Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences

About: Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences is a education organization based out in Oslo, Norway. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 1420 authors who have published 3508 publications receiving 77843 citations.

Classifying dementia using local binary patterns from different regions in magnetic resonance images

Abstract: Dementia is an evolving challenge in society, and no disease-modifying treatment exists. Diagnosis can be demanding and MR imaging may aid as a noninvasive method to increase prediction accuracy. We explored the use of 2D local binary pattern (LBP) extracted from FLAIR and T1 MR images of the brain combined with a Random Forest classifier in an attempt to discern patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), Lewy body dementia (LBD), and normal controls (NC). Analysis was conducted in areas with white matter lesions (WML) and all of white matter (WM). Results from 10-fold nested cross validation are reported as mean accuracy, precision, and recall with standard deviation in brackets. The best result we achieved was in the two-class problem NC versus AD + LBD with total accuracy of 0.98 (0.04). In the three-class problem AD versus LBD versus NC and the two-class problem AD versus LBD, we achieved 0.87 (0.08) and 0.74 (0.16), respectively. The performance using 3DT1 images was notably better than when using FLAIR images. The results from the WM region gave similar results as in the WML region. Our study demonstrates that LBP texture analysis in brain MR images can be successfully used for computer based dementia diagnosis.

Stimulus Sorting: A Quick and Sensitive Index of Equivalence Class Formation

Abstract: Fifty college students were given standard matching-to-sample-based training and testing to form three 5-member equivalence classes that had linear series training structures (A→B→C→D→E) A matching to sample (MTS) based derived-relations test was used to assess the emergence of the classes Thereafter, 15 cards, each of which contained one of the 15 stimuli in the classes, were given to the participants who were asked to sort them into piles of “related” cards There was a very high concordance between measures of equivalence-class formation produced by relation tests and sorting tests In some cases, sorting tests appeared to be more sensitive to tracking class formation than the MTS-based derived-relations tests In addition, sorting tests were administered in a fraction of the time needed to administer an MTS-based derived-relations test to document class formation Finally, sorting test data were very easy to interpret, especially when findings other than experimenter-defined class formation was produced Therefore, sorting may be a viable alternative for tracking equivalence class formation

Is marriage/cohabitation beneficial for young people? Some evidence on psychological distress among Norwegian college students

Abstract: Although a large number of studies have examined the association between marital status or cohabitation on the one hand and psychological distress on the other, few have looked specifically at young people. Theoretically, the effects of marriage may be expected to vary with age, and differential selection into or out of marriage/cohabitation may also have different implications at different age levels. This paper uses cross-sectional data on about 2300 Norwegian college students aged from 19 to 30; for nearly 1000 of these two-wave panel data are also used. Psychological distress is measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), and linear regression analysis is used. Cross-sectional analyses show that among female students marriage/cohabitation is associated with less distress. For male students the association changes with age; in the youngest group, married/cohabiting men are more distressed than those living alone, this is reversed beyond about 23 years of age. The longitudinal analyses show that termination of marriage/cohabitation is associated with increased distress. Going from single living to marriage/cohabitation does not seem to have any effect, however. These results are interpreted as providing some tentative support for social selection effects, and for the stressfulness of terminating a marriage or relationship of cohabitation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Do behavioral disturbances predict falls among nursing home residents

Abstract: Background and aims: The purpose of our study was to examine whether severity of dementia, behavioral and psychological symptoms and depression can predict falls among nursing home residents, such as demographic variables, activities of daily living, and use of psychotropic drugs, when potential confounders are controlled for. Methods: 1147 nursing home residents were examined in this one-year follow- up study. All residents were examined with the Physical Self-Maintenance scale (Activities of Daily Living— ADL), Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. Demographic data, gender, education, physical health and use of medication were collected from medical records. Results: 40% of participants had at least one fall during the one-year follow-up period. Bivariate survival analysis revealed that low level of education, severe dementia, severe behavioral and psychological symptoms, severe depression, greater functional impairment, age, worsening in physical health, and use of sedatives, significantly predict one or more falls. Multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that age, higher scores on NPI and CDR, use of sedatives and dependency in ADL were all, independently of each other, predictors of an increased risk of falling. Conclusions: Having a high NPI score was identified as a significant and independent predictor of falls. Since falling is a common event which causes considerable morbidity and mortality in older people, these findings are important for healthcare and for the individuals concerned. To prevent falling in nursing homes, special attention must be paid to residents with severe dementia, to behavioral symptoms and use of sedatives.

The working relationship between social worker and service user in an activation policy context

Abstract: Recognition of the human relationships as a means of creating change and development is fundamental to social work. However, the shift in European welfare policy in the 1990s redirected the objective of social work towards policy goals of work and activation outcomes. It is debatable whether this activation context influences the social worker/user relationship regarding social work ideals such as empowerment and user involvement. This qualitative case study of encounters between social workers and users enrolled in a Norwegian activation programme explores their interaction as a working relationship. By focusing on the doing of social work, our aim is to identify how social workers approach users in their efforts to develop relationships that meet the programme’s required goals of work, activation and user involvement, and what their approach means for the development of working relationships. The findings show that social workers pragmatically utilize approaches ranging from bureaucratic to pers...