Audio as medium for content distribution (providing access to knowledge)

Reaching and educating the masses to the benefit of all of mankind is the ultimate goal and through the use of this technology facility/tool many can be reached in their own language, in their own community, in their own time and at their own pace. Making this content available to those who will benefit from the information, is vital. These people who want to consume the content are not necessarily that interested in the qualification, they need the information. Making the content available in an auditory format may also help those who may not be as literate as others. The uses of audio/ recorded lessons have a number of uses and should not just be seen as a medium for content distribution to distant communities. Recording lectures makes it possible for a lecturer to present lectures to a vast number of students, while just presenting the lecture once.

Open access press vs traditional university presses on Amazon

This study is a comparison AU Press with three other traditional (non-open access) Canadian university presses. The analysis is based on actual physical book sales on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. Statistical methods include the sampling of the sales ranking of randomly selected books from each press. Results suggest that there is no significant difference in the ranking of printed books sold by AU Press in comparison with traditional university presses. However, AU Press, can demonstrate a significantly larger readership for its books as evidenced by thousands of downloads of the open electronic versions.

Ombres et lumières de l'accès public a la défibrillation [Public access defibrillation]

La stratégie d'accès public à la défibrillation (APD) comprend l'installation de défibrillateurs automatiques externes (DAE) dans les lieux publics et l'entraînement de sauveteurs non professionnels à la réanimation cardio pulmonaire et à la défibrillation (RCP-D). Cette approche est recommandée pour le traitement des arrêts cardiaques (ACR) dans les lieux publics. Beaucoup d'études d'observation, mais peu d'études randomisées s'intéressant à cette approche ont été publiées. Cet article résume les différentes approches proposées dans le cadre d'APD. A notre avis, l'installation de DAE dans des lieux publics ou le choix d'une stratégie alternative doivent être précédés d'une étude de la démographie locale des ACR et de l'entraînement du plus grand nombre possible de laïcs à la reconnaissance des signes précurseurs d'ACR et au massage cardiaque externe. Placement of automated external defibrillators (AED) in public facilities and training of the lay persons in basic life support-defibrillation (BLS-D) was recommended by the American Heart Association for the treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Immediate use of AED result in increase of survival to hospital discharge. Many observation and much less randomized trials describe clinical efficacy of this approach. However, "negative" trials have also been published and some recent data suggest that public access defibrillation (PAD) will have a minimal impact on population survival. In this article various PAD strategies were briefly reviewed. In our opinion installation of AED in public places should be based on the long-term study of local OHCA demography and preceded by widespread BLS training of lay population.

Not so disadvantaged: Portuguese migrants in Switzerland have a better access to healthcare and health status than Portuguese residents

Background: Most migrant studies have compared health characteristics between migrants and nationals of the host country. We aimed at comparing health characteristics of migrants with nationals from their home country. Methods: Portuguese national health survey (2005-6; 30,173 participants aged 18-75 years) and four national health surveys conducted in Switzerland (2002, 2004, 2007 and 2011, totalling 1,170 Portuguese migrants of the same age range). Self-reported data on length of stay, cardiovascular risk factors, healthcare use and health status were collected. Results: Resident Portuguese were significantly older and more educated than migrants. Resident Portuguese had a higher mean BMI and prevalence of obesity than migrants. Resident Portuguese also reported more frequently being hypertensive and having their blood pressure screened within the last year. On the contrary, migrant Portuguese were more frequently smokers, had a medical visit in the previous year more frequently and self-rated their health higher than resident Portuguese. After adjustment for age, gender, marital status and education, migrants had a higher likelihood smoking, of having a medical visit the previous year, and of self-rating their current health as good or very good than resident Portuguese. Compared to Portuguese residents, cholesterol screening in the previous year was more common only among migrants living in Switzerland for more than 17 years. Conclusion: Portuguese migrants in Switzerland do not differ substantially from resident Portuguese regarding most cardiovascular risk factors. Migrants appear to benefit from higher healthcare accessibility and consider themselves healthier than Portuguese residents.

Endoscopic off-pump aortic valve replacement: does the pericardial cuff improve the sutureless closure of left ventricular access?

