Safety limitations of MR-HIFU treatment near interfaces : a phantom validation

Peer reviewe

Exploring British and Finnish preregistration nursing students’ experiences of learning emergency and acute care nursing through a collaborative online international (COIL) classroom

Background: This case study describes the development and evaluation of a collaborative online international learning (COIL) nursing collaboration between Finland and UK in ‘Care of the Acutely Ill Patient’. Aim: The aim was to plan and deliver an online programme of learning experiences on a shared rofessional subject with mixedinternational students, then evaluate this learning experience with a view to expanding or extending it in future as a core element of our nursing programmes. Method: A steering group led the design format of this short course, aligning it to each university’s curriculum and professional goals. Then, a teaching team devised the learning materials and learning sessions. Finally, the steering group evaluated the course. In total there were 38 student participants (Finland n=21, UK n=17). Results: 80 per cent (n= 20) of students felt that their understanding of the subject had increased as a result of taking the course. In total 64 per cent (n=16) felt that the course had enabled them to gain skills to help their future career development. Perceptions of working in mixed international groups was diverse, with challenges of communication, time and perceptions of what constituted ‘group work’ between UK and Finnish students. Learning new nursing aspects from teachers and peers as well as sharing ideas from another country in a novel way was perceived as beneficial and overall ‘uplifting’. Conclusion: This COIL has significant strengths but also some challenges. The outcomes of this case study point to its potential and value within nursing and other professional programmes

Estimating Carbon Budgets for Ambitious Climate Targets

Carbon budgets, which define the total allowable CO2 emissions associated with a given global climate target, are a useful way of framing the climate mitigation challenge. In this paper, we review the geophysical basis for the idea of a carbon budget, showing how this concept emerges from a linear climate response to cumulative CO2 emissions. We then discuss the difference between a “CO2-only carbon budget” associated with a given level of CO2-induced warming and an “effective carbon budget” associated with a given level of warming caused by all human emissions. We present estimates for the CO2-only and effective carbon budgets for 1.5 and 2 °C, based on both model simulations and updated observational data. Finally, we discuss the key contributors to uncertainty in carbon budget estimates and suggest some implications of this uncertainty for decision-making. Based on the analysis presented here, we argue that while the CO2-only carbon budget is a robust upper bound on allowable emissions for a given climate target, the size of the effective carbon budget is dependent on the how quickly we are able to mitigate non-CO2 greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions. This suggests that climate mitigation efforts could benefit from being responsive to a changing effective carbon budget over time, as well as to potential new information that could narrow uncertainty associated with the climate response to CO2 emissions

Parity nonconservation in deuteron photoreactions

We calculate the asymmetries in parity nonconserving deuteron photodisintegration due to circularly polarized photons gamma+d to n+p with the photon laboratory energy ranging from the threshold up to 10 MeV and the radiative capture of thermal polarized neutrons by protons n+p to gamma+d. We use the leading order electromagnetic Hamiltonian neglecting the smaller nuclear exchange currents. Comparative calculations are done by using the Reid93 and Argonne v18 potentials for the strong interaction and the DDH and FCDH "best" values for the weak couplings in a weak one-meson exchange potential. A weak NDelta transition potential is used to incorporate also the Delta(1232)-isobar excitation in the coupled-channels formalism.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures (18 eps files), LaTeX2

First identification of rotational band structures in Re-166(75)91

Excited states in the odd-odd, highly neutron-deficient nucleus Re-166 have been investigated via the Mo-92(Kr-78, 3p1n)Re-166 reaction. Prompt gamma rays were detected by the JUROGAM II. gamma-ray spectrometer, and the recoiling fusion-evaporation products were separated by the recoil ion transport unit (RITU) gas-filled recoil separator and implanted into the Gamma Recoil Electron Alpha Tagging spectrometer located at the RITU focal plane. The tagging and coincidence techniques were applied to identify the gamma-ray transitions in Re-166, revealing two collective, strongly coupled rotational structures, for the first time. The more strongly populated band structure is assigned to the pi h(11/2)[514]9/2(-) circle times vi(13/2)[660]1/2(+) Nilsson configuration, while the weaker structure is assigned to be built on a two-quasiparticle state of mixed pi h(11/2)[514]9/2(-) circle times v[h(9/2)f(7/2)]3/2(-) character. The configuration assignments are based on the electromagnetic characteristics and rotational properties, in comparison with predictions from total Routhian surface and particle-rotor model calculations.</p

