Background Checks Research Articles

Predicting Field Training Officer (FTO) Program Completion Using CPI-PPSR and PAI-PPSR Pre-Employment Screening Data Introduction

Predicting Field Training Officer (FTO) Program Completion Using CPI-PPSR and PAI-PPSR Pre-Employment Screening Data Introduction

Chronic disease management: Preventive care framework for migrant workers in Singapore

Abstract Chronic diseases, if unmanaged, can contribute to significant premature mortality and morbidity. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was limited data on chronic disease prevalence amongst migrant workers (MWs) in Singapore. The antecedent episodic and fragmented primary care for migrant workers also affected care continuity for common chronic diseases. In April 2022, a Primary Care Plan (PCP) was developed for migrant workers to improve access and affordability which included chronic disease detection and management and risk factor reduction. In addition, chronic disease screening was also enhanced in migrant workers’ pre-employment medical screening for those with risk factors or above 40 years old. Beyond disease management, interventions to address health gaps and strengthen the healthcare resilience of MWs are incorporated into a population-health based “Management of Oral and Chronic Conditions and Ailments - MOCCA” framework, anchored on three thrusts: 1. Address knowledge gaps and inculcate healthier habits - Improve health literacy via outreach programmes and culturally nuanced health materials 2. Mitigate risk factors - Build primary care providers’ capabilities to deliver alcohol/tobacco interventions 3. Treat and control disease progression - Set up referral pathways between primary and tertiary healthcare institutions including for post-discharge case management MOCCA was implemented in December 2022 through the collective efforts from the government, community, social service agencies and their employers. Key messages • Migrant workers have been receptive to interactive health programmes, regular health screening, follow up on chronic disease under the PCP and 324 workers attended basic dental screening. • The MOCCA framework is integral to the provision of care for MWs, through risk factor identification, empowerment of health ownership, and periodic assessment of health and behavioural outcomes.

Factors that influence the selection of conservative management for end-stage renal disease - a systematic review.

Most patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are managed with dialysis and less commonly kidney transplantation. However, not all are suitable for or desire either of these renal replacement therapies. Conservative management (CM) is an option. However, the selection of CM is often not easy for patients and clinicians. The aim of this systematic review is to identify the key factors that influence the selection of CM for ESRD. Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, and CINAHL Plus were systematically searched from inception to 10 September 2021. Titles/abstracts and full texts were independently screened by two reviewers. Reference lists of included articles were searched. An update search via PubMed was conducted on 10 August 2023. A narrative synthesis of review findings was conducted. At the end of the screening process, 15 qualitative and 8 survey articles were selected. Reference checking yielded no additional relevant studies. Main themes were: (i) Patient-specific factors; (ii) Clinician-specific factors; (iii) Organisational factors; and (iv) National and international factors. Patient-specific factors were awareness and perceptions of CM and dialysis, beliefs about survival, preferred treatment outcomes and influence of family/caregivers and clinicians. Clinician-specific factors included perceptions of CM as 'non-intervention', perceptions of clinician role in the decision-making process, and confidence and ability to initiate sensitive treatment discussions. Relationships with and involvement of other healthcare professionals, time constraints, and limited clinical guidance were also important factors. An improvement in the provision of education regarding CM for patients, caregivers, and clinicians is essential. Robust studies are required to generate crucial evidence for the development of stronger recommendations and guidance for clinicians.

Variations in State Laws on Mental Health–Related Firearm Prohibition

This quality improvement study assesses heterogeneity in state rules regarding reporting of mental health conditions to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System when individuals seek to acquire firearms.

Comparison of Radiologists and Deep Learning for US Grading of Hepatic Steatosis.

