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Greer, Desmond. "Software engineering risk : understanding and management." Thesis, University of Ulster, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.326127.
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Wagner, Alice Elizabeth 1980. "Understanding risk in a biopharmaceutical portfolio." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/68469.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. "Pages 65-70 contain illegible text. This is the best copy available"--P. after t.p.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-64).
Investors have difficulty funding the life sciences because of the high risks involved in research and development and commercialization of new products. Risk in the biopharmaceutical industry is the result of scientific, regulatory and economic uncertainty. The nature of the biopharmaceutical industry introduces many challenges. Each of these challenges incorporates a measure of risk into drug development. The level of understanding of technical success interdependencies has not been fully investigated. These interdependencies (correlations) could lead to an overall greater risk to the company's portfolio than previously expected. A better understanding of the risks that lead to success or failure in drug development might encourage more investment in the life sciences and specifically in the biopharmaceutical industry, and a greater awareness of the correlations between risks and products might lead to more informed decision making on a biopharmaceutical portfolio leading increased productivity. A dataset was collected from Thomson Reuters. The dataset is the oncology portfolio from a biopharmaceutical company, Genentech Inc. Logistic regression was used to determine if any of the defined variables contributed to the success or failure of the oncology products. The chi-square value was 7.738 with the degrees of freedom equal to 5 and with a p-value of 0.17. Therefore, none of the variables significantly contributed to the outcome. More research should be performed in this area in order to better understand the risk in a biopharmaceutical portfolio.
by Alice Elizabeth Wagner.
S.M.
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Burkhart, Katelyn A. "Understanding vertebral fracture risk in astronauts." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122344.
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This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Thesis: Ph. D. in Medical Engineering and Bioastronautics, Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, 2019
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references.
In spaceflight, the loss of mechanical loading has detrimental effects on the musculoskeletal system. These muscular changes will likely affect spinal loading, a key aspect of vertebral fracture risk, but no prior studies have examined how spinal loading is affected by long duration spaceflight. Moreover, the effect of spaceflight on vertebral strength has not been determined, despite reports of significant vertebral trabecular bone loss in long-duration astronauts. Thus trunk muscle and vertebral bone changes and their impact on risk of injury following long-duration spaceflight remain unknown. This is of particular concern for NASA's planned Mars missions and return to Earth after prolonged deconditioning. Our lab has developed a musculoskeletal model of the thoracolumbar spine that has been validated for spinal loading, but has not yet been extended to maximal effort activities or full-body simulations.
Thus, the overall goal of this work consisted of two main sections: 1) address the knowledge gap regarding spaceflight and post-flight recovery effects on trunk muscle properties, vertebral strength, compressive spine loading and vertebral fracture risk, and 2) extend our musculoskeletal modeling work into maximal effort simulations in an elderly population and create a full-body scaled model to investigate reproducibility of spine loading estimates using opto-electronic motion capture data. Whereas deficits in trunk muscle area returned to normal during on-Earth recovery, spaceflight-induced increases in intramuscular fat persisted in some muscles even years after landing. Similarly, spaceflight led to a decrease in lumbar vertebral strength that did not recover even after multiple years on Earth.
To gain insight into the effect of spaceflight on vertebral fracture risk, we created subject-specific musculoskeletal models using an individual's height, weight, sex, muscle measurements, and spine curvature. We found that compressive spine loading was minimally affected by spaceflight and that vertebral fracture risk, calculated as a ratio of vertebral load to strength, was slightly elevated post-flight and remained elevated during readaptation on Earth. Additionally, we focused on the development of additional musculoskeletal modeling tools. Using maximal effort model simulations, we estimated trunk maximum muscle stress in an elderly population, and this critical parameter in musculoskeletal modeling will assist with more detailed model creation. Lastly, we found excellent reliability of spine loading estimations from opto-electronic marker data.
by Katelyn A. Burkhart.
Ph. D. in Medical Engineering and Bioastronautics
Ph.D.inMedicalEngineeringandBioastronautics Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology
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Lauder, Michael Alan. "Conceptualisation in Preparation for Risk Discourse: A Qualitative Step toward Risk Governance." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2011. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/6793.
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The purpose of this research was, in order to forestall future failures of foresight, to provoke those responsible for risk governance into new ways of thinking through a greater exposure to and understanding of the body of existing academic knowledge.
The research, which focused on the scholarship of application, synthesised the existing knowledge into a ―coherent whole‖ in order to assess its practical utility and to examine what is to be learnt about existing knowledge by trying to use it in practice.
The findings are in two parts. The first focuses on how one ―thinks about thinking‖ about an issue. Early work identified three issues that were seen as being central to the understanding of risk governance. The first is the concept of risk itself, the second is to question whether there is a single paradigm used and the third is what is meant by the term ―risk indicator‖. A ―coherent whole‖, structured around seven-dimensions, was created from the range of definitions used within existing literature. No single paradigm was found to be used when discussing risk issues. Three paradigms were identified and labelled ―Line‖, ―Circle‖ and ―Dot‖. It was concluded that Risk Indicators were used to performance manage risk mitigation barriers rather than as a mechanism by which organisations may identify emerging risks.
The second focus was the synthesis of academic work relevant to risk governance. It produced a list of statements which encapsulated the concerns of previous writers on this subject. The research then operationalised the issues as questions, which were seen to have practical utility. The elements of the ―coherent whole‖ suggest a way to provide access into the original research. The research suggests that it is unlikely that practitioners would wish to access the original research in its academic format. Further work therefore needs to be done to present the original work in a format that is more digestible to the practitioner community if it is to be used effectively.
The results of this research are considered to be preliminary. No claim is being made that these questions are definitive. The research is however addressing an area which is of concern to those in practice and has not been previously examined.
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Norton, Vincent G. 1969. "Understanding risk sharing mechanisms for brownfields redevelopment." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/69388.
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Leask, J. "Understanding Immunisation Controversies." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/12503.
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BACKGROUND: Mass childhood vaccination has had a profound impact on reducing morbidity and mortality from a number of infectious diseases. Ironically, as vaccine preventable diseases become less common and so less visible to the public, greater attention is afforded to vaccine risks. In the UK, Japan, France and the USA, controversies about the safety of vaccines have led to declining public confidence in the practice which, at times, has lowered immunisation rates, leading to disease outbreaks and deaths. Public health workers are often perplexed at how to respond in such situations. In order to plan effective communication strategies it is necessary to understand how controversies about vaccine safety escalate. This thesis describes the nature of public controversies about vaccine safety by examining the discourses of the anti-vaccination lobby, the mass media, parents and health professionals. THE ANTI-VACCINATION MOVEMENT: This thesis first explores the activities of the anti-vaccination movement and their efforts to disseminate their core messages to the wider public. In Australia, the anti-vaccination lobby are a largely unseen force in sustaining controversies about vaccine safety. This small but vocal movement are well organised and strategic. A description of their activities in Australia demonstrates the comprehensiveness of their efforts to oppose vaccination at the political, community and mass media level. THE NEWS MEDIA: The news media have the potential to influence public perceptions about childhood vaccination. To complement previous research on the nature of anti-vaccination reportage, this thesis examines positive coverage from four and a half years of newsprint articles about immunisation published in Australian newspapers. Located at the core of anti-vaccination discourse is an appeal to an individualistic ideology that upholds vigilance against the erosion of civil liberties, suspicion of authority figures and the back-to-nature idyll. By contrast, pro-vaccination rhetoric is centred on notions of threat from personified and malevolent infectious disease and vaccines as saviours and modern medical miracles. PARENTS AND VACCINE SAFETY: Focus groups with new mothers explore how they deconstruct competing messages about vaccine safety, using vignettes from broadcast media. Results suggest that anti-vaccination claims are most potent when they come from medical sources and/or include stories and images of allegedly vaccine-damaged children. Mothers apply complex assessments of risk and benefit in their decision-making and draw on analogies to explain their position. Trust in vaccine providers, personal experiences with vaccine preventable diseases, the advice of family and friends, and scepticism about the media as a source of information are important in decision making. Implicit in attempts to counter negative publicity are assumptions that factual information about disease and vaccines will alone reassure parents. However, when their support for vaccination is challenged, mothers are more likely to mobilise images of children with vaccine preventable diseases than numerical assessments of risk and benefit. More generally, parental support of vaccination is sustained by recourse to normative beliefs and the desire to follow convention. Parents also have an underlying desire to actively protect their children from diseases that are dreaded. VACCINATION PROVIDERS: Their encounter with vaccine providers is fundamental to parental decision making and negotiation of conflicting messages about vaccination. An interview study with doctors incorporating simulated scenarios explores how doctors address parental concerns about vaccination in the clinical encounter. In this study, doctors acknowledge a mother’s concerns, tailor their discussion to the individual circumstance of the mother and convey the notion of choice. They attempt to compare vaccine and disease risks using mainly qualitative estimates of disease and adverse event incidence. Possibly less helpful aspects of the encounters are when doctors became adversarial, discredit a mother’s source of information, ask hypothetical “how would you feel if…” questions, over-use scientific language, enter into games of scientific ping pong or give bland “you’re wrong” statements. Doctors face difficulty when communicating with patients whose paradigms are diametrically opposed to their own. Influencing these encounters is their underlying relationship with the patient, messages from the mass media and theories that help guide the doctor’s communication efforts. THE MODEL: This thesis proposes a model for how vaccine controversies can lead to sustained declines in vaccination rates. This is achieved through highlighting the above perspectives and examining the current controversy over the combined measles, mumps, rubella vaccine and it’s unsupported link to autism. It suggests that vaccine safety concerns ‘catch fire’ when the source of a controversy is trusted, seen as expert and coming from a prestigious body or publication. Greater potency is gained when vaccines are implicated as the cause of a dreaded condition and when the link has some biological plausibility face value. Moving personal testimony about allegedly vaccine-damaged children can eclipse official attempts to provide factual reassurances which, by comparison, appear bland and uncompelling. Finally, a less acknowledged but possibly more important factor is the erosion of confidence among health professionals and confusion at the level of service delivery where upstream changes can have exponential effects.
