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PubMed1988

The impacts of health, education, family planning and electrification programs on fertility, mortality and child schooling in East Java, Indonesia.

This paper examines the effects of public health, family planning, education, electrification, and water supply programs on fertility, child mortality, and school enrollment decisions of rural households in East Java, Indonesia. The theoretical model assumes that parents maximize a utility function, subject to 1) a budget constraint that equates income with expenditures on children (including schooling and health inputs), and 2) a production function that relates health inputs to child survival possibilities. Public programs affect prices of contraceptives, schooling and health inputs, and environmental conditions that in turn affect child survival. Data are taken from the 1980 East Java Population Survey, the Socio-economic Survey, and the Detailed Village Census. The final sample consists of 3170 rural households with married women of childbearing age. Ordinary least squares and logit regressions of recent fertility, child mortality, and school enrollment on program and household variables yielded the following findings. 1) The presence of maternal and child health clinics reduced fertility but not mortality. 2) The presence of public health centers strongly reduced mortality but not fertility. 3) The presence of contraceptive distribution centers had no effect on fertility. 4) School attendance rates were influenced positively by the availability of primary and secondary schools. 5) Health and family planning programs had no effects on schooling. 6) The availability of public latrines reduced fertility and mortality. 7) The water supply variable did not affect the dependent variables when ordinary least squares techniques were applied but had statistically significant impact when logit methods were used. 8) Electricity supply had little effect on the dependent variables. 9) The mother's schooling had a strong positive correlation with children's schooling but no effect on fertility or mortality. 10) Household expenditures were related positively to school attendance and negatively to mortality. 11) There was little or no interaction between household variables and presence of government programs. 12) Subprovincial area measures of service availability appeared more appropriate for public health and family planning services, while village-level measures appeared more appropriate for schooling.

Asia↗
PubMed1990

Determinants of fertility control in Korea.

The objective of this study is to examine the socioeconomic and intervening determinants of fertility control in Korea. The conceptual framework applied here is based on the synthesis framework of fertility control developed by Easterlin and Crimmins. The data came from the 1974 Korean National Family Survey, which was conducted as part of the World Fertility Survey. The study focuses on the relative importance of the socioeconomic factors and intervening variables in the determination of fertility control. The most interesting finding is that there are only small differentials in fertility control by socioeconomic factors. The analysis emphasizes the importance of examining the determinants of fertility control in terms of the intervening variables, which include the components of natural fertility, desired family size, and costs of fertility control. These intervening variables provide general support for the theoretical predictions. Moreover, most of the coefficients for these variables are statistically significant at the .05 level. The analysis also shows that motivation for fertility control is an important factor in determining use of fertility control.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2002

[Breast cancer and pregnancy: decision making and the point of view of the mother].

For the treatment of breast cancer, modifications of decision making related to pregnancy could be assessed through three questions. Why a decision had been chosen? In that case, the hypothesis is that decisions are based on the expected utility. The theory assumes weighting and computation of complete possibilities with their associated probabilities and values. However values exhibits a wide inter-individual variation range. Therefore the predictability of choice based on this model is indeed very low. Furthermore it is likely that the willingness of pregnancy after breast cancer contains besides classic constituents of appeals of motherhood, a specific meaning of recovery both of health and femininity. The second question: who is in charge of the decision? And under the paradigm of autonomy, women' decision is, merely by itself, the right decision. The last question is how? For some situations for which foreseeing is quiet complex, the value of the process in itself is increased and could help the end-oriented or self-determined decision. Casuistic analysis could therefore improve women' decisions. The issue is not only about decision but also related to patient-physician relationship, about an issue that is not only a biomedical problem.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed2002

Latina adolescents: predicting intentions to have sex.

This study utilized the theory of reasoned action to examine how Latina adolescents' intentions to have sex in the coming month were influenced by their general attitude toward having sex and their perceptions of general social norms about having sex. Eighty-four Mexican American and Central American adolescent females ages 14 to 19 participated in telephone interviews. One group of 41 Mexican American adolescents was obtained through a telephone survey and the second group of 43 pregnant or parenting Mexican American and Central American adolescents was recruited from health clinics. Path analysis conducted separately for the two groups indicated that, for the clinic group, perceptions of general social norms, but not general attitude, predicted intentions to have sex; and for the survey group, whether they were sexually active directly predicted perceptions of general social norms and intention to have sex. Adolescents' perceptions of what significant others desired of them, but not their motivation to comply, predicted perceptions of general social norms about having sex. Results underscore the importance of social norms for Latina adolescents when they are considering whether or not to have sex.

Acculturation↗
PubMed2003

The Eye Tracker System--a system to measure and record saccadic eye movements.

