Reconstructing boulder deposition histories: extreme wave signatures on a complex rocky shoreline of Malta

The Żonqor coastline, southeast Malta, displays an exceptional range of geomorphic signatures of extreme coastal events. This paper brings together evidence acquired from a field survey, analysis of time-sequential imagery, and hydrodynamic modelling to investigate the histories of boulder groups identified by their intrinsic and contextual characteristics. Clear differences are revealed between the distribution of boulders recently moved and those of considerable age. Tracking the movement of boulders since 1957 confirms that storms of surprisingly frequent interval are capable of complex boulder movements, including lifting of megaclasts. Scrutiny of the ancient boulders, including weathering features and fascinating landward-facing (reverse) imbrication, cautiously suggests tsunami as the agent for their emplacement. A novel method is developed for depicting the velocity decay profiles of hypothetical waves, which overcomes some of the limitations of the Nott approach. Applied here, the wave run-up context further sets the ancient movers apart from their recent mover companions. The combined evidence implies a palimpsestic landscape where storm waves are regular geomorphic agents that add to and rework the distribution of boulders close to the shoreline, but over long time periods the landscape becomes reset by tsunami—a concept that is of value to agencies in Malta responsible for coastal safety, planning and management

Evidence update for the treatment of anaphylaxis

The Resuscitation Council UK has updated its Guideline for healthcare providers on the Emergency treatment of anaphylaxis. As part of this process, an evidence review was undertaken by the Guideline Working Group, using an internationally-accepted approach for adoption, adaptation, and de novo guideline development based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) evidence to decision (EtD) framework, referred to as GRADE-ADOLOPMENT. A number of significant changes have been made, which will be reflected in the updated Guideline. These include: emphasis on repeating intramuscular adrenaline doses after 5 min if symptoms of anaphylaxis do not resolve; corticosteroids (e.g. hydrocortisone) no longer being routinely recommended for the emergency treatment of anaphylaxis; interventions for reactions which are refractory to initial treatment with adrenaline; a recommendation against the use of antihistamines for the acute management of anaphylaxis; and guidance relating to the duration of observation following anaphylaxis, and timing of discharge

The integration of structural mechanics into microstructure solidification modelling

In situ structural mechanics are an often neglected area when modelling alloy microstructure during solidification, despite the existence of practical examples and studies which seem to indicate that the interaction between thermal or mechanical stresses and microstructure can have a significant impact on its evolution and hence the final properties at a macroscopic level. A bespoke structural mechanics solver using the finite volume method has been developed to solve the linear elasticity equations, with design choices being made to facilitate the coupling of this solver to run in situ with an existing solidification model. The accuracy of the structural mechanics solver is verified against an analytic solution and initial results from a fully coupled system are presented which demonstrate in a fundamental example that the interaction between structural mechanics and a solidifying dendrite can lead to a significant change in growth behaviour

Innovative Virtual Reality (VR) Application for Preventing of Falls among Chinese Older Adults : A Usability and Acceptance Exploratory Study

Objective: Full immersive virtual reality (VR) technology shows potential for reducing the risks of falls in older adults. There is yet little evidence to support the usability and acceptance on using VR technology application in community aged care service. The study reports on research that aims to address that gap by evaluating the usefulness and acceptance of using an innovative VR application among Chinese older adults from Hong Kong. Methods: A single-arm exploratory study was conducted to evaluate how the participants experienced the use of a fully immersive cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE) VR program on fall prevention. Thirty-one participants were recruited by convenience sampling based on their fall concerns and potential risk of falls. The participants completed 16 training sessions over eight weeks using the VR CAVE application. They were asked to complete a VR usability questionnaire (HK-version) based on the Technology Acceptance Model and previous research, and they took fall risk assessments at the pretest, posttest, and follow-up. Results: The participants’ group significantly showed improvements in reducing the risk factors of falls including balance, functional mobility, walking speed, and fear of falling after VR intervention. Perceived usefulness (PU), perceived enjoyment (PE), user experience (UE), and intention to use (IU) had an overall significant change at different time points. These are important factors to influence the participants’ acceptance of the use of VR technology applications. Perceived ease of use (PEOU) and social norms (SNs) had an inconsistent result, and some items had low validity. The findings indicated a positive training effect on fall prevention and high acceptance of the adoption of the VR technology application. Conclusion: This study supports the growing evidence on the usefulness and acceptance of using full immersive VR training on fall prevention among Chinese older adults. They perceived that the VR CAVE application was useful and innovative as an effective fall prevention training. Technically, the application of VR CAVE technology faces many challenges and is not easily manageable under COVID-19 restrictions and the limitation on technological adaptation for older adults. However, investment in full immersive VR technology application is supported for future adoption in aged care and rehabilitation services

International Variations in Surgical Morbidity and Mortality Post Gynaecological Oncology Surgery: A Global Gynaecological Oncology Surgical Outcomes Collaborative Led Study (GO SOAR1)

