Environment-related Variables Research Articles

Antipsychotic Medication Adherence Scale (AMAS): Development and preliminary psychometric properties

IntroductionAlthough being highly consensual that antipsychotic adherence is an important outcome predictor in psychosis, existing reviews have found mean rates of adherence around 40–60%. Several aspects, such as patient-related, medication-related, environmental-related variables have been described as important predictors.AimsThis study aim is to develop, administer and present preliminary psychometric properties of a new scale for antipsychotic medication adherence that includes different types of predictors (clinical, psychosocial, and practical among others).MethodsThe “AMAS” was developed by a multidisciplinary team and was based on recent research on factors influencing antipsychotic adherence. The scale evolved from multiple drafts and experts were contacted in order to improve the final version. Over 50 patients with a diagnosis of a psychotic-spectrum disorder taking antipsychotic medication will be assessed with the “AMAS” and the Medication Adherence Rating Scale. Additionally, each patient's psychiatrist will fill in a form with demographic and clinical variables (such as type of symptoms, previous adherence problems, current adherence, insight and other relevant variables).ResultsThis is an ongoing study and the sample is still being collected (scheduled finish date: February/2016). Our statistical analysis’ plan includes: reliability analysis (Chronbach's alpha, alpha if item deleted, inter item correlations and covariances and item-total correlations); validity (convergent validity); factorial analysis.ConclusionsIt is hypothesized that the “AMAS” will be a practical, reliable and valid unidimentional instrument with clinical utility assessing adherence to antipsychotics. The “AMAS” can be also useful in assessing intervention targets (e.g. psychoterapeutical, psychoeducational) to enhance adherence.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Decisive environmental characteristics for woody regrowth in forest edges – Patterns along complex environmental gradients in Southern Sweden

Early and late successional stages of forest edge development were studied across long, complex environmental gradients in order to disentangle and assess the woody species composition and functional traits’ relations to abiotic and biotic environmental characteristics at site and landscape scale. Data were sampled from 78 randomly stratified locations along a 610-km railway corridor between the cities of Stockholm and Malmö, Sweden, and subsequently analysed in multiple steps of unconstrained, constrained and partial constrained ordination and variation partitioning. Different analytical methods were applied at each step and only the environmental characteristics that repeatedly showed significant impacts on woody species composition were selected for analysis of average weighted community traits to provide verification and a more detailed understanding. Following this approach, 10 environmental characteristics were identified as decisive for the woody species composition of the forest edges. The variation partitioning revealed a marked shift in the relative explanatory power of the environmental variables in relation to the succession of the forest edges. In the early successional stage, the abiotic variables related to site productivity (as reflected by field layer type and soil moisture) and climate (humidity and altitude) dominate, while in the late successional stages of forest edges more complex patterns evolved due to hierarchical and dynamic filter effects, where biotic variables reflecting structural aspects at site (forest edge profile, canopy stratification and canopy cover) and landscape (forest continuity and the shape and contrast of edges in the surrounding landscape) level were equally important as the abiotic variables. We concluded that management efforts in early succession stages of forest edges should depart from basic abiotic gradients of site fertility and moisture; and that it is crucial to incorporate vegetation structure variables at site and landscape level into long-term management planning.

