Paramedics as researchers: A systematic review of paramedic perspectives of engaging in research activity from training to practice

Background: The need for a stronger evidence-base in paramedicine has precipitated a rapid development of pre-hospital research agendas. Paramedics are increasingly involved in research, leading to changes in their role. Yet the integration of research responsibilities has proven to be challenging, resulting in varying attitudes and levels of engagement. Objective: This systematic review aimed to explore paramedics’ views and experiences of research as researchers during training and within practice Methods: A systematic search was undertaken across 6 databases. Qualitative empirical peer-reviewed articles which discussed paramedic perspectives on engaging with research activity were included. Of 10,594 articles initially identified, 11 were included in the final synthesis following quality appraisal. Data were extracted and subjected to narrative synthesis Results: Four themes were identified: motivation to engage, moral dilemmas, structural issues within the profession, and reflections on trial involvement. Attitudes towards research, understanding of related concepts, and the drive for patient benefit were interwoven core issues Conclusion: Research was highly valued when links to patient benefit were obvious, however, this review highlighted some cultural resistance to research, particularly regarding informed consent and changes to standard practice. Paramedic research methods training should provide structured opportunities to explore concerns and emphasize the role of research in developing a high-quality evidence base to underpin safe practice. Currently there is inadequate organisational support for paramedics to engage effectively in research activity, with minimal allocations of time, training, and remuneration. Without properly integrating research activity into the paramedic role, their capacity to engage with research activity is limited

Role of the Band Gap for the Interaction Energy of Coadsorbed Fragments

Understanding the interaction between adsorbants and metal surfaces has led to descriptors for bindings and catalysis which have a major impact on the design of metal catalysts. On semiconductor oxides, these understandings are still lacking. We show an important element in understanding binding on semiconductors. We propose here a correlation between the cooperative interaction energy, i.e., the energy difference between the adsorption energies of coadsorbed electron donor–acceptor pair and isolated fragments and the band gap of the clean oxide surface. We demonstrate this effect for a number of oxides and donor–acceptor pairs and explain it with the shift in the Fermi level before and after the adsorption. The conclusion is that the adsorption of acceptor–donor pairs is considerably more favorable compared to unpaired fragments, and this energy difference is approximately equal to the value of the band gap. The implications of this understanding in relation to the improvement and discovery of novel catalysts on the band gap oxides are also discussed

Parametrized K-theory

In nature, one observes that a K-theory of an object is defined in two steps. First a “structured” category is associated to the object. Second, a K-theory machine is applied to the latter category that produces an infinite loop space. We develop a general framework that deals with the first step of this process. The K-theory of an object is defined via a category of “locally trivial” objects with respect to a pretopology. We study conditions ensuring an exact structure on such categories. We also consider morphisms in K-theory that such contexts naturally provide. We end by defining various K-theories of schemes and morphisms between them

On Classification of Games and Evaluation of Players - with Some Sweeping Generalizations About the Literature

In the literature of machine learning in games, we sense that while certain aspects of machine learning for game-playing purposes have been well covered, other aspects have been inadequately treated or even ignored. In particular, we see two subjects as requiring more attention: the study of imperfect-information games and the choice of evaluation methods for game-playing agents. We argue that theoretical efforts and awareness are needed in these areas, and, as a contribution to the latter of these subjects, present a set of several evaluation criteria for game-playing agents. These include criteria which 1) calculate the performance of agents when playing against certain actual or hypothetical opponents, 2) measure the similarity of strategies to game solutions, and 3) calculate the ability of agents to estimate the advantages or disadvantages of game states and actions. The applicability and usefulness of these criteria for different situations and purposes is also discussed. 1 INTRO..

Paramedics as researchers: A systematic review of paramedic perspectives of engaging in research activity from training to practice

Background: The need for a stronger evidence-base in paramedicine has precipitated a rapid development of pre-hospital research agendas. Paramedics are increasingly involved in research, leading to changes in their role. Yet the integration of research responsibilities has proven to be challenging, resulting in varying attitudes and levels of engagement. Objective: This systematic review aimed to explore paramedics’ views and experiences of research as researchers during training and within practice. Methods: A systematic search was undertaken across 6 databases. Qualitative empirical peer-reviewed articles which discussed paramedic perspectives on engaging with research activity were included. Of 10,594 articles initially identified, 11 were included in the final synthesis following quality appraisal. Data were extracted and subjected to narrative synthesis. Results: Four themes were identified: motivation to engage, moral dilemmas, structural issues within the profession, and reflections on trial involvement. Attitudes towards research, understanding of related concepts, and the drive for patient benefit were interwoven core issues. Conclusion: Research was highly valued when links to patient benefit were obvious, however, this review highlighted some cultural resistance to research, particularly regarding informed consent and changes to standard practice. Paramedic research methods training should provide structured opportunities to explore concerns and emphasize the role of research in developing a high-quality evidence base to underpin safe practice. Currently there is inadequate organisational support for paramedics to engage effectively in research activity, with minimal allocations of time, training, and remuneration. Without properly integrating research activity into the paramedic role, their capacity to engage with research activity is limited