搜索结果：realtors

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and radon exposure is the second leading risk factor. Fewer than 25% of existing U.S. homes have been tested for radon, and only 5-10% of new homes use some form of radon prevention. This qualitative study sought to determine radon-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among Realtors to inform cancer control activities at local and state levels. We conducted focus groups with Realtors in four states to collect information about knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding radon. Realtors reported obtaining information on radon in similar ways, being aware of radon and its characteristics, and dealing with radon issues as a normal part of home sales. Differences in attitudes toward testing varied across states. Realtors in states with radon policies generally expressed more positive attitudes toward testing than those in states without policies. Radon mitigation was identified as an added expense to buyers and sellers. Realtors cited concerns about the reliability and credibility of mitigation systems and installers. These findings suggest that attitudes and practices vary among Realtors and that additional educational resources about radon as a cancer risk factor may be beneficial. When comprehensive cancer control programs update their plans, they may want to add objectives, strategies, or activities to reduce radon exposure and prevent lung cancer. These activities could include partnering with Realtors to improve their knowledge, attitudes, and practices about radon, as well as developing and distributing radon educational resources.

Although public support for physical activity-friendly Traditional Neighborhood Developments (TNDs) appears to be growing, information is lacking on private sector perspectives and how economic factors (eg, fuel prices) might influence the development and sale of TNDs. A sample of realtors from the National Association of Realtors (n = 4950) and developers from the National Association of Home Builders (n = 162) were surveyed in early 2009 to assess factors influencing homebuyers' decisions; incentives and barriers to developing TNDs; effects of depressed housing market conditions and financing on sales; trends in buying; and energy considerations (eg, green building). Realtors believed that homebuyers continue to rank affordability, safety and school quality higher than TND amenities. Developers reported numerous barriers to TNDs, including the inability to overcome governmental/political hurdles, lack of cooperation between government agencies, and lack of market demand. Yet, realtors believed clients are increasingly influenced by gas and oil prices, and developers reported that clients are looking for energy efficient homes, reduced commute time, and walkable neighborhoods. Respondents reported consumers are more interested in living in a TND than 5 years ago. Activity-friendly TNDs appear to be increasing in demand, but developers and realtors reported significant barriers to creating these communities.

In early March, the newspapers reported the arrival of the Coronavirus in Brazil. The period of confinement directly affected our routines and transformed our consumption habits. Amidst the fear of contagion and uncertainty, people isolated themselves and postponed changes. Previous studies indicate that digital practices were accelerated after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, facilitating communication and improving the performance of various sectors of the economy. Thus, to better understand the behavior of Brazilian real estate market professionals in this period, the objective of this research was to verify whether the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the process of perception of digitalization in real estate websites. To this end, five experts in the digital real estate market were interviewed, asked what are the main items that a quality real estate website should have to improve user experience. Based on the items selected by the experts, a questionnaire was developed and a question was constructed for each item. The questionnaire was sent online to 2144 realtors, asking about the importance of these items before and after the pandemic started. Using a 5-point Likert scale, and strict criteria for analysis, our survey yielded 423 valid responses. The results indicate that regardless of the groups analyzed, the hypotheses confirm that after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the perception of the importance of digital technology in Brazilian real estate websites was enhanced, increased. Managers took advantage of the pandemic and the availability of digital technology to offer specialized service to customers, thus creating a new competitive scenario. The tools associated with the visualization of the property and information such as '360°/Video Tour', 'Video Visit Broadcast', 'Chatbots' and 'FAQ List' had the greatest increase in perception.

Redlining was a discriminatory housing policy in the United States that began in 1933 and denoted neighborhoods with high proportions of Black individuals as "undesirable" and a high risk for lending, which therefore excluded people from obtaining traditional insured mortgages to purchase a home. Simultaneously, realtors discouraged Black individuals from purchasing homes in predominantly non-Black neighborhoods. This resulted in decreased home ownership and wealth accumulation among Black individuals and neighborhoods with high proportions of Black individuals. This study investigated rates of visual impairment and blindness (VIB) in neighborhoods that at one time were graded for redlining. Secondary data analysis of American Community Survey data and historical grades for redlining. United States census tracts (CTs) from 2010 with historical grades for redlining. One-way analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis test, chi-square test, and logistic regression modeling. The main outcome was CT percentage of residents reporting VIB and the association with historical grades for redlining. Grades were converted to numeric values (1 to 4, with higher values indicating worse grade) and aggregated over a CT based on the distribution of grades within to obtain a redlining score. Logistic regression was used to model the effect of redlining on the probability of having VIB. Eleven thousand six hundred sixty-eight CTs were analyzed. Logistic regression found that a 1-unit increase in average redlining score was associated with a 13.4% increased odds of VIB after controlling for CT measures of age, sex, people of color (any non-White race), state, and population size (odds ratio [OR], 1.134; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.131-1.138; P < 0.001). Similar results were observed for an additional model that adjusted for the estimated percentage of Black residents within a CT (OR, 1.180; 95% CI, 1.177-1.183; P < 0.001). Historical government-sanctioned residential segregation through redlining was found to be associated with higher proportions of people living with VIB in these neighborhoods today. Understanding how neighborhood segregation impacts eye health is important for planning improved mechanisms of eye care delivery to mitigate health disparities. Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.

