Home haemodialysis for older patients: barriers and enablers

The uptake of home-based treatments among kidney patients remains low, especially so in patients over the age of 65. In this article, Marissa Dainton reviews a number of studies that have been carried out to explain the lack of enthusiasm for this kind of treatment, indicates potential barriers to home-based treatments and establishes ways of addressing these

A review of the evidence for the use of haemodiafiltration

Most patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) are supported with maintenance haemodialysis (HD) and this has been the case for many years. Recent improvements in water quality have led to the increased use of high-flux HD and more recently of online-haemodiafiltration (HDF). HDF has been promoted by some clinicians and by renal industry as potentially offering improved clinical and quality of life outcomes for patients over conventional HD. However, despite such benefits making theoretical sense very few studies of the use of HDF as compared to HD (especially high-flux HD) have been able to demonstrate any significant benefit for the therapy. This article reviews the most recent research that has compared HDF and HD and has identified that the evidence for the benefit of HDF remains elusive. This article, therefore, concludes that there is currently still not sufficient evidence from the research to support the contention that HDF confers benefits to patients over conventional HD and thereby no compelling evidence to justify its widespread use as a preferred form of treatment

Caring for Transgender patients in the ICU: Current insights for equitable care

There is ever more focus on issues surrounding Transgender/Trans people and their healthcare needs, and while there is a dearth of evidence related to Intensive Care, this paper aims to address considerations for ICU nurses when caring for Trans patients. These include both the overall approach to person-centred care for Trans patients as well as the physiological considerations that necessitate nursing interventions

Authentic allyship for gender minorities

The visibility and discussion on the rights and needs of Trans and Non-Binary communities in relation to healthcare have seen growing prominence in recent years. Despite an overall improvement in access to legal protections, civil rights, and in many jurisdictions specialist provision of healthcare for gender minorities, there remain poorer health outcomes in many areas and ongoing experiences of discrimination and transphobia. In this article, we set out the prerogative for nurses to step up as authentic allies for Trans and Non Binary people and put forward strategies to enhance the experience of gender minorities in healthcare through practice, education, and systems change

Ethical considerations for the nursing care of transgender patients in the intensive care unit

There is more discussion than ever surrounding the health and care needs of Transgender communities. However, there is limited research on the care of Transgender patients in the Intensive Care Unit which can contribute to knowledge gaps, inconsistencies and uncertainties surrounding health care practices. This article is not intended to address all of the specific needs of Transgender patients in ICU, but to explore the ethical considerations for caring for a Transgender woman in the ICU. In doing so, this article will explore some specific considerations around gender affirming care, challenging discrimination, physiological changes, and systems change to enhance car

Plan S briefing for Academic Staff - December 2020

Briefing for academic staff who are likely to be impacted by the introduction of Plan S associated Open Access policies from January 2021. Provides guidance for complying with policies when submitting to journals and specific local advice to apply for funding of Ariticle Processing Charge

Z' Coupling Information from the LHeC

If the LHC discovers a $Z'$-like state the extraction of its couplings to the particles of the Standard Model becomes mandatory in order to determine the nature of the underlying new physics theory. It has been well-known for some time that the direct measurements performed at the LHC in the Drell-Yan channel cannot determine these parameters uniquely in a model-independent manner even if large integrated luminosities, $\sim 100 fb^{-1}$, become available and the $Z'$ is relatively light \lsim 1.5 TeV. Here we examine the possibility that a proposed $e_{L,R}^\pm p$ collider upgrade at the LHC, the LHeC, with $\sqrt s=1.5-2$ TeV could be helpful with such coupling determinations in the years before a Linear Collider is constructed. We show that the polarization and charge asymmetries constructed from the cross sections for these processes can be useful in this regard depending upon the specific values of the particular $Z'$ model parameters.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figs, minor modification

Photon Structure and Quantum Fluctuation

Photon structure derives from quantum fluctuation in quantum field theory to fermion and anti-fermion, and has been an experimentally established feature of electrodynamics since the discovery of the positron. In hadronic physics, the observation of factorisable photon structure is similarly a fundamental test of the quantum field theory Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). An overview of measurements of hadronic photon structure in e+e- and ep interactions is presented, and comparison made with theoretical expectation, drawing on the essential features of photon fluctuation into quark and anti-quark in QCD.Comment: 29 pages, 15 figures, to appear in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences

Seeing motion and apparent motion

In apparent motion experiments, participants are presented with what is in fact a succession of two brief stationary stimuli at two different locations, but they report an impression of movement. Philosophers have recently debated whether apparent motion provides evidence in favour of a particular account of the nature of temporal experience. I argue that the existing discussion in this area is premised on a mistaken view of the phenomenology of apparent motion and, as a result, the space of possible philosophical positions has not yet been fully explored. In particular, I argue that the existence of apparent motion is compatible with an account of the nature of temporal experience that involves a version of direct realism. In doing so, I also argue against two other claims often made about apparent motion, viz. that apparent motion is the psychological phenomenon that underlies motion experience in the cinema, and that apparent motion is subjectively indistinguishable from real motion