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ObjectiveTo develop and test the psychometric properties of a 25-item version of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25).DesignProspective observational cohort study of persons with 1 of 5 chronic eye diseases or low vision who were scheduled for nonurgent visits in ophthalmology practices and a reference sample of persons without eye disease.SettingEleven university-based ophthalmology practices and the NEI Clinical Center.PatientsEligible participants had to have 1 of the following eye conditions: age-related cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, primary open-angle glaucoma, cytomegalovirus retinitis, or low vision from any cause. Seven of the 12 sites also enrolled persons in a reference sample. Reference sample participants had no evidence of underlying eye disease but were scheduled for either screening eye examinations or correction of refractive error. All eligible persons had to be 21 years or older, English speaking, and cognitively able to give informed consent and participate in a health status interview.Measurements and main resultsTo provide the data needed to create the NEI VFQ-25, all subjects completed an interview that included the 51-item NEI VFQ. Estimates of internal consistency indicate that the subscales of the NEI VFQ-25 are reliable. The validity of the NEI VFQ-25 is supported by high correlations between the short- and long-form versions of the measure, observed between-group differences in scores for persons with different eye diseases of varying severity, and the moderate-to-high correlations between the NEI VFQ-25 subscales that have the most to do with central vision and measured visual acuity.ConclusionsThe reliability and validity of the NEI VFQ-25 are comparable to those of the 51-item NEI VFQ field test version of the survey. This shorter version will be more feasible in settings such as clinical trials where interview length is a critical consideration. In addition, preliminary analyses indicate that the psychometric properties of the NEI VFQ-25 are robust for the eye conditions studied; this suggests that the measure will provide reproducible and valid data when used across multiple conditions of varying severity.

ObjectiveTo develop and test the psychometric properties of a 25-item version of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25).DesignProspective observational cohort study of persons with 1 of 5 chronic eye diseases or low vision who were scheduled for nonurgent visits in ophthalmology practices and a reference sample of persons without eye disease.SettingEleven university-based ophthalmology practices and the NEI Clinical Center.PatientsEligible participants had to have 1 of the following eye conditions: age-related cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, primary open-angle glaucoma, cytomegalovirus retinitis, or low vision from any cause. Seven of the 12 sites also enrolled persons in a reference sample. Reference sample participants had no evidence of underlying eye disease but were scheduled for either screening eye examinations or correction of refractive error. All eligible persons had to be 21 years or older, English speaking, and cognitively able to give informed consent and participate in a health status interview.Measurements and main resultsTo provide the data needed to create the NEI VFQ-25, all subjects completed an interview that included the 51-item NEI VFQ. Estimates of internal consistency indicate that the subscales of the NEI VFQ-25 are reliable. The validity of the NEI VFQ-25 is supported by high correlations between the short- and long-form versions of the measure, observed between-group differences in scores for persons with different eye diseases of varying severity, and the moderate-to-high correlations between the NEI VFQ-25 subscales that have the most to do with central vision and measured visual acuity.ConclusionsThe reliability and validity of the NEI VFQ-25 are comparable to those of the 51-item NEI VFQ field test version of the survey. This shorter version will be more feasible in settings such as clinical trials where interview length is a critical consideration. In addition, preliminary analyses indicate that the psychometric properties of the NEI VFQ-25 are robust for the eye conditions studied; this suggests that the measure will provide reproducible and valid data when used across multiple conditions of varying severity.

Multiple hospital readmissions for heart failure (HF) are progressively increasing and may be related to continued tobacco and alcohol use. To study this relation, we conducted a retrospective chart audit of all veterans discharged with HF at a large Veterans Administration (VA) facility from 1997 to 1998. Using a multivariate logistic regression model, the smoking and alcohol use of patients who required > 1 HF admission within 1 year were compared with those who did not. Demographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables were also included in the model. Of 753 patients admitted with HF during the review period (mean age 69.1 years, 99% men), 220 patients (29.2%) were readmitted to the hospital at least once (range 1 to 8 readmissions, mean 1.79 +/- 0.27) after the index admission. In a multivariate analysis, current smoking (odds ratio [OR] 1.82; confidence interval [CI] 1.17 to 2.82) and current alcohol use (OR 5.92; CI 3.83 to 9.13) were independent predictors of readmissions. Other predictors included living alone (OR 2.09; CI 1.42 to 3.09), HF associated with ischemic etiology (OR 3.99; CI 2.58 to 6.18), higher New York Heart Association class (OR 2.57; CI 1.86 to 3.55), and care provided by a primary care physician compared with a cardiologist (OR 2.41; CI 1.57 to 3.67). This study confirms that noncompliance to smoking and alcohol restrictions, which are amenable to change, dramatically increases the risk for multiple hospital readmissions among patients with HF. Consequently, evaluation of noncompliance to smoking and alcohol consumption with targeted interventions in this population may be a key component for the reduction of multiple hospital readmissions.

Background: Limited research has addressed whether maternal alcohol intake in early pregnancy increases the risk of spontaneous preterm birth. In the current study, we examined how alcohol binge drinking and weekly alcohol intake in early pregnancy were associated with spontaneous preterm birth in a contemporary cohort of Danish women. Methods: We included 15,776 pregnancies of 14,894 women referred to antenatal care at Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, between 2012 and 2016. Self‐reported alcohol intake in early pregnancy was obtained from a Web‐based questionnaire completed prior to the women's first visit at the department. Information on spontaneous preterm birth was extracted from the Danish Medical Birth Register. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of spontaneous preterm birth according to self‐reported alcohol binge drinking and weekly intake of alcohol in early pregnancy were derived from Cox regression. Results: Women reporting 1, 2, and ≥ 3 binge drinking episodes had an aHR for spontaneous preterm birth of 0.88 (95% CI 0.68 to 1.14), 1.34 (95% CI 0.98 to 1.82), and 0.93 (95% CI 0.62 to 1.41), respectively, compared to women with no binge drinking episodes. Women who reported an intake of ≥ 1 drink per week on average had an aHR for spontaneous preterm birth of 1.09 (95% CI 0.63 to 1.89) compared to abstainers. When restricting to nulliparous women or cohabiting women with ≥ 3 years of higher education, this estimate was 1.28 (95% CI 0.69 to 2.40) and 1.20 (95% CI 0.67 to 2.15), respectively. Conclusion: We found no evidence that maternal alcohol intake in early pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of spontaneous preterm birth, neither for alcohol binge drinking nor for a low average weekly intake of alcohol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about maternal alcohol intake in early pregnancy and the risk of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children beyond 5 years of age. We examined the association between alcohol binge drinking and weekly alcohol intake in early pregnancy and the risk of ADHD in children followed from birth to 19 years of age. Methods: We included 48,072 children born between 1998 and 2012, whose mothers participated in the Aarhus Birth Cohort. Maternal alcohol intake was obtained from a self‐administered questionnaire completed in early pregnancy. ADHD diagnoses were retrieved from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register and the Danish National Patient Register. Crude hazard ratio and adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of ADHD according to alcohol binge drinking or weekly intake of alcohol were calculated using the Cox regression. Results: Compared to children of women with no binge drinking episodes, we observed an aHR for ADHD of 0.91 (95% CI 0.76 to 1.08), 0.73 (95% CI 0.56 to 0.96), and 0.77 (95% CI 0.57 to 1.06) among children of women reporting 1, 2, and 3 or more binge drinking episodes, respectively. Among children of women drinking <1 drink per week, 1 drink per week, 2 drinks per week, and 3 or more drinks per week, we observed an aHR for ADHD of 0.87 (95% CI 0.74 to 1.03), 0.63 (95% CI 0.40 to 0.98), 1.30 (95% CI 0.89 to 1.92), and 0.78 (95% CI 0.38 to 1.59), respectively, when compared to children of women not drinking on a weekly basis. Conclusion: We found no evidence that binge drinking or low alcohol intake in early pregnancy was associated with the risk of ADHD in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate a low-carbohydrate-high protein diet against insulin levels, TNF-a, and p38MAPK expression in PCOS mice model. A total of 18 mice was injected by testosterone propionate injection for 28 days. PCOS mice model was treated with a low carbohydrate and high protein diet for 20 days. Insulin and TNF-α levels from blood serum were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The p38MAPK expression in ovarian tissue was evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). There was significantly decreased of insulin and TNF-α levels in the PCOS mice model with a low carbohydrate and high protein diet for 20 days (p< 0.001). In addition, this diet was not statistically induced p38MAPK activity. A significant decreased of insulin and TNF-α levels after a low carbohydrate and high protein diets in the PCOS mice model. Our findings highlight the low carbohydrate and high protein diets useful to reduce PCOS progression with obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Lege Artis Medicine (LAM) is the property of LifeTime Media Kft. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we point out a major issue of stock market regarding trending scenario of trades where data exactness, accuracy of expressing data and uncertainty of values (closing point of the day) are lacked. We use neutrosophic soft sets (NSS) consisting of three factors (True, Uncertainty and False) to deal with exact state of data in several directions. A new approach based on NSS is proposed for stock value prediction based on real data from last 7 years. It calculates the stock price based on the factors like "open", "high", "low" and "adjacent close". The highest score value retrieved from the score function is used to determine which opening price and high price decide the closing price from the above mentioned four factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Basic Education College Magazine For Educational & Humanities Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this study, we will try to explain the correlation that exists between social ethics and personal ethics. Today's challenges of human society in the field of ethics, morality and consciousness are not the same in different eras and in nations or groups of states. All three of these domains move more slowly than other processes, but are indispensable in everyday life. State authority in constantly way strive to create legal rules, but their non-compliance with ethic, principles of morality and conscience create major problems in contemporary development. Rapid contemporary developments, especially those in the field of technology and science have brought other concepts to social and personal ethics, but the necessity of their presence always adapting to other conditions has been felt. Today's man seeks to understand it more in the form of ethics and social education. For example: nudity, morality principles to this phenomenon have changed from generation to generation, once considered shame and today as something private. The reality of the moral and conceptual problems that human and society have had over law, the rights and ethics have changed, concepts have been overthrown, and the way how people have been judged for different situations has evolved. Individual's education in the traditional societies have been very important issue in his/ her life. That was a lifelong learning process instead. Education's main purpose was to help the individual during