A comparative study of cannibalism in six populations of the calanoid copepod, Diaptomus leptopus (Forbes)

Cannibalism is common in species which have overlapping and discrete life stages. Copepods are a typical example of the type of species which exhibit adult cannibalism of juvenile life stages. The scale of observation typically used in cannibalism studies may allow misinterpretation of the results. I used populations of Diaptomus leptopus from six independent ponds to determine the effects of body lengths of cannibal and prey, length asymmetry, and scale of observation on cannibalism rate. Five adults and 25 one to three day old nauplii were placed together in 50 ml of water for 12 hours. Separate treatments were run for each sex. Cannibalism rates ranged from 0.000 to 0.053 prey · cannibal -1 · hour -1 and were significantly different between sexes and ponds. Length asymmetry was the most accurate predictor of cannibalism rate but most of the predictive power came from adult length. Results from large scale observations, while seemingly robust, did not correspond well with results from small scale observations. The implication of scale of observation on interpretation of cannibalism studies is discussed

Bayesian inference of a new Mallows model for characterising symptom sequences applied in primary progressive aphasia

Machine learning models offer the potential to understand diverse datasets in a data-driven way, powering insights into individual disease experiences and ensuring equitable healthcare. In this study, we explore Bayesian inference for characterising symptom sequences, and the associated modelling challenges. We adapted the Mallows model to account for partial rankings and right-censored data, employing custom MCMC fitting. Our evaluation, encompassing synthetic data and a primary progressive aphasia dataset, highlights the model's efficacy in revealing mean orderings and estimating ranking variance. This holds the potential to enhance clinical comprehension of symptom occurrence. However, our work encounters limitations concerning model scalability and small dataset sizes.Comment: Extended Abstract presented at Machine Learning for Health (ML4H) symposium 2023, December 10th, 2023, New Orleans, United States, 8 page

Health and social care costs at the end of life: a matched analysis of linked patient records in East London

Background: Care in the final year of life accounts for 10% of inpatient hospital costs in UK. However, there has been little analysis of costs in other care settings. We investigated the publicly funded costs associated with the end of life across different health and social care settings. / Method: We performed cross-sectional analysis of linked electronic health records of residents aged over 50 in a locality in East London, UK, between 2011 and 2017. Those who died during the study period were matched to survivors on age group, sex, deprivation, number of long-term conditions and time period. Mean costs were calculated by care setting, age and months to death. / Results: Across 8,720 matched patients, the final year of life was associated with £7,450 (95% confidence interval £7,086–£7,842, P < 0.001) of additional health and care costs, 57% of which related to unplanned hospital care. Whilst costs increased sharply over the final few months of life in emergency and inpatient hospital care, in non-acute settings costs were less concentrated in this period. Patients who died at older ages had higher social care costs and lower healthcare costs than younger patients in their final year of life. / Conclusions: The large proportion of costs relating to unplanned hospital care suggests that end-of-life planning could direct care towards more appropriate settings and lead to system efficiencies. Death at older ages results in an increasing proportion of care costs relating to social care than to healthcare, which has implications for an ageing society

“A sustained, productive, constructive relationship with someone who can help”—A qualitative exploration of the experiences of help seekers and support persons using the emergency department during a suicide crisis

For Australians experiencing a suicide crisis, the emergency department (ED) is the recommended point of contact for intervention and to ensure personal safety. However, negative ED experiences can deter individuals from returning, thus impacting future suicide risk. In order to improve the ED environment for individuals in suicidal crisis, an in-depth understanding of this experience is needed. In-depth semi-structured interviews with 17 help seekers and 16 support persons were conducted. A grounded theory approach uncovered a core organising concept—all participants wanted a “a sustained, productive, constructive relationship with someone who can help” during the ED visit—which guided analysis. Thematic analysis resulted in two themes and four subthemes exploring the systemic and interpersonal aspects of the ED visit and the roadblocks and pathways to development of the relationship. Interpersonal factors included aspects of staff interaction and presence of a support person. Systemic factors related to aspects controlled by the physical space and internal policies and procedures and included aspects such as the chaotic environment, long waiting times, and access to staff. Overwhelmingly, there were more roadblocks than pathways reported by participants. Improving the ED environment, increasing staff training and encouraging the presence of support persons may help mitigate some of these roadblocks

Assessing the safety culture of care homes: a multimethod evaluation of the adaptation, face validity and feasibility of the Manchester Patient Safety Framework

Background: Understanding the cultural characteristics of healthcare organisations is widely recognised to be an important component of patient safety. A growing number of vulnerable older people are living in care homes but little attention has been paid to safety culture in this sector. In this study, we aimed to adapt the Manchester Patient Safety Framework (MaPSaF), a commonly used tool in the health sector, for use in care homes and then to test its face validity and preliminary feasibility as a tool for developing a better understanding of safety culture in the sector. Methods: As part of a wider improvement programme to reduce the prevalence of common safety incidents among residents in 90 care homes in England, we adapted MaPSaF and carried out a multimethod participatory evaluation of its face validity and feasibility for care home staff. Data were collected using participant observation, interviews, documentary analysis and a survey, and were analysed thematically. Results: MaPSaF required considerable adaptation in terms of its length, language and content in order for it to be perceived to be acceptable and useful to care home staff. The changes made reflected differences between the health and care home sectors in terms of the local context and wider policy environment, and the expectations, capacity and capabilities of the staff. Based on this preliminary study, the adapted tool, renamed ‘Culture is Key’, appears to have reasonable face validity and, with adequate facilitation, it is usable by front-line staff and useful in raising their awareness about safety issues. Conclusions: ‘Culture is Key’ is a new tool which appears to have acceptable face validity and feasibility to be used by care home staff to deepen their understanding of the safety culture of their organisations and therefore has potential to contribute to improving care for vulnerable older people

Spin glass or random anisotropy?: The origin of magnetically glassy behavior in nanostructured GdAl\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e

Initially crystalline GdAl2 was mechanically milled for long times to produce a highly chemically disordered phase with approximately 8-nm grains. Analysis of dc magnetization measurements using an Arrott plot and the approach to saturation suggest the presence of significant random anisotropy. ac susceptibility measurements showed that the shift in the peak temperature with frequency usually seen in magnetically glassy and superparamagnetic systems was virtually undetectable in the 10–1000-Hz frequency range. Based on these results, we believe that this material represents an interacting system with random anisotropy, where the anisotropy is the result of surface and interface asymmetries. ©2005 American Institute of Physic

A Qualitative Analysis of Motivators to Participation in Suicide-Focused Research from a Community-Based Australian Sample

Suicide prevention strategies internationally appear to be falling short of making a meaningful impact on global suicide deaths. Increasing the rates of general community participation in suicide research may improve knowledge generalisability as it relates to suicidal behaviour and leads to new suicide prevention approaches. This study aims to explore the motivations of a community-based sample to participate in suicide research. A subsample of the Australian general population took part in an online survey which is part of a multilevel suicide prevention trial. The survey concluded with an optional open-text question asking about peoples’ motivations for participating in the study; 532 participants left a response to this question. These responses were qualitatively analysed using Thematic Network Analysis. Motivations to participate in suicide research were represented by four global themes: altruism, solve systemic problems, lived experience, and personal benefit. Of these themes, three were focused on the benefit of others, while only the final theme articulated motivation to participate that was self-focused. The impact of suicide is felt throughout the wider community. This new understanding of the motivations of community-based samples to participate in suicide research should be used to increase participation rates and reach people who would not normally contribute their voice to suicide researc