Driving Predictability for Individuals with Neurological Disorders: Occupational Therapy Services

Driving is an essential occupation of most individuals; from work to school to medical needs and everyday activities, people need to drive, safety and predictably. This evidence-based project utilized published, scholarly and peer-reviewed studies, both quantitative and qualitative, to attempt to answer the question, ‘Do Occupational Therapy services for people with dementia or progressive neurological conditions predict the ability for the individual to remain safely engaged in the occupation of driving?’ Exclusion material was any articles found that were driving programs. This evidence-based projects ended up with a total of 11 articles; four level I articles, three level II articles, two level III articles, one level IV article, and one level V article. Together, these findings suggest there is limited research about accurate driving assessments and progressive neurological diseases. Therefore, as of now; there is not one assessment or battery of assessments that accurately predicts the driving ability for persons with a progressive neurological disorder

Caractéristiques motivationnelles des garçons du secondaire en difficulté d’apprentissage ou en trouble de la conduite

À partir d’une approche cognitive de la motivation à apprendre, cette recherche examine les caractéristiques motivationnelles des garçons du secondaire en difficulté d’apprentissage ou en trouble de comportements, en comparant ces derniers à des élèves ordinaires du même sexe. Un questionnaire a servi à évaluer les perceptions des participants concernant l’encouragement des agents sociaux, la conception de l’intelligence, les attentes de succès ainsi que la valeur accordée aux matières scolaires en français ou en mathématiques. Les résultats montrent que la motivation à apprendre est moins enviable chez les élèves présentant des troubles, comparativement aux cas d’élèves ordinaires. Ces résultats soulignent aussi que la motivation des élèves en difficulté d’apprentissage s’avère encore plus préoccupante.Using a cognitive approach of learning motivation, this research focuses on the motivational characteristics of high school boys with learning difficulties or behavioural disorders, by comparing them with same gender ordinary students. A questionnaire was used to measure students’ perceptions of the social agents’ encouragement, the conception of intelligence, the success expectations as well as the value granted to French or mathematics. The results show that the motivation to learn is less enviable for the student presenting disorders, comparatively to ordinary students. These results also underline that the level of motivation of the students with learning difficulties proves to be even more alarming.Desde un enfoque cognitivo de la motivación para aprender, este estudio analiza las características motivacionales de los niños de secundaria con dificultades de aprendizaje o con trastornos de comportamientos, comparándolos a niños regulares del mismo sexo. A través de un cuestionario se ha medido las percepciones de los participantes respecto al ánimo proporcionado por los agentes sociales, la concepción de la inteligencia, las expectativas de logros así como el valor otorgado a las materias escolares en francés o en matemáticas. Los resultados demuestran que la motivación para aprender es menor en los alumnos con trastornos, comparativamente a los casos de alumnos regulares. Estos resultados indican también que la motivación de los alumnos con dificultades de aprendizaje se revela aún más preocupante.Das Ziel der Studie bestand darin, die relative Bedeutung der selbstbestimmten Motivation zu untersuchen und die der Schuleignung bei vorausgesagten Schulabwesenheiten und der Absicht, die Schule aufzugeben. Eine Leistungsprüfung, die dieunterschiedlichen Schuleignung sowie die Stufender Motivation in der Erziehung messen sollte, wurde an 914 Schülern achter Klasse durchgeführtt. Die erzielten Ergebnisse bestätigen die Anfangshypothesen. Somit stellen die zwei unabhängige Variablen Zusammenhänge zwischen dem Maß der Abwesenheit undder Absicht, die Schule aufzugeben, dar. Die Analysen zeigen, daß ein hohes Niveau an selbstbestimmter Motivation und eine gute Leistung an den schulischen Unter-Eignungstests mit den Maßnahmen wegen schulischer Abwesenheit und derAbsicht, die Schule aufzugeben, negativ verbunden werden könnten

Learning High-dimensional Gaussian Graphical Models under Total Positivity without Adjustment of Tuning Parameters

