Smart Shot: Electronic Target with Smartphone Application

The objective of this project is to develop an electronic system for recreational shooters that functions as a target with real-time feedback. The system provides a user-friendly alternative to paper targets and expensive competition scoring systems. One of the largest challenges presented by this project is balancing cost, durability, and sensitivity. The scope of this project includes the design and implementation of a target assembly, an electronic system, and a smartphone application. The system is comprised of three main modules: the target, the control module, and the smartphone app. The electronic target communicates wirelessly with the smartphone via Bluetooth. Once the shot information has been sent, the app receives the data and stores it for retrieval and analysis. The app also retrieves and logs environmental data through the www.worldweatheronline.com free API

Coping with stressors in late adolescence/young adulthood : a salutogenic perspective

Literature indicates that globally young people are increasingly experiencing life as hopeless and meaningless. It is thus beneficial to investigate factors facilitating well-being in young people, as they are required to cope with multiple stressors whilst simultaneously negotiating the transition from childhood to adulthood. Health practitioners need to establish ways to enhance adequate coping in young people in order to minimise stress and ward off negative consequences such as addiction, depression and other pathologies that compromise health. This study aimed to ascertain whether discovering meaning in life and developing a strong sense of coherence may predict coping with stressors in a group of male and female South Africans in late adolescence/young adulthood (N=258). Three self-report measures were used: the Purpose in Life Questionnaire to measure the extent to which one has found meaning, the Sense of Coherence Scale to assess the extent to which individuals view life as comprehensible, manageable and meaningful, and the Adolescent Coping Scale to determine ability to cope. Logistic regression analysis results indicate that the extent to which one has discovered meaning in life and developed a sense of coherence predict ability to cope in young people. This suggests that intervention strategies that encourage individuals to search for meaning and strengthen sense of coherence may be effective in facilitating coping and may contribute positively to the overall health of young people

Évaluation des résultats d’un cours pour les étudiants en médecine axé sur la congruence clinique en pleine conscience

Purpose: We questioned whether an intensive experiential core course would change medical students’ intention to practice mindful clinical congruence. Our primary hypothesis was that we would see more of a change in the intention to practice mindful clinical congruence in those who had taken versus not yet taken our course. Methods: From a class of 179 in second year we recruited 57 (32%) students who had been already divided into three groups that completed the course in successive periods. We measured mindful clinical congruence using a questionnaire developed and evaluated for validity. We also measured students’ level of stress to determine if any effects we saw were related to stress reduction. Results: Students who had just completed the course showed a greater intention to practice mindful clinical congruence than students who had not yet started the course. There was an apparent slight increase in perceived stress in those who had completed our course. Conclusions: We can change students’ intention to practice mindfully and congruently, which we believe will prevent a decline in compassion and ethical values in clerkship. The results did not appear to be explained by a decrease in stress in students who completed the course.Objectif : Nous avons cherché à savoir si un cours de base expérientiel intensif modifierait l'intention des étudiants en médecine de pratiquer la congruence clinique en pleine conscience. Notre hypothèse principale était que nous verrions un changement plus important dans l'intention de pratiquer la congruence clinique en pleine conscience chez ceux qui avaient suivi notre cours par rapport à ceux qui ne l'avaient pas encore suivi. Méthodes : Sur une classe de 179 étudiants en deuxième année, nous avons recruté 57 (32%) étudiants qui avaient déjà été divisés en trois groupes qui ont suivi le cours dans des périodes successives. Nous avons mesuré la congruence clinique en pleine conscience à l'aide d'un questionnaire dont la validité a été évaluée. Nous avons également mesuré le niveau de stress des étudiants afin de déterminer si les effets observés étaient liés à une réduction du stress. Résultats : Les étudiants qui venaient de terminer le cours ont montré une plus grande intention de pratiquer la congruence clinique en pleine conscience que les étudiants qui n'avaient pas encore commencé le cours. On a constaté une légère augmentation apparente du stress ressenti chez ceux qui avaient terminé notre cours. Conclusions : Nous pouvons modifier l'intention des étudiants de pratiquer la pleine conscience et la congruence, ce qui, selon nous, empêchera un déclin de la compassion et des valeurs éthiques au cours de l'externat. Les résultats ne semblent pas s'expliquer par une diminution du stress chez les étudiants qui ont suivi le cours

