Non-optical Imaging of Flow, Boiling, and Salt Deposition in a Simulated Debris Bed

Determining flow and heat transfer characteristics in a debris bed or a packed bed is difficult due to the lack of optical access. Non-optical imaging methods, such as x-ray or neutron imaging, can be used to observe flow characteristics and particle deposition, as well as boiling in a packed bed. An amorphous Silicon detector based digital radiography camera can be used to image with either x-rays or neutrons at up to 100 frames per second. The digital radiography camera, coupled with digital image analysis techniques was used to characterize fluid fraction and flow rates in a simulated debris bed. A water percolation experiment was performed where a test section filled with 1-3 mm glass particles was used as a simulated debris bed, and properties such as packing fraction, volumetric flow rate, and evaporation rate were calculated both physically and using data from the images. The values obtained using the images were benchmarked against the physically calculated values and found to be in agreement, validating the image processing algorithms

Untangling cost, effort, and load in information seeking and retrieval

When performing Information Seeking and Retrieval (ISR) activities, people submit queries, examine results, assess documents and engage with the information to make decisions and complete tasks. All these activities come at a “cost”, but within the field of ISR there is no universally accepted definition of the concepts of Cost, Effort, and Load (CEL). Instead, researchers have used the same terms interchangeably to describe similar but also different concepts. This lack of shared understanding has led to a disconnect between how these concepts are defined and discussed versus how they are interpreted and measured. Thus, the aim of this paper is two-fold: (i) to review the meaning of CEL related concepts used within ISR, and (ii) to create a shared taxonomy of the concepts relating to CEL in ISR. To seed our analysis, we conducted a literature review, where 397 papers were reviewed, and twenty-six papers that explicitly proposed measures or definitions of CEL were selected for analysis. By drawing upon theory from Psychology and other fields, we present the common definitions of CEL in order to ground our discussion of these concepts in ISR. We also highlight the issues associated with CEL measurement in ISR to help researchers reflect on the validity and precision of existing methods. We hope this perspectives paper serves as a basis for a taxonomy of how CEL concepts are used within ISR- where we have provided a series of working definitions that clearly delineate the different concepts being used, investigated and measured in ISR research

Comparative Genomic Analysis of Drosophila melanogaster and Vector Mosquito Developmental Genes

Genome sequencing projects have presented the opportunity for analysis of developmental genes in three vector mosquito species: Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Anopheles gambiae. A comparative genomic analysis of developmental genes in Drosophila melanogaster and these three important vectors of human disease was performed in this investigation. While the study was comprehensive, special emphasis centered on genes that 1) are components of developmental signaling pathways, 2) regulate fundamental developmental processes, 3) are critical for the development of tissues of vector importance, 4) function in developmental processes known to have diverged within insects, and 5) encode microRNAs (miRNAs) that regulate developmental transcripts in Drosophila. While most fruit fly developmental genes are conserved in the three vector mosquito species, several genes known to be critical for Drosophila development were not identified in one or more mosquito genomes. In other cases, mosquito lineage-specific gene gains with respect to D. melanogaster were noted. Sequence analyses also revealed that numerous repetitive sequences are a common structural feature of Drosophila and mosquito developmental genes. Finally, analysis of predicted miRNA binding sites in fruit fly and mosquito developmental genes suggests that the repertoire of developmental genes targeted by miRNAs is species-specific. The results of this study provide insight into the evolution of developmental genes and processes in dipterans and other arthropods, serve as a resource for those pursuing analysis of mosquito development, and will promote the design and refinement of functional analysis experiments

Effect of remote ischaemic conditioning on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI): a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischaemic conditioning with transient ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm has been shown to reduce myocardial infarct size in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). We investigated whether remote ischaemic conditioning could reduce the incidence of cardiac death and hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months. METHODS: We did an international investigator-initiated, prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI) at 33 centres across the UK, Denmark, Spain, and Serbia. Patients (age >18 years) with suspected STEMI and who were eligible for PPCI were randomly allocated (1:1, stratified by centre with a permuted block method) to receive standard treatment (including a sham simulated remote ischaemic conditioning intervention at UK sites only) or remote ischaemic conditioning treatment (intermittent ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm through four cycles of 5-min inflation and 5-min deflation of an automated cuff device) before PPCI. Investigators responsible for data collection and outcome assessment were masked to treatment allocation. The primary combined endpoint was cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02342522) and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Nov 6, 2013, and March 31, 2018, 5401 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=2701) or the remote ischaemic conditioning group (n=2700). After exclusion of patients upon hospital arrival or loss to follow-up, 2569 patients in the control group and 2546 in the intervention group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 12 months post-PPCI, the Kaplan-Meier-estimated frequencies of cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure (the primary endpoint) were 220 (8·6%) patients in the control group and 239 (9·4%) in the remote ischaemic conditioning group (hazard ratio 1·10 [95% CI 0·91-1·32], p=0·32 for intervention versus control). No important unexpected adverse events or side effects of remote ischaemic conditioning were observed. INTERPRETATION: Remote ischaemic conditioning does not improve clinical outcomes (cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure) at 12 months in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, University College London Hospitals/University College London Biomedical Research Centre, Danish Innovation Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, TrygFonden

