Measurement and meaning of head movements in everyday face-to-face communicative interaction

Methodological approaches in which data on nonverbal behavior are collected usually involve interpretive methods in which raters must identify a set of defined categories of behavior. However, present knowledge about the qualitative aspects of head movement behavior calls for recording detailed transcriptions of behavior. These records are a prerequisite for investigating the function and meaning of head movement patterns. A method for directly collecting data on head movement behavior is introduced. Using small ultrasonic transducers, which are attached to various parts of an index person's body (head and shoulders), a microcomputer defines receiver-transducers distances. Three-dimensional positions are calculated by triangulation. These data are used for further calculations concerning the angular orientation of the head and the direction, size, and speed of head movements (in rotational, lateral, and sagittal dimensions).

Ein Massschneider für die Psyche

Der "allgemeine" Psychotherapeut lässt die klassischen Schulen hinter sich und kombiniert die verschiedenen Methoden zu einem Patchwork, das er individuell für den einzelnen Patienten anpasst.

Patient self-management of oral anticoagulation with vitamin k antagonists in everyday practice: efficacy and safety in a nationwide long-term prospective cohort study.

Patient self-management (PSM) of oral anticoagulation is under discussion, because evidence from real-life settings is missing. Using data from a nationwide, prospective cohort study in Switzerland, we assessed overall long-term efficacy and safety of PSM and examined subgroups. Data of 1140 patients (5818.9 patient-years) were analysed and no patient were lost to follow-up. Median follow-up was 4.3 years (range 0.2-12.8 years). Median age at the time of training was 54.2 years (range 18.2-85.2) and 34.6% were women. All-cause mortality was 1.4 per 100 patient-years (95% CI 1.1-1.7) with a higher rate in patients with atrial fibrillation (2.5; 1.6-3.7; p<0.001), patients>50 years of age (2.0; 1.6-2.6; p<0.001), and men (1.6; 1.2-2.1; p = 0.036). The rate of thromboembolic events was 0.4 (0.2-0.6) and independent from indications, sex and age. Major bleeding were observed in 1.1 (0.9-1.5) per 100 patient-years. Efficacy was comparable to standard care and new oral anticoagulants in a network meta-analysis. PSM of properly trained patients is effective and safe in a long-term real-life setting and robust across clinical subgroups. Adoption in various clinical settings, including those with limited access to medical care or rural areas is warranted.

Hand preference patterns in expert basketball players: Interrelations between basketball-specific and everyday life behavior

In the present study we examined the interrelation of everyday life handedness and hand preference in basketball, as an area of expertise that requires individuals being proficient with both their nondominant and dominant hand. A secondary aim was to elucidate the link between basketball-specific practice, hand preference in basketball and everyday life handedness. Therefore, 176 expert basketball players self-reported their hand preference for activities of daily living and for basketball-specific behavior as well as details about their basketball-specific history via questionnaire. We found that compared to the general population the one-hand bias was significantly reduced for both everyday life and basketball-specific hand preference (i.e., a higher prevalence of mixed-handed individuals), and that both concepts were significantly related. Moreover, only preference scores for lay-up and dribbling skills were significantly related to measures of basketball-specific practice. Consequently, training-induced modulations of lateral preference seem to be very specific to only a few basketball-specific skills, and do not generalize to other skills within the domain of basketball nor do they extend into everyday life handedness. The results are discussed in terms of their relevance regarding theories of handedness and their practical implications for the sport of basketball.