Adverse Relationships Research Articles

Sleep timing and child and parent outcomes in Australian 4–9-year-olds: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study

ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to use national Australian time-diary data to examine both (1) cross-sectionally and (2) longitudinally whether being late versus early to sleep or wake is associated with poorer child behavior, quality of life, learning, cognition and weight status, and parental mental health. MethodsDesign/setting: Data from the first three waves of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children were taken. Participants: A national representative sample of 4983 4–5-year-olds, recruited in 2004 from the Australian Medicare database and followed up biennially, was taken; 3631 had analyzable sleep information and a concurrent measure of health and well-being for at least one wave. Measures: Exposure: Parents completed 24-h child time-use diaries for one week and one weekend day at each wave. Using median splits, sleep timing was categorized into early-to-sleep/early-to-wake (EE), early-to-sleep/late-to-wake (EL), late-to-sleep/early-to-wake (LE), and late-to-sleep/late-to-wake (LL) at each wave. Outcomes: The outcomes included parent-reported child behavior, health-related quality of life, maternal/paternal mental health, teacher-reported child language, literacy, mathematical thinking, and approach to learning. The study assessed child body mass index and girth. Results(1) Using EE as the comparator, linear regression analyses revealed that being late-to-sleep was associated with poorer child quality of life from 6 to 9 years and maternal mental health at 6–7 years. There was inconsistent or no evidence for associations between sleep timing and all other outcomes. (2) Using the count of the number of times (waves) at which a child was categorized as late-to-sleep (range 0–3), longitudinal analyses demonstrated that there was a cumulative effect of late-to-sleep profiles on poorer child and maternal outcomes at the child age of 8–9 years. ConclusionsExamined cross-sectionally, sleep timing is a driver of children's quality of life and maternal depression. Examined longitudinally, there appears to be cumulative and adverse relationships between late-to-sleep profiles and poorer child and maternal outcomes at the child age of 8–9 years. Understanding how other parameters – such as scheduling consistency, sleep efficiency and hygiene – are also related to child and parent outcomes will help health professionals better target sleep management advice to families.

Performance Analysis of Construction Manager at Risk on Pipeline Engineering and Construction Projects

AbstractMuch of the water and wastewater pipelines in the United States are nearing the end of their useful life. A significant reinvestment is needed in the upcoming decades to replace or rehabilitate the water and wastewater pipeline infrastructure. Currently, the traditional method for delivering water and wastewater pipeline engineering and construction projects is design-bid-build (DBB). The traditional DBB delivery system is a sequential low-integration process and can lead to inefficiencies and adverse relationships between stakeholders. Alternative project delivery methods (APDM) such as construction manager at risk (CMAR) have been introduced to increase stakeholder integration and ultimately enhance project performance. CMAR project performance impacts have been studied in the horizontal and vertical construction industries. However, the performance of CMAR projects in the pipeline engineering and construction industry has not been quantitatively studied. This paper fills this knowledge gap by a...

Tight budget constraints and the absence of strategic planning

Purpose This paper aims to identify the factors that affect facilities management (FM) service outsourcing. Design/methodology/approach Five focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted for this study. A total of 25 professional FM managers were invited to participate in the FGDs. The qualitative data collected from the FGDs were analysed with the coding method. Findings FM managers commonly regard that tight budget constraints and the absence of strategic planning are two important factors that affect FM service outsourcing. Tight budget constraints reflect that clients control their service providers by constraining budgets, which creates a series of inefficiencies in the outsourcing process and thus lead to adverse outsourcing relationships. A series of strategies are recommended to deal with the challenges posed by budget constraints and the lack strategic planning. Research limitations/implications Twenty-five Hong Kong-based FM managers were interviewed for this study. The empirical data collected mainly reflects FM service outsourcing in Hong Kong. It is important to test the findings with a bigger group of FM managers from other regions. Originality/value The managerial significance of FM service outsourcing has not yet been valued in practice. This study draws academic attention to FM service outsourcing practice and provides practical opinions from FM managers. Also, this study adopts the FGD method in data collection, which extracts to a maximum degree of authentic opinions from practitioners.

Effects of Air Pollution and Blood Mitochondrial DNA Methylation on Markers of Heart Rate Variability.

