Selective Engagement in Preparations for Aging

OBJECTIVES

Preparing for old age is an adaptive behavior with positive consequences on well-being. This study examined; (a) the degree to which the importance associated with positive outcomes within specific domains of everyday functioning (e.g., social relationships, health) varies across ages and cultures; (b) the impact of importance on preparing for old age; and (c) whether the effects of importance were greater in later life.

METHODS

Using data from adults aged 30-85 years in Germany (n = 623), Hong Kong (n = 317), and the United States (n = 313) collected over 5 years, we examined variations in importance ratings across age, cultures, and behavioral domains, and the extent to which age and importance predicted preparations.

RESULTS

Importance ratings were found to vary with age, time of test, domains, and culture, reflecting the expected contextual effects. Importance also was a positive predictor of preparations, with the strength of prediction being somewhat greater in old age.

DISCUSSION

The results provide evidence that the perceived importance of functioning within domains is affected by a number of contextual factors, including the domain of everyday function and culture. Given that importance also predicts preparations, such variation may help explain differences in preparations across contexts. In line with selective engagement theory, some support was also obtained for the prediction that older adults are more selective in engaging resources in support of preparations. Such selectivity can be viewed as an adaptive response to diminishing personal resources in later life.

Forensic nursing in the emergency department: the distance between nurses' performed role behaviors and their perception of behaviors' importance

BACKGROUND

Emergency department nurses often deal with victims of violence and trauma. In the emergency department, the main focus is on saving lives and stabilizing patients' conditions. The next important task is to preserve any valuable evidence that could potentially help identify a crime. It is important to describe how nurses currently practice in the emergency department and perceive their role in caring for forensic patients. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of performance and perception of the importance of forensic nursing role behaviors among emergency department nurses as well as the correlation between mean scores of performance and perception.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional correlational descriptive study. This non-observational survey study used a questionnaire to investigate the frequency of performance and perception of the importance of forensic nursing role behaviors among 274 emergency department nurses.

RESULTS

The total mean scores for frequency of performed behaviors and their perceived importance were 2.36±0.65 and 4.23±0.64 respectively. The overall mean scores of importance were significantly higher than frequency. There was a significant correlation between the frequency of performance and perception of the importance of twenty-eight items (twenty-four positive correlations and 4 negative correlations) (p<0.05). The frequency of performed behaviors positively correlated with participants' type of shift worked and their personal experiences of legal and judicial claims. The female gender of respondents positively correlated with behaviors' perceived importance.

CONCLUSION

The study revealed a significant discrepancy between the frequency of forensic nursing role behaviors performed and their perceived importance in the emergency department. This gap emphasizes the pressing requirement for forensic nursing subjects to be incorporated into graduate and undergraduate nursing curricula, as well as ongoing training programs and courses. It is crucial to establish and implement forensic nursing protocols for the care of trauma victims, and to foster collaboration between healthcare systems, law enforcement, and forensic investigators to streamline the process.

MicroRNA-372 acts as a double-edged sword in human cancers

MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) are non-coding, single-stranded, endogenous RNAs that regulate various biological processes, most notably the pathophysiology of many human malignancies. It process is accomplished by binding to 3'-UTR mRNAs and controlling gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. As an oncogene, miRNAs can either accelerate cancer progression or slow it down as a tumor suppressor. MicroRNA-372 (miR-372) has been found to have an abnormal expression in numerous human malignancies, implying that the miRNA plays a role in carcinogenesis. It is both increased and downregulated in various cancers, and it serves as both a tumor suppressor and an oncogene. This study examines the functions of miR-372 as well as the LncRNA/CircRNA-miRNA-mRNA signaling pathways in various malignancies and analyses its potential prognostic, diagnostic, and therapeutic implications.

