Readability and Suitability of COPD Consumer Information

Copyright © 2017 Kathryn Fullmann et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Peer ReviewedBackground. Information leaflets have been shown to positively or negatively impact adherence, depending on their content. The objective of this study was to perform an appraisal of the consumer information provided in COPD inhaler monographs. Methods. COPD inhalers were identified from the Health Canada Drug Product Database. Medication information and instructions for inhaler use were analyzed for readability by seven formulas, with an acceptability threshold of grades 6–8. Three researchers rated suitability using a modified Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM) tool and assessed leaflets for explicit warnings. Results. Twenty-six inhalers with a COPD indication were evaluated. Medication information sections were rated as “difficult to read” or “hard,” and 85% (22/26) had a reading level above grade 8. The instructions for inhaler use were rated as “easy” or “fairly easy” to read and 63% (16/26) met the threshold by all formulas. While all leaflets achieved superior suitability ratings, extreme warnings included risk of premature death (), risks of serious injury (), serious interactions (), and statements that convey a serious consequence to therapy (). Conclusion. While COPD information leaflets in Canada performed well in terms of readability and suitability, overemphasis on side effects, warnings, and precautions may contribute to patient fear and nonadherence

Draft forest management plan for Cashmere Forest, Port Hills, Canterbury.

Cashmere Forest is currently a production forest comprised of mostly radiata pine (c.85%), Douglas fir (c.5%) and some non plantation areas. The Port Hills Park Trust Board (PHPTB) is interested in purchasing Cashmere Forest for the purpose of creating a public forest park environment where forestry, indigenous biodiversity, recreation and the environment are goals of sustainable management. For this purpose this draft forest management (DFM) plan has been prepared. The preparation of the Cashmere DFM plan comprised three main components: 1. An economic analysis of the current plantation component of Cashmere Forest. 2. Preparation of a draft forest management plan which encompasses the management of plantation and non plantation areas. 3. Preparation of a geographic information system (GIS) for Cashmere Forest. Economic analysis evaluated clearfell, coupe (2 to 5 ha), and a mixture of coupe and continuous canopy management (CCM) as harvesting scenarios. The coupe CCM mix was recommended for implementation primarily as it best suited long term management goals for Cashmere Forest Park while also returning modest value (NPV $561, 966). Normal cashflow analysis was also used to analyse cashflow over the first thirty years of operation from 2007. Under coupe/CCM, accrued profit does not become permanently positive until around 2019 due to initial infrastructure costs. Accrued revenue culminates at around 4 million after 30 years. This figure may drop following implementation of high pruning, alternative growth models and indigenous restoration. The Cashmere DFM plan begins with the 200 year vision which sees a Forest Park ecosystem that achieves production, environmental, ecological and recreational goals appropriate to its Port Hills location. Production forestry is practiced through the selective harvesting of a range of naturally regenerated exotic and restored indigenous species. Landscape, soil and water resources are sustainably managed through the retention of a mixed forest canopy. The forest park has been significantly augmented with indigenous flora and fauna typical of the Port Hills and ecologically significant areas are managed specifically for their indigenous biodiversity. Park recreational users are enjoying ongoing utilisation of a unique Canterbury landscape. Plantation forest management involves coupes of between 2 to 5 ha which will be harvested with cable or ground based systems with areas split approximately 50:50 between the two. Cable harvesting will be carried out with a swing yarder system with ground based operations carried out with track skidders. CCM will be carried out on a trial basis in three compartments. Re-establishment of plantation areas will aim towards occupying around 58% of Cashmere Forest, comprised of areas of radiate pine 65%, radiata pine/eucalypt 24%, Douglas fir/eucalypt 5% and Alternative species 6%. Non plantation areas are identified as either bluff, track or clearing. Within each area there may be one or more vegetation type including tussock grassland, mixed shrubland, rock association and any mixture of the three. It is proposed that the non plantation area will eventually increase to include riparian buffers 31%, restored native 55%, bluff 10% and track 4% areas, reflecting the long term vision of increased native areas in Cashmere Forest. Monitoring of forest operations, restoration, recreation and management progress will be integral to the successful implementation of the Cashmere DFM plan. A database of information will be created to allow periodical reviews of processes and predictions and reconciliation of costs and revenues associated with the management of Cashmere Forest. Periodical reviews will also be undertaken by an independent management advisory group who can liaise with the project manager of Cashmere Forest Park to discuss issues and aid planning and ensure the successful establishment of this unique park resource

Thickness dependence of electron-electron interactions in topological p-n junctions

Electron-electron interactions in topological p-n junctions consisting of vertically stacked topological insulators are investigated. n-type Bi2Te3 and p-type Sb2Te3 of varying relative thicknesses are deposited using molecular beam epitaxy and their electronic properties measured using low-temperature transport. The screening factor is observed to decrease with increasing sample thickness, a finding which is corroborated by semi-classical Boltzmann theory. The number of two-dimensional states determined from electron-electron interactions is larger compared to the number obtained from weak-antilocalization, in line with earlier experiments using single layers.Comment: 38 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

The Cognitive Behavioural Processes Questionnaire: A Preliminary Analysis within Student, Mixed Clinical and Community Samples and the Identification of a Core Transdiagnostic Process

