5,602 research outputs found
Development of a programme to facilitate interprofessional simulation-based training for final year undergraduate healthcare students
Original report can be found at: http://www.health.heacademy.ac.uk/publications/miniproject/alinier260109.pdfIntroduction: Students have few opportunities to practise alongside students from other disciplines. Simulation offers an ideal context to provide them with concrete experience in a safe and controlled environment. This project was about the development of a programme to facilitate interprofessional scenario-based simulation training for final year undergraduate healthcare students and explored whether simulation improved traineesâ knowledge of other healthcare disciplineâs roles and skills. Methods: A multidisciplinary academic project team was created and trained for the development and facilitation of this project. The team worked on the development of appropriate multiprofessional scenarios and a strategy to recruit the final year students on a volunteer basis to the project. By the end of the project 95 students were involved in small groups to one of fifteen 3-hour interprofessional simulation sessions. Staff role played the relatives, doctor on call, and patient when it was more appropriate than using a patient simulator (Laerdal SimMan/SimBaby) in the simulated community setting and paediatric or adult emergency department. Each session had 3 to 4 of the following disciplines represented (Adult/Children/Learning Disability Nursing, Paramedic, Radiography, Physiotherapy) and each student observed and took part in one long and relevant high-fidelity scenario. Half the students were randomly selected to fill in a 40-item questionnaire testing their knowledge of other disciplines before the simulation (control group) and the others after (experimental group). Students were assessed on the questions relating to the disciplines represented in their session. Results: By the end of the project 95 questionnaires were collected of which 45 were control group students (Questionnaire before simulation) and 50 experimental group students (Questionnaire after simulation). Both groups were comparable in terms of gender, discipline and age representation. Participants were: Adult nurses (n=46), Childrenâs nurses (n=4), Learning Disability nurses (n=7), Nurses, Paramedics (n=8), Radiographers (n=20), Physiotherapists (n=8). 15 sessions were run with an average of around 7 participants and at least 3 disciplines represented. The knowledge test results about the disciplines represented was significantly different between the control and experimental groups (Control 73.80%, 95% CI 70.95-76.65; and Experimental 78.81%, 95% CI 75.76-81.87, p=0.02). In addition, there were sometimes reliable differences between the groups in their view of multidisciplinary training; confidence about working as part of a multidisciplinary team was 3.33 (SD=0.80, Control) and 3.79 (SD=0.90, Experimental), p=0.011; their anticipation that working as part of a multidisciplinary team would make them feel anxious was 2.67 (SD=1.17, Control) and 2.25 (SD=1.04, Experimental), p=0.073; their perception of their knowledge of what other healthcare professionals can or cannot do was 3.00 (SD=0.91, Control) and 3.35 (SD=0.93, Experimental), p=0.066; their view that learning with other healthcare students before qualification will improve their relationship after qualification was 3.93 (SD=1.14, Control) and 4.33 (SD=0.81, Experimental), p=0.055; their opinion about interprofessional learning helping them to become better team workers before qualification was 3.96 (SD=1.24, Control) and 4.42 (SD=0.77, Experimental), p=0.036. Conclusions: Although the difference is relatively small (~5%), the results demonstrate that students gained confidence and knowledge about the skills and role of other disciplines involved in their session. Through simulation, the positivism of students about different aspects of learning or working with other healthcare disciplines has significantly improved. Students gained knowledge of other disciplines simply by being given the opportunity to take part in a multiprofessional scenario and observe another one. The results of the test and their reported perception about multidisciplinary team working suggest that they are better prepared to enter the healthcare workforce. Discussions during the debriefings highlighted the fact that multidisciplinary training is important. The main challenges identified have been the voluntary student attendance and timetabling issues forcing us to run the session late in the day due to the number of disciplines involved in each session and their different placement rota. The aim is now to timetable formally this session within their curriculum. Introducing simulation in the undergraduate curriculum should facilitate its implementation as Continuing Professional Development once these students become qualified healthcare professionals
Inverse Scattering and Acousto-Optic Imaging
We propose a tomographic method to reconstruct the optical properties of a
highly-scattering medium from incoherent acousto-optic measurements. The method
is based on the solution to an inverse problem for the diffusion equation and
makes use of the principle of interior control of boundary measurements by an
external wave field.Comment: 10 page
3D printing of gas jet nozzles for laser-plasma accelerators
Recent results on laser wakefield acceleration in tailored plasma channels
have underlined the importance of controlling the density profile of the gas
target. In particular it was reported that appropriate density tailoring can
result in improved injection, acceleration and collimation of laser-accelerated
electron beams. To achieve such profiles innovative target designs are
required. For this purpose we have reviewed the usage of additive layer
manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, in order to produce gas jet
nozzles. Notably we have compared the performance of two industry standard
techniques, namely selective laser sintering (SLS) and stereolithography (SLA).
Furthermore we have used the common fused deposition modeling (FDM) to
reproduce basic gas jet designs and used SLA and SLS for more sophisticated
nozzle designs. The nozzles are characterized interferometrically and used for
electron acceleration experiments with the Salle Jaune terawatt laser at
Laboratoire d'Optique Appliqu\'ee
Energy boost in laser wakefield accelerators using sharp density transitions
The energy gain in laser wakefield accelerators is limited by dephasing
between the driving laser pulse and the highly relativistic electrons in its
wake. Since this phase depends on both the driver and the cavity length, the
effects of dephasing can be mitigated with appropriate tailoring of the plasma
density along propagation. Preceding studies have discussed the prospects of
continuous phase-locking in the linear wakefield regime. However, most
experiments are performed in the highly non-linear regime and rely on
self-guiding of the laser pulse. Due to the complexity of the driver evolution
in this regime it is much more difficult to achieve phase locking. As an
alternative we study the scenario of rapid rephasing in sharp density
transitions, as was recently demonstrated experimentally. Starting from a
phenomenological model we deduce expressions for the electron energy gain in
such density profiles. The results are in accordance with particle-in-cell
simulations and we present gain estimations for single and multiple stages of
rephasing
A bremsstrahlung gamma-ray source based on stable ionization injection of electrons into a laser wakefield accelerator
Laser wakefield acceleration permits the generation of ultra-short,
high-brightness relativistic electron beams on a millimeter scale. While those
features are of interest for many applications, the source remains constraint
by the poor stability of the electron injection process. Here we present
results on injection and acceleration of electrons in pure nitrogen and argon.