Background Screening for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is suboptimal due to the subjective interpretation of US images. Purpose To evaluate the agreement and diagnostic performance of radiologists and a deep learning model in grading hepatic steatosis in NAFLD at US, with biopsy as the reference standard. Materials and Methods This retrospective study included patients with NAFLD and control patients without hepatic steatosis who underwent abdominal US and contemporaneous liver biopsy from September 2010 to October 2019. Six readers visually graded steatosis on US images twice, 2 weeks apart. Reader agreement was assessed with use of κ statistics. Three deep learning techniques applied to B-mode US images were used to classify dichotomized steatosis grades. Classification performance of human radiologists and the deep learning model for dichotomized steatosis grades (S0, S1, S2, and S3) was assessed with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) on a separate test set. Results The study included 199 patients (mean age, 53 years ± 13 [SD]; 101 men). On the test set (n = 52), radiologists had fair interreader agreement (0.34 [95% CI: 0.31, 0.37]) for classifying steatosis grades S0 versus S1 or higher, while AUCs were between 0.49 and 0.84 for radiologists and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.83, 0.87) for the deep learning model. For S0 or S1 versus S2 or S3, radiologists had fair interreader agreement (0.30 [95% CI: 0.27, 0.33]), while AUCs were between 0.57 and 0.76 for radiologists and 0.73 (95% CI: 0.71, 0.75) for the deep learning model. For S2 or lower versus S3, radiologists had fair interreader agreement (0.37 [95% CI: 0.33, 0.40]), while AUCs were between 0.52 and 0.81 for radiologists and 0.67 (95% CI: 0.64, 0.69) for the deep learning model. Conclusion Deep learning approaches applied to B-mode US images provided comparable performance with human readers for detection and grading of hepatic steatosis. Published under a CC BY 4.0 license. Supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Tuthill in this issue.

The era of progress on gun mortality: State gun regulations and gun deaths from 1991-2016.

The recent rise of gun violence may lead to the perception that the problem of gun mortality in the United States is intractable. This article provides evidence to counter this perception by bringing attention to the period spanning from 1991 to 2016, when most U.S. states implemented more restrictive gun laws. Over this period, the U.S. experienced a decline in household gun ownership and gun-related deaths fell sharply. The main analysis examines the conditional association between change in gun regulations at the state level and change in gun mortality from 1991 to 2016. We include a range of robustness checks and two instrumental variables analyses to allow for stronger causal inferences. We find strong, consistent evidence supporting the hypothesis that restrictive state gun policies reduce overall gun deaths, homicides committed with a gun, and suicides committed with a gun. Each additional restrictive gun regulation a given state passed from 1991-2016 was associated with -0.21 (95% confidence interval = -0.33, -0.08) gun deaths per 100,000 residents. Further, we find that specific policies, such as background checks and waiting periods for gun purchase, were associated with lower overall gun death rates, gun homicide rates, and gun suicide rates. State regulations passed from 1991 to 2016 were associated with substantial reductions in gun mortality. We estimate that restrictive state gun policies passed in 40 states from 1991 to 2016 averted 4,297 gun deaths in 2016 alone, or roughly 11% of the total gun deaths that year.

The Gun Policy, Crime Rate, and Public Attitudes In the U.S.

This paper shows the connection between gun policy and crime rate and the public attitude towards the gun policy after a mass shooting and discusses how to prevent gun shootings in the United States. We found that there is less connection between gun policy and crime rate. Mass shootings are highly related to the death rate. The publics attitude also relates to mass shootings and gun policy. By studying the papers of others, we found that gun policies have a powerful impact on American society, especially after significant shootings. People's attitudes towards gun policy will change after a principal shooting, whether by gun owners or non-gun owners, but the change will not last long. At the same time, different states under different parties will have different ways of implementing gun policies. Many investigators have suggested that the federal government should strengthen background checks on applicants to prevent mass shootings. Gun policies need to be more strictly enforced, not only by the government but also by communities and individuals within their spheres. This has a more noticeable effect on preventing large-scale shootings.

Towards Improved Quality Control of In Situ Sea Surface Temperatures from Drifting and Moored Buoys in the NOAA iQuam System

The NOAA in situ Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Quality Monitor (iQuam) online system collects in situ SSTs from various sources, performs quality control (QC), and provides QC’ed data to users. Like many other in situ QCs, the iQuam QC employs comparisons with Level 4 SST analysis. However, the current daily L4 analyses do not capture the diurnal cycle, nor do they resolve the fine structure of SST in dynamic areas. As a result, high-quality in situ SSTs significantly deviating from the L4 SST may be rejected. This paper discusses the new Diurnal Reference Check (DRC), which addresses overscreening for buoys whose sampling frequency is sufficient for resolving the diurnal cycle. The DRC separates records from individual buoys into 24-h segments and characterizes each segment with the median nighttime (MNT) SST and the amplitude of the diurnal signal (ADS). The segment is rejected if the ADS is unrealistically large or if the difference between the MNT and L4 SST exceeds a geographically dependent threshold. The outliers are further screened out by comparison of individual in situ SSTs with the MNT. All thresholds are determined from the analysis of matchups with reprocessed NOAA SSTs from multiple low-orbiting satellites. The satellite matchups are also used to validate the QC results. The DRC minimizes the overscreening, increases the number of high-quality in situ data by ~5%, and reduces the QC reliance on the L4 analysis. In addition, a new retrospective satellite-based quality check is introduced to identify matchups, which are most useful for training SST algorithms and validation of reprocessed satellite data.

