The Parting

I could imagine him coming in quietly, scarcely taking the effort to close the door securely. Yet, he might come in hurredly, slam the door, run through the house, throw his coat and books on the dining room table, and be up in our room almost before the echo of the noise had died away. He was moody and changeable; that was why I was leaving; that was what I disliked about him; and that was why I did not know how he would enter the house. In fact, I never knew how he was going to act under any condition. During his exhilarated moods, he was almost too kind and generous to everyone: his friends, acquaintances, and animals alike. But some of his moods were unbearable. He seemed always above or below everything on earth. I don\u27t believe he ever felt in conjunction with a living person or thing

Utilization of Pressure Injury Prevention Team in Long-Term Care Settings

In addressing the role that pressure injury prevention (PIP) teams can have in prevention and reduction of pressure ulcers for older adult patients in long-term care settings, this PICOT question is asked: In adults aged 65 and over in long-term care settings with a diagnosis of Type II Diabetes, does implementing weekly skin assessments performed by a pressure injury prevention (PIP) team to standard PIP strategies, compared to just standard PIP strategies, prevent or reduce pressure injury development over 6 months? Pressure injuries are a preventable complication that can lead to detrimental outcomes, including patients being “2.8 times more likely to die during their hospital stay, [and] 1.69 times more likely to die within 30 days after discharge,” (Tschannen & Anderson, 2019, p. 1399). Along with standard interventions, an interdisciplinary approach has become increasingly utilized. The search for research articles was conducted within PubMed and CINAHL using the terms pressure injury, pressure injury prevention, diabetes, and wound care team. Search inclusion criteria required articles to have been published between 2017 and 2022, address all three keyword phrases, and included peer-reviewed, full-text articles published within the past five years. Exclusion criteria involved evidence-based articles that were irrelevant to pressure injuries in the older adult population. Eleven key articles were reviewed. Research suggests continued skin assessment and prevention strategies in combination with standard PIP decrease the mortality, morbidity, and cost associated with pressure injuries

Teaching qualitative psychology at undergraduate level: Challenges and responses

Teaching qualitative psychology at undergraduate level: Challenges and response

Statistical Mechanics of 2+1 Gravity From Riemann Zeta Function and Alexander Polynomial:Exact Results

In the recent publication (Journal of Geometry and Physics,33(2000)23-102) we demonstrated that dynamics of 2+1 gravity can be described in terms of train tracks. Train tracks were introduced by Thurston in connection with description of dynamics of surface automorphisms. In this work we provide an example of utilization of general formalism developed earlier. The complete exact solution of the model problem describing equilibrium dynamics of train tracks on the punctured torus is obtained. Being guided by similarities between the dynamics of 2d liquid crystals and 2+1 gravity the partition function for gravity is mapped into that for the Farey spin chain. The Farey spin chain partition function, fortunately, is known exactly and has been thoroughly investigated recently. Accordingly, the transition between the pseudo-Anosov and the periodic dynamic regime (in Thurston's terminology) in the case of gravity is being reinterpreted in terms of phase transitions in the Farey spin chain whose partition function is just a ratio of two Riemann zeta functions. The mapping into the spin chain is facilitated by recognition of a special role of the Alexander polynomial for knots/links in study of dynamics of self homeomorphisms of surfaces. At the end of paper, using some facts from the theory of arithmetic hyperbolic 3-manifolds (initiated by Bianchi in 1892), we develop systematic extension of the obtained results to noncompact Riemannian surfaces of higher genus. Some of the obtained results are also useful for 3+1 gravity. In particular, using the theorem of Margulis, we provide new reasons for the black hole existence in the Universe: black holes make our Universe arithmetic. That is the discrete Lie groups of motion are arithmetic.Comment: 69 pages,11 figures. Journal of Geometry and Physics (in press

Effect of W self-implantation and He plasma exposure on early-stage defect and bubble formation in tungsten

To determine the effect of pre-existing defects on helium-vacancy cluster nucleation and growth, tungsten samples were self-implanted with 1 MeV tungsten ions at varying fluences to induce radiation damage, then subsequently exposed to helium plasma in the MAGPIE linear plasma device. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy was performed both immediately after self-implantation, and again after plasma exposure. After self-implantation vacancies clusters were not observed near the sample surface (<30 nm). At greater depths (30-150 nm) vacancy clusters formed, and were found to increase in size with increasing W-ion fluence. After helium plasma exposure in the MAGPIE linear plasma device at ∼300 K with a fluence of 1023 He-m-2, deep (30-150 nm) vacancy clusters showed similar positron lifetimes, while shallow (<30 nm) clusters were not observed. The intensity of positron lifetime signals fell for most samples after plasma exposure, indicating that defects were filling with helium. The absence of shallow clusters indicates that helium requires pre-existing defects in order to drive vacancy cluster growth at 300 K. Further samples that had not been pre-damaged with W-ions were also exposed to helium plasma in MAGPIE across fluences from 1 × 1022 to 1.2 × 1024 He-m-2. Samples exposed to fluences up to 1 × 1023 He-m-2 showed no signs of damage. Fluences of 5 × 1023 He-m-2 and higher showed significant helium-cluster formation within the first 30 nm, with positron lifetimes in the vicinity 0.5-0.6 ns. The sample temperature was significantly higher for these higher fluence exposures (∼400 K) due to plasma heating. This higher temperature likely enhanced bubble formation by significantly increasing the rate interstitial helium clusters generate vacancies, which is we suspect is the rate-limiting step for helium-vacancy cluster/bubble nucleation in the absence of pre-existing defects.The authors are grateful to the technical assistance within the Australian Plasma Fusion Research Facility that is partly funded by the Australian Government under the Super Science Initiative, financed from the Education Investment Fund. GISAXS research was undertaken on the SAXS/WAXS beamline at the Australian Synchrotron, part of ANSTO. We gratefully acknowledge beamline scientists at the Australian Synchrotron for their assistance. PK acknowledges the Australian Research Council for financial support