The Eye Tracker System, built at the University of Connecticut at Storrs in the Biomedical Instrumentation Lab, consists of three separate and distinct units brought together as a whole system to measure saccades. A seven row, eleven columned array of LEDs mounted on five degree centers along a concave surface provides targeting for the Eye Tracker System wherein the subject eye follows a pattern of illuminated LEDs as determined by the experimenter. The target system is digitally driven by serial inputs from the Main Command System. Subject positioning is aided by the concave surface of the Target System. The System Console employs a multiple regression Operating System to predict Eye Position. Twenty-four channels utilizing the theory of Infrared Light Reflective Differentiation make measurements of the location of the eye. These optoelectronics are mounted in a specialized head-mounted transducer. The optoelectronics are mounted on the interior of a parabolic surface automatically aiming them towards the limbus. The transducer is styled after an ophthalmologist's test frames and is comfortably worn and adjustable in size to fit any subject. The Main Command System authored under G programming language (LabView) provides a graphic user interface (GUI) that controls the generation of the target pattern. The Main Command System also coordinates the programs that acquire all data, the regression algorithm for the real-time prediction of the eye position and the initial calibration of the system. In addition the application is able to save a retrieve data for further analysis.

Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hemoglobin F: relationship to maturity measures in the neonate.

The maturity of organ functioning is a key to predicting neonatal prognosis, particularly in preterm babies, and laboratory tests have the potential for providing better information than external exams. This approach was examined utilizing the fetal protein, HGB F. While HGB F itself does not correlate well with current measures of maturity, HGB F/WT was found to correlate very strongly, in a linear relationship with the gestational score (G. Score) obtained from a physical and neurological assessment of the neonate. This relationship was not affected by sex or race in our population. A cut-off value for HGB F/WT of 0.025 was chosen as the difference between mature and immature neonates and the value of the test using that cut-off was determined. Infants were classified as preterm or term based upon G. Score and gestational age (from the mother's last menstrual period) and were further classified depending upon whether the HGB F/WT value indicated a mature or premature infant. Utilizing predictive theory, the test was found to have a predictive value of 0.914 with an overall test efficiency of 0.967. These results indicate that this measurement has potential as a maturity marker in neonates.

Black People↗
PubMed1973

The avian egg and the retina.

A mathematical model for study of blood flow has been derived from the avian egg, utilizing the theories of crystallography and photosynthesis. The model is employed to explain the form of the eye and the function of the cells of the human retina, with special reference to colour vision and the pathology of migraine.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

The relationship between apartment living and fertility for blacks, Mexican-Americans, and other Americans in Racine, Wisconsin.

Recently published data from a sample of Bogotá, Colombia public housing residents show that apartment dwellers, but not house dwellers, reduced their fertility in a tight housing market. We propose that the utility-cost theory of fertility accounts for this finding, and, using this theory, we predict that (a) apartment residents will not decrease their fertility in an open housing market and (b) higher fertility will be associated with larger dwellings. Longitudinal data from a sample of Midwest urban blacks, Mexican-Americans, and other Americans support both predictions. The substantive implications are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Can the artificial heart make the circulation become fractal?

In order to analyze the hemodynamic parameters in prosthetic circulation as an entity and not as decomposed parts, non linear mathematical analyzing techniques, including the fractal dimension analyzing theory, were utilized. Two pneumatically actuated ventricular assist devices were implanted, as biventricular bypasses (BVB), in chronic animal experiments, using four healthy adult goats. For the comparison between the natural and prosthetic circulation in the same animals, the BVB type complete prosthetic circulation model with ventricular fibrillation, was adopted. All hemodynamic parameters with natural and prosthetic circulation were recorded under awake conditions, and calculated with a personal computer system. Using the non-linear mathematical technique, the arterial blood pressure waveform was embedded into the return map as the beat-to-beat time series data and fractal dimension analysis were performed to analyze the reconstructed attractor. By the use of the Box counting method, fractal dimension analysis of the hemodynamics was performed. Return map of the hemodynamics during natural and artificial circulation showed fractal characteristics, and fractal dimension analysis of the arterial blood pressure revealed the fact that lower dimensional fractal dynamics were evident during prosthetic circulation. Fractal time series data is suggested to have robustness and error resistance, thus our results suggest that the circulatory regulatory system with an artificial heart may have these desired characteristics.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Strange hemodynamic attractor parameter with 1/R total artificial heart automatic control algorithm.