Spatial and temporal variations in environmental variables in relation to phytoplankton composition and biomass in coral reef areas around Unguja, Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Phytoplankton can indirectly indicate health status of coral reefs due to their sensitivity to changes in water quality parameters. This study explored the spatial and temporal variability in water quality and nutrients in relation to phytoplankton community composition and chlorophyll a concentration at Bawe, Mnemba, Chumbe and Pongwe coral reef sites in Unguja Island. In situ measurements of dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity and pH were done every month for 1 year. Surface water samples were collected for determination of phytoplankton composition, nutrients and chlorophyll a concentration. Dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity and pH did not differ significantly among the four sites (p > 0.05) but showed significant temporal variations among months (p < 0.05). Bawe had significantly higher phosphate concentration (1.45 ± 0.57 µg L−1) than Chumbe (0.74 ± 0.53 µg L−1), Mnemba (0.42 ± 0.30 µg L−1) and Pongwe (0.28 ± 0.10 µg L−1; p < 0.05). Similarly, Bawe had significantly higher nitrate concentration (0.81 ± 0.43 µg L−1) than Mnemba (0.33 ± 0.14 µg L−1) and Pongwe (0.24 ± 0.13 µg L−1; p < 0.05) but similar to Chumbe (0.90 ± 0.35 µg L−1; p > 0.05). However, values obtained at all the studied sites were less than 3 and 14 mg L−1 for phosphate and nitrate, respectively, for eutrophic oceans. Phytoplankton species were dominated by Bacillariophyceae (70.83 %) and some species identified such as Ceratium sp., Dinophysis sp., Protoperidinium sp., Prorocentrum sp., Oscillatoria sp. and Dictyocha fibula are known to produce toxins that affect fish species. Bawe had significantly higher chlorophyll a concentration (0.47 ± 0.07 mg L−1) than Mnemba (0.33 ± 0.04 mg L−1) and Chumbe (0.33 ± 0.04 mg L−1; p < 0.05). Chlorophyll a concentration was spatially inversely related to distance from Unguja town (p < 0.05) while it was temporally significantly positively correlated with dissolved oxygen, nitrate and phosphate (p < 0.05). The study revealed that, the coral reef sites have low nutrient levels and are in good health. The existence of toxic phytoplankton species suggests careful consumption of fisheries resources at the four coral reef sites and frequent monitoring for Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) is required. The higher nutrients and chlorophyll a concentrations at Bawe Island compared to other sites calls for mechanisms to limit the release of domestic sewage from households and hotels to safeguard the coral reefs.

Spatial analysis and correlates of county-level diabetes prevalence, 2009-2010.

IntroductionInformation on the relationship between diabetes prevalence and built environment attributes could allow public health programs to better target populations at risk for diabetes. This study sought to determine the spatial prevalence of diabetes in the United States and how this distribution is associated with the geography of common diabetes correlates.MethodsData from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Census Bureau were integrated to perform geographically weighted regression at the county level on the following variables: percentage nonwhite population, percentage Hispanic population, education level, percentage unemployed, percentage living below the federal poverty level, population density, percentage obese, percentage physically inactive, percentage population that cycles or walks to work, and percentage neighborhood food deserts.ResultsWe found significant spatial clustering of county-level diabetes prevalence in the United States; however, diabetes prevalence was inconsistently correlated with significant predictors. Percentage living below the federal poverty level and percentage nonwhite population were associated with diabetes in some regions. The percentage of population cycling or walking to work was the only significant built environment–related variable correlated with diabetes, and this association varied in magnitude across the nation.ConclusionSociodemographic and built environment–related variables correlated with diabetes prevalence in some regions of the United States. The variation in magnitude and direction of these relationships highlights the need to understand local context in the prevention and maintenance of diabetes. Geographically weighted regression shows promise for public health research in detecting variations in associations between health behaviors, outcomes, and predictors across geographic space.

Modeling Crash Rates for a Mountainous Highway by Using Refined-Scale Panel Data

Traditional traffic safety analyses on crash frequency or crash rate usually focus on highly aggregated cross-sectional data. The adoption of aggregated data ignores the time-varying nature of some critical factors, and their effects on traffic safety may be masked through data aggregation. For mountainous highways, weather- and environment-related variables become critical as a result of complex time- and spatial-varying characteristics as well as interactions with mountainous terrain. Therefore, refined-scale models are often desired to appropriately model crash safety risks on mountainous highways and disclose the inherent crash mechanism. An advanced random parameter Tobit model with panel data (time series cross-sectional data) in refined temporal scale was developed. This is so far the first reported effort on integrating random parameter Tobit model and refined-scale panel data to develop crash rate models. A random parameter model was adopted not only to handle unobserved heterogeneity explicitly, but also to account for serial correlations across observations in panel data. Refined-scale weather and traffic data in a panel formation were adopted to accommodate the varying nature of complex driving conditions. Interstate 70 (I-70) in Colorado is well known for its typical mountainous terrain, critical role for local and national traffic, and inclement weather. As a demonstration of the modeling techniques, crash rates for a segment of I-70 were investigated in refined temporal scale. Results showed that a random parameter Tobit model outperformed a fixed-parameter Tobit model, and factors related to traffic, weather, and surface conditions were found to play significant roles in an accident rate model.

Analyzing Critical Decision-Based Processes

Decision-based processes are composed of tasks whose application may depend on explicit decisions relying on the state of the process environment. In specific domains such as healthcare, decision-based processes are often complex and critical in terms of timing and resources. The paper presents a variety of tool-supported techniques for analyzing models of such processes. The analyses allow a variety of errors to be detected early and incrementally on partial models, notably: inadequate decisions resulting from inaccurate or outdated information about the environment state; incomplete decisions; non-deterministic task selections; unreachable tasks along process paths; and violations of non-functional process requirements involving time, resources or costs. The proposed techniques are based on different instantiations of the same generic algorithm that propagates decorations iteratively through the process model. This algorithm in particular allows event-based models to be automatically decorated with state-based invariants. A formal language supporting both event-based and state-based specifications is introduced as a process modeling language to enable such analyses. This language mimics the informal flowcharts commonly used by process stakeholders. It extends High-Level Message Sequence Charts with guards on task-related and environment-related variables. The language provides constructs for specifying task compositions, task refinements, decision trees, multi-agent communication scenarios, and time and resource constraints. The proposed techniques are demonstrated on the incremental building and analysis of a complex model of a real protocol for cancer therapy.

The Association between Long Working Hours and Self-Rated Health

ObjectivesThis study was conducted to determine the number of hours worked per week by full-time wage workers by using the data of the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS), which represents the domestic urban area household, and to determine the association between weekly working hours and the level of self-rated health.MethodsWe used data from the 11th KLIPS conducted in 2008. The subjects of this study were 3,699 full-time wage workers between the ages of 25 and 64 years. The association between weekly working hours and self-rated health was analyzed considering socio-demographic characteristics, work environment, and health-related behaviors.ResultsAmong the workers, 29.7% worked less than 40 hours per week; 39.7%, more than 40 to 52 hours; 19.7%, more than 52 to 60 hours; and 10.9%, more than 60 hours per week. After controlling for socio-demographic variables, work environment-related variables, and health-related behavior variables, the odds ratio (OR) for poor self-rated health for the group working more than 40 hours and up to 52 hours was calculated to be 1.06 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.89-1.27) when the group working less than 40 hours per week was considered the reference. The OR for the group working more than 60 hours was 1.42 (95% CI, 1.10-1.83) and that for the group working more than 52 hours and up to 60 hours was 1.07 (95% CI, 0.86-1.33). After stratification by gender and tenure, the OR of the female workers group and that of the group with a tenure of more than 1 year were found to be significantly higher than those of the other groups.ConclusionsThis study showed that workers working more than 60 hours per week have a significantly higher risk of poor self-rated health than workers working less than 40 hours per week. This effect was more obvious for the female workers group and the group with a tenure of more than 1 year. In the future, longitudinal studies may be needed to determine the association between long working hours and various health effects in Korean workers.

Utilization of the Haddon Matrix to Organize Factors of Survived Accidental Residential Fires: Frequencies for Human, Agent, and Environment-related Variables

Drawing upon interviews of 183 people who have survived accidental residential fires, this study adopted the basic concepts (human, agent, environment) of the Haddon Matrix to organize factors associated with survived accidental residential fires where there was no fire death or serious injury with extended hospitalization involved. Human activities during a fire were also identified, including how people first alerted to the presence of a fire and how they attempted to extinguish a fire. Electrical failure and unattended cooking were found to be the leading causes of survived fires. Kitchens and bedrooms were reported as the main rooms of fire origin. The study revealed four important new findings. These new findings are: 1) people’s knowledge of fire safety and awareness of unsafe fire behaviours was extremely limited; 2) an overwhelming majority of hosts had previous fire experiences at the time of the survey; 3) risk factors that are documented elsewhere to be highly related to fire fatalities were found not to be closely related to survived fires, such as alcohol, drugs, smoking, and being asleep; and 4) the majority of hosts took proactive actions when facing a fire, such as calling fire brigade, attempting to extinguish a fire, and trying to alert others. The Haddon Matrix was found to be a useful tool for organizing a wide range of relevant accidental residential fire variables, with the current paper presenting important new information about the frequencies of such variables where no fire death or serious injury has occurred.

