The lived experience of health sciences students’ participation in an interprofessional community-based stroke class

Background. Collaborative approaches in healthcare contexts may provide better care for patients. Interprofessional circuit-based group therapy could counter profession-specific tribalism. There is no evidence on interprofessional education (IPE) community-based interventions on student learning in the health professions. Objective. To explore undergraduate health sciences students’ experience of being involved in community-based interprofessional circuit-based group therapy. Methods. Semi-structured interviews were inductively analysed exploring undergraduate health sciences students’ experience of involvement in an IPE community-based stroke intervention. Results. A total of 12 final-year students participated, with representation from physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. This IPE opportunity beneficially impacted students’ collaborative competencies in knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviours. This community-based rotation immersed students in a service-delivery environment where patient management was co-ordinated by a multiprofessional rehabilitation team. The integrated stroke circuit group activity aimed to enhance further interconnectedness between student participants. Students who were exposed to this clinical activity reported an understanding of (i) patients’ unique contexts; (ii) role development and complementary overlap between health professions; and (iii) the value of joint interventions to both patients and rehabilitation teams in resource-constrained settings. Conclusion. These students have been primed in their practice-readiness as healthcare professionals for the 21st century who will promote quality care, and embrace collaborative professional practice and person-centredness

Effects of random alloy disorder, shape deformation, and substrate misorientation on the exciton lifetime and fine structure splitting of GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs(111) quantum dots

Using atomistic, million-atom screened pseudopotential theory together with configuration interaction, as well as atomically resolved structures based on experimental characterization, we perform numerical calculations on self-assembled GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs(111) quantum dots that we compare with our experimental data. We show that random alloy disorder in the barrier can cause a symmetry breaking at the single-particle level (distortions of wave functions and lifting of degeneracies) which translates into the appearance of a nonzero exciton fine structure splitting (FSS) at the many-body level. Nevertheless, our results indicate that varying the concentration of aluminum in the random alloyed barrier allows simultaneous tuning of the exciton fine structure splitting and emission wavelength without altering its radiative lifetime tau approximate to 200 ps. Additionally, the optical properties of these quantum dots are predicted to be very robust against both symmetric and asymmetric shape elongation (with FSS 2.2 mu eV), rendering postselection less essential under well-controlled growth conditions. On the other hand, the growth on miscut substrates introduces a structural anisotropy along the quantization axis to which the system is very sensitive: the FSS ranges between 5 and 50 mu eV while the radiative lifetime of the transition is increased up to tau = 400 ps. The numerical results for the FSS are in perfect agreement with our experimental measurements which give FSS = 10 +/- 9 mu eV for 2 degrees miscut angle at x = 0.15

A Spectral Line Survey of Selected 3 mm Bands Toward Sagittarius B2(N-LMH) Using the NRAO 12 Meter Radio Telescope and the BIMA Array I. The Observational Data

We have initiated a spectral line survey, at a wavelength of 3 millimeters, toward the hot molecular core Sagittarius B2(N-LMH). This is the first spectral line survey of the Sgr B2(N) region utilizing data from both an interferometer (BIMA Array) and a single-element radio telescope (NRAO 12 meter). In this survey, covering 3.6 GHz in bandwidth, we detected 218 lines (97 identified molecular transitions, 1 recombination line, and 120 unidentified transitions). This yields a spectral line density (lines per 100 MHz) of 6.06, which is much larger than any previous 3 mm line survey. We also present maps from the BIMA Array that indicate that most highly saturated species (3 or more H atoms) are products of grain chemistry or warm gas phase chemistry. Due to the nature of this survey we are able to probe each spectral line on multiple spatial scales, yielding information that could not be obtained by either instrument alone.Comment: 35 pages, 15 figures, to be published in The Astrophysical Journa

Evidence for density dependent population regulation in southern elephant seals in the southern Indian Ocean

The means by which populations are regulated form a central theme in conservation biology, and much debate has revolved around density dependence as a mechanism driving population change. Marion Island (46o54'S, 37o45'E) is host to a relatively small breeding population of southern elephant seals, which like its counterparts in the southern Indian and southern Pacific Oceans, have declined precipitously over the past few decades. An intensive mark-recapture study, which commenced in 1983, has yielded a long time-series of resight data on this population. We used the program MARK to estimate adult female survival in this population from resight data collected over the period 1986-1999. Including concurrent population counts as covariates significantly improved our mark-recapture models and suggests density dependent population regulation to be operational in the population. Although predation may have been involved, it is far more likely that density dependent regulation has been based on a limited food supply. A significant increase in adult female survival was evident which is likely to have given rise to recent changes in population growth

Recent advances in exciton based quantum information processing in quantum dot nanostructures

Recent experimental developments in the field of semiconductor quantum dot spectroscopy will be discussed. First we report about single quantum dot exciton two-level systems and their coherent properties in terms of single qubit manipulations. In the second part we report on coherent quantum coupling in a prototype "two-qubit" system consisting of a vertically stacked pair of quantum dots. The interaction can be tuned in such quantum dot molecule devices using an applied voltage as external parameter.Comment: 37 pages, 15 figures, submitted to New Journal of Physics, focus issue on Solid State Quantum Information, added reference

Biofilm Thickness Influences Biodiversity in Nitrifying MBBRs-Implications on Micropollutant Removal

In biofilm systems for wastewater treatment (e.g., moving bed biofilms reactorsMBBRs) biofilm thickness is typically not under direct control. Nevertheless, biofilm thickness is likely to have a profound effect on the microbial diversity and activity, as a result of diffusion limitation and thus substrate penetration in the biofilm. In this study, we investigated the impact of biofilm thickness on nitrification and on the removal of more than 20 organic micropollutants in laboratory-scale nitrifying MBBRs. We used novel carriers (Z-carriers, AnoxKaldnes) that allowed controlling biofilm thickness at 50, 200, 300, 400, and 500 μm. The impact of biofilm thickness on microbial community was assessed via 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and ammonia monooxygenase (<i>amoA</i>) abundance quantification through quantitative PCR (qPCR). Results from batch experiments and microbial analysis showed that (i) the thickest biofilm (500 μm) presented the highest specific biotransformation rate constants (<i>k</i>_bio, L g^–1 d^–1) for 14 out of 22 micropollutants; (ii) biofilm thickness positively associated with biodiversity, which was suggested as the main factor for the observed enhancement of <i>k</i>_bio; (iii) the thinnest biofilm (50 μm) exhibited the highest nitrification rate (gN d^–1 g^–1), <i>amoA</i> gene abundance and <i>k</i>_bio values for some of the most recalcitrant micropollutants (i.e., diclofenac and targeted sulfonamides). Although thin biofilms favored nitrification activity and the removal of some micropollutants, treatment systems based on thicker biofilms should be considered to enhance the elimination of a broad spectrum of micropollutants

Diffusion and sorption of trace organic micropollutants in biofilm with varying thickness

Solid-liquid partitioning is one of the main fate processes determining the removal of micropollutants in wastewater. Little is known on the sorption of micropollutants in biofilms, where molecular diffusion may significantly influence partitioning kinetics. In this study, the diffusion and the sorption of 23 micropollutants were investigated in novel moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) carriers with controlled biofilm thickness (50, 200 and 500 μm) using targeted batch experiments (initial concentration = 1 μg L−1, for X-ray contrast media 15 μg L−1) and mathematical modelling. We assessed the influence of biofilm thickness and density on the dimensionless effective diffusivity coefficient f (equal to the biofilm-to-aqueous diffusivity ratio) and the distribution coefficient Kd,eq (L g−1). Sorption was significant only for eight positively charged micropollutants (atenolol, metoprolol, propranolol, citalopram, venlafaxine, erythromycin, clarithromycin and roxithromycin), revealing the importance of electrostatic interactions with solids. Sorption equilibria were likely not reached within the duration of batch experiments (4 h), particularly for the thickest biofilm, requiring the calculation of the distribution coefficient Kd,eq based on the approximation of the asymptotic equilibrium concentration (t &gt; 4 h). Kd,eq values increased with increasing biofilm thickness for all sorptive micropollutants (except atenolol), possibly due to higher porosity and accessible surface area in the thickest biofilm. Positive correlations between Kd,eq and micropollutant properties (polarity and molecular size descriptors) were identified but not for all biofilm thicknesses, thus confirming the challenge of improving predictive sorption models for positively charged compounds. A diffusion-sorption model was developed and calibrated against experimental data, and estimated f values also increased with increasing biofilm thickness. This indicates that diffusion in thin biofilms may be strongly limited (f ≪ 0.1) by the high biomass density (reduced porosity)

Prion Replication in the Mammalian Cytosol: Functional Regions within a Prion Domain Driving Induction, Propagation, and Inheritance

Prions of lower eukaryotes are transmissible protein particles that propagate by converting homotypic soluble proteins into growing protein assemblies. Prion activity is conferred by so-called prion domains, regions of low complexity that are often enriched in glutamines and asparagines (Q/N). The compositional similarity of fungal prion domains with intrinsically disordered domains found in many mammalian proteins raises the question of whether similar sequence elements can drive prion-like phenomena in mammals. Here, we define sequence features of the prototype Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sup35 prion domain that govern prion activities in mammalian cells by testing the ability of deletion mutants to assemble into self-perpetuating particles. Interestingly, the amino-terminal Q/N-rich tract crucially important for prion induction in yeast was dispensable for the prion life cycle in mammalian cells. Spontaneous and template-assisted prion induction, growth, and maintenance were preferentially driven by the carboxy-terminal region of the prion domain that contains a putative soft amyloid stretch recently proposed to act as a nucleation site for prion assembly. Our data demonstrate that preferred prion nucleation domains can differ between lower and higher eukaryotes, resulting in the formation of prions with strikingly different amyloid cores