Poor neural and perceptual phoneme discrimination during acoustic variation in dyslexia

Whereas natural acoustic variation in speech does not compromise phoneme discrimination in healthy adults, it was hypothesized to be a challenge for developmental dyslexics. We investigated dyslexics’ neural and perceptual discrimination of native language phonemes during acoustic variation. Dyslexics and non-dyslexics heard /æ/ and /i/ phonemes in a context with fo variation and then in a context without it. Mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a responses to phoneme changes were recorded with electroencephalogram to compare groups during ignore and attentive listening. perceptual phoneme discrimination in the variable context was evaluated with hit-ratios and reaction times. MMN/N2bs were diminished in dyslexics in the variable context. Hit-ratios were smaller in dyslexics than controls. MMNs did not differ between groups in the context without variation. These results suggest that even distinctive vowels are challenging to discriminate for dyslexics when the context resembles natural variability of speech. This most likely reflects poor categorical perception of phonemes in dyslexics. Difficulties to detect linguistically relevant invariant information during acoustic variation in speech may contribute to dyslexics’ deficits in forming native language phoneme representations during infancy. Future studies should acknowledge that simple experimental paradigms with repetitive stimuli can be insensitive to dyslexics’ speech processing deficits.Peer reviewe

Luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden käsitykset oppilaiden lahjakkuudesta, heidän opettamisestaan sekä omista valmiuksistaan opettaa lahjakkaita oppilaita

Tiivistelmä. Nykypäivänä yhä useammassa luokassa on lahjakkaita oppilaita, joiden opetuksesta ja tukemisesta vastaavat luokanopettajat. Ilman oikeanlaisia tukemisen keinoja oppilaan lahjakkuus ei pääse kehittymään täyteen mittaansa, vaan se voi pahimmassa tapauksessa jopa hiipua. Jotta opetaajat pystyisivät tukemaan lahjakkaita oppilaita oikealla tavalla, tulee heillä olla tarpeeksi tietoa aiheesta. Luokanopettajakoulutus tulisi antaa valmiuksia opettaa kaiken tasoisia oppilaita, mutta antaako se? Tämän pro gradu tutkielman tarkoituksena on selvittää luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden käsityksiä lahjakkuudesta, lahjakkaista oppilaista, lahjakkaiden oppilaiden opettamisesta sekä heidän omista valmiuksistaan opettaa lahjakkaita oppilaita. Tutkielma on toteutettu fenomenografisena tutkimuksena ja aineisto kerättiin puolistrukturoidun haastattelun avulla. Aineisto koostui seitsemästä maisterivaiheen luokanopettajaopiskelijan haastattelusta (N=7). Aineisto kerättiin kevään 2021 aikana. Analyysi tapahtui fenomenografisen analyysin avulla. Tutkielman tuloksien mukaan luokanopettajaopiskelijat käsittävät lahjakkuuden olevan jollainlailla synnynnäinen asia. Oppilaassa lahjakkuus käsitetään näkyvän muun muassa nopeutena työskentelyssä ja oppimisessa. Luokanopettajaopiskelijat käsittävät oppilaan lahjakkuuden tulevan ilmi myös oppilaan häiriökäytöksenä, joka johtuu oppilaan tylsistyttyä helppoihin tehtäviin. Lahjakkaiden oppilaiden opettaminen käsitettiin olevan haastavaan johtuen useammasta eri syystä. Yhdeksi syyksi nousi sopivien materiaalien puute sekä se, että lahjakkaiden opettaminen tuottaa lisätöitä opettajalle. Omat valmiutensa opettaa lahjakkaita oppilaita luokanopettajaopiskeijat käsittivät huonoiki. Opiskelijoiden käsityksen mukaan luokanopettajakoulutuksesta ei juurikaan ole saanut tietoa lahjakkaiden opettamisesta. Tutkielman tulokset antavat saman suuntaisia tuloksi, kuin tutkimukset, joiden kohde ryhmänä ovat olleet luokanopettajat. Aihe on ajankohtainen ja sitä tulisi tutkia enemmän erityisesti luokanopettajakoulutuksen näkökulmasta. Tutkielman pienuus vaikuttaa sen luotettavuuteen eikä yleistyksiä tutkielmasta voida tehdä, mutta tutkielma tarjoaa hyvän pohjan tuleville tutkimuksille

Effects of soil warming and nitrogen foliar applications on bud burst of black spruce

Key message: In mature black spruce, bud burst process is anticipated by soil warming, while delayed by foliar applications of nitrogen; however, the effects depend on growth conditions at the site. Abstract: The observation of phenological events can be used as biological indicator of environmental changes, especially from the perspective of climate change. In boreal forests, the onset of the bud burst is a key factor in the length of the growing season. With current climate change, the major factors limiting the growth of boreal trees (i.e., temperature and nitrogen availability) are changing and studies on mature trees are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of soil warming and increased nitrogen (N) deposition on bud burst of mature black spruce [Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP]. From 2008 onwards, an experimental manipulation of these environmental growth conditions was conducted in two stands (BER and SIM) at different altitudes in the boreal forest of Quebec, Canada. An increase in soil temperature (H treatment) and a canopy application of artificial rain enriched with nitrogen (N treatment) were performed. Observations of bud phenology were made during May–July 2012 and 2013. In BER, H treatment caused an anticipation (estimated as 1–3 days); while N treatment, a delay (estimated as 1–2 days but only in 2012) in bud burst. No treatments effect was significant in SIM. It has been demonstrated that soil temperature and N availability can play an important role in affecting bud burst in black spruce but the effects of these environmental factors on growth are closely linked with site conditions

Differential Prox-1 and CD 31 expression in mucousae, cutaneous and soft tissue vascular lesions and tumors

The study of lymphatic vessels and lymphatic tumors has been hampered with difficulty due to the overlapping morphological features between blood and lymphatic endothelial cells, as well as to the lack of specific lymphatic endothelial markers. Over the last few years, lymphatic vessels and lymphangiogenesis have received great attention owing to their putative implications in terms of metastatic dissemination and the promise of targets for lymphangiogenic therapy. Prox-1 is a nuclear transcription factor that plays a major role during embryonic lymphangiogenesis and is deemed to be a useful marker for differentiating lymphatic endothelial cells from the other blood vessels endothelial cells. Here, we describe a double-immunostaining strategy for formalin-fixed, paraffinembedded tissues that aims at evaluating the distribution of Prox-1 and CD 31 – a cytoplasmic pan-endothelial marker -in a series of 28 mucousae, cutaneous and soft tissue vascular lesions and tumors, including hemangiomas, lymphangiomas, lymphangiectasia, and Kaposi’s sarcomas. Our results showed that in non-lesional mucousae and skin, Prox-1 decorated exclusively the nuclei of endothelial cells in lymphatic vessels. Prox-1 stained almost all the benign lymphatic vascular lesions/tumors (91%) and was absent or only focally positive in 75% of blood vascular tumors. CD 31 stained endothelial cells of blood vessels of superficial and deep dermal plexuses, lymphatics, and all blood vascular lesions/tumors. Kaposi’s sarcomas were all positive for both CD 31 and Prox-1 markers. In conclusion, although Prox-1 expression in vascular lesions/tumors was not entirely restricted to tumors with known lymphatic differentiation, CD 31/Prox-1 double-immunolabeling can be used as an adjunct marker to identify lymphatic vessels in routinely processed formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples