Contemporary splinting practice in the UK for adults with neurological dysfunction: A cross-sectional survey

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Aim: To explore the contemporary splinting practice of UK occupational therapists and physiotherapists for adults with neurological dysfunction. Method: Cross-sectional online survey of members of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Neurology and College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section Neurological Practice. Results: Four hundred and twenty therapists completed the survey. Contracture management is the most common rationale for therapists splinting adults with neurological dysfunction. Other shared therapeutic goals of splinting include maintaining muscle and joint alignment, spasticity management, function, pain management and control of oedema. Considerable clinical uncertainty was uncovered in practice particularly around wearing regimens of splints. Most therapists have access to locally-derived splinting guidelines, which may contribute to this diversity of practice. Conclusions: This study provides a unique insight into aspects of contemporary splinting practice among UK therapists, who belong to a specialist neurological professional network and work in a number of different health-care settings with adults who have a neurological condition. Study findings show a wide variation in splinting practice, thereby indicating a potential need for national guidance to assist therapists in this area of clinical uncertainty. Further research is required to establish best practice parameters for splinting in neurological rehabilitation

Flux domes in superconducting films without edges

Domelike magnetic-flux-density distributions previously have been observed experimentally and analyzed theoretically in superconducting films with edges, such as in strips and thin plates. Such flux domes have been explained as arising from a combination of strong geometric barriers and weak bulk pinning. In this paper we predict that, even in films with bulk pinning, flux domes also occur when vortices and antivortices are produced far from the film edges underneath current-carrying wires, coils, or permanent magnets placed above the film. Vortex-antivortex pairs penetrating through the film are generated when the magnetic field parallel to the surface exceeds H_{c1}+K_c, where H_{c1} is the lower critical field and K_c = j_c d is the critical sheet-current density (the product of the bulk critical current density j_c and the film thickness d). The vortices and antivortices move in opposite directions to locations where they join others to create separated vortex and antivortex flux domes. We consider a simple arrangement of a pair of current-carrying wires carrying current I_0 in opposite directions and calculate the magnetic-field and current-density distributions as a function of I_0 both in the bulk-pinning-free case (K_c = 0) and in the presence of bulk pinning, characterized by a field-independent critical sheet-current density (K_c > 0).Comment: 15 pages, 23 figure

Disclosure of domestic violence and sexual assault within the context of abortion: meta-ethnographic synthesis of qualitative studies protocol.

BackgroundOne third of women will have an abortion in their lifetime (Kerr, QUT Law Rev 14:15, 2014; Aston and Bewley, Obstetrician & Gynaecologist 11:163-8, 2009). These women are more likely to have experienced domestic violence or sexual assault than women who continue with their pregnancies. Frontline health personnel involved in the care of women seeking abortions are uniquely positioned to support patients who choose to disclose their violence. Yet, the disclosure of domestic violence or sexual assault within the context of abortion is not well understood. To enhance service provision, it is important to understand the disclosure experience, that is, how frontline health personnel manage such disclosures and how victims/survivors perceive this experience. This review aims to provide a systematic synthesis of qualitative literature to increase understanding of the phenomena and identify research gaps.MethodsA meta-ethnography of qualitative evidence following PRISMA-P recommendations for reporting systematic reviews will be performed to better understand the experiences of domestic violence and sexual assault disclosure from the perspective of frontline health personnel providing support and women seeking an abortion. A three-stage search strategy including database searching, citation searching and Traditional Pearl Growing will be applied starting with the terms "domestic violence", "sexual assault", "disclosure" and "abortion", their common synonyms and MeSH terms. The database search will include CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO. Published studies from 1970, written in English and from all countries will be included. Two reviewers will screen titles and abstracts and if suitable will then perform a full-text review. To attribute weight to each study, two reviewers will perform the critical appraisal using a modified version of the "Guidelines for Extracting Data and Quality Assessing Primary Studies in Educational Research". Data extraction and coding will occur using EPPI-Reviewer 4 and will be carried out by two reviewers.DiscussionThe reviewers will illuminate what transpires at the interface when women seeking an abortion in the context of domestic violence and sexual assault meet frontline health personnel. Increased knowledge in this area will improve the frontline health personnel's practices and responsiveness to women who seek out healthcare in the context of violence.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42016051136

Diaphus taaningi Norman, the principal component of a shallow sound-scattering layer in the Cariaco Trench, Venezuela

A myctophid fish, Diaphus taaningi Norman, is the principal component of a distinct daytime sound-scattering layer lying near 250 m, well above the anoxic, hydrogen-sulfide zone of the Cariaco Trench. The scattering layer produced strong sonar echoes at 12, 25, and 50 kHz; mean sound-scattering strength at layer depth at 25 kHz was approximately --73 dB and at 50 kHz was approximately --67 dB...

