OSCEs’ Impact on Occupational Therapy Student Learning: Insights from Second- and Third-Year Focus Groups

Background: Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are widely used in health programs to assess clinical skills. We present results of a qualitative study investigating occupational therapy students’ perceptions of OSCEs’ impact on their learning and readiness for clinical practice. Method: Six second and six third year students in the University of Alberta’s Master of Science in Occupational Therapy program were interviewed in separate focus groups. Independent reviewers applied thematic analysis to the focus group transcripts to identify, analyze, and report themes in the data. Results: Five themes were constructed from the data: from learning to action, transition to practice, stress, representativeness, and suggestions for improvement. Both cohorts perceived OSCEs as intensely stressful but ultimately beneficial to their learning, though third-years more readily identified stress as a catalyst for personal and professional growth. Further, both cohorts noted that OSCEs motivated them to practice clinical skills and constituted important stepping stones toward authentic practice, but the third-year students more frequently drew connections between the skills tested in their OSCEs and their confidence in working as occupational therapists. Conclusion: OSCEs play an important role in forming students’ identities as clinicians in the making, supporting their continued use for formative assessment in MScOT programs

Effect of venting range hood flow rate on size-resolved ultrafine particle concentrations from gas stove cooking

Cooking is the main source of ultrafine particles (UFP) in homes. This study investigated the effect of venting range hood flow rate on size-resolved UFP concentrations from gas stove cooking. The same cooking protocol was conducted 60 times using three venting range hoods operated at six flow rates in twin research houses. Size-resolved particle (10–420 nm) concentrations were monitored using a NanoScan scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) from 15 min before cooking to 3 h after the cooking had stopped. Cooking increased the background total UFP number concentrations to 1.3 × 103 particles/cm3 on average, with a mean exposure-relevant source strength of 1.8 × 1012 particles/min. Total particle peak reductions ranged from 25% at the lowest fan flow rate of 36 L/s to 98% at the highest rate of 146 L/s. During the operation of a venting range hood, particle removal by deposition was less significant compared to the increasing air exchange rate driven by exhaust ventilation. Exposure to total particles due to cooking varied from 0.9 to 5.8 × 104 particles/cm3·h, 3 h after cooking ended. Compared to the 36 L/s range hood, higher flow rates of 120 and 146 L/s reduced the first-hour post-cooking exposure by 76% and 85%, respectively. © 2018 Crown Copyright. Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Tectonic significance of Late Paleozoic deformation in the Cape George Peninsula, Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia

Late Paleozoic deformation of the Cape George Peninsula, Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia, provides information on post-accretionary fault movements associated with waning stages of Appalachian orogenic activity. Anomalously intense brittle to ductile deformation of the low-grade Late Paleozoic rocks of the peninsula occurred along east-west shear zones in a ca. 4 km-wide belt bounded by the NE-trending Hollow and Greendale faults. Deformation adjacent to, and between, these two faults resulted in brecciation, folding and thrusting, the development of slickensides on major dislocation surfaces, the local development of S-C fabrics and stretching lineations defined by elongate pebbles, and/or the production of extensional fractures and veins. The data suggest dextral and subordinate thrust components of movement along the east-west shear zones. Deformation is attributed to dextrally oblique compression between the bounding Hollow and Greendale faults along which significant reverse displacements are proposed on the basis of fault geometry and kinematics. The Cape George Peninsula is interpreted as a "popup" structure between these back-to-back oblique-slip reverse faults and is considered to occupy a strongly transpressive step-over zone between them. The east-west shear zones, which record dextral transpressive motion and steepen towards the north in a positive half-flower structure configuration, are parallel to Reidel R-shears of the shear fracture array and are interpreted to be transfer faults within the step-over zone along which oblique slip with dextral and reverse components of motion was transferred from the Hollow Fault to the Greendale Fault. Development of the regional stress regime required by these fault kinematics is consistent with coeval post-accretionary dextral motion between the Meguma and Avalon composite terranes along the east-west Cobcquid-Chedabucto fault system. RÉSUMÉ La déformation du Paléozoique tandif de la péninsule dc Cap George, dans les hautes terres d'Antigonish en Nouvelle-Écosse, fournit des informations sur les mouvements de failles post-accrétionaires associés aux stades terminaux de l'activité orogénique appalachienne. Une déformation fragile à ductile anormalement intense des roches du Paléozoique supérieur de faible grade s'est produite le long de zones de cisaillement est-ouest dans une ceinture d'environ 4 km de largeur limited par les failles de Hollow et de Greendale d'orientation nord-est. La déformation adjacente et entre ces failles a résulté en de la bélchification, du plissement et du chevauchement, le développement de slickensides sur des surfaces de dislocation majeures, le développement local de fabriques C-S et de linéations d'étirement définies par des cailloux allongés, et/ou la production de fractures et de veines d'extension. Les données suggèrent des composantes de mouvement dextres et, dans une moindre mesure, de chevauchement le long des zones de cisaillement est-ouest. La déformation est attributée à une compression dextre oblique entre les failles limitrophes de Hollow et de Greendale le long desquelles des deplacements inverses importants sont proposés sur la base de la géométrie et de la cinémalique des failles. La péninsule de Cap George est interprét6e comme une structure d'extrusion verticale entre ces deux failles obliques a mouvement inverse, dos à dos, et est considérée comme occupant une zone de recouvrement fortement transpressive entre elles. Les zones de cisaillement est-ouest, qui montrent un mouvement de transpression dextre et deviennent plus abruples vers le nord en une configuration de demie "flower structure" positive, sont parallèles aux riedels synlhétiques du réseau de fractures de cisaillement et sont interprétées comme étant des failles de transfert à l'intérieur de la zone de transfert suivant lesquelles un mouvement oblique avec des composantes de mouvement dextre et inverse furent transferées de la faille de Hollow à la faille de Greendale. Le développement du régime de contrainte régional requis par ces cindmatiques de failles est en accord avec un mouvement post-accrétionaire dextre entre les terrains de Meguma et d'Avalon composite le long du systeme de faille est-ouest de Cobcquid-Chedabucto. [Traduit par la rédaction

