The not-so-barren ranges

© Thesis Eleven Pty, Ltd., SAGE Publications. This is an impressionistic and informal essay written near the end of a novelist's Australia Research Council funded research project: 'Developing narratives from language and stories indigenous to the south coast of Western Australia', and informed by how that research project morphed into an emphasis on revitalization of Noongar language, and the attempt to restore connections between a particular Creation Story and landscape in an area regarded as 'massacre territory'. A sympathetic reader might think of the topic as 'The Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project meets The Barren Ranges'

Handoffs and Transitions in Critical Care (HATRICC): Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study of Operating Room to Intensive Care Unit Handoffs

Background: Operating room to intensive care unit handoffs are high-risk events for critically ill patients. Studies in selected patient populations show that standardizing operating room to intensive care unit handoffs improves information exchange and decreases errors. To adapt these findings to mixed surgical populations, we propose to study the implementation of a standardized operating room to intensive care unit handoff process in two intensive care units currently without an existing standard process. Methods/Design: The Handoffs and Transitions in Critical Care (HATRICC) study is a hybrid effectiveness- implementation trial of operating room to intensive care unit handoffs. We will use mixed methods to conduct a needs assessment of the current handoff process, adapt published handoff processes, and implement a new standardized handoff process in two academic intensive care units. Needs assessment: We will use non-participant observation to observe the current handoff process. Focus groups, interviews, and surveys of clinicians will elicit participants’ impressions about the current process. Adaptation and implementation: We will adapt published standardized handoff processes using the needs assessment findings. We will use small group simulation to test the new process’ feasibility. After simulation, we will incorporate the new handoff process into the clinical work of all providers in the study units. Evaluation: Using the same methods employed in the needs assessment phase, we will evaluate use of the new handoff process. Data analysis: The primary effectiveness outcome is the number of information omissions per handoff episode as compared to the pre-intervention period. Additional intervention outcomes include patient intensive care unit length of stay and intensive care unit mortality. The primary implementation outcome is acceptability of the new process. Additional implementation outcomes include feasibility, fidelity and sustainability. Discussion: The HATRICC study will examine the effectiveness and implementation of a standardized operating room to intensive care unit handoff process. Findings from this study have the potential to improve healthcare communication and outcomes for critically ill patients. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02267174. Date of registration October 16, 2014

A Simple Method for DNA Extraction from Mature Date Palm Leaves: Impact of Sand Grinding and Composition of Lysis Buffer

Molecular marker techniques have been widely used for cultivar identification of inbred date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.; Arecaceae) and biodiversity conservation. Isolation of highly pure DNA is the prerequisite for PCR amplification and subsequent use such as DNA fingerprinting and sequencing of genes that have recently been developed for barcoding. To avoid problems related to the preservation and use of liquid nitrogen, we examined sterile sand for grinding the date palm leaves. Individual and combined effects of sodium chloride (NaCl), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and lithium chloride (LiCl) with the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) method for a DNA yield of sufficient purity and PCR amplification were evaluated in this study. Presence of LiCl and PVP alone or together in the lysis buffer did not significantly improve the DNA yield and purity compared with the addition of NaCl. Our study suggested that grinding of date palm leaf with sterile sand and inclusion of NaCl (1.4 M) in the lysis buffer without the costly use of liquid nitrogen, PVP and LiCl, provides a DNA yield of sufficient purity, suitable for PCR amplification

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum