Cataract surgery and subtype in a defined, older population: the SEECAT Project

AIM:

To describe the distribution of cataract subtypes present before surgery among a defined population of older, bilaterally pseudophakic individuals.

METHODS:

This was a cohort study of bilaterally pseudophakic individuals participating in the Salisbury Eye Evaluation (SEE), and their locally resident siblings. Subjects underwent slit lamp and retroillumination photography and grading using the Wilmer Cataract Grading System. For all individuals determined to be bilaterally pseudophakic, an attempt was made to determine for each eye the type(s) of cataract present before surgery, based on previous SEE photographs (for SEE participants) and/or medical records obtained from the operating ophthalmologist (for both SEE participants and their siblings).

RESULTS:

The mean age of 223 participants providing data in this study was 78.7 (SD 5.2) years, 19.3% of subjects were black and 60.1% female. The most common surgically removed cataract subtype in this population was pure nuclear (43.5%), followed by nuclear combined with posterior subcapsular cataract (PSC) (20.6%), and nuclear combined with cortical (13.9%); less common types were pure cortical (4.9%), pure PSC (4.5%), and PSC combined with cortical (2.7%). Factors such as sex and source of lens data (study photograph versus clinical record) did not significantly affect the distribution of lens opacity types, while PSC was significantly (p = 0.01) more common among younger people and nuclear cataract was significantly (p = 0.001) more common among white compared to black people.

CONCLUSION:

Epidemiological studies have suggested that the different subtypes of cataract are associated with different risk factors. As studies begin to identify new prevention strategies for cataract, it would appear likely that different strategies will be efficacious against different types of cataract. In this setting, it will be helpful to know which cataract types are most frequently associated with surgery. Among this older, majority white population, nuclear cataract showed a clear predominance among individuals having undergone surgery in both eyes. This may be contrasted with both clinic and population based studies of younger people, which have generally found PSC cataract to predominate.

Laughter Research: A Review of the ILHAIRE Project

Laughter is everywhere. So much so that we often do not even notice it. First, laughter has a strong connection with humour. Most of us seek out laughter and people who make us laugh, and it is what we do when we gather together as groups relaxing and having a good time. But laughter also plays an important role in making sure we interact with each other smoothly. It provides social bonding signals that allow our conversations to flow seamlessly between topics; to help us repair conversations that are breaking down; and to end our conversations on a positive note.

Selection of the most appropriate roadside vehicle restraint system – the SAVeRS project

Run Off Road (ROR) crashes are road accidents that often result in severe injuries or fatalities. To reduce the severity of ROR crashes, “forgiving roadsides” need to be designed and this includes identifying situations where there is a need for a Vehicle Restraint System (VRS) and what appropriate VRS should be selected for a specific location and traffic condition. Whilst there are standards covering testing, evaluation and classification of VRS within Europe (EN1317 parts 1 to 8), their selection, location and installation requirements are typically based upon national guidelines and standards, often produced by National Road Authorities (NRA) and/or overseeing organisations. Due to local conditions, these national guidelines vary across Europe.
The European SAVeRS project funded by CEDR has developed a practical and readily understandable VRS guidance document and a user-friendly software tool which allow designers and road administrations to select the most appropriate solution in different road and traffic conditions.
This paper describes the main outcomes of the project, the process to select the most appropriate roadside barrier, and the user friendly SAVeRS tool.

The OpenPMU Project: Challenges and perspectives:Challenges and Perspectives

The OpenPMU project is a platform for the development of Synchrophasor measurement technology, Phasor Measurement Units (PMU), in an open source manner. The project has now been operating for a number of years and has seen increased adoption at Universities and interest from electrical utilities. The OpenPMU device has recently been tested against the IEEE C37.118 standard and shown to operate within the specification. This paper discusses the OpenPMU project from the perspective of the past two years of experience and evaluates successes and opportunities for improvements in both the OpenPMU device and the philosophy of the design.

The assessment of the practicability of the SOCOPSE project

Dissertação de Mestrado, Gestão da Água e da Costa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2010

Theoretical and Experimental Foundations for the Greystar Project. Or application of NAA for remote detection

Dans un monde de détection et prospection minière, une multitude de techniques existent. Une des techniques les plus puissantes est l’activation par neutrons (NAA et PGAA). Toutefois, dans le cadre de la prospection minière, l’utilisation de cette technique nécessite du forage. La motivation du projet GREYSTAR est de permettre l’analyse élémentaire par activation en limitant l’impact environnemental. Les facteurs limitant sont l’activation d’un volume distant et la détection de la radiation émise par ce volume. Ce mémoire examine l’activation par neutrons thermiques et la détection de gammas provenant de la désexcitation des noyaux activés. Une approche expérimentale est présentée avec des simulations pour venir appuyer les données expérimentales. Il en résulte que le projet GREYSTAR tel que décrit dans ce mémoire est prometteur et que davantage de recherche est à prescrire. Les résultats initiaux indiquent que selon le prototype proposé, les limites de détections sont de l’ordre de 2-3 m dans un matériel semblable au granite. On conclut que d’un point de vue de prospection minière, il est intéressant de poursuivre la recherche. De plus, plusieurs autres applications dans les domaines militaire, civil et policier sont prometteuses.

