Costs of an Alcohol Measurement Intervention in Three Latin American Countries

Alcohol measurement in health care settings is an effective intervention for reducing alcohol-related harm. However, in many countries, costs related to alcohol measurement have not yet been transparently assessed, which may hinder its adoption and implementation. Costs of an alcohol measurement programme in three upper-middle-income Latin American countries were assessed via questionnaires and compared, as part of the quasi-experimental SCALA study. Additional to the intervention costs, the costs of three implementation strategies: standard training and clinical package, intensive training and clinical package, and community support, were assessed and subsequently translated into costs per additional alcohol measurement session. Results demonstrated that costs for one alcohol measurement session ranged between Int$ 0.67 and Int$ 1.23 in Colombia, Int$ 1.19 and Int$ 2.57 in Mexico, and Int$ 1.11 and Int$ 2.14 in Peru. Costs were mainly driven by the salaries of the health professionals. Implementation strategies costs per additional alcohol measurement session ranged between Int$ 1.24 and Int$ 6.17. In all three countries, standard training and a clinical package may be a promising implementation strategy with a relatively low cost per additional alcohol measurement session.

Face Specific vs. Expertise Hypotheses: Insights into the Underlying Mechanisms of Face Processing in Prosopagnosia

<p>A prominent debate in visual perception centers on the nature of mechanisms underlying face processing. One side of this debate argues that faces are processed by specialised mechanisms that are not involved in any form of object processing. By contrast, the other side argues that faces are processed by generic mechanisms common to all objects for which we are experts. To distinguish between these two hypotheses, I investigated whether participants with impaired face processing (developmental prosopagnosia) can acquire expertise with novel objects called greebles. To do so, I recruited 10 developmental prosopagnosics and 10 neurotypical control participants. All participants completed a standard training program for developing expertise with greebles, as well as two similar training programs with upright faces and inverted faces. Prosopagnosics were able to acquire expertise with greebles to the same extent as controls but were impaired when learning upright faces. These results demonstrate that deficits for face processing in individuals with prosopagnosia are dissociated from their ability to gain expertise with objects. Overall, the results support the hypothesis that face processing relies on specialised mechanisms, rather than generic expertise mechanisms. Despite their deficits, though, prosopagnosics still showed some evidence of learning with upright faces and showed better learning with upright faces than inverted faces. These findings suggest that prosopagnosics have face-specific mechanisms that are somewhat functional, and that training could be a useful rehabilitation tool in developmental prosopagnosia. Finally, I found substantial heterogeneity among the patterns of performance of the prosopagnosics, suggesting that further investigations into the subtypes of prosopagnosia are warranted.</p>

Face Specific vs. Expertise Hypotheses: Insights into the Underlying Mechanisms of Face Processing in Prosopagnosia

<p>A prominent debate in visual perception centers on the nature of mechanisms underlying face processing. One side of this debate argues that faces are processed by specialised mechanisms that are not involved in any form of object processing. By contrast, the other side argues that faces are processed by generic mechanisms common to all objects for which we are experts. To distinguish between these two hypotheses, I investigated whether participants with impaired face processing (developmental prosopagnosia) can acquire expertise with novel objects called greebles. To do so, I recruited 10 developmental prosopagnosics and 10 neurotypical control participants. All participants completed a standard training program for developing expertise with greebles, as well as two similar training programs with upright faces and inverted faces. Prosopagnosics were able to acquire expertise with greebles to the same extent as controls but were impaired when learning upright faces. These results demonstrate that deficits for face processing in individuals with prosopagnosia are dissociated from their ability to gain expertise with objects. Overall, the results support the hypothesis that face processing relies on specialised mechanisms, rather than generic expertise mechanisms. Despite their deficits, though, prosopagnosics still showed some evidence of learning with upright faces and showed better learning with upright faces than inverted faces. These findings suggest that prosopagnosics have face-specific mechanisms that are somewhat functional, and that training could be a useful rehabilitation tool in developmental prosopagnosia. Finally, I found substantial heterogeneity among the patterns of performance of the prosopagnosics, suggesting that further investigations into the subtypes of prosopagnosia are warranted.</p>

“We shall have gone to a higher standard”: Training village heath teams (VHTs) to use a smartphone-guided intervention to link older Ugandans with hypertension and diabetes to care

Background: It is not clear whether village health teams (VHTs) can be empowered to participate in interventions to prevent and control hypertension and diabetes in older adults in Uganda. We conducted this study in rural Uganda to establish if VHTs could be effectively trained to use a smart phone guided intervention to link older people with hypertension and diabetes to care. We also explored the experiences of VHTs in managing older adults with health problems, their knowledge of hypertension and diabetes and their understanding of referral systems. We also explored their experiences with smartphones. Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews (IDIs) with and trained 20 VHTs randomly selected from Bukulula sub-county in Kalungu district from October 2017-December 2018. We used interview guides to explore topics relevant to our study objectives. VHTs were trained to measure blood sugar and blood pressure using digital machines. VHTs were trained on identifying symptoms of diabetes mellitus. Data from IDIs were analysed using thematic content analysis. Competence tests were used to evaluate the training. Results: Most of the VHTs were female (75%). All VHTs had some knowledge on hypertension and diabetes and other chronic diseases. They did not have any experience in treating older adults since they had been trained to deal mainly with children. Half of the VHTs owned smartphones. All were willing to participate in an intervention using a smartphone to link older adults with hypertension and diabetes mellitus to care. By the end of the training, all but three participants could comprehend the symptoms of diabetes and measure blood sugar and blood pressure. Conclusion: Village health teams in the study setting need training in managing the health needs of older adults before engaging with an intervention using smartphones to link older adults with diabetes mellitus and hypertension to care.

