Cycling and Health Innovative Pilot Projects (Executive summary)

The Cycling and Health Innovative Pilot Project (CHIPPS) provided cycle training for adults in Nottingham and Northamptonshire from 2007 to 2010. The Primary Care Trusts in each area have delivered these projects in collaboration with partners. In Nottingham collaboration with Ridewise delivered the Cycling for Health Project that aimed to involve people from deprived communities and employees of the Primary Care Trust; in Northamptonshire the Easy Rider project delivered via Age UK was also aimed at those living in deprived areas and middle-aged people. Throughout the three years the initiative was evaluated by the Carnegie Research Institute of Leeds Metropolitan University. Those taking part completed questionnaires at the outset, at the end of their training, three months later and finally after a year. In addition, a mix of one-to-one interviews and focus groups were conducted with policy makers, those delivering the projects and participants (including those who dropped out)

The utility of pharmacy dispensing data for ART programme evaluation and early identification of patient loss to follow-up

No abstract Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine Vol. 9 (2) 2008: pp. 44-4

Evaluation of Cycling for Health Innovative Pilot Projects - Final Report

The Cycling and Health Innovative Pilot Project (CHIPPS) provided cycle training for adults in Nottingham and Northamptonshire from 2007 to 2010. The Primary Care Trusts in each area have delivered these projects in collaboration with partners. In Nottingham collaboration with Ridewise delivered the Cycling for Health Project that aimed to involve people from deprived communities and employees of the Primary Care Trust; in Northamptonshire the Easy Rider project delivered via Age UK was also aimed at those living in deprived areas and middle-aged people. Throughout the three years the initiative was evaluated by the Carnegie Research Institute of Leeds Metropolitan University. Those taking part completed questionnaires at the outset, at the end of their training, three months later and finally after a year. In addition, a mix of one-to-one interviews and focus groups were conducted with policy makers, those delivering the projects and participants (including those who dropped out)

Hydrogeological challenges in a low carbon economy

Hydrogeology has traditionally been regarded as the province of the water industry, but it is increasingly finding novel applications in the energy sector. Hydrogeology has a longstanding role in geothermal energy exploration and management. Although aquifer management methods can be directly applied to most high-enthalpy geothermal reservoirs, hydrogeochemical inference techniques differ somewhat owing to peculiarities of high-temperature processes. Hydrogeological involvement in the development of ground-coupled heating and cooling systems using heat pumps has led to the emergence of the sub-discipline now known as thermogeology. The patterns of groundwater flow and heat transport are closely analogous and can thus be analysed using very similar techniques. Without resort to heat pumps, groundwater is increasingly being pumped to provide cooling for large buildings; the renewability of such systems relies on accurate prediction and management of thermal breakthrough from reinjection to production boreholes. Hydrogeological analysis can contribute to quantification of accidental carbon emissions arising from disturbance of groundwater-fed peatland ecosystems during wind farm construction. Beyond renewables, key applications of hydrogeology are to be found in the nuclear sector, and in the sunrise industries of unconventional gas and carbon capture and storage, with high temperatures attained during underground coal gasification requiring geothermal technology transfer

Clinical Educator and Student Perceptions of iPad™ Technology to Enhance Clinical Supervision: The Electronically-Facilitated Feedback Initiative (EFFI)

Purpose: Growing demands placed upon healthcare systems require more health professionals to be trained. Clinical placement education is an integral component of health professional training, however accommodating increasing numbers of student placements is a challenge for health services. Personal digital assistants such as iPads™ may assist in delivery of clinical education, by facilitating transfer of knowledge and skills from clinical educators to health professional students, however such an initiative has not been formally investigated. The present study sought to explore perceptions of clinical educators and allied health students regarding the impact of an iPad™-based feedback delivery system on student reflection and learning. Methods: A pilot study was performed using iPads™ with specialised software to deliver electronic formative feedback to physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech pathology students during clinical placements. Students and clinical educators completed a questionnaire exploring advantages and disadvantages of the technology. Results: Nine clinical educators and 14 students participated and completed the survey. Clinical educators largely (n=7, 78%) reported the electronic feedback system was easy to use and 67% (n=6) reported it improved the quality of feedback provided to students. Five (56%) clinical educators thought electronic feedback improved student performance. Most students (n=10, 71%) reported electronic feedback facilitated reflection upon performance, and 64% (n=9) reported improved performance as a result. Disadvantages included poor wireless internet access and software inefficiencies (n=7 [78%] clinical educators, n=7 [50%] students), and difficulties using iPads™ in settings requiring infection control (n=2 [22%] clinical educators). Conclusions: Clinical educators and students perceived electronic feedback as a positive adjunct to student learning on clinical placement, however technological and software interface factors need to be considered for implementation in some settings

Arsenic occurrence in Malawi groundwater

Despite an estimated 90,000 groundwater points, mostly hand-pumped boreholes, being used for drinking-water supply in Malawi, evaluation of groundwater arsenic has been limited. Here we review the literature and collate archive data on groundwater arsenic occurrence in Malawi; add to these data, by surveying occurrence in handpumped boreholes in susceptible aquifers; and, conclude on risks to water supply. Published literature is sparse with two of the three studies reporting arsenic data in passing, with concentrations below detection limits. The third study of 25 alluvial aquifer boreholes found arsenic mostly at 1-10 μg/l concentration, but with four sites above the World Health Organisation (WHO) 10 μg/l drinking-water guideline, up to 15 μg/l; the study also discerned hydrochemical controls. Archive data from non-governmental organisation (NGO) borehole testing (two datasets) exhibited below detection results. Our surveys in 2014-18 of hand-pumped supplies in alluvial and bedrock aquifers tested 310 groundwater sites (78% alluvial, 22% bedrock) and found below test-kit detection (<10 μg/l) arsenic throughout, except possible traces at two boreholes containing geothermal-groundwater contributions. Our subsequent survey of 15 geothermal groundwater boreholes/springs found four sites with arsenic detected at 4-12 μg/l concentration. These sites displayed the highest temperatures, supporting increased arsenic being related to a geothermal groundwater influence. Our 919 sample dataset overall indicates arsenic in Malawian groundwater appears low, and well within Malawi’s drinking-water standard of 50 μg/l (MS733:2005). Still, however, troublesome concentrations above the WHO drinking-water guideline occur. Continued research is needed to confirm that human-health risks are low; including, increased monitoring of the great many hand-pumped supplies, and assessing hydro-biogeochemical controls on the higher arsenic concentrations found.Keywords: Arsenic; Groundwater quality; Malawi; Drinking wate

Modelo de avaliação da disfunção arterial na região cervical, pré-­‐intervenção com Terapia Manual Ortopédica (TMO)

Tradução do documento “International Framework for Examination of the Cervical Region for potential of Cervical Arterial Dysfunction prior to Orthopaedic Manual Therapy Intervention" por Diogo Pires, Eduarto Brazete Cruz, Isabel Bastos de Almeida, João Filipe Vasconcelos Abreu, Lúcia Domingues e Susana Duarteinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The many positive impacts of participating in outreach activities on postgraduate students

Postgraduate students are excellent role models for school students, where their passion and energy play a vital role in engaging younger students and spreading enthusiasm and excitement about science. However, participating in outreach is not a one way activity for these postgraduate students. Through focus groups we show that the postgraduate students perceive that there are many benefits for themselves. These benefits are identified and discussed. This paper also contrasts the postgraduate with their undergraduate counterpart in terms of their contributions to engagement activities

Recommendations for environmental baseline monitoring in areas of shale gas development

Environmental monitoring plays a key role in risk assessment and management of industrial operations where there is the potential for the release of contaminants to the environment (i.e. air and water) or for structural damage (i.e. seismicity). The shale-gas industry is one such industry. It is also new to the UK and so specific environmental regulation and other controls have been introduced only recently. Associated with this is a need to carry out monitoring to demonstrate that the management measures to minimise the risk to the environment are being effective. While much of the monitoring required is common to other industries and potentially polluting activities, there are a number of requirements specific to shale gas and to what is a new and undeveloped industry. This report presents recommendations for environmental monitoring associated with shale-gas activities and in particular the monitoring required to inform risk assessment and establish the pre-existing environmental conditions at a site and surrounding area. This baseline monitoring is essential to provide robust data and criteria for detecting any future adverse environmental changes caused by the shale-gas operations. Monitoring is therefore required throughout the lifecycle of a shale gas operation. During this lifecycle, the objectives of the monitoring will change, from baseline characterisation to operational and post-operational monitoring. Monitoring requirements will also change. This report focusses on good practice in baseline monitoring and places it in the context of the longer-term environmental monitoring programme, recognising the need to transition from the baseline condition and to establish criteria for detecting any changes within the regulatory framework. The core suite of environmental monitoring activities currently required to support regulatory compliance, i.e. meet environmental and other permit conditions, encompasses monitoring of seismicity, water quality (groundwater and surface water) and air quality. Recommendations for each of these are included in this report. Additionally, recommendations for a number of other types of environmental monitoring are included – radon in air, soil gas and ground motion (subsidence/uplift). These are not associated directly with regulatory compliance but can provide information to support interpretation of statutory monitoring results. They are also considered important for public reassurance. Health impacts arising from radon and damage caused by ground motion are both issues of public concern in relation to shale gas

Quantum decision making by social agents

The influence of additional information on the decision making of agents, who are interacting members of a society, is analyzed within the mathematical framework based on the use of quantum probabilities. The introduction of social interactions, which influence the decisions of individual agents, leads to a generalization of the quantum decision theory developed earlier by the authors for separate individuals. The generalized approach is free of the standard paradoxes of classical decision theory. This approach also explains the error-attenuation effects observed for the paradoxes occurring when decision makers, who are members of a society, consult with each other, increasing in this way the available mutual information. A precise correspondence between quantum decision theory and classical utility theory is formulated via the introduction of an intermediate probabilistic version of utility theory of a novel form, which obeys the requirement that zero-utility prospects should have zero probability weights.Comment: This paper has been withdrawn by the authors because a much extended and improved version has been submitted as arXiv:1510.02686 under the new title "Role of information in decision making of social agents