We consider the problem of estimating an undirected Gaussian graphical model when the underlying distribution is multivariate totally positive of order 2 (MTP2), a strong form of positive dependence. Such distributions are relevant for example for portfolio selection, since assets are usually positively dependent. A large body of methods have been proposed for learning undirected graphical models without the MTP2 constraint. A major limitation of these methods is that their structure recovery guarantees in the high-dimensional setting usually require a particular choice of a tuning parameter, which is unknown a priori in real world applications. We here propose a new method to estimate the underlying undirected graphical model under MTP2 and show that it is provably consistent in structure recovery without adjusting the tuning parameters. This is achieved by a constraint-based estimator that infers the structure of the underlying graphical model by testing the signs of the empirical partial correlation coefficients. We evaluate the performance of our estimator in simulations and on financial data

Understanding the Effects of Lactose Hydrolysis Modeling on the Main Oligosaccharides in Goat Milk Whey Permeate.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of lactose is a crucial step to improve the efficiency and selectivity of membrane-based separations toward the recovery of milk oligosaccharides free from simple sugars. Response surface methodology was used to investigate the effects temperature (25.9 to 54.1 °C) and amount of enzyme (0.17 to 0.32% w/w) at 1, 2, and 4 h of reaction on the efficiency of lactose hydrolysis by Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase, preservation of major goat whey oligosaccharides, and on the de-novo formation of oligosaccharides. Lactose hydrolysis above 99% was achieved at 1, 2, and 4 h, not being significantly affected by temperature and amount of enzyme within the tested conditions. Formation of 4 Hexose (Hex) and 4 Hex 1 Hex and an increased de-novo formation of 2 Hex 1 N-Acetyl-Neuraminic Acid (NeuAc) and 2 Hex 1 N-Glycolylneuraminic acid (NeuGc) was observed in all treatments. Overall, processing conditions using temperatures ≤40 °C and enzyme concentration ≤0.25% resulted in higher preservation/formation of goat whey oligosaccharides

Stratégies à privilégier pour permettre aux infirmières et infirmiers de déployer pleinement leur étendue de pratique

Travail dirigé présenté à la Faculté des sciences infirmières en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maître ès sciences (M. Sc.) en sciences infirmières option administration des services infirmiersLe déploiement optimal de l’étendue de pratique semble être une voie prometteuse pour augmenter la contribution des infirmières au système de santé et favoriser l'accès aux services. Or, des recherches menées sur le sujet montrent que l’étendue de pratique des infirmières est sous-optimale, et ce, au profit d’autres activités de soins qui ne requièrent pas nécessairement les compétences et les connaissances propres aux infirmières. Ce travail dirigé vise à documenter les facteurs ayant une influence sur l’étendue de pratique infirmière et identifier des stratégies pouvant favoriser son déploiement. Une recension des écrits pertinents a été effectuée par la sollicitation des bases de données suivantes : CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE ainsi que PubMED et s'appuie sur les composantes du modèle de pratique professionnelle du Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). L’analyse des écrits recensés a permis de documenter 26 facteurs pouvant influencer le déploiement de l'étendue de pratique des infirmières et identifier 25 stratégies potentielles pour optimiser son déploiement. En somme, des recommandations à l’intention des infirmières elles-mêmes, des décideurs et des gestionnaires quant aux stratégies à privilégier pour favoriser le déploiement de l'étendue de la pratique infirmière au Québec sont émises.The optimal deployment of the scope of nursing practice appears to be a promising way to increase nurses' contribution to health care and access to services. However, research conducted on the subject suggest that nurses practice at less than their optimal scope, and this, in favor of other care activities that do not necessarily require the nurses' knowledge and skills. This work aims to documente the factors that influence the extent of nursing practice and identify strategies to encourage its deployment. A review of relevant literature was performed by soliciting the following databases: CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PubMED and relies on the components of professional practice model of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The analysis of the literature has documented 26 factors that could influence the deployment of the scope of practice of nurses and identify 25 potential strategies to optimize deployment. In conclusion, recommendations for nurses themselves, policy makers and managers in regarding strategies to promote the deployment of the scope of nursing practice in Quebec are issued

Nouveaux ligands du récepteur B₂ de la bradykinine : endocytose dirigée et catabolisme sélectif

