La mesure traditionnelle de la criminalité (taux pour 100 000 habitants) pose problème dans l'analyse des variations de la criminalité dans le temps ou l'espace. Le problème est dû au fait que le taux de criminalité est essentiellement déterminé par des infractions moins graves et très fréquentes. La présente étude a permis de tester l’utilité du nouvel outil développé par Statistique Canada qui procure un index de « gravité de la criminalité » dans lequel chaque crime est pondéré par son score de gravité (basé sur les décisions sentencielles moyennes au Canada de 2002 à 2007 pour chaque forme de crime). Appliquées aux statistiques officielles du Québec de 1977 à 2008, nos analyses montrent que l’indice de gravité s’avère une mesure utile pour dresser un portrait plus juste des tendances des crimes violents d’une année à l’autre. Plus exactement, l’indice de gravité montre que le taux de crimes violents est demeuré stable de 1977 à 1992 contrairement à l'image fournie par le taux traditionnel qui montre plutôt une montée fulgurante durant cette période. L’indice de gravité peut également être utile à l’égard des crimes violents pour comparer plus adéquatement les territoires entre eux afin d’établir ceux qui présentent une criminalité plus grave. Cependant, à l’égard de la criminalité globale et des crimes sans violence, l’indice de gravité n’est d’aucune utilité et présente la même lecture de la criminalité que la mesure traditionnelle. Cela s’explique par le fait que ce sont toujours les mêmes infractions (les vols, les méfaits et les introductions par effraction) qui contribuent majoritairement à chacune des deux mesures de la criminalité. / The traditional measure of the criminality (rate for 100 000 inhabitants) raises problem in the analysis of the variations of the criminality in time or space. The problem is due to the fact that the rate of criminality is essentially determined by less serious and very frequent crimes. The present study allowed testing the utility of a new tool developed by Statistics Canada which gets an index of "severity of criminality" in which every crime is weighted by its score of severity (based on the sentencielles decisions average in Canada from 2002 till 2007 for every kind of crime. Applied to the official statistics of Quebec from 1977 till 2008, our analyses show that the indication of gravity turns out to be a useful measure to draw up a more realistic portrait of the trends of violent crimes from one year to the next. More precisely, the crime seriousness index shows that the rate of violent crimes remained stable from 1977 till 1992, on contradiction to what is shown by traditional rate which rather demonstrates a huge rise during this period. Crime seriousness index can also be used towards violent crimes, in order to compare more adequately territories, to establish those who show more serious crimes. However, among global criminality and crimes without violence, the indication of gravity is of no utility and presents the same reading of the criminality as traditional measures. It explains that it is always the same crimes (thefts, mischief and breaking and entering) that contribute mainly to each of both measures of the criminality.

The objective of this study was to characterize the wild bee fauna of a managed mixed-grass prairie in southwestern Manitoba. Weekly sampling using two methods, sweep-netting and bee bowls, was conducted over two years (2005-2006) at three sites within the Yellow Quill Mixed-grass Prairie Preserve. Spatial and seasonal patterns in diversity indices, taxonomic composition and ecological composition of the bee fauna were identified and investigated in relation to sampling method, environmental conditions, and floral resource availability. A total of 7014 individual bees representing five families and 100 species were collected. Numerically, social nesters from the genera Lasioglossum and Bombus dominated, while mining species of Andrena represented the greatest species richness. Observed spatial and seasonal patterns in the abundance, diversity and composition of the bee community were strongly modified by sampling method, resource limitation in the second year and the presence of the exotic invasive plant leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula).

