Protective behavior in adolescent friendships : the influence of attitudes toward the consequences, friendship norms and perceived control

The current study sought to understand adolescent protective behavior in friendship using a Theory of Planned Behavior framework. In particular, the study sought to consider a young persons’ direct and active intervention to inhibit their friends’ risky behavior or to assist them when the behavior leads to injury. The role of attitudes regarding the consequences, norms and control about protective behavior were examined both qualitatively through focus groups (n= 50) and quantitatively through surveys from a sample of 540 Year 9 students (13-14 years old). There was some support for the theory with attitudes regarding the consequences of the behavior and norms predicting intended protective behavior. A path analysis was conducted with a sub-sample of 140 students which showed that intentions to be protective and perceived control to undertake protective behavior directly predicted such behavior after a 3 month interval. Attitudes towards the consequences and norms only indirectly predicted protective behavior via intention. The findings provide important applied information for interventions designed to increase adolescent protective behavior in their friendships.

Mechanisms of change in negative thinking and urinary monoamines in depressed patients during acute treatment with group cognitive behavior therapy and antidepressant medication

This naturalistic study investigated the mechanisms of change in measures of negative thinking and in 24-h urinary metabolites of noradrenaline (norepinephrine), dopamine and serotonin in a sample of 43 depressed hospital patients attending an eight-session group cognitive behavior therapy program. Most participants (91%) were taking antidepressant medication throughout the therapy period according to their treating Psychiatrists' prescriptions. The sample was divided into outcome categories (19 Responders and 24 Non-responders) on the basis of a clinically reliable change index [Jacobson, N.S., & Truax, P., 1991. Clinical significance: a statistical approach to defining meaningful change in psychotherapy research. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 12–19.] applied to the Beck Depression Inventory scores at the end of the therapy. Results of repeated measures analysis of variance [ANOVA] analyses of variance indicated that all measures of negative thinking improved significantly during therapy, and significantly more so in the Responders as expected. The treatment had a significant impact on urinary adrenaline and metadrenaline excretion however, these changes occurred in both Responders and Non-responders. Acute treatment did not significantly influence the six other monoamine metabolites. In summary, changes in urinary monoamine levels during combined treatment for depression were not associated with self-reported changes in mood symptoms.

Modeling and exploiting behavior patterns in dynamic environments

This paper presents a new approach to improving the effectiveness of autonomous systems that deal with dynamic environments. The basis of the approach is to find repeating patterns of behavior in the dynamic elements of the system, and then to use predictions of the repeating elements to better plan goal directed behavior. It is a layered approach involving classifying, modeling, predicting and exploiting. Classifying involves using observations to place the moving elements into previously defined classes. Modeling involves recording features of the behavior on a coarse grained grid. Exploitation is achieved by integrating predictions from the model into the behavior selection module to improve the utility of the robot's actions. This is in contrast to typical approaches that use the model to select between different strategies or plays. Three methods of adaptation to the dynamic features of the environment are explored. The effectiveness of each method is determined using statistical tests over a number of repeated experiments. The work is presented in the context of predicting opponent behavior in the highly dynamic and multi-agent robot soccer domain (RoboCup).

The influence of fatalistic beliefs on risky road use behavior in developing countries

There is little discussion of fatalism in the road safety literature, and limited research. However, fatalism is a potential barrier to participation in health-promoting behaviours, particularly among the populations of developing countries and to some extent in developed countries. Many people still believe in divine discretion and magical powers as causes of road crashes in different parts of the world. Fatalistic beliefs and beliefs in mystical powers and superstition appear to influence perceptions of crash risk and consequently lead people to take risks and neglect safety measures. Fatalistic beliefs may cause individuals to be resigned to risks because they cannot do anything to reduce these risks.

A comparison of the driving behavior between remunerated and volunteer drivers

Introduction: Past research suggests that some groups of work-related drivers practice more safe driving behavior than others. However, no research to date has compared the driving behavior of those remunerated for their services and volunteer work-related drivers. As such, based on a theoretical discussion of the organizational and social contexts in which work-related driving occurs, this study hypothesized that volunteers would report safer driving behavior compared with remunerated drivers. Methods: One-hundred and ninety remunerated drivers and fifty-nine volunteers completed a self-reported driving behavior questionnaire. Results: Some support was found for the hypotheses, as volunteers reported more safe driving behavior than remunerated drivers. Specifically, volunteers reported less inattention and tiredness while driving compared to remunerated drivers. Conclusions: The results suggested that organizations need to formalize the roles and responsibilities of the work-related driver, and better integrate driving within the wider occupational health and safety system.

Household type and structure, time-use pattern, and trip-chaining behavior

In order to examine time allocation patterns within household-level trip-chaining, simultaneous doubly-censored Tobit models are applied to model time-use behavior within the context of household activity participation. Using the entire sample and a sub-sample of worker households from Tucson's Household Travel Survey, two sets of models are developed to better understand the phenomena of trip-chaining behavior among five types of households: single non-worker households, single worker households, couple non-worker households, couple one-worker households, and couple two-worker households. Durations of out-of-home subsistence, maintenance, and discretionary activities within trip chains are examined. Factors found to be associated with trip-chaining behavior include intra-household interactions with the household types and their structure and household head attributes.

Multiple Health Behavior Changes and Co-variation in a Telephone Counseling Trial

Background Delivering effective multiple health behavior interventions to large numbers of adults with chronic conditions via primary care settings is a public health priority. Purpose Within a 12-month, telephone-delivered diet and physical activity intervention with multiple behavioral outcomes, we examined the extent and co-variation of multiple health behavior change. Methods A cluster-randomized trial with 434 patients with type 2 diabetes or hypertension were recruited from 10 general practices, which were randomized to receive telephone counseling or usual care. Results Those receiving telephone counseling were significantly more likely than those in usual care to make greater reductions in multiple behaviors after adjusting for baseline risk behaviors (OR 2.42; 95%CI 1.43, 4.11). Controlling for baseline risk and group allocation, making changes to either physical activity, fat, vegetable, or fiber intake was associated with making significantly more improvements in other behaviors. Conclusions For patients with chronic conditions, telephone counseling can significantly improve multiple health behaviors, with behavioral changes tending to co-vary.

The organic fraction of bubble-generated, accumulation mode Sea Spray Aerosol (SSA)

Recent studies have detected a dominant accumulation mode (~100 nm) in the Sea Spray Aerosol (SSA) number distribution. There is evidence to suggest that particles in this mode are composed primarily of organics. To investigate this hypothesis we conducted experiments on NaCl, artificial SSA and natural SSA particles with a Volatility-Hygroscopicity-Tandem-Differential-Mobility-Analyser (VH-TDMA). NaCl particles were atomiser generated and a bubble generator was constructed to produce artificial and natural SSA particles. Natural seawater samples for use in the bubble generator were collected from biologically active, terrestrially-affected coastal water in Moreton Bay, Australia. Differences in the VH-TDMA-measured volatility curves of artificial and natural SSA particles were used to investigate and quantify the organic fraction of natural SSA particles. Hygroscopic Growth Factor (HGF) data, also obtained by the VH-TDMA, were used to confirm the conclusions drawn from the volatility data. Both datasets indicated that the organic fraction of our natural SSA particles evaporated in the VH-TDMA over the temperature range 170–200°C. The organic volume fraction for 71–77 nm natural SSA particles was 8±6%. Organic volume fraction did not vary significantly with varying water residence time (40 secs to 24 hrs) in the bubble generator or SSA particle diameter in the range 38–173 nm. At room temperature we measured shape- and Kelvin-corrected HGF at 90% RH of 2.46±0.02 for NaCl, 2.35±0.02 for artifical SSA and 2.26±0.02 for natural SSA particles. Overall, these results suggest that the natural accumulation mode SSA particles produced in these experiments contained only a minor organic fraction, which had little effect on hygroscopic growth. Our measurement of 8±6% is an order of magnitude below two previous measurements of the organic fraction in SSA particles of comparable sizes. We stress that our results were obtained using coastal seawater and they can’t necessarily be applied on a regional or global ocean scale. Nevertheless, considering the order of magnitude discrepancy between this and previous studies, further research with independent measurement techniques and a variety of different seawaters is required to better quantify how much organic material is present in accumulation mode SSA.

