This study investigates the relationship between the social enterprises’ normative identity and social performance. Social enterprises are considered hybrid organizations that simultaneously pursue ...economic value and social value. To meet an SE’s mission and objectives, they need to build a normative identity and normative networks. This study examines how an SE’s normative identity and normative networks influence its performance. In particular, this study focuses on social performance. To test our hypotheses, we used survey data from CESE in Korea. The survey included samples from 1437 social enterprises that are certified by the government as social enterprises. Our dataset was constructed by sampling 300 social enterprises that attained the social incentive from the CSES. Social incentives are the reward for social performance. The findings suggest that while an SE’s normative identity orientation does not affect social performance, normative activity influences social performance. In addition, the legitimacy of an SE moderates the relationship between the normative network and social performance. These findings contribute to our understanding of an SE’s identity and social performance.
Fe(II) is an excellent promoter for advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) because of its environmental ubiquity and low toxicity. This study is among the first to characterize the reaction of ...peracetic acid (PAA) with Fe(II) ion and apply the Fe(II)/PAA AOP for degradation of micropollutants. PAA reacts with Fe(II) (k = 1.10 × 105–1.56 × 104 M–1 s–1 at pH 3.0–8.1) much more rapidly than H2O2 and outperforms the coexistent H2O2 for reaction with Fe(II). While PAA alone showed minimal reactivity with methylene blue, naproxen, and bisphenol-A, significant abatement (48–98%) of compounds was observed by Fe(II)/PAA at initial pH of 3.0–8.2. The micropollutant degradation by Fe(II)/PAA exhibited two kinetic phases (very rapid then slow) related to PAA and H2O2, respectively. Based on experimental evidence, formation of carbon-centered radicals (CH3C(O)O•, CH3C(O)•, and •CH3), •OH, and Fe(IV) reactive intermediate species from the PAA and Fe(II) reactions in the presence of H2O2 is hypothesized. The carbon-centered radicals and/or Fe(IV) likely played an important role in micropollutant degradation in the initial kinetic phase, while •OH was important in the second reaction phase. The transformation products of micropollutants showed lower model-predicted toxicity than their parent compounds. This study significantly advances the understanding of PAA and Fe(II) reaction and demonstrates Fe(II)/PAA to be a feasible advanced oxidation technology.
•Discharge of metals with leachate was greatly reduced by seepage through downgradient soils.•Leachate acidity was also ameliorated during downward seepage.•Negligible elution of Pb and Cu was due to ...their high selectivity on soil matrix.•Both element release and its retention by clean soils were seepage rate-limited.•Leachate sulfate levels can be an awareness of off-site mobilization of metallic elements.
Soil attenuation of off-site leaching potential of metallic elements at the two abandoned mine sites was investigated using batch sorption and layered column studies. In batch study, the leachate concentration-specific sorption (Kd*) by downgradient clean soils was in the order of Pb>Cu>Cd>Zn>As for DY site and Pb>As>Cu>Cd>Zn for BS site. In the layered (mine+clean) soil column, element elution was significantly reduced (e.g., no initial flush, retarded peak arrival, and lower peak concentration) while sulfate elution can be an indicator of the dissolution of sulfur-bearing minerals in mine soils. The greatest reduction was observed for Pb and Cu while the lowest was for Cd (2–19%) and Zn (6–51%), consistent with the batch data. Both the reduced elution at slow seepage and concentration drop after flow interruption support the time-limited propensity. In column segments, the sorptive elements (Cu, Pb, and As) were dominantly found in the inlet while less sorptive ones (Zn and Cd) in the outlet. Both batch and column data suggest that the element leaching with mine leachate movement can be greatly attenuated by the interactions with the surrounding downgradient soil during the seepage process.
Objective: To examine overweight trends over a 22‐year period among preschool‐aged children from primarily middle‐income families enrolled in a health maintenance organization.
Research Methods and ...Procedures: From well‐child care visits to a Massachusetts health maintenance organization, we randomly selected one visit per child per calendar year, yielding a study sample of 120,680 children seen at 366,109 visits from 1980 through 2001. Using multivariate logistic regression models accounting for repeated observations of individual children across years, we estimated trends in prevalence of overweight (weight‐for‐length/height ≥ 95th percentile) and at‐risk‐for‐overweight (85th to 95th percentile).
Results: Over the 22‐year study period, the observed prevalence of overweight increased from 6.3% to 10.0% and at‐risk‐for‐overweight increased from 11.1% to 14.4%. These increases were evident among all groups of children including infants < 6 months of age. Overall, the adjusted odds ratios were 1.21 per decade (95% confidence interval, 1.17 to 1.25) for overweight and 1.06 per decade (95% confidence interval, 1.03 to 1.08) for at‐risk‐for‐overweight.
Discussion: Rates of overweight are increasing in very young children, even infants, from primarily middle‐class families.
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Organic photodetectors (OPDs) have drawn extensive research efforts due to their tailorable spectral response, ease of processing, compatibility with flexible devices and cooling-free ...operations. In this review, we outline the promising strategies for constructing high-performance and highly stable photodiodes-based OPDs from the perspectives of molecular engineering, morphology control, and device structure design. Firstly, the impact of molecular design and morphology control on OPD performance is clearly underlined and the molecular design rules and quantitative analysis methods are presented for high-performance OPDs. Subsequently, some striking device designs for multifunctional applications are discussed to elucidate the corresponding mechanism for various responses. What follows are the research efforts of boosting OPD stability for commercial applications. This review not only presents the detailed discussion on various OPD strategies aiming at simultaneously enhancing performance and stability but also provides some insights for the remaining challenges to make further breakthrough of OPDs.
Background: Patients with end-stage kidney disease face increased risk of cardiovascular events, and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) contributes to the high occurrence of cardiovascular ...mortality (CM). Although a high serum aldosterone (sALD) level is involved in the development of cardiovascular complications in the general population, this association is unclear in patients undergoing hemodialysis. We aimed to determine the impact of sALD on LVDD and CM among hemodialysis patients (HDPs).
Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study of maintenance HDPs without cardiovascular disease. The patients were divided into two groups according to the median level of sALD. All patients underwent baseline echocardiography to evaluate diastolic dysfunction (E/e’ ratio > 15). The LVDD and CM rates were compared between the high and low aldosterone groups.
Results: We enrolled a total of 60 adult patients (mean age, 57.9 ± 12.1 years; males, 30.0%). The low aldosterone group had an increased left ventricular diastolic dimension compared with the high aldosterone group (52.2 ± 8.4 mm vs. 50.3 ± 5.2 mm, respectively; p = 0.03). Low log-aldosterone (odds ratio OR, 0.40; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.19-0.86) and large left atrial dimension (OR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.11-1.54) were independent risk factors for LVDD at baseline. In addition, Cox regression analysis demonstrated that low sALD was an independent predictor of CM in HDPs (hazard ratio, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.25-0.85; p = 0.01) during follow-up.
Conclusion: Low sALD was not only associated with LVDD but was also an independent predictor of CM among HDPs regardless of their interdialytic weight gain.
Introduction: Despite of the routine use of erythropoietin in hemodialysis patients to correct anemia, its administration route’s effects on hemoglobin variability and cardiovascular events remain ...elusive. Herein, we determined different erythropoietin administration routes’ effects on hemoglobin variability in hemodialysis patients and the associated factors of hemoglobin variability and cardiovascular events.
Methods: This is a post hoc analysis of a prospective, controlled, randomized, unblinded study with 78 Korean hemodialysis patients receiving intravenous (n = 40) or subcutaneous (n = 38) erythropoietin therapy. We evaluated hemoglobin variability by calculating the frequency of hemoglobin measurements outside the target range during all visits. The high-frequency group was defined by those with hemoglobin variability over the median value (25%) while the low-frequency group was defined by those with hemoglobin variability of <25%.
Results: In this analysis, 37 patients (51.1%) were male, and the mean age was 50.6 ± 12.5 years. The frequency of the value being outside the target hemoglobin range was higher in the subcutaneous group compared to the intravenous group (p = 0.03). The low-frequency group required significantly lower erythropoietin doses compared to the high-frequency group. In the adjusted Cox analysis, the parameter high group was a significant independent risk factor for cardiovascular events (p = 0.03).
Conclusion: The risk out of the target hemoglobin range increased with subcutaneous administration compared with intravenous erythropoietin administration in hemodialysis patients. An increased frequency of the value being outside the target hemoglobin range was also associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events.
Respiration rate is one of the main vital signs that can measure a subject's health condition. To measure respiration rate, the subject needs to attach some sensors to their skin. Due to its ...inconvenience, the contactless respiration monitoring method is studied today. The contactless respiration monitoring methods have a disadvantage in that the subject must stay static state during measurement. However, it is hard to stay static during measurement. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a method that can monitor the nonstatic subject's respiration rate. As a result, our proposed method shows considerable accuracy with a nonstatic subject.
Background
Obesity is a continuing national epidemic, and the condition can have a physical, psychological, as well as social impact on one’s well-being. Consequently, it is critical to diagnose and ...document obesity accurately in the patient’s electronic medical record (EMR), so that the information can be used and shared to improve clinical decision making and health communication and, in turn, the patient’s prognosis. It is therefore worthwhile identifying the various factors that play a role in documenting obesity diagnosis and the methods to improve current documentation practices.
Method
We used a retrospective cross-sectional design to analyze outpatient EMRs of patients at an academic outpatient clinic. Obese patients were identified using the measured body mass index (BMI; ≥30 kg/m2) entry in the EMR, recorded at each visit, and checked for documentation of obesity in the EMR problem list. Patients were categorized into two groups (diagnosed or undiagnosed) based on a documented diagnosis (or omission) of obesity in the EMR problem list and compared.
Results
A total of 10,208 unique patient records of obese patients were included for analysis, of which 4119 (40%) did not have any documentation of obesity in their problem list. Chi-square analysis between the diagnosed and undiagnosed groups revealed significant associations between documentation of obesity in the EMR and patient characteristics.
Conclusion
EMR designers and developers must consider employing automated decision support techniques to populate and update problem lists based on the existing recorded BMI in the EMR in order to prevent omissions occurring from manual entry.
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