Human bacterial arthritis caused by Streptococcus zooepidemicus: report of a case

SummarySeptic arthritis caused by Streptococcus zooepidemicus is a rare event in humans. Of the four cases reported in the literature, only two patients had direct animal contact, and the portal of entry remained unclear in all cases. We report herein the case of a patient who suffered a purulent arthritis of the left shoulder caused by S. zooepidemicus, successfully treated in our department. A diagnostic FDG-PET-CT scan ruled out other foci of infection, but detected a hyperkeratotic plantar chronic soft tissue lesion of the left foot, acquired in a paragliding accident 10 years earlier. The fact that the patient habitually took care of his horses barefoot in boots, identifies the cutaneous portal of entry as most likely. To our knowledge this is the first report of a septic arthritis caused by S. zooepidemicus where a cutaneous entry route is described

A decision support tool for social engagement, alternative financing and risk mitigation of geothermal energy projects

This paper presents a decision support tool for promoters/investors of geothermal energy projects, based on a decision tree (DT) structure. The DT aims to assist stakeholders to select public engagement strategies, alternative financing solutions and risk mitigation measures (or options) for geothermal energy projects. Public engagement is necessary for the successful development and operation of geothermal projects. Available studies (including toolkits and protocols) commonly list a set of practices for social engagement without providing information on the factors which render certain options more suitable than others. The presented tool offers a transparent framework to how relevant decisions could be managed by providing a sequence of questions that focus on social, environmental, resource risk, and financial influencing factors and to realise community engagement into geothermal projects. This work is part of the Horizon 2020 CROWDTHERMAL project, which aims at empowering the public to directly participate in the development of geothermal projects through social engagement tools and alternative financing schemes, like crowdfunding

A Failure-Tolerant Approach for Autonomous Mobile Manipulation in RoboCup@Work

In this paper we summarize how the LUHbots team was able to win the 2015 RoboCup@Work league. We introduce various failure handling concepts, which lead to the robustness necessary to outperform all the other teams. The proposed concepts are based on failure prevention and failure handling

Teaching ultrasound in a curricular course according to certified EFSUMB standards during undergraduate medical education: a prospective study

Background: As a non-invasive and readily available diagnostic tool, ultrasound is one of the most important imaging techniques in medicine. Ultrasound is usually trained during residency preferable according to German Society of Ultrasound in Medicine (DEGUM) standards. Our curriculum calls for undergraduate training in ultrasound of medical students in their 4th year of undergraduate education. An explorative pilot study evaluated the acceptance of this teaching method, and compared it to other practical activities in medical education at Muenster University. Methods: 240 medical students in their 4th year of undergraduate medical education participated in the training and completed a pre- and post-questionnaire for self-assessment of technical knowledge, self-assurance of the procedure, and motivation in performing ultrasound using a Likert scale. Moreover, students were asked about their interest in pursuing a career in internal medicine. To compare this training to other educational activities a standardized online evaluation tool was used. A direct observation of procedural skills assessment (DOPS) for the first time applied on ultrasound aimed to independently assess the success of our teaching method. Results: There was a significant increase in technical knowledge and self-assurance (p < 0.001) of the students’ self-assessments. The clinical relevance and self-motivation of the teaching were evaluated positively. The students’ DOPS results demonstrated proficiency in the understanding of anatomic structures shown in ultrasonographic images, including terminology, machine settings, and transducer frequencies. Conclusions: Training ultrasound according to certified DEGUM standards was successful and should be offered in undergraduate medical education. The evaluation of the course affirmed the necessity, quality and clinical relevance of the course with a top ranking score of hands-on training courses within the educational activities of the Medical Faculty of Muenster.<br