Developing a Monte Carlo Simulation for Time- Series Analysis of Actinium-225 Decay

This report describes the development of a script programmed in the Python language designed to simulate radioactive decay using Monte Carlo methods. This is to conduct analysis on the equilibrium behavior of a specific radioactive decay chain, replacing the traditional method of deriving a mathematical representation via differential equations. The resulting script produces a stacked histogram illustrating the decay of Actinium-225 over time and more closely models the potential for irregularities in the natural phenomenon. The script has potential applications in nuclear imaging and medical physics

Lipid Coated Gold Nanoparticle Cores: Synthesis and Characterization

Including environmental, industrial, and biomedical sciences, applications of gold nanoparticles are on the forefront of research in many areas. By altering the surface treatment of spherical gold nanoparticle cores, particularly those smaller than 100 nm (nanometers), one can influence their potential use in a number of ways. Lipid coated nanoparticles with specifically selected surface ligands can be used for multiple biomedical functions, including medical imaging, for use as colorimetric and plasmonic sensors within the body, and as cell or organelle specific targets for therapeutic drug delivery or cancer treatment. Here, spherical gold nanoparticles ranging in size from 8-40 nm (avg. diameter 23-48 nm) have been synthesized and coated with poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and a mixed lipid solution of 1:1 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-L-serine (POPS) and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), two of the four major types of lipids found in the human body. Characterization was performed using a NanoSight LM10HS particle sizer, and shows a gradual increase in size after each step in the coating process for nanoparticle cores ranging in size from 16-27 nm. The thickness of these purified and lipid coated nanoparticles was consistently 2-3 times that of the PAH coated sample it was layered onto, suggesting a successful, multi-layered coat that ranges in size based on the PAH coated core size. UV-Vis spectroscopy shows a slight red shift, indicating an increase in size and change in refractive index, which supports the presence of lipid coating on the PAH coated gold nanoparticle cores

Subordinate kinship : families living with incarceration

This thesis explores the relationships and kinship practices of women, in the North of England who have a husband or partner in prison. In particular it focuses on how kinship in the context of incarceration is subordinate. The study is addressed from the perspective of the mothers of prisoners' children who are the wives and partners of prisoners. The study derives from qualitative ethnographic research which was undertaken between May 2004 and September 2005. During this time participant observations at the Visitors' Centres of a category B male local prison and a High Security Estate prison were conducted as a means of gaining valuable insights into the way in which the rules and regulations of the prison establishment govern the different forms of contact between prisoners and their families. This was supported by unstructured in-depth interviews with eleven women who were the wives or partners of male prisoners with the aim of collecting more detailed biographical case study data, focusing on their experiences. The issues which this thesis addresses and which derived from the research data collected were questions concerning what is the relationship between the family and the prison; how the tensions between exacting justice and the families welfare impact on health and well-being of mothers and their perception of the impact on their children, the effect of incarceration on kinship practices, and the extent to which incarceration influences the lives of these women beyond the institutional setting, with emphasis placed on their relationships and social networks. The theoretical focus of the study is orientated towards a contextualisation of the family and the use of imprisonment in both a contemporary and historical context, drawing, in particular, on the work of Foucault and his ideas concerning discipline and surveillance. The themes used revolve around, experiences of separation, notions of exchange and gift giving, ideas of the Visitors' Centre as a liminal space, secondary prisonization, and stigma. The conclusions drawn bring these ideas together to show how 'a subordinate kinship' is manifest in this context.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Using Audiovisual Materials for Teaching EFL in Secondary Education: A Corpus for the Design of Learning Activities

Este Trabajo de Fin de Máster se centra en el uso de materiales audiovisuales (tales como películas y series de televisión) como recursos didácticos para la enseñanza del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera, con el fin de mejorar su adquisición y la motivación del estudiante. Para esto se ha llevado a cabo una encuesta para conocer qué clase de contenidos los estudiantes de Educación Secundaria prefieren ver, aunque finalmente el foco ha sido puesto en el cuarto curso. Después, a partir de los resultados se ha compilado un corpus de fragmentos útiles (desde una perspectiva curricular) para este curso académico. En este trabajo se explicará la metodología usada para llevar a cabo este proyecto, además de los hallazgos y resultados obtenidos. En cuanto a los resultados, aunque en los apéndices se incluyen una serie de actividades basadas en los fragmentos del corpus, cinco fragmentos han sido finalmente seleccionados para desarrollar algunas actividades en profundidad. Estas actividades ayudarán a trabajar elementos gramaticales o ciertas temáticas relevantes para cuarto de Educación Secundaria, y además fomentarán la implicación y motivación del estudiante. This dissertation focuses on the use of audiovisual materials such as films and TV series as a learning resource in the EFL classroom to improve language acquisition and student motivation. For this, a survey has been created in order to know what kind of content Secondary Education students enjoy watching, although eventually the focus was put on the fourth year. Then, a corpus of fragments that could be appropriate for this academic year was compiled by making use of the results. In this dissertation the methodology used to carry out this project will be explained, aside from the findings during the process and the results obtained. Regarding the results, although in the Appendices a series of activities related to some of the fragments included in the corpus are proposed, I finally selected five fragments to develop some activities in depth. These will help work either form or content relevant to the fourth year’s curriculum and will promote student engagement.<br /

