Personal Funding Research Articles

Association between risky sexual behaviour and HIV risk perception among in-school adolescents in a municipality in Ghana.

Studies considering the association between adolescents' risky sexual behaviour and how they perceive themselves to be at risk of HIV infection are scares in Ghana. The study assessed the association between HIV risk perception and risky sexual behaviour among in-school adolescents in a municipality in Ghana. A cross sectional study was conducted among 706 students, using a questionnaire. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between HIV risk perception and risky sexual behaviour. Of all the adolescents, 27.7% were sexually active. Among the sexually active, 51.8 % had sexual intercourse below 14 years, 65.4% did not used condom at their last sexual intercourse, and 37.2% had multiple sexual partners. Only 20.5% of the adolescents perceived themselves to be at risk of HIV infection. Being sexually active was independently associated with having HIV risk perception (OR 1.54; 95% CI: 1.03-2.27). Adolescents who had multiple sexual partners were more likely than their counterparts with single sexual partners to perceive themselves to be at risk of HIV infection (AOR 2.39; 95% CI: 1.10 - 5.20). Non-use of condom at least sexual intercourse and early sexual debut were not associated with HIV risk perception. Except for those with multiple sexual partners, the adolescents generally did not perceive themselves to be at risk of HIV infection despite their involvement in risky sexual behaviour. Interventions that help adolescents to correctly assess their HIV risk perception and build on their susceptibility to HIV infection are needed. Personal funding.

Service quality of digital banking of Timo Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City

In the context of the strong development of science and technology in finance and banking, Fintech has emerged as the most important trend. Fintech (Financial Technology) can be divided into two categories. The first one includes customer service companies that provide technological tools to improve personal lending, money management and funding for start-ups. The second one includes “back-office” companies that offer technology for financial institutions. New-generation digital banking Timo has increased the public awareness of Fintech through the application of Internet and technology in mobile banking. The paper presents an overview of digital banking of Timo and survey results of its services, thereby offering some suggestions to further develop this form of banking in the future.

Economic and Cultural Dimensions of Space Exploration

Economic and Cultural Dimensions of Space Exploration Matthew D. Tribbe (bio) Alexander MacDonald. The Long Space Age: The Economic Origins of Space Exploration from Colonial America to the Cold War. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017. xi + 258 pp. Figures, notes, and index. $35. Valerie Neal. Spaceflight in the Shuttle Era and Beyond: Redefining Humanity's Purpose in Space. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017. xiii + 270 pp. Illustrations, notes, and index. $40. When I was studying pedagogy in graduate school, one "icebreaker" technique I learned for getting undergraduates to talk is to ask them to share the earliest major historical event they can remember. For an earlier generation, the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing no doubt would have come up, but when my fellow graduate students and I performed this exercise among ourselves, it became clear that a very different event stood out—the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. Although the space program rarely came up in my graduate history coursework or comprehensive exam readings, it looms large in historical memory. Whether "Generation Apollo" or "Generation Challenger" (and perhaps even "Generation Columbia" for those millennials whose historical memories were shaped by that shuttle tragedy), Americans tend to associate space exploration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the federal agency behind the country's most impressive as well as most disastrous space missions. Over the course of the Space Age, NASA had to fight for both public and congressional support in order to attain its visions—and aside from the extraordinary Cold War circumstances that led to the Apollo moon program, it did not usually receive anywhere near the level of funding it sought. Two new books from Yale University Press examine the challenges space advocates have historically faced in achieving their goals. Valerie Neal's Spaceflight in the Shuttle Era and Beyond: Redefining Humanity's Purpose in Space examines NASA's struggles in the post-Apollo period to win over a public and a government that generally did not share its ambitions for aggressive (and expensive) space exploration. Alexander MacDonald's The Long Space [End Page 445] Age: The Economic Origins of Space Exploration from Colonial America to the Cold War examines funding issues from a different perspective, emphasizing the long history of private patronage for space exploration and challenging the common belief that it has historically been a state-organized endeavor. In The Long Space Age, MacDonald starts from a different premise than most other space histories by broadening the activities that he considers "space exploration" to include telescopic observation. Long before Americans physically went into space, they were peering at the heavens through telescopes, and MacDonald examines how such "exploration" has been pursued and funded since the colonial era. His main argument is that space exploration—whether telescopic or rocket-based—has always been a very expensive enterprise, but only in the mid-twentieth century did it become primarily state supported. In fact, he writes, "the typical narrative" of space exploration as a state-sponsored enterprise "is misleading; if we look at the history of American space exploration on a longer timescale, a very different history emerges—one in which personal initiative and private funding is the dominant trend and government funding is a recent one"(p. 3). Space historians have long recognized that the Apollo program's aggressive race to the moon was not the norm for space exploration, but rather an anomaly based on Cold War concerns. Once the United States won this race, and Cold War tensions eased somewhat by the later 1960s, the American space program settled into a more deliberate (and less well-funded) approach to exploration, to the dismay of advocates who mistook Apollo for the beginning of an era of ever-more-impressive space feats. By expanding the scope of analysis to include expensive, often privately funded telescopes in prior centuries, MacDonald argues that Apollo was an anomaly not only in terms of its cost, but also in who was footing the bill. Hence, the present-day billionaires promoting the most ambitious dreams of space exploration mark a return to a long pattern of wealthy patrons willing to fund their curiosity with enormous amounts of money—a pattern...