Designing polymers for cartilage uptake: effects of architecture and molar mass.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive disease, involving the progressive breakdown of cartilage, as well as changes to the synovium, and bone. There are currently no disease-modifying treatments available clinically. An increasing understanding of the disease pathophysiology is leading to new potential therapeutics, but improved approaches are needed to deliver these drugs, particularly to cartilage tissue, which is avascular and contains a dense matrix of collagens and negatively charged aggrecan proteoglycans. Cationic delivery vehicles have been shown to effectively penetrate cartilage, but these studies have thus far largely focused on proteins or nanoparticles, and the effects of macromolecular architectures have not yet been explored. Described here is the synthesis of a small library of polycations composed of N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) and N-(3-aminopropyl)methacrylamide (APMA) with linear, 4-arm, or 8-arm structures and varying degrees of polymerization (DP) by reversible addition fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Uptake and retention of the polycations in bovine articular cartilage was assessed. While all polycations penetrated cartilage, uptake and retention generally increased with DP before decreasing for the highest DP. In addition, uptake and retention were higher for the linear polycations compared to the 4-arm and 8-arm polycations. In general, the polycations were well tolerated by bovine chondrocytes, but the highest DP polycations imparted greater cytotoxicity. Overall, this study reveals that linear polymer architectures may be more favorable for binding to the cartilage matrix and that the DP can be tuned to maximize uptake while minimizing cytotoxicity

The nexus between intrapreneurship and person-job fit: A qualitative comparative analysis of work motivation in SMEs

Abstract Purpose Based on self-determination theory and the perspective of person-job fit, this study aims to determine the configurations of situations in which the person-intrapreneurship fit and psychosocial factors that lead to different types of motivation. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from 199 employees of four Quebec small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and analyzed by a configurational approach using the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) method. Findings The results indicate that for intrapreneurs to operate autonomously, it is crucial that they do not experience job anxiety. Intrapreneurial self-efficacy is required when intrapreneurship is voluntary (strong fit) but not when forced (poor fit). In forced intrapreneurship, organizational support is central to self-determination. Thus, regardless of self-efficacy, the model suggests autonomous motivation is possible in forced intrapreneurship if the employee has organizational support and lacks anxiety. Practical implications These findings underscore the imperative for organizations to prioritize the psychological well-being of their employees, particularly when engaging them in intrapreneurial projects. Additionally, managers can foster autonomous motivation by encouraging favorable behaviors such as intrapreneurial behavior (IB) and providing essential support, particularly when these projects may not align with employees' ambitions and intentions. Originality/value This study offers a novel perspective on the role of person-job fit in the specific context of intrapreneurship, based on a new categorization of fit based on the disparity between employees' intrapreneurial intention and actual intrapreneurial behavior. It provides unique theoretical and practical insights into fostering autonomous motivation through the lens of person-intrapreneurship fit

