Effectiveness of pharmacist care in the improvement of adherence to antidepressants: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists can play a decisive role in the management of ambulatory patients with depression who have poor adherence to antidepressant drugs. OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the effectiveness of pharmacist care in improving adherence of depressed outpatients to antidepressants. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted. RCTs were identified through electronic databases (MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Institute for Scientific Information Web of Knowledge, and Spanish National Research Council) from inception to April 2010, reference lists were checked, and experts were consulted. RCTs that evaluated the impact of pharmacist interventions on improving adherence to antidepressants in depressed patients in an outpatient setting (community pharmacy or pharmacy service) were included. Methodologic quality was assessed and methodologic details and outcomes were extracted in duplicate. RESULTS: Six RCTs were identified. A total of 887 patients with an established diagnosis of depression who were initiating or maintaining pharmacologic treatment with antidepressant drugs and who received pharmacist care (459 patients) or usual care (428 patients) were included in the review. The most commonly reported interventions were patient education and monitoring, monitoring and management of toxicity and adverse effects, adherence promotion, provision of written or visual information, and recommendation or implementation of changes or adjustments in medication. Overall, no statistical heterogeneity or publication bias was detected. The pooled odds ratio, using a random effects model, was 1.64 (95% CI 1.24 to 2.17). Subgroup analysis showed no statistically significant differences in results by type of pharmacist involved, adherence measure, diagnostic tool, or analysis strategy. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that pharmacist intervention is effective in the improvement of patient adherence to antidepressants. However, data are still limited and we would recommend more research in this area, specifically outside of the US.

Elaboració de sessions audiovisuals breus per a treballar competències transversals comunicatives i de treball en equip

Desde la creación de la asignatura de "Bases de Inmunología" del Master Oficial Interuniversitario URV-UB en Nutrición y Metabolismo (curso 2007-2008), se están utilizando diversas metodologías docentes innovadoras que permiten trabajar competencias transversales y acerca el estudiante a tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) con las que se encontrará durante el desarrollo de su actividad profesional. El objetivo de la presente innovación consistió en la realización de se-siones formativas audiovisuales con tal de trabajar las habilidades comunicativas necesarias en el desarrollo del ejercicio profesional.

Elaboració de sessions audiovisuals breus per a treballar competències transversals comunicatives i de treball en equip

Desde la creación de la asignatura de "Bases de Inmunología" del Master Oficial Interuniversitario URV-UB en Nutrición y Metabolismo (curso 2007-2008), se están utilizando diversas metodologías docentes innovadoras que permiten trabajar competencias transversales y acerca el estudiante a tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) con las que se encontrará durante el desarrollo de su actividad profesional. El objetivo de la presente innovación consistió en la realización de se-siones formativas audiovisuales con tal de trabajar las habilidades comunicativas necesarias en el desarrollo del ejercicio profesional.

Elaboració de sessions audiovisuals breus per a treballar competències transversals comunicatives i de treball en equip

Desde la creación de la asignatura de "Bases de Inmunología" del Master Oficial Interuniversitario URV-UB en Nutrición y Metabolismo (curso 2007-2008), se están utilizando diversas metodologías docentes innovadoras que permiten trabajar competencias transversales y acerca el estudiante a tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) con las que se encontrará durante el desarrollo de su actividad profesional. El objetivo de la presente innovación consistió en la realización de se-siones formativas audiovisuales con tal de trabajar las habilidades comunicativas necesarias en el desarrollo del ejercicio profesional.