The Impact of Social Media on Young People’s Health and Wellbeing: Evidence, Guidelines and Actions

This report presents new evidence on the relationship between young people, social media and health, as well as providing clear guidance and actions for education and health research, policy and practice

Establishing a set of research priorities in care homes for older people in the UK: a modified Delphi consensus study with care home staff

Background: currently, there is little evidence base for much of the care provided for older people in care homes. Given the wide range of topics that require further investigation, and limited resources, one solution is to identify the priorities for future research. Methods: a modified Delphi technique was used to identify research topics and develop consensus among care home staff participants. The survey was conducted across three rounds. Firstly to elicit topics that were considered by participants to require further research, secondly to prioritise the long list of research questions, followed by a third round to reach a consensus on the highest ranked 15 questions. Results: eighty-three participants responded to the initial survey, providing 144 questions. Following analysis and review against existing evidence, 76 research questions remained. Of note, 40/83 participants responded to the interim prioritisation round and 43/83 participants responded to the final round, which ranked the top 15 research questions by importance. Two other groups of health and social care professionals also participated in the final ranking. The results from these groups had a similar ordering to those of the original cohort of participants. Conclusion: this is the first study to establish a set of research priorities for older people in the UK care homes. It is hoped that sharing these results with clinicians, researchers and funding bodies will help to begin the process of ensuring that the future research agenda can be focused on the areas of greatest need. Further work to identify the priorities of other key stakeholders is required

A central line care maintenance bundle for the prevention of central line–associated bloodstream infection in non–intensive care unit settings

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a central line care maintenance bundle to reduce central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) in non-ICU settings. DESIGN: Before-after trial with 12 month follow-up period. SETTING: 1250-bed teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with central lines on eight general medicine wards. Four wards received the intervention and four served as controls. INTERVENTION: A multifaceted catheter care maintenance bundle consisting of educational programs for nurses, update of hospital policies, visual aids, a competency assessment, process monitoring, regular progress reports, and consolidation of supplies necessary for catheter maintenance. RESULTS: Data were collected for 25,542 catheter-days including 43 CLABSI (rate = 1.68 per 1,000 CL-days) and 4,012 catheter dressing observations. Following the intervention, a 2.5% monthly decrease in the CLABSI incidence density was observed on intervention floors, but this was not statistically significant (95% confidence interval (CI); −5.3 – 0.4). On control floors, there was a smaller, but marginally significant decrease in CLABSI incidence during the study (change in monthly rate = −1.1%; 95% CI, −2.1 - −0.1). Implementation of the bundle was associated with improvement in catheter dressing compliance on intervention wards (78.8% compliance pre-intervention vs. 87.9% during intervention/follow-up; p<0.001) but improvement was also observed on control wards (84.9% compliance pre-intervention vs. 90.9% during intervention/follow-up; P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: A multi-faceted program to improve catheter care was associated with improvement in catheter dressing care, but no change in CLABSI rates. Additional study is needed to determine strategies to prevent CLABSI in non-ICU patients

Reservoir Characterization and Depositional System of the Atokan Grant Sand, Fort Worth Basin, Texas

The Atokan Grant Sands are a tight gas sand play that would add new reserves to the Fort Worth Basin. The Fort Worth Basin is located in north-central Texas just west of Dallas, Texas. Within the basin, the study area consists of Denton, Wise, Tarrant, and Parker Counties in Texas. The basin is bounded to the north by the Red River Arch, to the west by the Bend Arch, to the south by the Llano uplift, to the east by the Ouachita structural front, and to the northeast by the Muenster Arch. The Grant Sands are approximately 1,500 ft stratigraphically above their source, the Barnett Shale, and were discovered and mapped from early Barnett vertical drilling. This play evolved from a vertical to a horizontal drilling program with Grant wells being drilled alongside Barnett wells. The purpose of this study is to improve the geologic understanding for enhanced exploration potential. There is disagreement in the previous studies as to the depositional setting and source areas of the Atoka section of the Fort Worth Basin. This study analyzes core data and regional subsurface mapping to determine an interpretation of the depositional setting of the Grant Sands. A reservoir characterization with a conceptual model for depositional setting will contribute to the current geologic understanding of the Grant Sand Formation to enhance exploration potential

Development of a measure to assess the quality of proxy decisions about research participation on behalf of adults lacking capacity to consent : the Combined Scale for Proxy Informed Consent Decisions (CONCORD scale)

Acknowledgements We would like to thank the participants who generously volunteered their time to participate in the interviews and the lay advisory group who provide invaluable insight and support for this research programme. Funding This study was conducted as part of a National Institute of Health Research Advanced Fellowship (CONSULT) held by VS and funded by the Welsh Government through Health and Care Research Wales (NIHR-FS(A)-2021). The funding body did not participate in the study design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation in writing this manuscript. Primary and Emergency Care (PRIME) Research Centre Wales) is funded by the Welsh Government through Health and Care Research Wales and the Centre for Trials Research is funded by Health and Care Research Wales and Cancer Research UK.Peer reviewedPublisher PD