54 research outputs found
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Consumption of kiwifruit capsules increases Faecalibacterium prausnitzii abundance in functionally constipated individuals: a randomised controlled human trial
This study investigated the impact of ACTAZIN™ green (2400 and 600 mg) and Livaux™ (2400 mg) gold kiwifruit supplements on faecal microbial composition and metabolites in healthy and functionally constipated (FC) participants. The participants were recruited into the healthy group (n 20; one of whom did not complete the study) and the FC group (n 9), each of whom consumed all the treatments and a placebo (isomalt) for 4 weeks in a randomised cross-over design interspersed with 2-week washout periods. Modification of faecal microbiota composition and metabolism was determined by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and GC, and colonic pH was calculated using SmartPill® wireless motility capsules. A total of thirty-two taxa were measured at greater than 1 % abundance in at least one sample, ten of which differed significantly between the baseline healthy and FC groups. Specifically, Bacteroidales and Roseburia spp. were significantly more abundant (P < 0·05) in the healthy group and taxa including Ruminococcaceae, Dorea spp. and Akkermansia spp. were significantly more abundant (P < 0·05) in the FC group. In the FC group, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii abundance significantly increased (P = 0·024) from 3·4 to 7·0 % following Livaux™ supplementation, with eight of the nine participants showing a net increase. Lower proportions of F. prausnitzii are often associated with gastrointestinal disorders. The discovery that Livaux™ supplementation increased F. prausnitzii abundance offers a potential strategy for improving gut microbiota composition, as F. prausnitzii is a butyrate producer and has also been shown to exert anti-inflammatory effects in many studies
Real world hospital costs following stress echocardiography in the UK: a costing study from the EVAREST/BSE-NSTEP multi-entre study
Background: Stress echocardiography is widely used to detect coronary artery disease, but little evidence on downstream hospital costs in real-world practice is available. We examined how stress echocardiography accuracy and
downstream hospital costs vary across NHS hospitals and identifed key factors that afect costs to help inform future
clinical planning and guidelines.
Methods: Data on 7636 patients recruited from 31 NHS hospitals within the UK between 2014 and 2020 as part of EVAREST/BSE-NSTEP clinical study, were used. Data included all diagnostic tests, procedures, and hospital admissions
for 12 months after a stress echocardiogram and were costed using the NHS national unit costs. A decision tree was built to illustrate the clinical pathway and estimate average downstream hospital costs. Multi-level regression analysis was performed to identify variation in accuracy and costs at both patient, procedural, and hospital level. Linear regression and extrapolation were used to estimate annual hospital cost-savings associated with increasing predictive accuracy at hospital and national level.
Results: Stress echocardiography accuracy varied with patient, hospital and operator characteristics. Hypertension, presence of wall motion abnormalities and higher number of hospital cardiology outpatient attendances annually
reduced accuracy, adjusted odds ratio of 0.78 (95% CI 0.65 to 0.93), 0.27 (95% CI 0.15 to 0.48), 0.99 (95% CI 0.98 to 0.99)
respectively, whereas a prior myocardial infarction, angiotensin receptor blocker medication, and greater operator experience increased accuracy, adjusted odds ratio of 1.77 (95% CI 1.34 to 2.33), 1.64 (95% CI 1.22 to 2.22), and 1.06 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.09) respectively. Average downstream costs were £646 per patient (SD 1796) with signifcant variation across hospitals. The average downstream costs between the 31 hospitals varied from £384–1730 per patient. False positive and false negative tests were associated with average downstream costs of £1446 (SD £601) and £4192 (SD 3332) respectively, driven by increased non-elective hospital admissions, adjusted odds ratio 2.48 (95% CI 1.08 to 5.66), 21.06 (95% CI 10.41 to 42.59) respectively. We estimated that an increase in accuracy by 1 percentage point could save the NHS in the UK £3.2 million annually.
