Student Expectations of Medical School and the Ripple Effect

The aim of this paper is to provide some important insights into freshmen student expectations of study at a medical university and suggest some possible approaches to facilitate the overall improvement of the students' study skills to enabling them to become more effective learners in their future medical careers

医科大学におけるPBLの発展

This paper examines how PBL has developed over the past forty-four years since its introduction into the curriculum of McMaster University’s School of Medicine, Canada, and how it has subsequently evolved as it has been incorporated into the curriculum of various medical universities worldwide

Peer support for patients with type 2 diabetes: cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To test the effectiveness of peer support for patients with type 2 diabetes

The Host Galaxies of Radio-Loud AGN: The Black Hole--Galaxy Connection

We have studied the host galaxies of a sample of radio-loud AGN spanning more than four decades in the energy output of the nucleus. The core sample includes 40 low-power sources (BL Lac objects) and 22 high-power sources (radio-loud quasars) spanning the redshift range z~0.15 to z~0.5, all imaged with the high spatial resolution of HST. All of the sources are found to lie in luminous elliptical galaxies, which follow the Kormendy relation for normal ellipticals. A very shallow trend is detected between nuclear brightness (corrected for beaming) and host galaxy luminosity. Black hole masses are estimated for the entire sample, using both the bulge luminosity--black hole mass and the velocity dispersion--black hole mass relations for local galaxies. The latter involves a new method, using the host galaxy morphological parameters, mu_e and r_e, to infer the velocity dispersion, sigma, via the fundamental plane correlation. Both methods indicate that the entire sample of radio-loud AGN are powered by very massive central black holes, with M_{black hole} ~ 10^8 to 10^10 M_{sun}$. Eddington ratios range from L/L_{Eddington} ~ 2 x 10^-4 to ~1, with the high- power sources having higher Eddington ratios than the low-power sources. Overall, radio-loud AGN appear to span a very large range in accretion efficiency, which is all but independent of the mass of the host galaxy.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

Host Galaxy Evolution in Radio-Loud AGN

We investigate the luminosity evolution of the host galaxies of radio-loud AGN through Hubble Space Telescope imaging of 72 BL Lac objects, including new STIS imaging of nine z > 0.6 BL Lacs. With their intrinsically low accretion rates and their strongly beamed jets, BL Lacs provide a unique opportunity to probe host galaxy evolution independent of the biases and ambiguities implicit in quasar studies. We find that the host galaxies of BL Lacs evolve strongly, consistent with passive evolution from a period of active star formation in the range 0.5 <~ z <~ 2.5, and inconsistent with either passive evolution from a high formation redshift or a non-evolving population. This evolution is broadly consistent with that observed in the hosts of other radio-loud AGN, and inconsistent with the flatter luminosity evolution of quiescent early types and radio-quiet hosts. This indicates that active star formation, and hence galaxy interactions, are associated with the formation for radio-loud AGN, and that these host galaxies preferentially accrete less material after their formation epoch than galaxies without powerful radio jets. We discuss possible explanations for the link between merger history and the incidence of a radio jet.Comment: 37 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, for full PDF incl. figures see http://www.ph.unimelb.edu.au/~modowd/papers/odowdurry2005.pd

The HST Survey of BL Lacertae Objects. II. Host Galaxies

We have used the HST WFPC2 camera to survey 132 BL Lac objects comprising seven complete radio-, X-ray-, and optically-selected samples. We obtained useful images for 110 targets spanning the redshift range 0 < z < 1.3. In two thirds of the BL Lac images, host galaxies are detected, including nearly all for z < 0.5 (58 of 63). The highest redshift host galaxy detected is in a BL Lac object at z=0.664. In 58 of the 72 resolved host galaxies, a de Vaucouleurs profile is significantly preferred, at >99% confidence, over a pure exponential disk; the two fits are comparable in the remaining 14 cases. These results limit the number of disk systems to at most 8% of BL Lacs (at 99% confidence), and are consistent with all BL~Lac host galaxies being ellipticals. The detected host galaxies are luminous ellipticals with a median absolute K-corrected magnitude of M_R= -23.7 +- 0.6 mag, at least one magnitude brighter than M* and comparable to brightest cluster galaxies. The galaxy morphologies are generally smooth and undisturbed, with small or negligible ellipticities (<0.2). There is no correlation between host galaxy and observed nuclear magnitude or estimated jet power corrected for beaming. If black hole mass is correlated linearly with bulge mass in general, this implies a large range in Eddington ratio. Present data strongly support the unification picture with FR I galaxies constituting the bulk of the parent population of BL Lac objects.Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJ. 38 pages, 8 figure