Theorists have highlighted the commonalities in cognitive and behavioural processes across multiple disorders i.e. transdiagnostic approach. We report two studies that tested the psychometric properties of a new scale to assess these processes. The Cognitive and Behavioural Processes Questionnaire (CBP-Q) was developed as a 15- item measure. In Study 1, the CBP-Q was administered to a student (n = 172) sample with a range of standardised measures of the processes and symptom measures. Study 2 repeated the evaluation in a mixed clinical group (n = 161) and a community control group (n = 57). An exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 12-item version of the CBPQ, consisting of a single factor. The measure demonstrated good internal consistency, test-retest stability and satisfactory convergent and divergent validity in both studies. Correlations with symptom-based measures showed increased engagement in these cognitive and behavioural processes to be associated with higher levels of symptomatology. The scale was elevated in the clinical relative to the community group and there were no differences in scores between broad diagnostic groupings (anxiety vs. mood vs. other). The CBP-Q has good psychometric properties. The findings are consistent with the transdiagnostic approach and indicate that a single, as yet unspecified factor may account for the shared variance across cognitive and behavioural maintenance processes

The LightSail 2 Solar Sailing Mission Summary

The LightSail 2 mission concluded a 3-year mission in November 2022, having successfully demonstrated controlled solar sailing in low-Earth orbit using a CubeSat platform. Flight data show that LightSail 2 successfully controlled its orientation relative to the Sun, with sustained periods of apogee raising and increasing orbital energy. The LightSail 2 solar sail was 5.6 m on a side and has a total deployed area of 32 m². Four independent triangular aluminized Mylar® sail sections 4.6 microns thick were Z-folded and stowed into four sail bays. The sail segments were deployed by four 4 m Triangular Retractable And Collapsible booms made of elgiloy. The booms were wound around a common spindle, with deployment driven by a Faulhaber motor containing Hall sensors. Attitude was controlled using a single-axis Sinclair Interplanetary momentum wheel and magnetic torque rods. During solar sailing operations, two 90 degree slews were performed each orbit to harness momentum from solar photons. The thrust from solar radiation pressure measurably reduced the rate of orbital decay, including an extended period of orbit raising. Two Planetary Society Cameras developed by the Aerospace Corporation were mounted at the tips of opposing solar panels, providing imaging for engineering evaluation and public engagement throughout mission operations. This paper provides a summary of the LightSail 2 mission implementation, including the flight system design and the pre-launch test program. LightSail 2 mission operations are described, including discussion of the ground system. Solar sailing performance is presented, and anomalies encountered during the mission are discussed. The Planetary Society\u27s decade-long LightSail program was entirely donor-funded, with over 50,000 contributors worldwide. With a total cost of about $7M for two flight missions, the LightSail program showed that solar sails can provide a cost-effective option for propulsion of CubeSat-class vehicles

Ongoing Development of a Series Bosch Reactor System

Future manned missions to deep space or planetary surfaces will undoubtedly require highly robust, efficient, and regenerable life support systems that require minimal consumables. To meet this requirement, NASA continues to explore a Boschbased carbon dioxide reduction system to recover oxygen from CO2. In order to improve the equivalent system mass of Bosch systems, we seek to design and test a "Series Bosch" system in which two reactors in series are optimized for the two steps of the reaction, as well as to explore the use of in situ materials as carbon deposition catalysts. Here we report recent developments in this effort including assembly and initial testing of a Reverse WaterGas Shift reactor (RWGSr) and initial testing of two gas separation membranes. The RWGSr was sized to reduce CO2 produced by a crew of four to carbon monoxide as the first stage in a Series Bosch system. The gas separation membranes, necessary to recycle unreacted hydrogen and CO2, were similarly sized. Additionally, we report results of preliminary experiments designed to determine the catalytic properties of Martian and Lunar regolith simulant for the carbon deposition step

The LightSail 2 Controlled Solar Sailing Demonstration Mission

The LightSail 2 mission is the culmination of a decade-long program sponsored by The Planetary Society to advance solar sailing technology. The objective of LightSail 2 is to demonstrate controlled solar sailing in Earth orbit using a CubeSat platform. The LightSail 2 attitude is controlled using a single-axis momentum wheel and magnetic torque rods. During solar sailing operations, two 90 degree slews are performed each orbit to harness momentum from solar photons. Flight data show that LightSail 2 is successfully controlling its orientation relative to the Sun, and the controlled thrust from solar radiation pressure is measurably reducing the rate of orbital decay. The Planetary Society declared LightSail 2 mission success on July 31, 2019. This paper provides an overview of the LightSail 2 mission implementation, including the design of the flight system and flight software, and the pre-launch testing program. A summary of LightSail 2 mission operations is provided, including a description of the ground system. Solar sailing performance is presented, and anomalies encountered during the mission are discussed. The flight team continues to refine solar sailing performance and conduct on-orbit imaging for engineering purposes and to engage public interest. The LightSail program is entirely donor-funded, with over 50,000 contributors around the globe

InGaAs spin light emitting diodes measured in the Faraday and oblique Hanle geometries

InGaAs quantum well light emitting diodes (LED) with spin-injecting, epitaxial Fe contacts were fabricated using an in situ wafer transfer process where the semiconductor wafer was transferred under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions to a metals growth chamber to achieve a high quality interface between the two materials. The spin LED devices were measured optically with applied magnetic fields in either the Faraday or the oblique Hanle geometries in two experimental set-ups. Optical polarizations efficiencies of 4.5% in the Faraday geometry and 1.5% in the Hanle geometry are shown to be equivalent. The polarization efficiency of the electroluminescence is seen to decay as the temperature increases although the spin lifetime remains constant due to the influence of the D'yakonov–Perel' spin scattering mechanism in the quantum well.RM would like to acknowledge support from the EPSRC.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the Institute of Physics via https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/49/16/16510