Evaluation of a recreational team game for seniors: Lifeball - a case study

The objective of this project was to assess changes in physical activity, social isolation and loneliness of Lifeball participants as a result of participation in Lifeball. Lifeball is a team game based on walking, ball passing and goal shooting. Newly enrolled Lifeball players (n = 95) aged 50 years and over were recruited from Lifeball clubs in Western Australia. Subjects completed a questionnaire on their physical activity levels and perceptions of their psychosocial health and well-being. The questionnaire was administered at baseline and after 3 months of participation in Lifeball. There was no significant change to overall physical activity levels. However, it appears Lifeball was used to replace other recreational pursuits that the subjects were involved in. There was a positive shift in variables associated with social isolation and loneliness. Lifeball provides alternative physical activity opportunities and may help reduce social isolation and loneliness

A Participatory Approach to the Development of Centralized Information Systems

In this article, we address the development and implementation of centralized information systems in the public sector. More specifically, we are concerned with implementation of such systems where a central governmental agency is collecting information from a number of similar institutions; for example, hospitals and colleges. It is our contention that the numerous problems traditionally associated with such systems often stem from the lack of a realistic participatory approach in the development and implementation of the system. This article discusses the participatory approach to the development and implementation of such a system - the Ontario College Information System (OCIS), a computer-based information system containing information on Ontario's twenty-two Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology.Il s'agit, dans la présente étude, de l'élaboration et de la mise en oeuvre des systèmes d'information centralisés dans le secteur public. Plus précisément, nous nous préoccupons de l'exécution de tels systèmes là où une agence gouvernementale centrale se charge de la cueillette d'information pour plusieurs institutions semblables, par exemple, les hôpitaux et les collèges. Nous soutenons que les nombreux problèmes associés traditionnellement avec de tels systèmes sont dérivés souvent de l'absence d'approche réaliste de participation dans l'élaboration et la mise en oeuvre du système. Cette étude discute de l'approche de participation pour l'élaboration et la mise en oeuvre du système appelé le Ontario College Information System (OCIS) - un système de données informatisées sur les 22 collèges de lettres et de technologie appliquées en Ontario

Immunotherapy of Brain Cancers: The Past, the Present, and Future Directions

Treatment of brain cancers, especially high grade gliomas (WHO stage III and IV) is slowly making progress, but not as fast as medical researchers and the patients would like. Immunotherapy offers the opportunity to allow the patient's own immune system a chance to help eliminate the cancer. Immunotherapy's strength is that it efficiently treats relatively small tumors in experimental animal models. For some patients, immunotherapy has worked for them while not showing long-term toxicity. In this paper, we will trace the history of immunotherapy for brain cancers. We will also highlight some of the possible directions that this field may be taking in the immediate future for improving this therapeutic option

Antibody validation of immunohistochemistry for biomarker discovery: Recommendations of a consortium of academic and pharmaceutical based histopathology researchers

As biomarker discovery takes centre-stage, the role of immunohistochemistry within that process is increasing. At the same time, the number of antibodies being produced for ‘‘research use’’ continues to rise and it is important that antibodies to be used as biomarkers are validated for specificity and sensitivity before use. This guideline seeks to provide a stepwise approach for the validation of an antibody for immunohistochemical assays, reflecting the views of a consortium of academic and pharmaceutical based histopathology researchers. We propose that antibodies are placed into a tier system, level 1–3, based on evidence of their usage in immunohistochemistry, and that the degree of validation required is proportionate to their place on that tier

Fracture propagation to the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet during supraglacial lake drainage

Author Posting. © The Authors, 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of American Association for the Advancement of Science for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science 320 (2008): 778-781, doi:10.1126/science.1153360.Surface meltwater that reaches the base of an ice sheet creates a mechanism for the rapid response of ice flow to climate change. The process whereby such a pathway is created through thick, cold ice has not, however, been previously observed. We describe the rapid (<2 hours) drainage of a large supraglacial lake down 980 m through to the bed of the Greenland Ice Sheet initiated by water-driven fracture propagation evolving into moulin flow. Drainage coincided with increased seismicity, transient acceleration, ice sheet uplift and horizontal displacement. Subsidence and deceleration occurred over the following 24 hours. The short-lived dynamic response suggests an efficient drainage system dispersed the meltwater subglacially. The integrated effect of multiple lake drainages could explain the observed net regional summer ice speedup.Support was provided jointly by NSF and NASA through ARC-0520077 (S.B.D., M.P.B., I.M.H.) and ARC- 520382 (I.J.); The WHOI OCCI and Clark Arctic Research Initiative provided additional support to S.B.D., M.D.B., and D.L.; and a NERC (UK) Research Fellowship supported M.A.K

Patients' views on dentists' ability to manage medical crises – results of focus group research

Background: Australia faces an ageing population which is more medically complicated than in years past, and it is important that we meet public expectations of management of medical emergencies in the dental clinic. No research before has examined in depth the public perception of dentists’ medical emergency management. Aim: To qualitatively assess the publics' perception of medical emergencies in dentistry and their expectations of medical emergency management by dentists. Methods: 12 members of the public associated with a university clinic participated in two focus groups of six persons, where semi-structured discussions were carried out, audio recorded and transcribed, and subsequently underwent comprehensive thematic analysis. Results: Key findings included a high expectation of dentists' general medical knowledge, as well as potential concern regarding a lack of routine medical assessment prior to undertaking dental treatment. Conclusions: Participants expected dentists to be highly proficient at managing medical crises and support the concept of medical emergency management certification for dentists

Seasonal speedup of a Greenland marine-terminating outlet glacier forced by surface melt–induced changes in subglacial hydrology

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