1,238 research outputs found
Developing priorities to achieve health equity through diabetes translation research: A concept mapping study
Introduction: The goal of diabetes translation research is to advance research into practice and ensure equitable benefit from scientific evidence. This study uses concept mapping to inform and refine future directions of diabetes translation research with the goal of achieving health equity in diabetes prevention and control.
Research design and methods: This study used concept mapping and input from a national network of diabetes researchers and public health practitioners. Concept mapping is a mixed-method, participant-based process. First, participants generated statements by responding to a focus prompt (
Results: Ten clusters were identified containing between 6 and 12 statements from 95 total generated statements. The ranges of average importance and feasibility ratings for clusters were fairly high and narrow (3.62-4.09; 3.10-3.93, respectively). Clusters with the most statements in the go-zone quadrant (above average importance/feasibility) were
Conclusions: This study created a framework of 10 priority areas to guide current and future efforts in diabetes translation research to achieve health equity. Themes rated as highly important and feasible provide the basis to evaluate current research support. Future efforts should explore how to best support innovative-targets, those rated highly important but less feasible
Temperature acclimatisation of swimming performance in the European Queen Scallop
The phenotypic plasticity of muscle performance and locomotory physiology allows the maintenance of essential activity capacity in the face of environmental change, and has been demonstrated in a wide phylogenetic range of eurythermal vertebrates. This study used the scallop, Aequipecten opercularis, as a model eurythermal invertebrate. Animals caught in different seasons demonstrated marked differences in their swimming performance and the relationship between, temperature and performance. When stimulated to swim at natural ranges of temperature, Winter (cold acclimatised), animals accelerated faster than autumn collected animals swimming at the same temperature (x 2 at 11degreesC) and attained higher velocities during jetting. The effects of acclimatisation were confined to the jetting phase and may be a mechanism for the maintenance of acceleration during predator-prey interactions. This is the first demonstration of the thermal acclimatisation of muscle performance in a mollusc and one of very few studies in invertebrates
The Parents\u27 Perspective: Experiences in Parent-Mediated Pediatric Occupational Therapy for Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Background: Parent-mediated occupational therapy (OT) is a family-centered method of providing care for children and their families. This study aimed to understand and describe the parents’ perspectives of whether parent-mediated OT services improve child participation and parent-child social interactions in the home and community.
Method: This study was performed with a qualitative, phenomenological research design using focus groups. Eight participants were included in the study who were parents of children with at least one NDD, such as autism spectrum disorder or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Results: Four major themes were developed: It’s a Family Affair, Sometimes it Just Takes a Bit of Training, Using [OT Strategies] to the Full Extent, and It’s Definitely Better to be in the Session. One-hundred percent of the participants experienced the phenomenon described in two themes and 87.5% of the participants experienced the phenomenon described in two themes.
Conclusion: Parent-mediated OT services may lead to substantial learning among parents, facilitate parents’ use of OT strategies in their home and community environments, improve child participation in daily activities, and improve parent-child communication and engagement
Robert Hooke and Holland: Dutch influence on his architecture
This paper describes briefly the development of classicism in England and the Netherlands, the cross-fertilization which took place between the two countries in the 17th century and the introduction of Dutch classicism into England with Hugh May's Eltham Lodge.
After considering Robert Hooke's career as a scientist, surveyor and architect and his contacts with the Netherlands, his plan for the City of London, based on Simon Stevin's city plan, and his architecture are discussed, with particular attention to his extensive use of Dutch models taken from designs by Jacob van Campen, Pieter Post, Daniel Stalpaert and Philips Vingboons.
The thesis that he only used Dutch designs for detail while his conception is intrinsically French is disputed. His application of Dutch models in facades, plans, ornament and use of orders is analysed and, where appropriate, French and Italian influence recognized. His introduction of a new topos for mental hospitals is also considered.
Designs by Hooke discussed under the headings of Institutional Buildings, Town and Country Houses and Churches are the Royal College of Physicians, Bethlehem Hospital, Montagu House, Escot House, and lastly, St. Edmund the King and Martyr.
