Development of Peer-Led Medical Education Initiatives at The University of Leicester

Over the past five years, students at The University of Leicester Medical School have been pioneering large scale peer-led education initiatives and a number of programmes have been set up to complement the formal medical curriculum. These provide a structure through which senior medical students with an interest in teaching can offer academic support to their junior colleagues. Peer-led teaching is unique in form and enhances understanding through use of simple language and the insight of recent experience. The courses have proven to be popular with the majority of each cohort attending. The most established of these teaching programmes is the ESA Insight revision course, which runs over eleven weeks and aids third year students in preparation for the Phase 1 Integrated Medical Sciences Assessment, covering all modules learned thus far. Each session comprises a short lecture and a series of case studies undertaken in small groups. The emphasis of the course is the integration and application of knowledge rather than examination coaching. Organisation, teaching material production and delivery is all undertaken by senior medical students

Late spring and summer patterns of euphausiid reproduction in Southeast Alaska fjord waters

Abundance, size and development stage data for furcilia and juvenile euphausiids and data on timing and prevalence of attached spermatophores on adult females are used to infer spawning times by four euphausiid species in Frederick Sound and lower Stephens Passage, Southeast Alaska. Results from net tows conducted between late May and September 2008 and a single, opportunistic dip-net sample on 21 April indicate that Thysanoessa raschii and T. longipes spawned in association with the spring phytoplankton bloom and continued spawning until June, with juveniles first appearing in mid-late June. Presence of female T. spinifera carrying spermatophores in mid-April indicate that T. spinifera spawns in association with the spring bloom as well; however, absence of larval T. spinifera suggest that spawning in the inshore waters is comparatively rare. In contrast, observations of female Euphausia pacifica carrying spermatophores from late May-August and the first appearance of early furcilia in August indicate that spawning occurs, at least to some extent, after the primary bloom. However, the appearance of juvenile E. pacifica in late June suggests that spawning occurred earlier as well and in discrete bouts. We argue that the absence of E. pacifica furcilia that were likely to have originated from an early spawning event may indicate that E. pacifica juveniles observed in late June were advected into the study region from the Gulf of Alaska. Overall, phenology of seasonal reproduction in this Alaskan fjord is similar to that observed in coastal waters in arctic and temperate ecosystems.Keywords: Spawning timing, Euphausiids, Southeast Alaska, Juvenile, Larva, Fjor

Double-magic nature of 132Sn and 208Pb through lifetime and cross-section measurements

Single-neutron states in Sn133 and Pb209, which are analogous to single-electron states outside of closed atomic shells in alkali metals, were populated by the (Be9, Be8) one-neutron transfer reaction in inverse kinematics using particle-γ coincidence s

High-precision B(E2) measurements of semi-magic Ni 58,60,62,64 by Coulomb excitation

High-precision reduced electric-quadrupole transition probabilities B(E2;01+→21+) have been measured from single-step Coulomb excitation of semi-magic Ni58,60,62,64 (Z=28) beams at 1.8 MeV per nucleon on a natural carbon target. The energy loss of the

Electromagnetic properties of the 21+ state in 134Te: Influence of core excitation on single-particle orbits beyond 132Sn

The g factor and B(E2) of the first excited 2+ state have been measured following Coulomb excitation of the neutron-rich semimagic nuclide 134Te (two protons outside 132Sn) produced as a radioactive beam. The precision achieved matches related g-factor m

Investigating High-Energy Proton-Induced Reactions on Spherical Nuclei: Implications for the Pre-Equilibrium Exciton Model

A number of accelerator-based isotope production facilities utilize 100- to 200-MeV proton beams due to the high production rates enabled by high-intensity beam capabilities and the greater diversity of isotope production brought on by the long range of high-energy protons. However, nuclear reaction modeling at these energies can be challenging because of the interplay between different reaction modes and a lack of existing guiding cross section data. A Tri-lab collaboration has been formed among the Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos, and Brookhaven National Laboratories to address these complexities by characterizing charged-particle nuclear reactions relevant to the production of established and novel radioisotopes. In the inaugural collaboration experiments, stacked-targets of niobium foils were irradiated at the Brookhaven Linac Isotope Producer (E$_p$=200 MeV) and the Los Alamos Isotope Production Facility (E$_p$=100 MeV) to measure $^{93}$Nb(p,x) cross sections between 50 and 200 MeV. The measured cross-section results were compared with literature data as well as the default calculations of the nuclear model codes TALYS, CoH, EMPIRE, and ALICE. We developed a standardized procedure that determines the reaction model parameters that best reproduce the most prominent reaction channels in a physically justifiable manner. The primary focus of the procedure was to determine the best parametrization for the pre-equilibrium two-component exciton model. This modeling study revealed a trend toward a relative decrease for internal transition rates at intermediate proton energies (E$_p$=20-60 MeV) in the current exciton model as compared to the default values. The results of this work are instrumental for the planning, execution, and analysis essential to isotope production.Comment: 37 pages, 62 figures. Revised version, published in Physical Review

