Integration of a Smart Grid in the United States

In February 2021, the Texas power grid experienced widespread outages for days during a severe winter storm. The lack of fine control on grid technology and modernized infrastructure left hundreds of thousands of residents freezing in their homes instead of manageable short-term rolling blackouts. The electrical grid in the United States has not sufficiently modernized to keep up with the rise in technology developing throughout the United States. Without modernization and necessary improvements, limitations in the grid will expose themselves as widespread outages affecting residents, infrastructure, and companies across the United States. Transitioning the United States to a smart grid is a complex long-term initiative requiring careful ethical considerations, proper funding, and diligent cyber-security maintenance. A proper implementation of the smart grid will provide the nation with a resilient electrical grid with bidirectional communication between the grid and electricity customers. The smart grid will lead to a better distribution in electricity usage throughout the day, reduced costs, and the capability for more distributed power generation and green energy. The cost of the transition is estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, but with a return on investment far exceeding the cost, beyond one trillion dollars, showing the positive return from the investment. The cost of not modernizing the electricity grid would be very detrimental to the United States and the stability of the electricity grids going into the future, so investments into the smart grid are crucial and necessary

Information: interactions and impact (i3) conference 2015.

The Information: Interactions and Impact (i3) conference was established in 2007 at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, as an international forum to bring together academic and practitioner researchers interested in exploring the quality and effectiveness of the interactions between people and information and how these can bring about change. This biennial conference provides an opportunity for exchange of research findings and a chance to identify key questions and issues for future research. It aims to be relevant to all those involved in researching, developing or delivering information and knowledge services in any sector, as well as those concerned with the development of skills for a knowledge society

Factors that Contribute to Resident Teaching Effectiveness

Background One of the key components of residency training is to become an educator. Resident physicians teach students, advanced practice providers, nurses, and even faculty on a daily basis. Objective The goal of this study was to identify the objective characteristics of residents, which correlate with perceived overall teaching effectiveness. Methods We conducted a one-year, retrospective study to identify factors that were associated with higher resident teaching evaluations. Senior emergency medicine (EM) teaching residents are evaluated by medical students following clinical teaching shifts. Eighteen factors pertaining to resident teaching effectiveness were chosen. Two items from the medical students' evaluations were analyzed against each factor: teaching effectiveness was measured on a five-point Likert scale and an overall teaching score (1-75). Results A total of 46 EM residents and 843 medical student evaluations were analyzed. The ACGME milestones for systems-based practice (p = 0.02) and accountability (p = 0.05) showed a statistically significant association with a rating of "five" on the Likert scale for teaching effectiveness. Three other ACGME milestones, systems-based practice (p = 0.01), task switching (p = 0.04), and team management (p = 0.03) also showed a statically significant association of receiving a score of 70 or greater on the overall teaching score. Conclusion Residents with higher performance associated with system management and accountability were perceived as highly effective teachers. USMLE and in-service exams were not predictive of higher teaching evaluations. Our data also suggest that effective teachers are working in both academic and community settings, providing a potential resource to academic departments and institutions

Social transport collaborative solutions: developing a social/community transport infrastructure for change funded projects and associated activity around reshaping care for older people (RCOP).

Transport services for health and social care are fragmented and there is a lack of leadership, ownership and monitoring of the services provided. The Scottish Government, Regional Transport Partnerships, councils, NHS boards and the ambulance service are not working together effectively to deliver transport for health and social care or making best use of available resources. (Audit Scotland 2011 p. 4) With an aging population, transport for vulnerable groups is a major concern for the Scottish Government, and it continues to be examined at the highest levels in Scotland. Of particular focus is the need to better co-ordinate and optimise the wide range of transport services provided by public, private and third sector organisations. This is reflected in The Scottish Parliament Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committees report on Community Transport, and its recommendations to the Scottish Government were the subject of a debate in the Chamber of the Scottish Parliament on 30th October 2013. Against this background, the project investigated how to improve transport services which help older people access health and social care in Aberdeen. The availability of transport services, and whether older people are eligible to use them has been identified as a key issue by the third sector and the project has an opportunity to address this challenge. The project is funded by the Change Fund1 and overseen by the Aberdeen Social Transport Working Group, comprising ACVO TSI (Aberdeens Third Sector Interface), Robert Gordon University (RGU), Nestrans2, Scottish Care, Aberdeen City Council, Buchan Dial-a-Community Bus, British Red Cross, Royal Voluntary Service (formerly WRVS) and Co-wheels. The Social Transport Steering Group has responsibility for the management and monitoring of the project and consists of ACVO TSI, Robert Gordon University and Nestrans. Following the inception of the project, a new Programme Manager was appointed to the Health and Transport Action Plan (HTAP)3 1 The Scottish Government established the Change Fund for older peoples services to enable health, social care, housing, Independent and Third sector Partners to implement local plans for making better use of their combined resources to improve outcomes for older people. (Joint Improvement Team 2011 p. 1) This four year fund (2011-2015) has an allocation of £300 million. and has subsequently joined the Aberdeen Social Transport Working Group and the Social Transport Steering Group. As part of the project, a team at Robert Gordon University has conducted research to provide an evidence base upon which to plan and direct future transport improvements. This research aimed to investigate the extent to which the current provision of transport services for health and social care are meeting the needs of older people within Aberdeen City and to make recommendations about how to address unmet demand. The project gathered both quantitative and qualitative data from a range of participants: transport providers and associated organisations; third sector organisations either having a specific role with older people or working more generally in the sector; private care bodies; and other academics. Many of these contacts led to further useful sources of information throughout Scotland and the UK, and identified notable transport projects as far afield as Canada and Australia. REPORT BY INSTITUTE FOR MANAGEMENT, GOVERNANCE AND SOCIETY (IMAGES), ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY, FOR ABERDEEN COUNCIL FOR VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS (AVCO

Neonatal nursing led research activity in the UK: a survey of current practice

© The Author(s) 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Abstract: Background: Neonatal nurses are ideally placed in practice to undertake research enhancing the care of families. More information is required, however, around neonatal nursing led research to advance leadership in this area. The aim of this study was to determine neonatal nursing led research activity within the UK. Methods: The study used a web-based survey design and neonatal nurses were eligible if they were working at or towards Masters or Doctoral level qualification in the UK. The survey was distributed to members of the Neonatal Nurses Association, UK Schools of Nursing and shared on social media pages of authors and professional organisations. Results were analysed using descriptive and frequency statistics and content analysis. Results: Of the 56 respondents, 14% (n = 8) had a Doctoral level qualification and 43% (n = 24) of participants held a Masters qualification. Lack of time and funding knowledge was the largest barrier to research. Only 30% (n = 3) of participants had a research mentor and only 18% (n = 3) were from a neonatal nursing background. Conclusions: There are limited numbers of neonatal nurses undertaking or leading nursing research in the UK. Further support is required to enhance clinical academic career trajectories to ensure research is a viable pathway for future generations of neonatal nurses.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Sleep Duration and “on” Time during Different Periods of the Day and Night in Patients with Advanced Parkinson's Disease Receiving Adjunctive Ropinirole Prolonged Release

Patients undergoing long-term therapy for PD often experience motor fluctuations and nocturnal disturbances. In a post-hoc analysis, we explored effects of ropinirole prolonged release on sleep, night-time awakenings, and “on” time over 24 hours. Patients with advanced PD suboptimally controlled with L-dopa were randomized to adjunctive ropinirole prolonged release (2–24 mg/day) or placebo for 24 weeks. Awake/asleep and, if awake, “on”/“off” status was recorded via diary cards. At week 24 last observation carried forward, changes in nighttime or daytime sleep duration were not significantly different between treatments. Of patients with baseline awakenings, a significantly higher proportion in the ropinirole prolonged release group had a reduction in awakenings versus placebo. Patients receiving ropinirole prolonged release had a significantly greater increase in amount/percentage of awake time “on”/“on” without troublesome dyskinesia during all periods assessed (including night-time and early morning), versus placebo, and higher odds for being “on” on waking. Adjunctive once-daily ropinirole prolonged release may help provide 24-hour symptom control in patients with advanced PD not optimally controlled with L-dopa