Exploring aspects of physiotherapy care valued by breast cancer patients

OBJECTIVE: To explore the reported value of physiotherapy care received by patients who had accessed a Specialist Breast Care Physiotherapy Service. DESIGN: Exploratory qualitative study using in-depth interviews to explore aspects of physiotherapy care valued by breast cancer patients. Thematic network analysis was used to interpret the data and bring together the different experiences of the participants and identify common themes. SETTING: Physiotherapy Department at a NHS Foundation Trust Teaching Hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Nineteen participants were recruited and three were selected to take part in the in-depth interviews. All participants had received physiotherapy care from a Specialist Breast Care Physiotherapy Service and had been discharged within the last six months. RESULTS: Participants valued a patient-centred holistic approach to care and access to a Specialist Service with an experienced clinician. In particular the importance of the therapeutic alliance and the value of psychological, emotional and educational support emerged, with the participants feeling empowered in their recovery. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Participants reported an overall positive experience of their physiotherapy care. This study supports the need for service providers to evaluate their current physiotherapy provision and subsequently develop Specialised Services to meet the physiotherapy needs of breast cancer patients throughout all stages of their treatment pathway from the delivery of pre-operative care through to post-treatment follow-up

Technical feasibility of storage on large dish stirling systems

Dish-Stirling systems have been demonstrated to provide high-efficiency solar-only electrical generation, holding the world record at 31.25%. This high efficiency results in a system with a high possibility of meeting the DOE SunShot goal of $0.06/kWh. Current dish-Stirling systems do not incorporate thermal storage. For the next generation of non-intermittent and cost-competitive solar power plants, we propose a thermal energy storage system that combines latent (phase-change) energy transport and latent energy storage in order to match the isothermal input requirements of Stirling engines while also maximizing the exergetic efficiency of the entire system. This report takes an initial look at the technical advantages of dish Stirling with storage as well as the technical challenges, in order to make a preliminary estimate as to the technical feasibility of such a system. We find that a storage system using metallic eutectic phase change storage results in a feasible physical embodiment, with mass, volume, and complexity suitable for 25kWe dish Stirling systems. The results indicate a system with 6 hours of storage and a solar multiple of 1.25 provides the optimum impact to LCOE and profit. Further, for no negative impact on LCOE, the optimal storage system may cost as much as$82/kWhth or $33k/dish, a substantial departure from the SunShot goals for tower systems. The storage system also is shown to have substantial structural benefits to the dish design. In addition, there may be benefits in terms of capacity payments or failure-to-deliver penalties. A dish storage system design must take into account the value placed on storage by the PUC or utility

Evidence of micro-continent entrainment during crustal accretion

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Transdimensional inversion of receiver functions and surface wave dispersion

We present a novel method for joint inversion of receiver functions and surface wave dispersion data, using a transdimensional Bayesian formulation. This class of algorithm treats the number of model parameters (e.g. number of layers) as an unknown in the problem. The dimension of the model space is variable and a Markov chain Monte Carlo (McMC) scheme is used to provide a parsimonious solution that fully quantifies the degree of knowledge one has about seismic structure (i.e constraints on the model, resolution, and trade-offs). The level of data noise (i.e. the covariance matrix of data errors) effectively controls the information recoverable from the data and here it naturally determines the complexity of the model (i.e. the number of model parameters). However, it is often difficult to quantify the data noise appropriately, particularly in the case of seismic waveform inversion where data errors are correlated. Here we address the issue of noise estimation using an extended Hierarchical Bayesian formulation, which allows both the variance and covariance of data noise to be treated as unknowns in the inversion. In this way it is possible to let the data infer the appropriate level of data fit. In the context of joint inversions, assessment of uncertainty for different data types becomes crucial in the evaluation of the misfit function. We show that the Hierarchical Bayes procedure is a powerful tool in this situation, because it is able to evaluate the level of information brought by different data types in the misfit, thus removing the arbitrary choice of weighting factors. After illustrating the method with synthetic tests, a real data application is shown where teleseismic receiver functions and ambient noise surface wave dispersion measurements from the WOMBAT array (South-East Australia) are jointly inverted to provide a probabilistic 1D model of shear-wave velocity beneath a given station