his/her life so that he/she was not only responsible and aware of the environment, but to prepare the individual to fit into real life. In the actual society there are different points of views as far as the moral and civilizing education bonds are concerned. A mutual environment asks for mutual values, but on the other hand it is assumed the need to understand, accept and support even the values which may be different from the individual ones. In other words, the civil education has to treat moral as a separate issue, even though there are different opinions like: moral is a personal choice, moral is given by God, moral is a social agreement, etc. What we should emphasize is the fact that dealing with similar points of view is as important as debating against the opposite ones. It would be very positive if this could be achieved for a common understanding. But does everyone understand what moral, social and personal ethic is? Another question adds to this one: How is the problem of moral going to be treated? And is it necessary to set tasks or duties on moral as well? What features must moral education have in a view of the evolution of society as whole in terms of a new worldview? Today humanity is on the rise and is heading towards great organisation, but one must keep in mind that within this uniformity there is also diversity to be respected. The new worldview must be open to new progress and thinking not only from the content but also from the form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted in Kibaha Town Council of Pwani Region of Tanzania to survey the probable factors that negatively affected the anti-rabies vaccinations leading to low percent coverage in some selected wards. The data used in this study were gathered from households keeping dogs and cats and institutions, using a semi-structured questionnaire and interviews. Another set of data was the record of the rabies control programme at the district veterinary office. Analysis of the data was done using SPSS.16, Microsoft Excel 2007 and EpiInfoTM7. The enquiry instrument centred on three main fields, namely, knowledge of respondents about rabies, responsible dog ownership and their perception of issues pertaining to the conduct of the rabies control programme. The results showed that the last round of vaccination covered dogs for 57% of the sampled households in the selected wards. A huge percentage of the respondents (64%) kept the wrong perception that clinical rabies could be cured. Only 34% of the respondents indicated that they had been taught about rabies in a WHO project area. It was also learnt that there was an outbreak of rabies in the district after 2 years of consecutively vaccinating the dogs in the area. The Chi-square test for linear trends showed very highly significant statistical differences in the progression of numbers of dogs vaccinated over the years (p<0.05; = 0.0000). This study concludes that, lack of sufficient knowledge on rabies and negative attitude towards the control programme were the biggest drawbacks on the vaccination coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Patients undergoing cardiac surgery frequently develop low cardiac output syndrome (LCOS). Multiple interventions including levosimendan have been used in the prevention and treatment of LCOS. Preliminary studies reported lower mortality respect to placebo or other inotropes, however, recently, 3 clinical trials found no benefit against this outcome. Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the evidence of levosimendan on mortality and secondary outcomes in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, and to determine the sources of heterogeneity. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and metaanalysis of the clinical trials that evaluated the efficacy of levosimendan in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. We obtained the odds ratio (OR) of mortality and other outcomes such as kidney injury with dialysis requirement and LCOS, using fixed and random effects models. The risk of bias was assessed and the sources of heterogeneity were explored. Results: Of 47 studies identified, 14 studies were selected (n=2752). Regarding the mortality outcome and use of levosimendan, only a decrease was found in the studies of low quality (OR 0,30; CI 95%, 0,18 to 0,51). While high-quality studies, there was no protective effect (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.70-1.40) with an I²=0%. The quality of the studies and ejection fraction were the main sources of heterogeneity. Conclusion: In high-quality studies, the use of levosimendan in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery has no effect on 30-day mortality. There was a protective effect on postoperative renal failure with dialysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prove that if A is a non-low c.e. set, then there exists noncomputable sets A 1 ⊔ A 2 = A splitting A with A 1 non-low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Coping strategies employed by people with visual disability can influence their quality of life (QoL). We aimed to assess coping in patients with low vision or blindness.Methods: In this descriptive cross sectional study, 60 patients (25-65 years) with <6/18 best-corrected vision (BCVA) in the better eye and vision loss since ≥6 months were recruited after the institutional ethics clearance and written informed consent. Age, gender, presence of other chronic illness, BCVA, coping strategies (Proactive Coping Inventory, Hindi version), and vision-related quality of life (VRQoL; Hindi version of IND-VFQ33) were recorded. Range, mean (standard deviation) for continuous and proportion for categorical variables. Pearson correlation looked at how coping varied with age and with VRQoL. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test compared coping scores across categorical variables. Statistical significance was taken at P < 0.05.Results: Sixty patients fulfilled inclusion criteria. There were 33 (55%) women; 25 (41.7%) had low vision, 5 (8.3%) had economic blindness, and 30 (50.0%) had social blindness; 27 (45.0%) had a co-morbid chronic illness. Total coping score was 142 ± 26.43 (maximum 217). VRQoL score (maximum 100) was 41.9 ± 15.98 for general functioning; 32.1 ± 12.15 for psychosocial impact, and 41.1 ± 17.30 for visual symptoms. Proactive coping, reflective coping, strategic planning, and preventive coping scores correlated positively with VRQoL in general functioning and psychosocial impact.Conclusion: Positive coping strategies are associated with a better QoL. Ophthalmologists who evaluate visual disability should consider coping mechanisms that their patients employ and should refer them for counseling and training in more positive ways of coping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Computer Measurement & Control is the property of Magazine Agency of Computer Measurement & Control and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

