Hydrostatic force used to handle outsized, heavy objects

Specially fitted barge is used to load and transport large, heavy objects to a dock side site. There the barge itself can lift, rotate, and position the objects. Typical functions are economically accomplished by water buoyancy

Food Preferences of the Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)

The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) has been reported to eat vegetation, fruit, invertebrates, and occasionally fungi, eggs and meat. The relative preference between food types found in the wild, however, has not been investigated systematically in a controlled laboratory study. This research investigated captive possums’ food choice using two different methods of preference assessment. The first experiment involved a single stimulus assessment of possums’ (n = 20) consumption of individually presented food items. More than 75% of possums consumed berries, locusts and mushrooms but fewer than 50% of possums consumed fivefinger, raw chicken and eggs. The second experiment that used a paired stimulus assessment to establish relative preference for those foods revealed that no single food was preferred by all possums. Overall locusts were the most preferred food, followed in order of preference by berries, egg, mushrooms, chicken and foliage. The single stimulus preference assessment confirmed the palatability of foods. The paired stimulus assessment provided a rank order of food preferences

Examining the link between information processing speed and executive functioning in multiple sclerosis

Slowed information processing speed (IPS) is frequently reported in those with multiple sclerosis (MS), and at least 20% are compromised on some aspect of executive functioning also. However, any relationship between these two processes has not been examined. The Sternberg Memory Scanning Test, Processing Speed Index (WAIS-III), Delis Kaplan Executive Function System (D.KEFS), and Working Memory Index (WMS-III) were administered to 90 participants with MS. Their performance on the PSI was significantly below the normative scores but no deficits in memory scanning speed were evident. The initial response speed of the Sternberg and the PSI were more closely related to D.KEFS performance, particularly in timed tasks with a high cognitive demand (switching tasks). In contrast, memory scanning speed was related to working memory. This study reinforces the link between IPS and working memory in MS, and supports the suggestion that IPS is not a unitary construct

Enhancing Therapeutic Alliances in Neonatal Care: Parents With Substance Use Disorders

Background: The number of newborns exposed to opiates quadrupled in the United States from 1999 to 2014, from 1.5 per 1,000 hospital deliveries to 6.5 per 1,000. Many of these babies are admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit for neonatal abstinence withdrawal syndrome. While neonatal nurses are trained to care for babies exposed to substances in utero, they often struggle to meet the unique psychosocial needs of the babies’ parents. Negative attitudes and strained interactions between neonatal nurses and families with substance use disorders (SUDs) result in subtherapeutic alliances and suboptimal outcomes in neonatal nurseries. Purpose: Educational quality improvement (QI) interventions aimed at reducing stigma and improving therapeutic communication skills and SUD knowledge help neonatal nurses develop a therapeutic alliance with parents with SUDs, thereby improving outcomes. Methods: An educational quality improvement project was designed to meet these objectives based on Facilitating Attuned Interactions (FAN), a conceptual framework and practice model for therapeutic interactions. Results: Stigmatizing attitudes, SUD knowledge, and comfort with FAN processes were measured before and after the class to determine if there were improvements. One-sample t-tests on outcome measures revealed statistically significant improvements with moderate to large effect sizes in stigma (p .021, d-.46), SUD knowledge (p d 2.86), and FAN processes (p d 1.38). Conclusion: This QI project represents an effective, novel intervention that reduces stigma and improves the therapeutic alliance between neonatal nurses and families with SUDs

Alien Registration- Starkey, Malcom A. (Houlton, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/34902/thumbnail.jp

Alien Registration- Starkey, Millicent A. (Houlton, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/34856/thumbnail.jp

Sports-related brain injury in the general population: An epidemiological study

Objectives To determine the incidence, nature and severity of all sports-related brain injuries in the general population. Design Population-based epidemiological incidence study. Methods Data on all traumatic brain injury events sustained during a sports-related activity were extracted from a dataset of all new traumatic brain injury cases (both fatal and non-fatal), identified over a one-year period in the Hamilton and Waikato districts of New Zealand. Prospective and retrospective case ascertainment methods from multiple sources were used. All age groups and levels of traumatic brain injury severity were included. Details of the registering injuries and recurrent injuries sustained over the subsequent year were obtained through medical/accident records and assessment interviews with participants. Results Of 1369 incident traumatic brain injury cases, 291 were identified as being sustained during a sports-related activity (21% of all traumatic brain injuries) equating to an incidence rate of 170 per 100,000 of the general population. Recurrent injuries occurred more frequently in adults (11%) than children (5%). Of the sports-related injuries 46% were classified as mild with a high risk of complications. Injuries were most frequently sustained during rugby, cycling and equestrian activities. It was revealed that up to 19% of traumatic brain injuries were not recorded in medical notes. Conclusions Given the high incidence of new and recurrent traumatic brain injury and the high risk of complications following injury, further sport specific injury prevention strategies are urgently needed to reduce the impact of traumatic brain injury and facilitate safer engagement in sports activities. The high levels of ‘missed’ traumatic brain injuries, highlights the importance in raising awareness of traumatic brain injury during sports-related activity in the general population