Thesis Project

The aim of this present thesis is to examine the inherent motivational characteristics of millennials and their relationship with leadership style preference

Inherent Motivation and the Leadership Style Preferences of Millennials

Existing research on leadership and motivation tends to focus primarily on how leadership style influences employee motivation with very little consideration for how follower characteristics may influence the preference of the leader. In an attempt to contribute to this research gap, this thesis examined whether motivation, as represented by extrinsic and intrinsic sources, influences an individual’s preference towards a transactional vs. transformational leadership style. This thesis provides further novelty by examining this concept on the largely understudied and newest generation to enter the labour market, the millennials. To investigate the main research question, 220 Swedish students participated in a questionnaire that was designed to assess their motivation and leadership style preference. As age, gender and personality were considered as potential predictors in this relationship they were also included in the questionnaire as control variables. A multiple regression analysis revealed intrinsic motivation to be a significant predictor of transformational leadership preference, and extrinsic motivation as a significant predictor of transactional leadership preference. These findings provide merit in both the academic and organisational sectors, not only contributing empirical evidence to this widely neglected research field, but also in the practical utility these results can provide for creating more informed leadership training decisions in a bid to recruit, retain and motivate the millennial generation as they enter the workforce

A systematic review of cost, effort, and load research in information search and retrieval, 1972-2020

During the Information Search and Retrieval (ISR) process, user-system interactions such as submitting queries, examining results, and engaging with information, impose some degree of demand on the user’s resources. Within ISR, these demands are well recognised, and numerous studies have demonstrated that the Cost, Effort, and Load (CEL) experienced during the search process are affected by a variety of factors. Despite this recognition, there is no universally accepted definition of the constructs of CEL within the field of ISR. Ultimately this has led to problems with how these constructs have been interpreted and subsequently measured. This systematic review contributes a synthesis of literature, summarising key findings relating to how researchers have been defining and measuring CEL within ISR over the past 50 years. After manually screening 1,109 articles, we detail and analyse 91 articles which examine CEL within ISR. The discussion focuses on comparing the similarities and differences between CEL definitions and measures before identifying the limitations of the current state of the nomenclature. Opportunities for future research are also identified. Going forward, we propose a CEL taxonomy that integrates the relationships between CEL and their related constructs, which will help focus and disambiguate future research in this important area

Is it all about the mission? Comparing non-technical skills across offshore transport and search and rescue helicopter pilots.

Objective: The research objective of the current study was to examine and compare the non-technical skills utilised by search and rescue and offshore transport helicopter pilots. Background: Non-technical skills encompass the interpersonal and cognitive skills necessary for safe and efficient team performance in high-risk environments. There is a lack of research investigating non-technical skill use during helicopter flight or assessing differences in skills according to mission parameters. Method: The current study comprised of twenty-eight semi-structured qualitative interviews, based upon the critical incident technique (16 offshore transport pilots, 12 search and rescue pilots). Interviews were thematically coded to identify, and compare, non-technical skills. Results: All key non-technical skills were reported across both pilot groups. Differences were identified at the element level of skills across the group (e.g. while both groups reported utilising situational awareness, elemental sub-components were based upon different attentional factors). A category of cognitive readiness was identified specific to search and rescue, this category encapsulated the elements necessary for a swift, effective response to emergencies. Conclusion: The results indicate helicopter pilots’ non-technical skills vary according to mission parameters, suggesting specific flight goals require different nuances of non-technical skills for mission achievement. We suggest that non-technical skills training should be tailored to the mission focus of helicopter pilots in order to further error mitigation strategies, enrich training relevance and enhance effectiveness

Medicinal cannabis for treating symptoms in children with cancer receiving palliative care

Background: The prescribing of medicinal cannabis is becoming more frequent, yet there remains little evidence for the efficacy and safety of these products in patients with advanced cancer, especially the paediatric population. To help address the gaps in evidence, a collaborative team of clinicians and researchers, were awarded a competitive grant under the MRFF Emerging Priorities and Consumer Driven Research initiative, to conduct a clinical trial using medicinal cannabis. Aims: The primary aim of this clinical trial is to establish the tolerable and potentially effective dose, that is the dose that achieves symptom relief with acceptable side effects, of the two medicinal cannabis products. The secondary aim is to explore symptom control of each child’s individual symptom and total symptom burden for each Investigational Product. Methods: This is a prospective multi-site, double-blinded, randomised clinical trial will recruit children and young people aged 6 months to 21 years. Participants will be randomised to received one of two medicinal cannabis oil products. Each participant will be in the trial for up to 8 consecutive weeks. In weeks 1 and 2, participant baseline assessments will be conducted (Baseline Phase). In weeks 3 and 4, participants will receive either a CBD:THC equivalent product (10mg:10mg) or a CBD dominant product (100mg:1mg), in accordance with their randomisation allocation, with the Investigational product being slowly titrated up until an effective dose is reached (Titration Phase). Participants will continue on the effective does for a further 4 weeks (Maintenance Phase). Assessments and monitoring will be conducted for the duration of the trial and once after participation ends. At the end of the trial, participants will titrate off the Investigational Product, or continue to receive medicinal cannabis under the Special Access Scheme.Results: This is an ongoing clinical trial