PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Environment Design”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 613 records · Page 34Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Perceptions of social capital and the built environment and mental health.

There has been much speculation about a possible association between the social and built environment and health, but the empirical evidence is still elusive. The social and built environments are best seen as contextual concepts but they are usually estimated as an aggregation of individual compositional measures, such as perceptions on trust or the desirability to live in an area. If these aggregated compositional measures were valid measures, one would expect that they would evince correlations at higher levels of data collection (e.g., neighbourhood). The aims of this paper are: (1) to investigate the factor structure of a self-administered questionnaire measuring individual perceptions of trust, social participation, social cohesion, social control, and the built environment; (2) to investigate variation in these factors at higher than the individual level (households and postcodes) in order to assess if these constructs reflect some contextual effect; and (3) to study the association between mental health, as measured by the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), and these derived factors. A cross-sectional household survey was undertaken during May-August 2001 in a district of South Wales with a population of 140,000. We found that factor analysis grouped our questions in factors similar to the theoretical ones we had previously envisaged. We also found that approximately one-third of the variance for neighbourhood quality and 10% for social control was explained at postcode (neighbourhood) level after adjusting for individual variables, thus suggesting that some of our compositional measures capture contextual characteristics of the built and social environment. After adjusting for individual variables, trust and social cohesion, two key social capital components were the only factors to show statistically significant associations with GHQ-12 scores. However, these factors also showed little variation at postcode levels, suggesting a stronger individual determination. We conclude that our results provide some evidence in support of an association between mental health (GHQ-12 scores) and perceptions of social capital, but less support for the contextual nature of social capital.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Housing and health in Europe: preliminary results of a pan-European study.

OBJECTIVES: The World Health Organization's Regional Office for Europe has undertaken a large study to evaluate housing and health in 7 European cities. METHODS: Survey tools were used to obtain information about housing and living conditions, health perception, and health status from a representative sample of the population in each city. RESULTS: In Forli, Italy, the first city studied, preliminary findings indicate some important potential links between housing and health. CONCLUSIONS: These findings, when combined with those from the remaining European cities, will likely generate concrete recommendations for the allocation of resources to programs that can improve housing and health.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Maintaining posture and avoiding tripping. Optical information for detecting and controlling orientation and locomotion.

In attempting to understand the role of visual perception in falls and their prevention, the relationship between the locomoting individual and the surrounding environment must be considered. Falls will occur when necessary properties of the environment and visual sources of information about them are inadequate, or when the individual is not adequately sensitive to or attentive to them. Body sway and tripping, two major problems contributing to falls, are examined. In regard to the prevention of falls, implications for the design of environments and training of the individuals who must move about in them are discussed.

Accident Prevention↗
PubMed1995

Reevaluation of the effectiveness of environmental designs to reduce robbery risk in Florida convenience stores.

Prevention of intentional injuries to convenience store workers has focused on prevention of robbery. Data from a cross-sectional study of the effectiveness of environmental designs to deter robbery in Florida convenience stores were reanalyzed in order to determine the effect of confounding from local crime risk factors and other environmental designs on robbery rate. Results of this reanalysis were applied to a review of the literature. Of 14 store design factors and 5 local crime risk factors considered, concealed access/escape routes, cash register located at the back or the side of the store, high county crime rate, and high county population size were significantly associated with increased robbery rate. Poor cash handling policy was significantly related to a decreased robbery rate. Results also indicated that local crime factors and some environmental designs confound the relationship between other environmental designs and robbery rate. Conclusions from this reanalysis indicated that studies of the effectiveness of environmental designs to deter robbery must adjust for confounding. Although environmental design tends to be an effective robbery deterrent strategy, results from studies have been inconsistent as to the effectiveness of specific design factors. This inconsistency is partially explained by lack of adjustment for confounding from local crime risk factors and multiple environmental design factors. Areas for further research are discussed.

Crime↗
PubMed2005

Environmental and sustainability ethics in supply chain management.

Environmentally Conscious Supply Chain Management (ECSCM refers to the control exerted over all immediate and eventual environmental effects of products and processes associated with converting raw materials into final products. While much work has been done in this area, the focus has traditionally been on either: product recovery (recycling, remanufacturing, or re-use) or the product design function only (e.g., design for environment). Environmental considerations in manufacturing are often viewed as separate from traditional, value-added considerations. However, the case can be made that professional engineers have an ethical responsibility to consider the immediate and eventual environmental impacts of products and processes that they design and/or manage. This paper describes ECSCM as a component of engineering ethics, and highlights the major issues associated with ethical decision-making in supply chain management.

Commerce↗
PubMed1997

Blunt trauma and operative care in microgravity: a review of microgravity physiology and surgical investigations with implications for critical care and operative treatment in space.

