This article presents practical guidelines for the design of interactive software for children with autism. Many existing software design techniques rely on social interaction and so are not appropriate for this group, and little practical guidance is available. The guidelines presented are based on research experiences during the development of an interactive software game called TouchStory, which was designed to promote an understanding of narrative structure while adapting to the learning needs of individual children with autism. Our results indicate that some children with autism were actively engaged in self‐directed, curiosity‐driven learning, and found TouchStory enjoyable, even after repeated exposures on as many as 20 occasions. The guidelines are not limited to the appearance and behaviour of the software system, and may be fundamental to the research questions asked and the approach adopted. They provide a useful basis for furthering our understanding of the provision of assistive technology for children with autism.

Depression in older adults is often overlooked and dismissed as a part of aging. A body of knowledge-both quantitative and qualitative-has developed on the topic of depression in older adults. Meta-analyses and systematic reviews have been used to synthesize the quantitative findings of studies, and our research seeks to synthesize the qualitative studies that have been conducted on elders' experience with depression. Thirteen studies met inclusion criteria, and 4 major themes were extracted: experiences, causes, recovery, and barriers to treatment. These themes are detailed and their implications for practice are explored.

IntroductionAlternative Nicotine Delivery Systems (ANDS) such as e-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that aerosolize nicotine and other substances to simulate smoking without using tobacco. Little is known about the ANDS initiation process among adult smokers. The aims of this research are threefold to: (1) examine how ANDS use affects cigarette use; (2) examine how the immediate environmental and psychosocial contexts of cigarette and ANDS use vary within—and between—participants in general and by menthol preference and race; and, (3) examine participants' ‘lived experience’ of the subjective perceptions, meaning, influences and utility of cigarette and ANDS use.Methods and analysesThis study's mixed method, 6-week longitudinal design will produce a detailed description of the ANDS initiation process among adult smokers (N=100). Qualitative and quantitative data collection will include 3 weeks of: (1) ecological momentary assessment of patterns of cigarette/ANDS use, satisfaction, mood and craving; (2) geospatial assessment of participants' environment, including indoor and outdoor cigarette/ANDS norms and rules; (3) in-depth interviews about the meaning and utility of cigarette smoking and ANDS use; and, (4) saliva cotinine and exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) biomarkers. A diverse sample will be recruited with an equal number of menthol and non-menthol cigarette smokers. As the primary independent variable, we will investigate how ANDS use affects cigarette consumption. We will also examine how smoking-related and ANDS-related rules and norms surrounding product use influence cigarette and ANDS product use, and how the subjective effects of ANDS use affect ANDS perceptions, beliefs and use.Ethics and disseminationThis study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the US National Institutes of Health (1R21DA036472), registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02261363), and approved by the Chesapeake IRB (Pro00008526). Findings will be disseminated to the scientific and lay community through presentations, reports and scientific publications.Trial registration numberNCT02261363; Pre-results.

IntroductionPatients seen by ambulance paramedics but not transported to hospital have not previously been studied in Australia. The purpose of this pilot study is to determine the feasibility of telephone interviews to describe and analyse patient factors, and determine short term patient outcomes associated with paramedic no-transport decisions.MethodTwenty (20) patients participated in semi-structured telephone interviews 13-30 days following an episode of care from an Australian urban ambulance service. Data analysis was conducted in two phases; firstly, a quantitative description of the patient characteristics and their outcomes; and secondly, a qualitative analysis using a thematic framework to determine if there were any common themes emerging from the interviews.ResultsOnly three (3) patients refused to participate in the interviews and none were unable to be located. The reasons patients expressed for not accepting transport were varied, though a common factor related to patient expectations of the service provided by paramedics. Patients had poor recall of advice provided by paramedics. All except one patient were successfully diverted from the emergency health system. Overall, patients expressed high satisfaction with their experience.ConclusionThe reasons patients choose for not being transported require further study but appear to be driven by their expectations of the service provided by Paramedics. Telephone interviews are a viable method for collecting data on non-transported ambulance patients.

???The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com???. Copyright Springer. DOI: 10.1007/s10209-007-0076-x [Full text of this article is not available in the UHRA]Children with autism exhibit a deficit in narrative comprehension which adversely impacts upon their social world. The authors??? research agenda is to develop an interactive software system which promotes an understanding of narrative structure (and thus the social world) while addressing the needs of individual children. This paper reports the results from a longitudinal study, focussing on ???primitive??? elements of narrative, presented as proto-narratives, in an interactive software game which adapts to the abilities of individual children. A correlation has been found with a real-world narrative comprehension task, and for most children a clear distinction in their understanding of narrative components

Palliative care is appropriate for patients with COPD and should be integrated with disease-specific therapies. The line between life prolonging and palliative care undoubtedly overlaps and maximizing quality of life throughout the continuum of care should be prioritized for patients with this progressive illness.

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Antifibrinolytic drugs are used to promote hemostasis and decrease the need for red blood cell transfusion. Medical records of 122 dogs that were prescribed either oral or intravenous aminocaproic acid between 2010 and 2012 were evaluated retrospectively. Of the 122 dogs, three experienced possible drug-related adverse effects. No significant differences were identified between dogs that experienced adverse effects and those that did not and the possible adverse effects noted were all minor. All dogs that received packed red blood cell transfusions were evaluated for correlations between baseline packed cell volume or dose of red blood cells and aminocaproic acid dose and no correlation was identified. Dogs that received aminocaproic acid as a treatment for active bleeding were divided by cause of hemorrhage into the following groups: neoplastic, non-neoplastic, and unknown. No significant differences in aminocaproic acid dose or the percentage of patients requiring a blood transfusion were identified between groups.