1,573 research outputs found
Technical innovation changes standard radiographic protocols in veterinary medicine: is it necessary to obtain two dorsoproximal-palmarodistal oblique views of the equine foot when using computerised radiography systems?
Since the 1950s, veterinary practitioners have included two separate dorsoproximalâpalmarodistal oblique (DPrâPaDiO) radiographs as part of a standard series of the equine foot. One image is obtained to visualise the distal phalanx and the other to visualise the navicular bone. However, rapid development of computed radiography and digital radiography and their post-processing capabilities could mean that this practice is no longer required. The aim of this study was to determine differences in perceived image quality between DPrâPaDiO radiographs that were acquired with a computerised radiography system with exposures, centring and collimation recommended for the navicular bone versus images acquired for the distal phalanx but were subsequently manipulated post-acquisition to highlight the navicular bone. Thirty images were presented to four clinicians for quality assessment and graded using a 1â3 scale (1=textbook quality, 2=diagnostic quality, 3=non-diagnostic image). No significant difference in diagnostic quality was found between the original navicular bone images and the manipulated distal phalanx images. This finding suggests that a single DPrâPaDiO image of the distal phalanx is sufficient for an equine foot radiographic series, with appropriate post-processing and manipulation. This change in protocol will result in reduced radiographic study time and decreased patient/personnel radiation exposure
Enabling the classroom and the curriculum: higher education, literary studies and disability
In this article the tripartite model of disability is applied to the lived experience of twenty-first-century higher education. The tripartite model facilitates a complex understanding of disability that recognises assumptions and discrimination but not at the cost of valued identity. This being so, not only the normative positivisms and non-normative negativisms but also the non-normative positivisms of the classroom and the curriculum are explored. Inclusion is taken as the starting point and the argument progresses to a profound and innovational appreciation of disability. The problem addressed is that inclusion, as shown in The Biopolitics of Disability, constitutes little more than inclusion-ism until disability is recognised in the context of alternative lives and values that neither enforce nor reify normalcy. Informed by this understanding, the article adopts the disciplinary example of literary studies and refers to Brian Frielâs Molly Sweeney as a primary text. The conclusion is that, despite passive and active resistance, disability enters higher education in many ways, most of which are beneficial to students and educators alike
Ultrasonographic visualisation of the mesenteric vasculature in horses with large colon colic
Use of positive contrast radiography to identify synovial involvement in horses with traumatic limb wounds
Different genome stability proteins underpin primed and naĂŻve adaptation in E. coli CRISPR-Cas immunity
CRISPR-Cas is a prokaryotic immune system built from capture and integration of invader DNA into CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) loci, termed âAdaptationâ, which is dependent on Cas1 and Cas2 proteins. In Escherichia coli, Cascade-Cas3 degrades invader DNA to effect immunity, termed âInterferenceâ. Adaptation can interact with interference (âprimedâ), or is independent of it (ânaĂŻveâ). We demonstrate that primed adaptation requires the RecG helicase and PriA protein to be present. Genetic analysis of mutant phenotypes suggests that RecG is needed to dissipate R-loops at blocked replication forks. Additionally, we identify that DNA polymerase I is important for both primed and naive adaptation, and that RecB is needed for naĂŻve adaptation. Purified Cas1-Cas2 protein shows specificity for binding to and nicking forked DNA within single strand gaps, and collapsing forks into DNA duplexes. The data suggest that different genome stability systems interact with primed or naĂŻve adaptation when responding to blocked or collapsed invader DNA replication. In this model, RecG and Cas3 proteins respond to invader DNA replication forks that are blocked by Cascade interference, enabling DNA capture. RecBCD targets DNA ends at collapsed forks, enabling DNA capture without interference. DNA polymerase I is proposed to fill DNA gaps during spacer integration
Reconstructing mass profiles of simulated galaxy clusters by combining Sunyaev-Zeldovich and X-ray images
We present a method to recover mass profiles of galaxy clusters by combining
data on thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) and X-ray imaging, thereby avoiding to
use any information on X-ray spectroscopy. This method, which represents a
development of the geometrical deprojection technique presented in Ameglio et
al. (2007), implements the solution of the hydrostatic equilibrium equation. In
order to quantify the efficiency of our mass reconstructions, we apply our
technique to a set of hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters. We propose
two versions of our method of mass reconstruction. Method 1 is completely
model-independent, while Method 2 assumes instead the analytic mass profile
proposed by Navarro et al. (1997) (NFW). We find that the main source of bias
in recovering the mass profiles is due to deviations from hydrostatic
equilibrium, which cause an underestimate of the mass of about 10 per cent at
r_500 and up to 20 per cent at the virial radius. Method 1 provides a
reconstructed mass which is biased low by about 10 per cent, with a 20 per cent
scatter, with respect to the true mass profiles. Method 2 proves to be more
stable, reducing the scatter to 10 per cent, but with a larger bias of 20 per
cent, mainly induced by the deviations from equilibrium in the outskirts. To
better understand the results of Method 2, we check how well it allows to
recover the relation between mass and concentration parameter. When analyzing
the 3D mass profiles we find that including in the fit the inner 5 per cent of
the virial radius biases high the halo concentration. Also, at a fixed mass,
hotter clusters tend to have larger concentration. Our procedure recovers the
concentration parameter essentially unbiased but with a scatter of about 50 per
cent.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, submitted to MNRA
Stakeholder perspectives on barriers and enablers to recruiting anxious children undergoing day surgery under general anaesthetic : a qualitative internal pilot study of the MAGIC randomised controlled trial
Background
The âMelatonin for Anxiety prior to General anaesthesia In Childrenâ (MAGIC) trial was designed to compare midazolam and melatonin as pre-medications for anxious children (aged five to fourteen), undergoing day-case surgical procedures under general anaesthesia. Low recruitment is a challenge for many trials, particularly paediatric trials and those in âemergencyâ settings. A qualitative study as part of MAGIC aimed to gather stakeholder perspectives on barriers and enablers to recruitment.