Who Is the Muslim? Discursive Representations of the Muslims and Islam in Indian Prime-Time News

A cursory look at Indian prime-time news tells us much about the tone and tenor of the people associated with it. Exaggerations, hyperbole, and tempers run wild, and news anchors flail in theatrical rage. News channels and news editors display their ideological affiliations subliminally. These affiliations—a factor of personal political stances, funding bodies, and investors—lead to partisan bias in the framing of news and, in some cases, can easily translate into racial prejudice. In this paper, I examine news coverage related to Muslims in India. I study the coverage of two issues specifically—love jihad and triple talaq—in prime-time English news of two channels: Times Now and Republic TV. Love jihad is a term used to describe alleged campaigns carried out by Muslim men targeting non-Muslim women for conversion to Islam by feigning love. Triple talaq is a form of divorce that has been interpreted to allow Muslim men to legally divorce their wives by stating the word “talaq” three times. My analysis of the content, tone, and tenor of their coverage shows that these channels propagate associations between Islam and backwardness, ignorance, and violence through consistent employment of the following tropes: “Muslim women need to be saved from Muslim men”; “Hindu women need to be saved from Muslim men”; and, “Muslims are not fully Indian—they are anti-national”. I place this study of news media within the current political climate in India and briefly touch on the conversations it guides and provokes. This is a first step in detailing a problem. It is also a call for further analysis on this subject to examine and evaluate if and how discourse manipulates public conversations and policy decisions.

ON THE WAY TO EUROPEAN INTEGRATION: MEASURES FOR EFFICIENT SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF THE EDUCATIONAL MARKET IN UKRAINE

The prospects and mechanisms of social and economic evolution of higher education market in Ukraine under the conditions of the European integration policy are outlined. The main problems of adaptation of management in the field of higher education in Ukraine under the conditions of implementation of European administrative norms and transformation of educational system on the basis of increasing commercialization of educational services are revealed. In this connection, the compliance of the specialty offered by the educational institutions with the needs of the labor market is analyzed. It was emphasized that the mechanisms of social and economic evolution of the market of higher education in Ukraine should lie in the formation of the entrepreneurial climate at higher educational institutions, which is achieved by: the possibility of personal independent funding of the educational process by entrants; bringing the specialities offered in the educational market up to the demands and expectations of the domestic and international labor markets; aefficient combination of education with science and production. The process of development of educational credit as an additional source of financial provision for the production of educational services in the system of higher education is researched. The problems connected with providing competitive higher education are determined, and also ways of their solution are offered. The results of the research will contribute to the formation of an effective transformation of the higher education system during the implementation of the European integration strategy, based on the commercialization of educational services and the results of intellectual work. The practical value of the research is to use the results of research in educational, research and practical activities in determining the role and place of the market of educational services in the economic system in the process of European integration.

The Relationship between Psychological Capital and Spirituality with Internet Addiction among Students at Jondishapuor University of Medical Sciences

The Relationship between Psychological Capital and Spirituality with Internet Addiction among Students at Jondishapuor University of Medical Sciences

Factors contributing to high PhD completion rates: a case study in a research-intensive university in New Zealand

This exploratory study determined PhD completions at a research-intensive university in New Zealand and considered factors affecting PhD completions. Completion data were calculated for PhD cohorts at the University of Otago from 2000 to 2012 (n = 2770) and survival models determined whether gender, enrolment status, age at admission, citizenship, scholarship status and academic field influenced completion. The impact of the doctoral programme and the research environment was also considered. Across all cohorts, 83% submitted their thesis for examination (17% withdrawal). The median submission time was 3.4 years for full-timers, with a median completion time (to award of degree) of 4.1 years. Survival modelling showed that completion can be enhanced by having mainly full-time candidates, but also allowing periods of part-time enrolment near submission, recruiting a large international cohort, and providing three year scholarships. Health science candidates had the highest submission percentages, while commerce candidates submitted in the fastest times. There were only minor or negligible effects of gender and age at admission. Other factors contributing to high submission rates included recruiting quality candidates, close monitoring during candidature, provision of research training, a vibrant research culture, a personal performance coach, high-quality supervision and funding incentives for candidates who submit in under four years.

Limb reduction defect due to failed misoprostol induced termination of pregnancy

On examination of the neonate, he had normal cry, reflex, colour and tone. Child had reduced left leg with absence of tibia and fibula, gross reduction of left femur, rotated left foot and syndactyly of left foot. (Figures1 and 2). On doing a digital x-ray of the neonate we found the radiological features matching the clinical picture (Figure 3). ___________________________________________ Junior Resident, Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics, Junior Resident, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, MKCG Medical College, India *Correspondence: dr.subham.scb@gmail.com (Received on 20 May 2015: Accepted after revision on 17 July 2015) The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest Personal funding was used for this project.

Do threeyears make a difference? An updated review and analysis of self-initiated expatriation.

Self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) were initially described by Inkson et al. (J World Bus 32:351–368, 1997) as individuals who move abroad on their own volition, with personal funding, oriented towards development and career goals. After almost two decades of research, it is imperative to review the knowledge that has been developed and identify future areas of intervention. Doherty (Int J Manag Rev 15:447–469, 2013. doi:10.1111/ijmr.12005) initiated the review and this paper aims to update it and explore some unapproached aspects. Five different data bases were targeted and searched for peer-reviewed articles published in English, between 1997 and 2014, which recognized self-initiated expatriation as a distinguished form of mobility and used this terminology in the title and/or keywords list. A total of 94 articles met these inclusion criteria, 45 of which were published between 2012 and 2014. By systematically analyzing them, it was observed a surpassing growth in the number of published articles in the last 3 years. This signalizes an increase of the academic interest in studying the SIEs all over the world, involving bidirectional moves between developed and developing countries. The constructs identified by Doherty (2013) at the three different levels (micro, meso and macro) continued to be explored, using qualitative or quantitative approaches. Besides this, a multi-informant approach has been adopted in some studies, while others focused on concept clarification, taking into consideration some of Doherty’s (2013) suggestions for future research. Three years of research made an enormous contribution to the development of knowledge about SIEs, but some aspects can be further explored; hence they are identified and thoroughly discussed.

The role of family carers in the use of personal budgets by people with mental health problems.

Personal budgets aim to increase choice and independence for people with social care needs but they remain underused by people with mental health problems compared to other disability groups. The use of personal budgets may impact on families in a variety of ways, both positive and negative. This paper draws on interviews, undertaken in 2012-2013 with 18 family carers and 12 mental health service users, that explored experiences of family involvement in accessing and managing personal budgets for a person with mental health-related social care needs. The sample was drawn from three sites across England, with additional carers being recruited via voluntary sector networks. Our findings show that for many people with severe mental health needs who lack motivation and confidence to negotiate access to personal budgets, carers may provide the necessary support to enable them to benefit from this form of social care support. We illustrate the role carers may play in initiating, pursuing and maximising the level of support available through personal budgets. However, some carers interviewed considered that personal budget funding was reduced because of practitioners' assumptions about carers' willingness and ability to provide support. We also report perceived tensions between family carers and practitioners around appropriate involvement in decision-making. The study findings have implications for local authorities, practitioners and family carers in supporting the involvement of family carers in support for people with severe mental health problems.