Gravitational Microlensing of a Reverberating Quasar Broad Line Region - I. Method and Qualitative Results

The kinematics and morphology of the broad emission line region (BELR) of quasars are the subject of significant debate. The two leading methods for constraining BELR properties are microlensing and reverberation mapping. Here we combine these two methods with a study of the microlensing behaviour of the BELR in Q2237+0305, as a change in continuum emission (a "flare") passes through it. Beginning with some generic models of the BELR - sphere, bicones, disk - we slice in velocity and time to produce brightness profiles of the BELR over the duration of the flare. These are numerically microlensed to determine whether microlensing of reverberation mapping provides new information about the properties of BELRs. We describe our method and show images of the models as they are flaring, and the unlensed and lensed spectra that are produced. Qualitative results and a discussion of the spectra are given in this paper, highlighting some effects that could be observed. Our conclusion is that the influence of microlensing, while not strong, can produce significant observable effects that will help in differentiating the properties of BELRs.Comment: 17 pages, 14 low resolution figures, 1 table, accepted for MNRAS. v2: Corrected velocities p16, 8 to 0.08, 9 to 0.0

A powerful intervention: general practitioners' use of sickness certification in depression

&lt;b&gt;Background&lt;/b&gt; Depression is frequently cited as the reason for sickness absence, and it is estimated that sickness certificates are issued in one third of consultations for depression. Previous research has considered GP views of sickness certification but not specifically in relation to depression. This study aimed to explore GPs views of sickness certification in relation to depression.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Methods&lt;/b&gt; A purposive sample of GP practices across Scotland was selected to reflect variations in levels of incapacity claimants and antidepressant prescribing. Qualitative interviews were carried out between 2008 and 2009.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Results&lt;/b&gt; A total of 30 GPs were interviewed. A number of common themes emerged including the perceived importance of GP advocacy on behalf of their patients, the tensions between stakeholders involved in the sickness certification system, the need to respond flexibly to patients who present with depression and the therapeutic nature of time away from work as well as the benefits of work. GPs reported that most patients with depression returned to work after a short period of absence and that it was often difficult to predict which patients would struggle to return to work.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Conclusions&lt;/b&gt; GPs reported that dealing with sickness certification and depression presents distinct challenges. Sickness certificates are often viewed as powerful interventions, the effectiveness of time away from work for those with depression should be subject to robust enquiry

Overview of the international project on biogenic aerosol formation in the boreal forest (BIOFOR)

Aerosol formation and subsequent particle growth in ambient air have been frequently observed at a boreal forest site (SMEAR II station) in Southern Finland. The EU funded project BIOFOR (Biogenic aerosol formation in the boreal forest) has focused on: (a) determination of formation mechanisms of aerosol particles in the boreal forest site; (b) verification of emissions of secondary organic aerosols from the boreal forest site; and (c) quantification of the amount of condensable vapours produced in photochemical reactions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) leading to aerosol formation. The approach of the project was to combine the continuous measurements with a number of intensive field studies. These field studies were organised in three periods, two of which were during the most intense particle production season and one during a non-event season. Although the exact formation route for 3 nm particles remains unclear, the results can be summarised as follows: Nucleation was always connected to Arctic or Polar air advecting over the site, giving conditions for a stable nocturnal boundary layer followed by a rapid formation and growth of a turbulent convective mixed layer closely followed by formation of new particles. The nucleation seems to occur in the mixed layer or entrainment zone. However two more prerequisites seem to be necessary. A certain threshold of high enough sulphuric acid and ammonia concentrations is probably needed as the number of newly formed particles was correlated with the product of the sulphuric acid production and the ammonia concentrations. No such correlation was found with the oxidation products of terpenes. The condensation sink, i.e., effective particle area, is probably of importance as no nucleation was observed at high values of the condensation sink. From measurement of the hygroscopic properties of the nucleation particles it was found that inorganic compounds and hygroscopic organic compounds contributed both to the particle growth during daytime while at night time organic compounds dominated. Emissions rates for several gaseous compounds was determined. Using four independent ways to estimate the amount of the condensable vapour needed for observed growth of aerosol particles we get an estimate of 2–10×107 vapour molecules cm−3. The estimations for source rate give 7.5–11×104 cm−3 s−1. These results lead to the following conclusions: The most probable formation mechanism is ternary nucleation (water-sulphuric acid-ammonia). After nucleation, growth into observable sizes (~3 nm) is required before new particles appear. The major part of this growth is probably due to condensation of organic vapours. However, there is lack of direct proof of this phenomenon because the composition of 1–5 nm size particles is extremely difficult to determine using the present state-of-art instrumentation