Evaluating educational initiatives to improve palliative care for people with dementia: A narrative review.

Dementia accounts for one in three deaths among people aged 65 and over, but end-of-life care for people with dementia is often sub-optimal. Palliative care for people with dementia poses particular challenges to those providing services, and current policy initiatives recommend education and training in palliative care for those working with patients with dementia. However, there are few evaluations of the effectiveness of dementia education and training. This paper presents a narrative review undertaken in 2011-2012 of evaluations of palliative care education for those working with people with dementia at the end of life. A total of eight papers were identified that described and evaluated such palliative care education; none reported benefits for people with dementia. There is a clear need to develop and evaluate educational interventions designed to improve palliative and end-of-life care for people with dementia. Some suggestions for educationally sound approaches are discussed

Interactive Multi-Submission Deposit Workflows for Desktop Applications

Online submission and publishing is the norm for academic researchers. With the pressure on these authors to submit their work to conferences, journals and Institutional Repositories, this leads to demands on the author to go through multiple web based interfaces, filling in forms with the same information multiple times before they can submit. At the same time, each of these services in turn will have made policy decisions on what types of format they allow and what templates the content has to conform to. The amount of work expected of the author does not adding up to the potential gain, thus most authors will only submit into the repository or publication where they foresee the most benefit. In this paper we propose a solution to this problem that embeds the workflow for multiple submissions into the desktop application of the author, most commonly Microsoft Word. We also propose extending the work done on the Microsoft Word Author Add-in tool to allow two-way negotiation between each repository and the desktop application

The effect of exercise on behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia: the EVIDEM-E randomised controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a simple dyadic (person with dementia and their main carer) exercise regimen as a therapy for the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. METHOD: A two arm, pragmatic, randomised, controlled, single-blind, parallel-group trial of a dyadic exercise regimen (individually tailored walking regimen designed to become progressively intensive and last between 20-30 min, at least five times per week).Community-dwelling individuals with ICD-10 confirmed dementia with the following: clinically significant behavioural and psychological symptoms, a carer willing and able to co-participate in the exercise regimen, and no physical conditions or symptoms that would preclude exercise participation were invited by mental health or primary care services into the study. RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-one dyads were recruited to this study. There was no significant difference in Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms as measured by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory at week 12 between the group receiving the dyadic exercise regimen and those that did not (adjusted difference in means (intervention minus control) = -1.53, p = 0.6, 95% CI [-7.37, 4.32]). There was a significant between-group difference in caregiver's burden as measured by the Zarit Caregiver Burden Inventory at week 12 (OR = 0.18, p = 0.01, CI [0.05, 0.69]) favouring the exercise group. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that regular simple exercise does not appear to improve the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, but did seem to attenuate caregiver burden. Further study to improve exercise uptake are needed

Structural synthesis: correlation of structural fabrics, velocity anisotropy, and magnetic susceptibility data

Structural, physical property, and magnetic data from Ocean Drilling Program Site 808 in the Nankai Trough, Japan, indicate that both sediment loading and plate convergence have driven dewatering and consolidation in this region. Evidence for this interpretation is provided by a migrated seismic reflection profile, computed tomography of core-scale structures, magnetic susceptibility and P-wave velocity data, and experimental studies of Site 808 samples. These data also show that the strain (including volume change) resulting from plate convergence is partitioned into both penetrative deformation structures as well as more discrete, core-scale structures with finite displacements. These core-scale structures range from relatively subtle, kink-like deflections of the primary phyllosilicate fabric to sharp discontinuities with probable displacements much greater than the dimensions of the core barrel. Although all of the structures acted at least in part as dewatering conduits, evidence of concentrated fluid flow in this region of the prism is limited to a narrow interval almost 150 m above the décollement (located at between 946 and 965 mbsf). This interval correlates with the middle of a hemipelagic sequence above the décollement that appears to have thinned, apparently through dewatering, relative to a more seaward section. Thinning and dewatering appear to have been induced by deposition of a more clastic sedimentary sequence (the outer marginal trench-wedge sediments) that grades upward into a coarse-grained trench-fill sequence. Importantly, the hemipelagic sequence below the décollement appears to have thinned very little, suggesting that these sediments are underconsolidated and overpressured. This interpretation is consistent with porosity measurements from below the décollement. Microscopic and submicroscopic studies of sediments from within the décollement record a cyclic deformation sequence of displacement-brecciation-porosity collapse and compaction that may also reflect deformation of an overpressured sequence. Finally, the structural, physical property, and magnetic data also yield kinematic and geometric results consistent with the present convergent vector between the Philippine Sea Plate and Eurasia. These data indicate a shortening direction that trends between 308° and 315°, consistent with plate convergent vectors that trend between 310° and 314°