Syftet med studien var att beskriva prevalens av övervikt, fetma och undervikt hos 10-11-åriga barn under en fyraårsperiod. Detta gjordes genom att jämföra två födelsekohorter, 1989 och 1993 med fokus på könsskillnader och skillnader i socioekonomi (SES) definierat utifrån inkomst i fyra olika typområden. Studien utfördes i Stockholms län 2005 där SES-områden och skolor inom dessa områden valdes slumpmässigt. Antropometriska data från skolhälsovårdsjournaler insamlades från barn i skolår fyra. Vikt, längd och födelsedata erhölls från 2416 10-11-åringar födda 1989 och från 2183 barn födda 1993. Övervikt och fetma definierades enligt Cole ́s ålders- och könsspecifika BMI-gränser. Undervikt definierades som – 2 SD enligt referenskurvor från Karlberg 2001. En tydlig könsskillnad kan ses vad gäller prevalens av övervikt och fetma. Hos pojkarna var 21,3 % överviktiga både i kohort 1989 och 1993 medan fetma ökade ickesignifikant från 3,1 % till 4,0 %. Hos flickorna minskade övervikten från 22,9 % till 19,7 % (ns) och fetma minskade från 4,6 % till 2,9 % (RR= 0,62 95 % CI:0,41-0,98). Undervikten tenderade att minska både hos flickor och hos pojkar. Vid jämförelse av de olika SES-områdena var den sociala gradienten mer tydlig i födelsekohort 1993 jämfört med 1989. I födelsekohort 1993 var 17,1 % av pojkarna överviktiga i det mest resursstarka området jämfört med 29,0 % i det mest resurssvaga området. För fetma var motsvarande siffror 1,9 % och 6,0 %. Flickorna uppvisade ett helt annat mönster; hos flickor i det mest resurssvaga området var överviktsprevalensen nästan identisk vid de två studerade tidpunkterna; 28,4 % och 28,3 %. I de övriga SES-områdena var övervikten lägre hos flickor i födelsekohort 1993 jämfört med födelsekohort 1989. Studien visar att trenden av övervikt och fetma delvis ändrat riktning med en minskning av fetma hos flickorna medan pojkarna fortsätter att öka särskilt i resursfattiga områden. Det finns en tendens till att den sociala gradienten har ökat under den studerade fyraårsperioden vilket understryker vikten av förebyggande åtgärder för barn och deras familjer i särskilt resursfattiga områden / The objective of the study was to describe prevalence of overweight, obesity, and underweight among 10-11 year old children during a four year period. This was done by comparing 1989 and 1993 birth cohorts, with focus on gender and socioeconomic (SES) using data from small geographical areas. The study was performed 2005 in Stockholm county where SES areas and schools within SES areas were randomly sampled. In selected schools, anthropometric data from routine assessments of 4thgraders were abstracted from school records. Weights, heights and birthdates were retrieved from 2416 10-11 year olds born in 1989 and 2183 born in 1993. Overweight and obesity were defined according to Cole’s age- and sex-specific BMI cut-off points. Underweight was defined as -2 SD according to the national growth reference curves established by Karlberg and coworkers 2001. Secular trends in prevalence between 1989 and 1993 seemed to vary by sex. In boys, the prevalence of overweight was 21.3 % in both birth cohorts, while obesity increased non-significantly from 3.1 to 4.0 %. In girls overweight decreased non-significantly from 22.9 to 19.7 and obesity decreased from 4.6 to 2.9 % (RR= 0.62 95 % CI: 0.41-0.98). The prevalence of underweight decreased non-significantly both in boys and in girls. When comparing the different SES-areas the social gradient was more obvious in birth cohort 1993 than cohort 1989. In birth cohort 1993 17.1 % of the boys were overweight in the most affluent area compared to 29.0 % in the low SES area. For obesity the prevalences were 1.9 % and 6.0 % respectively. In girls there is a slightly different pattern; among girls in the low SES areas the prevalence of overweight are almost identical 28.4 and 28.3. In the other areas the 1993 cohort shows a lower overweight prevalence compared to girls born 1989. In summary decreases in obesity occurred in girls from the two respective birth cohorts; at the same time both overweight and underweight tended to decrease. In contrast, among boys, there were no significant differences over time, although increases in obesity were detected among boys in less advantaged socioeconomic areas.This underlines the need for computer based monitoring of routine height and weight measurements in schools and preventive efforts which target children and their families in areas of low-socioeconomic status in early childhood. / <p>ISBN 91-7997-158-x</p>

