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Objective. To describe the steps in developing a business case for quality-enhancing interventions (QEIs) in health care.Analysis. The development of a business case for QEIs in health care involves 11 steps. These steps include (1) describing the intervention, (2) determining perspective, (3) identifying the effects of the intervention on quality, (4) designing the study, (5) identifying and measuring cash flows, (6) considering the effects of capacity constraints, (7) selecting a measure of return on investment, (8) determining the time horizon for the analysis, (9) determining the discount rate, (10) adjusting costs and savings for inflation, and (11) determining organizational readiness for business case development. A checklist offers guidance on assessing readiness for the business case.Conclusion. The absence of a ‘business case’ for quality is frequently cited as the reason health care organizations do not implement QEIs, despite decades of careful research demonstrating their effectiveness. Our continuing commitment to advancing the discipline of business case analysis is based on a belief that delineating the cost and economic implications of investments in QEIs is a critical threshold issue to widespread adoption of evidence-based quality improvements. We believe it is appropriate and timely to consider how best to standardize approaches and move the field of business case analysis forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elementary processes of soil–water interaction and the thresholds to these processes are important to understand as they control a range of phenomena that occur at the soil surface. In particular processes involved with wetting by rainfall that lead to particle breakdown are critical. This breakdown causes soil detachment and crust formation, which are both key elements in erosion.This paper reviews the range of approaches that have been taken in describing the processes associated with the wetting of a soil surface by rainfall. It assembles the studies that emphasize soil physics, soil chemistry, and erosion mechanics in a framework to enable a balanced consideration of important processes and management strategies to control erosion for a particular situation. In particular it discusses the factors associated with the two basic processes of soil structural breakdown, i.e. slaking and dispersion, and how these processes are critical in particle detachment, transport and surface crust formation. Besides the balance between the exchangeable cation composition and electrolyte concentration (measured as the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and total cation concentration (TCC) respectively) of the soil, the importance of energy input and soil organic matter content in controlling clay dispersion is emphasized.Based on the balance between these factors, the soil can be in one of three different regions, i.e. a dispersed region, a flocculated region and one where the resilience of the soil is variable. The implications of each of these regions to soil erosion management are briefly outlined, as are the critical roles that soil cover levels and organic matter have in controlling erosion. Finally, the relationship between various laboratory measures of aggregate stability, and corresponding field erosion characteristics, is discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual, group, and family counseling are invariably included in bullying prevention programs and strategies. Nevertheless, if bullying is treated exclusively as a problem between bullies and victims or as a family problem, counseling efforts will have limited impact. Counseling strategies must be articulated within a systemic approach to bullying in schools. In particular, the roles that students and adults play in actively or passively reinforcing bullying behavior must be addressed through school-wide and family efforts to change the norms and climate with respect to bullying. The pertinent literature is reviewed and steps to implement a systemic prevention strategy are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual, group, and family counseling are invariably included in bullying prevention programs and strategies. Nevertheless, if bullying is treated exclusively as a problem between bullies and victims or as a family problem, counseling efforts will have limited impact. Counseling strategies must be articulated within a systemic approach to bullying in schools. In particular, the roles that students and adults play in actively or passively reinforcing bullying behavior must be addressed through school-wide and family efforts to change the norms and climate with respect to bullying. The pertinent literature is reviewed and steps to implement a systemic prevention strategy are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual, group, and family counseling are invariably included in bullying prevention programs and strategies. Nevertheless, if bullying is treated exclusively as a problem between bullies and victims or as a family problem, counseling efforts will have limited impact. Counseling strategies must be articulated within a systemic approach to bullying in schools. In particular, the roles that students and adults play in actively or passively reinforcing bullying behavior must be addressed through school-wide and family efforts to change the norms and climate with respect to bullying. The pertinent literature is reviewed and steps to implement a systemic prevention strategy are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study showing that low-price stock groups outperform high-price stock groups by a wide margin, and, furthermore, that risk-adjusted performance, as measured by several approaches, is superior for low-price stock groups. The results of the analysis of returns for various time periods and groups follows are given in two parts. In one section, summary statistics of risk and return showed that low-priced stocks exhibit both greater risk and return than do high-priced stocks. Then, in the following section, researchers analyzed single-index performance measures, which demonstrate that the return-to-risk ratio is greater for low-priced than for high-priced stocks. In short, very substantial returns per unit of risk were generated by the super-low-price stocks, in spite of severely limited diversification due to the unavailability of stocks in the super-low-price range. Thus, researchers dismissed the argument that the greater returns of low-price stocks are accounted for by greater portfolio risk and concluded that risk-adjusted performance is superior for the low-price and super-low-price stocks.

This article discusses the enforcement of activity education in educational institutions in the U.S. Activity of education has spread rapidly during the last several years, as finding from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, and education have permeated the ranks of educators. The objective of education is now often seen as the development in individuals of a spirit of independence in solving the problems of life, through experiential understanding of the behavior and motives of themselves, their fellows, and the community. Since activity education appears in many different guises and on different levels, the following definition of limits has been used to determine what falls under this field. Several discussions and experimentations aiming to fully understand the definition of activity education in general.