Interdisciplinary Team Based Pastoral Care: A Potentially Adaptable Model for Estonian Healthcare

This article aims to build a potentially adaptable model of clinical pastoral care for Estonia’s healthcare institutions. To help the development of spiritual support provision in Estonian healthcare institutions, we are currently working on creating a model of clinical pastoral care that would be in accordance with the local circumstances. Preparatory research in the matter has addressed the socio-cultural and institutional context that shows the great need for interdisciplinary teamwork. The current article offers concrete proposals in the following main points: a) presentation of the pastoral caregiver; b) main actors; c) forms of cooperation; and c) education and internal trainings. The model construction draws information from international research and considers it in Estonia’s local context. Spiritual support provision in Estonia’s healthcare has not yet been taken for granted and the concept is not fully understood. Secularity and religious diversity also set complex frames. Therefore, the model is suggested in guiding proposals, not in a rigorous structure. As such, the model could also be useful for healthcare spiritual support developments in other countries with similar characteristics. The article also poses possible questions of the implementation potential of the model

Chess Endgames and Neural Networks

The existence of endgame databases challenges us to extract higher-grade information and knowledge from their basic data content. Chess players, for example, would like simple and usable endgame theories if such holy grail exists: endgame experts would like to provide such insights and be inspired by computers to do so. Here, we investigate the use of artificial neural networks (NNs) to mine these databases and we report on a first use of NNs on KPK. The results encourage us to suggest further work on chess applications of neural networks and other data-mining techniques

Balancing Scalability and Uniformity in SAT Witness Generator

Constrained-random simulation is the predominant approach used in the industry for functional verification of complex digital designs. The effectiveness of this approach depends on two key factors: the quality of constraints used to generate test vectors, and the randomness of solutions generated from a given set of constraints. In this paper, we focus on the second problem, and present an algorithm that significantly improves the state-of-the-art of (almost-)uniform generation of solutions of large Boolean constraints. Our algorithm provides strong theoretical guarantees on the uniformity of generated solutions and scales to problems involving hundreds of thousands of variables.Comment: This is a full version of DAC 2014 pape

Interdisciplinary Team-Based Pastoral Care Model for Estonian Healthcare Institutions: The Professionals\u27 Insight and the Model Adjustments

The current article addresses the application potential of an interdisciplinary team- based pastoral care model in Estonian healthcare institutions. To support the inclusion of pastoral care in Estonian healthcare institutions, the initial model of interdisciplinary team-based pastoral care was created as a theoretical construction. The current article deals with the model applicability and aims to adjust the model to be adaptable to different healthcare institutions in Estonia. To inform the model adjustments, a qualitative research was conducted in three Estonian hospitals that have included pastoral care provision in different organizational forms. The expert sample consists of pastoral caregivers of these three institutions, and the staff members who have continuously or have had an actual working contact with the pastoral caregiver of their institution. The discussion and proposals address each of the initial theoretical model’s sections and the model adjustments are based on the insight given by the respondents. The conclusions present the adjusted model in the summarizing table

Role of Medical Therapy in Chronic Mitral Regurgitation

Mitral regurgitation is one of the most commonly encountered valvular heart diseases in both the developing and the developed world. From various studies, it is known that chronic mitral regurgitation is associated with progressive left ventricular dysfunction, and eventually death if left untreated. This disease has a long silent period before symptoms manifest. During this latent period, left ventricular function progressively deteriorates and results in poor outcomes for patients even if surgery is performed. A few studies have evaluated the role of medical therapy in patients with chronic mitral regurgitation. This chapter will provide an overview of the use of medical therapy in chronic mitral regurgitation

Community perception of traditional circumcision in a sub-region of the Transkei, Eastern Cape, South Africa

The ritual of traditional male circumcisions (initiation) of young adults goes back generations among Xhosa people of South Africa. Xhosa tribe is committed to preserving the old cultural traditions. Recently, this ritual has been tarnished by serious complications that have occurred, leading to amputation of penis and even death of initiates. To estimate the community perception of traditional circumcision, an interview of 100 subjects was carried out. About 67% were unaware of risks of traditional surgery and 16% unsure about any existed risk. Only 17% knew about risks associated with it. Sixty-three percent favoured traditional surgeons and 13% medical practitioners. No opinion was given by 24%. Traditional surgeons and the community must be aware of the risks associated with traditional circumcision. South African Family Practice Vol. 47(6) 2005: 58-5

Features and management of pulmonary embolism at Chris Hani Baragwanath academic hospital

A research report submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfilment for the requirements of the degree of Master of Medicine 2016.Background: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the most common cause of preventable deaths in hospitalized patients. Objectives: To determine the incidence and associated features of PE at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH) over one year. Methods: A retrospective study was performed of patients with confirmed PE on computed tomography of the pulmonary arteries (CTPA) during 2013 and by means of a formatted data collection sheet, demographical and other relevant data was collected. Results: There were 498 CTPAs requested at CHBAH in 2013 and 147 (30%) of these confirmed the presence of PE. The mean age of the patients with PE was 47 ± 15.49 years. At least 41 % of the patients with PE were HIV positive. The Wells and revised Geneva score were comparable in predicting clinical probability of PE. Only 15% of the patients with high risk PE were thrombolysed, with no documented complications. Conclusion: PE is a common and serious medical condition in CHBAH and its management needs further optimization to improve clinical outcomes.MT 201