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Fire agencies across the United States must make complex resource allocation decisions to manage wildfires using a national network of shared firefighting resources. Firefighters play a critical role in suppressing fires and protecting vulnerable communities. However, they are exposed to health and safety risks associated with fire, smoke inhalation, and infectious disease transmission. The COVID-19 pandemic further complicated these risks, prompting fire agencies to propose resource management adaptations to minimize COVID-19 exposure and transmission. It is unclear if and how the pandemic may have operationally influenced wildland firefighting personnel resource use given compounding wildfire and COVID-19 risks. Therefore, we developed generalized linear mixed models that were fit using multiple integrated datasets to detect changes in personnel resource use for years prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, while controlling for historical fire and landscape conditions, societal risks, and management objectives. Analyses of observed and predicted firefighting resource use revealed reductions in the mean personnel resources used per wildfire per day during the pandemic for models developed across the western U.S. and for various western U.S. fire regions. Notably, the Northern California and the Great Basin Coordination Centers showed statistically significant reductions in ground personnel use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learning from wildland fire management strategies and resource use trends that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, fire agencies can better anticipate resource constraints that may arise during the compounding threats of severe wildland fire activity and infectious disease outbreaks to proactively prepare and adapt suppression management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce a facial recognition system comprising two key components: face detection and localization, and facial recognition. For face detection and localization, the RetinaFace method is employed to accurately identify facial regions within images and to separate them from intricate backgrounds, thus facilitating facial detection based on isolated facial imagery. In the domain of facial recognition, we address the limitations of conventional convolutional neural networks (CNNs), which are typically constrained to recognizing known categories. To overcome this limitation, in our study, we leverage a Siamese network rooted in metric learning as the central architecture for facial recognition. The primary objective of this architecture is to acquire image features. It operates by minimizing the feature distance between similar images and maximizing the feature distance between dissimilar ones. Consequently, images can be directly fed into the Siamese network to extract corresponding features, followed by similarity calculation to ascertain their presence within the database. Diverging from the conventional approach of directly classifying individuals using models, we significantly inhibit the need for model retraining owing to personnel changes in the differentiation of members and nonmembers. Furthermore, the model does not increase in size with the growth of the personnel dataset. The study outcomes demonstrate that the attained average values for accuracy, recall rate, precision, and F1-Score all surpass 96%. These results robustly demonstrate the feasibility and superior performance of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reform era began with the removal of Mao-era elites from leadership positions on a scale theretofore unseen in the People's Republic of China. Rather than depending on incentives to mobilize Mao-era cadres to support Reform and Opening, the new reform leadership brought in younger, better educated pro-reform elites. This article thus proposes a Personnel Model, in which the Communist Party brings in sympathetic cadres to implement major shifts in the Party line. Furthermore, personnel changes were first imposed on the military, then on the civilian apparatus. We show the large scale and rapid implementation of these reforms in 1982–1984 using an original database of over 60,000 cadres drawn from Organizational Histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaders play a crucial role in an organization where they guide through a rapidly evolving environment. Additionally, leaders today must possess knowledge of 'leadership' due to the crucial role it plays in the era of technological advancement. Technological advancement has resulted in significant changes in both personal lifestyles and work environments. Every organization must adapt to changes to stay current. Having this skill will empower you to lead organizations effectively and propel them toward success. Leadership in the 21st century must have the knowledge and ability to focus on managing personnel changes in every aspect of the organization. Inspire all staff members to work together to drive organizational change during competitive and crisis conditions in the 21st century. As mentioned above, leaders will be able to drive the organization toward achieving its future goals successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Malaria treatment is faced with the challenge of access, affordability, availability, and quality of antimalarial medicines. Affordable medicines facility-malaria (AMFm) program and subsequently Co-payment mechanism were developed to help increase access to quality assured Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We explored through a qualitative