Postcard: Zoological Garden, Osage City, Kansas

This black and white photographic postcard features a house and yard in Osage City, Kansas. This Zoological Garden contains sculptures of different animals throughout the yard. The building is two stories high and has two towers. A covered porch on the left allows for several people to sit. One man is in the front of the yard sitting on the sidewalk. There is red print on the top left of the card. There is handwriting on the back of the card.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/tj_postcards/1520/thumbnail.jp

Targeted individual exercise programmes for older medical patients are feasible, and may change hospital and patient outcomes: a service improvement project

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this project was primarily to assess the feasibility of individual exercise programs for older hospitalised patients at risk of functional decline, and secondarily to evaluate impact on discharge outcomes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Design: Cohort service improvement project</p> <p>Setting: 500 bed acute metropolitan hospital</p> <p>Subjects: Patients aged 70 and older admitted to Flinders Medical Centre under the general medical, aged care and respiratory units from June to November 2006, at intermediate or high risk of functional decline, and able to commence exercise within 48 hours of admission</p> <p>Intervention: Functional Maintenance Program (FMP); an individually tailored exercise program to maintain functional mobility, prescribed and progressed by a physiotherapist, and supervised by an Allied Health Assistant (AHA), provided in addition to usual physiotherapy care</p> <p>Outcome measures: Feasibility (number of admissions suitable, commencing and complying with FMP). Impact (length of hospital stay (LOS), Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) referrals and approvals, hospital readmissions within 28 days, and functional mobility (Elderly Mobility Scale))</p> <p>Data Analysis: Descriptive and logistic regression analysis</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 1021 admissions of patients aged 70 or older to general medical, aged care and respiratory units, 22% (n = 220) were identified within 48 hours as suitable for FMP: 196 (89%) commenced FMP within 48 hours of admission (FMP patients); 24 (11%) received usual physiotherapy (usual care patients). Feasibility of individually tailored exercise programs for older medical patients was supported by high uptake (89%), low withdrawal (17%) shown by those who commenced FMP, and good compliance with exercise sessions (70%). Logistic regression analysis showed a statistically significant decreased likelihood of referral for nursing home admission (OR = 0.228, 95% CI 0.088–0.587) and decreased likelihood of approval for admission to residential care (OR = 0.307, 95% CI 0.115–0.822) in favour of FMP. Although trends of an average 15.7% LOS reduction, 8% fewer readmissions and improved functional mobility were demonstrated in favour of FMP patients, these results were not statistically significant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It is feasible to identify older medical patients likely to benefit from an exercise program to maintain functional abilities, and to commence within 48 hours of admission.</p

Paying for Mitigation: A Multiple Country Study

Unique survey data from a contingent valuation study conducted in three different countries (China, Sweden, and the United States) were used to investigate the ordinary citizen’s willingness to pay (WTP) for reducing CO2 emissions. We found that a large majority of the respondents in all three countries believe that the mean global temperature has increased over the last 100 years and that humans are responsible for the increase. A smaller share of Americans, however, believes these statements, when compared to the Chinese and Swedes. A larger share of Americans is also pessimistic and believes that nothing can be done to stop climate change. We also found that Sweden has the highest WTP for reductions of CO2, while China has the lowest. Thus, even though the Swedes and Chinese are similar to each other in their attitudes toward climate change, they differ considerably in their WTP. When WTP is measured as a share of household income, the willingness to pay is the same for Americans and Chinese, while again higher for the Swedes.climate change, willingness to pay, multi-country, China, United States, Sweden

The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth A Multiple Country Test of an Oath Script

Hypothetical bias is one of the main issues bedeviling the field of nonmarket valuation. The general criticism is that survey responses reflect how people would like to behave, rather than how they actually behave. In our study of climate change and emissions reductions, we took advantage of the increasing bulk of evidence from psychology and economics that addresses the effects of making promises, in order to investigate the effect of an oath script in a contingent valuation survey. The survey was conducted in Sweden and China, and its results indicate that an oath script has significant effects on respondent behavior in answering willingness-to-pay (WTP) questions, some of which vary by country. In both countries, the share of zero WTP responses and extremely high WTP responses decreases when an oath script is used, which also results in lower variance. In China, the oath script also reduces the average WTP, cutting it by half in certain instances. We also found that the oath script has different impacts on various respondent groups. For example, without the oath script, Communist party members in China are more likely than others to have a positive WTP for emissions reductions, but with the oath script, there is no longer any difference between the groups.Oath script, hypothetical bias, willingness to pay

Virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation (review)

Published version made available following 12 month embargo from the date of publication [12 Feb 2015] according to publisher policy. Accessed 10/03/2015. Published version available from 13 February 2016

Measles vaccination and antibody response in autism spectrum disorder

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that measles vaccination was involved in the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as evidenced by signs of a persistent measles infection or abnormally persistent immune response shown by circulating measles virus or raised antibody titres in children with ASD who had been vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) compared with controls. DESIGN: Case-control study, community based. METHODS: A community sample of vaccinated children aged 10-12 years in the UK with ASD (n = 98) and two control groups of similar age, one with special educational needs but no ASD (n = 52) and one typically developing group (n = 90), were tested for measles virus and antibody response to measles in the serum. RESULTS: No difference was found between cases and controls for measles antibody response. There was no dose-response relationship between autism symptoms and antibody concentrations. Measles virus nucleic acid was amplified by reverse transcriptase-PCR in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from one patient with autism and two typically developing children. There was no evidence of a differential response to measles virus or the measles component of the MMR in children with ASD, with or without regression, and controls who had either one or two doses of MMR. Only one child from the control group had clinical symptoms of possible enterocolitis. CONCLUSION: No association between measles vaccination and ASD was shown

Oracle Database 10g: a platform for BLAST search and Regular Expression pattern matching in life sciences

As database management systems expand their array of analytical functionality, they become powerful research engines for biomedical data analysis and drug discovery. Databases can hold most of the data types commonly required in life sciences and consequently can be used as flexible platforms for the implementation of knowledgebases. Performing data analysis in the database simplifies data management by minimizing the movement of data from disks to memory, allowing pre-filtering and post-processing of datasets, and enabling data to remain in a secure, highly available environment. This article describes the Oracle Database 10g implementation of BLAST and Regular Expression Searches and provides case studies of their usage in bioinformatics. http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/index.htm

Designing a Program to Develop Computer Science Master Teachers for an Underserved Rural Area

Due to a shortage of rural computer science teachers, researchers used a three-phase method to design a computer science endorsement, which will be coupled with an instructional coaching endorsement within an Educational Specialist degree program. The team conducted interviews of teachers as well as school and district level administrators in rural areas to determine needs and resources available to develop computer science master teachers. Interviewers also investigated recruitment, preparation and support processes pertinent to the program. Findings included that, although infrastructure for wireless access is lacking, school and district administrators are very interested in supporting teachers to become computer science master teachers. STEM teachers are especially interested in computer science content related to their teaching field. Partners indicated an interest in developing teacher leaders, in order to encourage a sustainable computer science program in the school and district. Information gathered was used to design a program that intends to meet the needs of potential rural computer science master teachers

Virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation: an abridged version of a Cochrane Review.

Published in final form at http://www.minervamedica.it/index2.t?show=R33Y2015N04A0497 Copyright © 2015 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICAAim: Virtual reality and interactive video gaming have emerged as new treatment approaches in stroke rehabilitation settings over the last ten years. The primary objective of this review was to determine the effectiveness of virtual reality on upper limb function and activity after stroke. The impact on secondary outcomes including gait, cognitive function and activities of daily living was also assessed. Methods: Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials comparing virtual reality with an alternative intervention or no intervention were eligible to be included in the review. The authors searched a number of electronic databases including: the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED, CINAHL, PsycINFO, clinical trial registers, reference lists, Dissertation Abstracts and contacted key researchers in the field. Search results were independently examined by two review authors to identify studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Results: A total of 37 randomised or quasi randomised controlled trials with a total of 1019 participants were included in the review. Virtual reality was found to be significantly more effective than conventional therapy in improving upper limb function (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.28, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.08 to 0.49)) based on 12 studies and significantly more effective than no therapy in improving upper limber function (SMD 0.44 (95%CI 0.15 to 0.73)) based on nine studies. The use of virtual reality also significantly improved activities of daily living function when compared to more conventional therapy approaches (SMD 0.43 (95%CI 0.18 to 0.69)) based on eight studies. Conclusion: While there are a large number of studies assessing the efficacy of virtual reality they tend to be small and many are at risk of bias. While there is evidence to support the use of virtual reality intervention as part of upper limb training programs, more research is required to determine whether it is beneficial in terms of improving lower limb function and gait and cognitive functio