Students can experience flow from problem-based learning in conservation genetics

Learning in flow is the ultimate experience. Flow means being completely absorbed and focused in the moment. This study investigates the possibility of achieving flow from problem-based learning in students. Problem-based learning was used to teach Conservation Genetics to nineteen undergraduate students. Their perceptions of the learning experience were evaluated using a focus group interview. Four themes were generated: enjoyment of learning activity, cooperation, independent learning and appreciation of learning. Students were thoroughly engaged in the learning activity and simultaneously driven by curiosity and interest of the subject to remain challenged, focused and motivated at the task at hand. Problem-based learning applied in teaching Conservation Genetics influenced enjoyment, an aspect of flow during the learning activity. These findings suggest that the flow experience induced from problem-based learning enhances student learning and appreciation of the subject

Renal telemedicine through video-as-a-service delivered to patients on home dialysis: a qualitative study on the renal care team members’ experience

Background: The Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in the UK has been providing renal care through video-as-a-service (VAAS) to patients since 2013, with support from the North West NHS Shared Infrastructure Service, a collaborative team that supports information and communication technology use in the UK National Health Service. Introduction: Renal telemedicine offered remotely to patients on home dialysis supports renal care through the provision of a live high-quality video link directly to unsupported patients undergoing haemodialysis at home. Home haemodialysis is known to provide benefits to patients, particularly in making them more independent. The use of a telemedicine video-link in Lancashire and South Cumbria, UK, further reduces patient dependence on the professional team. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to present the perspectives of the renal care team members using the renal telemedicine service to understand the perceived benefits and issues with the service. Method: Ten semi-structured interviews with members of the renal care team (two renal specialists, one matron, two renal nurses, one business manager, one renal technical services manager, two IT technicians and one hardware maintenance technician) were conducted. Thematic analysis was undertaken to analyse the qualitative data. Results: A range of incremental benefits to the renal team members were reported, including more efficient use of staff time, reduced travel, peace of mind and a strong sense of job satisfaction. Healthcare staff believed that remote renal care through video was useful, encouraged concordance and could nurture confidence in patients. Key technological issues and adjustments which would improve the renal telemedicine service were also identified. Conclusion: The impact of renal telemedicine was positive on the renal team members. The use of telemedicine has been demonstrated to make home dialysis delivery more efficient and safe. The learning from staff feedback could inform development of services elsewhere

Cumbria Rural Health Forum: using the open innovation approach

The concept of innovation can be regarded as something that brings improvements to products and processes, changes to organizational structures and activities, to exploit new markets. Innovation is also ongoing processes of learning, searching and exploring, which results in new products, new techniques, new forms of organization and new markets. Valuable ideas can come from inside or outside the company (industry/research) and go to market from inside or outside the company (industry/research) as well. This approach places external ideas and external paths to market on the same level of importance as that reserved for internal ideas and paths to market during the Closed Innovation

Digital activities in Cumbria research report

Digital health and social care practices, activities and projects in Cumbria, including those which had expired, were mapped from May 2014 to July 2015. The purpose of carrying out this work was to find out which technologies were currently in practice in Cumbria and to understand further opportunities for the integration of digital technologies into the health and social care scene in Cumbria. The purpose of this article is to provide an outline of mapped digital activities, where a few examples are described, and a commentary on the current state of digital health and social care in Cumbria

Do microbes matter in climate change?

