Employment outcomes in people with bipolar disorder : a systematic review

Objective: Employment outcome in bipolar disorder is an under investigated, but important area. The aim of this study was to identify the long-term employment outcomes of people with bipolar disorder. Method: A systematic review using the Medline, PsychInfo and Web of Science databases. Results: Of 1962 abstracts retrieved, 151 full text papers were read. Data were extracted from 25 papers representing a sample of 4892 people with bipolar disorder and a mean length of follow-up of 4.9 years. Seventeen studies had follow-up periods of up to 4 years and eight follow-up of 5–15 years. Most studies with samples of people with established bipolar disorder suggest approximately 40–60% of people are in employment. Studies using work functioning measures mirrored this result. Bipolar disorder appears to lead to workplace underperformance and 40–50% of people may suffer a slide in their occupational status over time. Employment levels in early bipolar disorder were higher than in more established illness. Conclusion: Bipolar disorder damages employment outcome in the longer term, but up to 60% of people may be in employment. Whilst further studies are necessary, the current evidence provides support for extending the early intervention paradigm to bipolar disorder

Dangerous, Seductive, and Innovative. Visual Sources for the History of Education

This chapter focuses on images as sources for the history of education. Those sources could be scientifically dangerous - do they provide strong enough evidence? -, seductive - with their potential of bringing the researcher almost face to face with people in the past -, and innovative in adding new evidence and new insight to the history of education. After a discussion of the sources’ dangerous and seductive aspects because of its complex relationship with educational reality, we concentrate on seventeenth-century emblematic books with educational and moral messages for parents and adolescents. Some emblems, consisting of text and image, are analyzed and interpreted with classic historic source criticism and with an educational variant of the iconographic method. It could indeed be concluded that also those visual sources could be dangerous and seductive. They, however, may shed new light on important issues in the history of education such as parenting and moral education, and also, if approached by historical source criticism, they do not differ in evidential value and strength from the traditional sources for the history of education and childhood

Telemedicine in interdisciplinary work practices: On an IT system that met the criteria for success set out by its sponsors, yet failed to become part of every-day clinical routines

Background. Information systems can play a key role in care innovations including task redesign and shared care. Many demonstration projects have presented evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness and high levels of patient satisfaction. Yet these same projects often fail to become part of everyday clinical routines. The aim of the paper is to gain insight into a common paradox that a technology can meet the criteria for success set out at the start of the project yet fail to become part of everyday clinical routines. Methods. We evaluated a telecare service set up to reduce the workload of ophthalmologists. In this project, optometrists in 10 optical shops made digital images to detect patients with glaucoma which were furth

Jam To-morrow and Jam Yesterday, but Never Jam To-day: The of Theology Libraries Planning the Twenty-first Century

The future of theology libraries is far from clear. Since the nineteenth century, theology libraries have evolved to support the work of theological education. This article briefly reviews the development of theology libraries in North America and examines the contextual changes impacting theology libraries today. Three significant factors that will shape theology libraries in the coming decade are collaborative models of pedagogy and scholarship, globalization and rapid changes in information technology, and changes in the nature of scholarly publishing including the digitization of information. A large body of research is available to assist those responsible for guiding the direction of theology libraries in the next decade, but there are significant gaps in what we know about the impact of technology on how people use information that must be filled in order to provide a solid foundation for planning

The Symbola database of historical devices and emblems: Approach and conceptual design

El SIELAE (Seminario Interdisciplinar para el Estudio de la Literatura Áurea Española), de la Universidade da Coruña (España), afronta un nuevo reto entre sus proyectos de investigación que ampliará los recursos que ofrece hasta ahora en su portal BIDISO (Biblioteca Digital del Siglo de Oro). Acomete la creación de una base de datos sobre divisas o empresas históricas (emblemática personal) empleadas por reyes, caballeros, eclesiásticos, académicos, impresores, etc. desde los inicios del género, a finales de la Baja Edad Media, hasta sus manifestaciones en tiempos de plenitud (siglos XV-XVI) y su declive a finales del siglo XVII. Este trabajo expone el planteamiento y objetivos, la justificación de la necesidad de crear una base de datos para difundir en acceso abierto en Internet, las especificaciones para el diseño conceptual de la base de datos y detalles sobre las tecnologías de desarrollo.The Interdisciplinary Seminar for the Study of Spanish Golden Age Literature (SIELAE) of the University of A Coruña, Spain, faces a new challenge among its research projects that will expand the resources offered until now in its BIDISO portal (Spanish Golden Age Digital Library). The new project involves the creation of a database on historical devices or imprese (emblematic badges) used by kings, gentlemen, ecclesiastics, academics and printers, among others, from the beginning of the genre in the late Middle Ages to their manifestations at their height of splendor during the fifteenth and sixteen centuries and their decline at the end of the seventeenth century. This paper outlines the approach and objectives, justification for the need to create an open access database on the Internet, specifications for the conceptual design of the database and details on development technologies

What’s the importance of portable tele-monitoring devices in patient therapeutic adherence?

In the United Kingdom, it’s estimated that the National Health System spends every year almost $121 million in unused drugs. The hospital admission costs attributed to patients not taking their prescribed medicine properly was estimated to be between$44m and $240m per year. In the United States of America, medication non-adherence is estimated in$100 to $300 billions of avoidable healthcare costs annually, representing 3–10% of total United States healthcare costs. Studies show that improving medication adherence may have a greater influence on the health of the population than the discovery of any new therapy. Effective medicines are available for many conditions. Yet patients are non-adherent 50% of the time, reaching its critical point in certain disease states, such as asymptomatic conditions like hypertension, in which the incidence may approach 80%. Each disease has its special challenges. To answer the non-adherence problem, we must understand that people under certain disease states, are not aware of the danger when they unconsciously neglect the treatment and stop taking the prescribed medication. With the technological boom over the recent years, we were flooded with gadgets and devices that allow us to do practically everything in our everyday life, and the rise of tele-monitoring devices is going to be a reality, not only to monitor bio-signals but to help us with medication compliance. The objective of this dissertation is to gather information to establish what are the main strengths of nowadays technology to assemble the best integrated monitoring and control device, for therapeutic adherence. Our proposal is to create a therapeutic adherence monitoring device that consists in a smart blister coupled to a device which has the capacity to collect (from other medical devices) and send data (medicine taking time, blood pressure and oximetry) to a cloud every day. This allows the clinician to know, with high certain, if the patient is taking his medicine exactly how it has prescribed as well as the schedule of the same. Concluding, therapeutic non-adherence is a public health problem that leads to high economical and health losses. Nevertheless, we find that the technological devices fit within the lifestyle of the average person and present themselves as a solution

Data Quality Challenges in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Trials: How Can This Be Optimized?

Major scientific advances in basic science, pharmacology, and translational medicine have allowed the discovery of new molecular targets whose manipulation by new chemical entities has led to treatments for inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Development of new agents for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has lagged, however, because the protean manifestations of SLE present challenges for measuring therapeutic effects in a consistent manner. Composite end points combining several Disease Activity Indices (DAIs) are being used in ongoing global studies, but the uniform application of these complex DAIs across large numbers of clinical sites has proven difficult. We describe herein approaches that are being utilized to facilitate collection, review, and analysis of the clinical measures utilizing independent central adjudication committees

Integrating product emotions study in the industrial design education for sustaining affective consumers