[Display omitted] • Sub-epoxidized soybean oil (SESO) reacts with oxidized asphaltenes. • SESO-grafted asphaltenes restore ductility to low quality and recycled asphalt. • Reactive rejuvenators facilitate reductions in cost, energy, and emissions. Here we report the chemical passivation of agglomerated asphaltenes in low-quality asphalts and reclaimed asphalt pavement via epoxidized vegetable oil derivatives. This facilitates the production of new pavements with 45 wt% recycled content and a 30% reduction in cost, energy, and emissions impact over current best practices. Recycled asphalt pavement and low-quality asphalt both represent materials streams with the potential to drastically reduce the energy and emissions footprint of our transportation infrastructure, provided that their poor performance properties can be ameliorated. We show that epoxidized methyl soyate and sub-epoxidized soybean oil act as chemical rejuvenators that reduce the asphaltene content in binder formulations enabling both low-quality asphalt and recycled asphalt pavement fractions far exceeding common usage. We demonstrate that compared to "fluxes", or inert diluents, these bio-based additives show far superior solvency, rheological characteristics, and resistance to cracking as evidenced by both lab-based binder studies and a full-scale demonstration paving project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prediction of the timing and location of condensate build-up around the wellbore in gas condensate reservoirs is essential for the selection of appropriate methods for condensate recovery from these challenging reservoirs. The present work focuses on the use of a novel phase change tracking approach in monitoring the formation of condensate blockage in a gas condensate reservoir. The procedure entails the simulation of tight, low and high permeability reservoirs using global and local grid analysis in determining the size and timing of three common regions (Region 1, near wellbore; Region 2, condensate build-up; and Region 3, single-phase gas) associated with single and two-phase gas and immobile and mobile gas condensate. The results show that permeability has a significant influence on the occurrence of the three regions around the well, which in turn affects the productivity of the gas condensate reservoir studied. Predictions of the timing and location of condensate in reservoirs with different permeability levels of 1 mD to 100 mD indicate that local damage enhances condensate formation by 60% and shortens the duration of the immobile phase by 45%. Meanwhile, the global change in permeability increases condensate formation by 80% and reduces the presence of the immobile phase by 60%. Finally, this predictive approach can help in mitigating condensate blockage around the wellbore during production.