Crustal structure of southeast Australia from teleseismic receiver functions

Abstract. In an effort to improve our understanding of the seismic character of the crust beneath southeast Australia and how it relates to the tectonic evolution of the region, we analyse teleseismic earthquakes recorded by 24 temporary and 8 permanent broadband stations using the receiver function method. Due to the proximity of the temporary stations to Bass Strait, only 13 of these stations yielded usable receiver functions, whereas seven permanent stations produced receiver functions for subsequent analysis. Crustal thickness, bulk seismic velocity properties, and internal crustal structure of the southern Tasmanides – an assemblage of Palaeozoic accretionary orogens that occupy eastern Australia – are constrained by H–κ stacking and receiver function inversion, which point to the following: a ∼ 39.0 km thick crust; an intermediate–high Vp/Vs ratio (∼ 1.70–1.76), relative to ak135; and a broad (> 10 km) crust–mantle transition beneath the Lachlan Fold Belt. These results are interpreted to represent magmatic underplating of mafic materials at the base of the crust. a complex crustal structure beneath VanDieland, a putative Precambrian continental fragment embedded in the southernmost Tasmanides, that features strong variability in the crustal thickness (23–37 km) and Vp/Vs ratio (1.65–193), the latter of which likely represents compositional variability and the presence of melt. The complex origins of VanDieland, which comprises multiple continental ribbons, coupled with recent failed rifting and intraplate volcanism, likely contributes to these observations. stations located in the East Tasmania Terrane and eastern Bass Strait (ETT + EB) collectively indicate a crust of uniform thickness (31–32 km), which clearly distinguishes it from VanDieland to the west. Moho depths are also compared with the continent-wide AusMoho model in southeast Australia and are shown to be largely consistent, except in regions where AusMoho has few constraints (e.g. Flinders Island). A joint interpretation of the new results with ambient noise, teleseismic tomography, and teleseismic shear wave splitting anisotropy helps provide new insight into the way that the crust has been shaped by recent events, including failed rifting during the break-up of Australia and Antarctica and recent intraplate volcanism.PhD study of lead author has been jointly funded by Abubakar TafawaBalewa University (ATBU

Properties of Thirteen Viruses and Virus Variants Obtained from Eight Isolates of the Wheat Take-All Fungus, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici.

The properties of polyhedral double-stranded ( s)RNA virus particles obtained from eight isolates of the wheat take-all fungus, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici, have been investigated. Thirteen viruses and virus variants were distinguished and these were classified into three groups on the basis of serological and physical properties of the virus particles; viruses in a group were related serologicaUy to other members of the same group, but unrelated serologically to members of other groups. Group I viruses had particles of diam. 35 nm sedimenting at 109 to 126S; the virus capsid contained one polypeptide species, mol. wt. 54 × l03 to 60 × 103 and virus dsRNA consisted of two to four components, mol. wt. 1.0 x 10 6 tO I-3 X 106. Group II viruses had particles of diam. 35 nm sedimenting at 133 to 140S; the virus capsid contained one polypeptide species, tool. wt. 68 × 103 to 73 x 103 and virus dsRNA consisted of two to four components with mol. wt. 1.39 × 106 to 1.60 × l06. Group III viruses had particles of diam. 40 nm sedimenting at 159 to 163S; the viru

Evaluation of Osteogenic and Cementogenic Potential of Periodontal Ligament Fibroblast Spheroids Using a Three-Dimensional In Vitro

The aim of this study was to develop a three-dimensional in vitro model of periodontium to investigate the osteogenic and cementogenic differentiation potential of the periodontal ligament fibroblast (PDLF) spheroids within a dentin-membrane complex. PDLFs were cultured in both spheroid forms and monolayers and were seeded onto two biological collagen-based and synthetic membranes. Cell-membrane composites were then transferred onto dentin slices with fibroblasts facing the dentin surface and further cultured for 20 days. The composites were then processed for histology and immunohistochemical analyses for osteocalcin, Runx2, periostin, and cementum attachment protein (CAP). Both membranes seeded with PDLF-derived cells adhered to dentin and fibroblasts were present at the dentin interface and spread within both membranes. All membrane-cell-dentine composites showed positive staining for osteocalcin, Runx2, and periostin. However, CAP was not expressed by any of the tissue composites. It can be concluded that PDLFs exhibited some osteogenic potential when cultured in a 3D matrix in the presence of dentin as shown by the expression of osteocalcin. However the interaction of cells and dentin in this study was unable to stimulate cementum formation. The type of membrane did not have a significant effect upon differentiation, but fibroblast seeded-PGA membrane demonstrated better attachment to dentin than the collagen membrane