Strategies for the treatment of Hepatitis C in an era of interferon-free therapies: what public health outcomes do we value most?

Objective: The expense of new therapies for HCV infection may force health systems to prioritise the treatment of certain patient groups over others. Our objective was to forecast the population impact of possible prioritisation strategies for the resource-rich setting of Scotland. Design: We created a dynamic Markov simulation model to reflect the HCV-infected population in Scotland. We determined trends in key outcomes (e.g. incident cases of chronic infection and severe liver morbidity (SLM)) until the year 2030, according to treatment strategies involving prioritising, either: (A) persons with moderate/advanced fibrosis or (B) persons who inject drugs (PWID). Results: Continuing to treat the same number of patients with the same characteristics will give rise to a fall in incident infection (from 600 cases in 2015 to 440 in 2030) and a fall in SLM (from 195 cases in 2015 to 145 in 2030). Doubling treatment-uptake and prioritising PWID will reduce incident infection to negligible levels (<50 cases per year) by 2025, while SLM will stabilise (at 70–75 cases per year) in 2028. Alternatively, doubling the number of patients treated, but, instead, prioritising persons with moderate/advanced fibrosis will reduce incident infection less favourably (only to 280 cases in 2030), but SLM will stabilise by 2023 (i.e. earlier than any competing strategy). Conclusions: Prioritising treatment uptake among PWID will substantially impact incident transmission, however, this approach foregoes the optimal impact on SLM. Conversely, targeting those with moderate/advanced fibrosis has the greatest impact on SLM but is suboptimal in terms of averting incident infection

The outcomes of family and consumer leadership education: creating positive change in disability policy and practice

Background When individuals with disabilities are trained in evidenced based practices and how to advocate for themselves and their families, they are best able to ensure that services and supports meet their needs and create and realize a positive vision for their future. Participants and procedure In New Hampshire in the United States a Leadership Series provided seven weekend training sessions to an annual cohort of about 25 family members and 10 adults with disabilities about better practices in service provision, defining a vision for the future, and community organizing and advocacy strategies, using informational sessions and participation in small work groups. Results A total of 100 participants completing the Series over a six-year period completed pre and post surveys consisting of both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Respondents reported highly significant increases in their knowledge about service provision and advocacy strategies, significant increases in their clarity of vision for six out of seven life domains, and significant increases in their membership in community organizations and frequency of advocacy activities. Conclusions The Leadership Series fostered increased efforts to create positive change in the lives of the participants and their family members with disabilities and in the services and supports provided to family members with disabilities

Exploring the Potential of the Web-Based Virtual World of Second Life to Improve Substance Abuse Treatment Outcomes

Provides an overview of Second Life, an Internet-based virtual world, and summarizes discussions among addiction recovery experts about integrating virtual reality into behavioral treatment as a way to teach patients new responses to real environments

A 5-Dimensional Magic Die

This extends the 3-dimensional HOT-PAD and the 4-dimensional SALT-MINE dice described in Magic Word Dice , May, 2007 to a fifth dimension (see also J. Puder\u27s remarks in the August 2007 Colloquy). A schematic (2-dimensional!) drawing of the 5-cube follows. It is based on the word pair POLAR-MINES and every node word uses exactly one each of the five pairs 1 = P-M, 2 = O-I, 3 = L-N, 4 = A-E and 5 = R-S

Incorporation of the Fermi–Amaldi Term into Direct Energy Kohn–Sham Calculations

In direct energy Kohn–Sham (DEKS) theory, the density functional theory electronic energy equals the sum of occupied orbital energies, obtained from Kohn–Sham-like orbital equations involving a shifted Hartree exchange–correlation potential, which must be approximated. In the present study, the Fermi–Amaldi term is incorporated into approximate DEKS calculations, introducing the required −1/r contribution to the exchange–correlation component of the shifted potential in asymptotic regions. It also provides a mechanism for eliminating one-electron self-interaction error, and it introduces a nonzero exchange–correlation component of the shift in the potential that is of appropriate magnitude. The resulting electronic energies are very sensitive to the methodologies considered, whereas the highest occupied molecular orbital energies and exchange–correlation potentials are much less sensitive and are similar to those obtained from DEKS calculations using a conventional exchange–correlation functional

Human system interaction with confident computing

This keynote will give an overview of the last 30 years of human system interaction and the key elements of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and its transition from traditional HCI into the frontier of Human System Interaction (HSI). This leads to the discussion as to why HSI is about Digital Ecosystems and about the world we live in rather than just ICT. We explain the 5 Mega Trends, and the emergence of Confident Computing and how that is leading to the revolution of the next generation of Human System Interaction version 2.0 and Usability version 2.0. This is followed by the challenges and research issues within Human System Interaction (HSI)