Identification of aspects of functioning, disability and health relevant to patients experiencing vertigo: a qualitative study using the international classification of functioning, disability and health

Purpose: Aims of this study were to identify aspects of functioning and health relevant to patients with vertigo expressed by ICF categories and to explore the potential of the ICF to describe the patient perspective in vertigo. Methods: We conducted a series of qualitative semi-structured face-to-face interviews using a descriptive approach. Data was analyzed using the meaning condensation procedure and then linked to categories of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Results: From May to July 2010 12 interviews were carried out until saturation was reached. Four hundred and seventy-one single concepts were extracted which were linked to 142 different ICF categories. 40 of those belonged to the component body functions, 62 to the component activity and participation, and 40 to the component environmental factors. Besides the most prominent aspect "dizziness" most participants reported problems within "Emotional functions (b152), problems related to mobility and carrying out the daily routine. Almost all participants reported "Immediate family (e310)" as a relevant modifying environmental factor. Conclusions: From the patients' perspective, vertigo has impact on multifaceted aspects of functioning and disability, mainly body functions and activities and participation. Modifying contextual factors have to be taken into account to cover the complex interaction between the health condition of vertigo on the individuals' daily life. The results of this study will contribute to developing standards for the measurement of functioning, disability and health relevant for patients suffering from vertigo

Interactive visuo-motor therapy system for stroke rehabilitation

We present a virtual reality (VR)-based motor neurorehabilitation system for stroke patients with upper limb paresis. It is based on two hypotheses: (1) observed actions correlated with self-generated or intended actions engage cortical motor observation, planning and execution areas ("mirror neurons”); (2) activation in damaged parts of motor cortex can be enhanced by viewing mirrored movements of non-paretic limbs. We postulate that our approach, applied during the acute post-stroke phase, facilitates motor re-learning and improves functional recovery. The patient controls a first-person view of virtual arms in tasks varying from simple (hitting objects) to complex (grasping and moving objects). The therapist adjusts weighting factors in the non-paretic limb to move the paretic virtual limb, thereby stimulating the mirror neuron system and optimizing patient motivation through graded task success. We present the system's neuroscientific background, technical details and preliminary result

Interactive visuo-motor therapy system for stroke rehabilitation

We present a virtual reality (VR)-based motor neurorehabilitation system for stroke patients with upper limb paresis. It is based on two hypotheses: (1) observed actions correlated with self-generated or intended actions engage cortical motor observation, planning and execution areas ("mirror neurons"); (2) activation in damaged parts of motor cortex can be enhanced by viewing mirrored movements of non-paretic limbs. We postulate that our approach, applied during the acute post-stroke phase, facilitates motor re-learning and improves functional recovery. The patient controls a first-person view of virtual arms in tasks varying from simple (hitting objects) to complex (grasping and moving objects). The therapist adjusts weighting factors in the non-paretic limb to move the paretic virtual limb, thereby stimulating the mirror neuron system and optimizing patient motivation through graded task success. We present the system's neuroscientific background, technical details and preliminary results.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mittelfristige Prognose der österreichischen Wirtschaft 2012-2016: Jahresmodell LIMA/05 ; Ökonometrisches Forschungsprogramm des Instituts für Höhere Studien

aus dem Inhaltsverzeichnis: Einleitung und Zusammenfassung; Die internationale Konjunktur; Die österreichische Außenwirtschaft; Perspektiven der Inlandskonjunktur; Monetäre Prognose; Tabellenanhang

Prognose der österreichischen Wirtschaft 2012-2014: Jahresmodell LIMA/05 ; Ökonometrisches Forschungsprogramm des Instituts für Höhere Studien

aus dem Inhaltsverzeichnis: Einleitung und Zusammenfassung; Die internationale Konjunktur; Die österreichische Außenwirtschaft; Perspektiven der Inlandskonjunktur; Monetäre Prognose; Tabellenanhang

Mittelfristige Prognose der österreichischen Wirtschaft 2013-2017: Jahresmodell LIMA/05 ; Ökonometrisches Forschungsprogramm des Instituts für Höhere Studien

aus dem Inhaltsverzeichnis: Einleitung und Zusammenfassung; Die internationale Konjunktur; Die österreichische Außenwirtschaft; Perspektiven der Inlandskonjunktur; Monetäre Prognose; Tabellenanhang

Prognose der österreichischen Wirtschaft 2013-2015: Allmählich zu neuem Wachstum ; Jahresmodell LIMA/05 ; Ökonometrisches Forschungsprogramm des Instituts für Höhere Studien

aus dem Inhaltsverzeichnis: Einleitung und Zusammenfassung; Die internationale Konjunktur; Die österreichische Außenwirtschaft; Perspektiven der Inlandskonjunktur; Monetäre Prognose; Tabellenanhang

Prognose der österreichischen Wirtschaft 2013-2014: Jahresmodell LIMA/05 ; Ökonometrisches Forschungsprogramm des Instituts für Höhere Studien

aus dem Inhaltsverzeichnis: Einleitung und Zusammenfassung; Die internationale Konjunktur; Die österreichische Außenwirtschaft; Perspektiven der Inlandskonjunktur; Monetäre Prognose; Tabellenanhang

Psychometric properties of the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers in 32 European countries – A bifactor ESEM representation

AimsTo measure the stigma of healthcare providers toward people suffering from mental illness, the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC) is a commonly applied instrument. However, this scale has not been thoroughly validated in many European countries, its psychometric properties are still unknown and data on practicing psychiatrists is lacking. Therefore, this multicenter study aimed to assess the psychometric characteristics of the 15-item OMS-HC in trainees and specialists in adult and child psychiatry in 32 countries across Europe.Materials and methodsThe OMS-HC was conducted as an anonymous online survey and sent via Email to European adult and child psychiatrists. Parallel analysis was used to estimate the number of OMS-HC dimensions. Separate for each country, the bifactor ESEM, a bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling approach, was applied to investigate the factor structure of the scale. Cross-cultural validation was done based on multigroup confirmatory factor analyses and reliability measures.ResultsA total of 4,245 practitioners were included, 2,826 (67%) female, 1,389 (33%) male. The majority (66%) of participants were specialists, with 78% working in adult psychiatry. When country data were analyzed separately, the bifactor model (higher-order factor solution with a general factor and three specific factors) showed the best model fit (for the total sample χ2/df = 9.760, RMSEA = 0.045 (0.042–0.049), CFI = 0.981; TLI = 0.960, WRMR = 1.200). The average proportion of variance explained by the general factor was high (ECV = 0.682). This suggests that the aspects of ‘attitude,’ ‘disclosure and help-seeking,’ and ‘social distance’ could be treated as a single dimension of stigma. Among the specific factors, the ‘disclosure and help-seeking’ factor explained a considerable unique proportion of variance in the observed scores.ConclusionThis international study has led to cross-cultural analysis of the OMS-HC on a large sample of practicing psychiatrists. The bifactor structure displayed the best overall model fit in each country. Rather than using the subscales, we recommend the total score to quantify the overall stigmatizing attitudes. Further studies are required to strengthen our findings in countries where the proposed model was found to be weak

Polygenic risk scores and breast and epithelial ovarian cancer risks for carriers of BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variants

Purpose We assessed the associations between population-based polygenic risk scores (PRS) for breast (BC) or epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) with cancer risks forBRCA1andBRCA2pathogenic variant carriers. Methods Retrospective cohort data on 18,935BRCA1and 12,339BRCA2female pathogenic variant carriers of European ancestry were available. Three versions of a 313 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) BC PRS were evaluated based on whether they predict overall, estrogen receptor (ER)-negative, or ER-positive BC, and two PRS for overall or high-grade serous EOC. Associations were validated in a prospective cohort. Results The ER-negative PRS showed the strongest association with BC risk forBRCA1carriers (hazard ratio [HR] per standard deviation = 1.29 [95% CI 1.25-1.33],P = 3x10(-72)). ForBRCA2, the strongest association was with overall BC PRS (HR = 1.31 [95% CI 1.27-1.36],P = 7x10(-50)). HR estimates decreased significantly with age and there was evidence for differences in associations by predicted variant effects on protein expression. The HR estimates were smaller than general population estimates. The high-grade serous PRS yielded the strongest associations with EOC risk forBRCA1(HR = 1.32 [95% CI 1.25-1.40],P = 3x10(-22)) andBRCA2(HR = 1.44 [95% CI 1.30-1.60],P = 4x10(-12)) carriers. The associations in the prospective cohort were similar. Conclusion Population-based PRS are strongly associated with BC and EOC risks forBRCA1/2carriers and predict substantial absolute risk differences for women at PRS distribution extremes.Peer reviewe