Measurement of community beliefs about colorectal cancer

Few educational campaigns have focused on bowel cancer, though studies have indicated that members of the community need and want current information about relevant issues. In order to facilitate research in this area, reliable and valid measures of community attitudes are needed. Content validity of a survey instrument was obtained through use of a Delphi process with Directors of Education from the Australia Cancer Council and focus group discussions with informed members of the public. The subsequent survey of community perceptions about colorectal cancer included a broad range of content areas related to the risk of bowel cancer, preventing and coping with bowel cancer and beliefs about susceptibility and severity. The construct validity of these content areas was investigated by use of a factor analysis and confirmation of an association with related predictor variables. Two measures related to personal influence and anticipated coping responses showed favourable psychometric properties, including moderate to high levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. A test of the concurrent validity of these measures requires further development of instruments related to colorectal cancer or adaptation of measures from other areas of health research. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lysine requirements of pre-lay broiler breeder pullets: Determination by indicator amino acid oxidation

The indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) method allows the determination of amino acid requirements under conditions of low growth rate as found in pre-laying broiler breeder pullets. Cobb 500 breeder pullets (20 wk old; 2290 +/- 280 g, n = 4) were adapted (6 d) to a pelleted, purified control diet containing all nutrients at greater than or equal to 110% of NRC recommendations. After recovery from surgery for implantation of a jugular catheter, each bird was fed, in random order, test diets containing one of nine levels of lysine (0.48, 0.96, 1.92, 2.88, 3.84, 4.80, 7.68, 9.60 and 14.40 g/kg of diet). Indicator oxidation was determined during 4-h primed (74 kBq/kg body), constant infusions (44 kBq (.) h(-1) (.) kg body(-1)) of L-[1-C-14]phenylalanine. Using the breakpoint of a one-slope broken-line model, the lysine requirement was determined to be 4.88 +/- 0.96 g/kg of diet or 366 +/- 72 mg (.) hen(-1) (.) d(-1) with an upper 95% Cl of 6.40 g/kg of diet or 480 mg (.) hen(-1) (.) d(-1). IAAO allows determination of individual bird amino acid requirements for specific ages and types of birds over short periods of time and enables more accurate broiler breeder pullet diet formulation.

Cause-related sport sponsorship: An assessment of spectator beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions

Marketing communications utilizing a non-profit cause (i.e., the sponsorship of a nonprofit cause) have emerged as a mainstream practice as practitioners respond to rising consumer expectations of corporate social responsibility (CSRI. The increasing popularity of cause-related marketing programs (CRMPS) can be attributed to the Integration of sponsorship in many organizations' sport marketing strategy. The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes, beliefs, and purchase intentions of consumers exposed to a firm's sponsorship of a sporting event associated with a non-profit organization. A survey instrument was developed by a panel of experts, pre-tested, revised, and completed by (442 event spectators. Results suggested consumers' attitudes, beliefs, and purchase intentions toward the sponsoring company were positively impacted by the firm's involvement with cause-related marketing.

Attitudes and beliefs of oral health professionals regarding their role in health promotion

Issues addressed: The study was designed to gain an understanding of health promotion from the perspective of oral health professionals employed in the public sector during a transition in the focus of services. Methods: A cross sectional survey of oral health professionals employed by Queensland Health was conducted between March and April 2001. Staff were randomly sampled from employment records. A proportionate random sample, stratified across professional groups and geographical zones, was selected. Results: While the majority of the health professionals surveyed perceived oral health promotion to be part of their role, they felt ill equipped to adopt it. Professional groups differed in their confidence and perception of how to promote health in their clinical setting, existing barriers they encountered and their participation in health promotion programs. Conclusions: Strategies to improve the adoption of the oral health promotion role within Queensland public oral health services include: regular in- service and education for all staff regarding health promotion issues; increased cohesion of the oral health team; intersectorial collaboration; supportive district management; and a refocus to primary health care and public health concepts

Crystallography of zirconium hydrides in recrystallized Zircaloy-2 fuel cladding lay electron backscatter diffraction

Precipitation morphology and habit planes of the delta-phase Zr hydrides, which were precipitated within the a-phase matrix grains and along the grain boundaries of recrystallized Zircaloy-2 cladding tube, have been examined by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Radially-oriented hydrides, induced by residual tensile stress, precipitated in the outside region of the cladding, and circumferentially-oriented hydrides in the stress-free middle region of the cladding. The most common crystallographic relationship for both types of the hydrides precipitated at the inter- and intra-granular sites was identical at (0001)(alpha) // {111}(delta), with {1017}(alpha) // {111}(delta) being the occasional exception only for the inter-granular radial hydrides. When tensile stress was loaded, the intra-granular hydrides tended to preferentially precipitate in the grains with circumferential basal pole textures. The inter-granular hydrides tended to preferentially precipitate on the grain faces opposite to tensile axis. The change of prioritization in the precipitation sites for the hydrides due to tensile stress could be explained in terms of the relaxation effect of constrained elastic energy on the terminal solid solubility of hydrogen at hydride precipitation.

Knowledge beliefs and attitudes of squash venue operators relating to use of protective eyewear

Sports venues are in a position to potentially influence the safety practices of their patrons. This study examined the knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of venue operators that could influence the use of protective eyewear by squash players. A 50% random sample of all private and public squash venues affiliated with the Victorian Squash Federation in metropolitan Melbourne was selected. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 15 squash venue operators during August 2001. Interviews were transcribed and content and thematic analyses were performed. The content of the interviews covered five topics: (1) overall injury risk perception, (2) eye injury occurrence, (3) knowledge, behaviors, attitudes and beliefs associated with protective eyewear, (4) compulsory protective eyewear and (5) availability of protective eyewear at venues. Venue operators were mainly concerned with the severe nature of eye injuries, rather than the relatively low incidence of these injuries. Some venue operators believed that players should wear any eyewear, rather than none at all, and believed that more players should use protective eyewear. Generally, they did not believe that players with higher levels of experience and expertise needed to wear protective eyewear when playing. Only six venues had at least one type of eyewear available for players to hire or borrow or to purchase. Operators expressed a desire to be informed about correct protective eyewear. Appropriate protective eyewear is not readily available at squash venues. Better-informed venue operators may be more likely to provide suitable protective eyewear.

Beliefs and practices of patients with advanced cancer: implications for communication

The aim of this study was to investigate the beliefs that patients with advanced cancer held about the curability of their cancer, their use of alternatives to conventional medical treatment, and their need to have control over decisions about treatment. Of 149 patients who fulfilled the criteria for participation and completed a self-administered questionnaire, 45 patients (31%) believed their cancer was incurable, 61 (42%) were uncertain and 39 (27%) believed their cancer was curable. The index of need for control over treatment decisions was low in 53 patients (35.6%) and high in only 17 patients (11.4%). Committed users of alternatives to conventional medical treatments were more likely to believe that their cancer was curable (P

Beliefs, practices, and interactions of teachers in a Japanese high school English department

This study reveals the school culture and the teachers' professional development activities in a Japanese high school learning environment. Furthermore, it documents the relationships among the context, teachers' beliefs, practices, and interactions. Using multiple data sources including interviews, observations, and documents of teachers from an English department, this yearlong study revealed these English as a Foreign Language teachers lacked many teacher learning opportunities in their context. The study revealed that teacher collaboration only reinforced existing practices, eroding teachers' motivation to learn to teach in this specific context. The study provides evidence to teacher educators about inservice teachers and their learning environment and the significance of the relationships between the two entities. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Two new tools for assessing patients' knowledge and beliefs about obstructive sleep apnea and continuous positive airway pressure therapy

Background and purpose: Patients' knowledge and beliefs about their illnesses are known to influence a range of health related variables, including treatment compliance. It may, therefore, be important to quantify these variables to assess their impact on compliance, particularly in chronic illnesses such as Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) that rely on self-administered treatments. The aim of this study was to develop two new tools, the Apnea Knowledge Test (AKT) and the Apnea Beliefs Scale (ABS), to assess illness knowledge and beliefs in OSA patients. Patients and methods: The systematic test construction process followed to develop the AKT and the ABS included consultation with sleep experts and OSA patients. The psychometric properties of the AKT and ABS were then investigated in a clinical sample of 81 OSA patients and 33 healthy, non-sleep disordered adults. Results: Results suggest both measures are easily understood by OSA patients, have adequate internal consistency, and are readily accepted by patients. A preliminary investigation of the validity of these tools, conducted by comparing patient data to that of the 33 healthy adults, revealed that apnea patients knew more about OSA, had more positive attitudes towards continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment, and attributed more importance to treating sleep disturbances than non-clinical groups. Conclusions: Overall, the results of psychometric analyses of these tests suggest these measures will be useful clinical tools with numerous beneficial applications, particularly in CPAP compliance studies and apnea education program evaluations. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multiplication and comultiplication of beliefs

Multiplication and comultiplication of beliefs represent a generalisation of multiplication and comultiplication of probabilities as well as of binary logic AND and OR. Our approach follows that of subjective logic, where belief functions are expressed as opinions that are interpreted as being equivalent to beta probability distributions. We compare different types of opinion product and coproduct, and show that they represent very good approximations of the analytical product and coproduct of beta probability distributions. We also define division and codivision of opinions, and compare our framework with other logic frameworks for combining uncertain propositions. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.