Promoting Walking Among Older Adults Living in Retirement Communities

The authors tested the feasibility and acceptability, and explored the outcomes, of 2 walking interventions based on ecological models among older adults living in retirement communities. An enhanced intervention (EI) was compared with a standard walking intervention (SI) among residents in 4 retirement facilities (N = 87 at baseline; mean age = 84.1 yr). All participants received a walking intervention including pedometers, printed materials, and biweekly group sessions. EI participants also received phone counseling and environmental-awareness components. Measures included pedometer step counts, activities of daily living, environment-related variables, physical function, depression, cognitive function, satisfaction, and adherence. Results indicated improvements among the total sample for step counts, neighborhood barriers, cognitive function, and satisfaction with walking opportunities. Satisfaction and adherence were high. Both walking interventions were feasible to implement among facility-dwelling older adults. Future studies can build on this multilevel approach.

Spatial distribution of phlebotomine sand flies in the Aydin Mountains and surroundings: the main focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis in western Turkey

An entomological survey was conducted to determine the spatial distribution of phlebotomine fauna and understand the effect of environmental factors. The entomological survey was carried out during 2006-2007 in a study area in the rural area of Aydin province, near the Kusadasi town where VL, CL, and canine leishmaniasis (CanL) are endemic. In 2006 and 2007, 132 locations were sampled using sticky traps mainly on embankments. Detailed environmental and meteorological information was also collected for each location. The results of entomological studies indicated that the probable vectors are Phlebotomus tobbi and P. neglectus for VL and CanL, and P. similis for CL in this western leishmaniasis focus. The data revealed a correlation between their presence and spatial variables such as altitude, sampling site location, and humidity. The distribution areas of probable vector species in this study area allowed the identification of risk levels, which may provide useful information to guide the leishmaniasis research in endemic regions.

Factors that affect compartmentalization and wound closure of Quercus rubra infested with Enaphalodes rufulus

The mechanisms by which hardwood trees resist invasion by native wood borers are still poorly understood. 2 We examined the importance of several host, herbivore and environmental variables in relation to Quercus rubra L., northern red oak, resistance to a native cerambycid, Enaphalodes rufulus (Haldeman) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), the red oak borer. 3 We employed tree-ring techniques to date and measure two indicators of host tree physical resistance, vertical lesion size and wound closure of scars left by larval galleries, within 107 Q. rubra hosts from eight sites within the Ozark and Ouachita National Forests of Arkansas. 4H ostQ. rubra decline status proved a valuable predictor of resistance, wherein healthy trees exhibited better compartmentalization capacity, as indicated by shorter lesions and faster wound closure, than declining trees and those that died during a recent E. rufulus outbreak. 5 Only healthy Q. rubra exhibited a significant declining lesion length trend from 1988 to 2006 and were likely able to re-allocate resources in favour of maintaining resistance as the feeding pressure from borers increased and then relaxed post- outbreak. 6 Variables related to borer feeding pressure consistently explained more variation in lesion length than host or environmental variables. Hosts were better able to compartmentalize injury from small, unsuccessful E. rufulus galleries than large, successful galleries from which larvae survived to adulthood. 7 Healthy Q. rubra, as survivors of the recent outbreak, were able to effectively tolerate feeding pressure from borers at the same time as sustaining growth and maintenance. Tolerance may be an important resistance mechanism for hardwood hosts against the native wood borers that attack them.