Kaasun jakauma paineellisissa sulpunkäsittelylaitteissa

Työn tarkoituksena oli tutkia kuinka kaasukuplat jakautuvat sellususpensioon, kun prosessiolosuhteita muutetaan. Kuplien kokojakauman avulla pyritään kartoittamaan kuinka kaasukuplat pilkkoutuvat ja onko olemassa raja-arvoa, milloin tehon lisäys ei enää pilko sellususpensiossa olevia kuplia pienemmiksi. Jakaumien avulla voidaan mahdollisesti kehittää kaasunpoistoa. Työssä selvitettiin voidaanko kameratekniikkaa käyttää kuplakokojen määrittämiseen sellusulpusta. Läpinäkymätön sellumassa tarjoaa kuvaukselle haasteellisen ympäristön. Myöskään kirjallisuudessa ei vastaavaa menetelmää aikaisemmin oltu käytetty. Kuvatusta materiaalista laskettiin kuplien halkaisijat, joita pyrittiin tarkastelemaan tilastollisesti. Tilastollinen tarkastelu toi eroja mittauspisteiden välille. Kuplien halkaisijoiden perusteella mallinnettiin kuplakokoon vaikuttavat prosessisuureet lineaarisella regressioanalyysillä. Mallinnuksen perusteella saatiinvasteisiin vaikuttavat riippumattomat muuttujat ja niiden matemaattiset malliyhtälöt. Tuloksina saatiin selville, että kuplien kokojakaumissa on eroja sekoitussäiliön eri puolilla. Sekoitussäiliössä suurten kuplien suhteellinen osuus kasvaa kaasupitoisuuden ja sakeuden noustessa. Mallinnuksen tärkeimpänä tuloksena voidaan todeta, että sakeus ja kaasutilavuus vaikuttavat kuplakokoon kasvattavasti. Kierrosnopeuden kasvattaminen pienentää kuplakokoa. Visuaalisen informaation avulla on helpompi ymmärtää kuinka kuplat käyttäytyvät.

Suivi neurodéveloppemental à 5ans des extrêmes prématurés et détection des difficultés sur le plan des fonctions exécutives [Detection of executive function disorders with a standard neurodevelopmental follow-up of premature children].

INTRODUCTION: A significant proportion of prematurely born children encounter behavioral difficulties, such as attention deficit or hyperactivity, which could be due to executive function disorders. AIMS: To examine whether the standard neurodevelopmental assessment offered to premature children in Switzerland recognizes executive function disorders. METHODS: The study population consisted of 49 children born before 29 weeks of gestation who were examined between 5 and 6 years of age with a standard assessment, with additional items to assess executive functioning. Children with severe neurodevelopmental impairment were excluded (mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism). Standard assessment consisted in the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC), which comprises three subscales: sequential processes (analysis of sequential information), simultaneous processes (global analysis of visual information), and composite mental processes (CMP) (result of the other two scales), as well as a behavioral evaluation using the standardized Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Executive functioning was assessed with tasks evaluating visual attention, divided attention, and digit memory as well as with a specialized questionnaire, the Behavior Rating Index of Executive Functions (BRIEF), which evaluates several aspects of executive function (regulation, attention, flexibility, working memory, etc). RESULTS: Children were divided according to their results on the three K-ABC scales (< or>85), and the different neuropsychological tasks assessing executive function were compared between the groups. The CMP did not differentiate children with executive difficulties, whereas a score<85 on the sequential processes was significantly associated with worse visual and divided attention. There was a strong correlation between the SDQ and the BRIEF questionnaires. For both questionnaires, children receiving psychotherapy had significantly higher results. Children who presented behavioral problems assessed with the SDQ presented significantly higher scores on the BRIEF. CONCLUSION: A detailed analysis of the standard neurodevelopmental assessment allows the identification of executive function disorders in premature children. Children who performed below 85 on the sequential processes of the K-ABC had significantly more attentional difficulties on the neuropsychological tasks and therefore have to be recognized and carefully followed. Emotional regulation had a strong correlation with behavioral difficulties, which were suitably assessed with the SDQ, recognized by the families, and treated.

Social network extraction and analysis based on multimodal dyadic interaction

Social interactions are a very important component in people"s lives. Social network analysis has become a common technique used to model and quantify the properties of social interactions. In this paper, we propose an integrated framework to explore the characteristics of a social network extracted from multimodal dyadic interactions. For our study, we used a set of videos belonging to New York Times" Blogging Heads opinion blog. The Social Network is represented as an oriented graph, whose directed links are determined by the Influence Model. The links" weights are a measure of the"influence" a person has over the other. The states of the Influence Model encode automatically extracted audio/visual features from our videos using state-of-the art algorithms. Our results are reported in terms of accuracy of audio/visual data fusion for speaker segmentation and centrality measures used to characterize the extracted social network.

