Multiple usage of the CD PLUS/UNIX system: performance in practice

In August 1994, the CD PLUS/Ovid literature retrieval system based on UNIX was activated for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. There were up to 1,200 potential users. Tests were carried out to determine the extent to which searching for literature was affected by other end users of the system. In the tests, search times and download times were measured in relation to a varying number of continuously active workstations. Results indicated a linear relationship between search times and the number of active workstations. In the "worst case" situation with sixteen active workstations, the time required for record retrieval increased by a factor of sixteen and downloading time by a factor of sixteen over the "best case" of no other active stations. However, because the worst case seldom, if ever, happens in real life, these results are considered acceptable

The use of online support by people with intellectual disabilities living independently during COVID‐19

Background During the COVID-19 outbreak, service providers in the Netherlands had to switch towards providing remote support for people with intellectual disabilities living independently. This study aims to provide insight into the use of online support during the outbreak. Methods We analysed quantitative data on planned and unplanned contacts between the online support service DigiContact and its service users. Results The results indicate that the COVID-19 outbreak and the related containment measures had a strong impact on online support use, specifically on the unplanned use of online support. Conclusion Offering online support as a standard component of services for independently living people with intellectual disability enables service providers to be flexible and responsive towards fluctuations in both support needs and onsite support availability during a social crisis such as COVID-19

Collective victimhood in populist media about Brexit: rage against the machine?

This paper outlines an ongoing qualitative study in social psychology, with a pilot study completed and the main study currently at the data analysis stage. We examine how collective and competitive victimhood are invoked in populist rhetoric and media coverage of the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union (Brexit). Brexit has been portrayed by its proponents as a project on behalf of ordinary British people against an out-of-touch liberal elite and a malevolent European Union (EU), with the opposing campaign to remain in the EU commonly characterised as an alarmist “project fear” (see Bartholomew, 2017; Durrheim et al., 2018; Forsyth, 2016; Malik, 2018). This populist idea of ordinary people as victims of manipulative and mendacious elites seems to relate to social-psychological work on collective and competitive victimhood (Bar-Tal et al., 2009; Noor et al., 2008a, 2008b, 2012; Vollhardt et al., 2014). According to this account, victimhood can be used as political capital to justify grievances and intergroup conflict. Research on this topic has mostly used quantitative methods, but first attempts have been made to use qualitative methods to show rhetorical functions of collective and competitive victimhood (McNeill et al., 2017). Building on these theoretical and methodological foundations, we use thematic analysis and discourse analysis to show how victimhood is mobilised in British media to garner support for Brexit, and how this connects with concepts such as collective relative deprivation (e.g. Abrams & Grant, 2012; Runciman, 1966) and relative gratification (Dambrun et al., 2006; Guimond & Dambrun, 2002; Jetten et al., 2015). In doing so, we contribute to a social-psychological perspective on Brexit, develop further the concepts of collective and competitive victimhood, and connect the micro-level of language used in the media sphere to the macro-level of populist movements in democratic societies

Adverse effects of extra-articular corticosteroid injections: A systematic review

Background. To estimate the occurrence and type of adverse effects after application of an extra-articular (soft tissue) corticosteroid injection. Methods. A systematic review of the literature was made based on a PubMed and Embase search covering the period 1956 to January 2010. Case reports were included, as were prospective and retrospective studies that reported adverse events of corticosteroid injection. All clinical trials which used extra-articular corticosteroid injections were examined. We divided the reported adverse events into major (defined as those needing intervention or not disappearing) and minor ones (transient, not requiring intervention). Results. The search yielded 87 relevant studies:44 case reports, 37 prospective studies and 6 retrospective studies. The major adverse events included osteomyelitis and protothecosis; one fatal necrotizing fasciitis; cellulitis and ecchymosis; tendon ruptures; atrophy of the plantar fat was described after injecting a neuroma; and local skin effects appeared as atrophy, hypopigmentation or as skin defect. The minor adverse events effects ranged from skin rash to flushing and disturbed menstrual pattern. Increased pain or steroid flare after injection was reported in 19 studies. After extra-articular injection, the incidence of major adverse events ranged from 0-5.8% and that of minor adverse events from 0-81%. It was not feasible to pool the risk for adverse effects due to heterogeneity of study populations and difference in interventions and variance in reporting. Conclusion. In this literature review it was difficult to accurately quantify the incidence of adverse effects after extra-articular corticosteroid injection. The reported adverse events were relatively mild, although one fatal reaction was reported

Validity of the Utrecht scale for evaluation of rehabilitation-participation restrictions scale in a hospital-based stroke population 3 months after stroke

Background:The Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation Restrictions scale (USER-P-R) is a promising patient-reported outcome measure, but has currently not been validated in a hospital-based stroke population. Objective:To examine psychometric properties of the USER-P-R in a hospital-based stroke population 3 months after stroke onset. Methods:Cross-sectional study including 359 individuals with stroke recruited through 6 Dutch hospitals. The USER-P-R, EuroQol 5-dimensional 5-level questionnaire (EQ-5D-5 L), Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System 10-Question Global Health Short Form (PROMIS-10), modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and two items on perceived decrease in health and activities post-stroke were administered in a telephone interview 3 months after stroke. The internal consistency, distribution, floor/ceiling effects, convergent validity and discriminant ability of the USER-P-R were calculated. Results:Of all participants, 96.9% were living at home and 50.9% experienced no or minimal disabilities (mRS 0-1). The USER-P-R showed high internal consistency (alpha = 0.90) and a non-normal left-skewed distribution with a ceiling effect (21.4% maximum scores). A substantial proportion of participants with minimal disabilities (mRS 1) experienced restrictions on USER-P-R items (range 11.9-48.5%). The USER-P-R correlated strongly with the EQ-5D-5 L, PROMIS-10 and mRS. The USER-P-R showed excellent discriminant ability in more severely affected individuals with stroke, whereas its discriminant ability in less affected individuals was moderate. Conclusions:The USER-P-R shows good measurement properties and provides additional patient-reported information, proving its usefulness as an instrument to evaluate participation after 3 months in a hospital-based stroke population

Nonfocal transient neurological attacks in patients with carotid artery occlusion

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Comparative transcriptomics and proteomics of p-hydroxybenzoate producing Pseudomonas putida S12: novel responses and implications for strain improvement

A transcriptomics and proteomics approach was employed to study the expression changes associated with p-hydroxybenzoate production by the engineered Pseudomonas putida strain S12palB1. To establish p-hydroxybenzoate production, phenylalanine-tyrosine ammonia lyase (pal/tal) was introduced to connect the tyrosine biosynthetic and p-coumarate degradation pathways. In agreement with the efficient p-hydroxybenzoate production, the tyrosine biosynthetic and p-coumarate catabolic pathways were upregulated. Also many transporters were differentially expressed, one of which—a previously uncharacterized multidrug efflux transporter with locus tags PP1271-PP1273—was found to be associated with p-hydroxybenzoate export. In addition to tyrosine biosynthesis, also tyrosine degradative pathways were upregulated. Eliminating the most prominent of these resulted in a 22% p-hydroxybenzoate yield improvement. Remarkably, the upregulation of genes contributing to p-hydroxybenzoate formation was much higher in glucose than in glycerol-cultured cells