Answer and Return of Writ

Respondent says that the record in this case affirmatively shows that the petitioner (Sheppard) was awarded a full and fair hearing in the state courts, resulting in reliable findings of fact, and that the state courts applied correct constitutional standards in disposing of the various claims of the petitioner. Respondent denies that the trial court erred in refusing to grant petitioner (Sheppard) a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence. Respondent denies that any relevant material or substantial evidence was suppressed by the prosecution or that any unjust tactics were used by the prosecuting authorities in the trial of this case. Respondent denies that the petitioner (Sheppard) was prevented from having a fair and impartial trial by the action of the trial judge as a result of the actions of the bailiffs in permitting the jurors to make telephone calls. Respondent denies that the trial judge coerced the jury into reaching a verdict, and avers that the fact that the jury deliberated for a period of five days merely shows the carefulness and consideration that the jury gave the mass of testimony and over 200 exhibits in the case. Respondent denies each and every other allegation in the petition not herein admitted to be true. Affirmatively, respondent alleges that petitioner was convicted in a court that had jurisdiction of his person and of the crime involved, that petitioner was not deprived of any of his constitutional rights, and that the facts upon which petitioner (Sheppard) relies, even if true, constitute mere error in the trial court, which is not cognizable in an action of habeas corpus. For the foregoing reasons, respondent prays that the petition herein be dismissed

Answer and Return of Writ

Respondent says that the record in this case affirmatively shows that the petitioner (Sheppard) was awarded a full and fair hearing in the state courts, resulting in reliable findings of fact, and that the state courts applied correct constitutional standards in disposing of the various claims of the petitioner. Respondent denies that the trial court erred in refusing to grant petitioner (Sheppard) a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence. Respondent denies that any relevant material or substantial evidence was suppressed by the prosecution or that any unjust tactics were used by the prosecuting authorities in the trial of this case. Respondent denies that the petitioner (Sheppard) was prevented from having a fair and impartial trial by the action of the trial judge as a result of the actions of the bailiffs in permitting the jurors to make telephone calls. Respondent denies that the trial judge coerced the jury into reaching a verdict, and avers that the fact that the jury deliberated for a period of five days merely shows the carefulness and consideration that the jury gave the mass of testimony and over 200 exhibits in the case. Respondent denies each and every other allegation in the petition not herein admitted to be true. Affirmatively, respondent alleges that petitioner was convicted in a court that had jurisdiction of his person and of the crime involved, that petitioner was not deprived of any of his constitutional rights, and that the facts upon which petitioner (Sheppard) relies, even if true, constitute mere error in the trial court, which is not cognizable in an action of habeas corpus. For the foregoing reasons, respondent prays that the petition herein be dismissed

Use of the Ober2 system for analysis of eye movements made during reading

Introduction: The Ober2 system uses infrared reflections to record and analyze eye movements made during reading. The system\u27s ability to analyze data from normal subjects, and the reliability of the data produced by subjects who read standard paragraphs were investigated in this study. Subjects: Forty-two college students and 20 junior high students participated in the project. All were self-reported normal readers. Methods: Subjects read 5 different paragraphs during each of two sessions. Ober2 analysis was attempted for each paragraph; analysis of all 10 paragraphs was successful for 38 percent of the college subjects and 20 percent of the junior high subjects. Use of manual calibration procedures did not allow any additional data to be analyzed by the Ober2 system. Results: Data from 30% of the paragraph presentations could not be analyzed by the Ober2. When analysis was successful, grade equivalent scores based on fixations, span of recognition, regressions, fixation duration, and reading rate were provided. Using mean grade equivalents from the 16 college subjects for whom all 10 paragraphs could be analyzed, significant differences were found between results for two of the test paragraphs. Split-half reliability coefficients for grade equivalent data from the two sessions ranged from 0.84 to 0.95. Conclusions: Although the Ober2 can provide valuable information on eye movements made during reading, problems exist with respect to its ability to analyze data. The analysis failures that occurred for approximately one-third of the paragraph presentations were frustrating and time consuming. With respect to the standard paragraphs, significant grade equivalent differences were found between several of them. These results suggest that caution be used when interpreting data from the Ober2 reading analysis system

Whistle characteristics and daytime dive behavior in pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata) in Hawai‘i measured using digital acoustic recording tags (DTAGs)

Funding to support P.L.T. was received from the MASTS pooling initiative (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland) and their support is gratefully acknowledged. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions.This study characterizes daytime acoustic and dive behavior of pantropical spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata) in Hawai‘i using 14.58 h of data collected from five deployments of digital acoustic recording tags (DTAG3) in 2013. For each tagged animal, the number of whistles, foraging buzzes, dive profiles, and dive statistics were calculated. Start, end, minimum, and maximum frequencies, number of inflection points and duration were measured from 746 whistles. Whistles ranged in frequency from 9.7 ± 2.8 to 19.8 ± 4.2 kHz, had a mean duration of 0.7 ± 0.5 s and a mean of 1.2 ± 1.2 inflection points. Thirteen foraging buzzes were recorded across all tags. Mean dive depth and duration were 16 ± 9 m and 1.9 ± 1.0 min, respectively. Tagged animals spent the majority of time in the upper 10 m (76.9% ± 16.1%) of the water column. Both whistle frequency characteristics and dive statistics measured here were similar to previously reported values for spotted dolphins in Hawai‘i. Shallow, short dive profiles combined with few foraging buzzes provide evidence that little spotted dolphin feeding behavior occurs during daytime hours. This work represents one of the first successful DTAG3 studies of small pelagic delphinids, providing rare insights into baseline bioacoustics and dive behavior.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe