Viewing and making art together: an eight-week gallery-based intervention for people with dementia and their caregivers

Objectives: This is the first known study that sought to understand the experience of an eight-week art-gallery-based intervention offered at two distinctly different galleries for people with mild to moderate dementia and their carers. The study examined impact on social inclusion, carer burden, and quality of life and daily living activities for a person with dementia. Method: A mixed-methods pre-post design using standardised questionnaires and interviews involved 24 participants (12 with dementia) and compared similar interventions at a traditional and a contemporary art gallery. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results: No significant pre-post difference was found between the traditional or contemporary gallery groups on quantitative measures. There was, however, a non-significant trend towards a reduction in carer burden over the course of the intervention for both gallery groups. Thematic analysis revealed well-being benefits from both traditional and contemporary art gallery sites that included positive social impact resulting from feeling more socially included, self-reports of enhanced cognitive capacities for people with dementia, and an improved quality of life. Conclusion: Participants were unanimous in their enjoyment and satisfaction with the programme, despite the lack of significance from standardised measures. Further consideration of art galleries and museums, as non-clinical community resources for dementia care, is warranted. The interventions at both galleries helped to foster social inclusion and social engagement, enhance the caring relationship between the carers and PWD, support the personhood of PWD, and stimulate cognitive processes of attention and concentration

High-frequency performance of Schottky source/drain silicon pMOS devices

A radio-frequency performance of 85-nm gate-length p-type Schottky barrier (SB) with PtSi source/drain materials is investigated. The impact of silicidation annealing temperature on the high-frequency behavior of SB MOSFETs is analyzed using an extrinsic small-signal equivalent circuit. It is demonstrated that the current drive and the gate transconductance strongly depend on the silicidation anneal temperature, whereas the unity-gain cutoff frequency of the measured devices remains nearly unchanged

Genotyping-by-sequencing resolves relationships in Polygonaceae tribe Eriogoneae

The resolution of cryptic diversity is essential for understanding the evolutionary diversification of lineages and establishing conservation priorities. We examine relationships in Eriogoneae (Polygonaceae), a diverse lineage in western North America. We ask whether Eriogonum umbellatum, a morphologically and ecologically diverse species, is monophyletic and whether its varieties represent evolutionary lineages. We use genotyping-by-sequencing to assemble a SNP dataset for 51 species in the genera Chorizanthe, Eriogonum and Sidotheca. We report a hierarchical phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood to estimate the evolutionary history of Eriogoneae. We illustrate admixture components for 21 populations of E. umbellatum, representing four varieties, and test for lineage structure using TreeMix. We identify strongly supported clades within Eriogoneae. Many relationships in the Eucycla + Oregonium and Latifolia clades are supported, while most relationships within the Eriogonum subg. Oligogonum clade and a clade with most Chorizanthe remain unresolved. Eriogonum congdonii resolves within the main E. umbellatum clade, while populations of three varieties of E. umbellatum are closely related to E. ursinum and are associated with serpentine soils. ADmixture and TreeMix analyses suggest E. umbellatum varieties represent evolutionary lineages. These results from SNP data are largely consistent with previous phylogenetic studies of Eriogoneae based on sequence variation. Structure within Oligogonum suggests consistent environmental association and radiation after initial colonization of serpentine. Morphology is unreliable for the infraspecific taxonomy of E. umbellatum. Additional molecular studies are needed to resolve the evolutionary relationships and ecological diversification within this species, in Oligogonum, and in Eriogoneae. © 2021 The Authors. TAXON published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association for Plant Taxonomy.We thank SGIker research support services at the University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain for DNA extraction and quality control, and acknowledge Centro Nacional de d-An?lisi Gen?mica in Barcelona, Spain for GBS sequencing. We thank J. Andre, N.J. Jensen and J. Steele for contributing samples and D. Marino for collaboration in nucleic acid extractions. We acknowledge the contributions of O. Lao Grueso to the?ADmixture and TreeMix analyses. We thank U.S. Forest Service employees D. Austin, J. Fedorchuk, M. Friend, J. Haas, D. Ikeda, L. Janeway, J. Nelson, D. Netz, A. Sanger, and S. Weis among others for facilitating permitting and collecting. This work was supported by funds from the Basque Government in support of the Terrestrial Plant Diversity group of the Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of the Basque Country, and an ERC Advanced Grant, FP7-IDEAS-ERC, ?ADAPT?, project 339941 awarded to T. Brown. We thank SGIker research support services at the University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain for DNA extraction and quality control, and acknowledge Centro Nacional de d‐Anàlisi Genòmica in Barcelona, Spain for GBS sequencing. We thank J. Andre, N.J. Jensen and J. Steele for contributing samples and D. Marino for collaboration in nucleic acid extractions. We acknowledge the contributions of O. Lao Grueso to the ADmixture and TreeMix analyses. We thank U.S. Forest Service employees D. Austin, J. Fedorchuk, M. Friend, J. Haas, D. Ikeda, L. Janeway, J. Nelson, D. Netz, A. Sanger, and S. Weis among others for facilitating permitting and collecting. This work was supported by funds from the Basque Government in support of the Terrestrial Plant Diversity group of the Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of the Basque Country, and an ERC Advanced Grant, FP7‐IDEAS‐ERC, ‘ADAPT’, project 339941 awarded to T. Brown

