Quality of life in the five years after intensive care : a cohort study

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Measurement of radiation-pressure-induced optomechanical dynamics in a suspended Fabry-Perot cavity

We report on experimental observation of radiation-pressure induced effects in a high-power optical cavity. These effects play an important role in next generation gravitational wave (GW) detectors, as well as in quantum non-demolition (QND) interferometers. We measure the properties of an optical spring, created by coupling of an intense laser field to the pendulum mode of a suspended mirror; and also the parametric instability (PI) that arises from the nonlinear coupling between acoustic modes of the cavity mirrors and the cavity optical mode. Specifically, we measure an optical rigidity of $K = 3 \times 10^4$ N/m, and PI value $R = 3$.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Central European foreign exchange markets: a cross-spectral analysis of the 2007 financial crisis

This paper investigates co-movements between currency markets of Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Euro in the year following the drying up of money markets in August 2007. The paper shows that assessing the degree of foreign currency co-movement by correlation can lead to concluding, erroneously, that financial contagion has not occurred. Using cross-spectral methods, the paper shows that defining contagion as changes in the structure of co-movements of asset prices encompasses more of the complex nature of exchange rate dynamics. What is shown is that, following August 2007, there is increased in the intensity of co-movements, but non-linearly. Focusing on the activities of a mix of banks and currency managers, it is suggested that changes in the structure of currency interaction present an unfavourable view of the contagion experienced by at least three of these currencies

Characterisation of Arctic Bacterial Communities in the Air above Svalbard

Atmospheric dispersal of bacteria is increasingly acknowledged as an important factor influencing bacterial community biodiversity, biogeography and bacteria-human interactions, including those linked to human health. However, knowledge about patterns in microbial aerobiology is still relatively scarce, and this can be attributed, in part, to a lack of consensus on appropriate sampling and analytical methodology. In this study, three different methods were used to investigate aerial biodiversity over Svalbard: impaction, membrane filtration and drop plates. Sites around Svalbard were selected due to their relatively remote location, low human population, geographical location with respect to air movement and the tradition and history of scientific investigation on the archipelago, ensuring the presence of existing research infrastructure. The aerial bacterial biodiversity found was similar to that described in other aerobiological studies from both polar and non-polar environments, with Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes being the predominant groups. Twelve different phyla were detected in the air collected above Svalbard, although the diversity was considerably lower than in urban environments elsewhere. However, only 58 of 196 bacterial genera detected were consistently present, suggesting potentially higher levels of heterogeneity. Viable bacteria were present at all sampling locations, showing that living bacteria are ubiquitous in the air around Svalbard. Sampling location influenced the results obtained, as did sampling method. Specifically, impaction with a Sartorius MD8 produced a significantly higher number of viable colony forming units (CFUs) than drop plates alone

Written Review 2

This report delves more deeply into the implementation of FIR filters for audio frequency band splitting in a digital multiband compressor. Specifically the implementation of FFT convolution and Block Convolution as a means of increasing computational efficiency and minimizing input-output delay is explored. It is directly related to the how the DSP technique could be applied to the multiband compressor product developed in Lab Report 2, furthering the development of the product towards ‘real time’ implementation in the future.Architecture & Allied Art

High dose inhaled corticosteroid therapy in non asthmatic chronic airflow obstruction: a comparative study of the short term effect of lung function, symptoms, bronchial responsiveness, and peripheral neutrophil function, and observations on the long term role of such treatment

