Personal advisors for business professionals: improving communication skills with online corpora

The business sphere is a multilingual world where foreign language communication skills are crucial in international relations. It makes employers look for business professionals who have a high level of linguistic competences. Language proficiency increases the chances of negotiation among partners. There are mainly two obstacles that make barriers in formal communication in a foreign language: lack of knowledge of specific linguistic structures or terminology and frequent transitions from one language to another. This paper contributes to the quest for quick access to a wide range of English, Spanish and Russian online databases that provide authentic language samples. Their application may improve communication skills and facilitate preparation for business discourse.

Australian occupational therapists' use of an online evidence-based practice database (OTseeker)

Introduction: Online databases can support the implementation of evidence-based practice by providing easy access to research. OTseeker (www.otseeker.com), an electronic evidence database, was introduced in 2003 to assist occupational therapists to locate and interpret research. Objectives: This study explored Australian occupational therapists' use and perceptions of OTseeker and its impact on their knowledge and practice. Methods: A postal survey questionnaire was distributed to two samples: (i) a proportionate random sample of 400 occupational therapists from all states and territories of Australia, and (ii) a random sample of occupational therapists working in 95 facilities in two Australian states (Queensland and New South Wales). Results: The questionnaire was completed by 213 participants. While most participants (85.9%) had heard of OTseeker, only 103 (56.6%) had accessed it, with lack of time being the main reason for non-use. Of the 103 participants who had accessed OTseeker, 68.9% had done so infrequently, 63.1% agreed that it had increased their knowledge and 13.6% had changed their practice after accessing information on OTseeker. Conclusion: Despite OTseeker being developed to provide occupational therapists with easy access to research, lack of time was the main reason why over half of the participants in this study had not accessed it. This exploratory research suggests, however, that there is potential for the database to influence occupational therapists' knowledge and practice about treatment efficacy through access to the research literature.

Condições socioeconômicas e câncer de cabeça e pescoço: uma revisão sistemática de literatura

O presente estudo teve como objetivo descrever as principais características dos estudos epidemiológicos que investigaram a associação entre condições socioeconômicas e câncer de cabeça e pescoço. Foram pesquisadas as bases de dados Medline (Literatura Internacional em Ciências), Lilacs (Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde) e Scielo (Scientific Electronic Library Online), além de referências citadas nos artigos obtidos a partir da busca primária nessas bases. O período de publicação considerado englobou 38 anos (1970-2007) e a análise restringiu-se aos artigos em espanhol, inglês ou português. Foram selecionados 25 estudos, 15 com delineamento caso-controle, quatro ecológicos e seis que mesclaram informações de bases de dados oficiais, como censos e registros de câncer ou de óbitos. A maior parte das pesquisas reportou associação entre piores condições socioeconômicas e câncer de cabeça e pescoço. Os indicadores mais empregados foram a ocupação e a escolaridade. Poucos estudos investigaram mediação, procurando evidenciar quais os fatores proximais operam na associação investigada. Pesquisas adicionais, com critérios uniformes para proceder aos ajustes nos modelos de regressão e amostra suficiente, são necessárias para investigar essa dimensão.

PHYLOViZ: phylogenetic inference and data visualization for sequence based typing methods

Background: With the decrease of DNA sequencing costs, sequence-based typing methods are rapidly becoming the gold standard for epidemiological surveillance. These methods provide reproducible and comparable results needed for a global scale bacterial population analysis, while retaining their usefulness for local epidemiological surveys. Online databases that collect the generated allelic profiles and associated epidemiological data are available but this wealth of data remains underused and are frequently poorly annotated since no user-friendly tool exists to analyze and explore it. Results: PHYLOViZ is platform independent Java software that allows the integrated analysis of sequence-based typing methods, including SNP data generated from whole genome sequence approaches, and associated epidemiological data. goeBURST and its Minimum Spanning Tree expansion are used for visualizing the possible evolutionary relationships between isolates. The results can be displayed as an annotated graph overlaying the query results of any other epidemiological data available. Conclusions: PHYLOViZ is a user-friendly software that allows the combined analysis of multiple data sources for microbial epidemiological and population studies. It is freely available at http://www.phyloviz.net.

