Fine-grained concurrent object-oriented programming (COOP) models which provide a shared names-pace, object-level concurrency and implicit dynamic thread creation can simplify the programming of irregular parallel applications on distributed memory machines. Unfortunately, COOP models are often perceived as ineecient and thus few complete applications have been implemented in COOP languages. In...

Asia Pacific is one of the 6 regions of the World Organization of Family Doctors (Wonca). It is a region with 16 full and 2 associate members coming from 14 countries. One of the main activities in the region is the regional conference highlighted by the Wes Fabb Oration.This Fourth Wes Fabb Oration has a historical perspective and three main parts: the results of a cross sectional survey done ...

BACKGROUND Almost half of Canadians experience difficulty using print media, according to the 1994 International Adult Literacy Survey. Our objectives were to estimate the prevalence of low-literacy patients in our practice, to determine whether reading grade level is associated with self-perceived health status in primary care, and to evaluate the reading difficulty of commonly used patient ed...

BACKGROUND This study was performed to investigate the effects of air pollution and seasonality on the respiratory symptoms and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) of outpatients with respiratory diseases in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Subjects were outpatients who visited the hospital with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) or bronchial asthma (BA) in March. Their symptoms and HR-QoL...

OBJECTIVES To compare outcome and resource utilisation among patients referred to the Amalthea Project, a liaison organisation that facilitates contact between voluntary organisations and patients in primary care, with patients receiving routine general practitioner care. DESIGN Randomised controlled trial with follow up at one and four months. SETTING 26 general practices in Avon. PARTIC...

OBJECTIVE This study was aimed to develop a tool for the standardized assessment of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) to assist the choice of instruments. METHODS An expert panel adapted the eight attributes proposed by the Medical Outcomes Trust as evaluation review criteria, created items to evaluate them, and included a response scale for each item. A pilot test was designed to test the new...

BACKGROUND The aim of this investigation was to assess whether measures of physical functioning after multidisciplinary rehabilitation are associated with return to work among individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions and comorbid depressive symptoms. METHODS Included were 92 employees with chronic musculoskeletal disorders who had participated in a 57- week multidisciplinary r...

INTRODUCTION There is little information as to what extent adverse drug reactions (ADRs) influence patients' health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). From a pharmacovigilance perspective, capturing and making the best use of this information remains a challenge. The Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb received about 1800 reports after the packaging of the drug Thyrax(®) (levothyroxine; A...

Recent research has highlighted the value of incorporating metacognitive prompts into cooperative learning. This study explores effects presence or absence in group individual learning on awareness and EFL writing outcomes. A total 170 university students were assigned to one four treatment conditions: collaborative with (COOP + META), without (COOP), (INDI (INDI). After treatment, learners exp...

OBJECTIVE Promptly treated erythema migrans (EM) has good prognosis. However, some patients report persistent symptoms. Do patients with EM have more symptoms than the general population? We describe individual symptoms and general function in EM-patients at time of diagnosis and one year after treatment. DESIGN Prospective study with 1-year follow up after treatment. Questionnaires included ...