Conclusion: This study provides real-world evidence of downstream costs associated with stress echocardiography practice in the UK and estimates how improvements in accuracy could impact healthcare expenditure in the NHS. A real-world downstream costing approach could be adopted more widely in evaluation of imaging tests and interventions to refect actual value for money and support realistic planning
Traffic Control via Connected and Automated Vehicles: An Open-Road Field Experiment with 100 CAVs
The CIRCLES project aims to reduce instabilities in traffic flow, which are
naturally occurring phenomena due to human driving behavior. These "phantom
jams" or "stop-and-go waves,"are a significant source of wasted energy. Toward
this goal, the CIRCLES project designed a control system referred to as the
MegaController by the CIRCLES team, that could be deployed in real traffic. Our
field experiment leveraged a heterogeneous fleet of 100
longitudinally-controlled vehicles as Lagrangian traffic actuators, each of
which ran a controller with the architecture described in this paper. The
MegaController is a hierarchical control architecture, which consists of two
main layers. The upper layer is called Speed Planner, and is a centralized
optimal control algorithm. It assigns speed targets to the vehicles, conveyed
through the LTE cellular network. The lower layer is a control layer, running
on each vehicle. It performs local actuation by overriding the stock adaptive
cruise controller, using the stock on-board sensors. The Speed Planner ingests
live data feeds provided by third parties, as well as data from our own control
vehicles, and uses both to perform the speed assignment. The architecture of
the speed planner allows for modular use of standard control techniques, such
as optimal control, model predictive control, kernel methods and others,
including Deep RL, model predictive control and explicit controllers. Depending
on the vehicle architecture, all onboard sensing data can be accessed by the
local controllers, or only some. Control inputs vary across different
automakers, with inputs ranging from torque or acceleration requests for some
cars, and electronic selection of ACC set points in others. The proposed
architecture allows for the combination of all possible settings proposed
above. Most configurations were tested throughout the ramp up to the
MegaVandertest
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Adaptation of Ecuadorian National Music for Chamber Music Ensemble
This project was to take Ecuadorian national music and transform it for the students at WPI to increase the community’s cultural awareness and make Ecuadorian music more accessible. Three different styles were arranged for a combined instrumental and choral ensemble of WPI students using the skills learned from classes in music theory, arranging and orchestration, performance, and conducting. The result was arrangements of Vasija de Barro, Corazόn Herido and Nuestro Juramento for an ensemble of 31 musicians
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Lettuce Use Hydroponics: Addressing Drought in Worcester by Improving Agricultural Water Use
https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/gps-posters/1513/thumbnail.jp
Public assistance social services related to Medicaid
Mode of access: Internet
The Grand Challenge of Ending Homelessness
The notion that homelessness in the United States can be ended, rather than managed, represents a fundamental shift in expectations that has occurred over the past three decades. Many U.S. cities now have plans to end homelessness. Yet homelessness and housing instability are substantial problems that afflict a diverse group of subpopulations such as families, youth, veterans, and chronically homeless single adults. Ending homelessness for each of these populations may require tailored interventions that are responsive to specific individualized needs. These factors make tackling homelessness a difficult task. Although evidencebased solutions exist for some subpopulations, such as housing first for chronically homeless adults, scaling up best practices remains a challenge. For other subpopulations, such as transitional aged youth, evidence-based interventions need to be developed. In this paper we argue that ending homelessness is a Grand Challenge that is big, important, and compelling—one that the profession of social work should be adopt. Meeting this challenge will require a focused, organized response from social work researchers, clinicians, and policymakers. Ending homelessness will require innovation and interdisciplinary or cross-sector collaboration
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Permaculture Design Plan for MarĂa Amor Foundation, Cuenca Ecuador
The MarĂa Amor Foundation, a women’s shelter for domestic abuse victims, sits on a largely unused plot of land. The goal of our project was to design an integrated land-use plan to provide food for internal use as well as to sell. Onsite we interviewed employees of the foundation and visited local farms to learn about the needs of the foundation and local agriculture practices. Our final design included functional, sustainable features which allows the shelter to serve as a safe space for women to recover and reconnect with nature. We left the property with suggestions on how to evolve to be completely self-sustaining
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Revitalization of the Riverlands: Trail Design in Sturbridge, MA
The goal of this project was to design a trail connecting the Commercial Tourist District in Sturbridge, Massachusetts to the town’s existing trails network. Through collaboration with the Trails Committee and data collection during site visits, the team developed a design using ArcMap and Civil3D that aligns with the Town’s emphasis on sustainability and environmental impact. The project included considerations for delineations, materials, and steep slopes, as well as cost estimate calculations, stormwater analysis calculations, and stormwater management design
Visual Literacy Intervention for Improving Undergraduate Student Critical Thinking of Global Sustainability Issues
The promotion of global sustainability within environmental science courses requires a paradigm switch from knowledge-based teaching to teaching that stimulates higher-order cognitive skills. Non-major undergraduate science courses, such as environmental science, promote critical thinking in students in order to improve the uptake of scientific information and develop the rational decision making used to make more informed decisions. Science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM) courses rely extensively on visuals in lectures, readings and homework to improve knowledge. However, undergraduate students do not automatically acquire visual literacy and a lack of intervention from instructors could be limiting academic success. In this study, a visual literacy intervention was developed and tested in the face-to-face (FTF) and online sections of an undergraduate non-major Introduction to Environmental Science course. The intervention was designed to test and improve visual literacy at three levels: (1) elementary—identifying values; (2) intermediate—identifying trends; and (3) advanced—using the data to make projections or conclusions. Students demonstrated a significant difference in their ability to answer elementary and advanced visual literacy questions in both course sections in the pre-test and post-test. Students in the face-to-face course had significantly higher exam scores and higher median assessment scores compared to sections without a visual literacy intervention. The online section did not show significant improvements in visual literacy or academic success due to a lack of reinforcement of visual literacy following the initial intervention. The visual literacy intervention shows promising results in improving student academic success and should be considered for implementation in other general education STEM courses
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