The Back Pain and Movement (B-PAM) registry; a study protocol

BACKGROUND:Low back pain (LBP) is a ubiquitous, heterogeneous disorder that affects most people at some point in their lives. The efficient management of LBP remains elusive, with direct and indirect costs attributed to LBP surpassing many other common conditions. An emphasis on a structural basis of LBP often fails to recognize movement, specifically patterns of movement that may provide biomechanical signatures of painful conditions. The primary objective of this registry is to understand the differences in movement patterns among those with LBP and those without pain in a U.S. population sample. METHODS:This ongoing, non-randomized, prospective post-market registry will consist of two groups: patients with LBP, and age and sex-matched controls without LBP. We will seek to recruit 132 subjects in each group. Data collection will take place in two phases: (1) baseline assessment of LBP patients and matched controls; (2) assessment of LBP patients at 6 and 12-months follow up. The primary outcome measure will be differences in movement patterns between those with LBP and those without LBP. Secondary outcomes will include differences in patient reported outcomes including pain, disability and quality of life. DISCUSSION:The findings will help determine if there are meaningful differences in movement patterns between those with and those without LBP. Further, an initial understanding of movement signatures specific to certain subtypes of patients with LBP may be achieved. TRIAL REGISTRATION:The study was registered on the clinicaltrials.gov portal: NCT03001037 . Trial retrospectively registered 12/22/2016

Designing, developing and implementing a software tool for scenario based learning

The pedagogical value of problem-based and inquiry-based learning activities has led to increased use of this approach in many courses. While scenarios or case studies were initially presented to learners as text-based material, the development of modern software technology provides the opportunity to deliver scenarios as e-learning modules, providing learners with a more accessible and engaging learning experience. Scenario Based Learning - interactive (SBLi) has been specifically developed to provide teachers and trainers with a generic tool that enables them to easily build interactive, multimedia scenarios without requiring programming skills. The software consists of a builder and player application, for constructing and playing scenarios from hard drives or from a CD/DVD, and a server-based player and manager, for deploying scenarios on the web, either for public use or for restricted and managed use in specific courses. This paper describes the history of SBLi, its design and operational features, how SBLi is being used to achieve innovative and effective learning experiences, and the practical issues that need to be addressed in supporting and sustaining e-learning software such as SBLi

Long Term X-ray Monitoring Of The TeV Binary LS I +61 303 with RXTE

We report on the results of a long term X-ray monitoring campaign of the galactic binary LS I +61 303 performed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. This dataset consists of 1 ks pointings taken every other day between 2007 August 28 until 2008 February 2. The observations covered six full cycles of the 26.496 day binary period and constitute the largest continuous X-ray monitoring dataset on LS I +61 303 to date with this sensitivity. There is no statistically strong detection of modulation of flux or photon index with orbital phase; however, we do find a strong correlation between flux and photon index, with the spectrum becoming harder at higher fluxes. The dataset contains three large flaring episodes, the largest of these reaching a flux level of 7.2 (+0.1,-0.2)*10^-11 erg cm^-2 s^-1 in the 3-10 keV band, which is a factor of three times larger than flux levels typically seen in the system. Analysis of these flares shows the X-ray emission from LS I +61 303 changing by up to a factor of six over timescales of several hundred seconds as well as doubling times as fast as 2 seconds. This is the fastest variability ever observed from LS I +61 303 at this wavelength and places constraints on the size of the X-ray emitting region.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap

Patient and public involvement in primary care research - an example of ensuring its sustainability

Background The international literature on patient and public involvement (PPI) in research covers a wide range of issues, including active lay involvement throughout the research cycle; roles that patients/public can play; assessing impact of PPI and recommendations for good PPI practice. One area of investigation that is less developed is the sustainability and impact of PPI beyond involvement in time-limited research projects. Methods This paper focuses on the issues of sustainability, the importance of institutional leadership and the creation of a robust infrastructure in order to achieve long-term and wide-ranging PPI in research strategy and programmes. Results We use the case of a Primary Care Research Centre to provide a historical account of the evolution of PPI in the Centre and identified a number of key conceptual issues regarding infrastructure, resource allocation, working methods, roles and relationships. Conclusions The paper concludes about the more general applicability of the Centre’s model for the long-term sustainability of PPI in research

The Interpersonal Style and Complementarity Between Crisis Negotiators and Forensic Inpatients