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Vadeboncoeur, Nathan Noel. "Knowing climate change : modelling, understanding, and managing risk." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/50777.
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Climate change is a complex problem. Approaches to understanding climate change risk and preparing for its management include assessments of biophysical changes, the influence of public risk perceptions on support for policies aimed at adapting to these changes, and analysis of the governance structures charged with developing and implementing climate action plans. Climate change issues, however, are often approached from a disciplinary perspective and there are few studies examining how climate risk is viewed from multiple perspectives in a particular locale. This thesis takes a bottom-up approach to understanding climate change by focusing on how climate risk is understood on the Sunshine Coast, British Columbia, as a biophysical, social, and governance issue. It begins by surveying the available biophysical information of climate change and presents a sea level rise impact model for the Sunshine Coast. Next, it explores how public perceptions of climate risk (as distinct from climate change knowledge as scientific literacy) develop and how these affect support for climate change policies. It then examines the perspective of a local government, the Town of Gibsons, in planning for climate change adaptation. Here, it focuses on how decision- makers plan for climate change by examining their perspectives on biophysical risks and the social context within which climate issues are located. Throughout the thesis, I argue that the process of adapting to climate change (a risk management strategy) has strongly social roots and that understanding how climate change fits within the context of individual communities is, along with knowledge of biophysical hazards, an essential component of adaptation.Science, Faculty of
Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for
Graduate
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Griffin, Jonathan Michael. "Understanding and assessing lodging risk in winter wheat." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 1998. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/13410/.
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A detailed literature review was done which indicated that there was still some `uncertainty' as to the exact cause of lodging and also identified the need for a quantitative method to assess lodging risk. Separate published models for determining the windthrow of trees and the anchorage of wheat roots were combined, and a model was developed in order to integrate all aspects of lodging in wheat, and express them in terms of risk. The model was broadly sectioned into three components; the plant canopy, stem base, and roots. The aerial force imposed on the stem base and roots was calculated (using both plant measurements and randomly selected weather conditions in July). By comparing this to the failure moment of the stem base and roots, the model then predicted the probability of lodging occurring. At the same time, wheat was grown in a series of field experiments at ADAS Rosemaund, Herefordshire between 1994-1996 and the effects of various agronomic factors on the crop and its yield were found to be similar to those reported in previous work and from practical experience. Lodging was most prevalent during the 1995-96 season causing yield losses of up to 1.3 t/ha, while very little lodging occurred in the previous two seasons. Reductions in grain quality were also associated with lodging in both the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons. Lodging was observed to occur by both stem failure and root failure, with root failure being the predominant cause in 1996. Lodging was influenced most of all by 'crop structure', as affected by agronomy, which was clearly illustrated by 93% lodging occurring in the early-sown, high seed rate, high residual nitrogen treatment compared to only 8% lodging in the late-sown, low seed rate, low residual nitrogen treatment. It was found that the latter treatment described, with the addition of full PGR, had no lodging in any season, as a direct result of lodging resistance gained from optimising plant structure due to crop husbandry. The actual 'type' of lodging was also influenced by the state of the soil; in the dry summer of 1995, soil strength was very high (average c. 100 kPa) and lodging occurred by stem failure, whereas during 1996 when root lodging occurred, the surface soil was moist and soil strength was much lower (average c. 20 kPa). Agronomic practices greatly affected lodging risk in the field experiments. A low seed rate (250 seeds/m2) provided the most consistent and effective method of reducing lodging in all seasons, by significantly increasing the stem diameter (by up to 0.35 mm) and improving root structure (by producing up to 7 more crown roots and increasing the size of the root cone diameter by up to 7 mm). Early sowing (late-September) increased crop height (by up to 6 cm) in all seasons except 1994-95 and resulted in increased lodging in the 1995-96 season. High soil residual nitrogen increased lodging slightly but its effect on `crop structure' was much less than seed rate or sowing date in all seasons. Plant growth regulators (PGR) reduced lodging compared to the nil `control' by significantly reducing stem height (average c. 10cm), but not through increasing stem failure moment or thickening the stem wall width. The reduced nitrogen `canopy management' treatment also generally reduced lodging across seasons compared to the nil `control' although, not by as much as or as consistently as with PGRs. Two PGR-use schemes currently available were examined and recommendations given were found to be poor when compared to the experimental findings and much less `comprehensive' than the modelling approach used here. Other results from a range of winter wheat varieties tested found that variation in basal stem structure and crown root structure was large, which was shown by the model to have implications in terms of lodging risk. These findings indicate the need for improved information and better targeting of varietal lodging resistance in the future. Other findings showed that the use of 'Baytan' seed treatment significantly decreased lodging risk by producing a deeper crown root anchorage and a larger root cone diameter. It was also found that severe stem base disease (fusarium and sharp eyespot) reduced the stem failure moment causing up to 40% greater lodging risk compared to uninfected stems. The model was then used to support the experimental findings by converting the large differences caused in plant structure into estimates of lodging risk and results showed that model probabilities matched reasonably well with the actual lodging in the various experimental treatments. Certain measurements such as plant height and angle of root spread were found to be unimportant. In contrast, a model sensitivity analysis found that plant natural frequency, stem base diameter and root cone diameter were crucial `indicators' of lodging risk. It was also found that wind speed and field altitude were less influential than rainfall in increasing lodging risk. A handheld lodging device (torquemeter) was field tested and provided important results which found the relationship assumed in the model between soil strength and root failure to be flawed, so that root lodging was underestimated. This finding has allowed considerable improvements to be made to the below-ground model. The identification of various `indicators' of lodging risk have successfully provided the basis for further development of the model, to enable a more quantitative, predictive lodging risk assessment scheme for use by farmers and consultants.
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Brakenhoff, Brittany R. "Understanding the HIV Risk Behaviors of Homeless Youth." The Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1523839282654593.
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Zale, Andrew. "PARENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF ANESTHESIA RISK FOR DENTAL TREATMENT." VCU Scholars Compass, 2012. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2697.
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Purpose: To determine which method of anesthesia risk presentation parents understand and prefer across their demographic variables Methods: As a cross-sectional study, questionnaires were distributed to 50 parents of patients (<7 years of age) in the VCU Pediatric Dental Clinic. Parents were asked of their own and their children’s demographics, previous dental and anesthesia experiences, and anesthesia understanding. Parents were then asked to rate the level of risk of several risk presentations and finally asked which method of risk presentation they most understood or preferred. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, likelihood chi square tests, and repeated measures logistic regression. Results: There was no evidence of a differential preference due to gender (P = 0.28), age (P > .9), education (P = 0.39) or whether they incorrectly answered any risk question (P > 0.7). There was some evidence that the three types were not equally preferred (likelihood ratio chi- square = 5.31, df =2, P-value = 0.0703). The best estimate is that 60% prefer charts, 34% prefer numbers, and 36% prefer activity comparisons. There was a relationship between the average relative risk of general anesthesia and age (r = –0.38, P = 0.0070). Younger individuals indicate High risk more often and older individuals indicate Low risk more often. Conclusion: There was no preference of risk presentation type due to gender, age, or education, but there was evidence that each was not equally preferred. Healthcare providers must be able to present the risk of anesthesia in multiple ways to allow for full patient understanding.
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Dresser, Paul. "Understanding prevent policing through dispositif and reflexive risk." Thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2015. http://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/595496/.
