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Current distance learning technological advances allow real and virtual classrooms to unite. In this program evaluation study, focus group, participatory action, and qualitative research strategies (Yin, 1994) were used to explore the quality and benefits of infusing elements of three distance learning modalities into the traditional rehabilitation counseling classroom. Participants were students with multiple experiences in hybrid classes in which in-person instruction was integrated with at least one distance learning modality. The distance learning alternatives involved were interactive television, web-conferencing using a live stream from interactive television, the learning management system (e.g., Blackboard) and/or the collaboration platform or enhancement to learning management system (e.g., Elluminate). Student feedback was generated on the quality and effectiveness of hybrid models, as well as on the benefits and advantages of these models for rehabilitation education in the rural area served. Results indicate that the modalities can be integrated while maintaining discernible quality and learning effectiveness. Most notably, hybrid models may have distinct advantages over the traditional classroom in isolated rural regions and students who for a variety of reasons find it difficult to meet in traditional classrooms. Students with specialized interests can be linked to each other and to needed resources. (Contains 1 figure.)

Historically, distance education applications served a select group of students through self-paced technical short courses that required scant to little interaction with their instructors. Today's 21st century distance education focuses on a) reaching underserved prospective students within a social justice framework, b) global recruitment, and c) interactive technological applications and interactive teaching strategies that promote the creation of cyber-learning communities. This paper provides the reader with an overview of current distance education and modified traditional course delivery modalities followed by the application of the DIPCO [Design Instruction Participation Community Ownership] model to rehabilitation education. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

A regional business school chose to self develop an assessment test of the fundamental concepts of the undergraduate business core. Above and beyond the demands of AACSB accreditation, faculty identified feedback from such a test as an essential precursor to changing both overall curriculum and individual class content. The authors describe the methodology used to construct this instrument. Internal consistencies and validities of the resulting test compared favorably with those of commercially constructed tests. The authors discuss the methodology and results of the test validation process as well.

