Background: The purpose of this study was to reveal any association between cardiorespiratory fitness level and excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) using three cycling protocols with varying degrees of exer...
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Due to increasing demand, container terminals face the challenges of increasing its service capacity and minimize the time of ships loading and unloading. The assignment of storage locations for reshuffled containers ...
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Background: Antidepressants are among the most commonly prescribed psychotropic agents for older patients. Little is known about the best source of pharmacotherapy information to consult about key factors necessary to...
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Background: Antidepressants are among the most commonly prescribed psychotropic agents for older patients. Little is known about the best source of pharmacotherapy information to consult about key factors necessary to safely prescribe these medications to older patients. Objective: The objective of this study was to synthesize and contrast information in the package insert (PI) with information found in the scientific literature about age-related changes of antidepressants in systemic clearance and potential pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions (DDIs). Methods: A comprehensive search of two databases (MEDLINE and EMBASE from January 1, 1975 to September 30, 2011) with the use of a combination of search terms (antidepressants, pharmacokinetics, and drug interactions) was conducted to identify relevant English language articles. This information was independently reviewed by two researchers and synthesized into tables. These same two researchers examined the most up-to-date PIs for the 26 agents available at the time of the study to abstract quantitative information about age-related decline in systemic clearance and potential DDIs. The agreement between the two information sources was tested with κ statistics. Results: The literature reported age-related clearance changes for 13 antidepressants, whereas the PIs only had evidence about 4 antidepressants (κ < 0.4). Similarly, the literature identified 45 medications that could potentially interact with a specific antidepressant, whereas the PIs only provided evidence about 12 potential medication-antidepressant DDIs (κ < 0.4). Conclusion: The evidence-based literature compared with PIs is the most complete pharmacotherapy information source about both age-related clearance changes and pharmacokinetic DDIs with antidepressants. Future rigorously designed observational studies are needed to examine the combined risk of antidepressants with age-related decline in clearance and potential DDIs on important health outcomes
Hearing impairment was indicated as the second largest proven deficiency in world population. People with such disabilities face many obstacles in their communication and interaction with listeners, even with equal le...
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Hearing impairment was indicated as the second largest proven deficiency in world population. People with such disabilities face many obstacles in their communication and interaction with listeners, even with equal level of cognitive development. Collaborative tools offer the possibility to improve the interaction between listeners and hearing impaired subjects. This study presents an approach to support this type of interaction aimed to augment the participation of hearing impaired in collective activities. The approach has been materialized in a collaborative writing tool on which participants from both categories work together to produce a common document. The approach was evaluated by means of an experiment conducted with listeners and hearing impaired students in a learning environment. Analysis of the results obtained in the experiment show that the collaborative writing enhanced the interaction and contributes to a more harmonious and real coexistence among listeners and hearing impaired.
The use of nuclear power plants to produce electric energy is a safety-critical process where ultimate operational decisions still relies with the control room operators. Thus it is important to provide the best possi...
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The use of nuclear power plants to produce electric energy is a safety-critical process where ultimate operational decisions still relies with the control room operators. Thus it is important to provide the best possible decision support through effective supervisory control interfaces. A human centered design approach, based on cognitive task analysis methods, was used to observe the operators training on the nuclear power plant simulator of the Human System Interface Laboratory (LABIHS). We noted deficiencies in graphic interface design, alarm system and in the integration between the computerized interfaces and the hardcopy (paper) procedures. A new prototype of the interface including graphics, alarms and digital procedures was designed as an alternative to the current hardcopy procedure manuals. The design improves upon the graphical layout of system information and provides better integration of procedures, automation, and alarm systems. The new design was validated by expert opinion and a performance comparison with the existing design.
Organizations have been relying on collaboration for productivity improvement and knowledge sharing. The first step to foster collaboration in organizations is to make it explicit. With this aim, the Collaboration Mat...
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This paper proposes the definition of a goal programming model for the selection of artifacts to be developed during a testing process, so that the set of selected artifacts is more viable to the reality of micro and ...
This paper proposes the definition of a goal programming model for the selection of artifacts to be developed during a testing process, so that the set of selected artifacts is more viable to the reality of micro and small enterprises. This model was based on the IEEE Standard 829, which establishes a set of artifacts that must be generated throughout the test activities. Several factors can influence the definition of this set of artifacts. Therefore, in order to consider such factors, we developed a multicriteria model that helps in determining the priority of artifacts according to the reality of micro and small enterprises.
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