We observe stable, continuous ionization-induced injection of electrons into
the wakefield for laser powers exceeding a threshold of 7 TW. The beam charge
scales approximately linear with the laser energy and is limited by beam
loading. For 40 TW laser pulses we measure a maximum charge of almost 1 nC per
shot, originating mostly from electrons of less than 10 MeV energy. The
relatively low energy, the high charge and its stability make this source
well-suited for applications such as non-destructive testing. Hence, we
demonstrate the production of energetic radiation via bremsstrahlung conversion
at 1 Hz repetition rate. In accordance with Geant4 Monte-Carlo simulations, we
measure a gamma-ray source size of less than 100 microns for a 0.5 mm tantalum
converter placed at 2 mm from the accelerator exit. Furthermore we present
radiographs of image quality indicators
Molecular Density Functional Theory of Water describing Hydrophobicity at Short and Long Length Scales
We present an extension of our recently introduced molecular density
functional theory of water [G. Jeanmairet et al., J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 4, 619,
2013] to the solvation of hydrophobic solutes of various sizes, going from
angstroms to nanometers. The theory is based on the quadratic expansion of the
excess free energy in terms of two classical density fields, the particle
density and the multipolar polarization density. Its implementation requires as
input a molecular model of water and three measurable bulk properties, namely
the structure factor and the k-dependent longitudinal and transverse dielectric
susceptibilities. The fine three-dimensional water structure around small
hydrophobic molecules is found to be well reproduced. In contrast the computed
solvation free-energies appear overestimated and do not exhibit the correct
qualitative behavior when the hydrophobic solute is grown in size. These
shortcomings are corrected, in the spirit of the Lum-Chandler-Weeks theory, by
complementing the functional with a truncated hard-sphere functional acting
beyond quadratic order in density. It makes the resulting functional compatible
with the Van-der-Waals theory of liquid-vapor coexistence at long range.
Compared to available molecular simulations, the approach yields reasonable
solvation structure and free energy of hard or soft spheres of increasing size,
with a correct qualitative transition from a volume-driven to a surface-driven
regime at the nanometer scale.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figure
Angular momentum evolution in laser-plasma accelerators
The transverse properties of an electron beam are characterized by two
quantities, the emittance which indicates the electron beam extend in the phase
space and the angular momentum which allows for non-planar electron
trajectories. Whereas the emittance of electron beams produced in laser- plasma
accelerator has been measured in several experiments, their angular momentum
has been scarcely studied. It was demonstrated that electrons in laser-plasma
accelerator carry some angular momentum, but its origin was not established.
Here we identify one source of angular momentum growth and we present
experimental results showing that the angular momentum content evolves during
the acceleration
Spitzer Space Telescope Observations of the Magnetic Cataclysmic Variable AE Aqr
The magnetic cataclysmic variable AE Aquarii hosts a rapidly rotating white
dwarf which is thought to expel most of the material streaming onto it.
Observations of AE Aqr have been obtained in the wavelength range of 5 - 70
microns with the IRS, IRAC, and MIPS instruments on board the Spitzer Space
Telescope. The spectral energy distribution reveals a significant excess above
the K4V spectrum of the donor star with the flux increasing with wavelength
above 12.5 microns. Superposed on the energy distribution are several hydrogen
emission lines, identified as Pf alpha and Hu alpha, beta, gamma. The infrared
spectrum above 12.5 microns can be interpreted as synchrotron emission from
electrons accelerated to a power-law distribution dN=E^{-2.4}dE in expanding
clouds with an initial evolution timescale in seconds. However, too many
components must then be superposed to explain satisfactorily both the
mid-infrared continuum and the observed radio variability. Thermal emission
from cold circumbinary material can contribute, but it requires a disk
temperature profile intermediate between that produced by local viscous
dissipation in the disk and that characteristic of a passively irradiated disk.
Future high-time resolution observations spanning the optical to radio regime
could shed light on the acceleration process and the subsequent particle
evolution.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Mutualisms drive plant trait evolution beyond interactionârelated traits
Mutualisms have driven the evolution of extraordinary structures and behavioural traits, but their impact on traits beyond those directly involved in the interaction remains unclear. We addressed this gap using a highly evolutionarily replicated system â epiphytes in the Rubiaceae forming symbioses with ants. We employed models that allow us to test the influence of discrete mutualistic traits on continuous nonâmutualistic traits. Our findings are consistent with mutualism shaping the pace of morphological evolution, strength of selection and longâterm mean of nonâmutualistic traits in function of mutualistic dependency. While specialised and obligate mutualisms are associated with slower trait change, less intimate, facultative and generalist mutualistic interactions â which are the most common â have a greater impact on nonâmutualistic trait evolution. These results challenge the prevailing notion that mutualisms solely affect the evolution of interactionârelated traits via stabilizing selection and instead demonstrate a broader role for mutualisms in shaping trait evolution
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