Low back pain (LBP) remains one of the most common and challenging primary care issues in the developed world. Manual occupations such as nursing are known to involve a high risk of occupational LBP, which is associated with enormous health care expenditure as well as indirect work and disability-related costs. Despite extensive efforts to reduce LBP in nurses, evidence supporting the efficacy of any specific intervention to prevent LBP is limited. / The majority of LBP prevention strategies are directed at occupational risk factors in working nurses. However, as there is some evidence that LBP is already a significant problem in nurses prior to commencing full time employment, it is proposed that nursing students should be the focus of prevention interventions. This would require prevention interventions targeting personal rather than occupational LBP risk factors. As the best personal predictor of future LBP is currently a previous history of LBP, further investigation of modifiable personal LBP risk factors is required. Consequently, the aim of this doctoral research was to identify modifiable personal characteristics that predict LBP in nursing students. / Firstly, a large survey was conducted on undergraduate nursing students and recently graduated nurses to determine patterns of LBP prevalence. Results from this study indicated that LBP prevalence was very high at the commencement of undergraduate training. Prevalence of LBP did not significantly change during nursing training, but did increase further in the first year of commencing work as a nurse. This increase may be partly explained by the reported increase in occupational exposure to bending and lifting. Age was consistent across the undergraduate year groups and did not influence these findings. It was concluded that nursing students would provide a sufficient number of new-onset LBP episodes (and thus sufficient statistical power) for a prospective study design. Further, as these nursing students were not yet exposed to the occupational LBP risk factors of working nurses, a clearer indication of the influence of modifiable personal factors on the development of LBP could be determined by examining a student cohort. / A cross-sectional study investigating the influence of personal physical, psychological and social/lifestyle factors was then conducted on nursing students. Preliminary analysis revealed clear gender differences across multiple domains. Therefore, the focus of further analysis was on the larger female sample. / In Part 1 of the cross-sectional study, an investigation of regional differences in lumbar spine posture and movement was undertaken. Analysis of spinal kinematics in this study supported and extended previous literature that has found global lumbar spine kinematics do not accurately reflect the kinematics of the upper lumbar or lower lumbar spinal regions in common postures and movements. Rather, these two regions have a degree of functional independence. This finding has implications for interpretation of measures of spinal posture, motion and loading. Further, body mass index influenced regional lumbar posture and movement, possibly representing adaptation due to load. It was concluded that regional rather than global lumbar spine measures needed to be investigated in further analyses of this doctoral research. / In Part 2 of the cross-sectional study, personal characteristics associated with LBP were investigated. Approximately one third of all subjects reported significant LBP in the 12-months preceding the study. Analysis of factors associated with LBP supported the biopsychosocial nature of LBP. Higher stress levels and use of passive coping strategies, increased physical activity levels, holding the lower lumbar spine further from end-range flexion during functional tasks and increased age, all contributed independently to the presence of LBP. These findings supported the hypothesis that modifiable personal characteristics were associated with LBP. / The importance of identifying sub-groups of LBP patients has become widely accepted. In Part 3, further exploratory analysis was conducted on this crosssectional data to determine if differences in physical and psychological characteristics were evident in two defined sub-groups of female nursing students with LBP. These sub-groups were based on O’Sullivan’s mechanism based classification system. Results indicated that two sub-groups of LBP subjects had differing physical and psychological characteristics associated with their LBP. Further, control subjects could be distinguished from each of these two sub-groups by different factors. These findings add validity to O’Sullivan’s LBP classification system. Further, the findings may suggest that different combinations of psychological and physical factors are linked to LBP in different sub-groups in this population, and therefore may require different intervention approaches based on these factors. / In the final stage of this doctoral research, the cohort of female nursing students was followed prospectively for 12-months. The focus of further analysis was on identifying modifiable personal predictors in a sub-group of subjects with new-onset LBP. The results of this study strongly supported that personal factors from multiple domains are predictors of new-onset LBP. After controlling for previous LBP, age and body weight, regression analysis identified that smoking, increased physical activity levels (both exercise and spinal loading), higher stress levels, reduced back muscle endurance, greater posterior pelvic tilt in slump sitting and more accurate spinal repositioning in sitting were all independent predictors of new-onset LBP. These findings have implications for the development of prevention and management interventions for LBP in nurses. / Results from this doctoral investigation support the multi-factorial and biopsychosocial nature of LBP. The important distinction of this research when compared to previous work is the selection of a cohort at the beginning of their working life, with a focus on modifiable personal, rather than occupational factors, associated with LBP. Factors from physical, psychological and social/lifestyle domains were all independently associated with significant new-onset LBP in female nursing students. Interventions utilising a prevention approach that targets modifiable characteristics, such as those identified in this cohort of nursing students, may have the potential to reduce the impact of occupational LBP in this group. These preliminary findings have important implications for future LBP research and clinical interventions.

