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Noise Exposure as a Risk Factor for Acoustic Neuroma: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Get PDFObjective: To investigate whether acoustic neuroma is associated with noise.
Design: PubMed, Cochrane, Embase and CINAHL databases were searched. A meta-analysis was performed to calculate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) using quality-effect models. Study sample: A total of 8 studies with moderate or high quality involving 75,571 participants met the inclusion criteria.
Results: There was no significant relationship between overall noise exposure and acoustic neuroma (OR:1.02, 95% CI: 0.64 - 1.63). However, further subgroup analysis showed that leisure noise exposure (OR: 1.73, 95% CI: 1.10 - 2.73), above five years’ exposure (OR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.14 - 2.85) and continuous exposure (OR:2.77, 95% CI: 1.70 - 4.49) were associated with an increased risk of acoustic neuroma.
Conclusions: These results suggest an elevated risk of acoustic neuroma among individuals who have been exposed to occupational noise when some subgroup analysis are conducted. Leisure noise in particular seems to play a significant role in the development of acoustic neuroma. However, due to the heterogeneity among the included studies, this conclusion should be interpreted with cautions, even though the continuous long-term consequences should not be ignored
Lights4Violence: a quasi-experimental educational intervention in six European countries to promote positive relationships among adolescents.
Get PDFBackground
Preventing intimate partner violence or dating violence (DV) among adolescents is a public health priority due to its magnitude and damaging short and long-term consequences for adolescent and adult health. In our study protocol, we complement prior experiences in DV prevention by promoting protective factors (or assets) against gender violence such as communication skills, empathy and problem-solving capability through “Cinema Voice”, a participatory educational intervention based on adolescents’ strengths to tackle DV.
Methods/design
A longitudinal quasi-experimental educational intervention addressed to boys and girls ages 13–17 years, enrolled in secondary education schools in Alicante (Spain), Rome (Italy), Cardiff (UK), Iasi (Romania), Poznan (Poland) and Matosinhos (Portugal). Both process and results evaluations will be carried out with 100–120 intervention and 120–150 control group students per city at three time periods: before, after and 6 months after the implementation of the following interventions: 1) Training seminar with teachers to promote knowledge and skills on the core issues of intervention; 2) Workshops with intervention groups, where participants produce their own digital content presenting their perspective on DV; and 3) Short film exhibitions with participants, their families, authorities and other stakeholders with the objective of share the results and engage the community. Outcome measures are self-perceived social support, machismo, sexism, tolerance towards gender violence, social problem-solving and assertiveness as well as involvement in bullying/cyberbullying. Other socio-demographic, attitudes and violence-related co-variables were also included.
Discussion
This study may provide relevant information about the effectiveness of educational interventions that combine a positive youth development framework with educational awareness about the importance of achieving gender equality and preventing and combating gender violence. To our knowledge, this is the first study that involves six European countries in an educational intervention to promote violence protective assets among enrolled adolescents in secondary schools. This study may provide the needed tools to replicate the experience in other contexts and other countrie
An evidence informed approach to planning for event management in Ireland: An examination of the European Tourism Indicator System
Get PDFEvents are a significant component of Ireland’s tourism offering. They are an important source of economic activity and an incremental driver of social change and development throughout the country. However, the visual and physical impacts often created by event activities to the environmental and social resource base upon which, events depend, have begun to draw attention to the way events are planned and managed. Although the concept of sustainability has become the topic of much discussion and debate in event management literature, there exist many gaps in relation to its practical application in event management planning in Ireland. This is despite the statutory obligation of Local Authorities in Ireland to license events and to facilitate the process of planning for large-scale outdoor public events in Ireland. Yet, with the continued expansion of Ireland’s event industry, there is a fundamental need for an evidence-informed approach to planning for event management. Through the application of the European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS), the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of the national event industry in Ireland could be secured. This paper will examine and discuss the application of the European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS) as a possible tool to facilitate greater levels of sustainability and accountability within the events industry in Ireland.
This study employed a quantitative content analysis approach involving a complete population sample of Local Authorities in the Republic of Ireland to determine the application of the ETIS within the legal process of planning for event management in Ireland.
While the findings have identified a basic provision for event management within a number of Local Authority legally required County Development Plans, none however, were utilising the ETIS to monitor the impacts of events at local level. This lack of data collection and bench-marking highlights the need for greater levels of sustainability and accountability within the legal process of planning for event management in Ireland.
This study suggests the ETIS as an easy, cost effective and viable solution to facilitate an evidence-informed approach to planning for event management at local level. However, the lessons learned from this study may also have implications for destination planners and event managers outside of Ireland
Talent management practices: perceptions of Egyptian academics
Get PDFPurpose –This paper focuses on three out of 24 business schools in Egypt in order to investigate talent
management practices of academics there.
Design/ methodology/ approach – A total of 350 academics were contacted and 245 of them were
interviewed in 49 face-to-face focus groups. The interview length for each focus group is about 45
minutes and is conducted in Arabic, the mother tongue of all respondents. . Upon conducting the
interviews, the authors used thematic analysis to determine the main ideas in the transcripts.
