Measurements of rates of cooling of a manikin insulated with different mountain rescue casualty bags

Background: Accidental hypothermia is common in those who sustain injuries in remote environments. This is unpleasant and associated with adverse effects on subsequent patient outcomes. To minimise further heat loss, a range of insulating systems are available to mountain rescue teams although the most effective and cost-efficient have yet to be determined. Methods: Under ambient, still, dry, air conditions, a thermal manikin was filled with water at a temperature of 42 °C and then placed into a given insulation system. Water temperature was then continuously observed via an in-dwelling temperature sensor linked to a PROPAQ 100 series monitor and recorded every 10 min for 130 min. This method was repeated for each insulating package. Results: The vacuum mattress/Pertex©/fibrepile blanket system, either on its own or coupled with the Wiggy bag, was the most efficient with water temperatures only decreasing by 3.2 °C over 130 min. This was followed by the heavy-weight casualty bags without the vacuum mattress/Pertex©/fibrepile blanket system, decreasing by 4.2–4.3 °C. With the Blizzard bag, a decline in water temperature of 5.4 °C was seen over the study duration while a decrease of 9.5 °C was noted when the plastic survival bag was employed. Conclusions: Under the still-air conditions of the study, the vacuum mattress/Pertex©/fibrepile blanket was seen to offer comparable insulation effectiveness compared to be both heavy-weight casualty bags. In turn, these three systems appeared more efficient at insulating the manikin than the Blizzard bag or plastic survival bag

Portable prehospital methods to treat near-hypothermic shivering cold casualties

Objectives To compare the effectiveness of a single-layered polyethylene survival bag (P), a single-layered polyethylene survival bag with a hot drink (P+HD), a multi-layered metalized plastic sheeting survival bag (MPS: Blizzard Survival), and a multi-layered MPS survival bag with four large chemical-heat pads (MPS+HP: Blizzard Heat) to treat cold casualties. Methods Portable cold casualty treatment methods were compared by examining core and skin temperature, metabolic heat production and thermal comfort during a 3-h, 0°C cold-air exposure in seven shivering, near-hypothermic men (35.4°C). The hot drink (70°C, ~400ml, ~28kJ) was consumed at 0, 1 and 2 h during the cold-air exposure. Results During the cold-air exposure, core-rewarming and thermal comfort were similar on all trials (P = 0.45 and P = 0.36, respectively). However, skin temperature was higher (10-13%, P 2.7) and metabolic heat production lower (15-39%, P 0.9) on MPS and MPS+HP than P and P+HD. The addition of heat pads further lowered metabolic heat production by 15% (MPS+HP vs. MPS, P = 0.05, large effect size d = 0.9). The addition of the hot drink to polyethylene survival bag did not increase skin temperature or lower metabolic heat production. Conclusions Near-hypothermic cold casualties are rewarmed with less peripheral cold stress and shivering thermogenesis using a multi-layered MPS survival bag compared with a polyethylene survival bag. Prehospital rewarming is further aided by large chemical heat pads but not by hot drinks