Financial fraud in church organizations is increasing rapidly, which can affect the reputation, donation appeal, future funding, and ability of church organizations to meet their planned organizational goals. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies for preventing financial fraud in church organizations. The conceptual framework for the study was Cressey’s fraud triangle theory. Twenty participants who utilize strategies for preventing financial fraud in their organizations were purposively selected from 5 church organizations in Ghana. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analysis of organizational financial policy documents. Interview data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed with Saldaña’s coding guidelines. Data analysis followed recommendations from Yin, including examining the data, grouping data into categories, regrouping data in themes, interpreting the data, and producing empirically based findings that answered the central research question of the study. Three significant themes emerged from the data analysis: effective administration, good stewardship and accountability, and caliber of employees. Implementation of the findings may lead to positive social change by enhancing the donation appeal of church organizations, improving their finances, and enabling them to optimize their operations to benefit individuals, families, communities, and society.

Ransomware has been a growing threat to today's organizations, with irreparable damages and billions of dollars lost, it is crucial for organizations to implement mitigation strategies that can counter these attacks. With phishing attempts being the primary attack vector, it is evident that organizations need to implement the best practices in order to avoid the consequences. Thus, this study addresses the question “How do the actual ransomware mitigation strategies implemented by Swedish organizations compare to the best practices suggested in literature, with a focus on phishing emails as a common means of ransomware transmission?” The study was conducted by utilizing semi-structured interviews and interviewing five participants that work or have worked as IT-security consultants which are then summarized and analyzed with a thematic analysis approach. Seven relevant themes and fifteen sub-themes were introduced and analyzed in order to answer the proposed research question: attack vector, security awareness training, technical solutions, challenges of solutions, frameworks, evolution and keeping yourself updated. All participants were contacted via Linkedin and the interviews were done virtually via Zoom. The findings of this study shows that Swedish organizations utilize a minimal amount of ransomware mitigation strategies due to the lack of resources, care and overall awareness regarding the topic. According to the interviewed participants, basic forms of technical solutions and administrative solutions are mostly implemented, however they are a lacking form of medium and can generally be bypassed easily. The primary factors that were brought up and introduced was security awareness training and technical solutions. Essentially, it all boils down to employee’s incompetence and lack of security awareness. No matter how many technical solutions that are implemented within an organization, if an employee is not aware that they shouldn’t click on malicious links, an infection might spread.

No description available.

Workplace violence infects many organizations. This descriptive study assesses the extent to which Texas park and recreation departments institute policies and procedures for preventing worker-initiated violence. Thirty directors from local park and recreation departments were interviewed by telephone and asked to identify whether their departments used specific prevention strategies to thwart instances of worker-initiated violence. The findings reveal few prevention strategies being used and suggest a need for park and recreation managers to increase their awareness and take a more proactive approach to violence prevention.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka förekomsten av spelrelaterade muskuloskeletala besvär hos gitarrlärare och elever samt typen av skador. Studien syftar också till att undersöka gitarrlärares attityder till, och tillämpning av, skadeförebyggande strategier. För det tredje syftar studien till att undersöka signifikanta samband mellan skadeförebyggande metoder och förekomsten av spelrelaterade besvär. Tidigare forskning rör vanliga spelrelaterade besvär, riskfaktorer och skadeförebyggande strategier. En surveyundersökning med enkät användes för att besvara studiens forskningsfrågor. 166 gitarrlärare besvarade enkäten. Resultaten visar att 72,3% av gitarrlärarna har själva och upplevt spelrelaterade besvär och 31,9% av gitarrlärarna har haft ele- ver med spelrelaterade besvär. Den vanligaste typen av besvär var med muskler och senor. Gitarrlärarna tenderar att skadeförebyggande strategier i mindre utsträckning i undervisning jämfört med i deras egna spelande. Några statistiskt signifikanta samband hittades mellan gitarrlärares attityder till, och tillämpning av, skadeförebyggande strategier och förekomsten av spelrelaterade besvär. Generellt sett använde gitarrlärare vissa skadeförebyggande strategier i sitt spelande och undervisning i högre utsträckning om de hade erfarenhet av spelrelaterade besvär. I diskussionsdelen lyfts aspekter av resultatet i relation till tidigare presenterad forskning. / The aim of this study was to research the prevalence of playing related musculoskeletal problems in guitar teachers and their students as well as the types of injuries. The study also aims to investigate guitar teachers attitudes towards, and application of, different injury prevention strategies. Third, the study aims to investigate any significant interconnections between injury prevention methods and the prevalence of playing related problems. Previous research deals with common playing related problems, risk factors and injury prevention strategies. A survey study with a questionnaire was used to answer the research questions. 166 guitar teachers answered the questionnaire. The results show that 72,3% of the guitar teachers have experienced playing related problems themselves and that 31,9% of the guitar teachers had had students with playing related problems. The most common problem was with muscles and tendons. Guitar teachers tended to use injury prevention methods less in teaching compared to their own playing. Some statistically significant interconnections were found between guitar teachers’ attitudes towards, and application of, injury prevention strategies and the prevalence of playing related problems. In general, guitar teachers with experience of playing related problems were more likely to use some of the injury prevention strategies in their playing and teaching. The discussion section lifts aspects of the results in relation too previously presented research.

