785 research outputs found
The Knowledge of the Grid: A Grid Ontology
This paper presents a knowledge architecture and set of ontologies that can be used as the foundation to facilitate the matching of abstract resource requests to services and resources, to determine the functional equivalence of Grid middle wares and deployments and to allow the description of âhybridâ compound Grids composed of individual heterogeneous Grids. This is necessary as in all these cases what is required is mediation between diïŹerent views or descriptions of Grids, which requires a formal reference vocabulary. We present a framework and ontologies for achieving this
Combining to innovate: A collaborative interprofessional learning approach to delivering Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation (TUPAC) education for undergraduate oral health students
This paper provides a description of a pilot project in Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation (TUPAC) in response to a national and international trend to include TUPAC curriculum components in the clinical education of undergraduate oral health students. In order to deliver quality brief intervention strategies for smokers a need to adequately prepare oral health students was identified during student clinical placements. An interprofessional (IP) project team was established with membership from the University of Adelaideâs School of Dentistry, QuitSA, Cancer Council SA, the South Australian Dental Service (SADS) Somerton Park and TAFESAâs Faculty of Dental Studies to streamline the efficient use of resources and most importantly draw on a diverse range of interprofessional health care expertise. On the website for The UK Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE) (2002) it states that âInterprofessional education occurs when two or more professions learn from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of careâ. Through interprofessional learning (IPL) in classroom and clinical settings, second year Bachelor and Advanced Diploma oral health students were provided with the opportunity to develop an understanding of the respective roles of each health professional responsible for delivering positive health initiatives in the area of TUPAC. With limited national oral health curricula in the area of TUPAC, the project team forged links with the University of Manitobaâs Dental Hygiene Program, and the convenor of the TUPAC in Dental and Dental Hygiene Undergraduate Education European Workshops for curriculum benchmarking against evidence based criteria. Most importantly as the IP concept of health care considers the patient at the centre of the health care team, assessment was designed to encourage a patient centred approach through the review and analysis of a clinical case study. A formal evaluation of this project is currently in progress, however results were not yet available at the time of publication
Resonant Raman scattering off neutral quantum dots
Resonant inelastic (Raman) light scattering off neutral GaAs quantum dots
which contain a mean number, N=42, of electron-hole pairs is computed. We find
Raman amplitudes corresponding to strongly collective final states
(charge-density excitations) of similar magnitude as the amplitudes related to
weakly collective or single-particle excitations. As a function of the incident
laser frequency or the magnetic field, they are rapidly varying amplitudes. It
is argued that strong Raman peaks should come out in the spin-density channels,
not related to valence-band mixing effects in the intermediate states.Comment: Accepted in Physical Review
Review of the Metropolitan Water Plan: Final Report
This report was commissioned by the NSW Cabinet Office to review the Metropolitan Water Plan 2004 (DIPNR, 2004a), and was undertaken by the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney and ACIL Tasman with technical advice from SMEC Australia. In February 2006, our interim review report (ISF, 2006) showed how the supply-demand balance in 2015 could be met with rain-fed supply and a suite of demand management initiatives, and how Sydneys water needs could be secured against the risk of severe drought by having the capacity to deploy groundwater and desalination
Is naming of hospitals a matter for nursing ethics? The case of San Francisco General Hospital and Mark Zuckerberg.
Countries without fully funded healthcare rely on charitable donations from individuals and corporations to fund healthcare for vulnerable groups. In some cases, donations result in departments or hospitals being named for the donor. Naming buildings for persons or institutions potentially allows both parties to benefit from reputational connection, which is why a high commercial premium is placed upon, for example, stadium naming rights. Some âdonationsâ to charitable causes are better considered investment because resultant virtue signalling can lead to reputational enhancement. This can cast a different light on the intention on some donors, resulting in a long history of declined donations, notably by tobacco companies. Reputational enhancement of the donor can come at the cost of diminished reputation of the recipient, and it is possible that these changes in public perception have public health implications. Part of the function of nurses and other healthcare professionals is to promote public health and so anything that threatens it is of fundamental concern.
Mark Zuckerberg is inextricably connected to social media particularly Facebook and Instagram and while these platforms have been used to some benefit in healthcare there are also significant concerns in respect of privacy, lacklustre responses to sharing of inappropriate material, and willingness to manipulate users. Facebook has not apologised for undertaking a large study when the emotions of 700,000 people were manipulated without notification, consent or concern for subsequent wellbeing. Taken together, these assessments of the operation and motivation of companies controlled by Mark Zuckerberg argue that they constitute a public health and wellbeing threat which needs to be addressed by healthcare professionals, including public campaigning for changes in social media practice and revocation of naming rights for hospitals
Ultrafast pump-probe dynamics in ZnSe-based semiconductor quantum-wells
Pump-probe experiments are used as a controllable way to investigate the
properties of photoexcited semiconductors, in particular, the absorption
saturation. We present an experiment-theory comparison for ZnSe quantum wells,
investigating the energy renormalization and bleaching of the excitonic
resonances. Experiments were performed with spin-selective excitation and
above-bandgap pumping. The model, based on the semiconductor Bloch equations in
the screened Hartree-Fock approximation, takes various scattering processes
into account phenomenologically. Comparing numerical results with available
experimental data, we explain the experimental results and find that the
electron spin-flip occurs on a time scale of 30 ps.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures. Key words: nonlinear and ultrafast optics,
modeling of femtosecond pump-probe experiments, electron spin-flip tim
The COMPTEL instrumental line background
The instrumental line background of the Compton telescope COMPTEL onboard the
Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory is due to the activation and/or decay of many
isotopes. The major components of this background can be attributed to eight
individual isotopes, namely 2D, 22Na, 24Na, 28Al, 40K, 52Mn, 57Ni, and 208Tl.
The identification of instrumental lines with specific isotopes is based on the
line energies as well as on the variation of the event rate with time,
cosmic-ray intensity, and deposited radiation dose during passages through the
South-Atlantic Anomaly. The characteristic variation of the event rate due to a
specific isotope depends on its life-time, orbital parameters such as the
altitude of the satellite above Earth, and the solar cycle. A detailed
understanding of the background contributions from instrumental lines is
crucial at MeV energies for measuring the cosmic diffuse gamma-ray background
and for observing gamma-ray line emission in the interstellar medium or from
supernovae and their remnants. Procedures to determine the event rate from each
background isotope are described, and their average activity in spacecraft
materials over the first seven years of the mission is estimated.Comment: accepted for publication in A&A, 22 pages, 21 figure
Propionate has protective and anti-inflammatory effects on the bloodâbrain barrier
Production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) from dietary substrates by the gut microbiota is associated with health, with these metabolites influencing the host via the âgutâbrain axisâ. Micromolar quantities of microbially derived SCFAs are taken up from the gut and reach systemic circulation, where they can influence host gene expression through a variety of largely unknown mechanisms. The bloodâbrain barrier (BBB) is the major interface between the circulation and central nervous system, and is critically involved in the pathogenesis of neuroinflammatory disorders such as stroke and vascular dementia. We hypothesized exposure of the BBB to SCFAs influences barrier integrity and function. To test our hypothesis, we investigated the in vitro effects of a physiologically relevant concentration (1 ÎŒM) of propionate upon the human immortalised cerebromicrovascular endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3. Propionate is produced by the microbiota from dietary glucans, and is biologically active via the G protein coupled receptors FFAR2 and FFAR3. It is a highly potent FFAR2 agonist (agonist activity 3.99) and has close to optimal ligand efficiency (-ÎG=1.19 kcal mol-1 atom-1) for this receptor. Notably, FFAR3 is expressed on the vascular endothelium and a likely target for propionate in the BBB. After confirming the presence of FFAR3 on hCMEC/D3 cells, we undertook an unbiased transcriptomic analysis of confluent hCMEC/D3 monolayers treated or not for 24 h with 1 ÎŒM propionate, supported by in vitro validation of key findings and assessment of functional endothelial permeability barrier properties. Propionate treatment had a significant (PFDR < 0.1) effect on the expression of 1136 genes: 553 upregulated, 583 downregulated. Propionate inhibited several inflammation-associated pathways: namely, TLR-specific signalling, NFkappaB signalling, and cytosolic DNA-sensing. Functional validation of these findings confirmed the down-regulation of TLR signalling by propionate, achieved primarily through down-regulation of endothelial CD14 expression. Accordingly, propionate prevented LPS-induced increases in paracellular permeability to 70 kDa FITC-dextran and loss of transendothelial electrical resistance. Enrichr analysis indicated the activation by propionate of the NFE2L2 (NRF2)-driven protective response against oxidative stress. Confirming these data, propionate limited free reactive oxygen species induction by the mitochondrial respiratory inhibitor rotenone. Together, these data strongly suggest the SCFA propionate contributes to maintaining BBB integrity and protecting against inflammatory challenge by downregulating BBB responsiveness. In addition to its well-described effects on cholesterol metabolism, maintenance of propionate levels in the circulation may be an additional mechanism whereby a glucan-containing diet protects against neurovascular disease
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