Librarians use of Web 2.0 in UK Medical Schools: Outcomes of a national survey

Using the results of an Email survey, this paper reviews the use of Web 2.0 technologies by librarians working in UK Medical Schools. Web 2.0 has been hailed as an innovation for facilitation of two way communication on the net, and it is, therefore, timely to measure how effectively librarians are capturing this opportunity for increased student engagement. The social nature of Web 2.0 can be particularly appropriate for undergraduate medical students who fit their studies around the unsocial hours and geographical isolation of clinical placements. This paper will investigate library use of blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. Consideration will also be given as to whether they facilitate a more collabroative library service or if they leave undergraduate medical students swamped with yet more information to manage

Embodied stress: The physiological resonance of psychosocial stress

Psychosocial stress is a ubiquitous phenomenon in our society. While acute stress responses are necessary and adaptive, excessive activation of neurobiological stress systems can predispose an individual to far-reaching adverse health outcomes. Living in a complex social environment, experiencing stress is not limited to challenges humans face individually. Possibly linked with our capacity for empathy, we also display the tendency to physiologically resonate with others’ stress responses. This recently identified source of stress raises many interesting questions. In comparison to the wealth of studies that have advanced our understanding of sharing others’ affective states, the physiological resonance of stress has only recently begun to be more closely investigated. The aim of the current paper is to review the existing literature surrounding the emerging area of “stress contagion”, “empathic stress” or “stress resonance”, as it has been variably called. After a brief introduction of the concepts of stress and empathy, we discuss several key studies that paved the way for the merging of empathy with the concept of physiological resonance. We then delineate recent empirical studies specifically focusing on the physiological resonance of stress. In the final section of this review, we highlight differences between these studies and discuss the variability in terminology used for what seems to be the same phenomenon. Lastly, potential health implications of chronic empathic stress are presented and possible mechanisms of physiological stress transmission are discussed

RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN NOVA SCOTIA

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Second-line antiretroviral therapy in a workplace and community-based treatment programme in South Africa: determinants of virological outcome.

: Background: As antiretroviral treatment (ART) programmes in resource-limited settings mature, more patients are experiencing virological failure. Without resistance testing, deciding who should switch to second-line ART can be difficult. The consequences for second-line outcomes are unclear. In a workplace- and community-based multi-site programme, with 6-monthly virological monitoring, we describe outcomes and predictors of viral suppression on second-line, protease inhibitor-based ART.Methods: We used prospectively collected clinic data from patients commencing first-line ART between 1/1/03 and 31/12/08 to construct a study cohort of patients switched to second-line ART in the presence of a viral load (VL) ?400 copies/ml. Predictors of VL<400 copies/ml within 15 months of switch were assessed using modified Poisson regression to estimate risk ratios.Results: 205 workplace patients (91.7% male; median age 43 yrs) and 212 community patients (38.7% male; median age 36 yrs) switched regimens. At switch compared to community patients, workplace patients had a longer duration of viraemia, higher VL, lower CD4 count, and higher reported non-adherence on first-line ART. Non-adherence was the reported reason for switching in a higher proportion of workplace patients. Following switch, 48.3% (workplace) and 72.0% (community) achieved VL<400, with non-adherence (17.9% vs. 1.4%) and virological rebound (35.6% vs. 13.2% with available measures) reported more commonly in the workplace programme. In adjusted analysis of the workplace programme, lower switch VL and younger age were associated with VL<400. In the community programme, shorter duration of viraemia, higher CD4 count and transfers into programme on ART were associated with VL<400.Conclusion: High levels of viral suppression on second-line ART can be, but are not always, achieved in multi-site treatment programmes with both individual- and programme-level factors influencing outcomes. Strategies to support both healthcare workers and patients during this switch period need to be evaluated; sub-optimal adherence, particularly in the workplace programme must be addressed

Gladwin Tensor Strainmeter Calibration using Seismic Data: Instrument Calibration Methods and Wave Gradiometry Applications

Calibration coefficients yielding the borehole coupling parameters and corrections to misalignment errors have been calculated for seven borehole Gladwin Tensor Strainmeter (GTSM) instruments, in southern California, associated with the Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO). The calibration coefficients are derived from a linear relationship between the strain field measured in the borehole and the reference strain field derived at the surface. In this study, we derived the reference formation strains (i.e., areal strain, differential normal strain, and shear strain) at the surface from broadband data collected by the Anza Seismic Network in southern California. We find reasonable agreement between the calibration coefficients derived here using seismic data and the calibration coefficients derived elsewhere using theoretical earth tide measurements. We tested whether each strainmeter required different calibration coefficients over time and found no time dependency over a ~2 year period. We also investigated potential instrument orientation errors during the calibration process and determined that the seven borehole GTSM instruments in this study required correction factors ranging from 3 to 50 degrees.Accurate reference formation strains are necessary to ensure accurate calibration of the borehole GTSM instruments. In order to derive accurate measurements of reference strain, we evaluate four different methods for estimating the spatial displacement gradient using broadband, teleseismic data. During these experiments we identified two methods, one derived from spatial gradient analysis in two-dimensions (2D) and one based on plane-wave polynomial interpolation, that appeared to perform well consistently. During the calibration process we combined these two methods in order to further increase the accuracy of our spatial displacement gradient estimates, and therefore the accuracy of our reference strain estimates.Three interesting applications utilizing data collected by a calibrated borehole GTSM instrument co-located with a broadband seismic station and by a dense array of calibrated borehole GTSM instruments are discussed. We find that important characteristics of the seismic wavefield, including the change in geometrical spreading, horizontal phase velocity, and propagation direction, can all be derived at a single location on the surface of the earth using techniques derived from spatial gradient analysis in 1D and 2D