Theology at the coal-face of hospitalisation - the development and evaluation of a postgraduate certificate in Healthcare Chaplaincy

Healthcare chaplaincy is working towards recognition as a registered health profession. An accredited programme of professional education is part of that process. The University of Glasgow supported by NHS Education for Scotland have developed a programme of professional education for healthcare chaplains that is integrated into an MSc. (MedSci) in healthcare. This article outlines the commissioning, development and evaluation of a postgraduate certificate in healthcare chaplaincy by students, clinical mentors and experienced healthcare chaplains. It also highlights an innovative approach to practice development in spiritual and religious care in healthcare

Computation of a combined spherical-elastic and viscous-half-space earth model for ice sheet simulation

This report starts by describing the continuum model used by Lingle & Clark (1985) to approximate the deformation of the earth under changing ice sheet and ocean loads. That source considers a single ice stream, but we apply their underlying model to continent-scale ice sheet simulation. Their model combines Farrell's (1972) elastic spherical earth with a viscous half-space overlain by an elastic plate lithosphere. The latter half-space model is derivable from calculations by Cathles (1975). For the elastic spherical earth we use Farrell's tabulated Green's function, as do Lingle & Clark. For the half-space model, however, we propose and implement a significantly faster numerical strategy, a spectral collocation method (Trefethen 2000) based directly on the Fast Fourier Transform. To verify this method we compare to an integral formula for a disc load. To compare earth models we build an accumulation history from a growing similarity solution from (Bueler, et al.~2005) and and simulate the coupled (ice flow)-(earth deformation) system. In the case of simple isostasy the exact solution to this system is known. We demonstrate that the magnitudes of numerical errors made in approximating the ice-earth system are significantly smaller than pairwise differences between several earth models, namely, simple isostasy, the current standard model used in ice sheet simulation (Greve 2001, Hagdorn 2003, Zweck & Huybrechts 2005), and the Lingle & Clark model. Therefore further efforts to validate different earth models used in ice sheet simulations are, not surprisingly, worthwhile.Comment: 36 pages, 16 figures, 3 Matlab program

Development of the Lymphoedema Genito-Urinary Cancer Questionnaire

The aim of this study was to develop a patient self-report tool to detect symptoms of genital and lower limb lymphoedema in male survivors of genitourinary cancer. The study incorporated the views of patients and subject specialists (lymphoedema and urology) in the design of a patient questionnaire based on the literature. Views on comprehensiveness, relevance of content, ease of understanding and perceived acceptability to patients were collated. The findings informed the development of the next iteration of the questionnaire. The overall view of participants was that the development and application of such a tool was of great clinical value and the Lymphoedema Genito- Urinary Cancer Questionnaire (LGUCQ) has significant potential for further development as a research tool to inform prevalence of this under-reported condition

Solution of the Percus-Yevick equation for hard discs

We solve the Percus-Yevick equation in two dimensions by reducing it to a set of simple integral equations. We numerically obtain both the pair correlation function and the equation of state for a hard disc fluid and find good agreement with available Monte-Carlo calculations. The present method of resolution may be generalized to any even dimension.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

A note on the effective slip properties for microchannel flows with ultra-hydrophobic surfaces

A type of super-hydrophobic surface consists of a solid plane boundary with an array of grooves which, due to the effect of surface tension, prevent a complete wetting of the wall. The effect is greatest when the grooves are aligned with the flow. The pressure difference between the liquid and the gas in the grooves causes a curvature of the liquid surface resisted by surface tension. The effects of this surface deformation are studied in this paper. The corrections to the effective slip length produced by the curvature are analyzed theoretically and a comparison with available data and related mathematical models is presented.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure

Screening of a hypercritical charge in graphene

Screening of a large external charge in graphene is studied. The charge is assumed to be displaced away or smeared over a finite region of the graphene plane. The initial decay of the screened potential with distance is shown to follow the 3/2 power. It gradually changes to the Coulomb law outside of a hypercritical core whose radius is proportional to the external charge.Comment: (v1) 4 pages, 1 figure (v2) Much improved introduction; extended range of numeric

Self-similar impulsive capillary waves on a ligament

We study the short-time dynamics of a liquid ligament, held between two solid cylinders, when one is impulsively accelerated along its axis. A set of one-dimensional equations in the slender-slope approximation is used to describe the dynamics, including surface tension and viscous effects. An exact self-similar solution to the linearized equations is successfully compared to experiments made with millimetric ligaments. Another non-linear self-similar solution of the full set of equations is found numerically. Both the linear and non-linear solutions show that the axial depth at which the liquid is affected by the motion of the cylinder scales like $\sqrt{t}$. The non-linear solution presents the peculiar feature that there exists a maximum driving velocity $U^\star$ above which the solution disappears, a phenomenon probably related to the de-pinning of the contact line observed in experiments for large pulling velocities

Cognitive demands of face monitoring: Evidence for visuospatial overload

Young children perform difficult communication tasks better face to face than when they cannot see one another (e.g., Doherty-Sneddon & Kent, 1996). However, in recent studies, it was found that children aged 6 and 10 years, describing abstract shapes, showed evidence of face-to-face interference rather than facilitation. For some communication tasks, access to visual signals (such as facial expression and eye gaze) may hinder rather than help children’s communication. In new research we have pursued this interference effect. Five studies are described with adults and 10- and 6-year-old participants. It was found that looking at a face interfered with children’s abilities to listen to descriptions of abstract shapes. Children also performed visuospatial memory tasks worse when they looked at someone’s face prior to responding than when they looked at a visuospatial pattern or at the floor. It was concluded that performance on certain tasks was hindered by monitoring another person’s face. It is suggested that processing of visual communication signals shares certain processing resources with the processing of other visuospatial information

Theology at the coal-face of hospitalisation - the development and evaluation of a postgraduate certificate in Healthcare Chaplaincy

Healthcare chaplaincy is working towards recognition as a registered health profession. An accredited programme of professional education is part of that process. The University of Glasgow supported by NHS Education for Scotland have developed a programme of professional education for healthcare chaplains that is integrated into an MSc. (MedSci) in healthcare. This article outlines the commissioning, development and evaluation of a postgraduate certificate in healthcare chaplaincy by students, clinical mentors and experienced healthcare chaplains. It also highlights an innovative approach to practice development in spiritual and religious care in healthcare

Contrasting baseline expression of stress axis genes in rainbow trout selected for divergent stress responsiveness

The expression of eight candidate genes, with roles implicated in the stress response and associated behaviour, was quantified in the brains of lines of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum, that were selectively bred for divergent cortisol responses to stress. These lines represent a low responding (LR) and high responding (HR) line that are known to differ in their stress physiology and behavioural phenotype with LR always dominating HR. To understand whether there is differential gene expression in the brains of these lines fish were held individually and then sampled for brain gene expression of eight candidate genes (AANAT, calcineurin, CRF, urotensin I, glucocorticoid receptor II, mineralocorticoid receptor, melatonin receptor 1a, and melanocortin 2 receptor) to obtain a better understanding of the gene expression profile between HR and LR. Seven genes were expressed at a significantly higher level in the low-responding line compared to the high-responding line, and four genes, AANAT, CRF, UI and CaN, were positively correlated with baseline plasma cortisol concentrations. Only AANAT was not significantly differentially expressed between the two stress lines (due to high variation among individuals). Hence there is clear evidence of a tangible relationship between gene expression and stress physiology in these animals prior to stress