Can student mental health nurses be prepared for medicines management?

Aim This paper reports on an evaluation of the Medicines with Respect project, which implemented a stepped approach to education and training in medicines management (MM) for mental health nurses (MHNs). Method In the retrospective qualitative study, nine MHNs were interviewed to gain their perceptions of the MM training they received at university and to find out if it still had relevance. Results Content analysis of the interview data revealed that overall the participants valued the theoretical and practical learning strategies they experienced, although criticisms relating to all aspects of the education and training were reported. The participants also reported that the approach prepared them for clinical practice as registered nurses. Such an approach may also build the capacity of MHNs to develop as prescribers

Comments on the superluminal motion in Cygnus X-3

Following the recent discovery that Cyg X-3 exhibits superluminal motion, the implications of superluminal expansion and contraction are investigated. We propose that the effect is due to either a propagating photon pattern or to outwardly moving shells illuminated by an intense beam of radiation.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS; 5 pages, 3 figure

High Density Mesoscopic Atom Clouds in a Holographic Atom Trap

We demonstrate the production of micron-sized high density atom clouds of interest for meso- scopic quantum information processing. We evaporate atoms from 60 microK, 3x10^14 atoms/cm^3 samples contained in a highly anisotropic optical lattice formed by interfering di racted beams from a holographic phase plate. After evaporating to 1 microK by lowering the con ning potential, in less than a second the atom density reduces to 8x10^13 cm^- 3 at a phase space density approaching unity. Adiabatic recompression of the atoms then increases the density to levels in excess of 1x10^15 cm^-3. The resulting clouds are typically 8 microns in the longest dimension. Such samples are small enough to enable mesoscopic quantum manipulation using Rydberg blockade and have the high densities required to investigate new collision phenomena.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Mifepristone reduces insulin resistance in patient volunteers with adrenal incidentalomas that secrete low levels of cortisol : a pilot study

Background: Incidental adrenal masses are commonly detected during imaging for other pathologies. 10% of the elderly population has an ‘adrenal incidentaloma’, up to 20% of these show low-grade autonomous cortisol secretion and 60% of patients with autonomous cortisol secretion have insulin resistance. Cortisol excess is known to cause insulin resistance, an independent cardiovascular risk marker, however in patients with adrenal incidentalomas it is unknown whether their insulin resistance is secondary to the excess cortisol and therefore potentially reversible. In a proof of concept study we examined the short-term effects of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) antagonism in patients with an adrenal incidentaloma to determine whether their insulin resistance was reversible. Methodology/Principal Findings: In a prospective open-label pilot study, six individuals with adrenal incidentalomas and autonomous cortisol secretion were treated with mifepristone (a GR antagonist) 200 mg twice daily and studied for 4 weeks on a Clinical Research Facility. Insulin resistance at four weeks was assessed by insulin resistance indices, lnHOMA-IR and lnMatsuda, and AUC insulin during a 2-hour glucose tolerance test. Biochemical evidence of GR blockade was shown in all individuals and across the group there was a significant reduction in insulin resistance: lnHOMA-IR (1.0vs0.6; p = 0.03), lnHOMA-%beta (4.8vs4.3; p = 0.03) and lnMatsuda (1.2vs1.6; p = 0.03). Five out of six individuals showed a reduction in insulin AUC .7237 pmol/l.min, and in two patients this showed a clinically significant cardiovascular benefit (as defined by the Helsinki heart study). Conclusions: Short-term GR antagonism is sufficient to reduce insulin resistance in some individuals with adrenal incidentalomas and mild cortisol excess. Further assessment is required to assess if the responses may be used to stratify therapy as adrenal incidentalomas may be a common remediable cause of increased cardiovascular risk

Empathic humanitarianism: Understanding the motivations behind humanitarian work with migrants at the US–Mexico border

Executive Summary The growing numbers of vulnerable migrants seeking shelter and refuge in the United States and Europe are finding increased racism and xenophobia as well as renewed efforts by humanitarian volunteers to offer them aid, sanctuary, and protection. This article sets forth a typology to better understand the motivations of volunteers working to help migrants in need of humanitarian assistance. Why do people go out of their way to offer humanitarian aid to someone they do not know and, in some cases, they will never meet? What are the drivers of altruistic behavior of humanitarian volunteers in the face of rising injustice, nationalism, and xenophobia? In answer to these questions, we offer a typology centered on empathic concern, differentiating secular/faith-based motivations, and deontological/moral-virtue motivations, with particular behaviors in each of the four resulting categories: the Missionary Type, the Good Samaritan Type, the Do Gooder Type, and the Activist Type. We also suggest four additional self-centered (non-altruistic, or not-other-centered) types (Militant, Crusader, Martyr, and Humanitarian Tourist). The nuances offered by this typology can help organizations working with migrants and refugees better understand and channel the enthusiasm of their volunteers and better meet the needs of the vulnerable populations they serve. This is especially important at a time when migration is being criminalized and when humanitarian aid is deemed unpatriotic, if not outright illegal. In the face of increased nationalistic and xenophobic messages surrounding migration, we need to articulate the altruistic humanitarian motivations of volunteers in the context of migration aid. Our typology may also be used to understand altruistic behaviors in other contexts such as disaster relief, community organization and activism, international adoptions, or organ donations to strangers, among others, in which altruistic empathic concern can be an important motivation driving people to act for the well-being of distant others

First measurements of the flux integral with the NIST-4 watt balance

In early 2014, construction of a new watt balance, named NIST-4, has started at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In a watt balance, the gravitational force of an unknown mass is compensated by an electromagnetic force produced by a coil in a magnet system. The electromagnetic force depends on the current in the coil and the magnetic flux integral. Most watt balances feature an additional calibration mode, referred to as velocity mode, which allows one to measure the magnetic flux integral to high precision. In this article we describe first measurements of the flux integral in the new watt balance. We introduce measurement and data analysis techniques to assess the quality of the measurements and the adverse effects of vibrations on the instrument.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. This Journal can be found online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=1

Structural phase transitions of vortex matter in an optical lattice

We consider the vortex structure of a rapidly rotating trapped atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of a co-rotating periodic optical lattice potential. We observe a rich variety of structural phases which reflect the interplay of the vortex-vortex and vortex-lattice interactions. The lattice structure is very sensitive to the ratio of vortices to pinning sites and we observe structural phase transitions and domain formation as this ratio is varied.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Are you a researcher as well as a medical illustrator?

When we list the areas of practice for medical illustrators we always include research, but how involved in research are we? The aim of this activity is to encourage your professional development not just as a medical illustrator but your involvement with research whether that is undertaking your own research, undertaking evidence based practice (1) , working as part of a research team, advising researchers on the value of medical illustration or supporting a student undertaking a research project for their degree or post-graduate qualification

Square Patterns and Quasi-patterns in Weakly Damped Faraday Waves

Pattern formation in parametric surface waves is studied in the limit of weak viscous dissipation. A set of quasi-potential equations (QPEs) is introduced that admits a closed representation in terms of surface variables alone. A multiscale expansion of the QPEs reveals the importance of triad resonant interactions, and the saturating effect of the driving force leading to a gradient amplitude equation. Minimization of the associated Lyapunov function yields standing wave patterns of square symmetry for capillary waves, and hexagonal patterns and a sequence of quasi-patterns for mixed capillary-gravity waves. Numerical integration of the QPEs reveals a quasi-pattern of eight-fold symmetry in the range of parameters predicted by the multiscale expansion.Comment: RevTeX, 11 pages, 8 figure