Named Entity Recognition (NER) for Tibetan and Mongolian Newspapers

Modern Tibetan and Vertical (Traditional) Mongolian are scripts used by c.11m people, mostly within the People’s Republic of China. In terms of publicly available tools for NLP, these languages and their scripts are extremely low-resourced and under-researched. We set out firstly to survey the state of NLP for these languages, and secondly to facilitate research by historians and policy analysts working on Tibetan newspapers. Their primary need is to be able to carry out Named Entity Recognition (NER) in Modern Tibetan, a script which has no word or sentence boundaries and for which no segmenters have been developed. Working on LightTag, an online tagger using character-based modelling, we were able to produce gold-standard training data for NER for use with Modern Tibetan.

Implementation of a Low-Cost 3D-Printed Feline Larynx Model for Veterinary Students

Endotracheal intubation (EI) in domestic cats is an important skill that veterinary students learn in order to perform anesthesia safely in this species. Implementing a 3D-printed larynx model (LaryngoCUBE) during the instruction process may improve student’s learning of EI in felines. Twenty-two third-year students performed EI in cats with standard training (ST), and 16 students trained with the model (MT) the day before the laboratory. It was evaluated whether training with the model decreases the time and number of EI attempts, students’ perceived difficulty performing EI using a visual analog score (VAS; 0 cm = very easy, 10 cm = extremely difficult; median [minimum–maximum]), and the incidence of failure to perform EI. The EI time on ST (58 [18–160] seconds) was longer, but not statistically different from MT (29 [13–120] seconds; p = .101). The number of EI attempts on ST (2 [1–3]) was higher than MT (1 [1–3]; p = .005). The VAS on the ST and MT were 4.5 (0.0–10.0) cm and 3.0 (0.2–10.0) cm, respectively ( p = .029). The failure rate was 27% on the ST and 25% on the MT ( p = 1.000). Students who practiced with a larynx model took fewer attempts to perform EI, tended to be faster, and found that EI was easier. However, the EI success rate in MT was not improved.

NER for Tibetan and Mongolian Newspapers

Modern Tibetan and Vertical (Traditional) Mongolian are scripts used by c.11m people, mostly within the People’s Republic of China. In terms of publicly available tools for NLP, these languages and their scripts are extremely low-resourced and under-researched. We set out firstly to survey the state of NLP for these languages, and secondly to facilitate research by historians and policy analysts working on Tibetan newspapers. Their primary need is to be able to carry out Named Entity Recognition (NER) in Modern Tibetan, a script which has no word or sentence boundaries and for which no segmenters have been developed. Working on LightTag, an online tagger using character-based modelling, we were able to produce gold-standard training data for NER for use with Modern Tibetan.

Effectiveness of a Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Standard Training Program versus an Abbreviated Training Program on Stress in Tutors and Resident Intern Specialists of Family and Community Medicine and Nursing in Spain

Stress is one of the most common problems among healthcare professionals, as they are exposed to potentially stressful and emotionally challenging situations in the workplace. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training programs have been shown to decrease stress. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of an abbreviated 4-weeks MBSR training program in relation to a standard 8-weeks one on the stress levels. A controlled and randomized clinical trial was designed, in which 112 tutors and resident intern specialists in Family and Community Medicine and Nursing of six Spanish National Health System teaching units (TUs) participated. Participants included in the experimental groups (EGs) received a MBRS training program (standard or abbreviated), while control group (CG) participants did not receive any intervention. The stress levels were assessed by the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) in three different moments during the study: before, immediately after, and 3 months after the intervention. Adjusted covariance analysis (ANCOVA), using pretest scores as the covariate, showed a significant reduction in stress (F(2,91) = 5.165; p = 0.008; η2 = 0.102) in the post-test visit, attributable to the implementation of the standard training program, but without the maintenance of its effects over time. No significant impact of the abbreviated training program on stress levels was observed in the intergroup comparison. A standard 8-weeks MBSR training program aimed at tutors and resident intern specialists in Family and Community Medicine and Nursing produces significant improvements in stress levels compared with the abbreviated intervention and no intervention. New studies about abbreviated training programs are needed to provide effective treatments which improve well-being of these professionals.

Effects of Combined Plyometric and Short Sprints Training on Athletic Performance of Male U19 Soccer Players

This project investigated adding 8 weeks of biweekly plyometric and short sprints training into standard training in elite youth soccer players. An experimental group (EG, n = 18, age: 17.6 ± 0.6 years, body mass: 67.6 ± 5.8 kg, height: 1.75 ± 0.06 m, and body fat: 11.5 ± 1.6%) and control group (CG, n = 18, age: 17.5 ± 0.6 years, body mass: 68.8 ± 3.6 kg, height: 1.77 ± 0.04 m, and body fat: 11.7 ± 1.2%) participated. Pre-intervention and post-intervention measures were squat-jump (SJ), countermovement-jump (CMJ), standing long jump (SLJ), 5 and 20 m sprints, change-of-direction ability (4 × 5 m sprint test [S 4 × 5 m] and sprint 9-3-6-3-9 m with backward and forward running [SBF]), repeated change of direction (RCOD), and static balance (the stork balance test). For all parameters, significant (p &lt; 0.001, ηp2 &gt; 0.10) time and interaction (group × time) effects were observed. For three parameters (SBF, RCOD fastest time, and SLJ) no significant group effects were observed. The EG consistently showed a significantly higher performance level than the CG and a higher amount of effect sizes d (EG: drange: 1.27–2.61; CG: drange: 0.13–0.79) as an indicator for the development of performance between pre-intervention and post-intervention measures. Adding biweekly plyometric and short sprint training to standard training improves the athletic performance of young soccer players. Such plyometric and short sprint training conditioning can be highly recommended as part of the annual short training program for male elite under-19 (U19) soccer players.