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In June 2011, PREVENT, as part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy CONTEST, was reformatted around the notion of ‘risk’. Despite this, there is a paucity of empirical enquiry which has examined the relationship between PREVENT and risk. The objective of this thesis is to analyse PREVENT policing, in terms of how risk is understood, as well as how PREVENT police operations are delivered, perceived and experienced by those tasked with counter-terrorism. This thesis is a single-embedded case study in a geographical area defined by government funding structure as ‘low risk’. Through conducting qualitative interviews with PREVENT police officers and individuals drawn from security disciplines and interconnecting institutions, three key themes were identified. First, risk was understood to be interrelated with the concept of trust. Specifically, there was an emphasis on increasing trust with both internal and external partners given that PREVENT is now deployed through a multi-agency approach. Second, PREVENT was conceptualised as “safeguarding” rather than counter-terrorism, counter-radicalisation and/or de-radicalisation. Third, risk was linked to the notion of “gut feeling” at the referral (identification) stage of counter-radicalisation in the absence of radicalisation knowledge. As well as the fieldwork data which are empirically driven, a second objective of this thesis is to use a theoretical framework of Foucault’s concept of ‘dispositif’, emanating from analyses of governmentality, as well as ‘reflexive’ risk, in line with the works of Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens’ ‘risk society’, as measured against the interview data. Drawing attention to the effects of both risk positions at local level, this thesis argues that PREVENT policing cannot be reduced to a single factor risk perspective. Moreover, this thesis provides a more nuanced account of counter-terrorism through risk by illuminating the messiness, complexity and empirical reality of PREVENT policing on the ground.
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McNaughton, Carol Corinne. "Understanding transitions through homelessness in a risk society." Thesis, Connect to e-thesis, 2007. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/969/.
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Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Glasgow, 2007.Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Faculty of Law, Business and Social Science, University of Glasgow, 2007. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.
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Lana, Olubunmi. "From risk to reason : understanding young people's perception of HIV risk in South Africa." Thesis, University of York, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.538635.
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Studer, Bettina. "Understanding risky choice : the psychophysiological and neural correlates of human decision-making under risk." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.610278.
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Horner, William J. C. "The risk, the slip and the understanding of sculpture." Thesis, Royal College of Art, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.487370.
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The following thesis is a 36000-word document of a PhD by project completed in the sculpture department. of The Royal College of Art between October 2001 and September 2005. The purpose of this research has been to reflect upon what it is to make sculpture and to produce a document that reveals the many considerations and implications that occur with the making of sculpture; to document the challenge, the risk and the understanding that sculpture's venture brings. This thesis begins with the teleological emergency of sculpture's undertaking in order to disclose the advent of its theoretical implications - to reveal sculpture's vital importance to aesthetics, epistemology and ethics. With the aim of demonstrating the interdependency of sculpture's practical and theoretical problematic, each of the first four chapters· orientate t~mselves around a simple practical concern; the first chapter begins with the radical leap of sculpture, the second chapter addresses its fearful quivering, the third chapter negotiates the potential of its slip and the fourth chapter contemplates its fall. While the first four chapters are illustrated with images of historical and contemporary art, the fifth and final chapter documents the research that has been carried out within the context of a studio practice and within various exhibitions that occurred throughout the four-year period. This research project poses sculpture as a philosophical figure of doubt; sculptural practice is seen to figure doubt literally and radically, but its doubting is seen to initiate knowledge. Whereas sculpture could be said to have stepped down in relation to contemporary fine art practice, this project claims sculptural method as a vital and fundamental way to knowledge; it puts forward the postulation of sculpture as an overcoming that is contingent to its necessary and abysmal fall.
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Hunter, Alasdair. "Quantifying and understanding the aggregate risk of natural hazards." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/15719.
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Statistical models are necessary to quantify and understand the risk from natural hazards. A statistical framework is developed here to investigate the e ect of dependence between the frequency and intensity of natural hazards on the aggregate risk. The aggregate risk of a natural hazard is de ned as the sum of the intensities for all events within a season. This framework is applied to a database of extra tropical cyclone tracks from the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis for the October to March extended winters between 1950 and 2003. Large positive correlation is found between cyclone counts and the local mean vorticity over the exit regions of the North Atlantic and North Paci c storm tracks. The aggregate risk is shown to be sensitive to this dependence, especially over Scandinavia. Falsely assuming independence between the frequency and intensity results in large biases in the variance of the aggregate risk. Possible causes for the dependence are investigated by regressing winter cyclone counts and local mean vorticity on teleconnection indices with Poisson and linear models. The indices for the Scandinavian pattern, North Atlantic Oscillation and East Atlantic Pattern are able to account for most of the observed positive correlation over the North Atlantic. The sensitivity of extremes of the aggregate risk distribution to the inclusion of clustering, with and without frequency intensity dependence, is investigated using Cantelli bounds and a copula simulation approach. The inclusion of dependence is shown to be necessary to model the clustering of extreme events. The implication of these ndings for the insurance sector is investigated using the loss component of a catastrophe model. A mixture model approach provides a simple and e ective way to incorporate frequency-intensity dependence into the loss model. Including levels of correlation and overdispersion comparable to that observed in the reanalysis data results in an average increase of over 30% in the 200 year return level for the aggregate loss.
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Sajeev, Gautam. "Mediation Analysis in Understanding Mechanism of Alzheimer’s Disease Risk." Thesis, Harvard University, 2015. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:16121154.
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Although studies often show reduced risk of dementia with late-life cognitive activity, concerns about residual confounding and reverse causation cast doubt on these findings. In Chapter 1 of this dissertation, we review epidemiologic studies of cognitive activity and incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and all-cause dementia, and conduct a bias analysis that indicates the observed inverse associations are likely robust to unmeasured confounding, and probably only partially explained by reverse causation. While pursuing enjoyable cognitive activities may reduce dementia risk, better characterization of the type, duration, and timing of activity associated with late-life cognitive benefit is needed to develop recommendations applicable over the lifecourse.
The apolipoprotein episilon4 allele (APOE e4) is the most well established genetic risk factor for AD, and is also a risk factor for cerebrovascular disease (CVD). In Chapter 2, we use the counterfactual approach to mediation analysis to investigate the degree to which the negative effect on cognition of the e4 allele is attributable to its effects on CVD. Using neuroimaging and neuropsychological data from approximately 4,000 participants of the population-based Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility–Reykjavik Study, we found that 9% of the e4 effect on cognition was jointly mediated by white matter lesion volume and cerebral microbleeds (CMBs). While our finding that the e4 effect largely operates through non-vascular pathways aligns with previous research and present understanding of the action of apoE in AD and CVD pathogenesis, our study is the first to show a small effect specifically via markers of CVD pathology.
In Chapter 3, we investigate the role of CMBs further using the newly developed four-way decomposition approach. We found that when comparing e4 heterozygotes to e4 non-carriers, the e4 effect on memory was independent of CMBs. By contrast, when comparing e4 homozygotes to e4 heterozygotes, the e4 effect on memory was attributable to interaction between the effects of e4 alleles and CMBs, perhaps suggesting a greater vascular contribution for these individuals. Similar analyses in other population-based studies will be needed to confirm these findings and further elucidate the contributions of CMBs and CVD to the e4 effect on cognition.Epidemiology
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Sampson, Christopher Charles. "Improving understanding of flood risk in the insurance industry." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2014. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.738192.
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Dawson, Ian G. J. "Understanding and improving people's judgments of synergistic risks." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2011. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/210547/.
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Certain hazard combinations present a risk that is greater than the sum of the risk attributable to each constituent hazard. These ‘synergistic risks’ occur in several domains, can vary in magnitude, and often have life-threatening consequences. However, research concerning the extent to which people understand synergistic risks is in its infancy, and extant studies investigating this topic have encountered problems in identifying valid measures of subjective risk judgments for combined hazards. Consequently, few firm conclusions can be made about the extent to which people understand synergistic risks. This thesis presents four original research papers that aim to provide greater insight into peoples’ judgments of synergistic risks, and investigates how such judgments may be assessed and improved. Each of the studies presented in the four papers employs data obtained via questionnaires specifically designed to address each research question. In the first paper, two studies are presented that examine whether people believe that combined hazards can present synergistic risks. In the second paper, qualitative data is analysed to explore the cognitive reasoning that individuals employ when assessing the risk for combined hazards. The third paper presents a study that assess a new metric for the assessment of risk judgments for combined hazards, and a second study in which domain-experts’ and non-experts’ judgments are compared. The final paper features a study that investigates which message content (i.e., antecedent vs. probabilistic data) most effectively informs people about synergistic risks. The results show that many people can make veridical judgments of synergistic risks. The findings indicate such judgments may depend on factors that include hazard-specific knowledge, judgmental experience and a rudimentary awareness of an xiii underlying causal mechanism for the increased risk. However, many people also make non/less veridical judgments; often underestimating the magnitude of the synergistic risk or employing an additive risk model which corresponds to the notion of ‘adding’ one hazard to another. Furthermore, the findings suggest risk judgments for combined hazards do not vary according to hazard domain but, rather, according to the hazard characteristics. Importantly, the research also identifies both (a) a valid method of assessing peoples’ risk judgments for combined hazards, and (b) risk communications contents that can lead to significant improvement in individuals’ understanding of synergistic risks
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Emilien, Regine Alexandra. "Understanding the HIV Risk Behaviors in Haiti:A Rural-Urban Comparison." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2008. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/iph_theses/37.
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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the extent and potential correlates of sexual risk taking behaviors related to condom use and number of sexual partners among Haitians aged 15 to 49 years old living in the urban and rural areas.
Methods: Data were obtained from the 2005-2006 cross-sectional survey conducted by the Demographic Health survey. Our study population (15143) was analyzed based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) theory using a bivariate and multiple logistic regression analysis with SPSS for windows.
Results: In both rural and urban areas dwellers had an accurate knowledge of the disease. However, a small proportion in both areas used condoms during their last sexual intercourse. Perceiving the disease's severity was more likely associated with condom use in the urban (OR 1.36, p ≤ .01) and in the rural areas (OR 1.45, p ≤.05). Strong associations have been found between some variables of the HBM and condom use but none have been found associated with zero or one sex partner. Findings were similar in both areas
Conclusion: Holistic approach should be considered in the prevention strategy conducted in Haiti to tackle other factors that may contribute in delaying responsible sexual behavior in that country.
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Hunter, Amanda Louise. "Firefighters and acute myocardial infarction : understanding mechanisms and reducing risk." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/33254.
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Acute myocardial infarction is the commonest cause of death in firefighters, accounting for 45% of all deaths on duty. Compared with an average life expectancy of 77 years in the general population, the average age of cardiovascular death in firefighters is 50 years suggesting that occupational hazards are responsible for premature disease. The risk of acute myocardial infarction is increased 12- to 136-fold during rescue and firefighting duties, and is likely to reflect a combination of factors including strenuous physical exertion, mental stress, heat and pollutant exposure. Previous studies have established that the duties of a firefighter, in particular fire suppression, put inordinate strain on the cardiovascular system yet the exact mechanisms underlying the increased risk of myocardial infarction remain poorly defined. In a series of studies, I assessed the effect of occupation-specific risk factors on cardiovascular health in a combination of controlled and real-life studies in order to better define these mechanisms, hypothesising that exposure to high temperatures, strenuous physical exertion, psychological stress and air pollution either alone or in combination caused vascular dysfunction and thrombosis. In order to assess if firefighters had a greater cumulative risk of cardiovascular disease due to their occupation at baseline, I assessed the cardiovascular function of group of healthy, off-duty firefighters and compared this to a group of healthy age- and sex-matched off-duty police officers; an occupational group with similar responsibilities but a much lower risk of on-duty cardiovascular events. I was able to demonstrate that traditional cardiovascular risk factors, vascular endothelial function and thrombogenicity were similar in the two groups concluding that the excess of cardiovascular events and deaths in on-duty firefighters are due to the acute and transient effects of strenuous physical exertion, psychological stress, heat and exposure to air pollutants. Having established that off-duty firefighters had no apparent increased risk of cardiovascular events, I then went on to clarify the effects of combustion derived air pollution in the form of wood smoke on the cardiovascular system. The suppression of wildland or forest fires is globally the single most important duty of the fire service. Previous work within our institution has demonstrated the adverse effects of combustion derived air pollution, in the form of diesel exhaust, on the cardiovascular system. In a similar fashion, I assessed the effect of a wood smoke inhalation in a group of healthy off-duty firefighters by performing controlled exposures to wood smoke utilising a unique and well characterised facility. Interestingly, unlike diesel-exhaust, the exposure to wood smoke had no adverse effect on vascular endothelial function or thrombogenicity in this group concluding that cardiovascular events during wildland fire suppression may not be directly related to wood smoke inhalation but instead precipitated by other mechanisms such as strenuous physical exertion or dehydration. Latterly, I proceeded to evaluate the effects of strenuous physical exertion and heat exposure by comprehensively assessing a number of cardiovascular end points following controlled exposure to a fire simulation activity in a group of healthy, off-duty firefighters. I was able to demonstrate that exposure to extreme heat and physical exertion impaired vasomotor function and increased thrombus formation. Moreover, I demonstrated cardiac troponin concentrations increased suggesting that fire suppression activity may cause myocardial injury. These important findings suggest pathogenic mechanisms to explain the association between fire suppression activity and acute myocardial infarction. In the final phase of work, I endeavoured to assess the effects of real-life firefighter activities on the cardiovascular system. In an ambitious study, I attempted to undertake a comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular function in healthy firefighters following three periods of duty: fire suppression, alarm response and non-emergency activity. I was unable to complete enough studies to adequately power an analysis and draw any firm conclusions about the effect of these duties on cardiovascular health. Further work is required in a real-world setting to more clearly define the occupational risk factors underlying the increased risk of cardiovascular events associated with specific firefighter duties Understanding the biological mechanisms and environmental factors that predispose firefighters to cardiovascular events is essential if we are to develop effective methods for the prevention of acute myocardial infarction on-duty. This body of work has greatly improved the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the increased risk of cardiovascular events on duty and calls for the immediate evaluation of current practice in order to minimise risk to firefighters in the future. Examples of where improvements should be made include strategies to ensure adequate hydration and cooling following exposure to heat and physical exertion, change to working patterns to limit the duration of extreme exposures, and education, training and screening programmes to reduce the impact of traditional and occupational cardiovascular risk factors.
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Mast, Maria R. "Understanding Risk Factors in Opioid Addiction in Franklin County, Ohio." Franklin University / OhioLINK, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=frank1616006262553234.
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Stephanie, Kozina. "Understanding the Relationship of Trust and Risk in Online Shopping." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1336522674.
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Mori, Candace Lynn. "Understanding the Experience of Osteoporosis Risk in Bariatric Surgical Patients." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1573669680874186.
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Hamad, Anas Ahmad E. A. "Evaluating, understanding and managing medication incidents with high-risk antibiotics." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2015. http://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/evaluating-understanding-and-managing-medication-incidents-with-highrisk-antibiotics(7e31a512-b468-402c-a110-0b5903a6fab8).html.
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Medication incidents (MIs) were one of the top 3 patient-safety incidents reported to the National Reporting and Learning System in England and Wales over the last 10 years. Reported rates of MIs vary widely as different study methods and definitions are often used. Preventable medication harms could cost the National Health Service (NHS) in England alone £774 million a year. Antimicrobials are a drug class most often implicated in MIs. At least one-third of hospital inpatients are prescribed an antibiotic at some point during their stay. Retrospective incident report analysis was performed to evaluate the prevalence, incidence and nature of antibiotic-associated MIs reported at two large acute teaching Trusts. This analysis confirmed that antibiotic MIs are common especially in the prescribing and administration stages. Omission and wrong dose/frequency were the most common MI types. It was also highlighted that detailed analysis of data from reports is essential in understanding MIs and in developing strategies to prevent their recurrence. A novel approach was used in the analysis of reported MIs by applying the concept of defined daily doses (DDDs), a measure of antibiotic consumption, to establish a more accurate picture of the magnitude of risk of error with this class of drugs. Using DDDs in the analysis of MIs allowed an incident rate to be determined, which provided additional information about the relative frequency of error with particular antibiotic agents than the absolute numbers alone. It also highlighted the disproportionate risk associated with less commonly prescribed antibiotics not identified using MI reporting rates alone, especially if data is analysed over shorter time periods. Therefore, incident data should be interpreted alongside consumption data when determining which drugs are most ‘risky’ in practice. Important information (e.g. drug name) was missing in some reports, therefore it is necessary to make all essential fields in incident reporting systems mandatory. As data could only be compared once categories used for MI classification had been standardised, this highlights the importance of harmonised MI categories for comparison between different hospitals. The analysis of reported antibiotic-associated MIs at one large acute teaching Trust identified that one-third of dose/frequency errors reported were related to gentamicin and vancomycin. A local Failure Modes and Effects Analysis for gentamicin identified that risks with dose calculation and prescribing were greater than risks with preparation of infusions. A systematic review was conducted to identify interventions to manage the risks identified with dosing gentamicin and vancomycin. This review identified electronic clinical decision support (CDS) as an effective intervention. The existence of electronic prescribing and patient record systems at the Trust facilitated the development of electronic dose calculators for calculating initial treatment doses of gentamicin and vancomycin. A pre-post intervention study was conducted to assess the impact of these calculators on the accuracy of initial doses. This study showed that introduction of the calculators led to a significant improvement in the prescribing of initial doses of these agents. Use of such CDS tools can give rise to improvements in clinical care and this study suggests that organisations implementing electronic prescribing systems strongly consider including such CDS tools in their programmes. An interview-based study was undertaken to explore the views and experiences of doctors in prescribing gentamicin and vancomycin and the resources and methods they use to calculate the initial dose of these drugs. The main patterns for accurate dosing found in this study were being a SHO or JCF, using the Trust dosing tools, and treating a non-elderly patient with normal renal function. Prescribers who used the calculators or guidelines accurately were more likely to prescribe a correct dose compared to those who used standard doses (e.g. 5mg/kg gentamicin). However, some prescribers could not use the calculators properly which shows that more education on their use is needed. The main factors identified by prescribers to influence dose selection were patient parameters, Trust dosing tools, Microbiology advice, and clinical condition of the patient. A number of prescribers who obtained a correct dose using the calculators did not know some of the underlying calculations/values needed for dosing (e.g. ideal body weight). This identified that some prescribers may have an overreliance on CDS tools without a sufficient understanding of the parameters required which masks a potential source of error. Some doctors criticised the design of the calculators and preferred more accessible, user-friendly calculators that are integrated with other electronic systems in the Trust (e.g. electronic patient records). Taking doctors’ comments and recommendations into consideration in designing and updating dosing tools would increase the ownership of these tools and potentially their use to enhance safe and effective prescribing.
