Attribution of Human VTEC O157 Infection from Meat Products: A Quantitative Risk Assessment Approach

To address the risk posed to human health by the consumption of VTEC O157 within contaminated pork, lamb, and beef products within Great Britain, a quantitative risk assessment model has been developed. This model aims to simulate the prevalence and amount of VTEC O157 in different meat products at consumption within a single model framework by adapting previously developed models. The model is stochastic in nature, enabling both variability (natural variation between animals, carcasses, products) and uncertainty (lack of knowledge) about the input parameters to be modeled. Based on the model assumptions and data, it is concluded that the prevalence of VTEC O157 in meat products (joints and mince) at consumption is low (i.e., <0.04%). Beef products, particularly beef burgers, present the highest estimated risk with an estimated eight out of 100,000 servings on average resulting in human infection with VTEC O157.     

Effects of Seeing and Hearing Vowels on Neonatal Facial Imitation

For several decades, many authors have claimed the existence, early in life, of a tight link between perceptual and productive systems in speech. However, the question whether this link is acquired or is already present at birth remains open. This study aimed at investigating this question by employing the paradigm of neonatal facial imitation. We compared imitative responses of newborn infants presented either visual‐only, audiovisual congruent, or audiovisual incongruent models. Our results revealed that the newborns imitated significantly more quickly the movements of the model's mouth when this model was audiovisual congruent rather than visual‐only. Moreover, when observing an audiovisual incongruent model, the newborns did not produce imitative behavior. These findings, by highlighting the influence of speech perception on newborns' imitative responses, suggest that the neural architecture for perception–production is already in place at birth. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of a link between language and neonatal imitation, which could represent a precursor of more mature forms of vocal imitation and speech development in general.     

Shewhart x-charts with estimated process variance

Properties of the Shewhart X-chart for controlling the mean of a process with a normal distribution are investigated for the situation where the process variance Ó²must be estimated from initial sample data. The control limits of the X-chart depend on the estimate of Ó²and thus, unlike the case when Ó²is known, the X-chart is not equivalent to a sequence of independent tests. When Ó²is estimated the distribution of the run length is not geometric and cannot be characterized simply in terms of the probability of a signal at a given point. The average run length (ARL) for the X-chart is expressed in terms of an integral involving the normal cdf, and it is shown that the chart signals with

probability one, but the ARL may not be finite if the size of the 2 sample used to estimate Ó²is sufficiently small. In addition, certain bounds for the ARL are also derived. Numerical integration is use to show that the effect of using small sample sizes in estimating Ó²is to increase the ARL and the variance of the run length distribution     

Politics,institutional structures,and the rise of economics: A comparative study

Theory and Society -     

Comparisons of some tests for validation of stochastic simulation models

Properties of proposed parametric and nonparametric tests for the problem of validating stochastic simulation models are discussed. Asymptotic efficiencies for various types of alternatives are developed for some of the tests. Numerical procedures along with simulation methods are used to evaluate the adequacy of normal approximations to the null distributions of the statistics and the small-sample power of the tests.     

Gender and Community Context: An Analysis of Husbands’ Household Authority in Rural Guatemala

Drawing on research about womens autonomy, gender, and development, and Latin America, I analyze individual, household, and community-level factors associated with husbands sole authority with regard to four household issues: (1) money management; decision-making about (2) food purchases, (3) medicine purchases, and (4) health providers. The results point to how husbands authority varies across household issues and how the dynamics of authority differ with regard to money management and the other decision-making issues studied. This study found that husbands authority varied not only by individual characteristics but also by community features and thus adds to efforts to represent more fully how context matters to household gender relations.     

Das Reflektierende Team als Methode des „Peer-Coaching“

The Reflecting Team as method of ?peer coaching“ Presented is the employment of coaching in leadership training to grant for the participants a ?peer coaching“ method (collegial case study) for the day by day operations. The scope is the expansion for the problem solving capability. As methodical procedure is a ?reflecting team“, which originally was developped in the systemic psychotherapy and is applied as well as supervisory tool in a modified form. Application possibilities and methodical procedures as frame conditions are described. The feed back by the participants refering to usefullness and practical results are in general of positiv relevance.     

Enhancing Competence in Health Social Work Education Through Simulation-Based Learning: Strategies From a Case Study of a Family Session

ABSTRACT

Simulation-based learning (SBL) is a powerful tool for social work education, preparing students to practice in integrated health care settings. In an educational environment addressing patient health using an integrated care model, there is growing emphasis on students developing clinical competencies prior to entering clinical placements or clinical practice settings. This article highlights the importance of SBL in the development of the clinical competencies of graduate social work students enrolled in a Social Work Practice in Health course. The development and implementation of an educational initiative using a family-based simulation scenario to enhance classroom learning for health social work practice is described, and recommendations for future educational initiatives using SBL are provided.