Avaliação externa de escolas e avaliação externa de aprendizagens no contexto institucional: um estudo paralelo sobre Brasil e Portugal

Dissertação de mestrado em Ciências da Educação (área de especialização em Desenvolvimento Curricular e Inovação Educativa)

Mechanisms Involved in Exercise-Induced Cardioprotection: A Systematic Review

Background:Acute myocardial infarction is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Furthermore, research has shown that exercise, in addition to reducing cardiovascular risk factors, can also protect the heart against injury due to ischemia and reperfusion through a direct effect on the myocardium. However, the specific mechanism involved in exerciseinduced cardiac preconditioning is still under debate.Objective:To perform a systematic review of the studies that have addressed the mechanisms by which aerobic exercise promotes direct cardioprotection against ischemia and reperfusion injury.Methods:A search was conducted using MEDLINE, Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe de Informação em Ciências da Saúde, and Scientific Electronic Library Online databases. Data were extracted in a standardized manner by two independent researchers, who were responsible for assessing the methodological quality of the studies.Results:The search retrieved 78 studies; after evaluating the abstracts, 30 studies were excluded. The manuscripts of the remaining 48 studies were completely read and, of these, 20 were excluded. Finally, 28 studies were included in this systematic review.Conclusion:On the basis of the selected studies, the following are potentially involved in the cardioprotective response to exercise: increased heat shock protein production, nitric oxide pathway involvement, increased cardiac antioxidant capacity, improvement in ATP-dependent potassium channel function, and opioid system activation. Despite all the previous investigations, further research is still necessary to obtain more consistent conclusions.

Consensus statement of the European guidelines on clinical management of HIV-1 tropism testing

Introduction: Testing for HIV tropism is recommended before prescribing a chemokine receptor blocker. To date, in most European countries HIV tropism is determined using a phenotypic test. Recently, new data have emerged supporting the use of a genotypic HIV V3-loop sequence analysis as the basis for tropism determination. The European guidelines group on clinical management of HIV-1 tropism testing was established to make recommendations to clinicians and virologists. Methods: We searched online databases for articles from Jan 2006 until March 2010 with the terms: tropism or CCR5-antagonist or CCR5 antagonist or maraviroc or vicriviroc. Additional articles and/or conference abstracts were identified by hand searching. This strategy identified 712 potential articles and 1240 abstracts. All were reviewed and finally 57 papers and 42 abstracts were included and used by the panel to reach a consensus statement. Results: The panel recommends HIV-tropism testing for the following indications: i) drug-naïve patients in whom toxicity or limited therapeutic options are foreseen; ii) patients experiencing therapy failure whenever a treatment change is considered. Both the phenotypic Enhanced Trofile assay (ESTA) and genotypic population sequencing of the V3-loop are recommended for use in clinical practice. Although the panel does not recommend one methodology over another it is anticipated that genotypic testing will be used more frequently because of its greater accessibility, lower cost and shorter turnaround time. The panel also provides guidance on technical aspects and interpretation issues. If using genotypic methods, triplicate PCR amplification and sequencing testing is advised using the G2P interpretation tool (clonal model) with an FPR of 10%. If the viral load is below the level of reliable amplification, proviral DNA can be used, and the panel recommends performing triplicate testing and use of an FPR of 10%. If genotypic DNA testing is not performed in triplicate the FPR should be increased to 20%. Conclusions: The European guidelines on clinical management of HIV-1 tropism testing provide an overview of current literature, evidence-based recommendations for the clinical use of tropism testing and expert guidance on unresolved issues and current developments. Current data support both the use of genotypic population sequencing and ESTA for co-receptor tropism determination. For practical reasons genotypic population sequencing is the preferred method in Europe.

ASP en biblioteques i centres de documentació: publicació d'una base de dades Microsoft Access en el web

Es descriuen els passos necessaris per publicar a Internet una base de dades creada amb Microsoft Access utilitzant la tecnologia ASP. Es parteix d'un exemple de base de dades creada per a controlar el procés d'adquisicions i es van resseguint, en forma de tutorial, els diferents passos que seran necessaris per a la seva consulta des del web. Finalment, s'indiquen algunes aplicacions de la tecnologia ASP que podren ser útils per a biblioteques i centres de documentació.

