Implementation of guidelines on delirium in a General Hospital: a before-after study of their impact on caregivers' knowledge and clinical skills

INTRODUCTION: Delirium is a highly prevalent disorder, with serious consequences for the hospitalised patient. Nevertheless, it remains under-diagnosed and under-treated. We developed evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) focusing on prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of delirium in a general hospital. This article presents the implementation process of these CPGs and a before-after study assessing their impact on healthcare professionals' knowledge and on clinical practice. METHODS: CPGs on delirium were first implemented in two wards (Neurology and Neurosurgery) of the Lausanne university hospital. Interactive one-hour educational sessions for small groups of nurses and physicians were organised. Participants received a summary of the guidelines and completed a multiple choice questionnaire, assessing putative changes in knowledge, before and three months after the educational session. Other indicators such as "diagnosis of delirium" reported in the discharge letters, and mean duration of patients' hospital stay before and after implementation were compared. RESULTS: Eighty percent of the nurses and physicians from the Neurology and Neurosurgery wards attended the educational sessions. Both nurses and physicians significantly improved their knowledge after the implementation (+9 percentage-points). Other indicators were not modified by the intervention. CONCLUSION: A single interactive intervention improved both nurses' and physicians' knowledge on delirium. Sustained and repeated interventions are probably needed to demonstrate changes in clinical practice.

Iowa School Library Program Guidelines: Libraries, Literacy and Learning for the 21st Century,February 2007

These guidelines were created by a Task Force appointed by the State Library of Iowa and the Iowa Department of Education to provide assistance to local school districts in developing school library programs. These include a summary of the data collected annually by the State Library of Iowa in its Survey of School Libraries. This data will allow local schools to compare themselves in terms of collections, budgets and staffing to schools of similar size throughout the state.

Quality of Learners' Time and Learning Performance Beyond Quantitative Time-on-Task

Peer-reviewed

The Roles of Cultural, Functional and Value Diversity in Innovativeness and Learning

Tutkielman tavoite on tutkia kulttuurista, funktionaalista ja arvojen diversiteettiä, niiden suhdetta innovatiivisuuteen ja oppimiseen sekä tarjota keinoja diversiteetin johtamiseen. Tämän lisäksi selvitetään linjaesimiesten haastattelujen kautta miten diversiteetti case -organisaatiossa tällä hetkellä koetaan. Organisaation diversiteetin tämänhetkisen tilan tunnistamisen kautta voidaan esittää parannusehdotuksia diversiteetin hallintaan. Tutkimus- ja tiedonkeruumenetelmänä käytetään kvalitatiivista focus group haastattelumenetelmää. Tutkimuksessa saatiin selkeä kuva kulttuurisen, funktionaalisen ja arvojen diversiteetin merkityksistä organisaation innovatiivisuudelle ja oppimiselle sekä löydettiin keinoja näiden diversiteetin tyyppien johtamiseen. Tutkimuksen tärkeä löydös on se, että diversiteetti vaikuttaa positiivisesti organisaation innovatiivisuuteen kun sitä johdetaan tehokkaasti ja kun organisaatioympäristö tukee avointa keskustelua ja mielipiteiden jakamista. Case organisaation tämänhetkistä diversiteetin tilaa selvitettäessä havaittiin että ongelma organisaatiossa ei ole diversiteetin puute, vaan paremminkin se, ettei diversiteettia osata hyödyntää. Organisaatio ei tue erilaisten näkemysten ja mielipiteiden vapaata esittämistä jahyväksikäyttöä ja siksi diversiteetin hyödyntäminen on epätäydellistä. Haastatteluissa tärkeinä seikkoina diversiteetin hyödyntämisen parantamisessa nähtiin kulttuurin muuttaminen avoimempaan suuntaan ja johtajien esimiestaitojen parantaminen.

