The provision of education and training for healthcare professionals through the medium of the internet

This paper describes a new initiative to provide Internet based courses to student and professional occupational therapists in four centres in the UK, Belgium the Netherlands and Sweden. The basis of this collaborative Occupational Therapy Internet School (OTIS) is the concept of the “Virtual College”. This comprises the design and implementation of a sophisticated Internet-based system through which courses can be managed, prepared and delivered online in an effective fashion, and where students can communicate both with the staff and their peers. The aim is to support and facilitate the whole range of educational activities within a remote electronic environment. A major feature of the course organisation is the adoption of a problem-based approach in which students will collaborate internationally to propose effective intervention in given case study scenarios. The paper outlines the rationale for OTIS, the content and structure of the courseware, the technical specification of the system and evaluation criteria. In addition to the more conventional web-based learning facilities generally offered, a number of agent-based approaches are being adopted to assist in the management of the course by ensuring the proper delivery of course materials and to assist the functioning of project groups. </p

Limitations in Predicting Radiation-Induced Pharmaceutical Instability during Long-Duration Spaceflight

As human spaceflight seeks to expand beyond low-Earth orbit, NASA and its international partners face numerous challenges related to ensuring the safety of their astronauts, including the need to provide a safe and effective pharmacy for long-duration spaceflight. Historical missions have relied upon frequent resupply of onboard pharmaceuticals; as a result, there has been little study into the effects of long-term exposure of pharmaceuticals to the space environment. Of particular concern are the long-term effects of space radiation on drug stability, especially as missions venture away from the protective proximity of the Earth. Here we highlight the risk of space radiation to pharmaceuticals during exploration spaceflight, identifying the limitations of current understanding. We further seek to identify ways in which these limitations could be addressed through dedicated research efforts aimed towards the rapid development of an effective pharmacy for future spaceflight endeavors.Comment: in press, Nature Microgravit

Challenges in corneal endothelial cell culture

Corneal endothelial cells (CECs) facilitate the function of maintaining the transparency of the cornea. Damage or dysfunction of CECs can lead to blindness, and the primary treatment is corneal transplantation. However, the shortage of cornea donors is a significant problem worldwide. Thus, cultured CEC therapy has been proposed and found to be a promising approach to overcome the lack of tissue supply. Unfortunately, CECs in humans rarely proliferate in vivo and, therefore, can be extremely challenging to culture in vitro. Several promising cell isolation and culture techniques have been proposed. Multiple factors affecting the success of cell expansion including donor characteristics, preservation and isolation methods, plating density, media preparation, trans-differentiation and biomarkers have been evaluated. However, there is no consensus on standard technique for CEC culture. This review aimed to determine the challenges and investigate potential options that would facilitate the standardization of CEC culture for research and therapeutic application

The appearance of cartilage used in deep inferior epigastric perforator breast reconstruction surgery as a calcified mass on CT scan.

This paper describes an unusual radiological appearance of implanted cartilage on CT scan in a patient who had recently undergone deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) breast reconstruction surgery following a mastectomy for ductal carcinoma in situ. The purpose of this paper is to alert medical practitioners involved with DIEP breast reconstruction surgery, as well as general radiologists, to the possibility of surgically implanted costal cartilage undergoing calcification and then appearing on imaging studies as a malignant process. Information on the patient was gathered from clinical records, imaging reports and pathological samples. A literature search was performed to identify similar cases and the results showed that this occurrence has never before been described and therefore represents an advancement of knowledge about the imaging characteristics of reconstructed breast tissue

Hysterectomy, endometrial destruction, and levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine system (Mirena) for heavy menstrual bleeding : systematic review and meta-analysis of data from individual patients

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Earth resources-regional transfer activity contracts review

A regional transfer activity contracts review held by the Earth Resources Office was summarized. Contracts in the earth resources field primarily directed toward applications of satellite data and technology in solution of state and regional problems were reviewed. A summary of the progress of each contract was given in order to share experiences of researchers across a seven state region. The region included Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. Research in several earth science disciplines included forestry, limnology, water resources, land use, geology, and mathematical modeling. The use of computers for establishment of information retrieval systems was also emphasized

Stoichiometry control of sputtered CuCl thin films: Influence on ultraviolet emission properties

We demonstrate that the chemical composition of the sputtered CuCl thin films could be finely controlled by adjusting the bias to the substrate. The films deposited without any intentional bias were Cl rich (CuCl1+x), a bias of −22 V yielded stoichiometric CuCl, and a further increase in the negative bias resulted in Cl deficient films (CuCl1−x). The crystalline and optical properties were found to be associated with the chemical composition. Cl rich films showed a deep level green emission at around 515 nm in addition to ultraviolet (UV) excitonic emission. The stoichiometric films have higher optical quality, exhibiting a sharp UV emission at around 385 nm at room temperature, compared to nonstoichiometric samples. Visible luminescence related to deep level defects was not observed in the stoichiometric films. Changes in energy of the flux from the target and the subsequent ion bombardment on the substrate surface are correlated with the variations in chemical composition and their impact on the film microstructure and UV emission

Spicules and the effect of rigid rods on enclosing membrane tubes

Membrane tubes (spicules) arise in cells, or artificial membranes, in the nonlinear deformation regime due to, e.g. the growth of microtubules, actin filaments or sickle hemoglobin fibers towards a membrane. We calculate the axial force exerted by the cylindrical membrane tube, and its average radius, by taking into account steric interactions between the fluctuating membrane and the enclosed rod. The force required to confine a fluctuating membrane near the surface of the enclosed rod diverges as the separation approaches zero. This results in a smooth crossover of the axial force between a square root and a linear dependence on the membrane tension as the tension increases and the tube radius shrinks. This crossover can occur at the most physiologically relevant membrane tensions. Our work may be important in (i) interpreting experiments in which axial force is related to the tube radius or membrane tension (ii) dynamical theories for biopolymer growth in narrow tubes where these fluctuation effects control the tube radius.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur

Hysterectomy, endometrial ablation, and levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine system (Mirena) for treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding : cost effectiveness analysis

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Regional astrocyte IFN signaling restricts pathogenesis during neurotropic viral infection

Type I IFNs promote cellular responses to viruses, and IFN receptor (IFNAR) signaling regulates the responses of endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) during neurotropic viral infection. However, the role of astrocytes in innate immune responses of the BBB during viral infection of the CNS remains to be fully elucidated. Here, we have demonstrated that type I IFNAR signaling in astrocytes regulates BBB permeability and protects the cerebellum from infection and immunopathology. Mice with astrocyte-specific loss of IFNAR signaling showed decreased survival after West Nile virus infection. Accelerated mortality was not due to expanded viral tropism or increased replication. Rather, viral entry increased specifically in the hindbrain of IFNAR-deficient mice, suggesting that IFNAR signaling critically regulates BBB permeability in this brain region. Pattern recognition receptors and IFN-stimulated genes had higher basal and IFN-induced expression in human and mouse cerebellar astrocytes than did cerebral cortical astrocytes, suggesting that IFNAR signaling has brain region–specific roles in CNS immune responses. Taken together, our data identify cerebellar astrocytes as key responders to viral infection and highlight the existence of distinct innate immune programs in astrocytes from evolutionarily disparate regions of the CNS