A Rare Cleptoparasitic Bee Tetralonioidella himalayana (Bingham, 1897) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) from India: Review and New Data

Tetralonioidella Strand 1914 is a very rare apid genus globally, of which only two species, Tetralonioidella himalayana (Bingham, 1897) and Tetralonioidella tricolor (Lieftinck, 1972), are known from India. They are known to be cleptoparasitic on species of Habropoda Smith, 1854 and Elaphropoda Lieftinck, 1966. During hymenopteran survey in Arunachal Pradesh, we encountered Tetralonioidella himalayana (Bingham, 1897) and observed their behavioral regime, which is very poorly known. The identifying characteristics of both male and female, their foraging behavior, floral preference, distribution pattern, and possible host association have been studied. Exclusive floral association and host specialization are potential contributing factors to the rarity of T. himalayana. Such factors may limit the distribution range of the species. A priori sampling resolution with genetic and demographic exploration is required to evaluate the present status of such bee species.

Horizontal and vertical variation of soil clay content and its controlling factors in China

Detailed information on the variation of soil clay content at different soil depths are important for water repellency, management of soil fertility, and crop growth. However, studies on the variation of soil clay content at different depths at large scales are limited. In this study, 1446 soil profiles covering most areas of China were extracted from the World Soil Information Service (WoSIS) database and classified into 0-20, 20-60, and 60-100 cm depths using the equal-area quadratic splines. Random forest (RF) and Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) were used to investigate the relationship between soil clay content and environmental factors (climate, topography, land use, and soil types). The results showed that soil clay content and its variability increased with soil depth. The RF model predicted soil clay content at the three soil depths. The mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), coefficient of determination (R²), and Lin's concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) ranged from 6.95 % to 8.74 %, 8.90 % to 11.30 %, 42 % to 46 %, and 56 % to 59 %, respectively. Mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), solar radiation (solarR), and elevation were the key factors that controlled the variation of soil clay content at depths of 0-20, 20-60, and 60-100 cm. In addition, the main effect values of SHAP can identify environmental thresholds consistent with significant areas by capturing the relationship between soil clay content and MAT, MAP, solarR, and elevation. Significant differences were found in soil clay content on both sides of the threshold at MAT of 15 °C, MAP of 800 mm, solarR of 15,000 Jm^-2 yr^-1, and elevation of 1200 m. The results provide clues to the management of national soil security under global and regional climate change.

Career education needs of Korean nursing students and professionals: A cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

The career education needs of nursing students and professionals can be met by analyzing the differences between the importance and need levels of their various career education needs, determining priorities, and developing a career education program reflecting these. This approach will enable learner-centered customized career education.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the differences in career education needs between nursing students and professionals, determine their respective priorities, and assess changes in needs between the two survey periods.

DESIGN

Descriptive survey study.

PARTICIPANTS

The first survey (2017) included 206 nursing students and 40 nursing professionals, while the second survey (2020) included 219 nursing students and 100 nursing professionals.

METHODS

Data for the two surveys were collected through face-to-face, postal, and online questionnaire surveys. The research tool to measure career education needs was developed based on an existing tool, top queries on a website for nursing students' career education, literature review, expert opinions, and in-depth interviews with nursing students.

RESULTS

The 10 top-ranked items in Jo and Lee's model reflecting the career education needs of nursing students and professionals were as follows: workplace and social etiquette, changes in the healthcare environment and global issues, setting up my career roadmap, interpersonal and communication skills, nursing professionalism and nursing ethics, understanding the latest healthcare policies, my personality type and values, roles and duties of clinical nurses, my aptitude and interest, and nurses' healthcare. Comparing the career education needs of nursing students and professionals between the two survey periods revealed higher scores in the education category of "understanding career" in the second survey.

CONCLUSION

Nursing students' career awareness and development will be positively affected by a customized career education program based on the priority items derived from this study; such a program will help them attain nursing professionalism and enhance their occupational identity and job satisfaction.

