An assessment of key risk factors for surgical site infection in patients undergoing surgery for spinal metastases

Objectives This study aimed to determine the rate of surgical site infection (SSI) in patients undergoing surgery for spinal metastases, and identify key risk factors for SSI among this patient group. Methods A retrospective case note review was undertaken in 152 adult patients being treated at a single specialist centre for spinal surgery. Results Overall SSI rate was 11.2% per patients (9.7% per procedure). An increase in the risk of SSI was observed when surgery involved a greater number of vertebral levels (odds ratio 1.26, P=0.019) when controlling for primary spinal region. Controlling for the number of spinal levels, the odds of SSI increased by a factor of 5.6 (P=0.103) when the primary surgical region was thoracic, as opposed to cervical or lumbar. Conclusions In conclusion, surgery associated with multiple vertebral levels for treatment of spinal metastases, particularly of the thoracic spine, is associated with increased risk of SSI

Optically guided linear Mach Zehnder atom interferometer

We demonstrate a horizontal, linearly guided Mach Zehnder atom interferometer in an optical waveguide. Intended as a proof-of-principle experiment, the interferometer utilises a Bose-Einstein condensate in the magnetically insensitive |F=1,mF=0> state of Rubidium-87 as an acceleration sensitive test mass. We achieve a modest sensitivity to acceleration of da = 7x10^-4 m/s^2. Our fringe visibility is as high as 38% in this optically guided atom interferometer. We observe a time-of-flight in the waveguide of over half a second, demonstrating the utility of our optical guide for future sensors.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Parent and child mental health during COVID-19 in Australia: The role of pet attachment

Restrictions, social isolation, and uncertainty related to the global COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted the ways that parents and children maintain family routines, health, and wellbeing. Companion animals (pets) can be a critical source of comfort during traumatic experiences, although changes to family routines, such as those caused by COVID-19, can also bring about challenges like managing undesirable pet behaviours or pet-human interactions. We aimed to examine the relationship between pet attachment and mental health for both parents and their children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. A total of 1,034 parents living with a child under 18 years and a cat or dog completed an online cross-sectional survey between July and October 2020. Path analysis using multivariate linear regression was conducted to examine associations between objective COVID-19 impacts, subjective worry about COVID-19, human-pet attachment, and mental health. After adjusting for core demographic factors, stronger pet-child attachment was associated with greater child anxiety (parent-reported, p < .001). Parent-pet attachment was not associated with self-reported psychological distress (p = .42), however, parents who reported a strong emotional closeness with their pet reported greater psychological distress (p = .002). Findings highlight the role of pets during times of change and uncertainty. It is possible that families are turning to animals as a source of comfort, during a time when traditional social supports are less accessible. Alternatively, strong pet attachment is likely to reflect high levels of empathy, which might increase vulnerability to psychological distress. Longitudinal evidence is required to delineate the mechanisms underpinning pet attachment and mental health

Eye movement differences when recognising and learning moving and static faces

Data availability statement: The data and materials associated with the reported experiments are publicly available on the project’s page on the Open Science Framework https://osf.io/xz2hr/ .Seeing a face in motion can help subsequent face recognition. Several explanations have been proposed for this “motion advantage,” but other factors that might play a role have received less attention. For example, facial movement might enhance recognition by attracting attention to the internal facial features, thereby facilitating identification. However, there is no direct evidence that motion increases attention to regions of the face that facilitate identification (i.e., internal features) compared with static faces. We tested this hypothesis by recording participants’ eye movements while they completed the famous face recognition (Experiment 1, N = 32), and face-learning (Experiment 2, N = 60, Experiment 3, N = 68) tasks, with presentation style manipulated (moving or static). Across all three experiments, a motion advantage was found, and participants directed a higher proportion of fixations to the internal features (i.e., eyes, nose, and mouth) of moving faces versus static. Conversely, the proportion of fixations to the internal non-feature area (i.e., cheeks, forehead, chin) and external area (Experiment 3) was significantly reduced for moving compared with static faces (all ps < .05). Results suggest that during both familiar and unfamiliar face recognition, facial motion is associated with increased attention to internal facial features, but only during familiar face recognition is the magnitude of the motion advantage significantly related functionally to the proportion of fixations directed to the internal features.University Research Funding from Teesside University

Eye movement differences when recognising and learning moving and static faces

Seeing a face in motion can help subsequent face recognition. Several explanations have been proposed for this “motion advantage,” but other factors that might play a role have received less attention. For example, facial movement might enhance recognition by attracting attention to the internal facial features, thereby facilitating identification. However, there is no direct evidence that motion increases attention to regions of the face that facilitate identification (i.e., internal features) compared with static faces. We tested this hypothesis by recording participants’ eye movements while they completed the famous face recognition (Experiment 1, N = 32), and face-learning (Experiment 2, N = 60, Experiment 3, N = 68) tasks, with presentation style manipulated (moving or static). Across all three experiments, a motion advantage was found, and participants directed a higher proportion of fixations to the internal features (i.e., eyes, nose, and mouth) of moving faces versus static. Conversely, the proportion of fixations to the internal non-feature area (i.e., cheeks, forehead, chin) and external area (Experiment 3) was significantly reduced for moving compared with static faces (all ps < .05). Results suggest that during both familiar and unfamiliar face recognition, facial motion is associated with increased attention to internal facial features, but only during familiar face recognition is the magnitude of the motion advantage significantly related functionally to the proportion of fixations directed to the internal features

The agreement between parent-reported and directly measured child language and parenting behaviors

Parenting behaviors are commonly targeted in early interventions to improve children\u27s language development. Accurate measurement of both parenting behaviors and children\u27s language outcomes is thus crucial for sensitive assessment of intervention outcomes. To date, only a small number of studies have compared parent-reported and directly measured behaviors, and these have been hampered by small sample sizes and inaccurate statistical techniques, such as correlations. The Bland-Altman Method and Reduced Major Axis regression represent more reliable alternatives because they allow us to quantify fixed and proportional bias between measures. In this study, we draw on data from two Australian early childhood cohorts (N = 201 parents and slow-to-talk toddlers aged 24 months; and N = 218 parents and children aged 6-36 months experiencing social adversity) to (1) examine agreement and quantify bias between parent-reported and direct measures, and (2) to determine socio-demographic predictors of the differences between parent-reported and direct measures. Measures of child language and parenting behaviors were collected from parents and their children. Our findings support the utility of the Bland-Altman Method and Reduced Major Axis regression in comparing measurement methods. Results indicated stronger agreement between parent-reported and directly measured child language, and poorer agreement between measures of parenting behaviors. Child age was associated with difference scores for child language; however, the direction varied for each cohort. Parents who rated their child\u27s temperament as more difficult tended to report lower language scores on the parent questionnaire, compared to the directly measured scores. Older parents tended to report lower parenting responsiveness on the parent questionnaire, compared to directly measured scores. Finally, speaking a language other than English was associated with less responsive parenting behaviors on the videotaped observation compared to the parent questionnaire. Variation in patterns of agreement across the distribution of scores highlighted the importance of assessing agreement comprehensively, providing strong evidence that simple correlations are grossly insufficient for method comparisons. We discuss implications for researchers and clinicians, including guidance for measurement selection, and the potential to reduce financial and time-related expenses and improve data quality. Further research is required to determine whether findings described here are reflected in more representative populations

Precision atomic gravimeter based on Bragg diffraction

We present a precision gravimeter based on coherent Bragg diffraction of freely falling cold atoms. Traditionally, atomic gravimeters have used stimulated Raman transitions to separate clouds in momentum space by driving transitions between two internal atomic states. Bragg interferometers utilize only a single internal state, and can therefore be less susceptible to environmental perturbations. Here we show that atoms extracted from a magneto-optical trap using an accelerating optical lattice are a suitable source for a Bragg atom interferometer, allowing efficient beamsplitting and subsequent separation of momentum states for detection. Despite the inherently multi-state nature of atom diffraction, we are able to build a Mach-Zehnder interferometer using Bragg scattering which achieves a sensitivity to the gravitational acceleration of $\Delta g/g = 2.7\times10^{-9}$ with an integration time of 1000s. The device can also be converted to a gravity gradiometer by a simple modification of the light pulse sequence.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure

Three-dimensional imaging of waves and floes in the marginal ice zone during a cyclone

The marginal ice zone is the dynamic interface between the open ocean and consolidated inner pack ice. Surface gravity waves regulate marginal ice zone extent and properties, and, hence, atmosphere-ocean fluxes and ice advance/retreat. Over the past decade, seminal experimental campaigns have generated much needed measurements of wave evolution in the marginal ice zone, which, notwithstanding the prominent knowledge gaps that remain, are underpinning major advances in understanding the region’s role in the climate system. Here, we report three-dimensional imaging of waves from a moving vessel and simultaneous imaging of floe sizes, with the potential to enhance the marginal ice zone database substantially. The images give the direction–frequency wave spectrum, which we combine with concurrent measurements of wind speeds and reanalysis products to reveal the complex multi-component wind-plus-swell nature of a cyclone-driven wave field, and quantify evolution of large-amplitude waves in sea ice