User evaluation of technology enhanced interaction framework

This paper focuses on user evaluation of the Technology Enhanced Interaction Framework (TEIF). Questionnaire results from participants using or reviewing the TEIF method to evaluate requirements and design technology solutions for problems involving interactions with hearing impaired people showed that they thought it helped them more than the Other methods and that it would also help them to gather requirements and to design technology solutions for all disabled people if information about other disabilities than hearing impairment was provided. The objective results from the experimental tasks will be analysed to investigate how the participants performed on the requirements evaluation and solutions evaluation tasks with the TEIF method and the other preferred method. These results will be compared with the participants’ questionnaire answers which reflected what they thought about the TEIF method. Future work includes extending the Method and Technology Suggestions Table to include information about other disabilities than just hearing impairmen

Prognostic significance of bcl-2 and p53 expression in colorectal carcinoma

Objective: This study was designed to detect the expression of bcl-2 and p53 proteins in colorectal carcinomas and to determine their association with the patient survival and stage of the diseases. Methods: Immunohistochemistry method was used to detect the expression of bcl-2 and p53 proteins in 93 cases of colorectal carcinoma. The stain results were obtained by analyzing the clinic-pathological characteristics of patients. Results: Fifty-seven percent (53/93) of the colorectal carcinomas were bcl-2 protein positive. The positive rate of bcl-2 protein in lymph node involvement cases was lower (15/37) than the cases without node involvement (38/58, P<0.01). The positive rate of p53 protein was 43% (40/93) in colon-rectum carcinomas. No significant correlation was observed between p53 protein expression and clinic-pathological manifestations (P>0.05) but the survival was significantly worse (P=0.0001) in the p53 protein positive cases. Neither bcl-2 nor p53 alone was correlated with stage of the disease. When combined bcl-2/p53 status was analyzed, a group with bcl-2(+) and p53(−) had the best prognosis. This group was significantly associated with earlier Dukes’ stages (P=0.1763). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, lymph node involvement and p53 protein expression were two independent factors correlated with survival time. Conclusion: The expression of bcl-2 and p53 represent biological characteristics of colorectal carcinomas. Assessment of both bcl-2 and p53 status may be valuable in predicting the prognosis of patients

Decentralization and the development of nationalized party systems in new democracies: evidence from Latin America

The extent to which a party system is nationalized—with nationalization being defined as the degree to which major political parties obtain similar vote shares throughout the national territory—has considerable consequences for political representation, public policy making, and even the survival of democracy. Yet, so far there is little empirical evidence about the conditions that promote or inhibit the development of nationalized party systems in new democracies. Using electoral data from 89 elections in 16 Latin American democracies, this article provides a systematic analysis of the effect of decentralization on party system nationalization. The results show that political decentralization and fiscal decentralization inhibit the development of nationalized party systems, thus suggesting that a trade-off exists between decentralized governance and party system nationalization. These results are robust when controlling for ethnolinguistic fractionalization and characteristics of the electoral system