Nursing homes and long-term care institutions often need technological assistance because of the high ratio of low-functioning residents coupled with a shortage of caregivers. To explore the potential uses of emerging robotic technologies in nursing homes, we apply Forlizzi's concept of the product ecology and a user-centered design approach involving field observations and focus groups to understand what kind of robot design would be suitable for the nursing home context. Our results show that instead of robots replacing human labor, nursing home staff prefer robot assistants who fit into their work process. We also learned the most appropriate functions for robots in nursing homes were helping with minor tasks and encouraging social interaction among residents. Our study was performed in two nursing homes in Taiwan.

Intraoperative nerve localization is of great importance in surgery. In certain procedures, where nerves show visual resemblance to surrounding adipose tissue, this can be particularly challenging for the human eye. An example of such a delicate procedure is thyroid and parathyroid surgery, where iatrogenic injury of the recurrent laryngeal nerve can result in transient or permanent vocal problems (0.5–2.0% reported incidence). A camera system, enabling nerve‐specific image enhancement, would be useful in preventing such complications. This might be realized with hyperspectral camera technology using silicon (Si) or indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) sensor chips.

The OceanRINGS is a suite of smart technologies for subsea operations developed over the last ten years at the Mobile & Marine Robotics Research Centre (MMRRC), University of Limerick, Ireland. Applied to mini ROVs, OceanRINGS technologies enable remote presence: long endurance robotic systems for routine inspection of offshore subsea oil & gas installations and marine renewable energy devices controlled from a remote control centre (Virtual Control Cabin) through the Internet in real time. Remote presence with mini ROVs enable more regular (even continuous) inspections of subsea structures, including observatories, marine renewable energy (MRE) devices and offshore oil & gas installations (wellheads, pipelines etc.) and facilitates early stage detection of abnormalities and defects. The majority of the cost-savings for offshore oil & gas is the prevention of failure in one of the production arteries (downhole tubing, pipelines and production vessels). Money lost through lost production far outweighs the costs associated with maintenance. The OceanRINGS smart technologies could lead to significant savings in time, maintenance and operational costs (20% or more), if they become available for wide scale commercial and industrial use. This paper describes the main idea and motivation behind the Remote Presence concept.

Growing body of evidence suggests that molecular markers are an important prognostic marker for non-small lung cancer (NSCLC). Using targeted therapy based on these markers leads to improved outcomes in lung adenocarcinoma. However, progress of targeted therapy in squamous lung cancer is still modest. p16(ink) protein acts as tumor suppressor and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) promotes tumor angiogenesis. Purpose of this study was to evaluate the difference in p16(ink4) and VEGF expression between squamous and adenocarcinoma of the lung; to evaluate the relationship of p16(ink4) and VEGF expression to survival outcomes in NSCLC patients, and the difference of their prognostic values between squamous and adenocarcinoma subtypes. 100 NSCLC patients (50 squamous and 50 adenocarcinoma) and 80 healthy individuals were included. p16(ink4) and VEGF proteins were immunohistochemicaly detected on formalin-fixed tissues. One- and 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were observed. p16(ink4) expression was significantly lower in squamous type compared to adenocarcinoma. In both squamous and adenocarcinoma, high VEGF expression correlated with worse 1-year PFS and OS, but only with worse 2-year PFS. Low p16(ink4) expression correlated with worse 1- and 2-year PFS, as well as OS, in both NSCLC subtypes. In squamous lung cancer p16(ink4) expression was an independent negative prognostic marker. Our study confirms the difference of p16(ink4) protein expression in squamous and adenocarcinoma of the lung. Besides anti-VEGF therapy, the regulation of p16(ink4) expression could have a therapeutic potential in NSCLC, especially in squamous lung cancer.

