7,273 research outputs found
Children's brain injury : a postal follow-up of 525 children from one health region in the UK
Primary objectives: to follow-up a population of children admitted to one Hospital Trust with traumatic brain injury (TBI), and compare outcomes following mild TBI with outcomes following moderate or severe TBI.
Research design: population-based postal questionnaire survey.
Methods and procedures: questionnaires were mailed to parents of all 974 surviving children on a register of paediatric TBI admissions, 525 completed questionnaires were returned (56.2%). Most children (419) had suffered mild TBI, 57 moderate, and 49 severe.
Main outcomes and results: Thirty percent of parents received no information on post-injury symptoms, and clinical follow-up was limited. Statistically significant differences were observed between mild and moderate/severe groups for cognitive, social, emotional, and mobility problems. Nevertheless, approximately 20% of the mild group suffered from poor concentration, personality change, and educational problems post-injury. Few schools (20%) made special provision for children returning after injury.
Conclusions: children can have long lasting and wide ranging sequelae following TBI. Information should be routinely given to parents and schools after brain injury
Outcomes following childhood head injury : a population study
Objectives: To identify outcomes following head injury (HI) amongst a population of children admitted to one hospital centre and compare outcomes between different severity groups.
Methods:A postal follow-up of children admitted with HI to one NHS Trust, between 1992-1998, was carried out. Children were aged 5-15 years at injury (mean 9.8), followed-up at a mean of 2.2 years post-injury. Parents of 526 injured children (419 mild, 58 moderate, 49 severe) and 45 controls completed questionnaires. Outcomes were assessed using the King’s Outcome Scale for Childhood Head Injury (KOSCHI).
Results:Frequent behavioural, emotional, memory and attentional problems were reported by one third of the severe group, one quarter of the moderate, and 10-18% of the mild. Personality change since HI was reported for 148 children (28%) (21% mild HI, 46% moderate, 69% severe). There was a significant relationship between injury severity and KOSCHI outcomes. Following the HI, 252(48%) had moderate disability (43% mild HI, 64% moderate, 69% severe), 270(51%) made a good recovery (57% mild HI, 36% moderate, 22% severe). There was a significant association between social deprivation and poor outcome (p=0.002). Only 30%(158) of children received hospital follow-up after the HI. All children with severe disability received appropriate follow-up, but 64% of children with moderate disability received none. No evidence was found to suggest a threshold of injury severity below which the risk of late sequelae could be safely discounted.
Conclusions:Children admitted with mild HI may be at risk of poor outcomes, but often do not receive routine hospital follow-up. A postal questionnaire combined with the KOSCHI to assess outcomes after HI may be used to identify children who would benefit from clinical assessment. Further research is needed to identify factors which place children with mild HI at risk of late morbidity
Parental stress and burden following traumatic brain injury amongst children and adolescents
Primary objectives: to assess parental stress following paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) and examine the relationship between self-reported problems and parental stress and general health.
Research design: controlled interview study
Methods and procedures: Parents of ninety-seven children admitted with a TBI (49 mild, 19 moderate, 29 severe) were identified from a case register of all paediatric admissions from 1992-1998. Parents of 31 uninjured children acted as controls. Structured interviews were carried out with families, and parents assessed on the Parenting Stress Index (PSI/SF) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) at recruitment, and repeated 12 months later.
Main outcomes and results: regardless of injury severity, parents of injured children suffered greater stress than control parents as measured by the PSI/SF (p = 0.001). There was a highly significant relationship between number of problems reported and level of parental stress (p = 0.001). Financial burden was related to severity of TBI.
Conclusions: improved information, follow-up, and support is likely to reduce parental stress and family burden
Monetizing Space Debris: Getting Tax Credits On Board
Human ingenuity and creativity is said to be one of the most powerful forces on Earth. Money is and historically has been a universal motivation for human ingenuity and creativity. Outer space is not an exception to this historical trend. It is common knowledge that private sector investment in outer space ventures is escalating and this investment is the engine generating the current resurgence in space ventures. The private investments in outer space are principally directed toward resource extraction, space tourism, and other activities which hold the promise of future financial returns on the investments. Noticeably, we do not hear of private sector actors investing their funds in space ventures involving the active removal of space debris, as opposed to developing technologies to capture space debris. The absent of significant private investment in active debris removal appears to flow from the fact that there is no profit in it. Accordingly, monetizing space debris removal can serve as a potential catalysis for focusing private sector creativity and ingenuity on active debris removal.
While there are various means for monetizing space debris removal, one such avenue involves establishing a financial incentive through the extension of tax credits. While taxation associated with debris removal has generally focused on the government imposing a tax to finance debris removal efforts, that approach essentially negates private sector ingenuity. This paper will examine and explore how tax credits, rather than deductions, may spur private interest, investment, and ingenuity in active debris removal
Small Satellites and Liability Associated With Space Traffic Situational Awareness
At the commencement of the space age, satellites were very small objects that subsequently grew in size and complexity. A re-emergence of small satellites is occurring given that technology now allows them to perform certain operations of large satellites. This paper will explore the risk and liability in space traffic situational awareness associated with the proliferation in the deployment of small satellites. Small satellites encompass a range of space objects referred to as nanosatellites, microsatellites, picosatellites, cube satellites, femtosatellites and other designations. These satellites are generally placed into orbit as part of a “piggyback” payload on other launches or cargo on another space object. However, the precise orbit of a small satellite is generally unknown until after its deployment. Additionally, given their size, small satellites will generally lack the protection from natural space phenomena such as radiation storms, geomagnetic storms solar wind, coronal holes, coronal mass ejections, solar flares, plasma clouds, basic cosmic radiation as engineered into larger satellites. These and other circumstances create potential exposure to fault based liability under the Liability Convention and a corresponding obligation of indemnification or contribution by the owner/operator of a small satellite or other space object. They can also affect coverage under space insurance. This has caused some to consider small satellites to be “space junk,” “space debris” or simply a hazard in the space environment despite their benefits. Accordingly, space traffic situational awareness necessitates recognizing and mitigating the risks associated with the proliferation in the deployment of small satellites
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