Introducing Interprofessional Education and Care Concepts in a Geriatric Multilevel Centre: Development and Introduction of a Toolkit for Staff and Students

Background: Although interprofessional education (IPE) is not new, there has been limited research in IPE focused on the care of older adults. The objective of this study was to develop and implement an interprofessional education and care (IPE/C) toolkit, to help staff and students understand and apply the concepts of IPE/C.Methods and Findings: Focus groups identified staff and students’ understanding of IPE/C and informed development of an IPE/C toolkit comprised of IPE/C tools and resources. Five clinical teams (N = 51) attended workshops that introduced the toolkit and educated teams about IPE/C. Focus group participants had heard of but had limited exposure to IPE/C. Responses to the Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams (ATHT) questionnaire indicated a positive trend on all questions; 2 questions in subscale 1 were statistically significant (p = .01 & p = .005), indicating a positive attitude toward teams and teamwork. Several limitations were identified, including inconsistent attendance at workshops, scheduling challenges, and limited physician participation.Conclusions: This pilot project provided baseline data on staff and students’ understanding of and attitudes toward IPE/C in a multilevel geriatric centre and demonstrated that an IPE/C toolkit delivered via team workshops can enhance healthcare team attitudes. Next steps include expanding the rollout to other teams and introducing the toolkit to all staff and students

Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Variants Are Related to Smoking Habits, but Not Directly to COPD

Genome-wide association studies identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) cluster as a risk factor for nicotine dependency and COPD. We investigated whether SNPs in the nAChR cluster are associated with smoking habits and lung function decline, and if these potential associations are independent of each other. The SNPs rs569207, rs1051730 and rs8034191 in the nAChR cluster were analyzed in the Vlagtwedde-Vlaardingen cohort (n = 1,390) that was followed for 25 years. We used GEE and LME models to analyze the associations of the SNPs with quitting or restarting smoking and with the annual FEV1 decline respectively. Individuals homozygote (CC) for rs569207 were more likely to quit smoking (OR (95%CI) = 1.58 (1.05–2.38)) compared to wild-type (TT) individuals. Individuals homozygote (TT) for rs1051730 were less likely to quit smoking (0.64 (0.42; 0.97)) compared to wild-type (CC) individuals. None of the SNPs was significantly associated with the annual FEV1 decline in smokers and ex-smokers. We show that SNPs in the nAChR region are associated with smoking habits such as quitting smoking, but have no significant effect on the annual FEV1 decline in smokers and ex-smokers, suggesting a potential role of these SNPs in COPD development via smoking habits rather than via direct effects on lung function

Deposition of Aluminum-Doped ZnO Films by ICP-Assisted Sputtering

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) assisted DC sputter deposition was used for the deposition of Al-doped ZnO (AZO or ZnO:Al) thin films. With increasing ICP RF power, film properties including deposition rate, crystallinity, transparency, and resistivity were improved. To understand the plasma-surface interaction, several plasma diagnostics were performed. Heat fluxes to the substrate were measured by thermal probes, number densities of sputtered metallic atom species were measured by absorption spectroscopy using hollow cathode lamps (HCL) and light emitting diodes (LEDs), and neutral gas temperatures were measured by external cavity diode laser (ECDL) absorption spectroscopy. As a result, it was revealed that the high-density ICP heated the substrate through a high heat flux to the substrate, resulting in a high-quality film deposition without the need for intentional substrate heating. The heat flux to the substrate was predominantly contributed by the plasma charged species, not by the neutral Ar atoms which were also significantly heated in the ICP. The substrate position where the highest quality films were obtained was found to coincide with the position where the substrate heat flux took the maximum value

Investigation of mechanical properties of a rigid body in magnetic levitation state

Levitation (from Latin levitas - lightness) is the process in which an object is suspended by a physical force against gravity, in a stable position without solid physical contact. The phenomenon of levitation, caused by magnetic forces is called magnetic levitation. The main advantage of magnetic levitation systems is the elimination of friction, which significantly influences reliability, capability, ecology and safety. The phenomenon of magnetic levitation can be used in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) catapult. The article presents the results of experiments performed on the prototype magnetic catapult. Catapult has been designed for small, unmanned aircraft, weighing less than 2 kg. The results show the oscillations of levitating cart of magnetic catapult during simulated and actual take-off and landing procedures