Design, construction, and characterization of a compact DD neutron generator designed for 40Ar/39Ar geochronology

A next-generation, high-flux DD neutron generator has been designed, commissioned, and characterized, and is now operational in a new facility at the University of California Berkeley. The generator, originally designed for 40Ar/39Ar dating of geological materials, has since served numerous additional applications, including medical isotope production studies, with others planned for the near future. In this work, we present an overview of the High Flux Neutron Generator (HFNG) which includes a variety of simulations, analytical models, and experimental validation of results. Extensive analysis was performed in order to characterize the neutron yield, flux, and energy distribution at specific locations where samples may be loaded for irradiation. A notable design feature of the HFNG is the possibility for sample irradiation internal to the cathode, just 8 mm away from the neutron production site, thus maximizing the neutron flux (n/cm2/s). The generator's maximum neutron flux at this irradiation position is 2.58e7 n/cm2/s +/- 5% (approximately 3e8 n/s total yield) as measured via activation of small natural indium foils. However, future development is aimed at achieving an order of magnitude increase in flux. Additionally, the deuterium ion beam optics were optimized by simulations for various extraction configurations in order to achieve a uniform neutron flux distribution and an acceptable heat load. Finally, experiments were performed in order to benchmark the modeling and characterization of the HFNG.Comment: 31 pages, 20 figure

Magnetic moments of 2 1 + states in 124,126,128 Sn

The g factors of the first-excited states of stable 124Sn and radioactive 126,128Sn were measured by the recoil-in-vacuum method with comparatively high precision. The experiments were performed at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility by Coulomb e

Estimating EQ-5D utilities based on the Short-Form Long Term Conditions Questionnaire (LTCQ-8)

Purpose: The aim of this work was to develop a mapping algorithm for estimating EuroQoL 5 Dimension (EQ-5D) utilities from responses to the Long-Term Conditions Questionnaire (LTCQ), thus increasing LTCQ’s potential as a comprehensive outcome measure for evaluating integrated care initiatives. Methods: We combined data from three studies to give a total sample of 1334 responses. In each of the three datasets, we randomly selected 75% of the sample and combined the selected random samples to generate the estimation dataset, which consisted of 1001 patients. The unselected 25% observations from each dataset were combined to generate an internal validation dataset of 333 patients. We used direct mapping models by regressing responses to the LTCQ-8 directly onto EQ-5D-5L and EQ-5D-3L utilities as well as response (or indirect) mapping to predict the response level that patients selected for each of the five EQ-5D-5L domains. Several models were proposed and compared on mean squared error and mean absolute error. Results: A two-part model with OLS was the best performing based on the mean squared error (0.038) and mean absolute error (0.147) when estimating the EQ-5D-5L utilities. A multinomial response mapping model using LTCQ-8 responses was used to predict EQ-5D-5L responses levels. Conclusions: This study provides a mapping algorithm for estimating EQ-5D utilities from LTCQ responses. The results from this study can help broaden the applicability of the LTCQ by producing utility values for use in economic analyses

Early Signal of Emerging Nuclear Collectivity in Neutron-Rich 129Sb

Radioactive 129Sb, which can be treated as a proton plus semimagic 128Sn core within the particle-core coupling scheme, was studied by Coulomb excitation. Reduced electric quadrupole transition probabilities, B(E2), for the 2+ ⊗ πg7=2 multiplet members and candidate πd5=2 state were measured. The results indicate that the total electric quadrupole strength of 129Sb is a factor of 1.39(11) larger than the 128Sn core, which is in stark contrast to the expectations of the empirically successful particle-core coupling scheme. Shell-model calculations performed with two different sets of nucleon-nucleon interactions suggest that this enhanced collectivity is due to constructive quadrupole coherence in the wave functions stemming from the proton-neutron residual interactions, where adding one nucleon to a core near a double-shell closure can have a pronounced effect. The enhanced electric quadrupole strength is an early signal of the emerging nuclear collectivity that becomes dominant away from the shell closure.The authors gratefully acknowledge the HRIBF operations staff for providing the beams used in this study and T. Papenbrock, A. Volya, and J. L. Wood for fruitful discussions. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, under Contract No. DE-AC05- 00OR22725, and this research used resources of the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which was a DOE Office of Science User Facility. This research was also sponsored by the Australian Research Council under Grants No. DP0773273 and No. DP170101673, and by the U.S. DOE under Contract No. DE-FG02-96ER40963 (U. T. K.). T. J. G. acknowledges the support of the Australian Government Research Training Program. E. P.-R. acknowledges the financial support of Tecnológica-Universidad Nacional Autónoma de M´exico, Grant No. PAPIIT-IN110418