Operating theatre time, where does it all go? A prospective observational study

Objective To assess the accuracy of surgeons and anaesthetists in predicting the time it will take them to complete an operation or procedure and therefore explain some of the difficulties encountered in operating theatre scheduling. Design Single centre, prospective observational study. Setting Plastic, orthopaedic, and general surgical operating theatres at a level 1 trauma centre serving a population of about 370 000. Participants 92 operating theatre staff including surgical consultants, surgical registrars, anaesthetic consultants, and anaesthetic registrars. Intervention Participants were asked how long they thought their procedure would take. These data were compared with actual time data recorded at the end of the case. Primary outcome measure Absolute difference between predicted and actual time. Results General surgeons underestimated the time required for the procedure by 31 minutes (95% confidence interval 7.6 to 54.4), meaning that procedures took, on average, 28.7% longer than predicted. Plastic surgeons underestimated by 5 minutes (−12.4 to 22.4), with procedures taking an average of 4.5% longer than predicted. Orthopaedic surgeons overestimated by 1 minute (−16.4 to 14.0), with procedures taking an average of 1.1% less time than predicted. Anaesthetists underestimated by 35 minutes (21.7 to 48.7), meaning that, on average, procedures took 167.5% longer than they predicted. The four specialty mean time overestimations or underestimations are significantly different from each other (P=0.01). The observed time differences between anaesthetists and both orthopaedic and plastic surgeons are significantly different (P<0.05), but the time difference between anaesthetists and general surgeons is not significantly different. Conclusion The inability of clinicians to predict the necessary time for a procedure is a significant cause of delay in the operating theatre. This study suggests that anaesthetists are the most inaccurate and highlights the potential differences between specialties in what is considered part of the “anaesthesia time.

COVID-19 Study Spaces: Supportive Adaptation of Home Learning Environments During the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven considerable changes in how we live, work, and study. How have students adapted space to support remote study? This research project aimed to understand where students were learning, how they were using and adapting the space, and how their decisions might connect to tangible outcomes such as academic success, engagement, connection, and satisfaction with remote learning. An online survey gathered data from 542 college students across 93 majors at two institutions. Results suggest that the bedroom space is the most common study space, and that space adaptation is tied to positive outcomes for student

Current Health and Environmental Status of the Maasai People in Sub-Saharan Africa

As time passes, the AIDS pandemic continues to spike, affecting an estimated 38.6 million people worldwide. In response, a satellite health clinic is being designed by two Cal Poly students to serve the Maasai people living in the Kajiado district in Southern Kenya. The Maasai have traditionally lived as pastoralists, surviving off of their cattle with which they share their water, increasing the risk for contamination. However, as the population of Kenya increases, the land the Maasai have traditionally used for grazing is shrinking. For this reason, some have turned to farming to maintain their livelihood. These factors have contributed to the desertification and deforestation of their region. As the lifestyle of the Maasai evolves, they rely more on maize than meat and dairy products for their nutrients. All of these changes have contributed to the evolution of the Maasai culture. We will address these changes in order to better understand the Maasai, as well as highlight possible further aid needed to support their survival

Wearable activity technology and action-planning (WATAAP) to promote physical activity in cancer survivors: Randomised controlled trial protocol

Background/Objective: Colorectal and gynecologic cancer survivors are at cardiovascular risk due to comorbidities and sedentary behaviour, warranting a feasible intervention to increase physical activity. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) is a promising theoretical frame-work for health behaviour change, and wearable physical activity trackers offer a novel means of self-monitoring physical activity for cancer survivors. Method: Sixty-eight survivors of colorectal and gynecologic cancer will be randomised into 12- week intervention and control groups. Intervention group participants will receive: a Fitbit AltaTM to monitor physical activity, HAPA-based group sessions, booklet, and support phone-call. Participants in the control group will only receive the HAPA-based booklet. Physical activity (using accelerometers), blood pressure, BMI, and HAPA constructs will be assessed at baseline, 12-weeks (post-intervention) and 24-weeks (follow-up). Data analysis will use the Group x Time interaction from a General Linear Mixed Model analysis. Conclusions: Physical activity interventions that are acceptable and have robust theoretical underpinnings show promise for improving the health of cancer survivors