Porównanie zawartości proantocyjanidyn w korzeniach Rhodiola kirilowii i Rhodiola rosea z wykorzystaniem metody UPLC-MS/MS

The purpose of presented study was the comparison of flavan-3-ol content in the roots of Rhodiola kirilowii and Rhodiola rosea with use of UPLC-MS/MS method. Two kinds of extract were prepared: aqueous extract and 50% v/v ethanol extract. The worked out UPLC MS/MS method allowed to determine the content of five flavan-3-ols: (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, (-)-epigallocatechin, (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECG) and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). The obtained results shown that the content of measured catechins was higher in R. kirilowii roots than in R. rosea. Both Rhodiola roots contain EGCG as a main proanthocyanidin compound – the content in R. kirilowii roots is about 0.14%. Our results indicate that application of ultra performance liquid chromatograph connected to a tandem mass spectrometer (UPLC MS/MS method) allows to determine the proanthocyanidins content in tested samples with satisfactory precision and can be used in the Rhodiola sp. phytochemical investigations.Celem przedstawionych badań było porównanie za pomocą opracowanej metodyki wykorzystującej ultrasprawny chromatograf cieczowy sprzężony z tandemowym spektrometrem mas (Waters) zawartości flawan-3-oli w korzeniach Rhodiola kirilowii i Rhodiola rosea. Badano wodne i alkoholowo-wodne (50% EtOH) wyciągi z korzeni. Opracowana metoda UPLC MS/MS pozwoliła na określenie stężeń pięciu flawan-3-oli: (+)-katechiny, (-)-epikatechiny, (-)-epigalokatechiny, galusanu (-)-epikatechiny (ECG) oraz galusanu (-)-epigalokatechiny (EGCG). Otrzymane wyniki wskazują, że zawartość tych katechin jest wyższa w korzeniach R. kirilowii niż w korzeniach R. rosea. Oba surowce zawierają galusan (-)-epigallokatechiny jako główną proantocyjanidynę – jej zawartość w korzeniach R. kirilowii wynosi ok. 0,14%. Uzyskane przez nas wyniki wskazują, że metoda analityczna z wykorzystaniem ultrasprawnego chromatografu cieczowego sprzężonego z tandemowym spektrometrem mas pozwala z zadawalającą precyzją oznaczyć zawartości proantocyjanidyn w analizowanych próbkach i może być stosowana w badaniach rodzaju Rhodiola

A laser-lock concept to reach cm s-1 -precision in Doppler experiments with Fabry-Pérot wavelength calibrators

State-of-the-art Doppler experiments require wavelength calibration with precision at the cms−1 level. A low-finesse Fabry-Pérot interferometer (FPI) can provide a wavelength comb with a very large bandwidth as required for astronomical experiments, but unavoidable spectral drifts are difficult to control. Instead of actively controlling the FPI cavity, we propose to passively stabilize the interferometer and track the time-dependent cavity length drift externally using the 87Rb D2 atomic line. A dual-finesse cavity allows drift tracking during observation. In the low-finesse spectral range, the cavity provides a comb transmission spectrum tailored to the astronomical spectrograph. The drift of the cavity length is monitored in the high-finesse range relative to an external standard: a single narrow transmission peak is locked to an external cavity diode laser and compared to an atomic frequency from a Doppler-free transition. Following standard locking schemes, tracking at sub-mm s−1 precision can be achieved. This is several orders of magnitude better than currently planned high-precision Doppler experiments, and it allows freedom for relaxed designs including the use of a single-finesse interferometer under certain conditions. All components for the proposed setup are readily available, rendering this approach particularly interesting for upcoming Doppler experiments. We also show that the large number of interference modes used in an astronomical FPI allows us to unambiguously identify the interference mode of each FPI transmission peak defining its absolute wavelength solution. The accuracy reached in each resonance with the laser concept is then defined by the cavity length that is determined from the one locked peak and by the group velocity dispersion. The latter can vary by several 100ms−1 over the relevant frequency range and severely limits the accuracy of individual peak locations, although their interference modes are known. A potential way to determine the absolute peak positions is to externally measure the frequency of each individual peak with a laser frequency comb (LFC). Thus, the concept of laser-locked FPIs may be useful for applying the absolute accuracy of an LFC to astronomical spectrographs without the need for an LFC at the observatory.peerReviewe