L'ús de les tecnologies audiovisuals com a recurs didàctic en museus d'història i espais de presentació del patrimoni

La presentació del patrimoni en els museus i altres espais afins (exposicions, parcs arqueològics, centres d"interpretació patrimonial, etcètera) s"està beneficiant en els últims anys dels avenços a nivell didàctic que ofereixen les noves tecnologies. Però, sovint es fa palès que aquestes estratègies comunicatives no impliquen necessàriament una òptima assimilació del discurs històric i museogràfic per part del públic. La modernització dels espais patrimonials amb la incorporació d"audiovisuals i sistemes informàtics multimèdia no serveix de gran cosa si es planteja com un mer recurs passiu de delectació o com una concessió a la creixent implantació social de les noves tecnologies. És per això que es fa imprescindible plantejar des d"un punt de vista didàctic i comunicatiu com aquests recursos poden construir i/o enriquir el discurs a l"entorn del patrimoni (històric, arqueològic, artístic, etcètera) per a una museografia veritablement comprensiva i, més enllà dels objectes, educadora en valors.

Hire me: Computational inference of hirability in employment interviews based on nonverbal behavior

Understanding the basis on which recruiters form hirability impressions for a job applicant is a key issue in organizational psychology and can be addressed as a social computing problem. We approach the problem from a face-to-face, nonverbal perspective where behavioral feature extraction and inference are automated. This paper presents a computational framework for the automatic prediction of hirability. To this end, we collected an audio-visual dataset of real job interviews where candidates were applying for a marketing job. We automatically extracted audio and visual behavioral cues related to both the applicant and the interviewer. We then evaluated several regression methods for the prediction of hirability scores and showed the feasibility of conducting such a task, with ridge regression explaining 36.2% of the variance. Feature groups were analyzed, and two main groups of behavioral cues were predictive of hirability: applicant audio features and interviewer visual cues, showing the predictive validity of cues related not only to the applicant, but also to the interviewer. As a last step, we analyzed the predictive validity of psychometric questionnaires often used in the personnel selection process, and found that these questionnaires were unable to predict hirability, suggesting that hirability impressions were formed based on the interaction during the interview rather than on questionnaire data.

Törmäysystävällisen valaisinpylvään tuotteistaminen

Euroopan unioni on tiukentanut teiden laitteiden ja tukirakenteiden törmäysturvallisuusvaatimuksia. Uuden standardoinnin tarkoituksena on lieventää ajoneuvon kuljettajan ja matkustajan vammojen vakavuutta ajoneuvon törmätessä tielaitteiden pysyviin rakenteisiin. Käytännössä rakenteiden tulee hidastaa ajoneuvon nopeutta hallitusti eri törmäysnopeuksilla, jolloin matkustajaan kohdistuvat kiihtyvyydet eivät aiheuta vakavaa loukkaantumisriskiä. Vuonna 2005 Mikkelin ammattikorkeakoulun YTI-tutkimuskeskus ja Tehomet Oy kehittivät ensimmäisen version törmäysystävällisestä valaisinpylväästä. Tässä diplomityössä tavoitteena oli kehittää aikaisemmin tehdystä versiosta helpommin valmistettava versio sekä parantaa pylvään törmäyskäyttäytymistä. Valmistusmenetelmistä valittiin pultruusio, kuitukelaus, alipaineinjektio ja RTM. Menetelmille suunniteltiin soveltuvat rakenteet ja laskettiin rakenteiden valmistuskustannukset. Pultruusiolla, alipaineinjektiolla ja RTM:11ä valmistettiin koe-erä esitörmäyskokeita varten. Esitörmäyskokeiden jälkeen valittiin valmistusmenetelmäksi RTM. TKK/Tielaboratorion virallisissa testeissä kehitetylle pylväälle myönnettiin HE2-turvaluokitus. Hanketta jatketaan kehittämällä valmistusprosessia tehokkaammaksi uudistamalla muottitekniikkaa sekä ottamalla käyttöön lujiteaihiot. Tavoitteena on käynnistää tuotanto keväällä 2008. Kehitetty pylväs esitellään kansainvälisillä "Sähkö, Tele, Valo- ja AV 2008"-messuilla Jyväskylän Paviljongissa 6.-8.2.2008.

Aspectos técnicos de la digitalización de fondos audiovisuales

El patrimonio audiovisual de archivos, bibliotecas y museos se encuentra en peligro debido al deterioro de las grabaciones en soportes magnéticos. Se presentan las alteraciones que pueden sufrir las cintas de vídeo, así como las dificultades que representa la obsolescencia de los aparatos necesarios para su lectura. Se considera que la mejor vía de preservación de las cintas de vídeo es su digitalización. Este paso no es fácil dada la complejidad de los formatos de archivos de vídeo digital, incluyendo los contenedores multimedia y los estándares de compresión de vídeo y de audio. Por ello la elección técnica tiene que estar estrechamente ligada a las necesidades de cada servicio. Esta aproximación se ilustra con el caso de los fondos videográficos de las televisiones locales.

