Protocol for the United Kingdom Rotator Cuff Study (UKUFF) : a randomised controlled trial of open and arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

This project was funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme (project number 05/47/02). J. L. Rees has received a grant from Oxford University which is related to this paper. J. Dawson reports that Oxford University has received a grant from HTA which is related to this paper, as well as a study grant.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Active Shooter Preparedness Among Dental Hygiene Students

Purpose: Active shooter incidents (ASIs) occurring in dental hygiene academic settings present unique challenges and research examining institutional preparation of dental hygiene students for such incidents is lacking. The purpose of this pilot project was to examine the perceived preparedness, confidence, and awareness of dental hygiene students regarding ASIs. Methods: A validated 24-item electronic survey was distributed to dental hygiene students (n=68) at one institution to measure their preparedness, confidence, and awareness regarding ASIs. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations were used for data analysis. Results: Fifty-seven dental hygiene students completed the survey for a response rate of 84%. Many participants felt slightly prepared (n=26, 45.6%) or not prepared (n=15, 26.3%) to respond to an ASI in the classroom. Most were slightly confident (n=26, 45.6%) or not confident (n=16, 26.3%) in helping to control the classroom during an ASI. Over half (n=32, 56.1%) were not certain if their institution provided active shooter trainings and were not certain if drills occurred (n=25,43.8%). Perceived preparedness was positively correlated with confidence in helping to control an ASI in the classroom (r(56)=.616, p=.000). Positive correlations were also identified with perceived preparedness to respond in a lab or clinic with the assumption that ASIs are taken seriously at their institution (r(56)=.375, p=.004). Conclusion: A general lack of preparedness and confidence for responding to ASIs may exist among dental hygiene students along with a lack of awareness regarding trainings and drills. Educational institutions should implement best practices for preparing dental hygiene students for ASIs

The influence of facies heterogeneity on the doublet performance in low-enthalpy geothermal sedimentary reservoirs

AbstractA three-dimensional model is used to study the influence of facies heterogeneity on energy production under different operational conditions of low-enthalpy geothermal doublet systems. Process-based facies modelling is utilised for the Nieuwerkerk sedimentary formation in the West Netherlands Basin to construct realistic reservoir models honouring geological heterogeneity. A finite element based reservoir simulator is used to model the fluid flow and heat transfer over time. A series of simulations is carried out to examine the effects of reservoir heterogeneity (Net-to-Gross ratio, N/G) on the life time and the energy recovery rate for different discharge rates and the production temperature (Tmin) above which the doublet is working. With respect to the results, we propose a design model to estimate the life time and energy recovery rate of the geothermal doublet. The life time is estimated as a function of N/G, Tmin and discharge rate, while the design model for the energy recovery rate is only a function of N/G and Tmin. Both life time and recovery show a positive relation with an increasing N/G. Further our results suggest that neglecting details of process-based facies modelling may lead to significant errors in predicting the life time of low-enthalpy geothermal systems for N/G values below 70%

Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of open and arthroscopic rotator cuff repair [the UK Rotator Cuff Surgery (UKUFF) randomised trial]

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The effect of social media communication on consumer perceptions of brands

Researchers and brand managers have limited understanding of the effects social media communication has on how consumers perceive brands. We investigated 504 Facebook users in order to observe the impact of firm-created and user-generated social media communication on brand equity, brand attitude and purchase intention by using a standardized online survey throughout Poland. To test the conceptual model, we analyzed 60 brands across three different industries: non-alcoholic beverages, clothing and mobile network operators. When analyzing the data, we applied the structural equation modeling technique to both investigate the interplay of firm-created and user-generated social media communication and examine industry-specific differences. The results of the empirical studies showed that user-generated social media communication had a positive influence on both brand equity and brand attitude, whereas firm-created social media communication affected only brand attitude. Both brand equity and brand attitude were shown to have a positive influence on purchase intention. In addition, we assessed measurement invariance using a multi-group structural modeling equation. The findings revealed that the proposed measurement model was invariant across the researched industries. However, structural path differences were detected across the models

Epigenetic alterations in skin homing CD4+CLA+ T cells of atopic dermatitis patients

T cells expressing the cutaneous lymphocyte antigen (CLA) mediate pathogenic inflammation in atopic dermatitis (AD). The molecular alterations contributing to their dysregulation remain unclear. With the aim to elucidate putative altered pathways in AD we profiled DNA methylation levels and miRNA expression in sorted T cell populations (CD4+, CD4+CD45RA+ naïve, CD4+CLA+, and CD8+) from adult AD patients and healthy controls (HC). Skin homing CD4+CLA+ T cells from AD patients showed significant differences in DNA methylation in 40 genes compared to HC (p < 0.05). Reduced DNA methylation levels in the upstream region of the interleukin-13 gene (IL13) in CD4+CLA+ T cells from AD patients correlated with increased IL13 mRNA expression in these cells. Sixteen miRNAs showed differential expression in CD4+CLA+ T cells from AD patients targeting genes in 202 biological processes (p < 0.05). An integrated network analysis of miRNAs and CpG sites identified two communities of strongly interconnected regulatory elements with strong antagonistic behaviours that recapitulated the differences between AD patients and HC. Functional analysis of the genes linked to these communities revealed their association with key cytokine signaling pathways, MAP kinase signaling and protein ubiquitination. Our findings support that epigenetic mechanisms play a role in the pathogenesis of AD by affecting inflammatory signaling molecules in skin homing CD4+CLA+ T cells and uncover putative molecules participating in AD pathways. © 2020, The Author(s).Peer reviewe

An assessment of Evans' unified field theory I

Evans developed a classical unified field theory of gravitation and electromagnetism on the background of a spacetime obeying a Riemann-Cartan geometry. This geometry can be characterized by an orthonormal coframe theta and a (metric compatible) Lorentz connection Gamma. These two potentials yield the field strengths torsion T and curvature R. Evans tried to infuse electromagnetic properties into this geometrical framework by putting the coframe theta to be proportional to four extended electromagnetic potentials A; these are assumed to encompass the conventional Maxwellian potential in a suitable limit. The viable Einstein-Cartan(-Sciama-Kibble) theory of gravity was adopted by Evans to describe the gravitational sector of his theory. Including also the results of an accompanying paper by Obukhov and the author, we show that Evans' ansatz for electromagnetism is untenable beyond repair both from a geometrical as well as from a physical point of view. As a consequence, his unified theory is obsolete.Comment: 39 pages of latex, modified because of referee report, mistakes and typos removed, partly reformulated, taken care of M.W.Evans' rebutta

Marked differences in the 3p photoabsorption between the Cr and Mn⁺ isoelectronic pair: reasons for the unique structure observed in Cr

Chromium is the only member of the transition-group elements with a well developed Rydberg structure appearing in its 3p-absorption spectrum. New high-resolution measurements of Mn, Mn+, and Cr have revealed weak Rydberg structure in Mn+ and an analysis of the data shows that the anomalous Cr 3p absorption spectra is due to a unique relationship between its energy levels, and not to the previously supposed fact that Cr has an unpaired 4s electron

Complexity of multi-dimensional spontaneous EEG decreases during propofol induced general anaesthesia

Emerging neural theories of consciousness suggest a correlation between a specific type of neural dynamical complexity and the level of consciousness: When awake and aware, causal interactions between brain regions are both integrated (all regions are to a certain extent connected) and differentiated (there is inhomogeneity and variety in the interactions). In support of this, recent work by Casali et al (2013) has shown that Lempel-Ziv complexity correlates strongly with conscious level, when computed on the EEG response to transcranial magnetic stimulation. Here we investigated complexity of spontaneous high-density EEG data during propofol-induced general anaesthesia. We consider three distinct measures: (i) Lempel-Ziv complexity, which is derived from how compressible the data are; (ii) amplitude coalition entropy, which measures the variability in the constitution of the set of active channels; and (iii) the novel synchrony coalition entropy (SCE), which measures the variability in the constitution of the set of synchronous channels. After some simulations on Kuramoto oscillator models which demonstrate that these measures capture distinct ‘flavours’ of complexity, we show that there is a robustly measurable decrease in the complexity of spontaneous EEG during general anaesthesia