The aim of this research is to look into how signals carried by names can contribute to the explanation of why rental discrimination is measured. Ethnic discrimination on the rental housing market is a widespread phenomenon that is increasingly captured in an objective way by means of correspondence studies. This methodology assumes that the trigger for the measured discriminatory behavior is the signal of ethnic origin in names. Nonetheless, previous research found that names also contain other signals such as religiosity, social class and educational level. The current study relates data of 3.753 correspondence tests on the Flemish rental housing market in Belgium to survey data about the perception of the used names in the correspondence tests in terms of ethnic origin, gender, religiosity, social class and educational level. By doing so, we can set a step in the direction of why discrimination is measured. We find that realtors discriminate based on the perception of a name as religious, which we describe as religious taste-based discrimination. Besides, we also find indications for statistical discrimination. For landlords, the perception of a name as non-European increases discrimination, indicating ethnic taste-based discrimination.

This study sought to determine if cosmetologists in New York State (NYS) have a higher risk of complications of labor/delivery or congenital malformations and poor neonatal health indicators among their offspring compared with Realtors and the general population. This retrospective cohort study matched licensing records for cosmetologists and realtors to birth records and the NYS Congenital Malformations Registry from 1997 to 2003. A random sample of NYS birth certificates, frequency matched to cosmetologists on year of child's birth, mother's ethnicity, and education, was also formed. Outcomes include malformations of each major organ system, neonatal health indicators, and complications of labor/delivery. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), controlling for potential confounders. Compared with Realtors, cosmetologists had an increased risk of several maternal and neonatal health indicators, including postpartum hemorrhage (OR = 2.12; 95% CI 1.26, 3.58), failure to progress (OR = 1.31; 95% CI 1.12, 1.54), and newborn intubation (OR = 2.34; 95% CI 1.21, 4.51), among others. We did not observe an increased risk of congenital malformations among cosmetologists' offspring. Working as a cosmetologist was positively associated with several adverse maternal perinatal and neonatal health indicators but was not associated with congenital malformations in this study. These results are useful for hypothesis generating.

Airborne transmission arises through the inhalation of aerosol droplets exhaled by an infected person and is now thought to be the primary transmission route of COVID-19. Thus, maintaining adequate indoor air quality levels is vital in mitigating the spread of the airborne virus. The cause-and-effect flow of various agents involved in airborne transmission of viruses has been investigated through a systematic literature review. It has been identified that the airborne virus can stay infectious in the air for hours, and pollutants such as particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Sulphur dioxide (SO2), Carbon monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), Carbon dioxide (CO2), and Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOCs) and other air pollutants can enhance the incidence, spread and mortality rates of viral disease. Also, environmental quality parameters such as humidity and temperature have shown considerable influence in virus transmission in indoor spaces. The measures adopted in different research studies that can curb airborne transmission of viruses for an improved Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) have been collated for their effectiveness and limitations. A diverse set of building strategies, components, and operation techniques from the recent literature pertaining to the ongoing spread of COVID-19 disease has been systematically presented to understand the current state of techniques and building systems that can minimize the viral spread in built spaces This comprehensive review will help architects, builders, realtors, and other organizations improve or design a resilient building system to deal with COVID-19 or any such pandemic in the future.

This paper explores the effect of manipulating the internal structure of a complex subject on the incidence of subject--verb agreement errors. Using the sentence completion task (Bock & Miller, 1991), this study followed up on Vigliocco and Nicol's (1995) finding that the syntactic distance between a head noun and a number-mismatching noun contained within a modifier has an impact on error incidence: the greater the distance, the lower the error rate. The study presented in this paper investigated whether this distance effect is purely syntactic; if so, then it would be expected that there would be fewer errors following The owner of the house which charmed the realtors... than following The owner of the house who charmed the realtors..., since in the latter, the mismatch is syntactically nearer the head noun. Results show no hint of a difference between the two, suggesting that the distance effect is more likely due to temporal distance rather than syntactic distance per se.