“Entrepreneurial management” as a strategic choice in firm behavior : linking it with performance

Establishing the core principals of “entrepreneurial management” within an organization describes a certain strategic choice that affects a company in six dimensions, according to Stevenson (1983). Our aim is to empirically measure entrepreneurial management (it’s existence and degree) and to link this measured strategic choice (for or against) entrepreneurial management with firm performance. Our argument here is that companies that follow core principals of entrepreneurial management should outperform other more administrative firms in certain measures of strategic performance. This paper builds on an empirical investigation published by Brown, Davidson & Wiklund (2001), who have developed and tested a reliable measurement instrument for Stevenson’s definition of “entrepreneurial management” (Stevenson 1983, Stevenson & Jarillo 1990). In the first part of our paper we aim to replicate and to some extent improve this study. In the second part we link the measured degree of “entrepreneurial management” with firm performance. To our knowledge, even so Stevenson’s definition of entrepreneurial management is commonly acknowledged and Brown et al. (2001) developed a reliable instrument to empirically capture this behavioral approach to management, the construct of entrepreneurial management never before has been linked to firm performance in an empirical study. Since most papers on corporate entrepreneurship and firm performance are based on Covin & Slevin’s (1991) or Miller’s (1983) concept of entrepreneurial orientation, we contribute to the literature on corporate entrepreneurship in a novel way, given the fact that the entrepreneurial management dimensions measured in our study can theoretically and empirically be clearly distinguished from the construct of entrepreneurial orientation as defined by Covin & Selvin (1991).

Photo-cross-linked poly(D,L-lactide)-based networks. Structural characterization by HR-MAS NMR spectroscopy and hydrolytic degradation behavior

To date, biodegradable networks and particularly their kinetic chain lengths have been characterized by analysis of their degradation products in solution. We characterize the network itself by NMR analysis in the solvent-swollen state under magic angle spinning conditions. The networks were prepared by photoinitiated cross-linking of poly(dl-lactide)−dimethacrylate macromers (5 kg/mol) in the presence of an unreactive diluent. Using diffusion filtering and 2D correlation spectroscopy techniques, all network components are identified. By quantification of network-bound photoinitiator fragments, an average kinetic chain length of 9 ± 2 methacrylate units is determined. The PDLLA macromer solution was also used with a dye to prepare computer-designed structures by stereolithography. For these networks structures, the average kinetic chain length is 24 ± 4 methacrylate units. In all cases the calculated molecular weights of the polymethacrylate chains after degradation are maximally 8.8 kg/mol, which is far below the threshold for renal clearance. Upon incubation in phosphate buffered saline at 37 °C, the networks show a similar mass loss profile in time as linear high-molecular-weight PDLLA (HMW PDLLA). The mechanical properties are preserved longer for the PDLLA networks than for HMW PDLLA. The initial tensile strength of 47 ± 2 MPa does not decrease significantly for the first 15 weeks, while HMW PDLLA lost 85 ± 5% of its strength within 5 weeks. The physical properties, kinetic chain length, and degradation profile of these photo-cross-linked PDLLA networks make them most suited materials for orthopedic applications and use in (bone) tissue engineering.

Longitudinal investigation of wandering behavior in department of veterans affairs nursing home care units

Objectives To explore the extent of and factors associated with male residents who change wandering status post nursing home admission. Design Longitudinal design with secondary data analyses. Admissions over a 4-year period were examined using repeat assessments with the Minimum Data Set (MDS) to formulate a model understanding the development of wandering behavior. Setting One hundred thirty-four Veterans Administration (VA) nursing homes throughout the United States. Participants: Included 6673 residents admitted to VA nursing homes between October 2000 and October 2004. Measurements MDS variables (cognitive impairment, mood, behavior problems, activities of daily living and wandering) included ratings recorded at residents’ admission to the nursing home and a minimum of two other time points at quarterly intervals. Results The majority (86%) of the sample were classified as non wanderers at admission and most of these (94%) remained non wanderers until discharge or the end of the study. Fifty one per cent of the wanderers changed status to non wanderers with 6% of these residents fluctuating in status more than two times. Admission variables associated with an increased risk of changing status from non-wandering to wandering included older age, greater cognitive impairment, more socially inappropriate behavior, resisting care, easier distractibility, and needing less help with personal hygiene. Requiring assistance with locomotion and having three or more medical comorbidities were associated with a decreased chance of changing from non-wandering to wandering status. Conclusion A resident’s change from non-wandering to wandering status may reflect an undetected medical event that affects cognition, but spares mobility.