study, experience of healthcare personnel on Co-payment mechanism and the implication on its use in private drug outlets in Uganda. Method: Private drug outlets that reported stocking antimalarial agents in moderate-to-high and low malaria transmission settings were purposively selected for inclusion in the study. In each drug outlet, data was collected from a pharmacist/dispenser through key informant interview. The interview was done using a key informant interview guide which covered the following areas, (i) sociodemographic characteristics, ii) awareness of healthcare personnel on the co-payment mechanism, (iii) awareness of healthcare personnel on quality assured artemisinin combination therapies (QAACT), (iv) antimalarial stocking in private drug outlets, (v) antimalarial dispensing prices, (vi) considerations made while stocking, and pricing antimalarial agents, vii) challenges in antimalarial dispensing, and (viii) access to antimalarial agents in private drug outlets. Data was managed using Atlas.ti and analyzed using framework methodology. Results: Data was collected from 25 key informants (12 pharmacists and 13 dispensers). Five themes emerged following data analysis, (i) antimalarial stocking influenced by price and client demand, (ii) access and purchasing behavior of drug outlet clients, (iii) basis of dispensing antimalarial agents in private drug outlets, (iv) awareness of QAACT, and (v) awareness of Co-payment mechanism. None of the study participants was aware of the existence of Co-payment mechanism and QAACT in the private sector. Duocotecin brand of ACTs was the most mentioned and dispensed ACT among the study participants in private drug outlets. Nearly all the pharmacists/dispensers said that many clients who request to purchase ACTs don't come with a prescription and prefer buying cheaper antimalarial agents. Study participants reported stocking and selling both ACTs and non-ACT antimalarial agents in the drug outlets. Pharmacists/dispensers in the drug outlets reported that most clients could not afford buying a full dose of an ACT. None of the study participants considered using Co-payment mechanism while stocking ACTs in the drug outlets. Conclusion: There is lack of awareness and utilization of Co-payment mechanism in stocking, pricing, and dispensing of ACTs among pharmacists/dispensers in private drug outlets in Uganda. The antimalarial dispensing in drug outlets was mostly based on prescriptions, clients' preferences, and medicine affordability. The Ministry of Health needs to create demand for Co-payment mechanism through public awareness campaigns, training of healthcare personnel and behavior change communication in the private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Europarecht (05312485) is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Among disabling post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are irritability, aggressive behavior, distressing memories and general impaired cognition and negative mood. Art therapy interventions, including mask-making, can potentially alleviate these symptoms. We tested the hypothesis that art conveys emotions and predicted that blinded viewers would be able to perceive changes in theoretically derived emotional profiles expressed in art made by military personnel with PTSS from the onset to the end of therapy. Five service members and veterans exhibiting PTSS were enrolled in an 8-session art therapy protocol, during which they artistically transformed papier-mâché masks at the beginning and end of the protocol. We found that blinded viewers without knowledge of the masks' creation stage (onset or end of therapy) read initial masks as conveying more negative emotions (e.g., angry, upset, and challenged) and later masks as conveying more positive emotions (calm and pleasure). Based on the assessments from the blinded evaluators, we infer the emotional transition experienced by the participants was expressed in the masks. In an exploratory arm of the study, we also found that viewers were better able to empathize with the negative emotions experienced by participants with PTSS when asked to explicitly take their perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Quality assessments are being introduced in many countries to improve the quality of care and maintain acceptable quality levels. In South Korea, various quality assessments are being conducted to improve the quality of care, but there is insufficient evidence on intensive care units (ICUs). This study aims to evaluate the impact of ICU quality assessments on the structural indicators in medical institutions and the resulting in-hospital mortality of patients. Methods: This study used data collected in the 2nd and 3rd ICU quality assessments in 2017 and 2019. A total of 72,879 patients admitted to ICUs were included during this period, with 265 institutions that received both assessments. As for structural indicators, changes in medical personnel and equipment were assessed, and in-hospital deaths were evaluated as patient outcomes. To evaluate the association between medical staff and in-hospital mortality, a generalized estimating equation model was performed considering both hospital and patient variables. Results: Compared to the second quality evaluation, the number of intensivist physicians and experienced nurses increased in the third quality evaluation; however, there was still a gap in the workforce depending on the type of medical institution. Among all ICU patients admitted during the evaluation period, 12.0% of patients died in the hospital. In-hospital mortality decreased at the 3rd assessment, and hospitals employing intensivist physicians were associated with reduced in-hospital deaths. In addition, an increase in the number of experienced nurses was associated with a decrease in in-hospital mortality, while an increase in the nurse-to-bed ratio increased mortality. Conclusions: ICU quality assessments improved overall structural indicators, but the gap between medical institutions has not improved and interventions are required to bridge this gap. In addition, it is important to maintain skilled medical personnel to bring about better results for patients, and various efforts should be considered. This requires continuous monitoring and further research on long-term effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual satisfaction have been emphasized in many studies. However, there is not much information about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sexual satisfaction of healthcare professionals. In addition, it is not known exactly how vaccination application affects sexual satisfaction. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to evaluate whether the sexual satisfaction of male health personnel would change with vaccination. Materials and methods: One hundred and two unvaccinated and 95 vaccinated male healthcare professionals participated in this study. The COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-S) and The New Sexual Satisfaction Scale (NSSS) were administered to the participants. Results: We did not detect any difference in sexual satisfaction according to vaccine administration. However, we found significant relationships between COVID-19 anxiety and sexual satisfaction. On the other hand, age, fear of COVID-19, and previous COVID-19 infection story were predictive factors on sexual satisfaction. Conclusion: The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual satisfaction are multifaceted. Our findings indicate that fear of COVID-19, rather than vaccination, determines sexual satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Formación Universitaria is the property of Centro de Informacion Tecnologica (CIT) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article presents recent developments in Georgia's library landscape, focusing on key personnel changes at Georgia Tech Library and Georgia State University Library. It also highlights notable awards, grants, and community events within the state's library community. Topics covered include job transitions, academic engagement initiatives, and recognition for outstanding contributions to library services.

The field of engineering is a male-dominated one. On another note, there is a great need to increase the efficiencies of the healthcare system, particularly in light of the pandemic. A program was developed at a US university to increase the interest of female engineers to consider entering the healthcare field and to help them stay motivated so they would finish their engineering degrees. This grant-funded effort was evaluated using the Model for Collaborative Evaluations (MCE). The MCE framework has six components that help ensure that an ethical, efficient, and effective evaluation is conducted. At the foundation of the model is the "Follow Specific Guidelines" component that patterns the evaluation team's approach as they determine the program's merit and worth. Both the program and evaluation approach using the MCE proved to be valuable. There was an increase in female engineering students' interest in the healthcare field as well as an increase in motivation to complete their engineering degrees. The model was shown to be robust, and its ethical approach provided the clients with confidence even when there was a change in personnel in the evaluation team. The evaluation was successfully completed on time and within the budget. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This farewell note reflects on a decade of editorship for Regional & Federal Studies (RFS). It draws on this experience to highlight some areas of change and continuity in the journal's life, the publishing industry, and the profession at large. Over this time interval (2012-2023), the journal has gone through changes in personnel and editorial strategies. Meanwhile, both academia in general and academic journals in particular have undergone processes of professionalization and digitalization, with knock-on effects on how they function. Publishing models are changing, but also publishing patterns in terms of author characteristics (gender, geographical origin, career stage). To some extent, academic journals are a microcosm of the profession and of certain societal trends. In the midst of this, Editors continue their work, both adapting to these evolutions and seeking to steer them in a meaningful way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this piece the author provides a critical response to the new 'Looking at Our School' quality framework in Ireland and illustrates how policy overlooks critical scholarship. The author questions the claim that the updated policy reflects recent thinking and developments, and critiques the policy's stance on notions of both distributed leadership and effectiveness, and the policy overload it generates. Although much broader issues relating to the disconnect between research and policy and the prominence of the 'what works' discourse in education, this new framework in Ireland typifies a case of critical scholarship being passed over in policy. While this respondent is unconvinced by the policy that has been produced, packaged, and presented by policy makers, perhaps there is room for optimism in that recent personnel changes in the education ministry in Ireland could possibly