OBJECTIVE: Off-pump trans left ventricular approach provides more precise deployment of stented aortic valve of any size with respect to the endovascular replacement. One of the key steps of this procedure is the ventricle repair after catheter withdrawing. We designed an animal study to compare the consistency of a sutureless repair of the left ventricle access using nitinol occluder with and without pericardial cuff on the ventricular side. METHODS: Material description: The Amplatz-nitinol occluder consists of two square heads squeezing ventricle wall in between them, sealing the defect. To improve its sealing property, a pericardial patch was sutured to the ventricular head of the occluder. Animal study setup: In adult pigs, a 30F sheath was inserted into the epigastric area through the cardiac apex, up to the left ventricle, simulating the approach for off-pump aortic valve replacement. The sheath was then removed and the ventricle closed with standard occluder in half of the animals, and cuffed occluder in the other half. Animals were followed-up for 3h, collecting haemodynamics data and pericardial bleeding. RESULTS: Device was successfully deployed in 12 animals in less than 1min. In the group where the standard occluder was used, bleeding during the deployment was 80+/-20ml and after the deployment was 800+/-20ml over 3h. In the group where the cuffed occluder was used, bleeding during the deployment was 85+/-20ml and after the deployment was 100+/-5ml over 3h. In the cuffed group, bleeding was significantly lower than the standard group, p-value being <0.001. CONCLUSIONS: The occluder is easy to use and the pericardial cuff dramatically increases its efficacy as demonstrated by a significant reduction of blood loss. The cuffed occluder opens the way for endoscopic, off-pump, transventricular aortic valve replacement.

Medium access control messaging scheme for cognitive radio networks

Los sistemas de radio cognitivos son una solución a la deficiente distribución del espectro inalámbrico de frecuencias. Usando acceso dinámico al medio, los usuarios secundarios pueden comunicarse en canales de frecuencia disponibles, mientras los usuarios asignados no están usando dichos canales. Un buen sistema de mensajería de control es necesario para que los usuarios secundarios no interfieran con los usuarios primarios en las redes de radio cognitivas. Para redes en donde los usuarios son heterogéneos en frecuencia, es decir, no poseen los mismos canales de frecuencia para comunicarse, el grupo de canales utilizado para transmitir información de control debe elegirse cuidadosamente. Por esta razón, en esta tesis se estudian las ideas básicas de los esquemas de mensajería de control usados en las redes de radio cognitivas y se presenta un esquema adecuado para un control adecuado para usuarios heterogéneos en canales de frecuencia. Para ello, primero se presenta una nueva taxonomía para clasificar las estrategias de mensajería de control, identificando las principales características que debe cumplir un esquema de control para sistemas heterogéneos en frecuencia. Luego, se revisan diversas técnicas matemáticas para escoger el mínimo número de canales por los cuales se transmite la información de control. Después, se introduce un modelo de un esquema de mensajería de control que use el mínimo número de canales y que utilice las características de los sistemas heterogéneos en frecuencia. Por último, se comparan diversos esquemas de mensajería de control en términos de la eficiencia de transmisión.

Binary proposal for assessing quality of Open Access Institutional Repositories : the case of Spanish repositories

The reason for this study is to propose a new quantitative approach on how to assess the quality of Open Access University Institutional Repositories. The results of this new approach are tested in the Spanish University Repositories. The assessment method is based in a binary codification of a proposal of features that objectively describes the repositories. The purposes of this method are assessing the quality and an almost automatically system for updating the data of the characteristics. First of all a database was created with the 38 Spanish institutional repositories. The variables of analysis are presented and explained either if they are coming from bibliography or are a set of new variables. Among the characteristics analyzed are the features of the software, the services of the repository, the features of the information system, the Internet visibility and the licenses of use. Results from Spanish universities ARE provided as a practical example of the assessment and for having a picture of the state of the development of the open access movement in Spain.

Accès aux soins d'urgence: organisation et utilité de la chaîne des secours [Access to prehospital medical care: organization and utility of the chain of survival].

In order to be effective, access to prehospital care must be integrated into a system described as "the chain of survival". This system is composed of 5 essential phases: 1) basic help by witnesses; 2) call for help; 3) basic life support; 4) professional rescue and transport to the appropriate institution and 5) access to emergency ward and hospital management. Each phase is characterized by a specific organization, dedicated skills and means in order to increase the level of care brought to the patient. This article describes the organization, the utility and the specificity of the chain of survival allowing access to prehospital medical care in the western part of Switzerland.

The encouragement of the open access movement: an essential realm for health information professionals in the 21st century

According to the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Policy for libraries and the recommendations of the BOAI10, libraries and librarians have an important role to fulfil in the encouragement of open access. Taking into account the Competencies for Information Professionals of the 21st Century, elaborated by the Special Libraries Association, and the Librarians’ Competencies Profile for Scholarly Publishing and Open Access, we shall identify the competencies and new areas of knowledge and expertise that have been involved in the process of the development and upkeep of our institutional repository (Repositorio SSPA).