Aphasia Treatment over the Internet: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

We report results of a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluating an aphasia treatment provided over the internet. Thirty-two persons with aphasia were randomized to receive 6 weeks of practice with Oral Reading for Language in Aphasia (ORLA) (N=19) or a commercial computer game (N=13). Results indicated significant changes on WAB-R subtests (AQ, reading and writing) with web-based ORLA; changes were maintained for six weeks. There was no significant difference between ORLA versus the placebo computer program.  Findings support the feasibility and efficacy of providing ORLA over the internet. Reasons for improvements with the commercial computer program are discussed

A strategic integrated healthcare facility management model

The requirement to reduce expenditure on “non‐core” activities, along with building's owners’ expectations for improved performance, are the main dilemmas with which a facility manager deals on a regular basis. The primary objective of this research was to identify the effect of defined parameters, such as the actual age of a building and its level of occupancy, on the performance of facilities and their systems. This study contributed to the development of a model capable of integrating these parameters into a Facility Management (FM) tactical and strategic decision‐making process, referred to as the Integrated Healthcare Facility Management Model (IHFMM). The model's guidelines may be outlined for the methodological design and operation of facilities from a life cycle perspective. The paper presents the architecture of the developed model, and four of the 15 procedures that comprise the heart of this model. Strateginis integruotas sveikatos priežiūros pastatų ūkio valdymo modelis Santrauka Reikalavimas mažinti „neesmines“ veiklos išlaidas bei pastato savininkų lūkesčiai dėl geresnių rezultatų – su tokiomis pagrindinėmis dilemomis reguliariai susiduriapastatų ūkio valdymo vadybininkas. Šio tiriamojo darbo pagrindinis uždavinys yra nustatyti, koks yra apibrėžtaparametrų, tokių kaip realus pastato amžius ir jo užimtumolygis, poveikis pastatų ir jų sistemų rezultatyvumui. Šistyrimas prisidėjo kuriant modelį, kuris leidžia šiuosparametrus integruoti į taktinių ir strateginių pastatų ūkiovaldymo sprendimų priėmimo procesą ir yra vadinamas integruotu sveikatos priežiūros pastatų ūkio valdymo modeliu. Modelio rekomendacijas galima taikyti vykdantmetodologinį pastatų projektavimą ir eksploatavimą išgyvavimo ciklo perspektyvos. Šiame darbe pristatoma sukurto modelio architektūra ir keturios iš penkiolikos procedūrų, sudarančių šio modelio šerdį. First published online: 18 Oct 201

Introducing GLUSEEN: A New Open Access and Experimental Network in Urban Soil Ecology

Peer reviewe

Insecticide resistance and the future of malaria control in Zambia.

BACKGROUND: In line with the Global trend to improve malaria control efforts a major campaign of insecticide treated net distribution was initiated in 1999 and indoor residual spraying with DDT or pyrethroids was reintroduced in 2000 in Zambia. In 2006, these efforts were strengthened by the President's Malaria Initiative. This manuscript reports on the monitoring and evaluation of these activities and the potential impact of emerging insecticide resistance on disease transmission. METHODS: Mosquitoes were captured daily through a series of 108 window exit traps located at 18 sentinel sites. Specimens were identified to species and analyzed for sporozoites. Adult Anopheles mosquitoes were collected resting indoors and larva collected in breeding sites were reared to F1 and F0 generations in the lab and tested for insecticide resistance following the standard WHO susceptibility assay protocol. Annual cross sectional household parasite surveys were carried out to monitor the impact of the control programme on prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum in children aged 1 to 14 years. RESULTS: A total of 619 Anopheles gambiae s.l. and 228 Anopheles funestus s.l. were captured from window exit traps throughout the period, of which 203 were An. gambiae malaria vectors and 14 An. funestus s.s.. In 2010 resistance to DDT and the pyrethroids deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin and permethrin was detected in both An. gambiae s.s. and An. funestus s.s.. No sporozoites were detected in either species. Prevalence of P. falciparum in the sentinel sites remained below 10% throughout the study period. CONCLUSION: Both An. gambiae s.s. and An. funestus s.s. were controlled effectively with the ITN and IRS programme in Zambia, maintaining a reduced disease transmission and burden. However, the discovery of DDT and pyrethroid resistance in the country threatens the sustainability of the vector control programme

The emergence of insecticide resistance in central Mozambique and potential threat to the successful indoor residual spraying malaria control programme.

BACKGROUND: Malaria vector control by indoor residual spraying was reinitiated in 2006 with DDT in Zambézia province, Mozambique. In 2007, these efforts were strengthened by the President's Malaria Initiative. This manuscript reports on the monitoring and evaluation of this programme as carried out by the Malaria Decision Support Project. METHODS: Mosquitoes were captured daily through a series of 114 window exit traps located at 19 sentinel sites, identified to species and analysed for sporozoites. Anopheles mosquitoes were collected resting indoors and tested for insecticide resistance following the standard WHO protocol. Annual cross sectional household parasite surveys were carried out to monitor the impact of the control programme on prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum in children aged 1 to 15 years. RESULTS: A total of 3,769 and 2,853 Anopheles gambiae s.l. and Anopheles funestus, respectively, were captured from window exit traps throughout the period. In 2010 resistance to the pyrethroids lambda-cyhalothrin and permethrin and the carbamate, bendiocarb was detected in An. funestus. In 2006, the sporozoite rate in An. gambiae s.s. was 4% and this reduced to 1% over 4 rounds of spraying. The sporozoite rate for An. funestus was also reduced from 2% to 0 by 2008. Of the 437 Anopheles arabiensis identified, none were infectious. Overall prevalence of P. falciparum in the sentinel sites fell from 60% to 32% between October 2006 and October 2008. CONCLUSION: Both An. gambiae s.s. and An. funestus were controlled effectively with the DDT-based IRS programme in Zambézia, reducing disease transmission and burden. However, the discovery of pyrethroid resistance in the province and Mozambique's policy change away from DDT to pyrethroids for IRS threatens the gains made here

Facility maintenance and management: a health care case study

Contemporary trends in healthcare services provision tend toward the increased use of community based healthcare centers. This study on the concepts of healthcare provision hypothesizes that in the future, the main source of healthcare services will be a network of community based clinics which will be responsible for the majority of primary and ambulatory care. This concept implies that a network of community clinics equipped with state of the art telemedicine will be established with a wide geographical dispersion. The implications for healthcare facilities in terms of the resources and performance of the built environment are investigated by reference to the Israeli healthcare system. This paper reflects the results of research on healthcare facility management over the past 10 years. Comparison of the performance and maintenance of hospital facilities and community clinics reveals that the maintenance and performance of clinic facilities have the potential to combine improved healthcare facility services with cost-effective facility management and maintenance

Adrenocorticotrophic hormone-stimulated cortisol release by the head kidney inter-renal tissue from sea bream (Sparus aurata) fed with linseed oil and soyabean oil

The mode of action of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) in regulating gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) head kidney (HK) cortisol production was studied through in vitro trials using a dynamic superfusion system. Fish were previously fed with different diets containing several inclusion levels of linseed oil (LO) or soyabean oil (SO) for 26 weeks. Five diets were tested; anchovy oil was the only lipid source for the control diet (fish oil, FO) and two different substitution levels (70 and 100 %) were tested using either LO or SO (70LO, 70SO, 100LO and 100SO). Fatty acid compositions of the HK reflected the dietary input, thus EPA, DHA, arachidonic acid and n-3 HUFA were significantly (P,0·05) reduced in fish fed vegetable oils compared with fish fed the FO diet. Feeding 70 or 100% LO increased significantly (P,0·05) cortisol release in HK after stimulation with adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), while feeding SO had no effect on this response. Cortisol stimulation factor (SF) was increased in fish fed the 70LO and 100LO diets compared with fish fed the control diet. Moreover, eicosanoid inhibition by incubating the HK tissue with indomethacin (INDO) as a cyclo-oxygenase (COX) inhibitor, or nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) as a lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitor, significantly reduced (P,0·05) the cortisol release after ACTH stimulation in the 70LO and 100LO diets. Cortisol SF was reduced in the FO, 70LO and 100LO diets when incubating the HK with INDO or NDGA, while it was increased in the 70SO diet. The present results indicate that changing the fatty acid profile of gilthead sea bream HK by including LO and/or SO in the fish diet affected the in vitro cortisol release, and this effect is partly mediated by COX and/or LOX metabolites

The Belgic Confession

This book investigates the contemporary relevance of the Belgic Confession. The book groups the 37 articles of the Belgic Confession together in order to cover the whole confession in 12 chapters (alongside an introductory chapter). The emphasis of the publication falls on two aspects: (1) providing a scope of contemporary theological, ethical and general issues and possible controversies regarding the content of the Belgic Confession; and (2) formulating ethical perspectives and guidelines from the Belgic Confession that may assist in the building of societies. Where applicable, chapters also discuss the history of the text of the Belgic Confession, the organic unity between the articles of the Belgic Confession, a dogma-historical perspective on the development of the doctrine/content of the Belgic Confession and the relationship between the Belgic Confession and other confessions

GUBIC: The global urban biological invasions compendium for plants

Abstract Urban areas are foci for the introduction of non-native plant species, and they often act as launching sites for invasions into the wider environment. Although interest in biological invasions in urban areas is growing rapidly, and the extent and complexity of problems associated with invasions in these systems have increased, data on the composition and numbers of non-native plants in urbanized areas remain scattered and idiosyncratic. We assembled data from multiple sources to create the Global Urban Biological Invasions Compendium (GUBIC) for vascular plants representing 553 urban centres from 61 countries across every continent except Antarctica. The GUBIC repository includes 8140 non-native plant species from 253 families. The number of urban centres in which these non-native species occurred had a log-normal distribution, with 65.2% of non-native species occurring in fewer than 10 urban centres. Practical implications: The dataset has wider applications for urban ecology, invasion biology, macroecology, conservation, urban planning and sustainability. We hope this dataset will stimulate future research in invasion ecology related to the diversity and distributional patterns of non-native flora across urban centres worldwide. Further, this information should aid the early detection and risk assessment of potential invasive species, inform policy development and assist in setting management priorities