ASP en bibliotecas y centros de documentación: publicación de una base de datos Microsoft Access en el web

Se describen los elementos necesarios para publicar en Internet una base de datos creada con Microsoft Access utilizando la tecnología ASP. Se parte de un ejemplo de base de datos creada para controlar el proceso de adquisiciones y se van resiguiendo, en forma de tutorial, los diferentes pasos que serán necesarios para su consulta desde el web. Finalmente, se indican algunas aplicaciones de la tecnología ASP que pueden ser útiles para bibliotecas y centros de documentación.

FirstSearch: servei en línia per a l'usuari final

Descripció del servei en línia FirstSearch d'OCLC. Es detallen les bases de dades que ofereix, l'accés, tarificació, el llenguatge d'interrogació emprat i es presenta el mòdul d'obtenció de documents que pot gestionar cada un dels usuaris finals i amb el qual es poden aconseguir un gran nombre dels documents que contenen les bases de dades consultades.

Avaluació dels tutorials de PubMed i Eric

La societat de la informació ofereix noves vies d'experimentació en el camp dels materials formatius. D'una banda, les tecnologies de la informació proporcionen maneres més interactives i adients de presentar el material i, de l'altra, apareixen nous conceptes en el camp de la formació i de l'educació, com ara la necessitat d'una formació continuada, la concepció de nous entorns educatius virtuals i, en definitiva, la necessitat d'elaborar nous materials didàctics que s'adaptin a aquestes situacions. El present estudi defineix una sèrie d'indicadors formals i d'aprenentatge que ajuden a avaluar i millorar els tutorials sobre la recuperació de la informació i els aplica, de manera comparativa, a dos tutorials de bases de dades bibliogràfiques: ERIC i PubMed. Els indicadors de contingut s'obtenen d'aspectes relacionats amb la didàctica i el model instructiu, mentre que els indicadors formals s'extreuen dels conceptes d'usabilitat i disseny de pàgines web. La finalitat d'aquest estudi és la sistematització d'uns criteris que permetin avaluar i millorar el disseny de tutorials sobre recuperació de la informació.

Evaluación de hemerotecas de prensa digital: indicadores y ejemplos de buenas prácticas

La gran mayoría de los diarios digitales facilitan el acceso a la información retrospectiva mediante servicios de hemerotecas o archivos de prensa, un producto de notable interés para bibliotecas y otros servicios de información. El objetivo de este estudio es determinar cuáles son los indicadores fundamentales para la evaluación de hemerotecas digitales y, además, señalar ejemplos de buenas prácticas en España para cada uno de ellos. Se propone una relación de veintisiete indicadores agrupados en cuatro grandes apartados (aspectos generales, contenidos, sistema de consulta, y presentación de resultados), se describe cada uno de ellos y se incluye algún ejemplo de buena aplicación. Metodológicamente, se ha partido de la revisión de la bibliografía especializada en evaluación de recursos web, bases de datos y hemerotecas digitales, así como del análisis de hemerotecas de diarios de España y Catalunya. La utilización de estos indicadores puede ser de utilidad para que bibliotecas y otros servicios de información puedan orientar a sus usuarios en la consulta retrospectiva de información de prensa.

Búsqueda federada en el ecosistema de la e-ciencia: el caso Science Research

Se analiza el buscador Science Research en el contexto de la e-ciencia y de la búsqueda federada en comparación con la indización y la recolección. Se pone en relación también con otros buscadores académicos, especialmente Scirus y Google Scholar. Se realiza un análisis de los diversos componentes de Science Research y un estudio comparativo de obtención de resultados.

GenIsisWeb: la herramienta para publicar en Internet las bases de datos CDS/ISIS

El objetivo de la reseña es presentar GenIsisWeb, un programa que asiste en la publicación de bases de datos en Internet. Tras una breve descripción técnica y partiendo de una base de datos previamente creada con CDS/ISIS, se muestra el proceso completo para su publicación en el Web.