General population perspectives of dementia risk reduction and the implications for intervention: A systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative evidence

Background Evidence for the potential prevention of dementia through lifestyle risk factor modification is growing and has prompted examination of implementation approaches. Understanding the general population’s perspectives regarding dementia risk reduction is key to implementation. This may provide useful insights into more effective and efficient ways to help people change relevant beliefs, motivations and behaviour patterns. We conducted a systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative evidence to develop an integrated model of general population dementia risk reduction perspectives and the implications for intervention in research and implementation contexts. Methods and findings We searched electronic databases, supplemented by lateral search techniques, to identify studies published since 1995 reporting qualitative dementia risk reduction perspectives of the non-expert general population who do not have dementia. Thematic synthesis, incorporating an expert panel discussion, was used to identify overarching themes and develop an integrated model to guide intervention to support individuals to adopt and maintain dementia risk reduction behaviour patterns. Quality of included studies and confidence in review findings were systematically appraised. We included 50 papers, reflecting the views of more than 4,500 individuals. Main themes were: 1) The need for effective education about a complex topic to prevent confusion and facilitate understanding and empowerment; 2) Personally relevant short- and long-term benefits of dementia risk reduction behaviour patterns can generate value and facilitate action; 3) Individuals benefit from trusted, reliable and sensitive support to convert understanding to personal commitment to relevant behaviour change; 4) Choice, control and relevant self-regulatory supports help individuals take-action and direct their own progress; 5) Collaborative and empowering social opportunities can facilitate and propagate dementia risk reduction behaviour change; 6) Individual behaviour patterns occur in social contexts that influence beliefs through heuristic processes and need to be understood. Findings indicate that, for intervention: 1) education is key, but both content and delivery need to be tailored; 2) complementary interventions to support self-regulation mechanisms and social processes will increase education effectiveness; 3) co-design principles should guide intervention design and delivery processes; 4) all interventions need to be supported by context-specific data. Conclusions This systematic review and thematic synthesis provides a comprehensive, integrated model of the dementia risk reduction perspectives of the general population and intervention approaches to support behaviour change that can be applied in clinical trial and real-world implementation settings. Findings extend existing knowledge and may assist more effective intervention design and delivery.

Investigation on the Reaction Behaviour of Partially Reduced Iron under Blast Furnace Conditions

The reaction behaviour of partially reduced iron (PRI) was studied to understand the effect of PRI utilisation in the blast furnace process. For quantitative analysis, the reaction behaviour of PRI under typical operating conditions of a blast furnace was measured using the thermogravimetric method along with the reduction behaviour of hematite and sinter. Experimental results indicated that the reoxidation behaviour of the PRI under the conditions of the upper shaft of the blast furnace retarded the indirect reduction rate in the lower shaft. The rate constants derived from the grain model, experimental results of scanning electron microscopy, and porosimetry analysis indicated that the phenomenon of reduction retardation of PRI under the conditions of the lower shaft originated owing to the reoxidation of PRI, resulting in the blockage of pores. The reaction behaviour considering the reaction characteristics of PRI was derived under conventional blast furnace conditions.

Influence of Zr Additive on the Chemical Reduction Behaviour of MoO3 in Carbon Monoxide Atmosphere

Temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) was used to observe the chemical reduction behaviour of molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) and zirconia (Zr)-doped MoO3 catalyst by using carbon monoxide (CO) as the reductant. The characterisation of catalysts was performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses. The reduction performance were examined up to 700°C and reduction was continued for 60 min at 700°C in a stream of 20 vol. % CO in nitrogen. The TPR profile showed that the doped MoO­3 catalyst was slightly moved to a higher temperature (580°C) as compared to the undoped MoO3 catalyst, which began at around 550°C. The interaction between zirconia and molybdenum ions in doped MoO3 catalyst led to an increase in the reduction temperature. According to characterisation of the reduction products by using XRD, it revealed that the reduction behaviour of pure MoO3 to MoO2 by CO reductant involved two reduction stages with the formation of Mo4O11 as the intermediate product. Meanwhile, MoO3 catalyst doped with zirconia caused a delay in the reduction process and was proven by the presence of Mo4O11 species at the end of reactions. Physical analysis by using BET showed a slight increase in surface area of 3% Zr-MoO3 from 6.85 m2/g to 7.24 m2/g. As for TEM analysis, black tiny spots located around MoO3 particles revealed that the zirconia was successfully intercalated into MoO3 particles. This confirmed that formation of intermetallic between Zr-MoO3 catalyst will give new chemical and physical properties which has a remarkable chemical effect by disturbing the reduction progression of MoO3 catalyst.

Behaviour models of audit quality reduction associated with auditor’s work stress

The current study’s main aim is to examine a behaviour model of reducing audit quality in relation to auditor work stress. The study was performed in 2020 and the cases in the current research were auditors of the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia (BPK), auditors of the Development Finance Audit Board (BPKP) and public accounting firm (KAP) auditors in South Sulawesi Province. The sample numbers is determined according to the sample size needed via data investigation employing the Partial Least Square approach, using a random sampling method. The data collected by utilizing a questionnaire and questionnaire data, which can be analyzed as many as 97. The output of this study indicate: (1) the long period pressure cause increase auditor working stress; (2) the long period pressure cause the reduction of audit quality behaviour; (3) the long period conflict cause increase auditors’ working stress; (4) the high role conflict cause increasement the audit quality reduction behaviour; (5) external locus of control cause increasement auditors’ working stress; (6) external locus of control will increase audit quality reduction behaviour, and (7) high work stress cause reduction of audit quality behaviour.