Resisting and conforming to the ‘lesbian look’ : the importance of appearance norms for lesbian and bisexual women

Appearance is one way in which lesbian and bisexual identities and affiliation to lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) subculture can be demonstrated. ‘Butch’ and ‘androgynous’ styles have been used by lesbian women to communicate a non-heterosexual identity. However, some LGB appearance researchers have argued that there has been a mainstreaming and diversification of lesbian style in the last couple of decades, which has resulted in less distinction between lesbian and straight looks. This research draws on the Social Identity approach to explore contemporary style in lesbian and bisexual communities. Fifteen lesbian and bisexual women took part in semi-structured interviews which were analysed using thematic analysis. Although some participants reported a diversification of lesbian style, most used the term ‘butch’ to describe lesbian style, and a ‘boyish’ look was viewed as the most common contemporary lesbian style. By contrast, most participants could not identify distinct bisexual appearance norms. The data provide evidence of conflicting desires (and expectations) to visibly project social identity by conforming to specific lesbian styles, and to be an authentic, unique individual by resisting these subcultural styles

PONV Prophylaxis Failure Disproportionately Affects Female Patients, Despite Intraoperative Computerized Decision Support Guidance

Objectives: To compare postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) prophylaxis treatment and outcomes based on patients’ sex, using a retrospective cohort. The setting was the operating room and post-anesthesia care unit of a tertiary care university medical center. Patients: A total of 678 adult male and female patients with American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) scores of 1-4 underwent surgery with general anesthesia. All patients received preoperative PONV risk assessment. PONV prophylaxis was administered at the discretion of the anesthesia care team members with guidance from a computerized decision support system. Measurements: Adequacy of prophylaxis was retrospectively determined based on individual patient risk factors and the observed treatment received, compared with guideline-based prophylaxis recommendations. Patient outcome was measured by diagnosis of PONV in recovery. Results: Comparing patients who received fewer than the guideline-recommended number of prophylactic antiemetics by sex, 94.6% were female and 5.4% were males (p \u3c 0.001). Patients who received fewer than guideline-recommended number of antiemetics had significantly higher rates of nausea or vomiting in the post-anesthesia care unit (30.4% vs 17.5%, p \u3c 0.001). Conclusion: This retrospective cohort study shows that female patients receiving general anesthesia are disproportionately affected by failure to adhere to PONV prevention guidelines

B cell sub-types following acute malaria and associations with clinical immunity.

BACKGROUND: Repeated exposure to Plasmodium falciparum is associated with perturbations in B cell sub-set homeostasis, including expansion atypical memory B cells. However, B cell perturbations immediately following acute malaria infection have been poorly characterized, especially with regard to their relationship with immunity to malaria. METHODS: To better understand the kinetics of B cell sub-sets following malaria, the proportions of six B cell sub-sets were assessed at five time points following acute malaria in four to 5 years old children living in a high transmission region of Uganda. B cell sub-set kinetics were compared with measures of clinical immunity to malaria-lower parasite density at the time of malaria diagnosis and recent asymptomatic parasitaemia. RESULTS: Atypical memory B cell and transitional B cell proportions increased following malaria. In contrast, plasmablast proportions were highest at the time of malaria diagnosis and rapidly declined following treatment. Increased proportions of atypical memory B cells were associated with greater immunity to malaria, whereas increased proportions of transitional B cells were associated with evidence of less immunity to malaria. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the dynamic changes in multiple B cell sub-sets following acute, uncomplicated malaria, and how these sub-sets are associated with developing immunity to malaria

Key challenges for the surveillance of respiratory viruses: transitioning out of the acute phase of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

To support the ongoing management of viral respiratory diseases, many countries are moving towards an integrated model of surveillance for SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and other respiratory pathogens. While many surveillance approaches catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic provide novel epidemiological insight, continuing them as implemented during the pandemic is unlikely to be feasible for non-emergency surveillance, and many have already been scaled back. Furthermore, given anticipated co-circulation of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza, surveillance activities in place prior to the pandemic require review and adjustment to ensure their ongoing value for public health. In this perspective, we highlight key challenges for the development of integrated models of surveillance. We discuss the relative strengths and limitations of different surveillance practices and studies, their contribution to epidemiological assessment, forecasting, and public health decision making