Improving performance of a permeable reactive barrier in the degradation of trichloroethylene using ultrasound

The impact of ultrasound on improving the performance of a granular iron Permeable Reactive Barrier (PRB) in the degradation of Trichloroethylene (TCE) was evaluated. Two treatment columns made of clear Plexiglas with a height of 1ft and a diameter of 2 inches and filled with granular iron were used. One was fitted with 25Khz ultrasound probes. A solution of TCE was run through at constant flow rate. Samples obtained from the column at different residence times before and after sonication were analyzed for concentrations of TCE and used to generate concentration profiles to obtain rate constants, which were compared. An improvement of 23.4% in the reaction rate of TCE degradation was observed after sonication of the iron media suggesting that ultrasound may contribute to improving the performance of PRBs in the degradation of TCE in contaminated groundwater

Consumer Attitudes and the Challenging Prospects of Ecommerce: The Ghanaian Experience

The growing application of the Internet technology continues to influence many dimensions of contemporary business practices. Attitudinal dynamics constitutes one of the instrumental applications of this piece of technological innovation of online transactions. In spite of the claimed benefits of ecommerce elsewhere, there are yet several challenges born out of unpredictable customer attitudes that continue to challenge the meaningful exploitation of this novel market experience. This study applies both qualitative and quantitative research techniques with compressed view of attitude theory as a lens to make sense of the behavioural dimensions that impinge the practice of ecommerce in developing countries. The study reveals the inherent risks connected with online trading practices and the likelihood of undermining the enduring prospects of online commercial activities, especially in the developing world has a functional bearing on attitudinal orientation

Osteomyelitis of the frontal bone

Osteomyelitis of the skull is a rare clinical presentation. It usually occurs as a complication of trauma or sinusitis. Its complications can be lifethreatening though the initial symptoms and signs are subtle. Early diagnosis and appropriate management to prevent CNS complications reduce morbidity and mortality significantly. Intracranial complications of sinusitis, focal infections and meningitis remain a great challenge. Mortality from complications is 20-40%. The prevalence of skull osteomyelitis is about 1.5% of all osteomyelitis

Social Phobia symptoms across the adult lifespan

Background: This study investigated symptom patterns that might distinguish between individuals with and without a diagnosis of Social Phobia (SP) across the adult lifespan

Engaging and empowering first-year students through curriculum design: perspectives from the literature

There is an increasing value being placed on engaging and empowering first-year students and first-year curriculum design is a key driver and opportunity to ensure early enculturation into successful learning at university. This paper summarises the literature on first-year curriculum design linked to student engagement and empowerment. We present conceptualisations of ‘curriculum’ and examples from first-year curriculum design. We also note the limited literature where students have been involved in designing first-year curricula. The results of the literature review suggest that key characteristics of engaging first-year curricula include active learning, timely feedback, relevance and challenge. The literature also points to the importance of identifying students' abilities on entry to university as well as being clear about desired graduate attributes and developmental goals. Acknowledging realities and constraints, we present a framework for the first-year curriculum design process based on the literature

The political import of deconstruction—Derrida’s limits?: a forum on Jacques Derrida’s specters of Marx after 25 Years, part I

Jacques Derrida delivered the basis of The Specters of Marx: The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning, & the New International as a plenary address at the conference ‘Whither Marxism?’ hosted by the University of California, Riverside, in 1993. The longer book version was published in French the same year and appeared in English and Portuguese the following year. In the decade after the publication of Specters, Derrida’s analyses provoked a large critical literature and invited both consternation and celebration by figures such as Antonio Negri, Wendy Brown and Frederic Jameson. This forum seeks to stimulate new reflections on Derrida, deconstruction and Specters of Marx by considering how the futures past announced by the book have fared after an eventful quarter century. Maja Zehfuss, Antonio Vázquez-Arroyo and Dan Bulley and Bal Sokhi-Bulley offer sharp, occasionally exasperated, meditations on the political import of deconstruction and the limits of Derrida’s diagnoses in Specters of Marx but also identify possible paths forward for a global politics taking inspiration in Derrida’s work of the 1990s