This article is devoted to an eminent Polish-Tatar Orientalist, writer and activist of the first part of the 20th century, Ali Ismail Woronowicz. From 1937 he was an imam of the Muslim community of the city of Warsaw, and from 1938 he looked after Muslims in the Polish army. From 1933, he was a member of the editorial staff of the scholarly journal Rocznik Tatarski [Tatar Yearbook]. In 1941 he was accused of espionage and arrested by the NKVD. The subsequent fate of Woronowicz is unknown; he was probably killed by the Soviet army. Woronowicz published in Polish and foreign scholarly and popular periodicals. He focused mainly on the study of the Tatar region in the Polish-Lithuanian territories. In 1936, in Cairo, he published a brochure in Arabic Al-Islām fī Būlūnyā [Islam in Poland], which was probably the first publication about Poland in Arabic in the Middle East. While still studying in Cairo, he began working on the monograph "The Life of the Prophet Muhammad and the Dawn of Islam". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to develop a stochastic description of gaseous reaction-diffusion systems, which includes a reaction-induced departure from local equilibrium, we derive a modified expression of the master equation from analytical calculations based on the Boltzmann equation. We apply the method to a chemical wave front of Fisher-Kolmogorov-Petrovsky-Piskunov type, whose propagation speed is known to be sensitive to small perturbations. The results of the modified master equation are compared successfully with microscopic simulations of the particle dynamics using the direct simulation Monte Carlo method. The modified master equation constitutes an efficient tool at the mesoscopic scale, which incorporates the nonequilibrium effect without need of determining the particle velocity distribution function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of pyriproxyfen (PPF) to drinking water and constant exposure of the whole population to this insecticide is an unprecedented action on a world scale and presents a new and serious challenge for toxicology. The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential effect of PPF on the intestine muscle activity. The experiments were performed on isolated duodenum and jejunum strips of rat, in isometric conditions. Doses of PPF in the range of 0.032–100 μM were used in the experiments. The obtained results indicate that PPF affected significantly the spontaneous activity of duodenum and jejunum strips, PPF caused the muscle relaxation when used in the concentration of 0.8 μM and higher. The reaction to acetylcholine (ACh) when PPF preceded or followed ACh application was also reduced. It is demonstrated that the reduction of the contraction caused by ACh was stronger when duodenum strips were preincubated in the presence of PPF solution than in case of ACh-precontracted strips. The first significant reaction of duodenal strips appeared in the presence of PPF in a dose of 0.16 μM and 0.8 μM when the insecticide application preceded and followed ACh treatment, respectively. Besides, the duodenum turned out to be much more susceptible to the tested insecticide than jejunum. Taking into account PPF kinetic data obtained in animals, the observed disturbances were caused by the insecticide used in relatively high concentrations. However, the full risk estimation requires the kinetic data obtained in human, especially from monitoring studies on general population after long-term exposure to PPF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dry extract of Hedra helix leaves and its main active compounds, predominantly α-hederin and hederacoside C, has been traditionally believed to act spasmolytic. However, it has been recently proved that both, the extract of ivy and triterpenoid saponins, exhibit strong contractile effect on rat isolated stomach smooth muscle strips. It turned out that the most potent contractile agent isolated from the extract of ivy leaves is α-hederin. Thus, it seems reasonable to estimate the mechanism of the contractile effect of this saponin. The presented study was aimed at verifying the participation of cholinergic pathways (muscarinic and nicotine receptors) in α-hederin-induced contraction. The experiments were carried out on rat isolated stomach corpus and fundus strips under isotonic conditions. The preparations were preincubated with either atropine or hexamethonium and then exposed to α-hederin. All results are expressed as the percentage of the response to acetylcholine - a reference contractile agent. The obtained results revealed that the pretreatment of isolated stomach strips (corpus and fundus) with atropine neither prevented nor remarkably reduced the reaction of the preparations to α-hederin. Similarly, if the application of saponin was preceded by the administration of hexamethonium, the strength of the contraction of stomach fundus strips induced by α-hederin was not modified. Concluding, it can be assumed that the cholinergic pathways do not participate in α-hederin-evoked contraction of rat isolated stomach preparations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses two studies which identified the differences of attributions towards rail- and bus-based public transport in Germany and Switzerland. The studies explored public transport attributions via content analysis and coding of the attributions. A problem with attributions to analyze mode choice decisions is that some studies do not distinguish between public transport modes. The distribution of the subjects into areas served by bus or tram was based on residential postal codes.

Copyright of Psychiatria Polska is the property of Editorial Committee of Polish Psychiatric Association 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.)

Copyright of Psychiatria Polska is the property of Editorial Committee of Polish Psychiatric Association 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.)