Gender contributes to personal research funding success in The Netherlands

We examined the application and review materials of three calls (n=2,823) of a prestigious grant for personal research funding in a national full population of early career scientists awarded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). Results showed evidence of gender bias in application evaluations and success rates, as well as in language use in instructions and evaluation sheets. Male applicants received significantly more competitive "quality of researcher" evaluations (but not "quality of proposal" evaluations) and had significantly higher application success rates than female applicants. Gender disparities were most prevalent in scientific disciplines with the highest number of applications and with equal gender distribution among the applicants (i.e., life sciences and social sciences). Moreover, content analyses of the instructional and evaluation materials revealed the use of gendered language favoring male applicants. Overall, our data reveal a 4% "loss" of women during the grant review procedure, and illustrate the perpetuation of the funding gap, which contributes to the underrepresentation of women in academia.

The role of informal capital on new venture formation and growth in China

Abstract This study examines the nature and role of informal capital used by micro-firms in the dynamic emerging market of China. Using a unique source of data for 260 urban entrepreneurs, this study provides empirical evidence that entrepreneurs’ personal savings and family funding are important sources of start-up capital. However, household income was found to be the most important funding source in driving firm growth over time. This research directly addresses the lacuna of studies on entrepreneurship in emerging economies and contributes to our understanding of the critical role informal capital plays in the Chinese entrepreneurial process. Overall findings suggest that informal capital is still predominantly used over formal capital sources for financing firm start-up, underscoring the slow transition in China from an emerging to a modern economy.

The journey from elite society to government geologist: Henry de la Beche's (1796-1855) powerful impact on the importance of observation within an emerging professional science

Henry De la Beche (1796-1855) entered the scientific realm within an elite group of gentleman geologists. As a firm advocate of observation, De la Beche's philosophy of science involved the collection of fects, from which satisfactory theories or solutions to geological problems could only arise after accumulated observations were compiled. He authored many texts, but insisted that he recorded only fects and did not support particular theories, which often relied on scant observation. When De la Beche's finances floundered, his persistence at procuring government support for his mapping projects resulted in his eventual appointment (1835) as director of what would become the British Geological Survey. As a government scientist, De la Beche maintained a staunch advocacy of observation. He used his position to promote field work, and ensured quality in the deliberate recording of accurate information. He provided clear instructions to local survey directors, and advocated a "general mode of observing and recording fects" for "systematic investigations and uniformity of results" (1845). His methods guaranteed that facts, and not selective interpretations, would be available for those who needed them. He insisted that utilitarian geological products, such as survey maps and mining records, were consistent and of high quality. He also promoted the importance of these products—and the field work that produced them—within the elite societies of which he remained a member. Through his government position, De la Beche successfully advocated for public displays of facts and collections, and largely through his efforts the Museum of Practical Geology, the School of Mines, and the Mining Record Office were established. Therefore, De la Beche's emphasis of observation over theory had far-reaching impact in the emerging Victorian professionalization of science. Although he lost personal funding and could not sustain only an elite participation in the emerging geological discipline, his government position provided a powerful platform from which he was able to teach, systematize, and institutionalize field-based geological observation. De la Beche's success is measured through the establishment of feet repositories in Great Britain, and also through the impact that surveyors who studied his field methods brought to other countries.

