Students’ Experiences and Perceptions of Interprofessional Supervision on Placement

This study aimed to explore perceptions and experiences of Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Therapy students regarding interprofessional supervision during an interprofessional rural schools placement. Eight participants were recruited to participate in three semi-structured, one-to-one interviews conducted by phone before, during, and after the placement. The interviews were transcribed verbatim for subsequent thematic analysis. Our findings indicate that whilst participants valued the interprofessional peer supervision afforded by interprofessional placements, they entered interprofessional placements with misguided assumptions and expectations regarding interprofessional supervision from supervisors. This appeared to contribute to their largely negative perceptions of interprofessional supervision resulting in the devaluing of interprofessional supervision now and possibly in the future. This exploratory study presents a unique insight into the limitations of interprofessional supervision, and the critical need for interprofessional supervisor training and student preparation before placements. Follow-up research is required to expand on these findings so the limitations are addressed. This may enable interprofessional supervisors to provide better learning experiences, increasing students’ acceptance and appreciation of interprofessional supervision

Rheumatoid arthritis and cancer risk in the Million Women Study

Background: Most previous studies of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and cancer risk have lacked information on potential confounding factors. We investigated RA-associated cancer risks in a large cohort of UK women, taking account of shared risk factors. Methods: In 1996-2001, women aged 50-64 who were invited for routine breast screening at 66 NHS screening centres in England and Scotland were also invited to take part in the Million Women Study. Participants provided information on sociodemographic, lifestyle, and healthrelated factors, including RA, and were followed-up for cancers and deaths. Cox regression yielded RA-associated Hazard ratios (HRs) of 20 cancers, adjusted for 10 characteristics including smoking status and adiposity. Results: Around 1.3 million women (half of those invited) were recruited into the study. In minimally adjusted analyses, RA was associated with the risk of 14 of the 20 cancers. After additional adjustment for lifestyle factors, many of these associations were attenuated but there remained robust evidence of RA-associated increases in the risk of lung (HR 1.20, 95% confidence interval 1.15-1.25), lymphoid (1.26, 1.18-1.34), myeloid (1.14, 1.02-1.27), cervix (1.40, 1.12-1.75), and oropharyngeal (1.39, 1.21-1.60) cancers, and decreases in the risk of endometrial (0.84, 0.77-0.91) and colorectal (0.82, 0.77-0.87) cancers. Conclusions: After taking account of shared risk factors, RA is positively associated with lung and certain blood and infection-related cancers, and inversely associated with colorectal cancer. These findings are consistent with existing hypotheses around immune response, susceptibility to infections, and chronic inflammation. The inverse association observed for endometrial cancer merits further investigation

Low expression of chloride channel accessory 1 predicts a poor prognosis in colorectal cancer

© 2014 The Authors. Cancer published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Cancer Society. Funded by Friends of ANCHOR NHS Grampian Endowment Fund. Grant Number: 12/50Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Use of 3D visualisation tools for representing urban greenspace spatial planning.

The objective of this paper is to report on the development of prototype models for use in raising public awareness of changes in urban areas, focusing on green spaces, and testing responses to scenarios of change. Specifically, the focus is on the design of appropriate types of outdoor features for community planning and engagement. This modelling is fulfilled using the Autodesk Maya, Google SketchUp and ArcGIS software packages together in a novel combination of spatial and visualisation tools. The experiment results show evidence that different types of 3D iconic symbols with interactive communication will influence participation and decision making in land use planning

Human immune responses to infective stage larval-specific chitinase of filarial parasite, Onchocerca volvulus, Ov-CHI-1.

BACKGROUND: Ov-CHI-1 is a chitinase specifically expressed in the infective stage larvae of the human filarial parasite Onchocerca volvulus. Evidence has show that it could be a vaccine candidate, however, there is no data available regarding the immunological status of people naturally exposed to infective stage larvae and thus provoked by this antigen. METHOD: We analysed the Ov-CHI-1-specific immune response present in four endemic foci of human onchocerciasis (Ecuador, Nigeria, Togo and Cameroon) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and T-cell proliferation assays. RESULTS: In these foci of infection, antibodies to Ov-CHI-1 were found to be present in only 22% of individuals from Ecuador, but were detected in 42–62% of infected individuals in the three foci from West Africa (Nigeria, Togo and Cameroon). There was found to be no relationship between antibody level and age, gender, or infection intensity as indicated by microfilarial density and numbers of skin nodules. The isotype response to Ov-CHI-1 was dominated by the presence of IgG3, IgG1 was present to a lesser extent. Our results show a positive correlation between N- and C-termini of Ov-CHI-1 in their ability to provoke humoral and cellular immune responses in the human. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferative responses to Ov-CHI-1 when assayed, were found to be significantly higher in the individuals from endemic areas and there was a statistically elevated response to Ov-CHI-1 in the infected individuals when compared to putative immune individuals. CONCLUSION: Ov-CHI-1 is an antigen that we have found strongly induces both humoral and cellular immune responses in humans

Assessment of Spectral Doppler in Preclinical Ultrasound Using a Small-Size Rotating Phantom

Preclinical ultrasound scanners are used to measure blood flow in small animals, but the potential errors in blood velocity measurements have not been quantified. This investigation rectifies this omission through the design and use of phantoms and evaluation of measurement errors for a preclinical ultrasound system (Vevo 770, Visualsonics, Toronto, ON, Canada). A ray model of geometric spectral broadening was used to predict velocity errors. A small-scale rotating phantom, made from tissue-mimicking material, was developed. True and Doppler-measured maximum velocities of the moving targets were compared over a range of angles from 10° to 80°. Results indicate that the maximum velocity was overestimated by up to 158% by spectral Doppler. There was good agreement (50%). The phantom is capable of validating the performance of blood velocity measurement in preclinical ultrasound