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Wahl, Elizabeth R. "Older adults' understanding of cardiovascular risk and preventive medication benefit." [New Haven, Conn. : s.n.], 2008. http://ymtdl.med.yale.edu/theses/available/etd-12092008-165627/.
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Alvarez, Amanda Milena. "Risk Acceptance and Contentious Politics: An Understanding of Protest Activity." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2019. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/581245.
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Political SciencePh.D.
What are the individual characteristics which motivate individuals to participate in contentious politics? This dissertation claims that risk acceptance as a psychological concept allows us to understand the individual predispositions that impact participation in protest activity. This dissertation project is significant to the field of political science in that it theorizes about the characteristics that make individuals risk acceptant and utilizes risk acceptance in the study of contentious politics, which has not been done before. I import claims from social psychology to highlight how lack of completion of several life cycle markers-which I name risk weights, such as marriage, parental status, and educational attainment amongst others-make individuals more risk acceptant. Once these risk weights are mapped onto risk, it allows one to determine and explain when protest activity is likely to occur. My dissertation uses a mixed-method approach to examine the relationship between risk acceptance and contentious politics. It is divided into the following components: one measure for risk acceptance, two online experiments, and field interviews in Chile. There are two main claims that this project posts: The first is that high levels of risk acceptance correspond with higher likelihood of participation in different forms of contentious political events, with case study work focusing on protest activity in Latin America. The second claim is that risk acceptance is a function of risk weights. The more risk weights that an individual has, the less likely they are to participate in contentious politics. Conversely, the fewer risk weights that an individual has, the more likely they are to participate in contentious political action. One of the important contributions of my work is that it treats risk acceptance as a purely psychological factor, one that is stable and only changes in accordance with risk weights, but that is not impacted by the context in which individuals are embedded. This means that the decision to participate or not participate in contentious political action is a function of the interaction between risk acceptance and some other contextual factors which are beyond the scope of my present research. This dissertation aims to identify the likelihood of participation for any individual. Social psychology has been underutilized in the study of contentious politics and can provide insights into why individuals self-select into these movements. In the context of worldwide mass mobilization, this allows us to understand the underlying individual psychological predispositions that lead to mass mobilizations and waves of mobilizations. Examining how these psychological mechanisms manifest themselves into various forms of contentious politics has important potential applications for the study of contentious politics.
Temple University--Theses
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Cheah, Sern Yih. "Understanding the risk and functional importance of schizophrenia genetic factors." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2016. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/101340/1/Sern%20Yih_Cheah_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis investigated the role of genetics in schizophrenia. Particular schizophrenia risk genes were examined to determine their role in the development of specific schizophrenia symptoms. These genes were further studied to determine how they interact to cause schizophrenia symptoms. One important schizophrenia risk gene (BDNF) was studied in detail to determine its effect on gene expression and epigenetic changes in brains of schizophrenia individuals. This thesis has contributed to a better understanding of the role of genetics in the development of particular symptoms of schizophrenia. The results presented in this thesis may ultimately lead to more accurate diagnosis and targeted treatment for schizophrenia leading to more effective treatments with less side-effects.
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Nebergall, Michelle L. "Understanding Perceptions Of Risk Among Youth In A South African Township." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1403102512.
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TRAORE, Fatoumata. "Understanding Sexual Risk Behaviors among Persons Living with HIV/AIDS in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1112511160.
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Meyer, Roman. "Understanding Options Mispricing An Empirical Analysis of Volatility Risk Premia and Earnings Disagreement as Priced Risk Factors /." St. Gallen, 2008. http://www.biblio.unisg.ch/org/biblio/edoc.nsf/wwwDisplayIdentifier/02601144002/$FILE/02601144002.pdf.
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Ober, Allison J. "Understanding the relationship between perceived partner risk behaviors and unprotected sex among low-income, high-risk women." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2009. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1934943111&sid=16&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Lee, Daniel. "Understanding views of risk, a case study of Swan Hills, Alberta." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape8/PQDD_0019/MQ47957.pdf.
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Hospers, Harm. "Homosexual men and the HIV epidemic understanding and changing risk behavior /." [Maastricht : Maastricht : Universiteit Maastricht] ; University Library, Maastricht University [Host], 1999. http://arno.unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=6881.
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Emilien, Régine Alexandra. "Understanding the HIV risk behaviors in Haiti a rural-urban comparison /." unrestricted, 2008. http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04302008-125002/.
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Thesis (M.P.H.)--Georgia State University, 2008.Title from file title page. Richard Rothenberg, committee chair; John Beltrami, Michael Eriksen, committee members. Electronic text (111 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Aug. 22, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-73).
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Mason, Daniel. "Understanding and recall of health risk information presented graphically and interactively." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.612727.
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McKay, Sarah Michele. "Understanding Organic Prices: An Analysis of Organic Price Risk and Premiums." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/71677.
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Organic food products are produced without synthetic chemicals, including herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. Food grown in organic systems that are certified organic by the United States Department of Agriculture command a price premium, whether it is direct to consumer via farmers markets or in conventional grocery stores. Organic food and food products are representing a relatively larger portion of overall food sales in recent years, and the demand for organic meat has also increased. However, there is a lack of available U.S.-grown organic grains and soybeans to feed the growing number of organic certified livestock to produce organic meat to meet this demand. This shortage results from many factors, yet is primarily due to organic production requirements for significantly more land and operating capital when compared to conventionally grown counterparts. There is a lack of information detailing the relative costs and returns of organic grain production, and, limited understanding of organic premiums. The overall goal of this study is to examine differences in price levels between organic and conventional corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, and barley between 2007 and 2015, as well as factors that may affect the organic premium. For organic grain and soybean producers, study findings reveal that the least risky organic commodities to grow include corn and soybeans, especially if sold in the cash market. However, the author suggests that growers may consider growing wheat, barley, and oats if they have a buyer willing to contract in advance to ensure a premium and reduce price risk. For purchasers of organic grains and soybeans, including major food companies as well as livestock producers, it is recommended they continue to study developments in organic grain supplies as producers continue to consider adoption of organic production methods.Master of Science
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Sasota, Jo A. "Understanding when interdependence with other people decreases or increases risk-taking." The Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1305839223.
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Lai, Pui Man Rosalind. "Understanding the Genetic Susceptibility and Epidemiologic Risk Factors of Intracranial Aneurysms." Thesis, Harvard University, 2015. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:15821583.
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Background and Objectives
Intracranial aneurysms affect up to 3% of the population and carry a high mortality and morbidity prognosis when presented with aneurysm rupture and spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Despite its severity on patient prognosis and cost to society, the pathologic mechanism of cerebral aneurysm formation and rupture remains unclear. The roles of genetics and epidemiology have been implicated to play major roles in the pathogenesis of aneurysm and patient outcome after SAH. Our studies serve to investigate both the genetic and epidemiologic factors associated with cerebral aneurysms through studying genome-wide association study (GWAS) of mitochondrial genes and the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database.
Methods
For our genetic study of cerebral aneurysms, we analyzed data from two existing GWAS databases targeting the nuclear-encoded mitochondrial gene loci. We identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 500kb of 794 candidate nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins using the human mitochondrial protein and MitoProteome databases. Plink was used to identify SNPs associated with cerebral aneurysms and a meta-analysis approach was used to calculate the pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the two combined studies. In addition, gene expression analysis using three gene omnibus (GEO) databases (GSE15629, GSE26969, GSE46337) was used to identify differential expression of the genes associated with the significant SNPs.
For our epidemiologic study of cerebral aneurysms, we analyzed patients using the NIS database from 2001 to 2010. Multivariate linear and logistic models were used to analyze the association between 1) cerebral aneurysm rupture and climatic factors, 2) cerebral aneurysm outcome and hospital teaching status, and 3) cerebral aneurysm outcome and patient insurance status.
Results
Genetic studies:
A new genome-wide significant SNP on chromosome 19 (rs7937, OR=2.71, 95%CI 1.81-4.05, p=3.46x10-5) was found to be associated with the formation of cerebral aneurysms. The expression of the gene associated with this SNP, RAB4B, was also found to be elevated in our subsequent differential gene expression analysis (RAB4B, OR=1.74, 95%CI 1.23-2.47, p=0.02).
Epidemiologic studies:
There were 38,843 hospitalizations for the treatment of unruptured and ruptured aneurysms. In the analysis of SAH rupture with meteorological pattern, decreased sunlight and lower relative humidity were associated with increased rate of admission (p<0.001). In ruptured cerebral aneurysms, the odds ratio of in-hospital death and non-routine discharges were 0.69 (95% CI 0.54-0.88) and 0.77 (95% CI 0.60-0.99) in teaching hospitals, independent of hospital aneurysm procedure volume. This difference was accentuated in patients who underwent microsurgical clipping. In the analysis of patient outcome with insurance status, the adjusted odds of in-hospital mortality were higher for Medicare (OR 1.23, p<0.001), Medicaid (OR 1.23, p<0.001), and uninsured patients (OR 1.49, p<0.001) compared with those with private insurance.
Conclusion
In our genetics analysis of cerebral aneurysms, we demonstrated that mitochondrial genes may play an important role in the pathogenesis of cerebral aneurysm formation, and further research is necessary to confirm and validate the relationship between RAB4B and cerebral aneurysm formation. Our nationwide study was the first to suggest the association between decreased sunlight and lower relative humidity with admission of ruptured cerebral aneurysms. Furthermore, the studies also showed that both the hospital teaching status and patient insurance status have significant associations with the outcome cerebral aneurysm rupture.
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Creech, Christina, Taylor Lacey, Elizabeth Patton, Brittany Jamison, and (Guntupalli) Chaya D. Nanjundeswaran. "Understanding Role of Occupational Risk Factors in Voice Problems of Teachers." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2015. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/1771.
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A survey was distributed to teachers in the East Tennessee Tri-Cities area to determine impact of occupational risk factors including voice use, work related factors and common practices of teachers’ everyday lives on the presence or absence of voice problems. Preliminary results regarding voice problems and potential factors are discussed.
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Davis, Heather A. "DO BULIMIC BEHAVIORS INCREASE SHAME? TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF TRANSDIAGNOSTIC RISK." UKnowledge, 2019. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/psychology_etds/163.
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Binge eating is a harmful, maladaptive behavior associated with comorbid psychopathology. Theory posits that increases in maladaptive, transdiagnostic emotions following binge eating in individuals with BN may predict the experience of comorbid symptoms. The current study served as a laboratory test of the first part of this theory: whether state increases in maladaptive emotions occur following engagement in binge eating behavior in women with BN compared with healthy controls. Women (n = 51) were recruited from the community if they met DSM-5 criteria for BN or OSFED BN (of low frequency) (n = 21) or were free of lifetime disordered eating and current psychopathology (n = 30). Participants completed questionnaires assessing eating disorder symptoms (preoccupation with weight and shape, urge to vomit), state shame, and state negative affect before and after consuming a test meal in which they were instructed to binge. Women with BN endorsed significantly greater preoccupation with weight and shape and urge to vomit following test meal consumption compared with controls. Women with BN reported significant increases in state shame, but not state negative affect, following test meal consumption, compared with controls. Results are consistent with a model indicating binge eating precipitates increases in state shame among women with BN. Given shame’s status as a transdiagnostic risk factor, future work should clarify whether state shame following binge eating predicts increases in comorbid symptoms.
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Jagelka, Tomáš. "Preferences, Ability, and Personality : Understanding Decision-making Under Risk and Delay." Thesis, Université Paris-Saclay (ComUE), 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019SACLX028/document.
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Les préférences, les aptitudes et la personnalité prédisent un large éventail de réalisations économiques. Je les mets en correspondance dans un cadre structurel de prise de décision en utilisant des données expérimentales uniques collectées sur plus de 1 200 personnes prenant chacune plus de 100 décisions à enjeu financier.J’estime conjointement les distributions des préférences pour le risque et le temps dans la population, leur stabilité au niveau individuel et la tendance des gens à faire des erreurs. J’utilise le modèle à préférences aléatoires (RPM) dont il a été récemment démontré que ses propriétés théoriques sont supérieures à celles des modèles précédemment employés. Je montre que le RPM a une forte validité interne. Les cinq paramètres structurels estimés dominent un large éventail de variables démographiques et socio-économiques lorsqu'il s'agit d'expliquer des choix individuels observés.Je démontre l’importance économique et économétrique de l’utilisation des chocs aux préférences et de l’incorporation du paramètre dit de « la main tremblante ». Les erreurs et l’instabilité des préférences sont liées à des capacités différentes. Je propose un indice de rationalité qui les condense en un indicateur unique prédictif des pertes de bien-être.J'utilise un modèle à facteurs pour extraire la capacité cognitive et les « Big Five » traits de la personnalité à partir de nombreuses mesures. Ils expliquent jusqu’à 50% de la variation des préférences des gens et de leur capacité à faire des choix rationnels. La conscienciosité explique à elle seule 45% et 10% de la variation transversale du taux d'actualisation et de l'aversion au risque, ainsi que 20% de la variation de leur stabilité individuelle. En outre, l'aversion au risque est liée à l'extraversion et les erreurs dépendent des capacités cognitives, de l’effort, et des paramètres des tâches. Les préférences sont stables pour l'individu médian. Néanmoins, une partie de la population a une certaine instabilité des préférences qui est indicative d’une connaissance de soi imparfaite.Ces résultats ont des implications à la fois pour la spécification des modèles économiques de forme réduite et structurels, et aussi pour l’explication des inégalités et de la transmission intergénérationnelle du statut socio-économiquePreferences, ability, and personality predict a wide range of economic outcomes. I establish a mapping between them in a structural framework of decision-making under risk and delay using unique experimental data with information on over 100 incentivized choice tasks for each of more than 1,200 individuals.I jointly estimate population distributions of risk and time preferences complete with their individual-level stability and of people’s propensity to make mistakes. I am the first to do so using the Random Preference Model (RPM) which has been recently shown to have desirable theoretical properties over previously used frameworks. I show that the RPM has high internal validity. The five estimated structural parameters largely dominate a wide range of demographic and socio-economic variables when it comes to explaining observed individual choices between risky lotteries and time-separated payments.I demonstrate the economic and econometric significance of appending shocks directly to preferences and of incorporating the trembling hand parameter - their necessary complement in this framework. Mistakes and preference instability are not only separately identified but they are also linked to different cognitive and non-cognitive skills. I propose a Rationality Index which condenses them into a single indicator predictive of welfare loss.I use a factor model to extract cognitive ability and Big Five personality traits from noisy measures. They explain up to 50% of the variation in both average preferences and in individuals’ capacity to make consistent rational choices. Conscientiousness explains 45% and 10% respectively of the cross-sectional variation discount rates and risk aversion respectively as well as 20% of the variation in their individual-level stability. Furthermore, risk aversion is related to extraversion and mistakes are a function of cognitive ability, task design, and of effort. Preferences are stable for the median individual. Nevertheless, a part of the population exhibits some degree of preference instability consistent with imperfect self-knowledge.These results have implications both for specifying reduced form and structural economic models, and for explaining inequality and the inter-generational transmission of socioeconomic status
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An, Gie Yong. "A Social-Ecological Approach to Understanding Natural Disaster Preparedness and Risk Perception amongst Immigrants: A Multi-Method Inquiry." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37007.