pave the way for more much-needed critical perspectives in policy making. More critical scholarship is also needed, and there is a need for academics to not only advise policy makers but, professionally of course, challenge their thinking and question their decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corruption is one of the main variables to be considered in corporate social responsibility (CSR) to guarantee the well‐being of society in the long term. Information technology (IT) is able to reduce this phenomenon of corruption. However, no practical studies highlight the real effect on health organisations. This study ascertains the impact of a pilot project to prevent corruption and the introduction of new dedicated technologies in the healthcare organisation. It uses the association of institutional theory, information and communications technology (ICT), and new technologies to cover the gap and highlight the effect of an anti‐corruption pilot project of International Transparency Italia in the healthcare sector. A longitudinal approach‐based interventionist approach, coding of semi‐structured open interviews and corporate anti‐corruption plans using AltasIT from the 13 Health Organisations that joined the pilot project over a long term reveals that a positive effect spreads by mimetic approach within organisations. The study has detected open‐access databases, changes in personnel and procurement management approach, information dissemination, citizen involvement and whistleblowing support change through technologies. More specifically, it examines the evolution of the anti‐corruption system and the stakeholders' perceptions in healthcare organisations as a new form of social responsibility. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the only one that applies this perspective to the analysis of the anti‐corruption process through CSR currently underway in healthcare institutions worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We apply the psychosocial concept of generativity, or one's outlook toward the next generation, to the context of chief executive officer (CEO) succession. Integrating prior research on generativity and CEO succession, we identify two key orthogonal dimensions of CEO generativity: (a) the CEO's degree of commitment to developing the next generation of company leadership and (b) the CEO's degree of need to control the succession process and outcome. A given CEO's place on these two dimensions constitutes their overall "generativity mindset," which we conceptualize as a relatively stable motivational orientation that stems from the CEO's disposition and accumulated life experiences. From these dimensions, we identify four archetypes: the generative, hyper-generative, hypo-generative, and anti-generative CEO. We then specify how the alternative archetypes affect an array of CEO actions throughout the CEO's tenure, especially the CEO's approach to assessing and developing executives for advancement. These various actions lay the foundation for eventual succession outcomes, particularly the nature of the succession and the origin and preparation of the selected successor. The final part of our model inserts the board of directors as a potentially moderating influence in all the foregoing relationships. We conclude with an overview of follow-on research opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At-will employment, which gives companies the legal right to fire employees for any reason at all, has allowed employers to abuse the working relationship. Companies face relatively few legal repercussions for this type of worker mistreatment. The legitimate fear of retaliation prevents many workers from complaining, and employment cases are notoriously difficult to prove. Given the inherent weakness in employment law, this Article argues that a worker must not be discharged unless the company can establish just cause to support that termination. The standard developed here--sensible just cause--would provide employees protection from discharge in a workable way, carefully balancing the employment protections offered against the flexibility businesses need to effectively manage their workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What do you do when you are reduced to foundational pieces? You rebuild with what you have. According to Napoleon Hill, “Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along.” A strong foundation of templates and practices is required to cover the mechanics of project management, but unexpected personnel and organizational changes require a quick response to address the increase in project demand. A tiered project approach can be established to meet these organizational challenges. Two areas quickly become a priority: 1. Resetting and redefining project expectations with the newly hired staff of project managers and 2. Establishing a community of practice with existing employees to shape a culture in project management. These two avenues help fortify the importance of project management throughout the institution for initiatives while engaging and keeping constituents involved. Methods to meet these challenges will be presented along with practical applications using scenarios for continued project management success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand for spare parts, which is triggered by element failure, project schedule and reliability demand, etc., is a kind of sensing data to the aftermarket service of large manufacturing enterprises. Prediction of the demand for spare parts plays a crucial role in inventory management and lifecycle quality management for the aftermarket service