The evaluation of interdisciplinary learning initiative in managing depression

This paper reports the findings from a descriptive study exploring community-nursing students’ experiences of interdisciplinary learning on managing depression. The study was completed as part of a specialist module workshop included in a post-registration community specialist practitioner programme. Questionnaire data included attitude ratings and qualitative evaluations of problem-based learning (PBL). A cohort of 34 community nurses responded. The findings identified issues relating to the learning process and its influence on the knowledge gained and attitudes to team work. Community nurses reported the workshop was thought provoking and the challenging issue is the different opinions of the district nurses role in managing depression from the perspective of the students. This study suggests that problem based learning had a positive impact on students’ learning which makes it a well-received contribution to learning. It also reinforced the importance of healthy attitudes towards collaboration in promoting mental health practice. All of these do ultimately have implications for clinical practice

Enhancement of Atmospheric Radiation by an Aerosol Layer

The presence of a stratospheric haze layer may produce increases in both the actinic flux and the irradiance below this layer. Such haze layers result from the injection of aerosol-forming material into the stratosphere by volcanic eruptions. Simple heuristic arguments show that the increase in flux below the haze layer, relative to a clear sky case, is a consequence of “photon trapping.” We explore the magnitude of these flux perturbations, as a function of aerosol properties and illumination conditions, with a new radiative transfer model that can accurately compute fluxes in an inhomogeneous atmosphere with nonconservative scatterers having arbitrary phase function. One calculated consequence of the El Chichon volcanic eruption is an increase in the midday surface actinic flux at 20°N latitude, summer, by as much as 45% at 2900 Å. This increase in flux in the UV-B wavelength range was caused entirely by aerosol scattering, without any reduction in the overhead ozone column

Simulated retrievals for the remote sensing of CO_2, CH_4, CO, and H_2O from geostationary orbit

The Geostationary Fourier Transform Spectrometer (GeoFTS) is designed to measure high-resolution spectra of reflected sunlight in three near-infrared bands centered around 0.76, 1.6, and 2.3 μm and to deliver simultaneous retrievals of column-averaged dry air mole fractions of CO_2, CH_4, CO, and H_2O (denoted XCO_2, XCH_4, XCO, and XH_2O, respectively) at different times of day over North America. In this study, we perform radiative transfer simulations over both clear-sky and all-sky scenes expected to be observed by GeoFTS and estimate the prospective performance of retrievals based on results from Bayesian error analysis and characterization. We find that, for simulated clear-sky retrievals, the average retrieval biases and single-measurement precisions are < 0.2 % for XCO_2, XCH_4, and XH_2O, and < 2 % for XCO, when the a priori values have a bias of 3 % and an uncertainty of 3 %. In addition, an increase in the amount of aerosols and ice clouds leads to a notable increase in the retrieval biases and slight worsening of the retrieval precisions. Furthermore, retrieval precision is a strong function of signal-to-noise ratio and spectral resolution. This simulation study can help guide decisions on the design of the GeoFTS observing system, which can result in cost-effective measurement strategies while achieving satisfactory levels of retrieval precisions and biases. The simultaneous retrievals at different times of day will be important for more accurate estimation of carbon sources and sinks on fine spatiotemporal scales and for studies related to the atmospheric component of the water cycle

Modeling Progressive Fibrosis with Pluripotent Stem Cells Identifies an Anti-fibrotic Small Molecule.

Progressive organ fibrosis accounts for one-third of all deaths worldwide, yet preclinical models that mimic the complex, progressive nature of the disease are lacking, and hence, there are no curative therapies. Progressive fibrosis across organs shares common cellular and molecular pathways involving chronic injury, inflammation, and aberrant repair resulting in deposition of extracellular matrix, organ remodeling, and ultimately organ failure. We describe the generation and characterization of an in&nbsp;vitro progressive fibrosis model that uses cell types derived from induced pluripotent stem cells. Our model produces endogenous activated transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) and contains activated fibroblastic aggregates that progressively increase in size and stiffness with activation of known fibrotic molecular and cellular changes. We used this model as a phenotypic drug discovery platform for modulators of fibrosis. We validated this platform by identifying a compound that promotes resolution of fibrosis in in&nbsp;vivo and ex&nbsp;vivo models of ocular and lung fibrosis