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To increase disaster preparedness in immigrants, risk communication and management need to be tailored to their needs and concerns. To this end, research needs to uncover how immigrants construe natural disaster risks and issues in the context of the receiving community’s social environment, and how their experiences compared to the general population. The goal of this thesis was to understand how risk perception and the social environment relate to immigrants and Canadian-born individuals’ disaster preparedness. The relationship between risk perception and disaster preparedness was investigated in the first study. Analyses of the data from a national survey revealed that both groups shared three core risk perception dimensions: external responsibility for disaster management, self-preparedness responsibility, and illusiveness of preparedness. However, they differed in the salience of five risk perception beliefs. For both groups, external responsibility for disaster management and self-preparedness responsibility were positively associated with preparedness behaviours, whereas illusiveness of preparedness was negatively related to preparedness behaviours. In the second study, the relationship between community social capital and individuals’ preparedness behaviours was investigated. Analyses of two conceptually-linked national surveys revealed that neighbourhood contact and societal trust predicted during-disaster preparedness behaviours in both groups. Interestingly, societal trust positively predicted emergency planning in Canadian-born individuals but the reverse was true for immigrants. To provide a comprehensive social-ecological perspective, twenty-two individual interviews were conducted to explore immigrants and Canadian-born individuals’ lived experiences of natural disaster risks and issues. A unifying thread across five emergent themes showed that individuals did not perceive natural disaster risks as a valid threat and disaster preparedness as relevant to their daily lives because they believed that the positive social environment in Canada would mitigate the risks. For immigrants, the immigrant condition and culture shaped how they construed natural disaster risks and issues. Overall, findings suggest that risk communication and management need to focus on building human capital and social capital, use an all-of-society engagement approach, and reframe all-hazards preparedness as relevant for daily stressors. Specific for immigrants, disaster initiatives need to be tailored to the timeline of experience of being an immigrant within the context of their receiving communities.
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Birchmore, Ian. "Understanding public sector risk : a study into the nature and assessment of strategic risk in English local authorities." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2014. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/65694/.
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The research establishes a context-specific sense of strategic risk in English local authorities. Uncertainty is found to be central to understanding risk but current practice is found not to reflect this, presenting risks with a false and misleading precision. Risks are identified to have varying, multiple characteristics. Risk assessment models which embrace these characteristics are developed and tested using a consistently applied bespoke risk data set developed for the research. Issues of control confidence and the betrayal of stakeholder trust are explored within these risk assessment models. The research proposes an accessible, fuzzy risk assessment model with an ability to inform decision-making beyond the mere ranking of risks provided by current practice approaches.
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Burnett, Emma Jane. "Understanding risk perceptions and responses of the public, healthcare professionals and the media : the case of Clostridium difficile." Thesis, University of Dundee, 2015. https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/ce827691-9027-449b-98ae-50b32c44c14c.
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My original contribution to knowledge is the emergence of an inductively derived conceptual framework that provides a generic account of the way in which people construct and communicate risk. Within this framework, a detailed contextual understanding of how this was applied to C.difficile is developed. Furthermore, in seeking to place responses to health risks in the wider social, cultural and political context, moving beyond a standard critique of media output, an understanding of both how and why the media report health-related risks helped identify ways in which the media can influence how people can construct and communicate about risks. The incidence and severity of C.difficile infection is increasing and it is one of the most common healthcare associated infections, posing a global threat to public health. With the occurrence of major outbreaks within the UK and elsewhere, fear, confusion and unsafe infection prevention and control practices continue to exist among the public and healthcare professionals. Consequently, C.difficile is of particular interest to the media, being the focus of much media reporting. How the public perceive and respond to a health-related risk is shaped by a range of socially and contextually structured evaluations and interpretations, based on a range of factors such as availability heuristics, direct and indirect experiences and social influences, particularly those emanating from the media. Expert risk perceptions and responses on the other hand, are sometimes supposed to be more veridical than those of the public because they are based on calculations of scientific probabilities. Risk perceptions and responses however are context dependent and therefore to be understood, need to be considered within the context that they are perceived and experienced. There is currently little risk perception empirical research to draw upon within the context of C.difficile. The aim of this study was to explore risk perceptions and responses of the public and healthcare professionals within the context of C.difficile and to examine the role of the media in health-related risk reporting. This qualitative study adopted three approaches to data collection: a media coverage analysis of a major C.difficile outbreak, focus groups with the public and healthcare professionals in two geographical areas (an outbreak versus a non-outbreak area), and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with media professionals. The media coverage analysis found that the media portrayed key individuals involved in the outbreak as victims, villains and heroes. These ‘characters’ evolved as the outbreak progressed and new information became available. Such representations were frequently used as a backdrop for the public and healthcare professionals in order to support or refute their perceptions about C.difficile. For the public and healthcare professionals, the consequence of C.difficile and why it occurred was much more salient than estimations of the probability or likelihood of it occurring. Conceptual factors that were found to be important in influencing perceptions included: feelings of vulnerability; attribution of responsibility; judgements about competence; and evaluations of risk communicators. Media professionals were seen as important risk communicators in the focus groups, however they saw themselves as predominantly story tellers and entertainers, rather than ‘educators’. They also believed themselves to be advocates for the public whereby they uncover information that officialdom would seek to keep hidden. What emerged from this study was a coherent, structured and generic account of how various stakeholders construct and communicate about risk. Within this conceptual structuring, a detailed contextual understanding of how this was applied by the public and healthcare professionals around C.difficile was gained. Findings indicate that uncertainty, fear and confusion about C.difficile exist that appear to be influenced by a range of contextual factors such as indirect and direct experiences, social interaction and the media. If risk management and communication strategies are to influence the desired and effective responses towards C.difficile and wider health-related risks, those responsible for managing and communicating risk must consider already established risk perceptions in addition to the factors that have influenced such risk perceptions.
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Sayah, Mabelle. "Understanding some new Basel III implementation issues for Lebanese Commercial Banks." Thesis, Lyon, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017LYSE1150/document.
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L'objectif de cette thèse est de fournir à la banque Audi un outil à jour sur les façons de calculer le capital requis par Bâle pour certains risques financiers présents dans le portefeuille de la banque. La régulation internationale est en développement continu : des nouvelles approches sont proposées afin de couvrir au mieux les risques du marché et du secteur bancaire. Les crises financières récentes étaient à la base de ces réformes. De plus, la Banque Audi opère sur des marchés qui présentent des caractères spécifiques qu'il faut prendre en considération lors du calcul du capital requis. Cette thèse se concentre sur le risque de taux d'intérêt dans le livre de négociation de la banque, le risque de contrepartie et précisément l'ajustement d'évaluation de crédit tout en incorporant l'impact de la corrélation entre la qualité du crédit de la contrepartie et l'exposition prévue envers cette même contrepartie. La première partie de cette thèse traite de la nouvelle méthodologie suggérée par Bâle sur le Trading Book : Fundamental Review of the Trading Book. Le risque de taux d'intérêt est particulièrement analysé en utilisant la méthode standard, Sensitivity Based Approach (SBA), et des méthodes plus 'traditionnelles' de valeur à risque tout en utilisant différents modèles tels que Generalized Auto Regressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH), l'Analyse en Composantes Principales (ACP), l'Analyse en composantes indépendantes (ACI) et la version dynamique du modèle de taux de Nelson Siegel (DNS). Une application sur des portefeuilles d'obligations zéro coupons de différentes devises permet d'identifier la diversification des résultats entre les marchés stables européens (comme la France), moins stables (exemple Etats-Unis) et les marchés émergents (tel la Turquie). La deuxième partie est consacrée au risque de Contrepartie. Récemment, un nouveau capital est requis par les normes de Bâle afin de couvrir ce genre de risque. En 2014, la méthode est publiée : Standardized Approach for Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR). On applique cette méthode sur différents types de produits dérivés afin de comparer le capital demandé par cette approche à celui obtenu par les modèles internes. Les modèles internes incorporent les estimations historiques ainsi que les projections futures du marché tout en se basant sur des modèles bien connus tels que Vasicek et GARCH. Plusieurs structures de hedging sont mises en place afin de mesurer l'impact de chacune sur les deux montants de capitaux requis (sous la méthode standard ou l'IMM). L'effet sur des produits en EUR et USD reflété que le modèle interne demande 80% du capital standard quand aucune stratégie de hedging n'est mise en place. Par contre, le hedging semble être beaucoup plus favorisé par le modèle standard que le modèle interne. La troisième partie est toujours sur le risque de Contrepartie, mais se focalise sur l'ajustement d'´évaluation de crédit (CVA). Ce sujet ne faisait pas partie des capitaux requis sauf récemment. A cause de son grand impact durant les récentes crises financières. Dès lors, si une opération avec des produits dérivés ne passe pas par une central clearing houses, un capital pour le CVA est requis. Dans ce travail, on détaille les méthodes acceptées par Bâle afin de calculer ces capitaux et on les compare entre elles. La comparaison se fait en se basant sur des portefeuilles de swap de taux d'intérêts avec, comme contreparties, différents pays d'Investment Grade. Cet article incorpore en plus l'impact de la corrélation entre la détérioration de la qualité de la contrepartie et l'augmentation de l'exposition prévue avec cette contrepartie connue sous le nom de WrongWay Risk : des modèles de correction d'erreurs (ECM) sont mis en place afin de déterminer ce lien. Les résultats permettent de montrer l'importance d'utiliser les CDS des contreparties et non de se limiter à leur note (Investment Grade ou pas)This thesis aims at providing Bank Audi with an updated tool to understand and investigate in given risk types encountered in their portfolios and the way Basel suggests computing their capital charges. International regulator is constantly changing and modifying previously used approaches to enhance the reflection of the market and banking sector risks. The recent financial crisis played a major role in these reforms, in addition the situation of Bank Audi and the markets it is operating in, represent certain specifications that should be accounted for. The work handles interest rate risk in the trading book, Counterparty Credit Risk faced with derivatives along a closer look on the Credit Valuation Adjustment topic and the incorporation of Wrong Way Risk. The first part discusses the new Fundamental Review of the Trading Book: focusing on the general interest rate risk factor, the paper compared Basel’s Sensitivity Based Approach (SBA) capital charge to more traditional approaches of VaR using several models such as Generalized Auto Regressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH), Principal Components Analysis (PCA), Independent Components Analysis (ICA) and Dynamic Nelson Siegel. Application on portfolios with zero coupon bonds of different sovereigns revealed the divergence in results between stable markets (such as France and Germany), less stable (such as the USA) and emergent markets (such as Turkey). The second part is dedicated to the Counterparty Credit Risk. A new capital charge methodology was proposed by Basel and set as a standard rule in 2014: the Standardized Approach for Counterparty Credit Risk (SA-CCR). Applying this approach on different derivatives portfolios, we compared it to internal models. The internal methodologies incorporated historical estimations and future projections based on Vasicek and GARCH models. Different hedging cases were investigated on EUR and USD portfolios. The impact of each hedging technique and the difference between IMM and the standardized methods were highlighted in this work: without hedging, the internal approach amends 80% of the standardized capital whereas, in general, the hedging is encouraged more under the standardized approach relatively to its capital reduction under the internal model. The third part remains a part of the Counterparty Credit Risk however, the main focus in this work is the Credit Valuation Adjustment. This topic was neglected in terms of capital charge earlier but due to its important impact is now incorporated as a capital charge amended when no central clearing is put in place when dealing with derivatives. We focus on the regulatory approaches of capital computation, comparing both accepted approaches based on portfolios of interest rate swaps held with investment grade sovereigns. An incorporation of the Wrong Way Risk is another addition in this work: using Error Correction Models we were able to reflect the impact of the correlation between the exposure and the credit quality of the investment grade sovereign we are dealing with. Based on such results, a suggestion of a re-calibrated standardized approach is in place to encourage the use of the CDS as an indicator of the credit quality of the counterparty and not its grade (investment or not) as followed by the new Basel regulations
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Espinoza, Enrique. "Understanding help-seeking behavior among at-risk Latino male high school students." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1591627.
