At-risk children: A demographic analysis of the children of clients attending mental health community clinics

Children of parents with mental illness have an increased risk of psychological problems. The aim of this study was to identify the demographic characteristics of dependent children of adults presenting at mental health clinics in Western Australia. A survey of clients who attended the clinics indicated that half reported having had children. Of these, 21% had a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia. Although schizophrenia was the most common illness, there were almost seven times more children living with a parent with a primary diagnosis of depression than schizophrenia. Recommendations include that children of clients with mental illness be included as part of a wider client focus.

Use of an accelerated chest pain assessment protocol in patients at intermediate risk of adverse cardiac events

Objective: To determine the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of a structured clinical pathway for stratification and management of patients presenting with chest pain and classified as having intermediate risk of adverse cardiac outcomes in the subsequent six months. Design: Prospective clinical audit. Participants and setting: 630 consecutive patients who presented to the emergency department of a metropolitan tertiary care hospital between January 2000 and June 2001 with chest pain and intermediate-risk features. Intervention: Use of the Accelerated Chest Pain Assessment Protocol (ACPAP), as advocated by the Management of unstable angina guidelines - 2000 from the National Heart Foundation and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. Main outcome measure: Adverse cardiac events during six-month follow-up. Results: 409 patients (65%) were reclassified as low risk and discharged at a mean of 14 hours after assessment in the chest pain unit. None had missed myocardial infarctions, while three (1%) had cardiac events at six months (all elective revascularisation procedures, with no readmissions with acute coronary syndromes). Another 110 patients (17%) were reclassified as high risk, and 21 (19%) of these had cardiac events (mainly revascularisations) by six months. Patients who were unable to exercise or had non-diagnostic exercise stress test results (equivocal risk) had an intermediate cardiac event rate (8%). Conclusions: This study validates use of ACPAP. The protocol eliminated missed myocardial infarction; allowed early, safe discharge of low-risk patients; and led to early identification and management of high-risk patients.

Genetic and environmental risk factors and their interactions for Parkinson's disease in a Chinese population

The interaction between genetic and environmental factors for PD was examined in a Chinese population. It was found that although the intron 2 MAOB (GT)(n) repeat polymorphism was not associated with PID in the population, a relationship might have been masked by the protective effect of tea drinking. In individuals who did not drink tea (<1 cup/day), the possession of short length less than or equal to 178 bp (GT), alleles conferred a borderline significant increased risk for PD (adjusted OR = 1.47; C.l. = 1.03-2. 1). As the extent of tea consumption increased, the association between the less than or equal to178 bp allele and PD disappeared. This result suggests that the MAOB gene may be associated with PD in Chinese if the putative protective effect of tea drinking is taken into account. The significance of this finding is unclear as the study may be limited because of its marginal significance and limited numbers. However, it does demonstrate the importance of considering putative positive and negative environmental risk factors in any examination of genetic risk factors for PD. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Public investment and the risk premium for equity

Analysis of the equity premium puzzle has focused on private-sector capital markets. However, the existence of an anomalous equity premium raises important issues in the evaluation of public-sector investment projects. These issues are explored below. We begin by formalizing the argument that an equity premium may arise from uninsurable systematic risk in labour income, and show that, other things being equal, increases in public ownership of equity will improve welfare, up to the point where the equity premium is eliminated. Finally, we consider policy implications and the optimal extent of public ownership.

Discrete cyanide-bridged mixed-valence Co/Fe complexes: Outer-sphere redox behaviour

The outer-sphere redox behaviour of a series of [LnCoIII-NCFeII(CN)(5)](-) (L-n = n-membered pentadentate aza-macrocycle) complexes have been studied as a function of pH and oxidising agent. All the dinuclear complexes show a double protonation process at pH approximate to 2 that produces a shift in their UV/Vis spectra. Oxidation of the different non-protonated and diprotonated complexes has been carried out with peroxodisulfate, and of the non-protonated complexes also with trisoxalatocobaltate(III). The results are in agreement with predictions from the Marcus theory. The oxidation of [Fe(phen)(3)](3+) and [IrCl6](2-) is too fast to be measured, although for the latter the transient observation of the process has been achieved at pH = 0. The study of the kinetics of the outer-sphere redox process, with the S2O82- and [Co(ox)(3)](3-) oxidants, has been carried out as a function of pH, temperature, and pressure. As a whole, the values found for the activation volumes, entropies, and enthalpies are in the following margins, for the diprotonated and non-protonated dinuclear complexes, respectively: DeltaV(not equal) from 11 to 13 and 15 to 20 cm(3) mol(-1); DeltaS(not equal) from 110 to 30 and -60 to -90 J K-1 mol(-1); DeltaH(not equal) from 115 to 80 and 50 to 65 kJ.mol(-1). The thermal activation parameters are clearly dominated by the electrostriction occurring on outer-sphere precursor formation, while the trends found for the values of the volume of activation indicate an important degree of tuning due to the charge distribution during the electron transfer process. The special arrangement on the amine ligands in the isomer trans[(L14CoNCFeII)-N-III(CN)(5)](-) accounts for important differences in solvent-assisted hydrogen bonding occurring within the outer-sphere redox process, as has been established in redox reactions of similar compounds. ((C) Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003).