Sedan år 1998 har det i Nollvisionens fotspår startats ett utvecklingsprogram i Sverige som syftar till att omvandla gamla 13 meters landsvägar och motortrafikleder till mötesfria. Implementeringen var tänkt att påtagligt reducera antalet mötes- och omkörningsolyckor samt singelolyckor med svåra konsekvenser i form av svårt skadade och dödade utan att försämra trafiksäkerheten i övrigt. Syftet med denna studie är att göra en effektmätning av de mötesfria vägarnas införande i Karlstadsregionen samt att göra en sammanställning av de olycksrisker mötesfria vägar omfattas av. Frågeställningarna som används i studien är: - Har det blivit säkrare på vägarna sedan implementeringen av mötesfria vägar i Karlstadsregionen? - Hur sker olyckor på mötesfria vägar inom Karlstadsregionen?  För att beskriva hur olyckor sker på mötesfria vägar inom Karlstadsregionen har en deskriptiv analys tillämpats som grundats på de beskrivningar av händelseförlopp som dokumenterats i STRADA och CORE, mellan åren 2010-2013. För att avgöra huruvida vägarna blivit säkrare sedan implementering tillämpades en segmenterad linjär regressionsanalys där antalet personskadeolyckor studerats, tre år innan och tre år efter ombyggnad för respektive vägavsnitt. Singel- och upphinnandeolyckor var de dominerande olyckstyperna på mötesfria vägar i Karlstadsregionen mellan åren 2010-2013 då de sammanlagt stod för 72,3% av samtliga olyckor som medfört skada. Vid kategoriseringen av huvudorsak till olycka framgick det att 42% av alla olyckor kan spåras till brister i samspel mellan trafikanter och väderförhållanden bedömdes i 24,1% av fallen vara huvudorsak till olycka. Den statistiska analysen var inte signifikant, men gav indikation på att vägarna blivit säkrare sedan implementering då trenden för samtliga skadade minskat. / In the footsteps of Vision Zero, a development program in Sweden was initiated in 1998. The program aimed to increase road safety on existing 13-meter roads and express roads by implementing median barriers. The purpose of this study is to measure the impact of the transformed roadways in the Karlstad region and to examine the different types of accident risks the roadways are covered by. The research questions used are: - Has the implementation of median barriers in the Karlstad region contributed to safer roads? - How do accidents occur on roads with median barriers? To describe how accidents occur on roads with median barriers in Karlstad region a descriptive analysis was made by the description of event that is documented in STRADA and CORE, between the years 2010-2013. To determine whether the roads became safer after implementation a segmented linear regression analysis was applied. Accidents resulting in injury were examined, three years before and three years after reconstruction for each road section. Single-vehicle accidents and rear-end collisions were the dominating accident types on roadways with median barriers in the Karlstad region between the years 2010-2013. They together accounted for 72,3% of all accidents that resulted in injury. When the main cause of accident was examined, it emerged that 42% of all accidents could be traced to deficiencies in the interaction between road users. Weather conditions were estimated to be the main cause of accident in 24,1% of all the studied cases. The statistical analysis was not significant, but indicated that the roads became safer after the implementation since the observed trend for all types of injured decreased.

No description available.

The changing world of work that we live in is characterised by forming part of globalisation and virtualness. The previous era managers focused on how to make money and how this money can work for them. The changing world of work is characterised by global competitiveness in delivering quality products quicker and cheaper. Globalisation presents continuous advancements in technology, which requires a new mindset. These technological advancements have a profound effect on culture, training and management of staff. This brings about change in flexible working arrangements and the traditional office made space within certain organisations for virtual offices. The move towards virtualness causes companies to work more closely with their customers to be able to coordinate rapid changes in products (Schuh, Millarg & Gorannson, 1998; Weissenfeld, Fisscher, Pearson & Brockhoff, 200 1). The financial institution referred to in this study was also driven by globalisation and technological advancements to re-engineer the current way in which they do business. It became evidently clear that there was a need for a shift towards virtualness, which called for the identifying of relevant competencies; needed by employees for working in a virtual environment. These competencies will enable the organisation to select the right employees and provide them with information that could be utilised in training the current virtual employees according to the competencies identified. The objectives of this research were firstly to conduct a job analysis to determine the important competencies needed by virtual workers, in a specific job at a financial institution in South Africa. Secondly to compare the current competencies of the virtual workers (who took part in the research) with the competencies identified by the job analysis to be important for this specific job. Thirdly to determine the skills required for virtual workers and compare these skills with the skills ranked by the current virtual workers to be important. Fourthly to identify how these virtual workers experienced the effect of virtualness on their performance. Lastly to make recommendations regarding future training and selection purposes. A survey design (cross-sectional) was used to determine competencies needed by virtual workers for a specific job at a financial institution in South Africa. The study population consisted of (N= 71) employees in a virtual job at a financial institution in South Africa. The Work Profile Systems (WPS), Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ), Performance Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ) and a Skills Audit (SA) were administered. Results of the research indicated that 44% of the study population exhibits the competencies needed by virtual workers as indicated by the Inventory of Management Competencies (IMC) Profile of the WPS. The results of the Performance Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ) indicated that the current virtual workers experienced the greatest impact of virtualness on improving the attainment of personal goals, as well as improving the achievement of organisational goals. The results from the Skills Audit (SA) identified skills that were essential for virtual workers in a specific job within a virtual environment, according to the feedback received from the current virtual workers. They compared favourably with the skills identified by literature as being important. Recommendations to the organisation and for future research have been made and limitations were also discussed. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