of large-scale manufacturing enterprises. In real-life applications, however, demand for spare parts occurs randomly and fluctuates greatly, and the demand sequence shows obvious intermittent distribution characteristics. Additionally, due to factors such as reporting mistakes made by personnel or environmental changes, the actual data of the demand for spare parts are prone to abnormal variations. It is thus hard to capture the evolutional pattern of the demand for spare parts by traditional time series forecasting methods. The reliability of prediction results is also reduced. To address these concerns, this paper proposes a tensor optimization-based robust interval prediction method of intermittent time series for the aftersales demand for spare parts. First, using the advantages of tensor decomposition to effectively mine intrinsic information from raw data, a sequence-smoothing network based on tensor decomposition and a stacked autoencoder is proposed. Tucker decomposition is applied to the hidden features of the encoder, and the obtained core tensor is reconstructed through the decoder, thus allowing us to smooth outliers in the original demand sequence. An alternating optimization algorithm is further designed to find the optimal sequence feature representation and tensor decomposition factors for the extraction of the evolutionary trend of the intermittent series. Second, an adaptive interval prediction algorithm with a dynamic update mechanism is designed to obtain point prediction values and prediction intervals for the demand sequence, thereby improving the reliability of the forecast. The proposed method is validated using the actual aftersales data from a large engineering manufacturing enterprise in China. The experimental results demonstrate that, compared with typical time series prediction methods, the proposed method can effectively grab the evolutionary trend of various intermittent series and improve the accuracy of predictions made with small-sample intermittent series. Moreover, the proposed method provides a reliable elastic prediction interval when distortion occurs in the prediction results, offering a new solution for intelligent planning decisions related to spare parts in practical maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Plastics / Zhongguo Suliao is the property of Journal Office of CHINA PLASTICS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The training and further education for library staff in academic libraries in Austria has been uniformly organized since 2004. The University Libraries of Vienna, Graz, and Innsbruck, as well as the Austrian National Library, offer various training formats, including the University Course Library and Information Studies (ULG), the Course Library, Information, and Documentation (BID), the Vocational Training Archive, Library, and Information Assistant (ABI-ASS), and the Lifelong Learning for Librarians (4L) continuing education program. The training focuses on service orientation, technology applications, and information organization, combining traditional teaching methods with innovative electronic learning formats. There are also opportunities for specialization through elective modules. Various developments and programs in the field of library training and further education in Austria are described, including personnel changes and new courses such as the Data Steward Certificate Course. [Extracted from the article]

Th e presented study deals with decentralization processes in the nationalized Czechoslovak cinema, which took place in the second half of the 1950´s and the fi rst half of the 1960´s. It contextualizes these organizational changes within the historical and political-cultural developments in Czechoslovakia and approaches them from two main perspectives: from the point of view of changes right in the top management of the Czechoslovak cinematography and in other organizational parts of the Czechoslovak Film and from the point of view of changes in the relationship between this film management and the superior Ministry of Education and Culture. Th e role of the ruling communist party is of particular importance, as they attached great significance to the influence of mass culture, especially film, and its educational function. Th e study also focuses on important persons associated with the management of cinematography in the monitored period and personnel changes that occurred as a result of the aforementioned organizational changes and political interventions. We aim to reveal the causes and circumstances that led to the abandonment of the strictly centralized administration of cinema, which was based on the industrial model of film production (introduced in the early 1950´s), and to examine the effects of this transformation. Our study also focuses on the effects of these changes on the functioning of the cinema network and the influence on the distribution of films. From January 1, 1957, the administration of cinemas was transferred to national committees, which was supposed to bring simplification and efficiency of film distribution. We tried to fi nd out what problems cinema operators at the time faced, how they dealt with the drop in attendance in cinemas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuestiones Políticas is the property of Revista Cuestiones Politicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article announces the officers and addresses of the International Byron Societies, including Professor Jonathan Gross, Professor Naji Oueijan, and Alan Rawes as Joint Presidents, and Board of Directors including Katrina Bachinger Bernard Beatty; and Professor Tamás Bécsy.

