Theobald v. University of Cincinnati - Reforming Medical Malpractice in Ohio: A Survey of State Laws and Policy Impacts

In its recent decision of Theobald v. University of Cincinnati, Ohio\u27s Tenth District Court of Appeals declared that medical practitioners shall have state employee immunity, based on section 9.86 of the Ohio Revised Code, anytime they treat a patient as long as they act in a dual role to teach an involved student or resident. This immunity takes away the patient\u27s right to sue the practitioner personally for his medical malpractice. As required by this holding, the doctor must have an employment relationship with state medical college. However, the employment relationship could encompass anything from a faculty position to something as minimal as a work relationship with a private practice plan closely tied to the state medical college. . . Theobald runs contrary to the established case law of Ohio at the time. The prior law was clear that practitioners receive immunity when treating a patient of the state or supervising another\u27s treatment of a patient. Moreover, when Theobald is compared to other jurisdictions\u27 immunity grants, Ohio appears to be an extreme outlier. And even when Ohio is compared to those states with nearly identical immunity states, Theobald still does not meet conventional jurisprudence

Stereoscopic Avatar Interfaces : A study to Determine what Effect, if any, 3d Technology has at Increasing the Interpretability of an Avatar\u27s Gaze into the Real-World

An approach to displaying avatar interfaces monoscopically such as the Turning, Stretching and Boxing (TSB) technique (a combination of three graphical processes) has been shown to improve the communication efficiency of avatars by increasing a user\u27s ability to interpret an avatar\u27s gaze direction through the delivery of a sustained 3D illusion of the avatar on a standard 2D display. A reasonable question to ask about this approach is whether or not the improvement in interpretability can be matched or surpassed by using a standard 3D display technology (stereoscopic) with or without the fore-mentioned approach? This paper presents an experiment that pits the TSB technique against a standard 2D display using 3D technology in order to answer this question. An analysis of these results shows that, by itself, 3D display technology does not have any influence on the ability of viewers to accurately interpret an avatar\u27s gaze direction. Furthermore, the combination of 3D display technology with the TSB technique does not result in any noticeable improvement

A Critical Evaluation of the Use of Photo Namecards as Teaching Aids in CEP.

The Communicative English Program (CEP) at Niigata University of International and Information Studies (NUIS) was founded upon principles emphasising the need for high levels of active student participation and the importance of a positive language-learning environment. This paper reports on the degree to which the use of student photo namecards as teaching aids, meets these needs and principles. Integral to this report is the quantitative data obtained from questionnaires completed by 103 freshman CEP students. The data confirms a significant number of students prefer not to have their photographs displayed on the cards but perhaps this is not sufficiently significant to outweigh the students\u27 desire for their CEP instructors to learn and remember their names, nor outweigh other positive aspects associated with using the cards to organise classroom activities

A Critical Evaluation of the Use of Photo Namecards as Teaching Aids in CEP.

The Communicative English Program (CEP) at Niigata University of International and Information Studies (NUIS) was founded upon principles emphasising the need for high levels of active student participation and the importance of a positive language-learning environment. This paper reports on the degree to which the use of student photo namecards as teaching aids, meets these needs and principles. Integral to this report is the quantitative data obtained from questionnaires completed by 103 freshman CEP students. The data confirms a significant number of students prefer not to have their photographs displayed on the cards but perhaps this is not sufficiently significant to outweigh the students\u27 desire for their CEP instructors to learn and remember their names, nor outweigh other positive aspects associated with using the cards to organise classroom activities

Biotransformation of fluorophenyl pyridine carboxylic acids by the model fungus Cunninghamella elegans

1. Fluorine plays a key role in the design of new drugs and recent FDA approvals included two fluorinated drugs, tedizolid phosphate and vorapaxar, both of which contain the fluorophenyl pyridyl moiety. 2. To investigate the likely phase-I (oxidative) metabolic fate of this group, various fluorinated phenyl pyridine carboxylic acids were incubated with the fungus Cunninghamella elegans, which is an established model of mammalian drug metabolism. 3. 19F NMR spectroscopy established the degree of biotransformation, which varied depending on the position of fluorine substitution, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) identified alcohols and hydroxylated carboxylic acids as metabolites. The hydroxylated metabolites were further structurally characterised by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), which demonstrated that hydroxylation occurred on the 4′ position; fluorine in that position blocked the hydroxylation. 4. The fluorophenyl pyridine carboxylic acids were not biotransformed by rat liver microsomes and this was a consequence of inhibitory action, and thus, the fungal model was crucial in obtaining metabolites to establish the mechanism of catabolism

Is e-Learning ‘inevitable’ in dental education? Experiences from King’s College London Dental Institute

