Sudden cardiac death in inherited cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy is an important cause of sudden cardiac death particularly in adolescents and young adults. The risk of sudden cardiac death varies between individual cardiomyopathies and is dependent on the severity of disease, age and gender. Although rare in cardiomyopathies, a fundamental aspect of clinical management is a systematic and thorough clinical assessment to identify the small number of individuals who are at risk and who can be protected with prophylactic ICD therapy

University education in archaeology in Britain : an overview

In Britain Archaeology is recognised as an independent academic subject, with a higher level of funding than Arts subjects. There are three levels of degree, the Bachelor, traditionally the entry point into the profession, the Taught Masters (increasingly the entry level), and the PhD. Degrees are considered only part of the training needed by archaeologists, a practical experience working in the profession is equally important. Degrees are increasingly seen as only the start of a process of 'life long learning', and there is a great need to integrate this learning into defined career structures. Given the great variation in expertise needed by different types of archaeologists, a modular approach to the acquisition of skills is being explored by the Institute of Field Archaeologists, which will encompass the courses offered by universities.En el Reino Unido la arqueología está reconocida como una materia académica independiente, con un nivel de subvención mayor que las materias artísticas. Existen tres tipos de titulación, el Bachelor, que ha constituido tradicionalmente la vía de acceso a la profesión, los Taught Masters (que se está conviertiendo de forma creciente en la titulación de acceso profesional), y el Doctorado. Las titulaciones se consideran tan sólo una parte de la formación que necesitan los arqueólogos, ya que una formación práctica es de igual importancia. Las titulaciones tienden a considerarse cada vez más como el inicio de un proceso de formación continua y existe la necesidad de integrar esta formación en carreras estructuradas y definidas. Dada la gran variedad de especializaciones que necesitan los diferentes tipos de arqueólogos, se está ensayando una aproximación modular a la adquisición de habilidades por parte del Intitute of Field Archaeologists, que complementará los cursos ofrecidos por las universidades.Al Regne Unit l'arqueologia està reconeguda com una matèria acadèmica independent amb un grau de subvenció més gran que les matèries artístiques. Existeixen tres tipus de titulació, el Bachelor, que ha constituit tradicionalment la via d'accés a la professió, els Taught Masters (que s'estan convertint de forma creixent en la titulació d'accés professional) i el Doctorat. Les titulacions es consideren tan sols una part de la formació que necessiten els arqueòlegs, ja que una formació pràctica és d'igual importància. Les titulacions tendeixen a considerar-se cada vegada més com l'inici d'un procés de formació continuada i existeix la necessitat d'integrar aquesta formació en carreres estructurades i definides. Donada la gran varietat d'especialitzacions que necessiten els diferents tipus d'arqueòlegs, s'està assajant una aproximació modular a l'adquisició d'habilitats per part de l'Intitute of Field Archaeologists, que complementarà els cursos oferts per les universitats

Lidar Development at SRI - The First Decade

On 22 July 1963 the first lidar observations of the lower atmosphere were made at SRI with a pulsed ruby system developed by a team led by the late Myron G. H. Ligda. Since that time SRI has carried out a continuous program of exploration and development of the technique, primarily related to applications in atmospheric research in the troposphere. In this frankly personal retrospective, some of the highlights of this ten years are reviewed, both in terms of progress made and difficulties experienced. Topics discussed will include the technological aspects of the lidar systems used, the range of applications identified and explored and the various forms of information recovery and display that have been developed

A Moment-Based Polarimetric Radar Forward Operator for Rain Microphysics

There is growing interest in combining microphysical models and polarimetric radar observations to improve our understanding of storms and precipitation. Mapping model-predicted variables into the radar observational space necessitates a forward operator, which requires assumptions that introduce uncertainties into model-observation comparisons. These include uncertainties arising from the microphysics scheme a priori assumptions of a fixed drop size distribution (DSD) functional form, whereas natural DSDs display far greater variability. To address this concern, this study presents a moment-based polarimetric radar forward operator with no fundamental restrictions on the DSD form by linking radar observables to integrated DSD moments. The forward operator is built upon a dataset of > 200 million realistic DSDs from one-dimensional bin microphysical rain shaft simulations, and surface disdrometer measurements from around the world. This allows for a robust statistical assessment of forward operator uncertainty and quantification of the relationship between polarimetric radar observables and DSD moments. Comparison of "truth" and forward-simulated vertical profiles of the polarimetric radar variables are shown for bin simulations using a variety of moment combinations. Higher-order moments (especially those optimized for use with the polarimetric radar variables: the 6th and 9th) perform better than the lower-order moments (0th and 3rd) typically predicted by many bulk microphysics schemes

Goal-oriented a posteriori error estimation for the travel time functional in porous media flows

In this article we consider the a posteriori error estimation and adaptive mesh refinement for the numerical approximation of the travel time functional arising in porous media flows. The key application of this work is in the safety assessment of radioactive waste facilities; in this setting, the travel time functional measures the time taken for a non-sorbing radioactive solute, transported by groundwater, to travel from a potential site deep underground to the biosphere. To ensure the computability of the travel time functional, we employ a mixed formulation of Darcy's law and conservation of mass, together with Raviart-Thomas H(div) conforming finite elements. The proposed a posteriori error bound is derived based on a variant of the standard Dual-Weighted-Residual approximation, which takes into account the lack of smoothness of the underlying functional of interest. The proposed adaptive refinement strategy is tested on both a simple academic test case and a problem based on the geological units found at the Sellafield site in the UK

Towards the architecture of an instructional multimedia database

The applicability of multimedia databases in education may be extended if they can serve multiple target groups, leading to affordable costs per unit for the user. In this contribution, an approach is described to build generic multimedia databases to serve that purpose. This approach is elaborated within the ODB Project ('Instructional Design of an Optical DataBase'); the term optical refers to the use of optical storage media to hold the audiovisual components. The project aims at developing a database in which a hypermedia encyclopedia is combined with instructional multimedia applications for different target groups at different educational levels. The architecture of the Optical Database will allow for switching between application types while working (for instance from tutorial instruction via the encyclopedia to a simulation and back). For instruction, the content of the database is thereby organized around so-called standard instruction routes: one route per target group. In the project, the teacher is regarded as the manager of instruction.\ud \ud From that perspective, the database is primarily organized as a teaching facility. Central to the research is the condition that the architecture of the Optical Database has to enable teachers to select and tailor instruction routes to their needs in a way that is perceived as logical and easy to use

Determinants of voluntary audit and voluntary full accounts in micro- and non-micro small companies in the UK

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Accounting and Business Research, 42(4), 441 - 468, 2012, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00014788.2012.667969.This study investigates the link between the auditing and filing choices made by a sample of 592 small private companies, which includes 419 micro-companies. It examines decisions made in connection with the 2006 accounts following UK's adoption of the maximum EU size thresholds in 2004, and the impact of the proposed Directive on the annual accounts of micro-companies. The research extends the model of cost, management and agency factors associated with voluntary audit, and develops a complementary model for voluntary full accounts. The results show the benefits of placing full audited accounts on public record that outweigh the costs for a significant proportion of companies. In non-micro small companies, voluntary audit is determined by cost and agency factors, whereas in micro-companies it is driven by cost, management and agency factors. In both groups, the predictors of voluntary full accounts include management and agency factors, and choosing voluntary audit is one of the key factors. The study provides models that can be tested in other jurisdictions to provide evidence of the needs of micro-companies, and the discussion of the methodological challenges for small company researchers in the UK makes further contribution to the literature

Platelet count and transfusion requirements during moderate or severe postpartum haemorrhage

Limited data exist on platelet transfusion during postpartum haemorrhage. We retrospectively analysed a consecutive cohort from a single centre of 347 women with moderate or severe postpartum haemorrhage, transfused according to national guidelines. Twelve (3%) women required a platelet transfusion. There were no differences between women who did and did not receive platelets with respect to age, mode of initiation of labour or mode of delivery. Women receiving a platelet transfusion had a lower median (IQR [range]) platelet count at study entry than women who did not receive platelets before haemorrhage (135 (97–175 [26–259])×109.l−1 vs 224 (186–274 [91–1006])×109.l−1), respectively), and at diagnosis of postpartum haemorrhage (median 114 (78–153 [58–238])×109.l−1 vs 193 (155–243 [78–762])×109.l−1 respectively). Six women were thrombocytopenic pre-delivery. The cause of haemorrhage that was associated with the highest rate of platelet transfusion was placental abruption, with three of 14 women being transfused. If antenatal thrombocytopenia or consumptive coagulopathy were not present, platelets were only required for haemorrhage > 5000 ml. Early formulaic platelet transfusion would have resulted in many women receiving platelets unnecessarily. Using current guidelines, the need for platelet transfusion is uncommon without antenatal thrombocytopenia, consumptive coagulopathy or haemorrhage > 5000 ml. We found no evidence to support early fixed-ratio platelet transfusion

Proline-Rich Peptides with Improved Antimicrobial Activity against E. coli, K. Pneumoniae, and A. Baumannii.

Proline-rich antimicrobial peptides (PrAMPs) are promising agents to combat multi-drug resistant pathogens due to a high antimicrobial activity, yet low cytotoxicity. A library of derivatives of the PrAMP Bac5(1-17) was synthesized and screened to identify which residues are relevant for its activity. In this way, we discovered that two central motifs -PIRXP- cannot be modified, while residues at N- and C- termini tolerated some variations. We found five Bac5(1-17) derivatives bearing 1-5 substitutions, with an increased number of arginine and/or tryptophan residues, exhibiting improved antimicrobial activity and broader spectrum of activity while retaining low cytotoxicity toward eukaryotic cells. Transcription/translation and bacterial membrane permeabilization assays showed that these new derivatives still retained the ability to strongly inhibit bacterial protein synthesis, but also acquired permeabilizing activity to different degrees. These new Bac5(1-17) derivatives therefore show a dual mode of action which could hinder the selection of bacterial resistance against these molecules

By design : negotiating flexible learning in the built environment discipline

The term ‘flexible education’ is now firmly entrenched within Australian higher education discourse, yet the term is a contested one imbued with a multiplicity of meanings. This paper describes a process designed to elucidate how the idea of flexible education can be translated into teaching models that are informed by the specific demands of disciplinary contexts. The process uses a flexible learning ‘matching’ tool to articulate the understandings and preferences of students and academics of the Built Environment to bridge the gap between student expectations of flexibility and their teacher’s willingness and ability to provide that flexibility within the limits of the pedagogical context and teaching resources. The findings suggest an informed starting point for educators in the Built Environment and other creative disciplines from which to traverse the complexities inherent in negotiating flexibility in an increasingly digital world