5,236 research outputs found
A comparison of the growth kinetics of six marine heterotrophic nanoflagellates fed with one bacterial species.
A feasibility study of signed consent for the collection of patient identifiable information for a national paediatric clinical audit database
Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of obtaining signed consent
for submission of patient identifiable data to a national clinical
audit database and to identify factors influencing the consent process
and its success.
Design: Feasibility study.
Setting: Seven paediatric intensive care units in England.
Participants: Parents/guardians of patients, or patients aged 12-16
years old, approached consecutively over three months for signed
consent for submission of patient identifiable data to the national
clinical audit database the Paediatric Intensive Care Audit Network
(PICANet).
Main outcome measures: The numbers and proportions of admissions for
which signed consent was given, refused, or not obtained (form not
returned or form partially completed but not signed), by age, sex,
level of deprivation, ethnicity (South Asian or not), paediatric index
of mortality score, length of hospital stay (days in paediatric
intensive care).
Results: One unit did not start and one did not fully implement the
protocol, so analysis excluded these two units. Consent was obtained
for 182 of 422 admissions (43%) (range by unit 9% to 84%). Most
(101/182; 55%) consents were taken by staff nurses. One refusal (0.2%)
was received. Consent rates were significantly better for children who
were more severely ill on admission and for hospital stays of six days
or more, and significantly poorer for children aged 10-14 years. Long
hospital stays and children aged 10-14 years remained significant in a
stepwise regression model of the factors that were significant in the
univariate model.
Conclusion: Systematically obtaining individual signed consent for
sharing patient identifiable information with an externally located
clinical audit database is difficult. Obtaining such consent is
unlikely to be successful unless additional resources are specifically
allocated to training, staff time, and administrative support
Higher education, mature students and employment goals: policies and practices in the UK
This article considers recent policies of Higher Education in the UK, which are aimed at widening participation and meeting the needs of employers. The focus is on the growing population of part-time students, and the implications of policies for this group. The article takes a critical perspective on government policies, using data from a major study of mature part-time students, conducted in two specialist institutions in the UK, a London University college and a distance learning university. Findings from this study throw doubt on the feasibility of determining a priori what kind of study pathway is most conducive for the individual in terms of employment gains and opportunities for upward social mobility. In conclusion, doubts are raised as to whether policies such as those of the present UK government are likely to achieve its aims. Such policies are not unique to the UK, and lessons from this country are relevant to most of the developed world
Metachronous colon cancer risk following surgery for first primary rectal cancer in Lynch syndrome
Effect of Gravity and Confinement on Phase Equilibria: A Density Matrix Renormalization Approach
The phase diagram of the 2D Ising model confined between two infinite walls
and subject to opposing surface fields and to a bulk "gravitational" field is
calculated by means of density matrix renormalization methods. In absence of
gravity two phase coexistence is restricted to temperatures below the wetting
temperature. We find that gravity restores the two phase coexistence up to the
bulk critical temperature, in agreement with previous mean-field predictions.
We calculate the exponents governing the finite size scaling in the temperature
and in the gravitational field directions. The former is the exponent which
describes the shift of the critical temperature in capillary condensation. The
latter agrees, for large surface fields, with a scaling assumption of Van
Leeuwen and Sengers. Magnetization profiles in the two phase and in the single
phase region are calculated. The profiles in the single phase region, where an
interface is present, agree well with magnetization profiles calculated from a
simple solid-on-solid interface hamiltonian.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX and 4 PostScript figures included. Final version as
published. To appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Reheating in the Presence of Inhomogeneous Noise
Explosive particle production due to parametric resonance is a crucial
feature of reheating in an inflationary cosmology. Coherent oscillations of the
inflaton field lead to a periodically varying mass in the evolution equation of
matter and gravitational fluctuations and often induce a parametric resonance
instability. In a previous paper (hep-ph/9709273) it was shown that homogeneous
(i.e. space independent) noise leads to an increase of the generalized Floquet
exponent for all modes, at least if the noise is temporally uncorrelated. Here
we extend the results to the physically more realistic case of spatially
inhomogeneous noise. We demonstrate - modulo some mathematical fine points
which are addressed in a companion paper - that the Floquet exponent is a non-
decreasing function of the amplitude of the noise. We provide numerical
evidence for an even stronger statement, namely that in the presence of
inhomogeneous noise, the Floquet exponent of each mode is larger than the
maximal Floquet exponent of the system in the absence of noise.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure
Seroprevalence and demographic factors associated with hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV infection from a hospital emergency department testing programme, London, United Kingdom, 2015 to 2016
Sudden Death and Left Ventricular Involvement in Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy
BACKGROUND: Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is an inherited heart muscle disorder characterized by myocardial fibrofatty replacement and an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Originally described as a right ventricular disease, ACM is increasingly recognized as a biventricular entity. We evaluated pathological, genetic, and clinical associations in a large SCD cohort. METHODS: We investigated 5205 consecutive cases of SCD referred to a national cardiac pathology center between 1994 and 2018. Hearts and tissue blocks were examined by expert cardiac pathologists. After comprehensive histological evaluation, 202 cases (4%) were diagnosed with ACM. Of these, 15 (7%) were diagnosed antemortem with dilated cardiomyopathy (n=8) or ACM (n=7). Previous symptoms, medical history, circumstances of death, and participation in competitive sport were recorded. Postmortem genetic testing was undertaken in 24 of 202 (12%). Rare genetic variants were classified according to American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics criteria. RESULTS: Of 202 ACM decedents (35.4Âą13.2 years; 82% male), no previous cardiac symptoms were reported in 157 (78%). Forty-one decedents (41/202; 20%) had been participants in competitive sport. The adjusted odds of dying during physical exertion were higher in men than in women (odds ratio, 4.58; 95% CI, 1.54-13.68; P=0.006) and in competitive athletes in comparison with nonathletes (odds ratio, 16.62; 95% CI, 5.39-51.24; P<0.001). None of the decedents with an antemortem diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy fulfilled definite 2010 Task Force criteria. The macroscopic appearance of the heart was normal in 40 of 202 (20%) cases. There was left ventricular histopathologic involvement in 176 of 202 (87%). Isolated right ventricular disease was seen in 13%, isolated left ventricular disease in 17%, and biventricular involvement in 70%. Among whole hearts, the most common areas of fibrofatty infiltration were the left ventricular posterobasal (68%) and anterolateral walls (58%). Postmortem genetic testing yielded pathogenic variants in ACM-related genes in 6 of 24 (25%) decedents. CONCLUSIONS: SCD attributable to ACM affects men predominantly, most commonly occurring during exertion in athletic individuals in the absence of previous reported cardiac symptoms. Left ventricular involvement is observed in the vast majority of SCD cases diagnosed with ACM at autopsy. Current Task Force criteria may fail to diagnose biventricular ACM before death
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