This thesis has investigated and compared the short term effect of treatment with 750 micrograms and 1500 micrograms twice daily of inhaled beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP), and oral prednisolone 40 mg per day, on lung function and quality of life in 105 patients with non asthmatic chronic airflow obstruction. The role of physiological and clinical features in determining the response to treatment in individuals has been investigated, and the systemic and local side effects of therapy have been studied. The effect of treatment on peripheral neutrophil function has been investigated in a subgroup of patients, and observations on decline in FEV1 in a separate cohort of patients are presented.After three weeks treatment both doses of BDP produced equivalent, small but statistically significant improvements in FEV1, FVC, and mean PEF, compared to that seen with placebo. Individual patients demonstrated a response, defined on the changes seen in physiological variables, to active treatment more commonly than with placebo. Bronchial responsiveness to inhaled histamine was unaltered by treatment for three weeks with inhaled BDP. Quality of life and subjective measures of dyspnea showed marked baseline variability, but treatment with BDP significantly improved dyspnea and patient's 'mastery' over the disease. Oral prednisolone did not improve lung function or subjective measures further. A response to active treatment in individual patients was more common in those with more severe physiological impairment. Formal discriminant analysis was unsuccessful in predicting response to treatment in individual patients.No significant deleterious effect of treatment with inhaled BDP or oral prednisolone on global respiratory muscle strength was detected. Treatment with BDP caused detectable adrenal suppression, which was dose related, for 750 micrograms twice daily, approximately one tenth that seen with oral prednisolone 40 mg per day, and for 1500 micrograms twice daily, one quarter. Local side effects were more common after inhaled therapy compared with placebo, but affected only a minority of patients.Peripheral neutrophil activation was suppressed by treatment with inhaled BDP, and a fall in sputum albumin concentration A suggested a reduction in bronchial tree inflammation with treatment.The uncontrolled observational study failed to confirm previously reported associations between decline in FEV1, and bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and reversibility of FEV1 to bronchodilators. The short term response to corticosteroids did not correlate with subsequent decline in FEV1. In 32 patients who started regular inhaled BDP midway through the observation period the decline in FEY1 fell significantly, by over one half, over the remaining period of observation. These observations question the role of short term steroid trials, and suggest a disease retarding effect of inhaled BDP in these patients with non asthmatic chronic airflow obstruction

Surplus Food: Its Effect on Protein Metabolism with Observations on the Metabolic Response to Injury

1. The ingestion of diets very rich in first class protein and of high calorie value, by persons suffering from the fracture of one or more of their long bones as the result of direct violence, modified considerably the marked loss of body protein which normally occurs under such circumstances. At the height of the catabolic disturbance, however, such diets still failed to prevent this loss of protein. 2. The addition of extra carbohydrate to rats which were in receipt of a fractured femur, apparently exercised a sparing effect on tissue protein,which was more marked than that observed in the human subject. The reason for this probably lay in the fact, that a day in the life of a rat is relatively a much longer period of time, than a day in the life of man. It is possible that had analyses been made at more frequent intervals than once every 24 hours, results similar to those found in the human subject might have been obtained. 3. Measures such as massage and manipulation, the addition of meat extractives, glycine, hydrolysate of mixed ox tissue, gelatin and sodium caseinate, and diets of high calorie value but average protein content similarly failed to stem the loss of protein, and generally proved less successful in mitigating the drain on the body's reserves. 4. The catabolic disturbance is characterised by an increase in the basal consumption of oxygen with attendant rise in pulse rate and temperature, and by parallel rises in the urinary output of total N, total S, total P and to a less extent K. Na excretion remains relatively unchanged. 5. The creatinuria which develops and parallels the rise in total N is accompanied by little change in the creatinine excretion; such change as occurred took the form of a slight diminution during the period of maximum creatinuria. 6. If it be assumed that muscle tissue is mainly contributing to this excessive urinary excretion, then the loss of K is relatively greater than the loss of N, and the loss of creatine is relatively smaller than the N loss. 7. Analyses of the quadriceps femoris overlying the fractured femur revealed that there was relatively a greater loss of K than N. The S:N ratio of the excess S and N outputs in the urine was 1:16.36 - a value close to that of muscle. 8. Owing to the fact that the change in weight of the injured limb was relatively insignificant in comparison with the variability of weight found to exist amongst the dissected hind quarters of intact animals, it was impossible to determine whether the introduction of a local anaesthetic with a presumed prolonged action allayed reflex wasting. 9. The loss in weight of the quadriceps femoris of the injured limb was not prevented by forced feeding. This was only to be expected. 10. If it be presumed that the excess N comes from muscle then the loss of muscle substance cannot account for more than two thirds of the total loss of body weight. The presumption is that the reserves of carbohydrate and fat are also called on to meet the demand for readily oxidisable material. 11. Trauma such as has been described also causes, at least in the human subject, an immediate and marked disturbance of the plasma proteins. Both the total amount and relative proportions are affected. The general effect is a slight fall in the albumin moiety coupled with a very definite rise in the globulin fraction. Fibrinogen was often found to be appreciably raised. 12. Subsequent manipulations of the injured part were found to cause a considerable increase in the globulin and fibrinogen fractions, and an increased loss of N was also found in the urine

Aerobiology over Antarctica – a new initiative for atmospheric ecology

The role of aerial dispersal in shaping patterns of biodiversity remains poorly understood, mainly due to a lack of coordinated efforts in gathering data at appropriate temporal and spatial scales. It has been long known that the rate of dispersal to an ecosystem can significantly influence ecosystem dynamics, and that aerial transport has been identified as an important source of biological input to remote locations. With the considerable effort devoted in recent decades to understanding atmospheric circulation in the south-polar region, a unique opportunity has emerged to investigate the atmospheric ecology of Antarctica, from regional to continental scales. This concept note identifies key questions in Antarctic microbial biogeography and the need for standardized sampling and analysis protocols to address such questions. A consortium of polar aerobiologists is established to bring together researchers with a common interest in the airborne dispersion of microbes and other propagules in the Antarctic, with opportunities for comparative studies in the Arctic

Specific human leukocyte antigen DQ influence on expression of antiislet autoantibodies and progression to type 1 diabetes

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DQ haplotypes have the strongest genetic association with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) risk. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to analyze whether HLA DQ alleles influence the development of antiislet autoantibodies, the progression to T1DM among autoantibody-positive relatives, or both. DESIGN: The Diabetes Prevention Trial-1 screened more than 90,000 nondiabetic relatives of patients for cytoplasmic islet-cell autoantibody (ICA) expression between 1994 and 2002. SETTING: The study was conducted in the general community. PARTICIPANTS: The Diabetes Prevention Trial-1 found 2817 ICA-positive relatives who were tested for biochemical autoantibodies (GAD65, ICA512, and insulin) and HLA-DQ haplotypes, and 2796 of them were followed up for progression to diabetes for up to 8 yr (median, 3.6 yr). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Progression to T1DM was measured. RESULTS: High-risk DQ haplotypes and genotypes were associated with a higher percentage of relatives expressing multiple biochemical autoantibodies and higher T1DM risk (e.g., respectively, 59 and 36% at 5 yr for carriers of the DQA1*0301-DQB1*0302/DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 genotype). The number of autoantibodies expressed significantly increased T1DM risk and across different DQ genotypes, autoantibody positivity directly correlated with diabetes risk. However, multivariate analyses indicated that the influence of most genotypes on T1DM risk was not independent from autoantibody expression, with the possible exception of DQA1*0102-DQB1*0602. Specific genotypic combinations conferred 5-yr diabetes risks significantly lower (e.g. 7%-DQA1*0201-DQB1*0201/DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 and 14%-DQA1*0301-DQB1*0301/DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201) than when those haplotypes were found in other combinations. CONCLUSION: HLA DQ alleles determine autoantibody expression, which is correlated with diabetes progression. Among autoantibody-positive relatives, most HLA DQ genotypes did not further influence T1DM risk

Threat assessment, sense making, and critical decision-making in police, military, ambulance, and fire services

Military and emergency response remain inherently dangerous occupations that require the ability to accurately assess threats and make critical decisions under significant time pressures. The cognitive processes associated with these abilities are complex and have been the subject of several significant, albeit service specific studies. Here, we present an attempt at finding the commonalities in threat assessment, sense making, and critical decision-making for emergency response across police, military, ambulance, and fire services. Relevant research is identified and critically appraised through a systematic literature review of English-language studies published from January 2000 through July 2020 on threat assessment and critical decision-making theory in dynamic emergency service and military environments. A total of 10,084 titles and abstracts were reviewed, with 94 identified as suitable for inclusion in the study. We then present our findings focused on six lines of enquiry: Bibliometrics, Language, Situation Awareness, Critical Decision Making, Actions, and Evaluation. We then thematically analyse these findings to reveal the commonalities between the four services. Despite existing single or dual service studies in the field, this research is significant in that it is the first examine decision making and threat assessment theory across all four contexts of military, police, fire and ambulance services, but it is also the first to assess the state of knowledge and explore the extent that commonality exists and models or practices can be applied across each discipline. The results demonstrate all military and emergency services personnel apply both intuitive and formal decision-making processes, depending on multiple situational and individual factors. Institutional restriction of decision-making to a single process at the expense of the consideration of others, or the inappropriate training and application of otherwise appropriate decision-making processes in certain circumstances is likely to increase the potential for adverse outcomes, or at the very least restrict peak performance being achieved. The applications of the findings of the study not only extend to facilitating improved practice in each of the individual services examined, but provide a basis to assist future research, and contribute to the literature exploring threat assessment and decision making in dynamic contexts