The development of a Scottish Physical Activity Questionnaire for Students: a tool for use in population studies.

sch_phyunpub1979unpu

An Individual-specific heart rate monitoring method of determining daily physical activity pattern in minutes.

sch_phyunpub1978unpu

Feasibility of randomized controlled trials and long-term implementation of interventions: Insights from a qualitative process evaluation of the PEDAL trial

From Frontiers via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2022-11-16, collection 2023, accepted 2023-01-03, epub 2023-02-01Peer reviewed: TrueAcknowledgements: Acknowledgments: We gratefully acknowledge all participants in the qualitative sub-study of the PEDAL Trial. We appreciate the support of Sarah Bond in the data collection process.Publication status: PublishedThis project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme. The funding body did not influence study conduct or reporting.Introduction: A multi-site randomized controlled trial was carried out between 2015 and 2019 to evaluate the impacts on quality of life of an intradialytic exercise programme for people living with chronic kidney disease. This included a qualitative process evaluation which gave valuable insights in relation to feasibility of the trial and of the intervention in the long-term. These can inform future clinical Trial design and evaluation studies. Methods: A constructivist phenomenological approach underpinned face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. Purposive recruitment ensured inclusion of participants in different arms of the PEDAL Trial, providers with different roles and trial team members from seven Renal Units in five study regions. Following ethical review, those willing took part in one interview in the Renal Unit. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed (intelligent verbatim) and inductively thematically analyzed. Results: Participants (n = 65) (Intervention arm: 26% completed; 13% who did not; Usual care arm: 13%; 46% women; 54% men; mean age 60 year) and providers (n = 39) were interviewed (23% PEDAL Trial team members). Three themes emerged: (1) Implementing the Intervention; (2) Implementing the trial; and (3) Engagement of the clinical team. Explanatory theory named “the Ideal Scenario” was developed, illustrating complex interactions between different aspects of intervention and trial implementation with the clinical context. This describes characteristics likely to optimize trial feasibility and intervention sustainability in the long-term. Key aspects of this relate to careful integration of the trial within the clinical context to optimize promotion of the trial in the short-term and engagement and ownership in the long-term. Strong leadership in both the clinical and trial teams is crucial to ensure a proactive and empowering culture. Conclusion: Novel explanatory theory is proposed with relevance for Implementation Science. The “Ideal Scenario” is provided to guide trialists in pre-emptive and ongoing risk analysis relating to trial feasibility and long-term intervention implementation. Alternative study designs should be explored to minimize the research-to-practice gap and optimize the likelihood of informative findings and long-term implementation. These might include Realist Randomized Controlled Trials and Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation studies.pubpu

The association of Social Anxiety Disorder, Alcohol Use Disorder and reproduction: Results from four nationally representative samples of adults in the USA.

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) are highly prevalent and frequently co-occur. The results of population studies suggest that SAD tends to precede AUD, and the results of laboratory studies suggest that alcohol use facilitates social behaviors in socially anxious individuals. Therefore, we posited that, in a modern context, a tendency to consume alcohol may be positively selected for among socially anxious individuals by its effect on the likelihood of finding a partner and reproducing. We tested the hypothesis that a higher proportion of individuals with a lifetime diagnosis of SAD and AUD reproduce (i.e., have at least one child) relative to individuals with SAD absent AUD in an individual participant meta-analysis based on over 65,000 adults derived from four nationally representative cross-sectional samples. We then cross-validated these findings against the results of a 10-year follow up of one of these surveys. Lifetime history of SAD was not associated with reproduction whereas lifetime history of AUD was positively associated with reproduction. There was no statistically detectable difference in the proportion of individuals with a lifetime history of SAD with or without AUD who reproduced. There was considerable heterogeneity in all of the analyses involving SAD, suggesting that there are likely to be other pertinent variables relating to SAD and reproduction that should be delineated