Supporting dynamic parameter sweep applications in workflows: lessons learnt from the CancerGrid project

A vast majority of scientific grid applications are either parameter sweep applications or a significant subpart of these applications belong to class of parameter sweep activities. The paper describes a new graphical workflow language in which any node of the DAG-based workflow can be a parameter sweep node and the execution of these nodes are transparently executed either in service grids or in desktop grids depending on the computational complexity of the workflow node. The new concept is supported by the CancerGrid portal that has been established for a chemist community.

The European Project Semester at ISEP: Learning to Learn Engineering

The European Project Semester at ISEP (EPS@ISEP) is a one semester project-based learning programme addressed to engineering students from diverse scientific backgrounds and nationalities. The students, organized in multicultural teams, are challenged to solve real world multidisciplinary problems, accounting for 30 ECTU. The EPS package, although focused on project development (20 ECTU), includes a series of complementary seminars aimed at fostering soft, project-related and engineering transversal skills (10 ECTU). This paper presents the study plan, resources, operation and results of the EPS@ISEP that was created in 2011 to apply the best engineering education practices and promote the internationalization of ISEP. The results show that the EPS@ISEP students acquire during one semester the scientific, technical and soft competences necessary to propose, design and implement a solution for a multidisciplinary problem.

The European Project Semester at ISEP: the challenge of educating global engineers

Current engineering education challenges require approaches that promote scientific, technical, design and complementary skills while fostering autonomy, innovation and responsibility. The European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) (EPS@ISEP) is a one semester project-based learning programme (30 European Credit Transfer Units (ECTU)) for engineering students from diverse scientific backgrounds and nationalities that intends to address these goals. The students, organised in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams, are challenged to solve real multidisciplinary problems during one semester. The EPS package, although on project development (20 ECTU), includes a series of complementary seminars aimed at fostering soft, project-related and engineering transversal skills (10 ECTU). Hence, the students enrolled in this programme improve their transversal skills and learn, together and with the team of supervisors, subjects distinct from their core training. This paper presents the structure, implementation and results of the EPS@ISEP that was created in 2011 to apply the best engineering practices and promote internationalisation and engineering education innovation at ISEP.

Evaluation in Sport for Development: A Case Study of the Gansbaai Project, Football Foundation of South Africa, From A Critical Perspective

The purpose of this case study was to determine the effectiveness of sport for development (SDP) evaluation within one program in Gansbaai, South Africa through critical, independent participant inclusive program evaluation. Qualitative research was conducted on the Football Foundation of South Africa (FFSA), where semi-structured interview data were collected from administrators and participants, as were data from direct participant observations and organizational documents. Data analysis followed, according to Kvale and Brinkman’s (2008) methodology. FFSA goals were found, as were themes of social impact (i.e., regarding coach-player relationships, trust, and coaching impact on social integration). A further theme related to evaluation components and procedures. Further themes included life skill development, competition within programming, participants’ home life and social integration. Findings contribute to the SDP literature relating to program evaluation research and to FFSA administrators by providing an understanding of SDP program shortcomings, limitations, and suggested improvements.

Adaptive integral assessment package for the A2UN@ project

This paper presents a first approach of Evaluation Engine Architecture (EEA) as proposal to support adaptive integral assessment, in the context of a virtual learning environment. The goal of our research is design an evaluation engine tool to assist in the whole assessment process within the A2UN@ project, linking that tool with the other key elements of a learning design (learning task, learning resources and learning support). The teachers would define the relation between knowledge, competencies, activities, resources and type of assessment. Providing this relation is possible obtain more accurate estimations of student's knowledge for adaptive evaluations and future recommendations. The process is supported by usage of educational standards and specifications and for an integral user modelling

The PERINE Project : cooperation between European Education Databases

Resumen basado en el del autor. El nombre del proyecto, PERINE, es el acr??nimo de Pedagogical and Educational Research Information Network for Europe, y fue coordinador del proyecto ante el organismo patrocinador, la Comisi??n Europea

What makes a good learning activity for school kids: examples from the MiGen project

Powerpoint describing good educational eactivities