Maternal anxiety and attention problems in children at 5 and 14 years

Objective: This study examines the association between maternal anxiety from pregnancy to 5 years and child attention problems at 5 and 14 years. Method: Birth cohort of 3,982 individuals born in Brisbane between 1981 and 1983 are assessed. Self-reported measures of maternal anxiety are assessed at four time points. Maternal reports of child attention problems using Achenbach’s Child Behavior Checklist are assessed at 5 and 14 years. Results: Children of mothers experiencing anxiety during or after pregnancy are at greater risk of experiencing attention problems at 5 and 14 years. After adjusting for maternal age and child’s gender, antenatal anxiety is strongly associated with persistent attention problems (OR = 3.65, 95% CI = 2.19, 6.07). Children with chronically anxious mothers are 5.67 (95% CI = 3.56, 9.03) times more likely to have persistent attention problems. These associations remain consistent after adjusting for potential confounders. Conclusions: Maternal anxiety appears to increase the rate of child attention problems and identifies a need for treatment programs to have a dual focus—the mother and her child. (J. of Att. Dis. 2009; XX(X) 1-XX)

A novel placement strategy for FACTS controllers

In this paper, a new method called the extended voltage phasors approach (EVPA) is proposed for placement of FACTS controllers in power systems. While the voltage phasors approach (VPA) identifies only the critical paths from the voltage stability viewpoint, the proposed method additionally locates the critical buses/line segments. The results of EVPA are compared with the well-established line flow index (LFI) method for nine-bus, 39-bus, and 68-bus systems. It is shown that the EVPA provides accurate indication for the placement of FACTS controllers.

Which components of heart failure programs are effective? A meta-analysis of the outcomes of structured telephone support or telemonitoring as the primary component of heart failure management in 9,560 patients (Abridged Cochrane Review)

Aims--Telemonitoring (TM) and structured telephone support (STS) have the potential to deliver specialised management to more patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), but their efficacy is still to be proven. Objectives To review randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of TM or STS on all- cause mortality and all-cause and CHF-related hospitalisations in patients with CHF, as a non-invasive remote model of specialised disease-management intervention.--Methods and Results--Data sources:We searched 15 electronic databases and hand-searched bibliographies of relevant studies, systematic reviews, and meeting abstracts. Two reviewers independently extracted all data. Study eligibility and participants: We included any randomised controlled trials (RCT) comparing TM or STS to usual care of patients with CHF. Studies that included intensified management with additional home or clinic visits were excluded. Synthesis: Primary outcomes (mortality and hospitalisations) were analysed; secondary outcomes (cost, length of stay, quality of life) were tabulated.--Results: Thirty RCTs of STS and TM were identified (25 peer-reviewed publications (n=8,323) and five abstracts (n=1,482)). Of the 25 peer-reviewed studies, 11 evaluated TM (2,710 participants), 16 evaluated STS (5,613 participants) and two tested both interventions. TM reduced all-cause mortality (risk ratio (RR 0•66 [95% CI 0•54-0•81], p<0•0001) and STS showed similar trends (RR 0•88 [95% CI 0•76-1•01], p=0•08). Both TM (RR 0•79 [95% CI 0•67-0•94], p=0•008) and STS (RR 0•77 [95% CI 0•68-0•87], p<0•0001) reduced CHF-related hospitalisations. Both interventions improved quality of life, reduced costs, and were acceptable to patients. Improvements in prescribing, patient-knowledge and self-care, and functional class were observed.--Conclusion: TM and STS both appear effective interventions to improve outcomes in patients with CHF.

Reliability of routinely collected hospital data for child maltreatment surveillance

Background: Internationally, research on child maltreatment-related injuries has been hampered by a lack of available routinely collected health data to identify cases, examine causes, identify risk factors and explore health outcomes. Routinely collected hospital separation data coded using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) system provide an internationally standardised data source for classifying and aggregating diseases, injuries, causes of injuries and related health conditions for statistical purposes. However, there has been limited research to examine the reliability of these data for child maltreatment surveillance purposes. This study examined the reliability of coding of child maltreatment in Queensland, Australia. Methods: A retrospective medical record review and recoding methodology was used to assess the reliability of coding of child maltreatment. A stratified sample of hospitals across Queensland was selected for this study, and a stratified random sample of cases was selected from within those hospitals. Results: In 3.6% of cases the coders disagreed on whether any maltreatment code could be assigned (definite or possible) versus no maltreatment being assigned (unintentional injury), giving a sensitivity of 0.982 and specificity of 0.948. The review of these cases where discrepancies existed revealed that all cases had some indications of risk documented in the records. 15.5% of cases originally assigned a definite or possible maltreatment code, were recoded to a more or less definite strata. In terms of the number and type of maltreatment codes assigned, the auditor assigned a greater number of maltreatment types based on the medical documentation than the original coder assigned (22% of the auditor coded cases had more than one maltreatment type assigned compared to only 6% of the original coded data). The maltreatment types which were the most ‘under-coded’ by the original coder were psychological abuse and neglect. Cases coded with a sexual abuse code showed the highest level of reliability. Conclusion: Given the increasing international attention being given to improving the uniformity of reporting of child-maltreatment related injuries and the emphasis on the better utilisation of routinely collected health data, this study provides an estimate of the reliability of maltreatment-specific ICD-10-AM codes assigned in an inpatient setting.

Determinants and consequences of information sharing with key suppliers

The economic environment of today can be characterized as highly dynamic and competitive if not being in a constant flux. Globalization and the Information Technology (IT) revolution are perhaps the main contributing factors to this observation. While companies have to some extent adapted to the current business environment, new pressures such as the recent increase in environmental awareness and its likely effects on regulations are underway. Hence, in the light of market and competitive pressures, companies must constantly evaluate and if necessary update their strategies to sustain and increase the value they create for shareholders (Hunt and Morgan, 1995; Christopher and Towill, 2002). One way to create greater value is to become more efficient in producing and delivering goods and services to customers, which can lead to a strategy known as cost leadership (Porter, 1980). Even though Porter (1996) notes that in the long run cost leadership may not be a sufficient strategy for competitive advantage, operational efficiency is certainly necessary and should therefore be on the agenda of every company. ----- ----- ----- Better workflow management, technology, and resource utilization can lead to greater internal operational efficiency, which explains why, for example, many companies have recently adopted Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: integrated softwares that streamline business processes. However, as today more and more companies are approaching internal operational excellence, the focus for finding inefficiencies and cost saving opportunities is moving beyond the boundaries of the firm. Today many firms in the supply chain are engaging in collaborative relationships with customers, suppliers, and third parties (services) in an attempt to cut down on costs related to for example, inventory, production, as well as to facilitate synergies. Thus, recent years have witnessed fluidity and blurring regarding organizational boundaries (Coad and Cullen, 2006). ----- ----- ----- The Information Technology (IT) revolution of the late 1990’s has played an important role in bringing organizations closer together. In their efforts to become more efficient, companies first integrated their information systems to speed up transactions such as ordering and billing. Later collaboration on a multidimensional scale including logistics, production, and Research & Development became evident as companies expected substantial benefits from collaboration. However, one could also argue that the recent popularity of the concepts falling under Supply Chain Management (SCM) such as Vendor Managed Inventory, Collaborative Planning, Replenishment, and Forecasting owe to the marketing efforts of software vendors and consultants who provide these solutions. Nevertheless, reports from professional organizations as well as academia indicate that the trend towards interorganizational collaboration is gaining wider ground. For example, the ARC Advisory Group, a research organization on supply chain solutions, estimated that the market for SCM, which includes various kinds of collaboration tools and related services, is going to grow at an annual rate of 7.4% during the years 2004-2008, reaching to $7.4 billion in 2008 (Engineeringtalk 2004).

Raman spectroscopy of newberyite Mg(PO3OH)•3H2O – a cave mineral

Newberyite Mg(PO3OH)•3H2O is a mineral found in caves such as from Moorba cave, Jurien Bay, Western Australia, the Skipton Lava tubes (SW of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia) and in the Petrogale Cave (Madura , Eucla, Western Australia). Because these minerals contain oxyanions, hydroxyl units and water, the minerals lend themselves to spectroscopic analysis. Raman spectroscopy can investigate the complex paragenetic relationships existing between a number of ‘cave’ minerals. The intense sharp band at 982 cm-1 is assigned to the PO43- ν1 symmetric stretching mode. Low intensity Raman bands at 1152, 1263 and 1277 cm-1 are assigned to the PO43- ν3 antisymmetric stretching vibrations. Raman bands at 497 and 552 cm-1 are attributed to the PO43- ν4 bending modes. An intense Raman band for newberyite at 398 cm-1 with a shoulder band at 413 cm-1 is assigned to the PO43- ν2 bending modes. The values for the OH stretching vibrations provide hydrogen bond distances of 2.728Å (3267 cm-1), 2.781Å (3374cm-1), 2.868Å (3479 cm-1), and 2.918Å (3515 cm-1). Such hydrogen bond distances are typical of secondary minerals. Estimates of the hydrogen-bond distances have been made from the position of the OH stretching vibrations and show a wide range in both strong and weak bonds.

A vibrational spectroscopic study of the mineral hinsdalite (Pb,Sr)Al3(PO4)(SO4)(OH)6

The objective of this research is to determine the molecular structure of the mineral hinsdalite using vibrational spectroscopy. The mineral hinsdalite (Pb,Sr)Al3(PO4,SO4)2(OH)6 is a hydroxy phosphate-sulphate mineral belonging to the beudantite subgroup of alunites. The mineral is interesting because it contains two oxyanions, phosphate and sulphate, which is unusual. The formation of hinsdalite offers a mechanism for the removal of phosphate from the environment. The mineral has been characterised by Raman spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy. The spectra are then related to the molecular structure of the mineral. Bands at various wavenumbers are assigned to the different vibrational modes of hinsdalite, which were then associated to the molecular structure of the mineral. Bands were primarily assigned to phosphate and sulphate stretching and bending modes. The Raman spectrum is characterised by an intense sharp band at 982 cm-1 with a component band at 997 cm-1 assigned to the ν1 (PO4)3- symmetric stretching modes. Two symmetric stretching modes for both phosphate and sulphate supported the concept of non-equivalent phosphate and sulphate units in the mineral structure. Bands in the OH stretching region enabled hydrogen bond distances to be calculated. Hinsdalite is characterised by disordered phosphate/sulphate tetrahedra and non-equivalent phosphate units are observed in the vibrational spectrum of hinsdalite.

Editoral : Correspondence regarding Anker SD, Koehler F, Abraham WT. Telemedicine and remote management of patients with heart failure. The Lancet 2011; 378: 731–39. Published 20 August 2011.

We read the excellent review of telemonitoring in chronic heart failure (CHF)1 with interest and commend the authors on the proposed classification of telemedical remote management systems according to the type of data transfer, decision ability and level of integration. However, several points require clarification in relation to our Cochrane review of telemonitoring and structured telephone support2. We included a study by Kielblock3. We corresponded directly with this study team specifically to find out whether or not this was a randomised study and were informed that it was a randomised trial, albeit by date of birth. We note in our review2 that this randomisation method carries a high risk of bias. Post-hoc metaanalyses without these data demonstrate no substantial change to the effect estimates for all cause mortality (original risk ratio (RR) 0·66 [95% CI 0·54, 0·81], p<0·0001; revised RR 0·72 [95% CI 0·57, 0·92], p=0·008), all-cause hospitalisation (original RR 0·91 [95% CI 0·84, 0·99] p=0·02; revised RR 0.92 [95% CI 0·84, 1·02], p=0·10 ) or CHF-related hospitalisation (original RR 0·79 [95% CI 0·67, 0·94] p=0·008; revised RR 0·75 [95% CI 0·60, 0·94] p=0·01). Secondly, we would classify the Tele-HF study4, 5 as structured telephone support, rather than telemonitoring. Again, inclusion of these data alters the point-estimate but not the overall result of the meta-analyses4. Finally, our review2 does not include invasive telemonitoring as the search strategy was not designed to capture these studies. Therefore direct comparison of our review findings with recent studies of these interventions is not recommended.

