Copresence video conference mediated interaction

Abstract

Clinical review: Update on neurally adjusted ventilatory assist - report of a round-table conference.

ABSTRACT: Conventional mechanical ventilators rely on pneumatic pressure and flow sensors and controllers to detect breaths. New modes of mechanical ventilation have been developed to better match the assistance delivered by the ventilator to the patient's needs. Among these modes, neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) delivers a pressure that is directly proportional to the integral of the electrical activity of the diaphragm recorded continuously through an esophageal probe. In clinical settings, NAVA has been chiefly compared with pressure-support ventilation, one of the most popular modes used during the weaning phase, which delivers a constant pressure from breath to breath. Comparisons with proportional-assist ventilation, which has numerous similarities, are lacking. Because of the constant level of assistance, pressure-support ventilation reduces the natural variability of the breathing pattern and can be associated with asynchrony and/or overinflation. The ability of NAVA to circumvent these limitations has been addressed in clinical studies and is discussed in this report. Although the underlying concept is fascinating, several important questions regarding the clinical applications of NAVA remain unanswered. Among these questions, determining the optimal NAVA settings according to the patient's ventilatory needs and/or acceptable level of work of breathing is a key issue. In this report, based on an investigator-initiated round table, we review the most recent literature on this topic and discuss the theoretical advantages and disadvantages of NAVA compared with other modes, as well as the risks and limitations of NAVA.

Informe sobre la 63a IFLA Conference (Copenhaguen, setembre de 1997)

La conferència anual de l'IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) -enguany la 63a- va tenir lloc a Copenhaguen, Dinamarca, entre el 30 d'agost i el 6 de setembre de 1997. Els congressos de l'IFLA tenen un contingut professional que abraça tots els àmbits de la biblioteconomia. Durant la setmana que dura el congrés les diverses seccions, taules rodones i altres grups en què s'organitza l'entitat mantenen reunions tancades en les quals es revisen els objectius del grup i els treballs duts a terme durant l'any, es planifiquen nous projectes i es preparen les properes reunions. Així mateix, cada grup organitza sessions obertes i seminaris en els quals es presenten treballs i es debaten qüestions professionals.

Electronic thesis and dissertations conference, University of Pittsburgh, 10-12 de junio de 2009

El pasado mes de junio se celebró en Pittsburgh, EE.UU., el duodécimo simposio internacional sobre tesis electrónicas: Electronic Thesis and Dissertations Conference (ETD2009). Fue organizado por Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD). La mayoría de los ponentes explicaron las experiencias de su propia universidad. Además, hubo expertos invitados entre los cuales se pueden destacar Stevan Harnad (Univ. Southampton), Karla Hahn (Association of Research Libraries) y Deanna Marcum (Library of Congress). Estos simposios pretenden promover la adopción, creación, uso, difusión y preservación de las tesis electrónicas. De hecho, el éxito ha sido tal, que algunas universidades ya prescinden de la copia en papel para el depósito y preservación del documento. Un caso reciente es el de la University of Albany cuya nueva política, anunciada durante el simposio, consiste en que a partir de setiembre del 2009 ya no requiere el depósito de una copia impresa de las tesis aprobadas en aquella universidad.