Findings – The authors did not detect any systematic approach for the management of academic talent
in the chosen public business schools. Instead, there were irresponsible unorderly procedures undertaken
by these business schools in staffing, empowering, motivating, evaluating and retaining those talents.
Furthermore, the authors realized an absence of many cultural and technical dimensions like
adaptability, consistency and knowledge sharing which may hurdle academic staff desires to do their
best effort in teaching and conducting research. Moreover, these addressed academic members narrow
perception of the concept “talent” that includes only musical and sports figures - the matter that reflects
their lack of understanding for one of the hottest concepts in HR academic and practical arenas
nowadays.
Research limitations/ implications – The focus is only on a single perspective (academics) and a single
area (Upper Egypt) - a matter that neglects a variety of views (e.g. minister of Egyptian higher education
and schools’ deans). Additionally, the results/ findings of this study cannot be generalized to academic
settings in other countries because the data is collected only from public business schools in Upper
Egypt.
Practical implications – The authors recommend officials in Egyptian public business schools foster
constituting academic talents pool which will determine the main academic features, practical
characteristics and research focus that academics should address. Moreover, the authors suggest
business schools establish continuous academic rapport and feedback reports which would assist in
monitoring talented academicians’ level of satisfaction towards their departments’ procedural justice,
distributive justice, work-related communication and most importantly, the level of inclusion they feel.
Originality/ value – This paper contributes by filling a gap in HR management, in which empirical
studies on the practices of managing talents have been limited so far
The role of Ureaplasma spp. in the development of non-gonococcal urethritis and infertility among men
Get PDFUreaplasma spp. are a genus of bacteria for which two human associated species exist; Ureaplasma urealyticum and Ureaplasma parvum. Their definition as a pathogen in the context of non-gonococcal urethritis and infertility among males remains highly controversial, largely due to historically high isolation rates of these bacteria from the urethra of seemingly healthy men. This review summarises the emerging evidence suggesting a true pathogenic role of these bacteria under specific conditions, which we term as risk factors. We examine the historical, clinical and experimental studies which support a causal role for Ureaplasma spp in the development of NGU as well as some of the proposed mechanisms behind the association of Ureaplasma spp. and the development of infertility. Finally, we discuss the potential for developing a case-by-case risk-based approach towards the management of men who present with seemingly idiopathic NGU, but are positive for Ureaplasma spp
Increased levels of soluble Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-Products (RAGE) are associated with a higher risk of mortality in frail older adults
Get PDFObjective: To evaluate the relationship between serum levels of the soluble
Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-products (sRAGE) and mortality in frail and
non-frail older adults.
Methods: We studied 691 subjects (141 frail and 550 non-frail) with a median age of
75 years from two population-based cohorts, the Toledo Study of Healthy Aging and
the AMI study, who were enrolled to the FRAILOMIC initiative. Multivariate Cox
proportional hazards regression and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were used to
assess the relationship between baseline sRAGE and mortality.
Results: During 6 years of follow-up 101 participants died (50 frail and 51 non-frail).
Frail individuals who died had significantly higher sRAGE levels than those who
survived (median [IQR]: 1563 [1015-2248] vs 1184 [870-1657] pg/mL, P=0.006),
whilst no differences were observed in the non-frail group (1262 [1056-1554] vs 1186
[919-1551] pg/mL, P=0.19). Among frail individuals higher sRAGE levels were
associated with an increased risk of death after adjustment for relevant covariates
(HR=2.72 per unit increment in ln-sRAGE, 95%CI 1.48-4.99, P=0.001). In contrast,
in non-frail individuals sRAGE showed no association with mortality. Survival curves
demonstrated that among frail individuals the incidence of death was significantly
higher in the top sRAGE quartile compared to the three lower quartiles (P=0.002).
Area under the ROC curve analysis demonstrated that for frail individuals, inclusion
of sRAGE in the hazard model increased its predictive accuracy by ~3%.
Conclusions: sRAGE is an independent predictor of mortality among frail
individuals. Determination of sRAGE in frail subjects could be useful for prognostic
assessment and treatment stratification
Investigating the effectiveness of theory-based interventions for improving treatment adherence of patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A systematic review of Randomised Controlled Clinical Trials
Get PDFIntroduction: Theory can enhance the effectiveness of interventions designed to change health-related behaviours, however, there is a significant lack of such interventions to improve treatment adherence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients. This systematic review aims at examining the effectiveness of theory-based interventions on improving adherence of T2DM patients, also examining their methodological quality.
Methods: An electronic search was conducted, including only Randomised Controlled Trials published in English and Greek from 2004 to 2016. Databases searched included PubMed/Medline, Science Direct, Wiley Online Library, Oxford Journals and PsychInfo. The review protocol was designed and performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement.
Results: The review included reports of 11 interventions, using the Health Belief Model (n = 3), Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) (n = 2), Theory of Planned Behaviour (n = 2), Transtheoretical Model (n = 2), Information-Motivation-Behavioural skills model (n = 1) and Motivational Interviewing (n = 1). Nine interventions improved adherence of T2DM patients; the mean quality of the studies was 6.6, out of 10.
Discussion and Conclusion: Most theory-based interventions were effective in improving adherence of T2DM patients, especially SCT, which successfully improved all three aspects of treatment (i.e., medication taking, diet and physical exercise). Self-efficacy is included in most of the theories and was the most effective element, especially when combined with goal setting practices, another common, effective element across interventions. However, the wide heterogeneity in the methodology of the studies impeded comparison and synthesis of findings. Common limitations were the use of self-reports, short follow-up periods and insufficient information on how theoretical constructs were used to design the intervention
Resisted Sprint Training in Youth: The Effectiveness of Backward vs. Forward Sled Towing on Speed, Jumping, and Leg Compliance Measures in High-School Athletes
Get PDFResisted sprinting (RS) is a popular training method used to enhance sprinting performance in youth. However, research has only explored the effects of forward RS (FRS) training. We examined the effects of FRS and backward RS (BRS) and compared these with a traditional physical education curriculum (CON). One hundred fifteen boys (age 13–15 years) were matched for maturity and allocated to either an FRS (n = 34), BRS (n = 46), or CON (n = 35) group. Training groups towed progressively overloaded sleds (20–55% body mass) 2 d·wk−1 for 8 weeks. Pre-training and post-training data were collected for sprinting times over 10 and 20 m, countermovement jump (CMJ) height, and leg stiffness (KN). Performance remained unchanged for the CON group (all p > 0.05), whereas all variables significantly improved (p 0.05) improved CMJ (Effect size [ES] = 0.67 and 0.38) and KN (ES = 0.94 and 0.69), respectively. No differences were found between training groups. The probabilities of improving sprinting performance after BRS (∼70%) were on average ∼10 and ∼8% better than the FRS and CON groups, respectively. The BRS and FRS showed similar probabilities of improving CMJ (75 and 79%) and KN (80 and 81%), respectively, over the CON group. It seems that BRS may be a means to improve sprint performance, and regardless of direction, RS seems to be a beneficial method for improving jumping height and leg stiffness in youth male athletes
Uncovering self-management needs to better design for people living with lymphoedema
No full textThis paper reports on the application of design-based tools used to uncover the needs of people living with a chronic condition. It was built on increasing rhetoric calling for greater involvement of patients in the creation of appropriate support mechanisms and presents a means to achieve this using design approaches and tools. The paper presents the development and use of scenario-based design probes to facilitate the participation of People Living with Lymphoedema (PLWL) early in the design process. Lymphoedema is a chronic condition requiring a cumbersome everyday management routine. Self-management is necessary to increase quality of life and decrease complications and hospitalisation. However, consistent practice of self-management among PLWL is low and the need to improve support is recognised. This research explored how PLWL’s transitions towards becoming experts of their condition might be supported. Literature describing the lymphoedema experience was systematically investigated from a behavioural perspective to develop scenario-based probes. These probes provided rich insights by facilitating the envisioning of alternative futures to self-management support with interview participants with lymphoedema. To inform the design of better support for chronic conditions, the stages and components of behaviour change for lymphoedema self-management and the associated support needs are presented
Australian graduates’ work readiness – deficiencies, causes and potential solutions
Get PDFPurpose – It is widely reported that there is a competence deficit between graduating from Australian higher
education (HE) and becoming work ready and that the deficit is becoming more pronounced. The purpose of
this paper is to examine the work readiness competencies of Australian HE and vocational education (VE)
graduates. The reported competence deficits, the causes of these deficits and the potential strategies to
overcome these deficits are discussed.
Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative, inductive research design was used to examine
Australian graduates’ work readiness competence, potential deficits, their causes and possible solutions to
gain some preliminary insights and help shape future research. A multiple case design was used comprising
key stakeholders’ in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. In-depth semi-structured interviews and
focus group discussions were conducted to gain insights from the key stakeholders.
Findings – The stakeholders reported that the Australian VE and HE sectors do not sufficiently prepare
graduates in terms of their work readiness skills. Self-management skills, communication (written and
expression), team-work skills, cognitive skills, system thinking and innovation and creativity were the main
work readiness competency deficits reported by the stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications – The research has its limitations in terms of the limited sample and
time frame, and the absence of input from graduates. The results of the study indicate the deteriorating state
of the Australian graduate labour market and emphasise that an integrated approach is urgently required
from all stakeholders to facilitate the transition and reduce the time taken from graduation to employment.
Originality/value – The focus of the study is located in the Australian labour market in terms of the
competencies that reportedly are present upon graduation and the competencies that employers are looking
for on recruitment. The requisite competency list and the deficits are examined through the lens of four
stakeholder groups; government representatives, industry representatives and VE and HE representatives.
Keywords Employability, Competence deficits, Government and industry stakeholders