Attitudes, Beliefs, and Perceptions on Cannabis Among Older Adults Aged 65 and Older: A cross-sectional Survey.

OBJECTIVE: With the rise of medical and recreational cannabis use among older adults, concerns about the potential risks and benefits of cannabis use are increasing. This pilot study aimed to determine the attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of older adults toward cannabis as a medicinal product, to establish a foundation for future research on how healthcare providers communicate with this population regarding cannabis. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on adults aged 65 and older living in Philadelphia. The survey included questions related to participants\u27 demographics, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of cannabis. Participants were recruited via flyer distributions, publications in newsletters, and a local newspaper. Surveys were conducted from December 2019 through May 2020. Quantitative data were presented using counts, mean, median, and percentages, and qualitative data were analyzed by categorizing common responses. RESULTS: The study aimed to recruit 50 participants, of whom 47 met the requirements, and had their data analyzed, resulting in an average age of 71 years. The majority of participants were male (53%) and Black (64%). Seventy-six percent of participants considered cannabis a highly important treatment for older adults, and 42% considered themselves highly knowledgeable about cannabis. Over half of the participants reported being asked about tobacco (55%) or alcohol (57%) use by their PCP compared to 23% being asked about cannabis. Participants indicated that they most commonly turned to the internet and social media for information about cannabis, while only a small number mentioned relying on their primary care physician (PCP) for such information. DISCUSSION: The results of this pilot study highlight the need for accurate and reliable information about cannabis for older adults and their healthcare providers. As the use of cannabis as a therapy continues to rise, it is crucial for healthcare providers to address misconceptions and encourage older adults to seek out evidence-based research. Further research is needed to explore healthcare providers\u27 perceptions of cannabis therapy and how they can better educate older adults

Room-temperature exciton-polaritons with two-dimensional WS2

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides exhibit strong optical transitions with significant potential for optoelectronic devices. In particular they are suited for cavity quantum electrodynamics in which strong coupling leads to polariton formation as a root to realisation of inversionless lasing, polariton condensationand superfluidity. Demonstrations of such strongly correlated phenomena to date have often relied on cryogenic temperatures, high excitation densities and were frequently impaired by strong material disorder. At room-temperature, experiments approaching the strong coupling regime with transition metal dichalcogenides have been reported, but well resolved exciton-polaritons have yet to be achieved. Here we report a study of monolayer WS$_2$ coupled to an open Fabry-Perot cavity at room-temperature, in which polariton eigenstates are unambiguously displayed. In-situ tunability of the cavity length results in a maximal Rabi splitting of $\hbar \Omega_{\rm{Rabi}} = 70$ meV, exceeding the exciton linewidth. Our data are well described by a transfer matrix model appropriate for the large linewidth regime. This work provides a platform towards observing strongly correlated polariton phenomena in compact photonic devices for ambient temperature applications.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

An analysis of factors contributing to sixth-grade students' selective attention to music elements: melodic contour, timbre, rhythm, and tempo; and variables associated with demographics, self-perception, music background, music genre, and temporal difference.