BackgroundThe mitochondrion is the primary target of oxidative stress in response to exogenous environments. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is independent from nuclear DNA and uses separate epigenetic machinery to regulate mtDNA methylation. The mtDNA damage induced by oxidative stress can cause mitochondrial dysfunction and is implicated in human diseases; however, mtDNA methylation has been largely overlooked in environmental studies relating to human disease. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between exposure to fine metal‐rich particulates (particulate matter <2.5 µm in diameter [PM 2.5]) from welding in a boilermaker union and blood mtDNA methylation in relation to heart rate variability.Methods and ResultsForty‐eight healthy men were recruited on multiple sampling cycles at the Boilermaker Union Local 29, located in Quincy, Massachusetts. We measured personal PM 2.5 in the background ambient environment. We measured blood mtDNA methylation in the mtDNA promoter (D‐loop) and genes essential for ATP synthesis (MT‐TF and MT‐RNR1) by bisulfite pyrosequencing. All analyses were adjusted for demographics, type of job, season, welding‐work day, and mtDNA methylation experimental batch effect. The participants’ PM 2.5 exposure was significantly higher after a welding‐work day (mean 0.38 mg/m3) than the background personal level (mean 0.15 mg/m3, P<0.001). Blood mtDNA methylation in the D‐loop promoter was associated with PM 2.5 levels (β=−0.99%, SE=0.41, P=0.02). MT‐TF and MT‐RNR1 methylation was not associated with PM 2.5 exposure (β=0.10%, SE=0.45, P=0.82). Interaction of PM 2.5 exposure levels and D‐loop promoter methylation was significantly associated with markers of heart rate variability.ConclusionsBlood mtDNA methylation levels were negatively associated with PM 2.5 exposure and modified the adverse relationships between PM 2.5 exposure and heart rate variability outcomes.

Adverse Outcome Pathways for Regulatory Applications: Examination of Four Case Studies With Different Degrees of Completeness and Scientific Confidence.

Adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) offer a pathway-based toxicological framework to support hazard assessment and regulatory decision-making. However, little has been discussed about the scientific confidence needed, or how complete a pathway should be, before use in a specific regulatory application. Here we review four case studies to explore the degree of scientific confidence and extent of completeness (in terms of causal events) that is required for an AOP to be useful for a specific purpose in a regulatory application: (i) Membrane disruption (Narcosis) leading to respiratory failure (low confidence), (ii) Hepatocellular proliferation leading to cancer (partial pathway, moderate confidence), (iii) Covalent binding to proteins leading to skin sensitization (high confidence), and (iv) Aromatase inhibition leading to reproductive dysfunction in fish (high confidence). Partially complete AOPs with unknown molecular initiating events, such as 'Hepatocellular proliferation leading to cancer', were found to be valuable. We demonstrate that scientific confidence in these pathways can be increased though the use of unconventional information (eg, computational identification of potential initiators). AOPs at all levels of confidence can contribute to specific uses. A significant statistical or quantitative relationship between events and/or the adverse outcome relationships is a common characteristic of AOPs, both incomplete and complete, that have specific regulatory uses. For AOPs to be useful in a regulatory context they must be at least as useful as the tools that regulators currently possess, or the techniques currently employed by regulators.

A novel prospective descriptive analysis of nausea and vomiting among patients receiving gastrointestinal radiation therapy.

Nausea and vomiting are common side effects from radiotherapy that can interfere with gastrointestinal (GI) cancer patients' quality of life (QOL). This study described the subjective experience of patients with radiation-induced nausea and vomiting (RINV) and its relation to QOL. Forty-eight patients treated with abdominal radiotherapy alone or with concomitant chemoradiotherapy were followed in a prospective study. All episodes of nausea, vomiting, and antiemetic use were recorded daily for the treatment period and the week following completion of therapy. QOL was assessed weekly using the Functional Living Index-Emesis QOL Tool (FLIE) and the EORTC QLQ-C30 core questionnaire (C30). In total, 351 episodes of nausea severity, duration, onset time, and 154 outcomes of vomiting onset times and contents were documented. The median nausea severity experienced per episode was 5 (on a scale from 1 to 10), and the most common durations of nausea were 30 min or less and constant nausea all day and night. The most common location of nausea was the abdomen. Longer nausea duration, great nausea severities, and the location of nausea experienced had significant adverse relationships to multiple QOL items on both the FLIE and the C30. In addition, the onset timing and number of vomiting episodes were related to the majority of all FLIE and QOL scores. Patient's subjective experiences of RINV directly correlated to the worsening of QOL outcomes. The identification and amelioration of these RINV experiences could improve QOL.

