Use of night-time positioning equipment in care home residents with postural asymmetry : a pilot study

Twenty four-hour postural care that includes the use of night-time positioning equipment (NTPE) is being increasingly recommended. However, because most of the published studies focus on children, there is a lack of evidence on the use of NTPE in adults. The aim of this pilot study was to assess the effect of NTPE use in UK care home residents with complex health conditions and postural asymmetry. Ten care home residents trialled NTPE over a 12-week period. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected before and after each trial using standardised assessment tools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants and relatives after each trial. Staff's views were elicited via two focus groups at the end of the study. There were notable benefits of NTPE use in terms of participants' pain levels, sleep quality, risk of pressure ulcers, risk of choking, and weight. There was also evidence of improvements in participants' function, ability to undertake activities of daily living and quality of life. However, some equipment was abandoned during the trials because participants found it too hot or restrictive. This pilot study increases the evidence base for a personalised approach to 24-hour postural care that can support older people's health and well-being. Further empirical studies are required to determine how NTPE can be used to improve older people's quality of life. [Abstract copyright: © 2020 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers.

Shape-resonance-induced non-Franck–Condon effects in (2+1) resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization of the C 3Πg state of O2

We show that strong non-Franck–Condon effects observed in (2+1) resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization of the C 3Pig state of O2 are due to the ksigmau shape resonance previously observed in single-photon studies of diatomic molecules. Calculated vibrational branching ratios for the v=2,3 levels of the C 3Πg state are in reasonable agreement with experiment. Certain discrepancies remain in comparing theoretical results with the measured spectra, and possible electron-correlation effects which underly this are discussed

Statistical tests for whether a given set of independent, identically distributed draws does not come from a specified probability density

We discuss several tests for whether a given set of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) draws does not come from a specified probability density function. The most commonly used are Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, particularly Kuiper's variant, which focus on discrepancies between the cumulative distribution function for the specified probability density and the empirical cumulative distribution function for the given set of i.i.d. draws. Unfortunately, variations in the probability density function often get smoothed over in the cumulative distribution function, making it difficult to detect discrepancies in regions where the probability density is small in comparison with its values in surrounding regions. We discuss tests without this deficiency, complementing the classical methods. The tests of the present paper are based on the plain fact that it is unlikely to draw a random number whose probability is small, provided that the draw is taken from the same distribution used in calculating the probability (thus, if we draw a random number whose probability is small, then we can be confident that we did not draw the number from the same distribution used in calculating the probability).Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 6 table

Draft Genome Sequences of Antibiotic-Resistant Commensal Escherichia coli

Antimicrobial resistance is a significant public health issue. We report here the draft genome sequences of three drug-resistant strains of commensal Escherichia coli isolated from a single healthy college student. Each strain has a distinct genome, but two of the three contain an identical large plasmid with multiple resistance genes

Transient Response of Shells of Revolution by Direct Integration and Modal Superposition Methods

The results of an analytical effort to obtain and evaluate transient response data for a cylindrical and a conical shell by use of two different approaches: direct integration and modal superposition are described. The inclusion of nonlinear terms is more important than the inclusion of secondary linear effects (transverse shear deformation and rotary inertia) although there are thin-shell structures where these secondary effects are important. The advantages of the direct integration approach are that geometric nonlinear and secondary effects are easy to include and high-frequency response may be calculated. In comparison to the modal superposition technique the computer storage requirements are smaller. The advantages of the modal superposition approach are that the solution is independent of the previous time history and that once the modal data are obtained, the response for repeated cases may be efficiently computed. Also, any admissible set of initial conditions can be applied

Structural analyses for the modification and verification of the Viking aeroshell

The Viking aeroshell is an extremely lightweight flexible shell structure that has undergone thorough buckling analyses in the course of its development. The analytical tools and modeling technique required to reveal the structural behavior are presented. Significant results are given which illustrate the complex failure modes not usually observed in simple models and analyses. Both shell-of-revolution analysis for the pressure loads and thermal loads during entry and a general shell analysis for concentrated tank loads during launch were used. In many cases fixes or alterations to the structure were required, and the role of the analytical results in determining these modifications is indicated

A recurrence matrix method for the analysis of longitudinal and torsional vibrations in non-uniform multibranch beams with variable boundary conditions

An approximate method for calculating the longitudinal and torsional natural frequencies and associated modal data of a beamlike, variable cross section multibranch structure is presented. The procedure described is the numerical integration of the first order differential equations that characterize the beam element in longitudinal motion and that satisfy the appropriate boundary conditions

Restrictiveness and guidance in support systems

Restrictiveness and guidance have been proposed as methods for improving the performance of users of support systems. In many companies computerized support systems are used in demand forecasting enabling interventions based on management judgment to be applied to statistical forecasts. However, the resulting forecasts are often ‘sub-optimal’ because many judgmental adjustments are made when they are not required. An experiment was used to investigate whether restrictiveness or guidance in a support system leads to more effective use of judgment. Users received statistical forecasts of the demand for products that were subject to promotions. In the restrictiveness mode small judgmental adjustments to these forecasts were prohibited (research indicates that these waste effort and may damage accuracy). In the guidance mode users were advised to make adjustments in promotion periods, but not to adjust in non-promotion periods. A control group of users were not subject to restrictions and received no guidance. The results showed that neither restrictiveness nor guidance led to improvements in accuracy. While restrictiveness reduced unnecessary adjustments, it deterred desirable adjustments and also encouraged over-large adjustments so that accuracy was damaged. Guidance encouraged more desirable system use, but was often ignored. Surprisingly, users indicated it was less acceptable than restrictiveness