TEMPAT PENITIPAN ANAK DAN PAUD DENGAN PENDEKATAN ARSITEKTUR BERKELANJUTAN DAN HUMAN SENSE DI KOTA SEMARANG

Seiring berkembangnya tahun kota Semarang memiliki kepadatan penduduk yang semakin tinggi. Hal ini memunculkan beberapa permasalahan semakin tingginya tuntutan ekonomi yang mengubah pola berfikir masyarakat di Kota Semarang. Oleh karena itu banyak ditemukan penduduk perempuan di Semarang yang mempunyai peran dwifungsi untuk mencukupi kebutuhan ekonomi keluarga mereka. Oleh karena itu tempat pendidikan anak dan PAUD sangat dibutuhkan untuk menjawab permasalahan tersebut. Sehingga hal tersebut juga diharapkan dapat menjawab dan menyesuaikan dengan kebutuhan proses perkembangan dan pertumbuhan anak anak di usia tersebut yang cenderung menggunakan panca indera mereka dalam proses pembelajaranya. Apabila anak usia dini tidak dilatih kemampuan sensorinya atau panca inderanya akan menimbulkan permasalahan oversensitive atau undersensitive terhadap semua hal di sekelilingnya. Hal ini menimbulkan anak mempunyai permasalahan sensori dan dalam kehidupan sehari-harinya mereka akan kesulitan menerima informasi dan beradaptasi dengan masalah-masalah dalam kehidupan sehari-hari mereka. Namun tidak hanya itu saja dikarenakan banyaknya waktu yang mereka habiskan di ruang-ruang tersebut, mereka membutuhkan ruang atau tempat yang dapat menjaga kesehatan mereka namun juga dapat menjawab permasalahan lingkungan yang berkaitan dengan iklim dan cuaca di Kota Semarang. Oleh karena itu dalam proses perkembangan anak-anak usia pra-sekolah dibutuhkan sebuah tempat yang dapat menjaga kesehatan mereka dan menjawab kebutuhan proses perkembangan mereka yang cenderung menggunakan panca indera mereka dengan tetap menjaga dan menyesuaikan lingkungan sekitar merek

The Active Learning Classroom Building: A Not-So-Virtual Tour

Designing a modern active learning classroom building attached to, and then pushing into, an existing historical library building is a challenge. The author of this presentation worked for six years as an interior designer in the University’s Facilities Management Division, and was the University designer on the project team for the design of the active learning classroom building. The subject of this creative scholarship presentation is the building and its interior design – design as interior. In speaking to the conference theme – unpacking systems – the presentation will use available technology and resources to take the audience on a not-so-virtual tour of the space. The broader impact of this approach is to ask participants to unpack how we change our perception of three-dimensional design when we consume it only through two-dimensional media and staged architectural photographs. And, further, how we change design education by only teaching through these limited, 2D media. Design challenges that the presentation will unpack include: how to make the classrooms easily operable for faculty new to active learning and also engaging for students; how to make the classrooms easily, safely, and appropriately accessible 24 hours a day/five days a week to align with the existing library hours; how to foster both impromptu and pre-planned informal collaborative learning; how to incorporate the more modern, clean-lined aesthetic that campus new construction is using while attaching to the front of, and gutting tens of thousands of square feet of, an existing and more traditionally styled structure? The author will present the content as a museum-style docent-led “tour” of the building, with 360 degree views throughout. It is the author’s intent to spark discussion, challenge assumptions, and unpack the traditional conference experience through truly immersive creative work