Opening and maintaining public access to the coast, as it is for any coastal management agencies in the US, has long been one of the prime missions of the California Coastal Commission. In this article, we ask: what are the administrative agendas latent in coastal access in California? Using webscraping, we collected over 10,000 staff reports prepared by the Commission between 1996 and 2016 and examined how the agency used the permitting process to attain its missions. Using the topic modeling technique, we identified 18 key administrative agendas in the staff reports pertaining to public access. These agendas reveal a wide spectrum of environmental protection strategies that the Commission pursued along with maintaining public access. While some of these topics narrowly focus on coastal accessibility (e.g. easements, trails and paths), and utilization (e.g. recreational activities, piers, parking), many of them extend beyond and cover broader, more controversial environmental agendas, such as shoreline and sensitive habitat protection. We also explored the stability of these administrative agendas over time. We observed notable stability in these efforts in the past two decades, despite personnel changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diets high in sodium are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Latin American countries (LAC) consume more than double the recommended sodium levels. Research uptake in dietary sodium reduction policies has been inconsistent in LAC, and the factors impacting research uptake are largely unknown. This study aimed to describe the barriers and facilitators to the uptake of research into sodium reduction policies from a funded research consortium with 5 LAC (Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Paraguay, and Peru). Methods: A qualitative case study included 5 researchers and 4 Ministry of Health officers from the funded consortium. Dimensions from Trostle's framework of actors, content, context, and process and relative advantages from the Diffusion of Innovation informed the semistructured interview guide and analysis. One-on-one interviews were completed from November 2019 to January 2020. The participants validated transcripts, coded, and analyzed using NVivo software. Results: Key barriers to policy advancements included 1) conflicts of interest from the food industry and some government actors; 2) government turnover resulting in policy and personnel changes; 3) a lack of human and financial resources; and 4) and communication gaps among key actors. Key facilitators to policy advancement included: 1) the content and quality of health economic, food supply, and qualitative data; 2) support, technical assistance, and alliances with the government, non-governmental organizations, and international experts; and 3) researchers enhanced skillsets facilitated with communication and dissemination with policymakers. Conclusion: Researchers and policymakers are faced with several barriers and facilitators on research uptake in policies and programs in LAC; these factors should be addressed and leveraged to advance sodium reduction policy development. Future LAC studies can draw from the insights and lessons learned from this case study and apply the results to future efforts on policy nutrition to promote healthy eating and reduce CVD risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces the retirement of the editor of the periodical José Antonio Ibáñez-Martín.

Background: International guidelines recommend percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to treat acute myocardial infarction (AMI) if PCI can be performed within two hours. PCI is a centralized treatment, and therefore a common trade-off is whether to send AMI patients directly to a hospital that performs PCI, or postpone a potential PCI-treatment by first receiving acute treatment at a local hospital that can not perform PCI. In this paper, we estimate the effect of sending patients directly to a PCI-hospital on AMI mortality. Methods: Using nation-wide individual-level data from 2010 to 2015, we studied mortality rates for AMI patients sent directly to a hospital that performs PCI (N=20 336) compared to AMI patients sent to a hospital not performing PCI (N=33 437). Since the underlying health of patients may affect both hospital assignment and mortality, estimates from traditional multivariate risk adjustment models are likely biased. We therefore apply an instrumental variable (IV) model using the historical municipal share sent directly to a PCI-hospital as an instrument for being sent directly to a PCI-hospital. Results: Patients sent directly to a PCI-hospital are younger and have fewer comorbidities than patients who are first sent to a non-PCI-hospital. IV results suggest that those initially sent to PCI-hospitals have 4.8 percentage points decrease (95% CI (- 18.1)-8.5) in mortality after one month compared to those initially sent to non-PCI-hospitals. Conclusion: Our IV results suggest that there is a non-significant decrease in mortality for AMI patients sent directly to a PCI hospital. The estimates are too imprecise to conclude that health personnel should change their practice and send more patients directly to a PCI-hospital. Moreover, the results may be taken to suggest that health personnel navigate AMI patients to the best treatment option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new model for characterizing the emergency evacuation process of people during a disaster. This model considers the change of visual field based on a cellular automata model combined with a behavioral heuristic model. Using the behavioral heuristic model, the dynamic field parameters related to the change of visual field are first established. Then, new judgment rules are developed for personnel encountering obstacles by combining the characteristics of the new field of view. Finally, an analytical comparison is made between the proposed model and the traditional evacuation model in terms of the changes in the fields of view and the number of evacuees. The results show that the level of path service determines the efficiency of evacuation. It is also seen that herd mentality acts as a hindrance in cases where the personnel are dependent while otherwise acting as a facilitator. It is also shown that the evacuation time increases by the number of evacuees up to a certain threshold. Beyond that threshold the evacuation time fluctuates within a certain range by increasing the number of evacuees is not affected by changes in the field of view. The new model is also faster than the social force model, easier to calculate on a large scale, and more realistic than the traditional cellular model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The banking industry staff gained valuable experience during the COVID-19 epidemic. The aim of this study was to investigate the consequences of Coronavirus on employee behavior in the COVID-19 epidemic. To achieve this goal, a study with a qualitative approach and with a phenomenological strategy was conducted. In this study, two main categories of intrapersonal reactions and interpersonal responses were characterized, with the former including six subcategories (negative emotions, change in structure of needs, obsession, stress, fear, and disruption in organizational commitment) and the latter involving three subcategories (abnormal social behavior, abnormal occupational behavior, and abnormal communicative behavior). The variables of fear, stress, burnout, and aggression were exposed to the highest frequency. This study showed that upon the occurrence of novel crises, the organizations should take strategies based on crisis management, e.g., immunizing the workplace, showing emotional and financial support to the personnel, and asking the personnel to change their behavior as members of the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study how firms build relations with local governments in emerging markets without established rules of political lobbying. We document that following a turnover of the Party Secretary or mayor of a city in China, firms (especially privately owned enterprises, POEs hereafter) headquartered in that city significantly increase their "perk spending," for example, expenses for travel and entertainment among others. Both the instrumental-variable-based results and heterogeneity analysis are consistent with the interpretation that the perk spending is used to build relations with local governments. In addition, we find that local political turnover in a city tends to be followed by changes of the Chairmen or the CEOs of state-owned enterprises that are controlled by the local government. We also discuss and rule out several alternative explanations for the above findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presidents and executive branch agencies often have adversarial relationships. Early accounts suggest that these antagonisms may have been deeper and broader under President Trump than under any recent President. Yet careful appraisals have sometimes shown that claims about what President Trump has done to government and politics are over-stated, require greater nuance, or are just plain wrong. In this article, we use federal employment records from the Office of Personnel Management to examine rates of entry and exit at agencies across the executive branch during President Trump's term. A key challenge in this endeavor is that agencies vary in size dramatically, and this variability makes direct comparisons of rates of entry and exit across agencies problematic. Small agencies are overrepresented among agencies with large and small rates. Yet small agencies do important work and cannot simply be ignored. To address such small-area issues, we use a Bayesian hierarchical model to generate size-adjusted rates that better reflect the fundamental uncertainty about what is happening in small agencies as well as the substantial likelihood that these entities are less unusual than raw statistics imply. Our analysis of these adjusted rates leads to three key findings. First, total employment at the end of the Trump administration was largely unchanged from where it began in January of 2017. Second, this aggregate stability masks significant variation across departments, with immigration-focused bureaus and veterans-affairs bureaus growing significantly and certain civil-rights focused bureaus exhibiting signs of stress. Finally, compared to the first terms of Presidents Bush and Obama, separation rates under President Trump were markedly higher for most agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale combat and multi-domain operations will pose unprecedented challenges to the military healthcare system. This scoping review examines the specific challenges related to the management of airway compromise, the second leading cause of potentially preventable death on the battlefield. Closing existing capability gaps will require a comprehensive approach across all components of the Joint Capabilities Integration Development System. In this, we present the case for a change in doctrine to selectively provide definitive airway management in prehospital settings to maximize the effectiveness of limited resources. Organizational changes to optimize training and efficiency in delivery of complex airway intervention include centralization of assigned healthcare personnel. Training must vastly increase opportunities for live tissue and patient experiences to obtain repetitions of both non-invasive and definitive airway procedures. Potential materiel solutions include extra-glottic devices, bag-valve masks, video laryngoscopes, and oxygen generators all ruggedized and capable of operations in austere settings. Leadership and education changes must formalize more robust airway skills into the initial training curricula for more healthcare personnel who will potentially need to perform these life-saving interventions. Simultaneously, personnel changes should expand authorizations for clinicians with advanced airway skills to the lowest echelons of care. Finally, existing medical training and treatment facilities must expand as necessary to accommodate the training and skill maintenance of these personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]