Background: Surgical care is a vital component of health care worldwide, yet there is no clinically meaningful measure of operative outcomes that could be applied globally. The Surgical Apgar Score, a simple metric derived from 3 intraoperative parameters, has been shown in U.S. academic medical centers to predict 30-day patient outcomes after operation, but has not been validated more broadly. Methods: We collected the components of the Surgical Apgar Score at the time of operation for 5,909 adult patients undergoing noncardiac operative procedures under general anesthesia at 8 hospitals in diverse international settings and evaluated the relationship between patients’ scores and the incidence of inpatient postoperative morbidity and mortality, using generalized estimating equations to adjust for clustering within sites. Results: During the first 30 days of postoperative hospitalization, 544 patients (9.2%) experienced ≥1 complications. Compared with patients with the median score of 7—whose complication rate was 9.1%—those with a Surgical Apgar Score <5 (n = 302) had an adjusted complication rate of 32.9% (relative risk [RR],3.6; 95% CI, 2.9–4.5), whereas those with a score of 10 (n = 238) had a 3.0% adjusted complication rate (RR, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.1–1.1). The score’s c-statistic for prediction of any complication is 0.70; for death it is 0.77. Conclusion: The Surgical Apgar Score is easily calculated, predictive, and moderately discriminative for major complications among adults undergoing inpatient noncardiac operative procedures. Such a score could provide objective indication of relative postoperative risk for inpatients and provide a potential target for quality improvement efforts, particularly in resource-limited settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess whether implementation of a 19-item World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist in urgent surgical cases would improve compliance with basic standards of care and reduce rates of deaths and complications.Use of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist has been shown to be associated with significant reductions in complications and deaths. Before evaluation of this safety tool, concern was raised about whether its use would be practical or beneficial during urgent surgical procedures.We prospectively collected clinical process and outcome data for 1750 consecutively enrolled patients 16 years of age or older undergoing urgent noncardiac surgery before and after introduction of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist in 8 diverse hospitals around the world; 842 underwent urgent surgery—defined as an operation required within 24 hours of assessment to be beneficial—before introduction of the checklist and 908 after introduction of the checklist. The primary end point was the rate of complications, including death, during hospitalization up to 30 days following surgery.The complication rate was 18.4% (n = 151) at baseline and 11.7% (n = 102) after the checklist was introduced (P = 0.0001). Death rates dropped from 3.7% to 1.4% following checklist introduction (P = 0.0067). Adherence to 6 measured safety steps improved from 18.6% to 50.7% (P < 0.0001).Implementation of the checklist was associated with a greater than one-third reduction in complications among adult patients undergoing urgent noncardiac surgery in a diverse group of hospitals. Use of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist in urgent operations is feasible and should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Healthcare-associated infection affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide and is a major global issue for patient safety. It complicates between 5 and 10% of admissions in acute care hospitals in industrialised countries. In developing countries, the risk is two to twenty times higher and the proportion of infected patients frequently exceeds 25%. A growing awareness of this problem prompted the World Health Organization to promote the creation of the World Alliance for Patient Safety. Prevention of healthcare-associated infection is the target of the Alliance First Global Patient Safety Challenge, ‘Clean Care is Safer Care’, launched in October 2005. After 2 years, a formal statement has been signed by 72 ministries of health as a pledge of their support to implement actions to reduce healthcare-associated infection; of these, 30 are developing countries. Additional countries, mostly from the developing world, have planned to sign by the end of 2008 and will represent in total more than three-quarters of the world''s population. Given the emphasis of the proposed strategy on simple and affordable solutions, the impact of the Challenge is expected to be high in developing countries. The combined efforts expected under the Challenge have the potential to save millions of lives, prevent morbidities and long-term disability for hundreds of millions of patients, and lead to major cost savings through the improvement of basic infection control measures in any healthcare setting, regardless of resources available or level of development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Healthcare-associated infection is a major safety issue affecting the quality of care of hundreds of millions of patients every year in both developed and developing countries. To meet the goal of ensuring patient safety across healthcare settings around the globe, the World Health Organization launched the World Alliance for Patient Safety in October 2004. Healthcare-associated infections were identified as a fundamental work priority and selected as the topic of the First Global Patient Safety Challenge launched by the Alliance. Under the banner “Clean Care is Safer Care”, the Challenge aims at implementing several actions to reduce healthcare-associated infections worldwide, regardless of the level of development of healthcare systems and the availability of resources. Implementation strategies include the integration of multiple interventions in the areas of blood safety, injection safety, clinical procedure safety, and water, sanitation and waste management, with the promotion of hand hygiene in healthcare as the cornerstone. Several initiatives have been undertaken to raise global awareness and to obtain country commitment to support action on this issue. The new Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care, including the most consistent scientific evidence available, have been issued in an advanced draft form. An implementation strategy is proposed therein to provide solutions to overcome obstacles to improvement in compliance with hand hygiene practices, together with a range of practical tools for use in healthcare settings. The latter are currently undergoing testing in several pilot sites to evaluate feasibility, acceptability and sustainability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article examines the effects of real-time information, located at stops and stations, on the public transportation customer in Hague, the Netherlands. The newly implemented traveler information on tramline 15 was used for evaluation study containing questionnaires given to commuters. The main results were that there was a decrease in waiting time by 20 percent, while no effects were found on perceived security, there were reports of ease in use.