Profiling tropospheric CO_2 using Aura TES and TCCON instruments

Monitoring the global distribution and long-term variations of CO_2 sources and sinks is required for characterizing the global carbon budget. Total column measurements are useful for estimating regional-scale fluxes; however, model transport remains a significant error source, particularly for quantifying local sources and sinks. To improve the capability of estimating regional fluxes, we estimate lower tropospheric CO_2 concentrations from ground-based near-infrared (NIR) measurements with space-based thermal infrared (TIR) measurements. The NIR measurements are obtained from the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) of solar measurements, which provide an estimate of the total CO_2 column amount. Estimates of tropospheric CO_2 that are co-located with TCCON are obtained by assimilating Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) free tropospheric CO_2 estimates into the GEOS-Chem model. We find that quantifying lower tropospheric CO_2 by subtracting free tropospheric CO_2 estimates from total column estimates is a linear problem, because the calculated random uncertainties in total column and lower tropospheric estimates are consistent with actual uncertainties as compared to aircraft data. For the total column estimates, the random uncertainty is about 0.55 ppm with a bias of −5.66 ppm, consistent with previously published results. After accounting for the total column bias, the bias in the lower tropospheric CO_2 estimates is 0.26 ppm with a precision (one standard deviation) of 1.02 ppm. This precision is sufficient for capturing the winter to summer variability of approximately 12 ppm in the lower troposphere; double the variability of the total column. This work shows that a combination of NIR and TIR measurements can profile CO_2 with the precision and accuracy needed to quantify lower tropospheric CO_2 variability

End-to-End Learning of Driving Models with Surround-View Cameras and Route Planners

For human drivers, having rear and side-view mirrors is vital for safe driving. They deliver a more complete view of what is happening around the car. Human drivers also heavily exploit their mental map for navigation. Nonetheless, several methods have been published that learn driving models with only a front-facing camera and without a route planner. This lack of information renders the self-driving task quite intractable. We investigate the problem in a more realistic setting, which consists of a surround-view camera system with eight cameras, a route planner, and a CAN bus reader. In particular, we develop a sensor setup that provides data for a 360-degree view of the area surrounding the vehicle, the driving route to the destination, and low-level driving maneuvers (e.g. steering angle and speed) by human drivers. With such a sensor setup we collect a new driving dataset, covering diverse driving scenarios and varying weather/illumination conditions. Finally, we learn a novel driving model by integrating information from the surround-view cameras and the route planner. Two route planners are exploited: 1) by representing the planned routes on OpenStreetMap as a stack of GPS coordinates, and 2) by rendering the planned routes on TomTom Go Mobile and recording the progression into a video. Our experiments show that: 1) 360-degree surround-view cameras help avoid failures made with a single front-view camera, in particular for city driving and intersection scenarios; and 2) route planners help the driving task significantly, especially for steering angle prediction.Comment: to be published at ECCV 201

Potential value of PTEN in predicting cetuximab response in colorectal cancer: An exploratory study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is over-expressed in 70–75% of colorectal adenocarcinomas (CRC). The anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody cetuximab has been approved for the treatment of metastatic CRC, however tumor response to cetuximab has not been found to be associated with EGFR over-expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The aim of this study was to explore EGFR and the downstream effector phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) as potential predictors of response to cetuximab.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>CRC patients treated with cetuximab by the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology group, whose formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor tissue was available, were included. Tissue was tested for EGFR and PTEN by IHC and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eighty-eight patients were identified and 72 were included based on the availability of tissue blocks with adequate material for analysis on them. All patients, except one, received cetuximab in combination with chemotherapy. Median follow-up was 53 months from diagnosis and 17 months from cetuximab initiation. At the time of the analysis 53% of the patients had died. Best response was complete response in one and partial response in 23 patients. In 16 patients disease stabilized. Lack of PTEN gene amplification was associated with more responses to cetuximab and longer time to progression (p = 0.042).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>PTEN could be one of the molecular determinants of cetuximab response. Due to the heterogeneity of the population and the retrospective nature of the study, our results are hypothesis generating and should be approached with caution. Further prospective studies are needed to validate this finding.</p