Methods
Sixteen stakeholders from six sites participated in semi-structured interviews about their experiences of setting up the MAGIC trial and recruiting patients as part of the internal pilot. Data was analysed using framework analysis.
Results
Participants identified barriers and enablers to recruitment. Barriers and enablers related to the study, participants, the population of anxious children, practitioners, collaboration with other health professionals, ethics, specific settings and the context of surgical day units and the wider health system. Attempting to recruit anxious children from a surgical day unit is particularly challenging for several reasons. Issues include the practicalities of dealing with a child experiencing anxiety for parents/guardians; professional unwillingness to make things more difficult for families and clinicians and nurses valuing predictability within a busy and time-sensitive setting.
Conclusions
Multi-site RCTs face recruitment barriers relating to study-wide and site-specific factors. There are multiple barriers to recruiting anxious children due to undergo day-case surgery. Barriers across domains can interrelate and reinforce each other, reflecting challenges relating to populations and settings. For example, in the case of anxious children, parents and other health professionals are concerned about exacerbating childrenâs anxiety prior to surgery. They may look for ways to keep things predictable and avoid the uncertainty of an RCT. Pre-trial engagement work could help address concerns among collaborating health professionals.
Using rapid ethnography during set-up or an internal pilot to focus on how the protocol will be or has been operationalised in practice may help identify issues. Allowing time to reflect on the findings of internal pilots and implement necessary changes could facilitate higher recruitment during the main phase of a trial.
Trial registration
NIHR Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN18296119. Registered on October 01, 2019
CIRCULAR DICHROISM OF LIGHT-HARVESTING COMPLEXES FROM PURPLE PHOTOSYNTHETIC BACTERIA
The CD spectra of a range of antenna complexes from several different species of purple photosynthetic bacteria were recorded in the wavelength range of 190 to 930 nm. Analysis of the far UV CD (190 to 250 nm) showed that in each case except for the B800-850 from Chr. vinosum the secondary structure of the light-harvesting complexes contains a large amount of α-helix (50%) and very little 0-pleated sheet. This confirms the predictions of the group of Zuber of a high a-helical content based upon consideration of the primary structures of several antenna apoproteins. The CD spectra from the carotenoids and the bacteriochlorophylls show considerable variations depending upon the type of antenna complex. The different amplitude ratios in the CD spectrum for the bacteriochlorophyll Qy, Qx and Soret bands indicate not only different degrees of exciton coupling, but also a strong and variable hyperchromism (Scherz and Parson, 1984a, b)
An advertising aesthetic: Real beauty and visual impairment
This article considers critical responses to disability in 20th-century Anglo-American advertisements from which a problematic advertising aesthetic emerges. The aesthetic is used to test the progressiveness of a recent trilogy of Dove advertisements that represents visual impairment. The conclusion is that while there has been much progress, the ableist advertising aesthetic of decades ago remains an issue in the 21st century. More specifically, the Dove advertisements are found to be underpinned by ocularcentrism, despite their apparent appreciation of visual impairment
CP violating neutrino oscillation and uncertainties in Earth matter density
We propose a statistical formulation to estimate possible errors in long
baseline neutrino oscillation experiments caused by uncertainties in the Earth
matter density. A quantitative investigation of the effect is made on the CP
asymmetry in future neutrino factory experiments.Comment: Latex, 10 pages, 5 figure
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