Side effects that occurred early in people with multiple sclerosis during the first year of treatment with cladribine tablets: a plain language summary

People with multiple sclerosis (also shortened to MS) may have difficulties staying on treatment due to side effects. Cladribine tablets, approved for treating relapsing forms of MS, are given by mouth for four short periods over two years. The benefit of convenient dosing may be lost if side effects prevent people with MS from finishing their treatment. This is the summary of a study that examined side effects from cladribine tablets treatment in the first 12 weeks of two clinical studies called CLARITY and ORACLE-MS. Overall, 34.7% of participants who took cladribine tablets experienced drug-related side effects compared to 23.2% of participants who took placebo. Most side effects were mild and were seen in 54.8% of participants taking cladribine tablets and 59.1% taking the placebo. A low number of participants discontinued treatment due to side effects (1.6% of participants who took cladribine tablets; 1.4% of participants who took placebo). The researchers concluded that cladribine tablets are well-tolerated and people with MS are likely to complete the full treatment course. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT numbers: CLARITY study - NCT00213135 and ORACLE-MS study - NCT00725985 .

A Student's Guide to Laplace Transforms

The Laplace transform is a useful mathematical tool encountered by students of physics, engineering, and applied mathematics, within a wide variety of important applications in mechanics, electronics, thermodynamics and more. However, students often struggle with the rationale behind these transforms, and the physical meaning of the transform results. Using the same approach that has proven highly popular in his other Student's Guides, Professor Fleisch addresses the topics that his students have found most troublesome; providing a detailed and accessible description of Laplace transforms and how they relate to Fourier and Z-transforms. Written in plain language and including numerous, fully worked examples. The book is accompanied by a website containing a rich set of freely available supporting materials, including interactive solutions for every problem in the text, and a series of podcasts in which the author explains the important concepts, equations, and graphs of every section of the book.

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Who's the Communicationally Competent One of All? and the Other Side of the Mirror

This chapter focuses on health professional competence and consequent evaluation by patients who establish with them a therapeutic relationship. Based on a literature review and proposals of best practices to implement in health encounters, it is concluded that competent communication has to give attention to verbal and non-verbal dimensions and to the patient's expectations. Results reveal that the competences are empathy, respect, inclusion of the patient in choices and decisions, confirmation of understanding, use of plain language, and positivity. On the patients' side, some common expectations are associated with the humanization of relationships, such as the manifestation of patience by professionals to the patients' queries and the adoption of personalized communication. The communication lapses are more related to poor attitudes of health professionals, and the patients' expectations can vary depending on their sociodemographic attributes. Different communication styles of health professionals generate different evaluations and expectations of patients.

Health Professional Communication Competences and Patient Evaluation in the Therapeutic Encounter

This chapter focuses on the health professionals' competences and inherent evaluation by patients during the therapeutic relationship. It is grounded on a literature review and proposals on best practices to adopt in health encounters. It can be concluded that the use of communication competences by health professionals influences the patients' evaluation and their health outcomes, demonstrating that “it takes two to tango.” Results have shown that, among the communication competences, are empathy, respect, inclusion of patient in health decisions, confirmation of understanding, use of a plain language, positivity. On the patients' side, the expectations tend to be related to the communication styles of health professionals, the humanization of relationship, and the use of a personalized communication; the communication lapses are more associated with poor attitudes of health professionals, and the patients' sociodemographic attributes influence their expectations.

Regspraak: Troosgeld is deel van ’n reghebbende se afsonderlike boedelbates en nie deel van die gemeenskaplike boedel nie – verpligte deling troos nie