Spinal manipulation is a manual technique commonly used for the treatment of low back pain. The physiologic mechanisms of the spinal manipulation are largely unknown. One basic physiologic response for spinal manipulation is an alteration in motoneuronal activity, as assessed by the Hoffmann reflex (H-reflex) technique. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of spinal manipulation on the amplitude and onset latency of H-reflex and on H/M amplitude ratio in patients with low back pain. Fifty-Eight patients with low back pain aged between 20-60 years, who had no exclusion criteria were included. Tibial nerve H-reflex and M wave were recorded before and after Lumbosacral spinal manipulation. Lumbosacral manipulation significantly decreased the amplitude of the H-reflex and H/M amplitude ratio (P0.05). Lumbosacral manipulation produces attenuation of alpha motoneuronal excitability. These findings support this theory that manual spinal therapy can lead to a reduction in muscle tone.

Background: The current study evaluated the micro-shear bond strengths of a new low-shrinkage composite resin to dentin. Materials and Methods: In this in-vitro study, 70 extracted premolars were assigned to one of seven groups (n = 10): Group 1: OptiBond Solo Plus (Opt; Kerr); Group 2: SE Bond (SE; Kuraray); Group 3: Silorane System Adhesive (SSA; 3M ESPE); Group 4: OptiBond Solo Plus + LS Bond (Opt LS); Group 5: SE Bond + LS Bond (SE LS); Group 6: OptiBond Solo Plus (Opt Po); and Group 7: SE Bond (SE Po). Occlusal dentin was exposed and restored with Filtek LS (3M ESPE) in groups 1 to 5 and Point 4 (Kerr) in groups 6 and 7. After thermocycling (1000 cycles at 5/55΀C), micro-shear bond test was carried out to measure the bond strengths. The results were submitted to analysis of variance and post hoc Tukeytests (P < 0.05). Results: Two-way ANOVA showed no significant differences between the two types of composite resin (P = 0.187), between bonding agents (P = 0.06) and between composite resin and bonding agents (P = 0.894). Because P value of bonding agents was near the significance level, one-way ANOVA was used separately between the two composite groups. This analysis showed significant differences between silorane composite resin groups (P = 0.045) and Tukey test showed a significant difference between Groups 4 and 5 (P = 0.03). Conclusion: The application of total-etch and self-etch methacrylate-based adhesives with and without use of a hydrophobic resin coating resulted in acceptable bond strengths.

Background: Parental involvement has been identified as one of the most important factors affecting children’s health. There has been limited investigation on nutrition education resources preferred by parents living in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the state with the highest rates for poverty and diet-related diseases. Understanding what type of nutrition education resources are currently used by parents and what type of resources parents would likely use, if made available, will be beneficial to health educators in developing and disseminating nutrition education resources and facilitate the greatest impact. Objective: Identifying nutrition education resources used by parents. Patients and Methods: Low-income parents of elementary school-aged children were surveyed on their ‘current use’ and ‘likely use’ of nutrition education resources. Survey packets were delivered to teachers in three elementary schools who then distributed the surveys to their students to deliver to their parents. Completed surveys were returned to the teacher who delivered them to the researchers. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize responses. Results: The most common nutrition education resources currently used by parents are nutrition facts labels (m = 3.58 ± SD 1.31), television shows (m = 3.24 ± SD 1.12), and healthy homework activities from their child’s school (m = 3.18 ± SD 1.40). Resources seldom used by parents are video games (m = 1.49 ± SD 0.87), healthy cooking classes (m = 1.76 ± SD 1.03), and online discussion boards (m = 1.75 ± SD1.01). The nutrition education resources parents would likely use are healthy homework activities (m = 4.21 ± SD .95) and information sent home from school (m = 4.15 ± SD 0.94). Parents reported they would least likely use video games (m = 1.95 ± SD 1.31), online discussion boards (m = 2.47 ± SD 1.34), and mobile phone applications (m = 2.69 ± SD 1.42). Conclusions: Identifying nutrition education resources currently being used and most likely to be used by parents will be beneficial to health educators when developing and implementing effective nutrition interventions with parents in the Mississippi Delta and other rural regions.