Degradación de las fotografías anteriores a 1950 por hidrólisis ácida en archivos fotográficos

El patrimonio fotográfico sobre soportes plásticos, tanto si se trata de acetatos como de nitratos está expuesto a un proceso de degradación por hidrólisis ácida que es autocatalítico. Aunque existe bibliografía extensa sobre los procedimientos de conservación y preservación de este tipo de material, no abunda aquella que analice la situación real y actual de las colecciones custodiadas por los centros documentales. El presente trabajo tiene por objetivo dar a conocer el estado de conservación de este tipo de patrimonio en Cataluña, así como las condiciones en las que se produce dicha conservación. De los resultados de infiere que los procedimientos adecuados de conservación solamente se han aplicado recientemente y que las instalaciones con control medioambiental están infrautilizadas. Aunque cerca de un 85 % del material todavía no ha alcanzado un estado de catálisis autoinducida deben tomarse medidas rápidas de preservación puesto que una tercera parte del material estudiado se encuntra cerca de ello.

Construindo o estágio de docência da pós-graduação em química

The teaching apprenticeship established by CAPES for post-graduation scholarship beholders has been discussed and the criterion adopted for the implementation in the post-graduation in Inorganic Chemistry Program presented. A teaching plan for the new subject is proposed, based on the experience gained through a first group. An instrument for evaluation of the student's performance has been developed and analyzed. Aspects like knowledge, clearness, enthusiasm, confidence, good manage on the audio-visual resources, class length are mentioned by degree of importance and the major difficulties faced and pointed out by the students.

Memoria de la elaboración de subtítulos para "Babel", primer capítulo de la serie documental Fry's Planet Word

Este trabajo pretende identificar algunas de las habilidades que un traductor audiovisual debe desarrollar, desde un punto de vista práctico, para ejercer la profesión, haciendo hincapié en el dominio del software específico para subtituladores. Esta memoria describe el proceso de ensayo y error llevado a cabo durante la elaboración de los subtítulos de un documental e identifica algunas de las dificultades con las que podemos encontrarnos al realizar un encargo de este tipo si trabajamos con programas de licencia gratuita, además de intentar aportar las soluciones correspondientes.

Reading Development During Elementary School Years. Evidence from Eye Movements

The present dissertation examined reading development during elementary school years by means of eye movement tracking. Three different but related issues in this field were assessed. First of all, the development of parafoveal processing skills in reading was investigated. Second, it was assessed whether and to what extent sublexical units such as syllables and morphemes are used in processing Finnish words and whether the use of these sublexical units changes as a function of reading proficiency. Finally, the developmental trend in the speed of visual information extraction during reading was examined. With regard to parafoveal processing skills, it was shown that 2nd graders extract letter identity information approx. 5 characters to the right of fixation, 4th graders approx. 7 characters to the right of fixation, and 6th graders and adults approx. 9 characters to the right of fixation. Furthermore, it was shown that all age groups extract more parafoveal information within compound words than across adjectivenoun pairs of similar length. In compounds, parafoveal word information can be extracted in parallel with foveal word information, if the compound in question is of high frequency. With regard to the use of sublexical units in Finnish word processing, it was shown that less proficient 2nd graders use both syllables and morphemes in the course of lexical access. More proficient 2nd graders as well as older readers seem to process words more holistically. Finally, it was shown that 60 ms is enough for 4th graders and adults to extract visual information from both 4-letter and 8-letter words, whereas 2nd graders clearly needed more than 60 ms to extract all information from 8- letter words for processing to proceed smoothly. The present dissertation demonstrates that Finnish 2nd graders develop their reading skills rapidly and are already at an adult level in some aspects of reading. This is not to say that there are no differences between less proficient (e.g., 2nd graders) and more proficient readers (e.g., adults) but in some respects it seems that the visual system used in extracting information from the text is matured by the 2nd grade. Furthermore, the present dissertation demonstrates that the allocation of attention in reading depends much on textual properties such as word frequency and whether words are spatially unified (as in compounds) or not. This flexibility of the attentional system naturally needs to be captured in word processing models. Finally, individual differences within age groups are quite substantial but it seems that by the end of the 2nd grade practically all Finnish children have reached a reasonable level of reading proficiency.