The Impact of Crime on Social Ties and Civic Participation

AbstractThe present study examined associations of neighbourhood crime with residents' social ties and civic participation using multilevel models. We hypothesized that crime is indirectly associated with residents' low civic participation by negatively relating to their acquaintanceship ties because of fear of neighbours. By contrast, we predicted that crime is indirectly related to frequent civic participation by positively associating with more intimate friendship ties as a response to combat external threats. Additionally, we hypothesized that high crime rates in the neighbourhood increases the importance of generalized trust towards others. Therefore, we examined the interaction effects of neighbourhood crime and trust on social ties and participation. The study is based on a postal questionnaire mailed to residents aged between 20 and 69 years, residing in Musashino City and Kiyose City, in Tokyo. Rates of larceny reported by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department were used as indices of neighbourhood crime. As hypothesized, our results showed that crime is positively associated with friendship ties and is negatively related to acquaintanceship ties. Through these opposing relationships, crime showed both positive and negative associations with civic participation. Moreover, we found that generalized trust buffered the adverse relationships between crime, broader social ties and participation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

A Multilevel Analysis of Adverse Family Relations, School Bonding and Risk Behaviours Among Adolescents

The risk behaviours of adolescents, such as alcohol use, gambling and violence, represent a great public health challenge. In order to investigate how inter-school differences in risk behaviours can be explained by a positive school environment, measured via school bonding at the individual and school level, and how risk behaviour differences relate to a negative family environment, a multilevel analysis of individual, family and school factors was conducted. A survey was carried out with a random sample of 20 % of all students from 30 secondary schools in Croatia. The questionnaire used consisted of scales for assessing (1) risk behaviours, (2) socio-demographics, (3) adverse family relations, (4) school bonding and (5) school level variables. Intraclass correlations of 0.094 and 0.101 for risk behaviours and school bonding, respectively, were found. Upon fitting a multilevel model with individual and contextual variables, 94.3 % of the school level variance for risk behaviours was explained. Results indicate that, when the compositional effects of age, gender, family background and student’s own level of school attachment and commitment were held constant, attending a school where students tended to exhibit better school bonding was associated with fewer reported risk behaviours both for students from high and low levels of adverse family relationships. These findings support the notion that a whole school approach targeted towards students, families and schools may be helpful in the prevention of risk behaviours.

Affective commitment as a moderator of the adverse relationships between day-specific self-control demands and psychological well-being

Recent research has focused on the day-specific adverse effects of stressors at work. Thus, in the present study, we examine the relationships between day-specific work-related self-control demands (SCDs) as a stressor and day-specific indicators of psychological well-being (ego depletion, need for recovery, and work engagement). On the basis of the limited strength model of self-control, we predict that SCDs deplete limited regulatory resources and impair psychological well-being. Furthermore, we propose affective commitment as a buffering moderator of this relationship. Consistent with the broaden and build theory of positive emotions and the self-determination theory, we suggest that affective commitment satisfies employees basic psychological needs and provides positive emotions, which, in turn, help restore limited regulatory resources. Thus, affective commitment should buffer the negative relationships between day-specific SCDs and day-specific psychological well-being. To examine our hypotheses, we conducted a diary study with N=60 employees over 10 working days and used multi-level models to test our predictions. Our results demonstrated that day-specific SCDs indeed impaired indicators of psychological well-being. Furthermore, affective commitment buffered these adverse relationships; thus, on days with high SCDs, highly committed employees reported higher levels of psychological well-being than did less committed employees.

Understanding the Antecedents of Adverse Peer Relationships Among Early Adolescents in the United States

This study examines ecological level correlates of adverse peer relationships among early adolescents (ages 12-14). Data analysis was conducted using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). The sample was drawn from the mother–child data set, which included youth who in 2002 or 2004 were living with their mothers and enrolled in school. Eligible participants responded to at least 1 of the 13 items from the survey and their mothers responded to at least 1 of the 2 items measuring adverse peer relationships at Times 1 (2002/2004) and 2 (2004/2006). Multivariate hierarchical logistic regression was estimated. The presence of a learning disorder and adverse peer relationships at Time 1 (socio-demographics), perceptions of school environment (microsystem), and area of residence and perceptions of safety (exosystem) were all significantly associated with adverse peer relationships at Time 2. Assessing and targeting these ecological levels hold the potential to decrease adverse peer relationships among early adolescents.