Patients who are otherwise unsuitable candidates for coronary bypass surgery or standard coronary angioplasty (PTCA) may be successfully treated with PTCA during ECMO. Five patients (3 men, 2 women), with a mean age of 57 years, are reported on here. They were not considered good candidates for standard therapy because of poor left ventricular function (mean EF, 24; range, 16 to 28%). Patients were supported by percutaneous femoral bypass using a BARD CPS machine, and underwent successful PTCA of either two vessels (three patients) or three vessels (two patients); in addition, one patient had dilatation of a stenotic aortic valve. Patients were supported with ECMO for 26 to 140 (mean 104) minutes, and required transfusion with 0 to 4 (mean 2) units of blood during or after the procedure. Complications included groin hematoma in two patients. All were discharged within 4 days of the procedure. Follow-up of the patients has been completed (4-7 mo) with no further hospitalizations for unstable angina. All patients remain in NYHA Class II or III. These data suggest that ECMO-assisted angioplasty is a safe and effective method of palliation of unstable angina associated with cardiomyopathy.

The fundamental role of vision during development and the nurturing role of early intersubjectivity have enabled the Robert Hollman Foundation to develop an early intervention program providing holistic support to visually impaired children and their families, where fostering parent-infant interactions is at the heart of our care. The aim of this study is to understand how parents perceive this approach. It is an eleven-year retrospective study of children following the Robert Hollman Foundation's early intervention program, in which parents' ( n = 1086) perceptions of quality of care were measured through the administration of a specifically designed 4-point scale questionnaire. Annual longitudinal trends of parents' perceptions were calculated for every single response. Parents reported a very high satisfaction value in 21/23 questions (Mean > 3.7 out of a maximum score of 4, with the highest scores in human and soft skills of professionals) with a statistically positive trend ( p < 0.05), throughout the period considered. Our core approach, based on an individualized nurturing relational support , has been appreciated and confirmed by the high satisfaction reported in the questionnaires by parents of children with visual impairment. We therefore hypothesize that parent-infant relationship-based and individualized approaches may help parents achieve better health, well-being, and quality of daily life for their children.

Background and Objectives: Spinal anesthesia is widely used in various types of surgery. However, several complications can occur afterward. This study aimed to identify differences in the incidence of anesthesia-related complications according to the approach methods (midline versus paramedian) for landmark-based spinal anesthesia. Materials and Methods: We searched electronic databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, Scopus, and Web of Science, for eligible randomized controlled trials. The primary outcome was post-dural puncture headache (PDPH) incidence, and secondary outcomes were low back pain (LBP) incidence and success rate in the first trial of spinal anesthesia. We estimated the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using a random-effects model. Results: In total, 2280 patients from 13 randomized controlled trials were included in the final analysis. The incidence rates of PDPH were 5.9% and 10.4% in the paramedian and midline approach groups, respectively. The pooled effect size revealed that the incidence of PDPH (OR: 0.43, 95% CI [0.22-0.83]; p = 0.01; I 2 = 53%) and LBP (OR: 0.27, 95% CI [0.16-0.44]; p < 0.001; I 2 = 16%) decreased, and the success rate in the first attempt was higher (OR: 2.30, 95% CI [1.36-3.87]; p = 0.002; I 2 = 35%) with the paramedian than with the midline approach. Conclusions: Paramedian spinal anesthesia reduced PDPH and LBP and increased the success rate of the first attempt.

In this paper, an experimental investigation of damage detection in plate-like structure using energetics approaches is presented. Two energetics approaches are developed to localize the damage in structure at low-, medium-, and highfrequency range. The first one is the inverse simplified energy method, which is used for the identification of the excitation source and the detection of damage in medium and high frequencies. The second one is the curvature method, which is used for the damage detection in the low and medium frequencies. The main novelty of this paper is to combine these energetics approaches in order to localize the damage in all frequency bands. Experimental examples with different characteristics of plate were performed for the validation purpose. Results show that the presented methods can detect precisely the defects location in plate-like structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Doxa / Doksa is the property of I. I. Mechnikov Odessa National University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article deals with one of the most intensively developing threats for civilian and military spheres - hostile use of Low, Slow and Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (LSS UAVs). The classification of the LSS UAVs is given. The existing threats of using LSS UAVs are divided into three categories. Special attention is paid to the third category of threats, the main feature of which is a high level of training of the operator. Main advantages and drawbacks of LSS UAVs are considered. It is determined that the best strategy is to employ a hierarchy of countermeasures including regulatory countermeasures (prevention, deterrence, denial), passive countermeasures (detection and interruption) and active countermeasures (destruction). State of the art and current problems of possible countermeasures are analysed. The most promising LSS UAVs' counteraction technologies are described. Most attention is paid to specialized sensors and modern active counteraction means, such as programmable air burst munition and high-energy laser systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]