Codes de réponse rapide pour prendre les présences aux cours en ligne et pour faire évaluer l’enseignement virtuel par les étudiants

Monitoring attendance and obtaining timely learner evaluations for virtual teaching sessions can be challenging. At our Obstetrics and Gynecology webinar programme, we have utilised Quick Response (QR) codes this purpose. Following each session, attendees scan an on-screen QR code which links to an online evaluation form and registers their attendance. Feedback can therefore be obtained quickly, is scalable to large participant numbers and is securely stored in digital format. QR reader applications are widely available and cost-free, which makes this technique accessible for learners. Using QR codes for teaching evaluation is simple and could be adopted across many educational applications.Contrôler la présence des étudiants aux cours en ligne et obtenir en temps utile leur évaluation des séances d'enseignement virtuelles peut constituer un défi. Dans notre programme de webinaires en obstétrique et gynécologie, nous le faisons à l’aide de codes de réponse rapide (codes QR). Après chaque séance, les participants scannent un code QR qui apparaît sur leur écran; la lecture du code permet de confirmer leur présence et renvoie à un formulaire d’évaluation en ligne. Ce mécanisme rend possible la rétroaction rapide, la participation d’un grand nombre de personnes et la conservation sécuritaire de l’information en format numérique. Les applications de lecture de codes QR sont largement disponibles et gratuites, et donc accessibles aux étudiants. L’utilisation des codes QR pour évaluer les cours est simple et elle peut être intégrée dans de nombreuses applications éducatives

Reducing Grip Uncertainty During Initial Prosthetic Hand Use Improves Eye-Hand Coordination and Lowers Mental Workload

The reliance on vision to control a myoelectric prosthesis is cognitively burdensome and contributes to device abandonment. The feeling of uncertainty when gripping an object is thought to be the cause of this overreliance on vision in hand-related actions. We explored if experimentally reducing grip uncertainty alters the visuomotor control and mental workload experienced during initial prosthesis use. In a repeated measures design, twenty-one able-bodied participants took part in a pouring task across three conditions: (a) using their anatomical hand, (b) using a myoelectric prosthetic hand simulator, and (c) using a myoelectric prosthetic hand simulator with Velcro attached to reduce grip uncertainty. Performance, gaze behaviour (using mobile eye-tracking) and self-reported mental workload, was measured. Results showed that using a prosthesis (with or without Velcro) slowed task performance, impaired typical eye-hand coordination and increased mental workload compared to anatomic hand control. However, when using the prosthesis with Velcro, participants displayed better prosthesis control, more effective eye-hand coordination and reduced mental workload compared to when using the prosthesis without Velcro. These positive results indicate that reducing grip uncertainty could be a useful tool for encouraging more effective prosthesis control strategies in the early stages of prosthetic hand learning

Cytomegalovirus antibodies among healthy blood donors at Lagos University Teaching Hospital

Objectives. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is found worldwide in all geographical locations and socio-economic groups and is the virus most frequently transmitted to a developing child before birth. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors for CMV antibodies among healthy blood donors at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).Methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out among consecutively recruited replacement blood donors attending the blood donor clinic at LUTH. A 5 ml blood sample was collected from each consenting participant and serum-assayed for CMV IgG/IgM using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based kit.Results. A total of 122 healthy donors were recruited; 96% of the donors were IgG anti-CMV positive while 19.5% were IgM anti-CMV positive. Previous history of blood transfusion was not significantly related to CMV positivity.Conclusion. The seroprevalence of CMV appears to be very high in this environment among healthy blood donors. Based on previous studies that showed a decrease in the incidence of CMV disease when blood is screened for CMV (IgM), the incidence of the disease can be decreased in Lagos if blood is screened for CMV

Daily Mood-Drinking Slopes as Predictors: a New Take on Drinking Motives and Related Outcomes

Motivational models of alcohol consumption have articulated the manner in which positive and negative experiences motivate drinking in unique social contexts (e.g., Cooper, Frone, Russell & Mudar, 1995). Daily process methodology, in which daily events, moods and drinking behaviors are reported daily or multiple times per day, has been used to examine behavioral patterns that are consistent with discrete motivations. We advance the notion that repeated patterns of drinking in various social contexts as a function of positive or negative mood increases can provide evidence of individual-level if-then drinking signatures, which in turn can predict drinking-related outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of slopes to predict longer term drinking motivations and alcohol problems, employing a daily process study of non-clinical moderate alcohol drinkers (N=47; 49% women). Participants responded to thrice daily interviews administered via handheld computer for 30 days, followed by a longitudinal telephone survey for 12 months. Participants’ daily mood-drinking relationships were extracted from HLM and employed as predictors of 12-month outcomes in multiple regression analyses. Daily mood-drinking patterns demonstrated significant variability across persons, such that moderate drinkers could be reliably differentiated based on those patterns in terms of distinct drinking-related outcomes. Among the results, negative mood-solitary drinking slopes were associated with lower subsequent coping motives; yet, positive mood-solitary drinking slopes were predictive of higher coping and lower social motives. Conversely, positive mood-social drinking associations were predictive of higher enhancement motives and b-MAST scores. Results are interpreted in light of motivational models of consumption

NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results

The NEOWISE dataset offers the opportunity to study the variations in albedo for asteroid classification schemes based on visible and near-infrared observations for a large sample of minor planets. We have determined the albedos for nearly 1900 asteroids classified by the Tholen, Bus and Bus-DeMeo taxonomic classification schemes. We find that the S-complex spans a broad range of bright albedos, partially overlapping the low albedo C-complex at small sizes. As expected, the X-complex covers a wide range of albedos. The multi-wavelength infrared coverage provided by NEOWISE allows determination of the reflectivity at 3.4 and 4.6 $\mu$m relative to the visible albedo. The direct computation of the reflectivity at 3.4 and 4.6 $\mu$m enables a new means of comparing the various taxonomic classes. Although C, B, D and T asteroids all have similarly low visible albedos, the D and T types can be distinguished from the C and B types by examining their relative reflectance at 3.4 and 4.6 $\mu$m. All of the albedo distributions are strongly affected by selection biases against small, low albedo objects, as all objects selected for taxonomic classification were chosen according to their visible light brightness. Due to these strong selection biases, we are unable to determine whether or not there are correlations between size, albedo and space weathering. We argue that the current set of classified asteroids makes any such correlations difficult to verify. A sample of taxonomically classified asteroids drawn without significant albedo bias is needed in order to perform such an analysis.Comment: Accepted to Ap

Using Computer Simulation for Reducing the Appointment Lead-Time in a Public Pediatric Outpatient Department

Pediatric outpatient departments aim to provide a pleasant, effective and continuing care to children. However, a problem in these units is the long waiting time for children to receive an appointment. Prolonged appointment lead-time remains a global challenge since it results in delayed diagnosis and treatment causing increased morbidity and dissatisfaction. Additionally, it leads to an increased number of hospitalization and emergency department visits which augments the financial burden faced by healthcare systems. Despite these considerations, the studies directly concentrating on the reduction of appointment lead-time in these departments are largely limited. Therefore, this paper proposes the application of Discrete-event Simulation (DES) approach to evaluate potential improvement strategies aiming at reducing average appointment lead-time. Initially, the outpatient department is characterized to effectively identify the main activities, process variables, interactions, and system constraints. After data collection, input analysis is conducted through intra-variable independence, homogeneity and goodness-of-fit tests followed by the creation of a simulation model representing the real pediatric outpatient department. Then, Mann-Whitney tests are used to prove whether the model was statistically comparable with the real-world system. After this, the outpatient department performance is assessed in terms of average appointment lead-time and resource utilization. Finally, three improvement scenarios are assessed technically and financially, to determine if they are viable for implementation. A case study of a mixed-patient type environment in a public pediatric outpatient department has been explored to validate the proposed methodology. Statistical tests demonstrate that appointment lead-time in pediatric outpatient departments may be meaningfully minimized using this approach. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Optimal capture of non-Gaussianity in weak lensing surveys: power spectrum, bispectrum and halo counts

We compare the efficiency of weak lensing-selected galaxy clusters counts and of the weak lensing bispectrum at capturing non-Gaussian features in the dark matter distribution. We use the halo model to compute the weak lensing power spectrum, the bispectrum and the expected number of detected clusters, and derive constraints on cosmological parameters for a large, low systematic weak lensing survey, by focusing on the $\Omega_m$-$\sigma_8$ plane and on the dark energy equation of state. We separate the power spectrum into the resolved and the unresolved parts of the data, the resolved part being defined as detected clusters, and the unresolved part as the rest of the field. We consider four kinds of clusters counts, taking into account different amount of information : signal-to-noise ratio peak counts; counts as a function of clusters' mass; counts as a function of clusters' redshift; and counts as a function of clusters' mass and redshift. We show that when combined with the power spectrum, those four kinds of counts provide similar constraints, thus allowing one to perform the most direct counts, signal-to-noise peaks counts, and get percent level constraints on cosmological parameters. We show that the weak lensing bispectrum gives constraints comparable to those given by the power spectrum and captures non-Gaussian features as well as clusters counts, its combination with the power spectrum giving errors on cosmological parameters that are similar to, if not marginally smaller than, those obtained when combining the power spectrum with cluster counts. We finally note that in order to reach its potential, the weak lensing bispectrum must be computed using all triangle configurations, as equilateral triangles alone do not provide useful information.Comment: Matches ApJ-accepted versio

Concurrent Pneumopericardium and Pneumothorax Complicating Lung Cancer: A Case Report

The coexistence of pneumothorax and pneumopericardium in patients with primary lung cancer is a very rare phenomenon. We report one such case, in which squamous cell carcinoma of the lung was complicated by pneumopericardium and pneumothorax. Several explanations of the mechanisms involved will be discussed