The conclusion reviews which elements he extracted from Dutch architects, how he applied these and combined them in some cases with ideas taken from French models
Further Observational Evidence for a Critical Ionising Luminosity in Active Galaxies
We report the results of a survey for HI 21-cm absorption at redshifts of z >
2.6 in a new sample of radio sources with the Green Bank and Giant Metrewave
Radio Telescopes. From a total of 25 targets, we report zero detections in the
16 for which optical depth limits could be obtained. Based upon the detection
rate for z > 0.1 associated absorption, we would expect approximately four
detections. Of the 11 which have previously not been searched, there is
sufficient source-frame optical/ultra-violet photometry to determine the
ionising photon rate for four. Adding these to the literature, the hypothesis
that there is a critical rate of logQ = 56 ionising photons per second is now
significant at ~7 sigma. This reaffirms our assertion that searching z > 3
active galaxies for which optical redshifts are available selects sources in
which the ultra-violet luminosity is sufficient to ionise all of the neutral
gas in the host galaxy.Comment: Accepted by MNRA
A Comparative Analysis of Potential Spatio-Temporal Access to Palliative Care Services in Two Canadian Provinces
Background
Access to health services such as palliative care is determined not only by health policy but a number of legacies linked to geography and settlement patterns. We use GIS to calculate potential spatio-temporal access to palliative care services. In addition, we combine qualitative data with spatial analysis to develop a unique mixed-methods approach.
Methods
Inpatient health care facilities with dedicated palliative care beds were sampled in two Canadian provinces: Newfoundland and Saskatchewan. We then calculated one-hour travel time catchments to palliative health services and extended the spatial model to integrate available beds as well as documented wait times.
Results
26 facilities with dedicated palliative care beds in Newfoundland and 69 in Saskatchewan were identified. Spatial analysis of one-hour travel times and palliative beds per 100,000 population in each province showed distinctly different geographical patterns. In Saskatchewan, 96.7 % of the population living within a-1 h of drive to a designated palliative care bed. In Newfoundland, 93.2 % of the population aged 65+ were living within a-1 h of drive to a designated palliative care bed. However, when the relationship between wait time and bed availability was examined for each facility within these two provinces, the relationship was found to be weak in Newfoundland (R2 = 0.26) and virtually nonexistent in Saskatchewan (R2 = 0.01).
Conclusions
Our spatial analysis shows that when wait times are incorporated as a way to understand potential spatio-temporal access to dedicated palliative care beds, as opposed to spatial access alone, the picture of access changes
Ionisation of the atomic gas in redshifted radio sources
We report the results of a survey for HI 21-cm absorption at z < 0.4 in a new
sample of radio sources with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. Of the 11
sources for which there are good data, we obtain zero detections, where four
are expected upon accounting for the ionising photon rates and sensitivity.
Adding these to the previously published values, we confirm that the
non-detection of 21-cm absorption in active sources at high redshift is due to
photo-ionisation of the gas rather than excitation by 21-cm photons
(significant at 6.09 sigma and 2.90 sigma, respectively). We also confirm a
strong correlation between the absorption strength and the reddening of the
source, suggesting that dust plays a significant role in shielding the gas from
the ambient ultra-violet field. An anti-correlation between the 21-cm detection
rate and the radio turnover frequency is also found, which runs contrary to
what is expected on the basis that the higher the turnover frequency, the more
compact the source. It is, however, consistent with the hypothesis that the
turnover frequency is related to the electron density, supported by a
correlation between the turnover frequency and ionising photon rate.Comment: Accepted by MNRA
The Performance and Calibration of the CRAFT Fly's Eye Fast Radio Burst Survey
Since January 2017, the Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transients survey
(CRAFT) has been utilising commissioning antennas of the Australian SKA
Pathfinder (ASKAP) to survey for fast radio bursts (FRBs) in fly's eye mode.
This is the first extensive astronomical survey using phased array feeds
(PAFs), and a total of 20 FRBs have been reported. Here we present a
calculation of the sensitivity and total exposure of this survey, using the
pulsars B1641-45 (J1644-4559) and B0833-45 (J0835-4510, i.e.\ Vela) as
calibrators. The design of the survey allows us to benchmark effects due to PAF
beamshape, antenna-dependent system noise, radio-frequency interference, and
fluctuations during commissioning on timescales from one hour to a year.
Observation time, solid-angle, and search efficiency are calculated as a
function of FRB fluence threshold. Using this metric, effective survey
exposures and sensitivities are calculated as a function of the source counts
distribution. The implied FRB rate is significantly lower than the
\,sky\,day calculated using nominal exposures and
sensitivities for this same sample by \citet{craft_nature}. At the Euclidean
power-law index of , the rate is \,sky\,day above a threshold of \,Jy\,ms, while for the best-fit index for this sample of , it is
\,sky\,day above a threshold of \,Jy\,ms. This strongly suggests that these calculations be performed
for other FRB-hunting experiments, allowing meaningful comparisons to be made
between them.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in PAS
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