Recruitment to clinical trials : a meta-ethnographic synthesis of studies of reasons for participation

Peer reviewedPostprin

Light Curves for Rapidly-Rotating Neutron Stars

We present raytracing computations for light emitted from the surface of a rapidly-rotating neutron star in order to construct light curves for X-ray pulsars and bursters. These calculations are for realistic models of rapidly-rotating neutron stars which take into account both the correct exterior metric and the oblate shape of the star. We find that the most important effect arising from rotation comes from the oblate shape of the rotating star. We find that approximating a rotating neutron star as a sphere introduces serious errors in fitted values of the star's radius and mass if the rotation rate is very large. However, in most cases acceptable fits to the ratio M/R can be obtained with the spherical approximation.Comment: Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal. 13 pages & 7 figure

Recruitment to trials : insights from a meta-ethnography of qualitative studies

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Utilization of Amisulpride as a Rescue Drug for Postop Patients Compared to Promethazine for the Treatment of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting: An Educational Module

Abstract Background: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) persist as one of the most common adverse effects experienced by patients undergoing general anesthesia, as it can prolong a patient’s stay in the hospital, increase hospital costs, and lead to further complications delaying the recovery process.1,3,7 Despite prophylactic treatment with a combination of drugs, some patients still experience PONV. Despite its adverse side effects, Promethazine is still utilized as a rescue drug for PONV after failed prophylaxis. Objective: This quality improvement project aims to increase anesthesia providers’ knowledge of the current literature on Amisulpride\u27s efficacy and safety profile for treating PONV after failed prophylaxis compared to Promethazine. Methods: An in-depth analysis was conducted by using CINAHL, PubMed, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Library database to obtain research studies discussing the use of Amisulpride and Promethazine as rescue treatments for failed PONV prophylaxis. CRNAs were invited to participate by completing an online pre-test survey, followed by viewing an online educational module, and a post-survey questionnaire to assess their acquired knowledge. Results: There was an increase in knowledge among anesthesia providers on using Amisulpride as a rescue treatment for failed prevention of PONV compared to Promethazine. Amisulpride has a safer profile and is less likely to cause any side effects, unlike Promethazine, which has the potential for multiple adverse effects. Discussion: Data collected from the surveys showed that anesthesia providers had increased their knowledge of the use, mechanism of action, and minimal potential for side effects of Amisulpride when used to treat PONV. A small sample size of 7 people and the online distribution were limitations for this project. Conclusion: Evidence-based research shows Amisulpride has a safer profile for treating PONV when prophylaxis fails compared to Promethazine. Results from this quality improvement project showed an increase in anesthesia providers’ knowledge regarding the benefits and adverse effects of both antiemetics. Introduction of Amisulpride to clinical practice can lead to improvements in patient outcomes by decreasing the occurrence of PONV and further complications. Keywords: Postoperative nausea and vomiting, prophylaxis, rescue, antiemetic, Amisulpride, Barhemsys, Promethazine, Phenerga

The Bottom Line: Employment and Barriers to Work among Former SSI DA&A Beneficiaries

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for drug addicts and alcoholists (DA&A beneficiaries) ended in January 1997 without any special effort to create employment for those who lost benefits. Relying on data from a nine-site, two-year panel study of 1,764 former DA&A recipients and detailed semistructured interviews with subsamples in four sites, this paper examines employment outcomes and barriers to employment among 611 respondents who lost SSI and did not replace it with another form of publicly funded income assistance. Despite the tight labor market of the late 1990s, this group was plagued by widespread unemployment and sub-employment. At the two-year follow-up, only 25% earned $500 per month or more, and only 12% typically earned this much throughout the study. Given their age, health problems and limited human capital, it is likely that many former DA&A beneficiaries will remain indigent, returning to the SSI rolls when they requalify upon turning 65

Collecting resilience points for a smooth transition to adult healthcare services:co-creating a playful resource for Spina Bifida.

Background: The transition of young people with a disability or a chronic health condition, from paediatric to adult focused health and social care services, in Scotland, is known to be difficult. There is a significant body of evidence to suggest that a transition should start early, be holistic and inclusive, as well as structured to build essential capabilities and promote resilience. The nurse led project, reported here, was set to create a playful mechanism for meaningful interactions between young people, families and healthcare professionals involved in the transfer of care. Methodology: Salutogenic theory and efforts to enhance a ‘sense of coherence’ guided developments of a collaborative boardgame entitled ‘The Young Heroes’. Through participatory design and the ecological framing of resilience, the captured lived experience of adults with spina bifida who already transitioned to adult care, was used to enhance developments. Playtests with a range of stakeholders was used to further hone and validate the tool. Results: Seeking to co-create a tool to support effective transitions, enabled a team to craft and test a transition game that is easily accessible, inclusive, and sufficiently adaptable to fit different settings, communities and cultures. The open licence grants others a free access to download, play and adapt this game so it could be further used, enhanced and validated. <br/

From Painting to Perception/Experience/Meaning

The present installation in the University of Colorado Museum Gallery continues the exploration of materials/process found in my early work while reflecting recent concerns with conceptual and perceptual problems. The show involves materials/procedures, concepts/application/evaluation, and perception/experience/&rdquo;meaning.&rdquo; The emphasis is on the value of each viewer&rsquo;s direct experience of actual space-time phenomena, the potential of perception to alter consciousness in both art and life, and the expansion of individual awareness and response. I have approached art as an on-going process of exploration. Emphasis is placed on the art activity; art acts and individual response becomes more important than permanent art objects. Adopting a truth to material/truth to process attitude with my panels, I've presented the unique properties of unaltered physical substances as purely factual information. The panels are insistently self-referential, rather than symbolic or illusionistic, and reject subjective evaluation in terms of traditional aesthetic priorities. This thesis statement has discussed only the &ldquo;means&rdquo; of my installation; &ldquo;means&rdquo; should not be confused with &ldquo;meaning.&rdquo; The &ldquo;art-of-it-all&rdquo; is not to be found in the materials, processes, or physical aspects of the gallery space. Ultimately, the art/meaning rests with each individual's experience of the work and that individual&rsquo;s subjective response, heightened awareness and perception of self. &nbsp;</p

Factory girls

In 1916, a representative from the Imperial Munitions Board announced to a gathering of women at Massey Hall in downtown Toronto that women were to be recruited to munitions factories. The intention from the Board and from the Canadian government was to dilute the masculine labour force with unskilled female labourers in order to allow the largest possible number of able-bodied men to enlist for deployment overseas. Hundreds of women from a wide array of backgrounds answered the call, efficiently and effectively building weapons, aircraft and ships for the war effort. Factory Girls explores the lives and motives of ten such women who take up employment in a fictional factory in Toronto. Members of the leisure class join working girls as they navigate a newfound sense of freedom and agency against a background of increasingly violent nationalism, imperialism and xenophobia. As the pressures of war build and what is normal becomes increasingly strange, aspects of absurdity pop up in both the lives of these women and in the telling of their stories. Factory Girls explores the question of what it means to make a bomb in the context of these women’s diverse economic, social and ideological backgrounds

Direct Activation of RhoA by Reactive Oxygen Species Requires a Redox-Sensitive Motif

BACKGROUND:Rho family GTPases are critical regulators of the cytoskeleton and affect cell migration, cell-cell adhesion, and cell-matrix adhesion. As with all GTPases, their activity is determined by their guanine nucleotide-bound state. Understanding how Rho proteins are activated and inactivated has largely focused on regulatory proteins such as guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) and GTPase activating proteins (GAPs). However, recent in vitro studies have indicated that GTPases may also be directly regulated by redox agents. We hypothesized that this redox-based mechanism occurs in cells and affects cytoskeletal dynamics, and in this report we conclude this is indeed a novel mechanism of regulating the GTPase RhoA. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:In this report, we show that RhoA can be directly activated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells, and that this requires two critical cysteine residues located in a unique redox-sensitive motif within the phosphoryl binding loop. First, we show that ROS can reversibly activate RhoA and induce stress fiber formation, a well characterized readout of RhoA activity. To determine the role of cysteine residues in this mechanism of regulation, we generated cysteine to alanine RhoA mutants. Mutation of these cysteines abolishes ROS-mediated activation and stress fiber formation, indicating that these residues are critical for redox-regulation of RhoA. Importantly, these mutants maintain the ability to be activated by GEFs. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Our findings identify a novel mechanism for the regulation of RhoA in cells by ROS, which is independent of classical regulatory proteins. This mechanism of regulation may be particularly relevant in pathological conditions where ROS are generated and the cellular redox-balance altered, such as in asthma and ischemia-reperfusion injury