Health risk characterization for exposure to benzene in service stations and petroleum refineries environments using human adverse response data

Health risk characterization of exposure to benzene in service stations and petroleum refineries has been carried out in previous studies using guideline values set by various agencies. In this work, health risk was characterized with the exposure data as cumulative probability distribution (CPD) plots but using human epidemiological data. This was achieved by using lowest observable adverse effects levels (LOAEL) data plotted as cumulative probability lowest effects distribution (CPLED). The health risk due to benzene was characterized by using probabilistic methods of hazard quotient (HQ50/50 and HQ95/5), Monte-Carlo simulation (MCS) and overall risk probability (ORP). CPD relationships of adverse health effects relationships and exposure data were in terms of average daily dose (ADD) and lifetime average daily dose (LADD) for benzene. For service station environments HQ50/50 and HQ95/5 were in a range of 0.000071–0.055 and 0.0049–21, respectively. On the other hand, the risk estimated for petroleum refinery environments suggests higher risk with HQ50/50 and HQ95/5 values ranging from 0.0012 to 77 and 0.17 to 560, respectively. The results of Monte-Carlo risk probability (MRP) and ORP indicated that workers in petroleum refineries (MRP of 2.9–56% and ORP of 4.6–52% of the affected population) were at a higher risk of adverse health effects from exposure to benzene as compared to exposure to benzene in service station environments (MRP of 0.051 –3.4% and ORP of 0.35–2.7% affected population). The adverse effect risk probabilities estimated by using the Monte-Carlo simulation technique and the ORP method were found to be generally consistent.

Sleep duration and memory in the elderly Chinese: longitudinal analysis of the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study.

Previous cross-sectional studies showed that short or long sleep duration was associated with memory impairment (MI), but longitudinal studies are scarce. We examined whether sleep duration was associated with memory decline or development of MI. We conducted a prospective analysis based on the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study on 13,888 participants aged 50+ years without MI at baseline and with a follow-up for a mean of 4.1 years. Memory decline was assessed using the Delayed 10-Word Recall Test (DWRT), and in a subset (n = 6,020) with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Short and long sleep duration was defined as ≤ 5 hours/day and ≥ 9 hours/day, respectively. Data were analyzed both continuously for memory decline and dichotomously for MI (independently defined as DWRT, < 4; MMSE, < 25). After adjusting for multiple potential confounders, both short and long sleep durations were associated with memory decline using DWRT or MMSE score changes (all P < 0.001). Seven percent (n = 980) developed DWRT-defined MI and 4.0% (n = 194) MMSE-defined MI during the follow-up. Only those with a short (≤ 5 h/day) sleep duration had a significantly increased risk of DWRT-defined MI (odds ratio = 1.53 (95% confidence interval; 1.21-1.93); P < 0.001) relative to normal sleepers (7 h/day). The association remained significant after excluding those with poor self-reported health. No associations were observed with MMSE-defined MI for both long and short sleep durations. This is the largest study to date addressing the association between extremes of sleep duration and memory decline. The observed adverse relationships provide support for an intervention study to examine the potential benefits of normalizing sleep duration in attenuating memory decline.

The scope of private practice amongst consultant urologists in the UK and Ireland – a BAUS Workforce survey

Introduction: A 2012 workforce survey of consultant members of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) found that up to 75% of members participated in private practice. This survey specifically addresses the scope of private practice and members’ attitudes towards the private health industry (PHI). Methods: An online survey of all consultant members of BAUS was undertaken in May 2013. Questions were asked about how many had a private practice, how much time they devoted to it, about their relationship with insurers and their expectation of BAUS’s role within private health care. Results: A total of 47.2% responded to the survey, of whom 76.3% have a private practice. Among the respondents, 73.6% work as individual practitioners and 61% spend &lt;6 hours a week practicing clinically. Adverse relationships with the PHI were significantly worse for those working in private practice alone, in consortia, and for those members working as sole practitioners who were consultants of &lt;10 years standing. More than 85% thought that a unified voice would improve relationships with the purchasers of private health care. Conclusions: This survey confirms the breadth of private practice amongst UK urologists and demonstrates how they practice privately. It helps identify that they do have concerns regarding their contractual and financial relationships with the PHI.

Multifactorial airborne exposures and respiratory hospital admissions — The example of Santiago de Chile

Our results provide evidence for respiratory effects of combined exposure to airborne pollutants in Santiago de Chile. Different pollutants account for varying adverse effects. Ozone was not found to be significantly associated with respiratory morbidity. BackgroundHigh concentrations of various air pollutants have been associated with hospitalization due to development and exacerbation of respiratory diseases. The findings of different studies vary in effect strength and are sometimes inconsistent. ObjectivesWe aimed to assess associations between airborne exposures by particulate matter as well as gaseous air pollutants and hospital admissions due to respiratory disease groups under the special orographic and meteorological conditions of Santiago de Chile. MethodsThe study was performed in the metropolitan area of Santiago de Chile during 2004–2007. We applied a time-stratified case-crossover analysis taking temporal variation, meteorological conditions and autocorrelation into account. We computed associations between daily ambient concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5 — particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 10 or 2.5μm, respectively) or ozone (O3) and hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses. ResultsWe found for CO, NO2, PM10 and PM2.5 adverse relationships to respiratory admissions while effect strength and lag depended on the pollutant and on the disease group. By trend, in 1-pollutant models most adverse pollutants were CO and PM10 followed by PM2.5, while in 2-pollutant models effects of NO2 persisted in most cases whereas other effects weakened and significant effects remain for PM2.5, only. In addition the strongest effects seemed to be immediate or with a delay of up to one day, but effects were found until day 7, too. Adverse effects of ozone could not be detected. ConclusionsTaking case numbers and effect strength of all cardiovascular diseases into account, mitigation measures should address all pollutants especially CO, NO2, and PM10.

IMPACT OF NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS ON COGNITIVE AGEING

Background: The extent to which social relationships influence cognitive ageing is unclear. This study investigates the impact of mid-life quality of close relationships on cognitive decline, using multilevel modelling. Methods:Whitehall II study participants (n1⁄46,495, aged 45-69 at baseline) provided cognitive assessments (executive function [reasoning, phonemic and semantic fluency] and memory) three times over 10 years. The quality of close relationships was assessed by the Close Persons Questionnaire. Results: Higher levels of adverse close relationships in mid-life were related to lower concurrent memory (-0.08; 95% CI: -0.12,-0.03 SD) and accelerated 10-year decline in executive function (-0.04; 95% CI: -0.07,-0.01 SD). Participants reporting higher cumulative negative aspects of close relationships experienced greater cognitive decline (-0.05; 95% CI: -0.08,-0.01 SD). Longitudinal analysis found no evidence of reverse causality. Conclusions: Adverse close relationships predict relatively rapid cognitive ageing. This study highlights the importance of differentiating aspects of social relationships to evaluate their unique health effects.

Abstract P181: Processed food intake is adversely associated with multiple indicators of cardiometabolic health in US adults: Findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2005-2008)

Introduction: Reducing intake of ingredients characteristic of processed foods is vital to improving ideal cardiovascular dietary behaviors described in the American Heart Association 2020 Strategic Impact Goals. Hypothesis: We sought to develop an indicator of processed food intake and evaluate its hypothesized adverse relationships with biomarkers of cardiometabolic health in a nationally representative sample of US adults. Methods: Data from two 24 hour recalls were examined for US adults (&gt;=18y) in NHANES (2005-2008). An index of processed food intake (PFI) was developed using the mean of the standardized (mean=0, standard deviation=1), energy-adjusted (per 1000 kcal) intakes of refined grains, processed meat, discretionary oils, discretionary solid fat, added sugar and sodium. We evaluated bivariate associations of PFI with demographics (sex, poverty-income ratio, education) and behavioral factors (smoking, nutritional supplement use). Multivariable linear regressions were used to examine associations of PFI with BMI (kg/m2), waist circumference (cm), and biomarkers for cardiometabolic health (total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, triglycerides, apo-b and c-reactive protein), adjusting for demographic and behavioral covariates. We tested for potential interactions between PFI and weight status, sex, and smoking. Results: PFI was higher in smokers than never smokers (p&lt;.001). PFI was lower for those with at least a college degree than those with less education (p=.004) and for NH White vs. NH Black adults (p=.04). Adjusting for covariates, higher PFI was associated with greater BMI (p&lt;.001) and waist circumference (p&lt;.001), lower HDL-C (p&lt;.001), and higher c-reactive protein (p=.01). Interactions (p&lt;.05) were observed between PFI and sex for predicting BMI, and between PFI and smoking for predicting TC and HDL-C. The magnitude of associations was larger for female vs. male and for current and former smokers vs. non-smokers. No interactions were observed between PFI and weight status. Conclusion: Intake of components characteristic of processed foods is adversely associated with a variety of cardiometabolic biomarkers. Positive associations of PFI with BMI were greater for females vs. males, while associations of PFI with TC and HDL-C were greater for current and former smokers vs. never smokers. The nutritional value of dietary components of PFI is primarily restricted to energy, protein, and sodium, none of which are considered lacking in the diets of US adults. These findings underscore the rationale for encouraging replacing such components with foods that promote cardiovascular health including fruit, vegetables, whole grains, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds. Acknowledgment: This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.

