A 7-year follow-up of sacral anterior root stimulation for bladder control in patients with a spinal cord injury: quality of life and users' experiences\ud

Study design: Cross-sectional descriptive study.\ud \ud Objectives: To assess long-term effects and quality of life (QoL) of using sacral anterior root stimulation (SARS) in spinal cord injured patients.\ud \ud Setting: Neurosurgical and Urological Departments of a large teaching hospital and a large rehabilitation centre in the Netherlands.\ud \ud Methods: In all, 42 patients with complete spinal cord injury (SCI) implanted between 1987 and 2000 were included. A questionnaire was constructed to determine complications, technical failures and personal experiences of the patients. The Qualiveen questionnaire was used and the outcome was compared with data obtained from a reference group of 400 SCI patients with neurogenic bladder problems not using the bladder controller. The Qualiveen questionnaire measures disease-specific aspects in four domains with respect to limitations, constraints, fears and feelings and general QoL aspects, suitable for use in SCI patients with urinary disorders.\ud \ud Results: The results of 37 patients are presented. Our results with the bladder controller with respect to medical and technical complications and infection rates are similar to the results presented by others. From users' experiences, the most important advantages reported were a decreased infection rate (68%), improved social life (54%) and continence (54%). Comparison of the obtained results of our patient group with the Qualiveen questionnaire with a reference group not using the bladder controller indicates that the specific impact of urinary disorders in the four domains on QoL is reduced and that general QoL is improved.\ud \ud Conclusion: SARS is effective and safe for neurogenic bladder management in patients with complete SCI. Users' experiences are positive. Furthermore, this therapy seems to reduce the effects of urinary-disorder-specific QoL aspects, and to increase the QoL in general\u

Modelling and simulation of advanced non-linear autopilot designs

This paper presents the simulation in ESL of a non-linear 6 degree-of-freedom missile model with an advanced, non-linear, multivariable autopilot designed using Rate Actuated Inverse Dynamics (RAID) methods. High performance control of non-linear systems requires the design of advanced, non-linear control systems, such as those used in autopilot design. Traditional linear control system design and analysis techniques are not sufficient for non-linear systems and current non-linear analysis methods are extremely limited. Therefore, the only method available to fully assess the performance of non-linear controller designs is simulation of the non-linear system. For this reason it is an essential part of the analysis and design process of these types of controllers. Non-linear dynamics can be continuous or discontinuous, the aerodynamics of a missile are non-linear but since they are continuous they do not represent a simulation challenge. However, there are multiple sets of discontinuous dynamics present in both the missile control surface model and the autopilot which can lead to multiple discontinuities being reached simultaneously, providing a challenging modeling exercise. The paper demonstrates how this kind of behavior can be successfully modeled and simulated within ESL using a simple switching logic

Marketing women in Iceland: challenges of establishing a company

Objectives: This paper explores the experiences of nine Icelandic business women who that have their own marketing businesses. In recent years more women graduated from Icelandic universities than men (Statistic Iceland, 2012a) where business and marketing studies have proved popular. Little is known though about the experiences of Icelandic women moving into self-employment in marketing, particularly in relation to challenges of setting up and managing their own business. Iceland provides a unique context as it is a small island with only 325.000 habitants (Statistic Iceland, 2014). The country was hit badly by the economic crisis in 2008 which is likely to have affected the career and business decisions of self-employed women. Prior Work: Marketing is considered to be a female-oriented industry but experiences of women working in marketing are an under-researched area (Maclaren and Catterall, 2000). In addition, Marlow et al.,(2009) called for studies focusing on the challenges of the entrepreneurial environment for women. Some of the challenges that women owning their own business have to face have been identified as capitalisation, working hours and location (Carter et al., 2001; Roper and Scott, 2009; Harding, 2006). These experiences will be discussed in this paper. Approach: This paper builds on work from a similar study already undertaken in the UK by Foster and Brindley (2010); Foster et al., (2011) and Wheatley at al., (2011) and their investigation of marketing businesses in the UK but explores the experiences in the novel context of Iceland which is a much smaller economy and often heralded as a beacon of gender equality (Petterson 2012; Acthenhagen and Tilmar, 2013). The study takes an exploratory, qualitative approach. Convenience sampling was used for the study with nine Icelandic women who owned a marketing business. All the interviews were conducted with the owner of the company using a set of questions around a priori themes drawn from the literature. The interviews took place in August 2013. Results: Preliminary analysis indicates that Icelandic women are cautious when it comes to capitalisation. They are quite reluctant to take out a loan to finance their business. In addition the majority seemed to work long hours, often nights and weekends. Full findings will be presented at the conference. Implications: These findings give the first account of experiences of Icelandic self-employed women in marketing and answers recent calls for studies in the field of marketing and the entrepreneur environment for women (Maclaren and Catterall, 2000; Marlow et al.,2009). Value: This paper provides an insight into the experiences of the Icelandic business women working in marketing. In addition it offers comparisons with previous studies conducted in the UK

