The impact of SettleIN (an adjustment programme for people with dementia) on staff attitudes, competence and knowledge of adjustment

Aims: This study aimed to explore the impact of training and delivery of SettleIN, a manualised programme to support healthy adjustment for people with dementia, on care home staff knowledge, competence and attitudes. Method: A single blind, multicentre feasibility randomised design was employed, comparing the SettleIN intervention (n=12) to treatment as usual (n=9). A mixed methods design was used for analysis. Outcomes measuring competence and attitudes were collected at baseline and after seven weeks. Staff interviews were completed for those in the SettleIN intervention condition to explore knowledge change. Results: SettleIN was not shown to have an impact on staff competence or attitudes. Most staff in the intervention condition endorsed learning from the programme, though there was mixed feedback on whether this was recognised as adjustment specific learning by staff. Conclusion: SettleIN can be associated with change in adjustment specific knowledge for care home staff. If any further research is undertaken on the programme, the format of training and supervision must be developed to ensure accessibility and effective communication of the rationale for the intervention to maximise staff benefits

Error flow in computer programs

White box program analysis has been applied to program testing for some time, but this analysis is primarily grounded in program syntax, while errors arise from incorrect program semantics. We introduce a semantically-based technique called error flow analysis, which is used to investigate the behavior of a program at the level of data state transitions. Error flow analysis is based on a model of program execution as a composition of functions that each map a prior data state into a subsequent data state. According to the fault/failure model, failure occurs when a fault causes an infection in the data state which then propagates to output. A faulty program may also produce coincidentally correct output for a given input if the fault resists infection, or an infection is cancelled by subsequent computation. We investigate this phenomenon using dynamic error flow analysis to track the infection and propagation of errors in the data states of programs with seeded faults. This information is gathered for a particular fault over many inputs on a path-by-path basis to estimate execution, infection, and failure rates as well as characteristics of error flow behavior for the fault. Those paths that exhibit high failure rates would be more desirable to test for this fault than those with lower failure rates, and we look for error flow characteristics that correlate with high failure rate. We present the results of dynamic error flow experiments on several programs, and suggest ways in which error flow information can be used in program analysis and testing

Four dimensional graphs of complex functions

Complex functions of a single complex variable involve four unknowns, two independent and two dependent variables, and thus cannot be adequately represented in two- or three- dimensional space. Various geometric constructions in both two and three dimensions have been devised in the past, however, in attempts to illuminate complex function theory. The standard and most useful, of these representations is that developed by Gauss and Riemann employing two complex planes simultanesously. These show the correspondence between a particular curve or region in the object plane and its image, as mapped by a given transformation, in the image plane

Mass Disaster Mediation: Innovative, ADR, or a Lion\u27s Den?

Mass torts and other mass claims are becoming an ever more popular forum for the use of alternative dispute resolution to resolve parties\u27 claims in the wake of events that produce thousands of conflicts overnight. Mediation, in particular, has been used in several high-profile mass disaster events in an effort to resolve individual claims efficiently and quickly. This paper evaluates special risks posed in this kind of mediation that can go to the heart and the integrity of the mediation process. The thesis of this paper is that the potential imbalance in the parties\u27 experience, education, and individual situation can contribute to a power imbalance which creates the risk of coercion and lack of informed consent. Moreover, external factors, like politics, culture, and the economy can affect how power is distributed at the bargaining table. Factors that are internal to the victims of the disaster can affect an individual\u27s cognitive functioning after being involved in a mass disaster, potentially affecting consent to an agreement. The way to resolve those problems may be to think more carefully about the process design so that safeguards are in place that will protect process integrity, decrease the imbalance of power between bargaining parties, and increase mediator awareness of special risks posed by mass disaster situations. Such changes would increase the usefulness of mediation in this context

Understanding Loss to Follow-up from and Quality of Life during Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment in Pune, India

The treatment and prevention of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) is a significant public health challenge, particularly in India, which accounts for approximately one quarter of the global burden. First, an overview of MDR TB in India and its public sector treatment is provided, including special emphasis on the challenges of quality of life during and loss to follow-up from treatment (Chapter 1). Leveraging multiple sources of registry data in Pune, India, we identified several risk factors for loss to follow-up and mortality during public sector MDR TB treatment. Notably, any history of alcohol use, current treatment for extrapulmonary TB and no prior private treatment were associated with increased loss to follow-up. Mortality was associated with baseline low body mass index, anemia and any prior loss to follow-up from TB treatment (Chapter 2). A prospective cohort of individuals newly diagnosed with MDR TB and drug- susceptible TB (DS TB) as well as healthy controls testing negative for TB was established in order to compare quality of life across all three groups. Baseline quality of life (QOL) was impaired in TB and MDR TB patients compared to healthy controls with no significant QOL differences found between individuals with DS TB and MDR TB (Chapter 3). In a separate multi-site cross-sectional study, we assessed the willingness of household contacts (HHC) of MDR TB index cases to take preventive therapy to reduce their risk of TB. Overall, HHC willingness was high and notably associated with high TB-related knowledge, comfort telling others about taking preventive therapy and confidence in taking therapy (Chapter 4). This dissertation contributes to our understanding of patient-reported and traditional outcomes of public sector MDR TB treatment in India as well as the potential uptake of effective MDR TB preventive therapy when implemented

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and International Trade: Legal Issues

This report examines the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) role in regulating U.S. imported and exported consumer products. It also examines some of the international obligations that the United States has undertaken with respect to the promulgation of standards-related measures, such as mandatory consumer product safety regulations