This article highlights the importance of product emotions study in the industrial design education. The incorporation of product emotions during the design of an artefact is important as it embodies the socio-cultural preference towards that artefact, hence supporting one of the three sustainable development components—social sustainability. Therefore, through the application of product emotions study, Malaysian products could elicit positive emotions that will lead to consumer-product’s ‘affective sustainability.’ We conducted a preliminary survey among the industrial design academia to gauge how we can effectively incorporate the product emotions component into the Malaysian tertiary curriculum. We first present a selected background literature on product emotions and explain the types of response processing using examples from the market. We then explain our research method and present the results and analysis. At the conclusion of this article, we recommend how industrial design education can integrate the aspect of product emotions in its curriculum and highlight the need for research in this area if Malaysian products wish to gain sustainable affection in the global markets. We hope that the successful integration of product emotions will enable local manufacturers to improve their sales revenue and develop larger market for their products

The Transformation Of Archival Philosophy And Practice Through Digital Art

In many ways, digital practices have precipitated remarkable changes in the global accessibility of art. However, the digital revolution has also radically influenced the conservation processes surrounding art, including archiving, preserving, and remembering. This paper explores the conservation of digital (or “variable media”) artworks for the future benefit of culture, with particular peference to creators and viewers of art, as well as participants in interactive artworks. More specifically, this paper focuses on the philosophical and technical approaches adopted by creators, conservators, and philosophers involved in the preservation of variable media artworks. Issues of programming, interoperability between archival systems, and enhanced public access increasingly inform the design of digital archives. Indeed, the continuously shifting technological landscape—marked by the centrality of digital technologies to everyday life—problematizes the preservation of digital art through mainstream museological paradigms. Part of this analysis of digital art conservation will be drawn from the archival philosophies of Boris Groys and Rick Prelinger

Impact of e-commerce on European containerboard demand

This master’s thesis investigates the impact of business-to-consumer electronic commerce (later e-commerce) on European containerboard demand. In e-commerce, products are usually shipped separately to consumers, which increases secondary package’s role in distribution. The main functions of e-commerce packaging are protection, convenience and brand communication. In addition, consumers are increasingly demanding sustainable packaging solutions. The most used packaging material in e-commerce is corrugated board, followed by flexible plastics. Corrugated board uses containerboard as raw material in liners and flutings. The overall European containerboard market is well known but the impact of e-commerce on the European containerboard demand is unclear. Due to robust growth of e-commerce and lack of research on e-commerce packaging, the main goal of this research is to investigate the demand drivers for containerboard used in e-commerce packaging, paying attention to the growing sustainability concerns. The research was done for a case company, which is a global business advisor in industry and energy sectors. The objectives of this market research were achieved with literature review and by having in total 42 answerers in interviews and online survey. The biggest drivers for containerboard demand in e-commerce packaging are overall economic situation and e-commerce development. As well, competition between packaging materials and growing sustainability concerns are big drivers. Fibre-based packaging materials are currently perceived as more sustainable than plastics due to recyclability. On the other hand, corrugated packaging may face challenges due to overpackaging, which needs to be reduced. Policies may arise due to sustainability concerns and they can have both positive and negative impacts on future e-commerce packaging demand. Big online retailers are followed in the market and their packaging decisions are observed by other retailers. Containerboard related trends in e-commerce packaging are requirements of lighter but stronger material and favour of recycled fibre-based containerboard. E-commerce packaging material decision is made based on need of protection, cost, perceived sustainability, brand image and compatibility. Corrugated packaging has advantage over substitute materials when protection is needed. On the other hand, plastics and other flexible solutions are often less expensive than corrugated board, which means that they are usually favoured when protection is non-relevant. Packaging should be compatible with requirements of the supply chain, involving increase of automated packaging processes and intelligent packaging solutions. Good printability, opening experience and returnability are increasingly demanded from e-commerce packaging. As part of market research, the current demand of containerboard used in e-commerce packaging was estimated. Approximately 10% of the total containerboard demand in Europe is e-commerce packaging, of which 85% represent recycled fibre-based containerboard. To conclude, the growth of e-commerce and overall consumption, together with need of protective packaging create the containerboard demand in e-commerce packaging