Ovaj rad želi predstaviti iskustva četiriju različitih projekata e-učenja provedenih na londonskom Kraljevskom stomatološkom institutu (KCLDI), a potvrdili su kulturalne promjene u primjeni takvoga oblika učenja (e-learninga) u stomatološkoj edukaciji. Definicije e-learninga, fleksibilnog učenja te učenja na daljinu trenutačno se navode u uporabi u visokom obrazovanju u Velikoj Britaniji. Na KCLDI-ju su provedena četiri istraživanja različitih primjena tehnologije i to: CDROM za igre, PDA za korištenje u kliničkom radu, webcasting za trajan profesionalan razvoj (CPD) te online-učenje za CPD. U prva dva istraživanja bili su uključeni dodiplomski studenti, a u ostala dva poslijediplomski. Rezultati četiriju istraživanja pokazuju sve veću vrijednost e-učenja u stomatološkoj izobrazbi. Potrebe dodiplomskih studenata mijenjaju se u suvremenom tehnološkom i digitalnom svijetu, a poslijediplomski studenti najviše cijene ugodnost i učinkovitost pristupa tečajevima, jer se mogu dobiti na kombinirani način – online uz praktičnu nastavu. Kao najveći stomatološki fakultet u Velikoj Britaniji, s najvišom kakvoćom učenja i istraživanja, e-learning je našao svoje mjesto u curiculumu dodiplomskih i poslijediplomskih studenata, ali i kod CPD-a. Početak pristupa IVIDENT-u (Međunarodni virtualni stomatološki fakultet) pomoći će uskladiti standarde te poduprijeti Bolonjsku deklaraciju. E-učenje je neodvojiv dio stomatološke edukacije.This descriptive paper aims to demonstrate how experiences of e-learning through four different e-learning projects undertaken at King’s College London Dental Institute (KCLDI) are validating the cultural change towards the use of e-learning in dental education. Definitions of e-learning, flexible learning and distance learning are stated as currently used in higher education in UK. Four investigations undertaken at KCLDI were chosen to represent four different uses of technology, namely CDROM for gaming, PDA for use in clinics, webcasting for Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and blended online learning for CPD. The first two studies involved undergraduate students and the latter two, postgraduate students. Results of the four investigations are presented which demonstrate the increasing value of e-learning in dental education. The needs of the undergraduate are changing in a modern technological and digital world, whilst the postgraduate convenience and efficiency of access to courses, delivered in a blended approach - online coupled with practical tuition - is most highly prized. As the largest dental and medical school in UK, with the highest accolades in teaching quality and research, e-learning has become embedded within the delivery of the curriculum for both undergraduates, postgraduates and in CPD. The advent of an IVIDENT approach (International Virtual Dental School) is advocated to help converge standards and support the Bologna Declaration. e-Learning in dental education is considered ‘inevitable’

Is e-Learning ‘inevitable’ in dental education? Experiences from King’s College London Dental Institute

Ovaj rad želi predstaviti iskustva četiriju različitih projekata e-učenja provedenih na londonskom Kraljevskom stomatološkom institutu (KCLDI), a potvrdili su kulturalne promjene u primjeni takvoga oblika učenja (e-learninga) u stomatološkoj edukaciji. Definicije e-learninga, fleksibilnog učenja te učenja na daljinu trenutačno se navode u uporabi u visokom obrazovanju u Velikoj Britaniji. Na KCLDI-ju su provedena četiri istraživanja različitih primjena tehnologije i to: CDROM za igre, PDA za korištenje u kliničkom radu, webcasting za trajan profesionalan razvoj (CPD) te online-učenje za CPD. U prva dva istraživanja bili su uključeni dodiplomski studenti, a u ostala dva poslijediplomski. Rezultati četiriju istraživanja pokazuju sve veću vrijednost e-učenja u stomatološkoj izobrazbi. Potrebe dodiplomskih studenata mijenjaju se u suvremenom tehnološkom i digitalnom svijetu, a poslijediplomski studenti najviše cijene ugodnost i učinkovitost pristupa tečajevima, jer se mogu dobiti na kombinirani način – online uz praktičnu nastavu. Kao najveći stomatološki fakultet u Velikoj Britaniji, s najvišom kakvoćom učenja i istraživanja, e-learning je našao svoje mjesto u curiculumu dodiplomskih i poslijediplomskih studenata, ali i kod CPD-a. Početak pristupa IVIDENT-u (Međunarodni virtualni stomatološki fakultet) pomoći će uskladiti standarde te poduprijeti Bolonjsku deklaraciju. E-učenje je neodvojiv dio stomatološke edukacije.This descriptive paper aims to demonstrate how experiences of e-learning through four different e-learning projects undertaken at King’s College London Dental Institute (KCLDI) are validating the cultural change towards the use of e-learning in dental education. Definitions of e-learning, flexible learning and distance learning are stated as currently used in higher education in UK. Four investigations undertaken at KCLDI were chosen to represent four different uses of technology, namely CDROM for gaming, PDA for use in clinics, webcasting for Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and blended online learning for CPD. The first two studies involved undergraduate students and the latter two, postgraduate students. Results of the four investigations are presented which demonstrate the increasing value of e-learning in dental education. The needs of the undergraduate are changing in a modern technological and digital world, whilst the postgraduate convenience and efficiency of access to courses, delivered in a blended approach - online coupled with practical tuition - is most highly prized. As the largest dental and medical school in UK, with the highest accolades in teaching quality and research, e-learning has become embedded within the delivery of the curriculum for both undergraduates, postgraduates and in CPD. The advent of an IVIDENT approach (International Virtual Dental School) is advocated to help converge standards and support the Bologna Declaration. e-Learning in dental education is considered ‘inevitable’

Entrapment of Autologous von Willebrand Factor on Polystyrene/Poly(methyl methacrylate) Demixed Surfaces

Human platelets play a vital role in haemostasis, pathological bleeding and thrombosis. The haemostatic mechanism is concerned with the control of bleeding from injured blood vessels, whereby platelets interact with the damaged inner vessel wall to form a clot (thrombus) at the site of injury. This adhesion of platelets and their subsequent aggregation is dependent on the presence of the blood protein von Willebrand Factor (vWF). It is proposed here that the entrapment of vWF on a substrate surface offers the opportunity to assess an individual’s platelet function in a clinical diagnostic context. Spin coating from demixed solutions of polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) onto glass slides has been shown previously to support platelet adhesion but the mechanism by which this interaction occurs, including the role of vWF, is not fully understood. In this work, we report a study of the interaction of platelets in whole blood with surfaces produced by spin coating from a solution of a weight/weight mixture of a 25% PS and 75% PMMA (25PS/75PMMA) in chloroform in the context of the properties required for their use as a Dynamic Platelet Function Assay (DPFA) substrate. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) indicates the presence of topographical features on the polymer demixed surfaces in the sub-micron to nanometer range. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis confirms that the uppermost surface chemistry of the coatings is solely that of PMMA. The deliberate addition of various amounts of 50 μm diameter PS microspheres to the 25PS/75PMMA system has been shown to maintain the PMMA chemistry, but to significantly change the surface topography and to subsequently effect the scale of the resultant platelet interactions. By blocking specific platelet binding sites, it has been shown that their interaction with these surfaces is a consequence of the entrapment and build-up of vWF from the same whole blood sample

Population-level effects of parasitism on a freshwater ecosystem engineer, the unionid mussel Anodonta anatina

Funder: Woolf Fisher TrustAbstract: Parasites can negatively affect hosts at individual, population, and species‐level scales. However, the link between individual‐ and population‐level impacts is often poorly understood. In particular, the population‐level response to parasitism may alter wider ecosystem dynamics if animals with ecosystem engineering capabilities are infected. Here, we examine the effects of parasitism on a freshwater ecosystem engineer, the unionid mussel Anodonta anatina, at two different sites. We study three common parasites: the digenean trematode Rhipidocotyle campanula; the unionicolid mite Unionicola intermedia; and the ectoparasitic invasive zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha. As well as demonstrating the individual‐level effects of parasitism on the native host mussel, we construct a simple model to estimate the reduction in population‐level reproductive output caused by parasites. We show that both infection prevalence and intensity were population‐specific, with one site having more than three times as many native mussels infected by trematodes and mites than the other, but more than four times fewer mussels afflicted by invasive zebra mussels. Negative reproductive consequences for individual host mussels were documented as a result of parasitism, with trematodes causing castration at both sites. Mites were also correlated with a reduction in the viability of larval offspring (glochidia) by more than 25%, but only at one site, suggesting some potential impacts of parasitism may be population specific. The population‐level model shows that parasitism alone reduces larval output of the two populations by 10% and 13%, respectively. Our study takes the important step of scaling individual‐level effects of parasitism to population‐level processes, and highlights the influence that parasites may have in the population dynamics of unionid mussels. Given the ecosystem engineering capabilities of A. anatina, such effects may have important impacts on the wider biota. Even at relatively low prevalences, the observed effects of parasites on native mussel populations suggests that parasitism must be considered in the conservation of freshwater mussels, one of the world's most globally imperilled faunal groups. Further, understanding how the effects of parasitism on individual hosts scales to the ecosystem level is a crucial and unaddressed question in freshwater biology