Wavefunction tomography of topological dimer chains with long-range couplings

The ability to tailor with a high accuracy the inter-site connectivity in a lattice is a crucial tool for realizing novel topological phases of matter. Here, we report the experimental realization of photonic dimer chains with long-range hopping terms of arbitrary strength and phase, providing a rich generalization of the celebrated Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. Our experiment is based on a synthetic dimension scheme involving the frequency modes of an optical fiber loop platform. This setup provides direct access to both the band dispersion and the geometry of the Bloch wavefunctions throughout the entire Brillouin zone allowing us to extract the winding number for any possible configuration. Finally, we highlight a topological phase transition solely driven by a time-reversal-breaking synthetic gauge field associated with the phase of the long-range hopping, providing a route for engineering topological bands in photonic lattices belonging to the AIII symmetry class

Zero modes of six-dimensional Abelian vortices

We analyze the fluctuations of Nielsen-Olesen vortices arising in the six-dimensional Abelian-Higgs model. The regular geometry generated by the defect breaks spontaneously six-dimensional Poincar\'e symmetry leading to a warped space-time with finite four-dimensional Planck mass. As a consequence, the zero mode of the spin two fluctuations of the geometry is always localized but the graviphoton fields, corresponding to spin one metric fluctuations, give rise to zero modes which are not localized either because of their behaviour at infinity or because of their behaviour near the core of the vortex. A similar situation occurs for spin zero fluctuations. Gauge field fluctuations exhibit a localized zero mode.Comment: 45 pages in Revtex style with 4 figure

Effect of QRS duration and morphology on cardiac resynchronization therapy outcomes in mild heart failure: results from the Resynchronization Reverses Remodeling in Systolic Left Ventricular Dysfunction (REVERSE) study.

International audienceBACKGROUND: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) decreases mortality, improves functional status, and induces reverse left ventricular remodeling in selected populations with heart failure. We aimed to assess the impact of baseline QRS duration and morphology and the change in QRS duration with pacing on CRT outcomes in mild heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS: Resynchronization Reverses Remodeling in Systolic Left Ventricular Dysfunction (REVERSE) was a multicenter randomized trial of CRT among 610 patients with mild heart failure. Baseline and CRT-paced QRS durations and baseline QRS morphology were evaluated by blinded core laboratories. The mean baseline QRS duration was 151±23 milliseconds, and 60.5% of subjects had left bundle-branch block (LBBB). Patients with LBBB experienced a 25.3-mL/m(2) mean reduction in left ventricular end-systolic volume index (P<0.0001), whereas non-LBBB patients had smaller decreases (6.7 mL/m(2); P=0.18). Baseline QRS duration was also a strong predictor of change in left ventricular end-systolic volume index with monotonic increases as QRS duration prolonged. Similarly, the clinical composite score improved with CRT for LBBB subjects (odds ratio, 0.530; P=0.0034) but not for non-LBBB subjects (odds ratio, 0.724; P=0.21). The association between clinical composite score and QRS duration was highly significant (odds ratio, 0.831 for each 10-millisecond increase in QRS duration; P<0.0001), with improved response at longer QRS durations. The change in QRS duration with CRT pacing was not an independent predictor of any outcomes after correction for baseline variables. CONCLUSION: REVERSE demonstrated that LBBB and QRS prolongation are markers of reverse remodeling and clinical benefit with CRT in mild heart failure. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00271154

He II λ\lambda4686 emission from the massive binary system in η\eta Car: constraints to the orbital elements and the nature of the periodic minima

{\eta} Carinae is an extremely massive binary system in which rapid spectrum variations occur near periastron. Most notably, near periastron the He II $\lambda 4686$ line increases rapidly in strength, drops to a minimum value, then increases briefly before fading away. To understand this behavior, we conducted an intense spectroscopic monitoring of the He II $\lambda 4686$ emission line across the 2014.6 periastron passage using ground- and space-based telescopes. Comparison with previous data confirmed the overall repeatability of EW(He II $\lambda 4686$), the line radial velocities, and the timing of the minimum, though the strongest peak was systematically larger in 2014 than in 2009 by 26%. The EW(He II $\lambda 4686$) variations, combined with other measurements, yield an orbital period $2022.7\pm0.3$ d. The observed variability of the EW(He II $\lambda 4686$) was reproduced by a model in which the line flux primarily arises at the apex of the wind-wind collision and scales inversely with the square of the stellar separation, if we account for the excess emission as the companion star plunges into the hot inner layers of the primary's atmosphere, and including absorption from the disturbed primary wind between the source and the observer. This model constrains the orbital inclination to $135^\circ$-$153^\circ$, and the longitude of periastron to $234^\circ$-$252^\circ$. It also suggests that periastron passage occurred on $T_0 = 2456874.4\pm1.3$ d. Our model also reproduced EW(He II $\lambda 4686$) variations from a polar view of the primary star as determined from the observed He II $\lambda 4686$ emission scattered off the Homunculus nebula.Comment: The article contains 23 pages and 17 figures. It has been accepted for publication in Ap