According to the social model of disability, physical 'impairments' become disabilities through exclusion in social relations. An obvious form of social exclusion might be discrimination, for instance on the rental housing market. Although discrimination has detrimental health effects, very few studies have examined discrimination of people with a visual impairment. We aim to study (1) the extent of discrimination of individuals with a visual impairment on the rental housing market and (2) differences in rates of discrimination between landowners and real estate agents. We conducted correspondence tests among 268 properties on the Belgian rental housing market. Using matched tests, we compared reactions by realtors and landowners to tenants with and tenants without a visual impairment. The results show that individuals with a visual impairment are substantially discriminated against in the rental housing market: at least one in three lessors discriminate against individuals with a visual impairment. We further discern differences in the propensity toward discrimination according to the type of lessor. Private landlords are at least twice as likely to discriminate against tenants with a visual impairment than real estate agents. At the same time, realtors still discriminate against one in five tenants with a visual impairment. This study shows the substantial discrimination against visually people with an impairment. Given the important consequences discrimination might have for physical and mental health, further research into this topic is needed.

Lead is known for its devastating effects on people, particularly children under the age of six. Disturbed lead paint in homes is the most common source of lead poisoning of children. Preventive approaches including consumer education on the demand side of the housing market (purchasers and renters of housing units) and disclosure regulations on supply side of the housing market (landlords, homeowners, developers, and licensed realtors) have had mixed outcomes. The study described in this article considered whether a novel supply-side intervention that educates licensed real estate agents about the specific dangers of lead poisoning would result in better knowledge of lead hazards and improved behavior with respect to the information they convey to potential home buyers. Ninety-one licensed realtors were trained for four hours on lead hazards and their health impacts. Pre- and postsurveys and a six-month follow-up interview were conducted to assess the impact of the intervention on their knowledge and self-reported behaviors with clients. The findings suggest that supply-side education could have a salutary impact on realtor knowledge and behavior.

This study sought to determine if female licensed cosmetologists have a higher risk of low birth weight, small-for-gestational-age, and preterm delivery compared to two different comparison groups. This retrospective cohort study matched 15,003 licensed cosmetologists and a comparison group of 4,246 licensed realtors to birth records in New York State from 1997 to 2003. A second comparison group from the general population of New York State (n = 12,171) was frequency matched to cosmetologists on child's year of birth, mother's ethnicity and mother's education. A positive association was found for low birth weight when comparing cosmetologists to realtors (adjusted odds ratio 1.36 (95% confidence interval: 1.09, 1.70)). Associations were stronger in non-whites than in whites in each birth weight comparison. Associations observed for small-for-gestational-age or preterm births with either comparison group were close to the null or had wide confidence intervals that included the null. We observed a slightly increased risk for having a child born low birth weight among cosmetologists compared to another group of licensed professionals. The risk was greater among non-white races in each comparison.

The objective of the project was to encourage health promotion through education, outreach, and community-based training. The people attending health fairs (n = 467), community events (n = 469), and Kindergarten classes (n = 241) were the study participants. Hands-on training was offered at homebuilding retail stores (n = 25). U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s online visual training was given to realtors (n = 220), and inspectors, contractors, and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) workers (n = 75). Training workshops were attended by home-buyers and rental home owners at the Neighborhood Association Meetings (n = 91). The impact of training was evaluated by pre- and posttests. Nearly, 90% of the participants (n = 25) reported the hands-on training was useful. At posttest after the HUD online training, 59.4%, 67.9%, 65.1% of the participants (n = 220) identified soil, car batteries, and paint as sources of lead in the environment, respectively. Nearly 70% identified lead as a poison in the environment while 77.5% and 47.2% demonstrated two behaviors which help prevent lead poisoning. A total of 62.3%, 48.1%, and 58.5%, at posttest identified three complications or illnesses-behavioral, physical, and psychological, respectively. The home owners are required to get permission from the City for housing repair. In coordination with the federally funded housing repair or lead abatement programs, the trained inspectors are authorized to certify the renovation or repair works. These outreach activities were successful in improving the knowledge of the community people on lead poisoning prevention.