Steering Business - The ‘Babu’ Style

Subhas Jain shall be known as a “practicing” entrepreneur. Why we say practicing shall be obvious at many instances, where, he resorts to doing it either by hook or by crook. With no specified business acumen, Subhas reiterated the feel within himself and within the masses of being a ‘seasoned’ businessman. Everything for him went correct and right in order. Amidst a mediocre business environment with no specifications of how to be righteous while accomplishing ones endeavour, Subhas could continue with his legacy even after he was dead. Being associated with, as on date, very large business empire until his death in 2007, he constructed apartments, shopping complexes, official buildings’, participated and drove in the auction deals, was a financier to the very well-known ‘Rekha’ starrer ‘Umrao Jaan’, connived with officials’ and politicians into ‘nepotism’ or ‘rent seeking’ and been a ‘socialite’. If that was the orientation of Subhas, could we recommend others to follow suit? Is this the orientation that people in the region carry or does it come to them as legacy? To ask the question otherwise, does the environment condition them to become an all in all? He had been a dynamic leader. He knew people better and also understood how to draw things out of them. However, he erred!! Siphoning off money into other business, drawing in excess of the required amount for personal fancies, cross funding and patronage to touts were some of his mis-endeavours. Leadership styles refer to the ethical modes of leading people towards a cause, through negotiation, compromise or strategy. Though he adopted all, but would his tactics matter when a leader ought to be called in to steer a sustainable business? Could he be referred to as a charismatic leader or just an opportunist who understood the needs of time?If Subhas had been focused and professional, his son would have steered the business well. Though the family had money, but could the business do well? His business titled ‘Aarohi Constructions Pvt. Ltd.’ it appears is only still to be nudged into oblivion.

Career preferences of Syrian students and their attitudes toward a number of practice areas: Will community pharmacy continue to dominate the profession?

ObjectiveTo investigate the short- and long-term career preferences of pharmacy students and evaluate the factors that influence their choices. Additionally, to explore attitudes of students toward community pharmacy, medical marketing, and clinical pharmacy. MethodsA questionnaire instrument was developed and distributed to final-year pharmacy students at Damascus university during the 2010–2011 academic year. ResultsTwo hundred sixty-five students participated in the study. Although significant differences in practice area preferences between short- and long-term were measured (p<0.001), community pharmacy and pharmaceutical industry were selected as the two most preferred future careers. The three most important factors influencing students' career choices were personal fulfillment, income, and funding capabilities. In comparison with community pharmacy, medical marketing was rated at a significantly lower rank in terms of meeting a pharmacist's knowledge and skills, satisfying his/her ambitions, enjoyability, and prestigiousness (p<0.001). About two-thirds of students strongly agreed that clinical pharmacy should be efficiently implemented in the Syrian healthcare system and half of them strongly agreed that they would choose it as a career if it was well-established in Syria. Remarkable inter-gender divergence was observed concerning preferred pharmacy practice sector and attitudes toward various practice areas. ConclusionAs the number of community pharmacists continues to increase, many graduates may not have the opportunity to work in their most preferred practice area. Based on investigating market's needs, Syrian universities, policy makers as well as stakeholders may adapt new strategies for preparing future pharmacists and encouraging them to opt a job in other practice area.

Traditional Factors of Fit, Perceived Quality, and Speed of Publication Still Outweigh Open Access in Authors’ Journal Selection Criteria

Objective – To determine the extent to which the open access (OA) status of a journal influences authors in their journal selection decisions and to analyze the sources of funding for the article-processing charges (APCs) applied in professional OA publishing.&#x0D; &#x0D; Design – Survey questionnaire.&#x0D; &#x0D; Setting – The international open access scholarly publishing sector.&#x0D; &#x0D; Subjects – 1,038 researchers across all academic disciplines who have recently published work in open access journals that charge APCs. &#x0D; &#x0D; Methods – Journals listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals were stratified into seven discipline clusters, and systematic random sampling was used where possible to collect a sample of up to 15 journals per cluster that levy APCs. For each individual journal, the authors of the 15 most recently published articles (working from 2010 backwards) were invited to complete a web-based questionnaire on the factors influencing their choice of journal and the source(s) used to fund processing charges. Additional background information about the authors and journals was also collected and merged with the survey responses. &#x0D; &#x0D; Main Results – The results of the survey identified the fit of the article with the journal’s subject area, the perceived quality or impact of the journal, and the speed of the peer-review and publishing process as the dominant factors in the journal selection decision of authors. All three aspects were judged as either “very important” or “important” by 80% or more of respondents – significantly higher than the corresponding figure of 60% in relation to the open access status of the journal. &#x0D; &#x0D; The analysis also indicated that two key elements appear to influence how APCs are funded: the research discipline and the country of origin of the author. The use of research grants to fund charges is more prevalent in scientific disciplines than in the humanities, whilst researchers based in lower-income countries more frequently identify APCs as a barrier than those in higher-income countries. Grants and institutional funding tend to be the primary sources of funding for journals with higher APCs, whilst personal funding is utilised more often in cases where the fee is less than $500.&#x0D; &#x0D; Conclusion – Despite the increasing focus on the accessibility and visibility of research, academics still appear to place a greater value on ‘who’ rather than ‘how many’ readers access their research, and consequently traditional factors still persist as the main determinants in an author’s choice of journal. The future success of the APC model, compared with the traditional subscription-based or hybrid models, will ultimately depend on the ability of authors to obtain the necessary funding to pay such charges, combined with the extent to which the quality of services offered by open access publishers is perceived as being commensurate with the associated publishing fees.

1143P - A Comparison of General Population and Patient Utility Values for Advanced Melanoma

ABSTRACT Background Health-related quality of life (HRQL) is a fundamental part of health technology assessment. Utility values are vital because they can be used as preference weights and allow the calculation of HRQL benefits. The objective of this study was to compare utilities calculated for patients with advanced melanoma in the Phase III clinical trial for ipilimumab (MDX010-20) using a generic and a condition-specific preference-based measure to utilities produced by vignettes for advanced melanoma. A secondary objective was to determine how different analyses might be used most appropriately within cost-effectiveness modelling. Methods The trial utilities were generated using the condition-specific EORTC-8D (1,190 observations) and generic SF-6D (1,157 observations) preference-based measures. Progression-status and time-to-death analyses were conducted on the patient-level data and the predictive abilities were compared. Patient-level results were compared to the utilities derived for progression status using vignettes valued by the general population. Results On disease progression, vignette-generated utilities showed a greater decrease (0.77 to 0.59) than either the generic SF-6D (0.64 to 0.619) or condition-specific EORTC-8D (0.801 to 0.763). SF-6D and EORTC-8D showed a large decrease in utility in the 180 days prior to death (from 0.826 to 0.628 and from 0.655 to 0.505, respectively). Compared to progression status, time to death showed a lower Root Mean Squared Error and higher R2 when used to predict patient utility. Conclusion Practitioners should carefully analyse patient level utility data prior to constructing economic models as standard measures, such as progression status, may not fully capture the patient experience. Similarly, where vignettes are valued to represent health states in an economic model, their applicability to the disease and patient population should be carefully scrutinised. The use of standard progression based cost-effectiveness modelling techniques may not be appropriate for this disease. Consequently, there are implications for the analysis of utility information in future studies and the methods of cost-effectiveness modelling used for cancer treatments. Disclosure A. Batty: BresMed were funded by BMS to conduct the analysis presented within this paper. Other than this I have not received any personal funding and do not have any personal interest in BMS or any competitor products. B. Winn: BresMed were funded by BMS to conduct the analysis presented within this paper. Other than this I have not received any personal funding and do not have any personal interest in BMS or any competitor products. L. Pericleous: I have worked for BMS. Other than this I have not received any personal funding and do not have any personal interest in BMS or any competitor products. D. Lee: BresMed were funded by BMS to conduct the analysis presented within this paper. Other than this I have not received any personal funding and do not have any personal interest in BMS or any competitor products. T. Nikoglou: I work for BMS. Other than this I have not received any personal funding and do not have any personal interest in BMS or any competitor products. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

1134P - Long-Term Survival of Patients with Advanced Melanoma Treated Second Line with Ipilimumab

ABSTRACT Objective To estimate the long-term survival of patients with advanced melanoma treated second-line with ipilimumab 3 mg/kg compared to no active treatment (best supportive care [BSC]). Methods At the end of the Phase III trial (MDX010-20) 17% of patients receiving ipilimumab were alive compared to 4% of those receiving GP100: median follow up 28 months, maximum 55 months. Trial data were used to model survival beyond the trial period. GP100 has been shown to have no impact on survival (within MDX010-20 and a mixed treatment comparison). GP100 arm data were used to model survival of patients receiving BSC. Two groups were seen: Patients who experience therapy benefit and enter a stable period leading to a gradual plateau of the KM curve; Patients whose immune systems do not respond quickly and die causing an initial steep drop in the KM curve Standard modelling techniques did not fit the available data well and underestimated the durable response of immunotherapy. Around 18 months the mortality hazard was shown to change in the ipilimumab arm meaning that different methods were required to predict survival before and after this time. We estimated long-term survival as follows: · ≤18 Months Kaplan-Meier data was used, mimicking survival within the trial · >18 Months - 5 years (representing the maximum data available from MDX-010-20) a standard parametric curve was fitted to the data · >5 years 15 year registry data from Balch et al (2001) for Stage IV melanoma and background mortality were used to estimate long-term survival. Results Using the three-part approach reduced the mean absolute error (MAE) associated with the curve fits. Those selected having an MAE of 0.003 (0.004 for long-term survivors) on the ipilimumab arm, and 0.008 (0.012 for long-term survivors) on the BSC arm. This compares to a MAE at least 7 x higher (0.06) for standard parametric curves. For BSC patients, the model predicts mean survival of 1.2 years whereas those taking ipilimumab are expected to survive for a mean of 3.7 years. This is due to more patients remaining alive beyond 5-years, after which death from melanoma is less likely. Conclusion Treatment with ipilimumab provides a substantial increase in survival over BSC in the second-line treatment of advanced melanoma. Disclosure D. Lee: Funding for the analysis conducted was provided to BresMed by BMS. I have not received any personal funding and do not have any personal interest in BMS or any competitor products. L. Pericleous: I have worked for BMS. Other than this I have not received any personal funding and do not have any personal interest in BMS or any competitor products. M. Lebmeier: I work for BMS. Other than this I have not received any personal funding and do not have any personal interest in BMS or any competitor products. B. Winn: Funding for the analysis conducted was provided to BresMed by BMS. I have not received any personal funding and do not have any personal interest in BMS or any competitor products. A. Batty: Funding for the analysis conducted was provided to BresMed by BMS. I have not received any personal funding and do not have any personal interest in BMS or any competitor products. T. Nikoglou: I work for BMS. Other than this I have not received any personal funding and do not have any personal interest in BMS or any competitor products.

The quantification of the embodied impacts of construction projects on energy, environment, and society based on I–O LCA

With rapid social development and large-scale construction of infrastructure in China, construction projects have become one of the driving forces for the national economy, whose energy consumption, environmental emissions, and social impacts are significant. To completely understand the role of construction projects in Chinese society, this study developed input–output life-cycle assessment models based on 2002, 2005, and 2007 economic benchmarks. Inventory indicators included 10 types of energy, 7 kinds of environmental emissions, and 7 kinds of social impacts. Results show that embodied energy of construction projects in China accounts for 25–30% of total energy consumption; embodied SO 2 emissions are being controlled, and the intensities of embodied NO x and CO 2 have been reduced. However, given that the construction sector related employment is 17% of the total employment in China, the accidents and fatalities related to the construction sector are significant and represent approximately 50% of the national total. The embodied human and capital investments in science and technology (ST) increased from 2002 to 2007. The embodied full time equivalent (FTE) of each ST person also increased while the personal ST funding and intramural expenditures decreased. This might result from the time lag between RD activities and large-scale implementation.

Dental Hygienists’ Perceptions of Barriers to Graduate Education

To advance the profession of dental hygiene, graduate education is necessary to support growth in research, education, administration, and practice in the discipline and to sustain credibility in a climate in which other health professions require entry-level master's and doctoral degrees. The purpose of this study was to explore what dental hygienists perceive as barriers to pursuing a graduate degree. A survey was developed based on the literature and other national surveys. Data were collected from 160 respondents to the survey: 50 percent held an entry-level baccalaureate degree in dental hygiene, while the rest held an entry-level associate degree (48 percent) or certificate (2 percent) in dental hygiene. All respondents had completed a bachelor's degree. The top five barriers these respondents identified in pursuing graduate education were as follows: 1) cost of graduate education, 2) family responsibilities are too great, 3) concerns about personal funding to pay for graduate education, 4) finding time for graduate school while working, and 5) fear of thesis research. Dental hygiene is one of the few health professions that still have entry-level degrees at the associate and baccalaureate levels. The profession needs to reduce such barriers to enable dental hygienists to pursue graduate education and thus ensure an adequate supply of future leaders, educators, and researchers.