Title: Analysis and comparison of gaming performace indicators for Women's basketball league in the period 2009/10 to 2018/19. Objectives: The main focus of this thesis is to compare, based on data acquired from official statistics the quantitative differences in the selected indicators of game performance for teams placed on second, sixth and tenth places in the highest women's basketball competition in the Czech Republic of 10 years the regular season (from the year 2009/10 to 2018/19). Methods: In our thesis we used secondary analysis - data were acquired from the website of the Czech Basketball Federation. Results: Have to show us differences in the performance in our selected indicators of the same places teams in individual seasons for a period of 10 years, differences in the evenness in each indicator between the teams that placed second, sixth and tenth, the summary of the average values, which we compare in each indicator for 10 years of teams placed second, sixth a tenth. Keywords: Basketball, game performance, secondary analysis, quantitative analysis, comparison.

Employment is an important occupation for young adults, including those with disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Secure employment is associated with positive self-esteem and higher quality of life for people with ASD. People with ASD, however, have generally poor employment outcomes. The development of effective school supports is needed to prepare youth with ASD for the transition from school to employment. This dissertation represents a mixed methods study to (1) understand how and what school personnel think about when preparing youth with ASD for employment, and (2) explore how the personal and contextual factors (such as youth’s functioning and academic performance, family background, and parent participation in the youth’s education) predict post-school employment outcomes for students with ASD. To address the first research aim, 20 school personnel were interviewed. Based on the interview data, we developed a conceptual model describing how school personnel provided employment preparation for this population. The model highlights how school personnel view the student’s personal and contextual factors as equally important and indivisible for employment success. As school personnel prepare youth for employment, they also consider how to support the youth to create a meaningful life in the community, including how and where youth will live, remain safe, maintain recreation and exercise routines, and develop social connections. The findings of the first study served as a theoretical basis of the second study and were used to identify contextual factors included in the research aims and to develop a statistical model. To address the second research question, a secondary analysis was conducted with a nationally representative database. By adopting the structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, we found that school-based transition supports and academic performance were important mediators between parental participation in youth with ASD’s education and employment outcomes. The pathways that predicted employment outcomes for youth with ASD were different for youth with different levels of daily functioning skills. This analysis was the first to identify the important role of school supports in post-school employment outcomes for youth with ASD. The findings of these two studies indicate that preparing youth with ASD for the transition to employment is a highly individualized and contextualized process that involves collaborations among school, family, and the community. This research illustrates the importance of environmental factors in employment outcomes for this population. Whereas current interventions and research often focus on youth’s vocational skills, it may be equally or more important to consider environmental barriers and supports that may be amenable to change to meet youth’s employment needs. / 2021-09-28T00:00:00Z

Objective: Animal literature has suggested that the impact of antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) may vary by infant sex. Our objective was to assess the impact of infant sex on the use of multiple courses versus a single course of ACS and perinatal outcomes. Study Design: We conducted a secondary analysis of the Multiple Courses of Antenatal Corticosteroids (MACS) for Preterm Birth trial. Our primary outcome was a composite of perinatal mortality or clinically significant neonatal morbidity (including neonatal death, stillbirth, severe respiratory distress syndrome, intraventricular hemorrhage [grade III or IV], cystic periventricular leukomalacia, and necrotising enterocolitis [stage II or III]). Secondary outcomes included individual components of the primary outcome as well as anthropometric measures. Baseline characteristics were compared between participants who received multiple courses versus a single course of ACS. Multivariable regression analyses were conducted with adjustment for pre-defined covariates including an interaction between exposure to ACS and infant sex. Results: Data on 2304 infants were analyzed. The interaction term between treatment status (multiple courses versus a single course of ACS) and infant sex was not significant in the adjusted model for the primary outcome (p=0.86), nor for any of the secondary outcomes. Exposure to multiple courses versus a single course of ACS was not associated with the primary outcome either before or after adjustment (aOR 0.99, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.45, n=2292 infants). However, exposure to multiple courses versus a single course of ACS resulted in significantly lower birth length (p=0.02) and head circumference at birth (p=0.04) although not birthweight (p=0.06). Conclusions: Infant sex did not modify the association between exposure to ACS and perinatal outcomes including perinatal mortality or neonatal morbidity or anthropometric outcomes. However, animal literature indicates that sex specific differences after exposure to ACS may emerge over time and thus investigating long-term sex-specific outcomes warrants further attention. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) are given in pregnancies at risk of early birth. ACS help the lungs and other organs, such as the brain and kidneys to mature. ACS help improve babies’ survival and reduce the risk of other health complications. Several animal studies suggest that infant sex can affect long-term outcomes after receiving a higher dose of ACS. The goal of our study was to look at the effect of infant sex on the relationship between the use of multiple courses (i.e., a higher dose) versus a single course of ACS and short-term outcomes. These outcomes include challenges with breathing, bleeding in the brain, problems in the bowel, and infant death. Our study found that infant sex did not significantly change the relationship between ACS and short-term infant outcomes, but further study is required on long-term outcomes as sex specific differences may emerge over time as reported in animal literature.