A Smartphone App for Self-Management of Heart Failure in Older African Americans: Feasibility and Usability Study

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) apps are dramatically changing how patients and providers manage and monitor chronic health conditions, especially in the area of self-monitoring. African Americans have higher mortality rates from heart failure than other racial groups in the United States. Therefore, self-management of heart failure may improve health outcomes for African American patients. Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the feasibility of using an mHealth app, and explore the outcomes of quality of life, including self-care maintenance, management, and confidence, among African American patients managing their condition after discharge with a diagnosis of heart failure. Methods: Prior to development of the app, we conducted qualitative interviews with 7 African American patients diagnosed with heart failure, 3 African American patients diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, and 6 health care providers (cardiologists, nurse practitioners, and a geriatrician) who worked with heart failure patients. In addition, we asked 6 hospital chaplains to provide positive spiritual messages for the patients, since spirituality is an important coping method for many African Americans. These formative data were then used for creating a prototype of the app, named Healthy Heart. Specifically, the Healthy Heart app incorporated the following evidence-based features to promote self-management: one-way messages, journaling (ie, weight and symptoms), graphical display of data, and customized feedback (ie, clinical decision support) based on daily or weekly weight. The educational messages about heart failure self-management were derived from the teaching materials provided to the patients diagnosed with heart failure, and included information on diet, sleep, stress, and medication adherence. The information was condensed and simplified to be appropriate for text messages and to meet health literacy standards. Other messages were derived from interviews conducted during the formative stage of app development, including interviews with African American chaplains. Usability testing was conducted over a series of meetings between nurses, social workers, and computer engineers. A pilot one-group pretest-posttest design was employed with participants using the mHealth app for 4 weeks. Descriptive statistics were computed for each of the demographic variables, overall and subscales for Health Related Quality of Life Scale 14 (HQOL14) and subscales for the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (SCHFI) Version 6 using frequencies for categorical measures and means with standard deviations for continuous measures. Baseline and postintervention comparisons were computed using the Fisher exact test for overall health and paired t tests for HQOL14 and SCHFI questionnaire subscales. Results: A total of 12 African American participants (7 men, 5 women; aged 51-69 years) diagnosed with heart failure were recruited for the study. There was no significant increase in quality of life (P=.15), but clinically relevant changes in self-care maintenance, management, and confidence were observed. Conclusions: An mHealth app to assist with the self-management of heart failure is feasible in patients with low literacy, low health literacy, and limited smartphone experience. Based on the clinically relevant changes observed in this feasibility study of the Healthy Heart app, further research should explore effectiveness in this vulnerable population

Relationships between Peak Oxygen Uptake and Arterial Function: a Preliminary Study

Please view abstract in the attached PDF file

Embedding robotic surgery into routine practice and impacts on communication and decision making: A review of the experience of surgical teams

While an increasing number of healthcare providers are purchasing surgical robots because of anticipated improvements in patient outcomes, their implementation into practice is highly variable. In robotic surgery, the surgeon is physically separated from the patient and the rest of the team with the potential to impact communication and decision making in the operating theatre and subsequently patient safety. Drawing on the approach of realist evaluation, in this article we review reports of the experience of surgical teams that have introduced robotic surgery to identify how and in what contexts robotic surgery is successfully integrated into practice and how and in what contexts it affects communication and decision making. Our analysis indicates that, while robotic surgery might bring about a number of benefits, it also creates new challenges. Robotic surgery is associated with increased operation duration, which has implications for patient safety, but strategies to reduce it can be effective with appropriate support from hospital administration and nursing management. The separation of the surgeon from the team can compromise communication but may be overcome through use of standardised communication. While surgeon situation awareness may be affected by the separation, the ergonomic benefits of robotic surgery may reduce stress and tiredness and enhance surgeon decision making. Our review adds to the existing literature by revealing strategies to support the introduction of robotic surgery and contextual factors that need to be in place for these to be effective

