Of a Certain Age: Supervising the Next Generation

When issues around generational difference arise, as they do with Millennials, there is an opportunity to illuminate the values, assumptions, and beliefs of both the student and the supervisor. We understand transformative supervision arises from a sustained empathic inquiry and connection with a student

Exploiting entanglement in communication channels with correlated noise

We develop a model for a noisy communication channel in which the noise affecting consecutive transmissions is correlated. This model is motivated by fluctuating birefringence of fiber optic links. We analyze the role of entanglement of the input states in optimizing the classical capacity of such a channel. Assuming a general form of an ensemble for two consecutive transmissions, we derive tight bounds on the classical channel capacity depending on whether the input states used for communication are separable or entangled across different temporal slots. This result demonstrates that by an appropriate choice, the channel capacity may be notably enhanced by exploiting entanglement.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Hepatitis C virus vaccine: Challenges and prospects

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes both acute and chronic infection and continues to be a global problem despite advances in antiviral therapeutics. Current treatments fail to prevent reinfection and remain expensive, limiting their use to developed countries, and the asymptomatic nature of acute infection can result in individuals not receiving treatment and unknowingly spreading HCV. A prophylactic vaccine is therefore needed to control this virus. Thirty years since the discovery of HCV, there have been major gains in understanding the molecular biology and elucidating the immunological mechanisms that underpin spontaneous viral clearance, aiding rational vaccine design. This review discusses the challenges facing HCV vaccine design and the most recent and promising candidates being investigated

Cell-Penetrating Peptides as a Tool for the Cellular Uptake of a Genetically Modified Nitroreductase for use in Directed Enzyme Prodrug Therapy

Directed enzyme prodrug therapy (DEPT) involves the delivery of a prodrug-activating enzyme to a solid tumour site, followed by the subsequent activation of an administered prodrug. One of the most studied enzyme–prodrug combinations is the nitroreductase from Escherichia coli (NfnB) with the prodrug CB1954 [5-(aziridin-1-yl)-2,4-dinitro-benzamide]. One of the major issues faced by DEPT is the ability to successfully internalize the enzyme into the target cells. NfnB has previously been genetically modified to contain cysteine residues (NfnB-Cys) which bind to gold nanoparticles for a novel DEPT therapy called magnetic nanoparticle directed enzyme prodrug therapy (MNDEPT). One cellular internalisation method is the use of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), which aid cellular internalization of cargo. Here the cell-penetrating peptides: HR9 and Pep-1 were tested for their ability to conjugate with NfnB-Cys. The conjugates were further tested for their potential use in MNDEPT, as well as conjugating with the delivery vector intended for use in MNDEPT and tested for the vectors capability to penetrate into cells

The factorizable amplitude in B0→π+π−B^0 \to \pi^+ \pi^-

Using the measured spectrum shape for $B \to \pi \ell \nu$, the rate for $B^+ \to \pi^+ \pi^0$, information on the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element $|V_{ub}|$, and theoretical inputs from factorization and lattice gauge theory, we obtain an improved estimate of the ``tree'' contribution to $B^0 \to \pi^+ \pi^-$. We find the branching ratio \b(B^0 \to \pi^+ \pi^-)|_{\rm tree} = (5.25^{+1.67}_{-0.50}) \times 10^{-6}, to be compared with the experimental value \b(B^0 \to \pi^+ \pi^-) = (4.55 \pm 0.44) \times 10^{-6}. The fit implies $|V_{ub}| = (3.62 \pm 0.34) \times 10^{-3}$. Implications for tree-penguin interference in $B^0 \to \pi^+ \pi^-$ and for other charmless $B$ decays are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, 3 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.

Paramedic educational program attrition accounts for significant loss of potential EMS workforce

OBJECTIVE: Recent concerns for the strength and stability of the emergency medical services (EMS) workforce have fueled interest in enhancing the entry of EMS clinicians into the workforce. However, the educational challenges associated with workforce entry remain unclear. Our objective was to evaluate the educational pathway of entry into the EMS workforce and to identify factors that lead to the loss of potential EMS clinicians. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional evaluation of all US paramedic educational programs, with enrolled students, in the 2019 Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions annual report survey. This data set includes detailed program characteristics and metrics including program attrition rate (leaving before completion), and certifying exam pass rates. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between high program attrition rates (\u3e30%) and program specific characteristics. RESULTS: In 2019, 640 accredited programs met inclusion with 17,457 students enrolled in paramedic educational programs. Of these, 13,884 students successfully graduated (lost to attrition, 3,573/17,457 [21%]) and 12,002 passed the certifying exam on the third attempt (lost to unable to certify, 1,882/17,457 [11%]). High program attrition rates were associated with longer programs (\u3e12 months), small class sizes (\u3c12 \u3estudents), and regional locations. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly 1 in 3 paramedic students were lost from the potentially available workforce either owing to attrition during the educational program or failure to certify after course completion. Attrition represented the largest loss, providing an avenue for future targeted research and interventions to improve EMS workforce stability

