An interview with Manuel Salto-Tellez on diagnostic pathology: the future is morphomolecular

Professor Manuel Salto-Tellez of Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland is an expert histopathologist and molecular diagnostician. Professor Salto-Tellez is a lead investigator at the Northern Ireland Molecular Pathology Laboratory and also serves as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics. In this interview, he proposes directions for the future of molecular pathology and molecular diagnostics, integrating all aspects of pathology toward a common goal.

Spectacle acceptance among secondary school students in rural China: the Xichang Pediatric Refractive Error Study (X-PRES)--report 5.

PURPOSE: To assess determinants of spectacle acceptance and use among rural Chinese children. METHODS: Children with uncorrected acuity < or = 6/12 in either eye and whose presenting vision could be improved > or = 2 lines with refraction were identified from a school-based sample of 1892 students. Information on obtaining glasses and the benefits of spectacles was provided to children, families, and teachers. Purchase of new spectacles and reasons for nonpurchase were assessed by direct inspection and interview 3 months later. RESULTS: Among 674 (35.6%) children requiring spectacles (mean age, 14.7 +/- 0.8 years), 597 (88.6%) were followed up. Among 339 children with no glasses at baseline, 30.7% purchased spectacles, whereas 43.2% of 258 children with inaccurate glasses replaced them. Most (70%) subjects paid US$13 to $26. Among children with bilateral vision < or = 6/18, 45.6% bought glasses. In multivariate models, presenting vision < 6/12 (P < 0.009), refractive error < -2.0 D (P < 0.001), and amount willing to pay for glasses (P = 0.01) were predictors of purchase. Reasons for nonpurchase included satisfaction with current vision (78% of those with glasses at baseline, 49% of those without), concerns over price or parental refusal (18%), and fear glasses would weaken the eyes (13%). Only 26% of children stated that they usually wore their new glasses. CONCLUSIONS: Many families in rural China will pay for glasses, though spectacle acceptance was < 50%, even among children with poor vision. Acceptance could be improved by price reduction, education showing that glasses will not harm the eyes, and parent-focused interventions.

Waiting time for cataract surgery and its influence on patient attitudes.

PURPOSE:

To characterize willingness to pay for private operations and preferred waiting time among patients awaiting cataract surgery in Hong Kong.

METHODS:

This was a cross-sectional survey. Subjects randomly selected from cataract surgical waiting lists in Hong Kong (n = 467) underwent a telephone interview based on a structured, validated questionnaire. Data were collected on private insurance coverage, preferred waiting time, amount willing to pay for surgery, and self-reported visual function and health status.

RESULTS:

Among 300 subjects completing the interview, 144 (48.2%) were 76 years of age or older, 177 (59%) were women, and mean time waiting for surgery was 17 +/- 15 months. Among 220 subjects (73.3%) willing to pay anything for surgery, the mean amount was US$552 +/- 443. With adjustment for age, education, and monthly household income, subjects willing to pay anything were less willing to wait 12 months for surgery (OR = 4.34; P = 0.002), more likely to know someone having had cataract surgery (OR = 2.20; P = 0.03), and more likely to use their own savings to pay for the surgery (OR = 2.21; P = 0.04). Subjects considering private cataract surgery, knowing people who have had cataract surgery, using nongovernment sources to pay for surgery, and having lower visual function were willing to pay more.

CONCLUSIONS:

Many patients wait significant periods for cataract surgery in Hong Kong, and are willing to pay substantial amounts for private operations. These results may have implications for other countries with cataract waiting lists.

Ensino da escrita : estratégias de planificação textual

Relatório de Estágio para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Educação Pré-escolar e em Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

A investigação-acção e a mudança no Movimento da Escola Moderna : um estudo de caso

Tese de mestrado, Ciências da Educação (Formação de Professores), Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Educação, 2010

Did We Fail? (Counter-)Transference in a Qualitative Media Research Interview

Drawing on Joke Hermes’ (2006) account of a troubling interview, this article reproduces and reflects on passages from a qualitative interview with a user of a social networking site that was experienced as uncomfortable by both interviewee and interviewer (myself). The psychoanalytic concept of (counter-)transference is used to analyse the possible processes that led to the emergence of two narratives by the interviewee and interviewer and resulted in an unsuccessful research encounter. It is suggested that the analysis of the interview narratives may contribute to Wanda S. Pillow’s (2003) notion of an ‘uncomfortable reflexivity’. It may further add to methodological discussions of the interview in media research by placing an emphasis on a complex theory of the subject and intersubjective dynamics.