To evaluate the automatic control algorithm of the total artificial heart (TAH) as an entity, and not just as parts, a non-linear mathematical analyzing technique including chaos theory was utilized. Chronic experiments on the biventricular bypass type artificial heart implantation were performed in healthy adult goats after the natural ventricles were removed. Hemodynamic time series data were recorded under the awake standing condition with TAH 1/R and fixed driving. Time series data were recorded on a magnetic tape and analyzed on a personal computer system with an A-D converter. Using the nonlinear mathematical technique, the time series data were embedded into the phase space and the Lyapunov numerical method was carried out for the quantitative evaluation of the sensitive dependence on the initial condition of the reconstructed attractor. Calculation of the largest Lyapunov exponents suggested that the reconstructed attractor of the left pump output during TAH 1/R control was a larger dimensional strange attractor, a characteristic pattern of deterministic chaos. A total system indicating chaotic dynamics was thought to be a flexible and intelligent control system. Thus, our results suggest that 1/R TAH control may be suitable for the biventricular assist type total artificial heart.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1996

Diving the wreck: risk and injury in sport scuba diving.

This paper utilizes psychoanalytic theory to examine risk and injury in the case of a male deep sea diver. It examines the unconscious conflicts which appeared to fuel the diver's involvement in deep diving and to lead to a near fatal incident of decompression sickness. Particular attention is paid to the role of the diver's father in the evolution of the preoedipal and oedipal fantasies and conflicts which appear to be linked to the injury. The research is based on interviews with and fieldwork among recreational and deep divers.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Computer program to predict likelihood of finding and HLA-matched donor: methodology, validation, and application.

Approximately 65% of the patients requiring bone marrow transplantation do not have an HLA-A, -B, -DR identical sibling and therefore need to find a phenotypically matched unrelated donor. As of June 30, 1996, the National Marrow Donor Program maintains a registry of 2.31 million volunteer donors, 35% of whom are fully typed for HLA-A, -B, -DR loci. Because a majority of the donors has not been DR typed, a patient who does not find a complete match at the time of the preliminary search may elect to prospectively DR type A, B matched and A, B one-antigen mismatched donors. An efficient strategy is therefore needed for determining the likelihood that an appropriate donor exists and for deciding which of the donors that have not yet been DR typed should be tested for DR matching with the candidate. We developed a mathematical algorithm and computer program to facilitate the search for a suitable donor by donor race and phenotype. The program provides information on the likelihood of 1) finding at least one HLA-A, -B, -DR phenotypically matched donor, 2) the likelihood of finding at least one DR match among m A, B matched donors who have not yet been DR typed, and 3) the likelihood of an A, B one antigen mismatched donor of a specific phenotype being a DR match with the patient. The mathematical models underlying the program are based on basic population genetics theory and utilize HLA-A, -B, DR haplotype frequencies derived from the NMDP registry. The results of the validation study show that the prediction is highly accurate at the level of broad antigens. The algorithm and program have the potential to assist patients and physicians in optimizing their decisions regarding clinical management and resource allocation on the process of searching for a suitable unrelated bone marrow donor.

Blood Donors↗
PubMed1976

Family crisis care.

By examining aspects of the family crisis care program in the Newborn Special Care Unit at Yale-New Haven Hospital, an illustration is made of one approach to utilizing the theory of crisis intervention in the development of a family oriented program of preventive intervention. The elements reviewed are adaptable as a framework for initiating such a program or as a reference for assessing programs now under development in other perinatal centers.

Crisis Intervention↗
PubMed1993

Two reasonable people: joint decisionmaking in contraceptive choice and use.

The authors discuss "the way in which married couples make choices from among contraceptive alternatives, and the way in which these choices lead to use.... Three predominant themes structure this chapter. First, can currently popular decision-making theories be satisfactorily applied to joint contraceptive decision-making? Second, do spouse's perceptions (and misperceptions) of the other's beliefs, attitudes, etc. influence the decision outcome? And, third, do demographic considerations (such as a couple's stage in the life-cycle or ethnicity) alter the utility of decision theories?" Data are from a study of 453 couples interviewed in Gainesville, Florida.

Americas↗
PubMed2000

A nursing theory for nursing leadership.

For many years nursing practice has found its foundations in nursing theory. A review of theorists such as D. E. Orem, C. Roy, B. Neumen, V. Henderson, M. E. Rogers and others reveals a focus on the management of patient care, not leadership. This has provided most nurses with a solid foundation in 'management', but little in terms of 'leadership.' In more recent years, theories such as the Deming Management Method, Managers as Developer Model, Shared Governance and Transactional Leadership have been introduced, none of which are nursing theories. This article discusses the conceptualized differences between management and leadership theory arguing that there is a difference between 'leadership and management'. A leadership theory is proposed utilizing Ida J. Orlando's model for nursing. This theory provides a nursing foundation for nursing leaders to utilize both in the management of patient care and in leadership.

Humans↗