Direct to consumer advertising via the Internet, a study of hip resurfacing

With increased use of the internet for health information and direct to consumer advertising from medical companies, there is a concern about the quality of the information available for patients. The aim of this study was to examine the quality of health information on the internet for hip resurfacing. An assessment tool was designed to measure quality of information. Websites were measured on credibility of source; usability; currentness of the information; content relevance; content accuracy/completeness and disclosure/bias. Each website assessed was given a total score, based on number of scores achieved from the above categories websites were further analysed on author, geographical origin and possession of an independent credibility check. There was positive correlation between the overall score for the website and the score of each website in each assessment category. Websites by implant companies, doctors and hospitals scored poorly. Websites with an independent credibility check such as Health on the Net (HoN) scored twice the total scores of websites without. Like other internet health websites, the quality of information on hip resurfacing websites is variable. This study highlights methods by which to assess the quality of health information on the internet and advocates that patients should look for a statement of an "independent credibility check" when searching for information on hip resurfacing

SPECTRAL PROCEDURES ENHANCE THE ANALYSIS OF THREE AGRICULTURAL TIME SERIES

Many agricultural and environmental variables are influenced by cyclic processes that occur naturally. Consequently their time series often have cyclic behavior. This study develops time series models for three different phenomena: (1) a 60 year-long state annual average crop yield record, (2) a four year-long daily stream flow record with values aggregated to weekly averages, and (3) a half-hour long wind speed record sampled at 10 hertz with values aggregated to 0.5 min averages. Trend tests, simple high pass filtering, and spectral analysis on original and detrended and residual data series are used to guide model development. Next, as a means to provide insight for researchers, nonlinear regression procedures are used to develop models in the time domain. The models considered may have a large scale trend, low to high frequency cycles, and, if need be, an autoregressive (AR) error structure. Selected models for all three sets included a trend component. The model for yield has a linear trend in time and includes two high frequency cycles of 2.3 and 2.5 years. The model for stream flow has a complicated trend consisting of splined polynomials in the square root of time. Cycles include an annual and approximately 8, 6, and 3 month periods. Also an AR1 error structure is added. Results suggest the wind speed can be modeled as a superposition of damped and undamped oscillations. A zero order fractional Bessel function models the trend, here a damped oscillation with a period of 10.5 min. Smaller scale regular cycles of 6.6, 3.3 and 2.2 min are added along with an AR1 error structure. The use of time series methods instead of the inverse transform on selected frequencies allows for simultaneous estimation of all components. Moreover it opens the door to the use of a much broader class of functions to model the trend, to the use of other kinds of periodic functions to model the cycles, and to the incorporation of structure in the error term. This approach may provide useful insight and a methodological approach for several ongoing and some future studies at the National Soil Tilth Laboratory

Bulk Density of a Sandy Loam: Traffic, Tillage, and Irrigation-Method Effects

Modern crop production creates a cycle between soil compaction caused by traffic and alleviation of this condition by tillage or natural processes such as freezing and thawing. The objective of this study was to evaluate important management practices as they relate to changes in bulk density of a tilled sandy loam soil. Practices evaluated were irrigation method, time between tillage and traffic, tire pressure and wheel load of applied traffic, and controlled traffic. Relationships among bulk density, penetration resistance, and infiltration rate were determined. Experiments were conducted in the San Joaquin Valley of California, on a sandy loam soil (Entisol) with an organic-matter content of <1%. After tillage, settling and trafficking of a soil resulted in rapid changes in its bulk density until a new equilibrium was reached. Tire pressure of 408 kPa and wheel weight of 2724 kg applied at moisture contents near field capacity resulted in a bulk density of 1.92 Mg m-3 , compared with a value of 1.67 for no traffic. The time interval between tillage and traffic did not affect final bulk density. Drip irrigation, which did not saturate the soil, resulted in a bulk density of ≈0.1 Mg m-3 lower than flood irrigation, which saturated the soil surface. Wheel traffic in the furrow resulted in only small changes in the bulk density within the row. When tillage did not occur between cropping seasons, traffic caused high bulk densities in the furrow but only small changes in the row. An increase in bulk density from 1.7 to 1.89 Mg m-3 decreased the infiltration rate by four times and increased resistance to penetration at the end of the season by three times. Knowledge of how management practices affect bulk density can aid growers in reducing recompaction following tillage

Particle-in-cell simulations of rf breakdown

Breakdown voltages of a capacitively coupled radio frequency argon discharge at 27 MHz are studied. We use a one-dimensional electrostatic PIC code to investigate the effect of changing the secondary emission properties of the electrodes on the breakdown voltage, particularly at low pd values. Simulation results are compared with the available experimental results and a satisfactory agreement is found.Comment: 12th International Congress on Plasma Physics, 25-29 October 2004, Nice (France

The effect of bacteriochlorophyll derivative WST-D and near infrared light on the molecular and fibrillar architecture of the corneal stroma

