The attitudes of pharmacists, students and the general public on Health applications for medication adherence

Background: During recent years mobile technology has developed tremendously and has infiltrated the healthcare field. Mobile healthcare (mHealth) applications, or apps, may be used to support patient adherence to medication thus promoting optimal treatment outcomes and reducing medication wastage. Objective: This study shall consider the opinions of United Kingdom (UK) based pharmacists, pharmacy undergraduates and members of the general public towards the use of mHealth apps to promote adherence to prescribed medication regimens. Methods: On Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) ethical approval, the 25 item questionnaire was distributed to UK registered pharmacists within inner city Liverpool and Manchester (n=500), pharmacy undergraduates studying at LJMU (n=420) and members of the general public within Liverpool City Centre (n=400). The questions were formatted as multiple choice, Likert scales or the open answer type. The data were analysed using simple frequencies, cross tabulations and non-parametric techniques in the SPSS v22 program. Results: The number of completed questionnaires from the pharmacist, student and general public cohorts were 245, 333 and 400; respectively. The data indicated that the general public rely heavily upon daily routine to take medication as prescribed (54.1%) with mHealth app use being extremely low (1.5%); a similar trend was noted for the pharmacist / student cohorts. The age of the individual is an important consideration, with the younger generation likely to engage with mHealth apps and the older generation less so. Here, education and training are important. Pharmacists (82.3%) would be happy to deliver training packages to the public who would in turn happily receive such training (84%). Key barriers precluding mHealth app use include data reliability, security and technical difficulties. Conclusion: Adherence apps hold great promise to support the patient and their healthcare needs. In order to increase acceptance and uptake simple, user-friendly designs must be considered and constructed. In addition, such technology requires effective promotion and end user training in order to reach its full potential. Furthermore, the regulation of mobile adherence apps will be essential in order to overcome underlying patient concerns

Q-switched laser damage of infrared nonlinear materials

Q-switched laser-damage thresholds have been determined for six materials (proustite – Ag3AsS3, pyrargyrite – Ag3SbS3, cinnabar – HgS, silver thiogallate – AgGaS2, tellurium – Te, and gallium arsenide – GaAs) of interest for nonlinear optics in the medium infrared. Four TEM00 mode lasers were employed with outputs at wavelengths of 694 nm, 1.06, 2.098, and 10.6 µm. Damage has been found to be confined to the surface of the crystals and occurs for radiation intensities between 3 and 75 MW/cm2. Particular care is needed in the cutting and polishing of tellurium crystals if a high-damage threshold is to be achieved

The experience of qualitative research with young fathers: Considerations around gender, class and reflexive practice

Qualitative research into the lives and experiences of young fathers has seen some increased interest in recent years, yet comprehensive understandings of the ‘doing’ of such research remain absent from the literature. The small existing literature positions young men who are fathers as potentially difficult to research, in terms of access and encounters. This article draws on experiences and reflections from two UK-based research projects with young men who are fathers to explore the practice of qualitative work with this particular group of participants. Beyond the choice of methodology, there appear to be several elements pertaining to the practice of researching the lives of young men who are fathers that may require consideration. Through discussion of gender, class, context, authenticity and rapport, the article argues that researching young men is not inherently problematic but is a practice which requires consideration and substantial reflexion in order to produce fruitful research encounters for both parties. This article therefore seeks to add nuance and insight into the experience of researching with young men who are fathers, and in doing so, adds sophistication to our limited understandings of qualitative encounters with this group

Singly-resonant proustite parametric oscillator tuned from 1.22µm to 8.5µm

A singly resonant parametric oscillator based on proustite has been operated for the first time. The device was pumped by a Q-switched neodymium (1.065µm) laser in a noncollinear phase-matching geometry. The output has been tuned over the wavelength range 1.22-8.5µm. The idler power was typically ~100W in a bandwidth of ~1/cm

Active Q-switch technique for producing high laser power in a single longitudinal mode

A Pockels-cell Q switch has been operated in a manner analogous to a saturable absorber, thus allowing the simple and reliable selection of a single longitudinal mode. A TEMoo mode Nd-CaWO4 laser has produced 400kW pulses in a single longitudinal mode with a shot-to-shot frequency stability of about 0.01 /cm

Increased Error‐Related Brain Activity In Youth With Obsessive‐Compulsive Disorder And Unaffected Siblings

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96293/1/da22035.pd

Mathematical stories: Why do more boys than girls choose to study mathematics at AS-level in England?

Copyright @ 2005 Taylor & FrancisIn this paper I address the question: How is it that people come to choose mathematics and in what ways is this process gendered? I draw on the findings of a qualitative research study involving interviews with 43 young people all studying mathematics in post-compulsory education in England. Working within a post-structuralist framework, I argue that gender is a project and one that is achieved in interaction with others. Through a detailed reading of Toni and Claudia’s stories I explore the tensions for young women who are engaging in mathematics, something that is discursively inscribed as masculine, while (understandably) being invested in producing themselves as female. I conclude by arguing that seeing ‘doing mathematics’ as ‘doing masculinity’ is a productive way of understanding why mathematics is so male dominated and by looking at the implications of this understanding for gender and mathematics reform work.This work is funded by the ESR

Lateral wedge insoles for medial knee osteoarthritis: 12 month randomised controlled trial

Objective To assess the effect of lateral wedge insoles compared with flat control insoles on improving symptoms and slowing structural disease progression in medial knee osteoarthritis