How Much of Current Unemployment Did We Import?

macroeconomics, unemployment

A review of important electroencephalogram features for the assessment of brain maturation in premature infants

This review describes the maturational features of the baseline electroencephalogram (EEG) in the neurologically healthy preterm infant. Features such as continuity, sleep state, synchrony and transient waveforms are described, even from extremely preterm infants and includes abundant illustrated examples. The physiological significance of these EEG features and their relationship to neurodevelopment are highlighted where known. This review also demonstrates the importance of multichannel conventional EEG monitoring for preterm infants as many of the features described are not apparent if limited channel EEG monitors are used. Conclusion: This review aims to provide healthcare professionals in the neonatal intensive care unit with guidance on the more common normal maturational features seen in the EEG of preterm infants

The Fear Reduction Exercised Early (FREE) approach to low back pain: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

This is the final version of the article. Available from BioMed Central via the DOI in this record.BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) is a major health issue associated with considerable health loss and societal costs. General practitioners (GPs) play an important role in the management of LBP; however, GP care has not been shown to be the most cost-effective approach unless exercise and behavioural counselling are added to usual care. The Fear Reduction Exercised Early (FREE) approach to LBP has been developed to assist GPs to manage LBP by empowering exploration and management of psychosocial barriers to recovery and provision of evidence-based care and information. The aim of the Low Back Pain in General Practice (LBPinGP) trial is to explore whether patients with LBP who receive care from GPs trained in the FREE approach have better outcomes than those who receive usual care. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a cluster randomised controlled superiority trial comparing the FREE approach with usual care for LBP management with investigator-blinded assessment of outcomes. GPs will be recruited and then cluster randomised (in practice groups) to the intervention or control arm. Intervention arm GPs will receive training in the FREE approach, and control arm GPs will continue to practice as usual. Patients presenting to their GP with a primary complaint of LBP will be allocated on the basis of allocation of the GP they consult. We aim to recruit 60 GPs and 275 patients (assuming patients are recruited from 75% of GPs and an average of 5 patients per GP complete the study, accounting for 20% patient participant dropout). Patient participants and the trial statistician will be blind to group allocation throughout the study. Analyses will be undertaken on an intention-to-treat basis. The primary outcome will be back-related functional impairment 6 months post-initial LBP consultation (interim data at 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 3 months), measured with the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire. Secondary patient outcomes include pain, satisfaction, quality of life, days off from work and costs of care. Secondary GP outcomes include beliefs about pain and impairment, GP confidence, and actual and reported clinical behaviour. Health economic and process evaluations will be conducted. DISCUSSION: In the LBPinGP trial, we will investigate providing an intervention during the first interaction a person with back pain has with their GP. Because the FREE approach is used within a normal GP consultation, if effective, it may be a cost-effective means of improving LBP care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12616000888460 . Registered on 6 July 2016.This study is funded and supported by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), Wellington, New Zealand. The study funder has not been involved with study design. The study funder will not be involved with or have ultimate authority over the collection, management, analysis and interpretation of data; the writing of the report; or the decision to submit the report for publication. The funder will have the opportunity to comment on draft reports before publication. SD’s work was supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Peninsula at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health

Position Reconstruction in Drift Chambers operated with Xe, CO2 (15%)

We present measurements of position and angular resolution of drift chambers operated with a Xe,CO$_2$(15%) mixture. The results are compared to Monte Carlo simulations and important systematic effects, in particular the dispersive nature of the absorption of transition radiation and non-linearities, are discussed. The measurements were carried out with prototype drift chambers of the ALICE Transition Radiation Detector, but our findings can be generalized to other drift chambers with similar geometry, where the electron drift is perpendicular to the wire planes.Comment: 30 pages, 18 figure

Reactive Oxygen Species Modulate the Barrier Function of the Human Glomerular Endothelial Glycocalyx