Fishery of the Goliath grouper, Epinephelus itajara (Teleostei: Epinephelidae) based on local ecological knowledge and fishery records in Yucatan, Mexico

The Goliath grouper, Epinephelus itajara, a large-bodied (similar to 2.5 m TL, > 400 kg) and critically endangered fish (Epinephelidae), is highly Vulnerable to overfishing. Although protected from fishing in many countries, its exploitation in Mexico is unregulated; a situation that puts its populations at risk. Fishery records of E. itajara are scarce, which prevents determination of its fishery status. This work aimed to elucidate the E itajara fishery in the northern Yucatan Peninsula by 1) analyzing available catch records and 2) interviewing veteran fishermen (local ecological knowledge) from two traditional landing sites: Dzilam de Bravo and Puerto Progreso. Historic fishery records from two fishing cooperatives were analyzed in order to elucidate the current situation and offer viable alternatives for conservation and management. Catches have decreased severely. Local knowledge obtained from fishermen represented a very important source of information for reconstructing the fisheries history of this species. Conservation measures that incorporate regional and international regulations on critically endangered fish species are suggested

Educational data mining and learning analytics : Clasificación de las matriculaciones de A.D.E. en la UOC

Trabajo de investigación que realiza un estudio clasificatorio de las asignaturas matriculadas en la carrera de Administración y Dirección de Empresas de la UOC en relación a su resultado. Se proponen diferentes métodos y modelos de comprensión del entorno en el que se realiza el estudio.

Semantic Web applications: a framework for industry and business exploitation – What is needed for the adoption of the Semantic Web from the market and industry

In recent years, Semantic Web (SW) research has resulted in significant outcomes. Various industries have adopted SW technologies, while the ‘deep web’ is still pursuing the critical transformation point, in which the majority of data found on the deep web will be exploited through SW value layers. In this article we analyse the SW applications from a ‘market’ perspective. We are setting the key requirements for real-world information systems that are SW-enabled and we discuss the major difficulties for the SW uptake that has been delayed. This article contributes to the literature of SW and knowledge management providing a context for discourse towards best practices on SW-based information systems.

Semantics-supported cooperative learning for enhanced awareness

Awareness is required for supporting all forms of cooperation. In Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), awareness can be used for enhancing collaborative opportunities across physical distances and in computer-mediated environments. Shared Knowledge Awareness (SKA) intends to increase the perception about the shared knowledge, students have in a collaborative learning scenario and also concerns the understanding that this group has about it. However, it is very difficult to produce accurate awareness indicators based on informal message exchange among the participants. Therefore, we propose a semantic system for cooperation that makes use of formal methods for knowledge representation based on semantic web technologies. From these semantics-enhanced repository and messages, it could be easier to compute more accurate awareness.

Enhancing Customer Knowledge and Its Sharing At a Paper Production Line

This study has been made for specific paper production line at an international forest industry company in Finland. The main purpose for the study was a need to examine the current situation of the customer knowledge and its’ sharing at case production line, recognize the problems in it and finally, find out the improvement actions. The study is composed of theoretical and empirical parts. In theoretical part, knowledge management and information sharing in addition to customer knowledge management are presented. Empirical data from case production line was collected by using survey questionnaires. The results are analyzed in discussion and conclusions and finally, study ends with summary which includes recommendations. Based on the study, the amount and quality of customer knowledge and gaining and transferring the customer knowledge were found as the main challenges. The proposed solutions were discovered from moving towards more dynamic operating environment and in the area of customer knowledge management, especially from the communities of creation.

Innovación y Aprendizaje: un nuevo modelo para la formación universitaria: ¿Por qué y para qué? = Innovation and Learning: a New Model for University Education: Why and for What?

The legislative reforms in university matters driven in recent years, beyond the provoked controversies, offer to universities the possibility to develop a new model in line with the European environment, focusing on quality aims and adapting to the socioeconomic current challenges. A new educational model centered on the student, on the formation of specific and transverse competitions, on the improvement of the employability and the access to the labor market, on the attraction and fixation of talent, is an indispensable condition for the effective social mobility and for the homogeneous development of a more responsible and sustainable socioeconomic and productive model

Consideraciones metodológicas para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje del deporte escolar = Methodological considerations for the teaching and learning of school sport

Sport is a fundamental content in the teaching and learning of Physical Education independently of whether it is seen assuch by some authors. In whichever case according to the treatment that we give it, it will have sufficient educationalpotential without forgetting that it is the student who is the important figure in the process. To achieve the objectives wemust facilitate practices that are in agreement with the indispensable ethical principles to try to bring about a meaningfuland functional learning. The methodological criteria that we present in this article have this intention helped by examplesthat make it easier to understand the teaching learning process