Interventions in primary and community care to reduce urgent paediatric hospital admissions : systematic review

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Analysis of the inherent energy-food dilemma of the Nigerian Biofuels Policy using Partial Equilibrium Model: the Nigerian Energy-Food Model (NEFM)

The Nigerian government plans to produce bioethanol from its staple food crops to increase transport fuel supply, reduce imported motors fuels, create jobs and diversify its oil dependent economy. However, the conflicts between the benefits of biofuels and the potential impacts on food security requires analysis to quantify fuel, food, economy and employment metrics to inform policy decision making. Drawing upon a bespoke partial equilibrium model, the Nigerian Energy-Food Model (NEFM), populated using secondary data, indicates that cassava is the ‘optimal’ feedstock for profitable ethanol production in all six geo-political zones of Nigeria. Results show that Nigeria has the potential to produce sufficient feedstock and food crops to meet the current domestic ethanol and crop consumption demands, without affecting domestic food security in the short-run, due to availability of vast fertile uncultivated arable land and unemployed labour, providing positive energy, economic and employment benefits in the short term. Nevertheless, future expansion of the bioethanol programme to double current national ethanol and food consumption demands, would result in significant impacts on national land use change, negatively impacting on domestic food production and increasing food prices. It is recommended that Nigeria’s future biofuels' policy requires a carefully-articulated land-use policy to ensure that land allocation to bioethanol feedstock production is tempered by the need to allocate arable land to food production, in order to avoid consequential adverse impacts on its food security

Using design experiments to conduct research on mathematics professional development

In this paper, we propose that the emerging transformation of mathematics professional development from a practice-based to a research field would benefit from stronger connections to research on learning. In particular, we contend that design experiments represent a premier emerging methodology to study learning, and we argue that a better understanding of teacher learning through the use of design experiments in mathematics professional development can lead to improvement of mathematics professional development as both an area of practice and a field of research

A systematic review of interventions to reduce hospital and emergency department stay in paediatric populations

Introduction This systemic review describes interventions designed to shorten length of stay (LOS) in hospital or the emergency department (ED).Methods Papers published from 2000 until February 2024 were sought in MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, SCIE, Cochrane Library Database and DARE databases. Outcomes were LOS, readmissions and healthcare cost.Results Eighteen studies were eligible, including 10 randomised controlled trials and 8 non-randomised studies. Children were recruited from ED in seven studies and from the paediatric ward in 11 studies. Nine studies delivered outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) to children and were associated with reduced LOS and cost but longer duration of antibiotic treatment. Seven studies described ‘hospital at home’ in children admitted with a range of conditions and some reported reduced readmissions and LOS in addition to reduced costs, compared with standard hospital care. Two studies provided care in a step-down facility and reported reduced readmissions and costs.Conclusions Many of the interventions identified were cost-effective but often led to a longer total period of care compared with inpatient care. Providing care outside of hospital is not associated with increased adverse outcomes compared with receiving care in hospital and brings benefit to the child’s family.PROSPERO registration number CRD42023408663

Design and fabrication of standardized hydroxyapatite scaffolds with a defined macro-architecture by rapid prototyping for bone-tissue-engineering research

This investigation describes the production and characterization of calcium phosphate scaffolds with defined and reproducible porous macro-architectures and their preliminary in vitro and in vivo bone-tissue-engineered response. Fugitive wax molds were designed and produced using a rapid prototyping technique. An aqueous hydroxyapatite slurry was cast in these molds. After sintering at 1250°C and then cleaning, dimensional and material characterizations of the scaffolds were performed. The resulting scaffolds represented the design, and their dimensions were remarkably consistent. A texture inherent to the layer-by-layer production of the mold was impressed onto the vertical surfaces of the scaffolds. The surface roughness (Ra) of the textured surfaces was significantly greater than that of the nontextured surfaces. Material analyses revealed a β-TCP phase in addition to hydroxyapatite for the molded ceramics. Non-molded control ceramics exhibited only hydroxyapatite. Thirty scaffolds were seeded with culture-expanded goat bone-marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) and implanted subcutaneously in nude mice for 4 or 6 weeks. Histology revealed mineralized bone formation in all the scaffolds for both implantation periods. After 4 weeks, bone was present primarily as a layer on scaffold surfaces. After 6 weeks, the surface bone formation was accompanied by bone budding from the surface and occasional bridging of pores. This budding and bridging bone formation almost always was associated with textured scaffold surfaces. However, the area percentage of bone in pores was similar for the 4- and 6-week implantation periods

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Variation in referrals from primary care to scheduled paediatric services in North and East Scotland:A cross-sectional study

Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to colleagues in the health information departments of NHS Grampian, Highland and Tayside. Availability of data and materials The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Peer reviewedPublisher PD