An exploration of Icelandic marketing entrepreneurs

Little research have focused on women entrepreneurship in Iceland and yet it is often heralded as a beacon of gender equality (Pettersson, 2012; Achtenhagen and Tilmar, 2013; Smith-Hunter, 2013). The World Economic Forum (2013) identified Iceland as the country with the world's smallest gender gap. This small gender gap is not reflected in the entrepreneurship figures which show that only 8 percent of Icelandic women are classed as entrepreneurs (GEM, 2009) compared to 15 percent of men. Furthermore, Danson and Burnett (2013) posited that entrepreneurship in island environments is an under-researched area. It is therefore pertinent to explore what is happening in terms of women’s entrepreneurship in Iceland. The paper builds upon similar studies already undertaken in the UK and Europe (see Foster et al., 2011 and Wheatley et al, 2011) that have investigated the careers of marketing professionals through their life-courses. Marketing is considered to be a feminised industry in Iceland yet there is little knowledge about the careers these women have in the profession or why they decide to become self- employed. The findings showed the most often women became self-employed because of a trigger event and it seemed in most cases to be the financial crises in 2008

Absorption of pyrimidines, purines, and nucleosides by Co, Ni, Cu and Fe /III-montmorillonite /clay-organic studies XIII/

Absorption of pyrimidines, purines, and nucleosides by copper, nickel, cobalt, and iron montmorillonit

Absorption of pyrimidines, purines and nucleosides by Li, Na, Mg, and Ca montmorillonite /clay organic studies 12/

Absorption of purines, pyrimidines, and nucleoside in aqueous solution by montmorillionite occurring as cation exchange reactio

Perioperative do-not-resuscitate orders: it is time to talk

A study by Burkle et al. in BMC Anesthesiology examined attitudes around perioperative do-not-resuscitate orders. Questionnaires were given to patients, as well as to anesthesiologists, internists and surgeons. The study has limitations and is open to interpretation. However, the findings are important. There appear to be attitudinal differences between patients and doctors, and between specialties. A small majority of patients are content to have a do-not-resuscitate order postponed during the perioperative period. A large majority expects open communication from doctors before proceeding. However, this article could also encourage a broader debate. This is about how to respect patient autonomy, while ensuring that resuscitation truly serves the patient’s best interests. This commentary outlines how more communication is needed at the bedside and in wider society

Mid-term results of autoinjection therapy for erectile dysfunction

Of over 300 patients with erectile dysfunction, 186 were selected for intracavernosal autoinjection therapy with a standardized papaverine-phentolamine mixture. A total of 156 patients performed 4,813 protocol autoinjections with a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 230 per patient. The dose that induced a full erection at the hospital could be reduced under home conditions by a mean of 35 per cent. Systemic side effects were not observed. The most inconvenient local side effects were prolonged erections in 24 patients in diagnostic use and in 3 patients in therapeutic use. These were treated easily without further consequences