Attitude thérapeutique face à la hernie para-oesophagienne [Therapeutic approach to para-esophageal hernia].

The charts of all the patients operated upon for paraesophageal hernia (HPO) were reviewed. 24 patients could be found between 1976 and 1992. The mean age was 64 years, with 15 men and 9 women. 15 patients had a pure HPO, whereas 9 had a mixed hernia (HPO and laxial hiatal hernia). 3 patients presented with acute symptoms, and 2 of them were operated on emergently. The remaining patients had elective surgery, consisting of reduction of the stomach (all cases), excision of the hernia sac (12), closure of the diaphragm (17) and gastropexy (8). There was no mortality. Due to the fact that acute complications occur in as much as 30-40% of the cases, elective surgery should be proposed to any patient with a known paraesophageal hernia if the operative risks are not prohibitive. A careful preoperative assessment including endoscopy and pH-manometry of the esophagus will provide arguments to add a antireflux procedure to the standard operation, which should include reduction of the stomach, resection of the sac, closure of the hiatal defect and gastropexy.

French version of the Family Attitude Scale: Psychometric properties and relation of attitudes to the respondent's psychiatric status.

The Family Attitude Scale (FAS) is a self-report measure of critical or hostile attitudes and behaviors towards another family member, and demonstrates an ability to predict relapse in psychoses. Data are not currently available on a French version of the scale. The present study developed a French version of the FAS, using a large general population sample to test its internal structure, criterion validity and relationships with the respondents' symptoms and psychiatric diagnoses, and examined the reciprocity of FAS ratings by respondents and their partners. A total of 2072 adults from an urban population undertook a diagnostic interview and completed self-report measures, including an FAS about their partner. A subset of participants had partners who also completed the FAS. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed an excellent fit by a single-factor model, and the FAS demonstrated a strong association with dyadic adjustment. FAS scores of respondents were affected by their anxiety levels and mood, alcohol and anxiety diagnoses, and moderate reciprocity of attitudes and behaviors between the partners was seen. The French version of the FAS has similarly strong psychometric properties to the original English version. Future research should assess the ability of the French FAS to predict relapse of psychiatric disorders.

How to prescribe nutritional support using computers.

As other intensive care unit (ICU) therapies, nutritional support has become more complex requiring tight supervision and monitoring. It has repeatedly been shown that despite awareness of guidelines and prescription of the recommended amounts of energy (25 kcal/kg), underfeeding remains a prominent problem worldwide. In patients with prolonged stays, overfeeding has also become an issue. This lack of fit between prescription and delivery is largely caused by the lack of visibility of the nutritional results to nurses and clinicians. Computerized systems have brought major improvements, mainly through the customization of nutrition relevant variables in a single place, making them visible. Another important point is the possibility to change the ICU time constant to days and weeks which is the delay relevant for nutritional changes to appear, instead of minutes and hours which are more relevant for critical care.

Attitudes of second year diploma nurses in three community colleges toward the use of computers in the nursing role /

The effectiveness of various kinds of computer programs is of concern to nurse-educators. Using a 3x3 experimental design, ninety second year diploma student nurses were randomly selected from a total population at three community colleges in Ontario. Data were collected via a 20-item valid and reliable Likert-type questionnaire developed by the nursing profession to measure perceptions of nurses about computers in the nursing role. The groups were pretested and posttested at the beginning and end of one semester. Subjects attending College A group received a computer literacy course which comprised word processing with technology awareness. College B students were exposed to computer-aided instruction primarily in nursing simulations intermittently throughout the semester. College C subjects maintained their regular curriculum with no computer involvement. The student's t-test (two-tailed) was employed to assess the attitude scores data and a one-way analysis of variance was performed on the attitude scores. Posttest analysis revealed that there was a significant difference (p<.05) between attitude scores on the use of computers in the nursing role between College A and C. No significant differences (p>.05) were seen between College B and A in posttesting. Suggestions for continued computer education of diploma student nurses are provided.

Nurses' attitudes toward computers before and two months after training

This study examined nurses' attitudes toward computers before training and 2 months after training. A quantitative approach and a nonexperimental survey design were used in this study. Stronge and Brodt's (1985) instrument, Nurses' Attitudes Toward Computerization Questionnaire, was used to assess 27 nurses' attitudes prior to and 2 months after computer training. Demographic variables also were collected on the questionnaires. The results of this study showed that, overall, nurses had positive attitudes towards computers in both questionnaires. The results of the first questionnaire were consistent with other studies. There were no studies that involved a follow-up questionnaire using Stronge and Brodt's (1985) instrument. Attitude scores of Questionnaire 2 were higher than attitude scores of Questionnaire 1. More time for nursing tasks, less time for quality patient care, and threat to job security questions were found to be statistically significant. This study found no statistical significance between attitudes and demographic variables. Younger nurses a~d nurses with fewer years of computer experience were most likely to exhibit positive attitudes. Implications for practice and future research were discussed. Some limitations were identified and discussed.