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)...AbstractThe aim of this paper is to examine recidivists' and non-recidivists' differences in characteristics of the psychosocial functioning after a treatment in a Disciplinary Centre for Juveniles in Sarajevo Canton, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The research was conducted on a sample of 131 juvenile delinquents adjudicated with the educational measure of referral to the juvenile disciplinary centre. The statistical analysis was performed in the SPSS 17.0 program package. The differences between recidivists and non-recidivists were measured using Mann-Whitney test on all variables. A group of four variables were compared by: (a) school factors, (b) family factors, (c) spare time activities and peer relationships and (d) personality and behaviour of juveniles. The results have shown that risk factors are more pronounced in recidivists in all four areas of the psychosocial functioning. The largest difference is in the areas related to spare time activities and peer-relationships, as well as family functioning. The results indicate that the intensified treatment should focus on these areas in order to prevent recidivism.Keywords: recidivism, educational measure, responsiveness factorsIntroductionEvery society had its youth whose behaviour deviated from the socially acceptable and as such it was condemned or sanctioned in one way or another. Juvenile delinquency is a dynamic category subjected to various changes in its scope, phenomenology and implemented interventions. In comparison to crime committed by adults, juvenile delinquency is specific in terms of the age category of offenders, motivation, type of offense and applicable interventions (1). Youth engaged crime represents a considerable problem for society and their families (2). It remains an unresolved question how to respond to the delinquent behaviour and with what methods, e.g. sanctions, while simultaneously ensuring that they take responsibility for their behaviour, since it is necessary to establish a balance between the retribution and rehabilitation elements each sanction has (3). Educational measures are now the largest and the most frequently pronounced type of criminal sanctions for juveniles, with the purpose of providing education, rehabilitation and a proper development of the juvenile (4). Amongst all education measures, a significant place is reserved for the educational measure of referral to the Disciplinary Centre due to its specificities in relation to its implementation and juveniles adjudicated with this measure. The purpose of the imposition of these measures is that, in a relatively short period of time, a powerful impact may be achieved in children via various strategies, in strictly structured conditions by means of direct methods focused on behavioural modifications, development of a personal responsibility and prevention of future criminal acts (4). The efficiency of a treatment method may be assessed by measuring the number of juveniles who come again into conflict with the law (recidivism) or via other different indicators of progress in social functioning (5). Considering the consensus in general literature that adult criminals begin their criminal careers in their juvenile years suggesting that, in order to fight adult criminality, we must begin by controlling juvenile delinquency, the recidivism of young offenders presents an even more disturbing problem. Understanding juvenile recidivism is crucial for the development of effective policy responses to the broader ramifications of juvenile offense (6). Recidivism is most frequently defined as any arrest or offence within a specified follow-up period after release from a detention or rehabilitation facility (7) and it is alsoa key indicator for determining whether criminal justice interventions, from diversion to incarceration, are making a difference in turning offenders away from crime. …

Introduction: The diagnostic utility of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) has prompted interest in its use as an aid in the detection of early heart failure and assessment of diseases. The first objective of this study was measurement of BNP and troponin I (TnI) blood levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and unstable angina. The second objective of this study was to find a correlation between TnI and BNP in blood.Methods: The concentrations of BNP and TnI in 150 blood levels were determined using CMIA (chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay) Architect and 2000 (Abbott diagnostics). The retrospective study included 100 patients who were hospitalized at the Department of Internal Medicine of the University Clinical Center Sarajevo and 50 healthy control. The reference blood range of BNP is 0-100 pg/mL and TnI is 0.00-0.4 ng/mL.Results: In the patients with AMI the mean value of BNP is 764.48 ± 639.52 pg/mL and TnI is 2.50 ± 2.28ng/mL. The patients with unstable angina have BNP 287.18 ± 593.20 pg/mL and TnI 0.10 ± 0.23 ng/mL. Our studies have shown that the correlation between BNP and TnI was statistically significant for p< 0.05 using Student t test with correlation coefficient r = 0.36. Conclusions: BNP and TnI levels can help to identify the patients with a high risk for cardiovascular diseases.