3,961 research outputs found
Validation of a survey tool for use in cross-cultural studies
There is a need for tools to measure the information patients need in order for healthcare professionals in general, and particularly pharmacists, to communicate effectively and play an active part in the way patients manage their medicines. Previous research has developed and validated constructs to measure patientsâ desires for information and their perceptions of how useful their medicines are. It is important to develop these tools for use in different settings and countries so that best practice is shared and is based on the best available evidence.
Objectives: this project sought to validate of a survey tool measuring the âExtent of Information Desiredâ (EID), the âPerceived Utility of Medicinesâ (PUM), and the âAnxiety about Illnessâ (AI) that had been previously translated for use with Portuguese patients.
Methods: The scales were validated in a patient sample of 596: construct validity was explored in Factor analysis (PCA) and internal consistency analysed using Cronbachâs alpha. Criterion validity was explored correlating scores to the AI scale and patientsâ perceived health status. Discriminatory power was assessed using ANOVA. Temporal stability was explored in a sub-sample of patients who responded at two time points, using a T-test to compare their mean scores.
Results: Construct validity results indicated the need to remove 1 item from the Perceived Harm of Medicines (PHM) and Perceived Benefit of Medicines (PBM) for use in a Portuguese sample and the abandon of the tolerance scale. The internal consistency was high for the EID, PBM and AI scales (alpha>0.600) and acceptable for the PHM scale (alpha=0.536). All scales, except the EID, were consistent over time (p>0.05; p<0.01). All the scales tested showed good discriminatory power. The comparison of the AI scale with the SF-36 indicated good criterion validity (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The translated tool was valid and reliable in Portuguese patients- excluding the Tolerance scale. Some of the scales may benefit from further refinement, such as the PHM subscale
When non-extensive entropy becomes extensive
Tsallis' non-extensive entropy enables us to treat both a power and
exponential evolutions of underlying microscopic dynamics on equal footing by
adjusting the variable entropic index to proper one . We propose an
alternative constraint of obtaining the proper entropic index that the
non-additive conditional entropy becomes additive if and only if in
spite of that the associated system cannot be decomposed into statistically
independent subsystems. Long-range (time) correlation expressed by
-exponential function is discussed based on the nature that -exponential
function cannot be factorized into independent factors when .Comment: 8 pages, no figure, LaTeX2e, elsart. submit to Physica
Calogero-Sutherland Approach to Defect Blocks
Extended objects such as line or surface operators, interfaces or boundaries
play an important role in conformal field theory. Here we propose a systematic
approach to the relevant conformal blocks which are argued to coincide with the
wave functions of an integrable multi-particle Calogero-Sutherland problem.
This generalizes a recent observation in 1602.01858 and makes extensive
mathematical results from the modern theory of multi-variable hypergeometric
functions available for studies of conformal defects. Applications range from
several new relations with scalar four-point blocks to a Euclidean inversion
formula for defect correlators.Comment: v2: changes for clarit
Survival Analysis of COPD Patients in a 13-Year Nationwide Cohort Study of the Brazilian National Health System
Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has an appreciable socioeconomical impact in low- and middle-income countries, but most epidemiological data originate from high-income countries. For this reason, it is especially important to understand survival and factors associated with survival in COPD patients in these countries. Objective: To assess survival of COPD patients in Brazil, to identify risk factors associated with overall survival, including treatment options funded by the Brazilian National Health System (SUS). Methodology: We built a retrospective cohort study of patients dispensed COPD treatment in SUS, from 2003 to 2015 using a National Database created from the record linkage of administrative databases. We further matched patients 1:1 based on sex, age and year of entry to assess the effect of the medicines on patient survival. We used the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate overall survival of patients, and Cox's model of proportional risks to assess risk factors. Result: Thirty seven thousand and nine hundred and thirty eight patients were included. Patient's survival rates at 1 and 10 years were 97.6% (CI 95% 97.4â97.8) and 83.1% (CI 95% 81.9â84.3), respectively. The multivariate analysis showed that male patients, over 65 years old and underweight had an increased risk of death. Therapeutic regimens containing a bronchodilator in a free dose along with a fixed-dose combination of corticosteroid and bronchodilator seem to be a protective factor when compared to other regimens. Conclusion: Our findings contribute to the knowledge of COPD patients' profile, survival rate and related risk factors, providing new evidence that supports the debate about pharmacological therapy and healthcare of these patients
Nonextensive Entropies derived from Form Invariance of Pseudoadditivity
The form invariance of pseudoadditivity is shown to determine the structure
of nonextensive entropies. Nonextensive entropy is defined as the appropriate
expectation value of nonextensive information content, similar to the
definition of Shannon entropy. Information content in a nonextensive system is
obtained uniquely from generalized axioms by replacing the usual additivity
with pseudoadditivity. The satisfaction of the form invariance of the
pseudoadditivity of nonextensive entropy and its information content is found
to require the normalization of nonextensive entropies. The proposed principle
requires the same normalization as that derived in [A.K. Rajagopal and S. Abe,
Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 83}, 1711 (1999)], but is simpler and establishes a basis
for the systematic definition of various entropies in nonextensive systems.Comment: 16 pages, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Automatic Network Fingerprinting through Single-Node Motifs
Complex networks have been characterised by their specific connectivity
patterns (network motifs), but their building blocks can also be identified and
described by node-motifs---a combination of local network features. One
technique to identify single node-motifs has been presented by Costa et al. (L.
