974 research outputs found
Changes in the content of milk components during lactation and their influence on lamb rearing of Finnsheep
The analysis of milk component content determined by Milkoscan apparatus was carried out on 59 ewes of Finnsheep (a total of 880 records for each component). Lactations differed in fat (F), protein (P) and lactose (L) content, but the differences were statistically significant (
An improved lower bound for (1,<=2)-identifying codes in the king grid
We call a subset of vertices of a graph a -identifying
code if for all subsets of vertices with size at most , the sets
are distinct. The concept of
identifying codes was introduced in 1998 by Karpovsky, Chakrabarty and Levitin.
Identifying codes have been studied in various grids. In particular, it has
been shown that there exists a -identifying code in the king grid
with density 3/7 and that there are no such identifying codes with density
smaller than 5/12. Using a suitable frame and a discharging procedure, we
improve the lower bound by showing that any -identifying code of
the king grid has density at least 47/111
The use of protocol in breaking bad news: evidence and ethos
This article discusses health professionals use of protocol in the breaking of bad news, focusing particularly on the well-known SPIKES framework. The evidence of impact on the patient experience is examined and recommendations are made for further outcome-based research. Existing evidence suggests that the model as commonly interpreted may not fully meet the needs of patients or reflect the clinical experience of breaking bad news for some professionals and further guidance may be needed to support them in their practice. The ethos of the step-wise protocol is debated, questioning whether it helps or hinders individualised care and the formation of a genuine relationship between patient and professional. Finally, recommendations for practice are offered
Dignity and Narrative Medicine
Critiques of the dehumanising aspects of contemporary medical practice have generated increasing interest in the ways in which health care can foster a holistic sense of wellbeing. We examine the relationship between two areas of this humanistic endeavour: narrative and dignity. This paper makes two simple arguments that are intuitive but have not yet been explored in detail: that narrative competence of carers is required for maintaining or recreating dignity, and that dignity promotion in health care practice is primarily narrative in form. The multiple meanings that dignity has in a personâs life are what give the concept power and can only be captured by narrative. This has implications for health care practice where narrative work will be increasingly required to support patient dignity in under-resourced and over-subscribed health care system
Communication and trust in the bounded confidence model
The communication process in a situation of emergency is discussed within the
Scheff theory of shame and pride. The communication involves messages from
media and from other persons. Three strategies are considered: selfish (to
contact friends), collective (to join other people) and passive (to do
nothing). We show that the pure selfish strategy cannot be evolutionarily
stable. The main result is that the community structure is statistically
meaningful only if the interpersonal communication is weak.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, RevTeX, for ICCCI-201
Epistemic injustices in clinical communication: The example of narrative elicitation in person-centred care.
The increasing popularity of the term âpersonâcentredâ in the healthcare literature and a wide range of ideals and practices it implies point to the need for a more inclusive and holistic healthcare provision. A framework developed in a Swedish context suggested narrative elicitation as a key practice in transition to personâcentred care. Initiating clinical communication by inviting people to tell their stories makes persistent yet often subtle problems in clinical communication visible. By drawing upon an observational study on narrative elicitation and vignetteâbased focus group interviews with nurses, our aim is to trace âcredibility deficitsâ (Fricker 2007. Epistemic Injustice. Power and the Ethics of Knowing. Oxford: Oxford University Press) and âcredibility excessesâ (Medina 2011, Social Epistemology, 25, 1, 15â35, 2013, The Epistemology of Resistance: Gender and Racial Oppression, Epistemic Injustice, and the Social Imagination. Oxford: Oxford University Press) in narrative elicitation. We argue that narrative elicitation may be one way to tackle epistemic injustices by giving voice to previously silenced groups, yet it is not enough to erase the effects of âcredibility deficitsâ in clinical communication. Rather than judging individual professionalsâ success or failure in eliciting narratives, we underline some extrinsic problems of narrative elicitation, namely structural and positional inequalities reflecting on narrative elicitation and the credibility of patients. âCredibility excessesâ can be useful and indicative to better understand where they are missing
Fiber-Flux Diffusion Density for White Matter Tracts Analysis: Application to Mild Anomalies Localization in Contact Sports Players
We present the concept of fiber-flux density for locally quantifying white
matter (WM) fiber bundles. By combining scalar diffusivity measures (e.g.,
fractional anisotropy) with fiber-flux measurements, we define new local
descriptors called Fiber-Flux Diffusion Density (FFDD) vectors. Applying each
descriptor throughout fiber bundles allows along-tract coupling of a specific
diffusion measure with geometrical properties, such as fiber orientation and
coherence. A key step in the proposed framework is the construction of an FFDD
dissimilarity measure for sub-voxel alignment of fiber bundles, based on the
fast marching method (FMM). The obtained aligned WM tract-profiles enable
meaningful inter-subject comparisons and group-wise statistical analysis. We
demonstrate our method using two different datasets of contact sports players.
Along-tract pairwise comparison as well as group-wise analysis, with respect to
non-player healthy controls, reveal significant and spatially-consistent FFDD
anomalies. Comparing our method with along-tract FA analysis shows improved
sensitivity to subtle structural anomalies in football players over standard FA
measurements
Xq27 FRAXA locus is a strong candidate for dyslexia: evidence from a genome-wide scan in French families.
Dyslexia is a frequent neurodevelopmental
learning disorder. To date, nine susceptibility loci have
been identified, one of them being DYX9, located in Xq27.
We performed the first French SNP linkage study followed
by candidate gene investigation in dyslexia by studying 12
multiplex families (58 subjects) with at least two children
affected, according to categorical restrictive criteria for
phenotype definition. Significant results emerged on
Xq27.3 within DYX9. The maximum multipoint LOD
score reached 3,884 between rs12558359 and rs454992.
Within this region, seven candidate genes were investigated
for mutations in exonic sequences (CXORF1,
CXORF51, SLITRK2, FMR1, FMR2, ASFMR1, FMR1NB),
all having a role during brain development. We further
looked for 50
UTR trinucleotide repeats in FMR1 and FMR2
genes. No mutation or polymorphism co-segregating with
dyslexia was found. This finding in French families with
Dyslexia showed significant linkage on Xq27.3 enclosing
FRAXA, and consequently confirmed the DYX9 region as
a robust susceptibility locus. We reduced the previously
described interval from 6.8 (DXS1227âDXS8091) to 4 Mb
also disclosing a higher LOD score
Simulated Encounters With Vaccine-Hesitant Parents: Arts-Based Video Scenario and a Writing Exercise
Vaccine hesitancy is an increasing and urgent global public health challenge. Medical studentsâ encounters with vaccine-hesitant parents, however, remain incidental and unexplored. During pre-clinical training, the vaccine-hesitant parents are typically represented through impersonal text-based cases, lists of their concerns, and sometimes a virtual patient. However, in reality, vaccine-hesitant parents have many health beliefs and arguments that are accompanied with intense emotions, and students remain unaware and unprepared for them. This study is an experimental pilot test in stimulating the medical studentsâ understanding of, and ability to respond to, vaccine-hesitant parentsâ beliefs and questions. An arts-based video scenario and a writing exercise are used to demonstrate a rich case of vaccine hesitancy, including a simulated dialogue between a parent and a student. The study invites vaccine-hesitant parents to ask questions to medical students, then it incorporates these questions in a video scenario and subsequently invites the students to answer these questions as junior doctors. The study examines how the peer group discussion after the video viewing resembles a hospital breakroom conversation and how the written dialogue with a vaccine-hesitant parent simulates a consultation-room encounter
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