Although a husband and wife married in community of property share by default, if not design, all their patrimonial assets in the common estate, the solatium or compensation received by an injured person as satisfaction for the unjustified injury to his or her personality rights is not supposed to form part of the common estate – simply because it happened to be received in the form of a patrimonial asset. It is meant to be private or separate and for the comfort of the injured only. The purpose of the compensation received as solatium is not to fill a vacuum left by the delict in the injured party’s assets, but to serve as the only mode of solace available to law to provide redress for the wrong. Other than the position where a patrimonial asset of the claimant had been damaged, eg by the negligent car accident caused by the respondent, and where the awarded damages neatly compensate the wronged party for the damage caused, thereby placing the total estate in the same position where it was before the intervening delict, the solatium paid to the injured for the non-patrimonial damages suffered by the delictual inroad on his/her personality rights is not supposed to redress a negative impact on the total estate of the wronged. The spouse of the injured party, even where they are married in community of property, would never have been able to lay claim to those personality traits or attributes of the other spouse. Personality rights, per definition, never form part of the assets of any patrimonial estate and should not be shared simply because the matrimonial property regime happens to be community of property. The legislature correctly stipulated in section 18(a) of the Matrimonial Property Act 88 of 1984: “Notwithstanding the fact that a spouse is married in community of property – (a) any amount recovered by him or her by way of damages, other than damages for patrimonial loss, by reason of a delict committed against him or her, does not fall into the joint estate but becomes his or her separate property” – emphasis added. This formulation echoes what has been the legal position for ages. Along those lines Hiemstra J in Potgieter v Potgieter correctly held that the amount awarded as contumelia to the injured husband for the harm done to his personality rights by the adultery of his wife and the third party, would not form part of the joint estate but would be his separate property. In so doing, the court precluded the adulteress from further sharing in the spoils of her doing. In the underlying decision by the majority of the supreme court of appeal, however, it was held that section 18(a) should be read to be limited: “The context of s 18 must be read in its entirety, and apparent therefrom is the plain language and words used. [This] … section highlights that delictual damages received by a spouse during the course of a marriage in community of property, which are nonpatrimonial in nature (s 18(a)); and damages for bodily injuries owing to the fault of one’s spouse in terms of s 18(b) must be excluded from the division of the joint estate on divorce” (par 9 – emphasis added). In this case a very significant amount was received by the lady for the non-patrimonial loss suffered by her more than four years before the marriage had been concluded. According to the reading-in exercise of the supreme court of appeal it was not received “during the course of the marriage” and not ringfenced. As a consequence, the court upheld the appeal of the erstwhile husband after a marriage of very short duration (barely two years). He consequently successfully laid claim to fifty per cent of the more than half a million paid as non-patrimonial compensation to his wife, more than four years before he married her in community of property and only after becoming aware of the significant amount of that compensation invested by her. This decision not only flies in the face of logic and the legal principles underlying South African common law; it is in conflict with the latest developments in comparable Continental legal systems sharing the same historical and societal foundations as the South African law. This judgment provides poor consolation and it leaves a deeply imbedded discomfort, because the result is vehemently contrary to the outcome in comparable legal systems for a similar scenario. Dividing the solatium under the pretext of a division of the joint estate diminishes the solace intended for the injured.

DETERMINANT OF HEALTH PROTOCOL IMPLEMENTATION AMONG ELDERLY WITH CHRONIC DISEASE IN JEMBER

Background: Elderly is one of the vulnerable groups against COVID 19 infection. The mortality rate from COVID 19 is the highest in the elderly. The chronic disease is worsening the outcome. Objective: This study aimed to find the determinant of the implementation of health protocols among the elderly with chronic disease. Methods: This study was a correlational study conducted with a cross-sectional approach. A total of 437 elderly were selected through consecutive sampling techniques. The respondents were asked to fill the KAP questionnaire through a google form. The data were analysed using binary logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression techniques using SPSS. Result: The results showed that educational level (p-value 0,088); living arrangement (p-value 0,035); knowledge (p-value 0,026); occupation (p-value 0, 042) and the implementation of self-care management (p-value 0,047) were correlated with the implementation of health protocols among the elderly with chronic disease. Knowledge became the main determinant of the health protocol implementation among the elderly with OR 8,456 95%CI (3,495 – 20,455). Conclusion: It can be concluded that the elderly with adequate knowledge has the potential to be 8,4 times more likely to implement the health protocols properly. Health education about the appropriate implementation of health protocol needs to be carried out using a plain language that is easily accepted by the elderly

How to Put It Plainly? Findings From Two Randomized Controlled Studies on Writing Plain Language Summaries for Psychological Meta-Analyses

Plain language summaries (PLS) aim to communicate research findings to laypersons in an easily understandable manner. Despite the societal relevance of making psychological research findings available to the public, our empirical knowledge on how to write PLS of psychology studies is still scarce. In this article, we present two experimental studies investigating six characteristics of PLS for psychological meta-analyses. We specifically focused on approaches for (1) handling technical terms, (2) communicating the quality of evidence by explaining the methodological approach of meta-analyses, (3) explaining how synthesized studies operationalized their research questions, (4) handling statistical terms, (5) structuring PLS, and (6) explaining complex meta-analytic designs. To develop empirically validated guidelines on writing PLS, two randomized controlled studies including large samples stratified for education status, age, and gender (NStudy1=2,288 and NStudy2=2,211) were conducted. Eight PLS of meta-analyses from different areas of psychology were investigated as study materials. Main outcome variables were user experience (i.e., perceived accessibility, perceived understanding, and perceived empowerment) and knowledge acquisition, as well as understanding and knowledge of the quality of evidence. Overall, our hypotheses were partially confirmed, with our results underlining, among other things, the importance of explaining or replacing content-related technical terms (i.e., theoretical concepts) and indicating the detrimental effects of providing too many details on statistical concepts on user experience. Drawing on these and further findings, we derive five empirically well-founded rules on the lay-friendly communication of meta-analytic research findings in psychology. Implications for PLS authors and future research on PLS are discussed.