The objective of this study was to characterize the wild bee fauna of a managed mixed-grass prairie in southwestern Manitoba. Weekly sampling using two methods, sweep-netting and bee bowls, was conducted over two years (2005-2006) at three sites within the Yellow Quill Mixed-grass Prairie Preserve. Spatial and seasonal patterns in diversity indices, taxonomic composition and ecological composition of the bee fauna were identified and investigated in relation to sampling method, environmental conditions, and floral resource availability. A total of 7014 individual bees representing five families and 100 species were collected. Numerically, social nesters from the genera Lasioglossum and Bombus dominated, while mining species of Andrena represented the greatest species richness. Observed spatial and seasonal patterns in the abundance, diversity and composition of the bee community were strongly modified by sampling method, resource limitation in the second year and the presence of the exotic invasive plant leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula).

Aims: The main aim of this thesis was to study a perspective of women`s expressed wishes for mode of delivery and how they actually give birth. Additional aims were to examine the notion of risk applied to childbirth, to examine what characterizes women who want to give birth as naturally as possible without painkillers or intervention and the characteristics of women who would, if possible, choose to have a cesarean section. Material and methods: The notion of risk was examined in an essay. Self-rating instruments were completed by 55,858 MoBa participants during week 30 of their pregnancy and available from The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) by April, 2007. Individually reported information on socioeconomic factors, lifestyle factors, feelings related to childbirth, factors concerning psychosocial health, physical, psychological and sexual harassment and information on satisfaction with antenatal care health services were collected from a MoBa questionnaire. Data on the mother’s age, parity, physical health before and during the pregnancy, previous cesarean sections and actual mode of delivery were collected through a linkage to the The Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Findings: General perspectives on risk differ depending on both the person and the profession. More and more childbearing women are in danger of being considered deficient and in the danger zone. Figures on risk are not objective values, and the association between risk and security is socially and culturally determined. Personal symbols can be basic assumptions about the life one leads, and the childbearing woman has preferences of her own. Interest in natural childbirth was expressed by 72 percent and a wish for caesarean section was expressed by ten percent of the women. Positive experience from previous childbirths, first birth or third or later birth, no dread of giving birth, and reporting positive intra-psychic phenomena are significantly associated with the wish for natural birth. Negative experiences from previous childbirths and fear of giving birth are two of the strongest factors associated with a wish for a caesarean section.Overall, 47 percent of the women who wanted ”as natural a birth as possible” had their preference fulfilled. The figures differed largely for primiparas and multiparas; the risk of acute caesarean sections was high among primiparas and the effects of the predictors of natural birth were stronger for primiparas than for multiparas. Conclusions:The factors that influence the chance of having a natural birth are different for primiparas and multiparas. The high rate of non-natural births among first time mothers who actually want to have a vaginal birth without interventions should call attention to the increasing incidence of cesarean section in Norway. The chance of actually having a natural birth for women with a preference for a natural birth is much larger for multiparas. Negative experiences from previous childbirths and cesarean section are, however, important factors associated with non-natural birth and should be taken into consideration in public health / Mål: Det overordna målet for denne avhandlingen var å studere perspektiv omkring hvordan kvinner uttrykker at de ønsker å føde og hvordan de faktisk føder. I tillegg var målet å undersøke risikobegrepet anvendt innen fødselsomsorg, undersøke hva som karakteriserer kvinner som ønsker å føde så naturlig som mulig uten smertestillende eller intervensjon og undersøke hva som karakteriserer kvinner som ville valgt å ta keisersnitt dersom det var mulig. Materiell og metode: Avhandlingen inkludere fire artikler. Risikobegrepet drøftes i første artikkel som er et essay. De 3 andre inkluderer data fra Den norske mor og barn-undersøkelsen. Data fra 55,858 MoBa informanter var ferdigregistrert april 2007 og omfatter individuell informasjon om sosioøkonomiske faktorer, livsstilsfaktorer, følelser/opplevelser relatert til fødsel, faktorer som omhandler psykososial helse, fysiske, psykiske og seksuelle overgrep og informasjon om tilfredshet med offentlig svangerskapsomsorg. Tidligere keisersnitt og hvordan kvinnene faktisk fødte i dette svangerskapet ble hentet fra en link til Medisinsk Fødselsregister. Funn: Generelt perspektiv på risiko er forskjellig, avhengig av både person og profesjon. Stadig flere gravid/fødekvinner står i fare for å bli betraktet som utsatte/mangelfulle og i faresonen. Kalkulasjoner av risiko er ikke objektive verdier og assosiasjonen mellom risiko og sikkerhet er sosialt og kulturelt bestemt. Subjektive symbol kan være grunnleggende antagelser/forståelser i forhold til det livet en lever og blivende mødre har sine egne preferanser. Syttito prosent av kvinnene uttrykte ønske om å føde så naturlig som mulig og ti prosent av kvinnene ønsket å ta keisersnitt. Positive erfaringer fra tidligere fødsler, det å være førstegangsfødende eller ha født mer en ett barn tidligere, ikke være redd for å føde, samt å rapportere positivt i forhold til intrapsykiske fenomen, er signifikant assosiert med ønske om å føde så naturlig som mulig. Negative erfaringer fra tidligere fødsler og redsel for å føde er de to faktorene som er sterkest assosiert med ønske om keisersnitt. Samlet sett fikk 47 prosent av de kvinnene som ønsket så naturlig fødsel som mulig, oppfylt ønskene sine. Resultatet var svært ulikt mellom førstegangsfødende og fleregangsfødende; risikoen for akutt keisersnitt var høg blant førstegangsfødende og effekten av prediktorene for naturlig fødsel var sterkere i forhold til førstegangsfødende enn for fleregangsfødende. Konklusjon: Faktorene som influerer sjansen til å føde så naturlig som mulig er ulike for førstegangsfødende og for fleregangsfødende. Den høge tallet på fødsler med intervensjon hos førstegangsfødende som egentlig ønsker å føde vaginalt uten intervensjon burde fått større oppmerksomhet. Dette bør også sees i sammenheng med en stadig økende innsidens for keisersnitt i Norge. Muligheten for å få en så naturlig fødsel som mulig er mye større for fleregangsfødende. Negative erfaringer fra tidligere fødsler og tidligere keisersnitt er, likevel, viktige faktorer assosiert med ikke-naturlig fødsel og bør reflekteres over/tas i betraktning i et folkehelseperspektiv.

No description available.

El objetivo general de esta tesis es analizar las desigualdades socioeconómicas en la mortalidad debida a lesiones por causas externas en las áreas pequeñas de diferentes ciudades europeas y españolas. En consecuencia, se han realizado cuatro estudios: el primero enfocado a validar la información recogida en los documentos estadísticos en las muertes que requieren intervención médico-legal, dos enfocados al estudio de las desigualdades socioeconómicas en la mortalidad por lesiones y el último dedicado al estudio de la evolución de dichas desigualdades. Los estudios de desigualdades son estudios de diseño ecológicos donde la unidad de análisis son las áreas pequeñas de las diferentes ciudades. La población de estudio son todos los residentes en las ciudades. Las fuentes de información utilizadas son los registros de mortalidad y el censo de población. Con el objetivo de analizar las desigualdades socioeconómicas se han utilizado modelos jerárquicos Bayesianos que tienen en cuenta la estructura espacial de los datos. Los estudios de esta tesis muestran la existencia de desigualdades socioeconómicas en la mortalidad debida a lesiones en la mayoría de ciudades estudiadas. Además, estas desigualdades se han mantenido estables o incluso han aumentado. Sin embargo, estos resultados varían según el tipo de lesión. Por último, los resultados también han evidenciado que la validez de las causas externas en el registro de mortalidad de Barcelona es escasa. / The general objective of this dissertation is to analyse socio-economic inequalities in mortality due to injuries in small areas of different Spanish and European cities. Therefore, four different studies have been done: one is focused on the validation of information obtained from the statistical documents on deaths that require medico-legal intervention, two are focused on the study of socio-economic inequalities in injury mortality and the last one is dedicated to analyse the trends of these inequalities. The inequality studies consist of an ecological design where the unit of analysis are small areas of different cities and the study population consists of all residents in the cities. The information sources used are death records and the population and housing census. In order to analyse socio-economic inequalities, hierarchical Bayesian models have been used to take into account the spatial structure of the data. The studies of this dissertation show the existence of socio-economic inequalities in mortality due to injuries in most cities studied. In addition, these inequalities have either remained stable or increased. However, these results can vary depending on the type of injury. Finally, the results have also shown that the validity of the external causes of mortality in the register of Barcelona is sparse.