9,607 research outputs found
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Two steps forward, one step back? A commentary on the disease-specific core sets of the international classification of functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)
The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is advocated
as a biopsychosocial framework and classification and has been received favourably by
occupational therapists, disability rights organisations and proponents of the social
model of disability. The success of the ICF largely depends on its uptake in practice and
it is considered unwieldy in its full format. Therefore, to make the ICF user friendly, the
World Health Organisation (WHO) have condensed the original format and developed
core sets, some of which are disease specific. The authors use the ICF Core Set for
stroke as an example to debate if by reverting to classification according to disease, the
ICF is at risk of taking two steps forward, one step back in its holistic portrayal of health
Recommended from our members
Using the ICF to clarify team roles and demonstrate clinical reasoning in stroke rehabilitation
Purpose: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health
(ICF) is advocated as a tool to structure rehabilitation and a universal language
to aid communication, within the multi-disciplinary team (MDT). The ICF may
also facilitate clarification of team roles and clinical reasoning for intervention.
This article aims to explore both factors in stroke rehabilitation.
Method: Following a review of the literature, a summary was presented and
discussed with clinicians working within stroke rehabilitation, to gather expert
opinions. The discussions were informal, being part of service development and
on-going education. The clinicians summarised key themes for the potential use
of the ICF within clinical practice.
Results: Two key themes emerged from the literature and expert opinion for the
potential use of the ICF in stroke rehabilitation: i) to aid communication and
structure service provision ii) to clarify team roles and aid clinical reasoning.
Expert opinion was that clarification of team roles needs to occur at a local level
due to the skill mix, particular interests, setting and staffing levels within
individual teams. The ICF has the potential to demonstrate/ facilitate clinical
reasoning, especially when different MDT members are working on the same
intervention.
Conclusion: There is potential for the ICF to be used to clarify team roles and
demonstrate clinical reasoning within stroke rehabilitation. Further experiential
research is required to substantiate this vie
Restoration of eucalypt grassy woodland: effects of experimental interventions on ground-layer vegetation
We report on the effects of broad-scale restoration treatments on the ground layer of eucalypt grassy woodland in south-eastern Australia. The experiment was conducted in two conservation reserves from which livestock grazing had previously been removed. Changes in biomass, species diversity, ground-cover attributes and life-form were analysed over a 4-year period in relation to the following experimental interventions: (1) reduced kangaroo density, (2) addition of coarse woody debris and (3) fire (a single burn). Reducing kangaroo density doubled total biomass in one reserve, but no effects on exotic biomass, species counts or ground cover attributes were observed. Coarse woody debris also promoted biomass, particularly exotic annual forbs, as well as plant diversity in one of the reserves. The single burn reduced biomass, but changed little else. Overall, we found the main driver of change to be the favourable growth seasons that had followed a period of drought. This resulted in biomass increasing by 67%, (mostly owing to the growth of perennial native grasses), whereas overall native species counts increased by 18%, and exotic species declined by 20% over the 4-year observation period. Strategic management of grazing pressure, use of fire where biomass has accumulated and placement of coarse woody debris in areas of persistent erosion will contribute to improvements in soil and vegetation condition, and gains in biodiversity, in the future.Funding and in-kind logistic support for this project was
provided by the ACT Government as part of an Australian Research
Council Linkage Grant (LP0561817; LP110100126). Drafts of the
manuscript were read by Saul Cunningham and Ben Macdonald
Development of patient information leaflets for fixed, removable, and functional appliances for Arabic-speaking orthodontic patients
Rapid virological surveillance of community influenza infection in general practice
No abstract available
Cooperative Jahn-Teller Distortion in PrO2
We report neutron diffraction data on single crystal PrO2 which reveal a
cooperative Jahn-Teller distortion at TD = 120 +/- 2 K. Below this temperature
an internal distortion of the oxygen sublattice causes the unit cell of the
crystallographic structure to become doubled along one crystal axis. We discuss
several possible models for this structure. The antiferromagnetic structure