Fiji 101: Building Materials & Components

This creative scholarship explores traditional Fijian building materials by evaluating a traditionally constructed Fijian Grand Bure on Vorovoro Island, Fiji. Bures, small structures traditionally used as houses for men (not families), are built using what is on hand; often this is wood, straw, leaves, and sand. The bure has been adapted by the tourism industry and is often what comes to mind when one imagines a waterfront Fijian resort. Vorovoro Island, however, has been untouched by the tourism industry, and is home to the Mali tribe, who also have villages the nearby island of Mali Island and Vanua Levu. The Grand Bure on Vorovoro Island was built as gathering and ceremonial space for the Mali Tribe. The Grand Bure is the most special place on the island and was built with care and intention—intention to tradition, intention to materials, and intention to its role in the tribe. Various methods used in the construction of the bure will be examined, including weaving with leaves from the Pandanus plant, thatched roofing, the use of wood for posts, sand as a flooring material, and coconuts. Tali kato, the act of weaving traditional baskets in Fiji, will be demonstrated, along with the process of making Fijian mats used for flooring, sleeping, and wall hanging. Tactile examples of woven mats and fans, as well as sand, are provided for a hands-on experience. Photographs of the building process and finished bure are also included. This creative scholarship highlights the importance of preserving traditional building techniques and materials. It also addresses sustainability, which is not a new concept: its inherent in the traditions passed down and is especially significant from the perspective of island-dwellers, who depend on the earth to give water, food, and shelter. Future generations will be affected by the choices we make today, and no one understands that more than the people of Vorovoro Island

The Colors of Grief: A Quilt

Everyone experiences loss. Whether it’s the loss of a job, a home, a person to death or illness, or a lifestyle, loss is a global construct. Everyone grieves differently, and every culture has its own set of rituals and traditions to deal with loss. Many widows in Russia, Greece, and Czechoslovakia wear black for the rest of their lives, while many Mexicans and Mexican-American communities observe “Dia de los Muertos” (the Day of the Dead). Every culture also has color associated with grief: many European and Western communities wear black as a cultural symbol of grief, while in Egypt, Mexico, and Ethiopia, yellow is a primary color of bereavement. In Korea, the Middle East, and India, white symbolizes grief. In Thailand, widows wear purple. (Knox, 2011). The Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle (Kubler-Ross, 1969) has been widely accepted and utilized throughout the Western world as a way to process grief. The stages of the model are: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance (Kubler-Ross, 1969). I gathered scraps of discarded clothing from a local tailor representing the invisible community of grief. The quilt was constructed with a combination of mechanical and hand sewing techniques; using a sewing machine and my own hand stitching. The quilt, which measures approximately 66” x 66”, has five primary colorways, each associated with a stage of grief and a culture’s grief process: purple for Denial; orange for Anger; yellow for Bargaining; blue for Depression; and green for Acceptance. Because emotions and feelings undulate, the quilt visually undulates. Each quilt block has a dark side and a light side to illustrate the high points and low points of the grieving process. Within the green quilt blocks—the stage of Acceptance—each previous color is represented somewhere. It’s faint, because grief never really goes away and so neither do the colors

Apprentice to Bernini’s Ghost: A Story with a Palace, a Pandemic, and a Paradigm Shift

Our story begins 30 km outside of Rome, Italy, in a 13th Century fortress renovated in the 17th Century by Bernini. The upper levels are a museum; lower levels are a study abroad campus. Our 12-person team was tasked to transform the dungeon into dormitories with shared living, kitchen, dining, sleeping, bathrooms, and office space. The dungeon is cut into bedrock, exposed only on the Northwest façade. We worked across languages, standards of measurement, time zones, disciplines, and almost exclusively via flat, time-lagged video chat sessions. Only once did we all meet in person to explore the dark, vast chambers and their contents. Working on the project in isolation was its own practice in mindfulness and the source of a paradigm shift. In this era of social distancing, it is hard to imagine how design can be taught effectively through remote instruction. But, every day, design firms are doing just that: working remotely in a virtual studio to create outcomes that need to feel handmade, soft, and personal. It isn’t easy. It isn’t ideal. It is, though, the reality of our work and our lives. Our design concept for this renovation is “awareness” through the apposition of form, weight, and material. In serving as apprentice to Bernini’s ghost – to see through the lens of his work – we acknowledge an intimate relationship with something sacred and fragile. In quarantine, we have taught, mentored, supported, encouraged, critiqued, and grounded students in reality. We have been mindful to express gratitude, but kept asking: when can we get back to normal? Are we missing the extraordinary learning that can be carried out amid this pandemic – across languages, standards of measurement, time zones, disciplines, via flat, time-lagged video chat sessions? Perhaps we should not be apprentice exclusively to the ghosts of the past, waiting in limbo for permission to get “back to normal”, but looking forward – to the extraordinary possibilities for interior design education