Two research questions were formulated for the present study: (1) Are there significant differences (p < .05) among sixth-grade participants’ selective attention to music elements as affected by variables associated with music genre and temporal difference?; and (2) To what extent do the following variables significantly predict (p < .05) sixth-grade participants’ selective attention to melodic contour, timbre, rhythm, and tempo: demographics, self-perception, music background, music genre, and temporal difference? Subjects (N = 87), suburban middle school students from the sixth-grade level within Fulton County Public Schools of Atlanta, Georgia completed the Music Background Questionnaire II, Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA), and the Music Element Profile (MEP). The first research question was analyzed using a Three-Way Repeated Analysis of Variance. Regarding differences among selective attention to music elements, participants rated rhythm (M = 5.15) significantly higher (p < .01) than melodic contour (M = 4.74), timbre (M = 4.87), or tempo (M = 4.82). Regarding differences among music genre, participants rated rhythm and blues (M = 5.12) significantly higher than jazz (M = 4.83; p < .05) or classical (M = 4.66; p < .01); participants rated rock (M = 4.98) significantly higher (p < .01) than classical (M = 4.66). Regarding differences between fast and slow tempi, participants did not rate fast tempi (M = 4.94) significantly differently than slow tempos (M = 4.86). A significant two-way interaction effect (p < .05) was found among participants’ selective attention for music elements by genre (p = .006). A significant two-way interaction effect (p < .05) was found among sixth-grade students’ selective attention for music elements by temporal difference (p = .002). A significant two-way interaction effect (p < .05) was found among sixth-grade students’ ratings for music genre by temporal difference (p = .000). No significant three-way interaction effects (p < .05) were found among sixth-grade students’ selective attention for music elements by ratings for music genre and temporal difference. Data from the MEP, MBQII, SPPA, and from the demographic information were analyzed in four multiple regression procedures, each placing a different music element as the dependent variable. Classical and rock were found to be the best predictors (p < .001) of melodic contour. Fast tempi were found to be the best predictor (p < .001) of timbre. Classical, rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, and fast tempi were found to be the best predictors (p < .05) of rhythm. Jazz and fast tempi were found to be the best predictors (p < .05) of tempo. From the results of the data analysis of both research questions, conclusions were drawn to provide suggestions for future research

Resilient High Catalytic Performance of Platinum Nanocatalysts with Porous Graphene Envelope.

Despite the innumerable developments of nanosized and well dispersed noble metal catalysts, the degradation of metal nanoparticle catalysts has proven to be a significant obstacle for the commercialization of the hydrogen fuel cell. Here, the formation of Pt nanoparticle catalysts with a porous graphene envelope has been achieved using a single step low temperature vaporization process. While these Pt-Gr core-shell nanoparticles possess superior resilience to degradation, it comes at the cost of degraded overall catalyst efficacy. However, it is possible to combat this lower overall performance through inclusion of low concentrations of nitrogen precursor in the initial stage of single-step synthesis, inhibiting the formation of complete graphene shells, as verified by atomic resolution aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (AC-TEM) imaging. The resultant porous graphene encapsulated Pt catalysts are found to have both the high peak performance of the bare Pt nanoparticle catalysts and the increased resilience of the fully shielded Pt-Gr core-shells, with the optimal N-doped Pt-Gr yielding a peak efficiency of 87% compared to bare Pt, and maintaining 90% of its catalytic activity after extended potential cycling. The nitrogen treated Pt-Gr core-shells thus act as an effective substitute catalyst for conventional bare Pt nanoparticles, maintaining their catalytic performance over prolonged use

Prospectus, November 15, 2017

Dodds Park hosts scholarship fundraiser run; Review: Hansel and Gretel at KCPA; 2017\u27s Pokemon film relives 1998 classic series; Tyler Oakley talks about journey as YouTube LGBTQ activist; Cobra\u27s men\u27s basketball wins against REnd Lake on Nov. 8.https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_2017/1030/thumbnail.jp