1,233 research outputs found
Communication Disability in Fiji:Community Cultural Beliefs and Attitudes
Purpose: Beliefs about communication disability vary according to the cultural context, and influence people’s attitudes and help-seeking behaviour. Little is known about Fijians with communication disability or the communities in which they live, and specialist services for people with communication disability are yet to be established in Fiji. An understanding of Fijian beliefs about the causes of communication disability and attitudes towards people with communication disability may inform future service development.
Method: An interpretivist qualitative research paradigm and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework informed this project’s design. Scenarios of adults and children with communication disability were presented to 144 participants, randomly sampled across multiple public spaces in two Fiji cities. Thematic analysis of responses to 15 survey questions revealed participant beliefs about the causes and attitudes towards people with communication disability.
Results: Three clusters describing perceived causes emerged from the analysis - internal, external, and supernatural. Major clusters across child and adult scenarios were similar; however, response categories within the scenarios differed. Community attitudes to people with communication disability were predominantly negative. These community attitudes influenced individual participants’ beliefs about educational and employment opportunities for Fijians with communication disability.
Conclusion: Determination and acknowledgement of individuals’ belief systems informs development of culturally appropriate intervention programmes and health promotion activities.
Implications: Speech-language pathologists and other professionals working with Fijian communities should acknowledge community belief systems and develop culturally-specific health promotion activities, assessments, and interventions
Reconstructing the global topology of the universe from the cosmic microwave background
If the universe is multiply-connected and sufficiently small, then the last
scattering surface wraps around the universe and intersects itself. Each circle
of intersection appears as two distinct circles on the microwave sky. The
present article shows how to use the matched circles to explicitly reconstruct
the global topology of space.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, IOP format. To be published in the proceedings of
the Cleveland Cosmology and Topology Workshop 17-19 Oct 1997. Submitted to
Class. Quant. Gra
Reference ranges of oxidative stress biomarkers selected for non-invasive biological surveillance of nanotechnology workers: Study protocol and meta-analysis results for 8-OHdG in exhaled breath condensate
In the field of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) and other airborne particulate exposure biomonitoring, circulating oxidative stress biomarkers appear promising. These biomarkers could be monitored in different biological matrices. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) enables their measurements in the respiratory tract, without affecting airway function or creating inflammation. The 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) was found increased in the EBC of ENM-exposed workers. Our objectives were to assess the reference range of 8-OHdG in the EBC and to identify determinants of its inter- and intra-individual variability. The meta-analysis was stratified by analytical method (chemical versus immunochemical analysis) and resulted in a between-study variability over 99 % of the total variability. The between-study variability completely dominated the within-studies variability. By using a mixed model with study ID as a random effect rather than a meta-regression, only smoking was evidenced as a potential determinant of 8-OHdG inter-individual variability, and only when immunochemical analysis was used. To our knowledge, this is the first meta-analysis aimed at estimating reference values for 8-OHdG in the EBC. The estimated values should be considered preliminary, as they are based on a limited number of studies, mostly of moderate to low quality of evidence. Further research is necessary to standardize EBC sampling, storage and analytical methods. Such a standardization would enable a more accurate estimation of the reference ranges of the 8-OHdG and potentially other biomarkers measurable in the EBC, which are essential for a meaningful interpretation of the biomonitoring results
Changes in temperature of heel skin under pressure in hip surgery patients
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to examine the effect of external pressure of the bed surface on heel skin temperature in adults in the first 3 days after hip surgery. DESIGN: A quasi-experimental study in a prospective, within-subjects, repeated-measures design. SETTING: This study was performed at 2 acute-care hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Eighteen subjects (9 men and 9 women) with a mean age of 58.3 (±16.1) years were recruited after hip surgery at the 2 hospitals. METHODS: Temperature sensors were placed on the plantar surface of each foot, close to the heels. Measures were taken when the heels were (1) suspended above the bed surface for 20 minutes (preload), (2) on the bed surface for 15 minutes (loading), and (3) suspended again above the bed surface for 15 minutes (unloading). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Heel skin temperature and demographic data. RESULTS: Heel temperature increased during loading and unloading in both legs on postoperative days 1 (P = .003) and 3 (P = .04) but not on postoperative day 2. Heel temperature in the nonoperative leg decreased in the first 3 minutes of unloading on postoperative days 2 (P = .02) and 3 (P .01). CONCLUSION: Heel temperature increased with loading and unloading on postoperative days 1 and 3. Upon immediate unloading, hyperemic response was present only in the nonoperative leg. Keeping the heels off the bed surface at all times may avoid heel skin temperature changes and prevent tissue damage. Further research is needed to identify the mechanisms that explain the effect of external pressure on heel temperature
On the structure of the set of bifurcation points of periodic solutions for multiparameter Hamiltonian systems
This paper deals with periodic solutions of the Hamilton equation with many
parameters. Theorems on global bifurcation of solutions with periods
from a stationary point are proved. The Hessian matrix of the
Hamiltonian at the stationary point can be singular. However, it is assumed
that the local topological degree of the gradient of the Hamiltonian at the
stationary point is nonzero. It is shown that (global) bifurcation points of
solutions with given periods can be identified with zeros of appropriate
continuous functions on the space of parameters. Explicit formulae for such
functions are given in the case when the Hessian matrix of the Hamiltonian at
the stationary point is block-diagonal. Symmetry breaking results concerning
bifurcation of solutions with different minimal periods are obtained. A
geometric description of the set of bifurcation points is given. Examples of
constructive application of the theorems proved to analytical and numerical
investigation and visualization of the set of all bifurcation points in given
domain are provided.
This paper is based on a part of the author's thesis [W. Radzki, ``Branching
points of periodic solutions of autonomous Hamiltonian systems'' (Polish), PhD
thesis, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer
Science, Toru\'{n}, 2005].Comment: 35 pages, 4 figures, PDFLaTe
Insecurity for compact surfaces of positive genus
A pair of points in a riemannian manifold is secure if the geodesics
between the points can be blocked by a finite number of point obstacles;
otherwise the pair of points is insecure. A manifold is secure if all pairs of
points in are secure. A manifold is insecure if there exists an insecure
point pair, and totally insecure if all point pairs are insecure.
Compact, flat manifolds are secure. A standing conjecture says that these are
the only secure, compact riemannian manifolds. We prove this for surfaces of
genus greater than zero. We also prove that a closed surface of genus greater
than one with any riemannian metric and a closed surface of genus one with
generic metric are totally insecure.Comment: 37 pages, 11 figure
Convenient diastereoselective synthesis of annulated 3-substituted-(5S*,6S*,Z)-2-(2-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)hydrazono)-5,6-diphenyl-1,3-thiazinan-4-ones
Racemic 2-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)hydrazono)-5,6-diphenyl-1,3-thiazinan-4-ones and (Z)-N '-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)-2,3-diphenylacrylohydrazide were formed during the diastereoselective reaction between 4-substituted 1-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)thiosemicarbazides and 2,3-diphenylcycloprop-2-enone under refluxing ethanol. The structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray analyses. [GRAPHICS] .Peer reviewe
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