Tools to use when writing a thesis using Word 2011 (for Apple computers)

A collection of videos on time saving features when using MS Word 2011 to write a thesis. Learn how to use styles, make table of contents, make table of figures, use the document map, use the browse object tool and keep a count of the words in your file and many more useful features of Word 2011. Word 2011 is for Apple computers, there is a collection of similar video for use with the PC version Word 2010.

Creating a Table of Contents to cover only part of a file's content using MS Word 2011 for Apple computers

A Table of Contents can be tweaked so that it picks up the content from only part of a file (such as an Appendix). This video shows you how to make such a change to a Table of Contents that is based upon Heading Styles. For best viewing Download the video.

An introduction to applying styles in the University's thesis template using MS Word 2011 for Apple computers

Keeping formatting consistent is made easy by using Styles and they allow you to change the look of the text formatting throughout your file with a few clicks. This video shows how to apply styles in a MS Word 2011 file. Using Heading styles also allow you to make the most out of Word’s Navigation Pane and Table of Contents features – watch our videos on those too! For best viewing Download the video.

Application of personal computers to eddy current inspections

This presentation describes a system for measuring claddings as an example of the many possible advantages to be obtained by applying a personal computer to eddy current testing. A theoretical model and a learning algorithm are integrated into an instrument. They are supported in the PC, and serve to simplify and enhance multiparameter testing. The PC gives additional assistance by simplifying set-up procedures and data logging etc.

Integrable Hamiltonian systems defined on the Lie groups SO(3) and SU(2): an application to the attitude control of a spacecraft

This paper considers left-invariant control systems defined on the Lie groups SU(2) and SO(3). Such systems have a number of applications in both classical and quantum control problems. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. Firstly, the optimal control problem for a system varying on these Lie Groups, with cost that is quadratic in control is lifted to their Hamiltonian vector fields through the Maximum principle of optimal control and explicitly solved. Secondly, the control systems are integrated down to the level of the group to give the solutions for the optimal paths corresponding to the optimal controls. In addition it is shown here that integrating these equations on the Lie algebra su(2) gives simpler solutions than when these are integrated on the Lie algebra so(3).

Using computers to teach people with intellectual disabilities to perform some of the tasks used within cognitive behavioural therapy: a randomised experiment

Aims Training has been shown to improve the ability of people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) to perform some cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) tasks. This study used a computerised training paradigm with the aim of improving the ability of people with IDs to: a) discriminate between behaviours, thoughts and feelings, and b) link situations, thoughts and feelings. Methods Fifty-five people with mild-to-moderate IDs were randomly assigned to a training or attention-control condition in a single-blind mixed experimental design. Computerised tasks assessed the participants’ skills in: (a) discriminating between behaviours, thoughts and feelings (separately and pooled together), and (b) cognitive mediation by selecting appropriate emotions as consequences to given thoughts, and appropriate thoughts as mediators of given emotions. Results Training significantly improved ability to discriminate between behaviours, thoughts and feelings pooled together, compared to the attention-control condition, even when controlling for baseline scores and IQ. Large within-group improvements in the ability to identify behaviours and feelings were observed for the training condition, but not the attention-control group. There were no significant between-group differences in ability to identify thoughts, or on cognitive mediation skills. Conclusions A single session of computerised training can improve the ability of people with IDs to understand and practise CBT tasks relating to behaviours and feelings. There is potential for computerised training to be used as a “primer” for CBT with people with IDs to improve engagement and outcomes, but further development on a specific computerised cognitive mediation task is needed.

Attitude stability of artificial satellites subject to gravity gradient torque

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Unscented Kalman Filter Applied to the Spacecraft Attitude Estimation with Euler Angles

The aim of this work is to test an algorithm to estimate, in real time, the attitude of an artificial satellite using real data supplied by attitude sensors that are on board of the CBERS-2 satellite (China Brazil Earth Resources Satellite). The real-time estimator used in this work for attitude determination is the Unscented Kalman Filter. This filter is a new alternative to the extended Kalman filter usually applied to the estimation and control problems of attitude and orbit. This algorithm is capable of carrying out estimation of the states of nonlinear systems, without the necessity of linearization of the nonlinear functions present in the model. This estimation is possible due to a transformation that generates a set of vectors that, suffering a nonlinear transformation, preserves the same mean and covariance of the random variables before the transformation. The performance will be evaluated and analyzed through the comparison between the Unscented Kalman filter and the extended Kalman filter results, by using real onboard data.

TIME-OPTIMAL GEOMAGNETIC ATTITUDE MANEUVERS OF AN AXISYMMETRICAL SPINNING SATELLITE

A formulation used to determine the time-optimal geomagnetic attitude maneuvers subject to dynamic and geometric constraints is proposed in this paper. This was obtained by a direct search procedure based on a control function parametrization method, using linear programming to obtain numerical suboptimal solutions by linear perturbation. Due to its characteristics it can be used in small computers and to generate computer programs of general application. The dynamic modeling, the magnetic torque model and the suboptimal control procedure are presented. Simulation runs have verified the feasibility of the formulation thus derived and have shown a notable improvement in performance.