The Federal Circuit: A Model for Reform?

Are our federal courts organized suitably to perform their mission of assuring coherent administration of our national law? Maybe not. The senior author of this Article, along with many others, argued to the contrary forty years ago. Now, experience with the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit tends to confirm that an alternative structure of the federal judiciary could better serve the need for coherent national law, and without serious adverse consequences. Perhaps, therefore, it is now time for Congress to reconsider the matter. We here suggest the possibility that the United States replicate the structure of the appellate courts of the Federal Republic of Germany, which, like the Federal Circuit, are specialized to assure coherent and consistent interpretation of that nation’s laws. Advances in technology have greatly reduced the need for the traditional regionalization of the federal appellate process, so that the model supplied by the Federal Circuit may offer new hope that our national law could be administered with substantially greater coherence and efficiency than the present system of conflicted circuits allows

How do trainee doctors learn about research? Content analysis of Australian specialist colleges' intended research curricula

Objectives: Patients do better in research-intense environments. The importance of research is reflected in the accreditation requirements of Australian clinical specialist colleges. The nature of college-mandated research training has not been systematically explored. We examined the intended research curricula of Australian trainee doctors described by specialist colleges, their constructive alignment and the nature of scholarly project requirements. Design: We undertook content analysis of publicly available documents to characterise college research training curricula. Setting: We reviewed all publicly accessible information from the websites of Australian specialist colleges and their subspecialty divisions. We retrieved curricula, handbooks and assessment-related documents. Participants: Fifty-eight Australian specialist colleges and their subspecialty divisions. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Two reviewers extracted and coded research-related activities as learning outcomes, activities or assessments, by research stage (using, participating in or leading research) and competency based on Bloom’s taxonomy (remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating, creating). We coded learning and assessment activities by type (eg, formal research training, publication) and whether it was linked to a scholarly project. Requirements related to project supervisors’ research experience were noted. Results: Fifty-five of 58 Australian college subspecialty divisions had a scholarly project requirement. Only 11 required formal research training; two required an experienced research supervisor. Colleges emphasised a role for trainees in leading research in their learning outcomes and assessments, but not learning activities. Less emphasis was placed on using research, and almost no emphasis on participation. Most learning activities and assessments mapped to the ‘creating’ domain of Bloom’s taxonomy, whereas most learning outcomes mapped to the ‘evaluating’ domain. Overall, most research learning and assessment activities were related to leading a scholarly project. Conclusions: Australian specialist college research curricula appear to emphasise a role for trainees in leading research and producing research deliverables, but do not mandate formal research training and supervision by experienced researchers

Covid-19: Better contact tracing could help save lives and the economy

The rates of daily infections are rising significantly. In order to save lives and to keep the UK economy open, improvements to the UK contact tracing system are urgently needed. Woolliscroft et al. outlined how the UK contact tracing system could be improved. Detailed evaluation of the Sheffield based community contact tracing pilot project offers additional insights. [1,2] An independent group of mainly retired NHS staff called Sheffield Community Contact Tracers (SCCT) conducted a pilot contact tracing project from April to May 2020 before the national system was introduced. The project was assessed to determine the feasibility and impact of a volunteer staffed community contact tracing approach. The assessment found that contact tracing was enhanced by: trust, local knowledge, interviewer skills and expertise, cooperation from employers, and contact in a timely manner

Prototyping in Polymethylpentene to Enable Oxygen-Permeable On-a-Chip Cell Culture and Organ-on-a-Chip Devices Suitable for Microscopy