No description available.

<p>Background: Post-operative pain management in total joint replacement surgery remains to be ineffective in up to 50% of patients and remains to have overwhelming impacts in terms of patient well-being and healthcare burden. The MOBILE trial was designed to assess whether the addition of gabapentin to a multimodal perioperative analgesia regimen can reduce morphine consumption or improve analgesia of patients following total joint arthroplasty. We present here empirical application of these various statistical methods to the MOBILE trial.</p> <p>Methods: Part 1: Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to adjust for baseline measures and to provide an unbiased estimate of the mean group difference of the one year post-operative knee flexion scores in knee arthroplasty patients. Robustness test were done by comparing ANCOVA to three comparative methods: i) the post-treatment scores, ii) change in scores, iii) percentage change from baseline.</p> <p>Part 2: Morphine consumption, taken at 4 time periods, of both the total hip and total knee arthroplasty patients was analyzed using linear mixed-effects model (LMEM) to provide a longitudinal estimate of the group difference. Repeated measures ANOVA and generalized estimating equations were used in a sensitivity analysis to compare robustness of the methods. Additionally, robustness of different covariance matrix structures in the LMEM were tested, namely first order auto-regressive compared to compound symmetry and unstructured.</p> <p>Results: Part 1: All four methods showed similar direction of effect, however ANCOVA (-3.9, 95% CI -9.5, 1.6, p=0.15) and post-treatment score (-4.3, 95% CI -9.8, 1.2, p=0.12) method provided the highest precision of estimate compared to change score (-3.0, 95% CI -9.9, 3.8, p=0.38) and percent change (-0.019, 95% CI -0.087, 0.050, p=0.58).</p> <p>Part 2: There was no statistically significant difference between the morphine consumption in the treatment group and the control group (1.0, 95% CI -4.7, 6.7, p=0.73). The results remained robust across different longitudinal methods and different covariance matrix structures.</p> <p>Conclusion: ANCOVA, through both simulation and empirical studies, provides the best statistical estimation for analyzing continuous outcomes requiring covariate adjustment. More wide-spread of the use of ANCOVA should be recommended amongst not only biostatisticians but also clinicians and trialists. The re-analysis of the morphine consumption aligns with the results of the MOBILE trial that gabapentin did not significantly reduce morphine consumption in patients undergoing major replacement surgeries. More work in area of post-operative pain is required to provide sufficient management for this patient population.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

The overarching aim of this thesis was to describe how family members experienced everyday life with life-threatening illness close to death, with focus on self-image and identity. The thesis comprises four papers, each with a specific aim to illuminate various aspects of the phenomenon under study. The study population consisted of 29 participants; ten family caregivers and five families, including five patients with life threatening illness and their family members. Data were based on retrospective single interviews (paper I), prospective individual, couple and group interviews with the families over six to eighteen month (papers II-III). Interpretive description approach (papers I, II, IV), narrative method (paper III) and secondary analysis (paper IV) were used to analyze data. The findings show how living close to death influences everyday life at home, at several levels (papers I-IV). From the perspective of the dying person, narrations of daily situations was described by four themes related to identity and everyday life; inside and outside of me, searching for togetherness, my place in space and my death and my time. The changing body, pain, fatigue, decreased physical capacity and changed appearance, appeared to influence the dying person’s need for altered knowledge and community, and as a result the patterns of interaction within the families changed. The strive for knowledge and community took place at home, an arena for identity work and the conscious search for meaning, knowledge and community; it was limited by time and inevitable death (paper III). For the family member, life close to death can mean sharing life with a changing person in a changing relationship (paper II). It may mean that everyday life needs to be modified in order for it to work (papers I-IV). New patterns of dependence and an asymmetrical relationship affect all involved (papers III-IV). Daily life close to death is about finding the space to promote the individual self-image, me-ness, at the same time as finding new ways of being a family; we-ness (paper II). Regardless of being the ill person or not, the family members we interviewed had to face impending death, which challenged earlier ways of living together (papers I-IV). From the perspective of the relatives, the everyday life of caring for the dying family member was characterized by challenged ideals, stretched limits and interdependency (paper I). Situations that challenged the caregivers’ self-image were connected to intimacy, decreasing personal space and experiences such as “forbidden thoughts”. The findings suggest that the bodily changes were of importance for the self-image, and that the former approach to the own body was important in the process of experiencing the body. The person living close to death was in transition to something new; being dead in the near future. One way of handling the struggles of everyday life was to seek togetherness, strive to find other persons with similar experiences while sharing thoughts and feelings. Togetherness was sought within the family, in the health care system and on the internet; a sense of togetherness was also sought with those who had already died. The other family members were also in transition as the future meant living on without the ill family member and changing their status to for example being a widow or being motherless. Identity work close to death denotes creating an access ramp into something new; a transition into the unknown. From a clinical perspective, this study emphasizes the significance of creating a climate that allows caregivers to express thoughts and feelings.