<p>Across the world, physical inactivity was found to be associated with cardiovascular and chronic diseases of lifestyle which often leads to an increased rate of various physical disabilities andpremature death. To combat these high incidences of chronic diseases of lifestyle, WHO strongly encourages people to become physically active on a daily basis to reduce the risk of&nbsp / premature death. Running has thus become the preferred choice of physical activity by thousands of people to help improve their overall health and wellbeing. Apart from the health benefits&nbsp / that running provides, it can also predispose the runner to potential injury especially when runners follow an inappropriate training programme and have inadequate knowledge about factors causing injury. Therefore, baseline data about the prevalence, incidence of injury and the identification of the aetiological factors associated with running injuries are needed to develop and&nbsp / implement preventative programmes to allow runners to optimally perform in training and races without injury. In South Africa, there is limited research available on the incidence of injury in runners yet there is an annual increase in participation in races such as Two Oceans and Comrades marathon which could lead to an increase in the number of running injuries.Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of injuries and identify the various risk factors that are associated with injuries in road runners at a local athletic club. Methods: A prospective cohort study design over a 16 week period using quantitative research methods was used. A sample of 50 runners had consented to participate in the study. The participants had to complete a self-administered questionnaire and clinical measurements of BMI, Q-angle, leglength, muscle strength of lower leg and ROM of hip and knee were recorded. The participants had&nbsp / to complete an injury report form to record any new injuries sustained over the 16 week period of the study. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18 and software SAS v9 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA) was used for data capturing and analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were done to summarize the data and was expressed as frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. Injury prevalence and cumulative incidence was calculated as a proportion rate along with 95% confidence interval. The Poisson regression model was used to analyse the association between running injury and the independent variables of interest such as demographics, anthropometric measurements, training methods, running experience and&nbsp / previous injury. The alpha level was set as p&lt / 0.05. Results: The study found that the majority (92%) of the participants (n=46) sustained running injuries in the past prior to the study. A total of 16 participants sustained a number of 50 new injuries over the 16 week study period. Thus the prevalence rate of injuries was 32%. The incidence rate of injuries for this study was 0.67 per&nbsp / 1000km run at a 95% confidence interval of 0.41, 1.08. Furthermore, the most common location of new injuries reported were the calf (20%) and the second most common location was the&nbsp / knee (18%). PFPS was the most common type of knee injury diagnosed, followed by lumbar joint sprain. The results showed that none of the identified factors (running distance, stretching, age, Q-angle, BMI, running experience, leg-length discrepancy and previous running injuries) were directly associated with running injuries. However, a marginal significance was found for&nbsp / running distance (p = 0.08) and leg length discrepancy (p = 0.06). Conclusions: The study found a high prevalence and incidence rate of injury thus the need for preventative programmes have been highlighted. There was no statistical significance found between the identified factors and risk of injury however, there was clinical relevance found between factors identified. One major&nbsp / limitation was the small sample of participants and the short duration of study period. Thus, future research is needed to further determine possible factors associated with running injuries over a longer period and including a larger sample. The results of the study will be made available to all the stakeholders (runners, coaches and medical team) to implement in athletic club. </p>

Psykosocial ohälsa är en av de största orsakerna till sjukfrånvaro bland tjänstemän. Få studier syftar till att undersöka förebyggande aktiviteter för stress på organisationsnivå. Europeiska arbetsmiljöbyrån, EU-OSHA, erbjuder råd för att på företag förebygga stress. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att beskriva hur tjänstemän upplevde EU-OSHA:s råd för organisatoriska stressförebyggande insatser. Undersökningen sökte svar på om råden upplevdes genomförbara, om det fanns hinder som försvårade genomförandet och vilka förutsättningar som krävdes. Metoden som användes var en induktiv kvalitativ ansats, där 16 intervjuer genomfördes på sex stora Svenska företag. Resultatet visade att EU-OSHA:s råd upplevdes som genomförbara men de upplevdes ibland för övergripande och otydliga. De olika förutsättningarna och hindren som beskrevs formade följande teman: Kulturen på företaget, Krav, Kontroll &amp; Stöd samt Kunskap &amp; Kompetens. Diskussion: EU-OSHAs råd kan tyckas vara enkla men de ger inte praktiskt stöd till företagen. Alla informanter fann råden bra men de var tvetydiga och tolkades därför olika. Råden hade ingen inbördes prioritetsordning. Informanterna angav ett antal hinder och visade på förutsättningar som krävdes för att genomförande av råden skulle få effekt. Förutsättningarna tycktes ligga i att skapa bra kultur på företaget, ha möjlighet att påverka och kontrollera arbetsmiljön samt att kunskap fick chansen att förädlas till kompetens. / Psychosocial health is one of the biggest causes of absenteeism among employees. Few studies are designed to investigate prevention activities for stress at the organizational level. EU-OSHA offers recommendation to companies about stress prevention. The purpose of this study was to describe how officials experience EU-OSHA´s recommendation on organizational stress prevention. The study aimed to clarify whether the recommendations may be considered feasible, if there are any obstacles making implementation difficult and what conditions are required to fulfill implementation. The method used had an inductive qualitative approach, in which 16 interviews were conducted at six large Swedish companies. The result showed that the recommendations were considered feasible but they were at times experienced too general and vague. The various conditions and constrains described formed the following theses: Company Culture, Requirements, Control &amp; Support and Knowledge &amp; Skills. Discussion: The recommendations may seem simple but it was found that they do not give practical support to companies. All respondents found them good but sometimes ambiguous and consequently interpreted differently. Moreover, the recommendations are given no particular order of priority. The respondents listed different barriers that made implementation difficult. The conditions needed for a successful implementation seem to depend on good company culture, the possibility to influence and manage your own working environment as well as the chance to turn personal knowledge into practical skills.

Psykosocial ohälsa är en av de största orsakerna till sjukfrånvaro bland tjänstemän. Få studier syftar till att undersöka förebyggande aktiviteter för stress på organisationsnivå. Europeiska arbetsmiljöbyrån, EU-OSHA, erbjuder råd för att på företag förebygga stress. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att beskriva hur tjänstemän upplevde EU-OSHA:s råd för organisatoriska stressförebyggande insatser. Undersökningen sökte svar på om råden upplevdes genomförbara, om det fanns hinder som försvårade genomförandet och vilka förutsättningar som krävdes. Metoden som användes var en induktiv kvalitativ ansats, där 16 intervjuer genomfördes på sex stora svenska företag. Resultatet visade att EU-OSHA:s råd upplevdes generellt som genomförbara men ibland för övergripande och otydliga. De olika förutsättningarna och hindren som beskrevs formade följande teman: Kulturen på företaget, Krav, Kontroll &amp; Stöd samt Kunskap &amp; Kompetens. Diskussion: För att kunna jobba med stressförebyggande insatser på organisationsnivå och få de önskade effekterna, som välmående personal och förbättrad produktivitet,  måste alla delar av organisationen vara beredda att bidra i arbetet. Utmaningen i denna process är hur samverkan ska gå till och hur resurser ska tas fram  i form av tid och kompetent personal. Om företagsledningen lyckas med detta, skapas det förutsättningar för en bra psykosocial arbetsmiljö, vilket är ett nyckelord för ett friskt och lönsamt företag. / Psychosocial health is one of the biggest causes of absenteeism among employees. Few studies are designed to investigate prevention activities for stress at the organizational level. EU-OSHA offers recommendation to companies about stress prevention. The purpose of this study was to describe how officials experience EU-OSHA´s recommendation on organizational stress prevention. The study aimed to clarify whether the recommendations may be considered feasible, if there are any obstacles making implementation difficult and what conditions are required to fulfill implementation. The method used had an inductive qualitative approach, in which 16 interviews were conducted at six large Swedish companies. The result showed that the EU-OSHA recommendations were considered feasible but at times were general and vague. The various conditions and constrains described formed the following theses: Company Culture, Requirements, Control &amp; Support and Knowledge &amp; Skills. Discussion: To be able to work with stress prevention efforts at organizational level and get the desired affects as, well being staff and improved productivity, all parts of the organization have to be willing to contribute at the work. The challenge in this process is how the collaboration will be done and how resources should be developed in terms of time and skilled personnel. If management succeeds doing this, than the conditions for a good psychosocial work environment will be created, which is a keyword for a healthy and profitable company.