With the rapid development and commercial interest in the organ-on-a-chip (OoC) field, there is a need for materials addressing key experimental demands and enabling both prototyping and large-scale production. Here, we utilized the gas-permeable, thermoplastic material polymethylpentene (PMP). Three methods were tested to prototype transparent PMP films suitable for transmission light microscopy: hot-press molding, extrusion, and polishing of a commercial, hazy extruded film. The transparent films (thickness 20, 125, 133, 356, and 653 µm) were assembled as the cell-adhering layer in sealed culture chamber devices, to assess resulting oxygen concentration after 4 days of A549 cell culture (cancerous lung epithelial cells). Oxygen concentrations stabilized between 15.6% and 11.6%, where the thicker the film, the lower the oxygen concentration. Cell adherence, proliferation, and viability were comparable to glass for all PMP films (coated with poly-L-lysine), and transparency was adequate for transmission light microscopy of adherent cells. Hot-press molding was concluded as the preferred film prototyping method, due to excellent and reproducible film transparency, the possibility to easily vary film thickness, and the equipment being commonly available. The molecular orientation in the PMP films was characterized by IR dichroism. As expected, the extruded films showed clear orientation, but a novel result was that hot-press molding may also induce some orientation. It has been reported that orientation affects the permeability, but with the films in this study, we conclude that the orientation is not a critical factor. With the obtained results, we find it likely that OoC models with relevant in vivo oxygen concentrations may be facilitated by PMP. Combined with established large-scale production methods for thermoplastics, we foresee a useful role for PMP within the OoC field.publishedVersio

A alternativa cristã na modernidade tardia. Razões da migração religiosa do catolicismo ao pentecostalismo

  This article provides elements to understand the reasons why a group of adults decide to migrate from the Catholic Church to a Pentecostal Church. The individuals experience this migration as an expression of their personal freedom and as emancipation from their ancestors’ tradition. Using the ethnographic approach, we studied the cults and the context outside the church in which the subjects interact; this allowed us to observe that in the Pentecostal Church, people receive social recognition, cognitive and moral orientation, strong emotional stimulus, and insertion in the modern logic of progress. In these processes a tension is evident between individualization and colectivization, or between individual freedom and submission to a community, an unresolved dialectic which is also a main feature of modernity. Este artículo aporta elementos para comprender las razones por las cuales un conjunto de personas adultas decide migrar de la Iglesia católica a una Iglesia pentecostal. Esta migración es vivida por el individuo como la expresión de su libertad personal y como una emancipación de la tradición de sus ancestros. A través del método etnográfico se estudiaron los cultos y el contexto extraeclesiástico en el que interactúan los sujetos, lo cual permitió observar que en la Iglesia pentecostal las personas reciben reconocimiento social, orientación cognitiva y moral, fuertes estímulos emocionales e inserción en lógicas de progreso modernas. En estos procesos se evidencia una tensión entre individualización y colectivización o entre libertad individual y sometimiento a una comunidad, dialéctica irresuelta que además es propia de la modernidad  Este artigo fornece elementos para compreender as razões pelas quais um grupo de pessoas adultas decide migrar da Igreja católica para uma Igreja pentecostal. Essa migração é vivida pelo indivíduo como a expressão de sua liberdade pessoal e como uma emancipação da tradição de seus ancestrais. Através do método etnográfico, foram estudados os cultos e o contexto extraeclesiástico no qual interatuam os sujeitos. Isso permitiu enxergar que na Igreja pentecostal as pessoas recebem reconhecimento social, orientação cognitiva e moral, fortes estímulos emocionais e inserção em lógicas de progresso modernas. Nesses processos, é evidente uma tensão entre individualização e coletivização ou entre liberdade individual e submissão a uma comunidade, dialética não resolvida que, adicionalmente, é característica da modernidade.

Suvien: Impact, Usability and Effectiveness

Suvien is a new tablet-based app that can display personalized multi-media content to facilitate conversation with an individual who has dementia. The Sheridan Centre for Elder Research, in partnership with the Ontario Brain Institute and the Alzheimer Society of Ontario, conducted a small 6-week pilot study to evaluate the impact, usability and effectiveness of the app on the caregiving process. Participants agreed to use the app over the course of their regular caregiving duties for at least a 2-3 times per week. A total of seven family caregivers (5 female, 2 male) and a program worker who used the app with three older adults attending a day program participated in the pilot. Participants completed pre and post measures about their caregiver experience, their use of technology, frequency and quality of interactions and emotional affect. They were provided with a journal to record their observations. At the end of the 6 weeks participants attended a debriefing interview about their experience with the app. Results showed that the app provided an easy-to-use, accessible and enjoyable conversational tool with potential as a mood changer, a distractor, and a prompt for storytelling. Interface issues identified in the trial were conveyed to the Suvien team for consideration before a public launch