Corrosion-Activated Micro-Containers for Environmentally Friendly Corrosion Protective Coatings

This work concerns the development of environmentally friendly encapsulation technology, specifically designed to incorporate corrosion indicators, inhibitors, and self-healing agents into a coating, in such a way that the delivery of the indicators and inhibitors is triggered by the corrosion process, and the delivery of self-healing agents is triggered by mechanical damage to the coating. Encapsulation of the active corrosion control ingredients allows the incorporation of desired autonomous corrosion control functions such as: early corrosion detection, hidden corrosion detection, corrosion inhibition, and self-healing of mechanical damage into a coating. The technology offers the versatility needed to include one or several corrosion control functions into the same coating.The development of the encapsulation technology has progressed from the initial proof-of-concept work, in which a corrosion indicator was encapsulated into an oil-core (hydrophobic) microcapsule and shown to be delivered autonomously, under simulated corrosion conditions, to a sophisticated portfolio of micro carriers (organic, inorganic, and hybrid) that can be used to deliver a wide range of active corrosion ingredients at a rate that can be adjusted to offer immediate as well as long-term corrosion control. The micro carriers have been incorporated into different coating formulas to test and optimize the autonomous corrosion detection, inhibition, and self-healing functions of the coatings. This paper provides an overview of progress made to date and highlights recent technical developments, such as improved corrosion detection sensitivity, inhibitor test results in various types of coatings, and highly effective self-healing coatings based on green chemistry. The NASA Kennedy Space Centers Corrosion Technology Lab at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, U.S.A. has been developing multifunctional smart coatings based on the microencapsulation of environmentally friendly corrosion indicators, inhibitors and self-healing agents. This allows the incorporation of autonomous corrosion control functionalities, such as corrosion detection and inhibition as well as the self-healing of mechanical damage, into coatings. This paper presents technical details on the characterization of inhibitor-containing particles and their corrosion inhibitive effects using electrochemical and mass loss methods.Three organic environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitors were encapsulated in organic microparticles that are compatible with desired coatings. The release of the inhibitors from the microparticles in basic solution was studied. Fast release, for immediate corrosion protection, as well as long-term release for continued protection, was observed.The inhibition efficacy of the inhibitors, incorporated directly and in microparticles, on carbon steel was evaluated. Polarization curves and mass loss measurements showed that, in the case of 2MBT, its corrosion inhibition effectiveness was greater when it was delivered from microparticles

Characterization of Encapsulated Corrosion Inhibitors for Environmentally Friendly Smart Coatings

The NASA Kennedy Space Center's Corrosion Technology Lab at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, U.S.A. has been developing multifunctional smart coatings based on the microencapsulation of environmentally friendly corrosion indicators, inhibitors and self-healing agents. This allows the incorporation of autonomous corrosion control functionalities, such as corrosion detection and inhibition as well as the self-healing of mechanical damage, into coatings. This paper presents technical details on the characterization of inhibitor-containing particles and their corrosion inhibitive effects using electrochemical and mass loss methods. Three organic environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitors were encapsulated in organic microparticles that are compatible with desired coatings. The release of the inhibitors from the microparticles in basic solution was studied. Fast release, for immediate corrosion protection, as well as long-term release for continued protection, was observed. The inhibition efficacy of the inhibitors, incorporated directly and in microparticles, on carbon steel was evaluated. Polarization curves and mass loss measurements showed that, in the case of 2MBT, its corrosion inhibition effectiveness was greater when it was delivered from microparticles

Release Properties and Electrochemical Characterization of Encapsulated Corrosion Inhibitors for Environmentally Friendly Smart Coatings

The NASA Kennedy Space Center's Corrosion Technology Lab at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, U.S.A. has been developing multifunctional smart coatings based on the microencapsulation of environmentally friendly corrosion indicators, inhibitors and self-healing agents. This allows for the incorporation of autonomous corrosion control functionalities, such as corrosion detection and inhibition as well as the self-healing of mechanical damage, into coatings. This paper presents technical details on the characterization of inhibitor-containing particles and their corrosion inhibitive effects using electrochemical and mass loss methods. Three organic environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitors were encapsulated in organic microparticles that are compatible with desired coatings. The total inhibitor content and the release of one of the inhibitors from the microparticles in basic solution was measured. Particles with inhibitor contents of up 60 wt% were synthesized. Fast release, for immediate corrosion protection, as well as long-term release for continued protection, was observed. The inhibition efficacy of the inhibitors, both as the pure materials and in microparticles, on carbon steel was evaluated. Polarization curves and mass loss measurements showed that, in the case of 2MBT, its corrosion inhibition effectiveness was greater when it was delivered from microparticles