Helping parents teach young children : a guide for home economics program assistants /

Mode of access: Internet.

An evaluation of the Keep on Talking program for maintaining communication skills into old

Communication skills change with age as a result of sensory deficits, memory loss, and increasing word finding difficulties The Keep on Talking program (L. Hickson, H. Barnett, L. Worrall, & E. Yiu, 1994) was developed to assist older people to develop their own strategies for maintaining communication skills into old age. Two hundred and fifty-two healthy older people were recruited from the community and were assessed on a battery of communication assessments on entry to the study and at 1 year after entry. The experimental group (n = 120) participated in the 5-week group Keep on Talking program run by volunteers A further 130 control subjects were assessed only. The short-term effectiveness of the program was evaluated using a short knowledge based and attitudinal questionnaire and qualitative written feedback. At the I-year follow up, subjects were also asked whether they had taken any action as a result of the project. Results concluded that there was a significant difference between the number of correct questionnaire responses on the knowledge based items and the ratings on the attitudinal items pre- and postprogram questionnaire for the experimental subjects. Qualitative written feedback was positive with many participants remarking on the amount of information that they had acquired. Forty-eight experimental and 69 control subjects (n = 117) were assessed I year later, and there was a significant difference between the groups in terms of the number of subjects who reported having taken action as a result of the program. The Keep on Talking program increased knowledge about communication, produced a positive change in attitude toward the importance of communication, and encouraged participants to take action to maintain their communication skills. Maintaining communication skills may prevent social isolation. This simple 5-hour group program has been effective in empowering participants to maintain. their communication skills as they age.

Severe stress urinary incontinence: pelvic floor muscle training program

International guidelines recommend a first line therapy in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI), the pelvic floor muscle (PFM) training. This case report assesses the effects of the PFM training program in treating women with severe SUI. The urodynamic parameters allow diagnosed intrinsic sphincter deficiency and urethral hypermobility. The subjective and objective parameters were assessed at the beginning and after six-month of PFM training program. This case report confirms the efficiency of the intensive training program in severe SUI. The medical implications of the PFM training as first treatment option reflect favourable individual results and additionally contribute to the selection of the non-invasive treatment, the reduction of the incidence collateral effects, low costs and that does not prevent future treatment options.

An internet remote laboratory to teach industrial automation

This paper presents the new internet remote laboratory (IRL), constructed at Mechanical Engineering Department (MED), Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL), to teach Industrial Automation, namely electropneumatic cycles. The aim of this work was the development and implementation of a remote laboratory that was simple and effective from the user point of view, allowing access to all its functionalities through a web browser without having to install any other program and giving access to all the features that the students can find at the physical laboratory. With this goal in mind, it has been implemented a simple architecture with the new programmable logic controller (PLC) SIEMENS S7-1200, and with the aid of several free programs, programming technologies such as JavaScript, PHP and databases, it was possible to have a remote laboratory, with a simple interface, to teach industrial automation students.

Controling delayed transitions with applications to prevent single species extinctions

A new method is proposed to control delayed transitions towards extinction in single population theoretical models with discrete time undergoing saddle-node bifurcations. The control method takes advantage of the delaying properties of the saddle remnant arising after the bifurcation, and allows to sustain populations indefinitely. Our method, which is shown to work for deterministic and stochastic systems, could generally be applied to avoid transitions tied to one-dimensional maps after saddle-node bifurcations.

An approach to teach Calculus/Mathematical Analysis (for engineering students) using computers and active learning – its conception, development of materials and evaluation

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Ciências da Educação

Implementation of a zebrafish health program in a research facility : A 4-year retrospective study

In the past two decades, zebrafish (Danio rerio)-based research has contributed to significant scientific advances. Still, husbandry and health programs did not evolve at the same pace, as evidenced by the absence of general guidelines. Health monitoring is essential to animal welfare, to permit animal exchanges across facilities, to contribute to robust experimental results, and for data reproducibility. In this study, we report a health program implemented in a zebrafish research facility to prevent, monitor, and control pathogen, and disease dissemination. This program includes quarantine, routine health screening of sentinels, and nonroutine screenings of retired animals and sick/moribund individuals. An extensive list of clinical signs, lesions, and pathogens was monitored based on: daily observation of fish, necropsy, histology, and bacterial culture. The results indicate that the combined analysis of sentinels with the evaluation of sick/moribund animals enables a comprehensive description not only of pathogen prevalence but also of clinical and histopathologic lesions of resident animals. The establishment of a quarantine program revealed to be effective in the reduction of Pseudoloma neurophilia frequency in the main aquaria room. Finally, characterization of the colony health status based on this multiapproach program shows a low prevalence of lesions and pathogens in the facility.

Enzymatic hydrophobic modification of jute fibers via grafting to reinforce composites

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP)/H2O2 system catalyzes the free-radical polymerization of aromatic compounds such as lignins and gallate esters. In this work, dodecyl gallate (DG) was grafted onto the surfaces of lignin-rich jute fabrics by HRP-mediated oxidative polymerization with an aim to enhance the hydrophobicity of the fibers. The DG-grafted jute fibers and reaction products of their model compounds were characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results clearly indicated the grafting of DG to the jute fiber by HRP. Furthermore, the hydrophobicity of jute fabrics was determined by measuring the wetting time and static contact angle. Compared to the control sample, the wetting time and static contact angle of the grated fabrics changed from ~1 s to 1 h and from ~0° to 123.68°, respectively. This clearly proved that the hydrophobicity of jute fabrics improved considerably. Conditions of the HRP-catalyzed DG-grafting reactions were optimized in terms of the DG content of modified jute fabrics. Moreover, the results of breaking strength and elongation of DG-grafted jute/ polypropylene (PP) composites demonstrated improved reinforcement of the composite due to enzymatic hydrophobic modification of jute fibers.

PHA reinforce sensible drinking in Alcohol Awareness Week

Recent health figures show that 20% of adults surveyed admitted to drinking over the weekly alcohol limits (1)so the Public Health Agency is using Alcohol Awareness Week (14-20th November) to reinforce the importance of drinking sensibly and staying within safe alcohol limits.Government guidelines on safe drinking are 21 units per week for males and 14 units per week for females. Staying within these limits is important as excessive and binge drinking can lead, in the short term, to increased risk of accidents, antisocial behaviour, impact on relationships, unplanned pregnancy. Longer term it can damage the liver, heart, brain and stomach, not to mention the other human costs, and costs to the economy and society as a whole.Owen O'Neill, PHA Health and Social Wellbeing Improvement Manager and Drugs and Alcohol Lead, said: "The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety's drinking limits are in place to encourage the public to develop safe and sensible drinking habits. However, these recent figures highlight that not everyone is adhering to these limits. It is crucial that those who do decide to have a drink do so in moderation and stick to the recommended limits to prevent any long or short term damages".The message is clear, if you drink, remember to be smart and enjoy alcohol within safe limits. People should follow the recommended daily alcohol intake. These are:Men: No more than 3 to 4 units of alcohol a day and no more than 21 units over the course of the week.Women: No more than 2 to 3 units of alcohol a day and no more than 14 units over the course of the week.Examples of units:Can of extra strong lager - 4 unitsBottle of lager - 1.5 unitsPint of standard lager - 2.5 unitsPint of premium larger - 3 unitsSmall pub bottle of wine - 2.25 unitsPub measure of spirits - 1.5 unitsPint of cider - 3 unitsPint of stout - 2.5 units. Remember, that for each unit you drink over the daily limit, the risk to your health increases. It's important to spread the units throughout the week - you can't 'save up' your units for the weekend or an upcoming holiday. It is also important to drink plenty of water, ideally matching the amount of alcohol you have consumed.For further information on sensible drinking and alcohol units visit the Public Health Agency's website www.knowyourlimits.infoReference(1) Health Survey Northern Ireland: first results from the 2010/2011 survey (2011) DHSSPS, http://dhsspsni.giv/index/stats_research/stats-public-health.htm

Prophylactic isolated limb perfusion for localized, high-risk limb melanoma: results of a multicenter randomized phase III trial. European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Malignant Melanoma Cooperative Group Protocol 18832, the World Health Organization Melanoma Program Trial 15, and the North American Perfusion Group Southwest Oncology Group-8593.

