SHAPING THE EVOLUTION OF THE INFORMATION FLOW: THE CENTRALIZING MECHANISMS IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN TOBACCO QUITLINE CONSORTIUM.

The research reported here is an analysis of the evolution of the relationships that comprise a single public health network, focusing especially on the position of the network administrative organization (Provan and Kenis, 2008) in the flow of knowledge among a large number of organizations providing similar services. Our study examines the North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC), a multi-sector network that spans the US and Canada and whose members provide telephone-based tobacco cessation services to anyone interested in quitting smoking. Data were collected using web-based surveys at three different points of time.

Comparison of dosage of intensive upper limb therapy for children with unilateral cerebral palsy: how big should the therapy pill be?

This study aimed to compare efficacy of two dosages of modified constraint induced movement therapy (mCIMT) and bimanual therapy on upper limb and individualized outcomes for children with unilateral cerebral palsy. This secondary analysis included two separate randomized trials that compared equal doses (high or low) of mCIMT to bimanual therapy; Study 1 (full dose--60 h) n=64 and; Study 2 (half dose--30 h) n=18 for children aged five to 16 years with unilateral cerebral palsy. Outcomes for both studies included the Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function, Assisting Hand Assessment, Jebsen Taylor Test of Hand Function and Canadian Occupational Performance Measure which were administered at baseline, three and 26 weeks.

Implementation of tobacco cessation quitline practices in the United States and Canada.

Objectives: We examined relationships between implementation of tobacco quitline practices, levels of evidence of practices, and quitline reach and spending.

Methods: In June and July 2009, a total of 176 quitline funders and providers in the United States and Canada completed a survey on quitline practices, in particular quitline-level implementation for the reported practices. From these data, we selected and categorized evidence-based and emerging quitline practices by the strength of the evidence for each practice to increase quitline efficacy and reach.

UP-BEAT (Upper Limb Baby Early Action-observation Training): protocol of two parallel randomised controlled trials of action-observation training for typically developing infants and infants with asymmetric brain lesions.

Introduction: Infants with asymmetric brain lesions are at high risk of developing congenital hemiplegia. Action-observation training (AOT) has been shown to effectively improve upper limb motor function in adults with chronic stroke. AOT is based on action observation, whereby new motor skills can be learnt by observing motor actions.

Awareness of Evidence-Based Practices by Organizations in a Publicly Funded Smoking Cessation Network.

This research examines the awareness of evidence based practices by the public organizations that fund services in the North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC). NAQC is a large, publicly funded, goal-directed "whole network," spanning both Canada and the U.S.