BACKGROUND: The assembly of the International Space Station in a low earth orbit will soon become a reality. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration envisions inhabited lunar bases and staffed missions to Mars in the future. Increasing numbers of astronauts, construction of high-mass structures, increased extra-vehicular activity, and prolonged if not prohibitive medical evacuation times to earth underscore the need to address requirements for trauma care in nonterrestrial environments. STUDY DESIGN: A search was carried out to review the relevant literature in the MEDLINE and SPACELINE databases. All related Technical, Corporate, and Flight Test Reports in the KRUG Life Sciences corporate library were also reviewed. Bibliographies of all articles were then reviewed from these papers to identify additional pertinent literature. Senior Russian investigators reviewed the Russian literature and translated Russian publications when appropriate. Personal communication and discussion with active microgravity investigators and ongoing microgravity research supplemented published reports. RESULTS: A large volume of data exist to document the multiple detrimental physiologic effects of microgravity exposure on human physiology. Organs systems such as cardiovascular, neurohumoral, immune, hematopoetic, and musculoskeletal systems may be particularly affected. These physiologic changes suggest an impaired ability to withstand major systemic trauma. Observational data also suggest adverse changes in numerous aspects of response to wounding and injury, and in areas such as the behavior of hemorrhage, microbiologic flora, and wound healing. In addition to an increased volume of ongoing and anticipated basic science research in microgravity physiology, preliminary studies of clinical diagnosis and therapy have been carried out in microgravity and microgravity laboratories. The feasibility of a wide range of ancillary critical care techniques has been verified in the parabolic flight model of microgravity. Although Russian investigators first performed laparotomies on rabbits in parabolic flight in 1967, only recently have American investigators demonstrated the reproducible feasibility of open and endoscopic surgical procedures under general anesthetic in animal models in a microgravity environment. CONCLUSIONS: With appropriate instrumentation and personnel, the majority of resuscitative and surgical interventions required to stabilize a severely injured astronaut are feasible in a microgravity environment. Onboard limitations in mass, volume, and power that are ever present in any spacecraft design will limit the realistic capabilities of the medical system. Standard proved and tested trauma and operative management protocols will constitute the basis for extra-terrestrial care. Surgeons should familiarize themselves with the microgravity environment and remain active in planning trauma care for the continued exploration of space.

Aerospace Medicine↗
PubMed2004

Boarding and alighting injury experience with different station platform and car entranceway designs on US commuter railroads.

Commuter railroad systems in the US employ three combinations of station platforms and car entranceways. These are high-level platforms with remotely controlled doors and level entranceway (HL-RC), low-level platforms (just above the rail) with steps and remotely controlled doors (LL-RC), and a mixture of the two platform types with a correspondingly more complex, partly manual, door and entranceway arrangement (ML-MO). Much controversy exists over which type of platform/entranceway is better. This seemingly small feature significantly impacts many performance characteristics of these systems, including cost, speed, and boarding and alighting accidents. Northeastern systems are generally moving toward the mixed platform design or all high-level platforms, while systems elsewhere are generally selecting the low-level design. Data on actual accident experience for 1995-2000 are analyzed to determine the effect of platform/entranceway type on passenger and employee injuries. Passenger injury rates on systems with the HL-RC design are lowest, with LL-RC systems next, and ML-MO systems having the highest rates. Employee injury rates are the least on LL-RC systems, but higher on ML-MO and HL-RC systems. Systems with a mixture of high and low platforms (ML-MO) experience a higher overall (combined passenger and employee) injury rate than the other two designs. The implications of these results for both the modernization of existing systems and the design of new systems, in the US and abroad, are discussed.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed2001

Waste design and source control lead to flexibility in wastewater management.

The concepts of waste design and source control are introduced as contracts between wastewater handling agencies and consumers and consumers and industry respectively. Waste design serves to produce waste streams that are optimized in composition and time sequence for easy transport and treatment. Source control makes services and installations available, which allow the consumer to adhere to the specification of waste design. Increased delegation of responsibility to the consumer is expected to result in more flexible wastewater handling systems.

Community Participation↗
PubMed2002

The relative influence of individual, social and physical environment determinants of physical activity.

Environmental determinants of health are receiving growing attention in the literature, although there is little empirical research in this area. The Study on Environmental and Individual Determinants of Physical Activity (known as the SEID project) was a social ecological project that examined the relative influence of individual, social environmental and physical environmental determinants of recreational physical activity. It involved a community survey of 1803 healthy workers and home-makers aged 18-59 years living in a 408 km2 area of metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. Physical environmental determinants were mainly conceptualised as spatial access to popular recreational facilities. Overall, 59% of respondents exercised as recommended. Recreational facilities located near home were used by more respondents than facilities located elsewhere. The most frequently used facilities were informal: the streets (45.6%); public open space (28.8%) and the beach (22.7%). The physical environment's directs the influence on exercising as recommended was found to be secondary to individual and social environmental determinants. Nevertheless, accessible facilities determined whether or not they were used and in this way, support and enhance the achievement of recommended levels of physical activity behaviour by providing opportunities. The results suggest that access to a supportive physical environment is necessary, but may be insufficient to increase recommended levels of physical activity in the community. Complementary strategies are required that aim to influence individual and social environmental factors. Given the popularity of walking in the community, it is recommended that greater emphasis be placed on creating streetscapes that enhance walking for recreation and transport.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

The component-based architecture of the HELIOS medical software engineering environment.

The constitution of highly integrated health information networks and the growth of multimedia technologies raise new challenges for the development of medical applications. We describe in this paper the general architecture of the HELIOS medical software engineering environment devoted to the development and maintenance of multimedia distributed medical applications. HELIOS is made of a set of software components, federated by a communication channel called the HELIOS Unification Bus. The HELIOS kernel includes three main components, the Analysis-Design and Environment, the Object Information System and the Interface Manager. HELIOS services consist in a collection of toolkits providing the necessary facilities to medical application developers. They include Image Related services, a Natural Language Processor, a Decision Support System and Connection services. The project gives special attention to both object-oriented approaches and software re-usability that are considered crucial steps towards the development of more reliable, coherent and integrated applications.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Environmental and lifestyle factors associated with overweight and obesity in Perth, Australia.

PURPOSE: To examine associations between environmental and lifestyle factors and overweight or obesity. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey and an environmental scan of recreational facilities. SETTING: Metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. SUBJECTS: Healthy sedentary workers and homemakers aged 18 to 59 years (n = 1803) living in areas within the top and bottom quintiles of social disadvantage. MEASURES: Four lifestyle factors, one social environmental factor, and five physical environment factors (three objectively measured). RESULTS: After adjustment for demographic factors and other variables in the model, overweight was associated with living on a highway (odds ratio [OR], 4.24; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.62-11.09) or streets with no sidewalks or sidewalks on one side only (OR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.03-1.78) and perceiving no paths within walking distance (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.08-1.86). Poor access to four or more recreational facilities (OR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.11-2.55) and sidewalks (OR, 1.62; 95% CI, .98-2.68) and perceiving no shop within walking distance (OR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.01-3.36) were associated with obesity. Conversely, access to a motor vehicle all the time was negatively associated with obesity (OR, .56; 95% CI, .32-.99). Watching 3 or more hours of television daily (ORs, 1.92 and 1.85, respectively) and rating oneself as less active than others (ORs, 1.66 and 4.05, respectively) were associated with both overweight and obesity. After adjustment for individual demographic factors and all other variables in the model, socioeconomic status of area of residence and leisure-time physical activity were not associated with overweight or obesity. CONCLUSION: Factors that influence overweight and obesity appear to differ, but aspects of the physical environment may be important. Objectively measured neighborhood environment factors warrant further investigation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Lane distortions in gel electrophoresis patterns.

Distortions effects were studied as a function of gel environment, apparatus design and buffer type. Outward lanes distortions pronounced in low conductivity buffers for both continuous buffer systems and stacking gels, were field strength dependent. In discontinuous buffer systems, the moving boundary of the Laemmli buffer system deformed depending on the environment. In the Michov buffer system, the high conductivity resolving gel surrounded by a low conductivity electrode buffer, displayed straight pathways until a field strength of 15 V/cm, permitting to obtain information about lanes distortions depending on the acrylamide matrix structure. A decreased ammonium persulfate concentration, e.g. to 0.03%, induced phase segregation in gels at low temperature during the run: a critical endpoint near 11 degrees C for a gel in the Michov buffer system under conditions of electrophoresis was supposed. Gel collapse resulted in inward deviations in the lanes of the pattern and also faint bands in the zones where the gel was retracted. Besides this effect of catalyst concentration, the inwardly distorted pattern depended on temperature, field strength, solvent and hydrolysis due to gel aging. Amendments for overcoming lane distortions are suggested.

Ammonium Sulfate↗
PubMed1999

Needs of parents of the child hospitalised with acquired brain damage.

This paper describes the findings of a descriptive study into needs of parents of children with Acquired Brain Damage during hospitalisation. Thirty four parents of 28 children treated at a tertiary referral pediatric hospital were interviewed. Parents described their experiences during their child's hospitalisation and identified needs which, when met, enabled them to care for their children and cope with the sudden illness and disabilities. Three themes were identified: services that optimised the child's recovery, services which supported parents cope with child's illness and services assisting in maintenance of family functioning and stability. An emerging model of parental needs and nursing interventions to meet these are identified.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2003

Does quality of child care affect child outcomes at age 4(1/2)?

Research reveals associations between child-care quality and child outcomes. But are these associations causal? Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care. a longitudinal study of children from birth to age 4(1/2), were used to explore 5 propositions that would support a causal argument. Three propositions received support. principally in the cognitive domain: (a) Associations between quality and outcomes remained even with child and family factors controlled; (b) associations between care and outcomes were domain specific; and (c) outcomes were predicted by quality of earlier care with concurrent care controlled. The 4th proposition, that associations between quality and outcomes would be significant with earlier abilities controlled, received limited support. There was no support for the 5th proposition, that quality and outcomes would exhibit dose-response relations.

Caregivers↗