Product development for play therapy : stimulating children with learning disabilities through the use of their own senses

Published ArticleVarious, multidisciplinary approaches can be used for the treatment of children with learning disabilities (LD). A multidisciplinary approach can include play therapy, remedial therapy, physiotherapy as well as a stimulant medication. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a difference between children with LD and children without LD in terms of differential-sensitivity. Twenty children that have been diagnosed with LD and twenty children without LD participated in and completed a range of actions such as interacting with a number of objects of different colours, sound stimuli, smell stimuli and a two-touch stimulus. The study found that children with LD have more difficulty in identifying their senses and its functions than children without LD. It could thus be possible that if sensory stimulants were integrated into play therapy mediums, that the unidentified child with LD could be identified earlier in that child's life

The concept of quality of life in dementia in the different stages of the disease

In order to conceptually define quality of life (QOL) in dementia, the literature on QOL in the elderly population, in chronic disease and in dementia was studied. Dementia is a progressive, age-related, chronic condition and to avoid omissions within the dementia-specific concept of QOL, a broad orientation was the preferred approach in this literature study. Adaptation is a major outcome in studies investigating interventions aimed at improving QOL in chronic conditions, but to date, it has not been used in the definition of QOL. It is argued that adaptation is an important indication of QOL in people with chronic diseases and therefore also in dementia. Some crucial issues in assessing dementia-related QOL that are relevant to clarify the continuing debate on whether QOL, particularly in dementia, can be measured at all, are discussed. Then the following conceptual definition is offered: dementia-specific QOL is the multidimensional evaluation of the person-environment system of the individual, in terms of adaptation to the perceived consequences of the dementi

Effective Theory Description of Weak Annihilation in B-> Xu l nu Decays

The semileptonic B-> Xu l nu decays allow a pretty clean determination of the CKM matrix element |Vub|. Nevertheless, the presence of weak-annihilation effects near the end-point of the q2 spectrum introduces uncertainties in the inclusive calculation, requiring the use of non-perturbative techniques like heavy meson chiral perturbation theory and large NC limit.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Hyperons, Charm And Beauty Hadrons (BEACH 2006), 2nd-8th July 2006, Lancaster, Englan

Measuring CMB Polarization with BOOMERANG

BOOMERANG is a balloon-borne telescope designed for long duration (LDB) flights around Antarctica. The second LDB Flight of BOOMERANG took place in January 2003. The primary goal of this flight was to measure the polarization of the CMB. The receiver uses polarization sensitive bolometers at 145 GHz. Polarizing grids provide polarization sensitivity at 245 and 345 GHz. We describe the BOOMERANG telescope noting changes made for 2003 LDB flight, and discuss some of the issues involved in the measurement of polarization with bolometers. Lastly, we report on the 2003 flight and provide an estimate of the expected results.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, To be published in the proceedings of "The Cosmic Microwave Background and its Polarization", New Astronomy Reviews, (eds. S. Hanany and K.A. Olive). Fixed typos, and reformatted citation

Ten-year outcomes of a randomised trial of laparoscopic versus open surgery for colon cancer

Background: Laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer is associated with improved recovery and similar cancer outcomes at 3 and 5 years in comparison with open surgery. However, long-term survival rates have rarely been reported. Here, we present survival and recurrence rates of the Dutch patients included in the COlon cancer Laparoscopic or Open Resection (COLOR) trial at 10-year follow-up. Methods: Between March 1997 and March 2003, patients with non-metastatic colon cancer were recruited by 29 hospitals in eight countries and randomised to either laparoscopic or open surgery. Main inclusion criterion for the COLOR trial was solitary adenocarcinoma of the left or right colon. The primary outcome was disease-free survival at 3 years, and secondary outcomes included overall survival and recurrence. The 10-year follow-up data of all Dutch patients were collected. Analysis was by intention-to-treat. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00387842). Results: In total, 1248 patients were randomised, of which 329 were Dutch. Fifty-eight Dutch patients were excluded and 15 were lost to follow-up, leaving 256 patients for 10-year analysis. Median follow-up was 112 months. Disease-free survival rates were 45.2 % in the laparoscopic group and 43.2 % in the open group (difference 2.0 %; 95 % confidence interval (CI) −10.3 to 14.3; p = 0.96). Overall survival rates were 48.4 and 46.7 %, respectively (difference 1.7 %; 95 % CI −10.6 to 14.0; p = 0.83). Stage-specific analysis revealed similar survival rates for both groups. Sixty-two patients were diagnosed with recurrent disease, accounting for 29.4 % in the laparoscopic group and 28.2 % in the open group (difference 1.2 %; 95 % CI −11.1 to 13.5; p = 0.73). Seven patients had port- or wound-site recurrences (laparoscopic n