Pathways to Empowerment in Substance Abuse Prevention: Citizen Participation, Sense of Community, and Police Responsiveness in an Urban U.S. Setting

Community-based substance abuse prevention initiatives often rely on the empowerment of community residents. Few studies, however, have examined predictors of empowerment in substance abuse prevention contexts. This study tested a path model that included two environment-related variables (i.e., residents’ awareness of community substance abuse problems and perceived incivilities in their community), two variables representing residents’ perceptions of their community (i.e., sense of community and perceived police responsiveness to drug crime) and citizen participation as predictors of the intrapersonal component of psychological empowerment. The model was found to provide a good fit to the data from a random sample of urban residents (n=283) who participated in an evaluation of a National Institute of Justice community policing initiative in the Southwestern United States. Findings suggest that empowerment-based interventions aimed at preventing substance abuse and its related harmful consequences should incorporate activities that specifically address sense of community and police responsiveness to drug crime. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

On the relationship between squid and the environment: artisanal jigging for Loligo plei at São Sebastião Island (24°S), southeastern Brazil

AbstractPostuma, F. A., and Gasalla, M. A. 2010. On the relationship between squid and the environment: artisanal jigging for Loligo plei at São Sebastião Island (24°S), southeastern Brazil. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1353–1362. The squid Loligo plei concentrates in the southeastern Brazil Bight, where it has traditionally supported small-scale fisheries around São Sebastião Island (SSI). Sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll-a (Chl a), windspeed, wave height, rainfall, and lunar phase are related to fishing records and to the results of a survey of local fishers to investigate how they believe environmental variables might affect catches of L. plei. Daily fishery-dependent data over the years 2005–2009 were obtained from a fishing cooperative and were matched with satellite and meteorological forecast data. Generalized linear models were used to explore the significance of environmental variables in relation to variability in catch and catch per unit effort (cpue). Squid are fished with jigs in water shallower than 20 m, generally where SST is warmer and Chl a and windspeed are lower. Cpue and monthly catches decreased from 2005 to 2008, followed by a slight increase in 2009. The correlations between fishery and environmental data relate well to fishers' oceanological knowledge, underscoring the potential of incorporating such knowledge into evaluations of the fishery.

Insights into the Determinants of Innovation in Energy Efficiency

Given the increasing interest in understanding (and supporting by means of public policy) innovative activity related to energy efficient technology (EET), I attempt to identify firm-level determinants of innovation and research in this field. A novel dataset of Swiss firms has been assembled by means of a survey in 2009, resulting in more than 2300 observations featuring various indicators of innovative activity and success. Applying standard econometric methodology, I find sizeable differences of the explaining factors of energy efficiency related innovation as compared to overall innovation. In particular, market environment related variables important for overall innovative activity seem to have little explanatory power for EET related innovation, raising the question whether such innovation sufficiently responds to current and potential future demand.

Soil nitrous oxide emissions in long-term cover crops-based rotations under subtropical climate

It has been shown that cover crops can enhance soil nitrous oxide (N 2O) emissions, but the magnitude of increase depends on the quantity and quality of the crop residues. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of long-term (19 and 21 years) no-till maize crop rotations including grass [black oat ( Avena strigosa Schreb)] and legume cover crops [vetch ( Vigna sativa L.), cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata L. Walp), pigeon pea ( Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.) and lablab ( Dolichos lablab)] on annual soil N 2O emissions in a subtropical Acrisol in Southern Brazil. Greater soil N 2O emissions were observed in the first 45 days after the cover crop residue management in all crop rotations, varying from −20.2 ± 1.9 to 163.9 ± 24.3 μg N m −2 h −1. Legume-based crop rotations had the largest cumulative emissions in this period, which were directly related to the quantity of N ( r 2 = 0.60, p = 0.13) and inversely related to the lignin:N ratio ( r 2 = 0.89, p = 0.01) of the cover crop residues. After this period, the mean fluxes were smaller and were closely related to the total soil N stocks ( r 2 = 0.96, p = 0.002). The annual soil N 2O emission represented 0.39–0.75% of the total N added by the legume cover crops. Management-controlled soil variables such as mineral N (NO 3 − and NH 4 +) and dissolved organic C influenced more the N 2O fluxes than environmental-related variables as water-filled pore space and air and soil temperature. Consequently, the synchronization between N mineralization and N uptake by plants seems to be the main challenge to reduce N 2O emissions while maintaining the environmental and agronomic services provided by legume cover crops in agricultural systems.