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a key role in the pathogenesis of proteinuria in glomerular diseases like diabetic nephropathy. Glomerular endothelial cell (GEnC) glycocalyx covers the luminal aspect of the glomerular capillary wall and makes an important contribution to the glomerular barrier. ROS are known to depolymerise glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains of proteoglycans, which are crucial for the barrier function of GEnC glycocalyx. The aim of this study is to investigate the direct effects of ROS on the structure and function of GEnC glycocalyx using conditionally immortalised human GEnC. ROS were generated by exogenous hydrogen peroxide. Biosynthesis and cleavage of GAG chains was analyzed by radiolabelling (S35 and 3H-glucosamine). GAG chains were quantified on GEnC surface and in the cell supernatant using liquid chromatography and immunofluorescence techniques. Barrier properties were estimated by measuring trans-endothelial passage of albumin. ROS caused a significant loss of WGA lectin and heparan sulphate staining from the surface of GEnC. This lead to an increase in trans-endothelial albumin passage. The latter could be inhibited by catalase and superoxide dismutase. The effect of ROS on GEnC was not mediated via the GAG biosynthetic pathway. Quantification of radiolabelled GAG fractions in the supernatant confirmed that ROS directly caused shedding of HS GAG. This finding is clinically relevant and suggests a mechanism by which ROS may cause proteinuria in clinical conditions associated with high oxidative stress. © 2013 Singh et al.published_or_final_versio

Toward a personalized real-time diagnosis in neonatal seizure detection

The problem of creating a personalized seizure detection algorithm for newborns is tackled in this paper. A probabilistic framework for semi-supervised adaptation of a generic patient-independent neonatal seizure detector is proposed. A system that is based on a combination of patient-adaptive (generative) and patient-independent (discriminative) classifiers is designed and evaluated on a large database of unedited continuous multichannel neonatal EEG recordings of over 800 h in duration. It is shown that an improvement in the detection of neonatal seizures over the course of long EEG recordings is achievable with on-the-fly incorporation of patient-specific EEG characteristics. In the clinical setting, the employment of the developed system will maintain a seizure detection rate at 70% while halving the number of false detections per hour, from 0.4 to 0.2 FD/h. This is the first study to propose the use of online adaptation without clinical labels, to build a personalized diagnostic system for the detection of neonatal seizures

Predictive validity of the UK clinical aptitude test in the final years of medical school:a prospective cohort study

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Space charge in drift chambers operated with the Xe,CO2(15%) mixture

Using prototype modules of the ALICE Transition Radiation Detector we investigate space charge effects and the dependence of the pion rejection performance on the incident angle of the ionizing particle. The average pulse height distributions in the drift chambers operated with the Xe,CO2(15%) mixture provide quantitative information on the gas gain reduction due to space charge accumulating during the drift of the primary ionization. Our results demonstrate that the pion rejection performance of a TRD is better for tracks which are not at normal incidence to the anode wires. We present detailed simulations of detector signals, which reproduce the measurements and lend strong support to our interpretation of the measurements in terms of space charge effects.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Nucl.Instrum.Meth. A. Data files available at http://www-alice.gsi.de/tr

Scans for signatures of selection in Russian cattle breed genomes reveal new candidate genes for environmental adaptation and acclimation

Domestication and selective breeding has resulted in over 1000 extant cattle breeds. Many of these breeds do not excel in important traits but are adapted to local environments. These adaptations are a valuable source of genetic material for efforts to improve commercial breeds. As a step toward this goal we identified candidate regions to be under selection in genomes of nine Russian native cattle breeds adapted to survive in harsh climates. After comparing our data to other breeds of European and Asian origins we found known and novel candidate genes that could potentially be related to domestication, economically important traits and environmental adaptations in cattle. The Russian cattle breed genomes contained regions under putative selection with genes that may be related to adaptations to harsh environments (e.g., AQP5, RAD50, and RETREG1). We found genomic signatures of selective sweeps near key genes related to economically important traits, such as the milk production (e.g., DGAT1, ABCG2), growth (e.g., XKR4), and reproduction (e.g., CSF2). Our data point to candidate genes which should be included in future studies attempting to identify genes to improve the extant breeds and facilitate generation of commercial breeds that fit better into the environments of Russia and other countries with similar climates