Previous negotiation research has explored the interaction and communication between crisis negotiators and perpetrators. A crisis negotiator attempts to resolve a critical incident through negotiation with an individual, or group of persons in crisis. The purpose of this study was to establish the interpersonal style of crisis negotiators and complementarity of the interpersonal interaction between them and forensic inpatients. Crisis negotiators, clinical workers and students (n = 90) used the Check List of Interpersonal Transactions-Revised (CLOIT-R) to identify interpersonal style, along with eight vignettes detailing interpersonal styles. Crisis negotiators were most likely to have a friendly interpersonal style compared to the other non-trained groups. Complementarity theory was not exclusively supported as submissive individuals did not show optimistic judgments in working with dominant forensic inpatients and vice versa. Exploratory analysis revealed that dominant crisis negotiators were optimistic in working with forensic inpatients with a dominant interpersonal style. This study provides insight into the area of interpersonal complementarity of crisis negotiators and forensic inpatients. Whilst further research is required, a potential new finding was established, with significant ‘similarity’ found when dominant crisis negotiators are asked to work with dominant forensic inpatients

Quantifying the exposure of humans and the environment to oil pollution in the Niger Delta using advanced geostatistical techniques

The Niger Delta is one of the largest oil producing regions of the world. Large numbers and volumes of oil spills have been reported in this region. What has not been quantified is the putative exposure of humans and/or the environment to this hydrocarbon pollution. In this novel study, advanced geostatistical techniques were applied to an extensive database of oil spill incidents from 2007 to 2015. The aims were to (i) identify and analyse spill hotspots along the oil pipeline network and (ii) estimate the exposure of the hydrocarbon pollution to the human population and the environment within the Niger Delta. Over the study period almost 90 million litres of oil were released. Approximately 29% of the human population living in proximity to the pipeline network has been potentially exposed to oil contamination, of which 565,000 people live within high or very high spill intensity sectors. Over 1000 km2 of land has been contaminated by oil pollution, with broadleaved forest, mangroves and agricultural land the most heavily impacted land cover types. Proximity to the coast, roads and cities are the strongest spatial factors contributing to spill occurrence, which largely determine the accessibility of sites for pipeline sabotage and oil theft. Overall, the findings demonstrate the high levels of environmental and human exposure to hydrocarbon pollutants in the Niger Delta. These results provide evidence with which to spatially target interventions to reduce future spill incidents and mitigate the impacts of previous spills on human communities and ecosystem health

Video monitoring reveals novel threat to Critically Endangered captive bred and released Regent Honeyeaters

Nest predation is a primary cause of nest failure in open-cup nesting woodland birds and low reproductive success is a common reason why reintroduced species fail to establish in the wild. We used video monitoring to record the breeding outcomes and identify the causes of nest failure in a reintroduced population of the Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeater. We intensively monitored 28 nesting attempts of 13 pairs during the 2015 breeding season, and found that the probability of individual nest success was 0.21 (from egg laying to fledging). We report for the first time Sugar and Squirrel Gliders depredating Regent Honeyeater nests. In addition to losses attributed to predation, a high proportion of chicks died in the nest from unknown causes. Our results show that rates of nest initiation and success are low in reintroduced Regent Honeyeaters, and future reintroductions should attempt to mitigate the threat of nest predation. Other sources of nest failure and barriers to nest initiation and egg laying are priority areas for future research

Testing abundance-range size relationships in European carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae).

between abundance and range size (the sampling artifact, phylogenetic non-independence, range position and resource breadth hypotheses) were tested by using atlas data for carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands. A positive relationship between abundance and partial range size was found in all three countries, and the variation in abundance was lower for widespread species. Analysis of the data did not support three of the proposed hypotheses, but did support the resource breadth hypothesis (species having broader environmental tolerances and being able to use a wider range or resources will have higher local densities and be more widely distributed than more specialised species). Examination of species’ characteristics revealed that widespread species are generally large bodied, generalists (species with wide niche breadths occurring in a variety of habitat types) and are little influenced by human-altered landscapes, while species with restricted distributions are smaller bodied, specialists (species with small niche breadths occurring in only one or two habitat types), and favour natural habitat. Landscape alteration may be an important factor influencing carabid abundance and range size in these three countries with a long history of human-induced environmental changes

Enablers of help-seeking for deaf and disabled children following abuse and barriers to protection: a qualitative study

Research internationally has highlighted the increased vulnerability of deaf or disabled children to abuse and the frequently inadequate response of services. However, first-hand accounts of deaf or disabled children have rarely been sought. This paper reports selected findings from one of the first studies exploring deaf and disabled children’s experiences of help-seeking following maltreatment. Innovative and sensitive research methods were employed to support ten deaf or disabled people (children and adults) to take part in guided conversations. The study identifies three enablers of help-seeking of deaf or disabled children: the capacity of adults to detect abuse and respond to disclosures, supportive relationships or circumstances which facilitate disclosure; and, for Deaf children, access to registered interpreters. Barriers to protection related to these are also discussed. Recommendations directed at policy makers, practitioners and families include: education and awareness raising amongst practitioners, children, parents and carers; addressing deaf and disabled children’s social isolation; providing comprehensive support services that address the needs of the child holistically; ensuring the voice of the child is heard; routine access to registered interpreters for Deaf children within mainstream and specialist services and measures to address disablism at a local and institutional level