The network topology of a potential energy landscape: A static scale-free network

Here we analyze the topology of the network formed by the minima and transition states on the potential energy landscape of small clusters. We find that this network has both a small-world and scale-free character. In contrast to other scale-free networks, where the topology results from the dynamics of the network growth, the potential energy landscape is a static entity. Therefore, a fundamentally different organizing principle underlies this behaviour: The potential energy landscape is highly heterogeneous with the low-energy minima having large basins of attraction and acting as the highly-connected hubs in the network.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, revtex

Development and Deployment of the OpenMRS-Ebola Electronic Health Record System for an Ebola Treatment Center in Sierra Leone.

BACKGROUND: Stringent infection control requirements at Ebola treatment centers (ETCs), which are specialized facilities for isolating and treating Ebola patients, create substantial challenges for recording and reviewing patient information. During the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic, paper-based data collection systems at ETCs compromised the quality, quantity, and confidentiality of patient data. Electronic health record (EHR) systems have the potential to address such problems, with benefits for patient care, surveillance, and research. However, no suitable software was available for deployment when large-scale ETCs opened as the epidemic escalated in 2014. OBJECTIVE: We present our work on rapidly developing and deploying OpenMRS-Ebola, an EHR system for the Kerry Town ETC in Sierra Leone. We describe our experience, lessons learned, and recommendations for future health emergencies. METHODS: We used the OpenMRS platform and Agile software development approaches to build OpenMRS-Ebola. Key features of our work included daily communications between the development team and ground-based operations team, iterative processes, and phased development and implementation. We made design decisions based on the restrictions of the ETC environment and regular user feedback. To evaluate the system, we conducted predeployment user questionnaires and compared the EHR records with duplicate paper records. RESULTS: We successfully built OpenMRS-Ebola, a modular stand-alone EHR system with a tablet-based application for infectious patient wards and a desktop-based application for noninfectious areas. OpenMRS-Ebola supports patient tracking (registration, bed allocation, and discharge); recording of vital signs and symptoms; medication and intravenous fluid ordering and monitoring; laboratory results; clinician notes; and data export. It displays relevant patient information to clinicians in infectious and noninfectious zones. We implemented phase 1 (patient tracking; drug ordering and monitoring) after 2.5 months of full-time development. OpenMRS-Ebola was used for 112 patient registrations, 569 prescription orders, and 971 medication administration recordings. We were unable to fully implement phases 2 and 3 as the ETC closed because of a decrease in new Ebola cases. The phase 1 evaluation suggested that OpenMRS-Ebola worked well in the context of the rollout, and the user feedback was positive. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, OpenMRS-Ebola is the most comprehensive adaptable clinical EHR built for a low-resource setting health emergency. It is designed to address the main challenges of data collection in highly infectious environments that require robust infection prevention and control measures and it is interoperable with other electronic health systems. Although we built and deployed OpenMRS-Ebola more rapidly than typical software, our work highlights the challenges of having to develop an appropriate system during an emergency rather than being able to rapidly adapt an existing one. Lessons learned from this and previous emergencies should be used to ensure that a set of well-designed, easy-to-use, pretested health software is ready for quick deployment in future

Structural Transitions and Global Minima of Sodium Chloride Clusters

In recent experiments on sodium chloride clusters structural transitions between nanocrystals with different cuboidal shapes were detected. Here we determine reaction pathways between the low energy isomers of one of these clusters, (NaCl)35Cl-. The key process in these structural transitions is a highly cooperative rearrangement in which two parts of the nanocrystal slip past one another on a {110} plane in a direction. In this way the nanocrystals can plastically deform, in contrast to the brittle behaviour of bulk sodium chloride crystals at the same temperatures; the nanocrystals have mechanical properties which are a unique feature of their finite size. We also report and compare the global potential energy minima for (NaCl)NCl- using two empirical potentials, and comment on the effect of polarization.Comment: extended version, 13 pages, 8 figures, revte