A model for computing genes governing marital dissolution through sentimental dynamics

Adverse sentimental relationships that cause marital dissolution may involve a genetic component composed of genes from a couple, which interact with cultural, sociological, psychological and economic factors. However, the identification of these genes is very challenging. Here, we address this challenge by developing a computational model that can identify specific genes that impact on sentimental relationships of couples. The model was derived by implementing the second law of thermodynamics that quantifies sentimental relationships within a dynamic gene identification framework, called systems mapping. The model is equipped with a capacity to characterize and test the pattern of how genes from a couple interact with each other to determine the dynamic behavior of their marital relationships. The testing procedure is based on comparing genotypic differences in mathematical parameters of sentimental dynamics described by a group of ordinary differential equations (ODE). The model allows the test of individual parameters or a combination of parameters, addressing specific details related to martial relationships. The model may find its implications for designing an optimal effort policy and therapy to maintain a harmonic family in light of genetic blueprints of individual couples.

Management of Interface between Main Contractor and Subcontractors for Successful Project Outcomes

There has been increased dependence on subcontracting within the construction industry, the operational relationship between the Main Contractor (MC) and Subcontractor (SC) plays a significant role in successful delivery of projects. Through the literature review this paper argues that despite SCs bring added value to construction projects, the increased reliance on SCs has strained relationships between the MC and SC. Also MCs are more concerned with risk and price reduction which undermine the relationship heavily. Current practices in the construction industry in managing SCs were evaluated through a case study and semi-structured interviews. A questionnaire survey was used to investigate the ways of facilitating the interface between the MC and SC in general. The study highlighted that prevailing adverse relationships and culture in the industry are influencing the success of construction projects. The lack of trust is a key factor affecting the relationships between MC and SCs. However, the proactive involvement of the MC with SCs in maintaining continuity of the team from procurement to construction stage and transparency in the processes were key success factors for successful completion of the project.

Social relationships and longitudinal changes in body mass index and waist circumference: the coronary artery risk development in young adults study.

Few studies have examined longitudinal associations between close social relationships and weight change. Using data from 3,074 participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study who were examined in 2000, 2005, and 2010 (at ages 33-45 years in 2000), we estimated separate logistic regression random-effects models to assess whether patterns of exposure to supportive and negative relationships were associated with 10% or greater increases in body mass index (BMI) (weight (kg)/height (m)(2)) and waist circumference. Linear regression random-effects modeling was used to examine associations of social relationships with mean changes in BMI and waist circumference. Participants with persistently high supportive relationships were significantly less likely to increase their BMI values and waist circumference by 10% or greater compared with those with persistently low supportive relationships after adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, baseline BMI/waist circumference, depressive symptoms, and health behaviors. Persistently high negative relationships were associated with higher likelihood of 10% or greater increases in waist circumference (odds ratio = 1.62, 95% confidence interval: 1.15, 2.29) and marginally higher BMI increases (odds ratio = 1.50, 95% confidence interval: 1.00, 2.24) compared with participants with persistently low negative relationships. Increasingly negative relationships were associated with increases in waist circumference only. These findings suggest that supportive relationships may minimize weight gain, and that adverse relationships may contribute to weight gain, particularly via central fat accumulation.

Selection of Third-Party Relationships in Construction

AbstractConstruction projects involve intensive and constant interaction among the parties involved. This interaction requires an efficient use of collaborative processes focused on the fulfillment of the project’s objective. Traditional types of relationships have proven ineffective in developing successful projects, and can generate adverse relationships between the parties negatively influencing performance. Using primarily an exploratory and descriptive approach, the following research has developed a tool to improve the relationships between those involved in the course of a construction project. Based on an extensive literary review in which the principles of Partnering, Alliancing, Lean Project Delivery, and Relational Contracts were analyzed, and considering interviews with project management experts, three types of relationships were identified that can be used to establish contractual relationships: (1) traditional/transactional, which operates on risk transference; (2) partnering/transactional ...