below TN = 13.5 K is found to consist of two components, one of which shares
the same doubled unit cell as the distorted crystallographic structure. We also
present measurements of the magnetic susceptibility, the specific heat capacity
and the electrical conductivity of PrO2. The susceptibility data show an
anomaly at a temperature close to TD. From the specific heat capacity data we
deduce that the ground state is doubly degenerate, consistent with a distortion
of the cubic local symmetry. We discuss possible mechanisms for this. The
conductivity shows an activated behaviour with an activation energy Ea = 0.262
+/- 0.003 eV.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables. Additional suggested structure in v
Confinement of the Sun's interior magnetic field: some exact boundary-layer solutions
High-latitude laminar confinement of the Sun's interior magnetic field is
shown to be possible, as originally proposed by Gough and McIntyre (1998) but
contrary to a recent claim by Brun and Zahn (A&A 2006). Mean downwelling as
weak as 2x10^-6cm/s -- gyroscopically pumped by turbulent stresses in the
overlying convection zone and/or tachocline -- can hold the field in
advective-diffusive balance within a confinement layer of thickness scale ~
1.5Mm ~ 0.002 x (solar radius) while transmitting a retrograde torque to the
Ferraro-constrained interior. The confinement layer sits at the base of the
high-latitude tachocline, near the top of the radiative envelope and just above
the `tachopause' marking the top of the helium settling layer. A family of
exact, laminar, frictionless, axisymmetric confinement-layer solutions is
obtained for uniform downwelling in the limit of strong rotation and
stratification. A scale analysis shows that the flow is dynamically stable and
the assumption of laminar flow realistic. The solution remains valid for
downwelling values of the order of 10^-5cm/s but not much larger. This suggests
that the confinement layer may be unable to accept a much larger mass
throughput. Such a restriction would imply an upper limit on possible internal
field strengths, perhaps of the order of hundreds of gauss, and would have
implications also for ventilation and lithium burning.
The solutions have interesting chirality properties not mentioned in the
paper owing to space restrictions, but described at
http://www.atmos-dynamics.damtp.cam.ac.uk/people/mem/papers/SQBO/solarfigure.htmlComment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in conference proceedings: Unsolved
Problems in Stellar Physic
Lattice and magnetic instabilities in CaFe2As2: A single crystal neutron diffraction study
Neutron diffraction measurements of a high quality single crystal of CaFe2As2
are reported. A sharp transition was observed between the high temperature
tetragonal and low temperature orthorhombic structures at TS = 172.5K (on
cooling) and 173.5K (on warming). Coincident with the structural transition we
observe a rapid, but continuous, ordering of the Fe moments, in a commensurate
antiferromagnetic structure is observed, with a saturated moment of
0.80(5)muB/Fe directed along the orthorhombic a-axis. The hysteresis of the
structural transition is 1K between cooling and warming and is consistent with
previous thermodynamic, transport and single crystal x-ray studies. The
temperature onset of magnetic ordering shifts rigidly with the structural
transition providing the clearest evidence to date of the coupling between the
structural and magnetic transitions in this material and the broader class of
iron arsenides.Comment: submitted to PR
Connecting the Dots: Stages of Implementation, Wraparound Fidelity and Youth Outcomes
Several necessary system and organizational support conditions for wraparound have been identified (Walker et al. 2003). Yet, the relationship between these necessary system level conditions and wraparound fidelity has only recently begun to be examined. Similarly, few studies have included a measure of wraparound fidelity when examining the relationship between wraparound implementation and youth outcomes. The statewide implementation of a wraparound demonstration grant offers the opportunity to explore these relationships and to identify factors that predict improvement in functioning for youth receiving wraparound. Findings suggest that significant relationships exist between (1) the stage of development of necessary support conditions for wraparound and wraparound fidelity and (2) wraparound fidelity and improvement in youth outcomes. Specific elements of wraparound (i.e., outcomes based and community based) and baseline needs and strengths (e.g., high levels of anxiety and conduct issues, poor functioning at home and in school, judgment, and risks) were found to predict a reduction in youth needs. Other unexpected relationships between youth outcomes and the cultural competence element of wraparound and being multi-racial were also discovered. These findings reinforce the importance of supporting high fidelity wraparound for youth and their families in a recovery focused behavioral health system
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