0–48 months of age in five areas: (1) child characteristics, (2) parent characteristics, (3) home characteristics, (4) social characteristics, and (5) maltreatment characteristics. A second purpose was to compare the results of this study to the current body of child maltreatment research. This study uses an ex-post facto design. A random sample of cases from a large metropolitan area in the southwest was obtained. Families whose cases were substantiated for maltreatment were compared to families whose cases were not substantiated. The exposure of children to a dangerous environment and poor parental skill were predictive of the substantiation in the multivariate analysis. Parents with fewer parenting skills, such as the inability to effectively communicate, lack of impulse control and use of harsh discipline, were predictive of child maltreatment in the multivariate analysis. The bivariate analysis revealed additional 22 variables as correlates of the substantiation within the 5 factors.

This study focuses on how social contexts promote disparities in academic performance between Russian high schools. In particular, we investigate how a school’s average Unified State Examination (USE) scores in Russian and mathematics relate to the social composition of its student body, its material and human resources, and local deprivation. We develop a two-level hierarchical regression model to analyze data from school profiles collected in two Russian regions (Yaroslavskaya Oblast’ and Moskovskaya Oblast’) during the 2011-12 academic year. Both social characteristics of the student body and the school’s material and human resources were associated with academic performance. However, after controlling for the characteristics of pupils and schools, our study did not discover any significant independent effects of the local context. In conclusion, we discuss the implications of these findings with regard to developing contextualized measures of academic performance in Russia, the limitations of current research and suggest several possibilities for its empirical development.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of a compensation increase for anonymous ovum donors on demographic and social characteristics. Design: Retrospective analysis. Setting: The Mount Sinai Medical Center Ovum Donation Program. Patient(s): All program applicants for 2 years preceding (group I, n = 2,934) and 1 year following an increase in donor compensation (group II, n=1,114; total N=4,048). Intervention(s): Compensation was increased from $2,500 to $5,000 per cycle. Main Outcome Measure(s): Demographic and social characteristics of applicants and donors. Result(s): More group II applicants (65.7%) than group I applicants (49.2%) returned an initial biographical questionnaire. Compensation level did not affect the percentage rejected at any stage in the application process or ultimately selected. There were no differences in donors in age, marital status, education, race, religion, or psychological profile. Group II donors had more previous pregnancies (group II mean=1.2, group I mean=0.6) and previous abortions (group II mean=0.8, group I mean=0.4). Conclusion(s): Increasing compensation may result in a higher percentage of potential donors completing an initial questionnaire but does not alter the demographic and social characteristics of selected donors. Adherence to a rigorous applicant screening ensures that donor characteristics remain independent from compensation.

The disconfirmation model is used to specify hypotheses about the effect of housing type and housing preferences, of clinical status, social characteristics and personality on satisfaction with housing and with life. These hypotheses are tested with data collected from homeless mentally ill shelter users who were randomly assigned to either group or individual housing. As hypothesized, subjects were more satisfied with their residential accommodations after moving into permanent housing and liked independent housing more than group living. Housing satisfaction did not vary as a consequence of the discrepancy between type of housing preferred and obtained. Life satisfaction was related to personality measures but was not affected by the move into housing or by the type of housing obtained. These findings highlight the limits of applicability of the disconfirmation model, the need to treat satisfaction as multidimensional, and the importance of personality in explaining more general aspects of satisfaction.

Alcohol home delivery services (AHDS) provide convenient and confidential access to alcohol, yet little is known about their use. The purpose of this report is to present preliminary data describing the use of AHDS by problem drinkers. We surveyed 174 males regarding social and demographic characteristics, alcohol use history, and use of AHDS. Use of AHDS was most common among problem drinkers. When statistically controlling for the effects of demographic and social characteristics, regular drinkers without a history of alcohol problems were significantly less likely to have had alcohol delivered than problem drinkers, p = .0036. Contrary to expectation, medically ill alcoholics with advanced and disabling medical complications of heavy drinking were not more likely than other problem drinkers to have alcohol delivered. Living in an urban area and not having a vehicle available were associated with the use of AHDS. The public health and safety considerations of alcohol availability via home delivery are discussed.