Thesis (MNutr (Human Nutrition))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / INTRODUCTION: The best known reference standards used to evaluate the growth and development of infants and children are the 1977 National Centre for Health Statistics (NCHS) - , the 2000 Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - and the World Health Organization (WHO) (2006). The NCHS reference standards were used to analyse anthropometric data from the 1999 National Food Consumption Survey (NFCS). It was anticipated that using the 2000 CDC and the 2006 WHO reference standards may lead to differences in the previously estimated prevalences of stunting, wasting, underweight, risk of overweight, overweight and obesity in the study population. AIM: To compare the anthropometric status of children aged 12 - 60 months when using the 1977 NCHS -, the 2000 CDC -, and the 2006 WHO reference standards. METHODS: A secondary analysis of anthropometric data from the 1999 NFCS was conducted using different reference standards to compare anthropometric status in terms of the prevalences of stunting, wasting, underweight, risk of overweight, overweight and obesity. Relationships between anthropometric status and other variables such as breastfeeding, maternal education level and type of housing were explored. RESULTS: The prevalences of stunting, obesity and overweight were significantly higher and the prevalence of underweight and wasting were lower when using the 2006 WHO compared to the 1977 NCHS and the 2000 CDC reference standards. A significant relationship was found between weight-forheight and breastfeeding when using any one of the reference standards and between BMI-for-age and breastfeeding when using the 2006 WHO reference standard. A significant relationship was shown between maternal education level and height-for-age and weight-for-age when using any one of the three reference standards and a significant association was found between weight-for-height and BMI-for-age and the type of housing when using any of the three reference standards. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalences of stunting and obesity were higher when using the 2006 WHO reference standards compared to the 1977 NCHS and 2000 CDC reference standards. This may be due to the linear growth and rate of weight gain of breastfed infants differing from formula fed infants and the 2006 WHO reference made use of the exclusively and predominantly breastfed infant living under normal healthy conditions as the normative model which is a prescription of how children should not grow and .not an indication of how children are growing. In conclusion, the 2006 WHO reference standard must be the only reference standard used nationally and internationally when assessing the growth and nutritional status of infants and children.

This text deals with the issue of identification of stakeholders in the evaluation. The concept of stakeholders is defined first, and the characteristics of the evaluation approaches are presented. Later is presented the position of the world evaluation societies on the stakeholders. There are four methods of stakeholder identification: 1) Brainstorming, 2) General list, 3) Questions and 4) The snowball method. Own research focuses on methods of identification of stakeholders in evaluations in the Czech Republic. Data sources are evaluations of OP and ROP programs. Secondary and content data analysis was used to analyse the data. The result of the research is that specific methods of stakeholder identification have not been applied in OP and ROP evaluations. Based on the results of the research, a new procedure for identification of stakeholders in the evaluation was formulated.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / OBJECTIVE: Determine the impact of HIV-1 seroconversion on inflammatory cytokines in the rectal mucosa. SETTING: Secondary analysis of data from men who have sex with men and transgender women who participated in a HIV prevention trial Lima, Peru. METHODS: From July to December 2017, 605 men who have sex with men and transgender women were screened for rectal gonorrhea/chlamydia (GC/CT). Fifty GC/CT-positive cases were randomly selected and matched with 52 GC/CT-negative controls by age and number of receptive anal intercourse partners in the last month. All participants were HIV-negative at baseline and those with GC/CT at baseline and/or follow-up received appropriate antibiotic therapy. Participants underwent sponge collection of rectal secretions for the measurement of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α) and were screened for rectal GC/CT and HIV at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests compared inflammatory cytokine levels between participants diagnosed with HIV during follow-up and persons who remained HIV-negative. RESULTS: Eight participants were diagnosed with HIV at the 3-month (n = 6) or 6-month (n = 2) visit. The median number of receptive anal intercourse partners in the month before HIV diagnosis was the same for those who acquired HIV and those who did not. There were no significant differences in inflammatory cytokine levels in rectal mucosa between participants who did and did not experience HIV seroconversion at any time point. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a surge in viral replication during acute infection, findings from this study suggest that there is no prolonged effect of HIV-1 seroconversion on inflammatory cytokine levels in the rectal mucosa. Copyright / National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases / Revisión por pares

No description available.