Recent research by demographers and economists has examined the link between living costs and fertility outcomes. The literature has provided some evidence that high rents, or high housing costs, discourage fertility. I re-examine the hypothesis that delayed fertility (age at first birth) is related to the costs of housing measured either as rents or sales prices. I use data from the American Community Survey for 2006-2008 to construct mean age at first birth for women in a sample of 25 US metropolitan areas stratified by rents and sales prices. The sales prices for those metropolitan areas were from the National Association of Realtors. I use models of both aggregate relationships of mean age at first birth and metropolitan housing cost level measures and individual analyses of mean age and measures of ethnicity, education and labor force participation. The effect of being in an expensive housing market is a delay of first births by three to four years, after controlling for education, ethnicity and labor market participation. However, the relatively modest fit of individual models suggest that while the housing market may play a role it is also clear that there is a complex structure to the decision- making around fertility, labor force participation and housing market entry. Overall completed fertility does not appear to be changed.

Unintentional, non-fire-related carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a leading cause of poisoning death and injury in the USA. Residential poisonings caused by faulty furnaces are the most common type of CO exposure. However, these poisonings are largely preventable with annual furnace inspections and CO alarm installation. This study aimed to identify the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs that might lead consumers to adopt these protective behaviours. In August 2009, four focus groups (n=29) were conducted with homeowners in Chicago, Illinois, USA, to identify the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs that lead consumers to adopt risk and protective behaviours. Discussions were transcribed and the findings were analysed using an ordered meta-matrix. Focus group participants were aware of CO poisoning and supported the idea of regular furnace inspections. However, few participants consistently scheduled professional inspections for fear of costly repairs and unscrupulous contractors. Participants often owned CO alarms, but many did not locate them properly, nor maintain them. Some participants confused CO and natural gas and were unsure how to react if a CO alarm sounds. Participants stated that incentives, such as discounts and inspector selection tips, would make them more likely to schedule furnace inspections. Participants also identified trustworthy sources for CO education, including realtors, fire departments, home insurance agents and local media outlets. Participants' residential CO risk behaviours are not random but driven by underlying knowledge, attitudes and beliefs. Correcting misperceptions, providing incentives and partnering with trustworthy sources might encourage greater consumer adoption of protective behaviours.

The ranks of U.S. medical students choosing careers in primary care (PC) are declining even as the demand for new PC physicians is increasing. Although the decision to choose a career in PC is multifactorial, financial security in the setting of rising medical student debt is often cited as a reason to pursue other medical specialties. The authors sought to quantify the financial factors associated with a career in PC. The authors used economic modeling, which employs a variety of factors, to develop a net income and expense model. They attempted to account for the variability of factors by looking at best, worst, and average expense scenarios. They used published retrospective data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2007 Physician Compensation Survey, the National Association of Realtors, the College Board, and U.S. News and World Report regarding medical student debt, physician reimbursement, retirement planning, college savings, and cost-of-living expenses to develop their models. PC salaries, in contrast to other subspecialties, result in an initial budgetary deficit and decreased discretionary spending. This gap closes as PC physician income rises in the first few years of practice. Only under scenarios of optimal low cost assumptions or no debt do a PC physician's initial earnings exceed predicted expenses. PC physicians, in the first three to five years following residency, will have expenses that exceed earnings. This reality greatly increases the financial disincentive for pursuing a career in PC compared with other fields of medicine.

We studied the responses of leaders in a suburban community in western Canada near Edmonton, Alberta, that was affected by a false allegation of increased cancer risk. In 1986, a cancer agency responded to community concerns by conducting a study of cancer incidence (1979-1983) and reported elevations on the order of 25 per cent over expected for most sites. Reanalysis of these data several months later revealed an error in the population figure used to calculate the rates. Correction brought the rates into line with Alberta as a whole and comparable to those for other communities surrounding Edmonton. We interviewed elected and appointed public officials in one affected community as well as non-official community leaders and realtors to determine their subjective impression regarding the effect of the incident on their communities and to rule out alternative explanations for the drop in housing prices in association with the incident we have reported elsewhere. Their narrative responses were particularly interesting and articulate, and are quoted at length. Their collective perceptions appear to confirm the impression of a profound impact on the community, reflected in housing prices, and attribute at least part of the impact to the disclosure that a high official in the community was afflicted by cancer. Most felt that there remained a great deal of latent concern in the community and at least some felt that a subsequent public issue involving transmission line rights-of-way near the community reactivated this latent concern.

"In this article, an attempt is made to account for certain trends in the growth and distribution of the population, and in the structuring of living space in the metropolitan zone of Mexico City.... Among the important conclusions of this essay are those having to do with the huge growth of some political-administrative units and the relation of this phenomenon to the practices followed by private realtors, often articulated with the policies and programs set by the State's housing agencies, as well as those that associate urban growth and expansion with the development of habitational spaces within the so-called 'formal' and 'informal' housing sectors." Data are from Mexican censuses and other official sources. (SUMMARY IN ENG)