Economic Analysis of Occupational Risk Prevention in the Construction Sector

The construction sector has one of the worst occupational safety and health records in Europe. The costs of this scenario are very high, namely costs for workers and their families, costs to organizations, resulting from the absence of workers due to illness, insurance premiums, costs resulting from reduced productivity, cost of replacement and training of workers, etc., and costs to society, which in turn increases the costs of health systems. This paper presents and discusses the development of a methodology for economic evaluation in the context of risk management, which will allow senior management to support decision making. The possible application of this methodology to the construction sector is discussed.

Profiling consumer behaviour in cross-border tourism destinations

Tourism is a phenomenon that moves millions of people around the world, taking as a major driver of the global economy. Such relevance is reflected in the proliferation of studies in the overall area known as tourism, under various perspectives and backgrounds. In the light of such multitude of insights our study aims at gaining a deeper understanding of customer profiling and behavior in cross-border tourism destinations. Previous studies conducted in such contexts suggest that cross-border regions (CBRs) are an attractive and desirable idea, yet requiring further theoretical and empirical research. The new configuration of many CBRs calls for a debate on issues concerning its development, raising up important dimensions, such as, organization and planning of common tourism destinations. There is still a gap in the understanding of destination management in CBRs and the customer profile and motivations. Overall this research aims at attaining a deeper understanding of the profile and behavior of consumers in tourism settings, addressing the predisposition for the destination. The study addresses the following research question: “What factors influence customer behavior and attitudes in a CBRs tourism destination?” To address our question we will take an interdisciplinary perspective bringing together inputs from marketing, tourism and local economics. When addressing consumer behavior in tourism previous studies considered the following constructs: involvement, place attachment, satisfaction and destination loyalty. In order to establish the causal relationships in our theoretical model, we intend to develop a predominant quantitative design, yet we plan to conduct exploratory interviews. In the analysis and discussion of results, we intend to use Structural Equation Modeling. It will further allow understanding how the constructs in the research model relate to each other in the specified context. Results are also expected to have managerial implications. Consequently our results may assist decision makers in developing their local policies.

Finantial risk analysis of portuguese textile and tourism companies

Textile and tourism sectors are two important industries in the Portuguese economy. However, its high exposure to both internal and international economic volatility make the companies operating in these economic sectors particularly vulnerable to economic crises, such as the ones which have been impacting Portugal and the European Union. The objective of this paper is to evaluate and understand the impact of size and age on the financial health of textile and tourism companies, measured by economic indices. An empirical based model is proposed. Its implications are derived and tested on a sample of 4061 Portuguese companies from textile and tourism sectors, during the period 2005-2009. The findings suggest that age has a major impact on the risk of failure, rather than size. Whereas the effect of age is generally positive regarding the financial health of the company, the effect of size is less clear and ultimately depends on the age of the company.

The impact of size and age of the company on assessing financial risk

Textiles and tourism sectors are two important sectors in Portuguese economy. Its high exposure to both internal and international economy volatility transform the companies operating in these economic sectors especially vulnerable to recent economic crises in Portugal and European Union. The objective of this paper is to evaluate and understand the impact of size and age on the financial health of textile and tourism companies, measured by economic indices. An empirical based model is proposed. Its implications are derived and tested on a sample of 4061 Portuguese companies from textile and tourism sector, during the period 2005-2009. The results conclude that age has a stronger impact on the risk of failure than size. Whereas the effect of age is generally positive regarding the financial health of the company, the effect of size is less clear and depends on the age of the company.

Economic analysis of occupational risk prevention: a case study in a textile company

Work accidents affect business and society as a whole. Fewer accidents mean fewer sick leaves, which results in lower costs and less disruption in the production process, with clear advantages for the employer. But workers and their households bear also a significant burden following a work accident, only partially compen-sated by insurance systems. Furthermore, the consequences of work accidents to the State and Society need also to be considered. When an organization performs an integrated risk analysis in evaluating its Occupational Health and Safety Management System, several steps are suggested to address the identified risk situations. Namely, to avoid risks, a series of preventive measures are identified. The organization should make a detailed analysis of the monetary impact (positive or negative) for the organization of each of the measures considered. Particularly, it is also important to consider the impact of each measure on society, involving an adequate eco-nomic cost-benefit analysis. In the present paper, a case study in a textile finishing company is presented. The study concentrates on the dyeing and printing sections. For each of the potential risks, several preventive measures have been identified and the corresponding costs and benefits have been estimated. Subsequently, the Benefit/Cost ratio (B/C) of these measures has been calculated, both in financial terms (from the organisa-tion’s perspective) and in economic terms (including the benefits for the worker and for the Society). Results show that, while the financial analysis in terms of the company does not justify the preventive measures, when the externalities are taken into account, the B/C ratio increases significantly and investments are fully justified.

Integration of risk management in occupational health and safety systems

Risk management can be considered as part of the Occupational Health and Safety System (OHS) of an organization and can be used to develop and implement the OHS policy and manage the associated risks. The success of the integration of risk management in OHS depends on both technical and human aspects. Thus, this paper presents and discusses the case of a company working in the area of solid waste treatment. This company was certified in 2009 with an Integrated Management Systems for Quality, Environment, Occupational Health and Safety. The evolution of accidents before and after the implementation of the integrated system was analysed and a questionnaire was used to capture the perceptions of the technicians on the risk management system. The analysis of the findings showed that the frequency of accidents increased since 2009 but the severity has been reduced. Several interrelated causes and consequences were analysed and discussed. Furthermore, the analysis of the opinions of the company’s technicians permitted to highlight some important aspects on the integration of risk management in the OHS system of the company. In line with this discussion some hypothesis have been formulated.