PURPOSE: Patients with primary cutaneous melanoma > or = 1.5 mm in thickness are at high risk of having regional micrometastases at the time of initial surgical treatment. A phase III international study was designed to evaluate whether prophylactic isolated limb perfusion (ILP) could prevent regional recurrence and influence survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 832 assessable patients from 16 centers entered the study; 412 were randomized to wide excision (WE) only and 420 to WE plus ILP with melphalan and mild hyperthermia. Median age was 50 years, 68% of patients were female, 79% of melanomas were located on a lower limb, and 47% had a thickness > or = 3 mm. RESULTS: Median follow-up duration is 6.4 years. There was a trend for a longer disease-free interval (DFI) after ILP. The difference was significant for patients who did not undergo elective lymph node dissection (ELND). The impact of ILP was clearly on the occurrence-as first site of progression - of in-transit metastases (ITM), which were reduced from 6.6% to 3.3%, and of regional lymph node (RLN) metastases, with a reduction from 16.7% to 12.6%. There was no benefit from ILP in terms of time to distant metastasis or survival. Side effects were higher after ILP, but transient in most patients. There were two amputations for limb toxicity after ILP. CONCLUSION: Prophylactic ILP with melphalan cannot be recommended as an adjunct to standard surgery in high-risk primary limb melanoma.

Positive deviance study to inform a Chagas disease control program in southern Ecuador

Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, which is mainly transmitted by the faeces of triatomine insects that find favourable environments in poorly constructed houses. Previous studies have documented persistent triatomine infestation in houses in the province of Loja in southern Ecuador despite repeated insecticide and educational interventions. We aim to develop a sustainable strategy for the interruption of Chagas disease transmission by promoting living environments that are designed to prevent colonisation of rural houses by triatomines. This study used positive deviance to inform the design of an anti-triatomine prototype house by identifying knowledge, attitudes and practices used by families that have remained triatomine-free (2010-2012). Positive deviants reported practices that included maintenance of structural elements of the house, fumigation of dwellings and animal shelters, sweeping with "insect repellent" plants and relocation of domestic animals away from the house, among others. Participants favoured construction materials that do not drastically differ from those currently used (adobe walls and tile roofs). They also expressed their belief in a clear connection between a clean house and health. The family's economic dynamics affect space use and must be considered in the prototype's design. Overall, the results indicate a positive climate for the introduction of housing improvements as a protective measure against Chagas disease in this region.

Independent Living Program, Vol. 2, 2007

The Iowa Department for the Blind is the state agency that serves Iowans with vision loss. Services are free, confidential and available statewide. "There are no limitations to what you can do with training and a positive attitude." (All quotes in this newsletter are from former training participants). At the Iowa Department for the Blind, we believe in a positive approach to blindness. Vision loss alone should not prevent anyone from being independent. For this reason, we offer a wide variety of opportunities to obtain the skills necessary for independence.

Independent Living Program, Vol. 1, 2007

The Iowa Department for the Blind is the state agency that serves Iowans with vision loss. Services are free, confidential and available statewide. "There are no limitations to what you can do with training and a positive attitude." (All quotes in this newsletter are from former training participants). At the Iowa Department for the Blind, we believe in a positive approach to blindness. Vision loss alone should not prevent anyone from being independent. For this reason, we offer a wide variety of opportunities to obtain the skills necessary for independence.

Independent Living Program, Vol. 3, 2007

The Iowa Department for the Blind is the state agency that serves Iowans with vision loss. Services are free, confidential and available statewide. "There are no limitations to what you can do with training and a positive attitude." (All quotes in this newsletter are from former training participants). At the Iowa Department for the Blind, we believe in a positive approach to blindness. Vision loss alone should not prevent anyone from being independent. For this reason, we offer a wide variety of opportunities to obtain the skills necessary for independence.