Implications of Rural Environmental Variables Associated with the Participation of Children in Farming Activities: A Lesson from Rural Southwestern Nigeria

This study aimed at investigating the relationship between the participation of rural children in farming activities and selected social, school, and physical environment related variables. Data were collected from four hundred and fifty eight children selected through stage-wise random sampling procedure from the four agricultural zones in Oyo state of Southwestern Nigeria. Results of the analyses showed that rural children's participation in farming could be rated as moderate whereas the existing social and school environmental variables were ranked as highly supportive to the participation of rural children in farming. Result of Chi square (χ2) analysis used to investigate the existence of association between the variables shows that a significant association existed between the participation of rural children in farming activities and school system support values (χ2 = 60.796); community social values (χ2 = 22.25); vegetation (χ2 = 76.133); closeness to river (χ2 = 39.64); topography of farmland (χ2 = 66.102), and status of roads leading to farm (χ2 = 73.086) at p ≤ 0.01 level of significance. It was concluded that children did participate in farming while empirical evidence revealed that physical and social environmental variables influence their participation. The implication was that rural environmental variables should be given due consideration whenever the participation of children in farming is being considered either as a socialization process or otherwise.

Variables influencing the distribution of epiphytic lichens in heterogeneous areas: A case study for Liguria, NW Italy

Abstract Questions: What are the most relevant environmental variables influencing the distribution and the species richness of epiphytic lichens in heterogeneous areas of the Mediterranean region? What is the relative importance of substrate- vs. environmental-related variables? How do climatic and disturbance factors interact? Location: The study was carried out in the Liguria region (northwestern Italy). This is a complex region where steep environmental gradients occur over a few kilometres of longitude and latitude. Methods: Data on lichen species frequencies, collected on the basis of stratified random sampling, were analyzed using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) and DCA. Indicator Value Analysis (IVA) analysis was used to find indicator species for the environmental predictors. Results: In the survey area, epiphytic lichen distribution depends on both substrate- and environment-related factors. Climatic variables (in particular average yearly temperature and rainfall), anthropogenic press...

Explaining purchases of organic meat by Dutch consumers

This study investigates the impact of economic and marketing variables ( quality, price, and distribution), emotions ( fear, empathy, and guilt), social norms, and environment-related variables ( environmental concern, green behaviour, and perceived consumer effectiveness) on Dutch consumers' preference for, and purchase frequency of, organic meat. The results show that consumers' purchase of organic meat is based on both 'rational' economic motives and emotional motives.

HRM practices in foreign MNCs operating in the PRC: a new hybrid form?

This study examines the critical role played by the environment-related variables on human resource management (HRM) in the PRC for western multinationals (MNCs) when transferring and implementing HRM practices in the host country. In contrast with current literature which suggests that western MNCs choose to adopt HRM policies that resemble more with the parent firm than with local Chinese companies (Bjorkman and Lu, 2000), evidence resulting through the development of our case-study and the exploration of company HRM practices shows how those HRM practices are often a hybrid of parent firm practices and the local context as further hypothesised by the academia (Bjorkman and Lu, 2000; Chiang, 2000; Rowley and Benson, 2002; Tsui and Li, 2000).

Factors Associated With Mathematics Achievement and Participation in Advanced Mathematics Courses: An Examination of Gender Differences From an International Perspective

This paper reports results of an exploratory study examining factors that might be associated with achievement in mathematics and participation in advanced mathematics courses in Canada, Norway, and the United States of America (USA). These factors, which were not directly related to schooling accounted for large degrees of variability, 24% to 39%, in mathematics achievement scores. Confidence in mathematics was the strongest predictor of achievement for students from Canada and Norway, whereas for the students from the USA, parents' highest education level was the highest predictor of achievement. Student home environment related variables were stronger predictors of achievement for females than for males in all three countries. The participation in advanced mathematics courses could be predicted with 72% to 76% accuracy by the same variables. In all of the three countries, the strongest predictors of participation in advanced mathematics courses were students' attitudes toward mathematics. Parents' education level, a socioeconomic related variable, was one of the strongest predictors of participation for Canadian female students and all students from the USA.