Les récepteurs B₂ (RB₂) sont impliqués dans une multitude de réponses cellulaires notamment reliées à l’inflammation. Les RB₂ font partie du système kallikréine-kinine qui est en relation directe avec les composantes du système rénine-angiotensine. Une des composantes de ce dernier est l’enzyme de conversion de l’angiotensine (ECA) qui métabolise la bradykinine (BK) et la rend inactive. Un premier volet des travaux visait à étudier et caractériser de nouveaux agonistes du RB₂ qui sont prolongés en amino-terminal (N-terminal) ou conjugués à un épitope myc. Ces constructions révèlent de nouveaux outils d’imagerie cellulaire et permettent d’entrevoir la possibilité de pouvoir larguer un médicament conjugué aux ligands endogènes. Dans une seconde partie des travaux, un des agonistes prolongés en N-terminal, la cétirizine-ε-aminocaproyl-BK (CTZ-εACA-BK) et un peptide produit par le neutrophile humain (Met-Lys-BK-Ser-Ser) sont employés pour mettre à l’épreuve l’étendue du catabolisme de l’ECA. Seule Met-Lys-BK-Ser-Ser s’est révélée être un substrat fonctionnel de l’ECA

Une comparaison de l'anxiété et de la préparation à l'action en tant qu'explication de la phobie sociale

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

Theoretical systematics in testing the Cosmological Principle with the kinematic quasar dipole

The Cosmological Principle is part of the foundation that underpins the standard model of the Universe. In the era of precision cosmology, when stress tests of the standard model are uncovering various tensions and possible anomalies, it is critical to check the viability of this Principle. A key test is the consistency between the kinematic dipoles of the cosmic microwave background and of the large-scale matter distribution. Results using radio continuum and quasar samples indicate a rough agreement in the directions of the two dipoles, but a larger than expected amplitude of the matter dipole. The resulting tension with the radiation dipole has been estimated at $\sim 5\sigma$ for some cases, suggesting a potential new cosmological tension and a possible violation of the Cosmological Principle. However, the standard formalism for predicting the dipole in the 2-dimensional projection of sources overlooks possible evolution effects in the luminosity function. In fact, radial information from the luminosity function is necessary for a correct projection of the 3-dimensional source distribution. Using a variety of current models of the quasar luminosity function, we show that neglecting redshift evolution can significantly overestimate the relative velocity amplitude. While the models we investigate are consistent with each other and with current data, the dipole derived from these, which depends on derivatives of the luminosity function, can disagree by more than $3\sigma$. This theoretical systematic bias needs to be resolved before robust conclusions can be made about a new cosmic tension.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

An in vitro reconstitution system to address the mechanism of the vascular expression of the bradykinin B1 receptor in response to angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition

The expression of the bradykinin (BK) B1 receptor (B1R), lacking in normal vascular tissues, is induced following innate immune system activation and chronic blockade of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE). To identify cytokine-dependent or -independent mechanisms for the latter phenomenon, the ACE inhibitor enalaprilat and several peptides potentiated in vivo by ACE blockade were applied either directly to human umbilical artery smooth muscle cells (hUA-SMCs) or to differentiated monoblastoid U937 cells to produce a conditioned medium (CM) that was later transferred to hUA-SMCs. A phagocyte stimulant, lipopolysaccharide, did not upregulate B1R, measured using [3H]Lys-des-Arg9-BK binding, or translocate NF-κB to the nuclei if applied directly to the hUA-SMCs. However, the CM of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated U937 cells was active in these respects (effects inhibited by etanercept and correlated to TNF-α presence in the CM). A peptidase-resistant B1R agonist had no significant direct or indirect acute effect (4 h) on B1R expression, but repeated hUA-SMC stimulations over 40 h were stimulatory in the absence of NF-κB activation. Other peptides regulated by ACE or enalaprilat did not directly or indirectly stimulate B1R expression. The reconstitution system supports the rapid cytokine-dependent vascular induction of B1Rs and a slow “autoregulatory” one potentially relevant for the ACE blockade effect