A comparison of forward and reverse bias operation in a Pt/nanostructured ZnO Schottky diode based hydrogen sensor

A hydrogen gas sensor based on Pt/nanostructured ZnO Schottky diode has been developed. Our proposed theoretical model allows for the explanation of superior dynamic performance of the reverse biased diode when compared to the forward bias operation. The sensor was evaluated with low concentration H2 gas exposures over a temperature range of 280°C to 430°C. Upon exposure to H2 gas, the effective change in free carrier concentration at the Pt/structured ZnO interface is amplified by an enhancement factor, effectively lowering the reverse barrier, producing a large voltage shift. The lowering of the reverse barrier permits a faster response in reverse bias operation, than in forward bias operation.

Area of residence is associated with Australian women’s uptake of long-acting contraception

Objective: Several new types of contraception became available in Australia over the last twelve years (the implant in 2001, progestogen intra-uterine device (IUD) in 2003, and vaginal contraceptive ring in 2007). Most methods of contraception require access to health services. Permanent sterilisation and the insertion of an implant or IUD involve a surgical procedure. Access to health professionals providing these specialised services may be more difficult in rural areas. This paper examines uptake of permanent or long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs) among Australian women in rural areas compared to women in urban areas. Method: Participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health born in 1973-78 reported on their contraceptive use at three surveys: 2003, 2006 and 2009. Contraceptive methods included permanent sterilisation (tubal ligation, vasectomy), non-daily or LARC methods (implant, IUD, injection, vaginal ring), and other methods including daily, barrier or "natural" methods (oral contraceptive pills, condoms, withdrawal, safe period). Sociodemographic, reproductive history and health service use factors associated with using permanent, LARC or other methods were examined using a multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results: Of 9,081 women aged 25-30 in 2003, 3% used permanent methods and 4% used LARCs. Six years later in 2009, of 8,200 women (aged 31-36), 11% used permanent methods and 9% used LARCs. The fully adjusted parsimonious regression model showed that the likelihood of a woman using LARCs and permanent methods increased with number of children. Women whose youngest child was school-age were more likely to use LARCs (OR=1.83, 95%CI 1.43-2.33) or permanent methods (OR=4.39, 95%CI 3.54-5.46) compared to women with pre-school children. Compared to women living in major cities, women in inner regional areas were more likely to use LARCs (OR=1.26, 95%CI 1.03-1.55) or permanent methods (OR=1.43, 95%CI 1.17-1.76). Women living in outer regional and remote areas were more likely than women living in cities to use LARCs (OR=1.65, 95%CI 1.31-2.08) or permanent methods (OR=1.69, 95%CI 1.43-2.14). Women with poorer access to GPs were more likely to use permanent methods (OR=1.27, 95%CI 1.07-1.52). Conclusions: Location of residence and access to health services are important factors in women's choices about long-acting contraception in addition to the number and age of their children. There is a low level of uptake of non-daily, long-acting methods of contraception among Australian women in their mid-thirties.

Process monitoring using sensors in YAWL

This article describes the architecture of a monitoring component for the YAWL system. The architecture proposed is based on sensors and it is realized as a YAWL service to have perfect integration with the YAWL systems. The architecture proposed is generic and applicable in different contexts of business process monitoring. Finally, it was tested and evaluated in the context of risk monitoring for business processes.

Applying maintenance strategies from the space and satellite sector to the upstream oil and gas industry : a research agenda

Practitioners from both the upstream oil and gas industry and the space and satellite sector have repeatedly noted several striking similarities between the two industries over the years, which have in turn resulted in many direct comparisons in the media and industry press. The two sectors have previously worked together and shared ideas in ways that have yielded some important breakthroughs, but relatively little sharing or cross-pollination has occurred in the area of asset maintenance. This is somewhat surprising in light of the fact that here, too, the sectors have much in common. This paper accordingly puts forward the viewpoint that the upstream oil and gas industry could potentially make significant improvements in asset maintenance—specifically, with regard to offshore platforms and remote pipelines—by selectively applying some aspects of the maintenance strategies and philosophies that have been learned in the space and satellite sector. The paper then offers a research agenda toward accelerating the rate of learning and sharing between the two industries in this domain, and concludes with policy recommendations that could facilitate this kind of cross-industry learning.