Automated science curriculum : an experimental science program

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine statistically the effects of an automated science curriculum on the science learnings of eighth grade students. This curriculum involved the use of Keysort cards as a flexible handbook for teachers and included in the directions for use a teaching method which required the direct involvement of students in the scientific behaviors of inquiry. The aspects of science learnings measured included the students' knowledge of the products of science and their understanding of and ability to use the processes of science. Study Materials: The Science Teachers' Adaptable Curriculum (abbreviated STAC) consists of a broad spectrum of science curriculum projects and suggestions printed on Keysort punch cards. They offer a flexibility which allows the individual teacher to develop a scope and sequence consistent with his own strengths and interests and with the abilities and interests of his students. The learning pattern designed for use with the STAG materials is one in which the behavioral processes of inquiry are used as the vehicle for discovering the structure of science. This is accomplished through firsthand experiences with laboratory investigation. The instrument used for evaluating the science process and product learnings of students is titled the Portland Science Test. The test was developed locally by a group of educators which included the author. Reliability and validity were found to be adequate for the present study. Population: The results of a questionnaire revealed that eleven eighth grade teachers were using the STAG material in a manner appropriate to its design. The population of the control group was formed from the 261 students who were in the classes of the eleven teachers the year before the STAG program was available. The experimental group consisted of the 254 students who were with the same eleven teachers during the first year they used the STAG program. The use of a true experimental design of the post-test only, control-group type was based on the assumption that the students in the control and experimental groups were similar samples from the same population. Results: Differences between the control and experimental process, product, and total group means were subjected to the critical ratio as a test of the identified null hypotheses. As a result of these analyses, and within the limitations of the study, the following results can be reported: 1. The use of the automated science curriculum did not make a measurable difference in the science process learnings of eighth grade students. 2. The use of the automated science curriculum did not make a measurable difference in the science product learnings of eighth grade students. 3. The use of the automated science curriculum did not make a measurable difference in the total science learnings of eighth grade students. Conclusions: Those resisting new programs state that educators have no right to experiment with the future of the children. The results indicate that the automated curriculum can be initiated without impairing the educational growth of students. This action places the curriculum on an evolutionary base which has potential for the immediate revision so necessary in a modern, dynamic society. Revision of the automated curriculum is already underway and includes its adaptation to computerized techniques. Improved results should be expected by providing individual help, sufficient implementation time, and improved science supply accessibility

Disrupting the heritage of place: practising counter-archaeologies at Dumby, Scotland

The notion of counter-archaeology is echoed by the opposing faces of the volcanic plug of Dumbarton Rock, Scotland. On the one side is the ‘official’ heritage of Dumbarton Castle, with its upstanding seventeenth-century military remains and underlying occupation evidence dating back to at least the eighth centuryad. On the other side lies a landscape of climbing, bouldering and post-industrial abandonment. This paper develops counter-archaeology through the climbing traditions and boulder problems at Dumbarton Rock and brings to the surface marginalized forms of heritage. Climbers and archaeologists have co-authored the paper as part of a collaborative project, which challenges the binary trope of researcher and researched and provides a model for a collaborative, co-designed and co-produced counter-archaeology

A Dominant Role for the Immunoproteasome in CD8+ T Cell Responses to Murine Cytomegalovirus

Murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) is an important animal model of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a β-Herpesvirus that infects the majority of the world's population and causes disease in neonates and immunocompromised adults. CD8+ T cells are a major part of the immune response to MCMV and HCMV. Processing of peptides for presentation to CD8+ T cells may be critically dependent on the immunoproteasome, expression of which is affected by MCMV. However, the overall importance of the immunoproteasome in the generation of immunodominant peptides from MCMV is not known. We therefore examined the role of the immunoproteasome in stimulation of CD8+ T cell responses to MCMV – both conventional memory responses and those undergoing long-term expansion or “inflation”. We infected LMP7−/− and C57BL/6 mice with MCMV or with newly-generated recombinant vaccinia viruses (rVVs) encoding the immunodominant MCMV protein M45 in either full-length or epitope-only minigene form. We analysed CD8+ T cell responses using intracellular cytokine stain (ICS) and MHC Class I tetramer staining for a panel of MCMV-derived epitopes. We showed a critical role for immunoproteasome in MCMV affecting all epitopes studied. Interestingly we found that memory “inflating” epitopes demonstrate reduced immunoproteasome dependence compared to non-inflating epitopes. M45-specific responses induced by rVVs remain immunoproteasome-dependent. These results help to define a critical restriction point for CD8+ T cell epitopes in natural cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and potentially in vaccine strategies against this and other viruses

Nanosheet formation by an anionic surfactant-like peptide and modulation of self-assembly through ionic complexation

The surfactant-like peptide (Ala)6-(Asp) (A6D) is shown to self-assemble into ultrathin (3 nm thick) nanosheets in aqueous solution above a critical aggregation concentration. A combination of circular dichroism and FTIR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction shows that the nanosheets comprise interdigitated bilayers of the peptide with β-sheet conformation. The self-assembly can be modulated by addition of hexamethylenediamine which is expected to interact with the anionic C terminus (and C-terminal D residue) of the peptide. Multiple ordered nanostructures can be accessed depending on the amount of added diamine. Nanosheet and bicontinuous network structures were observed using cryogenic-TEM and small-angle X-ray scattering. Addition of hexamethylenediamine at a sufficiently large molar ratio leads to disruption of the ordered nanostructure and the formation of a solution of A6D–diamine molecular complexes with highly charged end groups. The multiple acid-functionalized nanostructures that are accessible in this system are expected to have many applications in the fabrication of new nanomaterials

Relation of severe COVID-19 in Scotland to transmission-related factors and risk conditions eligible for shielding support:REACT-SCOT case-control study

Abstract Background Clinically vulnerable individuals have been advised to shield themselves during the COVID-19 epidemic. The objectives of this study were to investigate (1) the rate ratio of severe COVID-19 associated with eligibility for the shielding programme in Scotland across the first and second waves of the epidemic and (2) the relation of severe COVID-19 to transmission-related factors in those in shielding and the general population. Methods In a matched case-control design, all 178,578 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in Scotland from 1 March 2020 to 18 February 2021 were matched for age, sex and primary care practice to 1,744,283 controls from the general population. This dataset (REACT-SCOT) was linked to the list of 212,702 individuals identified as eligible for shielding. Severe COVID-19 was defined as cases that entered critical care or were fatal. Rate ratios were estimated by conditional logistic regression. Results With those without risk conditions as reference category, the univariate rate ratio for severe COVID-19 was 3.21 (95% CI 3.01 to 3.41) in those with moderate risk conditions and 6.3 (95% CI 5.8 to 6.8) in those eligible for shielding. The highest rate was in solid organ transplant recipients: rate ratio 13.4 (95% CI 9.6 to 18.8). Risk of severe COVID-19 increased with the number of adults but decreased with the number of school-age children in the household. Severe COVID-19 was strongly associated with recent exposure to hospital (defined as 5 to 14 days before presentation date): rate ratio 12.3 (95% CI 11.5 to 13.2) overall. The population attributable risk fraction for recent exposure to hospital peaked at 50% in May 2020 and again at 65% in December 2020. Conclusions The effectiveness of shielding vulnerable individuals was limited by the inability to control transmission in hospital and from other adults in the household. Mitigating the impact of the epidemic requires control of nosocomial transmission

Developing a new quality of life instrument with older people for economic evaluation in aged care: Study protocol

Introduction The ageing of the population represents a significant challenge for aged care in Australia and in many other countries internationally. In an environment of increasing resource constraints, new methods, techniques and evaluative frameworks are needed to support resource allocation decisions that maximise the quality of life and well-being of older people. Economic evaluation offers a rigorous, systematical and transparent framework for measuring quality and efficiency, but there is currently no composite mechanism for incorporating older people’s values into the measurement and valuation of quality of life for quality assessment and economic evaluation. In addition, to date relatively few economic evaluations have been conducted in aged care despite the large potential benefits associated with their application in this sector. This study will generate a new preference based older person-specific quality of life instrument designed for application in economic evaluation and co-created from its inception with older people. Methods and analysis A candidate descriptive system for the new instrument will be developed by synthesising the findings from a series of in-depth qualitative interviews with 40 older people currently in receipt of aged care services about the salient factors which make up their quality of life. The candidate descriptive system will be tested for construct validity, practicality and reliability with a new independent sample of older people (n=100). Quality of life state valuation tasks using best worst scaling (a form of discrete choice experiment) will then be undertaken with a representative sample of older people currently receiving aged care services across five Australian states (n=500). A multinomial (conditional) logistical framework will be used to analyse responses and generate a scoring algorithm for the new preference-based instrument. Ethics and dissemination The new quality of life instrument will have wide potential applicability in assessing the cost effectiveness of new service innovations and for quality assessment across the spectrum of ageing and aged care. Results will be disseminated in ageing, quality of life research and health economics journals and through professional conferences and policy forums. This study has been reviewed by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of South Australia and has ethics approval (Application ID: 201644).This work is supported by an Australian Research Council Linkage Project (grant number LP170100664). Additional funding support from our partner organisations ECH, Helping Hand, Uniting Age Well, Uniting ACT NSW and Presbyterian Aged Care is also gratefully acknowledged