RIFEL - Ripple and Electromagnetic Fields in Electric Vehicles

The electrical system in an electrified vehicle consists of high voltage (HV) components interacting in a complex way. The switching interaction in the power electronics results in ripple causing electromagnetic fields, disturbing other electronics and degradation of components. An overview of this can first be obtained when a physical system is built which could lead to unintentional over- or under dimensioning of HV components. This lack of information within the electrical system can lead to late verifications in the project causing substantial cost if changes are needed. This project aims at improving early evaluation of new concepts, create tools and build the necessary competence for a virtual system model that includes the key HV components: battery, electrical motor and power electronics, a simple load along with cable and connectors. This virtual model shall be able to simulate voltage and current ripple generated by the power electronics, initially in a frequency range up to 100 kHz. Results from the simulations shall be presented both in time and frequency domain as well as be expressed in RMS values for easier comparison to measured results. Some of the more important findings are briefly summarised below;For the high voltage battery, the electrical characteristics up to a frequency of roughly 1000 Hz was well determined using an impedance spectroscopy instrument at cell level and then multiplied by the numbers of cells.\ua0 However for finding the impedance behaviour for frequencies above 1000 Hz, the determination must be done on the battery pack level since bus bars and other component in the complete battery pack will be dominating in this frequency range. From measurements of differential mode impedance in high voltage cables it is found that it is important that the mutual inductance between the centre conductor and shield is included in the model to describe cable impedance below 10 kHz properly.The control of the inverter is very important for the overall behaviour and in this project SVM was used which has been shown to give the lowest current and voltage ripple of the traditional switching schemes. And for the machine model, the temperature variations must be taken into account since the machine parameters has been found to vary with ~20 % over the specified temperature range.The system model is found to agree well with rig measurements well up to 1 MHz with regards to both currents and voltages at the DC and AC sides. Furthermore, measurements in a real car match those in the rig. For time domain simulations, it was decided to use Ansys Simplorer since it can handle the inverter and the electrical machine simulations very well and for frequency domain simulations, it was decided to use LTspice since it is freeware, has support for AC-sweeps, improved switching compared to other SPICE-simulators, and is easy to use.Magnetic field simulations have been calculated and compared to measurements in the driveline rig at Chalmers. It was a good match across the investigated frequency range 10 Hz to 100 kHz.In this project, only internally developed component models were considered. To expand the functionality of the system modelling tool, international interface standards such as the Functional Mockup Interface (FMI) need to be investigated. Consequently, it would be a good idea to include additional automotive OEMs as well as suppliers and software vendors in future research collaborations

Parenteral oestrogen in the treatment of prostate cancer: a systematic review

The objectives of this study were to assess the effectiveness and safety of parenteral oestrogen in the treatment of prostate cancer, and to examine any dose relationship. A systematic review was undertaken. Electronic databases, published paper and internet resources were searched to locate published and unpublished studies with no restriction by language or publication date. Studies included were randomised controlled trials of parenteral oestrogen in patients with prostate cancer; other study designs were also included to examine dose–response. Study selection, appraisal, data extraction and quality assessment were performed by one reviewer and independently checked by another. Twenty trials were included in the review. The trials differed with regard to the included patients, formulation and dose of parenteral oestrogen, comparator used, outcome measures reported and the duration of follow-up. The results provide no evidence to suggest that parenteral oestrogen, in doses sufficient to produce castrate levels of testosterone, is less effective than luteinising hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) or orchidectomy in controlling prostate cancer, or that it is consistently associated with an increase in cardiovascular mortality. Further well-conducted trials of parenteral oestrogen are required. A pilot randomised controlled trial comparing transdermal oestrogen to LHRH analogues in men with locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer is underway in the United Kingdom

Sensemaking, sensegiving and absorptive capacity in complex procurements

This study explores and describes i) the nature of knowledge exchange processes at the frontline employee (FLE) level and ii) how FLE sensemaking processes affect buyer firm knowledge management practices in complex procurement contexts. The study utilizes an in-depth case analysis in the mining industry to identify a taxonomy of four buyer sensemaking investment/supplier collaboration profiles, to describe three sensegiving supplier roles (“confidence builders”, “competent collaborators”, and “problem-solvers”) and to explore how these evolve during complex procurement implementation. The study concludes with a conceptual model of the apparent linkages between sensemaking, sensegiving and buyer firm absorptive capacity in complex procurements. This study shows how micro-level (FLE) interactions influence macro-level knowledge integration (absorptive capacity) in the buyer firm. For managers, the study shows how the allocation of time and resources affects FLE-level knowledge exchange, with ultimate effect on buyer firm absorptive capacity

Controversies in the management of advanced prostate cancer

For advanced prostate cancer, the main hormone treatment against which other treatments are assessed is surgical castration. It is simple, safe and effective, however it is not acceptable to all patients. Medical castration by means of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) analogues such as goserelin acetate provides an alternative to surgical castration. Diethylstilboestrol, previously the only non-surgical alternative to orchidectomy, is no longer routinely used. Castration reduces serum testosterone by around 90%, but does not affect androgen biosynthesis in the adrenal glands. Addition of an anti-androgen to medical or surgical castration blocks the effect of remaining testosterone on prostate cells and is termed combined androgen blockade (CAB). CAB has now been compared with castration alone (medical and surgical) in numerous clinical trials. Some trials show advantage of CAB over castration, whereas others report no significant difference. The author favours the view that CAB has an advantage over castration. No study has reported that CAB is less effective than castration. Of the anti-androgens which are available for use in CAB, bicalutamide may be associated with a lower incidence of side-effects compared with the other non-steroidal anti-androgens and, in common with nilutamide, has the advantage of once-daily dosing. Only one study has compared anti-androgens within CAB: bicalutamide plus LH-RH analogue and flutamide plus LH-RH analogue. At 160-week follow-up, the groups were equivalent in terms of survival and time to progression. However, bicalutamide caused significantly less diarrhoea than flutamide. Withdrawal and intermittent therapy with anti-androgens extend the range of treatment options. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