Gynaecological malignancies affect women in low and middle income countries (LMICs) at disproportionately higher rates compared with high income countries (HICs) with little known about variations in access, quality, and outcomes in global cancer care. Our study aims to evaluate international variation in post-operative morbidity and mortality following gynaecological oncology surgery between HIC and LMIC settings. Study design consisted of a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of women undergoing surgery for gynaecological malignancies (NCT04579861). Multilevel logistic regression determined relationships within three-level nested-models of patients within hospitals/countries. We enrolled 1820 patients from 73 hospitals in 27 countries. Minor morbidity (Clavien-Dindo I-II) was 26.5% (178/672) and 26.5% (267/1009), whilst major morbidity (Clavien-Dindo III-V) was 8.2% (55/672) and 7% (71/1009) for LMICs/HICs, respectively. Higher minor morbidity was associated with pre-operative mechanical bowel preparation (OR = 1.474, 95%CI = 1.054-2.061, p = 0.023), longer surgeries (OR = 1.253, 95%CI = 1.066-1.472, p = 0.006), greater blood loss (OR = 1.274, 95%CI = 1.081-1.502, p = 0.004). Higher major morbidity was associated with longer surgeries (OR = 1.37, 95%CI = 1.128-1.664, p = 0.002), greater blood loss (OR = 1.398, 95%CI = 1.175-1.664, p ≤ 0.001), and seniority of lead surgeon, with junior surgeons three times more likely to have a major complication (OR = 2.982, 95%CI = 1.509-5.894, p = 0.002). Of all surgeries, 50% versus 25% were performed by junior surgeons in LMICs/HICs, respectively. We conclude that LMICs and HICs were associated with similar post-operative major morbidity. Capacity to rescue patients from surgical complications is a tangible opportunity for meaningful intervention

Increasing survival after admission to UK critical care units following cardiopulmonary resuscitation

© 2016 The Author(s). Background: In recent years there have been many developments in post-resuscitation care. We have investigated trends in patient characteristics and outcome following admission to UK critical care units following cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for the period 2004-2014. Our hypothesis is that there has been a reduction in risk-adjusted mortality during this period. Methods: We undertook a prospectively defined, retrospective analysis of the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre (ICNARC) Case Mix Programme Database (CMPD) for the period 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2014. Admissions, mechanically ventilated in the first 24 hours in the critical care unit and admitted following CPR, defined as the delivery of chest compressions in the 24 hours before admission, were identified. Case mix, withdrawal, outcome and activity were described annually for all admissions identified as post-cardiac arrest admissions, and separately for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and in-hospital cardiac arrest. To assess whether in-hospital mortality had improved over time, hierarchical multivariate logistic regression models were constructed, with in-hospital mortality as the dependent variable, year of admission as the main exposure variable and intensive care unit (ICU) as a random effect. All analyses were repeated using only the data from those ICUs contributing data throughout the study period. Results: During the period 2004-2014 survivors of cardiac arrest accounted for an increasing proportion of mechanically ventilated admissions to ICUs in the ICNARC CMPD (9.0 % in 2004 increasing to 12.2 % in 2014). Risk-adjusted hospital mortality following admission to ICU after cardiac arrest has decreased significantly during this period (OR 0.96 per year). Over this time, the ICU length of stay and time to treatment withdrawal has increased significantly. Re-analysis including only those 116 ICUs contributing data throughout the study period confirmed all the results of the primary analysis. Conclusions: Risk-adjusted hospital mortality following admission to ICU after cardiac arrest has decreased significantly during the period 2004-2014. Over the same period the ICU length of stay and time to treatment withdrawal has increased significantly

Factorization Properties of Soft Graviton Amplitudes

We apply recently developed path integral resummation methods to perturbative quantum gravity. In particular, we provide supporting evidence that eikonal graviton amplitudes factorize into hard and soft parts, and confirm a recent hypothesis that soft gravitons are modelled by vacuum expectation values of products of certain Wilson line operators, which differ for massless and massive particles. We also investigate terms which break this factorization, and find that they are subleading with respect to the eikonal amplitude. The results may help in understanding the connections between gravity and gauge theories in more detail, as well as in studying gravitational radiation beyond the eikonal approximation.Comment: 35 pages, 5 figure

Silver nanowire networks: Physical properties and potential integration in solar cells

peer reviewedWith the growing interest in flexible electronics and the increased utilization of Indium Tin Oxide electrodes for display and photovoltaic applications the need for new materials is emerging. In this work we present the electro-optical properties of Ag nanowire networks as an alternative transparent conductive material. A comparison of different film deposition techniques is made and indicates that the properties of the network are independent of the fabrication method. Analysis of the electrical behavior as a function of nanowire density is made and compared with theoretical results as well as Monte Carlo simulations. Thermal annealing is shown to reduce the sheet resistance from 1000 Ω/sq to 8 Ω/sq; this reduction is achieved by local sintering of the nanowire junctions. Experimental optimization of Ag nanowire electrodes was undertaken and a peak in the electro-optical properties is observed at approximately 100 mg/m². Finally a discussion of the potential integration of Ag nanowire networks into solar cells is undertaken; we observe that these electrodes show promise as an emerging transparent conductive material, especially for flexible applications

2019 international consensus on cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care science with treatment recommendations : summary from the basic life support; advanced life support; pediatric life support; neonatal life support; education, implementation, and teams; and first aid task forces

The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation has initiated a continuous review of new, peer-reviewed, published cardiopulmonary resuscitation science. This is the third annual summary of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations. It addresses the most recent published resuscitation evidence reviewed by International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation Task Force science experts. This summary addresses the role of cardiac arrest centers and dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the role of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation in adults and children, vasopressors in adults, advanced airway interventions in adults and children, targeted temperature management in children after cardiac arrest, initial oxygen concentration during resuscitation of newborns, and interventions for presyncope by first aid providers. Members from 6 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation task forces have assessed, discussed, and debated the certainty of the evidence on the basis of the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria, and their statements include consensus treatment recommendations. Insights into the deliberations of the task forces are provided in the Justification and Evidence to Decision Framework Highlights sections. The task forces also listed priority knowledge gaps for further research