Internal Auditors and Fraud Detection In CAL-Bank

This study investigated the role of internal auditors in preventing and identifying fraud at Cal-Bank Limited in Ghana using a descriptive survey research design with a sample size of 100 respondents. The study found that internal auditors play a vital role in identifying and preventing fraud and that inadequate fraud policies, training, auditing experience, weak book- keeping, and insufficient employee criminal background checks contribute to fraud. Despite using internal control systems and software to combat fraud, the audit department faced challenges such as a lack of audit manuals and frequent management override of internal controls. The study recommends implementing adequate criminal background checks before employing staff and providing the audit department with resources, training, and independence to combat fraud effective.

Financial adviser background checks


 
 
 Using the 2009 National Financial Capability Survey, we identify demographic characteristics associated with financial adviser users who conduct adviser background checks and/or consider more than one adviser before making a choice, and if these activities improve their trust in financial advisers. We find that very few financial adviser users check backgrounds, but there is a positive relationship between adviser background checks and trust levels. Overall, these findings indicate that having a reliable background check system in place, allowing financial consumers to conduct adviser background checks in an easy and efficient manner, will help improve trust in financial advisers.
 
 

Student Education Background Verification for TPGIT College

Abstract: One of the most fundamental aspects of background checks is an education verification process. Market conditions are becoming increasingly harsh, forcing individuals to resort to any means to get a job. A significant number of job seekers are misrepresenting their qualifications to attract the attention of potential employers. It is not easy to detect unethical acts such as the falsification of studies, fake institutions, or false claims which makes it necessary to carry out background checks. An average of two to 2.5 million students graduate each year in India. It is all the more important to introduce rigorous education verification procedures given such a large influx of graduates. Companies and institutions, since they have their databases for verifying information on individuals, also use third-party education verification services. We are developing and building a new system called TPGIT to check students' educational activities using email logs in this project. TPGIT is an innovative, cloudbased service that automates the student verification process in colleges and universities. For this purpose, incoming emails are extracted and grouped according to the process model they belong to. Then, the emails of each process model are divided into subgroups and assigned a label indicating the type of business activity. These tasks are performed by using an unsupervised learning technique in conjunction with semantic similarity measurement methods. In addition, this method enables the labelling of emails with activity names that can be used for activity detection in new incoming emails, triggering an automatic response to the verifier. The tool is evaluated based on the relevance of the extracted emails.

Prediction of distinct populations of innate lymphoid cells by transcriptional profiles.

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are a unique type of lymphocyte that differ from adaptive lymphocytes in that they lack antigen receptors, which primarily reside in tissues and are closely associated with fibers. Despite their plasticity and heterogeneity, identifying ILCs in peripheral blood can be difficult due to their small numbers. Accurately and rapidly identifying ILCs is critical for studying homeostasis and inflammation. To address this challenge, we collect single-cell RNA-seq data from 647 patients, including 26,087 transcripts. Background screening, Lasso analysis, and principal component analysis (PCA) are used to select features. Finally, we employ a deep neural network to classify lymphocytes. Our method achieved the highest accuracy compared to other approaches. Furthermore, we identified four genes that play a vital role in lymphocyte development. Adding these gene transcripts into model, we were able to increase the model's AUC. In summary, our study demonstrates the effectiveness of using single-cell transcriptomic analysis combined with machine learning techniques to accurately identify congenital lymphoid cells and advance our understanding of their development and function in the body.

Online Candidate Selection System for Elections

This research proposes an innovative online platform for political parties in Sri Lanka to enhance the candidate selection process. The platform incorporates features such as sentiment analysis, background checks, aptitude tests, ranking system, and analysis of candidates' promises and activities. Developed using advanced technologies, it aims to ensure transparency, efficiency, and accessibility for all eligible candidates, ultimately contributing to a more democratic election.

