How to be an Effective Athletic Training Preceptor: A Literature Review

Background: The purpose of this literature review is to identify successful characteristics that have been found to be associated with effective precepting for the athletic training profession. Athletic training programs use preceptors as their main source of hands-on experience for athletic training students. Thus, a clinical preceptor who possesses these characteristics are better positioned to impact the success of a student’s clinical experience and overall growth. Purpose: To identify successful characteristics for athletic training preceptors. Methods: The findings of the literature review were achieved by the selection of articles that specifically pertained to athletic training and to other health care professions alike that investigated the most effective characteristics associated with clinical precepting. Conclusion/ Recommendations: Athletic trainers currently serving as a preceptor should have a set standard on how to educate a student under their professional guidance. Not only is this a common theme discussed in many articles specific to the athletic training profession, but the strategies and characteristics of precepting are equally as important to other health care professions as well

W-band Radio-over-fiber Link Based on Self-oscillating Optical Frequency Comb Generator

A 94.8 GHz radio-over-fiber link was implemented with a self-oscillating frequency comb. An LTE Advanced OFDM FDD 64-QAM signal of 20 MHz bandwidth was transmitted over 1.3 m wireless distance with an EVM of 2.23%

Self-oscillating Optical Frequency Comb: Application to Low Phase Noise mm-wave Generation and Radio-over-Fiber Link

A self-oscillating optical frequency comb generator (SOFCG) is demonstrated by applying the optoelectronic loop feedback to an optical frequency comb generator (OFCG) based on a dual-drive Mach–Zehnder modulator. The resulting SOFCG provides 23 comb lines with a frequency spacing of 11.84 GHz, corresponding to the oscillation frequency defined by the optoelectronic loop. The corresponding OFCG is also implemented by replacing the optoelectronic feedback loop with a microwave synthesizer at 11.84 GHz. A 94.8-GHz millimeter (mm)-wave signal is then generated by selecting two tones and heterodyning in a high-speed photodetector for both the SOFCG and the OFCG. The SOFCG system offers superior single sideband phase noise performance compared to the OFCG approach. Using the SOFCG developed here, it is possible to generate mm-wave signals up to 260 GHz, and this method is applicable to multiband radio-over-fiber (RoF) links. An RoF link is implemented with the SOFCG at 94.8 GHz. An LTE Advanced OFDM FDD 64-QAM signal of 20-MHz bandwidth is transmitted over a 1.3-m wireless distance

Effectiveness of GenoType MTBDRsl in excluding TB drug resistance in a clinical trial

OBJECTIVES: To assess the performance of the GenoType MTBDRsl v1, a line-probe assay (LPA), to exclude baseline resistance to fluoroquinolones (FQs) and second-line injectables (SLIs) in the Standard Treatment Regimen of Anti-tuberculosis Drugs for Patients With MDR-TB 1 (STREAM 1) trial. METHODS: Direct sputum MTBDRsl results in the site laboratories were compared to indirect phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (pDST) results in the central laboratory, with DNA sequencing as a reference standard. RESULTS: Of 413 multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients tested using MTBDRsl and pDST, 389 (94.2%) were FQ-susceptible and 7 (1.7%) FQ-resistant, while 17 (4.1%) had an inconclusive MTBDRsl result. For SLI, 372 (90.1%) were susceptible, 5 (1.2%) resistant and 36 (8.7%) inconclusive. There were 9 (2.3%) FQ discordant pDST/MTBDRsl results, of which 3 revealed a mutation and 5 (1.3%) SLI discordant pDST/MTBDRsl results, none of which were mutants on sequencing. Among the 17 FQ- and SLI MTBDRsl-inconclusive samples, sequencing showed 1 FQ- and zero SLI-resistant results, similar to frequencies among the conclusive MTBDRsl. The majority of inconclusive MTBDRsl results were associated with low bacillary load samples (acid-fast bacilli smear-negative or scantily positive) compared to conclusive results (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: MTBDRsl can facilitate the rapid exclusion of FQ and SLI resistances for enrolment in clinical trials

The use of reproductive healthcare at commune health stations in a changing health system in Vietnam

Background: With health sector reform in Vietnam moving towards greater pluralism, commune health stations (CHSs) have been subject to growing competition from private health services and increasing numbers of patients bypassing CHSs for higher-level health facilities. This study describes the pattern of reproductive health (RH) and family planning (FP) service utilization among women at CHSs and other health facilities, and explores socio demographic determinants of RH service utilization at the CHS level