Prognostic importance of deranged sodium level in critically ill patients: A systemic literature to review

It is common upon admission or during stay at a hospital or intensive care unit (ICU) for patients to present with or acquire a serum sodium abnormality. Hyponatremia, serum sodium level less than 135 mmol/L, frequently associated with critical illnesses such as heart failure and liver cirrhosis, is an indicator of disease severity as well as a risk factor for poor prognosis. Hypernatremia, serum sodium level greater than 145 mmol/L, results due to any ailment disabling a patient's modality of thirst or the ability to relieve it once sensed. Hypernatremia has a more frequent iatrogenic component than hyponatremia. It can develop insidiously among patients through IV fluid administration of saline; both its presentation upon admission and development during stay is associated with mortality. Hyponatremia is associated with increased mortality and its treatment with morbidity as it carries a risk of overcorrection and consequently the development of central pontine myelinolysis. This review article covers the findings, and subsequent correlation between findings sought, of six articles catering to underscore the correlation between sodium disorders and prognosis of hospitalized or critically ill patients. PubMed search engine was utilized to select articles befitting the purpose of this review. Cumulatively, this review article substantiates the need to diligently evaluate and treat serum sodium disorders in hospitalized patients to achieve better prognosis.

Quality of life in urologic cancer patients: importance of and satisfaction with specific quality of life domains

Purpose

Quality of life (QoL) has been the subject of increasing interest in oncology. Most examinations of QoL have focused on health-related QoL, while other factors often remain unconsidered. Moreover, QoL questionnaires implicitly assume that the subjective importance of the various QoL domains is identical from one patient to the next. The aim of this study was to analyze QoL in a broader sense, considering the subjective importance of the QoL components.

Methods

A sample of 173 male urologic patients was surveyed twice: once while hospitalized (t1) and once again 3 months later (t2). Patients completed the Questions on Life Satisfaction questionnaire (FLZ-M), which includes satisfaction and importance ratings for eight dimensions of QoL. A control group was taken from the general population (n = 477).

Results

Health was the most important QoL dimension for both the patient and the general population groups. While satisfaction with health was low in the patient group, the satisfaction ratings of the other seven domains were higher in the patient group than in the general population. The satisfaction with the domain partnership/sexuality showed a significant decline from t1 to t2. Multiple regression analyses showed that the domains health and income contributed most strongly to the global QoL score at t2 in the patient group.

Conclusion

Health is not the only relevant category when assessing QoL in cancer patients; social relationships and finances are pertinent as well. Importance ratings contribute to a better understanding of the relevance of the QoL dimensions for the patients.

[The importance and limitations of medical imaging diagnosis for temporomandibular disorders]

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) have attracted the attention of the clinicians of stomatology and other related disciplines because of the high prevalence and close relationship with multiple disciplines. Medical imaging is of great value in the diagnosis and differential diagnoses for TMDs. Based on the author's clinical practice experience and some related research work, combined with the relevant literatures, the indications, advantages and disadvantages of various commonly used imaging modalities were described. Simultaneously, the importance and limitations of imaging diagnosis for TMDs were discussed and emphasized in the present article.

The importance of visualization of appendix on abdominal ultrasound for the diagnosis of appendicitis in children: A quality assessment review

BACKGROUND

Ultrasound has the first line investigation role in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children. The purpose of this study was to perform a quality assessment review on the visualization rate of appendix on ultrasound in children in the community hospital setting.

METHODS

A retrospective chart review of the abdominal ultrasound findings for the visualization of the appendix was performed on paediatric patients ranging from 5 to 18 years. Data were collected from the two community hospitals of Toronto by using hospital electronic medical record for the ultrasound findings in patients presented with abdominal pain.

RESULTS

Data from two community hospitals indicated visualization rate of the appendix as 11.0% and 23.2% for site 1 and site 2 respectively. In cases where the ultrasound was repeated the visualization rate remains the same. A two-proportion z-test was performed to find whether the visualization of appendix increases the likelihood of diagnosing appendicitis. The results revealed that the visualization of an appendix (P=0.52), significantly improved the diagnosis of appendicitis (z=34, P<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Visualization of an appendix on ultrasound increases the likelihood of correctly diagnosing appendicitis. In our study, we found low visualization rate of appendix on ultrasound that could be the result of many factors that contribute towards the low visualization rate of an appendix on ultrasound. Hence, the challenges in identifying appendix should be minimized to improve the visualization and diagnosis of appendicitis on ultrasound.

Inadequate clinical data on Pap test request form: Where are we headed in the era of precision medicine?

The request form accompanying any sample to a clinical laboratory constitutes an important communication tool between the clinician and the laboratory personnel. Much has been written about the inadequacy of pertinent clinical data on the request slips for hematology and biochemistry tests and its impact on the subsequent test interpretation and error liability. Although the cytology laboratories, including those performing cervical cytology, have to deal with a similar problem of lack of clinical information critical to the proper interpretation of cytomorphologic features, the issue has not been attended to or reported adequately in the literature. This article attempts to explore this topic of inadequate clinical data on Pap test request form from multiple perspectives and suggest possible ways to circumvent this age-old problem. These recommendations may be tailor-made and adopted as per the individual laboratory’s logistics.

Application of decision tree in determining the importance of surface electrohysterography signal characteristics for recognizing uterine contractions

The aims of this study were to apply decision tree to classify uterine activities (contractions and non-contractions) using the waveform characteristics derived from different channels of electrohysterogram (EHG) signals and then rank the importance of these characteristics. Both the tocodynamometer (TOCO) and 8-channel EHG signals were simultaneously recorded from 34 healthy pregnant women within 24 h before delivery. After preprocessing of EHG signals, EHG segments corresponding to the uterine contractions and non-contractions were manually extracted from both original and normalized EHG signals according to the TOCO signals and the human marks. 24 waveform characteristics of the EHG segments were derived separately from each channel to train the decision tree and classify the uterine activities. The results showed the Power and sample entropy (SamEn) extracted from the un-normalized EHG segments played the most important roles in recognizing uterine activities. In addition, the EHG signal characteristics from channel 1 produced better classification results (AUC = 0.75, Sensitivity = 0.84, Specificity = 0.78, Accuracy = 0.81) than the others. In conclusion, decision tree could be used to classify the uterine activities, and the Power and SamEn of un-normalized EHG segments were the most important characteristics in uterine contraction classification.

Quality of life profile in three cohorts of community-dwelling Swiss older people

Background

Quality of life (QoL) is a subjective and dynamic concept resulting from an interplay between importance of and satisfaction with different aspects of life. However, it is unclear whether social contexts experienced by individuals born at specific times in history (cohort effects) may influence QoL in old age. This study aimed to compare among older persons born before, during, and at the end of World War II: a) satisfaction with QoL, overall and per domains; b) importance of QoL domains.

Methods

This repeated cross-sectional study included representative samples of community-dwelling adults born in 1934–1938 (pre-war), 1939–1943 (war), and 1944–1948 (baby-boom) from the Lausanne cohort 65+. QoL was assessed overall, and in seven domains in 2011 and 2016. Two-by-two cohort comparisons were performed at ages 68–72 (war versus baby-boom) and 73–77 years (pre-war versus war).

Results

Overall satisfaction with QoL did not differ between cohorts despite increased education level across cohorts and a shift between pre-war and war cohorts towards lower morbidity and higher proportion living alone. However, “Feeling of safety” consistently showed significant improvements from earlier to later-born cohorts. Furthermore, the war cohort reported higher satisfaction than pre-war cohort in “Autonomy”. Conversely, no significant difference was observed between cohorts in importance of QoL domains, except increased importance given to “Health and mobility” in the war compared to pre-war cohort.

Conclusions

Societal changes reflected in the profile of successive elders’ cohorts did not appear to modify the overall satisfaction with QoL.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12877-019-1112-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Granivory from native rodents and competition from an exotic invader strongly and equally limit the establishment of native grasses

Seed predation and resource competition are fundamental biotic filters that affect the assembly of plant communities, yet empirical studies rarely assess their importance relative to one another. Here, we used rodent exclosures and experimental seed additions to compare how rodent granivory and resource competition affected the net establishment of an exotic invader (Bromus tectorum) and two native bunchgrasses (Pseudoroegneria spicata and Elymus elymoides) in the Great Basin Desert, USA. Rodent granivory limited the establishment of both native grasses, but had no significant effect on B. tectorum. Competition from B. tectorum limited the establishment of both native grasses, but neither native grass imposed a significant competitive effect on B. tectorum. Interestingly, we found that rodent granivory and B. tectorum competition limited the establishment of native grasses to the same extent, suggesting that these biotic interactions may impose equally important barriers to the local establishment of P. spicata and E. elymoides. By evaluating the strength of multiple biotic interactions in simultaneous, coordinated experiments, we can understand their relative contributions to community-level patterns.

Connoted hazard and perceived importance of fluorescent, neon, and standard safety colors

OBJECTIVE

The perceived hazard and rated importance of standard safety, fluorescent, and neon colors are investigated.

BACKGROUND

Colors are used in warnings to enhance hazard communication. Red has consistently been rated as the highest in perceived hazard. Orange, yellow, and black are the next highest in connoted hazard; however, there is discrepancy in their ordering. Safety standards, such as ANSI Z535.1, also list colors to convey important information, but little research has examined the perceived importance of colors. In addition to standard safety colors, fluorescent colors are more commonly used in warnings. Understanding hazard and importance perceptions of standard safety and fluorescent colors is necessary to create effective warnings.

METHODS

Ninety participants rated and ranked a total of 33 colors on both perceived hazard and perceived importance.

RESULTS

Rated highest were the safety red colors from the American National Standard Institute (ANSI), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) together with three fluorescent colors (orange, yellow, and yellow-green) from 3 M on both dimensions. Rankings were similar to ratings except that fluorescent orange was the highest on perceived hazard, while fluorescent orange and safety red from the ANSI were ranked as the highest in perceived importance.

CONCLUSION

Fluorescent colors convey hazard and importance levels as high as the standard safety red colors.

APPLICATION

Implications for conveying hazard and importance in warnings through color are discussed.

The association between implementation strategy use and the uptake of hepatitis C treatment in a national sample

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a common and highly morbid illness. New medications that have much higher cure rates have become the new evidence-based practice in the field. Understanding the implementation of these new medications nationally provides an opportunity to advance the understanding of the role of implementation strategies in clinical outcomes on a large scale. The Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) study defined discrete implementation strategies and clustered these strategies into groups. The present evaluation assessed the use of these strategies and clusters in the context of HCV treatment across the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration, the largest provider of HCV care nationally.

METHODS

A 73-item survey was developed and sent to all VA sites treating HCV via electronic survey, to assess whether or not a site used each ERIC-defined implementation strategy related to employing the new HCV medication in 2014. VA national data regarding the number of Veterans starting on the new HCV medications at each site were collected. The associations between treatment starts and number and type of implementation strategies were assessed.

RESULTS

A total of 80 (62%) sites responded. Respondents endorsed an average of 25 ± 14 strategies. The number of treatment starts was positively correlated with the total number of strategies endorsed (r = 0.43, p < 0.001). Quartile of treatment starts was significantly associated with the number of strategies endorsed (p < 0.01), with the top quartile endorsing a median of 33 strategies, compared to 15 strategies in the lowest quartile. There were significant differences in the types of strategies endorsed by sites in the highest and lowest quartiles of treatment starts. Four of the 10 top strategies for sites in the top quartile had significant correlations with treatment starts compared to only 1 of the 10 top strategies in the bottom quartile sites. Overall, only 3 of the top 15 most frequently used strategies were associated with treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that sites that used a greater number of implementation strategies were able to deliver more evidence-based treatment in HCV. The current assessment also demonstrates the feasibility of electronic self-reporting to evaluate ERIC strategies on a large scale. These results provide initial evidence for the clinical relevance of the ERIC strategies in a real-world implementation setting on a large scale. This is an initial step in identifying which strategies are associated with the uptake of evidence-based practices in nationwide healthcare systems.

Identifying important factors for older adults' physical activity participation across individual/group, structured/unstructured contexts

Most Canadian older adults do not meet physical activity recommendations. Researchers have investigated participation barriers and facilitators, with little consideration given to how specific factors influence activity participation for older adults. The purpose of this study was to identify unique factors that influence older adults' activity selection and to determine in which type of setting they are preferred. Using a two-phase methodology, identification of 25 factors affecting participation was followed by 45 older adults ranking the factors within four categories of activities: individual unstructured, group unstructured, individual structured, and group structured. Phase 1 analysis ranked each factor within each category. Further analysis found that there was a statistical difference between categories, indicating that older adults found different factors important, depending on the category of physical activity in question. This led to phase 2 analyses which identified three levels of factor groupings including the following factors: level A: fun, satisfaction, commitment, and energize; level B: safety, learning, awareness, internal motivation, and productive; and level C: meaningful contribution, intensity, and motivation. Additionally, some factors which were not identified in all categories were identified as unique to certain categories. These included creativity, hobbies, meaningful contribution, spiritual, competence, interaction casual, regularly scheduled, competition, self-efficacy physical, and team. This information can be used by individuals as well as program providers to nurture these factors within physical activity programs, which may lead to increased participation in this age cohort.

Evaluating a new methodology for providing individualized feedback in healthcare on quality of life and its importance, using the WHOQOL-BREF in a community population

PURPOSE

We conducted an evaluation to find out how a novel quality of life (QoL) intervention containing guided individualized feedback was appraised. The importance of QoL was matched with QoL assessment for each subjective dimension, using graphical feedback. We examined whether this information was acceptable, feasible and valued beyond the clinical context, among the community.

METHODS

Using a mixed-methods cross-sectional design, the intervention was piloted with 129 participants from communities and registered in primary care. WHOQOL-BREF and WHOQOL Importance scores were graphically matched by dimension. Results were inspected and interpreted with directed guidance to identify good and poor QoL. We report the post-intervention evaluation of feedback, including qualitative themes. Follow-up interviews among those expecting feedback to be helpful explored potential self-management and healthcare uses.

RESULTS

After feedback, 65 % reported changes in thoughts and perceptions of QoL, often describing insights as self-affirming. Goals or expectations changed for 34 %, and motivation to change was reported. Over 50 % evaluated the feedback as helpful in the short term or for the future. Follow-up interviews endorsed the value of the feedback and its usefulness in sharing with a healthcare professional (92 %), suggesting it would facilitate professionals' understandings of patients and enable health advice to be targeted.

CONCLUSIONS

The benefits of using this novel feedback can be extended to the general population, as directed guidance aids interpretation, thereby saving health service costs. This complex pilot intervention needs testing in a blinded fully randomized controlled trial. Beyond independent self-management, graphs could be used during clinical decision-making.

Chinese patients' satisfaction with total hip arthroplasty: what is important and dissatisfactory?

Through validated self-administered questionnaires, we conducted a retrospective investigation in 818 patients (1009 hips) who underwent primary THA, to collect data on overall satisfaction plus satisfaction and importance rating for 16 specific functions and issues. Overall, 8.1% patients were dissatisfied with the surgery. The top 3 important items are pain relief, squatting, and walking. The top 3 dissatisfactory items are jogging, squatting, and rising after squatting. The strongest risk factors for dissatisfaction with walking were pain (6.1×), muscle weakness(3.7×), and LLD (3.3×). The strongest risk factors for dissatisfaction with squatting were low postoperative HHS ROM (3.7×) and muscle weakness (2.6×). For Chinese patients, ROM, muscle strength and LLD are very important.