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The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the internal and external influences on help-seeking behavior in Latino male high school students (n=22) who were academically at-risk. Participants were asked to describe how and why they sought assistance from school counselors for academic and personal concerns. The data were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. The findings indicated various cultural and societal factors (gender roles, masculinity/machismo, face, and teachers of masculinity) that negatively influence help-seeking habits, while internal factors (positive internal strength, perceived knowledge and competence, and trusting relationships) were identified as positive influencers. These influencers related to one another and their relationship is drawn out in a model that described the experience of participants. Recommendations for future research and practice are provided for scholars and school personnel who work with this population.
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Alrayani, H. H. A. "Understanding the biomechanical risk factors of patellofemoral pain (PFP) in military individuals." Thesis, University of Salford, 2018. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/48203/.
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Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is one of the major sources of chronic knee pain in young athletes, affecting one in four individuals. To progress further in this field, prospective studies are therefore needed in order to gain a better understanding of the biomechanical risk factors of PFP and to develop future treatment and prevention strategies. With this in mind, the main purpose of the present PhD thesis is to prospectively examine individuals’ lower limb movements with two-dimensional (2D) video analysis and muscle strength with a handheld dynamometer (HHD) in order to screen for PFP development, in addition to other lower limb injuries. Therefore, a systematic review and meta- analysis in addition to three studies were conducted within this thesis to investigate the factors involved in the development of PFP. In the first study, 15 healthy subjects (6 male and 9 female) participated in a reliability study (within-day, between-day, intra-rater, and inter-rater reliability) of 2D frontal plane projection angle (FPPA) and hip adduction (HADD) angle. They also participated in a validation study for 2D motion analysis against the gold standard of three-dimensional (3D) motion analysis. In the second study, eight healthy male subjects participated in a between-day reliability and validity study for 2D analysis and HHD strength tests against the gold standard of 3D analysis, using Qualysis Track Manager (QTM) system and an isokinetic dynamometer for the measurements of lower limb kinematics (FPPA, Q-angle, HADD, knee flexion, ankle dorsiflexion, and rearfoot angle) and strength (hip abductors and knee extensors). The main study was undertaken with 315 healthy male infantry cadets and recruits from King Abdul- Aziz Military Academy (KAMA) and two other basic military training centres in Saudi Arabia. Lower limb kinematics and muscle strength were measured during running (RUN), single leg squatting (SLS), and single leg landing (SLL) in the first week of training, and were followed up over the participants’ 12 weeks of basic military training for the occurrence of PFP and other lower limb injuries. Participants who developed PFP had a significantly greater FPPA and Q-angle during SLS, SLL, and RUN, as well as a significantly greater HADD during SLS and SLL, than participants who did not develop PFP. In addition, the injured group had significantly lower knee extensor and hip abductor muscle strength during the baseline assessment when compared to the noninjured group. The logistic regression revealed that FPPA during SLL significantly predicts the development of PFP. Therefore, this appears to be a suitable method for screening of PFP risk before joining basic military training.
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Ruszczyk, Hanna Alina. "The everyday and events : understanding risk perceptions and resilience in urban Nepal." Thesis, Durham University, 2017. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12440/.
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This thesis argues for a broader and deeper understanding of urban risk perception and resilience in under researched, ordinary medium sized cities of the world such as Bharatpur, Nepal. A detailed intra urban comparison of a core urban ward and a rapidly urbanising ward provide a conceptual and methodological tool showcasing a complex risk landscape as perceived by residents. In the everyday, respondents perceive a range of risks including economic security and physical infrastructure. Through participation in informal governance structures (women’s groups and neighbourhood groups), some residents are addressing urban risk in the everyday. Women’s groups are a form of informal urban social, economic and environmental resilient infrastructure while neighbourhood groups are allowed to do more, thus reworking the urban to address their perceived risks. Bharatpur, Nepal provides an opportunity to learn from its inhabitants: what the urban “we” perceive as risks, how the urban “we” enact resilience and or rework the urban as well as how they attempt to create and influence a future that is of benefit to them and their communities. Two events lead to a changing risk environment for residents and the local authority. The change in administrative status (from a municipality to a sub metropolitan city) and the devastating Gorkha earthquake highlight the complexity of risk perceptions and practices shaping people’s response to risky events. Through these events, risk for poorer, marginalised residents is being accumulated and responses to perceived risk may need to be reworked by informal organisations that currently have power in the city. Through the lens of these two events as well as the everyday, the role of the local authority is viewed as a particularly important form of risk governance in the city. The local authority manages the informality of risk governance space allowing some groups of residents to address their perceived risks while excluding segments of society. The international aid community’s ambivalence towards the problematic resilience discourse framing their work is also made visible in this research. The international aid community of Nepal is utilising disaster community resilience in two distinct ways: as a bridging mechanism for their siloed work and as a project management tool of the donors to manage practitioners. The resilience lens ignores urban residents’ perceptions of risk and power dynamics in society. This results in an assumption that “communities” can become resilient. The overarching contribution of this research is the linking of disaster and urban studies of ordinary medium sized cities through the concepts of risk perceptions, resilience, community and a multi scale analysis leading to insights of relevance for theory, policy and practice. This research argues to de-privilege disasters and a conceptual space is created for engaging through time and space with a broader interpretation of urban risk and urban resilience as perceived by actors from the local to the national and to the international scale.
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Sundrani, Aamir (Aamir Sultan). "Understanding social amplification of risk : possible impact of an avian flu pandemic." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39680.
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Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-75).
Today, stakeholders expect organizations to be able to endure external shocks. Hence, the real potential of an avian flu pandemic has many corporations developing business continuity plans for the disruptions that a pandemic may cause. For the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry, the major concerns of a pandemic include high employee absentee rates, lack of accessibility to the medical facilities, and disruption to the product supply chain. This work introduces social amplification of risk theory to evaluate the potential impact of a pandemic to a business due to heightened fear. It uses a case study of Genzyme Corporation and evaluates pandemic related risks to two of its major products. By applying a system dynamics framework to evaluate the mechanisms for the amplification of risks, a solution is proposed. The lessons introduced in this work can help organizations evaluate the true risks of catastrophic events.
by Aamir Sundrani.
S.M.
M.B.A.