Microbes are single-celled organisms such as bacteria, protozoa and unicellular algae. They can be found in all sorts of environments. To date, the vast majority of microbes is still unknown. The common lay perception of microbes is that they are bacteria and people tend to associate bacteria with disease. The role of microbes in climate change is often overlooked. In fact, microbes are important because they are involved in global biochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen and other nutrients needed to support life on earth. They are also responsible for both the production and consumption of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). Climate change can significantly affect microbial life and increase the global burden of disease through pathogenic microbes. Climate change also affects how the ecosystem of microbes interacts with climate to contribute to global biochemical processes. Higher temperatures can encourage reproduction of insect vectors of microbes such as Plasmodium sp. that causes malaria. The same has been reported in midge populations responsible for transmitting the bluetongue virus (BTV) to domestic and wild animals through a bite 1. Plants can also be affected due to the enhanced growth and dispersal of plant pathogens. Another consequence of climate change is flooding and more variable rainfall. 1. Maclachlan, N. J., Zientara, S., Wilson, W. C., Richt, J. A. & Savini, G. Bluetongue and epizootic hemorrhagic disease viruses: recent developments with these globally re-emerging arboviral infections of ruminants. Curr. Opin. Virol. 34, 56–62 (2019)

'Filling' anxious at the dentist's cell: regrowth for a new smile

Some people are afraid to visit the dentist 1. For them, visits to the dentist are associated with feelings of anxiety of having to open their mouths for a relative stranger to examine and worse, use what looks like a sharp instrument to drill holes into their teeth. People who experience dental anxiety 2 also tend to skip attending their dental appointments, delay in seeking treatment or simply avoid it altogether 3. Fear associated with dental treatment is ranked as both the fifth most common and fifth most intense fear and phobia in the general population 4,5. Increased dental anxiety associated with stimuli or physical sensations has been reported in people undergoing dental procedures such as “feeling the drill in the mouth” 6. A higher number of decayed tooth surfaces, tooth decay and missing teeth along with a lower number of tooth fillings or functional teeth are more commonly seen in people with high dental fear compared to those with low dental fear. Interestingly, a study found no differences in caries prevalence between these groups of high and lower dental fear 7. This suggests that we are all at risk of dental caries that can occur in tooth enamel, dentin, surface, and pit and fissures 8. Perceived levels of dental anxiety also vary with different dental treatments, for instance, tooth extraction has perceived to be the most fearful 9 yet the occurrence of dental anxiety in patients persists regardless of whether they have had previous experience in endodontic treatment or previous experience in pain in the treated tooth 10. This brings us to the question of having good teeth. What if our teeth and gums are always healthy to enable every dental visit to become pleasant and “drill”-free? References: 1. Beaton, L., Freeman, R. & Humphris, G. Why are people afraid of the dentist? Observations and explanations. Med. Princ. Pract. Int. J. Kuwait Univ. Health Sci. Cent. 23, 295–301 (2014). 2. Coriat, I., H. Dental anxiety: fear of going to the dentist. Psychoanal. Rev. 33, 365–367 (1946). 3. Hill, K., Chadwick, B., Freeman, R., O'Sullivan, I. & Murray, J. Adult Dental Health Survey 2009: relationships between dental attendance patterns, oral health behaviour and the current barriers to dental care. Br. Dent. J. 214, 25 (2013). 4. Agras, S., Sylvester, D. & Oliveau, D. The epidemiology of common fears and phobia. Compr. Psychiatry 10, 151–156 (1969). 5. Carter, A. E., Carter, G., Boschen, M., AlShwaimi, E. & George, R. Pathways of fear and anxiety in dentistry: A review. World J. Clin. Cases 2, 642–653 (2014). 6. Holtzman, J. M., Berg, R. G., Mann, J. & Berkey, D. B. The relationship of age and gender to fear and anxiety in response to dental care. Spec. Care Dentist. 17, 82–87 (1997). 7. Schuller, A. A., Willumsen, T. & Holst, D. Are there differences in oral health and oral health behaviour between individuals with high and low dental fear? Community Dent. Oral Epidemiol. 31, 116–121 (2003). 8. Selwitz, R. H., Ismail, A. I. & Pitts, N. B. Dental caries. The Lancet 369, 51–59 (2007). 9. Stabholz, A. & Peretz, B. Dental anxiety among patients prior to different dental treatments. Int. Dent. J. 49, 90–94 (1999). 10. Peretz, B. & Moshonov, J. Dental anxiety among patients undergoing endodontic treatment. J. Endod. 24, 435–437 (1998)

Using technology to manage long term conditions: patient perceptions

White paper by Cumbria Rural Health Forum, UK on long term conditions patients’ attitudes and experiences of digital healthcare. Twenty-two people with long term conditions of fibromyalgia, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and acquired brain injury were interviewed and asked to reflect on their experiences of receiving healthcare services and how they could see technology being used. Participants were recruited through patient support groups and were in the age range 25 – 66 years (mean age 47), 3 males, 19 females. Many of the patients reported one or more secondary long term conditions in addition to the primary one (hypermobility syndrome (4), chronic pain (12), arthritis (4), diabetes (3), irritable bowel syndrome (3), periodical depression (2), osteoporosis (2), spinal stenosis (1), chronic cough (2), sleep apnoea (1), Vitamin D deficiency (1), dystonia (1), pernicious anaemia (1), Barrett’s oesophagus (1), Bipolar disorder (1))

Digital technologies used in health and social care

White paper by Cumbria Rural Health Forum, UK. The technologies that we have come to depend on in our everyday lives – for booking holidays, staying in contact with distant friends and family, doing our banking, shopping, sharing our thoughts, photos and ideas – can be of huge benefit in delivery of health and social care services. The concept is not new. Over the last decade many companies (large and small) have developed innovative products and services. A significant number have been as a result of ideas from clinical or other professionals who really understand what is needed. Already many GPs offer online web access for appointment booking and repeat prescriptions, some provide telephone consultations and a few also offer secure messaging or email access. Panic buttons, fall detectors and other monitoring devices that are linked to a call routing service and alert friends and family by telephone if something has happened to an elderly or vulnerable person at home are widely available. Less widely available is the use of video-conferencing for consultations and sometimes even for procedures. Few are currently in widespread use, but an example is the Telestroke service that provides out of hours access to specialist stroke consultants, making it possible to provide cover across Cumbria at all times. Some of the exciting emerging technologies include apps for mobile devices and the use of wearable sensors to monitor physiological signals (such as pulse rate, temperature, blood glucose level). There are a number of terms in use to describe the different technologies and innovations, which are summarised in Figure 1 below. As an umbrella term, many people in healthcare use the term ‘telehealth’ to cover all these areas. Other terms used are ‘digital health’, ‘connected health’ and ‘virtual health’. In social care, the term ‘telecare’ is widely and consistently used. A relatively new term, used by NHS England, is ‘technology enabled care services’, which has the advantage of encapsulating both healthcare and social care

Digital health in general practice: GP perceptions

White paper by Cumbria Rural Health Forum, UK on general practitioners’ attitudes and experiences of digital healthcare. In order to better understand how digital technologies can enhance primary care from a general practitioner’s perspective, 15 GPs were surveyed by face to face interview, email and phone. They were asked to reflect on their experiences of using technology, to consider which services technology would be most helpful in supporting and to highlight any issues and concerns. Most GP consultations are face-to-face (surgery appointments, home visits), with a substantial proportion now using phone calls to supplement this. Some practices are starting to use social media for health education and general health questions. GPs were asked how they think technology could improve their practice

Versatility of the humble seaweed in biomanufacturing

Seaweeds are important marine organisms that have diverse biological characteristics. Seaweed is traditional food in Japanese and East Asian cultures and is used in the production of fertilizers and applications in the cosmetic industry. Recently, the contributions of seaweed to biomanufacturing have increased due to technological advances and its environmentally friendly products. Moreover, the unique properties of seaweed include the ability to form and control intracellular opalescence. The increasing importance of sustainability in industrial processes drives society to use seaweed as a model organism in biomanufacturing. Nevertheless, further understanding of seaweed biology, culture and scaling-up methods is required. The objective of this study is to emphasize the multiple uses of seaweed which may be beneficial and environmentally friendly