D. F. Costa, F. A. Rodrigues, C. C. Hilgetag, and M. Kaiser, Europhys. Lett.,
87, 1, 2009). Here, we first suggest improvements to the method including how
its parameters can be determined automatically. Such automatic routines make
high-throughput studies of many networks feasible. Second, the new routines are
validated in different network-series. Third, we provide an example of how the
method can be used to analyse network time-series. In conclusion, we provide a
robust method for systematically discovering and classifying characteristic
nodes of a network. In contrast to classical motif analysis, our approach can
identify individual components (here: nodes) that are specific to a network.
Such special nodes, as hubs before, might be found to play critical roles in
real-world networks.Comment: 16 pages (4 figures) plus supporting information 8 pages (5 figures
PHP7 AnĂĄlise da Produção de Avaliação de Tecnologias Em SaĂșde do Centro Colaborador do Sistema Ănico de SaĂșde (Sus), Brasil - Uma Parceria Entre o Governo E A Academia
Contribution of Different Patient Information Sources to Create the Best Possible Medication History
Introduction: Obtaining the best possible medication history is the crucial step in medication reconciliation. Our aim was to evaluate the potential contributions of the main data sources available - patient/caregiver, hospital medical records, and shared electronic health records - to obtain an accurate 'best possible medication history'. Material and Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted. Adult patients taking at least one medicine were included. Patient interview was performed upon admission and this information was reconciled with hospital medical records and shared electronic health records, assessed retrospectively. Concordance between sources was assessed. In the shared electronic health records, information was collected for four time-periods: the preceding three, six, nine and 12-months. The proportion of omitted data between time-periods was analysed. Results: A total of 148 patients were admitted, with a mean age of 54.6 +/- 16.3 years. A total of 1639 medicines were retrieved. Only 29% were collected simultaneously in the three sources of information, 40% were only obtained in shared electronic health records and only 5% were obtained exclusively from patients. The total number of medicines gathered in shared electronic health records considering the different time frames were 778 (three-months), 1397 (six-months), 1748 (nine-months), and 1933 (12-months). Discussion: The use of shared electronic health records provides data that were omitted in the other data sources available and retrieving the information at six months is the most efficient procedure to establish the basis of the best possible medication history. Conclusion: Shared electronic health records should be the preferred source of information to supplement the patient or caregiver interview in order to increase the accuracy of best possible medication history of the patient, particularly if collected within the prior six months
Next-next-to-extremal Four Point Functions of N=4 1/2 BPS Operators in the AdS/CFT Correspondence
Four point functions of general N=4 1/2-BPS primary fields, satisfying the
next-next-to-extremality condition
\Delta_{1}+\Delta_{2}+\Delta_{3}-\Delta_{4}=4 are studied at large N and strong
coupling. We apply new techniques to evaluate the effective couplings in
supergravity, and confirm that the four derivative couplings arising in the
five-dimensional supergravity vanish on-shell. We then show that the four point
amplitude resulting from supergravity naturally splits into a "free" and an
interactive part which resembles an effective quartic interaction. The precise
structure agrees with superconformal symmetry and supports the conjecture
formulated by Dolan, Osborn and Nirschl regarding the strongly coupled form of
four point correlators of chiral primary operators. We also evaluate the
amplitude in large N free field SYM theory and discuss the results in the
context of the correspondence.Comment: 40 pages, 6 figures, 6 appendices. Minor correction
The Effects of Serotonin Receptor Antagonists on Contraction and Relaxation Responses Induced by Electrical Stimulation in the Rat Small Intestine
Background: The main source of 5-HT in body is in enterchromafin cells of intestine, different studies mentioned different roles for endogenous 5-HT and receptors involved and it is not clearified the mechanism of action of endogenous 5-HT.
Objectives: To study the role of endogenous 5-HT on modulation of contraction and relaxation responses induced by electrical field stimulation (EFS) in different regions of the rat intestine.
Materials and Methods: Segments taken from the rat duodenum, jejunum, mid and terminal ileum were vertically mounted, connected to a transducer and exposed to EFS with different frequencies in the absence and presence of various inhibitors of enteric mediators i. e. specific 5-HT receptor antagonists.
Results: EFS-induced responses were sensitive to TTX and partly to atropine, indicating a major neuronal involvement and a cholinergic system. Pre-treatment with WAY100635 (a 5-HT1A receptor antagonist) and granisetron up to 10.0 ”M, GR113808 (a 5-HT4 receptor antagonist), methysergide and ritanserin up to 1.0 ”M, failed to modify responses to EFS inall examined tissues. In the presence of SB258585 1.0 ”M (a 5-HT6 receptor antagonist) there was a trend to enhance contraction in the proximal part of the intestine and reduce contraction in the distal part. Pre-treatment with SB269970A 1.0 ”M (5-HT7 receptor antagonist) induced a greater contractile response to EFS at 0.4 Hz only in the duodenum.
Conclusions: The application of 5-HT1A, 5-HT2, 5-HT3, 5-HT4, 5-HT6 and 5-HT7 receptor antagonists, applied at concentrations lower than 1.0 ”M did not modify the EFS-induced contraction and relaxation responses, whichsuggests the unlikely involvement of endogenous 5-HT in mediating responses to EFS in the described test conditions.
Keywords: Electric Stimulation Therapy; Serotonin 5-HT1 Receptor Antagonists; Intestine, Smal
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