A cross-linking technique involving application of Bacteriochlorophyll Derivative WST-11 mixed with dextran (WST-D) to the epithelium-debrided cornea and illumination with Near Infrared (NIR), has been identified as a promising therapy for stiffening pathologically weakened corneas. To investigate its effect on corneal collagen architecture, x-ray scattering and electron microscopy data were collected from paired WST-D/NIR treated and untreated rabbit corneas. The treated eye received 2.5 mg/mL WST-D and was illuminated by a NIR diode laser (755 nm, 10 mW/cm2). An increase in corneal thickness (caused by corneal oedema) occurred at 1-day post-treatment but resolved in the majority of cases within 4 days. The epithelium was fully healed after 6–8 days. X-ray scattering revealed no difference in average collagen interfibrillar spacing, fibril diameter, D-periodicity or intermolecular spacing between treated and untreated specimens. Similarly, electron microscopy images of the anterior and posterior stroma in healed WST-D/NIR corneas and untreated controls revealed no obvious differences in collagen organisation or fibril diameter. As the size and organisation of stromal collagen is closely associated with the optical properties of the cornea, the absence of any large-scale changes following treatment confirms the potential of WST-D/NIR therapy as a means of safely stiffening the cornea

Global behavior of the height/seasonal structure of tides between 40 deg and 60 deg latitude

The radars utilized are meteor (2), medium frequency (2) and the new low frequency (1) systems: analysis techniques were exhaustively studied internally and comparatively and are not thought to affect the results. Emphasis is placed upon the new height-time contours of 24-, 12-h tidal amplitudes and phases, which best display height and seasonal structures; where possible high resolution (10 d) is used (Saskatoon), but all stations provide monthly mean resolution. At these latitudes the diurnal tide is generally smaller than the semidiurnal, and displays more variability. However, there is a tendency for vertical wavelengths and amplitudes to be larger during summer months. On occasions in winter and fall, wavelengths may be less than 50 km. The dominant semidiurnal tide shows significant regular season structure; wavelengths are generally small (about 50 km) in winter, large in summer (equal to or greater than 100 km), and these states are separated by rapid equinoctial transitions. There is some evidence for less regularity toward 40 deg. Coupling with mean winds is apparent. Data from earlier ATMAP campaigns are mentioned, and reasons for their inadequacies presented

Prioritization of THose aWaiting hip and knee ArthroplastY(PATHWAY) : protocol for development of a stakeholder led clinical prioritization tool

Open access funding The authors report that the open access funding for this manuscript is provided by the Chief Scientist Office Clinical Academic Fellowship (Grant ref: CAF/21/06). Funding statement The study is co-funded by the University of Aberdeen Knowledge Exchange Commission (Ref CF10693-29) and a Chief Scientist Office (CSO) Scotland Clinical Academic Fellowship, which will run from 08/2021 to 08/2024 (Grant ref: CAF/21/06).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Maintaining Personal Resiliency: Lessons Learned from Evangelical Protestant Clergy

Despite the prominence of clergy in providing human services, and the work-related stressors they experience, clergy health and coping responses have rarely been the focus of psychological research. We report two studies. In the first, we evaluated responses of 398 senior pastors to three open-ended questions regarding personal coping, structural support for their work, and remediation efforts in times of distress. In the second study, Christian mental health professionals and Christian education professionals identified Protestant Christian clergy who exemplify emotional and spiritual health. Twenty-six participated in individual 30-minute interviews. Respondents emphasized the importance of being intentional in maintaining balance in life and developing healthy relationships. They also value a vital spiritual life, emphasizing both their sense of calling into ministry the importance of spiritual disciplines, and an ongoing awareness of God's grace. We suggest ways that Christian mental health professionals can support pastors in preventive and remedial roles. </jats:p

The 16-day planetary waves: multi-MF radar observations from the arctic to equator and comparisons with the HRDI measurements and the GSWM modelling results

International audienceThe mesospheric and lower thermospheric (MLT) winds (60?100 km) obtained by multiple MF radars, located from the arctic to equator at Tromsø (70° N, 19° E), Saskatoon (52° N, 107° W), London (43° N, 81° W), Hawaii (21° N, 157° W) and Christmas Island (2° N, 157° W), respectively, are used to study the planetary-scale 16-day waves. Based on the simultaneous observations (1993/1994), the variabilities of the wave amplitudes, periods and phases are derived. At mid- and high-latitude locations the 16-day waves are usually pervasive in the winter-centred seasons (October through March), with the amplitude gradually decreasing with height. From the subtropical location to the equator, the summer wave activities become strong at some particular altitude where the inter-hemisphere wave ducts possibly allow for the leakage of the wave from the other hemispheric winter. The observational results are in good agreement with the theoretical conclusion that, for slowly westward-traveling waves, such as the 16-day wave, vertical propagation is permitted only in an eastward background flow of moderate speed which is present in the winter hemisphere. The wave period also varies with height and time in a range of about 12?24 days. The wave latitudinal differences and the vertical structures are compared with the Global Scale Wave Model (GSWM) for the winter situation. Although their amplitude variations and profiles have a similar tendency, the discrepancies are considerable. For example, the maximum zonal amplitude occurs around 40° N for radar but 30° N for the model. The phase differences between sites due to the latitudinal effect are basically consistent with the model prediction of equatorward phase-propagation. The global 16-day waves at 95 km from the HRDI wind measurements during 1992 through 1995 are also displayed. Again, the wave is a winter dominant phenomenon with strong amplitude around the 40?60° latitude-band on both hemispheres