A Conceptual Framework of How Meeting Mindsets Shape and Are Shaped by Leader–Follower Interactions in Meetings

In this conceptual paper, we define a person's meeting mindset as the individual belief that meetings represent opportunities to realize goals falling into one of three categories: personal, relational, and collective. We propose that in alignment with their respective meeting mindsets, managers use specific leadership claiming behaviors in team meetings and express these behaviors in alignment with the meeting setting (virtual or face-to-face) and their prior experiences with their employees. Employees’ responses, however, are also influenced by their meeting mindsets, the meeting setting, and prior experiences with their managers. The interplay between managers’ leadership claiming behavior and their employees’ responses shapes leader–follower relations. Embedded in the team context, the emerging leader–follower relations impact the meaning of meetings. We outline match/mismatch combinations of manager–employee meeting mindsets and discuss the influence that a manager and employee can have on each other's meeting mindset through their behavior in a meeting. Plain Language Summary Have you ever had the experience of entering a team meeting and quickly realizing that your idea of how the meeting conversation should be approached did not align with your boss's understanding of the meeting purpose? This is indeed a common experience in meetings between managers and their employees. While we understand much about the communication dynamics that occur in meetings, we know less about what motivates people to communicate in certain ways in meetings. In this conceptual paper, we classify people's understanding of meetings as being driven by one of three purposes: [1] to strategically position and promote themselves (which reflects a personal meeting mindset), [2] to shape collaborations and to ensure reciprocation (which reflects a relational meeting mindset), or [3] to strengthen the team identity and increase the willingness to go the extra mile for the team (which reflects a collective meeting mindset). Meeting mindsets shape how people enact their leader or follower role in meetings—that is, how a manager exhibits leadership and how employees react. However, managers’ and employees’ meeting mindsets may not necessarily match, which can trigger tensions and may ultimately change the way in which managers or employees define the meaning of meetings. Our research helps managers to comprehend the reasoning behind their own and other people's meeting behavior and may promote reflection on one's leadership approach, particularly in a team meeting context. It can also help employees to grasp the power they can have in terms of actively shaping their managers’ meeting mindsets.

The vocabulary of aviation radiotelephony communication in simulator emergencies and the contradictions in air traffic controller beliefs about language use

<p>This thesis encompasses a mixed methods enquiry into the language used in air traffic control in simulated emergency situations in the United Arab Emirates. The workplaces studied employ pilots and controllers from a diverse range of language backgrounds. This research sets out to answer three questions: 1. What is the technical vocabulary of aviation radiotelephony in emergency training in the simulator? 2. To what extent is technical vocabulary used in radiotelephony in emergency training in the simulator? 3. What factors influence the use of technical vocabulary in speaking? The first part of the study investigates the nature of technical language in aviation radiotelephony. Two spoken corpora were created from recordings of three air traffic controllers from two different workplaces (Ghaf and Sandy aerodromes), undergoing emergency simulator training. Mandated standard phraseology formed a written corpus. Standard phraseology is an international language defined by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and adopted by governments for use in radiotelephony communication. Quantitative analysis showed that the technical vocabulary in aviation radiotelephony consists of proper nouns, numbers, aviation alphabet, acronyms, technical word types and multiword units. The technical word types included purely technical words e.g. taxiway and cryptotechnical vocabulary (high, medium and low frequency words with a technical meaning (Fraser, 2009)) e.g. approach. Multiword units included ICAO standard phraseology e.g. hold short or subsidiary and local phraseology in the spoken corpora e.g. Do you have any question (subsidiary) and engine start approved (local). The second part of the study examines sources of difference in language use by controllers. Technical vocabulary coverage differed between the spoken corpora at 70.52% for Ghaf Aerodrome and 51.61% for Sandy Aerodrome. Two explanations for this were: differences in the purpose of emergency training in each aerodrome; and differences in linguistic style by the Sandy controller which was established through keyword analysis. Interviews with nine controllers established further factors which are likely to affect the use of technical vocabulary in radiotelephony communication including: communication styles of native English speakers (NES) and non-native English speakers (NNES). Further examination of interview data also revealed contradictory beliefs underlying language use by controllers. Their beliefs diverge around the role of standard phraseology, its use (or not) in emergencies and the value of language training for emergencies. This divergence reflects the contradictions in definitions of standard phraseology and plain language in the literature. Differences in language use can lead to frequent miscommunication and the need for clarification of meaning in these UAE workplaces. The present study makes two contributions to the significant body of research on aviation radiotelephony. The first is an Aviation Radiotelephony Word and Number List. It is used to clarify the role of technical vocabulary and plain language in radiotelephony and to show how the technical vocabulary coverage of radiotelephony communication, in an extract from the simulator emergency training and another extract from an ICAO document, is high compared to other professions. Second, a Model of Controller Beliefs and Outcomes is presented and suggests a way to interpret divergent language outcomes in radiotelephony. The model summarises two contradictory sets of controller beliefs about standard phraseology, language in emergencies, and training. Further, the language and training outcomes reflect those beliefs. The investigation concludes with implications for training and testing in aviation for ab initio and experienced controllers. The corpora, word and number list and model all provide useful tools for the training and testing needs in these UAE workplaces. The chapter concludes with limitations of the study and future research directions.</p>