Industrial work placement in higher education: a study of civil engineering student engagement

For civil engineering undergraduates, the opportunity to spend a period of time in formal industrial work placement provides an invaluable learning experience. This paper reviews student engagement with short-term industrial placement and provides analysis of questionnaires (n=174) returned by undergraduates studying civil engineering at four Higher Education Institutes (HEI’s) in the West of Scotland. The data captures industrial placement statistics, employability skill-sets and presents brief testimonies from students. Whilst the journey to becoming a professional civil engineer is undoubtedly enhanced by short-term placement clear opportunities exist for HEI’s to affect and change existing pedagogical discourse. Commentary is likely to resonate beyond civil engineering and serve as a timely reminder of the need to re-invigorate academia / industry curriculum partnerships

Objectively assessed recess physical activity in girls and boys from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds

BackgroundThe school environment influences children&rsquo;s opportunities for physical activity participation. The aim of the present study was to assess objectively measured school recess physical activity in children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds.MethodsFour hundred and seven children (6&ndash;11 years old) from 4 primary schools located in high socioeconomic status (high-SES) and low socioeconomic status (low-SES) areas participated in the study. Children&rsquo;s physical activity was measured using accelerometry during morning and afternoon recess during a 4-day school week. The percentage of time spent in light, moderate, vigorous, very high and in moderate- to very high-intensity physical activity were calculated using age-dependent cut-points. Sedentary time was defined as 100 counts per minute.ResultsBoys were significantly (p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.001) more active than girls. No difference in sedentary time between socioeconomic backgrounds was observed. The low-SES group spent significantly more time in light (p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.001) and very high (p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.05) intensity physical activity compared to the high-SES group. High-SES boys and girls spent significantly more time in moderate (p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.001 and p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.05, respectively) and vigorous (p&thinsp;&lt;&thinsp;0.001) physical activity than low-SES boys.ConclusionsDifferences were observed in recess physical activity levels according to socioeconomic background and sex. These results indicate that recess interventions should target children in low-SES schools.<br /

Review: The increasing importance of carbon nanotubes and nanostructured conducting polymers in biosensors

The growing need for analytical devices requiring smaller sample volumes, decreased power consumption and improved performance have been driving forces behind the rapid growth in nanomaterials research. Due to their dimensions, nanostructured materials display unique properties not traditionally observed in bulk materials. Characteristics such as increased surface area along with enhanced electrical/optical properties make them suitable for numerous applications such as nanoelectronics, photovoltaics and chemical/biological sensing. In this review we examine the potential that exists to use nanostructured materials for biosensor devices. By incorporating nanomaterials, it is possible to achieve enhanced sensitivity, improved response time and smaller size. Here we report some of the success that has been achieved in this area. Many nanoparticle and nanofibre geometries are particularly relevant, but in this paper we specifically focus on organic nanostructures, reviewing conducting polymer nanostructures and carbon nanotubes

Antibiotics for sore throat.

BACKGROUND: Sore throat is a very common reason for people to attend for medical care. It is a disease that remits spontaneously, that is, 'cure' is not dependent on treatment. Nonetheless primary care doctors commonly prescribe antibiotics for sore throat and other upper respiratory tract infections. OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits of antibiotics in the management of sore throat. SEARCH STRATEGY: Systematic search of the literature from 1945 to 1999, using electronic searches of MEDLINE (using the keywords, "pharyngitis", "sore throat" and "tonsillitis") after 1966, the Cochrane Library, the Cochrane collection of hand-searched trials, and the reference sections of the articles identified. Abstracts of identified articles were used to determine which studies were trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: Trials of antibiotic against control with either measures of the typical symptoms (throat soreness, headache or fever), or complications (suppurative and non-suppurative) of sore throat. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: RevMan 4.0.3 MAIN RESULTS: 25 studies were included in the review. A total number of 11, 452 cases of sore throat have been studied. 1. Non-suppurative complications There was a trend for protection against acute glomerulonephritis by antibiotics, but insufficient cases were recorded to be sure of this effect. Several studies found benefit from antibiotics for acute rheumatic fever, which reduced this complication to less than one third (OR = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.20-0.45). 2. Suppurative complications Antibiotics reduced the incidence of acute otitis media to about one quarter of that in the placebo group (OR = 0.22; 95% CI = 0.11-0.43) and reduced the incidence of acute sinusitis to about one half of that in the placebo group (OR = 0.46; 95% CI = 0.10-2.05). The incidence of quinsy was also reduced in relation to placebo group (OR = 0.16; 95% CI = 0.07-0.35). 3. Symptoms Symptoms of headache, throat soreness and fever were reduced by antibiotics to about one half. The greatest time for this to be evident was at about three and a half days (when the symptoms of about 50% of untreated patients had settled). About 90% of treated and untreated patients were symptom-free by one week. 4. Subgroup analyses of symptom reduction Subgroup analysis by age; blind vs unblinded; or use of antipyretics yielded no significant differences. The results of swabs of the throat for Streptococcus influenced the effect of antibiotics. If the swab was positive, antibiotics were more effective (the OR reduced to 0.16, 95% CI 0.09, 0.26) than if it was negative (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.38,1.1.2). REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotics confer relative benefits in the treatment of sore throat. However, the absolute benefits are modest. Protecting sore throat sufferers against suppurative and non-suppurative complications in modern Western society can only be achieved by treating many with antibiotics who will derive no benefit. Antibiotics shorten the duration of symptoms, but by a mean of only one day about half way through the illness (the time of maximal effect), and by about sixteen hours overall

Antibiotics for sore throat

BACKGROUND: Sore throat is a very common reason for people to attend for medical care. It is a disease that remits spontaneously, that is, 'cure' is not dependent on treatment. Nonetheless primary care doctors commonly prescribe antibiotics for sore throat and other upper respiratory tract infections. OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits of antibiotics in the management of sore throat. SEARCH STRATEGY: Systematic search of the literature from 1945 to 1999, using electronic searches of MEDLINE (using the keywords, "pharyngitis", "sore throat" and "tonsillitis") after 1966, the Cochrane Library, the Cochrane collection of hand-searched trials, and the reference sections of the articles identified. Abstracts of identified articles were used to determine which studies were trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: Trials of antibiotic against control with either measures of the typical symptoms (throat soreness, headache or fever), or complications (suppurative and non-suppurative) of sore throat. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: RevMan 4.0.3 MAIN RESULTS: 25 studies were included in the review. A total number of 11, 452 cases of sore throat have been studied. 1. Non-suppurative complications There was a trend for protection against acute glomerulonephritis by antibiotics, but insufficient cases were recorded to be sure of this effect. Several studies found benefit from antibiotics for acute rheumatic fever, which reduced this complication to less than one third (OR = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.20-0.45). 2. Suppurative complications Antibiotics reduced the incidence of acute otitis media to about one quarter of that in the placebo group (OR = 0.22; 95% CI = 0.11-0.43) and reduced the incidence of acute sinusitis to about one half of that in the placebo group (OR = 0.46; 95% CI = 0.10-2.05). The incidence of quinsy was also reduced in relation to placebo group (OR = 0.16; 95% CI = 0.07-0.35). 3. Symptoms Symptoms of headache, throat soreness and fever were reduced by antibiotics to about one half. The greatest time for this to be evident was at about three and a half days (when the symptoms of about 50% of untreated patients had settled). About 90% of treated and untreated patients were symptom-free by one week. 4. Subgroup analyses of symptom reduction Subgroup analysis by age; blind vs unblinded; or use of antipyretics yielded no significant differences. The results of swabs of the throat for Streptococcus influenced the effect of antibiotics. If the swab was positive, antibiotics were more effective (the OR reduced to 0.16, 95% CI 0.09, 0.26) than if it was negative (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.38,1.1.2). REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotics confer relative benefits in the treatment of sore throat. However, the absolute benefits are modest. Protecting sore throat sufferers against suppurative and non-suppurative complications in modern Western society can only be achieved by treating many with antibiotics who will derive no benefit. Antibiotics shorten the duration of symptoms, but by a mean of only one day about half way through the illness (the time of maximal effect), and by about sixteen hours overall

Pharmaceutical characterization of novel tenofovir liposomal formulations for enhanced oral drug delivery: in vitro pharmaceutics and Caco-2 permeability investigations

Crystal B Spinks,1 Ahmed S Zidan,2,3 Mansoor A Khan,4 Muhammad J Habib,1 Patrick J Faustino2 1Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Howard University, Washington, DC, 2Division of Product Quality Research, Office of Pharmaceutical Quality, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA; 3Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt; 4Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, Texas A&amp;M Health Science Center, College Station, TX, USA Abstract: Tenofovir, currently marketed as the prodrug tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, is used clinically to treat patients with HIV/AIDS. The oral bioavailability of tenofovir is relatively low, limiting its clinical effectiveness. Encapsulation of tenofovir within modified long-circulating liposomes would deliver this hydrophilic anti-HIV drug to the reticuloendothelial system for better therapeutic efficacy. The objectives of the current study were to prepare and pharmaceutically characterize model liposomal tenofovir formulations in an attempt to improve their bioavailability. The entrapment process was performed using film hydration method, and the formulations were characterized in terms of encapsulation efficiency and Caco-2 permeability. An efficient reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed and validated for tenofovir quantitation in both in vitro liposomal formulations and Caco-2 permeability samples. Separation was achieved isocratically on a Waters Symmetry C8 column using 10&nbsp;mM Na2PO4/acetonitrile pH 7.4 (95:5&nbsp;v/v). The flow rate was 1&nbsp;mL/min with a 12&nbsp;min elution time. Injection volume was 10&nbsp;&micro;L with ultraviolet detection at 270&nbsp;nm. The method was validated according to United States Pharmacopeial Convention category I requirements. The obtained result showed that tenofovir encapsulation within the prepared liposomes was dependent on the employed amount of the positive charge-imparting agent. The obtained results indicated that calibration curves were linear with r2 &gt; 0.9995 over the analytical range of 1&ndash;10&nbsp;&micro;g/mL. Inter- and intraday accuracy and precision values ranged from 95% to 101% and 0.3% to 2.6%, respectively. The method was determined to be specific and robust. Regarding the potential of the prepared vectors to potentiate tenofovir permeability through the Caco-2 model, a 10-fold increase in tenofovir apparent permeability was observed compared to its oral solution. In conclusion, this novel and validated method was successfully applied to characterize both in vitro encapsulation efficiency and Caco-2 permeability transport for the pharmaceutical assessment of novel tenofovir formulations. Keywords: liposomes, tenofovir, targeting, chromatography, entrapment, permeatio