Patient satisfaction after posterior-stabilized total knee arthroplasty: a functional specific analysis

BACKGROUND

Despite the success of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in treating end-stage knee arthritis, 11% to 19% of patients are dissatisfied with the outcome of their surgery. In this study we investigated how satisfied overall patients are with the outcome of posterior stabilized TKA and what particular functional deficits or residual symptoms cause the most dissatisfaction for patients after surgery.

METHODS

Using patient-completed validated questionnaires, we retrospectively analyzed data for 1013 posterior-stabilized TKAs performed in 748 Chinese patients regarding the overall satisfaction with surgery and the importance ranking of each of 15 specific functions and residual symptoms.

RESULTS

Our data demonstrate an overall satisfaction rate of 87.4%. Satisfaction percentages ranged from 45.0% to 89.0%. The top 6 dissatisfactory items were sitting with legs crossed (dissatisfaction rate of 55.0%), squatting (51.7%), walking fast or jogging (45.4%), knee clunking (34.5%), abnormal feeling in knee (31.2%), and climbing stairs (28.2%). The top 6 important functions or issues were pain relief, walking on flat ground, climbing stairs, ability to return to household work, decreased limping, and squatting.

CONCLUSIONS

Approximately 1 in 8 patients was dissatisfied with overall outcome. Patients were most dissatisfied with climbing stairs and squatting, functions that they considered most important.

Investigating how implementation intentions improve non-focal prospective memory tasks

Implementation intentions are a self-regulatory strategy broadly studied in the area of social cognition that can improve realization of one's goals and improve performance on prospective memory tasks. Three experiments, using a non-focal task for which the prospective memory targets were specified at the time of intention formation, investigated whether (and how) implementation intentions can improve non-focal prospective memory performance. An improvement in prospective memory performance was accompanied by an increase in the allocation of conscious resources to the prospective memory task, but not by an increase in perceived importance of the prospective memory task. The third experiment also investigated the effects of implementation intentions on recall of the appropriate action and found that accurate action recall was improved by implementation intentions. Finally, the effect of implementation intention instructions on cognitive processes that underlie non-focal prospective memory performance was investigated using a multinomial model.

What patients consider important: temporal variations by early and late stage oral, oropharyngeal and laryngeal subsites

Functional outcomes are of high priority to cancer patients and are relevant when considering treatment strategies. This study aimed to collate and analyse importance rankings of UW-QOL over time for patients treated with curative intent for primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma between 2000 and 2010, and to compare early and late stage oral, oropharyngeal and laryngeal subsites. There were 1614 patients comprising oral cavity 47% (751), oropharyngeal 24% (382), laryngeal 20% (320) and other HNC locations 10% (161). Items of importance remained relatively stable within clinical groups but there were notable differences between groups. For patients with early oral tumours no domain was especially dominant, whereas for late oral tumours swallowing, chewing, speech and saliva were selected more often. Swallowing and saliva were more important in oropharyngeal tumours, as was taste with more advanced oropharyngeal tumours. Speech and activity were important for those with early laryngeal tumours, as were swallowing and speech for more advanced laryngeal tumours. Swallowing and saliva were more important in advanced tumours for all sites. This data confirms the priority patients place on swallowing, chewing, speech, and saliva, therefore curative treatments should optimise these functions wherever possible and provide access to post-treatment interventions as required.

Measuring and Predicting Object Importance

How important is a particular object in a photograph of a complex scene? We propose a definition of importance and present two methods for measuring object importance from human observers. Using this ground truth, we fit a function for predicting the importance of each object directly from a segmented image; our function combines a large number of object-related and image-related features. We validate our importance predictions on 2,841 objects and find that the most important objects may be identified automatically. We find that object position and size are particularly informative, while a popular measure of saliency is not.