Septic arthritis of the temporomandibular joint: a systematic review

Introduction: This study aimed to describe the history, clinical presentation, laboratory examination, treatment, and long-term functional characteristics of patients with septic arthritis of the temporomandibular joint (SATMJ). Methods: All articles in the English literature on SATMJ were queried using PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar (2013 to 8 March 2023), and the keywords "temporomandibular OR TMJ AND septic arthritis". Articles are included if related to the SATMJ in patients of all ages, using case reports, case series, and cohort studies. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was applied to all included investigations. Article selection followed PRISMA’s guidelines for measuring the quality of systematic reviews. Results: A preliminary literature search yielded 220 results, of which 25 matched the inclusion requirements, and one more came via reference checking. There were 25 cases with a mean age of 26.7 years (0.1 to 85). Symptoms mainly consisted of TMJ/preauricular pain (n=17, 42.5%), trismus (n=20, 50%), and facial/preauricular swelling (n=24, 60%). Most patients had no systemic symptoms (n=16, 40%). The average mouth opening measured 16.3 mm (5 to 36). The diagnosis was made using the following imaging techniques: X-ray (n=6, 15%), CT scan (n=33, 82.5%), MRI (n=16, 40%), and ultrasound (n=1, 2.5%). Staphylococcus aureus (n = 10, 25%) was the most frequently isolated. Approximately 40 patients (100%) received antibiotics, 26 (65%) patients underwent surgery (e.g., joint aspiration, arthroscopy, etc.), of which two patients (5%) required further surgical intervention. In general, long-term results were positive. In 10 of the 40 patients (25%) who had documented follow-up, sequelae occurred. Conclusion: In the event of trismus, jaw pain, or preauricular edema, SATMJ should be considered. Quick examination and broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment are part of management. Although surgery is not always necessary, it can be life-saving in serious circumstances.

Hormone therapy for sexual function in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Hormone therapy for sexual function in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.

What should I say? Testing ways to reduce fear and increase disclosure of incivility in reference checks.

We utilize signaling theory as a foundation for testing ways to decrease reference providers' fear of adverse consequences and increase disclosure of workplace incivility in reference checks. We focus on three reminders-commonly recommended by practitioners-that may be sent to reference providers in the instructions prior to the reference check: reminders of applicant consent, qualified privilege, and confidentiality. 420 supervisors were recruited via Prolific.co to complete a hypothetical reference check for the employee with whom they least like to work. Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions in a two (applicant consent reminder: yes/no) X two (qualified privilege reminder: yes/no) X two (confidentiality reminder: yes/no) between-subjects design. Instructions before the reference check were manipulated in a manner that corresponded to their experimental condition, after which they completed measures of fear and incivility. Results showed no main effects, but two interactions. Applicant consent and qualified privilege interacted in relation to fear of adverse legal consequences, and confidentially and qualified privilege interacted in relation to reports of applicant incivility (p < .10). Collectively, our largely null findings suggest that reference checks may be a limited tool for incivility prevention.

E-Cigarette Use and the Cessation of Tobacco Cigarette Smoking: Protocol for an Umbrella Review.

Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), commonly called e-cigarettes, have been examined in clinical studies for their effects on tobacco smoking cessation. In the past 2 years, a dozen or more systematic reviews on ENDS and cigarette smoking cessation have been published that present differing conclusions and recommendations on the use of ENDS. Our umbrella review aims to synthesize the findings from current systematic reviews to investigate the quit rates and the percentage of participants abstinent from cigarette smoking using ENDS. Additionally, we will examine the quit rates with ENDS in comparison to other established cessation treatments. The search will retrieve systematic reviews that include both clinical trials and experimental studies on the use of ENDS for smoking cessation. We will also include nonrandomized cohort studies that track ENDS use and the subsequent abstinence from smoking. Databases searches will be conducted in Embase, Scopus, PubMed, and 7 additional registries. Secondary searches will include reference checking, citation chasing, and consultations with topic experts. Two reviewers will perform a title and abstract exclusion followed by a full-paper inclusion process. Data extraction will be conducted by 1 reviewer and completely checked by a second reviewer. Each systematic review will be assessed by 2 reviewers for methodological quality using AMSTAR2 (A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews, version 2) and for reporting bias using categories from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine's Catalogue of Bias. Unreported discrepancies between the protocol and the published review will be identified. The umbrella review started on March 1, 2023. At the time of publication, the study selection was being conducted and the pilot testing of the data extraction and bias assessment forms were in progress. The review is expected to be completed by December 31, 2023, followed by the submission of the review for journal publication. A second-order meta-analysis will calculate the range and average of quit rates for ENDS. A vote counting of the direction of effect, based on quit rates, will be used to present the relative effectiveness of ENDS for smoking cessation compared to other cessation treatments (including no treatment). A citation matrix will list primary studies with their bias ratings from all the systematic reviews. The effect of overlapping studies between the systematic reviews will be calculated using the corrected coverage area analysis. A sensitivity analysis will examine the impact of the intensity of cessation treatment on quit rates. Depending on the availability of data, subgroup analyses will be conducted based on participants' gender, age, prior quit attempts, and nicotine dependence. The strength or weakness of the evidence synthesis will be assessed using a stratification of evidence technique. Reporting bias will be presented with a tabulation of bias indicators. Publication bias will be assessed. The use of ENDS for smoking cessation is a highly controversial subject. Through an exhaustive synthesis of the available data, we will present the quit rates of cigarette smoking cessation obtained with ENDS and how they compare to quit rates obtained from other established cessation treatments. The critical quality and bias assessment of the systematic reviews will indicate the most reliable sources to inform treatment considerations and policy development. PROSPERO CRD42023406165; https://tinyurl.com/4ekzpbrj. PRR1-10.2196/47711.

Pediatric firearm injury epidemiology at a level 1 trauma center from 2019 to 2021: including time of the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundFirearms are a leading cause of death in children. The demand for firearms increased following COVID-19 “stay-at home orders” in March 2020, resulting in record-breaking firearm sales and background checks. We aim to describe the changes in pediatric firearm-related injuries, demographics, and associated risk factors at a Level 1 trauma center in Houston before and during the COVID 19 pandemic.ResultsThe total number of pediatric firearm-related injury cases increased during March 15th to December 31st, 2020 and 2021 compared to the same time period in 2019 (104 verses 89 verses 78). The demographic group most affected across years were males (87% in 2019 vs 82% in 2020 and 87% in 2021) between 14 and 17 years old (83% in 2019 vs 81% in 2020 and 76% in 2021). There was an increase in firearm injuries among black youth across all years (28% in 2019 vs 41% in 2020 vs 49% in 2021). Injuries in those with mental illness (10% in 2019 vs 24% in 2020 vs 17% in 2021), and injuries where the shooter was a known family member or friend (14% in 2019 vs 18% in 2020 vs. 15% in 2021), increased from 2019 to 2020.ConclusionThe total number of pediatric firearm-related injuries increased during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the previous year despite a decline in overall pediatric emergency department visits. Increases in pediatric firearm-related injuries in already vulnerable populations should prompt further hospital initiatives including counseling on safe firearm storage, implementation of processes to identify children at risk for firearm injuries, and continued research to mitigate the risk of injury and death associated with firearms in our community.

Analysis of Merit System on Filling High Leadership Positions in the Government of East Manggarai Regency

The purpose of this research is to analyze the application of merit system in the implementation of open selection for high leadership positions in the context of a local socio-cultural setting. The merit system policy in this open selection in this research refers to the Regulation of the Minister of Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform (Permenpanrb) Number 15 of 2019. This research was conducted in the East Manggarai Regency Government utilizing a post-positivist research approach with qualitative data collection techniques. The findings showed that the implementation of open selection for filling JPT in East Manggarai Regency was not based on succession planning, there were differences in administrative requirements with relevant regulations; the addition of several administrative files. The background checking process is only carried out based document-driven and conducted indirectly to the participants’ work environment. The process of monitoring and evaluation or re-mapping for elected officials is carried out periodically. The limited number of elected officials with different socio-cultural backgrounds is due to the composition of employees and selection participants who mostly come from the East Manggarai Regency area and share the same socio-cultural background. Keywords: Civil Service, Merit System, Open Selection, Primordialism.

Risk Assessment of Operating Room Occupational Hazards Using Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

Background: The operating room is one of the most risky parts of the hospital. All employed personnel are exposed to occupational hazards. This study aimed to assess and control the risk of occupational hazards in urology surgeries using the technique of analysis of error states and its effects in the operating room. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data were collected through observation of common operating room processes, background checks and documents, and focus group discussion. Data analysis was in accordance with the failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) method based on risk priority number (RPN). Results: Considering 16 common operating room processes, there were 23 potential error modes of which 5 of them were identified as unacceptable and high risk. These five items included "working with sharp tools with RPN8/311", "working under high pressure and risky conditions with RPN 292", "hand washing with RPN 254.6", "intubation/extubation/suction of secretions with RPN 213.2", and "working with radiation equipment with RPN 206.9". Conclusion: In case of unacceptable errors, corrective actions were presented in three areas of decreasing occurrence and severity and increasing the ability to detect errors. It is suggested that retraining courses be held to prevent errors, ensure the health of operating room personnel, and increase the quality of services.