“Det spelar ingen roll om jag sjunger braeller inte, det är inte det som är det viktiga utan det viktiga är att barnen får ut något av det, att det blir ett lustfyllt lärande för dem.” : - Pedagogers uppfattningar om musik som ettverktyg för barns lärande.

Denna studie gjordes i syfte att undersöka pedagogers uppfattningar om musik som ett verktyg för barns lärande samt vilka faktorer som påverkar detta arbete. Tidigare forskning visar att musik blir nedprioriterat i undervisningen, på grund av att bland annat pedagoger känner en osäkerhet kring arbetet med musik, samt att andra ämnen såsom språk och matematik prioriteras. Studien har genomförts genom semistrukturerade intervjuer där vi senare transkriberade och analyserade materialet. Analysen gjordes tematiskt med de sociokulturella begreppen appropriering, scaffoldingstöttande undervisning och scaffoldingstöttande verktyg tillsammans med Lindströms modell (2012) för estetiskt lärande. Resultatet har därefter, utifrån pedagogernas uppfattningar, delats in i olika teman där pedagogernas förhållningssätt, tillvägagångssätt samt musikundervisning för barns olika lärande lyfts som betydelsefulla aspekter i arbetet med musik. I samtliga teman framkommer faktorer som påverkar arbetet med musik för barns lärande. I jämförelse med den tidigare forskningen och vårt resultat, fanns det likheter i att pedagoger är osäkra i arbetet med musik, men pedagogerna i vår studie tolkas vara mer osäkra i att arbeta med musik för att nå olika musiska mål. Slutsatsen som därmed kunde dras var att pedagoger främst arbetar med musiken som ett komplement för att lära barn andra färdigheter än de musiska. Detta tolkas bero på den osäkerhet och okunskap de känner inom ämnet att arbeta med musik som innehåll och därmed som ett lärobjekt.Betyg i Ladok 220118.</p

“Det spelar ingen roll om jag sjunger braeller inte, det är inte det som är det viktiga utan det viktiga är att barnen får ut något av det, att det blir ett lustfyllt lärande för dem.” : - Pedagogers uppfattningar om musik som ettverktyg för barns lärande.

Denna studie gjordes i syfte att undersöka pedagogers uppfattningar om musik som ett verktyg för barns lärande samt vilka faktorer som påverkar detta arbete. Tidigare forskning visar att musik blir nedprioriterat i undervisningen, på grund av att bland annat pedagoger känner en osäkerhet kring arbetet med musik, samt att andra ämnen såsom språk och matematik prioriteras. Studien har genomförts genom semistrukturerade intervjuer där vi senare transkriberade och analyserade materialet. Analysen gjordes tematiskt med de sociokulturella begreppen appropriering, scaffoldingstöttande undervisning och scaffoldingstöttande verktyg tillsammans med Lindströms modell (2012) för estetiskt lärande. Resultatet har därefter, utifrån pedagogernas uppfattningar, delats in i olika teman där pedagogernas förhållningssätt, tillvägagångssätt samt musikundervisning för barns olika lärande lyfts som betydelsefulla aspekter i arbetet med musik. I samtliga teman framkommer faktorer som påverkar arbetet med musik för barns lärande. I jämförelse med den tidigare forskningen och vårt resultat, fanns det likheter i att pedagoger är osäkra i arbetet med musik, men pedagogerna i vår studie tolkas vara mer osäkra i att arbeta med musik för att nå olika musiska mål. Slutsatsen som därmed kunde dras var att pedagoger främst arbetar med musiken som ett komplement för att lära barn andra färdigheter än de musiska. Detta tolkas bero på den osäkerhet och okunskap de känner inom ämnet att arbeta med musik som innehåll och därmed som ett lärobjekt.Betyg i Ladok 220118.</p