Parent-child agreement and prevalence estimates of diagnoses in childhood: direct interview versus family history method.

Diagnostic information on children is typically elicited from both children and their parents. The aims of the present paper were to: (1) compare prevalence estimates according to maternal reports, paternal reports and direct interviews of children [major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety and attention-deficit and disruptive behavioural disorders]; (2) assess mother-child, father-child and inter-parental agreement for these disorders; (3) determine the association between several child, parent and familial characteristics and the degree of diagnostic agreement or the likelihood of parental reporting; (4) determine the predictive validity of diagnostic information provided by parents and children. Analyses were based on 235 mother-offspring, 189 father-offspring and 128 mother-father pairs. Diagnostic assessment included the Kiddie-schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS) (offspring) and the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies (DIGS) (parents and offspring at follow-up) interviews. Parental reports were collected using the Family History - Research Diagnostic Criteria (FH-RDC). Analyses revealed: (1) prevalence estimates for internalizing disorders were generally lower according to parental information than according to the K-SADS; (2) mother-child and father-child agreement was poor and within similar ranges; (3) parents with a history of MDD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) reported these disorders in their children more frequently; (4) in a sub-sample followed-up into adulthood, diagnoses of MDD, separation anxiety and conduct disorder at baseline concurred with the corresponding lifetime diagnosis at age 19 according to the child rather than according to the parents. In conclusion, our findings support large discrepancies of diagnostic information provided by parents and children with generally lower reporting of internalizing disorders by parents, and differential reporting of depression and ADHD by parental disease status. Follow-up data also supports the validity of information provided by adolescent offspring.

An investigative study on the effects of black fly (diptera: simuliidae) sugar meals on reproductive success and parasite transmission /

Black flies are opportunistic sugar-feeders. They take sugar meals from Homopteran honeydew secretions or plant nectars, depending on availability. Homopteran honeydew secretions contain both simple and complex carbohydrates while plant nectars contain primarily simple carbohydrates. In order to determine whether honeydew secretions offer more energy than plant nectars to their insect visitors a study of wild-caught black flies was undertaken in Algonquin Provincial Park, Canada during the spring of 1 998 and 1 999. It was hypothesized that female black flies maintained on honeydew sugars will survive longer, produce more eggs and have a greater parasite vectoring potential than those maintained on artificial nectar or distilled water. Results demonstrated that: (1) host-seeking female Prosimulimfuscum/mixtum and Simulium venustum maintained on artificial honeydew did not survive longer than those maintained on artificial nectar when fed ad libitum; (2) fiiUy engorged S. venustum and Simulium rugglesi maintained on artificial honeydew did not produce more eggs than those maintained on artificial nectar when fed ad libitum; and (3) S. rugglesi did not have a greater vectoring potential of Leucocytozoon simondi when maintained on artificial honeydew as opposed to artificial nectar when fed ad libitum. However, all flies maintained on the two sugars (artificial honeydew and artificial nectar) survived longer, produce more eggs and had greater vectoring potential than those maintained on distilled water alone.

Investigative links between cognitive function and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in elementary physical education

Research has noted both physical and psychosocial benefits when children participate in regular physical activity. Recent studies are indicating that there may also be academic benefits and that students may be more efficient learners with participation in physical activity. This study investigated the influence of acute moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on four cognitive functions: planning, attention, simultaneous processing, and successive processing. Three classes (59 students) were each tested twice using a balanced design (intervention, balance, and control groups). It was found that the intervention group had a large increase in planning abiHty (ES = 1.67) when compared to the balance (ES = .80) and control (ES = -.89) groups. On the three remaining cognitive functions, the intervention group showed effect sizes similar to that of the balance and control groups. These results indicate that improved planning after physical activity may playa role in improving student performance.