In Europa leiden etwa 120 Millionen aller 18- bis 80-jährigen an einer Hörbehinderung (16% Prävalenz). Die altersassoziierte Innenohrschwerhörigkeit (Age related hearing impairment, ARHI) hat damit Anschluss gefunden an die großen Volkskrankheiten: Ischämische Herzerkrankungen (5,9 %), Demenz (5,8 %), Diabetes mellitus und Cerebralen Erkrankungen (je 5,5 %). Der erste Teil der Arbeit befasst sich mit der Theorie des Hörens und seinen Störungen, der cochleären Durchblutung, den metabolischen Risikofaktoren, der Molekularbiologie und Epigenetik des Innenohres. Obwohl in der Literatur weitgehend Konsens über den Einfluss exogener Faktoren auf ARHI herrscht, wie Diabetes mellitus, Herz-Kreislauferkrankungen (Framingham Studie und CVD), Hypertonie, Rauchen, Body mass index (BMI) und genderspezifische hormonelle Einflüsse, gibt es kaum HNO-ärztliche Studien dazu. Der zweite Teil geht in einer Praxis-Fallstudie an 202 Patienten folgenden Fragen nach: 1. Gibt es zwischen metabolischen Erkrankungen, wie Adipositas, Störungen des Fett- und Glucosestoffwechsels, der Hypertonie und der Zunahme von Innenohrschwerhörigkeiten im Erwachsenenalter klinische Zusammenhänge? 2. Könnte eine erste Ohrsymptomatik Prädikator einer okkulten pathologischen Stoffwechselveränderung sein? 3. Gibt es Möglichkeiten einer Prävention? Im Ergebnis zeigten sich bei Patienten mit ARHI im Verhältnis Männer/Frauen: Störung des Glukosestoffwechsels bei 97 %/84 %, Lipidstoffwechselstörungen bei 76 %/85 %, eine Homocysteinämien bei 70 %/62 %, ein Anstieg des Plasminogen-Aktivator-Inhibitors (PAI) bei 65 %/38 % und eine Harnsäureerhöhung bei 48 %/15 %. Auch bei ersten Ohrsymptomen (Ohrdruck, Tinnitus, einzelne Frequenzsenken) fanden sich in jedem einzelnen Fall metabolische Veränderungen, die entweder allein oder in unterschiedlichen Kombinationen vorlagen. Männern mit metabolisch initiierten KHK-Erkrankung haben als Prädikator häufig eine erektile Dysfunktion. Erste auditorische Symptomen könnten Prädikator okkulter metabolischer Störungen bei Männern und Frauen sein. Anamnestisch unklare Innenohrprobleme sollten daher auf Stoffwechselstörungen untersucht werden, da diese Risikofaktoren darstellen, die leitlinienbasiert zu therapieren sind. Eine Prognose ist in keinem Einzelfall möglich, da die Folgen auf die molekularbiologischen Prozesse im Innenohres individuell nicht erkennbar sind. Doch sahen wir bei einigen Patienten deutliche Verbesserungen der Symptome und einen Hörschwellenanstieg. Andere Patienten zeigten innerhalb des Beobachtungszeitraums keine Änderung der audiogenen Symptomatik. Behandlungen über einen längeren Zeitraum an einer größeren Fallzahl wären daher sinnvoll. Die Ergebnisse könnten als erste sekundärpräventive Behandlung betrachtet werden, die im Einzelfall eine Hörgeräteversorgung entbehrlich machte. Sie stellen einen Beitrag zu Pfisters Empfehlung dar, mit den vorhandenen Erkenntnissen exogener Risikomechanismen, dringend neue therapeutische Präventionsstrategien für die HNO-ärztliche Tätigkeit zu entwickeln, die die neurale und molekulare Basis anstelle der Symptome der Erkrankung fokussieren.